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In our Tech Bytes news round-up for May 2021, we see companies unveiling glimpses of the future in the tech and gaming sphere. Check it out!

Up your cashless game this CNY with Google Pay's latest social game Huat Pals, where you stand the chance to earn extra rewards as well!

The Google Play store is no more — at least for Huawei devices. The ongoing trade war between the US and China has made it so that the app store synonymous with Android is not included within the Huawei family of mobile products (including the latest P40 series), for now. While there are ways to get the Google Play store on a Huawei phone, it can be a hassle especially for those who aren’t tech-savvy. But Huawei has its own answer to app distribution: AppGallery.  So does the experience adequately fill the void left out by Google? That is the…

Smart devices are quickly becoming popular within our society, with many people utilising gadgets like smartwatches and smart speakers in their daily routine. Smart displays are something more of an emerging trend, but Google is keen to make it part of the norm in the household with their Google Nest Hub. If you are not familiar with smart displays, it is an all-in-one control panel for your home. If your home is fully kitted with smart devices, you can essentially control your entire house with this individual device — from your speakers to even your lights. For something that has…

Singapore is taking cues from China; a country where cashless now is deeply ingrained into society. As part of the government’s Smart Nation initiative, more establishments are making the move to cashless. In the case of public transport, cash top-up will no longer be an option at ticketing machines by 2020. Cashless is an inevitability, however, there’s still confusion over what cashless systems we have in Singapore and when to use them due to the variety of options available. This guide is here to help illustrate every system we have now and what situations to use them. NETS  The OG…

Google’s unveiling of the new Pixel 3a and 3a XL was a peculiar sight to see. In a market where major smartphone manufacturers are touting the capabilities of their flagship line of phones, Google has decided to go against the grain and instead introduce a product aimed at attracting consumers who have a smaller budget. Right now you can purchase the Google Pixel 3a and 3a XL at SGD $659 and $779 respectively; that’s a really good price compared to the phones by its competitors which routinely hit beyond the $1,000 mark. Of course, with that price point, it’s fairly…

The war between Donald Trump and China rages on, possibly reaching a crescendo following Trump’s recent announcement. The announcement detailed the blacklist of business relations between U.S companies and Huawei, citing the latter as an “unacceptable risk” to national security. The ban itself was not wholly surprising, given the rising tensions between the two countries. However, the ramifications from the fallout will have an impact further reaching than the shores of America and China. In the wake of the announcement, Google has come out and said that they will be complying with the order and thus, will be rescinding future…

Remember J.A.R.V.I.S. from the “Iron Man” franchise? While we can dream of having such a futuristic personal assistant, the fact is it’s already there in your hands. It’s a lot less exciting, but it’s all… in your phone. What does J.A.R.V.I.S. do that Siri/Cortana/Google Now can also? Remind you of important dates and meetings? Check. Dictate and send out an e-mail? Check. Compile a list of people who could be The Mandarin? …Probably. Artificial Intelligence (AI for short) refers to machines or software that can intelligently assess its environment and subsequently perform actions to complete specific tasks. That definition alone…

Welcome to Tech Brief, your weekly wrap-up on all that’s happened in the tech and startup industries this week!  THIS WEEK, WE’RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE TRAITOR THAT IS INSTAGRAM. THAT IS ALL. The World’s Largest Photo-Sharing Platform Just Pissed Off ALL Its Users In a blog post released on 15 March (“BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH”), Instagram tried its best to convince its few hundred million users that switching to an algorithm-based feed is really the best decision. Wrong. I’m not entirely sure where they plucked that observation that “people miss on average 70 percent of their feeds”…