Even for the most hardcore users, you’d think that the ultimate router is one that has a gigabit WAN port and an OLED screen like D-Link’s Xtreme N Duo DIR-855.

Well, the company has just topped that by coming up with a router that also acts as a digital photo frame, as well as a network attached storage (NAS) device. Bar the kitchen sink, the new Xtreme N DIR-685 probably has almost all the features in a consumer router.

D-Link Singapore has just said that the S$399 “desktop-design” router will debut at the Comex computer show here next month.

So, what do you get for that sky-high price?

… is still a netbook.

Yes, I am talking about Nokia’s Booklet 3G, the cellphone giant’s first mini laptop. If you needed the surest sign of the convergence between smartphones and laptops, details of Nokia’s new gizmo are it.

Unveiled hours ago, the 1.25kg Booklet 3G will feature the usual compact screen (a 10-incher here) first made famous by the first netbooks in the shape of Asus’ Eee PC. Nokia’s small machine will also feature an Intel Atom processor and run Microsoft Windows – standard fare now in netbooks.

So, is this another “me too” product from Nokia, long after the first two waves of netbooks have come from Taiwanese electronics makers and then “A-brand” PC makers?

Firstly, a big apology to readers for the late announcement. I would have liked to say that I wanted to keep readers in suspense, but in truth was held up by a horribly busy week. Again, my sincerest apologies.

If you haven’t read the previous roundup on this Sony Ericsson contest, you’re missing out on some other really good entries. There were a few close runner-ups that were pipped by just a vote or two, and would have won if the votes had fallen in other ways. Still, in a contest decided by democratic votes by the judges, the majority speaks, even if winners win by just a sliver of votes.

Without further ado, let’s move on to the three winners!

Firstly, a big thank you to all readers who participated in the recent Techgoondu Sony Ericsson G705 Giveaway contest. The challenge given to contestants this time round was to submit what they thought was one of their best “geek moments”, and the submission could come in the form of text, pictures, or even audio or video.

Like in our previous LG TV giveaway contest run last year, we had some very good entries, but unfortunately not everybody can be a winner — we had to pare the numbers down to three lucky winners amongst all the entries.

Similar to last year, the winners are chosen by a democratic vote of the goondus. Even though our individual goondu tastes might be quite different, the process is generally a fair one.

But first, before we announce the winners, let’s take a look at some of the wackier and more interesting entries that were sent in this time round.

SingTel broadband users are seeing their webpages load slower than usual today, after what appears to be a pretty serious cut in the APCN2 submarine cables carrying Internet traffic in and out of Singapore.

The complaints had been coming in through Twitter and online forums the entire day, but it was not until late in the afternoon that confirmation came from ZDNet Asia that the problem was due to a fault in the APCN2 system, which serves a large part of the Asia-Pacific region.

The fault means users are only getting slow connections to overseas websites. Webpages are displaying slowly, while IM (instant messaging) messages are often slow to go through or are dropped altogether.

Source: The Daily Mirror UK

Is “free football” coming to a pay-TV market distorted by exclusive content deals?

That’s not a National Day joke. It’s one fierce promotional ploy that SingTel is announcing today, just days before the football season kicks off for fans here with the FA Charity Shield this weekend.

Basically, the “red” telco is dangling two months of free access to its football channels which show the Italian Serie A, Uefa Europa League and most importantly, the Uefa Champions League, to tempt you to sign up for a trial of its mio TV service.

This offer is open to both SingTel mio TV and mio Home customers til August 19. Oh wait, StarHub’s pay-TV sports group subscribers can also get on for a free ride – as long as they turn up at a SingTel shop with their identity cards and cable TV bills by the end of September.

As you may have heard, some 95 per cent of Singapore is being wired up with fibre optic cables for the country’s next-generation broadband network, which promises an almost unlimited speed boost over existing SingTel’s copper-line phone system and StarHub’s HFC (hybrid fibre coaxial) network.

But little has been said about what this cable laying project means to the average Joe.

Earlier this week, OpenNet, the consortium tasked with wiring up Singapore, gave the media a glimpse of how things will pan out. The quick takeaway is that it is on-schedule, and will be sending letters to residents in selected areas to inform them that contractors would be coming to their homes to hook up the new cables.

Hard disk maker Seagate said today that it was closing its Singapore factory and cutting 2,000 jobs in the process, even as the United States appears to be coming out of one of the worst economic slums in decades.

Seagate’s plant at Ang Mo Kio will be closed by the end of next year, as it moves its manufacturing operations to low-cost countries in the region, including China, Thailand and Malaysia, to cut costs amounting to US$40 million a year.

The hard disk maker will keep its Asia headquarters in Singapore, as well as its media operations and an R&D centre in the Republic, according to wire reports.

However, the news of its plant closure will mark yet another sobering chapter for Singapore’s once-stellar electronics manufacturing sector.

I’ll be honest and say that I was a little skeptical about Seagate’s FreeAgent Theater when the test unit was recently sent for a Goondu check-out.

Why, in a time when people are streaming videos at home with an Xbox or Playstation 3, or playing back DivX movies on compatible DVD players, would they turn to another media player, this time from a hard disk manufacturer?

Well, I got my answer when I finally fired up my first two movies – The Spartans and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle – on my LCD TV in the living room.