Coming soon: 1Malaysia Email

1Malaysia e-mail accounts for Malaysians over 18

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysians aged 18 and above will be assigned an e-mail account each to receive statements, bills and notices from the Government.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who announced this yesterday, said the 1MY E-mail initiative would allow “direct and secure” communication between citizens and the Government while enhancing the delivery of government services to consumers and businesses alike.

Tricubes Bhd is collaborating with Microsoft to develop the 1Malaysia E-mail project.

The company will spearhead the private RM50mil investment that also includes the development of a web portal as a one-stop centre for government services providing value-added services such as social networking, checking of bills online and payments.

Tricubes chief executive officer Khairun Zainal Mokhtar said the company was still conducting stress tests for the website.

“Hopefully, we can get it ready by July,” he told a press conference at the fifth progress update of the Economic Transformation Programme here yesterday.

Khairun said the portal was different from the MyEG website, which focused on the payment of bills and summonses, as it would allow interaction between people and the Government.

The Performance Management and Delivery Unit, responding to queries said the 1Malaysia E-mail would not be made compulsory.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/4/20/nation/8517754&sec=nation

At least we won't get any late charges if we frequently checked our email next time.

Hopefully, the government agencies can collaborate with this perfectly to avoid any unnecessary work. 

HTC Flyer coming soon to Malaysia

HTC's tablet PC is coming soon on May 12th 2011, available from Maxis.


HTC Flyer To Hit Malaysia In May, For As Low As RM 199

At the same time of HTC Desire S launch yesterday, HTC has also unveiled their first ever tablet – the HTC Flyer. Spotting a 7-inch display, it is powered by a 1.5GHz single-core processor together with 1GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. It also runs on Android 2.4 operating system covered with the new HTC Sense 3.0 user interface.

The HTC Flyer comes together with HTC’s own stylus technology called HTC Scribe which allows user not only to sketch, draw and writes notes but also, record audio in line with their written notes for user to trace back later on. The Flyer will also become the debut platform for HTC Watch - the company’s own video subscription service – that is scheduled to be available in Malaysia sometime in Q4 2011.

Unfortunately, the new HTC Flyer is not available for consumers for the time being as it will only be released to the Malaysian market on 12th May 2011, again exclusively at all Maxis Centres and Maxis Exclusive Partners. Damage to the pocket? RM 2,499 - rather hefty, if you ask me.

That being said, Maxis will be offering the device at a lower price for their customers through their exclusive partnership with HTC but the telco have not reveal the actual subsidized pricing. They did give a hint though: from as low as RM 199. Yes, you have read that correctly- one hundred and ninety nine ringgit; more than 90% off the standard retail price.

Obviously, there will be a catch to this deal. Just that you can only find out about it on launch day itself, 12th May at www.maxis.com.my. So, get ready for whatever surprises that Maxis have in stores in slightly less than a month time. For the time being, enjoy the actual product shots taken at the launch event and its technical specifications right after the jump.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

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http://www.lowyat.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4259&Itemid=1

Malaysia is ninth friendliest

FRANKFURT: Malaysia is considered to be one of the 10 “friendliest” countries in the world according to a survey conducted by HSBC. Malaysia is ranked 9th in the list.

Apart from the local people being friendly, foreigners found it easy to intergrate and live in the local environment. These were among the criteria outlined in the survey.

The HSBC poll surveyed over 4,000 people from more than 100 countries between April and June last year.

Eighty per cent of those surveyed said English was their mother tongue.

Germany, a non-English-speaking country, however, ranked 10th in the survey.

Ranked third, South Africa was rated very open' to foreigners who want to live there.

The top eight in the list are Canada, Bermuda, South Africa, United States, Australia, Spain, France and Britain. - Bernama

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/4/16/nation/8491969&sec=nation

P1 to have LTE

P1 is going to upgrade its network by deploying LTE-TDD which generally means we can get faster speeds, claimed to reach up to 110Mbps, and the good part for P1 subscribers is that they just need a software upgrade to use the new network.

P1 to deploy LTE-TDD technology

THE BIG PICTURE: Lai talking about long-term evolution-time division duplex (LTE-TDD) technology to the media in Port Dickson recently.

 

PORT DICKSON: Those of us using mobile Internet services will have more choices when Packet One Networks Malaysia (P1) launches its LTE-TDD (long-term evolution-time division duplex) network at the end of 2012.

It plans to start trial runs of the wireless broadband network technology at the end of this year and is now in the midst of identifying the areas in the country where it will conduct the tests.

P1 wants to roll out LTE-TDD commercially at the close of next year. "We have submitted a business plan to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and are waiting its approval," Michael Lai, P1's chief executive officer, said during a media retreat here.

LTE-TDD is a fourth-generation technology that promises even faster wireless access speeds for mobile device users, as well as enhanced capacity for broadband network providers, than is available now.

At the event, China's ZTE Corp, which is P1's network partner, demonstrated LTE-TDD speeds of up to 110Mbps (megabits per second). The top speed is claimed to be 120Mbps.

A typical 90-minute high-definition movie (720p) would take 7 minutes to download at 110Mbps.

P1's current WiMAX technology network offers speeds of up to 45Mbps, and the same movie would take 18 minutes to download on that.

However, the speeds depend on how many users are on the network at the same time.

The more users there are in a particular sector around a base station, the slower the speeds will be.

A hurdle to LTE-TDD is the lack of devices configured to operate on that network now. And the small number of such devices currently available are too expensive for the average user.

"Without compatible and affordable devices, consumers will not be able to fully leverage on the power of the LTE-TDD network," Lai said.

But he is confident that the number of LTE-TDD-enabled products will increase by the time P1 kicks off its LTE-TDD network in this country.

Also, he said, global telecommunications giants China Mobile and InfoTel of India are the main drivers of LTE-TDD technology in Asia.

He said China Mobile is conducting large-scale LTE-TDD trials in six cities in China; these cities have a population greater than 100 million each.

InfoTel has conducted similar trials in India with Ericsson, the Swedish provider of telecommunications and data communications systems.

Lai said another reason for his confidence in LTE-TDD is that more than 17 telcos worldwide are offering services based on the technology now.

"And as at the first quarter of this year, there are about 320,000 subscribers to those services in total," he added.

The transition from a WiMAX-based to LTE-TDD network requires only a software update, which is one of its attractions to P1.

http://techcentral.my/news/story.aspx?file=/2011/4/15/it_news/20110415163145&sec=it_news

Dual core Smartphone: LG Optimus 2X

If you think that your current smartphone is slow, this could be an alternative for your next smartphone purchase.

Dual-core goodness in the LG Optimus 2X

PETALING JAYA: LG Electronics recently announced that its latest Android 2.2 smartphone, the Optimus 2X, will be locally available next month.

The Optimus 2X features a 4in touch-sensitive display (480 x 800-pixels) that is made of scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass material.

An 8-megapixel autofocus camera, complete with geo-tagging, face and smile detection, adorns the back of the camera. It is also able to record 1080p HD videos at 24 frames per second.

Additionally, the phone has a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera for making video calls.

LG said the smartphone features a new 1GHz Tegra 2 dual-core processor to deliver higher performance when playing video and audio as well as allow users to multitask without any lag. The faster processor also enables the smartphone to play graphics intensive games smoothly and deliver a faster, smoother web browsing experience.

Other notable features of the Optimus 2X includes 1080p HD video playback through HDMI on a larger screen. Content can also be connected wirelessly to any DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) compatible HDTV.

The phone, which will be priced at RM1,899, comes with 8GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 32GB via a microSD memory card.
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http://techcentral.my/news/story.aspx?file=/2011/4/13/it_news/20110413155555&sec=it_news

Trade in Promo by Acer

If you have an old Pentium PC that you need to get rid of and thinking of buying a new PC, now is the best time to do so.

Do you have any old computers that you would like to dispose? Your timing is just right then. Acer has just kicked off a trade-in program that not only benefits you but also a number of charity organizations across the country. Held in conjunction with the recently launched joint education and community program with Microsoftcalled I’m Inspired, customers are entitled to purchase selected desktop PC, laptop and all-in-one PCs for a discounted price with each trade-in.

While the RM 200 rebate might not sound much, what made this program special is that all the computers that Acer received through this event will be refurbished by them and Microsoft before they are donated to the said charity organizations. However, don’t think of this program as a place to dump your poor old PCs though since Acer are only accepting those with their main components such as motherboard, hard drives, processor, RAM, battery pack and power adapter still intact even though they can be either in working or non-working condition.

The Acer trade-in program is happening right now until 13 April 2011 at selected Acer dealers nationwide. For further information, check out the program’s website HERE.

http://www.acer-iconize.com.my/info_tradeinpromo.html

http://www.lowyat.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4180&Itemid=1