techENT Tech & Tonic

In this episode of Tech & Tonic, we discuss streaming services. Disney+ Hotstar is finally making its way into Malaysia after a long wait. Disney+ Hotstar joins Malaysia's long list of streaming platforms including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Go, Astro Go, iflix, and a few others. Is more streaming services a good thing though? Does it still make sense for you to pay for Cable TV services like Astro in Malaysia, especially with certain channels being removed with the introduction of Disney+ Hotstar? Do we need more streaming platforms at this time? Would Disney+ be better than the rest of the platforms? We discuss this and more in the Tech & Tonic Podcast.

Pre-order your Acer Nitro 5 gaming notebook with AMD's Ryzen 9 5900HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 GPU from Acer from the 10th May 2021 onward! https://www.acer.com/ac/en/MY/content/series/nitro5amd

Smartphone cameras have been on a roll in the past two years. OnePlus launches their OnePlus 9 flagship series in partnership with Hasselblad, OPPO's Find X3 Pro comes with a microscopic lens, Samsung pushing technology with 108-Megapixel sensors, Sony even pushing the limits of their 12-Megapixel sensors with their Alpha camera knowhow. These are nothing new, to be fair. Co-branding smartphone cameras with big camera brand names started with Nokia and Zeiss. The phenomenon hit the main stage with HUAWEI and Leica's big partnership since the HUAWEI P9.

With the advancement in camera technology on smartphones though, has these brands made proper cameras obsolete? While nothing bigger sensor still has their own advantages in terms of low-light performance and detail, smartphone cameras have progressed so much with the software that they are paired with that even low-light photography is a breeze with a smartphone. The advancement of smartphone technology also made it easier for you to get the shots you want in less time and less work than a DSLR or MIrrorless.

What does this mean for dedicated cameras though? Does this mean we can replace these stuffs with the small slate in our pockets? Or, should you still spend your hard earned money in a proper camera that could set you back anywhere between half the price of a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra to multiple flagship smartphones. We discuss in this episode of Tech & Tonic.

Pre-order your Acer Nitro 5 gaming notebook with AMD's Ryzen 9 5900HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 GPU from Acer from the 10th May 2021 onward! https://www.acer.com/ac/en/MY/content/series/nitro5amd

Apple's iPad Pro launched last week and to everyone's surprise, comes with Apple's highly acclaimed M1 chip. The Apple M1 processor is the same M1 processor you can find on the latest MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro. This also makes Apple's iPad Pro one of the most powerful tablets in the world sporting iPadOS. The true potential of a computing class processor in a mobile device is still yet unknown. We are suspecting that Apple will reveal the benefits and unlock the iPad Pro's ultimate potential in the times to come. 

This brings us to the issue that is the current state of Android tablets though. There were only two tablets that could technically compete alongside the iPad Pro in its previous form. The two tablets are from Samsung, in the form of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+, and HUAWEI in the form of the HUAWEI MatePad Pro. With the new generation iPad Pro with M1 chip though, those two tablets now look like regular tablets that competes with the regular iPad. So what is the problem with Android tablets? We discuss on this episode of Tech & Tonic.

Pre-order your Acer Nitro 5 gaming notebook with AMD's Ryzen 7 5800H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPU from Acer from the 27th to 29th April 2021!

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/MY/content/series/nitro5amd

Oops, we mentioned Episode 6 in the podcast. In truth, there has been plenty happening in the past two weeks, and that is why there was an extra week gap between Episode 7 and Episode 8. Still, we open the week with a leak and rumour from Samsung's camp. There is a certain foldable tablet that is in the works in their labs. At the same time, the prices of their foldable devices have dropped quite significantly. In that case, does it make sense for you to consider getting a foldable smartphone for 2021? Does the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 make more sense now that it is priced at only MYR 6,999, a whole MYR 1,000 less than before? What about the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip that is now MYR 3,999? Should you bet your money on other folding devices even (save for laptops)? We discuss this and more on this episode of Tech & Tonic Podcast

Pre-order your Acer Nitro 5 gaming notebook with AMD's Ryzen 7 5800H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPU from Acer from the 27th to 29th April 2021!

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/MY/content/series/nitro5amd

Facebook's ghost of its own past from 2019 came back to haunt it. In 2019 the Social Media giant got hacked and about 533 million accounts were compromised. Two years later, the data has surfaced and leaked for via Telegram. Anyone can have free access to it. The 533 million compromised accounts contain Facebook IDs, phone numbers, locations, and even email addresses of users. 11 million of them were Malaysian based accounts. Should you be careful of what you put online now?

LG also announced this morning that they will be pulling out from the smartphone market. They will be closing their Mobile Business Unit by July 31, 2021. They say that they are going to be supporting current smartphones and continue to sell remaining devices as long as stocks lasts. They are one of the largest electronics manufacturer known to the modern world though, how will this impact the smartphone industry and even their own ecosystem of products in the future? 

You join us to discuss these two big news that just broke earlier in the morning on the Tech & Tonic Podcast show. 

Disney+ is coming to Malaysia! Finally, we can watch all the Marvel series legally. Here is the question though, is it worth subscribing to? Especially with all the services we have already subscribed to. Should we fork out extra money for more contents that we might not even watch? 

This is Disney we are talking about though, they are one of the largest entertainment companies in the world, if not the largest. They are going to have more compelling shows in their catalogue. Is this going to be the case of iflix vs. Netflix again though? Who will emerge the victor in the long run? We don't know yet. 

Still we discuss about it and more in Tech & Tonic Podcast Season 2 Episode 6.

We are back with episode 5 of our podcast. Today we tackle a topic that is still hot and fresh in everyone's minds, the exclusion of charger's from your smartphone purchase. Apple just got hit with a fine of US$ 2 million in Brazil for not including chargers in their new Apple iPhone purchases. Samsung is also not shipping their Samsung Galaxy S21 device with chargers out-of-the-box. They are shipping their new Galaxy A series with chargers though. Does it make sense then for manufacturers to not include chargers in their boxes. What about other type of chargers like GaN charger and wireless chargers. Should manufacturers give up making chargers or include other types of chargers instead? We think so, find out why on Tech & Tonic. 

What is Clubhouse? What is it for? Why download the app? Why use the app? Should you even think about it? Why is it so exclusive?

In this episode of Tech & Tonic Podcast, we explore the app that exploded overnight thanks to Elon Musk and gang. There is a disclaimer here though, both of us are not iPhone or iOS users. Therefore we have not experienced the app so far. We did extensive research on the app and its uses and features though. So this is Clubhouse?

In this episode, our editors, Darwin and Jeevan get a little personal as they speak on their current realities with working from home thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.  In the past weeks, Malaysia has returned to a state of Movement Control under the new MCO. The pandemic has forced them to look into alternative ways to get work done and, most of all, it has made all their work online.

Listen in as they share their experiences in week's Tech & Tonic Podcast.

We are back for another episode of Tech & Tonic Podcast. In this episode of the Tech & Tonic show, we look deeper into Apple's Car project and whether or not Apple is reaching too far out from their own industry and expertise. While we are on that subject, Google is also shutting down one of their most hyped project, the Stadia Studios. 

On Apple's end, Hyundai and Kia has severed any ties they had with Apple on their autonomous vehicle projects. On Google's end Stadia's closure also means that Stadia may not be competitive at all. What is happening here? Are they taking bigger bites than they should have? What will become of autonomous cars and cloud gaming?