TNB Might Implement Special Tariff for Cryptocurrency Mining

With cryptocurrency miners frequently using electricity illegally, TNB plans on curbing this issue by implementing a special tariff for them. Here’s what you need to know.
TNB: Special Tariff for Cryptocurrency Mining
Picture credits: FMT
After several cases of cryptocurrency miners illegally using electricity, TNB is looking to implement a special tariff just for them. A proposal for it is ready, and it’s pending approval from the Energy Commission (EC).

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From what we know thus far, there has been over 610 cases of illegal electricity tapping in 2018, but that number has significantly grown to 3090 cases last year, with over 528 people arrested and over RM54 million worth of equipment being seized. As such, there is a dire need to address the issue.
Over 998 Bitcoin mining premises have been squashed via Ops Power. Apparently, the syndicate in charge of them have been regularly bribing TNB technicians, which resulted in a lost of RM2.3 billion since 2018. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has frozen 126 accounts with a total value of RM4.47 million and seizing 1,157 mining equipment worth RM2.3 million.
It’s worth pointing out that cryptocurrency mining itself is not illegal in Malaysia. It’s the use of electricity that makes it illegal, and it also poses risks for nearby communities as the equipment could pose as a fire hazard or cause power outages. Both individuals and businesses can submit applications to TNB for cryptocurrency mining, and they will appropriately listed for commercial use.
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Pokdepinion: I do wonder how many of them will drop out of it due to the inevitable rising cost of mining as a result of this. I’m personally curious as to how much those special tariff rates are.
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Malaysia’s Mobile Data Consumption Has Surged Since Pandemic Started

It’s been more than a year already since the COVID-19 pandemic began and since then, it has seen the rise of mobile data consumption in Malaysia according to a research done by Opensignal.
Malaysia’s surge of mobile data consumption across the region

Opensignal has revealed their research across the Southeast Asia region, where it shows the average mobile data consumption per smartphone user. As you can see from the chart, Malaysia has seen the highest mobile consumption increase in March and April 2020, which is around the time that the local government initiated MCO to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

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In the following months, Malaysia’s data consumption continued its momentum where it saw increases between 15%-30% per month (compared to January 2020), which is consistently higher than Indonesia, Singapore, or Thailand across all months.
The free daily data packages as well as unlimited data plans introduced during the period has also affected the stats. Malaysia saw an increase between January 2020 and January 2021 at 35.2% YoY growth, compared to Indonesia’s 23.3% and Cambodia’s 16.9% respectively.
We can see that Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, and Indonesia has shown a slowdown in terms of mobile data consumption growth in the 2020/2021 period.

If you’re wondering on the average data consumption that a Malaysian uses, well the answer is 19.5GB, which is considerably bigger than the rest with the closest being Cambodia’s 13.2GB. Thailand and Malaysia recorded similar data consumption levels in January 2020, but after a year, the former’s data consumption rose faster than Thailand’s at 26.4GB in January 2021 compared to Thailand’s 22.3GB.
You might recall of the PRIHATIN stimulus package where it has seen mobile operators invest RM400 million in improving backhaul infrastructures. JENDELA has also been introduced where the initiative aims to roll out new base stations and 4G upgrades for the existing ones, phasing out 3G networks by the end of 2021, increase 4G coverage to 97% and download speeds to 35Mbps by 2022 and finally roll out 5G networks.
Aside from that, Opensignal has stated that the pandemic has affected the Download Speed Experience for both Celcom and Maxis by 39.3% and 41.6% between April 2020 and April 2021 due to the surge in mobile data consumption.
For more on the latest tech and gaming news plus reviews, stay tuned to Pokde.net.
Pokdepinion: That’s quite the difference if we look at the stats. I guess we’ve been out too much since the whole pandemic started which is a bad thing. Either that or a lot of people don’t have Wi-Fi internet at home. That’s all I can think of possible when it comes to reasons.
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Xiaomi To Focus On Selfie Smartphones WIth Meitu Take Over?

It seems that Xiaomi has taken over Chinese selfie app and smartphone maker Meitu. They will still be called Meitu but Xiaomi will be handling the design, R&D, and sales of the brand, thanks to the take over.
Xiaomi To Come With Selfie-focused Smartphones?
Meitu will still be involved in camera software, so this means that more likely than not, that Xiaomi will be releasing smartphones that are more focused on selfies in the near future.
With the deal, Xiaomi will pay a percentage of phone profits to Meitu, on a per-phone licensing fees basis. Though Meitu has their own smartphones, they seem to be more focused on expanding their social network user base through pre-installations. Despite that, there’s no confirmation that Xiaomi-branded smartphones will be applied and affected by it.

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Pokdepinion: Hmm, could OPPO have a proper competition in the selfie segment? It would be interesting to see how that pans out. I just hope that the app will not come out in Xiaomi’s phone, I hate if there’s bloatware in my smartphone. So far, I’m just loving MIUI the way that it is.
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ASRock unveiled two new Intel C232 motherboards for Xeon E3 1200 V5

It’s look like ASRock also joining the “Xeon can Gaming too” party with two new motherboards base on Intel C232 Express Chipset which is exclusive for the Intel Xeon E3 1200 V5 processors.

The first motherboard will be ASRock Fatal1ty E3V5 Performance Gaming/OC. With rich gaming DNA in it the ASRock Fatal1ty E3V5 Performance Gaming/OC is fully equipped with Gaming Armor, Super Alloy, ASRock Hyper BLCK Engine and DDR4 Non-Z OC to ensure the system’s overall performance.

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The second motherboard is aims for designer or content creators. Akins to its gaming oriented counterpart the ASRock E3V5 WS is also lack of support for integrated graphics output but as it built exclusive for Intel Xeon E3 1200 V5 it will supports both normal and ECC modules. It’s also supports AMD FirePro and NVIDIA Quadro graphic card. An Intel I1219LM LAN chip will provide server grade internet connection and the ASRock E3V5 WS also support server operating systems.

Pokdepinion: It’s look like the Intel Xeon E3 1200 V5 is getting more attention by PC manufacturers, with ECC RAM support I bet many PC builder will bought cheap refurbished ECC RAM to save more money.
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MSI Partners With Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP eSport Team

The folks at MSI has recently announced of their partnership with Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP eSport Team.
MSI sponsors Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP eSport Team

The sponsorship means that MSI is providing a full range of high-end gaming products and accessories to provide their eSport riders with tougher and suitable equipment for their daily training and then sought more opportunities for cooperation and brand exposure in various activities and race tracks.

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MSI and Yamaha’s common pursuit of performance, speed, and experience derives from passion and craftsmanship, which create a driving force to lead the eSports riders to victory between the virtual and real world. The partnership between MSI and Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP eSport Team is an unprecedented occasion, and it’s also the best chance to boost brand awareness to a new level following our brand recognized by gamers in the eSports industry.
Sam Chem, MSI Marketing Vice President
For more on the latest tech and gaming news plus reviews, stay tuned to Pokde.net.
Pokdepinion: Not really a big fan of any kind of form of racing, but hey, who doesn’t like to be sponsored right?
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OnePlus Nord 2T Review – Is OnePlus Back?

Unboxing the OnePlus Nord 2T
OnePlus Nord 2T Review – Box

The OnePlus Nord 2T comes in a black box detailed with the Nord logo on the front like all the previous Nord series.
OnePlus Nord 2T Review – Box Content
Inside the box, you can find the following items:

80W SUPERVOOC power adapter
Type-C cable (Support USB 2.0)
Silicon phone case
Screen protector (pre-applied)
SIM tray ejector
Welcome letter
Quick start guide
Safety information and warranty card
The OnePlus Nord 2T

Specifications

CPU
MediaTek Dimensity 1300
Octa-core
1×3.0 GHz Cortex-A78 & 3×2.6 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55

GPU
Mali-G77 MC9

Memory
8GB LPDDR4X

Storage
128GB UFS 3.1

Display
6.43″ AMOLED
Up to Dynamic 90Hz Refresh Rate
HDR10+
85.7% screen-to-body ratio

Rear Camera
50 MP, f/1.9, 24mm (wide), 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS
8 MP, f/2.2, 120˚ (ultrawide)
2 MP, f/2.2, (depth)

Selfie camera
32 MP, f/2.4, (wide), 1/2.8″, 0.8µm

Connectivity
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth 5.2
USB Type-C 2.0
GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, NavIC
NFC
5G

Battery
4500mAh, Dual-cell batteries
Fast Charging 80W SUPERVOOC

Dimensions
159.1 x 73.2 x 8.2 mm

Weight
190g

Colour
Gray Shadow, Jade Fog

Performance

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Firstly, the Antutu v9 shows that the OnePlus Nord 2T seems to be on par with some flagship phones and does better than other mid-range phones.

However, in Geekbench 5, the OnePlus Nord 2T loses out to other phones with slightly similar chipsets. The results may be due to thermal throttling.

Continuing on to 3DMark, the OnePlus Nord 2T delivered scores that were within our expectations. While there are slight variances with the OPPO Reno7 Pro running on the previous chipset, the phone does perform slightly better than the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE and the Samsung Galaxy A73.

In PCMark, the OnePlus Nord 2T lags behind the Samsung Galaxy A73 and Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE despite having an almost equivalent chipset. However, it can be seen that the current chipset has a significant difference from the previous Dimensity chipset.

The OnePlus Nord 2T’s battery life can last up to 723 minutes at 60Hz and 796 minutes at a dynamic 90Hz refresh rate, which is a fairly unexpected result. This is most likely because the 90Hz option is adaptive, whereas the 60Hz setting remained constant. When running on 90Hz, you won’t have to worry about your battery life since you’ll enjoy both battery life and smoothness.
For the charging speed of the OnePlus Nord 2T, the phone can support 80W fast charging which takes about 25 minutes to charge from 18% to 100%.
Camera
OnePlus Nord 2T Review – Back Camera
The native camera UI of the OnePlus Nord 2T is pretty standard features, coming with several options like Night mode, Pro mode, and several other choices to broaden your possibilities when capturing photos and videos. The phone also features a triple camera setup consisting of a 50MP main camera, an 8MP ultrawide camera, and a 2MP depth camera alongside a 32MP selfie camera.

The camera startup was fairly quick and I managed to boot it up instantly to get some nice shots during the moment. The camera managed to capture extremely detailed photographs and videos that can be enlarged without losing quality. If you don’t know how to utilize the camera settings, the AI scene enchantment can help you improve image vibrance, exposure, and contrast.
The Night mode does provide rather amazing pictures despite having only the IMX766 sensor. The colours of the photograph produced are rather accurate to what they look like in real life. The only complaint that I have is that it takes exactly 3 seconds to produce the picture which can sometimes cause the pictures to come out blurry if I am taking a moving object or if I get too impatient.
The ultrawide camera does fall off during indoor picture taking however, it still does look good when taking pictures outdoor when there is sufficient light. It goes the same with the selfie camera, which works really well in a brightly lit room or when the sun is out but the quality of the photo drops when there isn’t much light or if you do not have a steady hand.
The Good
OnePlus Nord 2T Review – Display Screen
The OnePlus Nord 2T has a 6.43″ AMOLED display with HDR10+ support which can create accurate colours that are pleasing to the eyes when playing games, watching films, or looking at images. Not only that, the smartphone has a dynamic 90Hz refresh rate that makes scrolling through social media and gaming fluid. With an 8.2mm thickness and weighing only 190g, the phone is suitable for those who have small hands or those who are looking for a lighter phone.
The phone comes with OxygenOS 12.1 which has minimal bloatware and is rather smooth and clean. OnePlus’s OxygenOS, which was once known to be close to stock Android, is now slightly mixed in together with OPPO’s ColorOS. However, it still retains its special features such as the Shelf feature and its wide array of Always On Display customization.
Furthermore, the haptic feedback on the OnePlus Nord 2T actually feels really clean and I fairly enjoy typing and using the gestures with the feedback on. Genshin Impact and Tower of Fantasy run rather smooth on the phone with only Medium settings, however, the phone did get slightly uncomfortable after gaming for a while.
Lastly, the OnePlus Nord 2T features 80W fast charging which is on par with many flagship phones nowadays and the phone can last the whole day with heavy usage such as gaming and watching videos.
The Bad
OnePlus Nord 2T Review – Glossy surface
The OnePlus Nord 2T variant that we reviewed is the Jade Fog variant made with a glossy finish that is somewhat of a fingerprint magnet. However, a second variant with a frosted finish called Gray Shadow can help avoid the issue from the previously stated variant. Alternatively, a phone case would do the trick as well.
Unfortunately, the phone does not come with an IP rating but it does look like it would be splash resistant for when you accidentally spill your drink onto it. The phone also comes with only two major Android updates and three years of security updates which is pretty standard for a lot of phones but I do wish they would provide support for the phone for a little longer.
OnePlus Nord 2T Verdict
OnePlus Nord 2T Review
The OnePlus Nord 2T has a starting price of RM1,899 which is standard for a midrange nowadays. If you’re looking for a compact phone with decent cameras, acceptable gaming performance, fast charging, and decent battery life, you can consider getting this smartphone.
At the end of our OnePlus Nord 2T review, I award this phone with a Silver Pokdeaward.

Big thanks to OnePlus for sending us this smartphone for the purpose of this review.
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Ubisoft Adds DualSense Support for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla on PC

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is the latest entry in the franchise, making its mark on next gen consoles as well as PC gaming. To give people more ways to enjoy the game, Ubisoft has quietly added DualSense support for the PC version.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Gets DualSense Supports on PC

The game has quietly added DualSense support on PC.https://t.co/14NBqxr4DJ pic.twitter.com/Aj4tcHoXZm
— Andy Robinson (@AndyPlaytonic) July 5, 2021

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According to a report by VGC, Ubisoft has quietly added DualSense support to the PC version of the latest Assassin’s Creed game. This comes complete with adaptive trigger support, a feature that would typically be limited to games on the PlayStation 5 as the gamepad was designed for the next gen console.
The adaptive triggers on the DualSense is used for aiming as pressing it down halfway will draw out your bow, while pressing down the remainder will let you shoot an arrow. While we are uncertain if it will feel exactly the same as playing the game on the PS5, it should at least be the same fundamentally.
With the new addition, this is the second game to have official support for the DualSense controller, right next to Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition. However, do keep in mind that you will need to use it in wired mode via a USB-C cable as it wouldn’t work wirelessly.
The newest entry in the franchise is currently available for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia. If you want to check out our review of the game, click right here.
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Pokdepinion: I foresee more developers / publishers doing this moving forward, though I do wonder why they chose to be rather quiet about it. Hopefully, it’s not because of some legal issue.
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realme 3 Pro is coming in less than two weeks!

The realme 3 has just recently launched, but a lot of us are already looking forward to the realme 3 Pro. The realme 3 is already almost on the same level as the realme 2 Pro, so a true successor of the realme 2 Pro was definitely due.

Finally putting an end to your curiosity :) #realme3Pro is launching at 12:30 PM, 22nd April at the University of Delhi. RT as fast as you can! #SpeedAwakens pic.twitter.com/UAfLqbzNqa
— Madhav Sheth (@MadhavSheth1) April 11, 2019

Madhav Sheth, CEO of realme, has tweeted that the realme 3 Pro will be launched this 22nd April at the University of Delhi. With a tagline like “Speed Awakens”, we do expect the realme 3 to tout some serious horsepower under the hood.

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The realme 2 Pro offered a powerful Snapdragon 660, 8GB RAM and also 128GB UFS 2.1 storage at an unprecedented price point. The realme 3 Pro is expected to deliver a similar value proposition, with it slated to sport a Snapdragon 710 and also VOOC Flash Charge 3.0.

The realme 3 Pro is also expected to come with a 16MP Sony IMX 519 sensor. The sensor is featured in the OnePlus 6, so we should be seeing some impressive shots, especially with the camera chops we have seen on the realme 3.
What would you expect to see in the realme 3 Pro? Or more importantly, how much do you think it will cost?
Pokdepinion: I would really like to see an affordable Snapdragon 710 smartphone!
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Some Smartphone Brands Are Planning to Ditch Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC

Qualcomm made the odd decision to leave out an integrated modem from their Snapdragon 865 SoC. Many people were confused by the act, especially after pushing so hard on 5G adoption. It looks like the company has a different strategy in mind this time around.
If smartphone brands want the flagship chipset in their products, they will have to pay extra to have the X55 5G modem, even if they plan on making a 4G-only version of the product. This is interesting as 5G modems are still integrated with lower-end SoCs such as the Snapdragon 765.

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Certain smartphone brands aren’t interested in making their flagship smartphones even pricier, especially when the market is saturated and sales have slowed down. Some of the notable brands include LG, Google, and Nokia.
LG, Google, and Nokia on How They’re Ditching the Snapdragon 865 SoC
This can be seen with certain devices as the upcoming LG G9 ThinQ will be powered by the Snapdragon 765 SoC, which has an integrated 5G modem, just like the Nokia 8.3. Recent discoveries by XDA Developers for the upcoming Google Pixel 5 and Pixel 5 XL show that they are powered by the Snapdragon 730 and Snapdragon 765 respectively.
It’s worth noting that the upcoming 5G iPhones will come with the x55 5G modems, but they will have to be creative on the limited space inside the device. Android smartphone brands on the other hand have an easier time as they can go for the lower-end SoC which is both cost-efficient and simpler in design. Apart from that, Qualcomm is moving forward with a new X60 5G modem, which is faster than the X55.
Do you think this move might cause problems for Qualcomm down the road? Join the discussion right below here:

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Pokdepinion: I do wonder how significant of a price increase it would be for using the SoC as opposed to a weaker chipset. If it means more affordable smartphones, I definitely won’t complain.
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Square Enix’s BRAVELY DEFAULT II Coming To Nintendo Switch This February 2021

Time to pre-order BRAVELY DEFAULT II

Square Enix has just revealed the release date of their upcoming JRPG, BRAVELY DEFAULT II for the Nintendo Switch. The new entry in the “Bravely” series will be launching worldwide on 26 February 2021.

As a bonus for those who pre-order the game, Square Enix is throwing in a code to download the original soundtrack by Revo, who composed the music for earlier entries in the BRAVELY DEFAULT series. This bonus will apply to early purchasers of the game as well. Pre-order details for gamers in Southeast Asia in regards to the physical version will be announced at a later date.

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Here’s a brief overview of what BRAVELY DEFAULT II is about.
A new world, a new story, and all-new Heroes of Light await in an original RPG experience, which arrives on the Nintendo Switch system on February 26, 2021! This successor to the original Bravely Default comes from the team that brought you the Bravely series and Octopath Traveler, and features music from Revo (Sound Horizon/Linked Horizon), acclaimed composer of the Bravely Default soundtrack.
You can also check out a few official screenshots of the game itself down below.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Back in March, the game’s developers conducted a survey to solicit feedback from players of the BRAVELY DEFAULT II demo version which gained 22,000 responses from gamers all over the world. A video on how the developers have improved the game based on the feedback they got has now been released. Check it out below!

For more information on BRAVELY DEFAULT II, you can check out Square Enix’s official website right here.
Pokdepinion: To be completely honest, this is the first I’ve heard of BRAVELY DEFAULT series. Probably due to me not owning a Nintendo Switch myself. It looks good though, not gonna lie.
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Celcom Tops Ranking As Malaysia’s Best Mobile Coverage According To Ookla

The folks at Celcom has recently won the Ookla Speedtest Awards for Best Mobile Coverage in Malaysia.
Celcom wins Best Mobile Coverage by Ookla

The award is based on Ookla’s Speedtest report for Q3-Q4 2021 in the country, where the telco”s Mobile Coverage and Malaysians’ mobile experience was analysed through their Coverage Metrics.

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As you’d imagine, the report’s Coverage Score captured each telco’s footprint and quality of service in the country during the period to determine the award winners.
In the research, it shows that Celcom managed an average score of 787 in the country and they’ve recorded the highest scan count of more than 142 million scans and covered 356,606 locations from the total locations observed nationwide. Based on the report, the telco company has also achieved and led with a winning score of 93.2% for 4G coverage and 99.7% for general coverage in Malaysia.
They’ve said that by the end of 2021, Celcom has achieved 94.5% LTE (4G) population coverage in the country with an average of 3-4 bars outdoor signal on mobile device.
In case you’ve missed the news, Celcom has previously launched the country’s first cloud gaming service. Head to the link right here to find out more about it. For more on the latest tech and gaming news plus reviews, stay tuned to Pokde.net.
Pokdepinion: Being the best telco in the country is definitely a huge achievement. Do you agree with the award, Celcom users? Let us know of your thoughts.
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Take Part In The #FurTheWin Eco-friendly Pet Homes Challenge To Win Samsung Products

Samsung Malaysia has just announced the #FurTheWin Instagram challenge, which invites Malaysians to create innovative pet homes out of recycled cardboard boxes. This eco-friendly challenge is the perfect way to give old packaging a new lease on life while also participating in the challenge to win Samsung’s The Frame and Soundbar.
Join Samsung’s #FurTheWin Instagram challenge and win!

The #FurTheWin competition is based on Samsung’s Eco-Package concept, a multi-award-winning project to minimise carbon emissions by providing eco-conscious consumers with alternative upcycling choices. As a result, Samsung’s eco-packaging is constructed of environmentally friendly corrugated cardboard, allowing customers to recycle cardboard boxes into decorative accent pieces for their homes.

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You must be a Malaysian, aged 18 or older, and have followed Samsung Malaysia on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to enter the #FurTheWin competition. After that, simply follow these simple instructions:

Build an Eco Pet House using Samsung’s Eco-Packaging or any used plain cardboard box.
Set your Instagram profile to public and post a picture of your pet with the Eco Pet House.
Include a creative caption that describes your pet’s best trait and use the #FurTheWin hashtag in your post.
Tag Samsung Malaysia’s Instagram page and three (3) of your Instagram friends.

Check out below the prizes that are offered by Samsung Malaysia for this challenge:

Grand Prize: 65-inch The Frame QLED 4K Smart Lifestyle TV worth RM9,499
2nd Prize: 43-inch The Sero QLED 4K Smart Lifestyle TV worth RM6,999
3rd Prize: 43-inch The Frame QLED 4K Smart Lifestyle TV worth RM4,999
Most Creative Winner (20 winners): Samsung HW-T400 Soundbar worth RM499

The challenge will run from today until September 19th and each participant will be allowed to submit one (1) entry during that time. A panel of judges will choose 20 winners, who will be announced on Samsung Malaysia’s Facebook and Instagram pages. All winners will be eligible for the Grand Prize, Second Prize, and Third Prize, which will be awarded on September 30.
Visit the contest page for more information on the #FurTheWin Eco Pet Home Challenge.
Pokdepinion: I am looking to seeing what people can come up with during this challenge. I wish my cats were more enthusiastic with pet houses though. Would give more incentive to actually try and join this challenge.
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Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Review – As Powerful As It Is Quirky

Our official in-depth review of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, one of the latest premium smartphone offerings today. Is it good enough to keep up with you?

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Review

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Most touchscreen-capable devices out there today rely solely on the users’ fingers to work. The stylus is no longer something that’s wanted or even needed for quite a number of years now but Samsung is one of the few who disagrees with their Galaxy Note series. While many are expecting it to be one of the best devices of 2018, is it truly worth considering or is it simply all hype?
That’s what we’re about to find out today with the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. Let’s dive right into it, shall we?
Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy Note 9

We actually published the unboxing of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 earlier with some valuable information on the smartphone. If you missed out on that, you can check out the video right above here, or click right here to head straight to the unboxing post.
Appearance

Looking at the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 from the front and you’ll see a beautiful 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display with curves on the left and right side of the screen. Because of that, the bezel on the top and bottom of the device seems more prominent. It’s not thick by any means, just a matter of perspective like putting a small person beside someone larger to make them seem bigger.

At the top from left to right, you have an LED indicator, Iris recognition LED, proximity / light sensor, earpiece (which also functions as a speaker), front-facing camera, and the Iris recognition camera. It’s a bit hard to see all of these so chances are, you won’t even notice it has most of these at the top. You won’t be seeing any of those iPhone X-style notches here (thank god for that).

As you can see from the back of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, this is the Metallic Copper colour option. You can see the dual camera setup, along with an LED flash and heart rate sensor inside a glass cover with a raised lip. Having it raised like this is especially helpful as the fingerprint sensor is right below it, so users can easily know if they’ve moved their finger too far up. Sounds wrong, I know. While the back looks beautiful with its glossy finish, it is a fingerprint magnet unfortunately.

On the left side of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, you have 3 buttons; volume up, volume down, and a dedicated button for Bixby. On the right side on the other hand is where the power button resides in solitude. Both sides are rather narrow but that’s because of the curved edge display.

On the top of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is where you can find the SIM card / Micro SD card tray and a microphone. On the bottom, you have the headphone jack, a USB-C port, yet another microphone, speaker, and of course the S Pen port. You can definitely see that it’s nowhere as narrow as the sides.
Just the tip.

The S Pen itself looks essentially the same from the previous Galaxy Note 8, with this one in brown as the phone is the Metallic Copper option. There is a switch at the top, which is used to keep the thing locked in the Galaxy Note 9, the Samsung logo right below it,  and a button which has a variety of uses which we’ll talk about more in a later section. It has a pointed tip which will help you “write” with better feel and accuracy.
It is also here that you will notice on the corners of each phone that it has a more rectangular shape with a rounded end. While the rounded end will help reduce potential damage, just keep in mind that if you’re not using a protective case, you will most likely see scratches on the corners here as time goes by. It will be the usual wear and tear but those who want their devices to be in pristine conditions at all time should definitely take note of this.
Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Specifications

CPU/Chipset:
Exynos 9810 Octa (4 x Mongoose M3 @ 2.7 GHz, 4 x Cortex-A55 @ 1.8 GHz), 10nm

GPU:
Mali-G72 MP18

RAM:
6GB

Display:
6.4″ Quad HD+ (1440×2960) Super AMOLED 18:5:9 display, 83.4% screen-to-body ratio
Corning Gorilla Glass 5

Storage:
128GB

Camera:
Main Camera(s)
12 MP, f/1.5-2.4, 26mm, 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS
12 MP, f/2.4, 52mm, 1/3.4″, 1µm, AF, OIS, 2x optical zoom
LED flash, auto-HDR, panorama, dual-video recording, [email protected] fps videos
Front Camera
8MP f/1.7, 25mm, 1/3.6″, 1.22µm, AF
Dual video call, auto-HDR, [email protected] fps videos

OS:
Android 8.1 Oreo with Samsung Experience 9.5 UI

Connectivity:
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac dual band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)
Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX
USB-C

SIM:
Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano)

Battery:
4000 mAh

Weight:
201 g

Performance

As you can see here, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 may be a strong performer but as far as the Antutu v7 benchmark tool goes, the Snapdragon 845 beats it by a noticeable margin.
On Geekbench, the trend somewhat continues. While the Snapdragon 845 devices rank higher, the difference can be considered negligible. For single core on the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is way ahead of the competition.

Then on 3DMark, the trend continues again with it losing to the Snapdragon 845 devices on all three tests by quite a margin. It is interesting to note that while it shows improvements over last year’s Galaxy S8, it managed to gain about the same score for Sling Shot (ES 3.0).
And for the productivity benchmark which is where this device is suppose to shine, it didn’t really do too well. Given the nature of the device, it is rather strange but data does indicate that Snapdragon 845 is the better choice for productivity in terms of power. Perhaps the Exynos chipsets weren’t really meant for productivity.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 comes with a beefy 4,000mAh battery, which many are expecting to see good battery life. Before I talk about experience which is subjective, you can get an objective view of it via the benchmark above. What you’re seeing here is that through PCMark’s Work 2.0 benchmark, it takes 576 minutes for it to go from 100% to 20%, and it’s only decent at best.
The Pocophone F1 with the same capacity lasted over an hour longer, and surprisingly the Xiaomi Mi 8 which comes with a much smaller battery actually delivers 30 minutes more battery life. This is most likely because the Exynos 9810 isn’t as energy efficient when it comes to running tasks.
As for my own experience, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9’s battery life is decent at best. I tend to use my devices at about 25% brightness, constantly on social media, messaging via Whatsapp and Telegram (vibration notification disabled), taking a number of shots with the camera, and I see myself barely lasting a day. To the least, it can last me a day but I would still have a powerbank around just in case, especially if I have to use it more than I normally would.
While I may not be playing games on it (aside from when I was benchmarking), it is about medium use, and it can get me through the day. The only time it lasts me two days is during an off day where I stay at home most of the time as I’ll be on my PC most of the time. TL;DR, the battery life takes a big hit, more so than expected, the longer I use it. I honestly expected more since it was packing a 4,000mAh battery.
Just because we wanted to try experimenting a bit on our reviews, we used a benchmark tool called GameBench to get some insight into the device while we’re playing some games on it.

In PUBG Mobile at its highest settings, it did run at a relatively smooth 30 FPS for most parts of the game but there were times where it stuttered and had frame drops. It is a minor drop and nothing too bad. The huge drop you see in the chart at the beginning and the end is actually when it transitions from menu to game and vice versa, which is normal.
According to GameBench, you can expect the device to last about 5 hours if played from full charge. Your experience may vary depending on speaker volume, if you choose to use the speakers or a pair of earphones / headphones, and the screen brightness. The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 did get warm pretty fast but at no point did it get unbearably hot.

In Asphalt 9, the game actually ran very smoothly without any problems. those dips you see in the graph is actually when the race ends and it transitions to the main menu. The races are relatively short, which is why you see a lot of dips in the chart. The expected playtime per full charge is at 4 hours, close to 5. That is to be expected since this game is more visually-intensive for the device. Just like in PUBG Mobile, it did get warm fast but there’s nothing to worry about.
In Dragon Ball Legends at its best settings, there were very small frame drops from time to time but nothing that will ruin a good gaming experience. It’s no surprise that this one has the longest estimated playtime per full charge as the CPU and GPU usage is lesser than the other two games. Just like the other two games, it got warm but nothing more.
GameBench is available for both Android and iOS. If you want to check it out for yourself, click right here.
User Experience

I’m sure many of you are wondering what it feels like to be using the one of the newest premium smartphones in the market right now. For me, I do like using the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. It feels like a solid piece of machinery right in the palm of my hands but it’s not exactly the easiest device to hold with one hand.
Because of it’s curved edge screen, the sides (where the volume buttons and what not are located) do not have much space and thus, holding it can feel a bit awkward. Coupled together with a slippery surface and it can be a recipe for disaster. However, Samsung did implement a curve design on the back, specifically towards the edge, which helps you grip the phone better. As I have big hands, I personally don’t have any problems with it but those with smaller hands may struggle a bit. This can be easily remedied with the right phone case, which I would recommend using for a device of this price.
Biometrics

To unlock the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, there are a variety of ways excluding the standard ones found in Android by default. There is the face scan, iris scan, fingerprint scan, and Intelligent Scan which is a mixture of both face and iris scan. The best part here is that you can use multiple methods to unlock the device. For instance, mine is set to PIN, fingerprint, and Intelligent Scan so I can use any of these 3 methods to unlock it.
The Intelligent Scan does work relatively well. It manages to detect my face / eyes even in the dark, although it does fail from time to time. While this may be a rather useful feature, it is something I don’t see as viable to use, at least not at the moment. There are a number of reasons for that:

It is always slower than a fingerprint scanner.
It has a higher failure rate than the fingerprint scanner.
Holding the device at an angle so it can see your face / eyes better doesn’t feel as natural as using the fingerprint scanner.
There are times when I just want to see notifications on my lock screen, only for the phone to suddenly unlock.

With regards to my last point, there are times when I just want to see if I have any worthwhile notifications or check the time. However, I fail to realize that the Iris camera is still at work and thus, it unlocks the device which disrupts my purpose for using it. Sure, I can check the notifications when it’s unlocked but it is somewhat disruptive if I’m in the middle of reading my notifications, only for the screen to suddenly change.
But, there is one area that the Intelligent Scan will always win against fingerprints, and that’s if my fingers are wet / moist / dirty. In these situations, it is a lifesaver as the touchscreen may not properly register you keying in your PIN code or lock pattern. As this doesn’t happen often for me, I will be leaning more towards the fingerprint scanner rather than the Intelligent Scan.
It is worth noting that unlike the previous generation Galaxy Note 8, the fingerprint scanner is now at a more sensible location, right below the camera. Not only is this a more natural position to place your index finger, you can tell if you’ve gone too high up as there is a ridge around the camera.
Display

The 6.4-inch Super AMOLED screen is one of the most beautiful displays on a smartphone that I’ve ever laid my eyes on. The WQHD+ (2960 x 1440) resolution makes the display look incredibly sharp but you need to turn it on as the default resolution is FHD+ (2220 x 1080. This is most likely done to conserve battery life but even the latter resolution looks great on its own.
It’s worth noting that the screenshots you take will follow the resolution that you set. So if you want the best screenshots possible for whatever reason, be sure to change the display’s resolution first.
Colours are well-saturated and not surprisingly not over the top. Coupled together with the deepest blacks akin to the darkest of night skies, you will find yourself glued to the screen a lot. The curved edge display strangely makes the visuals more appealing, but this is something that you will become desensitized from and forget it even exists.

The Always On Display is implemented rather well. You can customize what is being shown as well as how the clock looks. By default, there aren’t many options available for the clock’s appearance but you can head on over to the Samsung Themes app to download free and paid Always On Display designs. You can also set if there is a preferred time you would like Always On Display to be disabled, which is perfect for when you’re asleep to conserve battery life.
Audio
The one thing I absolutely love on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is its speakers. It has a dual speaker setup with one on the earpiece and the other on the bottom of the phone, right beside the USB-C port. The speakers are loud and there’s a surprising amount of depth in the audio. I have not experienced any particular breaks in audio playback even at max volume.
If you want a more interesting experience, enable Dolby Atmos in settings. For me, I was surprised by the immersive audio experience I got when playing games like PUBG Mobile and listening to music. It gets more noticeable the closer my face is to the device but either way, you are in for a treat when using Dolby Atmos with the stereo speakers on this baby.
S Pen

What makes the Galaxy Note series stand out from the other smartphones in the market is its emphasis on the stylus, the S Pen. The S Pen that came with the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is a very interesting little tool as it now has Bluetooth LE (Low Energy). What this means is that you can use the S Pen as a remote control of sorts with its dedicated button.
For instance, you can press the button once to snap a picture or press it twice to change between the main camera and the front camera. It’s not limited to that as you can use it in other apps as well, such as changing to the next or previous slides in Powerpoint. You can see the supported apps as well as what button presses do via the S Pen’s settings menu.

The S Pen’s range is surprisingly good. The button still works with little delay even when I’m about 6 meters away. While it’s not necessary to have it work from too far, especially with the risk of losing it, but it’s still a nice thing to have.
Due to the inclusion of Bluetooth LE, this new S Pen will need to be charged. The battery life is rather short, and you can easily drain it in mere minute if you repeatedly press the button but at the same time, it can be charged rather quickly (less than a minute) and easily. All you have to do is just dock it into your Samsung Galaxy Note 9.

The S Pen in itself has always been a handy tool. As soon as you take it out from the device, a floating bubble will appear on the screen which can only be interacted with the S Pen. With it, you can use it to create notes, view notes, highlight a specific area to screenshot (Smart Select), screenshot and then scribble on it after (Screen Write), make Live Messages, translate texts on display (by hovering on what you want to be translated), and open up an app to doodle with the S Pen (PENUP).

Writing and drawing feels very fluid, but it will take a bit of time to get used to if you’ve been using smartphones other than from the Note series. Personally, I kinda wished that it was slightly bigger so I can grip it better but I understand that they made it this small so it would be compact and space-saving.

We did some other stuff with the S Pen, such as checking if you can use two S Pens on a single device, charging it with another Galaxy Note 9, and see if the colour retains when using different S Pens. You can check out our findings in the video which we included at the top of this S Pen section.
Software

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 uses a customized Android 8.1 Oreo with the Samsung Experience 9.5 flavour. For those of you who aren’t aware, it used to be known as TouchWiz. It’s generally straightforward, easy to use, and is customizable. You can also get new themes via the Samsung Themes app.
Personally, I feel like it’s cleaner and easier to use compared to the old Touchwiz skin on older Samsung devices. If you were expecting it to come with Android 9.0 Pie straightaway, that is unfortunately not the case.Given how new the device is, we expect it to eventually make its way to the Galaxy Note 9.
The new Bixby that came with the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is quite interesting. Apart from making simple queries which it will search the web for, you can use it to enable / disable certain things like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and even ask it to install apps via the Google Play Store. While there is still room for improvement especially in nuance of the questions given, it has evolved fairly well from when it first started.
Bixby can be easily activated by pressing its dedicated button located right below the volume buttons. The button placement led to a minor frustration on my end as I tend to accidentally press it when all I wanted to do was decrease volume or take a screenshot.
Camera

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Whenever there is a new flagship-level smartphone by Samsung, a lot of people would be wondering how the camera performs. The short answer is that it performs pretty good.
The long answer is that with Auto mode, it does a good job in optimizing so you can have great photos with just a simple snap, be it night or day. In fact, the camera will pick the best aperture for the shot automatically (F/1.5 or F/2.4). When there is a lack of lighting however, it tends to compensate this with slower shutter speed. Hence, you may get some shaky or blurry footage from time to time in this type of situation.
Most of the time, you will get pictures that are noticeably brighter than the actual environment, with litte bit of visual noise. In this case, it’s always better to use the Pro mode and fiddle around with the shutter speed and ISO yourself, along with the ability to freely move from F/1.5 to F/2.4. If you think Auto mode gives you good photos, Pro mode can take it to the next level if you know what to do with it. Another good reason to try Pro mode is the Auto White Balance, which can be kinda finicky regardless of whether it’s bright or not.
Recently, I went to Sushi Zanmai and I decided to snap a few pictures of what I was eating. Some pictures ended up being a lot more orange than I thought, and then it was more neutral in the next shot. This doesn’t occur all the time, but it’s something you definitely need to take note of if you’re very picky about the photos you take. Erratic Auto White Balance is normal even in standalone cameras so this isn’t something that happens only with this device. It’s usually better to set the White Balance yourself for the best results.
As for Live Focus, you will need decent lighting if you want to have anything usable. Otherwise, it will have trouble getting a proper focus on the subject you want to shoot, and you’ll end up with somewhat blurry shots. When taken with Live Focus, you also get the option to view the picture in Wide View, which always turns out better sans the blurred background.
Selfies are pretty good but of course, lighting is your best friend. The Live Focus for the front camera will require good lighting if you want the best selfies. Anything less will result in selfies that are rather washed out. The wide angle selfie is a bit tricky to use as most of the time, I end up with some slightly out of focus shots.
If you like to take these kinds of selfies, a monopod / gimbal will help immensely. Also worth noting is that if you plan on taking selfies with other people in the frame, it’s best to have them in roughly the same range as you (from the front camera) as the front camera has a rather shallow focus area.

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As for the AR Emoji feature, you can get your face scanned via the front camera, and it will produce some emojis styled after your face. You can also play around with the AR Emoji using the front camera so it will mimic your movement. I have to say, I believe it has captured my face with a great detail on accuracy.

Strangely when I’m making faces via the front camera, my smiles will trigger an open mouth animation and it will remain opened until I stopped smiling. Perhaps it needs a bit more tweaking so I expect a software update to pop up sooner rather than later.
Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is a pretty good device. The display looks gorgeous, the stereo speakers are loud and clear, the camera is good, and the S Pen is a very handy tool. However, it is also not smartphone that is designed for everyone. Hopping into the S Pen bandwagon will require a bit of time to get used to, the battery life could be better, and it is outperformed by Snapdragon 845 devices in most areas.
However, that is not to say that it is a terrible smartphone. You can still expect decent battery life and it has plenty of firepower under the hood. And sure, there are some quirks here and there but then again, nothing is perfect in life. If you like what you see here but you don’t plan on utilizing its unique feature set like the S Pen, the Galaxy S9 / S9 Plus may be a better choice for you. If you’re looking at it strictly from a performance standpoint, there are plenty of other devices you can consider.
It all boils down to your needs in a smartphone. With that in mind, I award the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 with our Silver Pokdeward.

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Back to Varsity 2015 — gadget edition

We know some tech. And when people know that you know tech, you will always be faced with a similar question “My kid is going to college, what laptop/smartphone/printer/tablet should I buy for him/her” and I believe most tech enthusiasts can relate to this. So this post is a little guide to help you guys decide on what to buy this year for your kid or yourself, according to your budget range, of course. So let’s go through the categories in our Back to Varsity 2015 — gadget edition guide. We have recommendations for smartphones, tablets, laptops and also a printer which should make your life choosing your purchase a little easier.

Smartphone
Smartphones are absolutely necessities in a students’ life. I heard UNIMAS updates their freshmen during orientation week solely through Facebook. As a student myself, I really can’t live a day without my smartphone. Group chat in Whatsapp is used to update the other members of an event committee, while personal chats are used to maintain communication with my loved ones. Facebook and Twitter is used to keep track of the latest updates and news. Some games are played while waiting for public transport. I also listen to music a lot while waiting or on public transport. Needless to say, a smartphone will be a very integral part of a student’s kit. So let’s have a look at some of the best offerings within their price ranges.

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ASUS Zenfone 2

The Zenfone 2 may be a little long in the tooth, but the performance that it has packed inside its plastic shell is still enough to scare off its competitors. The very common complaint of having sub-par battery life for a 3000 mAh battery was not experienced when we reviewed the device, but with the chart-topping fast charging feature, you can get a quick top-up of juice before an outing or a class. The Zenfone 2 comes in 5 variants, but we recommend the Zenfone 2 ZE551ML with 4GB RAM and 32GB internal memory which now retails for RM1199 inclusive of GST , as the massive amount of RAM ensures multitasking will be silky smooth on the device. The 2GB variants are also sufficient for normal usage, but for the small difference in costs, I believe the 4GB variant is more worth it. Both the front and rear cameras are pretty decent and you should be able to capture some nice memories with them. For the ladies who are interested in better selfies, there is also the Zenfone Selfie with a 13MP front camera (gasp!) which will be launched on 30th August 2015. However the Zenfone Selfie runs on a weaker Snapdragon 615 which will be paired with 3GB of RAM.

Xiaomi Mi4i

The Xiaomi Mi4i is a good budget device, with a surprisingly good camera for its price. The Mi4i runs on MIUI based on Android 5.0, and while I am not a big fan of the skin, it does run quite well. The Snapdragon 615 inside mated to 2GB of RAM is sufficient for most tasks, but there is some minor but noticeable delay when opening or switching between apps. The screen on this device is also top-notch, 1080p in a 5″ display ensures you won’t be able to spot individual pixels. The build quality is commendable for a mid-range device. Eventhough it is made of only polycarbonate, it is a unibody design which still affords a certain level of “premium-feel”. The thin bezels makes it very easy to hold, and the light weight just makes it better. Battery life is good, and will definitely last a day as long as you don’t play games throughout your lectures. A drawback of the Mi4i is the 16GB non-expandable memory. It will take a RM749-sized bite out of your wallet. You can plump up an additional RM150 to get the Mi4i 32GB which will cost RM899. China has just gotten a variant of the Mi4i known as the Mi4c, with a much beefier Snapdragon 808 under the polycarbonate shell, but we don’t know if it will ever be made available to Malaysians.

Redmi 2 Enhanced

The Redmi 2 Enhanced is the cheapest smartphone that we can recommend. It comes with a Snapdragon 410 64-bit quad core with 2GB of RAM. 16GB of internal memory is present, expandable with a microSD card. Dual SIM LTE support comes standard for the Redmi 2 Enhanced. The 4.7″ 720p IPS display is very decent at this price range. The imaging department is handled by an 8MP sensor for the rear camera and a 2MP front camera for you to take selfies with. The battery capacity of 2200 mAh might be the weak link but given that the Snapdragon 410 is quite a frugal chip, perhaps we have nothing to worry about. It will cost RM459, but if you wait for Lazada vouchers and coupon codes, you might be able to get it for cheaper.

ASUS Padfone S

Our reviewer Superdaddy dubbed it the “Zenfone on steroids” and I have to say I agree with him. With affordable pricing similar to the Zenfone series, the ASUS Padfone S has performance that doesn’t even belong in the price range. An improved variant named Padfone S Plus raises the bar even further by adding 1GB of RAM for a total of 3GB as well as increasing the internal memory to 64GB from 16GB in the original Padfone S. Yes, 64GB internal memory which is also expandable by adding a memory card. The most unique feature of the Padfone series however is its ability to dock into the Padfone S Station, so it can do double duty as not only a phone but also a tablet. ASUS also started selling the Padfone S smartphone and Station separately now, making it an excellent deal for both people who just want a affordable smartphone or those who also want the tablet function. Under the 5″ 1080p IPS display lies a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 running at 2.3 GHz coupled with either 2GB in the Padfone S or 3GB in the case of the Padfone S Plus. The weakest link in what could have been a perfect phone is the battery life. A small-ish 2300 mAh battery keeps it running for a day with light usage, but heavier usage will see it drain much quicker than its newer competitors. If you decide to get it with the Padfone S Station you will be getting an extra 4990 mAh of battery power along with the 8.9″ 1920×1200 screen. A flaw with the Padfone S Station is the hefty weight. The Padfone S is currently sold for RM699 while the Padfone S Plus goes for RM879 as sold by DirectD. The Padfone S Station will cost RM499.

Tablets
Tablets are not really as necessary as smartphones, but do offer a better experience with their larger screens which will come into play especially when reading or watching movies. As students are often found out and about whether moving from their hostel to lecture halls, from one lecture hall to another or just simply going on an outing, having a larger screen to read lecture notes will be quite convenient. Or it can be used to catch up on the latest episode of Runningman while riding the bus to their faculty. I myself usually use my tablet for Clash of Clans. The larger screen makes it so much easier to collect resources as well as see the bigger picture before attacking a base. I also use my tablet for editing the blog when I can’t wait till I get back to my laptop in my hostel room. In my opinion, a perfect tablet must be bigger than a phone, but must also be not too big so as not to affect its portability. Let’s go through our shortlist.

Xiaomi Mi Pad

The Xiaomi Mi Pad is one of the rare devices equipped with a NVIDIA Tegra K1 SoC. The NVIDIA Tegra packs 4+1 Cortex A15 cores, a configuration first seen in the Tegra 3 which saw 4 high performance A9 cores and one low leakage A9 core put together. The Tegra K1 also packs a Kepler-based GPU with 192 cores. You will get 2GB of RAM to play around with. The 16GB internal memory is expandable with microSD cards, something that few Xiaomi products support. The display is a 7.9″ 2048×1536 IPS display, offering sharp visuals matching or even besting those from the iPad mini retina. The overall design is extremely similar to Apple’s smaller tablet offering, except that it is made nearly completely of plastic, unlike the iPad mini. A downside of the Mi Pad is it is still running on Android 4.4 with the MIUI overlay. The Mi Pad is available for RM799 on Xiaomi’s official sales website.

ASUS Zenpad C 7.0

The ASUS Zenpad C 7.0 is a very affordable tablet, costing only RM499 SRP. The Zenpad C has an Intel Atom x3-C3200 with 1GB of RAM. It lacks the higher resolution screen and switchable back covers of the Zenpad 7.0 but isn’t really that bad for budget-conscious users. The blue-light filter feature makes e-book reading even less strenuous on the eyes. This is a very good no-frills tablet for students who want to go through some lecture slides quickly or also for accessing social media.

IPRO Livepad 8.9
The IPRO Livepad 8.9 is a Windows tablet, with a Intel Atom Z3735F quad core along with 2GB of RAM under the hood. The screen of the tablet is a high resolution 8.9″ screen pushing a resolution of 1920×1200. The tablet’s weight is a drawback for some users, but to some the heft might also lend it a premium feel. Not that the materials used aren’t premium. Glass panels front and back with a aluminium frame around the edges. An optional keyboard case is available will cost RM139 if purchased separately but will cost RM100 if purchased together with the Livepad. Running Windows instead of Android also allows it to support productivity apps like a normal laptop, and with the keyboard case, I believe you will be able to use it like a normal laptop too. It will cost RM699 for the 16GB variant, while the 32GB variant is RM799 on their official online store. The memory is also expandable with microSD.

Laptops
Most probably one of the biggest and heaviest piece of portable hardware, laptops are still needed for their much higher processing power as compared to what can be packed into a tablet. The cost of a normal laptop is also much less prohibitive when compared against a tablet of similar performance. Thus laptops are still long for this world. The laptops in this list may be outdated with Haswell processors instead of Broadwell though which may be fitted into the latest models. The prices I quote will be linked to where I got them from but they may be subject to changes so don’t quote me on it.
Enthusiast Laptops
These are the laptops for the PC gamers among the students. Portable yet still packing some muscle, these are the laptops to choose from if you are either a gamer or studying courses that will have workloads requiring more processing power than what cheaper models can provide.
Lenovo Flex 2 14

The Lenovo is first in this list because I like the hinge design. Instead of 360 degrees, it only opens out to 300 degrees, but that is plenty to put the laptop in display mode. The specifications may not be top of the line, but should satisfy most casual gamers with a i5 4210U, 8GB of RAM and a NVIDIA GeForce GT840M GPU. A 14″ IPS screen is pretty good, although a 1080p would have been preferred. The Flex 2 15 has exactly that, but 15.6″ is a little bigger, so the portability is slightly lesser. The main draw of getting this laptop would be the 300 degree hinge that will allow you to use the touchscreen function more naturally. It is currently found on Lazada for RM2219, but you may be able to find better deals elsewhere if you look slowly.

Acer Aspire V15 Nitro Black Edition

At Pokde.net, all of us are gamers. However I am the only member who doesn’t own a desktop. Why? I live in the hostel at my university, and having a desktop means having to lug pieces of hardware each weighing several kilos each down few flights of stairs. No thank you, not interested. So I have turned to relying on gaming laptops to get my fix. While I don’t own the Aspire V Nitro, I highly recommend it. Why? It has an M.2 expansion slot, as well as an IPS screen, things the Lenovo Y50 I own lack. The Y50 only has one SATA slot which limits my upgrade options for fast storage, as I have to consider the capacity of the SSD I will get, and as we know SSDs are rather costly in the 500GB range. The IPS screen will ensure better viewing angles compared to the non-existent proper viewing angle of the Lenovo Y50’s screen. The only flaw I can see in the Acer Aspire V15 Nitro without testing it myself is that you need to remove the motherboard to clean the fans. It will cost you around RM3375 but prices may have increased with Acer’s upgrade to the GTX 960M GPU along with the implementation of GST as well as our weak currency.

MSI GE62 2QE Apache

The MSI GE62 2QE Apache packs a GTX965M GPU under the hood, which is based on the GM204 silicon and is significantly faster than the GTX860M/GTX960M GPUs found in lesser gaming laptops. Another feature exclusive to MSI gaming laptops are the RGB backlit Steelseries keyboards. A 15.6″ 1080p Samsung PLS display is comparable to IPS offerings. A total of THREE M.2 slots are available, and MSI also managed to cram an optical drive into the 27mm body of the GE62 Apache. The fierce-looking body is built of a combination of aluminium and plastics. The MSI GE62 2QE Apache is not going to be cheap but for RM4699 I believe it is one of the cheaper options equipped with a GTX965M. This is only for the really rich students though.

Budget Oriented Laptop
Laptops suggested above are not necessary if you are not a gamer or will not be facing heavy workloads like 3D rendering or CAD software. If you are taking accounting, tourism or management courses, there’s no reason why you need to get any of those above, unless you are also a gamer, of course. Performance on affordable laptops nowadays can be considered sufficient for daily tasks. Browsing Internet, word processing, preparing presentations, light photo editing and watching HD movies can easily be done without any lag or application crash.
ASUS X454LJ-VX138B

I’ve spent more time in searching for a suitable laptop within the price range of RM1000 to RM1500. So far I found that ASUS offers better specifications and value. This is not merely a biased suggestion but please let me know if you found another notebook that is equipped with the latest Intel Core i3 5005U processor and a NVIDIA GT920M graphics chipset for under RM1500. The ASUS X454LJ-VX138B is our best recommendation at this price range. Not only does it have a better processor and graphic chipset than most other models in its price range but it comes with preloaded Windows 8.1 operating system. Total of 2GB RAM is good enough for daily computing,  but upgrading it to 8GB would better. The ASUS X454LJ has 500GB hard disk storage which is plenty, but if you want faster performance, replacing the HDD with a budget SSD would be better. It will be an excellent investment as not only it will boot up faster but you will get a snappier laptop overall. USB 3.0 port is also available, this could be advantageous since most external hard disk comes with USB 3.0 connector thus it will enable faster transfer speeds. The ASUS X454LJ-VX138B pricing is actually quite affordable as I’ve found several deals on the Internet, you can buy it from a trusted lelong store at a price of RM1400 including postage or RM1368 excluding postage from a Lowyat.net forumer sales thread.

ASUS X453MA WX241B

Shrinking the budget further, it is a lot harder to find a good laptop. But within the price range of RM1000 to RM1200, I’ve found two results, the ASUS X453MA and the Lenovo G40-45, I ended up recommending the ASUS option. Specifications on both laptops is slightly different, in terms of raw performance the Lenovo G40-45 80E100-6WMJ houses an AMD APU A6-6310 which is pretty close in terms of performance with the Intel Pentium N3540 inside the ASUS X453MA WX241B.

Other specification is almost identical for both laptops, both are loaded with 2GB of RAM and 500GB hard disk storage. With 14 inch display size, the laptops will only have 1366×768 resolutions. Price differences can vary depending on the seller. I have found the ASUS X453MA going for RM1224 while the Lenovo G40-45 is selling at RM1112. Comparing the two based on their prices, the Lenovo G40-45 is cheaper and also has better raw performance but what made me choose the ASUS model? It’s simple, I have a Lenovo G40-45 and the display is really quite bad, swinging me in favor of the ASUS laptop.

Printer
Every college student may face problems when it comes to assignments and one of the biggest problem is printing it out. You might not have a printer and the printing service may charge a decent rate but sometimes you will have to accept some drawbacks like printing and paper quality. Not to mention you have to set aside some time during working hours to print your assignment, no midnight rush jobs for you. So I decided to throw in a printer suggestion for you, it’s not only for your personal use but with this recommendation you might consider running a small printing service.
EPSON L220
Look no further than the EPSON L220, this printer has quite a lot of positive feedback. It will cost you about RM450 for the printer and RM20 refill ink for each colour. The EPSON L220 has its own ink tank system from the factory, not like Canon printers that need you to install third party tank system called CISS. For comparison, you can get a modified Canon MP287 that costs around RM 350. The ink refill cost is same as ESPON that is RM20 for mono and RM30 for colours. Total the initial cost, Canon is cheaper but why I am choosing the EPSON L220 over the modified Canon MP 287? EPSON stated that their printer system can print up to 4000 pages for mono and 6500 for colour pages with only one refill. With Canon, you won’t get as many pages out of a single refill as you will with the EPSON. I’m not sure the exact number of pages you can print with the CISS setup but Canon stated that the black PG47 cartridge can print up to 400 pages while the colour CL57 cartridge is good for only up to 300 pages. Also worth mentioning is the Canon MP287 with CISS setup is quite unreliable, often requiring a little DIY here and there. For me it is EPSON that offers the best deal.

What do you think? Do you know of any models offering better value for money than our listed recommendations? We are always open to suggestions! Hoped we helped make choosing your gadgets easier. Oh and good luck in university!
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TSMC, Samsung to share supply chain info with US government

While both TSMC and Samsung denying the US government’s request for supply chain info previously, it seems that both companies have had a change of heart. Both of the companies will be providing the requested supply chain information to the US government, although with a promise to protect customer’s confidential data.
Both TSMC and Samsung will provide US government with supply chain info
This update is pretty much due, as the US Commerce Department has set 8th November as the deadline for their “voluntary” request. With that said, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo did hint that the US government does have the tools to “force” chipmakers to provide the data regardless.
TSMC previously announced that they will be declining the request from the US government due to concerns about their clientele’s privacy, and has even gotten the backing of the Taiwanese government. However they have apparently changed their stance. South Korea’s finance minister was the one who broke the news that they will “partially comply” with the data request from the US government, presumably to similarly protect their customers’ confidential data.

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Source: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd
While many have hinted towards the shortage situation easing up by now, it seems that even Apple is affected by the chip shortages, having to lower production of their iPads to be able to make more iPhones. We will have to see what US manages to do with the data that they will be getting from two of the top foundries in the world.
Source
Pokdepinion: I doubt much will change, but hopefully we will get more insight into the shortage situation.
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PlayStation Collaborates With NBA Star Paul George To Release The PG 5 PlayStation 5 Colorway

In a recent blog post, NBA superstar Paul George announced that he has released a pair of special sneakers in collaboration with PlayStation and Nike. The sneakers, dubbed the PG 5 PlayStation 5 colorway, is a product of the basketball star’s passion.
PlayStation x Paul George: PG 5 PlayStation 5 colorway

The PG 5 PlayStation 5 colorway has been designed by designers from both Nike and PlayStation including Yujin Morisawa, the artist that was responsible for designing the whole look of the PS5. “Just like the PlayStation 5 console, the PG 5 is my platform to take my game to the next level, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to bring these two elements together in this new partnership with PlayStation,” said George, who is also a self-professed fan of the PlayStation brand.

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In terms of design, the PG 5 PlayStation 5 colorway features the PG and PlayStation logos on the tongues of the shoes as well as taking heavy cues from the overall design and colour scheme of the PS5. The sneakers also feature the classic PlayStation button shapes along each shoe which is more akin to the ones found on the DualSense controller. Each pair of sneakers will come with a special hangtag that features both the PG and PlayStation logos.

That’s not all as the PG 5 PlayStation 5 colorway will also be making an appearance as in-game items in NBA 2K21 on both PS4 and PS5.
Paul George and PlayStation’s new kicks will drop starting from 14 May in selected regions. For more information on the shoes and where to get them, do check out the Nike website right here.
Source
Pokdepinion: Man oh man those are some beautiful pair of sneakers. I wonder how much they will cost when or if they decide to release it here.
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Honor 5X review — great outlook, mediocre innards

Honor devices are known to be great budget-oriented devices. With Huawei’s experience in making amazing premium smartphones, I can’t see why not either. Today we have the Honor 5X which sports a surprisingly premium build for its sub-RM1000 price tag. Without further ado, let’s take a closer look.

Packaging

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The Honor 5X comes in a bright blue box, a stark departure from Huawei’s sleek black boxes. Since Honor is targeting the younger generation of smartphone users, it does seem appropriate.

Opening up the box, the first thing you see is the Honor 5X. Note that the sticker on the back details pretty much all you need to know before using the phone. Lifting it up you will get access the little box keeping the SIM/microSD card tray eject pin and some documentation. Under that box is the charger and charger cable. The Honor 5X comes with a miserable 1A charger, which is an unusual decision given that most recent smartphones come with a 2A charger.

Aaaaaaand that’s all in the box. You don’t get any earphones with the Honor 5X.

Appearance

The 5.5″ display panel dominates the front of the Honor 5X with slim bezels on the sides. I would prefer black bezels for a more seamless look instead of the gold here. As usual for anything from Huawei, there is a fine black frame surrounding the actual display. The camera, proximity sensor and speaker are located at their usual position, above the screen. No branding of any kind is found on the front.

Over on the back, I feasted my eyes on the premium brushed aluminium finish. The top and bottom bits are plastic and are dimpled for a more premium appearance. It looks great and I must admit the contrasting materials actually made the phone look even better than some all-aluminium smartphones I have seen.

The camera protrudes from the surface of the Honor 5X, which is worrying considering that there was no mention of sapphire glass protection here. Given its price, it would be rather unlikely to find it here, too. Flanking the camera sensor is a single LED flash, which means no dual-tone flash for better balanced flash output here.

All the physical buttons of the Honor 5X are on the right. The Honor 5X’s volume rocker and power button features the exact same texture, which may make it difficult to differentiate. On the left we will find the two SIM/microSD card trays, which we will discuss more about later.

The top is home to the standard 3.5 mm audio jack and a tiny microphone hole. That’s all over on the top.

The microUSB port on the bottom is flanked by two screws which are themselves flanked by two grilles. No dual speaker love here. The speaker is behind one grille while the other hides the microphone. Nonetheless, I appreciate the symmetry here.

Specification

CPU:
Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 64-bit (4 x A53 @ 1.5 GHz + 4 x A53 @ 1.2 GHz)

RAM
2GB LPDDR3

Display:
5.5″, FHD (1080p) IPS display

Storage:
16GB internal (expandable with microSD up to 128GB)

Camera:
13MP f/2.0 Sony Exmor RS IMX214
5MP f/2.4 front camera (wide-angle)

OS:
Android 5.1.1 with Emotion UI 3.1

SIM:
Dual SIM (one nano-SIM and one micro-SIM)

Battery:
3000 mAh (non-removable)

Performance
Powering the Honor 5X is the popular Snapdragon 615 found in many other mid-range devices. It is a little outdated in the face of the recent slew of newer chipsets, so do not expect the Honor 5X to top any benchmark chart, which to be honest was never the idea behind the Snapdragon 615.
For tests that have detailed information, they will be in the thumbnails below the description of the benchmark.

Antutu is one of the most popular benchmarks out there to test the overall performance of the device. The Adreno 405 in the Snapdragon 615 package is quite under-powered for a device in 2016 and it shows here in the 3D section. The scores for the other sections are much more acceptable though.

In Geekbench the CPU performance of the Snapdragon 615 is tested. As expected due to the lower clock speeds, it doesn’t score as well as the Kirin 930/935s in the Huawei P8 and Mate S, even though both SoCs are based on an octa-core A53 configuration.

As the GPU in the Snapdragon 615 is considerably weak, it doesn’t make a great showing in 3DMark too.

The Honor 5X doesn’t impress in terms of performance, but that is expected with the mid-range Snapdragon 615 CPU. Also worth noting is the missing support for the 802.11ac WiFi standard in the Honor 5X, even though the Snapdragon 615 SoC does offer support for it, which means no crazy fast WiFi connection speeds. However in our beloved country where we apparently prefer slow Internet connections, a fast WiFi connection means little.
Battery lifeOn screen time
3000 mAh keeps the Honor 5X running for around 13 hours, with an OST figure just 5 minutes shy of 4 hours. This was with the Honor 5X running on a mobile data connection and playing Spotify for more than 2 hours and frequent Whatsapp-ing with the random peek into Instagram and Facebook. I believe the Snapdragon 615 is a great choice for the Honor 5X as the Kirin 930/935 chipsets suffered from poor battery life when using a data connection. There is no fast charging here so it will take around 2 hours to fully charge with a 2A charger, and even longer if you use the supplied 1A charger.

User Experience
When I hold the Honor 5X, the premium brushed aluminium back is cool to the touch and is surprisingly grippy. While sandblasted aluminium may look better, they are much more slippery. The slight ergonomic curvature and flat edges make it even easier to keep it in your hands and away from the hard floor. Take into account the slim bezels and what you have is a very nice to hold smartphone. Gotta say Huawei did a good job here.

The first thing that I did with the phone was to insert the SIM and microSD cards into their respective slots. It was great to find that the Honor 5X comes with dedicated slots for TWO SIM cards and ONE microSD. This should be the way ALL phones that claim to be dual SIM are made! No one wants to make the difficult choice of using dual-SIM or adding more storage capacity with a microSD when using a DUAL SIM phone! Two big thumbs up for Honor here.
Now with that done, I went ahead to start up the phone and go through the usual process of adding my Google account, setting the time-zone, bla bla bla. Then it was time to teach the fingerprint sensor to recognize me, it’s new master for two weeks.

It needed me to press my finger on the fingerprint sensor five times to register five different zones on my finger, and the deed was quickly done. I have previously mentioned I prefer rear-mounted fingerprint sensors for their convenience and the one on the Honor 5X is quite nicely placed to allow for easy access. Needless to say, I immediately locked the device and tried unlocking it. It responded but there was a very slight delay between the time I put my finger on the sensor and the screen actually being unlocked. After using it for a few days, I noticed that even slightly wet or dirty fingers will fail to be recognized by the fingerprint sensor on the Honor 5X.

The fingerprint sensor can also be used for various gestures, which is something that I missed when I was reviewing the Nexus 6P. Of course, having a proprietary Android overlay has it perks sometimes.

Now that we are on the topic of proprietary Android overlays, the Honor 5X features Emotion UI 3.1 based on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. The same version of EMUI was on the Huawei Mate S I reviewed previously, but the Honor 5X lacks some features like the multitask windows and also Knuckle Sense. While the multitask windows was pointless even on the Mate S as it was limited to the built-in apps only, Knuckle Sense was actually quite unique and I really used it frequently to take screenshots. Other than that, the Honor 5X features the same UI. Which means the issue of horrible mismatched notification bars in third-party apps is still present here. In the built-in apps, the color of the notification bar will follow the app for a seamless appearance but for some reason it doesn’t work like that for other apps also. Overall, the experience of using the Honor 5X was acceptable, with slight delays and stutters every once in a while.

The Honor 5X’s rear snapper relies on the ubiquitous 13 megapixel Sony Exmor RS IMX214 sensor, while the front sports a wide-angle (22mm equivalent) 5 MP camera. Since I rarely ever use the flash on my smartphones, I do not find the lack of dual-tone flash a disappointment at all.

Starting up the camera, the Honor 5X has a noticeable delay before it was ready to shoot. The camera UI on the Honor 5X is rather simplistic. There is no manual mode here, and there doesn’t even seem to be a way to enable the Rule of Thirds grid overlay, but there is the ever-popular Beauty mode for the vain and also a new Good food mode for those who want to make their Instagram followers even more jealous of their food hunting escapades.
AutoGood Food ModeClose up (Auto mode)HDR mode
Basically all the Good food mode does is make the photo warmer and thus look more appetizing. Noise control is decent with images becoming grainier at the higher ISOs instead of becoming a watercolor art piece. However fine detail is visibly lacking even at the lower ISOs. The front camera also does pretty well in well-lit conditions, but in dimmer environments your face will be marked by chroma noise, which can also be removed along with any of your imperfections simply by using the Beauty mode. Full-sized samples can be found here.

Audio output through the loudspeaker of the Honor 5X is LOUD. However at maximum volume it does suffer from some crackling noises creeping in, which can be easily mitigated by dropping the volume three steps, at which point it is still plenty loud. It does lack bass, but then what are you doing listening to music with the loudspeaker? Considering its main purpose of notifying you of, err…notifications, or waking you up, the speaker is fit for the task. Plugging in some earphones into the 3.5 mm jack and the Honor 5X pumps great sound, directly into my ears.

The Honor 5X features a 5.5″ 1080p IPS display, which ensures wide viewing angles, at the very least. 1080p in 2016 is more or less taken for granted already, but its great that the Honor 5X doesn’t disappoint here. Colors are fairly accurate, with the option to adjust the color temperature if you find a need to. Sunlight readability is also a non-issue with the Honor 5X as it can automatically adjust the color saturation to improve visibility under direct sunlight. The automatic brightness is also very responsive and adjusts the brightness quickly when the ambient light levels changes. I have zero complains about the screen, especially at this price.

Conclusion
While the performance offered may be mediocre, it does have a premium body, a good camera and a great screen to make up for it. The fingerprint sensor on the back of the Honor 5X also make it the first smartphone under RM1000 to have a fingerprint sensor, with only one other device that has a fingerprint sensor in this price range, which is the newer Redmi Note 3. In comparison to the Redmi Note 3, it is difficult to recommend the Honor 5X with it priced so close to the Redmi Note 3 now, but I believe that Huawei has proven its point with the Honor 5X; it is a capable contender in premium and affordable price ranges and hopefully there will be a model succeeding the Honor 5X with a more recent chipset to take the fight to the competition.

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Google Chrome Gets Reading Mode For Optimized Webpage Reading

Too many distractions on the article you’re reading? Reading mode will clean it up.

At BETT 2023 (an education exhibition), Google shows off a few new features coming up for its own web browser. One of the more notable features is Reading Mode – which Android has had since last year for optimized reading experience. On Chrome, it’ll sit inside the dropdown menu from the sidebar.

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When using Reading Mode, all the interactive or visual elements on the webpage gets removed when viewed from the sidebar to help users “focus on a page’s primary content.” As mentioned, the cleaned up version of the page will sit on the right side of the browser, which you can resize depending on how much you want to read on a single screen. Aside from that, you can adjust text size, background colors, line spacing and even text margins.
The feature is set to roll out in the Chrome browser (Windows, macOS & Linux) shortly, though no specific version was mentioned; ChromeOS users, meanwhile, will get the feature through version 114 later this year.
Source: 9to5Google
Pokdepinion: I’d like to see the feature just make full use of the display – having to read from a sidebar seems like an odd design choice to me.
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Android 8.0 Oreo Beta Is Now Available For Nokia 8 – Nokia Is Really Delivering Their Promise!

So far in Nokia’s recent revival history, they have been making promises, especially on phone updates, to consumers everywhere, and so far, they’ve managed to fulfill them. Previously, they promised that the latest Nokia smartphones will be the first in getting the Android 8.0 Oreo update and they are one step in achieving that with the recent news that the Nokia 8 is now available to beta test the operating system.
Android 8.0 Beta Is Out Now For Nokia 8

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Announcing Nokia phones beta labs! Be the first to test #AndroidOreo on #Nokia8 (physical Oreos not included!) https://t.co/91uhqstnnm pic.twitter.com/GNiNrK31B0
— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) October 25, 2017
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The news was announced by HMD’s chief product officer, Juho Sarvikas. He posted it via his own Twitter account, while providing users a link that will let them join the beta testing.
If you were one of those who bought the lower priced Nokia models e.g.,Nokia 3, Nokia 5, and the Nokia 6, don’t worry. He also added that they will be getting the Oreo update in the near future.

#Nokia3 , #Nokia5 and #Nokia6 will follow in pursuit! We are just starting with #Nokia8 now @nokiamobile #nokiamobilebetalabs . #staytuned
— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) October 25, 2017
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
While we still have no confirmation on when the Android 8.0 update will be released, it’s still impressive what Nokia are working on for their consumers.
Since two months since its mid-August release, the Oreo update has mostly Nexus and Pixel devices running it right now. Soon to get them are Sony Xperia XZ Premium buyers.
Let’s just hope HMD can keep this up, and continue to deliver for their Nokia phones. It would be interesting to see what’s next for Nokia devices in the future.
Pokdepinion: While it may be just a beta, it certainly shows that HMD and Nokia are making efforts in delivering to their users. So hats off to them.
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New Star Wars Visions Trailer And Voice Cast Released By Disney+ Hotstar

The trailer for Star Wars Visions, a forthcoming anthology series from Lucasfilm that recounts new Star Wars stories via the singular style and tradition of Japanese anime, has been released on Disney+ Hotstar, along with the Japanese and English dub voice casts. Four new photos from the trailer have also been released by Disney+ Hotstar.
Check out the new Star Wars Visions trailer and voice cast

The new trailer gives a taste of each of the animated shorts’ compelling tone and gorgeous visuals, which will be available in both the original Japanese voice cast and the English dub cast when Star Wars Visions premieres on Disney+ Hotstar on September 22. Check out some of the official stills from the trailer below:

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Disney+ Hotstar also unveiled the English and Japanese voice cast for each of the new Star Wars Visions shorts. You can check them out below:

The Duel
English voice cast: Brian Tee (Ronin), Lucy Liu (Bandit Leader), Jaden Waldman (Village Chief)
Japanese voice cast: Masaki Terasoma (Ronin), Akeno Watanabe (Bandit Leader), Yūko Sanpei (VillageChief)
Tatooine Rhapsody
English voice cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Jay), Bobby Moynihan (Geezer), Temuera Morrison (BobaFett), Shelby Young (K-344), Marc Thompson (Lan)
Japanese voice cast: Hiroyuki Yoshino (Jay), Kōusuke Gotō (Geezer), Akio Kaneda (Boba Fett), Masayo Fujita (K-344), Anri Katsu (Lan)
The Twins
English voice cast: Neil Patrick Harris (Karre), Alison Brie (Am), Jonathan Lipow (B-20N)
Japanese voice cast: Junya Enoki (Karre), Ryoko Shiraishi (Am), Tokuyoshi Kawashima (B-20N)
The Village Bride
English voice cast: Karen Fukuhara (F), Nichole Sakura (Haru), Christopher Sean (Asu), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Valco), Andrew Kishino (Izuma),  Stephanie Sheh (Saku)
Japanese voice cast: Asami Seto (F), Megumi Han (Haru), Yūma Uchida (Asu), Takaya Kamikawa(Vaan), Yoshimitsu Shimoyama (Izuma), Mariya Ise (Saku)
The Ninth Jedi
English voice cast: Kimiko Glenn (Kara), Andrew Kishino (Juro), Simu Liu (Zhima), Masi Oka (Ethan), Greg Chun (Roden), Neil Kaplan (Narrator), Michael Sinterniklaas (Hen Jin)
Japanese voice cast: Chinatsu Akasaki(Kara), Tetsuo Kanao (Juro), Shin-ichiro Miki (Zhima), Hiromu Mineta (Ethan), Kazuya Nakai (Roden), Akio Ōtsuka, (Narrator), Daisuke Hirakawa (Hen Jin)
T0-B1
English voice cast: Jaden Waldman (T0-B1), Kyle Chandler (Mitaka)
Japanese voice cast: Masako Nozawa (T0-B1), Tsutomu Isobe (Mitaka)
The Elder
English voice cast: David Harbour (Tajin), Jordan Fisher (Dan), James Hong (The Elder)
Japanese voice cast: Takaya Hashi (Tajin), Kenichi Ogata (The Elder), Yuichi Nakamura (Dan)
Lop & Ocho
English voice cast: Anna Cathcart (Lop), Hiromi Dames (Ocho), Paul Nakauchi (Yasaburo), Kyle McCarley (Imperial Officer)
Japanese voice cast: Seiran Kobayashi (Lop), Risa Shimizu (Ocho), Tadahisa Fujimura (Yasaburo),Taisuke Nakano (Imperial Officer)
Akakiri
English voice cast: Henry Golding (Tsubaki), Jamie Chung (Misa), George Takei  (Senshuu), Keone Young (Kamahachi), Lorraine Toussaint (Masago)
Japanese voice cast: Yū Miyazaki (Tsubaki), Lynn (Misa), Chō (Senshuu), Wataru Takagi Kamahachi),Yukari Nozawa (Masago)

Star Wars Visions is a collaboration between Lucasfilm and seven notable Japanese anime studios which include Kamikaze Douga – “The Duel”; Geno Studio (Twin Engine) – “Lop and Ochō”; Studio Colorido (Twin Engine) – “Tatooine Rhapsody”; TRIGGER – “The Twins” and “The Elder”; Kinema Citrus – “The Village Bride”; Science Saru – “Akakiri” and “T0-B1”; and Production I.G. – “The Ninth Jedi.”
Star Wars Visions is set to premiere on Disney+ Hotstar this 22 September.
Pokdepinion: Holy smokes I can’t wait for Star Wars Visions! I love anthology series like these and I also love Star Wars so this is just absolute ecstasy for me. Besides, Star Wars was inspired by a Japanese movie in Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress (highly recommended!) so in a way, I guess this is kind of like a homecoming for the franchise?
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This Google Chrome Extension is Trying to Steal Your Cryptocurrency

If you have dabbled in cryptocurrency in one way or another, then this is something you need to be extra careful of. It appears that a Google Chrome extension is doing more than its intended purpose which could lead to the creators stealing your cryptocurrency.
The Google Chrome extension in question here is the aptly named Shitcoin Wallet. If you’re curious to know about it, click right here.
According to Director of Security at MyCrypto, Harry Denley, he discovered that Shitcoin Wallet is stealing your private keys and login details. The extension is supposed to let users manage their Ether (ETH), cryptocoins, and other ERC-20-based coins.

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It has been estimated that over 600 users have installed the extension before Google removed it from the Chrome Store. It doesn’t automatically do damage just by being installed however, as it needed some triggers for the malicious code to work.
The extension needs to be installed by the userOnce installed, the extension requests permission to inject JavaScript (JS) on 77 websitesThen once the user navigates to any of those sites, the extension loads an additional JS file from https://erc20wallet[.]tk/js/content_.jsThat JS file then activates on the following sites: MyEtherWallet.com, Idex.Market, Binance.org, NeoTracker.io, and Switcheo.exchangeOnce activated, the extension scans for login details, private keys inside your user area of those five sites, and then sends all the data to erc20wallet[.]tk
Essentially, it’s like someone making duplicates of your house keys but without your knowledge. Thus far, we have yet to hear about anyone losing their crypto coins but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Needless to say that if you have it on your browser, remove it as soon as possible.
Source: Knowtechie
Pokdepinion: If you don’t have two-factor authentication enabled for things that involve money, you might as well donate your crypto coins. On a more serious note, you should definitely not install weird extensions or apps for any reason.
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