Bytes – Get Up and Go

I remember a decade ago when, in a previous life, my team and I (three waddling, pregnant women) heaved lap top, projector and other hefty paraphernalia from presentation to presentation in efforts to clinch an account. With big bumps to deal with, like we needed more weight to heave around! If only we had one of these nifty little gadgets instead, life would have been lighter!

Pocket Theatre

Launching this month, the 3M MPro150 is a cute little pocket projector that combines the function of laptop, projector, speaker and MP3 player in this palm sized gadget. Just over 12.7cm long and 159g, it comes with 1 GB internal memory, a micro SD card slot and a USB input for transferring files from laptop or netbook, allowing entire presentations to be pre-loaded onto the projector itself. So cool! Plus its integrated stereo speakers, so you can also play little videos using this “theatre on the go”. But it’s not all about work too. Bring it along on holidays and watch movies, share photos at parties or project video games up to 50 inches (1.27m), or just use it as an MP3 player.

The MPro150 supports Microsoft® Office applications (Word, Power Point® and Excel®), as well as Adobe® PDF. Optional accessories include an adapter cable for Apple® products, component video cable and car charger, integrated flip stand and tripod. This sweetie costs S$727 (inclusive of GST) and available at all Challenger outlets, Epicentres outlets, AAAs.com at Sim Lim Square and Funan IT Mall, and Matrix IT Gallery.

Buy Singapore!

While Elaine likes her Apple gadgets and iPod, I am an unwaveringly loyal, made-in-Singapore Creative Technology fan. I’ve been using their MP3 players since their very first model yonks ago and I’m still a loyal servant – my old Creative Zen Stone Plus is still going strong, but with the recent launch of the Creative ZEN X-Fi Style, methinks ‘tis time to upgrade and rejuvenate!

The Creative ZEN X-Fi Style is a cutey for the handbag, a full media player with particularly pristine sound quality (Creative got world famous for their Sound Blaster, which means they are known for their technology in making sounds). With technology like X-Fi Crystalizer, users experience digital music the way it was meant to be, with lost details restored, and X-Fi Expand you feel like you’re listening to the music with a pair of high-end speakers!

There’s also inbuilt FM radio, a 2.4-inch TFT display which lets you watch movies and view pictures on it, a voice recorder, built in speakers, personal organiser and a Video Out which lets you plug it directly to the TV and watch movies on the bigger screen. It also supports RSS feeds, which means they can be downloaded in their entirety with both text and images. Just sync the player via the USB connection and download the latest RSS feeds from your computer.

The Creative ZEN X-Fi Style media player is available in 8GB (S$159), 16GB (S$199)and 32GB (S$249) capacities. Selected models will be available from end April 2010 onwards at The CREATIVE Stores at International Business Park and Marina Square and authorised dealers in Singapore, and from their online store sg.store.creative.com

- By EW