Latest News

Although both Sony Xperia Z4 and Xperia Z4 Ultra are expected to be announced only in January at CES 2015, we have already come across the tech specs of these devices. Latest rumors suggest that the Xperia Z4 features a 5.4 inch Quad HD Triluminous display along with the powerful Snapdragon 805 SoC. There will be 4GB RAM onboard and a 20.7MP camera at the back. While the resolution remains the same as the Xperia Z3, the rear camera features a new sensor, quite possibly the Sony IMX230. The company will also upgrade the front camera to a 4.8MP wide angle sensor, which makes the device more selfie friendly. It is said that the Z4 will come with 3420 mAh sized battery.

The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 brings any number of high-end features to the Malaysian market with a single-touch fingerprint scanner, octa-core Kirin 925 processor and 4G LTE Cat 6 connectivity. Priced at RM1799 for the standard silver and black coloured versions, we managed to get our hands on the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 silver version. We open up the rather large black box and see what else comes along with the smartphone in the unboxing video in this article.

The folks at iFixit have done it again, tearing down the Google Nexus 6 phablet to see what makes it tick and then trying to put it back together again. According to them most of the build is modular except for a few components which have either been soldered or glued to the board. As such, they've given the Nexus 6 a repairability score of 7 out of 10 which is quite good all things considered. While there isn't anything new discovered about the Nexus 6 it does mean if you drop it or break it somehow, you won't have to replace the whole phablet.

The OnePlus One sparked the revolution of flagship smartphone features and tech specs at affordable pricing with many other smartphone manufacturers following in their footsteps. Based on current stats, the OnePlus One has already sold 500000 units, when originally they only wanted to achieve 100000. However, while the OnePlus One is still fairly flagship level, it is showing signs of age and OnePlus seem to be recognizing this by coming out with a teaser image for a new OnePlus device. According to the translation of the teaser image, OnePlus stated:

"The theory of evolution applies to all things in the world, including technological devices, so stay tuned!"

This could indicate that the OnePlus Two or a OnePlus Tablet could be coming soon. While it is still too early to say what tech specs, features, Malaysia release dates or pricing will be available, many think that the new device will utilize 64-bit components. This could mean a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, 4GB of RAM (which is one of the advantages of a 64-bit system) and a 20.7MP rear camera. Stay tuned for more details as we'll let you know as soon as we do.

Sony has made a surprising addition to the Alpha 7 family, with the official announcement of the Sony Alpha 7 II. The new model comes with a number of notable features including the 5-axis Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). The company has made some changes in the design too, giving it a better grip and a DSLR like shutter button. The 5-axis sensor shift stabilization is the first of its kind to end up in a full frame mirrorless camera. It corrects movements along 5 different axes namely left/right, up/down along with three different angular movements: tilting up/ down (pitch), swinging left/ right (yaw) and rotating clockwise/ anti-clockwise (roll). This new 5-axis OIS system can reduce shakes up to 4.5 stops using the CIPA standard, which effectively means, it can eradicate shakes when you are holding the camera up to 4.5 stops slower.

The A7 II features the same 24.3MP Full Frame CMOS sensor found on the original Alpha 7 with 117 Phase detect and 25 contrasts detect points. But the new version improves auto-focus responsiveness by up to 30% and object tracking by up to 50%. It also comes with bigger grip and a better positioned shutter release button, which Sony claims decreases camera shake.  However, these changes have increased the weight of the device by almost 140 grams to 556 grams, making it the heaviest camera in the A7 family. No Malaysia release dates or pricing just yet, but the Sony Alpha II will be released in Japan on 5 December followed by the European markets in January 2015. Pricing has not yet been revealed.

While both Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus feature resolutions less than 1920 x 1080 pixels, apparently they may be capable of playing 4K videos. Softorino, a company known for its Mac software called WALTR which helps you upload images and videos on iOS devices, recently discovered that the A8 processor in the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus are capable of playing ultra-high resolution 4K videos. However, you won't be able to enjoy 4K videos on your iPhone 6 anytime soon as the resolution is 1335×750 pixels which is far lower than the 3840×2160 resolution for most 4K videos. These 4K videos also take up a lot of space, on an average 2GB per minute of video, which will decrease the internal storage on your iPhone to a considerable extent. So, even if the iPhone 6 came with a 4K display, it would be impractical to play 4K videos directly from the phone's storage due to its large size. The app makers have made a proof of concept video to show that the iPhone actually plays the 4K resolution video smoothly. Check out their video in this article.

Microsoft Bangladesh recently used the Microsoft Lumia 730 to break the world record of the most people captured in a single selfie. The company used the 5MP Wide Angle front camera of the device to capture a selfie where one could recognize over 1151 people in the shot. It is said that the participants of the selfie shot had to sign in just to keep a track of how many people were there in the picture. While this picture is on its way to set a record for the largest selfie ever, the Guinness Book of World Records has still not confirmed it. As if this wasn't enough to promote the device, Microsoft Bangladesh also reportedly produced a video, unsurprisingly called 'Lets Selfie'. The company teamed up with the Bengali Singer Raef Al Hasan for the video. Check it out for yourself in this article.

The much awaited Apple iPad Air 2 and the iPad Mini 3 are finally listed on the official Apple Malaysia store today with their retail prices. However, the company has not yet started shipping both the devices with no idea yet as to the exact Malaysia release dates. For both the iPad Air 2 and the iPad Mini 3, you can choose between three colors namely silver, gold and space grey followed by three different storage variants, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. Finally, there are two connectivity variants like the previous generations namely Wi-Fi only and a Wi-Fi + Cellular version. Prices differ according to each storage variant and connectivity version that you choose for the device. The exact prices for both the models are as given below:

Apple iPad Air 2

• Apple iPad Air 2 (WiFi, 16GB) ~ RM1599
• Apple iPad Air 2 (WiFi, 64GB) ~ RM1929
• Apple iPad Air 2 (WiFi, 128GB) ~ RM2249
• Apple iPad Air 2 (WiFi + Cellular, 16GB) ~ RM2029
• Apple iPad Air 2 (WiFi + Cellular, 64GB) ~ RM2349
• Apple iPad Air 2 (WiFi + Cellular, 128GB) ~ RM2679

Apple iPad Mini 3

• Apple iPad mini 3 (WiFi, 16GB) ~ RM1279
• Apple iPad mini 3 (WiFi, 64GB) ~ RM1599
• Apple iPad mini 3 (WiFi, 128GB) ~ RM1929
• Apple iPad mini 3 (WiFi + Cellular, 16GB) ~ RM1699
• Apple iPad mini 3 (WiFi + Cellular, 64GB) ~ RM2029
• Apple iPad mini 3 (WiFi + Cellular, 128GB) ~ RM2349

Barely 24 hours after announcing crowdfunding for the release of the Jolla Tablet and Jolla have managed to raise more than $1000000, which is way past their initial goal of $380000. The tablet will offer tech specs and features that include a 64-bit Intel processor, 7.85-inch display with 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution and a 5MP rear camera. The tablet will only be WiFi capable but will be priced from $249 (RM835) although at the time of writing this article, you can still go to their Indiegogo site and get one for $209 (RM701). The Sailfish OS is entirely open sourced and should offer a different experience while still supporting Android apps along with a unique gesture based system. No exact Malaysia release dates or pricing details yet, but this is mainly because Malaysia isn't listed in the countries where the Jolla Tablet will be made available.

• 64-bit 1.8GHz quad-core Intel processor
• 2GB RAM
• 32GB storage + microSD
• 7.85-inch display (2048 x 1536 pixel resolution, 330ppi)
• 5MP rear camera + 2MP front camera
• 203 x 137 x 8.3mm | 384g
• 4300 mAh battery
• supports WiFi
• Sailfish OS

Corning has just announced their new Corning Gorilla Glass 4 for smartphones and mobile devices. This time around they've made it in such a way that it can withstand drops on stone up to 80% of the time. Scratch resistance has also been improved and according to Corning East Asia, the new Gorilla Glass 4 is more durable than sapphire crystal glass. They've already started shipping out Gorilla Glass 4 to smartphone makers worldwide, so we could see devices with Corning Gorilla Glass 4  within this year alone. No news on whether it is more expensive or Malaysia release dates but we expect it to feature on the next generation of smartphones coming soon.