News & Reviews:   pandemic

Considering the recent emergence of new clusters and the number of daily cases, our Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has announced that the RMCO (Recovery Movement Control Order) will be extended until 31 December. The previous RMCO announced has lasted from 7 June to 31 August.

Malaymail has recently reported that the government will lower the ceiling price for 3-ply face masks to RM1 per piece, while the wholesale price for the masks will have a maximum price of RM0.95 per piece. The announcement was made at the Dewan Rakyat, based on a continuous assessment of the supply and demand for the aforementioned face masks during the pandemic.

The number of Covid-19 cases in our country is still unstable these days as it has soared up to 277 today compared to yesterday's 93. With that being said, it means that the fight against the pandemic is not over yet and we should be cautious to continue keeping ourselves safe. Today, it has been announced that the wearable company Fitbit has gotten its new ventilator approved by the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration), and the production is scheduled to begin this month. Fitbit is another non-medical company that took an effort to join the fight by providing medical supplies.

During this time, going out without a mask could risk yourself being exposed to Covid-19. Before the situation comes to an end (let's believe it will), a face mask is basically an essential item now in our daily lives. However, normal mask has a problem with technology which is your face would be undetectable while using a face recognition system, especially the widely-used Face ID. For that, Huami has taken on the challenge by developing a mask which allows Face ID to recognize you and also able to disinfect itself after each use.

Despite the pandemic going on, some companies are still managed to do well maintaining its revenue and one of them is Spotify. The company that provides music streaming service has hit 130 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2020, which is up by 31 percent from last year's report. Other than that, the company has also announced that their users' listening behavior is different now as lockdowns are going on in many countries.

As the pandemic is still not coming to an end yet, the world is still widely depending on video-calling tools to communicate with each other. No matter if it’s a business conference, a lecture, or simply just a chit-chat session with friends and families that are far away, a video-calling platform will make everything become easier at this challenging time. By recognizing the current needs of their customers, Google has announced that Google Meet will be free for everyone sooner or later.

After the arrival of the new and upgraded iPhone SE, Apple’s next smartphones which will be the iPhone 12 series is expected to be launched in September. However, it looks like the tech giant is facing a problem now as the production of the iPhone 12 series is reported to be delayed by a month. 

During this pandemic, playing video games does sound like a good and fun way to kill some time if you don’t have other important stuff to do. If you’re planning to get a gaming console at this time, you’ve come to the right place! Today, we’re going to offer you some suggestions to help you decide between the most popular gaming consoles, which are Sony’s Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch!

In the UK, Covid-19 cases have been increasing. Today, the number of Covid-19 deaths in the UK has hit 463 and the cases have also risen to 9,529, making the country face a significant shortage of ventilators to support these patients. Not just in the UK, other corners of the world are facing the same challenge as well during this pandemic. Luckily, we have companies like Dyson joining the fight by manufacturing 15,000 ventilators after receiving a call 10 days ago from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Today, the Malaysian government has announced the movement control order will be extended until 14 April 2020. It is not surprising at all as cases in our country have been increasing these few days. Therefore, it is better to stay home for a few more weeks to halt the spread. However, this may not be good news for some of the non-essential businesses especially micro-SMEs. Luckily, Axiata is here to save the day with its subsidiaries Celcom and Boost, as they’re contributing a RM150 million cash fund to support small businesses that are facing difficulties.