Apple May Be Scrapping Its In-House 5G Modem Efforts

We’ve seen reports from as early as 2019 that Apple was working on making its own 5G modems, and that it will be part of its own SoC. It would also later be decided that long-term chipmaker for the fruit company, TSMC, would be handing the production side of things. The iPhone maker has added other items to its list of things it wants to make in-house, but it looks like the 5G modem may get removed instead.

A post on South Korean online platform Naver claims that Apple is “reorganising its continued investments in its own 5G modem development department”, and has been doing so over the past few years. The post goes on to say that the project appears to have failed, and is expected to be “completely eliminated”.

The post does appear dubious on its own, but the claim has been corroborated by industry leakster @Tech_Reve via their own sources. This does somewhat reinforces the claim that the 5G modem integration into Apple silicon as quite thoroughly fallen through.

That being said though, there are currently more elements pointing to the opposite of these recent claims. For one, Apple has already signed a pretty expensive deal with Broadcom to make 5G components. Then there’s the initial deal of buying out the entire smartphone modem business from Intel back in 201

At any rate, considering the nature of this new claim’s source, it should be taken with a massive pinch of salt. Apple is stuck using 5G hardware from Qualcomm for at least another two years, and quite a lot can change in the meantime. Speaking of which, it would take more reports from more reputable sources corroborating these claims for them to be more likely.

Mercedes-AMG Unveils Its First Ever “Office” Chair

Mercedes-AMG, the high performance focused sub-brand of Mercedes, is now looking to deliver its luxurious and comfortable seating experience from its cars and straight into your workplace. Recently unveiled is the all-new and aptly named AMG Office Chair, which is also its first ever product of this category.

Now, some of you may recall a somewhat similar throne by Noblechairs that was released in 2019, which also featured the AMG branding (or rather its official F1 team). This new chair, on the other hand, isn’t a collaborative release, and is actually designed and manufactured by the Mercedes high performance arm itself. Amusingly, the first-party AMG throne isn’t marketed as a gaming chair despite featuring a design that is often reflected on similar products from the likes of Secret Lab, Razer, and the previously mentioned Noblechairs. And for car brands releasing their own chairs, consider this circle now complete.

The AMG Office Chair bears similarities to the brand’s A45 performance seats – complete with a bucket form factor with an integrated headrest, a metal badge featuring the company’s branding, black high quality Artico artificial leather upholstery, as well as red decorative stitching and stripes. Unique to it is a black powder-coated steel base, black back shell, chrome castors, and adjustable padded armrests. Other than that, the throne also comes with height adjustability and a control lever to adjust its reclining position. Weight-wise, Mercedes-AMG says the entire chair comes in at around 39 kilograms.

Unfortunately, you won’t find the usual fancy features that are typically offered by Mercedes in their cars, such as memory seat adjustment, massage functions and so on. But that’s actually a good thing, as the inclusion of such things will further bump up the chair’s price even further.

Speaking of which, the cost of bringing the Mercedes-AMG certified comfort into your own home (or workplace) will only cost you EUR 3,500 (~RM 15,900). The new AMG Office Chair is available for pre-order now via its official online store, though the company notes that the first 50 units will first ship out exclusively for Private Lounge members.

YouTube Testing Smart Downloads Feature For Its Android App In Europe

YouTube is testing a new Smart Downloads feature on its mobile app on Android in Europe, 9to5Google reports. It functions similarly to its counterpart which is already available on the audio-only YouTube Music app, where it is used to automatically download new content on mobile devices, as long as it is connected to Wi-Fi.

Smart Downloads is intended to help users to save up on mobile data, and will download 20 videos every week based on the user’s watching preferences. These videos can be viewed offline by navigating to the Downloads page under the app’s Library tab. 9to5Google says that YouTube will notify users if their devices are low on storage, and will advise them on what steps to take in order to free up space.

And much like the same function that is available on YouTube Music, the new Smart Downloads tool is only exclusively available to Premium subscribers. Moreover, the Google-owned streaming platform notes that the new feature is rolled out in a limited run, which is – as mentioned earlier – only accessible by Android users in Europe at this time. It is not known whether the Smart Downloads test will be expanded to other regions in the near future – let alone see an iOS version.

But should that be the case, Premium users are usually notified of its availability on their Home feed. To try out new experimental features on YouTube (when they are made available), simply navigate to youtube.com/new, or opt-in via the Try New Features option under Settings in the mobile app.

AMD RAMP Technology For DDR5 Could Give Intel XMP 3.0 Run For Its Money

Intel may have taken the lead on the DDR5 memory frontier with the launch of its 12th generation Alder Lake CPUs, but that may change once AMD’s Socket AM5, 600 series motherboards, and Ryzen 7000 series CPUs launch later this year. This includes the launch of its Ryzen Accelerated Memory Profile, or RAMP for short.

RAMP is expected to succeed AMD’s A-XMP that currently serves as the default memory-overclocking software for all DDR4-based chipsets right now. RAMP was first listed on HWInfo’s v7.17 beta release notes, in which it says the technology had been added as preliminary support to the software. More to the point, it is highly likely that the software was created by AMD as a response and direct rival to Intel’s 3rd generation Extreme Memory Profile (XMP 3.0) memory overclocking profile when, once again, its Ryzen 7000 “Raphael” CPU series makes it to market.

While brief in its presentation and announcement, AMD’s Socket AM5 is set to be a new milestone for the chipmaker, in more ways than one. Its arrival will mark the second time the tech brand will drop the Pin Grid Array (PGA) CPU layout in favour of the Land Grid Array (LGA) format, the first time it adopted the format having started with its Ryzen Threadripper HEDT CPU lineup. Specifically, the new Socket AM5 will also be based on a new LGA1718 design, as well as be the first AMD chipset to support the DDR5 memory standard PCIe Gen5 standard.

At the time of writing, there is no further information about RAMP but if AMD were to maintain the status quo, the new memory technology could mean that currently existing XMP DDR5 memory will also be compatible with it. At the same time, AMD might just allow manufacturers to make RAM modules that cater to their technology, exclusively. Having said that, do remember that this is all just speculation and as such, do take this news with a grain of salt. 

Apple Reportedly Planning To Debut Its Self-Driving Car In 2025

It’s been a while since we heard anything substantial about Apple’s Project Titan electric vehicle, apart from a certain mishap back in September which involved one of its prototypes. Now, a new report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claims to have acquired new information regarding the company’s first EV from people who are familiar with the matter.

As we’ve already covered when rumours regarding Project Titan first surfaced, Apple’s first EV is believed to be fully autonomous rather than a conventional one with semi-autonomous features. According to the insiders, new Project Titan lead Kevin Lynch insisted that the first model should be able to drive itself. 

Gurman’s latest report cites several sources supporting this particular tidbit, as well as the company’s aim to debut the vehicle in 2025. In regards to the latter, earlier rumours suggested that Apple originally envisioned to debut the car in 2024, but the plan was supposedly pushed back to sometime between 2025 and 2027.

Whether the company is able to meet the 2025 launch window for its EV mainly depends on whether it can complete its fully autonomous system on time, the insiders noted. Progress-wise, sources claim that Apple has supposedly finished much of the “core work” on the car’s processor.

Other than that, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Apple plans to have its first EV to feature a lounge-like interior with a touchscreen infotainment system in the middle, but would lack a steering wheel or pedals. This further suggests that the vehicle would act as a fully-autonomous passenger shuttle rather than a standard car. In terms of safety, the sources added that the company intends to include a manual override mode in case of emergencies.

With four more years to go, it will definitely be a while until Apple is expected to officially announce or showcase its first ever EV. A fully autonomous system is indeed possible to an extent with current technology, but most of these rely on dedicated pathings with little to no interference or interaction with human-based traffic. That being said, it is not known whether the company’s vehicle is intended to be used on the road or for smaller-scaled use cases (such as in-campus transportation).

Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City Has Its First Trailer

The Resident Evil movie series is getting a reboot, and the trailer for the first movie has been released. The name of the movie itself is Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, and boy does it look like a wild ride while having nausea.

On the positive side, the trailer suggests that the movie will be quite faithful to the games. There were a few direct callbacks to specific scenes, and the main characters are from the games, and not an original self-insert Mary Sue type character. So you’d think that we’re off to a good start.

But then things quickly go downhill at the same time as while they were starting to look good. For one, most of the characters are unrecogniseable. The only exception is Claire Redfield, or rather her red jacket. The character that’s supposed to be Leon looks like Carlos from Resident Evil 3 Remake instead. I get that it’s not practical to cast people who look like their role’s video game counterpart, but it’s still confusing when one character looks like another different one.

For what it’s worth, the trailer ends with a premiere date of 24 November. It could be worth a watch, even if your sole purpose of doing so is to have a tally of the number of things that the film faithfully recreates from the games, and where it takes liberties.

GOG Pulls Hitman – GOTY; Admits It Has DRM In Its Current Form

Late last month, GOG put up its version of Hitman – Game of the Year Edition. Being on GOG usually meant no DRM, but gamers soon found out that many of the game’s unlocks were tied to having an internet connection. After over two weeks, the CD Projekt storefront finally unreleased the game.

In a forum post, GOG community manager Gabriela Siemienkowicz, via the handle “chandra”, said that “we shouldn’t have released it in its current form, as you’ve pointed out”. The post also mentions talks with IO Interactive, the developers of Hitman – GOTY, presumably to properly work on a version of the game that didn’t need online connectivity to unlock new gear and starting locations.

To quickly recap, the Hitman reboot trilogy by IO Interactive required an internet connection to unlock new gear, costumes and starting equipment for every stage that you clear. This is the crux of the game’s massive replayability value. But all those unlocks, and by extension replay value, being tied to an internet connection is considered DRM, and it’s not difficult to see why.

The bit about dialogue with IO Interactive implies that GOG will one day rerelease a version of Hitman – GOTY that doesn’t need an internet connection for the unlocks. But it’s still up in the air as to when, or even if, that will happen.

Nintendo Makes Its Presence Official In Southeast Asia With Singaporean Website

While there are plenty of ways to get your hands on a Nintendo Switch here in Malaysia, the company doesn’t actually have an official presence. Never mind in the country, the company doesn’t even have an official presence in Southeast Asia. But it looks like this are changing, as the company now has an official Singaporean website.

The website itself is pretty bare bones, and you would be forgiven to go as far as to say that it’s still incomplete. One of the few things that give the impression are the URL for the games. None of them are referred to by name, instead they get a serial number equivalent that’s made up of four letters – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is just “aaaa” for example.

And then there’s the fact that there’s no mention of price pretty much anywhere. Not for the games, nor for the hardware. This may have something to do with the fact that Nintendo also has official stores on Shopee and Lazada, also only for Singapore.

This is quite the change for Nintendo, which has generally left the supply of its hardware to the regional distributor Maxsoft, or M.M.Soft in Malaysia. That being said, it remains to be seen if this will actually change anything for customers, especially when it comes to the prices of hardware.

As for the website itself, it may be a might-as-well move for the company. After all, Universal Studios Singapore is also getting a Super Nintendo World theme expansion which, according to Geek Culture, is scheduled to be completed in 2025.

Corsair Struts Its Vengeance DDR5 RAM Ahead Of Intel Alder Lake Launch

As the launch of Intel’s 12th generation Alder Lake CPU lineup edges closer, it’s about that time when the manufacturers of high-end components, chief among them being the memory makers. begin to give fans teasers of their next-generation products. In this case, memory and accessories maker Corsair is wasting no time on the matter and recently posted an image of Vengeance-themed DDR5 RAM.

Posted via Corsair’s official Twitter account, the image gives us a clear look at the memory’s heatsink design. In comparison, it doesn’t stray from the brand’s current design language for its DDR4 RAM, the only difference being that the DDR5 memory modules in the image aren’t fitted with an RGB strip in their spine. That said, it is likely that the company will offer variants of its next-generation memory with the multi-coloured LED aesthetic.

It is also worth noting that Corsair has also begun teasing the imminent arrival of its Dominator DDR5 series RAM on the product’s landing page, albeit simply being an outline of the module. On top of that, the brand has also started supplying engineering samples of DDR5 memory kits to reviewers.

As for their speeds, neither the tweet nor the images shares any details on that, but JEDEC specifications state that the new memory standard’s default speed should start at 4800MHz and run with 1.1V, across the board. Of course, how well Corsair’s new DDR5 RAM will handle overclocking will eventually boil down to several factors, such as whether or not the brand is using binned chips or a PMIC. 

Acer Malaysia Launces Its First HDMI 2.1 Monitors: Nitro XV2 Xbox Edition and Predator XB3

Thanks to the increased bandwidth capacity, HDMI 2.1 provides a number of advantages over its predecessor including the support for Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and refresh rate as high as 120Hz at 4K resolution. Manufacturers everywhere have begun to incorporate the new standard into their products including Acer who has just launched two HDMI 2.1-based 4K gaming monitors in Malaysia.

One of them is the 28-inch Nitro XV282K KV Xbox Edition which is an interesting choice given how Xbox is not being made available in Malaysia by Microsoft. For those who are wondering, no, this gaming monitor is not something that is made specially just for Microsoft’s gaming consoles despite being certified for them.

Plenty of features on this 28-inch gaming monitor which carries an Agile-Splendor IPS panel can be utilized by any PCs and gaming consoles that support them. Among them include refresh rate of up to 144Hz at 4K resolution, 1ms response time, AMD FreeSync Premium and VESA DisplayHDR 400.

It is also equipped with a built-in KVM switch that allows users to switch between multiple PCs using just one set of keyboard and mouse. At the same time, you can easily differentiate this particular Xbox Edition model from other Nitro monitors by the green-coloured cable hook on its base.

Moving on, another HDMI 2.1-based 4K gaming monitor that Acer has brought into Malaysia is the Predator XB323QK NV which features an even larger 31.5-inch Agile-Splendor IPS panel. Unlike the Nitro XV282K KV, the Predator model is a universal Adaptive Sync product although it is still a VESA DisplayHDR 400 certified monitor and has a native refresh rate of 144Hz.

The Predator XB323QK NV also features an RGB lighting strip on its back that can be customized using the Light Sense software in which gamers can set it to be in sync with their games, movies, and music. Acer has also integrated a KVM switch into this Predator gaming monitor as well.

In terms of pricing, the Nitro XV282K KV Xbox Edition goes for RM3,299 while the Predator XB323QK NV can be obtained for RM4,299. Both gaming monitors are now readily available for pre-orders until 6 October through Acer Malaysia’s own e-store and Authorized Predator Partners across the country as well as Acer Certified/Official Stores at Lazada and Shopee.

Xiaomi Unveils Its Own Smart Glasses

Beyond phones, Xiaomi has made just about every other smart device under the sun. So it was only a matter of time before the company gave smart glasses a go. And it looks like that has finally happened, as the company announced the simply named Xiaomi Smart Glasses.

On the face of it, the company’s smart glasses works just about as you’d expect. As Xiaomi describes it, the company’s smart glasses uses MicroLED for its display, which is claimed to be longer lasting and has higher pixel density than OLED. It also works in quite the non-conventional way. Rather than just projecting an image in front of your eye, this pair of smart glasses uses a neat combination of reflection and refraction to direct images to the wearer’s eye, all with a single lens. 

While the Xiaomi Smart Glasses has its display on the right lens, the left side houses its 5MP camera. Compared to the smartphones of today, the pixel count is pretty modest. But it is still enough to allow for more than just taking photos. With it, you can get text translations in real time. For those worried about privacy, the camera also has an indicator light to let other people know that it is in use.

Overall, the Xiaomi Smart Glasses looks to be the smallest one among its kind, being just slightly bulkier than your average eye wear. It also weighs in at 51g. Though all that being said, the company did not say if it will actually be selling these smart glasses to the average consumer.

Riot Games To Release Its Own Game Launcher Soon

GOG Galaxy, EA Origin, and Steam are some of many game launchers that are currently available on PC. And if you happen to be a regular player of League of Legends (LoL) and Valorant, well… then get ready to add another one to that list.

According to Riot Games, the developer of the two aforementioned titles, the new launcher is aimed to unify all of its in-house games under a single platform and enable players to access them under a single sign-in. In addition, existing desktop shortcuts to titles such as LoL and Valorant will still work even after the rollout of its platform. However, it was not mentioned if accessing these shortcuts would directly launch their respective games, or redirect users to the new Riot Games Launcher.

From their description, the upcoming platform seems like it might function similarly to Activision-Blizzard’s BattleNet client, where each game features its own tab and respective page for launching it and receiving patch updates. At the same time, the overall launcher will also act as a central hub for users to easily keep up with the latest announcements, news, and events for each title. The developer ensures that the new launcher will be lightweight in terms of resource requirements.

The new Riot Games Launcher will first be available on 20 September for testing, and is expected to roll out to all players worldwide starting 4 October. The team noted that the latter is subject to change, should additional time be needed to iron out any issues as well as to add new features to the upcoming client app.

FamilyMart Malaysia Rolls Out Its First Smart Kiosk

FamilyMart Malaysia has launched its first-ever smart kiosk which is called the FamilyMart Mini. Located at the Shell Karak Highway 2 in Gombak, the automated kiosk is already begun to serve customers recently.

FamilyMart Mini allows customers to purchase up to six items at one go, according to the pictures shared by FamilyMart Malaysia on its Facebook page. It is equipped with a large touch screen that displays the items that are available within the machine together with their price tag.

Based on the images shared by FamilyMart, it seemed that the items offered by the FamilyMart Mini at Shell Karak Highway 2 mainly consisted of the brand’s own food and drinks including onigiri, sandwiches, and bread. In terms of payment, the smart kiosk accepts credit and debit cards as well as selected e-wallets include Boost, GrabPay, Maybank QRPay, and Touch n Go eWallet.

Truth be told, smart kiosks and advanced vending machines are nothing new in our market. In the context of convenience store companies such as FamilyMart that also sell self-branded products, it may act as a way to expand their footprint in a cost-effective manner as opposed to having a full-scale store.

Meanwhile, FamilyMart Malaysia has yet to reveal the number of FamiyMart Mini that it plans to deploy. Given the reason we mentioned earlier though, we would not be surprised if it began to pop in other areas very soon though.

Fujifilm Unveils Its New GFX 50s II Medium Format Mirrorless Camera

Fujifilm has recently announced the GFX 50s II, the latest addition to its G-mount medium format mirrorless camera line-up. An upgrade to the original that was released back in 2017, the new shooter comes with various improvements such as in-body stabilisation (IBIS), among other things.

The GFX 50s II sports the same 51.4MP sensor as its predecessor, which is capable of capturing images of equivalent pixel size and recording Full HD videos at up to 30fps. Again, much like the original model, there are no 4K options available for video recording. Newly introduced on the camera is the aforementioned 5-axis IBIS system and Fujifilm’s latest X-processor 4. When working in tandem, both of these enables for fast and high-precision shooting, burst shots at up to 3fps, and improved autofocusing capabilities such as face, eye and contrast detection.

Features found on the device includes the new Pixel Shift Multi-Shot mode which relies on the IBIS and sensor to produce images of up to 200MP in size. Fujifilm explains that the mode is capable of achieving this by capturing 16 RAW files and then combining them into a single Digital Negative (DNG) RAW via the onboard Pixel Shift Combiner software. Also onboard are 19 of the brand’s Film Simulation modes, and a large number of exposure controls.

The GFX 50s II sports a magnesium alloy body that weighs approximately 900 grams and is also weather-resistant, allowing it to operate in temperatures as low as -10 degrees Celsius. Design improvements featured on the medium format camera includes a new grip to reduce hand strain, a 1.8-inch LCD monitor on its upper body for EXIF settings, a 3.69M-dot electronic viewfinder with 0.77x magnification, a two-axis tilting 3.2-inch main LCD display on its back, and dual card slots for UHS-II media support.

The new Fujifilm GFX 50s II is expected to be shipped out in late October at a recommended retail price of US$3,999 (~RM16,586) for body only. There’s also a kit bundle which includes the GF 35-70mm f/4.5-5.6 WR lens for US$4,499 (~RM18,655). It is also worth noting that the GFX 50s II is listed on Fujifilm Malaysia’s website, but details of its potential local availability and pricing are not known at this time.

Lamborghini Officially Unveils Its New Limited Edition Countach LPI 800-4 Supercar

Lamborghini has finally unveiled its new Countach LPI 800-4, which is a fully modernised version of the iconic supercar to celebrate its 50th anniversary. True to what was teased and leaked prior to this, the model will sport a new design and a hybrid powertrain, as well as several new modern additions to both its interior and exterior.

The updated Countach’s redesign isn’t as retro-inspired like Hyundai’s modernisation of its Pony hatchback, which retains most of the car’s original 1975-era aesthetics. Instead, the new model sports a modern wedge design that is similar to current generation Lamborghini supercars such as the Aventador and Sián, while still maintaining some recognisable features from the original. The car also lacks a rear spoiler, which is likely a homage to the original 1971 concept. Another nod to the prototype is the “Countach” branding that is situated on the vehicle’s thin front grille – a design element that is removed from the actual LP400 production model and its successors.

The new car comes with a chassis, panels and other miscellaneous parts that are made out of carbon fiber, giving it a dry weight of 1,595kg. Modern touches include movable air vents and a cool photochromatic roof that can shift from solid to transparent electronically via a touch of button. Of course, no Lambo is complete without the car maker’s signature scissor doors, but Countach purists will be disappointed to know that the new model does not come with pop-up headlights.

Found inside the new Countach is an interior that somewhat resembles the Lamborghini Sián’s, complete with an 8.4-inch touchscreen for managing the car’s controls. The car maker noted that the infotainment system is compatible with Apple CarPlay, but made no mention of Android Auto. Also found in the interface is a “Stile” button, which enables the system to explain to users (assumingly verbally) regarding the Countach design philosophy when pressed – because why brag about your new car when the vehicle itself can do it for you?

Next up is what most of us are eager to find out: its performance. Under the Countach LPI 800-4 is the aforementioned hybrid powertrain, which consists of a 6.5 litre naturally-aspirated V12 engine and a Lithium-Ion supercapacitor-powered 48V electric motor. This enables the car to generate an output of 770 horsepower (hp) via the engine, and an additional 33hp from the motor – totalling up to 803hp when combined. Lamborghini claims that the supercar is able to go from nought to 100km/h in just 2.8 seconds and features a top speed of 355km/h, which is on par with the Aventador Ultimae and the Sián.

As mentioned in our previous report, the new Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 will be a limited release – with only 112 units planned to be shipped in the first quarter of 2022. By the way, “112” is actually a reference to the original 1971 Countach prototype’s internal project name. If you have the cash to throw, you can order the new model at a modest price of only US$ 2.64 million (~RM 11.2 million). For the rest of us who wish to get our hands on this new supercar, our best option is to wait for it to be featured in video games such as Gran Turismo or Forza.