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For those of you hoping for a FREE universal translator from Google, the latest update for their Google Translate 3.1 app may do just that (available for both Android and iOS). Featuring a new UI design, the Word lens instant translate function which allows offline translations using your phone's camera, conversation mode with language auto-detection and camera input, the new app should definitely be something to try, even if you're not travelling overseas anytime soon. Our own testing reveals a fairly useful app, much better, smoother and faster than before. Granted, it doesn't translate the more exotic words (swear words included) but you can now take a picture of a sign you can't read and quickly get a translation. For more information do visit their official blog and check out our own tries below.

It was long rumored that Samsung will unveil a new Tizen based low-end smartphone soon. Looks like the rumors were right indeed, as earlier this week, the company took the wraps off its Samsung Z1smartphone which runs on its home grown Tizen OS. It's low-end placement puts it in direct competition with Google's Android One range of smartphones. As for the tech specs, the Z1 features a 1.2GHz dual-core Spreadtrum SC7727S processor with Mali 400 GPU. There will be 768MB RAM onboard with 4GB of expandable internal storage. The phone will have a 4-inch WVGA display up front. As for the camera, there will be a 3.1MP rear shooter and a VGA front shooter. Like mentioned above, the device will run on Samsung's Tizen OS 2.3. Other tech specs include a 1500 mAh battery, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and 3G. The Tizen based phone also comes with a number of additional features. This includes Anti-Virus protection, Ultra Power Saving Mode, free music for three months, free data with several carriers and SOS alerts too. The Samsung Z1 will be available in White, Red Wine, and Black colors for a price tag of $92 (RM327).  No Malaysia release dates or pricing details have been revealed as of yet. 

OPPO is having a great start this year. The company already unveiled the OPPO U3 smartphone earlier this month and recently, it also announced the OPPO R1C sapphire crystal glass backed smartphone. Alongside the R1C, OPPO also unveiled another smartphone with more modest specifications called theOPPO Mirror 3. The new phone comes with a similar design as the OPPO R5, but in a smaller form factor. As for the tech specs, the Mirror 3 features a Snapdragon 410 processor clocked at 1.2GHz with 1GB RAM and 8GB of internal storage which can be further expanded up to 128GB via MicroSD card slot. There is a 4.7-inch display up front with HD 1280 x 720 pixel resolution. For camera, there is an 8MP shooter at the back and a 5MP camera on the front. It runs on Android 4.4 KitKat OS out of the box with the company's own Color 2.0.1 UI on top. A 2000 mAh battery powers all these specifications. The OPPO Mirror 3 will be available in black and white colors for a price tag of $280 (RM995) in China. The company has not yet announced any details on Malaysia release or pricing of the device.

Microsoft has just announced two new low-end phones in the market called the Microsoft Lumia 435 and Lumia 435 Dual SIM. The phone mates the latest Windows Mobile 8.1 operating system with budget specifications, thereby keeping the price low. Like the name suggests, the only difference between the two models is the Dual SIM support. The Lumia 435 features a Snapdragon 200 dual-core processor with 1GB RM and 8GB internal storage. This can be further expanded via a MicroSD card up to 128GB. The 1GB RAM comes as a surprise on this phone since the higher priced Lumia 635features just 512MB RAM. This budget device sports a 4-inch display with a modest 800 x 480 pixel resolution. The camera too is pretty basic, 2MP at the back capable of 480p videos and a VGA front shooter. As mentioned above, the phone runs on the latest Windows Mobile 8.1 Denim edition. It features a 1560 mAh battery which is good for 12 hours of 3G and 21 hours of 2G talktime. The device comes with A-GPS and GLONASS inbuilt which can be used with HERE Drive+ even without a data connection. The Microsoft Lumia 435 starts at €70 which comes to around RM289 and will be available in select countries in Europe, Asia Pacific, India, Africa and Middle East from February.

Along with the new Microsoft Lumia 435 smartphone, the company also unveiled a brand newMicrosoft Lumia 532. The phone will be the successor to the existing Lumia 530 model and will feature slightly better tech specs. The Lumia 532 comes with a quad-core Snapdragon 200 chip clocked at 1.2GHz with 1GB RAM, which is twice the amount as found on the earlier Lumia model. There will be 8GB of internal storage on board which can be expanded up to 128GB via MicroSD and a further 30GB via Microsoft's OneDrive cloud storage. The phone will have the same 4-inch 800 x 480 resolution display as the Lumia 435. As for the camera, it will feature a 5MP rear shooter and a VGA front shooter. Given its all plastic body, the device will be light and will weigh just 131.8 grams. A 1560 mAh battery will be responsible for powering up the device. It will run on the new Windows Phone 8.1 Denim update. This particular device will only be slightly costlier than the Lumia 435 model. It will retail for an official price of €79 (RM326) and will be available for sale in Europe, Asia Pacific, India, Middle East and Africa from February 2015. 

Apart from the Alcatel OneTouch smartwatch, the company also unveiled three new smartphones and a 10-inch tablet during the recent CES 2015. The three smartphones in its Alcatel Pop 2 lineup feature a similar design profile but come in different sizes. Unfortunately, the company has only given out partial details about these devices. The largest one in the OneTouch Pop 2 family sports a 5-inch 1080p IPS display and comes with a 64-bit Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz. The processor supports Category 4 LTE networks which provide downlink up to 150Mbps. There is an 8MP rear camera and a 2MP front shooter. The Alcatel OneTouch Pop 2 (5) will run on the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop version and comes with a 2500 mAh battery. The second model namely theOneTouch Pop (4.5) also features the same Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor. The display however is smaller at 4.5-inches and comes with an 854 x 480 FWVGA resolution. The back features a 5MP shooter with LED flash.

The Pop 2 (4.5) is a dual SIM phone and runs on the Android 4.4 platform. The smallest device in the family is the OneTouch Pop 2 (4) which features similar tech specs as the 4.5-inch model. The only major difference is in the display size which is just 4-inches with the same 800 x 480 pixel resolution. Both the smaller models come with exchangeable back covers in a number of colors. The 4.5-inch model even has color options for the front – black or white. Finally, the largest device of the lot is theOneTouch Pop 10 tablet. It features a 10-inch IPS display and claims to be the lightest and thinnest tablet of its size. This large screen tablet is LTE enabled and also comes with a keyboard dock with a small touchpad to convert it into a mini laptop. Malaysia pricing and release date details have not been revealed.  

A few days back, the OPPO R1C was spotted in pictures before launch. The source said that the phone will be unveiled on 14 January 2015. That did come true, as OPPO officially unveiled the R1C all glass smartphone on Wednesday. The back of the device is reportedly protected by sapphire glass. The phone is quite thin too and boasts a thickness of just 6.85mm. The OPPO R1C will be powered by a 64-bit 1.5GHz Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor. It will come with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage which will be expandable. The front features a 5-inch 1280 x 720 pixel resolution display as well as a 5MP shooter above it. The rear camera measures 13MP. Like the OPPO Mirror 3, this particular device too will run on Android 4.4 KitKat OS with OPPO's Color OS 2.0.1 UI on top. The phone features a 2420 mAh battery and supports dual SIM cards with 4G LTE. The company will make the device available in China for $403 (RM1433) starting 20 January 2015. Customers can pre-order the device from the official company website. No Malaysia pricing or release date details have been revealed till now but expect more information in the next few weeks.

The modular smartphone project that started out with Phonebloks is finally and officially announced with the Project ARA Spiral 2 smartphone. Initial tech specs are entry-level to midrange with Marvel PXA1928 and NVIDIA Tegra K1 processors, a 5MP rear camera, 3G connectivity and a 720 x 1280 pixel resolution display. Unfortunately, the battery is supposedly 20% to 30% less capable than a normal smartphone. However, while there are only 11 modules at the moment, Google intend to get up to 30 by the end of 2015. A new Spiral 3 smartphone is expected soon but like always, there is no Malaysia release date or pricing details. For now, the Spiral 2 seems to be headed for Puerto Rico but you can see more in the videos in this article.

Xiaomi has officially announced it's new Mi Note and Mi Note Pro smartphones. Taking over from the Mi 4, the new Mi Note offers many flagship-level features and tech specs. These include a 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB RAM, 16GB / 64GB internal memory and a 5.7-inch display with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution and 1400:1 contrast ratio with adaptive dynamic contrast. The display has been curved somewhat with a 2.5D front glass, 3D back glass and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on both the front and back. The sides are brushed metal and rounded corners for a very premium look and feel. Other tech specs include a 13MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, dual-tone LED flash and optical image stabilization along with a 4MP front camera with large 2-micron pixel sensor. A 3000 mAh battery keeps the lights on and it connects via dual 4G SIM cards. Surprisingly, the Mi Note is relatively light at 161g and will come with MIUI 6. The 16GB Mi Note is priced from 2299 CNY (RM1322) while the 64GB version will go for 2799 CNY (RM1610).

The Mi Note Pro on the other hand retains most of the same features except for a 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, 5.7-inch display with 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution and 4G LTE Cat9 connectivity. The Mi Note Pro will going from 3299 CNY (RM1897) which should make it a very attractive offer if or when it arrives in Malaysia. No Malaysia release dates or pricing details yet, but it should be soon considering Xiaomi Malaysia.

Intel Malaysia recently held a media briefing with Sumner Lemon, Country Manager for Intel Malaysia and Singapore where he outlined key Intel IT highlights from 2014 and IT predictions for 2015. During 2014 Intel made a big push for Intel powered mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones resulting in many affordable devices like the ASUS ZenFone smartphones and various other Intel-powered tablets. In doing so Intel revealed their new 14nm fabricated processors like the 5th generation Intel Core series and Intel Atom Z3000 series, many of which have already been released in 64-bit powered tablets like the ASUS Fonepad 8 and ASUS Fonepad 7. Last year also saw the introduction of Intel's foray in wearables with Galileo, Edison and Curie all of which are teeny tiny Systems-on-Chips (SoC) much like Raspberry Pi which will enable intelligent devices even on your shirt buttons. New technologies like the RealSense 3D cameras can enable gesture driven computers and notebooks while wireless charging may soon be implemented in airports around the world.