The All-new powerful Samsung Galaxy Note 9 now available at Incomm

Noorlelawati Haji Talip is the first customer who bought from Incomm. She also received extra goodies from Incomm for being the first customer.

Today saw the launch of the all-new powerful Samsung Galaxy Note 9. The launch took place at Incomm at Gadong outlet and enthusiasts made their way to the counter to collect their pre-orders online. The advantage for the pre-order customers is that they are able to enjoy a free upgrade to 512GB internal memory and an extended 3 months warranty (a total of 15 months warranty).

Among the pre-order customers were the Standard Chartered customers who enjoyed extra privilege where they were given BND 120 off the deal. Almost 100 SCB customers signed up for the deal and one of my friends said that it’s definitely the best deal in town and cheaper than regional countries.

Kudos to Incomm for the exciting pre-order promotion they had as they managed to secure more than 100 pre-orders.

Customers checking out the demo unit while waiting for the queue at Incomm

Minul sold his iPhone X 256 for BND 1,300 and he used his SCB card to get the awesome pre-order deal from Incomm

The second customer of the Galaxy Samsung Note 9

The queue earlier on today

Customers over the counter

Accessories for the Note 9

Accessories for the Note 9

So what’s the big fuss about the Samsung Galaxy Note 9? 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.

The cool bean bags while playing some console games

Rules of Survivors attracted more than 70 teams if I am not mistaken. Each team consists of 4 gamers.

This year’s TechXpo Cyber Games Tournament 2018 is the biggest e-sports tournament of all time with a record prize pool of BND15,000 worth of cash prizes to be won across seven games: the PC games – CS:GO, League of Legends and DOTA 2; console games – Tekken 7 and FIFA 18; and mobile games – Mobile Legends and Rules of Survival.

There are local gamers as well gamers from Sabah and Sarawak except for the Counter Strike:GO, which was only open to Brunei citizens and residents.

The champion of the CS:GO will walk away with a cash prize of BND2,088, while the first and second runner-up winners will receive the respective cash prizes of BND1,288 and BND888.

In DOTA 2, the prizes are BND988 for the champion, BND588 for first runner-up, and BND388 for second runner-up. Chicken Rice 1 from Malaysia was crowned the champion while Team CRRR and Team Daddy came second and third respectively.

For League of Legends, the champion will walk home with BND1,388, the first runner-up with BND888, and second runner-up with BND588.

The champion of FIFA 18 will win BND488 in cash, with BND388 for the first runner-up and BND288 for the second runner-up.

In Tekken 7, the champion will walk away with the cash prize of BND488, first runner-up with BND388, and second runner-up BND288. As far as I know, our local player Ivan Pang was victorious as he claimed the honour of being the Tekken 7 Champion.

In the mobile games category, the Mobile Legend champion will win BND800, first runner-up BND600, and second runner-up BND400.

For Rules of Survival (RoS), the champion will win BND1,000 and 10,000 Diamonds, the first runner-up BND500 and 5,000 Diamonds, and the second runner-up BND250 and 2,000 Diamonds. Third to fifth-ranked winners of Rules of Survival will be awarded with 1,000 Diamonds, while those in sixth to 10th place will get 500 Diamonds.

Of all the games, RoS has the biggest engagement among spectators during the Cyber Games tournament. The match is projected on a huge screen for spectators to watch and it is also being live casted by Kenneth Khoo.

A record pool of BND15,000 worth of cash prizes are to be won across seven games in which over 100 teams are competing in PC Games (CS:GO, League of Legends, and DOTA 2), Console Games (Tekken 7 and FIFA 18) and Mobile Games (Mobile Legends and Rules of Survival).

The Cyber Games Tournament is organised by D’Sunlit while Sigma Cyberspace and BruGames are the co-event manager. The Platinum Sponsor for the event is Progresif.

DOTA and LOL gamers

Alif Akmal and I were in the same group. He beat me handsomely 5-1 and I ended up winless in the group stage.

Spectators galore for the Rules of Survivor

Ivan Pang (right) was victorious once again in Tekken 7. He won the previous on organized by Game On

The champions of DOTA 2

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.

With the organizers and partners for the upcoming TechXpo 2018 event happening this Saturday

The TechXpo 2018 is just around the corner. A few more days to be exact. The highlight of the TechXpo is definitely the TechXpo Cyber Games Tournament, jointly organized by D’Sunlit and Sigma Cyberspace where Progresif will be the title sponsor. A record pool prize of BND 15,000 is slated to be the biggest yet for Brunei cyber tournaments, featuring games such as Counter Strike, League of Legends, DOTA, Tekken 7, FIFA 18 (which I am joining) as well as Mobile Legends and Rules of Survival. All the registrations have been closed for now and there are more than 300 participants already that have signed up for the tournament.

Another highlight for the TechXpo are the robots, all the way from Belgium known as Zora Robotics NV (ZoraBots), a pretty interactive humanoid robot for the public to interact with.

The theme for this year’s TechXpo is “Innovative Technology for All” as the Chairman of InfoCom Federation Brunei, Sheikh Hj Abas, said that everything we do nowadays are linked with technology, even with food. Hence, the theme suits to attract crowd of all ages.

The Plenary Hall will be used for the upcoming TechXpo and do check it out as they will be special offers from participating vendors.

The event will take place this Friday 18th August and ends on 21st August 2018. Oh yea, if you are keen to try out the latest Samsung Galaxy Note 9, you can check out the demo unit at DST booth during the TechXpo before the official launch next week.

The TechXpo 2018 is organized by InfoCom Federation Brunei and D’Sunlit.

D’Sunlit and InfoCom Federation Brunei exchanging documents

Cuckoo (Brunei) will be one of the partners for the event

Progresif playing a major role as the title sponsor for the TechXpo Cyber Games Tournament

Sigma Cyberspace will be organizing the gaming tournament

TelBru is also one of the partners of the event

Registration has already been closed

After a huge success for the first trail game (Epidemic: Race to Rescue), BAG Networks have launched the second edition, an augmented reality mobile game which will take place during the upcoming TechXpo 2018.

Dubbed the “Trail to TechXpo 2018”, registration has already been opened for all of you to participate leading to the upcoming event. The new game utilizes both GPS and AR technology with the help of your smartphones as you gather clues around Brunei-Muara district and the end point will be at TechXpo event itself at the International Convention Centre.

Apparently there will be 8 check points if I’m not mistaken for “Trail to TechXpo 2018” and the new game will three rounds. First step will be checking in on the checkpoints, then solve the puzzles during the TechXpo and final mystery will be on the main stage of the Plenary Hall at ICC. You can register your team here and good luck 😀

The prizes were not announced yet but the prizes will be sponsored by DST.

The Trail to TechXpo 2018 game is open for registration

Representatives from BAG Networks during the recent press conference

Afif Mohamed Ali, Microsoft Brunei Darussalam Country Manager, handing over the 2018 Microsoft Country Partner of the Year Award to Vincent Pao, General Manager of Concepts Group last Friday

Concepts Technology does it again!!! The renowned company was awarded as the recipient of the 2018 Microsoft Country Partner of the Year Award and this is in recognition for its outstanding services and excellent subsidiary engagement in Brunei Darussalam.

Three years ago, Concepts Technologies was appointed as the official distributor for Microsoft in Brunei Darussalam and this year, they won their first prestigious award.

Vincent Pao, General Manager of Concepts Group, expressed his delight over the prestigious award. He was truly grateful towards Microsoft Brunei for their continuous support and their strong relationship among each other. This has helped to tackle the challenging business climate in the country.

Afif Mohamed Ali, Microsoft Brunei Darussalam Country Manager, said, “As our Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, once said, ‘Microsoft has always been a partner-led company, and this ecosystem drives local economies and creates massive growth’. By winning the country partner of the year award, Concepts Technologies showcases the extraordinary commitment towards driving digital transformation in Brunei. As we aim to empower every person and organisation on the planet to achieve more, our partners support us live on this mission.

“I also would like to commend the extraordinary efforts of Concepts Technologies, and I look forward to working with Concepts in empowering every person and organisation in Brunei towards digital transformation.”

Congratulations to Vincent Pao and his team from Concepts for raising the bar.

Group photo with Concepts Group and Microsoft 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

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

The media from Brunei outside one of CUCKOO factory in Seoul

Posing with Mr. Hoe, CEO of CUCKOO Malaysia for one of the photo contest

What a fortunate treat for the local media from Brunei who had the privilege to visit the factories of CUCKOO (multi-cooker and water purifier). The first visit was at Yangsan factory located in Busan, South Korea.

I would have thought it would be stricter for companies as big asCUCKOO to allow visitors to see the production line of CUCKOO. So it was such a fitting trip that we as the media were given the opportunity to see how a strong brand likeCUCKOO made it so popular in the Asia Pacific.

The Yangsan factory we visited mainly focused on multi-cookers and kitchen appliances. We were brought to the conference room where delegates from Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore were introduced to the management team of Yangsan Factory.

We learnt that CUCKOO’s multi-cookers are known for four things: Smart Algorithm, Pressure Cooking, Heating Technology and Coating Technology. These advanced technologies helped one to prepare food or meal at a touch of button. At the factory itself, we had a sneak peak on how the functions were created.

For a person who rarely cooks and maybe most of the readers here, how does pressure cooking really helps or an advantage? Imagine you don’t have enough time to cook. By using CUCKOO’s multi-cooker, you can save 70% of your cooking time and that’s with the help of the pressure cooking technology inside CUCKOO multi-cooker. This is very ideal for the working class who has limited time when it comes to cooking.

It’s really hard to explain to those who aren’t familiar with cooking. But I can guarantee you that once a CUCKOO multi-cooker in in your hands, you won’t regret the purchase. It’s no surprise why 70% household in Korea uses CUCKOO brand for their cooking and that shows the Korean really trust their products.

For the record, CUCKOO multi-cooker is sold every 10 seconds in South Korea. How I wish I had the same business model like CUCKOO.

Now saying all that, all these technologies infused in CUCKOO’s appliances are manufactured at Yangsan factory. We saw some of the production lines within the premise and I was impressed with the dedication and precision by the CUCKOO factory workers. You will be surprised the average age of the workers which is around 24-25 years old.

We also had the privilege to visit the Siheung Factory which focuses more on water purifier. It has a similar production line concept like Yangsan and it’s located closer to Seoul. With the two plants in South Korea, they are able to produce more than 4.5 million set annually.

They have around a few hundred workers working behind the scene. All they focus is just their tasks given and I hardly see them having a conversation among themselves. It’s as if they are like human robots in the production line. That’s how discipline the workers are in the factory.

Interestingly enough, Brian Koo Bon Hak, the CEO of CUCKOO Electronics Co. Ltd, mentioned of a plan to build a RM 100 million factory in Malaysia to produce water purifier products. This will help to bridge the demand gap due to the rapid growth in Southeast Asia and Brunei is one of the emerging markets in the water purifier category.

With the presence of media from Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore during the media conference at CUCKOO factory in Seoul

One of the production lines for the CUCKOO multi-cooker

The workers are very focused and dedicate when handling the components

One of the semi-conductors used for the multi-cooker

The faulty section where one will commission to see what went wrong with the unit

The upcoming multi-cooker model that is able to make Gaba rice

Gaba rice is better than brown rice and healthier

Our local model from Brunei posing with CUCKOO water purifier

Behind the scenes on how the water purifier are being produced

I was pretending to spy inside the production line :p