Indonesia-based Gojek is taking its ride-hailing service island-wide in Singapore from today. This follows a successful beta launch in November which covered the southern-central and eastern part of Singapore.
Category: Mobile
Elephone debuts full screen smartphone for US$249
US-based Elephone has announced the PX, which it dubbed “The Most Affordable Full-Screen Smartphone” that is packed with top features for users on a budget.
Zhao becomes 1st female managing director of Samsung Electronics HK
Samsung Electronics HK (SEHK) has appointed Yiyin Zhao as its first female Managing Director. She was previously Vice President & Head of IT and Mobile Communication Business
China bans some Apple iPhone models
Qualcomm has dealt a blow to Apple with Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court banning the sale of selected iPhone models in China. The move was for the violation of two Qualcomm patents.
OnePlus to launch first 5G smartphone in the UK
OnePlus has fired the first salvo in the 5G race. At a Qualcomm event in Hawaii, the China smartphone maker announced its intention to launch its first 5G handset in the United Kingdom.
Global wearable market to grow 26% in 2019
Worldwide shipment of wearable devices will touch 225 million in 2019, an increase of 25.8 percent from 2018, according to Gartner.
Smartphone and feature phone neck-to-neck in India
For the first time, the smartphone market is on par with the feature phone market in India, according to IDC. Overall, the India market reached 42.6 million units for a 9.1 percent year-on-year growth in Q3.
SoftBank targets US$21b mobile IPO
Japanese conglomerate SoftBank plans to raise US$21 billion for its mobile telecommunications unit, making it the world’s biggest IPO since Alibaba in 2014.
The SXFI Amp: Creative’s 2nd coming?
By Edward Lim
Spending three days manning a booth in an IT show can take a toll on the body and mind. What more a constant repetitive blasting of sound from a booth just across the aisle. The vendor was an up and coming Singapore company called Creative Technology. The product was the Sound Blaster.
Global smartphone shipment slides 6% in Q3
Smartphone vendors shipped 355.2 million units in Q3, down six percent from the corresponding quarter last year, according to preliminary estimates by IDC. This is the fourth straight quarter of year-on-year decline.
OnePlus 6T launches with world’s fastest fingerprint display sensor
OnePlus announced OnePlus 6T, its latest smartphone to a hall packed with enthusiasts in New York City on October 29 — one day ahead of schedule to avoid conflicting with an Apple event the next day.
OnePlus deconflicts with Apple launch
UPDATE: Catch the launch live on Youtube at 11pm Singapore time.
OnePlus has brought forward its OnePlus 6T launch to October 29 to avoid a clash with Apple’s iPad Pro and Mac event the next day. The China smartphone maker had been first off the block with the October 30 date but Apple threw a curveball by announcing that its launch event will be on the same day in the same city.
Newstead goes into liquidation
Singapore IT retailer Newstead Technlogies has gone into liquidation. Established in 1998 with its first outlet at Funan DigitalLife Mall, it was supposed to be the anchor tenant when the redeveloped mall re-opens next year.
No more paper arrival card filling for visitors to Singapore
Looking for a pen to fill in an arrival card while travelling to Singapore will be a thing of the past when the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) completes its three-month electronic arrival card for foreign visitors next year.
Qualcomm accuses Apple of IP theft
The legal tussle between Qualcomm and Apple has hit another level with the chipmaker accusing the smartphone giant of passing trade secrets to Intel. An earlier court battle, Qualcomm said that Apple breached an agreement for it to audit Apple’s use of Qualcomm’s source code.
Googles turns 20
By Edward Lim
It may have seemed like forever but Google just celebrated its 20th anniversary today. It’s not even an adult yet by human age but the search giant has grown massively over the past two decades.
Singapore launches unified payment QR code
The number of QR codes for payment is akin to the number of credit card offerings in the market — it keeps growing, making it more of a hassle than convenience for merchants and consumers. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has stepped in to solve this problem with the launch of the Singapore Quick Response (SGQR) Code.
Smartphone prices soaring
The prices of top end smartphones are going through the roof. Apple announced yesterday that its new iPhone XS Max with 512GB of storage will cost a whopping US$1,449.
Pilot develops Rate My Landing app
Pilot John Rood has teamed up with mobile app developer eZoom to come up with Rate My Landing, which allows gamers to learn what it takes to land an aircraft.
China wins battle for AI investments
A battle of sorts is taking place in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). It has been widely reported that China is ramping up its focus on the technology that is expected to transform businesses and industries. Numbers from ABI Research point to a swing in favour of China.
Google Pixel 3 coming on October 9
The rumour mills are spinning at top speed as smartphone launch season gets ready to kick off. With Samsung having announced the Note 9, and Apple expected to respond with a new iPhone next month, Google looks to be getting into the act too with the Pixel 3 slated for an October 9 introduction, according to Bloomberg.
Apple pulls out 25,000 apps from China app store
The ongoing spat between China and the US seem to have claimed another victim. Apple has removed 25,000 gaming-related apps from its China app store. This move follows hard on the heels of the US ban on Huawei and ZTE technology from being used by the US government and government contractors yesterday.
Free WhatsApp backup on Google Drive
WhatsApp backup will no longer count towards Google Drive storage quota, thanks to a new agreement between the two companies.
Seamless Spotify listening experience across Samsung devices
Spotify has joined hands with Samsung to give users a seamless listening experience across Samsung devices.
StatX takes on Telegram with messaging and information app
Blockchain startup StatX has launched a mobile app that combines information-sharing and messaging features the crypto and blockchain community. While traditional messaging apps such as Telegram is more conversation centric than information-centric.
TSMC hit by computer virus
Chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) was affected by a computer virus attack over the weekend. However, the manufacturing of new Apple iPhones is not expected to be impacted.
VLC blacklists recent Huawei smartphones
VLC has taken the drastic measure of blacklisting recent Huawei smartphones, specifically the Huawei P8, P10, and P20, from installing its media player app. The move is in response to negative customer reviews for VLC as a result of Huawei blocking the installation of the media player.
Chrome marks http as “not secure”
HTTP has been synonymous with an entire generation of Internet users but what many are unaware is that the protocol is not secured. Anyone with the right skills can change the contents of the site before it reaches the person browsing. To combat this, Google is marking all HTTPsites as “not secure” from today so users are more aware of the sites’ security status.
Samsung and Xiaomi neck-to-neck in India in Q2
Xiaomi and Samsung shipped 9.9 million smartphones each to India in Q2. Together they account for 60 percent of the total shipment that quarter, according to Canalys.
EU fines Google 4.3b euro
However you look at it, the amount is massive! The European Union (EU) has slapped Google with a 4.3 billion euro fine for blocking its rivals from Android.
