My Minimalist Keyboard

Expansys develops low-cost call centre solution for SMEs

Expansys Technologies, a home-grown content provider, has unveiled a product which will allow small businesses to provide call centre-like services to customers.

Expansys Technologies Managing Director Keeran Janin said the product, dubbed AskRobin.com, uses the short message service (SMS) to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) provide customer service support to clients.

AskRobin will pool businesses into one contact point for customers using web technology. "What we want to do is to offer SMEs a low-cost solution where we would pool together all the SME-level businesses, giving them a very easy, low-cost way to connect and also to provide a gateway for customers to connect to," he said.

By using the AskRobin service, he said, consumers could benefit from a universal number to contact all businesses and lower the cost by pooling together customer services into one resource, thus making it convenient for them to reach businesses in the country.

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BAG Networks launches web-based accounting solution

BAG Networks yesterday launched a web-based accounting system targeted at small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a bid to harness business potential in the country's nascent private sector.

After months of being in the beta-testing stage, the web-based accounting solution, dubbed Ikhlas, was unveiled to entrepreneurs at the Empire Hotel & Country Club.

Invited guests were given the opportunity to test the system, and were briefed by the Ikhlas team on the benefits of the system.

The system, which targets "young companies", is a simplified version of an accounting system which replaces accounting jargon with simple layman's terms such as "money in" and "money out".

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Multitasking Has Finally Arrived

Apple CEO Steve Jobs delivering his presentation on the iPhone OS 4.0 yesterday
The anticipated fourth version of Apple's iPhone Operating System, dubbed the 'iPhone OS 4.0', was officially announced yesterday. The new OS will have more than 100 new user features, including playlist creation, 5x digital zoom in the camera app, customizable home screen, tap-to-focus for video, auto photo-geotagging, and support for Bluetooth keyboards. But what really got me excited was the one thing that everyone has been anticipating on Apple's smartphone device for years: Multi-tasking.

There's a reason why Apple hasn't been implementing multitasking into the iPhone OS until today, and that was to preserve battery life and performance. Apple has finally found a solution to that with its multitasking feature unique to iPhone OS. Although users are still confined with one app on screen at a time, double-tapping the home button now allows the user to bring up a new menu at the bottom screen that reveals working apps that users can switch to without literally shutting down the current app.

Another impressive feature that I was so excited to hear is the ability to create folders. Now users can organize apps into folders with drag-and-drop simplicity, thus eliminating all the clutter. This also allows faster accessibility to your favourite apps, and with this new feature, users can manage up to 2160 apps at once, that's much more compared to the current 180 apps the iPhone can carry.

Other features worth noting are security and compatibility enhancements for business features, better mail management, iBooks apps, a gaming social network and iAds, a new way of displaying ads in mobile devices without hindering productivity.

The iPhone OS 4.0 will be available for download in June for iPhone 3Gs and in September for the third generation iPod Touch (and yes, it will be for the iPad as well). Unfortunately, owners of the iPhone 3G and older iPod Touches are out of luck as they will not be able to enjoy some of the features (arguably no multitasking), due to hardware limitations. That said, now is the perfect time to get the iPhone 3Gs, though I'm sticking with my iPod Touch until a 64GB iPhone is out.

What's This?

Witness the unveiling of a technological breakthrough February 9, only at Macworld.

New Toy

It's Upgrade Time

Click here for more details.

Sony Announces PS3 Slim

Would now be a great time to get one?

Touchscreen Fever

The Memorial

Watched this late last night via live-feed. It was a really sad moment in entertainment history.

Look, No Controllers

Planning to get a PS3 this year? Now hold your horses. Check out what the Xbox 360 can do this time. (makes the Wii-fans sh*t their pants).

iPhone 3Gs, Worth The Wait?

A new version of the iPhone was finally revealed by Apple at the WWDC yesterday. Now sporting 32GB, runs up to 2x faster, equipped with tons of cool new apps, the ability to cut, copy and paste, a 3-megapixel camera and the biggest surprise - it now shoots video! I think I've found the ultimate iPhone I've been looking for. Guess I've to cancel the Flip Mino from my wishlist then.

Click here to learn more.

Apple Unveils Snow Leopard

Apple yesterday finally unveiled its latest operating system update, the Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Snow Leopard will run faster than the current operating system, and will include updates to all of its apps. Apple also announced that the new operating system will launch in September.

“We’ve built on the success of Leopard and created an even better experience for our users from installation to shutdown,” said Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “Apple engineers have made hundreds of improvements so with Snow Leopard your system is going to feel faster, more responsive and even more reliable than before.”

Read the full press release here.

Another Round of Unveiling

Apple has started putting up banners a week prior to the Worldwide Developers conference (WWDC), which runs from June 8-12. The theme of this year's WWDC appears centered around the App Store. The phrase refers to the iTunes App Store that was launched (less than) one year ago, but has seen major success with over 1 billion apps downloaded in the first nine months. The iPhone will clearly take center stage at WWDC with discussion about the upcoming 3.0 Firmware release as well as possibility that Apple will announce a new iPhone.

What else to expect from the upcoming Apple WWDC? The new OS-X Snow Leopard, of course! I'm really excited on this and I can't wait for an upgrade. In other news, Microsoft Windows will release Windows 7 in October 22, that's five months late since I switched to a mac pretty recently. Nevertheless, I'd still install Windows 7 on my PC desktop at home, coz I've seen how sweet it looks. But Snow Leopard has already kept me drooling.

Put a Little Google in Your Pocket

All the talk about Web 2.0 and Cloud Computing sounds like music to my ears. And then theres the Samsung I7500, the first Android phone by Samsung. the I7500 sports a gaggle of Google apps: You can send Gmail, sync your Google Calendar, manage voice mail via Google Talk, and watch YouTube videos. An integrated GPS antenna gives you access to Google Maps and its people-finding app, Google Latitude.

You could surf at near desktop speeds on a blazingly fast 7.2-megabits-per-second HSDPA network, or connect to the Web via Wi-Fi with this little gizmo. With 8GB of internal memory (plus a 32GB card slot), the I7500 has plenty of room to run the hundreds of apps available from the Android Market, play music, and store photos snapped with its 5-megapixel camera. The I7500 also sports gorgeous active-matrix OLED touchscreen and slick interface. If you're not iphone savvy, why not get one of these and enjoy the full power of a true internet phone.

Timeline

The new Acer Aspire Timeline has arrived in Brunei. Featuring 8-hour battery life, multi-touch gesture enabled touchpad, slim and efficient design and equipped with Intel Core 2 Duo performance. Does this look set to beat the Macbook? Check it out at the new Concepts Computer in Kiulap or click here to learn more about the product.

The Nikon D5000 Put To The Test

Thinking of purchasing your first digital SLR? The Nikon D5000 might be just the right camera for beginners. Best of all, this new camera comes with HD video-recording capabilities, so you get the best of both worlds at a price of an entry-level dSLR. And it's got a swivelling LCD live-view screen so you could, say, enjoy shooting self-portraits with ease.

Rejoice! Nikon's New Entry Level dSLR

Goodbye D60, here comes your new successor. The Nikon D5000 is finally unleashed and its really exciting to hear the biggest changes and added features into this little gizmo. In fact, making it a cheaper 2nd body would be pretty much a good choice for those on a budget. Despite the fact that, like the previous Nikon entry level dSLRS (D60 and D40), it doesn't have an In-body focus motor, Nikon users have nothing to fear knowing that now Nikon has pretty much a wide variety of lenses available that is compatible with the D5000.


The new Nikon D5000 now carries a 12.3MP sensor and high-sensitivity that ranges between ISO 200 and 3200, enabling faster shutter speeds, significantly reducing the risk of blurred images when you shoot fast-moving subjects or take pictures in low light. Its light-weight and highly ergonomic in handling, and for the first time in a Nikon entry-level dSLR range, they finally give this new model a fast and precise 11-point AF system, generously more than the D60's limited 3 autofocus points.


The great big change is the ability to swivel the LCD screen, a perfect addition for entry level users, allowing them to take pictures easily from any angle. This is a pretty convenient method of getting those tight shots where one would need to preview their images in live-view mode during those hip-shots or high-shots. Best of all, you can even reverse the monitor for effortless, perfectly-framed self-portraits (finally!).


Another great addition is that the D5000 inherits the D90’s groundbreaking HD movie capability. The added benefit of the D-movie function (introduced as a world-first with the D90), is now being brought to a wider consumer audience. So basically now you get a more affordable movie-making dSLR if the D90 is still pretty steep for your budget.


Nikon finally has an excellent entry-level camera in their catalogue. This also makes this the best choice for beginners who wish to jump on the Nikon bandwagon. The D5000 is perfect for capturing family fun and developing the skills of photography hobbyists.

Can't Afford an iMac?

We all know iMacs are ridiculously expensive, but you can have all the fun with this highly affordable desktop computer by Asus. I've made a preview of this product last November, and now Asus has finally released the EEE Top 1602 Desktop at very affordable prices. The all-in-one's sleek design and user-friendly touch interface make it a great choice for users seeking a basic but fun desktop system. Of course, when it comes to power, the iMac is king. The EEE top is based on netbook components, powered by a 1.6GHz Atom processor and running Windows XP Home, but for the basics (such as surfing the internet which pretty much what we all do on our computers these days), the Eee Top will get the job done.

N97, A Dream Device