News & Reviews:   Apple iPhone 6

U Mobile recently announced the first of it's kind deal in Malaysia for the Apple iPhone 6 andiPhone 6 Plus. Utilizing a new U Microcredit plan you can now get said smartphone from as low as RM98 a month. This is different from previous Malaysia Telco deals because you are paying more for the phone and not the dual combination of phone and plan. In this case it is more like buying a car than a smartphone with a telco plan. The upside is that there is no deposit and you are no longer tied to the plan and can choose to use a different provider if you choose to do so. There are conditions of course, you have to pay the first monthly installment fee plus a one-time administrative fee and you are tied to the U Microcredit deal for 33 months. There are also data plans as well which are not tied to any contract but you do have to pay the remaining phone price subsidy with no penalty. In addition, using a credit card to pay with auto debit monthly fees will allow you to get no upfront payment benefits. If you sign up on 19 March 2015, you also get unlimited Internet till 31 July 2015 for the i60 and i90 plans and until 30 September 2015 for the i130 plan. Check out the table below for more info:

Just recently, Apple Malaysia raised the local Malaysia pricing for the Apple iPhone 6, Apple iPhone 6 Plus and Apple iPhone 5s. A quick look at the price reveals that the pricing has gone up by about RM150 to RM200 with no difference to tech specs or features. This is probably due to the recent drop in value for the Malaysian Ringgit against the US Dollar which is currently is $1 to RM3.71. The Apple iPhone 5c remains the same though but we don't expect many people to be happy about that either. Hopefully, if the Ringgit goes up within this year, Apple Malaysia will cut the pricing back down but for now, we expect other Malaysia online stores and Malaysian Telcos to follow soon. Check out the complete price increase listing as follows:

• Apple iPhone 6, 16GB storage ~ RM2399 to RM2549
• Apple iPhone 6, 64GB storage ~ RM2749 to RM2949
• Apple iPhone 6, 128GB storage ~ RM3149 to RM3349
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus, 16GB storage ~ RM2749 to RM2949
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus, 64GB storage ~ RM3149 to RM3349
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus, 128GB storage ~ RM3549 to RM3749
• Apple iPhone 5s, 16GB storage ~ RM1999 to RM2149
• Apple iPhone 5s, 32GB storage ~ RM2199 to RM2349
• Apple iPhone 5c, 8GB storage ~ RM1499 (remains the same)

Biometric sensors are usually located on home buttons like in the Apple iPhone 6 or the Samsung Galaxy S5. This forces companies to increase the space below the display so as to accommodate the fingerprint sensor on the button. However, CrucialTek from South Korea has come up with a better solution. The company recently patented a new technology which allows biometric sensors to be embedded directly in the touch screen panel. Once this tech is incorporated in smartphones, users will no longer have to rely on different areas for fingerprint recognition as the touchscreen itself will act as a sensor. This will save a lot of space, especially at the bottom where the sensor is located on the home button. A similar tech was expected to feature in the Galaxy S5 and the Galaxy Note 4, but that just didn't happen. As CrucialTek just received the patent, it seems doubtful that we'll see it come in the Galaxy S6 as this is set for release in the next few weeks. However, you can expect future launches, like the Galaxy Note 5 to feature this new age fingerprint module. Apple too is said to be experimenting with a similar technology and even recently patented it. Of course there are no exact Malaysia release dates but we expect such devices to appear later in the year.

Xiaomi Malaysia's official Facebook page has revealed the new 5000 mAh Xiaomi Mi Power Bankwhich will replace the existing 5200 mAh model. This particular upgrade was announced back in 2014 in China and will finally be available for purchase in the upcoming flash sale. The new power bank is much slimmer than the existing one (9.9mm thick to be precise) and will weigh about 1 gram more. Xiaomi has priced the device at RM34, which is the exact same price at which the current model was being sold in the market. Also, the output has been increased in the new model from 1.5A to 2.1A. There is a status button along with four LED lights to indicate the amount of energy on the device. Xiaomi also has another powerbank in the market measuring 16000 mAh. The company claims that this power bank can charge an Apple iPad Mini up to 2.5 times and an Apple iPhone 6 up to 5 times. The larger model features two microUSB ports and is available in Malaysia for RM79. 

Goldgenie is famous for its customizations on flagship smartphones. The UK based company has gold plated many popular flagship devices like the Apple iPhone 6 to make the device a bit more unique. Now, the company has taken things to the next level. It has just announced the Diamond Ecstasy iPhone 6 edition which is probably the most you can spend on an iPhone. Customers are free to choose between three different coatings for their iPhone 6 – gold, platinum and rose gold. Once this is done, this special edition model gets studded with hundreds of diamonds around the edges. Even the Apple logo at the back is filled with this precious stone. If customers want something different, Goldgenie have them covered as they can choose between any other precious stone like rubies, emeralds, black diamond, pink diamond, sapphires and so forth for their device. But if someone really wants to take things to the highest level, then he or she can choose the precious stones and pretty much everything customizable on the phone. Goldgenie notes such a customization could cost up to $3.5 million which comes to around RM12.60 million. The company has already sold 5 such Diamond Ecstasy models which cost over $15200 (RM54727).

Samsung is all set to announce its flagship device, the Samsung Galaxy S6 at MWC 2015. The company has already started sending out invites for their Unpacked event. Still, Samsung have yet to show off its upcoming device in pictures and there are a number of rumors and images floating around on the internet claiming to be this revolutionary device. Now, some renders of the Galaxy S6 have come up online showing a glimpse of what the next Samsung flagship could look like. There have been some rumors claiming that the S6 will take its design inspiration from the Apple iPhone 6. For example, a previous leak showed off a chassis with port and speaker placement similar to the Apple's flagship phone. The renders seem to have taken inspiration from these leaks. Hence, the overall design renders of the phone looks a lot more rounded than traditional Galaxy flagships. If rumors are to be believed, then the S6 will reportedly feature a metal body measuring in at 143.52mm x 70.70mm x 7.19mm. The company is also said to be working on swappable back covers for the flagship model, but we are not sure of anything at the moment. MWC is just a few more weeks, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, check out the renders of the Galaxy S6 for yourself.

Last year, Lenovo surprised everyone by releasing an almost exact clone of the Apple iPhone 6. This move was surprising given that the Chinese manufacturer is generally not known for making clones. The device was initially available in China for a very low price as compared to the Apple flagship and now, the sameLenovo S90 aka Lenovo Sisley has come to Malaysia. The device is available through SenQ and other third party sellers. This Android powered iPhone clone will cost only RM939 which is a great price considering the tech specs and the premium design. The Lenovo S90 features a 64-bit quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor with 2GB RAM and 16GB of non-expandable storage. The Super AMOLED display up front is of 5-inches which makes it only a bit bigger than the 4.7-inch iPhone 6. However, the phone sports the exact same thickness as the Apple model, which is 6.9mm and weighs even the same 129 grams. At the back, there is a 13MP camera and up front, there is an 8MP shooter. The battery is average and at 2300 mAh, it should be able to provide a day's worth of service. The Lenovo S90 features dual SIM card slots that support 4G LTE here in Malaysia. 

Last year, Lenovo surprised everyone by releasing an almost exact clone of the Apple iPhone 6. This move was surprising given that the Chinese manufacturer is generally not known for making clones. The device was initially available in China for a very low price as compared to the Apple flagship and now, the sameLenovo S90 aka Lenovo Sisley has come to Malaysia. The device is available through SenQ and other third party sellers. This Android powered iPhone clone will cost only RM939 which is a great price considering the tech specs and the premium design. The Lenovo S90 features a 64-bit quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor with 2GB RAM and 16GB of non-expandable storage. The Super AMOLED display up front is of 5-inches which makes it only a bit bigger than the 4.7-inch iPhone 6. However, the phone sports the exact same thickness as the Apple model, which is 6.9mm and weighs even the same 129 grams. At the back, there is a 13MP camera and up front, there is an 8MP shooter. The battery is average and at 2300 mAh, it should be able to provide a day's worth of service. The Lenovo S90 features dual SIM card slots that support 4G LTE here in Malaysia. 

The Samsung Galaxy A5, one of the company's first metal body mid-range smartphone was announced last month. Now, a Vietnamese gold plating company called Karalux is offering a special gold plated Samsung Galaxy A5 variant for an additional $200. Karalux specializes in the customization of phones and supercars and has a number of gold plated models of famous flagships like the Apple iPad Air 2, Apple iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy Note 4 under its belt. As for the mid-range A5, Karalux has gold plated the entire aluminum body of the phone with 24K gold. The end result is a gold Galaxy A5 with some plastic patches left on the top, back and the bottom. The company claims that it takes around 4 hours to complete the process. Interested users can also ask for a custom design on the back plate of the device. Even with the $200 (RM711) additional charge, the total cost of the Galaxy A5 comes to around $610 (RM2169). That's a decent price for a gold plated device. As for the tech specs, the A5 comes with a Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, 5-inch 720p display and 13MP rear camera. The regular version of the Galaxy A5 is already available starting from today.    

In a recent report, it was proved that the Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have the ability to record videos in ultra-high definition 4K pixel resolution. Now, there's an app which claims to unlock this hidden feature inside the Apple's latest devices. The Cupertino giant decided to disable this feature in the new iPhones saying that it was not market ready and 4K videos do take up a lot of storage space and put undue strain on the phone's processor. Causing overheating and taking up space on a device that doesn't have expandable memory. For those who don't mind these little issues, ProCam 2 can be a great app to unlock this 4K video recording capability. The app, now available on the iTunes store, brings 4K recording to both new iPhone models. The video shown below is captured in 4K resolution at 30fps using the app. The user pans it very slowly to avoid any hiccups caused due to the low frame rate in such a high resolution video. One thing to note here is that the app does not essentially capture the video in true 4K resolution (3840 x 2160), instead it captures it in 3264 x 1836 resolution and upscales to 4K. The ProCam 2 can be bought from the Apple store for $1.99 (RM7), but to unlock 4K, you need to make an additional in-app purchase worth $4.99 (RM17.5).