TechNave NewsBytes 2020 #15 - Samsung TV, Huawei Awards, Shopee Live Kpop Fest, Celcom, Maxis, Digi, Intel, HP, Yoodo, Fitbit, Shell, edotco, Micron, Kaspersky, Nokia, eGG, Snap, Grab, Special: unifi wifi tips

Welcome back TechNavers! For this edition of TechNave NewsBytes 2020 #15 we have Samsung about their TV innovations through the years, Huawei got 8 awards for their networking prowess and Shopee is going to be holding a Live Kpop Fest… online. Celcom rewarded their Game Hero finalists, Maxis rewarded their eKelas and Digi is offering SMEs another online option via their MyDigi Bazaar.

Intel announced their Hybrid processors, HP donated laptops, Yoodo’s Gank team got into the Malaysia Book of Records, Fitbit has some Father’s day deals and Shell has some promotions on their cashless payment options. edotco is offering job opportunities, Micron is planning a UV robot fest and Kaspersky has some GReAT ideas.

Nokia did a survey on 5G, eGG are doing the NBA 2K League and Snap announced some Snap Partner Summit highlights. Grab announced their Grab for Good report while for this issue of TechNave, the Special comes from unifi with tips to improve your home wifi performance. Check them out below.

When it comes to setting new standards in performance, Samsung’s 8K AI upscaling technology has equipped the company’s TVs to provide truly captivating viewing experiences. Likewise, ‘The Wall’ – the first ever modular display with MicroLED, capable of expanding to a size of hundreds of inches – provided a snapshot of what the future holds for display technology. In terms of design and lifestyle leadership, a host of Samsung solutions including ‘The Serif’, ‘The Frame’ and ‘The Sero’ have set new benchmarks for how your TV might look and interact.

Check out the infographic at their site for more details.

At Interop Tokyo 2020, the largest ICT exhibition in Japan, Huawei recently won eight awards for its innovative products and solutions including five grand prizes.

Huawei received the following awards at Interop Tokyo 2020:

Shopee recently partnered with CJ ENM to bring KCON, the world’s largest Korean culture festival, online for the first time. KCON is a highly-anticipated annual event for Kpop fans across the globe, entering its ninth year of bringing the ultimate Korean culture fan experience worldwide including the US, Japan, and Thailand. It will go online for the first time in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, with Shopee as the official live stream partner for the KCON:TACT 2020 Summer concert. This partnership will see Shopee air live performances, concerts, and more from KCON:TACT 2020 Summer for free to users on Shopee Live.

KCON:TACT 2020 Summer will be the highlight of Shopee Live Kpop Fest, which will kick off on 10 June. Launched in collaboration with CJ ENM, the festival aims to meet growing demand for online entertainment amid social distancing measures in the region. Popular Kpop groups will also make special appearances on Shopee Live, while Shopee users can enjoy daily Kpop themed streams and challenges.

From 10 to 26 June, avid Kpop fans can look forward to a wide range of live streams and challenges daily at Shopee Live Kpop Fest, including:

Shopee will mark the finale of Shopee Live Kpop Fest by screening KCON:TACT 2020 Summer on Shopee Live from 20 to 26 June. Shopee users and Kpop fans can look forward to seven consecutive days of non-stop entertainment, including live concerts and interviews by some of the biggest Kpop stars in the world.

Stay tuned for more updates on KCON:TACT 2020 Summer and Shopee Live Kpop Fest at their site.

In related news, the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) of Malaysia has recently joined forces with Shopee to raise funds for NKF's underprivileged kidney failure patients. The collaboration between Malaysia’s first NGO to offer haemodialysis treatment and the no.1 e-commerce platform in Malaysia will enable Shopee users to donate to NKF and support the fundraising effort.

Malaysians can now click on ShopeePay in their Shopee app, scan the QR code on NKF's website and donate their preferred amount − with all proceeds donated directly to NKF Malaysia.

Celcom Axiata Berhad rewarded more than 15 finalists of Celcom Game Hero – Ghost Force, the eighth instalment in Malaysia’s largest mobile game tournament with a total of RM50,000 cash prizes, recently.

In a final show-down hosted online, 40-year-old Selamat Abd Rahim from Johor beat other finalists with an impressive top score of 113220 points and took home the grand cash prize of RM10,000.

The first runner-up for Celcom Game Hero – Ghost Force, was the returning seasoned champion Teoh Kay Sheng, who took home RM7,000 cash prize after scoring 82620. In third place was 31-year-old Mohd Farhan Hassan from Kelantan, claiming the cash prize of RM5, 000, with a total points of 78740. Meanwhile, finalists who were ranked 4th-6th places were awarded RM3, 000 each, while the other finalists were given RM1, 000 each.

The online mobile game tournament will continue with Celcom’s ninth installation of Game Hero – “Summer Games 2020”, with its arcade style themed game, where expert to novice players can easily compete to be the best and claim the most golds for their country!  The latest edition offers variety of sporting challenges, and cash prizes for mobile gamers to bring home.

For more information on Celcom Game Hero’s ninth mobile tournament – ‘Summer Games 2020’, visit their site.

Maxis eKelas continues its steady progress as a programme that aims to improve the academic performance of students in rural communities. Recently, Maxis awarded 75 most improved eKelas students with its Anugerah Gemilang (student grant award) for 2019, triple the number of recipients from last year.

To date, Maxis eKelas is being delivered at 80 Pusat Internet located across 10 states in Malaysia with 14,000 students now connecting through eKelas portal. eKelas is also now expanding into schools, with 23 schools joining the programme last year with a target to reach out to an additional 50 schools this year. Maxis eKelas is run at Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) Pusat Internet, which serve as digital hubs for communities in underserved areas.

Launched in August 2017, Anugerah Gemilang is a Student Grant scheme under the Maxis eKelas programme, aimed at motivating and inspiring students to achieve their academic goals. To qualify for the award, eKelas students, in their school examinations, must achieve a minimum of one grade improvement in two or all three of the subjects taught in eKelas. This entitles them to receive RM600 and RM1,200 for those improvements respectively. The cash grant is then channeled to the recipients’ Skim Simpanan Pendidikan Nasional (SSPN) or National Education Savings Scheme accounts.

Pusat Internet Kodiang, Kedah, which started to deliver eKelas to students in its community just recently in mid-2019, had one the highest number of recipients for the grant. One of its students and award recipients, Mohamad Aimin Bin Nik Mohamed from SMK Tunku Bendahara, Kodiang, who achieved 7As in his 2019 SPM, said, “I am very thankful for eKelas which has helped a lot in my revision and studies.”

Mohamad Aimin’s mother, Puan Zainab bt Majid said, “I am very happy that Maxis introduced the eKelas programme to our community here. My son joined the programme to get additional support as he was sitting for SPM last year. eKelas has really helped him to understand his subjects better.”

Pengiran Reoylinston anak Romingstone, a Form One student who hails from Kampung Quop, Kuching, and one of six eKelas students from the small village who receive the grant, was thrilled to hear the good news. “I like learning with eKelas because I can hold discussions with friends and follow live tutorials by the teachers. Other than that, I can share knowledge as well as exchange ideas whenever we discuss things with my group.”

eKelas is Maxis’ flagship community programme that champions digital learning for students in rural communities. Students are exposed to experiential learning through a combination of live tutorials, group learning and competitions, as well as access to digital content on the eKelas portal. Maxis eKelas has also been recognised by the Ministry of Education as an initiative under its Highly Immersive Programme (HIP), where students are eligible to collect co-curricular marks from their participation in eKelas.

Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Digi) is inviting small local businesses to be part of MyDigi Bazaar, a newly introduced category under MyDigi Rewards. MyDigi Bazaar is an initiative to connect small businesses to Digi’s 11 million strong subscriber base, allowing them to list their products and services on the MyDigi app as an alternative marketing platform to reach a larger audience.

All categories of businesses are eligible to apply, including food and beverage, grocery suppliers, apparel distributors, and even business service providers are welcome to list on MyDigi Bazaar without having to pay commissions or listing fees. This allows smaller businesses the opportunity for their brands to be discovered by new customers across Malaysia without having to invest in an online presence.

Once successfully registered to be a merchant on MyDigi Bazaar, these businesses will get to list their selection of products or services on MyDigi app under the MyDigi Bazaar category, which is featured on the MyDigi Rewards home page. Customers who are interested to purchase from the any of these merchants will be directed to download a voucher with a unique code, and subsequently be connected directly to the merchant’s WhatsApp to place their order. The final sales transaction, including transfer of payment and delivery arrangements are strictly between the customer and the merchant.

Interested parties with products, services or content can learn more about MyDigi Bazaar at their site.

In June 2020, Intel launched “Lakefield,” Intel Core processors with Intel Hybrid Technology. The processor leverages Intel’s Foveros 3D packaging technology and featuring a hybrid CPU architecture.

Recently, Intel launched Intel® Core™ processors with Intel® Hybrid Technology, code-named “Lakefield.” Leveraging Intel’s Foveros 3D packaging technology and featuring a hybrid CPU architecture for power and performance scalability, Lakefield processors are the smallest to deliver Intel Core performance and full Windows compatibility across productivity and content creation experiences for ultra-light and innovative form factors.

Why They’re Great for Innovative PC Form Factors: Intel Core processors with Intel Hybrid Technology deliver full Window 10 application compatibility in up to a 56% smaller package area for up to 47% smaller board size[i] and extended battery life, providing OEMs more flexibility in form factor design across single, dual and foldable screen devices while delivering the PC experiences people expect. They are also:

The first Intel Core processors shipping with attached package-on-package (PoP) memory, further reducing board size.

The first Intel Core processors to deliver as low as 2.5mW of standby SoC power–an up to 91% reduction compared to Y-series processors—for more time between charges[ii].

The first Intel processors to feature native dual internal display pipes, making them ideally suited for foldable and dual-screen PCs.

When You Can Get It: Two announced designs powered by the Intel Core processors with Intel Hybrid Technology and co-engineered with Intel include the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, the first fully functional PC with a folding OLED display unveiled at CES 2020 and expected to ship this year, and the Intel-based Samsung Galaxy Book S expected in select markets starting in June.

About Key Features & Capabilities: Intel Core i5 and i3 processors with Intel Hybrid Technology leverage a 10nm Sunny Cove core to take on more intense workloads and foreground applications, while four power-efficient Tremont cores balance power and performance optimization for background tasks. The processors are fully compatible with 32- and 64-bit Windows applications, helping reach new heights for the thinnest and lightest designs.

Smallest Package Size, Enabled by Foveros: With Foveros 3D stacking technology, processors achieve a dramatic reduction in package area – now only a miniscule 12x12x1 mm, approximately the size of a dime – by stacking two logic dies and two layers of DRAM in three dimensions, also eliminating the need for external memory.

Hardware-Guided OS Scheduling: Enabling real-time communication between the CPU and the OS scheduler to run the right apps on the right cores, the hybrid CPU architecture helps deliver up to 24% better performance per SOC power[iii] and up to 12% faster single-threaded integer compute intensive application performance[iv].

More than 2X Throughput on Intel UHD for AI-Enhanced Workloads[v]: Flexible GPU engine compute enables sustained, high-throughput inference applications—including AI-enhanced video stylization, analytics and image resolution upscaling.

Up to 1.7X Better Graphics Performance[vi]: Gen11 graphics delivers seamless media and content creation on the go—the biggest leap in graphics for Intel processor-based 7-watt systems. Convert video clips up to 54% faster[vii], and with support for up to four external 4K displays, immerse in rich visuals for content creation and entertainment.

Gigabit Connectivity: With support for Intel® Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) and Intel LTE solutions, experience seamless video conferencing and streaming online.

HP Inc. Malaysia and Teach For Malaysia (TFM) gathered today at SMK Segambut to donate 30 units of HP 14 laptops that will go towards students from B40 families. Another 30 units of the HP 14 laptop will be donated to students from SMK Tengku Ampuan Jemaah by next week. The donation by HP Malaysia aims to empower students with technology to support their learning from home journey.

The donation is part of HP Malaysia’s #iMovewithHP campaign that aimed to bring the online community together to give back and help students lack access to technology to continue learning from home. Through a partnership with local personalities who challenged their followers to learn a new skill and share their new skill on social media with #iMovewithHP. This combined community effort saw HP Malaysia receive 393 posts over 3 weeks, allowing HP to donate a total of 60 units of laptops to students in need through Teach For Malaysia.

Yoodo Gank – Yoodo’s Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) MOBILE Esports team, have etched their names in gaming history by clinching the official national record title of “First Team to Win PUBG MOBILE Tournament at Southeast Asia Level”.

Yoodo Gank now enter the Malaysia E-sports National Records after being conferred the prestigious award by the Malaysia Book of Records. The record was set following the team’s epic performance at the recently concluded PUBG MOBILE Pro League (PMPL) 2020: Southeast Asia.

Yoodo Gank is made up of four young Malaysian gamers, ManParang (Aiman Amirul Bin Mohd Sahid) – Team Captain, Draxx (Abdul Azim Ikromi Abdul Rashid) – Fragger, Fredo (Ahmad Fuad Razali) – Rusher and Jumper (Muhamad Izzrudin Hashim) – Scout.

On the way to their record setting performance, the team beat out 15 of the region’s best teams – including teams from Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, The Philippines and Malaysia. By the end of the competition, they had racked up a total of 284 points from 126 kills and 5 chicken dinners.

This Father’s Day, Fitbit is having a nationwide promotion from now to 21 June to recognize our dads who always give their all. Select from a wide array of fashionable Fitbit devices that are on sale, such as the Ionic, Versa 2, Versa Lite, Charge 3, Inspire series trackers, and Aria 2.

Browse through your choices on the Fitbit Flagship Store on Lazada and save up to RM200 on that something special for the men in our lives. Promotions are also available via All IT, Best Denki, Foto Flash, Harvey Norman, Timekeeper, and TMT.

Some of the discounted Fitbit devices are as below:-

Shell Malaysia is giving customers one less thing to worry about by encouraging cashless payments for a quick and safe experience when they fuel-up in this new normal. From 15th June until 26th July 2020, customers who opt for cashless payment methods at Shell stations nationwide will also receive “Ganjaran Ekstra” through cashback and fuel rebates.

As the effort to break the chain of COVID-19 infection continues, Malaysians are taking precautionary measures such as practicing social distancing, putting on face masks and wearing gloves for extra protection. Cashless payment is another way to lessen the risk of exposure. At Shell, we want to ease the worries of Malaysians through cashless payment options such as debit cards and e-wallet payment options at Shell stations nationwide. Cashless payment users will also be enjoying rewards when they fuel up at Shell.

Customers who use debit cards and e-wallets to purchase fuels or Shell Select items at Shell stations during the campaign period will receive extra cashback and fuel rebates. To participate, just head to the nearest Shell station and fuel up with the following cashless payment methods:

For more information on Shell’s initiatives, please visit their site.

edotco Malaysia recently announced the launch of COVID Care, a unique human resource programme initiated specifically to provide employment opportunities for workforce who lost their job, and fresh graduates who find it difficult to get their first jobs due to COVID-19.  This programme, which is birthed out of concern to help the socio-economy of the nation, provides a bandwidth for the company to offer employment with an initial contract period of up to one year.

The candidates will be matched to job scopes that best match their qualifications and experience.  These hires may be offered a permanent position beyond their contracted period, depending on their performance and availability of suitable roles in the company.

More information on COVID Care is available at their site.

Micron Technology, Inc. a global leader in memory and storage solutions, today announced the UV Robot Design Challenge to address the growing need for reliable, low-cost ultraviolet (UV) light robotic solutions that can help automate disinfection and potentially combat the spread of COVID-19 and other diseases. UV germicidal irradiation (UVGI) has been shown to destroy the RNA in viruses and can help mitigate the transmission of microbes, which can remain active on surfaces for prolonged periods of time.

The Micron-led challenge invites individuals or teams of aspiring engineers, inventors and professionals in robotics to design a complete solution through a collaborative, open-source approach. As part of the project, Micron will provide access to mentors with skills and expertise to consult on design concepts.

Additionally, the Micron Foundation has already partnered with a select group of leading universities from around the world to join the challenge. Students from the universities are encouraged to participate and apply their creativity, innovation and engineering principles toward social stewardship.

Micron’s UV Robot Design Challenge builds on the company’s earlier pledge to commit $35 million, including a Micron Foundation relief fund of $10 million to help those disproportionately affected by COVID-19. This pledged amount also includes increasing employee gift matching, introducing financial assistance for team members through grants, providing in-kind support by accelerating payments to small business suppliers, and donating facilities and supplies for emergency medical response. Check out their site for more details.

In related news, Micron have released their 5th annual sustainability report as well.

Kaspersky is kicking off a series of online talks, created to present knowledge and the latest cybersecurity findings from the comfort of your own home. The first event is set to take place on 17 June, 2020. Hosted by GReAT – Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team – which works on uncovering APTs, cyber-espionage campaigns, major malware, ransomware, and underground cyber-criminal trends across the world – the event will introduce the friendly atmosphere of a cybersecurity conference to the viewers at home. The online event is open to all threat intelligence professionals and enthusiasts around the world for free.

Dubbed as ‘GReAT Ideas. Powered by SAS’, this series of talks will provide the inside scoop on the inner workings of GReAT. Inspired by the regular team meet-ups held internally, as well as by the Security Analyst Summit’s friendly atmosphere of exchanging knowledge, these events will empower viewers with information about the threat landscape. This includes details on the most recently found threat cases and techniques used in the cybersecurity world, directly from the GReAT experts.

The events will explore recent and freshly discovered APT cases, insights, custom in-house tools, real-world examples of using threat intelligence and Kaspersky products - along with much more. Each talk will include four 15 to 20-minute presentations on cutting edge tools, current projects and the most recent APTs discovered by GReAT.

The first “GReAT Ideas. Powered by SAS” will uncover the following topics:

-    Linking attacks to threat actors: case studies

-    Threat hunting with Kaspersky’s new malware attribution engine

-    Microcin-2020: GitLab programmers ban, async sockets and the sock

Learn more about “GReAT Ideas. Powered by SAS” and register for the first online talk here.

Nokia recently announced new research highlighting 5G    plans, expectations and the biggest 5G WAN and LAN drivers for businesses across key industries in the US and UK. The study, which was conducted in partnership with Parks Associates and surveyed over 1,000 IT decision-makers, covered key enterprise segments including energy, manufacturing, government/public safety, and automotive/transportation.

Results reveal that two thirds of participants surveyed (65%) are familiar with 5G, and one third (34%) report they are already using 5G and are highly satisfied with the service. While nearly half (47%) of IT decision-makers say their organizations have already started planning for 5G, others are waiting for more widespread 5G availability (54%), and nearly one third (30%) reported they would also like to better understand the value of 5G before developing a strategy to use it in their organization.

The research also identified video as the ‘killer app’ for 5G across verticals and different business sizes, with 83% finding it compelling and 48% citing 5G-enhanced video monitoring as a near-term (0-4 years) opportunity. Respondents can readily grasp the additional value that 5G  can bring to video, with 83% finding video alerts such as detecting and recognizing who is on premise as valuable capabilities. Video was followed by remote-controlled machinery with 77% of participants interested, and connected cars at 73%.

Basketball fans who have missed seeing dunks and three-pointers can now tune into eGG Network to catch the world’s best NBA 2K players compete in the NBA 2K League.

The NBA 2K League is a joint venture between the NBA and NBA 2K game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. and is the first official esports league operated by a U.S. professional sports league. Included among the 23 teams that compete in the NBA 2K League are T-Wolves Gaming (2019 NBA 2K League Champions), 76ers GC (2019 Finals runner-up) and the Gen.G Tigers of Shanghai, the league’s first team from outside of North America.

Fans in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar and Australia can catch the highest-tier of NBA 2K League action on eGG Network.

The NBA 2K League tipped off on Tuesday, May 5 with at least six weeks of remote gameplay and matches played in a best-of-three game format during remote competition. Matches will be broadcast on eGG Network beginning with Week 6 of its regular-season competition and will continue through the NBA 2K League Finals. eGG Network will also air the NBA 2K League’s three in-season tournaments: THE TIPOFF, THE TURN and THE TICKET. The remainder of the 2020 season schedule and structure, including the dates of the tournaments, Playoffs and Finals, will be shared as information becomes available.

Get the latest schedule and news for the 2020 NBA 2K League season on eGG Network’s Facebook and Instagram. Find out where to watch at their site.

Recently Snap Inc., the company behind camera messaging app Snapchat, hosted its 2nd ever Snap Partner Summit virtually, which saw numerous exciting announcements made.

Here are the highlights from the Snap Partner Summit:

Grab recently shared the second edition of the Grab for Good: Social Impact Report that focuses on COVID-19’s impact and Grab’s across Southeast Asia. In Malaysia, through the different initiatives to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on businesses, gig workers and communities, Grab saw over 10,000 individuals join the gig economy and two times more merchants move their business online.

As the country accelerates towards greater digitalisation in the post COVID-19 world, Grab will be introducing the Grab Digital Small-Biz (GDS) programme aimed at helping small businesses adapt to the new normal. This programme includes tools and initiatives that help offline businesses transition online, and help those already on the Grab platform expand their visibility and adapt their operations to an increasingly digital world.

Between March and April 2020, Grab committed over US$40 million to partner relief efforts and rolled out over 100 initiatives regionally to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on our partners and communities. In Malaysia, Grab rolled out 11 initiatives to support small businesses, driver- and delivery-partners, frontliners, as well as communities impacted by COVID-19.

Through initiatives to help traditional and offline businesses make the shift online, 133 traditional Ramadan bazaar vendors to an online platform, who were able to fulfill more than 66,000 orders through the Grab e-Kitchen Bazar Ramadan. Grab also expanded GrabMart to 5 cities across Malaysia within 3 weeks to bring on board more types of businesses - pharmacies, florists, grocery stores etc. - and to create more earning opportunities for delivery-partners.

The GDS programme aims to facilitate the digitalisation of small businesses - either by giving them a digital shopfront on the Grab platform or through e-payments integration. It also aims to address the needs of small businesses that are already on the Grab platform. Key components of the programme include:

Grab is also committed to actively working with government agencies to ensure that traditional ecosystems are not left behind in this period of transformation and to help realise the vision behind PENJANA. This includes:

There’s nothing worse than being on an important conference call or watching your favourite Netflix show when suddenly you’re disconnected because your Internet signal dropped. During these times, we’re using more bandwidth-intensive applications and more home based Internet so it’s understandable if we are experiencing some network related issues. To maximise home wifi connectivity and performance, here are a few specific recommendations and tips that you should try for a better experience.

The first step is to identify the cause of the issue. There are many possible reasons for interrupted Internet, and three main factors include the placement of the router, the technology and the devices that are connected to it. An easy way to troubleshoot Wi-Fi problems from the comfort of your own home is via EasyFix Smart Diagnosis. EasyFix can help to identify any potential fault and recommend solutions to optimize your unifi connection. Here's your guide on how to use Easyfix.

A deadzone is an area within your home, apartment, office, or any other area that’s supposed to be covered by Wi-Fi. When you try to connect, however, your device registers no signal. It may seem obvious, but the location of your Wi-Fi router has a big impact on the strength of its signal. Ensure that Wi-Fi router is best positioned in your house in a high, unobstructed location and avoid placing between walls. Placing your router too close to materials like concrete or brick can limit its ability to broadcast to the rest of your home and potentially create deadzones. Physical distance is also a factor in router installation as the further you are from the router, the weaker wifi signal you will experience.

WiFi signals can be partially absorbed or even completely blocked by various obstacles and objects, including furniture, home appliances, decorative items such as mirror, aquarium, metallic surfaces, and even people. These WiFi blockers have especially negative effect on 5 GHz WiFi networks, because higher frequency signals don’t penetrate solid objects nearly as well as lower frequency signals.

4. Switch the router to a different band

You may also want to check the band of your router. In simple terms, router bands are like lanes for network traffic. If you have a dual-band router, you’ll be able to route traffic to either network. Any device streaming HD video or online video games would prefer the use of a 5 GHz network. This provides faster Internet speed with less interference. A dual-band router allows you to switch between two frequency: speed and coverage.

5. Get a Wi-Fi extender or a mesh network

If you need to cover a larger distance, you can also look into getting a range extender. If the network has to cover an area larger than the router is capable of, you’ll then need to consider using Mesh Wi-Fi. The mesh system aims to replace your router rather than just extending it. You will connect one node directly to your modem, then place one or more satellite nodes around your house. With unifi Mesh Wi-Fi, you can use the included app for more guidance, tips and tricks for the set-up process. Mesh Wi-Fi is available for purchase on the unifi site.

In order to maximise your unifi home internet performance, taking a few simple steps can be well worth it. A consistently slow internet connection does not just impact your productivity; it also wrecks your mood. these solutions are recommended to enable meaningful moments for work, home and play.

As we come to a close for issue #15 of TechNave Newsbytes 2020 we’d like to thank you for reading this far. As always, do let us know if you think your brand or press release should be in the next TechNave NewsBytes and stay tuned to TechNave.com


TechNave NewsBytes 2020 #16 - Samsung, realme, Huawei, Honor, Digi, Xiaomi, AMD, Lazada, Garmin Tacx, Kaspersky, HP Inc, Microsoft, LG, Grab, MDEC and more

It’s been a while TechNavers, so this issue of TechNave NewsBytes 2020 is jam packed with news from Samsung QLED TVs, Samsung on their One UI 2 and exclusive Samsung Air Conditioner promotions. realme achieved new sales awards for their Buds Q, AIoT and TWS. Huawei, Sunway and Celcom sign an MOU, discussed on 5G at the first GSMA Thrive and develop something with SASBADI and Huawei Cloud.

Along the way, Honor announces their MagicBook series achievements, while Digi announce their Omni hotline and altHR solutions. Xiaomi announced their global achievements in global innovation while AMD announced their EPYC supercomputers and Hawk supercomputer virtual tour. Lazada announced support for shrimp farmers and expanded their Guaranteed Delivery promise.

Garmin Malaysia unveiled their Tacx indoor cycling trainers, while Kaspersky revealed more online threats. HP Inc showed their support for Malaysia and Microsoft is offering new reskill options. LG received awards and introduced their LG LED signage while Grab announced you can do more with GrabPay and GrabMart.

MDEC had various SME announcements including news on GoGet. In our new misc section Canon announced the World’s 1st 1MP SPAD image sensor, GoGet is working with Ikano Centres, Boost E-Wallet and Aspirasi are offering low-cost micro-insurance and Waze has a New Look and New Moods. Also in misc, vivo is building their new HQ and devs can now make apps for the TerraMaster NAS. TikTok launched Celebrity Leaderboard and TikTok For Business while JobStreet did a survey. Other misc entries came from SKYWORTH, Nutanix and Epson.

Since introducing Auto Game Mode to its TVs back in 2018, Samsung has made delivering next-level gaming experiences a key priority for TV development. Today, the fruits of the company’s considerable efforts include three consecutive ‘Best of Innovation’ nods in the gaming category of CES’s annual Innovation Awards.

Samsung’s latest QLED TVs build on that award-winning heritage by offering users their most immersive and enjoyable TV gaming experiences yet. To learn more about how QLED TVs are changing the game in this regard, Samsung Newsroom sat down with the product planners and developers who helped bring the displays to life.

To find out more, kindly visit the site.

In 2018, Samsung introduced an improved version of its standard user interface and software overlay called ‘One UI’. As well as working to make them intuitive, consistent, and effective, UX designers try to base user interface interactions on the way we use physical objects in the wider world to promote familiarity.

Now, One UI has been further developed into ‘One UI 2’, which was unveiled at the end of last year. This upgraded interface incorporates the icons from One UI in new styles and configurations, and includes revamped colors and movements. In addition, One UI 2 makes the icons more conspicuous with distinct color tones and motions, for instance when the ‘settings’ icon trembles to let users know that an update is underway.

Special effort was put into developing the UI for the Galaxy Z Flip’s ‘Flex Mode,’ a feature that divides the screen into two halves when the phone is half-folded and set at a 90-degree angle. Shin explained how the design team catered to this unique form factor, saying that, “Designing a UI that would be suitable for a phone being used in Flex Mode presented a real challenge. We ended up creating a new layout that reflected the UIs seen on the foldable phones of the past.”

For more information, please visit the Samsung Malaysia Newsroom site.

Samsung is NOW offering 2 EXCLUSIVE Air-Conditioner Promotions:

realme Malaysia achieved another amazing result with its realme Buds Q. Malaysian fans truly fell in love with the real design of realme Buds Q making it the Fastest-selling TWS on Shopee during its 7.7 Sales in 2020. A total of 6000 units of realme Buds Q was sold out in just 34mins on the Shopee 7.7 Sales.

During the first online sale of realme band on Shopee, a total of 4,300 units of realme band were SOLD OUT in 60 minutes giving it the title as the 'Fastest-selling Smart Band on Shopee in June 2020'.

Another remarkable success on the same day were the realme Buds Air Neo which achieved the ‘Best-selling True Wireless Stereo (TWS) on Shopee in June 2020’ with a total sale of 1000 units SOLD OUT in 1 hour.

Sunway Berhad, Celcom Axiata Berhad and Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. recently sealed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore Malaysia’s first tripartite collaboration towards advancing smart township solutions encompassing Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), with the fifth-generation (5G) connectivity.

The MoU aims to explore the potential for Celcom and Huawei to be the 5G technology enabler for Sunway Group. Sunway City Kuala Lumpur will be the “launch pad” of this ground-breaking partnership.

All three parties will explore the possibility to facilitate and support one another within the digital eco-system to promote technological adoption to enrich people’s lives.

The proposed collaboration will see the development of smart solutions in the areas of public safety and security, telehealth, e-learning, hospitality, leisure and retail experience using the latest telecommunications technology as they become available for Sunway City Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s model smart sustainable city, as well as other existing and upcoming developments of Sunway. The tripartite collaboration will also contribute towards achieving sustainable development for our nation.

As 5G connectivity will drive optimum adoption of IR4.0 solutions for smart township, the three parties involved will potentially develop an architectural design, use cases and deploy projects based on the latest technological standard for cellular networks for Sunway City Kuala Lumpur.

For more information, visit www.huawei.com

At the New Infrastructure and Business Digitalization Forum held during the first GSMA Thrive event, Mr. Gan Bin, Chief Marketing Officer for Huawei’s Wireless Network Solutions, delivered a keynote speech entitled "5G Brings Five Opportunities with New Value". In his speech, Mr. Gan elaborated why "5G is the digital foundation of new infrastructure to upgrade connectivity, AI, cloud, computing, and industrial applications and inject new vitality into economic development".

In the event, Mr Gan also extended on the topic of 5G discussion to 5G stimulating the demand of Cloud Storage and Computing, and 5G adoption in smart personal and home connectivity in full scenarios. At the same time, 5G's full-scenario connectivity also facilitates the application and expansion of AI functionality. Technologies like real-time speech recognition, real-time machine translation, license plate recognition, and production line detection will penetrate every aspect of life and work due to ubiquitous 5G networks.

In line with digital transformation efforts, Sasbadi Holdings Berhad (SASBADI) announced a strategic partnership with HUAWEI CLOUD to develop intelligent solutions, empowering both teachers and students to digitalise and transform in the domain of AI. The key areas of this partnership will involve the planning, development, and creation of AI-driven solutions for students and teachers to have a more practical, interactive, and innovative experience in digital teaching and learning.

The two parties will work together to develop SASBADI e-Learning Solutions based on the latest cutting-edge technology such as VR and AI by HUAWEI CLOUD to enhance the user learning experience. As part of the arrangement, HUAWEI CLOUD will provide expertise and support to SASBADI on learning solutions, developed with HUAWEI CLOUD AI technology and its marketplace for partner’s solutions. Lastly, the partnership will see the joint promotion of SASBADI customised e-Learning Solutions for commercialisation in Malaysia and across South-East Asia region via the HUAWEI CLOUD Marketplace.

HONOR recently shared that the HONOR MagicBook 14 was the top selling product in the lightweight laptop category on JD.com during 618, China’s mid-year shopping festival. Both MagicBook 14 and MagicBook Pro recorded a sales volume of over 10 thousand units within just 8 minutes.

Locally, the HONOR MagicBook made a stunning debut early this year and received positive response with all units sold out within 15 minutes after sale began. Seeing how well the laptop was received by the Malaysian market, the brand is set to launch the HONOR MagicBook 14 next to keep up with consumer demands. Powerfully compact, the HONOR MagicBook 14 is a sleek and lightweight laptop, offering long-lasting battery and ultra-fast performance for users on-the-go.

Forward School has selected Omni Hotline as its preferred remote office landline provider, providing customers with a faster and more convenient avenue to reach out to their representatives. Check out the omnihotline.my site for more details.

Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Digi) recently announced altHR, to help Malaysian companies digitalise HR processes and drive better employee empowerment and engagement.

altHR is a digital workforce management solution. Built with features fit for the new normal such as digital sales Kits, contactless time tracking, paperless leave and expense management, it aims to address the problem of digitalisation of company processes that is prevalent in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The launch of altHR is also in line with Digi’s aim to help more Malaysian companies go digital and to cope better with the unforeseen challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is available for all Malaysian SMEs for free until 31 December 2020 for their first 40 employees at their site.

Global technology leader Xiaomi is ranked at No. 24 among the 50 most innovative companies of 2020 in the world, making its reappearance on the list, according to a latest report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The BCG report titled: The Most Innovative Companies 2020: The Serial Innovation Imperative, acknowledges Xiaomi for its active cross industry innovation efforts, based on a new scoring dimension that captures each firm’s variety and intensity of boundary breaking.

AMD recently announced four AMD EPYC powered supercomputers are now among the 50 highest-performance systems in the world, including the seventh spot on today’s TOP500.  There are now a total of ten AMD EPYC-powered supercomputers on the list. In addition, AMD unveiled updates to ROCm, new research supercomputers at Indiana University and Purdue University , and that CERN is using EPYC processors to accelerate research at the world’s largest particle physics lab.

As partners increasingly leverage the power of 2nd Gen AMD EPYC processors, more leading HPC institutions are adopting EPYC to address the world’s greatest challenges. From powering the world’s fastest exascale supercomputers in the future, Frontier and El Capitan, to supporting workloads in the cloud today for partners like Microsoft Azure, AWS and Google Cloud, AMD EPYC processors are helping partners meet their goals with world-class performance.

AMD also announced it has exceeded its moonshot 25x20 goal set in 2014 to improve the energy efficiency of its mobile processors by 25 times by 2020. The company surpassed this goal with the launch of the new AMD Ryzen™ 7 4800H mobile processor, which improves on the energy efficiency of the 2014 baseline measurement by 31.7 times, while also delivering leadership performance for laptop PCs. Greater energy efficiency leads to significant user benefits like improved battery life, better performance, lower energy costs and reduced environmental impact from computing.

AMD has also launched a never-seen-before 360 virtual tour of the flagship supercomputer ‘Hawk’ at the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS) of the University of Stuttgart, Germany. The recently inaugurated Hawk system is among the fastest supercomputers worldwide and the fastest general-purpose system for scientific and industrial computing in Europe.

Available for your access here, the virtual tour reveals a rare inside-look into an impressive technical achievement in European supercomputing. As you ‘move’ around the virtual environment and between the racks, you’ll find links to more detail on the Hawk supercomputer. The tour also includes an interview with Dr. Bastian Koller, Managing Director at HLRS explaining how the system works and its applications. As seen in the tour, the Hawk system consists of 44 racks provided by over 5,600 compute nodes, summing up to over 720,000 compute cores of 2nd Gen AMD EPYC processors.

Lazada Malaysia is stepping up its efforts with a Prawn Farmers Initiative, and helping agriculture-based industries bounce back by bringing local prawn farmers online for the Lazada 7.7 Mid-Year Super Sale. For the first time, local prawns from Selangor State will be featured in a dedicated livestreaming session at midnight, July 7, offering fresh crustaceans directly from the sea to homes.

After receiving word that prawn farmers were unable to sell their daily catch, Lazada reached out to EARWYNN Prawn, a local prawn distributor that works directly with local prawn farmers to bring their export quality, antibiotic-free, and MyGAP certified Black Tiger prawns on the platform. In addition, Lazada worked to create special marketing promotions and a dedicated delivery service to kick start sales during the 7.7 campaign.

To support this, a special livestreaming session is scheduled at 00:00, July 7 on the Lazada app, featuring KOL Abang Brian, who will be showcasing his scrumptious shrimp-based recipes. Viewers will also be able to collect vouchers with discounts up to 50% off during the session.

The quick onboarding of prawn farmers is made possible in collaboration with GoGet for delivery solutions. Leveraging on the collective efforts with GoGet that spell ‘Kita Tolong Kita’ community, as well as its expertise in technology and logistics, Lazada looks to continue this digital momentum to support local agricultural sellers.

Lazada Malaysia has expanded its ‘Guaranteed Delivery’ promise from Klang Valley to the whole country* in conjunction with its upcoming 7.7 Mid-Year Super Sale that guarantees Malaysians of timely and reliable LazMall deliveries. This service supports two other existing promises from LazMall - '100% Authentic' and '15-Day Returns', and is in line with the company's dedication in providing shoppers with high-quality, genuine products as well as reliable delivery services to match.

Garmin Malaysia recently announced Tacx’s revolutionary range of indoor cycling trainers and rollers including the latest Neo 2T Smart, Flux 2 Smart, Flux S Smart, Antares and Galaxia roller trainers will be available in Malaysia to cycling professionals and enthusiasts.

The Tacx range of indoor cycling trainers raises the bar on indoor bike training with some of the most quiet, realistic and accurate indoor cycling trainers available on the market today, pushing the boundaries of everything we know about indoor cycling to the next level.

Since the start of the movement control order (MCO), people are increasingly finding it more convenient to exercise from home. The Tacx range replicates real outdoor riding experience. This technology is perfect for cycling enthusiasts and fitness enthusiasts who are interested in venturing into a new sport that can be done from the comfort of their home.

The Tacx Neo 2T Smart, Flux 2 Smart and Flux S Smart are available now at all Garmin stores and authorized dealers.

Kaspersky announces the first successful integration of its new automotive KasperskyOS into an electronic control unit (ECU) of an advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS), developed by AVL Software and Functions GmbH (AVL SFR).

This controller is an open and customizable development platform for both prototype and series development, and is safe and ‘secure by design’ as it runs on KasperskyOS. In this application, the secure operating system is designed to protect communications between ADAS components and to safeguard all the autonomous vehicle functions.

Kaspersky researchers have uncovered a new technique for stealing users’ payment information on online shopping websites—a type of attack known as web skimming.

By registering for Google Analytics accounts and injecting these accounts’ tracking code into the websites’ source code, attackers can collect users’ credit card details. About two dozen online stores worldwide were compromised using this method.

Over three years after the infamous Wannacry ransomware, its costly aftermath still remains a vivid glimpse on the damage cybercriminals can do by kidnapping companies’ essential data.

This threat is undoubtedly present as just this month, operations of an automobile giant were halted in several parts of the world after a successful attack by another ransomware dubbed as SNAKE (also known as EKANS).

HP Inc. has announced support to government bodies, businesses and communities in Malaysia as part of its vision to continue supporting the future of Malaysia as the nation embarks on the road to recovery from the recent pandemic.

The support from HP Malaysia includes personal protective equipment (PPE), 3D printed face-mask adjuster and HP product donations, employee and HP Foundation donations, enhanced customer support capabilities and remote working and learning initiatives, as well as customer and partner reliefs. These efforts are focused on supporting and motivating Malaysian government bodies, businesses and communities as they continue adapting to thrive in the new normal while prioritizing their health and safety.

While Malaysian healthcare and essential services workers support the nation at the frontlines, HP Malaysia donated RM870,000 worth of PPE supplies in May. The PPEs for frontline workers, including over 371,000 face masks, surgical masks, disposable gloves and hand sanitizers were distributed to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in Kuala Lumpur, Penang Island General hospital and two city councils in Penang, Majlis Bandaraya Pulau Pinang and Seberang Perai.

HP Malaysia also extended PPE donation efforts with its suppliers who wanted to help support Malaysia’s recovery efforts. HP has over 100 suppliers in Malaysia, many of whom are small-and-medium businesses (SMBs) that employ over 22,000 staff locally.

Together with support from a coalition of local and global companies including Flex, Beyonics International, Metal Component Engineering Limited (MCE Technologies), Classic Advantage, Allied Technologies, Sunningdale Tech, Starlite Printers, Trend Technologies, Foxconn, HP donated over 215,000 face masks, disposable gloves, hand sanitizers and digital thermometers valued at over RM340,000.

The donated items were handed to Datuk Hasni Mohammad, Menteri Besar Johor in June for distribution to beneficiaries including frontline workers in the medical and essential services industries.

Between April and June, HP Malaysia also printed and donated over 4,400 3D essential parts for healthcare workers and healthcare facilities in Malaysia, including face mask adjusters and hands-free door openers.

In April, Kuang Yee Image Press Sdn Bhd. in Penang used the HP Latex printer to print and apply social distancing instructions on medical protective boxes.  12 of these units were then delivered to Hospital Kepala Batas and Hospital Parit Buntar in Malaysia. Part of the Graphics Solutions family from HP, the HP Latex printer offers durable, high-quality prints suited for a range of industries, including healthcare.

HP Malaysia also launched several initiatives aimed to keep Malaysians learning and working safely from the comforts of their home. These include a product donations, customer and partner reliefs as well as remote working and learning initiatives.

In order to help parents from low-income families provide their children with sufficient learning tools at home in this time of crisis, HP Malaysia collaborated with Teach For Malaysia to donate 60 HP 14 laptops to low-income families with school children through its #iMovewithHP campaign. The social campaign challenged Malaysians to learn and share new skills on Instagram, with HP donating 1 laptop for every 50 entries received. HP also launched two free platforms with creative print learning projects; HP Little Makers – a series of fun, educational printed challenges based on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, and HP Print, Play & Learn – enjoyable craft projects for parents to do with their young children at home.

To support local businesses, HP Malaysia launched HP for Business, a local initiative dedicated to equipping SMB owners with knowledge, expertise and skills to ensure their business can adapt to thrive in the new normal. The site provides access to news, tips, SMB success stories, business insights and free upskilling courses on HP Life, a free, self-paced public learning platform for the SMB community.

To address potential cybersecurity risks and customer support issues for those working or learning from home, HP users can access free customer webinars to help set up home offices securely together with HP Sure Click Pro free of charge through September 30, 2020. HP Sure Click Pro enhances existing HP Sure Click with additional features such as editing Word and Excel documents within an isolated container while protecting users from web, email, and document-based security threats. This offer will be available for use on all HP and non-HP Windows 10 PCs.

HP Malaysia has also introduced a limited period-free remote helpdesk support service to help HP SMB users and consumers address their operational issues. Available till June 26, users are required to register here for the limited free 24/7 remote helpdesk support, following which a toll-free hotline number will be sent via email to enable access. The helpdesk will be able to address user PC issues related to general performance, security configuration, connectivity, operating system, media support, mobility, software operation, and installation, among others.

HP Malaysia also announced COVID-19 relief initiatives for customers and partners. This includes financing and leasing options for customers from HP’s Integrated Financial Solutions group, relaxed compensation models and extended deadlines for submission of proof of performance for partners. To help optimize revenue and future-proof Malaysian business, HP University also offers online, on-demand learning options across a variety of topics including sales skills education, product training and industry-leading certifications.  Partners can opt in for customized online digital learning paths designed to meet their specific priorities.

HP Foundation has contributed RM2.17 million to Mercy Malaysia’s COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan. The donation will be used to pilot targeted mass COVID-19 testing programmes targeted at high risk and vulnerable communities nationwide including rural populations and newly identified clusters. Funds will also be used to provide PPE supplies for frontline healthcare workers and hospitals responding to COVID-19 and the provision of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS).

The HP Foundation will also match donations from HP Malaysia employees to their communities while budget lasts, with any contributions received going to local Malaysian beneficiaries.

As Malaysia slowly embarks on the road to recovery, HP Malaysia manufacturing sites, customer services and technical support have been consistently operating in full compliance with protocols outlined by the Ministry of Health as well as industry players and governing authorities. To ensure the health and safety of workers, all active HP Malaysia sites, particularly manufacturing, the local leadership has implemented enhanced safety protocols, stricter access procedures, rigorous cleaning, stringent social distancing measures and split team scheduling with regular audits. Check out their Facebook page for more details.

HP Inc. has announced plans to open 20 Tech Hubs in underserved communities across Southeast Asia by the end of 2020. The program provides technology and entrepreneurship training for students aged 13 and above, and aims to upskill 10,000 youth by year-end – a goal that maps to HP’s commitment to enabling better learning outcomes for 100 million people by 2025. This is outlined in HP’s 2019 Sustainable Impact Report.

Outfitted with 15 to 20 new PCs as well as networking support from HP, the HP Tech Hubs blend classroom and online learning to deliver technical and soft skills essential for youths to thrive. These include Microsoft Office, coding, business communications, having a success mindset, and how to start a small business - taught by instructors or accessible online. Courses in entrepreneurship are adapted from HP LIFE, a free HP Foundation program that offers modules on entrepreneurship, marketing and business development. The students will be awarded certifications for the courses they complete.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft President Brad Smith, and LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky announced an ambitious initiative to bring more digital skills to 25 million people this calendar year.

This comprehensive technology initiative will bring together every part of the company, combining existing and new resources from LinkedIn, GitHub, and Microsoft. This initiative will build upon data on jobs and skills from the LinkedIn Economic Graph, and provide free access to content in LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn, and the GitHub Learning Lab – coupled with Microsoft Certifications and LinkedIn job seeking tools.

Microsoft is backing the effort with $20 million in cash grants to help nonprofit organizations enable this initiative for people who need it most, including people from communities that are underserved or under-represented in technology. One-quarter of this total ($5 million) will be provided in cash grants to 50 community-based nonprofit organizations that are led by and serve communities of color in the United States.

Available later this year, Microsoft will preview a new learning app in Microsoft Teams to help employers upskill new and existing employees, bringing together content from LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn, third party training providers, and a company’s own learning content to make it all available in a place where employees can easily learn in the flow of their work.

LG Electronics (LG) received the coveted GM Innovation Award announced at General Motors’ 28th Annual Supplier of the Year Awards event, the automotive leader’s first ever virtual ceremony. Among other innovations, the award recognizes LG’s development (together with sister company LG Display) of the revolutionary P-OLED cockpit technology in the 2021 Cadillac Escalade.

LG Electronics (LG) is introducing its most advanced digital signage solution yet, the innovative LG LED Signage (model LSAA), the latest in display technology and design. The LSAA offers even better image quality and easier installation than its popular predecessors, which propelled LG into one of the leading digital signage solution providers in the industry.

As Malaysians embrace contactless options in the new normal, GrabPay has expanded their partner base to include a wider variety of household brands spanning across categories such as groceries, pharmacies and favourite fast food chains enabling GrabPay to be more accessibly available at more physical stores anywhere across Malaysia

The expansion of GrabPay’s merchant base is part of Grab’s on-going commitment to create awareness about the benefits of digital payments and nurturing the cashless adoption in Malaysia in line with the government’s recent PENJANA announcement to encourage more Malaysians to spend offline to help revive the economy post the impact of the pandemic and movement control period.

During the movement control order, many convenience and grocery businesses were able to achieve a three times increase in sales via the GrabMart service. Today, as more businesses are gradually reopening, more consumers are looking for safe, convenient ways to shop for their daily retail needs.

In addition to the Government’s Pelan Jana Semula Ekonomi Negara (PENJANA), the homegrown tech enabler and proponent of the digital economy shared their next phase in supporting retail businesses to move forward in the ‘new normal’.

GrabMart is Grab’s latest service launched in November last year and has since expanded beyond Klang Valley to other cities such as Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Ipoh, Melaka and Penang. Leveraging on GrabMart, the homegrown company aims to help retail SMEs and chains achieve two key objectives:

For businesses who are keen to know more you can check out their site.

MDEC just revealed the #SMART Automation Grant (SAG) as part of the government’s initiative to expand support for Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) to make the digital leap in this era of unprecedented disruption.

The SAG takes a partnership approach between the government and SMEs to drive forward digitalisation for Malaysian businesses. All SMEs in the services sector are invited to check their eligibility at mdec.my/sag. SMEs who are interested, and confirmed as qualified, can send their applications directly to the MDEC.

Eligibility of businesses include, among others, the requirement to be incorporated in Malaysia; has a paid-up capital of RM50,000; and with a minimum of 51% equity held by Malaysian(s).

GoGet is the National Champion for the RHL-MDEC: AIM Startups Virtual Pitch Competition 2020 (Malaysia Roadshow). The Malaysia roadshow competition, which was held on 1 July 2020, saw stiff competitive rivalry from a pool of 10 contestants that were shortlisted to represent Malaysia’s startup ecosystem. This was done based on the competition’s pre-determined criteria. Each contestant pitched their respective company’s proposition to a jury panel comprising representatives from RHL Ventures, MDEC, SME Corporation Malaysia, the Islamic Development Bank and the IE Business School.

The competition is part of a series of global roadshows under the AIM event, a global stage that takes place across more than 100 countries to discover startups that have a huge potential in expanding and penetrating global markets. As the National Champion, GoGet will be representing Malaysia in an all-expense-paid trip to Dubai to compete against other National Champions at the final AIM 2020 Global Startups Champions League.

Earlier this year, MDEC partnered Startup Genome to highlight Kuala Lumpur in the world’s most comprehensive and widely-read research on startups — the Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2020. The report was released last week with Malaysia favourably ranked as an emerging leader in the global startup space.

The key highlights include that KL’s startup ecosystem is currently valued at USD15b (global avg. USD10.5b) with total early-stage funding amounting USD99m (global avg. 4.31m). It is ranked 4th in Asia-Pacific, Gaming and Fintech have been identified as sub-sector strengths in the KL startup ecosystem

The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) recently announced the roll out of Micro and SMEs (“MSMEs”) E-commerce Campaign (“MSME E-commerce Campaign”) or (“Campaign”), an initiative under PENJANA’s 2nd trust “Propel Businesses”. The campaign kicks-off today and will run until the end of September.

MSMEs and local businesses who are interested to participate in the MSME E-commerce Campaign may register at www.go-ecommerce.my/PENJANA. Small businesses and individuals with and without business registrations are also eligible to participate in this campaign.

The Government has allocated RM70 million under PENJANA to implement the MSME E-commerce Campaign to facilitate local businesses to sustain operations and gradually enhance productivity to spur short economic recovery. The MSME E-commerce Campaign aims to encourage adoption of e-commerce by local businesses focusing on MSMEs to help widen their market reach. MDEC has been tasked to implement this initiative under PENJANA.

Through this Campaign, the Government and MDEC will join forces with ten e-commerce partners. The initial ten e-commerce partners participating in the MSME E-commerce Campaign are Boost, FashionValet, FAVE, Foodpanda, Grab, Lazada, Maybank, Shopee, Touch ‘n Go eWallet and Zalora. MDEC is working closely with the Government to finalise additional e-commerce partners to take part in this campaign. Further announcement on the added participating e-commerce partners will be made in due course.

Canon Inc. announced recently that the company has developed the world’s first1 single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) image sensor with signal-amplifying pixels capable of capturing 1-megapixel images. SPAD image sensors are ideal for such applications as 2-dimensional cameras, which capture and develop still image and video in an extremely short span of time. These sensors also hold potential for use in 3-dimensional cameras due to their ability to obtain information about the distance between them and a subject as image data.

The SPAD image sensor developed by Canon overcomes the longstanding difficulties of achieving this effect with high pixel counts. By adopting new circuit technology, Canon’s sensor uses a method known as photon counting to realize a digital image resolution of 1 megapixel. What’s more, the sensor employs a global shutter that allows simultaneous control of exposure for every pixel. Exposure time can be shortened to as little as 3.8 nanoseconds2, making possible clear and distortion-free image capture. In addition, the sensor is capable of up to 24,000 frames per second (FPS) with 1 bit output, thus enabling slow-motion capture of fast movement within an extremely short time frame.

Canon’s development of a SPAD image sensor enables 3D cameras capable of recognizing depth information to achieve a resolution of 1 megapixel is expected to rapidly expand the use of such cameras as the “eyes” of high-performance robotic devices. Going forward, Canon will strive to anticipate the needs of industry by continuing to advance its innovative image sensor technology, further expand the possibilities of what is visible, spur evolution in science and industry through high-precision detection of information and contribute to the development of fields yet to be discovered. Check out their site for more details.

To bring Shop with GoGet to life, GoGet is collaborating with Ikano Centres, part of IKEA Southeast Asia, to make its entire portfolio of shopping centres in Malaysia available through the GoGet app. Customers can select from over 300 stores from IPC and MyTOWN in Kuala Lumpur and Toppen in Johor Bahru, including ordering the iconic meatballs and curry puffs from IKEA Restaurants.

Shop with GoGet is an intuitive service where users can either select ‘Drive Thru’ or ‘Deliver’ options, with the former allowing customers to pick-up their shopping goods from GoGetters at designated pick-up locations within the three centres. The service spans across a number of categories including food and beverage, groceries, fashion, pharmacies, electronics, and many more. As part of the introductory offer with Ikano Centres, personal shopper fees are waived for drive thru orders under RM 100. From now until 22 July 2020, users who book Personal Shoppers on GoGet to shop at any Ikano Centres also stand a chance to win RM100 GoGet credits. Shop with GoGet at their site.

As Malaysians begin to enjoy more liberties such as being allowed to travel interstate, get a haircut and commence outdoor activities amid the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) in effect, homegrown e-wallet Boost collaborates with its sister company Aspirasi, a digital financing service provider, to launch  ‘Aspirasi Protect’, a 7-day insurance cover at only RM1.50 and comes with COVID-19 Assist. The micro-insurance plan by Aspirasi provides affordable, accessible and on demand protection to give Malaysians a secure boost of confidence as the country eases restrictions.

The micro-insurance solution by Aspirasi builds on the ‘Protect’ pillar of the existing #BoostGotYou campaign launched during MCO which focused on catering to the daily necessities of businesses and households amid the outbreak. With just RM1.50, the ‘Aspirasi Protect’ 7-day insurance coverage offers up to RM37,500 for accidental death of various causes, RM12,500 for critical illness protection for major head trauma or coma, and RM5,000 bereavement benefit upon accidental death.

Keeping in mind that COVID-19 would most likely remain a threat for a long period of time, the plan comes with additional financial assistance in the form of RM200 daily hospitalisation cash assistance upon diagnosis of COVID-19 up to a maximum of 60 days of hospitalisation and RM20,000 financial assistance upon fatality due to the virus.  COVID-19 Assist is an additional financial assistance programme offered by Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Berhad.

As a way to encourage users to obtain insurance coverage and protection, Boost will be offering 100% cashback for users who enrol for the 7-day insurance plan from now until 15 July. Users can sign up in-app under the ‘Boost Protects’ tile by clicking to enrol via the ‘Aspirasi Protect’ micro-site. From there, simply enter your personal details and make a payment with Boost to get covered for a week. To be eligible for ‘Aspirasi Protect’, users must be aged between 18 - 69 years next birthday and must be a Malaysian citizen or permanent resident in the country. The insurance coverage is underwritten by Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Berhad. Please refer to the policy document and product disclosure sheet for the full terms and conditions for ‘Aspirasi Protect’.

Waze is ready to welcome people back on the roads with a refreshed brand identity and new Moods to inject even more fun into every drive. Our latest brand refresh reinforces inclusivity and connection into every journey on the road, empowering each user to share how they are feeling with the Waze community.

Moods being one of Waze’s most recognizable and beloved parts of its brand now enables better self expression - with evolved Moods that have even more clarity and charm than ever.

Block by block is a graphic system inspired by maps and city streets. It uses an assortment of simple, geometric shapes to provide bold, branded graphics, divide compositions, and organize information. And much like Waze itself, it does all of that while creating some playful pit stops along the way. Check out the blog site for more details.

vivo has broken ground on a high-rise office in Shenzhen, China to house its future headquarters. Scheduled for completion in 2025, the 32-storey building that has the capacity of 5,800 employees is designed by US architects from NBBJ.

The vivo headquarters office will house vivo’s flagship store with an elegant spiral of indoor-outdoor gardens on every level – reflecting the next generation of high-rise offices that blur work, nature and health.

TerraMaster, a professional brand that specializes in providing innovative storage products including network attached storage (NAS) devices, introduces the TerraMaster TOS APP Development Guide which allows independent developers to create apps that can run on the TerraMaster TOS. The TerraMaster TOS APP Development Guide provide developers a complete suite of tools and a suitable app development environment for creating applications. With this, TerraMaster can work hand-in-hand with developers that will help grow the TerraMaster TOS into a more robust and feature-packed storage ecosystem that will benefit all TerraMaster NAS users.

Developers are given the liberty to develop any application that will fit their needs. Developers can list the developed app on the TerraMaster TOS for other end users to use. Likewise, developers can also charge users for their apps. TerraMaster outlines a simple process for the app development at their site.

TikTok has launched TikTok Celebrity Leaderboard, the latest product update that would enable regular TikTok users with bonafide celebrities on the platform. Not only that, ardent fans would be able to pit their celebrity of choice against each other via a weekly friendly competition that would list the top 30 most voted for celebrities in Malaysia.

With this product update, you can now interact with Malaysian celebrities such as Dato' Sri Siti Nurhaliza, Fattah Amin and Alvin Chong.

TikTok also launched TikTok For Business – a storytelling tool that is set to disrupt traditional marketing with a unique global platform that creatively connects brands and users.

Barely anyone has been spared from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a JobStreet survey, 9 in 10 Malaysians have felt the unfavourable effects of the crisis in their workplace, and the numbers are startling.

Furthermore, 66% of employees experienced an increased scope of work, particularly among higher-paid employees in larger organisations (68%). This was greatest in the education (+54%) and manufacturing (+45%) sectors, which experienced a need for remote learning and greater demand for goods, respectively.

During the session, SKYWORTH unveiled the endless possibilities of smart home ecosystems, introducing a range of cutting-edge new products. To further enrich and elevate the livestream experience, SKYWORTH built a 360-degree virtual showroom with a 3D product display feature, and an exclusive virtual VIP conference room which allowed the audience to interact with and try out SKYWORTH’s latest products virtually.

Nutanix recently announced a new Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) service to help promote telework adoption among Malaysia organizations. Nutanix ‘FastTrack for VDI’ brings together Nutanix HCI and software with selected partners to accelerate and optimise a VDI service in just a few weeks.

Nutanix FastTrack for VDI is available to new and existing customers immediately. For more information visit here and here.

Epson is the number one ink tank vendor in Malaysia and Southeast Asia according to global market intelligence provider, IDC[1], which demonstrates Epson’s continued market leadership and superior innovation in the inkjet industry.

Thanks for reading TechNavers and TechNave NewsByters. As always, stay tuned to TechNave.com and if you think your brand or PR should be in our latest issue of TechNave NewsBytes 2020, let us know.