| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
SINGAPORE: Valentine's Day is round the corner, and the air is sweet with the dizzying scent of crass commercialism. If you haven't bought your beloved a suitably expensive gift for Feb 14, Ariel Tam (ariel@mediacorp.com.sg) has a few suggestions.
For the Apple fiend iPod nano Pink
Hot off the Apple racks last week is the iPod nano in kitschy pink.
Dressed in matt anodised aluminium and stainless steel, the 8GB player is cute as a button, and the coat of pink ensures you can spot it in the sea of trash that is your bag. Its two-inch screen can display album art, photos, music videos and movies.
Why anyone would want to watch movies on a screen this small is a mystery, but who are we to judge?
The 8GB of flash memory not only gives you plenty of space, it also helps your battery last longer than yesterday's iPods with hard drives.
At S$348, the nano is the perfect present for your Apple-worshipping partner. Unless, of course, your love (and pocket) is deep enough to allow you to shell out for a Macbook Air.
No, we didn't think so either.
For the glitterati who can't afford a Vertu Nokia 8800 Arte
The Nokia 8800 Arte is one stylish slider that will score you many, many brownie points with your yuppie partner.
It's one sleek ebony bar of glass and metal and weighs a solid, very-expensive-materials-used-here 150g. Most importantly, it doesn't resemble one of those phones that come free when you sign up for a two-year operator contract.
At S$1,788, the 8800 Arte is not for the tight-fisted but we know you're not.
You do get some innovative features – tap the screen twice and a clock appears (on the screen, duh); turn the phone screen down and the mute mechanism is activated.
Nokia also claims to have slapped an anti-fingerprint coating on this high-shine number, so you can put away those CSI gloves now.
The handset features an exclusive soundtrack composed by Austrian DJ duo Kruder and Dorfmeister, as well as visual art by Fritz Fitzke – very famous people, we country bumpkins were told.
The Arte is 3G-enabled and sports a 3.2-megapixel auto-focus camera, a micro-USB connector and 1GB of built-in memory. Bundled with the phone is a leather case so cool that Neo from The Matrix would approve.
For the serial data hoarder Corsair 32GB USB Drive
If your partner is a storage maniac who walks around with multiple thumbdrives hanging round his neck, get him the 32GB Corsair Survivor USB drive.
That's right, that tiny tube can hold an entire season of Heroes.
As the name suggests, the Survivor is downright indestructible. Okay, that's not entirely true but the thumbdrive is mighty strong.
Sheathed in a waterproof, aircraft-grade aluminium shell, the plug-and-play Survivor is water-resistant up to 200m, while a shock-dampening collar shields it from vibration or impact damage. Plus, True Crypt security software protects your data from prying eyes.
Another bonus: The drive is bootable, which means that you can plug it into any PC and effectively turn it into your own computer.
The 32GB Survivor retails at US$235 (S$333) and comes with a lanyard, a USB extension cable and a comforting 10-year limited warranty.
For the technophile with a heart Dell XPS M1330 (Product) Red
Save the world and satisfy your tech-lusting partner at the same time. Get him/her the Dell XPS M1330 (Product) Red, and Dell and Microsoft will jointly contribute US$50 (S$70) to the Global Fund-financed grants in Africa. That's equivalent to four months of antiretroviral treatment for a person infected with Aids in Africa, they'll have you know.
The M1330 is a compact Intel Core 2 Duo machine with a swanky 0.9-inch profile and a starting weight of about 1.8kg. You get a 13.3-inch high-definition WXGA display, a full-sized keyboard, integrated WiFi, Windows Vista and a 160GB hard drive. Prices start at S$1,868.
For the snap-happy-in-love
Casio Exilim EX-S10
Launched on our shores a few days ago, the Casio Exilim EX-S10 is a wonderful present for your trigger-happy partner. Touted as the world's smallest and slimmest 10.1-megapixel camera, the EX-S10 has a 3x optical zoom lens and a bright 2.7-inch display with a wide viewing angle. Motion blur detection technology solves the pesky problem of shaky hands fatigued by too many hours on the PS3.
We recommend the blue model because well, it's our favourite colour. But this is a Valentine's Day gift guide, so we're showing you the picture of the hot scarlet one as everyone knows red is the colour of true love – and a bleeding wallet. That's S$499, please. - TODAY/fa
|
