Tech Round-up Week 2 Sept 2020: Apple’s Latest SG Store, LG New Earbuds With UV Disinfection,

Credit: Apple

Apple has opened its latest store in Singapore, and what’s unique about this one is that it’s the first Apple store in the world to sit directly on the water! The opening day was so anticipated that all reservation slots opened by Apple were booked out almost immediately after they were posted.

This all-glass dome structure also has dedicated spaces called the Forum, where local creatives will be featured in Today At Apple sessions, and even a meeting room underwater called the Boardroom for entrepreneurs and developers looking to meet with Apple team members. If you haven’t visited yet, it’s definitely worth checking out!

Credit: LG

LG has entered the true wireless earbuds market with its latest offering, the LG Tone True, tuned in collaboration with British audio brand, Meridian Audio. What’s interesting about this product, however, is the fact that there are UV lights integrated on the inside of the charging case. These turn on whenever the earbuds are placed inside to disinfect the silicon tip and ear canal in-between wears.

With Covid-19 now making all of us more aware of our own hygiene, this is definitely an idea that could make its way into more personal items like spectacle cases and such.

Credit: Sharp Corporation

Speaking of hygiene, Sharp Corporation has also released a recent study done that shows its Plasmacluster Technology actually managed to reduce the infectious viral titer of Covid-19 by 91.3% by using Plasmacluster ion generators in an enclosed space with Covid-19 particles released in the air. Infectious viral titer is essentially the concentration of virus particles that are capable of infecting host cells.

What’s impressive is that this was done within a 30-second test. This definitely bodes well in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Credit: TikTok

Rumours about TikTok now include one where the company might be looking to make Singapore an important part of its expansion plans. According to a company insider, the owner of TikTok, ByteDance is looking to invest billions of dollars, open a data centre and add hundreds of jobs over the next three years in Singapore, in addition to applying for a license to operate a digital bank.

With Trump’s 15 September ban on TikTok coming up soon and Trump insisting there will be no extension, it’ll be interesting to see how ByteDance pivots to avoid too much loss to their business.

Credit: Gov.sg

We wrote about the physical TraceTogether tokens before, and they’re finally being rolled out now. The Singapore government has announced that the tokens will start being distributed on 14 September, first in the Jalan Besar and Tanjong Pagar regions, before progressively expanding to the rest of the island.

While the usage of the TraceTogether app or token still isn’t mandated by law, the government has said that there will be a pilot to trial only letting people who use TraceTogether enter some locations such as MICE events. This definitely has resulted in quite a bit of discussion and worry on online forums like Reddit.

Comment from discussion jigaopuaysi’s comment from discussion "[Discussion] The rollout & trials of the TraceTogether token".

Over 54,000 signatures have been garnered on an online petition as well, which definitely signals the displeasure of people with the idea of physical trackers. We’ll be waiting to see how the government balances between the need for privacy and more thorough contact tracing.