1. Panasonic Toughbook C1

True to the name, Panasonic’s range of Toughbooks are so tough that they can practically withstand the weight of an elephant (OK, maybe a really tiny one). With a special magnesium-alloy casing and custom damping materials, they are designed to withstand 100kg of pressure. The Toughbook C1 is also the world’s lightest 12.1” convertible tablet PC and one of the first laptops to support multi-touch, so you can use either your digits or an electronic stylus to input info through the screen.
$3,199 from Challenger, #06-00 Funan DigitaLife Mall, 109 North Bridge Rd., 6339-9008.

2. Casio Exilim EX-G1
Casio’s G-Shock co-branded EX G-1 compact camera isn’t afraid of anything. Shock-proof, dust-proof, water-proof (up to 3m) and freeze-proof (up to -1 degrees), this 12-megapixel toughie will boldly go where most men dare not. Coated in a layer of hardened rubber, this shockproof camera will keep on shooting even after a 7ft. drop. One of the more interesting features is its time-lapse function allowing you to capture great nature or sports shots.
$549 from Best Denki, #05-01/05 Takashimaya Shopping Centre, 391 Orchard Rd., 6835-2855.

3. LaCie Rugged Hard Disk
What’s the point of bringing your rugged laptop on a hike up that mountain if you can’t take a breather to watch some videos you’ve downloaded off the net? Your average hard disk would be in a hundred pieces … but not LaCie’s Rugged Hard Disk. This baby is really tough with its rubber-wrapped aluminum case complete with four shock absorbers. Comes in 320GB and 500GB with either USB 2.0 or FireWire connections.
From $239 at South Asia Computer, #03-01/41, Funan DigitaLife Mall, 109 North Bridge Rd., 6337-0871.

Is the art of putting ink on canvas with the calculated stroke of a brush still relevant in an age where unmade beds, pickled sharks or inflatable animals have become much sought-after commodities in the art world?

While their peers in the West are busily tinkering with their assemblages and installations, artists in our backyard are still using the paint, brush and canvas as tools of artistic representation to great effect. Contemporary Thai artist Natee Utarit is one such prolific painter who has painted his way to success. About 70 of his works, some dating back to 1991, is showing at the Singapore Art Museum for his biggest show yet.

Praised by museum director Tan Boon Hui for being one of the most conceptually rich and technically sophisticated painters, After Painting surveys the artist’s vast repertoire as well as discussing the state of painting in Southeast Asian art today.
“The title, After Painting, is an apt reflection of that and what the show hopes to explore and answer—if the medium is still a relevant mode of creative expression,” explains curator Michelle Ho. The show is divided into four sections: Paintings as Narrative, Paintings About Paintings, Paintings After Photography and Beginning After Painting to fully demonstrate the artist’s artistic journey and conceptual development, as well looking at new possibilities of using the medium as a form of creative expression.

Using traditional Western techniques, particularly landscape and still life, Utarit detaches and deconstructs familiar signs, symbols and objects as a way to evoke conversations on Thai politics, history and nationalism. He paints contemporary Thai landscapes on top of paintings of classical works from the likes of Titian and John Constable to question the traditional belief in the truth of images as well as painting a triptych of his mother’s back profile to create a dialogue on the art of seeing and perception.

Perhaps the work that most stands out will be “Tales of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” (2009), a quasi-photorealistic depiction of characters from popular fairy tales and stories with a couple, probably a king and queen, looking down at their subjects. The artist reveals that the painting is about how fairy tales affect our understanding of society, perhaps alluding to the tumultuous political situation back home; that despite the veneer of normalcy, everything is just but a fairytale.
“Life itself is like a fairytale, a myth where we dream of ‘happily ever after’,” says the artist. “Myth is also steeped in Thai culture and that is especially so in Thai politics,” he continues while explaining a trio of brightly colored still lifes—a painting of green soldier men figurines standing in between a painting of a yellow skeleton and one of a red skeleton—as a commentary on recent political developments in Thailand.

With artists like Utarit and more like him around Asia, painting their way forward and changing the way how the medium can perpetuate societal discourse, it’s safe to say that paintings will still have its space on the wall.

Pros

• Weighing just 114gms, the Quench is lightweight and easy on the pockets.
• Capacitive touch display means no missed presses.
• The 3-megapixel inbuilt camera is good for landscape and midrange shots. Also boasts geotagging, white balance, color effects and flash.
• Like most Motorola phones, the Quench boasts good sound quality. No odd hissings or echoes while on call. Our only gripe is that the speakerphone isn’t loud enough.
• Seamlessly synchs your contacts, email, calendar and Gchat contacts.

Cons

• Doesn’t run on Froyo (Android 2.2)
• At 3.2” with a 320x480 resolution, the screen doesn’t match up to the rest of the competition. While the colors appear bright and vivid indoors, it’s hard to see anything when taken outdoors.
• Don’t expect much on the video front with its VGA resolution and 15fps.
• Body feels like it’s made from lower grade plastic (unlike the Milestone) which lends a “toy-ish” feel to the whole phone.
• Inputting text into the Quench can be quite a chore due to its narrow and sometimes sluggish keyboard.
• The trackball is overly sensitive, causing you to scroll through pages and screens too quickly.
• The back cover is one of the more difficult and annoying to remove that we’ve come across for some time. It requires the use of fingernails and excessive pressue, resulting in scratches to the chrome paintjob when trying to get to the micro SD.

The Motorola Quench XT3 is available from $468 (without contract) from authorized Motorola dealers.