GengHui's Personal Homepage

Something is brewing in the air by UE! Ladies and gentlemen, let me share with you an ongoing promotion by UE, it’s called Music in the Air! Between 15th January 2015 to 5th February 2015, you can stand a chance to win romantic Sky Dining prizes worth $400 when you purchase any Ultimate Ears speaker at EpiCentre!

Source: Logitech Facebook Page

Here’s what you have to do!

Purchase a UE BOOM or UE MINI BOOM bluetooth mobile speaker at any EpiCentre store in Singapore during the promotion period to qualify.

To participate in the lucky draw:

1. Fill in the entry form via this app
2. Keep your receipt as proof of purchase

Good luck and all the best folks!

This topic had been in my mind for the past few weeks, the year 2015 had just started not too long ago and at this stage, it is around the halfway mark of month of January 2015. In just a few weeks of 2015, I had first hand encounters of friends/colleagues who were not in the best of health conditions, some were major illness, some might be not so serious.

Having 2 major accidents in my current lifespan (and not planning to add more to this statistic), going through recovery and rehabilitation phase before. I can relate to the difficult journey if my friends had to go through it. I will not go into any details of some of the health issues that my friends were going through. If they are currently reading this post and they would probably knew that I had been chatting with them and wished the best for their recovery journey ahead.

You may be the richest/wealthiest person in the world with money and assets. The truth is no amount of money/wealth can buy your health back to its prime. We all want to have fun and enjoy, let us just be mindful and careful and to overdo things.

Stay Healthy and Be Healthy!

The iPhone 6 had been released for a few months and I finally managed to get hold of the new iPhone 6 64 GB Space Grey model not too long ago! I like the sleek design and size of the iPhone 6, however, it can be pretty slippery at times holding on the iPhone 6 and sometimes it slipped off my hands even though I am careful with it! Having a protective case for the iPhone 6 is definitely a good idea, let me share with you about the OtterBox ultra-protective cases for iPhone 6!

Before that, here’s a video to share with you about OtterBox -

OtterBox launched ultra-protective cases for iPhone 6, the latest cases to their collection! With different designs, colours and models, there is a OtterBox protective case for different levels of protection, fits for all occasions and lifestyles! Here are the OtterBox models for the iPhone 6

Commuter Series [RRP 49 SGD] is a sleek and sturdy two-piece case that protects from everyday bumps and drops.

Symmetry Series [RRP 49 SGD] is an ultra slim, stylish and pocket friendly case – with all of the protection you’d expect from OtterBox. Perfect for those who want protection, without compromising the sleek and slim look of their new iPhone. The best of both worlds!

Defender Series [RRP 69 RRP] is a triple-layer, ultra-rugged case built for the most adventurous types. With a built in screen protector, the case also has a protective membrane which covers the Touch ID, blocking debris, dust and grime – and a handy belt-clip holster hands-free and ‘not-to-miss moments’.

The cases come in a full spectrum of colours and will retail at the following prices:

iPhone 6 cases are now available at http://www.otterbox.asia/ or from selected local retailers.

The OtterBox case that I got as a gift was the Symmetry series, it is sleek, stylish and ultra slim, the best of both worlds without compromising safety and unique features of the iPhone 6. If you are looking for a protective phone cover for your iPhone 6, you can definitely consider OtterBox collection of ultra-protective cases for iPhone 6, there is a model suitable for everybody!

* Information, pictures and details courtesy of OtterBox and Ogilvy Public Relations *

The time of the year when everybody is busy adjusting back to working routine after a Christmas and New Year holiday break, while preparing for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations, is the period when I am another year older again. I am very grateful and blessed to receive birthday well wishes and greetings on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, FB Messenger, from my family, relatives and friends. While there wasn’t much of a celebration, I had a quiet day, resting and listening/discussing photography.

Looking ahead of this year 2015, it’s going to be an even more challenging year (in my personal humble opinion) than previous 1-2 years for the economy. Running and helping out in the family business is going to be challenging for year 2015 and I hope to rise up to the occasion!

Photography is still a personal thing for me, doing it on a semi-professional/freelance basis when the time and job fits. I am looking at my personal photography projects for 2015 and you can read more about it here on my photojournalist site!

Sometimes in life, the more we search and seek, the more it will not appear. When we search and seek less, it appears to you. How will year 2015 turns out?

Last but not least, I want to thank everybody for their birthday well wishes, really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart that family, relatives and friends remembered me adding another digit to my lifespan

WD, a Western Digital company and a world leader in connected storage solutions, recently launched the WD My Passport Wireless, an easy to use Wi-Fi enabled storage drive that allows consumers to save, access and share content wirelessly with any smartphone, tablet, computer or other device. The WD’s My Passport line of portable hard drives is well known and reputable globally and the WD My Passport Wireless is a great addition to the My Passport family line of products.

Let me share with you some key and important features of the WD My Passport Wireless from the media press release ~

The My Passport Wireless drive broadcasts its own wireless network that allows up to eight devices to connect at the same time and access any content stored on the drive. Available in 1TB or 2TB models, users now have the ability to store and access up to hundreds of hours of movies and music, as well photos and other digital files, from their smartphones and tablets that are typically limited by minimal storage capacity.

The portable wireless drive features Wireless N with MIMO technology for enhanced wireless performance so that users can access and transfer files quickly, as well as stream up to four HD videos simultaneously. The built-in rechargeable battery provides up to six hours of continuous streaming and up to 20 hours of standby power making the drive a perfect travel companion.

With the My Passport Wireless drive users have anywhere, anytime access to their favorite digital content by using WD’s award winning WD My Cloud® mobile app for iOS® or Android™ mobile devices. The WD My Cloud mobile app easily connects to a My Passport Wireless drive for simple product setup, and once setup the mobile app provides intuitive navigation, sharing and playback of the drive’s content. The WD My Cloud app also helps unify all of a users’ content under a single app and user interface, by allowing access to content on the My Passport Wireless drive, the WD My Cloud family of personal cloud storage, and on major public cloud services such as Dropbox™, OneDrive™ and Google Drive™ from just one app.

In additional to mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, the portable wireless storage drive is an ideal companion for cameras with its integrated SD card slot. Whether shooting large commercial photography and video production or just taking photos and videos of the family while on vacation, the My Passport Wireless drive will never let you miss a moment because your memory cards are full. The built-in SD card slot lets users copy their content from the SD card to the My Passport Wireless drive to make room for more memorable moments. Additionally, with integrated FTP, the drive connects to compatible wireless cameras so that users can automatically transfer photos from their cameras to the drive as they are taking them.

Price and Availability

The My Passport Wireless drive is currently available at select Singapore retailers and online at the wdstore.com. MSRP is $299 SGD for 1 TB and $399 for 2 TB. The WD My Cloud mobile app currently is available for download for free from the App Store™ and Google Play™.

Review

I was loaned the WD My Passport Wireless 2TB for a review and I brought it overseas for my Hokkaido Photographers Invitation Program 2014. The WD My Passport Wireless 2TB was used with my iPad 3^rd Generation that I brought to Hokkaido.

The SD card slot was very useful and handy for photographers/travellers to slot in and transfer the photos from the SD card to WD My Passport Wireless. You have the option to continue keeping the photos inside the SD card and not to erase them. In this way, you can ensure that you have dual back up, one is on the SD card and the other back up is inside the WD My Passport Wireless portable storage solution.

Photographers and travellers, in my personal opinion, would like the WD My Passport Wireless a lot. It’s easy to back up the photos from the SD card into the portable drive and it is also a portable storage that can store your other data/information etc. The WD My Cloud mobile app allows you to check that all your photos from the SD card are downloaded into the WD My Passport Wireless.

The main drawback in my opinion for the WD My Passport Wireless 2TB is the size (thickness). While it is not bulky or heavy, the thickness of the WD My Passport Wireless 2TB is not that ideal. The WD My Passport Wireless 1TB might be a better choice in terms of design and portability.

If you are not too concerned with the thickness of the WD My Passport Wireless or you can manage your portable storage with the 1TB size portable drive, the WD My Passport Wireless 2TB is definitely a worthy consideration for photographers/travellers and business owners too.

* I would like to thank WD Singapore and Ogilvy Public Relations for the loan of the WD My Passport Wireless for the review and providing the information/details of the WD My Passport Wireless. Pictures courtesy of WD website. *

GlobalWebIndex (GWI), a market research company specialising in online consumer behaviour, was in Singapore, in November 2014 to give a presentation on mobile networking trends and the boom with the younger generation. I was there during their lunch presentation and went away with interesting insights and information on the mobile networking trends.

When we talked about mobile networking, it has grown and evolved along with the boom of social networking worldwide. Mobile networking is booming!

“Mobile networking is booming – 40% of global internet users are now doing this, rising to 46% in APAC. Worldwide, the size of the messaging audience has grown by 40% in the last two years” – GlobalWebIndex

My interest in mobile networking comes from a few areas, my interest in social media networking, the usage of mobile networking apps and how mobile networking would impact future consumer/business activities. There were a number of mobile networking apps available and each of them were used differently for work and leisure. I used WhatsApp for mobile networking in Singapore, WeChat for mobile networking with friends/colleagues in Singapore, China and Taiwan due to the nature of my business and work.

Mobile messaging is rising and expanding very quickly, it’s free, easy to use and connect with people in your country and worldwide. One of the mobile messaging apps that had witnessed a remarkable growth is WeChat. They experienced significant growth with an active user base increase of 156% globally, and a staggering 499% in Singapore between Q1 2014 to Q3 to 2014. WeChat’s dominant position in the mobile messaging arena is a strong presence of 23% of the world’s internet users and 39% within the APAC region, actively using the WeChat app.

It was very interesting to view the profiles and trends of WeChat users in Singapore. With the growth of mobile networking in Singapore and the influence among the younger generation in Singapore, it will be interesting to see how business and brands tap on them together with the usage of social networking platforms.

* Information, figures and details courtesy of GlobalWebIndex and Ogilvy Public Relations Singapore *

First and foremost, Happy New Year 2015!

As the new year 2015 begins today, we also recap and reflect on our past year 2014. The year 2014 for me was an interesting and eventful year for me and I won’t be breaking it down into what happened each month in the year 2014, whether things/events that happened in my life, my photojournalism and photography/travel explorations, or even my social media adventures.

For a recap, you can follow the links below to go back in time to the year 2014 and read some of my happenings/adventures!

- Photojournalism adventures/stories

- Photography portfolio ~ 500px and Photography Collections ~ Flickr

- Facebook Page

- Where I write my most inner most thoughts and also tech news

Reflecting back on my year 2014, some key highlights will be a change of career, going into my family business, working there and   taking a number of portfolios along with leadership/management roles. While it is a totally different industry, work and society experiences accumulated over the years of working does help e.g. marketing, sales, branding, awareness social media, networking etc etc. Looking ahead for the year 2015, A New Hope, A New Year, time to bring the business to greater heights!

A quick summary on my photography adventures in 2014, just by looking through my Flickr 2014 collections, the year 2014 had been very good to me in what I went out to photograph. My photography goals/plans/projects for the year 2014 was kind of off track and I only managed to complete my advanced lighting strobist photography projects, 1 goal completed out of 4 photography goals for 2014. However, I had a very interesting and fruitful photography year 2014 with me reaching the peak in November 2014 for the Hokkaido Photographers Invitation Program. It was my biggest photography/travel portfolio till date and I was very happy and proud to be part of it!

Count My Blessings

This is also a (and constant) reminder to myself not to take things for granted and be thankful for the blessings showered upon me in many different ways, from the help/gratitude of friends and organisations that believe and trust in me, allowing me to do, learn and enjoy things in life and career.

I would like to say a big Thank You from the bottom of my heart to all those people/organisations that helped me out and blessed me in one way or another in the Year 2014!

Before the year 2014 ended, there was an incident whereby I was driving and my back right tyre punctured while driving on the expressway. For everything in life, there is always a first time and it was frightening to have that tyre puncture while driving on the expressway. The situation could have gotten worse if it was the front tyre and I really count my blessings. My old primary school classmate Michael said to me when I met him in the night of my tyre puncture incident for a coffee session that it could have been a different outcome and I won’t be having coffee session with him.

Having a few number of serious accidents in my lifespan till date today, I was very lucky to get away with the tyre puncture incident while driving on the expressway. I am blessed and grateful to avoid any more accidents.

Fate

Fate, so mysterious, so magical. It brings people into your life from all over the world. Meeting you was Fate.

I am not sure how many people really follow me here on my personal site, nevertheless, I would like to, thank everybody reading my stories, wishing you all a Happy New Year 2015! Good luck and all the best for 2015! May the Force Be With You!

Logitech recently launched a new product to their line up with the first illuminated living room keyboard, the K830 to brighten your connected-TV experience! This was my Christmas gift too and I would like to share more about the illuminated living room keyboard K830 with everybody! Let me share with you the information and product details from the press release information  that I received -

The Logitech Illuminated Living-Room Keyboard K830 is a rechargeable keyboard that features backlit keys, an integrated touchpad, and advanced wireless connectivity, so you can type and click from your couch or bed – even in the dark.  The Logitech Illuminated Living-Room Keyboard K830 automatically dims or brightens its backlit keys based on the amount of light in the room, so you can type effortlessly in any lighting condition. Type and the keys illuminate. Stop typing and the backlight turns off after five seconds to help save power.

Designed for the modern living space, this keyboard is compact and lightweight, with soft-feel keys that are optimized for media and entertainment control. With the Logitech Illuminated Living-Room Keyboard K830, you can relax, lean back and browse with a fast, reliable connection to your PC from up to 33 feet away, thanks to the tiny Unifying receiver that delivers advanced 2.4GHz long-range wireless connectivity. The keyboard is also rechargeable, so you never need to worry about changing batteries.

To avoid the awkward clutter of using a traditional keyboard plus a separate mouse in the living room – not to mention the constant chore of keeping track of both in your couch cushions – the home theater PC keyboard combines these two capabilities into one device. The touchpad is smooth and responsive with accurate cursor control, the rounded sides of the keyboard make it easy to hold and the slim design allows it to be stored vertically to save space.

 Key Features 

• Backlit keys: Keys automatically dim or brighten based on the amount of light in the room, so you can type easily in any lighting. If no typing is detected after five seconds, the backlight turns off to help you save power.
• Keyboard and mouse all in one: By combining a traditional keyboard and a touchpad into one device, you get streamlined navigation for your connected TV. The touchpad is smooth and responsive with accurate cursor control and enhanced gesture functions for easy navigation.
• Navigate from a distance: Lean back and browse with a fast, reliable wireless connection from up to 33 feet (10 m)* away. The tiny plug-and-play Unifying receiver allows you to start typing immediately, without installing software or pairing the devices.
• Rechargeable:The micro-USB cable makes recharging easy. You can even use your keyboard while it is recharging. A full charge gives you up to 10 days of power.** The On/Off switch and battery indicator light also help you manage the power.
• Living room design: The keyboard is designed to complement the modern living room with a combination of premium textures, metal-like finish and a specific key design crafted into a compact, solid form.

System Requirements 

• Windows® 7, Windows 8 or later

Product Specifications 

• Design:

- Backlit keys

- Advanced 2.4 GHz wireless with a range of 33 feet (or 10 m)*

- Optimized key layout

Touchpad: – Sizable touch area 80 mm x 52 mm (or 3.1 inches x 2.0 inches) – Superior glide surface – Separate left- and right-click buttons – 2-finger gesture support (enabled with Logitech software)

- Extra left-click button

• Keys: – Key life: up to five million keystrokes – Key shape: low profile

- Typing noise: within 55 dBA for all keys

• Dimensions: – Length: 367 mm (or 14.4 inches) – Width: 125.3 mm (or 4.9 inches) – Height: 16.5 mm (or 0.65 inches) – Weight: 495g (or 17.5 oz)

Warranty 

• 1-year limited hardware warranty

Pricing and Availability 

The Logitech Illuminated Living-Room Keyboard K830 is expected to be available in Singapore in end November, for a suggested retail price of SGD$139. For more information, please visit www.logitech.com or our blog.

* Information and Photos Courtesy of Logitech Singapore *

For Christmas 2014, it was a rather special Christmas for me. I seldom receive nor do I really give Christmas gifts, I am probably a Scrooge for those who knew me long enough and to those whom I regularly chat with.

This Christmas 2014, I was showered and blessed with more gifts than I usually get! The biggest Christmas gift will be my Hokkaido Photographers Invitation Program 2014! It was a dream come true as well! Making new friends with strong interest in photography and travel during the Hokkaido trip was a great blessing! I would like to thank all the organisations/friends that made this Christmas gift coming true for me!

There is a Logitech Christmas gift, the Logitech Keyboard K830 Living Room Keyboard, do keep a lookout for my sharing! Another wonderful gift is a new set of glasses fitted with Transitions Signature Lenses, absolutely loving it, keep a lookout for my upcoming article to share about my Transitions Signature Lenses! For my LG G3 smartphone, I got a OtterBox phone cover!

There were Christmas goodies too! Canon Singapore sent me delicious mystical cookies baked by APSN and SingTel sent me chocolates! I would like to say a big thank you to both Canon and SingTel corporate communications departments!

Christmas 2014 has been really good to me, I am indeed very blessed and happy with all the different gifts as I start to reflect back on my year 2014, it has been a bit of uphill and downhill journey, along with a major change in career/industry change. Looking ahead to the new year 2015, it’s going to be a very challenging year for the economy (in my personal humble opinion).

It’s consolidation, reorganization and re-strategizing the business. It’s also about building more partnerships with vendors/partners and helping fellow entrepreneurs.

Together, let’s make 2015 a good year for everyone of us! Wishing everybody Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thank you all for the support and Christmas well wishes/gifts!

1,000th post and not out! Sounds like a cricket match runs score achievement! While it is not a cricket match runs score, this was a very special milestone for me, my photography, photojournalism, documentation and writing journey that started in April 2006. Over the years, I grew and matured along with my photojournalist site, sharing my passion, interests, photography, travel and writing together. The journey was never smooth sailing, there were many ups and downs, there were times, I was lost, searching for my photography directions and growth.

I continued photographing, documenting, writing and sharing my photojournalism adventure stories, the statistics of the number of posts was never in my mind until I saw the number nearing to 1,000th and it perfectly coincides with the Hokkaido Photographers Invitation Program 2014 travel posts that I was scheduling to write and share!

My 1,000th milestone post was dedicated to the introduction of the Hokkaido Photographers Invitation Program 2014 – familiarisation trip and overview. This was one of biggest photography and travel portfolio till date and I was very proud and happy to be part of the Hokkaido Photographers Invitation Program 2014! At my photojournalist site, I was able to play the roles of a photographer, writer, traveller and poet, all in one, writing and sharing my thoughts, feelings and emotions. I was never a formally trained poet, writer, traveller and photographer and I must thank everyone of you here who supported and followed me throughout my journey!

My Hokkaido trip One Tree Hill post (also inspired by One Tree Hill by U2) could probably be one of my best (emotional/pull heart strings post) till date that has the elements of photography, writing, travel and poet coming all together.

There is still so much to learn, so much to photograph, document, write and share. As I continued and took the next step to start on new, different and special photojournalism adventures, the journey ahead looks wide, bright, colourful and going beyond the horizon. Where does this bring me to?

I do not have a magical crystal ball to see what the future lies for me. I dream, I plan and I prepare for my photography journeys ahead, it can be travel photography, it can be documentary (heritage related), it can be something else. Come walk with me, via my photography eyes, with my heart and soul, as I bring you more photography exploration and adventures here on my Photojournalist site!

Reaching my 1,000th post was a big achievement for me, it can only get bigger and further. This will not be possible without the support of my family, relatives, friends, supporters and followers. Thank you so much for walking this journey with me!