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When the HTC One went for an aluminum unibody (ala Apple iPhone) it upped the prestige level for Android smartphones around the world. Nokia's Windows Phone powered smartphones are looking to get the same aluminum unibody treatment with the Nokia Catwalk and the Nokia Lumia 928.

As popularity continues to grow for the 7-inch tablet market, rumours about the 2nd Generation of Google Nexus 7 tablet have been swirling about. Some of these rumours include:

• A Qualcomm processor (instead of the NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor in the previous version) for better power
• Higher resolution screen
• Thinner bezels and slimmer design
• Due in July
• Price drop from $199 to $149
• Previous model to be discontinued

As the weeks go by, another major smartphone telco bundle drops in price and this time Celcom has decided to do that for the Samsung Galaxy Note II. While previous bundles saw the price dip down to RM1999, Celcom are now offering the Samsung Galaxy Note II from as low as RM1458. The lower subsidized price is available for their Celcom First Prime, Premier or Elite on the condition that it comes with a Mobile Internet plan and a 12 months or 18 months contract. See the table below for the details on all the bundles:

Maxis is just dropping prices for their various bundled devices. This time around it is their Samsung Galaxy S III Mini which used to go for RM399 under their TalkMore48 + 1GB data plan. Now, in a move that will make those who don't call or SMS that much very happy, the Samsung Galaxy S III Mini is available with the Maxis TalkMore28 or TextMore28 from RM76 a month (the original site may say as low as RM56 but this applies to the HTC Desire C with 200MB Mobile Internet Plan). The fineprint for this deal is that the Samsung Galaxy S III Mini is only available under a 24 month contract and new subscribers have to pay an advance payment of RM500. Existing Maxis customers who have been using Maxis Postpaid plans for more than a year don't have to pay this advance payment.

A few days back we talked about possible features of the Apple iPhone 5S (and other future Apple iPhones). One of the main rumours that we brought up involved a curved wraparound display. At the time of writing, the pictures available were figures used within the patent filing, however, recently photos of a possible Apple iPhone 5S prototype with almost exactly the same curved looking screen have surfaced.

As part of the Pakej Komunikasi Belia Hotlink is offering a number of smartphones either for free or with rebates, in line with the RM200 rebate from the package. One deal that caught our eye was for the BlackBerry Z10 which is being offered at a promotional price of RM1688 with an additional 1.5GB of Free data. This RM1688 price is valid for existing Hotlink BlackBerry BIS customers who are eligible for the Pakej Komunikasi Belia. However, existing customers who do not qualify for the Pakej Komunikasi Belia may instead get the BlackBerry Z10 for a discounted price of RM1988. New customers who qualify for the package can get the smartphone at RM1888 while new customers who don't qualify for the package can get the deal at RM2188. The free 1.5GB worth of data is only valid for 7 days after the device has been bought while the actual promo is valid from 9 March 2013 to 30 April 2013.

This time around it is Celcom's turn to offer the Sony Xperia Z with two new plans added to their already quite large number of plans. These new plans are the Mobile Internet mPro + Celcom First Voice and Celcom First mPro Plus + FREE 60 minutes + 60 SMS.

Combining bundled data with voice calls and SMS, the Mobile Internet mPro plan offers 5GB of Data at RM88 with a choice of Prime 40, Premier 80 or Elite 150 Celcom First Voice plans for the price of RM1288. The Celcom First mPro Plus plan offers the same 5GB of Data at RM88 with Free 60 minutes and 60 SMS at RM1388. Both mPro plans are for 24 months and have penalty fees for early termination of the contract.

Targeting port-in subscribers from other networks or providers, DiGi is now holding a promotion until 30 April 2013 with various rewards. These port-in users who switch to the DG Smart Plan 58, 88 and 148 will get:

• Up to 900 extra Free Voice Call Minutes
• Free 1GB of Internet Quota (with Tablet SuperSIM)
• Free 500 BonusLink Points
• Automatic International Roaming Service

What do I need?

As mentioned previously, Facebook Home is Facebook's new app launcher UI that integrates Facebook features and overlays onto your Android smartphone operating system (OS). Just to repeat what was said earlier, it isn't a fork of the Android OS and all you need to install it is the right hardware and some Facebook apps such as messenger already installed. Facebook Home will be available for all Android devices (meaning you can download it from Google Play) on or after 12 April 2013. According to Facebook, Facebook Home will be updated regularly and monthly.

The Facebook Phone finally arrives

Due to all the leaks about Facebook's "new home on Android" most of what got announced at Facebook's recent big event wasn't really big news. Confirming our previous news about Facebook Phone leaks, is that Facebook is indeed releasing an Android Home screen launcher. The official quote from Mark Zuckerberg was:

“Today we’re finally gonna talk about that Facebook phone. More accurately, we’re gonna talk about how you can turn your phone into a Facebook Phone." Mark Zuckerberg.