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Gionee was one of the first manufacturers to actually start a war for the slimmest smartphone in the market. The company's Gionee Elife S5.1 even made it to the Guinness Book of World record last year for the slimmest smartphone in the world. Later, however, manufacturers like OPPO and Vivo managed to release even slimmer smartphones than the S5.1. Now, according to the latest rumors, the company is all set to claim its title back. Come MWC 2015, Gionee will release the world's thinnest smartphone in existence called the Gionee Elife S7. Going by the naming scheme, S7 should indicate a 7mm thickness; however, the photos leaked reveal that the Gionee S7 will be in fact just 4.6mm thin. This will make it the thinnest smartphone in the world, beating the 4.75mm and 4.8mm Vivo X5 Max and OPPO R5 espectively. From the images, the phone does look extremely thin, however whether it would live up to the claim will only be known after it's revealed at MWC 2015. The images also show a glass back and a design profile much similar to the ones from the Elife S series lineup. Expect more information at the MWC event to be held in March but as with all rumours and leaks, do take this one with a pinch of salt. 

Biometric sensors are usually located on home buttons like in the Apple iPhone 6 or the Samsung Galaxy S5. This forces companies to increase the space below the display so as to accommodate the fingerprint sensor on the button. However, CrucialTek from South Korea has come up with a better solution. The company recently patented a new technology which allows biometric sensors to be embedded directly in the touch screen panel. Once this tech is incorporated in smartphones, users will no longer have to rely on different areas for fingerprint recognition as the touchscreen itself will act as a sensor. This will save a lot of space, especially at the bottom where the sensor is located on the home button. A similar tech was expected to feature in the Galaxy S5 and the Galaxy Note 4, but that just didn't happen. As CrucialTek just received the patent, it seems doubtful that we'll see it come in the Galaxy S6 as this is set for release in the next few weeks. However, you can expect future launches, like the Galaxy Note 5 to feature this new age fingerprint module. Apple too is said to be experimenting with a similar technology and even recently patented it. Of course there are no exact Malaysia release dates but we expect such devices to appear later in the year.

OPPO has released some interesting devices in the past like the OPPO R5, which was once the thinnest smartphones in the world measuring less than 5mm. Then there was the OPPO N3 with an automatic motorized rotating camera. Now, the Chinese manufacturer has announced another smartphone in the market called the OPPO 3000. OPPO didn't release this new smartphone with much fanfare probably because of its mid-range tech specs. The phone features a modest 64-bit quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor clocked at 1.5GHz, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage and support for up to 128GB microSD cards. The OPPO 3000 sports a 4.7-inch 720p display, 8MP Sony IMX179 camera sensor at the back and a 5MP selfie shooter up front. The overall measurements of the phone come to 137 x 68.8 x 8.95mm. At the back, there will be a 2000 mAh battery to power the above specs. The battery will use the VOOC fast charging technology to speed up charging time. The phone supports dual SIM dual standby and is compatible with 4G LTE networks, specifically China Unicom's LTE network. OPPO has priced the device at $256 (RM922). No details about Malaysia release dates or pricing just yet but stay tuned and we'll let you know as soon as we find out. 

Samsung will reportedly announce its next flagship, the Samsung Galaxy s6 at MWC 2015 to be held in Barcelona, Spain in March. The company has already sent out invites for the event and recently, the company took to its official website, to give out some minute details about the upcoming flagship device. The article is titled "The Future of Camera is in a Samsung Galaxy Smartphone" and is written by DongHoon Jang, the Senior Vice President and head of Camera R&D Group at IT & Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics. In the article, the exec explains each and every camera module used in the Samsung Galaxy S series. He further adds that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S6 will have the best smartphone camera module from the company so far. In the post, he explained that the company tested over 10000 photos at every imaginable lighting condition for analysis. Hence, the smartphone camera in 2015 from Samsung will be intelligent and will capture amazing pictures in any kind of lighting conditions. In addition, all the work will be done by the smart camera module and users will just have to focus on clicking the shutter button. Still no Malaysia release date or pricing details yet, but we should know more in the next few weeks.

Xiaomi Malaysia's official Facebook page has revealed the new 5000 mAh Xiaomi Mi Power Bankwhich will replace the existing 5200 mAh model. This particular upgrade was announced back in 2014 in China and will finally be available for purchase in the upcoming flash sale. The new power bank is much slimmer than the existing one (9.9mm thick to be precise) and will weigh about 1 gram more. Xiaomi has priced the device at RM34, which is the exact same price at which the current model was being sold in the market. Also, the output has been increased in the new model from 1.5A to 2.1A. There is a status button along with four LED lights to indicate the amount of energy on the device. Xiaomi also has another powerbank in the market measuring 16000 mAh. The company claims that this power bank can charge an Apple iPad Mini up to 2.5 times and an Apple iPhone 6 up to 5 times. The larger model features two microUSB ports and is available in Malaysia for RM79. 

Last week, we reported that Tune Talk will launch 4G LTE services in Malaysia. Later on, the carrier announced that the high speed network would be available to select customers. Now, the company has announced via its twitter account that 4G LTE on Tune Talk is available for all subscribers. In order to take advantage of this LTE network, existing customers will have to swap their SIMs with a new 64K USIM card. Unfortunately, the carrier adds that the stocks are limited at the moment, so those interested in taking advantage of this network will have to hurry up before the stocks run out. The SIM card is available at certain stores while the pricing will remain the existing rate for its customers. Plans start at 50MB for 88 sen a day, to up to 5GB for RM68 per month. The carrier also revealed that 4G LTE customers can expect speeds from 10Mbps to up to 30Mbps. However, the actual speed received will depend on the signal strength and coverage. You can find out more details about Tune Talk's 4G LTE network from the Tune Talk site.

A few weeks back, a teaser from Lenovo revealed the upcoming Lenovo P70 mid-range device that packs in a 4000 mAh battery. Now the phone is finally up for grabs in China for a price tag of 1399 Yuan (RM804). The highlight of the device was its 46 days battery life in standby mode, thanks to the large battery. Other tech specs of the Lenovo P70 reveal that the phone is targeted at the mid-range market. The phone features an undisclosed quad-core processor which can be clocked up to 1.5Ghz if required. There will be 1GB of RAM onboard along with 16GB internal memory with MicroSD card support. On the front, there is a 5-inch display with 720p resolution, for a pixel density of 246 ppi. Rounding things up are a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera to appease the selfie crowd. The P70 will run on Android 4.4 KitKat OS, probably with Lenovo's own Vibe UI on top. The device is currently available only in China but there could be Malaysia release dates or pricing details coming soon.

The online ASUS Store portal offers Malaysians an easy yet official way to purchase ASUS products on the Internet. However, previously it only had devices like the ASUS ZenFone range of smartphones and more recently ASUS tablets like the Fonepad. Now, it looks like we may soon see ASUS accessories as well, with some original devices that you don't often see like the ASUS MicroUSB Charging Stand for just RM85. This accessory caught our eye because it offered a portable way to both charge your device but also prop it up as a stand. The charging stand also offers an OTG USB2.0 port so you can plug in a USB flash drive or external hard disk drive, USB keyboard or USB mouse while charging your device. The stand is compatible with most ASUS tablets but in the video below it also looks like it can support smartphones as well. Check it out for yourself below as we wait for more cool and original accessories from ASUS Malaysia.

• Compatible with ASUS Tablets
• 48 x 87 x 16mm | 53g
• features 1x microUSB connector, 1x USB2.0 connector
• supports Android 4.3 and above

Goldgenie is famous for its customizations on flagship smartphones. The UK based company has gold plated many popular flagship devices like the Apple iPhone 6 to make the device a bit more unique. Now, the company has taken things to the next level. It has just announced the Diamond Ecstasy iPhone 6 edition which is probably the most you can spend on an iPhone. Customers are free to choose between three different coatings for their iPhone 6 – gold, platinum and rose gold. Once this is done, this special edition model gets studded with hundreds of diamonds around the edges. Even the Apple logo at the back is filled with this precious stone. If customers want something different, Goldgenie have them covered as they can choose between any other precious stone like rubies, emeralds, black diamond, pink diamond, sapphires and so forth for their device. But if someone really wants to take things to the highest level, then he or she can choose the precious stones and pretty much everything customizable on the phone. Goldgenie notes such a customization could cost up to $3.5 million which comes to around RM12.60 million. The company has already sold 5 such Diamond Ecstasy models which cost over $15200 (RM54727).

While they used to have a number of pretty good budget smartphones, Sony isn't such a big player in the budget smartphone segment now. This is probably why they've announced the Sony Xperia E4and Xperia E4 dual sim smartphones quietly. The device looks like the slightly better version of the existing Xperia E3 budget device. The E4 features a Mediatek MT6582 quad-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz with 1GB of RAM onboard. There's 8GB internal storage which is further expandable via MicroSD card. The 5-inch display on the front features a modest quad HD resolution. The phone comes with a 5MP rear camera and 2MP front shooter. It supports basic features such as auto scene recognition, image enhancement features along with other camera functions. There is a 2300 mAh battery inside the device which the company claims can last up to 2 days on a single charge. Users can tweak between the battery stamina mode and the ultra-stamina mode for the best battery life. The Xperia E4 runs on the old Android 4.4 KitKat OS. But since the company advertised Android 5.0 for the device earlier, the device could be soon upgraded to Lollipop. The phone also features Sony's Xperia transfer application which easily transfers messages, contacts, bookmarks and other info from Android, iOS and BlackBerry devices. The E4 will be available in black and white colors. No exact Malaysia release dates or pricing details but it should be sold from mid-February.