Category Archives: Accessories

The 5^th Generation RØDE NT1 Mic is That Do-It-All Mic You Have Been Looking For

February 21, 2023 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

RØDE’s NT1 is quite legendary in the podcasting community. It is Rode’s oldest product namesake and what kickstarted the brand 30 years ago. If you are into recording gear, the Rode NT1 can be likened to the Shure SM58 for podcasters. Unlike the Shure though, the Rode is a condenser.

The latest RØDE NT1 is in its fifth generation now and comes with a few upgrades that makes it a must have for studio works. While some might say that it is a podcasting or radio mic, it can be used for other things like vocal recording too. To some extremes, the condenser can be used to record musical instruments.

You want to use this mic for all sort of recording also because it is the first condenser in the world that offers 32-bit float digital output. That also means that the mic can pick up loud sounds without clipping. For the laymen, that means that you are not going to get any sort of distortion even if you go above the usual threshold that 24-bit recording allows. In production terms, that also means you can capture more nuances in your recordings.

images page 2145 modules 7660 rode nt1 5g b insitu rapper home studio back 8 2022 8192x5464 rgb 1920x1080 5ed07d3 — Source: RØDE

Inside the condenser is RØDE’s precision engineered HF6 1-inch large-diaphragm gold-sputtered capsule to capture everything you can throw at it consistently. Because it is a condenser, it is rather sensitive too. In that case, the internal shock mounting should eliminate any unwanted noise or rattles in recording situations. At 4dBA, the RØDE NT1 is also the quietest studio condenser you can find in the world. That means you do not get too much hissing on the mic as you work with it. Alongside the 32-bit float digital output, the audio is recorded at 192KHz resolution, the highest digital resolution you can currently get for audio.

Within the Rode NT1, you can find the built-in DSP for APHEX audio processing. There is also a built-in compressor and noise gate to set certain a floor and ceiling for your recordings with the RØDE NT1. There is also a built-in two-step high-filter and Aural Exciter for even more fine tuning in your recordings.

For the first time ever for RØDE’s NT1 as well, it features both an XLR output alongside a USB output. They call it the Dual Connect output and both outputs exit from the bottom of the mic. This means that you could work with the regular mixer if you already spent on a digital interface. If it is your first NT1, you can save some money on the digital interface and plug it directly into your PC for your recordings. You can even get the NT1 to record at 32-bit float format when you plug it into your PC directly.

Source: RØDE
Source: RØDE
Source: RØDE
Source: RØDE
Source: RØDE
Source: RØDE

The 5^th generation RØDE NT1 will be available in either black or silver colour options. It is available for pre-order in select regions. You can check with your local retailers if you want to get your hands on one. It will set you back US$ 249 (MYR 1,103*). As legendary condensers go, the asking price could be a reasonable one. More information on the RØDE NT1 5^th generation can be found on their website.

*Approximately based on exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.43 as of 21/02/2023 on xe.com

Accessories, Consumer Electronics, Lifestyle, News

LG Releases the Most Compact Soundbar They’ve Ever Produced, the Eclair QP5 in Malaysia for MYR 2,799.

February 20, 2023 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

CES 2021 saw LG release their most compact soundbar yet. They announced the Eclair QP5 soundbar to the world in July of 2021. Sadly, the soundbar has not made its way into Malaysia yet at the time of launch. In some sense, it is a two-year-old product. At the same time, it is still one of LG’s more anticipated products for Malaysia.

The LG Eclair QP5 is not the most compact soundbar there is, but it is still one of the most compact soundbar you can find in the market. Even at its rather compact construction, the LG Eclair QP5 still offers a lot of power at up to 320W. It offers 3.1.2 channel of audio to really push on the surround sound capability of the soundbar.

The soundbar that comes with a subwoofer set-up is tuned by Meridian for the best possible audio reproduction a compact soundbar can get. It is also Dolby Atmos and DTS:X certified, so you can be sure that your movie and music experience is one of the best and most accurate you can find in its range.

As mentioned before, the LG Eclair offers 4K pass-through for optimized 4K and HDR contents with Dolby Vision. LG’s AI Sound Pro also analyses the contents being displayed and automatically tunes the soundbar to optimise the sounds and contents. With eARC on the HDMI port, the LG Eclair is capable of taking on transmission of 5.1-channel or 7.1-channel audio. If you have an LG TV produced from 2021 onward, you benefit from TV Mode Share that cleverly combines the processing power of LG’s proprietary α processors and AI Sound Pro to enrich sounds from any content source. Of course, you want to tamper your expectations a little when you are going through older format videos.

Source: LG
Source: LG
Source: LG

The LG Eclair QP5 compact soundbar is now available in Malaysia. You can get your hands on one or even test them out at LG’s authorized dealers and stores across the nation. Sadly, there are no colour options to speak of. You can only get your hands on the black colour option. At MYR 2,799, it is not what you want to call budget-friendly too. As soundbars go though, the compact soundbar is quite perfect for a desktop set-up or even a small condominium in Malaysia. More information on the soundbar can be found on their website.

Accessories, Computers, Gaming, Lifestyle, News

Razer Unleashes the New BlackWidow V4 Pro Gaming Keyboard – The Ultimate Razer Battle Station Now Even Better

February 20, 2023 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

Mechanical keyboards are the current fad. Everyone wants one, but not every person needs one. They are nice things to have, and the choices are currently endless, especially when you take custom keyboards into account these days.

Custom keyboards are complex though. You need to make endless choices between the huge selection of mechanical switches, to keycaps, to the case, plates, and even the circuit board itself. What if you just want a fuss free experience and get yourself a nice mechanical keyboard that games well and works for your daily use? Why not just get a Razer keyboard? Why not the latest Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro.

The BlackWidow V4 Pro, as its name suggests, is not necessarily a new series of keyboards from Razer. It is an evolution of one of their highest rated gaming peripherals, the quintessential gaming keyboard. The evolution added a new control dial on the top left corner of the keyboard too, which adds an extra layer of control from your keyboard.

The Command Dial

KV4 Razer x Blackwidow RazerCommandDial 8keys — Source: Razer

They call it the Command Dial and they allow you to program it to whatever your heart pleases. They say you can program the dial with up to 100 different functions. Both clockwise and counter-clockwise movements could have different functions too, even if it is a regular volume-up or -down commands. For the creatives, you might find it useful for your creative applications. We can imagine programming the dial to scrub through video footages in Adobe’s Premiere Pro app. There is also backlighting for the dial so you can easily identify it even if you are working under less-than-optimal lighting conditions.

If you are not into customizing your own functions and prefer the simple plug-and-play solution, there are up to eight different default functions for the dial. You get to choose between window zooming to tab switching, giving you more convenience especially for research purposes. You can even toggle between its modes and functions by clicking the Command Dial. Each program has their own backlight colour too for easy identification. Alongside the Command Dial, lined up below, are five programmable macro keys you can program for easy access to differing functions in different applications or games. There are three more macro keys on the edge of the keyboard for even more quick-launch, or quick-access programmed into the keyboard.

Razer Chroma RGB

KV3 Razer x Blackwidow ImmersiveUnderglowAndPerKeyLighting — Source: Razer

Of course, the keyboard is not a Razer product without RGB. Specifically, you get Razer’s very famous Chroma RGB function built into the keyboard. It is a high-end keyboard after all, and that is why each keys get their own addressable RGB diode. There is even a 38-zone underglow RGB that can also be programmed separately. The included magnetic wrist rest extends the underglow RGB too. All the RGB is controlled by Razer’s proprietary Synapse program. If you have other Razer Chroma RGB peripherals, you can easily synchronize the lighting program via Synapse. Razer’s Synapse also works with other select addressable RGB products that are Chroma Connect compatible. You can even synchronize your RGB program to over 200 supported games for that matter.

The Mechanics

KV2 Razer x Blackwidow RazerMechanicalSwitches — Source: Razer

Of course, the BlackWidow V4 Pro comes with mechanical switches. They are not ordinary mechanical switches though. They are Razer’s very own mechanical switches. You can choose between a Razer Green Clicky for a better tactile feel, or Razer’s Yellow Linear for smooth, silent functions. The switches are tested to up to 100-million keystrokes as well, so you know it will last you a while. We think the linear option will be the more popular one with gamers.

The keyboard is operable with USB Type-C connection to your PC. There is also a USB 2.0 passthrough on the keyboard. That also means that you might only need one cable running from your keyboard and mouse set-up to your PC. The keyboard is also made with up to 8000Hz polling rate, meaning it is one of the fastest responding keyboards you can find in the world today, perfect for gaming. All of these is packed into a 5052 aluminium alloy case that is proven to be durable. Within the case are two layers of sound dampening foam for better acoustics. The switches are also factory lubed for optimal acoustics. Of course, the keycaps are durable doubleshot ABS keycaps.

Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer

Price and Availability

The Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro is now available in select markets on Razer.com, RazerStores, and authorized resellers. It is not yet available in Malaysia though; we are expecting it to be available within February or early March 2023. It retails for US$ 229.99 (MYR 1,019*) in markets where it is available. There are no colour options on it, as with most Razer ‘Pro’ products out there. You can find out more about Razer’s BlackWidow V4 Pro from their website.

Accessories, Health, Lifestyle, News

IKEA Announces VINDSTYRKA a Smart Air Quality Monitor That Plays Nice with Matter

February 15, 2023 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

Your surrounding air quality is more important than you think. While some might take it for granted, it is one of the things that greatly affects your health and wellbeing. It is also something you can hardly control when you are out and about. At home though, you have a lot more control over your environment. There is still a problem; how do you know if you are breathing clean, pollutant free air at home? You need an air quality sensor for that.

Where do you get one? Why not from your favourite Swede furniture store, IKEA? They have just announced the VINDSTYRKA air quality sensor that features a large display to tell you if your air at home is of poor quality.

Like any IKEA product, it is built to be a real plug-and-play solution for any homes. Its simplistic design is also made to ensure that it looks at home in any environment, no matter where you place it in your home. Their marketing image shows it sitting in what looks like an island kitchen counter, and even that looks great and natural.

IKEA VINDSTYRKA PE880019 eb33d713 — Source: IKEA

It measures particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) particles in the air within its environment. It also takes humidity, temperature and TVOC levels. The measurements taken by the air quality sensor are general readings you can find on most higher-end air purifiers you can buy in the market today. IKEA is not about producing ultra-premium products at unreachable prices though. They are about modularity and accessible home improvement products. This VINDSTYRKA is exactly made with that in mind.

The IKEA VINDSTYRKA can be connected to DIRIGERA, IKEA’s hub for all things smart home. That way, it sends all the information collected on the sensor to the IKEA Home smartphone app. The readings can be used by the app to trigger other smart home products that is compatible with DIRIGERA. You can pair it with IKEA’s own STARKVIND air purifiers, for example, and trigger them when your air quality drops to a certain level.

It is not just IKEA’s smart home products that the IKEA VINDSTYRKA works with though. DIRIGERA hub is also Matter-enabled. That means that you can get the air quality sensor to work with any other smart home tools or appliances that works with Matter. You might have a separate smart air purifier that is controlled by a different smart home app. As long as it works with Matter, your air quality sensor still can trigger the air purifier. You can also check your air quality readings on non-Android devices in this case.

Source: IKEA
Source: IKEA
Source: IKEA

The IKEA VINDSTYRKA smart air quality sensor is said to be available in all IKEA stores April 2023 onward. That is usually not the case for Malaysia though. Like the SONOS speakers from IKEA, it might take another month or so before you see the VINDSTYRKA on the shelves in IKEA stores across the nation. There are no mentions on pricing either currently. If you are interested in the product, you might want to check IKEA stores by May 2023, or just hang around and we will let you know as soon as we get more information. You also want to keep in mind that the DIRIGERA hub is not yet available in Malaysia. More on the IKEA VINDSTYRKA and smart home products can be found on their website.

Accessories, Computers, Lifestyle, News

Samsung Introduces the PM9C1a – The Next Level in SSD Performance

January 12, 2023 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

The fastest storage you can get with money today is a Samsung 990 PRO PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD (Solid State Drive). It offers up to nearly 7.5GB/s in read speeds and up to nearly 7GB/s in write speeds. That is faster than what you can get even in your next-generation gaming consoles like the PS5 and the Xbox. The new SSD Samsung introduced is nothing like that.

This is the PM9C1a, a PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD that is made for everyday use. It will not hit speeds like the 990 PRO drive. It reads at a mere 6,000MB/s and writes up to 5,600MB/s. You are still getting read/write speeds beyond what the next-generation gaming consoles can do. That means while the PM9C1a is not made for gaming specifically, the SSD will do just find even with the most demanding AAA games available.

Since it is an everyday high-performance storage, Samsung has to build some reliability and security into the device. The SSD supports Device Identifier Composition Engine (DICE) security standard. It generates cryptographic keys within the SSD. What that does is provide some from of protection from supply chain attacks that targets vulnerabilities from a separate network. The measure also prevents the firmware within the SSD to be tampered, adding some operational reliability.

Of course, because this SSD might find its way to offices around the world, you want the device to be as economical and efficient as possible to keep operational costs low. Samsung fitted the PM9C1a with their 5nm technology controllers and seventh-generation V-NAND memory modules. The result is a 70% increase in power efficiency over the older PM9B1. In that sense, you can run the SSD at a lower power draw but at the same or even better performances over the older storage. In a notebook PC, the SSD even turns itself down and consumers 10% further less power in standby mode.

Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung

Samsung has not announced the exact availability date of the new PM9C1a SSD in the market. We are expecting the SSD to hit the stores sometime in February 2023, at least for the Malaysian market. They have not mentioned a specific price to their latest SSD either. Based on prices of the older generation Samsung PM9B1, you can expect the latest SSD to start at over MYR 200 (256GB). There will be three configurations for the PM9C1a SSD – 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. They will also be available in the most popular M.2 form factors – 22mm x 30mm. 22mm x 42mm, and 22mm x 80mm. For more information regarding Samsung’s latest memory modules, you can head over to their website.

Accessories, Lifestyle, News

BMW Motorrad Wants to Go Electric with the BMW CE 04

January 10, 2023 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

If you have a dream bike, you might be looking at bikes from a handful of brands. You have Ducati, Harley Davidson, Triumph, and the likes. Then there is one from Germany; you have BMW Motorrad.

The Bavarian automotive giant has been one of the leading brands in motorcycles forever. They are right up there with the likes of Ducati and Triumph. At this point, they are also the maker of one of the most powerful production motorcycles in the world, the BMW S 1000 RR superbike.

They are not all about making fast bikes though. They make some of the most practical motorcycles for all kinds of purposes. What they did not make before is a scooter, until now. This one is special though.

We start with what you might ask about with electric vehicles; how far does this go? The BMW CE 04 packs an 8.9kWh battery, not your regular laptop battery capacity. That battery offers up to 130km in range from a single charge. It is a lithium-ion battery that can be charged via a regular wall socket you have at home or a quick charging port for cars. Through regular wall sockets (2.3Kw output), you get a full charge in just four hours and 20 minutes. If you can get it to a quick charger at 6.9kW you cut the charging time by 40 minutes.

Power? It is a single liquid cooled magnetic electric motor powering the rear wheels on this one. The motor drives the wheels via a single-gear toothed belt transmission. That transmission puts 31kW on the wheels and then to the road and 62Nm of torque available immediately when you throttle the motorcycle. With that kind of power, you can bring the electric motorcycle to 180 km/h at the top, faster than some fully electric cars even. To make sure that it stops properly, the BMW CE 04 gets twin disc brakes.

All these techs are wrapped in a body unlike any BMW motorbike. To be fair, it looks like a rather bulky urban scooter. Underneath the pretty panels are tubular steel frame to ensure that the motorbike is rigid enough to handle the hustles and bustles of city travels. The modern design also allows the CE 04 to have a “floating” seat look.

Up front is a telescoping fork attached to the front wheel. Out the back is a single sided swing arm with fully covered spring strut. Riding in the dark should prove no problem too with BMW’s LED Adaptive Headlight Pro in the headlamp for both high and low beams. Alongside daytime running lights, the headlamp also offers special light functions for “welcome and “goodbye”.

The BMW CE 04 also comes with four riding modes. You choose between “ECO”, “Rain”, “Road”, and “Dynamic” for optimized rides in any situation you might put the bike in. All of these can be accessed via a modern looking 10.25-inch TFT colour display with Integrated Map Navigation. If you have BMW Motorrad’s Connected App, you can even check the CE 04’s status and even ride statistics.

Source: BMW
Source: BMW
Source: BMW
Source: BMW
Source: BMW
Source: BMW
Source: BMW
Source: BMW
Source: BMW
Source: BMW
Source: BMW
Source: BMW
Source: BMW
Source: BMW
Source: BMW
Source: BMW

Availability

BMW has not announced its official availability in Malaysia just yet. The preview means that BMW is planning to bring the CE 04 into the country soon though. They have not announced any pricing too at this time. All we can do is wait for BMW Motorrad to make the announcement later in the year.

Accessories, Computers, Mobile, News

No Proper Mic? That is Okay, Adobe’s Got You with Enhance Speech.

December 20, 2022 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

Content creators that deal with videos and audio know the struggle. The struggle to get good audio is universal for almost any modern content creator. In most cases, while most might not realise it, bad audio can break your immersion or a good video. Think about it, imagine watching The Conjuring on mute. You will find that it is way less scary than it is.

Good audio is not just limited to the music, or sound effects though. In the world of radio, YouTube personalities, and podcasts, great audio usually means great vocals. We understand that struggle because we produce our very own podcast (available on Spotify, coming back in 2023). We had to spend a little bit of money to get a set of gears for the office and home ready and going for our Podcast series, Tech & Tonic, just to get that crisp and smooth radio voice.

Thing is, we do have to spend a bit of our own money to get better audio even at home. Getting at least a dedicated USB mic was the only way to get quality audio for our podcasts during the pandemic. But what if you do not or do not have that money to spend on a mic? What if your regular built-in mic on your laptop or headphone is enough to create your own podcasts? It is possible today with Adobe’s latest free tool.

Adobe, as one of the most widely used content creation suite, has been researching on ways to improve creative workflow using AI for years. Their AI tool has helped make Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, Premiere Pro, and even Rush even more efficient and way cleverer than before. They have also been messing about with AI in audio processing with Project Sasha, recently rebranded to Adobe Podcast.

As part of the project, they came up with something called Enhance Speech. The tool is free at this time, only requiring you to have an Adobe account to begin with, even without any subscription plans. The tool also works best with a desktop web browser, so you do want to get on at least a Chromebook to get it working. MP3 and WAV file format works best with the tool currently and the upload limit is 1GB.

Once you do that, the tool uses some form of deep learning algorithm to transform your audio from a slightly noisy recording to sounding like its recorded in an isolated professional studio. There have been reports that the tool does not work too well in extremely noisy scenarios though, so you do want to ensure that you are still doing as much as you can to keep your recording environment as quiet as possible. Of course, description only goes so far. You ought to experience the tool yourself, since it is free.

Our sample is a voice recording using the Samsung Galaxy Note9, one recorded with the mic right up near the mouth, and one placed on the table. We did not make too much effort in isolating the recording environment. We have some traffic noise, construction nearby, and even the MRT going about in our recording environment.

https://techent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Enhance-Speech-1.mp3

Original Mic Close to Mouth

https://techent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Enhance-Speech-1-enhanced.wav

Enhance Mic Close to Mouth

https://techent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Enhance-Speech-2-Far.mp3

Original Mic on Table

https://techent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Enhance-Speech-2-Far-enhanced.wav

Enhance Mic on Table

You can hear that a lot of the pop peaks have been cancelled out. While there is not much in terms of noise, the resulting audio sounds much cleaner and contains some of those radio like quality in the voice. Wind noise and echo is reduced to the point where you do not hear them too. If you are looking to start a podcast or improve your audio without spending extra money, you might want to give this tool a whirl on their website.

Accessories, Consumer Electronics, Editorial, Lifestyle, Mobile, News

[CES 2023] More SmartThings for the Future – A Samsung Editorial

December 15, 2022 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

CES 2023 is upon us early in January of 2023, there is no surprises there. The show is also a place where you can find the latest and greatest from all sorts of electronics manufacturer, a sort of showcase of what end users like us can expect to see throughout the entire year. It is not uncommon to see new smartphone concepts, new laptop concepts, and even new ways to experience technology in the show. While it is happening early in the year, you can expect manufacturers to bring their big guns to the show. One of those manufacturers you can be excited about is Samsung.

Samsung is in a rather unique position in the world. It is a technology giant that is involved and participates in many industries. If you have not known yet, Samsung has rather unique role in the military equipment industry as well. What they are most known for today is their unique approach to smartphones with their folding flexible displays. But according to the latest editorial you can find in their newsroom, written by their current CEO, JH Han, that is not all they want to be known for.

It is no secret that Samsung, very much like Apple, wants to build an ecosystem for themselves. At some point, it looked like their ecosystem, known as the Galaxy ecosystem, built around the smartphone experience is going to take over and pivot the South Korean giant away from Google’s complete ecosystem. Now, they seemed to have turned things around a little and embrace Google a little bit more, save for a few things.

Samsung’s Galaxy ecosystem is not technically a failure though. It has evolved a little bit more instead. It has developed into something they call the SmartThings ecosystem.

SmartThings – The Heart of it All

SmartThings, in a lot of sense, has always been there. It is not a replacement to the Galaxy ecosystem; it is a big part of it. It has a lot more potential in the smart home space than you think though. For 2023 then, instead of focusing on the smartphone side of things, Samsung plans to bring more IoT products and expand on SmartThings, which could be more exciting than it sounds.

According to the published editorial, Samsung is working with more partners this time for SmartThings. That can only mean that Samsung is expanding its compatibility and ability to more than just Samsung products. They are integrating AI implementations into SmartThings too, which is not entirely unheard of, but just means that their SmartThings products can just be smarter and more intuitive to work with over time than before. Where this will sit between the Apple Home and Google Home IoT framework, only time can tell.

The focus is not to just make the SmartThings ecosystem smarter and more readily available for users, but to also make it more sustainable than ever before. In a way, Samsung wants to make SmartThings the center of your eco-friendly practices. That also means that Samsung will be committed to creating more energy efficient products and more environmentally conscious packaging decisions.

We mentioned earlier that Samsung is in rather unique position in the world. They are in all sorts of sectors and are rather successful in all the industries it has participated in. They make some of the world’s most popular Television, they are the world’s leader in terms of display technology, they are a leader in the world of smartphones in both popularity and innovation, they make very compelling and very clever home appliances. They are in the perfect position to introduce a whole host of products and solutions that can talk to each other and integrate them seamlessly into your lives.

From the published editorial, we think that we can be excited for Samsung in 2023. You can expect Samsung to shift its focus a little in 2023. Of course, that does not mean that you will not see the usual Samsung Galaxy S and Galaxy Z flagship smartphones being released and pushing smartphone technology to the limits. But you can expect Samsung to shift gears when it comes to their home appliances. For CES 2023 at least, we think that Samsung will focus more on smart home appliances or even announcing new partners to their SmartThings ecosystem. We can only wait and see.

Accessories, Computers, Gaming, News

[CES 2023] LG UltraGear Goes Fastest in the World with 240Hz OLED Gaming Monitor

December 14, 2022 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

Gaming monitors need to be fast. In the early days of fast gaming monitors, OLED technology is quite unheard of. The reason is because OLED panels can only go so fast in terms of refresh rate. While OLED monitors offer colour accuracy and vibrance like no other, they are rather dimwitted in terms of refresh rate until a few years ago. Now though, OLED panels are some of the most sought after in gaming. Pretty soon you are going to be able to get you hands on one with 240Hz in refresh rate, faster than anything that came before it.

The monitors in question are LG’s latest 27-inch and 45-inch models introduced for CES 2023. You get the new 27GR95QE and 45GR95QE gaming monitors. While both have their similarities, they are built to serve different segments.

Both gaming monitors offer 240Hz in terms of refresh rate. Both monitors also offer 0.3ms in GTG response time, faster than almost anything that you can find in the market currently. Both are also NVIDIA G-Sync and FreeSync Premium compatible, making them rather versatile for whatever GPU you might have in your PC. At the same time, they both offer a DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage of 98.5%, something even content creators can highly appreciate. Both are capable of producing images at HDR10 standards with a contrast ratio of 1,500,000:1 for a higher level of detail than any gaming monitor you can find in their classes. Of course, they both sport the latest HDMI 2.1 standard alongside a DisplayPort 1.4 port.

UltraGear 45GR95QE lifestyle 02 — Source: LG

Their difference lies in the shape and size of the panels. The 27-inch monitor is a flat screened 16:9 monitor that most gamers can appreciate. 27-inch is a rather standard size for gaming monitors and 16:9 is currently the most popular aspect ratio for most gamers. It is also the current standard size and aspect ratio in esports, which also means this would be suitable for most esports titles like Dota 2, or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). At the same time, its QHD (2,560 x 1,440) resolution is widely accepted as the most optimal resolution for displays at its size and for gaming purposes. Most GPUs today are also optimized for gaming at this resolution which also means that this might be the more popular option for the most serious gamers anyway.

If you want to take things a little further and get even more immersed in your games, you want the 45-inch behemoth that is the 45GR95QE. It is a curved display monitor with an 800R curvature (0.8m radius) That also means that it is more curved than almost anything that you might get in the market. Its shorter optimum distance also means you get to be closer to the action for an even more immersive experience than ever before. It packs WQHD (3,440 x 1440) resolution too to ensure that you still get all the details you need in the ultra-wide monitor.

Source: LG
Source: LG
Source: LG
Source: LG

LG’s UltraGear 27-inch and 45-inch OLED gaming monitors will be showcased in CES 2023 happening on the 5^th of January 2023 all the way to the 8^th of January 2023. There is no specific information regarding the market availability of the monitors currently. That also means we currently do not have any pricing information too. We are keeping our ears close to the ground for any updates though, so do watch this space. More information on LG’s range of UltraGear gaming monitors can be found on their website.

Accessories, Health, iOS, Lifestyle, Mobile, News

The Oceanic+ App is Live! Meet Your New Dive Computer, the Apple Watch Ultra.

November 29, 2022 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

Apple launched their most expensive wearable item back in September alongside their Apple iPhone 14 devices. They launched the new Apple Watch Ultra, which was made with space age technology and is built to endure the most extreme conditions you can subject your body to. One of them is to go down to depths you will only go as a scuba diver.

According to Apple, the Watch Ultra can go in depths up to 40 meters. While there are dive watches and computers that can go deeper than that, you want to remember that the Apple Watch Ultra is no bigger than the regular watch and is also built as a watch and fitness tracker you can take anywhere with you. In that sense, the Apple Watch Ultra is a feat on its own.

While it was able to go down to 40 meters under water, and into the ocean for that matter, you could only get basic information from it like a regular watch. It did not have the right tools to record your depth, or how much air you have left, or how long you’ve dived. Until now, that is, with the Oceanic+ app.

Apple Watch Ultra Oceanic Plus Complications — Source: Apple

The app was also announced when they launched the Apple Watch Ultra, so it should not come as a surprise. The app is not an in-house developed one (developed by Huish Outdoors in collaboration with Apple), that could also be why it launched later than the Watch Ultra itself. It is still 2022 though, so it is not like we had to wait years for it.

The Oceanic+ app basically turns your Apple Watch Ultra into a rather comprehensive dive computer. They say that the app allows the Watch Ultra to act as an advanced dive computer and robust dive planner. Of course, you can review all information post-dive as well.

Apple Watch Ultra Oceanic Plus Scuba Slow Down — Source: Apple

The dive computer on the Apple Watch Ultra may not be similar to other dive computers you might have come across. They say that they have built the interface to be as intuitive as possible to be used on the Apple Watch platform. The interface is designed to allow users to quickly get information from the watch and dive stress free without making mental calculations during their dive. That also means that they need to cram and simplify as much information as they can into the tiny display that is the Apple Watch Ultra. It even gives users some form of directive to ensure their safety during the dive with “Stop”, “Go Up”, and even “Go Down”.

They have managed to integrate things like surface time, depth, and gas capacity into an interface that would be familiar to any Apple Watch user. On top of that, the dive planner gives you extra information like tides, water temperatures, weather updates, currents, and updated information uploaded by other users. It even tracks your GPS location, so you know where you are in your dives. You can even tell if you have a notification from the Apple Watch Ultra in the water with the Watch vibrating. They say you can even feel the vibration through a 7mm thick wetsuit. Haptic feedback, according to the developers, is a better way for your watch to communicate with you under water.

Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple

The Oceanic+ app is now available for the Apple Watch Ultra via the App Store. Of course, there is a companion app for your iPhone as well where you can view all sorts of information from your Apple Watch post-dive. The Apple Watch Ultra will set you back from MYR 3,799 onward, which is a lot of money for an Apple Watch. Then again, a dive computer will set you back just as much or more.

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