Latest News

BlackBerry's upcoming 5-inch smartphone, the BlackBerry Z30 or Aristo as it is codenamed, may be the company's last gasp saviour as the most recent BlackBerry 9720 really didn't do as much as expected (we expected it entirely). On the other hand, we're expecting many good (and hopefully great) features from the Z30 smartphone which likely will include a 5-inch touchscreen and an overall design much like the BlackBerry Z10. Apparently the BlackBerry Z30 has leaked in a vs match with the Nokia Lumia 925 and this has seemingly confirmed a number of tech specs which include the aforementioned 5-inch HD Super AMOLED screen, a 2880 mAh battery, 16GB of Storage and 2GB of RAM along with the fact that it will likely be called the BlackBerry Z30 and not the A10 as was initially rumoured. These revelations come from details in the leaked pics which you can check out for yourself. Again, not much news on when the Malaysia release date would be or how much it would be priced but stay tuned and we'll keep you updated.

Now we've all seen images of the Apple iPhone 5S in champagne gold but it appears that it may have other colour features in the form of a gunmetal casing. While we don't have an actual gunmetal chassis to show you, we do have leaked pics of a gunmetal coloured SIM tray. When inserted into a white Apple iPhone 5S casing it really shows a difference. Gunmetal is generally grey in colour and sometimes comes in brushed metal. We have no idea if this is still aluminum or a different type of metal but with the leaked images of the champagne gold Apple iPhone 5S a gunmetal version is also just as likely. As usual, no details just yet on a release date for Malaysia or pricing but all eyes are looking towards September (we're guessing if no announcement comes next month, all eyes will move on to October and so forth ;).

Huawei continues to offer trend setting smartphones at more affordable prices with the upcoming Huawei Honor 3. While the Ascend series have mostly been  a bit more premium with what was once the world's thinnest smartphone, the Honor series from Huawei has always been a bit more mid-range. According to certain sources, the upcomingHuawei Honor 3 may be coming out on 28 August 2013. Tech specs for the Huawei Honor 3 include:

• 1.5Ghz quad-core K3V2E processor
• 2GB RAM
• 8GB storage + microSD
• 4.7-inch screen (720 x 1280 resolution)
• 13MP rear camera + 1MP front camera
• 2230 mAh battery
• Android 4.2.2 + Emotion UI 1.6

Canon recently announced their new PowerShot SX510 HS and SX170 IS superzooms for the masses. On the one hand the Canon PowerShot SX510 HS is designed for the compact user while the Canon PowerShot SX170 IS is targeted at the full-size superzoom digital camera user. Ramping up from it's previous version, the SX500, the SX510 adds on a 12.1MP CMOS sensor and built-in WiFi but maintains the same 30x 24-720mm optical zoom lens, 3.0-inch LCD screen and 1080/24p video recording capability. The SX170 on the other hand maintains more or less the same 16x optical zoom and 16MP CCD sensor as it's previous version, the SX160 but changes up the battery to a slimmer proprietary rechargeable Li-ion pack making it lighter and smaller. According to Canon the SX510 will be available for $249.99 (RM827.47) while the SX170 will be sold for $179.99 (RM595.77). Both will be available in markets like Malaysia in September 2013. Both models should take the point-and-shoot digital camera enthusiast to the next level in digital photography with options for more features or the same powerful device with better and lighter design.

Canon recently revealed it's PowerShot N Facebook-ready digital camera aimed at the masses of social media users who take a lot of pictures and upload most of them to their Facebook walls. One of the features that makes it "Facebook-ready" is a dedicated Facebook Connect button which replaces the connect-to-device button on the standard PowerShot N. After you've entered your Facebook login details you can upload your images to specific Facebook friends direct from the camera. Amongst the more noteworthy features of the camera include a 1/2.3-inch 12MP sensor but the whole package will set you back by about $299 (RM990). The "Facebook-ready" version retains the same W-Fi capabilities, 8x optical zoom, 28mm wide-angle lens and 2.8-inch tilt-touch capacitive LCD panel as a standard PowerShot N so you can expect the same excellent performance. It should already be available in Malaysia but if it isn't it should be here soon.

While we're still deciding if it's going to be called the Sony Xperia Z1 or Sony i1 Honami, rumours have come out that Sony are already preparing a Mini version of their rumoured cameraphone. While it will be packing a smaller 4.3-inch screen and 2400 mAh battery because of the smaller form factor, rumours indicate that everything else could be exactly the same with the bigger Sony Xperia Z1. This means that the tech specs for the Sony Xperia Z1 Mini or Sony i1 Honami Mini could include:

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor
• 2GB RAM
• 16GB storage + microSD
• 4.3-inch display
• 20MP camera (Sony G lens, f/2.0 aperture)
• 2400 mAh battery

It seems that the Pixel Per Inch or PPI race is still on for mobile devices as LG recently showed off a 5.5-inch Quad HD panel with a pixel density of 538ppi. The screen offers a resolution of 1440 x 2560 which is within the range of 4K video already. While the whopping pixel density makes it a world record already, LG are indicating that the screen is headed for smartphones and other mobile devices, which could mean a 538ppi screen smartphone or phablet from LG pretty soon. According to LG Display, the reason they bumped up the resolution so high is so that there would be a clearer image with more vivid colours and improvements in overall contrast.  This would result in nearly no distortion with super sharp images even under zoom. This LG Quad HD display screen is also surprisingly slim at 1.2mm thin with a 1.2mm bezel making it 12% thinner than the previously released 5.2-inch LG FHD screen.

With just about two more weeks before the Samsung Unpacked 2 event (where the Samsung Galaxy Gear is probably going to be announced), and we have some more rumours coming out about the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch. This time around the rumours indicate that we may now get the smartwatch in black, grey, orange, white and now white gold which is probably going to be released after the other 4 colours. The leak comes courtesy of SamMobile who are usually quite accurate about most things Samsung related but as always do take it with a pinch of salt. In all likelihood, the Samsung Galaxy Gear may come in a lot more colours than just 5 but this is the colour list we have for now. As a refresher, the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch is expected to be revealed on 4 September at the IFA 2013 with sales release dates expected in September to October of 2013. Again no news on pricing or availability in Malaysia just yet, but we'll keep you updated.

Apart from a tablet and a phablet, apparently Nokia has 7 new Nokia product codenames which include "Bandit, Lanai, Orion, Pegasus, Rivendell, Shorty, Siruis". While Bandit refers to the Nokia phablet, the other 6 codenames are still not matched up to any other device. Some sources are saying that Rivendell will be the codename of the rumoured Nokia Windows RT tablet and who is to say that one of the other codenames could be for a Nokia Windows 8 / Surface Pro tablet as well. Since all of the known codenames seem to be referring to Nokia Windows products, it could be a safe bet to surmise that the other codenames refer to more Nokia Windows devices, perhaps in the form of some more Lumia smartphones. However, codenames in Nokia will probably remain just that as Nokia's naming conventions have always been based on numbers and not codenames. They do indicate 7 new Nokia products though which is still something to look forward to for Nokia fans.

The other rumoured Samsung flip-phone, the Samsung Galaxy Golden has recently been officially released in South Korea. Featuring dual 3.7-inch Super AMOLED screens with a physical keypad the Samsung Galaxy Golden will be sold for KRW790000 (RM2332) which is quite high considering the other tech specs. These tech specs include a 1.7GHz dual-core processor, FM Radio, 8MP camera, a pedometer and various S features. No news when it would be available here in Malaysia or for how much but we're guessing that this could be a Korea only release. However, if you're pining for the flip-phone form factor there's always the Samsung Hennessey.