Acer Spin 5 review — affordable flexibility

Yeah, 360° hinges are a thing. Personally, I prefer detachable tablets, but certain people do prefer a 360° for the flexibility of being able to use it in multiple configurations, while still having the familiarity of a standard laptop form factor. Today we will be taking a look at the Acer Spin 5, an affordable entry in Acer’s family of hybrids. It was also just recently launched in Malaysia, alongside several other Acer models. The Acer Spin family takes over from the Aspire R series, and the Acer Spin 5 is actually the middle child in the family, with the Spin 7 and Spin 3 for siblings, but is apparently the only member to make it here to Malaysia. Let’s take a closer look.
Unboxing

There really isn’t much to look at in terms of the packaging. Unlike the Acer Switch Alpha 12, the Acer Spin 5 comes in a box that is decidedly less attractive. A traditional cardboard packaging with black print is all you get.

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Opening the box reveals the Acer Spin 5 suspended by cardboard holders, with a compartment holding the power adapter. A set of documentation lies below it. That is all we got with the Acer Spin 5, although retail units should come with a backpack.

Appearance

The Acer Spin 5 is entirely black. The aluminium lid is finished in a cross hairline texture, and that is all the aluminium you get with the Acer Spin 5.

Opening up reveals the 13.3″ glass covered display with surprisingly wide bezels around the edges. The lower bezel is especially thick and makes me wonder if Acer could have put in a little more effort to make the bezels smaller. The chiclet keyboard is surrounded by brushed plastic which looks quite good, but it is still very noticeably plastic.

As usual for 13.3″ laptops, the keyboard does not feature a numpad. In a pinch, you can activate Num Lock to use a hidden numpad, but that is quite far from usable for me. Palm rests are plastic, but looks decent enough and the brushed texture also feels pretty good when you run your fingers across it. Still, I miss the feel of cold metal on more premium models.

The underside of the Acer Spin 5 is also plastic, but with a rougher finish to it. Five rubber feet raise the bottom of the Acer Spin 5 off the surface you placed in on, with two vents along the rear for cooling. You will also find two speakers located on opposing sides.

Specifications

CPU
Intel Core i3-6100U @ 2.3 GHz

RAM
4GB (single slot, support up to 16GB single DIMM) 2133 MHz DDR4

GPU
Intel HD Graphics 520

Storage
128GB LITEON M.2 SATA3 SSD

Software
Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Acer Care Center
Acer Quick Access
Acer Power Button
HD Audio Manager

Connectivity
Atheros/Qualcomm QCA9377 820.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
Bluetooth 4.1
2 x USB 2.0
1 x USB 3.0
microSD card reader

Display
13.3″ FHD IPS (1920 x 1080) anti-glare display
1 x HDMI

Audio
2 x stereo speakers
1 x 3.5mm combo jack

Power
45W AC adapter, 4-cell battery (non-removable)

Dimensions
328.8 x 228.5 mm x 19.7 mm

Weight
1.6kg

Performance
Let’s start the benchmarks with our standard storage test, CrystalDiskMark.

The 128GB M.2 SATA SSD offers decent speeds, but the capacity can be a little limiting. Still, it offers fast boot and application loading times, which is nice to see. Media storage may have to be offloaded onto external storage or a microSD card to be slotted into the Acer Spin 5.

The performance of the i3-6100U in the Acer Spin 5 is mediocre, but should suffice for most light tasks like web surfing and document editing. Thermals are well maintained throughout the benchmark.

GPU performance is as expected from an iGPU. It is a lot better than previous generations of integrated GPUs, but still far from a proper dedicated GPU. Still, it would work in a pinch for most games on really low settings. Performance may also be slightly limited due to the use of single channel memory instead of dual-channel which increases the memory bandwidth available for the iGPU.
5 hours of battery life is decent but nothing too spectacular with use of the Acer Spin 5 for writing some posts here on Pokde.net. I have seen better in the ASUS Zenbook Flip, which also packed a more powerful CPU too, actually. One thing worth noting is the limited amount of RAM can easily be filled up, even when I was just surfing with Chrome with around 7 tabs open at the same time. Heavy multitaskers may find the need to throw in some cash to upgrade to more RAM.
Overall, the Acer Spin 5 features a Skylake CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB M.2 SSD. It is a good thing that the RAM and SSD are upgradable instead of soldered onto the mainboard, but as it can only accept a single SODIMM, maxing out the memory with a single 16GB SODIMM is gonna be costly, until prices drop further, that is. M.2 SSDs also usually cost more than their 2.5″ counterparts, so there is that, too. And in the case of the SSD, prices aren’t expected to go down anytime soon.

User Experience

The Acer Spin 5 features its power button on the right side, as well as a volume rocker. For some reason, Acer also crammed two status LEDs between the buttons, making it quite hard to see in most configurations. Along this edge you will also find the microSD card reader, power connector and also the Kensington slot. A microSD card reader is great if all you use are action cameras and smartphones, but use a DSLR or a compact camera, and you will find the need to connect a USB card reader.

Which is right about the time when you find that the Acer Spin 5 only packs three USB ports along its left edge, two of which are of the older USB 2.0 standard, and a lonely USB 3.0 one. a HDMI port and a 3.5mm combo audio jack flank the USB ports. While I can almost forgive the omission of USB Type-C ports in the Acer Spin 5, the single USB 3.0 port is just too much. Why not just give three USB 3.0 ports instead?

The Acer Spin 5’s keyboard features two levels of backlighting, but even at max level I found it rather weak. Travel is decent, tactile feedback is okay and it is quiet, making it quite a good laptop keyboard actually. Input via the touchpad can get annoying, but with a touchscreen, who cares about the touchpad? Traditional minded people might, and this is one market Acer will fail to please with this jumpy touchpad they put into the Acer Spin 5.

The 1080p display is pretty good with wide viewing angles and vivid colors. However I found the maximum brightness a little lacking, which was okay indoors, but made it near impossible to see the display outdoors. Acer pre-installs a bluelight filter to protect your eyes, turning the screen yellower for a more comfortable reading experience, or just to help prevent insomnia.

The thing that gives the Acer Spin series its name is the ability to “spin” or rotate 360°. The dual-torque hinge design by Acer is quite firm yet not too tight until you get afraid you will break it when you open it. It is sturdy enough for me to use the touchscreen with it open in the standard laptop configuration, which is pretty much all I ask from these hinges.

Sound quality from the speakers located on the underside of the Acer Spin 5 isn’t the best out there, but they are very loud. In fact so loud that if you use it as a standard laptop, it can vibrate your palms resting on the palm rests. It sounds better in the modes that have the speakers unhindered. In the standard laptop mode, the audio left me wanting a lot more. The HD Audio Manager allows toggling of the Acer TrueHarmony mode which seems to improve audio clarity while also offering a few sound effects to customize your sound.

Conclusion
The Acer Spin 5 looks and feels pretty cheap with its heavy use of textured plastic, which is understandable once you check out its SRP of RM2199. Sure, we all wish for budget killers, but with the Acer Spin 5, at least you get what you pay for. It has a great dual-torque hinge system, an acceptable display, mediocre performance and really loud speakers. If you want a more premium 360° convertible, you can take a look at the ASUS Zenbook Flip, but mind you the Zenbook’s hinges are too flimsy for my liking.
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[CONFIRMED] Breaking! AMD Ryzen 5 3500X may be coming to Malaysia

The AMD Ryzen 5 3500X which was introduced late last year as a China-exclusive chip may be making its way to Malaysia. Reliable sources have hinted that AMD will be offering the six-core chip in more regions, including Malaysia.
For those who are unaware of the AMD Ryzen 5 3500X, it’s essentially a Ryzen 5 3600 with SMT disabled. Without SMT, you get six cores and six processing threads, with a boost clock of 4.1 GHz. The TDP is also a low 65W, which might be an interesting proposition for gamers who might have limited cooling.

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China retailers are offering the Ryzen 5 3500X at around 1099 CNY (~RM652) which is a pretty interesting price point. The Ryzen 5 3600 can be gotten for a touch less than RM800 now, so you might want to consider opting for the Ryzen 5 3500X. Gamers will probably have an easier time picking the cheaper alternative, as there is little advantage to having SMT enabled anyway.
AMD Ryzen 5 3500X Specs

6C/6T @ 3.6 GHz (Boost up to 4.1 GHz)
32MB L3 cache
65W TDP
7nm FinFET (TSMC)
1099 CNY (~RM652)

With Ryzen processors all the more accessible now, there really is little reason to pick the competition. The AMD AM4 platform is expected to support the upcoming 4th Gen AMD Ryzen processors, leaving users an upgrade path, while Intel is expected to move on to a new LGA1200 socket to support the new 10th Gen Intel Core “Comet Lake” desktop processors.
[UPDATE 19/2/20] AMD Ryzen 5 3500X confirmed for Malaysia
The AMD Ryzen 5 3500X has just been confirmed to be made available in Malaysia. AMD Malaysia has set a recommended price of RM639, and it will be available starting next week here in Malaysia.
Pokdepinion: Might be interesting to see more affordable options to use on my AMD X570 board…
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Get Garmin Products At Great Discounts With Garmin Malaysia’s Raya Promotion

Garmin Malaysia has just announced a variety of discounts for its special Raya promotion happening online and in-store. The promotion will commence from 24 April to 16 May on the Garmin official store on Lazada and Shopee. Meanwhile, the Raya promotion will start from 25 April to 16 May at all Garmin branded stores, authorised retailers, and on Garmin Malaysia’s official website.
Save big with Garmin Malaysia during their Raya promotion
The promotion serves as part of the brand’s initiative to celebrate the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri with a festive and generous approach, introducing discounts up to 16% for a series of the brand’s popular smartwatches. Among the products going on sale are the Forerunner and Venu SQ series smartwatches. Below are all the products that will go on discount during the Raya promotion.
In-store & website promotions

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Forerunner 45 – Promo price RM770 (original price RM960)
Forerunner 245 – Promo price RM1,170 (original price RM1,430)
Forerunner 245 Music – Promo price RM1,399 (original price RM1,670)
Venu Sq – Promo price RM780 (original price RM930)
Venu Sq Music – Promo price RM999 (original price RM1,160)

Promotions on Lazada

Forerunner 245 Music – Promo price RM1,399 (original price RM1,670)
Venu Sq – Promo price RM780 (original price RM930)

Promotions on Shopee

Forerunner 45 – Promo price RM770 (original price RM960)
Forerunner 245 – Promo price RM1,170 (original price RM1,430)
Venu Sq Music – Promo price RM999 (original price RM1,160)

Pokdepinion: This is the perfect time to purchase yourself a Garmin fitness smartwatch. I’m not a fit man myself so I don’t really have a need to get any of their products lol.
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Team UwU And Paper Rex Are The New VALORANT Challengers Champions

Team UwU and Paper Rex have just been crowned champions of VALORANT Challengers Malaysia and Singapore and will advance to the VCT Stage 3 – CHALLENGER SEA – Playoffs on 13 August.
Team UwU and Paper Rex VALORANT Challengers Malaysia and Singapore champions

In Week 2, in the Best of Five format, newcomer Team UwU from Singapore overcame Paper Rex 3-2 in an against-all-odds struggle. Paper Rex, on the other hand, secured the final slot to proceed to the next level in the Philippines in Week 3. The SEA Playoff for the VALORANT Challengers will be contested on August 13-16 and 19-22.

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The playoffs take place over two weeks and feature teams from Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia, as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan. The winner of the SEA playoffs will compete against the best teams from Japan, Korea, North America, Brazil, EMEA, and LATAM at the VALORANT Masters 2021 in Berlin on September 19.

Fans of the popular game tuned in to the livestream, which was streamed on regional partner The Gaming Company’s official Twitch and Facebook pages. During the webcast, Esports Fight Club, the Official Esports Platform partner, gave away customised PC setups to a few lucky viewers, while Predator, the Official Gaming PC and Laptop partner, gave out exclusive goods. Secretlab, the event’s official chair partner, has also sponsored gaming chairs.
The third stage of the VALORANT Challengers Malaysia and Singapore began last month, with a weekly prize pool of RM40,000. All agents from the most recent VALORANT roster are welcome, and the tournament will feature the maps Bind, Haven, Split, Ascent, and Icebox.
The VALORANT Challengers SEA – Playoffs kick off on Friday, August 13 at 11AM (GMT+8), with a webcast available on VALORANT Twitch. Visit and follow The Gaming Company’s official Facebook page for updates and more information on the VALORANT Challengers SEA – Playoffs.
Pokdepinion: Congratulations Team UwU and Paper Rex for making it this far.
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HUAWEI nova 5 will sport world’s first 7nm mid-range chipset!

Despite major setbacks from the US trade wars, it appears that HUAWEI will be pushing ahead with a new HUAWEI nova 5. The new smartphone will also come with a brand-new 7nm chipset, believed to be the Kirin 810. This will make HUAWEI the first to offer two 7nm smartphone chipsets.

The claim is somewhat disputable, as Apple does offer two 7nm mobile chipsets, although one can argue that the A12X Bionic is a tablet chipset, and not one for smartphones. With that aside, there really isn’t much additional information we know about the Kirin 810 powering the HUAWEI nova 5, aside from the fact that it will be built on the 7nm process node.

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GSMArena hints at the chipset featuring a single ARM Cortex-A76 for improved single-core performance, with 7 Cortex-A55 cores to handle multi-threaded applications. The GPU is expected to be the Mali-G52, which offers 3.6x higher performance than the Mali-G51 GPU that was in the Kirin 710. Of course, depending on the configuration, we may see differing results.
The HUAWEI nova 5 is expected to sport a quad-camera setup similar to the HONOR 20, which means a 48MP primary camera mated to a 16MP ultra-wide angle shooter and a dedicated 2MP macro camera. The launch is happening on 21st June, so stay tuned for more updates about HUAWEI’s upcoming mid-range device.
Pokdepinion: A Kirin 810 sounds pretty interesting if the HUAWEI nova 5 doesn’t get priced like the overpriced nova 4…
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Sony WF-1000XM5: Leaked Details of Sony’s Highly Anticipated TWS Earbuds

Sony’s upcoming flagship true wireless earbuds, the Sony WF-1000XM5, have been making headlines with numerous leaks and rumours. As the launch date draws near, the anticipation among tech enthusiasts continues to grow. In this article, we’ll delve into the latest leaked details about the WF-1000XM5, giving you a sneak peek into the exciting features and capabilities of these highly anticipated earbuds.
More Leaked Details on the Sony WF-1000XM5

The Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds boast an incredibly lightweight design, weighing in at just 5.9g each. Sony has incorporated its innovative Dynamic Driver X, an 8.4mm driver that promises exceptional audio quality. This driver, combined with two proprietary processors and dual feedback mics, enables real-time optimization of the noise-canceling effect, ensuring the best active noise canceling (ANC) performance in any environment.

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Sony has equipped each earbud with three microphones, allowing for more precise noise detection and optimization of sound quality when necessary. The WF-1000XM5’s advanced drivers deliver “richer vocals,” as stated in Sony’s marketing materials. Additionally, these earbuds support HiRes Audio and DSEE Extreme, ensuring an immersive and high-fidelity audio experience. With integrated bone conduction sensors and “Precise Voice Pickup” technology, the WF-1000XM5 excels in delivering crystal-clear call quality even in noisy surroundings.
The charging case of the Sony WF-1000XM5 houses a 500mAh battery, extending the total runtime of the earbuds to an impressive 24 hours. While the exact battery life of the earbuds themselves remains undisclosed, the case offers convenient charging capabilities. Just three minutes of charging in the case provides an hour’s worth of playback, and a full charge for both the case and earbuds takes approximately two hours.
The Sony WF-1000XM5 features Bluetooth 5.3 technology, enabling seamless connectivity and enhanced stability. The earbuds also support multi-point connections, allowing users to easily switch between different devices. With an IPX4 certification, these earbuds are sweat-resistant and splash-resistant, making them suitable for workouts and outdoor activities.
Although pricing details are yet to be revealed, it is expected that the Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds will cater to the premium segment of the market. With rumours suggesting an imminent announcement, we can anticipate a full unveiling of these earbuds in the coming days, providing us with all the information we’ve been eagerly awaiting. Stay tuned for the official launch to uncover all the details about the WF-1000XM5, including pricing, availability, and more.
Source
Pokdepinion: The Sony WF-1000XM5 true wireless earbuds promise to deliver an exceptional audio experience with their lightweight design, dynamic drivers, and advanced noise-canceling capabilities. With enhanced connectivity features and a durable build, these earbuds are poised to make a mark in the market.
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Players Exploit Red Dead Online By Cloning Cougars For Quick Cash

It’s not harsh to say that it’s hard to farm money on Red Dead Online, Red Dead Redemption 2’s online mode. It seems that a majority of players in the game have found a way to make easy money by duplicating/cloning cougars.

If you’re in the game and stopped by the local butcher, you might find a whole bunch of dead cougars lying on the floor. No, they didn’t suddenly died there. Apparently players have discovered the glitch where you can spawn hundreds of them and sell them for some easy cash.

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In order to do the glitch, you’d need to hunt and kill a cougar first, and preferably a 3-star one as they come with the highest price. Once that’s done, head to a butcher stall nearby and place your horse along with the cougar (stowed on the horse) near the stall. Afterwards you’d need to go into a tailor or any other store and wait for a few minutes. Upon leaving, you’d notice that your horse has despawned but the cougar is still near the stall, albeit now on the ground. You can then call your horse back and find that a cougar is still on its back.
Rinse and repeat, you’ll be finding yourself an easy time getting money where you can get $13.50 for each cougar. You may think that’s not a huge amount of money but in Red Dead Online, that’s quite big. After all, the game isn’t set in the modern age where millions can be obtained.
Pokdepinion: Gotta hand it to them, they always find a way to exploit games. If you’re planning on doing the glitch, well.. be careful. Who knows, you might get banned or something of the likes.
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Square Enix Talks About Future of Final Fantasy; An Evolution is Coming?

Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda shared a bit about the future of Final Fantasy on the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu. The series is expected to evolve further.
Square Enix Talks About Future of Final Fantasy
Yosuke Matsuda, CEO of Square Enix
The Final Fantasy franchise is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, and it certainly evolved a lot since its inception on December 18th 1987. It moved from turns to action, and to single player games, Square Enix added MMORPGs and mobile games.
In the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu, CEO Yosuke Matsuda had a few words to share on the franchise’s future, also thanking the fans.

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I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the fans of the Final Fantasy series. I’m pleased to see that after 30th years, everyone continues to love the franchise.
On behalf of the company, alongside our gratitude towards everyone, we’ll prepare several anniversary events. Since we’ll continue to evolve the series from next year onward, thank you very much for your continued interest in the Final Fantasy franchise.
Brand Manager Shinji Hashimoto
Final Fantasy series Brand Manager Shinji Hashimoto also offered his own thanks as the series is about to move on to its 31st year.
Considering that support for Final Fantasy XIV and XV are still in full swing, with the former probably continuing for several years to come, and the latter having had its content deliveries extended until the end of 2018, it’ll certainly be interesting to see when the series will go when someone will finally utter the number “XVI.”
For now, we have no idea of what kind of “evolution awaits.” Yet, as someone who is old enough to actually have played the first Final Fantasy when it was released in the west in 1990, I can’t wait to see where this road will lead.

Pokdepinion: Well, I certainly hope the future of this beloved RPG series will involve good camera angles #JustSayin.
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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition Review — almost a RTX 3090 for $300 less

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 was a really potent GPU that I believe would have satisfied most gamers with its sheer performance. For those who had a lot of extra money, there was the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090. Then, now we have the new GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, offering some sort of a middle ground for those who want more than the GeForce RTX 3080 but don’t want/need the GeForce RTX 3090. Let’s check out the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition we have here today.
Unboxing

NVIDIA keeps the packaging across their lineup pretty similar, with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition featuring the same diagonal lines cutting across the black box. It is worth mentioning that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition’s box is actually slightly thinner than the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition and GeForce RTX 3070 Founders Edition we have previously reviewed.

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That might be due to how the card is actually laid flat in the box, despite the foam actually sporting an incline. Regardless, the unboxing experience is as grand as you would expect, not unlike a premium smartphone unboxing. Lift the lid and you will get to lay eyes on your $1199 investment.

Aside from the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition itself, there’s the 12-pin power connector as well as some standard documentation. I think NVIDIA can probably consider bundling one of those GTX USB thumb drives with pre-loaded drivers as a novelty addition to the Founders Editions’ package. Not like you should use outdated drivers that come in the box though.
Appearance

NVIDIA reused the cooler from the GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition. This is my first time seeing it, and I must say that I was quite surprised by just how long the card actually is, despite being just a two-fan design. The figure-8 frame encases the fans, and features a fancy beveled edge that really highlights just the amount of detail to attention that NVIDIA put into the design of this card.

The side frame hosts a middle section of sparse fins that also hosts the 12-pin power connector. NVIDIA milled the GeForce RTX emblem into the side, and it is beautifully flush with the metal despite being transparent to let light out.

A lot of images online show off the backside of NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 30 series Founders Edition cards, and for good reason. This is probably the prettiest view of the card, not to mention that it lets you easily identify what card you have in your system. The backplate feels great to touch, and contrast well against the gunmetal frame. Similar beveled edges for the frame are seen here.

A large vent at the rear is expected, as this is the only exit for hot air from the fan on the front of the card. The output options are standard, with three DisplayPort 1.4 and one HDMI 2.1 port.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition does not have RGB, but it does have quite a bit of white lighting to improve the overall aesthetics of the design. Two slivers of light are here on the front pointing towards the center like a cute >-< emoji of sorts.

The side GeForce RTX logo we mentioned earlier is illuminated, along with another sliver of light highlighting the rear fan. NVIDIA does the lighting quite tastefully, and I do appreciate that it is white, instead of green. It makes it much easier to match with any existing builds, although I do think if NVIDIA went the extra distance and made them RGB, it would be even more interesting.
Specifications
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition

GPU
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti (GA102)
Samsung 8N

Clocks
Base Clock: 1365MHz
Boost Clock: 1665MHz

Cores
10240 CUDA Cores
320 Tensor Cores
80 RT Cores

Memory
12GB GDDR6X

Memory Speed
19Gbps

Memory Interface
384-bit

Display outputs
3 x DisplayPort 1.4a
1 x HDMI 2.1

Power connector(s)
12-pin (2 x 8-pin)

Recommend PSU
750W

Interface
PCIe 4.0 x16

Multi-GPU support
No

Dimensions
28.5 x 11.2 x 4 cm
(2-slot)

Test System

CPU
Intel Core i9-11900K @ 5.1GHz

Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Hero

Memory
2 x 8GB T-Force Xtreem ARGB 3600MHz CL14

Storage
250GB Samsung 850 EVO SATA SSD
960GB Kingston UV500 SATA SSD
1TB Kingston KC2500 PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD

Power Supply
Cooler Master V1200 Platinum

Monitor
BenQ EL2870U

GPU Driver
NVIDIA GeForce Graphics Drivers 466.54

Performance
Synthetic

3DMark Time Spy is the only benchmark that puts the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition pretty much exactly in between the GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3090 cards we have tested.

In 3DMark Port Royal, we see that the card is definitely much closer to the GeForce RTX 3090 than the GeForce RTX 3080 cards. Given how it is has just two RT cores less than the GeForce RTX 3090, I guess this result was to be expected.

Superposition also reveals a similar scenario, despite this benchmark purely taking advantage of raster performance. It sure looks like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition is more of a GeForce RTX 3090 Lite than a GeForce RTX 3080 Pro, if we were to go by smartphone naming conventions.
Gaming

Gaming performance at 4K is nothing short of amazing, with above 60FPS seen in most games except for the most taxing titles.

Playing at 1440p we start pushing into the 100+ FPS region. I would consider it probably the sweet spot, but you will definitely need a fast CPU to keep up with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition at 1440p, as we even see our Core i9-11900K at 5.1GHz starting to be the limiting factor here.

1080p is going to be CPU-limited with a GPU of this caliber. Most games are running well above the 144FPS threshold now, so you can consider the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition way overkill for this resolution. If you are still running a 1080p monitor, you should definitely consider upgrading that first before thinking about the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition, unless you are an esports pro.
Thermals

Despite the cooler having to deal with around a slightly beefier GPU than the GeForce RTX 3080, with the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti pulling 345W on average, it seems that it is still able to keep everything well under control. Clock speeds were also well above the rated Boost Clocks, running at an average of 1779MHz.
The highest GPU temperature observed was 78°C, with the average across the 30-minute run of Superposition stress test being 76°C. VRAM temperatures were slightly more worrying with an average of 98°C and peaks of 102°C, although no throttling was observed. The fan is quite audible under load, but it will most probably be nearly silent if put into a well-designed case.
GeForce RTX 3080 Ti vs GeForce RTX 3090?

We did not have a GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition, so our most recent ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 OC Edition will have to suffice as a representative. The latter barely outperforms the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition here, with the exception of Metro Exodus with DLSS and DXR on, where it somehow manages to deliver 30% higher performance. Even so, the average difference across these 10 games is still less than 5% across the board, in favor of the pricier card.

At 1440p we see results that are much more in line with what you would expect. But now somehow Far Cry 5 is the outlier here, with the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 OC Edition being nearly 19% faster in this one title. Overall, the difference has gone down to less than 3% on average.
The results here are very good in favor of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition. Considering that we are comparing against an overclocked, better cooled example of the GeForce RTX 3090, these sub 5% differences should probably mean that we will probably not see any difference at all when compared against the GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition.
Conclusion
While I still think that there is little reason for NVIDIA to release this card, I guess NVIDIA decided that they have to address the gap between the GeForce RTX 3080 and RTX 3090. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition is an excellent card for that, but as there’s only less than 15% difference between a GeForce RTX 3090 and RTX 3080 in the first place, this card further muddies the waters.
The $1199 MSRP puts it closer to the GeForce RTX 3090 than the RTX 3080, but the performance results do more than speak for themselves. With less than 5% difference between an overclocked GeForce RTX 3090 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition we have here, it goes without saying that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition is a much better buy than the $1499 GeForce RTX 3090, if all you are going to do is game.
The GeForce RTX 3090 is intended for more than just gaming with its massive 24GB frame buffer, and I guess NVIDIA wants to keep it that way. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition, with half the VRAM, is meant for gamers, does well in games, and is significantly more affordable while delivering very similar performance across the board. What’s not to like?

NVIDIA has set the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti to start from RM5800 here in Malaysia, so it should apply some pressure on the GeForce RTX 3080 cards that are going for way above that in the market now as well. But of course, given that NVIDIA doesn’t actually sell their Founders Edition cards here in Malaysia, we are still at the mercy of various parties, meaning that we will probably never see the cards at MSRP except for maybe on launch day.

Our thanks to NVIDIA for sending us the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition for review.
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This Year’s Call Of Duty Confirmed To Come With Campaign — Modern Warfare 4 Finally Coming?

Revealed in Activision Blizzard’s earnings report, it has finally been revealed that a new Call of Duty game will be coming out soon this year.
The Activision management gave a little teaser on the game where they have said that it will appeal to both veterans and newcomers.
They continued in saying that it is a “great step forward” for the franchise and mentioned that it is rooted in Call of Duty’s history. This more than likely means that it will be a sequel to an existing sub-brand (Modern Warfare 4 anyone?).

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The game has been confirmed to feature a campaign mode, where the previous Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 surprised everyone by not offering the game mode.
Activision confirms that the new game will have a “huge expansive multiplayer world” and a “fun co-op gameplay”.
Pokdepinion: Whatever Call of Duty game it is, I just hope that they get it right. It’s been awhile since I’ve truly enjoyed a Call of Duty game.
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HUAWEI Y6p With 5000mAh Battery To Arrive At RM559

The folks at HUAWEI Malaysia has announced the company’s latest entry-level smartphone, the HUAWEI Y6p, which features a big 5000mAh battery capacity.
HUAWEI Y6p to arrive in Malaysia
HUAWEI Y6p Malaysia release
With the HUAWEI Y6p, it comes with a 6.3-inch display (720p) and runs on a MediaTek MT6762R chipset. In terms of memory, it comes with 64GB of internal storage that’s paired with 4GB RAM. In addition to that, there’s also the free 15GB cloud storage for 12 months that HUAWEI is giving.
For cameras, it comes with a 13MP main camera, 5MP wide angle lens, and a 2MP lens. On the front there’s a 8MP shooter for your selfies.

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Coming in with three color variants; Emerald Green, Phantom Purple, and Midnight Black, the HUAWEI Y6p will be available at RM559 starting from 16th May 2020.
Besides the announcement of the phone, they’ve also announced the availability of the HUAWEI Y5p too, which is priced at RM359.
Pokdepinion: What do you think of the prices? Will you be getting one? Let us kno win the comments below.
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Apart from the two new foldable smartphones, Samsung also launched the Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Classic, along with the base model Watch4. We got our hands on the former and we will be reviewing the smartwatch but before that, let us give you a taste of it with our first impressions of this new wearable.
Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Classic First Impressions

The Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Classic is one of the two new wearables introduced by the Korean giant recently at the latest Galaxy Unpacked event. For our review unit, it came with a 42mm Ridge Sports Band, which is a fluoroelastomer material that is durable and can withstand sweat, making it ideal for workouts.

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In case you’re wondering, we found the following items inside the box:

Quick start guide
Terms and conditions booklet
Charger
The Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Classic itself

It comes with a 1.4-inch Super AMOLED Display with Gorilla Glass DX. The resolution has seen an improvement over last year’s model as it went from 360 x 360 to 450 x 450. It has retained its IP68 resistance rating, so you can easily use it for workouts or bring it to the pool with you if you wish.
It’s now powered by the Exynos W920, which is notable for being the first 5nm processor to power wearables. It’s slightly stronger than the Exynos 9110 but it’s said to be noticeably more energy-efficient. Memory has also seen an upgrade as the RAM has increase by 500MB while the storage has doubled, effectively putting it at 1.5GB RAM and 16GB storage.

They have amped up on its health features but we will go deeper into that in the actual review. For a clearer look at its specifications and features, you can check it out in the table right below:
Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Classic Specifications

Display
1.4″ 450 x 450 Super AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass DX, Always-on display, 321 ppi

Water resistance
IP68 (50mm water resistant)

CPU
Dual core Samsung Exynos W920 @ 1.18GHz

Memory
1.5GB RAM, 16GB storage

Features

Samsung Pay
MIL-STD-810G compliant
ECG certified
Blood pressure monitor
Compatible with standard 20mm straps
Rotating bezel
Natural language commands and dictation
Bluetooth 5.0
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n dual-band
NFC
GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS

Sensors
Accelerometer Gyroscope Barometer Heart rate

Battery
361 mAh, Qi wireless charging

Dimensions
45.5 45.5 x 11 mm52 g

For now, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 is in the middle of benchmark tests. I’ll be publishing my review of it as soon as I’m done with my testing so stay tuned for that.
Want to check out the Galaxy Z Fold3 instead? Check out our first impressions of it by clicking right here.Spread the PokdeLoveClick to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

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ASUS Zenfone 2 crowned king of fast charging

Nearly half a year in, the ASUS Zenfone 2 is still capable of making waves. Aside from having a price tag disproportionate to the performance it packs, the ASUS Zenfone 2 is still topping the charts in some way. The guys (or gals) at Tom’s Guide got their hands on some of the latest phones and instead of putting them through benchmarks which usually spits up figures irrelevant to the user experience of the phones, they decided to pit them against one another to find the fastest charging phone.

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Now for a quick top up when your battery is dead, the Zenfone 2 gives you the most battery life in 15 minutes. This is very useful for those who just need a short boost before going out.

ASUS didn’t fare so well in the race to 100%, with the Galaxy S6 taking the lead here. It is still ahead of the flagship-killing OnePlus 2 and the world’s top smartphone based on iOS, the iPhone 6.
This test shows that the ASUS Zenfone 2 is the fastest charging phone when you let it take a quick sip of charge just before you leave the house. This is thanks to ASUS’s proprietary Boostmaster charger, which comes with the pricier ZE551ML variants.

Pokdepinion: I guess ASUS Zenfone 2 users can relax and not worry about their phone not having enough juice before going out. A mere 30 minutes is needed to push it up to 53%. However fast charging is but one side of the story. The battery life will determine how often do you need to charge it.
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At the PlayStation 5 Showcase event that was livestreamed on YouTube, Sony Interactive Entertainment has officially announced the retail price and launch date of their next gen console.
PlayStation 5 Price and Launch Date Officially Announced

As announced during the livestream, the standard edition PlayStation 5 will be retailing for USD $499.99 / €499.99 / £449.99 / ¥49,980. As for the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, it will be retailing for USD $399.99 / €399.99 / £359.99 / ¥39,980.

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As for the launch date, it will be officially launched on 12th November 2020 for US, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea. For other countries however, it will be arriving a week later, on 19th November 2020 instead. This includes Malaysia.
Interestingly, there were also updates on the PS Plus subscription program for the PS5. There will be an additional benefit for PlayStation 5 owners as you will get access to a selected number of popular PS4 games available for free digitally as long as you are an active PS Plus member. For the list of PS4 games included, we at least know the following games will be included:
Free PS4 Games for PS5 for PS Plus Members

Bloodborne
Final Fantasy XV
God of War
Monster Hunter World
Fallout 4
Mortal Kombat X
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Ratchet & Clank
Day’s Gone
Until Dawn
Detroit Become Human
Battlefield 1
Infamous: Second Son
Batman: Arkham Knight
The Last Guardian
The Last of Us Remastered
Persona 5
Resident Evil VII

For now, we expect it to be launched in Malaysia / Southeast Asia on 19th November 2020. However, local pricing has yet to be announced. If we convert the existing retail price, the standard PS5 console will be about RM1,950 to RM2,050 whereas the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition will be about RM1,574 to RM1,648. We will report on the official Malaysian price when information becomes available so stay tuned.
Source
Pokdepinion: It’s exactly as I have estimated, and I love it. I feel that the price is competitive enough to go against the Xbox Series X. Now to see how the next gen console wars will turn out.
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Intel places order for 6nm chips from TSMC

Intel has reportedly placed a relatively large order of 180 000 wafers from TSMC, presumably parts for their Ponte Vecchio GPUs. This news is a rather huge step for Intel, as they have always held pride in the ability to produce cutting edge chips themselves. But then again, it is not unexpected, as Intel did reveal the possibility of using third-party chipmakers during their Q2 2020 earning release.
Intel probably chose the 6nm node instead of the more mature 7nm node due to the transistor density. As you might have heard of previously, their 10nm process is still superior to TSMC’s 7nm in terms of transistor density, and the 6nm process node should bring it to parity with Intel’s 10nm.

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It is worth mentioning that Ponte Vecchio is supposed to be a 7nm GPU, but then again it should be alright as the GPU architecture is expected to comprise of chiplets. It is not unheard of to use different manufacturing process to make the different parts of a CPU, so I guess Intel will be doing it with their Ponte Vecchio GPU.
They might also use TSMC’s services for more than just GPUs. According to the rumors, Intel might make their CPUs on TSMC’s upcoming 5nm and 3nm processes as well, which does seem pretty odd. However considering that they are having a lot of trouble with their own production, I won’t be too surprised to see if Intel decides to offload the more affordable SKUs like the Intel Celeron and Pentium product lines to be made by TSMC, instead of hogging up their own production facilities.

The rumor then adds that Intel and AMD will be competing for TSMC’s production capacity next year. This is pretty much a given as AMD will be making their entire lineup of CPUs and GPUs at TSMC. TSMC reportedly will be churning out chips at full capacity, despite initial projections pointing to a slowdown for TSMC with them no longer accepting orders from HUAWEI.
Source
Pokdepinion: Kudos to Intel for being able to swallow their pride to manufacture their chips at TSMC…
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AMD Radeon Navi details leaked by Sapphire — $399 starting price, performance better than the RTX 2060

Sapphire reps has spoken to Chinese media, revealing some interesting stuff about the upcoming AMD Radeon Navi graphics cards. Instead of gunning for NVIDIA’s flagship, AMD will target the mid-range, which is the bulk of the gaming graphics card market. AMD will be training its sights on the GeForce RTX 2070 and GeForce RTX 2060, with two cards priced at $399 (~RM1670) and $499 (~RM2088).
The Navi Pro GPU will be the more affordable of the two, and is slated to offer performance faster than the GeForce RTX 2060, while the Navi XT GPU will take on the GeForce RTX 2070. We are only talking about raster performance though, as Navi is not expected to have any dedicated raytracing hardware on the silicon, unlike NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX lineup.

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Sapphire has also hinted that they would be building a liquid cooled Sapphire Toxic custom design for the upcoming Navi cards. AMD is expected to announce AMD Navi and the new Ryzen 3000 series at Computex 2019, with a launch on 7th July.
Pokdepinion: AMD will be fighting an uphill battle without RT cores while also charging more than the GeForce RTX 2060…
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LG Electronics Unveils Youthful Brand Direction And New Visual Identity

“Life’s Good” gets a refresh in branding identity.

LG Electronics has unveiled a new brand direction and visual identity to emphasize the value of “Life’s Good” with a dynamic, youthful look across all customer touchpoints. The new Brand Communication Guidelines aim to resonate with customers across generations, including Generation Z; reiterating the core values that include ‘Uncompromising Customer Experience,’ ‘Human-centered Innovation,’ and ‘Warmth to Power a Smile.’

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The brand revamp includes a new visual identity, a lively symbol with eight unique motions, and an updated color palette featuring “LG Active Red”. A new typeface for the “Life’s Good” slogan has also been introduced, incorporating shapes inspired by LG products. The updated strategy is set to showcase the Korean electronics giant’s commitment to evolving with generations and enhancing customer experiences worldwide.
The LG logo now incorporates animations to represent the brand’s renewed vision. Image: LG
“Having a strong, consistent brand strategy enables us to better communicate our value proposition and unique identity, which harmonically blends innovation and warmth,” said William Cho, CEO of LG Electronics. “Implementing the new brand strategy, LG aims to become an iconic brand that resonates with consumers transcending generations and locations.”
Pokdepinion: The animation is pretty neat though.
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Apple iPhone 2020 Might Come Without Charger and Earpods

It looks like Apple might be going for the minimalist route with the iPhone 2020 as there is expected to be less items in the box. To be precise, it might just go without a charger and Earpods.
Apple iPhone 2020 With No Charger and Earpods

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According to analyst Ming-chi Kuo, Apple is planning to ditch the charger and Earpods for the iPhone 2020. Even the iPhone SE is expected to have it removed later this year. This is done as part of the company’s efforts to offset the cost increase that comes with upgrading to 5G.
Smaller packaging will be more eco-friendly and reduce shipping costs as more units can be shipped out at once. At the same time, it might just encourage more business as there would inevitably be more sales for chargers and Earpods or even AirPods if this becomes a reality.
At the moment, all iPhones come with Earpods and at least a 5W charger, with the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max getting an 18W charger instead. At the moment, it’s still unclear as to whether this move will affect all iPhone 2020 models as well as existing ones.
In other Apple-related news, the iPads are expected to come with a new 20W fast charger. Kuo mentioned that the 10.8-inch iPad is expected to launch sometime this year, with an 8.5-inch variant coming sometime in early 2021. The 20W fast charger will be bundled together, but can also be purchased separately for iPhone users.
Source
Pokdepinion: Well, if anyone is looking to migrate from Android to iOS, it might just end up costing more money.
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Physical Copies of PS5 Games Will Come in 100GB Blu-Ray BDXL Discs

Physical Copies of PS5 Games Will Come in 100GB Blu-ray BDXL Discs

With the PlayStation 5 release date known, many gamers have started asking more about the upcoming console. One particular topic of interest is the storage medium for physical PS5 games. Now, we know exactly what it would be.
Starting Holiday 2020, physical PS5 games will ship out in 100GB Blu-Ray BDXL discs. Interestingly, the PS4 will have dual-layer 50GB Blu-ray discs at the same time. The reason for this is because Sony plans on supporting the PS4 well into 2022.
The PS5 has backwards compatibility, meaning you can play PS4 games on the new system without any issues. As such, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see games two variants of the same PlayStation game being released in the future.

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The 100GB Blu-ray BDXL discs are utilized to give developers more room for their creations. With that being said, the PS5 will still have gamers install games via an optical 4K UHD drive. The process shouldn’t take long as we have SSD (PCIe 4.0) as a storage device on the PlayStation 5.
With all these details slowly popping up, the PS5 is shaping to be quite a beastly machine. Given that its targeted at enthusiast gamers, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a retail price that’s a little bit on the high side. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Source: TweakTown
Pokdepinion: I remember getting my mind blowned at the sheer capacity of Blu-ray discs. The BDXL discs are on a whole new level.
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Get An OPPO F5 Or OPPO F5 6GB And Get A Free Thermo Worth RM 99!

Tis the season of giving

It’s Christmas time and what better way to celebrate the season of giving than free merch? Playing the role of Santa this joyful holiday season, OPPO is giving out a free Thermo flask worth RM 99 to customers who purchase either the OPPO F5 or the OPPO F5 6GB from OPPO’s official website or from any OPPO concept store across the nation. The Thermo flasks will be available in either a luscious red colour or a sleek black colour. The promotional period will only be from today, 21 December 2017 to 3 January of next year.

The OPPO F5 features a 6-inch, 18:9 ratio display, a 20MP front camera with f/2.0 aperture and comes with the A.I Beauty Recognition technology. For the back camera,it features a 16MP camera with f/1.8 aperture with HDR and is capable of delivering Bokeh shots. Under the hood the OPPO F5 sports a 4GB RAM with 32GB internal memory and is powered by a 3,200 mAh battery. The device runs on Color OS 3.2, which is based from Android 7.1 Nougat.

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OPPO F5
Other than a bigger RAM size and 64GB of internal storage size compared to the regular F5, the OPPO F5 6GB other specifications stays pretty much the same. The OPPO F5 6GB comes with the same stand out features such as the 6 inch,18:9 ratio display and a 20MP front facing snapper with f/2.0 aperture and comes with the A.I Beauty Recognition technology. It also sports a 16MP f/1.8 rear facing camera with a single LED flash and is capable of producing Bokeh shots as well as HDR.
OPPO F5 6GB
The OPPO F5 6GB will run the same Operating System as the regular F5 which is the Color OS 3.2 and is based off of Android Nougat 7.1. Under the hood, the OPPO F5 6GB will sport a Mediatek Helio P23 processor and will be powered by a decently sized 3,200 mAh battery.
The OPPO F5 retails at RM 1,298 while the OPPO F5 6GB retails at RM 1,698.
We hope you all have a Merry Christmas with OPPO and enjoy the complimentary Thermo flasks!
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More Reports Indicate The End of the Samsung Galaxy Note Series

Previously, we reported about a rumour which indicates the end of the Samsung Galaxy Note series of smartphones. The S Pen is expected to be supported in more devices, which the Galaxy Note series redundant to have. Now, more new reports have surfaced to strengthen the credibility that it will be the end of the beloved series.
The End of the Samsung Galaxy Note Series

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As we heard before, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and Z Fold 3 is expected to have S Pen support, with the Samsung Galaxy Note series’ future put into question. Now, we have a report from Korea which further indicates the end for the series.
According to Korean business daily Aju News, Samsung plans on adding the S Pen to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and S21 Ultra. Moreover, they claim that the Z Fold 3 will have a slot for the S Pen, and that it will be launching sometime in June 2021. This would mark the end of the Samsung Galaxy Note series.
Apart from that, they claimed that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 features a second generation ultra-thin glass (UTG) with their own cover glass solution in order to have support for the S Pen. This is particularly important as early foldables use plastic displays, which can get damaged rather easily. It is also said to have an in-display selfie camera, but this could be removed is the performance isn’t up to par.
The Samsung Galaxy Note series was first launched in 2011, popularizing the use of large screen smartphones which helped to coin the term “phablet”. Its heart and soul lies in the S Pen, a stylus which provided an alternative way of interacting with your smartphone in an age where touchscreens no longer needed it.
Source
Pokdepinion: I’m personally hoping that foldables will become noticeably more affordable soon. However, I’m a bigger fan of the Z Flip’s form factor rather than the Z Fold, purely for style.
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This is Why Millions of Facebook / Instagram Posts and Accounts Were Taken Down in 2019

Social media has become an integral part of our daily lives. Not only is it useful to keep in contact with friends and family members, it’s also a good source of information on a variety of topics. Unsurprisingly, there are people taking advantage of the platform to spread some negative vibes and illegal matters.
As part of its transparency program, Facebook recently released the 4th edition of their Community Standards Enforcement Report for this year. According to the report, approximately 75 millions posts and 3.2 billion accounts on Facebook and Instagram have been taken down for violating the rules from April to September 2019.
Facebook also mentioned that it has become easier to track down content that violates the rules on Facebook than Instagram. They’ve even gone on to say that they are able to remove the violating content even before people make reports about them. The exception to that is the Stories content, which disappears automatically after 24 hours.

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With regards to the matter, there is a new page for users to understand how the Community Standards apply to different types of content, and where Facebook draws the line. Interestingly, it said that they won’t delete controversial matters for users to openly debate and discuss.
One of the plans that they are working on is the possibility to encrypt both Facebook and Instagram. However, this would make it more difficult for law enforcement to go step in. For now, it seems like they are still figuring out additional measures so we’ll report more as soon as information becomes available.
Source: Technave
Pokdepinion: Time to be rid of those spam accounts once and for all. Well, it can never completely go away, but a reduction is still a plus.
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Genshin Impact 2.1 Leak Has New Video Showing Off Baal, Kokomi, and Sara

The latest Genshin Impact 2.1 leak sees a brand new video surfacing online, showcasing the Raiden Shogun Baal, Kokomi, and Sara. If you want to see it, read on below.
Genshin Impact 2.1 Leak New Video of Baal, Kokomi, and Sara

What my party will look like after 2.1 pic.twitter.com/uTLAmvDjuj
— Lumie (@lumie_lumie) July 23, 2021

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With update 2.0 already out, people are already scouring online for Genshin Impact 2.1 leaks, with the latest one being a video showcasing the Raiden Shogun Baal, Kokomi, and Sara.
The video comes from Twitter user and notable leaker Lumie, which shows the renders for Baal, Kokomi, and Sara. Here, we get a relatively clear look at their character models, outfits, and more. In other, related news, Genshin Report has recently leaked that there will be a new fishing mechanic coming up as well.
The beta phase for version 2.1 is currently underway, so we expect to learn more of what’s coming in the next update relatively soon. We will report more on this as soon as information becomes available so stay tuned.
Genshin Impact is currently available for free on the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Android, iOS, and PC. A Nintendo Switch port of the game coming in the near future.
Source
Pokdepinion: The hype surrounding the Raiden Shogun is very high. How many of you are saving up for her?
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Get Instant RM400 Rebate When You Purchase A Samsung Galaxy Note9

If you are planning on getting a Samsung Galaxy Note9, well Samsung Malaysia has extended their instant rebate offer that is valid until the 28th of February 2019.

The promo is valid for both 128GB and 512GB variants of the Note9 at all Samsung authorized dealers. It’s worth noting that the rebate of RM400 off the Galaxy Note9 512GB version is not valid for the Lavender Purple color variant.

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Additionally, the offer is under a first-come-first served basis, so you might want to be quick to head down to stores for it.
It will last until the 28th of February 2019 during the operating hours of participating outlets, so be sure to check on that.
To learn more on the Samsung Galaxy Note9, you can check out the link here to read more on our full review on the device.
Pokdepinion: Well it looks like a good deal, but how many of users out there would be interested in the brand’s last year’s flagship model? Their next in-line will probably come in soon enough.
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[Predator League 2019] Dota2 and PUBG Game Rules, Scoring Matrix and Team Members

As we are approaching the first day of the Acer Predator League 2019, the game rules, scoring matrix and competing team members were announced officially. These were presented on stage during the official media Press Conference by Xyclopz who is the official commentator for Predator League 2019.
Rules and Scoring Matrix for Dota2
Dota2 has no strict pre-defined rules, the scoring matrix is rather simple but the play chart is pretty complicated. The format used will be double elimination format for 10 teams which means, some teams would play more than the others depending on the draw system. As a team loses, it will be sent into the lower part of the chart to further compete and will be playing longer.
Rules and Scoring Matrix for PUBG
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) would be having 15 matches altogether. All matches will be running in First Person Perspective (FPP) and Third Person Perspective (TPP) is not allowed altogether. The rounds will be conducted in Erangel and Miramar maps and will see the new point matrix used for grading. The scoring would be as follows:

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First Place (Chicken Dinner) = 10 points
Second Place = 6 points
Third Place = 5 points
For every kill = 1 point

In the case of draw, the following grading will decide the final winner in sequence order:

If one of the team has higher kills in total = Winner.
If it’s a tie, the highest kill points on the last round (15th round) = Winner.
If it’s a tie, the higher ranking in the last round (15th round) = Winner.

Apart from that, motorbikes will be removed from the map due to its explosive nature and will be replaced with other vehicles instead.
To spice things up even more, the grenade range will be intentionally increased too.
Dota2 Line-up (Drawn Randomly)

Round 1
Group 1: GeekFam vs Signify
Group 2: Flash Gaming vs yG
Round 2
Group 3: (Round 1 Group 1 Winner) vs X
Group 4: (Round 1 Group 2 Winner) vs PnX|Indomitus
Group 5: Alpha Red vs BOOM ID
Group 6: LOTAC vs TNC Predator
PUBG Line-up

This will be the seating position of every team that will be competing for the PUBG tournaments.
Team Members

GEEK FAM (Malaysia) – Dota2

Returning from last year’s Asia Pacific Predator League 2018 as winners, Geek Fam is one of the biggest Esports organizations in Malaysia. This year they have a brand new line-up comprised of 2 Malaysians and 3 Filipinos including former TI runner-up KYxY. Two of the members from last year winning team will represent Lotac this year.
Achievements:

ANGGAME China vs SEA #2 – Online Final – 2nd
MPGL Asian Championship: Regular Season – 4th
Malaysia Esports League – 1st
Asia Pacific Predator League 2018 – 1st
ZOTAC Cup Premier: DOTA2 SEA – 1st

LOTAC (Malaysia) – Dota2

Established in September 2018, Lotac is a beast team comprised of well-known veteran players from various notable teams in the SEA scene. The team members of Lotac do not need any introduction as each of them already has an established set of portfolios respectively.
Achievements:

ESL One Katowice 2019 Southeast Asia Qualifier – 2nd
The Chongqing Major Southeast Asia Qualifier – 5th – 6th
Asia Pacific Predator League 2019 Malaysia Qualifier – 1st
King’s Cup 2: Southeast Asia – 2nd
ESL One Hamburg 2018 Southeast Asia Qualifier – 4th
DreamLeague Season 10 Southeast Asia Qualifier – 3rd
The Kuala Lumpur Major Southeast Asia Qualifier – 3rd
The Kuala Lumpur Major Southeast Asia Open Qualifier #1 – 1st

ASBOL (Malaysia) – PUBG

Rising starts of Malaysia, Asbol is a newly-formed gaming team made of a group of friends that on a whim decided to team and join the PUBG Malaysia Predator League Qualifiers. Winning the qualifiers earned them a spot in the Asia Pacific Predator League 2019 this year, being the first Malaysian team to represent PUBG in this championship.
Achievements:

Asia Pacific Predator League 2019 Malaysia Qualifier – 1st

ALPHA RED (Thailand) – Dota2

Achievements:

Dota2 The Open Championship – 1st
E-Warrior – 2nd
Asrock Season2 – 2nd
Asrock Season 3 – 3rd
Predator League Thailand Qualifier 2018 – 1st
E-Sport Pro League – 2nd
WESG Thailand Qualifier – 1st
SEACA – 3rd

SIGNATURE.PUBG (Thailand) – PUBG

Achievements:

Predator League 2019 Thailand Qualifier – 1st
GeForce Cup Pacific – Thailand – 4th

PURPLE MOOD (Thailand) – PUBG

Achievements:

JIB PUBG Thailand Pro League Season 1 – 1st
Predator League 2019 Thailand Qualifier – 2nd
JIB PUBG Southeast Asia Championship 2018 – 2nd
JIB SEAC: Thailand Championship – 2nd

PINTO GAMING (Thailand) – PUBG

Achievements:

Cooler Master Circle of Champions Thailand Qualifier – 5th
GeForce Cup Pacific – Thailand – 3rd
JIB PUBG Thailand Pro League Season 1 – 12th
PUBG Predator League 2019 Thailand Qualifier – 3rd
The International 2018 – 13th – 16th

MITH.PUBG (Thailand) – PUBG

Achievements:

PUBG Thailand Final: Road to G-Star – 1st
Road to StarSeries & i-League Global Invitational – 1st
StarSeries & i-League PUBG – 10th
PUBG Survival Series 2018 Pro Tour SS#1 – 4th
PUBG Thailand Championship 2018 Thailand Qualifier – 1st
PUBG SEA Championship 2018 – 1st
PUBG Global invitational 2018 Berlin (PGU) TPP – 7th

SIGNIFY (India) – Dota2

Achievements:

WESG 2018 South Asia Qualifier – 1st
Asia Pacific Predator League 2019 India Qualifier – 1st
WESG 2018 South Asia Open Qualifier #1 – 1st
ESL India Premiership 2018 Fall – 1st
PVP Esports Championship India Qualifiers – 1st
ESL India Premiership 2018 Summer – 1st
WESG 2017 South Asia & South-East Asia Qualifier – 1st

RAPTORS (India) – PUBG

Achievements:

Cooler Master Circle of Champions 2018
Indian Finals – 1st
Omen by HP 2018 Indian Finals – 3rd
Acer Predator League 2019 Indian Finals – 1st

TNC PREDATOR (Philippines) – Dota2

Achievements:

The International 2016 – 7th – 8th
WESG 2016 – 1st
StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 3 – 3rd – 4th
The International 2017 – 9th – 12th
China Top 2017 – 1st
MDL Macau – 2nd
Dota2 Asia Championships 2018 – 4th
China Dota2 Supermajor – 7th – 8th

ARKANGEL (Philippines) – PUBG

Achievements:

Xyclopz Run n’ Gun Qualifiers – 1st
Auzom Open Series – 3rd
PUBG Online Contender Promotionals – 7th
PGI Philippine National Finals – 1st
PGI South East Asia Championships – 3rd

X (Singapore) – Dota2

Achievements:

2019 Predator League Singapore – 1st

AYSON ESPORTS (Singapore) – PUBG

Achievements:

Predator League Finals Singapore – 1st
Singapore Nvidia GeForce Cup – 4th
OMEN by HP SG Qualifiers – 4th
Geek Events PUBG MY/SG Championship Lan Finals – 8th
ASUS PUBG SG Duo Qualifier 2 – 1st
Cooler Master PUBG Circle of Champions SG Qualifiers – 1st
MET PUBG SG Qualifiers SEA – 3rd

PNX|INDOMITUS (Sri Lanka) – Dota2

Achievements:

Sri Lanka Cyber Games 2017 – 1st
Sri Lanka Cyber Games 2018 – 1st
Sri Lanka Telecom Championship 2018 – 1st

YG (Mongolia) – Dota2

Achievements:

Premier League Mongolia Dota2 – 1st
WESG Mongolia – 2nd

FLASH GAMING (Myanmar) – Dota2
Achievements:

2019 Predator League Myanmar – 1st

BOOM ID (Indonesia) – Dota2

Asia Pacific Predator 2019 Indonesia Qualifier – 1st
Grand Final Asia Pacific Predator League 2018 – 2nd

AEROWOLF.TEAM EIGHT (Indonesia) – PUBG

Achievements:

APAC Predator League 2019 – 1st
GeForce Cup Pacific Indonesia Grand Final – 2nd
SEACA Unipin Qualifier 1 – 1st
FACEIT EU Beta Cup – Grand Finalists

TEAM IMMUNITY (Australia) – PUBG

Achievements:

Throwdown Predator League Qualifier – 1st
PGI Australian Qualifier – 3rd
Ground Zero Season 1 – 1st
Cyber gamer Invite Season 2 – 1st
Esports Underground Invite Season 1 – 1st
Cyber Gamer Invite Season 3 – 2nd

THE ACE GOD [TAG] (Taiwan) – PUBG

Achievements:

2018 Cyber Games Arena – 1st
MPL Season 2 – 20th
Predator League 2019 TW – 1st

GAMEHOME (Vietnam) – PUBG
Achievements:

The international 2016 – 7th – 8th
WESG 2016 – 1st
StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 3 – 3rd – 4th
StarLadder i-League Invitational Season 2 – 2nd
The International 2017 – 9th – 12th
China Top 2017 – 1st
MOL Macau – 2nd
Dota2 Asia Championships 2018 – 4th
China Dota2 Supermajor – 7th – 8th
The International 2018 – 13th – 16th

GSSM (Hong Kong) – PUBG

Achievements:

Predator Cup Hong Kong Station

MP5 (Macau) – PUBG

Achievements:

2019 Predator League Macau

SUNSISTER SUICIDERS (Japan) – PUBG

Achievements:

Predator League Japan – 1st
Hong Kong PUBG World Invitational 2018 – 13th
PGL PUBG Spring Invitational – 12th
Intel Extreme Masters 2018 – 16th
PUBG ASIA Invitational at G-Star 2017 – 5th

AFREECAFREECS FATAL (South Korea) – PUBG
Achievements:

PUBG PKL #2 Finals – 6th

Pokdepinion: Here’s wishing good luck to every team!
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You Can Now Translate More Than 80 Languages On Google Translate App

Let’s face it, most of us have used Google Translate in some parts of our lives. Four years ago saw Google releasing Google Translate into the form of an app for your smartphone. Since then, it has bloomed and now comes ready with a total of 88 languages available for translation.
The app comes in handy if you are overseas travelling, where you can simply take your smartphone and use your phone’s camera to focus on foreign text.
Previously you were only able to translate between English and other languages, but now you can translate into any of the 100+ languages supported on Google Translate. This means that you can translate from Arabic to French, or even Japanese to Chinese.

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Additionally, the Neural Machine Translation (NMT) technology is built into the instant camera translation. With it, it produces more accurate and natural translations, which Google has said can reduce errors by 55%-85%, in certain language pairs.
The Google Translate app is available for download on both the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store.
Pokdepinion: If you’re always travelling around the world, and you need help understanding the signs around you, this might come in handy.
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Gmail App Will Now Get AI-Powered Search Feature

Google is looking at ways to drop AI wherever possible – and Gmail just got a new feature, while small, could be proven quite useful in actual use cases. The feature in question is simply named “Top results” when you search for particular emails, except it is powered by AI. It will be available to all Google Workspace users as well as anyone with personal Google accounts.
Previously, searching through email is simply done through a chronological order, where the newest emails will be ranked on top. The new AI-assisted search will occupy the top section when you search, and takes into account on things such as most recent emails and “other relevant factors” to provide results.

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The company says this is a “highly requested feature”, though take this with some grain of salt given Google has been in a bit of panic mode when Microsoft and OpenAI beat them to the punch some months ago. This feature is only limited to mobile clients only – so if you use PC to check mails, there should be no changes. Mobile users meanwhile should see the updated rolled out by now or in the very near future (rollout may take up to 15 days, starting from June 2).
Source
Pokdepinion: Frankly speaking, the Gmail app still isn’t as full fledged as desktop site gets – but we’ll see if this brings any practical benefits.
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Upcoming PUBG Mobile Update Will Bring New Darkest Night Zombie Mode

Are you a fan of the Zombie mode in PUBG Mobile? Well Tencent has revealed that they are adding the Darkest Night zombie mode as well as new weapons and monsters for the Survive Till Dawn zombie mode.
With the new update v0.12.0, it will include several changelogs such as:

EvoGround: All new game modes will be under this category
Darkest Night: Stay alive for one night while fighting zombies
Survive Till Dawn: New weapons, monsters and systems. The difficulty has also been tuned
Player can now spectate matches of their friends, crew, and clan members and adjust spectator mode privacy settings
Portable closets can now be swapped during combat
Introduced spring theme and a treasure event

A maintenance has been scheduled to roll out soon and the new update is said to be available tomorrow, April 17th. Aside from that, players who pudate the game before the 23rd of April will get their hands on Outfit Box III and 1888BP as a reward.

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Pokdepinion: To be honest, it’s been awhile since I’ve played PUBG Mobile. How’s the previous zombie mode? Is it any good?
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Fast charging is old, enter fast wireless charging.

The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), the group behind the Qi wireless charging standard, has announced a new version of the specification that promises faster and more powerful charging in future Qi-compatible devices.
The main new addition to this specification is the ability to deliver 15 watts of power through a Qi charger’s inductive coils. The WPC claim this will increase the rate at which devices can be charged wirelessly, and while they aren’t talking specifics about charging time, the group do compare this new standard to fast wired charging that provides 60 percent charge in 30 minutes.
Like with most updated specifications of this kind, it’s not forwards compatible, meaning you won’t be able to quickly charge your existing Qi-compatible devices by purchasing a new fast charging mat. However, it’s expected that a range of upcoming smartphones, charging mats and other devices will integrate the faster Qi standard soon, and all will be backwards compatible with older Qi products.

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Unfortunately, the WPC isn’t talking specifics about when we’ll see new devices hit the market with support for fast Qi wireless charging. This sort of technology was first shown off by Freescale Semiconductor late last year, so hopefully devices integrating this new Qi tech will hit the market towards the end of 2015. Qi charging is but one of the few wireless charging standards, but by far the most popular with 205 members on board.

SOURCE: Techspot

Pokdepinion: I am not a huge fan of wireless charging as I still fail to see how much harder it is to connect a MicroUSB cable to your phone compared to putting it on a charging plate. And since I usually need to use my phone even when it’s charging, that would mean intermittent charging for my phone. Coupled with the slower speeds, I just can’t find a solid reason to use it. Maybe with the increased speeds in future device, I may be swayed. That is also if a wireless charger is bundled for free. If not, I would just be old fashioned and plug my phone in to charge.
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More Disney+ Hotstar Malaysia Content Revealed

Disney+ Hotstar is coming to our shores very soon to the excitement of many Malaysians. The much-anticipated streaming service will feature blockbuster Hollywood films and award-winning programming from Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, National Geographic, FX, 20th Century Studios, and others, as well as exclusive premieres and blockbusters from Malaysian studios.
Disney+ Hotstar set to include content from Hollywood as well as Malaysia
Disney+ Hotstar is a commercial-free streaming service that offers a variety of original feature-length films, live-action and animated series, short-form content, and documentaries on compatible internet-connected devices, including series like The Mandalorian, WandaVision, and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, as well as films like Avengers: Endgame, Aladdin, and Frozen 2. Furthermore, J2: J Retribusi, Zombitopia, Ada Hantu, Ejen Ali, Upin & Ipin, and other award-winning Malaysian movie releases and local hits will also be available.
Skop Productions, Revolution Media Films, Primeworks Companies, WAU Animation, Act 2 Pictures, Les’ Copaque Production, Red Films, and other notable Malaysian studios have signed multi-year deals with Disney+ Hotstar to show their support for the local film community.

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Some of Malaysia’s most anticipated blockbusters will be unique to Disney+ Hotstar, bypassing theatres and debuting directly on the streaming service:

J2: J Retribusi (Starring Zul Ariffin, Ashraf Sinclair and Amelia Henderson)
Zombitopia (Starring Shaheizy Sam, Bront Palarae and Sharifah Amani) – Starts streaming 2 July
Ada Hantu (Starring Hairul Azreen) – Starts streaming 13 August

Top-rated local Primetime drama series will debut first on Disney+ Hotstar at 7AM on the same day as the linear airing, up to 15 hours before it airs anyplace else:

Single Terlalu Lama (Starring Ungku Ismail Aziz and Julia Farhana Marin)
Kekasih Hati Mr. Bodyguard (Starring Redza Rosli and Sharifah Rose)

These drama series will be accessible exclusively on Disney+ Hotstar for viewers who prefer to watch everything at once:

Semanis Senyumanmu (Starring Aiman Hakim Ridza and Daiyan Trisha)
Wifi Sebelah Rumah (Starring Zul Ariffin and Ruhainies) – Starts streaming 25 June

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In addition to this exciting lineup of content, users will have access to well-known Malaysian blockbusters such as:

J Revolusi
Tombiruo
KL Special Force
Munafik
Istanbul Aku Datang!
Ejen Ali The Movie
Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal (starts streaming mid-June)
The Rock movies (Rock, Rock Oo!, Rock Bro!, and Rock 4: Rockers Never Dai)
Talentime
Mukhsin
The Kid From The Big Apple 2
Vedigundu Pasangge
Evolusi KL Drift 1 & 2
KL Gangster 1 & 2
Gol & Gincu 1 & 2
Guang
Redha
Roh

Below are some of the other content that will be available in Disney+ Hotstar:

Marvel Super Heroes: Marvel Studios’ Original Series WandaVision (all episodes), The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (all episodes), Loki (starts streaming 9 June), Marvel Studios: Assembled and Marvel Studios: Legends, as well as blockbuster films including Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Deadpool and more. Also available are television series such as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., M.O.D.O.K., Runaways and Cloak and Dagger
Disney Favourites: Includes Original Animation and Live-Action Remakes such as The Lion King, Mulan, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo, Frozen 1 and 2 and the Pirates of the
Caribbean series
Disney+ Originals: Exclusive titles only available on Disney+ Hotstar, such as The Mandalorian, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, folklore: the long pond studio sessions, The Right Stuff, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Big Shot, Flora & Ulysses, The One and Only Ivan, Muppets Now, Lady and the Tramp and Godmothered
All 12 Star Wars movies: Include Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Powerful storytelling from Pixar Animation Studios: Upcoming movie Disney & Pixar’s Luca will be released straight to Disney+ Hotstar on 18 June. Heartwarming and award-winning films like Soul, Toy Story 4, Coco, The Incredibles 2, Finding Dory, shorts such as 22 vs. Earth, Burrow, Bao and Pixar Popcorn as well as Inside Pixar, an inside look into the people, artistry and culture of Pixar Animation Studios
Informational content from National Geographic: Explore the world with Secret of the Whales, Own the Room, Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted, Free Solo, The Right Stuff, The World According to Jeff Goldblum, Genius and Wicked Tuna
Hours of compelling family-friendly entertainment: This includes the likes of hit series such as Ejen Ali, Alif & Sofia (starts streaming mid-July), Wizards of Warna Walk, Mickey and the Roadster Racers, over 10 seasons of Upin & Ipin for kids and families, and so much more
General entertainment films and series: Nomadland, Grey’s Anatomy, 9-1-1, Criminal Minds, Home Alone franchise, The Walking Dead, 24, Aliens franchise, Avatar, Planet of the Apes franchise, Family Guy, Fresh off the Boat, Ford V Ferrari, Homeland, How I Met Your Mother, Jojo Rabbit, Modern Family, The Simpsons, The X-Files franchise, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and more
Popular Chinese movies and series: The Silent Forest, Ip Man 4: The Finale, Agent Mr. Chan, Infernal Affairs, Line Walker 2, The Storm Riders, Number 1 (starts streaming mid-June),
The Deer and the Cauldron, The Legend of Hao Lan, Nothing Gold Can Stay and Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace
Exclusive never-seen-before Hindi and Tamil movies and series by Hotstar: Dil Bechara, Lootcase, Khuda Hafiz, Teddy (starts streaming mid-June), Big Bull (starts streaming end-June), The Legend of Hanuman (starts streaming mid-July), Live Telecast and Triples
Tamil blockbusters and Star Vijay series: Vishwaroopam 1 and 2, Maari, Thuppakki, Nanban, Kaaka Muttai, Pandian Stores, Bharathi Kannamma, Raja Rani, Super Singer 8 and Naam Iruvar Namakku Iruvar

Disney+ Hotstar is set to launch on June 1 this year. Users can subscribe directly for RM54.90 for three months via the Disney+ Hotstar website or the Disney+ Hotstar app on Android and iOS devices. Alternatively, through a special package for Astro Movies Pack customers, users can get access to Disney+ Hotstar’s extensive collection of content.
For more information, do head over to the official Disney+ Hotstar website here.
Pokdepinion: I am extremely pumped up for next week! Can’t wait to binge on all the Star Wars and Marvel movies!
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Sony WF-XB700 Review – Extra But Not Overwhelming Bass

Unboxing the Sony WF-XB700
Sony WF-XB700 Review – Box

Inside the box of the Sony WF-XB700, you can find the following items:
Sony WF-XB700 Review – Box content
Reference guideUser guideSpare ear tipsUSB-C cableCharging caseThe Sony WF-XB700 earbuds themselves
Appearance
Sony WF-XB700 Review – Earbuds
Let’s take a look at the earbuds first. On the back, you can see that it has a textured surface with the Sony logo on it. As you move around, you will find the microphone hole and a button which is used for specific functions like answering calls and changing songs.
Sony WF-XB700 Review – Ear tips
Moving to the front, you can see the ear tips protruding, L and R symbols to denote which side the earbud belongs to, and the wireless charging pin above it. As far as size is concerned, the earbuds themselves are a little on the big side, but it’s not a big deal.

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Sony WF-XB700 Review – Charging case
As for the charging case, it has a textured finish in black, similar to the rear of the earbuds, with the Sony logo on it. In case you were wondering, the charging port can be found in the rear, and it’s USB Type-C. On the bottom, you can find some basic product details.
Sony WF-XB700 Review – Charging case opened
Open up the charging case and you have slots to place and charge the earbuds, and yes, it’s magnetic. You also have L and R symbols so you know which side the earbuds belong to. In between the symbols, you have an LED light so you’ll know if it’s charging or not.
Overall, the Sony WF–XB700 is simple in design and a little large compared to most TWS earbuds out there. This isn’t much of a surprise given the price point, but it doesn’t look bad at least. After all, the most important thing is sound quality, which we’ll get into in the User Experience section.
Specifications
Drivers12mm Neodymium DriversFrequency Response20Hz – 20,000Hz (44.1kHz Sampling)Headphone TypeClosed, dynamicConnectorWiredUSB-CWirelessBluetooth 5.0 with A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSPWireless Range10mNoise-cancellingNoBatteryEarphonesUp to 9 HoursCharging CaseUp to 18 Hours / 2 x Full ChargeWeightEarphones8g x 2Charging Case46gColourBlack and BlueIngress ProtectionIPX4
User Experience
Pairing
Sony WF-XB700 Review – Earbuds in charging case
Pairing the Sony WF-XB700 to your smartphone is very easy. All you have to do is take it out of the charging case, activate Bluetooth on your smartphone, find the device, and connect to it. It’s a simple process that shouldn’t cause trouble for anyone. On Bluetooth-compatible Windows 10 devices, the process is similar.
One thing that’s worth noting is that unlike the Sony WF-1000XM3, this one doesn’t work with Sony’s own app. Try as you might, it simply won’t detect. This means that customizations are out of the question unless you use a 3rd party app. It isn’t a big loss however since it doesn’t have Active Noise Cancellation.
Sound
Sony WF-XB700 Review
When it comes to sound quality, the Sony WF-XB700 is surprisingly good. Given the EXTRA BASS moniker, I expected it to be overwhelming but to my surprise, it’s pretty balanced for a product in this lineup. Don’t get me wrong, the bass is still pretty strong, but I’ve experienced punchier bass in Sony’s other EXTRA BASS gears. It does mean that it doesn’t drown out the mids and highs, with highs being rather decent.
One thing that’s worth noting is that the Sony WF-XB700 lacks the high quality audio codecs. It doesn’t have aptX, aptX HD, and LDAC. It only has SBC and AAC. It’s not bad still but if you’re gunning for high quality sound or accurate sound, this might not be the one for you.
Using the Sony WF-XB700 for voice calls have been pretty good but it could be better. On my end, I can hear the other person perfectly find but for the other person, my voice seems to be a little muffled and soft. The microphone is definitely one thing Sony can further improve upon.
If you wanna compare it to the Sony WF-1000XM3, click right here.
Comfort
Sony WF-XB700 Review – Wearing the earbuds
On the subject of comfort, this one can really differ from person to person. Given the size of the earbuds, I can feel it when I turn my head left or right. After a while, I did get use to it so I’m fine with it, so it’s a matter of whether you’re willing to get spend time and get used to it. It’s a similar situation with the WF-1000XM3.
As far as wearing them is concerned, I had a bit of trouble at first as it seemed to be getting loose after a bit of time. This one was no longer an issue after I changed ear tips and also found out I put the earbuds on upside down. Something to keep in mind if you run into similar issues.
You can wear this for workouts / gym sessions if you wish as it has IPX4 protection. This means it’s water and splash resistant, but not dust and debris resistant. Even if you sweat buckets, it should be fine as long as you don’t do deep water activities while wearing them.
Sony WF-XB700 Review – Physical button
Unlike the WF-1000XM3, this one doesn’t have touch controls. Instead, the Sony WF-XB700 has physical buttons in the form of two small buttons; one on each side. One thing I like about physical buttons is that they’re reliable. You have full control with the earbuds so you don’t need to reach for your smartphone. Here’s what the buttons do:
Left Earbud
Press once = increase volumePress once and hold = reduce volume
Right Earbud
Press once = play / pause or answer / end callsPress once and hold = voice assistantPress twice = skip tracks forwardPress three times = skip tracks backward
Battery Life
Sony WF-XB700 Review – Charging case
Sony claims that the Sony WF-XB700 can last up to 9 hours per full charge for music playback. From my own experience, I got about 8 hours and 20 minutes-ish, which is close enough. This is pretty great for me. The charging case itself can fully charge it twice, which is a bit lacking for me. I expected it to at least hold three full charges.
Sony WF-XB700 Verdict
Sony WF-XB700 Review
The Sony WF-XB700 is a pretty good pair of TWS earbuds. It’s definitely not the best but it does have its strengths. It has good battery life, it sounds pretty good, the controls are reliable, it’s bassy but not too overwhelming, and it’s easy to bring around.
However, it doesn’t have any form of noise cancelling, the build quality of the charging case can be improved, charging case battery life could be better, it lacks support for high quality audio codecs, the earbuds are a little big, and it lacks support with the Sony app. If you can look past that, this is a pretty good buy for RM549.
With that, I award the Sony WF-XB700 with our Silver Pokdeward.

Big thanks to Sony Malaysia for giving us this earbuds for the purposes of this review.
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Blizzard Entertainment Reveals New Mobile Action Strategy Game

Blizzard’s Warcraft Arclight Rumble Coming This Year 2022

Warcraft Arclight Rumble, a mobile action strategy game, is coming later this year to Android and iOS devices in selected regions, as announced by Blizzard. The game is based on the popular Warcraft universe that encourages players to construct armies with their favourite Warcraft heroes and villains and fight in various challenges that will test their tactical skills.
Players will be able to collect over 60 characters from the Warcraft universe and test their armies by playing through the single-player campaign with over 70 missions, coop missions with friends, taking on Dungeons, and fighting with other players in the PvP mode.

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Players will engage in tough cooperative activities such as Raids and they will be able to join Guilds which allows the players to communicate with their guildmates, organize their missions and work together in collecting prizes.
Players will be able to earn in-game cash to add to and level up their collections by playing the game or by purchasing items from the in-game shop. More information about the in-game shop, including the price and inventory, will be provided at a later date.
For more information about Warcraft Arclight Rumble, visit their official website by clicking the link here.
Pokdepinion: The game looks interesting and the art style makes the Warcraft characters look cute and unique.
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Malaysian ATM Cards Now Usable In Singapore Stores

Let’s face it, we have troubles converting currency when we travel outside the country (well, maybe that’s just me) but now it seems that it’s more convenient in Singapore as Malaysia’s Paynet and NETS has announced that they are now accepting each other’s card.
For NETS ATM cards, Singaporeans can use it across 7400 stores in Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Melaka that accepts PayNet.
On the other hand, Malaysians will be able to use their MyDebit cards to 500 stores in Singapore.

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Paynet’s CEO Peter Schiesser has said that the payment providers will not charge any foreign exchange fees. He says “To be able to freely use MyDebit ATMs not only provides the convenience (to Malaysian tourists in Singapore) byt also benefits businesses in Singapore which translate into higher cashless cross-border transactions”.
In the future, both NETS and PayNet aims to provide cross-border instant fund transfer as well as QR payments for more convenience.
Pokdepinion: Well this makes my next trip to Singapore more of a breeze. Less hassle to think about exchanging my money. Let’s just hope that the shops that’s participating are ones that I would go to.
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Rest in peace Windows 7, I was told you were the best

Windows 7’s mainstream support ended some five years back, but Microsoft was still providing support in the form of security patches and bug fixes. That was part of the “extended support” phase which lasted from 13th January 2015 until 14th January 2020. But after today, Windows 7 will officially be cut off from all support.
That means you won’t be getting any further updates from Microsoft, be it to patch bugs or security flaws, leaving you vulnerable to any newfound vulnerabilities in Windows. There will also be no technical support for any issues you face with Windows 7.
Many PC users are still stuck on Windows 7, some of them on their own volition due to the deep-rooted telemetry built into Windows 10.

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In any case, you can continue using Windows 7, but you are on your own. With that said, I do believe anyone who’s still holding out on Windows 7 have their reasons and would probably know their way around the system.

Considering that Intel Kaby Lake and AMD Ryzen processors do not have official support on Windows 7, anyone using a recent system should be running a more recent OS already. Are you holding out on Windows 7?
Pokdepinion: Goodbye Windows Aero. You were pretty cool back then.
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