The TechBlogger

Seagate unveiled its GoFlex Satellite Mobile Wireless Storage device at a lunch event held in town today.  In the picture above, you can see Seagate Senior Manager Ganesh Kumar Panadam highlighting some of the key points of the company’s new storage product to the media in Singapore.  In a nutshell, the GoFlex Satellite Wireless can be best described as a portable USB 2.0/USB 3.0 hard disk drive with built-in Wi-Fi for use with tablets and smartphones when on the move.

Some quick points about the GoFlex Satellite Wireless:

• 500GB capacity (2.5-inch HDD)
• Will be priced at SG$299
• Each GoFlex can support 3 client devices via Wi-Fi simultaneously
• A USB 3.0 USM adapter is included; other interfaces include FireWire 800 and powered eSATA (sold separately)
• Pre-orders will be taken at COMEX next week (Sep 1-4)

Seagate envisions that users will pack movies, photos, music and documents onto the storage device without being worried about running out of storage space on their tablets or Wi-Fi enabled smartphones.  The GoFlex Satellite Wireless facilitates that with its built-in lithium-ion (non-replaceable) battery good for five hours of continuous video streaming, or 25 hours of standby life.

Seagate GoFlex Satellite Wireless in action

To ensure seamless usability, Seagate is providing explicit support for the iOS (iPad, iPhone) and Android platform via native Apps.  Note that the App only provides the ability to browse/read/view, but not write capability.  i.e. You will not be able to use the App to edit a Word document via Docs To Go, and save it back to the GoFlex.

Where support for other tablets (and smartphones) are concerned, it is understood that users will be able to access their files on the GoFlex via a generic Web interface when connected via Wi-Fi, which includes PCs and Mac OS X laptops.  Of course, it’ll probably be much faster to connect a laptop via its USB interface, made possible by a USB 3.0 to USM adapter.

I found the iOS App to be very well-designed on my iPad, and I was able to stream videos seamlessly.  The usability and polish of the App is great, though I discovered a couple of bugs that caused the iPad App to abruptly terminate. Have feedback them to Seagate, so a new update will hopefully be out soon that rectifies them prior to general availability of the GoFlex Satellite Wireless in Singapore.

I must emphasize that video playback was extremely smooth however, despite being in a room together with at least 9-10 other tablets all streaming using Wi-Fi.  Its high price of SG$299 may be a deterrent to some however, though I can see how frequent travelers may be delighted with the greatly expanded storage capacity the GoFlex offers.

The GoFlex Satellite Wireless (Not generally available in Singapore yet)

Inside the Box: The GoFlex Satellite Wireless device, USB 3.0 USM adapter, compact wall charger, car charger, USB to DC cable (For charging the GoFlex using USB)

Close-up of the GoFlex Satellite Wireless (With USB 3.0 USM adapter connected)

Sony today announced the launch of its new Sony VAIO Z Series laptop, a high-end machine weighing a mere 1.165kg with an extraordinary slim profile of 16.65mm. What makes the new VAIO Z unique is its incorporation of a standard 2nd Gen Intel Core i7 processor and 3rd Gen SSD RAID – and packing everything into a single laptop lighter than previous VAIO Z models.

Sony has opted to do away with its dual-GPU implementation, and have instead come up with a specially designed Power Media Dock docking station that customers can purchase. It comes with a built-in AMD Radeon HD 6650M to greatly bolster the capabilities of the Intel HD Graphics 3000 found in the VAIO Z.

• Powerful Processor: Intel Core™ i7-2620M 2.70GHz (with Turbo Boost up to 3.40GHz)
• Built-in battery yields 6.5 hours usage
• Power Media Dock connected via 10 Gbps ‘Light Peak’ architecture for accelerated graphics and additional expansion ports
• Ability to double battery life to 13 hours by attaching an optional Sheet Battery

In addition, here’s what I found out from the event

• The Sheet Battery can be charged separately via a small adapter
• When connected to a VAIO Z, the Sheet Battery discharges first, followed by the laptop’s built-in battery. When charging with Sheet Battery connected, the laptop’s battery is charged first, followed by the Sheet Battery.
• Power Media Dock supports HDMI out (1920×1080) and DVI out (1900×1200). An additional display (VGA or HDMI) can be connected directly to the VAIO Z when docked, allowing for a total of three external displays simultaneously. That’s four displays in total if you count the VAIO’s screen – close to matching what I’m currently using.
• Quick Boot and dual SSD boots up Windows 7 Professional in 14 seconds flat after pressing the power button.
• The keyboard is back-lit. According to Sony, “an inorganic silicon EL material” is used for that.
• The pitch of the keyboard has been reduced to accommodate the slim profile. It doesn’t look too bad, though I’ll have to review one before I can give my final verdict on that.

No pricing information is available at this point, though you can probably expect it to be tiered similar to the older Z Series – minus the low-end HDD models since I don’t see how the new Z can use anything other than an the custom-built SSD that it currently incorporates. The new VAIO Z Series will be available in Singapore from end-July 2011.

The new Sony Vaio Z with sheet battery (partially seen) behind

Its about the thickness of my BlackBerry Torch smartphone

More photos (and my comments) after the jump.
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The BlackBerry Bold 9900

Update: The BlackBerry Bold 9900 is currently on pre-order and will be sold in Singapore from 1st September 2011.

RIM introduced the BlackBerry Bold 9900 in Singapore on Monday this week. I was not able to spend much time with one; hence any feedback on that front is necessarily limited.

Anyway, regular BlackBerry users will not be mistaken to notice that the Bold 9900 seems to bear a strong resemblance to the older Bold 9000. Well, I was told that the 9900 is indeed based on the 9000′s design, sophisticated Chrome edge included – albeit in a much thinner form factor.

The Bold 9900 runs on BlackBerry 7 OS, which will be the latest and greatest version of the BlackBerry operating system.  It should also be the last version of the venerable BlackBerry OS before RIM is expected to roll out a new QNX-based OS rewritten from scratch. Most importantly, the incorporation of a 1.2GHz processor should also eliminate the system lags common in the Torch 9800, significantly boosting usability.

Below are other key points pertaining to the 9900:

• At 10.5mm thick, it is the thinnest BlackBerry. Ever.
• Very light at 130g (Torch 9800 is 161g; Bold 9780 is 122g; iPhone 4 is 137g)
• 2.8-inch touch screen display (640×480, 287dpi)
• 1.2GHz processor, 768MB RAM (Torch is 624MHz and 512MB RAM)
• 5.0MP camera that supports 720p HD video recording
• Built-in GPS, accelerometer, magnetometer, proximity sensor, NFC technology
• Dual-band Wi-Fi that supports 802.11a/b/g/n
• Removable rechargeable battery

When released, the Bold 9900 will be the fastest BlackBerry smartphone available. Its Bold 9000-based keyboard is also wider and more comfortable than the ones found in the Bold 9700 and Torch 9800. Finally, the incorporation of a touch screen makes the phone much easier to navigate, and should make (finally) web browsing a tolerable task.

So what is its date of availability? RIM would only say “Before the end of the year.”  If I would to venture a guess though, I’ll take a stab at the September/October time frame.

The Torch 9800 and the Bold 9900 placed side-by-side

The total thickness of the Bold 9900 is equivalent to the bottom half of the Torch

BlackBerry Torch 9800 stacked on top of the Bold 9900

Introducing the Bold 9900. (From top to bottom: Gregory Wade, Regional Managing Director at RIM; Oliver Pilgerstorfer, RIM Senior PR Manager for Southeast Asia)