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DiGi and Celcom have both opened up registration of interest (ROI) pages for the Apple iPad Air and Apple iPad mini with Retina Display. Both show teaser images and are likely for the 4G LTE Cellular versions of the two tablets. Unfortunately, the most important question of price isn't answered on either the DiGi ROI page or the Celcom ROI page. We expect the Malaysian pricing and release dates to reach us sometime before Christmas 2013 in December as this would be the most likely time for people to buy the tablet for a gift or present. In line with the previous Apple iPhone releases and pricing, we also expect the new Apple iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina Display pricing to be higher than before. For now, Celcom has announced that it would launch the Apple iPad Air bundles on 9 December 2013 but there are no details about the Apple iPad mini with Retina Display or from DiGi. Do head on over to either theDiGi ROI page or the Celcom Apple iPad Air ROI page and Celcom Apple iPad mini with Retina Display ROI page to register your interest with the telco of your choice.

Despite it's benefits as being a relatively cheap and lightweight battery material, silicon tends to expand when charging and shrink back when discharged. This often results in cracks which cause the silicon to break off from the electrode, which degrades battery life. Researchers at Stanford used a "stretchy polymer that coats the electrode, binds it and spontaneously heals tiny cracks that develop". This self-heals and seals the silicon, allowing it to extend battery life much further than before.

Despite poor reviews (ourselves included) of the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch, Samsung still managed to move 800000 units of the smartwatch, making it probably the most profitable smartwatch to date. It does help that the smartwatch market is still very small but this is still a cause for celebration, at least for Samsung. However, it does raise the question of what you would really want in a smartwatch. Quite obviously, many of the smartwatches available on the market aren't what you want. So, what would you want from a smartwatch or what sort of smartwatch would you really want? How much would it cost?

While the HTC One Max is scheduled for a Malaysia launch just tomorrow reports about the phablet with the aluminum unibody design indicate that it may be priced at RM2499. This would make it one of the most expensive Android smartphones in Malaysia outside of the Apple iPhone 5S. So far, these same reports say that there likely won't be any extra bundled accessory like it's battery case to justify the price either, so we're sort of hoping that this won't become a reality, especially considering the tech specs available on the HTC One Max. Just for a refresher, the HTC One Max has the following tech specs:

• 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor
• Adreno 320 graphics
• 2GB RAM
• 16GB / 32GB storage + up to 64GB microSD
• 5.9-inch Super LCD 3 display (1080 x 1920 pixel resolution)
• 4MP UltraPixel rear camera (autofocus, LED flash, 1080p@30fps video recording, no OIS) + 2.1MP front camera
• Supports LTE (Asia version) + 3G + BoomSound dual front stereo speakers
• 164.5mm x 82.5mm x 10.3mm | 217g
• 3300 mAh battery (Not removable)
• Android 4.3 + Sense 5.5

ZTE is kicking it up a notch with the official announcement of their ZTE Nubia Z5s and Nubia Z5s mini smartphones. Targeting the mid-range to high-end market, both devices feature higher-end tech specs that include 1080p Sharp IGZO displays, Snapdragon 800 processors and other features. The full list of tech specs for the ZTE Nubia Z5s and Nubia Z5s mini is listed below:

• ZTE Nubia Z5s
• 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor
• 2GB RAM
• 16GB / 32GB sotrage
• 5-inch Sharp IGZO display (1080 x 1920 pixel resolution)
• 13MP rear camera (f/2.0, OIS, 4K video capture) + 5MP front camera
• supports 4G LTE + 3G + infrared + dual audio + Dolby + dual-antenna
• 137.7 x 68.8 x 7.6mm | 126g
• 2300 mAh
• Android 4.2.2

• ZTE Nubia Z5s mini
• 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor
• 2GB RAM
• 16GB / 32GB storage
• 4.7-inch display (720p)
• 13MP rear camera (f/2.2) + 5MP front camera
• 7.6mm thick | 120g
• supports 4G LTE + 3G
• Android 4.2.2

We recently saw some slides showing off Samsung's plans for flexible displays but some more slides have appeared as well that seem to confirm a 2K 560ppi display for the next Samsung Galaxy S5 in 2014. This is clearly shown in the slide number 18 with a Super AMOLED display with 560 ppi available by 2014. Reaching 560ppi on a 5.3-inch screen would mean that it would have resolutions equaling 2600 x 1440, placing it within 2K display range. We're guessing that this would likely be a plastic substrate like the one used in the Samsung Galaxy Round but what really caught our eye was that the flexible screen concept render for the Samsung Galaxy Gear was clearly shown in slides 29 and 30. It could be just a sloppy copy paste job, but it hints that we may see such flexible displays in Samsung smartwatches soon. It also shows that Samsung is thinking ahead of just curved, bended and foldable wearable devices as stretchable displays were also listed as well.

We've been hearing rumours about a 12.9-inch Apple iPad Air Pro tablet for quite some time now, and the likelihood of it coming out soon seems ever closer. However, if it does come out, it would pose a serious threat to Apple's own range of MacBook Air notebook computers as it would undercut the MacBook Air both in terms of screensize as well as pricing. Rumours about a keyboard cover for Apple iPads also seem to indicate that a 12.9-inch Apple iPad Air Pro hybrid tablet could also arise, giving Microsoft's Surface and other hybrid tablet/laptops a run for the money. Recently, Tim Cook has also confirmed that new product categories would be launched at Apple and this seems to fit best, especially as reports are also out that a parts supplier (as usual) is currently making the 12.9-inch touchscreen displays for Apple.

Well, even presidents can be wrong sometimes, as the Huawei Ascend P6S has leaked once more, this time in semi-official Tenna certification complete with pictures. The certification also comes with tech specs and we unfortunately cannot find any octa-core processor or chipset as was initially reported. While it maintaines almost the same profile down to the 120g weight, it is actually 0.3mm thicker but maintains the same 4.7-inch IPS display with 720p resolutions. While it isn't packing MediaTek's Octa-core solution it will use a new Huawei chipset with 28nm fabrication. Again, it is still unconfirmed whether this would be the K3V2+ or the latest HiSilicon K3V3 but either would be less than the hoped-for Octa-core processor. The K3V3 uses the ARM big.LITTLE architecture with 1.8GHz dual-core Cortex A15 and 1.2GHz dual-core Cortex A7 processors which technically makes it a quad-core processor that operates with only one dual-core processor at a time. Other tech specs include a Mali-T658 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 8MP rear camera, 5MP front camera and Android 4.2.2. Feeling a bit let down? Well, so were we, but at least it is rumoured to get Android 4.4 Kit Kat as well. No pricing details or Malaysia release dates yet, but the Huawei Ascend P6S is expected in early 2014.

The Samsung Galaxy S III is one of the smartphones recently slated for an official Samsung Android 4.3 Jelly Bean firmware update and has been seeding for the past 2 weeks. However, there have been a number of problems and issues with the update including bricking the smartphone, making it unstable, and other glitches. Samsung has since stopped the seeding and responded with an official statement:

"As we are currently investigating the reported issues with Galaxy S3 4.3 Jelly Bean update, the upgrading service has been temporarily suspended. We are committed to providing customers with the best possible mobile experience, and will ensure to resume the upgrading service at the earliest possibility."

This means you won't be able to update your Samsung Galaxy S III from KIES or the OTA service for now. No news when Samsung could come out with the update as trouble shooting does take some time. Hopefully, Samsung come out with it soon and make sure that all the kinks have been ironed out this time as a buggy updated version of a buggy update will likely just irritate users even more.

ZTE was recently quoted that it would be launching a smartwatch as early as 2014 with a possible release date in Q1 of 2014. Unfortunately, there were no tech specs or other feature details but if it looks to make any sort of impact they will likely have to address most of the main limitations of current smartwatches in the market. These include cripplingly short battery life, compatibility, limited features and functionality, the now standard thick slab of touchscreen design and a rather high price tag. Most smartwatches are also aiming to be little more than notification centers for your smartphone that connect via bluetooth. We're hoping more for a standalone device and there are already quite a few of those in development or recently introduced. None have answered all of the main limitations of current smartwatches but we ZTE could be the one to finally break the deadlock. As it is, the ZTE smartwatch would probably surface at CES 2014, where Samsung is also rumoured to be coming out with a better Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch as well.