And just like that, the Raya holiday is over and a bunch of news just burst through our doors. Father's Day is just around the corner so check out what Shopee has in store for you, you get to trade-in old OPPO phones for the latest Reno series which is nice, ASUS Malaysia finally launched new lightweight VivoBook Ultra series from RM2699 and...oh, Huawei going boldly by saying their HongMeng OS is 60% faster than Android, requesting trademark approval on HongMeng OS in several countries, as well as inviting developers to publish their apps on AppGallery.
But this week's highlights go to E3 2019 which our girl, Natasha is there now covering the event. She got pretty close to see Keanu Reeves but was denied access to CD Projekt's conference (LOL), anyway, I'm sure most of you gamers have got the big news from online. There are so many of them but our biggest story will be Todak Gaming making its appearance at E3 show floor showcasing their game, ToGather: Island that plays similarly to Minecraft (not that I'm complaining). It's a big deal and a huge step for Malaysia!
Also, we are trying really hard to add in more contents into our website with gaming stuff. We are working on a roadmap to play games via livestream, review games (without any restrictions!...hopefully), delivering you the latest gaming news and many more. Kasih like, k?
Astro GO is the #1 streaming video service* in Malaysia
According to the Astro FT Confidential Research survey, it has been announced that Astro GO is the most popular paid-for streaming video service in Malaysia, ahead of Netflix, Google Play and Unifi TV. It has recorded 2.2 million registered users with an average viewing time of 149 minutes per week.
Sounds mind blogging? Well, considering Astro has been around for a long time, it kinda makes sense as Astro GO is available to all Astro customers allowing them to access content available as per their subscription. Also, the library has tons of titles from Hollywood, Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong, India, premium Sports, blockbuster movies, kids and popular local vernacular programmes, including HBO GO. That's a lot of content.
Spotify Premium Users' Library Gets Refreshed
Moving to Spotify, premium users will be delighted to know that "Your Library" has a new version for a more personalised experience from picking their favourite content faster. In addition, it also comes with separate tabs for Music and Podcast which you can switch around with a simple swipe or tap, as well as accessing favourite playlists, the artists you follow, the albums you’ve saved, and manage Episodes, Downloads and Shows at the Podcast tab.
To learn about this new feature, you can head over to For The Record to check it out.
TikTok’s Latest Photo Templates Feature Launched
In case you didn't know, TikTok's new Photo Templates has been launched since 8 June which allows users to select photos on their camera roll and upload them into a pre-made video template with background music. To encourage Malaysians to participate in this new feature, they can just select their food and travel photos and upload them into one of the unique templates such as TikTok Travel, Count Down, Solo and many others, with the hashtag #goodtimes.
Local pop icons, influencers and creators, including the likes of Ai Wahida and Mark O’dea who have joined the #goodtimes challenge to create their own videos using the new feature. To check out the challenge, you can do so on their website here.
Samsung Electronics Remains Top Brand in Asia for Eighth Consecutive Year
And for 8 years in a row, Samsung Electronics has been named the best brand in Asia in 2019. This is according to results from ‘Asia’s Top 1000 Brands’ annual online survey by Campaign Asia-Pacific in collaboration with Nielsen. The ranking – which aggregates views from across 15 major product categories including automotive, retail, F&B and consumer electronics – is based on consumer insights and offers a clear measure of the most highly regarded brand names today.
Additionally, Samsung became number one across six categories, including the most mobile-friendly brand, the strongest local brand, and the brand with the values that best align with those of respondents. You can read all about it at their Newsroom here.
Lenovo Partners with Budimas Foundation to Teach Digital Skills to Underprivileged Children
In another CSR event, Lenovo Malaysia has recently organized its first in a series of coding and robotics workshop with Budimas Foundation – a non-governmental and non-profit organization that aims to provide guidance and funding in support of underprivileged children’s welfare in Malaysia.
There were about 100 children ranging from 6 to 17 years old in Budimas Orion Home, Senawang who attended the workshop that was conducted by Lenovo’s technical experts with Micro:bit Educational Center which provides handheld, programmable micro-computer for Internet Of Things (IoT), Robotics and Electronics project, the workshops provide a fun and approachable digital learning experience to the children on coding and robotic technology.
Volunteers from Lenovo Malaysia conducted a coding and robotics workshop for the children from Budimas Orion Home together with Cytron Technologies and Micro:bit Educational Center
At the end of the day, Lenovo also donated 10 units of computers to the Budimas Foundation Orion Home’s computer lab to provide the children with the opportunity to continue their learning experience of their newly learned skills and develop their talent in the technology field. Oh, how lovely.
Audi, Renault, Honda add in-car AI with TMALL Genie Auto
AI is finally making its way to cars. In fact, owners of Audis, Renaults and Hondas in China will soon be able to “ask” their cars for everything from restaurant suggestions to movie tickets thanks to speech-recognition technology from Alibaba’s artificial-intelligence unit, the company said Tuesday during the CES Asia conference in Shanghai.
Called as Tmall Genie Auto, it's designed from Alibaba A.I. Labs into select models of internet cars, including Volvo and BMW which has signed on to integrate it into some of their internet-enabled vehicles. Tmall also announced a tie-up with Renault on an electric car that features the Tmall iconic cat logo on the vehicle’s exterior design. The Renault City K-ZE Tmall Genie Edition, which will include Tmall Genie Auto, will be on sale in China later this year.
As mentioned, Tmall Genie Auto will allow consumers to check on their cars from home, such as ensuring that all windows were closed and doors were locked. In the future, they will add car-to-home services, such as monitoring and controlling Tmall Genie-compatible smart appliances, such as lights, air conditioners and heaters, from their vehicles. There are also options for in-car entertainment and shopping.
For more info, you can log on to this full story page for more information.
AMD Reveals new processor and graphics cards for gamers at E3 2019
The AMD President and CEO Dr. Lisa Su unveiled the company’s next-generation PC gaming platform at the “Next Horizon Gaming” at E3 2019, introducing the world’s first 16 core mainstream desktop processor - the flagship AMD Ryzen 9 3950X, as well as the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT & RX 5700 graphics cards.
With 16 cores and 32 threads running up to 4.7GHz, the Ryzen 9 3950X processor now holds the crown in two important categories: highest performance for any 16-core processor and highest performance in a mainstream CPU socket. The 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen 9 3950X processor is expected to be available in September 2019 at $749 from leading e-tailers/retailers.
As for the new graphics cards, the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT & RX 5700 can deliver up to 1.25X higher performance-per-clock and up to 1.5X higher performance-per-watt compared to the previous-generation GCN. The new product family also includes the 50th Anniversary Edition AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT graphics card, offering higher clocks and a luxurious gold accented shroud with Dr Lisa Su’s signature.
New PCIe 4.0 test coming to 3DMark
For the support of next-generation PCI Express 4.0 interface, there will be a new 3DMark PCI Express feature test, which will be coming to 3DMark this summer. This new feature test will be the standard interface that provides high-bandwidth communication between devices in a computer, while the new PCI Express 4.0 interfaces provide up to twice the bandwidth of PCI Express 3.0. With more bandwidth, games can transfer more data, reduce loading times, and support more complex scenes.
It will be available as a free update for 3DMark Advanced Edition and for 3DMark Professional Edition customers with a valid annual license.
Tencent Premieres WeTV in Thailand
(L-R) Haidong Chen, Chief Executive Officer, Insight Technology Co., Ltd.; Takonkiet Viravan, Chief Executive Officer, One 31 Co., Ltd.; Kaichen Li, Director, Overseas Business, Tencent Video; Jeff Han, Senior Vice President, Tencent Penguin Pictures; Krittee Manoleehagul, Managing Director, Tencent Thailand; Kanokporn Prachayaset, Head of Business Development and Marketing, WeTV; Jina Osothsilp, Chief Executive Officer, GDH Co., Ltd
Finally, Tencent has made the move to expand WeTV video streaming in Thailand. This is the first time that they have gone international and they have been previewing for Thai consumers since November 2018. Boasting over 89 million subscribers (as of Q1 2019), WeTV has a wide range of genres including drama, variety shows, animations and more that is relevant to the Thai audience.
Not only does it even with localize Chinese shows with Thai dubbing, the network also has Korean content which is widely popular in Thailand, and work closely with local partners to develop original Thai content.
That's all, folks. Now go hug your daddy and stay tuned for more NewsBytes at TechNave.com.
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