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

HTC 10: The flagship that HTC was supposed to launch years ago

After another quarter of loss profit, I’m starting to wonder if HTC will be here among the tops in the next 2-3 years. They have been producing amazing smartphones starting from the HTC One M7 but seemed to start slacking after it. The only thing that seemed wrong was the Ultrapixel 4MP that promises excellent camera performance especially during low light but was quick to burn out (the famous Purple tint issue, which happened to my model). The successor, One M8, had dual camera which didn’t attracted much attention while maintaining the same design language. The M9 was more like an upgrade of the M8 internally but sadly not in terms of design. There’s nothing wrong with the design, it’s just that a little bit of changes would be nice.

So will the next one be its savior? Please welcome the HTC 10. 

Look wise it has the same basic aluminum unibody design as the previous Ones, but now has a more polished curves at the back of it. Gone is the previous 20MP shooter on the M9 or the dual camera on the M8, instead we are seeing a comeback of the Ultrapixel technology. Learning from their previous mistake, this time the megapixel count gets a bump to 12MP (with OIS and f/1.8) promising excellent camera performance. With several tests done so far it has been delivering. DxOMark has rated it to be on par with the S7/Edge’s camera, that is saying a lot as they now share the top spot for the no 1 camera on a smartphone. 

The camera is situated at the back with laser autofocus and two-tone LED flash right next to it. The launch is said to be quite fast at 0.6 secs, but that remains to be tested.

The camera is also able to record 4K videos with stereo 24-bit Hi-Res audio. Perfect for live performances or concerts (which I personally don’t recommend).

The front camera is also quite impressive. It’s a 5MP camera that has rear-camera features to make it even better such as OIS (one of the first front camera to have this), f/1.8, and wide-lens. Similar to what the iPhone 6S and S7/Edge has, a front screen flash.

You won’t be finding dual Boomsound speakers on this year’s device. Though there’s a Boomsound Hi-Fi Edition speaker at the bottom, but what’s really interesting is the fact that they added an amplifier and Hi-Res Audio processing which ups your audio collection to 24-bit. In essence making them sound better. (I think you’ll need a Hi-res ear/headphones to fully optimize this feature).

Another new aspect this year would be the front home-button which incorporates a fingerprint scanner, which promises to unlock within 0.2 seconds. This is placed between the apps and back touch button.

The display is a 5.2-inch 2K (2560x1440) Super LCD stated to be 30% more colorful.

Moving on to another important aspect would be the performance. It can certainly held its own against other flagship phones as it’s equipped with the latest and greatest Qualcomm Snapdragon 820.

In terms of software, this  HTC Sense 8.0 could be one of the lightest skins on an Android flagship. Running on Android 6.0.1, they have excluded some bloatwares and has more approaches to be similar to Google’s version of Android.

The battery is big as well, a 3,000 mAh that thanks to their PowerBotics system should last you up to 2-days with normal usage. Charging it would not be a problem as the HTC is fitted with the latest USB type-C port which allows Quick Charge 3.0, charging in 30 minutes gives you up to 50% of power.

The device weighs 161grams and is also equipped with Wifi AC, Bluetooth 4.2 and NFC.

Source: HTC US, HTC Blog, VentureBeat