If you have not known yet, I am the resident Formula 1 (F1)
nut in the office. I talk about F1 all the time, maybe to the point of
annoyance. I had the privilege of attending the F1 Singapore GP in 2019 courtesy
of Acronis and loved every second of being there. Sure, to some, F1 is nothing
more than just watching cars going around a piece of specialised and closed road
for an hour and a half.
To me, F1 is more than just that. It is the epitome of competition. It is the pinnacle of automotive racing, a sort of playground for the best of the best in the sport. It is also the pinnacle of modern automotive technology. The F1 world has contributed plenty of its innovation to the road going vehicles that we see today.
Source: Williams Advanced Engineering
There are other things as well. The understanding of Carbon Fibre constructions and driver safety is the reason hospitals have specific cradles for new-born babies that are lightweight, safe, and super comfortable for the younglings. So, F1 tech has reached out to more than just modern automotive industry.
We are all saddened by the news that the Japan Olympics this
year has been postponed to 2021 at the earliest. I was very sad when they
announced that F1 in Australia has to be cancelled, when China voluntarily cancels
their own hosting for this year’s F1 GP, and when F1 also announced that they
are not going to be racing in Bahrain, and Vietnam in 2020. All this, in the
name of combatting COVID-19. One of the McLaren staffs was confirmed as a case in
Australia and that kicked started the whole chains of events until today.
As of yesterday, some good news shone from the world of F1. They are not completely shutting down their factories and labs. Instead they are re-purposing them, at least seven of them in the United Kingdom (UK) are. These seven F1 outfits are all based in the UK as well, which is sort of why they are re-purposing their factories and labs to something they call Project Pitlane and #VentilatorChallengeUK consortium.
#VentilatorChallengeUK Consortium
By now, you would have read plenty about the global pandemic
that is COVID-19. By now, you would also learn to recognise the symptoms of contracting
the virus as well. By now, you would have learnt that patients will have
trouble breathing.
This calls for breathing
aid apparatus for the patients treated for COVID-19. In UK, where cases have
exceeded 22,000 individuals and death tolls hitting the 1,500s, the need of
such devices is becoming a desperation. They need more than 20,000 ventilation
equipment at this point.
The VentilatorChallengeUK consortium is the UK government’s call out to the private sectors to supply the health industry in the region with breathing aid equipment. It is an open tender for companies to design, build, and quickly manufacture a breathing aid apparatus for patients in the UK, for now. To that, the F1 world has answered the call with Project Pitlane.
Project Pitlane
The description from F1’s own website is very brief
actually. It is sort of a call to arms for the F1 teams to contribute in this
global pandemic, or rather to fight this pandemic. The project is basically a
challenge to the F1 teams to reverse engineer, redesign, and produce any
devices or anything that could help in scaling the production of UK’s VentilatorChallengeUK.
It could reach out more than that in a later date though.
To that extent, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, BWT Racing Point
F1 Team, Hass F1 Team, McLaren F1 Team, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, Renault
DP World F1 Team, and ROKiT Williams Racing has answered the call and pledged
to Project Pitlane.
In Italy, Ferrari has done their own part in the battle of COVID-19 too. They have donated EU€ 10 million (MYR 47.4 million) to the cause to buy ventilators and to provide a fleet of cars to transport and distribute food and medical supplies. Imagine a Ferrari F12 ambulance on their patient run, or even a Ferrari F12 fleet sending emergency medical supplies from one hospital to another. That would have been a great sight. Only in Italy though, at this point.
If you understand medical equipment production. Products like the
CPAP that Mercedes-AMG HPP and UCLH has developed or reverse engineered could
take years to develop. They have done in in a matter of days. It is not just a
testament of how much the world has progressed today, it is a testament to what
F1 type production process could do for other industries.
It also is also a prove of how many brilliant people are involved in getting a car circling a piece of specialised road as quickly as possible. Then again, the factory in Brixworth costs Mercedes-Benz quite a lot of money. It has been producing F1 engines since 1983 and has been producing several championship winning power units in various cars over the years.
In today’s Tech & Tonic podcast session, we have Stephen P. Francis of MyGroser.com joining us for a livestream on YouTube. Stephen is a multi-entrepreneur and has vast experiences starting up and running businesses in all kinds of field. His latest project is MyGroser.com, an online grocery shopping platform if you put it simply. The philosophy of the business though is to deliver products directly from suppliers, to their warehouse, and then to the customers. Produces comes directly from distributors and suppliers instead of other retail stores. The brand is growing from strength to strength and is now scaling up very quickly to fit the demands of the current day customers. You can find Stephen on LinkedIn.
In today’s podcast, we discussed about the new HUAWEI P40 series that made an appearance last week. That led us to speak a little bit about the smartphone industry that we know today. Since the main selling point of the HUAWEI P40 series is its camera, we poked a little bit about that too with Stephen.
Of course, last Wednesday, the government has announced that the Movement Control Order has been extended to the middle of April (14 April 2020). That also means we are all going to be working from home for a little longer than we might enjoy. Still, MyGroser.com can provide all the essentials for our survival at home. They have been a little overwhelmed by the events that has transpired in the past few weeks though. We poked Stephen’s brain a little on what is happenning in MyGroser.com and what they have been doing to ensure you get what you ordered.
On this week’s techENT Download, HUAWEI announced their new HUAWEI P40 Series with a huge 50-megapixel camera while Xiaomi took on themselves to steal the spotlight with the Xiaomi Mi 10 series and the Redmi Note 9s. Not being one to be left behind, Realme announced their Realme 6 in Malaysia while Samsung unleashed the Galaxy M31. The Samsung Galaxy S10 Series and the Note 10 series also get some love with new camera upgrades.
In the UK, Dyson has started making 15,000 ventilators to help with situation while Scientists turn to the people to create the largest Crowd Sourced, Distributed Computing network with Folding@Home! Help molecular biologists decipher SARS-CoV-2 structures with Folding@Home. You can lend a hand by downloading the software at https://foldingathome.org/.
Don’t forget to like and subscribe on our YouTube channel (youtube.com/techenttv)! Of course, click on the notification bell button to keep yourselves updated with our latest videos!
Last night we saw a big fan fare of a smartphone launch. It was the very anticipated HUAWEI photography flagship, the HUAWEI P40 series. The ones we are going to see earlier is the HUAWEI P40 and P40 Pro. There is a third model, the P40 Pro+ which will be coming way later. Still, HUAWEI finally announced their first 2020 flagship.
The HUAWEI P40 is really everything that you might want in a
HUAWEI flagship photography king. If you owned the P20, it is really the
smartphone that you naturally want to upgrade to. There is one thing that it
does not come with though: Google.
This means that the HUAWEI P40 series will not have Google’s very handy Play Store and is stuck to the ways of HUAWEI’s own proprietary Mobile Services (HMS) and its AppGallery. We are not saying that it is a terrible thing though. It may sound bad, but you never know until you try right?
The Test Bed – The HUAWEI Nova 7i
Our test bed is a HUAWEI Nova 7i. In some markets, they know
it as the HUAWEI P40 Lite. We do not understand that half the time, so we will
just stick to Malaysia’s official name for it, we guess; the HUAWEI Nova 7i.
If you really have to know the specs of this MYR 1,099
device, it is is a mid-range smartphone that packs a relatively punchy
HiSilicon Kirin 810 system on a chip (SoC) and supported by 8GB of RAM and you
get 128GB of storage with that. The internals push EMUI 10.0.1.108 that is also
based on Android 10. So, when we say that it comes completely devoid of Google
stuff, I did not forget that this is still an Android device. We just mean that
the HUAWEI Nova 7i comes devoid of Google’s important frameworks that includes
the Google Play Store.
We are not focusing on the hardware capabilities of the
device, though. So, it does not really matter if the HUAWEI Nova 7i comes with
a 48-Megapixel camera and a Full HD display. What matters is that it represents
the collective of modern HUAWEI devices that are in the market right now,
starting with the era of the HUAWEI Mate 30 series. They all have one thing in
common, and that is HMS and AppGallery.
The focus of this write-up then, is what we can do with HMS
and what AppGallery can offer us. On paper, it does not look too good for the
write-up. The HUAWEI AppGallery is the third largest app marketplace behind
Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store. Which may not sound like much,
because there are not many major app marketplaces in the market. Since there
are two major camps of smartphone Operating Systems (OS) in the market, the two
largest ones are quite a given.
Starting-up HUAWEI’s EMUI 10.0.1
Let us still give this a chance though. We fire up the device
and everything feels just like a regular Android smartphone at first. It is an Android
10 based system after all, so it starts up very similar to any Android. Except,
you do not sign in with your Google account. You sign in with or sign up for a
HUAWEI ID account. We had one, so that was simple.
If you are familiar with an EMUI device that has Google Play
Store installed on it, like the HUAWEI P30 series, navigating the smartphone should
be nothing new really. It is still a very familiar EMUI to the EMUI’s of the past;
in that, there is no difference in experience at all. You cannot see Google’s Play
Store on the home screen though. So far, so good; familiarity with the
interface saves the face.
First set-up
No Play Store, no problem. There the HUAWEI AppGallery. First
thing I usually do with a new smartphone is download all the essential apps I
need. Those apps are Whatsapp, Telegram, Slack, Facebook, Instagram, and
Twitter. Out of all those apps listed, I only found two – Facebook and Whatsapp.
They are not loaded into the AppGallery though.
What happens is that the HUAWEI AppGallery will lead you to a
third-party site to download the apk files of Facebook and Whatsapp. These are
the only two I found so far. Not looking good now. When we checked in, HUAWEI
says that these two sideloaded apps are safe because the AppGallery is the one
that leads us to the site.
That is not to say that you cannot sideload the rest of the
apps that I listed down though. You can still download the apk files from other
sites, no problem. Just be wary of the sources though.
Still, we worked with the two apps that we just downloaded.
They both work just like the Android version app should work. They look the
same too. The only question now is whether we can keep up with the most current
update packages or not.
Day 0 Wrap-up
We wrap the test up with that for now. We got our smartphone
running with the most essential WhatsApp up. Even Facebook is there, so far
that is the entertainment we are getting for the night.
Still, we are going to try to live through the HMS and
AppGallery as long as we can and go in-depth. The HMS is available on every new
HUAWEI smartphone you buy today. Yes, they are all running on EMUI 10 now too.
Still, the HUAWEI P40 that was announced last night is not
just that. When you buy a new HUAWEI smartphone today, you get a free 50GB
HUAWEI Cloud Storage subscription for the next year. If you already own a
HUAWEI smartphone device, you already have 5GB of HUAWEI Cloud Storage for free
anyway.
We will be looking to more apps next week with the HUAWEI Nova
7i. Until then, stay safe during this whole Movement Control Order period. To
the ones outside of Malaysia, you stay safe too.
The HUAWEI P30 is a year old now, just about. The P series in HUAWEI’s stables has been the Photography smartphone. It was a smartphone that always took smartphone photography to the next level.
The P9 was the first smartphone that launched with two lenses.
The P20 series launched with a revolutionary three-lens camera arrangement. Then
came the P30 series last year that launched with one more lens in the back of
the device. It was also the device that started the maximum zoom distance race.
Of course, we have the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra that zooms up to 100x. Yes,
this was the race started by the HUAWEI P30 series. HUAWEI, in the modern era
of smartphones are definitely the trend-setters for smartphone cameras.
Source: HUAWEI
That is partly why this is an interesting year for HUAWEI
and for us. The question in everybody’s mind was, how is HUAWEI going to innovate
and revolutionise the smartphone camera again. How are they moving the goal
post, the gold standard of smartphone photography? All that is answered with
the HUAWEI P40 series.
As with any other modern HUAWEI devices, the HUAWEI P40 series
packs their very own HISilicon Kirin 990 5G ready System on a Chip (SoC). That processor
is supported by an 8GB of RAM to help things trundle along nicely and you get
to pick up to 512GB in storage. If that is not enough, you can expand it via a
NanoMemory 2 card. Here is the issue though, you can hardly find a NanoMemory
card in Malaysia.
That may be forgivable though. I hardly can think of anyone
needing an extra memory card in their smartphones these days. Even 128GB is also
plenty if you think about it. The main attraction for today though is the camera.
HUAWEI P40 Pro+
Source: HUAWEI
We start with the daddy of the lot, the big hulking thing
that is the HUAWEI P40 Pro+. Technically, it is not that much of a big thing. Its
display measures in a 6.58-inch. It punches a resolution of 1,640 by 1,200.
That is actually just a little more than Full HD. It also comes with something they
call a Quad-Curve Overflow display. That means that at its four sides, the display
curves into the frame. Visually, that gives you an illusion of a bezel-less
display. It might as well be though, because the bezels are so thin, you might not
even see it.
It also refreshes at 90Hz, not 120Hz like other premium
flagships we see out there. HUAWEI says that this is more battery efficient though,
which rings some truth. That should allow the 4,200mAh built-in battery to last
longer than your average workday.
Its IP68 body is a wrap of glass in front and ceramic at the
back. Ceramic is a unique material because it is a highly durable material. At
the same time, it has glass like qualities that makes it shine. Fortunately,
the P40 Pro+ only comes in that type of body. Unfortunately, the P40 Pro+ is
the only one in the series to get ceramic finish.
That ceramic back is house to a five-camera set up you might
find familiar looking in arrangement. They are very different from their
competitor though. The camera module are co-developed with Leica, as usual.
The main camera, the biggest sensor HUAWEI ever developed is
a 50-Megapixel main shooter with HUAWEI’s very famous RYYB sensor. They say
that it is bigger than its competition and its predecessors. As HUAWEI has
proven too, their RYYB sensor is supposed to be able to absorb more natural light,
allowing for better detailed shots and better details in low-light photography.
In another sense, it allows the camera to ‘see’ better.
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
There is a 40-Megapixel ultra-wide angle lens sitting on one
side of the main shooter. They call it a Cine Lens. Then there are two
telephoto lenses you will find on the HUAWEI P40 Pro+. There is a 3x telephoto
lens punching 8-Megapixels, and a 10x telephoto lens at the same pixel count. Both
sensors are RYYB sensors too, mind you. Together with the 50-Megapixel lens, the
HUAWEI P40 Pro+ can zoom up to 100x. Sounds familiar? Yes, somebody has done it
before. So far though, this alongside the Korean contender, are the only devices
to have a zoom factor of 100x. The fifth camera is a 3D ToF camera, to capture
and process 3D environments. There is also an additional colour temperature sensor
though. This is for better colour interpretation and reproduction on your photos.
This also means your photos should look stunning.
Before we forget though, the overflow display has a punch
hole in the top left corner of the OLED display. That houses a 31-Megapixel
camera, a depth sensor, and an Infra-Red sensor combination as its front
camera. That sounds like a recipe for a camera for a mid-range smartphone. The combination
should make a great selfie portrait though.
HUAWEI P40 Pro
Source: HUAWEI
Then there is a littler HUAWEI P40 Pro. When we say smaller,
we have already mentioned that the HUAWEI P40 Pro+ and the HUAWEI P40 Pro share
the same 6.58-inch DCI-P3 certified HDR display with more than Full HD+ resolution.
So in that sense you are getting a device with the same size. You even get the
same 32-Megapixel camera combination out the front.
You also get the same battery size for good measure. Nearly
everything about the device is quite the same as its more premium HUAWEI P40
Pro+ brother. Everything except for its storage option at 256GB, price tag, and
the back.
The back is not ceramic, nothing that premium. It is a glass
back and it comes in five interesting colour options. We especially like the matte
finish variant.
The back also houses an impressive camera set up though. Not
five cameras this time. It is a four-camera set up at the back in what seems to
be identical camera module housing. While it is not a five-camera set-up, it is
still a powerful arrangement with a 5x telephoto lens at the back though.
You still have the same RYYB 50-Megapixel sensor lodged in
the middle of the arrangement. That is also still flanked by a 40-Megapixel
lens. At the other side though is a 12-Megapixel RYYB telephoto camera at 5x
optical zoom. You get a 3D ToF camera to top it all off and a colour temperature
sensor.
HUAWEI P40
Source: HUAWEI
The littlest one in the family. It is not that little as
well. Its display measures in at 6.1-inch and punches Full HD+ resolution. Thing
is, the display can be considered small compared to its competitors too. Even
the OPPO Find X2 has a 6.7-inch display. The punch hole on the display also
houses the same 32-Megapixel camera combination as its more powerful siblings.
The back is also a glass finished glass, like the HUAWEI P40
Pro. Like the HUAWEI P40 Pro too, you can choose between 5 colour finishes. Unlike
the HUAWEI P40 Pro and the P40 Pro+ though, you only get 3,800mAh battery within
the more petite body. Unlike the HUAWEI P40 Pro also, this only sports 128GB in
memory. Still plenty, in our opinion. Unlike the HUAWEI P40 Pro series too,
this does not have the luxury of seeing the Quad-Curve display. It is completely
flat. Which may not actually be a bad thing.
Like its bigger brothers though it still retains its
50-Megapixel camera in the middle. Except, you only get two other cameras flanking
the main sensor. On one side is a 16-Megapixel ultra-wide angle lens. The other
is an 8-Megapixel 3x telephoto camera. While you get less, you still get the colour
temperature sensor though, which also means your photos still comes out as
stunning as it can be. Maybe just as stunning as the more premium variants.
The Vision Photography
All the devices in the range have plenty of things in common
though. They all share the same 8GB RAM size. They share nearly the same design
language and camera module housing. They also share the same software. All of
them are running on HUAWEI’s Android 10 based user interface (UI) that is the
EMUI 10.
The EMUI 10 in the HUAWEI P40 Pro has a few tricks up its
sleeve over the current generation of EMUI 10 though. While it still allows the
HUAWEI P40 series to shoot at 4K 60fps, the software takes advantage of the
3-mic set up of the Huawei P40 Pro and implements what the industry calls zoom
audio. That also means that it amplifies the volume of the object you shoot as
you zoom into the subject.
Source: HUAWEI
There is a new autofocus system on the HUAWEI P40 series too.
While the world is still stuck on Dual Phase Detection autofocus, HUAWEI uses
Octa Phase Detection autofocus on the HUAWEI P40. That also means you get near
instant and accurate autofocusing from the HUAWEI P40. You can now also take 4K
timelapse videos with your zoom lenses on the HUAWEI P40. So instead of
shooting a scenery, you can choose a subject to focus on and shoot.
The HUAWEI camera app also comes with a more powerful AI.
This is also thanks to HUAWEI’s HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G SoC with a large dual Neural
Processing Unit (NPU). The NPU on that processor is the most powerful independent
NPU we have ever seen in a smartphone SoC.
Source: HUAWEI
The camera app has something called Golden Snap. This feature
is pretty useful for not just regular photographers. It is a killer feature for
any photographers. First, there is the ‘best-shot’ recommendation intelligence.
This should not be all that new. The other two functions they teased though are
quite mind-boggling. The first is the AI Remove Passerby; which does exactly that.
It lets you discard any unwanted people in your photo and let the camera just
focus on you and your surroundings. While that sounds like something only
Photoshop can do before this, you are entering a new era of smartphone photography
with this one. The second is AI remove reflection, which is also exactly that.
No, it will not remove you completely if you deliberately take a photo of yourself
in front of a mirror. What it does is remove the reflected images you get when
you take a photo through a glass panel. Again, something that you though only
Photoshop could do. Not anymore.
The Power of EMUI
While this has nothing to do with its software, we have to
say it for the HUAWEI P40 series. The device packs the fastest wireless charging
capability in the current market. It comes with 40W fast charging capabilities.
It does not just stop there though, like the HUAWEI P30 Pro, you can share your
extra power with other wireless charging devices too. Keep in mind that this is
only for the HUAWEI P40 Pro and P40 Pro+ though.
Still, all the HUAWEI P40 devices have something called Celia;
HUAWEI’s very new, very personal, very clever assistant. It is basically HUAWEI’s
version of Google Assistant. Except, HUAWEI can no longer access Google’s framework
and services anymore. Which also means that this is an HMS device with AppGallery.
It is still Android based though, so you still can sideload Android compatible
apps.
Source: HUAWEI
Still they have something new in the AppGallery called MeeTime.
Sounds like FaceTIme? It is better than that. At first glance it looks like a
very regular video chat app. Thing is, it is like Google Hangouts on steroids.
You can use third-party cameras, connect it to the app, and let the app project
from the camera. You can share your screen across the video chat, you can even project
your video call on your TV or other WiFi compatible displays if you like. It is
the perfect video conferencing tool if you ask me.
Someone close to us mentioned before this that HUAWEI’s HMS
lack a cloud photo gallery. With the new HUAWEI P40 arrangement, it seems like
they are going to fix that in a big way. HUAWEI calls it their Cross
Distributed File System. Essentially, it is a file sharing tool between
devices. The thing is, you can activate it, and you can search your photos
across any of your own devices, even if it is not your smartphone or cloud
storage yet. If you are under the same WiFi umbrella, even better. Of course,
there is the great HUAWEI Share function that we all quite love.
HUAWEI’s Professional Studio Light by HUAWEI Camera Kit x Profoto
Alongside the photography kings, HUAWEI collaborated with Profoto
to create something that we saw; and we really want it. It is sort of a multipurpose
portable photography and video artificial light source. Well, it is technically
a very fancy lamp that comes with its own set of filters. You can control it directly
from your HUAWEI smartphone to your liking or to add a light source to make your
photos look better. No idea how much its priced, or when its arriving into the
market. We are excited though.
Price and Availability
The HUAWEI P40 and HUAWEI P40 Pro will be available in selected
global markets, including Europe from the 7th of April 2020 onward. Both
the devices will be available in the same five finishes; ice white, Deep Sea
Blue, and Black regular finishes, and Frost Silver and Blush Gold matte glass
finishes. The HUAWEI P40 Pro+ will be available way later in June 2020 in two
exclusive ceramic finishes; black and white.
Source: HUAWEI
The HUAWEI P40 series starts from EU€ 799 (MYR 3,768) with the
standard HUAWEI P40 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB in storage. The HUAWEI P40 Pro is
stuck in the middle priced at EU€ 999 (MYR 4,712). The series tops off with
the HUAWEI P40 Pro+ at EU€ 1,399 (MYR 6,598). Expensive? Yes, they are.
Remember that this is not representative of the prices of the Malaysian units when
they get here. There is no official word yet on when the device is coming into
Malaysia. If you need any more information on the HUAWEI P40 series you can
find it on HUAWEI’s
website.
No, not the OPPO Find X2 Pro. This is the regular OPPO Find X2. This is the new OPPO flagship device.
The OPPO Find X2 series is a flagship two years in waiting. It
was a successor to OPPO’s most powerful and most expensive device at its
launch. Which also means that it needs to be as powerful and just as expensive.
It packs s Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC which, incidentally
makes it the most powerful smartphone OPPO ever made. It is also sold at MYR
3,999 onward and goes all the way to MYR 4,599 (OPPO Find X2 Pro). It is the
most expensive, or most premium OPPO smartphone ever launched. Those two boxes
are ticked then.
However, it does not deliver the same ‘wow’ factor as the
original OPPO Find X. Instead of having a crazy motorised pop-up mechanism that
everyone grew to love in the Find X, the OPPO Find X2 is now just a plain candy
bar smartphone that resembles a HUAWEI P30, I dare say. Still, it does not mean
that it is not a handsome device, it is still pretty with the Ocean finish.
There is one thing that blew our minds though. It is the O1 Ultra
Vision display that caught our attention. It is a QHD+ display, plenty for a 6.70inch
display. It is also refreshing at a rate of 120Hz with 240Hz sampling rate. What
does that mean? It means ultra-smooth and snappy experience of a smartphone. Get
this as well, it refreshes at 120Hz while pushing QHD+ in resolution. It is not
scaled down in anyway.
In fact, the O1 Vision engine scales regular 30fps videos up
to 120fps just to take advantage of the display. That makes everything looks
better on screen. We did not notice any image distortions or flickers as well
while watching things like YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Video Prime. While the
differences are subtle, the experience difference is quite drastic; especially
if you can put another flagship side by side and compare.
We had a little bit of concerns with the battery because of
the high refresh rate and resolution. The combination of that still allows the 4,200
mAh battery to last a complete workday with more to give though. If not, we can
break out the SuperVOOC charger and charge it within 38 minutes. We have not
tried that, we should.
The OPPO Find X2 is now available in across Malaysia for MYR
3,999. It is available in two colour options – Aurora and Black. Both colour
options feature different build materials, we suggest getting the black just
because of its ceramic finish. Of course, more information on their website.
In today’s episode of the techENT Tech & Tonic, we have a returning guest; Jeremy Teo, and new one, Natasha Hashim! Natasha Hashim, or TashBunny, as more commonly known to her stream fans, is a streamer and also content creator for IGN SEA! If you cannot recognise her, you should be watching more local eSports events, because she is one of the more bubbly host in the events.
We only have three mics in the office, but we are not in the office or studio at all today. We did a livestream in the morning, because all of us was stuck at home. So we talked a little bit about that. Since we were on the topic of catching up with stuff, we spoke plenty about games, and of course, the Sony PS5 “road to PS5” press conference. We shared what we were looking forward to with the new PS5, and what we were looking forward to with the games!
P.S. because it was recorded on a live stream software (OBS), we did not have the freedom to work with multi-track recording. Therefore, we had some audio issues in the beginning and did not notice it until someone in the stream mentioned it. We fixed in the later half of the show. Please do not turn your volume all the way up first.
In this week’s techENT download, things are a little bleak
with the COVID-19 situation. We had to close our office because the government has
issued a Movement Control Order which limits our travels in and out of the
house. That also means that we have to start working from home full time. As of
yesterday’s announcement, it is going to be the situation until the 14th
of April 2020.
Still, we are optimistic and will still bring you the latest
in tech. In that regards, there are a couple of smartphone launches within
Malaysia itself. The two most interesting ones are the foldable devices coming into
the Malaysian smartphone market fold. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and HUAWEI Mate
Xs is officially available in Malaysia now. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is available
in participating stores at MYR 5,888. The Huawei, on the other hand, is now
available online and you can get your hands on your own unit for MYR 11,111. You
can choose between a delivery or pick up at your favourite HUAWEI store; though
the latter option might be handy way later.
The OPPO Find X2 Pro is finally in Malaysia for MYR 4,599.
The OPPO Find X2 Pro was also one of our most anticipated smartphone to come
into the market. At the same week, HMD Global (Nokia) announced what seems to
be the most affordable 5G ready smartphone in the world with the Nokia 8.3.
They also brought back XpressMusic with their the ‘new’ Nokia 5310.
Beyond that we also saw the Sony PlayStation 5. No, there
are no product renders, or even a reveal of the device. It was just a reveal of
the specifications of the PlayStation 5. It is just slightly less powerful than
the Microsoft Xbox Series X. There is one thing extra on the PlayStation
though, and that is called the ‘Tempest’ 3D audio engine.
The situation for COVID-19 is quite dire. As of today, the
Malaysian Prime Minister has announced that it will go on until 14th
of April 2020. That also means that working from home has extended thanks to
that as well. While to some people, that also means that they get to spend more
time at home working. That also means that they need to bring their work home
from the office. You cannot expect everyone to bring their big tower PCs home.
So the best way to get work done from home is to have your
own PC. If you do get your own PC though, you want it to be powerful. You want
it to be powerful enough to play games with it and to ensure that it runs smoothly.
Of course, you only want the best for yourself. So the choice is a gaming PC.
Building a tower makes sense, plenty of sense, you get to
have a say I how powerful you want your PC to be. Of course, there is the problem
of cost too. So that is up to you. There is another issue however, how do you
bring it around? What if you want to work off site in the future? You cannot
bring your tower set up out.
Source: Acer
So you need a gaming notebook PC instead. Which one? There are
plenty, but Acer just updated their Nitro 5 gaming notebook PC. So, in a sense,
you are getting more power for your money.
The updated Acer Nitro 5’s upgrade does not include an
update on its visuals though. Then again, the Acer Nitro 5 is not half bad
looking. The upgrades are mode than skin deep.
Source: Acer
You get a 9th Generation Intel Core i7 on the Nitro 5. That Core i7 has 8GB of RAM behind it and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660Ti GPU to handle what comes out of the 15.6-inch 120Hz Full HD display. All that makes is quite a powerful notebook PC. It even has a 512GB SSD to make it even faster than your average PC. All this is a step up from the previous Acer Nitro 5 with a 9th Generation Intel Core i5, paired to an NVIDIA GeForce GTX1650 and 4GB of RAM.
Source: Lazada
The new Acer Nitro 5 is now available for MYR 4,499 on Lazada. On Lazada’s 8th Birthday Sale, it will go for MYR 4,184 and you would be getting some extra free gifts with the purchase too. The Lazada 8th Birthday Sale happens on the 27th March 2020. Of course they will deliver it to you.
Malaysia is still under Restricted Movement Order (RMO), or Movement Control Order (MCO), or in other words, partial lockdown. We are just one step away from a national curfew or martial law. If you have been living under a rock and have not known what is happening outside your windows, we are under RMO/MCO/lockdown because of the COVID-19 situation which is worsening as the days go by. To be specific, we are under this condition to combat the worsening COVID-19 situation.
Why this is the best way to go? There are plenty of graphs
and what not to be shown, but we are not going to do that here. All you need to
know is it is very important that we practice social distancing and stay at home
as much as possible to limit infection rate and risks.
Staying at home can be a drag for plenty though. We can understand
that, especially for those social butterflies out there. We feel your pain, but
at the same time I personally like staying indoors anyway. Still, it does get
boring; you run out of games to play, run out of books to read, generally
running out of things to do eventually.
It is quite a simple fix though. You can order books online now and buy games digitally. You do not need to step out of the house for all these for a while now. You can even get a movie on your couch with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, what not. Still, these things cost you money. There is something else you can do, for free – exercise.
The Right Tools Are Essential
We are saying that exercising can be fun, yes. Beyond that
though, in the days where you can barely step out of your home, it is always
important for you to keep yourselves active and healthy. By sitting around and working
all the time while watching YouTube recipe videos, you tend to get lazy, and
unhealthy.
We are pretty sure you have been eyeing those smartwatches and
fitness trackers for some time now. It is the in thing these days anyway. At
this time, you must be thinking; “maybe not now, maybe wait until this whole ‘stay
at home’ thing blow over”. We are telling you that is the wrong mindset, because
at this point the government is talking about extending the RMO/MOC/lockdown
for another two weeks. Even the Olympics committee is looking to postpone the
Tokyo Summer Olympics 2020 just to combat the pandemic that is the COVID-19.
Source: Garmin
Now is a good time as any to get a smartwatch or a fitness
tracker. If you are planning to get one already, Garmin makes some great stuff
(we can testify), and they are having some great promotions for their smart trackers
now. For example, the Garmin Forerunner 245 and 245 music (one of my personal favourites,
review coming soon) is on sale for MYR 1,299 and MYR 1,499 (originally MYR 1,450,
and MYR 1,699) respectively. It will last you up to 7 days in normal smartwatch
mode. It has GPS and built in music capabilities too. Be warned though, battery
will drain within 6 hours if you turn both on.
Source: Garmin
The Garmin Forerunner not your cup of tea? Need something more
basic? The Garmin Instinct would fit great with its ruggedness too. It is built
to the U.S. military standards 810G to ensure that it still works in the most
hostile environments. This would be perfect for you Spartan Challenge and Viper
Challenge junkies. It has a battery life of up to 14 hours. It has GPS too of
course, and that would last you u to 14 hours, 35 hours in UltraTac mode. You
can get it in its plain body form, or tactical form (ATACS camo) for MYR 1,299
and MYR 1,450 (originally MYR 1,450 and MYR 1,599) respectively.
Source: Garmin
Nope? Need something more smartwatch like? Need touch screen?
Something more elegant you can wear every day. There is the Garmin Venu, a
pretty looking thing that has all the great Garmin features with a pretty
AMOLED touch sensitive display. This smartwatch can last up to 5 days too, much
better than almost anything with proper smartwatch functionalities in the
market. Of course, the Garmin Venu also has GPS built into its svelte body and
music storing capabilities. With both on, you get 6 hours of battery life. But you
do not need more than that in your exercises. It is available now in plenty of
colour combination options for MYR 1,599 (originally MYR 1,799). My personal
favourite is the Blue Granite/Silver combination.
The Garmin smart trackers are on this discount until the 31st of March 2020, that is when the lockdown order ends too. All the promotions are also coupled by Free Shipping by Garmin with FREESHIPPING code from their local distributor. Well, because, you know, you cannot go out; and retails are not open. Visit their online store now.
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
You have the Samsung Galaxy Watch or the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 that is now MYR 1,299 each. The Samsung Galaxy Watch, in my opinion, remains the best smartwatch that you can pair to your Android at this point. Of course they do not offer crazy one-week battery life. You get at most 3 days or so before needing a charge. Still, you get GPS, music storage, heart rate tracking, and activity monitor with them too. Plus, Samsung is participating in Lazada’s birthday promo on the 27th March 2020
Source: Apple
Or if you are an Apple user, you can always go back to the Apple Watch Series 5 currently. While we are not huge Apple fans, we have to admit that the Apple Watch has come a long way as a smartwatch option. The Apple Series 5 is a great smartwatch on its own with plenty of unique features like ECG monitoring, fall detection, and what not. Hey, it looks great too, in my opinion.
There are of course, plenty of options out there for you. There are more stuff in Garmin’s product range that might fit your preference better, or there are even great options from other people. There are also cheaper, more basic stuff out there. You just have to go into the interwebs and look.
Back to Basics
Back to keeping yourselves at home. There are plenty of
exercise videos you can actually watch from YouTube to keep yourself active. A search
of home exercises come up with a plethora of videos that might fit your needs
at home, so we are not going to feature any video here.
If you are not into the exercising videos or instructional
though, that is okay too. There are other ways to keep yourself active. Yes, we
try to do them too.
For one, you can just make sure you walk around the house.
While you might have set up your workstation at home to be as convenient as possible
for you work wise, you should separate all the living stuff and work stuff.
This ensures that you do not stay in one place for too long. Somehow this
forces you to get up and walk around the house to get water, or tea, or even food.
Maybe you should even put your smartphone further away from you so that you
will walk up to it to answer if there are any calls. I know I am doing that. Only
issue is, if you accidentally put it on silent or leave your headphones on. Of
course, check in from time to time.
Who says you need weights to keep yourself active at home? Keeping
yourself active at home can be just as simple as keeping yourself active in the
office. You have water bottles you can use as weight to do your weight-lifts
and what not. While it may not be as intensive or taxing on your body than those
crazy home workouts you see on YouTube videos, it is still something you can do
to keep your body moving.
Of course, since you actually have plenty of time at home
now, since you do not have to travel to work on a daily basis (you free up at
least an hour of your day, you have not considered the time you take to go out
with your friends, for meals). You have at least that one hour to get proper
exercises done. You can do your basic push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, and whatever
not. Of course, there are some more effective exercises you can find from
YouTube and what not.
Still do not want to do it in front of the TV? Garmin has
something called a Squad
Virtual Challenge. It is a community-based fitness and exercise program
that is now online. Obviously you have to be a Garmin owner to take advantage, hence the promotions. But you get new
regimes every two weeks from the Squad Virtual Challenge (for now), so you can
do something different every two weeks or so to keep your workout sessions more
varied.
There are also plenty of other workout regime subscriptions or community workout plans out there. Some are free, some are not. Some of them may work for you, some of them may not. It really depends on what you want out of your workout sessions too. So you should really look into it.
Going to the gym, or even going for an outdoor jog is not
really an option at this time. You really have to find the time on your own to
keep yourselves active. We also understand that it can get quite difficult
since you are just staying at home most of the time. It is important to keep
yourselves active though. An active lifestyle is a more productive lifestyle, trust
me.
