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Russia's attempt to block VPNs is causing widespread banking outages

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According to Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, the Kremlin’s increasing efforts to control and censor the global internet are causing widespread problems for Russian users. The Russian-born entrepreneur confirmed that Telegram is now banned in the country, yet more than 50 million Russians continue to use it daily via VPNs.
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Apple’s foldable iPhone may be delayed

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Apple has run into “more issues than expected” with its foldable iPhone, which may delay its release, according to the Japanese business newspaper Nikkei. Multiple sources report issues that apparently occurred during early test production phases and may delay first shipments by months.

Component suppliers have supposedly been notified that the foldable iPhone’s production schedule will be delayedand Apple is working to address the problems. Apple was reportedly prioritizing the foldable iPhone and other premium models for its September event this year, due to constrained supplies — that whole thing. One fewer iPhone model might reduce the company’s demand for pricey components.

We’re still waiting: A foldable iPhone has been rumored since 201andd rival Samsung released its first one back in 2019. The Galaxy phone maker has faced its own struggles: The very cool Galaxy Z TriFold was , seemingly being sold at a loss after its launch late last year.

— Mat Smith

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The other big stories (and deals) this morning

The federal government wants sole authority over prediction markets.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is suing Illinois, Arizona and Connecticut for attempting to outlaw or regulate prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket. These markets allow people to bet on the outcomes of events (for example, who will be the Democratic nominee for president in 2028). There’s been some particularly on recent global military campaigns.

The CFTC believes it has sole jurisdiction to regulate these platforms and that states attempting to classify them as illegal gambling are overstepping their authority. “The CFTC will continue to safeguard its exclusive regulatory authority over these markets and defend market participants against overzealous state regulators,” CFTC chair Michael S. Selig said in a statement.

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Mel Brooks, Rick Moranis and other original cast members are back.

Amazon MGM Studios announced the upcoming Spaceballs movie will hit theaters on April 23, 2027, right around the 40th anniversary of the first film. The movie is being directed by Josh Greenbaum and written by Josh Gad, Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, according to Deadline.

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We don’t need telescopes.

TMA

NASA

On their way around the Moon, the Artemis II crew managed to grab a few photos.NASA has begun sharing the images, including the one above: Earth through the Orion capsule’s window. It kinda looks like the old iPhone wallpaper. Sorry, I just ruined it.

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Are DieHard And Duralast Car Batteries Made In The Same Factory?

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Private label products are to be expected when shopping at your local auto parts shop. From AutoZone or Advance Auto Parts, most of the top automotive supply stores have in-house brands of their own. You see it a lot with replacement batteries, for example. Given the nature of private label products, it’s not surprising to notice similarities between those different in-house brands.

Take DieHard and Duralast, for example. The former belongs to Advance Auto Parts, while the latter is exclusive to AutoZone. Even though their brand names are different, however, are these two replacement batteries actually made in the same factory? Believe it or not, they are. Both DieHard and Duralast are made by Clarios, a global supplier said to provide advanced battery technologies and energy storage solutions for tons of well-known automotive brands.

Clarios is one of the biggest private-label suppliers in the aftermarket battery industry, producing batteries from major brands like DieHard, Duralast, Interstate, Bosch, EverStart, and beyond. Of course, while DieHard and Duralast batteries do come from the same place, they’re far from identical products.

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Same manufacturer, different batteries

You’ve probably seen those videos comparing snacks or drinks from the name brands compared to the grocery store brands. In the end, a lot of them end up being the exact same. This isn’t like that, though. Both Advance Auto Parts and AutoZone work with Clarios to produce batteries in line with each brand’s own unique specifications, quality standards, and branding. That means different designs, different performance characteristics, and different warranties between DieHard to Duralast.

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DieHard has a unique focus on sustainability and validated recycling practices. For example, its Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) batteries have circular economy validation from UL under its recycled content standard. That means a significant portion of each new battery comes from recycled materials. On the contrary, Duralast prides itself on being an OE-quality (Original Equipment) replacement. They also offer more dependable performance in extreme temperatures compared to others on the market and are backed by strong warranties. Duralast batteries also tend to be more affordable than DieHard.



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Speed Cameras In This State Are Going Viral For Their ‘Cybertruck’ Style

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The Poliscan Enforcement Trailer is a unique-looking type of speed camera that is produced in Wiesbaden, Germany by a company called Vitronic. People engaged in online chats about these new speed cameras are describing them as both reminiscent of a Tesla Cybertruck and also like a device seen in a “Star Wars” movie. Montgomery Couty Maryland purchased six of them, along with a number of other cameras to deploy around the county.

These Poliscan Enforcement Trailers can be moved from place to place. The trailers will each replace a setup that used a speed camera in a van that required a police officer nearby to monitor its operation. Poliscan trailers can be monitored remotely to verify that they are operational; no officer will need to be stationed nearby. In addition to their external “armor,” the glass panel that the speed cameras see through is made of ballistic-grade glass to protect them from vandalism. Just like in California, cameras can now give you a ticket, no cops involved

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Montgomery County, Maryland’s purchase of the six Poliscan Enforcement Trailers is part of a larger purchase made by the county from Vitronic. It also purchased 96 additional smaller, more portable speed cameras, along with 38 speed cameras mounted on poles for school zone speed enforcement. This multi-year, multi-million-dollar contract was announced by Vitronic in November of 2025, with the first trailers’ arrival announced in early April of 2026.

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Where else have Poliscan Enforcement Trailers been used for speed enforcement?

Vitronic’s Poliscan Enforcement Trailers have been used in a number of European jurisdictions. The French Interior Ministry’s Traffic Enforcement Department has been using them since 2016, when they noticed a huge increase in the number of traffic accidents where roadside construction was going on. This required a mobile solution, since construction sites are not permanent and these areas are not located where traditional speed enforcement is in effect.

They had 250 units by December of 2016, with a total of 600 units ordered by December of 2021. Speed enforcement from these automated systems increased by 26%, resulting in 25.6 million Euro in additional revenue. This aligns with what the data says about traffic cameras stopping speeders.

Barcelona, Spain has been using the Vitronic Poliscan Enforcement Trailers as well. Barcelona launched their effort with four Poliscan Enforcement Trailers that started operation in November of 2024. These Enforcement Trailers recorded up to 1,600 speeding offenses, right from the start of operation.

The Poliscan Enforcement Trailers can run autonomously for 10 days without needing a power connection. Their inherent protection from vandalism keeps them in operation continuously. It may even be possible to get a speeding ticket when you weren’t even driving the car, just like you can in Maryland.

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Congress Wants To Put The Law Behind A Paywall. Again.

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from the this-is-a-very-bad-idea dept

Every relevant court that has looked at this question — including the Supreme Court — has agreed: no one can own the law. When private standards get incorporated into binding legal requirements, the public has a right to access them freely. The Fifth Circuit, the DC Circuit, and the First Circuit have all reached the same conclusion through different cases over the past two decades.

So naturally, a bipartisan group of senators has reintroduced a bill to override all of that.

Senators Coons, Cornyn, Hirono, and Tillis have brought back the Pro Codes Act, a bill that would grant copyright protection to standards that have been incorporated by reference into law. That means building codes, fire safety codes, electrical codes, accessibility guidelines — the kind of stuff that governs whether your house is up to code and violations of which can carry civil or criminal penalties — would remain the copyrighted property of the private standards development organizations (SDOs) that wrote them.

That would be really, really bad — and also, according to multiple federal courts, unconstitutional.

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The press release from these senators is really something. Tillis says the bill “protects a commonsense system that keeps Americans safe without costing taxpayers a dime.” Coons worries about “a penalty for the non-profit organizations that developed them and stand to lose their intellectual property.” The Copyright Alliance (a copyright maximalist org funded by the usual suspects in Hollywood) CEO calls it “a clear win for public safety, transparency, and economic growth.”

You’d think we were talking about some beleaguered group of nonprofits on the verge of financial collapse, valiantly producing safety standards out of the goodness of their hearts, about to be crushed by pernicious freeloaders daring to read the laws for free. The reality, as Katherine Klosek and Garrett Reynolds detailed here on Techdirt, is rather different. The main SDOs pushing this bill — the International Code Council and the National Fire Protection Association — are making more money than ever, with CEO salaries upward of $1,000,000, compared to a median nonprofit CEO salary of around $115,682. Their revenues have grown even as organizations like Public.Resource.Org and UpCodes have been providing free, unfettered access to these incorporated standards for years.

As the Fifth Circuit noted way back in 2002:

“It is difficult to imagine an area of creative endeavor in which the copyright incentive is needed less. Trade organizations have powerful reasons stemming from industry standardization, quality control, and self regulation to produce these model codes; it is unlikely that, without copyright, they will cease producing them.”

Twenty-four years later, the prediction holds up perfectly. The SDOs kept producing standards. They kept growing their revenue. They just also want Congress to hand them a monopoly over public law, because the courts wouldn’t.

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And the bill is sneaky about it: it includes a provision requiring that incorporated standards be made “publicly accessible online,” which the bill’s supporters point to as proof of their commitment to transparency. But the bill explicitly says this access must be provided “in a manner that does not substantially disrupt the ability of those organizations to earn revenue.” That’s Congress writing profit protection directly into the definition of “public access to the law.” In practice, as Klosek explained last year, this means read-only access where you can’t download, copy, print, or link to the standards. That’s not access to the law. That’s a peek at the law through a keyhole, on terms set by a private corporation.

Meanwhile, the organizations actually providing genuinely useful, free public access to these laws — Public.Resource.Org, UpCodes, and others — would be exposed to copyright liability under this bill. So the Pro Codes Act doesn’t just fail to improve public access to the law. It actively threatens the entities that are already doing a better job of providing that access than the SDOs ever have.

So when the senators pushing this bill talk up the need for “non-profits” to make money, what they’re really doing is choosing which nonprofits deserve to survive — the (already extremely well-resourced) ones that write the standards, rather than ones like Public.Resource.Org that actually make those standards available to the public.

This bill has never received a committee hearing. Not in this Congress. Not in any previous Congress. The last time around, it was brought to the House floor under suspension of the rules — a process reserved for non-controversial legislation — and still couldn’t muster the two-thirds majority needed to pass. A growing coalition of libraries, journalists, civil society organizations, disability rights groups, and the NAACP has lined up against it.

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They’ve lined up against this law because it’s bad. It locks up the law behind copyright.

The Supreme Court. Multiple circuit courts. A broad coalition of public interest groups. All saying the same thing: the law belongs to the public. But as long as the SDOs keep spending millions on lobbying, Congress will apparently keep trying to give it away.

Filed Under: chris coons, copyright, copyrighted law, incorporated by reference, john cornyn, mazie hirono, open standards, standards, thom tillis

Companies: public.resource.org, upcodes

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Artemis II astronaut puts all of our iPhone moon photos to shame

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When NASA allowed Artemis II astronauts to take their smartphones with them, we already knew it could lead to some epic phone shots of the moon. NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman took one such photo on his iPhone, just as the Orion spacecraft his crew was on approached the moon for a lunar flyby. The astronauts turned off all the lights inside the cabin to be able to take better pictures. In the livestream, Wiseman showed the camera a photo he took on his iPhone 17 Pro.

As 9to5Mac notes, he said on the livestream that he took the picture on his iPhone camera with an 8x zoom. NASA reportedly said that the image showed the Chebyshev crater, a lunar impact sight located on the far side of the moon, or the side we don’t see from our planet. Artemis II launched on April 1 for a 10-day journey, with four astronauts onboard the mission’s Orion spacecraft. On April 6, it flew farther away from Earth than any mission before it after it arrived in lunar space, reaching a distance of 252,756 miles from our planet and breaking the record set by Apollo 13. The crew finished the lunar flyby at around 9:35PM on April 6 and is now making its way back to Earth.

We’ll likely see more images of the dark side of the moon over the next few days as NASA releases them. The Artemis II crew is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego on April 10.

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Despite being the Mini LED king, TCL seems reluctant to embrace RGB TVs

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To RGB or not to RGB, that is the quandary TCL finds itself in with its 2026 line-up.

TCL is the self-anointed Mini LED king. It’s made it its mission in life to sell more Mini LEDs than the competition and by all accounts, it has achieved that goal.

You would presume then, that it would like to sell all types of Mini LED but at its NXT Roadshow event in Paris, it sent out a rather confusing message, one that suggests that it’s not particularly fussed about RGB TVs.

RGB gets no respect

I’ve only seen a few RGB TVs so I’m not going to pray at the altar and say they’re the next coming of the TV Gods. But they may represent an inflection point, a new level of Mini LED performance that’s available at both premium and more affordable price points from the get-go.

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It could, effectively, replace your standard Mini LED and I wonder if TCL is ever so slightly perturbed by this.

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You’ve got Hisense who seem ecstatic about the potential of RGB. Sony are cautious like someone who has a big secret but doesn’t want to tell anyone just yet. Samsung sees RGB as its next mountain to conquer.

Philips and LG come across laissez-faire about RGB, believing that OLED is still the picture king. TCL doesn’t even like OLED – they’re all about Mini LED and out of all the TV manufacturers their stance is one I can’t comprehend. They seem disinterested to the point of being underwhelmed.

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TCL Premium RGB TVTCL Premium RGB TV
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

The press release for the 2026 models raves about Super QD Mini-LEDs. But RGB TVs? They get two sentences with no mention of the model numbers.

The chasm between the excitement of SQD Mini-LED versus RGB Mini-LED could not be larger.

There’s an implication that TCL doesn’t believe the technology is quite there yet, something to be refined for its day in the limelight in a couple years’ time once the technology has matured. But if that’s the case, it makes very little sense to me.

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While others will be making strides in improving RGB TV tech, TCL will be focusing on its SQD TVs. But will SQD be a long-term concern? I’m not sure there’s a long shelf life with these models.

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TCL will be the only company that makes them – they are, in effect, a branding exercise in the same way that Samsung’s Neo QLEDs were Mini LED with a fancy name.

The whole TV market is moving towards RGB in some way, which seems to be the future, at least for the next few years, and TCL seem non-plussed about it.

TCL SQD-MiniLED colourTCL SQD-MiniLED colour
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Perhaps this speaks to TCL’s confidence, a reflection of its current standing in the market where it can throw a disdainful look at RGB. This endorsement of SQD is a strength not a weakness, a sign that TCL goes its own way and won’t be made to follow the same path as others.

But if RGB takes off it might find itself having to play catch-up.

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It’s a risk, I think, that TCL is not exerting more of a influence on RGB Mini LED. If RGB does take off, TCL will be stuck between supporting its flagship SQD TVs while trying to boost its RGB models. Producing two models could mean they cannibalize each other’s sales.

Or RGB could struggle to take off and TCL would be right, as long as SQD makes an impact. Somehow, I don’t think that will happen.

2026 will mark the true test of TCL’s standing in the market. It’s not playing catch-up as much in the UK anymore, it’s tussling with the experienced players in the same ring. But not grappling with RGB TV tech could see them susceptible to an unexpected knockdown.

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Samsung Weather now shows exactly what’s making you sneeze

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Samsung’s latest Weather update puts the focus where it matters right now, pollen. With allergy season ramping up, the app now shows what’s actually in the air so you can react before symptoms hit.

Version 1.7.30.8 changes how that data appears. Instead of a generic icon, you now get separate categories for tree, grass, and ragweed, making it easier to read conditions without digging deeper.

If you deal with seasonal allergies, the type of trigger matters as much as the intensity, and now that detail sits front and center.

Samsung also reworks how severity shows up, replacing a color scale with text labels. It’s simpler to read at a glance, though some users may find the loss of color cues less precise.

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Clearer pollen info at a glance

The biggest shift is how the app presents daily readings. Instead of a single symbol, it splits conditions into tree, grass, and ragweed, giving you a clearer picture of what’s driving symptoms.

That added detail helps with everyday decisions. Tree and grass pollen peak at different times, so seeing them broken out lets you plan ahead with more confidence. If ragweed is high but grass is low, you’ll know what’s likely to trigger a reaction.

More than just pollen changes

This version also brings a few smaller refinements across the app. Moon phase icons have been refreshed, giving nighttime forecasts a cleaner and more consistent look.

Radar gets a practical tweak as well, with new shortcuts that link out to more detailed forecasting tools. That gives you faster access when you want more than the basic overview.

None of these changes overhaul the app, but together they make it feel more polished. Samsung is leaning into incremental improvements that add value without forcing you to relearn anything.

Who gets it and when

Version 1.7.30.8 is rolling out now, but availability is staggered. It’s currently tied to devices running One UI 8.5, so not everyone will see it right away.

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Pollen tracking itself isn’t new. Earlier versions like One UI 8.0 still support it, just without the updated visuals, so you’re only missing the redesign if the update hasn’t reached you yet.

The rollout may take a few weeks to reach all devices through the Galaxy Store. If you rely on the app daily, it’s worth checking for updates soon, especially as allergy season picks up.

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How to customize a website template: 5 tips

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You’ve picked a website template, but now it looks like a hundred other sites. That’s the problem with templates. They’re convenient, but they feel generic right out of the box.

You want something that represents your brand. Not a cookie-cutter design that screams “I used template #47.” The good news? Templates are starting points, not final destinations. With the right approach, you can transform any template into a custom-looking site. We’ll show you exactly how.

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Modos Flow Turns E-Ink Into a 13.3″ 3K Portable Monitor Worth Using Every Day

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Modos Flow E-Ink Monitor
Long sessions in front of conventional LCD monitors can leave you with tired eyes and a throbbing headache. The Modos Flow aims to change that by combining the convenience of paper with the speed of doing serious work on a computer. This 13.3-inch portable display delivers excellent text and images with a smooth motion that will have many individuals switching to it from their primary laptop screen when they need to focus.



The screen has a 3200 by 2400 pixel display in black and white mode, resulting in a very crisp 300 pixels per inch. When you turn to colour, the resolution decreases to 1600 by 1200 with a less sharp 150 pixels per inch, but it still appears good for most documents and online pages. They also have a built-in frontlight that allows you to adjust the brightness and color to match the room you’re in without causing glare. Furthermore, it works well in direct sunlight since the reflecting surface does not bleach out like glossy LCD screens.

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The refresh rate is 60 frames per second with fewer than 100 milliseconds of lag, which is fairly standard for a typical monitor but is really fast for an e-ink panel. You can also choose from four different viewing modes based on what you’re doing. Browsing mode prevents webpages from being disorganized and having excessive ghosting. Typing mode sharpens everything up, allowing you to focus on your work. Watching mode handles video playback better than some previous e-ink panels, although it still has limitations with fast-paced action. Reading mode simply prioritises contrast and lowers the noise surrounding your text.

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You can use the touchscreen directly on the surface, but if you need something more precise, a stylus is provided for notes and annotations. You also get two USB-C ports that handle power and video, but firmware updates are expected to reduce the number of cables to one. The device works with Windows, Macintosh, and Linux laptops right out of the box, and it consumes significantly less power than a laptop screen, which should help you save battery life.

The monitor is constructed of metal, so it feels substantial and sturdy, but it only weighs about 700 grams without the cover. The cover is also quite flexible and may be used as a stand, as well as folded flat for transport. If you want to install it to your desk or a monitor arm, you can utilize the VESA mounting holes in the back. You’ll also find three buttons on the side that allow you to quickly modify the brightness, contrast, and mode with a short press or a longer hold.


Crowdfunding is set to begin soon on Kickstarter, following the success of their last Modos Paper Monitor development kit. If you are an early backer, you may view the pledge options on the campaign page to find out when you can expect to get one. Price is yet to be confirmed, however it should be relatively comparable to other portable monitors on the market.
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S$100K+ to fly with your pet? S’pore’s 1st pet airline is booked out a yr ahead.

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On SingaPaw Air’s flights, pets roam the cabin freely, sit beside their owners & are even offered meal options

There’s no sugarcoating it. A US$84,000 (S$108,000) flight to San Francisco with your pet is likely out of reach for most Singaporeans.

But that hasn’t stopped SingaPaw Air, which bills itself as Asia’s first pet jet-share service, from attracting a small and growing group of people willing to spend tens—and even hundreds—of thousands of dollars for the experience of flying with their pets in comfort and privacy.

On its flights, pets can roam the cabin freely, sit beside their owners, and are even offered meal options, much like any other passenger. Every detail, from check-in to in-flight care, is designed for the well-being of both animal and owner.

One recent customer paid just over US$30,000 (S$38,500) for a one-way trip from Singapore to Hong Kong for two people and four cats. Another spent US$15,000 (S$19,300) to holiday in Hong Kong with her toy poodle. And the airline is receiving more than 100 enquiries a day, with some customers booking up to a year in advance.

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There clearly is demand for the service—and it is one that founder Jamie Wong saw coming long before anyone else in the region did.

“For me, animals are family”

Wong’s path to building SingaPaw Air is not a straight line.

The 38-year-old started his career in medicine and used to work as a GP at Raffles Medical. But the pull of entrepreneurship eventually won out. He went on to build a five-branch medical aesthetics business and a telemedicine startup that completed two rounds of fundraising, both of which have since closed.

Image Credit: SingaPaw Air/ Jamie Wong

Throughout all of this, he was running TheAsianPawrent, an online community platform for pet owners in Asia, on the side—not as a business play, but out of genuine love for animals.

Wong shares his home with five cats and three dogs, has rescued birds and sent them to animal welfare charity ACRES for rehabilitation, and actively donates to local pet welfare communities. TheAsianPawrent started as a place where pet owners like him could come together to share knowledge, discuss issues affecting their animals, and find community around modern pet parenting in Asia.

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For me, animals are not a side interest. They are family. That belief has shaped the way I think about services, community, and the future of pet-related businesses.

Jamie Wong, founder of SingaPaw Air

The longer he ran that community, the more clearly one pain point kept surfacing: travel.

Pet owners across the region were hitting the same wall—restrictive airline policies, stressful cargo holds, banned breeds, and mountains of paperwork. The infrastructure simply hadn’t caught up with how people actually felt about their animals.

That insight, combined with a very personal moment during COVID-19, when Wong found himself unable to bring his family’s dog along on a private plane to Malaysia, became the spark for SingaPaw Air.

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“I realised that while I was able to fly over on a private plane, our dog obviously could not enjoy the same ease of travel,” he said. “That was the moment I realised there was a real-world problem that could potentially be solved.”

The business was initially self-funded

Wong founded SingaPaw Air about three years ago, in 2023. “The concept took shape over time, but that was when we began laying the groundwork to turn the idea into a real operating business,” he said.

The airline was initially self-funded, which meant that Wong had to “build carefully” in the early stages. This was followed by two rounds of angel investment, with the company beginning at a valuation of US$2 million (S$2.5 million), according to the founder.

Image Credit: SingaPaw Air/ Jamie Wong

Today, SingaPaw Air claims to be the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, with only a handful of comparable players globally, such as Bark Air and RetrievAir in the United States, K9 Jets in Europe, and Skye Pets in Australia.

While Wong does not come from a traditional airline background, his experience building businesses in regulated industries proved highly transferable.

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He also pursued a personal interest in aviation, spending time in flight simulators to practice piloting and understand aircraft operations. He even took some flight lessons, which helped him grasp the operational side of running an airline.

Although this experience was valuable, getting SingaPaw Air off the ground was far from simple.

Beyond registering the company and sourcing aircraft, a big part of the process involved securing the right approvals, including from Singapore’s Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS) and the Singapore Tourism Board.

At the same time, Wong also spent significant effort building an internal team that truly understood the emotional and practical challenges of travelling with pets.

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We intentionally built a team of pet owners because people who live with animals understand the anxiety, the logistics, and the level of care required in a very different way.

Jamie Wong, founder of SingaPaw Air

Prices start at S$7K, and that’s just for a short hop to KL

SingaPaw Air operates on a jet-share model, which allows customers to book individual seats rather than chartering an entire aircraft. This approach, Wong said, makes the experience much more accessible compared to a traditional private charter, which can cost upwards of US$100,000 (S$128,500).

By selling per-seat access, SingaPaw Air brings the entry point down to around US$10,000 (S$13,000) per seat.

Image Credit: SingaPaw Air/ Jamie Wong

Its current routes include Singapore to Kuala Lumpur from US$5,500 (S$7,000), Singapore to Hong Kong return from US$19,200 (S$25,000), Singapore to Tokyo return from US$34,400 (S$44,200), and Singapore to San Francisco one-way from US$84,000 (S$108,000), among others.

For those seeking a fully private experience, the airline also offers dedicated jet charters, where the entire aircraft is reserved fully for you and your pets.

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Prices for full charters are significantly higher, often reaching six figures for long-haul trips.

For example, a one-way flight from Singapore to San Francisco costs around US$330,000 (about S$424,000). Even shorter routes, such as Kuala Lumpur, can cost around US$30,000 (S$38,500) one way.

To manage these flights efficiently, SingaPaw Air employs a flexible operational model, including contract charters, membership charters, and block-hour arrangements. This allows the airline to tailor how planes and seats are allocated depending on demand, route, and booking type, while maintaining a consistent, pet-focused experience.

Currently, SingaPaw Air works with several licensed commercial flight operators, including Air7Asia, adjusting aircraft and service setups as needed.

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Not just a flight

(Left): A pet passport from SingaPaw Air, used to track a pet’s vaccinations; (Right): Boarding passes for SingaPaw Air flights./ Image Credit: @bentley_the_goodest_boi, @theasianpawrent_sg via Instagram

Onboard SingaPaw Air’s flights, a wide range of pets are allowed to fly beside their humans—there are no weight or size restrictions. The largest animal to board so far, according to Wong, was a Great Dane.

The airline also accepts breeds banned from cargo on most commercial carriers. Many airlines prohibit brachycephalic breeds—dogs with shortened snouts, such as French bulldogs and chow chows—due to a higher risk of respiratory distress in the cargo hold.

That said, SingaPaw Air takes extensive precautions to ensure these pets travel safely. Veterinary checks are conducted before every flight, and a certified canine first responder accompanies all journeys.

Pets also enjoy a streamlined clearance process that mirrors that of human passengers, with no need to arrive early. While animals must remain in carriers in the lounge, the aviation centre does not charge additional fees for them.

Image Credit: @bentley_the_goodest_boi, @air7asia via Instagram

What differentiates SingaPaw Air from simply “a charter with a dog on board” is its positioning as an end-to-end travel ecosystem. Beyond flights, the company handles complex paperwork such as vaccination records and import or export permits, processes that can take months for pet owners to navigate on their own.

Travel to Japan, for example, requires an eight-month documentation process, which SingaPaw Air manages in full, completely free of service charges.

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It also works closely with the AVS to coordinate inspections for arriving pets. Since SingaPaw Air flights operate from Seletar Airport, which lacks the dedicated animal inspection facilities found at Changi Airport, the team ensures a smooth process by working directly with AVS officers there.

“We work very closely with them to notify them of our arrival date and time, then they will send a team over here to ensure that the whole process, the inspection, is done smoothly,” Wong said in an interview with CNA.

Countries are categorised by AVS based on rabies risk. Destinations deemed rabies-free or low-risk, such as Hong Kong, Japan, and the US, allow pets to travel and return without quarantine.

Meanwhile, countries assessed as rabies-affected, including Thailand, Indonesia, and Cambodia, require a minimum 30-day quarantine on arrival, making them effectively one-way destinations for most SingaPaw Air clients.

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It’s still early days for SingaPaw Air, but the runway is long

While trust was initially the biggest hurdle, today SingaPaw Air receives over 100 enquiries a day, with repeat customers and pre-bookings up to a year in advance, showing that demand is genuine.

In the beginning, a lot of the challenge was proving that the model was real, safe, and professionally executed. Once people saw the first flights take place, confidence naturally started to build.

Jamie Wong

Image Credit: SingaPaw Air/ Jamie Wong

Currently, around 70 to 80% of SingaPaw Air’s flights are for relocation purposes. These aren’t frivolous holiday trips, but emotionally significant moves where, for many customers, putting their pet through cargo simply isn’t an option they’re willing to consider.

Wong shared that the most common feedback from customers is how calm their pets are when travelling alongside them. “That sense of calm and closeness is one of the clearest validations that [SingaPaw Air] is solving a real problem.”

For a growing segment of pet owners, this approach resonates. The shift in how people relate to their animals is real and accelerating. Pets today have Instagram accounts, birthday parties, and healthcare plans. The idea that travel should reflect that same level of care isn’t as niche as it once seemed.

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With demand building—Wong declined to share specifics, including profit margins—SingaPaw Air has begun expanding its offerings. Its latest addition is the pet discovery flight: a one-hour trip designed to acclimatise animals to altitude changes and engine noise ahead of a longer journey, starting from US$1,300 (S$1,700) for one passenger and one pet, with discounts for existing SingaPaw Air customers.

Looking ahead, the company is in the process of acquiring its own jet, reflecting Wong’s long-term goal to handle everything in-house, not just act as a middleman. The founder also has his eye on domestic pet travel within Indonesia and Malaysia—markets with strong pet ownership cultures but where affordable, regulated pet travel options remain scarce.

To support this growth, another round of fundraising is planned, potentially later this year or next, as SingaPaw Air expands its services and capabilities.

“The market is still in its early stages,” Wong said, “so rather than focusing purely on market share, our goal is to establish SingaPaw Air as one of the most trusted and category-defining names in pet aviation in the region. If we continue to solve real pain points, market share will follow naturally.”

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  • Find out more about SingaPaw Air here.
  • Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.

Featured Image Credit: Jamie Wong/ SingaPaw Air

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