Tuition Nation

By Mavis Toh, ST
Call it the private life of Brian. Primary 4 pupil Brian Lim has three private home tutors, each coaching him on a different subject.
Tuesdays: English; Wednesdays: Chinese; and Thursdays and Sundays: Maths.
His mother, Mrs S.L. Lim, says simply: ‘The tuition is necessary, or he will lag behind his classmates because they all [...]

Coming soon: Google’s Android

By Serene Luo, ST
Internet giant Google is running the final tests on its much-anticipated cellphone operating system, which it will roll out in a few months.
The company showed off the software, called Android, yesterday, as part of the pre-opening activities at CommunicAsia, the annual telecom trade show.
Google’s senior director of mobile platforms Andy Rubin said [...]

Shops secretly track customers via mobile phone

From Jonathan Richards, Times Online
Customers in shopping centres are having their every move tracked by a new type of surveillance that listens in on the whisperings of their mobile phones.
The technology can tell when people enter a shopping centre, what stores they visit, how long they remain there, and what route they take as they [...]

Save with online shopping sprees, but beware of risks

By Chua Hian Hou, ST
Get together with other like- minded shoppers online to buy products via ’sprees’, or Internet mass orders, to enjoy cost savings. You could even pick up exotic items not otherwise available in Singapore.
In recent years, such sprees have spread like wildfire.
On the SingaporeMotherhood.com site, for instance, you can go on dozens [...]

Online hawker-food price guide to deter profiteering

By Tessa Wong, ST
Consumers will be able to find out how much their favourite hawker dish should cost by visiting the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) website from next month.
The average prices of 10 popular dishes by area will be listed, which means consumers will be able to compare prices of cooked food. The guide [...]