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GC 2007: Leipzig dated, Singapore unveiled
The 2007 Leipzig Games Convention will take place at the Leipzig Messe (same venue as this year) from August 22 to 26, according to GamesIndustry.biz. Additionally, a Games Convention Asia has been unveiled for September 7 through 9 at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre. Games Convention Asia is said to cover 25,000 square meters of floor space, or the entirety of Suntec's facilities. In contrast, the Makuhari Messe (where the 2006 Tokyo Game Show took place) claims 210,000 square meters of space. GC Asia organizers expect 200 exhibitors and 105,000 visitors, which is about 60 percent of this year's GDC (183,000) and 54 percent of this year's TGS. GC Asia 2007 will likely be just a few weeks prior to the Tokyo Games Show, but will its scale prove complementary or competitive to Japan's ten-year-old convention?
Singapore Airlines creating electronic heaven for passengers
If you're tired of those frequent flyer miles becoming increasingly worthless, losing your in-flight WiFi, and the outright lack of sugar-coated peanuts, you may want to check out Singapore Airlines. Already the first airline to implement an in-flight IPTV service, SIA is now adding a touch of luxury (and gadgetry) to all three classes within its forthcoming Boeing B777-300ER and Airbus A380 aircrafts. First class customers, as expected, receive the most improved seating arrangements, as they're graced with 23-inch LCDs, complete with USB ports, power outlets, and noise-reducing headsets. Business class guests get their own 15.4-inch LCD, while economy seats rock a 10.6-inch edition. Although higher-end seats can morph into a full-fledged bed, all customers receive access to the airline's "KrisWorld" in-flight entertainment system, which boasts "over 1,000 on-demand movies, TV shows, games, and audio selections." Moreover, the snazzy monitors provide flight-wide access the built-in "Sun Microsystems StarOffice Productivity Suite," which reportedly supports "most popular file formats" for working on the go. While we're admittedly frightened to think what one of these oh-so-heavenly seats will cost, next month would probably be the perfect time to indulge in that long-overdue trip to Osaka (or Malaysia).
Singapore makes WiFi free, adds computer subsidies
Remember how Singapore was going to provide WiFi for most of the island nation? Well, it looks like they're taking that one step further by taking the S$100 million ($63 million) cost to the government, eating it, and giving free access (for the next two to three years) to the laptop-toting public. Further, the government will provide subsidies on computer purchases for low-income families -- according to The Straits Times, families that earn less than S$200 ($125) a month can purchase a computer for S$285 ($179). Why can't we get such forward-thinking policies over on this side of the Pacific?[Via MuniWireless]
Singapore to get Palm Treo 750v
Cingular may still be playing dumb about its next-gen Treo launch plans -- but Vodafone and their partner network in Singapore, M1, are happy to share theirs. It turns out that M1 will be launching the Windows Mobile-powered 750v in October of this year, 3G data and all, which could ultimately make it just the second launch for the stubless Treo globally (after Vodafone proper). This all depends, of course, on whether Cingular wants to get off its hindquarters and kick things into high gear; we're not holding our breath, so enjoy your 15 seconds of fame, M1.[Via the::unwired]
Creative Zen V Plus 8GB announced
And in this corner, in the blue and black trunks, weighing in at 8GB, Creative's Slammin' Singaporean in Stereo -- the all-new Zen V Plus! That's right folks, Creative announced today its expected 8GB bump to the Zen V Plus, which is due out next month for S$430, the local equivalent of what we might call 270 greenbacks. It's sure to go head-to-head with the slick 8GB iPod Nano and that sassy SanDisk Sansa e280 in an upcoming prizefight. While this new color scheme (pictured) is only available in a limited edition direct from Creative's online store, the press release notes that the new player normally comes in "glossy black with a new colour accent of red" -- actually, we find the snaps on their site to be more of a subdued ochre, but hey, we're just stupid Americans.[Thanks, Vizion and Pablo]
Creative Zen Vision W debuts in US
As expected, Creative went and released the Zen Vision W here in the US. We know that this hit Singapore late last month at COMEX, and CNET managed to review one already -- but what we didn't know is that the Zen Vision will play content from Amazon's new Unbox service. Aside from whatever you might spend at Amazon, the 30GB model will set you back $300, the 60GB an additional Benjamin, and both are available from the usual suspects of online retailers, including Creative's online store. The only problem is that as of this writing, the Zen Vision is nowhere to be found on its site and so far as we can tell that's not for lack of stock.
Zen Neeon 2 reviewed
We first had the pleasure of meeting the Zen Neeon 2 last month, when the long-awaited update to the Zen Neeon was released. Now that they're finally reaching our journo friends in across the Pacific, CNET Asia has put one through its paces. To review, the Zen Neeon 2 comes in 1, 2 and 4GB sizes ($114, $152 and $203 respectively) with a 1.5-inch 128 x 128 color screen, video playback support, voice and line-in recording, and an FM radio. However, the videos that it does play are only AVI RGB565 files (who uses that?), so you'll need to convert first. Also, due to its screen dimensions, a 4:3 or 16:9 video playing on the Zen Neeon 2 results in letterboxing, a definite downside. The new Singaporean player also got dinged in CNET Asia's review for relying solely on that obscure video format and maintaining the old scroll wheel design -- it received a 7.4 rating out of 10. All of that said, we think think that anyone trying to watch something on a 128 x 128 screen has larger problems than letterboxing.[Thanks, ipod_devotee]
Creative Technology introduces Zen Vision:W
Speaking of Singapore, Creative Technology officially introduced the Creative Zen Vision:W this morning. Of course, last we heard from this little guy was just a week ago, when Popular Mechanics called it the "best screen we've seen on a portable media player." Creative issued a formal press release earlier today, and now we've got some of those magical numbers to throw around: 4.3-inch screen, 16:9 format, can view up to 4.5 hours of video, carry 240 hours of vids, and hold up to 15,000 songs. Also, the Zen Vision:W has a Compact Flash slot (there's an optional adapter for other types of media), for direct transfer from a digital camera -- a feature that we'd love to see on other media players as well. It'll be presented at COMEX 2006 in Singapore starting tomorrow for S$649 ($412 US). Its big brother, the 60GB version, will be priced at S$749 ($475 US), but won't be available until the end of September. Also mentioned was the rumored size-bumped Zen Vision:M (S$599, or $380 US), which is now at 60GB, available for pre-order at COMEX and for sale online and in retail stores island-wide by September 2006. For those prices, let's hope that this new widescreen format really catches on, because that original Zen Vision viewing angle was really awful. Come to think of it, maybe we won't wait on that Singapore bureau, after all.[Thanks, Kai]P.S. - Sorry about that cruddy photo, we're waiting for nice, shiny press pics.
Singapore to have nationwide WiFi by year's end
From the sound of things it would seem the island nation of Singapore will soon be the latest country to get the 802.11 treatment, having all of its near 700 square kilometers blanketed in WiFi. That would make Singapore the third nation that we know of to completely covered, joining Mauritius and Macedonia, with Estonia not far behind. A government report, "Intelligent Nation 2015," already notes that Singapore currently averages one WiFi hotspot for every square kilometer, so combined with upcoming WiMax technology, Singapore is aiming to be one ginormous hotspot by the end of the year. That's a pretty ambitious project, mind you, even for a country as well off as Singapore. Of course, this report also states (no joke), that they'll have 4G cell phones, "Fibre to the Home," the "Semantic World Wide Web," and "Embedded and Wearable Computers" by 2015, which by our estimation would make them among the most advanced civilzations around. If they do manage any of those, we may just have to open up an Engadget Singapore bureau pretty soon since that FIOS certainly ain't getting hooked up in our cribs any time soon.[Via CNET]
STMicroelectronics powering Singapore's HDTV trials
We already knew that Singapore had launched their HDTV trials but we didn't know to much about it and we like to know everything that concerns high-def. It turns out that STmicroelectronics is provide the decoder for six-month trial and they choose their state-of-the-art Sti710x chip. This decoder was the first single-chip H.264/AVC and VC-1 decoder when it launch in 2005. It is a high-intergrated design that allowed StarHub to choose the SC-3800C for Singapores first pay-TV HDTV service. Currently there are around a 1,000 users of this box that is helping Singapore jump feet first into the high-def age.
Samsung's 9.9-millimeter SGH-D830 clamshell
So Samsung's showing off a super-slim new flip phone at CommunicAsia 2006 in Singapore called the SGH-D830, but other than its RAZR-killing 9.9-millimeter thickness, they're declining to reveal any of the details that we so desperately need to know. Does it play music? We can't say. Is it i-mode compatible? Maybe, we see an "i" on there. How many megapixels is the camera? Again, you'll find no answers here. Shame, shame on you Samsung, for teasing us with a model so thin and yet so mysterious.
HDTV launches in Singapore
Finally, HDTV broadcasts are available in Southeast Asia as Singapore began testing OTA transmissions yesterday. It appears there will be about 14 hours of HD content aired each week during the six-month trial, including episodes of Smallville, CSI and The OC, plus the final three World Cup games. With high-definition TVs already in many households in the region, they are very ready for this. All we can say is we hope they include CSI: Miami, as it is the best looking of the series, and that they know how to put on a World Cup presentation.
HDTV coming to Singapore
Singapore is set to launch their first HDTV signals come June. This is going to be a trial run for six months and conducted by Singapore's only cable TV operator, StarHub. There is going to have six terrestrial channels available for the tests. Apparently this is the right time for Singapore to do this as they already have ample content and there are tons of HDTVs in households. There is an estimated 200,000 high-def TVs across the Asian country which works out to be one in every five households.
Attack of the animalbots: octopus, fish inspire new robot designs
Rather than a future filled with humanoid robotic overlords as envisioned by the Terminator films, the proliferation of animal-inspired robots makes it seem much more likely that we'll be doing the bidding of a veritable zoo of snakebots, insectbots, robolobsters, mulebots, and perhaps the occasional sharkbot / attack dolphin. The latest animals to have their moves cribbed by researchers are the octopus and fish, with DARPA working on a pneumatic tentacle to replace the clumsy robotic claws of old, while students and faculty at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University have invented a robotic, propeller-less propulsion system that mimics the undulating motion of fins. DARPA's invention, called the Octarm and part of the larger Biodynotics program, was developed in collaboration with scientists at the University of North Carolina, and uses a 24-volt electro-pneumatic pressure system to control a tapered, inflatable arm that can do both fairly precise work as well as heavier lifting. NTU's project, meanwhile, employs an artificial fin attached to adjustable spokes that create a wave-like motion for propelling the bot forward in a manner very similar to a stingray's movements. Movies of both new members of the growing animalbot army, whose purposes are mostly military in nature, are available by following the "Read" links below...Read- Octarm [Via Engadget Japanese]Read- Fishbot [Via Yahoo! Asia]
Play against your pets in virtual reality
If you've ever wanted to play something more meaningful than "Fetch!" with your pets, this research project might prove just the thing. A collaboration between the Emerging Art and Architecture Research Group and the Mixed Reality Lab, Singapore, Mice Arena allows your hamster to chase you -- in a virtual reality.By using a tank with an elastic floor, which is manipulated to reflect the digital terrain, pets can experience the virtual world first-hand. It's an interesting idea, though we're hard pressed to see a practical side to it. Still, the researchers are hoping for "unexpected results", so you never know -- we just may learn something after all.[Via Engadget]
Giant 360 launch in Asia
Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan yesterday, causing productivity to plummet among the hard working and good at math. Gamerscore Blog has pics of the kick-off events.In a surprise move, the Xbox 360s being sold in this region (see photo at right) are apparently 10 feet tall, meaning the DVDs must be the size of trampolines—tough to fit through the door of the average Hong Kong apartment. This explains why gamers in this part of the world only have to pay $30.90 for Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter.See also:360 makes its Korean debutMexico and Colombia welcome the 360Xbox 360 launch pictures from BerlinJapanese launch extravaganza![Thanks, Cesar]
iTunes Music Store in Singapore by 2007?
According to a recent article in the Straits Times, Singapore may gain access to the iTunes Music Store sometime in 2007. Consider that iPod sales over the past year in Singapore increased in the "triple digit percentages" (Apple doesn't release region-specific numbers), and it's clear that Singapore is ready for the iTunes Music Store. The Times also reports that "reliable sources" have informed them of Apple's intention to open an Apple Store in Singapore on a similar timetable. Good luck, Singapore! We're keeping our fingers crossed for you.[Via I Heart Apple]
360 priced for Hong Kong and Taiwan
Microsoft's John Porcaro has the launch prices of the Xbox 360 in Hong Kong and Taiwan, where it is due to go on sale March 2. Both versions will be available, with the Core System retailing for $300 and the Xbox 360 System for $380. He also reminds us of the upcoming launches: February 2: Mexico, Columbia February 24: Korea March 2: Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand Good news for everyone out there who've been unable to get one thus far. Now you just have to hope there's no shortages... cause that's no fun.
