Being on-the-go with spotty internet can be a very irritating predicament; even more so when you’re trying to play catch up with your new binge-worthy show. Three years ago, Netflix addressed that with Smart Downloads which automatically downloaded the next episode of your show. This allowed you to seamlessly enjoy your show without any interruptions.
This year, they’re taking it one step further with Downloads For You. The new feature automatically downloads shows or movies that Netflix thinks you’d like. Rest assured, you won’t be dealing with terabytes of data being downloaded into your device – unless that’s what you want. Users will be able to control how much space the new feature takes up.
Managing the feature is as easy as going to the downloads tab and toggling the Downloads For You option. After which users will be able to select how much data the feature should take up – 1GB, 3GB, or 5GB. Of course, the more data you allow it to take up, the more content you get.
The feature is now available to Netflix users with an Android device. Netflix is working to get the feature on their iOS app soon.
Samsung’s wearables have been one of the company’s many boons when it comes to software and functionality. If you’ve been following the wearables market, Samsung’s Tizen OS has quickly become one of the more functionally stable operating systems in the market. However, there’s always been a looming cloud over Tizen as Samsung’s own Galaxy devices come equipped with Google’s Android OS.
Twitter user and prolific leaker, @UniverseIce tweeted on Friday that Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Watch would be replacing its well thought out Tizen OS with Google’s Wear OS. If true, the switch would seem to benefit Google’s floundering Wear OS more than Samsung’s Galaxy Wearables lineup. It would also make Samsung one of the biggest names behind the OS aside from FOSSIL, Casio, and Skagen.
Samsung's new watch will use Android to replace Tizen.
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch series has seen much success in previous years thanks to its design and impressively thought-out software. This change seems to be rather uncharacteristic for Samsung given the popularity of the devices and also the company’s recent thrust for its SmartThings platform. That said, Samsung’s move to embrace Google’s services isn’t anything new. We’ve seen it in recent years with Bixby slowly taking a backseat to Google Assistant in the company’s OneUI.
That said, Samsung could very well be looking at offering a whole new series of smartwatches built for Wear OS. The other possibility is the company introducing a Wear OS version of the upcoming Galaxy Watch. This would bolster the number of the devices in Samsung’s Galaxy Ecosystem and create a new offering for those who have shied away from Samsung’s wearables for so long.
While highly unlikely, this could be an indication that Wear OS has finally reached a point where Samsung is comfortable putting it on their devices. There have been many limitations when it came to both Tizen and Wear OS. However, the former has consistently been able to keep up with new features and better customizability.
Fitbit’s health-centric devices have been some of the best fitness devices on the market to date. The company has successfully developed sensors and an intuitive interface that allows users to not only collect data but view them in a way that is easy to understand. However, in 2019, Fitbit saw the opportunity to bring even more insights to their users at a premium.
Fitbit Premium has been up and running since late 2019. It provides deeper insights into the data that is already collected by your Fitbit device – some of which could even be used to detect COVID-19 without the PCR test. Just recently, the company extended the availability of a limited version of Fitbit Premium available to users of the Versa 3 and Inspire 2. Now, it seems like that may be more behind that.
Source: Fitbit
Fitbit has recently sent out a customer survey which asks users to consider an cheaper tier of their Fitbit Premium service. According to Android Central, the theoretical new tier would be priced at USD$2.99 (MYR12.09); less than half the price of the current plan at USD$9.99 (MYR40.38). However, it seems like the offerings would be significantly less than the current Premium plan which offers not only user data but also guided workouts and more. The new plan would allow users to “see your activity, sleep, stress, and health metrics for the last month, year, forever with unlimited historical data.”
It seems like this may be Google gauging users’ valuation of the data and insights they get from Fitbit devices. This comes as no surprise as the sale of Fitbit to Google essentially limited what Google could do with the data collected from Fitbit devices. Senior Vice President of Devices and Services, Rick Osterloh, mentions the issue of data privacy and Google’s acquisition of Fitbit stating that the acquisition was about hardware and never the data.
PR asset of Fitbit Premium on Android, showing Today screen with insights. For placement into renders or lifestyle imagery only.
This deal has always been about devices, not data, and we’ve been clear since the beginning that we will protect Fitbit users’ privacy. We worked with global regulators on an approach which safeguards consumers’ privacy expectations, including a series of binding commitments that confirm Fitbit users’ health and wellness data won’t be used for Google ads and this data will be separated from other Google ads data.
Rick Osterloh, Senior Vice President, Devices & Services at Google
However, Google being a data company understands that there is an inherent value to all the data being collected. Hence, this straw poll to see if users are willing to spend to get access to their data and insights is just an exercise of how much value users place in the data collected by their Fitbits.
That said, we have always been in the camp where users should be given access to their data regardless of a “Premium” fee – the other goodies in the premium subscription are definitely worth the investment, if you see the need or want to make better sense of the data that’s being collected.
Valve’s popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game, DOTA 2, is making its way to a silver screen near you. The popular game will be making its silver screen debut on Netflix in a new anime series called DOTA: Dragon’s Blood. It will be making it debut on March 25, 2021.
The 8-episode anime series will be following the story of Davion, one of the characters from the MOBA. In the anime, Davion is a devoted Dragon Knight. He fights to rid the world of the scourge. During his journeys, he encounters a powerful, ancient eldwurm and Princess Mirana. Unbeknownst to Davion, the princess is on a mission of her own. Slowly, but surely, Davion is pulled into events that prove to be larger than he could ever imagine.
The series is produced in partnership with Valve. Showrunner, Ashley Edward Miller, is confident that the show will be received well by fans. Miller previously worked on shows such as X-Men: First Class, Thor and Black Sails and will be also acting as the executive producer for DOTA: Dragon’s Blood. Miller is joined by Ru Ki Hyun as the co-executive producer. The series is animated by Studio MIR, the studio behind The Legend of Korra, Voltron: Legendary Defender and the recently announced The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.
“Fans will love how we’ve imagined the DOTA 2 universe and woven together an epic, emotional, and adult-oriented story about some of their favourite characters. The cinematic animation, acting and music are simply next level and I’m grateful to Valve for supporting our creative ambitions.”
Ashley Edward Miller, Showrunner & Executive Producer
While this is big news for the IP (Intellectual Property), Davion is widely considered one of the less interesting characters in the MOBA. It will be exciting to see what team behind the anime have in mind for the character and whether they will stick to the established lore of DOTA.
It’s that time of year again! It’s time for BlizzCon – one of the biggest gaming conventions of the year. Now, if you have been following the gaming scene, you would know that there are gamers and then there are Blizzard fans. Fans of Blizzard Entertainment are notorious for being one of the most vocal and fanatical group of gamers when it comes to the IPs that Blizzard holds; particularly Overwatch, Diablo, StarCraft and Warcraft.
This year, Blizzard Entertainment’s annual BlizzCon will be happening from 19 February to 20 February 2021. In light of the pandemic, the conference will be an online one, open to the public for free. You can take part by visiting their official BlizzCon website for updates and all the information you need about the conference.
With all that information out of the way, as Deckard Cain says, “Stay awhile and listen” as we give you a rundown of what we want to see at BlizzCon 2021.
Diablo IV
Diablo is arguably one of Blizzard Entertainment’s largest IPs. The dungeon crawler was first introduced in the late 90s and quickly became one of the company’s most beloved franchises. Since then, there have been 3 major instalments into the series that follow the developments of the world of Sanctuary. The most recent being Diablo III which continued the story of the Soulstones and the Prime Evils.
In the years since the release in 2012, Diablo fans have been waiting for and theorising about Diablo IV. The hype for Diablo was fueled even more by numerous teases from Blizzard about a possible 4th instalment. At BlizzCon 2019, we finally got a glimpse of Diablo IV with the first cinematic trailer which introduced us to Lilith – Mother of the Nephalem, Queen of the Succubi and Daughter of Mephisto, Lord of Hatred.
With all that hype and no news since, we want to see more of the upcoming instalment – particularly when it comes to the game’s mechanics and gameplay. So far, we’ve only seen a brief gameplay trailer which revealed three of the player classes available in the game: the barbarian, the sorceress and the druid. The gameplay trailer showed off some of the return mechanics which series veterans should be familiar with. We also know that the series will be more open this round with players travelling between the many regions of Sanctuary
We’ve had enough teasing Blizzard. It’s time to reveal more about the game this year – possibly new classes and even more about some of the new features and mechanics that are coming back to the series. But more importantly – we want a release date! When will we be returning to Sanctuary?
Diablo Immortal
Announced at BlizzCon 2018 to a rather unimpressed audience, Diablo Immortal is Blizzard’s first foray into the mobile MMO (massively multiplayer online) gaming scene. It is developed in partnership with NetEase. However, since the unceremonious reception, we’ve not heard much about it. In 2019, NetEase’s CFO said the game was pretty much ready. August 2020 saw the release of a new trailer while December 2020 saw a closed alpha.
That said, we only know little of the game. To date, we know that game is set 5 years after the events of Diablo II but before Diablo III. Players will be starting in Wortham and be travelling with Deckard Cain by their side. They will be facing the undead and cultists in the beginning. They will be locating and destroying shards of the Worldstone in their travels. Like other instalments of Diablo, players will be able to choose between six player classes: the Crusader, the Necromancer, the Monk, the Barbarian, the Wizard and the Demon Hunter.
With the release of the open alpha, we really want to finally see a release of the game into the wild. If you’re like me, you’ve probably already pre-registered for the game on the Google Play and App Stores. We’ve seen a stream of reviews from publications that got access to the closed alpha.
Overwatch 2
Overwatch is Blizzard Entertainment’s first multiplayer first-person shooter game. It was released in 2016 and remains one of the company’s best IPs in the realm of competitive, professional eSports.
Source: Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard made the announcement of Overwatch 2 back at BlizzCon 2019. The new instalment promised more characters and even backwards compatible gameplay with Overwatch. The company showed off many features including a new PvE (player versus environment) cooperative mode.
However, like Diablo 4, there has been little information since then. We actually want to know if the game is ready for prime time – which seems unlikely. That said, knowing Blizzard, we’ll settle for more shorts that give us more to love about the Overwatch world.
StarCraft
A decade after the release of the first entry into StarCraft II, the series seems to be on ice. Just recently, Blizzard Entertainment announced that support for the game will be reduced to a bare minimum. The series has had a tumultuous decade with Blizzard with most of its veteran developers leaving Blizzard.
Source: Blizzard Entertainment
However, we still harbour some hope that Blizzard will bring back Jim Raynor, Sarah Kerrigan and Zeratul. We actually want to know what the future of the franchise is. It would be a nice to see Blizzard bring back StarCraft for a third instalment.
Hearthstone & World of Warcraft
Two of the company’s biggest, longest running online games. The pandemic has thankfully reinvigorated the games with more players returning to them. We would like to see more development in card packs for Hearthstone and perhaps some big announcements for WoW.
Fitbit is bringing a limited version of their Health Metrics dashboard to more users free. The feature was initially made available for Versa 3 and Sense users with the purchase of the new smartwatch last year. Now, it’s being offered to users of the Versa 2, Inspire 2 and Charge 4.
The Fitbit Health Metrics dashboard is a feature in the Fitbit companion app which allows users to get valuable insights from some of the metrics collected. Data like skin temperature, blood oxygenation, heart rate variability and a few more are analyzed and plotted to give deeper insights into health. Medical professionals are able to use these insights to create plans for action to help improve the users overall health.
With the change, users of the Versa 2, Versa 3, Sense, Charge 4 and Inspire 2 are able to access the Health Metrics dashboard. However, the version that they have access to limits their trends and data to only 1 week. The data available in the dashboard will vary based on the features of the fitness tracker used. That said, the 1 week of data could be more than enough for some.
While it seems like a no-brainer for Fitbit to include this feature in their app, the Health Metrics dashboard has been placed behind the Fitbit Premium paywall. The new update brings a crucial function of fitness trackers to the forefront. This comes in light of research that the company has recently published study which found that critical trend data such as this can help diagnose COVID-19. In addition, Fitbit has begun rolling out the ECG feature in the Sense in more countries.
If there’s been one feature that Apple has had that gives it an edge over Android and Windows users – it would be the seamless connectivity between its mobile and computing ecosystems. However, it looks like that is about to change – at least for Samsung Galaxy users. Samsung has been working with Microsoft to bring its Quick Share feature to Windows 10.
Samsung originally introduced Quick Share with its flagship Galaxy S20 line up last year. The feature created a more unified experience between the Galaxy Tab S7 series and the smartphone allowing users to seamlessly transfer files between the two devices. It does this using a peer-to-peer WiFi network which allows quick transfers even for large files.
Quick Share is apparently making its way to Windows 10 devices and soon. Screencaps of the app have already surfaced online. However, there is no indication when the app will be ready for prime time.
Microsoft and Samsung have been making strides in better integrating their devices for a more seamless user experience since. Just recently, the two titans introduced new features to the Link to Windows feature which allows users to use Android apps natively on their Windows PCs if they have a compatible device.
The inclusion of the feature comes as the latest integration of Samsung’s Galaxy ecosystem into Microsoft’s fold. Galaxy devices have been launching with “Link to Windows” which integrates the smartphone to the laptop via Microsoft’s “Your Phone” app since the introduction of the Galaxy S10 series.
This news also comes on the heels of Samsung’s latest flagship – the Galaxy S21 series getting support for Wireless DeX on Windows devices. Samsung’s Desktop Experience (DeX) gives users access to their smartphone’s content in a more familiar desktop environment. Wireless DeX removes the required USB connection to the laptop. The feature has been available for Samsung displays for a while now.
As companies continue in their digitization journeys, they are seeing an increased need for solutions that are able to mitigate risk. However, with the many solutions in the market, it can be daunting for them to discern between them. Marsh, a global insurance broking and risk management firm, has come up with a program called Cyber Catalyst which recognises and certifies cybersecurity solutions for their effectiveness across a set of criteria including the effectiveness, efficiency and viability of the solution. For the second time, one of Aruba’s security offerings has been recognised for its efficacy as part of the Cyber Catalyst Program.
Aruba’s ClearPass Suite of identity-based access control solutions has been recognised in the Cyber Catalyst program. The ClearPass suite encompasses an array of individual, AI-driven services which allow organisations to have better visibility of their network activity. It allows businesses to scale – even with the rigours of remote work – effectively without compromising network and data security through the implementation of automated device compliance policies and even through BYOD provisioning. Aruba’s ClearPass covers everything from onboarding, policy control, remote management and even guest access security.
Aruba’s ClearPass joins its Policy Enforcement Firewall (PEF) which received the same recognition in 2019. As two of their services have now been recognised, the company now boasts an integrated identity-based network access control solution. Aruba’s offerings are now a comprehensive approach to Zero Trust and Security Access Service Edge (SASE) frameworks.
Towards the end of the Trump administration, Xiaomi was added to a Department of Defense blacklist similar to fellow Chinese company, Huawei. The Chinese technology company finds itself on the blacklist due to claimed ties and dealings with the Chinese Military. The company has since denied the allegations. In a statement to Android Authority, Xiaomi stressed that “The company has been in compliance with law and operating in compliance with the relevant laws and regulations of jurisdictions where it conducts its businesses. The company reiterates that it provides products and services for civilian and commercial use. The company confirms that it is not owned, controlled, or affiliated with the Chinese military“.
In the weeks since the announcement, we’ve also been able to clarify what has actually happened. Unlike Huawei, Xiaomi is on a different blacklist – one that doesn’t bar it from doing business with U.S. companies like Google. However, U.S. based companies and entities are barred from investing in Xiaomi. To that end, companies who have invested in the technology manufacturer are required to divest that interest by 11 November 2021. This could affect the company’s stock value and liquidity when it comes into full effect. Since the initial report, Xiaomi has initiated legal proceedings against the U.S. Government citing the blacklisting is unconstitutional and can cause “imminent, severe, and irreparable harm” to the company.
Even more recently, rumours have begun surfacing that Xiaomi may be facing the same fate as Huawei when it comes to Google’s Mobile Services. The rumour started in Xiaomi’s Community interaction channels and has since garnered more attention. Xiaomi has since taken to Weibo to refute and clarify the claims.
Original weibo posting by Xiaomi. Source: SoyaCincau
In its statement, it clarified that domestic models in China will still support GMS. However, like many other companies in China, they also has models which do not run GMS. Xiaomi is no longer allowing users to sideload or self install GMS on these models. That said, they will be releasing GMS models in China to fulfill customer demand.
When it comes to international models, Xiaomi stresses that they will remain unaffected by the change. They will continue to launch with the Google Mobile Services pre-installed. So, rest assured, if you’re planning to pick up a phone from Xiaomi, POCO or Redmi, they will come with a complete version of Android with GMS. This includes the recently announced Mi 11.
The Malaysian state of Selangor has been busy enhancing their contact tracing application – SELangkah. The new optimisations and features gear the app to address some of the growing concerns emerging amongst Malaysians in the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic. With its new features, the app is now gearing up for the vaccine rollout and for a “new normal” post-COVID-19.
SELangkah is getting improvements to its core, contact tracing function. The app now allows users to access information such as Crowd Trends which allows users gauge their visits based on the customer visits to a given premises. The app provides users with a map of the locations recently afflicted with COVID-19 cases. Using this information, SELangkah is assessing the exposure risk to the virus. On the back end, the SELangkah app now provides a dashboard for law enforcement to clamp down on premises flouting the Operating Procedures announced through a Visitor Log.
The app is also adopting a GPS based check-in system which allows users to check in to the premises via their phone’s GPS instead of scanning the QR Code. The SELangkah app will also work with QR Codes issued by the Federal Government’s MySejahtera application. It also gives access to the features of the app within SELangkah. Users will now be able to access their location history as well with the new scan history. In addition, the app will be communicating regular updates from the Selangor State Government via its new bulletin board feature.
The Selangor Government is also encouraging screening through the SELangkah application. Users will be able to register for upcoming events and check their COVID-19 screening results via the application. In addition, the state government is looking to use the app to track vaccination rollout. Users are able to register for vaccination via the Register and Sign up for your Vaccine Pack (RSVP) feature that is coming to the application soon. The RSVP feature will be integrated into vendors’ stock keeping systems for better rollout.
What started off as a contact tracing app is quickly becoming the Selangor Government’s go-to application for many of its welfare efforts. The application is expanding to include commercial features which will allow those such as hawkers who have had to deal with the brunt of the pandemic to quickly adopt and adapt to changing times. Their SELangkah Biz feature is a cashless solution which looks to enable cashless payments among micro, small and medium enterprise merchants. The feature will allow these vendors to receive e-wallet payments even without a bank account.
The SELangkah app is also upping security by adopting a more secure approach they are calling SELangkah ID. The single-sign-on system is integrated across the app and allows users to use digital and biometric authentication to access the app’s growing list of features. It will also offer access to government-related services as Selangor shifts toward a more digital future.
