iPhone 6 officially priced from RM2,399 in Malaysia

This is probably good news for Apple users. The latest iPhone 6 official price is similar as the previous iPhone 5S when it was launched in Malaysia at RM2,399 for its entry 16GB version. Since Apple has discontinued the 32GB version, the next jump is the 64GB model that’s priced at RM2,749, followed by its biggest 128GB version at RM3,149.
For the bigger iPhone 6 Plus, the entry 16GB model is priced the same as the smaller iPhone 6 64GB version at RM2,749. The pricing continues upwards to RM3,149 for 64GB and RM3,549 for the largest 128GB version. The official pricing was taken from Maxis and DiGi’s online store. All 3 colours are available – Gold, Silver and Space Grey.

Below is the price comparison versus the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C.

iPhone 6
iPhone 6 16GB – RM2,399
iPhone 6 64GB – RM2,749
iPhone 6 128GB – RM3,149
iPhone 6 Plus
iPhone 6 Plus 16GB – RM2,749
iPhone 6 Plus 64GB – RM3,149
iPhone 6 Plus 128GB – RM3,549
iPhone 5S
iPhone 5S 16GB – RM2,399 RM1,999
iPhone 5S 32GB – RM2,749 RM2,199
iPhone 5S 64GB – RM3,149 discontinued
iPhone 5C
iPhone 5C 8GB – RM1,499
iPhone 5C 16GB – RM1,999 discontinued
iPhone 5C 32GB – RM2,399 discontinued

Honor 4X announced. 64-bit Smart Phone with 3 days battery life

Honor, Huawei’s online exclusive brand has introduced its new Honor 4X. Another new mid-tier smart phone with high-end aspirations. Priced at 1,299 CNY (about RM695), the Honor 4X packs a large 5.5″ HD 720p IPS display and it is 64-bit ready thanks to a newer 1.2GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 410 processor that’s mated to 2GB of RAM.

On-board it gets 8GB of storage which can be expanded via microSD. The Honor 4X slots right underneath its current Honor 6 smart phone that’s currently priced at RM999 in Malaysia.

For imaging, it is a similar story as the Honor 6 as it comes with a 13MP f/2.0 BSI camera from Sony while Selfies are handled by its front facing 5MP shooter. Probably the most impressive highlight is its battery life. From a 3,000mAh capacity battery, the Honor 4X boast 72 hours of battery life, which is a day more than the Xperia Z3‘s up to 2 days battery life.

Out of the box, it runs on Android 4.4 with its EMUI 3.0 skin running on top. With gestures being an in-thing for Chinese smart phone makers, the Honor 4X appears to have an on-screen gesture pad like what we’ve seen from OPPO. In terms of design, it looks like a smaller version of its Huawei Ascend Mate 7 and the 3 Android icon buttons follow the simplified look from Android Lollipop.

Targeted at the Chinese market, the Honor 4X supports 4G LTE in dual bands (FDD/TDD) and it has 2 SIM card slots. So far there’s no mention of it being sold internationally, but considering Huawei is seeing Malaysia as a key market, we could be among the first to have this device outside of China.

Xiaomi charges forward as No. 3 Smart Phone brand

If there’s one brand that smart phone brands are afraid of, it is Xiaomi. This year they have expanded rapidly outside of China and have disrupted the market with its value for money proposition. According to a market research report by IHS iSuppli, Xiaomi is currently the third largest smart phone brand, overtaking Lenovo and LG. This is quite a giant leap considering they managed to reach #5 positionin the middle of this year.

For Q3 this year, Xiaomi is reported to be have sold 19 million units, which gives it a total of 45 million smart phones sold this year. At this pace, they are on track of exceeding its 60 million units goal for 2014.

Its flash sales and competitive pricing has motivated people buy smart phones online. Power banks and smart phones are being snapped up faster than low cost airlines giving zero fare seats. As a response, we’ve seen new online exclusive brands such as OnePlus (alleged to be a spin-off brand of Oppo) and Honor (sub-brand of Huawei) jumping on the same bandwagon. Despite complaints from consumers that flash sales are frustrating, Xiaomi have proven that its strategy works. 

Both Samsung and Apple are still dominating the top 2 spots but it is no secret that they are feeling the pinch with the rise of cheap and good smart phones. With the entry of Xiaomi in India, the only challenge left is to increase production. Supply has always a perpetual problem for Xiaomi in every market and that’s a good problem to have considering they don’t spend anything on marketing.

For Malaysia, we are still waiting for them to freshen up its product offering especially its latest Mi 4 smart phone. Recently we’ve spotted a new 4G LTE smart phone and a Mi Wireless Router heading our way.

Dell Venue 8 7000 steals the Thinnest Tablet crown from the iPad Air 2

About a month ago, Dell had showed off its new Venue 8 7000 Android tablet and it will be officially available by the end November at US$499 (about RM1,635) in the US. At 6.0mm thin, this makes it the thinnest tablet yet, beating the iPad Air 2 by a mere millimetre.

In terms of specs, the Venue 8 7000 gets a high solution 8.4″ 2560×1600 display which is similar to the Galaxy Tab S 8.4. As comparison, the iPad Air 2 has a 9.7″ display that does 2048×1536 resolution.

Underneath it runs on Intel’s Quad-core 2.33GHz Atom Z3580 processor that’s mated to 2GB of RAM. Its imaging capability is quite interesting as well as it comes with a total of 4 cameras. There’s a front facing camera, a rear 8MP shooter and another 2 more at the back for Intel’s RealSense technology that allows you to measure distances between two points.

At the moment, there’s no word of it heading to the rest of the world including Malaysia. 

New Moto G officially announced at RM688. Available across retail stores in Malaysia

The new 2nd generation Motorola Moto G is officially announced in Malaysia with the retail price tag of RM688. It comes in either black and white colours, and it will be available at retails stores in Malaysia beginning tomorrow 25th October. At the moment, they are only offering the Dual-SIM 3G version that comes with 8GB of on-board storage. As comparison, the previous first gen Moto G was priced at RM698 for the 8GB version and RM798 for the 16GB unit.
The 2nd gen Moto G features a 5.0″ 720p HD IPS display that’s protected by Gorilla Glass 3 and it runs on Qualcomm’s 1.2GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 400 processor that’s mated to 1GB of RAM. It gets an upgraded 8MP main camera while selfie shots are handled by its 2MP front shooter. Both cameras are capable of shooting HD 720p videos at 30fps. The 2nd gen Moto G also gets a pair of stereo speakers that are placed at the front.
With 2,070mAh capacity battery, the new Moto G is rated to last up to 24 hours in a single charge, which is as frugal as its predecessor. Out of the box, it runs on Android 4.4.4 KitKat and you can expect it to be upgraded to the latest Lollipop.

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus available in Malaysia on 7th November

The official iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in Malaysia is now moved earlier to 6th November. Celcom and Maxis has revised its availability dates.
If you’re wondering when the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus is launching in Malaysia, mark your calendars this 6th November 7th November. DiGi has revealed the release date on its registration of interest page for the iPhone duo and we’ve also received confirmation from Maxis.
Apart from DiGi and Maxis, you can expect Celcom along with Apple’s online store, SenQ and other Apple retailers to offer the new iPhones during launch day.

If The iPad Air 2 / Mini 3 Looked Like iPhone 6 / 6 Plus

With just a few days left to the unveiling of the new iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 at Apple’s event, well-known designer Martin Hajek has released rendered images of the new tablets from the Cupertino giant. Hajek’s images are an attempt to showcase what the iPad Air 2 and mini 3 could look like if Apple decides to take design cues from the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Unlike the previous generations, the new iPhones have taken an altogether different design route with curved edges, plastic bands dividing the rear aluminum backplate into three regions, and an overall slimmer shell. It would be the first time that Apple launched a phone with a protruding camera as well. Hajek takes these design elements and shows us what unsurprisingly looks like a stretched iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus.
We have had quite a few rumors and photo leaks to suggest what the iPad Air 2 and mini 3 might feature, but the design itself is still shrouded in mystery. If the plastic bands didn’t fare too well with the design of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, having it on a tablet would not make it look any less unappealing. However, if Apple must go that way, most users end up using covers with their iPads and well, not like you got to place it next to your ear, just saying.

While there are rumors that suggest that Apple may not overhaul the iPad’s design just yet, different reports do state that Apple will be making the new iPads much thinner. Couple this with a probability of an integrated display and we may just have an iPhone 6 like shell if Apple does manage to thin it down significantly enough.
Hajek further takes into account some elements like the recessed volume up and down buttons, a redesigned speaker grill, with the inclusion of the mute/screen rotation switch. The mute/screen rotation switch as shown in the rendered images here, may be done away with by Apple, as can be determined from the hardware components photo leak we saw earlier.

Lenovo Takes Shameless iPhone 6 Copying To The Next Level

Apple’s iPhone 6 has already sold tens of millions of units across the globe, and with some 20 million Chinese consumers having also secured themselves a unit in the run-up to the launch in China later on this week, we’re still not able to put a ballpark figure next to the device’s success. But given the popularity, Apple is regularly faced with imitations, and now Lenovo, which is currently in the process of purchasing Motorola from Google, has come through with a mid-range handset that appears an almost carbon copy of the mobile industry’s current must-have.
Leaked via Weibo, the Lenovo Sisley has yet to be announced, but as you can see from the images, it looks just like an iPhone from all angles. In fact, if you were to remove the Apple logo from the back of the iPhone 6 and replace it with Lenovo’s branding, then that’s exactly what you’re getting here, but while the Cupertino company’s handset has garnered positive reviews for its high-end features and smooth operation, the Sisley is not quite an on-paper powerhouse.

There’s no word on the processor as yet, but according to sources, the Sisley will include a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera. Interestingly, the front-facing shooter is said to be an 8-megapixel offering, and while this doesn’t necessarily tell all with regards to performance, it does suggest that the Sisley could be another in a growing list of ‘selfie’-focused handsets.
The 5-inch display will be a mere 720p job, so no Retina HD loveliness to be found here, but given that it’s also believed to be just 6.9 mm thick, it will even match Apple’s flagship for thinness too.
Apple definitely has a problem with Chinese firms churning out these copycat products, but given that Lenovo is a legitimate multinational striking billion-dollar deals with Google, it seems rather brazen that it would come out with such an obvious rip-off.

Xiaomi to sell the Mi 4 in India. Mi 3 production to shut down to make way for its latest flagship

Xiaomi is already a household name for high performance and quality products for a fraction of the price. Its powerbanks and smart phones were disruptive in every market they entered. Most recently they have expanded to India which has been proven to be a massive market for Xiaomi. In an interview with The Economic Times, Hugo Barra, the VP of Xiaomi Global says that they were not ready for the tremendous growth in the Indian market.
He added that to fulfil the massive demand, Xiaomi had to move supplies from China and various markets. By doing so, they would have substantial quantity so that each flash sales won’t run out in seconds, which would obviously piss off a lot of customers. The next model to debut in India is their 5.5″ Redmi Note which they expect to go on sale in the next 2 months. Hugo also shared that logistics from China to India were challenging and they even had to charter planes to ship in stocks for the Big Billion Day last week.

Download Google Play Store 5.0.31 APK

Google Play Store APK version 5.0.31 is now available to download. The all new Google Play Store 5 carries more elements of Material Design as has been seen earlier in the Android L Developer Preview releases. Google Play Newsstand was also updated with a complete Material Design overhaul, and a day later, Google+ was updated with additional Material Design elements. So what does the new Play Store 5 make its play on? Read on after the jump to find out!

Straight away, you will notice that the app icon for the new Play Store carrier the new, flatter look, keeping itself in line with Material Design’s new aesthetics.

Apparently, apart from the design language, things have changed under the hood. Fire up the app and you will instantly recognize the subtle changes in animations for say, when accessing the slide-out drawer menu, along with changes in the iconography.

Xiaomi’s Mi Router with 1TB storage is heading to Malaysia

Xiaomi has a wide range of products but we still haven’t gotten any news of its Mi TV, Mi Pad and their latest Mi 4 smart phone for Malaysia. If you’re itching for something new to buy, you can expect the Malaysian Mi Store to start selling its Mi Router which comes with a 802.11ac WiFi and 1TB of storage.

The Mi Router with its model number “R1D” has been certified in our Malaysian SIRIM database a few days ago.

If you’re wondering what this is, the Mi Router is basically your Wireless Hotspot that also doubles up as a private storage server for your home or office. Since it supports 802.11ac WiFi, transferring files should be blazingly fast with speeds up to 1167Mbps and it is powered by Broadcom’s BCM4709 dual-core Cortex-A9 processor with 256MB of RAM. For better connectivity at home, it boasts dual-band 2×2 antenna design that’s hidden underneath its elegantly designed case. Inside it comes equipped with a 1TB 2.5″ hard disk drive that’s user replaceable.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 will be available to purchase in Malaysia beginning next Friday, 17th October. To be among the first to get it, the consumer launch is happening at the Blue Concourse, Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall in the morning. Apart from buying it outright through its authorised dealers, the Galaxy Note 4 will also be available on contract. Telcos such as Maxis, DiGi and U Mobile have been teasing the Galaxy Note 4 for quite some time now.

The consumer availability comes right after the official media launch that’s happening on 15th October and Malaysians are getting it at the same time as the US and the UK. The Malaysian bound Galaxy Note 4 is expected to be the Octa-Core Exynos 5433 variant which has 4x Cortex A53 cores at 1.3GHz + 4x Cortex A57 cores at 1.9GHz.

The rest of the specs include a 5.7″ Quad HD display, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, 16MP OIS camera, 3.7MP front shooter and a slightly larger 3,220mAh capacity battery. Also new is its fast charging feature that juices up 50% in 30 minutes. The S-Pen this time has been improved as well with double its pressure sensitivity, along with new features that makes multi-tasking better.

HTC RE Is A Remarkable GoPro Like Camera, Works With Android And iPhone

As well as the selfie-focused Desire EYE, HTC has also launched an intriguing, GoPro-like contraption designed to aid those wishing to capture point-of-view videos. The 16-megapixel sensor can also take pictures, and although the device doesn’t include any kind of viewfinder, HTC asserts that this only adds to the RE Camera’s simplicity.

Clearly an incarnate of the GoPro, the RE Camera is capable of shooting 1080p video, but while this would be an assumed feature of any such device costing $199, the slow motion option is an added bonus. Many top-end smartphones have latched onto the general interest in slow-mo in recent times, and the standalone point-and-shoot accessory doesn’t disappoint in this regard.

It packs wide-angle lens, so will capture everything within the lens’s periphery, and is well equipped to take on the elements given its waterproof nature. A lot of the market’s smartphones are now splashproof, which is great if you like to venture out in monsoon conditions or jump into swimming pools fully-clothed, but the RE Camera will also let you swim underwater with dolphins while ensuring that you grab the footage to share with your Facebook associates.

ASUS FonePad 8 and MeMO Pad 8 officially announced in Malaysia

ASUS which has been better known for its motherboards and computers is off to a good start in the mobile business. Its affordable ZenFone series has been a tremendous success despite its limited stock availability earlier on. Since its debut in Malaysia, ASUS claims to have made it to the top 3 spot for smart phones with a 8.5% local market share. They added that they would sell a total of 400,000 units in Malaysia by end of this month.
For the 2nd half of this year, ASUS will be ramping up its tablet segment by announcing the FonePad 8 and the MeMO Pad 8. These two 8″ tablets are powered by Intel’s latest Moorefield Atom processors that are 64-bit ready.

iPad Air 2 Will Be World’s Thinnest Tablet With No 16GB Option For Buyers

We’ve barely had time to recover from the hysteria that is the iPhone announcement and subsequent release, but Apple isn’t standing still. Set to be announced during a special event on October 16th are two new iPads, with the iPad Air and iPad mini on the verge of receiving refreshes.
As has been the case with iPad and iPhone announcements for some time now, details have been leaking out about what the new updates will mean for Apple’s tablet lineup, and new details coming out of The Michael Report revealed via MacDailyNews have Apple banking on the tablets’ lack of girth proving popular with buyers. Apple is reported to be set to announce the Air specifically as the world’s thinnest tablet.

That claim is being made possible by a 0.5mm reduction in thickness which, according to the report, comes from the removal of the hardware mute/rotation lock switch that has been around since the very first iPad. New, more recessed volume buttons as well as relocated microphones are also said to be on the agenda.

Also worth noting is the claim that the iPad Air 2 will come in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB flavors, ditching the low-end 16GB model while the iPad mini 3 will retain that option for those wishing to purchase on a tighter budget. If this is the case, the second generation iPad Air will be the first Apple portable to start at 32GB, perhaps setting a precedent for future releases. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus for example still have the 16GB option available, but dropped the 32GB variety in a move that still seems odd. That decision does seem to have made the 64GB option more popular thanks to the relatively small price difference between it and the 16GB capacity option, however.
iPad Air 2 is also said to sport a 8MP camera.

Samsung Galaxy A5 Featuring Metal Design Leaked, Here’s What It Looks Like

While most smartphone vendors release maybe half a dozen new devices per year, Samsung makes a habit of adding new handsets on an almost monthly basis, and with the Galaxy Note 4′s launch still in progress, press renders of the Galaxy A5 suggests that it too is on the cusp of launching. The A5, which will apparently hit the market alongside two other ‘A’ devices, looks reasonably similar to the Galaxy Alpha that the Korean company introduced back in August, and as per leaked specs, it appears that the new series will target the mid-range market with decent specs and enticing price points.
It’s not as though any segment of the mobile market has not already been covered by Samsung many times over. The number of high-end, mid-level and budget devices Samsung already has on sale far eclipses what any other company has mustered in this regard, but despite a deluge of releases already this year, the Galaxy A3, A5 and A7 collective is apparently en route to market.

With prices said to range from $350 to $500, the A Series will be a great deal more affordable than the likes of the Galaxy S5, Note 4 and the aforementioned Alpha, and with the A5′s pricing likely to be in the middle of the touted price range, an educated guess would put the Galaxy A5′s retail cost at around $425.

Apple expected to announce new iPad and Macs on 16th October

It’s almost a year since Apple announced its iPad Air and its 2nd generation iPad mini. With a brand new iOS 8 and 2 new iPhones being introduced, Apple is said to be announcing its latest iPad line up on 16th October along with new Macs and OS X Yosemite. Unlike the recent iPhone announcement, the event would be smaller in scaler and it will be hosted at Apple’s town hall in Cupertino.

For the latest iPad, word has it that it may finally offer Touch ID fingerprint scanner which was first introduced on its iPhone 5S. In terms of colours, it is rumoured that the new iPads would come with a gold colour option, that’s being offered on their current iPhone. As for its all-in-one computer, 9to5mac.com has reported that Apple could be introducing a Retina Display iMacs that could push 5K resolution (5120×2880) on a 27″ screen. Mark your calendars on 17th October (For Malaysian time), and hopefully they get their live stream working this time

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Malaysian launch happening on 15th October

If you’ve been waiting for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, take note this coming 15th October as they will be launching it officially in Malaysia. Availability of Galaxy Note 4 should follow shortly that and we have seenDiGi, Maxis and U Mobile teasing its bundling on contract coming soon.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 for Malaysia is expected to be the Exynos variant which was recently spotted in our SIRIM database. It gets a 5.7″ Quad HD display and for the Exynos 5433, it will come with an Octa-Core processor (4x Cortex A53 cores at 1.3GHz + 4x Cortex A57 cores at 1.9GHz) that’s mated to 3GB RAM with 32GB of storage. To get to know the Galaxy Note 4 better, you can read our first impressions or watch our hands-on video after the break.

Huawei Ascend P7 Arsenal Edition price revealed with free TalkBand B1 smart wearable

Huawei is bringing in the Ascend P7 Arsenal Edition to Malaysia and its bundle offering is finally revealed. The device itself is listed at RM1,799 and it gets additional free TalkBand B1 that’s worth RM499.
To recap on the specs, the Ascend P7 Arsenal Edition is identical with the standard offering with a 5″ Full HD display and it runs on a Quad-Core 1.8GHz Kirin 910T processor with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of on-board storage. It also gets a 13MP BSI rear camera, a large 8MP front shooter, microSD slot, 4G LTE and a large 2,500mAh capacity battery.

ASUS ZenFone 4 starts receiving KitKat update

The affordable ASUS ZenFone 4 is finally getting a taste of KitKat. ASUS is beginning to roll out its Android 4.4 update in batches so it might take a while before it reach Malaysian users. To check if the software update is available, you can go to Settings > About > System Update > “Check Update”.
So far there’s no mention of the ASUS ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 6 that are running on Intel Atom processors but they are likely to get it soon after this. For the ZenFone 5 4G LTE version, it is already running on Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box.