Latest News

Joining the fray with their LTE capable version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 or the I9505, Celcom is now offering the smartphone from a subsidized price of RM1888. The deal requires you to sign up for a Celcom First Plan and Mobile Internet plan with a choice of 12 to 18 months. Check the table below for all the details:

Looking to make the midrange Sony Xperia L even more affordable is Celcom with a subsidized price deal from RM488. The deal involves either a 12 or 18 month contract with a number of Celcom First postpaid plans along with a Mobile Internet plan. The full details are listed in the table below:

In a move that is the first we've seen any telco in Malaysia do, Maxis is making Norton Mobile Security (which is an antivirus and security app for mobile devices) available to their subscribers and customers. The offer extends to mostly smartphone users willing to pay RM1 a week or RM3 a month for the Maxis Norton Mobile Security app features which include:

• Anti-Phishing Web Protection
• Call & Text Blocker
• Lost Notice (sends message to your lost phone)
• Remote Lock (locks your phone remotely)
• Remote Locate (finds your phone remotely)
• Remote Wipe (erase all your phone data remotely)

A new update for Nokia Asha touchscreen feature phones now offers a number of new features and functions which should prove useful (and make them more social media friendly). The update offers enhanced email, a dedicated YouTube app, and WhatsApp support for Dual-SIM Asha 308 and Asha 310 feature phones. The update also affects the Nokia Asha 305 and Asha 306 with a whole bunch of firmware tweaks and security fixes.

South Korea's newspapers are practically buzzing about Samsung's next big device, which is the Samsung Galaxy Note III. The latest reports have it that the phablet will have a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display and not the 6-inch display as rumoured by other reports. It is still expected to offer 1080p resolutions with a Snapdragon 800 chipset and 3GB of RAM. Other notable tech specs also include a 13MP rear camera that may or may not have Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). It is also said to be going for a slightly thinner profile than the Samsung Galaxy Note II. Reports also claim that the Samsung Galaxy Note III will be released during IFA 2013 and not before it as earlier reports suggest. With the IFA 2013 not that far off, all we need to do is be patient, wait and see.

It took a bit longer than we thought but better late than never as DiGi finally announce their 4G LTE network services. This time around, DiGi are offering a more complete set of services including 4G LTE Broadband for their subscribers with LTE Phones and Tablet users who are using DiGiNet+ SIM cards and those willing to buy their own modem. Strangely enough, DiGi aren't offering their own 4G LTE modem but have provided a list of compatible devices here. The price breakdown is as follows:

• Broadband 4GB Day (2AM-7PM) - RM49/month
• Broadband 4GB - RM69/month
• Broadband 6GB - RM99/month
• Broadband 10GB - RM139/month
• Tablet 500MB - RM25/month
• Tablet 1GB - RM29/month
• Tablet 1.5GB - RM39/month
• Tablet 2GB - RM49/month
• Tablet 6GB - RM99/month
• 4G LTE On-Demand 1GB - RM8/day | RM30/month

BlackBerry devices have always been at a premium price, which could explain why they don't sell very well, especially for the midrange user. The newly released BlackBerry Q5 changes all that by not only offering a midrange device but also offering it at a retail price of RM1299. At this pricing, it is just a little bit more than the Samsung Galaxy Grand but do the tech specs match up as well? Check out the tech specs for the BlackBerry Q5 below:

• 3.1-inch LCD display (720x720, IPS, 328ppi)
• 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor
• 2GB RAM
• 5MP rear camera (1080p) + 2MP front camera (720p)
• 8GB storage expandable up to 32GB
• Supports NFC + LTE
• 2180 mAh battery
• red, white, black

While it still hasn't been released yet another rumour has appeared about the Nokia EOS, Nokia's upcoming cameraphone. Rather than be called the Nokia EOS (which does give it sort of Canon digital camera like sound to it) the cameraphone may soon be called the Nokia Lumia 1020. This rumour comes courtesy of evleaks who has more often than not revealed fairly accurate leaks. They also revealed a press shot quality render of the upcoming Nokia Lumia 1020, although it didn't show the most important part, the rear of the smartphone. So far only the 41MP PureView sensor has been confirmed for their Nokia Lumia 1020 but all should be made clear on 11 July 2013 when Nokia will likely reveal the cameraphone, or at least have 41 million reasons why you should want it. Stay tuned for further developments.

Yam Su Yin, HP Senior Director, was recently quoted that the company may be looking to get back into the mobile industry with a smartphone. The quote in question is:

"Being late you have to create a different set of proposition. There are still things that can be done. Its not late. When HP has a smartphone, it will give a differentiated experience."-Yam Su Yin, Senior Director Consumer PC and Media Tablets, HP

It isn't the first time HP has made smartphones but almost all of their devices have crashed and burned in the long run. This included the Palm, Palm Pre and Palm Pixi. This was mainly because the phones just weren't selling, perhaps not because of innovation as the HP webOS was widely seen as the next real challenger for the Apple iPhone but maybe because of a lack in hype and marketing focus.

If you need mobile Internet for a day on your smartphone, most of the available packages cost upwards of RM5 and even then, you only get a few hundred MB or so. However, Maxis is now offering Mobile Internet for an all-time low of RM1/Day and with no limits. The catch is that you have to do it through Opera Mini. This can be accessed from the Opera Mini speed dial screen where you tap the RM1/DAY icon, select the one-day unlimited plan, confirm and you're good to go. While it does say unlimited, there are some "limitations" to that which include:

• Downloaded files cannot be bigger than 15MB
• All browsing must be done using Opera Mini 4.4 and above
• Any external usage (Facebook App, Twitter app, Chat, Youtube etc) are not under the plan and are charged as per usage basis from your Maxis account
• Only available to Maxis Postpaid and prepaid (Hotlink) users