BNM to issue new series of Malaysian coins in 2012

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) is issuing commemorative coins in the denominations of 5 sen, 10 sen, 20 sen and 50 sen, to mark the new 3rd Series of the Malaysian coins which will be available for circulation early 2012.

This series of new coins are smaller and lighter, making its more user-friendly for the public. The yellow and silver coloured coins and the edge designs enable the public and also the visually impaired to identify and distinguish the different denominations.

The new series of coins embodies the latest advancements in minting technology which incorporates improved counterfeit resistance security features. The new metal alloy used for minting has enhanced durability against wear and corrosion.

The alloy used in 50 sen coins is Nickel Brass Clad Copper,  in 20 sen coins is Nickel Brass, in 10 sen and 5 sen coins is Stainless Steel.

This new series of coins are legal tender and will co-circulate with the existing series. The existing series will be gradually phased out.

Vendors of cash handling machines are given 6 months to calibrate their machines to ensure convenience for the use of the new coins.

Find out if your smartphone is installed with the infamous Carrier IQ

Nowadays, one of the hot topics among the smartphone (iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Symbian, ...) users is about Carrier IQ.

Carrier IQ is spy agent pre-installed in certain smartphone that can capture information about the phone numbers you are dialing, your GPS location, the webpages you have visited with your mobile browser, etc. Those information are sent back via the Internet without your notice, invading into your privacy.

Carrier IQ has been reported to be found in iPhones, and it is told that you can disable its information sending action with About > Diagnostics & Usage > Don't Send.

There are multiple vendors and multiple models for Android phone, and not all of them are affected. If you have an Android phone, good news is that now there are several free tools available in the Market for you to find out whether your Android phone is installed with the infamous Carrier IQ or not.

Just open the Market app, and search for the keywords "carrier iq detector" and you will get a list of the detector tools for Android.

Use them to check on your Android phone. You can install multiple of them to assure that your phone is not affected. Once you have done the checking, you can go ahead to uninstall the Carrier IQ detection tools.

If you find Carrier IQ in your Android phone, removal will be a bit tricky, as you need root access. There are apps such as Logging Checker (a.k.a. Logging Test App) that claims to be able to help you eliminate Carrier IQ in your phone.

Malaysia Tesco Clubcard members, download your limited time RM10 saving voucher here

Tesco Stores Malaysia is giving away RM10 saving voucher to their Clubcard members, which you can download from their website and print out to use.

This voucher is only valid for purchase in Tesco above RM100, during the period of 18-20 November 2011.

Terms and conditions:

1. Limit to 1 coupon per transaction per day.
2. Vouchers or coupons are not exchangeable for cash.
3. Vouchers or coupons are not valid for purchases of: a. Tesco Gift Voucher; b. Tobacco Products; c. E-Pay Credit Coupons / Pre-paid Top Up
4. Vouchers or coupons are not valid for purchases made at Mall Tenants and Food Court.
5. Spend and Save Vouchers cannot be used to combine with ANY Clubcard Vouchers or Cash Vouchers.
6. If the value of the goods purchased falls short of the amount indicated, no cash refund will be given.

Download your Tesco RM10 Spend and Save Voucher here!

The top 10 in Interbrand Best Global Brands 2011

Interbrand, a leading brand consultancy, has just released their 12th annual Best Global Brands Report.

This annual valuation report has been voted as one of the most influential benchmark studies by business leaders. It provides insights into the yearly performances of the world's Top 100 brands.

Interbrand ranks the brands by Brand Value, which is calculated based on the formula below.

Due to the volatile markets and uncertain business climate that characterized 2011, brands are in the midst of adapting to a new reality.

"Uncertainty is the new status quo, so today’s brands need to be quick and nimble," remarked Jez Frampton, Interbrand’s Global Chief Executive Officer. "Consistency, relevance and commitment are imperative if a brand is to keep pace in our rapidly changing world."

The top 10 brands in 2011 are:

• Coca-cola
• IBM
• Microsoft
• Google
• GE
• McDonald's
• Intel
• Apple
• Disney
• Hewlett-Packard

The chart below shows the change in Brand Value of these top 10 over the years. Google and Apple are both progressing fast.

Click here to download the full Best Global Brands 2011 Report for free. There is also an iPad version of the report available in iTunes Store.

A visit to Logos Hope ship - the world largest floating book fair

Logos Hope, a ship known as the world’s largest floating book fair, is now berthed at Port Klang Cruise Centre at Pulau Indah (photo below), Selangor, and is open for public visit from 29 September 2011 until 23 October 2011. After that, it will depart to Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Singapore and other ports around the world.

Opening hours:

• Tue - Sat: 10am - 10pm
• Sun: 1pm - 10pm
• Mon: closed

The ship is big. You can find out the technical details of Logos Hope and its book library features here.

After boarding, the tour in Logos Hope started with a 2 minutes video introduction about the ship, then you will go through the exhibition area, book fair area, multimedia "Life Experience" display, cafeteria, interactive educational section, and finally the exit.

There is actually quite a big crowd visiting Logos Hope, and the stream of people boarding and departing the ship is continuous. The photo below only captured one section of the book fair.

The books are quite cheap, especially those McGraw-Hill textbooks at the last section of the book fair. Most of the books are selling in special units, and Logos Hope uses a currency conversion scheme to convert the units to RM. Some of the items are sold directly in RM without the need of conversion.

If you haven't visit Logos Hope yet, I recommend you to do so. It is a good experience boarding to the world largest floating book fair.

Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple

The day has come, and Steve Jobs had officially tendered his resignation to the BOD of Apple as CEO and recommended his right-hand man Tim Cook as his successor.

Well, he is still with Apple, as the Chairman of the Board, and very likely to continue his contribution as the mastermind of innovative Apple products that make significant impact to the world.

Steve Jobs has a legendary life. He was a dropped out student of Oregon's Reed College just after 1 semester. He made his girlfriend pregnant when he was 23. He is a natural food lover who embraced Buddhism and New Age philosophy, and had once been in a spiritual trek to India. He met Wozniak during his summer job in HP. He and Wozniak then built Apple 1 in the garage, and made a fortune with the next version of this computer, namely Apple II. He made another hit with Macintosh, the 1st computer with mouse and GUI OS. That made him a multimillionaire by age of 25. He brought in John Sculley from Pepsi to Apple, who then made him ousted from his own company in 1986. He then founded NeXT and bought Pixar from George Lucas. Pixar then got famous with Toy Story and continued to produce great animation movies one by one. NeXT was bought over by Apple and Jobs was back to revive Apple with iPod, followed by iTunes, iMac, Macbook, iPhone, iPad, etc. He was hit by cancer and after treatments, still survive until today.

In Apple, Jobs is well-known to be a boss that is extremely harsh, and yet people in the world love this perfectionist for pushing his engineers to produce great products one after another.

Apple never invent computers, digital music players or smartphones, but Jobs successfully reinvented them to be trendy gadgets. "It's more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy", said Jobs in a retreat in 1982.

Download the new Android Market version 3.1.3 for smartphones

If you have a smartphone running on Android 2.2 (Froyo) or Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), I recommend you to upgrade your Android Market to the latest version 3.1.3. This is the new release, more recent than the previous Android Market 3.0.26 / 3.0.27.

You can download the APK file of this new Android Market 3.1.3 from any of the links listed here:

• Location 1
• Location 2
• Location 3

You don't need root access to upgrade your Android Market to this new version. Same as the other APK installation, you'll need to enable "Unknown sources" installation in the phone's Settings > Applications.

This is how the new Android Market 3.1.3 looks like.

Its starting page is the Featured list. It has separate navigation listing for Top  Paid, Top Free, Top Grossing, Top New Paid, Top New Free and Trending. You can filter the listing by Categories and the result will be listed accordingly.

The Android Market 3.1.3 introduced Google's +1 feature, so you can +1 the apps you like.

Press the Menu button of your Android phone, and select My Apps to view the listing of the apps installed in your phone.

Another remarkable new feature in Android Market 3.1.3 is the PIN setting security for making purchases. You might be aware that previous versions of Android Market will let you make purchase of new apps with your Google Checkout account just by tapping on the Purchase button. If you let other people use or play with your phone, you have to be alerted that they can open the Market app and start purchasing paid apps using your account. Now, if you have set a PIN and locked down the purchase function with your PIN, that danger won't simply happen anymore.

Note: If you have an Android tablet running on Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), this Android Market 3.1.3 upgrade might not be applicable to your device.

The new Sunway (5211) after the merger

The new Sunway is expected to be listed in KLSE on Tuesday 23 August 2011 with the new stock code of 5211 under the Properties sector of the main board.

The will mark the completion of the merging exercise of SunCity (6289, Properties sector) and old Sunway (4308, Construction sector), resulting in a total of 1,292,505,004 Sunway ordinary shares and 258,501,000 Sunway warrants (exercise price RM2.80, expires on 17 August 2016) issued and listed.

According to its Prospectus dated 18 August 2011, the key financial data of the new Sunway for FYE Dec 2010 is as follow:

Revenue: RM3.134 billion
Gross profit: RM1.058 billion (margin: 33.8%)
Operating profit: RM592.142 million
PBT: RM717.267 million (margin: 22.9%)
PAT: RM997.483 million (margin: 31.8%)
Cash on hand: RM856.193 million
Debts: RM2.332 billion
Total equity: RM2.982 billion
Total liability: RM4.403 billion

EPS: 53.3 sen
Fully diluted EPS: 44.4 sen
NTA: RM2.01

Current ratio: 1.5
Gross gearing ratio: 0.9
Net gearing ratio: 0.6

Note that the PAT is higher than PBT for FYE 2010 due to reversal of deferred tax liability pursuant to the sale of certain properties to Sunway REIT.

And according to the unaudited FYE 2011 Q1 result announced in KLSE on 16 August 2011, the 1st quarter result is as below:

Revenue: RM833.711 million (26.6% of last year annual revenue)
PBT: RM79.219 million (11% of last year annual PBT)
PAT: RM88.921 million (8.9% of last year annual PAT)
Cash on hand: RM961.822 million (up by RM105.63 million or 12.34%)
Debts: RM2.328 billion (reduced by 4 million)
Total equity: RM3.079 billion (up by RM97 million or 3.25%)
Total liability: RM4.15 billion (reduced by RM253 million or 5.75%)

EPS: 5.28 sen (9.9% of last year EPS)
Fully diluted EPS: 4.4 sen (9.9% of last year diluted EPS)
NTA: 2.07 (up by 6 sen or 2.99%)

Unbilled sales: RM1.7 billion
Total order book: RM2.4 billion

Note that Sunway has just recently been awarded the Package B of Kelana Jaya line LRT extension project worth RM569 million, which will push their total order book to RM3 billion and above.

Disclaimer: This article is intended for sharing of point of view only. It is not an advice or recommendation to buy or sell any of the mentioned stock counters. You should do your own homework before trading in Bursa Malaysia.

Google to buy over Motorola Mobility for $12.5b

It seems that the patent lawsuits among Google and its competitors have extended into some eye popping M&A activities.

Despite losing up in the contest for Nortel (which carries 6000+ wireless technology patents) to the joint alliance formed by Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony, Google managed to increase its bargaining chips by snapping up 1000+ patents from IBM in late July 2011. And now, out of a sudden surprise, Google announced its move to acquire Motorola Mobility which carries 17000+  issued patents worldwide and 7500+ pending patents under application process.

Beside gaining a large amount of patents through this $12.5b exercise, by acquiring Motorola Mobility, Google will also move into Android phone hardware manufacturing business and compete with its partners in the Android alliance including Samsung, HTC, LG, etc. Anyhow, Larry Page calmed his fellow Android partners that this acquisition will not change Google commitment to run Android as an open platform, and that Motorola will be run as a separate business.

What impact has this move on the Android community and the entire smartphone market? Time will tell. Hopefully, it will bring more good than bad.

Click here to read the announcement made by Larry Page about the Motorola Mobility acquisition.

Who are the one afraid of BERSIH 2.0?

BERSIH 2.0 (a.k.a. Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections) is a civil coalition currently endorsed by 62 non-government organizations (NGO).

If you support BERSIH 2.0, you simply agree and support the following 8 demands to reform Malaysia's electoral processes:

1. Clean up the electoral roll to address irregularities
2. Reform postal voting
3. Use indelible ink
4. Establish a minimum campaign period of 21 days
5. Ensure free and fair access for all political parties to the media
6. Strengthen public institutions
7. Get rid of corruption
8. Put a stop to dirty politics

Yes, BERSIH 2.0 is about reformation, for the sake of goodness. Anyway, what's wrong with the word "reformation"? If certain party afraid of "reformation", how about using the word "transformation"? After all, the aim is to "change" to a better state.

It is ridiculous for certain parties, and their helpers/servants/bondmen/slaves to attempt to defame BERSIH 2.0 or to mislead people by tying BERSIH 2.0 with:

• the opposition politic parties - well, the opposition can support BERSIH 2.0, so does the ruling one. Does BERSIH 2.0 rejected or unwelcome the ruling parties to be part of them in the first place?
• communist - in my understanding, communists don't need election. It is more likely for those afraid of BERSIH 2.0 to be communist supporter instead.
• troublemaker - well, in their eyes, BERSIH 2.0 is really a troublemaker for them. That's why they are so afraid.

Why they are afraid of BERSIH 2.0? Probably because they have totally no confident to win the game in a fair manner.

A student would not need to cheat in the exam if he/she has confident to pass. A worker would not worry about being sacked if he/she is ethical and well perform.

If you are afraid, you know you have weaknesses. The right way should be to reform/transform/adjust/correct your points of weaknesses, instead of fortify your weaknesses.

Updating Samsung Galaxy Tab from Android 2.2 (Froyo) to Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread)

Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) is available for Samsung Galaxy Tab now.

In order to perform the update using the "official" way, you need a computer installed with latest version of Samsung Kies.

Launch the Kies application in the computer, then connect your Samsung Galaxy Tab to it with the USB cable. Set the connection type to be "Samsung Kies".

Kies will detect the Samsung Galaxy Tab and automatically inform you the availability of Gingerbread update.

The process starts with downloading the update file to your computer.

After that, you are given a chance to backup your data in the phone to Kies. Although this update will not cause any data or setting lost to your Samsung Galaxy Tab, it is always a wise choice to perform a backup, just in case.

Then, your Samsung Galaxy Tab will be automatically rebooted into download mode, and the update file will be transferred from your computer to the Tab.

Once the transfer is completed, the update process will begin. Then, your Tab will be rebooted again. It will take some time during its first boot up after the update.

You will be advised by Kies to disconnect the USB cable, reboot the Tab again, then connect back the USB cable. Your computer will then update its USB driver to connect to your Tab with the new Android Gingerbread ROM.

Among the new things after this update are 2 new apps installed in your Tab, namely Sketch Memo and Pulse. Sketch Memo is a pretty handy app that worth a try, but it doesn't come with any widget, which I think it should.

The dual-core HTC Sensation to debut in Malaysia on 1 June 2011

There is news from Cubic Platforms that the dual-core HTC Sensation smartphone will be made available to Malaysia from 1 June 2011.

The HTC Sensation put emphasis on its multimedia capability, plays video and music with SRS virtual surround sound, and able to record full HD video with stereo sound. Its official retail price is RM2,299, slightly higher than the HTC Desire HD.

Specification:

• 4.3-inch Super LCD with qHD (540 x 960) resolution
• 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM 8260 Snapdragon processor
• Adreno 220 GPU
• Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) OS
• HTC Sense v3.0 UI
• 1 GB internal storage, 768 MB RAM
• 8 MP main camera with dual-LED flash
• VGA front camera
• Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP
• Comes with 8 GB microSD card
• 1520 mAh Li-ion battery

You may be able to see it at Cubic Platforms, Sunway Giza, Kota Damansara.

Updating HTC Incredible S from Android 2.2.1 (Froyo) to Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread)

The OTA (Over-The-Air) Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) of HTC Incredible S smartphone has been made available to Malaysia today (26 May 2011) morning.

You can manually check for the update now, or wait for the automated update alert appear on your HTC Incredible S smartphone sooner or later.

Although this update will not cause any data or setting lost to your smartphone, it is always a wise choice to perform a backup using tools such as MyBackup (or the paid MyBackupPro) or Titanium Backup (or the paid Titanium Backup Pro) prior to the update, just in case...

Before the update, my HTC Incredible S is running on Android 2.2.1 (Froyo) software number 1.38.707.1.

After the update, it is now running on Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) software number 2.12.707.5 with HTC Sense 2.1 (sadly, not the newer 3.0 yet).

Manual update is pretty easy. Just go to Settings > About phone > Software updates and click on the "Check now" button. You should be able to get the update notification as below.

After the download, you'll come to a confirmation screen to apply the update to your phone.

If you answer OK to Install now, your phone will be rebooted and the update process will begin. It takes a while to complete. Then the phone will reboot again, and your phone is now powered with Android Gingerbread!

Digi to sell HTC Incredible S for RM599 only on 2 April 2011 (limited to 300 units)

The long awaited HTC Incredible S Android phone is now officially available in Malaysia. Currently, the official distribution channel is exclusive to Digi Stores only.

HTC Incredible S is equipped with:

• Android 2.2.1 Froyo, upgradable to 2.3 Gingerbread soon
• 4" Super LCD capacitive multitouch screen
• 1 GHz CPU
• 1.1 GB ROM, 768 MB RAM
• 8GB microSD (support up to 32GB)
• HTC Sense v3.0 UI
• Li-Ion 1450 mAh battery
• 8 megapixel rear camera
• 1.3 megapixel front camera

Its normal price is set at RM1,999 when launched. Digi is selling it at RM1,449 for 12-month contract, and RM1,199 for 24-month contract.

In order to get the HTC Incredible S at the price of RM599 only, you need to:

• Sign up DG Smart Plan (RM68 per month)
• Be the first 300 to purchase the phone on 2 April 2011 at one of the Digi Retail Centres
• Tie up with 24-month contract for the DG Smart Plan

Click here for more information about this Digi HTC Incredible S one day promotion.

Garmin releases MalSingMaps Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei NT 2011.10 for free update

Garmin has made available MalSingMaps (MSM) Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei NT 2011.10 (2011-Q1) for free update now.

You can click here to download the installation file of MalSingMaps Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei NT 2011.10 from Garmin server. The download file is split into 4, and you just need to download the file relevant to your Garmin GPS navigator:

• nuvi 3790
• nuvi 1250
• nuvi 1460, 1350, 765 or 255w
• nuvi 205 or 205w

The installation file for nuvi 255w is 237MB (243,671KB), almost the same size with its previous version.

For nuvi 255w, the installation program requires you to have an SD Card slotted in your GPS before it can proceed. It will install gmapprom1.img (42,128KB) and SGMYMAL.JCV (215,403KB) into your SD Card instead of the flash memory of your GPS. This is something new from all the previous nuvi 255w MSM updates. Anyhow, the gmapprom1.unl file is still updated in the flash memory of the GPS.

In fact, you can move gmapprom1.img and SGMYMAL.JCV back to the flash memory of GPS after the installation.

During the installation process, you'll be asked for the unlock key. The key is stored in the existing gmapprom1.unl file in your Garmin GPS navigator, which you can open with Notepad or any text editor. Just copy and paste the key to the installer when asked.

Free unlimited full version of Ashampoo Burning Studio Elements 10 (limited time offer)

Right now, Computeractive is offering free exclusive license (normal price US$29.99) for the famous Ashampoo Burning Studio Elements 10. This offer will end by 14 April 2011.

Ashampoo Burning Studio Elements 10 provides the straightforward, fast and effective way to burn movies, music and data easily. It is a handy tool to create data discs, burn backups, rip music, create audio CDs, burn already existing film files on Blu-ray Disc, create/burn disc images, create bootable discs, erase data in rewritable discs, design and print labels and covers, etc.

Note that there are several versions of Ashampoo Burning Studio software available for download:

• Ashampoo Burning Studio Elements 10 is based on Version 10 of the software
• Ashampoo Burning Studio 2010 Advanced is based on Version 9 of the software
• Ashampoo Burning Studio Free is based on Version 6 of the software

This Ashampoo Burning Studio Elements 10 can be upgraded with a discounted price to Ashampoo Burning Studio 10 (premium edition) which contains more features, including the Autoplay Editor module for building auto-start data discs with attractive interactive menus.

Click here to download your full version of Ashampoo Burning Studio Element 10 for free. You will need an email address to receive your free unlimited time license key from Ashampoo.

Shaolin soccer - from movie to comics to games to reality

Shaolin soccer (少林足球) is about applying Shaolin Kung Fu to play soccer.

In 2001, Hong Kong comedy actor and director Stephen Chow (周星驰) came out with the famous Shaolin Soccer film. In less than a year time, a 4 volume Shaolin Soccer comics was published in Hong Kong. Following that, several Shaolin Soccer computer games also appear in the market.

Now, you guess what? The actual legendary Shaolin Temple (少林寺) in Dengfeng city (登封市)，Henan province (河南省) of China has established a Shaolin Youth Soccer Academy (少林青少年足球学校) in October 2010.

And who is the chief coach of this soccer academy? He is not a monk, nor a Chinese. He is Tchami, a former Cameroon international player.

Yes, Shaolin soccer has now come to reality. Among its main mission is to improve China's soccer skill, with the hope to bring some of the Shaolin warrior-monks to be international soccer superstars some day.

"Shaolin Kung Fu and football are similar in some aspects, especially the brave and diligent spirit of kung fu which I think will help promote the level of Chinese football," said Shi Yanlu (释延鲁), the chief coach of Shaolin warrior-monks training base.

We all know that although China has been superb in various sport games, they have never been outstanding in the soccer arena. Can we see China make its way into the World Cup championship with Shaolin soccer? Time will tell.

Earth Hour @ 8.30pm this Saturday 26 March 2011 - go beyond the hour

Time is moving fast, and another year has past since I last posted about Earth Hour. Yes, it is back again to be happened on this coming Saturday 26 March 2011. The time remains fixed at 8.30pm.

This year, the theme is about "going beyond the hour". Well, this is not talking about switching off your light for more than 1 hour. This is about using the Earth Hour event to commit to a meaningful action, be it big or small, that will sustain for the future of our planet earth. And this echoes well to what I wrote on my Earth Hour article here last year.

Note that this year, there is a slight change to the Earth Hour logo to reflect the theme. Compare with the logo in my previous Earth Hour article and you'll see the different.

You can share with the whole world about your action of going beyond the hour here.

Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) today

After about 1 year of public testing since its 1st release of Platform Preview to developers on March 2010, Microsoft finally releases Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) today, in conjunction with the South by Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSW) 2011 in Austin, Texas.

IE9 improves on support to the latest web technologies nowadays, including HTML5, CSS3, SVG, XHTML, and a new Javascript engine called "Chakra" (is this developed by Indian developers??). It also features GPU-powered hardware acceleration for better and faster graphical and video support.

However, IE9 is only made available for Windows 7 and Windows Vista, and is not supporting Windows XP. This means that if you are still using Windows XP and want to use a modern web browser, you are forced to upgrade to later version of Windows, or you better change your favourite browser to the upcoming Firefox 4 or Chrome 9, which will also support for the latest web technologies, and at the same time still available to Windows XP.

Click here to download Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.

Upgraded my home Internet from Streamyx BB Deal 110 to Unifi VIP5 HSBB

I have just upgraded my home Internet from Streamyx BlockBuster Deal 110 (RM110/month) to Unifi VIP5 so-called High Speed Broadband - HSBB (RM149/month).

This upgrade increases the Internet bandwidth from 1024/384 kbps to 5120/5120 kbps, and also includes telephony voice service similar to BB Deal, with additional free Caller Line Identity Presentation (CLIP) service and a free Motorola DECT cordless phone. On top of that, there is also HyppTV service with its own separate bandwidth.

Although the Unifi VIP5 HSBB of RM149/month is considered expensive compared with the high speed broadband Internet in some other countries, I think it is still a good deal to upgrade from Streamyx BB Deal 110 by paying extra RM39/month to TM for much higher bandwidth, phone CLIP (identify the calling number) and IPTV.

However, there is also a trade-off. Unifi phone bills don't come with free itemized call log detail. It just gives you lump-sum figure on the call charges.

This is my tested Internet bandwidth after upgraded to Unifi VIP5 HSBB:

Unlike Streamyx which uses the copper line, Unifi is using fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) cable. I place my termination unit behind my monitor.

Note that the power adapter in between the termination unit and the fibre wall socket you see in the picture is actually belongs to my monitor and nothing to do with Unifi.

I put the Unifi premise gateway (D-Link DIR-615) on top of my computer.

Note that I also make use of Aztech HL110E 200Mbps HomePlug AV to connect the line to my TV some distance away. There is another HL110E near the TV, and the network between the 2 units is linked with existing electric wiring in the house. In fact, I intended to buy the HL110EP model, but unfortunately not available in the computer shop.

One "disadvantage" of Unifi is that, there are quite some equipments which need a few power points. If you want your telephone to function 24x7, the broadband termination unit as well as the telephone power supply need to be always switched on. The rest of the equipments can be switched off when not in use.

The first thing after Unifi installation is to change the default operator and admin password of the DIR-615. Operator is a more priviledged account in DIR-615 than admin, who can see and configure more options.

I placed my Unifi HyppTV Set-Top-Box (STB) beside my Astro Decoder. I think I will still subscribe to Astro as it contains much more interesting channels than HyppTV at the moment.

And this is the Unifi HyppTV channel selector screen (Channel 100) shown in my TV. I noticed that the RTM channels in HyppTV is sharper than Astro's.

There is some Video On Demand (VOD) titles in HyppTV, which can be purchased at around RM8 per movie for 24 hours unlimited access.

And I found out that HyppTV supports Picture-in-Picture (PIP) display inside Astro screen. Of course, the other way round to PIP Astro inside HyppTV is also supported.

Currently, TM is promoting Unifi by waiving the RM200 installation charge and also the 1st month subscription fee (for online registration from their website). However, Unifi is only available in certain area only and not yet rolled out nationwide.

If you no longer need your old telephone and Streamyx service, you might need to go to TM Point to terminate them after successful Unifi installation.