Apple Might Finally Allow App Sideloading On iPhone

Apple is reportedly planning to allow alternative app stores and sideloading on iPhones, a major u-turn from the company’s long-standing policies. This is seen as the tech giant’s compliance with new European Union laws that are set to go into effect soon.

According to Bloomberg, engineers in the company are preparing to make Apple’s platform more open by finally allowing users to bypass the App Store when installing third-party software on their iPhones and iPads. This would allow them to avoid the company’s strict restrictions as well as the infamous 30% commission taken from developers on purchases.

The move is apparently a response to a new EU law titled the Digital Markets Act. The legislation will start being applicable in May 2023 but companies will have until early 2024 to actually comply. Companies that will be subjected to the law are those that have a valuation of at least EUR75 billion (~RM351 billion) and have a minimum of 45 million monthly users in the EU. Failure to comply could result in penalties amounting to 10% of a firm’s worldwide turnover and up to 20% for repeated infringements.

The act mandates that companies that fall under its purview allow the installation of third-party apps and allow users to change default settings with ease. Interestingly, it also requires messaging apps to work together, putting up the possibility of popular messaging services such as WhatsApp, Signal, and others becoming interoperable.

Apple has spent years lobbying against sideloading and third-party apps with senior vice president Craig Federighi calling the practice a floodgate for malware last year and more recently, CEO Tim Cook lamented sideloading’s damage to digital privacy. The firm has apparently not yet decided on whether or not to comply with the EU law’s provision allowing developers to install in-app third-party payment systems, something the Cupertino-based company has famously fought against.

While no country or region outside the EU has yet to enact similar legislation, it is unlikely that the system overhaul would be limited to just Europe. On a related note, another EU legislation will force Apple to use USB-C on iPhones, which the company has confirmed. That being said, it remains to be seen if the shift will apply to Apple devices sold worldwide in the near future.

Discord’s Voice Chat Function Finally Coming To Xbox Consoles

Discord has announced that local and cross-platform voice chat is finally coming to Microsoft gaming consoles, namely the Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One. Though not widely rolled out just yet, the feature is now available to testers under the Xbox Insiders program.

At its current state, the platform only offers limited functionalities on Xbox consoles – with its key feature, voice chats, missing entirely. One way to remedy this is by initiating or joining calls via the Discord app on your smartphone, but that also means you’ll be relying on multiple audio sources for the session – one for game audio and another for tuning in to voice chats, which is doable but not too practical.

The upcoming Discord voice call functionality that’s coming to the console, however, is not as straightforward as most users would’ve hoped. The long and short of it, this new ability is somewhat an improvement to the solution we’ve mentioned above, sans the need for an extra audio source for the experience. You are required to have the Xbox mobile app installed on your smartphone though, as it will be the platform that bridges Discord’s voice chat to your Xbox console.

First, you need to connect your Discord and Xbox accounts on both the former and latter’s apps. Even if you’ve already done so in the past, Discord notes that you’ll have to relink them again when this new feature is available. Once that’s done, initiate or join a call via the Discord app and tap “transfer to Xbox.” Activating this will then automatically bring up the Xbox app, where you’re required to confirm the process.

From here, both input and output for voice chats are handled directly by your Xbox console, provided that the device and your smartphone are connected to the internet. The platform adds that you can transfer calls from desktop or web clients to your Xbox console as well.

“While you are playing on your console, you will be able to see who is on the call and speaking,” explains Xbox principal program manager Eric Voreis via an official news release. “You’ll also be able to adjust the sound, and switch between Discord Voice and Xbox game chat.”

Both Microsoft and Discord say the new voice chat feature will expand to more testers in the coming weeks. Seeing that the former’s testing period often spans a couple of weeks to even months, it might take a while for it to be widely available to all Xbox users.

AirPods Pro and AirPods Max Are Finally Getting “Find My” Features

Apple has begun rolling out new firmware updates for the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max that includes a new “Find My” functionality. The feature, which was initially supposed to launch with iOS 15 but was delayed, makes it easier to find your headphones when they go missing.

The update lets the AirPods take advantage of the vast Find My network to locate them if they go missing. Prior to the update, the Find My function could only show you the earphone’s last known location, albeit being limited to the AirPods’ Bluetooth connection.

The update takes it a step further by finding out of range AirPods through the network of other nearby Apple devices. When Lost Mode is turned on, the headphones will send out a continuous Bluetooth beacon and when other people’s Apple devices detect the signal, they will report the location on the network for the owner to see.

The method is similar to how lost AirTags work but the lack of Apple’s U1 chip means that the AirPods won’t have that precise arrow-pointing location feature. It will, however, notify users when the earbuds are left behind or if their location is getting further away. Reported lost items can be attached with a message and contact details and can also be marked as found by the people who stumble upon them.

The new Find My tools are only available with the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max, so standard AirPods owners are out of luck. AirPods firmware updates are a bit tricky, as there’s no direct way to download the update.

Users will have to keep their charged AirPods in their case near a connected iPhone and hope that it will randomly transfer the update. You can check your AirPods’ firmware version in your iPhone settings to see if you already have it, the latest update with the new locating tools being version 4A400.

Apple AirTag Finally Official: Coming To Malaysia For RM 149

Its existence has been rumoured for quite some time but it was only revealed today during the Spring Loaded event that Apple has decided to unveil the AirTag which is a new accessory that had utilised the company’s Find My platform.

Designed to meet the IP67 standard, the round-shaped device with stainless steel body features a removable cover that allows users to replace the CR2032 battery inside the AirTag themselves. Apple stated that the battery should last for more than a year under daily usages.

Internally, the AirTag is powered by the Apple U1 chip which allows it to utilise the Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology. When used together with UWB-enabled iPhones such as the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12, users can then locate AirTag through a feature called Precision Finding that provides visualised directional guidance complete with sound and haptic feedbacks.

Apple has also noted that when someone discovered a lost AirTag, they can contact the owner using details shown on a website that would be shown to them when they tap their iPhone or other NFC-capable devices on the AirTag. Of course, the AirTag’s owner has to willingly provide their phone number for this purpose.

 The company also pointed out that users will be notified if an unknown AirTag has been detected travelling with them over a certain period of time, as iOS devices will be given the ability to detect an AirTag that is not with its owner. Users can easily identify such AirTag anyway since the device will play a sound if it got separated from the owner long enough and users can obtain the instructions to disable an unknown AirTag by tapping their iPhone or NFC-enabled device on it.

Given that Apple is a huge proponent of privacy, the company has once again highlighted that its Find My network utilised end-to-end encryption and is anonymous in nature which means that it can’t be used to identify individual users by anyone including Apple. Additionally, the Bluetooth signal identifiers on the AirTag itself also rotate frequently to avoid unwanted location tracking.

While the Malaysian release date for the AirTag has yet been revealed by Apple, the nifty tracker is priced at RM 149 per unit. We will keep you posted once it is available in our market, so do keep a look for further updates when the time comes.

OnePlus Nord N10 5G Finally Coming To Malaysia; Available For As Low As RM 999

The majority of OnePlus phones are equipped with flagship-level Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Series chips but towards the second half of last year, the company have released several mid-range phones under the Nord Series. One of them comes in the form of Nord N10 5G and it is finally going to be released in Malaysia.

First unveiled to the world last October, the Nord N10 5G is powered by Snapdragon 690 and also features a 6.49-inch Full HD+ display with a refresh rate of 90Hz. When it comes to memory and storage specs, the Malaysian variant is similar to the one in the United States which consisted of 6GB and 128GB, respectively.

On its back, the phone feature a 64MP f/1.79 main camera alongside 8MP f/2.25 ultra-wide camera as well a pair of 2MP f/2.4 cameras that act as macro and monochrome cameras each. For selfies, the Nord N10 5G relies on the 16MP punch hole camera that is located on the top left part of its screen.

In addition to having dual stereo speakers, the phone’s general specification also includes a 4300mAh battery that supports the company’s proprietary Warp Charge 30T fast charger. The Nord N10 5G will be made available in Malaysia on 27 March through OnePlus Malaysia’s Lazada store and as part of its launch, the company will be offering the phone at RM 999 instead of its usual RM 1,199 price tag.

Intel 11th Generation Rocket Lake-S Desktops CPUs Are Finally Here

Intel has lifted the veil from its 11th generation Rocket Lake-S desktop CPU series, thus finally making the lineup official. As we have come to expect of such a launch, the chipmaker’s new processor range is abundant with features, both new and long-awaited.

As per initial reports, Intel’s 11th generation Core S series CPUs not only come with per-core IPC improvements but the entire lineup finally supports the latest PCIe 4.0 interface. On top of that, it’s top-of-the-line CPU will support up to 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes. And before you ask: yes, the new CPUs will be the last of Intel 14nm process node, but as we’ve mentioned many times before, the architecture has been backported from Intel’s 10nm process node.

Also, as promised, the new CPU lineup also supports resizable BAR, meaning that these processors will be able to draw upon a GPU’s entire memory capacity, in order to squeeze out a little more performance from the system, be it for gaming or slightly more professional workloads. Other features include support for DDR4-3200 RAM support, Intel Deep Learning Boost and VNNI Support, plus new integrated graphics based on the brand’s new Xe graphics architecture.

Of course, no CPU is complete with a motherboard and as with all new CPU lineup, the new 11th generation lineup is also accompanied by a new 500 series chipset that also comes with new and improved features on the platform. Off the bat, new 500 series motherboards – the high-end models especially – will support USB 3.2 Gen2x2 for transfer speeds of up to 20Gbps, support for up to 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes with all Rocket Lake-S CPUs, Discrete Wi-Fi 6e and support for Intel Thunderbolt 4.

Perhaps the most important feature to be added by Intel to the 500 series chipset, however, is the ability to overclock memory on both the mid-range H570 and entry-level B560 chipsets. Speaking of overclocking, Intel says that it is also bringing new overclocking improvements to 11th gen.

Besides memory overclocking on non-Z500 series motherboards, the chipmaker is also introducing real-time memory overclocking, as well as AVX2 and AVX-512 Offset and Voltage Guard-Band Override. The last one being of increased interest as the feature would undoubtedly increase the overall performance of a system built around the new 11th generation CPU and 500 series chipset.

As for CPU models, the new 11th generation Core series follows the same Intel hierarchy and nomenclature. To name a few and sitting on the pedestal is the Core i9-11900K, Intel’s high-performing 8-cores, 16-threads processor, with a base clock of 3.5GHz and an all-core boost clock of 5.3GHz.

Thanks to Intel’s Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB) technology. Moving down a notch is the Core i7-11700K, which has the same number of cores as the 11900K, and a base clock of 3.6GHz. Unfortunately and as you can see from the SKU list, Intel is being coy about the 11700K’s boost clock with TVB enabled.

On a related note, Intel announced a list of refreshed 10th generation Intel Core series CPUs that will work with its 500 series chipset, although we should point out that this is only applicable to the lower-tier Core i3 CPUs and Pentium Gold G Series CPUs. It’s a bit of an odd decision and frankly, we’ve been wondering why Intel didn’t just refresh some of its beefier 10th generation Core i5 and Core i7 processors while they were at it.

The only thing missing from Intel’s announcement, though, is availability. At the time of writing, the chipmaker didn’t say when its new processors and 500 series motherboards will be hitting the store shelves of PC stores, but at this stage, it’s very likely to be sooner than later. That is, assuming Intel itself hasn’t found itself a victim of the ongoing chip shortage too.