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Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • CTG, Global Switch, Daily-Tech open Singapore data center

    CTG, Global Switch, Daily-Tech open Singapore data center

    China Telecom Global, Chinese data center infrastructure developer and operator Daily-Tech and the UK-based Global Switch have jointly open a data center in Singapore’s Woodlands district as part of their three-way partnership.

    The S$280 million ($206.4 million) Global Switch Singapore Woodlands data center spans 25,000 square meters and has been constructed to operate to Tier III+ standards.

    The Singapore data center is the second to be built under the three-way partnership after the HK$5 billion data center in Tseung Kwan O that opened in December 2017.

    The Singapore Woodlands data center is designed to a power usage efficiency of just 1.34, making it the most power efficient data center available to customers in Singapore. The data center services are powered by 30MVA of utility power supply capacity and backed by a 24/7 networks operations center.

    The data center will connect to China Telecom Global’s network of subsea and terrestrial cables as well as other data centers around the world. It is Global Switch’s 12th data center globally.

    “This is a milestone entry into the Southeast Asian countries’ market for Daily-Tech through our strategic business partnership,” Daily-Tech chairman Li Qiang said.

    “Customers in the region – particularly those looking to expand through China’s Belt and Road projects, will now find more convenient connections and access to well-managed services to support their business growth. This partnership offers customers commitment, a track record in servicing and bespoke services, and best practice management.”

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  • Free Spotify premium service for Samsung Galaxy S10 buyers

    Free Spotify premium service for Samsung Galaxy S10 buyers

    With the Samsung Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ all officially launching today, music streamer Spotify has announced that its Android app will be pre-installed on all three models in the U.S. Additionally, the Spotify app will come loaded out of the box on the Samsung Galaxy Fold, and certain Galaxy A units in the states as well. The latter are mid-range phones offered by Sammy.

    Besides pre-installing the Spotify app on these Samsung Galaxy handsets, state-side users will receive a free six-month subscription to Spotify’s premium U.S. service as long as they are not a current subscriber to the music streamer. While Spotify does offer a free ad-supported tier of service, it does not come with certain features available to premium members. Those features include unlimited skips, and the ability to download music that can be played offline. Premium members can also play any track in Spotify’s library, and songs are streamed in High Quality.

    Spotify normally offers a free 30-day free trial to its premium tier, after which pricing is $9.99 per month. Families with up to six members can pay $14.99 monthly, and students with a verified .edu email address are charged only $4.99 a month.

    Last August, Samsung and Spotify teamed up to take on Apple Music. Spotify became Samsung’s new “go-to music service provider” as it tries to keep its lead over Apple Music world-wide. Launched in October 2008, Spotify has yet to turn a profit and has embarked on a campaign to transition subscribers from its free tier of service to a subscription plan.

  • Tourism Malaysia Collaborates with ShopBack to Incentivise Travellers to Cuti-Cuti Malaysia

    Tourism Malaysia Collaborates with ShopBack to Incentivise Travellers to Cuti-Cuti Malaysia

    Recognising the growth of online travel bookings in Malaysia, Tourism Malaysia recently confirms its support towards the largest Online Travel Fair organised by ShopBack Malaysia from 11th to 17th March 2019, and applauds the company’s efforts in enticing travellers to go around Malaysia with attractive travel bonus and cashback.

    Dato’ Dr. Ammar Abd Ghapar, Senior Director, Domestic & Events Division, Tourism Malaysia says, “This is the third year that Tourism Malaysia is supporting ShopBack Malaysia’s efforts in promoting domestic travels. In the past two years, it has been rolling out a Chief Travel Officer video series to showcase the immense beauty of our land to the public, and this year we are expanding our support towards ShopBack’s Online Travel Fair, the largest e-travel fair in Malaysia which is held in collaboration with its partner merchants including Agoda, Booking.com, Expedia, Malaysia Airlines, BusOnlineTicket, KLOOK, Traveloka, Trip.com, and many more.”

    “The past ShopBack Online Travel Fair achieved 100% year-on-year growth. This is definitely encouraging and together with the continuous efforts from the public sector as well as private e-commerce players, we are confident in growing the industry performance towards the Visit Malaysia 2020 goal,” Dato’ Dr. Ammar says.

    Alvin Gill, Country General Manager of ShopBack Malaysia, expressed that every year, hundreds of thousands of travellers use ShopBack to make travel bookings with Agoda, Booking.com, Expedia, Malaysia Airlines etc. because it saves them more money. “Through a special partnership with all the online travel sites, travellers can get up to 8% cashback on each travel booking. That means if a hotel room cost RM500, a traveller just needs to open the ShopBack web/app, click to our merchant site to make the booking and he/she will get RM40 cashback from us. The booking price is the same, but you will get cashback in your ShopBack account if you use us.”

    “In conjunction with our first Online Travel Fair in 2019, we are also giving away an extra up to RM25 bonus cashback to all travellers who purchase flight, accommodation, and trip packages to any Malaysia destination via our platforms from 11th to 17th March 2019. We are truly honoured to have Tourism Malaysia’s support for this campaign – together we can empower more people to rediscover the food, art, nature and culture in the country and create fond memories with their family and friends here,” Alvin adds.

    The leading cashback site works with a full range of travel sites that covers airlines, bus, rides, accommodations and tour services to offer cashback on top of discounts provided by merchants. Signing up to ShopBack is free. Over 1 million Malaysians are using ShopBack at the moment, and over RM30 million of cashback has been given to local users since 2015.

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  • Sony MDR-HW300K wireless headphones are 35% off

    Sony MDR-HW300K wireless headphones are 35% off

    Are you looking to buy a nice new pair of wireless headphones? If so, you might want to check out this deal. There’s a 35% discount for Sony’s MDR-HW300K Bluetooth headphones. This model typically retails for $100 at Amazon, but right now, you can grab a brand new pair for $65 at Woot.

    The MDR-HW300K has a driver size of 40mm. The system transmits an uncompressed 2.4 GHz signal to reduce unwanted interference while the real-time automatic channel tuning prevents signal degradation. These features allow the system to deliver high-quality sound without outside interference. Aside from sounding great, the set is also extremely comfortable and stylish thanks to the light-weight, adjustable padded headband and swivel style ear-cup design. The cans are advertised as lasting up to 10 hours between charges.

    If this deal interests you, feel free to follow the above link to Woot. Shipping is free, and a 1-year warranty is included.

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  • Google has yet to fix a serious issue with the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL

    Google has yet to fix a serious issue with the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL

    Back in December, we told you that several Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL users were having an issue getting the person on the other end of a phone call to hear them properly. The Pixel series has been notorious for having a number of problems out of the box that are fixed by a subsequent software update. You might recall that the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL had so many issues out of the gate that a law firm was recruiting users of the 2017 models to join a class action suit against Google, LG and HTC.

    According to Android Authority, it appears that Google never got around to fixing the problem with phone call connectivity with the 20218 Pixels. On the Google Product Forums are the posts that we discussed in our original story. But newer comments have been posted as recently as last month. It seems that when a Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL user is on a regular phone call, the person on the other end of the line is hearing an echo, choppy audio that cuts off words, silence, and more.

    Some troubleshooting tips (factory reset, going into safe mode, switching to 3G from 4G) failed to resolve the issue for everyone, which puts the ball back squarely in Google’s court. Hopefully there will soon be a software update disseminated that will allow those engaged in a phone call with an affected unit to hear the Pixel owner’s voice crystal clear.

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  • The Galaxy S10 series set new pre-order records

    The Galaxy S10 series set new pre-order records

    The Samsung Galaxy S10 series apparently experienced a pretty sluggish start in South Korea. Globally, though, demand for the devices has proven to be quite high. So high, in fact, that the Galaxy S10 series has set new pre-order records for the US and the UK.

    In both markets, the Galaxy S10+ proved to be the most popular model of all with a sales share of 57%. The Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10e, on the other hand, accounted for the remaining 43%. However, it’s unclear which of these two proved to be the most popular.

    As for colors, UK consumers largely favored the new Prism Black option – it accounted for a whopping 47% of pre-orders. The color preference of US consumers wasn’t specified but lack of stock suggests that Prism White was the general favorite.

    Unfortunately, no specific pre-order numbers were provided. But the records do suggest the Galaxy S10 series could be just what Samsung needs to maintain its number one position throughout the rest of the year. The news also bodes well for the recently-revised shipment estimates by Ming-Chi Kuo. For those of you that may be unaware, the popular analyst recently increased his Galaxy S10 sales predictions to between 40 and 45 million units as a result of popular demand.

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  • Google Fi, the next carrier?

    Google Fi, the next carrier?

    If you are satisfied with your current phone but would prefer to switch carriers, hybrid MVNO Google Fi has a deal for you. First, some explanation. Google Fi uses two million Wi-Fi hot spots to bring you service. When you are out of Wi-Fi range, your phone checks to see which of the three 4G LTE networks that Fi supports (T-Mobile, Sprint and U.S. Cellular) has the strongest signal at the moment, and connects you to it. Doing this allows Google to keep Fi’s prices down.

    Now, let’s talk about the free month of service that Google Fi is offering to those bringing their compatible phone and number to the MVNO from another wireless provider. The offer is available from now through March 24th, and a list of supported handsets can be found here. You must sign up for a full service plan (not just data) and the phone must remain activated on Fi for 30 consecutive days.

    A week after activating your phone on Fi, you will get an email confirming the credit, which will show up on the following invoice. The credit that Google gives you will cover “a single subscriber’s unlimited talk and text, data usage, and taxes and fees for one month.” The offer is limited to one per person, or six per group plan and requires Google Payments and Google Fi accounts.

    Something else to consider, is that you cannot change your phone while in the aforementioned 30-day period. One Fi subscriber had problems with the Samsung Galaxy phone he moved over to the MVNO and could not dial out about 90% of the time. He bought a Fi compatible LG handset, and while it worked without a hitch, Fi denied him the free month.

    Google Fi costs $20/month for unlimited domestic talk and text for one person ($15 additional for each added subscriber up to a total of six), unlimited international texts, and access to cellular coverage in over 200+ countries. High-speed data costs $10/GB each month, but once you hit 6GB, the rest of the month is free. This means that for an individual, the monthly bill cannot exceed $80 (before taxes and fees) or $205 for a family of four. But there is a catch. Once you consume more than 15GB of data in one month, your data speed is throttled until the next billing cycle begins. Or, you can decide to continue receiving high-speed data by paying $10/GB for any amount of high-speed data you use over 15GB in the same month.

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  • The Google app hits an impressive milestone in the Play Store

    The Google app hits an impressive milestone in the Play Store

    Remember when the Google Play Store was called the Android Market? Google changed the name on March 6th, 2012. Twenty-six months later, Gmail became the first Android app to reach 1 billion installs. Since then, two other apps in the Play Store have been installed over 5 billion times-that is, until today. Google Maps and YouTube have been joined in the exclusive club by the Google app.

    Video streaming site YouTube was the first Android app to hit 5 billion downloads, and was followed this past weekend by navigation app Google Maps. Now, the Google app itself  has joined the club. Technically, there are four members if you include Google Play Services, but this is a systems app that allows an Android phone to update Google developed apps and apps from the Google Play Store.

    The three apps, YouTube, Google Maps and Google, are not only must-haves for every Android user, they are also pre-installed on every Android phone that comes with Google Play Services out of the box. When an app is pre-loaded onto an Android device, that is included in the total number of installations.

    Google has worked on expanding the features offered by each of the three apps in the 5 billion installs club. Besides offering streaming videos from amateurs, the site now includes trailers from movies and clips taken from television shows. In addition, YouTube now offers its own original programming for paid subscribers. Google Maps has added several new navigation based items, including the ability to report a crash or speed trap, a speed limit reminder, and more. It also has moved into the lifestyle category by showing places of interest to visit in your home town and locations you travel to.

    The Google app, which helps users search for websites, also reports news, sports and weather of interest to the user. A summary of the user’s schedule for the day can be seen thanks to Google Calendar integration, and a list of stock prices can be monitored. All three apps do have iOS counterparts in the Apple App Store.

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  • The Motorola Moto G7 Power & G7 Play finally have release dates

    The Motorola Moto G7 Power & G7 Play finally have release dates

    The Motorola Moto G7 Play and Moto G7 Power will soon be available on US store shelves, the Chicago-based brand has announced. Once released, they will join the $299 Moto G7 which launched earlier this month.The Moto G7 Power, on the one hand, will be available to pre-order later this week on March 15. Shipments of the device will then kick off just seven days later on March 22. The Moto G7 Play, on the other hand, won’t be released until April 5. However, if you wish to get your hands on it that day, the budget offering will be available to pre-order one week earlier on March 29.

    As previously revealed, the Moto G7 power will cost just $249 when released later this month. At that price, consumers gain access to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 632, a large 6.2-inch display, and a huge 5,000mAh battery which produces the best battery life we’ve ever tested. If the Moto G7 Power is a bit too pricey for you, the Moto G7 Play will be available for just $199. This offering maintains the same processor but shrinks the display to 5.7-inches. The battery is also quite a bit smaller at 3,000mAh. The Moto G7 Power & Moto G7 Play will both be available to pre-order and purchase through Motorola.com and Amazon. Select US retailers including Best Buy and B&H Photo will also offer the devices once released. Both models should be compatible with all US carriers.

  • Pizza Hut Singapore appoints BLKJ as Singapore creative agency of record

    Pizza Hut Singapore appoints BLKJ as Singapore creative agency of record

    Pizza Hut Singapore appoints BLKJ, an independent creative agency, as Agency of Record to resonate with young adults while maintaining its strong heritage among families. BLKJ, one of the fastest growing independent creative agencies in Singapore, was established in 2017. BLKJ will be managing all Pizza Hut’s upcoming campaign launches. They will lead all marketing efforts in content creation, creative designs and art direction. BLKJ will be tasked to deliver innovative ideas and refresh the Pizza Hut brand in Singapore.

    “We were bowled over by the boldness of their ideas, their appreciation for the brand challenges and spot on solutions to win the hearts of the Millennials. Most of all, it was a meeting of minds and we believe this is fundamental to any successful partnership,” says Joyce Tan, Senior Director, Marketing & Food Innovation, Pizza Hut Singapore. “We launched ‘Your Slice of Simple’ campaign last year and believe that BLKJ is a strong partner to help reinforce and cement this positioning for our brand.”

    The appointment was made following a three-way agency pitch. Pizza Hut was particularly drawn to BLKJ’s good grasp of the category and the Pizza Hut brand. The decision to partner with BLKJ was made after a stringent evaluation process which involves key marketing and senior stakeholders.

    “We are very excited to be working with Pizza Hut. Firstly it’s a great brand with the potential for creating ground-breaking work. Pizza Hut’s positioning of ‘Your Slice of Simple’ is a great place to start from. Secondly, from the word go the chemistry between the two parties was great. Both of us want to make Pizza Hut more successful than it’s ever been before,” says Rowena Bhagchadani, CEO and Co-Founder, BLKJ.

    The appointment will be further enhanced with the launch of Pizza Hut’s new brand campaign in March 2019. With the addition of BLKJ, Pizza Hut will continue to rekindle the simple and delicious pizza experience, further emphasising an alternative to “foodie complexity”. The partnership with BLKJ will elevate Pizza Hut brand among millennials in Singapore and brings captivating ideas to life.

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  • Facebook’s unannounced mobile payment service shows up

    Facebook’s unannounced mobile payment service shows up

    Facebook’s Marketplace seems to be one of the few successful features launched by the social network giant in the last couple of years. Now, Facebook plans to add an important tool that will make the entire Marketplace experience smoother and easier, at least this is how we’re seeing things at first glance. A mobile payment service that will allow Facebook users to pay for goods they buy through Marketplace is already showing in the Android and iOS app. A new Pay with Facebook option is now available on some Facebook pages that sell various products (i.e. Marshmello Music).

    The new option supports various payment methods that use Visa and Mastercard, as well as cryptocurrency, though the latter seems just a placeholder for now since we don’t recognize the symbol.

    At the moment, the whole process seems a bit convoluted because the buyer must first send a request to the seller, who will then have to accept or refuse the offer and send another payment request to the buyer.

    Although it sure doesn’t sound like a seamless process, Pay with Facebook may at least offer Marketplace users a more secure (and free) method of payment. We’re still waiting for Facebook’s official announcement to learn more about the new mobile payment service, but we can’t guarantee it will ever come.

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  • Huawei Mate 20 sales achievement proves the company doesn’t need the US

    Huawei Mate 20 sales achievement proves the company doesn’t need the US

    With a little over two weeks left until Huawei will finally take the wraps off the P30 flagship series, the company is mainly busy building hype around a quad camera setup that might take mobile zoom photography to a whole new level of excellence. But at the same time, the world’s second-largest smartphone vendor continues to boast impressive achievements on its way to the global market’s first place. Despite not being officially available in the US, which remains one of the world’s biggest and most profitable smartphone markets, the Huawei Mate 20 “Series” has managed to rack up a grand total of 10 million shipments in just four and a half months. That’s obviously not the first time one of the company’s flagship families has reached 10 million unit sales, but the P20 and Mate 10 got to that number pretty much simultaneously back in August 2018.

    While the P20/P20 Pro duo needed roughly five months on store shelves to cross the milestone, the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro were nowhere near as popular, taking twice as long to score a combined 10 million shipments. And yes, we’re talking about the same Huawei Mate 10 Pro that you could buy unlocked from a number of authorized US retailers with a valid warranty included.<where more or less reliable vendors can hook you up with "international" stock at decent prices, but with no warranty. What this all suggests is that Huawei really doesn't need the US to succeed. The Chinese tech giant is huge in Asia, growing at a crazy pace in Europe, and even decently popular in Canada, where the Mate 20 Pro is sold through major carriers like Rogers, Bell, and Telus. If the company continues its progress in both the high-end and mid-range categories, there's definitely a good chance the smartphone market will have a new leader soon.

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  • 2019 Ford Figo Facelift Launch Date Revealed

    2019 Ford Figo Facelift Launch Date Revealed

    The 2019 Ford Figo facelift is all set to go on sale in India on March 15, 2019. The car is set to receive an update over three years later and the facelifted Figo will come with a bunch of cosmetic changes, sharing most of its cues with the Aspire facelift, along with some new and updated features. In fact, a production-spec unit of the 2019 Ford Figo facelift has already been spotted testing in India. Furthermore, the updated Figo is also likely to come with powertrain options, which will also come from the updated Ford Aspire subcompact sedan.

    The revised engine options are likely to include the new 1.2-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine from the Dragon family that was first introduced with the Ford Freestyle. The motor is capable of producing 95 bhp and develops 120 Nm of peak torque while mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. The 2019 Figo is also expected to get the bigger 1.5-litre three-cylinder unit that was introduced with the EcoSport facelift, which makes 123 bhp and 150 Nm of torque, with the new 6-speed torque converter.

    Of course, Ford will continue to offer the tried and tested 1.5-litre four-cylinder diesel engine, which continues to be the most popular choice among these models. The motor is tuned to churn out a maximum output of 99 bhp and 215 Nm of peak torque, and it comes paired with the same 5-speed manual gearbox as standard.

    Visually, the Figo facelift comes with a new honeycomb-pattern grille with chrome surrounds, the tweaked headlamps, with halogen units, and a new front bumper with the large end-to-end horns-like black element, with round foglamps and a wide airdam. The spy images also revealed that the car will come with new, sporty black alloy wheels, revised taillamps and similar black element as on the tailgate.

    The cabin design, on the other hand, is also likely to be identical to the new Aspire, but we do expect to see an all-black theme instead of the beige interior on the latter. Also, the car is likely to feature a new infotainment system, a floating unit that will support Ford’s in-car connectivity system SYNC3 in addition to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The car also comes with new air con vents along with illuminated USB sockets, auto climate control and a start-stop button.

  • NBA to Focus on Market Growth in Southeast and Asia-Pacific Regions

    NBA to Focus on Market Growth in Southeast and Asia-Pacific Regions

    NBA basketball is undoubtedly one of the most popular sporting leagues in the world, with fans everywhere. The league’s second-biggest market after the U.S. surprisingly isn’t Canada or even anywhere in Europe. It is, in fact, China. The NBA’s social media following in China is in the hundreds of millions, with large companies like Tencent distributing over 600 NBA games each year on its proprietary digital platforms. As of last year, the market for NBA China was worth a staggering $4 billion. Now, the average NBA team is worth triple what it was only five years ago, and this is primarily due to the league’s smart moves in international expansion over the past few years.

    Caption: Basketball’s popularity has expanded worldwide, and the NBA has made smart moves to capitalize on this interest.

    In recognizing how popular the game is and lucrative the international market can be, NBA bosses now look to expand viewership further afield, focusing their growth efforts specifically on the Southeast and Asia-Pacific regions. In an interview with CNBC, NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum pointed to the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan as the next big markets for the NBA to penetrate. Tatum reported that currently, “we have got greater distribution in this region than we ever had before.” He also claimed that of the 1.5 billion NBA social media followers, “half of that traffic comes from outside the United States, and a large portion of that comes from Asia.” In the Philippines, for example, the game already enjoys large popularity, with a reported 75 percent of homes having watched an NBA game in this season alone. The league has also opened stores across the country with the aim of generating merchandising revenue and catering to existing interest in the game.

    In their efforts to further growth and viewership across Asia, they now have an exclusive distribution deal worth $225 million with Rakuten in Japan and have over 25 different media partners to distribute games throughout the Southeast and Asia-Pacific regions. That means everyone can watch, enjoy and debate the odds of their favorite teams winning games.

    Youth Engagement Programs


    Caption: The NBA seeks to increase youth engagement in basketball all over the world.

    A key part of this market growth is to get people playing basketball, specifically by developing international youth engagement in the sport. The NBA has developed a strong outreach program called Jr. NBA, which seeks to get kids playing basketball. In the CNBC interview, Tatum said the program had already reached over five million kids and had the ambitious goal of reaching another 15 million by the end of next year. Also, in 2016, they opened NBA academies aimed at training international youth talent. As it stands, they now have academies in China, Australia, Senegal, Mexico and Australia. Not surprisingly, China is the only one of these countries to have more than one academy, with the league introducing trials of the program and opening its first three academies in Shandon, Xinjiang and Zhejiang. These outreach programs are no doubt effective as China reportedly has over 300 million people playing basketball on a regular basis.

    Player Development

    International expansion is no doubt a lucrative business for the NBA. However, along with the Jr. NBA program, it also has the benefit of being a strong source of player development. As the game gets more popular, and more people grow up playing and developing their skills at basketball, the league ensures it will not be short of top talent and recruitment options in the future. Currently, the league enjoys its largest-ever international player-ship, with a record 62 international players competing professionally, hailing from 33 countries.

    The expansion in Asia also has a remarkable effect on the values of domestic teams, with a record 15 league teams out of the total 30 hosting pregame Chinese New Year celebrations this year. Houston, the former club of Chinese basketball legend Yao Ming, as well as the Golden State Warriors went a step further in their outreach to Chinese fans by wearing new uniforms inspired by Chinese culture and decorated with Chinese symbols.


    Caption: Chinese basketball legend Yao Ming.

    The expansive efforts taken by the NBA in international outreach programs, and increasing international viewership, are lucrative business moves for the league. However, they also have the benefit of increasing youth interest and engagement in the rigorous sporting activity, keeping our youth healthier and more active. In addition, if the expansion efforts can help talented young players follow their dreams to some-day play professionally in the biggest basketball league in the world, then it’s all good news.

     

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  • 2019 Mercedes-AMG C43 Launch Details Out

    2019 Mercedes-AMG C43 Launch Details Out

    Mercedes-Benz kick started 2019 with the launch of the V-Class and back then it promised us that this year will be the year of a whole bunch of launches. Come March, we’ll see the company launch the AMG C43 Coupe and what a beautiful car it is. It was more than 2 years ago that the company launched the AMG C43 in India and it was in March 2018, that the company revealed the facelift of the car. Finally it’s all set to make its mark in the country and it’s a welcome addition to the AMG portfolio.

    In terms of design, the exterior of C43 4Matic is more expressive than some of its siblings in the C-Class range. New distinguishing features include the AMG radiator grille with twin louvre in matt iridium silver and the front apron. The side air curtains in the front apron, attachment on the cross fins plus the trim element on the front splitter are finished in silver chrome. At the rear, the two round twin tailpipe trim elements in high-gloss chrome gives a sporty look. The spoiler lip on the boot lid is painted in the vehicle color. The optional AMG styling package has a more expressive front splitter, with the standard-fit spoiler lip, broader side skirt inserts and flics in the rear bumper are finished in high-gloss black.

    On the inside, the upholstery is in Artico man-made leather or Dinamica microfibre in black with red top stitching. Matching the seat design, the door centre panels and dashboard are finished in Artico man-made leather with red top stitching. Aluminium sports pedals with black studs, trim elements in black piano lacquer with light longitudinal-grain aluminium, the black roof liner and the red seat belts create further sporty highlights. The fully digital instrument cluster with 12.3-inch screen diagonal comes with three AMG-specific display styles of ‘Classic’, ‘Sport’ and ‘Supersport’.

    The Mercedes-AMG C43 Coupe is powered by a 3.0-litre V6 engine that now delivers 385 bhp, about 23 bhp more than before. The AMG-tuned motor offers a peak torque of 520 Nm. The top speed is electronically limited to 250 kmph. The motor is mated to an AMG Speedshift TCT 9G transmission and is assisted by a rear-biased AMG Performance 4MATIC all-wheel drive.

    The Mercedes-AMG C43 Coupe will be priced at around ₹ 75 to ₹ 80 lakh and it’ll go up against the likes of the Audi S5 Coupe as it does not have a direct rival in the country yet.

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