iPhone 3G launches in Thailand: Officially!

TrueMove today announced that it will launch iPhone 3G in Thailand on January 16, 2009. That's a very good move by True Move!



The iPhone 3G combines all the revolutionary features of iPhone plus 3G, Wi-Fi and built-in GPS, and iPhone 2.2 software which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs thousands of third party applications available through the Apple App Store.

Pre-registration for Thailand's first official iPhone 3G is now available at www.truemove.com. Only customers who successfully complete the pre-registration process will be able to collect their iPhone 3G at the launch event from January 16-18, 2009 at the Royal Paragon Hall, Siam Paragon shopping complex.

TrueMove, part of True, Thailand’s only fully-integrated communications company, is able to deliver an unrivaled iPhone 3G experience via its multi-platform network comprising 3G, Wi-Fi, and EDGE/GPRS.

Additionally, TrueMove is the country’s leader in wireless Internet services with over 16,000 hotspots nationwide, covering Bangkok and over 50 provinces. As a special feature for iPhone 3G customers, TrueMove will enable auto-login to the Wi-Fi network, so customers only need to login with their username and password once and can then automatically access the TrueMove Wi-Fi network whenever they enter a hotspot.

Pricing Plans and Tariff

TrueMove is offering very attractive 24 month price plans specially tailored for iPhone 3G. Interested customers can subscribe to a TrueMove iPhone 3G package with zero Baht upfront payment and monthly bundled package fees inclusive of TrueMove services, starting from as low as 1,399 Baht for iPhone 8GB (for payments made by credit card only), and 1,599 Baht for iPhone 16GB (for payments made by credit card only). The price plans contain several options to meet customers' needs while including voice, data as well as Wi-Fi access.

Below is a list of packages and their prices (excluding VAT)



* Bronze package is not eligible for pre-registration. Registration possible on launch day and pick up at True and TrueMove shops at a designated date and time.

Next on the PAD's shopping list

The next item that should soon be added to the PAD's (People's Alliance for Democracy) shopping list is yellow tear gas masks. And lets hope it's not going to be from China if it is to be 100% effective. Who knows what's going to be the next deadly gas released by the riot police?



It should be easier to distinguish them from any third hand(s). They will also be able to maintain strict code compliance with regard to their existing yellow scarves, yellow head-bands, yellow shirts and all the other yellow demonstration accessories, with Ku-Chart "Salvage the Nation" (Thai: กู้ชาติ) words on them.



It's not going to be easy to find yellow gas masks, but the one below should do

Chuwit sees the problem, Dr. Dan can do

Chuwit Kamolvisit, a former notorious king of the Thai massage parlor business is campaigning for the 2008 Bangkok Governor Elections again this time, after finishing third in the Bangkok Governor Elections back in 2004.

Chuwit, contesting as candidate #8, is seen in posters all around Bangkok with a very serious look on his face and a large pair of binoculars in his hands with a message that reads "I see the problem" or "Phom maung hen panha" in Thai. Chuwit is good at making news headlines.


(Photo by Ian Fuller at Flickr)

Apirak Kosayodhin, candidate #5, who won the race for governor four years ago, is preparing to seek a second term as governor of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. Apirak also has a website to promote his campaign at www.futurebangkok.net. One of his campaign posters reads "we share joys and sorrows with Bangkok people".


(Photo by 2Bangkok.com)

Leena Jang (Leena Jungjanja), candidate #7, is also contesting again this time after being famously disqualified during the 2004 Bangkok Gubernatorial elections, when she led her cabaret dancing team outside Centre Point in Siam Square on the back of a pickup truck to gain the attention of voters. She is offering free community bus travel in her current campaign, as seen in her posters.


(Photo by Ian Fuller at Flickr)

Another interesting candidate to watch out for this time is candidate #2 Dr. Kriangsak Charoenwongsak, or Dr. Dan as he calls himself. He too has a website for his campaign at www.DrDanCanDo.com. Dr. Dan is targeting the younger generation using social networking sites like Hi5, and has web blogs. In his posters, he uses attractive keywords like WIMAX 75 Mbps internet, T Zone for Teen, safety for women, GPS in pubic buses, quick garbage pickup service, war with rats and cockroaches, fresh oxygen - beautiful and greener Bangkok, Say hi (all Bangkok schools to be bilingual), sky-trains throughout the city, and so on.


(Photo by 2Bangkok.com)

New iPod Nano launches today

Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs unveiled a new iPod nano today that lets users shuffle songs by shaking the device in a so-called “shake to shuffle” feature. The upgraded iPod nano, is the thinnest music player Apple has produced.




(Photo credit: Reuters)

Steve Jobs also boasted that the nano is the cleanest iPod Apple has ever made, calling it “highly recyclable,” “mercury free” and “toxic free.”

The 8-gigabyte model costs $149 and the 16-gigabyte version costs $199.

Wonder what the Thai price is going to be.

Ratchadamnoen University Certificates and Hand Clappers a hit among protesters

Plastic hand clapping tools are a big hit these days, as they are widely used among the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) demonstrators in Bangkok. The hand clappers produce louder claps as compared to the traditional hand claps, which is usually painful when done repeatedly.

In the picture below PAD protesters shake hand-clappers in support of the protest leaders


(Photo by John Jantak at Flickr)

The Thai protesters are seen smiling as usual in the Land of Smiles.

Lots of these hand clappers are found on Alibaba.com mostly sold by companies based in China.



Apart from hand clappers, lots of other interesting stuff are also being sold at the PAD rally site in Bangkok near the Government House on Ratchadamnoen Nok avenue. Items include photographs, posters, paintings, T-shirts, ku-chart (Salvage The Nation) headbands and scarves, PAD coins, and lots more.


(Photo by John Jantak at Flickr)

The most bizarre item being sold is the Ratchadamnoen University Certificate (Thai: มหาวิทยาลัยราชดำเนิน ประกาศนียบัตร), for a 100 Baht. Ratchadamnoen University is the name given by the PAD leaders to the demonstration site on Ratchadamnoen Nok avenue, as this is where those leading the anti-government rallies say people can learn about Thai political and social issues in depth.


(Photo by Hunsa)

The certificate is produced by "Prik" Karnchanit Summakul (Thai: "พริก" กานต์ชนิต ซำมะกุล), a 27-year-old Thai actress-turned-PAD volunteer, who said that more than 10,000 of the 50,000 certificates have been sold already.

The income from their sale would be spent on the installation of more ASTV cable TV satellite receivers for those interested in owning one. The TV station ASTV, owned by PAD leader Sondhi, broadcasts the rally live 24 hours a day.

The certificate was introduced on the 90th day of the demonstration with signatures of the five PAD leaders - Maj. Gen. Chamlong Srimuang, Sondhi Limthongkul, Pibhop Dhongchai, Somsak Kosaisuk and Somkiat Pongpaiboon - guaranteeing that the certificate holder has passed the "ku-chart curriculum".

The diploma reads, "This certificate is to guarantee that Dr...[your name]..has completed the ku-chart course by joining the demonstration to create new politics and get rid of the Thaksin-nominee government".

The certificate has a red color heart on the top right corner with Ku-Chart written in yellow in Thai as "กู้ชาติ".

iPhone Girl's cute angel smile makes headlines

Following the footsteps of YouTube's Lonelygirl15 and Chris Crocker, the next self-made viral super star is shaping up to be a mysterious Chinese factory worker, whose pictures were found on a new iPhone sold to a British customer.


(Photo credit: MacRumors.com/AP)

The "iPhone-girl" frenzy began last week when three of her photographs appeared on the popular Apple discussion forum MacRumors.com, show a young Asian woman working on what appears to be an assembly line for iPhones.

She might have done nothing more than flash a smile to her colleague testing an iPhone camera, but her cute angel-like smile has attracted the attention of iPhone users across the world. Internet users have generated keen interest about her identity - and her fate.

Dressed in a pink striped uniform, a hat and wearing white gloves with yellow fingertips, the round-faced asian girl now known on the Web as the "iPhone Girl" is shown smiling and making victory signs as she poses next to an iPhone.

The MacRumors.com user who posted the photos last week, identified as only "markm49uk" from Kingston-upon-Hull, England, said in a posting that one of the pictures showed up on a new 3G iPhone when the iTunes program was launched.

"It would appear that someone on the production line was having a bit of fun. Has anyone else found this?" the posting said.

The posting received more than 360 responses on MacRumors.com, with readers commenting and speculating about the woman's age, looks and working conditions - and whether the pictures had gotten her into trouble with her managers.

"She is so fired," a reader identified as "PredatoryWasp86" said.

"That's nice that at least they have some fun in the drab of assembling technology," another reader, "BrownManUPS," said.

"She looks about 12 or 13 to me! I don't think Stevo is going to be impressed at all. It looks a little bit too much like child labor," "sibruk" wrote, referring to Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs.

News reports say the woman may work at a factory run by an Apple contractor, Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group, in the southern Chinese boomtown of Shenzhen.

Calls to Foxconn spokesman Edmund Ding went unanswered Wednesday. Ding also didn't immediately respond to an e-mail from The Associated Press seeking comment.

But the South China Morning Post on Wednesday quoted another Foxconn spokesman, Liu Kun, as confirming that the young woman in the pictures works for Foxconn.

Liu said workers testing the device took the pictures and may have forgotten to delete them, the Post reported.

Dubbing the mystery worker "China's prettiest factory girl," China's Southern Metropolitan Daily on Tuesday quoted an unidentified Foxconn official as saying the woman was not fired.

Source: China Daily

Canon EOS 50D Officially launched!

Canon has launched the much anticipated EOS 50D, an upgraded version of EOS 40D. The new one looks similar to the 40D.



Features of the Canon EOS 50D:

• 15.1 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor
• 6.3fps continuous shooting, max. burst 90 JPEGs with UDMA card
• DIGIC 4 processor
• ISO 100-3200, expandable to 12800
• 9-point wide area AF
• 3.0” Clear View VGA LCD with Live View mode & Face Detection Live AF
• Magnesium alloy body, with environmental protection
• EOS Integrated Cleaning System
• HDMI connection for high quality viewing and playback on a High Definition TV
• Full compatibility with Canon EF and EF-S lenses and EX-series Speedlites

According to Canon, the new 50D is the first SLR to use the company's DIGIC 4 image processor, which the company says has improved speed and noise performance. The new DIGIC processor includes face detection of up to "35 faces" and in-camera vignetting controls with supported EF lenses.

There is also built-in sensor cleaning along with dust removal software which Canon has named "Dust Delete Data Detection".

The 3-inch VGA LCD viewscreen has bumped the resolution up to 920,000 dots-per-inch.

The 50D is due to be shipped in October 2008, and is priced at $1400.

Let's wait for October, while fiddling with the 40D.

Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn at the Beijing Olympics

Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, takes some pictures at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in the Beijing National Stadium, or the "Bird's Nest".

In the photo below she is seen with 5 or 6 cameras strapped around her neck. That's a lot of cameras! The one she is taking photos with is a compact point-and-shoot camera, 2 other cameras are also point-and-shoot compacts, and another 2 or 3 larger black cameras that appear to be professional cameras.


(Photo credit: Huang Jingwen/Xinhua)

Toys R Us at Bangkok Central World, a children's paradise

Last week I happened to visit Esplanade shopping mall on Ratchada and found a large Toys R Us booth at the ground floor with some nice quality toys up for sale. Being a "flagship guy", I decided to check out their flagship store yesterday, so I stepped into the large Toys R Us (ทอยส์ "อาร์" อัส) store on the 6th floor of Central World. At the entrance to the store there is a huge Geoffrey the Giraffe smiling at you with a traditional "Thai Wai". The moment I entered the store I felt like I got into a fantasy world which reminded me of my days when I was a kid. I saw colored balloons, action-hero characters, Star Wars & Masked Rider characters, teddy bears, Barbie dolls, Dress-up Sets, Role Play items, Playhouses, board games like Scrabble and Monopoly, toy guns, Rubik's Cube, DVDs, XBox, Game Boy, PlayStation, electronics gadgets, and lots of other cool stuff. It's not just a place for kids, since as an adult I found the place really amusing, as I love to spend time with electronic gadgets!

They have a digital clock that is set on a count down to July 26, 2008, and after some googling that evening I found out that on this date more than 225 of those stores will open at midnight to sell toys from the latest Star Wars film, The Clone Wars which is the first fully animated Star Wars movie that hits cinemas in the United States on August 15. Two of the retailer's flagship outlets, one in San Diego's Mission Bay and the other in New York's Times Square, will hold costume and trivia contests that night as well, and will give away limited-edition Star Wars toys with every purchase. Even McDonald's is getting involved, with its first ever Happy Meal promotion for a Star Wars movie, called the "Clone Wars Happy Meals". Each will come with a specially designed box and one of 18 exclusive toys.


Children can be totally overwhelmed by the sheer variety of the toys at the store. The store greets visitors with a colored store map that gives the kids some idea on what to find and where to go. The map uses different colors to show the various zones of the store. The blue color is for the boys looking for guns or Star Wars stuff, pink color for the girls looking for Barbie dolls, and purple for adults wanting to check out PlayStation game consoles and other electronic gadgets. They have 8 major zones which are Hot & In Toys, Girl Toys, Boy Toys, Educational Toys, Sport and Outdoor, Baby Toys, Electronic Gaming and Family Fun & Games. The store uses a 'Boutique Zoning' concept which displays most products on eye-level shelves, instead of the hypermarket style display from floor to ceiling.

Some facts About Toys"R"Us

Toys R Us is a leading international retailer of toys and baby products founded in 1948 in Washington D.C by Charles Lazarus during the post war boom era as a baby furniture retailer, then known as Children's Supermarket. Toys R Us has 1256 retail stores in 36 countries worldwide, including 586 locations in the United States alone. Outside of the US, Toys "R" Us, Inc. operates, licenses or franchises approximately 670 stores in 35 countries under the Toys"R"Us name. Babies "R" Us comes under the umbrella of Toys "R" Us, a thorough baby world dealing with baby products and leads the juvenile industry. The glass-enclosed flagship store in New York City's Times Square is the largest toy store in the world at 110,000-square foot, featuring a colorful 60-foot tall indoor Ferris Wheel offering customers panoramic views of the stuffed toys, action figures, dolls, science kits and electronic games available on three floors. They are also Britain's biggest toy megastore.

Interestingly, their stores in Bangkok have a low price guarantee which states that if you find the same Toys R Us toy or product being sold elsewhere at a lower price, you can bring them your original Toys R Us receipt within 7 days and they will gladly refund the difference. They also have a free gift wrap service for any purchase at a Toys R Us store.

Toys R Us Store Locations around Bangkok are listed below:

Bangna Store:
Level 6, Central City Bangna, Bangkok.

Rama IV Store:
G level, Carrefour Rama IV Road, Bangkok.

Lad Prao Store:
Carrefour Lad Prao, 2nd floor.

Central World Store:
Central World, 6th floor.

Toys R Us Fashion Island Store (opened recently):
Fashion Island, 3rd floor.

Toys R Us Central Festival Pattaya:
Central Court, 1st floor, Pattaya.

Siam Paragon Electronica Brochure

Below is the brochure for the Siam Paragon Electronica Showcase 2008 which is being held at Siam Paragon, 5th floor, Royal Paragon Hall 1-3 from July 3-13, 2008.

Click on the images below for a much larger picture.

Paragon Electronica Showcase 2008 at Siam Paragon

Paragon Electronica Showcase is being held at Siam Paragon, 5th floor, Royal Paragon Hall 1-3 from July 3-13, 2008.



The consumer electronics event showcases electrical and electronic appliances from more than 40 brands such as Electrolux, Panasonic, Sony, LG and Samsung. 260 million Baht in sales is expected from the 11-day campaign.

HTC Touch Diamond, an innovative iPhone rival

HTC's flagship mobile phone for 2008, the HTC Touch Diamond is a rival to Apple's iPhone. HTC Touch Diamond's dimensions of 102 x 51 x 11.5mm and 110g weight really put it among the most compact Pocket PCs on the market. It has 4 GB of internal storage, built-in GPS, WiFi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth v2.0, 3 megapixel camera, YouTube application, a specially designed mobile browser created by Opera Software, and a new 3D touch user interface called TouchFLO 3D. The Thai price is 29,900 Baht.



The device runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and supports high speed mobile Internet access with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA wireless connectivity - including WCDMA 900 MHz and 2100 MHz. Other connectivity options include Bluetooth 2.0 EDR+ and WiFi 802.11b/g. The HTC Touch Diamong also comes with a built-in GPS.

HTC is providing a new customized mobile Web browser that enables easy viewing and navigation of websites in the way they were designed. As part of this browsing experience users can zoom and pan Websites with one-hand and automatically view optimized content that has been specially created to fit the display. Turning the device sideways automatically rotates the web page view from a portrait to landscape view, thanks to built-in tilt sensors.

In addition to Web browsing, the Touch Diamond includes a customized new, HTC-developed, YouTube application for watching a variety of user generated video content as well as utilizing Google Maps for mobile for mapping and traffic data.

The drawback to this phone is that it has no microSD card slot, the battery life isn't great, and it lacks a dedicated audio mini-jack.

Samsung Soul SGH-U900 Slider with Magic Touch

Samsung's flagship mobile device for 2008, the Samsung Soul Magic Touch is a slim slider mobile phone with dual-screen, touch control, a 5 megapixel digital camera, 3G conenctivity, and HSDPA mobile broadband. The Thai price is 15,900 Baht.

The Soul, derives its name from "Spirit Of ULtra". The metal clad Soul is 12.9mm thick and measures 106mm x 50mm (4.2" x 1.9") in size.

The Soul makes use of a high tech navigation control cluster that morphs based on what the user is doing. It looks like a cross between the LG Venus' secondary touchscreen and the Motorola E8's morphing keypad, this new navigation cluster makes controlling the Soul more intuitive.

Feature highlights:

• UMTS/Quadband
• TFT-LCD with 16 million colors
• Bluetooth v2.0, USB v2.0
• A2DP Bluetooth Stereo
• EDGE
• External micro SD memory card slot
• MP3/AAC/eACC+/WMA player
• FM Radio

Canon EOS 450D DSLR camera, top on my list!

The Canon 450D (Digital Rebel XSi) is finally here with the Thai price at 27,900 Baht (Kit includes Lens 18-55 mmIS + 1GB SD card). One of my friends is getting one for just 25,500 Baht somewhere in Ladphrao, I think he said Powerbuy Central Ladphrao. I just can't wait to get my hands on this one!

Here are some highlights that make this one interesting:

• 3.0" LCD with Live View shooting
• 12 megapixels
• DIGIC III image processor
• New and improved 9-point wide-area AF system
• 3.5 fps continuous shooting
• SD/SDHC storage
• New higher capacity battery with built-in secondary battery
• Built-in, retractable, auto pop-up flash
• Flash-ready Indicator
• Compact and Lightweight body - 475g (body only no battery)
• Fully compatible with all Canon EF and EF-S lenses and EX-series Speedlites
• User-defined My Menu tab for instant access to frequently used settings

All these features make it highly recommended and irresistible.



The EOS 450D is designed to make photography a fluid experience for photographers of all levels and experience. It features an improved grip design that provides a natural, ergonomic fit with the user’s hands. Several custom functions are available to optimise the quality of photos captured in a range of situations. Photographers can also enable additional noise reduction for shots captured at high ISO speeds. A new high capacity battery extends shooting time on a single charge to a maximum of 500 shots!

Samsung G800: a camera with a phone that's chubby

The stylishly designed Samsung G800 camera phone is dubbed as a digital camera that makes phone calls. This most hyped handset is the first 5 megapixel camera with a 3x optical zoom which is good for photography enthusiasts! The Thai price of Samsung G800 is around 17,000 Baht in Bangkok.

It has the following features:

• Autofocus
• Xenon flash
• Weighs 134 grams
• A large 2.4" QVGA 256K color display
• EDGE and 3G (with HSDPA)
• Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP support
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Comfortable keypad

Some of it's disadvantages are:

• Quite chubby
• Bad display processing
• Very slow memory card reading
• Weak sunlight legibility
• Volume/Zoom key is very hard to press, so you get to develop stronger fingers as you use
• Lacks WiFi

The phone is able to take good quality pictures comparable to the Sony Ericsson K850.

Nokia E51 with WiFi

Nokia E51 is selling like hot cakes in Bangkok! The Thai price is 11,500 Baht which is pretty cheap for a phone with WiFi, 16 million colors, Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP, 3G, Edge and all that stuff. Though it isn't as slim as the Nokia 6500 Classic, an extra 2.5 mm isn't that bad.

Nokia 6500 classic is slim indeed!

The Nokia 6500 classic phone is really slim and strong. Its market price is around 12,000 Baht in Bangkok. Check out its website http://www.nokia6500series.com/