Latest News

While it originally came out as the gaming accessory which revealed the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 a little too early, Samsung recently announced the GamePad for Android smartphones. Unlike the initial all white device the current GamePad is various shades of black, silver and grey with two joysticks, four buttons and a round directional keypad. The top slides out to hold the Android smartphone of your choice (it doesn't have to be the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 like in the picture) and it pairs up using NFC and Bluetooth. The slider can fit any smartphone from 4-inches to 6.3-inches wide and is compatible with Android 4.1 and Bluetooth 3.0 or higher but runs better with Samsung Galaxy devices using Android 4.3 and above.

According to rumours, Samsung may release 4 new tablets that focus more on the midrange and entry-level markets in 2014. As it is, Samsung have already flooded the premium markets nearly to the point of saturation, leaving the entry-level and midrange markets more or less undeveloped. These rumoured midrange tablets include the Galaxy Tab 3 Lite, a 12-inch Galaxy Note tablet and a 13.3-inch convertible with dual-boot operating systems. Still no news yet if or when we'll see some more affordable PLS-LCD based devices just yet or for how much but we expect them to come during the MWC Expo in February 2014. While Samsung have dominated in the smartphone field they haven't been doing very well with tablets and this is something which could change come 2014. No Malaysia release dates or pricing though, but stay tuned and we'll keep you updated.

While we've heard of a smaller Microsoft Surface Mini tablet from the Microsoft Surface range of tablets before, some other tech specs and a concept render have also recently surfaced. Apart from a previously revealed 8-inch 1080p display, the Surface Mini is said to also offer air gestures, be powered by an Intel Bay Trail chipset and arrive in 2014. While it is still unclear how the Surface Mini would implement air gestures (either through proximity sensors, IR sensors or LeapMotion like sensors) the feature certainly sounds interesting as is the concept render of the Surface Mini tablet. No Malaysia pricing or release dates were available though but we'll keep you updated.

As teased earlier, U Mobile has finally launched 4G LTE on their networks. Offering up to 75Mbps speeds the service currently covers Bandar Sunway, Berjaya Times Square, Puchong and Taman Molek, Johor Bahru. While the coverage areas are still rather limited, U Mobile have done good on their claim of 4G for all by opening it up to Prepaid, Postpaid and Broadband users. This means you don't need to get a new 4G LTE SIM card to get on U Mobile's 4G LTE network. As long as you have an LTE capable device and a U Mobile SIM all you need to do is send 'LTE ON' to 28118. Check out more deals and links in this article.

Filling out the Huawei Honor line is the recently announced Huawei Honor 3X and Honor 3C. Both smartphones are in the larger size range with a 720p 5.5-inch display for the Honor 3X and a 720p 5-inch display for the Honor 3C. However, one of the more notable tech specs for the Honor 3X is that it is using the 1.7GHz 8-core or octa-core MediaTek MT6592 chipset and processor. Other tech specs for the Honor 3X includes 2GB RAM, a 13MP rear camera, 5MP front camera and a 3000 mAh battery. Another notable feature is that the Honor 3X has dual-SIM support with both miniSIM and microSIM slots.

The Samsung Galaxy Core range has always been about afordable smartphones with relatively good tech specs and features. This trend continues with the newly announced Samsung Galaxy Core Advance but with a larger 4.7-inch display. It joins the Galaxy Core and Galaxy Core Plus with rather "old" tech specs that include a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage + microSD, 5MP rear camera, VGA front camera and a 2000 mAh battery. While it doesn't support 4G LTE, it does have NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi b/g/n and GPS (GLONASS) features. The Galaxy Core Advance has rather standard looks (a lot like a Samsung Galaxy S3 actually) with a normal 9.7mm thinness and 145g weight. Running on Android 4.2 it also comes with a number of S features as well including S Translator, Group Play, Sound & Shot and others. The good news is that the Galaxy Core Advance has a lot of physical buttons, so you also have a dedicated camera button included. Unfortunately, no Malaysia pricing or release dates are available just yet, but it should be within the same below-RM1000 price range as the other Galaxy Core smartphones.

While there may be gamers who don't care about how much money they throw at their games and gaming consoles, these still don't compare to users who'd go out and get a $10000 (RM32375) Xbox One just because they can. Still, if one likes gold and other shiny things, then a gold plated Xbox One should be perfect. Currently available for around $10000 (RM32375), the gold plated Xbox One is available from Harrods of London. Tech specs and features are more or less the same but if the controller is also gold-plated you can expect to get tired from couch gaming very soon. No news yet of a gold plated AND crystal covered version yet, but just wait and see. Also no news of any Malaysia release dates or pricing, but if you're willing to shell out RM32375 for a game console, travel or shipping shouldn't be an issue.

With Christmas gift giving just around the corner, Maxis are currently offering a number of affordable smartphones from as low as RM0 with their Festive Sale. This includes the HTC One, Huawei Ascend Y511, Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 and Samsung Galaxy Y Neo provided you sign up for a 24-month contract with either the TalkMore28 or TalkMore48 plans packaged with a mobile internet plan. Both plans are also quite affordable and should make for a good value present come Christmas time except for perhaps the HTC One, the only premium smartphone in the bunch but the price is quite good considering the still rather high price it retails for. Check out the table or links in this article for more information:

While Windows Phones continue to blaze trails in the smartphone market, most of them continue to be made by Nokia which was recently bought by Microsoft. To get any sort of real expansion for Windows Phones, Microsoft needs other smartphone makers to produce more Windows Phone devices and smartphones. To that end, blogger Eldar Murtazin recently tweeted that Microsoft has offered $1 billion a year to Samsung for it to make more Windows Phone devices. While this seems like a bribe, it is often used for developmental costs and seen as a Research and Development contribution. Before it was bought over by Microsoft, Nokia received $1 billion a year as well but this was marked as "platform support payments". So far, there doesn't seem to be any official word of consent or even denial from Samsung and this is still very much an unconfirmed rumour yet so take this with a good pinch of salt.

Right after they made the 24-carat gold plated Apple iPad Air and Apple iPad mini with Retina Display, Goldgenie have come out with a 24-carat gold plated Apple iPhone 5S almost completely covered in Swarovski Crystals. This new bling covered version is called the Apple iPhone 5S Supernova with the 16GB versions costing RM20225. While it isn't the first time someone has come out with a crystal covered smartphone the sheer number of crystals on the Goldgenie Apple iPhone 5S Supernova is almost too much, but if you like a shiny disco ball smartphone then this is perfect for you. You can get the 32GB version for another RM500 or so and the 64GB for another RM1000 or so. As usual, Goldgenie will also include a nicely laquered Cherry Oak wooden box to put the bling encrusted gold Supernova Apple iPhone. Check out the pics for yourself in the article.