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Category: General

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest General Retail news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Vietravel Airlines appoints new CEO

    Vietravel Airlines appoints new CEO

    Nguyen Minh Hai, who was the CEO of Bamboo Airways for two months earlier this year, has been appointed new CEO of Vietravel Airlines.

    He replaced Vu Duc Bien, who has been running the company since its foundation in 2020. Bien quit for personal reasons.

    Hai has 25 years of experience in the aviation industry. He was previously deputy CEO of Vietnam Airlines and CEO of Cambodia’s Angkor Air.

    Hai was appointed CEO of Bamboo Airways in May and was expected to bring the company to profitability, but he quit in July.

    He is set to face difficulties managing Vietravel Airlines, which has been struggling to expand since its maiden flight early in 2021.

    Its fleet size is limited at four jets and its routes are few. The company is still looking for a strategic investor to quickly expand.

    The airline recently appointed former German vice-chancellor Philipp Rösler as a director to help expand its international network.

    It plans to issue shares to increase its charter capital from VND1.3 trillion (US$52.88 million) to VND2 trillion in the near future and to enlarge its fleet and expand its routes.

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  • YouTube Music rolls out new AI playlist art generator feature

    YouTube Music rolls out new AI playlist art generator feature

    YouTube Music has made significant strides recently in its efforts to compete with the likes of Spotify and Apple Music to become your de facto music app. In an effort to communicate to its users all the recent changes the app has gone through, Google took to its official YouTube Blog today to share the list.

    Amongst all the features that have been either slowly or quickly rolled out throughout the year, there was one standout feature listed that begins to roll out today: the ability to create customized covert art for your playlists with the assistance of AI. This feature is reminiscent of the AI wallpapers Google recently rolled out on Android 14 works by using a pre-determined data set to generate unique artwork. Currently, when a playlist is created on YouTube Music, a collage of the cover art from the first few songs on the playlist automatically became the cover.

    YouTube Music has made significant strides recently in its efforts to compete with the likes of Spotify and Apple Music to become your de facto music app. In an effort to communicate to its users all the recent changes the app has gone through, Google took to its official YouTube Blog today to share the list.

    Amongst all the features that have been either slowly or quickly rolled out throughout the year, there was one standout feature listed that begins to roll out today: the ability to create customized covert art for your playlists with the assistance of AI. This feature is reminiscent of the AI wallpapers Google recently rolled out on Android 14 works by using a pre-determined data set to generate unique artwork. Currently, when a playlist is created on YouTube Music, a collage of the cover art from the first few songs on the playlist automatically became the cover.

    The feature will began its rollout today as an experimental feature, but only for English-language U.S. users. It will be pretty straightforward to use, as it will provide you with a variety of themes and options to create a one-of-a-kind cover for your playlists. YouTube Music eventually plans to expand the feature to other regions and languages in the future.

    In addition, YouTube Music will also be launching a new feature called “Speed dial,” which will make it easier to listen to your favorite songs and artists. It will appear on the Home tab as a section at the top that will show your most listened-to music. Having this section will allow you to easily and quickly jump back into the songs you have on repeat.

    YouTube Music has also introduced many helpful features throughout the year. YouTube says that two billion people come to the platform every month to listen to their favorite music, so it’s a tall order to implement features that fit everyone’s tastes and needs.

    However, features that improve discovery of new music, personalization, and the sense of community, are always a welcome addition. Here’s hoping the generative AI playlist artwork feature rolls out quickly for everyone so we can all customize our music experience even further.

    The feature will began its roll out today as an experimental feature, but only for English language U.S. users. It will be pretty straightforward to use, as it will provide you with a variety of themes and options to create a one-of-a-kind cover for your playlists. YouTube Music eventually plans to expand the feature to other regions and languages in the future

    In addition, YouTube Music will also be launching a new feature called “Speed dial,” which will make it easier to listen to your favorite songs and artists. It will appear on the Home tab as a section at the top which will show your most listened to music. Having this section will allow you to easily and quickly jump back into the songs you have on repeat.

    YouTube Music has also introduced many helpful features throughout the year. YouTube says that two billion people come to the platform every month to listen to their favorite music, so it’s a tall order to implement features that fit everyone’s tastes and needs.

    However, features that improve discovery of new music, personalization, and the sense of community, are always a welcome addition. Here’s hoping the generative AI playlist artwork feature rolls out quickly for everyone so we can all customize our music experience even further.

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  • WhatsApp takes privacy a step further by testing a way to completely hide locked chats on Android

    WhatsApp takes privacy a step further by testing a way to completely hide locked chats on Android

    WhatsApp is rolling out a new update through the Google Play Beta Program that includes a new feature to hide locked chats. The feature is currently in development, but it is expected to be available to all users in a future update.
    WhatsApp officially rolled out the Chat Lock feature back in May as a way to keep your most sensitive conversations private. When you lock a chat, it will be protected by a password or biometric authentication. This means that only you will be able to open and read the chat, even if someone else has access to your phone.

    However, as spotted by WaBetaInfo, WhatsApp is now taking this one step further by adding a new feature to hide these locked chats altogether, which will make it even more difficult for someone to access them. This addition is now live on the latest WhatsApp beta for Android, version 2.23.22.9.

    Without the feature enabled, anyone with access to your phone could still be able to see that you have locked chats and may be able to guess the password or biometric authentication. However, when the feature enabled, the list of locked chats is completely removed from the chat list, making it almost impossible for someone to even know that you have locked chats without having your secret code.
    The option to turn this feature on is accessible within the app’s settings, with a clear “Hide locked chats” toggle in the Chat lock settings section. Once turned on, users will need to enter their secret code into the search bar to unlock the locked chat list.

    This new feature will improve user privacy by making it more difficult for anyone with access to the phone to even realize that locked chats exist. This is especially important for users who have sensitive or confidential conversations that they want to keep hidden from prying eyes.

     

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  • Pampers launches ‘biggest innovation’ in diapers in five years

    Pampers launches ‘biggest innovation’ in diapers in five years

    Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) diaper brand Pampers has revamped its Swaddlers product – and included an innovation it hails as its biggest innovation since 2018.

    Swaddlers now feature a new blowout barrier that helps prevent leaks and blowouts.

    “We created the new Blowout Barrier to give parents peace of mind and help do away with what was always considered a parenting rite of passage,” said Marty Vanderstelt, SVP at P&G’s North America Baby Care.

    P&G claims that the product also has features that lock wetness away from the skin and keep the diaper in place even as the baby moves.

    The product has been launched in the US ahead of a global rollout.

  • Facebook and Instagram are testing themed icons for their Android apps

    Facebook and Instagram are testing themed icons for their Android apps

    The most recent Alpha and Beta versions of the Facebook and Instagram apps on Android now support Android’s themed icons. This supports recent rumors that Meta was working on finally adding this functionality to its apps’ icons, years after it became available throughout the operating system.

    Automatic theming, including themed icons, were introduced to Android with version 12 of the operating system. This feature extracted the dominant colors of your wallpaper and applied them throughout the interface, making for a more minimal and cohesive look.

    Initially, there were eight color palettes to choose from, but that eventually doubled with Android 13 and expanded even further with a monochrome option on Android 14. Still, as the adoption grew with popular app icons, there was always that one holdout — Meta.

    Fortunately, this is now changing as both the Instagram and Facebook icons support automatic theming on Android in their Beta and Alpha apps, meaning that this will likely be rolled out to their stable versions soon. This was spotted by users currently using these versions and reported by Mishaal Rahman on X.

    This is available right now in versions 307.0.0.0.42 (beta) of Instagram and 439.0.0.0.30 (alpha) of Facebook and signals a turning point to how Meta handles the implementation of new Android features. This was evident more recently by the limited rollout of a new Instagram layout for tablets, which can be tested now using a larger screen device, such as the Google Pixel Fold on Android 14 QPR1 Beta.

    For those that enjoy having matching icons on their Android’s home screen, support for a matching themed icon for both of these applications could finally stop the issue of having to hide them inside a folder or pushing them to a secondary stream (if not hide them altogether). Hopefully, this feature makes it to the stable channels sooner.

  • Groke Pet launches liquid multivitamin range for dogs

    Groke Pet launches liquid multivitamin range for dogs

    Groke Pet has launched a new line of liquid multivitamin supplements that specifically targets the health needs of dogs.

    Boasting 98 per cent locally sourced ingredients, the Vitalixir Plus boosters range – formulated and manufactured in Australia – promises to redefine pet nutrition.

    Groke Pet chief scientist Dr Andrew Duggan credits the breakthrough to “relentless work and collaboration with an exceptional team”.

    “Vitalixir Plus Boosters additionally target specific health areas in dogs, from skeletal health, skin, and coat rejuvenation, to weight management and anxiety relief,” Duggan explains.

    “Each booster blends nutrients and superfoods aimed at promoting optimal health.”

    The company champions prioritising local ingredients, adopting and encouraging sustainable practices, and fostering communities by partnering with social enterprises.

    “Every drop infuses the rich goodness of Australia, fostering not only thriving but flourishing pets,” said Anne Duggan, CEO of Groke Pet.

    The range, including the standout Vitalixir Complete Daily Nutrition, offers over 48 vital nutrients in a convenient, easily absorbed liquid format.

    Groke Pet’s supplement range starter is available for $99 online via grokepet.com.au. The company said it is actively engaging to confirm distribution channels.

  • Samsung Internet Browser app updated with autocomplete support

    Samsung Internet Browser app updated with autocomplete support

    Samsung continues to improve its Internet Browser app with new features. After thoroughly testing them in the beta version of the app, Samsung has now released some of these features to the stable channel.

    This means that if you update to the latest version of Samsung Internet Browser, regardless of whether or not you’re enrolled in the beta program, you’ll benefit from additional functionality

    Among the most important new features included in the latest update is support of URL autocomplete in address bar, which will save you a lot of time when you want to type in an address to visit a certain website.

    Apart from that, the new version of Samsung Internet Browser also gained new support for syncing tab groups, as confirmed by the official changelog. Finally, the app now features an increased number of days of History saved, so you’ll be able to check which sites you’ve visited in the last 90 days.

    If you’re looking to upgrade to Samsung Internet Browser v23.0.0.47, your only option is the Galaxy Store for the time being. However, the latest update should pop up in the Google Play Store very soon too in case you don’t want to go the Galaxy Store route.

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  • Suspended Malaysian airline founder arrested in financial crimes probe

    Suspended Malaysian airline founder arrested in financial crimes probe

    The founder of a suspended Malaysian budget airline has been arrested on suspicion of financial crimes, police said Wednesday.

    MYAirline abruptly halted operations last week, citing financial pressures, less than a year after it began flying.

    The airline, which services domestic primarily routes with nine aircraft, said that operations would stop “until further notice”.

    Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf, director of the police commercial crime investigation department, said MYAirline founder and major shareholder Allan Goh Hwan Hua, his 55-year-old wife, and his 26-year-old son had been arrested on Tuesday.

    “Police have obtained a four-day remand from Wednesday for them to assist investigations under the anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism financing and proceeds of unlawful activities act 2001,” Ramli said.

    MYAirline, which began flying in December, said its suspension would allow for a “shareholder restructuring and recapitalization” but gave no timeline for operations to resume.

    “We have worked tirelessly to explore various partnership and capital raising options to prevent this suspension,” the carrier’s board of directors said in a statement last week.

    “Unfortunately, the constraints of time have left us with no alternative but to take this decision.”

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  • Threads by Instagram reveals secret new features on mobile and the web

    Threads by Instagram reveals secret new features on mobile and the web

    Threads by Instagram is on a mission to earn that spot on your phone’s home screen and it plans on doing that by regularly releasing new features that are of interest to its users. In its latest release, the company has revealed a few “secret” features that you may or may not know exist on the platform.

    Head of Instagram and Threads boss, Adam Mosseri, revealed via a post a couple of tricks that the app can currently do. While these are definitely not mind-blowing additions, they are neat little details that can enrich the app’s user experience.
    On the mobile apps, you can now long press on a post to follow everyone who is mentioned on it. A panel will popular at the bottom of the app showing you who was mentioned in the post. Here, you can either follow each one individually or choose the “Follow all” option. As a bonus, there is also a “Copy text” option if you want to use that same text in a new post or share it to another app.

    You can now copy and paste media attachments on the web to make posting easier. Previously, when composing a post you had to click on the media icon in order to attach an image or video from your device’s file manager. Now, it’s as easy as copy/paste, which can save you a ton of time when wanting to add something that’s already saved in your clipboard.

    Not only can you tag other accounts within Threads, but you can also now tag Instagram accounts. When tagging, you can now see Instagram accounts populate in the autocomplete options. This is great if the account you want to tag has not signed up for Threads yet, but does have a presence on Instagram. Who knows? This might entice more Instagram users to sign up for threads and gain more exposure that way.
    Hopefully, Threads continues to add on helpful features such as they have been lately. The platform’s daily user base continues to request new features regularly and these are seemingly not falling on deaf ears. We will continue to report new features here as they are revealed.
  • Vietnam plans to extend VAT cut until end-June 2024

    Vietnam plans to extend VAT cut until end-June 2024

    The Vietnamese government said on Tuesday it plans to extend a reduction in value added tax (VAT) until the end of June next year to boost domestic consumption and production as the global economy remains sluggish.

    The cut in VAT to 8% from 10%, which still needs parliament’s approval, has been in place since July and is set to expire by the end of this year. The next session of parliament is scheduled to begin next week.

    The 8% VAT rate is not applicable to services and products like banking, finance, telecommunications and real estate, the government said in a statement.

    The tax cut, which is expected to boost domestic consumption, would reduce the government’s budget revenue by 25 trillion dong ($1.02 billion), the statement added.

    Vietnam’s economic growth rose 5.33% in the third quarter, higher than 4.05% in the previous one, official data showed.

    Headline inflation continued the sharp upward increase that started in June, official data showed. September’s consumer price index rose 3.7% in September against the same period last year.

    While economic growth picked up in the July-September period thanks to a gradual recovery in exports, domestic consumption remained subdued and credit growth continued to be slow reflecting weak private domestic investment and investor confidence, the World Bank said in its latest report.

    Retail sales in the domestic market with a population of nearly 100 million, rose 9.7% in the first nine months of this year from a year earlier, according to the General Statistics Office.

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  • Samsung’s Latest Foldable Smartphone Range The Coolest Yet

    Samsung’s Latest Foldable Smartphone Range The Coolest Yet

    Before the smartphone boom, foldable cell phones were the pinnacle of mobile advancements. The devices had gone from clunky, brick-like objects to slick, streamlined handsets that could fit in any pocket. A lot of experts have predicted that the smartphone industry would follow the same trajectory, and it could finally be happening.

    Samsung has been leading the way with its foldable devices for some time now, and the fifth generation could be knocking on the door of mainstream adoption. These are the company’s coolest flip phones yet, and they are likely to attract countless new users.

    Samsung Finally Hitting the Right Notes With its Foldables

    Samsung first released the Galaxy Z Fold in 2019 and the Galaxy Z Flip in 2020. Since then, it has invested a lot of resources in developing these innovative smartphones. The folding concept allows for a compact device that can open and provide users with a lot more screen space. Smartphone screens have gradually increased in size over the years, with many users clearly valuing screen space. The Z Flip offers the best of both worlds in that it fits anywhere but expands to give users a great display.

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    There are various aspects of the new Z Flip that could make it a trailblazer for foldable smartphones. For instance, the Flex Window on the front now has a 3.4-inch display, harking back to the early days of smartphones and the iconic Blackberry Classic screen. Not only will this fill some older users with nostalgia, but it also acts as a convenient way of interacting with the phone in its folded state. It comes with a variety of modes that help users organize their working days, and the performance is high quality thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 system-on-chip.

    A Good Time to Buy Shares in Samsung?

    With the company continuing to thrive at the top end of the smartphone market, shares in technology companies still affect the weighting of the S&P 500. People who are interested in buying can check the ES futures chart for accurate information about stock prices in the S&P 500, and by setting parameters on this, they can figure out the best times to buy and sell. While Samsung isn’t listed in the S&P 500, other phone producers are, with Apple being one of the most notable examples.

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    Experts back Samsung shares as great long and short-term holds, and now is a good time to jump on them. This is because the price recently dropped after the company reported a 96 percent drop in profit earlier this year. This was due to an oversupply of memory chips, leading to Samsung’s inventory values being slashed. This drop is likely to even out soon, though, and investors are keeping a close eye on the Korean tech giant’s reports. The general sentiment is that now is a good time to get back in and buy up shares of the company, as it is likely to bounce back over the next year.

    The era of the foldable smartphone could soon be on the horizon, with Samsung leading the way. These devices have been knocking on the door of the mainstream for some time, and they could soon become ubiquitous thanks to cool offerings like the Galaxy Z Flip 5.

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  • Google Chat’s smart replies feature expands to groups and spaces

    Google Chat’s smart replies feature expands to groups and spaces

    Smart replies have been added to Google Chat a long time ago, but they were only available for direct messages. However, that’s about to change, as Google has just announced Chat’s smart replies will expand to group messages and spaces on the web.

    Powered by Google’s machine learning, smart replies are the perfect tool to respond quickly to a message when you’re on the move, or you just want to avoid typing long messages.

    According to Google, the new feature is available now for all users, including Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts. There’s no need to change your Google Chat app, as the feature will appear automatically.

    Once it’s been added to your Chat app, you will be able to select one of three response options that pop up in a chat or customize your reply before sending it.

    It’s important to add that Google Chat’s smart replies are only available in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. Those who want to turn off smart replies for whatever reason can do so by clicking Settings and unchecking the Smart Reply box.

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  • Samsung TV Plus adds new channels

    Samsung TV Plus adds new channels

    Samsung TV Plus might become very popular among customers as streaming services continue to increase their prices once or twice per year. Samsung’s free TV service currently offers more than 2,000 channels in two dozen countries, but its biggest advantage is that it’s available on all Samsung TVs.

    Samsung has already added a bunch of new channels to its TV service this month, but the company is not done yet. Starting this week, three new channels from Blue Ant Media will be available on Samsung TV Plus.

    Homeful, HauntTV and Love Pets have been added to Samsung TV Plus in several markets. For example, Homeful is now available in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and Brazil.

    After being initially introduced in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK earlier this year, HauntTV is now available for Samsung TV Plus users in the United States.

    As far as Love Pets goes, the channel focusing on pets is now available to all Samsung TV Plus users in the UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

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  • WhatsApp announces passkeys support for Android users

    WhatsApp announces passkeys support for Android users

    Last week, Google announced that passkeys would become the default authentication method for its users on personal accounts. Within that announcement, Google also stated that passkeys support is growing, listing a few of the companies that had already enabled them on their apps and websites, with a mention of WhatsApp as one of the ones that would be adding compatibility soon.

    This confirmed earlier reports that WhatsApp had already tested this functionality with its beta users and would be tied to Google’s Password Manager. Today, WhatsApp finally announced that passkeys support is now official for its Android users who can now use their device’s screen lock method to unlock their accounts, such as their face, fingerprint, or device pin.

    Previously, WhatsApp had implemented an optional two-step verification pin and a fingerprint lock feature that users could set to trigger automatically after a set length of time. This type of authentication is not being removed from the app, but rather joined now by passkeys, offering an additional layer of security.

    Although passkeys support has now been made public by the company, it appears that the feature is not yet live on the latest stable version of the app (v2.23.20.76). However, it is definitely working in the latest beta (v2.23.21.12) for those enrolled in the WhatsApp beta program.

    The signup process is quick and straightforward as it is using the screen lock method that you already use on your phone. Additionally, through this signup process, you learn that your newly created passkey is indeed being stored in Google’s Password Manager, which makes it possible to use on other devices where you are signed in to your Google account. It is unclear at this time if an app update is forthcoming for the stable version of the app, or if the feature will be rolled out in stages via a server push.

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  • Construction steel sales reach year-high in September

    Construction steel sales reach year-high in September

    Construction steel sales hit 958,500 tons in September, the highest in nine months, and posting positive growth for the first time this year.

    Sales went up 9% from August and 4% year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Steel Association.

    Industry leader Hoa Phat Group posted its biggest sales last month since the beginning of the year.

    The company saw construction steel sales rising 15% from August to 352,000 tons.

    Vnsteel saw sales rising 8% from August to 265,000 tons.The increase in construction steel demand came thanks to major infrastructure projects being developed such as North-South highways and airport upgrades.

    Steel prices have been steady throughout September and at the lowest level since 2020, which stimulated demand.
    But overall, the steel industry is still seeing low demand, the VSA said. In the first nine months 7.7 million tons of construction steel were sold, down 20% year-on-year. Exports fell 13% in the same period.

    Prices are set to remain at current levels until the end of the year, according to a KB Vietnam Securities forecast.
    A hike in domestic demand is expected early next year as property projects see difficulties in acquiring permits will be resolved, it added.

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