Black Shark 4’s display has the highest 720Hz touch reporting rate, here’s what it means

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Have you ever wondered why you still can’t game well on a smartphone despite having a respectable specs sheet? Well, a great smartphone for gaming isn’t just about having the fastest processor and most amount of RAM, you will also need a good display to game as it helps improve our focus and responsiveness in games, just like why you need a gaming mouse, keyboard and monitor for your computers to game better, the display of the Black Shark 4 aims to deliver that incredible gaming experience that lets you keep winning.

The Black Shark 4’s display is a 6.67″ Super AMOLED display and has been upgraded with a 144Hz refresh rate and 720Hz touch reporting rate, it is a significant upgrade from its predecessor which gamers can instantly feel the difference on the first impressions, its touch sampling rate is also the highest of any other gaming phones in the market.

However, you might ask, are there any games that already supports such refresh rate and would it affect the phone’s battery life? Well, mobile game developers have worked hard to support high refresh rate screens as they are getting common on many smartphones these days, hence there are already a handful of games that support the 144Hz refresh rate which you can refer
here
, and all thanks to the optimization of the JOYUI 12.5 software based on Android 11, the Black Shark 4 is a very power efficient smartphone and has an adaptive refresh rate which helps to conserve power when the maximum refresh rate isn’t needed.

With a 144Hz refresh rate display, mobile gamers can expect buttery smooth gameplays where delays in animation is significantly reduced, it also reduces fatigue when looking at the display for long hours and this means you can stay focused for longer hours in your gameplay.

On the other hand, the 720Hz touch reporting rate means your reflexes can be even faster when it comes to controlling the on-screen D-pad in games or tapping the shoot button, simply because
it
 responses to your touch and gestures faster than any other smartphones. In addition, a higher touch sampling rate enables you to type better on your text messages and emails.

The Black Shark 4 is an amazing value for money high performance gaming phone
that can be purchased over at
Black Shark Malaysia’s official Shopee store
, powered by the Snapdragon 870 SoC, it is available in storage variants of 8GB RAM + 128GB Storage and 12GB RAM + 256GB storage, retailing at RM2,299 and RM2,799 respectively
.

Malaysia’s Mobile Legends Professional League (MPL) Season 7 gathers the best 10 teams in the country to compete for a prize pool of USD 100,000.

Join us on the 28th, 29th & 30th of May 2021 and witness who will be crowned champions live on MPL Malaysia Facebook page. Top 2 from MPL Malaysia will represent Malaysia to a Southeast Asia championship, the MSC 2021 which will be happening early June.

This is the first standalone MPL tournament where Singaporean teams will not be competing against their Malaysian rivals, and a new format change for the competition.

The league hopes to bring Malaysian stories and player highlights to a greater spotlight, and celebrates their successes.

This article is sponsored by Black Shark Malaysia.

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Black Shark 5 and 5 Pro launches in Malaysia from RM2299 and RM3699 respectively

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The Black Shark 5 series gaming phones have made their official debut in Malaysia, comprising the Black Shark 5 and 5 Pro, these are powerful gaming phones that feature a bold new design, improved performance and features over their predecessors, which one should definitely check out if you are on the hunt for a good gaming phone.

The Black Shark 5 Pro is equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC and will be sold in storage configurations of 12GB+256GB and 16GB+256GB in Malaysia, which the latter is a rather interesting combo as most other phones would have been paired with a higher internal storage, and there’s no mention if this storage is split between an NVMe and UFS storage for faster performance.

Black Shark has combatted overheating of the SoC with two new vapor chambers with liquid cooling, which is the most sophisticated cooilng system ever to be inside a smartphone for sustained gaming performance. Other features include a 6.67-inch AMOLED display that refreshes at 144Hz, pop-up magnetic triggers, and a 4650mah dual-cell battery that supports 120W fast charging.

For budget gamers, the Black Shark 5 will still offer the needed performance for most modern mobile games with a Snapdragon 870 SoC, which comes in storage configurations of 8GB+128GB and 12GB+256GB, it also retains several features of its Pro sibiling such as its display, battery and pop-up magnetic triggers.

The Black Shark 5 series ships with the global version of JOYUI 13 based on Android 12, these phones have also been specially optimized to be used for Malaysian telco networks and will be one of the few gaming phones to support Malaysia’s 5G network.

In terms of pricing, the Black Shark 5 starts at RM2,299 for the 8GB+128GB model and tops out at RM2,699 for the 12GB+256GB model, while the Black Shark 5 Pro starts at RM3,699 for the 12GB+256GB model and RM3,999 for the 16GB+256GB model.

Preorders have already begun at Black Shark Malaysia’s official
Shopee
 and
Lazada
 Store, and regardless which storage model of these phones you have opted, you will receive a free tempered glass screen protector for both phones, a Lucifer T2 earbuds worth RM239 for the Black Shark 5, and a Lucifer T4 earbuds worth RM338 for the Black Shark 5 Pro.

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Black Shark 5 series launches in China, to be available in Malaysia on May 2022

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The Black Shark 5 series has finally been unveiled by Black Shark in its China launch event, comprising the Black Shark 5, Black Shark 5 RS and Black Shark 5 Pro, only the top of the line Pro variant will come equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, but despite that they still feature an all-new cleaner design with the SharkEye RG lighting effect at the back.

Black Shark 5 Pro

Leading the pack, the Black Shark 5 Pro is the most sophisticated gaming phone ever made as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip is cooled by two vapor chambers, which measures at 4,323 mm² + 997 mm², it comes with up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, while interestingly the storage is split equally between an NVMe SSD and UFS 3.1 that offers faster storage performance than any others.

The Black Shark 5 Pro also features an upgraded 6.67-inch AMOLED display that refreshes at 144Hz and supports 10-bit colors, the 720Hz touch sampling rate remains one of the highest in the industry, while there are magnetic triggers on the top left and right that allow gamers to map functions in games.

In terms of cameras, the Black Shark 5 Pro has a triple camera system that comprise of a large 108MP 1/1.52″ sensor, a 13MP ultrawide and a 5MP telephoto macro lens. Equipped with a 4650mAh battery, the Black Shark 5 Pro can be fully charged in 15 minutes with the included 120W fast charger.

Black Shark 5 RS

While the Black Shark 5 RS looks very much like the Black Shark 4 Pro albeit with flatter corners, the phone comes with a Snapdragon 888 or 888+ processor while only the latter will be paired with a 12GB+256GB storage variant, the storage system is also split equally between an NVMe SSD and UFS 3.1 storage and the processor is cooled by two vapor chambers as well.

Display wise, the RS has a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel that doesn’t support 10-bit colors, but still supports the DCI-P3 color space and HDR10 with a peak brightness of 1300 nits, it refreshes at 144Hz and has a touch sampling rate of 720Hz, the phone feature the same speakers from the Pro sibling, and you’ll be glad to know that it comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack that the Pro lacks.

Camera wise, the RS drops the main camera to 64MP but retains the same 13MP ultrawide and 5MP telephoto macro lens. Battery is also slightly smaller at 4500mAh but you still get 120W fast charging that will juice up the phone in no time.

Black Shark 5

Made with a more accessible starting price of RMB2799 (RM1,855), the regular Black Shark 5 is still no slouch and is equipped with a Snapdragon 870 processor, though its cooling solution is the more conventional Sandwich vapor chamber unlike the dual vapor chamber cooling system on the RS and Pro, it also uses the UFS 3.1 storage rather than the dual storage solution but nonetheless, this should still be a very speedy device.

Black Shark 5 series availability in Malaysia

The new Black Shark 5 series are definitely interesting devices, and according to officials, these phones will tentatively reach the Malaysian market on May 2022, so make sure you watch out this space or Black Shark Malaysia’s Facebook page for any updates.

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Black Shark Fun Cooler 3 Pro and Lucifer T14 TWS launches in Malaysia

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Black Shark Malaysia has introduced the Fun Cooler 3 Pro external cooler and Lucifer T14 true wireless earbuds in Malaysia, these two accessories were recently introduced alongside the brand’s flagship gaming phone, and they are now available for purchase at
Black Shark Malaysia’s Official Shopee Store
.

The Fun Cooler 3 Pro introduces several improvements over the previous model in terms of cooling, as it now features a 17 piece heatsink array inside that helps to quickly dissipate heat, a larger cooling pad, 20W of charging power to quickly reach freezing cold temperatures in as little as 45 seconds, which all of these aims to decrease smartphone temperature by up to 30 degrees Celsius.

Furthermore, gamers who pair the Fun Cooler 3 Pro with any Black Shark gaming phones will be able to customize the RGB lighting in the Shark Space app, the cooler’s fan speed can also be controlled manually depending on the user’s requirements.

As for the Lucifer T14 true wireless earbuds, this is a very affordable pair of earbuds that features a cool transparent design and great audio performance in gaming, it features a 13mm driver unit that delivers deep bass, Bluetooth 5.0 for reliable connectivity and up to 6 hours of listening time on a single charge.

The Black Shark Fun Cooler 3 Pro and Lucifer T14 TWS will retail at RM249 and RM99 respectively.

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Black Shark launches three new smartwatches

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Black Shark may not have unveiled its next flagship gaming phone yet, but it has announced three new smartwatches which appears to be Xiaomi rebadged devices, and naturally, they have gaming-centric model names, these smartwatches are the Black Shark Watch S1, GT and GT Neo.

Black Shark Watch S1

Featuring a 1.43-inch round AMOLED display with a 466×466 resolution and 60Hz refresh rate, the Black Shark S1 promises up to 10 days of usage on a single charge with its 330mAh battery, while it has the essential health tracking features including 24-hour heart rate tracking, blood oxygen level monitoring, sleep analysis, period tracking and stress assessment.

On top of that, you can answer incoming phone calls on this watch with its built-in loudspeaker and ENC microphones.

The S1 has over 100 sports modes and comes with in-app GPS functionality, and IP68 water and dust resistance so you can definitely take it out in the rain or swimming pool without any issues, the watch retails for RM299.

Black Shark Watch GT

If you prefer a square smartwatch, the Black Shark Watch GT offers that with a 1.78-inch AMOLED display with a 368×448 resolution, it also supports Bluetooth voice calling like the Watch S1 and delivers the same health tracking features, and on a plus point, it has a built-in GPS for tracking outdoor activities, it offers up to 10 days of battery life on a single charge.

The Black Shark Watch GT retails for RM199.

Black Shark Watch GT Neo

As the most affordable smartwatch of the lineup at just RM99, the Black Shark Watch GT Neo features a large 2.02-inch TFT display with a 240×296 resolution, it supports Bluetooth calling and supports the same health and sports tracking features with built-in GPS functionality, but its battery life is rated at up to 7 days on a single charge.

Where to buy Black Shark Smartwatches

These new Black Shark Smartwatches can be purchased at Black Shark’s
official Shopee store
 and at the authorized retailers below:

Switch solution

Watch Empire

JT Mobile

OGNI Gadgets Hypermart

K Connection Technology

Redclick

Great Cellular Network

V Max Cellular Sdn Bhd

KTS Cellular Malaysia

TradeShoppe

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Black Shark Lucifer T1: 55ms ultra-low latency earbuds launched at RM169

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The Black Shark Lucifer T1 is an affordable pair of TWS gaming earbuds that offers 55ms ultra-low latency and 35 hours of battery life.

Equipped with 10mm drivers, the Lucifer T1 is said to offer deeper bass and more details when it comes to music playback.

It also has a dual-mode design which allows users to switch between gaming and music modes for the optimal sound profile.

When the earbuds’ Game Mode is activated, users can expect a low latency of only 55ms so there will be minimal audio delay when gaming.

The Lucifer T1 also comes with RGB lighting and a rugged design — this is clearly an attempt to attract gamers. The earbuds come with short stems and silicone ear tips, while the charging case measures at 60mm x 45mm x 30mm.

On a single charge, these earbuds can last up to 3.5 hours, but the total battery life will be around 35 hours (when the charging case is taken into account).

The Lucifer T1 is IPX4 certified, meaning it’s sweat-proof. It’s also compatible with iPhones and Android phones.

Get the Black Shark Lucifer T1 here

These earbuds can be purchased from Black Shark’s official stores on
Shopee
 and
Lazada
 at RM169.

Black Shark Lucifer T1


BlackBerry and Samsung might come out an Android smartphone

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Everyone knows BlackBerry is doing far from great in the market lately, and there are mysterious Oslo phone leaking in live photos. BlackBerry might be partnering
Samsung
 for developing an Android smartphone with integrated BlackBerry services which according to GSM Arena there are rumors about BlackBerry considering jumping on the Android trend just three days ago.

Will this be another partnership between BlackBerry and Samsung? Both companies became close to releasing the first BlackBerry messenger Android, and recently – they release the latest security suite for the
Galaxy
 smartphones has been based on both Samsung’s KNOX and BlackBerry’s BES12 cross-platform EMM solution.

We hope this rumor will come true because BlackBerry services on Android will be a big hit to the market due to the supporter in BlackBerry will finally have more selections.

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BlackBerry brings keyboard, camera and launcher updates to Priv

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BlackBerry launched its first Android smartphone last October, the BlackBerry Priv, subtly admitting that Android is the future. Apart from its fanbase, the Priv wowed many people out there, sporting specs like a curved edge screen, a 18MP camera and a few more while maintaining its legacy QWERTY keyboard. BlackBerry has also ensured its users that they are being heard, and has recently launched some updates for the Priv. The updates include the BlackBerry launcher, the keyboard and camera app. While they are available on the Play Store, we’ll brief you on what to expect with the updates from BlackBerry.

Firstly, the camera. BlackBerry has included support for slow motion video, which can be captured at 120fps and played back at 30fps. However, slow motion audio hasn’t been enabled. The slo-mo feature can be accessed through the “Mode” button. Apart from that, the update includes general stability and performance improvements.

BlackBerry has also brought quite a number of updates to the PRIV’s keyboard app. This includes better predictive typing, in which the app can now learn words with numbers. There is also an option for the keyboard to suggest user contact names.

BlackBerry’s launcher now organizes apps differently, allowing you to have a view of Review, Personal and Work apps. Also, app shortcuts can be removed with ease – by flicking them from the home screen. Other than that, improved overlays which give you a better gist of relevant information. Apps that are stored on the SD card will be grayed out when the card is removed, letting you know that those apps can’t be acccessed.

As mentioned earlier, instead of BlackBerry rolling out the updates through one software update, they have made the updates individually available on the Google Play Store. Using a Priv? Update your device and let us know your thoughts!

Source:
BlackBerry

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BlackBerry to make its return in 2021: Physical keyboard and 5G-ready smartphones coming

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You may remember a time when BlackBerry was a popular smartphone brand in Malaysia – a reputation fueled by its popularity not just among business folk, but fedora-donning yuppie college students too, with their phones in one hand and a cup of iced caramel macchiato in the other.

Well, the likes of Apple and Samsung took precedence and
knocked
 BlackBerry of its perch – but if you long for days gone by, you’ll be glad to know that BlackBerry is being revived once again!

OnwardMobility

– an American startup – will have chosen to take the mantle and will be working alongside FIH Mobile – who are producers of new Nokia products – to develop new BlackBerry smartphones which will arrive in 2021.

New
#BlackBerry

#5G
 Devices are coming to market from
@_OnwardMobility

https://t.co/5U7tFOA0Y8

@BlackBerry

#FIHMobile

#teamblackberry

#smartphone

#android

#enterprise

#government

— OnwardMobility (@_OnwardMobility)
August 19, 2020

The interesting thing is, BlackBerry looks to be going back to its roots and will offer a hardware keyboard as well as 5G connectivity. BlackBerry CEO John Chen says that the company is excited that customers will experience the enterprise and government level security and mobile productivity the new BlackBerry 5G smartphone will offer; this suggests that BlackBerry’s target market
is still very much in the business sector.

The phones will first be available in North America and Europe and will run on Android. There’s no word on whether it’ll come to Malaysia, and we think the brand will find it difficult here as they’ll have to compete with so many well-established brands. In any case, we’ll be sure to keep you updated on the latest happenings on BlackBerry when more information is made available.

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BlackBerry could release a lower priced KEY2

344

The BlackBerry KEY2 may be the company’s best shot at making a business smartphone with a physical keyboard in 2018. Despite the attractive security features and beefier internals, the KEY2 still faces threat from Chinese competitors Xiaomi, OPPO and Vivo for their strong market presence and pricing strategy.

Alleged BlackBerry Luna, a.k.a. the “KEY2 Lite” (Lite and not Mini ‘cuz they supposedly have the same form factor). Said/shown to come in red, blue, and copper.
pic.twitter.com/fMza9pAAZC

— Evan Blass (@evleaks)
July 18, 2018

Credible leaker Evan Blass has posted a photo of an assumed lower end KEY2, which is known as the BlackBerry Luna and assumed to be called the KEY2 Lite when it becomes official. Like the current KEY2, it would come with the same form factor with a rubberized back case, the interesting part is that the phone’s frame will come in red, blue and copper colors, making it look less serious than the KEY2’s Black and Silver option.

If this is to be made a more affordable device than the KEY2, then we should probably expect the device to come with slightly lower end hardware for lower costs, but let’s hope BlackBerry doesn’t compromise too much on performance to make a cheaper KEY2.

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Blackberry DTEK 60 to be unveiled at Malaysia at less than RM2400

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Those who are looking for the most secure Android smartphone, other than the Blackphone itself, Blackberry is introducing the DTEK 60 to the Malaysian market soon, retailer DirectD has listed the smartphone at its website at the price of RM2,338 and the phone is distributed by none other than Blackberry’s authorized distributor, Brightstar. As you may know Blackberry isn’t manufacturing handsets for now, the DTEK 60 is technically made by Alcatel that resembles the Idol 4S, however the phone packs Blackberry’s security features and isn’t a slouch when it comes to hardware specs.

The DTEK 60 is a full touch screen device with no slide up keyboard like the previous Blackberry Priv, under the hood the phone is powered by a Snapdragon 820 processor mated to 4GB of RAM, it has a 5.5-inch Quad HD display, 32GB of storage capacity with MicroSD expansion, a 21-megapixel main and 8-megapixel front camera, and a 3000mAh battery. The DTEK 60 comes preloaded with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, apart from having a rear mounted fingerprint scanner for security, it has the DTEK by Blackberry app to secure your text messages, passwords, smartphone features and more. Other than that, you get other Blackberry exclusive features such as its Intelligent Keyboard and Blackberry Hub for accurate typing and combining all communication activities in a hub respectively.

I would say that the DTEK 60’s price tag is rather reasonable considering the hardware power it has, it is also affordable than other established smartphone brands in the market. Directd will ship the DTEK 60 on November 14 onwards, head on over to the source link if you’re interested in getting one.

SOURCE:
DirectD
, VIA:
Lowyat.NET

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BlackBerry enters the self-driving car scene by unveiling the QNX Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Center

348

With the company no longer building smartphones, BlackBerry has decided to enter the self-driving car scene, and it is doing so via the BlackBerry QNX Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Center (AVIC), a facility that is said to be “key to building the framework for self-driving cars.”

Located in Ottawa, Canada, the BlackBerry QNX AVIC will create the underlying platform on which the self-driving cars will rely on. To do so, the AVIC will be teaming up with Renesas, PolySync and the University of Waterloo to build a concept vehicle that will be tested on Ontario roads.

The Canadian government itself is pretty enthusiastic about the potential of AVIC as well. Even hough the Canadian government isn’t funding the research hub, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has touted the facility as both a job creator and crucila to making Canada a “global leader” in autonomous tech. Of course, whether or not BlackBerry is able to survive in the self-driving industry will be anyone’s guess at this point.

Source:
Engadget
,
BlackBerry

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BlackBerry introduces Evolve and Evolve X smartphones in India

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When you thought BlackBerry is probably done with the KEY 2 this year, the company has launched two new touch screen phones together with Optiemus Infracom, the company’s licensee in India.

The Evolve X sports identical hardware internals as the KEY2, a Snapdragon 660 processor, 6GB RAM and 64GB storage. Since it doesn’t come with a physical keyboard, a 5.99-inch 18:9 Full HD display is employed with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, there’s also a 12MP+13MP dual camera that does optical zoom, a 4000mAh battery, Quick Charge 3.0, and surprisingly, wireless charging.

The BlackBerry Evolve is a lower end model and comes with a Snapdragon 450 processor, supported by 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage, it has dual 13MP RGB+13MP Monochrome cameras, a 4000mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 and wireless charging, which is still surprisingly decent for a low end device.

BlackBerry is expected to sell the device in late August, with the Evolve X and Evolve retailing for $510 (RM2,081) and $365 (RM1,489) respectively. While BlackBerry devices sold in Malaysia are manufactured by its licensee TCL Communications, there’s probably a slim chance that we will see these devices coming to Malaysia.

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BlackBerry KEY2 launches in Malaysia for RM2,599

450

Shortly after its US debut, the BlackBerry KEY2 has finally made its way to Malaysia today, the successor to the Blackberry KEY One now features a much improved hardware keyboard, beefier hardware internals and now comes with a dual rear camera, it also introduces the Speed Key, a universal shortcut key that allows users to quickly access apps, contacts and functions on over 52 keys.

The BlackBerry KEY2 is powered by a Snapdragon 660 processor supported by 6GB RAM and 64GB of storage, users can expand the storage with a MicroSD card. The screen remains at 4.5-inches with a 3:2 aspect ratio and 1620 x 1080 resolution, the dual camera comprises of a wide-angle and telephoto 12MP sensor that supports optical zoom, portrait mode and 4K video recording. Lastly, a 3500mAh battery powers your all day workload with Quick Charge 3.0 support.

Although it might not look like a huge change from its predecessor, the KEY2 features a stronger build with Series 7 Aluminum on its frame, the soft touch back is updated with a new diamond pattern which offers better grip and comfort, making this one of the most well built smartphone in its category. BlackBerry also claims that the new KEY2’s keyboard offers a more comfortable and accurate typing experience all thanks to a 20 percent increase in key height, the space bar continues to serve as a fingerprint sensor for security, while you can perform swipe gestures on the keyboard area to navigate around the interface.

The BlackBerry KEY2 comes with Android 8.1 and DTEK by BlackBerry software out of the box, it retails at RM2,599 and is distributed by Brightstar Malaysia, sales will begin on July 12th onwards at a all authorized retailers nationwide. For a limited time, customers can purchase the device for RM2,449 at Shopee’s Shocking Sale on July 12th from 9am onwards, and receive a free Bluetooth headset worth RM109 as part of the deal.

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Blackberry KeyONE 4GB RAM model arrives silently in Malaysia

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The BlackBerry KeyONE originally arrived in Malaysia with a 3GB RAM and 32GB storage version, it was the most pricey Snapdragon 625 powered smartphone at the price of RM2,688, but it is one solid smartphone that we would really recommend if you want that physical keyboard. Now, it seems that BlackBerry Malaysia has silently brought in the 4GB RAM and 64GB storage model of the KeyONE to the Malaysian market, which we manage to spot while browsing the Shocking Deals section of 11street, the phone is sold for the price of RM2,529 by local merchant Gadget Village with a 1-year warranty from BlackBerry Malaysia.

The higher spec BlackBerry KeyONE made its exclusive debut at the Indian market in a
Limited Black
 edition, and the company didn’t made it available for the rest of the world. Apart from the increase of RAM and storage, the rest of the hardware remains the same like the standard device, you get a decent 12-megapixel main camera that shoots 4K video, a front 8-megapixel camera, a 3505mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 support, and the latest version of Android Nougat and Android security patch along with the company’s DTEK security software.

If you are a BlackBerry fan and have been yearning for more RAM and storage on the KeyONE, there are limited units of the KeyONE over at 11street’s Shocking Deals page, which you can find out more at the source link.

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BlackBerry launches Notable app exclusively for BlackBerry Android smartphones

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BlackBerry has launched a new app for its Android handsets which will make life much easier when it comes to capturing screen content. Introducing Notable, a screen capturing app which allows users to add texts and drawings to captured content.

How does it make life easier? With Notable, users can now perform screenshots using their BlackBerry Android device’s convenience key, on top of the other option to tap on the screen capture button on the notification drawer. On top of being able to add text to images, plus being able to draw on them, users can also add stickers onto images if they intend to do so with screen captures.

Marked up images from Notable can be quickly shared to One Note, Evernote and so on, just to name a few. The new app certainly saves more time and seemigly provides more convenience for users since captured images can be marked up right away. The app is currently available for download on the Google Play Store. As mentioned earlier, Notable is only available for BlackBerry’s Android devices such as the PRIV, DTEK 50 and DTEK 60. Do you happen to find this new app useful?

Source:
BlackBerry

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BlackBerry Messenger will officially be shutting down by the end of May, but there’s still hope

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You may remember a time when BlackBerry mobile phones were all the rage – part in due to its intuitive OS and a little thing called BlackBerry Messenger (BBM). The app was first a BlackBerry exclusive, and when consumers moved on to Android and iOS smartphones, they ported the program into free applications downloadable on both platforms’ respective app stores.

Many who enjoyed using BBM continued to do so with their non-BlackBerry devices, but it seems as though even the number of BBM users are dwindling. The current BBM app is not controlled by BlackBerry themselves but by an Indonesian company by the name of Emtek.

In a blogpost uploaded onto the BBM blog site, Emtek have confirmed that BBM services will cease operations this May 31. The developers cite the lack of users as the main reason for its fall from grace – when May 31 hits, users will not be able to access the app and won’t be able to receive messages. Users are reminded to save their media files from BBM before the said date.

This won’t really be the end of BBM however, as parent company BlackBerry will be throwing users a lifeline by making the enterprise version of the app BBMe available for individual users. The app is available to download on the Google Play Store, while iOS users have to wait a while more for it to be come to the App Store. Here’s the catch though – BBMe will be free to use during the first year upon sign up, but will then cost you $2.49 for a six-month subscription RM10.35.

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Blackberry Motion leaked, comes without a physical keyboard

366

Weeks ago, the rumour surfaced that Blackberry will release a new phone with the name Blackberry Krypton. According to Evan Blass, the phone does exist and it will release with the name Blackberry Motion. The phone was initially planned to be released somewhere in October and we only had the top-back part of the phone, but thanks to Evan, we now have the full image of the phone.

As we can see in the image, the company has decided to do away with the physical keyboard and stuck to the soft-keyboard which is somewhat more favourable to the majority of the people. Other rumours have mentioned that the phone will come with an IP67 rating and apparently, 26 hours of battery life. In addition to that, Blackberry will also include all of their security features that we have seen in the previous phone, mainly the KEYone.

Goodbye, Krypton.

Hello, BlackBerry Motion
pic.twitter.com/lBsdpORHW4

— Evan Blass (@evleaks)
October 5, 2017

Contradictory to our thought, Krypton was just the code name of the phone, which is basically a placeholder name for a new device until the company can decide on the name. We are still not sure when the phone will actually release but we will update you when it does come out.

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BlackBerry new Android phone to feature an always-present physical keyboard

287

Guess BlackBerry is on the roll now since not long after they’ve released the BlackBerry Priv, rumors of a BlackBerry new Android phone codenamed BlackBerry Vienna is in the pipeline. According to CrackBerry, there were leaked renders of the phone which gives us a first look on what to expect in terms of design.

While the BlackBerry Priv has a sliding keyboard, the Vienna ditches this slider for the iconic BlackBerry ever-present physical keyboard. At a glance, it looks like the keyboard on the Vienna will be of the same size and design as the Priv, but it is hard to confirm with just renders alone.

So far, BlackBerry Priv has been doing pretty alright since it actually managed to gain the interest of other mobile users who would normally not even look at a BlackBerry phone, let alone buy one. We are actually pretty glad that BlackBerry stuck with the physical keyboards instead of making its BlackBerry Android phones with full touchscreen, but we shall see what BlackBerry has to offer in its strategy and lineup regarding its Android line of phones.

SOURCE:
Crackberry

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BlackBerry part ways with TCL this year – customer support to continue until 2022

399

TCL and BlackBerry have announced that they will be parting ways this August 31 after a three-year partnership that saw a resurgence in the BlackBerry brand.

pic.twitter.com/jhcfVHjVqL

— BlackBerry Mobile (@BBMobile)
February 3, 2020

With TCL, BlackBerry launched the likes of the KeyOne, Aurora, Motion, and Key2. Despite this, TCL will continue to provide warranty and customer support for their current line-up of products until August 31, 2022.

With TCL launching their own line of
smartphones
, it’s likely that the company aims to put full focus on pushing their own brand from here on out. This of course, brings an end to an era of decent Android BlackBerry smartphones – and they will be sorely missed.

android
blackberry
key2
keyone
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tcl


BlackBerry phone with QWERTY keyboard coming soon

298

If you haven’t known, BlackBerry has already stopped manufacturing its own phones. As a matter of fact, the company has been outsourcing when it comes to making and designing handsets that run on BB10 software, the recent ones being the DTEK50 and DTEK60 smartphones, both which were made by Alcatel with BlackBerry’s security features in them, but both run Android. However, BlackBerry CEO John Chen has claimed that a new BlackBerry smartphone with its signature QWERTY keyboard is on its way.

The physical QWERTY keyboard is undoubtedly the best smartphone feature by BlackBerry, with its software and security features following suit. “We have one keyboard phone I promised people,” Chen claimed. “It’s coming.” It is obvious that BlackBerry is making this one for old time’s sake and also its diehard fan base. CEO Chen has previously hinted at a QWERTY keyboard BlackBerry phone some time in the future, and has finally sealed the claim by confirming with major news outlet Bloomberg.

The previous BlackBerry handset with its own signature QWERTY keyboard was the BlackBerry Priv, a beautiful Android flagship smartphone by the seemingly struggling company. Having said that, the three latest BlackBerry smartphones happen to be operating on Android, so it won’t be a surprise if the next QWERTY keyboard handset by the company will run on the same OS over its own BB10 OS. A Nougat powered BlackBerry device with a QWERTY keyboard, possibly?

Source:
Bloomberg

android
bb10
blackberry
keyboard
os
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qwerty


BlackBerry Priv getting Marshmallow rollout next month

267

As we all know, the BlackBerry Priv was probably a sink or swim decision for BlackBerry, moving from their traditional homegrown operating systems such as BlackBerry 10 and BBOS to the more popular and mainstream Android. The company did that while largely maintaining the design aesthetics of previous BlackBerry handsets, including its legacy QWERTY keyboard. While many may think that the BlackBerry Priv will turn many heads, it turns out that BlackBerry performed underpar, selling less handsets than expected, according to the company’s Q4 2015 report recently. We’re thinking that the poor performance is due to the price point of the Priv, alongside other BlackBerry phones, which are in the pricey spectrum.

Nevertheless, on a lighter note, Marshmallow will be heading to BlackBerry Priv devices next month. This news comes from within the company. Michael Clewley, the director of Handheld Software Product and Management has announced on Twitter, followed by assuring the Twitter-verse that it isn’t an April Fools’ joke, just in case:

“I’d talk about a #PRIV Marshmallow beta today but given #AprilFools you might not believe me! Gonna have to wait for next week”

This is good news for those who have been patiently, or impatiently waiting, but the Marshmallow rollout in May will mean that consumers have to wait for another month, on top of the fact that the Priv was released back in November last year, and considering the fact that flagship spec-ed smartphones grow obsolete in a flash nowadays, a six month wait for consumers doesn’t look too good on BlackBerry’s failing portfolio. Well, just be content that Marshmallow is indeed arriving to the BlackBerry Priv. Till then, stay tuned!

Source: Michael Clewley (Twitter)

android
blackberry
marshmallow
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update


BlackBerry received Android domains, BlackBerry Android phone is around the corner?

267

BlackBerry seem to stop to surface lately and this legendary Canadian company has been struggling to keep afloat in the competitive mobile industry and Android has been cited more than a few times as the savior the manufacturer requirements. Previously, there are rumors from BlackBerry’s own CEO John Chen that the company has an early adoption of Android OS, which is possible, as long as it can be made secure enough by the company’s standards.

It wouldn’t be a surprise because BlackBerry suddenly surface a mysterious Android-powered slider during the MWC 2015. However, now it appears that the company might be closer to adopting Android than ever as the company recently reported to registered two new domains which related to Google’s mobile OS and the addresses are AndroidSecured.net and AndroidSecured.com which purchased by BlackBerry Limited on July 7.

According to GSM Arena BlackBerry, is going to announce its next upcoming phone, the BlackBerry Venice which has been scheduled for a November Launch. The BlackBerry Venice will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 64-bit processor with 1.8GHz hexa-core and 3GB RAM, which appear similar to the one found in the LG G4. The screen appears to be a 5.4-inch QHD unit and a 16MP at the rear, 5MP at the front camera. But, all these are part of the rumored specs and somehow everything BlackBerry that will be releasing soon surely somewhere in the mix with Android.

Since, the BlackBerry Venice will be releasing on the launch during November, all the answer that, we need will be receiving pretty soon.

808
android
androidsecured
blackberry
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venice


BlackBerry to focus on the mid-range market this year

351

The BlackBerry Priv wasn’t a flop. In fact, it was a solid and an impressive Android device, the first, by the Canadian manufacturer. However, BlackBerry is still drowning and left behind, with the Priv failing to make a difference to their declining smartphone sales. According to The National, BlackBerry CEO John Chen stated that BlackBerry is prepping two smartphones to be released later this year.

Chen claims that BlackBerry will be shifting its focus to the mid range market. He admitted that enterprise customers will be more interested in a $400 (RM1,566.86) phone than the Priv which costs $700 (RM2,742.01). Assuming that BlackBerry is focusing on the mid range market, the two upcoming smartphone will most likely cost less than the premium Priv. Chen stated that one handset will feature the legacy QWERTY keyboard and the other is a full-on touch device.

Chen added that he will opt out from the handset business if the company still fails to find its foot in the mobile market. Whether or not the alleged mid rangers will be powered by Android or BlackBerry OS has yet to be confirmed. What do you think about BlackBerry’s new venture?

Source:
The National

blackberry
device
handset
midrange
os
priv


BlackBerry’s upcoming flagship phone might come with a 4,000mAh battery

393

Blackberry is in the works to create their first bezeless phone with the name, Blackberry Ghost. There is no other information on the phone other than its going to be the company’s flagship device that is powered by Android, until now.

Even Blass has recently posted a tweet that stated the phone will come with a 4,000mAh battery which is the biggest in any flagship device today if you don’t count the Razer Phone which also has a 4,000mAh battery. Other than that, he also previously shared that the phone will come with dual-rear cameras with low light enhancement and optical zoom. The battery life on recent Blackberry devices have been good, it started with the Key1 and now with the Key2, which is also thanks to the power efficient mid-range Snapdragon processors.

One more Ghost tidbit: it's got a 4,000mAh battery, which would be one of the largest in a flagship-class device.

— Evan Blass (@evleaks)
July 5, 2018

It does make sense that the company equipped their phones with larger batteries, as their phones are catered to more business-oriented individuals. Most of these users will require their phones in every expect of their lives, so its good to see that the company is keeping up with their trends of releasing decent sized batteries for their phones.

battery
blackberry
ghost
size


BlackBerry website blunder reveals DTEK60 specs

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BlackBerry’s upcoming Android phone, the DTEK60 has been rumored for quite some time now. The device is expected to launch some time towards the end of this year, making it BlackBerry’s third Android smartphone in history. Meanwhile, BlackBerry has mistakenly published the DTEK60’s specs on its official website, and all has been revealed.

Based on the leaked specs on BlackBerry’s website, the DTEK60 sports a 5.5-inch QHD display with 534 ppi. Unlike the BlackBerry Priv, this DTEK60 does not feature BlackBerry’s signature physical QWERTY keyboard. On the other hand, the BlackBerry Convenience Key stays with the DTEK60. The handset’s internals include the 2016 flagship Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage, expandable via a micro SD card.

The BlackBerry DTEK60 will feature a 21MP PDAF rear camera that supports 4K video recording coupled with a wide angle 8MP selfie camera on the front, with f/2.2 aperture. The phone packs a 3,000mAh battery, plus a fingerprint sensor. As mentioned earlier, the DTEK60 will be running Android, alongside BlackBerry’s own security features from BlackBerry Security, designed to protect data and prevent users from being hacked.

If you have yet to be convinced, the above mentioned specs are still available at BlackBerry’s official website via the source link below at the time of this writing. What are your thoughts on the specs of the BlackBerry DTEK60?

Source:
BlackBerry

820
android
blackberry
dtek60
leak
snapdragon
specs
website


BlackBerry will be discontinuing the Classic smartphone

354

The days of BlackBerry being synonymous with keyboard-equipped smartphone may truly be behind us as the company announced last week that the Classic line of smartphones will be discontinued.

First launched in late 2014, the Classic builds on its Bold predecessor by including the company’s signature keyboard and trackpads as opposed to the standard touchscreens that dominate the smartphone market these days. Also included on the BlackBerry Classic was BlackBerry 10, the company’s latest operating system. However, this may not be enough to save the company’s declining phone business. Not helping matters is the fact that BlackBerry has since shifted its focus to work on Android-powered devices, beginning with the BlackBerry Priv. Needless to say, the demise of the Classic was inevitable.

“Sometimes it can be very tough to let go. For BlackBerry, and more importantly for our customers, the hardest part in letting go is accepting that change makes way for new and better experiences,” says Ralph Pini, CEO and General Manager of Devices for BlackBerry.

While the phone will no longer be manufactured, BlackBerry has promised that it will continue to support BlackBerry 10 with software updates and are on track to deliver the version 10.3.3 update next month and a second update next year.

Source:
BlackBerry Blog
,
New York Times

bb10
blackberry
classic


BlackBerry will be focusing on Android for 2016

1.1K

BlackBerry CEO John Chen has revealed that the company will be focusing on Android OS for its smartphones this year at CES, putting BB10 on the backburner for the time being.

According to Chen, BlackBerry will be releasing at least one new product in 2016 that will be running Android. The latest phone from BlackBerry, the Priv, is the first BlackBerry phone to use Google’s Android OS.

While the company’s near future will be focused on Android for now, BB10 OS will still be present as the company seeks to gain certification for the OS in the US. That said, should the Android-powered BlackBerry smartphones manage to turn around the company’s declining presence in the market, BB10’s importance may diminish even further. Whatever the case, existing products that uses BB10 will still be available for purchase for the foreseeable future.

BlackBerry has also pegged 2016 as a make-or-break year for the phone business. Chen states that if the company continues to lose money, BlackBerry may consider quitting the market altogether.

Source :
Cnet
,
Android Authority

android
bb10os
blackberry
priv


BlackBerry will cease production of smartphones

268

The inevitable has finally happened. Last year, BlackBerry CEO John Chen has warned that should BlackBerry’s hardware continue to post losses to the company, BlackBerry would quit the smartphone market. BlackBerry’s latest quarterly financial report has showned that the BlackBerry smartphones continue to be a loss for the company, and as such, BlackBerry has announced that it will cease smartphone production starting from today.

According to this quarterly financial report, it appears that BlackBerry’s Mobility Solutions division posted an USD8 million loss for the past quarter. While BlackBerry will no longer be producing smartphones of its own, the company will be outsourcing smartphone production to its partners. What this means is that there will still be new BlackBerry smartphones released, it just won’t be designed by BlackBerry themselves. For example, the recent BlackBerry DTEK50 was essentially a modified Alcatel device. The company announced that it has already licensed the name to an Indonesian firm that will build and sell BlackBerry-branded devices in the region, so BlackBerry smartphones will still be around.

On the bright side, BlackBerry’s software division remains profitable, with the company posting an 89% year-over-year growth in GAAP software and service revenues.

Source:
BlackBerry
,
Engadget

blackberry
smartphone


BlackBerry will officially reveal the 'Mercury' on the 25th of February

273

TCL’s first proper Blackberry-branded phone, the ‘Mercury’, made an
unannounced appearance at CES 2017
. If the presence of a new BlackBerry phone that comes with a proper QWERTY keyboard interests you, then you should know that TCL is looking to officially unveil the ‘Mercury’ on the 25th of February.

25.02.17
#MWC2017

#BlackBerryMobile

pic.twitter.com/uChVjp62TJ

— BlackBerry Mobile (@BBMobile)
January 24, 2017

The reveal of the Mercury will be made in Barcelona, just a day before the Mobile World Congress event kicks off. Neither BlackBerry nor TCL have revealed anything about the Mercury thus far, but rumours indicate that the phone itself will come with a Snapdragon 625 processor, 3GB of RAM, an 18MP rear camera and an 8MP front camera. What we do know is that the Mercury’s keyboard can double as a touchpad and the spacebar button has an embedded fingerprint sensor built into it.

Considering the fact that previous BlackBerry phones from TCL were merely Alcatel rebrands, the Mercury will be the company’s first BlackBerry phone that was built from the ground up. Here’s to hoping that it doesn’t disappoint.

Source:
CNet
,
Engadget

blackberry
keyboard
mercury
mwc2017
smartphone
tcl


BlackBerry will release two new phones in 2018

331

BlackBerry announced at CES that they will be launching two new BlackBerry smartphones in 2018 but did not mention what these phones will be. In 2017, BlackBerry released the KEYOne and Motion which was two very decent entries into the Android market.

Alain Lejeune, Global General Manager of BlackBerry Mobile said that people have been showing renewed interest in the two mentioned phones and with their entry into 50 countries, they will continue building their portfolio of phones in 2018. The company introduced the KEYOne during CES 2017 which was met with a good response. However, during CES 2018, they did not announce any new devices, only mentioned on new phones coming soon. Aside from that, they are releasing a Bronze Edition of the KEYOne which will be released in selected markets across Asia, Europe and the Middle East which is generally, a different colour variant of the KEYOne.

It looks like BlackBerry is serious on their comeback, finally ditching the BlackBerry OS and opting for a more familiar stock Android feel which is probably the reason why their phones have been getting more traction with users.

blackberry
keyone
motion
new
phones


BlackBerry will soon allow users to book an Uber from BBM

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BlackBerry and Uber are partnering up to allow BBM users around the world to access the service from just using the BBM Messenger on both the Android and iOS. Users can easily book an Uber by using the dedicated icon in the BBM Discover menu.

The best part of the service is that users would not need to install the ride-sharing app, as everything you need to do can be done in the BBM app. The service can be launched from the Discover menu and from there, its straightforward sign in and book a ride. Other than that, users can also access their profiles and view the map after their location is detected.

BlackBerry will be making this feature available to all BBM users soon as the update rolls out to the specific region and Asia will be one of those regions.

blackberry
intergration
messenger
uber


BlackBerry in the works of its own secure version of Android

290

BlackBerry has always been catering to niche markets with its offering of phones. Known for its phones with physical QWERTY keyboards catered for working professionals, the company grew less popular among consumers with the rise of the smartphone age. BBOS and BlackBerry 10 OS weren’t as relevant as they used to be, constantly lacking in terms of the variety of apps and software experience.

BlackBerry succumbed to peer pressure and began to adopt Android. Back in 2015 the BlackBerry PRIV was launched, making it the first BlackBerry device to run on Android. BlackBerry carried on with the DTEK50 and the DTEK60 in partnership with TCL last year while this year saw the launch of the BlackBerry KEYone which appealed to diehard BlackBerry fans worldwide.

News site ET Telecom reports that BlackBerry is in the works of its own version of Android. Previous BlackBerry Android devices ran on stock Android without extra bells and whistles. This new Android software in the making is to be called BlackBerry Secure, which might feature BlackBerry’s security features that came with its legacy handsets.

The company has also explored the possibilities of EoT (Enterprise of Things) and is currently in talks with medical manufacturers and other companies for plans of building secure operating systems for televisions, wearables and medical devices.

android
blackberry
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Blackberry’s new Porsche Design P’9983 is stunningly beautiful

251

Blackberry hasn’t been big in the mobile industry news, till date the company’s device hardware design still have one of the most iconic designs out there which truly reflects a businessman status. The all new Blackberry Porsche Design P’9983 is essentially a more premium hardware of the Blackberry Q10, however you can’t deny that the P’9983 looks pretty sleek just like it’s previous P’9981, the sharper corners and QWERTY keyboard design is what sets it apart from its usual line of devices and makes it unmistakably a Porsche Design smartphone. The phone’s QWERTY keyboard looks less plasticky than its predecessor this time and the buttons looked as if they’re made out of glass. And ohhh…that Porsche Design font, isn’t that beautiful?

By purchasing the P’9983, you’ll have special features such as accessing Blackberry’s Priority Hub and a unique BBM Pin code starting with 2AAXXXX. In addition, the phone does offer some colorful leather snap on cases and a special Porsche Design
headphones
, all of these premium stuff should come in below RM6000 so it’s simply better for you to buy this than a crappy expensive Vertu smartphone. The phone will come with 64GB of storage as well so Blackberry isn’t really stingy on a premium smartphone.


BlackBerry's next Android-powered smartphone is the DTEK50

336

BlackBerry’s next Android phone has been officially revealed, and it looks strangely similar to an Alcatel phone, more specifically, the Alcatel Idol 4. This is the DTEK50, and it is touted as the “world’s most secure Android phone.”

Before we get into the security part, let’s talk about the specs. The DTEK50, codenamed Neon, is a midrange device. It sports a Snapdragon 617 Octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM and a 13MP rear camera with phase detection auto-focus and a dual-tone LED flash. In terms of storage, the DTEK50 comes with 16GB of storage which is expandable via microSD cards for up to 2TB of storage.

As with every other BlackBerry phone, the strength of the DTEK50 is in its security. The DTEK50 comes with a slew of security features such as a hardened kernal, a hardware “Root of Trust,” full disk encryption, a secure bootloader and address space randomization. Tying these features together is the DTEK app which gives you an overview of your phone’s security as well as detailed feedback on apps that are accessing your details.

The BlackBerry DTEK50 is now available for pre-order with an asking price of USD299 (RM1,219).

Source:
Inside BlackBerry

alcatel
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Blendtec enters the Malaysian market and it blends anything

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Blendtec, the famous company that has its blenders blend iPhones and many others things, has made its entry to the Malaysian market with the help of distributor West Metric Sdn Bhd. Blendtec’s blenders are made for reliability and comes with an 8-year warranty, what differentiates it from the rest would be its specially designed blades, a powerful motor with at least 3 horsepowers at peak, and its patented WildSide+ jar that features a fifth side, which easily blends bigger food items, be it a whole pineapple or coconut, it simply blends.

As one of the most advanced blenders in the world, all of Blendtec’s blenders come with state of the art controls and it is extremely easy to use, for instance if you want to make a smoothie, all you need to do is to press a button to start blending, it automatically knows the amount of time that it needs to blend and stops automatically. Tom Dickson, CEO and Founder of Blendtec, was also on the spot to show us how fast its blender is able to transform a whole lot of fruits into pure juice, and of course, blending other things such as a rake stick, an iPhone 5 and a glass water bottle.

Blendtec and West Metric has appointed Parkson to sell its blenders at its roadshow in 1 Utama Shopping Mall, the range of blenders Blendtec is currently selling comprises of the Professional 800, Designer 725, Designer 625 and Classic 575, so head on over to check them out otherwise if you prefer, check them out at www.blendtec.com

blendtec
tomdickson
willitblend


Blizzard and Facebook collaborates to allow you to stream Blizzard titles onto Facebook Live

281

Livestreaming your games is a rather finnicky process that involves downloading broadcast software, acquiring an account on a streaming site, and setting up everything so that your stream doesn’t crash within five minutes. If you’re a gamer that focuses mainly on Blizzard games though, there may be an alternative in the horizon as Blizzard and Facebook has partnered up to make streaming games easier.

In an announcement made earlier today, Blizzard has revealed that the company has been working with Facebook to implement Facebook’s Live API into its catalogue of games. The list of games includes Overwatch, Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, Heroes of the Storm, Diablo 3, and StarCraft 2. According to Blizzard, the company is currently working on adding ‘Go Live’ streaming to their games, allowing players to stream their gameplay live to their Facebook timeline with a simple push of a button.

Blizzard’s partnership with Facebook isn’t just limited to livestreaming of course. Blizzard and Facebook are currently working out a way that would allow gamers to login to Blizzard’s games without needing to sign up for a Battle.net account. Basically, Blizzard wants to implement a ‘Sign in via Facebook’ feature that many websites have into its games.

No fixed timeline was given as to when Blizzard will finish integrating Facebook’s Live API into its games, but Blizzard did mention that Facebook sign-ins will be ready by the end of the month.

Source:
Polygon

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Blizzard announced new hero for Hearthstone; Magni Bronzebeard

296

Thinking when Blizzard going to sell you skins like the game Heroes of the Storm? The developers have announced the new character portraits will be available for purchase soon. There will be only one new character will be available: Magni Bronzebeard, he is a warrior and, the big difference from the Garrosh Hellscream will be the portrait and name only, sadly does not provide a different hero ability. Additional to the purchase, you will receive new taunts for the character, unfortunately, this will be only a purely skin (cosmetic) update only.

Guess what, the price of this little change will cost you USD 9.99 (approx. RM 38) to get a change on your skins for the portrait only and I guess people will rather purchase the pack of cards instead of the new portrait because a 7 pack of cards only costs USD 9.99 (approx. RM 35), and can be also bought for in-game gold (100 gold) for each single pack.

In my own opinion, Blizzard should attach a bundle set with the new hero portrait to attract more peoples to actually feel like to purchase it.


336

Thinking when Blizzard going to sell you skins like the game Heroes of the Storm? The developers have announced the new character portraits will be available for purchase soon. There will be only one new character will be available: Magni Bronzebeard, he is a warrior and, the big difference from the Garrosh Hellscream will be the portrait and name only, sadly does not provide a different hero ability. Additional to the purchase, you will receive new taunts for the character, unfortunately, this will be only a purely skin (cosmetic) update only.

Guess what, the price of this little change will cost you USD 9.99 (approx. RM 38) to get a change on your skins for the portrait only and I guess people will rather purchase the pack of cards instead of the new portrait because a 7 pack of cards only costs USD 9.99 (approx. RM 35), and can be also bought for in-game gold (100 gold) for each single pack.

In my own opinion, Blizzard should attach a bundle set with the new hero portrait to attract more peoples to actually feel like to purchase it.


Blizzard Announces New Expansion – The Grand Tournament

251

Hearthstone: Heroes of the Warcraft are the world’s most popular online card game and they are preparing for the release of its next expansion – The Grand Tournament. This expansion offers 132 new cards to the game; along with a new mechanic called Inspire and it will be active after yours Hero Power is used.

The Grand Tournament is a playful competition themed set that sees knights and champions from across Azeroth coverge on the continent of Northrend. This latest expansion is completely different from previous Goblins & Gnomes expansions that consists of a large number of cards with randomized effects.

Early next week, players will be able to pre-purchase The Grand Tournament card packs in a special 50-pack bundle, on any platform, for one-time price of USD 49.99 (approx. RM 190) up until the official release. Unfortunately, if you are thinking to get multiple bundles in one account, then you can forget about it because you will only allowed to make a single purchase of the pack, and the promotion includes a new card back.

Similar with last two expansions, the player will still be able to buy the packs using in-game gold when the new expansion launches, and the cards will be added to the randomized prizes from playing in the Arena. The Grand Tournament will be launching sometime in August and we will do a live streaming upon the release.


Blizzard announces retirement of "Battle.net" name

337

For nearly twenty years, Blizzard has referred to their online service component as Battle.net. However, this may no longer be the case as Blizzard has announced that it will be retiring the “Battle.net” name within the next several months.

While the online service may no longer be called “Battle.net,” Blizzard has assured its customers that everything else regarding the company’s online platform will remain the same. Blizzard will be referring to the online part of their games as “Blizzard tech” instead, although whether or not the name may change over time remains to be seen.

Part of the reason why Blizzard has decided to drop the “Battle.net” name is due to the prevalence of multiplayer support these days than it was 20 years ago. According to Blizzard, there have been “occasional confusion and inefficiencies related to having two separate identities under which everything falls – Blizzard and Battle.net.” In short, Blizzard believes that the multiplayer support is so common these days, they no longer need to maintain a specific name for the multiplayer support.

Again, Blizzard will be dropping the “Battle.net” name over the course of the coming months, so the “Battle.net” name will slowly be phased out, instead of being removed completely.

Source:
World of Warcraft

battlenet
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blizzardtech
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Blizzard DDOS-ed by Lizard Squad earlier today

363

Those of you who have tried to access Battle.net earlier today may have experience some difficulties trying to login to Blizzard’s online service. There’s a reason for that, and it is caused by hackers.

EU Blizzard
#Offline
 – WoW
#Offline
, Diablo 3
#Offline
, Starcraft 2
#Offline
, Hearthstone
#Offline

@fbiarelosers

@AppleJ4ckxoxo

— Lizard Squad (@LizardLands)
April 14, 2016

Notorious black hat hacking group Lizard Squad revealed that they were behind the DDOS attack that was targeted at Blizzard at around 9.49 AM today. The group announced on Twitter that they have managed to takedown Blizzard’s World of Warcraft servers, Diablo 3 servers, Starcraft 2 servers and Hearthstone servers.

Taking down servers aren’t the only thing that Lizard Squad has managed to do as the hacking group somehow managed to gain access to a Blizzard employee’s email as well as personal information of key Blizzard personnel, including Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime.

[
#Bnet
] Tonight’s DDoS impact appears to be resolved, and our team continues to monitor all services. Thanks for your patience, everyone!

— BlizzardCS (@BlizzardCS)
April 14, 2016

Lizard Squad’s DDoS attack on Blizzard has since been halted as Blizzard has tweeted that all issues that were stemmed from the DDoS attack has since been resolved.

More to come.

— Lizard Squad (@LizardLands)
April 14, 2016

While the service appears to be stable for now, Lizard Squad may be planning further attacks on the gaming company thanks to an ominous tweet.

Source:
VentureBeat

blizzard
ddos
hacking
lizardsquad


Blizzard to celebrate Diablo's 20th birthday by adding Diablo-themed content into other Blizzard games

320

On the 31st of December, it would have been 20 years since the original Diablo was released to the world. To celebrate this momentous occasion, Blizzard will be rolling out a bunch of Diablo-themed content across all of its games.

For Diablo III, Blizzard will be sending players on a nostalgic trip as an update for the game will bring with it the Darkening of Tristam event. This event is essentially a ‘reimagined’ version of the Diablo’s first level in the Diablo III engine.

Outside of Diablo, Blizzard’s Diablo celebration will come in the form of cosmetics. For Heroes of the Storm and Starcraft II, the games will be receiving Diablo-themed portaits, the former for your profile while the latter for your workers. Hearthstone players will see a hooded stranger in the Tavern Brawl mode that carries a ‘grim deck’ with him. World of Warcraft players will see characters from Sanctuary appear in Azeroth. Finally, Overwatch players will be getting in-game sprays and player icons modeled after Diablo himself.

Source:
Battle.net

blizzard
darkeningoftristram
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overwatch
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Blizzard to introduce 'Competitive Mode' to Overwatch soon; new maps and characters to come at a later date

295

Last week, it was announced that Blizzard’s own FPS-MOBA hybrid Overwatch has hit the seven million players mark. To celebrate the occasion, Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan has posted the short term future of the game in the Battle.net forums.

The biggest priority that Blizzard has right now is to push out the ‘Competitive Play mode.’ As the name implies, this mode consists of ranked matches and will sort players according to skill level. Kaplan has stated that the mode is currently being tested internal and the team at Blizzard are still contemplating if they would want to push this feature out to the Public Test Realm to get feedback from the players. Kaplan also says that Competitive Play will most likely undergo a few season’s worth of iterations before the mode hits the sweet spot, so while Competitive Play will be coming soon, the mode won’t be optimal when it first launches.

Aside from Competitive Play, Blizzard also has plans to introduce new maps and characters. That said, most of the characters and maps are currently in the prototyping stages and will not be made available in-game anytime soon. Other tweaks that the team is working on for Overwatch includes the progression system, the character customization system, and even social feature improvements.

Source:
Battle.Net

blizzard
overwatch


Blizzard will drop Windows XP and Vista support within the year

338

Fans of Blizzard games who are still on Windows XP or Windows Vista may want to update their operating systems soon. Why? Because Blizzard has finally made the decision to stop supporting its games on these date OSes within the year.

While a proper cut of date has yet to be announced, Blizzard confirms that support for XP and Vista for all of its games, ranging from World of Warcraft to Hearthstone, will end by the end of 2017. One thing to note though is that support for the games will be pulled on a staggered pace, so Blizzard won’t be flipping a switch that will lead to all games being unsupported in one fell swoop. That being said, once the game is unsupported, those who are still running on XP or Vista won’t be able to launch any of the company’s games until they’ve updated their OS.

It was only a matter of time until Blizzard decided to drop support for both operating systems, considering the fact that Microsoft themselves stopped supporting XP and Vista in 2009 and 2012 respectively.  Gamers who are still on either operating systems should probably look into upgrade to a newer Windows OS soon.

Source:
Battle.net

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Blizzard’s content lineup revealed at Gamescom 2015

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 It was an exciting time at Gamescom 2015 held at Cologne, Germany as Blizzard Entertainment announced latest additions and epic expansions, making its fans riled up in excitement. There is more than just announcement of epic heroes  and knightly cards, and even a new expansion for World of Warcraft set to be revealed tomorrow. For now, Blizzard has revealed that we can expect new content for Starcraft II, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm and Overwatch.

StarCraft

II: Legacy of the Void

Earlier today, Blizzard revealed the first details for Allied Commanders, a brand-new cooperative game mode in Legacy of the Void, the upcoming final chapter of StarCraft II. In Allied Commanders mode, players take on the roles of legendary StarCraft commanders and team up to defeat a host of enemies in a series of objective-based missions, leveling up their commanders as they progress.

Each commander has a distinct play style and devastating abilities, as well as new cooperative powers exclusive to the Allied Commanders mode. New abilities, units, and upgrades are unlocked as the commanders work together to dominate each mission.

Three commanders have just been revealed today and are playable at Gamescom:

Jim Raynor represents the heart and fighting spirit of the Terran Dominion, leading an army that focuses on infantry and Terran war machines, including the ability to call down the power of the Hyperion Battlecruiser, the flagship of his fleet.

Kerrigan takes to the battlefield alongside her Swarm, which comprises some of the most iconic Zerg units from the StarCraft franchise.

Artanis commands the Protoss forces from high above in the Spear of Adun, and can quickly reinforce his allies anywhere on the map, including calling down orbital strikes with deadly precision.

Hearthstone
: Heroes of Warcraft

Dashing knights and their trusty steeds join Gamescom this year with a preview of The Grand Tournament, the exciting new expansion for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft due out later this month. Along with eleven new cards revealed today, Blizzard showcased a new “jousting” gameplay mechanic, which gives certain cards the ability to reveal a minion in each deck and win a special advantage for the player if their revealed minion has a higher mana cost than that of their opponent.

Heroes of the Storm

The influence of Sanctuary within the Nexus continues to expand as part of the ongoing Eternal Conflict in-game event, with the unveiling of a new Diablo-themed Hero and Battleground:

Kharazim, Monk of Ivgorod, is a versatile melee support Hero who can be either a healer or a fighter.

Infernal Shrines is a three-lane Battleground on which teams compete to call forth a massive Punisher demon that hunts down the opposing team’s Heroes.

Two additional Heroes have also been revealed:

Rexxar, the famed half-ogre, half-orc beastmaster from Warcraft, is a ranged warrior who fights in tandem with his trusted bear companion, Misha.

Artanis, the first StarCraft warrior for Heroes of the Storm, will be made available to those who purchase or pre-purchase StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void.

Overwatch

The world could use a new hero, and two new maps, and that’s exactly what Blizzard revealed today for Overwatch
,
its highly anticipated team-based shooter:

Lúcio, an acclaimed Brazilian musician, supports his comrades by using his musical talents to heal them and boost their speed.

In Numbani, an African city where omnics and humans live together in peace, players escort Doom Fist’s gauntlet to the Numbani Heritage Museum—or prevent their opponents from doing so.

In Volskaya Industries, a Russian manufacturing center near Siberia where the hostility between humans and omnics remains strong, opposing teams battle over control of the map by capturing or defending critical objectives.

Lúcio and the two new maps are playable on the show floor at Gamescom, along with Zarya, McCree, and Soldier 76, three heroes announced earlier this year.


Blizzard's Overwatch hits 7 million players mark

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If you’re a gamer, chances are good that you’ve heard of a little game called Overwatch. Well, Overwatch has just hit a major milestone as Blizzard announced that the game now has over 7 million players and counting.

Accoridng to the California-based games company, ever since the launch of Overwatch nearly two weeks ago, a total of over 7 million gamers have been busy fighting each other across the PlayStation 4, the Xbox One, and on PC. Statistics show that the players have collectively logged more than 119 million hours of gameplay, making Overwatch one of the most successful global game launches of all time.

“Over the months and weeks leading up to release, we saw a lot of love and support for Overwatch – from Blizzard gamers, FPS fans, and people who’d never picked up a game like this before – and we’re very grateful for everyone’s incredible passions and enthusiasm. We poured a lot of effort into creating a game – and a new universe – that anyone could enjoy. We’re ecstatic to have had such a successful launch, and we’re looking forward to all of the fun, competition, and new content still to come,” says Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment.

Source:
Business Wire

blizzard
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Blocks Modular Smartwatch run with Qualcomm SD 400

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Remember the modular phone by phone blocks? U.K hardware startup Blocks Wearables, which is an evolution and extension of the Phonebloks concept, Blocks basically has modularity applied to wearables, with the core principles remaining the same.

The core module which will have the watch face on the exterior and equipment for core functionality like the processor, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, Motion sensor and the primary battery in the interior. These modules can add functionality in the form of individual links in the form of bracelet while housing various equipment such as a heart rate sensor, extra battery power or even a fingerprint sensor

In Computex 2015 held in Taipei, Blocks Wearable has announced that the device will be powered by the Snapdragon 400 and has a first core module which will be a circular color touchscreen unit, and the device will also run on an improved version of Lollipop, rather than Android Wear. The modularity of this wearable is not at the level of the Phonebloks concept at this stage, but until the combination internals of the core module being fixed then it will be solid for the first iteration of what is essentially an experiment in the way.


BLU hits the budget market again with Vivo 5R

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BLU is back with another affordable smartphone yet again, strengthening its focus on the budget end of the spectrum for consumers. This time, the company has released the Vivo 5R a “refreshed” version of its previous Vivo 5 which was launch early this year in January.

The BLU Vivo 5R has a high end look due to its full metal body, like its predecessor. One of the more notable upgrades from the Vivo 5 is the screen resolution. The Vivo 5R receives a bump in resolution from 720p to 1080p, measuring at 5.5-inches. Underneath the hood lies an octa core MediaTek MT6753 chipset with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory, expandable via micro SD. The processing package seems fairly decent for a mid ranger.

BLU has also upped the game when it comes to the Vivo 5R’s camera, but only limited to its selfie shooter. The front facing camera sees an upgrade to 8MP from 5MP on the Vivo 5, and it is equipped with an LED flash which will be a great plus for low light selfies. The rear camera remains at a standard 13MP. The Vivo 5R has a rear fingeprint sensor, which was non-existent on its predecessor. The battery however, remains at the same capacity of 3,150mAh, which is already more than enough for the handset as a whole.

The BLU Vivo 5R comes at a price of $199.99 (RM826.76), which is comparable to the likes of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 in Malaysia. The Vivo 5R will be a US-exclusive unlocked phone sold at Amazon. Let us know your thoughts at the comments section below!

Source:
BLU

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BLU unveils the Vivo XL2 with slight upgrades

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The BLU Vivo XL had its own good run, being an impressive device for the price consumers were paying for. Having launched at CES last year, the Vivo XL finally has a successor, a little over a year after its unveiling. The Vivo XL2 brings a couple of improvements from the original Vivo XL, enough to label the device as a refresh.

To start it all off, the Vivo XL2 still sports a sub par 720p display at 5.5-inches, like its predecessor. Underneath the hood, we begin to see slight upgrades with the phone packing a newer MediaTek MT6737T chipset, an extra gig of RAM making it 3GB, and double the internal storage at 32GB, further expandable to an extra 64GB via the micro SD card slot.

Camera wise, the Vivo XL2 features a newly improved rear shooter of 13 megapixels, claiming it to have faster autofocus and better aperture. The selfie camera also sees a bump up to a wide angle 8MP from the 5MP selfie shooter seen on the Vivo XL. The battery size remains the same at 3,150mAh and handset runs on the old Android Marshmallow instead of the current Nougat software out of the box.

Amazon is currently having a 6 hour lightning promotion at the time of writing, offering a $50 instant rebate off the BLU Vivo XL2’s original price of $149.99 (RM665.73), making it cost only $99.99 (RM443.81). The phone will likely remain as a US-exclusive on Amazon.

Source:
BLU

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The BLU Vivo 8L has a massive battery and a 20MP selfie cam for a budget price

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BLU is once again going in for the kill in the mid range and entry level smartphone market with its latest offering. Known for its line of budget devices, the BLU Vivo 8L is yet another great addition, featuring a high res front facing camera and a huge battery.

The BLU Vivo 8L sports a 5.3-inch 720p HD display on the front with Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The metal body should be a much expected standard for any entry level or mid range device by now. Underneath the hood is a MediaTek 6753 processor, assisted by 3GB of RAM. It also comes with 32GB of internal storage which is further expandable via the micro SD card slot.

The camera department of the BLU Vivo 8L is rather unique – a 13MP rear facing camera, along with a more impressive sounding 20MP selfie camera for high quality shots on the front. The battery contributes to the slight wow factor as well, at 4,000mAh. The phone will run on Android Nougat 7.0 out of the box.

The BLU Vivo 8L, although able to be shipped to Malaysia, is a US exclusive device. Priced at $200 (RM 847.10), it sure sounds like you will be getting all your money’s worth.

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BlueParrott M300-XT: Noise-cancelling Bluetooth headset launched at RM399

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BlueParrott
 launched its new noise-cancelling Bluetooth headset today, known as the BlueParrott M300-XT. Priced at RM399, this new headset is made for those who are always on the go and desire clear calls no matter where they are.

Using a 2-mic technology, the M300-XT cancels up to 80% of noise so you can hear the other person clearly even when you’re in noisy environments like cafes and train stations. In addition to that, you get up to 14 hours of talk time and a customisable button that can be used for speed dial, to mute calls or the push-to-talk1 function.

M300-XT – reversible design + lightweight

The M300-XT is a headset that can be worn on either side of your ears thanks to its reversible design, plus it’s ultra light as it only weighs 20g. It supports a wireless range of up to 100m, so even if you’re further away from your phone, you can still make phone calls with ease. This headset also has an IP54 rating, meaning it’s protected from dust and water splashes.

You can purchase the M300-XT on
Lazada’s Jabra Official Store
.

BlueParrott
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Bluestacks 4 offers up to 31.25% improvement in mobile gaming compared to the Samsung Galaxy S9+

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There are some of you that are using your computer to play mobile games like PUBG Mobile and the countless other Battle Royal games that are available on the Play Store. In addition to that, for those of you that are using Bluestacks to emulate Android on your PC might benefit from the new version that the company released.

The company has claimed that the new version will offer up to 31.25% improvement in Lineage 2 and 12.6% of improvement in PUBG Mobile when compared to the Samsung Galaxy S9+ and the iPhone X. However, they did not mentioned the PC specs they were using when they produce these results. But a decently powerful computer should be able to produce the same results. Other than that, they have also redesigned the interface to give it a less cluttered and more streamlined interface. They are also giving you the option to customize the appearance with skins and wallpapers.

For those of you that are using Android emulators like Bluestack to give you a competitive edge in your games will benefit from the new version thanks to its performance increase.

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BlueStacks launches BlueStacks 2, its biggest update since the company launch in 2011

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Starting out as an App Player, an Android emulator on PC,
BlueStacks
 has now evolved to BlueStacks 2, a mobile gaming platform that spans through to mobile, PC and TV. Launched in 2011, BlueStacks has now launched BlueStacks 2, with several new features to marry gameplay and app discovery. One of these features is with its new browser interface, you can click an ad and a new tab will open, without interrupting gameplay. This is actually an entirely new type of ad unit.

In addition, BlueStacks 2 also incorporates the ability to run multiple apps at the same time in different tabs for the first time ever. This way, you can run messaging apps and gaming apps simultaneously.

“As our product and platform has matured, it has attracted a new genre of gamers,” said BlueStacks CEO, Rosen Sharma. “Hardcore PC gamers we find are also into playing midcore mobile games. These users spend a lot of money, which has attracted app developers to our platform in droves. On the other end of the spectrum, apps like messaging and eCommerce also tend to get heavy usage and attract high-value users. The platform has been a boon for advertisers.”

Based in Silicon Valley with offices in Beijing, Delhi, London, Tokyo, Seoul and Singapore, BlueStacks is funded by Andreessen-Horowitz, Samsung, Redpoint, Qualcomm, Intel, Ignition Partners, Radar Partners, Presidio Ventures (a Sumitomo Corporation Company), Citrix, AMD and Helion Ventures. The 100-person company launched in May, 2011 and the first version of its Mobile Gaming Platform was released in March, 2012.

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Bluetooth 5 has double the speed, quadruple the range, and eight times the capacity

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Bluetooth Special Interest Group has just announced Bluetooth 5, after teasing it for quite some time, along with some emerging rumors. Bluetooth 5 technology is said to be arriving some time later this year to early 2017.

Bluetooth 5 will be playing a huge role to further enhance the Internet of Things (IoT) and is said to transform the way people experience IoT. According to the press release by Bluetooth SIG:

“Bluetooth 5, projected for release in late 2016 to early 2017, will quadruple range and double speed of low energy connections while increasing the capacity of connectionless data broadcasts by 800 percent.”

The company’s executive director, Mark Powell stated that with such ability, Bluetooth 5 will make beacons, location awareness, and other connectionless services more relevant to the world we live in with IoT. The previous Bluetooth version, Bluetooth 4.2, was introduced back in December 2014. As the IoT market grows, it’s probably time for Bluetooth 5 to make its way to redefine the seamless IoT experience.

Source:
Bluetooth

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Bluetooth 5 will be making its way to devices soon

1.2K

A better Bluetooth experience will be making its way to the next generation devices as the Bluetooth Special Interest Group has officially adopted Bluetooth 5 as the latest version of the Bluetooth core specification this week, replacing the now aging Bluetooth 4.2 specification.

Much like any other product updates, the key improvements that will be made with Bluetooth 5 lies in its performance. Bluetooth themselves states that Bluetooth will have four times the range, two times the speed, and eight times the broadcast message capacity than Bluetooth 4.2.

With the Internet of Things being more prevalent these days, Bluetooth 5 will include updates that would help reduce potential interference with other wireless technologies, ensuring that Bluetooth devices can coexist within the increasingly complex global IoT environment, all while maintaining its low-energy functionality and flexibility that Bluetooth is known for.

The adoption of Bluetooth 5 means that devices will be adopting this specification from this point forward. Bluetooth estimates that devices that are built with Bluetooth 5 will be out within the next two to six months. If the estimate is correct, this means that the next cycle of devices will be adopting Bluetooth 5 as the standard.

Source:
Bluetooth

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BMW will no longer charge for CarPlay on their cars (UPDATE: Malaysia included)

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When I drove the
BMW G30 530i M Sport
, one of the things I complained about the car’s overwhelming infotainment system is the annual charge for using Apple’s CarPlay service, where other luxury marques are already including it as a standard infotainment feature in their vehicles, it would seem that BMW is set to remove that charge in its vehicles sold in the future.

This exercise is already going on in the US and UK, where existing BMW accounts are being updated to remove that charge and new vehicles purchased will already have the service activated at no charge. So far, there hasn’t been an announcement by BMW Malaysia if it is going to be the same here, but we believe it will soon be a global decision.

Currently, BMW vehicles purchased in Malaysia will have to pay as much as RM1899 for a lifetime access to the Apple CarPlay Preparation service, which by all means isn’t much if you can already afford a BMW, we have posted this questionable decision to BMW Malaysia before and unfortunately couldn’t get a definite explanation to this.

This is definitely good news for BMW owners who owns an iPhone, but unfortunately for Android users, there’s still no Android Auto support for your beloved BMW.

UPDATE: Paultan.org has just confirmed that this will apply to BMW cars sold in Malaysia.

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BMW launches the All-New BMW 740Le xDrive

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BMW has introduced the All-New BMW 740Le xDrive adding to the family of BMW 7 Series variant in the country. This new entry into the 7 Series family takes the innovation that is seen in the BMW i, and combining it with the most advance modern luxury limousine in the country, further enhancing the car with Electric Driving Pleasure courtesy of BMW eDrive.

The Driving Experience Control is taken to the next level with the BMW 740Le xDrive with the introduction of the ADAPTIVE mode which mobilises the car’s response to adapt to the driver and the route taken to the destination. With the xDrive system which is available for the first time in any BMW sedan, is a all-wheel drive system with the fastest reacting and most flexible in its segment. The system can distribute power output from the engine to its rear and front axels whenever needed, making for maximum traction and push.

When it comes to the interior of the car, BMW introduced BMW Touch Display for the on-board monitors and BMW Gesture Control. With the Ambient Light Design, the atmosphere inside the car is enriched by including the Welcome Light Carpet at the area in front of the front door as well as Ambient highlight inside the car. The Ambient Light offers six different color variant for light and mood effects in the car. At the rear center console, there is a 7-inch tablet that is connected to the vehicle systems, which passengers are able to access all comfort and entertainment functions. Rear seat passengers has massage functions with eight massage programmed including the Vitality program which makes for comfortable long drives.

The All-New BMW 740Le xDrive also comes with a companion app which gives you a full understanding of your car, from telling you about the performance of the car to adjusting the interior atmosphere. It does not stop there, as the BMW Display key can also give you details about the car including the level of the fuel tank, current vehicle rang, electric charge status, check the central locking system as well as activating the air conditioning and ventilation system within the car.

The high-voltage lithium-ion battery of the All-New BMW 740Le xDrive can be recharged from nay domestic power socket. A full charge from the BMW i Wallbox Connect be done under 5 hours, the charging process is managed either through the BMW Remote app on a smartphone or the graphics in the car’s instrument cluster. As part of the BMW 360 ELECTRIC program, owners of the car will enjoy easy access to GreenTech Malaysia’s network of 181 ChargEV stations nationwide through the BMW ChargNow mobility service.

The All-New BMW 740Le xDrive comes with a 2.9 litre four-cylinder in-line engine with BMW TwinPower Turbo with a maximum output of 258 HP and a peek torque of 400Nm. It is paired with a eight-speed transmission which allows it to clock a top speed of 250 KM/H. In electric mode, the car has a 133 HP and a peak torque of 250 Nm. The electric driving range based on New European Driving Cycle is 41KM.

The All-New BMW 740Le xDrive is available in Black Sapphire, Imperial Blue, Mineral White and Sophisto Gray. The upholstery is lined with exclusive Nappa leather while the interior trim will be in Poplar Grain Gray fine-wood finish. The car is available at all authorised BMW dealerships and will retail at RM 598,800 after deducting the government approved hybrid incentive.

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BMW Malaysia launches the 7th generation 5 Series

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BMW fans will be glad to know that the G30, aka the 7th Generation 5 Series luxury sedan has finally made its debut in Malaysia this morning, the car is what BMW calls it the most progressive sports-business sedan and aims to set a new benchmark in the premium automotive segment in the country. At the time of launch, BMW Malaysia has brought in the 530i M Sport model for sale, it features a 4-cylinder 2-litre turbocharged petrol engine mated to a 8-speed Steptronic Sport Transmission, which produces a maximum torque of 350Nm at 4,800rpm and maximum power of 252hp at 6,500rpm, this enables the car to sprint from 0 to 100km/h in just 6.2 seconds and tops out at 250km/h, while having a pretty decent average fuel consumption of 5.8l/100km with CO2 emissions of 132 grams per kilometre.

BMW has applied the BMW EfficientLightweight design concept on the G30, with the increased use of aluminium and high-strength steels, it reduces the car’s weight up to 100KG from its predecessor, the car also features a number of aerodynamic refinements and airflow-optimizing elements, which includes the visible air vent control in the kidney grille, air inlets and Air Curtains in the front apron, as well as Air Breathers in the front wings contribute to the best drag coefficient of any sedan. In the case of the 530i M Sport, it comes with a 19-inch M light-alloy wheels in double spoke style with mixed tyres, M Sport brake with blue painted callipers with ‘M’ designation, as well as M Aerodynamics components in the body colour, front and rear aprons and sill covers at the side make for the atheletic appearance of the car.

The new BMW 5 Series isn’t just all about performance and efficiency, it also brings a number of great technological features from its bigger 7 Series sibling, while you do also find the overall design language resemble it in some ways. The car features the latest generation iDrive system with a 10.25-inch display, it now features BMW Gesture Control that lets you control the infotainment system with hand gestures, while the user interface now features live tiles that shows real time information about the car, BMW ConnectedDrive services, entertainment, navigation and more. Similar to the 7 Series, the new 5 Series now uses BMW’s Display Key that unlocks the vehicle and shows information of the car on its LCD display.

In terms of safety features, BMW also has also included some interesting tech to make driving safer, including an Intelligent Speed Limit Assist feature that detects speed limits and feed them into the Active Cruise Control with Stop&Go function. In addition to the Lane Departure Warning and Lane Change Warning system, there’s also an Approach Control Warning & Person Warning with City Brake function, which warns and brakes within a speed rang from approximately 10 km/h to 60 km/h for persons and up to 80 km/h for vehicles, Approach Control Warning also warns the potential collision with a vehicle ahead at higher speeds, with preconditioning of the brakes for faster brake response and shorter braking distances.

The BMW 530i M Sport is available for booking starting the end of this week, the car will also be parked at Pavilion KL for your viewing pleasure. The BMW 530i M Sport is a CBU model and will retail at RM398,800.00 without insurance, a BMW 5 Years Unlimited mileage Warranty and 24 months BMW Tyre Warranty is included with the purchase.

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BMW partners with Intel and Mobileye; aims to have self-driving cars available by 2021

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Much like many other car companies, BMW has visions of creating a self-driving car of its own. Also like many other car companies, BMW recognizes that they can’t do so by itself, which is why the automotive manufacturer has partnered up with Intel and Mobileye in their pursuit to create a self-driving car.

BMW roping in Intel and Mobileye to help develop its own self-driving car is a smart move for the German automotive company of course. Intel, as many have already know, has been hard at work developing machine learning and computer technology. The company has also been hard at work developing autonomous driving tech for years now. Mobileye is a computer vision/sensing company, and as such, will be working on the sensors and optics of the self-driving car.

For now, all three companies are looking to develop the necessary solutions and systems for highly and fully automated driving to bring these technologies into series production by 2021. In the meantime, these three companies will be currently working on a highly automated driving (HAD) prototype that is scheduled to debut in 2017.

Source:
BusinessWire

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BMW teases self-driving luxury car for 2021

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BMW, much like many other car companies, have been hard at work trying to develop a self-driving car. In a shareholder meeting, BMW CEO Harald Krueger has revealed some very interesting info as he says that BMW will be launching an autonomous car in 2021.

Called the i Next, this self-driving car will be based on the new BMW i8. No solid info was given as to what to expect from BMW’s i Next, but Krueger has stated that the company’s first self-driving car will feature autonomous driving, digital connectivity, intelligent lightweight design, and a totally new interior. Before we get to the i Next though, BMW will be releasing the i8 Roadster in 2018.

With the reveal that BMW’s self-driving car will be called the i Next, it’ll be interesting to see how similar the upcoming car will be when compared to the Vision Next 100 concept vehicle which was revealed last year. Also, seeing as how BMW has announced its intentions to release a self-driving car in five years time, it’ll be interesting to see if other car manufacturers can beat the clock and release their own autonomous vehicle before the year 2020.

Source:
BMW

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BoBoiBoy Power Spheres game released on mobile

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If you’ve watched BoBoiBoy (or maybe you know someone who does) and liked it, here’s some good news to fans of the series. 8elements, a popular game publisher in Asia has just released BoBoiBoy Power Spheres, a movie tie-in game on your mobile. This puzzle action game is the official movie-game for the new monsta’s BoBoiBoy the Movie, which was released in cinemas on 13 March in Malaysia and soon in Indonesia on 13 April.

What is the premise like for the game? Basically, the story is about a group of alien treasure hunters arriving on earth and somehow decided to kidnap Ochobot in order to use him to locate an ancient and powerful “Sfera Kuasa”. BoBoiBoy and his super friends must now race from level to level to save Ochobot and fight never before seen villains. Well, this game is a Match 3 Puzzle game with action elements, presented in a split screen mode. Fans will recognize the well-known enemies as well as the new villians from BoBoiBoy movie in this 100 levels game.

The game challenges your puzzle skills and speed as combinations of BoBoiBoy’s elemental powerballs unleash action on your opponents in the battle
screen above. You can download BoBoiBoy Power Spheres now on
Google Play Store
. It will be available on a later date on App Stores.

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