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With Christmas gift giving just around the corner, Maxis are currently offering a number of affordable smartphones from as low as RM0 with their Festive Sale. This includes the HTC One, Huawei Ascend Y511, Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 and Samsung Galaxy Y Neo provided you sign up for a 24-month contract with either the TalkMore28 or TalkMore48 plans packaged with a mobile internet plan. Both plans are also quite affordable and should make for a good value present come Christmas time except for perhaps the HTC One, the only premium smartphone in the bunch but the price is quite good considering the still rather high price it retails for. Check out the table or links in this article for more information:

While Windows Phones continue to blaze trails in the smartphone market, most of them continue to be made by Nokia which was recently bought by Microsoft. To get any sort of real expansion for Windows Phones, Microsoft needs other smartphone makers to produce more Windows Phone devices and smartphones. To that end, blogger Eldar Murtazin recently tweeted that Microsoft has offered $1 billion a year to Samsung for it to make more Windows Phone devices. While this seems like a bribe, it is often used for developmental costs and seen as a Research and Development contribution. Before it was bought over by Microsoft, Nokia received $1 billion a year as well but this was marked as "platform support payments". So far, there doesn't seem to be any official word of consent or even denial from Samsung and this is still very much an unconfirmed rumour yet so take this with a good pinch of salt.

Right after they made the 24-carat gold plated Apple iPad Air and Apple iPad mini with Retina Display, Goldgenie have come out with a 24-carat gold plated Apple iPhone 5S almost completely covered in Swarovski Crystals. This new bling covered version is called the Apple iPhone 5S Supernova with the 16GB versions costing RM20225. While it isn't the first time someone has come out with a crystal covered smartphone the sheer number of crystals on the Goldgenie Apple iPhone 5S Supernova is almost too much, but if you like a shiny disco ball smartphone then this is perfect for you. You can get the 32GB version for another RM500 or so and the 64GB for another RM1000 or so. As usual, Goldgenie will also include a nicely laquered Cherry Oak wooden box to put the bling encrusted gold Supernova Apple iPhone. Check out the pics for yourself in the article.

Reports from China have leaked some possible tech specs of the rumoured Apple iWatch along with a possible release date. These tech specs include a 100 mAh battery for two prototype iWatch devices which matches earlier reports that the iWatch would come in His and Her versions. Do bear in mind that a 100 mAh battery is barely even a third of the 315 mAh battery on the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch and that that only lasts a little more than a day. Apple will supposedly solve this by using a wireless charging technology capable of charging the iWatch from 3.2 feet away. The report goes on to say that the Apple iWatch will come in October 2014 again matching earlier rumours that it would come in late 2014. The report comes from a fairly accurate source when it comes to Apple leaks but do take this rumour with a healthy pinch of salt as it involves a so far yet to be seen magnetic resonance wireless charging technology that hasn't been completely confirmed in itself yet.

Intel backed Recon Instruments is now offering live streaming of stats for the snowy sportsperson through their Snow2 heads-up display smart goggles. The Snow2 is a pair of smart goggles that will soon be able to live stream stats like speed, vertical descent, distance or air time directly to Facebook. This Facebook integration is part of the new ReconOS 3.2 update for the Recon Snow2 smart goggles which is due on 18 December 2013. While we're thinking it could be a great tool for showing off when something goes right it will more likely live stream more embarrassing accidents when something goes wrong on the slopes. No news on Malaysia release dates but if you've already picked up a pair of Recon Snow2 smart goggles somehow, you should be able to download the update when it comes out next week.

DiGi recently announced it's DiGizens Thank You Sale for the end of 2013 as a big thank you for all their customers. While we've already covered the free smartphone deals which include the Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy Note II, HTC One, Sony Xperia C and Sony Xperia Z, DiGi are also offering a number of other free deals on top of this as well. This includes an extra 1GB of free Internet when customers purchase RM25 worth of Internet quota top-ups and 300 minutes worth of free calls for customers signing up for the DG Smart Plan 88. The first 2000 customers who sign up for any DG Smart Plan also get free 1000 Bonuslink points  along with free unlimited Skype calls to 63 countries for 30 days. A zero contract deal is also available for an Android Start tablet which comes free with a DiGi Tablet plan which also includes a free modem. In related news, DiGi will also offer 'Internet Weekends'  at their MyAndroid Hubs (the first MyAndroid Hub is located at the Sunway Pyramid DiGi store) which offers users a free demo on various Android products. For more information regarding the DiGizens Thank You sale check out the DiGi site.

We've already seen a curved Samsung Galaxy S5 concept so now it is Apple's turn with a curved glass concept render of the Apple iPhone 6C. Coming courtesy of SET Solution who have dreamed up a number of other concept renders  it also comes with a concept render for the Apple iPhone Air. Taking the same super thin and narrow design as the Apple iPad mini, this concept looks simply awesome on the iPhone with a proposed 1.5mm to 3mm thinness and 70g weight. While this sounds very breakable, it could probably be achieved with a flexible plastic substrate and a wireless, no port design. Obviously, neither of these two concept renders are officially endorsed by Apple but it is nice to dream so check out the videos in this article.

Some rather contradictory rumours have appeared as well, stating that Microsoft could soon make their Windows Phone and Windows RT operating systems free for device makers. This would hopefully cause a drop in production costs as device makers currently need to pay license fees for every device. This contradicts earlier rumours that Windows RT would be replaced by Windows Phone but this could be another option which Microsoft are considering. According to this rumour, Microsoft would only ask for licensing fees from their Pro products like Windows 8.1 and other desktop operating systems. While this could let Microsoft compete with Android, doing so would mean a heavy blow to their revenue streams as this is how Microsoft makes their money. It also raises the question of "Would you get Windows RT if it was free?". Considering the limitations of Windows RT, only for educational or other specific situations. A free Windows Phone operating system on the other hand would definitely help raise Microsoft's profile and perhaps sell more Windows Phone based devices, but it wouldn't help Microsoft make money, unless they got creative with Office and other solution pricing. As usual, take this rumour with a pinch of salt.

While rumours about a more affordable Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Lite have already circulated, supposedly due to a cheaper LCD screen, other tech specs have leaked out regarding the Note 3 Lite. This includes screen size which may be 5.7-inches along with a lower-end 8MP rear camera as opposed to the 13MP rear camera on the current Samsung Galaxy Note 3. According to some other rumours, Samsung has already started production of the Galaxy Note 3 Lite, with the production goal to be 1.5 million Note 3 Lite units by the end of February 2014. Other features that we could see being used in the Note 3 Lite is the PLS-LCD screen along with a metal mesh layer, both of which are Samsung technologies that are designed to reduce production costs while enabling a more sensitive stylus without having to use a digitizer. Rumours indicate that we could see the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Lite at the MWC Expo 2014 which is due at the end of February 2014. However, do remember that this is also a rumour so take everything mentioned here with a generous pinch of salt.

In a slew of Microsoft related rumours, the upcoming upgrade of the Windows Phone operating system, Windows Phone 9 may offer a number of changes, including removing the current Live Tiles user interface. Instead it would probably go for a more Android-like interface. Other changes also include the rumour that Windows Phone 9 will replace Windows RT. These rumours come courtesy of Eldar Murtazin who has been mostly correct when it comes to Nokia / Microsoft leaks. According to the blogger, we could see Windows Phone 9 in Q3 of 2014. No exact Malaysia release dates or pricing were available but in all likelihood, the upgrade to Windows Phone 9 will be free. Do note that this is still very much a rumour so take it with a pinch of salt.