[Media Invite] XBox Showcase 2016

Microsoft has announced the arrival of the Xbox One S Gears of War Limited Edition 2 TB Bundle that will be coming to Singapore on 25 November 2016. Crimson red in colour and designed as if it came right out of the game with a battle-weathered console chassis, bloody thumbprints on the controller red metallic D-pad. How's that for a close encounter of the ultimate Gears of War 4 experience? Brings a smile to the face.

Gears of War 4

XBox One S Gears of War Limited Edition 2TB Bundle @$699

Was invited for a preview on the games as well. It has been a while since I played any console games. Hope I didn't embarrass myself in front of the hardcore gamers. Oops.

coming to SG on 11 Oct

woOhOOo!

Tried it on a XBox One S white and the experience was all good. Yay to the HDR quality and the fluid movements in the game. Tactile feedback on the console was good and the hints from the game was adequate for a newbie to move around and to complete the mission.

battle on via console

Other games available for XBox One and Windows 10 include Forza Horizon 3, Dead Rising 4, ReCore, Scalebound and Halo Wars 2. Gamers can now buy one game and enjoy it on XBox or on PC with Windows 10.

ReCore is an action-adventure set in the futuristic world of spacecraft and sand dunes. The protagonist is Joule and her friends are robots. ReCore was created by Keiji Inafune of Metroid Prime fame.

ReCore will be available from 13 September 2016

In ReCore mission, there were specific actions that the gamer needed to do. Was so troublesome...the event helper that was standing behind me couldn't stand it anymore and decided to just show me how to do it. Hahaha! Other than that, the character's movements were very good and can even scale the wall. So cool!



If you are into more gore, then Dead Rising 4 might be your kind of game. Zombies, everywhere. Blood, everywhere. Anything and everything, can be a weapon. It has a rating of M18, so you know.

The protagonist is Frank West, and the trailer was quite amusing. You can watch it in YouTube. Mayhem is the theme and of course, zombie slaying.

#frankieisback

What can I say? I started with Frank with lots of swag, and heaving a big hammer which was used to the max in a melee, then a baseball bat which was quite good but all gone too soon. I think it was used till they broke! Then, I had some cannister of sorts which spewed fire when I managed to figure out how to throw it to the zombies. Ended up with Frank having to box his way out of the hordes and hordes of zombies...am so sorry Frank! Had a gun in the inventory list but couldn't figure it out how to switch to that. Faints. Haaha!
Dead Rising 4 coming to SG in December.

If you are purely in for the speed, then the racing game Forza Horizon 3 features stunning Australian skyline and beaches.

let's race along the beach

Happy Gaming!

Thank you Microsoft and Diandra for the invite.

[Gadgets] Hello Kitty Limited Edition Windows 10 Tablet

Calling all fans of ハロー・キティ. If you have always wanted to get a 10.1 inch tablet but yet to do so, plus plans to optimise a budget of less than SGD380, then good news! E-Huge Technology Limited had launched its first Sanrio-themed 2-in-1 Windows 10 tablet from the WMP Character Series in Singapore on 17 February 2016.

Priced at SGD379 and available now at all BEST Denki retail outlets and online store in Singapore. Click here to BEST Denki Online Store.

Grace 10 Light Hello Kitty Limited Edition Windows 10 tablet @$379

The Grace 10 Light Hello Kitty Limited Edition Windows 10 tablet not only comes with an exclusive pretty-in-pink Hello Kitty Pigo keyboard, it also runs on Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 10. Wow. That means one can try out the new computing and browsing experience with Microsoft Edge, and Continuum.

This tablet is powered by Intel® Atom™ Processor Z3735F processor, with 2GB DDR RAM, 32 GB Flash storage and weighs approximately 600 grams. With built-in wifi, 2M front and rear camera and its battery stated to last about 5 hours.

For productivity on-the-go, snap on the Hello Kitty Pigo keyboard, and get some work done as if using it like a laptop.  The Microsoft Office Mobile apps can be downloaded for free on the Grace 10 Light tablet. Or, if you prefer the full Office experience, then do take advantage of the Grace 10 Light tablet Hello Kitty Limited Edition promotion offered by BEST Denki, where you can save SGD20 off the subscription of Office 365 with the purchase of this device. Click here to view the offer. Get a Sennheiser earphone worth $119 for free when you purchase two qualifying products. Terms and conditions apply.

Grace Light 10 Hello Kitty Limited Edition Windows 10 Tablet - get yours today

Yay, now I can bring this lightweight device whenever I go travelling. It will be so handy (and カワイイ).

Specifications

[Gadgets] Microsoft Surface Pro3 , XBoxOne

Let's talk about tech, this time round.

Fancy an oversized tablet? How does 12 inch sounds to you? How about an i3, i5 or i7^[1] core processor in that set up? Great! It can even replace a laptop. Yes, it definitely can. How about, if it is super slim...like just 9.1mm thin and super lightweight at 800g?


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Was at the Microsoft Surface Pro3 Launch Preview recently, and got the chance to preview the said device.

at Red Dot Design Museum

The opening address was by Ms Ngiam Foong Chee, Director of Marketing & Operations, Microsoft Singapore. Again, we hear about connected devices, working anywhere, anytime if once chooses so.

This is where work and play merges. Through technology, others are aware of your online presence. Ultimately, one still has the choice of attending to that work activity or not. 

Then, it was Mr Ian Tan's turn to show us the Surface Pro3. Ian is no stranger to Microsoft hardware business in Singapore.

Mr Ian Tan explaining on Surface Pro3 'infinite angles' Kickstand

From where I was seated, the Surface Pro3 screen looked good. Beautful body in silver Vapor Magnesium casing and for its screen, Surface Pro3 uses ClearType Full HD display.

Surface Pro and Surface Pro3

If one needs to do work on this device, no worries. Just snap on the keyboard via its Surface Pro Type Cover or take out the Surface Pen.

Surface Pro3 with Surface Pen and keyboard

Surface Pro3 is also equipped with two 5MP cameras capable of capturing 1080p HD video. Storage space from 64GB to 512GB, and RAM from 4GB to 8GB. With Windows 8.1 Pro³, it is also capable of running of all Windows software. Price ranging from $1,108 to $2,698, with accessories sold separately.

Pre-order is avaible now at Microsoft Online Store.  Expects to be available for retail before end of August 2014. There is an Education discount where students from certified MOE institutions will enjoy a 10% discount.


Also got a glimpse of Microsoft's next generation console, the Xbox One that day. It is expected to launch in Singapore on 23 September 2014.

entertainment box

Expected retail price is about $739 with Kinect set.

With the Kinect sensor bar, it looked so much more fun with gesture recognition!

gesture recognition

Xbox One's Kinect Sports Rival allows users to create avatars or 'champions' of themselves. Body and facial scanning, and some intelligence in learning some moves of the player sounds like a great great ingredient for semi-realistic virtual fun!

Watch a YouTube video of the avatar building process:



Quite cool. Previous generation of Kinect sensor bar, was not able to detect half-body and apparently with this new one, it can! Nice. Healthcare apps developers, you might want to get your hands on this one.

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[1] 4th generation processors Intel® Core™