Latest News

The LG G Flex is one of the first smartphones to sport a flexible display using a more durable plastic substrate. However, many people are saying that a flexible display is the same as an unbreakable display, which would be awesome for those of us who tend to drop our smartphones a lot. The guys at Android Authority managed to get their hands on one LG G Flex and proceeded to do a drop test, checking to see if a flexible display actually does mean an unbreakable display which you can check out in the video in this article.

A metal frame for a smartphone has recently surfaced, and while it isn't an aluminum unibody, it could be the metal frame for the Samsung Galaxy S5. Measurements for the frame come up at 143.8 x 72.3mm which indicates that it could get a 5.3-inch display, matching up with the incremental screen size increase of previous versions. This leak comes courtesy of nowhereelse.fr, which is quite famous for mostly accurate leaked images and tech specs. However, certain aspects of the frame don't match with current features of the Samsung Galaxy S range. These include a corner camera placement as opposed to the standard center camera placement along with a 3.5mm audio jack on the bottom as opposed to standard practice where Samsung smartphones have the 3.5mm audio jack on the top. Then again, this could be a frame for the new premium Samsung Galaxy F line of smartphones. In any case, this is still very much a rumour, so do take it with a pinch of salt. No other tech specs, pricing or Malaysia release dates were available but the Samsung Galaxy S5 is said to come in January 2014.

Maxis has recently opened up teaser images of the Apple iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina Display. Unlike Celcom and DiGi, Maxis isn't opening any registration of interest forms just yet, but rest assured that they will be offering the tablets with Maxis 4G on their SurfMore data plans. This also means that if you're looking to get either an Apple iPad Air or iPad mini with Retina Display from Maxis you can expect to get the 4G LTE Cellular models that also come with the same prices. Unfortunately, Maxis did not reveal any pricing or Malaysia release dates but many are expecting this to come up in early December 2013 so people can get their Christmas shopping done. Check out the Maxis Apple iPad Air and Maxis Apple iPad mini with Retina Display pages for yourself.

In today's connected life, many times parents would consider giving their young school going children mobile phones and even smartphones to stay connected and protected. However, most parents and schools feel that this is not the best idea as your standard mobile phone or smartphone opens up possibilities of games, texting or calling during class and much more (like the super dangerous Internet). One of the more interesting solutions is the FiLIP,  which is a silicon encased phone watch that can only call up to five preset numbers, cannot text or install games and has a built-in GPS. What makes the FiLIP different is that children can use it to make calls back, perhaps to tell the parents to come pick them up or some other emergency. Parents can also call and send one-way text messages or locate them via GPS (they can also set a safezone) using the smartphone app.

Quite a few people are looking forward to the Samsung Galaxy S5, including those who can create a reasonable concept render. This concept render of the Samsung Galaxy S5 appeared from the folks at O2 Guru TV sporting a curved screen from top to bottom, much like the LG G Flex. While this looks pretty and all, what is really interesting are the tech specs coming with the concept render. These Samsung Galaxy S5 tech specs include:

• A 64-bit octa-core processor and chipset
• 3GB RAM
• 5-inch Curved Super AMOLED display (2560 x 1440 pixel resolution)
• 16MP rear camera (4K video recording)
• 4000 mAh battery
• Android 4.4 Kit Kat + updated TouchWiz
• 4x front facing speakers

Despite recent successes in the smartphone market like the LG G2 and the notable LG G Flex, LG is apparently shifting their focus from smartphones to more successful industries. Despite positive response for these latest of smartphones, LG will be shifting their focus to TVs and related industries as these are getting better overall response. This news comes courtesy of Korean media who say that this will result in less LG employees working on smartphones and more on HDTVs. While this doesn't mean that LG will stop production completely it does mean we're less likely to see cutting edge smartphones from LG in the near future. However, LG are likely to continue development on flexible screens as curved and bent OLED screens are just as likely to be used in the TV industry as they are in a smartphone. Rather than be a player in the smartphone field, LG are likely to become parts suppliers instead. Here's what one analyst had to say about it:

"With the premium market slowing down and Chinese companies charging forward in the sluggish mid-to low-priced market, there is not much choice for LG Electronics. For starters, it may be better off to improve its financial status by increasing its TV sales, and then invest properly in the smartphone business."

BlackBerry has officially announced the Porsche Design P'9982. While you may think that this is just a rebadged BlackBerry Z10 (and the tech specs are the same) the P'9982 is actually made with premium materials which include an Italian leather backside and a stainless steel frame. Each device has it's own BBM Pin number for extra exclusivity. The use of premium materials means that the P'9982 is actually thicker by 0.5mm and heavier by 2.5g compared to the Z10 it is based on. Tech specs remain the same though and include a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 2GB RAM, 4.2-inch display with 1280 x 768 pixel resolutions, 1800 mAh battery, 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera nad support for 4G LTE. The user interface has been customized as well for the price of 1500 pounds (RM7600+). It can be bought through the Harrods and Porsche Design online Store but for more information go check out the main site. Check out the video and links in this article.

There have been quite a few smartwatch announcements recently and one of the latest is the Neptune Pine smartwatch. Originally a Kickstarter crowd-funding project (which is still running and has already met it's $100000 goal), the Pine smartwatch is a standalone device that packs in the tech specs and hardware of an entry-level smartphone into a rather chunky smartwatch that you can remove from the dock like strap to take pictures. This is because the Pine has a 5MP rear camera to go with a VGA front camera as well, both complete with LED flash. Other tech specs include a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 512MB of RAM, 16GB / 32GB of storage and a 2.4-inch screen with 320 x 240 pixel resolution. The Pine supports Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS and even 3G along with voice calls and SMS. While it runs on Android 4.1, Neptune devs are currently working on an Android 4.4 update. Check out the videos, images and links in this article.

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.