The freebies promotion has been extended to November 30 at all hello! shops.

Don’t forget to use this voucher print-out:

Enlarge and print

Get it and start social networking on the go!

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Well, we have a winner! Actually, 2 in fact.
- Wei Wen wins S$100 cash and S$100 shopping vouchers.
- Out of all the contestants across 10 blogs, Sparklette reader Daphne wins the grand prize of S$500 cash.

Congratulations!

If you have been looking to lay your hands on one of these social networking devices, grab your chance now! Sign up for your INQ Mini 3G mobile phone at the roadshow this weekend and get these freebies with this voucher print-out:

Enlarge and print

- 3x INQ Mini 3G mobile phone battery covers (worth $34.95)
- Waiver of registration and SIM card charges (worth $42.80)
- One lucky customer each day wins a 12-month SingTel mobile subscription.

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http://sparklette.net/contest/inqmobile-winners/ | Leave a comment

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INQ is the maker of the world’s first social phones that have truly integrated email, instant messaging and social networking. An INQ social phone comes installed with social network software that allows you to:

• Track friends’ Twitter updates
• Network with people through Windows Live instant messaging
• Use VoIP on Skype
• Tune in to Last.fm media player
• Facebook like there’s no tomorrow!

And more!

Now, here’s an easy way you can win $200. Learn more about these cool social networking phones, then leave a comment here to tell us what attracts you most. One lucky Sparklette reader gets to win $100 cash and $100 shopping vouchers!

Ready to get lucky? Here are the detailed instructions:

1. Find out more about the INQ social networking phones.
2. Leave a comment below to share what you like about INQ social networking phones.
3. In true social networking fashion, tweet, Plurk and/or Facebook update about this contest to up your chances of winning! You may use this line:

   I discovered a new phone via @sparklette! Check it out and you may win $200! Details at http://pea.to/inqsk! #INQmobile

   If you have done so, don’t forget to include your Twitter ID, Plurk ID and/or Facebook URL in your comment!

4. Please use a valid email address when leaving a comment so that I can contact you if you are the winner.

If you’d prefer, you may use the above image for linking, too. Just remember to hyperlink to http://pea.to/inqsk.

Note: Contest is open only to Singapore citizens, PR and residents.

That’s it! Contest ends September 14, 2009 (2359 hours). So join fast, spread the word and good luck!

Update: Winner announced! Find out who won.

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http://sparklette.net/contest/inqmobile/ | 45 comments

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The response was overwhelming! A whopping 1013 submissions came in! Many thanks to each and everyone of you for your interest in the game.

However there can only be one winner. That winner is…

Congratulations, Jasmine! LG would be in touch with you shortly.

You were tasked to search for the 5 of this LG phone hidden in this picture. Here’s the solution with the 5 mobile phones circled in white.

Click to enlarge

Thank you once again for taking part! To the dozens of you that blogged or tweeted about this contest, thank you for your support! Don’t forget to subscribe to this website via email or RSS feed for future updates of exciting contests!

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http://sparklette.net/contest/lg-gd900-crystal-game-winner/ | 7 comments

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From now to June 19, I am running the “Spot the Hidden LG Crystal” game here. Simply find all the 5 LG phones in the picture and send me your solution. One lucky Sparklette reader would win this 3G mobile phone!

Here’s an example:

Click to enlarge

There are 5 LG Crystal hidden in the sample picture above. Can you spot all of them? Enlarge the image for a better view!

Here’s the solution with 5 of this LG phone circled in white.

Click to enlarge

See? Wasn’t that fun? It should have given you a clearer idea on how to play the game.

Now, for the actual picture and contest details, please read on carefully.

There is one brand new set of LG Crystal to be won.

1. Spot the hidden LG Crystal in the picture below. There are 5 to be found.

Click to enlarge

2. Email your name, contact number and the answers to editor [at] sparklette [dot] net with the subject line “I want to win the LG GD900 Crystal!”. Your submissions may be in the form of either:

A) Image attachment – Circle all the 5 mobile phones in the picture. You may use an image editing application (for eg. MS Paint), or

B) Text descriptions – For eg. “Behind the cash register on the left” (in the case of the sample picture)

3. All entries must reach me before June 19, 2009, 11:59 pm (Singapore time). If there is more than 1 correct submission, the winner would be drawn randomly.

Got it?

Contest ends June 19. Good luck and have fun!

Note: Contest is open only to Singaporeans and Singapore permanent residents. The winner would be contacted by LG to self-collect the phone. The winner is required to provide a review of the phone (a short write-up, blog post, video, etc).

If you love this kind of game, you may wish to check out my post on hidden object games. I have featured and recommended some of the games that I personally like.

Update: Winner announced! Find out if you are the lucky winner!

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© 2011 Sparklette.net

The mobile phone is mostly black, with parts of it in silver. It has an unusual rounded bottom edge too. Both men and women should find its form factor attractive. Here it is next to my gorgeous metallic LG Shine, also a 3G mobile phone.

Not only is the mobile phone black on the outside, it has a matching black and white user interface too.

The white icons juxtaposed against the all-black background reminds me of the LG Prada. For those of you that do prefer having more colours on your phone, there are a couple more colourful themes other than this cool default one.

Friends fiddling with my mobile phone for the first time would automatically start looking for the numeric keypad. The thing is — there isn’t one! Other than the 3 buttons on the front and 2 by the side, you would only be pressing on the large LCD touchscreen. Apple iPhone, anyone? Come to think of it, with its black form factor and touchscreen, the Viewty does bear a certain resemblance to the iPhone!

For SMS addicts, besides typing messages through the numeric keypad, you also have the option of using a horizontal QWERTY keyboard (like the keyboard on your computer) for quicker typing.

Speaking of the touchscreen capability, this mobile phone does come with a stylus in the form of a dongle (there is nowhere to slot it). But I prefer not to use it. It is sensitive enough for you to use your fingers alone, or as what Steve Jobs would call the “best pointing device in the world”. You can also turn on the touch feedback, so that each time you press a key, you feel a gentle vibration.

Another thing that I do really like about this mobile phone is the image gallery. After taking pictures using its excellent 5-megapixel Schneider-Kreuznach camera (see photo samples here), I can view them in a nice-looking… Let’s call it the tabletop interface. It sure looks as though the photos are spread out over a table in a haphazard fashion. Touching any photo would bring it to the front. Nice!

It is pretty apparent that LG has paid much attention to designing the Viewty, in terms of both form factor and user interface. I do have one major gripe though. The MicroSD memory card slot is inconveniently located within the mobile phone rather than being on the side. To access the slot, it would mean turning off the mobile phone, opening the back cover and removing the battery. Quite a big hassle for doing something so simple.

But that alone is unlikely to deter anyone. I would still continue using the Viewty. The beautiful user interface (very much improved over the LG Shine) and easy navigation are enough to keep me as a fan!

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http://sparklette.net/lifestyle/gadget/lg-viewty/ | 16 comments

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© 2011 Sparklette.net

Many of my blog readers (and their dogs too) must have at least heard of Kevin lim and his blog at theory.isthereason. I love hanging out with him because he’s hawt, and the fact that each time we hang out, he lets me play with his, er, equipment.

I have played with his Sony vaio ux230p (an ultra-portable micro pc) and Sony cybershot m2 (a hybrid digital camera cum video recorder). That camera’s hawt! So hawt that when I try borrowing it, he would protectively say “don’t break it hor!”

Over dinner recently, he showed me his newest gadget — pocket pda. Yeah, that’s the name AND brand of this made-in-china device. Normally, I wouldn’t pay much attention to products from China. But my, this one’s hawt!

Watch this video of hawt Kevin introducing the 3 main motion sensor functions of his hawt pocket pda to see how hawt it is (and him too). I’ll bet you wanna buy one after this!

Youtube link

In the video, Kevin does a walk-through on the 3 main motion sensor functions of this pda phone:

• air sign — enter some text (either Chinese or English) and it would appear along the side LED panel of the phone as you wave the phone! This is motion-activated so only at a certain speed can the text be seen. Great for clubbers and deaf people! In the video, Kevin demonstrates with the word “BYE” and a smiley face. Cool!
• portrait/landscape auto detection — when viewing a video in portrait mode, try rotating the phone to landscape mode. The motion sensor would detect the change in orientation and automatically rotate the video 90 degrees — just like the Apple iPhone! Gawd, that’s a bloody hawt feature.
• simulated dice — simply shake the phone, and the on-screen animated dice would roll with actual sounds of dice-rolling! You can toggle the number of dice too. Very useful for card games. Now no one has to worry about losing his dice!

Photo by Kevin

Some other uber-cool (and hawt) features of this phone:

• video display ID — when a friend calls, have a video play instead of the usual caller photo display.
• neon lights alert — cool light effects along the side LED panel when someone calls or a message arrives.
• photo card/neoprint — cute preset frames and stamps to add to photos, much like the actual Japanese photo card and neoprint machines!
• photo artist — image-editing application that allows the toggling of brightness, contrast, hue and various other colour settings of pictures.
• car racing/obstacle game — a game that makes use of the motion sensor. Tilt or turn the phone to steer the car or “hop” over obstacles!
• english-chinese translator — key in anything in English and it’ll be translated to Chinese. ’nuff said.
• health functions — bmi calculator and pink schedule (for the ladehz)
• pedometer — yet another motion sensor feature that detects the number of steps you walk/run
• it’s nice — a smiley face appears each time you execute a command. This phone is nice!
• cute GUI — I especially like the cute on-screen keypad and little icons.
• small form factor — for a pda phone that is jam-packed with so many features, it sure is small and lightweight.

Wow, that’s hawt! Certainly one of the most interesting gadgets I’ve seen in a long while! I just might get one too! Someone convince Kevin to sell his to me cheap please, before he leaves for buffalo!

kevin lim is a highly popular technology blogger, and one of the few people that frequently get invitations to all sorts of technology conferences or bloggers events. Be it paneling discussions or doing live webcasting of events with all his cool video gear, Kevin’s da man. I introduced him in my iX conference informal highlights too.

Visit him at theory.isthereason.

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View the original article and join the discussion at:
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