Category Archives: News

Mobile, News

Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha Delayed Indefinitely

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The foldable smartphones craze has not died down just yet. The shown concept of the Samsung Galaxy Fold that was launched late in 2019 last year gave birth to a lot more foldable smartphone concepts out there. One of the most coveted and anticipated one after the big Galaxy Fold announcement was the HUAWEI Mate X foldable smartphone which approached the folding smartphone concept differently.

So far though, there is only two known circulated foldable smartphones in the market; the Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Motorola Razr. The HUAWEI Mate X has not been seen in the market since its announcement very early in 2019. It is understandable though that they might be facing some issues with productions due to the complications on the folding mechanism.

Still, every other person out there is hailing foldable smartphones as the next big thing in smartphones in the coming years. Instead of foldable smartphones though, there is another, more sensible way of approaching smartphone designs, having the displays in front and behind the smartphone. That dual display stuff has been done by Vivo last year too, with little sales success.

Source: Xiaomi Global

What about a wraparound design then? A smartphone with a display so big and wide that it wraps around the hardware, an actual all display smartphone. Xiaomi did that with the announcement of the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha. They even announced that the device should be available some time in December 2019.

Unfortunately we have not seen any sign of the smartphone anywhere in the market. According to the latest report, it seems that the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha is now delayed indefinitely. Understandably though, making a smartphone with a wraparound display is no easy feat.

  • Source: Xiaomi Global
  • Source: Xiaomi Global
  • Source: Xiaomi Global
  • Source: Xiaomi Global
  • Source: Xiaomi Global
  • Source: Xiaomi Global

Xiaomi has been known to make great smartphones though. The Xiaomi Mi 9T and the Mi 9T Pro that came out last year was some of the best valued smartphones you can find in the market. They Mi Note 10 was also the first smartphone with a penta-lens set-up boasting more than 100MP in resolution. 2019 was a great year for Xiaomi.

We think we will see the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha in 2020 alongside Xiaomi’s very own foldable smartphone as well (might). There is no specific dates just yet on the official availability of the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha. We are hopeful though.

Source: Abacus News, XDA Developers

Computers, Mobile, News

HUAWEI MateBook D 15 Visits Malaysia! Get Yours for MYR 2,499

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HUAWEI is now more than just a smartphone brand. While they are known for their very compelling and innovative smartphones like their latest HUAWEI Mate 30 series, or the foldable Mate X; they make more than smartphones. In fact, they have made plans to launch smart home products in other markets as of 2020.

Still, the Malaysian market knows the Chinese company not just through their smartphones. We know them through their notebook PC offerings too. We tested the MateBook 13 and we really liked it, to be fair. So not only do they make compelling smartphones, they make compelling PC products too; albeit the odd display ratio.

Source: HUAWEI

Still, they do know how to make great portable productivity devices. The latest to come to the Malaysian market is the new HUAWEI MateBook D15, an MYR 2,499 notebook PC for the working person. Well, you could be a student and enjoy the MateBook D 15 too, we do not discriminate.

It will be available from 18th January 2020 onward at a starting price mentioned above. At MYR 2,499 also you can get a HUAWEI P30 smartphone, just saying. Still, it is an ultra-thin, ultra-light notebook PC that you are looking at here; MYR 2,499 is actually very reasonable.

For MYR 2,499 you are looking at an ultra-thin and light Windows 10 notebook PC that charges via a 65W USB Type-C charger. Of course, you can use that charger on a smartphone too, your HUAWEI smartphone, let us say. The MateBook D 15 also packs 16GB in RAM paired to 256GB of SSD and up to 1TB of HDD, plenty more than enough to work with if you ask me.

  • Source: HUAWEI
  • Source: HUAWEI
  • Source: HUAWEI
  • Source: HUAWEI
  • Source: HUAWEI

Getting everything within the petite body of the HUAWEI MateBook D 15 running nicely on the 15-inch display is a Ryzen 5 3500U CPU paired to an integrated RADEON Vega 8 GPU. In plenty of tests, this combination is still great to run games like DOTA 2 or League of Legends when the mood hits you.

You see all these Windows 10 goodness through a 15.6-inch Full HD 1080p display. The thing is though, if you own a HUAWEI smartphone, the MateBook D 15 becomes more than just a notebook PC, it becomes your multi-platform workhorse. You can thank HUAWEI’s One Tap Share feature that we loved so much in the HUAWEI MateBook 13 we tested with the HUAWEI P30 Pro.

Source: HUAWEI

The HUAWEI MateBook D 15 will be available 18th January 2020 onward. You can get your hands on one via HUAWEI official concept stores or any retail partners across the nation. There is only one colour option though, Mystic Silver, at this point. As mentioned, price starts from MYR 2,499.

Android, Mobile, News

Android 10 Coming to Samsung Galaxy Note9

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Despite the new thing that is the Samsung Galaxy Note10 that came out in 2019, there are still many that regards the previous Samsung Galaxy Note as one of the best, if not the best Samsung Galaxy Note to date. To be fair, the Samsung Galaxy Note9 was a remarkable smartphone that holds very high regards in our hearts and minds. It was also still a very formidable flagship smartphone even today if you look at it.

While Samsung has stopped officially manufacturing the Samsung Galaxy Note9, you may still be able to head down to your favourite local smartphone store and get your hands on one for not very much money today. Yes, we are talking about getting one from the likes of Lowyat Plaza, or other large retailers in the Klang Valley. Still, there is one drawback about getting the Samsung Galaxy Note9 today; it still runs on an outdated One UI based on a now outdated Android 9.0 Pie.

That is about to change however with Samsung’s rollout of their new update on the Samsung Galaxy Note9. The new update promises One UI 2.0 that is based on the Android 10 Q. Obviously the One UI 2.0 update will also come with the new Android in the box.

For those that are not yet familiar with One UI 2.0, you can expect some really nice things to come with the new update for the Samsung Galaxy Note9. For one, you get better, more powerful camera app with something called Director View. There is a new dark mode that is ever so popular these days too. The slow-mo selfies that are made popular by its bigger sibling, the Samsung Galaxy Note10 will also make it into the Samsung Galaxy Note9 with the update. All this makes quite a lot of sense since the Samsung Galaxy Note9 hardware is still quite powerful by today’s standards. It can still hold itself against the Note10, that is for sure.

Of course One UI 2.0 comes with more things that we have just listed. The One UI 2.0 and Android 10 rollout for the Samsung Galaxy Note9 is reported to be rolling out now in Germany first. Malaysia will definitely get our share of One UI 2.0 love very soon, considering that the market is also one of the first market’s to launch the Samsung Galaxy Note9.

Source: SamMobile, XDA Developers

Android, Mobile, News

Android AirDrop? Yes Please.

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When you own a device from the fruity manufacturers from Cupertino, you do not get the privilege of transferring files between devices other than using AirDrop. Technically, AirDrop is a combination of using Bluetooth and WiFi Direct to drag and drop files between Apple devices. While Android devices can plainly use Bluetooth to share files, WiFi Direct between devices have been a little finicky from one Android device to another. So we are stuck to using slow Bluetooth file transfers if you use an Android device from Xiaomi and I am using one from Samsung.

Of course WiFi Direct is an option, but only if you use certain smartphones that are from the same manufacturer. This may no longer be the case though. Fast file transfers between Android devices could be made possible with the “Peer-to-Peer Transmission Alliance”. The Alliance is made to allow high-speed file transfer and sharing between devices. In that case, you get AirDrop like performance from Android devices; 20MB/S over-the-air file transfer speeds.

The only issue is that the Alliance currently consists of three manufacturers. The three manufacturers are OPPO, Vivo, and Xiaomi. Not even HUAWEI is part of that alliance, which also means that you only get fast file transfers between these three manufacturers until anyone else joins the Alliance. Still, nothing wrong with being hopeful.

Source: Android Central, Mi Blog

Business, Mobile, News

HiSilicon No Longer HUAWEI Exclusive

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You know that CPU in your HUAWEI smartphones that you are so used to? Yes, the HUAWEI branded processing chip that has been a staple in HUAWEI’s flagships and other smartphones. Yes, HiSilicon, as the title named. No, they are still HUAWEI’s subsidiary.

From 2020 onward though you might not just see HUAWEI devices fitting in chips from their in-house chip maker. They are starting to sell their chip technologies and processing chips to other manufacturers, expanding their business opportunities.

It does make a lot of sense this move of opening themselves up to the bigger market. HiSilicon makes some of the world’s cleverest and powerful processing chips to be put in a smartphone. The HiSilicon Kirin 990 for example, is proven to be one of the most powerful System on a Chip (SoC) to be found on a smartphone. So it is not like they make subpar products, they do make some compelling stuff. It is just that we have never seen anyone other than HUAWEI using the chips due to HUAWEI’s agreement with their subsidiary.

These years where Shanghai HiSilicon operates exclusively for HUAWEI too sees the Chinese telecommunication giant benefit from the clever chip designs of the chip manufacturer. The Kirin SoC series is partly responsible for HUAWEI’s successful P series and Mate series line-ups thanks to the clever dedicated Neural Processing Unit (mostly known as an AI chip) integration, first in the world in the HiSilicon Kirin 970.

The expansion does not just cover smartphone SoC sales though. The expansion also extends to Shenzhen HiSilicon expanding their manufacturing scope to more than just smartphone chips. They will be responsible for making processing chips for things like smart TVs, set-top boxes, and other smart home electronics that needs a processing chip.

Source: Android Central