Google "shop"

“A Google shop? Now just what has Google diversified into?” That was my initial reaction when I went by this busy part of Causeway Bay (right opposite to the Sogo in case you’re familiar with the area) and spotted this.

Walking a little closer, it turns out that it was just their idea of marketing their Google Finance portal for Hong Kong, with some folks dishing out flyers and some demo computers in there.

So how old do you think are the chaps behind WordPress – the platform that Techgoondu and tons of blogs run on?

I recently found out that one of the founding developers – Matt Mullenweg, is all of 25 years old this year! Gosh, what was I doing at 25…

And if you happen to be in Hong Kong during on April 5th (Sunday), you might want to meet him at WordCamp – a “Wordpress fest” of sorts – in Hong Kong.

WordCamp Hong Kong

If you register by today, its just 10HKD at the door, otherwise it’ll be 25HKD. Pay when you’re there. Techgoondu doesn’t get any kick backs on this.

I’m not sure what happens at these WordCamps, but I think it should be interesting to find out what’s up with the WordPress community here. I plan on being there so shout if anyone is in the hood!

Looks like there ain’t a WordCamp Singapore planned yet?

Huawei HSPA+ modem - plug in for speedy mobile broadband

Some 100 users will be able to hook up to a public trial of StarHub’s new 21Mbps mobile broadband service, as the telco readies to launch it commercially within the next three months.

This promises, on paper, to be three times faster than the 7.2Mbps services now offered commercially by all three telcos here. While tests have been run on 14.4Mpbs services, it looks like operators here will go straight to 21Mbps this year, since newfangled HSPA+ technology is fast becoming available from network vendors like Huawei and Ericsson.

The public trial is the latest “one-up-manship” that’s been going on between StarHub and SingTel of late, as both ready for a speed race over the air. In January, StarHub said  it was readying its network for a 21Mbps speed boost. Just days later, SingTel announced that it had done a live demo of a 21Mbps link at the Volvo Ocean Race stopover.

Seagate Momentus 5400.6 500GB

I had not gone to Sim Lim Square or Funan Centre (now called Digitalife Mall or something) for two months, and I think that’s a record. The reason: I had overspent at the turn of the year on my crazy watercooling PC, and I was determined to stay away from temptation.

Yesterday, however, presented a chance to check out the latest gizmos again, since I had “sacrificed” my 2.5-inch 250GB portable hard disk to replace the faulty one in my wife’s Compaq laptop (that’s another story, trust me).

So, down I went to Funan to look for a replacement to put into my Silverstone TS01 hard disk enclosure. Man, are prices for 2.5-inch portable drives falling fast.

HP Pavilion dv2

When I first saw pictures of the new HP Pavilions launched here today, I wasn’t surprised to see more sleek, shiny models to follow the recent trend in skinny laptops. Nope, not even the one-inch-thin girth, attractive as it is, fired up my imagination.

Rather, it’s the price. The new HP Pavilion dv2 entertainment lappies start from just S$1,299 – a “surprisingly affordable” offer, says HP.

For once, I  have to agree with a press release – slim just hasn’t been cheap for full-fledged laptops (not counting low-power Netbooks).

Check out Musicgoondu, a purely fun-seeking project by two Business Times scribes – Christopher Lim and me – and joined by our close circle of music-mad friends, including one who readers of Techgoondu will be familiar with: limbeer, aka Roland Lim. It is a blog on music, gear and musings. Believe it or not, Singapore has its own music scene, so this is also a place to rant and rave about what’s going on in this tiny island we call home. Check us out. We love to hear your comments.

I have written about this pair of Japanese-branded headphones before, but after a particularly draining jogging session yesterday, which I must have sweated buckets over 2 hours and thoroughly drenched the ‘phones, I feel I must give it another round of props for being one of the toughest and better sounding headphones for those who like to run. I’ve never have a pair of headphones able to take quite as much abuse or serve the runner as well: the Audio Technica “ONTO” ATH-ON3 fits like crazy glue around my ears, has a fab wire head band that is unobtrusive and feels lightweight enough for marathons. Sweat attack? Just dry the earpieces with kitchen paper towels and the headphones are good to go for your next run. Let’s hope Audio Technica won’t discontinue it anytime soon.

At a Microsoft blogger’s event last week, Techgoondu and several local bloggers walked home with copies of Windows 7 beta. I decided to give the newly-minted OS a test-run on my 2-year-old Macbook and the results were much better than I thought.

First impressions were favorable: Windows 7 beta installs much faster than Vista. Installation time was approximately 20 minutes, compared to roughly 45 minutes when I first installed Vista Ultimate on my Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz machine with 4GB of RAM. The installation process has also been streamlined into five steps. The only problem I had was with the license key which the Microsoft folks presumably forgot to provide. There is a simple workaround for this, thanks to this Lifehacker tip.

HTC Touch Diamond 2

Got my first touch-and-feel of HTC’s upcoming Touch Diamond 2 phone, which will run on Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.5 when launched later this year.

As the name suggests, this followup to the popular Touch Diamond is pretty similar in shape and design to the original. However, there are some key differences:

>> It’s bigger:
Although the specs only betray a hint of this, version 2 does feel bulkier and less “pocketable” than the original, which had the petite size that just about feels right for both weekdays and weekends. For those looking for a super-slim look, the Touch Diamond 2 may feel just a wee bit too big.