Category Archives: News

Android, Mobile, News

5G Gets More Affordable with the Samsung Galaxy A42 5G

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The latest generation of mobile network, 5G, is slowly making its way to the masses around the world. With that in mind, more major players in the mobile device market pumping out their own compatible devices. After introducing their 5G capable flagships, Samsung has announced another 5G device- the Galaxy A42 which is priced lower at $450 internationally and only MYR1,599 in Malaysia. It is equipped with all the innovation consumers have come to expect with the Galaxy A series, including a Quad Camera, Infinity-U Display and a long lasting battery.

The Galaxy A42 5G comes with the Snapdragon 750G which brings support for 5G on both mmWave and Sub6 bands according to Qualcomm. However, actual connectivity support has not been revealed by Samsung. The new smartphone comes with a 6.6-inch HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-U Display; which should provide ample viewing space for an immersive media experience. It also has a large 5,000mAh battery with support for Fast Charge which should keep you going for at least one full day. The sleek design of the phone is also ergonomic, with rounded edges to make it more comfortable to grip.

Here comes the catchy features of the Galaxy A42 5G, a powerful multi role Quad Camera that captures images and records videos with enhanced clarity. This consists of 48MP main camera supported by a an 8MP Ultra Wide Camera, a 5MP Macro Camera and a 5MP Depth Camera to capture more detail. Plus, the front-facing camera is a 20MP Selfie Camera, a great addition for selfie enthusiasts. Other Galaxy A42 5G specs include 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, expandable up to 1TB.

Pricing & Availability

The Samsung Galaxy A42 will be available in Prism Dot Black, Prism Dot White and Prism Dot Grey. It is available in Europe for €369 starting from 7 November and is already available in Malaysia via Samsung’s online store for MYR1,599.

Official Specifications

Galaxy A42 5G Product Specifications1

Display26.6-inch HD+ Super AMOLED
Infinity-U Display
Rear CameraQuad Camera
Main: 48MP, F1.8
Ultra Wide: 8MP, F2.2
Depth: 5MP, F2.4
Macro: 5MP, F2.4
Front
Camera		20MP, F2.2
Body75.9 x 164.4 x 8.6mm
193g3,7
APOcta-Core
(Dual 2.2GHz + Hexa 1.8GHz)
Memory44/6/8GB RAM
128GB Internal Storage
MicroSD slot (up to 1TB)
Battery55,000mAh (typical)
15W Adaptive Fast Charging
Biometric AuthenticationOn-Screen Fingerprint
Colors6Prism Dot Black
Prism Dot White
Prism Dot Gray

1 All functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided in this table including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice.
2 Screen measured diagonally as a full rectangle without accounting for the rounded corners. Actual viewable area is less due to the rounded corners and the camera cut out.
3 Device weight may vary by region and market.
4 Available RAM may vary by country and region.
5 Typical value tested under third-party laboratory condition. Typical value is the estimated average value considering the deviation in battery capacity among the battery samples tested under IEC 61960 standard. Rated (minimum) capacity is 4,680mAh. Actual battery life may vary depending on network environment, usage patterns and other factors. All functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided in this table including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice.
6 Availability may vary by country. 
7The disclaimer for weight specifications has been revised on October 22, 2020 to provide more accurate information.

News, Social Media

Facebook & Instagram Get a Unified Messenger Experience

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The Facebook and Instagram unification continues as Facebook’s Messenger App gets a tweaked icon to match the Instagram colours. This preceded a roll out of new functionality and themes for more expanded customization. Now Messenger’s iconic blue colour is becoming a shade similar to Instagram’s logo with shades of pinks and purples thrown in the mix.

The Facebook’s Stan Chudnovsky ,VP of Messenger said that they will begin to roll out new chat themes like love and tie-dye, and custom reactions together with new features where you can include your own photo into stickers which to make your chats more personalized and fun than ever before. Moreover, an exciting upcoming feature is the vanish mode, which makes the chat messages disappear after the recipient has seen it.

Facebook has also announced seamless cross-app messaging with Instagram. Current Messenger users would not need to perform additional set up to access this feature. Furthermore, new features will roll out automatically once they have become available in the user’s country. These features include aforementioned Selfie stickers, watch together functionality of IGTV and Facebook Watch and many more.

There is also speculation that functionality from WhatsApp, which is also owned by Facebook, will be incorporated with Messenger and Instagram in the near future too. It will be interesting to see the encrypted calls and messaging of WhatsApp featured in the Messenger-Instagram ecosystem.

Computers, Consumer Electronics, News

Samsung Brings TizenOS to new Lifestyle Smart Monitors with Apple AirPlay 2

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Samsung is bringing TizenOS to its popular monitor line up. The South Korean company, Samsung has unveiled a brand new line of innovative Smart Monitors. It touts the new line up as a do-it-all screen that will be able to seamless transition from work to play; perfect for the realities of today’s work and education climate. The monitors can connect to PCs, mobile devices, and even work independently.

The new Samsung Smart Monitor comes in two variations: the 32-inch M7 model and the M5 line-up consisting of 27-inch and 32-inch models.

Built for Work & Learning

The Samsung Smart Monitor M7 comes with a 32-inch UHD display with 4K resolution. It supports HDR10 and has a 178-degree viewing angle. The M5 Smart Monitor line-up comes with a lower resolution FHD display. That said, it still sports HDR10 support.

Both models come with a variety of connectivity options. The M7, being the higher specc’d model comes with an additional USB-C port which supports data, display and power (65W). Aside from that, the Smart Monitor M7 and M5 share the same connectivity options which include HDMI 2.0 ports, USB 2.0 ports, WiFi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac), and Bluetooth 4.2

Source: Samsung

Running on TizenOS, the Samsung Smart Monitor comes built in with wireless connectivity options that work well with smartphones as well. This includes Tap View, App Casting, and even Apple AirPlay 2. Samsung’s DeX can also work wirelessly with the Smart Monitors.

The monitor is able to work independently without input from a PC or smartphone source as well. When it comes to productivity, users will be able to run Microsoft’s Office 365 suite independently over WiFi.

Seamlessly Adapted for Entertainment

It’s not all work when it comes to Samsung’s new Smart Monitors. The display comes with Samsung’s Smart Hub to for all your content streaming needs. You can access apps such as Netflix, YouTube, HBO without a connection with your PCs or smartphones. You’re able to navigate the interface with the provided remote control or, if you so please, using Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant.

Source: Samsung

The Samsung Smart Monitors also comes with Adaptive Picture. This allows the monitor to intelligently optimize picture quality according to the environment. It will automatically adjust color temperature and brightness according to surrounding conditions to help reduce eye strain. The monitors also feature a special eye-saver mode to reduce blue light.

Pricing & Availability

The Samsung Smart Monitor is now available in United States, Canada and China with availability in other countries coming by the end of November.

The M7 will be retailing at USD$399.99 (MYR1,635.07) while the M5 will be retailing at USD$229.99 (MYR940.148) for the smaller 27-inch variant and USD$279.99 (MYR1,144.57) for the 32-inch version.

Official Specifications

Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Business, Computers, News

Dell Pulls Out of Retail in Malaysia & Singapore

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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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

Business, News

Get Your Groceries from Tesco on foodpanda

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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.

Mobile, News

Samsung Unleashes New Exynos 1080 SoC

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Samsung’s next-generation midrange SoC (system on a chip) is the newly introduced Exynos 1080. The new chipset offers the latest Cortex-A78 CPU cores paired with the latest Mali-G78 graphics core. It’s the first SoC in which Samsung is adopting a new 1+3+4 CPU configuration with one core clocked at 2.8GHz and 3 others at 2.6GHz. This is supplemented by 4 more Cortex-A55 cores which are clocked at 2.0GHz.

The chipset is built on a 5nm process, which has until now only been used by Apple in their A14 processor. The new 5nm, octa-core Exynos 1080 touts better performance with the new architecture and also boasts significant power efficiency boosts. According to Samsung, the single-core performance has been boosted by 50% while the multi-core performance is boosted by 100%.

Source: Samsung (weibo)

In addition to the power savings from the architecture itself, Samsung has also introduced a power-saving solution it calls “Amigo Power”. The new solution will help monitor and optimize battery consumption. Samsung is touting that the solution will make the Exynos 1080 10% more power-efficient than its predecessor. Samsung has also spent some time optimising the NPU and DSP which boast a machine-learning interference power of 5.7TOPs indicating that any AI programs running on the SoC should be able to crunch more data at any given time. This should indicate better, quicker image post-processing and optimizations in both user experience and response speed.

Power consumption isn’t the only area Samsung is focusing on. The Exynos 1080 SoC can support a single 200MP camera or dual 32MP + 32MP sensors. On the video end of things, the processor is able to support shooting up to 4K resolution at 60fps.

Connectivity-wise, the Exynos 1080 is going to be able to support 5G on both the sub-6GHz and mmWave spectrum which indicates that the SoC could be making it to the U.S. given that, until now, the U.S. is the only country with official rollout of 5G on the Sub-6 wavelength. Aside from 5G, the SoC supports Cat.18 4G LTE connectivity. The Exynos 1080 will also support Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity. In addition to this, the SoC will support up to 144Hz refresh rate, LPDDR5 RAM and has UFS 3.1 compatibility.

Source: Samsung (weibo)

The Exynos 1080 will be available in the market in Q1 of 2021. That said, it looks like it will be making its way to consumers in a new Vivo device first. It has been confirmed that the SoC will see its debut in the Vivo X60 series come 2021. Vivo will also be using last year’s Exynos 980 in their upcoming X30 series smartphones.

eSports, Gaming, News

Garena Announces the Free Fire Continental Series with USD$900,000 Prize Pool

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Garena has announced a brand-new format and schedule of Free Fire’s international tournament for this year. The new Free Fire Continental Series (FFCS) will be the game’s first series to happen online only. The tournament comprises of three separate series which will be held from 22nd November to 29th November simultaneously around the world.

Source: Garena

The three different series that will run simultaneously are the American series, the EMEA series and the Asia series. The Americas series consists of Brazil and the rest of Latin American whereas the Asia series will include Taipei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam. On the other hand, the EMEA series will involve Europe, Russia, the Middle East and North Africa.

The Free Fire Continental Series will have a combined prize pool of USD$900,000 (MYR3,705,452.72). This will be split equally over the three series; Each series will have US$300,000 up for grabs. To earn their pot, teams will need to pass through two stages: the Play-ins and the Finals. Teams competing in the Play-ins and the Finals will be seeded from the recently concluded Free Fire Tri-nation Cup.

Source: Garena

Each team will have to battle over 6 rounds across 3 maps and points will be awarded based on round ranking and the number of kills. Contenders will be playing on the Bermuda, Purgatory and Kalahari maps in Free Fire. The top-seeded teams from each local-level tournament will earn the rights to enter their respective Grand Finals. However, the rest of the teams can only earn their place to be in the Grand Finals by beating the other teams in the region.

Kehormatan Melalui Penaklukan | Teaser Siri Benua Kebakaran Percuma 2020

The Grand Finals will be contested by the number one teams from each of the countries in the Asia series which consists of Tapei, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam. On the other hand, the second- and third-seeded of the Asia series will battle against each other to get into the five coveted Grand Final spots.

News, Social Media

Know Your Horoscope with Snapchat’s New Astrological Features

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You remember Snapchat right? Well, they have been improving and updating their app with new features to keep you more engaged and also ensure you’re connected with your pals even though you may not be meeting face to face.

It comes as no surprise that people love astrology and Snapchat is looking to make astrology even more accessible via their app. They are introducing a brand new feature called an Astrological Profile. With this new feature, you can find out your personality traits according to your horoscope. The app will bring up a detailed astrology profile based on your birthdate and horoscope.

In addition to your personal profiles, Snapchat is also allowing you to get to know yourself and your friends better with a compatibility reading between you and any other person you know who has set up their astrological profile. You’ll be able to tell if they have when you see a purple icon beside their Snap score. The readings will be presented in stories format and will take into consideration 10 different planetary dimensions.

Source: Snapchat

Snapchat has partnered with Cosmopolitan US’s astrologer, Aurora Tower, to ensure that the information provided in these features are accurate. Users who activate the feature will receive a daily analysis of your zodiac sign which is believed to factor into your personality and other dimensions of your life.

The Astrological profile will take into consideration ten different astrological elements: the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Pluto, Uranus. The information is then condensed into an Astrology Profile Summary. You can send these snaps to your friends or post it up on your story.

This new features is available in the latest version of Snapchat on iOS and Android.

Android, Mobile, News

HONOR 10X Lite Unveiled With 5,000mAh Battery & Kirin 710A

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HONOR has released its newest model, the HONOR 10X Lite. The company’s latest offering for budget users brings together performance and features in a complete package that won’t break the bank. It carries the same promises for performance and long-life battery as its predecessors.

Source: HONOR

The HONOR 10X comes with a 6.67-inch display with a Full HD+ resolution of 1080×2400 pixels. It also has a 90.3% screen to body ratio for a more immersive display experience. The smartphone runs atop the HiSilicon Kirin 710A octa-core processor. This is support with 4GB RAM and 128GB of internal memory which is expandable with up to an additional 512GB with a microSD card.

Software-wise, the HONOR 10X Lite runs on Android 10 with EMUI 10.1. This also means that the smartphone will come with HUAWEI’s HMS platform which does not support Google Mobile Services. It also comes with an improved Multi-Window Mode and a new eBook mode.

In the camera department, the HONOR 10X Lite houses a quad-camera setup. This includes a 48-megapixel primary sensor, an 8-megapixel wide-angle sensor, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-megapixel macro sensor. The front camera is an 8-megapixel sensor housed within the punch-hole on the display.

The phone is powered by a 5000mAh battery that supports 22.5W SuperCharge. HONOR touts that the smartphone will be able to last up to 38 hours on 4G LTE connectivity with a single charge. SuperCharge will allow users to get fully charged in only 95 minutes.

Pricing & Availability

Source: HONOR

The HONOR 10X Lite will be available in three colours:  Midnight Black, Emerald Green, and Icelandic Frost. It is already available in Russia and other markets in Europe for €229.90 (MYR1118.93/USD$270.63). No news yet on when the phone will be making its way to Malaysia.

HONOR teamed up Wattpad to launch the Emerging Writers Program

Together with their new phone, HONOR also announced the Emerging Writers Program; an initiative to spur creativity among amateur and professional writers. In line with the brand’s vision of spurring self-expression and appealing to the younger generation, the Emerging Writers program looks to find up and coming writers and highlight the many features of HONOR’s latest smartphone in creating new experiences on screen and off. HONOR and Wattpad are planning to invite write across the globe to share their short stories about their dream and hope after this pandemic lock-down.

Gaming, News

Sony’s PlayStation 5 Won’t Support SSD Expansion at Launch

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According to The Verge, Sony has confirmed that the console will not support storage expansion at launch. This news comes despite the presence of a dedicated slot for an M.2 SSD. Sony clarifies that the slot will be enable in a future update and that storage expansion will be be reserved for a future update. This comes as confirmation as surfaced that the PS5 will reserve around 20% of the 825GB internal SSD storage for functional operations and the OS, leaving around 664GB usable storage.

In light of the new, it seems like early adopters should avoid buying additional M.2 SSDs to avoid being sorely disappointed. However, it’s not all gloom and doom as Sony confirms that the update will come once it has a list of supported SSDs. Testing for this list should be underway. The delay comes as the PlayStation 5 sports a lot of customised internals including its I/O system which complicates SSD compatibility. That said, the Sony PlayStation 5 supports up to two types of storage: internal and external storage. With internal M.2 SSD expansion delayed, users will still be able to use external USB drives for extra memory as we wait for the update to roll out.

Source: Sony

From what we know about PS5 titles – they aren’t small in any way with file sizes clocking in at 120GB. PS5 titles such as Demon Souls and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War are already reported to take up about 200GB. With only 825GB of internal storage, users will undoubtedly run out of storage in no time. However, the PS5 still supports storing games on USB-connected external drives however, this will only work for previous generation games.

What about the disc drive version of the PS5? Well, the Blu-Ray disc will only act as an installer for the game, allowing you to forgo an internet connection. Still, the PS5 will download game data from the disc on to the internal storage to facilitate seamless loading during gameplay.

Nevertheless, Sony has claimed that the PS5 will be more flexible when it comes to storage management; allowing users more control.