Latest News

Direct from the horses mouth, or in this case the mouth of Jonny Shih, ASUS chairman is the statement that we may soon see an ASUS smartwatch come our way. He said that such a wearable device could come by the second half of the year after June 2014 with the quote:

"There are actually many challenges in this area, and I don't think products that lack special features will be useful. We'll try to replace your watch by all means."

This isn't really new though as ASUS did say that the ASUS smartwatch would be on show at the Computex Taipei 2014 show in June this year, way back in November last year. That being said, the ASUS smartwatch is expected to offer many features although we hope that they manage to extend the battery life, make it standalone or ensure that it is compatible with every device more than special features it may have.

A listing for a Samsung device going by the model number of SM-T330 was recently found through Bluetooth SIG certification. It also revealed some rather telling tech specs including an 8-inch display, probably an AMOLED screen of some sort. Rumours are that this could be the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 8.0, which sort of fits considering that there are no other 8-inch Samsung tablets and that it is 2014, the year when Samsung is said to come out with many more tablets. Unfortunately, we couldn't get any other details such as Malaysia release dates or pricing but we expect it to make an official appearance at the MWC expo in February. Stay tuned and we'll keep you posted as to any new developments.

The Sony DSC-QX series of wireless lens cameras initially had mounting frames for smartphones, and even then it could only fit the 5-inch and below sized smartphones. Sony recently added on a mounting frame for their Sony Xperia Z Ultra phablet and are working on a mounting frame for tablets soon as well. While the tablet mounting frame is designed for the Sony Xperia Tablet Z it should be large enough to fit most 10.1-inch tablets. So far, there isn't any specific name or Malaysia release date for the tablet mounting frames but it is priced at 3675 Yen (RM120). We expect to find them in Malaysia soon, but probably after the Sony Xperia Z Ultra camera frame is available. 

Samsung presenters recently revealed that they have already made a Super AMOLED screen with (2K) 1440 x 2560 pixel resolution and 560ppi pixel density, making the screen about 5.2 to 5.3 inches large. While this is quite some news already, they went on to hint that higher resolution displays for smartphone could be coming soon with 4K display smartphones expected soon. A 4K display smartphone would have up to a 2160 x 3480 pixel resolution which should result in a massive 860ppi pixel density if the screen is around the same 5-inch size. These Samsung screens will likely include diamond pixels like PenTile but any sign of it shouldn't be visible on these insane pixel resolutions. No news on how else Samsung will achieve this as such 4K displays would also need suitable processors and graphics to support it, which we haven't seen or heard of yet. No news when exactly we'll be able to see some of these 4K display Samsung smartphones here in Malaysia but we're expecting early 2015 or late 2014.

While there isn't any official announcement just yet, Samsung has officially listed the Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo or GT-I9060 on the main website. Based on the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2, the Galaxy Grand Neo is placed in between the Galaxy Grand 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Grand. The variant offers tech specs which include a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a 5-inch display with 480 x 800 pixel resolution, a 5MP rear camera with LED flash and autofocus, a VGA front camera and 2100 mAh battery. The smartphone will support HSPA+, WiFi, DLNA, Bluetooth 4 LE and weigh in at 163g. Other features include colours which include black, lime green, orange and white but there isn't any Malaysia pricing or release dates at this time. Initial estimates have it coming by the end of Q1 2014 though.

On top of the gold coloured HTC One, DiGi looks to be completing the set with the HTC One Mini and HTC One Max, both of which are on zero contract. The HTC One Mini is available from RM1430, a bit lower than it's retail price of RM1599 while the HTC One Max is available from RM2225, again a bit lower than it's retail price of RM2499. The zero contract means that you can terminate the plan at any time but to qualify for the lower price, you will have to signe up for the SmartPlan 58, SmartPlan 88 or SmartPlan 148 postpaid plans. Users can expect rebates of RM10  a month for the SmartPlan 58, RM20 a month for the SmartPlan 88 and RM33 a month for the SmartPlan 148 for the first 24 months. Check out the table and links in this article for more details.

A Korean report recently quoted a Samsung spokesperson who hinted that we may soon see a pair of Samsung smartglasses, ahead of the consumer version of Google Glass, which has already come out for developers and first-time adopters. According to the report, we could see the still-unnamed Samsung smartglasses at the latest IFA which should be happening around September 2014. The report says that the Samsung Smartglasses will have the same functions as the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch, although we hope it won't have the same crippling battery life and compatibility limitations. Below is the exact quote from the report:

It will be interesting to see which companies get better stakes in the race for smart glasses. Players definitely want to enjoy a ‘first-mover’ advantage in this new and highly lucrative market [...]

Wearable devices can’t generate profits immediately. Steady releases of devices are showing our firm commitment as a leader in new markets …

The ASUS PadFone series consists of smartphones that can be slotted into larger tablet screens. The smartphone is still the one powering the transformed tablet but the screen size is definitely bigger. Coming in between the performance ASUS PadFone Infinity and the lower-end ASUS PadFone Mini is the recently announced ASUS PadFone E. While the PadFone E looks a lot like the PadFone Mini it offers a bit more in terms of tech specs and features. These include a 1.4GHz A7 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 4.7-inch display with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution, 13MP rear camera with LED flash, Android 4.3 and a 1820 mAh battery. The tablet portion offers a 10.1-inch display with similar 1280 x 720 pixel resolution but adds on a 1MP front camera and 5000 mAh battery which can be used to charge the PadFone E smartphone. The larger screen on the PadFone E comes up to 126g while the tablet part weighs in at 526g with black and white colours available. It is expected to be priced at $560 (RM1873) and will be made available initially in Taiwan. It should eventually reach Malaysia as well and if it keeps the same price tag, it should be a bit more affordable than the other two PadFones.

Samsung's Tizen operating system promises a lot of potential for Samsung's own line of smartphones, tablets and mobile devices, but we've yet to see any Samsung Tizen smartphone make an appearance. However, this could change soon as rumours have appeared along with a possible render of the first official Samsung Tizen smartphone. According to these rumours, the smartphone could have the model number of SM-Z9000 or SM-Z9005 with the codename being Zeke or ZEQ. The picture looks somewhat generic, like a thin Samsung Galaxy S3 while the screen shows what looks like Tizen 2.1. Rumours also say that the smartphone could have tech specs which include a 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor along with a 4.8-inch HD display. This smartphone could be shown at the Tizen Developer event right before the MWC Expo on 23 February 2013, but do take this rumour with a pinch of salt nevertheless.

The rumoured Android powered Nokia Normandy or Nokia X as it is also rumoured by evleaks to be named, recently appeared in a listing from a major online Vietnam retailer site. The listing doesn't show the really important stuff like pricing or Malaysia release dates but it did show pictures and screen captures of the smartphone along with some tech specs and features. These include a dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon 200 processor, 4-inch display with 480 x 854 pixel resolution, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage with support for up to 32GB microSD, dual SIM card support and a 5MP rear camera. Apparently, it will be using a forked version of Android that will have access to Google Now, Google Play, Youtube and other Google services (which seems strange since there are Nokia and Microsoft alternatives). While online listings can be a sign of things to come, the listing could be just a placeholder for something else so do take this rumour with a healthy pinch of salt.