For credit card customers

One of the main reasons I use UOB cards is for its incredible promotions. The mobile banking promotions section is very useful for me. The best thing about it is that it allows me to search promotions by category, location, keyword and even via augmented reality. Most deal apps don’t go so far into search and information architecture.

For investors

There are gold, silver, unit trust and FOREX prices (which is also great for online shoppers like me, so I now know what my bank will charge me for my next Amazon or ASOS haul! ). There are also built-in calculators for home equity loan financing, currency conversions, loans and financial goals.

For banking customers

UOB went an extra mile for these guys with the Mobile Cash feature, which allows users to send cash to their friends (who do not have to be UOB customers). All the user needs is the app and all his friend needs is her phone and to find the nearest UOB ATM to withdraw cash. No ATM cards needed! So this would come in handy when your friends forget their wallets and are stranded somewhere far from you. Anyway, here’s a screenshot of what the friend will see when she receives the cash and eventually withdraws it.

Overall, I think UOB has done a pretty good job. My gripes with it are minor and mostly interface-related (e.g. the unnecessary transition animation and the not-very-sexy-looking transaction statement). But besides that, it’s an well thought-out app, incredibly responsive and truly understands their customers’ needs.

For iPhone users, you can download it at the App Store. For Android users, an app is in the works. It’ll be out soon.

Related posts:

1. Why I Enjoy Reading Investment Banking Blogs

The Bag

I’m a low maintenance kind of person, who loves black leather and solid shapes. I don’t really take good care of my stuff (except electronics). So I carry a relatively inexpensive solid black bag from Braun Buffel.

The Stuff

Like a low maintenance girl should be, I don’t bring too much around with me. Just the essentials.

• Automatic umbrella from Esprit – I’m quite afraid of the blade-like thing used to close umbrellas. So I invested in an umbrella with a button instead. Hahaha. Pussy.
• Black-rimmed glasses from Versace – My astigmatism is off the charts. Since my eyes are too dry, I can’t wear contacts. So I wear this instead when I really have to see. But most of the time, I prefer to walk around half blind.
• Name card holder from Tumbleweed – Been searching for a patterned business card holder for the longest time. It’s nice to have those usual metal or leather card holders, but I always feel that they lack a certain personality. Then I chanced upon this cart at Clarke Quay selling handing handmade trinkets and got this.
• Padlock – for my gym locker.
• Wallet from Danier
• Lipstick from Yves Saint Laurent – This little thing is the most beautiful and functional makeup piece I own. It’s got two colors + a mirror + a brush. How cool is that?! I got it in #1 Sparkling Beige.
• iPhone, LG Viewty, HTC S630 – I work for a telecommunications company. So carrying around 3 phones shouldn’t be too surprising, should it? I don’t really own the iPhone by the way. I just borrow it from the department to check my work email and occasionally tweet when I’m on the move. The Viewty is my office line. It’s also my backup camera. The 5MP camera really comes in handy when I attend events and forget to lug my Canon A590 IS with me. And the HTC S630 is my personal line. I want to replace it soon though. It’s too slow! Palm Pre, where are you!?!
• Cowon D2 MP3 Player – I’m a bit of an audiophile. I need high quality music. So an iPod could never make the cut for me. The Cowon sound quality is simply amazing. On top of that, it has an English-English, Korean-English, English-Korean dictionary. It also has a 52 hour battery life. I rarely ever charge this thing; once every few months at most.

Blogger Cards – Close Up

Oh and here some close up shots of my blogger business card for the non-believers. (Hello Sigg3!)

You’s Been Tagged

I know a lot of people are aversed to memes, so I’m not forcing you to do it. But I’m gonna tag ya anyway!

• Dayna of AmourChaleur
• Katy of TwentyFourCarat
• Iva of Iva is Me
• Tara of Aigoo-Chamna
• Wendy of Rin-Wendy

Related posts:

1. Review: LG Viewty KU990R

But that didn’t happen.

It ended up becoming a blog where I tailor my entries to multiple audiences. And I probably did more grammar checks per entry than I did for my some of my college essays. There was even an entry that got Al Jazeera to contact me for an interview – although, I had to decline because I wanted to stay away from politicizing this blog.

Then of course, Nanyate?! took a hit when I moved from Toronto to Singapore, and an even larger hit when I started working back in August.

[digression]

Well, working in public relations means I really don’t have much of a work-life balance. And whatever free time I can scrape, I’ve had to devote a significant amount to sleeping to keep my physical and mental health in check. And let’s not forget about having some sort of social life. Not that I’m really complaining. I actually do like what I do.

[/end digression]

But taking my career seriously doesn’t mean I have to give up blogging or web design. So cheers to another fruitful year at Nanyate.com. Perhaps I should seriously consider buying the iPhone or the ASUS EEE PC to blog during my 45-minute commute to work.

And last but certainly not least, thank you my faithful commenters and growing list of subscribers for your continued support. Oh and do expect some exciting changes soon!

The “What do you think?” Section
So Techies, iPhone vs Netbook. Who wins? Bloggers, how do you find time to blog in a packed schedule? And Lurkers, just um.. lurk.

Related posts:

1. Happy Chinese New Year!
2. The Nanyate?! Guitar

It looks like I have an older firmware. LG has yet to allow people to upgrade their firmware via their website. I will update this post whenever I make my way down to the LG Service Centre at Vivo City.

So, I got another cellphone for work purposes. And this was one of the phone I was considering to buy, if not for the lack of quadband capabilities: LG Viewty KU990R.

In Singapore, it comes in three shades: white, pretty pink and sleek black. I had a hard time choosing between to two, but ultimately chose the black. I don’t think anyone will take me seriously with a bright pink cellphone.

LG Viewty KU990R Review

Pros

• Responsive Touch Screen – The first that pops up when you switch on the phone is a touch screen calibrating system, which allows the phone to customize its responses to your fingers. And the touch screen response is simply amazing! So far, I’ve not mistyped an SMS or misfired while playing Space Commando (a futuristic phone version of Counter Strike).
• Big Bright Screen – Even under the amazingly hot sun of Singapore, the screen is still very clearly visible.
• Full-Featured Camera – Well, it’s not as a good as a digital camera, but it still performs better than most camera phones in the market. With the flash, it can even take decent night shots. Along with basic camera features, LG has also added different modes, image stabilization and special effects! It’s like the Mac photobooth – only portable!
• Vibrate Touch Response – One of the common complaints about touchscreen gadgets is the lack of response when you press on something. LG has changed all that. Now the phone vibrates whenever you click on something. Good job!

Cons

• Strange Scrolling Method – With any computer program, you would always scroll down by moving the scrollbar downwards or rolling the scrollwheel downwards. Even my Cowon D2 MP3 player does the same. But LG had to be special and have the user scroll upwards to move the page down, and scroll downwards to move the page up. It’s really confusing my senses even after using it for 2 weeks.
• Fingerprint Magnet – This is quite standard for most touchscreen gadgets, right? Someone please invent a matte touchscreen!
• No Full Keyboard - Well, it’s a touchscreen phone, why have a phone keyboard when you can add a full-sized QWERTY keyboard?! Even my tiny Cowon D2 has a full keyboard for the dictionary feature! So size is not a constraint at all!

Pictures from my LG Viewty KU990R

The BMW Garage at the F1 Singapore Grand Prix

The Pit Grandstands at the F1 Singapore Grand Prix

Ivy’s Final Verdict

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

On the whole, this is a pretty good phone. Great camera, great touchscreen ergonomics and great looks. The designers clearly put a lot of thought into making this a fashion-forward and functional phone. However, the designers shouldn’t get too carried away by designing a scrolling system that is counter-intuitive. That’s as big of a blunder as replacing the QWERTY keyboard.

But is it an iPhone killer? Definitely not. It’s missing basic internet features like wi-fi, and full-fledged browsers like Firefox, Safari or even Internet Explorer. Although the LG Viewty does have good basic features like Google Maps, GMail and Google. Besides, I don’t really consider the iPhone a real phone with the lack of basic features like changing batteries; it’s more like an iPod that you can make calls with.

All in all, LG Viewty KU990R is the perfect gadget for camwhores and fashionistas (or fashionistos). It’s a great looking phone, packed with solid basic features, and full-fledged digital camera to capture your narcissistic moments.

And if you’re looking for an iPhone killer, look elsewhere – somewhere like the HTC Dream running on Google Android.

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I now work at Singapore’s largest telecommunications firm as a Corporate Communications Officer (CCO) - that’s just corporate mumbo jumbo for public relations. (BTW, CCO is just one letter away from CEO. So close, and yet so far! Hahaha! Just kidding!)  specialize in digital media, obviously. I’ve been working here for a little over a week and I admit, I’m currently 3/4 zombie and 1/4 human. My company just launched the iPhone at midnight last night, and I was there helping out past 2am. Considering the fact that I have to wake up at 6.30AM to go to work, 2AM is pretty damn late.

Nevertheless, it was a great experience. I’m so happy that the boss gave me the opportunity to help out! I got to speak to many journalists and super-VIPs. All good in fun. Becoming 3/4 zombie is a small price to pay for such an exhilarating experience. Apparently, I’m on the front page of Lianhe Zaobao (major Singaporean Chinese-language newspaper), as a tiny extra. LOL.

I love my job.

With that said, I have no idea what the hell to do with my blog. I practically have no time to update this thing anymore. Scatch that, I have no time to check my email anymore! I go to work at 8.30am come home by 8.30pm. 11pm is time for bed since I wake up at 6.30am. Include shower and dinner, and I’ve only got about an hour to myself. A medium-length blog entry takes exactly one hour. Clearly, it’s not going to work out.

We’ll see. I’ll think of something. Maybe I’ll blog when I get to the office in the morning, like I am, right now.

With that said, I’m going to write about how much a big success the midnight iPhone launch was – on the official social network profiles. And it was. It was a weekday and I lost count at 500 people. The first person, Joel Pan, arrived to the center around 12PM for the 12AM launch. 12 whole hours!! Anyway, he’s now an instant celebrity on the front page of almost every major newspaper this morning! I managed to talk to him for a while – quite a nice guy!

Did I say I love my job?

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