Category Archives: Business

Business, Editorial

Enabling Global Expansion Through An Agile & Adaptable Payment System

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This article was written from a sit-down interview withYuval Ziv, President of Nuvei Corporation.

The world we know is ever-changing. With the advent of digital technologies and rapidly adapting legislation, it’s become even more challenging for businesses to grow across borders. Where it once was a matter of having an international website, it’s now a question of localisation and adaptation. This reality rings true even when handling international payments and transactions. However, companies like Nuvei provide a unique proposition of a single, modular interface to manage most, if not all, of the challenges of digitalisation when it comes to payments.

Paypal, VISA, iPay88, Stripe and even Apple Pay are some of the world’s most popular payment methods right now. However, when it comes to accepting these payment methods for businesses, it can be a long, tedious process. What’s more, there is also the added complication of regulatory compliance and knowing the lay of the land.

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Photo by Kampus Production on Pexels.com

These hurdles don’t just delay global rollout and expansion. They, can, at times, be the factors that cause businesses and companies to lose momentum. In other words, they can be the straws that break the camel’s back. That said, a business’s aspirations should never be limited by uphill battles. Collaboration and onboarding of the right solutions will always be at the heart of any foolproof strategy. However, too many partners can also create more problems.

A Single Turnkey for Most Hurdles

The need for a single turnkey solution is more than just apparent; it’s imperative. That’s where Nuvei has chosen to develop its single API which brings together everything businesses need when it comes to payment solutions. The API is continually being developed by their in-house team of developers as the company continues to grow even through acquisitions.

In fact, Nuvei has most recently acquired Paymentez, Mazooma and Simplex. These acquisitions expand the reach and scope of services offered by Nuvei. The added features and services that they bring will be integrated seamlessly into the existing Nuvei API. Businesses that have deployed the API will then get an update which will give them access to these new markets and services. The company’s internal development team allows them to have the agility needed to bring new products to market as well as the freedom to adapt near instantaneously. What’s more, its core platform remains unchanged and flexible throughout.

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Photo by Ivan Samkov on Pexels.com

It is this agile and adaptable approach that makes a viable single turnkey solution. With a continually evolving marketplace and changing legislative environment, partners need to be able to help alleviate some of the burdens of business without becoming a burden themselves.

Payments are just the beginning

Let’s just face the hard truth, dealing with payments across markets can be a headache. Aside from legislative and technological hurdles, the biggest choice a company can make is which payment platform they choose to support. This reality changes from country to country and perhaps even from region to region within a country. There is no single answer that can accurately predict the proliferation of a payment gateway or service.

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Source: Nuvei

That said, a business partner which can provide you with these insights would be invaluable. A business partner that can provide you with insights, as well as access to all the possible payment platforms, is pivotal. Nuvei is poised to be able to do this with access to numerous payment gateways as well as provide you with the insights needed to grow your business effectively. Of course, we’re talking about payment platforms here.

Take for instance, in Malaysia, we have Touch ‘N Go Wallet, Boost, GrabPay and ShopeePay. Each of these platforms is able to not only process digital payments but also bring a large number of potential customers. Choosing between them, if you really need to, could be the difference between success and failure. Without looking at any insights, you think that accepting TnG’s eWallet would be a safer bet when it comes to payment methods. However, factors such as time in the market as well as adoption could be different. In this case, both GrabPay and TnG’s eWallet are front runners perception-wise. That said, we can never 100% that the other methods may not be greater than what’s reported. Getting a dashboard where this information is available would allow businesses to make informed decisions.

Yuval Ziv President Nuvei
Source: Nuvei

“Every market, every user has their payment method… if we enable a merchant to collect or accept payments by only the minority or some of the payment methods, you will cause a merchant to lose users.”

Yuval Ziv, President at Nuvei Corporation

Nuvei’s platform not only allows businesses to see these vital insights but also gives them the freedom to adopt and choose between the payment methods available in the country and region. The flexibility and freedom for businesses to not only accept but also implement their preferred service through a single helps them grow on their terms with access to impactful insights.

Dealing with More than Just Implementation But Remaining Flexible

Today’s marketplace is no longer simply about market access or payments either. It’s about growing while mitigating risks and adapting to new realities as they emerge. Conventional solutions tend to always lock businesses into a single, inflexible mode of operations but it goes without saying, that a one-trick pony can be detrimental when it comes to business growth. In addition, streamlining allows business cost reductions that can be channelled elsewhere.

Yuval Ziv President Nuvei
Source: Nuvei

“The first challenge working globally… is understanding the user’s preferences and then enabling all of those payment methods in our checkout experience.”

Yuval Ziv, President at Nuvei Corporation

If that is true for general business practices, what more for payment solutions. Businesses are flung into a landscape where they will need to keep tabs on regulatory changes as will undoubtedly affect them. If the business has services rooted in the gig economy, it has the added complication of pay-outs.

These complex day-to-day activities can’t be avoided even if we try to. Businesses require visibility and peace of mind when they happen. Nuvei doesn’t just provide businesses with access to payment methods, its single, modular API brings along payment orchestration. Using this, merchants and businesses are able to integrate payments received and pay-outs into a single platform where they have eyes on everything. The platform is also able to generate unified reports that will allow businesses to get a complete picture of their business health.

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Photo by PhotoMIX Company on Pexels.com

In addition to this, Nuvei is constantly updating its business insights and practices. They have teams that are constantly monitoring markets for updates in legislation and impactful insights. The company not only updates their API with these new developments but also reacts to ensure that its client’s businesses remain unaffected. In fact, they also act to help mitigate and manage risk when changes happen and also when required by the client.

Peace of Mind in an Ever-evolving Landscape

There’s nothing better than having peace of mind when it comes to a business’s day-to-day activities. That’s essentially what Nuvei is promising with their Payment platform. However, the company has its eyes on the future as they continue to grow. With the emergence of digital banking and open banking worldwide as well as the continued influence of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain, the company is committed to ensuring that its platform remains one of the most flexible and robust.

Their platform already supports payments via cryptocurrencies and supports clients in the NFT space. In fact, the company sees the emergence of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain as opportunities. Implementation of blockchain and tokenization to increase the security of the platform could be in its future. However, for now, the company remains committed to providing a turnkey solution for customers when it comes to payment management, acceptance and orchestration.

Business, Contributed

Automation in an App-centric, Hybrid Cloud World

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The past few years have shown that enterprises want their applications, data, and resources located wherever it makes the most sense for their business and operating models, which means that automation needs to be available to execute anywhere. Automation across platforms and environments needs a common mechanism with an approach of automation as code, supported by communities of practice and even automation architects or committees to help define and deliver on the strategy.

Per a recent IDC Market Forecast— Worldwide IT Automation and Configuration Management Software Forecast, 2021–2025[i]—“state-of-the-art system management software tools will be needed to keep up with increasing operational complexity, particularly in organizations that cannot add headcount to keep up with requirements.” Managing this overall complexity is no easy feat. As IT and business needs continue to evolve, it’s no longer an issue of “if” organizations turn to automation, but “which” automation tool they choose.

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Photo by Negative Space on Pexels.com

This is where the power of open source technology excels; per the same IDC study, “open source–driven innovation helped fuel the growth of newer players and technologies.” With a community-based, consistent approach to automation, the subject matter experts write the integrations and share them with other teams, building internal communities of practice that can adapt to change and deployments allowing enterprises to get to the cloud at an accelerated pace.

This is how Red Hat, through Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, approaches automation, delivering tailored innovation for individual platforms combined with a standard, cross-framework language. With the continued shift to consuming public cloud services and resources, the key is to have a platform that allows you to harness the same skills, language and taxonomy that your teams have been using to drive efficiency and savings in on-premises implementations. This approach enables enterprises to achieve what they want, where they want to, in clouds like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

Endorsing agility at the edge

We know that enterprises and their needs do not end with cloud automation. Assets at the edge are now just as important and, arguably, even more difficult to manage, than in the data center. Edge computing is critical to business, making automating at the edge non-negotiable. Making all of your existing processes and group components available using a tool like Ansible Automation Platform allows you to move edge management from a multi-person, complex task to one where common components and workflows are used with Ansible for management and integration.

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Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Ansible automation becomes the connective tissue in an IT organization, bridging applications and their dependent infrastructure, and maintaining technology at the edge. IT staff can rely on automation to roll out new services at the edge to meet customer needs with speed, scale, and consistency.

Connecting it all through automation

We often refer to Ansible Automation Platform as the glue between people, process and technology. Automation allows for greater emphasis on strengthening the whole system, rather than just the sum of its parts. The benefits automation can bring aren’t always simple to achieve, but the right framework makes it less challenging. When there’s success at a high level, new ways of working become reality, along with resiliency and adaptability. This formula is precisely what organizations need as they face new challenges to drive modernization and transformation.

[i] IDC Market Forecast, Worldwide IT Automation and Configuration Management Software Forecast, 2021–2025, doc #US47434321, February 2021.

Business, Computers, News

The HP ZBook Firefly G9 is Here – Creativity at its Best, On-The-Go That Is 

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The creative professional market is hot in its strides for a few years now. It is understandable though, since it is a fresh take on performance PCs that are not gaming specific devices. Before all these hard-charging devices exist, creative professionals had to mostly rely on gaming specific devices to get their specific work done and to meet their own requirements. 

Gaming specific PCs had a lot of power packed into them, which is why creative professionals would understandably prefer them for their work. The thing is gaming specific devices are quite compromised for the professional creative studio. They tend to be loud, with the sometimes-extreme thermal requirements that are extra powerful hardware. The cooling fans must go into overdrive most of the time to cool the hardware which would usually make the entire room sounds like a bomb is about to go off.  

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It does not have to be so anymore though with a slew of devices designed and manufactured specifically for the creative professionals in the world of content creation, The HP ZBook Firefly G9 is such a device. As a bonus, its user gets to take it anywhere to get productive.  

12th Generation Power 

First things first, the ZBook Firefly G9 packs the most powerful Intel CPUs to date, the 12th generation Core processors. You can spec it up to an Intel Core i7 processor for the best-in-class performance in a chassis that only weighs about 1.47kg. You can pair the processor with up to an NVIDIA T550 or RTX A500 GPU for a smooth and fast 3D workflow anywhere you take the laptop. With up to 64GB of DDR5 RAM, speed is never going to be a problem with the ZBook Firefly G9.  

Ample Memory 

To ensure that you have enough storage to work with, you can opt for up to 2TB in Gen4 PCIe NVMe SSD. Of course, you get to enjoy speedy access to all your work too when you need it. If you need to expand your storage, there is an extra Gen3 PCIe slot for you to work with.  

Accurate Display 

Everything you need is displayed via either a 14-inch or 16-inch display. Both options go up to WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200 pixels) resolutions with up to 100% sRGB colour gamut. While 400nits may not sound like a lot for a display for creative professionals, it is more than enough for most creative work remotely. If you wish to, there is a HDMI 2.0b power or two Thunderbolt 4 ports for you to connect to works specific displays for better colour accuracy and what not. It is also a 16:10 aspect ratio display, for extra working real estate on your laptop.  

Made for Remote Working 

The ZBook Firefly G9 is really made for remote working. It packs up to 13-hours in battery life, so that you can be working off-site for longer with no battery anxiety. If you need to go on a team meeting via teleconference, you get a 5-Megapixel AI camera that also tracks your movements while ensuring that your voice gets through loud and clear despite your busy surroundings. You do not only get WiFi 6E too, you get to opt for a ZBook Firefly G9 with 5G connectivity to really work anywhere you open your laptop. Of course, to keep prying eyes from your important work, there is an IR scanner with Windows Hello keeping your files guarded.  

Pricing and Availability 

The HP ZBook Firefly G9 will be available in Malaysia later in June 2022. Official pricing for the notebook will also be announced later. For more information on the HP ZBook Firefly G9, you can visit their website. 

Business, Gaming, News

Double Eleven Builds Second Home in Kuala Lumpur

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Double Eleven may not be a name that everyone is familiar with when it comes to gaming but they’ve been working on some of the largest IPs in the industry. The studio is behind games like Minecraft Dungeons, Rust and Prison Architect. They’ve even recently announced that they will be working on Fallout 76 with Bethesda. However, the most exciting news coming from the game studio is that they’ve opened a new studio in Kuala Lumpur.

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Laura Brodie (Head of People & Culture, Double Eleven), Iain Farrell (Programme Manager, Double Eleven), Amir Azlan Sapuan (Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation) and Mark South (COO, Double Eleven) at the Launch of Double Eleven Kuala Lumpur

The new studio is the next step in Double Eleven’s growth. The studio is headquartered in Teeside, UK and expanded to Malaysia in 2020. Since they’ve grown to a team of over 60 people in Malaysia alone. The studio which previously was located in Bangsar South has now acquired a new home in Mid Valley in Kuala Lumpur.

The new 12,000 square feet location embodies Double Eleven’s ethos of putting people at the forefront. The studio was thoughtfully designed and kitted with equipment, rooms and spaces that a modern game studio would need. The studio features a combination of meeting rooms, breakout spaces, play testing areas and even social areas. Their reception alone is a large social space kitted with a pool table and even free beverages to help relieve the stresses of everyday work.

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Source: Double Eleven

“We’re excited to celebrate this milestone in expanding our studio’s people-first ethos into Malaysia, creating new opportunities for the highly capable pool of local talents. Combined, both studios position Double Eleven for the future to continue creating and publishing great games,” said

Mark South, COO of Double Eleven.

The new studio in Kuala Lumpur is also an emblem of the studio’s people focused development and management approach of Double Eleven. The company has adopted an anti-crunch stance in light of some of the developments happening in the gaming industry. Talent at Double Eleven enjoy benefits such as flexible start times, paid voluntary overtime and additional leave. These are some of the small changes that have made the studio one of the best employers in the industry.

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Double Eleven’s new studio also allows them to adopt a continuous development schedule as teams in the UK and Malaysia work closely and successively according to their timezones. The 24-hour development cycle allows them to better optimise workflows and prevent the much-dreaded crunch. Double Eleven is still growing and is actively recruiting people in both the UK and Malaysia.

Business, Computers, News

[next@acer 2022] The New ConceptD with the Power of Intel’s 12th Generation Core processor and NVIDIA RTX GPUs

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The creator space really took the center stage in the past two years. Brands started paying attention to powerful rigs that are built for content creation instead of pure gaming performance. To be fair, the requirements in the content creation industry and the gaming industry is not far off.

Content creation sometimes require power hungry rigs that can take a beating no matter what you might throw at it. There is a small difference between a rig that is made to game and a rig that is made for the professional content creators. The gaming rig holds no bars, it can be made to be as bonkers as your wild imagination takes you. The content creation rig must stick to a set of rules that allows it to match the ambience of the workplace. It also must be gracefully quiet while it does its thing in content creation. It also must be kept updated to go with the times, not in the interest of keeping up with appearances, more like cutting down their timelines and optimising workflow.

Welcome to the 2022 variants of the Acer ConceptD devices that should do just what is required of the content industry. Since Acer is big on eco-friendliness now, optimising workflow will also lead to a more efficient energy usage, thus saving energy and resources. With the new, more powerful than ever 12th generation Intel Core powerhouses and NVIDIA’s proven RTX GPUs, it is possible.

Acer’s ConceptD 5 Series – Versatility at its Best

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We start with the laptops. It should naturally be one of the most popular options for the world that is obsessed with remote working and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) workplaces. The ConceptD 5, in its previous form, is the most versatile content creation notebook in ConceptD’s vast line-up.

The ConceptD 5 and ConceptD 5 Pro of 2022 follows that versatile recipe that worked before. That is why you get a more expansive display at 16-inch. Instead of the usual 16:9 aspect ratio though, you get 16:10 for slightly more real estate in your work interface.

You get to spec it up with up to a 12th generation Intel Core i7-12700H processor with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GPU. If you opt for the Pro variant, you can choose up to NVIDIA’s RTX A5500 GPU for good measure, especially when you are working with 3D workflows. With up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage space, your workflow should also be left uninterrupted no matter what you are doing. They say that the ConceptD 5 and ConceptD 5 Pro is designed to work with 6K resolution video workflows with no fuss.

When we say no fuss, the ConceptD is really designed munch out demanding work without breaking a sweat. With Their new Vortex Flow technology, the ConceptD 5 and ConceptD 5 Pro keeps itself cool without ever hitting 40db in fan noise, even when it spools up to its maximum speed.

Of course, a powerful internal should also be paired to an equally capable display for the professionals. For that, you can spec the ConceptD 5 series laptop with a WQUXGA (3,840 x 2,400) display at 16-inch. It is also an OLED display that covers up to 100% in DCI-P3 colour gamut with a ΔE<2 colour calibration. Colours do not only pop, its ultra-accurate as well with HDR capabilities and PANTONE certification at 400 nits of brightness.

It also packs HDMI 2.1 port to fit all sorts of modern displays. For the convenience of content creators, there is an SD card reader, a full one, not the MicroSD type. The ConceptD 5 series laptops also come with a Thunderbolt 4 port and a modern USB Type-C port for even more flexibility in terms of display and storage.

Acer’s ConceptD 500 Tower – Power, Power, Power

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A laptop’s performance is always compromised though in favour of portability and versatility. For raw processing power, a desktop tower should always be the weapon of choice. That is what the Acer ConceptD 500 is for.

While it is a powerful, it is not bulky at just about 20L. Within the svelte exterior is a rather powerful 12th Generation Intel Core i9 on tap, currently the most powerful CPU you can find in Intel’s line-up. On top of the powerful CPU, you can choose between a powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 or even an NVIDIA RTX A4000 for more 3D focused workflows.

Because there is more physical real estate within the enclosure of the tower, you can opt for up to 4TB of SSD storage and an additional 4TB of HDD storage to be used as a backup drive. At the same time, you can spec the PC with up to 128GB of RAM for good measure, especially when 3D rendering is concerned. If you need to transfer files between it and a shared server storage, the 10GBps port should do the trick.

Like the powerful laptop, the ConceptD 500 is also designed with subtlety in mind. It is designed to operate in ‘library quiet’ environments. Even at full chat, the 20L tower is still operating at below 40db leves.

Acer’s ConceptD 100 – Power, But Compact

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Space can be a constraint for the modern content creator though. After all, real-estate is a premium these days and offices are getting smaller and leaner. For this environment, you need a compact PC, something that fits in a 10L case and still perform like a beast when it needs to. That is the ConceptD 100.

While you do not get Intel’s top end performer, you still have a lot of power in Intel’s 12th Generation Core i7. If you are on a budget, the Core i5 is still a good option too. With the powerful CPU, you get to choose between an NVIDIA T400 or T1000 GPU, both are highly capable GPUs designed for 3D workflows.

You can get up to 128GB of RAM at fast 3200Mhz memory and up to 2TB HDD. For quick workarounds and optimised workflow, there is also a 2TB SSD (up to) on tap. It is also still versatile with a USB Type-C port with up to 10GBps data transfer speeds for good measure.

Of course, like any good ConceptD product, it is quiet. It is designed to work at less than 40db even at full chat.

Price and Availability

The ConceptD 5 will be available in the EMEA region September 2022 onward starting at EU€ 2,599 (MYR 12,114). The 20L ConceptD 500 tower will set you back EU€ 1,199 (MYR 5,587) onward September 2022 onward as well. At the same time, the ConceptD 100 will be available for EU€ 999 (MYR 4,656). There are no colour options for the ConceptD devices, they all come in the signature creamy white colour scheme that has been associated with the brand since its inception, except for the ConceptD laptop that comes in grey. These availability dates are also an estimation for the EMEA regions. There is no confirmation on local availability and pricing yet.

*Approximately based on the exchange rate of EU€ 1 = MYR 4.66 as of 23/05/2022 on xe.com

Business, Lifestyle, News

Streaming Meets eCommerce in iQiyi’s New Comedy – My Ofis

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iQiyi chose a very opportune time to launch in Malaysia back in 2019. With the pandemic only just setting in, the streaming service saw a surge in subscribers. While that’s great news for the streaming company, they’ve adopted a business model that isn’t your typical streaming service. They provide a free, ad-supported tier that gives users access to their content.

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Source: Longhouse Films

That said, the iQiyi isn’t just resting on its laurels. The company is focusing on bringing new, original content to its platform. Naturally, this includes new, locally-produced series and tv shows. The first to debut is My Ofis which is produced by Longhouse Films. My Ofis brings together an ensemble of both emerging and seasoned actors. Malaysian legend, Alvin Wong stars together with Aeril Zafrel, Nasz Sally, Kahoe Hon, Phraveen Arikiah, Sherwyn Pang, and Pearlly Chua in My Ofis to bring to life the shenanigans that take place behind the scenes in a quintessential Malaysian office.

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Source: iQiyi

My Ofis follows Jasper (Kahoe Hon) as he leaves behind his rockstar dreams to care for his grandmother. He finds himself stumbling into a job at My Ofis run by KS (Aeril Zafrel) and his colleagues, Paul (Alvin Wong), Jessica (Nasz Sally), and Milo (Phraveen Arikiah). The series chronicles the antics of the people behind My Ofis as they navigate the business landscape.

The series will be premiering on 26th May 2022 on iQiyi. The debut season will consist of 12 episodes airing over six weeks. Each episode is 24 minutes long.

Of course, the show is just the beginning when it comes to My Ofis. iQiyi and Longhouse Productions are looking to revolutionize advertising on streaming platforms. Both companies are partnering with a local eCommerce app, JOCOM, to bring a new “watch, scan & buy” concept with the launch of My Ofis.

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Source: LinkedIN

“Together with our partners Longhouse Films and JOCOM, we aim to work towards shaping a new content ecosystem fitting for today’s digital age, that empowers traditional brands and sellers to further digitalise through entertainment. My Ofis will open doors to more opportunities in bridging entertainment and eCommerce to support local brands, advertisers and marketers,”

Dinesh Ratnam, Country Manager of iQiyi Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei

The new concept will see QR codes pop up when there is any product placement in the drama. Users can then scan these codes and immediately purchase the items from the JOCOM app as they are watching the series. The new concept literally allows production houses to better monetize product placements in their series. Of course, My Ofis is just the beginning when it comes to exploring this new concept.

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Screenshot of product placement QR Code in My Ofis. Source: iQIYI

My Ofis will premiere on May 26, 2022, across all countries where iQiyi is available. It’s already been greenlit for a second season which will be launched soon.

Business, Computers, News

Intel Launches Their Most Powerful Mobile Processors in the 12th Generation Core HX Processors

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Intel Vision 2022 is here! Their keynote was two hours long, but it was not for nothing. They touched on plenty of things that they are working on in the background. Most of it has to do with their corporate businesses and corporate initiatives. One of it though has to do with mobile workstations and that is one we were interested in. They announced the new 12th Generation Core HX processors for workstations. In other words, they have released their most powerful mobile CPUs yet.

Intel already has their 12th generation Intel Core processors on the mobile platform before this. While they are largely of similar build and architecture, they are different products, this Core HX one and the ones before. As Intel puts it, the Core HX is made for professionals and creators.

At the top, the 12th generation Intel Core i9 with Core HX still packs up to 16 cores. Eight of the cores are efficiency cores while the rest are performance cores. In their forms, they are still the same 10nm processors with the new big-small architecture. The new Core HX processors also still support the same DDR5 at 4800MHz speeds where available.

12th Gen Intel Core HX Mobile Workstation Processors | Talking Tech | Intel Technology

Where the new Core HX differs to the outgoing 12th generation Intel Core processors is in its multi-threaded performance. Intel claims that the Core HX delivers 65% more multi-threaded performance compared to the regular Core processors. 65% is a significant amount and important when it comes to creative use. It means less rendering and processing time in video production, 3D rendering, and even animation purposes. The 12th generation Core HX processors, in this case, will see the most benefit in CAD, animation, and visual effect applications. How it will compare to team red is yet to be seen though.

Still, just because the Core HX processors are optimised to be workhorses in creative and professional applications, does not mean that Intel has forgotten their core strength. The Core HX processors are still powerful gaming processors at their hearts. Of course, if you are building a gaming rig, there are other Intel products that might suit you better, this one should be more of an all-rounder for those who needs the versatility.

With Core HX, Intel has introduced seven new processors in their 12th generation Core line-up. The seven new processors are spread out between the Core i5, Core i7, and Core i9 offerings. Because they are mobile processors, we will have to wait and see what Intel’s manufacturing partners can come up with later in the year with the Core HX solutions. For more information on Intel’s Core HX processors, you can visit their website.

Business, Lifestyle, News, Social Media

Elon Musk is Acquiring Twitter for US$ 44 Billion -What is Happening?

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Being rich has a lot of perks. One of them, as the richest man on earth, Elon Musk shows, is simply acquiring companies. His most prominent acquisition so far, that just went through anyway, is Twitter at US$ 44 Billion (MYR 191.333 billion*).

Of course, while this is our first report on Elon Musk’s bid to acquiring Twitter, it is not something that has gone quiet. Elon Musk bought over some Twitter shares a few weeks back and has been bidding to acquire the platform entirely ever since. Why? We do not know.

A few weeks back, with his acquisition of Twitter shares, he also promised that Twitter will soon have an ‘edit post’ button. The ‘edit’ button is something Twitter sorely lacks since its inception. While we would appreciate an ‘edit’ function, we have sort of lived with it. An ‘edit’ button will be nice though.

The acquisition that just went through not too long ago today has more questions surrounding it than answers too. One thing that has already been known with the acquisition is that the current CEO, Parag Agrawal will be leaving the company, though there are no mentions of when that will happen. We also know that Elon Musk is big on “free speech within the bounds of the law”, which is still rather vague but could mean less regulations from Twitter’s end. Elon also says that he wants to make Twitter better with new features and open sourcing the algorithms within Twitter.

What does this mean for Twitter?

Nobody knows, really. When the deal went through, there were plenty of speculations on organisational restructuring. Employees at Twitter are still nervous about their jobs or even compensations if they suddenly become unemployed. So far, there are no mentions on a major restructuring in Twitter yet.

In terms of the Twitter platform itself, you could be seeing the return of multiple names that was banned by Twitter for political correctness and other reasons. We said ‘could’, not ‘will’, so even we are taking that with a pinch of salt for now. Still, in favour of Elon Musk’s “free speech” commitment, we are expecting looser regulations from Twitter and less intervention from the platform in plenty of topics, “fake news” included.

Of course, such high-profile acquisition will attract the attention of Wall Street. That led to a 5% spike of Twitter’s share prices before Wall Street had to stop the trade of Twitter’s stocks. Elon Musk is known to turn many things into gold, and we believe that Twitter’s stocks will continue to increase in value at least for the time being.

The current CEO of Twitter says that there are no planned changes at this time, at least before he leaves. He added though that he is unsure about changers in the future ones the deal closes later this year. The deal is expected to take another six months before Elon fully takes control of Twitter. At least for the next six months, there should not be much in terms of change within and on Twitter as a platform.

*Approximately based on exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.35 as of 26/04/2022 on xe.com

Business, Lifestyle, News

Netflix Loses a Chunk of Subscribers, says it is the Fault of Account Sharers – Offenders Will Be Dealt with Swiftly

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Netflix is a household name by now. In the pandemic period, it is one of the things that has kept plenty sane and pass their time while they are completely cut off from the outside world. It is, after all, one of the largest, if not the largest entertainment platform currently known to man. During the pandemic period, they really thrived.

Fast forward to today, the world is in a stark contrast compared to when the COVID-19 pandemic started. We are better at dealing with it now, we have vaccines, people are allowed out of their homes, things are returning to normal. That also means that you now have less time to enjoy Netflix and to catch up on your movies and TV shows.

No matter, Netflix still predicted that they are going to increase their membership base in 2022. For the first quarter of 2022, Netflix has just released their earnings report. The numbers do not look good, nor reflected Netflix’s 2022 projections.

The report from Netflix shows that they have lost a significant number of subscribers for the first time in 10 years. If we read their reports correctly, Netflix has reported a loss of 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022 alone. In contrast, the first quarter of 2021 saw nearly 4 million new subscribers. While 200,000 subscribers may sound significant, the entire of 2021 saw Netflix gain nearly 20 million new users. There is more concerning news for Netflix shareholders in the reports though. Netflix is expecting to lose about 2 million subscribers in the coming quarter of 2022, a significant dent in their dominance over their market segment.

Despite the rather crowded space that is the over-the-top (OTT) on-demand streaming industry, Netflix is not blaming its competition for the lost of subscribers. They are rather blaming users for their loss in market share. They specifically mentioned that the 200,000 lost subscribers are lost to users who are sharing their accounts. In their reports, Netflix estimates that among their 222 million users, 100m of them are sharing their accounts. Of course, they cited that the current development in Russia and Ukraine is not helping the situation.

Taking on Shared Accounts

Netflix has been citing shared accounts to be an issue for a while now. In their ideal world, every user with a Netflix account is individual users with their unique accounts. Inevitably, there will be people who shares single accounts to enjoy their shows at different times. In Malaysia at least, we have specific accounts that is made specifically for sharing with up to five users anyway.

Still, we are not referring to that though. Netflix refers to users who are using accounts made for a single individual and sharing the same account with the household, or friends. According to Netflix, the more than 100 million households that are using accounts owned by another household are opportunities for increased revenue. In that sense, Netflix is looking into ways to monetise account sharing soon.

To be fair, Netflix has been toying with the idea of charging customers more for accounts that are being used in households other than your own. The idea is to have a sub-account to the main account where users have their own unique login and password. That way, all watch history, lists, recommendations can be tailored to that single user. It also allows Netflix to identify that sub-account to be a unique user, obviously. The solution was first tested in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. There are no reports on the success of the program. We must assume that Netflix achieved some success in the tests though because they are planning to bring the solution to the global market. How much more it will cost users will be the only big question mark currently.

Low-Cost Netflix, but with Ads

Netflix Q1 2022 Earnings Interview

Amidst the tough competition that Netflix is now facing, they are also leaving no stone unturned to gain more market and mindshare. Reed Hastings, co-founder and CEO of Netflix has mentioned that they are now quite open to offering plans at lower costs with ads infused into the plan as an option. He says that the company is working on a solution and plan option to be introduced within a year or two.

Hastings was strongly against putting ads into Netflix and its subscription plans. He cited before that adding advertising into Netflix adds a tonne of complexity that users might not enjoy. He added that he favours the rather simple subscription model that Netflix has been offering thus far.

The move into having advertisements in Netflix is not just to fatten up the entertainment company’s pockets though. In effect, it is supposed to also bring subscription costs down while allowing Netflix to maintain their margins. At the same time also, it could be a viable path for Netflix to finally bring Live Sports as a part of their offerings. We are imagining watching F1 on Netflix without having to make any work arounds here.

Business, Lifestyle, Mobile, News

WhatsApp Announces Communities! It is Like Groups, but Much Bigger.

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WhatsApp is an integral part of our lives today. In most parts of Asia, WhatsApp has become an essential communication tool which has replaced the traditional messaging apps. iMessage in this part of the world has nothing against the likes of WhatsApp and the likes of the messaging app.

We rely on WhatsApp not just for communicating and chatting with our friends. We rely on the platform at work as well. The amount of group chats we have just for work can be quite unreal.

WhatsApp recognises the need for their platform, especially in the world we live in today. They also recognise the need for their platform to become something even more than just a way to text your other half that you are buying dinner. So, they introduced Communities.

What is Communities? It is very much like WhatsApp groups really, except that it is also not. It is a platform for organisations to organise on. It is a platform for managing groups from a single place on WhatsApp.

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Source: WhatsApp

You can think of Communities as a sort of Forum for any organisation that you are a part of. There can be different conversations that happen in that forum (chat groups). You can also address the entire forum with a single message when you need to. It is like being a part of a larger conversation and have smaller side discussions without interrupting the larger group.

For the Admin of their communities, they get even more powerful tools to work with. You can make announcements to the entire community and address everyone from every smaller group whenever you want. If you only need the message to be spread across several select groups, you can do that too. Admins can even control the things that are being shared in each group if they find it inappropriate, much like forum moderators.

The example that WhatsApp gave in their announcement is of that of a school and the principal running the show. Communities can be much more than that though. It could be a collective of multiple charity efforts, an enthusiast community organising several events, even a company having separate departments as chat groups and project work groups.

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Source: WhatsApp

With Communities, there are also several updates that is brought about the make WhatsApp even more powerful. Audio calls can now include up to 32 people. You can react to messages from your friends in groups too. At the same time, file sharing has been upped to 2 GB at a time, which is a blessing in the creative industry, or when you are trying to share full resolution images. Admin delete will also be introduced in regular group chats.  

WhatsApp Communities is not available just yet. It is coming soon, according to WhatsApp. The feature updates that will be attached to Communities will be introduced to WhatsApp before the Communities update though. That also means you might get to try out some of the new features soon to get yourself ready for the Communities update. You can find out more about WhatsApp Communities from their announcement.