A traditional summertime favourite in Hong Kong, sugar cane juice is increasingly hard to find in the city because of limited sugar cane supply. Among the few remaining local shops selling sugar cane juice is Kung Lee, which has been around for 70 years. The store uses traditional methods to peel, steam and press the sugar cane with an antique juicer. Ben Tsui, who’s a fourth-generation owner, has been reinventing the business with new products to attract new customers.
 

Chinese smartphones were once thought of as cheaply made, unreliable and not very durable. But in recent years, Chinese smartphone brands have made large inroads to take a bigger share of the global market. The Chinese models have earned a reputation for being powerful yet affordable, and because they support advanced 5G networks across the budget range. Major brands from other countries have struggled to price their phones as low as their Chinese competitors do. As a result, top Chinese smartphone brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo are seeing growth in worldwide smartphone shipments to the point that they now provide stiff competition to the likes of Apple and Samsung across the range of smartphone models.

A restaurant in China is using robots to deliver a fully automated dining and cooking experience for customers. At the Foodom restaurant in Foshan, a city in the southern province of Guangdong, robotic arms prepare fast food after they are programmed to follow recipes for making noodles or stir-fry dishes. When ready, the food is served by robot waiters and a conveyor-belt system that runs through the ceiling of the restaurant. But even in a venue where it seems all the work can be handed over to the machines, there are still some tasks that require a human touch.

Hong Kong's quarantine laws are among the strictest in the world. Close contact cases are isolated from the community by being moved into isolation facilities. One of the largest of the camps has been built on undeveloped land at Penny's Bay, near Hong Kong Disneyland. A recent surge in infections that started with a superspreading event at a gym in the city, has forced hundreds of people into quarantine.
 

Tiger Leung has made a career out of cutting hair and giving clean shaves. For over 50 years, he has run his traditional barbershop in Hong Kong with a focus on an old-school approach to his craft. While similar shops have gradually faded away and closed over the years, Leung is determined to keep his business open for as long as he can. But today his customers are not only long-time clients who have become his good friends. Thanks to the attention his shop has received on social media, Leung's business is getting attention from a whole new generation.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the global aviation industry. With many flights grounded, demand for in-flight meals has dropped significantly leaving companies that supply airlines with meals scrambling to survive. To cope, Hong Kong airline caterer Gate Gourmet has changed its business model to provide meals for people in hotel quarantines, and even to prepare “airline food” for delivery to homes.

Hong Kong’s new temporary Covid-19 hospital in North Lantau will go into service in February. The new facility is built to house patients with mild symptoms. It was completed in just four months, using the “modular integrated construction” (MiC) method. With the rise of Covid-19 cases in the city, this new hospital has negative pressure wards that can accommodate 816 isolation beds. It also has the latest fully automated molecular system, which can boost the city's coronavirus testing capacity by 10 to 15 per cent.

Sony’s PlayStation 5 finally went on sale in Hong Kong on November 19, 2020. Gamers who pre-ordered a console were able to pick it up, but those who weren't able to pre-order will have to wait until Sony gets stock for walk-in sales, or pay twice the price to get a console on the resale market at local game stores.

The Apple HomePod mini is marketed as having Chinese language recognition ability that sets it apart from other smart speakers. But while the device is said to be able to support Mandarin and Cantonese dialects, we wanted to put the HomePod mini to the test to see if Siri can understand different Chinese accents as well as dialects.

The completion of a section of cycling track in Hong Kong’s New Territories has put the finishing touches on a 60km (37-mile) long path that links Tuen Mun and Ma On Shan. The new 11km (6.8-mile) Yuen Long to Sheung Shui section, which runs through a number of scenic spots such as the Kam Tin River and the Long Valley Wetland, opened to the public on September 29, 2020. South China Morning Post reporter Mark Agnew and Chan Ka-leung of the Hong Kong Cycling Alliance took advantage of the autumn weather to saddle up for a road test.

“They are works of art”, says David Chan as he describes the massive collection of vintage cameras he has assembled in his Hong Kong shop over about 60 years. Though Chan buys and sells some equipment, he considers himself more of a guardian of vintage photographic gear, on a mission to help future generations see the beauty of camera craftsmanship.

The new iPhone 12 Pro has impressive camera technology that is designed for photographers, but it comes at a premium price which costs as much as a professional camera. The Post invited a pro photographer to test the iPhone 12 Pro for shooting portraits and cityscapes in Hong Kong.

Robots are increasingly getting more jobs in Japan, a nation struggling to cope with an ageing, shrinking workforce. The machines have been deployed to help with tasks such as stacking shelves, serving drinks and cleaning toilets. Some, including a shelf-stocking machine called “kangaroo robot”, are even operated remotely by humans using virtual reality interfaces.

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is Samsung’s most-powerful phone yet, but is it worth the US$1,300 price tag? A large smartphone with a built-in stylus, the device comes with top-notch specs including an immersive 6.9-inch display, and a massive 50x camera zoom capability. The Post got access to one of the phones for 72 hours to put it to the test.

China is using new flood-control methods to cope with roads being blocked by rising waters. One of the latest solutions was developed by a Chinese company, which mitigates flooding more efficiently than commonly used sandbags.

Technology has helped some countries and regions in Asia do a better job containing the spread and coping with the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. From apps to manage quarantines, to robots to spread disinfectant, the hi-tech solutions have a common goal of fighting the deadly effects of Covid-19.