Louis Vuitton Introduces A UFO-Like Wireless Speaker That Costs RM12600

When a highly esteemed designer brand announces a tech product, it wouldn’t be surprising if you expected it to feature these two factors: an outlandish design, and an eye-watering price tag. Well, Louis Vuitton’s recently introduced LV Horizon Light Up Speaker aces them with flying colours – quite literally too, with 23 onboard LEDs that produces an RGB light show while it plays music.

Even though some of the more recent wireless audio device offerings from brands such as Sony and B&O feature less-than-traditional designs, they still can’t hold a candle to what Louis Vuitton has envisioned for the Horizon. Inspired by its own Toupie handbag, the new LV-branded speaker sports the same top-like form factor but thanks to its onboard lighting, it now resembles a fashion conscious UFO instead. Size-wise, the device comes in at 18 cm tall and 14 cm wide, with a weight of 1 kg.

Found under the top cone is a 3-inch woofer which is surrounded by the aforementioned lighting system, followed by black perforated and embossed leather that covers the Horizon’s two onboard 0.75-inch tweeters. On one side of the device is a column featuring touch-based controls for playback, power management and so on. Meanwhile, the surrounding Louis Vuitton wordings on the center of the speaker comes with RGB lighting capability as well.

According to the brand, the not-so-practical design is intentional as the Horizon is meant to sit on its side. Alternatively, you can also place it on the included charging dock to avoid any potential mishaps from happening. Speaking of charging, the new LV wireless speaker is claimed to last up to 15 hours of playtime and a full battery top-up will require around 1.5 hours of charging time via the dock, which is connected to a power source via a USB-C cable.

In terms of audio delivery, Louis Vuitton claims that the Horizon is capable of outputting a frequency range of 60Hz to 16kHz, at a maximum loudness of 89 db SPL at 1m, with an amplifier power of 2x 30W. Until we actually have the device on-hand for testing (which we doubt this will ever happen), the jury’s out on whether LV’s device is capable of matching or surpassing other wireless speakers that are currently available in the market.

Other than that, the LV Horizon also comes with three built-in microphones for calls, but lacks an onboard voice assistant. On the software side of things, its companion app is available for users on Android, iOS, and even Huawei devices via their respective app stores.

So what’s the recommended retail price for the new Louis Vuitton Horizon Light Up Speaker? We hope you have plenty of disposable income to spend as it will cost you precisely RM12,600 for a unit (hey, we told you it will be eye-watering). Those interested can order the device now from Louis Vuitton’s official online store via the link provided below.

The Horizon isn’t the first tech-related product by LV, by the way. The brand currently has a selection of true wireless earbuds and even smartwatches under its belt – all of which also feature hefty price tags of their own.

Sony Introduces Fully Unstaffed Production Line At Malaysian TV-Making Factory

Sony has deployed its first fully unmanned production line at a TV-making factory outside Kuala Lumpur and plans to expand automation to other lines there too.

According to Nikkei Asia, the electronics giant is embracing this kind of technology to better compete with its South Korean and Chinese competitors. Indeed, the automation move is projected to cut production costs at the factory by 70% from fiscal 2018 levels by fiscal 2023.

The company is employing off-the-shelf robots, but is internally developing key elements such as control programming. It described full automation as challenging due to processes that involve parts that are difficult for robots to handle.

Unsurprisingly, with the shift to automation, Sony will gradually reduce the factory’s workforce of thousands, opting not to renew their limited-term contracts. The company also plans to automate audio equipment production at the KL factory after shutting its main audio equipment factory in Penang by September.

Once the automation technology is firmly rooted at the KL plant, the electronics giant will consider employing it at other factories as well. It’s extraordinarily timely considering the havoc COVID-19 has unleashed on global manufacturing. For example, Foxconn factories in India and Vietnam have recently seen work disruptions because of the pandemic.

On the flip side, automation does generally mean fewer jobs in the medium- to long-term, bringing with it economic, political, and social problems. Indeed, the loss of manufacturing jobs in the US (mainly due to technology) has caused considerable anger and resentment.

Baidu Introduces Driverless E-Hailing Service In Beijing

Chinese search giant Baidu launched what it claims to be a fully driverless e-hailing service in Beijing yesterday – the first of its kind in China.

The company said the Apollo Go Robotaxi service would be available in the capital’s Shougang Park – one of the venues of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics – where it’ll be ferrying visitors at the games. Apollo is Baidu’s AI-powered autonomous driving platform.

People can call for the robotaxi service by using the Apollo Go app. It has features like virtual reality navigation and remote car honking to help users locate the car. To unlock the car’s doors, users have to scan a QR code and health code on the vehicle for identity verification and COVID-19 prevention reasons.

Once they’re on board and the “Start the Journey” button is pressed, the system ensures that seat belts are fastened and doors are closed before beginning the trip. What happens in an emergency? Baidu said its 5G Remote Driving Service will be present at all times, allowing human operators to intervene if necessary.

The search giant said the robotaxi service was launched “only after conducting countless scalable driverless tests in many cities over a long period of time.” The company plans to introduce the service in more cities in the future, promoting it as a way of alleviating traffic congestion and helping China achieve its climate goals.

G.Skill Introduces Trident Z Royal Elite DDR4 RAM Series

G.Skill has launched its new Trident Z Royal Elite series of DDR4 RAM, the latest addition to the brand’s Trident Z family. The new memory draws inspiration from the current Royal series and basically flaunts a new heatsink design and better-looking heatsinks.

Aesthetically speaking, the aluminium heatsink on each memory stick now features what G.Skill refers to as a “meticulously sculpted” crystalline pattern, which basically gives it a more textured look and feel, versus its predecessor’s plain outlook. On a related note, the new memory sticks still retain the same crystalline light bar on its spine, complete with an eight-zone RGB lighting that can be configured as customised via the onboard PC system it is installed into.

Then, as now, the Trident Z Royal Elite series comes in two colour palates, Gold and Silver. Moreover, the DDR4 memory kits are available in sets of dual 8GB, 16GB, and 32 GB options, and at speeds of 3600MHz, 4000MHz, 4266MHz, 4800MHz, 5066MHz, and 5333MHz. As always, CL timing for each memory kit varies, but they start at 16-19-19-39 for 3600MHz kits, while the fastest 5333MHz kit has CL timings of 22-32-32-52.

Availability-wise, G.Skill’s new Trident Z Royal Elite Series DDR4 RAM will be available globally from May onwards.

Twitter Introduces Five-Strikes Bans For COVID Vaccine Misinformation

As countries around the world begin vaccinating their citizens, Twitter is stepping up its efforts against COVID-19 vaccine misinformation by introducing a ban policy based on the number and severity of violations. Five strikes gets you permanently banned from Twitter.

But as the BBC noted, Twitter isn’t definitive on how it will act against misinformation, leaving itself a lot of wiggle room. The general idea is, less serious forms of misinformation will be labelled while more serious ones are outright deleted.

Then it gets more complicated. You get one strike if your tweet is labelled, but two if your tweet is removed. That’s important to remember because two to three strikes will lock your account for 12 hours. Four strikes will lock it for a week, and then five or more will send you to live in perma-ban land with Donald Trump.

Among other things, Twitter said it’s targeting content that misrepresents the safety of the vaccines, or claims the vaccines are part of a deliberate conspiracy to harm or control people. But it’s okay to raise questions about the effectiveness of the various vaccines as long as you don’t misrepresent research findings.

Since issuing earlier COVID guidelines, Twitter claimed it had taken down over 8,400 tweets and “challenged” 11.5 million accounts globally. That figure for removed tweets may seem underwhelming given what the other tech platforms have accomplished – in January, YouTube announced it had removed over 500,000 videos containing COVID misinformation over a period lasting nearly a year.

Telegram 7.5 Beta Introduces QR Code Group Invites And Other New Features

Telegram is currently testing several new features via its latest beta, version 7.5. According to TestingCatalog, among them includes QR code-based group invitations, disappearing messages, widgets for Android users, and more.

Much like rival private messaging platform WhatsApp, Telegram now allows administrators to share invitations to people who wish to join their group chats via special links or QR codes. These invitations can also be set to expire after a duration of time – such as an hour, a day or none at all. Alternatively, administrators can also customise them further by adding a limited number of uses – for instance, setting a limit of only 100 scans or clicks before the invitation becomes inaccessible for other users. The limited invitation feature is quite interesting and is somewhat reminiscent of Clubhouse‘s invite-only approach for its group chats.

Speaking of which, version 7.5 also introduces the new Broadcast Group feature. This enables users to create broadcast-only only groups, meaning that only admins or selected members are allowed to chat. Other participants may only observe the discussion, therefore making this feature to resemble that of a press conference or a seminar – much like Clubhouse. Additionally, TestingCatalog says that a Broadcast Group is allowed to have an unlimited number of “audiences”. Normally, this would cause a headache for administrators but seeing that only a limited number of people are allowed to chat, certain risks such as spam and trolling can be avoided entirely.

It is also possible to convert an existing group into broadcast-only, but this would cause non-admin members to lose the ability to chat in the channel. Also, keep in mind that the transformation is irreversible, so all changes are permanent once the decision is made.

Taking another page from WhatsApp (and also Facebook Messenger) is the disappearing messages feature, where – as its name suggests – deletes a particular message after a duration of time. In Telegram’s case, these can be set by the administrator to be within 24 hours or 7 days. This feature has its usefulness, such as deleting reminders or pinned posts that are no longer relevant after a certain period of time.

Lastly, version 7.5 now enables Android users to add Telegram widgets to their phone’s home screen in either a 2 x 2 or 5 x 2 layout. This enables them quick access to their favourite individual or group chats – a feature that most users would agree was a long time coming.

The Telegram beta was made available only to testers sometime last week. At this time, the platform has not announced when the stable version of 7.5 is expected to be rolled out to the public.

Microsoft Introduces Password Autofill Feature To Its Authenticator App

Microsoft has released a new update to its Authenticator app with a new Autofill feature. This enables it to automatically fill in a user’s login credentials for applications and websites across different supported devices and platforms.

With the new Autofill feature, users on mobile can now sync all of their login credentials stored on their Microsoft Account and Edge web browser. This allows Authenticator to offer the user to autofill passwords when accessing a specific app or website. This update also provided the app the ability to import passwords from Google’s Chrome web browser, third-party password managers and from CSV files.

In addition to this, the company introduced an Autofill extension for Chrome as well, enabling users to sync their login details from the browser to Edge and Authenticator. The plug-in will work similarly to the one featured on Chrome, and any changes to login management done on the Google browser will automatically be reflected on both of Microsoft’s applications.

The new feature is being rolled out now, so make sure that your Microsoft Authenticator app is up to date in order to utilise it. The Autofill extension, on the other hand, is available now via the Chrome Web Store.