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Last Thursday, OnePlus posted a teaser on its official page showing off the periodic table and asking its fans to guess what the company had in store for them on 30 January 2015. Some said that the teaser was for a metal swappable back cover, but the company revealed yesterday that it would release a new operating system based on the Android platform called OxygenOS. This move by the company isn't surprising given that a few weeks back, OnePlus's official international ROM partner, Cyanogenmod signed an exclusive deal with an Indian manufacturer called Micromax. This meant that OnePlus can no longer use Cyanogenmod on its phones sold in India. So, it was only a matter of time before it released its own OS. The company in it's official blog post said that it aims to provide a bold, straightforward experience to it's users with the new OxygenOS. It further promises that the OS will be open source, customizable and free of unnecessary bloatware. Finally, the new ROM will be close to stock Android and will come as an optional installation for OnePlus One. OnePlus has promised more details about the OS on 12 February when the company will officially unveil it. 

Huawei has a number of devices in its pipeline for 2015. In a recent event in China, the company teased a picture which shows off some of the devices that it will announce this year. The image reveals new updates in the Huawei Mate and Huawei P series lineup, both of them flagship devices featuring high end tech specs. There will be other smartphone releases too in the Huawei Honor and the Huawei G and Y series. The company also has some tablets in store for the year. According to the picture, the new Huawei X series tablet and M series tablets will debut in a few months. The former is targeted at providing the best experience on a large screen and the M series devices will be aimed at delivering the best audio visual experience. However, the highlight of the teaser will be the new smartwatch from Huawei. The company has confirmed its entry into the smartwatch industry this year and it will run on Google's Android platform optimized for wearables. There will be a new flagship smartband launch too. Both these wearable devices will focus on fitness apps and features. More details are expected at the upcoming MWC 2015 event to be held in Barcelona in March although other reports indicate that we could see the Huawei P8 later sometime in July. Stay tuned for more developments.

The ultimate feature-filled smartphone, the Saygus V2 (V-Squared) has just been released for pre-order. Featuring tech specs that include a 21MP rear camera with dual LED flash and 13MP front camera with both cameras packing Optical Image Stabilization we expected it to be quite pricey. Instead, it is currently available for just $549 ($1992). The pre-order time frame starts from 11:59pm (MST) to the evening of 2 February 2015. Even after the pre-order period, the Saygus V2 is expected to cost just $599 (RM2174) which is still very attractive. We're not sure if they'll ship here but there are definitely no Malaysia release dates or pricing details. For those interested parties, the full tech specs include a 2.5GHz Snapdragon 805 processor, 3GB RAM, 64GB storage, 2x 128GB microSDXC slots and 5-inch full HD 1080p Sunlight Viewable display with the latest Corning Gorilla Glass 4. It also has a 21MP rear camera with dual LED flash and 13MP front camera and both cameras pack Optical Image Stabilization. There is also a dedicated camera shutter button. Features include a fingerprint side scanner, NFC, WiFi 802.11ac, Harmon Kardon Stereo speakers with 3 noise cancelling microphones, an IR blaster, 4G LTE support, Qi wireless charging and IPx7 Water proofing.

U Mobile recently showed off their new #GetClever prepaid and postpaid plans specifically for mobile Internet. These include new Unlimited Mobile Internet (UMI) or UMI 20, UMI 30 and UMI 50 for prepaid plans along with new Unlimited P50 and P70 for postpaid plans. The addition sees the removal of the UMI 18 plan but the UMI 20 plan doubles the data quota to 500MB from 250MB, an increase which can be seen for all of the new plans. The old UMI 38 prepaid plan and U28 post-paid plan remains the same though. In addition, you can also accumulate unused free calls. Check out the pictures below for more details or go to the U Mobile site for more information.

Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy J1, one of the first new entry-level Samsung smartphones for 2015. While it hasn't been announced yet by Samsung Malaysia, it has been spotted in the SIRIM database, indicating that it should arrive here soon. Tech specs include a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 512MB RAM, 4GB storage with microSD slot, 4.3-inch display with 480 x 800 pixel resolution, 5MP rear camera with LED flash, 2MP front camera and 1850 mAh battery. Features include dual-SIM support and Android 4.4 KitKat while measurements come up to 129 x 68.2 x 8.9mm and 122g. As mentioned earlier, there are no exact Malaysia release dates or pricing details but we should know about this soon, perhaps along side the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note Edge.

For the past few weeks, there have been plenty of leaks and rumors about the upcoming HTC flagship,HTC One M9. The company is yet to reveal anything officially, but it has kept an event on 1st March 2015 called "Utopia in progress" where it will reportedly unveil the successor to the HTC One M8 flagship model. Recently, an image was spotted on twitter, which could be the official photo of the two upcoming flagship devices. An earlier leak had hinted at a possible HTC One M9 Plus version, which this photo could confirm. The image comes courtesy of @evleaks. The image confirms a full glass front on both the models. Also, like the earlier images, this one too features an oval physical home button, which is something not usually seen on HTC's flagship models. The button will reportedly include a fingerprint sensor, a first for an HTC device. Both the models have super slim bezels and a large round front camera. Judging from the looks, it could be the same as the 13MP shooter on the HTC Desire Eye, but nothing is confirmed so far especially not Malaysia release dates or pricing. Expect more details in the next few weeks.  

Microsoft has just stopped the production of its two year old Microsoft Surface 2 tablet powered by the Windows RT operating system. The news doesn't come as a surprise since the Windows RT OS hasn't been very popular among buyers. Also, the new generation Microsoft Surface 3 tablet has been selling well for the company in recent quarters. In fact, in the recent earnings call, Microsoft revealed that it generated around $1.1 billion in revenue from the Surface lineup, with most of the credit going to the new Surface 3. According to the report, the company sold three times more Surface 3 tablets than the older Surface 2. Also, the company recently announced that it would not bring Windows 10 OS on the device as an update, which further hinted at the company's plans to shift its focus to the mainstream operating system. With the production stopped, Surface 2 stocks will eventually dry up for online and brick and mortar stores. It is already out of stock on the company's own website. However, a Microsoft spokesperson revealed recently that Microsoft will still support Windows RT for some time. The company aims to release an update which will bring some of the features of Windows 10 on to the platform.  

Chinese brands like Xiaomi and Meizu have gained international recognition lately. While Samsung and Apple are the top two smartphone makers worldwide, the third position is currently being battled over by Chinese manufacturers like Xiaomi, Huawei and Lenovo. Many consider them to be direct competitors in the industry. However, according to Huawei's Chief, Richard Yu, the company's real competitor is Samsung and not Xiaomi. According to him, the affordable smartphone maker Xiaomi has no chance against Huawei in the high-end segment. He claims that his company's flagship devices are much better than Xiaomi's offerings. This comment doesn't come as a surprise since he recently criticized both Xiaomi and Meizu for incorporating a Quad HD resolution display on their devices. Both the Xiaomi Mi Note Proand the Meizu MX4 feature quad HD ultra-high resolution displays. His recent comment indicates that Xiaomi's Mi Note flagship and Xiaomi Mi 4 doesn't offer the advantages of Huawei's devices like theHuawei Mate 7 and the Honor 6 Plus. The two Chinese companies are expected to unveil a number of devices later this year, including flagships like the Xiaomi Mi 5, Huawei P8 and even the next generation model of the popular Mate 7. So, it would be interesting to see which one actually comes out as the winner in 2015.

After numerous leaks and speculations, the Meizu M1 from the company’s Blue Charm range is finally official. At an official event yesterday, the company unveiled this ultra-affordable device which competes directly with the recently announced Xiaomi Redmi 2 budget smartphone. Like its larger brother, theMeizu M1 Note, this particular device takes its design inspiration from the Apple iPhone 5C. It also brings a lot of new color options like white, green, yellow, pink and two different shades of blue. Tech specs wise, the device comes with a 64-bit 1.5GHz quad-core Mediatek MT6732 processor with 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage expandable up to 128GB. The front features a beautiful 5-inch display with 1280 x 768 pixel resolution with Gorilla Glass 3 protection. At the back, there is a 13MP camera with single LED flash and at the front, there is a 5MP shooter. This is much better than the Redmi 2's 8MP + 2MP cameras. The battery is also bigger on the new Meizu phone. It comes with a 2600 mAh battery as compared to the 2200 mAh found on Xiaomi model. Finally, Meizu has priced the new Meizu M1 at just 699 Yuan (RM406) which is the exact same price as the Xiaomi Redmi 2 but there are still no Malaysia release dates or pricing details just yet. Hopefully, Meizu Malaysia brings this one in soon.

Huawei Malaysia and Xiamen University recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with Xiamen University Malaysia campus to develope a future-oriented ICT enabled campus in Malaysia. While no exact Malaysia release dates were revealed, the MoU details collaboration between the two that will result in a high-quality campus network along with a joint lab on Xiamen University campus grounds featuring Huawei's latest ICT technologies. Xiamen University Campus Malaysia will be located in Bandar Kota Warisan, Selangor. Here's what Huawei Malaysia and Xiamen University had to say about it all:

“I’m very pleased to see Huawei embark on this exciting journey with Xiamen University, one of the most respected universities in the world. As a world ICT leader, Huawei is leading the way for education reform through technology. Smart campuses with reliable, high bandwidth networks are essential tools for today’s Digital Natives to feel engaged in University education and compete and win in the digital economy. This MoU is just the in line with our ongoing efforts in ICT education and skill development for Malaysian students. I am very excited by the potential of this partnership and look forward to working with the university over the future.” Abraham Liu, CEO of Huawei Malaysia

“We are excited to have taken the first step in what we hope will be a long-term collaboration with Huawei, a company which plays a major role in the global ICT industry. Today’s MoU with Huawei means the collaborations between Xiamen University and Huawei have reached a strategic level. This win-win collaboration will help Xiamen University expand its reputation in Malaysia and it also enables Huawei to enhance its brand among the education industry.” Zhu Chongshi, President of Xiamen University