My Lifestyle, Gadgets, Fashion, Travel, Food

The Prius c has been a hit for Toyota, and the company can’t make enough of them. Toyota is shipping just 6,000 units of the compact hybrid to North America per month, which is not enough to satisfy demand, but that number is set to grow by mid 2012. The Prius c went on sale domestically in December last year, and hits US showrooms this month. Supply constraints and soaring domestic market demand is keeping supplies low for the rest of the world. In Japan, the small car known as Aqua has racked up a big backlog of 120,000 orders. The rising yen (against USD) is also affecting profit margins for US sales, so it makes sense for Toyota to focus on fulfilling local orders. The Prius c is exclusively made in Iwate, northern Japan, at a plant run by Toyota affiliate Kanto Auto Works Ltd. Kanto president Tetsuo Hattori revealed that the company is currently working on rolling out more units of the small Prius. Besides improving efficiency that will increase overall capacity, ...

It’s confirmed. Datsun is back. That’s right. The brand that Nissan discontinued in order to unify all of its products under one roof will be back on the road in the very near future. The news isn’t a surprising one. Nissan was earlier reported to be ready to revive the brand. Reports suggest that Datsun will be an affordable car brand, with vehicles bearing a small displacement engine and fitted with high local content. Carlos Ghosn was quoted as saying that the Datsuns would be green cars, no doubt supporting the Indonesian government’s plans to introduce a Green Car plan in the near future. So, in the grand scheme of things, Datsun will conveniently take its place under its parent, Nissan, and placed well away from the top-shelf Infiniti marque. The target market for each brand cannot be more obvious. The rejuvenated sub-brand has a whole new market to tackle, of course. Ghosn, while talking to the media, said that Datsun ‘will provide sustainable motoring...

Sony has revealed the new Xperia neo L, its first ever Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich handset. While some might be expecting something impressive like a dual-core processor, you might be in for a disappointment. The Xperia neo L looks like a entry level device running one a single core 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 processor, 512MB RAM with 1GB of storage that’s expandable via microSD. Over at the front, it comes with a 4.0″ TFT screen that pushes 854×480 pixels. There’s a a 5MP camera that shoots 720p HD videos and a front facing VGA camera. Design wise, it certainly looks like a Sony Xperia PLAY without the game pad slider. The full white paper can be download here. The Xperia neo L was launched in China along with the rest of the new Xperia devices such as the Xperia U, Xperia P and Xperia sola. Availability internationally and pricing is yet to be known. With the Xperia neo L running on the latest Android 4.0.3, we can expect the existing Xperia NXT Series line up being upgraded ...

One of the most popular Android smartphones in the world has just gotten more affordable. With a recent revision in RRP pricing, the Samsung Galaxy S II now retails for RM1,699 — RM400 less than when it was initially launched here in June last year at the price of RM2,099. As a result of the pricing revision, operators are dropping their subsidised pricing for the Samsung Galaxy S II as well. The Samsung Galaxy S II is now available with contract from DiGi for as low as RM1,699 on the DiGi Smart Plan 88. The Smart Plan 88 is a new addition to DiGi’s Smart Plan range where previously it was only offered selectively during promotion periods and specific product launches. If yellow is not your colour, Maxis has also revised the pricing for the for the Galaxy S II which is now available for as low as RM999 with 24 months contract with any postpaid plan on top of a required 3GB data bundle. Head on over to DiGi’s official website for more details on the latest DiGi plans for...

From now until 2nd April, HTC Malaysia is giving out a HTC One series phone on its Facebook page . All you need to do is like their Page and tell 10 friends why you would recommend a HTC One device. While they didn’t mention which “One”, the image suggests that they are giving out their flagship HTC One X with quad core processor. To get started on your chance of winning, head over to their Facebook page here . The HTC One Series will be launched in this region at the end of the month. Based on early pre-orders by some resellers, the HTC One X might be going for RM2,099 while the One V is going for around RM1,099 – RM1,199.

When more and more leaks and rumours start to come out of the woodwork it’s an almost sure sure sign that a launch, or at the very least an announcement, is eminent. This is the latest unverified leak of the Samsung Galaxy S III. The source claims that it is the first official picture of Sammy’s latest flagship Android. The source also has some details about the device, again, all of which are still very much unconfirmed. The Galaxy S III is said to feature a 12 megapixel camera with 1080p video and built-in software with special effects like slow-mo and time-lapse mode. In addition, the camera is said to be capable of shooting videos at 60fps (standard is 30fps). There’s also a 4.8-inch 720p Super Amoled HD display with a 1280×720 pixel resolution and a 305ppi pixel density promising a razor sharp viewing experience. Samsung’s 1.5Ghz quad-core Exynos processor is also expected to make its debut in the Galaxy S III. The processor is rumoured to be paired with 1GB of RAM. ...

A rough guestimate of the number of people within KLCC Concourse could easily reach 1,000, Malaysians and citizens of foreign lands. The queue starts at the heart and snakes outward to the fringes and around the 2012 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix Showcase. On the floors above, I can also see people leaning on the rails looking down curiously at the hustle and bustle below them. There is no doubt that KLCC has seen more people before but to have them gathered in one place could only mean one thing – something is going to happen. Then, as if on cue, the energy of the crowd heightens, the DJ announces the arrival of two very special guests – racing heroes to most of the people gathered here – Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg from the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team. Instinctively, cameras goes up, flash goes popping and the crowd surges forward even before the drivers could take their seats. Is this excitement or kiasu-ism at work? Maybe a bit of both. One...

The fight for the cheapest hybrid in Malaysia had began! At first it was Honda Insight, then came the Toyota Prius C, now it's the Jazz Hybrid selling at RM94.8k, almost RM2k cheaper than the Prius C. To put it all into a nutshell, the Honda Jazz Hybrid uses the same 1.3litre IMA hybrid powerplant found in the Insight. However, Jazz Hybrid gets a slightly better fuel consumption figure compared to Insight at 21.3km/l VS. 21.7km/l. The 1.3litre i-VTEC petrol engine churns out 87hp and 121Nm of torque while the electric motor produces 10kW and 78Nm of torque. Although the Jazz Hybrid gained a battery pack which is packed under the boot floor, Honda is happy to tell you that the boot space is not affected, but in return you get a tyre repair kit instead of a spare tyre. Potential buyers will be happy to see that Honda gave the Jazz Hybrid a lot of goodies such as 6 airbags, Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA), paddle shift, hill start assist, ECON driving mode and auto ...

One of the biggest gripes that people had with the iPad 2 was its poor excuse for a camera. At the front, the iPad 2 spotted a 0.3MP VGA camera and at the back you get an equally pathetic 0.7MP shooter that was capable of shooting grainy 720p videos. With the new iPad apple upgraded the camera. Now called the iSight camera, the new iPad has a rear shooter with 5MP and a backlit sensor. Complementing the sensor is the same 5 element lens array used in the iPhone 4S with a fairly large f/2.4 aperture and a built-in hynrid infrared filter. In addition, you also get a face detection system that can detect up to 10 faces simultaneously and of course 1080p video. So naturally you can expect the new iPad to be able to take much better pictures and videos than the iPad 2. But how good is the camera on the new iPad? Well head on over to after the jump to check out the official samples released by Apple. These are official samples so Apple would have chosen the absolutely best pi...

With a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels the Retina Display on the new iPad packs four times more pixels than the iPad 2. Not only that, with a total pixel count of 3.1 million pixels, the new iPad’s Retina Display has one million extra pixels than a 1080p HDTV (1920 x 1080). When viewed at a distance of 10-inches — Apple considers this as the normal viewing distance – the individual pixels are indistinguishable from one another and by that definition the display on the new iPad is able to carry the Retina Display moniker. We have a problem with Apple’s definition but we’ll save that argument for a later date. In this post we’ll just share with you a side-by-side comparison of the iPad 2’s standard 1024 x 768 pixels uploaded by AnandTech. Take a look at the icon comparison after the jump. Immediately you can see that the bump in pixels makes a world of a difference and that’s going to pull a lot of “oohs” and “aahs”. Still pictures can only show you so much, to really see...