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Sony Xperia Z fans out there should rejoice as U Mobile is now offering the smartphone for as low as RM999 on the U Premium bundle or from RM1688 to RM 1488 via their U58 and U88 bundles respectively. The U Premium bundle in particular offers the Sony Xperia Z at a subsidized price of RM999 with a monthly of RM187 and 5GB worth of data. Bear in mind that the U Premium bundle is only available for the first 50 units of the Sony Xperia Z only and that the U58, U88 and U Premium bundles are going for 24 month contracts.

A couple of weeks ago, DiGi introduced their DG Smart Plan 58 and DG Smart Plan 88 for postpaid users looking to get a more affordable data plan. Now, they are expanding this lineup with their premium offer, the DG Smart Plan 148. Going for RM148 per month the plan offers 6GB of data in the form of 3GB Mobile Internet Quota and 3GB worth of Smart Apps Quota (Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp). The plan also includes 600 minutes of free calls and 600 free SMS to all networks. Due to the higher monthly fees, the call charges have been reduced compared to the other two plans.

The Pakej Komunikasi Belia announced a couple of months back by the government shined a little monetary relief on all the Youth (who qualified) looking to get a new smartphone. Now, under this package DiGi is offering a FREE smartphone and a customized Prepaid data plan all for RM50. The smartphone in question is the Alcatel One Touch Glory 2S which has the following features:

• 1GHz Cortex A9 processor
• 3.5-inch screen (HVGA)
• 256MB RAM
• 150MB storage + microSD (up to 32GB)
• 2MP rear camera
• 1400 mAh li-ion battery
• 2G (GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900) + 3G (HSDPA 900 / 2100)
• Radio + Bluetooth 4.0 (A2DP) + A-GPS support
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread

Quite a lot of people have predicted and been waiting for the time when Facebook comes out with its own hardware. Now, we've got the first renders of the Facebook Phone that may be announced tomorrow in Facebook's Official event. Rather than the HTC Myst that some thought it would be called it is now going by the name HTC First. Tech specs for the HTC First include the following:

• Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus MSM8960 processor
• 1GB RAM
• 5MP Rear camera + 1.6MP Front camera
• 4.3-inch screen (720p HD resolution)

Great Design, Drops Better than the iPhone 5

While the HTC One managed to beat out Apple's iPhone 5 in drop tests recently it should be noted that it is a lot harder to repair. The HTC One recently got a teardown at iFixit (a site which takes apart smartphones and tries to put them back together). In that particular iFixit teardown, the HTC One is the only smartphone to get a repairability score of 1/10, which means it is next to impossible to repair (the Apple iPhone 5 has an iFixit repairability score of 7/10). Tearing down the HTC One the folks at iFixit found:

• Most of the components are covered with copper tape for shielding which when removed looks like used aluminum foil (almost impossible to fix back)
• The battery is attached to the midframe and covered by the motherboard, making it very difficult to replace.
• To replace the display you have to remove the rear case which may require taking apart the entire HTC One.

Just in from the rumour mill is that Samsung will soon be releasing a phablet called the Samsung Galaxy Mega and the new Galaxy Tab 3 Plus. The Samsung Galaxy Mega rumour mentions that it will release two models under this naming convention with the separate model numbers of GT-I9200 for a 6.3-inch version and the GT-I9152 for a 5.8-inch version with dual SIM support. Other rumours surrounding the Samsung Galaxy Mega models is that they may lack S Pen capabilities and have slightly lowered features in the same way like the Samsung Galaxy Grand.

In a move that will make some people who have always wanted an Apple iPhone very happy, Maxis is now offering the Apple iPhone 4 (8GB) for FREE with their TalkMore48 plan and a 1GB data plan. In effect it means that all you're really paying for are the TalkMore48+1GB data plan bundle. You will have to sign up for a 24 months contract though. Like other Maxis TalkMore48 bundle promotions you'll have to pay RM96 (RM48 + RM48) per month.

Only just a few weeks ago, the price of the Samsung Galaxy S III at Maxis was slated at RM799 for a 12 months contract under their TalkMore48 plan. It appears that Maxis changed their minds as they've dropped the price of the Samsung Galaxy S III to RM599 for the same TalkMore48 plan but this time under a 24 months contract + 1GB data plan. A closer look at the details shows that the monthly for the plan remains at RM96 (RM48 + RM48) per month.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 / S IV is an impressive smartphone in either its Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 version and its Exynos 5 Octa version. However, recent benchmarks of the Samsung Exynos 5 Octa have revealed that it is a lot more powerful than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 version. The question here is, why has Samsung made nearly 70% of its Samsung Galaxy S4 / S IV smartphones using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600? Why haven't they used just the Samsung Exynos 5 Octa?

Rumours about new phones constantly crop up and Apple's iPhone 5S is no different. For the first rumour about Apple's iPhone 5S unveiling date, while a few sources have said that it could be in August 2013, some are saying that it could go on sale one month earlier in July. This rumour is based on a prediction by an Apple tech fanzine. Other launch dates include June which would allow it better competition with the Samsung Galaxy S4. If the Apple iPhone 5S were to be launched on 20 June 2013 it would also nearly coincide with the anniversary of the original Apple iPhone's launch (29 June 2007).