Gizmodo Australia » hong kong

When You Try To Get A Cheap Xbox 360 HDD, It Can Only End In Tears

Adam Frucci — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:00:00 +0000

I refuse to pay $US160 for a 120GB Xbox 360 HDD. But I need one, as my 20GB model is filling up. So I decided to order a cheap one from a shady Hong Kong website. What a mistake.

One of our interns found a sweet deal for a new 120GB HDD for the Xbox 360: $US60. Sure, the website seemed a bit shady, and it shipped from Hong Kong, but $US60 was a damn good price. So I ordered one.

A few weeks later, I get what appears to be a legit Microsoft Xbox 360 HDD. It comes in a distinctly non-legit box, but everything else looks OK. The problem? It’s just the HDD, meaning I can’t transfer anything over.

So, of course, I order a transfer cable from eBay. Only $US10 this time, yet again from Hong Kong. This time, it doesn’t come with the necessary disc to make the transfer.

So now I have a choice: either download an ISO of the transfer disc from any number of shady torrent sites, risking my computer and my Xbox in the process, or eat the $US70 I’ve spent and just buy a legit HDD. At this point, I’m not even sure I trust the HDD I bought to work.

Is this a huge problem? No. Am I whining about something that I should have avoided by doing even a little bit of research first? Yes. Am I still annoyed and frustrated with this? Yes. So let this be a lesson to you: if you think you can outsmart Microsoft into paying less than their obscene HDD prices, you may not be.

Honey, Someone Shrunk Hong Kong

Jesus Diaz — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Dear Google, please make every single Google Maps city in the world look like this ultra-detailed, SimCity-like, isometric map of Hong Kong. Not only it looks beautiful, but if feels clear, useful, and you can get really close:

I love maps, and this is my favourite city map after the axonometric view of midtown Manhattan. [Edushi]

Meeting Brando, Hong Kong’s USB Willy Wonka

Elaine Chow — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:00:00 +0000

I get a text message from a guy saying to meet him at the Outback Steakhouse at the Discovery Park in Tsuen. Ordinarily I might have passed, only this guy was Brando. Yes, that Brando.

Hong Kong Architect Turns 344-Square-Foot Space into Ultimate Transformer Apartment

Elaine Chow — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 04:40:00 +0000

Hong Kong architect and technophile Gary Chang has the most amazing apartment. His 344-square-foot space can be shifted into at least 24 different layouts, using a funhouse’s worth of sliding walls and detachable shelving.

Chang has lived in this apartment since he was 14, moving in with his parents and three younger sisters. Back then, he used to sleep in the hallway. Now, he uses a hydraulic Murphy bed that he designed himself, which is usually hidden behind a sofa during the day.

Turning his apartment into what he’s named a “Domestic Transformer” hasn’t been cheap. It only cost $US45,000 to buy, but his latest design efforts came with a $US218,000 price tag.

Still, his experiment in small living is incredibly cool. Personally, if I had a quarter million to play with, I’d much rather spend it optimising something creatively rather than on another boring McMansion. [NYtimes]

Chinese-Themed Microsoft Arc Mice Can Get Lost In Your Pottery Collection

Elaine Chow — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:30:00 +0000

During my visit to Hong Kong, Brian showed me to a local design store called G.O.D. (Goods Of Desire), which kind of reminded me of a China kitsch-themed Urban Outfitters. When I get a chance to go back there, I’m definitely saving up some money for these laser mice, a Microsoft Arc and G.O.D. mashup. Man, could you even tell computer mice were in the picture? Fooled me at first glance!

There’s two G.O.D.-designed ARC mice for sale, one with a traditional Chinese tea pottery scheme and the other with an old-timey “mouse” drawing and character. Cute! Both use 2.4GHz wireless technology with a range of about 10 metres. Like the regular ARC, these can fold to half their size. No price was listed, but they’re probably a tad more expensive than the $US60 the regular ARC goes for. [QK123]

Giant iPhone Display Runs OS X (This Time, At Least)

Gizmodo US Edition — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:00:00 +0000

Eagle-eyed reader Phelipe Hamoui snapped these shots of the giant iPhone display in Hong Kong running Mac OS X. This marks a nice change from that embarrassing little slip-up that revealed a U.S. display was running (gasp upon gasp!) Windows XP. So take a deep breath, Mac Army. Everything’s gonna be okay. [- Thanks, Phelipe!]

Apple Not Selling Unlocked iPhones In Australia

Nick Broughall — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:30:25 +0000

You know how we showed you that Apple were selling unlocked iPhones in Hong Kong? Not happening in Australia.

According to Fran Foo over at Australian IT, Apple are more than happy with the relationship they have offering the phone through Telstra, Optus, Virgin and Vodafone.

So if you do want an unlocked iPhone, you still have to pony up the cash to one of the carriers before you can unlock it (for a fee) so that it will work with any carrier. Or you could just jailbreak the thing and be done with it – whatever you want…

[Australian IT]

Officially Unlocked iPhones On Sale at Hong Kong Apple Store

Kit Eaton — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:47:00 +0000

Check out the Hong Kong Apple store online and you’ll see a couple of lines of text that’ll tempt, tease and beguile you if you’re dreaming of an unlocked iPhone 3G: “iPhone 3G purchased at the Apple Online Store can be activated with any wireless carrier. Simply insert the SIM from your current phone into iPhone 3G and connect to iTunes 8 to complete activation.” About $US700 will get you an unlocked 8GB version, and the 16GB is just $US800. Handy for the dev team, no doubt. [Hong Kong Apple Store via Slashphone]

Cruise Ship In the Middle of Hong Kong Is Actually a Crazy Shopping Centre

Jesus Diaz — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:40:00 +0000

This cruise ship is called the Whampoa and it is stranded in a gigantic pool in the middle of Hong Kong’s largest private housing state: Whampoa Garden. However, this Love Boat is sailing to nowhere: it’s just a huge shopping mall full of restaurants, shops, and a hotel, built to look like a cruise ship. Looking at it up close, it really looks like one, down to the metal finish. In Google Maps, you realise how huge this thing is:

And now, the obligatory 80s reference you were all waiting for:

Love, exciting and new
Come Aboard. We’re expecting you.
Love, life’s sweetest reward.
Let it flow, it floats back to you.

Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure,
Your mind on a new romance.

Love won’t hurt anymore
It’s an open smile on a friendly shore.
Yes LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It’s LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! (hey-ah!)

Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure,
Your mind on a new romance.

Love won’t hurt anymore
It’s an open smile on a friendly shore.
It’s LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It’s LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It’s
LOOOOOOOOOOOVE!
It’s the Love Boat-ah! It’s the Love Boat-ah!

Come on, sing it. You know you want to. Sing it! [stuff4restaurants--thanks Lola]

Hong Kong Fiber Optic Rates Prove Verizon’s FiOS is a Rip-Off

Adam Frucci — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:20:00 +0000

While Verizon is out aggressively trying to sell the country on their FiOS fiber optic web connection packages, which range from $40 per month for 5Mbps to 30Mbps for $180 (extra for TV and phone service!), Hong Kong residents can now enjoy their own fiber optic connections from Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited… which happen to be a fraction of the price and many times faster than what we can get here. Yes, HK residents can now get a whopping 100Mbps fiber optic connection for a mere $48.50 a month. And that’s the entry-level package.How about 200Mbps for $88.20? Yeah, not quite enough, I agree. You might as well jump up to 1Gbps for $215.40 a month. But hey, you don’t really need that, do you? You should be thanking Verizon for the opportunity to pay them for a pathetic 5Mbps connection. I mean, the US is so far down on the per-country broadband speed chart (the Japanese are enjoying 60Mbps average) that we should just be loving any crumbs the telecoms are willing to toss our way, right? Thanks again, Verizon! [CNNMoney via Broadband Reports]

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