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We've been hearing rumours about a 12.9-inch Apple iPad Air Pro tablet for quite some time now, and the likelihood of it coming out soon seems ever closer. However, if it does come out, it would pose a serious threat to Apple's own range of MacBook Air notebook computers as it would undercut the MacBook Air both in terms of screensize as well as pricing. Rumours about a keyboard cover for Apple iPads also seem to indicate that a 12.9-inch Apple iPad Air Pro hybrid tablet could also arise, giving Microsoft's Surface and other hybrid tablet/laptops a run for the money. Recently, Tim Cook has also confirmed that new product categories would be launched at Apple and this seems to fit best, especially as reports are also out that a parts supplier (as usual) is currently making the 12.9-inch touchscreen displays for Apple.

Well, even presidents can be wrong sometimes, as the Huawei Ascend P6S has leaked once more, this time in semi-official Tenna certification complete with pictures. The certification also comes with tech specs and we unfortunately cannot find any octa-core processor or chipset as was initially reported. While it maintaines almost the same profile down to the 120g weight, it is actually 0.3mm thicker but maintains the same 4.7-inch IPS display with 720p resolutions. While it isn't packing MediaTek's Octa-core solution it will use a new Huawei chipset with 28nm fabrication. Again, it is still unconfirmed whether this would be the K3V2+ or the latest HiSilicon K3V3 but either would be less than the hoped-for Octa-core processor. The K3V3 uses the ARM big.LITTLE architecture with 1.8GHz dual-core Cortex A15 and 1.2GHz dual-core Cortex A7 processors which technically makes it a quad-core processor that operates with only one dual-core processor at a time. Other tech specs include a Mali-T658 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 8MP rear camera, 5MP front camera and Android 4.2.2. Feeling a bit let down? Well, so were we, but at least it is rumoured to get Android 4.4 Kit Kat as well. No pricing details or Malaysia release dates yet, but the Huawei Ascend P6S is expected in early 2014.

The Samsung Galaxy S III is one of the smartphones recently slated for an official Samsung Android 4.3 Jelly Bean firmware update and has been seeding for the past 2 weeks. However, there have been a number of problems and issues with the update including bricking the smartphone, making it unstable, and other glitches. Samsung has since stopped the seeding and responded with an official statement:

"As we are currently investigating the reported issues with Galaxy S3 4.3 Jelly Bean update, the upgrading service has been temporarily suspended. We are committed to providing customers with the best possible mobile experience, and will ensure to resume the upgrading service at the earliest possibility."

This means you won't be able to update your Samsung Galaxy S III from KIES or the OTA service for now. No news when Samsung could come out with the update as trouble shooting does take some time. Hopefully, Samsung come out with it soon and make sure that all the kinks have been ironed out this time as a buggy updated version of a buggy update will likely just irritate users even more.

ZTE was recently quoted that it would be launching a smartwatch as early as 2014 with a possible release date in Q1 of 2014. Unfortunately, there were no tech specs or other feature details but if it looks to make any sort of impact they will likely have to address most of the main limitations of current smartwatches in the market. These include cripplingly short battery life, compatibility, limited features and functionality, the now standard thick slab of touchscreen design and a rather high price tag. Most smartwatches are also aiming to be little more than notification centers for your smartphone that connect via bluetooth. We're hoping more for a standalone device and there are already quite a few of those in development or recently introduced. None have answered all of the main limitations of current smartwatches but we ZTE could be the one to finally break the deadlock. As it is, the ZTE smartwatch would probably surface at CES 2014, where Samsung is also rumoured to be coming out with a better Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch as well.

While the Vivo Xplay 3S may well be the first smartphone to offer a 2K display (apparently with 2560 x 1440 pixel resolutions), it seems that it will also pack in a number of other high-end hardware and tech specs as well. While the 5.7-inch 2K display seems more than enough, other tech specs include a tweaked Snapdragon 800 chipset and processor using the MSM8974AB version with higher clocked graphics. The full and very notable tech specs for the Vivo Xplay 3S at this point now include:

• 5.7-inch display (2560 x 1440 pixel resolution)
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974AB chipset, processor and overclocked graphics
• 3GB of RAM
• f/1.8 aperture camera
• Supports 4G LTE + HiFi audio chip hardware + USB 3.0
• fingerprint sensor

If you liked the Huawei Ascend P6 or the smartphone formerly known as the world's thinnest smartphone, then you'll like the fact that Huawei are currently working on a more powerful version called the Huawei Ascend P6S. Utilizing the same super slim profile, the Ascend P6S will use an octa-core chipset, and this has been confirmed from comments made by Huawei's President himself. Unfortunately, it is still unknown which chipset Huawei will be using. It seems unlikely that they'd go for a Samsung Exynos 5 chipset and there is no news yet of a very good octa-core Huawei chipset either. This means that the Ascend P6S will likely use the more affordable MT6592 octa-core chipset from MediaTek which has performed well so far. While it hasn't scored as high as Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 processors, a 28000+ score on AnTuTu is still very respectable performance. No news on Malaysia pricing or release dates just yet but the Huawei Ascend P6S is likely to come out in late December 2013 or early 2014 as the MediaTek MT6592 is only set for release from 20 November 2013.

When the Qualcomm Toq smartwatch came out we were wondering when it would be available and for how much as many of the features on it made it an interesting entry into the growing smartwatch market. Well, the good news is that Qualcomm have revealed the pricing at $349 (RM1111) from 2 December 2013. Unfortunately, this is also the bad news. If you need to see how the Toq measures up to the Samsung Galaxy Gear and Sony SmartWatch 2 check out our earlier comparison article. Suffice to say, we're a little down because for what it can do complete with the available tech specs and features, it does less than the Galaxy Gear but costs more (the Samsung Galaxy Gear costs RM999 in Malaysia). Again, we're put in mind that the Toq, like the Galaxy Gear before it, is actually a beta device and is more out there to test the waters, get user feedback and prep the market for a better smartwatch. Hopefully that is the case. It is also fully compatible with any Android smartphone from Android 4.0.3. If you're still interested, check out the Qualcomm Toq site. Check out the video in this article for a refresher of the Qualcomm Toq smartwatch.

One of the main limitations of the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch is the fact that you can't pick and choose what notifications to get and some apps just aren't listed as being able to send notifications either. Thankfully, Samsung have come out with an official update for the Galaxy Gear (build V700XXUAMK7) that lets you view notifications for nearly every app on your smartphone. This Gear Manager update also lets you customize what notifications you want to enable or disable so you don't have to live with a constantly vibrating smartwatch on a busy day. While the update doesn't do much else, it is clearly a good step in the right direction from Samsung. We're looking forward more such updates which could perhaps extend battery life and add more functionality for the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch.

While many people complain that their smartphone or phablet doesn't have big enough batteries, the solutions available to them are mostly external through powerbanks or additional power covers with built-in batteries. Samsung Galaxy Note 3 owners have another option thanks to Mugen, which is to replace the existing 3200 mAh battery with a 6500 mAh battery. The new Mugen HLI-N9005XL battery is a bit thicker than the standard 3200 mAh Samsung battery but Mugen solves this by adding on a custom fit back cover. This also means that if you use the Mugen battery and cover, your Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is going to be slightly thicker than the standard 8.3mm. While we can't confirm it, the custom Mugen backside also looks to be completely hard shell plastic and not the plastic faux leather of the standard Samsung Galaxy Note 3. The benefits could be well worth it though as you get more than double the operating life for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 for about 5 days to a week depending on usage. No other tech specs were available but we do know that it will be available in black or white and priced at $98.50 (RM315). Again, no specific Malaysia release dates but it should ship to the US and other markets from 6 December 2013.

HTC's rumoured M8 smartphone with a possible aluminum or metal chassis recently got leaked, this time from @evleaks. Revealing tech specs this time around, evleaks says that the HTC M8 could sport a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset and processor along with a 5-inch 1080p display and Android 4.4 Kit Kat. Unfortunately, none of these tech specs or features really set it apart from other upcoming smartphones. Even more so that Samsung and Qualcomm are both coming out with newer processors and chipsets that have 64-bit architectures and improved processing speed and energy efficiency. No news on Malaysia release dates or pricing but we expect the M8 to surface soon, perhaps in December 2013 or early 2014.