The Apple online store in Malaysia has revealed the retail price for the iPhone X, and it isn’t good news for those looking to get the iconic tenth anniversary iPhone.

The base 64GB model of the iPhone X is priced at RM5,149 in Malaysia, while the 256GB model is priced at a whopping RM5,899. This easily trumps the Samsung Galaxy Note 8’s RM3,999 price tag, as well as the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus’ retail prices as well.

The iPhone X is the company’s most advanced smartphone yet. It has a unique edge-to-edge display that has a notch at the top portion, which houses an advanced FaceID module, which analysts say is 2.5 years ahead of the competition. In terms of hardware, the iPhone X is also catching up to flagship Android smartphones, with a blazing fast A11 Bionic processor paired with 3GB of RAM, a 2,716mAh battery, and a 5.8-inch TrueTone bezel-less display with a resolution of 2436 x 1125.

What is interesting to note is the fact that these retail prices are quite inflated when compared to their official prices in the US. The iPhone X 64GB retails for $999 (about RM4,200), while the 256GB model goes for $1,150 (about RM4,850) – that’s almost a RM1,000 premium on each phone.

This may be due to a variety of reasons – our weak currency and local taxes are two factors – but nevertheless, it is quite painful to see. If it’s any consolation, the prices are almost identical to the prices in Singapore, where the 256GB model retails for SG$1888 (about RM5,880).

The Apple online store hasn’t yet revealed the availability dates for the iPhone X in Malaysia, but now that the price has been revealed, it may not be too long down the line. The real question would be: will it be worth paying above RM5,000 for a smartphone?

The post iPhone X Price in Malaysia Starts From RM5,149 appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

MSI has officially opened its largest concept store in the world, and it’s right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Situated in BB Park in front of Low Yat Plaza, the MSI Concept Store Kuala Lumpur has plenty of interesting things in store for gamers.

The MSI Concept Store Kuala Lumpur facade is designed to look like its VR One gaming backpack, and is draped in the company’s signature red and black colours. This standalone building has two storeys: the ground floor is the company’s storefront, while the upper level is a gaming space.

The ground level is packed to the brim with MSI’s latest gaming products, from the multitude of laptops, desktops, as well as a motherboard showcase. Near the far end, there’s a special VR One experience zone, where customers can walk in and try out VR gaming with the MSI VR One backpack and a HTC Vive headset.

Upstairs, the gaming space has enough room for one 5v5 esports setup, with adequate seating area and a projector screen. There’s even a spot for casters, for an esports-like feel for people who are watching. MSI has stated that the gaming space will host tournaments every weekend starting from November onwards, with Dota 2 set to be the main game.

According to MSI Malaysia Country Manager, Henry Chung, Kuala Lumpur is only the second country in the world with an MSI Concept Store; the only other one is in MSI’s home country, Taiwan. Chung further commented that the Malaysian government’s strong push for grassroots esports development in the country was what convinced the company to set up a concept store here.

The company is committed to building the budding esports community here, and the MSI Concept Store Kuala Lumpur is a testament to that. Besides the weekly tournaments for amateurs being held in the gaming space, MSI also has a global target of sponsoring up to 1,000 esports teams to take part in international gaming competitions. By fostering a strong community right here, MSI hopes to unearth some world-class talents right here in the country.

The MSI Concept Store Kuala Lumpur is open daily from 10am to 10pm, and is located in front of the main entrance of Low Yat Plaza (so you can’t really miss it).

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Besides the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro, Huawei also continued its partnership with Porsche Design with the release of the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 10.

According to Huawei CEO Richard Yu, last year’s Porsche Design Mate 9 proved to be an overwhelming success, selling out all units that reached into the six figures – considering the premium price, this is quite a feat. Now the company is aiming to repeat that with the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 10.

In terms of hardware, the PD Mate 10 isn’t that much different from the regular Mate 10 Pro. They have the same exact dimensions and weight, and virtually the same hardware. The only difference is in the storage: at 256GB, it’s double the storage of the Mate 10 Pro.

The other difference lies in the exterior. Besides the exclusive Diamond Black colourway, the horizontal stripe of the Mate 10 Pro is switched with a vertical one on the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 10. The rear glass back is also treated with a ceramic-like finish. Finally, the Huawei logo at the bottom of the display is switched for Porsche Design, while the design firm’s logo is located at the back, below the fingerprint sensor.

Just like last year, the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 10 has some custom fonts and wallpapers that are only available on this phone. And in the box, the phone comes with a Porsche Design Flip Leather Case, two SuperCharge USB Type C chargers (UK and EU plugs), one USB Type C Hi-Res Audio earphones, two USB Type C cables, and a limited edition VIP card (it is a limited edition device, after all).

For that, the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 10 is priced at 1,395 Euro (about RM6,940), almost double that of the Mate 10 Pro. It will be coming to Malaysia, too, which isn’t a surprise considering the fact that last year’s model also made its way here in limited quantities.

The post Porsche Design Huawei Mate 10 is a Classier Mate 10 Pro appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

Alongside a host of new AI-related features on the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro, Huawei also introduced a new PC Mode for the Mate 10 series. While the concept is similar to what many smartphones have tried to accomplish in recent years, Huawei’s approach is slightly different.

Essentially, Huawei PC Mode allows the Mate 10 series to enter a desktop environment when it is connected to a monitor. Unlike Samsung’s DeX Station, Huawei’s solution relies only on one cable; other accessories like a mouse and keyboard needs to be connected wirelessly via Bluetooth.

While that sounds rather inconvenient, Huawei has an interesting solution. The Mate 10 itself can be set to be a touchpad and a keyboard so there is always an input device when in PC Mode.

On top of that, PC Mode is also able to separate both the desktop and mobile environments. So if a phone call comes in or a message notification pops up while in PC Mode, the notification will not disrupt the desktop environment and instead only appear on the phone.

Huawei PC Mode can be enabled using any USB C to DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI, or VGA adapters. This adapter does not come bundled with any of the Mate 10 smartphones, unfortunately.

The post Huawei PC Mode Creates Desktop Environment Without A Dock appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

Sony has swiftly brought its latest camera, the ultra compact Sony RX0, to Malaysia. Despite having a rugged exterior, Sony isn’t merely tagging the RX0 as an action camera, but rather a professional camera designed for challenging environments.

This is mainly because the RX0 is fitted with the same 1-inch sensor as the RX100 Mk IV, which not only eliminates the fish-eye effect that many action cameras have, but allows the RX0 to do some pretty impressive things considering its size – it weighs just 110g.

For starters, the Sony RX0’s 15.3MP Exmor RS sensor with 24mm Zeiss f/4 wide angle lens shoots and BIONZ X processor shoots uncompressed 4K video, and an impressive 1,000fps High Frame Rate mode at 1080p. Its Anti-Distortion Shutter shoots at up to 16fps, and has a minimum 1/32000s shutter speed. It’s also capable of shooting both RAW and JPEG stills.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect would be the Sony RX0’s rugged MPK-HSR1 housing. It is waterproof at up to 10m in depth, shockproof when dropped from up to 2m, and crushproof, withstanding forces up to 2,000N. The housing also allows the RX0 to be used down to an incredible 100m underwater.

And, because the RX0 has a 1/4-inch tripod mount at the bottom, it is compatible with a huge array of accessories, on top of RX0-specific ones. It is also compatible with Sony’s Action Cam accessories, giving it a huge level of versatility.

The Sony RX0 will be available in Malaysia this month for RM3,199, while the full list of accessories for the RX0 will arrive soon. For more information, head on to the official product page for the RX0.

The post Sony RX0 Action Camera Arrives in Malaysia for RM3,199 appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

While it is confirmed that Huawei will be bringing the entire Mate 10 series, including the Porsche Design edition, to Malaysia, the special edition variant’s pricing was not yet revealed – until now.

A Huawei Malaysia representative has confirmed that the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 10 will be priced at RM6,999 when it is launched in Malaysia next month. This is the same retail price as the previous edition from last year, which is a price strategy Huawei is using for the Mate 10 series for our market.

According to the representative, Huawei sold about 2,000 units of the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 9 last year, and are looking to bring the same amount for the Mate 10 edition.

The Porsche Design Huawei Mate 10 will be available in Malaysia from mid-November, alongside the Mate 10 Pro, which will retail for under RM3,400. As we mentioned earlier, the differences between the two phones are little, with the only major hardware change being the 256GB of internal storage on the Porsche Design phone.

The post Porsche Design Huawei Mate 10 to Cost RM6,999 in Malaysia appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

Samsung Malaysia will be holding a pre-booking edition for the Galaxy Note Fan Edition starting from tomorrow. The online pre-booking will take place until 24 October.

Interested customers who place a booking during this duration will enjoy a 1-year extended warranty as well as a 1-year, 1-time screen protection plan for the Galaxy Note FE. It will be available for RM2,599 – no cash rebates this time like the Galaxy Note 8.

The pre-booking campaign will take place for close to one week, from 18 October (that’s tomorrow) until 24 October. Those who successfully pre-book their Note FE can collect them from selected Samsung Experience Stores and authorised dealers nationwide, and are required to activate their mySamsung ownership account from 25 to 31 October 2017 to be eligible for the pre-booking promotions.

For the pre-booking period, only the Black Onyx colourway is available in limited quantities. A RM100 deposit is required at the point of pre-booking, which will be done offline at the selected Samsung Experience Stores and authorised dealers.

The post Samsung Galaxy Note FE Pre-Booking in Malaysia Opens From 18 October appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

Huawei has moved swiftly to make its previous flagship smartphones more affordable, now that the Mate 10 series are officially announced. The Huawei P10 Plus has received a huge price drop, and will now retail for RM2,399 – although you can get it for even lower on Lazada and Shopee.

With the Huawei Mate 10 to be priced at RM2,699 and the Mate 10 Pro expected to be priced below RM3,400, Huawei is ensuring the P10 Plus remains attractive for consumers. From its retail price of RM3,099, Huawei has slashed it to RM2,399 – RM700 off.

Of course, this isn’t the lowest price we’ve seen for this phone – the recent #MYCyberSale event saw some sellers offering the P10 Plus for just RM2,268. Now that the official price tag has been reduced, we can expect to see more sellers offering the P10 Plus at this price range.

On Lazada, the official Huawei store has already changed the prices of the P10 Plus to RM2,399. But, the lowest price we’ve seen for this phone is RM2,199 – and available in three colours: Graphite Black, Dazzling Gold, and Dazzling Blue.

The same case is true on Shopee as well, where you can also find the Huawei P10 Plus for RM2,199 for all three colours. But, if you prefer the standard Graphite Black option, you can buy it for RM1 less at RM2,198.

At these prices, the Huawei P10 Plus is pretty good value for money. After all, it has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which should be great in the long run. Not to forget, the 5.5-inch display has a sharp 2560 x 1440 resolution, while the dual rear camera is among no slouch, either.

The post Huawei P10 Plus Receives Price Drop, Now Retails for RM2,399 appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

The new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are now officially available in Malaysia. The new iPhones have a familiar design, but the new glass backs and colours give them a slightly different personality.

As before, there are a few differences between the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus. The iPhone 8 has a 4.7-inch display and a 12MP rear camera, while the larger iPhone 8 Plus sports a larger 5.5-inch display with a 12MP + 12MP dual camera setup.

But, as the unboxing video above shows, the retail boxes are not much different from each other. Check out our first impressions of the new iPhones in our hands-on here.

The post #LYTV: iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus Unboxing appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

Just over a month after its launch in Malaysia, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 has hit another record low price. From its RRP of RM3,999, you can now buy it from as low as RM3,449.

The Galaxy Note 8 is one of this year’s best Android smartphones, building on the popularity of the S8 series as well as offering a new Note device after last year’s Note 7 issues. But, its RM3,999 price tag proved a little difficult to swallow, even if it is a great device.

After some interesting offers from e-commerce sites, we’ve now seen the lowest ever price listed for the Galaxy Note 8. Lazada itself is offering the Note 8 for RM3,449 (Update: price has gone up to RM3,478 – the same as the other Lazada listing below), which is RM150 less than the previous low which we saw during the MYCyberSale event earlier this month.

In fact, there are a few listings that are offering the phone below the RM3,500 mark. You can find this listing on Lazada (for Midnight Black, Maple Gold, and Orchid Gray colourways), as well as on Shopee, where the popular Midnight Black colour option is available.

For less than RM3,500, the Galaxy Note 8 definitely looks like a good deal, though it will likely see some competition from the iPhone 8 Plus and the soon to be available Huawei Mate 10.

The post The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Just Hit Its Lowest Price Today appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

Alongside the iPhone 8, Apple also introduced the new Apple Watch Series 3 in Malaysia last week. Designed to be the ultimate health and fitness wearable, the Series 3 is more than just a standard smartwatch.

It is the same size and shape as previous Apple Watch series, but Apple has crammed even more hardware features into the Series 3, offering longer battery life and more sensors for accurate reading of your daily activities.

We’ll delve more into the details in our full review, but in the meantime, here’s what you get in the retail box of the Apple Watch Series 3, as well as two optional watch straps that can be purchased separately.

The post #LYTV: Apple Watch Series 3 Unboxing appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus may have just been available in Malaysia last Friday, but it looks like you can already purchase the devices for less than their retail prices.

The new iPhones have two storage options for each model (64GB and 256GB), with the iPhone 8 priced at RM3,649 and RM4,399, while the iPhone 8 Plus is sold at RM4,149 and RM4,899 respectively. With the huge amount of import sets available, it can be tempting to opt for them as they are priced a lot less than the Malaysian RRP. But, with iPhones not covered by international warranty (unlike the Mac and iPad), it may be too risky even if it is more affordable.

That said, you can already find a few sellers offering Malaysian sets of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. However most of them are still selling them at RRP, except for Lazada, which is offering the iPhone 8 64GB at RM3,549 and the 256GB option at RM4,299.

As for the iPhone 8 Plus, Lazada is also offering the lowest-priced Malaysia sets at RM4,049 for the 64GB model and RM4,799 for 256GB. It is a straight RM100 discount across the board, which interestingly enough, is the lowest discount we’ve found for the new iPhones.

We did also find a spectacular listing for the iPhone 8 Plus 256GB for just RM4,199 (RM700 off RRP!). This seller is also offering the iPhone 8 Plus 64GB for the same price, while the iPhone 8 64GB as well as the iPhone 8 256GB are both sold at the same RM3,688 price.

Even though it comes from a reputable seller, the choice of words in the listings (as well as in the Q&A) does make us suspect that they are import sets. Nevertheless, with a 7-day easy returns policy, you might be able to return the unit for a full refund if it isn’t a Malaysian retail set. It is still a risk, of course.

On Shopee, you can also find a reputable seller offering the iPhone 8 Plus 256GB at RM4,799. There are other listings on this platform that offer the new iPhones for less, but they are either imported sets or from individual sellers.

The discounts aren’t as high – we can expect slightly lower prices in the coming weeks as the year comes to an end, but if you need a new iPhone 8 or 8 Plus right now…at least you know you can save RM100.

The post You Can Already Buy the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus at a Slight Discount appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

Following our report yesterday regarding a larger than usual amount of complaints about Lazada Malaysia, the e-commerce giant has moved swiftly to acknowledge the issue. The company is aware of the problems, and is accelerating its efforts in addressing customer refunds.

According to Lazada Malaysia, its issues are due to upgrading works on its servers and backend systems in preparation for the upcoming 11.11 “Online Revolution” campaign. Unfortunately, these works resulted in “service interruptions”; these include paid orders not being reflected in customers’ orders page, slow refunds processing, long delays in delivery, and item deliveries being mixed up and ending up at a different order’s address.

We were alerted to this issue when there was a higher than normal amount of complaints on the company’s social media channels – especially its Facebook page. Not only that, some of our own recent orders also faced similar problems as the complaints, confirming that they aren’t isolated issues.

The company is currently addressing customers and partners affected by these issues, while working to complete its backend upgrade works. Customer refunds are also being sped up.

In any case, now that the issues have come to light and have been publically addressed by Lazada Malaysia, let’s hope they won’t crop up during 11 November – expected to be the single largest day for e-commerce, popularised by Alibaba’s “Singles Day” moniker in China.

Here is Lazada Malaysia’s statement in full:

In the last few weeks, we have been upgrading our servers and systems with the goal of improving our platform experience for shoppers in anticipation for our 11.11 campaign;  unfortunately, this has resulted in several unintended service disruptions. We sincerely apologize for the inconveniences, and are following up closely with every customer and partner affected by this. We are working hard to complete our system upgrade soon and will endeavor to resolve all related issues. Kindly be informed that we’re also taking necessary actions to ensure that customer refunds are being sped up. Thank you for your understanding and support.

The post Lazada Malaysia Acknowledges Backend Issues; Promises Faster Action for Affected Customers appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

An independent report has found Maxis to be the leading network provider for mobile internet for the second year running. OpenSignal’s State of Mobile Networks report found Maxis to provide the best overall mobile Internet network, but a surprising new entry has managed to wiggle its way into second place.

OpenSignal’s report measures each telco’s performance in a series of metrics, including 4G and 3G download speeds as well as availability. It also takes into account latency, which is also a big factor in the overall network experience.

Maxis was the top performer in all but two metrics. It was the best telco in 3G and 4G Download Speeds, as well as in 3G and 4G Latency. This is an improvement from last year’s report, where it was top in only two metrics, while drawing in three others.

It is also worth mentioning that in the two performance metrics that it wasn’t at the top, Maxis placed a solid second place. Maxis is known to invest more money than other telcos in expanding and upgrading its network, and it appears to have borne fruit.

These results are also impressive considering the fact that this year’s report adds two new telcos in the country: webe and Yes 4G. While webe was not outstanding in any field, Yes 4G was a surprising performer, placing top in both 4G Download Speed and Overall Download Speed.

As a pure 4G player, Yes 4G’s network certainly hits the right notes in the OpenSignal report. The report also states that by focusing on a 4G-only network, Yes 4G can focus its resources better than Maxis, which also maintains a 3G network. And, because of its 4G-only approach, it performed exceptionally in the Overall Download Speed metric, since 3G networks are generally slower, which brings down the average speeds on the other networks.

However, it should be noted that the 4G Availability metric is based on “the proportion of time OpenSignal users have an LTE connection available” on the network. Hence, it isn’t a measure of how wide the network is, but rather how stable the 4G network is. With this in mind, it only makes sense that Yes 4G, a pure 4G network operator, excels in this metric.

On top of that, the OpenSignal report also revealed how the other network operators in Malaysia is lagging behind. For example, while Maxis had an average 4G download speed of 23.6Mbps, Digi, U Mobile, and webe both had average speeds below the global average of 16.2Mbps; U Mobile and webe’s 4G networks only averaged around 7Mbps.

This year’s report was based on a sample size of 1.07 billion measurements collected from over 75,000 test devices used by OpenSignal app users between 1 June until 31 August 2017. This report is far larger than last year’s, which had a sample size of only 40 million measurements from over 21,000 app users.

Overall, the report clearly shows that Maxis is pulling away from the other telcos as a mobile internet provider. This is a huge difference from last year’s report, where it was a closer fight between the Big Four telcos. Yes 4G’s performance is admirable too, but webe’s real-world 4G availability looks rather disappointing considering the 850MHz spectrum has greater reach over the 2600MHz spectrum most telcos in Malaysia use.

The full OpenSignal report can be found here.

The post OpenSignal: Maxis Leads, But Yes 4G Performs Surprisingly Well appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

Samsung has finally opened its first Galaxy Studio store in Malaysia. The Samsung Galaxy Studio Kuala Lumpur is situated in the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s busy shopping district, and will be open for the next three months.

The Samsung Galaxy Studio is the company’s experiential-style pop-up stores that allow consumers to walk in and try out Samsung’s latest products in one place. It was a project that started since 2013 across iconic cities around the world, showcasing the flagship devices in interactive environments.

Kuala Lumpur joins an eclectic mix of cities to play host to the Galaxy Studio, with the pop up store located in Lot 10. The store is definitely on the smaller end, but is packed with interactive booths that showcase its flagship products such as the Galaxy Note 8, Gear VR, Gear 360, and the DeX Station.

The good news is that the Samsung Galaxy Studio Kuala Lumpur is close to the full experience to the flagship Samsung 837 store in New York, where the public are welcome to touch, feel, and experience Samsung’s devices. Product experts are also on hand to provide demos and detailed explanations when needed.

The Kuala Lumpur store offers interesting booths such as a VR roller coaster ride, a 360 Snow Globe booth, a Galaxy Fitness Station that lets you try out the Gear Fit2 Pro, as well as a cool Liquid Canvas segment, which creatively demonstrates the IP68 water and dust resistance of the Galaxy Note 8.

Finally, there is also the Highlights Table that is located right in front of the store entrance. This futuristic table lets consumers familiarise themselves with product features such as the Infinity Display, Bixby Vision, the S Pen, and a whole lot more.

The Samsung Galaxy Studio Kuala Lumpur opens its doors today (27 October) and will be here until 31 January 2018, and is open to the public from 10am to 10pm daily. There is no admittance fee (naturally), and those who purchase a Galaxy Note 8 here will receive a free Gear VR. Samsung will also hold unique activities and special promotions at the Galaxy Studio over the course of its tenure here.

The post Samsung Opens Galaxy Studio Experiential Pop Up Store in Kuala Lumpur appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

Barely several hours after the pre-orders for the iPhone X went live globally, enterprising individuals have already begun offering them on the Lowyat forums at elevated prices. With limited stocks available globally, some so-called “scalpers” are taking advantage of the situation, selling their units at up to RM7,500.

The pre-orders opened at 3pm today (Malaysia time), but while Malaysia isn’t in this wave of countries, our neighbours in Singapore was. The bulk of the sellers from the forums are selling units sourced from Singapore, where their retail prices are SG$1,648 (about RM5,110) for the 64GB model and SG$1,888 (about RM5,850) for the 256GB variant. In Malaysia, the iPhone X will retail for RM5,149 and RM5,899 for the 64GB and 256GB models respectively.

Interestingly enough, there is actually quite a high interest for the phone among Apple fans in Malaysia. The iPhone X discussion threads are alive with conversations about buying the device from Singapore, as well as the more modest resellers in the forum’s Garage Sales section.

With prices that range from RM5,100 all the way to RM7,500 (an thread posted two weeks ago is selling the 256GB option for RM8,888), there isn’t a shortage in choice in the forums. Some sellers have sourced their iPhone X all the way from the UAE and Japan, but most units are sourced from Singapore. However, most sellers are offering the phones at a premium of at least RM500.

Just like virtually every first-wave country, the pre-orders for the iPhone X in Singapore are now sold out. So if you absolutely need the iPhone X in November when they begin shipping, you’ll have to resort to these resellers – or patiently wait. Apple has not yet revealed the availability date of the iPhone X in Malaysia.

The post People Are Already Selling The iPhone X At Up To RM7,500 appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

As part of the upcoming Star Wars movie, Samsung has released two limited edition models of its POWERbot VR7000 robot vacuum cleaners that feature two iconic characters: the Stormtrooper and of course, Darth Vader.

At a recent visit to Samsung’s HQ in South Korea, the company took the chance to show off both limited edition models. Essentially, they are the same as the standard VR7000 – but with some fan service bundled in.

For starters, they are draped in the Stormtrooper white and Darth Vader black colours. And, for the Darth Vader model, sound effects makes the vacuum a lot more fun than it should be. Turning it on, for example, will play Vader’s iconic breathing sound. Activating the auto clean mode will  play The Imperial March while it goes about its business in the living room.

The Samsung Star Wars Limited Edition POWERbot robot vacuum cleaners are a lot more fun than they should be. The Darth Vader edition features iconic voice clips that is played when the vacuum is active, while the Imperial March is played on loop while the vacuum goes about its business. This particular model is coming to Malaysia, and will be priced at RM2,999. More details at www.lowyat.net.

A post shared by Lowyat.NET (@lowyatnet) on Oct 30, 2017 at 2:12am PDT

Both models also have popular phrases pre-loaded, and are played as they are active – it sounds ridiculous, but in person it really is ridiculously fun. The Star Wars Limited Edition POWERbot are also WiFi-enabled, and can be remotely controlled via the Samsung Connect app.

In the US, the robot vacuums are now open for pre-orders and will be available in December for $699 (about RM2,960) and $799 (about RM3,390) for the Stormtrooper and Darth Vader editions respectively. If you’re interested in purchasing one, you’re in luck – the Darth Vader edition will be coming to Malaysia soon.

Harvey Norman is opening a pre-order for the Darth Vader edition. It’ll retail for a pretty steep RM2,999, but that’s actually lower than the US retail price. On top of that, pre-order customers will also receive a complimentary R2-D2 collectible. Also, pre-order listings are also already visible on Lazada – though they’re not available for purchase yet.

The post The Samsung Star Wars Limited Edition POWERbot Vacuum Cleaners Are Coming to Malaysia appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

MSI has announced the availability of its latest compact form factor PC, the Vortex G25VR, in Malaysia. Sporting an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 GPU in a tiny 2.5L body, it will retail for RM11,299 and is available immediately.

The MSI Vortex G25VR is a refreshed version of the original Vortex, which had a cylindrical body similar to that of the Mac Pro. However, it was a lot more powerful with up to two GTX 980 GPUs fitted inside. The Vortex G25VR dials it down a little bit, but its body is a lot smaller, with a capacity of just 2.5 liters.

Designed to look like a console, the Vortex G25VR can be placed horizontally or vertically. The Malaysian variant packs an 8th gen Intel Core i7-8700HQ processor, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 with 8GB GDDR5 GPU, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and dual storage bays comprising a 256GB NVMe SSD and a 1TB 7200rpm hard drive.

The MSI Vortex G25VR comes pre-installed with Windows 10 Home Plus, and has a two year warranty as standard. It is priced at RM11,299, and can be viewed and experienced at the MSI Concept Store in Kuala Lumpur.

The post MSI Vortex G25VR Now In Malaysia, Retails For RM11,299 appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

Maxis has recently announced its financial figures for the third quarter of this year, and the report holds quite a few interesting data about its customer base. With strong growth across the board, the company’s investments into its 4G infrastructure appears to continue to pay off.

One of the most interesting bits of data revealed in its report is the fact that Maxis subscribers use an average of 7.4GB of 4G LTE data per month. This is a huge 41% increase compared to the same quarter in 2016, which recorded an average of 4.4GB.

The company’s data also shows that LTE network traffic is tripled from Q3 2016 to Q3 2017. Plus, given that 75% of its subscribers are using a 4G LTE phone, we can expect these figures to steadily increase.

However, the national average figure pales in comparison when only Sabah and Sarawak subscribers are taken into account. The average amount of data per subscriber is a whopping 12GB a month in East Malaysia, which is partly due to the fact that fibre and broadband rollout in the two states have not been as rapid and robust as in the Peninsular.

That said, Maxis has also rolled out its MaxisONE Home Fibre broadband service in East Malaysia during this quarter, offering download speeds of up to 100Mbps. It also has the MaxisONE 4G Combo that combines a home and mobile plan into one.

Maxis has also continued to invest heavily on its network. Up until Q3 this year, it has already spent RM647 million on its network. Surprisingly, this isn’t as high as previous years (it spent RM1.2 billion in 2016 and RM1.3 billion in 2015). Nonetheless, it is already widely acclaimed as the best 4G LTE network in Malaysia, even on independent reports such as on OpenSignal.

With a 89% nationwide 4G LTE coverage and an increasingly data-heavy user base, the Maxis LTE network appears to be holding up pretty well for now. And with initiatives like the MaxisOne Prime home + mobile plans alongside its existing postpaid and prepaid plans, the company is gearing up to secure an even larger subscriber base.

The full Q3 2017 report can be viewed here.

The post Maxis Continues Strong Growth in Q3 2017; Average Data Usage At All-Time High appeared first on Lowyat.NET.

It’s easy to forget that the telco business has been around for decades, and in the last five years, developments in the Malaysian telco industry has accelerated to keep up with the shift in mobile technology.

Maxis has been in the thick of the Malaysian telco industry almost from the start, and with the industry at its most competitive, the company relies on its upper management to steer through new technologies and curveballs from the competition. The vision and future of the company lies, almost thoroughly, in their hands.

We sat down with Morten Bangsgaard, CTO of Maxis, as well as Dushyan Vaithiyanathan, Head of Consumer Business, as they explain the challenges the company has faced and the innovations it has rolled out to stay ahead of the competition. They also explain, among other things, why Maxis remains one of the most expensive telcos to subscribe to, how it uses data analytics to provide personalised offers that are tailored to the individual, and why Maxis may never offer an unlimited data plan.

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