Month: August 2012

Happy 55th Merdeka, Malaysia – Choose Your Malaysian Heroes

Posted on by Galvin Tan

Today, we Malaysians celebrated our 55th year of independence from British colonial. It is also a day for us the younger generation to look back and be thankful to our great forefathers and other national heroes. Without them, I am very sure we won’t be celebrating like we did today.

Like every patriotic Malaysian out there, I know who are my national heroes. Question is, do you yours? I came across this fun website and I have chosen my national heroes. However, there are moments when I really don’t know how to choose.

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Try it out for yourself at http://choose.my/heroes/ and find out our true Malaysian heroes.

Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2012: Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Camera, Windows 8-powered ATIVs

Posted on by Galvin Tan


Many gadget enthusiasts stay glued to their PC early this morning to catch the live event of Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2012 in Berlin. Samsung announced a bevy of new devices at the IFA 2012 trade show, along some of the devices announced are the Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Camera, and Windows 8-powered ATIV products.

Samsung Galaxy Note II

The highlight of the event is definitely the new Galaxy Note II. A predecessor to the existing Galaxy Note, it boasts a larger screen with an enhanced processing power. The Galaxy Note II takes some design form of the Samsung Galaxy S III, with the same rounded-edge and gloss finish. The Galaxy Note II also pushes the screen frontier to 5.5-inch wide with yet another Super AMOLED display. The Galaxy Note II is notably smaller and thinner too despite the increased in screen size. The S-Pen has got a whole new enhancement to it with 8mm better grip and rubber tip for better writing precision.

The new Galaxy Note II has got an upgrade on the power department as it comes with a longer lasting 3100mAh battery. Not to forget a variant of storage capacity too.

 

Samsung Galaxy Camera

Having heard rumours about Samsung’s Android-powered compact camera not long ago, nobody quite knows what to expect. But when Samsung Galaxy Camera was announced at the event, many were delighted with this inter-galactic camera.

The Samsung Galaxy Camera is probably the only compact camera now running on the latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.  The Galaxy Camera is like a hybrid of smartphone and point-and-shoot camera. The Galaxy Camera combines camera features you can’t find on a smartphone and smartphone features you can’t find on cameras. Basically, it’s an Android smartphone with a full-blown compact camera, boasting a 21x optical super long zoom with a 16-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor and optical image stabilization.

Its Smart Pro Mode allows user to take photos in just a few easy steps that can rival professional photographers. Simply by selecting the type of picture they wish to capture and the camera will automatically adjust the settings, helping user to capture best photos. Furthermore, the Samsung Galaxy Camera comes with 3G, 4G and WiFi connectivity. And with a beautiful 4.8-inch HD touchscreen display, the Galaxy Camera delivers a familiar and user-friendly experience.

 

Samsung ATIVs

Besides the show-stopper Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy Camera, Samsung also announced its Samsung ATIV product line-up, their first ever Windows 8 devices. The devices are the Samsung ATIV Smart PC; it’s a unique and revolutionary Tablet PC, although it looks like an ordinary clamshell PC with a cleverly disguised detachable keyboard.

The ATIV S is Samsung’s first ever Windows 8 smartphone. It’s a premium smartphone that delivers the integrated PC experience of a Windows 8 phone. With a fast dual-core processor and 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display, it measures in at just 8.7mm thin and even with a generous 2300mAh battery.

It’s a completely new smartphone with an exceptionally powerful performance. It’s fully compatible with Microsoft Windows and users can enjoy various Windows-based content in an optimized Windows environment.

And finally, the last but not the least… to complete the line-up of Windows 8 product at the Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2012 event – is the Series 9 Notebook PC. The Series 9 Notebook PC will be the flagship product of Samsung.

With the recent Apple versus Samsung case, the Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Camera and the ATIV products could be a great lifeline for Samsung. I’m sure many Samsung fans in Malaysia will rush to grab these products once they are being ship out to Malaysia.

Let’s hope I’ll be getting my hands on some of these devices for a full hands-on review soon.

Apple Wins Big Against Samsung and Now Listing Samsung Products to Ban

Posted on by Galvin Tan

The Apple-Samsung trial completed last Friday and the results are overwhelmingly in Apple’s favour. Apple is being awarded a whopping $1,049,343,540.00 in damages and now they are busy listing the Samsung products that they will seek to have them banned in the US.
Apple is only going after an injunction on eight of them — all smartphones. The eight Samsung devices are:

  • Galaxy S 4G
  • Galaxy S2 (AT&T)
  • Galaxy S2 (Skyrocket)
  • Galaxy S2 (T-Mobile)
  • Galaxy S2 Epic 4G
  • Galaxy S Showcase
  • Droid Charge
  • Galaxy Prevail

[Video] GANGNAM STYLE Parodies from Around the World

Posted on by Galvin Tan

GANGNAM STYLE by PSY goes viral in weeks and after spending a month of YouTube, it has reached 65 million views and it’s officially a worldwide phenomenon, especially in this part of the world. Asia is going GANGNAM STYLE and here’s my compilation of GANGNAM STYLE parodies that are pretty good and worth sharing.


Here’s a Thai version of GANGNAM STYLE.


A we have a version from our brothers from the South, Singapore.


The Koreans decided that they need another version of Gangnam Style for Hongdae region so the decided HONGDAE STYLE would be appropriate.


CHICAGO STYLE performed by some Koreans staying in Chicago is pretty epic.


Here’s the Taiwanese version in Hokkien and Mandarin. Pretty funny too.


A big shoutout to my brothers and sisters in Sabah. Here’s their version of GANGNAM STYLE, dubbed as ORANG SABAH STYLE.


And we have our Malaysia represent, SUPER KAMPUNG STYLE by the deejays of FlyFM. This is perhaps the most original parody I’ve come across.


This is not a parody but it’s yet another version of GANGNAM STYLE featuring HYUNA, the sexy chick from the original GANGNAM STYLE MTV.

Play Diablo III for free with the new Starter Edition

Posted on by Galvin Tan

Now you can get a taste of Diablo III with the free Starter Edition from Blizzard. The free edition of the game allows you to have a taste of almost the real thing. Although there’s no time limit but there are some few restrictions to it.

You can only play Act 1 up to Skeleton King or up to Level 13 and there will be no Auction House access. All you need to do is to sign up for an account on Battle.net and when you decide to upgrade to a full version, all progress and achievements will be carry over.

More detailed instructions and FAQ here.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Now Comes In Black

Posted on by Galvin Tan

The Samsung Galaxy S3 has been phenomenon after hitting sales mark of 10 million units in July 2012. The sensational 4.8-inch Android mean-machine has been turning heads since after its launch here in Malaysia 3 months ago.

However, it was quite a bit of a let down to have only two colour to choose from, Pebble Blue and Marble White. However, it has come to my attention that a new colour is being introduce for the Galaxy S3, Black.

It has been reported that a Black Samsung Galaxy S3 is confirmed and that it will be available in 4-6 weeks time. So if you’re still in the market a new Android phone. Do consider getting a Black Samsung Galaxy S3, because I honestly feel that white is overrated.

Top 15 Biggest Winners at the London 2012 Olympic Games

Posted on by Galvin Tan

As the curtain on the Olympic stage closes, we come to an end of another great sporting legacy. USA tops the table with a total of 104 medals won with China PR taking second spot with a total of 87 medals. Host country Team GB did a great job  coming in third and bagged a total of 65 medals collectively.

But do you know who the biggest winner of all is? Now here’s the list of Top 15 Biggest Winners with more than 3 or more Olympic medals at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

1) Michael Phelps (USA) – Swimming

Michael Fred Phelps II is a retired American swimmer and the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 medals – Wikipedia

Men’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final – GOLD
Men’s 100m Butterfly Final – GOLD
Men’s 200m Individual Medley Final – GOLD
Men’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Final – GOLD
Men’s 200m Butterfly Final – GOLD
Men’s 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final – SILVER

 

2) Missy Franklin (USA) – Swimming

Melissa Jeanette “Missy” Franklin is an American swimmer and four-time Olympic gold medalist. She currently holds the world record in the 200-meter backstroke and the American record in both the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke – Wikipedia

Women’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final (WR) – GOLD
Women’s 200m Backstroke Final (WR) – GOLD
Women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Final (OR) – GOLD
Women’s 100m Backstroke Final – GOLD
Women’s 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final – BRONZE

 

3) Allison Schmitt (USA) – Swimming

Allison Rodgers Schmitt is an American swimmer who specializes in freestyle events, and is a six-time Olympic medalist – Wikipedia

Women’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final (WR) – GOLD
Women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Final (OR) – GOLD
Women’s 200m Freestyle Final (OR) – GOLD
Women’s 400m Freestyle Final – SILVER
Women’s 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final – BRONZE

 

4) Usain Bolt (JAM) – Track

Usain St. Leo “Lightning” Bolt, OJ, C.D., is a Jamaican sprinter widely regarded as the fastest person ever. He is the first man to hold both the 100 metres and 200 metres world records – Wikipedia

Men’s 4 x 100m Relay Final (WR) – GOLD
Men’s 200m Final – GOLD
Men’s 100m Final (OR) – GOLD

 

5) Allyson Felix (USA) – Track

Allyson Michelle Felix is a track and field sprint athlete, who competes internationally for the United States, primarily in the 200 meters. She also competes at the 100 meter and the 400 meter distances – Wikipedia

Women’s 4 x 400m Relat Final – GOLD
Women’s 4 x 100m Relay Final (WR) – GOLD
Women’s 200m Final – GOLD

 

6) Dana Vollmer (USA) – Swimming

Dana Whitney Vollmer is an American swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and world record holder. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece she won a gold medal as a member of the winning United States – Wikipedia

Women’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final (WR) – GOLD
Women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Final (OR) – GOLD
Women’s 100m Butterfly Final (WR) – GOLD

 

7) Ryan Lochte (USA) – Swimming

Ryan Steven Lochte is an American international swimmer and an eleven-time Olympic medalist and a resident of Florida. His seven individual Olympic medals rank as second all-time in men’s swimming – Wikipedia

Men’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Final – GOLD
Men’s 400m Individual Medley Final – GOLD
Men’s 200m Individual Medley Final – SILVER
Men’s 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final – SILVER
Men’s 200m Backstroke Final – BRONZE

 

8) Sun Yang (CHN) – Swimming

Sun Yang is a Chinese Olympic and world-record-holding distance swimmer. He swam for China at the 2008 Olympics – Wikipedia

Men’s 1500m Freestyle Final (WR) – GOLD
Men’s 400m Freestyle Final (OR) – GOLD
Men’s 200m Freestyle Final – SILVER
Men’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Final – BRONZE

 

9) Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) – Swimming

Ranomi Kromowidjojo is a Dutch swimmer of Javanese Surinamese origin who mainly specialises in freestyle but also swims in backstroke and butterfly events – Wikipedia

Women’s 50m Freestyle Final (OR) – GOLD
Women’s 100m Freestyle Final (OR) – GOLD
Women’s 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final – SILVER

 

10) Yannick Agnel (FRA) – Swimming

Yannick Agnel is a French swimmer and national record holder in the 200 and 400 m freestyle. At the 2010 European Aquatics Championships, Agnel won three medals, including gold in the 400 m freestyle – Wikipedia

Men’s 200m Freestyle Final – GOLD
Men’s 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final – GOLD
Men’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Final – SILVER

 

11) Rebecca Soni (USA) – Swimming

Rebecca Soni is an American swimmer who is a breaststroke specialist and six-time Olympic medalist. She currently holds the world record in the 100-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter breaststroke – Wikipedia

Women’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final (WR) – GOLD
Women’s 200m Breaststroke Final (WR) – GOLD
Women’s 100m Breaststroke Final – SILVER

 

12) Matthew Grevers (USA) – Swimming

Matthew Grevers is an American international swimmer who competes in the backstroke and freestyle events – Wikipedia

Men’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final – GOLD
Men’s 100m Backstroke Final (OR) – GOLD
Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay – SILVER

 

13) Nathan Adrian (USA) – Swimming

Nathan Ghar-jun Adrian is an American swimmer and three-time Olympic gold medalist who currently holds the American record in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events. Wikipedia

Men’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final – GOLD
Men’s 100m Freestyle Final – GOLD
Men’s 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final – GOLD

 

14) Alexandra Raisman (USA) – Gymnastics

Alexandra Rose “Aly” Raisman is an American artistic gymnast who was captain of the gold medal-winning US Women’s Gymnastics team at the 2012 Summer Olympics and individually won a gold medal on the floor and a bronze medal on the balance beam – Wikipedia

Women’s Team Final – GOLD
Women’s Floor Exercise Final – GOLD
Women’s Beam Final – BRONZE

 

15) Zou Kai (CHN) – Gymnastics

Zou Kai is a five-time Olympic and World champion Chinese gymnast, specializing in the Floor exercise and the Horizontal bar – Wikipedia

Men’s Team Final – GOLD
Men’s Floor Exercise Final – GOLD
Men’s Horizontal Bar Final – BRONZE

Usain Bolt Grabs DSLR Camera and Snaps Rare POV Photos

Posted on by Galvin Tan

What’s so exciting about being a sports photographer is when you get to capture some rare moments in sports that no one else has. That’s the case for Jimmy Wixtröm of Aftonbladet (Scandinavia’s largest paper) during the final race of the men’s 200m.

The whole world saw Usain Bolt of Jamaica nabbing gold for the men’s 200m race but most did not see the rare moment of Usain Bolt nabbing Jimmy’s DSLR camera and start clicking away of his surroundings.

As a result, Jimmy gets a whole bunch of rare and awesome POV photos taken by Usain Bolt. When other photographers got photos of Usain Bolt celebrating, Jimmy has got himself a DSLR camera loaded with photos taken by Usain Bolt himself. Jimmy was even in one of the photos snapped by Usain Bolt.

Check out more high-res photos at Aftonbladet.com.

LEGOLAND Malaysia sets to open on Sep 15

Posted on by Galvin Tan

I’m quite excited to know that LEGOLAND® Malaysia is opening its door on September 15. Like many other kids during my younger years, I loved playing with LEGO blocks building spacecraft and castles with whatever blocks I had. It is indeed a dream come true for big kids like me to know that we will have a LEGOLAND® theme park in Malaysia. Especially now that I’ve become a father, I’m so gonna bring my baby girl there.

The new 76-acre theme park is inspired by all things LEGO® and will cater to kids from 2 to 12 with more than 40 rides and attractions – from roller coasters to race cars as well as family-focused interactive shows. Families with children from age two to twelve years will have the opportunity to spend time together – bonding, learning and pushing the boundaries of their imaginations through the LEGO® experiences.

TICKET PRICING

Being an international park and the first of its kind in Asia, the ticket prices are pretty reasonable too. Single-day ticket is going for RM140 for adult (12-59) and RM110 for children (3-11). Senior citizens aged 60 and above will enjoy the special rate of RM110.

If you plan to visit LEGOLAND® Malaysia more than once in a year, it’s best to get the LEGOLAND® Annual Pass for your entire family. An Annual Pass for adult is RM275 while children and senior citizen gets it for RM210.

The LEGOLAND Annual Pass can be used on all days or regular park operation including weekends, public and school holidays at LEGOLAND® Malaysia for a full 12 months.

Special promo prices are available now for both Single-day ticket and Annual Pass. I would suggest checking out www.LEGOLAND.com.my to find out more about the promo prices.

LOCATION

The LEGO® inspired theme park will be located in Iskandar Malaysia which is about three and a half hours drive from town centre. LEGOLAND® Malaysia is made possible through IDR Resorts and Merlin Entertainment, the world’s second largest visitor attraction operator.

I’m really looking forward to this brand new theme park although it’ll most likely be some time next year. However, I expect thousands of people flooding the theme park during the opening in mid September.

GETTING THERE

From the North-South Highway / Senai Airport
– Take Tuas / Nusajaya / Pontian / Tanjung Pelepas EXIT 253 > Proceed to Nusajaya EXIT 312 > LEGOLAND® Malaysia signage will lead you to the destination!

From Johor Bahru / CIQ / Singapore via the Coastal Highway
– From Danga Bay, proceed straight via the Coastal Highway > Proceed all the way to Nusajaya > LEGOLAND Malaysia will be seen before reaching Kota Iskandar.

From Singapore via the Tuas Second Link
– Proceed until you see the Nusajaya EXIT 312 > You will see LEGOLAND Malaysia signage

 

GPS: N1o26’14” E103o37’2″

Next Samsung Unpacked Event Tipped for Aug 29

Posted on by Galvin Tan

It looks like the next Samsung Unpacked event is set to happen this August 29 and it will be held at the IFA show in Berlin.

We should know by now that whenever Samsung holds such big events, they usually have something big to announce – the last event being the announcement of the Galaxy S3. Samsung fans are expecting the Korean manufacturer to make an announcement of the new Galaxy Note 2.

It has been speculated that the Galaxy Note 2 will feature a 5.5-inch SAMOLED display (most likely –PenTile) and will be running quad-core processors. Well, all of these remains as speculation until Samsung make an official announcement on August 29.

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