Audio equipment business has always been perceived to be lacking innovation and personally, I think it is true at least to a certain extent – how much can you change when comes to sound which you can’t touch, see and feel. However, my perception is starting to change in recent years. The Singapore-based Creative Super X-Fi, for instance, has impressed me with their personalized sound map. Now, another Singapore company Tat Chuan Acoustic (TC Acoustic) is rolling up new services hoping to lure more customers in this highly competitive audio equipment.

 

TC Acoustic has announced the launch of Sonos-On-Demand, a unique online service that offers music lovers and their families a fifteen-day free trial¹ of the new gamechanging smart speaker Sonos Beam (RRP S$699). Consumers can simply place a refundable deposit of S$99 for the Sonos Beam at South-east Asia’s leading e-commerce platform Lazada, with the option of completing or cancelling the purchase fifteen days from the date of delivery.

 

Marching to the Beat of an On-Demand Generation

Catering to a new generation of tech savvy consumers who are used to on-demand services such as Netflix and Spotify, Sonos-On-Demand is a creative way to provide the same kind of convenience and access, allowing them to test and buy a music system at a touch of a button, without ever setting foot out of the house.

 

Sonos Makes it Home 

Based on a study that surveyed 30,000 people across the world, Sonos discovered that when music is played out loud in the house, it transforms relationships. Families are 25% more inspired, have 50% more hang-out time, and say “I love you” 18% more. Truly, Sonos makes it home.

Sonos-On-Demand aspires to deliver this promise right to the doorsteps of homeowners, quite literally. The aim is to usher them into their first foray of filling their homes with music and what it can do for them – more warmth, love, bonding, creativity, conversations and connections – and enable them to create the best sonic culture and atmosphere in their own homes.

Delivering a rich, in-home sound experience, the Sonos Beam is designed for the unparalleled listening of virtually any streaming content, from movies and TV shows to music and podcasts. Touted as the world’s most versatile smart speaker, the Sonos Beam supports over 80 music services, multiple voice assistants and Apple AirPlay 2.

“As technology continues to push the boundaries of how we live, work and play; a seamless customer journey means ensuring that consumers get what they want, when they want it. Through Sonos-OnDemand we’re giving our consumers complete control to create the perfect listening environment, whenever the desire takes hold”, said Christian Honegger, Chief Executive Officer of TC Acoustic, the official distributor of Sonos in Singapore.

 

About TC Acoustic 

The exclusive regional distributor for Sonos and Klipsch, TC Acoustic has been the leading player in audio distribution since 1966. It underwent a change of management and strategic restructuring in 2010 and has since become one of the fastest-growing and highly innovative lifestyle technology distributors in Singapore and rest of Asia. Currently TC Acoustic has close to 500 distribution points across the region. Under its new management, its key brands have also garnered several awards from major tech media.

 

 

Falling sales, reduced production and loss of investors’ interests – for the last decades, these are some of the negative stuff you’ve heard about our homegrown Creative Technology (“Creative”). However, this has not deterred Mr Sim Wong Hoo, founder of Creative, from continuing his fight in the struggling audio business and this year, they are coming back with their latest technology that aims to change the way how consumer experience audio entertainment – Super X-Fi. The Neo Dimension is fortunate to be invited to Creative headquarters to hear first-hand from Mr Sim on this technology.

 

Announced in the CES 2018, Super X-Fi received positive reviews from the media and audio experts at the event. This latest technology has also been named “Best of CES 2018”. Back in Singapore, this technology has sparked investors’ interests in the company. The stock (stock quote: C76.SI) has jumped more than 300% within a week and the rally does not show any signs of slowing down!

 

So what exactly is Super X-Fi?

To put it simply, it is a new audio technology designed specifically for headphones to produce an immersive surround audio experience to users. Mr Sim further explains that every person is unique and perception of “good audio” varies person-to-person. This perception of “good audio” is what he called individual’s custom sound map. The beauty of Super X-Fi is that it matches the audio output to the individual’s custom sound map by analysing anthropological features of one’s head and ears.

Creative has invested USD 100M in research on a perfect sound profile. For the past 20 years, they have run countless trials on rooms, sound systems, headphones and test subjects. With the help of an artificial intelligence (AI) engine, the anthropological features of a person’s head are extracted along with the dynamics of the targeted headphones, and the AI engine synthesizes them to create a multi-dimensional map of the desired room acoustics.

 

Using this synthesized SXFI map, Super X-Fi recreates the audio holography to create a magical listening experience for headphones, custom-made to each individual’s unique physique.

 

Despite the level of sophistication in the technology, the end-user experience is extremely simple. All users need to do is take pictures of their head with their phone, select their headphone type, and they can start playing.

 

Technology – Good or Bad?

Before the presentation started, they took images of my head and ears using a mobile phone. Then the technology analyzed the data and mapped a sound profile that is customized to me. I listened to the demo and it was mind-blowing! The surround sound I heard from the headphone was amazing and I even took the headphones off just to confirm that I wasn’t hearing the sound from the physical surround speakers. Judging from the guests’ reactions, they were equally or almost as impressed as I am.

 

As part of the demo, we get to hear other guests’ sound profiles and indeed, those sounded horrible to me.

 

We all know that everybody has their own perception on what is considered a “good sound” but no one in the industry could solve this decades-long problem. Creative’s Super X-Fi could be the game changer.

 

Mr Sim Wong Hoo analogize Creative’s Super X-Fi to a Color TV. He further elaborated, “Before TV you are watching black and white, then the switch of black and white TV to color TV; so we are now witnessing the switch right now!”

 

 

A Good Technology = A Good Business?

A good technology is an asset to the company but how much return you could squeeze from this technology depends on the strategies and business models.

 

For the past decades, Creative has been making losses. In recent years, it has been increasingly more difficult to compete with new and upcoming entrants in the market. The key success factor for Creative’s Super X-Fi would be to gain adoption in the market speedily by licensing this technology to headphones or smartphone markers. Speed is crucial, especially in the technology space.

 

 

As part of the plan, Creative will be launching a free Super X-Fi app where users could play downloaded content without purchasing any Creative headphones. Creative hopes to acquire 50 million users.

 

To get the full experience of Super X-Fi, users can purchase the dongle which Creative plans to sell at a competitive price point of USD 150 to attract consumers.

 

The free Super X-Fi app and the dongle will be available by mid-2018.

 

Creative, A Growth Stock Again?

 

Investors seem to be convinced that Super X-Fi is going to turn Creative around. It makes perfect sense for the company to focus on the headphones market given the projected high growth in the global market.  Quoting Mr Sachin Mittal, a DBS analyst in a Bloomberg report, “If the product gains just 0.5 percent share of the global headset market in 2020, Creative would gain revenues of $232 million”

 

I believe that the growth of the global headset market is inflated in the Bloomberg report. Based on their statement, this puts the value of the global headset market at USD 46B. Several research papers suggest that the global market could be worth USD 11B to USD 20B by 2020 to 2025. Suppose we take a more conservative yet optimistic estimate of USD 20B, that would be approx. USD 100m of revenue by 2023 (more than 100% jump from Creative’s revenue in 2017!).

 

Without a doubt, Creative is a growth stock. However, high growth essentially means high-risk. The challenge for Creative is to sign their first purchase order to start the first mass-production of the chip.  Now, it is hard to predict which headphone maker is going to give them the business. On the flip side, they are competitors as well.  The strategies of launching app and dongle are sound but is it good enough for Creative to turn their enemy into Frienemy?

 

How about licensing their technology to smartphone makers? Smartphone leaders like Apple and Samsung have already started the battle in the audio space. Apple has acquired celebrity headphone brand Beats Audio in 2014 and has started to manufacture their own audio headsets. Samsung, on the other hand, has acquired a US-based audio specialist Harmon in 2016. Ever since then, they have been bundling AKG earphones, Harmon’s subsidiary, with Samsung Galaxy S’s series of phones. Now, the question is, “If not Apple nor Samsung, who else can Creative offer their technology to in the smartphone market?”

 

To the investors, is the risk worth taking?

Fundamentally, Creative is holding approx. USD 100M of cash and more importantly, it is debt-free as of now. They should have sufficient financial capacity to market this technology for the next couple of years (They should be able to weather through if this new technology fails).

 

However, this stock is likely to be volatile in the short term which could be an opportunity for speculative traders.

 

For long term investors, this stock is a high-risk-high-return play. As I have mentioned earlier on, the extreme scenario is unlikely to bankrupt the company, but the high volatility may be of concern to some investors. Based solely on the potential of this technology, this stock could be undervalued but sign of market acceptance has yet to be seen.

 

Important! Please Read: All comments and suggestions here are purely my opinions. Investors should exercise their own discretions before taking up any positions on this stock.     

For those who are reading my blog for the first time, you may be surprised to learn that this is actually the third time that The Neo Dimension is reviewing Sudio’s personal audio products. So far, the readers’ feedback regarding the last two reviews (Sudio Vasa Bla and Sudio Regent) have been positive. Some mentioned that they really enjoyed the interview that we have done with Poisonvine.com. There’s no snobby audio jargon, just a showcase of the product from a real user’s perspective. In addition, some of our male readers expressed that they liked reading a review from a female’s perspective. (Okay, we are a male-centric blog but hey, we do have posts that are family-oriented.)

If you haven’t already read our previous reviews, here are the links:

Sudio Vasa Bla – https://theneodimension.com/review-15-discount-code-sudio-vasa-bla-classy-device-busy-professionals/

Sudio Regent – https://theneodimension.com/poisonvine-coms-review-sudio-regent-wireless-headphones/

Today, we are inviting Poisonvine.com to take part in a joint review on Sudio’s latest offering – Sudio Tre, their first water-resistant wireless earpiece. This time round, we have designed a set of questions that will be posted to both Poisonvine.com (P) and owner of TheNeoDimesion (TND). The objective is to allow our readers to look at Sudio Tre from a male’s as well as from a female’s perspective.

Without further ado, below is the Q&A. Check it out!

Q1. What’s your first impression when you unboxed the Sudio Tre?

P: I have the white colour version of the Sudio Tre. The product is looks stunning. There are lovely rose tone buttons and accents at the bottom of the earpieces. It also comes with a matching pouch to carry the Sudio Tre in.

TND: Well, I got the black one. I like the fact that they keep the standard micro-USB charging port for Sudio Tre. I have several wireless earpieces and every single one of them used different charging port making it cumbersome to keep switching cables.

Q2. Sudio claims that this product is designed for an active lifestyle. Well, everyone has different ways of interpreting “active”. How did you guys use the product?

P: I use this product when I work out on my elliptical machine. Sudio Tre remains comfortable to wear even after an hour long cardio session.

TND: I bring this out for run. Similar to the Vasa Bla, the weight of Sudio Tre is very well distributed from one end to another. The addition of “wings” on the earbuds, does not impair the comfort and in fact, the wings’ reinforcement has made the earbuds harder to come off no matter how hard I shake my head.

 

Late workout at #gym. Tired and perspiring like mad. Feel very demoralizing when I can’t keep up with my previous running pace and worse, there is no music played in the room. Fortunately, I have brought my own wireless earpiece and mobile phone with me. Well, a little bit of comfort listening to some Japanese anime theme songs that I have saved in my phone. #sudio #instagadget #bluetooth #wireless #instaworkout P.s. if you are interested in getting the wireless earpiece #sudiotre, you can use my #promocode “NEODIMENSION” to receive upto 35% discount for #Singapore buyers.

A post shared by Neo Wee Wu 梁威武 (@weewu) on Oct 10, 2017 at 7:02am PDT

Q3. Which feature of the product appeals to you most?

P: This offering is quite similar to the old Sudio Vasa Bla, but in order to make it more friendly for sports, the earbuds have a wing tip so that it doesn’t fall out easily.

TND: It is not a bad idea to make this product water-resistance. In Singapore, the weather is either rainy or sunny. You don’t want to encounter rain during your run but in the event that happens, you don’t want your device to be spoiled by rainwater.

How long do you need to plank? Simple, time for one song. #sudiotre #gym #instagym #instagood #instasport #workout

A post shared by Neo Wee Wu 梁威武 (@weewu) on Oct 11, 2017 at 7:13am PDT

Q4. What do you hope to see in Sudio’s future products?

P: Recently “true wireless” headphones that have two separate earbuds (like the Sony WF-1000X) are increasingly popular. I hope to see Sudio come up with their own version in future.

TND: I hope their future products could add voice assistance or notification to inform the users on the bluetooth connection and battery usage status.

Availability

The Sudio Tre is retailing at SGD 139/- (after tax rebate of 20%). If you make the purchase online via Sudio’s website, shipping to Singapore entitles you to 20% tax rebate.

On top of that, readers of TheNeoDimension are entitled to an additional 15 % discount. You can use the promo code NEODIMENSION.

Sudio has released their latest product – Sudio Regent Wireless Headphones. We managed to get hold of a unit for review. Instead of writing about how we feel about the product, we’ve decided to do something different this time and get a female blogger  (poisonvine.com) to share with us her experience after using this product.

 

Q1. Have you heard of Sudio? What’s your first impression when you first got hold of the Sudio Regent?

I first got to know about Sudio until they launched the Sudio Vasa Blå. It left a very strong impression on me because the earphones looked stunning!

Sudio Regent exemplifies the Sudio’s design philosophy – minimalist, elegant and timeless. It’s definitely a beautiful headphone that you would want to show off to your friends.

We ask Poisonvine.com 4 questions on how she feels about the #sudioregent wireless headphones. To read her response, check out bit.do/sudioregentreview

A post shared by Neo Wee Wu 梁威武 (@weewu) on Mar 6, 2017 at 9:16am PST

Q2. Which genre do you usually listen to? And does the sound profile meet your expectations?  

I listen to a rather wide variety of genres so it’s a bit difficult to say. For instrumentals, I prefer artists like Kenny G, Keiko Matsui, Kaori Kobayashi and Jessy J. For vocals, I like Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Michael Bublé, Il Divo, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige and Toni Braxton.

Anyway, I find that the Sudio Regent generally performs well for instrumentals, there is good clarity and balance. Unfortunately, the bass is a little weaker than I would like. For vocals, I find that the sound quality tends to be a bit airy.

#sudioregent #wirelesss #headphones

A post shared by Neo Wee Wu 梁威武 (@weewu) on Mar 6, 2017 at 9:13am PST

Q3. What’s the best (or worst) experience you had while using this product?

I like that the Sudio Regent offers both Bluetooth and wired option, which makes it very versatile and is ideal for travelling. The headphone is light and foldable, making it very portable. In addition, you can change the caps on the headphone and match the headphones to your OOTD.

The headphones sits on the ear and is generally quite comfortable. However, after prolonged usage, the headphone will start to feel a bit too tight for my head (maybe because I have a big head?) But for commuting I would not expect to wear this continuously for over an hour so it’s not a big issue.

 

Q4. Considering all factors: Design, features, sound quality and price, how do you rate the product?

I would give it a 6.5/10. It is definitely worthy of a consideration if you are in the market for portable headphones.

Availability

The Sudio Regent is available in two colors, black and white and retails for S$229.

If you are in Singapore, you will get a 20% off that price because of tax rebates. After the 20%, it becomes S$183.20.

Using my promo code “neodimension” at their site, it will give you an additional 15% discount. So in total, you pay just S$155.72 for the Sudio Regent.

 

On top of that, you will receive a free express shipping and a phone case.

 

Who is poisonvine.com?

Typical working class Singaporean who is a caffeine addict and an aspiring home barista. Like most Singaporeans, she loves food and travel. She believes that Google will eventually rule the world (“hail Google!”) and is waiting for the day when language is no longer a barrier because Google translate attained perfection. Also a die-hard Blackberry fan.

NUSSO will be collaborating with Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music to put up a performance of specially curated pieces to showcase brilliant young musicians, War and Peace: Miniatures 2017. Members of the public are invited to come and listen to the youth musician’s new interpretations of some of the most popular and beloved musical narratives throughout history.  (Free Admission) 

The team will be performing one of Singapore’s homegrown, and immensely talented young composer Peter Gale’s Space Movie.  Other pieces include a stunning harp duet, performing The Rain of Castamere & Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold; a percussion quartet performing the dazzling Fractalia; Holst’s Mars, (the Bringer of War) will be performed by NUSSO’s talented brass section. Many other well-loved pieces include Overture in C Major Op.24, String Quartert No.3 Mvt 1, Sweet Dreams and Dancing by The Streams, and String Quarter No.1 Mvt 1. As finale a rearrangement of Jay Chou’s famous Ju Hua Tai (Chrysanthemum Terrace) will be performed jointly by NUSSO and YST Conservatory musicians. More details of the performance:

Date: Friday, 20th January 2017

Time: 7:30pm

Place: Conservatory Concert Hall, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music

Featured Soloists: Leo Dohyung Kim (cello), Pamela Koh (cello), Concerto for 2 Cellos in G Minor.

Free admission. RSVP at: rebrand.ly/miniatures17

Build of the phone

Large screen might not be always better. The New Sony Xperia XZ comes with 5.2 Inch display with Full HD resolutions. Personally, I like the screen size. It is large enough for mobile entertainment and small enough to be held with one hand.

 

Another feature that surprised me is the fingerprint sensor; which is located on the power button. That makes a lot of sense since users are so used to wake up the phone by pressing the power button. As of now, I am rather neutral to the location and accuracy of the fingerprint sensor. Nonetheless, it is generally fine provided you don’t press and release your finger too quickly.

Stunning camera performance
There are several attributes of the camera that excites me. First, the 23MP of the rear camera which produce sharp and clear images. Second, its proprietary RGBC-IR sensor which Sony claimed it is capable to produce rich and vibrant colour. Ok, I am sold by the camera.

Well, pictures speak a thousand words. I have uploaded some of my photos below:

Don’t believe in the photo I’ve uploaded? Check out #shotbyxperia, #shotbyxperiaxz & #sonymobilesg for more photos

The camera also starts fast and responses quickly when u press the shutter. In my opinion, *it is so much better than the older Xperia phones.

*I didn’t own the older Xperia precisely because their camera are quite laggy. But, the new Xperia XZ has changed my perception).  

Front facing camera is packed with 13MP sensor which produces nice selfie photo. To a certain extent, I feel its front facing camera could perform as well as rear camera of mid-range phones currently in the market. **The handshutter feature could accurately detect your palm. Since you do not need to touch the shutter on the camera, it greatly reduces the chance of getting blur selfie photo.

Another feature by Sony Xperia XZ that most phones or even some DSLRs in the market could not offer – 4K video recording. I shot a night scene of Singapore in 4K and I was impressed by the amount of details even under a low light condition. Take a look of the sample video below.

 

Sample Video of Singapore River (Night)

 

**I understand that I have mentioned on my Facebook before that the phone camera seems to be a bit laggy after playing with it for a while during its Singapore launch. I would like to take back what I’ve said. The fact is I have brought this device to Japan and Taiwan for a long holiday. The phone performs well under different environments be it up on the high mountain to wet conditions. I suspect an update was done to fix the issue.

Battery and Heat Management.

Battery capacity is only 2900 mAh which is comparatively lower than what most of the smartphones in the market offer. Well, I think it is unfair to judge the battery performance by just looking at its capacity.  Nonetheless, it will be still one of the key factors that determines the time of usage.

During my visit to Taiwan and Japan, I took hundreds of photos and videos. Battery life becomes exceptionally challenging. With lots of video and photo-taking, the phone could not last more than 10 hours.

Heat management has improved compared to the previous Xperia XZ. I have run tonnes of apps on the phone and I don’t remember experiencing any crashes or any heat issues.

The only time that I experienced heat issues is when I was doing a video recording with the device. The device gets hot and there was once, some camera functions were disabled (in-build safety feature to manage the heat and to protect the phone as well as the user)

 

Price

Price wise is competitive if you compare to other high-end smartphones in the market and it is certainly one of the models that you should be put in your radar. Recommended retail price – SGD 998/-

 

Likes And Dislikes

Likes: Camera and price (if you compare to other high-end devices in the smartphone market)

Dislikes: Heat issue

 

Who should buy?

If you are looking for a productive phone, the Sony Xperia XZ is certainly not designed for your liking. However, it is a good travel phone for people who love taking photos but do not wish to carry lots of camera equipment. The battery life issue could be solved with power bank (anybody don’t pack a power bank when out for tour? Don’t think so…)

The dual SIM cards slot also makes Xperia XZ travel-friendly. (The best part you do not need to use a pin to open the SIM card slot)

Jabra announces the arrival of its first true wireless sports earbuds, which is now available at S$368 from selected stores in Singapore (full list of retailers below). The Elite Sport, the first in line of the premium Elite franchise, will feature two completely independent wireless earbuds, packed full of audio innovations and fitness features designed with the active user in mind.

True Wireless for Complete Freedom

The Jabra Elite Sport delivers a cord-free audio experience, with outstanding stereo sound for calls and music, as well as full sports functionality. With three ear gels, three sizes of ear foams and three wingtips, users are spoilt for choice when it comes to finding the best fit for their ears. Active users no longer have to worry about an earbud slipping out at the wrong time during an intensive workout session.

 

Superior Audio Quality With Noise Cancellation

Featuring two microphones in each ear bud, the ear buds are designed to pick up your voice through the first microphone, while the other aims to pick up external noises. The Jabra Elite Sport can switch between the earbuds receiving the least noise, as well as remove the background noise by differentiating the separate feeds it receives on each ear bud, leaving only the crystal-clear clarity of your voice in any environment.

 

Medical grade credentials

Pioneers in sound from sports earbuds to hearing aids, Jabra (as part of the GN Group) has used its unique understanding of high-quality sound in the development of Jabra Elite Sport. Created in collaboration with engineers from ReSound, a specialist in medical grade sound solutions and a world leader in Smart Hearing Aids, Jabra Elite Sport draws on more than 145 years of experience in hearing innovation and fit.

 

Hear Your Surroundings While Running
When activated, the Elite Sport’s HearThrough technology allows the in-ear speakers to recreate ambient sounds, ensuring that runners are aware of their surroundings including unexpected incoming traffic and other dangers, while plugged in.

 

Both Mono and Stereo

The Elite Sport comes with two individual earbuds, offering users the option to use a singular earbud for mono playback and calls through its primary (right) earbud which communicates directly to the user’s smartphone via Bluetooth. The secondary (left) earbud, which connects to the primary earbud via near field magnetic induction, automatically reconnects when both earbuds are placed within 25cm, allowing for a seamless transition between conversation and stereo music.

 

The Perfect Fitness Gadget

 

The Jabra Elite Sport features a heart-rate sensor in its right ear bud that ensures an above 90% accuracy reading. Through its integrated app, users can gauge their fitness level via the VO2 Max measurement, as well as improve their run timings through the race-time predictor, and plan their workouts for maximum effectiveness with the recovery advisor. The updates are delivered in real-time via the intelligent in-ear coaching, ensuring an uninterrupted workout. The Jabra Sport Life app also captures and tracks your fitness development over time, providing a range of information to help you improve your fitness level in the future, including distance covered, pace, route, calories burnt and training effect.

 

The Elite Sport is sweat proof and comes with an IP67 waterproof rating. The earbuds have been tested to work for at least 30 minutes whilst submerged in up to one metre of water, making it the perfect fitness earbud under any weather and training conditions.

 

3+6 hours of Battery Life

 

With a talk and music battery life of three hours per charge, the Jabra Elite Sport is among the longest lasting true-wireless earbuds in the market today. The earbuds also come with an on-the-go charging case, which provides an additional two full charges, or six extra hours, of juice.

 

 

Works on both iOS and Android

The Elite Sport’s call and music functions supports all major smartphone operating systems with Bluetooth, while its performance tracking and fitness apps are available on both Android and iOS devices.

 

Three Year Warranty

As a training partner, Jabra Elite Sport has the added assurance of a three-year extended warranty in Singapore, the longest of any true wireless headsets.

Features and specifications:

• Superior sound with up to three hours of music and calls (plus up to six hours additional charge from the portable charging case
• Flexible wearing options with single or stereo earbud use
• Advanced heart rate analysis with automatic fitness level testing of VO2 Max, recovery advisor and race predictor
• In-ear audio coaching with real-time feedback
• Integrated Training Management with Jabra Sport Life app
• Three-year warranty against sweat and waterproof to IP67 rating
• Secure fit – perform at your best with incredibly light, ultra-secure earbuds
• Supports all major smartphone operating systems, including Android & iOS
• Integrated Jabra Sport Life app and support for all leading third-party fitness apps

Pricing and availability

 The Jabra Elite Sport (S$368) is now available at selected outlets from the following retailers and selected Jabra resellers:

1. Challenger
2. Harvey Norman
3. Best Denki
4. Nubox
5. Stereo
6. Connect IT
7. Lazada (Online – Preorder only)

This year’s September is not going to end without suspense. As we approach the end of the month, immerse yourself with drama filled with virtual reality crimes from HALCYON and sophisticated trial consulting techniques from BULL.

 

HALCYON

HALCYON is set in 2040 and follows Julie Dover, a detective in the Virtual Reality Crimes Unit, as she investigates the first real-life murder to take place within virtual reality – a crime that shouldn’t even be possible – and the conspiracy she discovers behind it. Directed by BAFTA-nominated Benjamin Arfmann (Random Stop), Halcyon provides compelling cliff-hangers moving fans across TV, online and VR platforms to find out what will happen next. (To know more, go to my earlier post here)

 

Halcyon premieres 22 September, Thursday at 10pm on *Syfy (StarHub Ch 517).

 

*You could also watch it online anytime from 22 September on http://halcyon.syfy.asia or access through Halcyon VR app via Samsung Gear VR.

 

 

BULL

BULL stars Michael Weatherly as Dr. Jason Bull in a drama inspired by the early career of Dr. Phil McGraw, the founder of one of the most prolific trial consulting firms of all time. Dr. Bull is the ultimate puppet master as he combines psychology, human intuition and high tech data to learn what makes jurors, attorneys, witnesses and the accused tick. Bull employs an enviable team of experts at Trial Analysis Corporation to shape successful narratives down to the very last detail. They include his quick-witted former brother-in-law, Benny Colón, a lawyer who acts as defense attorney in the company’s mock trials; Marissa Morgan, a cutting-edge neurolinguistics expert from the Department of Homeland Security; former NYPD detective Danny James, the firm’s tough but relatable investigator; haughty millennial hacker Cable McCrory, who is responsible for gathering cyber intelligence; and Chunk Palmer, a fashion-conscious stylist and former All-American lineman who fine tunes clients’ appearances for trial. In high-stakes trials, Bull’s combination of remarkable insight into human nature, three Ph.D.’s and a top-notch staff creates winning strategies that tip the scales of justice in his clients’ favor.   (To know more, go to my earlier post here)

 

Bull premieres the same day as the U.S. 21 September, Wednesday 9pm, on RTL CBS Entertainment (Singtel Ch 318 & StarHub Ch 509)

NUS Symphony Orchestra (NUSSO) is holding performance at Botanic Gardens, Singapore on the 24 September 2016.

Continuing the successful series of annual public concerts, this year NUS Symphony Orchestra (NUSSO) pays homage to the virtuosic soundtracks of film classics in “Symphony in the Park: Screen Gems.” NUSSO will be playing multiple scores from John Williams and Hans Zimmer, conducted by maestro Lim Soon Lee and the young soloist Ronan Lin.

Surround yourself with classic soundtracks from Jurassic Park, Harry Potters and The Dark Knight at UNESCO World Heritage site Botanic Gardens. The admission is free. Do bring along your mats and food for a picnic with your family while enjoying the beautiful music! 

See you at Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage, Singapore Botanic Gardens at 6pm, 24th September 2016.  

Programme:

• JOHN WILLIAMS Star Wars (Suite for Orchestra) 
• JOHN WILLIAMS Theme from Schindler’s List
• JOHN WILLIAMS Harry’s Wondrous World from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
• HANS ZIMMER ARR. RALPH FORD The Dark Knight Rises
• JOHN WILLIAMS Theme from Jurassic Park

We all know that Apple has dumped 3.5mm audio jack thinking that wireless- enable listening devices is the way to go! ( I have blogged about the obsolete of 3.5mm audio port like a year ago. Does that I mean I have more foresight than Apple?)

Not as if that is going to make a difference in how other headphone markers manufacture their products. Bluetooth is still currently the wireless standard for the audio devices.

Jaybird announced Freedom Wireless Bluetooth® Buds, its fifth-generation of Freedom.

Highlights of the product

• Small in Size, Big in Sound – Freedom is Jaybird’s smallest, secure-fit buds to date using a patented taper down design, reducing speaker diameter by 20 percent and never compromising on sound.
• Ultimate Hands-Free Experience – wirelessly-connected to 2 devices simultaneously.
• Never Miss a Beat –With the charging clip, you could extend the battery usage upto eight hours of playtime with the charger on. The charging clip could get you an extra hour of playtime with a mere 20 minutes of quick charge.
• Universal Fit – Sweat-proof premium buds fit perfectly in any ear thanks to Comply^TM memory foam tip and enhanced comfort ear fins. With over 12 different ways to personalize your buds, Jaybird Freedom’s slimmer profile fits comfortably for any lifestyle

Availability
Jaybird Freedom is available from 16 September onwards exclusively at all Jaybird authorized resellers for $259.00. The buds come in four fresh colors: Gold, Carbon (Black), Blaze (Red) and Ocean (Blue).