Bobby Tonelli shares his defining moment of geekiness and spills the beans on the one social media faux pas he can’t stand
Model, actor, host, radio DJ and one-time semi-professional baseball player, Bobby Tonelli is a multi-hyphenate who is as talented as he is tech-savvy.
Case in point: He probably owns more gadgets than you do. We chat with Bobby and get him to share about his favourite tech.
What was the first gadget you purchased with your own money?
My first cell phone, the Motorola StarTac flip phone. It was the coolest thing to have at the time and also quite expensive, so I dipped into my savings to get one.
I would call anyone I could just to use it, and when I wasn’t talking on the phone I just kept opening and closing it, haha.
Bobby says that the moment he got the Google Glass and turned it on was a defining moment in his geekiness.
What smartphone or mobile gadgets do you now own?
Currently a Samsung Galaxy Note 5, Huawei Nexus 6P, iPhone 6s Plus, iPad mini, Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 tablet, Huawei watch, Samsung Gear S2, Tom Tom Spark, Apple TV, Bluesound Pulse Mini, Bose QC25 headphones and that’s all I can think of right now. Now I know why my electricity bill is so high.
Where and what do you post on social media?
You’ll probably find me most active on Instagram as I enjoy taking photos.
Ever since I started learning how to take better pictures from Mathius Heng from the Leica academy, Willy Foo and Kelvin Chua, I try to make every picture count rather than just shoot something for the sake of it.
I’ve been told to post more selfies and pics with me in it but I battle with that sometimes because, frankly, I don’t find myself that interesting when there are so many other interesting things to share.
You recently tested the new Leica X-U camera. How did you find it?
I had the camera for 48 hours and, because I was one of the only people in Singapore to use it before the official launch, I was on my own in terms of its functionality. Like all Leica products, it’s beautifully made and has a lot of the main attributes Leica fans expect from their cameras.
Using it was a fun experience, especially taking pics underwater! You don’t need an extra case to go underwater or protect it from demanding situations you might be in if you’re into more adventurous photography.
Sure, it has some limitations like the lack of a zoom lens but that just means you need to plan your shots more. If you’ve shot with a rangefinder camera like a Leica M series camera, it shares some similarities in that respect.
If there’s one tech invention in your wish list, which would it be?
I can’t just name one! Three that come to mind right now are the Tesla Model S, the Skully AR-1 motorcycle helmet and SRAM’s wireless eTAP electronic shifting system road bikes.
Elon Musk has done something amazing with the Tesla that I feel is the next big push in the automotive industry.
Not only is it environmentally friendly but the technology it has like auto-pilot (self-driving on highways) and [being] constantly connected is something we could only dream about years back.
The model, actor and DJ will be making his China theatrical debut in Lost in the Pacific.
Where and when can we next see you in the media?
I’ll be making my China theatrical debut in China’s first sci-fi film titled Lost in the Pacific, out on Jan 29. It should be coming to Singapore very soon.
Plus I’ll be appearing in “Rojak”, a new Channel 5 comedy series airing this spring, and reprising my role as Runway Rio on “Interns” Season 2. We are in discussions for another TV series or two.
By Samantha Francis
Follow Bobby Tonelli on Instagram at @btonelli and check out his new project at findart.sg
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