There’s been plenty of concern about the potential for AI to replace artists and human creativity, but during his keynote at the May 16 AI On The Lot event in downtown Los Angeles, Renard Jenkins politely reminded attendees that AI could affect most any job, including those of CFOs to CEOs.

“I would simply suggest that if you give me 10 years of your financial performances [and additional data] I can design a CFO,” Jenkins, who is president and CEO of software development and consulting firm I2A2, said. “I can build an algorithm that can make Wall Street happier than a CEO [could].”

But the exec, who is also president of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers and a Warner Bros. alum, was not suggesting that humans are not essential. He emphasized that he hopes AI education will “take away fear” and present possibilities offered by the tech, which he views as a tool. “This is nothing more than mathematics, probability and statistics,” he said. “Don’t think about this as a replacement; think about it as enhancement.

“The human being has to remain as part of the process,” he asserted. “The actions that you put into these systems, that what’s really important.”

During his keynote, Jenkins said that he would not proclaim the use of AI as a way to save money, but rather, as a way to save time. Time, he noted, often brings with it better results.

In its second year, AI On The Lot reported 850 registered attendees. Attendees ranged from Hollywood studios representatives to tech developers to filmmakers, both established and those hoping to make their mark as part of the next generation of storytellers.

In related AI news, Thursday also was the final scheduled day of bargaining between the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which concluded without a deal for a new Basic Agreement. Artifical intelligence guardrails are a major issue in these negotiations, along with topics such as the funding of IATSE’s benefits plans. 

Bargaining on the Area Standards Agreement is scheduled to begin on Monday and IATSE said Basic Agreement negotiations are expected to resume in June. The three-year contract is set to expire July 31.

With previously hidden ‘App Lab’ apps now discoverable on the main Quest store, the $1,000 WeldVR is the most expensive app you can find on Meta’s VR app store. But fret not, you can get a free trial… for 20 whole minutes.

For years, Meta only allowed select apps onto the main Quest store (which Meta recently rebranded as the ‘Meta Horizon Store’). Apps that weren’t greenlit for the Horizon Store could be published to ‘App Lab’, which gave the app a home to be bought and installed, but the apps would remain ‘unlisted’, meaning they could only be accessed with a direct link or by searching the exact name of the app.

Now Meta is finally breaking down the barriers between App Lab and the Horizon Store, essentially making all App Lab apps available to find by browsing or searching terms that are at least similar to the app’s actual name.

With the main Horizon Store and App Lab now mashed together, it’s possible to find plenty of new games but also lots of interesting experimental and non-game apps.

That means the $1,000 WeldVR app is now the most expensive app you can find on the Horizon Store—beating out the previous ‘most expensive app’, the $240 medical training app, Fetal Heart VR. This establishes a new maximum price that Meta has permitted for an app. For comparison, Apple’s App Store allows apps to be priced up to $10,000, and Google’s Play Store up to $400.

WeldVR is a training app that’s designed to teach the basics of welding. While we can’t attest to how well the app manages to train people in this skill, the idea is at least sound: learning to weld normally requires expensive equipment or signing up for training courses; if a $1,000 VR app can teach you the basics for less than the cost of equipment and courses, there could be real value there.

The company behind WeldVR, Cythero, says the app “provides trainees with a range of welding scenarios and welding techniques (MIG, TIG, and Stick), as well as different joint types and welding positions. By incorporating realistic welding sound and lifelike puddle simulations, our simulator helps trainees to develop their ability to respond to and adjust their welding technique, ultimately enhancing their overall welding skills.”

The app also offers statistics and feedback to show users how they’re doing and where to improve.

In addition to the $1,000 version of the app, which anyone with a Quest 2 (and beyond) can use, the company also sells a complete package including the headset, a hard case, software, multiple user profiles, online analytics, and peripheral attachments to more realistically simulate the welding tools being used. Priced at €6,000, the package is built with corporate and course training in mind, rather than individual users.

Not ready to plop down $1,000 to see if welding is for you? Well you’re in luck… you can activate a 20 minute trial right from the app’s store page.

Clap Hanz, the Japanese studio behind hit golfing series Everybody’s Golf and Hot Shots, released their latest VR game on Quest, called ULTIMATE SWING GOLF.

The game follows in the footsteps of Clap Hanz’s other iconic titles, this time featuring five outdoor courses for some arcade-style VR golfing action.

The game’s main focus is on free play, training modes, and competitive online matches, however it also includes a mixed reality play mode which transforms your room into a golf course.

You can grab Ultimate Swing Golf over on Quest, supporting Quest 2/3/Pro, over on the store, priced at $30.

Ultimate Swing Golf isn’t the first VR game from Clap Hanz. The studio, which has developed golf games over the past 25 years, released a Everybody’s Golf VR (2019) as a PSVR exclusive.

Since its founding in 1998, the Japanese studio has almost exclusively targeted Sony devices over the course of its existence, barring the release of Easy Come Easy Golf (2021) on mobile, and now Ultimate Swing Golf on Quest.

Gamuda Gardens now has an EV charging hub thanks to its latest partnership with Gentari. The charge point operator has deployed a Kempower DC fast charger solution that’s also solar-assisted.

According to Gamuda Land, the latest EV charging facilities are among the select few situated in the Rawang and Sungai Buloh area and it encourages more residents and visitors to embrace eco-friendly transportation. There are a total of four covered DC charging bays, located near the Waterfront village of Gamuda Gardens.

The Gamuda Garden location uses a 200kW Kempower DC Charger with four CCS2 nozzles. Each nozzle can deliver up to a maximum of 200kW for 800V EVs or up to 120kW for 400V EVs. Similar to other DC chargers on Gentari’s network, the chargers are priced at RM1.50 per kWh.

You can use Gentari Go or JomCharge apps to activate and pay for these chargers.

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BuzzFeed is changing the way it compensates founder and CEO Jonah Peretti and other top execs, who will now receive most of their pay packages in stock — a bid to persuade shareholders that the senior leaders will be better incentivized to turn things around at the struggling digital media company.

In an SEC filing Friday, BuzzFeed said Peretti’s annual base salary was immediately reduced from $325,000 to $115,000, “which approximates the median employee compensation for BuzzFeed and its peers.” That will also reduce the annual cash bonus for which Peretti is eligible (the target amount of which remains 100% of his salary). Meanwhile, Peretti was awarded options to purchase 414,000 shares of the company’s Class A common stock, 40% of which is intended to approximate the $210,000 reduction in Peretti’s salary and the remainder of which is intended to “align” his compensation “with the interests of shareholders.”

“With this compensation model, the team will only benefit from value creation thereby aligning with shareholders, as the executive team transforms the company and pushes the industry forward,” BuzzFeed said in announcing the change.

Investors seemed encouraged by the move, as BuzzFeed’s stock rose more than 6% in morning trading to $2.32/share. But the stock is still well off its IPO highs December 2021, when it popped as much as $14.57/share before closing down 11% on the first day of trading. BuzzFeed’s original SPAC deal valued it at $1.5 billion; today, the company’s market capitalization is under $100 million.

It’s unclear the extent to which the executive compensation rejiggering can change BuzzFeed’s fortunes, amid the ongoing decline in its advertising revenue. Note that Peretti already owns a considerable chunk of BuzzFeed’s shares. As of March 11, 2024, Peretti owned 4,812,240 Class A shares of BuzzFeed stock (3% of the outstanding total) and 5,237,416 shares of Class B stock — giving him 64% voting control over the company.

For Q1 2024, BuzzFeed reported revenue of $44.8 million, down 18%, while net loss from continuing operations improved slightly to -$26.6 million, compared with -$29.4 million in the first quarter of 2023.

Amid its financial woes, earlier this year BuzzFeed sold Complex and laid off 16% of BuzzFeed’s remaining staffers. That came after BuzzFeed in April 2023 announced it was shuttering its unprofitable BuzzFeed News division and laying off about 180 employees across the organization.

In addition to the options awarded to Peretti, the BuzzFeed board’s compensation committee granted an aggregate of 6,791,000 options to other executives and employees of the company. “The awards are designed to retain those employees, as well as aligning their interests directly to those of our stakeholders,” the company said in the SEC filing.

Peretti, in a statement about the change to the equity compensation model, said, “During inflection points, it’s best to organize ourselves like a startup, where we can act quickly, test, learn and grow. This compensation and incentive structure reflects our new organizational model as a leaner, faster, scrappier tech-first company.”

Peretti continued, “The internet goes through eras based on technological developments — first it was portals then search, then it was social, and now we’re entering the Gen AI era. A lot of value is created at the beginning of each cycle. We are already seeing the early benefits of AI adoption, and I believe the next three years will offer an opportunity for significant value creation. That is why we are organizing ourselves like a startup and incentivizing our team over the next three years accordingly. We designed this program to align with our goal of creating lasting value for our shareholders.”

Starlink Standard Actuated hardware kit can now be obtained in Malaysia at a much lower price. However, this is a time-limited promotion instead of a permanent price drop.

50% discount on Starlink Standard Actuated hardware kit

When the service made its debut in Malaysia last July, the Starlink Actuated Hardware kit can be obtained with a price tag of RM2,300. Through the new time-limited promo, you can get your hands on it with a discounted price tag of RM1,150.

However, no such discount is being offered for the High Performance kit. In fact, the kit is not being offered to Malaysian customers on its website unlike at the time the service was made available in our market last year.

The discount is also available through Senheng, senQ, GLOO, iTworld, PC Image

Interestingly enough, this promotion is not limited to Starlink’s official website. Customers can also purchase the kit at RM1,150 through Senheng and SenQ online stores as well as their physical outlets.

Alternatively, the kit is also available via SNS Network at the same price. You can obtain it through the company’s GLOO or iTWorld stores.

Another retailer that is also selling the Starlink kit at half price is PC Image. Similarly, you can choose to buy it through the retailer’s online store or physical outlet.

Surprisingly, the Starlink kit is no longer available from Harvey Norman who put it on sale back in January.

Monthly Starlink subscription fee remains the same

Meanwhile, there is no discount for Starlink’s monthly Internet subscription fee though. The fee currently stands at RM220 per month which has not never been revised since the service was made available in Malaysia last July.

That being said, there appears to be some improvement in terms of Internet speed. According to the map on its website, Starlink claimed that the download speed in most areas around Malaysia is between 132Mbps to 248Mbps.

As for upload speed, it is around 22Mbps to 42Mbps. The website also claimed that most areas in Malaysia have a latency of 25ms to 47ms.

Blacktop Hoops (2024), the popular VR basketball game, is out of early access on Quest, now serving up multiplayer and single player streetball on standalone platforms and PC VR headsets too.

Developed by Vinci Games and first released in April 2022 in alpha, the full version of Blacktop Hoops is now available, bringing with it a new GOAT campaign mode, revamped online parks for up to 4v4 matches, new maps and environments, a new Court Cam mode, training modes and more.

The studio says the game’s first official season will take place over the next four months, which will let you rank up by doing challenges and earn exclusive rewards. Users in the top 100 on the Field Goals, Threes, Dunks, Finishers, Tricks, Layups, Steals, Blocks, or Wins leaderboard at the end of the season will earn an exclusive Season One Hat and Jersey, the studio says.

As the second most-rated basketball game on the Quest platform, following the wildly successful free-to-play Gym Class (2022), Blacktop Hoops has managed to rack up over 15,000 user reviews on Quest, putting it at [4.9/5] stars.

You’ll find it there on Quest 2/3/Pro, Steam for PC VR headsets, and Pico headsets, priced at $30.

Yoodo, the popular digital telco that allows users the freedom to customise their plan, will cease operations in a couple of months time. According to a notice published on their website, the Yoodo brand will be discontinued from 29 August 2024 as part of the undertakings committed to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) following the merger of Celcom and Digi.

For now, existing Yoodo customers can continue to enjoy existing Data, Voice and SMS service on the CelcomDigi network without interruptions until further notice. It added that more details including transition options will be shared with customers on 17th June 2024.

We reckon that existing Yoodo customers might be offered options to switch to one of CelcomDigi’s prepaid offerings.

Yoodo is required to be divested within 18 months after CelcomDigi merger is completed

As announced by the MCMC in June 2022, Yoodo which is an MVNO under Celcom, is required to be divested within 18 months after the merger with Digi is completed. The CelcomDigi merger was completed on 30th November 2022 and this month marks the end of the 18-month period.

The divestment is among the requirements set by the MCMC for the CelcomDigi merger to address concerns about reducing competition in the telco industry. Other undertakings required include Celcom and Digi setting up a separate independent business unit to manage their Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) business to ensure a clear separation from the merged telco retail mobile business.

The divestment of Yoodo includes all tangible and intangible assets including intellectual property rights, employment of staff, contracts, leases and all subscribers. To ensure the continuity of the brand, CelcomDigi must find a new buyer who is independent of Celcom, Digi and its stakeholders. Failing which, they would have to cease Yoodo operations within 3 months of the expiry of the divestiture period, which is August 2024.

In August last year, CelcomDigi CEO Datuk Idham Nawawi revealed there were a lot of interest from various local and international parties to acquire Yoodo. He shared that Yoodo is a very strong brand when it comes to eSports and they hope that the next owner of Yoodo is someone who can take the brand to the next level with the resources to grow the brand.

With the latest announcement, it appears that CelcomDigi has failed to find a new owner to take over the digital telco brand. Yoodo was established by Celcom in 2018 and remains one of the most popular telcos for its affordable and highly customisable plans. They are well known for its 20GB for RM20 offering which is now offered with free 5G access. Yoodo is also one of our top picks for SoyaCincau.com’s best telco of the year.

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