Mid-range Sony Alpha A6400 mirrorless camera with AI recognition capabilities revealed for ~RM5K

Are you a vlogger and looking for a decent mid-range camera? Sony has got you covered and just a few hours ago, they have revealed a new mid-range mirrorless camera called the Alpha A6400. There's no official Malaysian pricing yet, but before we get to that, let's check out the tech specs.

On the official specs sheet, the Alpha A6400 is packing a pretty good 24.2MP APC-C Exmor CMOS sensor, accompanied by a front-end LSI and BIONZ X image processor which is usually found in the higher end lineup with the likes of the Alpha A7R III and A7 III. Its ISO can go up to 102,400 and according to Sony, they claimed that the DSLR has the world's "fastest" autofocus at 0.02 seconds and also believe the colour reproduction is better than the previous models.

The Alpha A6400 may look quite small in this image, but it's said to have a pretty big hand grip there

Top view of the DSLR, it has a 3.5mm microphone jack that can be supported by XLR adapters

For the viewfinder, it sports a 3.0-inch XGA OLED display and the body is resistant to dust and moisture

Of course, an important feature for vloggers - the viewfinder can be tilted outwards in 180-degrees

Similarly to the high-end lineups, the Alpha A6400 has a Real-Time Eye AF as well but with an extra trick up its sleeve - Sony also integrated the software with AI recognition that will produce even better results and speaking of the Eye AF system, there is a priority setting given for right or left eye users. Moreover, it can shoot up too 11fps with both AF and AE with the buffer limited to 116 JPEG shots. Shooting silently is available as well at 8fps.

Finally, the biggest feature attraction for all vloggers is obviously the video recording capability. It's able to shoot up to 4K resolution (using 6K oversampling or 4K HDR (HLG) recording) at 100Mbps and when you're done recording, vloggers can even transfer the footage to their smartphone directly with the help of the new Imaging Edge Mobile app. For post-production, there are the S-log2 and S-log3 too. Nice.

At this moment, the Alpha A6400 will start selling in the UK at £950 (~RM5021) for the body and the 16-50mm power-zoom kit lens cost £1,000 (~RM5285). Honestly, that's quite a hefty price tag but UK pricing tends to be more expensive than our local currency. We aren't sure if Sony Malaysia plans to import the mirrorless camera but we think they should, as the number of influencers is increasing lately.

Stay tuned for more Sony news at TechNave.com.


ASUS ZenFone Selfie coming to Computex 2015? Has 13MP front camera + dual LED flash?

ASUS Malaysia recently teased that a new ZenFone smartphone could be coming to Computex 2015 with the hint that it is the front of the phone. Incidentally, it shows a front camera and dual LED flash, which when combined with the spaces in the teaser image, could mean that this will be the ASUS ZenFone Selfie. No tech specs or features yet, but we assume that since the standard front camera is 5MP already, this version will either be 8MP or 13MP. The rear camera will likely be the same 13MP PixelMaster camera while the screen looks to be the same 5.5-inch size. Since most selfie takers tend to be the younger crowd we assume that this display will be in 720p HD and perhaps a full HD 1080p resolution for the richer crowd. Other tech specs will likely be the same 2.3GHz Intel Atom processor and 4GB RAM in the current ASUS ZenFone 2 ZE551ML smartphone. No specific Malaysia release dates or pricing details yet, but we expect it to be soon as even the ASUS Malaysia Facebook page is showing the teaser image above.


Mid-range honor 5C revealed with new Kirin 650 chip, 3000mah battery and more for RM799

Today, Huawei honor Malaysia is proud to present the latest addition to its family of handsets – the all new mid-range honor 5C smartphone, equipped with a 16nm Kirin 650 chipset and it's actually priced RM799 in Grey and Silver, while the Gold version is RM849. Customers can go pre-order the device on 20 June 2016 at Vmall Malaysia or Lazada Malaysia. Below is the official specification:

“The honor 5C is a testament to the company's commitment to bring improved quality and user experience to consumer. Our pursuit of the best quality and experience with a reasonable price come from our continuous conversations with digital natives and our fans. Honor is vert much a brand created by the consumer, for the consumer and this remains a part of our brand DNA. Consumers have been calling out a device that is reasonably pried but does not compromise on power, performance, style and quality. Our answer to them is the honor 5C.” said Allen An, E-Commerce Director of honor Malaysia.

In the camera corner, the 5C features a 13MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture and 78-degree wide-angle 5-element (5P) macro lens, which is also anti-reflective, oleophobic (oil repel) and infrared-absorbing. For the front, it has a 8MP camera, f/2.0 aperture and 77-degree wide-angle lens with four-element (4P) lens, coupled with SmartImage 3.0 image processor, Pro mode, as well as Light Painting mode.

For more product information, visit www.hihonor.com/my/ to check it out. Also, similar to previous honor deviceds, the 5C comes with a 6-month one-to-one exchange policy from honor Malaysia. That's all from honor today, stay tuned for more coverage at Technave.com!


Midnight special delivery & a limited-timed promotion for Apple iPhone 7 by GEMFIVE Malaysia

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kwek Kon Chao (left), handing over the Apple iPhone 7 to Stephenee Won (centre)

During the midnight launch of the Apple iPhone 7 & 7 Plus today, GEMFIVE Malaysia was also up moving around making a special delivery to 5 lucky customers who placed pre-orders for the new Apple iPhone flagships at the stroke of midnight. One surprise delivery was made specially by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kwek Kon Chao to Stephenee Won at her residence in Klang.

Kwek said of the delivery: “We’ve had a great response to our iPhone 7/7 Plus pre-orders, and so I thought that it would be a nice gesture to personally deliver the first few orders to our valued customers at the stroke of midnight itself!”

“For the rest of the customers who have pre-ordered the phone, we are contacting and making arrangements to make deliveries directly either to their office or residence.  At GEMFIVE, we really want to delight and surprise our customers. We’re smaller and a start-up still, compared to some of our competitors, but we still aim to delight our customers on all their online shopping experiences,” he added.

In conjunction to that, GEMFIVE has also launched a limited-time promotion for the iPhone 7 & 7 Plus which will end on 31 October 2016. A discount of RM225 + 1% cash rebate in store credit will be given to customers who purchase either one of the iPhone models. Furthermore, they will also receive RM 300 worth of Expedia shopping vouchers.

“We’re sharing the excitement with many iPhone fans in Malaysia and want to make it extra sweet to grab the latest iPhone 7 right now,” said Kwek.

To purchase an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus before the promotion ends, head over to GEMFIVE Malaysia website to check it out.


Midrange 64-bit ASUS MeMo Pad 7 (ME572C/CL) announced

While ASUS have already announced a 64-bit tablet with the ASUS Fonepad 7 (FE375CG) they recently brought another 64-bit tablet to the family with the official announcement of a 64-bit ASUS MeMo Pad 7 (ME572C/CL). In terms of design,  the tablet offers more colours and slimmer bezels. Unlike the Fonepad 7, this MeMo Pad 7 tablet does not pack in 3G or 4G LTE. Tech specs for the tablet include a 1.86GHz Intel Atom processor,  1GB RAM, 7-inch IPS screen with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution and oleophobic coating along with a 5MP rear camera and  2MP front camera.  The cameras use ASUS PixelMaster camera technoloogy while the tablet measures in at 113.7 x 189.3 x 9.6mm and 295g. No news yet on Malaysia release dates or pricing but early performance benchmarks have these new 64-bit Intel Atom processor working very well so stay tuned for more developments.


Midrange ASUS PadFone E announced for RM1873

The ASUS PadFone series consists of smartphones that can be slotted into larger tablet screens. The smartphone is still the one powering the transformed tablet but the screen size is definitely bigger. Coming in between the performance ASUS PadFone Infinity and the lower-end ASUS PadFone Mini is the recently announced ASUS PadFone E. While the PadFone E looks a lot like the PadFone Mini it offers a bit more in terms of tech specs and features. These include a 1.4GHz A7 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 4.7-inch display with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution, 13MP rear camera with LED flash, Android 4.3 and a 1820 mAh battery. The tablet portion offers a 10.1-inch display with similar 1280 x 720 pixel resolution but adds on a 1MP front camera and 5000 mAh battery which can be used to charge the PadFone E smartphone. The larger screen on the PadFone E comes up to 126g while the tablet part weighs in at 526g with black and white colours available. It is expected to be priced at $560 (RM1873) and will be made available initially in Taiwan. It should eventually reach Malaysia as well and if it keeps the same price tag, it should be a bit more affordable than the other two PadFones.


Midrange HTC Desire 816 and Desire 610 announced, fresh design and colours with good tech specs

The HTC Desire 816 is the first in the Desire 800 series with a fresh new design

HTC proved their design chops with the HTC One and have finally come out with something fresh with the announcement of the HTC Desire 816 and HTC Desire 610 smartphones. Targeting the midrange both smartphones offer a very nice looking design with less common colours than most smartphones. True, the two smartphones do come in black and white still but their front dual speakers and super slim bezels help them stand out from all the rest. Tech specs for the HTC Desire 816 and 610 can be seen below:

The HTC Desire 610 goes for the same fresh design with lower-end tech specs

While HTC did say that the two smartphones are for the midrange, they didn't reveal the Malaysia pricing for either. However, the HTC Desire 816 should reach Malaysia in April 2014. The HTC Desire 610 on the other hand will follow up with a launch expected in May 2014.  [Source]


Midrange OnePlus Nord CE 3 photos appear

Leaked photos of the OnePlus Nord CE 3 have apparently appeared online. Showing off the midranger smartphone from front, back and on all sides, the leaked photos indicate that the phone will not only have triple rear cameras, a punch hole front camera and a side fingerprint sensor power button.

Other features on display in the photos show a USB Type C port and 3.5mm audio jack but aside from that the design seems very generic. There’s no other tech specs or features mentioned but the fact that there’s no alert slider is a bit of a shame, but then again, since it wasn’t on the Nord CE 2 this isn’t unexpected.

Other rumoured tech specs include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 chipset, FHD LCD screen with 120Hz refresh rate, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage and a 5000 mAh battery with 67W fast charging. Do bear in mind that none of these have been confirmed, so take them with a heavy dose of salt.

No Malaysia release dates or pricing details, but leakster MySmartPrice (via GSMarena) expects it to come in Q2 of 2023. In any case, if this does turn out to be the OnePlus Nord CE 3, would you buy it? We’ve got mixed feelings about it ourselves but if you don’t then do feel free to write your comments below. As always, stay tuned to TechNave.com


Migrating WhatsApp chat history between Android and iOS devices to be made easier

Chat history migration is still a problem for WhatsApp users who switch from an Android phone to an iPhone or vice versa. In the near future, the problem will go away as the messaging platform is testing the feature in WhatsApp Messenger beta for iOS 22.2.74.

A leaked screenshot has clearly shown the process for transferring chats from an iPhone to an Android device. It starts by asking permission before the migration, and it's also essential to have the Move to iOS app installed on the phone. Furthermore, the user might also need a cable or a private Wi-Fi connection.

However, keep note that the feature is still under development, so it might not arrive as early as you thought. Besides this one, WhatsApp has also been experimenting with other things, such as making the photo editing tool more practical and letting users react to messages with emojis. Let's hope that WhatsApp can complete the testing and release these features soon.

Are you switching between Android and iOS devices? If you are, leave a comment to let us know how you feel about this feature, and stay tuned to TechNave.com for the latest tech report.


Mike "Shroud" Grzesiek is now the official global brand ambassador of Acer

Mike Grzesiek, known more commonly by his alias “Shroud” is the global official brand ambassador of Acer as of today. The collaboration between the two aims to ‘amplify’ Acer’s Predator line-up such as computer systems, peripherals as well as gaming monitors.

Shroud is a well-known gaming personality, who frequently plays and broadcasts his gameplay on Twitch. He has amassed more than 6 million followers, with more than several thousand concurrent viewers at any given time. Before he started taking gaming live streams seriously, he was previously a professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player with multiple championship titles under his belt. For more updates like this, stay tuned to TechNave.com.


Millions of Facebook and Instagram posts were taken down this year, and here is why

Social media have been playing a significant role in this time as it allows users to express themselves freely and be heard. However, there are also some accounts that are exploiting the use of social media to distribute negative content such as hate speech, violence, child nudity, terrorism and more. For Facebook, they have been working hard on this issue to take down irrelevant content for years.

Recently, Facebook has released its fourth edition of its Community Standards Enforcement Report for 2019. It shared the data on how many posts and accounts have been taken down from Facebook and Instagram (for the first time) during this year’s April to September and the numbers got us shocked. There are approximately 75 million posts and 3.2 billion fake accounts removed for violating the rules.

Facebook has also said that it is easier for them to track down such content on Facebook than on Instagram. The company has improved a lot in tracking the content that violates its Community Standards nowadays. It was said that they are able to remove such content even before users make reports on Facebook.

For this issue, Facebook has added a new page for users to understand how its Community Standards apply to different types of content and see where they draw the line. The page mentioned that it won’t delete things that are controversial for the users to openly debate and exchange knowledge among themselves.

Facebook has also mentioned the stories that vanish in 24 hours have increased the difficulty for the company to track down and remove misleading content. In addition to that, another plan they are working on is to encrypt Instagram and Facebook which would also make law enforcement harder to go after child exploitation.

Let us know what you guys think about this report on our Facebook page! Stay tuned for more tech news on TechNave.com.


Millions of Instagram passwords have been exposed by Facebook

A shocking update has been added onto an article on Facebook’s Newsroom that was published 4 weeks ago. It mentions that millions of Instagram users’ passwords had been stored in a readable format for all of their employees to see.

The update also mentions that those who are affected will be contacted promptly by their team for further action. If you’re reading this and thinking, “Again?”, yes, we feel the same way. A similar scenario had just happened last month and we would have thought that Facebook would have learned their lesson from there.

So far the company had reassured its users that in no way anyone’s information had been abused but in my opinion, this isn’t a good way of winning their users’ trusts at all (or ever at this point for that matter). Will you still be using Instagram or any other one of Facebook’s platforms after this? For the latest happenings in the tech world, stay tuned to TechNave.com!


ASUS ZenFone Selfie coming to Malaysia on 30 August 2015 with dual 13MP camera + laser autofocus

ASUS Malaysia are making it official as they just announced that the ASUS ZenFone Selfie is coming to Malaysia on 30 August 2015 (next Sunday) at Mid Valley Megamall, Centre Court, Ground Floor. Featuring the same ASUS ZenFone 2 design, the ZenFone Selfie brings 13MP cameras with dual LED flash and laser autofocus for both the front and back. Other tech specs include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor, 2GB/3GB RAM, 16GB/32GB storage, a 5.5-inch FHD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 and a 3000 mAh battery. Already, ASUS Malaysia have launched their ASUS Cosplay Selfie Challenge to win your very own ASUS ZenFone Selfie which is still going on. No news yet on Malaysia pricing details but it is currently going for 15999 INR (RM1014) in India which could mean that it will go for RM999 to RM1099 over here. Stay tuned and we'll find out more next weekend.


Millions of Malaysians were still checking in via MySejahtera app on 1 May 2022

Since 1 May 2022, checking in into a premise via MySejahtera was no longer mandatory but apparently, many people didn't get the memo. According to the Health Ministry's Github portal, at least a total of 4.5 million Malaysians were still checking in on Labour Day.

To be exact, there were 4,562,842 check-ins on 1 May. Compared to 30 April with 17,410,393 total check-ins, it was a 73.8% drop. In terms of unique accounts, it also dropped by 60.8% from 7,281,285 unique users logged to 2,857,054 between the two dates. Finally, the unique premises checked-in was 503,643 and dropped to 277,147.

There are also other fun facts from the datasheet, this includes:

While it's no longer necessary to check in with the MySejahtera app, a few places around Malaysia would still check the vaccination status of each individual before entering the premise. Moreover, Malaysians are told to keep the app just in case of COVID infection and to keep the Health Ministry updated via online reporting.

Stay safe and stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com.


Millions of users set to lose access to WhatsApp on 1 January 2021

Are you using an old phone and are reliant on WhatsApp? Then as much as you would want to avoid it, it's time to get a new phone. Sources have confirmed that WhatsApp will stop working for older devices beginning 1 January 2021, so you'll need a new phone just for the app to work.

According to the Daily Mail, those who are using an iPhone 4 or earlier, as well as Android devices running Android 4.0.3 or before, will no longer be able to use WhatsApp. Specifically, iPhones need to run at least iOS 10, while Android devices should preferably run on Android 5.0 to avoid losing access to the messaging app. If you're using a device like that, do remember to back up your chat history so you can retrieve them later. That way, at least you can retrieve them on your new phone later.

For those who are planning to get a new phone, do let us know what you have in mind in the comments! For more news and updates like this, stay tuned to TechNave.


Minecraft Dungeons is now available on the Microsoft Store from RM78

Minecraft Dungeons, which is a top-down Action RPG Dungeon Crawler by Mojang, Xbox Games Studio, and Double Eleven is now officially on the Microsoft Store starting from the price of RM78. There’s also the Minecraft Dungeons Hero Edition where you can get additional content such as a Hero Cape, two player skins, a chicken pet, as well as downloadable content as soon as they are available at RM116.

To those who are not familiar with the game, it is set in the world of Minecraft where you set out on a quest to defeat the Evil Illager. If you want to find out a little more about the game, check out our first impressions in 5 minutes of Minecraft Dungeons.

With all that said, would you be interested in playing Minecraft Dungeons? Let us know on our Facebook page and for more updates like this, stay tuned to TechNave.com.


Minecraft Dungeons will have a hidden dungeon that Diablo 2 fans would be familiar with

Just the headline is enough to clue some of you in. But if it doesn't, just know that the upcoming Minecraft Dungeons game by Mojang Studios is going to have some interesting secrets. Among them is a hidden stage that fans of the Diablo series would appreciate.

According to Lord of Gaming, Minecraft Dungeons has multiple secret levels and one of them is Mojang's version of the secret Cow Level. For those who have never played Diablo, the secret Cow Level was a hidden stage where you're swamped by a horde of murderous bipedal cows. In Minecraft Dungeons, it's a hidden stage where you're mobbed by cows that have mushrooms growing all over their bodies. This is expected to be end-game content that will be quite hard to beat if you aren't prepared.

If you haven't heard of Minecraft Dungeons, don't be surprised as the game will only be released on 26 May 2020. The game will be available for those who have an Xbox Game Pass for an Xbox One or Windows 10 PC, as well as on the PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Like most dungeon crawler games, it will feature randomly generated levels and equipment, as well as coop play.

You can find out more about the game on the official website. But with that said, would you be interested in playing a dungeon crawler featuring Minecraft-style graphics? Let us know on our Facebook page and stay tuned to Technave.com for more updates on this.


Minggu Saham Amanah Malaysia goes digital this year as Minggu Saham Digital

Now that we've been put back into the CMCO phase, it makes sense that events will all have to go online. This is especially true for events that expect a high number of attendees. Having said that, we're quite sure that the Minggu Saham Digital event was set to go online from some time ago.

The Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) has officially confirmed that the Minggu Saham Amanah Malaysia (MSAM) will go digital this year. This annual conference will be held from 18 to 24 November 2020, with live-streamed talks being broadcasted every day from 12:30 PM to 10:30 PM. Through this event, Malaysians can find out more about the many corporations and companies that PNB invests in.

A few of the many programs that will be broadcast during the event

With the switch to being a digital event, the Minggu Saham Digital will be accessible by far more Malaysians than before. PNB has promised that there will be a variety of content, including educational forums, web seminars, and even a virtual concert for entertainment. Participants will also be able to join different shows and have a chance to win prizes worth more than RM500000.

If you're curious about the event, do check out the website to find out more. With that said, would you be participating in this event? Let us know on our Facebook page and stay tuned to TechNave.com for more news like this.


Mini Owners Club Malaysia rediscovers beauty of Malaysia with the Huawei P9

A Crossover by Huawei Malaysia, Mini Owners Club Malaysia and Leica Malaysia

With National Day right around the corner, Huawei Malaysia partnered with Mini Owner Club Malaysia , Leica Malaysia, and Auto Bavaria MINI to host the “Mini, Monochrome, Makan, Malacca” Treasure Hunt 2016. Over 100 members from the Mini Owners Club Malaysia were taken on a road trip to Melaka to capture the many unique aspects that embodies the story of Malaysia by using Huawei P9; from art and culture, to food and sports - anything at all during a walkabout around Jonker Street.

“It is our honor to collaborate with Huawei Malaysia, Leica Malaysia, and Auto Bavaria in this prestigious event, in conjunction with our merrily celebrated National Day. This event also serves a good platform for our members to explore Melaka town by capturing the beauty of Malaysia using the Huawei P9, which matches the true spirit of our club - Let's MINI, Be MINI,” said Roslyn Kong, active member at Mini Owners Club Malaysia.

“We are pleased to support this meaningful event during Merdeka month. It is great to have MINI Owners Club members to discover, capture and preserve the memorable moments along the treasure hunt trip by using Huawei P9, which partnered with Leica on its dual-lens camera,” said Ng Chi Loon, Business Development Manager, Leica Camera Asia Pacific Pte Ltd.

Matthew Ng, Deputy Country Director, Consumer Business Group, Huawei Malaysia, said: “Malaysia is a beautiful country with rich cultural heritage. We are excited to leverage Huawei’s global social media platform to promote our country to international audiences through the lens of the Huawei P9 and inspire them to visit Malaysia. We hope this venture will establish more opportunities with potential organizations to venture into greater innovation in the future.”

Participants were required to submit entries captured during the treasure hunt by uploading their images on to their Facebook and Instagram with the brand’s official hashtags - #OOMINIxLeica #ColourfulMalaysia #OOmyfoodstories #HuaweiP9 #HuaweiMobileApac.

In addition, Huawei APAC is also hosting ‘MYFoodStories’- a social media contest for the P9 and P9 Plus users in conjunction with Merdeka month. For a full description of the contest’s terms and condition, please visit Huawei Malaysia's #OOmyfoodstories.


Minister Annuar told PAS that it's not possible to censor LGBTQ content on Netflix

When it comes to Netflix, the streaming platform doesn't shy away from showing some racy visuals and LGBTQ moments. Just recently, a PAS federal lawmaker requested the Malaysian government to censor those content on Netflix but was told that it was out of their hands.

The matter was raised by Dungun Member of Parliament Wan Hassan Mohd Ramli just this morning, but Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa replied to him that it was out of Malaysian authorities regulations abroad. However, he did acknowledge his concern about the absence of censorship for Netlfix.

Besides Netflix, Annuar also said that the Malaysian government face difficulty to regulate other streaming services. And since many of the streaming services are from abroad, they too are difficult to regulate. Despite that, Annuar said for now, regulation can be made voluntarily since there is a parental guidance rating system on Netflix.

For the longest time, groups like PAS have been trying to censor the internet due to "promoting immoral behaviour" if unregulated. On the other hand, those are who against it say that internet censorship would take away the freedom of expression and silence dissent. Previously, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah who was the previous Minister of Communications and Multimedia, vowed no internet censorship would succeed under his watch.

Personally, I would prefer the government to stay away from Netflix because Malaysian censorship for movies in cinemas doesn't make sense at all (e.g., kissing is censored but not the f-word). Besides, it is in the parent's best interest to teach their children right and wrong starting from home. Anyway, that's all folks. Stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com.


Minister informs that the PerantiSiswa tablets have tracking system, and you should stop selling them

Recently, news reports surfaced about students selling the PerantiSiswa tablets they got for free. With that said, the Minister of Communications and Multimedia Tan Sri Annuar Musa informed that the tablets have a tracking system installed and will enable the government to find out who sold them.

The minister said that the tracking system would allow them to find out whether the receivers are using the tablets by checking their location. He added that the government would take serious action against those who sell the devices as it's inappropriate.

"This is an inappropriate action and the ministry as an implementing agency takes this matter seriously", said the minister.

Students who do so could get their names displayed on the PerantiSiswa portal and their relevant universities or institutions will be informed to tackle the issue. These "students who apply have made a commitment that they are eligible and will use it themselves, selling means they have breached that commitment."

So far, there have been 14 cases involving recipients who have tried to sell the tablet, and there are already devices which have been blocked. Annuar also informed that almost 300,000 applications have been approved for the provision of PerantiSiswa tablets until now.

What do you think about the news? Drop a comment to let us know your opinion about it, and stay tuned to TechNave.com for more local tech reports.


Minister of Communications & Multimedia said Melaka to have top priority in getting 5G services

Recently, our Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Tan Sri Annuar Musa has stated that Melaka will have a priority for 5G services. According to the news, this is because Melaka is positioned as a tourism state with many foreign investors so 5G should start there first.

On top of that, he also said before the 5G service launches, Melaka will have to be equipped with enhanced 4G services first via the Fibre Optic Point of Presence (PoP) program. This is in line with the National Digital Network (JENDELA) program where 35 more towers will be added to improve the service.

With the PoP program, Annuar said it should provide a better experience for the consumers in Melaka including schools and various industries. Moreover, he asked for the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and telecommunications companies (telcos) to install 'boosters' in many locations as a short-term solution.

At the moment, 5G connectivity won't be going online so soon as the government said they are still in discussion with the local telcos. We may or may not see by the end of the year but who knows. Until then stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com.


Minister of Education and Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia visits Huawei in China

So recently, YB Dr. Maszlee Malik, the Minister of Education of Malaysia, and Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail visited China but to different states. YB Dr. Maszlee Malik was in Shenzhen for the closing ceremony of Huawei’s Seeds for the Future, whereas Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail visited Huawei's Beijing Research Center.

Let's start with the Seeds for the Future first, it's actually an exchange student programme where ten students from our nine local universities took part in Huawei's annual flagship programme. The company has been doing this since 2014, where over 80 Malaysian ICT undergraduates the opportunity to undergo a two-week study trip in China. However, this time the ten participants visited Huawei's HQ and research facilities to see how modern technologies such as 5G, the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence are developed. Of course, they also took a tour to the Great Wall and Forbidden City.

Group photo with the representatives from Huawei and the Ministry of Education

Group photo of representatives from Huawei and Malaysia

Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was in Beijing and met up with Liang Hua, Chairman of Huawei. The purpose of the visitation was to discuss the developments in ICT, ICT infrastructure rollout in Malaysia, as well as how to leverage new technology to build smart cities and improve smart healthcare and smart education in Malaysia, particularly in the areas of 5G connectivity for its potential for applications of Cloud Computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI), crime prevention and also in the improvement for health and medical services.

Currently, there are over 20,000 skilled ICT professionals at Huawei's Global Training Center in Cyberjaya. Huawei Malaysia promises to continue the ICT Academy program, collaborating with 14 local universities, strengthening the talent development of the ICT industry in Malaysia.


ASUS ZenFone Selfie hands-on video

The ASUS ZenFone Selfie offers up a 13MP rear camera with laser autofocus and dual tone LED flash along with a 13MP front camera also with dual tone LED flash. Other tech specs include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor, 2GB RAM and 5.5-inch full HD display to go with a new ZenFone 2 smartphone design. Malaysia pricing is at RM1049 and should offer those who love taking selfies a more affordable yet powerful alternative. Check out our hands-on video of the ASUS ZenFone Selfie below:


Minister of MCMC announced that all film agencies and even social media groups must apply for license before filming

Today, the Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah announced in regards to film productions, the official media agencies or indie media groups must apply for a license in Malaysia before shooting. While many are speculating that this is to prevent the future Al-Jazeera-like controversies, this can also be seen to be in line with the SOPs regulations, as well as under the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) Act since we are in the midst of recovering from the pandemic.

With the likes of local talents such as JinnyBoi TV and Macam Yes Studios, they would probably need to apply for the Film Production License and Film Shooting Certificate (SPP) which makes sense. However, Datuk Saifuddin's statement is quite confusing as he also included "personal media" and "social media platforms". Does this mean that every Malaysian who does Facebook, Insta-stories, YouTube and TikTok videos need to apply for the license? So many questions!

Obviously, this was brought up during the conference. When asked about the definition of "film" and how would this affect social media users, Saifuddin simply replied that - films, short films, trailers, advertising “filmlets” and any recording on the material of any kind, including videotapes and video discs of moving images, accompanied or unaccompanied by sound, and documentaries, for the viewing of the public. Geez, this is still pretty unclear, to be honest.

In regards to that, the Foreign Correspondents Club of Malaysia (FCCM) were not aware of the need to obtain the license from Finas and this just happened yesterday. We think the government will probably need to come up with a proper guideline for this as we also make videos on our platform too. What do you think of this? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com.


Minister of MCMC clarified his speech on Finas Act in a new statement

Earlier today, the Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, has sparked a conversation among Malaysians by his speech regarding the National Film Development Corporation (FINAS) Act. It was announced that anyone who makes "films" should apply for license before distributing them for public view. Since the definition of "films" hasn't been clarified enough, the minister has shared a statement on social media to explain further about it.

In his statement, the minister mentioned that the Finas Act that was passed by the Parliament back in 1981 hasn't been revised until now. Back then, social media including TikTok and YouTube hadn't even come into the scene yet. Therefore, his intention was merely to bring improvements to the law rather than restricting the personal freedom of individuals in social media.

Kenyataan Media YB Dato' Saifuddin Abdullah, Menteri Komunikasi dan Multimedia Penjelasan Berkaitan Lesen Perfileman FINAS#kkmm #KomunikasiKita pic.twitter.com/0B3nZ4n6tK

He also stated that the FINAS Act has been effective even when we were under the previous governments including Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan. With that said, the current minister hopes to improve the laws to be in line with current needs. At last, he mentioned that it is welcome for the public to provide any suggestions not only about this act but also other laws as well for making improvements.

Let us know what you think about the latest statement made by the minister on our Facebook page. Stay tuned to TechNave.com for more viral local news.


Minister said 1000 Malaysian schools are expected to be equipped with 5G by the end of 2022

Just over the weekend, the Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa made an announcement regarding the 5G state in Malaysia. He said that 1000 selected schools across the nation, including rural areas, are expected to be provided with a 5G network by the end of 2022.

While this is a solid plan on paper, the ministry is still waiting for the Education Ministry's approval. Annuar also told the media that he had discussed this with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) on making this work for the schools. Five or six schools have been chosen to test out the 5G network capacity too.

Besides helping schools with a better learning process, Annuar also said that the people nearby the 5G facility would benefit greatly. On the other hand, he mentioned that the community, NGOs and local leaders could help out MCMC in implementing the ‘Kembara Connectivity’ campaign. This initiative is an application download to measure internet speed.

Stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com.


Minister states that only 4% of Malaysians are experiencing poor network connection

It seems that Saifuddin Abdullah, Minister of Communications and Media has recently stated that only 4% of Malaysia, which includes some parts of Sabah, Sarawak, as well as West Malaysia, are experiencing poor network connection. With that in mind, the government will do their best to improve network coverage to the regions mentioned via the JENDALA initiative.

But that’s not all, the minister also all relevant parties to take action as soon as possible in order to help improve the current infrastructure, as well as to improve the network coverage in the nation. If you’re keen on finding out more about the JANDELA initiative, head over to their official website.

With all that said, what are your thoughts on only 4% of Malaysians not getting proper network performance? Let us know on our Facebook page and for more updates like this, stay tuned to TechNave.com.


Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-Operatives and Consumerism join forces with online marketplaces to combat counterfeit software

(L-R) Henry Ho, General Manager Merchandising, 11Street; Hans-Peter Ressel, Chief Executive Officer, Lazada Malaysia; Tuan Mohd. Roslan bin Mahayudin, Director of Enforcement, Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism; Bruce Howe, General Manager, Consumer Channel Group, Microsoft Malaysia; Chung Tsung Shen, Head of Corporate Affairs, Mudah.my; Mr Bernard, Chief Digital Officer, LogOn.my, and Adrian Foong, General Manager of Lelong.my taking a group photo after signing the pledge

Today, in a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-Operatives and Consumerism (MDTCC) have brought Malysia local online marketplaces, Lazada, 11street, Lelong.my, Mudah.my, and LogOn together to collectively combat the sale of counterfeit software.

(L-R) A QnA session with Hans-Peter Ressel, Tuan Mohd. Roslan bin Mahayudin, Bruce Howe, and Henry Ho

Each representative from Lazada, 11street, Lelong.my, Mudah.my, and LogOn have signed a pledge with the MDTCC in an effort to remove the sales of counterfeit Microsoft software, which contains dangerous and malicious malware, potentially giving cyber-criminals access to one's personal information.

Celebrating this momentous occasion, Tuan Mohd. Roslan bin Mahayudin, Director of Enforcement, MDTCC said:

"The Malaysian government has always put a high priority on digital development. With increasing access to the digital world, the importance of cyber security cannot be overemphasised.

A token of appreciation by Bruce Howe (right) to Tuan Mohd. Roslan bin Mahayudin (left)

Our partnership with the online marketplaces and Microsoft Malaysia will play a pivotal role in ensuring that netizens are safe from unscrupulous individuals or criminal organizations who thrive on unsuspecting cyber victims."

Meanwhile, Bruce Howe, General Manager, Consumer Channel Group, Microsoft Malaysia also gave in some of his thoughts on it:

"Pirated software continues to be a breeding ground for cybercrime. The price one has to beat for using counterfeit products is potentially much higher than the price of buying genuine products itself. Our aim is to help consumers understand these risks and to enjoy having a secure and safe PC experience.

The support from HDTCC in enforcing stringent laws is crucial in ensuring our efforts are channelled in the right direction. We appreciate the initiatives by these online marketplaces and look forward to working together to protect the interest of our consumers."

To learn more about fighting against piracy, the initiative educates consumers about how to identify the software and hardware's authenticity thought the #iamgenuine Online Consumer campaign (live until 21 December), users likes yourself can visit www.howtotell.com or Microsoft's page on Piracy Risks to check it out.


Ministry of Finance: Malaysia has no intention of recognising cryptocurrency as legal tender

It looks like Malaysia won’t be recognising cryptocurrency as legal tender anytime soon as despite the urging to do so by the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (K-KOMM). Previously, K-KOMM deputy minister called crypto ‘the future of finance’ and urged for the relevant authorities to held discussions in order to legalise it.

However, the proposal was unceremoniously turned down by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) confirmed that the federal government has no intention of recognising crypto as legal tender. This was asserted by the ministry’s first deputy minister, Shahar Abdullah in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

As reported by Free Malaysia Today, MOF made the stance due to the volatility of digital currencies. Furthermore, crypto is also succesptible to hackers and other cyber security concerns.

Shahar further stressed that crypto is not suitable for use as a payment instrument because it has ‘various limitations’ and is adversely affected by ‘price swings’ and ‘cyber threats’.

What do you guys think of the statement by MOF? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below and as always, stay tuned to TechNave for all the latest trending tech news in Malaysia and beyond!


Ministry of Health removes statement regarding COVID0-19 rapid test kit

MyEG has officially announced that they’ve thanked the Ministry of Health for removing a post on their Facebook page which claimed that that the COVID-19 rapid test kits were fake. Furthermore, MyEG has followed up by stating that the kits, which were manufactured by a Chinese biomedical firm have been cleared for use in various regions including North America, Asia, Europe, and more.

Not only that, but they’re also still accepting pre-orders for the rapid test kit on their official website. For those who are still sceptical, MyEG states that you all pre-orders are fully refundable.With all that said, what are your thoughts on the Ministry of Health pulling back their statement? Let us know on our Facebook page and for more updates like this, stay tuned to TechNave.com.


Ministry of Health suggests ways to avoid hearing damage that could be caused by earphones

Other than dealing with the Covid-19 spread in our country, it looks like our Ministry of Health doesn't forget about other health conditions as well, for example, hearing impairment. Today, the Twitter account of the ministry has posted a poster to warn the public about ways to deal with permanent damage that could be caused by earphones.

The poster comes with a slogan which states that "earphones can damage the auditory senses". Under the slogan, several ways are provided and they are supposed to help us to avoid hearing damage. The first one, of course, is to minimize the use of earphones. After that, it continues by asking us to avoid the use of earbuds as well.

The rest includes keep the volume down, not to use them over 90 minutes, and give your ears some time (16 hours) to rest. Although these ways might seem usual to us, it is still important to pay attention to the health status of your ears.

Let us know what you think about the news on our Facebook page. Stay tuned to TechNave.com for more viral local news.


Mira Filzah revealed as HONOR Wonder Girl for the HONOR 20 series

It's pretty common for smartphone brands to get a new ambassador for a selected smartphone for their target audience. HONOR Malaysia is no stranger to this and they have just announced their latest ambassador for the upcoming HONOR 20 series which is Mira Filzah.

Officially joining the company's family of ambassadors as the HONOR 20 Series Wonder Girl, she was one of the actresses in the movie Rise: Ini Kalilah, as well as other TV drama series and talk shows during her four-year career. She first started off as a model in the beauty and fashion industry, something which HONOR Malaysia has been eyeing to fit the HONOR 20 series.

Besides her, other HONOR ambassadors include local actor/comedian/singer Zizan Razak, singer/rapper/songwriter SonaOne and the recently announced catbassador, Captain Meow. The HONOR 20 series will be unveiled on 21 May 2019 in London so stay tuned for that.

BTW, we just launched our new TechNave app 2.0 where you can search, compare and buy smartphones. You can find our new app in the Google Play Store right over here and stay tuned for more gadget news only at TechNave.com!


Misfit Shine 2 smartband announced for $99.99 and doesn’t need to charge

Yes, you read that right. The new Misfit Shine 2 doesn’t need to charge. How is that possible you ask? Well, it’s done by simply replacing the integrated replaceable battery that is inside the smartband. This thing can last for six months on a single battery!

The Shine 2 is your typical smartband that monitors your exercising activities and health. It is able to pair up with iOS and Android, it will monitor your workout, nudges you to walk around if you’re sitting too long, keeps track of your goals through a companion app, alerts you with incoming phone notifications, and even watches you when you sleep...just joking, it just keeps a record of your sleep time.

Don’t worry about taking it off if you go swimming, it’s waterproof up to 50m.It can even be attached to your shoe while cycling for more precise tracking, cool!

To use its full capabilities, you can take advantage of the Misfit Link that is installed inside the smartband. With the Misfit Link, you can remote control some things like your music player, phone camera and smart home devices like the lights. The LEDs that are circling and shining on it can display various patterns and colours, indicating different functions reacting to it and it can even tell you the time.

The Shine 2 is currently $99.99 (RM428) and it comes with carbon and rose gold colours, more bands and a pendant option will be coming soon too. No Malaysia release dates yet but keep an eye on a third-party seller near you.


ASUS ZenFone Selfie launched in Malaysia for RM1049 on preorder

ASUS Malaysia have launched the ASUS ZenFone Selfie for RM1049 on preorder. Available on preorder (via Thundermatch) the first 50 to do so will get a free ASUS ZenPower 9600 mAh powerbank and an ASUS LolliFlash external flashlight at no extra charge. The ZenFone Selfie standout features remain a 13MP PixelMaster camera on both the front and back with laser autofocus and dual LED real tone flash. Other tech specs include a 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. The 5.5-inch display will have a full HD resolution and a protective layer of the latest Corning Gorilla Glass 4. The ZenFone Selfie will also offer 4G LTE connectivity with Dual SIM and Dual Standby. The smartphone should be available for the general public in the next few weeks.

Our hands-on with the ZenFone Selfie revealed a pastel coloured smartphone that looks and feels like a ZenFone 2. The laser autofocus enables very fast focus even as you swing the camera about for less chance of blurry photos. In line with the ZenFone Selfie launch, ASUS also showed off the judging and interview of the final 12 contestants for the Selfie Cosplay contest where the winner walked away with a free ASUS ZenFone Selfie.


Missed our coverage on ROG Phone 2's new chipset and the VIVO S1? Here's a video to get you up to speed!

In this edition of TechNave Now, we’ll be talking about the ROG Phone 2 and the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ it will come equipped with. Not only that, that the VIVO S1 is expected to be priced at RM1X99.

That all being said, tech specs and Release date has yet to be announced by either Vivo and ASUS. Be sure to subscribe to our youtube channel and stay tuned to TechNave.com for more updates like this.


Missed the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge pre-order? Another 2000 at RM2634 + 64GB microSD coming tomorrow

Having sold-out their 1000 Samsung Galaxy S7 edge pre-order, Samsung Malaysia are extending this promotion for another 2000 units tomorrow on 8 March 2016 at 10.00am. While you don't get the same deal as the first 1000, you still can get the Galaxy S7 edge at RM2634 with a 15% discount and a 64GB microSD flash memory card for free. Check it out at the Samsung site tomorrow.


MoU between Cyberview, MaGIC and Mastercard at the Smart City World Expo Congress Barcelona

(From left) Mr Carlos J. Menendez, President Enterprise Partnership, MasterCard; Dato’ Faris Yahaya, Managing Director, Cyberview Sdn Bhd; Tan Sri Dr. Mohd Irwan Serigar, Secretary General of Treasury, Ministry of Finance Malaysia; Mr. Perry Ong, Country Manager for Malaysia and Brunei, MasterCard and Mr. Ashran bin Dato’ Ghazi, Chief Executive Officer, Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) during the Memorandum of Understanding Ceremony at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona

During the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Cyberview Sdn Bhd, Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC), and Mastercard at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, Cyberjaya has strengthened its offerings as a Smart City to go cashless in line with the Malaysian government’s push to reduce cash transactions.

As witnessed by Tan Sri Dr. Mohd. Irwan Serigar Abdullah, Secretary General of Treasury, Ministry of Finance (MOF), this falls in line with the government’s Economic Transformation Programme and Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) vision to transform Malaysia into a cashless society. This integrates Mastercard’s digital payments service Masterpass to make everyday transactions for consumers faster, simpler and more secure.

“Cyberview has spearheaded the continued development of the city under its Smart City and Living Lab initiatives – development pillars designed to increase its operational efficiency, improve the quality of life for the people of Cyberjaya and contribute to growing the local economy. We continue to do this by incorporating technology into every facet of the township through collaboration with our many partners, and this is eminent from our push in transforming Cyberjaya into a cashless city by working hand in hand with MaGIC and Mastercard. The reason why we’re doing this is because we understand that payments are the heart of a city’s economic activity – forming the core of every economic flow including salaries, consumer spending, business procurement, and taxes,” said Dato’ Faris Yahaya, Managing Director of Cyberview Sdn Bhd.

“By embedding digital payments into our core infrastructure and harnessing the data that electronic payments generate, cities can deliver on their promise to create smarter, more welcoming spaces, and empower their citizens to lead greater, more rewarding lives. We will continue to collaboratively work with our numerous ecosystem partners, including MaGIC and Mastercard to enhance the liveability of the city and provide the people of Cyberjaya with everything they will need to improve their lives.” he said.

Ashran Dato’ Ghazi, CEO of MaGIC elaborates that “MaGIC will support the Cyberview Smart City initiative through collaboration with both Cyberview and Mastercard. Through the Corporate Entrepreneurship Responsibility (CER) platform, MaGIC will play a key role to facilitate the partnership between players in the corporate sector like Mastercard and local entrepreneurs to design and build smart city infrastructure, services and solutions in Cyberjaya.”

Perry Ong, Country Manager for Malaysia and Brunei of Mastercard, said “Through the Economic Transformation Program, an electronic payments agenda is embedded through a structural reform known as the Payment Card Reform framework where the payment industry is working together in efforts to broaden market access and to dampen cash transactions. It is imperative that we recognise the great control, transparency and efficiency electronic payments offers to society. Therefore, Mastercard is pivotal in this collaboration by bringing its global expertise and innovation strengths to its banks and merchant partners.”

In relation to the Smart City collaboration, Perry added that Mastercard will be providing the horizontal payment construct across all the vertical clusters including urban mobility, lifestyle, finance, health, supply chain and education among others. This is to ensure an integrated payment ecosystem for an enhanced commerce experience with digital solutions such as Masterpass which enables Malaysians to enjoy simpler, safer and smarter digital payments across any device and channel anywhere – be it online, in app and in-store with contactless.

AllianceDBS Research Sdn Bhd (AllianceDBS Research) in a report earlier this year projected that the ‘cashless’ system in Malaysia will grow by 15%, five-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR), as Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) pushes for reform in the country’s payment system.


Mobile Apps that are related to the coronavirus are now hidden from Google Play Store!

The coronavirus outbreak has now penetrated even more countries out of China recently which does not just rise the health concern but fake news is also spreading out rapidly. Today, Google has seemed to be hiding all the apps that are related to the coronavirus from Google Play Store.

According to the source, Google’s attempt is to stop the spread of misinformation about the virus. Although some of the apps are informative about how to protect yourself from the virus and information on the preventions, there is also a possibility of reaching apps with misinformation developed by unethical developers attempting to cash on the crisis.

Google isn’t the only tech company making the move as Youtube has started demonetizing all contents that are related to the Coronavirus. Besides, Facebook is also removing and blocking all false claims accounts. The company is now giving WHO free advertising space and redirecting searches of the coronavirus to a local health authority or official WHO page.

As for Twitter, it did not block the content and search for tweets related to the coronavirus and false information of it. It just preceded with a notification box marked “Know the facts” with a link to click onto it and redirecting the audience a verified local health providers. But it may be tightening the rules soon following the footsteps of Google, Facebook, and Youtube.

With that said, do be aware of the information spread out to you and verified it before sharing it out with your family and friends. But did you encounter any fake news recently? Let us know at our Facebook page and stay tuned for more news updates on TechNave.com!


Mobile Mega Mall Offers U Mobile Instant Fuss Free Prepaid Top Up Online with 3% Discount!

In a move that will make many U Mobile users happy, Mobile Mega Mall have collaborated with U Mobile to offer an easier way to Top Up your U Mobile number. Just enter your U Mobile number in the field, select which amount you want and click the Top Up Now or Add to Cart button and then pay online with credit card.

Covering RM10, RM20, RM30, RM50 and RM100 U Mobile Top Up amounts, Mobile Mega Mall is also adding in a 3.0% discount on the spot so you can get an RM10 U Mobile Top Up at just RM9.70 and other discounted amount accordingly. You can access the U Mobile fuss free Top Up page here or Top Up from the Mobile Mega Mall main site at //technave.com. You can also find many other U Mobile Telco deals here.

*MAXOOM SDN BHD is an authorised online dealer of U Mobile and operator of MobileMegaMall.com.

Note: MobileMegaMall.com only provides top up services at the moment or until further notice.


Mobile gamers would have to spend at least $50K for a fully upgraded character in Diablo Immortal

Diablo Immortal is Blizzard Entertainment's latest mobile game that arrived last week. While Malaysians are still waiting and itching to play, there is some bad news for those who are looking to play hardcore. Turns out that Diablo Immortal is heavily reliant on a pay-to-win (P2W) system like most mobile games.

Mobile games are no stranger to introducing microtransactions, as it's one of the few ways for companies to make profits since they are often free to download. However, sources have pointed out that if you want to fully maximise your character build, you would have to spend a lot of monies. In fact, a total of 50k-80k USD after much calculation.

The calculation was initially estimated to be over 100k USD, according to YouTuber Bellular News. Nevertheless, it's the Legendary Gems being taken into account so that players can get their hands on Legendary items just like the main game series. So if you're a free-to-play mobile gamer, it's very unlikely that you get to earn a top-rated Legendary item. It was also estimated that if you continually play without paying, it would take around 10 years just to get the best stuff.

To make matters worse, paying for Legendary Gems isn't even 100% guaranteed for everyone. So with this, this is another issue of loot boxes appearing again that have damaged other video games' reputations such as Star Wars Battlefront 2. Diablo Immortal was also banned in Belgium and Netherlands due to the loot box game mechanics which encourage gambling, and it has encountered some issues with Exynos-based Samsung Galaxy devices that made it unplayable.

As of 8 June 2022, Diablo Immortal's score on Metacritic by fans is at an astounding 0.5 rating. This is a far cry from the critic reviews at 75. But would you still give this mobile game a chance when it launches in Malaysia? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com.


Mobile games dominate 2022 with $92.2 billion market value

Previously, we wrote that gamers tend to go for digital game copies over physical ones. In that same report, we also noticed that mobile gaming continues to dominate the gaming industry but not as great as before.

In the infographics, mobile gaming earned a total of $92.2 billion and contributed 50% of market value. However, it is also noted that it has a -6.2% YoY which means last year was even better, possibly due to the pandemic. The chart also shows console games in second place, followed by PC games (downloaded and boxed) and browser PC games as the last.

Moving on to the mobile market statistics, the US spent the most in Worldwide Consumer Spending with $208 billion, followed by Japan, China (excluding third-party stores), South Korea and Taiwan. For mobile games, consumers continue to spend on Honor of King with $2.5 billion. Unsurprisingly, PUBG Mobile, Genshin Impact, Candy Crush Saga and Roblox also dominate the chart with over a billion spending.

India has the largest user base downloads on mobile games with 8.9 billion, while our neighbour Indonesia is at number four with 3.2 billion. It's also worth mentioning that in Twitter, Genshin Impact is still the most and only tweeted and retweeted mobile game when compared with other AAA video games.

Other than that, the infographics also provided other interesting details. This includes best-selling boxed games of the year for the United Kingdom, Japan and the US, the most highly and lowest rated game on Metacritic, the most viewed game trailers and many others. You can check them out right over here.


Mobile games made more money than PC and consoles games in 2021 with ~RM389 billion in revenue

In the last few years, the mobile gaming market has grown increasingly bigger. But if how big the industry is hasn't sunk in yet, you just need to look at the latest market report. Newzoo recently published a new paper with some statistics for 2021.

According to Newzoo, the global mobile gaming market earned a total of US93.2 billion (~RM389 billion) in 2021. That's more than the revenue of the PC and console markets combined and a 7.3% year-on-year increase. In terms of market share, the Asia Pacific region had the lion's share at 64%. This region includes China and Japan, which are among the top 3 markets in 2021 with total revenue of USD45.5 billion (~RM190 billion).

The analytics company also believes that the mobile gaming market's revenue would grow to USD116.1 billion (~RM485 billion) by 2024. With how fast mobile gaming is growing, businesses like TikTok believe that mobile devices would become the "new frontier game publishers and advertisers". These will probably be the biggest contributors to the growth of the industry. There are also the metaverse trends that will see games becoming a new social experience.

If you're interested in learning more, check out the full Newzoo report that we linked earlier. For more news like this, stay tuned to TechNave.


Mobile games now required to show loot box odds on Google Play Store

Loot boxes has been deemed a form of gambling in gaming which is pretty detrimental as the audience in games are usually younger children. Due to that, Google has now asked developers of apps and games on the Google Play Store to show the loot box odds.

Usually players would only know what they receive after purchasing and opening loot boxes in games. Most loot boxes give players a chance to redeem rare in game items but more often than not, players end up with junk which leads them to purchasing more loot boxes without knowing the odds of what’s inside.

Example of a loot box layout in PUBG Mobile

Personally, I believe that this is a good move as players will now know what may be in the loot box as well as their chances of obtaining the rare items they want. Do you think this is a fair move by Google? Keep up with the latest app news on TechNave.com!


Mobile games will get ray-tracing support with Exynos 2200

With the growth of the mobile games industry, it's no surprise to see related technology growing by leaps and bounds. For example, ray-tracing has mostly been the domain of PC and console gaming. However, mobile games will soon be getting it too.

In an official announcement, Samsung confirmed that ray-tracing is coming to smartphones its Exynos platform. As you might know, Samsung has been working with AMD to develop the Exynos 2200 chipset, which will come with the latter's mobile RDNA 2 architecture. It's not as powerful as the Apple A15 Bionic in GFXBench but is allegedly more powerful than the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon 898 chipset. That's quite powerful for a mobile phone's GPU.

For those who are unaware, ray-tracing is an advanced graphics technique that more accurately render light and how it bounces off various objects. This allows for more realistic graphics in games, especially with things like reflections. It's a computation-heavy technique, so it's impressive if Samsung can pull it off with a mobile chipset's GPU.

It'll be interesting to see how the Exynos 2200 will perform in mobile games, and if it'll 3D games easier to run in the future. But what do you think about this, do mobile games even need ray-tracing? Share your thoughts in the comments, and stay tuned to TechNave for more news like this.


ASUS ZenFone Selfie officially announced with 13MP front and back cameras + laser autofocus

After being teased for a bit by ASUS themselves, ASUS recently announced the ASUS ZenFone Selfie ZD551KL smartphone. Featuring a Toshiba 13MP camera with laser focus and 1/3 2" sensors on both the front and back with dual tone LED flash, this ZenFone offers rather different tech specs from the more recent ASUS ZenFone 2 range. This includes a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor, probably 2GB of RAM, a 5.5-inch display with full HD 1080p resolution, 4G LTE and Android 5.0 Lollipop. Rather than go for their usual brushed metal backside, the ZenFone Selfie offers solid pastel colours in aqua blue, pink and white, although the metallic backplates are also available as well. No Malaysia release dates or pricing details yet but we expect these to crop up in the comming months.


Mobile numbers will be blocked in all SMS on 2 July onwards

In case you didn't receive it, a few of us have gotten an SMS from our respective telcos. Starting on 2 July 2023, SMS containing links, requesting personal data and phone numbers will be blocked to prevent online fraud.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) started this move in February this year and instructed various telco companies to do the same to reduce online scams. Previously, some have already started in May by blocking URLs in SMSes so it's nice to add on to our mobile phone numbers next month.

Should any users want to send links or phone numbers, they will have to use other social messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, etc. That being said, we must remain vigilant because scammers tend to use personal numbers to pretend as representatives from companies (which none of them do so unless stated otherwise on their official website).

Recently, Telegram announced that it will be working closely with MCMC and the PDRM to combat cybercrimes on its platform. Moreover, CIMB and Maybank will soon move SecureTAC approvals from SMSes to their apps to be safer.


Mobile operators are claiming the second Apple Event could happen on 13 October 2020

After the Apple Event on 15 September 2020, many wondered when will Apple do another one since the iPhone 12 series was nowhere to be seen. We know that it would probably be held in October from speculations, but the latest rumour is that the second Apple Event could be scheduled on 13 October 2020.

This information was provided by an anonymous employee from a UK telco company. While it's true that anyone could have just simply thrown a wild guess, the date could be true because based on Apple's history, they like to hold events on the second week of the month and oddly on Tuesdays. On top of that, an anonymous Dutch mobile operator and Jon Prosser (Twitter tipster) also claimed that 13 October is the second Apple Event.

Lines up with the dates I have you last month I was told:Event October 13Pre-orders on 16In stores on 23 https://t.co/9umqJqSzwq pic.twitter.com/fOt5eLzcBP

Furthermore, the anonymous employee also claimed that the iPhone 12 series pre-orders could start right after the second Apple Event. The launching date is a bit confusing, though, there are two dates which are the 16th and 23rd. In case you also forgot, Apple is rumoured to release four iPhone 12 models - a 5.4 mini, a vanilla 6.1, a 6.1 Pro, and finally a 6.7-inch Pro Max variant.

We should all take this news with a pinch of salt and wait for Apple's announcement. October is not that far off so it would be a matter of time. Until then, stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com.


Modest specs needed for VR on Windows, reports revealed

After the reveal of the high-end HTC Vive and Oculus Rift from Valve, many are feeling that VR is something beyond their reach and means, as the entry point for high-end VR seems to be in the realms of high-end gaming machines. However, a new report states that Microsoft’s own Holographic OS may not need something high end – in fact, the PC at your house right now may already be supported for VR.

The specs list for Microsoft’s VR looks to be low enough that most PCs out there can be running the Windows Holographic OS in no time. It asks for at minimum a quad-core processor, 4GB of RAM, a DirectX12-enabled GPU, and 1GB of storage. That is achievable, even for PCs that was built or made within the last several years. Brands like HP. Dell, Lenovo, Acer and ASUS are said to bring these head-mounted displayes to the market from next year onwards, with prices starting from USD299 (~RM 1320) onwards.

Will this low entry-point for VR make more people adopt it as part of their daily use, or will it still be a novelty feature that is only applicable for particular use case scenarios? We will have to wait and see. In the mean time, stay tuned to TechNave for more technology news and information.


Modular Fairphone 2 gets announced but needs a screwdriver to put together

Modular smartphones are on the rise and the latest to be announced would be the Fairphone 2. Unlike the more famous Project Ara smartphone, which lets you slot in and slot out the required modules, the Fairphone 2 is the modular smartphone you put together with the help of your smartphone repairperson or a certain screwdriver. While it offers modules for different purposes, the Fairphone 2 is still constructed using tiny screws and will require a bit more technical knowhow and aptitude than your casual layperson. Most techies and Arduino or home electronic enthusiasts should qualify though as the company have made it fairly easy to take apart and put back together (no tape or glue), but pricing is surprisingly high at €525 (RM2221) in Q3 of 2015 for Europe with no specific Malaysia release dates just yet. The default casing it comes with is shock resistant to a certain degree though but we're not sure if this makes the Fairphone 2 equal to Project Ara which has a basic price tag of just $50 (RM187).


Modular Google Nexus P3 concept render has a QWERTY keyboard, gamepad and bigger battery

Another day, another concept render, but this time the concept render is not for an upcoming smartphone but for smartphone Google could build in the future. Coming from Giuseppe Avanzato and Enrico Vicari, the design is for a Google Nexus smartphone which they have called the Google Nexus P3. While the smartphone concept render looks fairly similar to other Nexus smartphones from the front bezel, the backside slides out to reveal a drawer like slot which you can then use to slot in a number of different modules. These modules include a QWERTY keyboard, a gamepad and a larger 4700 mAh battery. So far, it doesn't seem like Google would do this considering that they've already started on Project Ara but it is still a very interesting concept render. Other tech specs for the Nexus P3 include a 5-inch display, dual speakers, a 12MP rear camera and 2MP front camera. Check out the concept for yourself below or go to the designers site.


Money shot for Samsung Galaxy J4, J6 and A6 (2018) series leaked online, starting price from RM599

If you've been following our Samsung Galaxy rumours lately, the company are ready to release the Galaxy J4, Galaxy J6 (2018), Galaxy A6 (2018) and the Galaxy A6 Plus (2018). True enough, a leak photo from Mr Anonymous is telling us that these four devices are bound for Malaysia release sooner than we thought. So according to the screenshot, the following prices are RM599, RM799, RM1099 and RM1399 respectively.

Most of the rumoured tech-specs that we wrote about the devices also matched perfectly, except for the Galaxy A6 Plus (2018) which we will get the 4GB + 32GB model. Then for the Galaxy J4, it will feature a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display, 3000mAh battery, a 13MP primary camera, 5MP front camera and most probably a 2GB + 16GB model.

As for the rest, you can check out more tech-specs and leaked hands-on photos on the links given below. Stay tuned for more Samsung news at TechNave.com.


Monkey took selfies and video recording of itself in the forest using a stolen iPhone

It seems that a monkey stole an iPhone from a Facebook user and proceeded to take selfies, as well as videos of itself while in a nearby forest. Fortunately, the user was able to find their smartphone in a local forest, but it was badly scratched up and cracked most likely due to the fact that it might have been dropped while it was being held on the tree.

Furthermore, it seems that the monkey managed to get a hold of the smartphone by sneaking into the user’s house. With all that said, do you think that the monkey has better photography skills compared to us? Let us know on our Facebook page and for more updates like this, stay tuned to TechNave.com.


Monster Hunter Rise coming to PC on 12 Jan 2022

Are you a big Monster Hunter fan but don't have a Nintendo Switch to play Monster Hunter Rise? A lot of Monster Hunter games remain Nintendo exclusives forever, and some may have thought this was the case for the latest game in the series. However, you're in luck because Capcom has confirmed that it's coming to PC.

During its Tokyo Game Show 2021 stream, Capcom announced that Monster Hunter Rise would be available on PC starting 12 January 2022 via Steam. Best of all, this isn't going to be some simple port. As you may know, the Nintendo Switch's native resolution is 720p and can go up to 1080 when docked. The PC version goes beyond that by bringing 4K resolution and support for ultrawide displays. Moreover, Capcom also promised to remove the cap on framerates, upgrade the textures, and optimise the controls for mouse and keyboard.

In case you didn't know, the Monster Hunter Rise is a solid successor to the franchise. You get to create a customised hunter to tackle the many monsters and quests in the story, gradually improving your gear with an extensive crafting system, and play various side-quests or minigames. If you're interested in the game, a demo will be available on Steam from 13 October 2021.

Capcom hasn't mentioned if the PC players can cross-play with Nintendo Switch players, but we do know that it'll have all DLCs released so far. Having said that, do you plan to get Monster Hunter Rise via Steam? Let us know in the comments, and stay tuned to TechNave for more news like this.


Monster Hunter: World is now free on PS PLUS until 21 April 2020

All PS Plus users can get Capcom’s Monster Hunter: World for free starting from today until 21 April 2020. Do note that it is only the base game and it does not include the Iceborne DLC, which is priced at RM177 (now at 30% off) on the Playstation Store.

To the uninitiated, Monster Hunter: World is an action RPG game where you play as a character that hunts down monsters as tall as buildings by using various weapons ranging for Bowguns to Dual Swords. Not only that, but you can also team up with other players to fight these gigantic monsters as well.

Would you be interested in getting Monster Hunter: World on PS Plus? Let us know on our Facebook page and for more updates like this, stay tuned to TechNave.com.


Monster iSport Freedom Headphones review - A legit music gear for the outdoors

Most headphones aren’t made to suit a person’s exercise regime weekly, but in Monster’s case, they have designed a Monster iSport Freedom Bluetooth Wireless On-ear Headphones for the people who constantly need music when exercising. For those who are aware of Monster, they are a reputable global audio manufacturer who has partnered with Brightstar Malaysia two months ago to sell their products. But is this RM1199 headphone worth the money? Read below to find out.

As the name suggests, the iSport Freedom Bluetooth Wireless On-ear headphones is built in mind for the people who wants music when doing their sports activities. However, don’t get fooled by the name because quite obviously you can’t just wear it and go play extreme sports, as it will totally fall off when you go for a 100m run too so be careful with that. That being said, going for a jog or working out in a gym with the headphones is fine.

How about for other sports like football and basketball? It really depends, there is a 50-50 opinion on this but why would you want to wear that in a team game? Your team mates can't read your mind, you know.

The top and ear cups have a nice cushion padding for your head and ears, these aren’t just nice cushions but they are also sweat-proof, water resistant and even washable. But I find that if your hair is too silky, it might have a problem staying on your head. Other than that, the rest of the body is made of sturdy plastic, so it should survive even if it falls off.

On the left - the multifunction button on top and microUSB at the bottom for charging,on the right - the 3.5mm headphone jack port

The 3.5mm headphone hack cable and user manuals are found inside the box

Although it comes with a Bluetooh Wireless feature, it still has the 3.5mm headphone jack cable for your listening pleasure. From my experience, I have rarely used the cable because most of the time I’d just turn on the Bluetooth and just get my jam on (works flawlessly on iOS and Android). What’s more, the battery longevity is really durable and the connectivity is great too, more on that later.

At first glance, it looks like there are no buttons for play/pause and adjusting volume, but these are present and visible if you take a closer look at the right side on the outer platform. This is the new Touch Sensing control and it’s really easy to control your songs. Tap once in the middle to play/pause, tap twice to skip a song, and slide your finger up or down to adjust your volume. It’s a pretty cool technology there, but you also have a high chance of tapping the wrong place, which can get annoying sometimes. All instructions on the Touch Sensing features are in the user manual.

There are also two sound profiles called standard and “Turbo” mode, but it’s very strange that the user manual didn’t mention how to activate it (#youhadonejob). Luckily, the Internet always has the answer and it turns out that you have to press the multifunction button twice and you will hear a short beep sound. Honestly, the difference is super minimal between the two modes, so that’s quite an odd feature to have that doesn't really have much impact.

Despite that, the audio quality and battery performance are actually amazing. The battery can go on for 24 hours straight (on paper) and it took me two weeks to completely deplete the battery. It also only needs two hours to fully charge. As for the audio quality, it’s not to say it’s perfect since Bluetooth is still lacking that sound quality, but I’d say it’s commendable enough.

One thing about the iSport Freedom headphone is that it gives a nice bass boost for most songs. Even though the bass boost is obvious, it’s not that over saturated like Beats from Dr Dre, as the treble, highs, mids, and lows are quite balanced. Overall, music like rap, hip hop, kpop, pop, electronic songs, rock and especially metal shine their best with the headphone, other genres are not underwhelmed so that's also good.

It’s also recommended not to wear it too long for more than 30 minutes because your ears will eventually be gasping for air and straining your ear cup. So in that sense, it’s not a good idea to watch a movie, binge on a TV show, or even play games for too long with the headphone. I tried it and trust me, it’s just not worth it.

In case if you're wondering if there's a sound difference on iOS and Android, the answer is no, same goes with either the Bluetooth or using the 3.5mm headphone jack cable. It's worth mentioning that the Bluetooth also works on a laptop.

Even though the audio and battery performance are awesome, the price tag is another thing. This 'monster' costs RM1199 but with fairly good reason. It probably has something to do with the Touch Sensing technology, the sweat-proof padding, and the fact that it can function as a wireless headphone. Oh well, you do get what you pay for for the most part.

We don't really review a lot of headphones on our website, but for comparison - the Edifier W855BT Stereo Bluetooth Headphone is a much more affordable option for RM439 if you're tight on budget. Otherwise, getting sports-ready earphones is a viable choice as well. Personally, I prefer using earphones whenever I go jogging but that's me.  So if you prefer headphones for sports activities, this is actually one of the better choices in the market.

So what do you think? Did we miss out anything else? What other similar sporty headphones do you know and use? Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more reviews at TechNave.com.


ASUS ZenFone Selfie review - Everything you need in a Selfie Cameraphone

The term cameraphone still means that the main feature a phone or smartphone has is its camera with camera centric functions all focused on providing the best camera experience possible. Featuring a 13MP PixelMaster camera and dual-tone LED flash on both the front and back along with laser autofocus for the rear camera, the ASUS ZenFone Selfie seems to fit the bill not only as a cameraphone but also one focused on the art of taking selfies. Does it deliver? We find out in our review of the ASUS ZenFone Selfie.

At first glance, the ASUS ZenFone Selfie looks much like the rest of the ASUS ZenFone 2 smartphone range. This includes the metallic concentric circle design on the front bottom panel, rear volume controls and plastic back. However, the discerning feature for the ZenFone Selfie is the large 13MP front camera with dual LED flash which looks identical to the rear camera, except that the rear camera has an IR or laser autofocus sensor. The front camera does not have the same laser autofocus sensor, as this is where the front speaker is located.

The ASUS ZenFone Selfie is just a bit taller but has the same good looks of the ASUS ZenFone 2 series

The matte back is quite comfortable to grip, but it does tend to stain a bit easier than the brushed metal backplate of the ZenFone 2 ZE551ML. The 5.5-inch display is both clear and responsive and so far as it has been inside my rather cluttered pocket, is also quite scratch proof. As usual, the row of capacitive keys below the display are useful and don't take up any screen space but the addition of the larger space for the front camera seems to have made the ZenFone Selfie taller than the ZenFone 2 ZE551ML and ZenFone 2 Laser ZE550KL.

Check out the tech specs and features for the ASUS ZenFone Selfie below:

The ASUS ZenFone Selfie sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor with 2GB RAM

Features-wise, the ZenFone Selfie packs in a more powerful Snapdragon 615 processor and its 13MP front camera with dual tone LED flash. This means that you have the full selection of PixelMaster 2.0 features to pick from including Manual mode, Super Resolution and Low-Light on top of the now standard Beautification, Selfie Panorama and Super HDR. Even Time Rewind is available, perhaps for those jumping selfie shots. Like the ZenFone 2 Laser, the ZenFone Selfie has a removable battery so you can bring around a spare if you want.

Both the front and back cameras offer the same PixelMaster 2.0 options and features except that the front camera has beautification and selfie panorama

The ASUS ZenFone Selfie is also one of the few ZenFones to have a removable battery, so you can swap it out if necessary

For people who have been following our reviews, they should know by now that I may seem rather unexcited about the Qualcomm Snapdragon 615, but this was mainly because the manufacturers who put their devices together with it delivered such laggy performance. Thankfully (and finally!) this isn’t the case for the ASUS ZenFone Selfie. ASUS have done an exceptional job at balancing the Snapdragon 615 with the ZenFone Selfie’s capabilities. Granted, AnTuTu scores are midrange at 36326 and 3DMark with 7218 in Ice Storm Unlimited and 5183 in Ice Storm extreme but the actual performance is exceptional. This has resulted in a very high 45.5 fps on full HD 1080p in Epic Citadel and very smooth Asphalt 8:Airborne on high visual quality settings.

Pretty good midrange scores with 36326 in AnTuTu

Also very good midrange scores in 3DMark

Very good performance on full HD with 45.5 frames per second in Epic Citadel

Actual game performance is quite smooth even on Asphalt 8: Airborne with high visual quality settings

Camera performance is just as exceptional as the other laser autofocus ZenFone in this range with very clear shots even with objects in motion. The front camera is also exceptional as well with super fast 0.2 second laser autofocus, resulting in clear shots for burst mode, time rewind and other fast focus modes. We can find nearly no fault with the front camera options or camera performance except that like the ZenFone 2 Laser, modes that need a bit more processing like HDR and Super Resolution take some time compared to the super fast ZenFone 2 ZE551ML.

13MP, Auto, Burst Mode ~ Clear shots in fast motion thanks to the laser autofocus

13MP, Auto ~ Did you catch the lightning?

Low-light mode (below) compared with Auto mode (above)

13MP, Auto ~ still delivering good low-light performance

We’ve covered this already in our comparison of the ZenFone Selfie’s front camera compared to the Samsung Galaxy Note 5’s front camera but in short, the ZenFone Selfie is definitely one of the better selfie camera smartphones out there. Beautification still can’t make me beautiful but it should satisfy most other selfie users out there while the selfie panorama mode still captures one of the widest group selfie shots around. It should be great for all those video loggers or selfie stick users out there as well.

13MP, Auto (front) ~ very good resolution

Audio quality is clear but again, isn’t loud enough to be turned into your own personal boombox. The ZenFone Selfie also does become warm with use but not uncomfortably so. Battery life is better than some other ZenFones with 1 day and a bit more on a single charge with heavy usage. While the Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protected screen is tough the side frame is not as tough with rather visible chips and dents, so you may want to get a good bumper case along with the ZenFone Selfie. Call quality and WiFi strength are also very good.

Battery life is more than a day even on heavy usage

Overall, the ASUS ZenFone Selfie makes for an excellent smartphone with selfie cameraphone features. At RM1049 (or RM919 at certain other sellers) it is priced very competitively with a mixture of higher-end camera features and midrange hardware. It is also one of the few smartphones out there to properly utilize the Snapdragon 615 processor and it should satisfy all those selfie and cameraphone enthusiasts on a budget while also offering good gaming and app performance. Compared to the higher-end ZenFone 2 ZE551ML it isn’t the fastest ZenFone in the bunch but it does offer better than average ZenFone battery life which when combined with the other features like Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and Laser Autofocus should well make up for this. We’d recommend getting a good case with this, but apart from that the ZenFone Selfie offers nearly unbeatable price-to-performance for the selfie taking crowd.

*TechNave.com would like to thank ASUS Malaysia for providing us with the ASUS ZenFone Selfie ZE551KL smartphone for this review. It allowed us to do a more in-depth review and highlight more features.


More 32GB iPhone 6 spotted! This time, in Space Grey on Amazon India

Earlier on, we reported that a 32GB variant of the Apple iPhone 6 in Gold was available in Taiwan. It seems that, the iPhone 6 might be making a comeback with a “2017 refresh”, as it is now available for purchase on Amazon India too. This time, it is the 32GB Space Grey variant.

Amazon India has the device listed for INR 28,999 (about RM1933), which is down 6% from its alleged regular price of INR 30,700 (about RM2047). The device is being sold by a company called E-Mobiles and is fulfilled by Amazon.

Could this mean that Apple is slowly re-introducing a refreshed 32GB iPhone 6 as a cheaper alternative to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus for users that didn’t quite like the smaller size of the entry-level iPhone SE? Seeing as to most consumers prefer bigger screens these days, it could be a sign that the iPhone SE isn’t doing so well despite being priced way below what the latest iPhone costs. If the 32GB iPhone 6 is being priced similar to the 16GB iPhone SE, would you consider the larger but older tech device? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook page. Stay tuned with us on TechNave.com for further news as it unfolds, on whether would this 32GB iPhone 6 (2017) eventually come to our Malaysian shores.


More ASUS accessories like MicroUSB Charging Stand are coming to Malaysia's ASUS Store

The online ASUS Store portal offers Malaysians an easy yet official way to purchase ASUS products on the Internet. However, previously it only had devices like the ASUS ZenFone range of smartphones and more recently ASUS tablets like the Fonepad. Now, it looks like we may soon see ASUS accessories as well, with some original devices that you don't often see like the ASUS MicroUSB Charging Stand for just RM85. This accessory caught our eye because it offered a portable way to both charge your device but also prop it up as a stand. The charging stand also offers an OTG USB2.0 port so you can plug in a USB flash drive or external hard disk drive, USB keyboard or USB mouse while charging your device. The stand is compatible with most ASUS tablets but in the video below it also looks like it can support smartphones as well. Check it out for yourself below as we wait for more cool and original accessories from ASUS Malaysia.


More Android Wear 2.0 features

It's been almost a month now since Android Wear 2.0 was revealed at Google I/O 2016, previously we covered briefly on what the new version has to offer and many publications didn't really show much. Thanks to 9to5google.com, we now have more new information on more features from Android Wear 2.0.

Normally, users would have to press the physical button to go home or turning off the display, and swiping left or right to go back. That's changed now in 2.0, users can now use their palm to turn off the display, the physical button is also changed to as a back button now, and swiping left to right is no longer needed. On the other hand, you can access actions quicker now with a tap instead of swiping to the right.

A brand new music app has been built within Android Wear 2.0, it no longer gives the option for all controls; play/pause, track info, and volume controls are the first things you will see once open, you can control which song you want next and go back to previous tracks with convenience. The app also works in ambient mode, it's set by default when the watch goes into ambient mode but if you don't want that, you can control it on screen at all times. At the moment, it seems to only work with Spotify and Google Play Music, and not Pandora or Pocket Casts.

Coming in a dark theme, Google Now got a new design but still functions pretty much the same way but with a different way to access. Users can now long press on the side button to access voice recognition, you don't need to say "Ok Google" anymore.

Google also has put quick settings menu all on one page and you can see them all by swiping down. Tapping on the things you want may be a bit harder since they're all together on one page now, but this is really convenient. The brightness toggle is also present, finally, no need to dig through the settings to find that!

In addition, Google removed two known features from there which are 'Brightness boost' and 'Theater mode' for some reason, I guess nobody really uses it? Theater mode will be missed.

Finally, you can now uninstall apps from your watch! To do this, you have to go into the new 'apps' section in Settings, then you will get to see a list of apps installed on your watch. Not only you can uninstall them, but you can set permission on who can use the app and force stop it too.

There isn't any release date for Android Wear 2.0 yet, but Huawei Watch or LG Watch Urbane Second Edition LTE can download the developer preview from Google. ASUS ZenWatch 2, Moto 360 2nd gen, Moto 360 Sport, Fossil Q Founder and Tag Heuer Connected are also confirmed but has yet to get the update.

Stay tuned for more news at Technave.com.


More Google Pixel 2 leaks revealed, with a feature that listens to music "all the time"

There's no doubt that the Google Pixel series is one of the most popular smartphones, but it's kinda unfortunate that the device is not officially sold in Malaysia and it could be applied the same for the next series, Pixel 2 and Pixel XL2. If you're a big fan of this, we got some leak information from @ArtemR via Twitter on his findings, check out below on everything you need to know about it!

1/ Some unverified Pixel 2 rumors from a new source who claims to have played with the Verizon Pixel 2.

First things first, the Pixel 2 series will definitely have Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor on board since it's getting common by the days. According to @ArtemR, the upcoming flagship will look almost the same as the predecessor with the two-tone colour scheme on its body, in spite of that, the display will be going bezel-less form and it's said to be inspired from LG V30. Other than that, Other tech-specs includes a 12MP camera and 4GB of RAM. The home screen and user interface has been redesigned too, the search bar is now beneath the dock so you don't need to swipe to search anymore. Even the "squeeze" Edge Sense technology from HTC U11 could make it there.

On top of that, there is a new feature speculation that the Pixel 2 series will have this feature that listens to music all the time. We aren't really sure what that means, but if we have to guess it should work similarly like Shazam that recognizes songs when turned on. Rumours have it that this feature will automatically display song titles, artist and albums on the lock screen should it ever encounter a song nearby.

Is this a big win for music lovers? Personally, I don't think I would want that feature on my smartphone all the time. But let us know what you think in the comments below, stay tuned for more Pixel news at TechNave.com.


More HTC 10 teaser trailers reveal an ultrapixel selfie camera with OIS and awesome battery life?

HTC have already revealed HTC 10 teaser trailers featuring the best BoomSound audio, cameras with 4K video recording, OIS and Ultrapixel technology and now the latest one says it will have awesome battery life. No actual battery details or tech specs were revealed, unlike the previous camera trailer, and we expect the next teaser to be about the design. No specific Malaysia release dates or pricing details either but it is expected to get announced online on 12 April 2016.


More Honor smartphones coming on top of next expected Huawei P and Mate series thanks to leaked product roadmap

A leaked 2018 Huawei product roadmap has revealed that there will be series of Honor phones coming each quarter of 2018 starting with the Honor 1 up until the Honor 4 along with codenamed devices (Maya, Salina ~ could these be Nova phones?) on top of the next Huawei P Plus, P and P Lite expected in Q2 2018. The next Huawei Mate series will have a Mate Pro and Mate Lite in Q4 2018 while a Huawei A2 Band wearable will be coming in Q1 2018.

There’s also a Huawei scale, 360 camera and B68 and B525 boards (perhaps for their next Kirin chipsets? ) coming as well. As always with such rumours do take this with a good pinch of salt, as anyone could put together a graphic like this,  but release periods for the next Huawei P and Mate series do match with the usual dates. Stay tuned to TechNave.com for all the latest news and reviews.

This article was made (written, photo edited, uploaded, published) with the Huawei Mate 10 Pro.


More Huawei Mate 40 series details leaked, prices could start from ~RM4216

As we get closer to Huawei's unveiling of the Mate 40 series, more details of the new devices are starting to pop up as expected. For example, there was the promo video of its ultra-wide-angle camera and images of the retail box for the Mate 40 Pro+ yesterday. But now the pricing of some of the models could have been leaked online.

According to Gizchina, the Mate 40 Pro's prices could start at ~RM4216 for the variant with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, while the one with 512GB storage will be priced at ~RM4836. Then there's the Mate 40 Pro+ ~RM5580 (12GB+256GB), followed by the Mate 40 RS for ~RM8060 (12GB+256GB) and ~RM9300 (16GB+512GB).

Leaked image of Mate 40 Pro from WinFuture.de

In certain regions, the prices could be even more expensive. For instance, well-known leaker @RODENT950 claimed to have the estimated prices for Europe. Allegedly, the Mate 40 Pro will be priced at about 1100 Euros (~RM5366), Mate 40 Pro+ around 1400 Euros (~RM6829), and Mate 40 RS for a whopping 2500 Euros (~RM12195). It's speculated that the reason for the price increase is because the Mate 40 series will not ship as many units as its predecessors.

Mind you, these are rumoured prices so do take them with a grain of salt. Also, the base Mate 40 model may have a more reasonable price too. With that said, what do you think of the Mate 40 series so far, are there any features that catch your eyes? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned to TechNave.com for more news like this.


More Huawei P50 Pocket details revealed, display and main camera specs confirmed

Last week, news of a new foldable device from Huawei broke out. It was confirmed that the company was working on a clamshell phone called the Huawei P50 Pocket. Now, more details of the device have surfaced.

According to MyDrivers, the Huawei P50 Pocket will have a 6.8-inch foldable display. It will also have a small 1-inch cover display. This is probably referring to the circular display below the camera module. As you can see, it's large enough to display the date and time.

Besides that, the Huawei P50 Pocket is expected to feature the Kirin 9000 4G chipset, a 4100mAh battery, and 66W fast charging. As for the camera, the source claimed that it will have a 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor as the main camera. It will also have a 13MP ultrawide camera and an 8MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom.

Overall, the specs for the device are impressive enough. But we want to know, is that gold design the standard model or a limited edition? What do you think about the design? Share your thoughts in the comments, and stay tuned to TechNave for more updates about it.