Yearly Archives: 2020

PR Newswire

TECNO Mobile launches the groundbreaking five camera-equipped Spark 5

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HONG KONG, May 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — TECNO Mobile, a global premier mobile phone brand, has announced the launch of the groundbreaking Spark 5 smartphone. Equipped with five cameras and a powerful 5,000 mAh battery, the Spark 5 will bring photos and videos to life on its 6.6 inch dot-in-display. The Spark 5 will feature TECNO’s HI OS 6.0 straight out of the box, which is built on Android Q, and will be available at leading retailers in the global market.

The SPARK 5 brings unmatched quality in image and video creation powered by its 13 megapixel AI Quad camera on the back and an 8 megapixel front camera. Each of the four rear AI cameras are equipped with specific capabilities – depth, primary camera, macro lens, and AI lens – delivering an extraordinary visual experience to users and showcasing TECNO Mobile’s innovative use of artificial intelligence technologies.

Stephen Ha, General Manager of Tecno Mobile, commented on the launch: “We continue to see demand for our innovative smartphones in the Middle East and we are excited to be launching the Spark 5 in the region. As a brand founded on the principle of innovation and the value of AI technologies, the new Spark 5’s five cameras will appeal to users looking for a power-packed smartphone at an accessible price. Users can enjoy a better-connected life by sparking their creativity with the state-of-the-art camera technology at your fingertips, and share content easily with their friends and families through social media channels.” 

Photography enthusiasts can take professional-grade photographs in all modes and with various effects, including the bokeh effect, AI HDR, macro mode and AI portrait mode, making full use of the Spark 5’s powerful cameras. The cutting-edge “immersive screen” will provide users with a one-of-a-kind true full screen viewing experience.

With its upgraded AI Camera 3.0 algorithm and AI Scene Detection, users will transform their photography experience: elevating the quality of photos they take, and making full use of the phone’s six flashes — including four which are situated around the rear camera with dual front camera flash. With the macro mode, users will be able to take extreme close-ups up to four cm away from the subject, allowing them to focus on the details that matter. 

The SPARK 5 also features AI HDR technology which increases dynamic range beyond what is captured by the camera’s sensors, allowing users to take photos with less noise and sharper details. SPARK 5’s elegant design comes in four colour options of Ice Jadeite, Spark Orange, Vacation Blue and Misty Grey.

A feature-packed powerful smartphone for everyone

  • Camera: 8-megapixel front camera and 13-megapixel rear AI quad camera with 4 back flash and dual front flash.
  • Software, Connectivity and Network: WIFI/BT 5.0 with a 4G LTE enabled network and a 2 Nano Sim slots.
  • Android Q with MT6761 processor and a 32 GB + 2GB memory. The device operates on HiOS which is a customized version of Android mobile operating system. It allows for a wide range of user customization without requiring rooting the mobile device. The operating system is also equipped with utility applications that allow users to free up memory, freeze applications, limit data accessibility to applications, and other useful features.
  • Display: SPARK 5’s 6.6 inch dot in display screen is a massive beauty. It gives you a screen with a 90.2% perfect screen ratio allowing for a much broader and a more wonderful viewing experience with a screen resolution of 720*1600 HD that provides extremely sharp display.
  • Battery: 5,000 mAh that will last you all day on a single charge. Even with power consuming applications running on your tabs, the phone will get you through the entire day.

For more information, please visit TECNO Mobile at www.tecno-mobile.com

About TECNO Mobile

TECNO Mobile is a premium smartphone brand from TRANSSION Holdings. Upholding the brand essence of “Expect More”, TECNO is committed to giving the masses access to latest technology at accessible prices, allowing the consumers to reach beyond their current limitations and uncover a world of possibilities. TECNO understands the needs of consumers from different markets and provides them with localized innovations across a product portfolio featuring smartphones, tablets, and feature phones. TECNO is a major global player with presence in around 60 emerging markets across the world. It is also the global Official Tablet and Handset Partner of Manchester City Football Club. For more information, please visit: www.tecno-mobile.com

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PR Newswire

“ARMOUR” — Apigate’s New Solution to Safeguard Users from Digital Payment Fraud

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  • A much-needed fraud protection solution for mobile network operators (MNOs), Digital merchants & OTTs
  • During trials, MNOs experienced a significant reduction in customer complaints of up to 90%
  • Merchants reported an increase in conversion rates through Armour’s frictionless payment experience

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, May 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Apigate, a Global Digital Content Monetization & Messaging ecosystem, today announced the launch of Armour, a new data-based e-solution to tackle the “big five” issues of Direct Carrier Billing: in-app malware, bots, iFraming, suspicious traffic, and backdoor charging.

Armour, a new fraud protection solution from Apigate
Armour, a new fraud protection solution from Apigate

Analyst reports stated that 90% of South and Southeast Asia’s population access the internet through mobile phones, which means the region is by far home to the world’s most engaged mobile users. Additionally, the region is expected to grow to US$300 billion by 2025, or threefold from US$100 billion in 2019, bringing a higher risk of online fraud as the ”mobile economy” continues to expand.

This is where Armour steps in, once Armour’s fraud detection is deployed, each transaction is checked against hundreds of data points to validate its trustworthiness. This allows for suspicious activities in the digital payment process to be detected and prevented in real-time through a highly tuned Machine Learning algorithm. Furthermore, Armour can continually and automatically refine its ability to detect an ever-increasing range of threats to the digital payment system.

The added benefit of a reduction in digital payment fraud is an increase in customer satisfaction. Since its roll-out with major partners in South and Southeast Asia, results show a significant decrease in customer complaints while at the same time showing a month on month increase in clean transaction rate, bringing a higher & more sustainable conversion rate for Digital merchants.

Raja Mansukhani, Senior Vice President of APAC, said “Armour as a product is a natural progression to cater to the demands of an ever-growing Digital economy which has led to more significant exposure to fraud. Our objective of developing Armour was to limit this threat while removing a frictionful experience for the end customer, leading to a reduction in complaints for Telcos.”

For more on Armour or any of Apigate’s other exciting services, please send enquires to info@apigate.com.

About Apigate:

Apigate is a global digital content monetization & messaging ecosystem that enables faster reach for Digital Merchants to get connected to end consumers via Telcos, e-Wallets and other channels with one seamless integration.

Apigate has a reach of approximately 1 billion end consumers with more than 150 connected merchants. Visit our website at www.apigate.com for more details.

Photo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200512/2801518-1?lang=0

PR Newswire

Frost & Sullivan Names 11 Industry Leaders in the Global Big Data Market

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Frost Radar identifies companies excelling at innovation, poised for partnerships, and ripe for investment

SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Frost & Sullivan’s Global Big Data Analytics (BDA) Industry Radar found that organizations’ requirement to enhance customer engagement and provide effective customer service is strongly pushing the demand for BDA solutions to better predict and serve customers’ needs. This is driving investments in both market segments of BDA—data discovery and visualization (DDV) and advanced analytics—and has attracted millions of dollars in funding committed to product enrichment, expansion into new industry verticals, and development of distribution partnerships to meet the growing demand for analytics solutions.

Frost & Sullivan's Global Big Data Analytics Industry Radar
Frost & Sullivan’s Global Big Data Analytics Industry Radar

To learn more about the Global Big Data Analytics Market, 2020 Frost Radar, please visit: http://frost.ly/43k

For over five decades, Frost & Sullivan has provided research and analysis on the Big Data Analytics industry to help investors, corporate leaders, and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, and new business models.

This recently released Radar provides a benchmark of over 30 companies in the global Big Data Analytics industry to determine the top 11 industry leaders excelling at innovation, poised for partnerships, and ripe for investment. The businesses are recognized in the Frost Radar with insight into their innovative offerings, projected increase rates, strengths and on how companies can be more effective in the future.

The following organizations were profiled: SAS, IBM, Qlik, Splunk, Tableau, TIBCO, FICO, SAP, Alteryx, MicroStrategy, and Palantir.

Key takeaways

  • Better understand the growth environment from the perspective of industry experts
  • Gain insight into organizations recognized for leveraging best practices to shape the future of the industry
  • Benefit from a comprehensive analysis of the companies plotted on the Radar
  • Receive best practices on how the intelligence in the Radar can be leveraged by the Board of Directors, the CEO’s growth team, customers, and more

About Frost & Sullivan
For over five decades, Frost & Sullivan has become world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.

Contact:
Francesca Valente
Global Corporate Communications
E: francesca.valente@frost.com

http://ww2.frost.com

Photo – https://techent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/frost-sullivan-names-11-industry-leaders-in-the-global-big-data-market.jpg

PR Newswire

Brightcove Recognized by Frost & Sullivan for Dominating the Online Video Platforms Market with Innovative Growth Strategies

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SANTA CLARA, California, May 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Based on its recent analysis of the global online video platforms (OVP) market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Brightcove Inc. with the 2020 Global Market Leadership Award. Leveraging broad expertise in media workflows and marketing, Brightcove delivers the industry-leading OVP supplemented by an extensive ecosystem of third-party integrations. Through a mix of astute acquisitions and customer-focused product innovations, it captured significant market share and an impressive clientele. No other market participant provides the same level of usability and reliability as Brightcove.

Brightcove
Brightcove

“Accounting for approximately 2% of the total downstream Internet traffic, Brightcove demonstrates its ability to deliver a range of services at scale. During 2019, for example, Brightcove provided more than 800 million videos to over 550 million viewers globally per week, underscoring the reliability of its globally-distributed architecture and ongoing management of 40 petabytes of customer content,” said Anisha Vinny, Program Manager at Frost & Sullivan. “Its OVP presents organizations that do not have massive IT departments with a leading platform as well as a rich ecosystem of third-party integrations. The partner ecosystem includes complementary technologies from leading content management systems, upload acceleration, analytics, marketing automation platforms, and customer relationship management.”

In 2019, Brightcove acquired Ooyala’s OVP business to augment its current capabilities and expand on its market leadership. Combining Ooyala’s customer, reseller, and partner relationships with its offerings has helped it add scale and gain a wider geographic footprint. The acquisition also accelerated Brightcove’s product roadmap and enhanced its customers’ ability to bring workflows online faster, securely. It protects customers’ content through digital rights management, encryption, geo-filtering, time-to-live token authentication, domain restrictions, and IP restrictions.

Furthermore, in 2019, it launched or improved three standout applications that enable customers to reach more viewers faster and with more insights. Brightcove Live was upgraded to give broadcasters, publishers, and enterprises more and simpler ways to upload and monetize live video. At the same time, Brightcove Beacon helped them to deliver premium OTT video experiences across devices with native applications. One of the company’s newest offerings, Brightcove Campaign, supports demand generation marketers in leveraging video in marketing campaigns. In April 2020, Brightcove launched the Brightcove Engage application for employee engagement through video. Using this mobile- and video-first application, corporate communications and HR professionals can make playlists, enable push notifications, and broadcast content across the organization.

“Brightcove’s core cloud video platform remains the benchmark for scalability, reliability, flexibility, and ease of deployment. In 2019, the Brightcove playback service maintained 99.999% uptime, registering only five minutes of total unscheduled downtime,” noted Vinny. “The company continues to push the envelope in innovation, it currently holds multiple patents, with an additional four granted in 2019, and has published more than 300 papers authored by Brightcove engineers in the area of video technologies. Its thought leadership, robust product development efforts, and strategic merger and acquisition strategy will keep it at the top of the leaderboard in the long term.”

Each year, Frost & Sullivan bestows this Award upon the company that demonstrates excellence in growth and customer value. Attaining loyal customers who became brand advocates allows the company to grow and achieve a market leadership position. By committing to the customer at each stage of the buying cycle and continuing to nurture the relationship, this Award recognizes a company’s increased market share over time.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

About Frost & Sullivan

For over five decades, Frost & Sullivan has become world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders, and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models, and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.

Contact:

Lindsey Whitaker
P: +1 (210) 477-8457
E: lindsey.whitaker@frost.com

About Brightcove Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOV)
We are the people behind the world’s leading video technology platform. With our award-winning technology and services, we help organizations in more than 70 countries meet business challenges and create strategic opportunities by inspiring, entertaining, and engaging their audiences through video.

Since Brightcove was established in 2004, we have consistently pushed boundaries to create a platform for people who are serious about video: one that is robust, scalable, and intuitive. Benefiting from a global infrastructure, unrivalled customer support, an extensive partner ecosystem, and relentless investment in R&D, Brightcove video sets the standard for professional grade video management, distribution, and monetization. To learn more, visit www.brightcove.com.

Press Contact
Meredith Duhaime
Senior Public Relations Manager 
Brightcove | 603-785-8518
mduhaime@brightcove.com  

PR Newswire

World’s First Graduate-level AI University Appoints Renowned Experts to Leadership Team

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ABU DHABI, UAE, May 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), the world’s first graduate-level, research-based artificial intelligence (AI) university, has appointed two leading experts in AI, education and technology, to its leadership team.

Dr. Behjat Al Yousuf
Dr. Behjat Al Yousuf

Dr. Ling Shao has been appointed as Executive Vice President and Provost of MBZUAI. He will lead MBZUAI’s academic affairs and research, ensuring the University delivers world-class higher education and research in the field of AI. In addition to his role at the University, Dr. Shao serves as CEO and Chief Scientist of the Inception Institute of Artificial Intelligence (IIAI), an Abu Dhabi-based international research organization that is partnered with MBZUAI to supervise PhD students, curriculum development, and research collaboration.

MBZUAI has also appointed Dr. Behjat Al Yousuf as Executive Vice President for Outreach and Engagement. Dr. Al Yousuf, a highly accomplished Emirati expert, will oversee the University’s external partnership mission, including outreach with the broader community, government agencies, and industrial partners. She will support the development and implementation of AI research initiatives, as well as develop, oversee, and provide AI advisory and consultancy services to public and private sector organizations, including government agencies, large businesses, small and medium enterprises, and AI startups. 

Speaking on the leadership appointments, Professor Sir Michael Brady, Interim President of MBZUAI, said: “Our vision from the very beginning was to develop a world-class higher education institution that will set new standards in the field of AI. With Dr. Shao and Dr. Al Yousuf on board we have further strengthened our leadership team, which will steer our University towards becoming a global leader in our field, delivering the best possible AI education to students, and serving as a prominent partner for research.”

Dr. Shao said: “As the first establishment of its kind to focus solely on AI education and research, MBZUAI will play an important role in the future of our societies. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to guide the next generation of AI leaders.”

Dr. Al Yousuf said: “It is an honor to have the opportunity to further contribute to the UAE’s scientific and technology sector through the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence. I look forward to leveraging the capabilities of the University while working with public and private sector entities within the UAE and across the world to find new solutions that will propel global society into an AI-empowered era.”

With the first academic year scheduled to start in January 2021, the University is in the process of vetting thousands of applications from more than 80 countries. The University Admissions Office will begin to send acceptance letters soon. 

MBZUAI will offer Master of Science (MSc) and PhD level programs to graduate students from across the world, while also engaging policymakers and businesses globally so that AI is harnessed as a force for positive transformation.

The University will provide all admitted students with a full scholarship, plus benefits such as a monthly allowance, health insurance, and accommodation. MBZUAI will work with leading local and global companies to secure internships and will also assist students in finding employment.

About Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI)

MBZUAI is the world’s first graduate-level, research-based artificial intelligence (AI) university. Launched in October 2019 and located in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, the University aims to empower students, businesses and governments to advance artificial intelligence as a global force for positive progress. For more information, please visit www.mbzuai.ac.ae.

Photo – https://techent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/worlds-first-graduate-level-ai-university-appoints-renowned-experts-to-leadership-team-1.jpg  
Photo – https://techent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/worlds-first-graduate-level-ai-university-appoints-renowned-experts-to-leadership-team.jpg

Dr. Ling Shao Executive Vice President and Provost at MBZUAI
Dr. Ling Shao Executive Vice President and Provost at MBZUAI
Android, Mobile, News

OPPO Reno3 Series Brings 108-Megapixel Imaging to the Game at MYR 1,699

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OPPO has been really stepping up in the smartphone game. Their OPPO Find X2, as we have reviewed was one of the best flagship smartphones that you can buy in today’s money, in our opinions. The OPPO Find X2 Pro is also an impressive media powerhouse capable of wonderful things.

The OPPO A92 that was launched last week brings things a bit more down to earth. But still, the OPPO A92 was launched to impress too. It packs a great camera package in an offering that will set you back less than MYR 1,500. Today, they set out to impress the mid-range market with a high-end camera package in a smartphone. It is the OPPO Reno3 series.

Welcome to the OPPO Reno3 series. Like any other modern smartphone, there are two variants of the OPPO Reno3. There is the regular Reno3 and the Reno3 Pro. With the Pro, they brought the big gun out.

Source: OPPO

Yes, we start with the OPPO Reno3 Pro and its cameras. Technically because they start the presentation with that. There is a 64-Megapixel main camera flanked by a 13-Megapixel telephoto lens, a 2-Megapixel monochrome (black and white) sensor, and an 8-Megapixel ultra-wide lens. Get this though, the camera array can capture images at up to 108-Megapixel in resolution.

Wait a minute, the main sensor is only 64-Megapixel. Yes, we heard you. They do it via something called super sampling. What that means is that the camera itself takes multiple photos of the subject in quick successions or an instant. Those photos are then mashed together to fill pixel information that is missing from the original 64-Mgeapixel camera to create a highly detailed 108-Megpaixel resolution photo. It is a trick that plenty of professional photographers use to create an image that looks like it was taken via a medium format camera, but only using a full-frame or even an APS-C camera.

You must keep in mind that that kind of process is quite a lot of work and taxing to the hardware. That also means that you need to let your smartphone do its job before taking another photo. Take it with a pinch of salt and be patient. Still, we seldom see this kind of technology on a smartphone these days, so it is a welcome.

Source: OPPO

Going to the front is a punch hole that shoehorns two cameras for great selfies. The main shooter is A 44-Megapixel camera that is supported by a 2-Megapixel depth sensor. Again, not new implementation for a smartphone. We saw this on something like the Samsung Galaxy A8 before too. There are more modern smartphones with this kind of arrangement of course. What is more impressive though is OPPO’s ultra-dark mode for both the front and back camera. It somehow eliminates noised and at the same time, brightens images even when you can barely see anything while taking the photo.

The front cameras are embedded in a beautiful 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display pushing Full HD+ resolution to your eyes. Super AMOLED is widely known for its great colour contrast and vividness. There is no curved elements on the display though, unlike the Find X2. Like the Find X2 as well, the Reno3 series has given up on the pop-up mechanism. Turns out notches are not a bad thing.

The regular OPPO Reno3 still packs four cameras and can still shoot 108-Megapixel resolution photos. It might take the regular Reno3 to process the photos though with 48-Megapixel in tow. The other supporting cameras are the same as the Reno3 Pro. The regular Reno3 also comes with a single front facing camera at 44-Megapixel that is lodged in the familiar dew-drop notch on top of the same sized 6.4-inch AMOLED display.

Source: OPPO

Both ColorOS 7 (based on Android 10) devices in the series are powered by MediaTek processors. The OPPO Reno3 Pro packs a MediaTek Helio P95 flagship class Octa-core System on a Chip (SoC) while the regular OPPO Reno3 packs an equally impressive MediaTek Helio P90 SoC. Juice comes from a 4,025mAh battery on both devices. Of course, that battery comes with OPPO’s 30W Flash Charge 4.0 for a quick getaway.

You get 8GB RAM on both devices and up to 256GB of storage on the OPPO Reno3 Pro. On the regular OPPO Reno3, you are stuck with 128GB. Still, you can upgrade them via a MicroSD slot that is not shared with a SIM tray. Yes, it is a three-card tray with two dedicated SIM slots and single MicroSD slot. Whichever device you get sill offers the in-display fingerprint sensor.

  • Source: OPPO
  • Source: OPPO

The OPPO Reno3 series is available today onward on your favourite online shopping platforms: Lazada and Shopee. Of course, you can get them on OPPO’s own online store too. The OPPO Reno3 Pro is available for MYR 2,399. The OPPO Reno3 is available for MYR 1,699. Both are available in Midnight Black and Aurora Blue colour options. For more information about the OPPO Reno3 series, you can check out their website, or webstore.

Contributed, News

Malaysians Have Been Searching for Everything from Condoms to Yoga Mats during the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Since early March, the high rate of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia has resulted in the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) nationwide. Soon after the official announcement, panicked purchasing increased drastically resulting in most daily necessities being sold out in most places.

With most Malaysians aware of the prolonged duration of the MCO, consumers are turning to online market places to obtain necessities and equipment to enable them to work-from-home (WFH). Thus, we investigated the search trends of more than 900,000 iPrice Malaysia visitors. The data has shed light on a number of interesting and unexpected findings.  

The research was conducted by analyzing the online search behavior of close to 1 million visitors on iPrice Malaysia between 18 March 2020, when the MCO was first enforced, and 17 April 2020. All percentage increases displayed in this research were obtained by comparing the search impressions data with consumers’ online search behavior prior to the implementation of the MCO.

1. Satisfaction is important, but safety always comes first

In the medical supply category, it was unsurprising to see a 648% increase in search interest for face masks such as surgical masks & N95 masks. However, it seems like Malaysians are getting adventurous as there was also a rise in interest for sex related products such as sensual toys, vibrators, fertility test kits & condoms.

From their search behaviours, we saw the following percentage increase in interest:

  • 347% increase in searches for sensual toys & vibrators
  • 79% increase in searches for fertility test kits
  • 61% increase in searches for condoms

While it seems like Malaysian could be indulging in self love and even more adventurous exploits, this also shows that Malaysians are being more cognizant of family planning especially with the increase in searches for fertility test kits.

2. Malaysians are running out of patience with their overgrown hair

The MCO began in the mid of March & has been ongoing for more than 6 weeks. This also means that most Malaysians probably have overgrown hair and are looking for ways to take care of it.  

iPrice data reveals major increase in searches for trimming clippers. In fact, the increase was an averaged 17,652%! This trend can also be seen throughout various social media platforms, where people has been sharing the results of their DIY haircut attempts.  

3. The MCO is potentially breading more MasterChefs

Malaysians are probably tired with packaged and delivered foods. As a result, they are turning to more home cooked food. Data reveals high interest in appliances such as bread makers, mixers, air fryers and ovens suggesting that people are showing interest in experimenting with various recipes.

This is supported by the increase in searches related to appliances including bread makers (7,587%), stand mixers (3,048%), ovens (1,058%) and air fryers (2,029%).

4. Malaysians Prefer the Nintendo Switch during the pandemic

The inability to go outdoors may have led to excessive boredom. As such, people are looking for ways to stay entertained at home. This could be driving the an increased interest in gaming. Data shows high search interest for gaming items such as the Nintendo switch, Animal Crossing game & board games such as Monopoly.

Nintendo’s latest game, Animal Crossing , saw a 17,427% increase in interest, while the Nintendo Switch saw an average increase of 1,064%. Board games, on the other hand, saw a 4,336% surge in interest among Malaysians.

5. Tablets preferred over laptops?

When it comes to preparing for WFH, Malaysians are probably looking to purchase tech that would allow them to be more productive; one would think that this would mean that they would be looking for laptops or PCs. However, the data indicates otherwise. In fact, it shows that Malaysian are turning more to tablets. On average, searches for tablets saw an increase of 1,125%, while laptops recorded a 299% increase.

This would suggest Malaysians are probably getting tablets for work or entertainment activities.

6. Staying fit indoors

Like many others on the internet, it seems that Malaysians are also worrying about gaining weight from being cooped up at home for too long. It’s all over social media! More people are showing an interest in working out at home. This is reflected in the data, there was a surge in searches for exercise equipment such as skipping ropes (4,528%) and yoga mats (2,016%).

Research methodology

Data featured in this study were obtained by aggregating thousands of product pages of more than 150 online merchants through https://iprice.my/. Data on the increase in searches were analyzed by comparing the impressions data recorded from March 18 – April 17, 2020 as compared to February 16, 2019 – March 17, 2020. 

PR Newswire

Bigo Live Announces ‘Global BIGOer One World Together’ Fundraising Campaign To Support WHO In Fight Against COVID-19

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  • The “Global BIGOer One World Together” fundraising campaign brings together the global BIGO community to raise donations for the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund
  • Campaign highlights include the release of a music video featuring 100 broadcasters from over 20 countries, showcasing solidarity.
  • Viewers are invited to enjoy a 24-hour music live house featuring broadcasters from around the world starting 13 May 2020 at 9:00am PST to 14 May 2020, 9:00am PST as well as to donate to the Solidarity Response Fund on the Bigo Live app.

LOS ANGELES, May 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Bigo Live, a global leading live streaming platform, today announced the ‘Global BIGOer One World Together‘ fundraising campaign in support of healthcare workers and vulnerable communities affected by COVID-19. The ‘Global BIGOer One World Together’ campaign brings together a cast of talented singers and musicians from around the world who will broadcast on Bigo Live app, with proceeds going to the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s Solidarity Response Fund.

Join BIGO LIVE broadcasters as they belt their way into your hearts and raise funds for WHO Solidarity Response Fund
Join BIGO LIVE broadcasters as they belt their way into your hearts and raise funds for WHO Solidarity Response Fund

Mike Ong, Vice President of BIGO Technology said “The ‘Global BIGOer One World Together’ fundraiser aims to rally and unite the community as one through the power of music. As a global platform that connects and brings people together, the campaign is aimed at fostering solidarity on a global scale for a very important cause. In collaboration with Bigo Live broadcasters, we hope to bring the community together to lend our support to frontline healthcare professionals and communities most in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

A music video showcasing solidarity was put together by over 100 broadcasters from over 20 countries performing a cover of the Michael Jackson hit “We Are The World”. It will be released on 12 May 2020 across all Bigo Live social media channels.

The main event is a 24-hour music livehouse on Bigo Live that will take place on 13 May 2020, starting at 9:00am PST. The music livehouse – a single ‘room’ on Bigo Live that will host the performances – will showcase broadcasters from around the world streaming right from their own homes or studios. Viewers will be able to engage and chat with the broadcasters as well as the community using the various features on the app. Viewers are encouraged to donate generously towards the fundraising efforts via the Bigo Live app.

Since the start of the outbreak, Bigo Live has launched a series of curated content by broadcasters around the world to bring comfort and happiness during these trying times. This included a #STAYATBIGO campaign which had sharing sessions with healthcare professionals, performances by local music DJs and workouts by fitness enthusiasts to help local communities stay fit and healthy at home. They have also been the first to bring cloud clubbing as a form of entertainment to communities in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

“The fight against COVID-19 is a long and arduous one. As with previous campaigns over the past few months, we hope that the Global BIGOer One World Together campaign will help bring people together and show our solidarity towards frontline professionals, while also being able to spread some joy and cheer,” Mike added.

Viewers can expect to see popular broadcasters from the country like “RazB_B2K”, “Djer” and “HalleHallelujah” perform in-app between 5:30pm, PST to 7:00pm, PST on 13 May 2020.

To join ‘Global BIGOer One World Together’ live stream, search for the Bigo ID: “music” in the app.

Web users can also join the music live house via this link here: https://bigolive.onelink.me/sG8X/Livehouse

About Bigo Live

Bigo Live is one of the world’s fastest-growing livestreaming social communities where users broadcast in real-time to share life moments, showcase their talents and interact with people from around the world. Bigo Live has around 400 million users in over 150 countries and is currently the market leader in the livestreaming industry. Launched in March 2016, Bigo Live is owned by BIGO Technology which is based in Singapore.

Download the Bigo Live app here: https://bigolive.onelink.me/sG8X/bigoliveth

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Reaching wider audience with SHAREit

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CAIRO and JAKARTA, Indonesia, May 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Marketing plays a major role in helping brands in identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer needs while also building a deeper connection with them. Marketing has been an ever evolving field and as the costs for innovation increase, the costs associated with not keeping up are higher yet.

This discussion is probably relevant now more than ever. With the ongoing pandemic shaping the structure of a new way of life, how do brands evolve to stay connected to the consumers. The past few months have witnessed numerous changes in the behavior of consumers and their general way of life. Social Distancing is here to stay, and it is clear that the effects of COVID-19 would last way beyond these few months. Content consumption has increased significantly, and this has induced brands to reconsider their marketing plans to align with this change.

SHAREit
SHAREit

One of the major examples of the changes and impacts caused by the outbreak of COVID-19 is during the month of Ramadan in Islamic countries. It’s the month in which Muslims across the world socialize with others, fast, pray, and reflect their acts to the community and themselves which is why it’s also known as “The holy month of Ramadan’. Usually, promotion and sales have been at its peak during the month of Ramadan, but due to the pandemic, sales have plunged due to the decrease in social income and economic welfare.

The scenario narrated above provides a grim, yet hopeful picture and it is safe to say that the growth of digital marketing is inevitable. Brands are looking for newer avenues to engage with consumers and content sharing platforms such as SHAREit as one of the perfect alternatives.

The rise of SHAREit as a digital marketing platform can be attributed to its diverse user base with over 1.8 billion users speaking 45 languages in about 200 countries. It ranks among the top 10 in all time application downloads. Furthermore, SHAREit’s uniqueness also lies in the fact that content on SHAREit works seamlessly online and offline while providing marketers with a significant incremental audience with one third of SHAREit’s users not being on Facebook.

Especially during the pandemic, there have been big increases in digital activity, leading to brands spending significant parts of their budgets on online advertising in order to reach out to users who are under strict lockdowns. An increase in the amount of time spent playing games and watching videos has also been observed. SHAREit which has millions of short videos and online games on its platform apart from its sharing utility, offers performance and branding advertising solutions which are very effective and efficient in driving sales for brands reaching out to their users in markets like Middle East (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt) and SEA (Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia) regions. SHAREit is also one of the leading online platforms in these regions.

A vital consideration for brands is to design appropriate messaging for their target audiences. This depends in a major way, on the content consumption patterns of the target audience. If the consumers are interested in consuming light-hearted short format content, the brand communication would be more efficient if it is designed in the same manner. Consumption insights hence play a major role in communicating the right message.

The capabilities of SHAREit hence are unmatched. SHAREit is the first ecosystem to partner with Google Play to verify, authenticate and attribute each peer 2 peer app. Owing to SHAREit being a one of a kind combination of file sharing and content consumption platform, it can provide vital insights for content consumption as well as application interest profile that could assist brands in making an informed decision.

About SHAREit:

SHAREit is a global technology company that provides content discovery, consumption and sharing functionality to its users. According to AppAnnie, SHAREit app was the 6th most downloaded app in 2019 across the Apple iOS App Store and Google Play Store. There are more than 1.8 billion users worldwide, and with more than 600 million users in India and Indonesia, SHAREit’s Monthly Active Users (MAU) has exceeded 500 million users and operating in 45 different languages.

Photo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200512/2801313-1?lang=0

Android, Mobile, News

HUAWEI MatePad and MatePad T Completes the Family

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The HUAWEI MatePad Pro is awesome. We tried it at its launch and loved it. There was only one problem we have with the tablet. If not for that small problem, it would have been perfect. Still, nothing in this world is perfect.

Let us not dwell on that though, there are new tablets in town from HUAWEI. You Might have guessed them from the title. The HUAWEI MatePad, and the HUAWEI MatePad T is joining the HUAWEI MatePad Pro in Malaysia.

HUAWEI MatePad

The regular HUAWEI MatePad is easily mistaken as the HUAWEI MatePad Pro. They are similar in design and functionality, to be fair. They are similar only in design though. Everything inside is different from one to the other.

Source: HUAWEI

The HUAWEI MatePad packs a HiSilicon Kirin 810 System on a Chip (SoC) with an integrated Da Vinci Artificial Intelligence (AI) NPU. You get slightly less resolution than the HUAWEI MatePad Pro too at 2K resolution. Still, 2K in resolution is still plenty of pixels for 10.4-inch. That display is still paired to a great four-speaker stereo audio system tuned by Harman Kardon.

It is also compatible with HUAWEI’s magnetic keyboard that was designed for the HUAWEI MatePad Pro. You can even use the M-Pencil on this if you want. You charge the M-Pencil with the large 7,250mAh battery pack in the tablet.

Unlike the HUAWEI MatePad Pro though, the MatePad has something called the eBook mode that optimises its display for better reading experience. Of course, it comes with MEETime out of the box too. Yes, it also has HUAWEI’s clever Share capabilities.

The HUAWEI MatePad is available 16th May 2020 onward. There are no colour options for this, so you only get to have it in Midnight Grey. The HUAWEI MatePad will set you back MYR 1,399 when it is available, about MYR 1,000 less than its bigger, higher end brother. You get a Flip cover, a free 3 months Premium subscription to HUAWEI Video, and 15GB of HUAWEI’s Mobile Cloud storage for 12 months. For more information on the HUAWEI MatePad, you can head over to their website and webstore.

HUAWEI MatePad T 8

10-inch tablets are not your thing? We understand that. 10-inch is a little on the hefty side and difficult to enjoy in a lot of conditions. You just need something to carry around and might need to kill time with it.

Source: HUAWEI

The HUAWEI MatePad T 8 would fit in that bill very easily with its 8-inch display. The 8-inch is no slouch still, mind you. There is still an Octa-Core processor within its smaller form factor. Given, it is a MediaTek. The MT8768 platform is MediaTek’s latest tablet platform.

That new tablet processor is also designed to be kind to the battery. Still, it does not hurt to have 5,100mAh battery packed in the 8-incher. All that and you are still only carrying 310g around. It is not lighter than an average smartphone, but it is pretty close to some of the flagships these days.

It is not just a tablet designed for the adults though. It is also designed with kids in mind. You can have a Kids Corner put on the tablet for your kids. That dedicated space is designed as a safe space for children to learn and be entertained. It is also designed so that parents can have better control over their kids’ media consumption of course. You can set time controls, content restrictions, and more.

The HUAWEI MatePad T will also be available the same time as the HUAWEI MatePad on the 16th May 2020. You can get your hands on one for MYR 559. It only comes in one colour though: Deepsea Blue. If you do get your hands on one, you are entitled to a 3 months Premium subscription of HUAWEI’s Video app and 12months of 15GB access to HUAWEI’s Mobile Cloud Storage. For more information on the HUAWEI MatePad T 8, you can head over to their website and webstore.

HUAWEI Sound X

Alongside the HUAWEI MatePad T and HUAWEI MatePad, HUAWEI also launched the HUAWEI Sound X finally in Malaysia. HUAWEI’s Sound X is a result of their collaboration with one of the world’s premium audio solutions manufacturer, Devialet. It has six tweeters and two woofers. The 8 drivers should deliver clean, crisp, and punchy audio from the low frequencies to the high all around. Apparently the woofers can go as low as 40Hz, which is where bass frequencies lie. The HUAWEI Sound X will set you back MYR 1,299 and is also available at the same time as the HUAWEI MatePad and MatePad T.