Enter BGR's Giveaway! They really have very interesting products for their Giveaway

BGR is one of the highly regarded tech news site on the internet! Fast and reliable, it is also one of my main source of information.

Currently they are having a free Giveaway for four of the best Tech gadgets on the market. You stand a chance to win one (or even more if you're extra lucky) iPhone 7, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, Xbox One S and HTC Vive/Oculus Rift!

What you need to do is simple. Go onto their Giveaway page (you can click on the images down below to quickly get to each product page giveaway), create an BGR account or simply sign up using your Facebook profile and then just click Enter Giveaway.  It's that simple!

Click Here (or the image will do as well)

Click Here (or the image will do as well)

Click Here (or the image will do as well)

Click Here (or the image will do as well)

Source: BGR

iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus: No earphone jack confirmed.

As expected, Apple took of the wraps off their new iPhones, the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus (No iPhone 7 Pro it seems).


With most rumours hitting the mark, no more audio jack, same design and the inclusion of water resistance being the most famously talked about, let's take an official look at the newest release by Apple.

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus has mostly similar dimensions with their predecessors, even sharing the overall shape. The major difference would be the placement of the antenna lines and the cameras.

Instead of the antenna lines going straight across the body, you'll find it going across the top and botton of the phone. It's still too early for  me to decide whether this is a better or worse design decision by Apple.








Moving on to a hot feature, there is a new camera(s) to on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. For the first time, the cameras on Apple's two iPhones are significantly different.  The iPhone 7 getting an upgraded 12 MP iSight camera with a bigger aperture of f/1.8. The iPhone 7 Plus meanwhile gets a dual camera setup consisting of the standard wide-angle lens with a telephoto lens.





What it does is give the iPhone 7 Plus the ability to have 2x optical zoom. It also helps in creating the Bokeh effect, something that was usually restricted to DSLR (though nowadays you can find an app that can replicate this).

To make things clearer, Apple has put a new Quad-LED true tone flash that is 50% brighter than the previous flash.

At the front, you'll be getting a 7MP camera. This should translate into better FaceTime videos and better selfies as well.


Moving onto the display, it still maintains the same resolution as their predecessors. iPhone 7 being only HD while iPhone 7 Plus is Full HD. Though there is a wider gamut of colour now and it's 25% brighter.


To ease (burden?) your mind, there is no longer an audio jack for you to plug-in your earphone/headphones. For this, you'll have to use the Lightning adapter provided for free with the new iPhones. This means that you can't listen to music with your old earphone while charging your phone. For me, it's quite a bummer.

You'll also be getting a new earpods with Lightning connector as all matter regarding listening to music, transferring data and charging will be done through the Lightning connector.

Another solution would be for you to go and get a bluetooth earphones. Prices are going down but a good pair is still quite expensive and wouldn't be in the reach of the average Joe. Apple also introduced their own version, which are the Airpods. Design wise, I really don't like. Plus, it's expected to cost quite a lot.

We all know that the iPhone chip is going to be the most powerful in a smartphone, just to emphasize that fact Apple named its latest processor as the A10 Fusion. Two times faster than the A8. It's a quad-core 64-bit processor that is also said to increase the iPhone's battery life.


Other notable features are:

• Stereo speakers: with the other speaker being at the top.
• Internal storage now starts at 32GB, 128GB and 256GB

Sadly though there will not be any blue coloured iPhone as rendered in some rumours, but what we do get is a new Jet Black with a redesigned matte black. Yes, two black iPhones with the Jet Black being the more premium. If I'm not mistaken the Jet Black iPhone is only available in the highest configuration.

As to when it will be coming to Malaysia? Well don't hold your breath because Malaysia is not even in the second wave of countries to receive the latest iPhones.

This has always been something that bugs me, how come Malaysia is not selected. Are we not economically attractive enough? 

Prices starts at: 

iPhone 7 $649  and iPhone 7 Plus $769

Lowyat.net has made assumptions on the possible prices for the iPhones when they reach Malaysia.

Do check their article here.

Lowyat.net: How much will they cost in Malaysia?

For now pre-orders from online retailers such as Lazada has already begun.

Sources: Apple , TrustedReviews

TECHRUMOURS: 2016 Nexus Devices! Or should I say Pixel devices

*All of these are only rumours circulating the internet. Do take it with a pinch (or even more) of salt.

Last year's Nexus, 6P and 5X, were awesome. Great screen, great build, and not to forget one of the best cameras that can be found on smartphones. Though the price point has certainly been increased, it can still be considered as one of the best value phone on the market, offering the highest end specifications (6P) at mid range price. The 5X on the hand, had a smaller screen and a smaller price but retained the same excellent camera as its bigger camera.

Nonetheless both are excellent smartphones ranking among the best throughout the year and are still are up to now. 

Expect the Nexus' of this year to be similarly amazing.

LAUNCH DATE 

As of now, the known date is October 4. Alongside the device would the launch of a new 4K Chromecast and a Daydream VR headset

Source: TomsGuide

DESIGN

Several photos of the said devices have already popped up on the internet. There would be two devices as per last year, this time dropping the Nexus name altogether: Pixel and Pixel XL. (I guess they're taking a cue from their Pixel tablet)

Source: TalkAndroid

As per the name you might have been able to guess which one is going to have the bigger screen size. Pixel would be the one with a 5-inch Full HD screen while Pixel XL would have a bigger 5.5-inch Full HD screen. 

Compared to last year where the Nexus 6P was designed by Huawei, this year HTC is said to be responsible for both Pixel designs.

Source : BGR

The design of the Pixel phones are to be of two-tone with current colours being rumoured to be gray/black, white and possibly an electric blue which is starting to be the colour for 2016. 

Apparently another source also cited that the Pixel smartphones might sport a bit of an ugly backside with half of it being aluminium half being glass. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, i myself am fine with the back design. 

Source: BGR

Fingerprint scanner would be at the same place as last year's phones, ths time there would not be any camera hump. The material used would be aluminium, similar to the HTC 10. 

SCREEN

As stated above, Pixel - 5-inch Full HD 

Pixel XL - 5.5-inch Full HD

Source: BGR

Another leak points towards:

Pixel XL - 5.5-inch QHD/2K Amoled screen

Pixel - 5-inch Full HD Amoled 

CPU

So far what's confirmed is that it will be a Quad-core Snapdragon processor.

The RAM available would be a more than enough 4GB. 

CAMERA

Rumours are coming in pointing towards the new Pixel smartphones using the Sony IMX378 sensors, a 12MP sensor that is supposedly an upgrade to the IMX278, the ones found in Nexus phones of last year and were excellent. 

This should promise even better photos. 

Front cameras are going to be Sony IMX179, 8MP shooters. 

Source: http://www.androidheadlines.com/2016/09/rumor-htcs-marlin-sport-sony-imx378-camera-sensor.html

BATTERY

The Pixel XL is said to have a standard size 3,450mAh battery for its size. 

Pixel is to get a 2,770mAh, slightly bigger than the standard for its size. 

Similar to the previous Nexus, it'll have a USB Type-C port.

AUDIO

OTHER NOTABLE FEATURES

1. Internal storage is to be available in 2 options: 32GB and 128GB. Pixel is to start with at least 32GB as well. 
2. Will be launching with Android 7.1 Nougat

OTHER SOURCES: Techradar, Android Headlines 

Samsung announced global recall of Note 7, including Malaysia

This is serious. After reports of burnt Note 7s (35 officially) were received and investigated, Samsung has globally suspend and recalling all their Note 7s.


Apparently the cause seems to be a few of the batteries would explode while charging.

Here's a popular case that have been spreading online.





While the issues seemed to affect only a small number of devices, around 24 units per a million devices, it still a scary and dangerous thought that your smartphone which is around you almost every moment of the day can explode and cause you injury.

The global recall of all Note 7s is said to be a cautious measure by Samsung. All units sold will be replaced. Considering they have sold a few millions of this model, it's admirable to say that Samsung is willing to replace every Note 7, even those that might not be affected. Just to show how comitted they are. Kudos.


For our country, Samsung Malaysia Electronics have released the following official statement:

Samsung is committed to producing the highest quality products and we take every incident report from our valued customers very seriously. In response to recently reported cases of the new Galaxy Note7, we conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue.

To date (as of September 1) there have been 35 cases that have been reported globally and we are currently conducting a thorough inspection with our suppliers to identify possible affected batteries in the market. However, because our customers’ safety is an absolute priority at Samsung, we have stopped sales of the Galaxy Note7.

For customers who already have Galaxy Note7 devices, we will voluntarily replace their current device with a new one over the coming weeks. Customers may contact Samsung Malaysia Careline at 1-800-88-7799 for further enquiries of their current Galaxy Note 7 device before replacement takes place.

We acknowledge the inconvenience this may cause in the market but this is to ensure that Samsungcontinues to deliver the highest quality products to our customers. We will work to ensure the replacement experience is as convenient and efficient as possible.”

If you have bought one, make sure to contact Samsung's customer service asap and take cautions when using your device.  

Source: Lowyat.net, Lowyat.net, Mashable, CNET. TalkAndroid

TECHRUMOURS: Mi Note 2/Pro challenging for glory?

*All of these are only rumours circulating the internet. Do take it with a pinch (or even more) of salt.

Xiaomi for this year has lost some ground to its local competitors Oppo, Vivo and Huawei. To counter this, they’re switching their focus to even higher premium built smartphones as they realised that consumers are willing to spend a bit more of their money for something that is worthy.

Their hopes now rest on their next flagship phablet line, Mi Note 2 and Mi Note 2 Pro, successors to their quite famous Mi Note and Mi Note Pro. 

LAUNCH DATE 

Xiaomi was actually preparing to launch it earlier this year but as we all know it didn’t quite happen. Lately many leaks have started circulating the net, pointing to a close launch. 

DESIGN

  

We might be seeing a curved display on the Mi Note 2 but most probably only on the highest variant which should be the Mi Note 2 Pro.

Source: Android Headlines , Android Headlines,

SCREEN

Two screen sizes are known as of now, a 5.5-inch or a 5.7-inch QHD display.

CPU

Instead of the planned Snapdragon 820, it will be replaced with the updated version Snapdragon 821 (Quad-core, 64-bit). There will be 6GB of RAM to play with. 

CAMERA

Joining the dual-camera bandwagon, there is rumoured to be two 12MP cameras at the rear of the smartphone. 

BATTERY

Having a bigger body while always allow a bigger battery, the Mi Note 2 is expected to have a 4,000mAh as its fuel provider.

To charge, Xiaomi will be using the latest USB Type-C port. 

AUDIO

OTHER NOTABLE FEATURES

1.       .. Price as of now is said to cost 3,499 Yuan ($526)
2. Storage is said to be available at a start of 128GB.

OTHER SOURCES:

TECHRUMOURS: iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus/Pro

*All of these are only rumours circulating the internet. Do take it with a pinch (or even more) of salt.

LAUNCH DATE 

With the imminent arrival of the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus ( and maybe the iPhone 7 Pro) on Sept 7, we take a look at all the possible rumours that have come out on the internet. 

Source: Apple,

DESIGN

Image: BGR

If we follow the trend, this year should be the year that Apple releases their new iPhone with a new design. This time they might be going the other way as rumours appeared showing the design of the new device to be of similar dimensions and overall shape with the current ones albeit with minor changes.

The antenna band lines are now moved to the top and the bottom of the phone, no longer cutting the back.

The rear camera hump is still there but the size of the camera on the iPhone 7 will be bigger while we might see dual-camera on the iPhone 7 Plus/Pro (like the Huawei P9).

The earphone jack is said to be excluded from this year’s iPhone. Whether that is wise or not depends on you and your usage.The following article discusses on the issue (BGR).

To reduce the impact of the former move, Apple is said to be including a free 3.5mm to Lightning adapter so that you can use your existing set of earphones/headphones. 

Source: BGR

Some rumours stated that this year’s earpods would definitely be different, having a lightning head instead. Photos (and now even videos) of it are circulating the internet. 

Source: BGR

"The biggest planned change in this year's phones is the removal of the headphone plug, which will make the phone thinner and improve its water resistance," according to the report. Going forward, you'll be able to use the phone's Lightning connector to not only juice up your phone, but also plug in headphones. All in all, the next iPhone should be 1mm thinner than current models, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told the Journal.

Source: PCMag 

 

The size and the dimensions are said to be similar as the previous generation though it will be slightly thinner. 

This year is also rumoured to be the first year that Apple releases three variants of its iPhone: iPhone: iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 7 Pro. Or, the iPhone 7 Plus could be launched as the iPhone 7 Pro, where the size would be bigger than the iPhone 7 and would incorporate better technologies.

Source: BGR , Techradar 

In terms of colours, we might be seeing a new one. “Deep Blue” coloured iPhone has been spotted abd it sure looks cool. The Space Gray might be swapped for an all-black colour scheme. All rumoured by China Unicom.

Source: BGR, BGR 

SCREEN

Screen size is said to be kept at 4.7 and 5.5 inch (Pro is rumoured to be 5.5-inch as well)

 This time, Apple will be using AMOLED technology on its screens.  -> For iPhone 7S (2017).

Source: BGR

CPU

The expected processor powering this year’s iPhone is most likely be the A10.

The RAM will differ according to the variant: iPhone 7 – 2GB, iPhone 7Plus/Pro – 3GB

CAMERA

We might be getting two types of camera on this year’s iPhones. One is a single 12MP camera which is bigger and should have a bigger aperture as well while the second one is a set of two 12MP cameras said to be found on the iPhone 7 Plus/Pro.

Source: Tech Radar

Other sources state that the dual-camera is now cancelled considering the fact that the technology is not yet matured.

Source: BGR

BATTERY

As of now, some are saying that the space left by the audio jack would be utilised to fit in a bigger battery. Though some others also noted that if the iPhone is indeed made thinner, the battery would be slightly reduced. Don't put your hopes up too high that there is going to be a major improvement in this category.

AUDIO

The space that is now gained from the removal of the earphone jack would then be replaced with a second speaker.

Source: CNET

OTHER NOTABLE FEATURES

1. iPhone 7 Plus/Pro will be getting wireless charging. On top of that it’s said to be water resistant now with a rating of IP68
   Source: TechRadar
2. Internal storage would also show an increase starting from 32GB, 128GB and 256GB.
    Source: Independent 

OTHER SOURCES:

BGR, TechRadar, T3,

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7: the complete round-up

I didn’t miss a number. The next big thing from Samsung is called the Galaxy Note 7.

You may asked why did Samsung decided to skip the 6, reason being to simplify things and tally their product line with the S series.

Getting back to the main topic, we finally have it. The Samsung Galaxy Note 7! Unveiled during last night’s  (MYT) Samsung’s Unpacked event. There are many new features to be in awe of! (Spoiler: Iris Scanner XD)

Continuing on the design language of Samsung’s flagship smartphones, the Note 7 is made using glass and aluminum. Damn does the phone look gorgeous. Taking inspiration from the Edge variant of the S series, the curved screen can now be found on Samsung’s Note line,  but looking all the way awesome as it curves into the side metal frame.  

The new curved screen on the Note 7 is a bit subtle compared to the one in the S7 Edge but nonetheless gives the benefits of giving an immersive feeling. You’ll find a beautiful (and big) 5.7-inch Super AMOLED QHD (2560x10) display with a high ppi of 518 at the front of the device. (Note: iPhone 6S Plus only has a 720p display).  

It should also be stronger with the use of Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (one of the first smartphone to be using this). Improvements over the Gorilla Glass 4 seems to make this an attractive feature as they say that 80% of the time, drops from around 1.6m should not be able to break the glass. Good to hear that because from what I’ve heard, replacing a curved display is expensive.

Specification wise, the processor inside is Qualcomm’s top of the line Snapdragon 820 or the Exynos 8890 depending on the region. Malaysia should be getting the Exynos variant like the S7/Edge, which has more cores and is said to be very slightly more powerful than the Snapdragon 820 in terms of real life performance. 4GB of RAM is equipped in the phone which would definitely make multi-tasking and heavy gaming a breeze.

It now uses a Type-C port and Samsung gives out free micro-USB to Type-C adapter

As with all Note series, there’s a big 3,500 mAh battery (you also now have Fast Wireless Charging with the Note 7) which is non removable and for good reasoning. You might have expected it, the Note 7 is now IP68 Water & Dust Resistant (translates, can be submerged into 1.5m of water for 30 minutes). It’s not just the phone, the S-Pen is also protected from the inside out. In a way, telling you that you can now take notes underwater. I don’t see when you’ll need this feature but what the heck, an extra feature like this never hurts.

The S-Pen, which made the Note series distinct and famous, is now more refined. The tip is thinner at 0.7mm which should give more precise inputs. The Screen-off memo now allows you to display certain memo on the Always-On-Display which should act as a nice reminder. S-Pen is now a translator as well, you’ll only need to highlight the word and the option to translate would come out. Oh and the Note 7 has a Smart 

Select feature that allows you to create GiFs!

One thing that you won’t find in ANY other smartphone is the Iris Scanner. Adding another layer of security to your smartphone, you can now unlock it in a glance (pun intended). It uses an Iris camera and and Iris IR for this. Apart from unlocking your device with your eyes, this can also be used to validate payments through Samsung Pay and also to unlock your Secret Folder. Secret Folder is a new app by Samsung to safeguard your most important docs/photos/videos. You can even decide to hide it from normal view if you want.

Camera wise, you get the same rear 12MP camera as the S7/Edge. This means it has the best camera on a smartphone. Front camera is a 5MP shooter.

Connectivity wise you’ll get Wifi AC, Bluetooth 4.2 and LTE. The Note 7 comes at a basic configuration of 64GB with the option to expand the memory through a microSD card of up to 256GB. For this, you have a hybrid dual-sim.

Colours available are: Black Onyx, Silver Titanium, Gold Platinum, and the new beautiful Blue Coral. 

Can’t wait to get it? Well you don’t have to suffer long because according to one of the best site for Technews, Lowyat.net, Malaysia is apparently being one of the first countries to get it on its launch date (August 18) at the price of RM3,199. Pre-orders should start within the next few days.

With all these features that highlight the best of Android, I would daresay this is the smartphone to beat now. 

Sources: Samsung, Lowyat.net, GSMArena, TechRadar:Note 7 vs Note 5, TechRadar: Note 7 vs iPhone 6S Plus

Gallery of Samsung's Unpacked event: