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Sony's Xperia lineup is known for its beautiful design and the Japanese giant has continued its legacy by releasing the world's thinnest 10-inch tablet, the Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet. The device is just 6.1mm thin, making it even thinner than the Apple iPad Air 2. It is super light too, weighing just about 389 grams. Under the hood, the tablet features a powerful Snapdragon 810 octa-core 64-bit processor with 3GB of RAM. There will be 32GB of internal storage on the base Wi-Fi only version. Up front, a beautiful 10.1-inch display will sport a 2K resolution. The device is IP68 certified which means it can survive underwater up to 1.5 meters for around 30 minutes. At the back there will be an 8.1MP camera and up front, there will be a 5MP shooter. The 6000 mAh battery can provide up to 17 hours of continuous video playback. The Xperia Z4 tablet will come in Wi-Fi only and 4G LTE versions. It will run on Android 5.0 Lollipop version right out of the box. No official pricing or release dates have been revealed but expect the tablet to retail for around $500 (RM1813) when it hits the Malaysian market sometime later in the year.

The new Sony Xperia M4 Aqua is a metal body smartphone with glass back that can survive underwater. The phone is IP65/8 certified which means it can survive under 5 feet of water for up to 30 minutes without any damage. The device is quite thin measuring 7.3mm and weighs just around 136 grams. As for tech specs, the new Xperia M4 Aqua features an octa-core 64-bit Snapdragon 615 processor under the hood along with 2GB RAM and 8GB of expandable storage. There will be a 5-inch display up front with 720p resolution. A 13MP camera will be located at the back and will feature the company's usual Superior Auto Mode. On the front, there will be a 5MP shooter. The 2400 mAh battery inside can provide up to 2 days of battery life on a single charge. The phone runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop version with Sony's UI on top. The Xperia M4 Aqua will be available for sale starting spring 2015 for a price tag of $335 (RM1215) in black, white, coral and silver colors. 

The ZTE Grand series has been quite popular in the domestic market for its value for money factor. The company recently updated the lineup with the new ZTE Grand S3 flagship. The device comes with a very unique security feature which allows users to unlock the device using their eyeprints. The company has partnered up with EyeVerify to develop this system wherein the phone's sensors can identify the pattern of veins of both the eyes of the user. At present, Eyeprint recognition can be used to unlock the device, but ZTE claims that in the near future, it could also be used to make secure payments. The ZTE Grand S3 is well built and has even won the IF Design Award for its minimalistic design. As for the tech specs, the phone will be powered by the Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5GHz and 3GB RAM. There will be 16GB of expandable storage on the device. The 5.5-inch display will sport a resolution of 1920 x 1080p. At the back there will be a 16MP sensor and up front, there is an 8MP Selfie camera. The phone will feature a 3100 mAh battery and will run on Android 4.4 KitKat OS. The ZTE Grand S3 is currently available in China for around $478 (RM1733). No Malaysia release dates or pricing details have been revealed. 

TENAA is a good source of information about upcoming smartphones these days. Recently, a new model in the HTC One family was spotted on this certification website, namely the HTC One E9. Just last week, the company announced the HTC One M9 flagship model and looks like it is now focusing on the less popular models. The highlight of the device is it's monstrous camera at the back. The phone will feature Mediatek's 64-bit MT6795 octa-core processor with 3GB RAM and 32GB ROM. Instead of the 5.1-inch full HD display on the One M9, this particular model will feature a much larger 5.5-inch display with QHD resolution. At the back, there will be a large 20MP sensor and up front, there are two camera options, a 13MP shooter and a 4MP Ultrapixel sensor. The device will measure just 7.5mm. In this thin body, HTC has managed to incorporate a 2800mAh battery. The phone supports dual SIM dual Standby and will run on the latest Android Lollipop with Sense 7.0 UI on top. The HTC One E9 will come in Metallic Gray, Brown Gold and White Rose Gold colors. The company has not yet officially revealed Malaysia pricing or release date details.

SanDisk is a well-known manufacturer of memory cards and the company recently unveiled a brand new 200GB microSDXC card for smartphones and tablets. The new SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-Icard, will be the largest capacity memory card for a mobile device yet. At present, the largest card supported by smartphones are of 128GB but this particular announcement will further boost the storage capacity of mobile devices. According to the company, over 70% of the photos taken today are with a smartphone. That number will increase to around 90% by 2019. As smartphones capable of capturing professional quality pictures make it to the market, it becomes necessary to increase the storage space on these devices. SanDisk managed to increase the capacity to 200GB by revising the design and production process of its existing 128GB Ultra microSD card. The new process helped the company fit more bits per die boosting the overall capacity of the device. It can record up to 20 hours of 1080p full HD videos. The new SanDisk Ultra microSDXC USH-I card, Premium will retail for $399 (RM1447) from Q2 2015. The company claims that the card is water proof, x-ray proof, magnet proof and even temperature proof and offers 10 years of warranty. Bear in mind that not many smartphones can support such cards yet, but it should make for an attractive feature for those who need it.

Apple recently unveiled the brand new Apple Macbook 2015 featuring the latest Intel Core M processors, which helps it reduce its size as well as weight. Apple has strived to make it extremely light and thin and the result is just outstanding. The new Macbook 2015 features a 13.1mm thin body which is more than 4mm thinner than the Macbook Air 11. Its super light too and weighs just about 900 grams. The company has slightly increased the screen size to 12-inches with 2304 x 1440 pixel resolution. It will have a new backlit keyboard with a "Butterfly Mechanism" which Apple claims delivers a precise typing experience. There's a new Force Touch touchpad too. Thanks to the compact Core M series processors, the company managed to utilize the additional space in the chassis for new batteries. The Macbook 2015 is capable of providing up to 9 hours of browsing and 10 hours of iTunes movie time. It will feature just one I/O port, the super-fast USB-C which can act as the USB, VGA, DisplayPort, HDMI and Power ports with the right adapters. The new laptop is already listed (but not available) on the Apple Malaysia website. The 1.1GHz Core M dual-core processor with 8GB RAM and 256GB flash storage model will retail for RM4499 and the 1.2GHz Core M dual-core processor with 500GB flash storage model will retail for RM5499. The Macbook 2015 will go on sale from 10 April 2015 in Silver, Space Gray and Gold colors.

Xiaomi Malaysia has officially announced the Xiaomi Redmi 2 for RM449. It will be available in Malaysia from 17 March 2015 at 12 noon via the usual Mi Malaysia site. Donovan Sung, Director of Product Management, Xiaomi Global was on hand to show off the highlights of the Redmi 2 smartphone. Notable stand out features include dual standby 4G LTE, the new 64-bit Snapdragon 401 processor, MIUI 6 and a more compact, slimmer and thinner design compared to the Redmi 1S. Check out the full tech specs for the Xiaomi Redmi 2 below:

• 64-bit 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 401 processor 
• Adreno 306 graphics processor
• 1GB RAM8GB storage
• 4.7-inch display (IPS, 1280 x 720 pixel resolution, AGC Dragontrail Glass, fully laminated)
• 8MP rear camera (autofocus, LED flash, 1.4 µm pixel size, geo-tagging, touch focus, face/smile detection, HDR) + 2MP front camera
• supports Dual SIM (4G LTE dual standby, microSIM), Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, A-GPS
• features FM Radio, fast battery charging (Quick Charge 1.0), active noise cancellation with dedicated mics
• 134 x 67.2 x 9.4 mm | 133g
• 2200 mAh battery
• Android 4.4.4 KitKat + MIUI 6.0

Just recently, Apple Malaysia raised the local Malaysia pricing for the Apple iPhone 6, Apple iPhone 6 Plus and Apple iPhone 5s. A quick look at the price reveals that the pricing has gone up by about RM150 to RM200 with no difference to tech specs or features. This is probably due to the recent drop in value for the Malaysian Ringgit against the US Dollar which is currently is $1 to RM3.71. The Apple iPhone 5c remains the same though but we don't expect many people to be happy about that either. Hopefully, if the Ringgit goes up within this year, Apple Malaysia will cut the pricing back down but for now, we expect other Malaysia online stores and Malaysian Telcos to follow soon. Check out the complete price increase listing as follows:

• Apple iPhone 6, 16GB storage ~ RM2399 to RM2549
• Apple iPhone 6, 64GB storage ~ RM2749 to RM2949
• Apple iPhone 6, 128GB storage ~ RM3149 to RM3349
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus, 16GB storage ~ RM2749 to RM2949
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus, 64GB storage ~ RM3149 to RM3349
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus, 128GB storage ~ RM3549 to RM3749
• Apple iPhone 5s, 16GB storage ~ RM1999 to RM2149
• Apple iPhone 5s, 32GB storage ~ RM2199 to RM2349
• Apple iPhone 5c, 8GB storage ~ RM1499 (remains the same)

OPPO devices are quite well known to support VOOC fast charging but it appears that this could be taken even further with an upcoming OPPO device, rumoured to be the OPPO Smartwatch. While no names have been named, the main feature of this smartwatch seems to be the ability to get a full charge in just five minutes. Now this could be because of how small smartwatch batteries are but even then the standard charging time for most smartwatches is 1 to 2 hours or so at best. No other features or tech specs were available about the OPPO smartwatch, only that it could be round and most likely come with the OPPO Find 9 which is also rumoured to be coming in 2015. Stay tuned for more developments.

Google has officially announced the Android 5.1 Lollipop update for better stability, performance and a few new features. These features include built-in support for multiple SIM cards which is good news for those dual SIM users out there, a Device Protection feature for better security and hopefully some closure with your lost Android device and High Definition Voice. More on Device Protection, this feature allows your stolen device to stay locked until you sign in to your Google account even after you do a factory reset. Most Android devices should support it but it will definitely be available on theNexus 6 and Nexus 9. High Definition voice calling on the other hand, increases audio clarity for voice calls. Other notable feature updates include a Wi-fi networks and Bluetooth Quick Settings icons. No specific Malaysia release dates but we should get more info as the respective device manufacturers roll out their Android 5.1 Lollipop updates.