TM To Launch HSBB On 24 March

March 11th, 2010

TM is reported to be launching the high speed broadband (HSBB) service come 24th of March.  That’s March, of this year, 2010, before you start making sarcastic comments like “which year”, TM says.  TM will launch the service at Dataran Merdeka – a bit ironic since we are still not guaranteed freedom nor independence from TM’s wired broadband monopoly after all these years, don’t you think?  The PM himself will launch the service, in conjunction with the launching of the National Broadband Initiative.

TM’s CEO says that the HSBB service will be “premium service, but not premium pricing.“.  Let’s certainly hope so.  We are already falling behind in terms of world standards – LTE/4G wireless broadband trials in the US has already surpassed the “best effort” speeds of HSBB – and this from a wireless service!  Oh, and those 4 areas covered at launch may be called “high density” areas – hence the choice for initial launch, but the more cynical amongst us will say that they were chosen because they were “affluent” areas, able to afford the service.  It looks like the dream of a high speed wired broadband service will indeed remain in the realms of the rich, just like the wired fibre broadband service launched recently by Time.com.  Oh well…

As usual, TM’s own website doesn’t carry this press release or press statement, but we’re not in the least bit surprised, are we?  Go on, write in with your thoughts – I know you’ve got a lot of snide ones to make!

Source.

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Dell Vostro 3000 Series

March 11th, 2010

Dell recently introduced a new addition to its family of business oriented notebooks, called the Vostro 3000 series.  The Vostro series is amongst the most affordable in Dell’s business notebooks range, and the 3000 series carries on this tradition.  4 sub-families are available: the 3300 – 13 inch screen, 3400 – 14 inch screen, 3500 – 15 inch screen and 3700 17 inch screen.  The majority of the models come equipped with Intel’s latest “Core i5″ processor technology, with the top end models equipped with the Intel “Core i7″.  The top end models also come with dedicated graphics card.

The prices range from RM 2,799 to RM 4,199.  If you pre-order one today, Dell says:

*Pre-Order now and be amongst the first to receive your new laptop in an estimated 3-4 weeks timeframe.

Do come back and share with us your experience in using one if you decide to get one, ‘k?

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Love Meter And Mobile Jukebox

March 10th, 2010

With a title like that, you’d think this was a post about something that was “NSFW” (not safe for work).  But I assure you it is not.  They are two new services from Maxis, for its postpaid and prepaid Hotlink customers.  Maxis says that these two services are “new” and “innovative”.  Check out the press release below for details.

MOBILE JUKEBOX AND LOVE METER, FIRST-IN-MALAYSIA INNOVATIONS FROM MAXIS AND HOTLINK

Maxis and Hotlink are giving Malaysians, even more engaging and original, new mobile services

Kuala Lumpur, 10 March 2010 – Malaysia’s leading communications provider, Maxis Berhad (‘Maxis’) is pleased to announce new firsts in valued-added mobile services, available to all customers of Maxis and Hotlink, on the full range of mobile devices that they carry. The creative new services, Mobile Jukebox and Love Meter, add to Maxis and Hotlink’s extensive range of subscription options, to further the variety of ways in which customers can connect and be enriched.

Mobile Jukebox

For only RM2 a month, the Mobile Jukebox allows you to access anywhere, anytime and listen to your favourite music from a constantly updated and expanded list of thousands of songs, at the preferential call rate of RM0.10 per minute. You’ll enjoy the best titles in your choice of Bahasa Malaysia, English, Chinese (Mandarin/Cantonese) and Tamil from the leading musicians of today in all key genres.

With Mobile Jukebox you won’t have to purchase a music/MP3 player or download particular software – likewise you won’t need to purchase and download music titles track by track. Instead, enjoy instant music on-the-go, in all major Malaysian languages, with just three keys needed to navigate between channels and songs and to add favourites to your own mobile music album or to replay a favourite.

Subscription to Mobile Jukebox is by dialing *100# followed by selection of ‘Mobile Jukebox’ and ‘Subscribe’.

You’ll then be offered a choice of languages, which when selected will bring up a choice of channels – thanks to the mobile music service’s repeat user intelligence feature, channels which you listen to most often will be tracked, and will be accessible first and within five seconds.

Love Meter

For only RM3 a month, Love Meter gives you an instant measure, for an unlimited number of calls, of how much interest is being experienced by the person to whom you initiated a call. During the call itself, you’ll be alerted to how engaged your friend or romantic interest is in the conversation with you, enabling you to respond more sensitively in return. Then right after your call, you’ll receive an SMS or MMS as preferred, confirming the Love Meter’s assessment in percentage terms. You’ll also receive a report of Very Low to Very High, in the specific areas of Anticipation, Concentration and Embarrassment, to help you understand the feelings of your call partner.

Customers who wish to subscribe, can simply dial *100#, select ‘Love Meter’, click on ‘Subscribe’ then select to receive the Love Meter’s report in either SMS or MMS. Then all it takes to activate the Love Meter at will, is to dial *143 followed by the call recipient’s number, reaching across Maxis and other service providers’ networks.

In a launch contest which ran from 18 January till Valentine’s Day on 14 February, Madam Soh Lee Beng from Segamat, Johor, won the grand prize of a pair of Tissot, his and her watches worth over RM2000, for accumulating the highest Love Meter scores across the month. She did this with the help of her 21-year-old son, who used Madam Soh’s phone to call his girlfriend and friends, liberally enjoying Love Meter’s features with the indulgence of family.

***

Said T. Kugan, Maxis’ Head of Products and Infotainment of the new services: “Mobile Jukebox and Love Meter were designed together with our leading application developers, to enrich the options and experiences which are possible with feature-rich mobile services.”

“Mobile Jukebox extends our commitment to mobile entertainment, and to making it easier to enjoy more content on an affordable basis, with fewer barriers and more personal choice. Love Meter taps into an essential aspect of communications with fun and ease, helping people to listen to each other better when in conversation. We hope that both these new and original services will delight our mobile communities.”

For more information, please visit www.maxis.com.my

Anyone of you out there using this yet?  Any feedback?

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How Soon Can Malaysia Expect The iPad?

March 10th, 2010

I’m afraid the answer is “not anytime soon”.  I am basing this on the fact that the Malaysia website still does not have a dedicated page for the iPad.  Instead, when clicking on the iPad icon in the Apple Malaysia Store, one is directed to the generic Asia iPad page.  When I checked, countries such as Australia (where the iPad is confirmed to be arriving in “late April” as per Apple’s latest iPad press release), Hongkong and Singapore all had their own dedicated iPad pages.  However, both the Singapore and Hongkong pages do not have an estimated shipping date.

Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand users are re-directed to the generic Asia iPad page.  So, this tells me that the iPad is not arriving before the end of April.  If you want one badly, it looks like you’ll have to pay some exhorbitant prices to get one, either from the US (if you’re really desperate!) or Australia (if you’re not *that* desperate).

Sigh.

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10 Things To Like About The Google Nexus One

March 10th, 2010

…and 5 things to dislike.  This is the title of an article from the geardiary website, who had three persons review the new-ish Google Nexus One.  All of them used it for at least a month, and then came together to try to agree on the 10 things they liked about the phone, and 5 things not to like.  It’s not a technical read at all; more of an end-user perspective.  Some of the things they liked are not really applicable to Malaysia, such as Google’s Voice service, since we don’t get to enjoy it here, so it may subtract somewhat from the number of positive items.

Click here to have a read.  And I like the conclusions section where each of the three reviewers had their final say about the product.  As I read through the article, I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop, and drop it did in the conclusions section!

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