NOVEMBER 2017
THE POWER TO DECIDE
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EDS NOTE NOVEM BER 2017
Let’s talk about mall culture and the problems facing retail today. Most people associate both to be the same thing, but they can be different in nature. Retail in a traditional sense is the act of physically visiting and buying products from a brick and mortar store; in a mall or otherwise. Mall culture, is really related to social gatherings. This is better understood by watching the Robin Sparkles song, Let’s Go To The Mall, from the comedy How I Met Your Mother. Sure, it’s a parody. But it gets the idea across. The rise of e-commerce websites like Amazon and eBay kickstarted the downward slide of retail. And as electronic payment options and logistics networks started to improve, consumers easily shifted towards online shopping, and malls started to lose their shine. Today, we’re in the age of mobile shopping, which is a further evolution of e-commerce. Smartphones, apps and proliferation of cashless payment solutions meant that instead of being able to shop from the comfort of our homes, we can now buy just about anything, any kind of service, from anyone, anywhere. This is a society untethered, which brings me back to mall culture. Malls today have to retool themselves as social hubs, with more cafes, entertainment and experiential zones where the physical act of shopping comes second. The challenge to retain the crowd then, is to constantly revamp the experience to t cultural avors of the month. I nd these socioeconomic changes brought on by technology fascinating, which is why we’re doing a deep dive into the topic this month.
PICTURE ONCE UPON
DIGITAL A TIME IN TAOBAO
All prices quoted in this magazine are in Singapore Dollars (SGD), unless otherwise speci ed.
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ART ANTHONY
GONZALESART DIRECTION ORLAND PUNZALAN
CONTENTS NOVEMBER 2017
THINK
IMPACT
FEATURES
Here’s why the Apple Watch is a quiet success. We don’t need to go toMar s (yet). What I’ve learned six months after FB Zero Watch: Star Trek Discovery
Asphalt-based super batteries
Cashless technologies and digital retail disruption
Q&A
Jason Thompson, Grab
Shahnawaz Backer, F5 Networks
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SHOOTOUTS Custom NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 TI ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 TI OC GALAX GeForce GTX 1080 Ti HOF Gigabyte Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Extreme Edition 11G
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Porsche Panamera 2017 Xiaomi Mi A1 Acronis True Image 2018 Google Wi Portal Wi Tacoma Apple Watch Series 3 Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III
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HWM | NOVEMBER 2017
G E A R
/
THE LATEST AND GREATEST
The Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro is an updated version of the existing Gear Fit2 activit y band, now with 5 ATM water resistance, which that is can be submerged in up to 50 meters of water so you can nally track your swim activities. The Fit 2 Pro has a curved 1.5-inch Super AMOLED display.
M O R E INSIDE> DYSON PURE COOL LINK
No blades, no dust, no gas pollutants. BEATS STUDIO3 P IC T U R E
S A M S U N G
What you get when you combine a lifestyle trend with Apple tech. PANASONIC EZ1000
Another reason to get onboard the 4K OLED train.
NOVEMBER 2017
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GEAR
CLEAN AND COOL Dyson’s latest Pure Cool Link bladeless fans now capture gases and 99.5% of ne particles such as allergens and pollutants. The fan features improved lter technology, with a 360-degree glass HEPA lter to capture ultra ne particules, and an extra layer of activated carbon for improved gas capture.
P IC T U R E
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CEASE THE CACOPHONY The Beats Studio3 agship headphones boast Apple’s W1 chip, which makes it super easy to pair with other Apple dev ices. Thanks to the chip’s e cienc y, battery life is around 22 hours with noise cancellation or 40 hours wi th noise cancellation o . It uses Pure Adaptive Noise Canceling to listen to surroundings andtechnology adjust its algorithms to your bes t silence exterior noise.
P I C T U R E
A P P L E
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PURE ANDROID, BY XIAOMI?! The Xiaomi A1 smartphone is Xiaomi’s rst-ever stock Android OS device, which departs from the regular MIUI that X iaomi oers with their handsets. Despite being a low-cost smartphone, it o ers a dual rear camera conguration with 12-megapixel sensors, 5.5-inch Full HD display, 4GB RAM with 64GB s torage, a microSD card slot, and 3,080mAh battery.
P I C T U R E
X IA O M I
THE ACTION CAMERA RETHOUGHT
GEAR
HAVE ELECTRIC WILL TRAVEL The newly updated BMW i3 with its 94Ah cell batter y promises a range of up to 300km on a full charge. In fact, BMW claims that even in bad weather conditions and with air conditioning turned on, you’ll still get up to 200km of range. The increased batter y also features a new three-phase AC fast charging system, so charging only takes less than three hour s.
P IC T U R E
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REPLICATING THE HOLLYWOOD QUALITY IN YOUR LIVING ROOM
P A N A S O N IC
HWM
GEAR
COMPACT SNAPPER Yes, it’s another mirrorless camera from Canon. The M100 follows the M5 and M6 by using dual pixel AF to o er fast focusing, but the Creative Assist feature is where it will stand out, as i t oers easy tips for the most scenarios in photography so even beginners can get all their pictures right.
P IC T U R E
C A N O N
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GEAR
TRACK YOUR HEALTH The latest activit y tracker from Garmin is called the vivosport. Compared to Garmin’s earlier oerings, it features a sleeker design. It comes with a ber-reinforced polymer case and comfortable silicon strap. Compatible with iOS, Android, and even Windows Phone devices, the vivosport has a built-in GPS and and integrated heart rate sensor, allowing it to accurately track your daily activities and workouts. It even has allday stress tracking that takes note of how your body responds to potential stressors.
P IC T U R E
G A R M IN
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SONY SPECIAL
Sony ’s HT-ST5000 delivers true surround sound
Soundbars have become a staple for home entertainment lately, with
TUNED FOR THE FINEST DETAIL
more and more companies pushing out quality options for every home. However, Sony’s newagship HTST5000 soundbar stands out with how it is able to completely immerse you in ATMOS sound with just one soundbar and one subwoofer.
a movie fan, the HT-ST5000 has you covered too. It boasts a balanced sound signature so you get great performance in vocals and highs, with impressive bass to match. Perfect for acoustic pieces and movies! Because the soundbar is able to support 192kHz/24bit High Resolution Audio (HRA), you’ll hear every detail. And even regular audio recordings will sound better too, as Sony’s DSEE HX technology upscales them to near HRA quality.
SURROUND WITHOUT BOUNDS
Unlike other soundbars, the HT-ST5000 doesn’t need strategically placed walls for optimal sound. Instead, it uses Sony’s S-Force PRO Front Surround technology with Digital Signal Processing to create a natural sound eld around you. In essence, the soundbar envelops you in a bubble of sound, while ATMOS technology places “sources” of sound in this bubble, making you feellike you’re right in the middle of the action. In addition to ATMOS, the HT-ST5000 also fully supports dts:X and Dolby Surround Upmixing technologies, so every video you watch will comewith 3D-like immersive sound.
If you’re more an audio puristthan
IMPRESSIVE VERSATILITY
For movies and videos, the HT-ST5000 offers three HDMI inputs, digital optical and analog connections, a USB input, and a HDMI ARC output that’s 4K/HDR compatible so you can pass videos in full resolution to your screen. There’s one-touch support for Spotify and Chromecast, and you can stream music to it using Bluetooth. NFC support makes for easy pairing
while LDAC support lets you send high quality audio wirelessly. And it supports multi-room audio too, so that same great song can play throughout the home. DRIVEN RIGHT
A 7.1.2ch 800W system, the HTST5000’s speakers uniquely use a magnetic uid system for damping instead of a regular damper. The voice coil is moved by magneticuid instead of a physical damper, so the speaker gets more sound with less travel, and transmission loss is minimized. No physical damper also means there’s one less solid element moving, so you get the cleanest possible signal. Meanwhile, the HT-ST5000’s subwoofer employs a Sigma Magnetic circuit with a large 18cm diameter driver which uses double and symmetrical magnetic ux to deliver twice the magnetic ux, giving it a faster time decay, which means tighter and clearer bass. Sufce to say, you’ll really feel the full force of the presentation!
The HT-ST5000 is available now for $2,799 at all Sony Store, Sony Centre, and Sony Authorized Dealers. More details at www.sony.com.sg/soundbars
GEAR
THE COMPACT SELFIE
C A S IO
HWM
EPSON SPECIAL
Inkjet printers that rival laser printers oes your inkjet printer run out of ink very quickly, even though you don’t print a lot? And do you feel the pinch when paying for the costly replacement toner cartridges? If so, it’s time to take a look at Epson’s
new compact integrated ink tank system printers. Fitted with integrated ink tanks that can be easily re lled with affordable high yield ink bottles, these printers are able to print several thousands of pages, compared to conventional laser printers that can only print a fraction of that. Epson, which has been making ink tank system printers since 2010, has just introduced its latest lineup, with ve new models offering faster speeds, enhanced features, and a more compact design. For a start, the new ink tank printers – L6190, L6170, L6160, L4160, L4150 – have their ink tanks integrated into the unit, instead of protruding from the side like past models. This means the new printers take up less space, and you can quickly determine remaining ink levels from the front. Each replacement ink bottle’s nozzle is also uniquely shaped, so each bottle can onlyt its own tank, eliminating rell errors and spillage during rell. Better yet, a single black ink bottle, which
costs just $14.90, is able to print 7,500 pages in mono; and a set of color ink bottles, which costs $9.90 each, is able to print 6,000 pages in color. That’s equivalent to aboutve standard toners of a conventional laser printer! You can also print on both sides of the paper to further reduce costs. Featuring a 30-sheet automatic document feeder, a fax function, and support for mobile and cloud printing, the L6190 is suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises. The L6170 omits the fax function but retains the useful ADF. Smaller businesses that don’t need the ADF for multi-page scanning jobs can turn to the L6160, which also has a print speed of 15 ipm for mono and 8.0 ipm for color.
The L4160 is particularly great for home users looking for a multifunction printer with a low running cost. This auto duplex-capable printer has a top print speed of 10.5 ipm for mono and 5 ipm for color, and like all the other new models, is capable of borderless photo printing at up to A4. Finally, the L4150 offers exceptional value for the money: it uses the same long-lasting ink tanks as the others, and despite the small size, is also a multifunction device capable of wireless and mobile printing. So don’t be fooled into buying cheap printers that use small and expensive ink cartridges because you’ll end up paying more in the long run. To print more and save more, check out Epson’s ink tank system printers today.
Experience the Epson Inkjet Effect now atwww.epson.com.sg/inktankprinter or call800 120 5564for more details.#EpsonInkjetEffect
GEAR
WHEN TOUGH IS JUST ANOTHER DAY AT WORK The Luminox Navy SEAL Steel 3250 series features a new design with raised numbers and indices on the dail, plus alternating br ushed and high polish steel accents on the case and bezel. It’s a classier look for sure, but underneath, you get the same proven reliability and toughness from over 23 years of elite militar y use.
P I C T U R E
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ACTIVISION BLIZZARD SPECIAL
So you think you know DESTINY? Understanding the Destiny 2 experience and why this is a must have AAA block buster game this season.
IT’S AN MMO-FPS-ARPG. WHAT?
SATISFY YOUR URGE TO TOP LEADERBOARDS
IT’S AN EPIC SPACE OPERA
PLAY ON THE PC
EXPLORE VAST OPEN WORLD MAPS
A C T IV IS IO N B L IZ Z A R D
BE THE YOU THAT ONLY YOU CAN BE
For more information about Destiny 2 and to buy the game online, go to www.destinythegame.com
GEAR
ORGANIZE WITH STYLE
Keep your table clean and organized with this gorgeous laptop stand from Satechi. Made from anodized aluminum, the stand is heavy enough to secure laptops and tablets without toppling over, with rubberized grips to protect your device. Available in silver, space gray and jet black to match your personal decor. P IC T U R E
S A T E C H I
A SMARTWATCH FOR SPORTS ENTHUSIASTS The Gear Sport is a new version of Samsung’s Gear S smartwatches, and uses the s ame rotating bezel design. Its 1.2inch Super AMOLED display is slightly smaller than the one on the Gear S3, but features the same military- level durability. Living up to its name, the Gear Sport is also rated 5 ATM (50m water resistance) and accor ding to Samsung, it can even survive salt water, should you go for a dip in the sea. P I C T U R E
S A M S U N G
GEAR
2. LONGER LIFE, MORE COMFORT ABLE DESIGN
Introd ucing Marshal l’s rst collecti on of wireless multiroom speakers, the Acton, Stan more and Woburn. Each packs a wallop of power for sheer audio perf ormance, and connect wirelessly through Chromecast, Spotify Connect , AirPlay, Bluetooth and more. Even though it’s packed with new tech, the speakers still sharethe same timeless look as previous Mars hall speakers.
The 2017 version of Samsung’s Gear IconX wireless earphones feature better bat tery life (up to ve hours of streaming) and are also lighter with a redesigned shape to ensure they stay in your ear more securely. The new earphones can also communicate with Samsung’s Bixby AI via Bluetooth. SAMSUNG GEAR ICONX (2017)
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MARSHALL WIRELESS MUL TI-ROOM SPEAKERS
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3. MINIMAL IST RANGEFIN DER
Fujilm’s X-E3with hits the rightX-Trans spot in a lot of ways, a 24MP sensor and 4K video capture. It also features an electronic view nder, positioned range nder-style by the side, and a new AF joystick. The back is surprisingly minimal, relying more on the touchscreen for control instead of a d-pad. FUJIFILM X-E3
A. STOP LOS ING YO UR AIRP ODS !
If you’re always misplacing your AirPods, you need this. The PodCase is a Kickstarter project that lets you store your AirPods in a protective case with your iPhone, and it even invludes a 2,500mAh bat tery to keep them charged up. Available for the iPhone 7, 7 Plus and Apple’s 2017 lineup of iPhones. PODCASE
P IC T U R E S
M A R S H A L L , S A M S U N G , F U JI F IL M , P O D C A S E
5. LOW -COST , HIGH-V OLUM E INKJET
6. THE ON-CAMERA FLASH, DEFINED
PRINT ING BLISS
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Designed for SMEs , Epson’s new L6190 ink tank printer comes withprint, scan , copy, and fax functio ns. A compact machine due to an integrated inktank design, each black ink bottl e still prints up to 7,500mono pages, while a set of color inks cangen erate up to 6,0 00 color pages. High print quality is ensured thanks to Epson’s adva nced PrecisionCore printhead.
The Profoto A1 contains so many astoundingly good ideas that you wonder why it took so long to make an on- camera ash this modern. First, the ash has a round head, which simulates natural light with a smooth fall-out . Secondly, a magnetic mount built into the head allows you to easily snap modi ers onto the ash. For accuracy, there’s even a built-in modeling light.
EPSON L6190
PROFOTO A1
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7. WIR ELE SS CON SOL E AU DIO FORPROS
8. A CREATIVE KEYBOARD FOR CREATIVE FOLKS
P IC T U R E S
E P S O N , P R O F O T O , R A Z E R , L O G IT E C H
The new Razer Thresher 7.1 headphones come in Xbox One and PS4 variants , and they use each console’s proprietary wireless technology to transmit 7.1 Dolby Surround Sound. These gaming headsets come with 50mm drivers and 16-hour long batter y lives, while boasting a maximum wireless range of 12m.
The new Craft keyboard comes with what that Logitech calls t he Crown. This aluminum dial comes with built-in integrations for seven apps and is touchsensitive. A light tap gives you access to context-speci c functions, while pressing down allows you to switch functions.
RAZE R THRESHER 7.1 (2017)
LOGITECH CRAFT KEYBOARD
GEAR
9. VISUALLY VIVACIOUS, AURALLY ALLURING
Edier’s Luna HD elegantly curved speakers with smooth piano nish are a striking addition to any home theatre. T he speakers provide depth and nuance to your favorite songs, movies and games, with Digital Signal Processing and Dynamic Range Compressio n for precis e clarity and strength. Connect wirelessly through Bluetooth, or use a 3.5mm auxiliary cable or optical input. EDI FIE R LUN A HD
10. ZOOM ZOOM
Sony’s superzoom compact is back, and it’s faster and more powerful than before. The RX 10 IV has a new 1-inch type 20.1 MP Exmor RS CMOS stacked image sensor and pairs that with a BIONZ X image processor with front-end LSI, so it is able to capture ata stunning24 fps!Adda new Fast HybridAF sys tem with 315 phase detection AF points that gets focus in as littl e as 0.03s, and you’l l be more than ready for any shot.
SO NY RX1 0 IV
11. FOR THE MID-PRICE AUDIOPHILE The 8th iteration of KEF’s popular Q series Hi-Fi range features multiple enhancement that include a new Damped Tweeter Loading Tube to their Uni-Q drivers and a low- distortion inductor on the crossover. These help improve performance in the lower trebles as well as allowing the new speakers to have cleaner bass. KEF Q SERIES SPEAKERS
P I C T U R E S
13. KLIPSCH ON REPE AT
12. WEAR WITH PRIDE Base d on the company’s Zürich Weltzeit, which has a clever dual timezone complication for frequent travele rs, the Nomos Red Dot is a limited edition timepiece created to celebrate its presence in Singapore. Instead of the UTC +8 timezone being represented by Hong Kong, the Red Dot has Singapore in its stead, with a unique red dot at the home time indicator.
The iconic Klipsch Reference R6i in-ear headphones just got a refresh after t hree years. The new version features an updated look, and classic round cables (instead of old, at ones) for better handling. All the other hardware that made the R6i popular like its 6.5mm dual magnet micro-speakers, patented oval ear tips, and three-button in-line remote - are all sta ying. Great for the folks who love something that already works. KLIPSCH REFERENCE R6I (II)
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NOMOS RED DOT
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P I C T U R E S
N O M O S , K L IP S C H , J5 C R E A T E, O W C
14. SWISS KNIFE FOR NOTEBOOKS
15. PORT EXP ANSION
The JCA379 is aType-C specialport adapter that j5create uses a 5Gbps USB to give you one HDMI, and one USB 3.0 por t with Power Delivery 2.0 in return. In essence, there’s no need to sacri ce a port on your notebook just to output content on a larger screen What’s more, plug in a 5V power plug to the JCA379, and it will charge both your notebook and the other connected device. How handy is that? J5CRE ATE JCA3 79
Put your notebook’s super high bandwidth Thunderbolt 3 port to good use with OWC’s new Thunderbolt 3 Dock, which features no less than 13 ports from an SD card reader to a 3.5mm audio combo jack. It has jus t about all the ports that one would need for any modern accessory, though some users will be mied at the omission of an HDMI port. OWC THUNDERBOLT 3 DOCK
LG SPECIAL
5 things you should know before buying your next TV Ultra-high brightness ratings are often touted as the only indicator of a good TV. While attractive atrst sight, details and color accuracy can get washed out because of it. Also, looking at an overly bright screen for prolonged periods can result in eye fatigue. So,before you spend money on a TV, here’s everything else you should be looking out for to make your investment truly worthwhile. 1. RICH AND ACCURATE COLORS AFFECT WHAT YOU CAN SEE
Having richer and more accurate colors actually affects what you can and can’t see on a display. LG Super UHD TVs are composed of Nano Cells, uniform, 1nm particles that create high color accuracy. The Nano Cells absorb surplus light wavelengths and thus enhance the purity of the colors. The Nano Cells improve color gamut and accuracy, and as a result, the LG Super UHD TVs reveal a billion vibrant colors, substantially more than conventional TVs. 2. GET THE MOST FUTURE-PROOF HDR SPECIFICAITONS
LG Super UHD TVs support HDR10 and HLG, as well as Dolby Vision. The most compelling difference between the standards is that Dolby Vision uses dynamic, or continuous metadata, so that color and brightness levels can be adjusted per scene, or per frame, for a
perfect HDR viewing experience. HDR10 uses static metadata that is only sent once. 3. LOOK FROM ALL SIDES
It’s important to look at a TV’s display from the sides as well as the front; while most TVs will look good straight on, some will falter from the sides. Image quality can drop so noticeably that certain details will ‘disappear‘ as you move from the front to the sides. LG’s Super UHD TVs display zero color distortion across wider viewing angles, so you’ll be able to see accurate color and details even from the sides. 4. LISTEN TO MORE SOUNDS
LG’s Super UHD TVs feature dynamic sound designed by audio experts harman/kardon. The TVs have been custom tuned to deliver sound that expands throughout the space with clarity and depth.
5. TRY USING IT
LG’s Super UHD TVs ship with webOS 3.5, an easy to use operating system (OS). Not only is it fun and colorful, it’s designed to help you easily get to where you want to go. The Magic Remote especially deserves special mention, it lets you point, click and scroll the TV, like a wireless mouse for the TV. Using it to quickly glide between characters on the screen keyboard is a loteasier than tapping on the d-pad again and again. Check out the LG Super UHD TVrst
With all these buying tips on hand, make a bee line for the LG 55” Super UHD TV 55SJ85OT when you’re at the store. Its Nano Cell Display creates accurate colors with a wide viewing angle, it can produce more than a billion rich colors and has HDR support for Dolby Vision, plus it comes with powerful sound that’s co-designed by harman/kardon, and ships with the intuitive webOS 3.5.
To d n out more about the LG 55” Super UHD TV 55SJ85OT, go to http://www.lg.com/sg/tvs/lg-55SJ850T-superuhdtv
SHOWCASE
An
F1 car for the road
Mercedes-AMG Project One
If your bank account ends with more zeroes than you care to count, there’s a new ride waiting for you. The Mercedes-AMG Project One is the brand’s rst entry into the ultra-exclusive and rareed world of hypercars and they haven’t held back. Power will come mostly from a 1.6-liter V6 turbocharged engine. It sounds tiny, but this isn’t any ordinary engine. This is a modi ed version of the exact same unit that is used to power Lewis Hamilton’s 2017 Mercedes-Benz F1 race car.
Modications are necessary otherwise the car won’t be road legal. Mostly, the idle and redline rpms have been reduced. But even so, the engine will still scream to 11,000rpm and will produce around 750hp. Complementing the engine are four electric motors. All in, the Project One will produce around 1,020hp. Performance is, as you would expect, ballistic. The car is still undergoing testing, but Mercedes has said that top speed is beyond 350km/h and that the Project One can sprint from 0 to 200km/h in under 6 seconds - faster than a Bugatti Chiron. Wow. But the number that dwarfs them all is the price. A cool €2.275 million. Hopefully, they’ll throw in free COE for all that money.
P IC T U R E
M E R C E D E Z A M G
TOR
UE
HWM+HWZ
MEN’S HEALTH
ELEVATE YOUR REACH Connect with 3 million men. And then some.
DIGITAL CASH IN A DIGITAL WALLET Jason Thompson, Head of Payment s at Grab tells us why it’s not jus t about making another cashless payment solution, but fostering best practices to make sure customer experience is painless.
MORE INSIDE> WE DON ’T NE ED T O GOTO MARS (YE T)
As romantic as it may sound, let’s solve some down to Earth problems rst. P H O T O G R A P H Y D A R R E N
UNFOLLOW ALL
Lessons learned after six months of FB zero.
C H A N G
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Q & A
HOW SECURITY ADAPTS Alvin Soon Zaphs Zhang
Why did you go into information security?
What is something that people don’t know about modern information security?
Can you give me a further example? We’re seeing bigger risks now from phishing attacks. How would you stop something like that?
Watch
Alvin Soon
By the time I’m writing this, only the rst three episodes of have aired. But it’s clear that this is a with its own distinctive personality, and boy, is it darker than any that has come before. For one, our lead protaganist Michael Burnham (Sonequa MartinGreen) has to grapple with PTSD over a rash mistake that cost thousands of her fellow ofcers their lives. And in stark contrast with previous S s, where eet captains could be counted on to be moral exemplars, the captain of the USS , Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs), appears to be slightly unhinged. In one scene, he chillingly declares to Burnham that when it comes to rules, “Universal law is for lackeys, context is for kings.” This is clearly not Kirk’s
, yet perhaps is the we deserve, but not the
one we need right now. The sheer optimism of a series like feels too far away in 2017, amid worrying tensions of climate change, isolationism and random acts of terror. And yet, hope has always been ’s gift to popular culture. The series’ signature is unwaveringly optimistic; that no matter how bleak the times become, humanity overcomes its worst instincts to create a future of inclusion, exploration, and discovery. Will be the that permanently plunges the series into darkness, or will it nd a way back to provide hope for the future again? Right now, your guess is as good as mine, but either way, it’s worth watching to nd out.
© 2 0 1 7 C B S IN T E R A C T IV E . A L L R IG H T S R E S E R V E D .
IMPACT
WE DON’T NEED TO GO TO MARS (YET) A colony on the Red Planet isn’t the solution we need. The heady winds of technological progress are quite irresistible. This past September, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared a major update on his plans to colonize Mars at the International Astronautical Congress in Australia. It was meant as a follow up to a previous talk he gave at 2016’s IAC rst conference in Mexico, where he unveiled the Interplanetary Transport System, or as Musk likes to playfully call it, the Big F**king Rocket (BFR). The latter name is fun, but it underscores the outsize proportions of Musk’s ambitions, and those of many of his Silicon Valley peers. The BFR moniker sounds blissfully simple and easily grasped by the general public, but it also sounds pretty crazy, and that’s the problem with many of Musk’s grand schemes.
into building the BFR, eventually deprecating most of its existing Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. He even said that the same system could be used for city-to-city travel on Earth, by rocket. This, and Musk’s other projects such as the Hyperloop and the Boring Company, are without doubt visionary. They’re bold new ways of doing things, but they require too radical a change that won’t necessarily bene t large sections of the populace. That doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t happen, but it also highlights the uncomfortable fact that all these enterprising minds are being put to work on solving problems for themselves. It’s difcult to see the average person worrying about there being a second home for humanity. On
His plans are big, but they ultimately feel like they’re better suited for some sort of whimsical, alternate reality. SpaceX continues to demonstrate admirable success in ying, landing, and reusing its Falcon 9 rockets, but is this really the most pressing problem that needs solving? At this year’s IAC, Musk proposed putting all of SpaceX’s resources
the other hand, Musk, off on his own rareed plane, thinks that it’s essential to the survival of the human race. Google talks about antiaging research with Calico, but for many people, the problem is simply
getting access to affordable, quality healthcare. In San Francisco itself, where many of these cutting-edgerms are based, rising sea levels is a very real problem. So is the widening income gap between rich and poor, and the prohibitively high cost of home ownership. Unfortunately, solving income inequality or world hunger doesn’t sound as exciting or as inspiring as going to Mars or defying death. But what can one do? Perhaps we can start by not treating every Falcon 9 landing as news.
S P A C E X
Q & A
SPEEDING THE EVOLUTION OF PAYMENT
Today more than 60% of people in Singapore are still using cash, but close to 80% of our Grab users (in Singapore) are using GrabPay. So why is our wallet so pervasive, and why is cash so pervasive outside of Grab? We look at it from four simple ways.
I don’t think so. I think what you’ll see is that we’re (actually) driving good behavior. In Singapore, there’s high penetration of credit and debit cards, so why is cash still so prevalent? I think for some reason, the consumer doesn’t trust it (credit cards).
*Laughs* Exactly! It’s the same with payments. The last thing you want to do is scan a QR code and your payment not be accepted. Cust omers will be embarrassed and they’ll never do it again. So the way we’re approaching unication is key. We can’t ever let our customers suffer that experience.
Number one is safety. The consumer sees us constantly striving to ensu re that safety and security is del ivered. Number two is that it h as to b e easy. We serve multiple generations of riders and drivers and they all use our app as they’re all ve ry comfortable with it. Third is uni cation. We have more than 50 nancial institutions that take GrabPay, so we’re condent the c onsumer will be able to choose where and how they want to use their money. Whether that’s cash in or cash out, it happens instantly. Lastly, cash is still very important. The consumer must never feel like their cash is trapped. If they want cash, you must let them have it.
When our users use GrabPay, they have to feel safe. Another issue around open acceptance in Singapore is that nobody wants to be embarrassed. You never want to be the guy in the Starbucks queue counting coins – at 8am in the morning.
(I’ve) got a credit card, cash, and a smartphone. What’s the safest thing here? Could you use this card to buy a coffee without me there? I bet you can. So that’s obviously not se cure. What about this $50 bill? I bet no one’s returning that. Now, try getting my bank details out of my phone. You can reset the phone and take it for yourself (without my information), but I can buy a new phone, put my pin in and have all my details back. So the safest thing on the table is the phone, and we’re working hard to make it even safer. It’s that simple for me.
There are some who still think of the Apple Watch as a failure, and that Apple’s refusal to share sales numbers conrm that. However, there is overwhelming evidence to suggest that the Apple Watch has been a sleeper hit. While Apple hasn’t revealed exact shares numbers, they have shared some stats and we have managed to learn much from them. During the Apple Watch Series 3 announcement, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that Apple has surpassed Rolex in terms of sales to be the number one watch brand in the world. Furthermore,
to nearly 80% of the smartwatch market for that particular quarter. Another market research rm, Strategy Analytics, estimated that Apple shipped around 11.6 million watches for the whole of 2016, putting them comfortably in rst place as the best-selling smartwatch. They also believe that Apple has a smartwatch market share of around 55%, making them the runaway leaders in this category. Comparing sales of the Apple Watch to Apple’s other devices like the iPhone and iPad would be missing the point. A watch isn’t a
years. Admittedly, for all of Apple’s successes, the Swiss watch industry remains largely unaffected. You might have read about Swiss watch exports dwindling, but this problem is mostly a self-aficted one and not one caused by the Apple Watch. Inef cient distribution, ineffective marketing, a disconnect in prices, and many other factors, have caused many to question the value of plonking down a couple of thousands of dollars on a piece of metal, albeit an exquisitely crafted one. The uncertain economic
HERE’S WHY THE APPLE WATCH IS You might want to rethink your position if you still think the Apple Watch is a op.
Cook also mentioned that in Q2 2017, the growth of Apple Watch was up 50% year-over-year. Earlier this year, Cook boasted that demand for the Apple Watch was so strong during the holiday quarter than Apple couldn’t make enough Apple Watches. Market research rm Canalys estimated that Apple sold around 6 million watches during the holiday season and that generated over US$2.6 billion in revenue for the company. This would amount
necessity like a phone is. Heck, look around you, how many people even wear a watch these days? For a more direct comparison, consider that the Casio G-Shock, one of the most popular watches in the world, only recently announced that it has sold its 100 millionth watch. Incidentally, 2017 also happens to be the 35th anniversary of the G-Shock. It took the G-Shock 35 years to hit 100 million. Apple has already sold more than 10 million watches in just over two
climate and global outlook don’t help. The thing is, the Apple Watch was never meant to compete against such watches. They might compete for the same real estate on your wrist, but the person who has been eyeing a Rolex Submariner or a vintage Patek Philippe ref. 2499 isn’t going to stop just because Apple came out with a smartwatch. The allure of mechanical watches is a whole other story best saved for another day.
Nevertheless, the Apple Watch has had a profound effect on what watch insiders cal l fashion wat ches. The Texas-based Fossil Group is the undisputed leader in this segment. It makes watches for a staggering 17 brands in total, of which 6 are its own (Fossil, Skagen, and Zodiac, just to name a f ew) and 11 are licensed (Adidas, Emporio Armani, Michael Kors, DKNY, Diesel, and more). The day the rst generation Apple Watch went on sale on Apri l 24, 2015, Fossil’s stocks were trading at over US$80 apiece. Right now, at
admitted as much and said: “The introduction of technology into wrist devices, traditional watches came under pressure and we were disadvantaged. We didn’t have the technology capabilities to compete with smartwatches, leading to a decline in our market.” Fossil is now doubling down on wearables and connected devices. At CES 2017 earlier this year, Fossil announced a new range of smartwatches and connected devices and also said that it now has 300 wearables within its portfolio of brands.
longer. watchOS 4, the latest operating system for the Apple Watch, adds more detailed heart rate monitoring and can even detect if you have irregular heart rates. It has improved workout modes and GymKit, a new feature that lets wearers sync their Apple Watches with compatible gym equipment. A long-term goal for the Apple Watch is to enable it to track your glucose levels using non-invasive methods. In other words, users won’t have to prick themselves to get a reading, which is typically
the time of writing on the afternoon of 9 October 2017, it is just US$8.93. Prior to the Apple Watch, Fossil also enjoyed ve years of record revenues. It racked in US$3.51 billion in 201 4. But in 2015 , its revenue was down to US$3.2 billion, and by the end of 2016, it was US$3.04 billion. Prots have fallen even more drastically. In 2014, the company made US$377 million. It was US$220 milli on in 2015 and j ust US$79 million in 2016. Fossil CEO Kosta Kartsotis
From the looks of things, Apple seems to have nailed down the formula for its smartwatch. The latest Apple Watch Series 3 is faster than before and now includes cellular connectivity - a feature that many users have yearned for since the rst Apple Watch. Apple has also smartly decided to shift the focus of the Apple Watch to health and tness. If there’s one way to get people to wear a watch, it is to tell them that by wearing it you can be healthier and that you can live
the only way know to get a reliable glucose level reading. If Apple is successful, this would make the Apple Watch an invaluable monitor for users with diabetes. The takeaway is this: the Apple Watch might not have enjoyed the same level of success as the iPhone or iPad, but it is still an immensely protable device. More importantly, the Apple Watch has a lot of promise and I’m certain that it will only grow in stature and importance for Apple in the coming years.
WHAT I’VE LEARNED SIX MONTHS AFTER FACEBOOK ZERO It’s been more than half ayear since I unfollowed every single friend and page I have on Facebook. It was a compromise at the time, between two conicting forces. I didn’t like how much time I was spending on the social media site, but I couldn’t leave it because of work, and I thought this halfway x between deleting and keeping my Facebook account would help. So how has it been living in Facebook Zero for months on end? Liberating. My world didn’t end inre and brimstone, dogs and cats didn’t live together, and there was no mass hysteria of any kind. Instead, I’m surprised how quickly having nothing on my News Feed has killed my interest in Facebook. Without the promise of cute puppy pictures, food porn or loquacious rants, there was really nothing pushing me to open up the site or the app. I feel calmer now with one less thing to obsessively check, and better that I’m not emotionally caught up with the latest dramas that, in hindsight, has little to do with my life. The experience hasn’t always been perfect. I miss out on posts from friends, when a friend had cute baby photos I had to hear about it from my wife.I miss a friend’s updates on his awesome artwork, and his wife’s beautiful posts on cooking. Plus, when I was scheduled toy to Bali for a work trip, I completely missed out on the news of an impending volcanic eruption. And
Alvin Soon
I won’t be a hypocrite; I recently organized a successful event, just using Facebook. But for all the good that Facebook can do, I still wouldn’t trade my newfound oasis of peace by reactivating the News Feed. I realize that I can’t kill my account entirely, but I don’t want to be re-addicted to the site again. And there’s one more thing that disturbs me about Facebook more than anything else: How the key resource at stake when you use Facebook is your mind. The ongoing investigation in the United States about how Russia could have waged psychological warfare to inuence the 2016 US presidential elections underscores this to me more than anything else. Facebook isn’t just about your social network anymore. Facebook is a cash grab for your state of mind, whether from drama queens who want your attention, multinational corporations who want you to buy a product, or politicians that want you to get on message. And I don’t want any part of it. Finally, a friend of mine told me something after I talked to him about going Facebook Zero, and it turns out to be the best reason I have to recommend others try it as well. Unlike me, this friend completely deleted his Facebook account. When I asked him why, he said he’d realized he spent too much time on the lives of others than his own. That, to me, is the key reason why I’m never going back to Facebook’s News Feed.
ASPHALT-BASED SUPER BATTERIES
100%
A team at Rice University’s Tour lab has developed a new porous carbon anode made from asphalt that could potentially charge high-capacity lithium batteries 20 times faster than currently available commercial lithiumion batteries. Project lead, James Tour, said “the capacity of these batteries is enormous, but what is equally remarkable is that we can bring them from zero charge to full charge inve minutes, rather than the typical two hours or more needed with other batteries.” The researchers mixed asphalt with conductive graphene nanoribbons and coated the composite with lithium metal through electrochemical deposition to create the new material. The anode was then combined with a sulfurized-carbon cathode to make full batteries for testing. The batteries showed a high-power density of 1,322 watts per kilogram and high-energy density of 943 watt-hours per kilogram. cant Testing revealed another signi benet: The carbon anode mitigated the formation of lithium dendrites. These unwanted dendrites usually form in standard lithium batteries and invade a battery’s electrolyte. If they extend far enough, they short-circuit the anode and cathode and can cause the battery to fail, catch re or explode.
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THE FUTURE
OF RETAIL Technology has dramatically altered how we shop. From mobile payment apps to online shopping to augmented reality virtual dressing rooms, retail is more sophisticated, more convenient and smarter than ever. Once upon a time we relied solely on human interaction in retail stores - with a little catalog shopping on the side. Today, you can buy a 50-inch TV on Amazon Prime and have it delivered right to your door less than an hour later. This is the future. By Team HWM Digital Art by Anthony Gonzale s Art Direction by Orland Punzalan
FEATURE
ook around Singapore and you’ll see empty shopping malls everywhere. And with big retailers like Borders, HMV, and most recently Toys’R’Us declaring bankruptcy, it’s easy to assume the days of traditional brick-and-mortar shopping are over. But if that’s true, then why did Amazon, one of the biggest online retailers out there, just buy a strictly brick-and-mortar supermarket chain, Whole Foods, for US$13.7 billion? The supermarket shopping experience has remained basically unchanged since 1937 when Sylvan Goldman invented the shopping trolley. Prior to that, shoppers were limited to purchasing only as much as they could carry in their hands. But the simple shopping trolley changed the entire user experience, increasing consumption and even the type of items that could be purchased. 80 years later, forward-thinking retailers like Amazon are ready to revolutionize the traditional shopping experience again and, just like the introduction of the shopping trolley, it all starts with integrating new technology into stores.
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Augmented Reality is your real life search lter
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ne of the big challenges consumers face when purchasing from a brick-and-mortar store isnding the product you want. Unlike online shopping, there’s no search bar to easily locate what you need, and store maps can be ine cient and confusing. Augmented reality could be the answer to that. Imagine going to a supermarket and being handed a pair of augmented reality glasses. As you walk down the aisles, you could choose to lter the view on your glasses to highlight foods thatt your specic dietary requirements, like gluten-free, low-sodium or Halal products, while other packaging that doesn’t match your criteria fades into the background. You could even upload a recipe to your headset and your glasses would show you all of the specic ingredients required, or suggest alternatives if what you’re looking for isn’t available.
One of the big challenges consumers face when purchasing from a brickand-mortar store is nding the product you want. 46
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While this sounds like tech from the far-future, we actually already have AR software that can do this. Samsung’s Bixby and Google’s Lens AR are able to accurately identify products just by looking at them through your smartphone’s camera lens. They can do more than just identify a product though. Instead of reading the ne print on packaging labels, you could look at a product through your AR camera lens and it could display all of the information you need, from calorie content and country of production to user reviews and even suggested food and wine pairings. Fashion retailers like Uniqlo are also experimenting with AR in the form of full-length AR mirrors to make trying on clothes faster and more convenient. Instead of queuing up for dressing rooms, shoppers can use an AR mirror to see what an out t looks like. The mirror could also suggest outts based on styles you like or to t your body-type, acting as a personal shopping consultant and stylist.
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P IC T U R E S
at about when you’re done shopping and it’s time to queue up and pay? While cashless payments have made checkouts a lot more convenient, Amazon has an even better answer: just walk out. Since 2015 Amazon has opened ten brick-and-mortar bookstores, with plans for another six on the way, and one convenience store selling groceries and cooked food. While Amazon’s stores may look traditional, everything inside is state of the art. Items are selected based on online review metrics and even arranged and displayed according to algorithms that suggest the best in-store placement. In the Amazon Go convenience store, when you want to buy something, there’s no checkout line to queue up in. Instead, customers simply tap their smartphones on a turnstile as they walk into the store, which logs them into the store’s network and connects to their Amazon account through an app. The system uses machine learning, sensors and arti cial intelligence to track items customers pick up, which are added to the virtual cart on their app. Putting an item back on the shelf removes it from their cart. When you’re done shopping, you just walk out, in fact, Amazon calls the technology ‘Just Walk Out’. A receipt is then sent to your email. Just Walk Out is currently in testing by Amazon employees, with a public roll out expected early next year.
Technology in brick-and-mortar stores doesn’t stop with the consumer experience. Heat mapping, Big Data and AI are all being used on a corporate level to track trends and make predictions on which store displays are the most eective, and which items are likely to sell the best, all calculated in real time and continuously updated. Big Data is also being used to more eectively track consumer purchasing habits, letting savvy retailers reduce perishable waste, and more reliably re-stock popular items to avoid missing out on sales.
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TOP COUNTRIES FOR SELECTED DURABLE CATEGORIES FASHION-RELATED PRODUCTS SOUTH KOREA GERMANY CHINA INDIA UNITED KINGDOM
77% 76% 68% 68% 67%
BOOKS/MUSIC/ STATIONERY JAPAN GERMANY SOUTH KOREA UNITED KINGDOM FRANCE UNITED STATES
79% 75% 72% 66% 64% 64%
TOP COUNTRIES FOR SELECTED CONSUMABLE CATEGORIES BEAUTY & PERSONAL CARE SOUTH KOREA CHINA INDIA GERMANY POLAND
65% 52% 48% 47% 47%
52% 45% 37% 33% 25%
TOP COUNTRIES FOR SELECTED CONSUMABLE CATEGORIES
TRAVEL SPAIN UNITED KINGDOM TURKEY AUSTRALIA INDIA GERMANY
67% 62% 60% 58% 57% 57%
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
NON-FOOD HOUSEHOLD GROCERIES SOUTH KOREA CHINA UNITED KINGDOM JAPAN INDIA
TOP COUNTRIES FOR SELECTED DURABLE CATEGORIES
BRAZIL GERMANY RUSSIA UNITED KINGDOM POLAND
57% 52% 50% 48% 48%
PACKAGED GROCERY FOOD SOUTH KOREA CHINA UNITED KINGDON JAPAN INDIA GERMANY TURKEY
FRESH GROCERIES SOUTH KOREA UNITED KINGDOM JAPAN CHINA AUSTRALIA
51% 47% 37% 33% 21% 21% 21%
37% 37% 23% 22% 18%
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ay you want to buy something. It could be a new laptop, a gaming mouse, or even something as mundane as hand soap. Is your rst instinct to head down to the store, or power up your PC? To be sure, that’s a question that depends on your level of technological savvy, but we’re willing to bet that many of you would favor adding the item to a virtual cart instead of an actual shopping basket. Consumers demand convenience, and the prospect of being able to shop from the comfort of your home, while still clad in pajamas and sporting awful hair, is tantalizing. Online shopping lets yo u do that, and even compare prices across dierent platforms. Boughta large TV? All it took was the click of a mouse, and you can rest assured that you picked what was to your knowledge the best price. From Amazon to Lazada, there are now huge online marketplaces where you can buy virtually anything, and have it delivered right to your door. This isn’t even limited to gadgets or household items, and services like Redmart an d Honestbeehavesprung up to doy o ur g rocer y sho pp gin for you. Many brands also have their own online stores, so you’re not just limited to what online retailers bring in. Furthermore, you don’t even need your PC to buy something. Most major online marketplaces have mobile-friendly layouts, and you can get your shopping done while lying in bed with your smartphone. On Prime Day 2017, an annual event where Amazon promotes its Prime subscription service with lucrative sales for members, the number of Prime members who purchased something increased by more than 50 per cent from 2016, with orders on the Amazon App more than doubling. What’s more, many of these online retailers haven’t even bothered to set up physical stores. British online fashion store Asos, whose name aptly stands for As Seen On Screen, exists purely on the internet. However, it continues to go from strength to strength, with international sales growth estimated at 48.1 per cent in 2017. In fact, according togures from the UK’s Oce for National Statistics, nearly half of the total spending with online retailers in 2015 went to entities such as Asos with no physical presence.
ut it’s not just businesses that are hawking their wares on the internet. Consumers have been getting in on the game as well, on platforms such as eBay, Craigslist, and Carousell. These platforms make it easy to sell pre-loved or brand new items to buyers eager for a cheap bargain, and add to the already large variety of goods you can get online. And then there are sites like Etsy, which allow enterprising artists to sell various vintage or handmade items. These are usually one-man operations, and with platforms like this, the barriers to entry aren’t that high at all. Tencent’s WeChat messaging app also allows anyone to set up an online store that can be accessed in the app itself. WeChat stores rst opened in 2014, but in 2016, a good third of the app’s nearly 800 million users were already making purchases rom its stores. With so many avenues to choose from, it’s hardly surprising that brick-and-mortar stores nd themselves losing eyeballs, and odies, to their online counterparts. Consumers only have so much money to spend, and the more ollars they direct online, the less they have to spend in retail stores.
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ven more worrisome for regular brick-and-mortar outlets is the fact that some online businesses are not content with just existing in virtual space. For all the hype and continued growth that e-commerce enjoys, Alibaba announced in January a US$2.6 billion bid for department store chain Intime Retail, a clear signal of its intention to expand beyond online retail. There are even rumors of plans for ave-storey mall in Hangzhou, which would host brands from Taobao, Alibaba’s agship e-commerce platform. Alibaba isn’t alone in this, and online retailers like Bonobos, Warby Parker, and local furniture retailer HipVan have also laid down bricks in the real world. This points toward a new model for doing business, or what Alibaba CEO Jack Ma has referred to as New Retail. According to Ma, this is an integration of online, o ine, logistics and data across a single value chain, with the customer at its core. By this reasoning, the divide between online and oine is false, and success in the next generation of retail will depend on how deftly companies utilize both channels.
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hether it’s brick and mortar shops oronline retailers, the one unier has to be payments. Simply put, if you want to be in business, you need to be paid. And in most cases, to pay others too. As much as the means of doing business has changed, so to havethe means of settling transactions, thanks in part to the insurgence of new technologies. Physical cash in terms of notes and coins and credit/debit cards are still widely used, but we’re starting to seethe rise of virtual wallets and payments via mobile. Major credit card operators like Visa and Mastercard have implemented a tap to pay system for their credit cards aswell as app versions for mobile phones, so there clearly is a pushto move consumers away from cash. But why so? The biggest problem with cash, is that it costs money to handle. Anthony Seow, Head of Cards & Unsecured Loans at DBS Bank says that relying on cash and cheque means time is wasted reconciling, tracking, handling and securing cash. Retailers have to spend precious resources handling theseissues, while banks too, have to invest inensuring that sucient automated tellers (and physical bank branches withsta) are available across the country or risk dealing with aggrieved customers seeking easy access to their own funds.
data about the customer. Jeremy Tan, CEO of LiquidGroup also makes a good point when he says that e-payments would provide transaction data that would allow merchants and service providers to better understand theircustomers as everything is recorded in real-time. Contrast this to the di culties a small street-side vendor would face trying to keep track of his customer habits when all he has to go by is hisledger at the end of the day and his own memory, and it’s easy to see his point. One last point we’d make with the small business owner in mind, is that reducing the amount of cash he has to keep in store would almost certainly reduce worries about security. Hard to rob a place, when there isn’t actually any money in it.
Are we ready for cashlessness?
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he concept of paying via the n I ternet and electronic gadgets predate the smartphone. We’ve had Amazon and PayPal since 1994 and 1998, while contactless NFC cards like EZ-Link and NETS FlashPay (in Singapore) existed since 2000 and 2009 respectively. It’s not hard to believe Visa’s Consumer Payment Attitudes survey, which stated that 78% of Singaporeans would instead prefer electronic payments as opposed to cash. That said, it’s still an uphill task to satisfy cashless evangelists.
He quotes a KPMG report by MAS that estimates the cash in circulation in Singapore to be 8.8% of GDP, compared to 4.4% in Australia and 2.12% in Sweden. 12.7 cheques per person were written in Singapore in 2014, compared to 7.1 in Australia. This brings the estimated social cost of cash and cheques to about 0.5% of GDP, or a staggering two billion SGD per year - not a small cost indeed. For individuals, our reliance on physical cash when we travel means you will invariably incur fees when making currency exchanges to the local currency, or when paying by credit card. While taking out cash from the equation won’t completely eliminate that cost (unless the world starts operating on a single
Ooi Huey Tyng, Visa Country Manager for Singapore and Brunei, said, “Singapore is a developed market where more than 60% of all transactions are made electronically. However, this means that around 40% of payments in Singapore are still transacted using cash and cheques, presenting a signicant opportunity for cash displacement. Certain segments in Singapore, such as hawker centers, food courts, and wet markets, are heavily cash-based. Hence, it isimportant for the industry to work closely together to introduce new digital solutions to convert cash in these segments so that Singapore can become truly cashless.” When we rst looked into mobile payment options back in the
unied currency standard), it certainly should bring them down signicantly as less middlemen come into play. And that’s not even factoring the time spentphysically searching for a money changer or waiting in queue. Plus, you’ll no longer have to deal with loose change you can’t use after you get back as every transaction will be deducted to the cent electronically. One of the understated disadvantages of dealing with physical cash is that there’s also opportunity cost in terms of gathering
HWM July 2016’s issue, ourcoverage excluded new alternatives, such as Qpay by Qoo10, which uses QR codes to facilitate ine o shopping without swiping a credit card. E-wallets like GrabPay haven’t been idle as well, with their expansion into Indonesia in September 2017. By partnering with anIndonesian online-too ine e-commerce platform called Kudo, Indonesia n residents can use GrabPay across 400,000 authorized agents in 500 towns and cities across Indonesia. E-payment is more than just Samsung, Android, and Apple Paythese days.
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DATA SOURCED FROM SINGAPORE PAYMENTS ROADMAP REPORT AUGUST
2016, KPMG
FEATURE
Currently, cashless mobile payment has caught theattention of governments and unrelated businesses. During itsNational Day Rally in August, theSingapore Government posited China as a role model for creating a uid smartphone e-payments ecosystem. It was easy to see why – China managed to see various e-payment methods takeowithout massive participation from their authorities. This promptedSingaporean CEO of Razer, Tan Min-Liang, to drafta proposal for a nationwide e-payment solution. Ironically enough, the proposal threw the ball back into the Singapore Government’s court – by stating that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) should look into a common e-payment framework that’s neutrally managed by the authorities. It’s quite plain to seethat Singapore isn’t quite ready for the new age of e-payments, but we’re getting there. Now, there’s PayNow, where citizens of Singapore merely need themobile or NRIC identication number of their peers to transfercash between friends at no extra charge.
S
o why is there a push for more convenient e-payment options when the existing ones are su cient and entrenched into our lifestyle? To understand that, we have to think outside of our regional borders. Earlier in August this year, Alipay announced that they chose to partner with a relatively new and unknownn-tech service
provider in Singapore called CCPay. Thiscollaboration will increase the number ofAlipay-ready terminals around famous tourist traps, such as Chinatown and People’s Park Complex. It provides more convenience to expat Chineseworkers residing here as well, since they can spenddirectly from their homeland’s bank accounts, on top of automatic currency conversion services whenever you make a payment via Alipay in Singapore. While it may seem unrelatable to residents within the SEA region, making Singapore a prominent venue for Chinese tourists to spend cashlessly at is a strategic move to generate more revenue for local businesses. The country is in a competitive landscape where her neighbors can oer cheaper shopping with a broader variety of goods and services. The Singapore Tourism Board stated that 2016 saw a total of 2.86 million visitors from China – it would be silly to not ‘help’ these people spend their money since Alipay saw US$1.7 trillion (~S$2.29 trillion) transacted via the service in just 2016 alone. In the case of Alipay and CCPay’s partnership , the local startup will help the Chineserm handle all Alipay transactions in Singapore. In return, CCPay gets tocharge a service fee, and Alipay can get a cutfrom it. All costs – suchas currency conversion – are borne by theshoppers. It’s an orderly arrangement for Singapore, who didn’t have to lift anger to be a part of this scheme. That’s not to say that SEA is idle in the cashless landscape – across the Causeway, we have WeChat Pay working on crossborder licensing, which wouldallow Tencent’s e-payments
The majority of of debit and credit cards of When surveyed, consumers prefer contactless cards due to their convenience (93%), speed (92%) and wide acceptance (88%)
Increasing the utilisation of FAST by consumers can be a tremendous gain for the economy
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Singapore is ready for
DATA SOURCED FROM SINGAPORE PAYMENTS ROADMAP
REPORT AUGUST 2016, KPMG
is used in 60% of
non-SVF transactions with in 2015 alone
usage has declined 26% since 2010. Consumer initiated from 28 million in 2010 to 20 million in 2015
account for 59% total transaction volume and are
usage
has increased 18% since 2010. as consumers respond to the instruments incentives for use and convenience
is an
under-utilised payment instrument
Direct debit and credit transfers per inhabitant in Singapore and benchmark nations DATA SOURCED FROM SINGAPORE PAYMENTS ROADMAP REPORT AUGUST
system to operate seamlessly in Malaysia. WeChat already has that license and a non-Chinese Yuan app in Hong Kong. Tencent
After all, Salvador Mendoza already demonstrated a number of attacks targeting Samsung Pay at Defcon last year, and the
said that WeChat Pay could also befound in 13 markets outside of China, with 10 currencies supported. Together with Alipay, these twoChinese e-paymentrms see CNY18.8 trillion (S$3.826 trillion) worth of transactions in just the rst three months of 2017. With that, it’s immediately apparent why mobile e-payments is a must forSoutheast Asia – almost nobody says no to more money.
hackers of Germany’s Chaos Computer Club demonstrated in 2013 that even Apple’s vaunted Touch ID can be hacked if people with enough intent put their minds to it. In Singapore, there’s been a case of a consumer who had his credit card details stolen from his smartphone. Sixight tickets worth a total of $12,327 were purchased, and yet his bank is refusing to waive the charges and insisting he pay a lowered sum of $5,000 as they claim their security system was never compromised. Obviously the hackers managed to obtain the two-factor authentication codes somehow, but this just goes to show that all of us need to be vigilant with every transaction. The low threshold set for mobile payments may also work in favor of the perpetrators as multiple small transactions are denitely harder to track than single large ones. Given how attached we are to our smartphones these days, it’s easy to see someone waiting at least half a day to see if it isn’t picked up. In that time, multiple quick transactions could be made - picking upve Apple Store gift cards from a convenience store and then running over to the next one for example - before the thief disposes of the phone. As long as you have access to the mobile phone and the payment solution, no one thinks twice. That’s the beauty and the danger of mobile payment. Until the day we can truly secure our smartphones (or deactivate them instantly without remorse), we’d say the best way to pay is simply to continue to have multiple ways. Governments and retailers will just have to accomodate.
W
P IC T U R E S
2016, KPMG
ith all the benets we’ve presented thus far, you must be wondering: What’s the catch? Well, how about the obvious concerns about safety to start? Everybody we’ve spoken to for this story from service providers (like Grab and Liquidpay) to the banks (like DBS) to even Government authorities (like MAS) has reiterated that mobile payments are safe - safer than credit cards or even cash in fact. They point to how access to the app is secured behind your mobile phone’s security, whether it be biometric or a six digit pin, and say that there is always recourse for action as mobile payments are consider direct funds transfers and so are safeguarded by the same laws. The advice given from The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) is to contact the person to request he send it back to you as it was sent in error and to remind him that using money that does not belong to him is a criminal oence under the Penal code (in Singapore). Presumably, that gives you room for legal recourse - at least, if you’re in Singapore. But somehow, that still isn’t the most reassuring answer.
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HWM
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THE FASTEST CARDS MONEY CAN BUY
ASUS ROG STRIX GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI OC • GALAX GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI HOF • GIGABYTE AORUS GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI XTREME EDITION 11G • MSI GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI GAMING X 11G • ZOTAC GEFORC E GTX 1080 TI AMP EXTREME
If you’re looking to game at 4K, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is the card to get. Still, these custom cards take things up another notch with aggressive factory overclocks, hulking coolers, and dazzling LEDs. But who does it best? By Koh Wanzi Photography by Angela Guo At Diection by Orland Punzalan
The semi-passive fans have IP5X dust resistance for better longevity and reliability.
ASUS ROG STRIX GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI OC ASUS is known for charging a hefty premium for the OC variant of its ROG Strix cards, and this one comes at an eyewatering $1,539. Price aside, the ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 Ti OC is quite an impressive specimen. There are several usability improvements over the Founders Edition
that put the heatpipes in direct contact with the GPU. This time, the six heatpipes draw heat away from the GPU via a nickel-plated copper plate, and ASUS claims this design eectively doubles the contact area with the GPU for better heat transfer. ASUS calls this MaxContact Technology, so while
model – for instance, you get the copper plate isn’t visibly your DVI-D port back, even larger, the company says the though NVIDIA removed surface is much atter, which it on its reference design. is how it maximizes the There are also two HDMI contact area. ports available, which makes The large heatsink also it easier to use with a VR increases the surface area Runs fast and cool headset and monitor. available for heat dissipation, One interesting feature but its sheer thickness means is something ASUS calls that you’ll need a 2.5-slot Very expensive FanConnect II. This takes the allowance for it. Still, the form of two 4-pin headers at same goes for most of its the front of the card, which other competitors, so this you can connect to your case is pretty much par for the fans to allow them to adjust course on 1080 Ti custom their speeds according to the cards. GPU temperature instead of the CPU. A diecast plate sits on top of the More importantly however, the cooling memory chips and MOSFETs, complete solution has been beefed up signi cantly, with thermal pads to provide some the better to accommodate the relatively passive cooling capacity. The heatsink also high factory overclocked speeds in OC features L-shaped ns to provide more Mode. The cooler has been completely contact area with these pads, although redesigned here, and we’re happy to see you may have to sacri ce some degree of ASUS nally ditch the ine cient design airow compared to straight ns.
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4-pin connectors at front of card
Two HDMI ports allow you to use a VR headset and HDMI monitor together.
AT A GL ANCE
B A S E/B S TC L C K 1,594MHz/1,708MHz (OC Mode) MEM R YC L C K 11,100MHz POWER C N N EC T R S 2x 8-pin P W ER P H A S E S 10+2-phase PRICE 1,539
AT A GL ANCE
GALAX GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI HOF
B A S E/B S TC L C K 1,569MHz/1,683MHz MEMORY CLOCK 11, MHz POWER CONNECTORS x 8-pin P WER PHASES 16+3-phase PRICE 1,349
The acrylic Luminhold bracket can be screwed to an expansion slot and connected to the card for direct lighting control.
GALAX’s GeForce GTX 1080 Ti HOF card has gone with a mounting frame that stands out as one of the more extravagant sits between the heatsink and the PCB, oerings here. Everything from its box to and this helps to provide structural the card screams for attention, and GALAX reinforcement and a degree of passive even opted to include a pair of presumably cooling. anti-static gloves too. A copper plate connects This is a really chunky with the GPU and channels and long card, measuring heat away to theve heat 57mm tall and featuring pipes, while an additional three 90mm semi-passive circumference of copper fans. You’ll need no less than around the main base plate three PCIe slots to install, helps cool the GDDR5X Visually unique and sucient clearance memory chips. The lengthwise. aluminum backplate also The mostly white plastic provides further passive Unwieldy shroud also makes for quite cooling, and there are dimensions a striking look (even the PCB thermal pads that make is white), and this is one GPU contact with some of the that should denitely be PCB components. paired with a matching board GALAX also lists the card or other components. as having an impressive Other notable features include a backlit 16+3-phase power design, but it really LCD display on the card’s side, where you consists of just eight true phases which are can display things like the HOF logo or doubled to give rise to 16. clock speeds and voltages. In addition, you And unlike most of the other cards, the can make it display custom text, although GALAX model comes with just a single set it can look fairly boring given the low resolution monochrome panel. When it comes to cooling, there’s unfortunately no dedicated VRM heatsink despite the card coming with three 8-pin power connectors. Instead, GALAX
of base and boost clocks, and there’s no OC Mode that you can switch to for a quick performance boost. That said, the Xtreme Tuner Plus utility does come with a 1-click OC function should you really want those extra frames right away.
The LCD panel lets you display various system monitoring information and custom text.
The card is powered by no less than three 8-pin connectors, whicher o up to 525W of power in theory.
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There’s a third HDMI port at the front for hooking up your VR headset.
GIGABYTE AORUS GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI XTREME EDITION 11G Aorus’ take on the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti stands out for its particularly thoughtful cooling system. The card is out tted with three 100mm fans, but unlike the GALAX, it make the length more manageable by employing a stacked design. The middle fan is slightly recessed, and
and it acts to cool the memory modules that surround the GP102 GPU as well. In addition, there is further thermal padding on the backplate itself, so it functions as more than just a structural support, and actually helps with passive cooling for the board’s other components.
the other two fans overlap Furthermore, the copper it. While this is still a fairly GPU heatsink is one part of a long card, any e ort to two-part design, and there’s make it less unwieldy is a second large heatsink denitely welcome. for the voltage regulation The center WindForce fan components, chokes, and also spins in the opposite capacitors. Some of the other Triple-fan design direction from the other cards don’t have as large a in a dual-fan body two, supposedly to better heatsink for those parts, so optimize air ow. this is de nitely a plus for the In addition, there’s a Aorus card. Aorus Graphics large cutout on the metal This may also be the Engine kind of clunky backplate that exposes card to get if you have a VR a distinctive copper headset, and it comes with plate. This copper plate a total of three HDMI ports, sandwiches the GPU one of which sits at the front between it and a separate of the card. If you also run copper heatsink that is in direct contact your monitor o HDMI and want to do VR, with the chip. This two work in tandem to this could turn out quite useful. cool the GPU, so while the heatsink draws And while Aorus is claiming to feature a heat away from the GPU, the copper total of 12 phases for the GPU, there are plate helps dissipate heat from the chip’s just six real phases, and we once again package. see the use of phase doublers to create The copper heatsink is also quite large, 12 control circuits.
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Th e fa ns ar e st ack edto al lo w fo r a shorte r desig n.
The copper plate helps channel more heat away from the GPU package.
AT A GL ANCE
BAS E/ BOOST CLOCK 1,6 7MHz/1,721MHz MEM R YC L C 11,448MHz POWER C N N EC T R S 2x 8-pin POWER PHASES 12+2-phase PRI E 1,290
AT A GL ANCE
MSI GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI GAMING X 11G
B A S E/B S TC L C 1,569MHz/1,683MHz MEMORY CLOCK 11,124MHz P WER CONNECTORS 2x 8-pin P W ER P HAS ES 8+2-phase PRICE $1,279
The Torx 2.0 fans are super silent.
MSI’s GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming When it comes to cooling, you’llnd a X 11G is a familiar sight with a similar dedicated VRM heatsink that sits directly Twin Frozr VI cooler sharing the same on top of the PCB. A nickel-plated copper aesthetic as its predecessors. base plate is in direct contact with the Still, there’s a lot to like. For one, it’s GPU, wicking heat away to the main the slimmest, and one of heatsink. A secondary metal the shortest cards here, so plate can be found to one it’s considerably easier to side of the heatsink, and handle. That said, you’ll still these make contact with the need a 2.5-slot allowance to chokes and other circuitry to install this. further assist with cooling. The card owes its more When it comes to the VRM Fast and quiet manageable dimensions to circuitry, MSI hasn’t bothered MSI’s dual fan design. The with phase doublers, opting cooler features two large instead for eight real phases Lacks dierenang 100mm Torx 2.0 fans, which for the GPU and two for the features use a mix of steep and more memory system. That said, gently curving blades to we should stress that the nd a balance between high number of phases doesn’t airow and static pressure. mean much; it’s the quality But what’s really great of the implementation that is how silent it is. Even at matters when it comes to maximum speeds, the fans were still far overclocking. quieter than the competition, while only However, this is also one of the lower posting slightly higher temperatures in the clocked cards, even in OC Mode. Its range of a few degrees. 1,569MHz puts it in the same company The display outputs have been tweaked here as well, and you get two HDMI ports to accommodate a VR headset and HDMI monitor at the same time.
as the GALAX card, but you’ll need to download the MSI Gaming App to get the extra boost as the card runs in the lower clocked Gaming Mode by default.
The backplate provides structural support but has no role in cooling.
This is one of the slimmer GeForce GTX 1080 Ti around.
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This is a thick card that will require three PCIe slots to install.
ZOTAC GEFORCE GTX1080 TI AMP EXTREME Zotac is going after those who are looking for raw out-of-the-box performance with its AMP Extreme card. A look at the speci cations shows that this is actually the highest clocked card of the lot, runing at around 100MHz higher than the MSI card at default settings.
The VRM components get their share of attention too, but it’s less comprehensive of a solution than on the Aorus or MSI cards. A black, nned heatsink sits above the VRM, but this appears to have been placed in isolation, and Zotac
However, while that’s unfortunately hasn’t done nice to look at in theory, the anything to facilitate contact 100MHz boost doesn’t quite with the main heatsink. translate into a large gain That’s a good opportunity in practice, so clock speeds wasted, and some of the really shouldn’t be all you airow from the fans that look at when choosing a might serve to cool the VRM Aggressive factory card. Still, this is Zotac’s heatsink is even blocked by overclocks agship, and it is every inch a rubber dampener on the a hulking, imposing beast. main n stack, as it’s located At 325mm long and with close to where the VRM Very long and three 90mm fans, this card heatsink is. heavy cooler requires a ton of space. It’s The 16+2-phase power also rather thick, so you’ll design is also achieved using need three PCIe slots to phase doublers, the same have room for it. This is as everyone else, so there’s also quite a loud card, so be nothing really special in this prepared to put up with some noise. respect either. A copper base plate is in direct contact The AMP Extreme is a literal with the GPU, and there’s a larger heavyweight looking to play with the big aluminum plate around it to help with boys, and there’s no doubt that it’s very cooling for the memory. Four 6mm and fast. However, it loses out on certain two 8mm composite heatpipes move design decisions, and overall feels less heat away to the large heatsink array. rened than some of the competition.
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The two Power Boost controllers are visible through the backplate.
No special allowances have been made for VR headsets here.
AT A GL ANCE
BAS E/ BOOST CLOCK 1,645MHz/1,759MHz MEM R YC L C 11,200MHz POWER C N N EC T R S 2x 8-pin POWER PHASES 16+2-phase PRICE 1,279
SPECIFICATIONS
MODEL
ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 Ti OC
GALAX GeForce GTX 1080 Ti HOF
Gigabyte Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11G
MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X 11G
Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 Ti AMP Extreme
Base/Boost clock
1,594MHz/ 1,708MHz (OC Mode)
1,569MHz/ 1,683MHz
1,632MHz/ 1,746MHz (OC Mode)
1,569MHz/ 1,683MHz (OC Mode)
1,645MHz/ 1,759MHz
1,607MHz/ 1,721MHz (Gaming Mode)
1,544MHz/ 1,657MHz (Gaming Mode)
1,569MHz/ 1,683MHz (Gaming Mode)
Power c onnectors
2x 8-pin
3x 8-pin
2x 8-pin
2x 8-pin
2x 8-pin
Power phase
10+2-phase
16+3-phase
12+2-phase
8+2-phase
16+2-phase
Dimensions
298 x 134 x 52.5mm
313 x 136.5 x 57mm
293 x 142 x 55mm
290 x 140 x 51mm
325 x 148 x 56.6mm
BENCHMARK PERFORMANCE
3DMARK 2013 The synthetic 3DMark benchmark tests graphics and computational performance at dierent resolutions. In the 1080p Fire Strike test, the Aorus card came ahead,despite not even having the highest clock speeds. However, we should note that all the cards performed rather close to each other, and these small dierences won’t translate into huge dierentials in actual games.
ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 Ti OC 21668 GALAX GeForce GTX 1080 Ti HOF 21656 e Gigabyte Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Xtreme Edition 11G rik t S 21899 e ri MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X 11G F 21618 Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 Ti AMP Extreme 21884
DEUS EX: MANKIND DIVIDED Mankind Divided is one of the most demanding games out there, with a range of graphically taxing eects in use. The Aorus card once again powered ahead here,thanks to its aggressive 1,632MHz base clock in OC Mode. Still, credit should be given to it for overtaking even the higher clocked Zotac card.
TEMPERATURE
] ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 Ti OC 2 1 X t c GALAX GeForce GTX 1080 Ti HOF e ir 99.8 D [
100.2
) Gigabyte Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Xtreme Edition 11G ra lt U 101.4 ( 0 8 MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X 11G 0 , 1 98.7 x 0 Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 Ti AMP Extreme 2 9 , 101 1
ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 Ti OC 66
To assess the cards’ thermal performance, we ran the 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme stress test for 20 loops and recorded the highest
) GALAX GeForce GTX 1080 Ti HOF C ° ( 63 e r
GPU temperature. The GALAX card did best here with its triple 90mm fans, and it may be that the Aorus’ relatively high clock speeds caused it to run hotter than its lower clocked counterparts.
ta Gigabyte Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Xtreme Edition 11G u 67 r e p MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X 11G m 68 e T Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 Ti AMP Extreme 65
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THE BEST GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI IS… GIGABYTE AORUS GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI XTREME EDITION 11G Picking a winner from aselection of custom cards based on thesame GPU is always tricky. Here’s why the Aorus won. It’s gotperformance in spades, but also evinces thoughtful design going with three overlapping 100mm fans to reduce card length. Attention given to cooling crucial components such as the VRM contributes to the impression of a well-thought out product. Another nice touch is the front HDMI port, which allows forconvenient pairing with a VR headset andHDMI monitor. Finally, its reasonable $1,290 price tag is denitely more palatable.
NOVEMBER 2017 |
65
AT A GLANCE:
ENGINE
POWER
FUEL CONSUMPTION, COMBINED
PRICE
to do away with most of them in favor of classier-looking touch-sensitive controls. The instrument cluster, however, is a bit more traditional with a mix of analog and digital counters. In the center, you have a fairly standard large analog rev-counter, but to its left and right are digital counters that have a fair amount of customizability. You can, for example, choose to show navigation information or other engine and car parameters like engine oil temperature or tire pressure. Rear occupants also get a touchscreen control interface of their own too, allowing them to manage their own
climate settings. The Panamera is available in a bewildering number of variants and the one I drove was the basic Panamera; no hybrid powertrain, no four-wheel drive, no twin turbos. Nevertheless, it wears a Porsche badge, so it is still pretty quick. Power comes from a 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 that develops 325hp and 450nm of torque. That’s enough to propel it to 100km/h in just 5.7 seconds and onward to a top speed of 264km/h. If you are a longtime Porsche owner and have driven the 911, Boxster, or Cayman, then this entrylevel Panamera is going to feel a little inadequate. The driving dynamics are fantastic (more on this later), but it doesn’t feel quite quick enough. Best to pony up the extra cash and opt for the more powerful Panamera S. The S variant serves up over 100hp more,
and feedback. There’s a welljudged amount of body roll and the suspension never feels too busy even with the ride turned up to its sti est setting. It disguises its size well too, and I sometimes forget that I was driving a large 4-door saloon that weighs close to two tons. A car this large shouldn’t handle this well. The only thing that you are acutely aware of as you drive along is its long wheelbase, which is apparent especially when going over humps. But as an entire package, the new Panamera, like its predecessor, delivers a great drive that is matched by few in its class. Porsche has thoroughly improved the Panamera. It looks more presentable, it has a swankier interior, and it drives brilliantly. If you have the means, I can think of few 4-doors saloons that can oer as much driving satisfaction.
reduces the century sprint time to just 4.4 seconds, and increases the top speed to 289km/h, bringing the Panamera’s straight line performance closer to the 911’s. Fortunately, even though the basic Panamera feels a little sluggish for my tastes, it still handles brilliantly. Rivals like the S-Class, 7 Series, and the A8 are cushier, but none of them can match the sportiness of the Panamera. The steering feel is excellent for a car of its class, with lots of accuracy
TESTED &
RA TED
SINGAPORE
Xiaomi Mi A1
The Xiaomi Mi A1 is a sleek all-metal phone that looks a lot more premium than its price tag suggests. If you’re familiar with Xiaomi’s other phones, think of it as something that ts between the Mi6 and Mi Mix 2. When compared with other brands, it bears a more than passing resemblance to the Apple iPhone 7 Plus, Oppo R11 and OnePlus 5. On the rearof the phone there’s a dual camera setup and a ngerprintscanner.
Both the power button and volume rocker can be found on the right side while the dual Nano-SIM card slot can be found on the left. The second SIM slot doubles up as a microSD card slot that accepts cards up to 128GB in capacity. On the bottom, you get a USB 2.0 Type-C port, a single speaker and a 3.5mm headphone jack. On the top of the phone there’s an IR blaster, which you can use in conjunction with Xiaomi’s pre-installed
CONCLUSION
Pure Android OS and Xiaomi hardware combine for the best value smartphone under $500.
Mi Remote app to control your TV, air con, MiBoxor pretty much anything else with an IR receiver. TheMi A1 has a Full HD, 5.5-inch IPS LCD display. Brightness is pretty good at 450 nits at maximum on the Auto setting, and 550 nits
vibrant than other colors. The MiA1 has some notable audio features, including a dedicated headphone amplier that can drive high-impedance headphones of up to 600 ohms. The phone’s single speaker is also quite
with Android 7.1.2 Nougat, but you’ll be able to update it to Android 8.0 Oreo as soon as it is available. Xiaomi also tells us that the Mi A1 will be one of therst phones to get Android 9.0 P. As for the software experience itself, it’s basically
at maximum in Standard setting. Contrast is also quite good for an LCD display, with surprisingly deep blacks. Color reproduction is fairly muted, although I did notice that the screen tends to favor blues, which look more
impressive, featuring a dedicated 10V smart power amplier paired with a Dirac HD Sound algorithm for higher sound quality. The big selling point of the Mi A1is that it runs on stock Android. The phone ships
exactly what you get on a Pixel smartphone. All interface elements are unchanged from stock Android: you swipe up on the display to access the app drawer work, and you can nd Google Now to the
P IC T U R E S
X IA O M I
audio, wide-angle and telephoto dual camera setup and pure Android OS. While there are other pure Android smartphones on the market, none o er this level of hardware and design sophistication at this low of a price. The main drawbacks to the Mi A1 are its dated processor, lack of NFC and fast charging, but if you can get over these, the A1 is basically a Pixel smartphone at a much, much cheaper price.
AT A GLANCE
OPERATING SYSTEM Android 7.1.2 Nougat PROCESSOR Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 DISPLAY 5.5-inch 1,920 x 1,080 pixels (~401 ppi) IPS LCD CAMERA Dual 12-megapixel (26mm, f/2.2 & 50mm, f/2.6) 2x optical zoom, phase-detection AF, dual-LED (dual tone) ash DIMENSIONS 155.4 x 75.8 x 7.3 mm WEIGHT 165g PRICE $349
left of the home screen. You can even pull down the notication shade by swiping down on thengerprint
a little grainy in less than ideal lighting conditions and the image is also slightly soft towards the edge of the
sensor, and double press the power button to launch the camera app, just like you can with a Pixel smartphone. The Mi A1 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor and 4GB RAM paired with an Adreno 506 GPU. While this processor is quite old, it’s still more than sucient for most day-to-day tasks. The Mi A1 has two 12-megapixel cameras on its rear: therst is a 26mm wideangle lens with a 1.25-micron pixels sensor and f/2.2 aperture, and the second is a 50mm telephoto lens with a 1.1-micron pixels sensor and f/2.6 aperture that oers 2x optical zoom. Image quality from the Mi A1 is quite decent, but not on the same level as agship smartphone cameras. Shots tend to be
frame. As with most dual camera setups, there’s a Portrait mode that lets you blur the background for some DSLRlike bokeh. Xiaomi’s version is surprisingly good, with great edge detection and fairly realistic-looking bokeh. The Mi A1 has a 3,080mAh battery, which is actually a little small for a 5.5-inch phone. Battery life was a little underwhelming with the A1 lasting just under ten hours in our video looping benchmark. While Xiaomi continues to face sti competition in the competitive $500-800 price bracket, it is still the king of the sub-$500 tier. Right now nothing even comes close to what you’re getting with the Mi A1 thanks to its combination of premium design, good display and
The Mi A1 has a full metal build.
There’s an IR Blaster on the top of the phone for controlling appliances.
TESTED & RATED
SINGAPORE
Acronis True Image 2018
Acronis True Image has always been competent at doing what it advertises itself to do, and that’s a simple, one-click cloud backup solution. Mind you, this is not the same as cloud storage like Dropbox, where you constantly access your data like a local drive. A full backup is something you setup and forget, accessing only in times of catastrophic failure; when your whole PC crashes on you and you
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need to perform disaster recovery. In that sense, this is not the sexiest piece of software to review. And that was true until last year’s version rolled out. With the True Image 2017 New Generation update, Acronis threw in a whole suit of tools that make the software more than just a one-o background backup solution. Chief among these include Notary, a service
that uses blockchain technology to ensure that important les in your backups have not been changed to tampered with, and ASign, a service that allows you to let multiple parties electronically sign les. The New Generation update also introduced Active Protection, an antiransomware detection engine that runs in the background to detect and block ransomware
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A C R O N I S
activities. This includes being able to restore ransomware-encrypted les instantly. And now we’ve come to Acronis True Image 2018. At rst glance, the headliner improvement in this version is an updated Active Protection. According to Acronis, the antiransomware engine is now AI enhanced, connected to a cloud-based machine learning network that is constantly reviewing both malicious and legitimate le access patterns. This helps improve Active Protection’s detection accuracy and prediction
it does, but one of the reasons the earlier versions didn’t appeal too much to me was because the consumer edition of True Image felt very basic and utilitarian. With True Image 2018, Acronis has nally made a backup tool that a power user would be proud of. Firstly, the desktop app dashboard is now a lot more informative with a new activity tracker tab so you can see what’s going on with your backups. I still feel there’s too much switching between the app and web-dashboards for di erent activities, but
of the desktop app, you might be surprised at all the optional features you can play around with to test, protect or wipe your data. And some of these tools are constantly getting updates. The media builder for example can build a WinPE environment now. In terms of actual backing up data, continuous incremental backup has been added as a scheduling option so your data can be kept as current as you need. However, this feature can only be used if you’re backing up to a local external device. You cannot enable continuous
CONCLUSION
Not just backup, True Image 2018 is a comprehensive personal data protection suite.
models to protect against even unknown, or zeroday ransomware attacks. Unlike the old version, Active Protection in True Image 2018 is turned on by default and is available on both the standalone and subscription versions of the software. Now, all these valueadded features are great, but True Image is a backup service right? I mentioned in the beginning that it’s actually competent in what
Advanced tools for disk cloning, sandbox testing and boot media creation are available too.
You can now backup your entire social media feed on Facebook and Instagram.
the product feels more integrated now. You can also do more with your backups with True Image 2018 such as active cloning, which can clone your current Windows system into an external drive on-the- y, and then booting directly from that snapshot. Full snapshots can also be turned into virtual hard drives, capable of being mounted and run on a virtual machine. If you go into the Tools section
incremental backup for cloud backups. True Image can also detect that you’ve got other cloud storage installed like Dropbox or OneDrive. You can choose exclude those les, reducing overall backup size and avoid have so many versions of the same le all over the place. In the previous version, you could backup your entire Facebook account, posts, pictures and all. In True Image 2018,
AT A GLANCE
OS SUPPORT Windows, macOS, Android 4.1 and above, iOS 8.0 and above FILE SYSTEM SUPPORT NTFS, FAT32, Ext2/ Ext3/Ext4, ReiserFS, Linux SWAP, HFS+ PRICE From $69.99
Instagram backup has been added as well, which is a great feature since there’s no easy way to download Instagram posts. True Image 2018 copies everything, including likes and comments, which you can then browse through on the web-dashboard. All in, True Image 2018 is still a simple, one-click backup if that’s all you need, but power users will nd a lot to like with its snapshot management tools. Security features like Active Protection doesn’t replace the need for an anti-virus though, and ideally should work in tandem with one. You can buy True Image 2018 as a perpetual license, or as a subscription model with cloud storage up to 5TB.
TESTED & RATED
SINGAPORE
NOVEMBER 2017
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AT A GLANCE
NETWORKING STANDARDS 802.11ac/b/g/n/a FREQUENCY BANDS 2.4GH z and5 GHz PORTS 2 x Gigabit Ethernet, 1 x USB Type-C PRICE $360
Each Google Wi node is a compact white plastic cylinder that measures 10.6mm wide and stands at 6.8cm. Underneath each node are two Gigabit Ethernet ports, which can operate in WAN or LAN modes, and a single USB Type-C port for power. It is super compact and minimalistic in design. It is also perfect for anyone who has an aversion to setting up routers. Simply unpack Google Wi, download the free Google Wi app (Android
Everything is controlled and managed using the Google Wi app.
CONCLUSION
This is the easiest mesh networking system you will ever use. and iOS), follow the onscreen instructions, and you will have a mesh networksetup within minutes. It is almost unbelievably simple. Everything is then controlledand managed using the app; there is no traditionalweb interface. There are, however, some tradeos. Google Wi is quite basic in terms of features. Users can change their Wi-Fi passwords, create a
devices and tweak DNS and port forwarding settings, but there is no support for VPN or Dynamic DNS. You cannot even manually assign devices to the 2.4GHz or 5GHz bands - Google Wi takes care of that for you. Performance isn’t Google Wi’s strongest suit either. In our tests, we found that transfer speeds started to dip quite drastically pastve meters from the node. But if
Wi-Fi network for guests, and manage family settings so that you, for example, turn o the children’sdevices every night so that they can concentrate on their homework. Beyond that, there’s not much else. You can prioritize
you keep withinve meters, Google Wi can actually deliver speeds of around 350Mbps. At ten meters, we only managed around 50Mbps. Nevertheless, you should still be able to comfortably surf the web and watch HD clips on YouTube.
What this means is that even though it expands Wi-Fi coverage through its mesh networking capability, the extent to which it is expanded can be quite limited. Obviously, this depends very much on your home layout and environment, but it is worth keeping this thought in mind. Ultimately, Google Wi is a neat Wi-Fi mesh networking system for casual users whose main priority is to have Wi-Fi coverage around the house. Oh, it’s also considerably less pricey than its rivals, so there’s that too.
TESTED &
RATE D
P I C T U R E S
SINGAPORE
The Portal WiFi router comes in a glossy white enclosure with curved edges, no visibly antennas and a simple Portal logo adorning the top. Behind, users will nd a single Gigabit Ethernet WAN, four Gigabit Ethernet LAN, and two USB 2.0 ports. Underneath its unremarkable facade
advantage of this capability; most products released in the last two years should support DFS. The ability to use radar channels aside, the Portal WiFi router is also capable of forming a mesh network with a second Portal WiFi router. This enables users to expand their Wi-Fi coverage using a
and you will have it up and running in minutes. Traditionalists, however, can also set up and congure the router using a more typical web interface, and the Portal has features such as parental controls, QoS, VPN, and Dynamic DNS. At its heart, the Portal is an AC2400-class router.
AT A GL ANCE
NETWORKING STANDARDS 802.11ac/b/g/n/a FREQUENCY BANDS 2.4 GHz and5 GHz PORTS 1 x Gigabit Ethernet WAN, 4 x Ethernet Gigabit LAN, 2 x USB 2.0 PRICE $249
CONCLUSION
Behind the router is a single Gigabit Ethernet WAN port and four Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports.
though is some interesting technology not found on
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P O R T A L
most consumer routers such as DFS capability and FastLanes technology. In a nutshell, the Portal router is able to use Wi-Fi channels normally reserved for radar. Bear in mind that you need client devices that also support DFS to take
A compact router with outstanding performance, range, and features. single SSID. Unfortunately, this is limited to only one extension - you cannot expand it further with a third Portal router. Setup-wise, it’s done through an app. Just follow the onscreen instructions
Maximum data transfer rates are 600Mbps and 1,734Mbps on its 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks respectively. Thanks to DFS and FastLanes technology, we were able to use Wi-Fi channels that are unused by other networks in the area, allowing us to get some impressive numbers and range in our tests. At closer ranges of up to ve meters, the Portal recorded speeds of around 384Mbps. Even when we were one oor away, we still managed speeds of around 180Mbps. Impressively, it was the only router that was capable of transmitting and
receiving data with our test client on the second oor. At $249, the Portal is competitively priced especially when you consider its performance, fantastic range, mesh networking capability, and support for DFS.
TESTED &
RATE D
8.5
/10
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A visual novel of sorts
Ade Putra (GameAxis)
AT A GLANCE
DEVELOPER Fullbright PUBLISHER Fullbright GENRE First-person Adventure PLATFORM PC, Xbox One PLAYERS Single
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Exploring the rooms and corridors of the titular Tacoma space station feels familiar. There aren’t that many “walking simulators” out there, which makes a comparison to Fullbright’s previous work inevitable. Where Gone Home returns players to the ‘90s, Tacoma transports us to a plausible near future. Tacoma belongs to a growing genre of rst-person adventures that emphasize narrative and exploration. They’re the queens of environmentalstorytelling, targeted at those who scan every nook and cranny not for collectibles but for lore. Enjoyed reading all those letters and books in Skyrim? This is for you. Just be aware
that the entire premise is divorced from traditional gaming mechanics, so they’re closer in spirit to visual novels than RPGs. As sub-contractor Amy Ferrier, we’re tasked with boarding the Tacoma to retrieve both the data and physical wetware of ODIN, the station’s AI. Upon docking – and wistfully parting with our ship – we soon equip a pair of augmented reality wearables that interface directly with the station. It’s a cool showcase for AR, allowing Amy to register commands via sign language and hand gestures. On the ip side, it also lets headquarters record and monitor all crew activity, even private and intimate
There’s no running and gunning here. You’re merely an observer, piecing together the story through AR playback.
moments. While waiting for her data transfers to complete, Amy uses this stored AR information to recreate scenes prior to her arrival. Just what was this Obsolescence Day party, anyway? This idle curiosity quickly reveals why the
P IC T U R E S
station is empty, setting the stage for the time-honored tale of human determination in the face of adversity. In this case, the former crew of six must place their trust in one another if they are to survive a disaster. Now, let me point out that Tacoma does not break sci- tropes nor is it free from a predictable ending – playing with established settings seems to be something Fullbright enjoys. And while it raises the same questions of AI ethics and Orwellian corporations, it doesn’t set
out to address them. Rather, what you’llnd here is a truly diverse cast of characters that are, again, rooted in authenticity. It’s their stories that take center stage, their fears, relationships, and their resolve, not the event surrounding them. To tackle the larger dramatis personae, we can rewind and fast-forward the dierent AR scenes Amy encounters. This lets us follow and eavesdrop on all the crew, even when they’re apart, adding context to their thoughts and actions. It’s surprisingly eective, giving us separate perspectives without having to replay the story or reload saveles, as one typically would. The scenes themselves aren’t long either, usually two minutes
at the most, supplemented by peeks at any open AR desktops to read chat logs and mails – it’s the future equivalent of peeping at someone’s phone. Tacoma pairs that with some good character animation. Despite the complete lack of facial features, we can still tell a lot from the way the characters act and react. Gripping a handrail for support,slowly pacing a room, distantly looking out a window – they help frame a character’s emotions just as well as the voice acting, so it’d be silly to call this a low-budget production. More than any other genre, immersion is vital. Be it a letter from home hidden in a drawer, diet and exercise
CONCLUSION Augmen ted realit y weara ble is a vit al gam epl ay com pon entto mov e the sto ry alon g.
Tacoma is a ne example of the possibilities in interactive ction.
goals reected in lockers, or the choice of music wafting from speakers, there is plenty of nuance planted aboard the lunar space station. Even learning how someone still prefers a regular toothbrush wound up being a fun little discovery. There is a nagging sense of violation as one ries through personal eects but Tacoma incentivizes this exploration. We can spy on code combinations being punched in and uncover stashed keys, all of which are optional but lead to interesting background information. However, what is without question is that Tacoma doesn’t engage us the way Gone Homedoes. It can’t. Here, we’re merely an observer aboard a cold space station, not a family member returning home. While I don’t see this as a strike, it’ll certainly disappoint those swayed by Fullbright’s earlier title. There’s also the fact that the Tacoma runs for only approximately three hours. It’s an ideal length for the story they want to tell, while also preventing the whole AR mechanic from getting stale. So when it comes down to “Is this worth buying?”, it’s simply a question of what you value most out of your entertainment – long hours of deep gameplay or a brief, captivating story.
TESTED & RATED
Read more at
.com
SINGAPORE
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AT A GLANCE
PROCESSOR Apple S3 SIZE 38mm and 42mm CASE MATERIAL Aluminum
The fastest Apple Watch yet Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS)
PRICE From $498
Unfortunately for us, Singapore is not getting the cellular version of the new Apple Watch Series 3 yet. For now, we have to be content with the Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS). To be honest, not much is dierent; it has a faster processor, a more e cient wireless chip, a built-in altimeter, and that’s about it. The design and size are mostly identical, and this model still retains the builtin GPS and 50 meters water resistance. In fact, most of the changes that one would experience are mostly due to Apple’s new watchOS 4. watchOS 4 is a pretty major update and adds some important features. One of the most signicant is the Heart Rate app, which now shows deeper insights including details like resting and walking heart rates. It can even alert you if it detects abnormal heart rates. The Workout app is
dynamically based on your information in other apps like Calendar, Reminders, Activity, and Wallet. And for
unique trippy patterns. In the real world, I think most Apple Watch Series 2 owners will struggle to tell
now more uid to use and is also able to track HighIntensity Interval Training (HIIT) exercises. watchOS 4 also adds a couple of new watch faces. There’s a new Siri watch face that gives instant access to Siri, plus it updates
fans of Toy Story, there’s also new Woody, Jessie, and Buzz Lightyear watch faces that animate whenever you raise your wrist. And nally, there’s the Kaleidoscope face that changes and distorts when users rotate the Digital Crown, creating
the dierence between their watch and the new Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS). For sure, the latter is noticeably quicker, but the di erence isn’t night and day. For owners of the Apple Watch Series 2, it makes more sense to wait and see if the
CONCLUSION
Still the best smartwatch for iPhone users.
cellular version of the Apple Watch Series 3 will be made available here or just jump a generation. However, if you’re owners of the Apple Watch Series 1 and the rst Apple Watch, and nd that it’s become integrated into your life, the Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS) can be a compelling upgrade even without cellular connectivity. The latest Apple Watch will give you an appreciable performance bump and useful features like builtin GPS and proper water resistance.
Thanks to watchOS 4, the Apple Watch can now track your heart rate with greater detail.
TESTED &
RATE D
8.5
/10
SINGAPORE
P IC T U R E S
A P P L E
AT A GLANCE
MOUNT Micro Four Thirds MEGAPIXELS 16MP DIMENSIONS 121.5 x 83.6 x 49.5mm
WEIGHT 410g
Alvin Soon
PRICE $1298
should be satised with images shot up to ISO 3,200, and even ISO 6,400, if all you do is share on Facebook and never print your images. The 5-axis OIS manages to reduce camera shake while shooting video. But the OIS does introduce an odd parallax and sudden jerkiness when panning. Disappointingly, AE doesn’t
Whenever someone’s asked me which camera to buy in the past two years, my answer has been to get the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II. And now, here comes the new E-M10 Mark III. You should know right o the bat that the new version hasn’t changed a lot — the 16MP sensor inside is still the same 16MP sensor as the Mark II’s. However, the Mark III still ships with the same features that made the MarkII so compelling, like its small size, beautiful design, a large lens family, and a 5-axis optical image stabilization system. Plus, it now shoots 4K video and has a redesigned UI for easier use. Think of the Mark III asa facelift of the Mark II — both
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the chassis and the UI get renements that make them easier to use. For example, there’s a new Advanced Photo (AP) mode, which has a dedicated space on the Mode dial, and activates a menu that lets you easily select shooting modes like
Olympus JPEGs have beautiful colors, especially when you use the Natural setting.
Image noise is kept to a minimum, even at ISO 6,400.
Live Composite and Live Time. Besides rening the user experience, the biggest spec bumps to the Mark III would be the TruePic VIII processor, which the E-M10 Mark III inherits from the agship OM-D E-M1 Mark II. AF points have been increased from 81to 121, and is the second
Full-HD at 60/50/30/25/24p. For most everyday situations, like people, landscape and still life, the E-M10 Mark III performs well. The photos’ colors are beautiful, especially if you use the Natural color setting in Program mode. I’d skip the using the i-Enhance color prole
Olympus mirrorless camera to shoot 4K video, with 30/25/24p frame rates, and
in Auto mode, which looks overly saturated to me. If you don’t pixel peep, you
seem to work in video, exposure settings remain when you transit between bright and dark areas. The Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III isn’t the best-specced camera on the market, but it is one of the better cameras for most people to use. It shoots decent images and video with advanced features like a 5-axis OIS, comes in a small and light body, is easy to use, and sells at an aordable price.
TESTED & RATED
CONCLUSION
A good all-rounder for most people.
SINGAPORE
Ade Putra (GameAxis)
AT A GLANCE
DEVELOPER
Creative Assembly PUBLISHER
SEGA GENRE
Turn-based strategy, real-time tactics PLATFORM
PC PLAYERS
Single, Multi
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Creative Assembly (CA) has staunchly kept the Total Warseries alive for seventeen years. In 2016, we saw CA make their most signicant change by shifting their attention to theWarhammer Fantasy universe. Now, one year on, Total War: Warhammer II has arrived to prove they made the right decision. Total War: Warhammer II features eight factions from four dierent races: High Elves, Dark Elves, Skaven, and Lizardmen. Each race features two distinct Legendary Lords, such as Tyrion (no, not that dwarf serving a dragon queen) and Teclis for the High Elves. The dierences aren’t simply cosmetic. Like the previous game, one Lord focuses on physical strength while the other focuses on magic. However, this time they’ve changed the starting positions. Tyrion, for example, now starts in Ulthuan, the ancestral home of the High Elves. That means players will have an easier time cementing alliances. Playing as Teclis, however, poses a challenge. Enemies surround his settlements, forcing players to think and carefully plan their next move before committing. You’llnd this repeated for all the other races. Each has a faction with a more comfortable starting position, making these Lords
P I C T U R E S S E G A
a good pick for players new to the series. Players can now occupy every settlement available on the map. However, there are penalties for conquering lands foreign to theplayer’s race. Having the High Elves
hold the Frozen Wastelands can incur debu s such as 50% lower income from buildings and negative public orders. It helps to keep things fresh and engaging as players will have to decide between occupying, sacking, or razing a settlement. Total War: Warhammer II’s campaign pacing feels entirely dierent from older titles. Here, it felt more like a race to complete the ritual, rather than seeing who owns
other factions. The late-game portion of the campaign is one of the most exciting and challenging CA has ever made in the Total War series. As the hunt to acquire more way-fragments continues, players will go from ritual to ritual in order to win the campaign. However, every time a ritual starts, forces of Chaos will slip through to random places near your provinces, razing settlementsunfortunate
CONCLUSION
THIS. IS. LUSTRIAAAAAA.
Choose from four races, with two factions per race, each led by a powerful Legendary Lord. Pictured here is Malekith, the Witch King of Naggarond, of the Dark Elves.
As with allTotalWar gam es, massivebattl es th at pla y out on screen area sig ht to behold, and details remain as impressive even when zoomed in.
more territory. Sure, holding more provinces can make one feel powerful, but it also means that players have more fronts to defend. Not only will other factions try to eat away at your income by raiding or sacking your settlements, but players will also have to consider the
enough to be in their path. At times, Chaos forces are not the only ones hellbent on destroying your lands either. Players and major factions may also pay a hefty amount of gold to send an armyto interfere with the rituals. Even so, Chaos grows increasingly dicult to suppress over
strategic locations to place their armies before starting a ritual. Of course, rituals are not the onlywayto win a campaign; players may simply go for a domination victory by controlling speci c provinces and destroying the
time, and when the nal battle arrives an epic ght for the vortex will ensue. For any Total War fan, the game’s real gems are
the large-scale battles. Armies ghting armies, hero against hero, as majestic beasts tear into one another in the background. The surrounding Warhammer scenery is also terric. In the distance lie landmarks such as the vortex, the Tower of Hoeth, or even the Northern Great Jungle. Naturally, the visuals are an improvement compared to the previous title, and the character models are top-notch. However, the maps themselves didn’t always impress. Battles that determine the fate of towns were only fought on open ground, while siege battles focused only on a single side of the wall. Players may see the city they’reghting for but can never reach its boundaries. Like the older titles, Total War: Warhammer II still suers from inconsistent AI, declaring war on players only to demand peace a few turns later, without evenattacking any player settlement. Better still, the AI was willing to spend money to end the wars they started. Total War: Warhammer II is a fun sequel to the Warhammer spin-os. With vast improvements from the previous title, this game oers countless replayability and ways to approach a campaign.
TESTED & RATED
SINGAPORE Read more at
.com
NOVEMBER 2017
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L E A R N
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BE SMARTER
URBAN PHOTOGRAPHY
AFTER
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF
BEFORE
REFLECTIONS
R
eections are everywhere in modern cities. You nd them on building glass facades, lakes, rivers and even water puddles on the streets. Javan loves using beautiful reective qualities in his compositions to create wonderful effects, and recommends you try this technique to make shots that are distinctly your own. This photo was taken at twilight at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore. Javan walked around the lily pond and got down
to balance the overall tone. Next, he
to almost water level to nd just the right composition with the perfect reection. Placing his camera and lens as close to the edge of the pond as possible, he took a long exposure. In Lightroom, he rst pulled down the highlights and whites of the image
brought up the shadows in the photo to brighten the darker portions of the image. The reduction of highlights and the brightening of shadows left the image lacking in contrast, so Javan adjusted the tone curve accordingly with a simple S-Curve to bring back some of the punch.
LEARN
BEFORE
AFTER
SHOOT FROM LOW ANGLES TO GET A WHOLE NEW PERSPECTIVE T his image was taken when Javan was exploring Circular Quay in Sydney, Australia. Walking toward Sydney Harbour Bridge, Javan spotted this small puddle of water next to the curb
healing brush mode in the spot removal tool to remove the steel beam that was sticking out in the top right corner of the frame. He also adjusted the white balance, contrast and exposure to bring
at the back of the Overseas Passenger Terminal, so he crouched down and used the live view mode to frame the shot, giving a worm’s eye view of the world, but not before someone walked into his frame. That added an interesting subject to his shot besides the Harbour Bridge. While editing in Lightroom, Javan used
out the mid-day warm tones. Then, he brought the highlights down and the shadows up to show the details of the bridge and the re ection, nishing by adding a bit of clarity and vibrance to the image.
LEARN
AFTER
GO INDOORS AND GO BLACK AND WHITE FOR AN EXTRA URBAN LOOK
U
rban photography is not just restricted to outdoors. You can capture some great indoor scenes too. Whether it’s an of ce lobby, museum, shopping centre or even the local train station, there are often shots to be had. Javan took this subway photo when he was living in New York. To capture the bustling and fast pace of New York City subway commuters, he used a slower shutter speed of 1/25s to show a bit of the movement from the commuters coming out of the subway train. And nothing says city quite like a black and white photo. To give his photo a high impact, urban feeling, Javan turned it black and white in Lightroom. He brought the highlights down and the
BEFORE
shadows up. Next, he added contrast and clarity to the image. He also used the tone curves to further enhance the contrast of the image. To pull his viewers to the center of the image and to enhance the mood, he used the vignette tool to darken the edges of the image.
AFTER
BAD WEATHER PRESENTS GREAT PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES
BEFORE
LEARN
AFTER
BEFORE
NOVEMBE R 2017 WWW.HAR DWAREMA G.COM
THE POW ER TO DEC IDE
APPL E W A T
Is it time for aCH S ER IES 3 smar twatch yet?
IN S ID E H U AW E I’S
K IR IN 970 What’s AI doing smartphone? on your
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OFF
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OFF
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AN D
M O RE
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WHAT’S AI DOING IN YOUR PHONE?
THE AI BRAIN Huawei’s Kirin 970 chipset doesn’t only come with a traditional CPU and GPU. There’s a third processor, dubbed as the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) that’s specifically built for AI-related computing. In comparison to the CPU found on the same chipset, this NPU: • Offers 25 times the performance at half the CPU’s size • Consumes just 1/50th of power Huawei uses all three processors (CPU, GPU, and now an NPU) in their latest Kirin 970 chipset. It does so by handing off graphical rendering to the GPU, memory allocation and tasks scheduling to the CPU, and finally, AI computing to the NPU alone. One example of an AI feature is image recognition (pictured). Should Huawei correctly implement this part of the NPU, it can result in more accurate smartphone photography, i.e., automatic color-correcting for a human male with his brown pet dog. It’s worth noting that the NPU does not have a machine-learning nature – Huawei specifically said that the AI is preloaded into the processor, and it uses its programming to do what it must. Should the algorithm require fine-tuning or new features, Huawei will provide them as OTA (over-the-air) firmware updates.
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REAL-WORLD USES FOR KIRIN 970’S NPU While it’s not in charge of delegating workload, the NPU has its fair share of tasks cut out, and it spans across various processors on the Kirin 970 platform. Building on the photography example, Huawei’s NPU also assists the image signaling processor (ISP) by:
• Enhancing its response time throughput by 25% • Increasing its processing response volume by 30% • Providing dual-channel parallel processing • Detecting and employing various motions, i.e., static, slow, medium, and fast motion • Using hardware-based face detection • Having an intelligent camera scene detection method These improvements aim to help the photographer take less blurry photos, with reduced chances of missed shots due to the faster response by the chipset (and thus, the phones). The NPU also ‘unlocks’ certain capabilities previously unavailable to smartphones; the user can employ a 3x3 focus-detection area (as opposed to your regular detection square), and the AI can provide the context by reading other elements (background, mood) to give an ideal balance to the result.
DID KirinYOU 970 KNOW? is one of the first mobile chipsets to implement hardware specifically for AI computing. The only other maker to do something similar is Apple, via their A11 Bionic chipset’s Neural Engine. Most AI implementation in existing smartphones is software-based, either via algorithms or API.
The 10nm manufacturing process used to create the HiSilicon Kirin 970 chipset is the same method employed to create your Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, Samsung Exynos 8895, and Apple A11 Bionic SoCs.
7 WAYS THE CANON DIGIC 7 PROCESSOR MAKES PHOTOS BETTER
Asmady Bin Ahmad from Malaysia, at the Kairakuen Garden in Ibaraki, Japan. All images taken with the Canon EOS M6 (with DIGIC 7) at the Canon Photomarathon Asia Championship. IMAGE CREDITS:
INTERPRETS FOR BEAUTY
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REDUCES IMAGE NOISE EVEN IN DARK SITUATIONS
REDUCES DIFFRACTION PHENOMENON EVEN AT SMALL APERTURES
PRODUCES IMAGES WITH RICHER CONTRASTS The DIGIC 7 has improved Auto Lighting Optimizer and Intelligent Contrast Correction, which keep images looking natural while achieving contrast. Contrast is important, as it’s what makes an image ‘pop.’ The Auto Lighting Optimizer helps to compensate for brightness intelligently while maintaining contrast, which is helpful when photographing scenes with varying brightness, like people in backlit environments.
FOCUSES AND TRACKS SUBJECTS MORE ACCURATELY The DIGIC 7 does advanced image analysis using subject information, which helps the camera nd the right subject and track focus. Detection performance has been improved for difcult subjects, like subjects that blend into the background. The DIGIC 7 makes high-precision tracking possible even when the subjects move around, and mistaken tracking has been reduced, such as when a person crosses in front of another. Better face tracking helps to keep your friends and loved ones in focus.
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SHARPER IMAGES WITH IMPROVED IMAGE STABILIZATION The DIGIC 7 signicantly improves image stabilization because of its ability to analyze image blur in realtime based on image information. A new algorithm was developed that merges angular shake information from the gyro sensor and image information to better stabilize the image when shooting, so you have a stronger chance of getting a sharp image when handholding the camera.
INTRODUCES NEW SHOOTING FEATURES LIKE PANNING Because of the DIGIC 7’s advanced features, like subject tracking and image stabilization, it enables new features like panning, which captures fast subjects in sharp focus while the background is blurred, creating motion in a still image.
BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY AND LUXURY
Alvin Soon
Ginza might be known as one of the fanciest parts of Tokyo, but geeks of all kinds have a new reason to visit. Ginza Place is a beautiful showcase of technology; it houses both of Nissan and Sony’s new global agship showrooms where you can see their latest and greatest products. The building itself is something to marvel at. Designed by Klein Dytham Architects, the building features a façade that’s built from 5,315 individual aluminum panels. The seventh oor’s balcony was designed as homage to the area’s previous building heights, and the form of the building re ects the curvature of the iconic Wako building across the street.
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