Bytes - Meet Navibot, The New House Pet

If you’re itching for a pet, but realise you don’t have the time to brush its hair, pick up its poo and tickle its tummy every day, may I suggest Samsung’s Navibot ($799)? No hair, no poo, no fuss – the Navibot is not just nifty around the house, it cleans too.

This robot vacuum cleaner, a new gadget from Samsung, is a smart sucker. It is armed with a ‘Visionary Mapping System’ which takes 30 photos per second, making a virtual map of its surrounds so it can plot the best and fastest path for cleaning. It’s got 38 motion sensors keep it from tumbling downstairs and colliding into your precious antique furniture and the ‘Virtual Guard’ keeps it obediently out of where you don’t want it to go. What’s more, the ‘bot’ can return to its original position during its second round of cleanup after the initial charge. You can time/delay the start of the cleaning program whenever you want so you don’t even have to be home. In short, Navibot takes itself for walkies…..and it cleans up after you – not vice versa!

Power Brushes and a sweeping blade helps your new pet clean hard to reach spots quickly, and compared to conventional vacuum cleaners, is 95 per cent more effective at picking up pet hair and fluff. Plus, its new technology prevents pet hair from wrapping around the brushes – so it’s easier to maintain. It comes five cleaning programs such as Auto-, Spot-, Max-, Edge Clean-, or Manual Mode…the only thing it doesn’t do is cook and bathe the kids!

- Ee Waun

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Bytes – In Case You Missed Out On The Man Bag For Dad…

Sweeties! Did you see the uber-cool Tods Man Bag in Elaine’s post (‘Quirky But Useful Father’s Day Gifts’ – 25 May)? Don’t we just absolutely love it for good old Dad or even our guy, for that matter?!

Well, if it runs out of stock while you’re rushing down to grab it – and we can just SEE the frenzied queues of people tearing the house down just to get hold of one – don’t despair! There are robust alternatives out there that will soothe both you and your deprived dad. Here’s our picks of more Father’s Day gifts.

A camera is always more exciting than a tie or pair of socks. Of course, it comes nowhere in comparison with the Tods Man Bag but at least Dad can take his mind off it by photographing the grandkids, the birds and bees and stuff around him. The Olympus SP-800UZ is the smallest compact digital camera in its class and the first in the world to incorporate a super powerful 30x optical zoom. Combined with digital zooming, the total effect is increased to 150x which means you can zoom right in on the craters of the moon. So cool!

It’s also got a wide shooting range with focal lengths ranging from 28mm wide-angle (think Himalayan panorama) to 840mm telephoto (craters of the moon or ex-boyfriend’s face). High resolution 14 megapixel CCD means good clear pictures, a 3-inch wide screen means Dad can see the pretty pictures without straining his eyes, and CCD-shift image stabilization function and high-sensitivity imaging means no blurred pictures whether Dad is shaking or the object in this viewfinder is. A big bonus – he can record HDTV movies on this camera too. Lots of other bells and whistles are packed into this little sweetie, and it’s so small it fits just nicely into the Tods Man Bag (if only we got it!) and also in the palm of your hand. Only comes in titanium silver, priced at $748, with 8GB mSD card.

If he is into sound, Creative’s ZiiSound D5 – it’s flagship wireless speaker system – is easy peasy for even the most technophobic dad to plug into. Just launched, this rather compact wireless speaker system is locally designed and developed and gives great, rich sound (I heard it myself and was so impressed!) and is so easy to use. Essentially, you blue-tooth it to any blue tooth-enabled gadget – be it your laptop, notebook, iphone, ipad, etc – and it will deliver the fantastic sound that rivals any hi-fi system. No complicated installations or downloading programmes from a CDRom - it's just literally plug and play. I saw the demo.

It won't fit into the Tods  Man Bag but it's so light, Dad can bring it around the house with him and soothe his (Tod's Man-)Bagless woes away with crystal clear music. An added bonus – the speakers charge the iPhone or iPod while they are docked. What I can’t understand is why it isn’t compatible wirelessly with its own Zen MP3 players! Duh!! Still, I say, buy local!! Costs S$399 and bundled with USB Transmitter for the launch period (worth $59) while stocks lasts. Available at  Creative stores at International Buisiness Park, Marina Square and authorised dealers.

Finally, SingTel and Samsung Electronics has just announced that the hotly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S smartphone will be available from 4 June 2010 – the first time it hits Singapore’s shops. The Android-powered Galaxy S has an ultra-responsive SUPER AMOLED screen, super sharp viewing of images and movies, 80% less reflectivity even out in the sun, video play and record functions, and allows you to record, edit and play HD video, browse the Internet, and read e-books. You can also check emails, listen to music and send messages without having to open and close applications, and it fits niftily into the Tods Man Bag. In fact, with this smartphone, he can keep track of the new shipment of Tods Man Bags the moment it hits the stores, with just a call to the boutique, anywhere, anytime! 

SingTel is introducing three enhanced Galaxy 3G Flexi price plans at launch from $39/month including unlimited LIVE MobileTV Basic Pack viewing for up to 24 months, free additional 200 minutes of talktime*, free local mobile data of 12GB (capped at $30), plus free access to SingTel AMPed offering unlimited music downloads. You can get it from today online at www.singtel.com/galaxyS and Singtel stores from 4 June.

- by EW

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