Swap your HD-DVD deck for a Blu-ray

Sounds too good to be true? Apparently, that's what an electronics retail chain in Japan has promised its customers who had earlier purchased HD-DVD players from its stores.

According to the report on DigitalWorldTokyo, electronics retailer Edion is offering its customers a chance to return their Toshiba HD-DVD players in exchange for new Blu-ray decks from Sony, Panasonic or Sharp. Understandably, the customer is required to pay the difference if the Blu-ray player is more expensive, though what's surprising is that the retailer has also promised to refund the difference if the Blu-ray player costs less.

Talk about customer satisfaction. Now if only other electronics stores would follow Edion's lead and offer similar exchange programs, HD-DVD owners will finally have something to cheer about. But this being the real world, that's seriously unlikely to happen.

Via DigitalWorldTokyo

New Lumix cameras coming your way soon

It looks like four of the new Lumix cameras announced at the recent PMA tradeshow in Las Vegas will be making its debut in Singapore very soon.

Enter the new FS family, designed to cater to shooters looking for ease of use when operating a camera. The FS3 (S$399) and FS5 (S$499) will sport manual shutter speed and aperture controls for you to exercise your creativity.

The LZ8 (S$349) and LZ10 (S$449) have certain similar features to the two new FS-camera, but run on two x AA batteries instead.

The LCD on all four cameras will adjust its brightness according to the environment you are in, so you won't have to squint when looking at the screen under the sun.

Though there may not seem to be any major upgrades, it is still worthwhile to keep a lookout for them. After all, all Lumix cameras come with the legendary Leica optics while the ease of use of the camera, has won them a share of followers.

According to Panasonic, these four shooters will be available by February. For readers outside Singapore, we'll try to update you when we get specific dates.

Go Dirty Harry with these egg fryers

This would have been the sort of kitchen gizmo one would expect Martha Steward to market during her term in prison. Missed business opportunity aside, those sick of the stereotypical heart and Hello Kitty cookie cutter molds that perpetuate the domestic kitchen scene can check out these stainless steel gun egg fryers from UrbanTrend. You not only get to fire up your eggs with some fun shapes, you now have ammo to get your kids to eat up their breakfast. Say, can anyone identify those gun shapes?

Via popgadget.net

HP launches its first Concierge Service in Singapore

When you think about concierge services in technology, one of the first things that come to mind is Vertu's signature Concierge service. While HP's concept of a Concierge Service somewhat differs, the objective is pretty much the same--which is to provide consumers with a more personal and unique aftersales support experience.

Press attending the event in Singapore Thursday were told that the Concierge Service is intended as an extension to consumers of its Total Care program for SMB customers. According to the PC maker, the Concierge Service comes bundled with every purchase of its TouchSmart PC and Pavilion HDX Series entertainment notebook. Support includes free installation of the computer onsite, a 24/7 support hotline, as well as a complimentary one-time maintenance service within the first year of purchase.

Singapore is the first country in the world to enjoy HP's Concierge Service which was first introduced at a soft launch in December last year. While HP did not comment on when this service would be extended to other countries, we believe it is only a matter of time before the more developed markets get a taste of it.

Photos: ThinkPad X300

Lenovo's much-anticipated competitor to the MacBook Air finally arrived in the CNET US office this morning. The skinny ultraportable laptop may look a bit square--it is a ThinkPad, after all--but its 13.3-inch screen, full-size keyboard, and built-in DVD burner earned admiring glances from multiple passersby.

We're busy at work on the review, but in between benchmark runs this afternoon, we took some photos of this, the sleekest ThinkPad yet. Take a spin through our ThinkPad X300 slideshow, and keep an eye on our site for the complete review and CNET Editors Rating.

Via Crave CNET

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