Maxis Berhad, one of Malaysia’s biggest telecommunications providers, has been actively differentiating itself from its competition. The company has, in recent months, been focusing on complementing it’s telco services with services which make sense to businesses and also consumers. Not too long ago, the company announced it’s consumer-focused OnePrime, which has now been rebranded to the Maxis Unlimited Postpaid & Fibre, which gave consumers the flexibility of having their mobile and broadband service in a catch-all subscription with added benefits.
At the same time, Maxis has been busy building its portfolio for its business clients with partnerships with companies such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and more. These partnerships work to bolster the company’s portfolio with more than just telephony and connectivity services. The company has also announced a series of acquisitions including its recent acqui-hire of ICMS (Infrastructure Consulting & Managed Services) which allowed the company to provide better integration with cloud services such as Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365 and more. It also brought deeper partnerships with ICMS’s certifications as a Dell-EMC partner and Commvault partner.
The latest announcement made late last week, gears Maxis to be one of the only telecommunications companies in Malaysia focusing on becoming a truly converged solutions provider. The company has acquired Audeonet (M) Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian based unified communications and voice cloud solutions company to bolster its talent pool and services. The acqui-hire also brings on board a team of skilled individuals which will enable end-to-end deployment of Audeonet’s services. The new products and services brought into the fold will allow Maxis’ enterprise and SME customers access to offerings to help them cope with the rigours of the “new normal”.
The acquisition of Audeonet (M) Sdn Bhd also makes Maxis Berhad the exclusive distributor of Deltapath, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider, in Malaysia. In addition, Maxis Business will now also be a Gold Reseller of Lifesize, bringing a cloud-based 4K video conferencing solution into their list of offered services.
Sony’s Xperia line up is one of the longest lasting line up of smartphones. It continues to be Sony’s go to brand with their newly launched flagships the Xperia 1 II and the Xperia 5 II. The Xperia 1 II will be available starting in November and the Xperia 5 II a little later after that, with prices starting at MYR4099. Let’s take a peek at bells and whistles of models to retail in Malaysia.
Both of these new Xperia models share some key specs. Chiefly, they are both powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865. They both have a triple 12MP camera setup with ZEISS optics for quality images. They also have good life battery with 4,000mAh battery supported by USB-PD and charging via USB-C. They also retain the 3.5 headphone jack for your audio needs.
The key difference between these devices is their size. The Xperia 1 II is slightly bigger with a 6.5 inch screen compared to the Xperia 5 II and its 6.1 inch screen. The Xperia 1 II also has a better OLED display with higher resolution of 1644 x 3840 and and a higher pixel density, while the Xperia 1 II has a lower 1080 x 2520 resolution.
Both models have IP65/IP68 certification for water and dust resistance. They also come with stereo speakers and support PS4 Remote Play. Only the Xperia 1 II comes along with wireless charging as is expected of the flagship variant. However, the Xperia 5 II with its lower price tag and similar core features will give it a run for its money.
The Xperia 1 II is listed for retail at MYR4,999 while the Xperia 5 II is listed at MYR4,099 in the official Sony Online Store. With this announcement, the original Xperia 1 and Xperia 5 are now retailing for MYR3,099 and MYR2,799 respectively.
You know the year has been a tough one when it forces a titan like Dell to consider leaning up its operations. The company well known for its laptop and desktop offerings to consumers and businesses is entering a transition phase to withdraw itself from retail in Malaysia and Singapore – two of the most tech forward markets in the Southeast Asian region.
The company will halt supply of its products to partner retailers in Malaysia and Singapore. This will come into effect immediately. The information surfaced via a tip to Malaysian online portal, LowYat.Net.
When contacted for a comment on the situation, Dell Technologies representatives clarified:
Dell Technologies has announced plans to transition out of the retail market in Singapore and Malaysia. Customers will still have access to the full complement of our products and services through Dell direct.
Dell will honour contractual commitments with our partners and customers, and our team is on hand to work with our partners to coordinate a seamless transition. We anticipate the transition to be completed by the end of January 2021.
Dell’s service and customer support is not affected by the transition.
That said, Dell products will continue to be offered by retail partners until current stock sells out. Come 2021, consumers interested in purchasing Dell and Alienware desktops and laptops will have to go to Dell’s official online store at dell.com.
Leaving your home can be daunting now with COVID-19 on the rise. While there are measures in place to help control the spread, there are some that are still wary of the risks. That said, there’s also a group of us who would rather have our groceries come to us. Well, there’s good news for both sides – Tesco has partnered with foodpanda.
With the partnership, you will be able to order from Tesco’s catalog of over 3,000 items on foodpanda’s delivery service. The items range from fresh produce to groceries. These items will be delivered to your doorstep within 40 minutes of your order being confirmed.
The partnership will complement Tesco’s online grocery service: Tesco Online. It will serve as a way for users to get urgently needed groceries on demand while larger monthly or weekly orders can still be done via Tesco Online. This partnership will let customer rely more on Tesco as Foodpanda is a well-known delivery service and strengthen the presence of the platform.
“With the Covid-19 pandemic, customers have begun to change the way they shop. Many are looking for options where they can feel safe to purchase their necessities. This partnership with foodpanda will not only be convenient for Tesco’s loyal customers, but it will also help to address those who are concerned with having to leave the safety and comfort of their homes for a grocery run,” said Product Director, Kenneth Chuah.
Kenneth Chuah, Product Director, Tesco Malaysia
The service is available in the Klang Valley area. Users can order groceries from Tesco Paradigm Mall, Kepong, Extra Cheras, Extra Puchong, Bandar Puteri Bangi, Kajang, Bukit Puchong, Shah Alam, Wangsa Walk, Setia Alam and Selayang. They are planning to bring this service online to other areas soon.
As Malaysia enters a fresh wave of movement restriction measures and lockdowns, local businesses have once again been cornered to adapt and find their footing with digital transformation initiatives.
Although the pandemic has accelerated the uptake of digital business technologies, many leaders are still unsure of how to approach their transformations given the current challenges. Global Data’s Market Opportunity Forecasts model reveals that many businesses in Malaysia will delay their long-term digital transformation initiatives until at least 2021 to mitigate the risk of financial instability in business operations.
While forecasts remain gloomy, there is a way forward. Gartner has identified that IT leaders can successfully navigate this uncertainty by achieving a TechQuilibrium – the balance point at which an enterprise has the right mix of traditional and digital capabilities and assets to power the business model needed to compete most effectively.
So, how can enterprises find their TechQuilibrium? By leveraging technology that can help them do more with less, starting with the cloud. The cloud has played a significant role in helping many businesses survive — and even thrive – as operations moved online and employees shifted to remote work during the health crisis.
Businesses are looking to eliminate complexities and streamline processes. They need to have the agility to react to market changes and take advantage of opportunities. They need to be able to move quickly, to adapt and make changes to stay relevant and minimize costs. The good news is that cloud technology can help in all these areas.
The complexity of the Hybrid Cloud
The cloud journey can isn’t always smooth sailing, especially when businesses choose to take a hybrid cloud approach – a mixed computing, storage and services environment made up of on-premises infrastructure, private cloud and third-party public cloud services.
Implemented well, hybrid environments offer the advantages of both private and public clouds and help to drive the best return on IT investments. Businesses have the capability to move workloads between private and public clouds as computing budgets and needs change.
However, things can get messy when the rubber meets the road — mainly because collapsing operational silos is often easier said than done.
According to Nutanix research, a majority of organizations in Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) see hybrid cloud as the ideal cloud approach but an alarming 72% believe that their transformation is taking longer than expected.
So, what exactly is holding organisations back?
A great deal of it has to do with the complexity of synchronizing private and public cloud technologies. Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, for instance, each have their own expansive, high-powered toolbox for managing resources in public cloud servers. On the other hand, private, on-premises clouds often use different tools and interfaces.
Reconciling the differences between private and public clouds can get expensive and time-consuming, but a hybrid cloud environment can also be a marvel of power and flexibility — if IT teams have the tools to seamlessly coordinate their public and private clouds.
Reconciling the Conflicts
In a nutshell, private clouds are public cloud-like solutions built on conventional on-premises data centres with racks of computing, networking and storage gear. Public clouds, on the other hand, are giant server farms operated by Amazon, Google, Microsoft and other technology platform companies.
Private and public clouds have different use cases. The consensus is that private clouds work best for industries with sensitive data — such as the public sector and financial services — where tight security and abundant, concentrated computing power is critical. By contrast, public clouds are known to be ideal for rapid software development and services that must scale up or down quickly.
That said, in this rapidly evolving environment where flexibility is key, enterprises need to be able to move resources like applications, containers and virtual machines between public and private clouds.
This is where hybrid environments come into play. An encrypted highway of sorts, hybrid cloud allows businesses to meld on-premise, private and public cloud capabilities.
However, until now, it was nearly impossible to move applications across platforms without re-architecting them. One component of tackling this challenge is to implement a unified cloud platform to manage workloads in both environments. Still, to be truly hybrid, businesses need help getting their workloads to flow seamlessly between public and private clouds.
Getting Down to Bare-Metal Level
Over the past year, I have come to realise that enterprises often need much more control over their public cloud resources than we as an industry previously believed. Here’s where utilising public cloud “bare-metal” compute instances with dedicated servers are critical. Bare-metal instances can enable businesses to build their hybrid cloud environments with ease, which typically would have required substantial expertise to master.
Why is this important? The team that manages an on-prem infrastructure may not be the same one managing the cloud infrastructure. This can then result in unnecessary costs and time spent, because different people do essentially the same job on separate cloud architectures.
Instead, businesses should utilise a hybrid cloud platform that would allow on-prem and cloud services to work the same way in both on-prem and bare-metal public cloud instances, all while breaking down silos. IT teams can then be more comfortable to manage their environments, without worrying about unexpected costs or needing to custom-build existing applications. This has proven useful for organisations in sensitive industries such as finance, and even businesses who have to manage demand spikes during the year.
Bare-metal compute offers businesses the opportunity for complete portability and flexibility. It provides superior economics and help teams manage and administer their multiple cloud environments through one unified, seamless IT operating environment, while keeping costs down.
Supporting Future of Work
There are several use cases for businesses to invest in a unified hybrid cloud management tool, and we have seen these come to life this year especially.
A flexible hybrid cloud platform allows businesses to support a remote workforce while adding secure connections for employees working from home. While businesses are beginning to reopen their offices, remote work could be a potential fixture in the future workforce.
An analysis by Deloitte found that up to 4.1 million people in Malaysia – or 26 percent of the workforce – could shift to working remotely over a multi-year time horizon. A hybrid cloud platform can enable organisations to support this future.
External factors such as seasonality, like the upcoming holiday shopping season, may require some businesses to ramp up computing resources. 2020 is also known to be the year of disruption, increasing the impetus for businesses to strengthen disaster recovery and reduce downtime after a disaster. A unified hybrid cloud platform can enable businesses to spin up more capacity and shrink it when they need it, without having to reinvent these environments.
Ensuring Hybrid Success
There is a rule of thumb that Nutanix takes with software development. We focus on getting our product out in front of the customers, letting them try it out, gathering feedback, fixing bugs and iterating quickly to generate improvements. We also discuss directly with customers to identify their pain points and everyday challenges.
Business leaders should tap into this methodology to ensure that hybrid environments deliver the most value to the organisation’s users.
Hybrid clouds are more than an emerging trend. It is a new set of technologies and IT operating models that is reshaping how organisations across different industries will function now and in the future.
11th November is around the corner, it’s time to start clearing out that shopping cart and taking things off your wish list! This year, Shopee’s 11.11 sale brings together over 1200 brands and retailers, as well as 800,000 sellers for some of the biggest bargains and best deals to Malaysians. What’s more the e-Commerce platform is getting a kick start by starting offers early on 3rd November 2020. Their big sale will end with a blast on 11th November 2020.
Shopee is sweetening the bucket this year with millions of products going on offer for as low as 11 sen with even more getting discounts of up to 99%. In addition, Shopee is lowering the minimum spending on an order to RM11 to qualify for free shipping. These offers are coming from brands such as Acer, Carlo Rino, Enfagrow, Netle, OPPO,P&G, Philips, realme, Sa Sa, Skechers, Tefal, Unilever, Watsons and many others. To top it off, many brands will also be giving out additional 50% off vouchers daily which can be used on top of their product discounts.
That’s not all! Shopee’s One Or Not is making a comeback! This round buyers can get items like a Samsung Galaxy Note20, sounds bars, watches, jewellery sets and more. You can even get a brand new Proton X50! All you have to do is pay RM1 for the items you’re interested in. Winners will be announced the following day, those that don’t get the item will have their money refundedto their account. Of course, like previous iterations, you will have to use the RM1 from your Shopee Wallet.
Shopee gamers aren’t being left behind either! Prizes such as a brand new Nintendo Switch as well as up to 11 million Shopee Coins are up for grabs if you can beat the competition. You simply have to play one or more of the many games: Shopee Shake, Shopee Farm, Shopee Bubble, Shopee Poly, Shopee Claw, Shopee Candy and Shopee Lucky Prize.
It’s not all about spending money. Users will also get to interact with local celebrities and win prizes while they shop with Shopee Live and the Shopee 11.11 Big Show. You definitely want to stay tuned to events and lives when you shop to stay entertained and even win some big ticket prizes.
Shopee is also giving a little tip for everyone looking forward to the big 11.11 sale: make sure to put the items that you wish to purchase into the shopping cart to avoid sellouts at 12AM. Do remember to claim for free shipping vouchers as well as the other discount vouchers available. Last but not least, do make sure that there is sufficient amount in your ShopeePay wallet to avoid last-minute top-ups.
The annual 11.11 sale is back on Lazada. This year the sale will include hundreds of exclusive brands with up to 70 million items. Sounds really tempting right? Bet you can’t wait for the big 11.11 sale to happen. Lazada is promising some of the lowest prices ever in Malaysia this 11 November 2020.
“Following LazMall’s upgrade in September, we are excited that hundreds of international and local brands have chosen Lazada as their exclusive e-commerce partner this 11.11, offering amazing discounts across a variety of categories and products to satisfy a wide spectrum of our consumers’ wants and desires. This signifies a growing trust in our platform, and we are excited that we can bring some of the lowest price deals, ‘guaranteed’ this year, backed by our 11 times money-back guarantee. This year, especially during this challenging period, we want to ensure that we help our shoppers maximise their ringgit and get the best value for their money,”
Leo Chow, CEO of Lazada Malaysia
Customers can have the ultimate shopping experience on Lazada as the LazMall provides a variety of brands and products at a claimed unbeatably low price. LazMall brings together some of their largest partners such as OPPO, Lancome, Samsung, Dyson and more are prepared to give shoppers an unforgettable 11.11 experience with some of the lowest deals yet. For those looking for deals on tech, Lazada and their partners are gearing up to offer up to 50% discount on items such as Huawei Mate 30 8GB RAM + 128 ROM smartphone, Edifier X3 True Wireless Stereo Earphone, SUUNTO 9 Baro Copper, Asus 23 Eye Care Gaming Monitor! The deals aren’t ending there – there will be more offers across a large spectrum of categories available.
You don’t even have to wait that long to get your orders as Lazada is offerings a guaranteed 24 hours delivery for the first 50 thousand customers. This is made possible by Lazada’s data-driven logistics team running on Alibaba’s backbone which has helped ensure 50% more efficiency for the delivery time nationwide and particularly in the Klang Valley.
In an effort to keep shopping entertaining, Lazada is continuing their “Shoppertainment” programs filled with special surprises for shoppers. Shoppers will be able to be entertained while getting the best deals with The Lazada 11.11 Super Show and Lazada’s CDO Show. If that’s not enough, there will be multiple other activities in the app such as the Lazada Heartbeat Wallet Contest and LazGames while users can also get even more rebates and rewards with LazCoins.
Lazada is also launching an initiative for CSR programs with one of their brand partners, Colgate-Palmolive, to send smiles and support to those in need via The Lost Food Project. Upon payment, consumers will receive a special thank you note from Colgate, along with a Lazada voucher that can be used for their next purchase on the platform.
When it comes to DSLRs and cameras one of the first names that you’d think of is Nikon. The company has become a staple name in the industry and there is nothing more iconic than their “I AM” campaign when it comes to photography and cameras. However, it seems like all good things must come to an end.
In a statement posted to their Facebook page, Nikon Malaysia revealed the sad announcement that the company has decided to cease its operations. Effective 1 January 2021, Nikon will no longer have an official presence in Malaysia with 31 December, 2020 being the last day of operations. Moving forward, their sales, marketing and after sales services will be handled by appointed third parties.
Official Statement on Nikon Malaysia’s Facebook
Their appointed third parties are: Futuromic Photo AV Sdn Bhd and QES (Asia-Pacific) Sdn Bhd. These companies will now take over the distribution and sales of Nikon branded cameras in the country. Operations for the company will continue as usual in the transition phase with the final day set on 31 December, 2020.
Huawei’s status as the world’s largest smartphone maker might be jeopardy soon, as the company scrambles to get key parts for its popular phones. Issues began slightly over two years ago with the U.S. trade ban which prevented Huawei from trading with U.S. companies. More recently, the trade ban was expanded to include every company in the supply chain. This led to further complications as it meant that not only couldn’t Huawei get access to Google services for it’s Android based smartphones, it couldn’t trade with any company including chip-makers Qualcomm and Broadcom and even non-U.S. companies intending to trade in the country.
However, things are taking a turn as Samsung Display has received a license from the U.S. government to supply its panels to Huawei Technologies. The company is the first company outside the U.S. known to have been given a license to trade with Huawei.
While the news is definitely a turn of events in Huawei’s favour, it could be the least of the company’s concerns as it has still able to source displays from BOE, a new Chinese display manufacturer. That said, Samsung Display is definitely a welcomed supplier as the company is one of the largest manufacturers is renown for its display quality.
Unfortunately, Huawei’s outlook is still bleak as the company is running low on supply for its Kirin SoCs. The U.S. ban is still affecting the company’s supply chain when it comes to working with fabricators which are able to collaborate and create their chips.
Online learning has become the modus operandi for a majority of learning institutions amidst the current pandemic. However, the method of learning isn’t new. Companies such as Coursera have been pushing the boundaries of online learning as early as 2012. The company has established partnerships with leading universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S. and even the National University of Singapore (NUS) closer to home. They even work with companies such as Google to develop up-to-date, industry relevant courses.
To help deal with the current educational climate, Coursera has been working closely with education institutions including Malaysian ones such as BAC Education Group who owns BAC College and IACT College. One of the many efforts that they have been undertaking is their ‘Coursera for Campus’ program which allows access to students from partner institutions. In light of the pandemic and the unfamiliar education circumstances, the company is introducing free access to students from partner institutions. The announcement comes as an extension of their global Campus Response Initiative announced in March.
The new Coursera for Campus will be offered in three Plans: Student, Basic and Institution. The first is catered to students offering unlimited access to guided projects for hands-on learning and one course on a yearly basis. The basic plan provides institutions with 20,000 free student licenses (student plan) while the Institution plan provides unlimited access to both guided projects and course enrollments. It also provides universities the capability to manage for-credit online learning programs.
Source: Coursera / Guided Projects
In addition to access to over 4,200 ready-made online courses, Coursera is also enabling faculties to build custom courses and assessments using its platform. The platform utilizes things like bite-sized videos, in-browser assignments and guided projects. It is also able to support online learning experiences when it comes to high stakes exams with online proctoring and also assignments with plagiarism prevention measures. It’s also optimised for low data consumption and offline learning.
