Jason Chee

Surface Pro 3 arrives in Singapore Microsoft-commissioned survey shows that changing consumer needs are driving Singapore’s demand for more powerful and versatile devices like Surface Pro 3 Singapore — Aug. 28, 2014 — Microsoft Singapore today announced retail availability of Surface Pro 3 in Singapore. The latest in the Surface lineup, Surface Pro 3 is a lightweight tablet that delivers the power and performance of a laptop. Customers in Singapore can buy any of the Surface Pro 3 Intel® Core™ i3, i5 or i7 models at MicrosoftStore.com, selected retailers and authorized commercial resellers. Surface Pro 3 arrives as consumers are increasingly looking for more powerful devices to be more productive at work and leisure. In a recently commissioned survey of 300 working professionals¹ in Singapore, 53% of respondents said that they are no longer desk-bound at work. In addition, 76% of working professionals in Singapore own three or more types of devices, and 38% of respondents carry both their tablet and laptop with them at all times. In a world where true convergence of digital work and life has become pervasive, consumers are increasingly turning to hybrid² or laptop devices to meet their needs. In some work scenarios like presentations or communications, a tablet is being used as well. However, 50 percent of respondents felt that they would get the best experience for both work and play from a hybrid or laptop than a standalone tablet. The top two frustrations about a tablet listed are the lack of processing power and the lack of applications. The inability to use a mouse tied with the lack of productivity applications for the third most frustrating factor. “Our research is clear: people want just one device that does everything,” said Joy Quek, Windows Business Group Lead, Microsoft Singapore. “The next era of personal computing is not just about tablets and smartphones, it’s also about powerful devices like hybrids which make work-life much more efficient. Our vision is that Surface Pro 3 is the tablet that can replace your laptop — packing all the performance and utility of a fully powered laptop into a thin, light and beautifully designed tablet. You’ll love being able to carry one device for your next class, workday or weekend getaway knowing you have all the power you need.” In fact, 28 percent of respondents chose a hybrid as their preferred device for their next purchase, a higher number compared to tablets (25 percent) and laptops (24 percent). Continued Quek: “Considering that hybrids are a fairly new category of devices, it is great to see it gaining preference as a better way to bridge the digital work and life needs of working professionals.” Surface Pro 3 – the sleek and premium tablet that enables work-life convergence Surface Pro 3 is ideal for consumers who wants to streamline their lifestyles and get stuff done, not just mobile professionals, but also students and people in business environments who need high levels of corporate access, data security and central manageability. Some of the key features of Surface Pro 3 include: ...

New Lumia 530 Brings Uncompromised Smartphone Performance at SGD159 Most Affordable Lumia Available on 23 August 2014 Singapore – August 20, 2014 – Microsoft Devices Group today announced the Lumia 530, the most affordable Lumia to date, delivering an uncompromised smartphone experience with the latest Microsoft and Lumia innovations. It is available in Singapore for an estimated retail price of SGD159 from 23 August 2014, Saturday. Available in Dual SIM 3G variant, Lumia 530 will expand the reach of Windows Phone as the first Lumia introduced below 200 Singapore Dollars, allowing more people to enjoy innovations and Microsoft services found in high-end Lumia smartphones. This includes: ...

Microsoft has announced via the Surface Blog that Surface Pro 3 will become available for purchase at retail outlets and commercial resellers on 28 August in Singapore. Customers can pre-orders for Surface Pro 3 now at the Microsoft Store online, as well as at authorized retailers Challenger, Newstead and Harvey Norman. In addition, the Surface Pro 3 Docking Station is now available for pre-orders at a recommended retail price of S$288.00, and will be available in September 2014. Customers who pre-order or purchase Surface Pro 3 between 4 Jul and 31 Aug 2014 with DBS/POSB credit or debit cards will receive a free messenger bag (while stocks last). Here’s a quick recap on availability, pricing and current promotions for your quick reference: ...

Microsoft announces 2014 Worldwide Imagine Cup winners Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella awards World Champion team; program expansion to empower more student innovators announced. SEATTLE — Aug. 1, 2014 — Microsoft Corp. on Friday announced the winners of the Microsoft Imagine Cup, the company’s premier competition for student technologists, developers and aspiring entrepreneurs from across the globe and a cornerstone of the Microsoft YouthSpark initiative. Over the past 12 years the Imagine Cup has empowered more than 1.7 million students worldwide to do more and achieve more through technology. A first place team was chosen in each of the three competition categories: Games, Innovation and World Citizenship. One of those three winning teams was then named World Champion, taking home the Imagine Cup and receiving a private meeting with Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and technology advisor. The winners were announced at the Imagine Cup World Championship ceremony during Microsoft’s TechReady conference at the Washington State Convention Center, in front of an audience of 5,000 students, judges, partners and Microsoft employees. The ceremony was the culmination of a weeklong event and celebrates the power of student innovation. “There is not a business, vertical industry or person on the planet untouched by technology,” Nadella said. “Imagine Cup empowers students to hack tough problems, while learning and building off the work of others. Student developers play a huge role in bringing new technologies to life in a mobile-first, cloud-first world. Congratulations to all the competitors for their hard work and creativity.” Also announced was the expansion of the Imagine Cup program to make it available for even younger students worldwide who have the desire to create and code using Microsoft technology. Through the Imagine Cup program, students are empowered to dream big, build creatively, learn through competition and boldly bring their ideas to life as they gain lifelong career skills throughout their journey. “Imagine Cup is about fostering new ideas and encouraging students to push the boundaries and imagine what’s possible now and in the future. Student developers play a huge role in helping to bring new technology innovations to life in ways that shape the way we work, live and play,” said Steve Guggenheimer, corporate vice president and chief evangelist, Microsoft. “Going forward, Microsoft’s Imagine Cup program aims to empower even more students, at younger ages, with the technologies, skills and resources to build a lifelong passion for technology, helping to grow the next generation of innovators. We’re very proud of the Imagine Cup program and even more proud of our student competitors from all around the globe.” ...

Singapore’s birthday is just round the corner, and what better way to display your patriotism for your country than showing some love for our local app developers? There are tonnes of made-in-Singapore apps in the Windows and Windows Phone Stores, and we’ve highlighted some of the must-haves in this issue. From food to entertainment, these apps are made by Singapore, for Singapore. While enjoying the apps, you’ll even have the bonus feed-good factor of having supported your own hometown app heroes. So scroll on and check out the apps! ...

Celebrate 8 things you may not know about Windows 8.1 & Windows Phone 8.1 this August! Did you know that Microsoft has created nine signature Bing Apps for Windows and Windows Phone? We’re not just talking about web search—these Bing apps put the power of decision-making into your fingertips with up-to-date info ranging from Weather to Travel to Health & Fitness. With the latest Windows Phone 8.1 update, you can now enable single sign-on to all your favorite Bing apps for a unified experience. Your customized settings and personal information are synchronized across all your devices, so that the information you desire is always front and center. How fast can you type the following 160-character sentence on your smartphone? ...

Microsoft on Wednesday announced an update to Windows Phone 8.1 that has some great features for everyone around the world. These features include: Live Folders will be available as part of the update, letting users organize their apps into folders on the Start Screen. We call this Live Folders because the live tiles of apps appear in the tile of the folders—you won’t miss tile updates because you group apps in a folder! SMS merge & forwarding. It’s now easier for users to select multiple SMS messages for deletion and forwarding. Apps Corner is a new feature that displays pre-selected apps in a special ‘sandboxed’ mode that restricts which apps are used. This is catered for businesses so that they can allow access to specific apps in cases where a full MDM solution isn’t required. These updates will be made available from next week if users are on the Windows Phone 8.1 Preview for Developers; and the update will roll out to the rest of Windows Phone 8.1 devices in the coming months. You can read more about these new updates and features on the Windows Phone Blog here.

All-new Windows Phone experience: Lumia Cyan update The latest Windows Phone 8.1 features for your Lumia Microsoft has just released the latest Lumia Cyan software update, which has now been rolled out to Nokia Lumia phones running on Windows Phone 8. Integrating a combination of the latest Windows Phone 8.1 update and a rich suite of unique Lumia features, the Lumia Cyan update brings new powerful experiences for existing Lumia smartphones. The new features in the Lumia Cyan update include: ...

Lumia 930 now available in Singapore The latest innovation beautifully integrates the best of Microsoft and Lumia Microsoft today announced the availability of the Lumia 930 with Windows Phone 8.1 in Singapore at a recommended retail price of SGD789, a device which integrates the best of Microsoft and Lumia to deliver the ultimate video and imaging experience on a smartphone. Lumia 930 packs a rich suite of differentiating applications and services into a beautifully crafted design with metallic details and vibrant new colours, while keeping content like photos, videos and documents in sync across Windows Phone, PC, tablet and Xbox devices. ...

The Nokia Lumia 635 was launched in Singapore on the 14th of June, 2014. Recently, I had the opportunity to check out this low-cost device - a pioneer of the next version of Windows Phone (8.1). Setting Up I was pleasantly surprised at the upgraded out-of-box experience that comes with Windows Phone 8.1. The cellular network setup that used to be separate from the initial setup has now been merged, and the overall setup process has been simplified. I ran a restore from my Nokia Lumia 1020 which quickly brought back all my accounts, contacts, apps and customization options (even backgrounds and tiles) in less than 10 minutes. The Lumia 635 I got came with OS version 8.10.12382.878 which is the latest publicly available version of Windows Phone to the public. ...