techENT Tech & Tonic

2020 is a year full of surprises and new beginnings. For us, it is the mark of our entry into the world of Podcasts with Tech & tonic. We want to first thank all of you listeners who have stayed with us and listened to our sometimes meaningless rambles about tech. We want to thank our supporters, new and old, that has been the kindle in our fires and the motivations we needed when we were wondering if podcasting was the right area to pursue. We have learnt plenty too from our first year and season in podcasting. Of course, we have enjoyed it alongside all our guest too. For that, we also want to thank all of our guests that has appeared on our show and has shown continuous support to our show. We are looking forward to 2021 and a bigger year ahead of us with new contents and expansion to new platforms.  Back to today's very special and final episode of the year 2020 though. We explored some shopping ideas for Christmas to prepare us for 2021 and even beyond. We pick some things that we could easily buy online right now to gift, and even keep for yourselves this Christmas and New Year. Here are our top 5 list of things that you can buy for yourself or to gift your loved ones for the year ending celebrations of 2021!

In this week of Tech & Tonic Podcast, you are joining me, Darwin, and Jeevan again with another week in tech. Last week is still a quiet week in tech, but Acer launched a few things in Malaysia. We delve a little deeper into what we can expect next year. We are expecting the successor of the HUAWEI P40 series, the P50 series to be launched. The new device is rumoured to pack HUAWEI HiSilicon's latest 5nm processing chipsets. That, or the Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 4G chipset. There are a couple of more interesting things to come with the HUAWEI P50 series from the rumours as well. Join us as we take the rumours of the HUAWEI P50 series apart.

In this episode of Tech & Tonic, we spend some time discussing an age old question when it comes to buying a new PC. Should you buy a laptop, because it is versatile, powerful, and convenient? Or a desktop PC, because you get more bang for your buck that way? Even when you decide on a desktop, should you buy a pre-built from a big brand, or build a custom one?  This is a multifaceted question of course. The laptop PC is the most versatile option. It is the most portable option of the three. It is also the most versatile, because it is an all-in-one device. You can work with it conveniently anywhere without needing to build a full set up. At the same time, at home it is the least space consuming option. Pre-builds can be amazing too, in terms of its footprint and size. With big brands, you are also buying into their whole support system. You may not need to approach individual vendors for each part that is broken or malfunctioning, you just need to send it back to the brand, and they sort everything out for you. You are buying a peace of mind, a sort of convenience. Then there is custom builds where you get to choose what you want, from who you want. It can be expensive, but it can also be a lot more budget friendly that the other option. You pay for what you need and what you can afford, instead of paying silly for an expensive pre-built PC or even a laptop. In that sense, for the budget conscious, this should be the one you go for, right? But is it the right choice at this time though? We discuss that and more on the Tech & Tonic Podcast show. 

It is our last show of the year. On that note, thank you for listening through 2021 and this episode as well. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2022 to all, we had a great time with all of you. Still, it is nearing Christmas time, the season of giving. That means it is time for you to do all your last minute shopping. What to buy though? We came up with a list of things you might want to buy your loved ones. All this and more in our Tech & Tonic Podcast show!

Acer's Aspire Vero recently launched and they claim that it is the most environmentally conscious laptop available in their offering. They are not the first company to claim that they have made environmentally conscious products though. Dell has done it by including some of the same materials Acer uses on their Vero line-up too. Samsung and Apple has sort of done it too, with their latest smartphones. Are these things cool now? Should you buy into this hype? P.S. Sorry for the choppy audio.

2021 was a bad year for gaming. No, not because there are no new games. There are mighty interesting titles that has come out of 2021. It is bad because buying a gaming rig was impossible. To be fair, it was a follow up effect of the shortages in 2020. While there has been signs of recovery, things has not exactly been normal just yet. In that sense, we do not recommend that you get your new gaming rigs though. That does not mean that you should not get your rigs, you still can, you might need to compromise a little bit though. 

Intel has launched their latest 12th Generation Core processors, are they any good though? Should we be excited? We talk about the new Alder Lake architecture in this show!

Android 12L has been announced and is launching soon. Google says it is a game changer for Android tablets. Is it what we want though? Or are you still better off with a Chromebook?

The computing market is getting hot right now. Google introduced their own silicon in the form of the Google Tensor with their new Google Pixel 6 series flagship. Apple has also completely cut off Intel and AMD in their latest, most powerful MacBook Pro line-up. These new laptops are powered by Apple's latest M1 Pro and M1 Max integrated processors. Why though? How is it more powerful than what Intel and AMD has to offer? In the case of the Google Pixel 6 series, how is a Google Tensor better than a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+? We discuss this and more in this episode of the #TechNTonicPodcast.

Last week a bunch of news things are launched. To be fair, the PC launch season was kickstarted by Microsoft themselves with their new Surface devices. Last week sees Acer launching their new products. At the same time, things have started to slow down a little bit on the smartphone end after the launch of Apple's iPhone 13 series. But is it a good time to upgrade your devices? 

Facebook had a six hour outage last week and there were plenty of speculations about the incident. While some of them have been debunked many are still questioning Facebook's cyber security integrity because of the outage. Speaking of cyber security though, Twitch had a massive breach. The breach has resulted in leaks in information pertaining to its many users, including the earnings of its top streamers. What do we do then when security failed us?

The lockdown restrictions due to the pandemic looks like it is coming to a close in Malaysia. Soon, things are going to operate as per normal again. Nothing will be the same ever again though with the pandemic looming just above our heads. Many things has changed during the lockdown period as well. What have we been doing to stay sane and alive in the pandemic? We discuss all that and more in this episode of #TechNTonicPodcast!

Microsoft just launched their new Surface line-up of devices. HP also launched a bunch of new PCs to go with Windows 11. Which do we think is the most exciting though? Which do you think is the most exciting?

Apple's event just happened last week and they launched a couple of new things. They launched the Apple iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, the 9th generation iPad, the 5th generation iPad Mini, and the Apple Watch Series 7.  With the logical flow of the Apple event, the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro was meant to be the stars of the show. The Apple iPad Mini stole the show though. The new Apple iPad Mini packs Apple's latest A15 Bionic processor. You have an 8-inch Super Retina display on the iPad Mini and support for the 2nd generation Apple Pencil. It is also finally sporting the USB Type-C port, following the Apple iPad Air. For the first time as well, the Apple iPad packs a powerful 12-Megapixel front-facing camera with Center Stage feature for video calls. The Apple iPad Mini is really a smaller and more powerful version of the Apple iPad Air that was launched last year. It is also one of the most powerful regular iPad devices to date. In a sense, it becomes a more appealing device compared to the Apple iPhone 13 devices in the launch. What do you think though?

In the past few weeks ASUS has launched a new collaboration product with Alan Walker. They launched a new gaming laptop with Alan Walker that is also designed together with Alan Walker. They also launched a new ROG Gaming Phone 5s that they sort of announced a few weeks ago.  In that sense, ASUS ROG has gone from a gaming PC brand that turns out to be a lifestyle brand now more than ever. They are not just selling notebooks and PCs anymore. They are now selling T-Shirts, jackets, sweaters, hoodies, and even bags. They are a fashion brand now too. But this is not a unique thing that is started by ASUS. Acer has started doing similar things with their Predator brand. This whole thing can be tracked back to Razer and their pursuit in the larger global gaming market too.  Still, the transformation of tech brands becoming lifestyle brands is becoming even more widespread now. Samsung is taking a more lifestyle approach for their flagship devices. Other smartphone brands like Xiaomi is also following suit with approaching the market as a lifestyle brand instead of a tech brand. How far is too far though? Is it a good thing? We explore this and more in this episode of #TechNTonicPodcast!

Last week TSMC announced that they are going to have to increase prices of the chips that are coming out from their production line. That announcement basically tells us that chips that we want to buy will be more expensive. But it does not just impact the PC and other electronics business. So many things today are relying on micro chips on a circuit board. TSMC is one of the largest foundries in the world and they are barely keeping up with demands, hence the price increase. The thing is, it is not just PC and smartphones that will be impacted. Cars will be more expensive too with the price hike on chips. At the same time, there are not enough products to go around because production plants are being halted due to the larger problem that is the chips that are supposed to get into the cars. Is there a solution to this? What do we think of this whole situation? When will we see the end of this? We discuss this and more on the #TechNTonicPodcast!

OnlyFans is a very popular platform. It gained notoriety as a sort of platform where users get to subscribe for all sorts of NSFW contents. A paid subscription on the platform gives users access to various exclusive contents from its vast content creators. Majority of the most popular content creators focuses on nude and sexual contents, and the vast majority of its users are on the platform for these sort of contents.  Last week OnlyFans made a huge U-Turn for its content creators on their platform. OnlyFans' announcement is a big shock to the world. They are going to start banning sexually explicit contents from their platform starting in October 2021 onward.  Sexually explicit contents, from what we understand from their statement, consists of contents with genitals, or showing genitals in offensive matter. It also consists of sexual intercourse or act of self pleasure. That also means partial nudity will still be allowed on the platform in the future. We think this is going to really backfire for OnlyFans though. But this move has been a demand from OnlyFans' investors and bankers. What do we think will happen? Find out on our Tech & Tonic Podcast Season 2 Episode 25.

Samsung's August Galaxy Unpacked 2021 event happened just last week and we were graced with a few devices. We were graced with two smartphone devices as well. There is a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 and a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3. The announced and launched devices should have come as a surprise though. Samsung has been aligning themselves to prioritize development for foldable devices and betting their future on it.  The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 are big step ups from their predecessors though. It seems like they made the devices a little thinner, every so slightly thinner. They designed them to look a little more seamless too. If we have to describe how they look, they look great. For the Z Flip 3, Samsung has also increased the size of the external display which should add more to its functionality. Everything that was great about the first Z Flip is retained in the device too though, except for the overall design. At the same time, the Z Flip 3 can truly be a modern flagship with modern internals in 2021. The Z Fold 3 is supposed to address plenty of the UI inconsistencies with the older devices. It is also the first Samsung Galaxy device with an under-display camera. The under-display camera is a mere 4-Megapixel, but you will not use it most of the time with the presence of three 12-Megapixel cameras out the back.  The biggest step up they made though is in the pricing. Well, it may sound more like a step down with big price cuts compared to its predecessors. The Z Flip 3 starts at below MYR 4,000 and the Z Fold 3 starts at below MYR 7,000. This should make the devices a lot more accessible to people. Keep in mind though you do not get an S Pen for that price. 

Scarlett Johansson got Disney into a pickle last week. She filed a lawsuit against the entertainment giant for breach of contract over the launch and release of Black Widow in theaters and Disney+ Premiere a week or so ago. According to the lawsuit, the actress' contract was not renegotiated for release on Disney's own streaming platform.  This brings us back to the question we had when Disney+ was coming to Malaysia; are we paying too much for streaming services? With Disney+ Premiere, we could easily be paying even more for the latest movies and blockbusters. But the lawsuit also puts a lot of things into perspective for us enjoying these services because it also happened to platforms like Spotify. We started thinking about how are the actor's pay managed by the streaming services.  At the same time, we are already paying for multiple streaming services at this time because they all offer different exclusives. How much is too much for these exclusive contents though? Would it make sense for us to go back to cable TV in this case? Maybe, maybe not, but we discuss all this in today's episode of #TechNTonicPodcast. 

There are a few things coming our way in August 2021. Before the eventful month though, it is a little on the quiet side, understandably. At least Tokyo 2020 Olympics games are finally under way at this time. We focus on things we can look forward to in August though. HUAWEI is finally launching their HUAWEI P50 series at the end of July 2021. While there are no word on global availability on the new HUAWEI flagship series yet, we are expecting big things from the Chinese electronics giant. We are also excited for what is next for Mobile Photography by HUAWEI, especially since there has been renders and teasers from HUAWEI. Samsung is also having their big event in August. Unfortunately it is no more a Samsung Galaxy Note event. Instead, we are most definitely getting the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip devices for the year 2021/2022. The new Z Fold device is also touted to come with S Pen compatibility. We are expecting more improvements obviously with the foldable display technology.  Obviously, it will not be Samsung's August Galaxy Unpacked event if they do not announce the next generation Samsung Galaxy Watch series. The new Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is supposed to be one of the first, if not the first smartwatch to come with Google's new Wear OS 3. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is supposed to also come with their own One UI touch up done on top of Google Wear OS 3. This will also be the first time Samsung packs their smartwatch with Google's Wearable platform.  The Google Wear OS 3 a huge departure from both Samsung's Tizen and Google's own Wear OS 2 though. It is such a huge departure that most current generation Wear OS devices and all of Samsung's older Galaxy Watch platform will not be updated to the platform. So is it still the right time to buy a smartwatch as an Android user?