Monica Gray, winning more!

Viator winner, Monica Gray

Monica Gray was the lucky Viator winner visiting Singapore. She participated and won the online lucky draw for a free ticket to the Night Safari as well as our iPad rental product.

Well, perhaps she is going to win even more – having her husband and herself featured on The Straits Times! We felt very grateful to them for willing to pose for pictures, and answering some simple interview questions. They visited Singapore some 14 years back and were saying how much Singapore has progressed!

Warren and Monica, have a great vacation in Singapore with our “Tour Guide”!

Health Promotion Board Event at Gardens by the Bay

The National Healthy Lifestyle Campaign 2012 was held on 27 Oct 2012 at the Gardens by the Bay. It was organized by the Health Promotion Board and was a huge success judging by the turnout - goodie bags were all snapped up 1.5 hours after distribution started! This year, the Guest of Honour was the Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Lee Hsien Loong. It was pretty interesting to see him join in the Great Singapore Workout with the masses! To keep up with the increasing influence of social media and the use of apps, the Health Promotion Board decided to come up with a app - HealthyMeTv Singapore. This app is a video collection of exercise and health tips to educate users how to stay fit and healthy through their diet and exercise regimes. The National Healthy Lifestyle Campaign 2012 was the perfect date and avenue to launch the awareness of this wonderful app.

Of course, with such an important event on hand, our TouristPads were once again activated and they were lovely assistants to gorgeous looking ladies to help promote this app.

Lovely ladies with our Red iPads!

Posing with our iPads!

iPad mini

iPad’s little brother

Apple unveiled the iPad mini early this morning (Singapore time). This was not a surprise to many, as there were many rumours (which always proved to be true) building up to the event. Many see the introduction of the iPad mini as Apple's challenge to Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's 7-inch Kindle Fire HD.

What's so great about this latest product? Well, it boosts a 7.9-inch multi-touchscreen display with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels, a dual-core Apple A5 processor, Wifi and optional 4G connectivity, a 5-megapixel camera, and 10-hour battery life. There was a strong focus on its bigger display size compared to the other tablets available in the market, which Apple claims that it would give users a better experience. The iPad mini is the only small tablet which offers a back facing camera and shoots 5-megapixel photos and records 1080p HD video. It also has a front-facing camera, which records 720p HD and shoots 1.2-megapixel photos.

The iPad mini is so sleek and light. It weighs 0.68 pounds, and it is as thick as a pencil. Amazing technology and engineering behind the creation of this product. It is able to slip in and out  easily of your bag and small enough to be held by one hand, just like the iPhone 5.

While the pricing of the iPad mini seems rather steep compared to its competitors, many believe that it would be ignored because Apple is providing a premium product with a superior ecosystem. There are more than 275,000 apps designed for the iPad mini compared to a close rival having only about 50,000.

All in all, another great product from Apple. Very well thought and designed to delight the users, and not losing any benefits (other than display properties) compared to the iPad with Retina display. It is indeed Every inch an iPad!

iPad Rental in Singapore for your business

TouristPads is the only company in Singapore offering the new iPad with free 3G provided with all our rentals, and we do not just cater to the tourist iPad rental market in Singapore: we also provide full service support to companies who require iPads for their business events, seminars, conferences and meetings. As a full service events support company, we offer a full range of products and expertise to protect, enhance, and add value to the businesses who rent from us. For example, we recently supported the F1 Singapore event by providing iPad Stands/Kiosks at the Padang, as well as security cases and adapters to promote Singtel's (F1 Singapore's title sponsor) apps, reaching over 85,000 people over the F1 weekend.

Download: Case Study - Use of TouristPads’ iPad Kiosk Product for Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix

We believe in providing the best service, execution, and follow up to all our customers, and have received great reviews from our customers and the press and media. Our business customers come from many different industries, which testifies to our ability to customize a special solution just for your particular needs.

To find out more about how we can serve you on all aspects of implementation (iOS, software, hardware, support) of an iPad solution for your event in Singapore, contact us at info@touristpads.com, or call us at 9274 1349.

Split-It!

Split-It! is one of the potentially most useful mobile apps that we've seen launching in Singapore these few months. Billed as a "location-based app that provides a safe and fuss-free way for users who are travelling to and from the same destinations to share taxis and split the fare", it promises to solve the problems of long taxi queues and redundancy over similar taxi trips taken by different people. Given that Singapore face traffic congestions issues everyday, we can see the value in getting people who are travelling to and fro the same places share their cab rides.

One of the challenges for the company is for them to rapidly get user awareness and usage before network effects kick in to solidify the app's value proposition. Although it is free to use, not many people know about the existence of such taxi apps, and it may be difficult or even impossible for any single firm to drive the diffusion of awareness and acceptance of such a service. It might however be possible to grow awareness of the app amongst a niche group of people who face long taxi rides everyday (those working in the city).

After talking to the founders, we believe that Split-It's team has the experience and resources to develop this new market for taxi sharing, and we wish them all the best of luck in getting their critical mass of users.

Since the app is currently free to use, we're putting it on our TouristPads for a limited time to gather some feedback from our customers.

Maclocks: Love it! Lock it!

Our company uses the reliable Maclocks to secure our new iPads. We would like to recommend users to get the iPad2 / iPad3 Locking Security Cover and Security Rotating Stand.This product comes with a casing to house the iPad, and the casing can be attached onto a solid, stable rotating stand. After attachment, the casing can be easily rotated to portrait or landscape mode without moving the base stand. The whole product can be secured with a security cable lock to any stationary object. This particular stand was successfully deployed at the recent F1 event. There were no worries on our side as it was secured despite the heavy traffic. We feel that this stand is perfect for all kinds of events and any given human traffic. It has an elegant look and the rotating feature makes changing the orientation a breeze.

In short, 2 thumbs up and we encourage users to pay a little more money to get this set, instead of the one without the rotating stand.

*Disclaimer: We are not paid to write this article, but writing a review based on our experience of using the iPad2 / iPad3 Locking Security Cover and Security Rotating Stand.

Maclocks security casing with rotating stand

Testimonial from Kannan Mahalingam

Kannan Mahalingam

Another of our customers recently wrote a review of our service and product. Interested to know what he thought? Here’s his review!

Kannan Mahalingam is the co-founder/CEO of myZantium Inc. The company is the creators of Wonga Bazaar: A Fantasy Financial Lab. We are very happy to have another high profile person thinking so highly of us! All credit goes to the TouristPads team including Joshua and Abigail!

For the non-finance savvy, Wonga Bazaar is a great beginner game for you. As described on their website, "Wonga Bazaar is an authentic, interactive and entertaining market ecosystem, just like the real world. It is for anyone who wants to explore and discover their financial identity and temperament. It is a fantasy marketplace where one can trade without boundaries and fear.

Wonga Bazaar was premised on the fact that there are no existing fantasy market simulators where one can fail and learn about one’s own financial temperament. "

Download the app and try it today!

Featured customers for month of September

We are proud to have Nina as our featured customer of the month because she simply love us! You can check out her kind testimonial mentioned earlier on our blog. Nina, from Germany.

Sarah and Nina

Sarah and Nina

Top 10 Reasons To Use iPad Kiosks At Your Event

Businesses are now aware of the benefits of using iPads. Businesses spend lots of money renting boothspaces at events. Your main objectives are to capture attention for your products and services, and to generate leads. Setting up an iPad kiosk would be the perfect way to achieve these objectives.

1. Increased traffic and interest at the booth. People love Apple products. The iPad is the best selling tablet in the world. Seeing an iPad will bring the curiosity out of people and they will take that extra minute to visit the booth.
2. Increased time at the booth. Once attracted to the booth, visitors will stay around longer than those without an iPad. It will be a great opportunity for your representatives to share information about the services and products of your company.
3. Increased engagement. With an iPad keeping visitors entertained, representatives will have more time to interact with your visitors. This beats just handing them some flyers, which we all know around 80% or more end up straight in the rubbish bin.
4. Opportunities to showcase services, products and websites. You can promote new apps, services, videos or music and most importantly, your website.
5. Conversion of booth traffic into online connections. Gather likes for your Facebook page and generate leads such as emails.
6. Creation of memories. Allow visitors to take pictures of themselves. It is a good form of interaction and it will leave wonderful memories of the event.
7. Security in heavy traffic. The iPad Kiosks can be mounted securely onto the floor. They are able to handle heavy traffic without fear of them toppling over or of damage to the iPads.
8. Outreach. Setting up an attractive booth is essential, and when complemented with a couple of elegant and beautiful kiosks, your booth is sure to steal the limelight.
9. Return on investment. Deploying iPad Kiosks could possibly give you an excellent ROI. Depending on the number of visitors, the cost of acquiring one visitor to the booth could be as low as a few cents. No additional manpower is required once the Kiosks are set up.
10. Environment. Say goodbye to flyers. Using iPad Kiosks ensure that there will be no paper waste generated.

iPad Kiosks at work

The beautiful new iPad

Visitors love the Kiosks

Customer testimonial

Here's what one customer had to say about our service: (taken from her comment on Facebook)

"Thank you TouristPads! The rented iPad was a great help to get around Singapore, even though I had already been to the city twice before! Excellent service, very happy with it and if I haven't bought an ipad for myself next time, I'm definitely coming back to rent one out.

Highly recommended!"

We exist to delight our customers, and we're glad to be of service!

Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix 2012

Sebastian Vettel

Fernando Alonso

Michael Schumacher

Lewis Hamilton

To all F1 fans, Sebastian Vettel needs no introduction. For the uninitiated, Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in 2010 and 2011. The defending champion is currently fourth going into the upcoming race held in Singapore, and he is certainly gearing up to close the gap on Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen who is currently ranked first, second and third respectively. Singapore is one of Vettel's favourite hunting ground, as he came in 2nd and 1st place in 2010 and 2011 respectively. This Championship is of great significance to Sebastian Vettel as winning it would complete a hat trick, a feat achieved only by Juan Manuel Fangio (1954-1957) and Michael Schumacher (2000-2004). It is also worth noting that Michael Suhumacher is the idol of Sebastian Vettel.

The drivers will be racing at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, with a total of 61 laps covering 309.316 km. The race is held in the night, which is a novel event compared to the other circuits. Drivers mentioned that racing in the night gives a different experience with an increase in difficulty. They must display a higher level of performance but they are relishing the challenge.

F1 2012 Singapore Circuit Map

The tracks are now all sealed and prepared to welcome this event. At the same time, many booths are set up around these tracks to give tourists more information of this event as well as other useful information of Singapore. Tourists with access can drop by these booths on the event dates (21 - 23 Sep) up to 24 Sep 2012. We recommend tourists to visit the Singtel booth located near the Cenotaph, where you can view some race cars on display, use the on site iPads to find out more information about F1 and Singapore. You can also try finding our TouristPads icon on the displayed iPads and rent our iPad rental product!

Just like in the popular game "Daytona", the commentator would say, "Gentlemen, start your engines". You can take a sneak peak of the start this coming 21 Sep 2012!

Thomas from Austria

Thomas

Thomas took up our iPad rental service for 3 days and just like all our previous customers, he was happy with the service. He was seen sharing something on the iPad with his friend on their way to meet me. I asked him about it and he mentioned he needed directions. Instinctively, I blurted "gothere.sg, right?". He nodded with a smile. I was really glad that this iPad rental benefited him, even to the last min of the rental period. Unfortunately, they were in a rush and could not stick around for a chat. Nevertheless, he was nice enough to let me take a photo of him and we waved each other goodbye.

"Being Together" by John Clang at the National Museum of Singapore

Photo credit: http://mashable.com/2012/09/06/john-clang-being-together/

Local photographer and artist John Clang used Skype to create family portraits. According to the artist as quoted on Mashable:

“To be able to witness all these technology progress and wondering what the future looks like, which they may not be able to participate brings a tinge of sadness to me. I think maybe I’m the one sensing the sadness.”

The full series of forty portraits will be on display at the National Museum of Singapore next year.

In the meantime, while visiting Singapore, you can rent our iPads, and use Skype to call and talk to  your family and friends back home with 3G internet included with your rental for free.

TouristPads

Boeing's Aeroloft

Only for world leaders. You can now fly in super comfort in Boeing’s new airplanes fitted with extremely spacious cabins for you to sleep in between conducting stately affairs. These cabins are fitted with a full length bed as well as a private changing area. The price tag for one of these planes? $500million. Read more on CNN.

Swiss standard of living.

Andrew

Andrew is from Switzerland, the country Singapore aims to model. We are happy that Singapore has come a long way and this young nation is doing its best to achieve the "Swiss standard of living". If you study closely enough, both countries share some similarities, with compulsory military service, affectionately know as National Service (NS) in Singapore, on top of the list. In Singapore, the nation requires all male Singaporean citizens and second-generation permanent residents who have reached the age of 18 to enroll in the military. They serve a 22- or 24-month period as Full Time National Servicemen (NSFs), either in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), Singapore Police Force (SPF), or the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). Singapore is a multi racial and cultural nation, just like how Switzerland is made up of three main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, and Italian, to which the Romansh-speaking valleys are added. Although Bahasa Melayu (the Malay Language) is the nation's official language, speaking English is more than enough to get you around! Our nation's (unofficial) language, Singlish, somehow gives us the sense of a common ethnic or linguistic identity. TouristPads is started to allow tourists explore Singapore in depth. Our apps will help you get around easier powered by unlimited 3G on the go. So why wait? Hire our iPad rental service in Singapore and start enjoying the Swiss standard of living!

We are on Singapore Business Review!

We are very excited that our company, TouristPads is featured on Singapore Business Review (SBR). According to Krisana Gallezo, the journalist who interviewed Joshua, Singapore Business Review is the only local business magazine in Singapore guaranteed to reach senior decision makers in the top 1,700 companies. We are very blessed to have this opportunity and appreciate it wholeheartedly.


They are featuring us as a "Hot Startup" with the purpose to feature promising startups in town and at the end of the year, choose those to include in the "10 Startups to watch in 2013". We will do our best to be one of those come 2013. We will go out and get more tourists to hire our iPad rental service!

You can view the full article here.

Caleb, Abigail, Joshua

Joshua, Caleb, Abigail

Our beauties

Things to do in Singapore #3: Night Festival

Night Festival

Night Festival is a "nocturnal extravaganza of spectacular aerial performances, music, dance and installation artworks at the heart of Bras Basah/Bugis precinct, Singapore’s arts and heritage district," which takes place every year on the public green spaces of the Singapore Management University, in the vicinity of Singapore's museums like the National Museum of Singapore, Singapore Art Museum, and the Peranakan Museum. It will be on 24, 25, 31 Aug, and 1 Sep, or last weekend and this weekend Fridays and Saturdays, and the performances are simply amazing. I was there last Friday, and here's a photograph and video of the Singapore Art Museum:

SAM, Night Festival

Tourists! If you are in town tonight or tomorrow, please do take the time to watch the performances at the Night Festival. I'm particularly excited by this performance where a 15 metre pool will be suspended over the audience to fingertip level, while four dancers swim above the crowds. Seems like a great technical and artistic feat. Details of the performance are as follows:

Mylar | Fri 31 Aug & Sat 1 Sep 8.45pm, 9.45pm & 10.45pm Singapore Management University Green

Apart from that, you can also visit various exhibitions, shows, and performances in all the various museums, and all these for free. Signing off, here's a photo of another exhibition by Distorted Forest, By Stéphane Blanquet:

Distorted Forest, By Stéphane Blanquet

For more information, visit the website at http://www.nhb.gov.sg/brasbasahbugis/nightfestival/index.htm

Andy from Taiwan

Andy took up our iPad rental service and despite being a staunch supporter of hTC of Taiwan, he enjoyed the use of our TouristPad. If you have been to Taiwan, you will know that it is a food heaven, very much like what Singapore offers. While I personally love Taiwanese food and the night markets, nothing beats the multi-cultural and numerous variety of food you can find within Singapore. As usual, Andy found the transport and food guides the most useful. The food guide told him where to have the food, and the transport guide led the way. He also used the trip planning apps to do up his itinerary to Indonesia over the long weekend, which proved to be of great help. After all, all these are made easy, since he was holding onto the iOS 6 beta version, which could only be found on the new iPad!

Yong Loo Lin School Of Medicine, White Coat Ceremony 2012

According to Wikipedia, "The white coat ceremony (WCC) is a relatively new ritual in some medical (both M.D. and D.O.), optometry, dental, chiropractic, occupational therapy, physical therapy, podiatric, pharmacy, physician assistant, and veterinary medical schools that marks the student's transition from the study of preclinical to clinical health sciences. At some schools, where students begin meeting patients early in their education, the white coat ceremony is held before the first year begins.


WCCs typically involve a formal "robing" or "cloaking" of students in white coats, the garb physicians have traditionally worn for over 100 years and other health professions have adopted."

TouristPads is indeed very privileged to be involved in this year's Yong Loo Lin School Of Medicine (YLL SOM), White Coat Ceremony 2012 held at the University Cultural Centre (UCC), National University Singapore (NUS). Our new iPads were engaged to take photographs of faculty, family and friends who were gracing the event. At the same time, we were given access to the (YLL SOM) Facebook page so that family and friends could post their wishes to these graduates. You can find more pictures and all the best wishes to these future doctors here.

Once again, congratulations to these outstanding students and we hope that they serve the community well in years to come!

Family and friends

Happy students

TouristPads at work

Wishes from dad

More wishes

Wishes from mum

Wallpaper City Guide by Phaidon

Singapore: Wallpaper* City Guide, is one of my personal favourite apps on our iPads available for rental to tourists when they visit Singapore. It is full of really gorgeous pictures of places of interest in Singapore, and, as you can see below, is tightly packed with up to date essential information, landmarks, hotels, shopping, sports, and what to do, to name a few features. For example, the essential information sections lists the numbers and addresses of useful places and services like the Tourist Office, Transportation Services, Emergency Numbers, Embassies, Postal Services, and Cost of Living indices.

Singapore Guide

The guide is conveniently integrated with Google Maps, so that every attraction they feature is mapped, and you can find you way around very easily from within the map since you can also locate yourself. In the picture below, you can see that KPO, a nice place to chill out with food and drinks, is plotted on the map together with my current location.

Maps integration

The app also features over 50 images optimised for our new iPad's Retina display of amazing architecture in Singapore. I've included a screenshot of how the photos are laid out and a picture of MBS.

Over 50 retina quality photos

MBS

Here's what the publisher, Phaidon,  has to say about the book:

Wallpaper* City Guides present a tightly edited, discreetly packaged list of the best a location has to offer the design conscious traveller. Here is a precise, informative, insider’s checklist of all you need to know about the world’s most intoxicating cities.

Whether you are staying for 48 hours or five days, visiting for business or a vacation, we’ve done the hard work for you, from finding the best restaurants, bars and hotels (including which rooms to request) to the most extraordinary stores and sites, and the most enticing architecture and design. Wallpaper* City Guides enable you to come away from your trip, however brief, with a real taste of the city’s landscape and the satisfaction you’ve seen all that you should.

In short, these guides act as a passport to the best the world has to offer.