Category Archives: Podcast

News, Podcast

Tech & Tonic Episode 21 – The Sony WH-1000XM4 is Here!

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In this episode of Tech & Tonic Episode 21, we explored the wonderful world of noise cancelling headphones. Actually, we just watched Sony’s WH-1000XM4 announcement and discussed about the MYR 1,599 headphones.

We think that the headphones could be the best noise cancelling headphones the world will see. It will be at least until Bose releases their new one. This new Sony headphone comes with new material constructions though, to make it even more comfortable than before.

Will you get the Sony WH-1000XM4? Or should you get the older WH-1000XM3 instead? Come discuss with us!

Business, Editorial, Podcast

Tech & Tonic Special with Red Hat Feat. Eric Quah – Brave New World

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The COVID-19 global situation is a big one. It changed so many things for us. It changed the way we live, and definitely the way we work and stay productive. At the back of it all, tech companies all over the world are becoming the backbones of plenty of organisations. The ‘work from home’ trend is booming in a way never before seen.

For a company like Red Hat, transforming from an office based workspace to home based workspace is not necessarily complex. It may not be as straightforward as they make it seem though. There are still plenty of considerations for them and their clients when it comes to the quarantine procedures and working procedures.

What happens to their clients? What happens to the ongoing projects with the Open Innovation Labs? What happens to Red Hat globally? What do we do, as companies in this age?

In this Tech & Tonic special, we sit down with Eric Quah of Red Hat to find out a little bit more on their efforts to normalise during the COVID-19 crisis. Of course, we want to know how we can work a little normally at this time as well. If we learnt a thing or two in this session, we believe you might as well.

Android, Mobile, News, Podcast

Tech & Tonic Episode 19 – What Can We Expect from Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2020?

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Last week we saw a bunch of things being launched and released. We found out that the OnePlus Nord is coming to Malaysia. We also see the launching of Canon’s all-new, all-conquering their Canon EOS R5 and the Canon EOS R6. The Canon EOS R5 is capable of 8K video recording. It technically has become one of the best mirrorless camera in the market.

The big thing that happened last week though is the announcement of Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked 2020 event happening on the 5th of August 2020. We can expect to see the Samsung Galaxy Note20 in this event. Based on the rumours and leaks too, we can expect Samsung to bring back the Copper colour. Based on the rumours too, the Samsung Galaxy Note20 series will come with 5G capabilities as standard.

The event will also see Samsung releasing their new Active Noise Cancelling earbuds. Alongside that is a bunch of new devices like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 and Galaxy Tab S7+. Of course, we also can expect Samsung to launch the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5G.

News, Podcast

Tech & Tonic Episode 18 – HUAWEI Not Catching a Break

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We are back after a two week hiatus. We are finally repopulating the office after a few months under quarantine. This week’s show is quite big though. We are taking a deeper stab and discussion about what happened between HUAWEI, ZTE, and FCC last week. FCC has finally banned HUAWEI and ZTE from being used by any American contractors using the federal subsidy for all communication devices. This is a huge problem for us who are quite big fans of their smartphones with Google Play Services. This announcement sets them back on the progress toward having Google Play Services in their newer devices too.

We saw a few ASUS notebooks being launched starting with ASUS’ ExpertBook B9 notebook PC made for business. We also see the VivoBooK S launched last week. We reviewed it of course, and you can find the link here. Then we got to see the soon coming ASUS ZenBook 13 and 14 flagship notebook PCs.

We also saw OnePlus launching a brand new smartphone in the OnePlus Nord. The OnePlus Nord is OnePlus’ attempt to hit back into the budget smartphone market. Everything about it screams mid-range too, which makes sense with its price. So, should you still get a HUAWEI device? Listen on and see what we think! Let us know what you think too in the comments below!

Editorial, Podcast

[Podcast] Tech & Tonic Special: Discover Alienware with Eddy Goyanes

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Back at Computex 2019, we had the honour of sitting down with Eduardo (Eddy) Goyanes, Alienware’s product marketing manager. We took the chance to get a dive into the brand, their ethos and also their big redesign which has made the brand one of the best looking laptops and desktops in the market right now. He lets us in on some of the most compelling behind the scenes stories that inspired and influenced the brand’s design and also where the brand is headed. 

Eddy Goyanes is the Marketing and Communications Consultant over at Alienware. He has been the public face of the brand as he has worked his way through the years at Alienware. As the voice of the brand he has worked to place and communicate the ethos and positioning of the Alienware brand. He also works to better Alienware products by acting as the voice of the consumer, looking at the products through the consumer’s eyes and helping with the development and optimisation of products.

In the interview, techENT had the pleasure of delving into the thought process and design process of the Alienware team when it came to refreshing their brand with their new Legend Industrial design language. We were also able to talk about the many cornerstones of the Alienware brand and how they seek to cater to the consumer with their high degree of customisability and wide range of products.

Editorial, Gaming, Podcast

[Podcast] Tech & Tonic Episode 16 featuring Hasnul Hadi – It’s All About the Playstation 5 Baby!

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This week we had the pleasure of speaking to Hasnul Hadi Samsudin of the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). You may recognise him from the many, many press appearances he’s done and also from our social media and around the internet.

Hasnul Hadi is currently the Vice President of the Digital Creative Content Division over at MDEC. He has spent nearly a decade advocating and championing the game development and creative industry in Malaysia. He and his team have been tirelessly working away behind the scenes pushing policies and connecting companies to build the creative industry. Aside from his dedication in making Malaysia a creative powerhouse in the Southeast Asian region, he’s also an avid gamer. He’s spent many hours honing his gaming skills behind a keyboard, on a controller and on-the-go!

In this episode, we sat down with Hasnul to speak about the recent unveiling of Sony’s upcoming gaming console, the Playstation 5and the growing Gaming and Creative industry in Malaysia.  Hasnul shares with us his insights into the industry and shares how much the industry has grown over the years as well as some of the plans his team has for Malaysia’s LEVEL UP Gaming Conference which is still slated to happen this year! 

Editorial, Podcast

[Podcast] Tech & Tonic Special : Sitdown with Alex Tan of HID International about Biometrics and Security

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In this special, we sat down with Mr. Alex Tan, the Director of Sales for the ASEAN Region for Physical Access Control Systems from HID Global. We had a conversation about some of the emerging trends in the industry on the use of biometrics and security. One of the biggest issues we discussed was the use of biometrics and its implications on personal data privacy and security with the emergence of legislations such as the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in the European Union and Malaysia’s own PDPA (Personal Data Protection Act). The issue brought us to talking about how personal technological devices can be a security risk with how they handle data collected by facial recognition and fingerprint reading technologies.

Mr. Alex Tan heads the strategic developmental and organisational growth of HID Global’s Physical Access Control business within the ASEAN Region. He has been in the security access control industry for about 19 years and has, prior to this, headed the sales and entreprise solutions at another leading access control manufacturer.

HID Global has over two decades of expertise in the security industry. The American company has its roots in radio frequency identification technologies and has over the years become a recognised brand when it comes to premise access and security as well as biometric technologies. You may recognise the company’s logos from the many devices and solutions it provides to buildings and businesses across the world. They may even be responsible for keeping you safe in your apartment building!

Take a listen to the podcast and let us know if you still have any unanswered questions when it comes to biometrics and personal data protection in the comments down below.

Computers, Mobile, News, Podcast

Tech & Tonic Episode 15 – Deep Dive into AMD’s Ryzen 4000 Mobile!

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Another week, another Tech & Tonic Podcast. This week we delve deeper into something that was launched for APAC last week. We saw the official announcement and presentation of the AMD Ryzen 4000 CPUs for mobile devices. The presentation came with a lot of numbers too, the usual jargon for CPU comparisons and compute powers.

What does the numbers mean though? We take a look at the numbers and translate them to real world experiences we got from our tech reviews so far. That is, right after we talk wonders about Mercedes-Benz’s new super fast, compact A-Class cars that just launched in Malaysia today.

While Lenovo launched their line-up of updated gaming rigs, we were only interested in one thing in their presentation. At the end of their Legion gaming rigs presentation they teased the Lenovo Legion smartphone and other Lenovo smartphones. We overanalysed that a little bit, and poked fun at the leaked render of the device too. All that and more in Tech & Tonic Podcast.

Podcast

Tech & Tonic Episode 14 – Can’t Wait for AMD Ryzen 4000 Desktop series!

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In this episode of Tech & Tonic, we spoke a little bit about AMD’s newest version of their Ryzen 4000. We are reviewing one of their mobile versions in a brand new ASUS TUF Gaming notebook PC. They are going to launch a new desktop series of the Ryzen 4000 CPUs today, so we are excited. Stay tuned for our review though.

Last week also we saw some new developments from Xiaomi. Xiaomi launched their brand new MIUI 12 based on Android 10. There is no new Android just yet, so while there are some minimal changes to the User Interface (UI), MIUI 12 is more of a cosmetic overhaul to modernise the interface.

Speaking of an electronics company that started with smartphones and now doing smart home products. HONOR is looking to rival Xiaomi in that space. They just launched new 8K TVs for not very much money. They also launched a wireless vacuum, electric toothbrush and a bladeless fan. Of course, the highlight of their launch last week was their new HONOR MagicBook with Intel’s 10th generation Core i7 and NVIDIA GeForce MX350.

News, Podcast

[Podcast] Tech & Tonic Episode 12: So Many New Smartphones Under MYR 1,500! MCO is Extended, Maybe a DJI Mavic Air 2 Makes Sense Now.

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In this episode of Tech & Tonic Podcast, we spoke about the OPPO A92. That was mostly because they launched the mid-ranger right before we recorded our podcast. In that subject though, we continued the conversation that happened last episode too, albeit in a more local context.

We discussed the value proposition that is the mid-range devices, since a lot of them are now costing less than MYR 1,500. We thought that the modern mid-rangers are the new flagships. Not in terms of specs and technology of course. The great value-proposition makes the devices more compelling than flagships these days.

Still, that does not change the fact that we are still working from home since the Movement Control Order in Malaysia has been extended to the 12th of May 2020. In that light though, DJI has launched a new consumer class compact drone. The DJI Mavic Air 2 is their new consumer class drone that is capable of videos in 4K resolution at 60 fps while flying 10km away from you.

More of those and other things on our Tech & Tonic Podcast!