It looks like Microsoft is officially removing itself from the mobile market by quietly turning off the Microsoft Store app’s main features. More specifically, Microsoft has turned off the features for Windows 10 Mobile. With this change, Windows 10 Mobile and the first wave of Windows Phones are no longer officially supported.
Users have reported that the store’s homepage isn’t working properly. In addition, the pages for downloading apps and getting updates will not load at all. This problem even affects pages with app details. While it may seem like this is out of the blue, Microsoft announced that support for Windows 10 Mobile devices would end in December 2019. This happened simultaneously with the ending of Windows Phone 8.1 support.
That said, Windows 10 Mobile does support sideloading, which allows users to install apps from places other than the Microsoft Store. It’s worth noting that some users have reported that the store starts working normally again after running the newest offline package.
Microsoft has recently made it very clear that its current strategy is to focus on AI and the PC market, not mobile platforms. However, CEO Satya Nadella recently said that ending support for Windows Phone was a mistake as the mobile device industry is constantly shifting and evolving that they may have lost a crucial bit in the technology market.
Mediatek launches its latest platform, the Dimensity 8200, claiming best-in-class power efficiency for premium 5G smartphones and impressive gaming performance.
4nm process brings power efficiency while retaining performance
Mediatek’s new chipset targets the bracket of smartphones just below the flagship range and succeeds the Dimensity 8100 and 8000 launched early this year. The Dimensity 8200 improves upon its predecessors with a 4nm process, instead of a 5nm process. Apart from that, the new chipset shares many hardware similarities with its predecessors, with some tuning to improve its performance. This brings improved performance at a reduced rate of power consumption. It is an octa-core CPU with four ARM Cortex A78 cores, with one at 3.1 GHz and three at 3.0 GHz clock speeds respectively. Following suit with connectivity, it supports dual 5G connectivity like its predecessor, WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 as seen previously.
Mediatek HyperEngine 6.0 features improves gaming performance
Gaming has also been a focus of the Dimensity 8200. It retains the ARM Mali G610 graphics platform as seen before, with some performance improvements expected over the Dimensity 8100. To further enhance the GPU, Mediatek is also featuring the HyperEngine 6.0 Gaming Technologies. The biggest upgrade that comes with this feature is support for ray tracing thanks to Vulkan SDK. Better framerates are also expected with the Frame Rate Smoother 2.0 and AI-enhanced Variable Rate Shading technology (AI-VRS). With MediaTek Intelligent Display Sync 2.0, the display refresh rates adjust according to gaming or conventional use, to help preserve battery during regular use.
Improved camera and video recording features
Camera improvements are also touted with the MediaTek Imagiq 785 Camera. The main shooter is now a 320MP camera, up from 200MP of its predecessors. There is now support for recording HDR video on up to three cameras simultaneously with its 14-bit HDR-ISP. It also supports cinematic video by double camera capture and up to 3 additional 32MP sensors.
Overall, the Mediatek Dimensity 8200 remains a strong contender for flagship-like performance at an affordable price, a worthy successor to its predecessors. We expect to see more devices bearing it soon, with the first one already announced in the iQOO Neo7 SE.
A known security vulnerability in Mali GPU could affect millions of Android devices as it remains unpatched as reported by Google.
As reported first by 9to5Google, Google Project Zero has highlighted a security vulnerability known as CVE-2022-33917 affecting only Mali GPUs. The platform is found on non-Snapdragon Android devices most notably Samsung Exynos chipsets, and Google’s Tensor chipsets. Mediatek Dimensity devices from OPPO, Xiaomi. According to developer ARM, this vulnerability allows attackers to gain access to freed memory. Google added that “…by forcing the kernel to reuse these pages as page tables, an attacker with native code execution in an app context could gain full access to the system…”.
ARM has already been informed of the vulnerability by Project Zero as early as July this year. On their official site, ARM has stated that they have already fixed the vulnerability on their end. However, security measures are yet to been taken by smartphone developers like Samsung, Google and the rest. A statement on 27th November by both Android and Pixel teams stated a fix is currently under testing. It was stated that the fix will be available to all “in the coming weeks”. Two weeks on since then, no further updates have been provided.
ZTE announces the new Voyage 40 Pro+ in China, a device that improves upon the Axon 40 SE released in October.
ZTE has retained the key design elements and hardware of the mid-range Axon 40 SE and made some select improvements. Both phones share a similar appearance with the twin circular camera housing on the back and dimensions. They share the same 6.67-inch AMOLED display with 2400 x 1080 pixel resolution and 770 nit peak brightness. But that’s where the similarities end.
Chipset, battery and cameras upgrades from the Axon 40 SE
The Voyage 40 Pro+ has hardware improvements all around, starting with the mobile platform it runs on. Powering the device is a Mediatek Dimensity 810 that offers improved core speeds and 5G connectivity. This a step up from the Unisoc T618 chipset seen in its predecessor. The memory configurations have been doubled from the Axon 40 SE, with 8GB of RAM and 256 GB storage. It still retains a microSD slot and has the option for further virtual RAM up to 6 GB. The battery also has a capacity increase to 4510mAh with significantly faster 66W charging, up from 4500mAh and 22.5W charging. The main shooter in the three camera setup has also improved, with 64MP sensor up from 50MP. The 5MP macro cam and 2MP depth sensor from its predecessor still remains. The front camera too is upgraded to a 16MP shooter from 8MP.
Voyage 40 Pro+ special edition and availability
The Voyage 40 Pro+ is now retailing in China, exclusively for the moment, retailing at an estimated RM1393 (2200 yuan). It is available in two colors; Sky Blue and Twilight Gray. Also available is the Starry Night edition, inspired by the van Gogh painting, retailing for the same price. For more details and availability in Malaysia, visit the official ZTE Malaysia website and follow ZTE Malaysia Facebook page.
ZTE has unveiled in China, a souped-up version of their Axon 40 Ultra flagship with the new Space Edition.
Extra-large memory configurations and faster charging speeds
The major offering of this new edition is perhaps the largest configuration of memory and storage in the market. It is available in 12 GB RAM with 512GB storage or 18GB RAM with 1TB storage. This not the first time ZTE has done this, with its previous Axon Ultra 30 flagships offering the same in its Aerospace edition last year.
The Space edition shares mostly the same hardware with the Ultra 40 standard edition. It comes with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 platform, a 6.8-inch 120hz AMOLED display with 2480 x 1116 pixels resolution and 5000mAh battery. It also has the same dedicated security chip by ZTE that is claimed to have passed encryption testing and has three privacy and security certifications. However, no concrete details on specifications and functionality on this chip has been announced just yet. The camera setup is a triple 64MP sensor assembly with wide angle, ultra-wide angle and periscope capabilities respectively.
The hardware upgrades, apart from larger memory, is faster charging speeds of 80W from the base 65W. The design of the phone receives some changes for the better too. The back panel of the conventional Ultra 40 is replaced with ceramic material that is textured to give a more premium feel. The camera bump is now flush against the back panel, as opposed to the island design of the base unit.
Available only in China, ships with a bespoke box
The Axon 40 Ultra Space Edition is currently only available in China and comes with a bespoke box and protective case. Price estimates are RM3744 (5999 yuan) for the 12GB/512GB variant and RM4886 (7700 yuan) for the 18GB/1TB variant. For further details and availability in Malaysia, visit the official ZTE Malaysia website and follow ZTE Malaysia Facebook page.
OPPO has unveiled a dazzling new color variant for its Reno8 5G to brighten up this festive season.
Dubbed Sunkissed Beige, the new color appears as a light gold finish that shimmers when catching the right light. Coupled with a new glossy back, it promises to add a touch of elegance to the Reno8 5G. The RAM capacity gets a boost, now coming with 12 GB of RAM instead of 8 GB with its original release in July 2022. The device still retains the original specifications, with a MediaTek Dimensity 1300 chipset, 6.4-inch 90Hz AMOLED display, 4500mAh battery with 80W SUPERVOCC fast charging and 256GB of storage.
A new sheen for the “Portrait Expert” experience
With the new color, fans will still get OPPO’s “Portrait Expert” experience with the Reno8 5G. The camera setup has Dual Sony Flagship sensors, with the main camera an IMX766 50MP sensor with autofocus and front camera a Sony IMX709 32MP sensor. The rear camera setup also has a wide-angle camera with 112-degree field of view and Macro camera. True to its moniker, the device features AI Portrait Retouching and Night Portrait for the best shots in any lighting.
Same great price with deals to boot
The Reno8 5G is available now for RM2399 like its predecessor, even with the increased RAM. From now until 31st January 2023, each purchase of the device comes with OPPO Care’s 1-Year Screen Protection Plan and 1-Year Extended Warranty. To sweeten the deal, OPPO is offering a PWP deal to get the Enco Buds2 at only RM 10 with every purchase. You can get your own at OPPO Brand stores, official OPPO Malaysia Online Store, Telco Partners, E-comm partners and our Chain-store partners.
Unleash double fun with vivo as the latest generation of its Y series smartphone, the vivo Y22s, arrives in Malaysia.
Starting November 26th, Malaysians can get their hands on the new vivo Y22s, retailing at RM999. vivo claims this device as the most advanced iteration yet and boasts powerful specifications for its price range.
Powering the vivo Y22s is the Snapdragon 680 processor, which offers mid-range performance in today’s market. It is supplemented with 8GB RAM with an additional 8GB Extended RAM or virtual RAM partitioned from the storage. But do not worry of space shortage as the device comes with 128GB of storage out of the box.
Powerful specifications at an affordable price
The device comes with a 5000mAh battery, which helps keep the device powered for long periods. With the 18W Fast Charge on board charging times are also quicker. And last but not least, the equipped cameras are a 50MP rear shooter and 2MP front macro shooter.
The vivo Y22s is available in two trendy colors – Summer Cyan and Starlit Blue
The vivo Y22s is shaping up to be an attractive package of good performance at an affordable price. Available in Summer Cyan and Starlit Blue, purchase it in-store at vivo concept stores and authorised dealers. For online purchases, vivo Malaysia’s official e-store and flagship stores on Shopee and Lazada.
Taiwan’s biggest tech exhibition is back for 2021 season, and it is a unique one. Last year COMPUTEX 2020 had to be cancelled because, if you remember correctly, the pandemic situation that is COVID-19 broke out earlier in 2020 and disrupted the entire world. This year, COMPUTEX 2021 is back but without physical presence. It is now fully online.
AMD has been a keen participant of COMPUTEX and they are not going to miss the 2021 season of COMPUTEX. They took the center stage of COMPUTEX this morning, well via YouTube, to launch their latest APUs and Mobile GPUs. They introduced the AMD Ryzen 5600G and AMD Ryzen 5700G APUs and AMD Radeon RX 6600M, AMD Radeon RX 6700M, and AMD Radeon RX 6800M mobile GPUs.
AMD Ryzen 5000G Series
Since the Zen 3 architecture with the AMD Ryzen 5000 series was introduced last year, one of the biggest requests from gamers and enthusiasts was a Zen 3 architecture APU (Accelerated Processing Unit). AMD has answered with the AMD Ryzen 5600G and AMD Ryzen 5700G. Now, you have a choice of building a modern system without a dedicated GPU.
First, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600G. The 5600G is sort of the budget option for builders and gamers. It still features 6 CPU cores like the regular 5600X. Additionally the 5600G packs 7 Radeon VEGA GPU cores within the same die.
Of course, there are some trade-offs to be made with the integrated GPU cores. Boost clock goes up to 4.4 GHz only rather than 4.6GHz. The APU also only has 16MB in L3 cache compared to 32MB.
If you need a little bit more power for the long run, you want the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G. It is sort of comparable to the other Ryzen 7 that is built for desktops, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X. Both has 8 Zen 3 architecture cores to boot. The 5700G though has 8 more cores than the 5800X in the form of Radeon VEGA graphics cores.
Again, with graphics cores integrated onto the processing die, there are some trade-offs to be made. The maximum boost clock on the 5700G is down to 4.6GHz, from 4.6GHz. The L3 cache is also halved at 16MB compared to 32MB. The benefit of having integrated GPU though would be a blessing to budget constrained builders.
AMD Radeon RX 6000M Series
At COMPUTEX 2021, AMD also introduces their new mobile based GPUs as well – the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, AMD Radeon RX 6700M, and AMD Radeon RX 6800M. If you are wondering what the equivalent competitor’s mobile GPUs are, those would be the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, GeForce RTX 3070, and GeForce RTX 3080. Alongside the AMD Radeon RX 6000M series too, they introduced a sort of guideline of AMD’s version of the ultimate gaming laptop they call the “AMD Advantage”.
The AMD Radeon RX 6600M is the entry-level choice from the AMD Radeon for mobile GPU line-up. You get 28 compute units and 8GB of GDDR6 RAM with clock speeds at 2.1GHz. Going up from there is the Radeon RX 6700M with 36 compute units clocked at 2.3GHz and 10GB of GDDDR6 RAM. The top-of the line Radeon RX 6800M packs 40 compute units clocked at 2.3GHz with 12GB of RAM.
All of the Radeon RX 6000M mobile GPUs comes with RDNA 2 technology, of course. They also brought AMD’s Smart Access Memory, or resizable bar in more common terms to the mobile computing market with the introduction of the Radeon RX 6000M series. They also introduced the AMD Radeon Chill technology with the mobile GPUs alongside AMD FidelityFX for all AMD based system, even if they are running a non-AMD GPU platform.
AMD Radeon Chill
AMD Radeon Chill is a clever technology that is supposed to minimise a problem that has been plaguing gaming laptops forever. AMD says that it is a power-regulation technology that is supposed to extend the battery life of a gaming laptop without sacrificing too much performance. At the same time AMD’s SmartShift technology also regulates power power consumption and processing power between the CPU and GPU to always optimise gaming and productivity performance.
AMD FidelityFX
At the same time, there is AMD FidelityFX technology that upscales your games from a lower resolution to a higher one. If it sounds familiar to another competitor technology, it is because they are basically the same things. But there is some good in upscaling contents, despite not getting all the high-definition detail. You get more performance out of your system at least. The best news is that it is coming to all AMD based systems. It even works on older non-AMD GPUs if you want it to.
AMD Advantage Design
AMD also introduced the AMD Advantage framework for gaming laptops fully based on the AMD processors. They introduced ASUS’ ROG Strix G15/G17 and HP Omen 15 alongside the announcement too.
AMD Advantage outlines the guidelines of what an AMD gaming laptop should work like. For example, the minimum requirement for an AMD Advantage certified laptop is featuring a display with at least 144Hz in refresh rate. Display has to be either an IPS or OLED display that can push above 300nits in brightness. They also are required to last more than 10 hours when you watch movies as well. To ensure smooth and fast operation, and AMD Advantage laptop has to have at least one NVMe PCIe Gen3 M.2 SSD. Of course, they have to pack an AMD Ryzen processor with an AMD Radeon RX GPU.
The first AMD Advantage Gaming laptops are expected to come as early as June 2021. For more information on AMD’s new APUs and mobile GPUs, you can head over to AMD’s website.
We started this journey over two weeks ago. We also switched to a HUAWEI P40 Pro review unit last week as an HMS test device on a full-time basis. Starting it up and starting afresh, we thought we might want to give the HUAWEI device the best chance it has to stack up against all the other Android devices we encountered. That is why, rather than loading it with the set-up we had on the HUAWEI Nova 7i, we went with Phone Clone to get it to clone a HUAWEI Mate 20X I owned.
The result of that was the transfer of more than just the apps we had on the HUAWEI Nova 7i. We had more than we bargained with Prime Video and Telegram ported in. We had Facebook and Instagram ported too, alongside some of our favourite games like Brawl Starts and PUBG Mobile. More about Phone Clone app and the HUAWEI P40 Pro in our in-depth review later though. Note that the HUAWEI P40 Pro is a review unit and it is due for a return soon. So we only have a limited time with HUAWEI’s latest photography king and switch back to the Nova 7i.
Phone Clone is The Way to Go
The point is you can still run Android apps on the HUAWEI’s EMUI 10. It is still an Android 10 device after all. Well, just be sure that everything runs nicely. We found that Instagram will not turn over on the HUAWEI P40 Pro. It could just be a device issue, but that is quite annoying to us. The upgrade also comes with a big step up in the camera of course. But that is not our focus today.
The focus today is to test it out as a daily driver for the week. We popped in the YES 4G SIM card we had for our review devices and its ready to roll. Okay, it is ready to somewhat roll.
Of course, we had our concerns with the apps. For one, there is now no official support for the apps. Where do we update the apps? How do we update the apps? If I’m transferring WhatsApp from my older device, do I use Gmail still? We may not be able to answer all the questions you and I have.
Right out of the box, if you did not use Phone Clone to copy your WhatsApp data over to your new HUAWEI device, you are going to lose everything. If you use Phone Clone and WhatsApp did not copy its complete data over, you lose everything. There is no carry over of backup data because HUAWEI cannot back up to Gmail now. It is like switching from an Apple device to Android device. That is kind of a bummer.
We found a solution to that though, from HUAWEI’s own community site. It is not the simplest instructions to follow, because there is a lot of navigation around restoring your WhatsApp data in your HUAWEI smartphone. If you want to give it try you can head to their website. It still works (sort of) on the HUAWEI Nova 7i and HUAWEI P40 Pro as well. So that should not be too big of an issue.
We found that installing Google Drive may not work as well, because you cannot actually sign into your Google account. That, and a lot of other Google apps. At least you get your WhatsApp chat history back, right? You have to jump through some hoops, yes; but it works.
We did not manage to get Netflix ported over, or even working for that matter. At least Amazon’s Prime Video works well though. We cannot tell if it is only streaming in HD quality or not, but it works at least, and that is now part of our entertainment.
The next challenge is to update the apps. For that, we started using APKPure and Aptoide. Mind you, you cannot get these two app markets on AppGallery too, so you have to download them from their respective mirror sites.
New in AppGallery
Since we last spoke about the AppGallery though, there has been some additions to the ecosystem. There are some new apps there and here. A lot of which, we are not concerned about. One of which, could be interesting for residents of Malaysia. The MySejahtera app developed by Malaysia’s ministry of health to keep yourself in check of your own health status in the COVID-19 situation now. Of course, during the Movement Control Order restrictions now, food is important, and you have Dahmakan app in the HUAWEI device anyway. Nope, no others so far. Not even Grab.
You could, theoretically get Grab working on your HUAWEI through Phone Clone as well. Again, there is going to be update issues later. But I guess we can cross that bridge when we get there.
Still, if you are going to rely on the AppGallery solely, Dahmakan is your best friend.
Quick Apps is a function that is on the HUAWEI AppGallery and a feature like no other. It is a sort of ‘pre-installed’ kit for devices with the AppGallery. They idea is that you can just access the Quick Apps gallery, pick the apps you want to use, and launch it without installing it. Where is it installed? In the cloud perhaps. But the essential point is that you can just use the apps as long as you are connected to the internet.
That is what the McDonald’s app is on the HUAWEI AppGallery, a Quick App. Of course, you need an active internet connection anyway for the app to work in the first place, so it does make plenty of sense. It also does not take up any space on your smartphone which is quite clever as well; a way to save storage space on your smartphone, if you might.
You can even add the app on your home screen so you can access it again anytime after your first visit. Just hit the app menu and add it to your home screen, very easy. We are not sure it is the most convenient way to discover an app though, because it is lodged very far down the AppGallery. You have to scroll all the way down to find the separate Quick Apps gallery.
Still, better than nothing right? There are plenty games within that gallery, none of which we play. Because the AppGallery is not segregated from one country to another yet, you can also find some broadcast apps on the platform. It is an interesting platform, if used correctly. Why not have WhatsApp there too? That is an idea.
Last night we saw a big fan fare of a smartphone launch. It was the very anticipated HUAWEI photography flagship, the HUAWEI P40 series. The ones we are going to see earlier is the HUAWEI P40 and P40 Pro. There is a third model, the P40 Pro+ which will be coming way later. Still, HUAWEI finally announced their first 2020 flagship.
The HUAWEI P40 is really everything that you might want in a
HUAWEI flagship photography king. If you owned the P20, it is really the
smartphone that you naturally want to upgrade to. There is one thing that it
does not come with though: Google.
This means that the HUAWEI P40 series will not have Google’s very handy Play Store and is stuck to the ways of HUAWEI’s own proprietary Mobile Services (HMS) and its AppGallery. We are not saying that it is a terrible thing though. It may sound bad, but you never know until you try right?
The Test Bed – The HUAWEI Nova 7i
Our test bed is a HUAWEI Nova 7i. In some markets, they know
it as the HUAWEI P40 Lite. We do not understand that half the time, so we will
just stick to Malaysia’s official name for it, we guess; the HUAWEI Nova 7i.
If you really have to know the specs of this MYR 1,099
device, it is is a mid-range smartphone that packs a relatively punchy
HiSilicon Kirin 810 system on a chip (SoC) and supported by 8GB of RAM and you
get 128GB of storage with that. The internals push EMUI 10.0.1.108 that is also
based on Android 10. So, when we say that it comes completely devoid of Google
stuff, I did not forget that this is still an Android device. We just mean that
the HUAWEI Nova 7i comes devoid of Google’s important frameworks that includes
the Google Play Store.
We are not focusing on the hardware capabilities of the
device, though. So, it does not really matter if the HUAWEI Nova 7i comes with
a 48-Megapixel camera and a Full HD display. What matters is that it represents
the collective of modern HUAWEI devices that are in the market right now,
starting with the era of the HUAWEI Mate 30 series. They all have one thing in
common, and that is HMS and AppGallery.
The focus of this write-up then, is what we can do with HMS
and what AppGallery can offer us. On paper, it does not look too good for the
write-up. The HUAWEI AppGallery is the third largest app marketplace behind
Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store. Which may not sound like much,
because there are not many major app marketplaces in the market. Since there
are two major camps of smartphone Operating Systems (OS) in the market, the two
largest ones are quite a given.
Starting-up HUAWEI’s EMUI 10.0.1
Let us still give this a chance though. We fire up the device
and everything feels just like a regular Android smartphone at first. It is an Android
10 based system after all, so it starts up very similar to any Android. Except,
you do not sign in with your Google account. You sign in with or sign up for a
HUAWEI ID account. We had one, so that was simple.
If you are familiar with an EMUI device that has Google Play
Store installed on it, like the HUAWEI P30 series, navigating the smartphone should
be nothing new really. It is still a very familiar EMUI to the EMUI’s of the past;
in that, there is no difference in experience at all. You cannot see Google’s Play
Store on the home screen though. So far, so good; familiarity with the
interface saves the face.
First set-up
No Play Store, no problem. There the HUAWEI AppGallery. First
thing I usually do with a new smartphone is download all the essential apps I
need. Those apps are Whatsapp, Telegram, Slack, Facebook, Instagram, and
Twitter. Out of all those apps listed, I only found two – Facebook and Whatsapp.
They are not loaded into the AppGallery though.
What happens is that the HUAWEI AppGallery will lead you to a
third-party site to download the apk files of Facebook and Whatsapp. These are
the only two I found so far. Not looking good now. When we checked in, HUAWEI
says that these two sideloaded apps are safe because the AppGallery is the one
that leads us to the site.
That is not to say that you cannot sideload the rest of the
apps that I listed down though. You can still download the apk files from other
sites, no problem. Just be wary of the sources though.
Still, we worked with the two apps that we just downloaded.
They both work just like the Android version app should work. They look the
same too. The only question now is whether we can keep up with the most current
update packages or not.
Day 0 Wrap-up
We wrap the test up with that for now. We got our smartphone
running with the most essential WhatsApp up. Even Facebook is there, so far
that is the entertainment we are getting for the night.
Still, we are going to try to live through the HMS and
AppGallery as long as we can and go in-depth. The HMS is available on every new
HUAWEI smartphone you buy today. Yes, they are all running on EMUI 10 now too.
Still, the HUAWEI P40 that was announced last night is not
just that. When you buy a new HUAWEI smartphone today, you get a free 50GB
HUAWEI Cloud Storage subscription for the next year. If you already own a
HUAWEI smartphone device, you already have 5GB of HUAWEI Cloud Storage for free
anyway.
We will be looking to more apps next week with the HUAWEI Nova
7i. Until then, stay safe during this whole Movement Control Order period. To
the ones outside of Malaysia, you stay safe too.