Xperia pro slips to late July

Sony Ericsson UK store

Seems the Xperia Pro's availability is slow compared to other models that were launched around the same date.

Looking at this model because it has a Exmor-R backlit camera sensor, plus a QWERTY keyboard.

Trying to get a Lenovo X120e in Singapore

Ever since AMD launched its new E-350 processor, I have been looking forward to buy a laptop with that chip. The chip offered a nice balance between price and performance; faster than an Intel Atom, but cheaper than an i3.

The following models were released, with my comments in brackets

• Asus 1215B (cheap, has page up/page down keys)
• Dell M102z (9-cell battery option, but expensive)
• HP DM1 (pretty, good battery life, big chicklet keyboard, but no page up/page down keys, and no dedicated trackpad keys)
• Lenovo X120e (matte screen, page up/page down keys, but not sold in retail shops)
• MSI U270 (similar to 1215B, haven't seen it in person)
• Sony YB-series (expensive)

With the Lenovo X120e having most of the features desired, I decided to write to Lenovo Singapore to try to get them to reconsider their decision.

Online reviews can only go that far

Visited Funan today to get some hands-on contact with a few electronic products that I'm considering

1. Rii portable bluetooth keyboard (for Galaxy Tab)

Main target today; visited Trends Mobile to see this product. Keypad felt ok, but the design, which places a trackpad on the right of the keypad, meant that it was awkward to thumb-type, especially for the right thumb, which had problems reaching keys near the centre)

2. Sony TX5 or TX10 camera (for candid street photography)

Didn't manage to get my hands on a TX5, as it is a run-out model. The TX10 felt a little too small, with my hands struggling to find a comfortable shooting position. The sliding mechanism is also a little iffy. Instead of sliding downwards in a linear motion, it actually has to pivot outwards before moving down.

3. HP DM1 notebook (to replace my old workforce, the Asus Eee PC 4G)

The DM1 sits between a netbook and a notebook, running on AMD's E-350 chip. Pity that the Challenger offer of a 4GB model for $699 seems to be gone, with the specs sheet mentioning it with 2GB of RAM. Saw it's other 2 direct rivals too, the Asus 1215B ($599, 2GB), and the Dell M102z ($799, 4GB). The Asus was a little bland looking, and I was not convinced about the battery life. The 1215B though, is the only 1 of the 3 that has dedicated Page Up and Page Down keys. The Dell on the other hand, seemed to look a little bulky, and the screen seemed to have a limited tilt angle.

4. Kata 3N1-22 (backpack that can take a DSLR + notebook)

The 22 model seemed a little too narrow, while the 33 model looked a little boxy. Price wasn't cheap either, with both close to the $200 mark.

Too fast

Modern communication is too fast for our own good.

The world of copy-and-paste has made it too easy to make a boo boo.

Even typing has been accelerated, with tools like word prediction, like what I'm using now.

Facebook "boliao"ness - "Forbidden love" story is viral marketing campaign

http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20110415-273900.html

This is the kind of story that exposes the "boliao"ness of Facebook.

The content of the story is close to my heart though...

Signalrunners & Julie Thompson - These Shoulders (Andy Moor Remix)

More tinkering: How MotoGP will change in 2012?

The 2012 MotoGP Revolution: Part 1 - The Rules, The Bikes And The Teams | MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks
Great detailed analysis on the rather confusing rule changes for MotoGP in 2012. Part 2 found here.

Fifth Gear - [19x02] - 2011.04.08

Car Videos on StreetFire
Episode 2 of Season 19 of Fifth Gear. Loved the reviews of the M3 GTS & DS3 Racing.

Fifth Gear - [19x01] - 2011.04.01

Car Videos on StreetFire
Glad to see Fifth Gear back for Season 19. Relieved to see a human beat the gizmo-filled GT-R, although I suspect the result would be different if it was a mere mortal (and not Tiff) at the wheel.

The invisible hand of Intel?

Quick post to update on the availability of AMD Fusion laptops in Singapore.

Besides the HP DM1, which has been available for a while, it seems the well regarded Lenovo X120E will only be available in certain markets, see Facebook reply from Lenovo below.

...On February 15 it will be available in North America, China and other emerging market countries (such as Eastern Europe, Indonesia, Korea). Unfortunately at this time there are no plans to launch X120e in Latin America, Japan, Australia or Western Europe (including Germany and Norway).

Sad really. But a piece of good news is the updated Dell M102Z, which I spotted on the Dell Singapore website. There's an option for a 9-cell battery, which bodes well for all-day computing...

Back to the blog post title. A while ago, I noticed that some model ranges of certain brands were deliberated omitted from the quarterly IT shows because they contained AMD processors. Not very appropriate, in my view.

So I am glad that AMD has once again caught up and produced a great competitor to the Atom processor. Next step will be to challenge the dominance Intel currently enjoys in the i5 & i7 range.