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Huawei has recently released a number of smartphones for their Honor range of smartphones aimed at the young and young at heart. However, it seems that these Huawei Honor smartphones like the Huawei Honor 6, Huawei Honor 6 Plus and Huawei Honor 3C Lite are now going to become known as just the Honor 6, Honor 6 Plus and Honor 3C Lite. This news comes direct from a source in Huawei itself saying that the Honor range of smartphones have evolved enough to warrant them following an entirely new and different direction than Huawei's usual range of devices. This also includes a new UI all targeted along their Honor tagling "For the Brave". It also explains why most of the newer Honor smartphones don't have any Huawei logos or branding at all. According to our sources, this will also mean more new Honor smartphones in 2015, one of which we're hoping will be the Honor 4x so stay tuned for more developments. Huawei will continue making smartphones and mobile devices but target the higher-end market. Rumours also indicate that Huawei and Honor smartphone users could get the Emotion UI 3.0 update in Q2 of 2015.

Despite already being available for pre-order at VMALL.my, Huawei Malaysia have officially launched their Honor 3C Lite smartphone recently in tandem with the FISE (Festival International Sports Extreme) world championship in Langkawi, Malaysia. For those not in the know, the FISE meet covers extreme sports including BMX bike riding, skateboarding, inline skates and other extreme sports with the world championships held in Langkawi recently. Sponsored by Huawei and spearheaded by Zach Catfish (who is himself a well-known BMX and extreme sportsman himself) the event saw usage of Huawei products like the TalkBand B1, Huawei Ascend Mate 7 and the aforementioned Honor 3C Lite. The Honor 3C Lite brings a number of tech specs and features to the Malaysian market including:

• 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor
• 1GB RAM
• 16GB storage + up to 32GB microSD
• 5-inch IPS display (1280 x 720 pixel resolution, 294 ppi)
• 8MP rear camera (LED flash, autofocus, f/2.0 wide aperture, 5P optical lens) + 2MP front camera
• 72.3 x 142.2 x 9.4mm | 156g
• supports Dual SIM (3G + 2G), WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
• features AirSharing,
• 2000 mAh battery
• Android 4.4.2 + Huawei Emotion UI 2.0
• Available in black and white

The recent release of the Huawei Honor 3C Lite and Honor 4x smartphones have brought out another rumour regarding the Huawei Honor 3C. According to rumours from an anonymous source, the RM499 priced Huawei Honor 3C could get a successor next year by a device with some refreshed tech specs. These features and tech specs include a 5.5-inch display, 64-bit processor, 13MP rear camera and 4G LTE connectivity. What is even more interesting is that all of these mid-range features would be available around the same Malaysia pricing as the Honor 3C which was priced at RM499. Rumours also say that it could be priced even lower, which would make it a direct contender for the recently released Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G which retails for RM589 with similar tech specs. No details yet on Malaysia release dates but we expect it to arrive sometime in early 2015.

Big thanks to Mr. Anonymous!

Huawei announced the Huawei Honor 6 Plus smartphone with a dual rear camera setup on 16 December 2014. This is the world's first variable aperture smartphone without any add-on lenses and works quite differently from the HTC One M8 which also features a duo-camera. For the Honor 6 Plus there are two symmetrical 8MP camera sensors at the back which work together with a dedicated SLR-grade image signal processor (ISP) to achieve this. This unique setup also allows the phone to capture images in resolutions of up to 13MP. Huawei claims that the two 8MP cameras at the back works just like the human eye. The two lenses can focus on an object in just 0.1 seconds. The advanced 3IE algorithm in the device allows users to achieve a range of depths, from F0.95 to F16. Images captured especially at night benefit from the given two cameras. This is because, the amount of light reaching the lens and the sensors is twice than that of a single sensor, which contributes to better low light images. Huawei has released a number of samples taken from these dual rear cameras and they look very good, especially those taken in low light. We have added a few samples from the device down below. The company has not yet revealed details like Malaysia release dates or pricing for the Honor 6 Plus but the existing Honor 6 retails for around RM999 in Malaysia. 

GFXBench seems to have confirmed the existence of a new Galaxy device called the Samsung Galaxy E7. The device is expected to be one of the two models in the new E-Series from the company, the other being the Galaxy E5 which was leaked earlier. This comes at a time when Samsung is reportedly planning to narrow down its portfolio of devices. In this regard, the company has already stopped the development of the rumored U-series. According to the tech specs leaked by GFXBench, the Galaxy E7, code named SM-E700 will be a mid-range device. The phone is powered by a 64-bit 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. It will come with a 5.5-inch 1280 x 720 pixel resolution display. At the back, there is a 12MP camera and on the front; there is a 5MP shooter. Both the sensors are capable of recording videos at Full HD 1920 x 1080p resolution. It comes with a single SIM card slot and supports connectivity options like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and NFC. The E7 runs on Android 4.4.4 KitKat OS out of the box. No tech specs about the expandable storage availability or battery capacity on the device or Malaysia release dates and pricing details  are available as of yet. As always with such rumours, do take this with a pinch of salt as it could be another model smartphone altogether.

Asides from the Huawei Honor 6 Plus, Huawei also announced the Huawei Honor 4x, a 5.5-inch display phablet priced from a very affordable $128 (RM450). Featuring tech specs that include a new 64-bit Kirin 620 processor, 1GB / 2GB RAM and a 5.5-inch display with 720p resolution, the Honor 4x looks a lot like the Huawei Honor 3C with thinner bezels. Other tech sepcs include a 13MP rear camera, 5MP front camera, NFC, 4G LTE connectivity and a 3000 mAh battery with Android 4.4 KitKat. While there are no Malaysia release dates or pricing details yet, the Honor 4x is being priced very agressively at $128 (RM450) for the 1GB RAM version and $161 (RM566) for the 2GB RAM version. Hopefully Huawei Malaysia bring it in soon but with the gift-giving holidays just next week, it could just as likely be released next year as this year.

The BlackBerry Classic has officially been announced featuring the iconic trackpad and keyboard from before. The Classic retains many of the same design features as the BlackBerry Bold 9900 but updates the tech specs and other features. These include a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage with microSD support, a 3.5-inch display with 720 x 720 pixel resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. An 8MP rear camera with LED flash and 2MP front camera complete the list. While there are still no Malaysia release dates or pricing available yet, it is retailing at $449 (RM1579) and comes with BlackBerry 10.3 OS right out of the box.

U Mobile has just achieved its target of 2 million new subscribers under its Vision2million campaign. The carrier had kicked off this ambitious campaign back in September and promised to give out freebies like free on-network calls and Internet surfing if it achieved the goal by the year end. The campaign was announced just after the carrier said that it would expand into 2000 new 3G and 4G LTE sites by 2015. The company had initially planned to offer these freebies on the New Year's Day. However as it reached the goal early, U Mobile is offering free calls and Internet surfing on 18 December 2014. The freebies start at 12AM and end at 11:59PM on the above date. The free calls are only applicable when made on the same network while Internet surfing has no restrictions. This offer is applicable to all active prepaid, postpaid and broadband customers of U Mobile. The company has a comprehensive list of FAQs on their website specifically regarding this Vision2million promotion. Head over to their website for more details.

OnePlus, the maker of the OnePlus One smartphone is reportedly working on a smaller version of the flagship device. Alleged pictures of the mini version called the OnePlus One Mini was recently spotted on the Chinese social networking website, Weibo. According to the pictures leaked, the One Mini retains most of the same design features as the OnePlus One except for the back cover which looks a bit rougher. One of the leaked images displayed the AnTuTu profile of the device revealing some of the tech specs like a Snapdragon 615 processor and a 5-inch display. Both the front and the back cameras are 8MP which is rather strange considering the flagship killer, the OnePlus One only had a 5MP front shooter. It runs on Android 4.4.4 KitKat OS. Other tech specs such as the RAM capacity, internal storage, battery and so forth are yet to be revealed. The company is expected to announce the device in 2015 for $245 (RM856). Apart from the One Mini, OnePlus is also said to be working on the next generation of its flagship, called the OnePlus Two scheduled to release in Q2 2015. Meanwhile, the existing OnePlus One flagship is reportedly coming soon to Malaysia and that new device OnePlus recently teased is actually a 10000 mAh powerbank.

Latest reports suggests the HTC Hima, the successor of the HTC One (M8) flagship will miss MWC 2015. According to upleaks, a well-known tipster on Twitter, HTC may skip both CES 2015 and MWC 2015, only to launch the new flagship at a special event later in the year. The current flagship, HTC One (M8) had also skipped both these major events. If rumors are to be believed, HTC is dropping the 'M' brand name for its flagship device in favor of a new one called 'Hima'. The new HTC device is expected to come with the latest Snapdragon 810 processor. This new chipset features an octa-core processor with 4 Cortex-A57 cores clocked at 2.0GHz and 4 Cortex-A53 cores at 1.5GHz along with 3GB RAM. No tech specs about the internal storage or expandable storage options have been leaked. Other tech specs include a 5-inch 1080p display, 20.7MP rear camera, 13MP / Ultrapixel front Selfie camera and 4G LTE Category 6 connectivity support. The HTC Hima is expected to run on Android 5.0 Lollipop with Sense 7.0 UI on top. It may also feature a 2840 mAh battery. The new device is rumored to come in with same color profiles as the One (M8) – grey, silver and gold.