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The Huawei Ascend P7 is now being offered for pre-booking at U Mobile. The super-slim flagship smartphone from Huawei was recently launched here in Malaysia at a very affordable retail price of RM1499, but the pre-order promo from U Mobile will provide the first 100 pre-book users to also get a free Huawei Power bank and Huawei Wireless Modem worth RM199 each. According to U Mobile, the pre-order is available on any U Plan as long as you subscribe using a credit card and get the Huawei Ascend P7 from VMALL.my during a certain time period. You also have to do the Pre-order at specific U Mobile stores. These include the U Store outlets at Berjaya Times Square, Queensbay Penang, Taman Molek Johor Bahru and Melaka. For more information about this pre-order deal, check out the U Mobile site and the VMALL.my site.

ndroid 5.0 was officially announced yesterday at the Google I/O event. While it still hasn't got it's official codename, the codename will start with L. The current Android version is still at Android 4.4 KitKat, so a jump to 5.0 should bring quite a lot of changes and improvements. While new features are on the way, the most notable features and improvements include:

• Flatter Material Design interface: The new Android will look flatter with practically every element including the navigation keys being changed. Colours are more pastel and the overall design is flatter for a softer but more comfortable look. More animation will also be included. This design will be applied to all Google platforms including Chrome OS, Android Wear and Android TV.
• More powerful Search: When you search for something now, the Search will also include usage from other apps like Google Earth to finetune your search. Other third-party apps will aslo be able to use this.
• Recent apps menu: The Recent apps get a rework with bigger tabs and more clickable stuff. Again, third-party app devs will also get access to this.
• More actionable notifications: Notifications are more interactive and can size up into a floating box when tapped so you don't have to open the app first.
• More Contextually Aware: Want to bypass your lockscreen but forgot you're wearing your smartwatch? Android 5.0 will now detect it for you, and pass you through.
• 64-bit ready: Through the use of the ART runtime, you can now run 64-bit apps with a reported 2x increase in performance. Some apps may even do better by up to 400% while you can now expect more RAM as you are no longer limited to just 4GB.
• Console graphics: Using the Android Extension pack you can now expect graphic effects like tessellation and geometry shaders for console-like levels of quality in your games and apps.
• Better battery life: Through Project Volta, Android subsystems will be better managed and therefore save more energy.
• Better enterprise features: This includes Samsung Knox integration, bulk app deployment and better data separation and security.

As teased earlier, Xiaomi Malaysia has announced their Xiaomi Redmi 1S smartphone and Xiaomi Redmi Note phablet for Malaysia. The Xiaomi Redmi 1S will be going for RM419 and will be available from 8 July 2014 while the Xiaomi Redmi Note will be going for RM509 on 22 July 2014. As usual, the two devices will be available online from Xiaomi Malaysia but there are promos for the two devices. Go to the main post on the Facebook page, share the post, tag a friend and convince them why they should buy either the Xiaomi Redmi 1s or Xiaomi Redmi Note. After you've done that, PM Xiaomi Malaysia your name, IC number, mobile number and email address. The most creatively convincing commenter will win either the Xiaomi Redmi 1s or Xiaomi Redmi Note. Check out the tech specs and features of the Xiaomi Redmi 1S and Xiaomi Redmi Note below:

• Xiaomi Redmi 1S
• 1.6GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor
• 1GB RAM
• 8GB storage + microSD
• 4.7-inch display (IPS, 1280 x 720 pixel resolution)
• 8MP rear camera (LED flash)
• 2000 mAh battery
• MIUI V5 (Android 4.3)
• RM419

• Xiaomi Redmi Note
• 1.7GHz octa-core MT6592 processor
• 2GB RAM
• 8GB storage + supports up to 32GB microSD
• 5.5-inch display (IPS, 1280 x 720 pixel resolution)
• 13MP rear camera (LED flash, f/2.2 aperture) + 5MP front camera (wide angle)
• Supports 3G, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi
• 3200 mAh battery
• RM509

The recently launched Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and Galaxy Tab S 10.5 tablets have been tested by DisplayMate as the best displays on a tablet yet. For those who don't know, DisplayMate produces display calibration, evaluation and diagnostic products so they are experts when it comes to displays. For the Samsung Galaxy Tab S tablets, tests included the screen performance, highest colour accuracy, lower screen reflectance and smallest brightness variation with viewing angles with the tablets getting the best in all these tests. While the tablets did score the best in the aforementioned tests, it didn't offer the same in terms of brightness but at 546 nits, this is still an impressive number. The new Samsung Galaxy Tab S tablets are the first to pack in Super AMOLED screens of this size since the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 and should mark wider usage of Super AMOLED screens in other devices as well. For the record, the Apple iPad Air is rated as third best according to DisplayMate, but for a full tech spec comparison do check out our Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 vs Apple iPad Air comparison tool.

Huawei recently announced the Huawei Honor 6 smartphone, confirming rumours that they'd skip numbers 4 and 5 in their Huawei Honor series of smartphones. Previously codenamed the Huawei Mulan and otherwise known as the Huawei Glory 6 the smartphone offers a number of notable features including a new octa-core Kirin 920 processor from Huawei. This new octa-core chipset has scored better on AnTuTu benchmarks than the Snapdragon 805 so there is a good reason to be excited about this. Other notable tech specs and features include a 5-inch display with full HD 1080p resolution, 3GB RAM, 16GB / 32GB storage and microSD support.

Microsoft recently announced the Nokia X2 smartphone, picking up from the Nokia X Android powered smartphone that was released just 4 months ago. Offering the a translucent plastic layer around the existing colourful polycarbonate along with slightly upgraded tech specs. This includes a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon 200 processor, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of storage, up to 32GB microSD support, a 4.3-inch ClearBlack LCD display with 480 x 800 pixel resolution, 5MP rear camera with LED flash and autofocus, VGA front camera and a removable 1800 mah battery. Instead of just a capacitive back key on the front, there is now also a home key as well.

Samsung Malaysia officially announced the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and Galaxy Tab S 10.5 tablets for Malaysia yesterday. As one of the earliest countries in the world to see this, Malaysians should be able to enjoy these thinnest and lightest tablets from Samsung yet soon, with a Malaysia release date expected on 11 July 2014. The tablets are headed for the young and trendy consumer market despite having some really premium features at RM1699 for the Galaxy Tabs S 8.4 and RM1999 for the Galaxy Tab S 10.5. One of the most notable of these features is the Super AMOLED displays with 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution, 100000:1 contrast ratio and Adaptive Display for better display regardless of location.

Tech specs for the Sony Xperia Z2a suggest that it could well be the Sony Xperia Z2 compact smartphone. While the Xperia Z2a has already been officially announced in Taiwan it has yet to reach Malaysia or the rest of the world. These tech specs include a Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB of RAM, a 5-inch full HD display, 20.7MP rear camera amd support for 4G LTE. Running on Android 4.4 KitKat, the only differences are the slightly smaller screen size, plastic backside and slightly smaller battery. Everything else matches up with the Xperia Z2, including the same water and dust resistance. Set for Taiwan in July 2014, it should reach other markets like Malaysia soon after. Check out the full tech spec comparison using our Sony Xperia Z2a vs Sony Xperia Z2 comparison tool.

Xiaomi Malaysia confirmed that we'll soon be getting the Xiaomi Redmi Note phablet with a teaser image about a Guess the Price contest. Shown on their Facebook page, the contest asks users to guess the launch price for the Redmi Note to win F-codes for the Redmi Note. As of the time of writing, 13007 fans have made a guess with the price ranging from RM509, RM539 and RM569. Tech specs and features for the Redmi Note are quite impressive with a 1.7GHZ octa-core processor from MediaTek, a 5.5-inch display with 720 x 1280 pixel resolution, 2GB RAM, 13MP rear camera, 5MP front camera and 3200 mAh battery. The device does not support 4G but it still offers 3G HSPA+ connectivity. Still no news yet on specific Malaysia release dates for the Xiaomi Redmi Note, but we expect it to be soon and for around RM599 (RM669 perhaps?). We'll update you as soon as we find out.

The 64-bit Intel processor powered ASUS MeMo Pad 8 tablets recently announced over at Computex 2014 has made an appearance. Coming courtesy of an anonymous tipster, we show pics of the new ASUS MeMo Pad 8 (ME181C) next to the old ASUS MeMo Pad 8 (ME180A). Note the slightly slimmer bezels, thinner profile and overall sleeker and more compact look. While  there aren't any pics of the backside, pics during Computex 2014 revealed that the rear camera would be on the upper corner and not have a hump like the current tablet. The tipster goes on to say that while the old ASUS MeMo Pad 8 (ME180A) feels rubberized, the new ASUS MeMo Pad 8 has a ceramic feel to it. No Malaysia release dates or pricing just yet but we expect it to come in or after August 2014. Check out the pics in the article for yourself.