For some people, the unceasing IT bazaars such as this week’s IT Show seem to assault the senses every three months, with their loud discounts and thronging crowds.

Still, some brands treat the event as a launch pad for their new products, and other companies occasionally surprise us with generous gifts and low price points, so they’re worth checking out.

Here are a few new and noteworthy items at this year’s IT Show. …

Sony seems to have gotten its game together like never before, and that includes shipping its flagship phone on time to steal a march over rivals.

The Xperia Z, possibly the best phone from Sony in a long while, is going on sale in Singapore on March 1, for a rather expensive but not unexpected S$988. Impatient buyers can pre-order from February 15 at Sony stores or telecom operators. …

If you’re looking for a tablet that will hook up to the new 4G or Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks in Singapore, there’s another option in Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1, which now supports the new technology. The updated version of the tablet will start selling for S$998 in stores today, and come in grey. …

Things have moved very fast since all three cellphone operators in Singapore decided or ramp up their coverage with faster 4G or LTE (Long Term Evolution) services two months ago.

The good news is that there are now several options for 4G phones. Today, many of the latest top-end models can link up to the new network, should you choose to sign up to a 4G service.

Here are five phones, out in the shops or coming in the next few weeks, that you should check out. …

When the Galaxy Note was unveiled a year ago, I saw it as a niche product aimed at folks who might do a bit of sketching on the go. Why would people go back to a stylus and isn’t a 5-inch screen too big for a phone?

Well, if you see the queues this weekend in Singapore for the Galaxy Note II, the followup to the surprise hit last year, you’ll know how wrong many geeks like me have been.

The new S$998 “phablet” – a cross between a phone and tablet – comes with a slightly bigger screen and now looks even more like a sure-fire crowd pleaser. …

(Photo credit: SingTel)

Despite seeing its rival M1 become the first to offer 4G throughout Singapore, SingTel is sticking to its guns and promising that its slower rollout will provide better quality.

M1 became the first telecom operator here to cover 95 per cent of the island with LTE or Long Term Evolution signals on September 15, and the pressure is now on the other two local telcos to match up.

Yet, the “red camp”, Singapore’s biggest telco, has hit back by suggesting it offers better quality of service. Said its CEO for Consumer in Singapore, Yuen Kuan Moon: “We will focus on quality rather than (rush to) cover the entire island with LTE.”

Speaking at a media briefing with network equipment vendor Ericsson on Monday, he said customers who hop on to SingTel’s LTE network now will be able to fall back on upgraded 3G speeds of up to 42Mbps in areas where the LTE signal is unavailable.

This faster 3G is exclusive to SingTel’s LTE subscribers, and appears to be a temporary measure to keep LTE subscribers happy until the whole island is covered.

SingTel currently has 50 per cent of the island covered with LTE and expects 95 per cent coverage by March 2013.

Check out our guide to whether or not it’s a good time to jump on the 4G LTE bandwagon.

I was on the way to an Office Depot, the most boring store here in San Francisco, when I passed by the Yerba Buena area where Apple was unveiling its new iPhone 5. Past the hype, I walked on round to 3rd Street and picked up a couple of non-magical, non-revolutionary Nexus 7s.

If there’s something to be said about Apple’s event this morning in the United States, it’s that it’s underwhelming. Okay, that’s unfair, seeing that the iPhone 4S launch before that was worse in terms of new features or hardware, but hey, Apple still went on to sell millions of those.

So, warts and all, disappointments and burst bubbles aside, don’t be surprised to see Apple sell loads of the iPhone 5. There are just enough people out there who would buy an iPhone even if it’s a rebadged Blackberry or Nokia. …

StarHub will be rolling out Long Term Evolution (LTE) or 4G services in Singapore on September 19, while closely pegging its prices to rivals SingTel and M1 which had unveiled their services earlier.

The “green camp” will provide 4G coverage at the Central Business District as well as Changi Airport and Singapore Expo for a start, and will complete its rollout islandwide by 2013. …

The first nationwide 4G service is going online in Singapore in the coming days and for the first time, the new mobile broadband technology seems like a viable offering for smartphone users here.

Users don’t have to worry about a “partial” 4G service if they sign up for M1′s nationwide offering unveiled on Thursday. Previously, the “orange camp” had only sold its 4G service to commercial users and only promised coverage to parts of the island.

Its rival SingTel, which had provided a consumer service in the past three months, is still building out its network to cover the entire country by 2013. Meanwhile, StarHub has said it will launch its 4G services in the remaining months of 2012.

Is it time to jump on the 4G bandwagon? Here’s a list of pros and cons.
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M1 looks set to be the first in Singapore to offer a nationwide 4G network on Sept 15, providing speeds of up to 75Mbps in a much-needed boost for smartphone users angry with congested 3G networks here.

Typical speeds are expected to be between 7Mbps and 17Mbps on this new network, which for a start, will be less busy with fewer users onboard.

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