Swatch Air Tube Watch

Don't write Swatch off just yet. The brand, which at one time was too hot to wear in Asia, is contemporizing its digital watches. First up is the Air Tube Watch. You'd think that borrowing from the bicycle pump would be a rather pedestrian design move. But the result from designer Lawrence Dawes is a surprisingly sleek bracelet watch in various strap motifs. Though, hopefully, the Swiss company does something about the irksomely loud tick-tock mechanism which has driven not a few Swatch owners nuts, including yours truly.

(The images have been removed on the request of the designer as he writes that Swatch Ltd. has not authorized the use of its trademark for the Swatch Air Tube watch.)

Via Yanko Design

Price: N.A.
Availability: N.A.
Device: Timepiece
Specs: N.A.

Dell goes full force into Vista

A day ahead of the official consumer launch of Windows Vista, Dell declares that its line of PCs will be bundled with Vista from today.

However, configurations with Windows XP installed will still be available for now. This is a boon for those who are still undecided about whether to hop onto the new operating system, or for those who have special applications written for the older platform.

ASUS notebook hits on next-generation graphics card

Editors' note : The pricing information for the ASUS A8JR has been amended in the article. It has also been confirmed that the ATI Mobility Radeon X2300 video chipset is not DirectX 10 compliant.

Even before the official announcement by ATI, ASUS is beating the crowd by declaring that its latest A8JR notebook will hold the next-generation ATI Mobility Radeon X2300 video chipset.

The A8JR will hold a 14.1-inch display and Core 2 Duo chip. You can grab one in February for S$2,198 (US$1,616.18) with Windows XP Professional Edition operating system installed and Vista Home Premium Edition provided free. If you wish to have just the latter OS bundled, it will cost S$100 (US$73.53) less.

Gaming without borders

Come February 1, casual gaming will never be the same once you jump aboard StarHub's PlayingTV triple-play service. Play the challenging Sudoku puzzle or the popular Carrot Mania on Ice anytime, anywhere on TVs, mobiles and computers. Best of all, you could pick up from where you ended without the hassle of starting a game from scratch. A thoughtful touch for casual gamers on-the-go and commuters on a lookout for alternative entertainments.

Other enhancements slated for development include more game lineups, contests, real-time leader boards and multiplayer games for an even better immersive gaming experience. This cross-platform capability will be implemented as a value-added service at no extra charge for all PlayingTV subscribers, though a monthly fee of S$8.40 (US$6.18) for the latter applies. This is in addition to regular mobile data traffic surcharges for game downloads, etc.

More images of the PlayingTV:

More info here

Vendors launch onslaught of new phones

The 3GSM World Congress may be two weeks away, but things are heating up already.

The past week alone, we've seen Samsung, Motorola, LG, Dopod and O2 announce new handsets for their 2007 product lineup. LG started the ball rolling with its Prada Phone which sports a full touchscreen display just like the Apple iPhone. This was followed by O2 unveiling four upcoming handhelds with 3G support, its biggest launch to date.

Mid-week, Samsung made headlines with its new slimmer-than-ever Ultra Edition successors, while Motorola offered a sneak of its upcoming lineup which will include new RIZR, KRZR and Q upgrades. Finally, Dopod overturned market expectations by announcing the launch of its U1000 (HTC Athena) UMPC in Taiwan this week. More handsets are expected over the next couple of weeks. As usual, we'll be updating you with the latest news and pictures.

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