Untold secret of Forex: Make rich quick

FOREX( Foreign - Exchange) trading is probably one of the most well known get rich quick dream scheme on the planet.It is still luring a lot of people into it, there are many "gurus" and FOREX training centers out eager to sell you their wining, secret formula for Forex. Most promises are very very attractive: "Get rich quick", "escape from the rat race and earn thousands of dollars from home", etc. Some even do not request any effort, they have autotrading systems which can trade and earn money for you. Earn money while sleeping! Sounds too good to be true. Well it probably is.

To be fair there is a well kept secret about FOREX. You may wonder what is this secret of the FOREX trading? The secret is this: FOREX market is a zero sum game! Yes, FOREX is a zero sum game. This means in FOREX market your earnings and losses will add up to zero in the long run. You will either wipe out all your money in a short period like 85-90 percent of retail traders do thanks to high leverages or lose it all slowly thanks to spreads you are paying to brokers in each trade.

So does this mean you will have all the fun and lose anything because it is a zero sum game. It would be if you were not paying to play! Even your earnings and loses add up to zero, you will lose money because in each trade you are paying a commission as spread. Do not believe in the FOREX advertisements, you pay commission in FOREX, high ones indeed, as spread.

So secret formula of FOREX trading is this simple equation:

Your Earnings = Wins(t) + Losses(t) - Commissions(t).
(t) is the number of your trade. As (t) increases Win(s) + Losses(t)  goes to zero and formula becomes:

Your Earnings = - Commissions(t)

But although a quick internet search would show that 85-90 percent of the retail traders lose all their money in this market, people still want to believe that they belong to the lucky minority of 15 percent. Bankruptcy rate is so high in this market because traders without any notion of risk uses 100-400 times leverages and are wiped out with small fluctuations. Traders who do not use high leverages usually lose their money slowly to the spread between buy and sell prices. Losing money sooner or later should not be the  main target in any investment!

"I had a bad streak," says Matthew Smith, a 23-year-old personal trainer in Colorado Springs, Colo., who lost more than half of the $10,000 he had in an online account while trading 17 currencies. Now that he focuses on the British pound versus the dollar, he thinks he can make it all back. "I'm hoping to do [currency trading] as my most significant source of income," Mr. Smith says. 

Professionals don't think that is such a good idea. Kevin Morrison, head of the U.S. foreign-exchange desk for Citigroup Private Bank, says many of his clients trade currencies. But he advises that this trading come from the 10% of overall capital that investors put aside for riskier bets. "This is not a core asset," he says. 

Even people running the trading shops warn clients against trying to time the market. "If 15% of day traders are profitable," says Drew Niv, chief executive of FXCM, "I'd be surprised."

Currency Markets Draw Speculation, Fraud

So who do you make rich? Who can make steady income from Forex? Well your broker company will definitely do. Every time you trade, you win or lose they earn the spread (remember the house always wins). That Forex training course provider will do. And the writers of the books which promise to teach you earn money while you are in sleep will have steady income thanks to Forex.

As a result, FOREX looks like a "get rich quick" tool but it is actually a "make rich quick" tool where small traders makes others rich.



Currency trading risks abound by CNN_International

Think it again: at the opposite end of the table there are those bright wall street types who funds speculations from Shanghai real-estate to Russian stocks with cheap Japanese carry trade and in this side there is you. Doesn't it remind you the infamous poker quote:

"Look around the table, and if you can't tell who the sucker is, it's you!"

Singapore air-conditioners, cooling without burning your pocket

Air-conditioner is a real life saver in hot and humid and crowded Singapore. Without good air-conditioning, it would really be difficult to work in offices, take bus or MRT rides, stay indoor in the crowded shops.  And I must admit there are days in Singapore when a fan is not enough to sleep and air-conditioner is a must.

But this luxury comes with a price. In a typical Singapore house, air-conditioner uses more electricity than anything else. If you are one of many who cannot sleep without air-conditioner,  you will most probably end up paying more than 100 SGD per month to air-conditioning alone! If you are serious to save energy in Singapore, you need to address your cooling cost first. And even if you have money to spend for air-conditioning, think about how much unnecessary carbon dioxide is produced to produce the electricity consumed by your air-conditioning habit.

The reason you pay a lot for air-conditioner is that it sucks most electricity at a given time among all your house appliances (except the kettle and the iron but you do not use them for long). But you can easily reduce your air-conditioning cost by simple habit changes:

Buy a fan (ceiling and/or floor) and use until you cannot be comfortable without air-conditioner. A typical window AC unit uses 1400 watts per hour while an AC ceiling fan (Alternate-Currency) uses 70 watts per hour. So it is much cheaper to operate. You will be surprised that you can do away without AC and only fan most of the time. And for even more energy efficiency, buy a DC ceiling fan (Direct-Currency) which uses only 30-40 watts.

Many people uses fan in the daytime and switch to air-conditioner while they are sleeping. Although it is better than using AC all the time, it still means using AC 25-30 percent of the time. So switch to fan while sleeping.

If you are renting, rent high floor. Yes, it is windy up there and I have seen a lot of flats above 10th floor with great wind and no AC or even fan requirement during the night.

If you run your AC, run it at 25-27 Celsius degrees. A temperature setting of 25 degrees and more is enough for most homes because air-conditioner units not only cool, they also dehumidify. You definitely do not need to set the thermostat to 22 or even to 18 degrees! A lot of people in Singapore set the temperature to 20-22 degrees and then sleep under thick cover! What a waste! You can save more than 15% on the utility and produce less carbon dioxide by just setting the temperature to natural room temperature of 25 and more. I personally set my air-conditioner to 28 degrees. It took me only 2 weeks to increase it from 25 to 28 without recognizing the change.

A DC ceiling fan will use 30 - 40 watts per hours compared to 1,400 watts per hour needed by an air-con unit.

Consider evaporative cooler if your house has good ventilation. This option can be used in many high floor flats. Evaporative coolers cools the space by spraying a fine mist into the air. This mist is so fine that it immediately evaporates. Evaporation consumes heat in the room and cools the room. Although for most of the flats, it is not practical due to already very humid air in Singapore, there are many flats out there which can take advantage of these coolers.

Service your AC regularly. Clean or replace your AC filter every month. A dirty filter makes your AC work harder, which uses more electricity. Your home improvement store sells permanent filters which you can wash with a garden hose so you don't have to replace the filter each month.

Rents in Singapore softens in 2011

On March 7th we have wrote about the rents in Singapore in the article named "Rent in Singapore may fall in 2011".  We have written that supply (rental flats and houses) and demand (tenants) head to an imbalance state where supply will exceed the demand and rents would fall in 2011.

Now 3 months into 2011, Knight Frank reports at  0.4%, 3% and 0.8% quarter-on-quarter increase in high-end, mid-end and mass market segments. Although these figures shows rents were flat in Q1 2011, they are significantly lower than 5.6%, 2.6% and 4% recorded in 4Q 2010 and may well point to a rental fall in the near future.

Knight Frank points several downward pressure on the residential rents:

1. Stricter criteria for foreigners working in Singapore
2. Shrinking housing allowances for expatriates
3. Increased supply from newly completed residential homes

Will the rents in Singapore fall? If there will be a fall, when? It depends on the demand side, which in turn depends on the response of businesses to stricter foreign employee criteria. There will still be foreign influx but probably less than the previous year and the rentals will fall if new the influx is not fast enough to catch up with new home supply.

OrangeTree in a report dated in October 2010 predicted a softening in second half of 2011 (which came one quarter earlier):

"With overall occupancy rate at 94.8% remaining above historical average of 93% and lower completions in 2011, the rental market could remain tight at least until 2nd half 2011. Thereafter, we expect rents to soften in view of the surge in completions in 2012-2014." 

Source: Singapore Rental Market

See related articles:

1. Bumper supply is on the way for Singapore private property
   
2. Rent in Singapore may fall in 2011

Disclaimer

This blog article is to provide general information only and should not be treated as an invitation to buy or sell any property or as sales material.  Users of this report should consider this report as a one of the many factors in making their investment decision. Users should make reference to other sources of information and specific investment advice to obtain a more objective view of the property market. Asia Singapore shall not be responsible for losses suffered.

Singapore property cooling measures are effective, shows Q1 2011 data

It has been more than 2 months since Singapore government introduced last round of property cooling measures; and now enough data is available to answer the question of whether they were cooling the property market can be answered.

The answer is yes according to the flash estimates of , NUS Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI). This index tracks the month-on-month price movements of private, non-landed and completed residential properties in Singapore. Flash estimates show that non-central property prices declined -1.5% m-o-m in February 2011 after a 2.8% m-o-m increase in January 2011. These 2 figures actually tell the story. Last property cooling measures were introduced in mid January 2011 and due to the first half of January there is an increase. But the month immediately following it, Feb 2011, has a decline of 1.5%.

Central units still recorded m-o-m increase of 1% in February 2011, down from 3.1% increase in January 2011.   These figures are interpreted in Singapore media as "stabilizing". Thanks to central properties, which are targeted by buyers with more cash (so not effected much with lowered LTV ratio)  overall prices recorded a 1% m-o-m increase.

"The Jan 13 cooling measures are certainly working. The lower loan-to-value limit has affected investors with outstanding housing loans even if they have some financial capacity to purchase another residential property. Home prices in Singapore are likely to drift at current levels unless the government opens the immigration tap again and removes some of these very severe cooling measures such as seller's stamp duty rates and 60 percent LTV for those with existing housing loans".

Tan Tiong Cheng, Knight Frank Chairman 

Source: The Business Times

But this data may well signal decline in the near future. Although developers have great holding power after the buoyant year of 2010, now they look like in a mood of rush to sell their projects before demand declines more. We should not forget that we are sitting on a highly unusual 17% year-on-year price rise so the developers as well as sellers have room to "discount" to sell fast. This does not mean the prices will fall fast like a crash, because that needs another financial crisis, but buyers may well expect a buyer's market in the next few months.

Knight Frank, points to a slowdown in their Singapore Residential Highlights 1Q 2011 report dating March 30th 2011:

"Buying activities in the primary property market showed signs of cooling down after the fourth round of government cooling measures in January this year.  Notwithstanding this, the number of new launches did not decline where more than 4,400 units were launched. About 3,300 new homes were transacted over the 3-month period, a  dip of 22% q-o-q or 25% y-o-y. On average,  around  1,100 units were sold every month, 12% below that of 1,382 units in 2010.  A good number of showflats saw a drop in visitors in contrast to the buoyant situation in the second half of 2010. Buyers and investors were deterred from property market partially due to having to pay higher seller’s stamp duty and  a higher down payment as a result of  a lower loan to value ratio." 

Disclaimer

This blog article is to provide general information only and should not be treated as an invitation to buy or sell any property or as sales material.  Users of this report should consider this report as a one of the many factors in making their investment decision. Users should make reference to other sources of information and specific investment advice to obtain a more objective view of the property market. Asia Singapore shall not be responsible for losses suffered. 

Asia's largest boat and luxury lifestyle show - Boat Asia

Singapore will host Singapore yacht show between between 8-10 April 2011 in ONE 15 Marina Club in Sentosa Cove. Unfortunately this show will accept guests by invitation and it is not open to the general public. But for those who are eager to see the new boats of the world, there is another show in the following month, Boat Asia. The show will start on May 12th 2011 and continue until May 15th in Keppel Bay and Marina Bay. The guest will be allowed between 2 pm to 9 pm (8pm on Sunday).

Wide range of boats and related marine accessories, and to complete the boating lifestyle, exclusive resorts, fine wine, marinas, clubs and properties will be on display on land. Showcase of extensive fleet of sailing yachts, powerboats and super yachts. Yes there is still something for those who are not interested in boats, Jazz bands and sexy fashion shows, but the real attention drawers of the show, extensive fleet of sailing yachts, powerboats and super yachts will be sailing in the bays.

Admission ticket price will be 15 SGD per adult in weekdays and 20 SGD in weekends. Due to increased popularity of boating in Asia, for the first time this year, Boat Asia will be expanding beyond the shores of Keppel Bay. Concurrently with the main Boat Asia at Keppel Bay, the new show will be held from 12-15 May at The Promontory@Marina Bay. The Promontory@Marina Bay, formerly known as Central Promontory Site is just in the heart of Singapore's Central Business District (CBD).

Two show venues, Keppel Bay and Marina Bay, are quite apart from each other. Fortunately for visitors’ convenience, there will be free shuttle bus services between Marina Bay and Keppel Bay so visitors can visit both shows without hassle.

Luxury meets sexy

Last years show was a success with achieving a record number of boat sales:

"Dealers from Fairline, Horizon, Integrity, La Marca, Grandbanks, Rinker, Riviera and Swan saw themselves taking orders for more than 10 boats worth over $20 million and gathering over $30 million  of sales interest. Despite scorching afternoons and overcast evenings, the event attracted over 10,000 visitors over the duration of the four-day event. Boat Asia 2010 saw a huge upsurge of potential boat buyers amongst boating enthusiasts and lifestyle aficionados throng the four day event. Featuring more than 100 exhibitors from the high-end property, boating, marine equipment and luxury lifestyle sectors, visitors were delighted with the wide array of exciting showcases both on-land and on-water.

Source: Boat Asia 2010 post show report"

The Next Financial Crisis in 2015? Or nearer?

I really do not like doomsayers, particularly famous Dr. Doom Nouriel Roubini, who is always pessimist at a given time and when he is right about his predictions(!) like a broken watch showing the time correct twice a day, he is famed as "the economist who has predicted the last recession". There is also a now infamous Roubini's Sentiment Index[1] which predicts the future of market by looking at his popularity in Google search (when people are more pessimist he is popular, and when people are bullish they simply forget him). Anyway Roubini is a professor who makes money with selling subscriptions to his web page, not really risking billions every day to make a living by investment. So it is a different story when a fund manager talks. For example, take it more seriously when cofounder and president of nearly $7 Billion Greenlight Capital, David Einhorn, who is famous to predict Lehman Brother's fall or Baupost’s Seth Klarman predicts financial crisis:

"I think what we did in the last crisis in resolving it was rather than go to the root of the crisis, tally up the damage, allot  the losses, clean up, fix things, and move on, I feel like a lot of what we did was sort of sweep things under the rug and put short-term bandage fixes on things.  And I think we managed to transfer a lot of the problems sort of from the private sector to the public sector. The problem is that it’s such a large problem that eventually, I’m concerned that will eventually threaten the public sector as well.

 …what we decided to do was sort of paper over the problems. We bailed out a lot of institutions.  We bailed out a lot of people that had positioned themselves incorrectly — ostensibly incorrectly in the crisis, whether it was individuals, whether it was institutions, whether it’s investors and so forth.."[2]

"Most of us learned about the Great Depression from our parents or grandparents who developed a “Depressionmentality,” by which for decades people shunned leverage, embraced thrift, and thought twice before quitting their secure jobs to join risky ventures. By bailing out the economy rather than allowing the pain of the economic and market collapses to be felt, the government has endowed our generation with a “really-bad-couple-of-weeks-mentality”: no lasting lessons are learned; the government endlessly intervenes in the economy, and, ironically, the first thing to strongly rebound from the 2008 collapse isn’t jobs or economic activity but speculation."[3]

Economists fear that China sits on a bubble now which would painfully burst.

Lately Oliver Wyman group jumped into the debate by releasing an interesting report named "The Financial Crisis of 2015: An Avoidable History"[4]. There they explain a possible bubble creation scenario, which matches the real-time process of early 2011 perfectly. They describe the solutions implemented globally to cope with the financial crises of 2008 were largely to save the day rather than resulting in long term positive effects and effectively rises on the hope that China with a huge demand for commodities will drive the entire world out of recession to a new boom. This is unfortunately more wishful thinking than careful analysis as transferring private debt over the shoulder's of tax payers and then printing money to kick start the western economies leads to the natural result: inflation. But in this well connected world, the inflation creating policies by western countries do not create inflation at home; they create inflation in the emerging markets such as China and South  East Asia. And inflation is reducing Chinese demand for commodities which was hoped to revive global economy. Add the huge public debt of western countries to the equation and you will see the picture of the near future as a new Financial Crisis.

Cullen Roche from Orsus Investments does not agree with the worst case scenario of the report, a USA bankruptcy, but still acknowledges that the global markets are heading to crisis[5]:

"... The flaws in the Euro, China's misguided economic policy and endless financialization of US are the three primary factors contributing to what is unavoidable future calamity. It is clear that none of these countries are interested in any sort of near term pain that would be required to fix these structural imbalances so it is not a stretch assume that we will continue the boom/bust cycle that has become a trademark of the last 25 years of global economic growth".[5]

[1] - Make Money with Roubini Sentiment Indicator
[2] - David Einhorn Predicting Another Crisis Like the Great Recession 
[3] - Baupost’s Seth Klarman Expects Another Great Recession
[4] - The Financial Crisis of 2015
[5] - Singapore Business Review, March 2011

Disclaimer

This blog article is to provide general information only and should not be treated as an invitation to buy or sell any property or as sales material.  Users of this report should consider this report as a one of the many factors in making their investment decision. Users should make reference to other sources of information and specific investment advice to obtain a more objective view of the property market. Asia Singapore shall not be responsible for losses suffered.

Saving energy in Singapore beyond Earth Hour

One more Earth Hour is over with some real savings on building facade lightings and increased carbon emission by switching from a light bulb to a candle for an hour. Every year, I never fail to see a company announcement/advertisement prior to this highly sincere but symbolic event which always reminds me an episode of fantastic show Two and a Half Men. Here Charlie stalks his ex-fiancée Chelsea and suspects she dates with a man. He waits for her parking in front of her apartment with his brother Alan is on board. Chelsea comes with the man and Charlie nervously wonders: Would they go in together? He tells his brother:

"Look at that thing he's driving. Alan replies, "What? It's a prius. of course it's a prius."

Charlie (cynically): "I'm saving the planet, could i play with your boobies?"

Alan    : "Hey, do not put down the green lifestyle. i have worked very hard to reduce the size of my carbon footprint."

Charlie:  "You're a mooch and a miser. Don't try to make it sound hip."

Here is an announcement from a large five star hotel about their effort to trim lights during earth our (we are saving the planet) followed by several advertisements informing us that they are also kind to provide a premium dinner options on Earth Hour day for us to enjoy food with candle light (can we play with your credit card?)

Do not get me wrong, I am neither insensitive like Charlie nor a mooch and miser like Alan. I do my best to save energy. And in Singapore the most serious way to save energy for individuals is not turning off the unnecessary lights but to limit the use of air conditioning and while using to set the temperature to higher degrees.

Up to 66% off General Aircon Servicing for Wall Mounted Unit or Cassette/Ducted Unit (2 Price Options)

Mr. Electricity, Michael Bluejay, explains it:

"In the typical home, air conditioning uses more electricity than anything else -- 16% of total electricity used. In warmer regions AC can be 60-70% of your summer electric bill, according to Austin Energy. If you're serious about saving energy, address your cooling costs first, since that's what uses the most electricity.
Source: Saving Electricity"

You will save most if you can do without air conditioning as much as possible. It is even very possible in Singapore, a ceiling fan or a standing fan will be sufficient for most of the time. I am telling this by experience, I hardly use AC till I sleep and occasionally continue the night with only using a fan.

If you need to use AC, set it to higher degrees. 25 Celsius plus will be good and it is better if you keep the temperature at 27 degrees. Since AC unit also dehumidifies the room, i can comfortably sleep at 28 degrees Celsius.

The trick is you start with 25 degrees and increase it up to 27-28 degrees step by step. For example 1 degrees up in every week. This will save you significant amount of money since increasing AC temperature from typical 22 to 27 will save 15 - 20 percent of AC electricity which sucks more than 100 SGD in most flats in Singapore.

Forecasting future of Singapore property market

In the first year of second decade of 2000s, two major extremes in Singapore property supply and demand ruled the prices:

On the supply side, significant cutback in public housing supply by HDB to melt the oversupply of end 90s (the average number of HDB units completed fell to 8,260 units per annum between 2001 and 2008 from the average of about 25,700 units per annum between 1991 and 2000)[1];

On the demand side, the demand increased by increase in population (1 million in 2000s over 4 million) and artificially decreased interest rates in the global markets implemented by FED twice; first not to take the pain of 2001 dot-com bubble and then 2008 financial melt down. This let to a cheap money (credit) available in most of the years between 2001 and 2010.

Singapore took action quickly to respond to the problems which it can solve. First, projected supply is increased by private property developers and HDB and there will be plenty of Singapore property supply in the near future (especially by 2013 and beyond). Second, Singapore Government played its role to cool the demand, by property cooling measures and also decreasing foreign intake to sustainable levels.

So we know, there is more supply projected for the first half of future 10 years (an increase from 13,500 units per year between 2005 - 2010 to 32,700 units per month from 2011 to 2013)[1], less foreigner intake, less speculation due to cooling measures. But we need to still be careful to drive a conclusion that the prices will come down soon. Supply increase does not drive the price alone and as long as the largest component of the equation, global quantitative easing (a cute name given by FED to money printing) and foreign interest in Singapore property (by Chinese due to restrictions at home and global investors diverted from middle east) is there, demand will be there to take up the supply. So since, Singapore property market is much driven by money inflow for the last 2 years, it is very important to forecast money inflow before forecasting the future of the Singapore real estate.

Potential buyers at a Singapore property launch

First scenario is that money printing and historically low interest rates can continue for long since FED has a special position in money printing, it is the only central bank in the world who has right to print world reserve money, US Dollar. In this case although there will be a very painful end to FED's game, it may be far in the future.

Second more likely scenario is that FED will not extend the money printing and in the next 6 to 12 months there will be an interest hike. This will be a hard axe on the demand both from foreign buyers as well as Singaporeans since interest rates back here at home closely follows global rates driven by FED.

To conclude, as long as interest rates are at these historical lows, the property prices in Singapore will stabilize but not fall significantly. A interest rate hike is very likely in the near future and it is the only powerful enough force to drive prices down. And any decision by FED to continue the game for long and keep interest lows will prevent a price decline.

[1] - DTZ Insight Singapore house price debate Liquidity rules the market

Disclaimer

This blog article is to provide general information only and should not be treated as an invitation to buy or sell any property or as sales material.  Users of this report should consider this report as a one of the many factors in making their investment decision. Users should make reference to other sources of information and specific investment advice to obtain a more objective view of the property market. Asia Singapore shall not be responsible for losses suffered.

Global real-time market data to any mobile device in Singapore at a fraction of the price

Real time market data is expensive, very expensive. A Bloomberg or Reuters terminal per seat can cost 2,000 dollars a month and even for a mid-sized financial firm the cost can easily add up to millions of dollars per year. These terminals work like a traditional TV channel subscription where you subscribe for whole hours of the channel and even if you watch one show or all the shows, you pay the same price.

There is an alternative to this approach where you only pay for the data you need, CarryQuote Professional CNBC Edition. CarryQuote, the company, is headquartered in Switzerland and has offices in
the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and China. They have just launched this CNBC edition in Singapore and currently have 400 users in Singapore. CarryQuote, makes financial data of the world on any mobile device with the fraction of the cost (500 real time snapshot quotes and streaming TV for $24.99 a month). The trick is explained by Singapore Business Review:

"The trick is that instead of a continuous feed of data, which a professional would pay for, users can request an instant ‘snapshot’ of a live data price for about 5 cents. CarryQuote CEO and co-founder Michael Stennicke told Singapore Business Review it was analogous to the iTunes of financial information. 

“Instead of having to buy the whole CD you can just buy the track, and with CarryQuote instead of having to subscribe to the whole live data feed, you just pay each time you want a live quote.”[1]

This is possible thanks to hard work of CarryQuote team, who made it technically possible for all mobile platforms and also convinced hundreds of exchanges around the world to make financial data available to non-professional investors.

Financial data to smartphones and tablets

Vast majority of real-time market data users only need on-demand “snapshots” of real-time data and have no
need for streaming tick data. For example when you mostly need to look at spot price of gold, and all the data streamed between your two queries are not needed. You can sure look at time delayed data free from internet but if you want timely data you can use an application like this. When you query the snapshot CarryQuote provides this on-demand  real-time financial data to you for 5 cents.

This is also a unique Software as a Service (SaaS) model. This offers fi nancial institutions a highly-advanced solution, fully compatible with major mobile and online platforms, and scalable to handle the largest possible deployments. All with no signi cant IT investment or in-house mobile expertise. Further, enterprise-level solutions can be deployed in weeks, rather than years.[2]

[1] - THE ITUNES OF FINANCIAL QUOTES LAUNCHES, Singapore Business Review in March 2011.
[2] - CarryQuote Professional CNBC Edition™ Brochure

ipad2 will be in Singapore in April 2011

When will iPad2 arrive Singapore for sale? This is a question I am regularly asking to a reseller since iPad2 is announced. I held my self off buying a tablet for a year and I am now waiting for ipad2 to hit the shores in Singapore. Today, they have told me that it will be sold in Singapore in 2 to 3 weeks time (by mid April 2011). Price? Not announced yet. Demand? A lot. I have registered anyway to buy one but I can still catch the second batch if the first is sold off before I can get one.

Why iPad but not a Google Android device? I personally had chance to try iPad and several tablets in the market in several IT shows and the main difference between Apple (particularly Steve Jobs) and its rivals is the focus on user experience. There are some great android tablets out there with great hardware, greater than iPad hardware, but when it comes to user experience, Apple products are superior for now. Also i find 10'' screen just optimum for my user experience and 7'' small to use. For these reasons, despite 2 major drawbacks for me, iPad lacks smartphone functionality and flash support, I will probably buy iPad2.

iPad2 is slimmer than iPad which is good because although i like 9.7'' large screen, it is really hard to hold it for a long time. iPad2 will hopefully be better in this. I really do not care about the back camera because iPad is not something I will naturally use to take photo but front camera is good for video chat, which will be very useful for me to keep in touch with friends who are thousands of mile away.

I would really like to have flash in a tablet I use, android tablets beat iPad here since iPad2 also do not support flash. It is an inconvenience but not a big deal if you do not have a habit of watching streaming video.

Many iPad users out there are a little disappointed with this new iPad2 since it looks like an upgrade rather than a radical new version. Digital Life (The Straits Times) summarizes this quite well:

"The iPad2 is a different animal to different users. Those who have held off buying the iPad will find this second-generation tablet, with its additional features and more powerful hardware, a very good buy. But if you already own an iPad, the iPad2 will feel more like a version 1.5 than an all-new second generation product." 

No Flash Support in iPhone and iPad. In the image above, all superheros can be displayed by an Google Android device
but in the bottom one Flash has gone and it is replaced with a "lack of flash support" icon which is familier to iPhone and iPad users :)

So for people like me, who did not enter into tablet world, iPad2 will be a definitely good buy. But as long as a new iPadX does not come with Retina Display (as in iPhone), USB port, SD card slot and something catchy, a lot of existing iPad users probably will not upgrade.