Cut Your Spending by $500 Per Month

courtesy from Yahoo1

Thursday, July 24, 2008

ConsumerReports

The Consumer Reports Money Lab shakes loose a bushel of savings hiding in everyday spending.

Find Cheaper Auto Insurance

Average Savings: $65

Annual surveys of Consumer Reports readers have shown that many have stayed with the same auto insurer for 15 years. Depending on your profile and where you live, you might be able to save hundreds a month by shopping around. (In all the categories listed, the monthly savings shown are Money Lab estimates based on what average consumers spend. Your actual savings will depend on your circumstances.)

More from Consumerreports.org:

• Spend Less on Everything

• Dangerous Debt Consolidation

• More Money-Saving Tips

For example, a married couple without violations or accidents but with a driving-age son in Los Angeles can save $380 per month on standard coverage by switching to a lower-cost auto insurer, according to data compiled by the California Department of Insurance. But a retired couple with no violations in Fargo, N.D., can expect to save only about $30 per month by switching insurers.

How to Do It

Start at the Web site of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and click on NAIC States & Jurisdictions to find your state's insurance department. Most provide comparative premium quotes based on standard customer profiles. If your state doesn't, you can get quotes from insurers by phone or over the Internet. You can also compare premiums from multiple carriers by using independent Web sites, such as Insweb, Insurance.com, and Insure.com.

Optimize Your Life Insurance

Average Savings: $110

Life-insurance premiums have dropped so dramatically since the 1990s, it will probably pay for you to replace a policy bought years ago with a comparable one. A $500,000, 20-year guaranteed level term policy from Prudential, for example, would have cost a healthy, nonsmoking, 50-year-old man about $2,125 a year in 1998, according to Accuquote.com. Today the same guy, now 60, could pay Prudential $1,385 a year for the same coverage over the next 10 years. Savings: $60 per month.

Another option at any age: Adopt a healthier lifestyle and get re-rated for a lower premium. For example, a 40-year-old man with a $1 million, 20-year term policy could save $50 a month by cutting his cholesterol by 30 points; $65 a month if he dropped 50 pounds to reach normal weight; and $165 a month three years after he quit smoking.

How to Do It

Get a physical checkup and follow your doctor's advice for shaping up before applying for a new policy. You can get premium quotes at LifeInsure.com. Don't cancel your existing policy until you have a new one already in place.

Shop Smart for Food

Average savings: $200

Making different choices in the supermarket and when eating out can net monthly savings ranging from $130 to $255. The average family of four can chop its grocery bill by $190 a month by shifting to a lower-cost mix of foods, according to data from the Department of Agriculture. The agency monitors prices of four nutritionally balanced grocery baskets at different cost levels: liberal, moderate-cost, low-cost, and thrifty. The liberal basket contains more food per month than the moderate-cost one, a greater proportion of pricier food like beef and fish, and more wasted leftovers.

In 2006 American families spent 44 percent of their food budget eating out. By cutting restaurant spending in half, you can save another $30 to $60 per month.

How to Do It

Plan menus around sales on fresh poultry, fish, meat, dairy, and produce, and make use of leftovers. Avoid costly prepared meals. Eat more low-priced, high-nutrition foods such as beans and potatoes, says Andrea Carlson, a USDA economist. Shop in lower-cost stores such as Aldi Foods, PriceRite, Costco, Trader Joe's, Wal-Mart, and Sam's Club, but be sure to compare prices. Try less-expensive store brands. Sign up for store discount cards. Stock up on sale-priced staples.

When eating out, take advantage of prix-fixe meals and off-hour discounts. Eat half of the big portions in vogue today at the restaurant and take the rest home for a next-day encore.

Stop Paying Bank Fees

Average savings: $25

The American Bankers Association says 52 percent of consumers spend nothing on bank fees each month. But somebody's paying fees, and lots of them, because the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says banks collected $39 billion in account fees and penalties last year. That works out to an average of $28 per month per household. But with some planning, you can pay zero.

How to Do It

Bank at a large institution with lots of ATMs in convenient locations to avoid the cost of using other banks' machines—as much as $4 per withdrawal. And use the no-fee cash-back option at supermarkets.

More from Yahoo! Finance:

• Get 6 Months of Credit-Monitoring for Free

• Credit Card Debt: A More Taboo Topic Than Sex

• 2 for 1, Free Delivery: Shopping Scams to Avoid

Visit the Banking & Budgeting Center

Shop for free checking and strictly adhere to provisions for a minimum balance, direct deposit, or other conditions to avoid monthly fees. Keep track of checks, withdrawals, and debits to avoid overdraft fees averaging $27.

Call Up Phone Savings

Average savings: $35

The average family spends $90 a month for a home phone, cell phones, pagers, and phone cards, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. When we examined real phone bills, we uncovered savings from $15 per month for budget callers to $55 per month for heavy users.

How to Do It

Peruse your last few months' phone bills to assess how many minutes you typically use on landline and wireless calls. Comparison shop among cellular service providers, the local phone company, independent long-distance carriers, and your cable TV company. Don't buy more than you need, such as an unlimited cellular plan if you rarely go over 900 minutes per month.

Consider all possible money savers, such as measured local service, prepaid phone cards and cell phones, cut-rate long-distance carriers, VoIP service, and landline/Internet/TV packages.

Pay Off Your Credit Card

Average Savings: $65

On average, consumers who carry a balance owe $2,200, on which they pay 15.2 percent in annual interest charges. Eliminate that and save $28 per month. Some 15 percent of consumers carry balances of $10,000 or more, according to Fair Isaac, the credit-scoring company; they can save at least $125 per month by paying off their debt.

How to Do It

Paying off your balance is easier said than done. The trick is to stop charging. Then pay more than the minimum required each month until it's paid off. Dig up cash for this from your U.S. Treasury stimulus check, garage sales, or extra work part-time.

Increase Your 401(k) Contribution

Average tax savings: $125

If you're not already contributing the maximum, put more into your 401(k), IRA, or other tax-deferred retirement account. You'll also cut the amount of income tax you'll pay each month. (Note that this does not apply to Roth accounts.)

Paying $500 a month into your 401(k) plan, for example, will reduce your federal income tax bite by $50 to $175 per month, depending on your tax bracket. Of course, you'll pay that tax down the road, when you withdraw from your plan in retirement. But in the meantime, invest your tax savings or use them to offset rising prices elsewhere.

Innovation first!

Updated on 29th July, 6pm

Majority of the company in the spend 65 percent of their IT budget just for operation including maintenance and management rather than look at new innovation to drive company forward.

Vice President, Standard Servers for HP Asia Pacific, Tony Parkinson, who urged company to change their mindset to be more competitive, acknowledges this matter.

He said that at the press conference regarding HP's Business Technology @ Work, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre today.

Finishing the Finance in Futsal

How could I imagine my first Championship Trophy this year after winning Malay Mail Inter Boleh Bla Cup, which saw my team (Harian Metro) beaten Finance Dept 3-0 last nite.

Six teams representing each department including the Harian Metro were expected to compete in this tournament that divided into 2 leagues.

Harian Metro beaten ???? 2-1 before lost to Finance 0-3 at the last game and we’ve played against Marketing on semi that saw only goal strike by us before meeting Finance again in Final.

It thriving to deliver an exciting finale and take revenge to beat them 3-0 in a high-speed tempo game.

Well, it was much training for me as preparation for tomorrow’s Harian Metro’s Inter Dept Championship

Centrino that Centrelize Your Entertainment

New Intel® Centrino® 2 processor technology-based notebooks will definitely entertain your home entertainment system – from HD movies and music to photos and games – into one notebook PC.

The new Intel Centrino 2 processor technology-based notebooks allow you to:

1. Immerse yourself in the Latest High Definition Movie: Watch the latest Blu-ray* titles with native support for Blu-ray decoding. And now you can watch a full movie on a single battery charge.

2. Maximize your Multimedia and Minimize your Waiting: Intel Centrino 2 processor technology doubles the rate at which streaming media instructions can be executed, providing up to 2x faster throughput over previous generations. That gives you more performance for intense HD multimedia applications like video editing compression, which runs up to 90% faster and with stunning visual quality—so you can accomplish more and spend less time waiting.5

3. Play More Intense Games: Intel Centrino 2 processor technology delivers increased realism and stunning visual detail with its great new features designed specifically to enhance your gaming experience. The optional Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD gives you at least 50% more graphics performance for more realistic gaming and improved visual detail with new 3D graphics features like Vertex Shader Model* 3.0 and Hardware Transform and Lighting*

4. Enjoy Longer Battery Life: Free yourself from the power cord. New power management and power saving features help extend battery life, so you can enjoy and more entertainment, gaming and music while on-the-go.

5. Think Thin: With the newest 25W Intel® Core™2 Duo processors, you can enjoy even thinner, cooler, and more energy-efficient mainstream performance with amazing battery life.

6. Choose Horsepower or Power Savings: Need graphics horsepower for gaming, but still want energy-efficiency when you’re on the go and running on battery power? Now you can have the best of both graphics worlds with Switchable Graphics Technology, a combination of both discrete and integrated graphics. You decide which you need and when.

7. Stay Connected Faster and in More Places: Integrated wireless capabilities provide flexible and fast connectivity options that let you use thousands of public Wi-Fi networks.+ Get up to 5x better wireless performance today and be ready for faster wireless N coming soon.7

8. Get the Lead Out: The Intel Core 2 Duo processor not only offers energy-efficient performance to give you the power you need to run demanding applications, while at the same time conserving energy when idle; but these groundbreaking processors are also eco-friendly through our use of lead-free technology today and halogen-free packaging technology coming throughout 2008.

FTTx is Good for Internet

Updated on 24th July 2008, 1.30pm

Its interesting topic to hear that FTTx will be booming soon and one reason why we need it is because of stability of our bandwidth. I would say that this is new challenge for communication industry where we need consistent bandwidth for Internet connection.

Hopefully with the FTTH Council which still happen in Shangri La Hotel, it could fastening this process.

Touch Your PC Screen

Updated on 23rd July 2008, 3pm

The new TouchSmart PC from HP has earned accolades for its tranformative effect on the way people engage with computer and their photos, music, movies and other digital content.

Consumers simply touch, tap or sweep a finger across the screen to access information, entertainment and social networks in a natural and intuitive way.

I would give 5 ***** to this PC for my first impression.

It has Intel Core2 Duo T5850, 22 inches screen, 4096MB (DDR) memory, TV Tuner and NVIDIA GeForce 9300GS which gonna excite its user.

Starting price at RM5,688.

Fibet to the Home to Accelerate Soon

Updated: 23rd July 2008, 10am

The power of the web today is here to stay and newer and faster broadband access technologies are being used to make the web even easier to use.

Even though copper can deliver high bandwidths, its reach only extends to a few hundred yards after which the signal begins to degrade and bandwidth narrows.

Fiber to the home (FTTH), however, is the ultimate technology to deliver very high bandwidth over longer distances, transporting communication signals over optical fiber using light instead of electricity (unlike traditional broadband enablers such as copper telephone wires and coxial cable).

Senior Director of MCMC, Zamani Zakariah said,

in the way people play, this technology will fulfill the demand which is so complicated now and its a solution for communication

He said that at the 3rd Annual FTTH Council Asia Pacific Conference and Exhibition at Shangri La Hotel this Morning.

Boikot Tindakan Polis

Sebagai membantah tindakan pihak polis menahan Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim malam tadi dan atas sifat perikemanusiaan, saya akan memboikot tindakan itu dengan tidak akan menghantar sebarang artikel ke blog ini sehingga hujung minggu bagi menyatakan sokongan kepada Anwar.

Saya mengharapkan sistem kehakiman dan kepolisan di negara ini lebih bersikap adil tanpa prejudis kerana situasi kini menunjukkan rakyat sudah hilang keyakinan kepada sistem tersebut.

Saya pohon rakyat Malaysia yang turut merasakan ketidak tentuan politik Malaysia agar membantah tindakan dengan apa cara sekalipun.

Digital Map For Everyone

Here my story about digital map but it’s deliver in Bahasa. It should be ok beside Bahasa is our national language.




FOKUS IT

Oleh Afiq Hanif
afiq@nstp.com.my


KETIKA mengembara dalam hutan, kita merujuk peta untuk menentukan hala tuju destinasi begitu juga ketika memandu di jalan raya.
Peta menjadi sumber pilihan memandangkan ia amat penting dalam kehidupan malah tidak terkecuali mengalami evolusi dalam perkembangan teknologi.
Teknologi membolehkan peta yang berbentuk fizikal di atas kertas berubah kepada bentuk digital yang dimuatkan dalam perkakasan berasaskan sistem kedudukan global (GPS).
Ketika ramai memuji keupayaan GPS membantu mereka mencari jalan, ada yang terlupa 'nyawa' sebenar peranti itu iaitu sistem peta digital dalamnya,
Memperkenalkan perkhidmatan navigasi dalam kenderaan atau ketika berjalan kaki, peta digital membolehkan pengguna meneroka apa yang ada di sekeliling dengan lebih yakin walaupun bukan berada di tempat sendiri dengan grafik menunjukkan destinasi sebenar.
Mapking dan TeleAtlas adalah syarikat pengeluar yang melakukan penyelidikan berkenaan geografi untuk pembacaan peta tepat serta terkini membolehkan pengguna mendapat peta yang lengkap.
Penciptaan peta digital memudahkan pemiliknya yang mengetahui selok belok jalan memandangkan ia mesra pengguna dengan kaedah peta tiga dimensi (3D).
Sistem peta digital turut membolehkan pengguna mencari destinasi terpilih seperti restoran, hotel, tarikan pelancong, stesen
petrol, bank dan tempat letak kenderaan terdekat yang boleh diperoleh dengan mudah.
Pengeluar peta digital dan kandungan dinamik untuk navigasi, Tele Atlas adalah antara nama besar yang mengungguli industri ini dengan lebih 24 pejabat serta pengalaman 20 tahun dalam bidang berkaitan.
Pengarah Urusan, Asia Pasifik Selatan dan Asia Tenggara Tele Atlas Pte Ltd, Arnout Desmet, berkata keupayaan Tele Atlas dalam inovasi peta digital sentiasa membantu pengguna memperoleh manfaat sebaik mungkin.
Beliau menyatakan syarikatnya berminat untuk meluaskan pasaran di Asia memandangkan benua ini memiliki keupayaan membeli yang tinggi di samping jumlah pendapatan meningkat membolehkan penduduknya menikmati perkembangan digital dengan lebih baik.
“Jika dilihat dari perkembangan ekonomi semasa dan saiz geografi Asia itu sendiri, ia amat berpotensi untuk mengutarakan sistem peta digital memandangkan kemampuannya menarik minat jika dilihat manfaat yang diperoleh,” kata Desmet.
Menurutnya, penduduk di Asia terutama di negara ini semakin peka kepada teknologi dan tidak kekok untuk menggunakan dalam kehidupan seharian maka tidak hairanlah sistem pemetaan digital dalam peranti berasaskan GPS atau GoogleMaps mampu menarik minat mereka untuk mengetahui teknologi terbabit secara mendalam.
“Kemajuan dalam perkembangan teknologi bukan saja menarik minat Tele Atlas untuk memasarkan produk kami namun manfaat yang diterima seperti penyelidikan mengenai keadaan geografi di benua ini dapat digunakan sebaik mungkin bagi memberi kemudahan kepada penduduknya,” katanya.
Kata Desmet, penduduk Asia memerlukan peta digital bukan hanya untuk mencari jalan menuju ke destinasi malah sebagai sumber bagi mendapatkan maklumat setempat.
“Kebanyakan pengguna mengeksploitasi peta digital dengan pelbagai kegunaan contohnya di Eropah serta Amerika Syarikat yang mana kebanyakan penduduknya memiliki lebih dari satu kereta memanfaatkan sistem itu sebagai penunjuk arah.
“Sementara penduduk Asia pula menggunakan peta digital pada telefon bimbit mereka sebagai panduan ketika berjalan kaki dan bukan kereta kerana peranti itu lebih popular,” ulas Desmet.
Beliau menjelaskan, pasaran Asia amat berlainan memandangkan penduduk di benua ini mahukan aplikasi dalam peta digital ditambah selari dengan corak kehidupan mereka seharian yang sibuk serta mencabar.
“Mereka menggunakan peta digital untuk pelbagai urusan seharian yang memberi cabaran kepada kami untuk membangunkan peta digital bersesuaian dengan kehendak mereka,” tambah Desmet.
Desmet memberi contoh, penduduk Asia mahukan komponen tempatan ditambah dalam aplikasi peta digital seperti jadual perjalanan pengangkutan awam, maklumat cuaca atau pelbagai acara untuk dimuatkan bersama.
“Keperluan ini adalah cabaran buat kami kerana kandungan dinamik adalah permintaan hangat penduduk Asia selain input data yang mampat sebagai perkhidmatan tambahan untuk berjaya menembusi pasaran terutama di negara ini,” kata Desmet.
Selain itu, Desmet mengakui penduduk Asia memerlukan peta digital yang dimajukan dengan pelbagai maklumat mengenai kedai, restoran, tempat tinggal dan sebagainya bagi memungkinkan mereka mendapat maklumat yang lengkap.
Ketika menyentuh mengenai perkembangan peta digital di negara ini, Desmet menyatakan Malaysia mempunyai potensi besar kerana jumlah pemilikan kereta dan pejalan kaki amat tinggi.
“Sebenarnya, peta digital mampu menjimatkan minyak contohnya salah satu pelanggan kami dari industri logistik yang menyemak laluan untuk mengoptimumkan perjalanan malah hasilnya menunjukkan ia mampu menjimatkan satu hingga 10 peratus petrol,” jelas Desmet.
“Kami turut melakukan beberapa perbincangan dengan pengeluar kereta tempatan bagi menawarkan peta digital dalam kenderaan yang dihasilkan pada masa akan datang,” jelasnya.
Namun perbincangan itu masih berlangsung dan belum mencapai kata sepakat sama ada ia peta digital Tele Atlas mampu diperoleh pembeli kereta tempatan dalam tempoh terdekat.
Produk yang ditawarkan Tele Atlas meliputi peta digital untuk kegunaan automotif seperti BMW dan Honda sementara peranti tanpa wayar seperti Nokia, Blackberry dan Sony Ericsson adalah vendor yang menggunakan perkhidmatan sistem itu.
Manakala pengeluar peranti mudah alih Garmin turut mendapat manfaat melalui peta digital ini selain perkhidmatan internet termasuk Google, Yahoo dan MSN yang dilihat mampu meraih keuntungan hasil daripada penggunaannya.
Melihat potensi pasaran dan aliran teknologi semasa, Dermet menjangkakan kos mendapatkan peta digital akan lebih murah pada masa akan datang apabila permintaannya semakin meningkat dan persaingan antara syarikat yang memasarkan peranti berasaskan GPS.
Pada masa akan datang, Tele Atlas akan bekerjasama dengan pihak berkuasa tempatan untuk menunjukkan masa sebenar trafik yang disalurkan dengan peta digital membolehkan pengguna jalan raya melihat keadaannya sebelum memulakan perjalanan.
“Setakat ini kami tidak mengadakan perbincangan secara terus dengan pihak berkuasa tempatan tapi perkhidmatan terbabit bakal menemui pengguna pada masa akan datang,” katanya.
Kajian Aliran Navigasi Tele Atlas di China dan Thailand menunjukkan lebih 62 serta 46 peratus mahukan perkhidmatan berdasarkan lokasi (LBS) dan navigasi GPS pada telefon bimbit mereka pada masa akan datang.
Keputusan itu juga menyaksikan sistem navigasi diundi sangat penting untuk telefon bimbit selepas fungsi MP3 dan akses internet di China dan Thailand.
Tele Atlas memiliki pasukan yang mengkaji keadaan geografi di yang meliputi 11 negara Asia termasuk 4.5 juta kilometer jalan serta hampir 4.3 juta ‘Points of Interest’ (POI).
Pasukan ini menggunakan kenderaan yang dilengkapi dengan empat kamera yang merakam imej pada resolusi tinggi dan pengimbas untuk mengukur kawasan sebelum semua data itu dimasukkan dalam sistem.
Selain itu, kenderaan terbabit dilengkapi perkakasan odometer yang dipasang di bahagian tepi bagi membolehkan jarak destinasi diukur dengan ketepatan 0.5 hingga 1.0 inci.
Antara inovasi baru yang diperkenalkan Tele Atlas termasuk penanda kawasan tiga dimensi (3D) meliputi Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapura, Taiwan dan Thailand membolehkan pengguna melihat objek dalam keadaan sebenar.
Peta digital memiliki cabarannya tersendiri sesuai dengan perkembangan pesatnya termasuk keupayaan mengetengahkan ciri mesra pelanggan menerusi produk itu
seperti skrin peta digital lebih jelas dan besar.
Malah mampukah syarikat seperti Tele Atlas mencipta pemuka yang
dilengkapi pelbagai bahasa mengikut negara seperti Inggeris, Melayu, Mandarin atau Jepun.
Di India saja, ratusan bahasa akan diungkapkan menjadikannya satu cabaran penting ketika membina peta digital.
Penyelesaian yang mempunyai penunjuk arah perjalanan bagi memastikan pemandu kenderaan berada di jalan betul, terutamanya dengan sistem jalan baru dan keadaan jalan raya di kota besar semakin rumit juga cabaran penting untuk memperoleh bacaan peta tepat.
Setakat ini, peta digital yang dipaparkan di skrin GPS itu adalah tepat dan ia dikemaskini bagi tempoh setiap enam bulan dalam setahun namun bagaimana jika berlaku penutupan jalan sementara?
Memiliki peta digital pada masa ini bukan hanya sebagai aksesori teknologi tapi pengguna yang hanya perlu menetapkan destinasi hendak dituju dengan memilih arah jalan tertentu sekiranya ada, dan peta digital GPS itu secara automatik akan menentukan perjalanan bakal jadi salah satu keperluan seperti mana evolusi telefon bimbit.
Carian melalui peta digital bagi lokasi boleh ditentukan menerusi nama kawasan, jalan, tempat yang hendak dituju atau nama terdekat menjelaskan lokasi pilihan.
Sistem yang dibantu antaramuka GPS ini akan melaporkan kedudukan terkini kenderaan dengan memberi maklumat berhubung jalan terbaik yang perlu dilalui untuk sampai ke destinasi pilihan dengan bantuan tiga daripada 24 satelit GPS.

New SMB Printer from HP

Trust your confidential information to HP's high-performance workgroup laser printer with leading security features. Meet the needs of up to 15 users with ultra-fast print speeds up to 52 ppm, great expandability, plus simplified use and management.

It features environmental attributes including

• Instant-On Technology-up to 50% energy savings[4]
• Advanced toner technology enables more energy efficient printing [5]
• Cut paper consumption by 25% with optional automatic two-sided printing
• Designed for recyclability and supports 100% recycled paper

New Aficio Family

Updated on 11th July 3pm

Ricoh launches the Aficio SP C420DN, an advanced and user-friendly colour laser printer that produces spectacular colour prints with low cost-per-print. Designed with large paper capacity and high output speed, this high-productivity printer ensures continuous productivity and work flow.

Boasting output speed for colour and black-and-white documents at 30 ppm (pages per minute) coupled with a substantial paper capacity of up to 2,300 sheets, the Aficio SP C420DN ensures continuous productivity and work flow. Additionally, this printer has short warm-up time and the first prints are ready in a swift 10 seconds for black-and-white documents, while colour printing takes 15 seconds or less.

Gophers Releases the New TRI-O

Gophers Technologies Sdn Bhd is a Malaysian company that is leading the way in GPS technology innovation. The TRI-O CE is the latest offering from this barely six-month old company.

The new Gophers TRI-O CE comes with the latest SiRF Atlas III CPU which replaces the Samsung 400MHZ processor and SiRF Star III GPS receiver. The SiRF Atlas III establishes a fast Time to First Fix (TTFF) - the time it takes to calculate its first position when stationary, as well as superior ability to lock on to signals when on the move. With the implementation of the new chip set, users will find the interface of the Gophers TRI-O CE to be quicker and more responsive. While the differences are subtle and only noticeable when the TRI-O and the TRI-O CE are compared side by side, it was significant enough for the folks at Gophers to make these changes.

The Gophers TRI-O CE comes in a nifty 3.5” touch-screen, small and light enough to easily pocket it when you leave your car. Voice guidance is available in English, Malay, Mandarin and Cantonese. Pre-loaded with maps of MapKing and Malsing Maps, the Gophers TRI-O CE is ready to use out of the box.

Users will have access to dependable and reliable maps which are updated every quarter. The only thing that a Gophers user needs to do is to register online to have access to the latest map update. There is also a wide selection of Points of Interest (POI) to refer to, such as your closest petrol station, hotel, sight-seeing location, historical landmark, shopping mall, restaurants and more.

In addition to maps, the Gophers TRI-O CE plays MP3, WAV and WMA files. You can read your e-books and access your JPEG images too. The built-in rechargeable battery lasts up to 3 hours, with 300 hours standby time and is rechargeable via the car battery charger or AC adapter (both of which are provided in the kit).

Gophers Technologies is committed to making the latest in GPS technology available to Malaysian consumers at affordable prices, in a market that is dominated by foreign imports. The enhancement to this model has been made at no change in price to the consumer. The Gophers TRI-O CE retails at RM998 for both Malaysia and Singapore maps.

The Gophers TRI-O CE can be purchased from authorized dealers, online at www.gophers.com.my or by calling 1-300-888-GPS (477).

Try This To Our Life

Use these in your life and be a good person on earth!

Talk-------- Softly
Walk-------- Humbly
Eat--------- Sensibly
Breathe----- Deeply
Sleep------- Sufficiently
Dress------- Smartly
Act--------- Fearlessly
Work-------- Patiently
Think------- Truthfully
Believe----- Correctly
Behave------ Decently
Learn------- Practically
Plan-------- Orderly
Earn-------- Honestly
Save-------- Regularly
Spend------- Intelligently
Love-------- Passionately
ENJOY COMPLETELY

Loud Your Room with V-Drums!

Roland’s V-Drums® are the most popular electronic drums in the world, but not everyone has the room or budget for a full V-Drums kit. Introducing the new Roland HD-1. It's forged from the same technology as its predecessors, but it's much simpler to use.

The HD-1 is equipped with an external input for connecting CD-players, iPods®, and the like. Jam along with your favorite songs, and control the blend of music and your live drumming through headphones or an amplifier.

The new HD-1 is also incredibly quiet, thanks to the newly designed beater-less kick pedal, cushioned tom pads, and snare head. The HD-1 is also conveniently compact and stylish— perfect for every home, school, studio, office, etc. — and it's priced for the masses. Most of the HD-1’s components are mounted on one stand for easy setup and transport. Just take it out of the box and play.

Roland is pleased to announce the TD-9K/TD-9KX V-Drums.

The kit is available in two configurations. The TD-9K is designed for drummers who want a cost-effective state-of-the-art V-Drums kit, as it offers all the features and advantages of the TD-9KX but with rubber-surface tom pads instead of mesh. The premium TD-9KX comes with mesh-pads all round, an upgraded snare and larger ride cymbal, combining a feature-set unique to the V-Drums range with the best feel of any electronic kit.

The Roland V-Drums TD-9K and TD-9KX retails for RM6,900 and RM9,200 respectively, both without accessories.

The Roland V-Drums HD-1 retails for RM2,980 without accessories.
The HD-a PAK retails for RM3,690.

Bravo Sony Bravia

Updated 11am

Sony introduces its next generation Bravia LCD TV, V400 n S400 with new improved Engine2 and 24P True Cinema technology, redefining realism for superb image quality and outstanding theatre performance

ATM Breaches More Likely at Stores Than Banks

By Jessica Dickler, CNNMoney.com staff writer

When hackers infiltrated Citibank ATMs at 7-Eleven stores, they revived the fear of everyone looking to get out a few bucks for a Slurpee - is using this machine safe?
Experts say the answer is that an ATM's safety depends on where it is. If it's at a bank, an ATM is somewhat safer than it is in a public place, such as a ballpark, a train station or a convenience store.

"You should never use ATM machines at convenience stores if you can help it because those are much more susceptible to tampering," added Avivah Litan, a security analyst with the Gartner research firm.

While consumers can't do much when hackers break into back-end computers that approve cash withdrawals in order to steal PIN codes - such as happened during last year's Citi ATM breach - the odds are slim that it will happen to you.

"It is possible to install malicious software on a banking server to capture an encrypted pin as it passes through, but it is extremely rare," according to Margot Mohsberg, a spokeswoman for the American Bankers Association.

There are other methods of getting scammed at the ATM, however, that are both popular and preventable.

Most often, thieves use a method called skimming, which means they insert a device into the card slot on an ATM that steals your data right off your card's magnetic strip.

When it comes to skimming, non-bank ATMs are far more susceptible, putting you at greater risk. There's less of a chance of skimming at your bank's local branch, because the bank is videotaping and maintaining that ATM, than at the ones in a convenience store that are maintained by a third party, said Ellen Cannon, managing editor at bankrate.com.

"There are thefts constantly," said Cannon.

To further decrease your odds of getting victimized, Cannon also suggests changing your PIN number regularly and using different PINs for different accounts.

Also, when shopping, opt for credit over debit. Chances are your credit card has 100% fraud liability, whereas your debit card may not.

"Basically, avoid using your PIN as much as possible," Litan recommends. Despite industry standards that call for protecting PINs with strong encryption, that doesn't always happen, so to stay on the safe side, keep transactions that require you to enter your PIN to a minimum.

And when it comes to online activity, never use your PIN under any circumstances. "There's no online use of PINs," Litan said, and any prompt to do so is just a scam.

Ultimately, the best thing you can do is check your account frequently and report any suspicious activity immediately.

Beyond that, there's really not much else consumers can do, according to Thomas Fox, community outreach director of Cambridge Credit Corp., a nonprofit credit counseling agency based in Agawam, Mass. "It falls to the bank to employ new ways to deter hackers."

But if you are a victim of theft, keep in mind that while it is a hassle, it is not necessarily a hardship.

"The bottom line is that consumers are not responsible for any fraudulent activity on their account," Mohsberg said.

New Cute AspireOne!

Updated on 11th July 11am

THE AspireOne is Acer's 1st 8.9" Netbook powered by latest Intel Atom processor technology, providing leading performance for Internet centric lifestyle.
The Ultra small and slim form factor reflects on the lifestyle with Linplus Linux Lite, 8GB flash memory will definitely get your enthusiasm to technology.
In addition, the OneMail software suite will lets you manage up to six email accounts (etc Gmail, Yahoo) with a single application interface.
Currently you can choose either white or blue color but i really hope they introduce black or grey color soon.
How much it cost? Just RM1, 399. Isn’t it cheap!

Happy BirthDay!

Just Wanna Wish Happy Birthday to My Beloved Wife, Ynna. May God Bless Her!

Have You Ever Think of It?

Do you ever think how your touch screen phone has been built? How could you use your small little fingers to tap on it?

Touchscreens have become commonplace since the invention of the electronic touch interface in 1971 by Dr. Samuel C. Hurst. They have become familiar in retail settings, on point of sale systems, on ATMs and on PDAs where a stylus is sometimes used to manipulate the GUI and to enter data. The popularity of smart phones, PDAs, portable game consoles and many types of information appliances is driving the demand for, and the acceptance of, touchscreens.

The HP-150 from 1983 was probably the world's earliest commercial touchscreen computer. It actually does not have a touchscreen in the strict sense, but a 9" Sony CRT surrounded by infrared transmitters and receivers which detect the position of any non-transparent object on the screen.

Touchscreens are popular in heavy industry and in other situations, such as museum displays or room automation, where keyboards and mouse do not allow a satisfactory, intuitive, rapid, or accurate interaction by the user with the display's content.

Historically, the touchscreen sensor and its accompanying controller-based firmware have been made available by a wide array of after-market system integrators and not by display, chip or motherboard manufacturers. With time, however, display manufacturers and System On Chip (SOC) manufacturers worldwide have acknowledged the trend toward acceptance of touchscreens as a highly desirable user interface component and have begun to integrate touchscreen functionality into the fundamental design of their products.

First Award, First Achievement, Thanks Sony

Yesterday I received a 2nd place for Best Print Media (Bahasa) at Sony Malaysia Media 2007 (SOMA) for the first time in my career behind my boss. Hihihi. Thanks to Sony Malaysia and I’ll continue to contribute excellent article in the future.

Here’s the article worth RM1,000 + RM500 voucher from Sony!

Date : 30/05/2007
Page Number : 02
Headline : Paparan jelas, terang, tepat
Words : 1374
Byline : Oleh Afiq Hanif
Column Name : Fokus
Text :

PERUBAHAN teknologi begitu pesat hingga ada ketikanya kita tidak sedarbila masa ia berlaku sedangkan pelbagai produk kini membanjiri pasaransehinggakan ada segelintir daripada kita yang ketinggalan kerana tidakmengikuti perkembangannya.

Begitu juga halnya dengan teknologi berkaitan resolusi produk berkaitanunit paparan elektronik seperti televisyen, monitor, plasma dansebagainya termasuk sumbernya seperti pemain cakera Blu Ray, kameradigital mahupun kamera video.

Revolusi teknologi definisi resolusi menyaksikan manusia mendapatmanfaat dengan paparan hiburan seolah-olah ia dihidangkan depan matasehingga kita sendiri merasakan tempias aksi di kaca TV.

Semua itu dapat digabungkan jika definisi tinggi dilaksanakan bermuladari peringkat rakaman kamera video hingga paparannya di TV.

Resolusi bukan sekadar terus melonjak kepada definisi tinggi (HD)tetapi ia bermula dari bawah iaitu kewujudan TV definisi rendah (LDTV)mengaitkan sistem yang mempunyai resolusi rendah.

Mod video 1080p mewakili resolusi 1080 garisan menegak HD dan digelar`True HD' atau `Full HD'.

Kemampuan simpanan untuk 1080p disimpan pada cakera Blu Ray atau HD DVDyang mula diperkenalkan sejak HD mendapat tempat di pasaran.

Ia sering merujuk kepada TV digital apabila resolusi penyiaran menyamaisistem analog.

Sumber biasa boleh didapati pada program LDTV ialah Internet keranapenyebaran secara umum untuk fail yang besar menyebabkan pelayanmengambil masa lama untuk dipindah turun.

Peralatan seperti iPod dan Sony Playstation mudah alih menggunakanvideo LDTV kerana saiz skrin dua produk terbabit lebih kecil iaitu 320 x240 dan 480 x 272 piksel.

Definisi standard diguna pakai oleh kebanyakan televisyen dan penyiarandi dunia termasuk Jawatankuasa Kemajuan Sistem Televisyen (ATSC) dalam704 piksel x 480 garisan dengan nisbah aspek 16:9 atau 4:3.

TV definisi tambahan (EDTV) memiliki kualiti gambar melebihi apa yangdisiarkan di Jawatankuasa Kemajuan Televisyen Negara (NTSC) atau FasaGarisan Bergilir (PAL) iaitu kod warna digunakan untuk sistem siaran.

Ketika manusia menjejakkan kaki ke tahun 2001 ke atas, TV definisitinggi (HDTV) mula menemui penonton.

Bagaimanapun, tidak semua dapat merasai tontonan berkualiti HDTV keranasetakat ini, syarikat penyiaran di Eropah dan Jepun saja yangmelaksanakan penyiaran definisi tinggi secara menyeluruh.

HDTV bukan tertakluk kepada unit pemapar saja malah merangkumi standardsistem penyiaran secara digital dengan resolusi tinggi berbandingstandard tradisional seperti NTSC atau PAL yang diperkenalkan buatpertama kali pada 1990-an oleh sekumpulan syarikat elektronik digelarPakatan HDTV Digital Utama.

Standard HDTV semasa mengikut takrifan Kesatuan TelekomunikasiAntarabangsa sebagai 1080 jalinan aktif atau 720 garisan imbas progresifmenggunakan nisbah aspek 16:9.

Ia menawarkan lebih kualiti gambar dan suara berbanding formattelevisyen biasa. Paparan gambar lebih jelas tanpa kabur dengan gabungan warna asli danbunyi keliling melalui format Dolby Digital (AC-3).

Kebanyakan televisyen di pasaran memiliki standard HD tetapi terdapatmasalah di Amerika Syarikat (AS) apabila separuh daripada 24 juta yangmemiliki HDTV tidak menerima program dalam HD memandangkan mereka tidakmenyediakan penerima khas daripada kabel.

HDTV didatangkan dengan penerimaan isyarat termasuk melalui udaradisambungkan kepada antena, perkhidmatan rangkaian penyiaran olehsyarikat televisyen kabel (tiada di Malaysia), syarikat TV menggunakansatelit, sistem permainan video seperti Xbox, Xbox360 serta Playstation3dan dua cakera optikal iaitu Blu Ray dan HD DVD.

Walaupun pengguna membeli HDTV tetapi saluran penyiaran masih dalamdefinisi biasa tidak berguna juga.

Oleh untuk, untuk mendapatkan paparanberdefinisi tinggi, sumbernya juga mestilah berdefinisi tinggi.

Walaupun sistem penyiaran di kebanyakan negara belum berdefinisitinggi, namun pemain semula video digital seperti pemain cakera Blu-Raysudah memasuki pasaran.

Oleh itu, rangkaian daripada rakaman perlu untuk membolehkan akseskepada HD bersesuaian formatnya.

Sony sendiri mula mengeluarkan produk imejan digital dalam bentuk HDmelalui kamera video model HDR UX7/E dan HDR UX5/E.

Panasonic Malaysia Sdn Bhd pula memperkenalkan kamera video HD SD1 danDX1 serba baru yang direka bentuk sejajar dengan perubahan besar bidangvideo ke arah skrin TV yang lebih besar dan jelas.

Kedua-dua model menggunakan format peleraian tinggi (AVCHD) danbercirikan sistem kamera 3CCD yang banyak digunakan untuk penyiaranprofesional.

JVC Sales & Services (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd memperluaskan rangkaian produkaudio videonya apabila memperkenalkan HD Everio GZ-HD7, kamera videoberdefinisi tinggi (HD) dengan keupayaan resolusi rakaman 1920 x 1080ipiksel.

Model terbaru ini turut didatangkan dengan rumusan HD CU-VD40 untukmemindahkan terus data rakaman ke dalam DVD tanpa menggunakan komputerperibadi (PC).

VD40 menyokong standard penyambungan berkabel USB, MultimediaAntaramuka Definisi Tinggi (HDMI) atau i.Link.

HDMI menghubungkan kamera video kepada televisyen atau komputer untukmenghantar fail secara HD melalui antaramuka `input' atau `output'.

Ia menghantar protokol dan spesifi kasi elektrik untuk isyarat termasuk`pin-out', elektrikal dan keperluan mekanikal untuk kabel sertapenyambung.

Standard penghubung HDMI mempunyai 19 pin disokong `bandwidth' untukmod SDTV, EDTV dan HDTV.

Kebanyakan syarikat pengeluar produk audio visual mula berlumba-lumbauntuk menonjolkan HDTV masing-masing.

Samsung Electronics bertekad untuk memanfaatkan inovasi terkininya kedalam teknologi dan reka bentuk bagi memperkenalkan gaya hidup yang lebihmenarik kepada pengguna.

Mereka menumpukan kepada pasaran TV berdefinisi tinggi (HD) denganrangkaian baru merangkumi TV LCD HD Penuh M8 dan TV Plasma Q9.

Tidak ketinggalan Rangkaian televisyen yang dikenali `Time Machine'dikeluarkan LG Electronics (M) Sdn Bhd (LG) membawa perubahan kepadapendekatan tontonan umum apabila pemiliknya boleh menonton kembalitayangan yang dirakam menerusi model terbaru itu.

Siri televisyen Time Machine diperkenalkan dengan televisyen plasma HDpada saiz 42 inci dan 50 inci, manakala televisyen LCD HD bagi saiz 42inci.

Ia turut mengetengahkan HDMI bagi produk terbarunya itu apabilapemiliknya hanya memerlukan satu kabel untuk semua fungsi yang disediakan.

Pengarah Urusan merangkap Ketua Eksekutif LG, I G Kim, berkata LGadalah syarikat pertama yang memperkenalkan televisyen dengan teknologiDVR menerusi produk plasma dan LCD HD.

Panasonic Malaysia Sdn Bhd (Panasonic) memperkenalkan lapan produk HDtelevisyen siri Viera plasma dan LCD yang menawarkan kepuasan ketikamenonton.

Sebagai syarikat pengeluar terbesar paparan panel skrin rata di dunia,Panasonic akan terus memperkukuhkan posisi mereka dengan mempertingkatkannilai serta prestasi dalam menghasilkan produk visual HD era baru danlebih bertenaga.

Syarikat itu akan memperkenalkan rangkaian produk definisi tinggi (HD)bagi menggantikan definisi standard (SD) menjelang 2011.

Ketua Bahagian (Sistem Perniagaan) Panasonic, Jeff W L Lee, berkatapengguna akan menikmati kualiti visual berteknologi HD daripada produkplasma, projektor, kamera, cakera padat dan kamera video. Selain itu terdapat dua produk projektor Definisi Tinggi (HD) Panasoniciaitu PTAX100E dan PTAE1000E yang kini memasuki pasaran Malaysia.

Sony menunjukkan komitmen dalam pembentukan HD secara menyeluruhmelalui televisyen LCD projektor Paparan Refl eksi Kristal Silikon (SXRD)siri Bravia, khususnya bagi pasaran premium tempatan.

Model baru Bravia televisyen LCD projektor Definisi Tinggi (HD) lengkapitu ditampilkan dengan saiz skrin antara 50 inci, 60 inci dan 70 inci.

Produk terbaru itu lebih unik apabila ia dilengkapi panel SXRD generasiketiga bagi setiap model yang ditawarkan untuk pasaran tempatan padaresolusi tinggi 1920 x 1080 piksel.

Teknologi enjin Bravia HD bagi televisyen LCD projektor SXRD itu bolehmenukarkan proses isyarat analog kepada digital dengan mengurangkankehilangan kualiti gambar dan kebisingan pada video.

Canon mula meneroka pasaran HD sejajar dengan pertumbuhan segmenberkenaan yang dijangka mencapai 174 juta pengguna menjelang 2010.

Kajian fi rma Amerika Syarikat, Screendigest mendapati penerapan HDakan dipengaruhi pembangunan dalam peralatan dan industri penyiaranmanakala peningkatan pasaran televisyen HD didorong pengendali televisyenberbayar yang ingin meningkatkan bilangan pelanggan.

Permintaan dunia terhadap rancangan HD dijangka me ningkat 17 peratussetiap tahun didorong pertumbuhan saluran TV HD dari 67 tahun lalu kepadalebih 200 pada 2010. Ini bermakna penyiar saluran percuma perlu mempertingkatkan rancanganmereka dalam penyiaran HDTV dan beralih daripada SD kepada HD.

Canon berkeyakinan trend semasa mampu mempengaruhi syarikat produksidan pembikin filem bebas yang mula menerbitkan drama serta filem dalambentuk HD.

Seiring perkembangan pantas teknologi penggambaran abad ini,penghasilan filem format digital menggunakan teknologi HD mulamendominasi industri pengeluaran, perlahan-lahan menggantikan filemseluloid 35mm dan 16mm.

Penggunaan teknologi HD ini menjadi pilihan utama pembikin filem masakini dari dalam dan luar negara untuk memaparkan idea dan ideologimasing-masing di layar perak.

Penggunaan HD di Malaysia dalam bidang perfileman mungkin masih baruberbanding filem Star Wars yang menggunakan 100 peratus kamera HD untukmenampakkan kesan khas filem itu, begitu juga The Matrix.

Tahun lalu, Sky HD dirasmikan di United Kingdom dan Ireland membolehkanperkhidmatan HDTV menggunakan SkyHD Digibox yang membabitkan kos ribuanringgit untuk pemasangan. Ia menarik perhatian umum dengan 184,000 pelanggan berdaftar sehingga2006 berakhir.

Are Video Games Recession-Proof?

...Despite economic woes, report forecasts $57 billion in revenue in 2009.

By Ben Silverman

With the housing industry in shambles and gasoline costing more than sushi, U.S. consumers are feeling the pinch of a bleak economy.

But apparently, they're still playing plenty of video games. According to a new forecast report by market research group DFC Intelligence, the video game biz is expected to enjoy worldwide revenues in excess of $57 billion next year. That number includes hardware and software sales in 25 countries, 11 of which see annual revenue from games exceeding $1 billion.

"Consumer spending on software is at record levels and the game business seems to actually benefit from a recession because games are a relatively cheap form of home entertainment," said DFC analyst David Cole in a press release.

DFC also predicts that the Wii will go on to win this round of the console war, though they expect the PS3 to match the Wii in terms of annual software sales by 2012.

Interestingly, the PC remained the top platform for games overall in 2007, with online game revenue alone topping $7 billion -- not including retail sales. It would appear those negligible World of Warcraft monthly charges are adding up in a big way.

A Japanese with talents in Drum!

NEW! 2nd July - Today I’ve met a Japanese guy, MASAKing who teaches me how to jamming with a digital drum which I never did since 25 year ago.
At the end of the event, he had played a song from the old skool game, Mario Brother just with his digital drum from Roland.
He began his career with the Roland company as a product demonstrator on V-drums and Handsonic electronic percussions.
MASAKing has also worked with the band Akane and have together with them produced in game music for the Sony Playstation and the XBox

New AIO Printer for Your Office

By Afiq Hanif

New!

Comment: HP All in One Printer (AIO) always a smarter choice for office purposes because it’s reliable and with long term cost saving for its ink.

With the new HP OfficeJet Pro L7590 AIO printer, fax, scanner and copier, this multifunction machines designed to print documents up to 35ppm black & 34ppm color, outstanding scans of photos, documents and more with 2400 x 4800dpi CCD optical scanning.

Starting price at Rm1,299