Samsung's iPad?

Seems that now everyone wants to make their own iPad and Samsung has their own answer in the form of the Samsung Galaxy Tab,

At least we have some alternatives and can compare how good the iPad is with its competitors.

Samsung pits its Galaxy against the iPad

NEW TABLET: The new Samsung Galaxy Tab at its unveiling at IFA in Berlin, Germany. - AP

BERLIN: Samsung Electronics Co unveiled a new tablet PC named Galaxy Tab as the latest device meant to rival Apple Inc's popular iPad.

The device offers users "a new galaxy of possibilities" with features such as mobile video conferencing and a video chat function, Samsung Europe telecom executive Thomas Richter said at Berlin's IFA consumer electronics fair.

The thin tablet device weighs 13.4oz (380g) and has a 7in (18cm) touchscreen, making it about three times that of an Apple iPhone, but roughly a third smaller than an iPad.

Richter said it comes with Google Inc's Android 2.2 operating system, which can run HTML5 and Adobe's Flash Player - unlike the iPad.

The Galaxy will allow users to browse the Web and check e-mail just as on a regular PC, Richter said.

"The Samsung Galaxy Tab has been designed to enable consumers to maximise their online experience wherever that may be," the head of Samsung's mobile communications business, J.K. Shin, said.

The price of the device will depend on telecommunications operators through which it will be available starting next month in Europe and later in fall in the United States and Asia, Samsung said.

RIVALS: A journalist comparing the new Samsung Galaxy Tab (right) with the Apple iPad at IFA in Berlin, Germany. - AP

The device supports Bluetooth, WiFi and 3G cellphone networks, making it a combination of smartphone and laptop. It "turns out to be a perfect speakerphone on the desk, or a mobile phone on the move via Bluetooth headset," Samsung said.

The Tablet PC also comes with two cameras, one 3-megabyte digital camera with a flash on the back of the device, and a second camera on the front for video conferences - a feature the iPad lacks, but other competitors such as Dell's Streak Tablet PC also offers.

The company said that the device's battery would support more than eight hours of continuous multimedia usage, or seven hours of video play.

The tablet also comes with Swype, a third-party application already found on Samsung's Galaxy 5 series phone and available for some other Android-based handsets, which allows users to type on virtual keyboards by simply swiping fingers around from one letter to the next, lifting only between words.

The application then uses an algorithm to determine the word that is intended, which the company says allows for typing speeds of more than 40 words per minute.

Commercial success of the device will be crucial for the world's largest maker of computer memory chips, flatscreen TVs and liquid-crystal displays.

Samsung's quarterly profit surged by 83% to a record high of 4.28 trillion South Korean won (RM11.5bil) in the second quarter ended June 30, but the company warned that intensifying competition in areas like mobile phones could dent earnings in coming quarters.

Samsung is the world's second largest cellphone manufacturer after Nokia. - AP

http://techcentral.my/news/story.aspx?file=/2010/9/3/it_news/20100903101828&sec=it_news

TM to charge for Unifi Installation

Picture from lowyat.net

TM is going to cancel their waiver on the installation for Unifi service soon and for those who install Unifi before 30 September 2010.

30 August 2010 Kuala Lumpur

GET UNIFI BEFORE 30 SEPTEMBER AND ENJOY RM200 OFF!

TM to begin charging for installation from 1 October 2010, so hurry, sign-up for your UniFi service soonest possible

The introductory promotional period for Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM)’s UniFi high speed broadband service will end on 30 September 2010. Starting from 1st October 2010 TM will begin charging a one-time fee of RM200 for UniFi installation. This installation charge is across the board; covering the UniFi VIP5, VIP10 and VIP 20 triple-play consumer packages as well as the BIZ5, BIZ10 and BIZ20 business packages. For convenience, the UniFi installation charge will be spread in instalments over a period of 5-months at RM40 per month and will be reflected in the customer’s monthly bills. However, all of the related UniFi customer premise equipment and peripherals including router/access point, the broadband termination unit (modem) DECT phone and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) set top box -- estimated to be worth RM800 -- will continue to be provided by TM free-of-charge. Imri Mokhtar, Executive Vice-President for Consumer, TM, further emphasised that despite the upcoming installation charges for UniFi from 1 October 2010, consumers who sign up before the date will not be levied with the fee even if their installation takes place after the date. “As our promotional period for UniFi will end on 30 September 2010, interested customers are encouraged to sign up for their selected UniFi packages soonest possible before the end of September to continue enjoying the current waiver of the installation charges. So grab the chance to become pioneers and enjoy the immense experience change in communications, lifestyle and entertainment brought about by high-speed broadband.” Imri then elaborated on the tedious and complex installation process required for UniFi: “UniFi installation is very different compared to normal telephony and broadband installation due to the sensitive nature of the technology involved which requires a high degree of accuracy. UniFi is a service provisioned via direct fibre connectivity to the home where the installation process is more complicated and requires a high degree of technical competency. The UniFi installation process involves many elements - a site survey, drilling, ducting, piping, electrical work and equipment reconfiguration. Our specialist installers will be dealing with delicate and fine fibre optic cables, which require a very different handling methodology compared to normal copper cables. Hence, UniFi installation at a particular premise will usually take between 3 – 8 hours.” UniFi was launched in March this year in selected areas around the Klang Valley. TM’s UniFi service is currently available in 23 areas including Shah Alam, Damansara, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Bangsar, Wangsa Maju, Sungai Buloh, Puchong and Cyberjaya, as well as Putrajaya and Damansara; and 5 areas outside the Klang Valley, located in industrial zones such as Kulim Hi-Tech Park in Kedah, Bayan Baru in Penang, Senai and Permas in Johor. UniFi service rollout has exceeded 500,000 premises passed nationwide. UniFi is being progressively rolled out to cover 48 exchange areas reaching 750,000 premises passed by the end of 2010, and 1.3mil premises passed by the end of 2012. There are over 9,000 UniFi customers currently and approximately 12,000 applicants have registered their interest in the service. UniFi is currently being offered via three residential and three business packages. The Residential triple-play packages are VIP5 at RM149 a month, VIP10 at RM199 a month and VIP20 at RM249 a month. Each package comes with voice, high speed Internet and either a basic or premium HyppTV subscription. The businesses packages are BIZ5 at RM199 a month, BIZ10 at RM599 a month and BIZ20 at RM899 a month. Each business package comes with an attractive call plan, high speed Internet and a host of complimentary value added services. http://www.tm.com.my/ap/about/media/press/Pages/UNIFIINSTALLATIONCHARGES.aspx

1Gbps in Malaysia!!

OMG!!

Finally some guy has launched 1Gbps speeds at RM199 although most likely it is for local usage if you want to get the max but still we have an option now.

Hopefully the international speeds won't be slow.

Syed Yusof buys into Vasseti, which is launching its broadband service today

KUALA LUMPUR: Businessman Tan Sri Syed Yusof Syed Nasir has bought a 30% stake in Vasseti Bhd, which is expected to launch its 1Gbps (gigabit per second) fixed line broadband service offering for residential users in select areas today.

“Telecommunications is a growing business. It has a lot of potential and I believe it is not too late for me to be part of a growing segment of the market,” Yusof told StarBizWeek in an interview yesterday.

Yusof has various business concerns and is well known for his interests in Hard Rock Cafe and Hotels and the Concorde Hotel chain. He is a partner alongside the Sultan of Selangor and Ipoh-born tycoon Ong Beng Seng in the RM2.5bil Four Seasons Place Kuala Lumpur which is being developed next to the Petronas Twin Towers.

Syed Yusof at Vasseti’s network operations centre in Kuala Lumpur.

With a paid-up capital of RM15mil, Vasseti has business interests in telecommunications and information technology, plantations, construction, tourism, real estate and human resource outsourcing services. Its other shareholders are Ranjeet Singh Sidhu and Datuk M. Harisharan Pal Singh.

“I came on board early this year,” said Yusof, who is Vasseti chairman.

Vasseti’s journey into telecoms began early this year when it undertook a corporate exercise to buy 80% equity stake in V Telecoms Bhd, which has a paid-up capital of RM502mil. V Telecoms holds network facilities provider and NSP network services provider licences.

Yusof said V Telecoms had thus far invested RM500mil to build a fibre optic network that spanned the length of Peninsular Malaysia. As it does not have enough fibre in the ground, the company also buys capacity from other telecoms providers to cater to the needs of its clients which are mostly multinational corporations and some telcos. “It is a 50:50 combination between our own fibre and what we lease from others now. We need to expand our network and our target is to invest RM1bil by the year-end for this purpose,” Yusof said.

V Telecoms’ investment far had been sourced via private equity and internal funding. The company has also just completed a fund-raising exercise for an additional RM100mil by issuing redeemable convertible cumulative preference shares.

“We will need to raise more funding in the market for our expansion and we intend to source funding via private equity funds and high net worth individuals,” said Yusof.

According to V Telecoms executive director Anthony Suppiah, wholesale makes up 70% of the company’s business and retail the remaining 30%. With the 1Gbps community broadband product, the company expects to reach out to more residential users to grow its retail business.

“With 1Gbps, the network is capable of delivering very high speed broadband and can even cater for video streaming and IPTV (Internet protocol TV) besides voice connectivity. The residential offering will be available in Capital Square in Kuala Lumpur, The Loft in Bangsar and KL Sentral. We are charging RM199 per month for the 1Gpbs,” he said.

Asked how the company could stand alongside bigger players with deep pockets and a much wider reach, Anthony said “we are not in competition with other fibre optic players, we see ourselves as complementing them. Our challenge is how we can brand ourselves to be a provider and expand at the speed the market demands. That, to us, is more crucial.”

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/8/21/business/6896284&sec=business

A tribute to all the 'bananas' out there

I found this comic at bolehland.net and the scene portrayed is very true in Malaysia.



Although I am embarrassed to say this but I'm partly one with the exception that I can still understand spoken Mandarin (okey, basic spoken Mandarin)

You can comment at the original site page
http://bolehland.net/post/singlepost.php?id=75

They also have many other comic strips at bolehland.net which are quite funny at times.

Talk more this Raya with iTalkWhoa!!

As we all know, this month is the holy fasting month for the Muslims, know

n as Ramadan, before they celebrate Hari Raya Puasa.

This is the time when we are encouraged to ask for forgiveness and I must say, even though I’m not a Muslim, I think it is also good to do so especially towards our parents and whoever who has helped us along our journey in life.

Although we may not have a chance to meet all of them in person, spare a thought and give them at least a phone call to appreciate what they have done.

If you are afraid that the phone call is going to cost a lot especially when you or the other person is overseas, fret not as iTalk has come up with iTalkWhoa to help you.

As a special offer during this Ramadan, iTalk is having a special promotion for those who activate their iTalk cards gets 20% free talk time and get additional talk time up to RM7 when you buy it online during the promotion period which is from 1st September to 31st October 2010.

Denomination	Free Airtime
RM50	RM10
RM30	RM6
RM20	RM4

And not forgetting the hardworking Muslim workers who can’t go back home, iTalk also has a promo for them to call back home and greet their loved ones which are much cheaper than other telcos.

The offer starting from 10th August 2010 until 30th September 2010 starts as low as 9sen/30second to 3 selected countries namely Bangladesh, Indonesia and Pakistan and the best part is that the calls cost the same whether you are calling a mobile phone or a fixed line.

For those who haven’t called their loved ones for a while, now there is no excuse not to do so and to the Muslims all around the world, I wish you “Selamat berpuasa”.

USD $35 Laptop!!!

Ever thought of having an iPad but the price seems to be too far away?

India has some sort of solution to it by releasing the USD$35 laptop which actually looks kinda like the iPad (although a lot smaller in size)

India’s Rs.1500 Laptop: IIT, IISc unveil Cheapest Laptop at $35 for Students

Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for human resource development (HRD) has recently announced the laptop, which is even cheaper than a mobile phone. The laptop has been specially designed keeping the students and teachers in mind, and has been brought out with a price tag of just Rs.1500/- , that is about $35. The laptop has been provided with all the functions which a normal laptop has, but it has lesser speed and memory.

The laptop is a touch-screen access cum computing device and is expected to arrive at the Indian market by the early phase of the year 2011. The operating system provided along with it is Linux OS, with multimedia content viewer (pdf, docx, ods, adp, xls, jpeg, gif,png, bmp, odt, zip, AVCHD, AVI, AC3), and the other computing capabilities such as the Open Office, SciLab for printing support, USB port, video-web conferencing facility, searchable Pdf reader, unzip tool for unzipping files etc. The media player provided along with it is capable of playing streamed as well as stored media files.

The laptop is even Wi-Fi enabled, and is provided with remote device management capability and solar panel. “We have made the breakthrough and are now ready to capture the market. The price of these devices will be around $35 per piece. We expect it to go down to $20-$10,” said Sibal. In the first phase, thegovernment is even planning to place orders for about 10 lakh such laptops mainly for the college students.

But the government has not decided anything on the distribution aspect of such laptops, thus the students might as well have to wait for the same. This new and affordable laptop is just an upgraded version of the $10 laptop which had to be used with a projector, launched in Tirupati in last February. But, however the device failed to reach the market as its cost rose to $54 in quite a less time.

An MHRD official has revealed that in the past one year, quite a number of IITs had made progress on such devices. MHRD has even held discussions on the concept with experts from IIT Kanpur, IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur and IISc Bangalore. Both B-Tech and M-Tech students were even guided to produce the motherboard for such laptops at low cost, which would have the flexibility to change the inner components.

One motherboard design was generated under MHRD’s guidance in the B-Tech project of a student from VIT, Vellore. The cost of the material used in the laptop amounted to up to $47, but this was brought down massively by an exercise, which even included a 50% government subsidy. ”Initially manufacturing might be done in Taiwan or some other place but eventually it will be done in India,” Sibal said.

The $35 price, he said, is inclusive of cost of manufacturing abroad.The cost of the solar panel has not been considered into the price yet, and the ministry is trying to talk to a company in bringing down the cost of the solar panels. But, one limitation is that the device is not accompanied by a hard drive.

http://b4tea.com/information/gadgets/indias-rs-1500-laptop-iit-iisc-unveil-cheapest-laptop-at-35-for-students