NVIDIA mining limiters bypassed by dummy HDMI plug and 7-year old boards

The most recent way around the NVIDIA mining limit is to use the 470.05 beta driver, which was found to not feature a hash rate limiter and would allow the GeForce RTX 3060 to mine Ethereum its full hash rate of around 48MH/s. However it still had a few limitations, like only allowing a single GPU to mine at the full rate, which was not cost-effective to miners at all. But now there are ways around that too.
To unlock the mining performance on multiple GeForce RTX 3060, you will reportedly need a dummy HDMI plug that costs around RM10. This is to trick the NVIDIA driver into thinking that each card has a monitor connected to it.
The other limitation is regarding the GeForce RTX 3060 requirement of at least a PCIe 3.0 x8 interface per card. This is a pretty smart move, as most miners use dedicated mining motherboards with a literal buttload of PCIe 3.0 x1 connectors.

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Overcoming this is a bit more interesting, as you will need either an older high-end enthusiast board with a PLX multiplexer chip, or a high-end HEDT motherboard that has plenty of PCIe 3.0 x8 slots. The miner who posted on Quasar Zone about his discovery went with the former, opting to go with a GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 5, which is an Intel Z87 motherboard.
The post also confirmed that this NVIDIA mining limit bypass works with the Maximus VI Extreme, as both boards feature PLX chips to effectively double the 16 lanes from the CPU into a total of 32 lanes.

NVIDIA announced the GeForce RTX 3060 with a hash rate limiter to improve its availability, but it appears that miners have multiple ways to circumvent it by now. NVIDIA will definitely have to revise their mining limiter for their upcoming cards to be more effective.
Source
Pokdepinion: Well, I guess there’s a good use for the PLX chips now, which have fallen out of favor with more recent board designs.
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Redmi Note 10 Series With AMOLED Displays Launched From RM799

Today marks the launch of the new Redmi Note 10 series, where the folks at Xiaomi Malaysia has confirmed that the Redmi Note 10 and Redmi Note 10 Pro will be coming to our shores.
Redmi Note 10 series launch

What’s new with the series is the addition of AMOLED DotDisplays, which has never been a feature in previous models. On top of that, the Pro version comes with a fast 120Hz refresh rate, ensuring a buttery smooth experience. What’s similar between the two is that they both come with dual speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack, side fingerprint scanners, as well as 33W fast charging support.

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Redmi Note 10 and Redmi Note 10 Pro specifications

Model
Redmi Note 10
Redmi Note 10 Pro

Display
6.43-inch AMOLED DotDisplay
120Hz AMOLED 6.67-inch DotDisplay

Rear Camera
48MP main camera
8MP ultra-wide angle camera
2MP macro
2MP depth sensor
108MP main camera
8MP ultra-wide angle camera
5MP telemacro
2MP depth sensor

Front Camera
13MP
16MP

Processor
Snapdragon 678
Snapdragon 732G

RAM & Storage
6GB LPDDR4X + 128GB UFS 2.2
6GB LPDDR4X + 128GB UFS 2.2
8GB LPDDR4+ 128GB UFS 2.2

Audio
Dual speakers
3.5mm headphone jack
Hi-Res Audio certification

Battery
5000mAh
33W wired fast charging
5020mAh
33W wired fast charging

Connectivity
Dual SIM
IR blaster
Dual SIM
Multi-functional NFC
IR blaster

Color variant
Onyx Gray
Pebble White
Lake Green
Onyx Gray
Glacier Blue
Gradient Bronze

Starting from the 8th of March 2021, you can get the standard model for the price of RM799. As for the Redmi Note 10 Pro, it will be available starting from the 15th of March 2021 where it is priced at RM999 for the 6GB variant and RM1,099 for the bigger 8GB variant.
Both of them can be bought online at official Xiaomi stores on Lazada as well as offline at Authorized Mi Stores and other official retailers in the country. For more of the latest tech and gaming news plus reviews, stay tuned to Pokde.net.
Pokdepinion: Between the two, I’d definitely get the Pro variant for that sweet refresh rate and better camera setup. My concern is will the chipset be sufficient enough to handle everything on the Redmi Note 10 Pro. Then again, considering the price, it does seem like an attractive option. I hope I get to test it out soon!
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Sony Talks Plans for the PlayStation 5 in Latest Earnings Report – Acquisitions and Cloud Gaming

Sony Talks Plans for the PlayStation 5 in Latest Earnings Report

At the Sony quarterly financial conference call for investors and analysts, Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki had a number of interesting things to say about the upcoming PlayStation 5 console.
To start things off, it was mentioned that its release in Holiday 2020 is the “most important step in developing the PlayStation platform.” It was also mentioned that the development of PS5 is going according to plan and they believe that the games by partnered game developers are going well.
We anticipate providing highly-engaging gameplay experiences that both current users of PS4 and potential new users have come to expect.Hiroki Totoki, CFO
Hiroki Totoki, Sony CFOPicture Credits: Nikkei
As for the matter of profits, it’s said that it will be dependent on the pricing of the PlayStation 5. Sony is said to be “analyzing the cost, the acceptable price in the market, and platform penetration,” but didn’t elaborate any further on that for now. They are very conscious of the level of profit for investors and the marketplace.

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On games development, Totoki mentioned about the acquisition of Insomniac Games, who most notably made the recent PS4 smash hit, Marvel’s Spider-Man. The move was mentioned as an effort to further enhance their first party software development.
With that being said, Totoki mentioned that they will “continue to pursue growth investment opportunities that will enhance its content IP.” In simpler terms, they seem to be looking at acquiring more game development studios to bolster the PlayStation 5 game library.
The subject of cloud gaming also popped up, with PlayStation Now revealed to have exceeded one million subscribers as of this month. Totoki added on by saying that it’s a great step towards the goal of growing the subscriber base by 50% every year. Sony will be looking to “assess the potential of cloud gaming services” so we may see more on this end in the future.
Source: FY2019 Q2
Pokdepinion: Seems like Sony is willing to try a lot of things to ensure the success of the new platform. It’s better than staying stagnant, especially in this fast-paced world.
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Verbatim Has Demon Slayer USB Drives in Malaysia And It’s Very Affordable

If you’re a big fan of the anime / manga series, then you’d definitely want this as Verbatim has some Demon Slayer USB drives up for sale in Malaysia, and it’s pretty affordable.
Verbatim Demon Slayer USB Drives

Verbatim has Demon Slayer USB drives up for sale, and these products are officially licensed so they’re not simply taking the characters’ likeness and running wild with it. There are a total of 12 USB drives under two different series for you to choose from.

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Starting with the Famous Phrases series, it’s a 16GB USB 2.0 drive featuring Tanjiro Kamado, Nezuko Kamado, Hashibira Inosuke, Zenitsu Agatsuma, and Kyojuro Rengoku. As the series name implies, each Demon Slayer USB drive here comes with a popular phrase uttered by the character.

Then we have the Famous Scenes series, which might be a bit different from what you expected. Along with the characters’ signature phrase, the visuals here is a recreation of the scene where the phrase was uttered. The characters featured here are the same as the other series, with the addition of Shinobu Kocho and Tomioka Giyu. As for the technical details, it’s a 32GB USB 3.2 drive, which means it’s bigger and faster than the other series.
If you’re interested, you can already purchase these Verbatim Demon Slayer USB drives on their official Shopee and Lazada stores, with some retailers carrying it as well. The Famous Phrases series will retail for RM39.90 while the Famous Scenes series will retail for RM69.90 instead.
Source
Pokdepinion: Already ordered myself some, hopefully there’s still enough for the rest of you.
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HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro, HUAWEI GT 2 Pro And MatePad T 10s Coming This 10 October

HUAWEI Malaysia has announced that they will bringing in three new products to the country in the form of the HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro, HUAWEI GT2 Pro and HUAWEI MatePad T 10s soon.
HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro, HUAWEI GT 2 Pro, And HUAWEI MatePad T 10s coming soon

HUAWEI has said that the new HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro offers a “liberating audio experience with extraordinary sound, style, comfort, and noise cancellation, with intelligent features to boot”.
The TWS earbuds happens to be the world’s first dual-antenna Bluetooth earphones, ensuring a better and stable Bluetooth connectivity.

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It also offers Awareness Mode and Voice Mode that utilizes the two microphones to help users hear outside world while you’re out and about.

With the HUAWEI Watch GT 2 Pro, it comes with a premium design as well as sports plus health monitoring features for your outdoor activities.
It sports a sapphire surface, titanium body and a ceramic back in hopes to offer durability. With OneHop Share, you can enjoy convenience with the ability to transfer photos from your smartphone’s gallery to your smartwatch.
Other than that, it comes with wireless charging support and supports sport modes such as golf, and ski among 100 plus other workout modes.

Last but not least is the HUAWEI MatePad T 10s, where it features a 10.1-inch Full HD display. Coming with dual-speakers tuned by Harmon Kardon, it comes with Eye Comfort certified by TUV Rheinland.
If you are interested in the products, you can checkout the pricing as well as their freebies below:
ProductPriceFreebiesHUAWEI FreeBuds ProRM699Casing and mini speakerHUAWEI Watch GT 2 ProRM1,199Watch strapHUAWEI MatePad T 10sRM999Flip cover
They will be available in all HUAWEI Experience Stores in the country and HUAWEI Store (online) starting from the 10th of October 2020.
Aside from that, you can also redeem RM100 instant rebate coupon code for the HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro and HUAWEI Watch GT 2 Pro through the Member Center Rewards. This rebate code will only be applicable for use either on the 10th or 11th of October while stocks last.
Pokdepinion: The HUAWEI Freebuds 3 was pretty decent, I wonder how they differ from the new Pro version..
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Digi Partners With Allo In Expanding Home Broadband Service Coverage

Digi has announced of their partnership with Allo Technology Sdn. Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tenaga Nasional Berhad. The new collaboration aims in bringing and providing Malaysians with more connectivity options for home broadband services.
Digi partners Allo in providing home broadband service

With the partnership, it will see Digi leverage on Allo’s Layer 2 High Speed Broadband (HSBB) Network Service solution in expanding their home broadband footprint to cover roughly around 45,000 homepasses in selected areas in Melaka, Perak, as well as cyberjaya.
The expansion will see Allo’s cumulative number of homepasses to 155,00 by Q2 2021 as the company strive to expand to other states in the country.

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Here’s what Digi had to say about the partnership between the two companies:
We’re excited to once again partner with Allo in our effort to provide more customers with total connectivity options, allowing them to experience high-speed home broadband services at home and on-the-go. Working with partners like Allo allows us to speed up the delivery of home broadband services especially during these times when there is a critical demand for a reliable connectivity for remote work and educational needs.Praveen Rajan, Digi Chief Marketing Officer
In addition to that, the collaboration is an extension of a partnership both parties started to implement a pilot project providing unlimited home broadband services to 1,100 residents and businesses in Melaka early of last year.
Pokdepinion: As is the case with all ISPs, more coverage is definitely welcoming news. Let’s hope they bring in to more areas however.
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42″ LG OLED Flex Review – This Unique Tech Comes With a Price, But It’s Great

Unboxing the LG OLED Flex
42″ LG OLED Flex Review – Box

Starting off the LG OLED Flex review with the unboxing, the packaging is certainly larger than your average display with the same size, noticeably thicker to be precise. This shouldn’t be a surprise as the stand is already built into the display due to its mechanical design. While it looks like your standard cardboard box, it is made with recyclable, eco-friendly materials as part of LG’s initiative to reduce carbon emissions for a greener tomorrow. Inside the box, you can find the following items:
42″ LG OLED Flex Review – Box content

IR Blaster cable
USB cable
Magic Remote
2 x AA batteries
Plastic I/O covers
The LG OLED Flex TV itself

The power cable is non-detachable and it’s already attached to the rear of the TV.
Specifications

Processor
Quad-core α9 Gen5 AI Processor 4K

Panel Size
Wide Screen 42″, 16:9, 95.8% screen-to-body ratio

Panel Type
OLED

True Resolution
3840 x 2160

Display Surface
Anti-glare

Colour Support
1.07B

Curvature
Adjustable up to 900R via remote

Pixel Pitch
0.241 mm

Brightness
360 cd/m2
730 cd/m2 (peak)

Contrast
Infinite

Viewing Angle (CR≧10)
178°(H) / 178°(V)

Response Time
0.2 to 2.5ms
5.3ms input lag

HDR Support
HLG, Dolby Vision, Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10 Pro

Refresh Rate
120Hz

Low Blue Light
Yes

HDCP Support
Yes

Viewing Modes
Vivid, Standard, Eco, Cinema, Sports, Game, Filmmaker, (ISF) Expert (Bright Room), (ISF) Expert (Dark Room)

Adaptive Refresh Rate
Yes, FreeSync and G-SYNC compatible

Signal Input
4 x HDMI 2.1
3 x USB 2.0
1 x RJ45
1 x Cable / Antenna In
1 x S/PDIF
1 x 3.5mm Audio Out
1 x RS232

Audio
40W, 2.2ch
AI Sound Pro, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital, LG Sound Sync, WiSA Ready

Built-in OS
Yes, webOS Smart TV

Power
0.5W (standby)
67W (average)
118W (max)

Mechanical Design
Curvature : Adjustable up to 900R via remote
Forward tilt : 5°C
Backward tilt : 5°C

Dimensions
937.1 x 614 x 296.8 mm, 22.6 kg

Performance
As part of the LG OLED Flex review process, we measured the brightness at 100% using the Standard picture mode and found the figure to be 350.2cd/m2. Brightness is certainly more than adequate, especially since it handles glare and reflections pretty well. If the latter part was poor, then it would need to be significantly brighter unless you plan on using this in a dark room most of the time.

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42″ LG OLED Flex Review – Screen uniformity test
Running the display uniformity test with a 3×3 grid, the LG OLED Flex performed pretty well. It at least passed with nominal tolerance for the most part, with two squares within the recommended tolerance, and only the bottom-left corner having it exceeded. To be precise, it’s dimmer than the rest of the display for whatever reason, though it is hard to see with my own two eyes so I wouldn’t be too worried about it.
Colour Accuracy

Standard
Gaming
Vivid
Standard mode, calibration with DisplayCAL

Whitepoint
13200K
10400K
11500K
11500K

Average ΔE*00
3.84
3.53
3.01
0.44

Maximum ΔE*00
7.55
9.47
6.44
1.33

Arguably the most important part of the LG OLED Flex review process, colour accuracy. By default, the colour accuracy abysmal across the three different Picture Modes used. After calibrating it using SpyderX and DisplayCAL, we see significant improvements in average and maximum Delta-E figures. This means that it can show colours accurately, just that it’s likely not doing so from default to show visuals in a more pleasant way. After all, it is a TV and not a professional monitor.
Gamut

Gamut
Standard
Gaming
Vivid
Standard mode, calibration with DisplayCAL

sRGB
Coverage
97.8%
93.1%
97.6%
98.5%

Volume
127.9%
117%
127.1%
130%

Adobe RGB
Coverage
77.6%
71.8%
77.2%
81.4%

Volume
88.1%
80.6%
87.6%
89.9%

DCI-P3
Coverage
90%
82.5%
89.5%
90.6%

Volume
90.6%
82.9%
90%
90.8%

For the gamut coverage and volume, there were slight improvements after calibration. Overall with 98% sRGB, 81% Adobe RGB, and 90% DCI-P3, there’s more than enough colours but only if you plan on consuming content with it like watching videos or playing games. It’s not meant for creative work, but realistically, no one in their right mind would buy a TV for that. They would opt for a professional, creator-focused monitor instead.

The Good
42″ LG OLED Flex Review – Powered by webOS
There are a good number of reasons to consider getting the LG OLED Flex. Starting off with the elephant in the room, the bendable display works smooth and seamlessly. With the press of a button, you can have it with up to 900R curvature (with 4 different curvature presets and a full 20 levels of curvature) or have it flat like any ordinary display. While the latter will feel rather big as a monitor to be used up close, the former surprisingly makes it much more viable to use. While the appeal of a curved display will differ from person to person, I would practically see it as a way to use the display alone or with multiple people. If you’re alone, you’re better off sticking to the curved mode. It’s worth noting that you can tilt it upwards and downwards by 5° to improve your experience.
From the benchmarks we ran, the colour accuracy is pretty good, objectively speaking, Subjectively, it feels like it’s right up there with some of the best gaming monitors around in terms of visuals. With some minor tweaks, you can get some really vivid, punchy colours with good dynamic range, and the HDR support further adds to its value. Its brightness is more than adequate and it also handles glare pretty well so I wouldn’t worry about a bit of sunlight, especially when it’s curved.
42″ LG OLED Flex Review – Picture Modes
As for speed, the LG OLED Flex has a very low input lag, especially when you have ALLM (automatic low latency mode) enabled and set the Picture Mode to Game Optimiser (though this mode will make the colours look noticeably bland). It is definitely class-leading when it comes to TVs but if this is what’s most important to you in a display, you would be better off with a gaming-focused monitor instead as it’s still slower, albeit slightly, compared to your standard 120Hz / 144Hz monitors, and it’s more affordable too. Of course, you would be missing out on its large size and the bendable nature if you went with that so do consider what’s most important to you.
42″ LG OLED Flex Review – Using the remote
The Magic Remote is, and has been for a while, the best TV remote you can ever get. With just two AA batteries, you can navigate through the TV’s UI using the directional buttons, the scroll wheel in the center, or motion like a magic wand. The latter might just sound like a gimmick but once you’re used to the sensitivity of the movement, it’s so quick and easy to use as you can just point to specific parts of UI and go directly there. You can expand its functionality with the included IR Blaster cable, which lets you use it as a universal remote to control certain devices connected via HDMI, like TV set top boxes. However, its functions may be limited depending on the connected device. In the future, I hope they have a variant of this that is rechargeable via USB-C.
42″ LG OLED Flex Review – Ports
Lastly, you get a good array of ports with the LG OLED Flex. You have a total of four HDMI 2.1 ports, three USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port, an Antenna In port, and RS232 as well if you still use this. For audio, you have S/PDIF, 3.5mm audio out, and ARC / eARC support via the second HDMI port. Furthermore, you can wireless connect to it as well so you can effortless stream from music, movies and games from your smartphones even, with no issues on Apple products since it has AirPlay 2 support. This means you can connect it to a wide variety of devices with ease, which is a major plus in this heavily digital lifestyle era.
The Bad
42″ LG OLED Flex Review – Speakers
As good as the LG OLED Flex is, it does have its fair share of drawbacks. For starters, while having a 40W built-in speaker is great, it feels like it’s there purely in case consumers don’t plan on getting their own audio gear to go along with it. The mids and bass are clearly lacking so it’s hard to be immersed when using it. Moreover, the accuracy of directional audio coming from it is rather bad as you’d have trouble discerning location in FPS games like Valorant for example. Given its array of ports, it should be easy to find a set of speakers to complement it, and you can always opt for a proper gaming headset as well if you want a more immersive experience.
Secondly, the Automatic Brightness Limiter can be a bit excessive at times. When a bright image is shown, the TV can dial down the brightness significantly, and it’s not exactly consistent either. While it would protect the OLED panel along with viewers’ eyes, I feel like they should dial it back a little bit as it ruins the immersion when using the TV from time to time.
42″ LG OLED Flex Review – The stand itself is huge
While the mechanical design gives it a rather unique appeal for a TV, it is quite a large display, even among TVs with the same display size. If you plan on purchasing this, do take its measurements in consideration unless your desk has plenty of space. On the upside, at least you don’t have to worry about assembling the stand for this right out of the box since it’s already pre-installed.
Lastly, and this is where you really need to consider your needs in a display, is the price. At RM13,199, it can be pretty hard to swallow, especially considering LG has bigger TVs that are just as capable at less than half the price (sans the bendable display). It’s clearly catered to a more niche audience, and you can get a lot for that price but to be fair, the nature of this technology is certainly not cheap to manufacture, and it’s built really well. From our tests, we trust that it won’t easily break for curving and flattening over and again, though we can’t say how long it will last. If you’re willing to stomach its asking price, it’s certainly one that you will not regret.
LG OLED Flex Verdict
42″ LG OLED Flex Review
The LG OLED Flex is a unique TV offering unlike any other that you can find in the market today. While the bendable display is a thing to behold, we can’t forget the fact that the display itself is impressive from both a visual and speed perspective. Let’s not forget, it has HDMI 2.1, ALLM, G-SYNC, and FreeSync support, making it feel more like a gaming monitor rather than a TV. It essentially boils down to whether you are willing to stomach its asking price or not but if you are, I’m sure you’ll be happy with this.
At the end of our 42″ LG OLED Flex review, we award this TV with our Silver Pokdeward.

Big thanks to LG Malaysia for sending us this TV for the purpose of this review.
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PS Plus July 2017 Free Games Lineup; There Seems to be a Theme of Sorts

The official free games lineup for PS Plus July 2017 is finally here. There’s an apparent theme to the lineup’s highlights as of late.
Are you a PlayStation-kind of person? Are you starting to run out of games to play? Don’t want to spend so much money to get a number of games? Well, if you’re a PS Plus subscriber, that is possible. Every month, PS Plus subscribers get a number of free games for multiple PlayStation platforms. Here’s the official free games lineup for PS Plus July 2017, for both the US and EU region!

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PS Plus July 2017 Free Games Lineup
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What a way to kick-off the summer with a list of free games. We have a bunch of great gaming stuff to talk about, so let’s get started. First off, the free PlayStation Plus games for July are Until Dawn and Game of Thrones.
Until Dawn is a PlayStation exclusive survival horror adventure where eight friends are trapped together on a remote mountain retreat, and they aren’t alone. You can play as each of the eight characters and experience fear like never before, where every decision you make could mean the difference between life and death!
Next up, we have Telltale’s Game of Thrones series. It follows the family of House Forrester as they survive (Or do they?) the War of the Five Kings. As usual, you’ll have the standard Telltale Games narrative style where every choice you make could lead you to different outcomes, either to your liking or not. Winter is Coming, and this is a great way to beat the summer heat.
Full Lineup

Until Dawn, PS4
Game of Thrones, PS4
Tokyo Jungle, PS3
Darkstalkers Resurrection, PS3
Element4l, PS Vita
Don’t Die, Mr. Robot, PS Vita (Cross Buy on PS4)

Additionally, from July 4 through October 24 all PlayStation Plus members can get “That’s You” in celebration of PlayLink’s launch . That’s You sets you off on a journey of discovery with up to five of your friends and family, where you can find out what you really think about each other.
Joining the fun is easy: all you need is your smartphone or tablet and the free companion app. Snap a selfie and enjoy tons of funny questions, texting games, and drawing challenges.
Finally, Orcs Must Die Unchained is launching in closed beta on July 18th. As a PS Plus subscriber, not only will you get access to the beta, but you’ll get an exclusive Orcs Must Die Unchained Plus Pack as part of your membership. The $20 pack is only available until August 15, so get it while you can.

Pokdepinion: There seems to be a theme here with the PS Plus games as of late. We’ve been getting a number of Telltale Games recently, not that it’s a bad thing. I’m still wondering why they decided to focus more on this kind of game. If you haven’t played Telltale’s Game of Thrones and you enjoy the TV series or the book, it’s definitely worth playing through.
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Here’s how to get dark mode on your Messenger app

One of the most wanted features in Facebook Messenger has to be Dark Mode, and while Facebook did push it out to a limited user base back in September 2018, it wasn’t offered for everyone. You could root your phone to enable it if you are really desperate, but most of us probably aren’t. Which is why it’s good news that Facebook has finally rolled out Dark Mode for everyone.
It seems that Facebook doesn’t want everyone to get onto Dark Mode, as they are still ironing out some bugs and what not. But if you are interested to try it out, all you need to do is send a  moon emoji  in any chat and you will receive a popup to enable dark mode as well.

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This might be especially beneficial for those using AMOLED displays, as a darker display would mean result in the display consuming less power. Have you tried out Facebook Messenger’s Dark Mode yet? Let us know!
Pokdepinion: I am using it and it does seem somewhat jarring to see Messenger in black, especially after the recent update which made it even cleaner with more white elements.
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Take the cinema with you with the Samsung Galaxy S10!

Samsung’s Super AMOLED displays are renowned to be the best in the industry, and have become somewhat of a bragging right for certain smartphone manufacturers. So it goes without saying that Samsung’s latest flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S10 would feature the crème de la crème of display panels. If you who love your movies and TV shows, the Samsung Galaxy S10 is the perfect device for you. Here’s why.
More screen with Infinity-O Display

For the Samsung Galaxy S10, the Koreans went back to the drawing board and threw away the bezels to maximize the screen-to-body ratio. To still offer you great selfies without sacrificing the IP68 rating Samsung flagships are now renowned for, they implemented their Infinity-O Display. It remains out of sight and out of a mind most of the time, which is just perfect for you to take in all the beautiful visuals from your video content of choice via the Dynamic AMOLED displays Samsung packed into the Galaxy S10 series.

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HDR10+ capable for optimized contrast, all the time

The Dynamic AMOLED display on the Samsung Galaxy S10 is the world’s first display to support the HDR10+ standard. While few smartphones even have support for HDR10, Samsung takes it a notch further with HDR10+ by supporting dynamic metadata. This allows content creators to finetune the contrast down to a frame-by-frame basis. This means that you will get optimized contrast levels for every scene in a video or movie, rather than HDR10 which allows for a single setting that will be used throughout the length of the content.
Feature-packed for the ultimate viewing experience

In addition to offering the most advanced HDR-capable display in the industry, the Samsung Galaxy S10 also touts blue light protection all without affecting the color tone of videos and images. This gives you an excellent viewing experience which you can now enjoy for longer periods due to the reduced emission of blue light from the Dynamic AMOLED display. There’s also dynamic tone mapping on the Galaxy S10, allowing you to experience better dynamic range non-HDR games and video content. In addition to the impressive display, it also features mDNIe or mobile Digital Natural Image engine, which automatically adjust the brightness, sharpness and contrast as well as compensating for any changes in color and contrast to improve your viewing experience.
Audio by AKG, with or without earphones

Last but not least, the Samsung Galaxy S10 come with Dolby Atmos enhancement for its stereo speakers by AKG to allow you to experience great audio with or without connecting earphones to the 3.5mm jack which Samsung is still gratuitously packing with the Galaxy S10 series. Speaking of earphones, there are a pair of AKG earphones in every Samsung Galaxy S10’s package. The Samsung Galaxy S10 not only offers you the best visual experience ever on a smartphone, but it is also ready for a great listening experience.
Without a doubt, the Samsung Galaxy S10 is a media powerhouse equipped with the latest technologies to deliver an amazing audiovisual experience anywhere, anytime. We would even go as far as to say the Samsung Galaxy S10 will be the closest thing to a cinema you can ever have that fits right in the palm of your hand. So what are you waiting for?
Get your Samsung Galaxy S10 here!
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Intel B660 motherboards may not support PCIe 5.0

While the 12th Gen Intel Core platform may have the latest PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 support, we have already seen that some boards will offer DDR4 support to accommodate more budget conscious upgraders. Along the same vein, the more affordable Intel B660 motherboards may not support the PCIe 5.0 lanes available from the CPU.
Intel B660 motherboards to drop PCIe 5.0 support and be limited to PCIe 4.0?

According to what should be the packaging for the ASUS PRIME B660 that was accidentally used when ASUS wanted to send a reviewer an Intel Z690 motherboard, the Intel B660 motherboard will only support up to PCIe 4.0.

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While that might be a waste of the capabilities available on the 12th Gen Intel Core CPUs, gamers who are getting the Intel B660 motherboards probably aren’t going to be looking at the cutting edge PCIe 5.0 components anyway. With PCIe 4.0 SSDs only becoming mainstream, you can probably expect to still see quite some time before PCIe 5.0 SSDs become reasonably priced.

While graphics cards with PCIe 5.0 support should also arrive next year, you probably aren’t going to lose much performance even if you limit it to PCIe 4.0 x16. Current-gen PCIe 4.0 x16 graphics cards aren’t exactly bottlenecked even when dropped to PCIe 3.0 x16, and some cards like the Radeon RX 6600 series are even limited to PCIe 4.0 x8, to no ill effect.

If you want PCIe 5.0 but don’t plan on paying the premium that the Intel Z690 boards command, Intel should also be releasing the Intel H670 chipset that might include PCIe 5.0 support. In any case, stay tuned for more updates about the other members of the 12th Gen Intel Core family that’s set to arrive next year!\
Source
Pokdepinion: If dropping PCIe 5.0 helps keep the costs low, I see it as a win!
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Cooler Master LGA1700 upgrade kits now available for just RM19!

Cooler Master has just announced the availability of the Cooler Master LGA1700 upgrade kits, allowing existing owners of Cooler Master air and liquid coolers to add support for the latest 12th Gen Intel Core platform. There are four different upgrade kits, so make sure to get the right one for your cooler.
Cooler Master LGA1700 Upgrade Kits Compatibility

603005870-GP
603005450-GP
603005440-GP
603005420-GP (currently unavailable in Malaysia)

All MasterLiquid series, except the ML360 SUB-ZERO
MasterAir MA624 Stealth series
MasterAir MA612 Stealth series
Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition
Hyper 212 Black Edition
Hyper 212 Turbo ARGB
Hyper 212 ARGB
Hyper 212 Spectrum V2
MasterAir MA610P ARGB
Hyper H410R RGB
Hyper H412R

Cooler Master has also updated the packaging on their current lineup to include the LGA1700 mounting bracket. However there might be still older packaging out there in circulation which will require you to buy the Cooler Master LGA1700 Upgrade Kits separately if you plan on using it with your 12th Gen Intel Core processor, so make sure to double check with your retailer before checking out.

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It is also worth mentioning that Cooler Master recommends the MasterAir MA624 Stealth series and the 360mm MasterLiquid AIO coolers for the current 12th Gen Intel Core lineup. While the coolers listed above will be compatible with the Cooler Master LGA1700 upgrade kits, the smaller coolers may struggle with the heat output of the 12th Gen Intel Core processors, especially with the Core i9-12900K and Core i7-12700K. Even the Core i5-12600K’s 150W turbo power limit can be a challenge, so proceed with caution.
Cooler Master Malaysia has also decided to not offer the 603005420-GP kit at the moment, at least until the lower TDP 12th Gen Intel Core processors hit the market. Intel is slated to unveil more members of the 12th Gen Intel Core processors next year, which should include several locked 65W options, so stay tuned for that.
The Cooler Master LGA1700 Upgrade Kits are all priced at RM19, regardless of the variant.
Pokdepinion: That’s a pretty good deal to get some extra life out of your existing cooler!
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The HUAWEI Mate 10 Pro is now RM400 cheaper — get the AI-powered productivity smartphone for just RM2699 NOW!

The bigger brother of the HUAWEI Mate 10, the HUAWEI Mate 10 Pro, packs most of the same powerful hardware, but opts for a wider 18:9 display instead. Initially launched at RM3099, it is now available for just RM2699, a whopping RM400 cheaper.
The HUAWEI Mate 10 Pro delivers an intuitive AI-powered experience with the dedicated NPU in the Kirin 970 chipset. The AI improves not only photography, but also performance by intelligently responding to users’ usage patterns.
HUAWEI aims to reach more people with their AI technology with this price reduction, which surely makes the Mate 10 Pro that much more enticing.

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Pokdepinion: I think users should still go for the HUAWEI P20, unless they really despise the notch, or need more than 4GB of RAM.
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[E3 2019] Evil Genius 2: World Domination Resurfaces

Previously, we knew that a proper sequel to Evil Genius was in the works. After years of silence, the game has finally resurfaced at the PC Gaming Show at E3 2019 as Evil Genius 2: World Domination, and it does look very fun.
While Rebellion’s other PC game announced today, Zombie Army 4: Dead War, is an Epic Games Store exclusive, Evil Genius 2: World Domination is coming to Steam. As for the game itself, Evil Genius 2: World Domination is set to build on the sold groundwork the 2004 original laid down. In case you aren’t aware, the game is a management simulation game with the unique twist that players are building an evil lair as a supervillain.
In addition to simply building the lair, players must also send henchman out to commit crimes and also build contractions to capture those trying to sneak their way into the lair. The game will also have various objectives for players to complete as they build.

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Evil Genius 2: World Domination will be coming to PC sometime in 2020. No specific release date was mentioned. Be sure to check out the trailer for the game at the top of this post.
Pokdepinion: It’s interesting that the same people behind the game separated their two new games to two different digital marketplaces on PC. That being said, it would be interesting to see how different the sales numbers are for the two games when its out.
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What’s in Android 8.0 Oreo; better performance, better battery life and much more

Android 8.0 is here, with the sweet O-word being Oreo. After four developer previews, the finalized edition is going to arrive on the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C, Nexus Player, Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P devices “soon”, with those who tried out the beta getting the update to the stable build immediately. Other brands like ASUS have already pledged to update their devices even before Android 8.0 Oreo was officially named.

Better performance
That’s pretty much a given, right? Android Oreo promises up to 2x the boot speed to let you get to the best part of your Android device faster. Also, smart background activity limits will ensure that you reclaim the processing power and battery life that were hogged by apps you don’t even use that frequently. The background activity limit will work on cutting short the time apps can have background services running. Location update frequency by background apps will also be limited to bring you better battery life.
Better security

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If you have been downloading new apps from the Play Store, you may have noticed a new line of text under the download progress bar “Verified by Play Protect”. This is not exclusive to Android Oreo, but will be available on all devices running Google Play Services 11 and up. This unifies all the Google security features under the Play Protect umbrella, which makes it that much easier to manage.
Autofill
Google will now help you fill in native apps with saved passwords on Chrome. This should help you set up your new device faster. This probably won’t see much use beyond the first time logging in since most native apps only need to be logged in once.
Picture-in-Picture

It seems Google is still playing around with the formula to allow you to use two apps at the same time. While previously we only had split-screen, the next big thing is picture-in-picture, which essentially allows you to run a resizable overlay of an app over another app.
New look

There are a slew of optimizations to the user interface including a new Notification Dots which allows you to peek at your notifications with a tap and dismiss them with a swipe. Looks like really nifty stuff. Redesigned quick settings menu, media settings and settings menu also enhance the overall look, while making the entire user experience just that much more intuitive.
But that’s not all…
You will get more control over your notifications, with notification categories, notification snoozing to hide notifications away for a period of time, WiFi Assistant which will connect you to high quality open WiFi and protect you with a VPN, and native C/C++ API for high performance audio.

Also we have a new set of emojis!

Even a hijabista emoji!
When the Android Oreo update will hit your device is for your manufacturer to promise and for you to pray that they uphold it, but Google has worked closely with OEMs like Samsung, Nokia, HTC, Motorola, LG, Huawei and Sony to bring the update to you by the end of this year. Check out more details about Android Oreo update here.
Pokdepinion: Hopefully most of the new features are kept even after OEMs customize it for their devices.
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Overwatch 2 Director Is Acknowledging His Game’s ‘Bad’ Matchmaking

The game director of Overwatch 2, Aaron Keller, has taken responsibility for the ‘bad’ matchmaking in the game and has shared the team’s plans to fix it. Read on to learn more about the discrepancies in player skill levels, how the matchmaking tool works, and the recent Mid-Season patch that promises to alleviate some of these problems.
Overwatch 2 Game Director Addresses Matchmaking Shortcomings

Overwatch 2, the highly popular multiplayer online first-person shooter game, has been facing issues with its matchmaking system. In a recent post on their official News section of Blizzard’s website, game director Aaron Keller acknowledged the problem and promised that the team was taking steps to rectify it.

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Keller took responsibility for the matchmaking shortcomings and shared the team’s plans to fix what’s wrong. He noted that the current matchmaking system’s big problem is the discrepancy in player skill levels on opposite sides of the field. According to Keller, half of the matches played had a skill-level discrepancy of four to five matchmaking rating divisions, while the worst 1% of the matches had a discrepancy of up to 10 divisions.

To address this issue, the matchmaking tool used in the game will try to pair players with a similar matchmaking rating. However, other factors such as queue lengths can influence the system and lead to larger discrepancies in skill level. Sometimes the system will allow larger skill discrepancies between the two sides of a battle to cut down wait times, which further complicates the issue.
“In Season 3, we changed how our matchmaker expands over time, but removed some of our control over per queue behavior,” Keller explained. “This meant that if we wanted to reduce the size of skill differences in Competitive, we had to do the same thing in Unranked and Arcade.”

The recent Mid-Season patch that was released earlier this week aimed to address some of these issues. The patch will give the development team back some of the control over matchmaking that it gave up at the Season 3 launch, as well as being better able to put together parties based on similar delta ratings. This should have the twofold effect of pairing players with more balanced opponents while decreasing queue times. Keller promises similar matchmaking updates will be coming in Season 4.
While the matchmaking issues have caused frustration among players, Keller’s transparent approach and commitment to fixing the problem has been well-received. The game’s community is hopeful that these changes will improve the matchmaking experience and make the game more enjoyable for all players.
Source
Pokdepinion: Bad matchmaking is one issue but having to wait excessively long for games is also another issue. It’s funny how I could find a game in Valorant within the first 10 seconds for the most part but this game takes 3-5 minutes. Sometimes the actual game itself doesn’t last nowhere near as long as looking for a game, which is even worse. If it doesn’t get better anytime soon, I foresee a lot of people jumping over to other games.
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iPhone 12 series now starts from RM2899, iPhone 11 from RM2399

Apple announced the iPhone 13 series earlier today, and along with it, they also announced adjusted pricing for the iPhone 12 series and iPhone 11. For those of you who don’t need to be on the cutting edge, you can definitely check these out.
iPhone 12 series – still good enough?

I guess you can say that the iPhone 12 series kicked off the mini flagship iPhone option with the iPhone 12 mini. While it isn’t going to be as fast or as beautiful as the iPhone 13 series, the iPhone 12 series is still pretty potent. Under the hood you get the A14 Bionic that still is powerful enough to let the iPhone 12 series run laps around every Android smartphone in the market. Heck, even next-gen chipsets are only aspiring to achieve the A14 Bionic’s performance level.

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On the back, you get a dual 12MP camera setup. The ultra-wide angle shooter touts a 120° field-of-view and a f/2.4 aperture, while the main camera gets a f/1.6 aperture. Night mode, Deep Fusion and Smart HDR 3 ensures that you can take great shots easily. For video recording, you can shoot 4K60 videos or 4K Dolby Vision HDR at up to 30FPS. There’s image stabilization on the iPhone 12 series for better low-light performance and smoother videos, but not the fancier sensor-shift OIS that the iPhone 13 series now offers. Over on the front, you get a 12MP f/2.2 selfie camera.

The Super Retina XDR displays on the iPhone 12 series are of the same size and resolution as the ones in the iPhone 13 series. The main difference would be their max brightness, with the iPhone 12 series topping out at 625 nits, while the iPhone 13 series extends that to 800 nits. The iPhone 13 series also has a slightly smaller notch. But since there’s a notch anyway, I don’t think it makes much difference.
And oh, if you are particular about the dimensions, the iPhone 12 series is slightly thinner at 7.4mm, with the iPhone 13 series gaining a bit of girth, measuring 7.65mm. The iPhone 12 mini is also 7g lighter than the iPhone 13 mini, while the iPhone 12 is 11g lighter than the iPhone 13.
iPhone 12 series Price in Malaysia
          iPhone 12            iPhone 12 mini
With the iPhone 13 series taking up the exact same price points as the iPhone 12 did when they were launched, the iPhone 12 series is now RM300 more affordable at the same storage capacities. With that said, it is also worth mentioning that the lowest storage option of the iPhone 13 series has been bumped up to 128GB though, so the iPhone 12 series’ which start from 64GB are a good RM500 more affordable than the starting price of the iPhone 13 series.

iPhone 12 mini (64GB): RM2899
iPhone 12 mini (128GB): RM3099
iPhone 12 mini (256GB): RM3599
iPhone 12 (64GB): RM3399
iPhone 12 (128GB): RM3599
iPhone 12 (256GB): RM4099

iPhone 11: Can you live with LCD?

The iPhone 11‘s main drawback to me is its 6.1″ LCD display that’s not even FHD at 1792 x 828. It does achieve Apple’s target of 326ppi though, so it is still sharp to the naked eye, but not nearly as sharp as what you would get with the newer iPhones. It packs the ageing A13 Bionic, but this chip is still good enough for Apple to reuse in the new iPad, so I guess Apple considers it to be pretty potent indeed. There’s no 5G here though, so if you are looking forward to faster network speeds, you won’t get that here with the iPhone 11.

On the back you get dual 12MP cameras, but with a smaller f/1.8 aperture on the primary camera. The ultra-wide touts the same 120° field-of-view and a f/2.4 aperture, if ultra wide shots are a priority for you. You also lose out on the Dolby Vision HDR video recording, but 4K60 video recording is still available here. And on the front you get a 12MP f/2.2 selfie camera, just like the iPhone 12 series.

The iPhone 11 is going to be noticeably chonkier than the iPhone 12, being larger in every dimension while also weighing 194g versus the iPhone 12’s 162g. It also doesn’t share the design language of the latest iPhones, with a curved frame.
iPhone 11 Price in Malaysia

With all that said, the iPhone 11 is still a pretty decent buy. Coming from last year, Apple slashed off another RM500 from the iPhone 11 series, bringing the total discount to a whopping RM1000 from its 2019 launch pricing. For those who prefer a Yellow phone, this is the last model with a Yellow option. There’s also Purple, Green, White, Black and (PRODUCT)RED to choose from, if Yellow is not your thing.

iPhone 11 (64GB): RM2399
iPhone 11 (128GB): RM2599

Apple has phased out the iPhone XR, and the iPhone 12 Pro series are also no longer available new from Apple’s website. Interestingly enough, Apple didn’t adjust the pricing on the iPhone SE, presumably considering its RM1999 starting price to be sufficiently enticing as the gateway drug into the iOS ecosystem.
Pokdepinion: I think the iPhone 13 is still a better buy… RM300 for that camera that looks like it was directly carried over from the iPhone 12 Pro Max does seem pretty reasonable…
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POCOPHONE F1 will get MIUI 11 update when it rolls out

If you have the POCOPHONE F1, then you will be very glad to hear this bit of news. The POCOPHONE F1 has been confirmed to receive MIUI 11 by none other than the Head of POCOPHONE Global himself, Alvin Tse.

POCO Fans, please don’t worry. We will get MIUI 11 when it rolls out globally. #POCOF1
— Alvin Tse (@atytse) September 25, 2019

The POCOPHONE brand might be in limbo with the arrival of the Redmi flagships, but we are pretty sure that there are plenty out there still hanging on to their POCOPHONE F1s. Yours truly, as well. After all, there was no smartphone in 2018 that did bang-for-buck as well as the POCOPHONE F1. Hence, the #BaikBeliPOCO trend back then.

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The POCOPHONE F1 has received more than its fair share of new features via OTA updates, and I do look forward to what’s coming with the MIUI 11 update. There seems like there’s a possibility that MIUI 11 based on Android 9 Pie will hit the POCOPHONE F1 first, with a later update bringing Android 10 to the POCOPHONE F1.
POCOPHONE F1 Specs

Snapdragon 845, octa-core up to 2.84 GHz, 10nm FinFET
6GB LPDDR4x RAM
Up to 128GB UFS 2.1 storage (expandable via microSD card)
6.18″ FHD+ IPS display
12MP f/1.9 + 5MP f/2.0 depth sensor
20MP f/2.0 selfie camera
MIUI 10
4000 mAh battery
6GB + 64GB: RM1099

I believe the POCOPHONE F1 will continue living on as one of the best value smartphones to have ever graced the world. What do you think? Let us know!
Pokdepinion: #BaikBeliPOCO wooooo!
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Cooler Master Introduces MasterAir MA410P – Pro-Grade CPU Air Cooler With RGB Lighting

Cooler Master has launch today their new MasterAir MA410P, which is equipped with a MasterFan 120 Air Balance RGB, delivering not only looks but also performance.
Cooler MasterAir MA410P
With the new MasterAir MA410P, it features Pro-grade air coolers which uses MasterFan 120 Air Balance RGB, giving not only looks but also delivers silent and efficient heat dissipation. This fills the needs (or even wants) of gaming enthusiasts and multi-graphic platforms.
The space between each fin of the stacked fin array in engineered to ensure the least amount of airflow resistance, allowing more cool air into heatsink. The X-vents and Air-Guide steer extra ventilation to the hottest spots. With Continuous Direct Contact Technology 2.0 (CDC 2.0) it compresses the 4 heatpipes to increase CPU contact surface area and increase thermal conductivity and heat transfer.

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Equipped with the PWM MasterFan 120 RGB for the full RGB spectrum, it features more than 16.7 million colors. In addition, it is certified compatible and sync-able with RGB capable motherboards from ASUS Aura Sync, ASRock RGB LED, Gigabyte RGB Fusion, and MSI Mystic Light.
Event without an RGB motherboard, Cooler Master also offers a free wired RGB Controller C10L in the box, for good measure. The controller doesn’t need any softwares. Users can utilize it to adjust the mode, color, and brightness of the controller with just the touch of a button.
With its broad range of choices, it gives the freedom for users to choose it as their CPU cooler for their system.
The Cooler Master MasterAir MA410P is now available in Malaysia. It is priced at a RM169.
Pokdepinion: The MasterAir MA410P looks like a decent option. What do you think? Do you think that it is worth its price tag? Will you be buying it? Let us know what you  think about the new cooler from Cooler Master in the comment section below!
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U Mobile Unlimited Hero P139 Now Offers RM1 Supplementary Line

If you needed an extra SIM card for a secondary device or for a family member, there is one new option you can consider now to save some money. The U Mobile Unlimited Hero P139 postpaid plan now has a special promo for its Share 20 postpaid supplementary plan for just RM1 per month.
Unlimited Hero P139 Supplementary Line at RM1

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In case you weren’t aware, the U Mobile Unlimited Hero P139 postpaid plan comes with unlimited high-speed data, unlimited calls to all networks, 3GB data for Roam Onz Global applicable in 36 destinations, 50GB Mobile Hotspot data, and unlimited HD video streaming for just RM139 per month.
The Share 20 supplementary line has 50GB shareable data and up to 30 minutes of voice calls to U Mobile number for free everyday. Otherwise, calls are charged at 5 sen per 30 second block, while SMS costs 3 sen to U Mobile numbers and 8 sen to other networks.
Instead of its usual price of RM20 per month, it’s now going for just RM1 per month. You can have up to 3 supplementary lines, which brings the total number of lines to 4 for only RM142 per month.
You can subscribe to the plan as usual, and you will receive a rebate of RM19 per month on your postpaid bill for 12 consecutive bills. This is also a clear indication that once the offer has expired, the price will go back to RM20 per month.
According to U Mobile, the RM1 per month supplementary line offer is only applicable for new supplementary lines including port-in from other telcos or conversions from their own prepaid plans. If you are already on the Share 20 plan, you will not be eligible for this offer, even if the principal line upgrades to the Unlimited Hero P139 postpaid plan.
Source
Pokdepinion: Well, it’s definitely very affordable so if you plan on combining with your family members, it sounds pretty worth it. Just make sure you’re ready for when the promo price ends.
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The latest 9th Generation Intel Core processors are faster than most desktop CPUs!

Intel has finally brought out the latest high performance 9th Generation Intel Core processors for laptops. This time, they are bringing up to eight cores to the mobile segment with the latest Intel Core i9 9980H and Core i9 9980HK processors.
The new 9th Generation Intel Core mobile processors also feature higher frequencies than their predecessors, with the Intel Core i7 9750H clocked at up to 4.5 GHz versus the Core i7 8750H’s 4.1 GHz maximum Turbo Boost clocks. The new Intel Core i9 processors also feature Intel Thermal Velocity Boost, allowing for even higher frequencies (+100 MHz) when given sufficient thermal headroom.
Definitely a prime candidate for a 9th Generation Core i9 refresh!
Here are the specifications for the 9th Generation Intel Core mobile processor lineup:

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9th Generation Intel Core mobile processor Specifications

Cores/Thread
Base Clock/Boost Clock
Cache
TDP
Intel Thermal Velocity Boost
Overclocking

Intel Core i9 9980HK
8C/16T
2.4/4.9 GHz
16MB
45W
Yes
Yes

Intel Core i9 9980H
8C/16T
2.3/4.7 GHz
16MB
45W
Yes
No

Intel Core i7 9850H
6C/12T
2.6 / 4.6 GHz
12MB
45W
No
Partial (up to +400 MHz)

Intel Core i7 9750H
6C/12T
2.6 / 4.5 GHz
12MB
45W
No
No

Intel Core i5 9400H
4C/8T
2.5 / 4.3 GHz
8MB
45W
No
No

Intel Core i5 9300H
4C/8T
2.4 / 4.1 GHz
8MB
45W
No
No

The weirdest addition to this lineup is probably the Intel Core i9 9980H, which is a locked Core i9 processor. So you get to enjoy eight cores, sixteen threads of processing, but you won’t be allowed to overclock them. Speaking of which, it would be interesting to see which OEM can come up with a design that can handle an overclocked Intel Core i9 9980HK without thermal throttling.

There’s support for up to 128GB RAM, which means support for 32GB DIMM. Intel also mentions Intel Optane support, so I guess we aren’t going to see the technology go away anytime soon. OEMs are already announcing their latest laptops featuring the 9th Generation Intel Core processors now, so it should be that long before you can actually buy one.
Pokdepinion: I wonder if any laptop can actually handle the latest 9th Generation Intel Core processors at full tilt…
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Lenovo Broadens Premium Yoga Laptop Series in Malaysia

Lenovo has recently announced a variety of new premium, high-performance Yoga laptops, including the 14″ Lenovo Yoga 9i laptop, the 14″ Lenovo Yoga 7i laptop, and the 14″ Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro laptop, which will be available in Malaysia this year.
Lenovo Yoga 9i

The Yoga 9i is a stylish 2-in-1 interactive touchscreen laptop that can be used as a laptop or a tablet for a variety of creative users. The premium laptop is a class above when it comes to exploring creative software and multitasking numerous demanding programmes because it is equipped with Windows 11 and optimises the responsiveness of up to 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P processor combined with Intel Iris Xe graphics to deliver superior performance.

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Users can immersive themselves in music and movies with an improved Rotating Sound Bar featuring quad Bowers & Wilkins speakers on the top and sides, consisting of two woofers and two tweeters for an improved range of frequency response, increasing the depth, clarity, and warmth of bass effects.
The laptop features a 4K OLED IPS touchscreen with slim bezels and a VESA DisplayHDR 500 True Black certified for DCI-P3 colour accuracy. Furthermore, this convertible features an easier one-handed opening for multitasking convenience
The Yoga 9i has an untraditional edge-to-edge keyboard design layout offering a bar of new 1-Click Function Keys with five additional shortcut keys for quick access to any features. To enable log-off and log-in features, users can utilise the fingerprint reader.
Not only that, the laptop features new innovations to assist working and entertainment such as Smart Power which is a performance mode that allows for increased performance or longer battery life. While on video calls via Microsoft Teams or other collaboration platforms, background blur instantly helps protect the privacy of one’s surroundings.
Vibe Check will assist users in better perceiving differences between nuanced audio profiles, resulting in a more satisfying listening experience. The laptop also features Colour mode key to assist users in switching their system appearance between dark and light mode via Windows’ native colour settings feature.
Customers interested in purchasing the Yoga 9i can do so on Lenovo’s official website for RM5,710. Furthermore, customers can also purchase them for RM6,699 at authorised sellers on Lazada and Shopee.
Lenovo Yoga 7i

The Yoga 7i laptop is equipped with up to 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P processor and Intel Iris Xe graphics that distribute real-world hybrid processing power paired with long-lasting battery life.
When creating content, see beyond the surface for more vibrant and sharper visuals with up to 2.2K IPS touchscreen display, 100% sRGB colour gamut, and Dolby Vision. When combined with a front-facing Dolby Atmos Speaker System, the device creates an immersive environment for creative work or entertainment.
A 360-degree hinge, which is both versatile and sophisticated, provides stability as you transition from tablet to laptop mode and back. The device has a higher 91% screen-to-body ratio than the previous generation and a unique drop-down hinge.
Users can improve their user experience by using the laptop’s Smart login security with a Full HD IR camera. Improved eye protection provided by TÜV-certified low blue light technology allows you to work for longer periods of time while remaining safe.
Customers interested in purchasing the Yoga 9i can do so on Lenovo’s official website for RM4,189. Furthermore, customers can also purchase them for RM4,399 at authorised sellers on Lazada and Shopee.
Yoga Slim 7i Pro

The 14″Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro laptop is designed with a sleek premium aluminium design to provide essential performance featuring 12th Gen Intel Core processors and Intel Iris Xe graphics and does not hold back when it comes to unleashing your creative abilities.
Users can enjoy a stunning 2.8K clarity on a 14″ display that is 91% screen and features a taller 16:10 ratio aspect for optimised viewing whether viewing documents or watching a movie.
The Yoga Slim 7i Pro will be available for RM4,149 on Lenovo’s official website and RM4,899 at their authorised sellers on Lazada and Shopee.
Pokdepinion: Laptops and convertible laptops for your everyday use! Had a first look and they are super light and thin. Suitable for those who despise carrying heavy laptops everywhere.
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Get Unlimited Data From RM48 With New Ultra Unlimited Wireless Broadband From U Mobile

U Mobile has just introduced the new Ultra Unlimited Wireless Broadband plans, a new range of Unlimited plans specific to Wireless Broadband. This new plan consists of four separate packages starting from as low as RM48 for the WB48 Study Plan. There’s also a WB68 Work Plan, WB88 Work & Play Plan and WB128 Max Plan.
New Ultra Unlimited Wireless Broadband plans from as low as RM48

Depending on the chosen subscription, customers stand to enjoy unlimited data when using selected apps as well as an allocated monthly data quota that may be used for all other purposes. For example, the WB68 Work Plan offers unlimited data for learning and productivity apps like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Office 365 apps; it also comes bundled with 30GB of data for all other uses.

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The WB88 Work & Play Plan, on the other hand, not only offers unlimited data for learning and productivity apps, but it also provides unlimited data for apps like Shopee, Lazada, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Garena Call of Duty: Mobile and Garena Free Fire. On top of that, the WB88 Work & Play Plan also comes bundled with 50GB of data.

That’s not all, U Mobile will be running a promotion for the Ultra Unlimited Wireless Broadband plans which provides a 50% discount on the monthly fees of WB68 Work Plan, WB88 Work & Play Plan and WB128 Max Plan. This promotion is open to all new and existing U Mobile customers who are subscribed to Giler Unlimited GX68, Unlimited HERO P79, P99 or P139 postpaid plans. Customers will be able to enjoy this discount for 24 months.
This means that eligible customers will get to enjoy the benefits of the WB88 Work & Play Plan for just RM44 monthly for a period of two years. This promotion starts on 11 March 2021 and will run for a limited time only.
You can check out U Mobile’s website for more information on the new Ultra Unlimited Wireless Broadband plans or any other U Mobile plans.
Pokdepinion: This is pretty smart from U Mobile to come up with plans like these. Now that a lot of people are working and studying at home, these plans would definitely come in handy.
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Hongmeng will be HUAWEI’s answer to Google’s boycott

Google will no longer provide any Android services to HUAWEI’s upcoming smartphones, but HUAWEI is reportedly well prepared for this. While the name of their “Plan B” was never revealed, HUAWEI Central reports that HUAWEI’s homegrown OS is named “Hongmeng”.

Hongmeng will probably be the OS which will power upcoming HUAWEI and HONOR smartphones, since the Chinese company will no longer be package their devices with Android. Betting on an unproven smartphone operating system has been the downfall of even giants like Nokia, so HUAWEI would be wise to tread carefully in this area.

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The Lumia series were awesome, but Nokia bet on the wrong horse…
Unless HUAWEI can somehow pull developers making apps for iOS and Android to work on a third operating system, it is highly unlikely that Hongmeng will be successful. But then, HUAWEI and HONOR smartphones in China do not use Google’s services, and they are quite successful so far.

What do you think? Would you be willing to give up the convenience of Google’s services and apps to enjoy the groundbreaking camera capabilities that HUAWEI has consistently rolled out?
Pokdepinion: I personally believe HUAWEI and Google will work something out pretty soon… but at least we know HUAWEI isn’t going to curl up and die.

[UPDATE]: HUAWEI will still continue supporting all existing HUAWEI and HONOR smartphones!
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HP Made A Donation Of 112 PCs To Vaccination Centres In Johor

HP Malaysia has just announced that they have donated 112 units of HP Personal Computers at Dataran Kota Iskandar for the vaccination program in Johor. The donated PCs came along with monitors and computer accessories.
HP helps out in Johor with donated PCs

The PCs will be used to help with the deployment of the State of Johor’s vaccination programme across 56 vaccination centres in April. The Chief Minister of Johor, Yang Amat Berhormat Datuk Hasni Mohammad expressed his gratitude for HP’s donations. He also stated that the donated PCs will be repurposed for the use of community internet centres and educational purposes post COVID-19 to ensure that the PCs see full use.

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This donation is part of HP Malaysia’s ongoing effort to provide assistance to Malaysia during this pandemic. The company provided support to government bodies, businesses, and communities through donations to Mercy Malaysia to help pilot targeted mass COVID-19 testing programmes as well as personal protective supplies to the state of Johor and Penang.
Throughout the year, the company also launched several remote working and learning initiatives aimed to keep Malaysians learning and working from home safely including partnering with Teach for Malaysia to donate laptops to support students in need.
Pokdepinion: It’s always nice seeing companies like this help people out in times of need. Regardless of what some people might say about the whole thing, bottom line is that they’re there to help and that’s what matters most.
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HONOR Fansgiving 2020 Sees RM48 Flash Deals Everyday

HONOR Malaysia has revealed of their latest deals for this year’s Fansgiving day, which runs from the 4th of April and up until the 12th April 2020.
HONOR Fansgiving day Malaysia

As you can see, they are offering daily RM48 deals for each day in that period of time. The deal includes several of their wearables as well as powerbank. It’s worth noting that on the 8th of April, they’ve also got a flash deal for the HONOR 20 which you can get at RM999 instead of its retail price of RM1,199.
Aside from that, they are also giving away a further RM50 discount when you purchase over RM408. You can check out their offers below:

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ModelRRPHONOR Fansgiving PriceFreebiesHONOR 20RM1,199N/AHONOR Band 5 SportHONOR 20 LiteRM799RM749HONOR Band 5 SportHONOR 9XRM999RM949HONOR 9X Gift Box, HONOR Band 5i, and moreHONOR 8X MaxRM899RM849HONOR 8X Gift BoxHONOR 7SRM329RM309Mini phone holder, data cableHONOR Band 5RM129RM111N/AHONOR MagicWatch 2 46mm (Charcoal Black)RM699RM649N/AHONOR MagicWatch 2 46mm (Flax Brown)RM749RM699N/AHONOR MagicWatch 2 42mm (Agate Black) RM599RM549N/A
You can find these deals available at hihonor as well as their official store on Shopee.
Pokdepinion: Totally something to look out for if you’re finding some wearables!
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Major Destiny 2 Overhaul Coming Next Week; 3-tier Push Rollout

Bungie has announced some major changes coming to Destiny 2 starting next week onwards. Get ready folks, because it’s going to be big.

Major Destiny 2 Overhaul Coming Next Week

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If you have been disliking the changes to Destiny 2, or even the ones coming soon for the game, this might either be the icing on the cake or something to reel you back into Destiny 2. Alongside the changes to the in-game economy, which Bungie issued a statement about earlier, these are the Destiny 2 overhauls coming next week onwards.
In a developer blog post titled “The State of Destiny 2,” Luke Smith and Chris Barrett took to the community to report that we would be getting a litany of updates, including timelines for previously-revealed changes and newly-added ones.
To begin the update, the development team struck a reconciliatory tone with the recurring Destiny 2 fanbase, saying they will make sure to cater specifically to them:
Going forward, Destiny 2’s post-launch game systems, features, and updates are being designed specifically to focus on and support players who want Destiny to be their hobby – the game they return to, and a game where friendships are made.
We want Destiny to be a game that fits into your life, providing you with reasons to log in and play with your friends, clans, and families. We want Destiny to be a world you want to be a part of.
Bungie then said that all rollouts would be taking place in a 3-tier push; the first major update being next week on December 5th 2017. That first update will include brand new armor ornaments to offer more distinct customization for the often-generic armor pieces. Unlike exotic weapon ornaments, these armor ornaments will be unlocked by completing objectives and will be permanently available for each Guardian on an account.

Next up, Banshee will now be accepting weapon and armor modifications to help you start clear out your inventory. Not only that, but mods will be available for direct purchase if you are looking for specific ones. And that direct purchase isn’t limited to Banshee, Master Rahool will be selling both Legendary Engrams for Legendary Shards.
On top of that, Reputation Tokens will be getting some changes. In the words of the blog:

Daily Challenges will have Reputation Token awards increased across the board
Cayde’s Treasure Chests still offer variable rewards, but now guarantee (at minimum) a payout of destination appropriate Reputation Tokens
Strikes will drop a larger number of Vanguard Reputation Tokens
Common quality Destination Resource Tokens will have their drop rates increased to 100%, and values per Token increased as well (by 50% for common quality Tokens and 250% for rare quality Tokens)
On the balance, Reputation required per Reward Engram will increase for Destination Factions (+37%) and Gunsmith (+50%)
Leviathan Raid Tokens will be redeemed at Benedict immediately upon obtaining a Token, instead of requiring a full clear before unlocking

The next update rollout will be on December 12th, which will bring a bit more to the table. First is an introduction of a new class of weapon called Masterworks. Masterworks will have a few advantages, including an in-game counter for kills, orb generation (to charge Supers), and other weapon stats. These Masterwork weapons will drop from Legendary engrams, for an idea you can check the image below:

Next on the list, Xur will be starting to bring some new exotics to his weekly party. This includes “Fated Engrams” with Legendary shards that will decrypt into unowned exotics. Not only that, but Three of Coins will reportedly be more consistent, taking away “obscure stacking mechanics” or the need to apply between bosses.

There will be gift consumables that will help you easily earn Legendary Shards and UI updates with vendor rewards. On top of that, players will have the ability to exploit chests and nodes a little more regularly.
Last but not least, they’ve laid out some things coming Early 2018 that players can expect. These include:

January update will provide better incentives to complete Prestige activities
Rewards for Adventures and Lost Sectors
The much-promised private PvP matches
A “Quitter Penalty” for PvP play to penalize those leaving losing games
Changes to the mod economy
Duplication protection for exotics
Emote interface improvements

Source: Bungie

Pokdepinion: Well, reading it sounds like it’s a good change but we have to see it for ourselves when the Destiny 2 updates are up. On a side note, legendary shards, anyone?
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Hotlink Is Offering 44GB Of Free Internet Data To Celebrate This Coming Raya

The folks up at Hotlink has revealed that they are rewarding free 44GB of mobile data to their users this Raya. The promo, which is called HotlinkMU RAYA 2019, is up and running until the 30th of June 2019.
With the free 44GB data, it can be used on all apps and usage, so you can share your Raya snaps on your Instagram, watch videos on Youtube, send your Raya greetings on WhatsApp and the list goes on.

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If you are interested in the promo, all you need to do is purchase any HotlinkMU RAYA Deals exclusively on the Hotlink RED App to instantly enjoy the free high-speed 44GB data. It is worth noting that the 44GB is split by 22GB all-day and 22GB from 1am until 7am.
Simply follow the steps below to get your hands on the free 44GB data:

Download the Hotlink RED App from Google Play Store or the Apple Store
Check out the HotlinkMU RAYA Deals in the HOME & SHOP tab
Purchase any HotlinkMU RAYA Deals with “RAYA PROMO” on it, and the 44GB data will be automatically activated

You can check the link right here to find out more on the HotlinkMU RAYA Deals.
Pokdepinion: I don’t think I’d be able to finish all of the data given… still a great deal though! This is especially for those who just can’t live without their phones :P
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Get A Close Look Into Spyro Reignited Trilogy – 18 Minutes of Gameplay Footage

Despite its delay, Activision didn’t wanna leave fans wondering on the game’s state so they shared near 20 minutes of gameplay for Spyro Reignited Trilogy.
Get A Close Look Into Spyro Reignited Trilogy

The folks over at Activision and Toys for Bob have recently shared new gameplay footage for one of the most highly anticipated remaster collections, Spyro Reignited Trilogy. This is probably the most extensive look into the game that has been released for the public.
This gameplay footage is based on the Gamescom build of Spyro Reignited Trilogy and it features some healthy looks at all three games that are included in the collection. As such, there’s a lot to see with the total gameplay being roughly about 18 minutes long. If you’ve been wanting to see more about the game, this is gonna be the best one yet.

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Hopefully, this deeper look at the game will make up for last week’s disappointing news that Spyro Reignited Trilogy had been delayed to November, which we reported right here. Despite that, the game has only been delayed for about a couple of months, which isn’t really long. It’s perfect for the holiday season.
Be sure to check out the video which included at the top of this post. Spyro Reignited Trilogy will be coming to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 13th November 2018.
Pokdepinion: It’s starting to look more and more like what I remembered it. Sure, the original had worse visuals but in my head, it always seemed this good.
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Realme 2 Pro review — great bang-for-buck!

Introduction

The Realme 2 Pro is an amazing value for money proposition, finally offering some competition to a market leader we know all too well in the bang-for-buck scene. We know it has a lot of great features for its price, but today we will scrutinize it further. Did Realme cut one too many corners in making to make the Realme 2 Pro as affordable as it is?
Unboxing

The Realme 2 Pro has a very simple packaging. White with red text and accents help it stand out among the crowd, and the large font just helps make identifying it easier. In the box, is the Realme 2 Pro itself and a pretty standard 10W charger, as well as a case.

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Appearance

The front of the device is pretty cool for its price. It opts for a waterdrop notch which does offer a lot of usable screen area, while it has a chin that’s noticeable. Of course, none of that is visible when the screen is off.

Over on the back is a pretty shimmery finish, which looks pretty good especially if you move it around under light. Unfortunately it is still entirely made of plastic though, which isn’t the most premium material out there. It will also pick up scratches quite prodigally, so do take care of this device.

The sides are matte and curved. They almost fooled me into thinking they are metal, until I picked up the Realme 2 Pro and realized they do not have the cool-to-the-touch sensation which metal will offer. It looks pretty good, and the matte finishing should be more durable, but it is still plastic.

Realme also opted for a microUSB port here. Not exactly a good move since Realme is really on a quest to annihilate the mid-range market. There is also a 3.5mm jack here for those of you who still has yet to move on to wireless headsets. The primary loudspeaker here is lonely, as the earpiece does not double as a secondary speaker.
Specifications

CPU/Chipset:
Snapdragon 660 AIE (4 x Kryo 260 @ 1.95 GHz + 4 x Kryo 260 @ 1.8 GHz)

GPU:
Adreno 512

RAM:
8GB LPDDR4X

Display:
6.3″ FHD+ (1080p) IPS display

Storage:
128GB UFS 2.1 (expandable via microSD card up to 256GB)

Camera:
Main Camera(s)
16MP f/1.7 + 2MP f/2.4
LED flash, Dual PDAF, HDR, EIS, AI photography, Portrait mode, Aperture mode, Pro mode, [email protected] video, AR Sticker, Filters, Beautify
Front Camera
16MP f/2.0
AR Sticker, Filters, Beautify, Panorama, [email protected]

OS:
ColorOS 5.2 based on Android 8.1 Oreo

Connectivity:
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz + 5 GHz)
Bluetooth 5.0
LTE-FDD: Band 1/3/5/7/8/20
LTE-TDD: Band 38/40/41

SIM:
Dual nanoSIM

Battery:
Li-ion 3500 mAh (non-removable)
10W charging

Dimensions:
156.7 x 74.0 x 8.5 mm

Weight:
174 g

Specifications wise, the Realme 2 Pro is quite the perfect phone for its price. You get a beefy Snapdragon 660 AIE, mated to 8GB RAM and 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage. There is also a dedicated dual SIM tray, which makes it suitable for those who want to use both expandable storage and two SIM cards. There are more devices than you think that offers hybrid dual SIM slots.
Performance

Jumping straight in to the benchmarks, we see the Realme 2 Pro perform quite well in Antutu. It comes up short against the OPPO F9 with the Helio P60, but trounces all other Snapdragon 660 devices we have tested.

As expected with the lower-clocked cores, we see the Realme 2 Pro fall behind the other Snapdragon 660 smartphones. It makes a come back with its multi-core scores though, which is surprising. It doesn’t come up above the Helio P60-packing OPPO F9, which seems to be the trend here.

And we were wrong about the trend. The GPU performance is where Snapdragon chipsets usually shine, and it shows. It is a bit slower than the other Snapdragon 660 smartphones though, probably due to the lower-clocked CPUs.

Performance in PCMark is also great. It’s actually a lot better than the other Snapdragon 660 smartphones.

Interestingly, the Realme 2 Pro delivers worse battery life than the other two Snapdragon 660 devices. It does come up better than the OPPO F9 though, which points at the better efficiency of Qualcomm’s mid-range chipset. In real world usage, the battery around a day and a half before it hits 15%. There is no fast charging here, so charging takes a good while.

Now with Realme really emphasizing on the UFS 2.1 storage in the highest end Realme 2 Pro we have here today, we definitely had to test it. Interestingly, the speeds we see here are not nearly as high as the ones we have seen in flagships with UFS 2.1. It peaks out at around 440MB/s read and 191MB/s write. Putting that into perspective, eMMC 5.1 tops out at around 200MB/s both ways. So now we are seeing more than double the read speeds, and that’s a major win in our books. All without spending more than you would on any of the eMMC 5.1-packing devices. Nice.
User Experience

The Realme 2 Pro won’t win any awards for the most solidly built smartphone, but it does fit pretty well in hand. The curved sides and matte finish gave me a lot more confidence wielding the Realme 2 Pro rather than its glossier half-brother. The display here has slightly muted colors, but brightness is still top notch.

Speaking of the top-notch, it is absolutely unacceptable that ColorOS 5.2 doesn’t show any notifications in the status bar. There is almost no reason for a smaller notch if you aren’t going to use the extra viewing area to display notifications.

ColorOS 5.2 has yet to undergo any transformations from the time we reviewed the OPPO F9, so we are looking at essentially the same UI. It’s actually pretty outdated, and lacks the polish that most modern Android skins have. It’s serviceable, but ColorOS still has a long way to go to match the latest Android skins out there. There is nary a stutter throughout my usage of the Realme 2 Pro, and I am really happy with the experience, especially once I factor in the price.

Moving on, the camera. Realme has used the same hardware found on the OPPO F9, which means a 16MP Sony IMX398 sensor for the primary rear camera. The sensor has seen a few years of use in OPPO’s lineup, but it’s still a pretty solid shooter. Now that the software touts some AI chops, the results should be better, or so we hope. The secondary camera is just there for portrait mode, so we can count that out.

Speaking of the software, the camera UI on the Realme 2 Pro is all too familiar for anyone who has used an OPPO in recent times. Or probably any decent Chinese-made phone, as the UI is pretty derivative. The shutter button is very easy to find, flanked by a shortcut to switch to the front camera and a shortcut to the gallery. Realme threw in AR Stickers and also cool lighting effects, but once again, nothing we haven’t seen on the OPPO F9 we used a couple of weeks back. Despite the lack of a telephoto camera setup, there is a toggle to zoom. I have no idea why it’s there. The Vivid mode is gone from the Realme 2 Pro, but the settings are just as obscure. You literally have to dig in the Settings menu for it. The camera settings should be in the camera app, my friend.

The results are pretty good, a respectable result from a device at this price range. In good lighting, the dynamic range and colors are great. Details are somewhat smudgy, but you won’t notice them unless you zoom in to take a closer look. The 2x zoom is honestly quite useless as it is just digital zoom, so avoid using it. Low light photography is just passable. The portrait mode is pretty usable though, so go ahead and use it to add some blur to your portraits. You can check out the full-sized samples here.
Conclusion
Now after using it as my daily driver, do I still recommend the Realme 2 Pro? Absolutely. Aside from the software and the plastic body, there really is nothing lacking from the device. You get a powerful chipset, more RAM than you can get even from flagships that cost upwards of RM3000, and also a lot of fast storage, faster and more capacious than any mid-range device out there.

For RM1099, the Realme 2 Pro is a real steal, and finally apply some pressure on the mid-range smartphone market. With devices like the ASUS ZenFone 5z and POCOPHONE F1 to prove just how overpriced recent flagships have become, it’s high time for the mid-range to get something like that too. And we got it, in the form of the Realme 2 Pro. The Realme 2 Pro isn’t perfect, but for its price, it doesn’t have to be.

Our thanks to Realme Malaysia for providing us with the Realme 2 Pro for review purposes. Also, don’t forget that the Realme 2 Pro will be available on Shopee at RM999 on 28th November!
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The flash sale at Predator’s roadshow is just insane — up to 90% off selected products!

Acer introduced a whole new series of Predator gaming hardware at the [email protected] 2018 event, and they are launching said products in Malaysia this Thursday at Sunway Pyramid. To kick the launch off, Acer is running a roadshow with an incredulous flash sale that sees products sold for nearly 90% off!

Aside from the flash sale, you can also stand a chance to win the Aspire 6 Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War Captain America Edition laptop worth RM3109 by purchasing any Acer product worth RM1800 and above. Aside from that, there are attractive rebates offered for selected laptops and promotions for Acer’s accessories.

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All you have to do is to make your way to Blue Concourse [LG2], Sunway Pyramid anytime from Thursday (28th June) until Sunday (1st June) to check out Acer’s latest Predator lineup and promotions!
Pokdepinion: I am so getting that backpack!
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Nintendo Has Different Stance on Censorship for 3rd Party Games

When people think of Nintendo, chances are that they think of the most family-friendly video game platform around. Of course, there’s the occasional game with a somewhat more mature tone to it but generally still family-friendly over all. With the case of 3rd party games on the Nintendo Switch, things are rather interesting.
During its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, Shuntaro Furukawa answered many questions regarding the company. One of the questions revolved around if Nintendo would censor third-party games on the Switch similarly to how Sony has introduced some new censorship tactics.

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Furukawa responded letting it known that Nintendo wouldn’t get involved with censorship and would leave that up to the rating boards like the CERO and the ESRB. On top of that, he made sure to mention that parents still can use the parental control functions that are available on the switch so that they can protect their children from adult content.
Also, Furukawa mentioned that if platform-holding companies started censoring titles, it could hurt the diversity and fairness in game software.
Nintendo, as do 3rd-parties and their software, applies for an objective rating from 3rd-party organizations prior to release. If platform-holding companies choose arbitrarily, the diversity and fairness in game software would be significantly inhibited. We provide parental controls that can be used to apply limits.
In the past, Nintendo didn’t really have much support from 3rd-party games, especially those with more gory content. With the Nintendo Switch now capable of supporting certain AAA titles from other platforms like The Witcher 3 for example, it’s certainly a needed change to ensure the Nintendo Switch’s success.
Source: Reddit
Pokdepinion: It’s interesting that Nintendo has loosened their grip on certain aspects of game development compared to the old days. But I’m sure they understand that in doing so, it will allow them to give gamers a better overall experience on their platforms.
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