HONOR is adding yet another affordable option to its stable of devices in Malaysia. This time the company is expanding its mid-range offerings with the HONOR X8 5G. The new smartphone comes in both 4G and 5G flavours. Both of which are running on the Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile.
The HONOR X8 4G will be equipped with the Qualcom Snapdragon 680 processor; while the 5G version will be running on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 480+. The former is fabricated using Qualcomm’s 6nm process while the latter uses Qualcomm’s 8nm process. As we’ve seen in the past, the newer 6nm process has better battery efficiency. That said, both are Octa-core processors with the power efficient big.LITTLE architecture. Both versions are complemented with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. The HONOR X8 4G does not support microSD card memory expansion however the HONOR X8 5G does.
The camera setup on both are also slightly different. The 4G version comes with a quad camera setup with a 64-megapixel main camera. This sensor comes with phase detection autofocus (PDAF) and is complemented by a 5-megapixel ultrawide, 2-megapixel macro and a second 2-megapixel depth sensor. The HONOR X8 5G comes with a triple camera setup with a 48-megapixel main sensor complete with PDAF. The setup is complemented by two 2-megapixel sensors for depth and macro. On the front the X8 5G comes with aan 8-megapixel sensor while the 4G comes with a 16-megapixel sensor.
Source: HONOR
The 4G HONOR X8 also comes with a larger 6.7-inch FHD+ display while the 5G version has a 6.5-inch HD+ display. The 5G version comes with a TFT-LCD panel while the 4G version is equipped with a IPS-LCD panel. The latter also has a 90Hz refresh rate. No official note on the refresh rate of the 5G version is available. They also have different sized batteries with the 4G version coming with a smaller 4,000mAh battery while the 5G version has a 5,000mAh one.
Other than that the two versions share mostly the same specifications supporting A-GPS, GLONASS and GALILEO for GPS. Both support Bluetooth LE and A2DP with the 5G version supporting the more current Bluetooth 5.1. Both charge via USB Type-C port with support for 22.5W fast charging. They also feature side-mounted fingerprint sensors.
Pricing & Availability
The HONOR X8 is currently available at MYR899. It’s available in three colours: Titanium Silver, Ocean Blue and Midnight Black.
The HONOR 8X 5G is available in Midnight Black and Ocean Blue at MYR999. Purchases of the 8X 5G are also entitled to a year’s extended warranty.
With Samsung’s next Unpacked event around the corner, it’s time we looked at the rumours surrounding one of the devices we’re expecting to see – the Galaxy Z Fold 4. We rounded up the rumours surrounding the Flip 4 earlier this week, you can catch up on that here.
Source: Twitter (@Onleaks)
Unlike the Flip 4, there aren’t too many rumours surrounding the Z Fold 4. However, the first thing that has surfaced is a possible renaming of the lineup. It looks like the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is getting a rename. Samsung will be streamlining the names and dropping the “Z”. So, moving forward, the Z Fold 4 will simply be the Galaxy Fold 4. While not official just yet, we hope it’s true. Dropping the “Z” simplifies the lineups and gives them both independent identities. Update (8/8/2022): A new leak shows that Samsung is likely keeping the Galaxy Z moniker.
Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock – A Story of Incremental Improvements
Samsung seems to be opting for a new tick-tock strategy when it comes to its smartphones. This year, we saw the Galaxy S and Galaxy A series retain nearly identical designs to their predecessors. That seems to be the case with the Galaxy Fold 4. Leaked renders from @evleaks and @Onleaks show the familiar design we saw with the Fold 3.
Source: Twitter (@UniverseIce)
That said, there are minor changes in the sizes of the smartphone that have been rumoured. Of note, it looks like the Galaxy Fold4 will be sporting a different aspect ratio compared to the Fold 3. Up front, on the cover display, the Fold 4 is rumoured to get a slightly wider and shorter panel with a 23:9 aspect ratio. Inside, the main display will be sporting a 6:5 aspect ratio. That said, it looks like the sizes of displays aren’t changing. The Fold 4 will continue to sport a 6.2-inch HD+ AMOLED display on the cover and a 7.6-inch main QXGA+ AMOLED display. Both are rumoured to retain the 120Hz refresh rate. It will come in a tad smaller with its dimensions at 155 x 130 x 7.1mm.
Powerpacked Internals
The Galaxy Fold4 is also tipped to continue being a full-on flagship. It will be coming with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. It looks like this is being complemented with 12GB RAM and up to 512GB of internal. Doesn’t look like the Fold 4 will support memory expansion via a microSD card. There are rumours that the phone may also have an option with 1TB of internal storage. However, there has been no corroboration so far – so we’d take this particular rumour with a grain of salt.
The phone is also tipped to be incorporating a slot for the S-Pen. However, the renders that have surfaced show otherwise. That said, Samsung upped production of S Pens back in April 2022 which could point to it being included in the box with a Fold 4.
It looks like Samsung may be upping the ante when it comes to the fingerprint scanner on the foldable. If the rumours check out, the Fold 4 will be coming with an under-display fingerprint sensor. But this won’t be a normal one, instead, it’s rumoured that the fingerprint sensor will be two-sided. That is to say that one side will be under the cover display and the other under the same place on the main display. However, from the leaked renders, Samsung may have decided against this.
Better Cameras, Same Battery
Together with the updated specifications of the Z Fold 4, it looks like Samsung is finally giving the foldable good cameras. It’s expected that the camera setup for the Z Fold 4 will continue to be a triple camera array. However, it’s getting a bump in the main sensor with a 50-megapixel main sensor. This will continue to be complemented byh a 12-megapixel ultrawide sensor and a 12-megapixel telephoto sensor. The latter is getting a bump from 2x to 3x this year. The underdisplay shooter is expected to make a return on the inner screen. It’s rumoured that this will be a 16-megapixel sensor. The cover display, on the other hand, is getting a 10-megapixel one.
Together with better cameras, the Z Fold 4 is also getting better protection with the rumoured inclusion of Gorilla Glass Victus+. However, when it comes to battery, it seems like we may bee gettingthe same 4,400mAh battery we saw last year. It also looks like the Fold 4 will be giving Samsung’s 45W charging a pass and sticking to the standard 25W charging.
Pricing & Availability
We’re expecting the prices of foldables to get more affordable this year. This could very well be spearheaded by the price point of the Z Fold 4 if rumours are true. Last year, the Fold 3 came in at USD$1,799 a USD$200 price drop from the previous year. This trend may just continue this year especially with rumours pointing to a price drop on b othe the Fold and the Flip.
Source: 91mobiles.com
Source: 91mobiles.com
Source: 91mobiles.com
Samsung has already been offering a an MYR200 voucher if you tune in to their website if you pre-register for a pre-order. The money can be used to redeem a discount on your purchase of their foldable smartphone. Since, this is the case, we expect that pre-orders will begin in select regions immediately after the Unpacked announcement. Given previous announcements and pre-orders, we’re comfortable assuming that Malaysia will be among the first regions to have pre-orders available. We’re expecting availability on the last week of August 2022.
Google is rather funny, if not indecisive. If you remembered, Google launched a few of their own services that seemed like a great idea. Google+ for example, seemed like a good idea for a Google social media platform. It failed miserably though, even though it comes with Google account as standard. Then there is Google Workspace, which was a rather great implementation of a collaboration platform that is like Trello. They axed the project a little later though.
A little while ago, Google had something called Hangouts, a video calling platform available to users for free. It is now known as Google Meet, but there is also a separate app called Google Chats as well. But there is also another video calling app from Google called Google Duo. Google Duo did not really take off though, despite being a mobile first app. It will also be known as Google Meet soon.
In some sense, you can say that this is Google consolidating their video calling apps into one. In the coming months, Google’s blue coloured Duo icon will replaced by the colourful Google Meet logo. Which also means that you might have two Google Meet on your smartphone in the future.
The Google Duo app will still be constantly updated for the time being, which means you should not be too alarmed about not being able to enjoy the Google Duo app any longer. New users should be downloading the new Google Meet app with Duo integrated into the app though. There is a possibility of an app overlap, in this case, but you may not have to worry about that entirely with the new updates.
The move to integrate Duo into Meet is not a surprise move by Google. Google has announced that their Google Duo app is meant to be integrated into Google Meet in the coming months since June 2022. Consolidating these apps are essentially the best way for Google to single-handedly manage their apps. Managing a single app will also proof much more viable and straightforward for Google. Users can expect to see their Google Duo app turn intot Google Meet in September 2022.
Acer makes some of the most compelling thin and light laptops in the market. One of the most popular one in their stables is the Swift 5. Unlike the Swift 3 or the Swift X, the Swift 5 is made to be a full on thin and light laptop for the masses. It also does not have a discrete GPU, to ensure that it keeps to minimum weight and thickness. It also features a very pretty and handy touch sensitive display for added navigation options. There is a problem with the past two generations of Acer’s Swift 5. They both look exactly the same save for different colour options. Not the new one.
Acer Swift 5
The only thing the new Swift 5 made for 2022 with Intel’s 12th Generation processors shares with its predecessor is its Olive Green colour option which we find quite attractive on the new design. It is still made entirely out of aluminium for that premium feel and finish. This time, the Acer Swift 5 is made from a unibody aerospace grade aluminium that has been precisely CNC-machined. That also means that it should be even more durable than before.
There is a small trade off with the new Acer Swift 5 with more premium build material. The laptop has gained some weight. Instead of weighing just below 1kg, it now weighs in at 1.2kg. It is not the end of the world though, 200g of weight gain is understandable considering the build material.
While it has grown in heft a little, it remains the same 14.95mm thick as before, which is still mighty thin for a laptop with full-sized USB Type-A and HDMI ports. The new construction and some new hardware within the laptop also mean that the body is slightly more compact than before. All these and you are still getting the best Intel can offer within the body.
The Intel Evo device is powered by Intel’s latest 12th Generation Core processors with Intel Iris Xe Graphics. You get up to an Intel Core i7-1260P processor for thin and light laptops. You also get up to 16GB of LPDDR4X RAM to go with the powerful CPU. Unfortunately, the RAM is not expandable. Storage comes in the form of a 1TB NVMe SSD, which is plenty enough for all kinds of work you can do with the Swift 5 plus a few movies for your entertainment needs. Keeping everything cool and comfortable is a brilliantly designed backlit keyboard which also acts as the air inlet for the laptop.
All of these power keeps Windows 11 running smoothly on its brilliant 14-inch touch-sensitive display. The IPS panel boasts 2,560 by 1,600 pixels, effectively a WQXGA 16:10 panel for improved productivity and flexibility with more real estate. If you need to quickly get a photo or video edited, the 100% sRGB rating should do your photos and videos justice. The thin bezels surrounding the 14-inch panel is kept to a minimum too, just to get the device to fit as snuggly in your bag as before. The Corning Gorilla Glass with Antimicrobial coating to ensure that the display is protected from all kinds of abuse.
Other than the two full-sized ports mentioned above, you get two more USB Type-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 and 65W PD support and a 3.5mm combo jack. To ensure that you look your best in video calls, you get a Full HD webcam with SHDR support. You also do not need to carry your charger around too much with up to 9 hours of quoted battery life.
Acer Aspire Series
Alongside the new Swift 5, Acer also launches their new Aspire series laptops. The Aspire series are not made to be as thin and as light as the Swift 5. They are not made to be the most premium laptops in the market either. They are built to be value-for-money laptops for the mainstream market.
Update to Intel’s 12th Generation processors, the 15.6-inch Aspire series also receives an update in the looks department. The Acer logo is now smaller than before and placed at the top part of the shell instead of the middle. To be fair, most of Acer’s newer laptops feature similar design language.
Alongside the powerful Intel processors, you get up to 8GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. The RAM is expandable with an extra slot, while the storage can be expanded as well with a SATA SSD or HDD. You also get to spec your Aspire 3 with up to NVIDIA’s GeForce MX550 discrete GPU for some extra processing power for quick games or video editing use cases. The Aspire 5 with up to an Intel Iris Xe Graphics also features two USB Type-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 support so that you can hook up two more 4K displays.
Price and Availability
The Acer Aspire 3 and Aspire 5 comes in a few attractive colours, including the new Willow Green colour scheme. The Aspire 3 retails from MYR 2,499 while the Aspire 5 starts from MYR 2,599. The new Acer Swift 5 comes only in Mist Green colour option and starts from MYR 4,699. You can get your hands on the Acer’s latest Swift 5, Aspire 3, and Aspire 5 from Acer’s eStore, Shopee, Lazada, and all authorized retailers immediately. For more information on Acer’s latest offerings, you can head over to their website.
OnePlus seems to be returning to its “Never Settle” roots with the announcement of its latest flagship – the OnePlus 10T 5G. The new smartphone is poised to be one of the most affordable flagships this year and focuses on top-notch performance – even in extreme temperatures.
Never Settle with Flagship Specifications
The OnePlus 10T comes equipped with the latest from Qualcomm – the Snapdragon 8+Gen 1. Complementing this is the highest amount of RAM to be on a OnePlus smartphone – 16GB. The 10T also features RAM expansion which allows you to get a further 7GB of RAM for buttery smooth performance. This comes in addition to the new software enhancements that come in OxygenOS 12.1. OnePlus is touting that these enhancements and the RAM allow the smartphone to perform even with 35 apps suspended in the background.
That said, the OnePlus 10T isn’t just about processing. It comes with a 6.7-inch, Fluid AMOLED display capable of 120Hz refresh rates, a 720Hz response rate and HDR10+. It also has adaptive refresh rate technology which allows the display to adapt the refresh rate to suit your content. Higher refresh rates will be used when doing things like gaming while battery performance will be prioritised when doing things like reading with lower refresh rates.
The one big omission in the OnePlus 10T is the notification slider which was the company’s signature. However, OnePlus is making up for that with better connectivity. The 10T comes with 15 antennae and AI enhancements that allow it to have better connectivity and network performance.
1-100% in 19 Minutes with SuperVOOC Endurance Edition
Speaking of battery life, the OnePlus 10T comes with a 4,800mAh battery which charges via the USB-C 2.0 port on the phone. It supports SuperVOOC Charging of up to 150W. With SuperVOOV Endurance Edition, the 10T can get a day’s battery life with 10 minutes of charging. A full charge from 1-100% will only take 19 minutes.
With the growing concern of fast charging affecting battery health, OnePlus is bringing what they call the Battery Health Engine to the 10T. This system will work to ensure the best battery performance with minimal loss in battery capacity. The OnePlus 10T is also equipped with two charging pumps instead of the conventional single pump. This allows the phone to charge at faster speeds more efficiently with reduced heat and greater safety.
Unibody Design with 3 Cameras
The OnePlus 10T comes with a unibody design. The phone has been designed to be ergonomic and feels good in the hand. The rounded edges on the back make it easy to hold and manoeuvre the flat display with one hand. OnePlus has also given the smartphone a signature Jade Green colourway which is accented with a punch of deep metallic green.
Within the deep green portion lies the smartphone’s triple camera setup. Yep – triple camera. The new triple camera setup consists of a wide, ultrawide and macro sensor. The main sensor of the 10T is the 50–megapixel Sony IMX766 which comes equipped with optical image stabilization and improved HDR performance. This main sensor is complemented by an 8-megapixel ultrawide sensor and a 2-megapixel macro sensor. On the front is a 16-megapixel sensor for selfies.
Pricing & Availability
The OnePlus 10T will be available in Jade Green and Moonstone Black globally. For now, it looks like only the Jade Green version of the smartphone will be making its way to Malaysia.
It will be available in three variants: 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage, 12GB RAM with 256GB of storage and 16GB RAM with 256GB of storage. The 12GB version seems to be exclusive to India. Early access starts on 3rd August 2022 on OnePlus.com. It will be available in stages across different regions starting with Europe.
Pre-orders in Europe start today, 3rd August with general availability on the 25th of August. In the U.S. pre-orders will begin on 1 September 2022 with general availability on 29th September. It will be available in Malaysia starting on 1 September 2022.
No official pricing for Malaysia has been announced just yet. However, prices in other regions are as follows:
It’s that time of year again! Acer Day is here with even more things to celebrate. This year, Acer is doubling down on its commitment to becoming a sustainable technology company. Just last year we saw Acer unveil one of the most sustainable laptops with their Acer Aspire Vero; This year, they unveiled a plethora of new products that expand the Vero line up including a mouse and new laptops.
With this year’s theme, “Make Your Green Mark”, Acer is looking to prove its commitment to sustainability with numerous initiatives. Acer Malaysia will be rewarding anyone who brings PET plastic bottles to Acer Day 2022 at Pavilion Bukit Jalil, Acer Concept Stores or the Acer Office in the Klang Valley. For every 5 bottles brought to these collection points, Acer will be giving out MYR5 in Touch ‘N Go eWallet credits.
Source: Acer
In addition to this, they will be having an ongoing trade-in promotion. You’ll be able to trade in your used gadgets for cash rebates on your Acer purchase. These gadgets can be laptops, desktops, All-in-One PCs and even tablets. They don’t even have to be functioning! You’ll be able to receive rebates of up to MYR700.
Of course, it’s not all about recycling during this Acer Day. There will be many attractive discounts and offers at the Acer Day Roadshow happening from 3rd August 2022 until 7th August 2022. On the last day of the roadshow, Acer will be having a flash sale at 1 pm. During the flash sale, you will be able to get a top-of-the-line Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop with a Ryzen 9 processor and NVIDIA RTX 3080 graphics processor for MYR7,699. That’s a whopping MYR1,500 off the retail price! You can even get a ConceptD 3 Ezel Pro with an Intel Core i7 and NVIDIA Quadro T1000 graphics processor for a steep MYR1,700 discount at MYR6,999. Even the Predator X28 curved gaming monitor is on discount during the flash sale! You can get it at MYR2,499, a whopping MYR1,200 discount!
That’s not all, you can even get special purchase with purchase offers during the flash sale! The first 100 flash sale customers will be entitled to a chance to get a special purchase with purchase offer. Wanna know what’s up for grabs? Well, there’s an Acer Nitro 5 gaming PC worth MYR3,599 that you can get for MYR399 – if you’re lucky enough. The Acer Aspire 3 laptop and Aspire C22 AIO PC will also be available at steep discounts. They will be available for purchase (with another purchase) at MYR199 and MYR599 respectively. Keep in mind, these offers are for the first 100 customers at the physical flash sale happening at the roadshow in Pavilion Bukit Jalil on the 7th of August.
Acer isn’t forgetting those of us who can’t make it to the exciting roadshow either! They will be having Shopee SuperBrand Day on Acer Day itself – 3rd August! During the Shopee SuperBrand Day, you’ll be able to get attractive discounts and freebies on the Acer Official store on Shopee. You’ll be able to get Acer’s first sustainable laptop – the Aspire Vero – for MYR2,799. The Acer Aspire 3 and Acer Enduro Urban will also be available at discounted prices.
It’s worth noting the offers mentioned here are simply the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Acer Day promos that will be happening from 3rd August 2022. Keep an eye out on Acer’s social media and you might catch some that aren’t mentioned in the article. What are you waiting for!?! Shouldn’t you be getting ready to head to Pavilion Bukit Jalil?
The Samsung Galaxy Flip 3 was arguably the tipping point for consumers when it came to foldables. It was more accessible and also provided features and experiences that made sense to consumers. This year, with the Samsung Galaxy Flip 4, we’re expecting Samsung to bring a more tailored experience while maintaining the familiar form factor of the Flip series.
Source: 91mobiles.com
Source: 91mobiles.com
Source: 91mobiles.com
Source: 91mobiles.com
With the increasing popularity, it comes as no surprise that Samsung is looking to make their foldables more mainstream and give each model its own identity. To that end, it looks like the Galaxy Z moniker will be laid to rest. The newest generation of foldables is seemingly being rebranded as the Samsung Galaxy Flip 4 and the Galaxy Fold 4 with no “Z”s in sight.
Same, Same But Different
It looks like the Galaxy Flip 4 will be retaining the design of the Flip 3 with minor tweaks. This isn’t new when it comes to Samsung. They’ve already done this with the S22 and even their new Galaxy A series. It seems to be their MO at the moment releasing a smartphone with a new design every few years and tweaking it for the following. This tick-tock strategy may help in the long term as more people become more familiar not only with the brand but also each line’s design cues.
The Galaxy Z Flip4 protective case, the hinge part has also been changed and become very narrow. pic.twitter.com/uEtPHwCUtr
The Galaxy Flip 4 will be retaining the dual coloured design of the Flip 3. However, there will be minor differences that adapt to the updated tech in the smartphone. The most obvious is apparently the redesigned, slimmer hinge. While it doesn’t look like Samsung is making major changes to the hinge, according to Ice Universe on Twitter, the hinge is now significantly narrower than the Flip 3.
Rumours also point to the Galaxy Flip 4 being launched with four colour options: Bora purple, Light Blue, Gray and Gold. The colours are a welcomed update to the colours of the Flip 3 but there are also inklings that there will be a Bespoke edition which will allow for more than 70 colour combinations.
Better Tech. A True Flagship.
While the Galaxy Z Flip and Z Flip 3 were flagships in their own right, their insides left a lot of enthusiasts wanting. The Z Flip, in particular, came with a dated processor and specifications that left us scratching our heads. That seems to be changing with the Flip 4. The Galaxy Flip 4 is rumoured to be coming equipped with the latest and greatest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. That’s a major upgrade which puts it on par with other flagships that have just been released in the past few months.
Source: 91mobiles.com
Source: 91mobiles.com
Source: 91mobiles.com
Source: 91mobiles.com
Source: 91mobiles.com
Source: 91mobiles.com
Source: 91mobiles.com
Source: 91mobiles.com
Source: 91mobiles.com
Source: 91mobiles.com
Source: 91mobiles.com
Source: 91mobiles.com
That said, the Flip 4 seems to be a little more conservative when it comes to RAM and storage. Rumours indicate that the foldable will be coming with a max of 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It looks like there will be no support for microSD cards. The lack of microSD card support seems to be an industry standard with smartphones anyways. While there are some rumours that point to a larger 512GB version being available, nothing has been corroborated yet.
The Flip 4 is also rumoured to get a bump in battery capacity as well. While there isn’t anything solid at the moment, it looks like the battery capacity will be rated at about 3,400mAh. However, there are rumours that it may be a larger 3,700mAh. Samsung also looks to be using the same approach to battery technology as the previous Flip smartphones with the battery comprising of two units.
More Cover Display, Same Cameras?
The cover display is also getting a small upgrade. It will be a tad larger at 2.1-inches compared to the 1.5-inches previously. However, the cover display has always depended on its software not its size when it comes to functionality.
On the camera end of things, it looks like Samsung is keeping to the status quo with the dual camera setup we’ve become accustomed to on the Flip. It seems like they will also remain at 12-megapixels with a wide and ultra wide sensor. On the front, we may see the same 10-megapixel sensor or maybe a bump to a larger 32-megapixels as we’ve seen in other Samsung flagships. It also looks like the fingerprint sensor will continue to be integrated into the power button with the Flip 4.
More Affordable? More Premium?
Source: 91mobiles.com
The Galaxy Flip has historically become more affordable with each iteration. The Galaxy Z Flip and Z Flip 5G came at such a premium that it wasn’t the most appealing foldable. However, Samsung changed that with the Z Flip 3. With the Galaxy Flip 4, rumours point to the price getting even more affordable with prices starting at about GBP£900 (MYR4,885.79). That said, more recent rumours indicate a price increase in Europe. We’ll have to wait and see.
Availability
The latest editions of these smartphones are expected to be unveiled later this month on 10 August 2022 during Samsung’s Fall Unpacked press conference. If history is any indication, we can expect pre-orders to follow immediately after the announcement. In fact, Samsung is giving customers an MYR200 voucher to put towards their purchase of the Flip 4 or Fold 4 if you register your interest for the device at Samsung.com.
We’re expecting that the Samsung Galaxy Flip 4 will be commercially available towards the end of August; probably around the 25th of August. This is based on previous announcements of the Galaxy S22 and Fold3.
To be fair, this should have not come as a surprise. They did technically announce the product in CES 2022 earlier in the year. Yes, it is also the ultimate 4K gaming monitor, the best money can buy at this point. Then again, it is Samsung, they do the best or nothing.
Unlike other 4K displays though, this one is a little unique. Instead of a flat panel you might have expected from the regular 4K monitors, this one is curved at 1000R (1m radius). While others top out at HDR 1000, this one goes to HDR 2000. It does a brightness of up to 1000nits too, which is as bright as it gets for PC monitors currently.
It is a Quantum Mini LED (Quantum Matrix) technology panel, that is why it can achieve ridiculous brightness while maintaining 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and HDR10+ colours. It is also a 10-bit panel capable of up to 1-billion colours to begin with. That allows the display to have a 95% of DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage. We are guessing that the 5% coverage is lost to the glare reduction matte treatment that is typical of gaming monitors.
Source: Samsung
As if all these things are not enough to make it easily the best-looking gaming panel at this point, Samsung has also decided to make it the fastest available in its class. It features 240Hz in refresh rate, not like any GPU can run AAA games at 4K @240fps at this point (maybe CS:GO). It is good future proofing though. At the same time, it features 1ms of Grey-to-Grey response time for the ultimate FPS experience.
At such high frame rates, tearing could be a thing with these games. For that, the Odyssey Neo G8 supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro that minimises tearing in CPU intensive games. It even works with NVIDIA G-Sync GPUs.
For some extra gamer feel, the Odessey monitors come with an RGB ring out the back. The new Neo G8 comes with something they call the CoreSync. It only displays five different colours. The display automatically detects the dominant colour that is displayed in the middle of the monitor and then changes the CoreSync colour accordingly to add to the immersiveness when gaming in the dark.
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
The ultimate 4K gaming monitor is now available in select markets. There are no indications that it is coming to Malaysia just yet, but we are expecting it to arrive in the Malaysian shores in the coming month or so. The local website also has not displayed any information on the new gaming monitor just yet. In that case, for more information, you might want to head to their UK website. The UK listing for it indicates that it is priced at GB£ 1,299 which is about MYR 7,057*. We can expect the monitor to set you back between MYR 6,999 to 7,599 when it arrives in Malaysia.
*Approximately based on exchange rate of GB£ 1 = MYR 5.43 as of 02/08/2022 on xe.com
AMD has just released their latest software. The current AMD Sofware: Adrenalin Edition 22.7.1, as they know it, packs AMD’s latest latest drivers for their Ryzen CPUs and Radeon GPUs. AMD’s Adrenalin software is also the nerve center for everything that is AMD on your PC.
The latest edition of the Adrenalin comes with a new feature that makes your Radeon GPU more than just a graphics processor. It turns it into a rather clever machine learning accelerator that helps with a rather specific function. It helps with voice recognition-ish.
Before we go into that though, the Adrenalin software also brought a few updates to AMD’s suite of GPUs. For starters, AMD’s RX 6400, RX 6500 XT, RX 6800 XT and RX 6950 XT GPUs have received a performance boost for 4K Fabulous settings in Minecraft. AMD is claiming up to 92% in performance improvements for the game. AMD has also extended support for their Super Resolution technology to RX 5000 and RX 6000 discrete GPUs for notebooks. Radeon Boost support has also been extended to games like Elden Ring, VALORANT, and Resident Evil Village.
On top of all these performance boosts for various GPUs, AMD has also added a new feature called AMD Noise Suppression. If you are familiar with NVIDIA’s RTX Voice, this is something similar. It also utilises AMD’s Radeon GPUs for machine learning applications specifically in voice processing and noise suppression. Yes, it is what it sounds like, a noise suppression engine.
It is supposed to work with any PC that has an AMD Radeon RX 6000 series GPU or Ryzen 5000 series CPU with integrated GPU. It is also supposed to work with any mic you have installed on your mic. What it does is allow its users to channel clearer and cleaner voice over team chats or even in meetings. It uses its own unique algorithms to achieve this effect, they did not specify what their implementation methods are though.
AMD’s latest Software: Adrenalin Edition 22.7.1 is now available for download from AMD’s website. You can also read all about the new software via their release notes here. Of course, if you want to take advantage of AMD’s latest software and features, you do want to ensure that you have AMD’s latest and greatest.
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, still is known for Facebook, has just posted their quarterly earnings report. For the first time since 2007, they have posted a decline in revenue, US$ 28.82 billion versus US$ 29.07 billion in the second quarter of 2021. That is a whopping 1% drop in revenue year-on-year. No, that is not a lot, to be fair. It is not that alarming either, if you ask us. What could be more alarming is that the drop in revenue comes with a larger drop in net income for Meta, about 36% loss compared to the same quarter last year (Q2 2021).
The drop in revenue could be due to many reasons. One of the reasons could be also because of the loss in user base and daily user counts thanks to the ongoing crisis over in Russia and Ukraine. The loss in revenue and profits could also be largely due to Apple’s new “opt out” policy that significantly changes how ads are being served on iOS devices.
While a decline in revenue and profits is bad news, it is not something we should really feel bad about. After all, Meta still rakes in profits in the billions. What could be bad news to us though is what Mark Zuckerberg is planning for Instagram to make it more profitable than before.
Instagram primarily does photos and images. It started its life to be a one-stop shop for sharing your photos with your friends and family with no fuss or frills. When Meta, or then Facebook gotten a hold of Instagram, they saw it as an opportunity to level the playing field with Snapchat and introduced Instagram Stories, a sub platform within Instagram to share photos with your followers available for the next 24 hours. A sort of “what’s on my mind”, or “what am I doing right now” kind of thing for the masses.
Recently, Instagram has started to favour more video contents. Understandably, the rise in short form video contents had an astronomical rise thanks to the likes of TikTok. Instagram tried to introduce more video features within their platform starting with Instagram TV, a long format video platform within Instagram to encourage content creators to post longer format videos on Instagram. Then there is Reels now, a short form video platform within Instagram that is supposed to encourage content creators to post more bite sized chunks of videos on their profile.
While more contents from our friends is great for us in the grand scheme of things, Instagram has also tweaked their algorithms alongside all the new features they have added. Your Instagram main feed is now loaded with posts from strangers and accounts you have never followed. They are recommendations based on the posts you have been responding to or interacted with. Nothing wrong with that, except you are seeing less of your friends and more strangers on your feed. It is starting to be more like TikTok, and people have mentioned that they hated it.
Unfortunately, their woes will fall on deaf ears. Meta’s CEO has mentioned that the company will be doubling the amount of ‘recommended’ contents to users by 2023. The same changes apply to Facebook as well. This also means that at least 30% of our feeds on Instagram and Facebook will be filled by contents from people we do not know or have never followed suggested by Meta’s recommendation algorithm.
If you want to only see feeds from people you are following, there is a way. All you need to do is to hit the ‘Instagram’ logo on the top right corner of your display or the app and select ‘following’ there. That way you are seeing feed only from people you are following. It is an extra step, but hey, it is better than seeing strangers on your feed all the time.
