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since 2002
At CES 2016, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced the service's launch in almost every country except China. A subscriber since April 2015 via VPN, I'd long awaited this, since VPN access was slower, more cumbersome, and required blocking Google DNS.
After almost two weeks using the Moto 360 (Second Generation) instead of my Apple Watch, I miss the Apple Watch only a little, mainly its ability to act on notifications. On iOS, Android Wear's notification handling is more limited.
Looking back at 2015, I travelled to the UK and Paris in June and Hong Kong in September. For 2016, I'm off to Thailand for Chinese New Year, hoping for Taiwan or Japan, and I collect my house keys soon.
Thanks to Lenovo, I was seeded the Moto 360 (Second Generation) as a Christmas present, choosing the Large 46mm with Cognac Leather at S$549. It went on sale in Singapore on 15th December 2015 across three models.
In my earlier Amazon Echo and Logitech Harmony articles, I covered controlling your TV with Echo, but the IFTTT solution was then too premature. Last month, an IFTTT update with Amazon Echo finally lets a phrase trigger a recipe.
Acronis True Image Cloud and True Image 2016 launched over three months ago, and last week Acronis released a major update with five new features. Chief among them is Full Image Backup, offering block-level copying to create an exact replica.
The Nexus 6P Official Case was out of stock on the Google Store for ages. It returned on Black Friday during a 50% off cases sale, so I grabbed it for US$17.49, down from US$34.99.
I spotted a November offer from Chowren Toys via Brickset for the LEGO Minifigure Display Case 16, dropping from US$29.99 to US$20.99. I bought two, forwarding them through HopShopGo, since their direct Singapore shipping was a pricey US$60.
Amazon ran a 48% discount on the Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD in November 2015, dropping it from US$149.99 to US$74.99. It also qualified for free AmazonGlobal Saver shipping to Singapore on orders over US$125, making it a great deal.
The second-generation Moto 360 is now available in Singapore at selected Newstead, Challenger, Best Denki, Courts, and Lenovo stores. Unlike the US store, where you can customise case, bezel, and band, Singapore offers only three predefined variations.
The Synology Router RT1900ac is Synology's first router, aimed at the mid-range market at roughly S$234. It went on sale in Singapore on 6th October 2015. For the unaware, this brings Synology's polished software experience to home networking.
A recap of lesterchan.net's evolution: now on HTTPS, running nginx, PHP-FPM, MariaDB, and HHVM, with search powered by Algolia. The v4.4 update lands alongside the WordPress 4.4 release, the last major WordPress release of 2015.
The Oral-B Black 7000 SmartSeries Electric Toothbrush had a US$30 coupon during Amazon's Black Friday week, dropping it from US$155.68 to US$125.68. The discount applies automatically at checkout once you clip the coupon. It's considerably pricier in Singapore.
Thanks to my friend Stephen, I tried the Freefly VR, a mobile VR headset that uses your phone as screen and speaker. This differs from the Oculus Rift and Razer OSVR, which have built-in screens and audio.
The BlackBerry PRIV, BlackBerry's first Android phone, arrives in Singapore from 12th December 2015 at S$1,098, sold via Singtel, M1, StarHub, and authorised partners. I'm impressed by it: the build is solid and it's remarkably thin.
The ASUS RT-AC88U launched at SITEX 2015, Singapore's last major IT event of the year, held at Singapore Expo from 26th to 29th November. The much-awaited router retails for S$429, packing eight Gigabit LAN ports and strong wireless performance.
I bought the Nubee Temperature Gun from Amazon for US$13.59, alongside the Bosch GLM 35 Laser Measure. Since it doesn't ship to Singapore directly, I used a freight forwarder. It's a non-contact infrared thermometer for reading surfaces.
I first tried a laser measuring device at Tech in Asia, used by the events team. Amazed by how fast it reads a room, I never saw measuring tape the same way, so I got the Bosch GLM 35.
The new Sonos PLAY:5 is now available in Singapore for S$999, sold at IT stores like Challenger and online via TC Acoustic. It delivers studio-quality sound through six synchronised custom drivers, with three mid-woofers producing smooth mids and deep bass.
I bought the Google Universal 22.5W Dual Port USB Type-C Charger with its USB-C to USB-A cable for US$39.99, forwarded via HopShopGo. It's the only trustworthy, reasonably priced charger I found with two USB-C ports.
The Google USB Type-C to USB Standard-A Plug Cable was out of stock for a while; I grabbed one when it returned on 9th November 2015. It doesn't ship to Singapore directly, so I forwarded it via HopShopGo.
The iOrange-E USB Type-C Cable is one of Benson Leung's recommended USB-A to USB-C cables. It comes in gold, silver, and black, each in three lengths, 0.5m, 2m, and 3m. Prices have crept up since his endorsement.