This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 5, 2021 - July 11, 2021

Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd will be bringing the streaming services of Netflix to its platform. In a statement, Astro says its customers will soon be able to enjoy seamless access to Netflix on their connected Ultra Boxes, following the launch, and on connected Ulti Boxes in the coming months.

“With this partnership, Astro and Netflix customers in Malaysia can enjoy greater convenience by having Netflix with their Astro subscription, providing easy access for payment in a single bill, at the best value,” says Astro.

This latest partnership comes hot on the heels of Astro’s partnership with the Walt Disney Co to launch the Disney+ Hotstar streaming platform in Malaysia last month.

In addition, Astro has launched its standalone subscription-based and advertising-supported streaming service, sooka. It also has content from streaming services such as HBO Go and iQIYI on its platform.

Google has delayed its plan to scrap a technology that tracks web-browsing habits amid regulatory scrutiny and concerns of privacy advocates and the advertising industry. 

Alphabet Inc, the search giant’s parent company, said Chrome internet browser will stop supporting a user-tracking technology called third-party cookies by late 2023, nearly two years later than its initial timeline set for 2022. 

In March, Google said it would not build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web once third-party cookies are phased out.

“The Privacy Sandbox initiative aims to create web technologies that both protect people’s privacy online and give companies and developers the tools to build thriving digital businesses to keep the web open and accessible to everyone, now and for the future,” says Vinay Goel, privacy engineering director of Chrome, in a blog post.

Goel says the delay would give it more time to get publishers, advertisers and regulators comfortable with the new technologies it is developing to enable targeted ads after cookies are phased out. “While there has been considerable progress with this initiative, it has become clear that more time is needed across the ecosystem to get this right.”

Artificial intelligence (AI) experts at Michigan State University and Facebook have developed an AI software that can identify “deepfake” images and figure out where they came from. Deepfakes are photos, videos or audio clips that use a synthetic, or fake, recreation of someone else’s likeness portrayed as that person using AI.

Deepfake videos that used the likeness of Tom Cruise, former US president Barack Obama and US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi went viral, and have shown how advanced the technology has become, reports NPR.

Facebook’s new software runs deepfake images through its network. Its AI programme looks for cracks left behind in the manufacturing process used to change an image’s digital “fingerprint”, says NPR.

Local digital-first pet healthcare insurance provider Oyen has raised US$420,000 (RM1.7 million) in seed funding, backed by US-based Hustle Fund and angel investors made up of former and current executives at Airbnb, Facebook and Rocket Internet.

Oyen, which aims to become Southeast Asia’s leading pet healthcare insurer, hopes to offer more holistic pet healthcare services such as vet medical protection, preventive care and wellness.

The funds will be used to improve its proprietary digital insurance platform and reinforce its market position in Malaysia’s pet healthcare insurance ecosystem. The company is also aggressively recruiting to fill technology and non-technology roles.

Oyen provides veterinary medical coverage for vet medical fees up to RM8,000, pet burial costs of up to RM1,000 and third-party liability claims of up to RM50,000.

German biotech company BioNTech SE and Siemens have announced an expansion to their strategic cooperation. The companies plan to intensify their collaboration for the rapid expansion and creation of production capacity for the Covid-19 vaccine. 

BioNTech expressed its aim of establishing new vaccine production sites based on its Marburg plant and its technology, starting with a production facility in Singapore. Within this cooperation, Siemens will provide the latest automation and digitalisation technologies for BioNTech production sites, including design, simulation as well as engineering software and process control technology. 

Cedrik Neike, CEO for digital industries at Siemens AG, says, “Siemens and BioNTech have worked together successfully for years. BioNTech was one of the first companies, together with Pfizer, to bring a new mRNA vaccine to market. Our technologies have helped them convert their production facility in just five months, rather than a year.” 

Automation platform developer Ivanti has appointed Daniel Spicer as its vice-president of security. He will oversee the company’s overall cybersecurity infrastructure.

Spicer will help enhance the company’s cybersecurity infrastructure by working with engineering teams to build stronger security into Ivanti’s solutions, assessing future acquisitions for security strength and market differentiation and ensuring Ivanti’s network security is bolstered to protect its own systems and data.

Spicer joins Ivanti from Stroz Friedberg, an industry leader in the field of incident response and digital forensics that has helped shape best practices in digital investigations and risk management. At the company, he led more than 100 investigations, including Yahoo! breach and espionage campaigns, such as Operation Cloud Hopper, where hackers connected to the Chinese Ministry of State Security had penetrated Hewlett-Packard Enterprise’s cloud computing service and used it as a launchpad to attack customers, corporates and the US government for years.

Jaclyn Bouchardhas been appointed head of environmental, social and governance at Prequin as the company ramps up its efforts to provide quality ESG data at scale for private markets. In her new role, Bouchard will be responsible for further developing Preqin’s ESG product suite as well as working with external stakeholders globally to support the alternative assets industry in navigating a complex and ever-changing ESG reporting landscape.

“For someone as passionate about ESG and using business to accelerate more sustainable markets as I am, Preqin’s commitment to the sector is something that matched my own ambition and clearly stood out for me. I am extremely excited to further develop and implement Preqin’s ESG product suite, as demand for quality ESG data solutions is growing rapidly,” says Bouchard.

Touch ’n Go Group has appointed Praba Sangarajoo as deputy CEO of business and growth effective June 1. Prior to joining the group, he was most recently CEO of Xperanti IoT. 

With more than 20 years of experience in business-to-business technology, especially in the business growth space, Praba is tasked with further strengthening the company’s customer-centric solutions and providing value-added services. He will focus on revenue line expansion, commercial partnerships, product development and innovation. 

Praba served in management capacity at multinational corporations such as Nokia Siemens Networks, Sapura Secured Technologies, Siemens Malaysia and Fujitsu. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering and Communications from Northumbria University in the UK.

National oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is inviting Malaysian start-ups to participate in the second edition of its technology accelerator programme, Petronas FutureTech 2.0. The company hopes to encourage local innovations and scale-up home-grown technology start-ups to be on a par with international standards. 

To realise this objective, it is continuing its partnership with global venture capital firm 500 Startups and has teamed up with Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) and Sime Darby Plantation Bhd (SDP) through its corporate venture capital arm Petronas Ventures. The strategic partnership will allow TM and SDP to uncover potentially game-changing technologies, accelerate new ideas that can help transform local industries and enable the participating teams to have greater market access for growth.

Start-ups working on solutions related to Industry 4.0, speciality chemicals and advanced materials, the future of energy, digital transformation and retail innovation are encouraged to apply.

Twenty shortlisted start-ups will undergo an intensive 12-week virtual programme, which includes masterclasses, workshops and coaching from 500 Startups’ mentors as well as C-suite and experts from Petronas, TM and SDP starting in September. These start-ups will have the opportunity to accelerate their business solutions via proof of concept and get access to insights and resources from the partners.

Applications for FutureTech 2.0 close on July 27. Interested participants must be committed for the entire duration of the programme, from Aug 30 to Nov 19. For more information, visit ecosystems.500.co/petronas-future-tech.

Selangor Accelerator Programme (SAP) is looking for 30 high-potential local start-ups to join its fourth cohort for a three-month intensive programme.

The Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corporation (Sidec) is looking for start-ups that focus on agrotech, fintech, greentech, e-commerce and smart city solutions such as proptech, mobility and logistics. Registration closes on July 14.

The SAP is a structured three-month programme that aims to prepare 30 early-stage start-ups to become investment-ready businesses. Winners this year stand a chance of winning from a cash prize pool of RM50,000.

The programme is a gateway for start-ups to prepare themselves for the final demo day on Sept 11, where they will get the chance to pitch to renowned venture capitalists, corporations and government agencies. It is supported by Affin Bank and The Hive Southeast Asia, one of eight foreign venture capitalists and local partner of the Penjana Nasional Fund (PNF) matching programme.

Apart from cash prizes, participants will receive guidance from well-versed mentors in the community, learn from comprehensive workshops and gain industry-related exposure. Sidec will also facilitate testing and piloting through the Selangor government’s subsidiaries.

Owing to Covid-19, the programme will be conducted online and participants will have their own dashboard for all the courses, webinars and mentoring sessions. The 30 shortlisted start-ups will participate in the programme from July 28 to Sept 5. To register, visit sidec.com.my/sap2021.

British-American cybersecurity trailblazer John McAfee died on June 23 in a Barcelona prison. According to his lawyer, Javier Villalba, McAfee died by hanging, claiming that the nine months spent in prison had driven him to despair, Reuters reported. 

On June 23, a Spanish high court agreed to extradite McAfee to the US, where he was wanted on various charges, ranging from tax evasion to cryptocurrency fraud. The tech mogul was detained on Oct 3 at the Barcelona airport. 

A self-confessed libertarian, McAfee publicly acknowledged not paying income taxes for eight years, citing ideological reasons. He even made a bid for the White House and sought to kick-start a presidential run in 2018 as a member of the Libertarian Party. 

In addition to founding the world’s first commercial antivirus software, which is named after him, McAfee had previously worked for Nasa, Xerox and Lockheed Martin. Intel bought the antivirus business in 2011, by which point McAfee himself was no longer involved. 

WHILE YOU WERE WORKING 
(FROM HOME)

Google’s collaborative office suite Workspace is now available for free to all Google account holders — an option that is expected to help small businesses to upgrade their Gmail accounts for greater calendaring, video chat and email newsletter functionalities.

Workspace is a revamp of G Suite, which brings together all of Google’s online work tools, from Gmail to Docs, Sheets and Slides, including Calendar, Drive and Meet.

While these features are available to anyone with a Google account, the company also offers an individual subscription tier for Workspace, which includes premium capabilities such as smart appointment booking in Calendar, premium video meeting features that allow for longer calls and personalised newsletter marketing. According to Reuters, Google Workspace Individual subscription will be US$9.99 (RM41) a month, with an introductory price of US$7.99 a month.

Users who want to transition to Workspace can do so by switching from Hangouts in the left-hand panel in Gmail to the new Google Chat. Go to the Settings option at the top right corner and click to see all settings. Go to the “chat and meet” tab, switch from Classic Hangout to Google Chat and save your settings. This will update to give you Google Chat on the left-hand panel along with Meet and Rooms.

Sony has released a new version of its popular wireless earbuds, the WF-1000XM3. Its successor, the WF-1000XM4, rivals Apple’s noise-cancelling AirPods Pro and features high-performance dual noise sensor microphones for excellent noise cancellation. With two noise sensing microphones per ear — one feed-forward and one feed-back — ambient noise is heard and analysed, resulting in highly accurate noise cancellation.

A newly designed 6mm driver unit with a 20% increase in magnet volume also improves the WF-1000XM4’s noise-cancelling capabilities. The increase in magnet volume and the high-compliance diaphragm gives improved performance in low frequencies and enhances noise cancelling by generating a high-precision cancellation signal to the low-frequency range.

The earbuds, which can be charged wirelessly, come with smart listening features and they are splash- and sweat-resistant.

For a better fit, Sony has included foam-based earbud tips that come in various sizes. Battery life has also been upgraded, providing up to eight hours of use with active noise cancellation turned on and another 16 hours’ worth of charge from the case, which is now smaller.

The Sony WF-1000XM4 is available in black and silver and officially priced at RM1,099. It is available for pre-order on the official Sony Store, Lazada and Shopee.

As a pre-order promotion, Sony is offering a Qi wireless charging pad worth RM339 — until July 15 and while stocks last — at its outlets in The Curve and KLCC, Sony Store Online and all authorised dealers.

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