Founded by rapper and producer Dr Dre and now firmly under the control of Apple Inc, Beat Electronics has come up with a new set on wireless on-ear headphones that pump out good quality sounds and powerful bass and boast special connectivity technology for iPhone and iPad users.

And for music lovers on the go, the Solo 3 Wireless from Beats has a battery that can last up to 40 hours as well as a builtin microphone that allows you to use it as a premium headset for your iPhone or other smartphones.

For iPhone or iPad users, the Solo 3 Wireless comes with Apple W1 chip that brings seamless setup and switching for your Apple devices. The chip allows the headphones to be easily set up with your iPhone or iPad. You simply hold the phones near your iOS device, and a screen will pop up to prompt you to connect it.

Once it is connected, the Solo 3 Wireless can be seamlessly switched between your iOS devices and Mac computers using the same Apple ID. Do note though that your iOS devices must run on iOS 10 and your Mac computers must use macOS Sierra The Solo 3 Wireless can also be used with an Apple watch that runs on watch OS 3.

The Apple W1 chip also helps the headphones save battery life and in fast charging with just five minutes of charge allowing the phones to be used for up to three hours.

Beats Solo 3 Wireless comes in a sleek design and are available in Gloss Black, Gloss White, Rose Gold, Back, Gold, Silver, Ultra Violet and Red so you can choose the colour option that matches your iPhone or other smartphone.

The phones are foldable and the package comes with a carrying case for easy transport. I found them pleasant to wear thanks to comfortable cushion ear cups and cushion head band.

The Solo 3 Wireless has a power button on the right ear cup while the volume buttons and multifunction button are located on the left. The multifunction button can be used to play or pause music or skip to the next track. It can also be used to receive or hang up a phone call.

There’s an LED fuel gauge on the right side to tell you the level of battery and if you let it run out, you can use the Solo 3 Wireless as a wired pair of headphones with a provided headphone cable. The cable also has an inline remote control for adjusting volume and playing and pausing music as well as receiving and hanging up a call.

The headphones deliver premium playback with fine-tuned acoustics that maximise clarity, breadth, and balance. The comfort-cushion ear cups buffer outside noise for immersive sound so you can experience music the way it was meant to be heard.

I tested the earphones with new iPad 9inch and the Samsung Galaxy S8+ Android phone, using both wireless and wired functions. I found that the music was of excellent quality with impressive clarity and powerful bass, I enjoyed listening to my favourite testing tool –AC/DC’s “Rock or Bust” album.

Beats Solo 3 Wireless is available at Apple Thailand’s online store (www.Apple.com/th/shop/) for Bt11,500.

KEY SPECS

Form factor: On ear

Height: 19.8 cm

Weight: 215 g

Battery: Rechargeable LithiumIon with 40 hours of battery life

Connections: Bluetooth, audio cable

Bluetooth: Class 1

Microphone: BeamForming Mic for optimal call

Package include: Carrying case, 3.5mm remote talk cable, USB charging cable, quick start guide

An affordable 4G smartphone with premium build, a large display, and the ability to function as a power bank thanks to its large 5,000 mAH battery, the ZenFone 4 Max Pro from Asus will delight shutterbugs with its 16-megapixel front and dual-lens rear camera. It’s powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 octacore processor 1.40 GHz and it runs on Android Version 7.1 operating system.

The smartphone is equipped with 3 gigabytes of working memory or RAM and has 32 GB of internal memory, which is expandable with a microSD card up to 256 GB. Unlike in other brands where they share the same slot, the microSD expansion and second nano SIM slots are separate, meaning you can expand the storage and use two SIM cards at the same time.

The ZenFone 4 Max Pro has 5.5-inch IPS display with 720×1280 pixel resolution so it’s easy to read. And even though the Snapdragon 430 is not a flagship processor, it is fast enough to enjoy all the smartphone functions. I found both the touch screen and menus responsive during the test.

Moreover, the ZenFore 4 Max Pro supports playing High-Resolution Audio in FLAC 24bit/192 kHz format very well. I tested it with Sony’s MDR1ADB Hi-Res Audio headphones and was pleased to find that the smartphone played Hi-Res Audio files with good sound quality, good details and powerful bass.

ZenFone 4 Max Pro comes with fast Internet connection. I tested it on TrueMove H’s LTE 4G and was pleased to find that apps were downloaded fast and my snapshots were backed up to my Google Photos in no time. I measured the data connection speed with Ookla Speedtest app and here again the ZenFone 4 did well, downloading at 67.11 Mbps and uploading at 31.07 Mbps.

I also used the TrueVisions Anywhere app to watch streaming channels from TrueVisions and was able to enjoy several popular channels, including True Sports, National Geographic Channel, CNN, True Asian Series HD, Paramount, and Sony Channel, smoothly.

ZenFone 4 Max Pro’s rear dual camera system is great for landscape shots because it uses a dual-lens system to achieve 120-degree wide angle camera, allowing you to fit more scenery and people in the frame. And with a design that gives it a 200-per-cent wider view than most smartphones, it’s also good for shooting group photos in confined indoor spaces. The rear camera’s lens is bright with f/2.0 aperture and has very fast phase detection auto focus of 0.03 second. It uses PixelMaster camera technology, with eight photography features.

The auto mode integrates high dynamic range (HDR) with low light technology, extending the range by four times and enhancing brightness by up to 400 per cent for evenly exposed daytime photos with detailed shadows and highlights.

Its Super Resolution mode captures multiple shots simultaneously and combines them into a single, stunningly detailed 64MP photo. Its GIF Animation adds an entertaining twist to shooting movies, and Panorama and Selfie Panorama mode lets you capture stunning 270degree landscape photos.

During the test, I could easily capture great shots using the auto mode. The camera system did not have shutter lag and was responsive.

The ZenFone 4 Max Pro can also capture great selfies with Softlight LED flash and live beautification features. The Softlight LED flash delivers the perfect amount of fill light, giving your selfies a softer look with true skin tones. You can use beautification mode to retouch your selfies with skin softening mode, skin brightening mode, eyes enhancement mode and cheeks thinning mode.

ZenFone 4 Max Pro can serve as a power bank thanks to its large 5,000 mAh battery. The package comes with a micro USB-to-USB Type A adapter that lets you plug your USB charge cable into it. It monitors charge levels and will not allow its own battery to drain below 30percent capacity.

The 5,000 mAh battery provides 3G talk time up to 40 hours or video playback up to 22 hours and Wi-Fi browsing up to 26 hours.

The fast-charging technology allows the battery to be recharged for three-hour use in just 15 minutes. Asus PowerMaster ensures safety through temperature monitoring and overvoltage protection.

ZenFone 4 Max Pro has a premium metal body and is available in three colours – Deepsea Black, Sunlight Gold and Rose Pink.

You’ll find it in stores for Bt7,990.

KEY SPECS

– Networks: LTE Cat4, HSPA+, EDGE, GPRS, GSM

– OS: Android 7.1

– CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 Octacore processor 1.4 GHz, GPU: Adreno 505

– Memory: 3GB

– Storage: eMCP 32 GB, expandable with microSD card up to 256 GB

– SIM: dual nano SIM slots

– Display: 5.5-inch IPS display with 720×1280 pixels

– Main camera: 16 MP f/2.0 dual-lens system with PixelMaster 4.0

– Front camera: 16MP f/2.0 with PixelMaster 4.0

– Wireless technology: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi direct

– Navigation: GPS, AGPS, GLONASS, BDS

– Sensors: Fingerprint, Accelerator, ECompass, Gyroscope, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor

– Battery: 5,000 mAh, 2x faster reverse charging

– Dimensions: 154×76.9×8.9mm

– Weight: 181 g

As ever the organisers are encouraging runners to share their running goals via the social networks to drums up support from friends and raise funds online for this worthy cause.

The mini-marathon will take place on Sunday, December 24, 2017 in three adjacent public parks: Chatuchak Park, Vachirabenjatas Park and Queen Sirikit Park. There are race categories to suit everyone ranging from a 2.7 kilometre walk and fun run through a 5.5km run to a 10.5km minimarathon.

All runners who reach the finish line will receive a Make THE Difference medals. The winner and two runners up in the 5.5km and 10.5km distance in three different age groups (under 20, 2049 years and 50 and above) will receive a trophy and a cash prize of Bt5,000, Bt3,000 and Bt1,000, respectively.

Tickets costing Bt500 are now available online at http://www.makeTHEdifference.org/parkrun. Running shirts made from environmentally friendly materials, a RFID device and a bib will be send by post to the purchaser.

The TMB Foundation will issue receipts for income tax deduction purposes upon request. All ticket proceeds, funds raised by runners and topup donations from TMB will go to the Cardiac Children Foundation under the Patronage of HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana for its Cardiac Children Operations Project.

Find out more by calling the TMB Contact Centre at (02) 242 3603.

Project director and co-founder Muanfun Sirikorn Kunawong, CMO Group chief executive Sermkhun Kunawong, Benjaporn Tuntasood of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Sitamon Pholdee were in attendance.

Located on the third floor of the Emporium in Bangkok, Imaginia is Thailand’s first play space for children using the EF Life Skills Enhancement approach.

There will be two new play zones and a fresh project for the third year of operations, “Imaginia with Guru”, a series of creativity-building workshops to broaden the learning experience and let kids discover their individual talents.

The workshops will be held weekly across the country with renowned teachers and experts.

Imaginia is open Monday through Thursday from 10 to 7 and Friday through Sunday from 10 to 8.

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

Project leader Meechai Leelachewchankun says the province has done well in managing its diverse attractions and has enjoyed a steady increase in visitors.

“This cycling event is ‘sports tourism’ and will be following a new bike path through the forest,” he says. “This is more than just a forest of benefit to the people living nearby. It was a loving gift from Their Majesties the Queen and the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej. That’s why we call it the Forest of Love.

“And the forest is close to well-known tourist attractions, such as Wat Yansangwararam, Buddha Mountain – Khao Chi Chan – and the Silverlake Vineyard, in addition to the magnificent beaches and sea views.”

The forest was established in 1990 in Sattahip district and features a facility filled with information about its trees, wildlife and water-resource projects initiated by the late King. The plantation project was undertaken to protect the forest, wildlife and natural resources as a 60th-birthday gift to Queen Sirikit.

It’s a wonderful place to get to know the forest in all its aspects. Visitors are free to study or roam around and can help build dams, plant shrubs, or make foliage-encouraging “EM balls”. There’s even a recreational area with adventure challenges.

The 17.9-kilometre Cycling 2017 event was announced at a press conference within the forest, after which celebrities including Chill FM 89 DJ Ake Krisnavarin, Natalie Davis, Supakorn Kitsuwon and Jirapa Seetabut took a ride around the beautiful lotus pond.

With conservation in mind, registration for the cycling event is limited to 1,000 riders. Sign up for free at http://www.Facebook.com/chonburicycling2017.

The release of the 85-year-old writer’s “A Legacy of Spies” on Thursday sees the return after 27 years of a very elderly Smiley, the star of a Le Carre trilogy who bears some resemblance to the author himself.

Le Carre, whose real name is David Cornwell, worked for British intelligence between 1950 and 1964 before literary stardom struck.

He turned to writing full time after the success of “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” in 1963, which included the character of Smiley.

“You can’t actually make a character without putting something of yourself into each one,” Le Carre said in a rare public appearance on Thursday evening.

“Smiley will always be that bit older and wiser than me,” the author reflected, speaking at London cultural hub the Southbank Centre.

While Le Carre and his fictional spy have aged in the subsequent years, the author reignites the thrill of Cold War espionage in his latest tale, adding a contemporary streak.

“It was terribly hard to write this book during the period of Brexit and the ascendancy of (US President Donald) Trump and I’d like to think that Smiley was aware of a sense of aimlessness which has entered into all our minds,” Le Carre told BBC radio.

“Smiley, who has spent his life defending the flag one way or another, feels alienated from it. He feels a stranger in his own country,” he said.

“A Legacy of Spies” traces a 1960s operation which pitted the British secret service against the German Stasi security service, ending with the death of an agent and a woman he tried to take to the West.

Now decades later, Smiley’s former assistant Peter Guillam has come out of retirement to provide an account of the operation alongside the spy himself.

Speaking in London, Le Carre said he felt compelled to continue the story: “I would go on writing even if I was not going to be published.”

“The author is lucky enough to be alive and his character is insisting that he is alive too,” he added.

‘A lot in common’

Those accustomed to sex symbol James Bond, complete with his snazzy gadgets, will find a strikingly different spy in the “tubby, bespectacled, permanently worried” Smiley.

“I suppose what Smiley and I have in common is that we find it difficult to remember happiness. It’s not something that comes naturally to me, I have to work on it,” Le Carre told The Sunday Times newspaper.

Le Carre said Smiley had previously sacrificed his humanity for the sake of the Cold War “cause”.

Now “he has the humanity but the cause has been taken away from him,” the author said.

“The sense of allegiance to his country — which country? which Britain? — has disappeared,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

The author, who turns 86 in October, has also opened up about his own spying past and spoke on Thursday about his activities as an “agent runner”.

“Quite contrary to the perception of agent running, this is a pastoral duty. You go in offering whatever you can offer — much more than just money and re-settlement. It’s companionship of a kind,” he said.

The author has kept out of the gossip columns while continuing to work as a prolific writer after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The novel which followed that historic moment, “The Night Manager” (1993), was transformed into a successful miniseries for British television.

Le Carre’s anti-heroes have been adapted for cinema or television six times, most recently in 2010 with “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”, with actor Gary Oldman portraying Smiley on the hunt for a mole within Britain’s intelligence services.

‘For Europe’

While Le Carre’s new novel, his 24th, sees a return to the intrigue of Cold War espionage, its pages were put together against a very different political backdrop.

While the dry detail of Brexit negotiations are unlikely to create a page-turner, Le Carre makes his europhile views clear in the novel when Guillam asks his former boss whether his life’s work was for Britain. “No. For Europe,” Smiley responds.

“I think his whole genesis in life — his private dream, as he now expresses it — is the salvation of Europe,” Le Carre said in his newspaper interview.

“That was, for him, the battlefront of the Cold War — for him, that was where the soul of Europe was being fought for. So, when he looks back on it all — or I do, if you like — he sees futility.”

The truck is decked out with micro-crystals made from 30-plus metres of Swarovski Crystal Fabric. The eye-catching and innovative material consists of a carrier fabric that is completely covered by millions of tiny cut and round crystals.

The innovative Swarovski Remix Collection provided all the design inspiration needed. The collection resets the rules of jewellery rules, allowing anyone to express their own style in limitless ways.

Magnetic clasps let women create different and endlessly versatile looks. The open Fashion Truck is equipped with styling corners where visitors can express themselves, whether they’re rockers at heart or feminine and romantic.

Swarovski brand ambassador Karlie Kloss offers plenty of ideas.

Other fringe activities travelling along with the truck are crystal tattoos, a photo booth and crystal manicures.

The truck is in Bangkok until September 18. Check it out at Arena 10 tomorrow (September 8) from 7pm to 1am, Sathorn Square on Monday, United Centre Building on September 14 and ABAC University on September 18.

Learn more at http://www.SwarovskiGroup.com.

Nearly half (46 per cent) of Thai travellers believe the first day of a holiday can be the most memorable, yet one in five (19 per cent) worry about things going wrong and 57 per cent confess they feel that the first 24 hours pass by in a blur. As a result, many travellers struggle to switch into holiday mode.

Travel website Booking.com questioned more than 18,000 people from 25 countries worldwide on the challenges of switching into holiday mode. The results showed that 21 per cent of respondents either worried about leaving their homes empty or suffered separation anxiety from their leaving their pets behind. Sixteen per cent said they were either too attached to tech or staying connected with people at home via social media to relax entirely. The anxiety doesn’t stop there either, with 15 per cent fretting about the cost of the holiday, and 14 per cent worrying about work.

Thai holidaymakers suffered similar anxieties to their peers across the world. The cost of the holiday itself keeps many from fully embracing the holiday (33 per cent) and nearly one in three (29 per cent) of Thais admits that they are worry about their home or pets, while another 26 per cent worries about their work and 20 per cent feel anxious about the end of the holiday before it’s even begun.

The rise of digital technology may also be to blame as 24 per cent of Thais say that they either get too attached to their tech when they’re away or stay connected to people back home via social media when they go on holiday.

However, switching to holiday mode can be done with ease, and according to Thai travellers there’s a lot to be said from getting sunshine or some fresh alpine air. Having perfect weather was the top reason helping Thais switch to holiday mode (55 per cent).

Accommodation plays a key role here too and staying in accommodation that meets or exceeds expectations helps the transition to holiday mode (38 per cent), as does accommodation feeling like home (34 per cent). Despite realising they’re too attached to technology to fully switch to holiday mode, nearly one in three (32 percent) say they feel better when they have Wi-Fi access.

The “Absolute Serene” anniversary package is designed for guests who enjoy spa treatments on a regular basis whilst the “Tranquillity Bliss” is for guests seeking peace, tranquillity and an opportunity to unwind.

The “Absolute Serene” anniversary spa package is perfect for all spa lovers as guests are invited to select their preferred treatments to best suit their individual requirements. These requirements might include purification and enrichment of the skin, or a deep tissue massage that focuses upon body stiffness and painful joints. The anniversary package is priced at Bt77,777-plus (worth Bt50,000++) plus credits for spa treatments valued at Bt65,000 with one year validity.

Additional privileges with this anniversary package include the complimentary use of sauna, steam room and Jacuzzi at the Kempinski Fitness Centre (on the treatment days). Every guest purchasing the “Absolute Serene” anniversary package receives a special Mask Collection gift set from Valmont and a bottle of Louis Roederer Cristal Brut vintage Champagne.

The “Tranquillity Bliss” anniversary spa package comprises a one-hour Autumn Sleep Relaxing massage – a nurturing aromatherapy treatment that focuses upon achieving deep levels of relaxation while the head massage works on cranial pressure points to relieve stress and helps guests to unwind. This is followed by a one-hour European Classic facial treatment. During this personalised treatment, the Spa’s expert therapists select healing natural tonics, vitamins and marine extracts to nourish the skin and restore equilibrium to the body. The results are immediate and long-lasting. This treatment is priced at Bt7,777-plus.

Find out more at (02) 162 9000 or email: spa.siambangkok@kempinski.com.

Staying true to the concept of the club itself, Siwilai Tour, which is organised in partnership with Johnnie Walker, aims to combine the best in music with fashion and art as one creative community.

Klingande is one of the most refreshing and original producers of today and his works represent a departure from the big house sound that has been dominating the scene of late making him the leading figure within the tropical house genre alongside musicians such as Kygo, Bakermat and Robin Schulz.

Back in 2013 “Jubel” became one of the first standout tracks of its genre. The record has amassed more than 150 million views on YouTube. After three years on tour, his 2016 hit singles included “Losing U” and “Somewhere New” amassed over 23 million streams on Spotify. This year, Klingande has already made his mark around the world at established music festivals such as Tomorrowland, Ultra Korea, Parookaville, and Mysteryland.

Located on Level 5 of Central Embassy, Siwilai City Club is an independent yet integral lifestyle driven extension of the Siwilai brand, which juxtaposes traditional Thai touches with modern graphic elements to create a perfect urban escape for everyone.

The rooftop facility of the space highlights Bangkok’s skyline and the central stage, where the performance will take place, is erected from overlapping platforms floating atop a moving water element, making it a perfect setting for any type of outdoor activity.

Tickets cost Bt990 at http://www.TicketMelon.com/event/klingande and Bt1,200 at the door.