Category Archives: Computers

Computers, Gaming, News

Running Out of Things to Do at Home? Fear not, Ubisoft is Giving Out Free Games starting with Rayman Legends!

Leave a comment

The COVID-19 situation is not looking great, if we are all being honest. In Malaysia, if you have not known yet, is under a state sanctioned Movement Control Order (MCO). In other words, we are on partial lock down. Only essential services and businesses are allowed to operate. You are not even allowed a stroll in the public park; at least you are discouraged to with summons from the authorities. Even kids are not exempted from this ruling.

Source: Mercedes-AMG F1

In other parts of the world as well, the authorities have started encouraging self-quarantines and social distancing. Our neighbouring country has already started issuing fines for those who are not in accordance to their guideline of social distancing. In other words, everyone is doing their parts in combating this global pandemic. Even F1 teams have committed their resources and expertise in break-neck, cutting edge engineering to combat the disease with something they call Project Pitlane as we have covered yesterday.

There are plenty of tips out there about staying sane and productive at home. There are also plenty of guides about staying healthy at home with exercises and what not. One thing that everyone says they have more time for now that they are at home is gaming. We are gamers here too, and we agree; I sunk more than 50 hours already in Death Stranding in the first week of our MCO alone, before realising that I need to be a little bit more productive and active.

Source: Ubisoft

One thing people do not say about gaming though is that it costs money. You need money to buy these games. Some of these games can get quite expensive too. Imagine buying all the AAA titles you can find out there today. That would empty your back account very quickly.

Still, Ubisoft, one of the biggest game developers in the world and running their own UPlay curated game marketplace is doing their part in the battle against COVID-19. One of the things that was encouraged for these few weeks is self-quarantine and staying at home. Ubisoft is all for that and that is why they are giving out free games starting from the 30th of March 2020.

Source: Ubisoft

They start with ‘Rayman Legends’ from the 30th March to the 3rd of April 2020 onward. After that they will line up other games to giveaway at least for a few weeks. That is good news for everyone. All you need to do is sign up for Ubisoft’s UPlay account and download they UPlay app for desktop. For us gamers, that gives us even more reason to stay indoors and even lock our doors to keep playing all the games we have not finished. Now, excuse me while I finish Death Stranding and get to all my other games.

Computers, News

Acer Updates the Nitro 5 Ahead of Lazada’s Birthday with MYR 300 in Discount!

Leave a comment

The situation for COVID-19 is quite dire. As of today, the Malaysian Prime Minister has announced that it will go on until 14th of April 2020. That also means that working from home has extended thanks to that as well. While to some people, that also means that they get to spend more time at home working. That also means that they need to bring their work home from the office. You cannot expect everyone to bring their big tower PCs home.

So the best way to get work done from home is to have your own PC. If you do get your own PC though, you want it to be powerful. You want it to be powerful enough to play games with it and to ensure that it runs smoothly. Of course, you only want the best for yourself. So the choice is a gaming PC.

Building a tower makes sense, plenty of sense, you get to have a say I how powerful you want your PC to be. Of course, there is the problem of cost too. So that is up to you. There is another issue however, how do you bring it around? What if you want to work off site in the future? You cannot bring your tower set up out.

Source: Acer

So you need a gaming notebook PC instead. Which one? There are plenty, but Acer just updated their Nitro 5 gaming notebook PC. So, in a sense, you are getting more power for your money.

The updated Acer Nitro 5’s upgrade does not include an update on its visuals though. Then again, the Acer Nitro 5 is not half bad looking. The upgrades are mode than skin deep.

Source: Acer

You get a 9th Generation Intel Core i7 on the Nitro 5. That Core i7 has 8GB of RAM behind it and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660Ti GPU to handle what comes out of the 15.6-inch 120Hz Full HD display. All that makes is quite a powerful notebook PC. It even has a 512GB SSD to make it even faster than your average PC. All this is a step up from the previous Acer Nitro 5 with a 9th Generation Intel Core i5, paired to an NVIDIA GeForce GTX1650 and 4GB of RAM.

Source: Lazada

The new Acer Nitro 5 is now available for MYR 4,499 on Lazada. On Lazada’s 8th Birthday Sale, it will go for MYR 4,184 and you would be getting some extra free gifts with the purchase too. The Lazada 8th Birthday Sale happens on the 27th March 2020. Of course they will deliver it to you.

Computers, Mobile, News

Apple’s New iPad Pro Has LiDAR & TrackPad Support

Leave a comment

The iPad Pro turned heads when it was first launched back in June 2017. Many were asking where this large tablet would sit in the continuum of devices that is available to the consumer. However, the iPad Pro became one of the most revered devices for creatives and those looking to be productive on the go.

The 2020 iPad Pro ups the ante with Apple’s new A12Z Bionic chip. The A12Z succeeds the A12X SoC (System on a Chip) which Apple introduced with the previous generation iPad Pro. The new processor comes with 8-cores; 4 of which are optimized for performance while another 4 are optimized for efficiency. Apple touts that this processor makes the new iPad Pro “faster and more powerful than most Windows PC laptops”.

The new iPad Pro is, once again, made for creatives looking to work on the go. Apple’s A12Z Bionic chip makes it possible to edit 4K video and design 3D models on the iPad. According to Apple, the chip also comes with enhanced thermal architecture and fine-tuned performance which allows it to handle larger workloads than previous iPads. The performance of the iPad Pro 2020 is enhanced further with the Neural Engine of the A12Z which allows next generation apps to run.

The display on the iPad Pro 2020 is a near bezelless Liquid Retina display. Both the 11-inch and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro will come with Apple’s most advanced display yet. The new display has support for the DCI-P3 gamut which makes colour reproduction more accurate than ever. This is enhanced with ProMotion technology which automatically adjusts the refresh rate up to 120Hz for smooth scrolling and better responsiveness.

The camera module on the new iPad Pro comes with a dual sensor setup. It is equipped with 12-megapixel, wide angle sensor with an aperture of f/1.8 and a 10- megapixel, ultra-wide sensor with an f/2.4 aperture and 125° field of view. The camera setup supports up to 5x Zoom, Smart HDR, Auto image stabilization and 4K video recording at up to 60 fps.

The biggest change on the new iPad is the inclusion of a LiDAR Scanner module. This module allows the iPad to measure the distance between it and surrounding objects for up to 5 meters. This will work both indoors and outdoors. The LiDAR sensor works in tandem with the cameras and motion sensor to enable a whole new level of AR experiences. Apple has announced that apps developed on its ARKit technology will automatically be able to make use of the sensors when the ARKit updates.

Apple also brings the iPad Pro one step closer as the rival to the Surface Pro from Microsoft with the addition of trackpad support. The support comes with an updated iPadOS and likely will make its way to older iPads. However, the new iPad Pro is the only iPad with a Magic Keyboard. The new Magic Keyboard has a unique floating design which allows the iPad to shine. It also comes with USB-C pass-through for charging. Like the Magic keyboard on the recently announced MacBook Air, the magic Keyboard comes with 1mm travel for a better overall typing experience.

Pricing & Availability

The new iPad Pro will be available in Space Gray and Silver starting today on Apple’s website. It will be available in stores starting next week in 30 countries including the United States.

The 11-inch iPad Pro will be retailing for USD$799 for the WiFi only model and USD$949 for the WiFi and cellular version. These prices are for the 128GB version of the iPad, there are options for 256GB (USD$899 WiFi; USD$1,049 WiFi + Cellular), 512GB (USD$1099 WiFi; USD$1,249 WiFi + Cellular ) and 1TB (USD$1,299 WiFi; USD$1,449 WiFi + Cellular ) of storage.

The 12.9-inch version starts at USD$999 for the WiFi only model and USD$1,149 for the WiFi and cellular model. As with its smaller sibling, the prices mentioned are for its 128GB version. There are also 256GB (USD$999 WiFi; USD$1,249 WiFi + Cellular), 512GB (USD$1,299 WiFi; USD$1,449 WiFi + Cellular) and 1TB (USD$1,499 WiFi; USD$1,649 WiFi + Cellular) versions.

In Malaysia, these Models are priced as follows:

iPad Pro (11-inch) (MYR)
  128GB 256GB 512GB 1TB
WiFi 3,499 3,949 4,849 5,749
WiFi + Cellular 4,149 4,599 5,499 6,399
iPad Pro (12.9-inch) (MYR)
  128GB 256GB 512GB 1TB
WiFi 4,399 4,849 5,749 6,649
WiFi + Cellular 5,049 5,499 6,399 7,299
Computers, News

The New MacBook Air Comes with Scissor Keyboard and 10th Gen Intel Processors

Leave a comment

Thin. Light. Long lasting. Those are the words that come to mind when one thinks about the MacBook Air. The laptop was one of the first that arguably changed the face and form factor of modern laptops. Come the new decade, Apple is announcing a long awaited refresh to the popular MacBook Air.

The 2020 edition of the MacBook Air will be equipped with the latest quad-core processors from Intel. However, the 10th Generation Intel Core i7 which sports this configuration will only be available on the highest end MacBook Air. Two other options will be made available, one equipped with a dual core Intel Core i3 and another with the quad core Intel Core i5. Apple claims that the new MacBook Air has double the CPU performance and 80% more graphics performance with the new Intel IRIS Plus Graphics.

One of the pain points of the previous MacBook air was the keyboard which came with Apple’s butterfly switches. That being the case, Apple has turned back to the tried and true scissor switches. Their new Magic Keyboard comes with 1mm of travel for a more comfortable typing experience. The company has made the arrow keys easier to find with their “inverted T” design.

The MacBook Air comes with a 13.3-inch Retina display with over 4 million pixels. The Retina dispaly is an IPS Display with a QHD+ resolution of 2560×1600 pixels. This gives it a pixel density of 227 pixels per inch (ppi). It has a 16:10 aspect ratio and supports True Tone technology for better colour accuracy.

Storage and memory wise, the new MacBook air is equipped with at least 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM which can be upped to 16GB. At the minimum, it comes with 256GB of onboard PCIe SSD memory. This too is upgradable to a maximum of 2TB SSD. Speaking of the storage, Apple’s T2 Security Chip is also on the new MacBook Air. It will scan the software loaded during boot to ensure that nothing has been tampered and also provides on the fly data encryption. However, to simplify the user experience, TouchID has also been incorporated so users can stay secure while keeping things convenient.

The MacBook Air 2020 is also the first of its series to support up to 6K output for external displays. It also has a 3 mic array for clear voice performance over FaceTime and is equipped with the large, Force Touch trackpad. I will also come with Thunderbolt 3 ports for data, charging and video output.

Pricing & Availability

The new laptop is available for order on Apple’s website starting today. It will be available in Space Gray, Gold and Silver. Prices start from USD$999 or, if you are buying under their education programme, it will be USD$899.

In Malaysia, the Core i3 and Core i5 versions have been listed on the Apple online store. However, they are not available for order just yet. The i3 version of the MacBook Air is listed at MYR4,399 while the i5 version is listed at MYR5,599.

Business, Computers, Contributed, Mobile

Coronavirus Puts Remote Work Security to the Test

Leave a comment

*This article is contributed by Kevin Reed, CISO, Acronis*

As authorities worldwide work to contain the deadly coronavirus and try to keep it from spreading, the travel restrictions put in place are causing many organizations to rethink their operations. Rather than traveling to a region where their return flight might be at risk of being quarantined, many are turning to videoconferencing, file sync and share, and other remote work solutions to keep their businesses going. In China, where the disease started and where remote work policies are historically uncommon, the remote collaboration tool Zoom saw a single-day increase in downloads of 15%.

Source: Acronis

Remote work can certainly benefit a company, encouraging more collaboration and knowledge sharing. That’s why its adoption has grown significantly in the last several years. In fact, the global enterprise file synchronization and sharing (EFSS) market is expected to reach $24.4 billion by 2027, up from $3.4 billion in 2018.

Yet the wrong solution can put organizations at risk if they don’t address data security and privacy. To combat this predicament, businesses need to implement secure file sync and share technologies so that employees can work from home while also being able to access and transfer data in a manner that is both secure and safe.

What is file sync and share?

File sync and share technology is designed with the modern professional landscape in mind; a landscape where workforces rely on multiple devices and location flexibility in order to maximize productivity. File sync and share gives organizations the power to share files across multiple devices and with multiple people using file synchronization – allowing files to be stored in any approved data repository and accessed remotely by employees from any of their IT provisioned devices.

Security risks associated with remote work

Historically, remote work policies have been a sensitive topic for organizations. While some employers might fear that remote work creates a dip in employee performance, the larger concern is actually securing the proprietary and business-critical data modern companies rely on.

On a corporate network, IT teams can easily secure employee devices, but this becomes much more difficult to do once an employee accesses the system from outside the network.

Outside of the corporate network, devices are easily susceptible to attacks from third parties and cybercriminals. Attacking these unsecured endpoints can reveal the employee’s login credentials to cybercriminals so they can access the company’s system, or even use ransomware to lock company data – which happened to the NextCloud service last fall.

Benefits of secure file sync and share

Solutions that are built to deliver secure file sync and share give organizations the flexibility to enable employee collaboration and productivity while giving the IT department control over the protection of company data. Here are some of the ways that secure file sync and share technology protects and empowers businesses:

  • Secure File Sharing – It’s well known that when a file sync and share solution isn’t provided, employees will often resort to using their own personal devices and tools. Because these tools and devices exist outside of the control of IT departments, they’re inherently not secure and put sensitive company data at risk. With secure file sync and share, employees can easily share and access company files while IT maintains the privacy and security of the data.
  • Easy Anywhere, Anytime Access ­– Organizations are beginning to see the workday less as a clock-in/clock-out office environment, and have adopted an environment that supports the various schedules and lifestyles of their employees. With secure file-sync and share, employees are no longer constrained to a single corporate-owned device to be productive.
  • Data Loss Prevention and Disaster Recovery – When corporate data is centrally stored, it’s better protected against data leakage. This includes data lost to a cyberattack, employee error, or a lost or stolen device. With an enterprise-grade file sync and share solution, sensitive corporate data is kept secure and protected.
  • Easy Collaboration – File sync and share services are adapting to not only protect company data but to aid in remote workplace collaboration. Some file sync and share tools now provide users with tools to preview and edit files in-browser, search and find specific company documents and versions, and keep all employees on the same version of a document.

Final Thought

While global emergencies such as the coronavirus outbreak may highlight the benefits of having a secure remote work policy in place, the use of secure collaborative tools should be understood as part of a larger cultural shift. As more organizations adopt remote work policies, the IT teams, and MSPs that service these companies should adopt secure file sync and share solutions.

To help organizations introduce remote work policies in a way that is safe and secure, MSPs can offer their business customers Acronis Cyber Files Cloud, a secure enterprise file sync and share solution that features end-to-end encryption, user controls, and an audit trail.

Similarly, organizations that do not rely on an MSP can choose Acronis Cyber Files Advanced, an easy, complete, and secure enterprise file sharing solution that makes users more productive and gives IT complete control over business content to ensure security, maintain compliance, and enable BYOD.

Business, Computers, Contributed, Mobile

How ethical hacking can improve your security posture

Leave a comment

*This article is contributed by Myles Hosford, Head of Security Architecture, ASEAN, AWS*

Cybersecurity professionals see some threat actors or outside-parties as the enemy. However, challenging this mindset is important; you can better protect your organization against outside-parties if you understand how they think and operate. With this in mind, businesses around the globe have turned to hackers to test security infrastructure and develop stronger, more robust security practices.

Before integrating penetration testing into your security policy, it is important to understand the different types of hackers that exist. Each group has differing motivations, and you must be clear on which of their skills can be used to your organization’s advantage.

Black hat

Photo by Luca Nardone from Pexels

Black hat hackers are cybercriminals motivated by personal or financial gain. They range from teenage amateurs to experienced individuals or teams with a specific remit. However, over recent years, several high profile blackhat hackers have refocused on using their cyber skills to protect organizations. An example is Kevin Mitnick aka Condor, who was just sixteen years old when he gained access to a Department of Defense computer.  Following this and numerous other hacks, Mitnick spent five and a half years in prison. Upon his release set up his own company, Mitnick Security Consulting, which now runs penetration tests for clients.

The issue of whether to work with a previous black hat hacker is a contentious one. Some, including David Warburton, senior threat evangelist at F5 Networks, believe that hiring ex-hackers is critical in staying ahead of the threat landscape. However, others are concerned about allowing this group access to corporate systems and customer data. The latter group should, however, consider other approaches to working with hackers. 

White hat

Photo by Reza Rostampisheh on Unsplash

Often referred to as ethical hackers, white hat hackers are employed by organizations to look for vulnerabilities in security defences. Despite using the same tactics as black hat hackers, this group has permission from the organization making what they do entirely legal. While they use their knowledge to find ways to break the defences, they then work alongside security teams to fix issues before others discover them.

Many of the biggest organizations in the world, including General Motors and Starbucks, are turning to white hat hackers to help identify fault lines and proactively enhance security posture. White hat hacking can offer an interesting and lucrative career path for people with technical skills. Drawing attention to the important role white hat hackers play can encourage more talented individuals to take a positive path instead of becoming black hat hackers.

Nurturing talent

There are many programmes in place to find, encourage and support the next generation of white hat hackers. An example, supported by AWS, is r00tz Asylum, a conference dedicated to teaching young people how to become white-hats. Attendees learn how hackers operate and how cybersecurity experts defend against hackers. The aim is to encourage people with technical expertise to use it for good in their career.  By equipping aspiring cybersecurity professionals with knowledge and skills, they can bake security into infrastructure, from the ground up. AWS’s support for r00tz is our chance to give back to the next generation, providing young people who are interested in security with a safe learning environment and access to mentors.

Building on solid foundations

Photo by Ramin Khatibi on Unsplash

For those responsible for maintaining customer trust and protecting data, an end to end approach to security is critical. As we have seen, working with ethical hackers is a powerful way to view security posture from a cyber-criminal’s perspective to identify and tackle vulnerabilities. However, it’s also important to remember that security needs to be baked in throughout an organization’s infrastructure. This is where partnering with a cloud platform can be beneficial; the best of these are developed to satisfy the needs of the most risk-sensitive organizations. Cloud platforms also offer automated security services, which can proactively manage security assessments, threat detection, and policy management. In so doing, these platforms take on a lot of the heavy lifting for security professionals, including ethical hackers.

Business, Computers, Contributed, News

How blockchain technology is enabling new ways of doing business

Leave a comment

*This article is contributed by Myles Hosford, Head of Security Architecture, ASEAN, AWS*

As the world becomes more interconnected, opportunities for companies and individuals to interact and transact across borders, time zones, and channels grow quickly. To make sure that these transactions run smoothly, proactive management – specifically to ensure the minimization of cost, lowering of risk, and the elimination of inefficiencies – is needed.

Distributed ledger technology (DLT) such as blockchain helps simplify transactions and conduct efficient, secure interactions with multiple independent parties around the globe. All without the need for a third-party intermediary. These transactions can vary from sending anything from farm data, to banking and contract transactions.

Use case: Empowering farmers to sell field data transparently

Farmers collect large volumes of data with each step in the planting and harvesting process. Licensed data – data that qualifies as intellectual property of the farmer such as which crops to plant or how many seedlings – can be anonymized, sold to third parties and offer the agricultural industry with real-time insights on farms across the world. However, farmers are unsure how to monetize this crop data.

Photo by Tom Fisk from Pexels

As farmers are unsure how to monetize their crop data, Farmobile addresses these challenges through a blockchain-based exchange, built on AWS. The solution empowers farmers to licence data to approved buyers and includes account set up, creation, confirmation, execution of the offer, and delivery of the digital asset. They can seamlessly sell single-use licenses while keeping their farm’s identity completely anonymous. However, farmers have full visibility into the identities of potential data buyers, such as agronomists, equipment producers, and retailers, and are free to decline offers.

Use Case: Boosting financial inclusivity

Another case study for Blockchain technology is the financial sector in the Philippines. Here, rural banks lack the resources of larger banking institutions, making it nearly impossible for them to thrive or survive. This has left a large majority of rural-based Filipinos with little or no banking access.

Photo by David McBee from Pexels

UnionBank, a pioneer in its use of blockchain technology, joined forces with ConsenSys, an AWS Partner , to build a blockchain solution that would resolve this issue. The new, blockchain-based solution created a decentralized, cost-efficient, and near real-time network, allowing for the execution of domestic payments without relying on existing banking infrastructure and intermediaries.

The blockchain solution introduced means that rural banks no longer have to shoulder the burden of manually processing back-office transactions, freeing up staff to serve more customers. As such, the technology not only increased banking access and inclusivity but drove sustainable, future banking practices.

Use case: Limiting contract disputes in the oil and gas industry

Another example comes from the oil and gas industry. Moving resources through the oil and gas supply chain involves many stakeholders, including landowners, governments, oil and gas company operators, surveyors, and financial institutions. One critical step occurs between those mining the oil and royalty owners on whose land the oil is mined. Checking royalty transaction payments is a lengthy, manual process where stakeholders must agree to contract terms upfront. However, those terms are often interpreted differently on either side, often leading to disputes.

GuildOne, believed companies needed more efficient, secure, and cost-effective ways to execute a royalty contract transaction. They developed a solution through which contract terms are capable of being replicated, and consensus agreed using blockchain technology. By doing so, they mitigated the possibility of disputes and eliminated a large chunk of the expense of contract administration.

To build its royalty ledger and to meet the stringent privacy and security needs of its stakeholders, GuildOne chose to use R3’s Corda — a blockchain platform built for business and longevity — on AWS. Believing that the security capabilities gained would be vital in enabling rapid adoption of the royalty ledger solution in the oil and gas industry.

The future of blockchain technology solutions

Blockchain solutions are transforming the ways companies and individuals do business, locally and globally, by simplifying transactions and increasing their efficiency. Those looking to take advantage of the technology should partner with cloud providers capable of scaling up while delivering cybersecurity controls and standards to protect from external attacks. With Amazon Managed Blockchain, it eliminates the overhead required to create the network and automatically scales to meet the demands of thousands of applications running millions of transactions. Once a network is up and running, Managed Blockchain makes it easy to manage and maintain the blockchain network by managing its certificates and letting customers easily invite new members to join the network.

Computers, Health, Mobile, News

COVID-19 Hits Google Hard – Google Next Cloud Goes Completely Online and I/O is Cancelled

Leave a comment

At this point of time, COVID-19 has claimed over 3,000 lives globally. These are known deaths caused by COVID-19 and there may be more than that. To be honest too, this is a very difficult write-up. Not because there is very little information to work with. It is just the fact that COVID-19 news are not getting any better. There is a glimmer of hope though; WHO claims that COVID-19 containment and treatment is very viable.

Source: MS Poweruser

Still, COVID-19, or more commonly known as Coronavirus at this point has claimed more than just lives. It is affecting communities and commerce as well. Of course it would, people run these businesses and communities, people are getting infected and therefore sick; conducting business activities then is difficult.

We saw Apple getting affected earlier on with their China stores temporarily closing. Foxconn, their manufacturing plant had also stopped operating at some point. Mobile World Congress 2020 has been cancelled; Geneva Motorshow is also being torn down as we speak because they cancelled the event at the very last minute. Even Formula 1 is being heavily affected; they lost China GP this year and who knows which other GP is being cancelled due to the global emergency that is COVID-19.

Plenty are hopeful that the disease will be contained and cured by June or July. That is why some events has been postponed to then. Even Computex 2020 seems to be happening still. The situation now is not very encouraging though.

This week alone we see more victims to COVID-19. On top of new confirmed deaths around the world we see Microsoft’s MVP physical event going completely digital. Facebook is also cancelling the F8 summit. Even Adobe is not spared; Adobe is having their Summit announcements completely online too. The hardest of all is Google having to cancel both their big conferences.

Source: Google

Google has cancelled their Cloud Next event earlier on this week. They announced thought that the conference will be a completely online affair. There was also a sort of expectation that some of the things that would be covered on Cloud Next would appear in Google’s I/O which was still reported to be happening. This morning proved our optimism wrong though. Google is cancelling the Google I/O conference; their biggest developer conference of the year has been cancelled.

If we are right, we are seeing Google’s latest Android 11 on the big stage of Google I/O. It looks like we are going to have to see it on an online stage instead; they show must go on, as they say. There is no final confirmation yet on the online streaming of Google I/O yet though. We are expecting them to go online because Google is completely equipped to livestream all their conferences, which they have done before anyway. Of course, it helps that they own YouTube anyway.

Google is not the first to be hit strongly by COVID-19. We highly doubt that Google will be the last one. We are expecting the Olympics committee to make an announcement soon regarding the Summer Olympics 2020 in Japan. For all you know, Japan might be the one that makes the announcement of a border containment. Still, these are just speculations; take it with a pinch of salt. Not Google’s cancellations though, those are confirmed.

Source: Google, Tech Crunch, 9to5 Google

Computers, Gaming, News

Acer Announces New Nitro 5 with AMD and NVIDIA

Leave a comment

Acer’s Nitro 5 series has always been a compelling option when it comes to an entry level gaming laptop. It’s also one of the most affordable gaming laptops in market right now. Acer Malaysia has just announced a refresh of its casual gaming laptop which sees the price come to about MYR 2,999.

The new Nitro 5 comes equipped with a quad core AMD Ryzen 7 processor and is complemented with an NVIDIA GTX1650 discreet graphics card. The new setup also comes with 512GB of storage. This isn’t just your regular spinning hard disk either. It’s a PCIe NVMe solid state drive (SSD) which promises quick performance and load times. It comes with 4GB of RAM but can be upgraded to 32GB should you see the need to. There is also an additional m.2 slot if you need even more performance memory. Acer is also touting that the Nitro 5 comes with an HDD upgrade Kit which allows users to upgrade the storage on the laptop.

The AMD touting Nitro 5 comes with a 15.6-inch Full HD IPS display with 120Hz refresh rate. The screen itself covers a whopping 80% of the face of the laptop thanks to it’s slim 7.18mm bezels. The new laptop also comes with Waves MaxxAudio advanced sound optimization technology with Acer’s own TrueHarmony technology for better, more immersive sound.

The Acer Nitro 5 comes with dual fans and dual exhausts which have been design with the company’s CoolBoost technology. This increases the fan speed by 10% allowing better cooling performance. In addition to this, the cooling of the GPU and CPU is also increased by 9% thanks to CoolBoost. With online gaming, your connection stability is increasingly important; the Nitro 5 comes with Killer Ethernet E2500 and Acer’s Network optimizer to help keep you up to speed. This gives you the option to manually tweak your network performance or you can simply leave it to the computer on Auto mode.

Acer’s NitroSense will allow you to keep an eye on the happenings of your Nitro 5. The software allows you to manage component temperature, loading performance, power usage among others with the hit of a dedicated Nitro Hot-Key. It also comes with HDMI 2.0 ports as well a USB Type-C and more to allow you supe up your gaming.

Pricing and Availability

The new Nitro 5 with AMD’s Ryzen 7 and NVIDIA GTX1650 is immediately available in Malaysia. Prices start at MYR2,999.

Computers, News

Lenovo ThinkPad Laptops 2020 Upgrade – Better Working Experience

Leave a comment

Lenovo has always been about giving customers the best value. Giving customers a wide variety of options to choose from to fulfill their needs. This time around, Lenovo has given the ThinkPad Laptops new upgrades to give you better productivity. 

The updated ThinkPad features a new modern standby mode where the laptops operates like a smartphone. In standby mode, the system goes into low power and remains connected at all times to keep the laptop in sync with whatever that is going on in the background. This makes it really convenient if you have to work away from your laptop and coming back to it at a later time. 

Source: Lenovo

To further complement the innovation of productivity, users can quickly resume where they left off by using a Wake on Voice command. Instead of using precious time to physically wake up the laptop. You can now just use your voice to wake up the laptop while you work on something else. There is also now a unified communications function keys to enable users to instantaneously answer or decline calls. 

The next upgrade is WiFi 6 connectivity. Even though WiFi 6 is not readily available yet, but this is a good future proofing measure done by Lenovo to keep in times of what’s to come in the near future. WiFi 6 not only gives better connectivity speed but also has better security. Do keep in mind that this is a two-way hardware upgrade, so you will need to have a WiFi router that also supports WiFi 6 connectivity to optimise its performance. 

There will also be a more premium UHD, OLED, and Dolby Vision options to deliver the best visuals. Not to miss out, the audio department gets Dolby Audio Speakers treatment on the ThinkPad T and X series. The ThinkPad L series will only feature an enhanced audio experience from Dolby Audio. 

Source: Lenovo

Lenovo has not forgotten about security upgrades as well, so you can enjoy all the conveniences without having to worry about any security breaches. With Lenovo’s own security solution, ThinkShield. The laptop would come with an optional PrivacyGuard ePrivacy display and PrivacyAlert on models that have an IR camera. This PrivacyGuard ePrivacy display with PrivacyAlert helps protect users from prying eyes of over the shoulder glances. So that anything on your screen is for your eyes only.  

All these goodies can be found with a new processor from both the blue and the red team. In the blue team, we have the latest 10th Generation Intel Core vPro processor and in the red team, we will find the AMD Ryzen PRO 4000 Mobile processor. All of these options will be available in the ThinkPad T Series and the smaller more portable X Series. Specifically the T14, T14s, T15, X13, and X13 Yoga. 

The L Series did not get the same display upgrades as the T and X Series. The L Series has gotten a redesign instead. It is now thinner and lighter across the board! It also comes with Windows 10 Pro and a conveniently placed fingerprint sensor for security and convenience. 

The new upgrades will be available from Q2 2020 with an expected pricing from USD 647 all the way to USD 1,099. If you would like more details, do refer to the list below. 

ThinkPad T Series
T14 – USD 849 (MYR 3,568)
T14s – USD 1,029 (MYR 4,325) 
T15 – USD 1,079 (MYR 4,535)

ThinkPad X Series
X13 – USD 849 (MYR 3,568)
X13 Yoga – USD 1,099 (MYR 4,619)

ThinkPad L Series
L13 – USD 679 (MYR 2,854)
L13 Yoga – USD 799 (MYR 3,358)
L14 – USD 649 (MYR 2,728)
L15 – USD 649 (MYR 2,728)