FarCry 5 Review: A Game Made With Love and Care

392

The one thing that open world games lack is a solid character development, games like Zelda: Breath of the Wild offered a gorgeous open world and gameplay mechanics but lacked slightly in story and character development. One game that managed to salvage that is the Farcry series, which seem to blend storytelling, character development and a lovely open world for us to play with. With Farcry 5, they managed to take that one step further by offering players a world with a great amount of content and by far, the best cast of villains in any of the Farcry games.

Farcry 5 is set in a fictional county in America called Hope County. The game starts off with calm and serene scenes of the county with slow, country like tunes which is meant to throw you off if you don’t know the Farcry games or watched any of the trailers. Behind this facade of calm and serenity lies a gruesome and evil plot which is carried out by the Seed family. A cult family that believes the collapse is upon us and they are the only ones that can bring salvation to the people. You, as a rookie with the US Marshall, is tasked to arrest their leader, Joseph Seed, but like all Farcry games, things are never as easy as it seems.

Graphics

Farcry 5 is by far, the most optimized game out of any of the other instalments. It is capable to run on 1080p at 60 fps with medium settings on my Ryzen 5 1600 processor, alongside the Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 graphics card, which for a game with this graphics capabilities is seriously impressive. Unlike the other Farcry games which were mainly set in jungle or forest environments, Hope County offers a nice balance between towns, lakes, forest and wide open meadows, offering a nice change of scenery to keep you absorbed into its world.

The immersion is further enhanced thanks to Ubisoft’s attention to detail with the lighting and fog, giving you the change to get lost in its thick forest and open roads. I love the lighting in the game, the light from the sun shines through the trees is just lovely to admire and the fog that comes in the night offers an eerie feel when going through a forest give you a sense of dread, especially when you are trying to clear out an encampment or if you feel like going on a rampage, killing cult members in the most efficient way with stealth.

Adding to that, the wildlife brings these dense forests to life, giving the player a sense that each of these animals has their own habitats and of course, offers you the chance to hunt them to make some money from their meat and other body parts. Ubisoft has also made an effort not only in its environment but in the action as well. Guns and melee weapons look great, on guns you can see the obvious reflection and detail that is reflected in its real-life counterparts and melee weapons have scuff marks and obvious wear and tear. It is subtle, but I love when game developers give attention to details although some players might not realize it.

Explosions are glorious, the ball of fire and smoke that rises out of a blown up fuel tank give you a satisfaction that not only you have done your job, but getting a call from one of the Seed family members telling you how disappointed that you did not see the way, makes you wanna blow more things up.

Gameplay

Farcry 5 is an exploration game, it does not hold your hand and mark out every section of the map with things you can do. The game expects you to venture out into the world your self and talk to all the NPCs along the way. This is extremely important as most of the NPCs will tell you about locations in the world and the most important ones is the Pepper Stashes, those are one of the main sources of earning perk points, aside from completing the in-game achievements.

These points allow you to increase skills which will show you very obvious improvements to your characters and unlock more weapon slots. Pepper Stashes are also very fun to complete. It gives you a break from the action-packed game world by offering you a puzzle, similar to the shrines in Breath of the Wild, Pepper Stashes will require you to figure out how to get to the location by performing certain actions, like turning on a water pump, or switching off the electric so the door unlocks or so the water is not coursing with electricity. Other than that, the other gameplay element I really enjoy is liberating an outpost of cult members so the residents will be able to take over the location and unlock access to shops to buy and sell items or a vehicle depo, allowing you to summon a vehicle and the all-important quick travel point.

Hope County is rather huge, in the best way to get around, other than fast travel points, is by using vehicles. There are a range of vehicles available to you, from cars to trucks, ATVs, and even planes. The cars drive as you would expect from a video game, but each vehicle has its own feel. Sedans will get you around the easiest but if you pick a muscle car, it will require more handling, due to its power but both these vehicles perform poorly when going off-road, which is expected. However, using a truck or ATV will easily get you around when going off-road, which makes sense. Planes, in my opinion, is slightly tricky to control, it’s not as hard as using a plane in GTV, but it will require some getting used too, as it requires some patients when flying through a ravine or lining up your sights against a hostile enemy plane.

Just like every other FarCry game, it offers very tight controls, especially when using high-powered guns. It won’t be as simple as just running an gunning, (Sorry COD fans) every kill, every gun battle has to be planned out. You can die very easily in this game if you are not aware of your surroundings, but with the implementation of the binoculars for you to mark out targets, it does make a gunfight much easier. You could also hire resistance members to aid you in gunfights, and I am impressed with the competence of the AI, it understands whether you want to go in with stealth or guns blazing by your actions. For example, if you are approaching an enemy encampment, the AI will acknowledge that and follow close to you, taking cover and sometimes even marking enemies for you, which makes the combat much easier.

Guns can also be upgraded to add suppressors, scopes and even paint to make your self-stand out from others. The game also supports coop, but sadly, if you were to join a session hosted by your friend, your account will not progress in the game, which got me thinking, why implement a coop system when only one person progresses in the game?

The Bad

Based on the above, you might think that this game is the most polished and refined game in the FarCry series, that may be true but there are some issues that still plague the game. The first being the enemy spawn, enemies seem to randomly pop out of nowhere, you might be in the middle of the road saving a citizen of the county from cult members only to find that two trucks carrying backup miraculously appeared behind you. I find that the game does not give you a chance to get away, as it would make sense that it will take time for backup to arrive, but not in FarCry 5.

Other than that, there are a lot of physics bugs, like two vehicles colliding with each other might send one of them or both flying into the sky, which is funny to look at but if you are in the vehicle, it is not going to be funny for long. This can sometimes extend to planes where sometimes your wings might get snagged against a tree branch sending the plane and you spiralling to your death. Other cases were an important quest item getting caught on an invisible platform in the sky, which required me to load up a save file in order to fix it.

The bugs and glitches are mostly harmless and sometimes even funny to look at, sure it breaks the immersion but being as it is an open world game, it is hard to ensure that every section of the map is bug-free.

Verdict

Although FarCry 5 has some bugs and obvious issues that need fixing, it is still a very optimized game and is highly recommended to everyone that loves a great open world and FPS. The story can leave you on the edge of your seat and I believe that this the game that this is UbiSoft’s message that they are taking care of their games.

5
farcry
fps
open
review
ubisoft
world


Fast Laughs: Netflix’s new mobile feature now only available for iOS

1.8K

Netflix is trying to be
TikTok

too
; the streaming service recently announced a new feature called Fast Laughs that offers short, funny videos from its comedy genre to encourage users to watch them.

Not everyone can enjoy Netflix’s Fast Laughs

For those who can access this new feature, it should be available at the bottom of your iPhone; for those who don’t, you’ll have to wait for Netflix to introduce it to your country or just embrace the fact that you’ll never get to enjoy this TikTok-like feature.

Android users will get Fast Laughs in the future, though Netflix did not specify the date and which countries will get it first. With Fast Laughs, Netflix aims to get viewer’s attention to certain scenes from movies and shows that may entice them to watch the films. They can even add those content to their list, start watching on the spot or even share the short clips with their friends on other social media platforms.

We don’t know if this will work out for Netflix, but at least you have a specific tab to go to when you’re looking for funny content on the app.

Fast Laughs
netflix


Fast Pair is Android’s take on Apple’s AirPods pairing

303

In just a couple more years, almost all your accessories and gadgets will probably go wireless and that would also mean the way to listen to music on your mobile device. With that, Google has just announced Fast Pair, a similar method on how the AirPods links with the iPhone but this would work on all Android devices that are even running on Android 6.0

Your phone will automatically detect Bluetooth accessories within the reach of your Bluetooth signal and display them for you, making it easier to select and pair your phone with the device. Your phone will fetch the device name, image and companion app if it exists from Google’s own servers. If the pairing is successful, it will ask if you would like to download the companion app. The pairing process still uses traditional Bluetooth so it just adds a layer of convenience to hook up your devices to your phone, but it is still a big step forward when it comes to a wireless world.

So far there are only a handful of devices that support Fast Pair like, Google’s Pixel Buds, Libratone’s Q Adapt On-Ear, and Plantronics Voyager 8200-series, users will need to install the latest version of Google Play Services which should automatically be updated in the next coming days.

android
bluetooth
fast pair
wireless


"Faster than Faster", a promise with the Vivo V3 and V3 Max

419

Chinese manufacturer Vivo has officially released some photos teasing their upcoming duo of smartphones, the Vivo V3 and V3 Max. The teaser was released along with a slogan which reads, “Faster than Faster”, highlighting some snappy features and performance of the handsets.

First of all, both the V3 and V3 Max will be shelled with a metal body. For the V3 Max, underneath the hood lies 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, so we’re guessing that the ZV3 will be sporting 3GB of RAM. Vivo hasn’t revealed any details regarding the processor, but rumors have been telling us that both the V3 and V3 Max will be sporting an octa-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz. According to Vivo, both handsets can have their cameras started up in a swift 0.7 seconds, and features a snappy PDAF focusing of 0.2 seconds.

Another feature supporting the “Faster than Faster” slogan is the fast charging technology, in which Vivo claims that 5 minutes of charging will bring you 2 hours of music listening. Also included is a fingerprint sensor which we think will be pretty impressive considering the company’s adherence to the slogan. What do you think about the revealed specs so far? Let us know at the comments section below!

Source:
Android Authority

4gb
charging
fast
faster
max
ram
than
v3
vivo


Fatal1ty Z170 Professional Gaming i7 Motherboard Unveiled by ASRock

277

ASRock Fatality Z170 Professional Series Gaming i7 is currently the highest performance gaming motherboard available on the Intel Z170 chipset. ASRock’s motherboard was designed with 12 power phases supporting the 6th generation Intel Core processors and equipped with the latest DDR4 RAMs. The ASRock Fatality Z170 Professional Series Gaming i7 allows you to dominate your competition in the most complex PC games. Enthusiasts can further maximize graphic performance via the motherboard’s four PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots that fully supports 3-way CrossfireX or Quad SLI. Onboard native graphic output options includes DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort.

Superior onboard LAN and audio is a must for high performance gaming motherboards, therefore the ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Professional Gaming i7 is loaded with Dual gigabit Intel LAN chips, plus ASRock’s new proprietary audio solution Purity Sound 3. This professional series gaming motherboard holds ten SATA3 connectors, three SATA Express connectors. For maximum performance there’s also three more Ultra M.2 slots that allows M.2 SSD or Intel 750 U.2 SSDs to be built into a performance PCIe SSD RAID 0 array. For unbeatable connectivity flexibility you’ll find eight USB 2.0 ports including the customizable Fatal1ty mouse port, also eight USB 3.0 ports, and two USB 3.1 Type-A and Type-C ports.

SOURCE:
TechPowerUp

asrock
fatal1ty
gamingmotherboard
i7motherboard
mobo
pccomponents
pchardware
pcmasterrace
professionalgaming
z170


FBI drops Apple case completely

319

Apple will no longer need to face the Department of Justice and the FBI in court any longer as the DoJ has officially dropped the case against Apple.

It was reported last week that the FBI will be working with
Israeli firm Cellebrite
 in order to crack the iPhone’s encryption. Today, the FBI has filed its Status Report regarding the Cellebrite’s attempt at cracking the iPhone, which the court has noted that “good cause” has been shown. With the government being able to “successfully access the data stored on the shooter’s iPhone,” Apple will no longer need to assist the FBI in this matter.

With this, the case between Apple and the FBI has concluded, for now. It is entirely possible that this whole case may reopen in the future, but until then, Apple would not need to worry about creating a backdoor. As for the how Cellebrite managed to break through Apple’s iOS encryption, that matter has been deemed classified, and as such, that method would not be revealed anytime soon.

Source:
Engadget
,
Scribd

apple
encryption
fbi
ios
politics
security


FBI goes global on child porn crackdown

293

Last year, the FBI partook in what is possibly the
single largest law enforcement hacking campaign
 in an attempt to bring down various child pornography websites on the Dark Net. This year, they’re going to be coorperating with European authorities such as Europol, effectively making this crackdown on child porn global.

This large scale crackdown, known as Operation Pacifier, has led to arrests in the US, Greece, the Netherlands and Chile thus far. At the centre of the crackdown is a website called ‘Playpen’, a website that is descibed by the US court as “the largest remaining known child pornography hidden service in the world”.

Slides relating to Operation Pacifier
 has since been discovered and points to the fact that every European country will be partaking in efforts to crackdown on child pornography. Europe isn’t the only participant to the crackdown as there are cases reported in countries such as Turkey and Colombia as well.

Source :
Motherboard

darknet
fbi
tor


FBI will assist authorities in cracking encrypted devices

259

With FBI able to successfully unlock the iPhone 5C of the San Bernardino shooter, the agency is now ready to assist the American police in cracking all other devices they currently have possession of.

In a letter
sent by the FBI
 to local authorities, the agency stated that it understands the challenges they face and that they lack necessary tools to monitor and investigate the communications of suspects who use encrypted mobile devices. “As has been our longstanding policy, the FBI will of course consider any tool that might be helpful to our partners. Please know that we will continue to do everything we can to help you consistent with our legal and policy constraints,” says the FBI. The FBI has since been
lending their expertise
 by helping the Arkansas prosecutor to unlock an iPhone and iPod belonging to two teenagers accused of killing the couple

Apple, of course, has taken note that the FBI has (allegedly) managed to crack the encryption of the iPhone and has since warned that the method won’t remain a secret for long. The company has stated that once the method is exposed, Apple’s engineers would be ready to plug the hole that the FBI found.

Source:
Reuters
,
Huffington Post
,
ABC News
,
Buzzfeed

apple
encryption
fbi


FCC listing for Google Pixel 2 phone states it will ship with Android 8.0.1 out of the box

307

Google has listed its successor to the popular Pixel phone on the FCC website which confirms few of the previous rumours, one of them being the phone will be shipped with the Latest Android 8.0.1 out of the box. This filing was done by HTC, which confirms that rumours that they will be making the smaller variant of the Pixel 2 phone.

Something worth noting is the screenshots which mention an Active Edge feature in the Pixel 2’s Languages, Input and Gestures settings. This is probably the feature which allows users to squeeze the sides of the phone to trigger various functions, similar to whats on the HTC U11. Other than that, the listing also mentions that it will come with at least 64GB of onboard storage and will be equipped with the latest Snapdragon 835 processor.

Other rumours that still have not been confirmed as the two front-facing stereo speakers and the lack of a traditional 3.5mm headphone jack. The design is also rumoured to look the same as the current Pixel phone but with a smaller glass area on the back.

2
8.0.1
android
fcc
google
listing
phone
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snapdragon


11 Useful Features in iOS 11 That Will Completely Change The iPhone/iPad

1K

I have always heard complains about bad user experience with Apple. It’s true; there’s no mobile data icon next to the WiFi icon, and most of Apple’s apps are not exactly useful. With iOS 11 on its way, Apple users can rest assured that these machines will soon be a multi-tasking beast.

Currently, only a public beta is available through the
Apple Beta Software Program
. For those who live on the edge, remember to back up all your data before stepping into this new edge. It is also advisable to install the public beta on a secondary device as your iPad/iPhone might crash or experience battery drain. As for those who are not prepared for the edge, scroll down for all 11 useful features in iOS 11 that will completely change your iPad/iPhone. The final version will be released officially this fall.

1) Markup Your Screenshots Immediately

Markup is a new way for you to leave a mark in your screenshots without tapping into Photos. While Markup is probably made for the stylus, my index finger had no problem being the temporary stylus.

 (opens in a new w
2) Control Center Gets A Fancy Makeover

With a long swipe up, this fancy-looking Control Center will appear. I say ‘long swipe up’ because the Dock gets the ‘short swipe up’ which I will explain in 3) shortly. The panel on the right (highlighted in red) is customisable. This means that cellular data can finally (FINALLY) be along the WiFi icon.

3) Keep The Dock Anytime, Anywhere

On the iPad, this macOS-like Dock minimizes visits to the home screen. A short swipe up will bring up the Dock where you can access your favorite apps. The Dock will also hold apps you have recently visited.

4) Drag And Drop Your Files in Split Screen View

Remember the split screen view in iOS 10? iOS 11 will include a drag-and-drop in addition to that. After you have brought up the Dock, drag an app out of the dock. When the app opens, just drag and drop a photo.

5) Notes Gets An Upgrade

Nothing comes free. Usually, a small payment is required to remove ads from a document scanner app. Apple users can scan documents add tables on Notes in iOS 11. Markup has also replaced the current sketching tool.

6) Send A Text To Siri

This is self-explanatory. Other improvements to Siri in iOS 11 is made as well: Siri’s voice is more natural; Siri can know users’ preferences better due to its on-device learning and artificial intelligence.

7) A Much Needed Screen Recorder

Since some games do not provide screen recording tools, the newly integrated screen recorder in iOS 11 is godsend. In the control center, just tap on the recorder icon. Once it turns red, you’re good to go.

8) Browse All Your Files In ‘Files’

Although Apple is late to this party, Apple iOS 11 might have a better file manager than
Android N’s built-in file manager
. The file explorer in this iteration supports opening files from various other apps such as Google Drive and Dropbox, which is something not at hand in Nougat.

9) Typing Is Easier Than Ever

Press and swipe down for most punctuation and numbers without pressing ‘.?123’ on the keyboard.

10) Scan QR Codes with Camera

I usually download a QR code scanner app just for the purpose of scanning QR codes. Camera in iOS 11 can immediately recognize a QR code, and this ease of use could be a step forward for
businesses and services
.

11) Volume Slider Is Relocated

In the current operating system, the volume adjustment logo appears in the middle of the screen. I suppose the slider is relocated to the top right-hand corner for the sake of higher visual satisfaction (e.g. Gong Yoo/Chris Evans/Emma Watson).

These features in iOS 11 are only a few among many others under the hood. Although iOS 11 is a big innovative leap, news on a compatible hardware to fit iOS 11 along with its super expensive price tag remains unknown. We will soon find out when Apple drops the iPhone 8 in the market later this year.

Which features in iOS 11 do you like the most? You can leave a comment down below!

Read also:

Nokia has partnered ZEISS to make smartphone camera lenses

Motorola releases four new budget phones that will join the Moto E and Moto C families

apple
feature
features
ios
ios 11
ipad
iphone
smartphone
update


Features Writer wanted at KLGadgetGuy

280

If you have been a long time reader at KLGadgetGuy, you will know that we want to make a difference when it comes to content creation, and if you think you should have a say in the world of technology during your free time, we would love to have you as our Features Writer  – Of course, you will be paid and who knows you might even stand a chance to be hired full time in our geeky office!

A Features Writer can cover either one of the following topics:

Gadgets (smartphones, tablets, laptops and etc.)

PC Hardware Components

Cameras and Photography

Gaming

Cars and Automotive Technology

Finally, there are simple rules that you will need to comply when writing for us:

Article will be published exclusively on
KLGadgetGuy.com
, it will not be published if found on other media outlets.

KLGadgetGuy reserves the right to make changes to the article at any point of time

Plagiarism is not tolerated

Send us a sample of your work to
[email protected]
 and we will take it from there. We hope to see you soon!

careers
jobs
klgadgetguy


Ferrari celebrates its 70th Anniversary with the launch of the LaFerrari Aperta

494

Naza Italia the only official importer and distributor of Ferrari in Malaysia have revealed the limited edition LaFerrari Aperta, a special series model launched to mark Ferrari’s 70th Anniversary. NAZA World Group Executive Chairman said that they are honoured to be part of Ferrari;s global celebrations and is grateful that Naza could be part of the celebration.

The latest supercar combines extraordinary performance with the exhilaration of open-top driving, it is equipped with the same hybrid power unit as the coupe, 800 cv 6,262cc V12 engine coupled with a 120KW electric motor for a total power output of 963 cv.

The LaFerrari Aperta is presented at every stage of the ceremonies worldwide, this special series model is a limited edition spider version of the LaFerrari supercar.

It is also dedicated to the most loyal of Ferrari customers and therefore boasts technological excellence, dynamic performance and unique style, all of which are core values that represent the brand and accomplishments of the last several decades.

A special website has been created to show the celebrations as they unfold throughout the year and to introduce pivotal moments and individuals in the company’s history. For more information visit the official Facebook page or follow @ferrari.malaysia on Instagram for the latest updates and offerings of Ferrari and NAZA Italia.

edition
ferrari
laferrari
limited
naza
supercar


Ferrari unleashes the GTC4Lusso T in Malaysia, the first four-seater sports car by the company

393

Ferrari has been well known for producing aggressive looking vehicles and its rather throaty engine, in conjunction with the Paris Motor Show, Malaysian importer Naza Italia and Ferrari has brought in the GTC4Lusso T for a preview in St. Regis Kuala Lumpur, this is a 2-door sports car that comes with four seats, which is a first for the Italian car maker the car hails a whole new Ferrari GT concept that is aimed at owners seeking a car that is sporty, versatile, and ideal for driving on a daily basis.

Under the hood, the GTC4Lusso T is powered by a 3.9-litre V8 turbo engine that outputs 601hp at 7,500rpm and 760Nm of torque, this power is sent to the car’s rear wheels and allows it to sprint from 0-100km/h in a mere 3.5 seconds and achieves a maximum speed of >320km/h, fuel consumption is rated at 11.6l/100km. Ferrari has even showed us a promo video of the car showing that it could actually fit in a young family of four comfortably, which definitely got me really intrigued to sit in the car.

Though none of us managed to take the car out for a joyride, I manage to sit into the car itself, the car in truth feels very comfortable to sit in with a reasonably good ride height for a sports car, the centre cluster consist of an analog RPM meter with a digital LED displays for showing the car’s speed and other information, the four-wheel steering is nicely leather wrapped and comes with interesting buttons and knobs.

On the center of the dashboard, the GTC4Lusso T has a 10.25-inch touchscreen multimedia system that produces an HD resolution, it has Apple CarPlay support and a very polished software experience on it, there’s also another display on the passenger’s side that shows information of the car’s speed, performance and navigation, hence you are very much sitting in one of the most high tech sports car available.

The Ferrari GTC4Lusso T is now available for bookings over at Naza Italia’s showroom and starts from RM1,088,000.00 excluding duty and customization options, so if you have some extra cash to spend and have young kids, you should probably consider checking out this four-seater from the Italian car maker, it will look so cool sending your kids to school on it.

cars
ferrari
gtc4lusso


Fiat Chrysler and Alphabet may be partnering together to develop self-driving cars

365

Rumours are swirling around that Google’s parent company Alphabet and car manufacturer Fiat Chrysler are in the final stages of sealing a deal which would see both companies partnering up to tackle self-driving cars.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the talks between Alphabet and Fiat Chrysler have been going on for several months and have quite recently entered the late stages. Should everything work out as expected, both companies may officially announce their partnership sometime soon.

The partnership between Alphabet and Fiat Chrysler is a logical one. On Alphabet’s side, the company has been looking for an established company that could help it realize its vision for a self-driving car without needing to enter the car business proper. On Fiat’s side, the company has been “scouring the auto industry” looking for partners for either a merger or to offset production and development costs.

Of course, should Fiat and Alphabet agree to the partnership terms, Fiat would probably join Alphabet’s Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets which includes companies like Ford, Lyft, Uber and Volvo.

Source:
Engadget
,
The Wall Street Journal

alphabet
fiatchrysler
partnership
selfdrivingcars


Fitbit Sense Review: Advanced health tools in an ordinary smartwatch

893

The Fitbit Sense is the beginning of a new series for the company. It’s one of the devices that are offered in the premium segment, apart from the Versa series that has been around for a few years. Fitbit Sense is also the the first smartwatch to sport an EDA sensor that measures electrodermal activity responses to help in stress management. But for RM1,498, is the Fitbit Sense worth it?

Design

Let’s first look at its design; the Fitbit Sense doesn’t scream fancy outlook-wise, but if you like the shape of the
Versa 2
, you’d be okay with the Fitbit Sense. An obvious difference between these two will be their buttons. The Fitbit Sense has an inductive button instead of a physical one and personally, I prefer the latter. The inductive button doesn’t give you the feeling of actually pressing something — the only way you’ll know that you’ve “pressed” it is when there’s a vibration as feedback.

Display

The Fitbit Sense also needs improvement in terms of its responsiveness. It sometimes fail to detect when I’m swiping and that can be frustrating, especially during workouts. However, it’s 1.58-inch OLED display is great even under sunlight and the contents on the watch looks sharp and vivid. There are three functions to this watch — a single press will lead you to the home screen, a long press will open your favourite app and a double-press will result in a shortcut to the four apps you’ve set in the settings.

Health tools

When it comes to features, this Fitbit watch triumphs over every other Fitbit watches or fitness trackers. It has stress management tools, an EDA Scan app and a skin temperature sensor. It also has a feature that alert you whenever you have exceptionally high or low heart rate despite being inactive for 10 minutes.

With the Fitbit Sense, you get to enjoy a 6-month free trial of Fitbit Premium — a membership that gives you more insights and details on your health data. I enjoyed being able to find out what contributed to my stress management score and learned that most of the time my bad score is due to a bad sleep score or the lack of exercise. I can also track my skin temperature; though I’m not entirely sure what it’s for, I’m glad to see that results doesn’t vary too much from night to night so there aren’t any abnormalities.

While every sensor and tracking feature seems to work fine, I did find the SpO2 monitor a hassle. You need to download the SpO2 watch face if you want to measure your blood oxygen level, but if you are constantly using this watch face, then the watch’s battery life will drain faster than usual.

Fitness tracking

There’s also a built-in GPS in the Fitbit Sense; it’s great for those who love running/jogging outside, but I prefer to stay home and follow workout videos instead. As I’ve been using the Versa 2 before this, other exercise features remain the same. The Fitbit Sense also supports auto-tracking of exercises such as walking, running, aerobics and more.

Smartwatch features

As a smartwatch, the Fitbit Sense can do a lot better, especially for its price point. It doesn’t support Google Assistant yet and Fitbit Pay also doesn’t work in Malaysia, so it is quite disappointing. There are also very limited number of third-party apps that can be downloaded, but luckily I still get Spotify on it.

Battery life

What I probably like most about the Fitbit Sense is its long-lasting battery life. The watch can easily last me around six to seven days, though I really have to charge it on the seventh day. You should note that if you’re using the SpO2 watch face or the Always-On display, the battery life will shorten.

Verdict

The Fitbit Sense is a smartwatch/fitness tracker with a lot of useful health features and if you pair it with Fitbit Premium, you’ll also learn a lot more about your health data. However, it doesn’t suffice as a smartwatch as compared to others like the
 Apple Watch
 and
Samsung Galaxy Watch
. For RM1,498, you’re better off purchasing the Apple Watch SE unless you specifically want the extra sensors that are available on the Fitbit Sense.

The Good

Impressive battery life

Waterproof

Advanced health tools

Built-in GPS

The Not So Good

Sluggish UI

Limited third-party apps

Fitbit Pay not available yet

No Google Assistant

fitbit
fitbit sense


FIFA 20 receives embarrassingly low 0.3/10 User Score on Metacritic

840

We don’t usually write about or talk all that much about video games – but when we do, it’s usually because it’s big news or Victor has something he wants off his chest.

This is the latter – hi folks, Victor signing in. I’m an avid FIFA fan – been sinking hours upon hours into the franchise since the FIFA 08 (prime Fernando Torres was my drug). So you can believe me when I say this issue bugs me to no end.

If you’re a fan yourself, then you’d know what a mess FIFA 20 and its creators EA are in right now – the new iteration of the game was released a few days back, and it’s already got a user Metacritic score of 1.3 for the PS4, 1.0 for the Xbox One, and a hilariousl 0.3 for PC.

Part of the reason for this is that the main problem plaguing the series still remain – microtransactions and the lack of innovation outside the money-making Ultimate Team mode. EA charges full price for what is essentially a roster update and game mode patch for FIFA 19.

Image credit: Push Square

After years of players nagging them to do something with Career Mode, EA have finally listened…sort of. They’ve added a few new features like player and conference dialogues, a new player potential growth system and more. But the improvements are overshadowed by the amount of game-breaking bugs that exist in the game already.

The hashtag #FixCareerMode, spearheaded by YouTuber MGH, has gone on the trending list – meaning players far and wide are miffed about the state of the game mode. You add this to a what is essentially a football game with microtransactions and luck-based loots, you can see why the game has earned its low Metacritic scores.

– Clubs are not playing their best players
 – Press Conferences & Player Conversations broken
 – Dynamic Potential inconsistent
 – Edit Player broken
 – Fixture congestion
 – Many more

We did not even get an Apology from
@EA

❤ + RT to make
#FixCareerMode
 Viral
#FIFA20

#FIFAFriday

pic.twitter.com/NgnQ46YbnC

— Career Mode Insider (@CareerModeInsid)
September 27, 2019

One may think that players are just overreacting to the issues – but you have to remember that EA employ ‘Game Changers’ which is a community partnership program that allows creators and users to provide feedback to the developers. Game Changers often gather their own points as well as those of their followers, and then relay that to those in charge of making the game in hopes that issues will be ironed out before launch. MGH, who’s also part of the program, have confirmed that EA have not implemented any of the feedback provided, relinquishing any value the program has.

That’s it, I’m done with my little rant – it’s up to you, the consumer, on whether you want to support a developer that clearly puts profits over customer satisfaction. With the community now being more vocal than ever about EA’s shady business practices, I’m hoping the American giants can turn a new leaf.

ea
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Filmic’s DoubleTake lets you shoot videos with two lenses on your iPhone simultaneously

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When the new iPhones were launched last year, Filmic made an appearance on stage with its app that could maximize the potential of the iPhone 11 Pro’s triple camera. It was well-received during its presentation in September 2019 and now it’s finally here.

Unlike what we’ve expected, Filmic introduced this feature as a new app called DoubleTake. It is an iOS exclusive app that will only work with iPhones, iPad and iPod touch that are updated to iOS 13 and later.

The camera app is pretty simple; there are three modes that you can choose from — Split Screen mode, PiP mode and Discrete mode. With the iPhone 11, you can pick from the front lens, the wide lens and the ultra-wide lens and with the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max, you get the extra telephoto lens. You can also pick different frame rates — 24fps, 25fps, 30fps —with 1080p recording because there’s no 4k recording as of now.

While DoubleTake is free for download, it will also be included in Filmic Pro — the paid app — later this year. The Filmic Pro app will, however, cost you RM59.90.

DoubleTake
Filmic
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ios
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Final developer build of Android Nougat now available for download

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The release of Android Nougat shouldn’t be too far away now that Google has finally released the final developer preview build of the upcoming Android OS to the public.

As expected of the final developer preview build, this version of Android Nougat has had most of its bugs and glitches fixed. Aside from that, a few new features have been added to the build, such as system images for preview devices, an emulator that can be used to do final testing of apps, updates to system behaviours and the UI, as well as the final N APIs (API level 24). While Android Nougat is now much more stable than its previous builds, do keep in mind that, as is the case with all preview builds, Android Nougat may still contain bugs or instabilities, so download the preview build at your own risk.

Google has yet to give a solid release date for the release of Android Nougat, opting instead for a somewhat vague “later this summer” window. For those of you who are interested in the technical side of Android Nougat, do note that the Android Engineering Team will be doing an AMA at the
 r/androiddev
 subreddit on the 20th of July (tomorrow) at 3am – 5am local time.

Source:
Android Developers Blog

android
beta
developerpreview
finalbuild
google
nougat


Final Fantasy 15 Windows Edition will support cross-platform Coop with Xbox One

510

Square Enix is tearing apart fans of the Final Fantasy 15 game depending on which client they buy the game when it comes out on PC in the next few weeks. The Windows Edition of Final Fantasy 15 will support cross-platform coop with Xbox players. However, there is a catch to this.

It would seem that gamers that buy the game on the Windows Store will have access to the cross-platform feature. If you buy the game on Steam, you will not have access to the feature but you will be able to customize the game using Steam Workshop mods. The cross-platform coop will be supported in the Comrades DLC, this DLC will allow you to create your own character and take on quest solo or with a group of friends.

It definitely seems like it is more worth to buy the game on the Windows Store if you don’t mind missing out on mods. Knowing PC gamers, they might figure out a way to bring mods to the Windows Store version of the game, fingers crossed.

15
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Final Fantasy 15’s Noctis is the next DLC character for Tekken 7

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That’s right you read the title right, Noctis, the lead character from Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XV will be the 3rd DLC character coming to the famous fighting game, Tekken 7.

In the trailer, it shows that he will be wielding the signature Engine Blade from the RPG game for all his close-range combat and can control magic to possibly deal range damage, making him a very versatile character. Of course, this made the gaming community go into a frenzy as prior to this, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were announced as DLC characters for NetherRealm’s Injustice 2 and the very next day we are getting Noctis for Tekken 7.

Sadly, there is a wait until Spring 2018 for Noctis to make an appearance but we can be satisfied with the appearance of Geese Howard from King of Fighters coming in December while waiting for the King of Lucis to join the world of Tekken 7

7
crossover
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Final Fantasy VII now available on Android

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While Square Enix is still busy remaking Final Fantasy VII, why not relive the nostalgia of the original game on your Android phones. That’s right folks, Final Fantasy VII is now available for purchase on the Android Play Store.

Before you run off to grab your credit card though, Final Fantasy VII Android does have some requirements that your phone must fulfill before you’re able to run the game. For starters, the game will require 4GB of storage on your device, so if you’re running low on storage space, you’re going to need to grab a microSD card. Secondly, the game requires 2GB of memory to run it, meaning that entry level smartphones from the past three years may be out of luck. Lastly, your device needs to be running on Android 4.3 or above.

If your device fulfills all the requirements though, you can purchase the game for RM 70.99. Much like it’s iOS counterpart, the Android version does come with the ability to disable random encounters. You can also choose to max out your character’s stats at the beginning of the game as well. However, there are reports that the game currently features a bug that could crash the game, which would result in your save data being corrupted. As such, the game’s release notes states that you probably should save frequently and/or use multiple save files.

Source:
IGN

android
enix
finalfantasyvii
square


Final Fantasy VII Remake launch date stays, but deliveries may be delayed

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Final Fantasy VII Remake is one video game many have been looking forward to, but while its launch date will not be postponed, Square Enix can’t say the same for those who ordered the physical copy.

Final Fantasy VII was an extremely popular game back in 1997, which is why many welcomed the news that it’s going to get a remake version. Set to launch on April 10, the game will be playable for those who pre-ordered or buy the game digitally.

However, if you’re aiming for its physical copy, you might not be that lucky. Deliveries may be delayed due to the current pandemic which may affect business operations. So, if you’re planning to get one and you haven’t decided whether to get the digital or physical copy, this may be an important purchasing factor.

Not that it affects us Malaysians, but Sony has also announced recently that it’ll be slowing game download speed in the U.S. Lucky us, we’ll be able to download our Final Fantasy VII Remake in full speed.

Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII Remake
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Final Fantasy VII Remake gameplay video revealed; Remake to be split into episodes

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Depending on how much of a Final Fantasy VII fan you are, the recent announcements surrouding the game may either cause you to be skeptical, or outright enraged.

Over the weekend, Square Enix has finally provided a sneak peak at the gameplay of the Final Fantasy VII Remake at the PlayStation Experience.

Judging from the video, the remake will not retain the classic turn based gameplay that was in the original Final Fantasy VII, opting instead to implement the real time combat system found in modern day installments of Final Fantasy.

Fan reactions to this change in gameplay is split between cautious optimism, skeptism and pure rage.

The change in gameplay mechanics isn’t the only thing that’s different in the Final Fantasy VII remake as according to Square Enix, the remake will be split into multiple parts. According to Square Enix, the data size for the remake is so huge that it necessitates the game being split in to smaller portions. There is no word on the amount of “episodes” Final Fantasy VII Remake will have, but we expect each “episode” to come with its own price tag.

Simply put, Final Fantasy VII Remake will be released in an episodic format and it will have major gameplay changes.

finalfantasy
finalfantasyviiremake
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Final Fantasy XIV is available as beta to all PlayStation 4 users

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The famous RPG Final Fantasy has been one of the most successful game franchise, its company Square Enix has just announced the beta version of its latest release available on Playstation 4. From now until April 7th, you’ll be able to download FFXIV from the PlayStation store and best of all the game is hosted on live servers, which means you’ll still be able to continue your progress in the beta if you purchased the game on its release date. FFXIV: A realm reborn collector’s edition is also available for preorders over at the
Amazon store
, if you’re a fan of Final Fantasy, do head over to download your free copy of the beta and preorder it if you love it so much.


Final Fantasy XV may be further delayed to November

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Final Fantasy XV is supposed to be available at the end of September. However, it seems that the game may be delayed to the end of November instead.

First reported by Gamnesia, it appears that promotional material for Final Fantasy XV has arrived in U.S. video games chain store GameStop last week. Included in the material is an instruction that requests GameStop staff to place a sticker covering the September 30th release with one that has a November 29th date on it.

While Square Enix has yet to officially announce anything concerning a delay in Final Fantasy XV, the photo pretty much confirms that Square Enix’s latest title will be receiving an additional two-month delay. With rumours floating around that Final Fantasy XV is in need of some polish from a technical perspective, the delay would allow the game developers to add in some needed polish before the game becomes available.

Besides, it’s been 10 years since Final Fantasy XV, previously known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, was announced. Surely two months isn’t too long of a wait.

Source:
Gamnesia

delay
finalfantasyxv
squareenix


Final Fantasy XV to be released on September 30th

807

The long 10 year wait for Final Fantasy Versus XIII is nearly over as the game will be released on the 30th of September, retitled as Final Fantasy XV.

Kicking off the event, Hironobu Sakaguchi went on stage to welcome the crowd to the event. During his speech, he admits that he has doubts over the franchise direction as a whole. He expresses said doubts with the Director of Final Fantasy Hajime Tabata, and with that meeting, they’ve decided that they will be bringing Final Fantasy XV back to its challenger roots. Simply put, Final Fantasy may possibly be one of the more challenging Final Fantasy games in recent memory.

After the opening speech, Square Enix revealed a new trailer for Final Fantasy XV. Following the trailer, hosts Greg Miller and Tim Gettys come on stage to introduce the image illustrator Yoshitaka Amano. They’ve showcased a piece of artwork by Amano on stage called “Big Bang” which was then rendered in 3D by the animators in Square Enix. As for the scoring of Final Fantasy XV, Nobuo Uematsu revealed that he won’t be working on this installment of Final Fantasy. Instead, that honour would go to Yoko Shimamura, the person responsible for scoring Parasite Eve and Kingdom Hearts.

For gameplay, Square Enix has given us a more in depth look at both the combat and the travelling sections of Final Fantasy. First off, the travelling. In Final Fantasy XV, you will traverse the world on foot, on a Chocobo, or even in a car. Special mention must be made of the car as it features a radio that would playback music from old Final Fantasy games. As for combat, the combat system has been slightly tweaked to make it feel a little more like Kingdom Hearts (sorry fans, its not turn based). Enemy AI has also been improved upon, as they would now run away from battle if the odds are against them.

While Final Fantasy XV is still months away, Square Enix will begin building the lore for the game starting today. For that, Final Fantasy XV will be receiving an anime-miniseries and a feature-length 3D CGI film. The anime-miniseries is Final Fantasy XV Brotherhood, while the film is Final Fantasy Kingsglaive. Brotherhood will be 5 episode series that builds up the main character of the Final Fantasy XV game, of which the first episode will be available soon. As for Kingsglaive, this movie will build up the world of Final Fantasy XV and will feature voice work by Lena Headey, Sean Bean and Aaron Paul.

Consoles aren’t the only one getting the FFXV treatment of course as Square Enix revealed that the Justice Monsters Five minigame will be available for iOS, Android and Windows 10 soon as well.

A demo of the game will also be made available tonight. If you own a PlayStation 4 or an Xbox One, you will be able to download Final Fantasy XV Platinum Demo on the console’s respective online store later today for free.

While no prices were given for the game at the event, Square Enix did reveal that Final Fantasy XV will be getting a Deluxe Edition as well as an Collector’s Edition version. Both versions will be available for pre-order on 8pm Pacific Time (11am tomorrow local time).

console
finalfantasyxv
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Final Fantasy XV will be released this year

310

Fans of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy series rejoice, as the company revealed that Final Fantasy XV will be arriving on the consoles within the year.

In a blogpost made by the director of FFXV, Hajime Tabata, he states that development on the games has entered its final phase. Where the previous phases of development requires “wisdom and strength” from the staff, the final phase will focus on the “effort and willpower” of the development team.

While Tabata has promised that FFXV will be hitting stores this year, no concrete release date has been set as of yet.

Final Fantasy XV has been in development since 2006 as a PlayStation 3 exclusive. Previously titled Final Fantasy Versus XIII, the game was pushed back further and further until Square Enix decided to make it into a full fledged Final Fantasy game. The game will be released for the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4.

Source :
Square Enix

finalfantasyxv
releasedate


Finally, new AMD GPU is here – R9 Fury X

321

It’s been a long waiting for the new AMD “Fiji” GPU to surface and yesterday they finally unveiled it during a conference that held by them. Remarkably though, the new GPU isn’t the main form of foundation for one flagship graphics card, but it will actually be part of four different models – Radeon R9 Fury X, R9 Fury, R9 Nano, and a yet to be named Radeon Fury graphics card that will feature two Fiji GPU.

Regardless of having four different graphic cards, AMD claims the R9 Fury X is able to deliver 1.5 times more performance per watt as compared to the company’s previous flagship single-GPU card, the R9 290x. Next will be the long awaiting R9 Fury X and it comes standard with a closed-loop liquid cooling solution from Cooler Master, complete with its own 120 x 120 mm fan and radiator.

In addition, AMD unveils a small form factor GPU – AMD Radeon R9 Nano. AMD also claims this graphic card has better performance than the predecessor R9 290x by half its power draw. The card will be using a single-fan cooling solution and it has the length of an ASUS DirectCU II cooler.

The R9 Fury X will be coming to your shelves on 24 June, 2015 with a price tag of USD 649 (approx. 2,430), the R9 Fury will be available on 14 July 2015 at USD 549 (RM 2,056). However, on R9 Fury dual GPU and R9 Nano will be announced soon with the price and availability.

390x
amd
card
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graphic
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FINAS CEO clarifies statement to regulate Netflix after causing an uproar among netizens

331

We already have few streaming platforms such as Netflix and iflix and now it seems that there will be another one called Aflix

— a self-described ethical entertainment streaming platform.

However, the spotlight is shining on Ahmad Idham, the CEO of the Malaysia National Film Development Corporation (FINAS) who apparently said Netflix content needs to be censored to prevent it from negatively influencing child development. He also revealed that despite bringing up the issue that Netflix has been a medium where negative values are highlighted, there hasn’t been any follow-ups.

Patutlah kutuk Netflix. Dia nak launch “aflix”.

Ethical streaming platform ? So Netflix tu unethical is it? Just coz it has mature content ? Grow the fuck up.

🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
pic.twitter.com/MNnFQTjbvC

— Shamaine Othman ✊🏼 (@shamaineothman)
November 18, 2019

His statement then blew up the online world as industry players, actors and online citizens criticised his words. Many of the remarks include asking FINAS to mind their own business, focus on growing local content instead of censoring other competitors and to leave the parenting to parents.

View this post on Instagram

Alhamdulillah semuanya berjalan lancar. FINAS Malaysia agreed to contribute archive content to Aflix and work together to promote aflix to industry. InshaAllah dengan penglibatan finas didalam mempromosi aflix dapat membantu content owner menghasilkan ethical content dengan lebih banyak. InshaAllah we will work together to promote aflix as 1st ethical entertainment platform in Malaysia. Thanks En Ahmad Idham and all kru from Finas. #ethicalentertainmentstreamingplatform #ethicalcontent

A post shared by
 AflixTV Online
 (@aflixtv) on
Sep 30, 2019 at 3:22am PDT

So how did Aflix get dragged into the situation? Well, the new platform is partnering with FINAS Malaysia to produce “ethical content” to be the “first ethical entertainment platform” in Malaysia. Twitter users are suggesting that FINAS is attempting to promote Aflix, hence the proposal to censor Netflix content.

Idham has further clarified on Twitter that FINAS doesn’t have the power to filter the content and that the suggestion was just to collaborate with the National Council of Women’s Organisation (NCWO) to strengthen digital content.

Meanwhile, parents should really learn how to use parental controls in Netflix if they want to regulate the content their children have access to.
C’mon, it’s not that hard.

Aflix
FINAS
netflix


Find out your most popular 2018 pictures with Instagram’s Best Nine

313

Its coming to the end of the year 2018, and what could be better than looking back and see what we’ve overcome and had gone through throughout the year. It seems like it was just yesterday when we count down from the year 2017 to 2018 and now, in less than a week time, we’re counting down to the year 2019.

Pictures are by far one of the best ways to keep memories, even though we don’t remember what we’ve gone through but when when we are shown pictures that includes places or people that we are familiar with, we automatically remember everything. If you’re active on Instagram and you’d like to travel down to memory lane, then you could consider using “Best Nine”, which is a website that allows you to track down your most memorable Instagram post that garnered the most likes and shows you how many posts you’ve posted throughout the year of 2018.

Best Nine works by collecting nine pictures out of the other pictures that you’ve posted on Instagram in the year of 2018, and combine all nine pictures into one picture. The nine pictures are chosen based on its popularity and the number of likes that it has.

To use Best Nine, just simply log onto the website and write down the your Instagram ID. There’s no registration needed, nor do you need to create an account. Once you’ve written down your Instagram ID, click on “Get” and wait for five to ten minutes for the website to load your Instagram’s pictures and informations. Once its done with that, it’ll automatically show all of your nine most liked and popular picture of the year 2018 and you can share it on your social media platforms.

To use Best Nine, log onto their website
here
.

Bestnine
Bestnine 2018


Find virtual Pokemons and catch them with Pokemon Go

334

Great news Pokemon trainers! You can now battle and catch wild Pokemon virtually with the new Pokemon Go, a new mobile game produced jointly by
Nintendo

and Niantic, the guys behind Ingress augmented reality game. Pokemon Go follows Ingress gameplay in the same way, where you go about doing stuff in the real world, as you catch and battle Pokemon virtually.

Not only can you play Pokemon Go on your mobile; the coolest thing is that
Nintendo
 is developing a smartwatch called the Pokemon Go Plus, designed to let you get notifications via vibrations and lights whenever there is a Pokemon near you. Man! There goes my real life!

Anyway, Pokemon Go will be available for iOS and Android in 2016, will be free to play with in-app purchases. The price of the Pokemon Go Plus watch hasn’t been released yet though.

ingress
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FindDali is a campaign by Socar to provide smart transportation aid

393

Most of you are probably wondering what are those banners and ads with the hashtag #FindDali. Yesterday, we were invited to an event to officially unveil what is Find Dali and it appears to be a service from Socar that helps us make smart transportation choices.

Find Dali is a website to which you can make funny queries and get witty responses, or ask a real question and get a proper answer. Dali’s objective is to become the city’s on-call transportation aide which allows commuters and multiflexers to make informed and smarter choices. It uses the power of AI and a multiflexers community to provide the answer. In addition to that, the platform is designed in a way that encourages multiflexers to start their own threads and use travel experience to guide other commuters.

Dali’s end goal is to cater to the community, gathering commonly asked questions and offering unique and different solutions to the problems we face on a daily basis. The platform is now open to the public and is not limited to Socar users. You can visit the
Find Dali website
 and start asking questions now.

dali
find


FINDIT is a location based deal and business search engine service, officially launches in Malaysia

243

There are times where you just simply can’t access multiple deal sites at the same time, not able to find the right platform to list your business or sell off something for fast cash, then FINDIT is a service that you should definitely check out, it combines both local deals, businesses and classifieds in one single app that will benefit both businesses and users. Simply put, you no longer need a separate application for finding out the best deals in town or even listing your business.

The app is available on both iOS and Android devices at this point of time, it detects the user’s approximate location and shows nearby business listing and deals to the user, while at the same time, the user can also post up an advertisement or list a business in the platform with a simple three step procedure, which includes entering your contact details, product information and uploading pictures, the posting will be administered and monitored by FINDIT so other users need not be afraid of fraud purchases.

In terms of technicality, FINDIT acts as referral service for businesses such as Groupon, once the user gets referred to the deal site and clicks on the purchase button, the service will receive a profit cut from the merchant and it has not been disclosed to us how much percentage the company will take. Our initial test and first impression of the service itself is decent, the app does what it is supposed to do however its location context-aware will be improved over time while the company’s Head of Marketing and Products have promised more features are coming to the service by the end of this month.

To promote the service, FINDIT is running its “Where in the world is Walter Woo?” contest on March 21 2015, which consumers will be required to look out for the fictitious Walter Woo and the company will be giving away 9 units of
iPhone 6
 128GB, the contest will only be available in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru and Penang. Users will need to download the FINDIT app on their smartphones and tablets, find out the clues of Walter Woo’s location at FINDIT’s Facebook page, then upload a photo of where they think Walter Woo could be using the ‘photo contest’ function of the app.

If you want to check out the app itself, do head on to the source link to find out how it works for you and remember to stay tuned to FINDIT’s Facebook page for more contest details.


Fine Bros tried to trademark "React", gets massive backlash

356

If you’ve ever watched Kids React or Elders React on YouTube before, chances are good that you’ve heard of the Fine Bros before. Well, during the weekend, the Fine Bros were at the center of a controversy as they announced that they will be expanding their “React” empire by way of trademarking the word “react”.

In an official video announcement that has since been taken down, the Fine Bros announced that with their new “React World” platform, people who participate in their platform would be able to create “React”-style videos with some assistance from the Fine Bros itself. Participants of the “React World” platform would be required to give a share of their profits to the Fine Bros in order to leverage the platform.

This announcement did not sit well with many popular YouTube content creators as they see this platform as a method to utilise YouTube’s own slipshod Content ID system to flag down videos that the Fine Bros claim to be “similar” to their own React videos. Indeed,
various reports on Reddit
 claims that the Fine Bros have flagged various small YouTube channels for making similar reaction videos. Redditors have also dug through the Fine Bros own Twitter page to discover that they have claimed that Ellen DeGeneres stole the React format for her own show.

The massive fallout from the Fine Bros shady attempt to stifle content creation led to a second video of them trying to better explain the “React World” platform. Unfortunately for them, many see this video as insincere and insulting to YouTube content creators as a whole.

From that video onwards, the subscriber count for the Fine Bros started rapidly dropping. Not only that, various popular YouTubers began to parody the Fine Bros “React World” announcement. One lawyer has even went on YouTube to declare that he will be offering pro bono help to content creators who were affected by the Fine Bros attempt to take down content.

With this controversy spreading to mainstream news portals such as the
BBC
, the Fine Bros finally decided to pull the plug on their trademark attempt late last night.
According to the lawyer whose video was posted above
, the Fine Bros have since abandoned their trademark applications for their React series as well as various other series that are presumably in the pipeline.

Source :
Ars Technica
,
Reddit

legal
reactworld
thefinebros
trademark
youtube


Fingerprint protected smartphones easily hacked yet again

333

Recently,
Vkansee fooled the iPhone’s Touch ID security
 with the help of their own biometric technology and some Play-Doh, proving that fingerprint readers of 500dpi aren’t secure enough to lock your device. Two geniuses from Michigan State University has tricked fingerprint sensors of smartphones, not with Play-Doh, but with the help of a regular inkjet printer.

Kai Cao and Anil K. Jain, who are from the university’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering, have developed a way to imitate fingerprints. The lads claim that the process can be completed in 15 minutes or less. The method requires three AgIC silver conductive ink cartridges, a regular black ink cartridge and a special AgIC paper with the help of a normal inkjet printer. They claim that an owner’s fingerprint, even from a stolen phone, can be retrieved and scanned at 300dpi. The fingerprint is then printed on the glossy side of the AgIC paper and cut out to be placed on the smartphone’s fingerprint reader.

Both the researchers have tried their luck on Samsung and Huawei smartphones, namely, the Galaxy S6 and Honor 7. According to them, the S6 was easier to crack into whereas the Honor 7 took a few more tries before succeeding. The worry is that hackers will use this newly discovered method to hack into fingerprint guarded phones. First, Play Doh, and now some printing paper. Our devices are never secure, are they? A brief video of the process can be found
here
 Let us know your thoughts below!

 Source:
Softpedia

biometric
fingerprint
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reader
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Fingerprint Sensor on OnePlus 2

348

OnePlus, a Chinese company that keeps releasing a teaser campaign for the previous predecessor – One Plus One that lasted for weeks, and now it’s doing the exact same thing for the OnePlus 2. This week, OnePlus announced the new OnePlus 2 will sport a fingerprint sensor, something that’s been featured more and more on high-end Android devices lately.

With the OnePlus 2, the fingerprint sensor will be refined and lightning quick, unlocking your device faster than touched. Besides that, you are also able to store up to five fingerprint profiles. The company also claims that a flagship phone should deserve flagship features, and security shouldn’t have to be traded for convenience and as a user, you able to relax about your information because it will conveniently secure.

OnePlus you tease the world enough with the pieces of the puzzle you releasing each week, please give us the full complete puzzle soon.

android
fingerprint
oneplus
sensor


Firaxis Games partners up with GlassLab to develop CivilizationEDU

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Following the footsteps of Minecraft, Take-Two Interactive, 2K and Firaxis Games has announced that they will be partnering up with GlassLab, a nonprofit learning company, to develop a modified version of Sid Meier’s Civilizations V to American schools by the fall of 2017.

This version of Civilizations V, aptly named CivilizationsEDU, will provide students with the opportunity to think critically and create historical events, consider and evaluate the geopgraphical ramifications of their economic and technological decisions, and to engage in systems thinking and experiment with the causal/correlative relationships between military, technology, political and socioeconomic development.

For the teacher’s side of things, CivilizationsEDU will feature an analytics engine to capture students’ progress and asses their problem-solving skills. Teachers will also gain access to an online dashboard that will track the students’ progress in the game. CivilizationEDU will also include an in-depth gameplay guide and lesson plans that are “aligned to academic and 21st century standards.”

“For the past 25 years, we’ve found that one of the fun secrets of Civilization is learning while you play. We’re absolutely thrilled to be partnering with GlassLab and I am excited to see CivilizationEDU in classrooms next year,” says Sid Meier, Founder and Director of Creative Development at Firaxis Games.

Source:
Business Wire

2k
civilizationedu
education
glasslab
sidmeier
taketwo


Firefox Nightly and Beta gets protection against fingerprinting and cryptomining scripts

333

Mozilla has announced a new feature in Firefox Nightly that can lets users block of fingerprinting and cryptomining.

To prevent the ability for others to track users’ web browsers and generate cryptocurrency for others, Firefox collaborated with Disconnect — a company that offers protection against tracking — to collect lists of domains with tracking features and provide users with the options to block these scripts in Firefox Nightly and Beta versions.

In the blogpost, Mozilla also explained both scripts to give more insights on what fingerprinting and cryptomining scripts are. According to the company, “‘fingerprinting’ scripts are invisibly embedded on many web pages” which can keep a computer’s configuration to be tracked when users are surfing the web. On the other hand, cryptomining allow ‘cryptominers’ to take advantage of user’s web browser and computer’s CPU to generate cryptocurrency for others, leading to their battery being easily drained, their computer slowing down, and the electric bill hiking up.

To prevent these unethical occasions from happening, users can enable both fingerprinting and cryptomining protection in Firefox Nightly 68 and Beta 67. The protection feature is currently under testing period and once it’s improved, it will be enabled to all Firefox users.

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Firefox Nightly
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Firefox OS gets its first customized version called H5OS

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Firefox OS hasn’t been really popular on its release, just like the very early stages of Android, the operating system shows potential however lacks developer and strong hardware support. However, things might actually change with the announcement of H5OS, a customized operating system based on Firefox OS.

This project is spearheaded by Acadine Technologies, which consist of many former Mozilla employees and lead by Li Dong. The company have raised $100 million in funds for this project as it also intends to expand its customized version of Firefox OS to devices such as wearables and other IoT products. In the meantime, the principal has been shifting focus on Firefox OS as it has considered adding support for Android apps.

Firefox OS 2.5 is scheduled to launch on November this year which will bring a mobile “view source” option for webpages and improved security. H5OS does sound promising despite of scarce information, who knows if the company could actually make a difference in Firefox OS, just like how HTC have done it on HTC Sense back on Android Donut.

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Firefox Send – Mozilla introduces their very own free file sharing website

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Mozilla have recently introduced their very own file sharing service called Firefox Send. It’s free and can be accessed on any browser which lets you send encrypted files of up to 2.5GB in size to anyone.

You can also set an expiry date to download of up to 7 days or up to 100 downloads. Plus, you can also protect the file with a password.  Upon uploading, you’ll be provided a sharable link to that file. With Firefox Send, you can send a 1GB file without creating an account.

Image credit: Mozilla

The UI is clean and minimalistic which is great for productivity. However, competitors WeTransfer is also another free file sharing platform which has become a commonly used. Firefox Send lets you upload 500MB more, but WeTransfer lets you enter recipient e-mails along with a custom message.

Regardless of which service you use, we always welcome options; and we can always look to Mozilla to improve on the service. It could perhaps overtake WeTransfer one day too.

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Firefox will not be supported on Windows XP and Vista come June 2018

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Windows XP and Vista users that are still using Firefox looks like it might be time for you to make the transition over to the newer generation of the Windows operating system. Mozilla has just announced that users still on the legacy Windows platform will not be able to get support in June 2018.

The company has announced that they have moved the mentioned operating systems into Extended Support Release (ESR) where it will continue to push security updates to these users. They go on to mention that ESR is initially developed for large organizations and was never meant for individual consumers. However, when D-Day comes, these OS will stop receiving this security updates which can potentially have exploits and loopholes that will make using the browser dangerous as it can be a compromise to your system.

For XP users, it is recommended that your systems be upgraded anyway as Microsoft themselves, have stopped supporting the OS for quite awhile now and that on its on makes your computer easier to be compromised. An upgrade is definitely worth the time an money in an age where computer breaches have become an everyday thing.

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Firefox will now support VR in the latest update

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Firefox is joining the likes of Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge in introducing VR support on their web browser. This is the next major update in Firefox with the previous being the speed boost that came in June revamp update. This feature will be available to all HTC Vive and Oculus Rift users on Windows.

Mozilla has been working on this VR feature for quite some time, using WebVR to allow browsers to run VR experiences, but that feature was limited to the Nightly builds of the web browser and was very limited when it came to features. Even if they have introduced the feature now, it is still left behind by other browser options like Chrome who added this feature early this year and also supports HTC Vive and Oculus Rift and in addition to that, Google Cardboard and Google Daydream.

The new Firefox 55 update will also a new tool called Firefox Screenshots which can save screenshots that you have taken to the cloud and copies them to your clipboard. The images will stay in the cloud for two weeks and then they will be deleted unless you change the settings to keep them there longer.

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Firefox will soon indicate if a site has experienced a data breach

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Firefox has gotten a big update making it much faster and more memory efficient with the Quantum update. Now they are working on a new feature that will warn you if a website has been affected by a data breach, together with “Have I Been Pwned”, a site that can check your email address and tell you if your credentials have been stolen by hackers.

Troy Hunt, the security expert behind Have I Been Pwned has confirmed in a tweet that they are working with Mozilla to get this feature done. As for now, the update is still in an early stage, but you can download it from Github, compile it and add it to Firefox, but do note that it will only work in the Developer Edition. Both parties are working on the code but it is still unsure how the final product will turn out.

https://twitter.com/troyhunt/status/933450112562429952

Website owners that have experienced a breach are not too happy about this feature as it might drive traffic away from their site. Mozilla and Hunt are doing this not to disrupt traffic from the site but, allowing it to act as a precaution to users that visit these sites to change their passwords and information if needed.

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First generation Pixel users are spotting Google Lens feature in the Photos app

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When the first generation Pixel and Pixel XL launched, we were offered with an Android phone that was made with Google behind its back, creating one of the most powerful Android phones ever existed. Google has not forgotten its older children as they have recently announced that Google Lens is now out on some of the Pixel phones.

A number of users that already spotted the feature when they were in the Photos app, Google was very quiet about the release date and now it looks like its already out. Lens is a feature that Google created to be your Google Search for the surrounding you are in, it can also understand what is in your photos and videos and give you information on particular things that the feature picks up. Think of it as a Google Image search but without cropping the image so the search engine can focus on it.

According to a Reddit user, the Lens feature just appeared on Pixel XL’s Photos app without him needing to update the app or the phone. This could mean that the update for the feature is a server side update and those of you that do own the previous generation phones should regularly check the Photos app in case it is out for you.

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First Impressions : Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator

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Out of all the things that were introduced by Samsung during its CES press conference, the one device that made the biggest impression on us was a fridge. Samsung’s Family Hub Refrigerator is quite possibly the most eye-catching home appliance made to date, mainly because of its 21.5″ touch screen located on the right side door. Seeing as it was part of the showcase at the Samsung SEA Forum, we couldn’t resist getting up close with it.

Now, Samsung would like to tell you that the Family Hub Refrigerator is going to revolutionize the fridge industry, but we’ll get to that in a minute. For now, let’s take at the Family Hub’s touchscreen. For the most part, the screen on the Family Hub Refrigerator shows you plenty of information in its default screen such as weather, to-do lists and photos. You can also jot down notes directly on the fridge itself as it comes with a whiteboard app. The Morning Brief app will show you the traffic information and agenda for the day as well, giving you a rough estimate as to how long it will take you to reach the office. Media streaming is also possible as the fridge does allow you to stream various radio channels. If you have a Smart TV at home, you can even watch what is broadcasting on your TV on the fridge itself.

Another interesting feature that comes with the screen is that it allows you to look at the interior of the fridge without even needing to open the doors. Cameras are installed on the door to the left, giving you a way to look at the items in your fridge without needing to exert too much effort. You can also drag time labels onto the items via the screen, which is a good way to keep track of an item’s expiry date.

To get the most out of the Family Hub Refrigerator however, you need to be invested in a smart home setup. Let’s be clear here, while the Family Hub itself is a fairly useful fridge, it wouldn’t achieve its full potential without other devices connecting to it. Simply put, if you’re the kind of person who likes all of your devices to interact with one another, the Family Hub is the fridge of your dreams.

One other factor that may affect the practicality of the Family Hub Refrigerator is whether or not the country will embrace the Internet of Things as a whole. During the CES presentation, Samsung demonstrated that you could potentially buy groceries from the fridge itself and have it delivered to you. This is one of those things that make owning something like the Family Hub exciting, but in the end, it’s all down to whether or not local grocery chains would adopt IoT as part of their operations. Imagine if one day, you could just buy your groceries from a grocery market like Giant and have it delivered to your house within the day itself, it would be a great convenience to have. Simply put, the Family Hub is a fridge of great potential.

Of course, being the first fridge to embrace IoT, we can safely assume that the Family Hub Refrigerator has a price that we would assume to be nowhere near affordable. Maybe, in a few years time, IoT-powered fridges will be the norm. For now though, the Family Hub Refrigerator is one of those devices that shows that while the future is here, it is going to take a while before it becomes mainstream.

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First Impressions : Samsung TabPro S

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One of the more intriguing things that was showcased at the Samsung SEA Forum was a tablet called the TabPro S. Being the Korean company’s first ever tablet that runs on Windows instead of Android, the TabPro S is made to directly compete with Microsoft’s own Surface 2-in-1. While it is not available yet, we’ve managed to get some hands on experience with it, and we can safely say that the TabPro S shows promise.

On the looks department, the TabPro S can be described as clean and simple. Its overall minimalist design gives it a touch of class, all while being relatively light as it weighs around 700 grams or so, which is lighter than its rival the Surface Pro 4.

The TabPro S sports a 12-inch Super AMOLED display that has a resolution of 2160 x 1440. The screen is roughly on par with the Surface Pro 4’s but the Super AMOLED tech gives the TabPro S a slight edge over Microsoft’s tablet.

For ports, the TabPro S comes with a USB Type-C port and a headphone jack. It also comes with a single SIM slot that supports 4G LTE Cat6 connectivity and the standard NFC and Bluetooth 4.1 support.

Specifications-wise, the TabPro S that was showcased at the event sports a 2.2GHz dual-core Intel Core M processor, 4GB of RAM and a SSD that comes with either 128 or 256GB of storage space. If memory serves me right, this particular specification is almost identical to the lowest-end configuration of the Surface Pro 4.

Bundled with the TabPro S is a Type Cover-ish keyboard that doubles as a kickstand for the tablet. Much like the Surface, the keyboard attaches itself to the tablet via magnetic Pogo pins. For the most part, the keyboard functions well, but some parts of it, particularly the trackpad, feels a bit rough around the edges. Seeing as it hasn’t been released yet, Samsung could still improve upon the keyboard before it launches. Even if the keyboard isn’t improved upon, I would still be somewhat fine with it seeing as the keyboard is bundled, meaning that I wouldn’t need to purchase it seperately, something that Microsoft really should be doing by now.

As for the cameras on the TabPro S, the tablet comes with two 5MP cameras located at the front and back of the device. The cameras on the TabPro S are functional, just don’t expect any stellar imaging on them.

In conclusion, we believe that the TabPro S is a 2-in-1 tablet that could give Microsoft’s Surface line a run for its money. We wouldn’t exactly call it a Surface Killer though, as the general impression it gave us was that it is an alternative to the Surface. When all is said and done, the thing that would make or break the TabPro S would be its pricing, which hasn’t been announced yet. Whatever the case, we will give you our full verdict when the TabPro S is officially available in the market.

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First Look: Benchmarking the notebook-based GTX 1080 and GTX 1070

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Nvidia has had some really interesting things to say about their notebook-based Pascal GPUs during the reveal, so it is no surprise that we would like to see if what Nvidia is saying about their mobile Pascal GPUs proves to be true, or if its merely hot air. Luckily for us, Nvidia has been kind enough to provide us with two laptops that are equipped with the GTX 1070 and the GTX 1080, so we’re able to see for ourselves just what exactly you can expect from the mobile Pascal GPUs. Without further ado, let’s get on with the tests.

CLEVO P755DM (GTX 1080) Benchmarks

For the GTX 1080 benchmark, Nvidia has provided us with the CLEVO P775DM laptop. The synthetic benchmarks that we’ve run on the GTX 1080 includes 3DMark Fire Strike, Fire Strike Extreme and Fire Strike Ultra. We’ve skipped over Time Spy as running the test resulted in severe artifacting, something we’ve attributed to lack of a proper driver as we’ve tested it before it was officially announced. Without further ado, here are the results of the tests.

As the numbers show, the laptop’s version of the GTX 1080 comes damned close to matching its desktop counterpart. For comparison, our
previous tests
 with the GTX 1080 Founders Edition has it score 5,026 on Fire Strike Ultra without OC. This means that the GTX 1080 on the laptop, despite its lower TDP, can perform just as well as the desktop GTX 1080.

Moving on, we’ve tested out Rise of the Tomb Raider on the laptop as well, on both DirectX 11 and DirectX 12. The game was tested at 1920×1080 resolution with all graphics settings maxed out. The results are as follows:

DirectX 11 Test

DirectX 12 Test

As the results shows, the laptop manages to run the game at the high 60s on both DirectX 11 and DirectX 12. Seeing as the laptop only comes with a 1080p screen, we’re unable to test out how the game would run on higher resolutions.

Temperature-wise, the peak temperature we had with a stock laptop GTX 1080 is 77 degrees celsius, which is pretty standard as far as temperature goes. Of course, peak temperatures will vary depending on the laptops, so expect some difference results when other laptops come into play. Unfortunately, we did not have the time to test out the overclocking potential of the GTX 1080.

Long story short, the GTX 1080 located inside this laptop can rival what the desktop version is capable of.

MSI GT72 (GTX 1070) Benchmarks

Next up on the benchmark list is the GTX 1070, coming in the form of the MSI GT72 laptop. Much like the GTX 1080 above, we’ve first tested the laptop GTX 1070’s capabilities through Fire Strike, Fire Strike Extreme, and Fire Strike Ultra.

A quick Google search (alas, we did not get a desktop-class GTX 1070 for review) reveals that the laptop version of the GTX 1070 doesn’t perform quite as well as its GTX 1080 counterpart, with scores for the laptop-based GTX 1070 being roughly a thousand points less than its desktop counterpart. But then again, Nvidia did mention a 10% variance in performance when it comes to comparing the desktop card and the laptop card, so the results aren’t exactly surprising.

Next up, Rise of the Tomb Raider. Much like the GTX 1080, we’ve tested the GTX 1070 on both DirectX 11 and DirectX 12. The results are as follows:

DirectX 11

DirectX 12

As for peak temperature, the GTX 1070 is somewhat similar to the GTX 1080, reaching a peak of 75 degrees celsius. Again, no overclocking was done on the laptop as we were do not have the time for it.

So there you go, this is what you can expect from the laptop versions of the GTX 1070 and the GTX 1080. While we did not manage to personally benchmark the GTX 1060, the results shown by both the GTX 1080 and the GTX 1070 is able to paint a picture as to what to expect from the notebook-class GTX 1060. To summarize, Nvidia’s notebook-based Pascal GPUs are going to making laptop gaming great again!

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First Look: The MEMO Pad 8 and Fonepad 8 FE380CG is here

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Today has been an exciting day for the ASUS Malaysia folks as they’ve finally brought in the two most anticipated tablets that was announced back in IFA 2014, the ASUS MEMO Pad 8 and
Fonepad
 8 that packs extremely high performance hardware and a luxurious design at an affordable price, we are not going to spoil you yet with the price so read on.

First of all, ASUS Malaysia has succeeded in overtaking
Sony
 and Apple in the Malaysian market by holding the third place for selling 400,000 Zenfones since its launch. ASUS has been extremely active in innovating its products and aims to be the most preferred Android device manufacturer by consumers, which is why the company simply can’t wait and wants to bring in their best products for the Malaysian market.

The MEMO Pad 8 is a very high performance
tablet
, powered by Intel’s Atom Z3560 1.8GHz 64-bit Quad-Core processor mated with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage (expandable with MicroSD), the
tablet
 also features an 8-inch Full HD (1920×1200) IPS display with Gorilla Glass 3 and an ultra slim form factor at only 7.45mm and weighs 299g, making it one of the slimmest and powerful 8-inch Android tablets out in the market. The MEMO Pad 8 has 5MP/1.2MP cameras, up to 9 hours of continuous battery life, WiFi 802.11ac, LTE and NFC connectivity, it comes preloaded with Android 4.4 KitKat with ZenUI.

One interesting fact to note, the MEMO Pad 8’s touch screen is so sensitive that you can scribble notes with a pencil or pen and it supports palm rejection, this is the first
tablet
 in the market we’ve seen with such capability.

See what we’ve discovered here? The ASUS MEMO Pad 8 supports multi window in ZenUI and it’s automatically knows which app you wants to have it split.

On the other hand, the
Fonepad
 8 is powered by Intel’s Atom Z3530 1.33GHz 64-bit Quad-Core processor mated with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage (expandable with MicroSD). Since this is a
Fonepad
, you’ll be able to make phone calls with the device and it also accepts Dual SIM cards and supports DC-HSPA+ networks. The Fonepad 8 will have a standard 1280×800 resolution IPS display with anti-finger coating, 5MP/2MP main and front cameras, dual front firing speakers and up to 12 hours of continuous battery life.

Finally, here comes the exciting part, knowing ASUS’s reputation of pricing the Zenfones that affordable, the company has made both the MEMO Pad 8 and
Fonepad
 8 extremely affordable as well this time. The MEMO Pad 8 will be available in Black, White, Red and Gold color options and retails at RM1099, the Fonepad 8 FE380CG will have the same color options and retails at RM649.

The MEMO Pad 8 will be available at resellers at the end of October while the Fonepad 8 FE380CG will start selling within this week. We are sure you are as excited as us with this great announcement.

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The first official camera sample of the OnePlus 5 is out

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The OnePlus 5 is set to make its appearance very soon as the company gears up for its 2017 flagship smartphone. The Chinese manufacturer has done away with the “Flagship Killer” moniker with the OnePlus 3 after two years, but it looks like OnePlus devices are gradually living up to that infamous title.

OnePlus has recently begun giving hints and teasers of the upcoming OnePlus 5. A blog post on OnePlus Forums by CEO Pete Lau confirms rumors that the device will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. Now the company has posted a camera sample of the phone on its official Twitter account, revealing to us what the OnePlus 5 camera is capable of.

The above image was uploaded onto Twitter just yesterday, consisting of samples taken by 2 smartphones, captioned, “Can you tell which photo was taken with the OnePlus 5?” If it isn’t obvious enough, OnePlus is boasting the lowlight capabilities of the OnePlus 5’s camera, considering that the left side of the image is significantly noisier than the one on the right.

Impressed? However you should note that this is just one camera sample taken by the OnePlus 5. In fact, it is the first ever official camera sample of the device, if you discount the leaked camera samples that emerged online recently. What do you think?

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First Project Tango phone by Google to be a Lenovo phablet

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With Lenovo’s Tech World event happening later this week, we have some leaks of an alleged Lenovo smartphone which might just turn out to be Google’s first ever Project Tango phone. Lenovo has announced that it will be partnering with Google to work on the first Project Tango device available for consumers earlier this year during CES 2016. Prior to Lenovo Tech World this Thursday at Silicon Valley, familiar face Evan Blass has revealed what might be the first Project Tango phone.

According to a tweet by Blass, the first Tango device will be named the Lenovo PHAB2 Pro. But this phablet could prove to be a handful for most consumers as it is said to sport a colossal 6.4-inch display. Project Tango is a platform that uses computer vision, with the help of sensors and camera, to give devices the ability to triangulate their position, without the need of a GPS. This Google project is meant to provide an augmented reality experience for consumers, and Google has demonstrated how the technology can assist professionals such as architects and interior designers, giving them the ability to simulate home interiors more efficiently.

Screen sizes as big 6.4-inch one on the Lenovo PHAB2 Pro might be required for Project Tango, but we can’t tell for now. Moreover, the display happens to be of QHD resolution, according to the tweet by Blass. Till then, stay tuned as the Lenovo Tech World commences this Thursday.

Source:
Evan Blass (Twitter)

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First Ubuntu tablet unveiled

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Ubuntu has promised full convergence to the public by unveiling its first tablet – the Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Edition tablet. While the name may seem lenghty, let’s call it the Aquaris M10, or better still, the M10, for the time being.

The tablet is somewhat a modified version of the current Aquaris M10, only running Ubuntu’s latest software. As convergence is the keyword here, Ubuntu’s first tablet can be connected to an external display via its micro HDMI port for a PC experience, together with a connected bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Ubuntu promises a full-sized PC experience.

The M10 sports a 10.1 inch FHD display, protected by Dragontrail Asahi. Weighing at 470g with a thickness of 8.2mm, the tablet is powered by a 7280mAh battery. Underneath the hood lies a MediaTek Quad Core MT8163A processor clocked up to 1.5GHz, with 2GB of RAM and 16GB internal storage along with expandable storage via micro SD. The rear camera is unconventional for a tablet, coming at 12MP with autofocus and dual-flash.

According to Canonical, the company backing Ubuntu, this experience of convergence will be coming to mobile devices soon. Any screaming hipster Ubuntu fans out there? Tell us what do you think.

Source:
Ubuntu

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Beats Fit Pro earbuds with Apple’s H1 chip & wing tip design now available for pre-order!

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Yesterday, Beats showcased the Beats Fit Pro, their latest wireless earbuds. They fall between the cheaper Studio Buds, which was released earlier this year, and the pricier Powerbeats Pro.

The Beats Fit Pro features ANC, IPX4 water- and sweat-resistance, and up to seven hours of continuous playback, or 30 hours when you recharge the earbuds using the case.

The most notable aesthetic element on  the new earbuds is the new wing tip design. The wing tips are included to keep the earbuds in your ear when doing any activities that involve movement such as exercise and walking. According to Beats, they conducted a lot of research and testing to find the right material, and proper flexibility for the wing tips so they fit better.

Similar to the Powerbeats Pro, the Fit Pro includes the H1 chip, meaning you get several distinct Apple features such as one-step pairing, automatic syncing across your iCloud devices, automatic switching between your other Apple devices, and more.

The Beats Fit Pro also includes head tracking for spatial audio, and the newly-introduced skin detect sensor that was showcased on

Apple’s third generation AirPods.

As for the ANC, the Beats Fit Pro works the same way as
AirPods Pro
, meaning that it would do a good job in getting rid of outside noise. The Fit Pro buds also uses Apple’s Adaptive equalization to optimize audio performance depending on your ear shape.

On November 5
th
 the Beats Fit Pro officially ship out, and cost $199.99 (about RM830). They come in in black, white, gray, and purple, and can be pre-ordered via the
Beats by Dre website.

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Fitbit acquired by Google for $2.1bil – both parties to work on improving Wear OS and more

362

Google continues to grow from strength to strength with more additions to their portfolio – this time with the acquisition of massive wearable brand Fitbit. In a shared announcement by the two companies, it has been confirmed that Google will be buying Fitbit for approximately $2.1bil.

With the added know-how from Fitbit, Google aims to invest more into their proprietary Wear OS software.

It is also worth noting that in Fitbit’s announcement press release, they say that the data collected by Fitbit over the years will not be sold or be used for Google ads – but rather it will continue serving its purpose to improve their health and fitness tracking offerings.

During the launch of the Fitbit Versa 2 two months ago, we spoke to Fitbit SEA regional director Louis Lye – he mentioned that Fitbit Pay is expected to make its appearance here in the country sometime next year. Now with the help of Google and its ecosystems, perhaps there’s more to come from Fitbit in this area too.

In regular circumstances, this news wouldn’t be too big of a deal – but the ongoing trade war between the US and Huawei adds a little spice to the event. With Fitbit now part of Google, will we see its app services withheld from Huawei devices? That idea isn’t too far-fetched seeing as Google remains one of the companies that, until now, show no intention of working with Huawei.

Huawei and the trade war aside, this could hopefully mean good things for us consumers – perhaps we’ll see top-notch Android-based smartwatches and fitness trackers soon?

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Fitbit partners with Cardiogram so users can get more insights on their health data

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Fitbit is one of the most popular fitness wearables out there and now it has partnered with Cardiogram — a digital health and fitness diary app.

Cardiogram syncs with your Fitbit device and for iOS users, your Health app. It has various screen monitoring tools that can provide users with insights of their data. It provide daily summaries of data including resting bmp, peak bpm, step count and also sleep duration.

In addition, there’s also a Metrics tab that show you comparisons of your data compared to other Cardiogram users, and trends of your data. On its Habits tab, you can pick various kinds of habits to take on such as mediation, daily run, no blue light before sleep or no coffee after 2pm. The app aims to help users build good habits to improve their health.

Cardiogram can be downloaded for free and is available for both Android and iOS users. However, you can also subscribe for its Premium membership that allows you to share your health dat with your family and doctor, in addition to medical grade tests for diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and atrial fibrillation.

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