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Tag: asia

  • Coles revamps cereals aisle, moving healthy options mainstream

    Coles revamps cereals aisle, moving healthy options mainstream

    Coles is making its healthy breakfast options more accessible, transforming the chain’s cereals aisle by adding a larger range of healthy products.

    More than 50 new healthy cereals, muesli, and breakfasts on the go have been added, to meet surging demand for healthy and nutritious products among Aussie consumers.

    The new range includes Coles’ first breakfast in beverage form, Breakfast on the Move, Wellness Road toasted muesli range with high fibre grain Barleymax, and an exclusive range of 11 ‘Goodness Bowl’ cereals and low sugar mueslis from Uncle Toby’s.

    According to the company, the new aisle is tailored to help customers easily find dietary options in one destination, including a new ‘Gluten Free Cereal’ section which was previously only found in the health food aisle.

    “Customers will love the simplicity of finding their favorite breakfast products in the main aisle and making healthy choices part of their everyday lives,” said Leanne White, GM for grocery at Coles.

    “The changes we’ve made will help make it easier, enjoyable, and affordable for millions of customers, particularly those with special dietary requirements, to shop for suitable healthy breakfast options.”

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  • Instagram is trying its best to keep up with TikTok

    Instagram is trying its best to keep up with TikTok

    After TikTok shook the social media market and fundamentally changed the name of the game, western companies quickly rushed in to grab a piece of the pie. As per usual, Instagram was quick to follow up with a similar feature with the release of Reels in 2020.

    On June 30, the head of Instagram shared a video on his Twitter page about upcoming changes in the social media platform. In his post, he mentions the addition of fullscreen mobile-first video to the app.

    We’re also going to be experimenting with how do we embrace video more broadly — full screen, immersive, entertaining, mobile-first video.

    These videos will appear in your feed in the form of recommendations, even if you don’t follow the account that’s posted them. Adam Mosseri explained the need for such changes by addressing the increasingly competitive environment in which Instagram finds itself.

    Let’s be honest, there’s some really serious competition right now. TikTok is huge, YouTube is even bigger, and there are lots of other upstarts as well.

    The days when the app was primarily photo-centric are long gone. It used to be a place where people would casually share photos of their everyday life with their friends and family. It then became a creative place for professional artists to showcase their work and promote it to a wider audience. Some would say that was the golden age of Instagram.

    In the last couple of years, however, Instagram evolved into a platform that also focuses on retail, instant entertainment, and product advertising. “We’re no longer a photo-sharing app or a square photo-sharing app,” said Mosseri. He then cemented his message, saying that “people are looking to Instagram to be entertained, there’s stiff competition and there’s more to do. We have to embrace that, and that means change.”

  • Suzuki Hayabusa Bookings Begin Again

    Suzuki Hayabusa Bookings Begin Again

    Suzuki Motorcycle India has reopened the bookings for the 2021 Hayabusa. The company sold out the first batch of 101 motorcycles in April 2021 in just a couple of days after opening bookings. While deliveries of the first batch have already begun, the company says that the second batch of the Hayabusa is likely to come to India in August 2021. The motorcycle was showcased in a new-generation avatar last year and made its way to India earlier this year. The new-gen Suzuki Hayabusa is priced at ₹ 16.40 lakh.

    The new Hayabusa gets comprehensive updates for the first time in 13 years. The bike now features improved aerodynamics, as well as an updated electronics suite too. It gets a 1,340 cc, four-stroke, fuel-injected, liquid-cooled, DOHC, inline-four engine which makes 187 bhp at 9,700 rpm and 150 Nm of peak torque at 7,000 rpm. Top speed is still rated at 299 kmph and kerb weight sees a marginal drop of 2 kg to 264 kg.

    Along with the updated engine, the motorcycle also gets a wide variety of electronic rider aids and a six-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU). The USP is the Suzuki Intelligent Ride System (S.I.R.S) under which you get three riding modes and three user-defined modes, with different settings for traction control, anti-lift control, engine brake control and so on.

  • Sony Xperia 5 III coming to Europe in September and it won’t be cheap

    Sony Xperia 5 III coming to Europe in September and it won’t be cheap

    Sony announced that it will bring the Xperia 1 III in the United States in late September, but didn’t mention anything about the Xperia 5 III, the former’s cheaper brother. That could mean a few different things like maybe Sony isn’t sure when it will be able to bring it to the US, or perhaps it has no intention to sell it in North America.

    Either way, we at least have an idea about how much the Xperia 5 III will cost in the US. The company’s European branch revealed that the Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III will be launched in Europe for €1.300 and €1000, respectively.

    Considering the Japanese company has already opened Xperia 1 III pre-orders in the US and the phone is priced at $1,300, it’s safe to assume that the Xperia 5 III will sell for $1,000 in case Sony decides to bring it to the States.

    Just like the Xperia 1 III, the Xperia 5 III will be shipped in Europe from September. This one will be available in Black and Green, but additional colors may be introduced after the phone’s market launch.

    The Xperia III 5 is a top-tier smartphone powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G processor, paired with either 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, or 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. Also, the smartphone boasts a stunning 6.1-inch OLED FHD+ display featuring Corning Gorilla Glass 6 coating.

    However, one of the phone’s main selling points is the triple camera setup (12MP+12MP+12MP). Along with the Xperia 1 III, the Xperia 5 III is the world’s first smartphone with a variable telephoto lens paired with a dual PD sensor. Not to mention that the camera features Zeiss optics and a brand new AI super-resolution zoom technology.

    As far as the battery goes, Sony claims the 4,500 mAh battery can charge up to 50% of capacity in 30 minutes with the 30W charger that comes with the phone.

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  • Facebook’s mobile cloud gaming service now covers the entire US

    Facebook’s mobile cloud gaming service now covers the entire US

    Just like other giants in the industry (Microsoft, Google, NVIDIA), Facebook has its own cloud gaming service. Announced last year, the closed beta of Facebook’s cloud gaming platform promises to offer a decent catalog of games that can be played instantly, with no installs, while on the move.

    The service was launched with just a handful of cloud-streamed games on Android and web in select US regions. Today, Facebook announced that its cloud gaming platform is accessible to over 98% of people in the mainland United States.

    Also, the company revealed that it’s on track to hit 100% by fall of this year and that it will start rolling out the service in Canada and Mexico. By early 2022, Facebook plans to reach Western and Central Europe with its cloud gaming platform.

    The announcement includes one other highlight that involves a new partnership with a major game developer: Ubisoft. Under the new partnership, Facebook’s cloud gaming platform will add more titles to its catalog starting with Assassin’s Creed Rebellion, which was launched as a cloud-streamed game on Facebook Gaming.

    Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed game can be played on the Facebook app on Android and the web (via fb.gg/play). In addition to Rebellion, Facebook has added two other Ubisoft titles to its portfolio of streamable games: Hungry Shark Evolution and Hungry Dragon. Two others will be added in the coming months: Mighty Quest and Trials Frontier.

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  • Google Assistant is secretly listening to you, it turns out

    Google Assistant is secretly listening to you, it turns out

    In a strange turn of events, Google allegedly confirmed that Google Assistant on your phone or smart speaker may be recording your audio without your knowledge, but just “at times”.

    Google representatives on Tuesday told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology that Google employees listen to some recordings of conversations between users and Google Assistant.

    Back in 2019, Google confirmed that its employees occasionally listen to conversations between users and Google Assistant. “We take a number of precautions to protect data during the human review process-audio snippets are never associated with any user accounts and language experts only listen to a small set of queries (around 0.2 percent of all user audio snippets), only from users with VAA turned on,” Google stated at the time.

    That’s all in the fine print but as it turns out, sometimes audio was recorded by the Google Assistant on a smartphone or smart speaker even when a user had not triggered the AI by saying Ok Google. IndiaToday sources claim that in response to a question from BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, the Google team confirmed the aforementioned.

    Google’s privacy policy states, “Occasionally, the Assistant will activate when you didn’t intend it to because it incorrectly detected that you wanted its help. If that happens, just say Hey Google, that wasn’t for you, and the Assistant will delete the last thing it sent to Google.”

    That’s all fine and dandy but there’s nothing about the times when Google Assistant is secretly listening to your conversations. How would you know in the first place? It’s a major scandal that has the potential to blow way out of proportion! We’re monitoring the situation closely and we’ll keep you posted if there’s any further information.

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  • Waze adds cats and dogs voices and moods, car icons to its app

    Waze adds cats and dogs voices and moods, car icons to its app

    More voices are coming to one of the most popular navigation app, Waze. This time we have something special to talk about, as Waze is adding cats and dogs voices to its mobile apps. So, regardless of whether you’re a cat or dog person, Waze now has you covered.

    From today for a limited time, Waze users can choose between two navigation voices that personify a dog or a cat. But we’re getting a lot more than just two voices, as each is themed toward a different mood.

    The dog voice is upbeat, positive, encouraging, and excited (distracted too!), while the cat voice is c, but also funny and irreverent. So it’s up to each user to choose the theme they like.

    In addition to the new voices, Waze introduces new car icons that can be used on the live map, such as the Meow Mobile and the Woof Wagon. There are also meant to show the user’s pet preference as they’ll have to change their mood to Cat or Dog.

    Keep in mind that the Cat & Dog theme will be available in English, French, and Spanish for a limited time, so make sure to download them before they’re gone.

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  • VietinBank pre-tax H1 profits up 75 pct

    VietinBank pre-tax H1 profits up 75 pct

    State-owned lender VietinBank has recorded pre-tax profits of VND13 trillion ($565.2 million) in the first six months of 2021, a year-on-year increase of 75 percent.

    Its ratio of non-performing loans at the end of Q2 was 1.38 percent, chairman Le Duc Tho said, adding that the targeted non-performing loans ratio for this year was 1-1.2 percent

    The bank’s total assets value at the end of June was VND1.4 quadrillion ($60.8 billion), while its loans outstanding were VND1.06 quadrillion, according to its CEO Tran Binh Minh.

    Capital mobilization as of June reached VND1.2 quadrillion, up 3.4 percent year-on-year.

    The bank plans to increase its charter capital by 29 percent to over VND48 trillion this year by paying dividends in shares.

  • Deutsche Bank Hit by Expired Hong Kong IPO License

    Deutsche Bank Hit by Expired Hong Kong IPO License

    A staffing error reportedly bypassed internal controls at Deutsche Bank which led to the expiration of its Hong Kong license to sponsor initial public offerings, marking a setback to the relaunch of its Asia equities business.

    Deutsche Bank failed to replace to regulated staff on time which will cause its IPO sponsor license to lapse from next month, citing unnamed sources.

    Deutsche’s IPO principals until June were investment bankers Poon Tsz Yuen and Rowena Wang, as per the Securities and Futures Commission’s (SFC) register. According to the report, Poon left the bank on June 16 and Wang is set to be removed from the register of authorized principals in early July.

    A spokesperson for the bank confirmed the license expiration and staff departures.

    The license expiration marks a setback to the relaunch of Deutsche Bank’s Asia equity capital markets (ECM) business after a restructuring in 2019 that saw Hong Kong shed alms all its ECM teams.

    According to another unnamed source close to the SFC, the issue suggests that there were «poor internal controls» at the bank and that process hereafter is expected to be slow.

    Separately, the SFC fined Deutsche Securities Asia last week for issuing incorrect statements to its prime brokerage clients and delaying the reporting of the failures to the regulator. And earlier today, the German lender’s Greater China investment banking vice-chair Rowena Chu reportedly retired.

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  • New high-end apartment supply up 120 pct

    New high-end apartment supply up 120 pct

    In the first six months, 7,040 new high-end housing units were launched in HCMC, up 123 percent year-on-year, accounting for 59 percent of new supply.

    Mid-range supply rose 295 percent to 4,908 units, accounting for 49 percent of new supply, while no new affordable unit was launched, according to a report by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction.

    This shows an imbalance in the HCMC real estate market where developers focus on the high-profit, high-end and luxury market while ignoring the affordable segment, boasting strong demand.

    The HCMC Real Estate Association (HoREA) predicts the imbalance would cause negative consequences in housing security.

    HCMC plans to increase its residential area per capita to 21.04 square meters by the end of the year, up nearly 2 percent from now. To do this, it needs an additional eight million square meters.

  • Volkswagen Polo GTI Facelift Unveiled

    Volkswagen Polo GTI Facelift Unveiled

    Now before getting into the details of the new Volkswagen GTI facelift, let us tell you how these official pictures of the 2021 model year surfaced online. So we actually don’t know whether it is one of Volkswagen’s marketing strategies, or Ralf Brandstatter – CEO, Volkswagen Passenger Cars got so excited by looking at these official pictures of this new hot hatch, that he couldn’t help sharing them on his linked in profile. Yes! This is how the range-topping 2021 Volkswagen Polo GTI was unveiled, almost two years after the global debut of the line-up.

    In terms of design, the new GTI gives you exactly what you expect of a facelift as the changes remain subtle and it’s a predictable evolution if you will. It gets fully redesigned headlights along with the slim DRLs extending to the new grille, just like the Golf GTI. Then, there are wider taillights and the overall design has been spruced up with the usual red accents, dual exhaust tips, and a honeycomb grille. It also sports chunkier two-tone alloy wheels with upgraded brakes featuring red calipers and other sporty elements include contrasting black mirrors and roof.

    On the inside, it gets VW’s Discover Pro and Discover Media systems as optional, and the car also receives Volkswagen’s new ‘digital cockpit’ dashboard setup, as used by the Golf and ID 3. Other elements include a 9.0-inch touchscreen unit, panoramic sunroof, voice control, wireless charging, Beats sound system, and 18-inch alloy wheels. In the safety department, the new Polo gets Volkswagen’s Travel Assist system for the first time, which includes adaptive cruise control, lane assist, side assist and rear traffic alert. Autonomous emergency braking is also standard, as is a driver alert system and automatic post-collision braking.

    The new Polo GTI also comes with three driving modes – Eco, Normal and Sport with the last one tuned for enhanced exhaust note. The Polo GTI also gets a bespoke, performance-oriented chassis tune, lowering the body by 15 mm compared with the standard Polo and adding a large stabilizer on the car’s front axle, rigid coupling rods at the front and stiffer axle-locating mounts at the rear. Now Brandstatter is promising a powerful TSI engine under its hood, but mechanical details are not confirmed yet. We expect it to feature the same 2.0-litre, four-cylinder Turbo TSI motor tuned for optimum performance and it should come with the options of both six-speed manual and DSG transmission. Talking about the India context, the new Volkswagen Polo GTI is based on the sixth-generation Polo and both models are not likely to join VW India’s line-up anytime soon.

  • Energica Unveils Liquid-Cooled Electric Motor

    Energica Unveils Liquid-Cooled Electric Motor

    Italian electric motorcycle manufacturer Energica has joined hands with Italian engineering company Mavel, to co-design a new liquid-cooled electric motor that will be used in Energica’s upcoming electric motorcycle range. Called the EMCE (Energica Mavel Co-Engineering), the new liquid-cooled powertrain increases peak power to 126 kW (169 bhp), compared to the outgoing unit’s figures of 110 kW (147 bhp). The motor also offers an increased range by 5-10 percent, while decreases overall weight by as much as 10 kg. The new motor will be used in the firm’s electric motorcycle models for the 2022 model year.

    “The introduction on the market of the new EMCE engine was scheduled for release in 2022, but following the difficulties of our supply chain – due to the global pandemic situation – we decided to anticipate this timing and instead, in just 6 months we have developed this co-engineering with Mavel, into our current model year production,” said Giampiero Testoni, CTO of Energica.

    According to Energica, the new motor features innovative rotor and stators’ geometries that minimize energy losses and maximize performance. The innovative and patented cooling of the rotor is capable of generating an internal flow of air that laps the magnets and cools them. This allows the engine to exploit its potential even at high speeds. According to Energica, the new EMCE powertrain will be introduced in electric motorcycles in Europe later this year, followed by the US, and then Asia. Energica however, doesn’t have a presence in India yet.

  • Vivo files a patent application for a detachable flying smartphone camera

    Vivo files a patent application for a detachable flying smartphone camera

    Vivo has filed a patent for a flying smartphone camera. You read that right, the camera disconnects from the phone and takes to the air to provide the user with unusual photo opportunities to take snapshots and video from. The camera module features four propellers, two dual cameras, three infrared proximity sensors and an extra battery.
    While in flight, the proximity sensors are used to prevent the flying camera module from crashing into other items that have escaped gravity by calculating the distance from a possible hazard to prevent mid-air collisions. Once in the air, the “flight camera” will be able to change positions and we expect to see one camera at the front of the module with another at the top.
    The patent application was filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and while camera drones are not new, Vivo is the first manufacturer to have a flying camera drone fit into the body of a smartphone. But there is a caveat. To make the camera module fit inside a phone, it has to be made smaller and lighter which means that it can be blown off track because of the wind which can also make images appear shaky.
    The vast majority of smartphone innovations have been coming from Chinese-based smartphone brands. But keep in mind that just because Vivo seeks to patent a flying camera for a smartphone, that doesn’t mean that such a product is coming soon.
  • HSBC Names Malaysia Head of Wealth and Personal Banking

    HSBC Names Malaysia Head of Wealth and Personal Banking

    HSBC has appointed a successor for the role of wealth and personal banking head in Malaysia after it was left vacant for three months.

    HSBC named Renee Bullock-Cann as head of wealth and personal banking (WPB) in Malaysia, according to a statement, succeeding Tara Latini who was named head of WPB in the U.S. in April.

    Bullock-Cann reports to HSBC Malaysia chief executive Stuart Milne and APAC regional head of wealth and personal banking Greg Hinston.

    Bullock-Cann was most recently the head of distribution for WPB in Malaysia after relocating to the country in 2019. Previously, she was head of WPB for HSBC Bermuda.

    According to HSBC, Malaysia is a priority market for the bank which has made various investments including $18 million from 2018 to 2020 to improve branches and client experience; $40 million from 2021 to 2023 to add tech capabilities to branches; the creation of 200 new roles; and the roll-out of various digital services.

    Our ambition is simple: we want to be the bank that Malaysians turn to for their international needs, Milne said.

    We will leverage our unparalleled international network, enhance our range of wealth solutions and focus on building our digital capabilities including our mobile functionality, our in-branch technology, and our people’s digital skills.