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For reasons of privacy, we have blurred the faces and license plates in this photo. Google will be doing the same.

(Credit: Crave Asia)

Take note, you heard it first from CNET Asia--Google's Street View is coming to Singapore. An eagle-eyed CNET Asia reader named Andrew sent us a picture of this silver Opel Astra complete with cameras doubling its height and the Google logo pasted on the side door. This was spotted at the junction between Dorset Road and Kampong Java Road.

We contacted Google, and the search giant confirmed that the service will be coming to Google Maps Singapore in the coming months. Street View launched in Japan earlier this year.

For those unfamiliar with Street View, this feature of Google Maps gives the user a photographic view of the location being searched. It has attracted controversy, with some residents of Street View-enabled cities complaining of loss of privacy. In some cases, men have been caught entering places like adult book stores, while others have been captured while inside their own private property. To address these concerns, Google will be blurring faces and license plate numbers before uploading the images.

Tools for users and authorities to report on images they are uncomfortable about will also be put in place, similar to what the company has done in the U.S., Australia, Japan, and France.

In any case, watch what you do or where you go, Singapore--Google is watching.

(Via Crave Asia)

He that standeth tallest and shouts loudest wins the game.

(Credit: Crave Asia)

There's a certain pain to covering the massive Comex IT bazaar that takes place every August in Singapore. However, getting one's toes stubbed by some clod in the packed halls of Suntec City is a small price to pay when coming across bizarre offerings like an updated version of the Muse2 MP5 player.

There's no Web site for this Muse2, so we got this image from the brochure.

(Credit: Crave Asia)

Why MP5? Literally, it's an MP3/4 multimedia player that offers 5-in-1, according to the very helpful sales assistant (who probably should learn to count, since the brochure listed 8): a 3-megapixel digital camera, video camera, FM radio, video player, music player, voice recording, direct-TV recording, and games (with what was more than 1,000 games bundled into the device).

Small matter. What really mattered was the carnival atmosphere caused by the man on the tall ladder outshouting his competitors through a loud megaphone, touting a hard-to-beat deal over the next four days at Comex.

For the grand price of S$199 ($140), you also get a free 4GB SD card, plus a mini portable fridge upon purchase of the fairly plasticky MP5 player (with an in-built battery, up to eight hours of video playback time, ability to take on a multitude of video formats, a largish screen, mini-USB port for file transfer and onboard speakers).

Can it get any better at the fair? You bet, since this is one time tech geeks get to bargain like fishwives.

(Via Crave Asia)

Every day it seems we get little closer to being fully wired--or unwired, as the case may be--in midair. And we think it's about time.

No longer flying solo

(Credit: Apple)

A day after iPass said it would provide in-flight Wi-Fi roaming, Singapore Airlines announced that it is now offering connectivity for iPods and iPhones on its "KrisWorld" in-flight entertainment system on its Airbus A340-500 planes, according to iLounge. That means you can plug the devices into the system with a standard 30-pin connector and then watch your own video on a personal 15.4-inch widescreen LCD (there's one at each seat in the section) or listen to your playlist on its noise-cancellation headphones, which will break in to tell you when you have to shut it off, presumably.

Other airlines have offered this kind of system, such as United, but they're still relatively rare. Plus there's always a catch, and in this case it's called business class. But it's a start. Just don't expect your precious gadgets to get a similarly warm welcome on ATA Airlines anytime soon.

(Credit: Crave Asia)

Singapore isn't just known for its chili crabs and cheap electronics--and it will soon be known for making notebooks too. Homegrown company Axioo has provided a sneak peek to journalists of a lineup of laptops and the 12.1-inch notebook pictured here. While not much was disclosed in the way of specs, a company representative did reveal that the machine would be categorized under its TFJ series. Unlike the colorful Axioo Zetta TEN and TEC laptops, the TFJ machine will be offered only in white.

Based on the prototype unit displayed, the notebook appears to be powered by a Core 2 Duo processor and comes with a built-in 2-megapixel Webcam, keyboard with blue backlight, and a fingerprint sensor. We expect more details from Axioo closer to its March launch.

(Source: Crave Asia)

(Credit: Crave Asia)

You may be able to get free Wi-Fi almost anywhere in Singapore with the Wireless@SG initiative that aims to wire the whole island state, but that's still insufficient for the true Internet junkie. While commuting each day, a Net addict has to go cold turkey as his notebook becomes nothing more than a slab of plastic and silicon without wireless access. Well, a fix has been found.

Nokia has brought Wi-Fi onto 12 buses in Singapore so that commuters can surf for free when riding them, using the existing cellular HSDPA service. The best thing is that users don't need a HSDPA-enabled phone or modem as the equipment dishes out the access using regular Wi-Fi within the bus.

Unlike Wireless@SG, you don't have to sign up for an account to use Nokia's Wi-Fi Zone service. The unsecured network just requires you to agree to some terms of service and, after that, you're good to go. Nokia says this is a trial for now and will review the service in a few months. It's a first from the company, so you won't find it outside of Singapore just yet.

There are only 12 buses plying 12 routes at this point, so chances of hopping on one even if you use the particular bus service is not guaranteed. If you are truly and hopelessly hooked to the Internet, we suggest getting your own HSDPA modem and an unlimited plan--that will work on any bus.

(Source: Crave Asia)

Since I'm kind of an airplane nut--of the amateur variety--this is somewhat of a Homer Simpson moment.

Mmmmmm...A380.

Singapore Airlines flew the first commercial flight of the Airbus A380 Thursday. And it was apparently a big party in the sky.

(Credit: Pascal Parrot/Getty Images)

Singapore Airlines flight SQ380, from Singapore to Sydney, took to the air Thursday and in the process made aviation history as the first commercial flight of the long-awaited mammoth flying machine, the Airbus A380.

I've never seen one of these planes up close. But I'm longing to. It recently made its first (test) flight into San Francisco and I was out of town. And sadly, neither Airbus nor Singapore Airlines invited me to take this first flight today.

But for those who did take it, it sounds like it was quite the celebration.

"The flight was spectacular, just truly awesome," Thomas Lee, reached by cell phone as the plane pulled into the gate at Sydney Airport, told the International Herald Tribune. "I'm thrilled beyond words, actually. Just extremely excited. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd put it at 12."

Lee actually has a claim to aviation history that I am rather in awe of. He was on the first commercial flight of the 747, in 1970, the Herald Tribune reported, and now was on the first A380 passenger flight as well. (For a look at the plane, including its luxury suites, see "Photos: Airbus delivers the A380, finally.")

That's pretty cool.

The A380, if you've not been following plane porn like I have, offers 50 percent more floor space than a 747, and can carry as many as 853 people. Of course, that would be in an all-steerage configuration. A more likely scenario would be somewhere in the 500-plus range.

The Airbus Web site hasn't been updated to reflect the news that Singapore Airlines made the first passenger flight of the A380.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

Still, that's a lot of airplane. And it just looks huge, too, what with an entire second level and the appearance of a flying monstrosity.

And while the Singapore flight had paying customers, it still wasn't a regularly scheduled flight. That won't happen until later this week. This flight consisted mainly of people who bought their tickets on eBay, with proceeds going to charity.

Of course, all this could be a lie. That's because, according to Airbus' own Web site, it hasn't delivered any of the planes, and none are in operation. Whoops.

Okay, I kid Airbus, but only because I'm really a huge 747 fan.

(Credit: Crave Asia)

As part of a public experiment, some commuters in Singapore need only tap their mobile phones for bus and train fares.

They're part of the Near-Field Communication (NFC) phone trial jointly organized by Singapore service provider StarHub and partner EZ-Link. According to the press release, the trial is the first public NFC trial in the Republic and possibly one of the largest of its kind in the world.

Since the middle of last week, 1,000 selected trialists have been given a handset from Singapore phone manufacturer iWOW and a Sony PaSoRi card reader (EZ-Link card reader) which they can use for the next six months for free.

The iWOW SZ1.0 phone contains two chips. The EZ-Link chip, which can be used for payment of rides on public buses and trains or to make purchases at selected retail outlets such as McDonald's and 7-Eleven, works like a regular EZ-Link card. One added advantage of using an NFC handset is that their value can be checked instantly using the phone's LCD.

The second chip, which is an NFC-enabled processor, lets you download promotional materials or useful information such as bus route details via GPRS from smart tags embedded in selected posters. StarHub is working with several partners for this service, among them the Land transport Authority, Citibank, Golden Village and Sony retail outlets.

(Source: Crave Asia)

(Credit: Crave Asia)

If you visit the National Museum of Singapore, you can get your very own Chinese Companion. Sorry, this one won't make moo eyes at you--instead, it speaks in an electronic voice and is programmed to give visitors access to videos and reading materials on the relevant artifacts and topics in the museum. The National Museum of Singapore claims it is the first and only museum in Southeast Asia, for now, to incorporate an interactive handheld companion to complement its exhibits.

The handheld personal guide, which was developed by Canadian firm GSM, is part of the Companion project which involved around two years of conceptualization and research and up to 6 translators and 35 voice actors. The museum says the device contains more than 9 hours of audio and video footage and covers a period ranging from the 14th century to 1972. Operating is as simple as keying in the numbers found at the various sections in the History Gallery. An English Companion has already been introduced earlier, with plans for Malay and Japanese Companions later in the year.

The device has 32MB of onboard flash memory and 64MB of RAM, running on Windows CE 5.0. Onboard storage can be extended to 4GB via the CompactFlash card slot for a maximum of 250 hours of audio content. The screen is a 4.3-inch, 16bit-color TFT with a resolution of 480 x 272 pixels. In addition to infrared, the handheld also features RF technology that automatically triggers the relevant content via proximity.

(Source: Crave Asia)

WASHINGTON--Singapore may not occupy much more than a tiny dot on the world map, but it's counting on drones and other remote-controlled vehicles to make its military mighty.

As one of the world's busiest sea ports, the Asian city-state's "survival and prosperity depends on national security," Tan Peng Yam, deputy chief executive of the country's Defense Science &Technology Agency, told attendees at the first day of the annual North America symposium put on here by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.

Singapore recently added this Israeli-made UAV to its Air Force fleet.

(Credit: Government of Singapore)

Because a third of the world's trade--including 90 percent of China's trade and 80 percent of Japan's trade--flows through the bordering Straits of Malacca, the country of about 4.5 million people could find itself a "lucrative terrorist target," Yam said.

That's where the robotic vehicles come in. Since the late 1970s, shortly after the British withdrew from the colonial outpost, Singapore's military has been testing out unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in an attempt to make up for its limited human resources. They've now become "indispensable" for tackling the dreaded four d's of military missions--"the dull, dirty, dangerous and demanding" ones, that is, Yam said.

Earlier this year, the Singapore government unveiled plans to revamp its Air Force organization into five commands--including a new one devoted solely to building up UAV "expertise and capabilities." In late May, the Air Force added to its lineup Israeli-made Hermes 450 UAVs, which are designed for surveillance and have also been used by the British government and by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The country is also trying to get "people who never worked in defense before" interested in the robots, Yam said. The government announced a contest in January to build the best "urban warrior" robot, backed by a $1 million cash prize. The idea is for teams to devise an unmanned ground vehicle that's the swiftest at completing a sequence of tasks--climbing stairs, navigating pavement, moving along corridors, entering rooms and even operating elevators.

A country whose area is less than a quarter of Rhode Island's does encounter some unique challenges in its UAV rollout, though. "If a UAV goes out of control," Yam said, "it will go into our neighboring countries." (To help get around the skimpy-airspace problem, the government has taken to using a simulator.)