VIEWPOINT: Olympus dropped by the Singapore office recently to showcase their latest PEN E-PL1 Micro Four Thirds camera.

This release follows three months after the launch of the EP-2, and the EP-1, which was made available in June 2009.

One of the major difference that sets the E-PL1 from the E-P series is its price point, which will costs an estimated “less than S$1000 (USD707)” with a 14-42mm kit lens. Olympus has also launched several other digital camera models for its mju series of cameras.

For a coverage of what went on, our sister site HardwareZone.com has this coverage.

Check out our HWM ViewPoint video as we catch up with Olympus on what the new cameras are all about:

MARKETING: HWM, Singapore’s leading tech magazine and HardwareZone.com, Singapore’s No.1 technology online portal, paid tribute to 37 companies across 60 categories at the much-awaited HWM+HardwareZone.com Tech Awards at the Sheraton Towers hotel on 3 February 2010.

Thirty-two Editor’s Choice and 28 Reader’s Choice awards were handed out in categories ranging from computers, consumer electronics, communications and digital entertainment. These awards honor industry players who have introduced products of exceptional quality, innovation and performance released between December 2008 and November 2009.

For the full results, see here.  If you want a more detailed coverage of the event, check out what HardwareZone.com Singapore did here.

Photos and videos from the event will be up by tomorrow. UPDATE: As promised, here are some photos and videos from the event:

Read the rest of this entry →

CORP TALK: Nikkei Tech-On has a feature story on how Sony has plans to tap and grow on its gaming user base on the current PlayStation Network (PSN).

The idea is to help grow and integrate an online platform tentatively known as the Sony Online Service, which will then work with its various devices (TV, cameras, ebooks, mobile phones, etc.) for content distribution, generation, revenue and add-on services.

To date, the PlayStation Network (PSN) has 33 million member accounts. The idea is to allow users a singular user-ID which they can utilize to access ’social elements’ from its devices, its networks and of course, the Sony PS3.

This is similar to how the company had once planned for the Memory Stick to be the integrating factor connecting all of its multimedia devices together. With this move, the factor has gone digital, and probably social.

Right now, the PlayStation Network 3.10 firmware update allows users to link their gaming activities with Facebook. Here’s a simple demo of how the Facebook social integration works with the PSN account.

Martin Wijaya, Managing Editor, HWM Indonesia

Martin Wijaya (HWM Indonesia): Another app store? With Sony’s pervasive consumer electronics reach, this could well be a household app store of the future.

Sony has to make sure that the platform is “open” enough for developers to provide content/ applications.

Other consumer electronics giants might follow suit to strengthen (maintain) their foothold within the Internet in near future.

At 9.7-inch, 680g and 0.5-inch thin, the Apple iPad costs between US$499 to S$829 for a 16, 32, 64GB Wi-Fi (w/wo 3G) model.

SHOWCASE: Apple has unveiled what CEO Steve Jobs calls “our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price” at the Yerba Buena Convention Centre in San Francisco.

Officially announced at 2am our time, with details released online, the Apple iPad uses an LED-backlit IPS technology-based screen, has a 9.7-inch XGA (1024 x 768) oleophobic coated multi-touch display, is 0.5-inch thin on the side and weighs 1.5 pounds (680 grams).

It has 16, 32 or 64GB of flash storage, utilizes a 1GHz processor within a chip known as the Apple A4 chip. It also boasts 10 hours of battery life. It has 802.11n Wi-Fi support, Bluetooth 2.1, optional 3G cellular connectivity and more in terms of specs.

Apple iPad operates like an iPhone with a big screen, supporting ebook reader iBooks and the iWork productivity suite.

The iPad is slated to be ready for US customers via AT&T in 60 days (Wi-Fi only model) and 90 days (3G/Wi-Fi model).

The iPad will have new built-in apps such as Brushes, which allows artists to digitally paint on the iPad, and accessibility (including the same SDK support developers get for the iPhone) to third-party apps from the App Store. At the live event, partners like The New York Times, Electronic Arts (demoing Need for Speed Shift) and Major League Baseball went on stage to present content accessible on the iPad.

When it came to ebooks, the iPad has a built-in app called iBooks. The app itself will have an iBooks store for iPad users to browse and buy books and publishing materials from major publishers.

Another app introduced on the iPad is iWork mobile productivity suite, which consists of Pages (word processing), Numbers (spreadsheet) and Keynote (presentations). Each of the app (eg. Keynote, Pages, Numbers, etc.) will cost US$9.99.

(additional summary and photo gallery after the break)

Martin Wijaya, Managing Editor, HWM Indonesia

Martin Wijaya (HWM Indonesia): A giant iPod Touch? Yes, but will my internet connection suffice for the required bandwidth?

Would my Wi-Fi connection be available everywhere?

How much would my data charges be if I go through GPRS or 3G connections? A good product supported with good value data connection from the operators will make it fly, but until the back-end infrastructure is more established, it won’t take off in the region. Read the rest of this entry →

The Google Voice app was rejected by Apple for its App Store but the service stubbornly returns as a Web app for both iPhone and Palm WebOS device users.

T&A: On September 2009, we posted news that Google Voice was rejected by Apple for its App Store service because it conflicts with Apple’s core telephony services on the iPhone. Well the app is back, this time in the form of a HTML5-based Web application accessible at m.google.com/voice via the Web browser on your mobile device.

According to Google’s blog, the Google Voice web app will be accessible for iPhone (version 3.0 or higher) and Palm WebOS device users. Functions within the app like AppCache, lets you interact with web apps without a network connection while local databases allow you to store data locally on the device, so even if you close the browser, you lose no data.

Google Voice basically does what a standard telephony service does, be it making phone calls, listen to voicemail, read voicemail transcripts, send/receive text messages as well as make international voice calls based on Google Voice’s international IDD rates.

Meanwhile, here’s a video demonstrating what Google Voice does: