Mac City@Warehouse Sales (Up to 70% OFF)*!

*PROMOTION : Mac City@Warehouse Sales (Up to 70% OFF)*!

Mac City Warehouse Clearance Sale is located at Bargain Corner, Ground Floor ( Rainforest ), 1 Utama Shopping Center. Special clearance price for iPad, MacBook, iPhone and many more.
Other clearance items has been included speakers, car charger, casing, headphone, Macbook sleeve, iPad folding stand and many more.

You may present your ONECARD to get RM10 cash voucher to buy any items within the clearance sale.

iPad Air & iPad Mini with Retina Display

iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina Display were officially announced two days ago by Apple after almost one year the previous generations of iPad were launched.

The 5th generation iPad is called iPad Air as it is redesigned to be much lighter and thinner than the previous generation. iPad Air looks exactly like iPad mini and the only difference is the screen size. On the other hand, the new iPad mini now comes in Retina Display just as its model name tells. Both iPads come in two colours, space gray (black) and silver (white).

Both iPads are powered by 64-bit architecture A7 chip and M7 motion coprocessor. The A7 chip makes iPad Air up to 2x faster than the previous generation in both CPU and graphics performance. M7's function is to measure the motion of iPad by collecting data from the gyroscope, accelerometer, and compass. It offloads work from the A7 chip and uses lesser power than A7.

Just like the previous generations, iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina Display let you enjoy up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi‑Fi, watching video, or listening to music and up to 9 hours of surfing the web using cellular data network. There is no upgrade on the front and back cameras. For 1080p HD video recording, both iPads can have up to 3x video zoom.

Let's a have quick comparison on the spec and selling price of new iPads with iPad 4th gen:

Category	iPad Air	iPad 4th Gen	iPad mini with Retina Display
Processor	A7 chip	A6X chip	A7 chip
Dimension	Height: 240 mm Width: 169.5 mm Depth: 7.5 mm	Height: 241.2 mm Width: 185.7 mm Depth: 9.4 mm	Height: 200.0 mm Width: 134.7 mm Depth: 7.5 mm
Weight	469g (Wi-Fi)	652g (Wi-Fi)	331g
Display	9.7” Retina display	9.7” Retina display	7.9” Retina display
Resolution	2048 * 1536	2048 * 1536	2048 * 1536
Price	Wi-Fi (est) 16GB: RM 1499 32GB: RM 1799 64GB: RM 2099 128GB: RM 2399	Wi-Fi 16GB: RM 1449 32GB: RM 1699 64GB: RM 2029 128GB: RM 2349	Wi-Fi (est) 16GB: RM 1199 32GB: RM 1499 64GB: RM 1799 128GB: RM 2099

The iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina Display will be on sale from November onwards in the US. Not sure when the new iPads will be available in Malaysia. Could be next year?

AEON Big March 2013 Promotion

AEON from Japan had taken over Carrefour Malaysia on the 1st of November 2012.  Carrefour Malaysia is now rebranded as AEON Big under the new management. AEON Big is bringing Maybankard and AMEX card holders exclusive promotion starting from 1st March to 31st March 2013.

For Maybankard Cardmembers, get exclusive complimentary gift when you spend:

• RM 1000 & above, complimentary 1 Fortune Spatter                                           (Limited to the first 40 Cardmembers per outlet)
• RM 15000 & above, complimentary 1 Tableware Set                                           (Limited to the first 25 Cardmembers per outlet)

For AMEX Cardmembers, get exclusive complimentary gift when you spend:

• Spend RM500 & Redeem 1 DOME Voucher worth RM13.50                           (Limited to first 100 Cardmembers in Klang Valley & Penang outlets only)
• Spend RM1,000 & Redeem 1 unit of Foldable Travel Bag                                   (Limited to first 40 Cardmembers per outlet)
• Spend RM1,500 & Redeem 1 unit of Golf Umbrella                                           (Limited to first 30 Cardmembers per outlet)

AMEX Cardmembers also are eligible to purchase the electrical appliances, TV and iPad with discounted price. Besides, 0% EzyPay Instalment Plan for AMEX is accepted in AEON Big as well.

Hopefully AEON Big will also implement customer loyalty program that is currently applied to AEON Jusco.

Apple Store Black Friday Sale

In the United States of America, Black Friday is the name given to the day after Thanksgiving Day, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. On this day, most major retailers open extremely early and offer promotional sales to kick off the holiday shopping season.

Apple is also giving discount to some of its products through Apple Store including iPad 4 and iPod touch 5G. Below table lists out some of the products on sale:

No	Product	Normal	Discounted	MY
1	iPad 4 16GB Wifi	USD 499 (RM 1547)	USD 458 (RM 1420)	RM 1499 (Estimated)
2	iPad 2 16GB Wifi	USD 399 (RM 1237)	USD 368 (RM 1141)	RM 1199
3	iPod touch 5G 32GB	USD 299 (RM 927)	USD 268 (RM 831)	RM 1049
4	iPod touch 4G 16GB	USD 199 (RM 617)	USD 178 (RM 552)	RM 699
5	iPod nano	USD 149 (RM 462)	USD 138 (RM 428)	RM 529

The discount is really a lot compared to the selling price in Malaysia especially for iPod. You can see the full list of the products here. I wonder when Malaysia Apple Store will have similar promotion?

iPhone 5, iPad Mini & iPad 4 Launch Date

It is already 2 months since iPhone 5 was officially launched. Many of us are guessing when the Apple's latest product line up of iPhone 5, iPad Mini & iPad 4 will be officially available in Malaysia.

According to the news report of the Malay Mail, iPhone 5, iPad Mini & iPad 4 are very likely to be released in Malaysia after 2nd January 2013 due to 3 main reasons:

1. Apple is focusing to fulfill orders for Christmas sales in its key markets.
2. Apple may be facing constraints in the supply of its retina display touchscreens.
3. Foxconn, the manufacturer for Apple's products, is having difficulty to keep up with the demand.

If you are interested in Apple smartphone or tablet, should you just go ahead and purchase the current models this year or wait for the new models next year? Let's look at the performance benchmark of Apple iOS products done by Geekbench.

Based on the graph above, it's definitely worth to wait for the new models to arrive as both iPhone 5 and iPad 4 are more than 2 times more powerful than their predecessors. While for iPad Mini, its performance is slower than iPad 2.

A6 chip designed by Apple is a great success until there are rumours spreading around that Apple is looking to implement similar chips for its Mac and MacBook products to replace Intel chips.

iPad mini & 4th iPad

Few months before, third generation iPad was launched "The New iPad" which they called it. Now Apple was unveiled officially about iPad Mini and fourth generation of new iPad.

However, there are a lot of rumors talking about iPad mini processor will be upgrade from A5X to A6X, data transmission of 8 pin lightning spec, 12 mega pixel camera, 720p video recording, and 7 inch screen size.

But come to the end iPad Mini will only have a 1024 x 768 resolution, CPU is using A5 duo core (same as iPhone 4S), while many were expecting a 7-inch screen, but Apply has gone for a 7.9-inch IPS display.  Today we will focus on reviewing iPad mini.

 

Timothy D.Cook, Apple CEO told in the press that IPad sales already been hit 100 Million units.

In PC tablet network web traffic share, iPad has occupied 91% share in the market while others 9% will be between Android and Windows.

Let see a simple comparison between iPad mini and New iPad,

Apple emphasis that new generation of A6X CPU & GPU also 2X times faster A5X.

New generation of iPad and iPhone 5 are looking forward of co-operation with global LTE telecommunication company for selling iPad. Estimate time to market will be around 2th Nov 2012.

Minimize of iPad tablet of iPad mini, which borrowing design inspirations from the new iPod Touch and iPhone 5, at only 7.2mm thick and weighing a mere 0.68 pounds (308g). 

iPad mini is 23% thinner than iPad.

 
Apple highlight that iPad mini thickness was as thin as a pencil.

When you hold iPad mini will have same feeling of as light as a pad of paper.

 
 
It runs on a last-gen A5 dual-core processor, but has improved Wi-Fi and also LTE connectivity right out of the box. At the back there is a 5MP iSight camera, and a FaceTime HD front-facing camera.

 Long press on Home button will activate Siri assistant app, of course it's along with iOS6.

Besides that, new change of iPad also using same 8 pin connector as iPhone 5 with lightning spec. which mean new generation of Apple product will use 8 pin spec.

In the press conference, Apple specially took Nexus 7 and iPad mini for comparison.

However, those who were expecting a Retina display will be a little disappointed, because the iPad Mini will only have a 1024 x 768 resolution – the same in the two-generations-old iPad 2. Also, while many were expecting a 7-inch screen, Apple has gone for a 7.9-inch IPS display, making it bigger than both the current 7-inch tablets available (and, therefore, its immediate competition): the Google Galaxy Nexus 7 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD.  

Apple has opinion of iPad mini has 4:3 screen size ratio, which viewing web page will be revealing more details and info. 

  In addition, Apple is also introducing the Smart Cover for the iPad Mini which will be available in five colours. 

 It's so surprising that third generation of New iPad was so fast disappeared in product line up. Even faster than iPad 2. but iPad 2 only left 16GB version. It mean that Apple will focus on 9.7 inch iPad and 7.9 inch iPad mini.

 Finally, Apple announce product launch for iPad mini and 4th iPad released countries. of course, they has not in Malaysia. But the nearest country will be Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore. Maybe you can buy one with a AA flight to there.

(image from: Apple)

Surface RT Spec Comparison

After reviewing the features of Microsoft's Surface tablet in previous post, now let's compare the spec of Surface with Apple's new iPad and Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2.

	Surface RT (32GB, no Touch Cover)	Apple iPad (32GB, Wi-Fi only)	Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1
Price	RM 1499	RM 1799	RM 1499
Dimension (HWD)	274.6 * 172 * 9.4 mm	241.3 * 185.7 * 9.4 mm	256.7 * 175.3 * 9.7 mm
Weight	680.4 g	662.2 g	581 g
OS	Windows RT	Apple iOS	Android 4.0
Processor	Nvidia Tegra T30	Apple A5X Dual-Core	1GHz Dual-Core
Memory	2GB	1GB	1GB
Storage Capacity	32GB	32GB	16GB
Screen Size	10.6 inches	9.7 inches	10.1 inches
Screen Resolution	1366 * 768	2048 * 1536	1280 * 800
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.0	Bluetooth 4.0	Bluetooth 3.0
Camera	Front – 720p Rear – 720p	Front – VGA Rear – 1080p	Front – VGA Rear – 3MP
Integrated Sensors	Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Compasss	Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Compasss	Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Compasss
Key Ports	Full-size USB 2.0 Micro SDXC card slot Headset jack HD video out port Cover port	30-pin dock connector port Headphone jack	Full-size USB 2.0 Headphone jack
Battery	31.5 Wh	42.5 Wh	25.87 Wh

The estimated pricing of Surface RT is very attractive as compared to the two competitors' similar models. By adding a Touch Cover for RM300, you can use the Surface like a notebook to view and edit your word documents, presentation slides or excel worksheets with Office RT. Let's wait and see when Surface tablet is officially launched in Malaysia.