Techgoondu

27/11/2024

The new Arc Ultra is another good piece of kit from Sonos. The company has been coming up with excellent soundbars for a while and this new flagship soundbar offers top-notch audio performance once again.

The Sonos Arc Ultra sounds great in movies thanks to an impressive array of speakers but the S$1,899 soundbar is costly in Singapore.

27/11/2024

The Netgear Nighthawk RS700R Wi-Fi 7 router is easy to set up, performs well in terms of coverage and speed, and is priced lower than the company’s flagship Orbi 970 Wi-Fi 7 kit. It’s well worth checking out if you’re thinking of swapping out an existing 1Gbps router for a faster 10Gbps fibre service in Singapore

The Netgear Nighthawk RS700S Wi-Fi 7 router offers good speed and coverage that Singapore users will love when upgrading to faster broadband.

26/11/2024

In Singapore, the Oppo Find X8 Pro is now available in White of Black for $1,649. It is not the cheapest phone around but for what it has to offer, it is a fair price to pay, especially if you are an avid content creator or part of the photography cognoscenti. It wins our Editor's Choice award.

At $1,649. the Oppo Find X8 Pro is cheap but what it has to offer, it is a fair price to pay, especially if you are an avid content creator.

19/11/2024

It’s only taken all of 14 years after it first appeared on game consoles but it’s nice to finally see a PC version of Red Dead Redemption (RDR) out for folks who have yet to fire up the much-heralded action game.

The lack of a multiplayer mode for the PC is rather disappointing, limiting the PC experience to single-player campaigns.

If you have a top-of-the-line PC gaming rig or if you are a PC purist who has never played RDR before, or if you have a Steam Deck, do consider getting it. Do note, though, that the price at S$64.99 is rather high for such an old game,

Fourteen years after its console launch, Red Dead Redemption now plays on the PC with modern graphics and screens. It's a mixed bag, though.

15/11/2024

With S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: The Heart of Chornobyl out in a week, Ukrainian developers GSC Game World tell Techgoondu what it is like making the game during war time and what gamers can expect.

“The employees who remained in Ukraine are still dealing with power outages and hiding from missile attacks,” said Evgeniy Grygorovych, chief executive of GSC Game World. “Everyone left in Ukraine is facing something no one should face on a daily basis.”

“We have chills every time someone is AFK (away from keyboard) for a long time, praying nothing too serious has happened,” he noted. “Imagine that asking employees if they are alive becomes a part of your working routine.”

Making Stalker 2 was difficult for developer GSC Game World, as Ukraine was invaded by Russia and employees had to first survive the war.

15/11/2024

For value-minded smartphone buyers, the HONOR X9c brings a host of much-desired features in an attractive package. The new phone comes in a ultra-slim design and a refined titanium finish, weighing just 189g and measuring 7.98mm in thickness.

For value-minded smartphone buyers, the HONOR X9c brings a host of much-desired features in an attractive package. The new phone comes in a ultra-slim design and a refined titanium finish, weighing just 189g and measuring 7.98mm in thickness.

Despite the sleek chassis, it’s the first phone with an ultra-large 6,600mAh silicon-carbon battery that can last up to three days. Users can enjoy a full day of seamless use, with up to 48.4 hours of music streaming and 25.8 hours of online video playback on a single charge.

To enhance durability, the battery features a specialised safety coating that works with the Honor power management system to isolate the electrodes in extreme conditions.

The battery performs well in temperatures ranging from -30 deg C to 55 deg C, delivering up to 20 hours of audio calls in -30 deg C and 30 hours of audio calls in 55 deg C!

The HONOR X9c mid-range phone featuring ultra-tough "triple defence" to boost durability is out in Singapore at an attractive price of S$449.

15/11/2024

In a bold move to advance Japan’s AI capabilities, SoftBank’s telecom division is building the country’s most powerful AI supercomputer, powered by cutting-edge Nvidia Blackwell chips.

The new supercomputer will be the first to utilise Nvidia DGX B200 systems, designed to fast-track AI-driven initiatives across Japan and targeted at elevating sectors like healthcare, telecommunications, and manufacturing.

Nvidia has also partnered major Japanese cloud leaders, including KDDI, Sakura Internet, and GMO Internet Group, which will use the chipmaker’s technology to drive AI innovation across fields like healthcare, automotive, and robotics.

For Nvidia, its deepening ties with Japanese enterprises represent a critical step in expanding its influence outside the United States, positioning AI as a driver of economic and industrial progress across Asia.

Following significant engagements in India, these latest efforts in Japan also highlight Nvidia’s ambition to expand AI adoption globally, with a growing emphasis on Asia.

In a move to advance Japan’s AI capabilities, SoftBank is building the country’s most powerful AI supercomputer with Nvidia Blackwell chips.

13/11/2024

Whether you're firing off reports or shooting at enemies in an online game, the Keychron Q1 HE is a responsive, well-built magnetic keyboard that should impress enthusiasts and newcomers alike.

The Keychron Q1 HE uses Hall Effect magnetic switches to offer precise, responsive actions whether you're playing a game or typing a report.

11/11/2024

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered adds improved graphics that makes characters more realistic and locations more immersive in the classic game.

https://www.techgoondu.com/2024/11/11/horizon-zero-dawn-remastered-review-so-much-prettier-but-not-quite-perfect/

11/11/2024

For businesses looking to adopt AI today – from simple chatbots to deep market analysis tools – the growing number of underwhelming and failed experiments early on may weigh heavy on how they adopt AI in the next 12 to 18 months.

In a survey of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, research firm IDC and data software vendor SAS found that only 23 per cent of organisations are transformative in their AI adoption, say, by using AI to transform markets or create new businesses.

Top reasons for AI failure: Poor quality of data, privacy concerns and compliance limitations. A lack of specialised personnel, the costs of AI development and deployment and a lack of clear evaluation criteria for AI solutions don’t help, either.

From AI PCs that promise to make every worker an instant artist and copywriter to deeply embedded AI features that claim to help businesses find new market insights, a reality check is arriving in the amount of additional work needed to make the magic work.

AI PCs, for example, still face a lack of software apps that fully make use of more powerful processors that promise to edit videos in a jiffy or create images quickly from a description of a mere few words.

When it comes to gaining insights through AI, larger businesses are also grappling with the need to find and prepare the data needed to train their AI models. After years of talking about data lakes and centralising one’s data sources, businesses are still struggling with data.

The growing number of underwhelming and failed experiments early on may weigh heavy on how businesses adopt AI in the next 12 to 18 months.

07/11/2024

More than half (53 per cent) of companies globally that have set sustainability targets continue to rely on manual methods, such as spreadsheets and e-mails, to measure their progress, according to a survey by Alibaba Cloud last week.

This is despite the fact that 80 per cent of the survey respondents believe that adopting digital technologies such as cloud computing and AI will accelerate progress toward meeting sustainability goals.

More than half of companies with sustainability targets continue to rely on manual methods like spreadsheets and e-mails to measure progress.

07/11/2024

A growing number of Asia-Pacific firms are turning to artificial intelligence-powered low-code solutions in response to the rapid pace of digital transformation, according to analyst firm IDC.

This shift highlights the region’s focus on innovation amid challenges posed by older architectures and high maintenance costs.

AI-powered low-code solutions include tools that enable users can write computer code without the need for extensive coding knowledge or technical skills.

More Asia-Pacific firms are turning to AI-powered low-code solutions in response to the rapid pace of digital transformation, says IDC.

07/11/2024

Looking for AI PC? The Intel-powered Asus Zenbook S14 OLED sports a great design and comes with the performance and battery life to impress anyone looking for an ultraportable laptop for work and a bit of gaming, too. Check out our performance tests and review of this new slim and light PC.

Powered by an Intel Core Ultra 200V chip, the Asus Zenbook S14 OLED runs AI workloads and every tasks well, while pulling ahead in graphics.

31/10/2024

To our Hindu readers, happy Deepavali! Have a great Festival of Lights!

PHOTO: Sonika Agarwal

29/10/2024

In Singapore, the Canon EOS R5 II is on sale from S$5,999 for the camera body alone, which is a S$700 premium over the older model. However, it is still a worthy upgrade if you are into wildlife, sports, and event photography, where speed is paramount.

The Canon EOS R5 II works like a dream for a professional shoot but just make sure you bring enough spare batteries.

25/10/2024

Almost three years after high-profile scam cases involving multiple OCBC customers, consumers in Singapore now have a small measure of protection with new regulations unveiled yesterday.

A few framework, in the works for several years now, makes financial institutions and telecom operators liable to pay scam victims in full should they fall short of a new set of responsibilities.

Many of such responsibilities, including a cooling-off period for the activation of digital security tokens and a 24/7 reporting channel for banks, and allowing only authorised senders of SMSes for telcos, have already been implemented in recent years.

What’s new for banks and payment providers to do, crucially, is the setting up of real-time fraud surveillance to detect unauthorised transactions.

The new measures are an improvement for consumers because they would not have to seek out a lawyer – after losing all their savings – to sue a bank that is backed by a lot more legal muscle.

To be sure, the scope of a bank’s duty of care is narrowly defined, but this should be a first step. It is an acknowledgement that banks can’t simply enjoy the benefits of digitalisation while pushing the risks onto consumers.

Singapore banks are to beef up fraud detection and share liability with new rules offering a small measure of protection against scam cases.

23/10/2024

A sequel to the 2018 survival city builder, Frostpunk 2 is a significantly different game with more political and faction balancing gameplay than micromanagement and resource gathering.

It's a great strategy game for honing management, diplomatic and leadership skills, though it can get rather stressful with your virtual citizens’ lives at stake.

Great for honing management, diplomatic and leadership skills, Frostpunk 2 can get stressful with your virtual citizens’ lives at stake.

22/10/2024

With prices falling in recent years, there’s never been a better time to upgrade to a 4K monitor. Sharper images with four times the number of pixels of a regular Full HD screen are within reach for many more PC users today.

From the entry-level that gives you a sharpness boost and little else to gaming displays with zippy response, or even top-of-the-line professional monitors for artists, 4K monitors are becoming increasingly common.

https://www.techgoondu.com/2024/10/21/time-to-upgrade-to-a-4k-monitor-options-are-many-today