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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.

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.