This time around for TechNave.com NewsBytes 2019, realme Malaysia and Samsung celebrate their respective anniversaries while Huawei announces their OAID for app developers. GrabPay collaborates with PayNet for DuitNow QR while Alibaba has a number of 11.11 goodies up fro grabs. There's also news from HP's Aruba, Boost, Wahed Invest and more so check it out here.
realme Malaysia celebrates 1st anniversary with 4000 fans
realme Malaysia, celebrated its first anniversary with more than 4000 fans at the Night of Frights 7 in Sunway Lagoon, with realme Malaysia being the official smartphone sponsor for Sunway Lagoon’s Night of Frights. Three lucky fans will soon become new owners of the realme XT featuring a 64MP Quad Camera, Snapdragon chipset, 8GB RAM, 128GB storage, in-display fingerprint and VOOC charge that retails at RM1,399.00.
“We were truly grateful to receive so much support from our fans for the past one year and were glad that our fans got to enjoy their time with us at our first anniversary event yesterday. As a way to say thanks to our fans, we’ve collaborated together with Night of Frights to celebrate our first year anniversary. Through their continuous support and loyalty, realme has achieved a great milestone recently as we were recognised as World’s Fastest Growing Smartphone Brand in 2019 by Counterpoint. Here at realme Malaysia, we will continuously provide the best products and user experience to our fans for a leap-forward experience,” said Tiffany Teh, Brand Manager of realme Malaysia.
To learn more about realme’s latest activities, feel free to visit and follow their Facebook page.
Samsung marks 50th founding anniversary
Samsung Electronics recently marked the 50th anniversary of its founding, with an event at Samsung Digital City, the Company’s headquarters in Suwon. More than 400 employees were present to commemorate the milestone, together with the Company’s executive team including Kinam Kim, Vice Chairman & CEO of Device Solutions (DS) Division, Hyunsuk Kim, President & CEO of Consumer Electronics (CE) Division, Dongjin Koh, President & CEO of IT & Mobile Communications (IM) Division.
Samsung executives and workers around the world have been engaging in volunteer work in recent weeks to give back to their communities, in a more meaningful way to mark the Company’s anniversary and show appreciation. The activities include donation campaigns and education projects for young students.
“The past 50 years were only possible thanks to the dedication and hard work of each and every one of you. Looking to the next 50 years, let's free our imaginations and dream of an extraordinary future. Applying our new technologies, let’s build a healthier and happier future. By sharing and growing together we will become the very best in the world. Unpredictable change, driven by material shifts in demographics and consumer behavior, will be a hallmark of the next era of the technology industry. So to ensure our survival in the new era, we must pursue relentless self-innovation. We must never cease to learn, be bold and fearless in our pursuits and execute thoroughly when undertaking all our tasks.” Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee
Huawei Open Advertising ID (OAID) to offer better information security
In September, HUAWEI launched a new Open Advertising ID (OAID) solution to address an information security issue. The OAID solution ensures that user data privacy is not disclosed or stolen. With this solution, HUAWEI can work with partners to build an open and compliant smartphone ecosystem.
At the recent HUAWEI Developer Conference 2019, HUAWEI proposed the HUAWEI Mobile Services (HMS) Ecosystem, and announced that it had shared HMS Core Kits, including Ads Kit, which is closely related to OAID with its partners. Aligned with the strategy of fully opening the HMS Core, HUAWEI has released OAID in the hope of continuously enabling global developers and partners to jointly accelerate the HMS Ecosystem construction and provide more comprehensive privacy protection for users in the 5G era.
As the mobile phone serial number, the IMEI can be used to identify each independent mobile communication device. The permanence of the IMEI also poses potential risks to privacy protection. As one of the functions of the HMS Core Ads Kit, the OAID launched by HUAWEI will replace the original IMEI and become a unique non-permanent device identifier in advertisement scenarios. The OAID provides personalized advertisements for users while respecting their privacy and protecting their personal data. In addition, the third-party monitoring platform can also provide advertisers with conversion attribution analysis.
The OAID is generated as soon as the device is started. Users can reset the advertisement identifier in the device settings to generate a new OAID. Developers will only be able to obtain the new OAID. This way, there will be no association between the device identifier and user information, making the mobile "anonymous" on the mobile Internet.
GrabPay partners with PayNet in adopting DuitNow QR
Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet) and Grab, announced a collaboration to adopt DuitNow QR, Malaysia’s National QR Standard. DuitNow QR is established under Bank Negara Malaysia’s Interoperable Credit Transfer Framework (ICTF). ICTF mandates that PayNet, as the country’s shared payment infrastructure provider, implement an interoperable and common QR standard for Malaysia. Four Banks are already offering DuitNow QR in their mobile banking apps, with 25 Banks expected to implement DuitNow QR over the next six months.
DuitNow QR will foster an efficient, competitive and innovative payment landscape in Malaysia by enabling interoperability, promoting collaborative competition and providing fair and open access to the shared payment infrastructure. Through DuitNow QR, users can make payments from any participating Banks or e-Wallets’ mobile apps. Merchants would only need to display one QR Code, the DuitNow QR, to accept payments. Grab will add DuitNow QR support in the Grab app by the first half of 2020.
“At the moment, e-Wallet providers are incurring substantial acquiring costs for merchants since they are each signing up the same set of merchants for their respective proprietary networks. With DuitNow QR, a merchant needs to sign up with only one Bank or e-Wallet acquirer, and customers of all participating Banks and e-Wallets would be able to make DuitNow QR payments to the merchant using their respective mobile apps,” Mr Peter Schiesser, Group Chief Executive Officer, PayNet.
“We are honoured to be the first e-Wallet to adopt DuitNow QR. With this partnership, we are confident that it will propel GrabPay further to provide a seamless and safe payment method for customers and merchants. The fact that DuitNow QR is interoperable, firstly, simplifies and provides users with a frictionless whilst rewarding payment method for consumers whilst providing our merchants a safe and cost effective way to collect payments. Our strategy has always been focused on being hyperlocal, and our partnership with PayNet is yet another example of being customer centric in our approach in growing Malaysia’s cashless society as it makes it even more affordable and accessible for all Malaysians to do so,” Ooi Huey Tyng, Managing Director of GrabPay Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines
DuitNow QR is an extension of the DuitNow service launched in December 2018, which allows Bank customers to transfer money instantly and securely on a 24/7 basis at Banks’ Internet or mobile banking channels. DuitNow fund transfers can be directed using the recipients’ mobile numbers, MyKad or business registration numbers.
Alibaba’s 11.11 Celebrations in Malaysia this Year More Local than Ever Before
In preparation of the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, Alibaba’s Tmall will host a Malaysian launch event at MyTOWN Shopping Centre, Kuala Lumpur on 7th November 2019, with a series of activities and engagements that will enrich the online shopping experience for consumers in Malaysia.
Themed ‘Every Single Wish Counts,’ this year's 11.11 will offer Malaysian shoppers more localized services and products than ever before. The local rendition of the shopping festival will see the debut of up-and-coming home grown brands specially curated for Malaysian consumers.
These local merchants and brands include Redtick and BigboxAsia (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods), Vivid Malaysia and DirectD Malaysia (smart tech), and Deep Furniture (home furniture). In addition, shoppers in Malaysia will also be able to shop for localized products from multinational brands like Unilever, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and many more, complete with local delivery options.
“The introduction of local merchants on Taobao this 11.11 is in line with Alibaba Group's efforts to help them scale-up and enhance their consumers’ shopping experience online. As 11.11 Global Shopping Festival continues to grow tremendously, our focus remains on helping local partners and merchants transform the way they market, sell and operate their businesses by leveraging the power of Alibaba ecosystem.” Jess Lew, Marketing Manager for Alibaba Tmall World, Malaysia.
On top of that, this year's 11.11 will see the introduction of the popular mum-and-baby products channel, Qinbaobei “亲宝贝”, and Taobao Grocer in Malaysia. Qinbaobei will make available over 150,000 high-demand mum-and-baby products to Malaysian shoppers, while Taobao Grocer will bring local and international FMCG and household products to Malaysian shoppers at affordable prices.
Here’s what Malaysian shoppers can expect from the shopping festival, which kicks off on 21st October 2019, ahead of the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival:
- Tmall Shopping Coupons: Consumers can collect Tmall Shopping coupons via the floating deck to offset purchases in all Tmall participating stores. With every RMB 400 spent, they will get RMB 50 off, unlimited cap.
- Tmall Signature Store Vouchers: Check in to Tmall Signature Store daily from now till 11.11 to collect Tmall Signature Store Vouchers of increasing value every day, up to RMB 200. Get RMB 150 off with exclusive Tmall Signature Store Vouchers corresponding to purchase value.
- Free Waiver Coupons: Collect as many 3% Service Fee Waiver coupons as you can on Taobao app to enjoy credit card fee waiver.
- Shopping Red Packets: Stand a chance to grab angpow worth up to RMB 1111 with a minimum spend of RMB 1999 from 1st November onwards, at 10am and 4pm daily.
GameBench announces return of GPU metrics for Android Devices
Just in time for Halloween, GameBench has announced that GPU metrics for Android devices have returned. As part of our last release, the GameBench Pro Android App now captures GPU metrics for many popular mobile devices, with support on the GameBench Pro Desktop App being released in the coming days.
Find out more about this exciting new feature and the supported devices in their blog post.
Aruba announces new CX Series Switches for Enterprise Campus, Branch and Data Center
Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company recently announced that the Aruba CX Switching Portfolio now includes the Aruba CX 6300 Series fixed configuration and CX 6400 Series modular access, aggregation and core switches, while delivering the latest advancements in the AOS-CX operating system. This gives network operators one simple, end-to-end switching platform to dramatically improve business outcomes today and into the future.
Aruba is the first company to offer a single switching platform that runs on a modern network operating system – AOS-CX – from the enterprise edge to the core to the data center. This unique, cloud-native platform is further optimized by Aruba’s powerful Network Analytics Engine (NAE), which utilizes embedded analytics and automation to simplify management, accelerate troubleshooting of application performance issues and remediate common network problems. Find out more at their site.
Cisco study finds that 5G rollout could boost annual revenues of Malaysian telecom operators by more than RM3.764 billion dollars
Rollout of 5G services could boost annual revenues of Malaysian telecom operators by as much as RM3.764 billion (USD$900 million dollars) starting 2025, according to a new study commissioned by Cisco, a global technology leader. The study, conducted by management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, highlights that 5G promises speeds up to 50 times faster, 10 times more responsiveness, and much lower power connectivity than 4G. This will be driven by a combination of three distinctive features — high throughput, ultra-low latency, and low power connectivity.
Speed, low latency, and enhanced connectivity will help telecom operators provide super-fast Internet connections that enable streaming of high-definition videos, cloud gaming and delivery of interactive augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR)-powered content to consumers. It will also help to fast-track the commercialisation of several advanced use cases of 5G, including smart cities, Industry 4.0, large-scale Internet of Things (IoT) deployments, and more. This will enable telecom operators to increase revenues both from consumers as well as enterprise clients.
Titled, 5G in ASEAN: Reigniting growth in enterprise and consumer markets, the study states that initial growth of 5G adoption is expected to come from high-value customers and high-value devices, and subscriptions will start to scale as devices become more affordable. As a result, the study expects 5G penetration to be around 25 to 40 percent in major countries in the region by 2025, with Malaysia seeing nearly 40 percent penetration. The total number of 5G subscriptions in ASEAN is forecast to exceed 200 million in 2025.
Boost Introduces New Features
Boost has introduced three new and upgraded features – BoostUP, its new rewards programme, CashUp, a new savings feature for online shopping and UnionPay QR, which allows users to use their Boost e-wallets at UnionPay International (UPI) merchants nationwide and soon globally. The new features will give everyone a better reason to go cashless and seamlessly transact while enjoying a more rewarding cashless experience.
“Today is an important day for us as it sets the tone for the next phase of Boost. We are making our famous Shake Rewards even more rewarding. BoostUP is designed to gift loyal users a more comprehensive and exciting set of prizes, unforgettable lifestyle experiences on top of cashback.
“CashUp is a new savings feature that gives a boost to the online shopping experience, where users can automatically enjoy cashback from our online retail partners. Both BoostUP and CashUp function on a simple mechanism where the more you perform transactions with Boost, the more rewards you earn all while providing users with a safe and convenient way to transact.
“The UnionPay QR payment service, on the other hand, is a new feature that will give consumers more options and greater accessibility to go cashless with ease in Malaysia and soon at 11 million UnionPay QR merchants across 31 countries. This will hopefully further encourage new and existing users to make going cashless a natural part of their daily lifestyle,” Mohd Khairil Abdullah, CEO of Boost.
This service is available 1 November onwards. Until 31 December 2019, users will be able to earn an instant RM 3 cashback upon activation of the UnionPay QR payment service in their Boost e-wallet. With a minimum spend of RM 300 at these UPI merchants – Duty Free, Dimensi Exklusif, Colours and Fragrance – within any airport in the country, users will earn an instant cashback of RM30.
Wahed Invest offers Shariah-compliant digital investment portfolio platform
Wahed Invest announced the launch of Malaysia’s first Islamic digital investment platform. Wahed’s digital investment management services allow investors access to a Shariah compliant portfolio, that is transparent, impartial and aims to empower Malaysians at large to take charge of their financial well-being.
Coupled with low starting investment of RM 100, low fees, and no lock-in period, Wahed hopes to remove the barriers to investment management and portfolios that were traditionally reserved for high net worth investors. Wahed’s current portfolio allocation options include investments into US stocks, Malaysian stocks, sukuk (Islamic bonds), and gold.
In order to ensure all returns are halal, Wahed has a full-time Shariah Advisory Board, which undertakes a rigorous screening process and produces annual purification reports (Zakat). As a result, Muslim and non-Muslim investors alike are now able to invest worry-free into portfolios that are ethically sound.
Wahed Inc’s subsidiaries are regulated by some of the world’s most respected jurisdictions including Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) and the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB).
Once signed-up, users can securely create an investment account within minutes. Wahed will automatically suggest a portfolio for each user based on how they answer about themselves; taking into account the individual’s financial situation, attitude towards risks, investment goals and other criteria.
The portfolio models are overseen by Wahed’s fund management professionals. Users can begin investing with as little as RM100 while paying a fraction of traditional management fees. Wahed ensures that investors always have a diversified portfolio, regardless of their account size, thus making investing efficient for investors from all walks of life.
Wahed Invest has successfully obtained their regulatory license from the Securities Commission (SC) Malaysia to offer the first islamic digital investment management services in Malaysia. The Islamic Digital Investment Management license granted by the SC will enable Malaysians to invest worry-free in shariah-compliant and ethical portfolios.
So, that's it for this week's TechNave.com NewsBytes. If you'd like to see your bits of news featured in NewsBytes let us know and stay tuned to TechNave.com
COMMENTS