Category Archives: News

Square Enix Unveils The Next SaGa Game – SaGa Emerald Beyond

Square Enix recently hosted the SaGa Glimmerfest 2023 34th Anniversary Livestream. During the livestream, the publisher surprised everyone with the announcement of the next game in the series – SaGa Emerald Beyond. The latest instalment of the SaGa franchise is set to launch on April 25, 2024, on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC (Steam), and iOS and Android devices.

SaGa Emerald Beyond follows two protagonists in search of answers. The first, Tsunanori Mido, hails from the esteemed Mido family and stands out with a unique ability to control kugutsu puppets. He joins the Cathedral Project, a group exploring other worlds, with the goal of repairing his city’s weakening barrier and recovering lost spiritual energy.

SaGa Emerald Beyond – Tsunanori Mido Character Trailer

The other, Ameya Aisling, operates under the pseudonym Yumeha Izumi. She is a Miyako City schoolgirl with a hidden identity. Originating from Pulchra, she is in search of her lost mana. She follows the mysterious emerald waves in search of it. The two characters are just the tip of the iceberg as long-time SaGa players will know. The game will undoubtedly feature many other characters for us to fall in love with.

SaGa Emerald Beyond – Ameya Aisling Character Trailer

The new game will also be introducing new mechanics. The new Glimmer system is a unique take on the traditional JRPG battle styles. It will incorporate turn-based combat for those wanting a more vanilla JRPG. Players will need to level up their characters to learn new moves as they take down new enemies. You can also use powerful United Attacks with the right skills, tactics and Formation.

If this is your cuppa tea, you can now add SaGa Emerald Beyond to your wishlist on the Nintendo Switch store, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Steam. Pre-order details will be unveiled at a later date.

OnePlus 12 & OnePlus 12R Make Their Global Debut on January 23, 2024

The OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R flagship devices are set to debut really soon. The global launch is scheduled for January 23, 2024. The new launch isn’t just a launch for OnePlus though, it marks the tenth anniversary of the brand.

Over the past decade, OnePlus has evolved from a daring idea into a globally recognized technology powerhouse. Today, the brand boasts a presence in over 50 markets and a community exceeding 50.2 million users. The end of October 2023 witnessed an impressive 59% growth in global sales year on year.

OnePlus Launch Event January 2024

To celebrate the huge milestone, celebrations are kicking off ahead of the OnePlus 12 and 12R launch. The kick-off starts with a video from the creators of OnePlus. However, celebrations will peak with the unveiling of the OnePlus 12 Series.

Announced earlier this month, the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R are set to recapture the brand’s “Never Settle” ethos by offering a user-centric choice-driven approach. The OnePlus 12 boasts the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform, a 4th Gen Hasselblad Camera for Mobile featuring a groundbreaking 64-megapixel 3x periscope lens, and its signature Flowy Emerald colourway for next year.

10 Years of Never Settle

The OnePlus 12R is set to raise the bar even further. The R line has upped the ante in India and China as the performance flagship phone. It’s now ready for the global stage. Both flagship phones are slated to debut at the OnePlus Smooth Beyond Belief Launch Event at 7:30 pm IST or 10 pm Malaysian time on January 23, 2024.

Touch ‘n Go Introduces a Charm for Christmas and a LUXE Card

Still on the hunt for that perfect festive gift? Look no further! Touch ‘n Go has just dropped two new items for your year-end holiday gifting: the Christmas Edition Charm and Touch ‘n Go LUXE Card – Titan Edition.

Adding a touch of holiday cheer, the Touch ‘n Go Christmas Edition Charm features two charming gingerbread man designs. With festive accessories like a red and green scarf or a bow tie and suspenders, this gingerbread charm makes for a unique and memorable gift for colleagues, family, or close friends.

Touch n Go Gingerbreadman Charm 1

The Touch ‘n Go LUXE Card – Titan Edition is the ideal choice for those opting for an elegant gift choice. This limited-edition card flaunts a sleek black matte finish with gold trimmings, offering a contemporary design suitable for minimalists or those who want a bold touch.

Both the charm and card don’t just look good – they’re functional too. Both come with NFC technology that allows users to easily reload their balance via the Touch ‘n Go eWallet app on their mobile phones.

Touch n Go LUXE Card 2

With a price tag of RM30 each, The Touch ‘n Go Christmas Edition Charms will be priced at RM30 while the LUXE Card will set you back RM25. You can pre-order them on the Touch ‘n Go Official Shopee Mall store and Touch ‘n Go eWallet Lazada eShop. If you prefer a more traditional approach, they will be available at Touch ‘n Go Service and Sales Centers in Bangsar South and NU Sentral starting from December 19 for the Charms and December 26 for the LUXE Card.

PRISM+ Expands Malaysian Footprint with New Retail Outlet in AEON Mall Bukit Tinggi

PRISM+ is expanding its footprint with the inauguration of its sixth physical outlet at Aeon Mall Bukit Tinggi. The store located at L2-S18 is set to open its doors on December 16, 2023.

In conjunction with the opening and the festive season, PRISM+ is having an exclusive celebration for the grand opening. Starting from 10 am on Saturday, December 16, the first 50 customers at the new outlet will have the opportunity to enjoy substantial discounts on handpicked products. The exclusive grand opening offers are tailored to elevate your tech experience:

  • Q55-QE 4K Android TV: Grab it at an exclusive price of RM1,499 and receive a complimentary Logitech K400 Wireless Keyboard (Worth RM129).
  • Q65-QE 4K Android TV: Available at an exclusive rate of RM1,999.
  • X340 PRO 165Hz 34” Ultrawide Gaming Monitor: Secure it at an exclusive price of RM1,499 and receive a free Elevate X1 stand (worth RM299).
  • F240N 165Hz 24” Flat Gaming Monitor: Yours for an exclusive price of RM599.
  • X270 180Hz 27’’ Curved Gaming Monitor: Available at an exclusive rate of RM699, with a free Arc Lite Monitor Arm (worth RM699).
Prism AEON Bukit Tinggi

These exclusive discounts are part of PRISM+’s festive sales extravaganza, offering early shoppers the chance to acquire cutting-edge electronics at remarkable prices. The product range spans Android TVs and gaming monitors, catering to the entertainment and gaming needs of discerning consumers.

The Christmas sales event not only signifies the opening of PRISM+’s sixth physical store; but also extends a warm invitation to tech enthusiasts and holiday shoppers to explore the latest in consumer electronics. With a limited number of early-bird offers up for grabs, PRISM+ aims to generate buzz and excitement surrounding its new outlet.

Whether you’re eyeing a 4K Android TV, an ultrawide gaming monitor, or a flat gaming monitor, PRISM+ at Aeon Mall Bukit Tinggi promises an immersive shopping experience on December 16th. Don’t miss the chance to be among the first 50 customers and capitalize on these exclusive discounts, adding a tech-savvy and budget-friendly touch to your holiday season.

Look out, Instagramers, and pop off your latest stories with the new AI-generated tool for backgrounds

Get ready for some AI-generated fun thanks to Instagram’s latest feature. The new part, which was newly announced on Thread by Ahmad Al-Dahle, Metas+’s Generative AI Lead, is proud to showcase Instagram’s latest feature, which allows users to remove their backgrounds in their stories and have it replaced with anything they desire, thanks to the use of Generative AI.

Instragram AI Generative Background

The short video demonstration, shown on threads, showcases how the new feature is used. When the user is about to post a story and lands in the edit section of the process, they can see a new option just beside the text insert feature of Instagram. The button which has the image of a person and a background with a + sign, is where the magic happens.

Once pressed, the app will open into another section where it will automatically clear out the background of the said image used, and below there is a text box. Just above the text box are small recommendations or suggestions of prompts that the users can use to alleviate their story photos.

The prompt written down can be anything the user desires to be, “Be surrounded by Puppies” or “ Laying by the beach” anything the user can creatively think of to place in the background of your photo to make it pop and look more interesting. Of course, Instagram thought of everything as this feature can’t be used to trick people either as an automatic sticker and the feature will be placed on the post saying that the AI background feature was used and a sticker that allows other users to “Try it.”

Currently, this feature is only available to US Instagram users, and Instagram has not said anything when this feature will go out globally.

Listeners May Soon Get AI-generated Playlist On Spotify

Before you get all psyched and excited, step on your breaks first. The idea that Spotify users can easily generate a specially curated playlist according to a text prompt, making it much easier and simpler to find music and have it already in an instant playlist, would be a dream! However, this feature is not available to the public and is being tested on a few lucky chosen users.

TechCrunch first reported this new feature as they found out through Spotify that the music streaming company is working on this AI feature but had been tight-lipped on whether it will be publicly rolled out or how the technology works.

Beyond what was confirmed by Spotify themselves that they are working on this new feature, the only other evidence we have of this feature being performed in the wild by the few lucky users that managed to get this rolled out part is through a recent TikTok user by the handle of robdad, which showed a screen recording of them using the new feature and showcasing how it works and where it’s situated.

@robdad_

Since when did they have this update on spotify. Now they got chatGPT making our playlists… also wtf is Which House Exploration😭😭 #spotify #update #ai

♬ Heavy Metal Lover overlapped – jinxknsaudios

In their video, it shows that users who are randomly tested with this feature can find it by pressing the + button by Your Library and scrolling down to see a new addition at the very bottom called AI Playlist with a short explanation that reads “Turn your ideas into a playlist using AI. Currently available only in English” which from the text alone probably means that this feature is being tested in only western regions like UK, US, Ireland, and Canada as that is the similar pattern they did when Spotify first rolled out its first new AI featured known as the DJ which is a personalised Ai guide that will follow your music preference and generate a list to play for you while speaking to you similarly like a DJ would on the radio.

Following the video, when pressing the new option, it brings you to another page in Spotify that shares similarities too many other AI generative sites as it will ask at the top of the page, “What kind of playlist would you like?” and at the bottom has a text bubble where users can type in whatever they’re looking for or mood they are in. Suggested prompts are above the typing space, such as “Get focused at work with instrumental electronics” or “Fill the silence with background café music.”

From there, you can choose any of the example prompts or write in your creative wants, and the AI will process your request. Once it does, it will give you a ready-made playlist with songs that match the descriptions or wants you have written. Users can then have the choice to create the playlist immediately by pressing the start button on the top right, or they can swipe left on the songs to remove the pieces they don’t want within the playlist.

Just from the video alone, the feature looks amazing and will be a game changer for Spotify users, but as of now, Spotify has not given any other comments on the project. Hopefully, it will become available soon, and hopefully, Spotify DJ will come to the Malaysia region soon, too.

Meta’s Threads Takes a Step Towards Openness with ActivityPub Integration & European Launch

Meta’s competitor to X (formerly known as Twitter) – Threads – is making news in two areas: being able to work with other apps and expanding into Europe. In a surprisiong move, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, said Threads posts could be shared on Mastodon and other ActivityPub-enabled platforms as part of a test. This is a big step towards integration, which has been one of the main ideas behind the fediverse, a decentralised network of social media services, from the beginning.

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Photo by Viralyft on Unsplash

What does Integration with ActivityPub mean, and why is it good? With ActivityPub, you can choose where your content is seen and how people connect with it, unlike on traditional social media sites where you are limited to your home feed. It will also help you reach more people. Allowing you to gain new followers and take part in conversations in other groups. It also helps make social media more open and democratic by lowering the need for centralised sites like Meta.

This movement indicates that Meta remains committed to making all their services work together. This fits what Instagram’s CEO, Adam Mosseri, who thinks decentralisation is the key to getting the next wave of creators to join, has said.

In addition, Threads is finally getting ready to land in Europe simultaneously. The platform will finally go live on December 14th after being delayed because of regulatory issues.

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Photo by Julio Lopez on Unsplash

Threads is also adding “Tags” that work like Instagram Hashtags, but is less confusing or complicated. Tags can only be used once per post. This is meant to get people to talk about more specific topics and keep material at a managable level. Users can add tags by typing “#” or clicking a post UI button. Furthermore, Tags, unlike Instagram, don’t need to be added directly below the post with multiple hashtags, which can be confusing. Instead, it’s directly added to the post or words similar to a hyperlink. The chosen words will turn blue in the post, meaning it has been tagged with the specific topic or genre, or you can make a new one. This gives users more freedom and simplifies how they can add specific topics and genres to their posts to reach out to others looking for posts in their interest.  

Catch Em All! With Samsung’s Galaxy Buds FE.

Are you excited about the latest Pokémon Scarlet and Violets DLC launch, The Indigo Disk? Want to shout to the world how big of a Pokemon trainer you are? Samsung has just the thing for you with its latest accessory set that will have your Pokémon loving heart rocking out with some new beats.

Pokemon Eco Friends Cover for Galaxy Buds FE Main KV

Samsung is currently having a special bundle of its latest earbuds, the Galaxy Buds FE. The company is bringing that Pokemon Master spirit to the buds through a collaboration with Eco friends. This collaboration is bringing one of the most important items in a Pokemon trainer’s arsenal to your own – the PokeBall.

For a limited time only, until the 31st of December, customers can get a free Pokémon Great Ball Earbud Cover worth RM 169 when they purchase the Galaxy Buds FE. This gift is available on both in-store and Online purchases. The Galaxy Buds FE are currently being sold for RM399.

Pokemon Eco Friends Cover for Galaxy Buds FE KV Promotion

So, what are you waiting for? Don’t forget to check them out to get your very own Poke ball Earbud Case and enjoy being the coolest Pokémon Trainer you can be with some great new earbuds to listen to your favourite Battle Music.

Xbox Cloud Gaming Is Now Available on Meta Quest

Cloud gaming is about to leap into the future, so get ready, gamers! The launch of Xbox Cloud Gaming on Meta’s VR headsets is bringing a groundbreaking new method to play hundreds of titles, all without a console.

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You’ll be able to play various games with the Xbox Cloud Gaming platform, including AAA titles like Starfield and Forza Motorsport. All you need to start your new experience with VR is to ensure your Meta Quest software is updated. Of course, you’ll also need a fast internet connection and an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.

There is a catch, though, you can’t use the controllers that come with the Meta Quest. Instead, you’ll need to use controllers like the Xbox Controller, the DualShock 4 (PlayStation 4), or the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. As of now, the DualSense controller (PlayStation 5) is unsupported, but Meta has said support is on the way.

Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta)

When using the Xbox Cloud Games app on the Meta Quest, users will be interacting with the app on a big, user-customisable, 2D virtual screen. This screen will display app your games for you to launch and interact with. Meta Quest 3 and Pro players can access full-colour passthrough technology, letting them watch their real-world surroundings even as they stream and play their games.

This beta is only available to Meta Quest 2, 3, and Pro headsets. So, those who have any of the older generation of Meta Quest Headsets will be unable to access Xbox Cloud Games.

Samsung Introduces New Shop App

Samsung is ready to change the way you shop with its new Shop app. Designed to enhance your shopping experience, this app brings a range of benefits and features to your fingertips. For the first in-app purchase by a Samsung Account user, enjoy an exclusive 10% welcome voucher (capped at RM200) using the code SHOPAPP10 at checkout. This offer is valid until January 16, 2024.

Unveiling the Future of Shopping The Launch of Samsung Shop App KV
Source: Samsung Malaysia Electronics

The Samsung Shop App will allow users to access exclusive deals and promotions specially tailored for app users, ranging from limited-time discounts to special bundles. It will also give users instant updates on promotions, flash sales, and exclusive launches.

Users who sign up for the Samsung Shop App will be able to earn and redeem Samsung Rewards Points. You will accumulate points with each purchase and be able to redeem them for future purchases, making your shopping experience more rewarding.

You’ll also be able to track your Samsung orders effortlessly. The app allows you to track your orders in real-time, maintaining control from checkout to doorstep delivery. If you need assistance, the Shop app will connect you with chat agents for personalized support and guidance during your shopping journey.

You can download the Samsung Shop App on the Google Play Store now to up your Samsung shopping experience.