MWC 2021 Roundup: Wearable display, Snapdragon 888+, Lenovo tablets and more

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This year’s
MWC
 trade show is a wrap and we’ve seen plenty of exciting announcements made during the four-day event; here’s a round-up of the most noteworthy presentations of MWC 2021.

Samsung

The Korean giants were one of the first names to take the stage during the event – they spent their time to unveil
One UI Watch
, their newest interface for their lineup of watches. That sets One UI Watch apart is its ability to unify both offerings on both Samsung’s watches and the Android phones they’re connected to.

Samsung says that the new feature will bring performance enhancements, and a seamless experience between the Galaxy Watch, and smartphone; this is done by automatically installing any Watch-compatible app that you have on your phone, onto your wearable, blocking calls and messages on your watch that you have also blocked on your phone, make third-party apps downloadable directly on the Galaxy Watch, and more.

Samsung has also announced a new Galaxy Watch which will be the first in their lineup to sport the new One UI Watch interface.

Lenovo

As we’ve covered earlier,
Lenovo’s
 contribution to this year’s list of MWC announcements come by way of a flurry of new tablets – including the Yoga Tab 13, Yoga Tab 11, and Yoga Tab P11 Plus.

They also introduced the Lenovo Smart Clock 2 which improves on the original with a refreshed design, a 4-inch touch screen that now comes with an optional phone wireless phone charger. The interface is also improved, and a ‘screen off’ feature is also added.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+

Imagine taking the most powerful smartphone chipset to date and then injecting it with steroids – that’s basically the
 Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+
 which now offers a CPU clock speed of up to 2.996GHz from the 2.84GHz of the regular SD 888.

On top of that, the Qualcomm AI Engine inside the chip also gets 20% increase in performance this time. The original SD 888 was notorious for thermal problems, so the world is eagerly anticipating the SD 888+’s arrival in the third quarter of this year to see if the issue has been fixed.

TCL

The China-based company took to the stage to introduce the NextWear G, a wearable display that you can put on like a pair of sunglasses!

The technology basically places two 1080p Micro OLED panels on a wearable frame – users will get the effect of looking at a 140-inch screen. To enable the NxtWear G, you’ll have to plug it into a phone, tablet, or laptop that has a USB-C DisplayPort functionality.

The TCL NxtWear G will go on sale starting in Australia, and will cost 899 AUD (about RM2,794).

There you have it, that’s most of the noteworthy announcements to come out of MWC 2021 – let us know what you think about these upcoming gadgets down in the comment section!

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MWC 2022: Huawei made a RM2300 e-ink tablet that runs on HarmonyOS 2

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Huawei has launched an odd yet interesting product at MWC 2022, it is a 10.3-inch tablet that comes with a E-Ink FullView Display that’s called the MatePad Paper, which the company says its designed for immersive reading and light office experiences, and it runs on HarmonyOS 2.

The MatePad Paper is one of the largest e-ink tablets that you can find in the market today, and Huawei aims to offer a natural paper-link experience and it supports its proprietary M-Pencil stylus for handwriting. With HarmonyOS 2 and the newly launched Super Device collaboration feature, the MatePad Paper will allow users to seamlessly connect with their Huawei smartphones and laptops, have content synced over to be enjoyed on the display with less eye strain.

Calling the MatePad Paper a mere Amazon Kindle competitor is an understatement, because it has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, WiFi 6, dual speakers, 22.5W fast charging and a 3625mAh battery that will last up to 28 days, Huawei hasn’t mentioned which e-book store that it has worked with but as for now we can safely assume that the MatePad Paper will source content from the Huawei AppGallery.

Price wise, the tablet will cost 499 Euros (RM2,340) and will come with the M-Pencil and Folio cover in the box, but no availability has been mentioned just yet and we doubt it will make its way to Malaysian shores.

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MWC 2022: Huawei MateStation X is a 28.2-inch AIO PC powered by AMD

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With its declining smartphone sales, Huawei has been ramping up its efforts on its consumer computing products and has introduced the MateStation X All-in-One PC, sporting a slim 28.2-inch 4K+ touch display with over 90% screen-to-body ratio, making this one of the sleekest looking computers that you will find in the market.

The MateStation X looks rather similar to the outgoing MateView external display, powered by AMD Ryzen 5000 series mobile processors, it is supported by 16GB of DDR4-3200MHz RAM and 512GB SSD. With such a sleek profile, Huawei has managed to fit in a Devialet co-developed speaker system that comprise of two 5W speakers and a 10W subwoofer, which should offer some oomph in music and movies.

In terms of ports, the MateStation X is obviously more generous than the iMac as it comes with two USB-C ports and two USB-A ports with two of them supporting USB 3.2 Gen 1 speeds. Like the iMac, it will come with a wireless keyboard with a fingerprint reader that supports Windows Hello login and features a One Step Power-on and Log-in feature, which means you can turn on the MateStation X and login directly with just a press on the keyboard’s fingerprint reader.

The MateStation X will retail at 2199 Euros (RM10,316) and while no availability has been announced, we are sure Huawei will most certainly bring this to Malaysia.

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MWC 2022: TCL has an affordable 5G tablet and lineup of new devices

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The largest mobile tech show has kicked off in Barcelona, and we are being introduced to new tablets and smartphones from TCL, but among that the most interesting one is the TCL Tab 10S 5G, a 10.1-inch slate that comes with 5G connectivity at the price of 349 Euros (RM1,636).

The Tab 10S 5G is powered by an octa-core 5G Mediatek processor supported by 4GB of RAM and 64GB of base storage, it also comes with an 8000mAh battery that should deliver pretty good battery life even when running on 5G networks, on the camera side you get an 8MP rear and 5MP front camera, and it will ship with Android 12 when it becomes available in the market.

Other tablet models include the Nxtpaper Max 10, Tab 10 FHD 4G and Tab 10 HD 4G, these are unfortunately still running on Android 11 but they all come with big 10-inch displays, with the Nxtpaper Max having stripped of 5G but having 4G instead but still packs 4GB RAM, 64GB expandable storage, a respectable 8000mAh battery, a 13MP main an 8MP front camera.

The Tab 10 FHD 4G and Tab 10 HD 4G are clearly differentiated by their different screen resolutions, but the HD gets watered down even further as it runs on Android 11 Go, these two tablets are powered by Mediatek processors and will sport the same 5000mAh battery.

The Tab 10S 5G, Nxtpaper Max 10, and Tab 10 FHD 4G will be available in Asian markets starting Q2 onwards, whereas the entry Tab 10 HD 4G is already available in Europe starting at 179 Euros (RM839).

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MWC Barcelona 2021 confirmed to be a physical event with safety measures

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Last year’s MWC Barcelona was cancelled due to the pandemic, but organiser GSMA have confirmed that the
MWC Barcelona 2021
 will be held this year and it’ll be a physical instead of virtual event.

Health and safety measures will be implemented

That being said, extra safety measures will be taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Number of attendees will be cut down by half from 100,000 to 50,000 and all attendees are required to take the COVID-19 test 72 hours before they attend the event.

Apart from that, standard measures apply — social distancing is required and attendees must have their masks on. There will be contactless registration, regular disinfection and staffs will be trained to help maintain attendees and the event’s hygiene.
 GSMA also stated that there will be over 250 press conferences and keynote sessions during the event.

MWC Barcelona will happen later than usual

MWC Barcelona is usually held around this time (late February to early March), but this year it’ll be delayed to June 28 till July 1. You can register for MWC Barcelona 2021
here
.

MWC Barcelona


[MWC15] HTC Grip: Why not a smartwatch?

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The HTC Grip was the smart fitness tracker that HTC had unveiled at MWC15. It is a GPS-enabled device powered by UA Record, a new health and fitness network from Under Armor designed for athletes and fitness enthusiasts. Grip fuses HTC’s tracking abilities across a range of sports and activities, allowing users to set and beat their own personal goals. It is compatible with both Android and iOS devices as well as other Bluetooth-enabled accessories like heart-rate monitors like the
Under Amour A39
. The Grip is able to provide performance data through the use of Under Armour Connected Fitness platform.

HTC has made some crazy stunts this MWC15, first showing us how lazy they have been with the
HTC One M9
 and then revealing that they have had their hands full with other projects like the
HTC Vive
. Now, they have boldly released their HTC-branded fitness tracker that promises some serious performance for serious athletes. Why didn’t they just make a smartwatch, I mean it makes sense. Their
target
 market were user who wanted a premium smartphone in their hands, I would say people who would want to make a statement or use a very genuine looking device to organize their schedules or as a phone to do business. Wouldn’t a smartwatch be a much better fit to the current crowd the M8/M9 are targetted at? I have to agree that there is a serious influx of smartwatches in the market today. but I have high belief that HTC would’ve been able to pull off a smartwatch design unlike any other. A fitness tracker just seems a bit out of place.

“Our partnership with Under Armour has allowed us to direct our combined ambition, talent and passion towards developing new ways to empower athletes to make the most of their training every day. Grip is our first product to offer deep integration with UA Record, providing an experience that will surpass the high standards of even professional athletes.”

— Drew Bamford, Corporate Vice President of HTC Creative Labs

“HTC is an exciting partner for Under Armour and Grip, designed by HTC and powered exclusively by UA Record, is just a taste of what’s to come in the next year. Together we’re looking forward to exploring new ways to empower and inspire athletes of all levels and to rewrite the rulebook of performance tracking, training and improvement.”

— Robin Thurston, SVP, Connected Fitness, Under Armour

So instead of wishing HTC made a smartwatch instead, I am going to be as objective as I can with the HTC Grip and give me thoughts based on how I think it would fit into our lives as a fitness tracker.

The Grip is supposed to be designed to comfortably support even the most extreme training regimes, contoured to the shape and form of your wrist without any discomfort, the waterproof band houses a curved PMOLED display that displays the time, distance and notifications while on the move. For those with small hands, don’t worry, it comes in three sizes. It’s funny how HTC has advertised that this little band is “waterproof, making it perfect for tracking every step, from the gym to the shower and beyond”. What am I supposed to make of this statement, that they made it waterproof just so you can add in those extra 50 steps it took you to get from the field to the shower? HTC might have gone a little off the rails here but I’m pretty sure their waterproofing would’ve been better marketed as being able to swim without having to take it off or not having to worry about running in the rain with it, not “to the shower and beyond”.

Let’s take a gander at what’s on the inside. The Grip runs on a RTOS platform (Real-Time Operating System) on top of a
STM32L151QDH6
 (Link provided in
case
 we have any electronic engineers in the audience) which is capable of processing real-time data as it comes in without buffering delays, meaning this little band promises some robust performance capabilities without processing time requirements longer than a tenth of a second. It has a 1.8-inch 32 by 160 PMOLED mono flexible display with capacitive touch. For memory we see a 16MB flash storage as well as 8MB of SRAM. There is Bluetooth Low-Energy 4.0 on board as well as a variety of sensors connected to a
STM32F411
 — which is basically a sensor hub to calculate FLOPs, powered by a 100 mAh rechargeable battery that promises 2.5 days of battery life or 5 hours with the GPS activated. I kind of wonder if this thing would heat up on your hand, just considering the hardware within this little band was made for some pretty robust power efficient tracking. It is IP57 Dust & Water Resistant and Shock Resistant, compliant with the MIL-STD-810G 516.6 Procedure I, IV. Oh, this thing has vibration notifications as well. The Grip comes with auto-sleep detection, periods of deep and light sleep are recorded with a view to help the wearer develop a sleep pattern that will enhance the performance of an athlete for peak fitness and performance.

The HTC Grip comes with an app that synchronizes performance data with UA Record, allowing you to draw up analytics based on the intensity of your workout sessions as well as the impact it has on your performance. You can also get updates from professional athletes, nutritionists and trainers who are also using the HTC Grip. If you do not want to feel demotivated by how much better the professionals are doing compared to your own workout regime, you can also make your personal motivation a team effort whilst supporting your friends with their goals by sharing your stats and competing in challenges that are configurable with the HTC Grip.

Would I get one? Probably. But, ultimate frisbee is a hell of a sport and I’m probably going to end up destroying the HTC Grip while it’s on my wrist. Maybe, if I had it in my hands for review I would be able to give a better opinion. But, just based on the press release, I can tell that this little fitness tracker has some robust features and some serious hardware inside.

Still kind of bummed that they made this instead of a smartwatch though.


[MWC15] HTC One M9: Seriously?

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Today, HTC unveiled their most personal, beautiful and powerful smartphone yet. But really, I was hoping that the year taken to develop the
HTC One
 M9 would finally be the brain child of ingenuity that the hype has been building up to be. Instead, all I see is the same outer shell, the same BoomSound grills, the same bezels and the same disproportion between left and right when you hold the phone in landscape mode. Seriously HTC, the least you could have done was center the screen on the phone, I hear a kitten crying in the distance when you try to promote your stereo speakers. I know, I know no one really cares that the screen is off centered and no one really cares that a company claiming to have taken 70 steps and 300 minutes to craft each M9 would care about a detail such as this.

So, let’s see what packed into this metal unibody, shall we? We have our Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core 64-bit CPU as previously hinted, with the first set having four 2 Ghz divisions and the other having four 1.5 Ghz divisions. The RAM amounts up to 3GB along with 32GB of storage although the available capacity will vary according to phone software updates (roughly only 21GB for user storage), but, it does come with a microSD expansion slot of up to 128GB. Other connectivity options include an upgrade Bluetooth 4.1 with
aptX
, the Wi-Fi module now supports 802.11ac (2.4 & 5 GHz),
HTC Connect
 for some high quality streaming. There is bigger battery at 2840mAh in here as well.

On the outside, we’re faced with HTC BoomSound with Dolby Audio, and the same 5-inch Super LCD3 1080p display on the front. The sensors and front facing camera are in the same spot with an upgrade on the camera up to a HTC UltraPixel shooter (well, they just moved the old back camera and made it the new front camera). On the sides, we now have the unlock button – which seems really low on the body – right below the volume rockers, leaving the top clear for just the IR Blaster. On the back we’re greeted with the new 20MP shooter that is new capable of 4K video recording as well as BSI. I have to commend HTC for listening to my woes (just kidding, they don’t really care about my woes) of the cheap plastic they used on the M8’s camera and covered their new shooter with a sapphire cover. It does protrude a little, but that’s nothing to worry about once you decide to slap an Otterbox on it. Oh, did I mention the screen is still pushed a little off center? If they could put the HTC logo there, they could have at least added in “Back” and “Recent Apps” capacitive buttons while turning the logo into a home button.

Coming back to the 5-inch 1080p display, I would like to commend that HTC has made a bold and smart move, if at all intentional for leaving in the 1080p display. 440 pixels per inch is a lot and I stopped noticing the difference at 330-ish ppi. The upgraded battery would mean better battery life overall and will have less battery drain compared to a QHD display. I wonder if anyone can really tell the difference for anything above 350ppi.

I have been ridiculously excited to get the M9 once it’s been released. But, if I put myself into the shoes of someone who walks into a store to buy a phone, I wouldn’t even take a second look at the M9; I’ll just pass right by it and head over to the
Samsung
section. I wouldn’t want to pay for the 70 steps and 300 minutes it took to make this phone, albeit its negligibly lighter and smaller, there is nothing really wow about the design and I am not willing to pay to trade up my M8 for an M9 either. HTC took the “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it” strategy a tad bit too far. While brands like
Samsung
 and Oppo are daring to do new things like putting a curved display on a phone or making a rotating camera, HTC doesn’t seem to really care about making their smartphone attract more users. Honest to God, I have no idea what HTC is doing with their approach to this.

It’s painful to feel all my anticipation and excitement for the M9 be crushed so effortlessly, but I have to digress and say that I do not have the actual phone in my hands. I will hold my sorrow and verdict till a time when I have the M9 in my hands to compare to the M8, but from a spectator
stand
 point, the M9 just had its lunch stolen, its head dunked into the toilet and its pants dropped in front of the entire school by the Samsung S6 Edge that was released on the same night. I might actually go buy a
Sony
 to replace my M8 later.


[MWC15] HTC Vive: It’s something else

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The HTC Vive is HTC’s initiative into the VR world. They hope that through a strategic partnership with Valve, HTC promises to transform the way that consumers interact with technology and the world around them with the debut of the HTC Vive. The development kit will be launched this spring with the consumer edition available only towards the end of 2015. Come to think of it, seeing as how the
HTC One M9
 turned out, you have to be questionable on the quality of the Vive.

The Vive makes use of Valve’s Steam VR tracking and input technologies while the design was engineered by HTC.

“It’s rare that a company has an opportunity to forever transform the ways in which people interact with the world and communicate with each other but that is exactly what we plan to do with Valve.”

— Cher Wang, Chairwoman of HTC

“We achieved this once before with our development of smartphone technology. And, through our partnership with Valve, we’ll now be doing this for a second time with VR technology of which consumers could only previously dream.”

— Peter Chou, CEO of HTC

The Vive offers the most immersive experience thanks to Valve’s VR technology, allowing users to experience the Full Room Scale 360 Degree Solution with Tracked Controllers. This technology literally allows the wearer or viewer to get up and explore the virtual space as well as inspect objects from every angle, truly giving the ability to interact with the surroundings. This definitely sets the bar higher for performance as the headset features high quality graphics, pushing through 90 frames per second and incredible audio fidelity.

The wireless VR controllers introduced by HTC will make you feel one with the environment. They come in a pair and are designed to be versatile and work with a wide range of VR experiences. They have a shallow learning curve and will simulate a “pick up and use” form.

“Our collaboration with HTC is driven by the companies’ shared desire to produce the most compelling and complete VR experience. Delivering content creators with the Vive Developer Edition is an incredibly important milestone in our efforts to achieve that goal.”

— Ken Birdwell, Valve

Beta versions of the Vive Developer Edition have been aided in generating rich entertainment content from some of the world’s top game developers such as Vertigo Games, Bossa, Barry –Fireproof, Dovetail Games, Wemo Labs,
Steel Wool
 Games, Owlchemy and even Google.

An immersive experience is staple to a VR universe but the potential beyond just gaming is limitless. HTC and Valve seem highly committed to turning the VR headset into a life transforming experience. You may have a loved one who is in another state for a job or school, this would allow you to be as close as you possible can as well as interact with one another in a more intimate fassion. Leading content creators such as Google, HBO, Lionsgate and the National Palace Museum in Taiwan are working to transform the way you travel, attend a game, meet up with friends or even shopping. I can just imagine every nerd’s dream coming true, being able to shop in a virtual environment without ever having to leave the house– then have the purchased items come to your doorstep via mail is gonna be so sick.

“Vive creates an exciting opportunity for all developers and content creators, to help us bring virtual reality into the mainstream with an end-to-end solution that completely redefines how we entertain ourselves, communicate with each other, learn and, eventually, how we become more productive. HTC Vive is real, it’s here and it’ll be ready to go before the start of 2016.”

— Cher Wang, Chairwoman of HTC

Am I excited? A little bit. I just hope HTC doesn’t break my heart like they did with the
Nexus 9
 and then with the
HTC One
 M9. My money is on Valve though.


My Grab driver cancelled my booking in less than 2 minutes

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Today, I hailed a Grab to my next event happening at Bangsar South, I then applied a coupon code that I got from a promo so that my ride was free, and the app worked well and found me a driver 1 minute away from the office, but after waiting at the office lobby for around 3-minutes, I received a notification to tell me that my booking was cancelled by the driver, and I was asked to book another ride again, hence I need to enter my destination and promo code once again, I got a new jovial driver who took me to my destination safely. However, I was disappointed.

Seriously, why the heck would a ride hailing app allow its driver to cancel a rider’s trip anytime it likes, and even if so due to unexpected incidents, the service could have automatically reassign the trip to other nearby drivers. This isn’t the first time that I have experienced this incident, there was another time where I waited the driver to pick me up for a god daen short 3 minutes, and I got a idiotic reason telling me that the driver’s car has broke down on its way. Really, Grab? Am I going to expect your driver to not pick me up if I happen to travel to a place that he doesn’t want to go? What difference does it make to our country’s bad taxi practices?

Remove the cancellation feature for drivers, penalize such drivers, and finally, fix your app!

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How you can contribute to medical frontliners through MyDigi app

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While most of us are staying at home to reduce the infection rate of COVID-19, many medical frontliners are working hard every day to help those in need. Instead of just sitting at home and watching it happen, Digi customers can now contribute by funding the newly launched COVID-19 Aid campaign.

Digi customers are given a few options to donate — RM2, RM5, RM10 and RM20. Each amount can only be donated once, so your maximum donation will be RM37 at most. All donations will be used to support the Ministry of Health in combating COVID-19 pandemic including the purchase of medical equipment, personal protective equipment and so on.

If you’re a Digi Postpaid user, the donation will be deducted from your credit; if you’re a postpaid user, the transaction will show in your current/next billing cycle. The donation starts today and will end in a month’s time on May 20. You can also track the amount of donation that has been made
here
.

It has been three hours since the donation started, but Digi has already achieved 11% of its RM50,000 fund goal. If you’re interested in contributing to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, start donating through your MyDigi app now!

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Yellow Heart COVID-19 Aid


myFirst Fone R1s Kids Smartwatch Review: will it spark joy between kids and parents?

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One of the first gadgets that any parent would want to get for their kids when they start schooling is unquestionably a smartphone, while most kids of that age are probably more tech-savvy than their parents in using a smartphone, the problem ultimately arises when there isn’t proper parental control and monitoring features on what kids are doing on their smartphones, most schools still prohibit smartphone usage as they can hinder a kid’s attention in class, this is where devices like the myFirst Fone R1s kids smartwatch comes in, but will it spark joy for kids and parents?

The myFirst Fone R1s features a rather huge case to be considered a kids watch, it measures around the same size as a Galaxy Watch 5 40mm but thankfully feels very lightweight, the provided strap is also a rather lengthy one that will fit wrist sizes from 125mm-177mm, which can fit my adult sized wrists when buckled to the last third notch, I daresay that this is a pretty good adult smartwatch too if you intend to buy it for your own.

The Fone R1s employs a 1.3” TFT display that looks pretty nice to my eyes, though I’d hope that it could be a higher resolution and brighter display, as it can be hard to view while outdoors. myFirst didn’t mention the use of any strong glass on the display, but after wearing for the past three months with occasional bumps and drops, it survived without a single scratch but just a small dent on the frame.

Yes, I know, its a bad dad picture from the 2MP camera.

A 2MP camera resides next to the screen can be used for photos and video calling, though don’t expect it to be as good as a typical smartphone camera, it is sufficient for seeing what’s going on around your kid. Additionally, the Fone R1s comes with 8GB of storage, though only 6GB can be used for storing music and photos.

Under the watch, you find an optical heart rate sensor and a magnetic 4-pin connector for charging and data transfer, which I think any kid will appreciate for simple fitness tracking and they will only need to attach the provided charging cable to any smartphone chargers to charge the watch.

In terms of connectivity, the watch accepts a single Nano SIM card which supports 4G connectivity and VoLTE, which can be accessed by just pulling out the SIM slot on the left with your finger, I was using a unifi mobile SIM card during the review period and it worked without issues, the watch also supports WiFi connectivity if your kid is at home and will help conserve a little battery.

The Fone R1s requires a one-time pairing with an iPhone or Android phone when turning on for the first time, it is very straightforward and any parents should be able to do it without too much effort with the myFirstFone app, the watch itself uses a modified AOSP version of Android, which you will find many familiar user elements that’s similar to a regular Android smartphone.

Navigation is straightforward as it works similarly to other smartwatches, swiping left shows you a list of apps, swiping right reveals a simple fitness tracking progress with steps and heart rate, swiping up shows incoming notifications and messages, and swiping down gets you access to connectivity toggles and other settings.

A total of three physical buttons are available on the Fone R1s and they are unfortunately not customizable, the two buttons on the left are used for powering on and going back to the previous screen respectively, while the right big vertical button is used for SOS when long pressed, where it will record a 30-second voice clip and send an SOS emergency notification back to the paired phone if the watch is connected to WiFi or cellular data, though it seems odd why it doesn’t take photos or videos from the camera while doing so as it’d be more useful than just sending a voice clip.

The software experience on the Fone R1s is very much like a limited feature phone and most of the settings are done via the myFirstFone app, the Contacts app can only view contacts saved by the parent and kids can’t add any new contacts through the watch, the Messages app will only let kids compose and reply to messages from the paired phone and other friends who uses the same watch, and there are no sports tracking feature despite having the needed sensors for doing so.

No one will be able to dial into the Fone R1s if the contact number isn’t saved in the Contacts, so you will be rest assured that your kids won’t be picking up phone calls from strangers and unknown numbers.

On the parent’s phone, the myFirstFone app allows you to do several parental controls such as geofencing, a class mode that only shows the time at a certain time period so that your kid doesn’t get distracted and a forbidden shutdown mode that prevents the watch from being shutdown manually, which works very well in my tests.

Communication between the watch and paired phone works fine, but there are some occasions that notifications wouldn’t reach me on time unless I run the app, which can be risky if you don’t monitor after some time, the SOS alert from the watch also doesn’t trigger a different notification and I can’t configure it to differentiate from my regular notifications, and since this is a kids watch, I would really appreciate if I can have access to my kid’s heart rate and fitness activities remotely so that I know he’s doing fine.

Battery life is unfortunately one thing that I have to spat on the Fone R1s, as running on Android can terribly drain a smartwatch’s battery just like Wear OS smartwatches, the watch will mostly require a daily charge and battery can even run out half way through the day if it is on 4G connectivity all the time, and if you or your kid isn’t disciplined enough to hook it up to the charger everyday, the low battery notification can become increasingly frustrating and you or your kid might ultimately give up the watch for a regular one that doesn’t even require a charge, despite losing all that tracking functionality.

I won’t disagree that the myFirst Fone R1s is a fun smartwatch that can potentially improve the interaction between a kid and parent, while keeping kids safe when they aren’t near parents. However, the myFirst Fone R1s’ asking price of RM899 leaves a lot to be desired when you consider its poor battery life and limited features, and it would probably make more sense buying an entry-level phone and fitness tracker for the same amount, given if your kid’s school allow smartphones.

The myFirst Fone R1s can be purchased at
Shopee
 for RM899.

myFirst Fone R1s Review

For RM899, the myFirst Fone R1s leaves a lot to be desired as a kids centric smartwatch, though it offers great parental controls

KLGadgetGuy

myFirst Fone R1s

5

The Goods

Simple and easy software

Decent parental controls

4G Connectivity

Robust against accidental bumps and drops

The Bads

Poor battery life

Limited fitness tracking features

Phone software requires more work

Expensive

 5.0

Average Score

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myFirst Wireless Headphones BC Lite Review: Even Adults Will Love This

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When it comes to tech gadgets for kids, there’s no doubt that parents will be anxious to find the one that fits their child in terms of functionality and form factor, especially when it comes to headphones, where you might find issues fitting in your child’s ear or worry the loud volume can affect their hearing.

This is where the myFirst Wireless Headphones BC Lite comes in, it is a bone conduction headphones designed specifically for kids and as you may already know, such headphones are great when it comes to workouts as they don’t play sound directly to your ear so that you are are aware of your surroundings, it also becomes a great use case for kids if you are worried that they get too immersed on listening to audio.

How is the BC Lite made for kids?

Left: myFirst BC Lite. Right: Creative Outlier Free Pro

Well, it mainly has a shorter head band to fit smaller heads which other bone conduction headphones don’t offer, it also has a very nice rubber contact points that rest comfortably on my cheekbones, and despite its small form, I’m surprised that it fits me really well, though I can assure you that I have a well-developed adult head and is larger than a 3-year-old kid.

Jokes aside, myFirst does mention that the BC Lite is best suited for kids aged from 4 to 13 years old, which I think is a good guidance for any parent who wants to buy their kids’ first ever headphones.

The headphones feature volume control buttons on its rubber pads that can feel a little cramped for an adult finger, while the power and function combo button is built on the right earpad that I find it really straightforward to use.

While I’m confident that the BC Lite should be sweat resistant as it has a rubber flap that covers its USB-C port, and I’ve used it for workouts, myFirst hasn’t mentioned about water and splash resistance on the headphone’s product page, which you may want to tell your kid not to use it near the pool or in the rain.

Despite the advantage of bone conduction headphones, they don’t offer sound quality as good as in-ear headphones, but in the case of the BC Lite, I am surprised with the clarity of instruments and vocals playing through my cheekbones, volume loudness is decent and doesn’t distort even when turned up to the max, I can also feel thumps very well when there’s drums and bass in the music, it is very impressive considering it is a bone conduction headphones and even more so when it is an affordable audio gadget made for kids.

I am able to get close to myFirst’s claim of 5 hours of continuous music listening time on a single charge, though it isn’t the longest for bone conduction headphones, it is sufficient in my opinion but I do wish for a fast charging feature, as it takes 1.5 hours to get fully charged from a depleted battery.

At RM269, the myFirst Headphones Wireless BC Lite is an absolute no-brainer if you are looking for a good sounding bone conduction headphones that’s comfortable and safe for kids, but if I have to nitpick one thing, it would be the lack of color options, as it is only available in Blue color and looks pretty dull, I would really love to see brighter color options just like any kids’ gadgets and toys, but that’s probably for the successor of the BC Lite.

The myFirst Headphones Wireless BC Lite can be purchased from
Shopee
 and
Lazada
.

myFirst Wireless Headphones BC Lite

A surprisingly affordable and good sounding bone conduction headphones with the lack of brighter color options

KLGadgetGuy

myFirst Wireless Headphones BC Lite

8

The Goods

Surprisingly good sound quality

Excellent build quality

Comfortable surface pads

Affordable

The Bads

Lack of color options

 8.0

Average Score

myfirst
myfirst bc lite
wireless headphones bc lite


Get free credits when you sign up for MyGroser — Malaysia’s first fully independent online grocery store

349

Malaysia has just gotten its first fully independent online grocery store, MyGroser. MyGroser offers over 9,000 fresh produce and groceries so that shopping can be more convenient and efficient for working adults who don’t have time to physically go shopping.

From household products, pantry demands to daily essentials and fresh produce, MyGroser has it all. The online delivery starts from 9am in the morning till 9pm at night every day and is now available for most of the Klang Valley.

MyGroser has direct partnerships with supplier from both global and local brands and delivery is also personally made with the company’s own delivery system. Furthermore, the company offers a help chat with real individuals so that customers can get direct assistance from the company.

Customers who sign up for MyGroser now will receive free credits to be used on their first order and also earn referral credits when they refer to others. MyGroser will also be getting its own mobile app soon, but feel free to check out
MyGroser
 now!

MyGroser


myIOU lets you buy now, pay later with your credit and debit card up to RM10,000

3.4K

The ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) trend is about to heat up even further with the launch of myIOU, a new BNPL service based in Malaysia that’s set to support merchants and consumers with an effortless process that enables 0% installments over credit and debit cards from as low as RM100.

Like other BNPL services, myIOU will offer installment periods of 2, 3 and 6 months, customers will be required to perform a one-time registration before using the service and perform a e-KYC verification, which RM1000 of credit will be instantly approved upon successful registration.

Should you require more credit, myIOU lets you sign up for myIOU Credit+ that gives you up to RM10,000 of credit limit, making it a rather attractive option for those who only own a debit card but require to make installments on their purchases.

The service is currently available on more than 300 online and in-store merchants, notable ones include IT retailer Aone Plus, Buffalo Malaysia, Livein, Loop on Leith Hotel, smartrental.asia, Teppanyaki Malaysia and Tsukiji No.18. On top of that, myIOU has also partnered with EasyStore, GoBiz by U Mobile, MYP1 Commerce and Razer Merchant Services to offer the service on their respective payment gateways.

For a limited time, new users will receive an instant RM10 discount on their first transaction when they use the “MYIOU10” voucher code and receive RM5 for every successful referral, while new merchants are offered a zero-sign up promo with waiver of one-time setup and first year annual maintenance fee worth RM1,000 with reduced merchant discount rate (MDR).

The myIOU app is currently available for download for
iOS
 and
Android
 devices.

bnpl
buy now pay later
installment
myiou


MYNT is a Bluetooth tracker that makes a common tracker more useful

334

Bluetooth trackers are being sold everywhere and its sole purpose is to make sure that you don’t lose your smartphone and the thing you have hung it on. MYNT is a very different Bluetooth tracker that wants to be more than just a mere tracking device, it is currently available at Indiegogo and despite already hitting its funding goal, the company behind is still accepting perks and sells it at an affordable US$15 price tag excluding shipping to international destinations.

How different is MYNT from other Bluetooth trackers? Well, the Bluetooth tracking tile can be clipped to your keys with a lanyard string and is powered by a standard CR2020 battery that lasts up to a year, most importantly, MYNT is able to perform the following actions – control music on your Mac, saving your parking location, controlling your smartphone camera shutter and controlling your presentation slides, definitely one of the most fully featured tracking device that I have ever seen to date. In addition, MYNT isn’t just made out of some cheap plastic enclosure but a beautiful
metal
body
 that looks very premium, and that design does remind me of Jabra’s STREET 2
Bluetooth
headset
.

Probably the best thing about MYNT is that the company has an Open SDK available for developers to make apps compatible with the device and the device will support iOS, Android and OS X. The team consists of six individuals who have long time experiences in the mobile industry, if you choose to back the perk now you will be able to receive the device on November this year. Head on to the source link to find out more about the project.

indiegogo
mynt
tracker


Upcoming MySejahtera feature will let you sign up for the COVID-19 vaccine

485

Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin has announced today in a press conference that the COVID-19 vaccination will not be compulsory and will only be given to those who volunteers to sign up for it.

Malaysians will get vaccination for free after they sign up via the MySejahtera app

The MySejahtera app that is currently use for COVID-19 tracing will soon come with a feature that allows Malaysians to sign up for vaccination. It will be available for free to Malaysians but the government has not decided if the vaccine will also be free for foreigners. After vaccination, KKM will continue to monitor vaccinated individuals for the next few years to observe for adverse effects; users can also report any symptoms or effects through MySejahtera’s self-reporting feature or directly to KKM.

Pfizer-BioNTech likely to arrive before AstraZeneca

Medical syringes are seen with Pfizer and BioNTech companies logos displayed on a screen in the background in this illustration photo taken in Poland on November 15, 2020. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Minister Khairy also says that the
Pfizer-BioNTech
 vaccination is targeted to start before the end of February and will be distributed to 55 different locations that have been set at urban areas. As for the AstraZeneca vaccine, it will most likely be distributed to rural areas where ultra-low temperature freezers are not required — this vaccine is expected to be available sometime in Q1 2021.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine required storage at lower temperatures of around -70ºC for longer storage. If it’s stored at the usual refrigerators with 2-8ºC conditions, the vaccine can only be stored for five days at most. Each ultra-low temperature freezer will cost around RM70,000 to RM80,000 — Minister Khairy said that the cold storage units will cost about RM6.7 million, but it’ll cost RM16.6 million in total if other medical supplies and cold chain facilities are included.

We’re expecting the MySejahtera app to also be used as a proof of vaccination if required by authorities in the future.

covid 19
COVID-19 vaccine
mysejahtera


MySejahtera: No breach in personal data despite users receiving unsolicited messages

742

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has
reassured

MySejahtera
users that there has been no breach in data that caused random OTP SMS and emails to be sent to users.

Siasatan KKM mengesahkan penghantaran emel dan SMS palsu kepada pengguna MySejahtera bukan disebabkan kebocoran pada pangkalan data MySejahtera.

Pasukan MySejahtera telah meningkatkan lagi tahap keselamatan aplikasi dan laman sesawang MySejahtera bagi mengelak kejadian berulang.
pic.twitter.com/LFAnsMwAvd

— KKMalaysia🇲🇾 (@KKMPutrajaya)
October 20, 2021

The spam messages were instead sent via API manipulation that’s related to MySejahtera’s Check-In feature.

This feature allows businesses to generate QR codes for their establishments, but unknown parties had misused this feature to send OTP codes.

Image credit: Phakorn Kiong

The “Need Help” feature is also a culprit in allowing wrongdoers to send
spam emails

to other users.

The MoH also noted in their press release that the MySejahtera app and website’s security has been heightened to prevent similar exploits in the software from appearing.

data leak
kkm
moh
mysejahtera


MySejahtera: New UI update lets users track COVID-19 vaccination status

1K

The COVID-19 vaccination is now available for all Malaysian and one way you can do it is by registering through the MySejahtera app. However, several Malaysians voiced their concerns as they needed to re-register after the recent UI update.

About a week ago, the government has started the vaccination programme in which Malaysians can register via the MySejahtera app. However, the new UI wasn’t available then, so users weren’t able to monitor their vaccine registration and the following steps after their registration.

Malaysians worry their turns will be delayed

That being said, the new UI update made users worry that they may have to re-register and hence putting them further back in the queue than their first registration. Many users who have not seen the new UI even after registering repeated the process to make sure that they’re in the vaccine queue.

No need to re-register, the minister says

To clarify said issue, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin posted on his
Twitter
 account stating that appointments will be based on the first registration, despite users seeing a later registration date on the status page. He also reassured users that there’s no need for an app update as the new UI will be rolled out automatically.

MySejahtera will also add dependent registration feature

Website & hotline registration live on Friday 5 March. MySj dependents’ registration feature live in two weeks. Registration counters at public hospitals & clinics rolling out progressively.
https://t.co/PIHv2TSESl

— Khairy Jamaluddin 🇲🇾🌺 (@Khairykj)
March 3, 2021

On a side note, the minister also confirmed that the MySejahtera dependents’ registration feature will be available on the app in two weeks’ time. It is for those who don’t own a smartphone and depend on their family member’s MySejahtera app.

covid 19
mysejahtera


MySejahtera updates introduces more comprehensive check-in page and new check-out button

1.8K

The MySejahtera app will be updated with a new check-in page that shows info such as vaccination status, risk status, and last check-in location.

The
@my_sejahtera
 team will push a new build tonight making it easier for people to display their risk level and vaccination status – this will ease living with Covid, together.

Will further update and improve the app over the coming weeks.
pic.twitter.com/HlClvaA6dQ

— Khairy Jamaluddin 🇲🇾🌺 (@Khairykj)
September 2, 2021

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin took to
Tw
i
tter

to
announce

the update, which was rolled out last night.

With the new SOPs now requiring establishments to check for users’ vaccination statuses – this update arrives just in time, allowing patrons an easier way to provide proof.

There’s now also a check-out button which helps improve contact tracing efforts by having visitors to check out of a venue; this is useful for narrowing groups of people who may be exposed during a COVID detection within the premise. Jamaluddin adds that the check-out feature only requires the tap of a button – but users must remember to do so every time they leave an establishment.

Also in his tweet, our health minister also confirms that there will be more updates to arriving over the coming weeks which will further improve the app. Visit the MySejahtera website
here

for more information, or check your app stores for the update.

covid
covid 19
mysejahtera


Mysterious Aurora phone leaked, claimed to be Huawei Nova 3 or P11 Plus

377

The next device to look forward to by Huawei is the P11 series. The company’s P series was previously known for its camera capabilities, which since the P9 have been tied in with camera maker Leica. But with the improvement of the Mate series of phablets, Huawei’s potential plans for an excellent P11 seem unlikely to materialize properly.

Speaking of which, hands on images of an Aurora handset has leaked on the web, with multiple sources claiming it to be either the Huawei P11 Plus or the Huawei Nova 3. The series of images show a metal built smartphone with a dual camera setup on the back. The good news is that the phone still features a 3.5mm headphone jack.

One surprising feature to note is that the Aurora phone sports what looks like an 18:9 display on the front, but still makes space for the fingerprint sensor. Most devices with tall full screen displays have their fingerprint sensors on the rear panel. We’re guessing that this device is more likely to be the Nova 3, given that the dual rear camera setup does not have the Leica branding, neither does it feature the signature camera panel of the previous Huawei P models.

The Aurora branding on the back is probably to prevent people like us to figure it out as a Huawei device, which could also mean that the Leica branding was hidden as well. Which smartphone of Huawei do you think these images belong to? Check out the full series of images at the source link below.

18:9
aurora
dual camera
huawei
nova 3
p11 plus


Mysterious Lenovo ZUK phone found on TENAA with Snapdragon 821 SoC

392

Lenovo’s subsidiary ZUK looks to end 2016 with a bang after it started manufacturing phones last year. So far, the company has launched the ZUK Z1, Z2 and Z2 Pro. Now ZUK is rumored to be launching yet another handset before the year comes to a close. A new ZUK handset has been spotted on Chinese certification outlet TENAA, and it does seem promising.

According to the specs listed out on TENAA, the mysterious ZUK phone sports a 5.5-inch display at 1080p Full HD resolution. Things get a little more interesting when we move underneath the hood where the ZUK device features a Snapdragon 821 processor, coupled with 4GB of RAM. The handset comes in two storage options – 32GB and 64GB. So far, the phone’s specs places it within 2016’s flagship standard.

The ZUK phone features a 13MP rear camera, which appears to protrude out of the phone’s rear panel, forming a camera bump. On the front, the handset has an 8MP selfie shooter. Things take another turn as the phone is powered by a rather small 3,000mAh battery, the smallest in fact, compared to the rest of ZUK’s handsets. Whether or not the battery’s capacity will be sufficient for what the phone packs remains to be seen. Unfortunately, the new ZUK phone will still be running Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 instead of the newer Android Nougat.

These findings are only at the initial stage so be sure to take them with a huge grain of salt. What do you think of this new mysterious ZUK phone so far? Let us know your thoughts at the comments section below!

Source:
GizmoChina

821
handset
new
phone
processor
snapdragon
zuk


Nanoxia Announces CoolForce PC Case Series

304

The past few years on Computex, Nanoxia showed the world what they can do with their release of Deep Silence series. To keep it rolling, we want to introduce a complete new range of PC-Cases: The Nanoxia CoolForce series that was released at Computex 2015.

The CoolForce series will offer an affordable price and good performance. There will be five different models will be made available, offering a variety of features at very attractive prices. At the front panel of the
case
 will be a clean cut with the green-lit Nanoxia Lettering and the silver edges which that can be found in each of the models. Nanoxia included two fans on each CF-case, one in the front, the other one in the back. There will be additional 2x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0 and HD Audio ports.

Let’s take a look at different models.

CF-1

Case
 Type: ATX Cube

Dimensions (H x W x D): 380 x 285 x380 mm

Drive bays external: 1 x 5.25 inch, 1 x 3.5 inch (optional)

Drive bays internal: 2 x 3.5 inch, 2 x 2.5 inch

Case fans (incl.): 1 x 120 mm, 1 x 140 mm

Additional fan mounts: 3 x 120/140 mm

height CPU coolers: 160 mm

length VGA Cards: 360 mm

CF-2

Case
 Type: ATX Mid Tower

Dimensions (H x W x D): 430 x 200 x 475 mm

Drive bays external: 2 x 5.25 inch, 1 x 3.5 inch (optional)

Drive bays internal: 2 x 2.5 inch, 8 x 3.5 inch

Case fans (incl.): 2 x 120 mm

Additional fan mounts: 4 x 120 mm

height CPU coolers: 160 mm

length VGA Cards: 280 (415) mm

CF-3

Case
 Type: ATX Mid Tower

Dimensions (H x W x D): 480 x 220 x 532 mm

Drive bays external: 2x 5.25 inch, 1 x 3.5 inch (optional)

Drive bays internal: 8 x 3.5 inch

Case fans (incl.): 2 x 140mm

Additional fan
mount
: 4 x 120/140 mm

height CPU coolers: 180 mm

length VGA Cards: 315 (445) mm

CF-4

Case Type: ATX Mid Tower

Dimensions (H x W x D: 480 x 232 x 532 mm

Drive bays external: 2 x 5.25 inch, 1 x 3.5 inch (optional)

Drive bays internal: 8 x 3.5 inch

Case fans (incl.): 2 x 140 mm

Additional fan mounts: 5 x 120/140 mm

height CPU coolers: 185 mm

length VGA Cards: 315 (445) mm

CF-5

Case Type: E-ATX Full Tower

Dimensions (H x W x D): 530 x 232 x 550 mm

Drive bays external: 3 x 5.25 inch, 1 x 3.5 inch (optional)

Drive bays internal: 8 x 3.5 inch

Case fans (incl.): 2 x 140mm

Additional fan mounts: 5 x 120/140 mm

height CPU coolers; 185 mm

length VGA Cards: 360 (485)mm

The price will be announced later, stay tuned for more information for the
tablet
 and more Computex 2015 coverage over
here
!


Napster founder plans to launch a day-and-date movie release service

300

Image Source : Politico

Napster co-founder and ex-Facebook president Sean Parker has wants to bring the cinema to your home. To that end, he and Prem Akkaraju, an executive at SFX Entertainment, have recently pitches a premium day-and-date movie release service to Hollywood studios representitive.

This “premium movie release service” is allegedly called “the Screening Room”. Early reports surrounding this service shows that the service will come with a set-top box that will transmit movies the same day they come out in the theaters. With it, you’ll be able to watch any of the newly released movies within a 48-hour period. The pricing though is rather steep as it costs USD 150 for the box itself and USD 50 to watch a movie once. This means that the service is more akin to a traditional pay-per-view than it is a subscription model.

While the price is, to be completely honest, expensive, the logic behind this service is that it would allow you to watch the latest movies without needing to go to a cinema and deal with the crowd. A huge chunk of the price will go to the studios and theaters to get them on board with the service while the service itself will only take a USD 5 commission. If it still feels too expensive, Parker and Akkaraju has plans to give the user two movie tickets for every title you pay for. The logic behind this is that you’ll get free tickets to the cinema, while the cinema could earn some money via concession sales.

According to
Variety
, this service has been pitched to Universal, Fox and Sony, who seems to be showing serious interest and have been studying the business plan closely. While negotiations are still in its early stages, the duo has said that they’re close to signing a deal with AMC. Should the deal work, you could possibly watch newly released movies at home without having to drive to a cinema.

Source:
Variety
,
Engadget

movies
seanparker
startup
thescreeningroom


Narzo: Realme’s new series is coming on November 3

415

Realme is releasing a new series called the narzo series and this will start with at least two phones — narzo 20 and narzo 20 Pro.

The full specifications of the Malaysian variants haven’t been revealed, but if they’re similar to other regions, then the both the narzo 20 and 20 Pro come with a 6.5-inch LCD display.

Narzo 20

The Narzo 20 is powered by Helio G85 and has two configurations — 4GB RAM + 64GB storage and 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. It comes with a massive 6,000mAh battery, but unfortunately its fast charging is capped at 18W.

Camera-wise, the narzo 20 is equipped with a triple 48MP camera. Apart from it main sensor, it also has an 8MP ultra wide lens and another 2MP macro lens.

Narzo 20 Pro

The Narzo 20 Pro is slightly more powerful as it uses a Helio G95 chip. It also has larger RAM — 6GB/8GB — paired with either 64GB storage or 128GB storage. It has a smaller battery at 4,500mAh, but it supports 65W SuperDart Charge which is as fast as the flagship OPPO Find X2 series. The Narzo 20 Pro has similar rear camera setup but with an extra 2MP depth sensor. On the front, it has a 16MP lens while the narzo 20 only has an 8MP lens.

The
narzo 20 series
 starts at INR12,630 which is around RM710 in Malaysia. We should be expecting both devices to be priced below RM1,000.

Narzo 20
Narzo 20 Pro
Realme
realme narzo series


Naza Italia introduces the Ferrari Portofino, a sports car perfect for speed and luxury

531

Naza Italia has unveiled a new and exciting V8 GT vehicle with a very familiar name. The Ferrari Portofino which was first seen at the Frankfurt International Motor Show last year has finally arrived on our shores and it brings a perfect combination of luxury, versatility and onboard comfort.

The Portofino’s V8 turbo engine is capable of producing a huge 600cv and speed of 0-100km/h in just 3.5 seconds. This is thanks to the new components and calibration of the engine management software, giving it 40cv more than its predecessor the California T. It is also lighter overall and that gives it a significant increase in performance and at the same time, reduce emissions. Not only is the Portofino light, it has an aggressive look to it, with two-box fastback configuration with a hard top. This gives the car extra sleekness to its silhouette with a sportier character.

For the first time this category of a Ferrari model, a third-generation electronic rear differential has been integrated with the F1-Trac, giving it both mechanical grip and full control of the car. It is also the first GT model to be fitted with EPS. Thanks to the adoption of dual-coil technology, the magnetorheological damping system has been upgraded to reduce roll which improving absorption of the road surface.

The Portofino is also focused on interior comfort as it comes with a 10.2-inch touchscreen display, new air-conditioning system, new steering wheel, 18-way adjustable electric seats with new backrest that boosts legroom for rear passengers and passenger display.

With all the features of a fast sports car, and the comfort of a luxury vehicle, the Ferrari Portofino is the perfect car for any occasion. It is being introduced at a base price of RM948,000.

car
ferrari
portofino
sports


Nearly 2 million Pixel phones have been sold

301

Google launched its first ever Pixel series of smartphones towards the end of 2016, at the same time retiring the “Nexus” branding that it stuck with for its flagships of the past years. The company teamed up with HTC on the Pixel handsets, and according to a research, the sales of Pixel smartphones have nearly hit the 2 million mark.

A report by BayStreet Researchers states that a total of 1.8 million Pixels have been sold since their unveiling 8 months ago. This report was made based on the download number of the Pixel Launcher on the Play Store. The research firm has also reported 475,000 units of Pixel phones sold this quarter.

The near 2 million figure achieved by Google marks a step forward for the Silicon Valley giant. With rumors going around, Google is expected to launch the Pixel 2 later this year around the same time as when it typically launches its handsets. The Pixel 2 series is tipped to sport a Snapdragon 835 chipset underneath the hood. The larger Pixel2 XL will be made by LG and both phones will be powered by Android O.

google
google pixel
sales
xl


Necromancer class is now playable in Diablo 3's close beta

376

Diablo 2 was far by the best dungeon crawler genre that i have ever had the opportunity to play, from the story, setting and atmosphere. Sadly I never got my self to play the Necromancer class that was present in Diablo 2. Looks like I will finally have the chance to play that very class in Diablo 3. The Necromancer class was announced last year in BlizzCon when Blizzard said that the Necromancer class will be reimagined for Diablo 3. Now with some luck from the RNG (Random Number Generator) Gods you can experience the Necromancer class.

As a Necromancer, you will have access to powers such as curses and reanimations, which you can use to shepherd a hoard of reanimated “pets” to aid you in battle. The class will utilize raw materials aside for mana, or in this case Essence, which shows more of a controlled gameplay style using blood and bone. Sadly the Necromancer beta is close, so you would need to opt in for Diablo Beta Testing from your battle.net profile settings page and then pray to the RNG Gods that you will be the chosen one to experience the Necromancer class before it is launched.

Aside from being able to play the new class, you will also experience the new features that the 2.6.0 patch will bring such as, a new Challenge Rifts, two new zones for Adventure Mode, improvement to Set Dungeons, and 4 new waypoints in Act 4 each with a new bounty to complete.

Source:
PC Gamer
, Image Source:
Diablo Wikia

blizzard
diablo 3
gaming
necromancer


Need For Speed Most Wanted is now available for free on Origin

328

Like free games? If you do, you should know that Need For Speed Most Wanted is now part of Origin’s On The House program.

Before you get too hyped up, do note that this is Criterion’s version of Most Wanted that was released in 2012 and not the original that was released in 2005. This was the second and last game that Criterion made for the Need For Speed series. Reception for Most Wanted 2012 are generally positive, although some complain that the game lacks the customisation options present in the original.

One thing worth noting is that the On The House offer for Most Wanted 2012 is limited to the base game only. As the game does feature multiple chunks of DLC, if you want to experience Most Wanted 2012 in its entirely, you’ll need to fork out some cash to buy the DLCs.

Much like other On The House offers, Most Wanted 2012 will be rotated out at a future date, so if you want the game, you might want to act fast.

criterion
ea
needforspeedmostwanted
onthehouse
origin


Neffos C7 is arriving in Malaysia on February with a RM599 price tag

255

Neffos has announced that they are bringing their camera-focused smartphone, The C7 to Malaysia. Made for those of you that love taking selfies, the C7 comes with a quality selfie camera and has a sleek design with features to go with it.

The Neffos C7 comes with a 5.5-inch HD IPS display, 2GB of RAM and is equipped with an octa-core processor for smooth performance. The main focus is the rear 13MP camera and 8MP front camera which Neffos claims will be suitable for day or night shots. The company aims to make owning a phone worry-free, every product comes with a two-year warranty programme and they offer services for selected mechanical and technical issues excluding accidental damage or broken screens in all its products. Finally, Neffos also provides one-on-one device exchange for their customers who experience damages beyond repair within three months of purchase.

The Neffos C7 will come with a price tag of RM599 and will arrive in Malaysia early February 2018. If online shopping is more your thing, the C7 can be purchased online at Lazada Malaysia starting 5 February and the first 50 customers will receive exclusive freebies worth up to RM149. As side from the C7 launch, Neffos will also be introducing the C5A, a new addition to the C5 line.

c7
ca5
neffos


Neffos first flagship phone leaks, comes with a Snapdragon 835 and 6GB of RAM

261

TP-Link’s mobile division, Neffos, might be releasing their very first flagship spec phone. Prior to this, the company was only releasing entry-level phones where all their prices were below RM1000, but it looks like the phone company decided its time to try their hand at the flagship market and on paper, it looks pretty impressive.

At the current moment, the device does not have a name and the only information we have is the specs. It will come with a bezeless display which looks to be an 18:9 ratio screen and dual rear camera alongside the fingerprint sensor. Internally, it is equipped with a Snapdragon 835 processor, 6GB of ram and 64GB or 128GB of internal storage. Due to the bezeless display, the phone might come with a 6-inch screen and the dual cameras will be a 16MP sensor and a 20MP telephoto 2x zoom lens.

For now, these are the only information that managed to surface during the leak and we still don’t know what the price, name or regions this phone will be released. But seeing as this is their first flagship phone it might we a worldwide release.

first
flagship
neffos
phone
tp-link


Neffos introduces their first dual-camera smartphone at MWC 2018

298

Neffos had a lot to show during MWC 2018 as they announced the Neffos C, N, and X series smartphones during the event. The two new phones that they introduced was the Neffos N1 and the C7 designed for mobile photography.

THe Neffos N1 is the company first entry into the dual-camera market, offering two 12MP Sony IMX386 sensors on the back of the phone. Neffos has chosen to go with a standard camera sensor for the other, a monochrome sensor that helps in enhancing image detail. There is also a multi-frame noise-reduction algorithm which results in sharp and vivid photos even at night. With a dual-camera setup, users will have access to the bokeh effect to give a depth of field to your portrait shots. Other than that, the phone comes equipped with a MediaTek Helio P25 processor, 5.5-inch FHD display, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB internal storage.

The
Neffos C7
 as most of you know is already available in Malaysia. It comes equipped with a 5.5-inch display, 8MP selfie camera and a 13MP rear camera which performs well for its class range for only RM599.

We will be looking forward to trying out the Neffos N1 when it arrives in Malaysia, but as of now, there is no news on a local release. We are sure that Neffos will have an event to introduce the phone here and you can be sure we will be there to cover the launch.

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Neffos launches the affordable RM499 X1 Lite with 0.2 second fingerprint unlock

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Neffos Malaysia has launched a new member in the X1 line up called the Neffos X1 Lite. Similar to the original X1, the X1 Lite builds on the core features while prioritising user convenience. In addition to that, the launch also announced a special bundle promotion available only on Lazada where every purchase of the device will entitle customers to an exclusively limited merchandise of their choice, Premium Gift Box or “Fazbulous” Warrior T-Shirt signed by Fazura. Promotion starts now and ends on 31 July 2017.

The X1 Lite specs are almost identical to its original counterpart with slight changes to accommodate its reduction in size. It comes equipped with 5-inch HD screen, MediaTek MT6750 clocked at 1.5Ghz, 16GB storage expandable up to 128GB via microSD card, 2GB RAM, front-facing 5MP camera, 13MP rear camera and a 2550mAh battery capacity.

One thing that Neffos boast about the device’s finger print scanner is that it can unlock the phone in just 0.2 seconds, this is thanks to a special sensor algorithms that enables 360 degrees unlocking and it doubles as a shutter button when you need to take that perfect selfie. It will also come with Android 7.0 out-of-the-box and will be using the NFUI 2.0 interface with features designed to bring convenience to the user like, shake the phone to rearrange icons, 3-swipe down to take a screen shot, and more.

The Neffos X1 Lite is available in two colours, Cloudy Gray and Sunrise Gold and will retail for RM499. It will be available at all authorised Neffos retailers and resellers nationwide starting in August 2017. Customers can easily make a purchase for the phone from the official e-commerce partner, Lazada, here.

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Neffos launches the X20 Pro and X20 in Malaysia, starting from RM449

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While not as popular as brands like Apple and Samsung, Neffos is a sub-brand of TP-Link that has recently released two flagship devices of their own called the Neffos X20 and Neffos X20 Pro.

Both the Neffos X20 and X20 Pro sport a 6.26-inch IPS display with HD+ resolution and have a dewdrop notch. On the back, these devices come with 3D curved panels that have colour gradient effect using a nanocrystalline multilayer coating technique. You’ll also sport a dual-camera setup and a fingerprint sensor on the back.

As for its memory configuration, the X20 and X20 Pro can be equipped with up to 4GB RAM and up to 128GB expandable storage.

In addition, the X20 Pro is equipped with a MediaTek MT6762 chipset while the X20 is powered by a MediaTek MT6761 chipset.

Both the X20 and X20 Pro houses a dual 13MP + 5MP rear camera setup, but the X20 has an 8MP front camera whereas the X20 Pro has a 13MP front camera. Nevertheless, the cameras on both devices support AI Beauty mode and AI scene recognition.

The X20 series is also running on their own NFUI 9 based on Android 9 Pie which will offer improved Bokeh Portrait for both front and back cameras. You’ll also spot a 4,100mAh battery in each device, resulting in extensive battery life.

The X20 and X20 Pro is now available in Malaysia and can be purchased at the price of RM449 and RM599. For more information, visit Neffos’ official
page
.

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The Neffos N1 is the first Android phone that can extend your wireless network

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Imagine if you happen to be at a place with weak WiFi and cellular reception, you would simply wish your gadgets could have a stronger antenna to be able to get you online despite of that challenge, this is where the Neffos N1 comes into the picture, the latest smartphone from TP-Link that comes with a WiFi extender feature and an all new but familiar design, it was being shown to me during my visit to the company’s booth at Mobile World Congress.

While I’ve seen lots of phones embracing the iPhone X’s notch and vertical camera bump on the show floor, the Neffos N1 takes on a more traditional approach. The phone resembles the Huawei P10’s design a lot, and Neffos is bold enough to claim that the phone’s dual 12-megapixel main camera, which comprises of a RGB and monochrome lens with a f/2.0 aperture, is on par with the P10, though it lacks the LEICA branding and software. However, the Neffos N1’s design can be easily a favorite for people looking for an affordable handset, I like the smooth metal unibody profile and it feels just as good to grip as the more expensive Huawei P10.

The specs of the Neffos N1 is neither underwhelming nor exciting, but at the very least it uses the MediaTek Helio P25 system on chip, which offers decent mid range performance that rivals against the Snapdragon 625, there’s also 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, which should appeal to the average smartphone user. The Neffos N1 maintains a typical 16:9 display measuring at 5.5-inches, it displays good colour and contrast, brightness is also decent enough for outdoor use.

With a wireless extender feature, TP-Link obviously hopes that this would be a unique selling point of the phone when it gets released to the market, as in to show the company’s expertise in wireless technology, there’s no special hardware that is required by the feature. Setting up the feature is obviously much simpler than going into a router’s configuration page, as you can easily access it through the phone’s settings page, set up your SSID, password and wireless band to broadcast, and you’re good to go. TP-Link has also shared with me a good use case for this feature too, to be used on public WiFi connections that only supports a single session per login such as hotels and airports, this is very useful when you have multiple devices that requires online connectivity.

[sciba leftsrc=”https://klgadgetguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/neffosn1-camerasample-rgb.jpg” leftlabel=”” rightsrc=”https://klgadgetguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/neffosn1-camerasample-monochrome.jpg” rightlabel=”” mode=”horizontal” width=””]

While I didn’t have high expectations for the phone’s camera, the Neffos N1 managed to surprise me in terms of image quality, though it is nowhere near to Huawei’s P10 cameras when it comes to contrast and detail, they are good enough to be not called crappy cameras from a typical Chinese smartphone, the camera software will also allow you to switch between its lenses, which you can capture photos in full nostalgic monochrome if you desire to do so.

In a nutshell, the Neffos N1 isn’t a groundbreaking smartphone if it were to compete with other companies in the show, but it’s nice to see TP-Link finally taking its smartphone business seriously with an intention to integrate its networking know-hows, we’ll soon have the opportunity to check out the device further and will report with a full review. TP-Link officials wasn’t able to confirm any release date or pricing for the Neffos N1 in Malaysia, but do expect the phone to be priced from the range of RM1000-RM1200.

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Neffos is offering attractive deals for the X1 and X1 Max this Raya

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In conjunction with the coming holiday, Neffos Malaysia will be offering consumers a special Neffos X Series promotion package exclusive for online purchases through Lazada. The Neffos X1 Max which was introduced last year is available in Cloudy Gray and it will also be part of the Neffos X Series Online Raya Promotion. The premium box gift that will come with the phone consist of accessories such as a selfie stick, iRing, transparent phone casing and screen protector

The X1 and X1 Max is equipped with the octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 chipset, 4GB of RAM, 64GB internal storage expandable up to 128GB with a microSD card, dual-band WiFi and multiple LTE bands for fast internet access, giving it the ability to handle anything a smartphone can. The X1 is powered by a 2,250mAh battery and the X1 Max has a 3,000mAh which supports fast charging with 50% charge in just 30 minutes.

Prices for the phones begin at RM699 and the promotion will last until 30 June 2017, the promotions can be found
here
.

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Neffos is offering discounts on the X and C series this Merdeka period

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As our 60th year of independence arrives, Neffos is slashing prices on their smartphones for two months which they started on the 1st of August and will end on the 30th September 2017. They have announced that the Neffos X and C series will be selected to be part of the discounted devices.

The first set of devices that are under the discount is the Neffos X1 Max and Neffos X1, both running on Android 6.0. The X1 comes with a 5-inch HD display, MediaTek Hello P10 processor clocked at 1GHz, 2GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage expandable to 128GB via microSD card, 13MP rear camera, 5MP front camera, and 2250mAh battery. The X1 Max comes with slightly bigger 5.5-inch FHD screen, same processor as the X1 but clocked at 1.2GHZ, 3GB of RAM, 32GB internal storage expandable to 128GB via a microSD, the camera is also similar to the X1, and a bigger 3000mAh battery.

The Neffos C Series is also getting a price cut. The Neffos C5 comes with a 5-inch HD screen, MediaTek MT6753 processor clocked at 1.3GHz, 2GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage expandable to 32GB via microSD card, 8MP rear camera, 5MP front camera, and 2200mAh battery. The Neffos C5L will come with a 4.5-inch screen, Snapdragon 210 processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB internal storage expandable to 32GB via microSD, 8MP back camera, 2MP front camera, and 2000mAh battery. Finally is the Neffos C5 Max which has very similar specs as the C5 expect for a bigger 5.5-inch FHD screen, 3045mAh battery, and 16MP rear camera.

All the phones will have price slash of RM100 ringgit with the X1 and X1 Max costing RM599 and RM899 respectively after discount and the C5 Max, C5 and C5L costing RM499, RM399 and RM299 respectively after discount.

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How Neffos smartphones aim to be different from the rest?

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There’s one thing that you can’t ignore these days especially when it comes to purchasing a smartphone, there are so many brands to choose from, some companies slapped on lots of advertising to the consumer, and the end product is a smartphone that doesn’t necessarily deliver the right experience at the right price.

TP-Link may be well known to many as a company that mainly manufactures networking products, the company is however, taking a serious step into the smartphone business with Neffos, which debuted in Malaysia since a year ago. I’ve spent some time using the entry-level
Neffos X1 Lite
 a while ago, and commended it as one of the best if not the best smartphone under the RM500 price tag, offering mid-range features where many other Chinese smartphones couldn’t, it clearly shows how Neffos wants to be different in the already competitive smartphone market, and there are a few reasons why the company is able to make smartphones with great build quality, features and value.

Unlike many other smartphone companies, TP-Link doesn’t outsource its smartphone manufacturing process, and the company has its own resources for both product development and manufacturing, which means the company gets to source the highest quality component vendors for its smartphones, combined with the company’s very own research and development team, this enables the company to produce smartphones the way consumers wanted, while being able to quickly innovate more efficiently as compared to other smartphone companies. Despite having established in Malaysia only a year ago, Neffos has since committed a 24-months warranty for all of its smartphones, while ensuring that after sales is taken care of by setting up service centers and collection points nationwide, this is something that not every smartphone companies are able to offer.

As TP-Link is also one of the leading companies in producing wireless networking products, the company has also applied its expertise onto its smartphone’s wireless radio, every Neffos smartphone is made to have stronger wireless and cellular network signals than its competitors, just like how we have experienced during our review of the Neffos X1 Lite, it has the best 4G and GPS performance that we have come across phones of the same range, this eventually leads to better power efficiency than other smartphones.

The Neffos X1 series smartphones are just the beginning of how TP-Link intends to expand its smartphone line up in the Malaysian market, and for future Neffos devices, TP-Link intends to focus on what it is best in – wireless technology, and will continue to deliver the best possible smartphones at a competitive price with higher-end than usual features. One of the upcoming features that TP-Link will be introducing would be the dual smart antenna on its upcoming Neffos N1 smartphone, tested with TP-Link’s rigorous antenna debugging in a professional anechoic chamber, this antenna technology aims to maximize online stability and signal clarity with dual band WiFi and dual SIM 4G connectivity, the phone will be able to intelligently switch between WiFi and mobile data to ensure users are only connected to the best Internet connection, which also translates into better power efficiency.

Furthermore, the new Neffos N1 will also feature a Network Bridge feature, which can help extend your wireless network signal to unreachable areas of your network environment, it is technically the first smartphone to be able to do so where it will work with most wireless network routers, which will help save costs in purchasing a wireless extender should you need the feature, this is definitely something that many other smartphone brands are not able to provide.

For more information on Neffos smartphones, head on over to
www.neffos.my
, and you can purchase their devices over at
Lazada
,
11street
 and
Shopee
.

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Neffos will introduce the X20 and X20 Pro at MWC 2019

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Neffos recently launched the C5 Plus that is priced around RM249, but that’s not all. The sub-brand of TP-Link has announced that it will be making an appearance at the MWC 2019 with two new phones, the X20 and X20 Pro.

The X20 and X20 Pro will both have a 6.26-inch display with a dewdrop notch. While the side bezels are thin, the chin will be slightly thicker with the Neffos name right at the centre of the chin. We can’t be sure if the phone will support face unlock, but the fingerprint sensor on the back of both models indicates that the phone will support fingerprint unlock.

The Neffos X20 and X20 Pro will also support up to 4GB RAM and up to 128GB storage that is expandable, in addition to 4,100mAh battery. Perhaps the models will differ in the processors they use because the specs are similar so far.

Image credit: Neffos

In terms of camera, the two phones will sport a similar dual camera setup. With a 13MP main camera and a 5MP depth camera, the phones supports AI modes and can take bokeh shots on both its front and rear cameras.

The phone will be using NFUI 9.0 based on Android 9.0 and will only be released during June. Neffos also ensure that the phones are integrated with great baseband chip and power amplifier in addition to anti-electromagnetic interference EMC technology that will result in better network and signal.

That aside, Neffos will also be showcasing other phone models such as the Neffos C9, C9A, X9, and P1 at MWC 2019.

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Neffos X1 Review: The price tag makes it fall short

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The brand Neffos isn’t just new to anyone of you out there. It is to me as well, since none of us are know-it-all’s. I first stumbled upon that brand when I was strolling as per usual at a local mall. Lo and behold, Neffos was conducting a roadshow for the weekend at the event space. I then thought to myself that it’s probably one of those companies that will never succeed in the smartphone game, till I was asked to review a Neffos smartphone myself.

It was then I started doing searched on the interwebs, discovering that Neffos is by TP-Link, a brand which is no stranger when it comes to networking solutions and products. Neffos is a fairly young company, which started out not more than 2 years ago back in 2015. Neffos came into a proper presence during its first outing at IFA 2016 Berlin. Till now, the company has a fair amount of smartphones to boast about, and the one I have here with me is of mid range standard – the Neffos X1. Let’s find out how it performs.

Design

After reviewing a couple of mid range smartphones, I began realizing a pattern – most flagships are slowly adopting glass panels while metal built mid rangers are getting way too common. It isn’t a bad thing however, as metal built smartphones are definitely more solid looking than the cheap looking plastic ones. The Neffos X1 is no exception. The review unit happens to be of Cloudy Grey color. Its metal unibody, like others, is prone to slips, but thankfully its back has a subtle curvature which definitely helps providing better grips with the phone. There’s a slight bump on the back, housing the camera and the fingerprint sensor. The fingerprint sensor works as advertised, but feels a little too small in size when compared to other fingerprint sensors.

An added bonus is the alert slider on the left side of the phone, allowing the phone to go in silent mode with just a flick.

Up front, you’ll find a 5-inch display, which to me is rather refreshing after 3 years of using 5.5-inch smartphones. Given the fact that I have small hands, the 5-incher Neffos X1 feels like a perfect fit to me. The display unfortunately, is of 720p resolution, which can be deemed as unacceptable within the mid range spectrum of today. But it isn’t hard to look past this “flaw” given its smaller screen size. Colors look decent on screen, but the phone’s screen will falter slightly under sunlight, as its maximum brightness level isn’t up to par. Nevertheless, this phone is a god sent for small sized hands.

Performance & Battery Life

Did I mention that the Neffos X1 is my first ever MediaTek powered device as well? Qualcomm has been building a stronghold in my life, even when it came to review units of various smartphones. After using phones from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 600 series and 800 series, the Neffos X1 is indeed something new. The phone sports a MediaTek Helio P10 octa-core processor, seen in many mid range smartphones. Alongside the processor are 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage which is expandable. There’s another model which has 3GB of RAM and double the storage at 32GB.

Admittedly, I had a prejudice toward MediaTek processors, but fortunately the Neffos X1 changed my mind. Day-to-day performance does not slack with this phone. I also thought that the 2GB RAM might turn out to be insufficient, but for the most part I was wrong. I lived out my days with the Neffos X1 mostly without complains from the performance aspect. There will be the occasional lag from time to time but that is to be expected for a mid range smartphone. You can afford pushing this phone slightly above standard usage and still see it performing optimally. Any more than that and the results may vary.

Software greatly affects performance, and Neffos took great care in making sure that its own software won’t burden the internals of its handsets too much. Known as NFUI, Neffos’ own software on top of Android Marshmallow is pretty lightweight. Other manufacturers might want to take a couple of cues here as the Neffos X1 has ZERO added bloatware. Its app icons are square and pastel in color, reminding me of a crossover between CyanogenMod and MIUI. It doesn’t have an app drawer but Android has its customizability perks. Eventually, I slapped on a Nova launcher along with a KLWP custom wallpaper to make this phone like my own.

If you need fast charging, you might want to stop reading for this segment of the review. Sadly enough, the Neffos X1 has no fast charging technology. If you need fast charging, there’s the larger and more premium Neffos X1 Max. The Neffos X1 packs a 2,250mAh battery underneath the hood, which theoretically should be enough. Battery life of the Neffos X1 isn’t bad, but it isn’t great either. The phone managed to last throughout the day with normal usage, consisting of web browsing, music, and the occasional picture snap for social media. I didn’t have a lot of apps installed on the phone, so as far as running background apps go, mileage may vary.

Camera

The camera performance is when you’ll start to hear the bad of mid range devices. The Neffos X1 happens to suffer from the same fate as well.

The rear camera is of 13 megapixels, performing fairly decent under daylight. As long as you’re under optimally lighted environments, the phone will do fine. However, till some extent, the Neffos X1 suffers from over exposure, causing colors to be washed out. Performance heads for the worse when you move into dim lighting conditions. You’ll see a significant increase in image grain as the phone begins to suffer. Night scenes aren’t any better as images will turn out to be blur as the handset finds a hard time to even focus. The camera software does try to enhance the exposure in night scenes but they turn out to be rather murky instead.

The 5MP selfie camera on the other hand performs up to par like the other mid rangers of the same standard. Pictures turn out to be of fairly good quality as you would expect from a selfie camera. Other than that, there’s nothing too special about it.

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Neil Robertson fights back against Mark Selby

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Neil Robertson, the world No1, recovered from a dismal start to beat Mark Selby 10-7 in the UK Championship final in York on Sunday and complete the sport’s triple crown.

The Australian became only the eighth player to win the World, UK and Masters titles, joining Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Ronnie O’Sullivan, John and Alex Higgins, Terry Griffiths and Mark Williams, and is the first from overseas to achieve the feat.

Image caption

Selby had opened the final with a 130, having made the 100th official maximum in beating Ricky Walden 9-5 in the semi-finals on Saturday, and moved into a commanding 5-1 lead.

But Robertson crucially took the last two frames of the afternoon session and back-to-back centuries brought him level at 6-6.

He won the next two frames as well and pinched the 16th on the black to move within a frame of victory, which he completed with a 57 break.

Robertson said: “When I beat John Higgins earlier this year in the Wuxi Classic, I said that was the best I’d ever played in a final but the second session tonight was definitely the best I’ve played in a final.”

And, after appearing to wipe away tears, he added: “To become the first overseas player to win all three – Ding Junhui and I basically turned pro at the same time 10 years ago – to get it ahead of him is a fantastic achievement. I’m sure he’ll get there some day as well but to be the first is a fantastic feeling.”


Neither Huawei, LG nor Motorola will be releasing smartwatches this year

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IFA 2016 saw quite a number of wearables being released, ranging from fitness wearables, Samsung’s new Tizen powered Gear S3, the Android Wear ASUS ZenWatch 3 and Fossil’s new Q lineup, just to name a few. With the fourth quarter of 2016 closing in, it looks like big players Huawei, LG and Motorola won’t be releasing any Android Wear watches this year.

According to a CNET report, the above mentioned manufacturers will not release smartwatches in the coming months leading to the end of the year. This news may appear unsurprising to some, considering the fact that Android Wear 2.0 has only seen Developer Previews thus far, with no sign of the official release anytime soon. That could possibly be the reason as to why the tech wearable giants are holding it off for this year. Contrastingly, Huawei, LG and Motorola have released their Android Wear smartwatches respectively during IFA 2015. Speaking of IFA, the ZenWatch 3 which was unveiled by ASUS at this year’s trade show hasn’t seen any release date either, as promising as the new smartwatch may seem.

As for Samsung, the Gear S3 will be released later this year, and it seems that it will just be Apple and Samsung for this year’s wearable showdown, as the former has launched the Apple Watch Series 2, being more fitness oriented than ever. Meanwhile, the absence of big players in the wearable game has seen the spotlight shifting to the likes of Fossil’s new Android Wear lineup as a follow up to its Q Founder smartwatch, and the Michael Kors Access, also running Android Wear, following the trend of designer brands with their attempts on Google’s wearable OS. What do you think?

Source:
CNET

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NeoGeo games featured on the Humble Bundle

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NeoGeo is a name that arcade goers would be familiar with. With games such as King Of Fighters and Metal Slug, NeoGeo and the company who produced it, SNK, was one of the more popular game developers in the late 90s and the early 2000s.

In celebration of their 25th anniversary, the Humble Bundle is offering a rather extensive chunk of games from the NeoGeo archive.

The games up for offer in this bundle include Metal Slug 2, The King Of Fighters 2000 amd more obscure titles such as Samurai Showdown II and King Of The Monsters.

Paying more than the average, which at the time of writing is set at USD 9.51, will net you additional games like the original Metal Slug and Metal Slug 3 with other titles to be added into the pool soon. Paying US 10 or more will give you access to the entire NeoGeo catalogue that the Humble Bundle is offering and at USD 40, you’ll receive a Limited Edition NeoGeo 25th Anniversary Metal Slug T-Shirt.

There is still 12 days remaining for the NeoGeo Humble Bundle, so you shouldn’t procrastinate on this offer if you want it.

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Netac Z Slim 2TB Portable SSD Review: Impressively Sleek and Simple

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If you are looking for a sleek yet affordable portable SSD for expanding the storage of your gaming console and PC, the Netac Z Slim is one that you should definitely watch out.

We received the 2TB model for review directly from Netac, they are a Shenzhen based company that has an impressive portfolio of storage and memory products, the company is established since 2010 and has presence in China, the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and many other countries.

The Netac Z Slim comes in a very simple box that features the device and storage, while inside the box, you get a nice PU leather sleeve that prevents it from being scratched, a USB-A to USB-C cable and a USB-C adapter.

What impresses me the most is its lightweight and sleek form factor, it measures just 9mm thin and weighs 30g, and it certainly feels like you are just holding a M.2 2280 drive on your hand with a black aluminum case, there’s also no flashy RGB lights or design accents, and all you get is a Blue LED activity indicator beside the USB-C port.

The Netac Z Slim is advertised to have a transfer speed of 550MB/s over a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, which suggests that it is using a SATA SSD instead of an NVMe drive, though it is odd that Netac doesn’t offer a NVMe variant as the port is capable of delivering up to 10Gbps of data transfer speeds, and I definitely understand that decision as the slim chassis could overheat a fast NVMe SSD.

Let’s get to the benchmarking the drive. Using AS SSD as our benchmark tool, the Netac Z Slim 2TB is able to achieve up to 512.96 MB/s of sequential read and 471.23 MB/s of sequential write speeds, 4K random read speeds is a little disappointing though and surprisingly slower than 4K random write speeds, though thankfully Access Time is decent.

We continued to run the AS SSD Copy-Benhcmark which best simulates an actual file transfer, and as expected, the Netac Z Slim’s performance in the Program benchmark, which copies a set of random files to the drive and took 9.7 seconds to complete.

The Netac Z Slim is available in storage capacities of 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB, it comes with a 3-year warranty and retails from US$32.99 (RM152), our 2TB model retails at US$119.99 (RM553), which is extremely affordable for that amount of storage if you don’t require NVMe drive speeds, and most importantly, its sleek form factor allows for convenient storage.

The Netac Z Slim can be purchased at
Lazada
 and
Shopee
, and we recommend getting it from CUDO Technologies as per our link, it is cheaper than purchasing from Netac’s store on Amazon but sadly there’s no stock for the 2TB model at this time of writing.

Overall, the Netac Z Slim is a decent portable SSD that we highly recommend as your gaming console and PC’s external storage.

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Netflix on Android gets “screen lock” to prevent accidental touches

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Netflix has recently added a new “screen lock” button for Android devices and it does what exactly what the name describes — it locks your screen.

So why do we need “screen lock”? If your phone is your main platform to enjoy Netflix content, then you’ll know that accidental touches can be annoying and sometimes cause you to pause your Netflix or stop your playback. Well, if you enable “screen lock”, all these problems will go away. The play/pause button and the timeline scrubber will disappear; instead you’ll get an indication that your screen is locked and you’ll need to tap twice to unlock it.

But it’s not entirely fool-proof;
The Verge
 pointed out that Android system gestures will still work even if you’ve enabled “screen lock”. It’s more useful against toddlers who might mess with your phone when you’re watching Netflix.

Interestingly, this feature is only available on Android devices.
9to5Google
 reported that “it arrived on a server-side change” so we don’t know when or if iOS devices will get this feature.

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Netflix and Halo 5 shown running on the Hololens

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Microsoft’s HoloLens has been a highly intriguing piece of product but the demoes of it has been scarce so far. So it comes as a pleasant surprised that some Microsoft engineers have shared some previews of the HoloLens in action, namely by streaming Halo 5 from an Xbox One and running Netflix through the Microsoft Edge browser.

While the early footage of the HoloLens in action seems highly promising, the device is still currently in the early prototype stages.
Users that have managed to try it out for themselves
 says that the actual user experience isn’t quite as smooth as the one depicted on the Youtube video. For example, the HoloLens’ narrow peripheral field of view isn’t quite as obvious in the demo unless you’ve tried the device out personally. That said, the demoes above are proof that the HoloLens can be something more than the various other VR headsets that will be released sometime next year.

If those videos makes you want a HoloLens ASAP, be prepared to wait as the Developer versions of the device won’t be going on sale until next year, meaning that the consumer version of the HoloLens is still months away.

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Netflix streaming service confirmed to be accessible on Astro soon

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Astro and
Netflix
 are officially partners, meaning that Astro users will soon get to enjoy Netflix via their Ultra and Ulti Boxes.

Will the Astro/Netflix combo be priced lower?

This also means that there will be new pricing to selected Astro subscriptions to include the subscription fee you have to pay for Netflix. We are expecting a slightly lower price compared to the individual prices of each subscription, but this will be announced later on.

The Netflix plans available on Astro are not confirmed yet

Astro also did not mention whether all Netflix plans will be available on its platform or if there are limited plans. However, it is confirmed that both subscriptions will be combined in a single bill for the ease of payment.

Astro also announced that the Netflix access will be introduced in connected Ultra Boxes, followed by Ulti Boxes in the coming months.

Those who are interested can register their interest
here
.

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