Latest News:  Samsung Galaxy S4

Samsung have confirmed that the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch will soon be compatible with the Samsung Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S III smartphones. The news comes courtesy of Lee Young-hee, Executive Vice President for Marketing of Samsung who stated that the S4 would be compatible by end of October 2013. The Note II and Galaxy S III on the other hand will be compatible by end of December. This compatibility hinges on the smartphones getting their Android 4.3 updates which will then enable the Bluetooth 4.0 LE support required by the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch to work. As mentioned earlier, the Samsung Galaxy Gear has an RRP of RM999 in Malaysia although it can be acquired for free as a combo deal with certain local telcos. In related news, Samsung will be working on apps or a user experience to make the Gear smartwatch pop more as they acknowledge that the smartwatch "lacks something special".

Seemingly coming out of the blue, Samsung has confirmed that a gold (or gold coloured) version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 may be making it's way to consumer markets soon. Revealed as a tweet from the Middle East Samsung branch, the new version will come in Golden Brown and Golden Pink but there is yet any information if it will be just a a gold coloured plastic or actual gold plating. We're guessing that it could be actual gold plating because the colour looks about right as those from third-party chassis makers. We're also guessing that the tech specs or features should remain the same, if not as top range as possible to match the gold chassis. It may stop short of LTE-A considering that there aren't any LTE-A networks in the Middle East but again, these are still guesses and not confirmations. So far, no news on Malaysia release dates or pricing but a gold coloured metal chassis could just as likely get snapped up quite fast as well, considering the other "gold" coloured best selling smartphone that recently got launched.  

Now this is by no means a new rumour, as rumours about a metal body Samsung smartphone have been around since before the Samsung Galaxy S4. What is new, is that the source seems to be coming from mostly South Korean Media who suggest that Samsung may finally be making this move with a premium Project F series of smartphones. These F series smartphones would have metal chassis, feature the latest 64-bit Samsung Exynos chipsets and have the latest Samsung technology such as the ISOCELL mobile camera technology. Tech specs for the smartphones include 4.5-inch to 5.5-inch screen sizes that may see flexible displays and 16MP cameras with optical image stabilization. So far, no other features or information such as Malaysia release dates or pricing are available but rumours indicate that we could see the Samsung Project F smartphones make an appearance in March 2014 which coincides with CES 2014.

Celcom is currently offering 2 new devices for their Celcom First plans in the form of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 will be offered from RM888 while the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active will be offered from RM1388. Both are available on the Celcom First voice and / or data plans under 12 month or 18  month contracts.

Both devices offer LTE support but while the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 is a dual-core 8-inch tablet, the Galaxy S4 Active is the rugged waterproof version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone. You can get more information regarding this deal from the respective Celcom Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 and Celcom Samsung Galaxy S4 Active sites. Alternatively, you can also check out our other Celcom telco plans as well.

We've seen a number of phone shops with the sign 'No SKMM' or 'Tiada Pakej Kommunikasi Belia' posted up, but an update from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has confirmed that the program was only on hold to check the effectiveness of the program. In a report from Digital News Asia, MCMC have said that the quota of 1.5 million registered youths has been taken up by 1.2 million to 1.3 million youths while the remaining slots have been voided. According to them the program would resume on 3 September for the remaining 200000 or so slots. The Youth Communication Package or Pakej Komunikasi Belia, offers an RM200 rebate for youths aged 21 to 30 years old with a monthly income of RM3000 or less who want to buy a smartphone. The MCMC go on further to confirm that "there is no new smartphone rebate programme here" which could mean that after the remaining 200000 slots have been taken up in Malaysia, there won't be another smartphone rebate program until further government deliberations so if you qualify get it while you can.

One would think that after the LTE-A version powered by a Snapdragon 800 processor, there would be enoughSamsung Galaxy S4 versions out there already, but apparently not as another version following the same model number naming convention has been spotted from the GFXBench site. Marked as the I9507 there isn't much information available for it apart from tech specs that state that it uses a Snapdragon 600 chipset with a 1.9GHz processor. It looks to be using the same Adreno 320 GPU as the Samsung Galaxy S4 I9505 but apart from the fact that it is running Android 4.2.2 there isn't any other information. There weren't any details like pricing or availability but it could be either a dual-SIM version of the I9505 or a rebadged I9505 tied to a specific provider. It could also be the still unrevealed Samsung Galaxy S4 Max but we'll find out pretty soon as Samsung usually announces as soon as they can.

The recently released Samsung Galaxy S4 mini will apparently arrive in three new colours. These include the usually thematically named Scarlet Dawn, Bronze Autumn and Blue Iceberg, which basically means red, brown and blue. Check out the pics of the mini in all three colours below. Unfortunately, there isn't any mention when these colours will be available but the official announcement should be soon.

In a posting for their credit card promotions, Hong Leong Bank Malaysia had the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini and Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 listed at discounted prices. What was more interesting was that it also listed the retail price for both, with the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini going for RM1499 while the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 went for a retail price of RM1099.

Ever wondered which smartphone would last the longest or have the longest battery life? Well, it isn't just you as some testers from UK have put the Samsung Galaxy S4, Sony Xperia Z, HTC One, Apple iPhone 5, Google Nexus 4, BlackBerry Z10 and Nokia Lumia 920 through a number of battery tests for call time, internet usage and charging time. The results may shock you but do check out the results:

Joining the fray with their LTE capable version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 or the I9505, Celcom is now offering the smartphone from a subsidized price of RM1888. The deal requires you to sign up for a Celcom First Plan and Mobile Internet plan with a choice of 12 to 18 months. Check the table below for all the details: