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Intel Malaysia recently announced that it has appointed Sumner Lemon as the new Country Manager for both Intel Malaysia and Singapore. He will take on Intel’s sales and marketing activities in Malaysia and Singapore and drive strategic partnerships with the government and ecosystem partners in order to accelerate technology adoption in both countries. Lemon's background includes an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business along with a BA in East Asian Studies from Colby College. He is an experienced tech journalist, covering the technology industry in China, Southeast Asia and Taiwan and is fluent in Mandarin with prior experience at Intel Hongkong. Here's what he had to say about his appointment:

“2014 has been a very exciting year for Intel in terms of innovation and product offerings and I am very excited at the prospect of working with the Malaysian and Singaporean teams to bring these solutions to market. It is a privilege to have been appointed to this position and I am ready to build on the firm foundations laid by my predecessor," Sumner Lemon, Country Manager for Intel Malaysia and Singapore.

Quite a few smartphone manufacturers here in Malaysia have had problems with local distributors either in jacking up prices or even not selling according to the promotion at hand. Many have sought to solve this by offering their own online store but this too has had problems with many of them offering much-wanted smartphones or devices in batches. While this may help raise the hype, quite a few users end up thinking it is a publicity stunt or getting disgruntled with the brand and online service. It seems that ASUS Malaysia may soon be opening up their own online store sometime in November 2014 in part to help users get products like the ASUS ZenFone smartphones and ASUS Fonepad tablets at the price offered. Our anonymous tipster says that they won't be selling in batches like other official online stores but we'll hopefully find out more in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more information but as always with such rumours do take this with a pinch of salt.

Thanks anonymous tipster!

LG recently came out with their own mobile processor with the NUCLUN octa-core processor featuring support for 4G LTE-A Cat.6 connectivity. They also announced the first LG smartphone to use the NUCLUN with the LG G3 Screen, widely rumoured to be the LG Liger smartphone. Built based on ARM's big.LITTLE architecture, NUCLUN will use four 1.5GHz A15 processors for the heavy lifting and another four 1.2GHz A7 processors for the normal stuff. Apart from the 4G LTE Cat.6 connectivity notable features include a 5.9-inch full HD display and 1W high fidelity speaker for better overall audio. Check out the tech specs and what LG had to say about the NUCLUN and the LG G3 Screen:

“NUCLUN opens up a new chapter in LG’s history of innovation in the mobile industry. With this in-house solution, we will be able to achieve better vertical integration and further diversity our product strategy against stronger competition. NUCLUN will give us greater flexibility in our mobile strategy going forward.” Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company.  

• 1.5GHz Quad-Core  + 1.2GHz Quad-Core (Octa-Core) LG NUCLUN processor
• 2GB RAM
• 32GB  storage + MicroSD slot
• 5.9-inch display (1920 x 1080 pixel resolution, IPS)  
• 13MP rear camera (OIS+) + 2.1MP front camera
• 157.8 x 81.8 x 9.5mm | 182g
• Supports LTE-A Cat.6
• available in Black / White
• 3000 mAh battery
• Android 4.4 KitKat

We could soon see new ASUS ZenFone smartphones and a new ZenWatch in the next 4 to 5 days as ASUS Japan has revealed a countdown timer page with teaser images of a ZenFone and a ZenWatch. While this could just be a local Japan release for the ZenWatch it seems unlikely for an existing ZenFone since most of them have already been released. There are still no Malaysia release dates or pricing for the ASUS ZenWatch smartwatch or for a new ZenFone smartphone just yet though. For Malaysia, ASUS have revealed the ZenFone 4, ZenFone 5, ZenFone 6, a ZenFone 4 with a 4.5-inch screen and the ZenFone 5 LTE. Is it the ZenFone 5 with a 5.5-inch display? The teaser image certainly seems so, as it looks too thin to be a ZenFone 4 and not wide enough to be ZenFone 6. Personally, we're still waiting for a ZenFone 6 LTE but it could just as likely be a refresh of the Intel Atom processors being used on the ZenFone smartphones. Stay tuned for more developments as the countdown time indicates we'll find out more on 28 November 2014.

Celcom has revealed their registration of interest page for the Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus with a surprising release date of 6 November 2014. This date is a day ahead of the date revealed by DiGi's registration of interest page but DiGi has followed up by removing their release date completely. This means that we will likely see the Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in Malaysia on 6 November 2014. Stay tuned for more developments in the next few weeks. 

Unlike the other Malaysian telco's Celcom isn't offering any registration of interest or pre-check page for the upcoming Apple iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus. The only thing about this on the site is a teaser image of the iPhone 6 and that it is coming soon to Celcom. Knowing Celcom, their Apple iPhone launch parties tend to be the biggest in the bunch, so it isn't too surprising that they aren't offering any registration of interest page just yet. No news on Malaysia release date or pricing yet for the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus but DiGi says that they will be available on 7 November 2014, so stay tuned.

If you'd rather go for a Maxis postpaid plan for your new Apple iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, then do check out the Maxis Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus pre-check page. Acting sort of like the usual registration of interest page, the pre-check page will allow Maxis to get in touch with you when it comes out. No news on a possible Malaysia release date or pricing just yet but DiGi have it coming on 7 November 2014 so it isn't all that far off in actuality. Stay tuned for more developments and we'll keep you posted as soon as we know.

DiGi has opened up their registration of interest page for the Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones and at the same time, revealed when Malaysia would be getting the latest Apple iPhones. According to DiGi this date is 7 November 2014. If you've been waiting and wanting a cheaper Apple iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus and you like DiGi's telco plans go check out the registration of interest page and fill up your particulars. We expect DiGi to hold a big launch party for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus on that Friday so better clear up your schedule for it.

Today at 12pm, the Xiaomi Redmi 1S smartphone will be sold for the last time in Malaysia. About 5000 units of the value priced smartphone at RM419 will be available on the MI Malaysia site along with the Redmi Note, 10400 and 5200 mAh Mi Power Bank. While this does not account for third-party sellers who still have stock of the Redmi 1S it does indicate that Xiaomi Malaysia could be bringing in the Xiaomi Redmi 1S 4G smartphones to Malaysia in the near future. Tech specs and features should remain the same except for 4G LTE connectivity. The Redmi 1S 4G is also single SIM and not dual-SIM like the current 3G only Redmi 1S.

For those who have bought the Huawei Honor 6 recently and found that you can't use the IR blaster to remote control your TV, sound system or air conditioner, Huawei Malaysia have just released the Smart Controller app. Available for free download at the Huawei Club forum over on VMALL.my, ITES 2.0 turns your Huawei Honor 6 into a universal remote control. All you have to do is download and install two APK files from the site. The app Smart Controller will then appear. While you can download via your PC and copy it over to the Honor 6, you can just as easily make use of it's 4G LTE Cat6 connectivity and download it direct from the smartphone. The downloads are not that big so it should not take that long. Check out the screencaps below: