Posted in Businesses, Communication, Electronics, Freebies, Phones, Technology, Travel, tagged Blackberry, Free, Hyatt Place, Phones on Monday, September 14, 2009| 2 Comments »
Ok they are not toally free.
But Hyatt Place is giving away free Crackberrys with a 2 year sub from either AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile or Sprint.
No reservations or stays required. On a sidenote, if you find a lower published rate on another site for their rooms, they will discount it by 20%.
I want a Storm 2. Argh.
Posted in Businesses, Electronics, Entertainment, Gossip, Home, Shopping, Singapore, Technology, tagged Hewlett-Packard, HP, Online, Private Sale on Friday, September 4, 2009| Leave a Comment »
You are invited for the HP online private sale (includes complimentary delivery!)
Bookmark http://www.hp.com.sg/PrivateSale
The store would open from the 10th to the 13th September 2009.
Good luck on your buys!
Posted in Businesses, Communication, Electronics, Media, Technology, tagged Collecta, Engine, Search on Thursday, July 30, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Searches for results for anything…in real-time, till you click ‘pause’.
Nuff said. Try it!
Posted in Around the House, Businesses, Communication, Entertainment, Freebies, Gossip, Luxury, Reviews, Technology, World, tagged Automatic, BlueMailCentral, Forwarding Company, Letter, Mail on Friday, May 8, 2009| 1 Comment »
Okay! I finished my exams and all that!
Feels awesome to be back! Oh god, it feels like I’ve been away forever! tsk tsk..
So I did some blog-worthy materials on the side during some free time I had, and found this new print company called BlueMailCentral.
They specialise in sending your documents from the comforts of your penthouse bedroom, stuffy office cubicle, the public toilet to places all over our planet. Even North Korea is on their list at USD 1.05, which include VAT, stamps, envelopes and 1 sheet of paper.
What you have to do is to just upload your document to their print servers and they’ll do the job to send your documents to practically any of the still-expanding-list of nearly 370 countries.
This translates to saving mundane time licking those stamps and manually posting your documents at the post-box!
Once you installed their desktop software, you can automatically upload those documents by selecting BlueMailCentral as your printer, when you click print on let’s say Acrobat Reader or Microsoft Word. After which, you can enter the address to which you would like it mailed to, or if you have written it in your document – the software would automatically pull it out for you. You are also able to select to print your documents in colour or greyscale; simplex or duplex. No sweat at all.
So I proceeded to send it to myself to try the system out by sending a university report spanning 17 pages, complete with coloured text and images. You can also test the system out as your first mail is free upon registration! May I also add that there’s no page count restrictions for this free mail? =) Ah! Life’s fickle. BlueMailCentral have recently changed it to 7 pages maximum for your first free mail, to prevent people from abusing the system, lol yes I was one of the lucky ones!
At first, my mailing got delayed due to reasons being the Singapore-side printer company not managing to get my electronic document from the BlueMailCentral server. This quickly got rectified by BlueMailCentral’s International Logistics Manager, Mr. Michel van Boven, who was extremely helpful during the entire process. The best thing being that personal touch when he sends out a personal email asking users to provide feedback on their new baby.
Once my problem got rectified and the Singapore-side print company got the document, I got it swiftly the following day.
Apologies over the relatively grainy photo quality as I could not find my Canon and had to use my iPhone’s lousy camera to take them.
The envelopes come in standard sizes and pages would be folded by half to be slotted in these envelopes. They are exploring other sizes but these would have to be the standard for now.
Apologies over the address removal editing skills – it’s official – I suck at photo edits.
What was interesting but slightly inconvenient, was the use of 3 envelopes to store my 17 page report. Reason being that the automatic envelope inserter can insert up to 7 pages without damaging the envelope.
The maximum an inserter machine can handle, without ripping apart the envelope, is in most cases 7 sheets of paper per envelope. To be sure that the document isn’t damaged we had to limit the amount of sheets per envelope. We did print on the envelopes 1/3, 2/3 and 3/3…this is done so people can check if the entire document did arrive.
Print laser quality is very acceptable and is comparable to my Hwelett Packard CM1017 laser printer’s output. I realised though the blues in my document appeared somewhat with an added purple tint, but I think I’m just nitpicking a whole lot here. They print mainly on either the Xerox Igen3 or the HP Indigo print systems.
Pages weigh in at around 80g/m² giving it a nice overall weight to your documents.
There was a perculiar addition of the lines to the left side of your pages, but all is done in good faith to reduce chances of your documents from being read by the print operator.
The marks on the left side is called OMR, this stands for optical mark recognition. The OMR is needed to automate the inserting process for the envelopes. A machine reads the sequence and checks for missing pages at the same time, then he inserts the letters into the envelopes. If people do this by hand the contents of the letters could be read by them, we want to avoid this of course!
All our partners had to sign a document that forbids them to copy any contents or leak any information that could be in the documents. Our systems are fully automated and the files that are to be printed will be uploaded to their server. They will automatically redirect the file to their printer and after printing put it in their enveloping machine. This way the file is not even watched by them, only the process is monitored. Of course they are able to open the file if they want to, but they can not use any of the materials. If they do so, they will be held accountable for it!
Posted in Businesses, Communication, Entertainment, Gossip, Media, Music, Myself, Phones, Pinnacles Sales, Shopping, Singapore, Specially Brought to You By, Technology, tagged 5320, 5800, Bang & Olufsen, Comes With Music, Gold, N85, N96, Nokia, Starhub on Tuesday, April 14, 2009| 4 Comments »
Hey all! Ok so I’m not officially starting PP and although I did not regret choosing the iPhone over the 5800 XPM,
I’ve got a few offers from Starhub with regards to Nokia’s new range of offerings.
If you think the discounts are fabulous, just leave a comment with the email address you want me to send the discounts to =)
Offers are till the 19th of this month.
And yes, although I have not resumed my postings fully, I will still send you the invite!
Apologies as I have like 5 exams to study for and unfortunately PP has to take a back seat.
On another note:
Bang & Olufsen launches the GOLD colour for their range!
It’s amazing to say the least. I just cannot resist not posting this up!
Posted in Around the House, Communication, Electronics, Entertainment, Gossip, Luxury, Media, Music, Myself, Phones, Reviews, Shopping, Singapore, Society, Technology, World, tagged 3G, 5220, 5320, 5800, Accessories, apple, Camera, Comes With Music, Compare, Comparison, Downloads, DRM, Files, Free, iPhone, Music, N79, N85, N96, Nokia, Pictures, Protection, Review, Service, Songs, Store, Unlimited, VS, XpressMusic on Friday, March 20, 2009| 19 Comments »
Ok so I was given a Apple iPhone 3G.
Decided why not use it as a base comparison with the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic?
§
Apple iPhone 3G
Apple iPhone 3G
You do not have to depress any harder for your actions to be registered.
This is due to different screens being used which I covered in the previous parts.
§
Nokia 5800 XPM
Nokia 5800 XPM
§
For both touchscreen phones:
§
Verdict:
If you want a reliable phone with millions of free music, with a battery that lasts long, choose the Nokia 5800 XPM.
If you want a functional, fun, and stylish phone prone to repairs on its fragile screen, and a desperate need for recharging your phone every now and then (cos there are just so many things to do on it!), choose the Apple iPhone 3G.
§
I have always been a loyal Nokia fanboy for the past years; for their functional, durable, and at times stylish, phones – I still think they have to completely revamp their somewhat glitchy Symbian OS (depite having gone through several upgrades – sure it’s faster, but it’s still glitchy).
Correct current problems! Not add in additional fancies to cover your faults up.
For me:
I choose the iPhone. For now.
Here’s to Part 3 of 4 of the review.
Here’s to Part 2 of 4 of the review.
Posted in Businesses, Communication, Electronics, Entertainment, Gossip, Media, Music, Phones, Reviews, Shopping, Singapore, Technology, tagged 5220, 5320, 5800, Accessories, Camera, Comes With Music, Downloads, DRM, Files, Free, Music, N79, N85, N96, Nokia, Pictures, Protection, Review, Service, Songs, Store, Unlimited, XpressMusic on Wednesday, March 11, 2009| 10 Comments »
Here’s part 3 of my review of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic! =))
I have got something to say, when tethering to my computer for one night, it managed to clock a full 1GB.
I still can’t imagine my data consumption and still reeling from the shock of it lol.
So yeah, make sure you take the one with the price caps, otherwise you’ll end up with a large bill you never imagined possible.
But then the price cap kicked in, so yeah I’m safe. HAHAHA.
On a sidenote:
I am also pleasantly surprised by the touchscreen, and although it is a resistive touchscreen and not a capacitive touchscreen, it is still relatively easy for your finger motions to be detected.
What I really love about Nokia newer range phones is that it comes with GPS Nokia Maps!
And the fact that it comes with Satellite view – it’s awesome cos I am a direction-idiot for the most parts.
Nokia Maps - Satellite View (With Zoom in and Zoom out functions)
The red dot represents your current position and moves when you do.
Next is the stand which you can use to support your phone when viewing videos.
Phone Support Stand for Movie Viewing!
I thought it was a really nice addition for when you need to watch movies with your friends when outside of your house…and tada! something to support your phone at an angle like this….
Nokia with Stand
=)) I constantly like the fact when people ooo and ahhh at this little nifty stand. HAH.
It also really helps that the speakers are sufficiently loud to fill the room.
Nokia Stock Headphones
The Nokia Stock Headphones can be attached to the controlling gadget to pause and play, and pick up calls.
But it can also do without the controls and function on its own.
It’s actually reproduces good listenable music, considering that it’s a stock headphone.
But I still prefer to attach my own B&O earphones.
Extra Stylus
Nokia included an extra stylus in the total package, but really a stylus is not needed for this phone.
Your fingers are fantastic already for the job.
Video out cables
Useful for showing videos on your big screen!
Guitar Pick Strap
Good to double as a Guitar Pick and a Stylus combined.
But again, your fingers can do the work perfect.
Comes With Music Strap
There’s also a Comes With Music Strap, and I think I read somewhere that it would grant you free entry to Zouk.
I have to check with Nokia again, then update this space!
Phone Cover Slip
I actually loath this perforated-on-one-side slip-on case. No doubt it’s pretty sturdy.
But the issue lies when you finally vigourously slip your handphone in, and a phone call comes in, by the time you retrive your handphone from this tight case, your call would have been over.
There are already a few application available for the Nokia 5800, but there are still not much in my opinion.
It’s growing no doubt, but…
I shall touch on them in my last part 4 of 4 review for the Nokia XPM 5800.
*Updated*
Here’s to Part 4 of 4 of the review.
Here’s to Part 2 of 4 of the review.
Here’s to Part 1 of 4 of the review.
§
This Nokia X Starhub review is made possible by Ripplevox.
Posted in Businesses, Communication, Electronics, Entertainment, Gossip, Humor, Media, Phones, Society, Technology, World, tagged Advertisement, apple, Blackberry on Wednesday, March 4, 2009| 1 Comment »
Effective Blackberry advertising here!
And below features a extremely hilarious video.
Reality check: Will there ever be a phone to successfully bring the iPhone down?
Posted in Around the House, Businesses, Electronics, Entertainment, Gossip, Media, Myself, Reviews, Shopping, Singapore, Society, Technology, World, tagged 5220, 5320, 5800, Camera, Comes With Music, Downloads, DRM, Files, Free, Music, N79, N85, N96, Nokia, Pictures, Protection, Review, Service, Songs, Store, Unlimited, XpressMusic on Tuesday, March 3, 2009| 18 Comments »
So here’s part 2 of my review of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic.
I’ve been using it for roughly a week now, and have just about tried out every major function in the phone.
As you all would have known from Review Part 1 that – This Nokia X Starhub review is made possible by Ripplevox.
§
I shall now cover the recommended data plan put out by Starhub.
I am currently using the Starhub MaxMobile Data Plan VAS which is presently priced @ a monthly subscription of $5.35, and comes with 10MB of data worth $30 (roughly equals 3 song downloads).
I have to say that I am satisfied with Starhub’s 3G speed. It takes roughly 15-20 seconds to fully load a roughly 1MB webpage.
It could however still be faster – I don’t fancy waiting too long for pages to load.
The catch here though, is that once you exceed 10MB of usage (which you almost definitely will after downloading endlessly in the Nokia music store), there will be a friendly price cap of $36.38.
Which means, for me, as I use roughly 10-20MB per day multiplied that by 30 days, I’ll consume roughly 450MB data usage per month on the 5800 XPM.
But I will still be charged just $36.38 tops.
Which means if you are able to use 1000GB – you will still be charged an affordable $36.38.
What’s more?
You are able to tether your phone to your computer e.g. Laptops, via Nokia’s One Touch Access, and use that unlimited 3G speed for your internet connectivity.
Time to ditch that free Wireless @ SG plan for no connection drops! =)
So far, so good.
Until this image encapsulated exactly what I felt:
Although I’ve already downloaded around half a thousand songs in a span of a few days – every song from the Nokia Music Store also Come-With-DRM-Protection.
Which means that you would effectively only be able to play them 1) on your computer AND 2) on your Comes-With-Music Phone.
The latest I’ve discovered is that the songs you downloaded would not be able to be set as your ringtone, as shown in the following picture.
“Unable to set as ringing tone. File is protected.”
Free, yet not able to fully utilise. Ambiguity much?
Hope they change it soon.
§
Next up! Pictures shot on the Carl Zeiss Tessar 2.8/3.7, 3.2 megapixels with Auto-Focus lens.
How would they do in Outdoor Natural Sunlight?
Marina Barrage (Without Zoom)
Marina Barrage (With Zoom)
I took these photos while at Marina Barrage, facing the Singapore Flyer.
Above was without zoom, bottom was with zoom. The one with zoom had noticeable grain.
Both are of acceptable quality for casual purposes, but they still cannot replace the clarity found in standalone cameras.
Next: How would they do in Artificial Indoor Light?
Indoor Shot of my Desk (Vivid)
This shot is put to Vivid Mode colours to bring out what my desk colours and items really looked closely to.
The Normal mode looked like this:
Indoor Shot of my Desk (Normal)
The Normal Mode is plain dull and lifeless.
So there you go, pretty predictable-quality average pictures rendered.
We have come to the end of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Review Part 2 of 4.
*Updated*
Here’s to Part 4 of 4 of the review.
Here’s to Part 3 of 4 of the review.
Here’s to Part 1 of 4 of the review.
I will be going in-depth into the other functions of 5800 XpressMusic phone in my next review, part 3. =))
**Update**:
Although I pretty much put down the Nokia Music Store in my first part of the review for the lack of on-the-fly update for new songs, I feel compelled to let on that the Nokia Music Store is really damn useful and good at retriving past songs.
I’m somewhat like a raving rabid dog who muches at all the old songs…like Aqua, The Corrs, Wilson Philips, Sia, Enya, Nelly Furtado, Spice Girls (yes yes whatever, I also went to their Vegas concert haha I’m a die-hard fan), Blink 182, and the list goes on…
Posted in Businesses, Electronics, Entertainment, Freebies, Gossip, Luxury, Media, Music, Myself, Reviews, Shopping, Singapore, Society, Technology, World, tagged 5220, 5320, 5800, Comes With Music, Downloads, Free, Music, N79, N85, N96, Nokia, Review, Service, Songs, Store, Unlimited, XpressMusic on Wednesday, February 25, 2009| 19 Comments »
Good news Asia!
Singapore has been chosen to be the first Asian country to have Nokia Comes With Music mobile phones!
And Pineapple Pinnacles is delighted to be chosen as one of the first in Asia to test this device out =))
Ain’t we excited?!
Comes With Music is a revolutionary first by Nokia by giving out legal unlimited complimentary downloads for 12 months from their Nokia Music Store.
What’s the catch? You WILL be able to keep them playing on your computer or phone even when your 12 months is up!
What happens after you reach 12 months, I hear?
Well from what I heard through the pineapplevine, works are underway for plans to recontract Comes With Music when your complimentary 12 months are up – so you’ll refrain from constantly needing to buy a new phone to enjoy the service (and you’ll reduce e-junk from piling up!)
*Take a peek at the process*
So now let’s have a look at the Nokia Music Store!
Spot the Differences.
Nokia Pay (Not Free)
&
Nokia Comes With Music (Free!)
So just by doing a brief comparison between the two captioned screenshots.
Obviously, one has price tags and another is free-for-all.
Think The Venetian buffet in Las Vegas.
The Nokia Come With Music Store carries music from international hits from Britney Spears to David Archuleta to The Tings Tings, and also includes local talents like Stefanie Sun Yan Zhi to JJ Lin Jun Jie.
Songs are DRM-Protected.
(This causes a problem on the phone in which I will be going in-depth on Review Part 2.)
It is however still not the perfect to-go music store, for example when searching for that new single you just heard off XM Radio,
(For comparison’s sake, we take naturalised most popular music store – Apple iTunes Store, for this review)
let’s say V Factory – Love Struck,
Nokia V Factory (No Matches)
&
Apple V Factory (Single + Album)
Nokia Music Store yields no matches for the V Factory band group, while Apple iTunes yielded what I wanted (the single) as well as their album!
Hmmmmmmm. Does not bode well.
|||
What about searching for Asian songs?
We’ll try Japan Pop-Queen Ayumi Hamasaki.
Nokia Ayumi Hamasaki (One Single Result)
&
Apple Ayumi Hamasaki (57 Albums!)
With Nokia Music Store only having ONE lone single match and the match is not even sung by Hamasaki, and the Apple iTunes store having an impressive collection of 57 Albums…
You can probably see how Nokia Music Store fares disappointingly bad in the aspect of having songs that need to be downloaded, despite the notion that it has millions of tracks.
I mean, which store would not stock Ayumi’s songs? Baffling.
Anyhoo, The Nokia Comes With Music service is available from the
5800 XPM, 5320 XPM, 5220 XPM
Nokia XpressMusic Range (5800 XPM, 5320XPM & 5220 XPM)
N79, N85, N96
as well as the Nokia N-Series Range (N79, N85 & N96).
I believe more models are underway to bring freedom of music to the masses and (very hopefully) out of Apple iTunes’ clutches.
Other than the fact of not having enough songs in Nokia’s repertoire, its downloads are speedy and plays well and clear, and they also transfer quickly between your device and your computer.
We have come to the end of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Review Part 1 of 4.
I will be going in-depth into the 5800 XpressMusic phone itself in my next review part 2. =))
*Updated*
Here’s to Part 4 of 4 of the review.
Here’s to Part 3 of 4 of the review.
Here’s to Part 2 of 4 of the review.
§
This Nokia X Starhub review is made possible by Ripplevox.
________________________________________
Remember to attend the launch of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic & Comes With Music @ The Nokia Music Lounge – Zouk Carpark, Singapore, on 27th January 2009, for your chance to win one of 58 sets of 5800’s for only 58 cents!
Zouk’s resident DJ. Brandon P., The All-American Rejects, and Deadmau5 will be there to partaaay with you!
Dress Code: STRIPES!
For more information, check here!
MCN: W02EF-1BAA6-2D032
Pineapple Pinnacles 