SingTel, StarHub and MobileOne to bring iPhone to Singapore

It's official. SingTel has announced it will bring the iPhone to Singapore later this year. According to the media statement, SingTel, Bharti Airtel, Globe and Optus have signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Singapore, India, the Philippines and Australia. No further details were mentioned in the release.

We've also just gotten word that the iPhone is expected to be available from all three telcos in Singapore. According to Michael Sim, senior corporate communications manager for StarHub, "we expect all three operators in Singapore would be offering the iPhone by the end of the year". We know it's stating the obvious, but this simply means the iPhone that will be available in the island-state won't be tied exclusively to any of the local telco operators. And surely, that's a piece of good news on a Monday afternoon.

Apple working on its own Wiimote?

Microsoft may not be the only one looking to develop its own Wiimote-like game controller. Apple is researching a 3D remote of its own, according to AppleInsider.

The research, reportedly outlined in a November 2006 patent filing disclosed this week, describes a device that would work similarly to the Nintendo Wii controller "in video games to position a user's character or to otherwise track the movement of the remote control in a user's environment". The remote would apparently be designed to work with Apple TV as its console.

The device would also use some of the multitouch features seen on other Apple products, including the iPhone and MacBooks. According to the filing, it would "zoom into and out of an image or a portion thereof based on the absolute position of the remote control".

Patent filings are never any guarantee of actual products, of course. But there will be particular interest in this one because a move by Apple into the game industry has been rumored--and hoped for, by loyalists--for years. So if nothing else, it will keep that flame alive at least a little while longer.

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Recharger ensures marathon Wii Fit sessions

Time's running out: You're already past Mother's Day and don't want to compound your forgetfulness by delaying the inevitable further. You can at least pre-order a Wii Fit for mom, as it's not available until May 19. And to make up for the tardiness of the misguided gift, there's even a way to add insult to injury with a rechargeable battery.

Nyko will be shipping its Energy Pak for the Wii Balance Board on the same day the fitness game is released to provide maximum sweat time, according to Gizmodo. The recharging brick plugs into the bottom of the board so mom will barely miss a beat in her marathon workout sessions, ensuring that she'll curse your name with every aerobic step. And remember, don't forget to include the scale.

Via Crave CNET

Eye-Fi's Wi-Fi answers 'Where was I?'

When we reviewed Eye-Fi's Wi-Fi card for digital cameras back in November, it was but a lonely single child in the company's product portfolio. Today, Eye-Fi announced the birth of siblings, creating a tiered product line of SD add-in cards that deliver Wi-Fi connectivity--and now more--to digital cameras.

The kid bound to get the most attention is the Eye-Fi Explore, a US$129 card with two notable features. First, the company has teamed up with Skyhook Wireless to provide geotagging for your photos; Skyhook's Wi-Fi positioning system essentially triangulates your location via queries to local wireless access points. Second, when you purchase the Explore card, you get a free year of Wayport hotspot access--just for your photo uploads, of course. (I won't be able to resist sticking the card in my laptop to see what happens, though.) While an interesting, novel approach to geotagging that I look forward to trying, it's clearly a solution for those who stick to urban areas. But given Skyhook's claimed accuracy of 20m you could probably reconstruct a night of drinking that ended badly even if you can't quite make out the photos.

With Eye-Fi Share, the company simply rebrands the existing product at the current price of US$99. Both Share and Explore allow you to upload your photos to most of the popular photo-sharing services and Facebook.
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Goldmund's US$300,000 speaker system

We have nothing but respect for Steve "Audiophiliac" Guttenberg and don't wish to perpetuate any stereotypes about like enthusiasts, but we can't resist mentioning the latest loudspeakers from Goldmund.

This, you may recall, is the same outfit that recently upgraded its US$17,000 Eidos 20 media player for Blu-ray. But the price of that DVD box is peanuts compared with its Epilogue Speaker System, which goes for a cool US$300,000, accoring to Newlaunches. That, by the way, was the estimated starting price for installations in Goldmund's palatial Media Room a few months ago.

We do appreciate the geometric design of the system, which would look perfectly natural on display at any modern art museum. As for the cost, perhaps it's just the price one must pay for high-end speakers that don't look like alien beings.

Via Crave CNET

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