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Celcom are now offering the Apple iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C after their midnight launch under their Celcom First postpaid plans + mobile internet packages. Subscribers do get the choice to go for either a 12 month or 24 month contract but also have monthly rebates throughout the period of the contract. While the Apple Malaysia store already has the prices for the two Apple iPhones, the Celcom plans are offering the Apple iPhone 5S models at an estimated retail price RM50 lower than those on the Apple Malaysia store. The Celcom Apple iPhone 5C prices are only different for the 32GB iPhone 5C model with an RM40 reduction from the usual price. For more details, check out the table and links in this article.

Celcom looks to be having a midnight Apple iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C launch like usual as they just put out the invite for tonight to be held at the Blue Cube at Sunway Pyramid. As an incentive for those wanting to pick up the latest Apple iPhone under a Celcom subscription, Celcom are offering a number of freebies for the first 100 customers which includes an Apple iPhone case, a Self-repairing screen protector worth RM150 and either an RM500 voucher or Mystery Gift. While the Phone case and screen protector seems obvious the choice of either an RM500 voucher or a Mystery gift indicates that there could be some sort of lucky draw amongst the 100 early-bird subscribers. The event is set to start at 8pm today, so there should be time enough to pick up some supplies and wait for midnight.

We've all seen quite a number of smartglasses coming after the Google Glass design, but few have gone beyond the standard Augmented Reality it offers to full Virtual Reality (VR). Granted, there are some VR headware like the Occulus Rift already in the market but the i-Air Touch seems to be the first VR smartglasses around. According to designers, this is to allow users to interact in a virtual environment, letting you type in the air and do Minority Report computer-like things minus said computer. The prototype i-Air Touch is already good enough to allow you to touch and interact with projected images. This is done through the use of cameras located on the i-Air Touch smartglasses which track hand movements so you don't need to wear any special Minority report gloves or handwear either. The prototype i-Air Touch comes courtesy of Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute but while it is currently more of a research project than actual consumer device, it marks the beginning of a different form of computing entirely. In related news, Google Glass is rumoured to be coming out with their consumer level Google Glass device. No pricing or Malaysia release dates though.

This rumour comes courtesy of speculation that the Samsung Galaxy S5 may be using the new 64-bit Exynos processor from Samsung which is almost finished. This new Samsung Exynos chipset may be known as the 6-series or Exynos 6 but what is more interesting is that it will offer the ability to go beyond 3GB of effective RAM. This has fueled the rumour that the Samsung Galaxy S5 could be coming with 4GB of RAM as more memory support is one of the main features of the 64-bit architecture. Again, there are no specifics or tech specs or even features to mention here, and while we're thinking 4GB of RAM would be the right amount past the 3GB of RAM currently available in the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, the Samsung Galaxy S5 could just as likely arrive with 8GB of RAM instead. This would give the Samsung Galaxy S5 a new technical innovation asides from other smartphones, as there are now all too many smartphones with aluminum unibody chassis, huge megapixel cameras and ultra high ppi screens. We wouldn't be surprised if Samsung are also planning a Pro version device, as 8GB of RAM and a 64-bit processor could be all most high-performance users would need to make the shift.

Coming from the usual source of parts suppliers, Google has been rumoured to start mass production of their smartwatch device and soon. According to the Wall Street Journal this is because Google have solved the 2 main obstacles involved with smartwatches which is how useful the smartwatch can be and battery life. Supposedly, the Google smartwatch will include a battery saving feature that extends the battery life. There are no details if this better battery life will be past the current 1 week standard smartwatch battery life or past 25 hours which is the battery life of currently the most feature-filled smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Gear. The Google smartwatch will also use Google Now as the main interface, which could mean many more voice commands and the ability to always be listening, much like the Motorola Moto X.

So far, reports indicate that it would still have to rely on your smartphone as a stand-alone smartwatch would cost too much and be to big to be worn on the wrist (which doesn't seem to be the case for some other smartwatch makers). We're still hoping that Google will offer a stand-alone smartwatch but we should find out soon enough. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Google Watch could come within a matter of months which could mean either the end of 2013 in December or early 2014. No specifics on pricing or Malaysia release dates but we'll keep you posted.

Machines has recently confirmed the availability of the Apple iPhone 5S in Malaysia as 31 October 2013, at least for all the Machines stores. To help illustrate this for all the possible buyers, they've created a chart which they will update regularly and which you can see from the Source. The chart on the page has been updated but do let the folks at Machines know if you spot any errors. The most coveted (and likely most expensive) 64GB Gold version is only available at the KLCC and JBTC shops so if you're within that area or are heading there for that purpose on 31 October 2013, be warned about a possible shortage if you get late in line.

Do you remember the modular smartphone concept Phonebloks? Well, it seems that they weren't the only ones working on a similar modular smartphone concept as Motorola have come out with their take on the concept with Project Ara. Built upon the bones of Project Sticky, Motorola say that they have been working on Project Ara for about a year now and have contacted Phonebloks. According to Motorola, they will use input from the Phonebloks community to help improve Project Ara. We were excited when the Phonebloks concept first came out so we're thrilled now that Motorola are picking up the pace with Project Ara. No news on pricing or Malaysia release dates just yet, but we expect this to take at least another 6 or so more months with a possible release date in 2014 (perhaps at CES 2014, Computex 2014 or IFA 2014?). For now, check out the Project Ara pics and refresh your memory with the previous Phonebloks video in this article.

U Mobile is going to offer the Sony Xperia Z1 soon and has already revealed the plans available for Sony's current flagship smartphone. While the official retail price is RM2399, the U Mobile plans will allow you to get the smartphone from RM1188 under one of the Ultimate Device postpaid plans. The plans are all set for under 24 months contracts but for more details check out the table and links in this article.

Tim Cook, current CEO of Apple was recently quoted as saying that there are:

"great new products in areas where [Apple does] not participate today".

While he went on to say nothing really concrete, many are taking this as a sign that Apple may soon launch a new product category in 2014, especially since he referred to products coming "across 2014". With Apple already having computers, desktops, notebooks, tablets and smartphones, a new product category could very likely be the upcoming Apple iWatch smartwatch. So far there are little to no tech specs or features regarding the iWatch with many expecting it to come in late 2014. While they don't confirm anything, Tim Cook's comments could indicate that we'll be seeing an Apple iWatch (this could still be an Apple TV though) sooner than that.

The HTC One Max phablet is currently one of the few smartphones with a fingerprint scanner. However, unlike the Touch ID fingerprint scanner from Apple, the fingerprint scanner on the backside of the HTC One Max phablet requires you to swipe your finger, which is both inaccurate as well as difficult to do from the back. Granted, HTC looks to have offered some extra functionality by calling up apps based on differently swiped fingers but the feature is rather difficult to use for both of the reasons mentioned above. In addition to the hardware issues, there is very little software integration that may actually require or use the HTC One Max phablet's fingerprint scanner as you still have to enter passcodes to buy apps (or anything else for that matter). For smartphones that already have the swipe type fingerprint scanner, this may be too late to change, but it shouldn't be too difficult to offer a bit more integration with the software. As it is, fingerprint scanners are pretty much unused features for now, even in the Apple iPhone 5S, but this may change soon as software integration picks up.