Celcom recently announced their Business Suite for Retail. What is that? The Business Suite is technically their service plan. You can liken them to the Celcom Mobile or Internet plan; the only difference is that the Business Suite, as the name suggest, is for businesses; Small Medium Enterprises (SME) specifically.
You can find out more on their site, here. Briefly, Celcom’s Business Suite for Retail is a complete business end-to-end telecommunication and data solution. You get phone plans, data plans, payment solutions, and more depending on the plans you select. If you need to, you can even throw in Microsoft Office 365 into the plan. The plans are basically perfect solutions for SMEs.
Alliance Bank is known for their very extensive and generous SME programs. They have the BizSmart program to promote and encourage the growth of the SME segment in Malaysia. Of course, when there is a chance to deliver even more value to SMEs, they would want to be the first to be a part of it. They have plenty of solutions for SME after all; the SME Express Cash for example.
Source: Celcom
The partnership that just happened today marks the combination of two forces in the SME specific services space. Celcom Business Suite for Retail subscribers are now eligible for Alliance Bank’s extensive financing plans for SMEs. Thanks to the collaboration as well the processes and pains of applying for Alliance Bank’s financing programs are expedited and shortened. SMEs might even be able to get preferred rates on Alliance Bank’s business loan programs like Express Cash if they are subscribed to Celcom Business Suite for Retail.
Information regarding Celcom’s Business Suite for Retail is available on their website. You can also sign up for Alliance Bank’s available financing programs via the same website.
The Realme brand has always been a brand that has dedicated itself to releasing great devices at even greater prices. The Realme 5 series is their latest line-up that continues this philosophy of great devices at great prices. The stables has two already great value devices with the Realme 5 and Realme 5 Pro.
Then there is the Realme 5S, a small update for the Realme 5 device. Now, there is the Realme 5i to add to the Realme 5 series family. The Realme 5i continues with the wallet friendly scheme at MYR 599. For that kind of money you will get the innovative Quad Camera set-up with an Ultra-Wide lens equipped with Nightscape 2.0 mode and smart video stabilisation. It packs Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 665 System on a Chip (SoC) for maximum attack as well. With 5,000mAh, you will not be wanting to find a charging point anytime during the day. Oh yes, you can reverse charge your other devices with the Realme 5i if you need to. All these goodness pushes the Android 9.0 with ColorOS 6.1 on to a 6.5-inch display with a Mini-Drop notch for its front-facing camera.
The Realme 5i did not come to Malaysia alone though. It came with a product that has been the rage since 2019. It is a True Wireless earphone. It is the Realme Buds Air. It comes in three colours; white, black, and yellow. It sets you back MYR 299.
The Realme Buds Air is a Apple AirPods-esque looking earbuds that comes with a slightly more compact battery pack/charging case. The earbuds themselves boasts three hours in playback time. The case charges about four times to give the earbuds a total of 17-hours in playback time. It packs touch controls for convenient music and volume controls. Its custom designed R1 chip inside not only powers and boosts bass for the 12mm drivers, but also improves Bluetooth latency and stability.
The Realme 5i will be available in stores across the nation from the 18th on January 2020 onward. Online sales starts ont he 28th of January 2020 onward. If you do get yours from Lazada on that day, you are entitled to an exclusive Chinese New Year gift box.
The Realme Buds Air will be available 21st January 2020 onward exclusively on Shopee. For now, it will be only available in white colour. The yellow and black variant will come at a later date. If you do get it on the 21st of January 2020, you can get your hands on one for MYR 100 less than its actual price at MYR 199.
*This article is contributed by By Victor Argonov, Analyst, EXANTE*
There is still a great debate about which
is the best asset to protect investors in difficult times: cryptocurrencies or
gold.
Cryptocurrencies are often compared to
gold. They have a number of features in common – independence from governments,
limited emission, and a user consensus ascribing value to them. This is
especially true in the case of bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency that still
retains the status of the “default crypto”, just like gold retains the status
of the most important precious metal.
However, cryptocurrencies are also vastly
different from metals: they are a lot easier to trade. Physical gold is
extremely difficult to buy, sell, and trade across national borders, and nearly
impossible to use as legal tender. Gold turnover is subject to heavy taxation,
and many prefer to invest in precious metal accounts instead of physical gold.
Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, are easy to buy and sell, can be freely
traded across borders, and their use as legal tender is becoming increasingly
more common.
These similarities and differences
between cryptocurrencies and precious metals are common knowledge. However, one
crucial question remains unanswered – how much they are able to function as a
protective asset, retaining their value during crises.
Theoretical Considerations
Currently, one of the key arguments
against the use of cryptocurrencies as protective assets is their high
volatility. BTC cost $0.1 in 2010, $1,000 in late 2013, $200 in late 2014,
$19,000 in late 2017, and around $7,000 today. Even just in 2019, which can
hardly be called a particularly volatile year, its exchange rate still
fluctuated by a factor of four over the year. Crashes are commonplace on the
market, and no matter when you buy cryptocurrency, there is no guarantee that
your capital is not going to halve in a month.
On the other hand, the key argument for
keeping one’s funds in cryptocurrency is its tendency to grow in value as the
number of its users increases. Cryptocurrency emission is limited by
algorithms. With BTC specifically it is actually decreasing, which minimizes
inflation. Currently a few dozen million people on Earth use cryptocurrencies,
and their number doubles every year. Even 2018, disastrous as the year was, saw
the number of users increase from 18 to 35 million. At the same time, the
potential new audience is still huge, and in tandem with guaranteed low
inflation it usually stimulates growing exchange rates, regardless of the
bubbles that may occur.
The increasing number of crypto users not
only boosts the cryptocurrencies’ exchange rates and capitalization, but
gradually decreases their volatility as well. Here is a rough comparison, which
nonetheless illustrates the situation. Over the four years between 2010 and
2013 the BTC exchange rate changed by four orders of magnitude, while in the
next four, including the dip in 2014 and the enormous bubble in 2017, it only
changed by two orders of magnitude. It is true that even the modest
fluctuations in 2019 are huge compared to the traditional stock and currency
markets, but this is a predictable consequence of the low market cap, which is
currently at around $200B. Even when taken individually, the world’s largest
companies like Facebook or Saudi Aramco have market caps several times that
amount, while those of the global stock and currency markets have several
orders of magnitude that market cap. So the current volatility of the
cryptocurrencies may simply be a sign that they are still in their infancy.
Practical Evidence
There are many known cases of
cryptocurrencies serving as a protective asset, primarily during national
currency crises. In 2018 the national currencies of Turkey, Argentina, and
Venezuela experienced drastic devaluation. While previously citizens of these
countries tried to buy dollars in similar situations, this time many people
turned to cryptocurrencies. As an example, in August 2018 the number of
cryptocurrency users in Turkey was double the average number for Europe.
The cryptocurrencies’ protection against
fiat currencies’ devaluation is not limited to unstable countries with only a
small share on the global market. For example, statistics show that the BTC
exchange rate usually increases as the Chinese yuan’s rate drops.
However, none of these examples make
cryptocurrency unique. When one country’s fiat currency devalues, any other
country’s fiat currency may serve as a protective asset if it is more stable.
What makes gold unique is that its role as a protective asset is universal. Not
only does it protect its owners from national currency devaluation, but from
stock market crashes as well. Gold exchange rate is not particularly stable and
has its own fluctuations, but it is fairly independent of stock index
fluctuations. Does cryptocurrency have the same advantage? As practice shows,
no.
From 2014 to 2017 BTC’s exchange rate
usually changed in the same direction as the indices, and often with much
greater amplitude. In the fall of 2018 it briefly looked like the situation was
changing. The 2017 bubble had already deflated, and the volatility of the
digital assets dropped by several orders of magnitude (as it usually happens
after bubbles). When American stocks started dropping in price due to the trade
war with China, BTC did not follow the market’s lead and had indeed served as a
protective asset.
However, it was unable to cement that
role. November already saw a new cryptocurrency crash that was followed by the
infamous crypto winter. Whether it was chance or an expected event, it roughly
coincided with the maximum dip in the stock market. The indices recovered due
to the negotiations between the US and China in the spring of 2019, and so did
the cryptocurrencies.
Very Risky, But Still A Protective Asset?
Overall, the properties of gold and
cryptocurrencies as protective assets are very different. If you are afraid of
your national currency experiencing inflation, cryptocurrency can protect your
capital, but if you are a stock investor, expect cryptos to dip during a crisis
as well. The reason for this is simple: despite their advantages,
cryptocurrencies are still considered a very risky asset compared to securities
and gold. They are exactly the assets the investors try to get rid of as soon
as possible during difficult times.
On the other hand, in the long term
cryptocurrencies are still a protective asset. If you are not afraid of long
exchange rate dips and are not prone to dumping all your assets during crashes,
you will probably be rewarded over the years. While cryptocurrency growth on
the scale of 2010-2013 is unlikely, their exchange rates are still expected to
multiply in the next few years. To date, every bubble on the crypto market
resulted in a substantial growth of the exchange rates. For example, the BTC
rate of $3,000-4,000 during the crypto winter of 2018-2019 was vastly higher
than in any year before the 2017 bubble.
The only thing that can seriously
undermine the global positive trend of the cryptocurrencies is a complete ban
on them by leading countries. However, this seems unlikely. With every year,
more and more influential financial communities join the cryptocurrency market,
and they would not want to leave it.
The increasing popularity of
cryptocurrencies will eventually slow down their upward trend, but is also
likely to greatly decrease their volatility and make them more similar to
traditional protective assets like gold. How close that similarity would be is,
as yet, unknown.
The ASUS ROG Phone II was announced last year at COMPUTEX in Taipei. It has been the smartphone that has set the bar for gaming smartphones since it was first unveiled in 2018. It continues to be one of the most sought after smartphones even today.
A little recap of what the ROG Phone II packed; the gaming phone comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ paired with either 8GB or 12GB of RAM. This is complemented with up to 1TB of internal memory. However the phone has no support for microSD cards for extra memory.
The hallmark feature of the ROG Phone II was its Super AMOLED screen with a high 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sensing. This screen has a Full HD 1080p resolution with HDR10 support and also 108% coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut. Simply put, it has one of the best colour reproduction on the market to date.
It comes with dual camera setup with a 48-megapixel main sensor with a pixel size of 0.8µm . This sensor has a lens with f/1.8 aperture with a wide 26mm focal length. The camera supports phase detection auto-focus (PDAF) and Laser Auto-focus. The secondary sensor is a 13-megapixel sensor equipped with a lens with f/2.4 aperture and 11mm focal length. The selfie camera on the ROG Phone II is a 24-megapixel sensor equipped with a f/2.2 aperture lens with a pixel size of 0.8µm.
More Affordable with the Same High End Specifications
The new Strix Edition comes with the same powerful specification as the regular variant. However, it sheds the metal accents of the regular edition in favour of a completely glass back. Seriously, that’s the only difference between the two editions. It also takes on the Tecent variant of the ROG Phone II which has found its way into the market in Malaysia.
Pricing and Availability
The ROG Phone II Strix Edition will be available in Malaysia for MYR2,499 starting mid January 2020. We have word that you should see it hitting retail as soon as next week.
*This article is contributed byNicole Tan, Country Director of Facebook Malaysia*
A fisherman who uses WhatsApp and Facebook to change his quality of life and keeps his community safe by alerting each other on weather and tide conditions, a non-profit that empowers the homeless towards financial independence by turning them into tour guides, a delicious sambal recipe made in Malaysia that gained acclaim across borders from Indonesia and the Philippines — these are real examples of business innovation previously unimaginable.
The year 2020 crowns a
decade of change that has upended traditional ways of starting, marketing and
growing businesses across the world. This is even more pronounced in Asia,
where entire countries have leapfrogged to the mobile internet, making the
region home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies. According to the
Department of Statistics Malaysia, the nations’ digital economy contributed
18.5% to the national economy in 2018, while e-commerce contributed 8%,
highlighting digital transformation as a catalyst for expansion[1].
Source: Facebook
According to a
McKinsey report, by 2040, Asia could account for more than half of the global
GDP with global cross-order flows shifting towards Asia. The report shows how
these changes could shift globalisation towards regionalisation with 60 percent
of goods traded by Asian economies being within the region. In addition, 71
percent of Asian investment in start-ups is intraregional, and 74 percent of
Asian travelers travel within the region[2].
Malaysia’s exports
accounts for more than 71.5% of GDP[3].
Digital adoption in increasing productivity is crucial for SMEs to expand
further[4]
and digital tools give SMEs a boost in economic growth (revenue and sales 65%)
and go global (82% of exporting SMEs in Malaysia say that at least half of
their exports depend on online tools usage)[5].
Against this backdrop
of macroeconomic change, people’s expectations for the experiences they have
with brands and businesses is evolving fast. As we have seen over the last few
years, people adopt new technologies long before businesses do, and it
influences how they discover, research and finally make purchasing decisions.
We see this every day
on Facebook, where every day 1.62 billion people across the world come to
connect with people, products and services they care about. We stand at the
intersection of community and creativity where brands can identify, take
inspiration from and participate in the communities that people inhabit. At the
start of 2019, we shared three social trends that were on rise across our
platforms: ephemeral sharing, videos and messaging. As we head into 2020, these
trends have only intensified in our region. Simply put, Asia is about more —
more mobile, more video, more stories, more conversation and more commerce.
Malaysia is a truly
mobile-first nation with 88% owning smartphones. According to the Malaysian
Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), 77.6% of Malaysians are
spending time streaming or downloading videos online[6].
Last year we saw how
people show preference for sharing photographs or video over typing out a text
update, the comfort of knowing what you post isn’t going to stick around
forever and the need to share everyday moments with smaller audiences.
It’s interesting to note that video on mobile is far from a homogeneous experience. Unlike traditional video, mobile video experiences are not linear and vary based on a number of factors. Through our research and experience over the last few years, we’ve seen two distinct categories of video experiences that have accelerated largely due to mobile: “on-the-go” and “captivated viewing.” As a result of these changing viewing habits, people are most drawn to brands that are easy to discover and use, whether it’s through their strong presence in online communities or their high-quality mobile content across platforms. With the continued growth in streaming services, people will be looking to brands that can clearly communicate their offerings and to those that can create a more personalised viewing experience.
We’re continuing to
see fast adoption of ephemeral sharing as each of our Stories experiences
across Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp now have more than half a
billion daily users[7]. As more
and more people use Stories, we’re making it easier for marketers to adopt this
format and reach people where they’re spending their time.
The same goes for
messaging. At the start of 2018, we shared that over 8 billion messages were
sent between people and businesses on Messenger every month. That number has
more than doubled to 20 billion messages this year – which shows that people
expect to communicate with businesses in much the same way as they message with
their friends. As people increasingly use messaging apps, we’re helping
businesses make the shift too. There are now over 40 million monthly active
businesses on Messenger (i.e. sending or receiving a message on Messenger)[8]
and research shows that people in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific are more
likely than the global average to message a business. In fact, 63% of
people surveyed in Asia-Pacific messaged a business last Holiday season[9].
More than 5 million businesses are actively using the WhatsApp Business app
each month[10].
While last year we saw
the ability to message with a business made people feel more confident about
the brand and more connected to it and create a connection that fosters brand
loyalty, this year we see an interesting subset of this preference for
messaging; the growing use of messaging or online chat to buy and sell. A study
by the Boston Consulting Group in partnership with Facebook across nine
countries found that Southeast Asia outpaces other countries surveyed in both
awareness and adoption of conversational commerce. Of the nine countries
surveyed, the percentage of respondents who had undertaken a conversational
commerce transaction was the highest in Thailand and Vietnam, at 40% and 36%
respectively, followed by Indonesia (29%), Malaysia (26%) and the Philippines
(23%). The rate of adoption for other countries is still nascent – US (5%),
Mexico (6%), India (10%), and Brazil (11%), which shows substantial opportunity
for growth[11]. The
study unveiled a remarkable finding that discovery and spending behavior of
digital consumers in between Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities are very similar,
debunking the myth that Tier 1 digital consumers shop more online. Once a Tier
2 shopper adopts online shopping, habits and preferences become very similar to
Tier 1. Except for the discovery journey, where Tier 2 shoppers don’t know what
they want to buy even more, which means they are even more encouraged by
inspiration-shopping.
Source: Tech Crunch
All of these developments mean that the commerce landscape will continue to evolve with people opting to interact with businesses via experiences that are most relevant, personal, and seamless in their daily lives. With increasing affluence and access to the mobile internet, the ways people discover new products is very much about a connected experience. Therefore, ensuring that your business and brands are visible and discoverable is going to be an essential element to winning in the new era of commerce.
Today,
Most Malaysian consumers want everything almost immediately, making every step
or delay a chance for them to abandon their journeys. Awareness, information
gaps and the inability to optimise technology are some causes that contributed
to the friction[12]. So
what can businesses do to prepare for this new era of commerce? Bring
connection back to the equation.
Businesses can enhance connections by designing
mobile-friendly websites, apps, marketing and real-time communication to reduce
friction and establish the best experiences for customers[13].
5G is a relatively new technology globally. So far, only three known regions have successfully implemented the technology; two of them are in Asia. Then again, the two Asian countries also have two of the biggest telecommunications organisations in the world; HUAWEI and Samsung. These two have been on a race to implementing 5G through the world too.
In Malaysia, we have our own race to our very own first implementation of 5G. That race is not in between manufacturers, that race is in between the telcos. The major telcos like Maxis, Celcom, and Digi have been pushing the 5G technology with multiple tests that have taken place since last year. In February 2019, Maxis made the move to secure HUAWEI’s technology and expertise in 5G testing and installation.
That partnership came to a fruition at two testing sites in Subang Jaya, approved by MCMC (Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission) for two months. Their latest test involves the C-band spectrum of the 5G spectrum. That is the 3.5GHz (3,500MHz) spectrum of the 5G band.
The C-band spectrum is considered the global spectrum of 5G at this time. Of course, there are more bands of 5G depending on where you are and what the telcos can afford. Still, the optimum bands for 5G ranges from 3.3GHz to 4.2GHz.
The latest test, or approved tests allows Maxis to stretch to 200MHz of the 3.5GHz C-band spectrum. Previously MCMC only allows telcos to push 100MHz of the 3.5GHz. In that previous tests, they see speeds between 1.1Gbps to 1.76Gbps (yes, that is a G for Giga).
That is already 10x faster than our office’s fixed internet line at 100Mbps. The latest test with 200MHz of the 3.5GHz C-band sees speeds of up to 2.96Gbps. While that is not quite 3Gbps, it is still nearly double of the fastest speeds from the previous tests.
Does that mean we can expect that kind of speeds in the real world when 5G starts rolling out in Malaysia? We would say, only maybe. You have to remember that the tests are conducted in very controlled environments with minimal traffic and interference within the bandwidth.
4G LTE+ is technically capable of very high speeds already, speeds adequate for plenty of IoT implementation. Even the Formula 1 racing industry says that the current 4G bands are fast enough to support their operations. The only real benefit, as plenty of experts put it, 5G is supposed to be plenty more stable than 4G.
In the real world, you have to consider plenty of things when it comes to network speeds. Distances from the network towers have to be considered sometimes. In between the towers and you, there would be buildings and trees and other objects that might interfere with the transmission which affects speed. You also have to consider the amount of people using the same bandwidth from the same towers. Or, the amount of people that are using the total bandwidth at the same time. Of course, there are ways that 5G can counter and solve all these problems. It is meant to be the next generation of network after all, that only means that it is more powerful and better overall.
To answer the question posed earlier then, we have to say “maybe not at launch”. Of course, as testing goes, we are going to see higher speeds in the near future. While we may not get the full beans on launch, we can expect speeds and stability of 5G to continue to improve as manufacturers keep pushing the boundaries of 5G. Now, we can only hope that 5G starts rolling out soon, so that we can experience and test them ourselves; that is still the biggest benchmark of them all.
If you kept up with the tech scene as of 2019, there would be one topic that is a little more outstanding that others. No, not foldable devices. Nope, not even flexible glass, or roll-able TVs like LGs. The hottest topic all year long was the dawn of 5G connectivity.
At this point, if you ask us about when you can expect 5G, we can only say this year 2020. You can bet on that though. The three major network providers in Malaysia have started testing out 5G networks as of late 2019 last year. Celcom, Maxis, and Digi have been looking into 5G implementations and have been talking about upgrading their towers for 5G connectivity roll-out. They also claim that some towers are already ready for a 5G switch. Celcom, for example have successfully tested out their 5G network in their own office tower in 2019.
Of course, there is a big problem when our network providers turns on the switch to 5G. That problem is not on their ends. Sadly, we are limited to our devices; we do not have plenty of choices when it comes to 5G ready devices. Even the Samsung Galaxy Fold that comes to Malaysia will not have 5G connectivity. The only 5G ready smartphone that was launched last year was from Vivo.
This year looks to be different though. Other than the expected 5G roll-out, you can expect more smartphones to come with 5G connectivity. One of those smartphones that is confirmed to come as a 5G ready device is the HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro 5G (codename: LIO-N29). How do we know? It just passed through SIRIM’s inspections as of January 2020.
Source: HUAWEI
Yes, the HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro is not that new of a smartphone. It launched late last year 2019 in Malaysia. It packs HiSilicon’s most powerful Kirin 990 with 8GB of RAM. The Malaysian model comes with 256GB of storage too for good measure. The Huawei Mate 30 Pro continues with their super powerful quad-camera set-up as well as a large 4,500mAh battery. The device is void of any physical buttons. Instead, the beautiful Horizon display takes on the traditional volume rocker function. Of course, to power on the device, there is still a haptic button on the right side. For 2020, it will have 5G to get it up to speeds with Malaysia’s introduction of 5G.
Source: SIRIM
From the screenshot, HUAWEI’s Mate 30 Pro 5G comes with three 5G bands. The devices comes with a 700MHz, 3,500MHz, and 3,700MHz bands. Nope, not gibberish; the global band for 5G has been reported to be somewhere between 3,300MHz to 4,200MHz. There are also reports of 700MHz spectrums being used in Malaysia for certain telcos. Which also means that the HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro will be perfectly ready for Malaysia’s 5G push.
We do not know when the HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro 5G version will be going into the market. We do know though that SIRIM has approved the specifications within the screenshot. That also means that we can expect the HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro 5G to go on sale very soon. Price? We are guessing about MYR 4,499. Do not take our word for it though, we could be wrong.
The foldable smartphones craze has not died down just yet. The shown concept of the Samsung Galaxy Fold that was launched late in 2019 last year gave birth to a lot more foldable smartphone concepts out there. One of the most coveted and anticipated one after the big Galaxy Fold announcement was the HUAWEI Mate X foldable smartphone which approached the folding smartphone concept differently.
So far though, there is only two known circulated foldable smartphones in the market; the Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Motorola Razr. The HUAWEI Mate X has not been seen in the market since its announcement very early in 2019. It is understandable though that they might be facing some issues with productions due to the complications on the folding mechanism.
Still, every other person out there is hailing foldable smartphones as the next big thing in smartphones in the coming years. Instead of foldable smartphones though, there is another, more sensible way of approaching smartphone designs, having the displays in front and behind the smartphone. That dual display stuff has been done by Vivo last year too, with little sales success.
Source: Xiaomi Global
What about a wraparound design then? A smartphone with a display so big and wide that it wraps around the hardware, an actual all display smartphone. Xiaomi did that with the announcement of the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha. They even announced that the device should be available some time in December 2019.
Unfortunately we have not seen any sign of the smartphone anywhere in the market. According to the latest report, it seems that the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha is now delayed indefinitely. Understandably though, making a smartphone with a wraparound display is no easy feat.
Source: Xiaomi Global
Source: Xiaomi Global
Source: Xiaomi Global
Source: Xiaomi Global
Source: Xiaomi Global
Source: Xiaomi Global
Xiaomi has been known to make great smartphones though. The Xiaomi Mi 9T and the Mi 9T Pro that came out last year was some of the best valued smartphones you can find in the market. They Mi Note 10 was also the first smartphone with a penta-lens set-up boasting more than 100MP in resolution. 2019 was a great year for Xiaomi.
We think we will see the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha in 2020 alongside Xiaomi’s very own foldable smartphone as well (might). There is no specific dates just yet on the official availability of the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha. We are hopeful though.
HUAWEI is now more than just a smartphone brand. While they are known for their very compelling and innovative smartphones like their latest HUAWEI Mate 30 series, or the foldable Mate X; they make more than smartphones. In fact, they have made plans to launch smart home products in other markets as of 2020.
Still, the Malaysian market knows the Chinese company not just through their smartphones. We know them through their notebook PC offerings too. We tested the MateBook 13 and we really liked it, to be fair. So not only do they make compelling smartphones, they make compelling PC products too; albeit the odd display ratio.
Source: HUAWEI
Still, they do know how to make great portable productivity devices. The latest to come to the Malaysian market is the new HUAWEI MateBook D15, an MYR 2,499 notebook PC for the working person. Well, you could be a student and enjoy the MateBook D 15 too, we do not discriminate.
It will be available from 18th January 2020 onward at a starting price mentioned above. At MYR 2,499 also you can get a HUAWEI P30 smartphone, just saying. Still, it is an ultra-thin, ultra-light notebook PC that you are looking at here; MYR 2,499 is actually very reasonable.
For MYR 2,499 you are looking at an ultra-thin and light Windows 10 notebook PC that charges via a 65W USB Type-C charger. Of course, you can use that charger on a smartphone too, your HUAWEI smartphone, let us say. The MateBook D 15 also packs 16GB in RAM paired to 256GB of SSD and up to 1TB of HDD, plenty more than enough to work with if you ask me.
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Getting everything within the petite body of the HUAWEI MateBook D 15 running nicely on the 15-inch display is a Ryzen 5 3500U CPU paired to an integrated RADEON Vega 8 GPU. In plenty of tests, this combination is still great to run games like DOTA 2 or League of Legends when the mood hits you.
You see all these Windows 10 goodness through a 15.6-inch Full HD 1080p display. The thing is though, if you own a HUAWEI smartphone, the MateBook D 15 becomes more than just a notebook PC, it becomes your multi-platform workhorse. You can thank HUAWEI’s One Tap Share feature that we loved so much in the HUAWEI MateBook 13 we tested with the HUAWEI P30 Pro.
Source: HUAWEI
The HUAWEI MateBook D 15 will be available 18th January 2020 onward. You can get your hands on one via HUAWEI official concept stores or any retail partners across the nation. There is only one colour option though, Mystic Silver, at this point. As mentioned, price starts from MYR 2,499.
Despite the new thing that is the Samsung Galaxy Note10 that came out in 2019, there are still many that regards the previous Samsung Galaxy Note as one of the best, if not the best Samsung Galaxy Note to date. To be fair, the Samsung Galaxy Note9 was a remarkable smartphone that holds very high regards in our hearts and minds. It was also still a very formidable flagship smartphone even today if you look at it.
While Samsung has stopped officially manufacturing the Samsung Galaxy Note9, you may still be able to head down to your favourite local smartphone store and get your hands on one for not very much money today. Yes, we are talking about getting one from the likes of Lowyat Plaza, or other large retailers in the Klang Valley. Still, there is one drawback about getting the Samsung Galaxy Note9 today; it still runs on an outdated One UI based on a now outdated Android 9.0 Pie.
That is about to change however with Samsung’s rollout of their new update on the Samsung Galaxy Note9. The new update promises One UI 2.0 that is based on the Android 10 Q. Obviously the One UI 2.0 update will also come with the new Android in the box.
For those that are not yet familiar with One UI 2.0, you can expect some really nice things to come with the new update for the Samsung Galaxy Note9. For one, you get better, more powerful camera app with something called Director View. There is a new dark mode that is ever so popular these days too. The slow-mo selfies that are made popular by its bigger sibling, the Samsung Galaxy Note10 will also make it into the Samsung Galaxy Note9 with the update. All this makes quite a lot of sense since the Samsung Galaxy Note9 hardware is still quite powerful by today’s standards. It can still hold itself against the Note10, that is for sure.
Of course One UI 2.0 comes with more things that we have just listed. The One UI 2.0 and Android 10 rollout for the Samsung Galaxy Note9 is reported to be rolling out now in Germany first. Malaysia will definitely get our share of One UI 2.0 love very soon, considering that the market is also one of the first market’s to launch the Samsung Galaxy Note9.
