5 Reasons Why I Think Phone Casings Are Unnecessary

This may not be a subject for those who loves buying new phone covers or casings for their brand new smartphone, sometimes applies to old phones too. But by reading this, I bet you guys are wondering why I’m against using such “protection” for my smartphone. Actually, I don’t have anything against it. I just don’t find it a necessity for me to use one. It’s either that or because I’m using a rather rare brand of smartphone whereby it is very difficult for me to find a good phone cover/casing. In a nutshell, a casing is usually a hard plastic or silicon case that fits at the back of the phone, and a cover is usually a leather or PVC material case that covers the back and front of the phone. Also sometimes known as flip cover.

Sure, Samsung and iPhone users can have so many options because they are among the mainstream smartphone brands out there. Phone cover and casing makers are making loads of money from it. But they are only focusing on those mainstream brands and leaving out the others. Still, I prefer to leave my Lenovo S820 phone “naked” as how it is. Here are my 5 reasons why…

1. Bulky

Adding on a casing or a flip cover would definitely make my phone a whole lot bulkier. I usually carry my phone in my pocket, so having such protection would create a huge bulge in my pants. Oh wait, that doesn’t sound right. In my pants’ pocket that is. If it’s a flip cover, don’t you think it feels awkward when the flip tends to flap around while you’re making a call? Maybe it’s just me. I don’t like it.

2. Don’t get to feel the real phone

Ergonomics. What does that mean? It means design and form factor of a product. Why did Google/Motorola created a damn good ergonomic for the MotoX? So that people who uses the MotoX would feel comfortable when handling the phone. Yes, the MotoX has one of the best ergonomic design for a smartphone. So why would you want to slap a bulky casing/cover on it? It defeats the purpose right?

Imagine it in another way. Say you bought a new car, but you refuse to remove the plastic that covers the seat and other part of the interiors. Why? To protect the seat from smudges? But you rather do that than to have a comfortable cushion to sit on. Are you freakin’ retarded? Better off buying a new mattress to sleep on and not removing the plastic cover too. Comfy? I think not.

3. Hiding the phone’s real beauty

The new iPhone 5s is a real beauty isn’t it? Apple’s design team really spent a long time creating a product that is very appealing and pleasant in everyone’s eyes. But once purchased, people would almost immediately spoil it’s beauty by slapping on a back case or a flip cover on that poor thing. Might as well manufacturers just simply make a phone without a good design and hopefully a phone cover could beautify the end product. Less headache for the phone designers then.

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4. Obstructing

Some phone covers are so huge that it is obstructing your handling of the phone. True? I’ve seen some weird designs for a back casing such as bunny ears or having Shrek’s ears protruding out from the case. Not only it is pocket unfriendly, you may also poke an eye out from a person standing next to you while you’re trying to answer a call quickly. And those casings with lots of blings on it? Don’t get me started on that one.

Again, this may apply to the flip that flaps around during a call. Sending out text messages can be annoying too because the flip cover may get in your way. So yes, to me it is very obstructing.

5. Hard to find a good replacement

Let’s just say that you found the best case or flip cover that is not too bulky and has a good design. What happens when it broke or something? Can you find a suitable replacement for it? I had this problem while I was using a Blackberry some 3 years ago. Good back casing is so difficult to find. And I ended up buying more than I needed because there were so many options and designs to choose from. That was during the time before I realise that phone covers and casings are actually a nuisance.

Conclusion

After many years of experience using a smartphone, I finally made up my mind that I will not “dress” up my phone with any casings or covers. I know that most of us spent some good amount of money to save and buy a flagship smartphone that would cost about RM2,000 or more. I know that most of us want to avoid any scratches on our shiny new Galaxy S4 or iPhone 5S or Xperia Z or whatever. But as it ages and no matter how careful you are, something can still happen.

A friend of mine has a leather flip cover for his S4 and the phone fell off his hand while taking it out of his pocket. Bulky case means obstruction, right? And even with the flip cover, the screen shattered. Everything else worked as before but he had to look at a broken glass every time he uses his phone. Like I said, anything can still happen no matter how careful you are.

I keep my Lenovo in my pocket all the time even when I sit down, when I eat, when I drive, when I’m in the LRT…almost all the time. I only take it out when I want to use it. And in my pocket, I don’t have anything else other than my phone. So I won’t have to worry about getting it scratched by coins or my house keys. And because my phone’s ergonomic is slim, I don’t have to worry about the bulkiness.

So those are the reasons why I think having a phone casing or cover is unnecessary. Do you have something else to add on to this? Or do you oppose my reasons? Leave a comment below then. Thanks for reading.


Google Newsstand to Replace Currents

Google Newsstand

Before I started using
Feedly
 and
Flipboard
, I was using Google Currents as my news aggregator on my Android phone. Currents is very user friendly and very pleasant to look at. But that was before I found out about Feedly and Flipboard. Currents is good, but limited. So I abandoned it for the more powerful Feedly and also the more unique Flipboard.

Now, Currents is being replaced by Google’s newer news aggrerator called
Newsstand
, which I’ve been playing around with in the past few months. Just like Feedly, it is very easy to choose and select which news feed you wish to subscribe to, and reading on it’s big and clear text is very easy on the eyes. The loading time is pretty quick too. I can read more news in shorter time.

Currents

Those who have Currents installed on their Android phone can either delete or update it. After installing the update, launching the app will instead opens up the Newsstand app, and the Currents icon will quietly disappear from your app drawer. Google Newsstand is already made available since a few months back and usually comes recommended with Google+. Most of the newer Android phones comes with Google Newsstand pre-installed, like the Nexus 5 and Moto G.

However, I only use Newsstand on my old Galaxy Tab because that relic is a little bit slow. Newsstand works well with older and slower devices without any obvious lag, unlike Flipboard which uses more memory.

So, if you want to have a simple and good everyday use news aggregator, give the Newsstand a try. Anyway, what’s your favourite news aggregator?

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Password Reset?

Okay. Who the f*ck requested to reset my Twitter account password?

Apparently, I get this a lot. I even get a password reset request for Facebook as well which of course I ignored. However, I change my password manually after receiving such emails. Things people do to access your account. Sheesh.

Any of you received this request before and you know it’s not you who requested it?

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New Google Maps Tips and Hacks

Google revealed their new version of Google Maps recently and it is full of new goodies to try out. I saw a video on it the other day and here I want to share with you what I found out and played with. If you’re not using this hacks, then you’re totally lost. :-p

This will come in very useful if you want to find a specific location. What I love most is the recommendations function. It will give you a location of any recommended places near you for example restaurants, places of interest or banks. I should have no problem searching for places to eat anymore thanks to the new Google Maps.

Source:
Business Insider

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Ninetology and Qualcomm Unveils AirAsia Aircraft Livery

I have reviewed Ninetology phones and I have been using a Qualcomm powered devices most of the time. And in 2013, Ninetology have announced a huge RM180 million in revenue with 12% mobile device market share in Malaysia. As a Malaysian talking about a Malaysian born company, I am truly proud of them.

Their latest strategy and key initiative to further expand their market across ASEAN market, is to strengthen their partnership with Qualcomm, a very well known chipset maker and the leading manufacturer of mobile Snapdragon CPUs. And to further spreading their wings across Asia, they recently unveiled their Ninetology X Qualcomm Plane Wrapping livery with AirAsia to mark their ASEAN expansion plans and also launched their “So WOW For All” marketing campaign which is ongoing as a one year project.

Sean Ng

“Ninetology has sold over 1 million phones ever since it was established and have expanded into Indonesia as of September 2013 with a partnership with Indonesia’s renowned singer and actress, Agnes Monica”, said Sean Ng, Chief Executive Officer of Ninetology ASEAN. Ninetology is targeting to achieve their projected revenue of RM380 million by the end of 2014 with their upcoming regional penetration into Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam in the coming months.

“We have humanised our products, which will be the foundation for our business growth and expansion”, he continued. Ninetology states that it would strengthen its Smart Communication project this year. Some of its upcoming efforts will incorporate collaborations with content providers and to implement Cloud–based E-tracking system in devices to produce humanised devices for the public.

Ninetology is going to expand their centres to 9 other locations around Malaysia by 2015 as part of their local expansion with a planned investment up to RM5 million. Both Ninetology and Qualcomm’s partnership will be the main driver for their upcoming LTE mobile devices which will be announced soon. Expansion plans and further development between both parties in also underway.

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So Wow For All Campaign

So what is the “So Wow For All” campaign? Basically as the phrase itself said, the campaign will go on a whole year long aims to “wow” everyone. That is kinda obvious right? The campaign started with the release of
Ninetology’s cute new U9J1
 entry level Android smartphone which comes in four different colours – Rave Red, Classic Black, Fuschia Pink and Neon Green. The device comes with all the basic needs in a smartphone like a 2-megapixel camera, a 3.5 inch screen and Android Gingerbread OS. Yes, I said basic. So that’s what basic means. Also powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 CPU and comes with dual-SIM capability. Best of all, the cute little U9J1 will be sold for only RM199. Very affordable indeed.

Apart from the campaign, Ninetology is embarking on a mission to engage with the mass digital community alongside social influencers, leading the way of digital media networking in Malaysia. They will also have a monthly giveaway (themed #9Giveaway) on every 9th of the month. So watch out for that one. You can go an “Like” their Facebook Page here ->
NinetologyMalaysia
 if you don’t want to miss any of their goodies and sometimes…freebies too.

Another “wow” in their pipeline is a heartwarming web-series, scheduled to be released in the second quarter of 2014.

More on Ninetology at
www.ninetology.com


Nokia’s New Icon – The Lumia 930 is Absolutely Beautiful

I’m excited about this another Lumia debut. This time it’s the new
Lumia 930
, a beautiful 5-inch device that doesn’t look like the rest of the Lumia family. The Lumia 930 looks more like a solid metal or titanium slab housing a Snapdragon 800 quad-core 2.2GHz processor workhorse. The previous flagship device was the
Lumia 1520
 which is powered by the same processor but comes with a 6-inch display, which somehow is slightly too big for an average sized hand to handle.

The Lumia 930 also features a 20-megapixel Pureview camera with Zeiss lens and of course, with image stabilization as well. Images will definitely comes out bright and sharp in its full HD display. It will have the latest Windows Phone 8.1 OS in it and also available, a Siri and Google Now’s answer for voice activated assistant called
Cortana
. Apart from that, another additional and long awaited function from the OS is the notification center. So now instead of just displaying a notification at the top of the screen, users can now pull down from the top to reveal the notification center just like how we would on Android.

Nokia will introduce the Lumia 930 in Asia sometime in June 2014, and probably reach Malaysia by July 2014…hopefully earlier. No news on the price yet but it is estimated to be around USD$599. So we can do the math ourselves for the price here in Malaysia.

Watch the introduction video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7eMY45Fw0M

Source:
Engadget

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It has been almost a month since my last blog update. I have been extremely busy with work that when I get home in the evening to do a review or update my blog, I fell asleep on my bed still wearing my working attire. Yeah, I was that busy. Now I finally have some free time to update my blog and do a little review.

This time I have an interesting top 5 for you all. I know that we Malaysians love cheap stuffs, but wanting to squeeze the best out of our purchases. These items are not actually cheap, nor they are expensive either. So this time around I’m providing my readers the top 5 mid-range “
phablets
” at an affordable price. When I say phablets, I meant smartphones that are 6″ and above in terms of screen size. That is pretty much the standard size of a phablet screen nowadays anyway.

Here goes my personal list of Top 5 Mid-Range Phablets in Malaysia – March 2014.

#5 – Lenovo S930

I have always loved Lenovo smartphones. They’re cheap and reliable. I have tried a few and loved a few. The only setback I have with the phone is that the space is very limited despite the technology for gigaspace is getting cheap and better. To me, the basic space that we can have in a low-end phones is 8GB, no longer 4GB. Same goes with phablets. And now Lenovo have came out with their new 6″ mid-range phablet, the
Lenovo S930
. It comes with 8GB of space with 1GB of RAM and up to 32GB of microSD space. The is using the IPS LCD display at 720 x 1280 resolution that carries about 245 ppi pixel density. Similar to the other Lenovo’s low and mid range smartphones, the S930 is powered by a Quad-core 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 CPU and Mali-400MP2 GPU. Usually a Lenovo phone would use a PowerVR based GPU but this time around they opt for a Mali chipset GPU instead, which in my opinion is better. We probably can see a jump in graphic performance in this one. For imaging capabilities, the S930 is using an 8MP camera at the back and 1.6MP camera at the front. This phablet is powered by Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and an upgrade to KitKat is on the way. Price: RM679 (cheapest in the list).

#4 – Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3

I have tried and
reviewed this phone
 a few months back. While I was using it, I don’t seem to find any problems or lack in performance. This “giant” performed well and very responsive. I do have some qualms with a smartphone having 1GB of RAM. To me, the standard nowadays should at least have a 1.5GB of RAM. Believe me, that 0.5GB difference really makes a huge…well…difference. To me, the more RAMs we have in our smartphones/phablets, the better it is. And this
Galaxy Mega
 has that extra edge over its competitors. This Mega comes with either 8GB or 16GB space variants with up to 64GB of MicroSD space. The display resolution of the same with the Lenovo S930 but it is not protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass. That is why I have this phablet at #4 in my list here. Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 dual-core 1.7GHz is in the heart of this beast. I have used this phone so I know whether the dual-core works well or not. Trust me, it does. If you want to own something that is similar to a Galaxy Note at a cheaper price, get this one. Price: RM1,299.

#3 – Asus Fonepad Note 6

This Intel powered Atom dual core at 2GHz phablet looks very promising. Comes with a 6″ display with 1920 x 1080 resolution with full HD and 367 ppi pixel density. The
Asus Fonepad Note 6
 is a very attractive looking phablet aimed for the younger generations who can’t afford the big players such as the Note 3. This device will definitely appeal to the young ones who loves gaming, thanks to the newer version of the PowerVR GPU that comes with this baby. It comes with an option to have either 16GB or 32GB of storage plus an additional 64GB external storage via MicroSD and 2GB of RAM. As for the camera, the main camera is an 8MP auto-focus shooter and a 1.2MP front shooter. I only have one problem with the imaging capability of this phablet…it has no LED flash. So shooting in the dark or getting that extra light is a no go. This phablet is priced between RM1,299 to RM1,399. I came across some dealers who sells them below RM1k, but may have to double check on that again.

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#2 – Alcatel Hero

Alcatel Hero
 is a beautiful looking phablet. Released sometime in October 2013 without much hype in Malaysia, this phablet is actually an awesome device to have if you’re looking for a good performer. Powered by Mediatek quad core 1.5GHz Cortex-A7 CPU with PowerVR GPU as well as 2GB of RAM, this phablet promises some good performance even under long use. You can choose between 8GB of space for the single SIM spec or 16GB of space for the dual SIM spec. But unfortunately the 32GB MicroSD external storage is only available with the single SIM version. I wonder why they do it this way. Seems weird. At least it comes with a 13MP camera with an LED flash as the main shooter while having a 2MP camera at the front for the selfie freaks. The 6″ IPS LCD display has about 1920 x 1080 resolution with 367 ppi pixel density and instead of using Gorilla Glass, Alcatel opt this to use an
Oleophobic coating
 instead. Price: RM1,219.

#1 – Nokia Lumia 1320

And my top choice for a budget friendly mid-range phablets is, the
Nokia Lumia 1320
. Of all the phabets that I like, I really do like this one the most. And it’s the only non Android phablet in this list. How this Lumia 1320 reached the top of my list? I’ll give a simple answer. LTE!

Yes, this is the only budget phablet in this list to have and LTE bandwidth for fast internet browsing. In terms of hardware specifications, the Lumia 1320 is using the old Snapdragon S4 processor with a dual core 1.7GHz CPU and Adreno 305 GPU. But looking back at the Snapdragon S4 performance, it can still outperforms the quad-core Mediatek processor in some areas. And this being a
Windows Phone 8
 platform, it is very gentle on the RAM usage and everything runs smoothly without any glitch. I will always have high praises for a WP8 platform simply because it doesn’t use much RAM. This Lumia 1320 has a 1GB of RAM in it and everything seems to work flawlessly. Screen size is 6″ with 1280 x 720 resolution but thanks to the Nokia’s popular ClearBlack Display and protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3, everything looks very sharp and vibrant. Although it only has about 8GB of storage space, it can be expanded with the MicroSD card up to 64GB. Price: RM1,199 (RRP). Lowest price: RM1,039.

Conclusion

I love Android devices. They are very easy to use and customize. There’s never a time when I have an Android phone that I didn’t root or flash a different
ROM
 in it. But in this case, I am trying to help some of you to make up your mind in case if you want to buy a budget mid-range phablets. I always look at the specifications, functionality and user-friendliness. And I feel that the Lumia 1320 will be a good buy. It’s a tough and solid phablet. Windows Phone devices are getting more popular. The amount of apps in their Marketplace is increasing rapidly. Not only that, anyone can simply learn to use a WP8 device easily. I would just give about 5 hours, I guarantee that you can understand the functionality of the phablet within that period of time.

If you’re afraid to make that shift from Android, I would then choose either the Asus or the Alcatel. The Asus Fonepad Note 6 should be better than the Alcatel Hero but it does not have a flash for its camera and it’s only an 8MP shooter. Not that it’s important or anything but it will be a plus point.

This is just my personal list of which phablet I think is worth buying. I am not associated with any of the device manufacturers nor I am getting paid in any way. I love gadgets, therefore I would usually have my own favourites list when it comes to this. So there you have it, my list of Top 5 Mid-Range Phablets in Malaysia.

Thank you for reading.


Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Released with Support for HD Tablets

I have always been a fan of Linux. but honestly I know nuts about Linux commands. I have experienced Linux since the early RedHat days as well as other Linux Distros. I have used Suse, Mandrake/Mandriva, Debian, Mint, Fedora, Knoppix and many other distributions. But the easiest and the most extensively supported Linux distro now is Ubuntu. I picked up using Ubuntu since version 6, I think. Throughout the years they have been improving and supports more and more PCs and devices. Now with the release of their latest version, they fully support the touchscreens and tablets…and in high-resolution.

The new
Ubuntu 14.04
, code named Trusty Tahr is part of its long term support series which means it will receive support and security updates for five years rather than the usual nine months.

What makes Trusty a huge deal for Canonical is that it finally makes the OS ready to use on touchscreens, high DPI displays and tablets. Until now Ubuntu didn’t scale properly on high resolution displays. –
Engadget

Now I’m wondering if I can install this version into any tablets out there, probably a Windows based tablet like
Samsung Ativ Smart PC
. It is using the standard hardware that supports Windows 8, I would assume that it may work like how we would install it in a normal PC. I don’t know but I will dig deeper into this. One thing for sure, the Ubuntu 14.04 is packed with tons of improvements to its touchscreen support and I foresee that some of the next tablets coming up in future will come with Ubuntu.

In Malaysia, there is a support group who handles any technical assistance to those who are new with Ubuntu. You can also sign up in their website to get any latest news on Ubuntu or join in any events that they may have. For this, just visit the
Ubuntu Malaysia LoCo Team website
.

So why not give Ubuntu a try? Some may like it, some may not and some may lost their ways in the OS. But trust me, this is a beautiful OS and very easy to learn. Just an alternative to what we are used to and best of all, it’s totally free.
Download Ubuntu 14.04 now
.


6 New Affordable Phones by Lenovo Coming Your Way

If you have been thinking and still not decided on what cheap smartphone to buy, well…you may now have many other
headache
 options to consider. I know that there are lots of cheap Android options out there by various manufacturers but the one who is leading the pack is definitely
Lenovo
.

I went to my usual phone shop the other day and I saw there were lots of people lining up to buy a new phone. Almost all of them were considering Lenovo as their brand of choice. Why? Because Lenovo has been very aggressive on promoting and producing good (and cheap) entry level as well as mid range Android smartphones. When I say cheap, I really mean cheap. Like dirt cheap. And the specifications are just about average but recently I have seen many upgrades in their devices.

And guess what? Lenovo Malaysia recently unveiled SIX…that’s 6 new amazingly affordable Android smartphones to the public.

So like I said, if you’ve been deciding on your new phone…you may have to reconsider your options again.

The new phones that they unveiled are S860, S660 and S650 from the S Series together with the A526, A680 and A859 of the A series. The most high-spec among them all is the S860 which comes with 5.3inch IPS display, 1.3 GHz Quad Core CPU + 2GB of RAM, 16GB internal memory and a huge 4,000mAh battery. The S860 will cost about RM1,169. Okay, I will consider this one as a mid-range smartphone instead. Will I get my hands on this phone? Maybe. But I honestly think that with that price range, I’d prefer the Lenovo Vibe X instead (
spec here
).

Lenovo S860

I won’t be going too much detailed on the price and specification for all the new Lenovo phones. You can instead head over to Mobile88 website for the
full story on the launch
 and read the full detail of all the phones there.

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Having said that, I think that Lenovo is really pushing to be ahead of their competition in the entry level and mid range market. Currently they are doing a good job on that. Congratulations to Lenovo for the launch of their 6 new and affordable Android smartphones recently. Hopefully they will produce a much better quality smartphones in future. Remember guys (that means you, Lenovo), quality…not just quantity.

(Credit) Photos and story from:
Mobile88.com


Gphone EVO – An Affordable Octa-core Powerhouse

Note: This is a delayed review. My computer hard-disk crashed big time and I lost all the photos and screenshots that was taken with this phone. Luckily I have some photos of the review unit taken with my camera for this post.

People are not really looking at a dual-core phones nowadays (except me, maybe). Consumers are now mostly looking at a quad-core mobile smartphone for their “basic” need on any Android phones. Why? Because they tend to go for the most optimum specification and future proofing themselves. That is about to change.

Many thanks to GWorld Asia who recently had a soft launch of their first, or Malaysia’s first
Mediatek
 powered True Octa-core Android phone called the
Gphone EVO
. I called this a multimedia powerhouse…for reasons that I will explain later. For all I know when I first held the review unit in my hand, it feels really solid without any creaking plastic sound around the edges. Why I bring up this subject? Because most of the low or mid priced smartphones tends to have that slight creaking sound on the edges when you hold on to it too tight. This one feels good and solid. That’s the first plus point.

The package…

Let’s view the specifications:

5-inch HD 1280×720 IPS OGS Display

1.7Ghz Octa Core (MTK6592)

13MP AF (Rear), 5MP (Front) Camera

1GB RAM / 16GB ROM

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

Dual SIM & support microSD up to 32GB

3G/HPA WCDMA 2100Mhz, GSM 900/1800Mhz

GPS / A-GPS / WiFi/ Bluetooth

Removable 2000mAh Li-Po battery

This phone has some good specifications but lacking in some areas:

No LTE. (Coming soon in next octa-core upgrade)

Octa-core but only 1GB of RAM. Like driving a Ferrari that has a fuel tank capacity of only 10 litres.

No Kitkat out-of-the-box yet.

What’s inside the box. Standard stuffs.

The lacks are just minor stuffs. But this phone still packs some strong punch…especially on the multimedia side. Earlier on I mentioned about this phone being a multimedia powerhouse. Here’s why. The EVO is optimized with a ClearMotion video enhancer while playing any video files, pushing the 25 or 30 FPS video up to 60 frames per second. And with ClearMotion, there is almost no motion blur while viewing a HD movie on this phone. I tried watching 300 in full HD on this phone and I was not disappointed. The clarity and level of details from the video playback is beyond awesome. It’s like watching a blu-ray movie on an ultra HD TV. Super clear. Really.

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As for gaming, same can be said about this phone. Running a game on this phone is flawless. I did try playing Modern Combat 4 on the review unit and there was no lag at all. Graphics are great and everything is clear. Of course its good. Because Mediatek is collaborating with
Gameloft
 to show the full potential of this octa-core beast. The phone will be bundled with the new Modern Combat 5 game for free when you purchased it from the store.

If you love taking photos, you won’t be disappointed with the camera on this phone. 13-megapixel on the main rear camera and 5-megapixel on the front camera works really well. The main 13MP camera shoots clearly with its fast auto-focus and images produced by the camera is good. From a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of photo quality, I would give about 8. Clarity is good, colour is good, low noise and best of all, selfie photo enhancement. Vain people would love this function. Lol!

Conclusion

Surprisingly this phone performs above par. The back cover is made of glossy plastic so it is a finger-print magnet. The 5-inch display feels really good for one handed operation except for those with small hand. The device also comes with a premium looking cover, this one I like.

If you love gaming and watching videos, this is the phone for you. Also good if you love taking pictures and selfies. But the only qualm that I have with this phone is the 1GB of RAM. Can do way better if it comes with 2GB of RAM. Hopefully their next upgrade will come with 2GB and more internal space. LTE version is coming soon so I’m waiting for that now.

Those who wish to purchase this phone, you can buy this true octa-core multimedia powerhouse for only RM899 from the authorised dealers. Yes…VERY cheap for a true octa-core smartphone. And you won’t be disappointed.

More Images


InstaVape – Foggatti Hybrid Mod with Super Snow

Just sharing some photos of my mods and setups in my Instagram account.


Lenovo Coming Up With Vibe Z2 Pro?

Lenovo
 is really stepping up their smartphone arsenal right now. I haven’t had the opportunity to try out the Lenovo Vibe Z yet, and yesterday news about the arrival of the new Vibe Z2 Pro came to light. I would love to play around with the Vibe Z because it is powered by Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB of RAM and since I’m a fan of the K900, the Vibe Z a.k.a K910 is a damn good upgrade.

Okay. Now I have to play with something else.

Of course, the new Vibe Z2 Pro won’t be arriving anytime soon. According to the source, the Vibe Z2 Pro will come with a Snapdragon 801 clocked at 2.5GHz and probably is coming with at least 3GB of RAM. The highlight of this high specification device is the 6-inch QHD display with resolution of 2560 x 1440, which is currently the highest resolution on a mobile device. Other devices that I know with this similar resolution are the
Oppo Find 7
 and the upcoming
LG G3
. Vibe Z2 Pro is powered by a huge 4,000mAh battery that is easily going to last you the whole day…and night.

For photography lovers, it’s good to know that the early speculation of the shooter is 16-megapixel and said to come with an optical image stabilizer. This means taking photos in the dark will be better and clearer. No news on which Android OS it will come with yet.

All these are just speculations but I’m sure Lenovo is coming up with an upgrade to the Vibe Z. They have so many entry level Android phones now, it’s time they step up their game and start playing with the big boys.

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New Blog Category – Vape On

This is a new category in my blog. Since I’ve been vaping a lot these days, I thought I would share some of my experience and flavour testing that I’ve done and what kind of flavours that I like most. I am one of those people who enjoys modifying my own mods and coiling method. As they say, practice makes perfect. I have a lot more to learn but I’m learning more and more stuffs everyday.

Here I’m sharing a short video on some sort of introduction to vaping. I will be sharing more videos from the internet about vaping soon. Vape On!

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OnePlus One: Supreme Power That Won’t Break Your Bank

This is it. My new love. I have never seen a smartphone that is so good looking (other than HTC One). This phone is so good looking that made the Galaxy S5 looked like a cheap toy phone. And this baby is packed with premium specification that won’t break your
bank. Introducing –
OnePlus One
.

How much does a typical Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 with 2.5GHz Quad-core CPU that comes with 3GB of RAM and having an Adreno 330 GPU powering the graphics, that also comes with a huge 64GB of internal space, a full HD 1920 x 1080 5.5 inch display that is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3, with a 13MP f/2.0 camera powered by Sony’s Exmor image processor and dual LED flash plus able to shoot a 4K high definition video, that is also LTE ready would cost? (phew) Typically it would cost you an arm and a leg. That’s about RM2,199 just as what Samsung Galaxy S5 would sell for…and the Galaxy is ugly!

With all the (very) high specs given above, how much would this baby cost? Don’t worry, you don’t have to sell off your kidney for this. It is only going for…wait for it…USD299 for the 16GB version and USD349 for the huge 64GB version. That would roughly be about RM970 and RM1,130 respectively. The highest storage sells less than half of what Galaxy S5 cost. How about that? And the Galaxy is ugly! Oh…I said that already.

What I like most is that this beautiful beast is powered by CyanogenMod 11S (
read about CyanogenMod
). CyanogenMod is the most popular third-party firmware for Android that is highly customizable and it works across (almost) all other Android devices. My Sony Xperia SP is also powered by CyanogenMod 11. The best thing about CyanogenMod in this phone is that it is built straight into the One from the beginning. OnePlus is an exclusive partner with CyanogenMod, so this baby really mean business.

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So if you’re looking for a flagship Android phone that won’t make you eat sand or grass for the rest of the month, just wait for this One. On the news, it says that it’s going to be available by end of second quarter of 2014. However, this phone won’t be sold at any retail shops (unless some vendors manage to import it). This phone is exclusively being sold online and you can buy only if you have an invitation. How to get an invitation?
By getting an invite by OnePlus
 themselves during their promotion or online competition. Other than that, you can also get an invite by someone who already bought the phone. Once you have purchase the phone, you can start inviting others too. They are doing it this way so that they can create a community for this phone and to see how far word of mouth advertising can go. It doesn’t matter how they are doing it, I’m still getting One.

What do you think of this beautiful Android powerhouse? And what do you think of their method of selling this product? As for me, I’m going to get myself an invite no matter what. I wonder if
OnePlus
 is kind enough to send me an invite….please?


Slight Delay

I know I have not been updating my blog much often. Not that I don’t want to either. But my home PC’s hard disk decided to stop working and most of my “life” that was stored in the hard disk is gone.

It was only about a few days before it happened when I was relaying Twitter messages with one of my friend from Twitter about how bad it is to lose data from the hard disk. He just got himself a Solid State Drive that broke his bank but knowing that his data is safe in the SSD is worth the money spent. SSDs can store data for a very long time, almost forever. No moving parts in it so we know that we won’t have any issues with the drive not working, ie: burned out motor or faulty read and write needle, typical problem with a normal HDD.

I told him that I should get one too before anything bad happens. Alas, it was too late. My HDD crashed big time before I can say “copy”.

So right now many things are delayed such as my review on the new Gphone with a true octa core prossesor. Luckily I managed to save the phone’s photos which is still in my camera’s memory card but not the screenshots taken with the phone as well as some photos taken with it. Damn.

Lesson learnt. I do have an external backup drive but I didn’t manage to save some of my latest work. But one thing for sure, I am going to get myself a Solid State Drive. Better be safe (and broke) than sorry.

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Young Designer Fashion Show 2014

I have not done any photography work in a while but recently I did some fashion shoot for the college that I’m working at.

The event was in conjunction with Spring/Summer Fashion Week at Paradigm Mall, Petaling Jaya. The reason why I’m taking photos at the runway was because 8 of Raffles KL students and graduates was there to showcase their fashion design work to the public. Yes, it was indeed a big day for them. So it’s kinda good for them to be exposed to the real fashion world as a student.

So here are some of the photos that I took during the event. Don’t mind my shots, I am a little bit rusty.

Okay. I really need to go out and do more shots. Out of touch with my skills already. Damn. Anyway, hope you like the photos.

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Preview – Xiaomi RedMi Note

Currently I am reviewing and using this phone. But I’m going to give you a little preview first.

The RedMi Note from
Xiaomi
 is not officially launched here in Malaysia yet but a friend of mine is kind enough to let me use this phone for a few days to do my version of hands-on full review.

Here’s the basic specification for this phone:

CPU
: MediaTek MT6592 Octa-Core clocking at 1.7GHz Cortex A7

GPU
: Mali-450MP4

Display
: IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 720 x 1280 pixels, 5.5 inches

Camera
: 13 Megapixel main camera, 5 Megapixel front camera

Memory
: 8GB ROM/2GB RAM, MicroSD up to 32GB

OS
: Custom MIUI OS built on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean

Okay. That’s all I’m going to reveal for now. So far the Xiaomi RedMi Note is doing really well and I’m enjoying it. Other than that, the battery life lasted the whole day…and night.

My full review will be up soon in a couple of days, so…wait for it.

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Review: Xiaomi RedMi Note – Clear Runner

Introduction to Xiaomi’s RedMi Note

Here we are. Finally I’m done with my hands-on review of the new
Xiaomi
 RedMi Note that my friend borrowed to me for a few days. Just for everyone’s info, the
RedMi Note
 is not available in the Malaysian market yet…not officially anyway. But some of us smartphone enthusiast managed to get our hands on this high potential mid-range contender.

At first my friend was skeptical about the product because it is not officially launched here in Malaysia, and he was actually contemplating about buying it from the phone dealer. But when he saw the packaging on the RedMi, he is then convinced that it is genuine. True enough, it is (after we checked the IMEI and serial number from Xiaomi’s website).

Here’s the specification for Xiaomi RedMi Note:

CPU
: MediaTek MT6592 Octa-Core clocking at 1.7GHz Cortex A7

GPU
: Mali-450MP4

Display
: IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 720 x 1280 pixels, 5.5 inches

Camera
: 13 Megapixel main camera, 5 Megapixel front camera

Memory
: 8GB ROM/2GB RAM, MicroSD up to 32GB

OS
: Custom MIUI OS built on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean

Network:
 2G/3G/HSPA+ only.

Battery:
 3200mAh

Pros

Large battery that can last the whole day

Octa-Core is stable and fast

Clear large screen with vibrant colours

Clean design, nice to hold

Good camera at 13 megapixel, auto focus is fast

Cheap. Nuff said.

Cons

Built in space is only 8GB

No LTE

Back cover is fingerprint magnet

Still on Jelly Bean OS

Let’s unpack the box…

The genuine Xiaomi 3D hologram sticker can be seen clearly at the back.

Inside the box, all the standard stuffs such as the user manual, warranty card, USB wire/charger and a cute USB adapter that you can plug into the phone to connect a thumbdrive.

Turn on the phone and you can see the clear and sharp 5.5 inches IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen at 720 x 1280 pixels. The display is so sharp that made my colleagues in the office wanting to buy this phone. Oh and one more thing, my boss really did went out and bought a RedMi Note after he saw this review phone. LOL!

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Okay. Back of the phone.

The camera is located right in the top center and the LED flash sits right below it. The “Mi” logo is in the same location at the bottom half. Everything looks clean at the back. The speaker is at the bottom left. It’s quite big so the sound that came out of it is pretty loud.

When I first held the all plastic phone, it doesn’t feel like the usual plastic type phones. Just like the
Gphone EVO
, it feels solid without any loose end or creaking sounds when you press the edges. The volume rocker is on the right side with the power/standby button just below it. Opening the back cover is easy. Just use your nail (if it’s long enough) and pry open from the bottom of the phone where the mini USB port is. It uses the mini SIM, unlike some of the newer ones that uses micro SIM. Two SIM card slots can easily be seen and accessed but you have to remove the battery first. And the microSD card slot is right next to the 2 SIM slots.

The soft touch buttons at the bottom of the front screen lid up with you operate the phone. It is set as nice reddish colour that is not too bright. I find it a little bit awkward when I use this phone because the back button is on the right side, as opposed to the left on my Xperia SP. I kept pressing the menu button when I want to go back. Small matter.

Overall, the feel of RedMi Note in my hand is good. The size may be big for the ladies but I’m sure size does not matter nowadays. Everyone, including the ladies, would feel that bigger is better. And please, keep your (dirty) mind straight for once.

Next:
Performance
 >

1

2

3


Samsung Launched a Tizen Phone – Samsung Z

Samsung has finally revealed that they are launching their first
Tizen
 phone, but it won’t be making their way to our shores yet. Later in Q3, the phone will first be launched in Russia before making their ways to other countries. For this Tizen model, Samsung is calling it as Samsung Z. They won’t be using the Galaxy brand name because Galaxy is used exclusively for their various Android models only.

The specification for Samsung Z is not much difference than any of the Galaxy variants. Said to be powered by a Snapdragon 800 2.3GHz CPU with 2GB of RAM, comes with 16GB of ROM and a 4.8 inch Super AMOLED display at 1280 x 720 resolution. Specifications are leaning more to fit the higher end device, which is similar to some of the flagship Android devices out there. Samsung is also throwing in a fingerprint scanner similar to the one in their Galaxy S5 on the Samsung Z phone.

Developers will get their early taste of Samsung Z during the upcoming
Tizen Developer Conference
 from 2nd to 4th June 2014 in San Francisco, California.

For those who don’t know what Tizen is, here’s a short excerpt explaining Tizen in a nut shell:

Tizen is a new Operating System initiative by Intel and Samsung. It can be seen as a replacement for MeeGo based on more modern and open Standards such as HTML5 and Wholesale Applications Community (WAC). Tizen Apps will be created with the latest and most versatile standards. The System will run across a wide spectrum of devices, including smartphones, tablets, smart-TVs, netbooks and in-car infotainment systems. Computer Hardware brands like Asus and Acer have already joined the Tizen movement, other smartphone makers like HTC are expected to join. – www.tizenphones.com

Source of info and pictures:
AndroidCentral.com
 and
Wikipedia.org

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Xiaomi Mi3 – My First Impression

What is the current most popular Android smartphone in Malaysia? If you think Samsung is the most popular, well…you are correct. But, not cheap though. Now what’s the other relatively new smartphone maker that recently launched here in Malaysia and all their units went “sold-out” within less than 20 minutes?…twice?

Even Samsung can’t match this.

Xiaomi Mi3
 is the current most popular Android smartphone in terms of current market sales. That’s what I think. Best of all, your wallet will still be thick after buying it. The Xiaomi Mi3 has among the highest hardware specifications, with the likes of
Nexus 5
,
LG G2
 and
Xperia Z1
. However, the price that came with it is waaaaaay lower. How did
Xiaomi
 did this? By eliminating the middle person so that they can deliver the best device at a much lower price.

My first impression of the Xiaomi Mi3 is that as soon as I held the phone in my hand, I didn’t know I have a phone in my hand. I can feel a slab of something there but I can’t feel the weight. This thing is so damn light! But light doesn’t mean flimsy. The build is solid and everything is in the right place. That’s all I can say for now about this phone.

I will be using this review unit for one whole week. I will do some extensive playing around with the phone and will indeed do a review on it when I’m done.

Here’s a little basic specification for this phone:

CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.3GHz Quad Core

GPU: Adreno 330

Memory: 16GB & 62GB storage variant, 2GB of RAM

Imaging: 13-megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash

Display: 5-inch 1080 x 1920 IPS LCD touchscreen at 441 DPI

Be sure to check back at this website for the full review in one week time. Thank you for your visit.

Note:
 En. ImranZ, one of the moderator of
Malay MIUI Forum
 is kind enough to me loan his Mi3 for this review. He is also the team leader for the
MIUI Malay Translators
, who’ve had more than 2 months of sleepless nights together with his team to translate a Malay version of MIUI OS for Malaysian market. So if you’re a Xiaomi phone user and need some help with maintaining or upgrading your device(s), you may register at the MIUI forum
here
.

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Review: Xiaomi Mi3 – Incredible Performance at Lesser Cost

What do you expect to get from a low priced flagship (should I call it flagship?) Android smartphone? Surprisingly…a very reliable high spec Android phone. No kidding.

We all heard about the news when it went on sale and went sold out less than half an hour later. And the latest online sale (from what I heard), 7000 units went on sale and sold out within 39 seconds! Crazy. I should be because the
Xiaomi Mi3
 is going for RM769 but having a flagship specifications that are similar to LG G2, Nexus 5, Galaxy S5, Xperia Z1 and many other mainstream flagship phones at less than half the price. So cheap, no wonder this phone went sold out within such a short time.

I had the luxury of trying out this phone for a week, on loan by a very nice Xiaomi hardcore user and also the team leader for MIUI Malaysia team, En. ImranZ. Thank you for the one week loan bro.

Now back to my review.

Here’s the full specification for the Xiaomi Mi3:

CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.3GHz Krait 400 Quad Core

GPU: Adreno 330

Memory: 16GB & 62GB storage variant, 2GB of RAM

Imaging: 13-megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash

Display: 5-inch 1080 x 1920 IPS LCD touchscreen at 441 DPI

OS: Android Jelly Bean 4.3 optimized by MIUI V5

Totally full spec
here
.

At first look, I felt that the phone is very light. As what I said in my preview, I feel that the phone is too light for its size. Well it’s good right? Definitely good lah. I like the box it came in. Looks like a recyclable box but it feels solid and nice.

After opening the box, you can see that the phone fits snugly in the middle. Everything else in the box are kept really well in its place. It’s like the saying goes, “A place for everything and everything in its place”. Truly an OCDs best friend.

See? Even the cable and plug has its own compartment. Plus, the little pin for you to take out the SIM slot also has a place on its own. Cool eh? Who says that items made in China are low quality? Not all of them are bad.

Having to use the pin to open the SIM card slot is very iPhone-ish. But considering that it has a built-in battery and also with its slim design, having this type of SIM slot would be a better option.

The volume rocker and the power button is placed comfortably on the right side. It feels right that way. But the buttons are slightly loose. I don’t know if they are intended to be that way, or if it’s a design flaw. That’s not really an issue for me as long as it’s working.

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Left: The view from the top. We can see the earphone jack and the SIM slot next to it. At one glance, I almost did not see the SIM slot because it is somewhat well camouflage with the surroundings but after a while it became obvious to me.

Right: Bottom of the phone. Can see the large area for the speaker and a mini USB slot. The sound quality from the speaker is clear. If I put the volume to the max, it can be really loud. Good thing it is not place at the back of the phone because if I place the phone on something soft like my bed, the sound will be muffled and I can’t hear if it rings. So, good speaker placement for me.

At the back of the phone we have the camera and the dual LED flash placed on the top left. If you wish, you can peel off the sticker and place the sticker elsewhere like on the box or something. Because this is a review unit, I wouldn’t want to remove it. If it’s mine, stickers be gone! And it looks better without it.

The photo quality that comes out from this camera is superb. I will go further into it later on.

And this is how it looks like when I hold it in my hand. The size is just nice for me. I don’t like it being too big like the Galaxy Mega 6.3 and even the Note 3 is too big for my liking. A 5 inch screen is just right and this one has a slim feature with rounded sides. Nice to hold.

The material of this phone feels really solid. It is made of magnesium alloy, so that’s why it feels light and sturdy. I really like the feel of the body. I know it won’t slip off my hand when I’m handling it while walking. There’s no heat that radiates from the phone as well. Everything is cool, even while charging.

Oh…one more thing that I want to add. The surface of the glass on this one is so smooth that if it has smudges on it, you simply put the phone in your pocket, walk about and when you take it out, voila…it’s all cleaned smudge free. Must be the material that they are using I guess. Smudges are very easy to remove on this one. I can’t be sure on the glass material though. Some says it’s using Corning Gorilla Glass, others are saying that it’s not. The official website doesn’t state that it uses the Gorilla Glass. But it certainly feels like it is. Need to dig further on this.

Next:
User Interface
 >

1

2

3


Salam Ramadhan To All

That time of the year has come again. I feel like it was only a few months ago that we celebrated the last Hari Raya. Time flies really fast and before I knew it, fasting month has begun.

I remember the last Hari Raya very clearly. I remember it because I was alone. That was the year when my parents decided to embark on their journey to Mekah, Saudi Arabia by land. I was left behind and I celebrated Aidilfitri without them around. Their journey was halted before they can even reach China (via Laos). Apparently any foreigners who wants to drive inside China must have a guide to travel with them. And the cost for a guide? About RM25k. So their dreams were shattered and they head back to Thailand and then to Malaysia. After traveling close to 10,000km by land in my dad’s 15 year old Pajero, they finally arrived back in Kuala Lumpur sometime in September 2013. I went over to Hadyai to meet up with them and we spend another week in Songkla before making our way back home. That’s when I took over the wheel and brought them home safely. (Read the
history on their journey
. They even have a
Facebook Page
.)

Fast forward to 2014, Ramadhan is here again. Same time last year they left me. But this year they are with me again. I couldn’t be more happier. After celebrating one Aidilfitri without a family, this time around I have my family back. It was a good run for them. They tried to cross China and make their way to Mekah. But God has other plans for them. InSya Allah I will be able to send them to Mekah without them having to drive there. But I know my dad very well. He loves the adventure. It was it dream. But yeah, they tried…and they managed to reach the China border on their own. Mind you, they were both 73 years old when they went on their journey. Not many people can do that, but they did. Nevertheless, I’m still proud of them for their achievements.

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So here’s to the new Ramadhan. Things will be back to normal for me…or maybe different.

Ramadhan Mubarak! Have a good one.


Xiaomi Mi3 – Sample Video From Mi3 Camera

I have done the
review for Xiaomi Mi3
 MIUI based Android smartphone last week and I loved it. I especially love the camera on this particular device and I think it’s really a good bargain.

Yes, I think I did provide many good comments about the camera’s quality but I only shared the still photos. Here I want to share how the video quality is like with the Xiaomi Mi3. I don’t think you will be disappointed although I know that it won’t be as great as the video from a Samsung Galaxy Note 3. I have to admit, Note 3 is the best for creating videos from a mobile device.

Anyway, here are two sample videos for you.

One was taken inside Pavilion KL to show the example on low light.

Another one was taken outdoors along Jalan Bukit Bintang. Under bright conditions, the video quality is obviously much better.

Conclusion

It has it’s pros and cons. But given that the price of the Mi3 is relatively cheap, it still managed to produce some good quality videos. Taking normal still photos is great, but taking video is a different task altogether. Having said that, the Xiaomi Mi3 still managed to capture good high quality videos both indoors and outdoors.

How do you like it? Let me know in the comment.

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1:Face Charity Watch – Let’s Make a Difference

With all the hype about smartwatch launches by the mainstream tech companies that are currently circulating the social media network these past few days, there is another watch being launched and sold for a sole purpose of charity and NOT for profit. Of course, their watches are nothing like those of Samsung, LG and the rumoured Apple’s iWatch, but rather a cheap non-smartwatch for the basic use like telling you the current date and time.

Let me introduce to you the 1:Face Charity Watch. Their motto is “Changing the world 1:face at a time”. What they offer is a chance for you to purchase a watch and the proceeds will go to the selected cause based on which watch you buy. Here’s a little excerpt from their page:

1Face supports nine causes; cancer, hunger, breast cancer, clean water, disaster relief, environment, AIDS, education, and animal rights, and have partnered with different charities to bring global change. Each cause has a specific metric that tells you exactly what you purchase does. From building wells to providing a year of education, 1Face is committed to bringing about change, worldwide.

Each watch that you buy, will go to each respective cause(s). One example given is that when you buy a watch that supports Hunger (white colour 1:Face watch), the proceed will be able to provide food for 10 people. Each cause will be represented by a different colour watch. Choose your desired colour or cause and you’re good to go. Each 1:Face watch will only cost you USD$40.

However, if you opt for the special version of a 1:Face watch which is a touchscreen, you will be able to donate to all the causes. But the watch will cost you USD$99 instead. But I bet the price is still cheaper than those mainstream smartwatches (obviously). But this is for a good cause, don’t you think so?

So head on over to their
official website
 if you wish to purchase this ohsem watch for an ohsem cause. I’m just waiting for my monthly salary to clear so that I can buy one. I’m more than happy to help to make a difference in someone’s life.

With the dedicated ground work from our partner charities, we are able to build wells, provide meals, provide medication and medical treatment, contribute to finding cures and improve living conditions.

Make the decision to help, be part of the solution and global change.

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August Top 6 Best Android Phones Under RM700

It has been a while since I did my last research on the best entry-level or mid-range Android phones. I had a chance to review some of them and I spent some time “playing” around with what I think as the top 6 best Android phones under RM700 that are currently available in Malaysia.

This time around it is not an easy task for me to choose which one is better than the other. Most of the newly released mid-range smartphones are packed with awesome goodness that were being used in the flagship phones a year ago. One year made a lot of difference in terms of price and technology. Now let’s see what I’ve compiled.

So this is my list of the most affordable phones as of the month of August 2014 which I think worthy of being published in this blog.

#6 – Sony Xperia C

Although Sony makes some good high-end phones, they do have a good role in making some cheap mid-range phones as well. The
Sony Xperia C
 is one of them. But this one sits at #6 because of its price and specifications. It is the most expensive in the list at RM699 per unit. Having said that, it is also has the lowest specifications among all that only comes with 4GB of space and 1GB of RAM. The 5-inch 540×960 display and resolution is nothing to shout about. It also doesn’t come with Sony’s famous Bravia Engine display. The 8-megapixel camera is not the same as the one in Sony’s flagship Z1 or Z2 so don’t expect your photos to be as good looking as you think you’ll get. I’m including this phone here in the list simply because I want to show you that “branded stuffs” doesn’t always mean quality. In this case, you get an expensive phone with mediocre specs.

#5 – Asus Zenfone 5

Asus introduced 3 new lines of Intel based CPU phones recently, the Zenfone 4, 5 and 6. I am featuring the
Zenfone 5
 “high spec” here this time because it is what I think is the best value for money that is produced by Asus. Funnily, they make many varieties of the same phone. They have the low “standard” spec, the mid spec and the high spec of the Zenfone 5. I don’t know why but I’m not going to crack my head thinking about it so I’ll stick with my opinion on the high spec instead.

The high spec Zenfone 5 comes with Intel Atom processor (same processor as my 2008 netbook) clocking at 2.0GHz CPU with PowerVR GPU. The Intel processor is able to multitask as usual without any lag and it also performs well for gaming. On heavy gaming graphics however, some lags occurs and starting to show its weaknesses. But if you’re not an avid gamer, the phone is still good for normal use, ie: Facebook, Instagram, emails and office stuffs. You have plenty of space inside for your photos as it comes with 16GB of ROM and 2GB of RAM to support the memory usage. The HD 720p 5″ screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Class 3. The Zenfone 5 is priced at around RM539, price varies depending on where you buy it from. From some reviews that I read online, I can only find one flaw with this phone. The GPS locking can be a nuisance. It is slow and sometimes inaccurate. But the new software update to KitKat may solve this problem. Will check again on that matter.

#4 – Xiaomi Redmi 1S

Xiaomi is currently the most popular China brand Android smartphone here in Malaysia (and probably the whole of South East Asia too). What is there not to love about this phone? Good quality, cheap and
MIUI
. Unfortunately, you can only buy the Xiaomis from their respective local based online store. And to be able to purchase a unit, is a big achievement. But of course, you can still buy them at some phone shops around the city but at a higher price.

Back to the phone. I placed the
Redmi 1S
 at #4 because this particular model holds the current lowest (but popular) spec by Xiaomi. Don’t get me wrong. In my opinion, this is still a damn good phone to buy. Believe it or not, I almost bought one. I prefer this 4.7 inch screen phone over the huge 5.5 inch Redmi Note. It comes with 720 x 1280 resolution and protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 2. It doesn’t come with a huge space. It only comes with 8GB of ROM but is expandable with an external MicroSD card that supports up to 32GB. One of the reason why I didn’t end up buying this one is because of the 1GB of RAM. Other than that, the phone is excellent. It has an 8-megapixel main camera and 1.6-megapixel front camera. Processing power is by Snapdragon 400 Quad-core CPU clocking at 1.6GHz plus an Adreno 305 GPU for the graphic power. This processing power is actually an upgrade that was announced recently. Previously it was using a Quad-core Mediatek CPU instead of a Snapdragon. This phone is priced at RM419 when you buy it from the official website. Do keep in mind that the LTE version of the Redmi 1S is coming soon. You might want to wait for that one instead.

#3 – Huawei Honor 3C

At first I thought that
Huawei’s Honor 3C
 is going to be a hit and a good contender against the Redmi Note. But it fell short in some areas. This one was also one of my consideration for purchase a while back. I love the clean design and beautiful interface. For a mid-range smartphone, this can be considered as one of the big players. It is powered by a Mediatek Quad-core CPU at 1.3GHz with a Mali-400 GPU. For GPU in smartphones, Adreno is the current best, Tegra is not far behind, PowerVR is for the basic use but a Mali based GPU is best for mid-range…hence why I wanted to buy this one before this. It comes with 8GB of ROM space and 2GB of RAM. Apparently the camera picture quality is good with this phone. Main shooter is shooting at 8-megapixel but it also comes with a 5-megapixel front shooter. Good phone for selfie lovers.  The big 5-inch screen at 720 x 1280 resolution is sharp and clear. It has a 2300mAh battery, so going on a full day use should be enough. The Honor 3C can be found priced at around RM499.

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#2 – Lenovo S960 a.k.a Vibe X

Actually I fell in-love with the
VibeX
 as soon as it was announced last year. I didn’t managed to buy it yet back then. But I do find some time to play with this phone when I have the opportunity because it is always on display at telco stores and also in Harvey Norman. One thing I can say about this phone is, superb! It is very responsive and the screen is simply so damn pretty. The colours are vibrant and crystal clear…all thanks to the full HD 5-inch 1080 x 1920, 441ppi display and protected by Gorilla Glass 3. It comes with 16GB or 32GB of ROM space variant and supported by 2GB of RAM. All the good stuffs are being put in the VibeX. Going on under the hood, it is powered by Mediatek Quad-core CPU at 1.5Ghz with PowerVR GPU. The phone will also fit nicely in your palm because the ergonomics are pretty slim. To me, a 5-inch screen phones are just about the right size. Now the camera in this baby is at 13-megapixel around the back and 5-megapixel in the front. In my Lenovo reviews, I have said that Lenovo pays more attention on the camera features. That works really well with the VibeX. Photos are awesome. Colours are spot on and quality is definitely above par. This should be one of your consideration if you plan to buy a new mid-range phone. Price is around RM669.

#1 – Xiaomi Redmi Note

No doubt that the
Xiaomi Redmi Note
 is on top of my list. I have
reviewed this phone
 when it first released in the Malaysian market and my review on it is nothing less than positive. Although the specification of the Redmi Note is notably high, I placed this particular phone at the top of my list because of its growing popularity and value for money. No doubt that it is very new and still gradually improving on its reliability. But on the positive note, this phone is worth a buy.

Starting with the heart of the phone, it is beating at 1.7GHz with its powerful Mediatek Octa-core CPU, that is eight cores to those who don’t know what octa-core is. In fact, this phone is the only one that comes with an octa-core here in my list. The performance of this monster is really good, scoring high on the Antutu benchmark rating and being the highest scoring mid-range phone currently on the market. The octa-core CPU is supported by Mali-450MP4 GPU, which is a big improvement from the old Mali-400 GPU. The high-spec version comes with 2GB of RAM but it only holds 8GB of ROM space. Thankfully, this Note has an expendable MicroSD slot which supports up to 32GB of external memory. The huge 3200mAh battery plays a big role on keeping the phone alive for a whole day too. As for the display, the 5.5 inch screen with 720 x 1280 resolution is bright and crisp. It is not protected by a Gorilla Glass, so a tempered glass screen protector is useful for this phone. Good news for photography enthusiast, the main shooter comes with 13-megapixel f/2.2 at 28mm wide angle. At f/2.2, this means that you can take a picture quite clearly in low light, but of course not in pitch black places. Front camera comes in 5-megapixel, which means vain people would love this phone. The Redmi Note is being sold in their online store at RM509 each.

I have reviewed the Redmi Note a while back and you can check out some sample photos from the review
here
.

Another new Android smartphone that is worth a mention is the all new MOTO E by Motorola. Selling for only RM369 currently at
Lazada.com.my
.

Final Words

I am not being bias to any brands here. I just list out what I think is worth the money spend that goes along with the specifications of each devices. The Redmi Note is clearly the best at the moment in terms of value for money. I love the awesome Lenovo VibeX for its powerful specs and superb display. Huawei’s Honor 3C is something to look at if you’re thinking of buying a different China brand Android phone. Redmi 1S is the low end and cheap MIUI based Android device and also a good value for money phone. If only the GPS locking is not a problem with the Asus Zenfone 5, I would have placed it in the position above Redmi 1S. And finally the Sony Xperia C is the cheapest good option so far made by a mainstream brand, but still too expensive for its poor specifications.

At the end of the day, you make your own choice. My list is only to help you with your decision if you’re thinking of buying a good mid-range Android smartphone here in Malaysia. I hope this information is useful for all of you. Until my next list of best buys, thank you for reading.

P/S: Price for each phone varies at different places. The price listed are based on the price where I usually buy my phone(s) from at
DirectD
 in Subang Jaya.


Google Maps Know Where You Been To

Guess what? Your Android smartphone can always know where you are even if you turn off your GPS or network based location. And there’s a website especially for that as a proof. Scary isn’t it? But on the bright side, it doesn’t track your actual route. What it does is that it capture your location based on where you are as you stop moving. It’s more of a point-to-point location marker. As you can see in the picture below, it simply point your rough location and keep that point in your travel history. Each point marks the time and date of your location.

The image above is showing where I have been for the last 7 days in and around KL. It doesn’t show my exact location, just the area where the network based location or GPS “found” me.

Nevertheless, this is still something you should be aware of. If you wish not to be located, turn off the Google Location Sharing in the settings of your phone under “Location”. On the good side is that, so far only you can view your location history. All you have to do is log in to
this website
 with the same username and password that you use in your Android phone.

What’s your say on this? Is this location history function by Google a good thing? My say is that this function is good only to the user as a private viewing, not to be shared to public. Leave a comment on this. Cheers.

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Speed Monster Meizu MX4 Coming to Malaysia

The title is just a figure of speech. But one thing that we can be sure of at the moment is that the new Meizu MX4 is so fast that you may need a parachute to slow it down. Okay, that’s another figure of speech. My bad.

The
Meizu MX3
 is the current quiet monster that no one knows due to the hype and dominant advertisement done by fellow Chinese rival,
Xiaomi
. To those who knows, Meizu MX3 is a beautiful little monster that packs a strong punch with its Samsung Exynos Octa-core CPU but runs with dual quad-core processors at 1.6GHz and 1.2GHz respectively. Now another quiet monster, which I would call a “kaiju” category 4, will be arriving to Malaysian shore soon.

Why do I call it a monster and why at lightspeed? I can’t write about it, but I will let the picture do the talking.

The fastest mainstream monster like the Galaxy S5 or Note 3 or HTC M8 have a score between 30,000 and 40,000 on Antutu Benchmark, but the new MX4 scores at freaking fast 52,811. It is the fastest smartphone made by a China company and is the fastest anywhere, globally. The test version of the device is said to be only a mid-range unit that is using a Mediatek MT6595 with
ARM big.LITTLE
 chip on board together with LTE connectivity. Now what the heck is “big.LITTLE” chip architecture?

Simple explanation is: “
ARM big.LITTLE is a heterogeneous computing architecture coupling (relatively) slower, low-power processor cores with (relatively) more powerful and power-hungry ones. The intention is to create a multi-core processor that can adjust better to dynamic computing needs and use less power than clock scaling alone.
”

In layman’s term, it is a combination of two (2) separate sets of quad-core processors with two different speed frequency. Technically, it is an octa-core but runs at two different sets of speed. So in the case for the Meizu MX4, it runs at 2.2Ghz on the power set, and 1.7Ghz on the “relaxed” set of CPU. The processor is backed by an improved PowerVR G6200 (600Mhz) GPU to run the graphics. Now remember, this particular test set is only a mid-range version of the new Meizu MX4. The top-of-the-line MX4 Pro is rumoured to use the new Samsung Exynos 5 Octa-core with the similar big.LITTLE architecture that runs at 2.1Ghz and 1.5Ghz respectively. As for the graphics, it uses Mali-T628MP6 which in my opinion is slightly better than PowerVR based GPU.

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Little more on the upcoming Meizu MX4, the display is said to be a 2k display with 1920 x 1152 resolution at 5.4″ screen. The pixels per inch is above 500(ppi), so you will get a sharp crystal clear eye candy on the go.

Talking about display, the MX4 is coming with the new Flyme 4.0 OS. Xiaomi have their own MIUI, Meizu have Flyme. Everyone is going with the “Flat IU” kind of look nowadays with Google coming with their new Android L, which is going to have the flat look as well. Flat UI was first made popular by Windows OS especially with the Nokia Lumia series. It is then being adapted by other smartphone manufacturers to make their system more cleaner and beautiful. Honestly, I like flat UI. And Flyme version 4.0 is all about Flat UI. It looks good. Really good.

If you’re thinking of getting the new Mi4 by Xiaomi, you can also consider this Meizu MX4 as an alternative. The price for Xiaomi Mi4 (with Snapdragon 801 CPU) is going to range between RM1,200 to RM1,300. At the other side of the coin, the Meizu MX4 is probably going to be priced at a lower range between RM1,000 to RM1,100.

So now we are going to have two new “kaijus” coming up, choose wisely.


Xperia M2 Aqua – A Mid Range Diver by Sony

Sony unveiled their new mid-range Android smartphone earlier today. An evolve from the popular mid-range Xperia M2, the newly launched waterproof smartphone is known as Xperia M2 Aqua. What they did was making the popular M2 waterproof, which worked well, kinda.

The Aqua has basically the same specifications as the non-aqua M2. The only upgrade is that they sealed the phone to allow it to take a swim with you. M2 Aqua is powered by a Snapdragon 400 Quad-core 1.2Ghz with Adreno 305 GPU. As for the memory space, you will get an 8GB ROM and only 1GB of RAM. I would like to stress here that 1GB of RAM is currently considered low for today’s usage. If they were to upgrade the RAM to at least 1.5GB, it would make a world of difference in performance. I’ve used a phone that has the 1.5GB of RAM before and I can tell you that the 512MB difference is heck of a lot to go by. Too bad they opt to maintain the RAM as the normal M2.

On the positive side, this phone comes with LTE connectivity for fast internet connection. The screen is at 4.8-inch with 540 x 960 resolution but the display is QHD.

When it comes to snapping pictures, wherever you are, Xperia M2 Aqua will excel. It combines an 8MP camera with Sony technologies like Exmor RS for mobile image sensor, HDR imaging, SteadyShot for video, Xperia camera apps and a dedicated camera button to help you capture the perfect shot every time, whether that’s above or below the water.

–
Sony Press Release

At least this mid-range swimmer comes equipped with a good set of camera. That is something you can consider if you’re thinking of getting an all-weather resistant Android phone. Price for the new M2 Aqua is still unknown here in Malaysia. I would assume that it will be between RM800-RM1000 for the time being. Will update on the price once it is made available in Malaysian market.

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What do you think of this new one from Sony? Leave a comment. Cheers.

Source of news:
Android Central


At The Edge With The New Galaxy Note

By now the public already know about the upcoming powerhouse in futuristic smartphone device, Samsung’s new Galaxy Note Edge. With the powerful hardware specifications and huge screen, this is going to be the smartphone of the year. Most notably, the small curved edge on the right side of the screen will be the trademark of this baby.

Picture credit: TheVerge.com

The key specifications for this sexy beast are as follows:

Display:
 1600 x 2560 pixels, 5.6″ (~524ppi), Corning Gorilla Glass 3

Memory:
 32GB or 64GB ROM with 3GB of RAM

Camera:
 16MP, OIS, autofocus, LED flash, 2K video

Front Camera:
 3.7MP, 1080p @30fps video

CPU:
 Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 Quad-core 2.5GHz Krait 450

GPU:
 Adreno 420

Android OS:
 4.4.4 KitKat

I wouldn’t know about the price yet but I can assume that this will set you back to about RM2100 or above on launch day. Honestly, I don’t fancy Samsung Galaxy phones. But this may change my perception. We’ll see about that.

Meanwhile, here’s a hands-on video on the new Galaxy Note Edge.

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Get 50GB Additional Storage at Dropbox With New Galaxy Note 4

Samsung
 and
Dropbox
 have teamed up and recently announced that they are giving out FREE additional 50GB of cloud storage space for every new purchase of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Some of you may already have an extra 25GB of space on Dropbox when you purchase other Galaxy branded devices, you will still be able to enjoy another additional 50GB of cloud space. That means you will have up to 75GB of cloud space on Dropbox. How cool is that?

Having a cloud storage is almost an essential nowadays. Instead of only having to keep your data or photos on your smartphones, you can also sync it online. All this can be done automatically. As for Dropbox, you have to activate the online sync from within the Dropbox settings. So then any photos that you take will be uploaded to the cloud and therefore storing a backup photo for you online. You can then view that photo from your laptop or PC if you installed the Dropbox software in your machine(s). It will also sync the same data throughout all your devices.

I have been using Dropbox since its first launch. I can safely say that I’m a loyal user of Dropbox. It’s a safe place for me to remotely keep my captured photos to view them later on another device. Or in case if I lost my phone, my photos are still sitting in Dropbox’s server peacefully.

Head on to the
official press release
 for the Samsung + Dropbox partnership for further details.

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Ohsem Makan: Sesame Chicken Rice at Gerai Ah Kow

It has been a very long time since I last blog about food. As what my description for this blog said, I love photography and anything about technology & gadgets…and of course food too.

I remember those days when I first started blogging (back in 2004-2005), most of my blog entries are about places I’ve been to and where I go for makan. Lately since I started blogging again after 2-3 years of silence, it has been more about technology and gadgets. Of course I don’t want to abandon my love for food altogether. So basically now I’m back at it.

My latest addition for my food blog is what I think is the BEST fried chicken I have ever tasted in my life…ever. Uncle Lim’s fried chicken in Subang Jaya now falls to the second spot after this awesome goodness.

Do you like chicken rice? I love it. Especially at Chee Meng chicken rice in Bukit Bintang. But that one comes in either roasted or steamed chicken. But what about fried ones? That is when the awesome sesame chicken rice at Gerai Ah Kow comes in.

Situated within Medan Selera Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz (opposite Hospital Besar Kuala Lumpur), Gerai Ah Kow is usually packed during lunch. So please expect to have a little bit difficulties of finding a parking spot when you’re coming here at peak hours. Also, do come early because the sesame chicken rice sells out fast.

If you come alone, order the half set. That will cost you about RM9 per serving but if you’re there in pairs, you can order a bigger set at double the price. Yes, it is slightly expensive for a plate of chicken rice. But trust me, this will be the best fried chicken you’ll ever tasted.

Don’t believe? See the photos.

Drooling yet? Go and make your way to Gerai Ah Kow for this succulent fried chicken the next time you’re in the area. Don’t worry. It’s halal.

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To get there, you just have to make your way towards Hospital Besar Kuala Lumpur if you’re on Jalan Tun Razak heading towards PWTC. At the junction before the hospital, turn left and go to the end of the road until you see a Medan Selera on your left. Find a place to park and find gerai no.2. You won’t miss it.

Here’s a map to the medan selera for you.

There you go. My first food blog (after so long) for this year (I think). Tell me what you think about this place (if you’ve been there) in the comment. Thank you for reading.


Smartwatch – 5 Ways On How It Can Effect Our Daily Lives

Being a tech geek and gadget enthusiast, I always look for something new and exciting. From the time I owned my first “smartphone”, the O2 Xphone II based on Windows Smartphone OS to the latest Android, I will find a way to make the best out of what my devices can do. But all those can only be done in the big metal slab in my pocket.

I’m not saying that having a smartphone is a disadvantage but phones are not getting any smaller unlike in the late 90’s. During the old days, phone were huge. Then it gets smaller and smaller until we can’t really see it when you’re holding it in your hand. But now it gets bigger…and way bigger. Like the Galaxy Mega (I’m not talking about Tabs here).

Photo by GSMArena.com

Now, imagine leaving that huge slab in your pocket or in your bag while you’re reading text messages? The era of the Jetsons is here. Smartwatches are popping up everywhere like mushrooms. From one of the first smartwatch maker Pebble, to the most recent being an Apple iWatch.

But the enthusiasm somehow hasn’t been great. It is still moving up rather slowly. Consumers are still wondering whether it will be a good investment to make that purchase or not. Maybe not for now.

But when it becomes popular in near future, I foresee some effects that it may happen in our daily lives.

1. You will be notified

Imagine having a device strapped around your wrist that will notify you about that dentist appointment you made some time ago. Or a notification about meeting with a potential client pops up on your wrist. Or more importantly, a reminder to get an anniversary gift for your girlfriend/wife that can potentially save your life. Yes, you can instantly and constantly be reminded of what you should do on daily basis…without the extra nagging.

2. The phone stays in your pocket/bag

Technically you can safe time by leaving your phone in your pocket or bag to check on text messages, emails, missed calls or to look at the time. But there will be no such excuse like saying that you didn’t hear to phone ring when avoiding calls from your girlfriend or wife. Else you will get a nice imprint in the shape of a smartwatch on your forehead.

3. You will get healthier

Want to go for a jog without the extra weight in your pocket? Some may use an arm strap to keep their phones in but some will hold it in their hands with a huge potential of dropping it. No problem on that one either when you have a smartwatch around your wrist. You can still check for messages and emails on the go while jogging. You can even take pictures of the scenery when you happen to see some hills around you. And then take a selfie when you bump into a tree while looking at those hills. Thanks to some useful apps that is available, you can check your heartbeat rate and call for medical assistance if needed.

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4. Your voice will be better

To use the voice command on your smartwatch, you must have a good and clear voice. Phonetics accuracy is important when giving commands to your wrist…I mean, smartwatch. You will then have no choice but to speak clearly so that your smartwatch will easily understand your commands. This way, you can safe time by “writing” an email without having to physically typing it manually. And it’s not easy to type on a smartwatch because the screen is small. Other voice commands that you can do is having it to call someone for you. Imagine if you don’t have a clear voice and you wanted to call your colleague to tell him that you will be late for work but unknowingly your smartwatch calls your boss instead because they both have almost similar names. And the moment the line goes through you immediately say “Don’t tell our ass of a boss that I’m still not in the office ok?”. What happens then will determine whether you will be in the office or don’t come at all. So with a good and clear phonetic, you will be able to command your smartwatch correctly. And your phonetics will get better in time and hopefully your future boss will like you because you have a good voice.

5. Transform you into a rude person

This will happen. Rude here means that you will be glancing at your wrist more times in a day as opposed to wearing a normal watch. Imagine yourself sitting in a job interview. And while the interview goes on and your future employer is being serious, you get a notification and you will glance at your wrist. Your interviewer will say “Do you have to be somewhere?”. But after explaining to him that it’s a smartwatch, he may or may not be intrigued by it. Another scenario is when you’re out on a date with your girlfriend/wife to a nice dinner somewhere. She is having a nice romantic moment with you and talking about serious matters. But instead of being serious, you glance at your smartwatch more times than you glance at her. What do you think she would do? Well, prepare for another imprint on your forehead.

Conclusion

There are many other things what a smartwatch can do that effects our daily lives. But I only list 5 of them which I think will have the biggest impact. How you use it may not be the same as how others use it. In my view on what I think it will be like, send a clear picture on how a small technological wonder can change many of our daily routines.

If you have any other ideas on what a smartwatch can do that effect our daily lives, do leave your idea in the comment. Some readers may want to know what others think about this too. Thank you for your time.


Sub RM400 LTE Ready Smartphones Coming Soon

It has been a while since Mediatek took over the lead in the lower segment of entry level smartphones. Most of the cheap entry level phones are powered by a Mediatek CPU, be it a dual-core, quad-core or an octa-core. But that is about to change.

Qualcomm
 is coming up with an all new Snapdragon 210 with LTE enabled to recapture the entry level smartphone segment. Not wanting to fall behind, the release of the Snapdragon 210 is due in just a few months from now or perhaps earlier. Qualcomm is already in the lead with their high-end smartphone CPU such as the Snapdragon 800 (and above) as well as the older Snapdragon 600. Personally to me, Snapdragon powered smartphones are the best. Period. No octa-core from other makers can match it…yet (except Tegra, I think).

“The highlight of the Snapdragon 210 is LTE Category 4 connectivity, along with dual-LTE connectivity for dual-SIM handsets. The SoC features a quad CPU along with an Adreno 304 GPU, and supports 1080p displays with hardware HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding). The chip also supports up to 8 MP imaging sensors with Zero Shutter Lag, HDR, autofocus, auto white balance and auto exposure. Another feature on the Snapdragon 210 is Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0 technology, through which you can charge your battery 75 percent faster.” – www.wpcentral.com

Having said that, in future we will be seeing more people making the shift into utilizing the full advantage of LTE network in Malaysia. LTE in Malaysia is relatively new. The coverage is still limited within and around the main cities in Klang Valley. I noticed one thing though, when I was using an LTE based phone a few months back, the LTE network signal at my office is on full bar as opposed to normal 3G network. The LTE signal band seems to cover a much wider spectrum hence why the coverage is good. So no worries my fellow Malaysians. When a new cheaper Snapdragon 210 LTE enabled smartphones arrives on our shores, you will have good coverage.

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I have always been a fan to Snapdragon. It is very reliable and delivers good performance. But since Mediatek has been conquering the low-end market these past few months, there has been a dip in Qualcomm’s lower segment sales. According to IDC, Mediatek took 40% in the China’s smartphone market while Snapdragon only took 27%. Qualcomm need to pick up their pace. Hopefully with the launch of the new Snapdragon 210 with LTE soon, they will be able to regain their lead.

News source:
www.wpcentral.com


KLPF 2014 – Not What I Expected

Last month I had the time to head over to one of my favourite exhibition, the Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival (KLPF) 2014 held at Mid Valley Exhibition Centre.

I have been to KLPF event many times over the past 4-5 years. I have always enjoyed the atmosphere when attending the workshops and talks. But this time around it is a little bit different. It doesn’t feel as fun like before. I was expecting lots of goodies to be found such as accessories and camera stuffs. I was looking for a nice small camera bag that I got from 2013 KLPF event. But none of those goodies were sold. Practically there was no accessories shops at all. I was very disappointed at that.

As for the workshops, it was a little bit dull. Last year we were having a hard time getting in the seminar room because there was too many people, this time it was almost empty. I wonder what happened.

But after all those disappointments, one thing never change. The parade of models showing off the brands and new items. I managed to catch a few of them. It’s nothing to shout about as I have been out of photography for a while but I think it’s still worth sharing.

Check out the photos that I took during the KLPF 2014 event below:

[gmedia id=3]

Hopefully it will be better next year. Please bring back the goodies vendors too.

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Let’s Try Out The Donut Selfie

Donut Selfie? People will wonder what that is. I wondered too but I found an article that explains about that and it made me realise how cool it is. Yep, selfies are out…donut selfies are in.

Unlike still photos like the usual selfie, donut selfies are taken in a video format. It is pretty cool to see how it turns out. The person behind the idea of donut selfie is by a girl name
Karen X Cheng
. I personally like the idea of making the motion goes around in a loop and making it appear that you travel to places with some special teleportation ability. Usually these kind of effects can only be made with Hollywood style CGI and high-end cameras. But no. You can do this by using only your arm and your smartphone.

How to do it? Well, the idea is to start by placing the phone’s camera on the left side of your head with your right hand and slowing moving it in a semi circular motion towards the right side of your head. Okay. Not easy for me to explain it here so I’m going to share with you how Karen does it in her tutorial video below:

I was playing around with camera angles one day with my friend and we were doing sweeping camera motions around the head trying to make optical illusions. I did one that was from one side of my head to the other – made a donut around my head – and the video started looping and woahhhh that looks cool.

– Karen X. Cheng

Pretty easy isn’t it? Now we all can try this one out when we go out anywhere. But of course if you have any experience in video editing, that will be a huge advantage for you. But a simple one like this will be easy to learn.

What are you waiting for? Go out and try this new technique. Donut selfies are coming to an Instagram near you. Check out
DonutSelfie.com
 for more info and videos.

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Source article from:
Petapixel
.


Lumia 935 Windows 10 First Render

I have been a huge fan of the Lumia series. I’m totally in-love with the
Lumia 930
 for its beautiful design and features. Although Windows 8 platform is not widely accepted by the masses, it is still one of the best mobile platforms out there. Plus the lack of apps is definitely the downside of all this.

The new rumoured Lumia 935 may be the next biggest thing for Microsoft. It will be the first to run the newly launched Windows 10 (because they also decided to skip version 9). It will also be the first Lumia and Windows based platform to have Quad HD display which will bring a higher quality display to please your eyes.

Rendered by a person name Ibrahim Sujau, the Lumia 935 looks really stunning. Said to have a 5.5 inch and a 2560 x 1440 resolution display, a 20-megapixel OIS camera and 64GB of space with 3GB of RAM, this Windows smartphone really shout out loud specifications.

From the first render, I can see that it has adopted a similar design to the Lumia 925 but looks slightly thinner. The Lumia 930 is thicker but has a more sharper edge at the bezel area. But having said all that, the rumoured Lumia 935 looks great. And hopefully the new Windows 10 platform will be the OS of choice by many in near future…and we need more apps pls.

Source:
Concept Phones

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Oppo Latest Launch: The N3 and R5

The long awaited launch of Oppo’s new rotating camera flagship phone is finally revealed with the launch of their latest head turner, the Oppo N3. Fans of
Oppo
 should be excited about this new release alongside with the new R5, Oppo’s new mid-range contender.

First up, the Oppo N3 will come with a motorised rotating camera this time instead of the user having to turn the camera manually. Well, users will still be able to rotate the camera manually when needed but that is said to be the main attraction. Who wouldn’t want an automated rotating camera right? That would be cool.

The N3 will also come with a fingerprint scanner, the first one by Oppo located at the back of the phone. Their flagship
Find 7
 does not come with a fingerprint scanner. This means that Oppo is really putting their hopes and bet on the new N3 instead. I can see that the N3 will outshine the Find 7 in terms of consumer interest. The rotating camera and the O-Click 2.0 camera remote control will appeal to selfie lovers.

No details on the specifications yet but it is rumoured to come with Snapdragon 805 processor and 3GB of RAM. I could be wrong though. Would be great to really have it come with Snapdragon 805.

As for the R5, it is said to be Oppo’s thinnest smartphone yet. It also comes with a Snapdragon octa-core CPU and 2GB of RAM.

The Oppo R5 is a replacement of the R3, the third of the “R” series. A friend of mine is using the
Oppo R1
. And I’m very impressed by the performance of that one. Now, I’m sure the R5 will make a good impression as well, if not better.

Here are some of the product photos from the launch.

And a video…

http://youtu.be/1XdSpg1p1CQ

So what do you think of these new releases? Wanna make a shift to Oppo? Go ahead…you won’t be disappointed.

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Update: It is official now that Oppo R5 is the world’s thinnest smartphone to-date  at only 4.85mm. The frame is made of aluminum alloy and hand polished to only 4mm thickness. The screen size is at 5.2″ AMOLED display and powered by a 64-bit capable mid-range Snapdragon 615 octa-core chipset clocking at 1.5GHz, accompanied by Adreno 405 GPU and 2GB of RAM. The 13-megapixel Sony IMX214 sensor main shooter can record a high 2160p HD format video, which is high by today’s standard. LTE connectivity is also available on this slim monster.


Photo of Mysterious New Xiaomi Phone Leaked

Today we got to know that Xiaomi is possibly the third largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world. Hence why we are seeing a mysterious device by Xiaomi leaked through the internet.

With their global expansion rapidly moving towards Europe and the Russian territories, it’s no surprise that Xiaomi is giving us a big…err…surprise, with their new device. They are also in talks to set up shop in India beginning of 2015 and start their West-ward bound domination soon. Competition is tough in China, with Lenovo not letting Xiaomi to outpace them any further. Same goes with Huawei and Meizu.

Meizu’s new MX4 is going to be the main contender to Xiaomi’s flagship but I’m not sure if Huawei’s new Honor 6 or P7 can do a better job.

The mysterious Xiaomi device is said to be powered by a Snapdragon 615 64-bit octa-core beast with 2GB of RAM. LTE network connectivity is also said to be available on this new one. As pictured above, the main camera is a 13-megapixel Sony based sensor capable of shooting 1080p HD video. A speculated 5.5″ high resolution display is also expected on this new (Note?). Seems to me that this device is intended to target the upper mid-range market, rather than the low or high end market.

These are just the speculations. Nothing is solid at the moment. The price should be ranging between RM600-RM800 by the looks of it. I just hope that they can maintain the low price on their high-end devices to entice the consumers.

We’ll see how this one goes when they launch this mysterious new device. Till then, I’ll be keeping track.

Source:
Android Headlines

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Preview: Xiaomi RedMi 1S – Basically Exciting

Xiaomi is growing big here in Malaysia. They don’t even flinch when OnePlus One is making their way to Malaysia officially next month. Why? Because Xiaomi’s fan based community network is huge. They can even managed to sell out their devices in their online store within a matter of seconds. Xiaomi is the new Samsung in Malaysia.

One of the ways that they managed to capture the local market is not by having massive marketing and advertisement budget. But instead Xiaomi chose to create a phone with very reliable hardware that goes well with their customized MIUI Android OS. And most importantly, selling it very cheap.

Yesterday a friend of mine handed me a brand new Xiaomi RedMi (Hongmi) 1S for me to play with. I know that this phone has been around for quite some time but because it’s an entry level phone, consumers tend to turn their focus towards the bigger RedMi Note as their gadget of choice. I know how Malaysians think. In their heads they will be thinking like, “Instead of getting this one, we just add a hundred ringgit more and we can get the bigger and better RedMi Note”. Hence why the RedMi 1S is not as popular as its big brother. The difference in specifications also plays a huge difference in making the decisions for that purchase as well.

But don’t let this entry level phone fool you…and that’s what I’m here for. I’m here to give you the full review of this beautifully designed Xiaomi ‘baby’.

Basic Specifications:

CPU – Qualcomm Snapdragon 400, Quad-core 1.6GHz

GPU – Adreno 305

Memory – 8GB of space with up to 64GB external memory, 1GB of RAM

Display – 4.7″ 1280 x 768 IPS display

Camera – 8MP with f/2.2 rear camera and 1.6MP front camera

My first expression upon gazing on this phone as soon as I opened the box was…”Whoaa! I never knew it’s gonna look this good”.  And because of that, I am more than excited to carry on with the full review. That will be coming up in about a week from now.

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Do check back at this site for a full review of the RedMi 1S next week. Thank you for your visit.