News & Reviews:   Indonesia

Yes, you read the news right. Hotlink is introducing its new Hotlink Travel SIM. It was designed for both inbound tourists visiting Malaysia and Malaysians heading to neighbouring countries with 5G connectivity and unlimited internet.

The Home Ministry, in a statement today, encouraged tourists from six ASEAN countries and Timor Leste to use the autogate facilities at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminals 1 and 2. The ASEAN countries include Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Unifi is now presenting a special promotion in conjunction with Raya, where Unifi TV and Unifi Home customers can enjoy a free one-month trial access to the Vidio streaming service. That said, what should you know about it?

News about the iPhone 16 Series being banned by the Indonesian government has been going on for a few months. Today, Bloomberg reports that both Indonesia and Apple have finally agreed on the terms to lift the ban.

Indonesia’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arif Havas Oegroseno, has called for young programmers in Malaysia and Indonesia to develop a Nusantara-style system similar to China’s open-source artificial intelligence (AI) platform, DeepSeek. Arif, who is currently on a working visit in Malaysia, said technology experts from both countries should explore the possibility, as DeepSeek is open source.

It looks like the stalemate between Apple and Indonesia is continuing as despite the tech giant already proposing a USD1 billion in investment in the country, the Indonesian Government is still not allowing for the iPhone 16 Series to be sold in the country. This is because the investment proposal didn’t include manufacturing smartphone components in Indonesia, which is part of the requirement to get the domestic content rule.

Apple has now pledged to invest $100 million (~RM4467502884.00) in Indonesia to remove the ban on the sale of the iPhone 16 series. Previously, the company faced sanctions for failing to meet the investment commitment of IDR 1.71 trillion (~$107 million) promised to the Indonesian government for the development of a local R&D centre.

If you recall, Indonesia announced a ban on sales of the iPhone 16 series last week. The Indonesian government cited the failure to meet the investment requirement as the reason for the ban. After a week, Apple finally has a response to that.

Previously, we shared how Indonesia has officially banned the Apple iPhone 16 Series in the country. Well, now another tech giant is facing a similar treatment, this time being Alphabet Inc.’s Google and its Google Pixel smartphones.

Indonesia’s Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita has reiterated that Apple’s iPhone 16 Series is still not allowed in the country as the tech giant has yet to fulfil the requirements. In fact, Agus asserted that using the iPhone 16 Series is illegal in the country currently, even if they’re bought from overseas.