Tech TRP

If you’ve ever wished WhatsApp had cooler themes or wanted to know who kept rewatching your Instagram Stories, Meta now has a subscription for that. The tech giant has officially rolled out Instagram Plus, WhatsApp Plus, and Facebook Plus in Malaysia, giving users the option to unlock extra features for as little as RM3.50 a month. The subscriptions are entirely optional, meaning the free versions of all three apps aren’t going anywhere. The cheapest option is WhatsApp Plus at RM3.50 per month.

In a digital era that values privacy more than ever, sharing your personal phone number can feel like a big step regardless of whether it’s with a new friend, a co-worker, or even your next-door neighbour. Typically, when you exchange contacts via text-messaging app WhatsApp, you’ll need to share your number or take the other person’s phone number. Either way, you will both get to see each other’s contact digits after making the exchange and pressing save.

Six generations in, and the pitch hasn’t changed much: wear it on the back of your neck, and it cools you down. What has changed is everything underneath — the engineering, the fit, the way the heat gets out. The REON POCKET 6, announced in Malaysia recently, is the latest version of a wearable cooling device that Sony has been quietly refining since the first model launched years ago.

Google has not released a new smart speaker since the Nest Audio in 2020. The Google Home Speaker, which begins shipping on 25 June, is its first speaker built around Gemini for Home. Google would very much like you to think of it as the start of a new product line rather than another Nest speaker. The Nest name is gone. It costs ~RM409 (US$99.99) and comes in four colours: Hazel, Porcelain, Jade and Berry, although Jade and Berry are exclusive to the US Google Store.

Discord voice channels have barely changed since the app launched. You join, your name appears on a list, audio starts, and everyone carries on with what they were already doing. It’s simple and it stays out of the way. Now, Discord is experimenting with changing how voice chat feels. First spotted by Discord Previews on 22 June, the experimental Living Room layout replaces the standard participant grid with a shared virtual room where each user’s avatar occupies a seat.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced Galaxy A27 5G, a device that refines everyday mobile use with an immersive display, reliable performance and thoughtfully integrated AI features. Building on the popular Galaxy A26 5G, Galaxy A27 5G introduces meaningful enhancements that make the experience easier and more intuitive for more users.

For a growing number of people, particularly younger users, the earphones simply stay in through the night. A playlist, a podcast, ambient rain sounds — something to ease the transition into sleep. What begins as a wind-down ritual becomes eight hours of unmonitored audio delivery, directly into the ear canal, while the brain is in its least responsive state.

When Take-Two Interactive chief executive Strauss Zelnick said earlier this year that “a lot of people will be calling in sick on 19 November,” he was probably not expecting a California car parts manufacturer to take that as actionable HR advice.

What started as a Game Boy game about a boy catching creatures in tall grass has become the highest-grossing media franchise in human history — bigger than Star Wars, bigger than Marvel, bigger than Harry Potter. As of 2026, the Pokémon video game series has sold more than 480 million units worldwide.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ More than 75 billion trading cards have been printed as of March 2025. The anime has run for over 1,300 episodes across 28 seasons.

When the Australian ban kicked in on 10 December 2025, children started using VPNs, borrowing older siblings’ credentials and spoofing biometric checks with masks. By April 2026, 61 per cent of 12 to 15-year-olds in Australia still held active accounts on every platform the ban was supposed to lock them out of. Regulators noted that platforms had taken “some steps”, but of course, the kids mostly stayed.