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With the IFA 2013 event upon us, Acer has officially launched it's Acer Liquid S2 as the World's first smartphone with the ability to record 4K video. Powered by a 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 processor, this 6-inch phablet offers full HD IPS display for 368ppi protected by Gorilla Glass 3. Other tech specs and features include a 3300 mAh battery, 16GB storage and microSD support up to 128GB. It packs in a 13MP rear camera with 28mm wide-angle lens with a backside illuminated sensor. The 2MP front camera also has an ultra-wide 88 degree 24mm BSI sensor and supports 1080p video recording.

The Acer Liquid C2 captures 4K Ultra HD video at 60 frames per second and can also do slow motion video. At 166 x 86 x 8.9mm the phablet is quite thin and supports 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi, 3G and GPS. At the event, Acer said that it would launch the smartphone late October 2013 in Europe but no detailed information on Malaysia release dates or pricing just yet. According to related news, the Acer Liquid S2 achieves 4K video recording not through it's camera sensor but through the Snapdragon 800 chipset, which may make the chipset synonymous with 4K video recording in general.

At a press conference by KT Corporation about broadband LTE, a presentation slide let slip that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note III would not only support a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset but also that it would be able to handle LTE-A. While this isn't an official Samsung announcement, KT Corporation is one of the major telcos in Korea so it doesn't look like a leak or prank. The slip doesn't confirm other features or details though as there are no Malaysia release dates, no pricing and no confirmation of other tech specs. With just another 2 or so days to go, the Samsung Galaxy Note III official reveal is set for 4 September 2013 where everything gets confirmed or not, so let's wait and see. We expect even more rumours and leaks to come though, as such things usually happen the closer you get to the official announcement.

Oracle Corporation recently released the latest MySQL Workbench 6.0. The open source design, development and administration tool provides data modeling, SQL development and comprehensive administration for server configuration, user administration migration and much more. The update follows up on more than 200 user inputs and requests from the MySQL community. The newest release offers a number of features and improvements which include:

• Redesigned user interface
• Vertical query results mode
• New Table Data Search
• Improved Server Status

Fujitsu recently announced the appointment of Michael Warren as the new Country President for Fujitsu Malaysia. His appointment will be effective from 1 September 2013. The role will see him driving overall business growth and profitability within the organization and increasing Fujitsu Malaysia's market share in the products, solutions and services available in Malaysia.

Micheal Warren has had 25 years worth of experience in a range of multinational and government-linked companies such as Malaysia's Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) and many more within the Asia Pacific region.  He will be responsible for the planning and overall strategic direction, sales, marketing and support operations while increasing customer satisfaction and strengthening strategic alliances with key channel partners.

Well, as expected, the HTC Zara Mini or Desire 601 mini will get a name change of it's own. Recent rumours indicate that rather than be called the HTC Desire 601 mini, the 4.3-inch display version could perhaps be called the HTC Z3. As before, this name change rumour comes from evleaks who has been quite accurate before about upcoming smartphone rumours and details. However, tech specs and features for the HTC Z3 will likely remain the same with the previously mentioned 4.3-inch screen (480 x 800), dual SIM, 1GHz dual-core processor, 512MB RAM, 8GB storage, 5MP rear camera and 1.2MP front camera. Again, no exact Malaysia release dates are available but we expect the HTC Z3 to be revealed in the next few months or so, perhaps with or after the HTC Desire 601.

The LG G Pad 8.3 has been officially announced, confirming many of the tech specs rumoured to come out with it. This includes the 8.3-inch display with 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution. According to LG this would make it the first 8-inch tablet with Full HD 1080p but we're expecting more such tablets to make an appearance soon. Other tech specs and features for the LG G Pad 8.3 include a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor, 2GB of LPDDR2 RAM, 16GB storage, 5MP rear camera, 1.3MP front camera and 4600 mAh battery. The tablet will run on Android 4.2.2. At 216.8 x 126.5 x 8.3mm the LG G Pad 8.3 is bigger than most 7-inch tablets but may only just offer WiFi support for now, or at least until a cellular version comes out. No exact Malaysia release dates but the LG G Pad 8.3 will be made available to North America, Europe and Asia from Q4 of 2013. Prices will probably be released when the tablet gets launched.

Rumours about a 12.2 tablet from Samsung have been swirling around before but this is probably the first time we've seen some relatively clear leaked images of the tablet. Rumoured by evleaks back in July, the Samsung Galaxy Note 12.2 tablet features a 12.2-inch screen with 2560 x 1600 pixel resolutions and may use an Exynos Octa 5 chipset. The Samsung Galaxy Note 12.2 will have the model name SM-P900 and will likely have S-Pen support as part of it's features list and tech specs. With the quality of the rendered image, we're expecting the tablet to make an appearance at the IFA 2013 but no Malaysia release dates just yet.

The upcoming midrange smartphone from HTC known as the HTC Zara could be called the HTC Desire 601 (which means the previously rumoured HTC Zara mini could also change it's name as well). This name changing rumour comes from surprisingly accurate serial leaker evleaks who tweeted:

"HTC Zara will ship as the Desire 601"

While this frees up the Zara name for a more premium device, the tech specs and features previously mentioned for the HTC Zara (or now Desire 601) are still the same. This includes a 1.2GHz dual-core snapdragon processor, a 4.5-inch display, 1GB of RAM, 8MP camera and an Adreno 305 GPU. Strangely enough, the HTC Zara Mini has already passed Tenaa which is the US FCC equivalent for China. Perhaps the Zara name has always been a codename for the smartphone and the HTC Zara Mini may be the next one to get a name change.

After seeing all the pics of the Sony Interchangeable lens supposedly for smartphones in the normal rather boring black, it was awesome when the wireless lens has made an appearance in white and gold. While the lens has been rumoured to be called the Sony ExpressOn other rumours now indicate that it may be called the Sony Smart Shot. Tech specs for the two models, the QX-100 and QX-10 remain the same though as the new name is likely to be a mashup of "Smartphone" and "Cybershot". As a reminder, the QX-100 will likely offer a 20.2MP CMOS sensor and price at $450 (RM) while the QX-10 will use an 18MP CMOS sensor with a price of $230. So far, no Malaysia release dates just yet, but we expect the lens to come out of hiding at the IFA 2013 this September.

While the Samsung Galaxy Note III is just days from being unveiled, some new rumours have cropped up stating that a cheaper version may also be in development. This cheaper version may get it's price cut due to lower-end internal features and tech specs such as the aforementioned 8MP camera sensor. Other hardware that may be cut-down includes the Super AMOLED screen which may be replaced with an LCD screen. So far, no news on actual pricing or availability but according to the rumours 30% of the entire first batch of Samsung Galaxy Note III phablets are in fact the cheaper versions and will be sold alongside the more expensive version for more options. No exact release dates in Malaysia but the report further states that the cheaper version would be made available for emerging markets like Malaysia. For now, we can only wait and see the Samsung Galaxy Note III unveiling on 4 September 2013.