Apple & Google Help Battle COVID-19 with Contact Tracing Technology

The COVID-19 pandemic has been taking the world by storm. It has had an unprecedented affect on every country in the world and the world economy. The world is also beginning to realise the value of front liners such as doctors, nurses, scientists and janitors. That said, Google and Apple and lending a hand in fighting the pandemic by working together.

The companies announced a joint effort to help with the current pandemic. The effort comes in the form an APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) which will help with contact tracing. Contact tracing is becoming increasingly more important in the battle against COVID-19 to help with the mitigation of the viral spread. Countries which have started or have been doing contact tracing have shown better disease control in the current pandemic.

Apple and Google are looking to assist with Contact Tracing by using Bluetooth on smartphones. The APIs will work with together with operating system level technology to allow the tracking of potential spread of COVID-19. Essentially, authorised applications will be able to use Bluetooth on both iOS and Android smartphones to help identify individuals who have potentially come in contact with infected individuals. As of right now, it seems like these APIs will be made available to government and public health agencies to help mitigate the spread of the pandemic.

Apple and Google have both stressed that user privacy, transparency and security will be central to the development of these APIs. They are looking into broader, more robust applications of the APIs being developed which allow more individuals to participate, should they choose to via an opt-in. These broader application are being explored in consultation with other interested stakeholders. The effort comes after a number of public health authorities, universities and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) around the world kick started an effort to develop opt-in contact tracing technology.

The APIs and its functionality will be rolled out in stages given the dire need for contact tracing in the current pandemic. The initial stage will be the rollout of the APIs in May which will enable interoperability between the mobile platforms. Official apps using these APIs will be available in the Google Play and Apple App Stores. After this, Google and Apple will be working to enhance and enable broader Bluetooth based contact tracing enabling more robust applications. The companies have stated that they will be openly publishing information their work to be analyzed by others during this process.

The OnePlus 8 Series is Launched!

Last night was a special night. Last night (it is night in Malaysia, morning or daytime in wherever the OnePlus was launched) was the big launch of OnePlus’ highly anticipated follow up to the OnePlus 7 line-up. It is the launch night of the OnePlus 8 series. 

The OnePlus 7 series was something quite special to us. We like it a lot. Then again, we have always liked the OnePlus brand. We loved the OnePlus 7T, launched later in the year is a big reinforcement of the OnePlus 7.  

The OnePlus 7 Pro was also the first time we praised its camera when we tested it last year. For the first time, we liked the photo quality from a OnePlus. We think that that could be thanks to some expertise borrowed from OPPO. I doubt that they will give credits to OPPO for that though. 

The OnePlus 8 then, the replacement to the OnePlus 7 series. They start with the display of the device. On the older OnePlus 7, they pushed boundaries with 90Hz in refresh rate. This year, after OPPO’s Find X2 launch, we suspected that the OnePlus 8 series will get the same sort of display. We guessed right on that one. It even has the same punch hole that fits a front-facing camera. Yes, they are ditching the pop-up mechanism as well. That also means that it is an IP68 rated device now. 

Source: OnePlus

It is a 6.7-inch 120Hz QHD+ display, exactly same as the OPPO. It also boast 10-bit format display which produces 10-billion colours on the OnePlus 8 Pro. That 120Hz refresh rate is also paired to 240Hz in sampling rate. We loved the display on the OPPO Find X2 (review coming soon). It is ultra-responsive, ultra-smooth, and very beautiful. I personally used it for PlayStaion Remote Play for Death Stranding, and we can really appreciate its colours and resolution. 

Then comes the camera, they fit a bigger camera this time too. It is a 48-Megapixel main camera that is flanked by another 48-Megapixel ultra-wide angle lens on the side. Yes, it is sounding like the OPPO Find X2 Pto. It even has Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) to pair with. In that case also, you can expect this smartphone to impress your eyes with its photos. 

Source: OnePlus

You also get the ultra-powerful, ultra-snazzy Qualcomm Snapdragon 865. Paired to the Snapdragon 865 is 12GB of RAM for even smoother and better multitasking. That is sort of where the similarities between the OnePlus 8 Pro and OPPO Find X2 Pro ends though. 

Videos can go up to 4K. But this time, you get audio Zoom as well and 3D audio capture so you can add some dynamics to your videos. Smartphone videos have come a long way and some film makers are already starting to use smartphones in their arsenal of tools. Take us for example. 

There is a new haptic feedback machine that is designed to give you more immersion during gaming. That is different from the OPPO’s haptic feedback vibration engine. It also has a wireless charging capability. Its 4,510 mAh battery is VOOC FlashCharge capable too, but you can wirelessly charge the OnePlus 8 Pro at 30W, fastest ever on a wireless charger so far. It even reverse charges other wirless charging devices. 

Source: OnePlus

Other things that the device comes with are software based. You can do Live Captioning with audio and video recording, which is something else really. That is also thanks to OnePlus working with Google. In that collaboration as well, you get to take advantage of Google’s extra 100GB space of Google Drive for you. You can also access to selected Stadia titles on your OnePlus. Time to spend on a decent controller for your smartphone. It is also Amazon Alexa compatible should you prefer the Amazon based assistant. 

Then there is the OnePlus 8, the regular one. It is just a slightly smaller version of the OnePlus 8 Pro. It packs the same Sony IMX586 sensor that pushes 48-Megapixel. Paired to it though is a 16-Megapixel ultra-wide camera. That is also supported by a Macro lens at the other side. It has a smaller display too, at 8.55-inch. The 8.55-inch is not a 120Hz display though. It is a 90Hz Fluid display that we saw on last year’s OnePlus. That also means that it is a Full HD+ display instead of a QHD+. Still a nice display though. 

Instead of the 4,510mAh battery you get on the Pro variant, it makes do with a 4,300mAh battery. It is a smaller smartphone after all. At least you still get the 30W wireless charging capability. Both OnePlus 8 devices also support 5G out of the box, which is nice.  

The OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro is available in three colour choices. One of which is called Interstellar White, which is claimed by OnePlus to be a pain for photoshoots. No, not its camera, it is a pain to other cameras because apparently it does not stay in the same colour in all sorts of angles. That is not good for us. But still, we might like it.  

The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro will be available in selected markets April 2020 onward. The regular OnePlus 8 will set you back US$ 699 (MYR 3,028*) for the 8GB + 128GB variant, and US$ 799 (MYR 3,462*) for the 12GB + 256Gb variant. The OnePlus 8 Pro will set you back US$899 (MYR 3,895*) for the 8GB + 128GB variant and US$ 999 (MYR 4,329*) for the 12GB + 256GB variant. There are no word yet on when that device will reach Malaysia. If the OnePlus 7 series is any indication though, we are guessing that the distributor will start selling the OnePlus 8 by May 2020 onward. We can only wait though. 

*Approximately based on exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.33 as of 15/4/2020

Tech & Tonic Episode 9 – Just the Two of Us

It is already 9 weeks since our first podcast. To be honest, we are still experimenting with our contents. The 9th installment of the first season of the Tech & Tonic show has no guest.

What? No guest? That is absurd.

That might be what you are thinking. Thing is, we are going a little basic on the 9th episode of Tech & Tonic. Basic, and bare. We have decided to make it a little more relaxing and less structural. We spoke about plenty of things that happened in the past week, including the fact that the Malaysian authorities have extended the Movement Control Order period all the way to 28th May 2020. That is effectively making our state-imposed quarantine last to the end of the fifth month of the year 2020.

There are still some things to look forward to though for 2020. For one, Sony’ PlayStation 5 (PS5) will be released at the end of the year. We have not seen what it will look like yet, every other person wants to know how it will look like. After all, the Xbox Series X has broken the covers and shown itself in skin. What we got last week though was a closer look at its attached controller. It is not DualShock anymore. This time it is DualSense, which is pretty in-line with the whole immersion focus they are going with the PS5.

Speaking of PS5 we also got our copy of Final Fantasy VII Remake, thanks to Sony Interactive Entertainment. While we have not finished the game, we still can appreciate the smooth and clear graphics of the game. We spoke a little bit on the mechanics of the game in the podcast too.

For all of that and more, listen to the podcast.

Gaming Studio, Double Eleven, Expands to Malaysia

If you are a gamer, it’s more than likely you already know who Double Eleven is. If you don’t, they are one of the UK’s largest game development studios. Yep, game development. They have produced a number of games including the Pixel Junk series on the PC, Goat Simulator on Xbox and Playstation) and the LEGO Harry Potter series.

“Malaysia’s high calibre talent and its great ecosystem between governments, universities and businesses are among key reasons for our entry. We’re excited to be taking our people first approach with this expansion and tapping into Malaysia’s highly capable local talents, hoping to become an integrated and active member of their burgeoning games industry,”

Lee Hutchinson, founder and CEO of Double Eleven

As the next step in their expansion, the studio has recently established an office in Bangsar South, Malaysia. Recruitment for the studio is currently ongoing. However, Double Eleven has officially opened its studios in Malaysia with the appointment of Ian Ng as the Studio Head of Double Eleven Malaysia. Ian Ng brings over 20 years of experience in game development. Previously, Ian worked at studios such as Tap4Fun, Ubisoft Singapore and LucasArts. He has been credited in a number of gaming titles including the Assassin’s Creed Franchise.

“I look forward to building a studio that embodies the same culture and values as the Double Eleven studio in the United Kingdom. After a number of years working in Bangkok and Singapore, I’m excited to make a positive impact on the fast-growing games industry in my home country of Malaysia”.

Ian Ng, Studio Head of Double Eleven
Kuala Lumpur

The studio has been around since 2009 and was a Sony exclusive studio until 2012. The company has now grown and is expanding their global footprint to support more development. Having worked on big titles such as Little Big Planet Vita and the PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the popular platformer LIMBO, the studio is now developing the popular game, Rust, for consoles, co-developing Minecraft Dungeons with Mojang and working with Paradox on Prison Architect.

“Malaysia has developed a vibrant and successful digital creative content industry over the past 15 years, with numerous international companies choosing to set up studios here. The current focus on realising the Digital Content Ecosystem Policy (DICE) reinforces Malaysia as the Heart of Digital ASEAN for animation and games content development.”

Hasnul Hadi Samsudin, Vice President, Digital Creative Content, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)

The establishment of Double Eleven’s new Malaysian studio comes after the announcement of Sony Interactive Worldwide and Lariat’s announcements late last year at the LEVEL UP Gaming conference in Kuala Lumpur. Double Eleven joins a growing number of game developers who are using Malaysia as a launch platform for their Asian presence. Malaysia’s government announced their Digital Content Ecosystem Policy which was spearheaded by the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and the Ministry of Technology. The new policy aims to make Malaysia the “Heart of Digital ASEAN”.

Meet DualSense, Your PlayStation 5 Controller

Sony has unveiled the final design for the upcoming PlayStation 5 controllers. The first thing to take note of: it’s not the DualShock 5. Sony is renaming its controllers to DualSense; and for good reason. The new controllers are pioneering new features we’ve not seen in any DualShock controller of the past. In fact, we may have not even seen them on any XBox or Nintendo controller to date.

The aesthetics of PlayStation controller of the past is also out the window with DualSense. The new DualSense controllers will now come with a two tone finish. A change that we are excited about. The new two tone finish puts a rather futuristic finish on what was once a drab single tone coloured design. However, we’ve seen Sony toy around with this idea in some of the later editions of the DualShock 4 controllers.

“DualSense marks a radical departure from our previous controller offerings and captures just how strongly we feel about making a generational leap with PS5. The new controller, along with the many innovative features in PS5, will be transformative for games – continuing our mission at PlayStation to push the boundaries of play, now and in the future. To the PlayStation community, I truly want to thank you for sharing this exciting journey with us as we head toward PS5’s launch in Holiday 2020. We look forward to sharing more information about PS5, including the console design, in the coming months.”

Jim Ryan, President & CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment

Of course, aesthetics aside, we know that Sony is focusing on the gamer experience when it comes to the PlayStation 5. In fact, the company explained, at length, the technology in the PS5 which includes a new focus on audio called Tempest 3D AudtioTech. The same considerations for immersive gaming came into play with designing the PS5’s DualSense controllers. The new controllers will be the first from Sony to feature haptic feedback. The adoption of haptic feedback technology will allow developers to enhance the gaming experience by increasing the level of detail when it comes to touch. Sony touts the grittiness of driving a car through mud as one of the examples.

In addition, Sony has also brought some change to the design of the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controllers. The L2 and R2 buttons will also have adaptive technology. Sony’s new adaptive triggers will allow developers to program finer details into the triggers. Resistance and perhaps multi stop functionality will probably come with the adaptive triggers. The angle of the triggers have also been adjusted for better ergonomics and to make space for the many components of the controller.

Sony has also replaced the Share button with a “Create” button. Sony claims that they are “…once again pioneering new ways for players to create epic gameplay content to share with the world..”. However, they didn’t elaborate on what they meant – yet. Sony has also included a built in mic array to make it easier for gamers to communicate. That said, the company said that the feature shouldn’t replace a proper gaming headset in the long term.

The new DualSense controller also features a redesign which takes the traditional DualShock design and throws it out the window. Gone are the rounded tops with conical protrusions. Instead, Sony has opted to go with a more boomerang like design that looks more ergonomic than previous designs. The company also reassures us that the controller is smaller than it looks. Another major change is the placement of the lightbar. Instead of being front and centre like the DualShock 4, the lightbar is now flanking the touchpad on either side. Smaller details such as the analogue control design has also been changed. According to PushSquare Sony has changed the analogue sticks to have a textured outer rim with a smoothed center section.

Overall, the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller builds upon the successful base of the DualShock 4. It also holds Sony’s intention of pushing “the boundaries of play” when it comes to their new console. The PS5 is set to launch later this year. To be specific – during Holiday 2020.

5 Ways You Can Curate Netflix for Your Kids with Enhanced Parental Controls

An increasing number of homes are beginning to cut the cord and depend more on streaming platforms such as Netflix for their everyday entertainment. It’s a trend that many streaming apps are reporting and it is, unsurprisingly, gaining momentum even in places like Malaysia. That said, with such a wide library of content now available at everyone’s finger tips, it can become a worrisome affair for parents.

1. PROFILE It

Netflix has, over the years, introduced steps and features to help parents stay on the ball. One of the first features borne out of the need to guard against children accessing mature content is the now staple profiles.

Setting up a specific profile for the kids in the family allowed parents to keep an eye on the content being consumed. In fact, parents can ensure that only child-friendly content appears in their kids’ profile. Creating a profile on Netflix will make sure that settings, preferences and recommended shows are individualized. In this case, it would also keep more mature shows out of your kids’ profile.

2. Cu-RATE it

Creating a profile is just the first step. You also need to setup age limitations when it comes to the profile. Netflix has made this a little easier with the “Allowed TV shows and movies” option when you set up a profile.

However, limiting your kids’ access based on general ratings may not be enough. I mean, Netflix can only filter so much. So, jump into the profile and get curating! Remove shows you feel are not suitable for your child and Netflix will begin to learn the boundaries you’re setting for your kid.

3. PIN It Up

We all know how kids are, they’re curious and they always want to test boundaries. The best way to enforce boundaries is to set them. There’s no better way in the Netflix app than by setting up PINs. Similar to your bank account, the PIN will block unwanted access to your account – in this case, your kids.

The little explorers will hit a wall asking for the PIN should they find themselves any other profile on the app. So, you can rest at ease while you’re attending to chores and work.

4. Re-VIEW it

If you’re still a tad bit uneasy with what your kids have been watching, you don’t have to worry. Netflix has introduced a “viewing activity” section for profiles. Using this option, you’ll be able to see keep an eye on what your child has been watching. You can then go back and remove any shows that you feel are inappropriate from the list.

5. Play Next Episode? No Thank You!

We all know Netflix has a tendency to encourage binge watching shows. However, we know that too much screen time is no good for the kids – even Netflix. So, they’ve introduced an option to turn off the “Play Next Episode” option on profiles. In fact, they’ve even introduced a feature to turn off previews from playing after the show.

So, you can literally tell your kids, “This is the last one” and rest easy knowing that Netflix isn’t going to play the next episode.

Some of the steps in the list feature enhanced parental control features which have recently made their way to the Netflix app. However, a majority of them have been there since Netflix’s humble beginnings. Keep an eye out for more tips and tricks as the company rolls out more features.

Malaysian Tech Company, Alchemist Codes, Reversed Acquired on the London Stock Exchange

Alchemist Codes is a Malaysian company specialising in App and web development as well as tech consulting. However, you probably know or use the company’s most successful product, the e-commerce platform, OCTAPLUS. The growing, nascent e-commerce platform was first launched in 2019 and has since seen over 47% growth in user base in just the first quarter of 2020.

The company’s e-commerce platform joined the e-commerce industry at a time when the Malaysian e-commerce industry is experiencing a boom led by platforms such as Lazada, Shopee, PrestoMall (formerly known as 11street). That said, OCTAPLUS has the unique proposition of providing users with cashback incentives and providing retailers with an instant online retail promotions function. In addition, the platform provides users with discounts, reviews, price comparison data and detailed product information. OCTAPLUS also employs several big data, AI and analytics technologies to provide end users with a better online shopping experience.

AIQ Limited has recently reverse acquired Alchemist Codes on the London Stock Exchange despite the trying economic times amid the COVID-19 pandemic. With this acquisition, AIQ Limited is looking to up the ante with OCTAPLUS. AIQ Limited is looking to create a modern day, online “Silk Road” to bridge the eastern and western markets. It is looking to become the bridge between small and medium entreprises in Eurasian countries. The acquisition highlights the technical potential of Alchemist Code’s OCTAPLUS platform. Alchemist Code is looking to push OCTAPLUS as a global player in the e-commerce and online retail space with AIQ Limited’s backing.

AIQ Limited and Alchemist Codes are looking to the upcoming growth opportunities provided by the introduction of 5G technologies. With Malaysia looking to roll out commercial 5G by the third quarter of 2020, the company’s reverse acquisition puts them in a unique position to leverage these technologies. In fact, they see great potential in leveraging these technologies to help benefit e-commerce retailers and extend OCTAPLUS’s consumer and B2B offerings.

Boosting Banks’ Customer Experience with Operational Efficiency

The way banking is being conducted around the world is changing, especially with customers who are always connected through mobile phones and with 5G not far away in many places.

Coupling that with the rising levels of wage growth entrepreneurship and government policies for financial inclusion, banking’s traditional customer journeys and distribution models won’t scale nor reach the average consumer, and will be significantly cost-prohibitive for the average bank to service. The idea that a consumer needs to visit a branch doesn’t even come into their equation.

Moreover, the consumption of banking products from FinTechs, including unsecured lending, peer-to-peer payments, merchant payments, and business credit, is on the rise. Providers like Ascend Money and Rakuten are fast, simple and digital-first. Simply put, they engender customer satisfaction.  

To catch up with those competitors, many banks have embarked on digital transformation in an effort to transform their customer experiences. However, while many banks have — to some degree — a maturing “front end”, their middle and back offices are often made up of fragile and inflexible applications and data systems. Since such systems limit the bank’s ability to scale and adapt to change quickly, it prevents the front office from running efficiently, which in turn hinders banks from delivering innovative customer journeys.

Furthermore, as net interest margins will likely stay very slim, the continual pressure to make these middle and back-office systems operationally efficient is becoming a higher priority in CFO’s targets.

What are we seeing in the middle and back office in banking?

The prioritization to modernize the back-office applications, databases, and platforms in order to be agile can help re-engineer the customer journey and lower business as usual operations and change management costs. To achieve that, banks need to focus on the following areas:

  • IT infrastructure modernization, as most banks are still running on legacy IT systems that were deployed in silos. With business functions isolated from one another, it can be difficult for banks to deliver a seamless and consistent customer experience across various channels and services.
  • Digital process-driven application modernization. Many banking processes still rely heavily on manual or clunky processes to ensure compliance with policies and historic procedures. Credit adjustments, credit disputes, loan approvals, case management, fraud event management, for example, require human reviews and hand-written approval signatures. When coupled with KYC (know your customer) as a principal operating model, integrating this into manual or clunky processes is a must-have for improving customer experience.  

The keys to improving operational efficiency

Taking the application and infrastructure design lessons learnt from the digital front-end services — such as being API-oriented, able to be deployed on a Linux container architecture, can scale horizontally, and have updates delivered rapidly through a microservice architecture — and applying them to the middle and back-office systems can help deliver the desired operational efficiencies.

Most banks, however, have decades of IP, rules, and processes hardcoded deep into the system, or have multiple clunky expensive business process management middleware workflow tools, each with their own proprietary extensions and interfaces. As such, modernization can be a difficult task, especially when they don’t know where to start.

Examples of success

BBVA — which operates in 30 countries with their associated regulatory jurisdictions and serves more than 72 million customers — was one bank that faced legacy issues. The bank managed to overcome these by modernizing the middle office business process and rules centric applications to be API first, easily extendable, globally reusable with consistent developer experience, scalable, container-based and open.

Capital One undertook a similar exercise with its middle office systems. Since the bank was initially using multiple case management process tools (each with their own interfaces, runtimes and toolsets), it decided to standardize and simplify its case management processes to improve its operations. By implementing an open source, API-oriented, easily scalable, and changeable case management and process management layer, Capital One managed to speed up delivery and drive down costs.

Speaking of APIs, these have typically been utilized as a software design principle for digital front ends in banking. However, having middle and back-office systems and data with an API layer across these can drive much greater operational efficiency. With customer journeys or compliance services increasingly demanding back-office systems to be integrated, what better way of connecting those systems than to leverage APIs?

The trick to doing so successfully is to design and modernize middle and back-office applications with useable and scalable APIs to integrate the digital and front office systems of engagement with.

Moreover, as these applications and databases become updated with APIs as integration points, the use of microservices can be important in improving transactional and operational efficiency. This relates to the lowering of IT infrastructure costs and driving down the cost of IT delivery year on year.

As applications are modernized with APIs and a microservice application architecture, they are often deployed on Linux containers. For the product and customer support managers in the bank looking for ways to make constant variations to their systems — either to improve the back-office process, enhance a customer experience or meet compliance — having these systems running as small componentized microservices gives their IT team the ability to roll out updates to their system without taking down the entire application. This can give the bank a higher degree of agility, while helping to save cost because it can take significantly less time and fewer people to release an update.

All in all, providing exceptional customer experiences may call for banks to transform their digital experiences beyond impressive user interfaces. APIs, microservices, and other open source solutions can help with back-end processes that are highly integrated and streamlined. With more efficient back-office operations, banks around the world will be better prepared to provide the seamless user experience that customers expect.

Tech & Tonic Episode 8 Feat. Keegan Perez Tan – MCO Day 20 and We Are All Still Sane! We can Game and Game, and Game.

In this week’s Tech & Tonic Podcast, we have a hotshot in our guest seat. Why hotshot? He used to be in the professional eSports scene. He is Keegan Perez Tan, a former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Overwatch eSports player. He is still an active gamer though and plays titles like Escape from Tarkov, Apex Legends, and even Dota 2. He is also currently a content producer for Technave, one of Malaysia’s largest tech news platforms.

In our stream we spoke plenty about the COVID-19 situation, like we have done since the beginning of Malaysia’s government sanctioned Movement Control Order (MCO). We caught up a little bit with Keegan about his activities at home for the past 20 days of quarantine. Of course, we will end up talking about games though. We revealed what sort of games we are most looking forward to. We also touched a little bit on the eSports community and growth in Malaysia.

Unfortunately, we cannot fit everything we spoke about in our morning livestream show on the Podcast. For extended and full contents, we recommend you head down to our YouTube page for the livestream that we are doing every Monday 11.00 a.m. at least for the MCO period (until 14th April 2020 at the moment). Our podcast is available on the most popular podcasting platforms, so do check out our other episodes. Let us know if we are not, so that we can try to get ourselves on the platform.

techENT Download || The Fight Against COVID-19 is Real! Oh, and HUAWEI’s P40 series is finally in Malaysia!

Last week, a few interesting happened in tech. While most has to do with the COVID-19 development and fight, there were a few new interesting products too. For one, the long-awaited HUAWEI P40 series makes Malaysian debut in the week. There are only two variants currently though – the standard HUAWEI P40 and the HUAWEI P40 Pro. The HUAWEI P40 Pro+ is, as touted, coming way later. Prices start from MYR 2,799 and you can already pre-order the devices on HUAWEI’s website and Lazada until the 10th April 2020. Alongside that is the HUAWEI MatePad Pro that was announced a little over a month ago. Malaysia is currently only getting one variant of it though (8GB + 256GB). You can also pre-order them now at MYR 2,399. The flagship smartphone and tablet will start shipping from the 11th of April 2020. Of course, if you pre-order, you get more HUAWEI exclusive stuff from HUAWEI too.

There were some new notebook PCs that is supposed to arrive in the market sometime later this year too. The 10th Generation Intel Core processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX SUPER equipped notebook PCs break cover. So many of them at the same time; there are some from ASUS, from Acer, from Lenovo, and from MSI. The most expensive we have seen so far is the MSI GS66 stealth at up to MYR 16,000.

Back on the topic of COVID-19, the world is focused at, not only in treating the disease, but also coping with the quarantine and helping the front liners. We have the #VentilatorChallengeUK that was answered by many private conglomerates in the region including Formula 1 teams. At the same time, plenty are taking advantage of the situation. So, we all must do our parts and be careful.