Borders bookstore to make comeback

Borders bookstore to make comeback in Singapore



Book retailer Popular Holdings is bringing Borders back to Singapore.

Popular CEO Chou Cheng Ngok announced Wednesday morning the company acquired the Borders brand for Singapore last year.

The new Borders store would open in Jurong by the end of the year.

Mr Chou also confirmed that the company will be closing its lifestyle concept bookstore Prologue in ION Orchard on 25 August.

Borders closed its flagship store in Wheelock Place in August 2011, and its Singapore outlet in Parkway Parade shut its doors the following month.

Mr Chou said: "People may say that the book industry is a sunset industry. Well sure, you know the sun rises, the sun sets. But for us, we feel that there is still a lot of life left in the book business.

"In Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, I think everybody knows Popular. But Borders is an international brand. To us, it's a new challenge."

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

TransitLink launches app for Android and iOS

TransitLink launches app for Android and iOS



TransitLink has launched the TransitLink Mobile Services app for Android and iOS.

New e-services in the app include Customer Claim, Lost Concession Card Replacement, New Senior Citizen Concession Card Application, and Lost Concession Card Enquiry.

Commuters will be able to submit their claims and request to have their refunds credited to their accounts in 16 GIRO-participating banks through the Customer Claim function in the app.

Commuters can also choose to have their funds credited directly to their stored value card at any of TransitLink's Ticket Offices, Add Value Machines Plus, and Concession Card Replacement Officers by using their smartphones.

The Lost Concession Card Replacement function offers commuters the option of applying for a replacement card via their smartphones.

Senior citizens can also apply for their senior citizen concession cards through their smartphones using the mobile services app.

Concession cardholders can also find out if their lost concession cards have been found by using the mobile services app. Commuters can then decide whether to go ahead and apply for a replacement concession card.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

EPL $59.90/month for both SingTel & StarHub

Standalone EPL channels to cost $59.90 per month for both SingTel and StarHub viewers

SingTel has announced on Friday the new price plans for the upcoming season of the English Premier League (EPL) which kicks off on August 17.

The ala-carte EPL content, with nine channels, will cost $59.90 per month for both SingTel mio TV users as well as StarHub's pay TV customers, the latter which SingTel is obliged to provide under the cross-carriage regulations.

The price is significantly higher than its old $34.90 per month sports bundle which came with EPL channels, Champions League and other sports content.

However, existing mio TV customers who are still on contract will get to enjoy the old price plan until the expiry of their contracts.

~News courtesy of Straits Times~

Breadtalk $1 for 1

EuropAce Warehouse Clearance Sales

SingTel announces pricing of BPL subscription

SingTel announces pricing of BPL stand-alone subscription

SingTel has announced the pricing for the next season of the Barclays Premier League (BPL), saying that majority of its BPL customers will be "unaffected".

The pricing for EPL stand-alone subscriptions will be at S$59.90, while existing mio TV Gold Packs are still available from S$64.90, said the announcement.

As only stand-alone content will be cross-carried, the stand-alone subscriptions will also be available on StarHub's pay-TV platform also at S$59.90 a month. Gold Packs will not be cross-carried after the Media Development Authority (MDA) decided that bundles were exempt from cross-carrying.

The new pricing "applies only to new subscriptions or those customers who are renewing their contracts", said SingTel.

SingTel will also be making the BPL available to more fans with screenings at community centres, but will release more information on these plans later. SingTel has added that it will spend S$100 million to enhance the quality and reliability of its service.

Meanwhile, SingTel also said that it "expresses disappointment with the Minister’s decision to not grant its appeal against the directive by MDA" for the cross-carriage of BPL content, but added that it respects the Minister's decision even though it believes that the BPL rights contract is "non-exclusive".

“We have made every effort to ensure our representation was heard because we believed that this was in the best interest of football fans. mio TV was set up to give customers choice and breathe new life into sports coverage. Our intention was to give customers certainty of content at competitive prices,” said Mr Allen Lew, Country Chief Officer-Singapore, SingTel.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

SingNet's appeal against cross-carrying BPL rejected

SingNet's appeal against cross-carrying BPL live matches rejected

The Minister for Communications and Information has rejected SingNet's appeal against cross-carrying Barclay's Premier League live matches over the next three seasons.

This means SingNet now has to make the live matches that are to be played from 2013/2014 to 2015/2016 available on StarHub's platform.

A ministry statement said the decision was made after careful consideration of the written arguments from both SingNet and the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA), which had issued the direction on cross-carriage of the matches.

It added that the decision was made based on the assessment of a number of factors, including whether clauses in the agreement between SingNet and the Football Association Premier League Limited would prevent or restrict the BPL content from being acquired or otherwise obtained for transmission on selected network platforms in Singapore by other pay-TV operators.

It noted that the key objectives of the Cross-Carriage Measure include addressing the high degree of content fragmentation and encouraging pay-TV operators to shift from a content-centric strategy to other forms of competition, such as service and content innovation.

It said pay-TV operators should keep this in mind and continue to provide better value to the consumers.

The statement suggested that MDA should consider providing further guidance on the circumstances that may trigger the Cross-Carriage Measure so that pay-TV operators can provide more certainty to consumers.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~