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Monday, June 10, 2024

Prolonging the phone’s life

Smartphones are getting a longer life, with extended software updates promising up to seven years of use.



EVERY smartphone has an expiration date. That day arrives when the software updates stop coming and you start missing out on new apps and security protections. With most phones, this used to happen after about three years.

But things are finally starting to change. The new number is seven.

Google announced that with its Pixel 8 smartphone, released in October, it is committed to providing software updates for the phone for seven years, up from three years for its previous Pixels.

This year, Samsung, the most profitable Android phone maker, set a similar software timeline for its flagship Galaxy S24.

Both companies said they had expanded their software support to make their phones last longer. This is a change from how companies used to talk about phones.

Not long ago, tech giants unveiled new devices that encouraged people to upgrade every two years.

But in the past few years, smartphone sales have slowed down worldwide as their improvements have become more marginal. Nowadays, people want their phones to endure.

Samsung and Google, the two most influential Android device makers, are playing catch-up with Apple, which has traditionally provided software updates for iphones for roughly seven years.

These moves will make phones last much longer and give people more flexibility to decide when it’s time to upgrade.

Google said in a statement that it had expanded its software commitment because it wanted customers to feel confident in Pixel phones. And Samsung said it would deliver seven years of software updates, which increase security and reliability, for all its Galaxy flagship phones from now on.

Here’s what you should know about why this is happening and what you can do to make your phone last longer.

Why is this happening?

In the past, Android phone makers said the technical process of providing software updates was complicated, so to stay profitable, they dropped support after a few years. But tech companies are now under intense external pressure to invest in making their devices last longer.

In 2021, the US Federal Trade Commission announced that it would ramp up enforcement against tech companies that made it difficult to fix and maintain their products.

That accelerated the “right to repair” movement, a piece of proposed US legislation that required companies to provide the parts, tools and software to extend the lives of their products.

Google announced its new commitment to smartphones after being pressured to make a similar move for its laptops.

In September, the company agreed to expand software support for its Chromebook to 10 years, up from eight, in response to a grassroots campaign that highlighted how shortlived Google laptops were causing budget crunches in schools.

Nathan Proctor, a director at US PIRG, a non-profit largely funded by small donors that led the Chromebook campaign, said the new standard of seven years of support for smartphones would have a profound effect.

“It’s a huge win for the environment,” he said. “I want to see more of it.”

What else do I need to do?

Software updates are one big part of what keeps a phone working well, but there are other steps to lengthen smartphone lives, similar to maintaining a car.

They include replacing the phone battery every two years. The lithium-ion batteries in phones have a finite life. After about two years, the amount of charge they can hold diminishes, and it’s wise to replace the battery.

Replacing a smartphone battery isn’t easy, so it’s best to get help from the manufacturer’s service centre or a reputable shop.

Some smartphone companies, for instance, allow customers to schedule a battery replacement appointment at a retail store through their website.

Protect it

Smartphones are still mostly made of glass, so to make a phone last seven years, it’s wise to invest in a high-quality case.

A screen protector is an extra safeguard, though many won’t enjoy how it distorts the picture quality of the screen. The New York Times’ sister site that reviews products, Wirecutter, recommends cases from brands like Smartish, Spigen, and Mujjo, or cases from the phone makers themselves.

Unless you’re very accident-prone, I recommend against buying extended warranties because their costs can exceed the cost of a repair.

Clean it

Smartphones have few moving parts, so there’s little we have to do to physically maintain them. But most of us neglect cleaning the parts that we rarely look at: charging ports and speaker holes.

Over time, those holes are clogged with dirt, pocket lint and makeup. That built-up debris can make a phone take longer to charge or a phone call more difficult to hear.

“It’s the belly button lint of cellphones,” said Kyle Wiens, CEO of ifixit, a site that publishes instructions and sells parts to repair electronics.

Fortunately, he added, you don’t need a fancy tool. Just use a toothpick to dig out the gunk.

Should you upgrade?

I always recommend buying a product based on the here and now – what it can do for you today, as opposed to what companies say it will do in the future. You should continue to buy a phone based on this principle.

Plenty of people will choose to upgrade sooner for other reasons, like getting a new feature such as a better camera or a longer-lasting battery.

But those who just want to buy a phone that lasts as long as possible should pick one that will be economical to repair when things break.

By BRIAN X. CHEN

Smartphones can now last seven years. Here's how to ...

Every smartphone has an expiration date. That day arrives when software updates stop coming and you start missing out on new apps and security protections. With most phones, this happened after about only three years. Things are finally starting to change. The new number is seven. — The New York Times

From the heart and not for fame: Sincerity wins trust of stroke patient

Caring for a stranger: Anjala Devi feeding the stroke patient at Hospital Sultanah Aminah.


Sincerity wins trust of stroke patient

JOHOR BARU: A woman’s act of kindness in feeding a stranger at Hospital Sultanah Aminah here has not only moved the man to tears but also warmed the hearts of Malaysians.

C. Anjala Devi, 63, was at the hospital visiting her nephew on Thursday evening when she noticed the patient in the next bed struggling to eat his dinner.

Despite nurses’ attempts to assist him and urging him to eat, the man was reluctant to accept help.

Recounting the incident, Anjala Devi’s niece K. Jamunahwathy, 28, said they learnt the man is a stroke patient, which made it difficult for him to speak and move.

She said her brother was admitted for heart surgery about a week ago and the man was hospitalised on Thursday.

“We noticed that he did not have any visitors nor did he have a mobile phone with him so my aunt offered to feed him. At first he declined her help, as he was embarrassed and did not want to trouble us.

“But my aunt would not take no for an answer and insisted on spoon-feeding him. She told him, ‘Adik, you will not be able to take your medicine otherwise’,” Jamunahwathy, who works as an audio-visual engineer, said in an interview.

Caring for a stranger: Anjala Devi feeding the stroke patient at Hospital Sultanah Aminah.Caring for a stranger: Anjala Devi feeding the stroke patient at Hospital Sultanah Aminah.

The man eventually agreed to be fed and in a spontaneous move, Jamunahwathy whipped out her mobile phone to record the moment and later posted it on social media.

The 26-second video clip captured the man wiping away his tears with a tissue paper as Anjala Devi fed him spoonfuls of food.

The video quickly made the rounds on various social media platforms, drawing praise from Malaysians for the woman’s compassion, with many others also sharing their own experiences of receiving help from strangers.

Jamunahwathy said she uploaded the video with the intention of spreading love, while things like differences in race and religion were far from her mind.

“Judging by the comments on my video, we can see how warm and kind Malaysians are towards each other.

“This is what we should always practise because we would not know what others are going through. A small gesture can make their day at least a little better,” she said.

Jamunahwathy added that her aunt continued to feed “adik” during subsequent visits, even bringing him home-cooked food prepared by her mother.

“My aunt has always been a caring woman and she will not hesitate to visit family and friends who are unwell or hospitalised.

“We told my aunt about her video going viral and she got a bit nervous as she did it from her heart and not for fame,” she said.

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Friday, June 7, 2024

Bright future ahead for Malaysian properties

 Impressive growth chalked up in first quarter 2024



Nga: The ongoing property stock rally is expected to continue into the second half of 2024.

PETALING JAYA: The property market has a “bright future” in the coming years under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, says Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming.

Interestingly, the minister also made a forecast that the ongoing property stock rally is expected to continue into the second half of 2024.

He said this in a statement where he noted that property stocks on Bursa Malaysia have rallied by up to 600% since the beginning of 2023.

Nga also pointed out that property transactions reached RM56.53bil in the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24), demonstrating an “impressive growth”. 

Premised on investors’ bullishness on property stocks and the market appetite for properties, Nga said the local property market is expected to be stable this year.

The market is also likely to continue growing in the next three years, supported by various initiatives outlined by the Madani government under Budget 2024, he added.

“We must work together to enhance our industry’s reputation and increase the confidence level of investors to make the property market even more resilient,” the minister said.

Nga also noted that property counters in the stock market have been on the rise from January 2023 to June 2024.

Out of 100 property counters on Bursa Malaysia, approximately 76 counters experienced an increase in share price, 22 counters showed a decrease in share price and two counters maintained their share price despite fluctuations.

For instance, DPS Resources Bhd experienced 600% growth in its share price, UEM Sunrise Bhd saw a 347.06% increase and WMG Holdings Bhd also showed a 326.31% growth from January 2023 to June 2024.

A total of 23 counters have at least doubled their share price in the period, based on data provided in Nga’s statement.

Meanwhile, the minister highlighted the impressive growth in Malaysian property transactions.

“In 1Q23, Malaysia’s property market transactions were valued at RM42.31bil, with more than 89,000 transactions recorded. In contrast, in 1Q24, property market transactions reached RM56.53bil, with more than 104,000 transactions, marking an increase of RM14.22bil in terms of value.

“This significant growth indicates that Malaysia’s property market is recovering well and on the rise,” he said.

About three weeks earlier, Nga reportedly said that the country’s property overhang was clearing up. Quoted by Bernama, Nga said that since the Madani government took office, the number of completed but unsold property units had decreased by over 40% with a drop from 37,066 units to fewer than 24,000 units.

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Chang'e-6 bags precious lunar sample in Earth-returning vehicle, US alone in 'space race' narrative: observers

 

A picture of the Chang'e-6 lunar probe's lander and ascender vehicles on the surface of far side of moon taken by a mobile camera on June 3, 2024  Photo: Courtesy of the CNSA

A picture of the Chang'e-6 lunar probe's lander and ascender vehicles on the surface of far side of moon taken by a mobile camera on June 3, 2024 Photo: Courtesy of the CNSA

Two days after lifting off from the moon's surface, the ascender of China's Chang'e-6 lunar probe completed a rendezvous and docking with the orbiter-returner combination, delivering the world's first lunar samples collected from the far side of the moon to the Earth-returning vehicle on Thursday afternoon.

The Global Times learned from the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Thursday that the rendezvous and docking took place at 2:48 pm Thursday and the safe transferring of lunar samples at 3:24 pm. This marks the second time China has achieved a lunar orbit rendezvous and docking, following Chang'e-5.

After its epic lift-off from the far side of the moon on Tuesday morning, the ascender of Chang'e-6, carrying the lunar samples, entered the lunar orbit and carried out four orbit adjustments, per the CNSA. 

When the ascender was about 50 kilometers ahead and 10 kilometers above the orbiter-returner combination, the orbiter andreturner combination used close-range autonomous control to gradually approach the ascender, completing the orbital rendezvous, according to mission insiders. 

The orbiter's three sets of K-shaped grappling claws aligned with the three connecting rods on the ascender's docking surface, securely connecting the two devices by tightening the claws, precisely completing the docking. 

After that, the container holding the precious samples from the far side of the moon was safely transferred from the ascender to the returner.

The Chang'e 6 orbiter and returner combination will next separate from the ascender and enter a lunar orbit waiting phase, preparing for a lunar-to-Earth transfer orbit control at an opportune time, according to the mission plan. 

After undergoing key steps such as the lunar-to-Earth transfer and the separation of the orbiter and returner, the returner is scheduled to land with the lunar samples at the Siziwang Banner landing site in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Open to cooperation with US

Chang'e-6 completed the world's first-ever mission of collecting samples from the far side of the moon and is on its way home. This is a historic step in humanity's peaceful use of space, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said during a routine press conference on Thursday. 

When commenting on reports of NASA's congratulations on the latest leap in China's decades-long moon exploration, Mao told the Global Times on Thursday that China is always open toward space exchanges and cooperation with the US. 

The two sides established mechanisms such as the working group on Earth science and space science cooperation, and the China-US Civil Space Dialogue. At US request, the competent authorities of the two countries established a mechanism to exchange orbit data on each other's Mars probes to ensure long-term successful mission operation, according to the spokesperson.

There are, however, difficulties in China-US space cooperation at the moment, which are caused by US domestic legislation such as the Wolf Amendment that prevents normal exchanges and dialogue between Chinese and US space agencies, Mao said.

"If the US truly wants to push forward space exchanges and cooperation with China, it needs to take practical steps to remove these obstacles," Mao noted. 

The achievements of China's ongoing Chang'e-6 moon probe mission thus far have evidently become a source of anxiety for the US amid the Western media's fabricated hot saga of the US-China space race, Chinese space observers said on Thursday.

When covering the ascender of Chang'e-6's lift-off from moon surface, US media outlet CNN reported on Tuesday that the successful return of the samples would give China a head start in harnessing the strategic and scientific benefits of expanded lunar exploration - an increasingly competitive field that has contributed to what NASA chief Bill Nelson calls a new "space race."

When asked which country would be the first to have a base on the moon, Keith Cowing, former American rocket scientist and current editor of NASAWatch.com, bluntly said that it might be China. "We (the US) are trying to get there first… but we will land next to them (China), roll down our window and say 'Hi, y'all, where do you want us to park our big lander'."

During the same interview with DW, David Ariosto, an American journalist and founder of Space Watch Daily, said that China has the edge at this point, but that could change.

The anxiety and sour grapes mentality are quite evident on the US side, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Thursday.

When handling ties with China, the US is desperate to hold an absolute edge over China in all spheres including the space domain to deal with China's rapid development. The obstacles are rooted in this mentality, Li noted. "Strategically, the US is also unwilling to be on an equal footing with China in space. This mind-set is deeply ingrained and traditional, making it difficult to change. This is also an important factor."

US media and the head of NASA have repeatedly tried to stir up the US-China space race narrative, aiming to increase investment in the space sector and accelerating technological progress and related activities in space, Chinese observers said. 

The US wants to create a scenario of mutual confrontation rather than cooperation, which has led to the so-called space race the US desires. However, at present, the conditions for such a race do not exist because China and other countries are not willing to participate. If only the US is invested in it, it can't be called a race. In the end, it becomes a one-sided effort by the US, they said. 
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Thursday, June 6, 2024

Time to Rethink Water Use; Six months of free water, rebates

 Penangites waking up to higher water bill reality

From cheap to pinch: Penangites are unhappy about the new water tariff hike as they feel it is a burden. — KT GOH/The Star

GEORGE TOWN: Having boasted the cheapest water in the country for almost 30 years, Penangites received a wake-up call when the new water tariff was announced.

Now, many Penangites realise that they had taken cheap water for granted and they are feeling the pinch.

Retiree Mariam Abdul, 59, said her household of six family members saw their two-month water bill shoot from about RM50 to RM150.

Penang homes are billed for water once every two months since 25 years ago.

“We never really thought about how much water we used because our water bills were always so low,” she said.

The recent increase has prompted Mariam to become more mindful and encourage her family members to adopt better habits.

According to the former teacher they have begun checking for leaks, installing water-saving devices and turning off taps while brushing teeth or washing dishes.

“It has been a learning curve, but it is worth trying,” said the grandmother of four.

This sentiment is echoed by another Penangite, Ronny Lim, 39, who described his latest water bill as a “wake-up call”.

“We used to take things lightly, like using the water hose freely while washing our cars. Now, we start with a pail of soapy water before spraying the cars down,” he said.

The factory technician even stopped his children from playing with water while taking long baths.

“With the cost of almost everything going up now, I guess the price of water must go up too,” Lim said.

For the first 20,000 litres, Penangites used to pay just 22 sen per 1,000 litres. As of February, that became 62 sen (up 182%).

For 21,000 litres to 35,000 litres, it became RM1.17 per 1,000 litres (up 154% from 46 sen). Additional water consumption incurs much higher surcharges.

Penang’s water rates had stayed the same for almost 30 years, causing tap water here to be the cheapest in the country for over a generation.

Although water rates in all states were reviewed earlier this year, hundreds of Penangites had lodged official complaints and even the state assemblymen grumbled.

One of them was Batu Lanchang assemblyman Ong Ah Teong from DAP, who said the increase has burdened the people from the lower-income group.

“We are not opposed to the increase, but it should have been implemented gradually and incrementally, rather than a sudden 200% hike,” he said.

Seberang Jaya assemblyman Izhar Shah Arif Shah from Bersatu said, “don’t expect people to accept a high increase. It should be done in stages, not abruptly.”

Penang infrastructure and transport committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said it was high time now for Penangites to use water wisely as it is a vital resource.

He said that despite the increase, the Penang water tariff is still among the lowest in the country.“The increase will help raise funds for much-needed water infrastructure projects such as pipe replacements and the building of new water treatment plants to ensure our water security,” he said.

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Six months of free water, rebates

Easing the burden: The Penang government responds to criticism over new water tariffs by offering 10,000 litres of water free for six months, starting July. Households will save RM6.20 per bill, with larger families earning below RM5,000 receiving an additional RM20 rebate. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star

GEORGE TOWN: After receiving widespread criticism for its new domestic water tariff rates introduced in February, the Penang government has decided to offer consumers the first 10,000 litres of water for free for the next six months starting July.

Since Penang households are billed for water once every two months, this rebate will translate into savings of RM6.20 per bill for consumers.

Larger households with income of below RM5,000 will receive a RM20 rebate under the Family Friendly Rebate scheme, said Penang infrastructure and transport committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari.

“The exemption and rebate will be given from July to December.

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“The state takes note of complaints regarding the new domestic water tariff rates following readjustment by the National Water Service Commission (SPAN) which has been in effect since February.

“Although Penang still enjoys the second lowest tariff in the country with the new tariff rates, many had complained due to the drastic increase from the previous tariff which was adjusted after 31 years for the first band (20 cubic metres) and nine years for the other bands.

“Therefore, the state has instructed the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) to offer rebate for those residing in Penang,” he said in a statement yesterday.


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According to Zairil, the rebates are provided to reduce the financial burden of the people.

“Water would be free for the first 10,000 litres for each bill for the next six months from July to December.

“The RM20 Family Friendly Rebate scheme for large households (eight people and above) would be expanded to those with an income of RM5,000 and below; an increase from RM2,250 previously,” he said.

With the rebates, Zairil said all domestic water consumers would enjoy a rebate of RM6.20 for each bill.

“For example, users in the first band only need to pay RM6.20 (RM12.40 minus RM6.20) for two months, while consumers in the second band, billed for RM30, only need to pay RM23.80 for two months’ consumption,” he added.

There are around 660,000 PBAPP account holders in Penang.


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