Gloria Jean’s Coffees Launches its Newly Design Pure Loose Leaf Tea “Pyramid Tea”

In making its presence felt as one of the world’s top gourmet coffee retailer, by participating the recent Malaysia International Franchise 2008 event held at Putra World Trade Center, Gloria Jean’s Coffees has unveiled its latest innovative design “Pyramid Tea” that packs in a creatively pyramid shaped fabric to enhance the flow of water when it is brewed in order to brings out its full flavour.

Claimed to be higher quality than other brand name and fortified with beneficial elements of antioxidant, the Pyramid Tea comes with 9 varieties of tea namely, English Breakfast, Darjeeling, Peppermint, Green Tea, Earl Grey, Ceylon OP, Ceylon Decaffeinated, Assam Organic and Chamomile.

Speaking at the launch, Director/Principal of Gloria Jean’s Coffees Malaysia, Mr. Shahrul Azlan Mohd Zulkifli said “this launch is aimed to promote a healthy living among Malaysians by consuming products of Gloria Jean’s Coffees and the antioxidant properties that is inhibited in the tea leaves has created vast interests from the young female consumers”. Meanwhile, Mr. Teo Tien Su, Senior Operation Manager of Gloria Jean’s Coffees said “Gloria Jeans Coffees plans to add more outlets to its 11 existing outlets in nationwide, to have a stronger presence in coffee retailing and consumers’ awareness”. Speaking about the goodness of Gloria Jean’s Coffees at the launch, Mr. Billy Sin, Asia Regional Operations Manager of Gloria Jean’s Coffees said “the coffee drinks that have been served at Gloria Jean’s Coffees outlets are carefully selected from the highest quality, hand-picked Arabica beans grown around the world which are roasted using state-of-art equipment located in Sydney, Australia.

In conjunction with the launch, Gloria Jean’s Coffees also gave away several prizes to the winners of Coffee King and Coffee Queen of Year 2008. This campaign was held from 15th of May to 30th of June, to create awareness and loyalty among Gloria Jean’s Coffees drinkers.

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Introduces The All New B-Class Sports Tourer

In complementing with its present line-up of B-Class series, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia has introduced its latest re-designed and re-engineered the all new B-Class at Villa Manja, Kuala Lumpur recently.

Claimed as the blueprint for a new species of car which harmonises the benefits of various vehicle concepts, the four door model boasts the dynamic design of a sporty saloon, the exterior dimensions of a compact car, the spaciouness of an estate, the versatility of a mini MPV and the trademark safety of a Mercedes-Benz, the new generation B-Class focuses on environmental compatibility, economic efficiency and comfort.

Powered by a 4 in-line 1699cc engine with 2 valves per cylinder that ables to pump out maximum power output between 85 to 116 kW/hp at 5500 rpm and maximum torque of 155Nm at 3500-4000 rpm, the new B-Class is enhanced by electronic controlled petrol injection and AUTOTRONIC, continously variable transmission (CVT).

The new B-Class exterior front showcases the new bumper design which emphasises the large air intake at the bottom as well as the modified bonnet to make the front look broad and sportier. The exterior mirror housings, door handles and skirt panels are painted to match the body colour on all model variants. The rear exterior features sporty taillight with a new outstanding large tailgate that comes with an enhanced chrome handle strip.

The interior of new B-Class is complemented by high seating position to improve the drivers’ view, while the centre console is underlined by trim strips on both sides that are made from diagonally brushed aluminium in a smoke grey finish. The trim strips is also featured at the gearshift and in the door panelling.

With highly effective, standard-fit technology namely, ABS, Brake Assist and ESP (Electronic Stability Program) intergrated in automatic hill-start assist to prevent B-Class model from rolling backwards by maintaning brake pressure, the B-Class is equipped with new active parking assist mode to help the driver to look for an appropriate spot at the side of the road. With the help of PARKTRONIC ultrasonic sensors will scan for the suitable parking lot and follows by active parking assist mode will automatically takes over the steering and manoeuvres the Mercedes-Benz B-Class into the vacant parking space. To be able to use the automatic parking feature, the parking spot only has to be 1.3 metres longer than the Mercedes-Benz B-Class.

The new B-Class model also comes with optional features in its new generation of infotainment systems, such as Audio 20 incorporate a radio with dual tuner, colour display, 6-disc CD-changer, Bluetooth, interface for mobile phones, CD player and automatic volume adjustment. Its interactive media interface allows iPod & Co to be linked up to the Sports Tourer’s infotainment system, is operated by buttons located at the multifunction steering wheel for the drivers’ convenience.

Speaking at the launch of the New Generation Mercedes-Benz B-Class, Vice President of Sales & Marketing Passenger Cars Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, Mr. Florian Mueller said, “the innovative New Generation Mercedes-Benz B-Class Sports Tourer impresses our customers with its fascinating design an unique blend of spaciousness and high degree of utility”. Mr. Florian added “Its versatility enables the new B-Class to flat fold the back seats at ease”.

The new generation B170 is priced at RM215,888.00. For more information, log on to www.mercedes-benz.com.my

BHPetrol Unveils The X-Factor Fuel “INFINITI”

BHPetrol has organised an X-Factor Fuel Challenge recently, with an aim to reveal the true identity of the fuel used in a blind test. The BHP Fuel Challenge was participated by 60 members of the public based on the criteria of being a user of all petrol brands, a mixture of both male and female, from all major races, from an age group of between 20 to 40 years old, and owning a car that is between two to ten years old.

Innovatively developed using a high-performance 100% synthetic additive, the Infiniti fuel fulfills motorists the maximum in performance and fuel economy. The additive is a highly effective, multipurpose additive incorporating Friction Modifier that is specially formulated to significantly enhance engine performance, enable fuel combustion with no wastage, hence resulting in maximum fuel efficiency.

Speaking at the unveiling of the Infiniti Fuel, BHPetrol’s Managing Director, Mr. Tan Kim Thiam said “BHPetrol will continue to evolve and upgrade its products and services to meet the extra demands of today’s consumers. Today’s event marked another milestone for BHPetrol as the results of the blind test clearly demonstrates the company’s commitment to be technically superior“. Mr. Tan also added “the results of the blind test reflect our commitment to creating more advanced fuel that offers more mileage, improved engine’s performance and responsiveness as well as lower engine noise“.

Also present at the momentous occasion were, Mr. James Khoo, General Manager of Retail BHPetrol, Mr. Baba Tan, Marketing Manager of BHPetrol, Dr. Mathias Haake, Technical Specialist (Asia Pacific) of BASF East Asia, Mr. Yee Boon Yeow, Managing Director of BASF Malaysia, Dr. Nat Lam, Director, Sales and Marketing of BASF Malaysia and Mr. Julian Ooi, Manager, Sales and Marketing of BASF Malaysia. Later in the evening, VIPs, guests and members from the press were given a live performance by the cheerleaders.

BMW Malaysia Introduces a New Dimension of Driving Dynamics-Sports Activity Coupe BMW X6 xDrive35i

In introducing the world’s first Sports Activity Coupe which offers a brand new, innovative interpretation of features and design qualities that exemplifies superior driving dynamics, all wrapped in the svelte lines of a Coupe, BMW Malaysia has unveiled BMW X6 vDrive35i at its Studiorom Sendirian Berhad, Sunway Damansara recently.

Incorporating the versatility and dynamic personality of a BMW X model, the BMW X6 is equipped with BMW’s intelligent xDrive for variable distribution of drive power between the front and rear axle. Dynamic Performance Control is also intergrated to provide variable distribution of drive forces between two rear wheels, hence, in enhancing steering precision, stability, traction on bends in accordance with agility and speed of the vehicle.

Speaking at the launch of BMW X6, Mr. Geoffrey Briscoe, Managing Director of BMW Malaysia said “the BMW X6 is an innovative interpretation of extremely advance features and design qualities, uniting coupe agility and BMW X’s supremacy on all terrain”. Also present at the event were, Mr. Vijayaratnam Tharumartnam, Press & Corporate Affairs Manager of BMW Malaysia and Mr. Daren Ching, Product Planning Manager of BMW Malaysia.

Powered by an in-line 6-cylinder petrol engine petrol engine with Twin Turbo technology and High Precision Injection that churns out maximum output 225 kW/306 bhp at an engine speed between 5,800 & 6250 rpm and maximum torque of 400 Newton-metres/295 lb-ft from 1,300 to 5,000 rpm, the BMW X6’s force-fed induction engine is intergrated to its 6-speed automatic transmission with gearshifts via the electronic gear selector lever or via the paddle shifters on the steering wheel. The BMW 6 has a respectable fuel efficiency of 12.1 litres per 100km and ables to accelerate 100km/h in 6.7 seconds with a top speed of 240 km/h or 149 mph.

Standard equipment include BMW’s iDrive with personalised favourite buttons, CD-player compatible with MP3, AUX-in socket featured as standard, multichannel Hi-Fi audio system, 4-zone automatic air conditioning, back-up camera, navigation systems, Head-up Display (HUD), bi-xenon, High Beam Assistant and Adaptive Headlights, Bluetooth, Comfort access, Electric glass roof, Automatic tailgate operation, ISOFIX child seat fastenings and sports seats and sports steering wheel with gearshift paddles. The four-door coupe also comes with highly adjustable luggage compartment (570-1450 litres/20.0-50.8 cu ft).

The retail (on-the-road, without insurance, with BMW service inclusive and repair) for the new BMW X6 xDrive35i is RM698,800

Sony Introduces World’s First AVCD Camcorder With Smile Shutter And Face Detection Technology

In responding to consumers’ demands for an extreme functionality and a highly advance camcorder, Sony Malaysia has unveiled its latest High Definition (HD) Handycam HDR-CX12, that is equipped with Smile Shutter and Face Detection technology.

Based on AVCHD encoding technology, the new Handycam HDR-CX12 is able to deliver an impressive 1920×1080i Full HD recording and 10.2 Megapixel still quality image. The new HDR-CX12 also features a ClearVid CMOS sensor with Exmor derived technology and in combining BIONZ image processing engine, the HDR-CX12 ables to achieve video still images that comes with high sensitivity and low noise.

Claimed as the world’s first camcorder with a Smile Shutter technology, the new Handycam HDR-CX12 ables to detect smiles during video recording and automatically captures still images of the scene.

The camcorder also features Optical Steady Shot which enables users to capture blur free videos without any deterioration in image quality, Slow Smooth Recording (ables to record 240 fields per second) allows users to capture a 3-seconds video as a smooth 12-second slow motion video and with Dual Recording function allows HDR-CX12 to capture 7.6 Megapixel high resolution still images while recording HD video.

Meanwhile, Mr. Taku Taguchi, General Manager of Product Marketing, Sony Malaysia said, “as the leader in high definition camcorders, Sony continues to revolutionise and expand its Handycam range with an aim of providing imaging technologies that caters to consumers’ needs“. Mr. Taguchi also added “Sony HDR-CX12 redefines the concept of camcorders with the world’s first Handycam engineered with both Smile Shutter & Face Detection technology”.

With built-in zoom microphone, the new Handycam (supports 5.1 channel Dolby digital surround sound) ables to record crisp audio clarity from desired object. By employing an optional wireless microphone, the users can also record accurate sound even in busy streets or distant locations.

The new Sony Handycam supports both, BRAVIA LCD TV with BRAVIA Sync feature via HDMI cable or component AV cable and Easy PC Back-up function for convenient back-up of Memory Stick data to a notebook or PC. The hassle free One Touch-Disk Burn is capable in allowing videos and images on the Handycam to be easily replicated onto AVCHD discs and DVDs.

The new Handycam HDR-CX12 is retailed at RM4,999 and is available at all Sony’s authorised dealers nationwide. For more information, please visit www.sony.com.my or contact Connie Goh at 603 2295 0307 or connie.goh@ap.sony.com