Sony is Gearing Up to Bring DSLR-quality Cameras to Smartphone

At a press conference in China, the Head of Imaging and Sensing Solutions at Sony had a bit of details to share about the company’s future. He also took the chance to share on how the company has progressed over the past years with the development of powerful camera solutions for smartphones.
It was said that the massive growth of demand for multi-camera setups and large-size chips in the smartphone market exceeded the company’s expectations. The 48MP Sony IMX586 camera is used for a big number of midrange and flagship smartphones in 2019.
This includes the likes of the Xiaomi Mi 9, OnePlus 7, and the HONOR View20. We are expected to see 64MP and 108MP cameras taking the spotlight next year. As such, Sony has starting to ramp up production to avoid losing space in the competition.

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Apart from that, they are looking to bring a number of notable improvements to their sensors. We’re expected to see improved HDR, low-light, autofocus, and high-speed focus. The ultimate goal here is to bring DSLR-quality cameras to smartphones.
Sony mentions that they are planning to deploy large-size chips and gradually apply polarized sensince technology for industrial applications. They also plan to deploy fusing tech to achieve new tweaks, like HDR and background blur. Autofocus will be further improved as they are developing AF Pixel autofocus pixel technology and HDR+ autofocus.
As far as finances are concerned, Sony is expected to reach 1.04 trillion yen (RM39,778,851,840) in sales, with image sensors alone bringing a whopping 890 billion yen (RM34,042,936,100). The largest demand is expected to come from the Chinese market.
Source: Gizchina
Pokdepinion: I’ve said this before, all I need is an RX100 to meld with a smartphone and I’ll be good to go. Let’s see if that will be possible in the near future.
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64MP And 100MP Smartphones Are Coming This Year According To Qualcomm

Nowadays, it seems that it is the race to which smartphone brand can provide the most megapixels in their phone cameras. It seems that the game will be taken to another level this year as Qualcomm has revealed that smartphones with 64MP or even 100MP cameras are likely to come this year.
The news was revealed in an interview with Qualcomm’s very own Senior Director of Product Management, Judd Heape. In today’s market, the most common large resolution sensor is 48MP, and Qualcomm is planning to take it to greater heights by offering 64MP. Heape has said that by the end of the year, we should see something over 100MP from a couple of sensor manufacturers.
Heape has explained that even when it (100MP+ sensors) becomes mainstream, their original implementation will not quite correlate with the speed of shooting. This means that normal shots will still offer lower resolution but the availability of abundant pixel on the sensor will mean pixel binning technology will allow for great details in photos.

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Aside from that, it was revealed that Qualcomm’s next flagship SoC, which is reportedly to be named Snapdragon 865, will offer support for HDR10 video recording.
Pokdepinion: Well that’s technology for you, it never stops. Let’s see how it progresses this year. To be frank, I haven’t gotten my hands on a phone that’s powered by a Snapdragon 855 just yet and now there’s a successor revealed already..
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HUAWEI MateBook X Pro Coming To Malaysia — Teaser Revealed

HUAWEI Malaysia has just confirmed a new MateBook will be making its way here to Malaysia where it should be the MateBook X Pro, which was introduced back at MWC 2018.
HUAWEI MateBook X Pro Coming Soon

The HUAWEI Matebook X Pro was spotted on SIRIM back in June, thus it is more likely than not that this teaser is about the laptop. While its been quite some time since it was first announced, we should expect the laptop to finally hit our shores here in Malaysia.

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In terms of specifications, it features a 3K 13.9-inch FullView display with a 91% screen-to-body ratio, which even comes complete with touch capabilities. The laptop is powered by an 8th Gen Intel Core i7 and there’s also an i5 variant. For graphics, it comes with NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphics that comes with 2GB DDR5. Under the hood is a 57.4Wh battery and the laptop also comes with Dolby Atmos Sound Sytem, offering better audio system quality.
Despite the teaser confirm that the MateBook X Pro will be coming to Malaysia, there’s no official pricing and release date as of yet, but don’t fret. We will get more information from HUAWEI themselves and update once the details come out.
Pokdepinion: Well that was quite a long wait since it was unveiled at MWC 2018. We hope that the laptop is as good as they’ve teased us with…

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ASUS ZenFone 4 specifications leaked out before launch; second variant of the ZenFone 4 Max comes to light

I guess the guys working at ASUS’ official online store in France were too excited about the upcoming ASUS ZenFone 4 series. They actually jumped the gun by a whole week and put up details of the upcoming ZenFone 4 series, including the pricing on to their sales page. The pages were promptly taken down, but not before Android Police managed to capture some very juicy screenshots.

Starting off, we have the basic ZenFone 4. It seems like an iterative upgrade from the ZenFone 3 with a Snapdragon 630 under the hood mated to 4GB of RAM. The missing NFC from the ZenFone 3 is added into the ZenFone 4, while the battery sees a modest 10% increase to 3300 mAh. The 5.5″ Full HD display makes a comeback in the ZenFone 4, but this time it’s going to an AMOLED panel instead of the IPS panel in its predecessor. A dual camera setup graces the ASUS ZenFone 4, with a configuration reminiscent of the LG G4, sporting a 120° wide angle optic with a conventional 12MP sensor. It is priced at 499.99 Euro. For comparison’s sake, the ZenFone 3 is currently priced 399.99 Euro on the French ASUS Store.

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The ASUS ZenFone 4 Selfie is also apparently making an appearance as two different SKUs, a standard variant and a “Pro” version. The standard edition will pack a Snapdragon 430 with 4GB of RAM, a 5.5″ 720p IPS display and a 20MP+8MP front camera system. The rear camera is a little lonely here, being a single 16MP sensor. It is priced at 299.99 Euro.

Meanwhile the ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro comes in at an extra 100 Euro, but swaps the Snapdragon 430 for a much better Snapdragon 625, a 5.5″ Full HD AMOLED display panel and a 24MP+5MP front camera setup.

The ASUS ZenFone 4 Max comes with a 4100 mAh battery, Snapdragon 425 SoC and 3GB of RAM. The display is a little smaller than the above devices, coming in at just 5.2″ and sporting a 720p resolution. It will be priced at 229.99 Euro. Interestingly, despite the lower price tag, it will sport a dual rear camera setup, with a 13MP sensor mated to a 5MP one, something which ASUS decided to omit from the ASUS ZenFone 4 Selfie.
It would be interesting to see if we will have more of the ZenFone 4 series leaked out. I am interested to see if ASUS will really pack a Snapdragon 835 as SuperDaddy predicted into their ZenFone line up, with no ZenFone 4 Deluxe in sight. Still, let’s wait till the 17th August launch to find out every juicy detail about the ASUS ZenFone 4 lineup.
Pokdepinion: The Snapdragon 430 and 425 chipsets really mar the desirability of the ZenFone 4 series. They should at least throw in a Snapdragon 450. Overall, the lineup looks pretty comprehensive, and ASUS have covered almost all the bases. All we need is a true flagship from ASUS now…
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Nexus 6P review — for purists

Widely regarded as the only true Android devices, the Nexus are a special pedigree of smartphones altogether. With various manufacturers behind the Nexus line-up, fans of Nexus devices are often feted with the best technologies that each OEM can bring to the table. Last year it was Huawei’s turn to produce the Nexus 2015, named the Nexus 6P.

Unboxing
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The Nexus 6P comes with a 1 m long Type-C to Type-C cable and a shorter 30 cm short Type-A to Type-C cable. This foresight on Google’s part is great to ensure that older hardware will be able to connect to the 6P.

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Appearance
Instead of skimping on build quality by using plastics and spending the main portion of the budget on raw performance, the Nexus 6P features a great aluminium body which is getting to be a trademark of Huawei’s.

The front is fully taken up by a single sheet of glass, with speaker openings on both ends. There are no logos on the front side as is customary of all Nexus devices. The 5.7″ screen in addition to the stereo speakers on both ends make the Nexus 6P quite a long phone.
On the rear end we have an elevated sliver of glass that covers the camera and also hides a few wireless radio antennas below. On the lower lip of the protrusion there is a microphone hole. The Nexus Imprint fingerprint sensor is also located on the rear. There is a big Nexus branding, a much tinier Huawei branding further down. All of it is smooth sandblasted aluminium except for the glass at the top and a small plastic cutout at the bottom for reception purposes.

On the top you get the usual 3.5mm jack.

The left side has the nano SIM slot near the top while on the right you get the power and volume buttons.

The buttons are all on the right side. The power button features a texture that enables you to easily differentiate it from the volume buttons.

The Type-C port sits on the bottom.
The design is really great and premium looking. I find nothing to complain about the outlook of the 6P, and Android purists are finally getting a proper Nexus flagship in the form of the 6P.

Specifications

CPU:
Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 v 2.1 (4 x A57 @ 2.0 GHz + 4 x A53 @ 1.5 GHz)

RAM
3GB LPDDR3

Display:
5.7″, 1440p AMOLED display

Storage:
64GB internal (non-expandable)

Camera:
12.3MP f/2.0 Sony Exmor R IMX377
8MP f/2.4 front camera

OS:
Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow (Pure Android Experience)

SIM:
nanoSIM

Battery:
3450 mAh (non-removable)

Performance
Powerful Nexus devices are the norm already, and the Nexus 6P isn’t going to break any traditions here. The Nexus 6P packs the controversial Snapdragon 810 v 2.1 which is supposed to overcome the overheating issues faced by the earlier batch. Are the issues solved? While the sexy aluminium body does get warm during benchmarking runs or extended use of the camera, I have not had the device shut down on me even in the hot Malaysian weather lately as we are approaching Chinese New Year.
For tests that have detailed information, they will be in the thumbnails below the description of the benchmark.

The Adreno 430 shows itself as a powerhouse, giving us great scores in this graphics-centric benchmark.

Antutu tests the overall performance of the device.

Geekbench tests the CPU performance of the device. As you can see here the performance of the Snapdragon 810 is quite formidable.

PCMark tests overall performance in work-oriented workloads, and surprisingly the 6P trails the Huawei Mediapad M2 8.0 that I reviewed recently.

The 6P features a massive 3450 mAh battery which allows it to last a day of moderate use, even with the large 5.7″ 1440p AMOLED display showing us bright whites thanks to Google’s decision to go with white backgrounds in Material Design. The large battery combined with Marshmallow’s Doze feature allows for some pretty good battery life.

I frequently use Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp with the sporadic firing up of the camera here and there, and managed to milk out 3 hours 53 minutes of on screen time before the battery hit 15%, with over 12 hours away from the plug. Charging is fast with the 15W charger.

User Experience
Holding the Nexus in my hands, the subtle curvature on the edges help me hold it naturally. While it may not be as ergonomic as, say, the Mate S or Zenfone 2, it fits very well in my reasonably large hands. The 178 gram that it weighs offers a stable feel in hand. With its rather substantial size, getting a proper hold of it is a very important factor to ensure that the phone stays in your hand and not hit the floor every other time you hold it.

With the fingerprint sensor, I doubt anyone will use the power button. The one here is fast and accurate, but loses out in terms of features when compared to the Mate S which puts the fingerprint sensor to good use as a shutter key, for swiping through photos in the gallery and more.

When we talk about any Nexus’ user experience, we are actually talking about what Google intended us to experience in Android. Google, not the OEMs. The pure Android 6.0 Marshmallow UI is rather light on features, but that does result in a smooth experience. The default launcher is the Google Now launcher, which offers quick access to Google Now but lacks the customizability of other third party launchers. All the built-in apps here are Google Apps, which can be downloaded from the Play Store. The notification shade is brought over from Android 5.0 Lollipop, which means the dual-staged quick settings-notification is here again. Overall, using the Nexus 6P is like a dream, with no stutters or lags experienced anywhere at all.

The camera was always the weak point of previous Nexus devices. The 6P changes that and in fact brings in a camera that is actually capable of matching if not beating the recent slew of flagships. Instead of joining the megapixel race, the 6P goes with a bigger is better ideology and incorporates a Sony Exmor R IMX377 12.3MP 1/2.3″ sensor, a pretty huge sensor to cram into a smartphone, especially one that is only 7.3 mm thick. There is even a laser autofocus system hidden under that black glass panel. Yes, the camera lacks OIS, but the omission is not missed at all thanks to the huge 1.55 µm pixels, as you can see for yourself in the shots I have taken with the 6P. Selfies are handled by an 8MP sensor.

The camera UI doesn’t need a lot of explanation. You get a huge shutter button, another big button below it for you to swap between the front and back camera, some icons at the top which lets you pick whether you need a timer, HDR+ or the flash and last but not least a shortcut to the gallery. Swipe up (or right) and you will enter video mode. I like the dedicated video mode as it allows you to judge the field of view of your video. Pressing the menu button offers access to the Photo Sphere, Panorama and Lens Blur mode. The camera settings is also accessed through this menu but the settings are about as minimal as they can get. This is a true point and shoot. If you really need more control over your shot, you can use third party apps which will make use of the Camera2 API which offer support for manual controls.

The quality of the shots taken with the 6P is just superb. I keep the HDR+ on all the time as it doesn’t really affect the shot-to-shot times much. Shots come out with great dynamic range, and I just love the noise control of the 6P even in low light. The features may be sparse but the fact that it is able to shoot such great images without any tweaking of settings may make any manual controls counter-productive in the end. Check the full-sized samples here.
The 6P pumps out the sound waves through front-facing stereo speakers. That is the only logical position for speakers as having them on the back or on the sides are just setting them up to be blocked somehow or another. They are as loud as they are clear, but they do distort a little bit at maximum volume. Bass is lacking but that is to be expected from such tiny speakers. Plug in a pair of earphones and you will be able to tune the output to your liking with the built-in equalizer in the Play Music app. The 6P’s 3.5 mm output is great and capable of driving my earphones and headphones but you may have to turn it up a notch higher than you usually do with other phones.

The 5.7″ 1440p AMOLED display panel is great. While I still hold on to my stance that there is literally no observable difference between 1440p and 1080p, the color output of the panel here is just superb. I use the sRGB mode which makes the saturation a tad lower. While the sRGB mode may make the screen look dull immediately after you activate it, it actually feels more comfortable and natural to look at after you get used to the less saturated colors. Viewing angles are wide, the blacks are true, all characteristics of an AMOLED panel.

I don’t usually talk about the USB port of the smartphones I review, but this time, it’s a Type-C port. Is it really worthy of all that hype? I found it great that I never had to feel for the little stubs on the microUSB connector again before plugging it into my phone, but I did notice that I can’t use ANY of my pre-existing cables. That also means trouble when you are out and low on juice. Unless you have the privilege of being surrounded friends with Nexus 6Ps and 5Xs, chances are they won’t carry around a Type-A to Type-C cable. You really have to carry your own powerbank or at the very least carry the cable to borrow their powerbanks for a quick charge. With that said, with the 6P I rarely had to use a powerbank. Speaking of a quick charge, the Nexus 6P does support fast charging with its included 15W charger. Connecting the 6P to a computer with the included 30 cm short Type-A to Type-C cable is also quite convenient, as long as you use a laptop. If you use a desktop PC with the USB ports in the middle of the case, you may have to let your 6P hang precariously from the cable.

Conclusion
The Nexus 6P is a proper wholesome flagship smartphone and represents what the Nexus brand should have been from the very first day. While the previous Nexus may have placed performance first and everything else later, the Nexus 6P offers everything any smartphone user will need in a very compelling package. Great performance and premium design are often expected from a flagship, and oh does the Nexus 6P deliver on those fronts. The price tag of RM2698 is very worth it if you intend to spend some time and take advantage of the massive developer community for this phone, but even if you aren’t interested in meddling with the device and using it as is, the 6P is still worth considering. I will award the 6P our highest level of recommendation, the Gold Pokdeward. The Nexus 6P represents what a proper flagship Android smartphones should be. Great performance, premium design.

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Sennheiser CX 400BT Review — Decent Audio At A Hefty Price

In this Sennheiser CX 400BT review, we take a look the company’s offering that claims to provide “superior sound, tailored for you”. Let’s see if it is indeed as impressive as they say.
Unboxing
Sennheiser CX 400BT review – Unboxing
Take everything out of the box and you can expect to find the following items:
Charging case (earbuds inside)DocumentationsUSB C cableA welcome noteSilicone ear adaptors (XS, S, M, L)
Appearance
Sennheiser CX 400BT review
As you can see, the Sennheiser CX 400BT comes in black and on the front, there’s a slight gap in between the lid and the bottom for you to open it up. Not to forget, the material that they’ve used for it is plastic, which is a bit of a surprise given the price tag.

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Sennheiser CX 400BT review
On the back, you can find the LED indicator which shows the battery life, a USB Type-C port, and also the button that activates the LED light for five seconds.
Sennheiser CX 400BT review
The Sennheiser CX 400BT outer layer is plastic and its touch sensor is located right on the Sennheiser logo.
Sennheiser CX 400BT Specifications
Driver:Sennheiser 7mm dynamic driverFrequency Response:5Hz – 21HzSensitivity:94dBHeadphone Type:True wireless, in-earConnection:Bluetooth 5.1 aptXSBCAACWireless Range:10mNoise-cancelling:N/ABattery:Earbuds7 hoursCharging Case3x charge (20 hours total)Weight:Earbuds6g x 2Charging Case37gColour:BlackIngress Protection:N/A
User Experience
Pairing
Sennheiser CX 400BT review – Pairing
It was surprising to see how easy it was to pair the earbuds to my device where all I had to do is take them out from the case and they’ll light up red and blue (indicating pairing mode). Afterwards, you simply need to pair them with your device via Bluetooth. There’s the Sennheiser Smart Control app available too should you want more control over the earbuds.
Comfort
Sennheiser CX 400BT review – Comfort
Ear size and preference would differ between people, but from my own usage, I found that the tips that’s pre-installed on the buds fit perfectly well with my ears.
Personally, they were quite comfortable and I didn’t feel any form of fatigue, even after long hours of use. As is the case with the Momentum 2, the charging case for the CX 400BT is a bit too big for my liking. You’d better prepare some space to store them if your pockets aren’t particularly big.
As for the touch controls on the Sennheiser CX 400BT, here’s what they do by default:
Play/pause – 1x tap (left side)Voice assistant– 1x tap (right side)Next track – 2x tap (right side)Previous track – 2x tap (left side)Volume down – Hold down (left side)Volume up – Hold down (right side)
Sennheiser CX 400BT review – Smart Control app
It’s pretty similar with the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 for the gestures as well as on the Smart Control app. Should you happen to not like the preset, you can adjust them accordingly and set it to your liking via the app, which is a nice touch.
Sound
Sennheiser CX 400BT review – Sound
Without changing any of the settings, the first thing that I noticed is that the volume of the earbuds is incredible low. I’d need to turn up my smartphone’s volume up to 90% to get the usual volume that I’d listen to. This means that you’ll need to manually turn up the volume by holding the right earbud for a few seconds.
The Sennheiser CX 400BT uses the same 7mm dynamic drivers as the one that we’ve reviewed previously, and I feel that it offers the complete package when it comes to audio quality. Personally, I tweaked the EQ to be on the higher treble side for my metal and rock songs.
Battery Life
Sennheiser CX 400BT review – Battery
For the earbuds themselves, it seems that Sennheiser managed to fulfill their promise of 7 hours on a single charge. While I didn’t specifically managed to hit that target, it was rather close as I got roughly 6 and a half hours from them, which I consider to be the standard these days.
As for the charging case, it would’ve been nice for it to offer more hours, considering the bulky size, but maybe that’s just me. Aside from that, the case lacks wireless charging capabilities, which isn’t a dealbreaker but would have been nice to have.
Conclusion
Sennheiser CX 400BT review – Verdict
At the end of the day, the Sennheiser CX 400BT takes some of the features from the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 that we’ve reviewed previously without certain features like Active Noise Cancelling (ANC), Transparent Hearing, and the charging case design. Coming with a price tag of RM1,069, it’s kind of hard to justify the price difference between the two, especially with a substantial difference of RM429.
The Sennheiser CX 400BT does offer you the same customization options and similar sound performance with the Momentum 2. However, I feel that they could’ve added more features to make it a worthwhile purchase. Moreover, it would’ve been nicer if it came with a lower price tag given what it offers.
We would like to thank Sennheiser Malaysia for providing the Sennheiser CX 400BT that was used in this review.
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Facebook to Rename Instagram and WhatsApp to the Worst Thing Possible

It’s no secret now that Facebook owns both Instagram and WhatsApp now. These three are some of the most commonly used platforms by people across the globe. Despite the acquisition, the two platforms still operated independently. Now, it appears that the parent company want a bit more acknowledgement with the two platforms.
Facebook will be looking to rename both Instagram and WhatsApp. The rebranding activity will result in the two platforms renamed to, and I am not joking when I say this, “Instagram from Facebook” and “WhatsApp from Facebook”.

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The reason for this is because the social media giant desires its ownership to be in perspective. A Facebook spokesperson told The Information, “Our experts desire to be more clear concerning the products and services that are part of Facebook”. They have a grand vision of a hooked up messaging unit in between Facebook, Instagram, as well as WhatsApp. The new named will show up in Apple’s App Store and also Google Play.
It’s said the name will only be see on the App Store, Play Store, and login web pages. Apart from that, no new component from Facebook will be integrated to the two platforms. Previously, we saw the addition of Instagram Stories and WhatsApp Status, which worked similarly to Snapchat.
There may be more coming to all platforms in the near future, especially with rumours of WhatsApp having a brand new system which allows for use with multiple devices. We’ll be reporting more on that as soon as information becomes available.
Source: Tech Acrobat
Pokdepinion: I swear, it’s the worst possible name you could have. It’s like an overly jealous / paranoid partner wanting to make sure people know who their partner is with. Might as well just unify everything then.
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Big Savings on Christmas and New Year — Flash Plus 2 now only at RM479

In conjunction with Christmas and New Year grand sale on Lazada, Flash Malaysia now offering the best savings throughout the whole year of 2016 for Christmas and stepping into the new year. This is your last chance in 2016 to get Flash Plus 2 at a fantastic deal with our back-to-back, Christmas and New Year online promotion which started from December 24th, 2016 to January 5th, 2017.
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The 2GB, 16GB internal memory of Flash Plus 2 which previously priced at RM599 is now priced at only RM479. Meanwhile the higher end model of Flash Plus 2 with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal memory is now at RM599, previously at RM729. The Flash Plus 2 is available in two attractive colors – Luna Silver and Venus Gold.

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The Flash Plus 2 features a premium metal body at an affordable price. Its key features include Flash Charge, Front Fingerprint Sensor and Hi Fi system. The Flash Plus 2 also capable to charge 50% in just 30 minutes with the Flash Charge technology. Powered by MediaTek Helio P10 and 3000mAh battery provide the best user experience and full day usage without any difficulty.

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HUAWEI AppGallery Working With Global Partners In Bringing Diversified Local Apps

In case you’ve missed the HUAWEI Developer Conference 2020, HUAWEI has updated on their HUAWEI AppGallery, offering diversity for 490 million monthly active users in over 170 countries.
HUAWEI AppGallery ecosystem

HUAWEI has said that within the first half of 2020, user app downloads has reached 261 billion on the HUAWEI AppGallery, with over 96,000 applications have been integrated into the HMS Core platform.
Partners are joining AppGallery, utilizing HUAWEI’s technology as well as HMS Core, with the latter helps accelerate app innovation and elevate user experience as claimed by HUAWEI.

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In moving forward, HUAWEI plans to continue to expand developer services. HUAWEI is also building three global ecosystem cooperation labs in Russia, Poland, and Germany respectively to serve global developers. Aside from that, Malaysia, Romania, Egypt, Mexico, and Rusia will see service centers to be established to provide local services and platforms to help developers.
If you are interested, you can check out the HUAWEI Developer website by heading to the link right here.
Pokdepinion: Let’s just hope they can bring in more apps that users can enjoy!
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ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD Review — an office PC you would want to use

The ASUSPRO lineup of laptops and desktops designed for enterprise use have now evolved into the ASUS Expert series with ASUS ExpertBook laptops and ASUS ExpertCenter desktops. We have previously looked at the ASUS ExpertBook P5440, which proved to be an excellent machine for on-the-go use, and today we will be checking out their ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD, a compact desktop that’s actually more interesting than the phrase “commercial PC” would have you think. Do note that our sample comes with the ASUS ExpertPC branding, but ASUS has confirmed that they will be renaming the lineup as the ASUS ExpertCenter series soon.
In the Box

I skipped the boxes because they are as boring as the words “commercial PC”. Luckily the contents are a lot more interesting though. You get a basic membrane keyboard, a simple three-button mouse, my favorite kind of WiFi antenna, i.e. the magnetic kind, a power cable and of course the usual documentation that you would get with a new PC.

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The keyboard feels as good as a basic office keyboard can be, but the placement of the Sleep, Wake and Power buttons above the PrtSc button got me waving my fists at the screen multiple times as I accidentally put the system to sleep when all I wanted to do was to take a screenshot. Couldn’t ASUS have put the power buttons anywhere else on the keyboard?
Just enough flair to make it interesting

As an office PC, you would be right to assume that the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD will sport a tame design. With that said, I do think that the contrasting textures do give it quite a nice, classy look. For some reason, there are some slots above the ASUS logo, but they aren’t connected to any card readers. The USB ports above it are connected, but we will take a closer look at that in a moment.

The motherboard in this case is inverted. In fact most of the things are very different from a conventional PC build. The expansion cards are situated over at the top end of the case. You get a LAN port, two PS/2 ports in case you are still hung up on them old peripherals (or your boss is), display outputs and of course the usual trio of 3.5mm audio jacks. Interestingly there’s a DisplayPort output on the motherboard, while the graphics card doesn’t. We will touch more on that later.

ASUS definitely made sure that they aren’t going to be selling an oven disguised as a PC to unsuspecting enterprise users. There’s plenty of perforation here to make sure that the components in it can breathe, even though there really isn’t that much heat to be produced by these parts in the first place. Interestingly there are no intake and exhaust for airflow through the chassis, with the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD relying solely on coolers mounted directly onto the components themselves.
ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD Specifications

CPU
Intel Core i5 9400 @ 3.0 GHz (up to 4.4 GHz Boost), 6C/6T, 65W TDP, 14nm

RAM
16GB (2 x 8GB) 2666 MHz DDR4
(upgradeable up to 64GB (16GB x 4))

GPU
NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 2GB GDDR5

Storage
256GB Kingston M.2 PCIe 3.0 x2 NVMe SSD
2TB 3.5″ Toshiba 7200RPM HDD
Slim type DVD-RW ODD
(upgradeable with 1 x 3.5″ HDD)

Software
Windows 10 Pro
MyASUS
ASUS Business Manager
AudioWizard

Connectivity
Intel Wireless-AC 9462 (WiFi 802.11ac 1×1)
Bluetooth 5.0
Front:
1 x Type C (USB 3.0, 5 Gbps)
4 x USB 3.1 (10 Gbps)
2 x USB 2.0
Rear:
1 x RJ45 LAN
4 x USB 3.0
1 x PS/2 (keyboard)
1 x PS/2 (mouse)
2 x HDMI
1 x DisplayPort
1 x D-sub (VGA port)
1 x DVI-D
3 x audio jacks

Audio
Front:
1 x 3.5mm Headphone
1 x 3.5mm Microphone
Rear:
1 x 3.5mm Line-in
1 x 3.5mm Line-out
1 x 3.5mm Mic-in

Power
1 x 300W (80+ Platinum)

Dimensions
145 x 276.6 x 342.4 mm

Weight
6.0 kg

Performance
          CrystalDiskMark – SSD            CrystalDiskMark – HDD
ASUS crammed in a good amount of storage in the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD. There’s a 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD mounted on the motherboard, along with a 2TB 3.5″ SATA HDD. Neither the M.2 drive nor the SATA drive rank among the fastest we have seen, but since the system boots up in mere seconds, I don’t think there’s any reason to complain in the first place.

The Core i5-9500 is also pretty strong. While it is no match for the higher-end gaming laptops and desktops, the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD here definitely boasts of more than sufficient grunt for office work.
          3DMark Time Spy: 1277            Superposition: 973
You can even pull off a bit of gaming with the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD thanks to the GeForce GT 1030 graphics. DOTA 2 and CS:GO would be valid choices, although more graphically intensive titles would be beyond the capabilities of this low-profile graphics card.

PCMark is probably a more appropriate benchmark for it, and it does look pretty good for all the tests. As you might expect, the system does exceptionally well in the Essentials and Productivity category.
Thermals are also very well controlled, with the CPU only warming up to 64°C while the GT 1030 hit 62°C during a 3DMark Time Spy run. That’s kinda expected as there’s plenty of room in the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD to allow for heat to be dissipated easily, not to mention that half the side panel is essentially just a big mesh.
User Experience
So while I may not be your usual desk jockey sifting through documents and spreadsheets day in, day out, I can appreciate a good office PC when I see one. And the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD is a pretty excellent example of that.
Purposefully designed

Unlike other run-of-the-mill PCs, the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD is very clear optimized for an office environment. All the USB 2.0 ports are sent to the back, while the fast USB 3.0 and 10 Gbps USB 3.0 are routed to the front, making it easier for you to plug in any storage media and quickly transfer files. With a normal PC case, you would have up to four USB ports on the front panel, but you get seven here, including the USB-C port. Clearly ASUS being a motherboard manufacturer helps when it comes to this level of specialization, but it shows the amount of thought that went into the design of this system as a whole.
Plugging devices into the USB ports yields a hollow plastic “thunk” noise, but that’s just because behind the plastic fascia lies a relatively large gap between it and the metal chassis. It should be able to withstand daily abuse without any issues, although I do not recommend abusing your office PC. PCs have feelings too.

Since we already checked out the nice exterior, I just had to open it up. ASUS obviously put a lot of thought into this, and the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD actually sports thumbscrews for a tool-less experience. The internal layout is also very nice, as you can see. ASUS designed the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD to allow for easy upgrades in the storage department. There’s very effective use of space without blocking airflow, although there’s actually no airflow through the case per se. You get coolers mounted directly onto the CPU and GPU, and that’s it. The CPU fan features what looks like a custom fan slapped onto an Intel stock cooler, and a shroud ensures that all the hot air is exhausted from the case rather than left to warm up the insides.

The entire storage compartment swings out to give you easy access to the storage drives. It also opens up to let you upgrade the M.2 SSD hiding behind the tray, as well as for easier entry to the RAM slots. One advantage of this design is that you cram a lot more hardware into a lot less space, as ASUS has proven here with the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD.
Though I must say what I like the most about the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD is that it accepts all standard-sized stuff. No need to search for rare M.2 2230 SSDs or high-density SO-DIMMs, as it supports standard 3.5″ drives, standard M.2 2280 SSDs and standard 288-pin DDR4 UDIMM. It makes sourcing for upgrades or replacing faulty components much more painless than your standard pre-built. Now I am not sure if other OEMs do the same, but I am definitely glad that ASUS is doing this.

What I like less is that while there are connectors ready for you to throw in another SATA drive, ASUS didn’t throw in the power cables for it. ASUS is using a custom motherboard design, where the power supply is only connected to the motherboard, and power is routed through the motherboard to the components. Probably for space-saving reasons, ASUS is not using standard SATA power connectors on the board, instead opting for a custom 4-pin connector that supplies power both the ODD and HDD in one go. ASUS should include the power cables for additional storage drives along with the second HDD Tool-less tray (which actually has different design from the included one) in the box, just to ensure that the IT guy doesn’t have to make a few phone calls to procure cables just to add one more drive to the system.

Speaking of power, you do have quite limited options if you want to upgrade your graphics card to tackle more intensive workloads than the GeForce GT 1030 can handle. There are no PCIe power connectors, so any card that you want to run in this system has to fit under the 75W limit that the PCIe slot has. The GeForce GTX 1650 is the fastest card I know that can be gotten without a PCIe power connector, so there’s your cap there. There’s also the height limit, as while ASUS built the chassis to support full-height PCIe brackets, there isn’t enough room for full-height cards as the storage door closes down into the case near the end of the graphics card. There are some low profile cards in the market, so if GPUs get more efficient in the coming years, you might be able to upgrade the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD into a casual gaming PC so you can game work on intense GPU-based workloads in the future.
Easily managed
One of the key features of a commercial PC is that it has to offer some form of manageability. And while ASUS has built the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD to MIL-STD 810G standards, you would still have to be able to monitor the system status. That’s where ASUS Business Manager comes in as it allows to easily monitor your system, get updates and even configure power management. Now once you scale up your business, there also the ASUS Control Center for a centralized IT management suite, but we didn’t get to play around with that.
          ASUS Business Manager            ASUS AudioWizard            MyASUS
Those who are accustomed to ASUS’ more consumer-oriented products will find MyASUS more familiar. That’s the simpler management tool. And of course, there’s also AudioWizard because nobody’s working without some tunes.

There’s one thing I wish ASUS had thought about though: allowing the use of the iGPU for multi-monitor setups. As we have seen earlier, there are actually more display outputs on the motherboard than on the graphics card itself, so letting you use the iGPU is a no-brainer to open up the avenue of a serious multi-monitor workstation powered by the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD. It’s a simple toggle of the iGPU Multi-Monitor option in the BIOS settings, but it would have been a lot better if it was enabled straight out of the box.
Conclusion
The ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD is a nice, compact desktop PC that’s perfect for the modern office environment. I really don’t see that many flaws aside from the fact that it can support upgradable storage but ASUS decided to exclude the parts you need to upgrade it. Maybe this is a commercial-level thing that I am unfamiliar with, but I do like my pre-built PCs with all the additional attachments needed to take full advantage of whatever upgradeability they offer.

Pricing for the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD varies, with it being customizable to your specific needs. It is, after all, a commercial desktop, and every client will have different needs and thus ASUS allows you to mix and match from a variety of CPU, GPU, RAM and storage options. The absolute base models starts from RM1249, which is quite a deal for what I find to be a very well optimized design. Of course it scales up quite a bit once you throw in the bells and whistles. Overall, I really enjoyed using the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD as an office PC, and if I were to get one, I would start looking for a low-profile GPU too, but that’s just me.

Our thanks to ASUS Malaysia for sending us the ASUS ExpertCenter D641MD for review.
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OPPO A57 offered as interesting combo with Digi Malaysia

OPPO Malaysia and Digi are teaming up to offer a rather interesting offer. A new OPPO A57 Digi Postpaid Plan has been designed specially for O-fans who are Digi’s fans at the same time. So, technically speaking, if you’re an O-fan and a D-fan, and the OPPO A57 is something that you have been eyeing on, then this one has been constructed specifically for you.
If you have already subscribed to Digi for a year and above, you can sign up for Digi Postpaid 138 plan and enjoy a FREE OPPO A57 phone. If you’re not yet a subscriber, you will have to pay an advance payment which is refundable, along with a 1 month advance payment depending on the package of your choice.

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OPPO A57 Digi Postpaid Plan

P78 – 6GB (Weekdays) + 6GB (Weekends) = 12GB (Device Price: RM399.00)
P108 – 9GB (Weekdays) + 9GB (Weekends) = 18GB (Device Price: RM99.00)
P138 – 12GB (Weekdays) + 12GB (Weekends) = 24GB (Free device)

If you’re wondering about the details on the OPPO A57, we have mentioned about it here and here in the past. Do check them out. It has a 16MP front camera and 13MP rear camera, making is a selfie-centric smartphone, so all you selfie lovers, you should totally check this device out!
It’s available in Gold and Rose Gold colours. Head over to Digi’s website to find out more.
Pokdepinion: I think Oppo has some pretty beautiful devices around. They’re practical and are easy to use. Now you have a reason to try one too if you’re a Digi subscriber. I personally still adore their R9s.
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honor View 10 Coming To Malaysia – Pre-order Starts This January 8th!

Previously we had a glimpse of honor’s View 10 during their honor 7X launching, now the device will be officially coming to our shores this January.
honor View 10 Pre-order
honor is officially bringing in their honor View10 smartphone which packs quite a few flagship features with a mid-range price tag. To further sweeten the deal, for the first 1000 pre-orders starting this 8th January, honor is throwing in RM699 worth of gifts which include a honor band A2 and a Final Fantasy redemption card.

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The honor View10’s main selling point must be its high-end Kirin 970. Shared with the latest HUAWEI Mate 10 devices, it offers a decent punch with its octa-core CPU and 12-core Mali-G72 GPU. Mated to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, the honor View10 is designed for the power users among us. AI is also a mainstay of this device thanks to the dedicated NPU to accelerate AI-related tasks.
Worth noting is that while the Mate 10 was HUAWEI’s first foray into AI, honor has a longer history dabbling with AI. Ever since the honor Magic honor was already messing around with AI to improve the user experience of their devices. The honor View10 takes it a step further, integrating AI into daily applications like real-time translation and camera scene recognition.

Speaking of the camera, you will be looking at the world through the 20MP monochrome + 16MP RGB sensors behind f/1.8 apertures. There is no Leica logo here though, unlike the top dogs from HUAWEI. The honor View10 can automatically recognize 13 different scenes and objects to give you the best shot with minimal effort.
Keeping the lights on is a 3750 mAh battery with honor SuperCharge technology. The honor View10 will be available in Black and Blue, for just RM2099. Availability starts this 12th January.
Pokdepinion: The honor View10 pretty much renders the HUAWEI Mate 10 Pro obsolete. Unless you desperately need IP67 water proofing, or just have an extra RM1000 to spend. Heck, it even comes with a 3.5mm jack that the Mate 10 Pro lacks.
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Experience Innovation and Excitement at ZOTAC’s Booth at COMPUTEX 2023

ZOTAC Technology is making a triumphant return to COMPUTEX 2023, ready to showcase its unwavering commitment to innovation. The exhibition will serve as a platform for ZOTAC to unveil a range of cutting-edge ZBOX Mini PC products, along with an impressive lineup of business-to-business solutions. Moreover, the booth will feature an exciting collaboration with Sony Animation’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, presenting state-of-the-art graphics cards alongside stunning PC builds inspired by the movie.
Introducing the ZBOX PI430AJ with AirJet: The World’s First Solid-State Active-Cooled Mini-PC

At the forefront of ZOTAC’s COMPUTEX 2023 booth will be the live demonstration of the world’s smallest Mini PC, equipped with the revolutionary AirJet solid-state active-cooling solution. This groundbreaking technology by Frore System is a game-changer, enabling the ZBOX PI430AJ to deliver exceptional performance within a tiny, pocket-sized PC.

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With the AirJet Minis efficiently dissipating heat through rapid airflow, the PI430AJ sets new standards for thermal limits and performance. Powered by an Intel® Core i3 processor, 8GB LPDDR5 memory, and an M.2 SSD storage slot, this mini-PC packs a punch.
ZBOX E Series with GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs

With the launch of the next-generation GeForce RTX 40-series GPUs, driven by the cutting-edge NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture, ZOTAC’s enthusiast ZBOX lineup is receiving a thrilling upgrade. The all-new MAGNUS ONE, equipped with the latest generation Intel Core socketed processor and a GeForce RTX 4070 desktop graphics card, takes performance for gamers and content creators to new heights.
Additionally, the MAGNUS EN series is now enhanced with the GeForce RTX 4070 laptop graphics card. Both machines offer exceptional performance while occupying minimal desktop space. Visitors to the booth will also get a chance to witness the special MAGNUS ONE in a stunning white colorway.
ZOTAC AI Solutions
Recognizing the growing demand for AI applications in edge computing, ZOTAC offers a comprehensive range of hardware solutions that emphasize round-the-clock performance, longevity, scalability, and modularity. At COMPUTEX 2023, ZOTAC’s booth will showcase the latest computing solutions with a focus on AI applications. Among them are the ARM-based NVIDIA Jetson solutions, which provide cost-effective, power-efficient, and 24/7 operation units suitable for AIoT applications and digital signage.
The ZBOX PRO Mini PC line offers embedded solutions with rich expansion capabilities, making them ideal for projects requiring specialized hardware. ZOTAC also offers a wide selection of NVIDIA Embedded MXM GPU modules that deliver exceptional graphical performance in challenging industrial conditions.
Join ZOTAC in Celebrating Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Prepare to be amazed as ZOTAC’s booth transforms into a hub of superhero excitement with the ZOTAC “POWER THE HERO IN YOU” campaign, in celebration of the upcoming release of Sony Animation’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The booth will feature exclusive Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse inspired Graphics Card bundles and two awe-inspiring custom PC builds adorned with ZOTAC GAMING GPUs.
Don’t miss the opportunity to witness ZOTAC’s relentless pursuit of innovation and limitless possibilities at Booth No. M1120, 4/F, NANGANG Exhibition Hall, from May 30 to June 2
Source
Pokdepinion: A part of me is hoping the ZBOX would officially make its way to Malaysia sooner rather than later. Getting something that compact but still packing a lot of firepower is just amazing.
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Mixer Is Shutting Down And That Could See Shroud And Ninja’s Return To Twitch

Microsoft has recently announced that they will be shutting of Mixer, the company’s very own livestreaming service that was founded back in 2016. This could mean we could possibly see the return of both Shroud and Ninja to Twitch.
Mixer is shutting down
As part of their plans, it seems that Microsoft has partnered with Facebook Gaming where they aim to bring their Mixer users to the platform. According to reports, it appears that both Shroud and Ninja were offered a substantial amount of money by Facebook to join their platform but have accepted a buyout from Microsoft instead.
With that decision, it will allow both of them to freely choose to sign which platform on which they would like to stream on and it could mean a return back to Twitch.

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Ninja’s Mixer response
Ninja took to his Twitter to respond to the news that Mixer is shutting down. As you can see, he states that he “have some decisions to make and will be thinking about you (his fans) all as I make them”. Shroud on the other hand didn’t seem to response to the issue, at least at the time of writing.
It is reported that Ninja has made roughly $30 million at Mixer while Shroud himself made a lower $10 million over their time on the streaming platform.
Source
Pokdepinion: To be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of Ninja… Shroud is more entertaining for me. It would however be interesting to see what their decision will be and where they will end up. A grand return to Twitch?
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Xiaomi Malaysia Host A-MAZE-ing Mi 8 Lite Event

Xiaomi has today hosted their A-MAZE-ing Mi 8 Lite event in Subang Jaya today, where they promoted the features of their latest smartphone, the Mi 8 Lite.
Xiaomi A-MAZE-ing Mi 8 Lite

Xiaomi set up their own maze to showcase the features of the Mi 8 Lite, where it comes with a gradient design, a first for the company. We were pitted against other medias where everyone got into groups of five and the winning group wins the device for themselves. Sadly for us, we didn’t win it.

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Aimed for the younger generation, the Mi 8 Lite represents itself as an affordable option in the Mi 8 family lineup. The device features a 24MP that uses a Sony IMX576 sensor. Other than that, it offers a 6.2-inch LCD FHD+ display with a 19:9 screen-to-body ratio. Under the hood, it packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 and a 3400mAh battery. At the back, it sports a dual 12MP+5MP camera setup with AI capabilities.
The 4GB/64GB variant is available for RM999 while the 6GB/128GB is selling at the price tag of RM1,299. If you would like to know more on the Mi 8 Lite, you can check out on our full hands on review right here.
Pokdepinion: I’m just sad that I didn’t won one for myself :(
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New Nintendo Switch Model Coming Next Year

We’ve heard rumours for a while now that Nintendo is working on a newer model for the Nintendo Switch, which could come with some improved hardware (not necessarily just for performance). Now, we have a confirmation.
It appears that The Wall Street Journal has reported that a new, updated Nintendo Switch console will indeed be coming sometime in 2019.

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According to them, Nintendo wants to boost sales momentum for their newest gaming console, which has since started to slow down a bit since its debut. This new model is expected to share many features with the existing model and be compatible with existing games on the hardware.
Nintendo is said to still be debating on what new hardware and software features to include in this new mode. One of the major considerations is on the display, which is said to be upgraded to something found similarly in today’s smartphone LCDs, which would “make it brighter. thinner, and more energy-efficient.”
In other words, there are no confirmed details yet as to what this new model will come with at the moment. Details are bound to pop up sooner or later so we’ll just have to wait and see.
Source: Kotaku / WSJ
Pokdepinion: As much as I am a fan of innovation, I hope the changes aren’t so significant that it would warrant an upgrade on my end. Then again, I would miss out on Super Smash Bros Ultimate if I didn’t buy it early so I guess you win some, you lose some.
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Nothing ear (1) promises pure sound and 5.7 hours of listening time for £99

Nothing, the brand helmed by the ex-founder of OnePlus, Carl Pei, has finally announced the Nothing ear (1), their first product. The Nothing ear (1) is yet another true wireless earbuds, but with a rather interesting transparent design that shows off the inner workings of the earbuds.

Each earbuds come a 11.6mm graphene-based dynamic drivers, which ranks as some of the bigger drivers out there. Bigger drivers bode well for punchier bass, but Nothing claims that the team at Teenage Engineering tuned the software and hardware of the Nothing ear (1) for a balanced, pure sound. The earbuds are also sweat and splash-resistant, ensuring that they will survive even a hardcore, sweat-drenched workout.

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Like most recent TWS earbuds, the Nothing ear (1) will feature ANC capability, powered by three mics. The level of noise cancellation is adjustable to better suit your environment, and there’s also a Transparency mode, which sounds similar to the Ambient mode that most ANC earbuds offer nowadays. I guess Transparency was a pun on the design? The multiple microphones are also put to work for the Clear Voice Technology, which removes background noise for clearer calls.

The ear (1) App also allows for EQ adjustments, gesture control customization as well as other features like in-ear detection and fast pairing. Nothing will be connecting to your device via Bluetooth 5.2 with the AAC codec. Each charge will provide for up to 5.7 hours of listening time, or a total of 34 hours with the case. The case supports fast charging, with a 10-minutes charge promising 8 hours of juice. It also supports Qi wireless charging.

Nothing will be selling the ear (1) at £99 (~RM581) starting 31st July. In typical OnePlus fashion, the Nothing ear (1) will be offered via a limited drop on nothing.tech. Open sales will begin on 17th August in 45 regions. Malaysians can’t join the limited drop, but you can check out the landing page for Malaysia, which means that it might be coming to Malaysia soon.
Pokdepinion: Not sure how good these sound, but they sure look amazing.
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Win A New OPPO Reno2 And Enco Free By Simply Working Out At Home

We’ve got one more week to go for MCO, or at least if it doesn’t get extended even further. Some may find nothing to do.. Well to help with that, OPPO Malaysia will be hosting a fitness challenge where you can win a brand new OPPO Reno2 and OPPO Enco Free.
OPPO Home FitnessXplorer Challenge
In this Home FitnessXplorer Challenge, there’s a chance where you can win 4 units of OPPO Reno2 and 7 units of OPPO Enco Free that’s up for grabs.

The challenge will run starting from tomorrow, 8th of April until the 14th April on a daily basis at 6.30pm. It will include workouts such as tabata, HIIT, yoga, endurance and more.

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So how exactly do you stand a chance in winning? The Home FitnessXplorer will have a daily challenge. Doing this daily challenges will earn you a OPPO Enco Free that’s worth RM199. Complete all seven challenges, well that entitles you to get the OPPO Reno2, worth RM1,999.
To join, you can simply follow the steps below:
Record your fitness challenge videoUpload the video to your Facebook or Instagram account with the caption “Stay healthy for Yourself, Stay home for Malaysia”Include the hashtags #OPPOHomeXplorer #StayHomeStayHealthy #SelectedDayXplorerChallenge (e.g #Day1XplorerChallenge)Tag 3 friends to do the challenge
Pokdepinion: Think you’re fit enough? You’d be looking at a huge sum of money’s worth if you win.
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Blizzard to Address The Future for Overwatch, Diablo, and More at BlizzCon 2018

If you’re a fan of Overwatch, Warcraft, or any of the popular franchises under Blizzard, then this is definitely something you’d want to take note of. BlizzCon 2018 will indeed be happening, starting at the Blizzard Arena in Los Angeles, and then the main event at the Anaheim Convention Center.
The full schedule for BlizzCon 2018 has been published, which will see a number of panels hosted, such as on Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Hearthstone, and more.

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Diablo especially seems to be in the spotlight this year, as the studio previously indicated that it would reveal a number of plans it has in store for the franchise, which may end up being the reveal of a new entry in the series. The most recent Diablo-related game release is Diablo III: Eternal Collection which is coming to the Nintendo Switch this November.

Once again, Blizzard will be holding BlizzCon 2018 at the Blizzard Arena in Los Angeles for its opening week from 25th October to 29th October 2018, followed by the main event at the Anaheim Convention Center from 2nd to 3rd November 2018.
For a complete look at the convention’s schedule, click right here to check it out.
Pokdepinion: Aside from E3 and Tokyo Game Show, this actually ranks pretty high in my “conventions I want to visit” list. Maybe one day, maybe next year, who knows.
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HUAWEI Watch Fit Review – Affordable and Reliable

Unboxing the HUAWEI Watch Fit
HUAWEI Watch Fit review – Box

We kickoff our HUAWEI Watch Fit review with the unboxing. It’s a rather compact box, something you’d expect from a small gadget rather than a watch in my opinion. Inside it, you will find the following items:
HUAWEI Watch Fit review – Box content

Quick start guide
Warranty card
Magnetic charging cable
The HUAWEI Watch Fit itself

Appearance
HUAWEI Watch Fit review
For our review unit, we got the HUAWEI Watch Fit with Graphite Black Silicone Strap instead of the Sakura Pink variant. The face is rectangular, and seems to be in the middle ground between a regular smartwatch and a fitness band given its width. It has a plastic body, albeit a decent quality plastic, and silicone strap. This makes it suitable if you want to use it for workouts.
HUAWEI Watch Fit review – Side button
You get a 1.64-inch AMOLED display with touchscreen support. As far as navigation goes, you will be relying on the touchscreen and the side button, which this smartwatch only has one on the right side.

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HUAWEI Watch Fit review – Back
Moving over to the back, you get to see the a bunch of words here, such as the model number. This is also the side that will come into contact with the magnetic charger to juice it up. You can get a good feel of its plastic body here, and I’m glad that they’re not using some cheap plastic with questionable build quality. Ultimately, it’s still plastic but it’s definitely one of the better ones out there.
HUAWEI Watch Fit review – Black silicone strap
As for the silicone strap, it certainly indicates that it’s suitable for workouts. There’s nothing wrong with wearing it everyday, but it’s definitely not one to be used if you’re wearing something more formal. If you want to change the strap, there’s a little groove on the back that is used to lock the strap in place. Just unlock that, place the new strap, lock it again, and you’re good to go.
Overall, the HUAWEI Watch Fit is one of the better ones for fitness in terms of design and build quality. It doesn’t look like anything too geeky, and it can be used casually as well. If you want something for health, but don’t want it to look too much like a fitness band, this is most likely the best choice.
Looking to pair this with a good HUAWEI smartphone? Check out our review of the HUAWEI P40 Pro by clicking right here.
HUAWEI Watch Fit Specifications

Display
1.64″ 456 x 280 AMOLED display with touchscreen support

Water resistance
5ATM water-resistant

CPU
DK3.5+ST Microprocessor

Memory
4GB storage

Features
Bluetooth 5.0, Bluetooth LE, magnetic charging port, touchscreen with side button for navigation

Sensors
6-axis IMU sensor (Accelerometer sensor, Gyroscope sensor), optical heart rate sensor, capacitive sensor, ambient light sensor

Battery
180 mAh

Dimensions
21g

User Experience
HUAWEI Watch Fit review – HUAWEI Health app
The HUAWEI Watch Fit is a gadget that you can use on its own. However, it’s full potential will only be unleashed if you connect it to your smartphone with the HUAWEI Health app. Connecting is very easy, as you simply need to activate Bluetooth, search for the smartwatch, connect to it, and the app will take care of it for you. It will take 2-3 minutes at best unless there’s an update available in the first connection.
For those of you who aren’t aware, this smartwatch is using Lite OS, just like plenty of other wearables from the company. It works surprisingly smooth and is generally easy to use thanks to touchscreen navigation, but you also have one side button to use. Moreover, given the fact it’s rather simple in nature rather than being packed with a boatload of features, most people would be able to fully utilize it with ease. It also has 4GB internal storage in case you need to put in more stuff.
HUAWEI Watch Fit review
As for the apps, there isn’t a big variety here. You have a heart rate monitor, weather, stress monitor, workout monitor, remote music control, stopwatch, timer, alarm, flash, and Find Phone. It is capable of alerting you of new notifications and incoming calls as well, which can be muted by tapping the screen and rejected by swiping up. Given the small screen size however, it may be hard to read certain messages in full but it’s still useful to have nonetheless. There’s no option to add more apps so what you see is what you get here but given its affordability, it’s not a dealbreaker.
In case you are wondering, you do not need to use a HUAWEI smartphone to connect with the HUAWEI Watch Fit. You can use this with any Android and iOS device for as long as you have the HUAWEI Health app installed. It can be used on its own but if you want to sync with your device, you will need the app. We do not have an iPhone to test this with but from my experience using it with the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, it works perfectly fine.
HUAWEI Watch Fit review – Watch faces
Unlike apps, there is a good variety of watchfaces available for the HUAWEI Watch Fit. If the pre-installed ones aren’t good enough for you, you can find more on the HUAWEI Health app. I found a more colourful one via the app, but the pre-installed ones aren’t bad. It’s just a matter of personal taste.
HUAWEI Watch Fit review
The primary use of the HUAWEI Watch Fit is for health and fitness. You can track your activities, check your heart rate, stress levels, and use it to track your sleep. While I’m not too sure what to make of the stress levels as the reading seems to vary quite a bit, the heart rate monitor doesn’t fluctuate, so I do believe it has at least some accuracy to it. Furthermore, it doesn’t seem to have any issues tracking my foot steps, even when I walk in varying speeds, so I’m sure this will do the trick for most of you just fine.
HUAWEI Watch Fit review
Battery life is an area that I am very critical with for any gadget. From my own use while having it connected to my Galaxy S20 Ultra, the HUAWEI Watch Fit had about 25% battery life left after one week. This should put the battery life at about 9 days, which is excellent. It’s worth noting that this is without Always-On Display enabled, which is said to cut the battery life in half. Charging time is surprisingly lengthy given its measly 180mAh battery, as it took an hour for it to fully charge.
HUAWEI Watch Fit Verdict
HUAWEI Watch Fit review
The HUAWEI Watch Fit is a simple, yet practical smartwatch that anyone can enjoy. Despite being mostly made up of plastic, the build quality is good, you get a user-friendly UI, 5ATM water resistance, the touchscreen navigation works great, excellent battery life, and all the basic necessities you’d expect from a modern smartwatch today.
However, the charging time is a little bit too lengthy, you can’t add more apps into it, and it’s a little bit pricey at RM499. If it was at least RM100 cheaper, it would definitely attract a bigger crowd, especially those looking for more cost-effective options like the Mi Band series. It’s still worth the money given what it offers but if you simply want a smartwatch, I would rather spend it on HUAWEI’s own TalkBand series instead for practicality.
At the end of our HUAWEI Watch Fit review, I award this smartwatch with our Silver Pokdeward.

Big thanks to HUAWEI Malaysia for sending us this smartwatch for the purposes of this review.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 ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 OC Edition 8GB GDDR6 review — the hallowed middle ground for RTX?

Introduction

Is this the neglected middle child of the GeForce RTX family? The GeForce RTX 2070 takes up its spot as the “baby” of the family, while the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is still the fastest in the GeForce RTX lineup. The GeForce RTX 2080 takes up the middle spot, despite the x80 cards usually launching as flagships instead of coming out as second best from the get go. We have here the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 OC Edition, which is ASUS’ custom edition of the card. What do we have here?
Unboxing

We won’t blame you if you got confused by the ROG Strix GeForce RTX cards’ packaging. The same graphics are featured here on the front, with the only difference being the labeling.

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Aside from the label, if you have seen the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 Ti‘s packaging, you have seen the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080’s. They share all the same features.

In the box, we also find pretty much similar contents, with the exception of the 2x 6-pin PCIe to 1x 8-pin PCIe power adapter. Once again, there are the driver CD, quick guide and velcro cable ties.
Appearance

The design of the ROG Strix graphics card is maintained, but new to the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 are the Axial-tech fans. They feature a new barrier ring, so they look somewhat like frisbees.

On the side, we find the huge GeForce RTX label, which is a part of the thick brace to prevent sagging. This card shares its cooler with the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, so you know it’s one beefy cooler. It takes up 2.7 slots, so make sure you have the room for it. You can also see that this card needs two 8-pin PCIe power connectors to power it.

The back of the card is where you find the illuminated ROG logo as well as some lines which have been a signature of ROG Strix cards for some time.

Two DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.0b, and a USB-C port rounds up the outputs of this card. A matte black finish is used here, a contrast from last generation’s nickel plating.

On the other end, we have some additional connectors. You get a RGB connector, as well as two FanConnect II fan headers.
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Illumination is available via two lightpipes on the front and also on the ROG logo on the back. No addressable RGB lighting here, just standard RGB lighting.
Specifications
ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080

GPU
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (TU104)

Clocks
OC Mode
Boost – 1890 MHz; Base – 1515 MHz
Gaming Mode
Boost – 1860 MHz; Base – 1515 MHz

Cores
2944 CUDA cores

Memory
8GB GDDR6

Memory Clocks
14 000 MHz

Memory Interface
256-bit

Display outputs
2 x DisplayPort 1.4
2 x HDMI 2.0b
1 x USB Type-C

Power connector(s)
2 x 8-pin

Recommended PSU
650W

Multi-GPU support
Yes, NVLink

Dimensions
30.5 x 13.06 x 5.41 cm

The ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 sports clocks significantly higher than even the overclocked NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition. This card takes up a whopping 2.7 slots, so if you have a SFF case, you might be unable to cram this baby in.
Test Machine

CPU
Intel Core i7-5820K @ 4.125 GHz

Motherboard
ROG Rampage V Extreme

Memory
4 x 4GB Kingston HyperX Predator 3000 MHz CL15

Storage
Kimtigo 120GB SSD

Power Supply
Cooler Master V850

Monitor
ASUS VX239H

GPU Driver
GeForce Game Ready Driver 417.35 WHQL

As testing today’s high-end cards at 1080p would be ridiculous, we will be testing them at 4K. As we have yet to have a 4K monitor in the office, we will be using Dynamic Super Resolution (DSR) to simulate 4K.
Testing Methodology
We will be running in-game benchmarks where available, at the specified resolution(s) and at the maximum graphics preset, unless otherwise specified. Average framerates during gameplay will be recorded with Fraps, in the event of a benchmarked game not having an in-game benchmarking tool. Temperatures will be recorded with HWiNFO, and the maximum temperature in a 45-minute long Superposition stress test run will be reported. Fan speeds will be according to the default fan curve as defined by the manufacturer. At 4K we will turn off anti-aliasing (AA) as it is unrealistic and unnecessary to use it at that resolution. The latest drivers available will be used, unless otherwise specified. Default clocks will be used, unless otherwise specified.
Performance
Gaming Performance

The ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is around 20% faster on average, while the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2070 is around 16% slower on average in our testing. 4K gaming with the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 is a lot more plausible, but still you will have to play around with the settings, unlike the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti which will handle games with almost everything turned up at 4K 60 Hz.
Boost/Temperature
The ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 maintains boost clocks of 1950 MHz while temperatures are maintained at a low 66°C. Just like the other two ROG Strix GeForce RTX cards, it runs silently even under full load, so there really are no complaints about the fan noise at all. 0 dB operation is also possible, but the fans just run at nearly 1000 RPM which is ridiculously silent anyway.
User Experience

Part and parcel of sharing the design of the other ROG Strix GeForce RTX cards, there is pretty limited RGB lighting here on the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080. Unfortunately you can’t even individually assign the separate zones.

There are plenty of settings here in GPU Tweak II, and the latest ROG Strix GeForce RTX cards even allows you to tweak the center fan separately from the other two. Tweaking, monitoring, and even the OC Scanner feature is available for some automatic overclocking.

The BIOS switch here also lets you run the cards even quieter than default, without losing any performance, at least theoretically. It only plays with the fan curves rather than lowering the power limit, which is somewhat curious considering the P and Q mode labels.

A quick toggle to turn off the lighting is also here. If you ever decided that your GPU was too flashy and decided you need to turn it off, stat, you can just press this switch. Of course, that’s only possible if you use an open case or bench rig. It’s probably easier to turn it off via software, but to each their own, right?
Conclusion
ASUS is charging RM4699 for the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080. It’s a pretty huge premium over what the competition offer, and they do that while offering more fancy aesthetics or even higher clocks. And given the middle-child positioning of the GeForce RTX 2080, the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 actually faces some competition from its younger brother as well, the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2070. Then there’s the design which is looking pretty long-in-tooth is a turn-off for us, although if you prefer an excellent cooler that runs at near-silence, the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 might just be for you. The GeForce RTX 2080 seems to be in a pretty awkward position, being priced a fair bit more than the GeForce RTX 2070, while offering just around 16% better performance. #TambahSikitLagi and you can get a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, which is the fastest consumer-oriented card out there. But that’s what we will be having to deal with until AMD can show any life in their high-end graphics card segment.
Our thanks to ASUS Malaysia for provisioning the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 OC Edition 8GB GDDR6 for this review.
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Number of Final Fantasy VII Remake Episodes Still Not Finalized Yet

Just asked Yoshinori Kitase how many games are going to be in the Final Fantasy VII remake – he said he can’t say yet “because we don’t know ourselves.”
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) June 11, 2019

We all know that the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake will be released in an episodic format. This means that we won’t get the whole game immediately and we’ll have to enjoy it in parts / episodes. You’d think that Square Enix knows how many episodes there will be for the game but unfortunately, that’s not the case.
Kotaku’s Jason Schreier tweeted out part of his interview with Square Enix’s Yoshinori Kitase during E3 2019. When asked about how many parts Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be, Yoshinari Kitase answered that they can’t say yet “because we don’t know ourselves.”

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From what we know thus far, the one that will be released next year will be covering all the early parts of the game in Midgar. It’s said that each episode / part of the game will form a full game experience but if you’ve played the game before, then you know that the Midgar section is rather short.
Them not knowing how many episodes there will be now seems a bit alarming. However, the folks over at Twinfinite has managed to get some clarification. Apparently, the team is still deciding on what to include in the second episode and how much content will be covered. As such, this is why they don’t know how many episodes there will be yet.
It sounds like they may be going about this as episodes go by so it’s truly hard to say how many episodes there will be. They did mention that after the first one, development will be more swift. Hopefully, we’ll get about 2 episodes on a yearly basis at least. Also, maybe release on more platforms, like PC and Google Stadia if it’s going to take long to release the whole thing.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be coming exclusively to the PlayStation 4 on 3rd March 2020.
Pokdepinion: I’m worried that the game will end up dragging a lot longer than it should. Guess I’ll have a clearer idea when the first one is out.
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AMD Ryzen 5000 series processors are now supported on AMD 300 series motherboards

After making it quite clear that the AMD Ryzen 5000 series weren’t supposed to be supported on AMD 300 series motherboards, it seems that AMD has decided to backtrack on that decision. This might come as quite a surprise, but given the competitiveness on show at Intel and also new lineup of rather affordable AMD Ryzen 5000 series processors, I guess this was inevitable.
AMD to allow OEMs to update AMD 300 series motherboards to support AMD Ryzen 5000 series processors
The old roadmap for AMD AM4.
In April, AMD X370, B350 and A320 motherboards will get “beta BIOS” updates to support the AMD Ryzen 5000 series processors. This is a great news, for users of the first-gen AMD AM4 motherboards, as they can now make the jump up to the latest Zen 3 processors without shelling out for a new motherboard. AMD will be releasing the AGESA 1.2.0.7 firmware that will enable the support for the latest generation of AMD Ryzen processors. What I wonder is why didn’t AMD do it earlier though, since they clearly could.
With that said, I would still say that using an AMD 300 series board with the latest processors might not be too great of an idea. You will also lose out on features like PCIe 4.0, optimized memory traces and more, which makes this support more of an olive branch for those who are still holding out on upgrades simply because they don’t want to buy a new motherboard.

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With Zen 4 just around the corner, I don’t really see anyone too excited to buy a new AM4 motherboard, so I guess this decision was also partly also to help get some of the latest Zen 3 processors into the hands of really budget-conscious users looking to get a last hurrah of sorts for the AMD AM4 platform.
Pokdepinion: With how affordable a lot of the AMD B550 boards are out there, I honestly don’t see myself shelling out for a new CPU only to use it on an outdated AMD 300 series board. But kudos to AMD for still offering the option though.
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[CES2019] Dell Introduce The Beast That Is Alienware Area-51m Gaming Laptop

At this year’s CES 2019 which is held at Las Vegas, Nevada, Alienware, the gaming division of Dell, has unveiled the new Alienware Area-51m gaming laptop. The laptop is their most powerful machine that comes with multiple ‘firsts’.

With the Alienvware Area-51m, it represents the first laptop to present itself with a 9th Gen 8-core desktop processors, 64GB of RAM, 2.5Gbps Ethernet technology, upgradeable graphic and desktop processors, and 17-inch Alienware laptop with a narrow-bezel display with 144Hz.

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It also comes with a cutting-edge thermal and cooling technology as well as offering 50% more performance and 32% less volume than its predecessor.
Besides that, Tobii eye-tracking technology is available for the laptop where you can control the display by just the use of your eyes. Not to forget is the Alienware Area-51m also comes with the latest Alienware Command Center.
The laptop is expected to arrive at the end of February 2019, though no details has yet been confirmed regarding its price.
Pokdepinion: It is said that the starting model for the laptop will pack a RTX 2070 graphics, I don’t think that it’s worth it if you could only upgrade it to just another level in the form of a 2080. Well let’s just hope that they are able to compatible with future cards as well as processors.
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2018 YouTube CNY Ads Compilation – An awesome list of this year’s Chinese New Year ads

Our country is definitely rich of culture and celebrations. In the internet ecosystem, this has become a rather interesting ecosystem for videotisements where publishing companies compete with each other to deliver the most creative videos while spreading the auspicious message across the nation. Here’s a compilation of 2018 YouTube Chinese New Year Video Advertisements for your viewing pleasure. Just so we don’t look biased, we have sorted out the list in alphabetical order instead.
Would you let us know your favourite video in the comments?
Yo Petronas, we’re your fans Ooops. Let’s just get to the list:

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Celcom – 5 Sekawan Selamanya – Chinese New Year Short Film

Darlie Malaysia – Darlie CNY 2018: 旺年有‘金’喜 A Year of Golden Fortune with Darlie

EcoWorld #1 – #新年心意 CNY 2018 Short Film Ep 1 : 心 • 意 Kindered Hearts by EcoWorld & Sin Chew Daily

F&N – F&N Chinese New Year 2018

Ferrero Rocher – Ferrero Rocher: CNY Refresh – SG & MY (English, 15s)

Gaviscon – #JiakSongSong | #GavisconMalaysia Chinese New Year 2018

Lazada Malaysia – LAZADA Gong Xi Fa Cai 2018

Lee Kum Kee – The Joyous Taste of Reunion (团圆的味道你紧记的好味道)

Malaysia Airlines – Malaysia Airlines CNY 2018 | Tradition is at the heart of MH

Maxis – Maxis CNY 2018 – It’s time to HuatAR

McDonald’s – Prosperity™ Burger – Welcome Back

Mr. Potato – HA?! Kenapa semua orang asyik HA ni?!

Mudah.my – 2018 新年歌 – Uncover Prosperity 发财秘诀

Petronas – #PETRONAS CNY 2018: A Long Way Home

Pizza Hut – Kongsi Gong Xi Happiness with Cheese Sang Cheesy Bites from Pizza Hut

RHB – RHB Chinese New Year 2018: Perseverance

S P Setia – Setia CNY TVC 2018 | Stay Together. Stay Setia

Sushi King – 2018 Sushi King Chinese New Year Promotion

Tenaga Nasional Berhad – The Coming Together – TNB Chinese New Year 2018

Traveloka – Wander with Wonder | Traveloka Chinese New Year Film 2018

U Mobile – The Most Kaww CNY Ad

Pokdedotnet: I mean, you know, Petronas started this trend long ago and their ads have made us laugh sometimes, cry the others. Why wouldn’t Petronas win again? Oh wait, I’m not supposed to be discussing about that here, am I?
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Some Android Smartphones Could Soon Turn Into Makeshift Dashcams

Google is testing a version of Personal Safety app that could use cameras to act as dashcams.

As spotted by 9To5Google – a ‘dogfood’ version of the Personal Safety app (version 2023.04.27.532191641.8-dogfood) has appeared in Play Store perhaps by accident. Dogfood builds are essentially test versions that developers use to test the app in real-life scenarios.

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The team managed to reveal a hidden Dashcam feature which does what it says: record videos, and sometimes, audio while the user is driving a vehicle. That should in theory save the cost of buying a dedicated dashcam for those who on a tight budget. When the feature is active, the phone will record videos in the background and users can continue using the device for other tasks, such as using Google Maps for navigation or change tracks on your playlist. Alternatively, you can lock the screen and the phone will continue recording.

The recording can even start as soon as the device is connected to a vehicle’s infotainment system, so users can place the phone at a suitable position to for recording and get going right away. All footage recorded will stay on the device for 3 days, with maximum recording length of 24 hours. The footage takes around 30MB of space for a minute of recording.
There’s no word on whether this feature will be available on all Android smartphones – though it’s unlikely as some devices are not designed for sustained, long term recording due to heat concerns. Only Nothing Phone (1) and Google Pixel devices are known to support this feature at current stage as noted by the publication.
Source: 9To5Google
Pokdepinion: Given how much more powerful smartphone cameras get, it’s probably a better choice unless you have a super high-end dashcam to begin with.
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Ampere Altra: 80-core ARM chip set to rival AMD EPYC and Intel Xeon

The Ampere Altra is Ampere’s latest server processor with 80 ARM cores and a 210W TDP. It will compete against the likes of AMD EPYC and Intel Xeon processors, and must not be confused with the NVIDIA Ampere GPU architecture, which I assume needs no further elaboration anymore.
The Ampere Altra is based on the ARM Neoverse N1 cores and will be manufactured on TSMC’s 7nm process, and will come with impressive connectivity features to boot. For starters, all of the 80-cores are on a single die communicating via a coherent mesh interface. For communication to additional hardware, you get up to eight-channels of DDR4-3200 memory for support for up to 4TB memory, 128 PCIe 4.0 lanes (192 lanes in a dual-socket configuration) and support for the CCIX interface and also CXL in the future.

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Relying on the ARM architecture allowed Ampere to deliver on lower power consumption. The company claims that you can integrate up to 3500 cores per rack. It also reportedly outperforms both the Intel Xeon Platinum 8280 and AMD EPYC 7742 after adjusting for the compiler advantage both Intel and AMD has.

Implementations for the Ampere Altra include inferencing workloads, which is an important part of today’s AI-driven infrastructure. As of now, Ampere has yet to mention any pricing nor the number of products in its lineup. It just mentions that there will TDPs ranging from 40W to above 200W, and will be available in configurations with up to two Ampere Altra processors per rack.

Ampre also lists Oracle, Microsoft Azure, Canonical, VMware, Lenovo and GIGABYTE as companies that are interested in the Ampere Altra platform. The chips will be available starting mid-2020.
Pokdepinion: While it’s cool and all, I do wonder how is TSMC coping under all the orders it is receiving.
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ASUS GTX 750 Ti OC Review

We all know that Nvidia GTX 750 Ti is a great card to play with and this week I received yet another card, the ASUS GTX750Ti OC. Despite it’s similar looks to a Direct CU II unit, actually this card is not a Direct CU II product because the cooler doesn’t even have a single heatpipe.
Well how does this card fare with a simple cooling solution? Let jump straight in and take a better look at this card.
Specification
The ASUS GTX 750 Ti employs a regular cooling solution with dual fans and a cooler that looks like a DCUII cooler. It comes with 2GB of GDDR5 memory and the base clock overclocks from 1020Mhz to 1072Mhz when the external PCIE power connector is attached.

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Design
Comes in a small and slim package due the fact it is budget card. In fact is there isn’t any need for a bigger box as the card itself is rather small.
Here is the front of the box

There are some details on the box regarding the card within. This card featured Dual Fan Cooling and Super Alloy Power that helps to reduce power loss, enhance durability and achieve cooler operating temperatures.

Inside the box we got the card itself (Duh), user manual and driver CD. Downloading the latest driver from Nvidia website is recommended instead of using the CD.

First impression when I looked at the card, it is a bit shorter than what I expected. Dual 80mm fans to cool the chip.

Nothing much to see round the back except the component mounted.

There is this awkward PCIE power connector. I wonder why is it positioned so weirdly.

Moving on to the display outputs, this card has a single VGA and a HDMI port. Also included are two Dual Link DVI connectors.

Not a single heat pipe on this card.

Comparison of the length of the ASUS 750 Ti with the ASUS HD 7850 DCUII.

Performance
I fired up some games to test the performance in terms of FPS and also temperature in comparison to other cards. As usual i chose Battlefield 4, Watchdog and DOTA2.
Simple reason I use these three games is because BF4 is optimized for AMD card meanwhile Watchdog optimized for Nvidia part and regarding DOTA2, I don’t know much about the hardware optimizations in it.

For the temperature test I use Furmark. Let it run burn in test for about 40 minutes and recorded the result.
This card idles at 48 Celsius and climbs slowly up to 68 until it peaks at 74 Celsius. Remember that this card has no heat pipe. I think I have repeated this 3 times already. I can’t get over it yet. Give me some time.

Conclusion
This card runs quite well with some rather demanding games. A downside to this card is the ridiculous PCIE power connector position.
Temperature is not a problem, as long it remains under 90 Celsius and doesn’t wake up the neighbours with fan noise. Considering that the card has no heat pipe (yep, haven’t gotten over it yet) and just depend on the heatsink and dual fans, it is okay. Not the best solution, but okay.
Positive from me, the PCIE connector provides more juice and stability and allows you to overclock a little bit more for better performance. Also worth mentioning is that the 74 Celsius on burn test is not actually the same values we get during gaming session.
In my opinion the GTX 750 Ti should be perfect as a PhysX processor since the new Borderland Pre-Sequel is scheduled to be unlocked at Steam soon in October. That is one game that deserves to be seen with PhysX enabled.

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Android Users Can Get Dark Mode on WhatsApp Right Here
Picture credits: WABetaInfo

We’ve been reporting for a while now about WhatsApp working on a proper dark mode for Android users. However, there seems to be no sign of it popping up in the public version anytime soon. Now, there are some new updates on it that may get you excited about it again.
There is a new beta version WhatsApp that is out now. It allows the user to adjust the colour settings in a variety of ways via the menu. And of course, dark mode is a selectable option now. It definitely took longer than expected given that a number of Google apps already have it, and Instagram also implementing the feature recently.
The new WhatsApp beta with dark mode for Android is version 2.20.13 beta. If your smartphone doesn’t have a system-wide dark theme / mode, you can finally have the messaging app in dark colours now. You can change to dark mode by heading over to Settings and selecting Theme under the Display option.

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As for when the feature will be made available for the public version, that is still unknown at this point in time. However, if you wish to give it a try because you can’t afford to wait out in the dark any longer, you can download and use the beta version on your smartphone. However, keep in mind that beta versions can be unstable and buggy, so you may run into a problem or two.
If you’d like to download WhatsApp version 2.20.13 beta with dark mode for Android, click right here.
Source: TechBriefly
Pokdepinion: No one still has a clue exactly when we can get it, but now everyone enjoy it early.
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Corsair STRAFE, the new Corsair mechanical keyboard

Hey, are you following Corsair’s latest updates in Computex 2015? They announced a new addition to their mechanical keyboard lineup, the Corsair STRAFE. Which Corsair claims to be “the most advanced mono-backlit mechanical gaming keyboard available.” Dang. I also love that they used a new iteration of the Corsair logo on the keyboard. It just looks fantastic. Really caught my eye the first time I laid eyes on it. But wait. There are no dedicated multimedia keys at the top right. It just seems wrong to me.

The Corsair STRAFE, sigh I mistyped it for STARFE for more than 3 times already and now its making me STARFE-ving. This mechanical keyboard comes in two options of mechanical switches, RED and BLUE with gold contacts for fast, precise key presses from the German manufacturer Cherry. For the lighting, the Corsair STRAFE is equipped with fully programmable red backlighting. USB pass-through and 100% anti-ghosting also makes the list of features in the STRAFE.

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Listening to the feedback from K70 users, the Corsair STRAFE will also come with textured and contoured FPS/MOBA keycaps.

Sporting a sleek new industrial design, STRAFE will be available worldwide by late June for USD 109.99 or around RM420 in Malaysia inclusive of taxes.

Pokdepinion : I literally raged when typing the “STRAFE”, I always type it as STARFE maybe because I’m STARFE-ving. For about RM 400 for the keyboard, I think it’s priced reasonably. I love how they put the “sails” logo on the keyboard and it’s definitely better than the Corsair Gaming tramp stamp. For anyone who’s looking for a new gaming mechanical keyboard, this might be one to consider.
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