iPod Nano Product Red Launched in Aussie

Finally, Australia gets the red Nano. It was launched in the US last year and several countries followed. New Zealand even had it before Australia.

Well, better late than never. Buy a Red Nano if you want to help support fight against AIDS campaign (Bono and friends). More info here.

New Price for iPods

Today in the paper I noticed three commercials about iPods, all of them about price reduction. It was a bit weird cause there were no rumours going on that mention Apple might reduce iPod's prices. But then I checked the Apple Australia website and confirmed that there has been a pricing drop for all iPods.

I am guessing that the drop is to reflect the currency differences (Australian Dollar is really pretty strong right now), only iPods are reduced though. No other system seems to be affected. Strangely, Apple is not really promoting this new price on their online store.

Anyway, here is the summary of the new price:

• iPod Shuffle - $109 (old: $119)
• iPod Nano 2GB - $199 (old: $219)
• iPod Nano 4GB - $279 (old: $299) UPDATE (TYPO)
• iPod Nano 8GB - $349 (old: $379)
• iPod Video 30GB - $349 (old: $379)
• iPod Video 80GB - $479 (old: $499)

As you can see, the prices drop $10 for Shuffle, $20 for Nano 2GB and 4GB, $30 for Nano 8Gb and Video.

For more information or to buy, check out Apple Online Store.

PS: You might want to check Kmart, Target and Myer first before going straight to the online store (the 3 commercial on the paper) cause I saw the Shuffle advertised for $98 in Kmart (more savings).

Macbook Update

Today, Apple released an update to the Macbook line. The update include faster processor, bigger memory and hard drive.

• White, 2.0GHz, 13.3", 80GB, 1GB RAM - $1599
• White, 2.16GHz, 13.3", 120GB, 1GB RAM - $1899
• Black, 2.16GHz, 13.3", 160GB, 1GB RAM - $2199

It's not an exciting update but if you were thinking of getting a budget (or not) Mac laptop for some time then this update is for you. Even the lowest specification is pretty decent (if you don't mind not being able to write DVDs).

For more info or to buy go to Apple Online Store (Australia).

Live Earth

What is a fun way to help combat global warming ? By having a PARTY of course, one that involves the whole world. Yes, it's Live Earth concert, to be held at several different cities around the world (7 cities around 7 continents if I'm not mistaken), including Australia.

In Australia, the concert/party/event will be held in Sydney and the tickets for it goes on sale this Friday, 18th of May. The event itself will be on the 7th day of the 7th month 2007 (a.k.a. 7/07/2007). Tickets for the Australian event are available from Ticketek.

For other countries, have a look at their website, http://liveearth.org/ or at http://www.liveearth.msn.com/.

Personally, I don't see how holding a party will make you more aware of ways to combat global warming but hey, everything counts.

Harry Potter in 3D

For the next Harry Potter movie, instead of watching it at your normal cinemas, you might want to check it out at IMAX. For your information, IMAX uses a totally different movie format than the one used in normal cinemas. It has bigger screen (massive I'd say) resulting in bigger picture. I cannot stressed how big the picture in IMAX is. IMAX is also known for its IMAX 3D movies.

Anyway, IMAX will be screening the new Harry Potter movie (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) from 12th of July 2007. And the interesting part is that the last 20 minutes of the movie is going to be in 3D. Check out the info page at IMAX Melbourne here. It will be very interesting to see the adventure of Harry Potter in IMAX and 3D.
However, the IMAX experience will come at a price. The ticket is $20, double the price of an ordinary cinema.

Currently, 300 and Spiderman 3 is also playing at IMAX.

Movies....Movies....and Movies

This upcoming months, there an amazing line up of new movies hitting the big screen and most of them are sequels. Yes it is indeed the year of the sequels.

Here are some of the sequels and the release date in Australia:

• Spiderman 3 - Out Now
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - 24/5/2007

• Shrek the Third - 7/6/2007
• Ocean's 13 - 14/6/2007
• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer - 21/6/2007
• Transformers - 28/6/2007 *

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - 12/7/2007
• The Simpsons Movie - 26/7/2007 *

• Die Hard 4.0: Live Free or Die Hard - 2/8/2007

* not a sequel

Obviously, this is not all the movies that will come out, there are others as well. This is just some that catches my attention.

For the latest trailers, check out Apple's trailer collection here.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is this Sunday, 13th of May (in Australia) so don't forget your mom. Get her some gifts, pamper her for a day, take her to a movie and let her enjoy the day.

Do Not Call Register

Are you annoyed by telemarketers ? Great news (if you're in Australia), now you can list your phone numbers with the Do Not Call register, an initiative by the Australian government. Once in the list, your phone numbers cannot be contacted by telemarketers. If they do, the telemarketers will face a hefty fine. You can put in your home phone and mobile. If you want to put your number, just register at the website https://www.donotcall.gov.au/.

This service was launched yesterday and the website crashed. Apparently, around 50,000 Aussies registered and the website could not cope. I think the problem has been rectified.

The service will not eliminate all calls, there are some exemptions like calls from political party, religious groups, and so on. However, the worst of them all can also still call you, the market researcher.

I think the problem with telemarketers is they are really pushy. I mean it is their job but if somebody doesn't want the product or service then that should be it. I don't hate all telemarketers and sometimes I think they have genuine deal. I got my pay TV service through direct marketing and I was allowed 12 month contract instead of the normal 24 months.

I hate telemarketers that are pushy and hard to understand. I'm not trying to be racist but how can you expect me to buy the product or service if I can't understand anything that the person is saying. And if I said that I don't want to change my phone 100 times, then stop asking me to change it.

Market researchers are actually alright until you actually realise that the survey is going to take half an hour. It should just be short survey and the answer should be simple as well or do an online one, always better.

It is amazing to see that every people has their own tactics to combat telemarketers, from diverting the call to an answering machine to reading gospel to the telemarketers.

Well, we can just hope that with the register, our phone will be quieter.

Paris, Je T'aime

I am sure everybody knows about Paris, Jet T'aime. It is a collection of short love stories that is packed into a single movie. It's about Paris and it's about love. There are 18 short stories to be exact. It starred some of well-known stars (French and international), like Gérard Depardieu, Elijah Wood, Natalie Portman, Willem Dafoe, Wes Craven, Steve Buscemi and so on.

I recently watched the movie. Here is my honest opinion, I came out not understanding a single story at all. In other words, I didn't really like it. I wanted to like it cause of all the hype surrounding the movie but I can't. I laughed when the rest of the cinema was quiet and when they laugh, I don't know what they were laughing about. It's bizarre.

I understand that the movie is about love, in Paris (the city of love) especially. I just don't understand the message it's trying to convey. Maybe I'm a bit dumb or I don't understand short stories cause my missus was really happy with the movie. She thought it was excellent and beautiful. I couldn't really agree with her.

If you ask me for my favourite story, I would say the last one. It's a story about an American tourist in Paris. I think she was learning French and she was traveling in Paris to practice her French. The story was narrated by herself in French, like a report back to her language class. It's really touching, both sad and heart-warming. My missus said that it sums up the movie really well.

An interesting story is one about an American tourist that got beaten up in a subway. He accidentally 'made eye-contact' with a kissing couple across the platform.

Overall, I'd say don't watch the movie if you just want to see Natalie Portman (or any other stars in it). The film is deep and requires a lot of concentration, with mix of feelings. Because each story has a different director, it offers different takes on the storyline. Watch this if you are into the beautiful scenery of Paris, its culture and the love that surrounds Paris.

Well, I think I will re-watch it again when the DVD comes out. Maybe it's as good as everybody says, maybe something got lost in translation.

Tiger in Melbourne

Only yesterday I mentioned that Tiger Airways is coming to Melbourne and was still deciding its base. Well today, it has been decided. It will be in Melbourne. This decision is expected to open more jobs for Victorians and bring a bigger price wars between the budget airlines.

Tiger Airways is 49 percent owned by Singapore Airlines. It is believed that the airline will start operating within months however no exact date is confirmed.

Jetstar Sale

Yesterday, I told you that there was an exclusive 3 hours sale for Jetstar email subscriber. Well now they have another sale to celebrate their 3rd birthday. It's "Take a Friend for $3 Sale". Basically on selected routes, you can take another person with you for an extra $3.

The sale is not only for domestic but also for international routes. For example:

• Melbourne - Christchurch : $111 per person one way
• Melbourne - Bangkok : $221 per person one way
• Sydney- Osaka : $251 per person one way
  

Sale ends 7th of May so be quick to grab the bargain. It's not valid for all dates, check the website for offer validity. The normal terms and conditions apply (such as credit card surcharge, etc), again check on the website. For more info go to their website, http://www.jetstar.com/sale-fares.html.

May oh May

Wow, it's already May, nearly halfway through the year. I think they'll be selling Christmas trees pretty soon. I don't think I've done anything much this year. But anyway let's check what's making headlines.

NO Interest Rate Rise
This morning, the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to put the interest rate on hold. This is good news for all home buyers/owners that has a mortage. Although it is 'safe' for another month, we will never know what is coming ahead.

A New Attraction
Melbourne will soon have a new attraction for tourists. It is a glass box. Now you may ask how can a glass box be a tourists attraction. Well, it can if it is sticking out from the 88th floor of the new Eureka apartment (Eureka is currently the tallest building in Melbourne). But this is not for the faint-hearted, don't believe me ? Just have a look at these pictures (picture: Herald Sun),

So far from the pictures we know that it can suspend 1 person safely. If I was inside, I would make sure that I'm the only one inside.

Budget Airline Ticket-fight
Yesterday night, between 8pm -11pm, Jetstar made a huge sale. $3 to fly on selected routes. Yup, only $3 and nothing more. It was only offered to Jetstar email subscriber, Jetmail (I read the email an hour late so all I could do was cry). Anyway, some sources said that this (very low ticket prices) might be more common when the new budget airline, Tiger Airways, enter the Australian market. Tiger is currently flying in South East Asia and based in Singapore. There is still no details when Tiger will start operating in Australia or which route it will cover. So I say, bring on the competition.