Uber China to merge with Didi Chuxing

292

While Uber is doing rather well for itself in other parts of the world, the ride-sharing app has been having a hard time breaking through to the Chinese market. Not helping matters is the fact that the app has faced a fierce rival in Didi Chuxing, a China-based ride-hailing service. After losing over USD2 billion trying to break into China, Uber has decided to surrender the ride-hailing wars, opting instead to sell itself to Didi Chuxing instead.

The merger of Uber China into Didi Chuxing would give Uber a 5.89 percent stake in Didi via preferred shares, which amounts to a “17.7 percent economic interest.” For Didi, they would be getting “Uber China’s brand, business and data.” The merger will also see Uber CEO Travis Kalanick joining Didi’s board, while Didi Chuxing founder Cheng Wei will be joining Uber’s board.

“I have no doubt that Uber China and Didi Chuxing will be stronger together. That’s why I’m so excited about our future, both in China- a country which has been incredibly open to innovation in our industry- and the rest of the world, where ridesharing is increasingly becoming a credible alternative to car ownership,” said Kalanick in a press statement.

Source:
Uber
,
Engadget
,
New York Times

business
didichuxing
ridesharing
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Uber Eats has started operations in Petaling Jaya and surrounding areas

350

Uber Eats has finally arrived in Petaling Jaya, but users in Sunway, Bandar Utama, Damansara, Seksyen 17, SS2, SS15 and TTDI can also enjoy this new service from Uber, allowing residents of these locations an easy and convenient way to order their food and get it delivered to their location.

General Manager of  Uber Eats, Shri Chakravarthy Gopalakrishnan, has said that the launch of Uber Eats is not only to connect customers with their favourite restaurant or cafe, but it opens up job opportunities for citizens and helps grow the market for Malaysian restaurants. Some of the restaurants that are part of the Uber Eats platform include, The Fish Bowl, Goodness Greens Cafe, Lim Fried Chicken, Pickle & Fig, Ravi’s Banana Leaf, and Rojak & Cendol Mustaffa.

If you want to try this new food delivery service, you can download the Uber Eats app which is available on Android and iOS right now. The service will start operations from 9 AM till midnight, seven days a week and customers can expect a delivery time of 33 minutes. As an extra added value, you can enter the promo code
PJMAKAN
 to enjoy unlimited free delivery with no minimum order for 4 weeks after the code is applied.

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Uber gives third-party developer access to the Ride Request Button

391

Mutualism is a form of symbiosis in which two inviduals exist in a relationship where both of them benefit from each other. Why did I bring that up? Because Uber has released a new API that allows third party developers to add a Ride Request Button into their apps that deeplinks into Uber’s app.

The idea behind this move is that third-party developers would make apps that comes integrated with the Ride Request Button, providing Uber with more traffic. In return, those same developers would earn USD 5 for every first-time rider they refer. However, do note that this offer is only open to US-based developers only.

While this may seem like a good opportunity for some developers, do note that implementing this features does come with its own clauses. Scrolling through Uber’s API terms, there is a paragraph that states that users of Uber API are not allowed to use the services provided in any manner that is competitive to Uber or Uber Services. In laymen’s speak, developers are not allowed to integrate their apps with Uber’s competitors such as Lyft, or in Malaysia’s case, GrabCar.

uber
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Uber introduces UberCENTRAL that allows businesses to pay for your ride

334

If you happen to own a business and would like to hire a transporter to send off your guests or get them to you, Uber has introdued UberCENTRAL, a dashboard made for businesses to help ferry their guests to and from any places, the service does not require the guest to have the Uber app installed, businesses can take advantage of this platform to book Uber rides to ferry guests off to their destinations and pay for them if you like, you can even track their ride’s location to ensure they have safely arrived, the service is currently available in the US and Canada only and will be made available in other countries at a later time.

The platform is assumed to be targeted at malls, hospitals, restaurants, hotels and businesses that usually have a receptionist to assist their customers in hailing a taxi, which is very smart of Uber to have thought of lauching this initiative that could possibily help greatly improve businesses. In addition, Uber also mentioned on its page that the service will help folks who do not have access to a smartphone, senior citizens for instance, otherwise have limitations in transportation. Should this service arrive at our shores, let’s hope some local business will really sign this up. What do you think?

SOURCE:
 Uber

uber
ubercentral


Uber is now offering a RM5 flat rate trip around KLCC area

319

Travelling around the Kuala Lumpur city area can be very tiring and can cost a lot if you are stuck in jams while needing to pay for expensive parkings, but good news is here as Uber is introducing the KLCC Xpress promotion to all new and current riders, which you can actually hire a car at a flat rate of RM5 during Monday-Thursday starting from 4PM-8PM, this is an extremely reasonable offer if you are around the KLCC area, which should cover around 3-5KM radius of the Petronas Twin Towers.

So if you are ever nearby at KLCC and wanted a trip around the city center, you might want to consider taking an Uber instead of bracing the traffic and paying for expensive parking fees. All you need to do is to fire up the Uber app, choose your destination and finally tap on the “Request KLCC Xpress” button, a driver should be on its way to pick you up and there will not be any fee haggling or the risk of not using the meters, as Uber only charges your trip through the app on your registered credit card, the offer will end on January 21 so act fast before it is over.

Source:
Uber

klccxpress
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Uber is testing out feature that uses smartphones to monitor driver behaviour

372

It seems that Uber is taking steps to monitor their drivers’ behaviour as the company is putting a new feature on trial in Houston, Texas.

According to The Guardian, Uber has been quietly monitoring the movements of its drivers in an attempt to flag up dangerous driving. As smartphones come with gyroscopes, accelerometers and GPS, Uber is attempting to use the driver’s own smartphone to acquire data on whether or not they have been breaking speed limits or even playing with their phone while the vehicle is still in motion. During the trial period, the data recorded by the phones will not be accessed by Uber unless a customer files a complaint about the driving standards of that particular driver. Whether or not this policy will change after Uber decides to roll out this feature is uncertain.

Uber Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan has said that Uber is currently considering always-on monitoring of driving standards, but that system will be tested out on a later date. For now, this initiative allows Uber to fact-check complaints and to keep the company’s rating system on the rails.

Source :
Ars Technica
,
The Guardian

safety
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Uber launches digital gift card system in the United States

1K

Want to ride an Uber but you don’t have a credit card or debit card? You may not have to worry about that as Uber has launched a
digital gift card system
 in the U.S..

Those of you who have used gift cards would know how the system works. You get a card, you top up your Uber account, and you can begin using the service until your balance runs out. The digital gift card is no different, except for the fact that you can get it online instead of retail stores. Currently available only in the U.S., Uber’s digital gift card comes in USD25, USD50, USD100 and USD200 denominations.

Uber’s digital gift cards can be bought as either a single unit or in bulk, although buying in bulk is done under the Uber Business-line of service. Once you selected a card, feel in the receipient’s details, and the gift card will be sent directly to their e-mail’s inbox. Uber’s digital gift card can be used not only on Uber rides, but on other Uber services like UberEATS as well.

As mentioned earlier, this digital gift card system is currently available only in the U.S.. However, seeing as Uber has extended its presence to cover countries outside of the States, it is probably safe to say that it is only a matter of time until the system extends to other countries as well.

Source:
Uber

digitalgiftcard
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Uber lets you set your friend's location as a destination

324

Meeting up with your friends via Uber has just gotten a whole lot easier as an update that was rolled out to the ridesharing app now allows you to set your friends’ location as a destination.

The feature in question is called ‘Uber to a Person’, and it works by syncing your contacts with the Uber app. Once your contact list has been synced, you can use the feature by typing your friend’s name into the ‘Where to?’ box. Your friend will receive a request from Uber to provide their current static location, and if they accept, their location will be used as your destination.

Once you’ve gotten on your Uber, the app will provide your friend with your ETA, giving them a heads up as to when they will arrive. For those who are worried that the feature will allow Uber to track their whereabouts, you need not worry as the feature does not track your location.

Alongside the ‘Uber to a Person’ feature, the Uber update will also introduce Snapchat integration with the Uber app. When both the Snapchat app and Uber apps are linked, you’ll be able to unlock custom Uber filters.

Source:
Uber Newsroom

ridesharing
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Uber might have a tipping option in the future

414

The rider and driver base for ride hailing services such as Uber and Grab have been growing exponentially here in Malaysia, mostly due to the fact that they are relatively cheaper when compared to taxis, plus the bad rep of our local taxi drivers. Although the Malaysian culture generally doesn’t require tipping, we might soon have to do so when hailing an Uber ride. Well at least that won’t happen here just yet.
 The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission has submitted a proposal which will force the hand of Uber to allow riders to tip drivers in the Uber app. Cab rides in NYC often include a mandatory tip even if the rider pays with a credit card but there seems to be no similar option in the Uber app since it was launched in the city nearly 6 years ago. LYFT, Uber’s ride hailing competitor has a tipping option in its app, though it isn’t compulsory. Uber’s tipping option is only limited to uberTAXI rides, whereby riders are connected to licensed yellow cab drivers, in which riders are given the option to set a gratuity percentage to be added to the fare.
 Uber has claimed to not have read the proposal just yet, but in a city like NYC, chances are that Uber will eventually have to implement the option to tip for normal Uber rides as well. Do you think a tipping option will work with Uber and Grab in Malaysia?

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Uber now allows you to hail a ride on behalf of your friends and family

295

Things may still be messy at the pinnacle of Uber, with former CEO Travis Kalanick forced to step down in the light of recent controversies and scandals, but business is still as usual for the popular ride sharing service, as the company looks to an Uber 2.0 future. Regardless, there is a new feature on the Uber app, which now allows you to book rides on behalf of someone else.

This new feature comes especially handy after some extensive research done by Uber. We live in a world where technology is inevitable, but some individuals, notably the elderly just can’t keep up, and this new feature on the Uber app speaks for them. When users select a pickup location for the ride, Uber will ask whether or not its for them or for a family member or friend. The app will then allow you to select the rider from your address book, and the rider will receive the contact details of that particular rider, and a text message will also be sent to the rider.

This is certainly a welcome addition to the Uber app, in efforts to reach out to those who aren’t as tech savvy, or aren’t smartphone owners. According to Uber, the feature is rolling out to 30 countries today, before hitting it globally.

app
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Uber now has Saved Places feature to bookmark locations

421

Uber has just rolled out a new feature to their mobile app, known as Saved Places. With Saved Places, users are now able to bookmark and save various locations within the app. With this new feature, riders are no longer required to crack their heads over complicated addresses and easily forgotten unfamiliar locations.

Users have been able to save locations in the Uber app, but only limited to “Home” and “Work”. Saved Places goes beyond that, even allowing users to give these bookmarked locations custom names. An added bonus is that you can also spice these titles up with emojis, as allowed in the app. Instead of only having your home and work place as saved locations, you can now have your favorite park or a lesser known bar to be saved in the app instead of having to enter the address every time you book an Uber ride.

In order to access Saved Places, just tap on “Where To?”, and then select “more saved places” to open the list of your previously saved locations. Uber has mentioned that this feature was mostly used for airports, hotels and colleges during the early stages of testing. Saved Places is now available on both the iOS and Android versions of the Uber app in the United States. It will roll out globally later this year.

Source:
Uber

uber


Uber partners with Airbus to deliver on-demand helicopter service

419

Ride sharing app Uber is looking to the skies as the company has entered a partnership with European plane maker Airbus to test run an on-demand helicopter service.

Uber’s helicopter service, named UberChopper, will operate throughout the duration of the Sundance Film Festival happening in Utah. Airbus, in partnership with Air Resources, will be utilising H125 and H130 helicopters to ferry customers to and from locations, assuming they can afford the fees. According to an Airbus spokesman, Uber will dispatch a car to pick up customers for the helicopter rides. Other information regarding the service has yet to be revealed.

This wouldn’t be the first time Uber has offered helicopter rides as the company has tested out the service in 2013 between Manhattan and the Hamptoms. The service was also experimental on during the Cannes Film Festival and the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. Prices on the rides ranges from several hundred to several thousand dollars, so it is probably safe to say that UberChopper isn’t exactly for those with a tight budget.

Source :
The Wall Street Journal

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Uber replaces fare estimate with guaranteed pricing

336

Hiring an Uber during Surge Pricing periods will be a lot easier soon as the company will be giving users a guaranteed fixed price for a ride instead of an estimated fare.

Initially available in U.S. cities such as Miami, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego and Seattle, the Uber app will display a fixed price when you select a destination. This quoted price will not change even in the event that your Uber driver gets lost along the trip. If you were to change your destination during the ride, you or the driver can update the trip and the price will be updated on the spot.

No solid timeline was given as to when guaranteed pricing will be arriving on the Uber app outside of the U.S. cities mentioned above, but with India receiving this feature not too long ago, you can expect guaranteed prices to land in Malaysia within the next few months.

Source:
Uber
,
Engadget

pricing
uber


Uber rides can soon be booked directly from Google Map

567

Back in March last year,
Uber announced
 that it has implemented a dedicated tab to Google Maps that shows the estimated pickup times and fares for an Uber ride. Today, Google Maps is going one step further as said tab has been given an overhaul. On top of that, you’ll soon be able to book Uber rides directly from Maps.

The new ride service experience tab will now appear as a carousel located at the bottom of the screen with the map located right on top of it. With this new layout, you’ll now be able to get a rough estimate of your Uber right as well as keep track of where your Uber ride is with the map.

On top of that, Google will also be trying out a new integration that would allow you t obook, complete and pay for an Uber ride directly from the Google Maps app itself. Once you’ve signed in or registered for an Uber account, you can use Google Maps to book your ride and track it all from the Maps app. The best part about this feature is that you don’t need the Uber app pre-installed on your device of choice for it to work.

This update for Google Maps is currently being rolled out globally, so the feature has yet to be enabled on your device’s Google Maps, rest assured that it will be available within the next few days.

Source:
Google

devices
googlemaps
ridesharing
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Uber silently tracks your location for weeks even after closing the app

285

Uber has no doubt reached a success level with unparalleled competition worldwide. The ride sharing platform, despite having received tonnes of critcisms over various concerns, and having gone through a many controversies, with Uber Malaysia getting much hate from Malaysian Taxi drivers, Uber has managed to finish the obstacle course laid down in front of it. This time round, the iOS counterpart of the Uber has been reported to track users’ locations as long as weeks after they close the app.

Numerous users have claimed that the Uber app happened to still be tracking their location, long after they closed the app. This means that Uber on iOS still tracks you down for no reason even after you have been dropped off, to the extent of after closing the app and leaving the app untouched. Uber has announced last month that it would start collecting background data of its users, but that only applies up to 5 minutes after a drop off. This new development definitely sounds creepy at the very least.

Fortunately, Uber has responded, but has seemingly put the blame upon Apple’s iOS software. According to Tech Crunch, Uber has claimed that the location tracking issue was caused by the iOS Maps extension that was introduced by Apple back in September. For your information, the Uber app on iOS is integrated with Apple Maps. Hence it appears that the long term location tracking problem was not of Uber but triggered by an iOS feature. If that happens to be true, then apps which are integrated with Apple Maps will happen to constantly track its users’ locations as well.

Perhaps, users could make the jump to Android? Considering the fact that it might turn out as a serious privacy issue. What do you think?

Source:
Tech Crunch

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Uber tests out experimental motorcycle service in Bangkok

297

Uber is experimenting with yet another new service. The difference is that this time, it is held at a location near us and relies on two-wheeled transports.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the ridesharing company is currently experimenting with a service called UberMOTO. This service is being trialled at Bangkok and relies on motorcycles instead of cars.

The key reason as to why Uber has decided to experiment with this service in Bangkok is due to the fact that motorcycles are a common form of transportation there. Also helping is the fact that traffic congestion is a major issue in Thailand’s capital.

For those who are in Thailand now, a option for UberMOTO will appear on the Uber app. The base rates of an UberMOTO ride is priced at THB 10 (RM 1.18), plus THB 3.5 (RM 0.41) a kilometer and THB 0.85 (RM 0.10) per minute. Payments can be made in cash or credit card.

Source:
Uber

thailand
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Uber to test out two new apps in the United States

354

Highly controversial ride sharing app Uber is looking to expand their range of services and will be testing out two new ride sharing apps at two different locations in the US soon.

The first of the two apps is called uberHOP Pilot. Based on Uber’s description, this service acts more like a bus than a regular taxi. Users who use this service will be paired up with a driver as well as commuters traveling in the same direction. The app will give users directions to the meetup point where the driver will pick them up. As the driver is expected to leave promptly, punctuality is of paramount importance for this service. The driver would then drop the user off at a pre-destined stop just a few blocks away from the destination, allowing the driver to drop off the other commuters. This service will be tested in Seattle on Thursday.

The other service that Uber will be testing out is uberCOMMUTE Pilot. An extension of an existing service called uberPOOL, this carpool service allows users to find a driver which is heading to the same destination as they are, allowing both the driver and user to split the cost of the journey. THe different between uberPOOL and uberCOMMUTE seems to be in the amount of passengers as uberCOMMUTE allows more than 1 passenger to carpool with a driver. This service will be tested out in Chicago and will have an operational hour of 6 AM to 10 PM from Monday to Friday.

SOURCE:
Uber newsroom

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Uber will be made available in Ipoh for a month

317

Ride sharing app/service Uber will be moving out of the Klang Valley and into Perak as the company has announced that it will be making it services available in Ipoh for a month.

From the 1st to the 28th of February, Uber will be offering its services to anyone who is in Ipoh. After the 28th of February, it is likely that the service will no longer be available in Ipoh until further announcements are made.

The base fare rides for Ipoh Uber rates are slightly different, as the Base Fare begins at RM 1.50 instead of the current rate of RM 0.95. Also different is the fact that the time charges for Uber rides in Ipoh is RM 0.20 per minute, a five sen reduction over its Klang Valley rates. Distance charges remain the same at RM 0.60 per kilometer.

Uber’s availability in Ipoh can be attributed to the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday where many will be making their way back to their own hometowns.

Source :
Uber

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Uber's self driving cars are back in the US after accident

303

Ride sharing company Uber has been testing self driving vehicles on US roads for quite some time now. The test run hit a bump however, with one of Uber’s self driving vehicles involved in an accident last Friday at Tempe, Arizona. The company suspended its self driving tests after one of its Volvo SUV self driving test vehicles flipped on one side as a result of the accident. An Uber spokesperson has stated that the self driving test has been resumed.

Uber has reportedly resumed its self driving tests in San Francisco last weekend, two days after the Volvo SUV accident. Uber has claimed that there were no passengers during the event of the accident apart from the human pilot in the autonomous vehicle. The company did clarify to the rest of the pilots regarding the accident, and is confident to get its self driving vehicles to hit the road once again.

According to various local reports, the cause of the accident is said to be by a human driven car not yielding to the Uber, crashing into it instead. Do you still have faith in self driving vehicles?

Source:
Tech Crunch

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Ubisoft sues Apple and Google for allowing Rainbow Six: Siege ripoff game

382

Ubisoft is now suing Apple and Google for allowing a ripoff of its Rainbow Six: Siege to be on their app stores.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbox Six: Siege is a popular Ubisoft game that has 55 million registered players and is also an esports game, so naturally the company is unhappy when there’s a ripoff version of its game. Titled “Area F2”, this ripoff is created by Alibaba and is described as a “near carbon copy” by the Rainbow Six: Siege developer.

According to a report by Bloomberg, “Virtually every aspect of AF2 is copied from R6S, front he operator selection screen to the final scoring screen, and everything in between,” said Ubisoft. The company also added that both Google and Apple have been notified of copyright infringement, but the game remains on their app stores.

As of now, Area F2 is only available in the U.S on smartphones and can be downloaded for free. Meanwhile, Rainbow Six: Siege will cost you RM70 on PC and is not available on Android and iOS devices.

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Ubisoft: no Assassin's Creed this year

304

It’s official, there will be no stabbing or slitting of throats of fictional historic figures this year. Ubisoft has made an announcement coming from the Assassin’s Creed team that the title will be taking a break this year from its annual release. It’s the game’s first time on a hiatus after annual releases dating back to 2007’s Asssasin’s Creed, the latest installment being Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.

This year, we also are stepping back and re-examining the Assassin’s Creed franchise. As a result, we’ve decided that there will not be a new Assassin’s Creed game in 2016. Since the release of Assassin’s Creed Unity, we’ve learned a lot based on your feedback. We’ve also updated our development processes and recommitted to making Assassin’s Creed a premier open-world franchise.

The team claims they’re taking the year off to develop and evolve game mechanics to deliver the promise of unique and memorable gameplay experiences. On another note, the latest title of Assassin’s Creed Chronicles series has just been released. a couple of days ago. Also, an Assassin’s Creed film is set to be released on the 21st of December this year, featuring Academy Award nominee Michael Fassbender. All in all, there will still be action from the highly acclaimed video game series.

Source: Ubiblog

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Ubisoft releases Ode, a musical adventure game

331

Every once in a while, game developers release games that are ideas from outside the box, a charming and beautiful experience that opens up our perception of Indie games. One such game is Ode, coming from the developers of Grow Up and Grow Home, it is musical exploration game that takes you into a beautiful world of colour and music.

You will explore the game’s four garden enviroments collectiong starts which will cahnge the sound and visuals that you see in the game. Seems simple enough and that is exactly what the developers wanted, Ode is a exprience more than it is a game somewhere in the likes of Journey and Abzu. It never got much advertisement or marketing but that seems to be the case in Ubisoft’s indie line up which is a shame cause this game looks beautiful.

If you are interested in picking up this gaming experience, you can head over to Ubisoft’s online store and get it for a mear $5 (RM20.52), and just to make it better, there are no loot boxes in this game.

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Ubisoft Summer Sale: up to 80% off games like Assassin’s Creed, Watch Dogs 2, Rainbow Six Siege and more

362

The Ubisoft Summer Sale is upon us and will get you discounts of up to 80% on a list of the company’s best titles.

If you’re looking for a multiplayer game to kill time with your buds –
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
 now starts from RM28 instead of its retail price of RM70 – that’s a whopping 60% off! Pricier editions of the game get discounts too – the Ultimate
Edition
 copy is now RM149.50 instead of RM299.

Image credit: Ubisoft

If an adventure is what you’re looking for, then Ubisoft’s latest
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
 is now priced at RM68.97 instead of the usual RM209. The game is filled to the brim with content like side missions, so you’re bound to get your money’s worth with ample game time.

Maybe open world Ancient Greece isn’t quite what you’re looking for, but what about open-world San Francisco?
Watch Dogs 2
 lets you be a stealthy hacker or a lunatic with guns blazing (literally), for just RM41.80 (80% discount).

The span of games going on the cheap extend much longer than what we’ve listed here, so visit Ubisoft’s website
here
 for more information.

assassins creed
Rainbow Six: Siege
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Ubuntu can be downloaded from the Windows Store now

676

Remember the days where we had to instal windows using DOS or rather, doing anything would require you to enter syntaxes and codes to make a file? Well, now you can get that rush of deja vu because Ubuntu has just landed on the Windows Store, making running the Linux-based system as easy as installing an app.

For those of you that are part of the Windows Insider Program, you can download it right now. If you are not, then joining the program can be done easily, just visit this
link
. Do take note this is not the GUI version of Ubuntu, it is the command line version. This is mainly made for administrators and programmers, but a GUI can be install, though there is a process that you will have to go through. For those of you that want to pick up some programming knowledge on how to navigate a command line operating system or perhaps just want to see in general what Linux is about can give this a try.

Previously, Microsoft mentioned that they want to make Windows Store a more useful place, and with the release of Ubuntu and iTunes on the store, it is nice to see that they are making an effort to actually improve the store which did not offer much before.

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UC Davis develops the world's first 1,000-core processor

341

If you though the 10-core Broadwell-E is excessive, allow us to introduce to you the KiloCore, the world’s first 1,000-core processor.

Developed by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of California, Davis, and fabricated by IBM using their 32nm CMOS technology, the KiloCore is a CPU that comes with 1,000 cores. This isn’t just your standard run-of-the-mill processor of course as it comes with the ability to shut down individual cores. The chip can also handle 115 billion instructions per second while using 0.7W of power, making it highly energy efficient as well.

Applications for the KiloCore are centered around tasks such as wireless coding/decoding, video processing, encryption, and others involving large amounts of parallel data such as scientific data applications and datacenter record processing.

It is highly unlikely that the KiloCore will be available for purchase. That said, some of the tech behind it, such as the ability to conserve energy by shutting down individual cores, could eventually make its way to mainstream processors as well. Whatever the case, the KiloCore is pretty much the mother of all processors right now. Only time will tell if anyone is crazy enough to develop a 2,000-core processor.

Source:
Science Daily
,
University of California – Davis

kilocore
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UEFA will be filming Euro 2016 matches in virtual reality

318

It seems that virtual reality will be heading to the Euro 2016 finals as the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) has revealed that they will be filming certain matches in virtual reality.

According to The Daily Mirror, UEFA’s chiefs have given the greenlight for dozens of Nokia OZO cameras to record 360-degree footage in various positions such as the inside of the stadium, inside the players’ tunnel, dressing rooms and even managerial press conferences.

UEFA hasn’t officially announced which matches will filmed in VR, but reports are saying the England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland matches will be given the VR treatment. We can also safely assume that the semi-finals and finals of the Euro 2016 tournament will be filmed in VR as well.

While UEFA will be filming the tournament in VR, it does not mean that the Euro 2016 will be broadcasted in VR. Right now, UEFA is considering launching a specialist YouTube channel where they will upload the footage they’ve captured during the event itself. However, nothing has been set in stone as of yet, so plans may change as the date of the tournament draws closer.

“These demonstrations continue to put us at the forefront of broadcast technological innovation. It’s UEFA’s goal that one day the watching fan will be able to watch a match through immersive virtual reality. They will experience the game if they are there in the stadium. This demonstration represents the first step towards completing the goal,” says Bernard Ross, head of UEFA TV.

Source:
The Daily Mirror

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UFS 3.0 will come with two times the speed of UFS 2.1

457

The Solid State Technology Association has just announced the specification for Universal Flash Storage version 3.0 (UFC3.0) which will offer two times the performance of UFC 2.1, allowing data rates up to 11.6Gbps per lane. They have also introduced UFS Card Extension version 1.1  which comes with minor updates.

UFS is the storage standard that is used in most modern smartphones and in the automotive industry. UFS 3.0 will also come with features like temperature alerts, device error history and more targeted to the automotive industry. It is also said that it will have an operating temperature of -40 degrees to 105 degrees Celsius. With the new UFS Host Controller Interface, it will help in creating a common host controller to work with UFS hardware developed by manufacturers.

We should be seeing this new standard in future smartphones and automotive products that support the storage. At the moment, there are no companies that announced plans to adopt this new storage standard in their products, but once it becomes widely available, we will be seeing huge improvements in speeds for future smartphones.

3.0
standard
storage
ufs


UIMI Technologies introduces U9, a 10,000mAh powerbank

316

UIMI Technologies a company that offers a wide range of unique powerbanks, has just announced the new sleek powerbank U9 that comes with a powerful 10,000 mAh li-polymer battery and a sleek leather finish design.

The powerbank comes with FitCharge technology that detect the device input current demand and its specific charging requirement, in addition to that the powerbank does not have a button for charging, it has an Automatic Connection that detects when a device is plugged in and charges it. It comes equipped with a single input port for charging, dual output USB port for charging 2 devices at once, LED battery indicator and LED torch light.

Currently the powerbank is only available in India with a retail price of Rs. 699 (RM46.44) and will come in a leather finish with white or blue colour. There is no announcement on when it will reach our shores but the price would definitely be competitive in the Malaysian market. For more information on the U9 visit UIMI’s official website
here
.

fitcharge
powerbank
U9
UIMI


This UK apartment gives you Uber credits for giving up your parking spot

346

We can all agree that ride sharing services are beneficial in a way that they reduce the number of drivers on the road. Specific featured services such as UberPOOL encourages users to carpool in the ride sharing app, which cuts down the number of vehicles on the road in the long run. Uber has partnered up with a UK apartment developer, whereby residents receive Uber credits for giving up their parking spaces.

Moda Living UK and Uber have set up a unique kind of collaboration for the former’s future residents. Instead of having to rent a parking space on a monthly basis, Moda Living has provided an alternative to its future apartment residents. The property developer is offering up to £100 in Uber credits per month for residents who are willing to give up their parking spaces.

As an added bonus, Moda Living will convert former parking spaces into new amenities for the benefit of residents, such as media rooms and fitness centres. Through this partnership, both Uber and Moda Living hope to reduce traffic congestion and pollution in London, UK. This collaboration will encourage the reduction of vehicle ownership as well.

While this certainly sounds like a step towards a more sustainable development, it will take a some time before we experience the positive effects from an idea like this one. Will this idea work in Malaysia?

apartment
credits
living
moda
parking
property
rent
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sharing
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spot
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uk


UK bans Huawei technology citing security concerns, China hits back at baseless decision

487

First America, now the UK – reports say that England prime minister Boris Johnson has been begun the process of
banning
 all Huawei equipment from the UK’s 5G development pipeline by 2027, citing national security concerns as the reason.

That’s exactly the same reason why the
US
have banned the Chinese company too – that’s two global powerhouses now giving Huawei the side-eye. According to Bloomberg, the ban imposed by the UK stems from a strategy of risk management – the risk apparently being the Chinese government using Huawei’s equipment to spy on the nation.

Image credit: New York Times

Because of that, China has openly fired back at the Johnson administration’s “groundless” ban. BBC quotes China’s ambassador Liu Xiaoming as saying the decision was “not only disappointing, it’s disheartening”; he then followed that by saying “the way you treat Huawei will be followed closely by other Chinese businesses”. This suggests that more Chinese companies may pull out of the UK after this ban in.

Image credit: Cnet

Interestingly, UK’s decision makers are well aware of the repercussions of the ban, which includes a cumulative cost of £2bn, plus the rollout of 5G technology would be delayed by two to three years – that’s a hefty sum to pay considering the UK wants to be right up there with its peers in 5G adoption; but seeing as they’re willing to bear the costs for the reasons cited before, could there be some sliver of truth to claims of China spying on countries using Huawei’s equipment?

What do you think – could more countries soon decide to ban Huawei too? Let us know in the comments!

5g
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boris johnson
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england
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us


Ulefone Armor X7 survives being hammered and knifed

319

It’s not
every day
 we get smartphone ads that don’t take itself too seriously nowadays – and it’s a sight for sore eyes when something like this comes along; the
Ulefone
 Armor X7 is supposedly built as sturdy as a rock and the company released a video to demonstrate.

The last time we tried something like this, we destroyed the phone – a Samsung Galaxy S10+ mind you:

Anyways, in
Ulefone’s
 video we see someone abuse the device by dropping a hammer on the device, peppering it with knife cuts, drilling it with an electric drill and more. This was all done on the display itself and the smartphone looks to have come out
unscathed
.

Despite its tough exterior, the phone doesn’t look all that impressive when talking about specs – you get a 5-inch 720p LCD display, a MediaTek
Helio
 A20 chipset, 2GB RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. Dated hardware to say the least, but at least it comes shipped with the latest Android 10 though.
For imaging
 it has a decent 13MP shooter and a 5MP selfie camera.

Image credit: Android Headlines

This phone is very obviously meant for outgoing people who ride ATVs and jump out of aeroplanes. If anything, this phone is there to either document their stunts or call emergency services when things go south.

mediatek helio a20
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UltraGear 17G90Q: LG’s first ever gaming laptop

1.2K

We’ve always known LG for its TVs and home appliances but now, the company is broadening its horizons by
announcing

its first-ever gaming laptop, called the LG UltraGear 17G90Q.

Image Credit: LG

Just like LG’s lightweight
gram

laptops, the UltraGear 17G90Q is built with portability in mind and sports a thin, streamlined design with a thickness under 21.4mm and weight less than 2.7kg. The casing is made out of aluminum to offer increased durability while maintaining a premium look.

It packs a 17.3-inch FHD IPS panel that pushes a whopping 300Hz refresh rate. Under the hood is an 11th Gen Intel Tiger Lake H Core processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Max-Q graphics card. This laptop comes with up to 1TB of storage and you can choose between 16 or 32GB of DDR4 RAM.

Image Credit: LG

You also get LG’s gaming software — LG UltraGear Studio, which allows you to track your CPU clock, GPU TDP and clock, and memory share rate in real time. For you RGB-lovers, this laptop does come with an RGB backlit keyboard and each key is customisable with the software.

Contrary to its slim and compact design, the UltraGear 17G90Q  provides an array of ports to your usage:

2x USB 4 Gen 3 Type-C

1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C

1x USB 3.2 Gen 2

HDMI

Ethernet

MicroSD card slot

Headphone jack

Other than that, the device packs a 1080p webcam, a 93Wh battery, a fingerprint reader on the power button, Wi-Fi 6, and even its own cooling system.

The LG UltraGear 17G90Q will be available in the colour Purple Gray and sales for it will start early 2022 in the United States and South Korea. For more information, you can check out LG’s
website

on 4 January 8AM PST for CES 2022.

Source –
LG

lg
ultragear 17G90Q


The ultralight Acer Swift 5 has arrived in Malaysia, price starts from RM3,799

479

The Acer Swift 5 is officially in Malaysia, made for users that want a light and sleek laptop to carry around as it comes in at 14.9 mm and an extremely light weight of 970g. The body is constructed using magnesium-lithium alloys, giving the laptop its lightweight profile but keeping it durable.

The new Swift 5 comes equipped with the laters 8th Generation Intel Core processors, 8GB of DDR4 RAM and 256GB SSD, offering a fast and responsive experience. The 14-inch FHD touchscreen display will offer great visual and Acer has reduced the bezels to offer an enjoyable experience when browsing social media or watching your favourite movies. Acer has claimed that the battery will give you 8 hours of use on a single charge, which would be enough to get you through work or school.

Other than that, it also comes with features like Acer Fingerprint Reader, and Acer TrueHarmony with Dolby Audio Premium technology to give you an immersive audio experience.

The Acer Swift 5 comes in two models, the i5 or i7 variants which are priced at RM3,799 and RM4,599 respectively. Both the models are currently available for purchase from all authorised Acer resellers nationwide.

5
acer
refreshed
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UMi Super to have dual-camera, Snapdragon 820 SoC and 6GB RAM

468

Most of you are probably not familiar with UMi, one of the many smartphone manufacturers in China striving to push out devices that can smoke major flagship handsets in terms of pricing. Lately, the Chinese OEM has been rumored to be in the works of a device dubbed the UMi Super.

According to GizmoChina, the UMi Super was recently rumored to sport a bezel-less screen. On top of that, the handset is also tipped to feature a dual-camera setup, which will might just make the UMi Super stand out from the rest in 2016, apart from the likes of the LG G5 and Huawei P9. Following up on the aforementioned rumors, more have come our way along with a leaked image teaser of the phone, which seems to boast its USB Type-C port with fast charging capabilities.

Other rumors include the powerful Snapdragon 820 processor running underneath the hood with a whopping 6GB of RAM, as seen on the VIVO XPlay 5 and the Z2 Pro by Lenovo spinoff company ZUK, both of which are Chinese. It seems like the trend of maxing out spec sheets will remain a Chinese thing for now. Last but not least, the UMi Super is rumored to carry a mere $300 (RM1,174.05), which will turn out to be pretty competitive if that’s true. What do you think?

Source:
GizmoChina

6gb
820
camera
china
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ram
smartphone
snapdragon
super
umi


UN bans shipments of Lithium-ion batteries on passenger planes

323

Lithium-ion battery shipments will no longer be allowed on passenger planes as the International Civil Aciation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations Specialized Agency, has decided to prohibit it.

Starting on the 1st of April, all shipments of Lithium-ion batteries will no longer be allowed on commercial flights. This decision is expect to last until the ICAO and its partners can implement new, fire-resistant packaging standards for lithium batteries. Currently, this new packaging is expected to roll out by 2018.

“Safety is always our most fundamental priority in international civil aviation. This interim prohibition will continue to be in force as seperate work continues through ICAO on a new lithium battery packaging performance standard, currently expected by 2018,” says Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, ICAO Council Persident.

The decision to ban lithium-ion battery shipments on passenger planes is due to the fact that lithium-ion batteries may expand and combust as the battery decays.

If you’re worried that this ruling would affect your carry on device, don’t be. The decision bans only lithium-ion shipments in the cargo area, this means that you’ll still be able to carry your smart devices on board.

Source:
The Verge
,
ICAO

icao
lithiumion
un


Unboxed images of the OnePlus 5T are up

309

The Lava Red OnePlus 5T will be going on sale in China this 17 December in conjunction with the 4th anniversary of OnePlus. This special edition handset is slated to hit select regions worldwide as well. But for now, we have come across some unboxing images of the OnePlus 5T with a new paint job.

Based on the first image above, we can confirm that the Lava Red OnePlus 5T will come in the same retail box as the regular Midnight Black variant. Other images mostly showcase a closer look at the device itself, which can be found at the source link below. All the hardware buttons such as the volume rocker, power button and alert slider are in Lava Red as well. The OnePlus logo is in black, and definitely stands out more with the Lava Red model than on the Midnight Black model. The subtle antenna lines are in a brighter shade of red.

The specs of the Lava Red OnePlus 5T are retained from the regular variant – a 6-inch Full HD+ display at 18:9 aspect ratio, Snapdragon 835 with 8GB of RAM, 128GB storage and a 3,300mAh battery. Do you prefer the Midnight Black or Lava Red model of the OnePlus 5T?

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Unboxing and Review: ASUS Maximus VIII Gene

504

Since Intel first launched their first generation Core-I processors, the ROG series motherboard from ASUS earns its reputation of outstanding overclocking potential and best looking. Then, the ASUS Maximus VIII GENE is one of the latest addition to the ROG family with Intel LGA 1151 support. The Maximus VIII Gene make its debut as one of the high-end motherboard in the ROG series based on Intel Z170 chipset and support for Intel LGA 1151 socket CPU. The Intel Z170 Express chipset is capable of providing better performance by utilizing serial point-to-point links, allowing increased bandwidth and stability.

Specifications

Unboxing

The front of the box show off the ROG eye logo at the top left, then the model name for the motherboard is located middle of the box. We spotted some badges being placed at the bottom, and it show the motherboard can support the new Intel Z170 chipset, NVIDIA SLI, AMD CrossFire, 4K and Windows 10 Ready.

A preview of the motherboard and it’s prominent features such as SupremeFX 2015, USB 3.1 ports, Intel Ethernet and KeyBot II is mentioned at the back of the box.

The motherboard features rich I/O includes P/S 2 port, DisplayPort, HDMI, LAN Port, USB 3.1 (Black) Type-C, USB 3.1 (Red) Type-A, 6x USB 3.0 (Blue), Optical S/PDIF, Audio Jacks, Clear CMOS, and USB BIOS Flashback Buttons.

Good people from ASUS decided to include a debug screen for overclockers or normal users to detect any problem that occur on the motherboard.

Besides the debug screen, ASUS also included an easy button to switch on and reset button for ease access.

The motherboard also has a south bridge heatsink that features an ROG eye which is red in color.

For those users that hunger of storage, the ASUS Maximus VIII Gene features six SATA ports and one M.2 socket. Now you can maximise your storage to the maximum with high speed and capacity.

The motherboard also features a SupremeFX chip that will provide users one of the best audio output among another competitor in the market.

Test Rig Configuration

Synthetic Benchmark

We ran a few benchmarks as our baseline to measure the potential of the motherboard; the motherboard can score 899 which is scored slightly below Intel Core i7-3930K. However, on Firestrike Extreme benchmark it scores the same as the previous generation ASUS Z97 Sabertooth motherboard, which makes most people think twice about buying this. Overall on the benchmark that have been tested, we believe this motherboard has a potential in overclocking to the maximum if you have the proper cooling system to push it further.

Overclocking

We managed to push the processor up to 4.9 GHz with 1.4 Vcore and managed to run a stability test with Intel Extreme Tuning Utility for 5 minutes. The temperature of the Intel Core i7-6700K is impressive because the maximum temperature on the processor is only 80 Celsius.

Besides the stress test that we did on the overclocked processor, we didn’t miss the chance to run it on Fire Strike Extreme that brings a significant gap from 2363 to 3679 with 1,326 difference between it. If you are one of the owners of Intel Core i7 6700K, try to overclock your processor with a proper cooling solution then you will save the hassle of upgrading your platform every few years or months.

asus
intel
motherboard
pcmasterrace
skylake
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Unboxing and Review: NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 980 Ti

454

On the 1st of June 2015, NVIDIA has officially released their latest flagship GeForce GTX 980 the graphics card, the graphic card is based on the GM200 platform which is similar to the GTX Titan X and we are able to secure one review unit, let’s get our hands dirty.

Specifications

Unboxing

The box is the similar one just like the GTX Titan X we have reviewed, within however this elegant and minimalist packaging now contains the latest NVIDIA GTX 980 Ti.

The packaging looks solid and able to withstand any impact toward the box. NVIDIA GTX 980 Ti can’t seem to wait to jump in the testbed.

The card has a similar chassis to GTX Titan but within the chassis it has a huge black heatsink which able to cool down the card easily with its blower type of cooler.

The NVIDIA GTX 980 Ti is only powered with an 8-pin and 6-pin PCIe power connector which similar to Titan X again, pretty sweet technology you have there NVIDIA.

Isn’t this familiar? It looks like the same exhaust vent of the GTX Titan X that we have previously reviewed. The GTX 980 Ti offers video output as following: 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort, 1x DVI-I.

Moving on to the back of the GTX 980 Ti we can see that it is capable of doing 4-way SLI alike the GTX Titan X by judging the numbers of the LSI fingers available. Unlike the GTX Titan X, there will be total 12 memory chips missing because the card will carry only 6GB. However, don’t underestimate the card because it still able to handle 4K resolution monitor.

Test Rig Configuration

Test Rig Configuration

CPU Cooler

Cooler Master Nepton 280L

CPU

Intel Core i7 4790K

Motherboard

ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1

Memory

HyperX Fury @1866MHz

Primary Hard Drive

LiteOn S900 240GB

Power Supply

Cooler Master G750M

Chassis

Cooler Master Test Bench V1.0

Performance, Overclocking

We ran a few graphically demanding games and synthetic benchmark with 1080p and 4k monitors and it’s 6GB video memory is definitely sufficient for us to push the limit.

Maximum boost clock of 1075 MHz (75 MHz gain from the stock boost clock of 1000 MHz

7000 MHz on the memory clock

2V on the voltage for GPU

Games Benchmark on 1080p

While running at its stock clock speed, we’re already seeing a pretty good score from the GTX 980 Ti before we try to overclock the GPU due to its 75 MHz boost clock. It wouldn’t be much improved, but there is some significant improvement.

Games Benchmark on 4K

With 6GB of VRAM, you are definitely going to test it on a high resolution display with that much of memory and that’s why we have a 4K monitor for running our tests. Even though 4K monitor might be expensive for now, you might want to consider buying one now for future proof.

3DMark: Fire Strike Ultra

The Fire Strike Ultra score without overclocking the GTX 980 Ti.

After 250 MHz and 250 MHz boost to the GPU clock and memory clock, we’re able to gain an additional 738 points to the score.

Verdict

It seems weird that NVIDIA decided to announce their latest flagship even though they just announced the world most powerful single graphic card in a few months ago – the GTX Titan X. However, the GTX 980 Ti serves as a good high-end card for those who aren’t able to pay the price of the TITAN X while not sacrificing too much performance in 4K gaming.

At this point of time, there are still a lot of gamers out there who are still holding on to their GTX 780 which once costs similar to the GTX 980 Ti, they will certainly look forward to upgrade to it because there is more than 50% performance improvement from its predecessor.

Check out this article with 5 reasons why you should purchase the GTX 980 Ti over
here
.

Pros

Good overclocking potential

Good gaming performance

6GB are still able to beef out 4K resolution game

Cost half less than Titan X for 32% lesser performance

Batman: Arkham Knight will be included

DX 12 ready

Cons

Can’t run maximum setting in 4K

No backplate


Unboxing and Review: NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan X

475

The review is presented by
KLGadgetGuy.com
 and contributed by
Tech-Critter.com

On the 17th of March 2015, NVIDIA have officially released their latest flagship GeForce GTX TITAN X graphics card, the ultimate ‘Big Daddy’ Maxwell flagship that features something we don’t get to see very often on a graphics card targeting the high end user market – a whopping 12GB of DDR5
video memory
!

In collaboration with our dear friend Warren Lee from
www.klgadgetguy.com
, we bring you the most powerful single GPU based graphics card yet from NVIDIA. The GTX Titan X shows great resemblance with the GTX Titan known to all, except that its shroud is covered in black.

Specifications

Unboxing

Unboxing

Inside this elegant and minimalist packaging, lies the world’s most advanced GPU – or at least that’s how NVIDIA claimed the GTX Titan X to be.

While this looks just fancy enough, it is pretty much impossible for you to get a GTX Titan X from the store that is packed in this majestic packaging.

Since the new Maxwell architecture GPU is named after the famous Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell (mentioned by NVIDIA’s CEO Jen-Hsun Huang during Game 24), NVIDIA has decided to have one of the differential form of the Ampère Maxwell Law equation printed on the box.

Aside of being 90% covered in black, the GTX Titan X doesn’t looks any much different if we were to compare it to the GTX Titan. However, black does makes themed build much easier compared to the silver-colored GTX Titan.

A graphics card of its capability powered only by a 8-pin and 6-pin PCIe power connector, pretty impressive we must say.

The exhaust vent of the GTX Titan X looks exactly the same as the one on the
Leadtek GTX 980 Hurricane
 that we’ve previously reviewed. The GTX Titan X offers video output as following: 1 x HDMI, 3 x DisplayPort, 1 x DVI-I.

Unlike the traditional blower design cooler, NVIDIA’s new reference cooler design allows heat to escape from the front instead of having it trapped in that tiny space at the front. It’s a little trade off in exchange for better cooling performance, which we consider it worthy.

From the back of the GTX Titan X we can see that it is capable of 4-way SLI judging the numbers of the SLI fingers available. A closer look at the memory chip reveals that SK Hynix memory chip is used on the GTX Titan X where each memory chip carries a total capacities of 512MB. With a total of 24 memory chips (12 chips on each side of the PCB), the GTX Titan X carries a whopping 12GB memory that will do pretty much enough even for 4K resolution monitor (theoretically).

Performance Test

Test Rig Configuration

CPU Cooler

Corsair Hydro Series H100i

CPU

Intel Core i7 5960X

Motherboard

ASUS Sabertooth X99

Memory

HyperX Predator @3000MHz

Primary Hard Drive

Crucial M500 120GB

Power Supply

Cooler Master V1200

Chassis

Vector Benchcase

We’ve conducted our test by installing the GTX Titan X to our test bench as above and each and every benchmark is conducted in a room with 30C° ambient temperature.

Performance,
Overclocking
We ran a few graphically demanding games and synthetic benchmark in our possession on 1080p and 4k resolution – It’s a whopping 12GB
video memory
 right? Due limited voltage adjustment, we’ve only managed to push the GTX Titan X to its highest stable clock that is able to complete each game benchmark with the following values:

Maximum boost clock of 1345 MHz (270 MHz gain from the stock boost clock of 1075 MHz)

7828 MHz on the memory clock

1.2V on the voltage for GPU

Games Benchmark on 1080p

While running on its stock clock speed, we’re already seeing a pretty good score from the GTX Titan X itself and with the very solid overclocking performance of up to 270MHz boost on this sample unit, we’re seeing a very significant improvement of 13% in average on the games that we’ve tested.

Games Benchmark on 4K

12GB worth of
video memory
 would be pointless if you don’t really utilize that much of it and that’s why, we have the 4K resolution test. It’s true that 4K resolution monitor isn’t everyone’s choice of monitor but we’d like to see what kind of performance can the GTX Titan X deliver if it runs on 4K resolution.

4K resolution is a whole different level of display that is very taxing to even the most powerful single GPU graphics card to date and we’ve previously experienced that during the ASUS LAN Party that took place at MaGIC Center, Cyberjaya. The GTX Titan X as the current most powerful single GPU graphics card, couldn’t escape from the wrath of the 4K resolution as well. Majority of the games we’ve tested couldn’t even hit the 40 FPS mark (except for Tomb Raider) even after overclocked.

3DMark: Fire Strike

The Fire Strike score without any overclocking done to the card

After 270 MHz and 818 MHz boost to the GPU clock and memory clock, we’re able gain an extra 1388 to the score.

Temperature

We’ve ran a 15 minute burn-in test on the FurMark GPU stress test utility with the fan operate under normal mode and maximum fan speed mode and the temperature for both test is recorded and populated in the graph above.

Verdict

The GTX Titan X comes out of the box with 1075 MHz and 7010 MHz on both GPU clock and memory clock respectively and to our surprise, it overclocks quite well. We’re able to stretch the performance with another extra 270 MHz and 818 MHz gain to the GPU clock and memory clock, that’s pretty impressive result despite of the long implemented Green Light program by NVIDIA to limit the voltage control for that extra juice to the performance.

Temperature wise, the reference Titan cooler is doing a fine job keeping the GTX Titan X below its maximum operating temperature of 91°C. While operating at normal speed, idle temperature hovers around 41°C and peaked at 86°C on full load. By sacrificing a little of the acoustic performance and turn up the fan speed to maximum, we’re able to achieve a lower temperature reading; with idle temperature dropped to 38°C and load temperature dropped to 84°C, not really impressive but it’ll still get the job done.

The GTX Titan X is indeed a beast when it comes to single GPU performance and it’ll last you for a couple of years without much of an issue. The only concern here is the hefty price tag of RM4,650 that is going to burn a giant hole in your pocket, not to mention that you could already get 2 x GTX 980 for SLI with that amount of money.

Pros

Aesthetic appearance and solid to the touch

Good overclocking potential

Good gaming performance

12GB
video memory
 for that extra juicy gaming performance on high resolution

Cons

Hefty price tag

No custom PCB design

4K resolution is still taxing the GTX Titan X really hard


Unboxing the Galaxy S7 with a llama

333

Prior to the launch of the Galaxy S7 next week, Samsung is creating more hype for smartphone enthusiasts worldwide by releasing a mini-series of ads named “Seven Days of Unboxing”. The privileged figure to unbox the new flagship is rather an unconventional one. No, it isn’t an Asian, but rather, a llama.

Samsung had the llama “unbox” the phone at what seems to be a secure room with a timer. Once the timer finishes, the llama is then escorted out by its caretaker to give its own impression of the device, by painting it? Yes. The llama was required to paint the Galaxy S7 out using a paintbrush by its own mouth, and the results were astonishingly abstract.

You might wonder how many llamas went through casting for Samsung to pick an artistic one. Not only that, this llama has a name, Kuzco. Kuzco also turns out to be a character of Disney’s animated movie “The Emperor’s New Groove”, who in the movie turned into a llama from human. At the end of the video ad, the words “This is what he saw” was displayed on the screen, indicating Kuzco’s expressionist finish of painting the S7. Poor confused llama. The video can be watched
here
.

Source:
Samsung (YouTube)

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Uncharted 4: A Thief's End officially released in Malaysia

417

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End was released on Wednesday. In order to celebrate the occassion, Play Interactive has held a launch event/roadshow at Sunway Pyramid.

On the day of the midnight launch, over 500 people showed up to the event to collect their copies of Uncharted 4. While waiting for midnight, attendees were treated to various activities such as a mini shooting range, photoshoots with a Nathan Drake cosplayer, Uncharted 1, 2 and 3 game demos, as well as a Spin N Win activity.

The main highlight of the entire event was the midnight launch of course, as a queue begun forming at around 9pm. Once the clock struck midnight, the game was made available for pick up and Farzan Mihanzadeh was the first person in Malaysia to own a copy of Uncharted 4. “I can’t believe that I am actually the first person waiting in line! The Uncharted series is one of my favourite games on PlayStation of all time and I am extremely happy and proud at the same time to be the first person to receive the official game copy as it launches in the country,” says Mihanzadeh.

Besides the game launch, attendees were also treated to a lucky-draw post-launch where they stand to win entrance tickets plus return flight to the Tokyo Games Show 2016, a limited edition Uncharted 4 PlayStation 4 Console bundle, and many more.

The Uncharted 4 Roadshow will be held until the 15th of May.

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Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy Dual Pack is now available for RM229

505

Sony has just announced that the Uncharted Dual Pack for PlayStation 4 is now available for purchase. The pack come with Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy which are the last two games in the Uncharted saga.

Uncharted 4 will see players in the role of Nathan Drake as he is pulled out a retirement for one last job that will reunite him with all the previous characters and the unexpected return of his brother who was thought to be dead. Players will be taken to different locations around the world filled with action-packed moments and amazing stunts that will keep you on the edge of your seats.

The Lost Legacy, on the other hand, takes place years after the events of Uncharted 4 and follows Nadine Ross and Chloe Frazer as they travel to the depts of India to uncover a lost treasure that Chloe’s father was uncovering. From, enemies to friends, it is definitely the sendoff that the Uncharted series deserves.

The Dual Pack comes with a retail price of RM229 and can be purchased from all the game shops from today onwards.

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Uncharted The Lost Legacy Review: Work Of Art That Needs Slight Polishing

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When I finally pushed myself to betray the great master race and got a PS4, the first game that I knew as a gamer I should be playing would be the renowned Uncharted series, a masterpiece in game engineering and development that pushed the boundaries of what the PS4 could give to us. I was blown away by the sheer beauty that all four games provided me, knowing that the first game, despite being visually stunning, but had a slight drag to it, still satisfied me when the credits rolled and I was looking forward to diving into the second, third and fourth game. When I finish the fourth game I was devastated as I had to admit, it was one of the best series that I ever had the pleasure to play. It was like watching the last episode of the last season of a favourite TV series, it left me with one thought in my mind, “what do I do now”. Then, they announced Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and I was once again overfilled with a purpose. Let’s put the melodrama aside and dive into the new entry into the Uncharted series.

I think I don’t need to say this but this review will contain multiple spoilers, so if you are looking to come into the game blind, this is where you stop reading. That aside, the new entry takes place after the end of the last game and follows the adventures of Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross on an adventure into the jungles of India to discover a long-lost civilization that Chloe’s father was researching and locating but never managed to find in his life time. You play as smart witted Chloe accompanied by Nadine who lost her company, Shoreline, during the events of the fourth game and is hoping to recover it with the riches that they will find in the jungles of India. This gives to players an interesting dynamic from the duos, front being business partners to being long lost friends that they never knew they were as the game progress.

Design

If you have played the fourth game, then the game will have a very similar art style, beautiful lighting and shadows will still be seen in this game alongside the full motion acting that Naughty Dog is renowned for. Playing the game feels more like being a director playing out the movements of an action movie as every action and events feel like something Michel Bay would direct. Temples and dark caverns are beautiful to observe and that is even better with the Photo Mode that they included from the previous entry, and the landscape will make your jaw drop as the jungles of India looks so breath taking and you could simply pan the camera for hours looking at the trees sway in the wind.

Gameplay

Again, similar to the previous games, the epic gun fights make a comeback and the cover system that is also vital to survivability has been slightly polished making it easier to take cover, but the opponents A.I. seem to have been a tad bit improved, knowing that you are taking cover and using sneaky tactics to approach you from another direction and for those of you that are unaware of your surroundings, it forces you to be constantly on the move, hiding from cover to cover while shooting back at the enemies.

However, the open world was slightly disappointing as they don’t really give you the option to explore seeing as how they already marked the maps on locations that you should visit, making it unnecessary to do the exploration yourself. There aren’t many events that take place while travelling to your destination other than the small groups of patrols that are easy to avoid if you are driving the jeep.

The Bad

Now you might think that this game is another gem that Sony had the chance to bring to their system, but the game feels like it’s not very polished. Sometimes if you pan the camera beyond its limits, the textures and landscape seem to flicker and sometimes disappear, disorientating you tremendously. There were also instances where certain events do not trigger making you reload the chapter and playing it again in hopes that you do not run into the game breaking bugs.

Naughty Dog did mention that when they had some issues making the game fit into ten hours and they were working hard to solve that, but what came out was a rushed story that does not give you enough time to absorb the current story of the area before moving into the next stage or scene. I did wish that they took their time with it making it into a full blown game rather than something like the Last of Us: Left Behind which had a similar length but felt like it took its time in establishing the characters and stories.

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Uncharted Nathan Drake Collection PS4 Bundle coming soon!

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We just got the news that
Sony
 was going to release a Star Wars PlayStation 4 bundle not too long ago, and now,
Sony
 will be launching another bundle – the Uncharted Nathan Drake Collection PS4 Bundle that includes the first three Uncharted games for PS4.

This bundle will not only include three of Nathan Drake’s globetrotting adventures, but a 500GB PS4 and one controller as well. All the single player campaigns for Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception are all included as part of this bundle. These games have all been remastered and refined, so expect beautifully rendered graphics, immersing you as you live the adventure.

Uncharted Nathan Drake Collection PS4 Bundle will be launched on October 9th, 2015, and will be priced at US$399.99.

Source:
 PlayStation Blog


Uncharted: The Lost Legacy has a release date and price

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Its finally here, Naughty Dog’s final instalment in the Uncharted series comes as a spinoff will have a major focus on Nadine Ross, the co-villain of Uncharted 4, and Chloe Frazer who we all know and love from Uncharted 2 and 3. The game will be a standalone DLC and at the time of the announcement, a new trailer has been released showing some cinematic scene between Nadine and Chloe.

Naughty Dog has also said that the game will have a run time of more than 10 hours, which is significantly longer from their previous standalone game Left Behind, complementing The Last of Us game, which only had a run time of 3 hours. Naughty Dog has mention that they have no discipline to take out a short story like what they did for Left Behind, as they would likely produce a full game. What is happening is just that, they are having issues keeping it the game short and took out a game that is 10 hours long (which I believe no one is complaining)

It’s really sad to know that this is the last Uncharted story that Naughty Dog will produce to the point that it will not even feature Nathan Drake. The standalone will be priced at 40 USD and will contain Uncharted series’ biggest level ever. Even bigger than the dessert level in Uncharted 4? We will have wait and see as the game will release on August 22 exclusively on PS4.

Source:
Gamespot,
 Image source:
NaughtyDog

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Under the Radar: Accessories for Apple-centric users

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This one’s for the Apple fans out there who can’t get enough of Apple products or have already surrounded themselves with more Apple devices than an average user. In today’s Under the Radar, we’ll be featuring accessories that will either make your life with Apple devices more convenient or more functional.

1. Libra

Image credit: Kickstarter

No, we’re not talking about Facebook’s cryptocurrency, nor are we talking about your zodiac sign. Libra is a keyboard with a built-in trackpad that connects via Bluetooth. It offers a MacBook-like experience, especially since iPadOS now offers mouse support.

Libra also comes with a row of function keys — something I wished was in the Smart Folio Keyboard by Apple — that allows brightness and volume adjustment, inching it closer to being MacBook-like. It also comes with RGB backlit keys and with a 4,000mAh built-in battery, you can use the USB-C port to charge your iPad/iPhone if they ever run out of juice.

Libra
 supports the four sizes of the iPad Pro — 9.7”, 10.5”, 11” and 12.9”. You can start pledging for this project from $89 and it’s estimated to deliver in January 2020.

2. Sketchboard Pro

Image credit: Braintreehouse

We know many artists love using the iPad for drawings, sketches and illustrations, and the Sketchboard Pro makes it easier for artists to expand their creativity with the iPad. It can either be placed flat on a drawing table or propped up at a 20-degree incline against a desk for more comfort.

The Sketchboard Pro is described as a “cradle”, where you can attach your iPad to its center so you get a smooth and flat surface that lets you move your hands around without disruptions. In addition, there are magnetic plates embedded in the product so your iPad Pro won’t fall off even when you’re moving around.

Image credit: Braintreehouse

The company, Braintreehouse, is also adding a third fold-out leg for those who wish to use it in portrait orientation, and a charging port so your iPad can be charged while you’re using the Sketchboard Pro. This accessory supports all iPads with Apple Pencil support except for the iPad mini.

The
Sketchboard Pro
 is available from $50 onwards and will start shipping in March 2020.

3. EarBuddyz 2.0

Image credit: KeyBudz

AirPods are the inspiration for current wireless earbuds, but there might be some who’d agree that despite its good quality, AirPods may not be the best out there when it comes to gym sessions or jogging at the park. For those who found it hard to keep the AirPods or even EarPods in their ears while they’re running, EarBuddyz 2.0 is one accessory you won’t want to miss.

Using premium silicone material, EarBuddyz keep your AirPods and EarPods comfortably fitted into your ears. In addition, the accessory is reported to have improved noise isolation so unwanted environmental noise can be reduced.

The
Earbuddyz
 2.0 comes in Black, White, Pink and Blue and can be purchased on Amazon for $9.95.

4. Power1

Image credit: Power1

One thing about AirPods is that you’ll need to bring the case along if you’re worried that your earbuds might run out of battery. In comes Power1 — a battery case that charges both your iPhone and your AirPods.

The Power1 is an iPhone case with 3,000mAh battery that also has “pocket” for you to keep your AirPods. It has two modes; one to charge your AirPods and one to charge both your AirPods and iPhone simultaneously.

Power1
 is available from $94 onwards and will start shipping from March 2020. Unfortunately, it is only available for the iPhone X, XS, XR and XS Max.

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Sketchboard Pro


Under the Radar: AI gadgets for the lazy homeowner

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This month’s Under the Radar is written by yours truly, Victor – Yvonne’s temporarily out of commission;
so
 to mark my cameo in the series, I want to explore tech that ring true to how I aim to live life. This month’s list of quirky, underappreciated gadgets will revolve around helping the lazy homeowner.
So
 sit back, relax, and let these machines do the household duties for you.

Shine Bathroom Assistant

Image credit: Shine Bathroom

Three things are certain in life – death, taxes, and adults dreading cleaning their toilets. But what if humans can somehow automate this chore with sensors and even AI?

Shine offers just that – shaped like a blender, the device cleans your toilet bowl, without chemicals, automatically when you flush, or when
you
 prompt it with its companion app or Alexa. To get it to work, place the device near the toilet, connect the clamp sensor to the waterline, and the tethered spray nozzle to the toilet bowl.

Fill the device with water and a cleaning pod and you’re good to go. The cleaning pod acts with the water to create electrolyzed liquid that, according to its creators, is as effective as bleach at cleaning and deodorizing toilets.

Plus, you can use it with Shine’s SAM AI app that lets you manage cleaning schedules and alert you when the sensor detects a water leak. The AI is also Alexa enabled so just holler if you need to rinse your bowl. The machine runs on batter that lasts up to six months before needing a charge.

Shine Bathroom Assistant
 is priced at RM413 and will be shipped February 2020.

LavvieBot
 S

Image credit: LavvieBot

This one’s for those who have a fluffy fur-friend at home (a cat that is), and as cute as they are, they make a mean mess when they do their business. Well,
LavvieBot
 S is what its creators call an IOT-enabled, automated lavatory for your kitty.

So, get this right,
LavvieBot
 does these things – it cleans automatically, refills the litter box automatically and is compatible with a companion app! The device itself looks a lot like a mini washing machine – it’s 27.7-inches tall, 19.5-inches wide and 22.9-inches long. It’s got an opening for your pet to hop into to do its business. Internally, the machine is equipped with a few sensors to detect any activity that happens inside.

Once the deuce has been dropped, the machine uses a raking mechanism to scoops droppings into a waste container, which can hold up to three-weeks’ worth of excretion. You can set a waiting period of 15-90 minutes before the machines starts the cleaning process to allow for the droi ppings to harden.

Once the litter has depleted, the machine will automatically refill the tray with more from the built-in litter silo of sorts. We said the machine is IOT-enabled, and it is – you can pair it with the
PurrSong
 app that lets you monitor your cat, as well as its bowel movement patterns – yikes!

The
LavvieBot
 S has several other features, so visit their IndieGoGo page
here
 to learn more about it. The lavatory is priced at RM2,290 and is estimated to ship to backers in April 2020.

SwitchBot Curtain

Have you ever been in a situation where you’re slumped in your comfy sofa, while catching up on some TV; but suddenly the sun rises ever-so-slightly, blasting your living room with enough light to power ten solar panels; but you you’re in such a comfort-induced vegetative state that you can’t be bothered to shut the curtains yourself (we’re getting to the point, bear with me).

SwitchBot
 Curtain is a little machine that lets you automate the opening and closing of your existing curtains. It hooks onto your curtain rail at certain right at the edge of each curtain – when
prompted
, it moves along the rails,
copening
 and closing your curtains too.

It is completely wireless and can be operating with a remote; alternatively, you can use voice commands as it supports Google Home, Alexa and Siri. It also works with an accompanying app that lets your schedule when it operates, meaning you can set it to sync up with your nap time, bed time or when you wake up. Plus, the
SwitchBot
 is powered with a 3,400mAh battery that lasts up to eight months before needing a charge.

The
SwitchBot
 Curtain is priced at RM413 and gets you the machine itself, two hooks, and a
SwitchBot
 Hub Mini. The product ships April 2020.

FoldiMate

https://klgadgetguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Foldimate-video.mp4

Here’s another thing people dread – laundry folding; and yes, you’ve guessed right – there’s a way to automate this too!

FoldiMate
 is a gadget, that’s almost as tall as a 10-year-old child, that uses AI to fold your clothes accordingly. The product was introduced at CES 2018 and has caught the attention of many for its relatively affordable $1,000 price tag – its competitor at the time,
Laundroid
, cost about $16,000.

How
FoldiMate
 works is you feed it items of clothing via a front-mounted loading mechanism – the machine then eats it up like Cookie Monster eats up cookies, and then folds it within itself and out comes a perfectly folded item of clothing at the bottom.

You can feed it up to 25 pieces of clothing, any sizes ranging from age six to XXL, and it’ll fold everything within 5 minutes. It folds continuously as long as you continue to feed it.

The
FoldiMate
 will likely cost $1,000 (RM4,176) – but once it’s ready to be mass produced, we reckon it will cost less to allow more people to afford one.

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Under the Radar: Anime-themed gadgets

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This month’s Under the Radar is a tribute to the anime lovers, Otakus and Weebos out there because I’ve recently reignited my love for anime after watching Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba. If you haven’t watched it,
 we can’t be friends.
Since Chinese New Year just passed, there couldn’t be a better time to spend your money on these things.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

Image credit: Magic Cube

If you’re like me and fear the dark, then you’d understand the pain of sleeping with the lights on. The solution to that would be night lights, but if we’re embracing the Otaku in us, then we’d have to take it up a notch. This Nezuko ambient light is both a night light and a figurine that is about 42cm tall. Mind you, it’s not flimsy either; it weighs about 10kg, so you can be certain that this is a well-crafted product. During the day, it’s a gorgeous figurine; during the night, it’s a great night lamp.

This Nezuko
light
 will only be released in Q2 2020, but you can already pre-order it — there’s only 300 units worldwide. It’s priced at RM1,350 and you’ll have to pay RM607.50 for the deposit, so if you don’t have enough cash yet, you can still save up in the next few months.

Can’t afford that RM1,350 lamp? Well, there’s a much cheaper alternative to satisfy your Otaku needs. You can get this chibi Zenitsu
night lamp
 that is only 15cm tall and comes in two lighting effect — blue and yellow. It’s about $34.45 (RM140.71).

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

It may have been 10 years since the release of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, but we’ll never forget the Elric brothers and their strong
bromance
. Fans of this series will remember the iconic transmutation circle that is the core of the anime. At $46.99, this Fullmetal Alchemist
wireless charger
 can charge your phone while lighting up, bringing the anime’s magic to you.

Honestly, if this isn’t cool, then I don’t know what is.

Pokémon

Gotta catch em’ all? Then you’ll need a Pokeball, but one that’s actually useful. This Pokeball is a 10,000mAh powerbank that will help you in your Pokemon Go adventures. It charges via microUSB and has LED light that can be switched on/off. You’ll only need to spend RM40 to get two units of this
powerbank
 as the seller is offering a “buy 1 free 1” deal.

What’s the point of a Pokeball if you don’t have any Pokemons right? If you’re an iPhone user, you can also check out this store that sells various Pokemon
cable bites
 (cable protectors) so you can have Bulbasaur, Squirtle or Pikachu — each worth ¥748
 —
 chomping on your iPhone when its charging. You can also purchase these Pokemon
AirPods cases
 for your AirPods — there’s Charmander, Togepi, Eevee and more. These cases are made with silicone to give your AirPods scratchproof and shockproof protection. They’ll only cost you $10.95 each.

Naruto

Last but not least, this is for one of the longest, most popular and greatest anime made — Naruto. I remembered watching it when I was a kid and still watching it when I entered university. If your heart still screams Naruto after all this time, then this keyboard will be a great addition to your desktop. It is a mechanical keyboard with orange backlights and white keycaps, and you get a bit of Naruto on the space bar and the symbol of Leaf Village on the exit keycap. You can also get the gaming mouse which is made by the same manufacturer; it has a white top and an orange bottom with the drawing of Kurama on top.

The
keyboard
 will cost you $73.85 while the
gaming mouse
 is priced at $76.17.

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Fullmetal Alchemist wireless charger
Kimetsu no Yaiba
Naruto
Naruto keyboard
Naruto mouse
Nezuko light
Pikachu
poke ball powerbank
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pokemon cable bite
Zenitsu lamp


Under the Radar: 4 best lifestyle audio devices with practical features

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UPDATE:
 It has been brought to our attention that one of the products listed in this article has received bad ratings and reviews. Therefore, we’ve made the necessary amendments to reflect this change.

Earphones are one of the best accessories that have been made by mankind and boy, there are so many different kinds. This month’s Under the Radar focuses on earphones, but not the typical ones you’ve heard of; instead, we’re listing out several earphones that come with their own unique features.

TimeKettle M2

Ideal for: People who travel to foreign countries often.

Image credit: Indiegogo

Travelling to foreign countries can be scary when you don’t know their language. That’s precisely why the Timekettle M2 was created — it’s a pair of earbuds that can perform offline translations.

While offline, the earbuds support up to six languages, but when connected to the internet, you’re looking at a whopping 40 languages and 93 accents!

Plus, say you’re lost in a foreign country and want to ask for directions – simply pass one of the earbuds to the other person and start conversing. Every word will be translated and played directly into the other person’s earpiece and they’ll be able to do the same.

Image credit: Indiegogo

The TimeKettle M2 has three translation modes:

Touch Mode

 Touch Mode is what we’ve described in the previous paragraph

Lesson Mode

In Lesson Mode, the earbuds can translate any movies or even language classes into your preferred language for better understanding.

Speaker Mode

Speaker Mode is for when you’re using the speaker on your phone instead of sharing earbuds.

There’s also support for Siri and Google voice assistants, plus an IPX4 water resistance rating and it offers up to 30 hours of battery life with its charging case.

The price of the
TimeKettle
 starts at $79 (RM339) and orders will be shipping out in October 2020.

Bluewire Audio

Ideal for: People who spend a lot of time exercising outdoors.

Image credit: Indiegogo

Not all earbuds stay fitted in your ears when you’re exercising. Bluewire Audio’s product of the same name delivers audio to your ears too but via a pair of mini speakers instead.

The device comes in two parts — the speakers and a Bluetooth receiver. They can be mounted on any cap you wear and can wirelessly connect to your preferred device. So instead of a pair of earphones that fit in your ears, these speakers simply sit above them. Isn’t that just awesome? You’ll also be aware of your surroundings as there’s no noise cancellation, meaning it’s a much safer option compared to earbuds for those exercising outdoors.

These speakers are also long-lasting, offering up to seven hours of listening time.

Bluewire Audio
 starts at $50 (RM214), but only ships to the U.S. and Canada.

Pearl

Ideal for: Environmental-friendly users

Image credit: Indiegogo

Pearl is a pair of earbuds designed by a former Ferrari designer and it’s probably one of the most premium-looking audio devices today. Made of acetate and stainless steel, the Pearl is available in three colours — Black, Silver and Gold. Even the charging case stands out from other earbuds like the AirPods,
Jabra Elite 75t
 or Sony WF-1000XM3 as it uses a spherical design.

Pearl catches the eye with its elegant design, but it also has a unique charging method. Apart from cable or wireless charging, these earbuds support solar charging too! The case it’s housed in is equipped with solar discs which draw power from the sun.

Pearl also supports Ai-assisted noise cancellation, offering two modes:

Silent mode: Cancels out all noises

Quiet mode: Allows some external noise so that you’re aware of your surroundings.

Pearl
 is shipping out this month (July 2020) and can be purchased at $149 (RM639) from Indiegogo.

LG Tone Free HBS-FN6

Ideal for: Germaphobes or anyone who values cleanliness.

LG is the brand you’ll be more familiar with. This year, the company introduced a wonderful pair of wireless earbuds that comes with a self-cleaning case for all you clean freaks.

The
LG Tone Free HBS-FN6
 has a charging case that uses UV light to kill bacteria like E. coli and S. aureus. However, cleaning off physical dirt is still a DIY job.

Design-wise, these LG earbuds resemble the
AirPods Pro
, which were designed for better comfort. They offer six hours of battery life on a single charge and comes with the Ambient Sound Mode feature — Active Noise Cancellation is unavailable.

There’s no official price yet, however, LG has confirmed that these earbuds will be launching this month in both the American and European markets.

Audio devices have come a long way

With the advancement of technology, audio devices offer more than what is expected of them. We’ve seen from this list that what may seem impossible in the past is now possible. Wireless earbuds and speakers aren’t just for music and calls anymore; instead, they can provide additional functions to our lives and smoothen our daily interactions.

BlueWire Audio
lg
LG Tone Free HBS-FN6
pearl
speakers
TimeKettle M2
Under the Radar
wireless earbuds


Under the Radar: Bags and wallets that will make you cooler than others

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Today’s Under the Radar will be slightly further away from electronic devices because there’s so much more that involves technology that we may have missed out on. For example, these items below that can be both fashionable and innovative.

1. Pix Mini

Image credit: Indiegogo

Ever envisioned a cool backpack when you’re a child? While bags with roller wheels were cool back then, kids these days want more than just that. In comes, the Pix Mini — a backpack that comes with a built-in LED screen. The Pix Mini allows children to personalised the art on their backpack which is display through its LED screen, allowing them to expand their creativity.

In addition to that, there are built-in puzzle games that stimulate cognitive skills, so not only can it keep your child’s stationery and books in it, it can also keep your child entertained when he/she is bored. You just need to use your phone as a controller and the backpack as your screen.

The
Pix Mini
 starts at RM367 with estimated shipping in September 2019.

2. Lumzag Smart Bags

Image credit: Indiegogo

Children aren’t the only ones who can have a cool backpack because Lumzag Smart Bags will be great for adults, especially those who work and travel often. LUMZAG is a carbon fibre bag that has seven smart features, not to mention stylish. Lumzag Smart Bags sport a built-in wireless charger and power bank for users to charge their tablet, phone laptop and even AirPods. The power bank can also be charged without being taken out of the bag by placing the bag on its charging pad or via USB Type-C cable. Wondering if your bag’s devices are fully charged? Just find out via the Lumzag app.

Image credit: Indiegogo

Another cool feature is the missing item reminder. Lumzag offers identification stickers that you can attach to your essential items. If you’ve left any of these items out of the bag — let’s say your keys, wallet or AirPods, Lumzag will notify you via your phone. For security purposes, the bag also has real-time GPS tracking, open alert and remote anti-theft alarm and a back view camera.

It’s only logical that a bag with so many smart features will have a slightly higher pricer than average bags. Lumzag bags come in three colours: Silver Black, Dark Sapphire and Velvet Wine. There are various designs, in which the cheapest will set you back RM573. These
Lumzag bags
 are estimated to ship in October 2019.

3. Cube4U

Image credit: Indiegogo

Have you ever watched movies where a character is saved from a gunshot because he coincidentally had an item — usually wallets — placed in his chest pocket? Well, the movies may be on to something because Cube4U is a multi-functional smart wallet that is bulletproof.

Image credit: Indiegogo

The Cube4U wallet is a small wallet that can fit well in your palm and is handcrafted from organic leather. It comes with RFID protection to prevent scamming and has a loose-change drawer in the middle compartment. Furthermore, the wallet also water and shock-resistant. The team from Cube FortyTwo even tried running over the wallet multiple times but the wallet was not damaged.

Early birds can get the
Cube4U
 for as low as RM186, while the bulletproof model will cost you RM804.

Bonus: Wearbuds

Image credit: Kickstarter

You’re probably thinking, “it’s just another fitness tracker, what could be so different about it?” Well, that’s where you’re wrong. This fitness tracker is not the typical one you see on the market; Wearbuds also has a pair of wireless earbuds that are kept and charged in the wearable.

With Wearbuds, you can charge your earbuds on your wrist without worrying that you’ll lose them or forget to take them along with you. In addition, Wearbuds company, Aipower ensures that the sound quality is not compromised by including Qualcomm audio chipset and graphene-augmented drivers in the Wearbuds. Wearbuds is also capable of tracking heart rate, sleep and providing fitness report via its app.

Wearbuds
 can be pledged at $99 and comes in three colours: Shiny Black, Shiny White and Glossy White. It comes with a 2-year warranty and ships in October 2019.

Cube4U
Lumzag
Pix Mini
Wearbuds


Under the Radar: Devices that will keep every nook and cranny of your home clean

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Who doesn’t love a clean environment, especially when it comes to your own home? Today’s Under the Radar will be about the devices that can help you keep your place clean, and we don’t mean the standard vacuum, mop or washing machine. We’re taking it to the next level.

1. Narwal

Image credit: Narwal Robotics

Created by Narwal Robotics, Narwal is a self-cleaning robot mop and vacuum. Yes, you heard that right. It’s not just a normal vacuum or a more advanced robot mop/vacuum; it’s a robot mop AND vacuum and it comes with a self-cleaning technology. Unlike other robot vacuums out there, Narwal returns to its base station several times during mopping to be cleaned – by the station, not humans – and when it’s done mopping, it will be dried with a pre-installed ventilation system in the station. Narwal has advanced navigation technology that is found in driverless cars that doesn’t require remapping each time users use it, and its cleaning strategy can be customised according to the type of floor and the frequency of cleaning an individual wants. More importantly, Narwal is rather quiet as it its noise level is only 45dB.

Narwal
 can be pledged at a starting price of $499 and will ship in September 2019.

2. CleanseBot

Image credit: IndieGoGo

No, this is not another robot vacuum. It doesn’t clean dust but instead it kills germs and bacteria. While its page on IndieGoGo definitely promoted it towards cleaning hotel beds for sanitary purposes, it also mentioned how CleanseBot can be used at home. CleanseBot is a portable device the size of an average human palm and has four UV-C lights and 18 AI sensors. Each cleaning session take either 30 or 60 minutes, and the device can kill the germs, bacteria and even dust mite. You won’t have to worry about CleanseBot falling from high places too thanks to its many sensors. With the Handheld mode and Power Bank mode, you can sanitize your electronic devices with the former and use the latter to charge your devices with its USB-C port.

You can get
CleanseBot
 from $99 onwards and this device should be shipping from this month onwards.

3. Aura Air

Image credit: Kickstarter

A clean surface does not guarantee a clean home because we must take into account the air in our homes. Aura Air is a device that comes with four main functions – air analysis, purification and disinfection via five different filters, carbon monoxide and smoke detection, and outdoor air recognition. It is also a medium-sized device that does not take up too much space. Moreover, the Aura Air app that can be downloaded on iOS and Android devices offers tips and insights to improve your home’s air quality and also reports on the cleanliness of your home’s air. Aura Air also collaborated with BreezoMeter and can provide realtime air quality information based on location so you can decide beforehand whether to go out on that day based on the air pollution level outside.

Aura Air
 starts from $279 and its estimated shipping starts September this year.

4. OmiSonic

Image credit: Kickstarter

Now that we’ve got the surfaces and the air cleaning checked, what else is missing? Perhaps something to clean our laundry, accessories and even the food we eat? That’s exactly why the next device under the radar is OmiSonic, a wireless ultrasonic cleaning tool that is said to be able to clean and disinfect clothes, vegetables and fruits, toys, and baby items. The OmiSonic is a wireless device so you won’t have to worry about electrocution and it also has a rating of IPX8. With 2 hours of charge, the OmiSonic can perform up to four washes, 30 minutes each. The device is said to support clothing material such as cotton, silk, wool and more and can remove wine, blood, sweat and even lipstick stains. Moreover, those who still believe that there is a need for detergent can rely on OmiSonic’s environmentally paper soap – it literally looks like a piece of paper – that is able to get tougher stains and oils out of clothings.

There’s six more days for you to back this project on Kickstarter, and you’ll need to pledge at least HKD1,006 ($128.21) to get the
OmiSonic
 that will ship in October this year.

Aura Air
CleanseBot
kickstarter
Narwal
OmiSonic
Under the Radar