“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.

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?

Getting one of the new Media PCs to consolidate all your media needs sound like a great idea. But if you have a MacBook Pro (MBP) – even an early rev A version like mine, all you need is Plex and you already have a Media PC ready to go.

First, props to Techgoondu friend Chris who gave me a heads up to Plex. Plex is a media center software based on XBMC Media Center. I have yet to try XBMC but it apparently is Mac, Linux, Windows and XBox compatible, unlike Plex which will only work with Intel Macs running Leopard – but there should be quite a few of you Techgoondu readers out there who are running that, at least according to our logs.

So after the usual download and install routine, I hooked everything up and voila, there was I, using my Apple Remote to navigate through my media files and playing them back on the LCD TV.

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The BlackBerry Curve 8900 was launched in Hong Kong earlier this week. So it’s touted as the “thinnest and lightest full-QWERTY BlackBerry”. OK, next. What’s really whipping up a bigger … er .. storm and much more eagerly anticipated is the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm.

While it’s not yet officially launched here, parallel import versions of the Storm (some which are Vodafone labelled) are surfacing at about HK$4,000 or less. Just do a Hong Kong Yahoo Auctions search for it here. Or if you’re here, go check it out at the (in)famous cellphone/computer malls.

I’ve only managed to have a cursory touch and feel of the Storm which belongs to one of my colleagues and my initial immediate impression was that it really had some weight, and it feels kinda chunky. Specs put it at 155g – the iPhone 3G weighs in at 133g so that explains it.

Its much talked about ‘tactile’ touchscreen does indeed seem to work pretty well and the big, bright 3.25 inch screen should make it THE multimedia BlackBerry. And they thoughtfully included a ‘normal’ 3.5mm audio jack.

But since unlimited data here still ain’t cheap, I think its lack of Wi-Fi will leave it in the hands of folks who have their companies pay for their unlimited data BlackBerry lines.

This ain’t exactly a gadget post but it might just give you a good reason to get a new LCD monitor.

So you think you can really tell your colours apart? A photo and beer enthusiast friend pointed me to this test from colour management chaps X-Rite, that he first discovered via a link on photoblog site The Online Photographer. Here’s the direct link to the test. Try it! It will tell you something about your ability to discern the different hues. Either that or give you a new excuse to go buy a spanking new colour accurate monitor.

And just to show off, I scored a 4 (lower is better) and the blue/greens got me. The test machine was a Lenovo X61. Let us know how you did here!

Win an LG 42-inch LCD TV now.
Contest closes Nov 12, 2008.

How’d you like an unlocked iPhone 3G at S$878?

Local newspaper Apple Daily has reported yesterday (see the 27th Sep edition if you read traditional Chinese) that parallel imported iPhone 3Gs here in Hong Kong are now priced between HK$4,780 (SG$878) to HK$4,880, while the 16GB version is between HK$5,780 (SG$1061) to HK$6,080.

That’s HK$620 or about SG$114 less than what the HK Apple Store is selling the 8GB version for.

The cons of saving that bit of money are – no local warranty, and the article reports that most of the parallel imported iPhones, which are from the US, have a SIM slot that is slightly different and requires the addition of a copper piece to make local SIMs (HK and SG SIMs are the same) fit. I’d presume the US SIM slots are larger? Oh, and they’d probably have to be unlocked via ZiPhone or similar iPhone unlocking software, which should be a simple two and a half minute process if its similar to what I had to do with the 2.5G iPhone.

In any case, don’t hold your breath for these HK phone dealers to drop their prices any further. The article reports that they are still seeing brisk sales, and they are expecting loads of iPhone buyers from China over the upcoming “Golden Week” holiday.

Albert posted in a comment to this post that the iPhone 3G can be had for SG$800 in Beijing, so HK certainly isn’t the cheapest!

Well, sure beats the HK$8000-9000 that they were costing when they were first parallel imported here!

Hong Kong’s online Apple Store has started selling unlocked iPhone 3Gs! To my knowledge, its the only Apple Store to be doing that. Not cheap though!

The 8GB is HK$5,400 (SG$990) and the 16GB is HK$6,200 (SG$1,133). Ouch. Shipping is free, and its supposed to ship “within 24 hours”.

The site says: “iPhone 3G purchased at the Apple Online Store can be activated with any wireless carrier. Simply insert the SIM from your current phone into iPhone 3G and connect to iTunes 8 to complete activation.”

So it seems like Three’s exclusive deal for the iPhone 3G lasted just 2 and a half months, since it was first launched here on July 11. And it seems like Three has sweetened their iPhone plans with “free unlimited wifi“. And all this happening right after the G1 launch. Hmm.

Just in case you didn’t already know, Apple’s warranty for the iPhone 3G is local only – “Warranty service is restricted to the country where Apple or its authorized distributors originally sold the iPhone.”

Hey Alf, want one?

A little late but better late than never … Sigma yesterday announced the DP2 compact digital camera – barely 6 months after the launch of the ground-breaking DP1.

In case you didn’t know, the DP1 was its first kick ass FOVEON sensor point and shoot that soon became every amateur photographer’s dream P&S. I’d love to have one so I need not have to lug around my EOS 350D DSLR with a 18-50mm, especially on those days when I think I might take some photos but really end up just taking the cam out for some fresh air.

Now the DP2 gets the same 14 megapixel FOVEON sensor as used in the DP1 and the SD14 DSLR. Sounds like too many megapix? Well, don’t forget its a FOVEON sensor so pixel resolution-wise, its actually 2,652×1,768×3 layers. And the key thing is that for a compact cam, this sensor is physically big: 20.7mm x 13.8mm.
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Just returned from a trip down to the computer centre in Mongkok here in Hong Kong and found that the prices of many Netbooks have been slashed – and they are really selling well.

Was there with a friend to buy the Asus Eee PC 1000H 80GB and found that in the month and a half since my girlfriend bought hers, the price has dropped more than 10 per cent. ARGGH! It was HK$4,650 then, and now, we managed to get it down to HK$4,150 if you paid cash!
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