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It appears that the Samsung Galaxy Note II is also getting a refresh as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 powered version has made its way to China. Recently announced by China Mobile (which is the largest carrier in China) as the N7108D, the new version looks exactly the same as the old Samsung Galaxy Note II but has had a refresh in terms of the internal hardware. This includes FDD-LTE, TD-LTE and TD-SCDMA standards. The aforementioned chipset also upgrades the Mali 400 GPU with the much faster Adreno 320 while the 1.9GHz quad-core Krait 300 processor results in a benchmark that beats the older version with ease.

Fans waiting for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 can now get the 7-inch tablet with cellular capabilities from Celcom for as low as RM549. Knocking down the price by about half from the original retail price of RM1099 the tablet offers entry level to midrange performance with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1GB RAM. The tablet is available on the various Celcom First plans with pay-as-you-use voice  and SMS for 12 month or 24 month contracts. For more details check out the table below:

The upcoming low-cost Apple iPhone formerly known as the Apple iPhone Lite may now be known as the Apple iPhone 5C as recently discovered packaging show the name on the side of the box. While it could very well be another knock-off, the packaging jives with how the Apple iPod touch is being sold with a similar plastic container covered by a transparent top. The Apple iPhone 5C (if that is indeed the real name) will feature plastic backplates with plastic chassis and other plastic parts to help lower the price point. The good thing about this is that it may have various colours to choose from, which could also be what the C in iPhone 5C stands for as in "Colors". According to rumours, the Apple iPhone 5C and Apple iPhone 5S will be announced on 18 September but launched on 27 September 2013.

The Sony Xperia i1 Honami was recently spotted pictured side by side with the Sony Xperia Z. While the overall look and feel seems similar enough the Honami looks just a bit wider and longer than the Xperia Z. Tech specs for the Sony Xperia Honami include a 20MP camera and 5-inch Full HD 1080p display. Other images include the camera app, this time in English.

After making time for a photo session with the Sony Xperia Z, the Sony Xperia Honami was also recently spotted in a confidentiality request letter to the Federal Communications Commission of the US. According to the report, the Sony Xperia Honami has been confirmed but Sony has asked that the user manual, test setup photos, external photos and internal photos be kept confidential until 30 September 2013. This almost confirms previous rumours that the upcoming Sony cameraphone is going to be announced at the IFA 2013 on 4 September 2013.

BlackBerry's budget smartphone, the BlackBerry Q5 is currently available under contract with Maxis from a super low subsidized price of RM438. Granted, the BlackBerry Q5 is already retailing at RM1299, but the below RM500 price range makes the smartphone available to even entry-level markets (and opens up LTE to more people). Available on the BBMore148, BBMore88 and BBMore55 plans, the Q5 is tied for 24 months and 12 months contracts.

Currently the limit on RAM in most smartphones and tablets is 2GB, however, many industry watchers have said that 4GB is actually already available for fabrication. Rumours have also surfaced that various smartphones from the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note III to the Xiao Mi3 are going to arrive with 3GB of RAM built-in. As if to confirm this, Samsung have released the first of their 3GB RAM chips for smartphones based on the 20nm fabrication process. To add fuel to the fire Samsung are already manufacturing it and they could be rolling off fabrication conveyer belts very soon.

Nokia Malaysia has confirmed that Malaysia will be getting both the Nokia Lumia 1020 and Nokia Lumia 925 soon. Specific dates weren't exactly available at the time, but they have given a general estimate of arrival for the two premium Lumias. According to Gary Chan, Head of Marketing for Nokia Pan Asia, the Nokia Lumia 1020 is likely to arrive in Malaysia in Q4 of 2013. The Nokia Lumia 925 on the other hand has been confirmed for August 2013. While the metal-clad Nokia Lumia 925 will be priced at RM1799, there wasn't any exact pricing for the Nokia Lumia 1020.

Rumours that Nokia is working on a phablet have been going about since the beginning of the year. While there have been a number of leaks, from side by side pictures to possible naming conventions (Bendit?) the most recent picture to surface looks like the front panel of the phablet from what looks to be a factory floor (supposedly in China). The picture confirms that it will be another 6-inch monster with super-thin bezels but rumours have it being named as the Nokia Lumia 1030, which could indicate a possible oversized camera hump much like the recently released Nokia Lumia 1020.

Previously you could only view things on your HDTV from other devices like your computer if it had WiFi and was DLNA compatible. This also meant you had to have a DLNA compatible server, NAS or device to stream from and you'd still have to use the HDTV's remote control and interface to navigate all the media you'd like shown on your big screen. Now, Google have released Chromecast, a rooted Android-based HDMI dongle that plugs into your HDTV and lets you stream media from practically any device that can connect to the Internet.

Celcom are currently offering the new LG Optimus G Pro from as low as RM1138, which is good since the original retail price is RM1888. The new full HD smartphone is available for Celcom First users with an additional Mobile Internet plan along with the mPro Plus plan with options for 12, 17 and 24 month contracts.

Just to refresh your memory, the LG Optimus G Pro offers a 5.5-inch Full HD 1080p display placing it somewhat in the phablet market. However it does offer a bit more power with a 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 processor, 2GB of RAM and a 13MP rear camera. For other telco options check out our LG Optimus G Pro plan comparison tool but if you need more information regarding this deal, go to the Celcom site. Alternatively, you can also check out our other Celcom telco package deals.