ACER’s Johnson Seet, INTEL’s Norhizam, ACER’s Carynne Ooi, MICROSOFT’s Sunny and DJ Vera C with the new Acer Aspire Series.

Kuala Lumpur, 22 May 2013 – Acer today introduced the new Acer Aspire family — a touch-centric series of mobile computers designed for content creation and consumption. Leading the way is the Acer Aspire P3, a sleek Ultrabook; the Acer Aspire R7, a versatile, powerful touch notebook; and the venerable Acer Aspire V notebook.

“Touch-centric products are the new trend in computing world now. At Acer, we are devoted to creating products with new innovation to meet our modern day explorers’ computing demands, and inspire them to explore beyond their limits,” said Ricky Tan, General Manager of Acer Sales & Services Sdn. Bhd.

Touch-optimised Microsoft Windows 8 and Intel’s Ultrabook foundation have opened doors to innovation in terms of hardware form factors. Acer’s new Aspire series clearly shows how creative vendors can be to push boundaries of hardware design for market differentiation and to enhance overall user experience.

Present at the launch were Acer Malaysia’s Carynne Ooi , Johnson Seet, Jeffrey Lai; Intel Malaysia’s Norhizam, Microsoft’s Sunny Ooi, and local superstar DJ, DJ Vera C.

ACER’s Jefferey Lai presenting the features of the Acer Aspire P3.

Acer Aspire P3
The Aspire P3 is a sleek new form of Ultrabook, powerful enough to work as a full-blown, primary PC. It’s really a tablet with a keyboard in disguise. It weighs only 1.36kgs and is 20mm thin. The 11.6-inch HD IPS display has 10-point multi-touch. Powering the convertible Ultrabook is a 3rd-generation Intel Core i3 processor, with 2GB RAM. Storage options start from 16GB. The Ultrabook turns from a tablet, hybrid to a full-blown notebook. Could duality be the thing of the future?

The Acer Aspire P3 retails for RM1,999.00. An alternate spec P3 with an Intel Pentium processor retails for RM1,799.00

Acer Aspire P3

Acer Aspire R7
The Acer Aspire R7 is an innovative re-look at what a notebook should be. With a 15” HD touch screen mounted on a revolutionary Ezel Hinge, the notebook is as versatile and talented as they come. In a very ‘Star Trek’-ish kind of way — flip, reverse, lie flat or float the display. The quad-mode operation makes plenty of sense when you need to collaborate and share content. Strangely, the track pad has been moved above the keyboard. Acer reckons it promotes its versatility. The Acer Aspire R7 is powered by a 3rd-generation Intel Core i5 processor (with also an i7 option), bundled with 6GB RAM, and 1TB hard drive. There is also a 256GB SSD option.

The unique design has already garnered industry acclaim despite being in the market for a little over 3 weeks, winning a Red Dot Design Award and Computex D&I award 2013.

The Acer Aspire R7 retails for RM2,999.00

Acer Aspire R7

Acer Aspire V Series
The V series is Acer’s largest and most versatile mainstream notebook range, with numerous V5 and V7 models. The new V Series is slimmer, lighter and available in a variety of colours, screen sizes and performance.

With the debut of the new Aspire series, Acer has unveiled its latest global advertising campaign featuring the famous superstar DJ — DJ Tiesto and his personal assistant, Vernon (in no relation to yours truly). The campaign follows the success of the 2012 campaigns which featured actors Kiefer Sutherland and Megan Fox using their Acer devices. The TVC is rather fun. Catch it below:

Explore more Acer content on YouTube: www.youtube.com/AcerMalaysiaChannel

The Acer Aspire Series is available for purchase today at all major Authorised Acer Resellers nationwide. For more informaiton, visit www.acer.com.my.

VMware, the leader in virtualisation and cloud infrastructure solutions, has unveiled VMware vCloud Hybrid Service, an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud operated by VMware. The new IaaS offering, built on the foundation of  VMware vSphere, will enable existing customers to extend their data centers to the cloud.

At a live event, Pat Gelsinger, CEO, VMware said, “VMWare’s mission is to radically simplfy IT and help customers transform their IT operations.”

He continued, “Today, with the introduction of the VMware vCloud Hybrid Service, we take a big step forward by coupling all the value of VMware virtualisation and software- deifned data center technologies with the speed and simplicity of a public cloud service that our customers desire.”

Fast Track to the Cloud

vCloud Hybrid Service offers the easiest, fastest path to the cloud for VMware customers, enabling them to extend the same skills, tools, networking and security policies across both on-premise and off-premise environments. The new IaaS offering delivers a public cloud that is completely interoperable with existing VMware virtualised infrastructure, bridging private and public cloud environments without compromise or complexity.

The new cloud hybrid service will allow customers to extend their data centers to the cloud with:

Application Neutrality – The service supports thousands of applications and more than 90 operating systems, certified to run on vSphere. This gives customers the same level of availability and performance running in the public cloud without modifications or re-writing of applications.

Business-Critical Reliability – By virtue of its vSphere foundations, vCloud Hybrid Service ensures enterprise-level reliability with automated replication, monitoring and high availability through vSphere’s VMware vMotion, High Availability and vSphere Distributed Resources Scheduler.

Simplified Management – vCloud Hybrid Service offers a simplified approach to management, giving customers the same tools and processes to manage on-premise and off-premise environments. with the free vCloud Connector plugin, vSphere administrators can view, manage and migrate from the vSphere client easily.

Video: The City of Melrose values the interoperability, performance, and security that VMware vCloud Hybrid Service provides on a platform that is 100% compatible with their multiple on-premise environments.

Partner-Driven Deployment

VMWare vCloud Hybrid Service will be delivered via its partner network and compatible with other VMWare-based cloud services. Because the service can be sold the same way as an on-premise VMware license, partners retain billing relationship with customers, simplified via a standard SKU. This also gives partners and opportunity to provide value-added services or add vCloud Hybrid Service to their portfolio.

Pricing and Availability

VMware vCloud Hybrid Service will be available in June through and Early Access Program. General availability in the US is expected to be in Q3 2013.

The two available vCloud Hybrid Service offerings are:

• vCloud Hybrid Service Dedicated Cloud – physically isolated and reserved compute resources, sold on an annual term with pricing starting at 13 cents an hour. Fully protected, fully redundant 1GB virtual machine with 1 processor.
• vCloud Hybrid Service Virtual Private Cloud – multi-tenant compute resource model, dedicated allocations for customers. Sold on monthly term with pricing starting at 4.5  cents an hour. Fully protected, full redundant 1GB virtual machine with 1 processor.

With vCloud, customers now have an agile, programmable infrastructure that will provide an easy upgrade path for their data centers to the cloud.

For the latest information on vCloud, visit VMware vCloud Blog

Dell Precision R7610 Rack Workstation

Dell has announced an expanded Dell Precision workstation portfolio in Malaysia – offering the new Dell Precision T1700 Small-Form Factor (SFF), the smallest tower workstation in its class; and the Dell Precision R7610, the world’s most powerful rack workstation. The Dell Precision family also includes the Dell Precision T1700 Mini-Tower (MT), offering increased performance, reliability and smart design targeted at entry-level and high-end workstation users.

Dell is currently the industry leader in rack workstations with 60% marketshare worldwide, according to a Q1 2013 IDC report.

Tiny but Mighty

The new Dell Precision T1700 SFF is approximately 30&% smaller than competitive systems, making it the smallest and lightest in its class. Its size enables easy deployment as an Independent Software Vendor (ISV)-certified workstation almost anywhere, even in the tightest of spaces.

The T1700 SFF and T1700 MT are designed and certified for engineering, architecture and finance professionals, also ideal for high education and high school students working with 2D, entry-level 3D or multitasking with demanding applications.

Powering both the T1700 SFF and T1700 MT are next generation Intel Xeon workstation-class processors, a selection of Intel HD Graphics, NVIDIA Quadro and AMD FirePro graphics cards.

The towers feature ample expandability options with PCIx x 16 Gen 3 slots; expanded ISV certifications; and two front USB 3.0 ports (the only entry-level workstation to offer this).

Tower Power

The new Dell Precision R7610 packs the power of Dell’s very own flagship T7600 tower workstation, offering significantly more power, enhanced remote experience and new virtualisation capabilities. Packed in a 2U rack form factor, it is ideal for datacenters or OEM embedded solutions.

The R7610 brings improved ROI via increased access and better utilisation of their assets as a single workstation. It can be used by four users without sacrificing performance. This is achieved using GPU pass-through and certifications with Citrix XenServer 6.1.0 using Cirix XenDesktop HDX 3D Pro. Citrix XenServer allows all resources of a dedicated discrete graphics card to be shared with multiple users in a hosted-shared environment; or made available to a single user or virtual machine.

The workstation supports up to four single wide mainstream graphics cards such as the NVIDIA Quadro K2000 and AMD FirePro W5000; high-performance NVIDIA Quadro K4000 cards or up to three double-wide NVIDIA Quadro K5000 cards.

To push graphics performance boundaries even further, expanded capabilities including NVIDIA GRID with virtualised graphics will be available later this year.

Reliability is enhanced further with Dell’s patented exclusive Reliable Memory Technology, programmed at BIOS level, virtually eliminating all memory errors. Memory on the R7610 has four channels with up to 256GB in 16 DIMM slots, with future availability of 512GB, with a 6GB/s lS12308 SATA/SAS controller. It comes with dual Intel Xeon E5-2687W 150-watt 8-core processors.

Pricing & Availability

The Dell Precision R7610 rack workstation is available now starting at RM7,948.00 and Dell Precision T1700 MT and SFF will be available on June 4.

For many, buying or renting property is one of the biggest decisions to make in life. It takes plenty of research, filtering, calling and meeting agents, setting up appointments and visiting property locations. From personal experience – as much as it is exciting, it is also daunting, time consuming and really quite exhausting! A new property portal called PropertyPlus aims to change the way we search, rent or buy property in Malaysia.

PropertyPlus is a group buying portal, that creates a discount platform for property seekers. Think of it as Groupon for property. While successfully introduced in other countries, this is the first time a property site of this nature is launched in Malaysia.

If you’re a property investor yourself, you would have heard or been exposed to property investor clubs locally or abroad. These clubs seek to obtain the best deals from developers, in form of big discounts and lower than retail prices. Buyers are ‘crowdsourced’ as they approach developers as one entity to claim a bulk discount. This concept isn’t really something new.

PropertyPlus’ key objectives are to provide a “membership-free and cost-free” platform for property buyers and investors to obtain significant bulk discounts from property developers. I have personally been involved with ‘bulk purchases’, and it is certainly not something you can do as an individual, unless you’re a multi-millionaire, of course.

Over the past half a decade, property prices have skyrocketed, and this has put most properties out of reach of many Malaysians. This unfortunately is the stark reality of the property industry, spurred by Malaysia’s strong economic growth and high demand of property. Many reckon property prices are unrealistic and over-valued, as do I, however, prices do not look like they will plateau nor fall any time soon.

How PropertyPlus can help is by connecting developers and motivating them to offer discounts via bulk sales. This is intended to be a win-win situation for both developers and property buyers. Property buyers on one hand get lower prices, while developers sell their property inventory more easily through bulk sale. Developers also tend to spend less on marketing and advertising.

The portal takes pride in its transparency in all deals it offers, with no mark-up pricing whatsoever on all deals. The portal also provides buyers detailed info on all listings as well as provide assistance to buyers in the entire sales process – securing bank loans, documentation work, SPA signing and more.

Most importantly, there’s absolutely no membership nor service fees. It’s online, it’s hassle free and it’s easy.

PropertyPlus is backed by a highly experienced management team with over 150 years of relevant combined industry experience in real estate, investment and finance.

Quickly register on www.propertyplus.com.my as the first 1,000 sign ups will enjoy free premium memberships. Besides that, they will also be giving out iPad 4 to the TOP 5 SHARES! 

Do visit PropertyPlus’ official FB page at www.facebook.com/propertyplus. You can also find out more by calling 010-3731837 or emailing to vickie.yong@propertyplus.com.my for any enquiries.

Samsung Malaysia Electronics (SME) has kicked off a nationwide tour to bring the much-anticipated GALAXY S4 superphone to Malaysians. Malaysians at selected urban hotspots around the country will get a first-hand experience of the flagship Android smartphone, touted for its superior hardware and innovative features. The GALAXY S4 is the first-ever smartphone with an 8-core processor in the world.

Positioned as your “Life Companion” the GALAXY S4 has garnered positive and enthusiastic response from the public. Samsung recognising this, is rewarding the support by Malaysians with exciting freebies and accessories for purchases of the GALAXY S4 (and other GALAXY devices.

The first 100 customers to purchase the GALAXY S4 at any of the roadshows will be entitled to:

• A free GALAXY S4 flip cover worth RM99 each day.

Customers who purchase the GALAXY Note 8.0, GALAXY Note 10.1, GALAXY Note II or GALAXY Camera at these roadshows will be entitled to value-added offers such as:

• The first ten customers to purchase any of these devices will receive a free Samsung Bluetooth headset worth RM129.
• The following ten customers to purchase any of these devices will receive a free Samsung car charger worth RM69.

The nationwide road shows will be held from May until July 2013 at these locations:

1. Suria KLCC, Centre Court, 16 May – 22 May 2013
2. Berjaya Megamall, Kuantan, Melor Concourse, 31 May – 2 June 2013
3. Plaza Low Yat, Centre Court, 10 June – 16 June 2013
4. 1^st Avenue, Penang, Main Atrium, 28 June – 30 June 2013
5. Plaza Merdeka, Kuching, Level UG2, 5 July – 7 July 2013
6. Centre Point Mall, Kota Kinabalu, Level G-U2, 19 July – 21 July 2013

This promotion is only available at the specified roadshow locations.

For more information about these roadshows, please visit www.samsung.com/my or visit the Samsung Mobile Malaysia Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/samsungmobilemalaysia.

May The Fourth Be With You.

ur Liyana and Azrena Mahmud, PR & Marketing Manager, Corporate Affairs Group,
Intel Malaysia at Liyana’s science project booth at the Phoenix Convention Centre.

The young Malaysian team representing the country at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2013 in Phoenix, AZ has made a small dent in the universe, winning the 2nd Award of the United Airlines Foundation.

A Special Award Ceremony of the ISEF 2013 saw Nur Liyana Johari, 17, from Tuanku Syed Putra Secondary Science School, Perlis take the award and the US$5,000 prize money.

Nur Liyana discovered that palm oil can be extracted from byproducts of palm by utilising a catalyst. This process makes use of waste biomass and reduces methane gas emissions.

The top overall winners for Intel ISEF 2013 will be announced today at the Grand Awards Ceremony.

Let’s hope the young Malaysian Einstein’s capture the hearts of the judges and bring home more awards. Stay tuned for updates.

The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, a program of Society for Science & the Public, is the world’s largest high school science research competition. Every year in May, a group of students from all over the world are selected as finalists and offered an opportunity to compete for more than US$4 million in awards and scholarships.

United Airlines Foundation

For more than 60 years, the United Airlines Foundation has served as the charitable wing of United Airlines, Inc. The Foundation’s International Program grants support science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education initiatives. In addition, we support community service grants for arts and culture, health and environmental initiatives.

First Place Award of $7,500

EE007 Modification in Aeroplane Wheels to Reduce Wear on the Tyre
Phillipe Robert Josef Renee Lothaller, 17, Rondebosch Boys’ High School, Cape Town, South Africa

Second Award of $5,000

EM015 BIO-OIL: The Use of Specially Made Catalyst
Nur Liyana Johari, 17, Tuanku Syed Putra Secondary Science School, Kangar, Malaysia

Third Award of $2,500

ET316 DRT – Drag Reduction Technology
Herbert Gerhardter, 19, HTBLA Eisenstadt, Eisenstadt, Austria
David Josef Zefferer, 20, HTBLA Eisenstadt, Eisenstadt, Austria

Intel Malaysia today hosted an exclusive video conference session to enable selected local media to communicate with students representing Malaysia at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2013 currently in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, a program of Society for Science & the Public, is the world’s largest high school science research competition. Every year in May, a group of students from all over the world are selected as finalists and offered an opportunity to compete for more than US$4 million in awards and scholarships.

The Intel Foundation with support from dozens of corporate, academic, government and science-focused sponsors also awards additional prizes to more than 600 other projects; including Best of Category, Grand Awards, CERN, just to name a few.

This year, approximately 1,600 young scientists the world over gather in Phoenix, Arizona from May 12-17 for the finals. With over 5,000 students in Arizona expected to attend and witness the final ceremony, it is the biggest ISEF competition so far.

Individual countries run their own affiliate fairs, and this year the winning crop of scientists were selected from 433 affiliate fairs in more than 70 countries.

All finalists are selected via a local competition and receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the ISEF. Finalists are judged by hundreds of science, engineering and industry professionals.

Projects tackle some of today’s most pressing global issues, and represent a wide spectrum of scientific disciplines and judged in the following categories:

• Animal Sciences
• Behavioral & Social Sciences
• Biochemistry
• Cellular & Molecular Biology
• Chemistry
• Computer Science
• Earth & Planetary Science
• Energy & Transportation
• Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical
• Engineering: Materials & Bioengineering
• Environmental Management
• Environmental Science
• Mathematical Sciences
• Medicine & Health
• Microbiology
• Physics & Astronomy
• Plant Services

In Malaysia, the local competition is organised by MARA and the Ministry of Education with judging criteria aligned to the standards of the ISEF. Parallel to the ISEF, locally, is the EdAcademy, an economic forum which is targeted at adults, science and mathematics educators and curriculum developers.

The year long project saw a submission of 300 projects ranging from biology, chemistry, computer science and physics disciplines. These projects place emphasis on research processes and data analytics.

The Malaysian hopefuls are three individuals and two two-member teams. As part of preparations for the finals, the students were given guidance to fine-tune their projects; and also took part in a workshop to hone their presentation skills before leaving for the US.

One of the individual finalists, Sarah Wong Jia Xin, who hails from SMK Batu Lintang, Sarawak, discovered that fish scales can be used to effectively remove dye colour and heavy metal in dye waste water.

Nur Liyana of SM Sains Tuanku Syed Putra discovered that palm oil can be extracted from byproducts of palm by utilising a catalyst. This process makes use of waste biomas and reduces methane gas emissions.

Muhammad Ali Zulhazim Bin Rosli from MRSM Taiping studied potential of tea, cinnamon and clove as natural algicides, and his research has shown that these can be developed as natural biosafe algicides to combat water pollution.

The first of the team finalists is the team of Florina Stephanie and Michelle Jane from SMK Batu Lintang. The duo discovered that raw extract of Pangium edule (known as kepayang in Malaysia) leaves can be used as botanical pesticide.

MRSM Pengkalan Chepa’s team of Wan Ezzeriq Bin Wan Zalik and Muhamad Asyri Bin Jamlus project that involved using banana stem to produce biodegradable plastic was proudly mentioned by ISEF during the official opening ceremony earlier today.

Intel’s Director of Corporate Affairs, South East Asia, Abdul Rahman gave media a introduction of Intel ISEF and reiterated Intel’s commitment to education. He revealed that Intel and the Intel Foundation have invested more than US$1 billion over the past decade to improve education in more than 60 countries.

He also offered words of advice and encouragement to the Malaysian students during the video conference.

Also present during the video conference were representatives from MARA and MOE, as well as past finalists of ISEF (2011) – Mohamad Syazwan of MRSM Taiping and Zawin Najah Zulkefli of SM Sains Tuanku Syed Putra.

Congratulations to the Malaysian team!

More pics on Flickr

To learn more about Society for Science & the Public, visit www.societyforscience.org.

Castrol, is sending four Malaysians to the hometown of luxury sportscar brand Lamborghini – Sant’agata Bolognese, Italy, for the driving experience of their lives. The four are grand prize winners of the Castrol EDGE “The Drive of Your Life” campaign.

The four lucky grand prize winners are Raja Ram Martham Muthu, Fong Chieu Yen, Lim Kwee Choy and Sit Chee Keong. They will share the driver’s seat of the Lamborghini Gallardo and Lamborghini Aventador.

The ultimate driving experience will be held at the former F1 track – the famous Imola Circuit, Italy. The four will not only get to drive the two supercars, but will also get a taxi ride in the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo racing car, a visit to the Lamborghini factory and production line; the official Lamborghini museum and the Carbon Fibre Facility.

Castrol Malaysia’s Marketing Director, Mark Ng posing with the grand prize winners of the Castrol EDGE “The Drive of Your Life” campaign

The Castrol EDGE campaign ran from 1 December 2012 to 15 March 2013, open to all Malaysians with valid driving licenses and Castrol workshop partners. Malaysians qualified for the contest by just using Castrol EDGE at any Castrol Auto Service workshop.

Other attractive prizes included weekly prizes of Apple iPhone 5 16GB, Apple iPad mini 16GB, Samsung Galaxy Note 2, exclusive Lamborghini merchandise and Castrol EDGE oils.

Mark Ng, Castrol Marketing Director of Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines said, “Castrol is constantly seeking new and innovative ways to reward our customers. This opportunity was made possible through Castrol EDGE’s sponsorship of the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo racing series. Our association with Lamborghini also means that all Lamborghinis leave the factory using Castrol EDGE engine oils, so the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo racing series presents the ideal platform to showcase Castrol EDGE’s strength to perform under the most arduous of conditions experienced across Europe’s most demanding race tracks.”

He added, “Lamborghini super sports cars are about performance and technology, so this association fits very powerfully with Castrol EDGE. Understanding how oils perform in engines under extreme pressure has enabled Castrol EDGE, engineered with Titanium Fluid Strength Technology to provide drivers with the freedom to push their machines to the limit and inspire confidence to take their vehicles on even the most demanding of roads. “

I would be smiling too, Mark.

Castrol EDGE engineered with Titanium Fluid Strength Technology is Castrol’s strongest and most advanced performance oil yet, proven to be up to 40% stronger than a leading competitor and stronger for up to 35% longer*.

Castrol has over 100 years of experience in lubricant technology, and part of the BP group.

For more about Castrol, visit www.castroledge.com.my, like them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/castrolmalaysia or tweet them at @Castrolmy

More photos on Flickr.

*Tests run by third party laboratory. 

Go Bald!

On the second day of my trip to Kuching last week, I not only had the opportunity to attend the soft launch of Sarawak Museum‘s redesigned longhouse gallery, but also gain deeper insight on Sarawak Energy’s (“SEB) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.

In a closed presentation with selected influencers (three from KL and two from Kuching), SEB Manager of Social Investment, Corporate Social Responsibility, Joanne Tan Cho Yian spoke passionately about SEB’s CSR initiatives, with highlights on the resettled Penans in Murum, Bintulu.

We were also treated to a tour of the SEB headquarters, a certified green building by the Green Building Index (GBI). We learned some details about the energy-efficient building – its double-glazed glass, lights with ambient sensors and fuzzy-logic elevators. Little things that help make the building, that houses close to 1,000 staff, 3 times more efficient than a conventional building.

Go Bald!

Running alongside the day’s activities was the Go Bald campaign, supported by SEB. First a primer. The Go Bald Campaign was first launched in 2009 by the Sarawak Children Cancer Society (SCCS), to create awareness about childhood cancer and to support children’s fight against cancer. Shaving heads is a public demonstration of moral support to cancer patients and their families; to show that it’s ok to be bald, and that it’s just a temporary setback on the road to recovery.

The campaign also raises funds for SCCS. In 2011, SCCS raised nearly RM1 million to help subsidise the building fund for a brand new SCCS center that provides care and support for child cancer patients in Sarawak.

Accelerated hair loss

Though unplanned, it didn’t take much convincing by the lads from Edelman PR Kuala Lumpur, the public relations agency for SEB, to get my messy mane shaven off for the very first time. Together in my journey to skinhead territory were Edelman’s Stuart Tan, Loong Hin Yoong, Basil Lim and Joseph Cheong.

The Go Bald session received tremendous support with close to 50 people signing up, comprising mostly SEB’s staff. At the tail-end of the session, a lady also volunteered to do it, as well. Much respect!

Which is which?

SEB made a contribution of RM10,000 to SCCS in support of the campaign.

The Go Bald campaign proper kicked off in Sibu on May 1, followed by Miri on May 12 and onwards to Kuching on May 19, 2013.

The lads and I lost it all.

More pics on Flickr.

For more on the Go Bald campaign, visit http://gobald.my

My trip to Sarawak was generously sponsored by Sarawak Energy (SEB). Learn more about SEB and follow them on Twitter – @1SarawakEnergy.

The Sarawak Museum in Kuching, one of the oldest buildings in the State, has unveiled its redesigned longhouse gallery, showcasing the rich culture and heritage of the indigenous people of Sarawak. Built in 1891, Sarawak Museum is the most visited museum in Sarawak with over half a million visits from tourists each year.

The new longhouse gallery entitled “Longhouses of Sarawak”, brings a much-needed facelift to the museum with an enhanced layout, more attractive graphics and interactive features. It includes collections of historical artifacts, life-size recreations of a longhouse, historical photographs, stories, traditional instruments and paraphernelia. The facelift was made possible by Sarawak Museum’s close collaboration with Sarawak Energy Berhad (“SEB”), the State’s energy provider.

“The partnership between the Museum and SEB is aimed at enhancing visitors’ experience to our cultural gallery. There are multimedia displays and more detailed information on the exhibit. This will benefit students or visitors who are looking for information on the longhouses in Sarawak. The redesigned gallery has a new interior layout featuring updated information on indigenous rituals, architecture, musical instruments and economic activities of the indigenous community. There will also be a video gallery showcasing the history of longhouses in Sarawak,” Sarawak Museum’s Director Ipoi Datai said in his welcoming speech.

SEB contributed over RM340,000 in the project that took 6 months to complete.

Representing the CEO of Sarawak Energy, was Puan Aisah Eden, chief of corporate services, “We have approximately 30 ethnic groups in Sarawak and each contributing to the State’s diverse and rich culture and heritage. Steeped in history this melting pot of culture, lifestyle and language, is a reflection of colour that makes up our beautiful Sarawak. Sarawak Energy is proud to play a part in this cultural preservation for our future generation to enjoy and learn from.”

The sponsorship of the Sarawak Museum enhancement is part of SEB’s Corporate Responsibility Initiative, that complements the Company’s commitment to bring development to all Sarawakians, including the indigenous people through the development of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE).

Interactive info screens.

Traditional musical instruments, displayed.

Under the Sarawak Corridor Of Renewable Energy (SCORE), the government is implementing a comprehensive plan to develop the Sarawak economy by harnessing the State’s competitive advantage in the generation of bulk renewable energy to attract investment and employment in energy intensive industries.

SEB’s CSR initiative focuses on four key areas – education and young people; culture and heritage; environmental management and conservation; and community development and entrepreneurship.

Another ongoing initiative is the resettlement of the 1,400-strong Penan community in Murum, Bintulu, affected by the Murum Hydroelectric Project (HEP). The ambitious Murum project, which is also SEB’s largest construction project to date, spans five years and is forecasted to start generating power in early 2014.

SEB believes in sustainable development, and has focused on educating and training the community, building infrastructure and improving the livelihood of the shy, nomadic Penans.

I was flown to Kuching to attend the soft launch, together with several members of the media including Editor-in-Chief of LowYat MSC – Elfie Jane; and celebrity blogger @Budiey. It’s been over a decade since I had paid a visit to the capital, and specifically, the museum. The enhancements are certainly a welcome change, and gives it a more up-to-date, modern look-and-feel with better interactivity for visitors.

Visit the full Flickr gallery.

If you’re ever in the city of Kuching, do pay a visit to the Sarawak Museum. Entrance to the Sarawak Museum is free.

For more on Sarawak Energy, visit the official website. They are also on Twitter.

Big thanks to Sarawak Energy for sponsoring my trip to Kuching. Hope to see even more of Sarawak soon!

Fusing fashion and food together isn’t an entirely new concept, but a new outlet interestingly called Elegantology Gallery Restaurant at the hip and happening Publika KL shopping mall, aims to bring it up a notch. Positioned as a men’s boutique and a fine-dining restaurant, Elegantology will be throwing a grand launch party at 8.00pm, 17 May 2013.

As you know I’m a big foodie, and from the looks of the mouth-watering gourmet dishes on Facebook, I’m dying to give my taste buds an awakening. Minus the pretentiousness of a fine-dining restaurant, of course. From opulent foie gras, to succulent beef ribs, I expect my culinary senses to, well… be dazzled!

This is quite interesting – passionate Elegantology chef Johnny Fua sketches out the dishes he conjures out at the restaurant. Talk about attention to detail. Find these on the Facebook page.

So, it’s not all about wining and dining, as the fashion aspect of the restaurant is the other part of its attraction. Limited edition fashion products from the likes of local designers like Beatrice Looi and Justin Yap are showcased in the restaurant.

I’m no fashionista but absolutely appreciate a well-made shirt and pants. And that’s something you are likely to see at Elegantology.

The Grand Launch will feature a fashion showcase by elite local designers, and haute cuisine. The fashionable who’s who and celebritiies are definitely going to be there, and I’m looking forward to just being there.

But wait, you can also be among the fashionistas, be among the first 200 to RSVP here: www.elegantology.com.my/rsvp. Don’t miss out!

Do visit and like the Elegantology Facebook page and get updates of the event. https://www.facebook.com/elegantology

Jabra, a world-renowned hands-free communications device manufacturer, recently launched a new line of high performance corded and wireless stereo headphones in Malaysia, featuring Dolby Digital Plus. Jabra has extended its expertise in sound technology and award-winning design with the debut of the world’s first wireless Bluetooth headphones enhanced with Dolby Digital Plus, and corded headphones Jabra Revo and Jabra Vox.

I had the opportunity to review a sexy new pair of Jabra Revo Wireless, thanks to Jabra.

Design & Build

As expected of the Danish manufacturer, the premium Jabra Revo Wireless exudes quality and sexiness from the word go. The aluminium frame and flexible, padded synthetic titanium headband feels reassuringly durable and solid. The review unit I received was the matt black version, which I think looks better than the white. Strictly a personal opinion, of course. The bright orange accents are a nice touch.

The headphones weigh a scant 240g, heavy enough to feel solid, and light enough for long hours use over your head.

The Jabra Revo Wireless is easy to store with its foldable steel hinges. Fold them and store them in the included black carry bag.

The attention to detail of the headphones is amazing. Within the ear muffs are marked thoughtfully with ‘left’ or ‘right’. Never confuse your left with your right ear ever again. Right.

On the left ear cup, the letters NFC are printed clearly. More of this later.

On the right are the main controls of the headphones. A three step toggle to power on and off, as well as setup in Bluetooth mode is placed discreetly on the bottom arch of the right cup.

The headphones have turntable-type multi-touch on-ear controls on the right. You can tap or trace cricles to adjust volume, skip tracks or answer calls (if you’re using with your phone). This is a really cool feature. The tap and trace reminds me a lot of iPods. Now in your ear!

Sound Quality

The integration of Dolby Digital Plus via Jabra Sound App certainly adds a new dimension and depth to audio quality and music. Music lovers will appreciate the audio quality and the customisable audio settings with the accompanying app.

The ear muffs provide adequate noise-canceling, and it’s easy to be immersed in the song track you’re listening to, or game that you’re playing on your device or computer.

I do gaming quite a bit on my iPad 2, and the Jabra Revo Wireless is perfect for immersive, uninterrupted Real Racing 3 action, and yes, wirelessly too.

Thanks to the Jabra Sound App, which is available on both iOS and Android, you can customise audio settings and adjust the graphic equaliser to tweak sound characteristics to your liking. I listen to a blend of rock and hip-hop/rap, so I tweak settings accordingly.

The app also allows you to create your own playlists and share music to other users. The app itself doesn’t offer a whole lot of features, but adequate for consuming audio content.

Comfort & Fit

The headphones are fully adjustable, so unless you have an alien cone head, you should be able to adjust to a perfect fit. The plush, memory foam ear cups and padded headband makes it comfortable to wear even over long hours of usage.

Features

Dolby Digital Plus, Jabra Sound App, turntable touch control, in-built microphone, NFC, and Bluetooth wireless pairing. The Jabra Revo Wireless has a lot going for it, packing a large number of features into a premium, well-designed package.

Key features at a glance

• High definition Dolby^® Digital Plus via exclusive Jabra Sound App
• Turntable Touch Control for easy music and call management
• Life proof – tough, shatterproof and constructed for ultimate portability
  • Extreme tested: Cable (to 15 kg), Bend (10000 times), Fold (3500 times), Drop (from 2m)
  • Premium materials: synthetic titanium headband (lightweight and flexible), steel hinges and aluminium frame
• Memory foam ear cups and padded headband
• Foldable design
• In-Built Microphone for wireless calls: Noise Blackout™ with dual mic technology for superior call quality
• Multiuse™ technology: Pairs up to 8 devices; connects to 2 devices simultaneously
• NFC capability
• Detachable corded option
• 40mm dynamic speakers
• Connects to devices via Bluetooth^® and 3.5mm audio cable
• Playback time: 12 hours
• Standby time: 10 days
• Bluetooth range: 10 metres
• Speaker frequency range: 20Hz – 20kHz

Setting Up

Setting up is incredibly simple. For Bluetooth pairing, just hold the On/Off/Pairing switch in the Pairing position for 3 seconds, and pairing mode will be announced in the headphones. The LED light will then flash blue. Follow the voice-guided instructions to pair with your device. I paired this with my iPad 2, and later also successfully paired to a BlackBerry Z10 smartphone, and my MacBook Pro.

Pairing with NFC is even simpler. Turn on the headphones, tap your NFC-capable device against the NFC zone of the headphones, and ‘tadaa’, it’s paired. Worked flawlessly with the Z10.

What’s in the Box

The premium-looking polycarbonate box is as good-looking as the device it houses. In the box are:

• Jabra Revo Wireles Headset
• USB cable
• 3.5mm audio cable
• Protective carrying bag
• Getting Started guide

Pros

• Fantastic, rock solid design, premium feel
• Foldable design is convenient for solid
• Very easy pairing with devices
• Good audio quality
• Good wireless range

Cons

• Might be pricey for some
• Carrying bag could have used better materials

Price and Availability

The Jabra Revo Wireless retails for (SRP) RM1,099. Covered by a limited 2-year warranty.

The Jabra Revo Wireless is joined by the Jabra Revo corded headphone (RRP RM 699) and Jabra Vox in-ear headphones (RRP RM 379). The new Jabra music range is available at Apple Store – Machines, Ascentouch, Mac Studio, IT Shop – Viewnet, Radio Shack, I-Tec@MV & All IT.

Overall

A quality product, synonymous with the Jabra brand, which will appeal to audio enthusiasts, music lovers and casual gamers. While slightly pricey, the Jabra Revo Wireless boasts great audio quality with the integration of Dolby Digital Plus, neatly combined into an attractive, well-designed package. There’s little not to like about the Jabra Revo Wireless, in my opinion. For those with less deep pockets may want to consider the corded Jabra Revo (RM699) headphones.