There’s a builtin GPS receiver, a G-sensor, a high-capacity Lipolymer battery, a snapshot button and Wi-Fi connectivity. Get one for Bt5,500.

New Galaxy discovered

Samsung’s Galaxy S9+ smartphone boasts an excellent 6.2-inch Super Amoled display with 1,440×2960-pixel resolution, good enough for HDR10 technology. You have 6GB of memory and 256GB of storage, a dual 12MP rear camera with f/1.5 aperture and an 8MP front camera with f/1.7. Expect to pay Bt37,900.

Fill the whole house

The Reference RW1 Wireless Speaker is part of the Stream Wireless Multi-Room Audio System from Klipsch with maximum acoustic output of 100dB and 30 watts of output power – 26.5 watts for the woofer and 3.5 watts for the tweeter. It’s in stores for Bt12,900.

Hear only the music

Sony’s Walkman NWZX300 High-Resolution Audio player is housed in an aluminium-milled frame for minimising external noise. It can play 11.2MHz DSD native files, which are tops in quality. The accompanying digital amp reduces distortion and Bluetooth connection can handle LDAC high-resolution wireless format. The going rate is Bt21,990.

Just add popcorn

Acer’s V7850 4K Ultra HD projector can turn any home into a cinema. It’s capable of a 65-inch display from two metres at 3,840×2,160-pixel resolution. The 3D DLP projector has brightness of 2,200 lumen and HDNI and HDMI 2.0 ports for connecting to movie sources. It retails for Bt109,000.

A sleek and fast tablet computer with a sharp display and good sound quality, the new Lenovo Tab4 8 Plus sells for slightly less than Bt11,000 making it a good buy for those who want the latest in technology without breaking the bank.

Boasting an 8-inch vibrant Full HD display with 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution and supporting wide-angle view, along with two frontfacing speakers configured in Dolby Atmos sound enhancement technology, it is great for streaming and watching HD movies with apps like TrueID TV.

The Dolby Atmos makes the movie sound exciting while the vibrant IPS display make it pleasing to watch. During the test, I watched several HD movies streamed with TrueID TV and iflix app and enjoyed all of them.

The Tab4 8 Plus looks sleek with an aluminium frame and glass covers on both the front and back. It’s skinny too at just 7mm and weighs 300 grams.

Although the Tab4 8 Plus is not powered by a flagship processor, it is fast enough. Its menus and touchscreen were responsive during the test and apps ran fast and smooth.

The tablet is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octacore 64-bit processor running at 2 GHz. It has four gigabytes of working memory or RAM and 64GB of internal storage, which is expandable with a microSD card by up to 128GB. The Tab4 8 Plus runs on Google Android 7.1 operating system.

The tablet also has fast wireless connection of Wi-Fi 802.11ac so it can stream multimedia content from networked storage fast.

I tested it on TrueMove H’s LTE 4G network and was pleased at the speeds it downloaded apps and uploaded my snapshots to my Google Photos cloud storage.

I doublechecked the speeds by using Ookla Speedtest app to measure the connection speed and found that it achieved the download speed of 61.13 Mbps and upload speed of 31.94 Mbps.

The Tab4 8 Plus has a fingerprint reader embedded on the power button on the right side for fast unlocking of the display.

The Tab4 8 Plus is designed to share among family members to watch video clips. Everyone can have their own accounts – complete with their own password, settings, wallpaper, and social media accounts.

The Tab4 8 comes with a 5-megapixel front camera and 8MP rear camera both of good quality. I found that the rear camera captured beautiful shots for a mobile device.

And the Lenovo tablet supports playing High-Resolution Audio files of FLAC 24-bit/192kHz. I tried playing FLAC 24-bit/192kHz files on the Tab4 8 using Sony’s MDR1ABT headphones and loved both the clarity and the bass. The Hi-Res Audio music files played smoothly too.

Lenovo Tab4 8 comes pre-installed with useful Microsoft Office apps – Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook and OneNote – so you can work on the go.

The tablet has a large LiPolymer battery of 4,850 mAh capacity that can last up to 8 hours. It recharges the battery with a USBC port and it supports fast charging.

Lenovo Tab4 8 has a suggested retail price of Bt10,990.

KEY SPECIFICATIONS

– OS: Android Nougat 7.1

– 4G network: LTE

– SIM: dual nano SIM slots

– CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 OctaCore Processor (2.0GHz)

– Display: 8-inch (1920 x 1200) LCD IPS Multitouch

– Memory: 4GB

– Storage: 64GB, expandable with microSD slot up ti 128GB

– Sound: Dual front speakers

– Cameras: 5MP Front , 8MP rear Camera

– Wireless connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2

– Connection port: USBC

– Battery: LiPolymer 4850 mAh up to 8 Hr; fast charging supported

– Dimension: 210 x 123 x 7 mm

– Weight: 300g

Adobe Photoshop Fix – a mobile app that’s just as powerful as the desktop version and probably easier to use – makes retouching photos a lot of fun.

It’s best used on an iPad Pro and with the Apple Pencil stylus, whose combination of power and precision team well the intuitive user-interface of the app.

If you love showing off your photographic handiwork on the social networks, Photoshop Fix is a must-have. Among other functions, you can smooth, liquefy, lighten and “heal” pictures and get them just the way you want.

First you’ll need to sign up for a free Adobe ID, which can done within Fix and via Facebook or Google. With Adobe’s Creative-Sync service, the images you edit will be stored, ready for further enhancement and use in other Adobe mobile and desktop apps.

Adobe has made Fix a free app – and I found its functions ample for my needs – but if you want more powerful tools beyond those provided, you can pay a little cash to subscribe to Adobe’s Creative Cloud Photography plan.

Creative Cloud lets you open and edit Photoshop files in Fix and send the images to Photoshop CC for further refinement – layers, masks and all. Or you can open and enhance Lightroom images and send them directly to your Lightroom Collections.

All edits are synced across all your computers and devices. If you make a change on iPad, it will show up on your desktop.

I tested the app on an iPad Pro 10.5-inch with the Apple Pencil. The work went fast and smoothly results and all tools were very responsive.

The first thing you see is the gallery page, with thumbnails of your already edited photos. Add another by tapping the plus sign on the left, which pops up options for locating the image to be uploaded. They can come from Google Photos, Dropbox, Facebook, Lightroom, Creative Cloud or the gallery on your iPad, or any shot taken with the Pro’s camera.

Once there’s a picture in place to edit, you see the tools across the bottom of the screen – Crop, Adjust, Liquefy, Heal, Smooth, Light, Colour, Paint, Defocus and Vignette.

The Heal tool works some kind of magic. If there appears to be a tree branch growing out of someone’s head in the picture, for example, use this tool to make the branch vanish. It snatches and blends in patches of pixels from the adjacent clear area so it looks like that tree never existed.

You can do the same if someone’s unwittingly walked into the background of your landscape, or if unsightly telephone wires are draped in front of your beautiful home. Just use your finger or the Apple Pencil to paint them out.

To make your portraits truly outstanding, the Crop, Liquefy, Smooth and Defocus tools are amazing.

Liquefy tool is “faceware”. It automatically places seven dots on key characteristics of the subject’s face – forehead, eyes, cheekbones, lips and chin. You can push, pull, rotate and swell these areas individually to reshape subtly or drastically.

Smooth gets rid of pimples and wrinkles and softens or sharpens any part of the photo.

With most cameras these days you can get a neat bokeh effect – the background out of focus to make the subject stand out more – but if you forgot to do so when taking the shot, Defocus will handle it after the fact. You simply activate the tool and “paint” the background with your finger.

This can be done even more precisely with the Apple Pencil – Photoshop Fix will blur the background for you.

You can change your subject’s hair colour with the Paint tool. Choose the hue with the tool’s colour-picker and use the Apple Pencil to paint over the hair.

The Crop tool is good for improving composition, especially in portraits. It’s ready to rotate or flip the photo horizontally or vertically. The crop preset ratios are square, 5:4, 4:3, 7:5 and 3:2.

If the colours seem pale, select the Colour tool and boost the saturation to make the range more vivid. The opposite is possible if the colours appear too garish. If the picture is too dark or too light, go to the Light tool and adjust upward or downward.

An under-exposed shot can be fixed with the Adjust tool itself, which works with a slide bar. Adjust will also correct contrast and saturation and add “warmth” to the photo. Shadows can be made brighter.

The Vignette tool reduces brightness, focus or saturation around the edges for a striking frame effect.

When you’re done and ready to share online, just tap the upload icon in the top right corner and choose the destination, such as Facebook or Instagram.

If you have an iPad Pro, this app is highly recommended. It also works on an iPhone, and an Android version is also available.

KEY FACTS

– Vendor: Adobe Systems Inc

– Size: 187.9 megabytes

– Category: Photo & Video

– Compatibility: iOS 10.0 or later, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch.

– Price: Free

The singer-songwriter and rapper designed a gift package, which will be available in Southeast Asia exclusively at the one-of-its-kind GD Official Store on the leading eCommerce company Lazada.

Dubbed “The Floral Pathway”, the package comprises such memorabilia as a GD hand-printed mug and bracelet. These items are wrapped in a fancy floral-motif box that was also designed by the star.

The floral motif is GD’s tribute to his flowers, as he calls his fans, and conveys the hope that they will walk down the road to happiness. More than 7,000 gift boxes are up for grabs in Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia. In Thailand, they become available on Tuesday (March 13.)

To rev up excitement levels across the region, Lazada has invited fans to share their favourite GD song on its Facebook fanpage and explain why that number meant so much to them. Fans are also encouraged to hold gatherings that will be streamed live online and play games to win prizes and bid their idol farewell. They are rewarded from today through Sunday (March 11) with a chance to win limited edition souvenirs from GD. To enter, post a public comment about GD on Lazada’s Facebook Fanpage (https://www.facebook.com/LazadaThailandShopping) with the hashtags #GDLimitedEdition #KwonJiYong and share the post to their own Facebook Page, tagging three friends who are fans of GD or Big Bang.

The winner will be announced on Monday (March 12) and the winning comment wins its writer a special GD souvenir.

Get a sneak peek at GD’s special gift today at https://lzd.co/2CqEnVf.

Building upon its successful launch in 2017, the three-week accelerator programme consists of a series of lectures, hands-on workshops and coaching, culminating in a final pitch to receive a scaling grant of up to 500,000 Euros (Bt19.46 million) from Booking.com’s 2-million Euro fund in order to help support the next stage of the start-ups’ projected growth.

“The relationships we build with these passionate entrepreneurs not only help fuel their continued growth, but also invigorate and inspire our entire company. Our aim is to build a network of like-minded organisations and individuals that are leveraging technology to create a more sustainable future for destinations worldwide. Through our collective commitment, we are striving to ensure that we can keep the unique destinations we all love happy and healthy for generations to come,” says Gillian Tans, Booking.com’s chief executive.

With hundreds of applicants from all over the world, the 10 start-ups joining the 2018 programme hail from six different countries and operate collectively across six continents, including Antarctica. Their businesses also represent a diverse mix of innovative online marketplaces that connect travellers with inclusive travel experiences, cutting-edge technology solutions and initiatives that empower local communities to benefit more equally from the global tourism opportunity.

Thailand’s HiveSters is a social enterprise that acts as a hub for sustainable, real Thai experiences, connecting travellers who look for authentic cultural interactions with local experts in Thailand’s largest urban areas.

“We feel empowered that our mission was supported and we believe that Booking.com Booster will open the door to unimaginable opportunities!, says Achiraya Thamparipattra, chief executive & chief of fun.

Other participating start-ups are:

Community Homestay Network (Nepal)

Global Himalayan Expedition (India)

Hotel Con Corazon (Netherlands: Operating in Nicaragua)

Keteka (United States: Operating in Central and South America, Antarctica)

Kitro (Switzerland)

Reflow (Netherlands)

Sakha Consulting Wings: Women on Wheels (India)

Tastemakers (United States: Operating in Africa)

Wheel the World (United States)

All the participating social enterprises will also receive several months of ongoing mentoring and coaching from Booking.com experts, as well as opportunities and access to collaborate with Booking.com on potential innovation initiatives and experiments to help accelerate their future growth.

Together with the recently launched Booster Labs and the Booking Cares Fund, the Booking Booster Programme sits alongside Booking.com’s internal volunteer programme, where employees have long partnered with local organisations on projects that help improve destinations worldwide. Together these initiatives make up and further expand Booking.com’s Booking Cares commitment and further the company’s mission to make a positive impact globally.

Now the late Mexican artist’s family alleges the rights to her image have been stolen, and accuses toymaker Mattel of misrepresenting her appearance and ignoring what she stood for.

Mattel announced on Wednesday that Kahlo, a painter known for her searingly intimate portraits as well as her defiantly unplucked eyebrows, would be included in its newest collection of Barbie dolls.

It was perhaps an unlikely choice for the maker of the famously buxom blonde doll, given that Kahlo was known for upending gender norms and traditional ideas about how women should look and act.

Released just ahead of International Women’s Day, the “Inspiring Women” collection includes dolls based on Kahlo, aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, African-American mathematician Katherine Johnson and other historic figures.

But Kahlo’s family soon issued a statement objecting to the doll.

“Mrs Mara Romeo, great-niece of Frida Kahlo, is the sole owner of the rights of the image of the illustrious Mexican painter Frida Kahlo,” it said.

“The company Mattel does not have the proper authorization to use the image of Frida Kahlo,” it added, threatening to take “necessary measures” against the California-based toymaker.

However, an American company called the Frida Kahlo Corporation insisted it was the legitimate owner of the rights.

“Mattel has worked in close partnership with the Frida Kahlo Corporation, the owner of all rights related to the name and identity of Frida Kahlo, on the creation of this doll,” it said in a statement.

Romeo’s lawyer Pablo Sangri said the dispute arose after the family established the Frida Kahlo Corporation in 2005, in partnership with another company called Casablanca Distributors.

The latter has violated their now-expired contract by failing to inform Kahlo’s relatives about the uses of her “brand,” he told AFP.

And the contract never granted the Corporation rights to Kahlo’s image in the first place, only “certain uses of her name,” he said.

“The Frida Kahlo Corporation doesn’t hold, never held and will never hold the rights to Frida’s image.”

– Pop icon –

But the problem goes deeper than just a dispute over image rights, said Romeo, the granddaughter of Kahlo’s sister Cristina.

Kahlo was known for her assertive embrace of her Mexican identity and her unabashed, unmanicured femininity.

“I would have liked the doll to have traits more like Frida’s, not this doll with light-colored eyes. I would have liked her to have a unibrow, for her clothes to be made by Mexican artisans,” she told AFP.

“It should be a doll that represents everything my aunt represented, her strength. It should be a Frida that represents Mexico.”

With her slender face and almond eyes — topped by just the slightest hint of hair between her brows — the Frida Kahlo Barbie looks only vaguely like the real-life Frida.

In recent years, Kahlo’s image has been stamped onto an explosion of consumer products: nail polish, bags, shoes, coffee mugs and much, much more.

Her instantly recognizable look — unibrow, thick black braids, flowery, hand-embroidered Mexican “tehuana” dresses — and the boldness with which she wore it have turned her into a pop icon.

But Romeo said the companies behind such products are making them without the family’s permission, and violating Kahlo’s legacy in the process.

“These products don’t mesh with what Frida was. They should contribute something to the world,” she said.

Kahlo (1907-1954), the wife of the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, is today considered one of the great painters of the 20th century, particularly for her self-portraits, often brimming with pain and isolation.

Meet the mermaid and her friends at noon, 2.30, 4 and 5.30 daily. Entrance fees are Bt990 for adults and Bt790 for kids (aged three to 11).

Find out more at http://www.SealifeBangkok.com/.

Flowers for the senses

Play La Ploen in Buri Ram is showcasing more than 10,000 lilies from Holland under the theme, “Miracle of Love”, from now until May. Workshops and fun activities are part of the package.

For more information, call (087) 799 4936, (087) 798 1039, (087) 797 6425, or visit Facebook.com/playlaploen.com.

Sweet home Chicago

The Living Room of Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit swings to the sound of jazz vocalist Tammy McCann from Chicago, who performs with the Randy Cannon Group Tuesday to Thursday from 9.15 and Friday and Saturday from 8.45.

Book a table at (02) 649 8353 or email dining.sgs@luxurycollection.com.

Singapore says cheers

Sommeliers, bartenders, industry specialists and wine connoisseurs are in for a treat as Southeast Asia’s largest trade fair for wines and spirits, ProWine Asia 2018, returns to the Singapore Expo for its second edition from April 24-27, raising the bar with a greater experience for all.

For more information, visit http://www.ProWineAsia.com/sg.

It’s all about the colour

The much-loved Holi Rangotsav Festival of Colours 2018 is being feted this coming Sunday at Oasis Arena, Show DC from 10am to 5pm. The colours are all made from herbs and punters can have fun splashing them all over fellow partygoers. Register online and get a discount at https://HoliRangotsav2018.eventbrite.com/

Billed as an internationally registered event for women of every culture that enables women to experience “awakening and empowerment” in a safe and intimate environment, Festival du Feminin was founded in Paris and has developed across the globe, from Canada to India, Singapore to Colombia, Morocco to Hong Kong, the US to Mexico, Malaysia, Japan, Iran and Thailand.

Organiser Sylvie Baradel extends an invitation to all women “to discover, feel, contact and connect the multiple facets of our femininity through the gathering of a large tribe of women that gives you opportunities to meet, share, transmit, honor and celebrate precious moments of your lives and inner paths”.

The event features more than 20 interactive workshops devoted to bodymind experiences, personal growth, the healing arts and spirituality. An array of local and international midwives, energetic healers, artists, psychologists, scientists, coaches, therapists, business executives, writers, and more will provide their input.

“We are delighted to host the rapidly growing globalsisterhood awakening Festival du Feminin for the benefit of women in Thailand, as the movement perfectly complements Swissotel’s brand promise to support and deliver ‘Quality in Life’, and our firm belief that happiness is life’s true reward,” says the hotel’s general manager Bruno Rotschaedl.

A oneday pass goes for Bt3,000 and a twoday ticket costs Bt6,000. Special offers including “Buddy Tickets” are also available.

The programme details can be found at http://www.FestivalDuFeminin.com/en/bangkok2018.

To reserve a place, email: bangkok.womenfestival@yahoo.com

Based on European data assessed, 36 percent of women donate a kidney to their husband in clinically suitable cases.

That compares with just seven percent of clinically suitable men donating a kidney to their spouse, said the study by the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations.

It highlights how women are also liable to suffer from the most serious stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) as they tend to live longer than male sufferers and take longer to reach a stage requiring a transplant.

“Although it is hard to pinpoint a specific reason for higher numbers of wives being donors than husbands, the evidence suggests women are motivated by reasons such as altruism and the desire to help their family continue to survive,” said Adeera Levin, a Professor of Medicine at Canada’s University of British Colombia.

The study data shows some two thirds of kidney transplant recipients are men although the gender difference was less pronounced for donations by deceased men and women.

Worldwide, the study found 14 percent of women suffer from CKD compared with 12 percent of men.

Although the data showed higher proportions of women live with advanced CKD, “experts believe that systemic failures to detect or manage CKD in women leave women at a higher risk of progression and complications.”

This year’s World Kidney Day is closely focusing on CKD sufferers who are either pregnant or wishing to conceive.

“In women who have had a successful kidney transplant, fertility can be at least partly restored and chances of successful birth increase,” said Dr Giorgina Piccoli of Italy’s University of Torino and the Centre Hospitalier Le Mans, France.

“However, complications in these women remain more common than in the general population, and preconception medical counselling should always be sought,” added Piccoli.

She stressed the “clear need for higher awareness of CKD in pregnancy, to timely identify CKD in pregnancy, and to follow-up women with CKD during and after pregnancy.”

Dr Piccoli also indicated pregnancy-related complications can increase the risk of kidney disease.

“Women face unique issues in relation to kidney disease and donation, and since this year’s World Kidney Day coincides with International Women’s Day, we decided now was the time to highlight these issues,” said Professor Levin.

“These findings support the hypothesis that Vitamin D has protective effects against cancers at many sites,” researchers reported in a study published in The BMJ medical journal.

Vitamin D is made by the skin in response to sunlight. By maintaining calcium levels in the body, it helps keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy.

While the benefits of Vitamin D on bone health are well known, there is some evidence that it may protect against chronic diseases as well, including some cancers.

Studies to date, however, have been carried out mainly in European and North American people.

As natural Vitamin D concentrations can vary by ethnicity, researchers from half-a-dozen Japanese medical schools and institutes set out to determine the potential for lowering cancer risk in Asians.

They analysed the public health records of 33,736 men and women aged 40 to 69.

At the start of the study, participants provided detailed information on their medical history, diet and lifestyle. Blood samples were taken to measure Vitamin D levels.

The researchers did not specify whether the trial participants used vitamin supplements or not.

Taking into account seasonal variations, the group was divided into four groups, ranging from the lowest to highest concentration of Vitamin D.

Participants were then monitored for 16 years on average, during which time 3,301 new cases of cancer were recorded.

After adjusting for well-known cancer risk factors — age, weight, smoking, and alcohol intake, for example — the researchers found that, overall, higher Vitamin D levels was associated with a 20 percent lower cancer risk for both genders.

The risk of liver cancer dropped even more, by up to 50 percent, especially for men.

Vitamin D did not appear have any impact in warding off lung or prostate cancer, however.

None of the cancers examined showed an increased risk associated with higher Vitamin D levels.

Previous studies have shown that low levels of Vitamin D increase the risk of bone fractures, heart disease, colorectal cancer, diabetes, depression, Alzheimer’s disease and death.

But others have found no evidence of a link to disease risk.