HUAWEI Quietly Launches A New HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro 4G With HarmonyOS 2.0

It seems that HUAWEI has just dropped a non-5G variant of their Mate 40 Pro flagship smartphone. According to serial leaker, Digital Chat Station, the new HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro 4G version seems to feature pretty all of the same specs as the 5G counterpart as well as comes with HarmonyOS 2.0 out of the box. This effectively makes the HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro 4G the first HUAWEI phone to come with HarmonyOS pre-installed.

Here comes the HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro 4G with HarmonyOS 2.0

The system is replaced with the self-developed HarmonyOS 2.0.
It should be Huawei’s first mobile phone with Hongmeng OS pre-installed. Suddenly I feel that the Mate40 Pro 5G and Mate X2 5G in my hand are not fragrant. pic.twitter.com/nPlZkv2Gpx
— Digital Chat Station (@chat_station) April 26, 2021

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As mentioned before, the new HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro 4G comes with the same features and specs as the previously launched HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro minus the 5G connectivity, despite touting the same Kirin 9000 chipset. Other specifications found on the HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro 4G include a 6.5-inch OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate, the aforementioned Kirin 9000 SoC, 8GB RAM, 256GB UFS 3.1 storage, and a 4,400mAh battery and supports HUAWEI’s SuperCharge technology, 66W wired charging and 50W wireless charging.

As for the camera, it comes equipped with a triple camera setup which includes a 50MP wide-angle Ultra Vision Camera, a 20MP ultra-wide Cine Camera, and a 12MP Telephoto Camera with OIS. There is also a dual selfie camera nestled in the punch hole on the top left of the display that includes a 13MP main lens and a 3D Depth Sensing Camera. The HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro is now available in Malaysia for RM4,299.
There is no news yet if the 4G variant will be making its way to our shores. Until then, stay tuned to us here at Pokde.net.
You can also check out our unboxing of the original HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro down below.

Pokdepinion: If the HUAWEI Mate 40 4G comes to Malaysia with a significant price cut from the original, I can definitely see it selling like hotcakes.
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Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection Arrives on PC Starting Oct 19

Starting October 19, the award-winning Uncharted series will release Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection to PC gamers in Steam and Epic Games Store. PC gamers will be able to experience, for the first time ever, Nathan Drake and Chloe Frazer’s globetrotting adventures through the remastered, PC-optimized, full-length, single-player campaign featured in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.
This version of Legacy of Thieves Collection is optimized for PC with dedicated quality-of-life improvements such as remastered UI, scale sliders, GPU and VRAM detection, variable load speed and more.

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Recommended PC specifications are as follows:

Minimum
Recommended
Performance
Ultra

Performance Target
30 FPS @ 720p
Medium Settings
30 FPS @ 1080p
High Settings
60 FPS @ 1440p
High Settings
60 FPS @  4K
Ultra Settings

CPU
Intel Core i5-4330
AMD Ryzen 3 1200
Intel Core i7-4770
AMD Ryzen 5 1500X
Intel Core i7-7700K
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
Intel Core i9-9900K
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X

GPU
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (4 GB)
AMD Radeon R9 290X (4 GB)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB)
AMD Radeon RX 570 (4 GB)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (8 GB)
AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (8 GB)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (10 GB)
AMD Radeon RX 6800 (16 GB)

RAM
8 GB (16 GB Recommended)
16 GB
16 GB
16 GB

OS
Windows 10 64-bit
Windows 10 64-bit
Windows 10 64-bit
Windows 10 64-bit

Storage
126 GB HDD (SSD Recommended)
126 GB SSD
126 GB SSD
126 GB SSD

Pre-purchase is available on Steam and Epic Games Store at RM209.
Pokdepinion: Another PS Exclusive landed on PCs – expect more PS Exclusives to follow in the future.
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Lineage2 Revolution – Silverlight Mercenary Event

Netmarble Games Corp, one of the fastest growing mobile game company in Asia, announced that it’s mobile MMORPG Lineage2 Revolution started a Silverlight Mercenary sign-up event. prior to its game update this 27 September 2017.
The game will receive game content updates on the date itself, which includes a new fortress siege. The Silverlight Mercenary sign-up event will be offered giveaways until September 27, when the new update kicks in.
To join the giveaway, players will have to go the event page, which you can do so by clicking here , and leave their SMS on the page itself. Bonuses include a benefit package worth USD 130, made up of eight items, includes Grade R Accessory Selection Box, 1,000 red diamonds, and an S grade Pure White Varnish Selection Box.

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The details of the upcoming update and the new fortress siege will be revealed at a later date, but players who took part in the event with their SMS will be notified first.
In addition, to celebrate 100 days since the launch of the game, players will receive benefits collect and match letters into words between September 18 till September 26. During this time, players can collect letter ‘1’, ‘0’, ‘D’, ‘A’, and ‘Y’ that forms “100 Day”. If they finish the task, the Blessed Scroll Bundle for Enhancement will be rewarded to them. Besides that, Five Maphyr’s protection fragments and ten red diamonds will be given when making up the word ‘100’ and ‘day’.
The numbers can be found in elite dungeon monsters, while the alphabets are found in Gludio and Giran regions. A special sparkling ‘0’ can be found on all hunting spots, and using it in inventory will give random adena boxes.
Contents in the game will get boosted until the next update. The forging fee will be cut down to 30% while players will get an extra chance to enter the equipment dungeon, adena dungeon, EXP dungeon and summoning stone dungeon each day.
Also introduced is a special package from September 18 to 26 September, which consists of 500 red diamonds, 100,000 adenas, and adena random box. Players can purchase the package only once per character.
Pokdepinion: That sure is a lot of new things prior to the upcoming update.

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ASUS ExpertBook B9400 Review – Featherweight Champion

Unboxing the ASUS ExpertBook B9400
ASUS ExpertBook B9400 Review – Box

The ASUS ExpertBook B9400 came in a standard brown cardboard box with the brand’s logo in the center. We’re not sure if this was done intentionally for recyclability or not but it is something. Inside the box, you will find the following items:
ASUS ExpertBook B9400 Review – Box content

Power cable
65W Charging brick
MicroHDMI to RJ45 LAN adapter
User guide
Quick start guide
The ASUS ExpertBook B9400 laptop itself

Specifications

CPU
Intel Core i7-1255U @ 1.7GHz (up to 4.7 GHz Boost), 12M, 10C/12T, Intel 7 (10nm), 15W TDP

RAM
32GB LPDDR5 5200MHz

GPU
Intel Iris Xe Graphics

Storage
1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD (WD PC SN735)

2 x M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0×4

Software
Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
MyASUS

Connectivity
Wireless
Wi-Fi 6E (2.4GHz and 5GHz)
Bluetooth 5.2
Wired
2 x Thunderbolt 4
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
1 x HDMI 2.0b
1 x microHDMI (RJ45 LAN)
1 x 3.5mm combo audio jack

Display
14″ Full HD (1920 x 1080) 60Hz Anti-glare display (16:9), 400 nits, 94% screen-to-body ratio

Audio
Dolby Atmos
Smart Amp Technology
Built-in speaker
Built-in array microphone
harman/kardon (Premium)
with Cortana support

Power
65W power adapter (USB-C)
66 WHr Li-ion battery

Dimensions
320 x 203 x 14.9 mm

Weight
1.01 kg

Performance
ASUS ExpertBook B9400 Review – CrystalDiskMark
Starting off our benchmark suite with CrystalDiskMark, the ASUS ExpertBook B9400 uses a 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD that is decent at best. We’ve definitely seen much better storage devices around but realistically speaking, this is more than enough for most people as it still gives you very quick boot ups and load times.

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ASUS ExpertBook B9400 Review – Cinebench R20
Moving on to Cinebench R20, the ASUS ExpertBook B9400 has decent figures, nothing mindblowing here. I find it interesting how its Intel Core i7-1255U lost to an i5-1235U in multi-core but not single core. Some optimizations are definitely due here for better performance, though the RAM used here is already excellent.
ASUS ExpertBook B9400 Review – Unigine SuperPosition
Then on Unigine SuperPosition in its 4K Optimized test, it managed to get a score 1,298. This is to be expected as running anything at 4K resolution will be very resource-intensive, and having a dGPU will help immensely.
ASUS ExpertBook B9400 Review – 3DMark Time Spy
A similar pattern can be seen in 3DMark Time Spy, where it managed to get a score 1,584. Generally, it’s on the low side but still pretty good for a laptop that’s using an iGPU. The Intel Iris Xe is working its magic, that’s for sure.
ASUS ExpertBook B9400 Review – PCMark 10
Lastly on PCMark 10, the ASUS ExpertBook B9400 has a great overall showing, with its biggest weakness being digital content creation. For a machine to be better in that area, it will need a stronger GPU. As for web browsing, office work, and similar tasks, it’s more than capable.
ASUS ExpertBook B9400 Review – Battery endurance test
In case you’re wondering about the battery life, this is the one area that the ASUS ExpertBook B9400 blew all expectations. It managed to get the 2nd highest time in PCMark’s Modern Office Endurance test, lasting 15 hours 13 minutes (913 minutes) before it died. I have an odd feeling the CPU is running at a lower power than usual by default to be able to last this long.
Want to compare it to another business laptop? Check out our review of the ASUS ExpertBook B2 by clicking right here.
The Good
ASUS ExpertBook B9400 Review – Ultrathin
There are a good number of things to say about the new ASUS ExpertBook B9400. For starters, you get a featherweight ultraportable productivity laptop weighing in just over 1kg and is 14.9mm thin. Furthermore, it manages to do it without sacrificing its build quality as it has an MIL-STD 810H military grade durability. My only gripe with it is that the laptop itself looks rather bland.
ASUS ExpertBook B9400 Review – ASUS NumberPad
While there’s nothing much I would say about the keyboard since it feels practically the same as every other laptop, the addition of the ASUS NumberPad in the mousepad is certainly a great touch. This way, you can still have a numberpad without having the main part of the keyboard cramped for space, and since most people don’t use the trackpad unless they didn’t bring a mouse, it will be used a lot more than your standard one.
ASUS ExpertBook B9400 Review – microHDMI to RJ45
Apart from that, you do get a good array of ports here, which includes two full-fledged Thunderbolt 4 ports, a full-sized HDMI 2.0 port, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, and a microHDMI port specifically to use a LAN cable for a more stable connection. Since you have two Thunderbolt 4 ports, you can use one for charging and the other to connect to an array of accessories, from USB hubs to an external monitor.
If the storage isn’t enough for you and you didn’t get the 2TB option from the start, you can expand it further as the ASUS ExpertBook B9400 has two M.2 PCIe slots. Not only does this mean you can upgrade to have more space, you can easily have a RAID 0 setup for much speedier file transfers among other things.
ASUS ExpertBook B9400 Review – Fingerprint scanner
Lastly, the host of security features that come with it not only helps keep your data more secure, but it also adds convenience to the fray. For instance, the Proximity Sensor can detect if there is a user in front of the laptop, and it will either lock it down or turn off the display when it doesn’t detect anyone. This, together with IR face recognition, will prevent others from using it without authorization while also save battery life since it’s not in use.
Other than that, you have the fingerprint scanner which makes logging in convenient while keeping the laptop secure, a webcam shield to prevent spying activities, and TPM 2.0 for easier deployment and allows for IT management even remotely. If you opted for this with the NFC chip, you can start using it even faster via NFC login.
The Bad
ASUS ExpertBook B9400 Review – Display
As good as the ASUS ExpertBook B9400 is, it does have its share of drawbacks. For starters, the lack of touchscreen is a shame here given its portability and capabilities. It’s not about having something that allows for digital drawing but rather, the ability to interact by touchscreen would further add to its versatility and makes it more viable for long-term use. The latter part is especially important as most businesses wouldn’t want to upgrade too often due to costs.
ASUS ExpertBook B9400 Review – No card reader here
While I do still believe that it has a good array of ports, the lack of any kind of SD card reader hurts its productivity potential a bit. Whether its for pictures or other kinds of private data, having another means of transferring it would have been a nice touch. However, the lack of it isn’t a dealbreaker as you can always for a USB card reader.
Lastly, the fact that the ASUS ExpertBook B9400 uses RAM that has been soldered to the motherboard means that you lose some upgrade potential. This means that you should go for the highest RAM configuration as you can right from the start or risk having issues somewhere down the road.
ASUS ExpertBook B9400 Verdict
ASUS ExpertBook B9400 Review
The ASUS ExpertBook B9400 is an excellent enterprise laptop given its productivity potential, suite of security features, and extreme portability. Just keep in mind about the RAM before ordering one as you won’t be able to upgrade it later on.
At the end of our ASUS ExpertBook B9400 review, I award this laptop with our Silver Pokdeward.

Big thanks to ASUS Malaysia for sending us this laptop for the purpose of this review.
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MSI Malaysia launches their new gaming notebook with NVIDIA Pascal graphics cards

MSI Malaysia has launched their new gaming laptops yesterday at the Shatter Desktop Performance Cliché event, at Lowyat Plaza, Kuala Lumpur. The main highlight on the event was the latest NVIDIA Geforce GTX 10-series graphics cards which bring desktop graphics performance to gaming laptops.

During the event, they announced nine gaming notebooks spanning MSI’s GT, GS and GE series featuring VR Ready technology powered by the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 10-series graphics cards. In addition, all these new gaming laptops also come with redesigned cooling systems, 100% sRGB display and immersive audio experience. All the gaming laptops are using the latest 6th generation of Intel Skylake CPUs, either the unlocked Intel Core i7 6820HK, or the Intel Core i7 6700HQ.

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At the event, MSI showed off their highest end offering, the MSI GT83VR Titan SLI with TWO NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080s in SLI configuration. Overclocking on this laptop should not be an issue, since it is cooled down by the new “Cooler Boost Titan” cooling system, an exclusive cooling design by MSI sporting a total of 15 heat pipes to keep the graphics cards cool when the going gets hot.

The MSI GT73VR Titan comes with a 4K resolution display, but resolution isn’t the only claim to fame for the display on this baby. It also comes with the world’s first 120Hz @ 5ms display. Unlike the GT83VR Titan SLI, there are only 10 heat pipes here with the “Cooler Boost Titan” design. The MSI GT73VR Titan is powered by a single NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card.

If you think that a 4K display doesn’t suit your tastes, the MSI GT72VR and GT62VR are packed with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070. Both gaming laptops use are cooled by 7 heatpipes and two fans, with Cooler Boost 4 for even more cooling performance if the need arises.

Build for enthusiastic gamers, the MSI GS73, GS63VR Stealth Pro, MSI GS43 Phantom Pro and MSI GE 72VR will be equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics cards. It’s perfect for 1080p gaming and these notebooks are VR Ready too.

The pricing for the new MSI gaming laptops are as below:

Pokdepinion: Most upcoming gaming laptops will be using the latest NVIDIA Pascal graphics by the way and we literally know how its performs. However we saw an unnecessary emphasis put on their RGB keyboard, instead of things that matter more to gamers, like their unique cooling systems. Aside from that, the most interesting part about the new MSI gaming laptops to me is the 120hz 5ms panel, the cooling design, ESS Sabre Hi-Fi DAC and NAHIMIC SOUND 2. For me these features will definitely enhance MSI gaming notebooks users’ gaming experience the most, while also serving as a major differentiating factor from the competition.

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The HUAWEI P30 Pro has received SIRIM certification

HUAWEI has already received the greenlight for the HUAWEI P30 Pro from SIRIM, with the device popping up on the local authority’s website. The SIRIM listing does not reveal much of the specifications, but at least we know it is coming very soon.

The HUAWEI P30 Pro is going to sport the WiFi 802.11ac, or WiFi 5. It doesn’t offer the fancy WiFi 6 support that the Samsung Galaxy S10 touts, but if the HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro is anything to go by, it may come with WiFi 802.11ac Wave 2 support which promises a whopping 1733 Mbps of bandwidth. There will also be wireless charging and also reverse wireless charging, just like the HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro.

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In other leaks, the HUAWEI P30 Pro is listed to sport the Kirin 980, as spotted on the Antutu benchmark. The Kirin 980 is mated to 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage. With a Kirin 980, the HUAWEI P30 Pro won’t be setting any new benchmarks, but HUAWEI is definitely banking on its new Leica Triple Camera camera setup, which is expected to tout a periscopic telephoto camera, which allows for some unprecedented zooming capabilities.

Malaysia is one of HUAWEI’s important markets so we can expect to see it hit markets very soon after the 26th March launch in Paris. There has been much speculation about the early bird bundle as well which is expected to include a fancy HUAWEI Backup drive that doubles as a charger.
What would you expect to see with the HUAWEI P30 series?
Pokdepinion: I do hope that the HUAWEI P30 Pro has improved cooling for its chipset like the Mate 20 X!
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vivo V27 Review – V Should Stand for Value

vivo V27 Unboxing
vivo V27 Review – Box

The vivo V27 comes in a gray box, something you don’t often see nowadays with smartphones. You have the model number being seen clearly while the brand’s logo, albeit bigger in size, appearing in a more stealthy manner. Inside the box, you can find the following items:
vivo V27 Review – Box content
Inside the box, you can find the following items:

Quick start guide
Warranty card
66W FlashCharge brick
USB-C to USB-C cable
SIM ejector tool
Clear TPU case
The vivo V27 smartphone itself

Specifications

SoC
MediaTek Dimensity 7200, 4nm
2 x Cortex-A715 @ 2.8 GHz + 6 x Cortex-A510
Mali-G610 MC4 GPU

RAM
8GB / 12GB

Storage
256GB

Display
6.78″ FHD+ (2400 x 1080) OLED 3D Curved Display
1,300 nits peak brightness
HDR10+
120Hz Refresh Rate
1.07 billion colours, P3 wide colour gamut

Rear Camera
50MP main camera
8MP wide camera
2MP macro camera
Aura flash, HDR, panorama
[email protected]/60fps, [email protected], gyro-EIS

Selfie Camera
50MP f/2.5 wide-angle selfie cam, AF
Dual LED flash, HDR, panorama
[email protected]/60fps, [email protected], gyro-EIS

Battery
4600mAh
66W FlashCharge

Dimensions
164.1 x 74.8 x 7.4 mm
180g

Ingress Protection
No

Software
Funtouch OS 13 based on Android 13

Colours
Noble Black, Emerald Green, and Flowing Gold

Performance
vivo V27 Review – Antutu v9
Starting off our benchmark suite with Antutu v9, the vivo V27 has quite a strong showing despite only being a midrange device. It’s not far off from recent flagships in terms of performance and is already placed higher compared to 2023 midrangers like the Galaxy A54.

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vivo V27 Review – Geekbench 6
On Geekbench 6 however, it doesn’t look particularly promising but keep in mind that the top 2 devices here are true 2023 flagships. Comparing it to something within its level, you can see that it’s better in single core processing than the Exynos 1380, but loses out in multi core. The difference in both isn’t particularly huge so you can expect a similar level of performance overall.
vivo V27 Review – 3DMark
Then on 3DMark, the vivo V27 had unsurprising results in Sling Shot Extreme Unlimited but did pretty well in Wild Life Unlimited. The latter test is known to be quite intensive so we can see that newer hardware is able to meet its demands better. This is quite promising as it means that the GPU inside the smartphone is rather strong.
vivo V27 Review – PCMark
Lastly on PCMark’s Work 3.0 benchmark, the vivo V27 performed excellently considering that it’s a midrange device. It’s actually not far off from current generation flagships, and this is the level you’d expect a flagship from 1-2 years ago to be at. It also shows promise for it to be a daily driver for users.
vivo V27 Review – Battery life
In case you’re wondering about its battery life, it’s clearly one of the vivo V27’s strongest points as it managed to take 2nd place in our list of benchmarked devices despite carrying a smaller 4,600mAh capacity whereas plenty of others are using a 5,000mAh battery. It lasted 14 hours and 46 minutes (886 minutes) before it died, which is a very solid figure. The slightly smaller battery capacity would also benefit from charging speed as it would take less time to be fully charged. These are the speeds we got when charged from 2% with the included 66W charger:

15 minutes = 45%
30 minutes = 73%
45 minutes = 94%
50 minutes = 100%

Camera

I wasn’t expecting particularly much from the vivo V27 but it’s actually pretty good. The main camera can capture a good amount of detail with realistic colours, and the blurred background look surprisingly natural. Even night shots look good with the main camera. The ultrawide shows a similar level of performance so it’s definitely more than usable in case you need to capture more things in the frame.
Aura Light flash diffused light pretty well  so it can make pictures turn out well but keep in mind that it can only do so much if the subject is far, and the light is too much if the subject is near. When you start zooming however, pictures ended up darker and has trouble focusing. Noise is also more apparent the further you zoom but that shouldn’t be a surprise since it’s digital zoom. Macro camera is also decent at best so I would generally stick to only the main and ultrawide while zooming to a limit of 3x for the best results.
The Good
vivo V27 Review – Colour Changing design
So far, the vivo V27 is shaping up to be a pretty good smartphone, but there are still more reasons why you should consider it. The most eye-catching reason is the design, especially this Emerald Green variant. By default, it already looks great with its gradient look giving it that blue-ish green look of varying hues but you can also make use of UV rays to give it a unique look thanks to its Clour Changing design, like the picture above. Granted, it’s not permanent as it will fade back to normal after a few minutes but it’s one way to spice up its look after you’ve grown bored of it.
vivo V27 Review – Display
Then we have an excellent display that you typically don’t see in this market segment. It sports a 6.78-invh Full HD+ OLED 3D curved display with up to 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ support, and a peak brightness of 1,300 nits. It’s also said to be one of the thinnest OLED panels around in a smartphone. Simply put, it’s a display that is more than adequately bright with punchy colours, something you’d expect from a flagship rather than a midranger. Personally, I’d prefer a flat display, especially since it would be easier to hold, but I can’t complain given its price. Speaking of which…
Lastly, it has a pretty solid value proposition given its price. It’s retailing for RM1,999 for the 12GB RAM / 256GB storage variant but if you’re not planning to multitask much, the 8GB RAM variant at RM1,799 is also pretty darn good. For this price, you get a very attractive smartphone with surprisingly long battery life, good performance, and a solid camera system. It’s no flagship device and it doesn’t match up to other flagships either but it’s not far off and it’s pretty outstanding for a midrange device.
If you’re looking for promotions on this smartphone, click right here.
The Bad
vivo V27 Review – Bloatware
As good as it might sound, the vivo V27 is not the perfect midrange smartphone, and there are areas where its competition would excel in. For instance, while Funtouch OS 13 is feature-packed and easy to use, it does come with quite a bit of bloatware. However, you could always find a way to remove most of them or just turn a blind eye and pretend it’s not there. Just focus on what apps you actually want to use and it’s perfectly fine.
While the display certainly puts it ahead of its class, the speaker is what is holding it back from being a true multimedia powerhouse. It’s only a single speaker and lacks the depth to be truly enjoyable. At most, it’s just loud and clear. If you’re accustomed to stereo speakers in a smartphone, this will certainly bother you as the audio will blast out on bottom and that’s about it.
vivo V27 Review – Rear
The vivo V27 is an eye-catcher for sure with its design but one issue I have with it is that it’s rather slippery to hold. Coupled with the curved display, it can get rather awkward to hold for long periods of time. This should not stop you from getting it however as it can be remedied with the use of a simple protective case. This will aid with grip immensely along with removing any potential of fingerprint smudges on the rear, though it would be a shame to hide its beauty unless you go for the bumper-type cases.
Lastly, and this is more of a reassurance matter, is the lack of ingress protection. It’s not rated for any dust and water resistance so you would not want to get it wet at all if possible. Of course, having a bit of liquid touch the screen should not scare you but this would put into question whether the vivo V27 could last in the long run.
vivo V27 Verdict
vivo V27 Review
The vivo V27 is an excellent midrange smartphone no matter how you put it. Sure, it has its quirks but the price more than justifies the entire package. It’s really hard to look elsewhere within the same budget unless you have very specific needs to be met, such as some form of water protection. At the end of our vivo V27, I award this smartphone with our coveted Gold Pokdeward.

Big thanks to vivo Malaysia for sending us this smartphone of the purpose of this review.
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Motorola’s Foldable Razr Phone Could Be Less Exciting Than You Think

There’s been quite a number of smartphone manufacturers out there that has introduced foldable smartphones such as the Galaxy Fold and the Mate X. Now you may have heard or read it somewhere before but in case you didn’t, Motorola plans on coming up with their classic Razr phone, joining in on the foldable phone bandwagon.

Yes, Motorola is bringing back the classic Razr name back to the scene in their new device. Despite that, it is not confirmed on whether it will be named as Motorola Razr or Moto Razr. The phone is said to sport a 6.2-inch OLED display (primary). The secondary display’s dimensions is unknown but it is said to come with a 800 x 600 resolution.

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Internal specifications include a Snapdragon 710 chipset and it comes with either a 4GB/64GB or 6GB/128GB storage combo. Surprisingly it is said to pack a small 2730mAh battery. It could come out in three color variants; white, black, and gold. Do you want to know of how much it costs? Well rumor has it that the Razr will be priced at a whopping $1,500.
Pokdepinion: Don’t get me wrong, Snapdragon 710 is a pretty efficient chipset but do you really expect specifications such as that to be packed in a $1,500 device?
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Xbox One Kinect Adapter Production Halted; Microsoft Going New Direction?

While the hardware itself can still be used in newer iterations of the console, Microsoft has officially stopped selling the Xbox One Kinect adapter.
Xbox One Kinect Adapter Production Halted
Xbox One S Kinect Adapter
The Kinect was once touted as the ultimate innovation of the Xbox brand. However, as Microsoft has been making the move to new SKUs and increased power, the Kinect seemed to fade away in focus. And while the Xbox One S and Xbox One X will still support the hardware in function, the Xbox One Kinect Adapter, the USB part required to use the hardware with newer consoles, is no longer in production.
News comes by way of a statement to publication Polygon, where a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the cease of production:

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After careful consideration, we decided to stop manufacturing the Xbox Kinect Adapter to focus attention on launching new, higher fan-requested gaming accessories across Xbox One and Windows 10.
That same spokesperson had no comment on whether it will return in the future, but as of now it “will no longer be available.”
This shouldn’t be an immense shock to anyone following the trends of the motion control hardware. Anyone who grabbed the original Xbox One will remember that there was a dedicated Kinect port on the back of the console, an inclusion that made sense, given that the Kinect was a mandatory pack-in. After a shift in strategy however, Microsoft decided to begin selling SKU’s without the Kinect as a means to draw gamers with no interest in motion control.
This move would become a permanent shift for the brand as of late, as the mid-generation Xbox One S was released without that port. However, Microsoft was still actively supporting the Kinect and its users by offering the adapter for free if they are upgrading from another Xbox One.
After the announcement of the Xbox One X, another mid-generation console that also lacked the Kinect port, Microsoft declined to offer free adapters to Xbox One X users. However, at the time they were still purchasable from the Microsoft Store.
Following that announcement, Microsoft revealed in late-October 2017 that it had ended production of the Kinect altogether. So now, just like the Xbox One Kinect Adapter, the actual hardware is limited to what is available on store shelves or people selling used items.
Source: Polygon
Pokdepinion: Farewell, Kinect. You were fun at one point but it got real fast. You will be missed…somewhat.
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ASUS ROG Strix Z270E Review + Intel Core i7-7700K Kaby Lake CPU

Intel’s latest CPU, the Core i7-7700K Kaby Lake has been making a lot of buzz recently. To test this, you need a special motherboard that supports it and everyone is waiting for ASUS Z270 motherboards. Well, guess what? We have both the Core i7-7700K Kaby Lake processor AND the ASUS ROG Strix Z270E motherboard in our labs and we have done some extensive tests specially for you!
The classification of the new-generation Asus Z270 series motherboard, E being the highest-end.
ASUS ROG Strix motherboards share the same DNA from the Republic of Gamers motherboards but they’re targeted to a rather difference audience. For Strix alone, it has a total of five motherboards, out of which, three are for ATX form factor and one respective for M-ATX and Mini-ITX form factors. The unit we have for review today is the ASUS ROG Strix Z270E Gaming motherboard.
Unboxing
The STRIX branding is getting a lot more catchier (finally!)
The ASUS ROG Strix box design is pretty similar to that of ASUS latest graphics card boxes. At the front, we have the picture of the motherboard itself. Some features are highlighted such as ASUS AURA RGB, 3D printing friendly, support for dual graphics card setup and of course, Intel Kaby Lake processor support.

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Aren’t you impressed already?
ARVE Error: need id and provider
At the back, we have the boards’ specifications and details printed out. More features are highlighted at the back such as the new ASUS SupremeFX. The ASUS ROG Strix Z270E also supports the latest Intel Optane memory but you needed a Kaby Lake processor to enable it.
That’s a whole load of goodies right there!
Inside the box, we have all the following accessories:

User manual + quick installation guide
CableMod 20% coupon
1x driver DVD
Cables label sticker
Rear I/O cover
1x 2 slot SLI HB bridge
4x SATA cables
1x RGB extension cable
1x Wireless antenna
CPU installation tool
3D mounting screws
1x Cup coaster

Appearance
You just wait for me to get all fired up!
Although I don’t favor the ASUS ROG Strix GPU’s color scheme, it does looks surprisingly great on the ROG Strix Z270E motherboard. This colour scheme is the same one found on the ASUS Maximum Rampage V Edition 10 but with different heatsink design. This time around, the Strix design is inpired by the Katana sword which is why you can notice the significant sword cuts design on the heatsink.
Look Ma, 7 PCIe slots!
Those stripes are the proof of how detailed the manufacturing process has gone through
The board is populated with a total of 7 PCIe slots, out of which four are PCIe X1 slots, and the three are PCIe x16 slots that are respectively wired at X16, X8 and X4 configurations. Two of the PCIe X16 comes with ASUS’ patent pending SafeSlot that prevents part loosening, misalignment, improper terminations and other structural issues.
If you loved Asus SupremeFX before, you have all the better reasons to love it now!
ASUS promises improved audio quality with the new SupremeFX S1220 codec that delivers an exceptional 120dB signal-to-noise-ratio and also a low-dropout-regulator for cleaner power delivery.

There are four DIMM slots with support for up to 64GB DDR4 memory, overclock-able up to a whopping 3866MHz. From the picture, we can also see five fan headers and an RGB header at the top of the motherboard. There is another one fan and RGB header at the bottom part too.
The I/O Shield is separated for the Strix unlike it’s elder siblings
The back panel features two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 3.1 ports (Type-A x 1 and Type-C x 1), Wi-Fi module, a DisplayPort, HDMI, Intel Ethernet and SupremeFX 8-channel audio jack. It’s worth noticing that the ASUS ROG Strix Z270E motherboard does not have an embedded I/O Shield plate unlike it’s ROG Maximus Z270 series siblings.
Those are six SATA ports. If you noticed, there are two M.2 slots pictured here.
USB 3.1 – Need I say more? :)
For storage, we have a total of six SATA ports, and two M.2 PCIe connectors which support Intel Optane memory. There is also a single USB 3.1 port at the front of the board. The dual M.2 ports have slight differences. The primary slot supports PCIe GEN3 x4/SATA mode in Socket 3, uses M Key module and supports Type 2242/2260/2280/22110. This slot (M.2_1) shares bandwidth with SATA port 1. The secondary slot supports PCIe GEN3 x4 mode in Socket 3, uses M Key module and supports Type 2242/2260/2280. This slot (M.2_2) shared bandwidth with SATA port 5 and 6.
Personalising options are coming to motherboards, yo!
Last but not least, the ROG Strix Z270E is ready for 3D mount like we have on the ASUS Rampage 5 Edition 10 motherboard. This allows you to print your own 3D parts and mount them to your motherboard. From what I see here, the limitation is really your creativity and the price of 3D printers. Once this feature is well-known it can turn into opportunity for modding services.
Sorry guys, no backplate. Although ASUS has removed most sharp electronic component edges from here already.
We have pretty much nothing at the back of the boards. Unlike the ASUS Rampage 5 Edition 10 board, the ROG Strix Z270E doesn’t come with any back plate.
Test Machine
Hardware

Processor
Intel Core i7-7700K

Motherboard
ASUS ROG Strix Z270E Gaming

Memory
Avexir Blitz 32GB (8x 4GB)

Storage
Seagate FireCuda 1TB 3.5″ SSHD

Power Supply
Cooler Master CM V850

Cooler
Corsair H60 AiO Liquid Cooler

Software

OS
Windows 10 64-bit

GPU driver
NVIDIA 376.33

Antivirus
Windows Defender

Utilities
CPU-Z, HWmonitor

Software used
LinX, Cinebench, Realbench

BIOS Interface
The UI is pretty much similar to the previous UEFI BIOS
But don’t underestimate the new offerings that ASUS has put into it
I have nothing to judge anymore when it comes to ASUS’ UEFI BIOS. It has robust design and it’s very responsive with no lag at all unlike most of it’s competitors. Overclocking is made easy on the ASUS Z270E platform, with the EZ Tuning Wizard. You just need to click and follow the instructions, and let ASUS UEFI handle the increase in system performances. On the Ai Tweaker, there is also an option for 5Ghz overclocking profile geeks being geeks, I’d rather do it manually. :P Overclocking the CPU is quite easy but I won’t be overclocking the memory modules for some specific reasons. Last but not least, you can now see the graphics card information on the tool tab. It’s awesome to see that nowadays UEFI BIOS is capable of monitoring the graphics card temperatures too. Oh, sweet technology!
Performance

After OS and all software are installed and updated, I ran ROG Realbench and Cinebench R15 at stock clocks with turbo at 4.5Ghz and also at 5.0Ghz (Turbo off). The system was able to finish the Realbench without any hassle especially the encoding test. With our limited hardware setup for overclocking purposes, we were only capable to hit 5.0Ghz at 1.36v approaching nearly 99°C on load with the Corsair H60 AIO liquid cooling solution. This one is enticing me so much to push the limits beyond it’s capabilities but sadly, we need a better liquid cooler or perhaps, LN2 here.
One thing is for sure, de-liding this CPU will definitely yield very good results. However, since this is an engineering CPU unit, I won’t de-lid it. I can assure you, this bad boy Kaby Lake CPU can really be pushed very far!
Stock
Cinebench at stock clock
Realbench at stock clock
5.0 Ghz
Cinebench at 5.00Ghz
Realbench at 5.00Ghz
I would like to touch a little bit about the new SupremeFX codec that enticed me during the review. I tested the audio while playing games and watching movies. The audio quality is excellent even though it’s just an on-board audio chip. The stereo is nicely produced and I quite enjoyed watching BoiBoiBoy Galaxy on YouTube. It also encouraged me to play CS:GO for hours, in fact I rarely play that game compare to DOTA 2 and Overwatch but the explosives were just to immersive, I got hooked to it long enough. I’m not trying to hard sell or anything here, this one is for you to experience yourself, really!
Board Software
Most people prefer not to install any bundled software as they claim it’s nothing but just bloatware. ASUS has put a lot of hard work for its ROG software and for me most of them are really useful. I’m using the DVD installer and from here you can pick any software you want and leave the ones you don’t need such as the daemon tool and Norton security for me.
ASUS AURA RGB

ASUS is on a consistent pursuit in delivering RGB lightning illumination throughout your system. So much, that ASUS is even working together with some case manufacturers and computer accessories companies to make the RGB synchronization way more seamless and easy. With the new AURA software, now you can customize the lighting for your motherboard, graphics card, fan, cooler, mouse, keyboard and even computer case by just connecting the RGB header to the on-board ASUS RGB header. Configuring and customizing the effect is easy and works neatly!

ASUS RAMcache

The latest exclusive ASUS RAMcache 2 is one of the features I love the most! it seriously delivers mind-blowing performance! First you select the drive you want to cache and put the amount of RAM you want to allocate. Once the cache has kicked in, the speed can go up to 7000 MB/s read and write! The only limitation is the amount of RAM you have in your system!
ASUS Sonic Studio III/Sonic Radar III

Sonic Studio III is an audio suite that offers audio settings and customisation for the SupremeFX. But the more interesting part is the ASUS Sonic Radar III. This is quite a hot topic as some people treat it as cheating in games. To me it’s not. The software technically assists you in visualizing the audio source direction. Use this long enough, your hearing sensors will get precise over time even without using the ASUS Sonic Radar III.
ARVE Error: need id and provider
ASUS Game First IV

This software is very optional and unnecessary in my situation. What it does is set the network priority to high on running game to improve the game connection. For me, as long as you are using fibre connection and good router, this shouldn’t worry you too. Besides, if I’m going to toggle my network bandwidth, I’d do it from the router first. :)
Clone Drive

I think, in the spirit of technology and innovation sharing, ASUS should make this software standalone and available to everyone as part of their CSR initiative. In today’s age, this software should become a common tool in everyone’s computers. What this software does is to copy your system partition into a new drive if you’re upgrading to a new storage device. Nifty and easy to use, would you open source this, ASUS? :)
ASUS AI Suite III/ Dual Intelligent 5

A full fledged software for your ASUS’ PC build. You can monitor, adjust, maintain, update software and view system information through the AI Suite III. Everything you need to know about the computer performance can be found through this software, including overclocking.
Conclusion
For me score isn’t important when reviewing a motherboard. What’s important is the features that the motherboard offers and the aesthetics. To accomplish a performance review, this article may become more technical and it does need a lot of time for preparation and testing. Since this is a very new piece of technology in the market and considering the fact that we were given the previlege to toy around with it for a very short time, I can say that this board is very solid when it comes to overclocking. I believe with proper equipment and cooling solution along with extended time, I can push more on this chip and give a try on memory overclocking. We know already, that the Intel Kaby Lake runs hotter than the Intel Skylake, but it has a lot better potential and overclocking headroom – apart from de-liding it ;)

ASUS ROG Strix Z270E still brings some of the premium feels of an ROG product with more exclusive features such as 3D mounting, SafeSlot and SupremeFX. The only thing that the board is missing is the dedicated power switch, reset button and Q-Code LEDs. I awarded the ASUS ROG Strix Z270E Gaming motherboard with Silver Pokderward.
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Google Play Games Beta for PC Has Arrived in Malaysia

No longer will you need Android emulators to play mobile games on PC as Google Play Games beta for PC has finally arrived in Malaysia.
Google Play Games Beta for PC

The Google Play Games beta is here, and it allows you to play Android games on your PC. All you have to do is download, install it, sign in to your Google account, and you’re good to go. If you’re continuing a game that you’re already playing on your smartphone / tablet, you can continue on PC as progress is synced.

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It’s worth noting that not all Android games are playable on the Google Play Games beta on PC, at least for now. You can still make in-game purchases and earn Google Play Points, just like if you’re playing it on your smartphone / tablet.
In case you’re wondering about the system requirements, we have listed the minimum requirements to run it right below here:

OS: Windows 10 (v2004)
CPU: 4 CPU physical cores
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 630 GPU or comparable
RAM: 8GB
Storage: Solid State Drive (SSD) with 10 GB of available storage space
Windows admin account
Hardware virtualization must be enabled

More Android games will be supported in future updates, with new features coming in as well based on feedback. As for when it’s exiting beta and going for a full release, nothing has been mentioned yet so stay tuned for further updates.
If you want to give the Google Play Games beta for PC a try, click right here.
Source
Pokdepinion: Well, when it gets out of beta, I’m sure many people will be more than happy to install this. For now, just be prepared for bugs or anything that would not make it work right.
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Apple iPhone 14 Expected to Receive Huge Selfie Camera Upgrade

Apple iPhone 14 Getting Huge Selfie Camera Upgrade?

Analysis: winners of iPhone 14 front camera’s upgrade to AF (auto focus) / 分析：iPhone 14前置攝像頭升級為AF (自動對焦) 的贏家 @mingchikuo https://t.co/USPnSfWFDO
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) June 13, 2022

While it’s not happening so soon, we are getting closer and closer to the launch of the Apple iPhone 14 series. As such, it’s not a surprise to learn more about it as it draws near. In this particular case, we’ve learned that the selfie camera on the device is expected to receive a huge upgrade.
According to renowned analyst and Apple insider, Ming-Chi Kuo, the 14 selfie camera will see better image quality and the addition of autofocus for the first time. This is based on details found from the camera parts supplied for the phone.

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It is said that the lens will feature 6 components, which is an extra component more given that it previously used 5 since the iPhone 11. There is also a likely change that it will feature an f/1.9 aperture for better low-light performance. The best part here is that this upgrade will be shared among all 4 iPhone 14 devices that will be launched later this year.
From what we’ve heard previously, the Pro models are said to come with a 48MP wide angle primary camera with 8K video capabilities. The build quality is also said to see a notable improvement as it will allegedly be using titanium for the chassis, a step up from its predecessor’s stainless steel build. For now, nothing has been confirmed yet so will report more on this as soon as information becomes available.
Source
Pokdepinion: This will be huge game-changer, especially for content creators on-the-go. The iPhones are already a popular vlogging tool, and this will simply amp up that offering. If only they brought the USB-C adoption ahead, that would have been great.
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Digi Hosts Digital Day — Focuses On Learning Innovations To Serve You Better

Digi has today host their third successive Digital Day, where their aim is to focus on learning new innovations disrupting the market and how digital is driving a new set of behavior from consumers.
Digi Digital Day 2018

In the key company-wide event, employees job for the day is to focus on learning new innovations and things that can disrupt the market and find the things that can captivate the current consumers.

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The Chief Digital Officer of Digi, Praveen Rajan, has said “Widespread digital disruption is changing the industry, the way we work, and our customers’ lifestyles. And if the world around us and our business is evolving, so must our people.”
Aishah and Prem from The Mix Breakfast
At the event, there was a wide range of speakers, panel discussions, masterclasses and a digital fair to broaden Digizens’s understanding of current and future technologies. It even saw special appearance from Aishah and Prem from The Mix Breakfast.
Besides the Digital Day, staffs of the company was challenged to complete at least 40 hours of education through online learning platforms such as Lynda.com, Coursera, and Udacity by the end of the year.
For more information on Digi’s culture and talent programs, you can check the link here.
Pokdepinion: Any Digi users here? What would YOU want from the telco company? Wider coverage? Cheaper prices? Let us know in the comments.

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COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC Review — one for the compact white builds

COLORFUL is probably pretty well-known for their bang-for-buck graphics cards, with a smattering of higher-end options like the Vulcan and uber-premium Kudan series, which are often times more exciting than the flagship cards you get from the more popular brands. But today we aren’t going to be looking at those just yet, as we will be looking at the middle-of-the-pack, COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC. It looks pretty decent, with a nice overclock slapped onto the GeForce RTX 3050.
Unboxing

I guess this is the fanciest packaging I have seen, with a flashy holo finish applied across the box. You get a good look at the card here, and it seems that COLORFUL took some liberties with NVIDIA’s guidelines and made the “GeForce RTX” area not fully opaque, with the graphics card peeking under it.

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Over on the back we have the bright flashy finish, but it doesn’t work quite as well with all the white text. It’s legible, but you will have to twist the box around to read the entirety of the text. I think black text would have been more easily visible?

In the box, you have the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC itself and two simple pieces of documentation. The card is held in place by thick blocks of foam, so there’s really no fear of the card getting damaged even if it was tossed around by rugby players part-timing in a courier company.

One thing that I found absolutely impressive about the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC is the rubberized covers that COLORFUL has slapped onto the PCIe connector and the ports on the rear. They are quite unlike many other cards I have seen, with COLORFUL seemingly having paid some attention to making them look better than what you get with most graphics cards out there.
Appearance

COLORFUL went with a rather interesting design, with glossy panels featuring a shimmery finish that transitions from teal to purple. I do find that the strip of yellow and red breaks the overall sleekness of the card, which is a slight bummer. I guess COLORFUL wanted to give the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC a more gamer-ish look, but I think it just messes up the overall aesthetic a bit.

On the side we see that the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC is slightly thicker than a standard two-slot design, with side-venting fins. This essentially means that most of the heat will be dumped into the case, for better or worse, although with the amount of heat that the GeForce RTX 3050 puts out, this is pretty much a non-issue. There’s a small window here cut into the fan shroud for a little “iGame” logo with RGB lighting.

The backplate is made of metal, and here we see that the yellow-red iGame strip cross with the Adidas-looking triple-line accent. It seems that this backplate is mainly for aesthetics and overall rigidity, as there are no thermal interface material between the PCB and the backplate. We also don’t get the pass-through window that is featured on many GeForce RTX 30 series cards, but then again, it’s really quite unnecessary with a GPU like the GeForce RTX 3050.

The rear I/O bracket features the three DisplayPort 1.4a and single HDMI 2.1 outputs as per NVIDIA’s reference design, along with the One-Key Overclock button, that essentially gives you a physical toggle between the reference clocks or the factory overclock settings. Quite a nifty feature, although I am not exactly sure why would you run the card at lower clocks, unless you have a really thermally-constrained build.

The only bit of RGB is this little window on the side. It works with the iGame Center software to allow for customizability and also lighting synchronization with the rest of COLORFUL’s components. It’s a single-zone RGB panel though, so no fancy transitions aside from the regular Color Cycle modes.
Specifications
COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC

GPU
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 (GA106)
Samsung 8N

Clocks
Base Clock: 1552MHz
Boost Clock: 1822MHz (+45MHz over ref.)

Cores
2560 CUDA Cores
80 Tensor Cores
20 RT Cores

Memory
8GB GDDR6

Memory Speed
14Gbps

Memory Interface
128-bit

Display outputs
3 x DisplayPort 1.4a
1 x HDMI 2.1

Power connector(s)
1 x 8-pin

Recommended PSU
550W

Interface
PCIe 4.0 x8

Multi-GPU support
No

Dimensions
25.3 x 12.9 x 45.6 cm
(2-slot)

Test System

CPU
Intel Core i5-12600K

Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero

Memory
2 x 16GB Crucial DDR5-4800 CL40

Storage
1TB Kingston NV1
960GB Kingston UV500 SATA SSD
1TB Kingston KC2500 PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD

Graphics
COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC

Power Supply
Cooler Master V850 Platinum

Monitor
BenQ EL2870U

GPU Driver
NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready Driver 511.79

Performance
Synthetic

Superposition puts the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC at a mere 2% faster than the reference-clocked GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3050 EAGLE. Since the overclock is about 2.5% faster, this is to be expected. As you would have known by now, the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC is still some ways away from the Radeon RX 6600 and GeForce RTX 2060.

3DMark Time Spy sees a much smaller gap with and without the overclock, to the tune of just 0.3%. Once again, it’s still quite a bit slower than many last-gen offerings from NVIDIA and AMD, but it is much, much faster than the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER.

Thanks to the 2nd Gen RT cores, the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC is great at raytracing. It comes quite close to the much more expensive Radeon RX 6600, and literally blows the Radeon RX 6500 XT out of the water. Versus the non-overclocked sample of the GeForce RTX 3050, we only see a 2% difference.
Gaming

Similar to the GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3050 EAGLE, we don’t exactly get 60FPS in a lot of titles, but you do get around 1~4FPS higher in some titles, which is barely anything. That’s probably to be expected though, given that the 45MHz overclock is actually a pretty minute one.
Thermals

With a mild-ish overclock, the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC pulls just 122W. The cooler, despite featuring just two heatpipes and two fans, keeps the GPU temps at 62°C on average, with peak hotspot temps of just 78.8°C, all while running almost silently. The fans are spinning at a mere 1750RPM, which means that there’s still plenty of headroom when it comes to cooling here. Thanks to this impressive cooling, we see clocks of up to 1957MHz, with the average being 1920MHz, or about 44MHz higher on average than reference clocks.
Speaking of which, if you decide to not use the One-Key OC mode for whatever reason, average GPU clocks are maintained at around 1876MHz, while the power draw drops to 120W. Temperatures are just 1°C lower, while the fans are spinning about 30MHz slower. Since the Turbo Mode didn’t result in audible fan noise, I would just recommend running the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC in that mode all the time.
User Experience

As we have established that you should run the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC in its Turbo mode all the time, it makes this button kinda moot. But in any case, it’s quite nice to see that you have the option to toggle an overclock as and when you want. It does seem like it needs a restart to switch clock profiles though, so it’s not exactly all that useful…
          System Monitoring          RGB settings            GPU Tuning            Detailed GPU monitoring
The iGame Center software is pretty complete, with all the necessary options for overclocking, system monitoring and also a pretty detailed GPU monitoring tab. I guess it would be more useful if paired with a full COLORFUL system, as it will enable more in depth RGB syncing.
Conclusion

The COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC is on the more premium side of things than many of the GeForce RTX 3050 cards in the market, priced at RM1799. While I think that the GeForce RTX 3050’s performance level isn’t really worth it if you have to pay more than RM1500 for it, the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC proffers a cool design, silent operation and is overall a pretty good card, all things considered. It’s not uncommon to find white PC components to come at a premium, and the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC is no different. If what you are looking for is a good looking and capable white GeForce RTX 3050 to complete your build, this is probably one of your best options out there.
Our thanks to COLORFUL for sending us the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra Duo W OC for review.

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Microsoft announces global expansion for HoloLens

Microsoft Corp. announced that Microsoft HoloLens, the world’s first self-contained holographic computer, is now available for preorder in Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, with devices starting to ship in late November.
The news comes while HoloLens is experiencing tremendous excitement and interest from developers and commercial customers and partners around the globe.

 “When we set out to pioneer the mixed-reality category, we knew that many of the best innovations would be discovered when others got their hands on the technology. It has been quite inspiring to see what our partners have built and what individual developers have created. Together, we have only scratched the surface for what mixed reality can do. I can’t wait to see what happens next as we welcome these new countries to our holographic landscape.” — Alex Kipman, technical fellow, Microsoft Windows and Devices Group.

Commercial customers breaking new ground with Microsoft HoloLens
Since the launch of HoloLens, Microsoft has seen innovation happening across the board as a diverse set of companies and partners breaks new ground within its industries using HoloLens as a means to transform their business. Here is what a few of these companies have had to say about their experience with HoloLens.

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thyssenkrupp

“With elevators transporting over 1 billion people each day, we have a critical role to play in keeping cities moving. At thyssenkrupp, we are focused on leading the much-needed transformation of the global elevator industry to dramatically increase the efficiency and availability of elevators, and HoloLens is a key element in helping us achieve these goals,” — Andreas Schierenbeck, CEO of thyssenkrupp Elevator.

NASA

Our partnership with NASA brings mixed reality to space exploration and discovery, creating new experiences and educational opportunities for scientists and consumers alike. Together with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, we have created four ground-breaking mixed-reality applications. The OnSight project enables scientists to use HoloLens to “work on Mars” together, directly from their offices, allowing them a means to plan and, along with the Curiosity Mars Rover, conduct science operations on the Red Planet. By extending the OnSight project, in September we opened “Destination: Mars” at the Kennedy Space Center to the public, which allows visitors the only opportunity possible today to walk around the Red Planet, just as NASA scientists do today.

Airbus

“Airbus believes in mixed-reality technologies, which are already deployed within our products and processes. Microsoft HoloLens is a promising platform, bringing mobility and new ways to consume and link users with digital information. Following our co-development with Microsoft teams, the device is concretely being tested and challenged in various environments across the company to understand if the technology will meet our business expectations. It is a very exciting phase, and we are looking forward to sharing concrete results based on our investigation.”

Audi

“Audi is invested in leading the future of automotive design through the use of cutting edge technologies. A technology like Microsoft HoloLens could open up new opportunities for our services in many ways-from engineering reviews and collaboration to after sales scenarios and new ways of customer experiences – there are many use cases to be realized,” said Jan Pflüger, Coordination Augmented- & Virtual Reality at Audi IT. “A mixed-reality solution like HoloLens seems very promising in helping us improve service quality, innovate on our customer communication, and cut time and costs required for maintenance. We see an exciting future in this technology and look forward to expanding its use at Audi.”
Today, HoloLens customers are developing innovative solutions that are already having a positive impact on their business. These customers are the early adopters of the kind of mixed-reality solutions that are poised for exponential growth in the years to come. According to IDC, “worldwide revenues for the augmented reality and virtual reality market will grow from $5.2 billion in 2016 to more than $162 billion in 2020.” Windows 10 will be updated in 2017 to include Windows Holographic, the platform that powers the mixed-reality experiences enabling people to perceive the world differently, break down barriers, and bring the virtual and the physical worlds together.
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More HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro camera samples — here’s what the Leica Triple Camera system brings to the table

The HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro features a Leica Triple Camera setup that offers an ultra-wide angle camera, a standard angle camera and a 5x telephoto zoom camera. We did share some images taken by professionals yesterday, but most of them are from a single perspective.
Perhaps you will be wondering how the HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro’s triple cameras stand to offer a different view, so here are some shots taken from the same point but with the different focal lengths offered by the HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro.
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What do you think of the HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro camera samples? Is it good enough to entice you to pick one up for yourself?
Pokdepinion: That’s one cute cat… My cat will never stay still long enough for me to take nice photos of it.
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Apple is replacing iPhone 11 displays with touch issues for free

Apple has just acknowledged that a small percentage of iPhone 11 displays may have touch issues, and are offering to replace it for free. The affected iPhones are reportedly manufactured between November 2019 and May 2020, and Apple has also included a serial number checker on their support page to help you identify if your iPhone 11 needs a new display.
Your iPhone 11 will be covered by this free replacement program for two years after the date of purchase, so if you think that your iPhone 11 is working fine despite being eligible for a free replacement, you can probably hold it off until you feel like it. Of course, having a cracked display will mean that you still have to foot out some money to fix the broken screen first, so don’t think of it as a free screen protection program that some brands are offering nowadays.

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It is also probably worth mentioning that the program does not extend the existing warranty coverage for the iPhone 11, and only covers the touch issues. Interestingly enough, if you have replaced your iPhone 11’s display due to poor touch responsiveness prior to the announcement of this replacement program, you can request a refund by contacting Apple.
That’s a pretty nice gesture from Apple, and I think affected iPhone 11 users would really appreciate it. Do you face any issues with the touch sensitivity on your iPhone 11? Let us know in the comments.
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Pokdepinion: I thought touch screen issues are only found on more affordable devices…
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Mobile Game AVABEL ONLINE Has New Update – Special Attack on Titan Crossover Event

The popular mobile MMORPG AVABEL ONLINE has a brand new update and it’s huge. It features a crossover event with popular anime series Attack on Titan.
AVABEL ONLINE x Attack on Titan Crossover Event Update

The developers over at Asobimo Inc. has officially announced a collaboration project for their popular mobile MMORPG, AVABEL ONLINE. This collaboration project will see Attack on Titan content in the game as a special event.

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This new crossover event will see a new co-op event called “Defense Line”. In it, Colossal Titans, those bald-headed giants you know from Attack on Titan, will be invading the map along with other gigantic monsters. Players will take part in it with the objective of keeping the town safe from these Titans.
You can also receive the “Attack Soul” items as well as the “Dedicate Your Heart!” salute emotion by participating in the chat for “Collaboration with Attack on Titan”.

Aside from that, there will also be an “Attack on Titan” collaboration pack which includes the original avatar and skill ring. You will also be able to make use of Eren and Mikasa’s Scout Regiments and Omni-Directional Mobility gear as it will be included in the pack.
For those of you who aren’t aware, AVABEL ONLINE is a mobile MMORPG that was made available for iOS and Android in 2013. Players can participate in Monster Hunting and Quests in the Main Tower and Dungeon portions in the game. You can either form your own parties or play solo. There’s also a PVP mode where you can play with up to 1,000 players in the game.
If you are curious as to what the game is like, feel free to download the game by clicking here for Android or clicking here for iOS.
Pokdepinion: An Attack on Titan crossover event in a mobile MMORPG. Guess I should go give this AVABEL ONLINE a try myself.
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Malaysia ranked 56th of 87 countries for 4G download speeds

Well, I guess we all know the quality of the mobile data experience is here in Malaysia, but if you needed validation, Opensignal is here to help. On average, Malaysians only enjoy 11.5 Mbps speeds on average from our mobile data connection. By contrast, our diminutive neighbor down south enjoys 39.3 Mbps. If you are the kind to #syukurlah, then you can look at Cambodia, with an average speed of just 5.6 Mbps.

Meanwhile, when it comes to 4G availability, we are looking at a better ranking of 42nd out of the 87 countries. That’s a pretty respectable 79.6% 4G availability right there. The top is South Korea, no surprises there. The Koreans enjoy 97.5% 4G availability, which is practically all the time. Once again, to allow you to say #syukurlah, Uzbekistan only gets 4G signal 49.9% of the time. #oof

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Latency is where Singapore tops the world, with an average latency of 30.2ms. Only 13 of the 87 countries rated by Opensignal managed to score an average latency of below 40ms, and guess what, we aren’t a part of that 13. Malaysians experience an average latency of 51.4ms, which is still good enough for some casual gaming on mobile data. As of now, Opensignal has not found a country with an average latency of less than 30ms, but they expect to see better once 5G rolls out.

Last but not least, Opensignal rates the “video experience”. Malaysia scored 51.9/100 in this metric, which places it in the “Fair” category. Malaysia did improve by 5 points though as compared to last year, so #syukurlah at least there is progress. No country managed to enter the “Excellent” category which starts from 75 points and above, with top-scoring Norway scoring just 0.3 points short.
What do you think? Does the results tally with your experience? Let us know!
Pokdepinion: Well we seem to be ranking in the middle most of the time. Not too bad, not good enough… Hm :(
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TikTok Launches New TikTok TV App For Android TV

TikTok has just announced that they have released a TikTok TV app in North America for Android TV devices, LG Smart TVs, and Samsung Smart TVs. The TikTok TV app was first released earlier this month in the US and Canada on Amazon Fire TV.
Get your TikTok fix from your TV with the new TikTok TV app

The new TikTok TV app is made especially for TV viewing audiences at home. Users can easily watch TikTok content from the ‘For You’ and ‘Following’ feeds on the big screens of their home TVs including the most liked and viewed videos from all sorts of categories ranging from gaming to food to comedy. To get started, users can use their existing account to connect to the TikTok TV app. There’s also a page called ‘Discover,’ which allows users to find more of their favourite TikTok content, creators, and categories.

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We have no word if the social media platform will bring the TV app over to our part of the world though I think there’s a high chance they will. TikTok has a huge following in Malaysia and our neighbouring regions so it would be a shame if they don’t make it available here.
Source
Pokdepinion: TikTok’s new TV app is definitely a smart move as it puts the platform in direct competition with YouTube as far as home entertainment goes.
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TM Has Upgraded 266,000 Streamyx Users to Unifi

If you’ve suddenly found yourself with faster than usual internet speed, this might be the reason why. According to recent reports, Telekom Malaysia (TM) has upgraded roughly 266,000 Streamyx users to Unifi as of 30th April 2019.
It’s worth noting that these 266,000 Streamyx users are within Unifi-ready areas. It was also mentioned that 226,000 of users that are not within the area have seen an increase in internet speed by two-folds. But that’s not all as 973,000 Unifi users are also said to have received speeds upgrades up to tenfold as of 30th April 2019.

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Aside from that, it’s said that MCMC has taken measures to improve customer experience that telco companies will have to adhere to starting Q4 2019. This will make it mandatory for these companies to solve the less complicated complaints by customers within a period of 3 working days as opposed to the previous 15 working days. For the more complex issues however, that will have to be solved within 15 working days as opposed to the previous 30 working day period..
This move is being done to ensure that telco companies maintain their services within acceptable standards and to protect the consumers. Aside from TM, the companies that will adhere to this new ruling include Digi, Celcom Axiata, TIME, U Mobile, and YTL Communications..
Source: Berita Harian
Pokdepinion: Well, to the least, there’s good news for those who were upgraded as well as those who didn’t get it. I think receiving updates on this from time to time will make consumers trust TM more.
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TIME Now Offering 1Gbps Internet Plan – Price Reduced for Existing Plans

TIME Now Offering 1Gbps Internet Plan and Reduced Price for Existing Plans

With the recent string of announcements on faster internet and price cuts from internet service providers in Malaysia, TIME has been oddly absent. Now, we know what they’ve been cooking up, and it certainly sounds amazing.
TIME will now be offering home fibre internet plans with speeds of 100Mbps, 500Mbps, and 1Gbps priced at RM99 per month, RM139 per month, and RM199 per month respectively. Yes, that’s 1Gbps internet speed at less than RM200 per month.

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All three plans will be offered wiith either a 12-month contract or 24-month contract. However, if you opt for the 12-month contract, you will need to pay RM300 as registration fees, which is waived if you go for the 24-month contract.
For existing customers, TIME has mentioned that they have already given speed upgrades to them. For those of you using the 100Mbps plan, you will be upgraded to 500Mbps at no charge, whereas those already using the 300Mbps and 500Mbps plans, you will be upgraded to the ultra-fast 1Gbps plan.
As for the upload speed, it will be the same as the download speed for most part, so if you’re on the 100Mbps plan, that will also reflect the upload speed. However, the 1Gbps plan will only have upload speeds of up to 500Mbps, which is still quite fast.
If you’re interested to sign up to TIME’s home fibre internet plans, click right here to head to the official website. Online subscribers will get an additional RM100 off for one time use..
Pokdepinion: Wow, I can’t believe I’m seeing a 1Gbps internet plan in Malaysia. I mean, sure, coverage is still limited but the fact that it’s here is amazing. I really hope they expand their coverage widely sooner rather than later.
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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 SUPER leaked with larger GPU, faster GDDR6X memory

NVIDIA may have a GeForce RTX 3090 SUPER (or GeForce RTX 3090 Ti) in the works, if these rumors are to be trusted. As the name implies, the GeForce RTX 3090 SUPER will slot in above the already overkill GeForce RTX 3090, although it might not really make GeForce RTX 3090 owners feel too bad for splurging on what was NVIDIA’s top GeForce RTX card.

Maybe,
RTX 3090 Super
“GA102-350-A1
10752FP32, no NVLINK
Original 21Gbps MEM
TGP>=450W”
Launch in 2021.
🤫🤫🤫
— kopite7kimi (@kopite7kimi) August 26, 2021

For one, the rumored GeForce RTX 3090 SUPER is slated to pack the full GA102 GPU. That would entail 10752 CUDA cores, 84 RT cores and 336 Tensor cores, or a mere 2.4% more CUDA cores than the GeForce RTX 3090. This will reportedly be paired up with faster 21Gbps GDDR6X memory, which is about 7.7% faster than the 19.5Gbps memory on the GeForce RTX 3090.

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However as we have seen, the gaming performance gap between the GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3090 is extremely small, so we might not see much gains to be had in terms of framerates between the GeForce RTX 3090 and RTX 3090 SUPER. The GeForce RTX 3090 SUPER is probably going to be an option for those who have too much money to spend wisely.
If you plan on upgrading to the GeForce RTX 3090 SUPER, you might also need a power supply upgrade, as it is slated to pull in excess of 450W. And apparently you can’t run two GeForce RTX 3090 SUPER with NVLink, despite the GeForce RTX 3090 supporting NVLink. This is probably to differentiate the GeForce RTX 3090 SUPER from the NVIDIA RTX A6000 that it shares its full GA102 GPU with.

Prices are also going to be eye-wateringly high, especially with the reportedly low yields of Samsung 8N. The full GA102 is a huge die, and to be able to obtain one with all cores working is going to be quite difficult, especially when dealing with suboptimal yields. Or you can also take it as a hint that yields are improving. It isn’t unheard of for yields to improve as a manufacturing process node matures.
On another note, rumors are hinting towards it being dubbed the GeForce RTX 3090 SUPER, but as you might have noticed, we do not have any GeForce RTX 30 series SUPER cards yet, but what we do have is NVIDIA fleshing out their entire lineup with Ti variants. Speaking of which, ZOTAC did leak a GeForce RTX 3090 Ti via their overclocking software, FireStorm. So maybe we will see it called the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti instead? In any case, we wish you good luck at scoring one of them, if they were to be launched.
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Pokdepinion: I wonder who will need that many CUDA cores?
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Gamers Hideout Forced Customers to Pre-order the PS5 in a Bundle; Priced Jacked Up to Over RM3,000

It’s official. After long bouts of uncertainty on whether Sony will actually release the year’s most anticipated console here any time soon, the PS5 is finally making its way to Malaysia! Prices were revealed as well as a list of places people could pre-order the console which included Sony Centres across the country and local game retail outlets such as Gamers Hideout.
Gamers Hideout in hot water again
As you might expect, pre-orders for both the standard PS5 and the Digital Edition filled out pretty quickly across the country. However, Gamers Hideout’s pre-order process did not disclose the terms and conditions for pre-ordering the console. Turns out, to pre-order the console, customers have to go through a fairly pricey PWP (Purchase With Purchase) entailing one game at full price, a 3-in-1 mystery game pack (worth RM599.90) at a discounted price, and a couple of PS5 accessories.
The pre-order has since been removed from Gamers Hideout’s website, however, thanks to Lowyat.net screenshots of the bundle had been obtained. To get the standard edition PlayStation 5, customers were forced to purchase from a selection of soon-to-be-released PS5 games.

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Image credit: Lowyat.net
Not only that, customers all had to choose from one of three PS4 Mystery Game Packs albeit at a discounted price of RM399.90. Finally, they must also purchase two, not one, but TWO PS5 accessories at full price each. This brings the bundle’s total to RM3,080.60, an additional RM731 from the standalone pre-order price of RM2,299.
Image credit: Lowyat.net
This money-grabbing move shocked gamers eager to get their hands on Sony’s new console. It is worth mentioning that this bundle applies to only the standard edition PS5 and not the Digital Edition. To add insult to injury, this whole bundle does not even include shipping fees seeing that Gamers Hideout moved pre-orders to online only. Shipping or, as Gamers Hideout puts it, “CMCO Shipping” costs an additional RM150 thus bringing the final total to RM3,230.60. Oh, joy.
Currently, Gamers Hideout has not issued a response in regards to this issue.
Pokdepinion: Wow GH. Seems like every year a new controversy pops up from this company. While technically legal, forcing people to pre-order a bundle is just immoral.
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Welcome to paradise. pic.twitter.com/V6apZiBPyr
— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) April 20, 2021

Valorant is one of the popular first-person shooters (FPS) out there right now with a player base spanning millions of players across the globe. Given its immense popularity, many of them are hungry for new content in the game. The teaser for the upcoming map, Breeze, has been leaked ahead of time.
Teaser for Upcoming Valorant Map, Breeze, Leaked

Breeze Teaser | #VALORANT pic.twitter.com/C5AYt2tHKE
— Valorant Leaks (@ValorLeaks) April 20, 2021

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After the game’s official Twitter account teased a beach-like area with the caption “Paradise”, @ValorLeaks on Twitter took a step further by giving a clearer glimpse at the upcoming new map, Breeze. The map was rumoured to be called “Foxtrot” but data miners proved that it’s simply a codename rather than the actual name.
At the moment, there is no trailer for the new map and the only video we have is from the leak itself. However, @ValorLeaks noted that we can expect to see a gameplay trailer in a few days time.
Until we see the trailer, we have no indication on when we can expect to see Breeze launch in the game. As Icebox launched as part of the Episode 1 Act 3 update, it would be safe to assume that Breeze will launch as part of Episode 2 Act. The next act is expected to launch on 27th April 2021. The game itself is currently available for free on PC.
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Pokdepinion: I recently got really into the game as friends invited me over to play. I couldn’t have joined in the fun at a more perfect time as we’re on the cusp of a brand new update. Can’t wait to see what’s new.
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Phidisk Phoenix microSD cards exceed Raspberry Pi requirements by 2X

Phidisk, the local storage solutions provider hailing from Penang, Malaysia has just achieved another milestone. The Phidisk Phoenix microSD cards have just been sent to the Raspberry Pi Foundation for testing, and all variants ranging from the 32GB up to 128GB capacities of the Phidisk Phoenix microSD cards are approved for use on Raspberry Pi computers.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation gauges several key criteria of a microSD in regards to their performance, and approval means that they meet or exceed all of their stringent requirements. In Raspberry Pi’s testing, the Phidisk Phoenix microSD delivered above 2X the minimum sequential and random write performance specified by Raspberry Pi.

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Test
Raspberry Pi requirements
Phidisk Phoenix microSD 32GB
Phidisk Phoenix microSD 64GB
Phidisk Phoenix microSD 128GB

Sequential write speed (MB/s)
>12
24.81
29.23
28.72

Random write (IOPS)
>500
1365
1024
1015

Random read (IOPS)
>2000
2432
2507
2490

Boot to desktop
32GB: <60 secs
64GB: <75 secs
27
28
28

On top of that, the Phidisk Phoenix microSD also allowed the Raspberry Pi tested to boot in half the time limit set by the Raspberry Pi foundation. Overall, the Phidisk Phoenix microSD is approved by the Raspberry Pi Foundation to ensure a great user experience for anyone using it with their Raspberry Pi systems.

It is also worth noting that Raspberry Pi’s requirements exceed the A1 Application Performance Class set in place by the SD Association, the latter which was set in place to ensure that Android users can enjoy a smooth experience using certified memory cards. For smartphone users who want to add more storage to their devices, the Phidisk Phoenix microSD cards will be a great choice as well.
Pokdepinion: I am definitely looking forward to even more impressive achievements from Phidisk. A PCIe 4.0 SSD soon, maybe?
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How Has the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 Display Durability Improved?

One of the biggest concerns with foldables is the longevity and durability of the display. However, it seems that the Korean giant is confident with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 but how has it improved? It all starts with the continuous development of the Ultra Thin Glass (UTG).
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 and its Ultra Thin Glass (UTG)

The key to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4’s durability is Ultra Thin Glass (UTG). It’s made using a high-precision manufacturing process, which can be done with scalability in mind. They first start by applying a special coating accordingly with the dimensions of the product. This is done to help strengthen the display, such as making it less prone to scratches.
Afterwards, they begin to cut it down, with a smoothly cut edge being vital to the entire process. The reason for this is to maximize its durability. To ensure a smooth cut surface, the glass is placed between two rotating rollers to ensure no oddities or protrusions in the final product.

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As the name might imply, UTG is very thin, roughly one-third of a human hair. Any bit of damage to it, even if it is a small scratch, could lead to higher stress levels when folded. To counter this, Samsung has created a special process to remove any impurities from the surface, which in turn strengthen the durability of it. It is further reinforced via thermal and chemical treatments.
Of course, saying all of this still gives a rather vague idea on how strong the glass truly is. As such, every single piece of UTG undergoes a stringent series of quality tests, which includes bend tests to extreme curvatures, for quality assurance purposes. It is said to be capable of folding over 200,000 times.

It is only after passing these tests and quality sampling inspections that they would be approved for installation on foldables, most notably the latest ones around which are the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 and Galaxy Z Flip4. Samsung will continue to develop it further, and we can expect it to be far more durable as time goes by. As for now, it’s certainly far more than usable as a daily driver.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 is retailing from RM6,799 to RM8,299 with warranty now going for 2 years and free screen protector change up to 3 times in case it peels off.
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If you’re wondering whether the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 is worth getting, check out our review of it by clicking right here.
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