Eric Tang, Retail Sales Manager for Epson Malaysia handing over a moment to Vincent Pao, General Manager of Concepts Computer for High Achiever Award for Retail Business Development by Epson

Concepts Computer has done it again. First, the company was awarded Microsoft Partner of the Year and recently, the company was presented with the High Achiever Award for Retail Business Development by Epson in recognition of its business and customer service excellence in the country for the year 2017.

The plaque was presented to Vincent Pao, General Manager of Concepts Computer by Eric Tang, Retail Sales Manager for Epson Malaysia last weekend.

Epson brand has been performing very well under the leadership of Concepts and they have been working together for the past three years or so. Epson is known for their L-series printers and 3LCD projectors.

According to Vincent Pao, Concepts Computer has always operated with the premise of providing high quality IT solutions to the Bruneian market, while maintaining affordability and quality after-sales service.

Congratulations once again to Concepts for their milestone and keep up the great work!!

Vincent Pao, General Manager of Concepts Computer and Alice Chan, Chief Financial Officer of Concepts Group with representatives from Acer Malaysia during the Acer Day in Brunei held at The Empire Hotel & Country Club

Held for the second consecutive year, Acer Day this year sees Brunei joining other countries in Pan Asia Pacific to celebrate a special season dedicated to rewarding Acer customers. Acer Day 2018 is being concurrently held in 20 countries. Besides Brunei, other countries hosting Acer Day for the first time are Bangladesh, Cambodia, Mongolia, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka; these countries join China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam which participated in the inaugural edition last year.

Acer Pan Asia Pacific President Andrew Hou recounted, “The inaugural Acer Day launched last year was well received by the public. It generated more than seven million clicks on the campaign video across social networking sites, and over 2,500,000 page views on the microsite. As we continue to seek ways to engage with customers, we will continue to invest in Acer Day while looking to broaden its scope in the hope that Acer Day will become the most representative annual campaign.”

This year’s edition is themed ‘Acer Day – Play Music Together’ and it draws inspiration from the belief that music is the best language that transcends borders and race. Acer hopes to connect people via the Acer platform through music and colour. Acer aspires to close the gap with consumers through this Acer Day campaign and at the same time, build an image of “Young, Trendy and Technology” around Pan-Asian countries.

In conjunction with Acer Day 2018, Acer is introducing several new products in the gaming line including the Predator Helios 500 gaming laptop. Also introduced are the Nitro 5 laptop which is designed for casual gamers seeking great performance at a superb price and the Nitro 50 desktop that offers performance that exceeds expectations for superior gaming performance and graphic-intensive tasks.

Richard Soo, Miri & Brunei Branch Manager, Acer Malaysia

Edmund Hoh, Product Manager, Acer Malaysia

Jeffrey Lai, Product Manager, Acer Malaysia

Predator Helios 500

Designed to take up to an overclockable NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 graphics and powered by up to 8th Gen Intel Core TM i9 processors and up to 64GB of memory, the Predator Helios 500 keeps the action going. With its offer of premium gaming experiences, this is one beast that makes good gaming company at home and on the go. Extreme gamers were in mind when the Predator Helios 500 was developed, thus it is little wonder that this machine chews up graphic-intensive AAA titles and live streaming with ease.

For a gaming laptop, the display is ‘huge’ at 17.3 inches with FHD IPS and delivering high-brightness (300 nits) visuals. It also supports NVIDIA® G-sync technology with super fast and crisp 144Hz refresh rates, allowing for blur and tear-free gameplay. Two built-in stereo speakers with subwoofer, Acer TrueHarmonyTM technology and Waves MaxxAudio® sound technology deliver immersive, incredible sound and hyper-realistic 3D audio using Waves NxTM.

The Predator Helios 500 sports a dual-fan system that features Acer’s proprietary AeroBladeTM 3D metal fans and five heat pipes that boost the thermal system and keep the laptop running at optimal temperatures. With the preloaded PredatorSense application, gamers can monitor, control and customize overclocking, lighting, hotkeys, temperature and fan control from one central interface.

The Predator Helios 500 connects wirelessly with Killer Doubleshot Pro Gigabit Internet connection, Bluetooth 5.0 and NVMe RAIDO SSDs for ultra-fast connection.

The Predator Helios 500 will be available at Concepts Commercial Suppliers, Bridgelink, Netcom, DCL Communication, Yappie, and selected authorized resellers in Brunei. In Brunei, the Predator Helios 500 will be available in two options:

Predator Helios 500 will be showcased during the TechXpo 2018

Predator Helios 500

Acer Nitro 5

Powered by 8th Gen Intel® Core TM i7+ processor, NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti with 4GB RAM, the Acer Nitro 5 is targeted towards mainstream users who enjoy the thrill of gaming with friends and building their own network of like-minded players. The Acer Nitro 5 delivers a smooth and responsive computing experience enabled by Intel® Optane TM memory to accelerate everyday tasks.

Ideal for rapid boot-up time and shortening in-game loading time, the Acer Nitro 5 is equipped with a super-fast 16GB Intel Optane memory paired with a 1TB HDD for storage. The 15.6-inch Full HD IPS display offers brilliant imageries with uncompromised audio quality for an immersive experience during gameplay or movie watching thanks to its Dolby AudioTM and Acer TrueHarmonyTM technology.

With the Acer CoolboostTM technology that features dual fans to deliver superior fan speeds and cooling ability, the Nitro 5 keeps the system running optimally. Users are also able to manually control the cooling process with the NitroSense application.

Priced at BND1,428 the Acer Nitro 5 is available at all Acer authorized resellers in Brunei.

Acer Nitro 5

Acer Nitro 50 Desktop

Designed for outstanding casual gameplay at affordable prices, the Acer Nitro 50 series desktop is powered by 8th Gen Intel® CoreTM i7 processor, comes with 8GB of DDR4 RAM upgradable to 64GB and equipped with NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 to offer superior gaming performance and handle graphic- intensive tasks.

The desktop is capable of delivering stunning 4K resolution visuals and supports up to four displays simultaneously for immersive game play. With up to 1TB HDD and 128GB SSD storage, storing high- resolution files is definitely not a problem. The optional wireless charging deck which supports wireless charging for any Qi-enabled wireless device is a bonus to power up mobile devices even when in the game.

Priced at BND 1,518, the Acer Nitro 50 desktop is bundled with Acer wireless keyboard and mouse and is available at all Acer authorized resellers in Brunei.

Acer Nitro 50 Desktop

“Play Music Together” and Enjoy Fabulous Prizes and Gifts from Acer

From 1st August to 30th September 2018, customers who purchase selected Acer devices in the Acer Aspire, Acer Swift, Acer Spin, Acer Switch or Predator series will be rewarded with value-added gifts such as a TT eSports Predator Gaming Chair, Predator Cestus 300 Gaming Mouse, Microsoft Office 365 Personal or an earphone.

Customers who are interested to grab fantastic offers during this Acer Day “Play Music Together” campaign, will be available at Concepts Commercial Suppliers, Bridgelink, Netcom, DCL Communication, Yappie and selected authorized resellers in Brunei.

The all-new powerful Note SAMSUNG Galaxy Note 9, coming to Brunei soon

Big exciting news normally comes with there’s a new flagship model of either a Samsung or iPhone. Today, let’s talk about the latest edition to the Samsung family – the all-new powerful Note SAMSUNG Galaxy Note 9.

Incomm has already announced it’s pre-order online on their website and there are already a buzz going around because of the cool deals they offer especially when you signed up with Standard Chartered credit card promo (EVEN BETTER deal). Well, more on that later. Let’s talk about the phone itself first.

Mind you, I am not a big fan of huge phones and the only Samsung phone I owned is the Galaxy Edge 7 and it was already a good smartphone for everyday use. Now comes an entirely big smartphone or I would label as phablet.

Let’s see what the specs are according to the website and marketing materials. It definitely has the biggest screen to date and what’s new is the stylus which now has a remote capability. As for capacity, it has the largest to date as well if you choose the 512GB edition. The standard one is 128GB. It has the biggest battery life too, 700mAh better than the previous model, beefing it up to 4,000mAh. That’s quite handy for a person like me, a high user of social media which technically drains the battery on my phone.

These are just some of the quick takeaways I can mention for now until I get to play around with the demo unit which will be arriving pretty soon in Brunei waters. Gone are the days when the Note 7 caught into trouble but now with the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, it has redeemed itself and ready to give a good challenge to the iPhone X which has been a huge success worldwide.

According to the reviews on certain websites, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is definitely the benchmark of all smartphones because of its battery life span and also its super high memory ram of 6 to 8G (amazing). The only thing now is for those with the Note 8 if they were to upgrade to a Note 9, would it make a huge difference? I do believe those who haven’t own a Note would definitely appreciate this powerful phablet.

For me, the biggest selling point would be the battery life span and the storage (up to 1TB, 512GB internally and 512 external). Some would argue of the price tag but fret not because check out Incomm’s pre-order deal as well as what Standard Chartered has to offer for those who are hungry for the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (Read further below).

Multi-tasking at best

The newly powered Stylus with remote

Comes in handy with low light too

Now you can use the stylus to take shots especially selfies and wifies

I am drawn to the battery capacity

Some of the minor upgrades from the previous model

You can sync and use it on your desktop. How convenient and useful especially when it comes to work and presentation.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Awesome deal from DSTIncomm and SCB

Special offer when you pre-order from DSTIncomm

Do you have Standard Chartered Credit Card? Because you can enjoy further discounts.

Now let’s see the deals offered by DSTIncomm. According to their Facebook Page, this is what it stated

Pre-order the all-new Powerful Note, Samsung Galaxy Note9 128Gb @ all DSTIncomm branches. With minimum Pre Order deposit $100.

Enjoy free upgrade to 512GB + $120 off + 15months warranty at DSTINCOMM when you pay with SCB Card.

Hurry!! Get to feel the 6.4″ screen, first time ever Note 9 S Pen with Bluetooth and Optimised Gaming Experience with Fortnite now available on Samsung Galaxy Note 9.

Rano says: Now this is a super awesome deal!!! A free upgrade when you pre-order for the price of BND 1,338 thru DSTIncomm. If you buy the 512G version after the pre-order period, you will be paying at least BND 1,750. So that’s a huge BND 300 discount at least. Furthermore, customers of the Note 9 will enjoy an additional 3 months of warranty, a total of 15 months warranty provided by DSTINcomm so you will have a peace of mind. DSTIncomm has hinted there will be special gifts given to the pre-order customers. So more reason to pre-order your unit now until 21st August 2018 and enjoy the awesome deal!!! You can click here to pre-order.

Want further, better deal? Here goes. If you pay with Standard Chartered credit card, you can enjoy a further reduction of BND 120 on top of the upgrade. Those who apply for a 12-month 0% EasyPay plan with this offer will also enjoy a processing fee waiver. This offer is valid until 21st August 2018 and it’s only for the first 100 credit cardholders.

Those interested to test the demo unit, you can have that privilege during the upcoming TechXpo at International Convention Centre from 18th to 21st August 2018. There will also be a Photo Booth for you to experiment with the camera features of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9.

Paul Lim and Tim Ang, founders of Chipmac Technology, launching Baseus products at their store last weekend

Ribbon cutting ceremony before a flock of crowd entered Baseus store

BASEUS actually is a brand slogan which means “base on use” or in other words, “to overcome difficulties with the greatest ease”. This is a company that was established in 2009 in China, creating phone accessories especially for iPhone models.

So what’s so special about Baseus accessories when there are tons of accessories available in Brunei? For one, it has a strong branding presence as a third-party accessories provider for Apple’s iPhones. Secondly, the prices are quite competitive and reasonable to begin with.

This is the first presence of Baseus in Brunei which was made possible by Chipmac Technology. The ribbon cutting ceremony was officiated by Managing Directors Tim Ang and Paul Lim of Chipmac Technology.

Tim Ang was excited that Baseus, an international brand, which had penetrated markets such as Taiwan, Korea, Brazil, the Philippines and Russia, is now available in Brunei Darussalam. He explained, the company shares three objectives – to share with consumers the latest mobile accessories available in the market, to provide customers with high grade refurbished Apple products as they are both economical and environmentally friendly, and to provide innovative repair service for Apple products.

Previously Chipmac Technology provided repair service for Apple products as well as selling refurbished iPhones. Now they have expanded their business by selling Baseus products. I hope to send my Apple products especially my iMac and Macbook Air for some cleansing and perhaps, even increasing my RAM 😀

During the launch, they had a special discount for a few days where customers can enjoy 15% discounts on the accessories as well as lower priced refurbished iPhones. I managed to scoop a few accessories for myself especially the wireless charging iPhone X casing – my best purchase of the month 😀

Baseus is located at Airport Mall, next to DST and you can still enjoy 15% discounts on all Baseus products until 11th August 2018. You can also follow them on Facebook though they don’t have an IG account just yet. For more details, you can call 234 2503 / 881 4942.

Ps. Thank you, Paul, Tim, Jennifer and Fatin for your warm hospitality.

The crowd enjoying the 15% discount and still ongoing until 11th August

The Managing Director of Chipmac Technology appreciating the customers and media during the launch

Plenty of accessories to choose from

Perhaps my best accessory purchase of 2018. I couldn’t find such accessory when I was in Singapore recently. Even at Sim Lim Square. I was surprised this was available at Baseus and I bought it without second thoughts. Furthermore, you can still enjoy 15% discount.

This can be very useful. I didn’t get this since I already have one in my car.

A bluetooth speaker which also charges your iPhone X wirelessly. Awesome much!!

Another battery powered casing for the iPhone X

My purchases last weekend 😀

This can come in handy. Speaking of which, I have only 50g left on my iPhone :/

Kurapak, this might come in handy for you while driving HAHA *jokes*

Thank you for the invitation 😀 Much appreciated

Celebrate the world’s largest football tournament with a brand new Acer projector from Concepts Computer and receive a free wall-mounted projector screen and Logitech World Cup flag wireless mouse.

Purchase an Acer P1150 projector and get a wall-mounted projector screen from 70″ by 70″ or any other size up to 96″ by 96″ for free, along with Logitech M238 wireless mouse with designs in either the Brazilian, Argentinean, German or French flags.

The Acer P1150 comes with 3600 ANSI lumens of brightness, to ensure projection visibility in any environment including meeting rooms and even residential living rooms.

The Acer P1150 projector also boasts native resolution of 1,920 by 1,200 making the projector HD Ready and can handle the latest movies without any difficulties.

Comes with Logitech M238 wireless mouse with designs in either the Brazilian, Argentinean, German or French flags

It will also have HDMI input making the projector easy to use and practically plug and play capable as long as the corresponding devices have HDMI outputs. The 500 lamp life will give customers ease of mind when using the Acer P1150 projector, since use will be easy and carefree without the hassle of counting down minutes.

The promotional period is from June 8 to July 16.

Customers will also be able to consult with Concepts’ team of installation technicians to get quotes and pricing for the cost of installation in their homes or business premises. Installation cost will vary from location to location according to size and complexity of set-ups. Text by Rokiah Mahmud of Borneo Bulletin.

Vincent Pao with the staff of Bilster Technologies with the new Brother printers line up

Brother printers are as popular these days because of its cost effectiveness. The previous models have been well received from local consumers.

Now Bilster Technologies have brought in newer models to the Brunei market and now the Brother printers are on offer which will include refillable ink-tank printers like the Brother T310 and the Brother T510W plus laser printers perfect for SME and home businesses like the Brother MFC-L2715DW.

The Brother T310, T510W and T710W is an all-in-one A4 printer with speeds of up to 27 pages per minute and with the ability to handle to printing of multi-pages of documents with the help of its onboard 128 of RAM (faster printing). The three models will have refillable ink-tanks, the printing output can reach up to 6,500 pages per full tank for monochrome printing and 5,000 pages for colour printing.

The Brother T310 is priced at BND 238, the Brother T510W is priced at BND 288, the Brother T170W is priced at BND 318. The T510W and T710W have wireless capabilities.

If you want for business printing, then check out the Brother MFC-L2715DW and the Brother MFC-L8900CDW. Both are laser printers and also support wireless printing.

Norsurya Hj Sabali, Executive in charge of Business Development at Bilster Technologies said that the Brother printers provide three years warranty coverage and this gives more confidence and trust on Brother printers to the customers.

For more information, you can call 223 0871 / 223 0872 of visit their their showroom at G27, Citis Square.

The Brother T310

The Brother T710W

The Brother MFC-L8900CDW

The older models of Brother printers

Click image to enter website to learn more

Yang Berhormat Abdul Mutalib bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yusof, Minister of Communications, launched Progresif Pay last week at Rizqun International Hotel. Progressive Pay is brought to you by Progresif and powered by BIBD NEXGEN.

Other countries have implemented it. I know China is known for their WeChat. Today, it is made possible by Progresif powered by BIBD NEXGEN known as Progresif Pay. It is definitely a stepping stone in terms of cashless payments in Brunei Darussalam.

It was launched by Minister of Communications Yang Berhormat Abdul Mutalib bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yusof who applauded both Progresif and BIBD for the collaboration in pursuing to be a smart nation in this era of digital economy. The minister shared that Brunei Darussalam is ranked 53rd in the world in the ICT development index.

Also accompany the Minister were Mubashar Khokhar, Managing Director and CEO of BIBD and Paul Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of Progresif who both had inspiring quotes from Henry Ford and Michael Jordan respectively. Mubashar re-quoted, “Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success” while Paul mentioned, “Individuals win games while teamwork wins championships”.

Powered by BIBD NEXGEN, Progresif PAY creates an alliance between Brunei’s most innovative mobile operator and the country’s best digital bank at the forefront of branchless banking and mobile commerce by improving access and creating opportunities for greater commercial efficiency, diversification and development of Brunei’s digital economy.

Now what can be useful when you use Progresif Pay? A few things. You don’t need to bring a thick wallet, or even better a wallet. You don’t need a bank account to begin with to. You will still need to be a Progresif subscriber to be eligible for Progresif Pay.

Having said all that, first thing’s first – download the app, both available on IOS and Google Play. You will need to pop down to a Progresif Store or BIBD Branch for identity verification and registration. Then you will get your own virtual card (just like a virtual debit card). The maximum value that you can put into the virtual account will be BND 3,000 and the great thing about it is that your Progresif Pay virtual card is not tied to any of your bank accounts or credit cards. In other words, it’s safe and secured.

Once you have activated your Progresif Pay, you can pay your bills such as utilities or make donations. You can send money to other Progresif Pay users. You can even use your Progresif Pay to shop online, just like a credit card. Since you are a Progresif user, you can even top up to add data or minutes through Progresif Pay. Awesome!!

Marketing strategy will be a key component in helping others to adopt to the newly introduced Progresif Pay, according to Devin Edwards, Chief Marketing Officer of Progresif Pay. He envisioned that their neighbours at the popular Gadong wet market will make use of Progresif Pay among the vendors so it will be totally convenient and cashless.

It will be interesting to see the adoption rate of Progresif Pay because once they are many Progresif Pay users, it have a domino effect as users will find it very convenient in making transactions.

For more info and FAQ, you can click here to learn more of Progresif Pay.

Paul Taylor, CEO of Progresif, mentioned how the Progresif Radio app has around 17,000 downloads since its release a few months ago.

The minister touring BIBD NEXGEN outlet at The Mall

Press conference hosted by BIBD and Progresif on the launch of Progresif Pay

Trying out the Final TANE Silver IEM earpiece and fine tuning it during a DIY Workshop hosted by AV Electronics last weekend

An audiophile specialist who conducted the workshop

Last Sunday, I attended the DIY Workshop hosted by AV Electronics where I was given a pair of Final TANE Silver IEM (refer to picture below). So I had the privilege to see how construct and fine tune a Final brand earpiece which was conducted by an audiophile specialist from Singapore.

The Final TANE Silver IEM (DIY set) costs around BND 99 and it included the workshop. I found many interesting things about what goes inside the earpiece. There are these little tiny sponges, filters, stickers and many more that can actually make a difference in an earpiece. The un-tuned earpieces in the DIY Kit gives you this raw sound that lacks in treble, bass and mid. So this is where we learn on how the little components can make a difference and improve the quality of the earpiece.

The workshop made me feel more appreciative on earpieces and headphones as so much engineering is required to bring the best of these gadgets.

It’s also great to see that AV Electronics at The Airport Mall branch is now bring different range of brands on headphones and earpieces. The one I was impressed was the Stax line. I tried the demo at the Sound Experience Centre and I was blown away with the crisp and quality. Of course, the price is out of my budget but man, was I really impressed.

If you opting for a more affordable earpiece, then you can start with 1More brand which starts as low as BND 19 and you will still be amazed for the price you are paying that it still has the quality.

If you are thinking of getting a good set of headphones, head down to AV Electronics and they will be able to assist and even consult you according to your preferences and budget.

Final TANE Silver IEM start pack

How the inside of the earpiece looks like

A few of us attended the DIY Workshop

Some of the audio brands at AV Electronics. Check them out at The Airport Mall branch

The Sound Experience centre

Special discount on 1More earpiece/headphone

I’m loving the CHORD Electronics Mojo which is like a portable amplifier that helps to amplified the sound from a headphone