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It appears that some users of the recent Microsoft Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablets have been having problems with their tablets related to overheating. The main symptom of this is that the screen for the tablets becomes so dimmed that users can't see what they are doing. This often comes up when either the Surface 2 or Surface Pro tablets were doing processor intensive tasks like games or multi-tasking (multiple programs running at the same time). When contacted, Microsoft have said that the company is aware about the problem and are currently working on an update to fix the problem. According to them, a quick fix is to let the overheated tablets cool down first, which should take about a minute or two. The screen should then return to normal brightness afterwards. Here were their exact words:

"Surface devices may dim the screen as thermal temperatures rise from extended, high CPU intensive activities - like gaming. In some scenarios this does not appear necessary...We’re working on a tuning update that will remove this unnecessary dimming event. You can expect this update in an upcoming Windows Update package. In the meantime allow the Surface to cool down for a minute or so in order to return the screen to previous brightness levels."

And the Samsung Galaxy S5 rumours continue to pile up. This time around it also concerns the Samsung Galaxy Gearsmartwatch which was initially released with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. In line with that, rumour mongers are saying that we may see the next generation Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch announced alongside the Samsung Galaxy S5. While we're not too thrilled about another Bluetooth companion accessory (we're still hoping for a standalone watch phone) rumours indicate that the Gear 2 could be thinner by about 15% to 20% compared to the original Gear. It would be great if the price was dropped and the battery life improved but a thinner smartwatch could also mean a smaller battery. In related news, more Samsung Galaxy S5 tech specs and features were leaked as well with both plastic and metal versions. Asides from the already mentioned rumours of either the Snapdragon 805 or a 64-bit Samsung Exynos Octa powering the S5, rumours are also saying the S5 could come with a 4000 mAh battery. Personally, we're not sure where Samsung would stick such a large battery unless it is a moulded non-removable kind but we're looking forward to next year sometime in January or February 2014 when the Samsung Galaxy S5 is expected to make an appearance.

Announced earlier in 2013, the Asus Transformer Book Trio has made it's way to Malaysia with a retail price starting from RM3799. The hybrid touchscreen tablet detaches from the keyboard dock for better portability or reattaches to become a notebook computer, but the keyboard dock actually hides another computer which can be hooked up to another monitor and used like a desktop. Tech specs for the tablet part of the Transformer Book Trio includes an 11.6-inch screen powered by an Intel Atom Z2560 processor and running Android. The keyboard dock on the other hand uses an Intel Core processor (either Core i5 or Core i7) along with Windows 8. The version running an Intel Core i5 processor is being priced at RM3799 while the Intel Core i7 version is going for RM4099 which is still quite a good price considering that you're actually getting 2 computers for the price of one. Check out the video below or go to the Asus website for more information.

The Nokia Lumia 1520 was recently announced in Malaysia with a retail price of RM2159. One of the first few Nokia phablets available, the Lumia 1520 packs in tech specs which include a full HD 6-inch screen with a very good pixel density of 367ppi. The screen gets some more help with Assertive Display tech which helps make it more readable under direct sunlight without sapping too much energy. The Lumia 1520 is no slouch in the hardware department either as it offers a 2.26GHz Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB of RAM and a large 3400 mAh battery. An excellent 20MP PureView camera rounds up the package with 3x lossless zoom, optical image stabilization, oversampling and refocusing. While there isn't any specific Malaysia release date, the Nokia Lumia 1520 will be available in Malaysia sometime in early December 2013 but you can get it for preorder at DiGi or Nokia stores.  DiGi is offering the Nokia Lumia 1520 from RM1902 if you sign up for one of their related preorder  plans.

The world's most popular Windows Phone was originally the Nokia Lumia 520 because it combined good features with an exceptionally low price. Now, the refresh for this smartphone is finally here in the form of the Nokia Lumia 525. Looking exactly like the Lumia 520, the Lumia 525 bears nearly the same tech specs as well which includes a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 4-inch IPS display, 8GB storage and 5MP rear camera. The only difference seems to be that the Lumia 525 comes with 1GB of RAM compared to the 512MB of RAM inside the Lumia 520. Malaysia release dates and pricing are still unknown but Singapore will get the Lumia 525 on 14 December 2013 at SGD249 (RM641) so we can expect a similar pricing and release date for Malaysia. Hopefully the pricing won't be as high as Singaporre or else the Lumia 525 may lose it's competitive advantage. Check out the Nokia site for more information. In the meantime, check out the Nokia Lumia 525 video in this article.

After what seems like quite some time Celcom are offering the the HTC One Max phablet from RM1638. Considering that this 5.9-inch HTC One look-alike phablet currently retails at a whopping RM2499, this is actually a pretty good price, especially if you've always wanted a larger but better looking phablet than the other phablets out there. In any case, you can get the deal from Celcom by signing up for a Celcom First postpaid plan with a mobile Internet plan or the mPro Plus plan for 12, 18 or 24 month contracts. Check out the table and links in this article for more details.

While the Asus MemoPad 8, MemoPad FHD 10 and FonePad Note 6 were all recently announced they still haven't got their offical Malaysia launching yet, the good folks at Lowyat.net got an interesting leaked image showing off pricing and confirming tech specs. Reconfirming most of what has already been reported on, the Asus MemoPad 8 will have an 8-inch screen, a 1.6GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, 5MP rear camera, 1.2MP front camera, come in black or white and be priced at RM649. The Asus MemoPad FHD 10 on the other hand will have a 10.1-inch screen, a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a 5MP rear camera, a 1.2MP front camera, come in blue and white and be priced at RM1199.

The Normandy has landed, or at least the Nokia codenamed Normandy smartphone has. Appearing courtesy of evleaks along with a still unnamed Asha phone, the Normandy looks like another Lumia smartphone that could be bridging the gap between the Asha range and the Lumia range. The unnamed Nokia Asha phone on the other hand looks a lot like an LG Vu 3, complete with square-like 4:3 display. Unfortunately, no tech specs, pricing or Malaysia release dates were available at the time but stay tuned and we'll keep you posted.

Seemingly catching up with the rest of the refocusing cameraphone crowd, Apple have recently filed a patent for a camera technology which allows Lytro-like effects. Similar to the refocusing effect in Nokia's PureView cameras and some Sony Xperia cameraphones, the technology basically allows users to take a shot and then refocus it on any point or object in the picture. The technology in Apple's patent is different from Lytro in that it offers a high-resolution non-refocusable mode along with a low-resolution refocusable mode. While the patent is for a new camera sensor, it also covers an add-on version for any existing camera. This could mean we would see it come out for the Apple iPhone 6 or as an accessory for all camera equipped Apple devices.

With the rumoured Samsung Galaxy S5 said to be coming in 2014, quite a lot of other feature news has cropped up as well. This includes the various patent filings Samsung has done which includes this one for a multi-party video conferencing call which could replace the current ChatOne messaging app. Most video conferencing features like Apple's FaceTime only has 2 people so a multi party video conference call feature would certainly help up the innovative features available on the Samsung Galaxy S5. While there are other multi-party video conference messaging apps like Google Hangouts (which allows up to 10 callers) it requires a good amount of bandwidth from all those involved. Hopefully, Samsung will manage to work on some way of compressing the video stream for this new patent for a truly exceptional feature for the Samsung Galaxy S5.