Tech Round Up Week 1 May 2020 : Apple’s New 13-Inch Macbook Pro Equipped With A Magic Keyboard

Hong Kong Fighting COVID19 With Technology

Hong Kong is using robots to fight the COVID19. Their MTR train service uses a Vapourised Hydrogen Peroxide (VHP) Robots to strategically decontaminate its train cabins and stations. Intelligent Sterilization Robots (ISRs) have also been deployed at Hong Kong International Airport, killing germs and viruses using a combination of UV light technology, 360-degree spray nozzles, and air filters. These robots are certainly a good way to combat the virus and also protect cleaners from being exposed to viruses.

5G Industry 4.0 Trial in Singapore

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), M1 Limited (M1), and Samsung announced that they will be collaborating in Singapore’s first 5G Industry trial. The trial will develop insights and showcase the benefits of 5G in Industry 4.0. Also know as the fourth industrial revolution, it is a revolution for industry to move towards automation and digitization. This partnership consists of 5G Innovation, 5G Solution Showcase, and 5G Solution Roll-out, and is aimed to be applied across various industries. This project will shape the future of all things 5G.

TPG Supplies Free Internet Access To Low-Income Families Amidst COVID19

Singapore’s fourth telco, TPG Telecom, will be supplying its 50GB SIM-ONLY plans and mobile Wi-Fi routes to assist low-income families amidst this global pandemic. TPG has been working with social enterprises like Viva Kids and TOUCH Community Service to help children in their Home Base Learning programs. TPG says that this initiative is brought forward to ensure that the underprivileged students will not be neglected amidst this crisis.

WhatsApp Offers New In-App Payment And a COVID19 Fact-Checking Bot

Whatsapp has partnered with Poynter, launching a COVID19 fact-checking bot in efforts to reduce the spread of misinformation. The new bot can provide answers on over 4,000 hoaxes within seconds, referring to information supplied by over 100 independent fact-checkers, in more than 70 countries. Users can save +1 (727) 2912606 as a contact number and text “hi” to launch the chatbot. Additionally, Whatsapp will be releasing an in-app payment option in India by end-May. They have joined the Unified Payment Interface which enables users to send or receive money to anyone from their Whatsapp contact list. Whatsapp also has plans to release this promising feature in other countries.

Google Pixel 4a Sneak Peek

Google’s senior vice-president, Rick Osterloh may have given us a sneak peek at Google’s upcoming mid-range Pixel 4a smartphone. Osterloh shared on Twitter a personal milestone of achieving the Earth badge on Fitbit by posting a screenshot of the app. Some of his Twitter followers realized that there was more to the simple screenshot, noting that the status bar icons are significantly shifted to the right, a clear compensation for the hole-punch display that was seen in the past leaks. Thus, they concluded that the screenshot was taken from a new Pixel 4a smartphone.

Apple’s New 13-Inch Macbook Pro Equipped With A Magic Keyboard

Apple’s new update to the 13-inch Macbook Pro has finally killed the butterfly keyboard and replaces it with the Magic Keyboard. This new Macbook also comes with super speed SSDs with sequential read speeds of up to 3.0GB/s. The standard storage starts at 256GB which is double the storage of previous models. 16GB of faster 3733MHz RAM is now offered as a standard configuration as well. The new device is equipped with a 10th-generation quad-core Intel Core processor with Turbo Boost speeds of up to 4.1GHz. The new device is now going at a starting price of USD$1,229.

Windows 10X Will Arrive To Single-Screen Devices First

Microsoft’s chief product officer for Windows and devices announces that Windows 10X will be released first on single-screen devices. Consumers that were looking forward to trying the new and improved Windows 10x on dual-screen hardware will have to wait a bit longer. Windows 10x is designed with flexibility in mind, enabling it to run on older programs like Win32. A source says that this update is due to the priority of resources during the global pandemic and efforts to shift the update’s availability on single-screen devices first.

Ninja Van Raises SGD$394.6m From New Funding Amidst Global Pandemic

More people have turned to online shopping during this circuit breaker and E-commerce delivery company Ninja Van is riding the uptrend wave. This may have been the reason that it has attracted a new funding of SGD$394.6 million (USD$279 Million) from investors like Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital and Grab. Other investors are Europe’s GeoPost, Monk’s Hill Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures Growth Fund and also two sovereign wealth funds. Ninja Van plans to use the funds to scale in the b2b sector and further develop its services for small firms and b2c brands.