Google announces Nexus 7 2

The new Nexus 7 is in the house! Packed with rocking dual stereo speaker and also the latest Android, 4.3 Jelly Bean. It also slimmer and lighter than first generation.

Google ASUS Nexus 7 2 Key Specification :

• 7" with 1920 x 1200 resolution
• 1.5GHz quad-core Krait Snapdragon S4 Pro processor
• 2GB RAM
• Adreno 320
• 5MP back facing camera with 1080p video recording
• 1.2MP front facing camera]
• 16/32 GB internal storage
• LTE (selected market only)
• NFC
• Android 4.3 Jelly Bean

The Nexus 7 will start selling at priced $230 for 16GB and 32GB for $270 Wi-Fi model only. The 4G LTE model comes in 32GB only and costs $350. The Nexus 7 2 will be available starting Tuesday (July 30) through the Google Play store and a number of retailers including Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart, Staples, Amazon.com. In the coming weeks, Google will expand availability for the Nexus 7 2 to Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Australia, Japan and South Korea.

My Opinion : Great! Cheap and high performance tablet. Plus it has the highest screen resolution, even higher than Nexus 10 making watching movie or picture experience be wonderful. There is also back facing camera where first generation Nexus 7 missing. Hopefully it will be cheap when come to Malaysia or remain the same price with first generation.

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Google officially unveils Android 4.3 Jelly Bean

Google has formally unveiled it's latest Android software, Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. Guess Key Lime Pie is not here yet. Well not surprising anyway.

Here are latest addition features that Android 4.3 available :

• OpenGL ES 3.0 : Enchantment of graphic
• Bluetooth Smart : allowing connectivity for small, low-powered Bluetooth 4.0 devices and sensor
• Multiuser account with restriction list : Create a multiple user account and given option to limiting the type of apps that each user can access

Here are the sample video of Bluetooth Smart and Multiuser account

As I said, nothing major in Android 4.3. Let's hope Key Lime Pie gonna wow us in future.

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Motorola bring trio Droid to Verizon - Droid Mini, Droid MAXX and Droid Ultra

Motorola officially unveil trio droid together with Verizon. All three droids share the similar spec and design language, Kevlar back except they have difference screen size and battery capacity. It also come with Motorola's new eight-core X8 Mobile Computing System. It packs a dual-core 1.7GHz CPU, quad graphics cores and, more interestingly, a contextual computing core alongside a core for processing natural language.

Motorola Droid Mini Key Specification :

• 4.3" 720p Super AMOLED
• 1.7 GHz Dual Core with Quad–Core Graphics
• 2GM RAM
• 16GB Internal memory
• 10MP RGBC camera with quick capture and 1080p HD Video capture, up to 60FPS
• 2MP Full HD Recording Front Facing Camera
• 4G LTE
• Non–removable 2000 mAh Li–Ion
• Android 4.2, Jelly Bean

Motorola Droid MAXX Key Specification :

• 5" OLED (no PenTile here) display of 720p resolution
• 1.7 GHz Dual Core with Quad–Core Graphics
• 2GM RAM
• 16GB Internal memory
• 10MP RGBC camera with quick capture and 1080p HD Video capture, up to 60FPS
• 2MP Full HD Recording Front Facing Camera
• 4G LTE
• Non–removable 3500mAh Li–Ion
• Android 4.2, Jelly Bean

Motorola Droid MAXX Key Specification :

• 5" OLED (no PenTile here) display of 720p resolution
• 1.7 GHz Dual Core with Quad–Core Graphics
• 2GM RAM
• 16GB Internal memory
• 10MP RGBC camera with quick capture and 1080p HD Video capture, up to 60FPS
• 2MP Full HD Recording Front Facing Camera
• 4G LTE
• Non–removable 2130mAh Li–Ion
• Android 4.2, Jelly Bean

There's Touchless control, which looks like a medley between Google Now's voice search and the Siri personal assistant. Saying "OK, Google Now" will wake up the phone, which will await your command. The Active display feature makes use of the OLED screen and brings a snippet of information (the time, new messages and voicemail) on a blank black screen. Think of it as an Android version of Nokia's Glance Screen feature.

The Motorola Droid Mini will be priced at $99, DROID Ultra sports a $199 price tag, while the DROID Maxx will cost $299. All members of the new 2013 DROID line-up are now available for pre-order and will start shipping on August 20.

My Opinion : Droid MAXX is cool! Ultra look not bad too! Too bad it is only available in Verizon. Now, we shall wait for Motorola X.

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HTC launches Desire 500 for Taiwan market

Another HTC phone joining the Desire family and sit as mid range height. A Taiwan Mobile exclusive from August 1, the device has us a little perplexed over its price point of around $400 (NT$11,900).

HTC Desire 500 Key Specification :

• 4.3-inch with 800x480 resolution
• 1.2GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 200
• Adreno 205 GPU
• 1GB RAM
• 4GB Internal memory with expandable microSD
• 8MP back facing camera with 720p video recording
• 1.6MP front facing camera

The HTC Desire 500 will come Beats Audio-equipped, along with an unspecified version of Android Jelly Bean running under HTC's proprietary Sense 5 skin and will also feature BlinkFeed. No BoomSound speakers are to be found.

My Opinion : Bleh nothing interesting. Design also abit meh for me. Will rather look at HTC Desire 600.

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Nokia Lumia 625 goes official

Not surprising that Nokia will pull out a new entry level Windows Phone 8 handset - well it is rather has big screen as entry level. The Lumia 625 is mostly a stretched out Lumia 620 with some additional extras.

Nokia Lumia 625 Key Sepcification :

• 4.7" IPS LCD with WVGA resolution of 480 x 800, super sensitive touch
• 1.2Ghz dual-core Krait processor
• 512MB RAM
• 8GB internal memory with expandable microSD
• 5MP back facing camera with 1080p video recording
• VGA front facing camera
• 4G LTE

The Nokia Lumia 625 will launch in China, Europe, Asia Pacific, India, Middle East, Africa and Latin America in Q3 2013 in a variety of colors (orange, yellow, bright green, white and black), with exchangeable semitransparent shells to easily switch colors (just like the 620).

In the UK, the Lumia 625 is expected in September for £200 though EE, Vodafone and O2 as well as retailers Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4U. Elsewhere the price will be €220 before taxes and subsidies.

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Nokia Lumia 1020 now official, packed with 41MP OIS camera

It seem like Nokia is getting serious now in packing serious camera features in their window phone! Nokia Lumia 1020 manage to grab on all camera spec that Nokia Pureview 808 has.

Nokia Lumia 1020 Key Specification :

• 4.5" Clear Black AMOLED display with 1280 x 768 resolution and Nokia's PureMotion HD+, Super Sensitive Touch
• 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 chipset Krait CPU
• 2GB RAM
• 32GB Internal memory
• 41MP back facing camera with 1080p video resolution
• 1.2MP front facing camera
• NFC
• LTE
• 2000mAh
• Window Phone 8

The Nokia Lumia 1020 will be available in yellow, white and black. Price and availability still unknown.

My Opinion : Honestly nothing interesting in Nokia Lumia 1020 except the camera. Same spec seem in Nokia Lumia 925. SO let's focus the camera k? Since it is the main selling point. We know that once Nokia goes serious, their camera is really a beast! The camera is packed with 1/1.2 inch BSI sensor (same with Pureview 808) and 6 element lens ZEISS optics. The 41MP image sensor can snap both 40MP and 5MP photos at the same time where one straight off the sensor and one after Nokia's Super sampling has been applied. The Pureview 808 can only shoot one or the other at a time. Nokia also packed the Lumia 1020 with its Pro Camera and Smart Camera camera lens apps. They'll allow advanced users fiddle with the camera settings aka manual setting! Like finally a phone with manual setting for the camera! Seriously, I am really impressed with Nokia camera until today. None of any smartphone at market now can come close with Nokia N8 and also Nokia Pureview 808. Of course, rumors coming Sony Xperia Honami will be packed with awesome camera too. We will wait until IFA event on 4th september for Sony announcement.

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Blackberry Q5 officially launch in Malaysia with RM 1,299

Blackberry Q5 finally officially announced in Malaysia. Being entry level in the latest Blackberry 10 series, Q5 still packed with impressive spec and also same user experience with other siblings.

Blackberry Q5 Key Specification :

• 3.1" IPS LCD with 720 x 720 pixels
• 1.2 GHz Dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor
• 2GB RAM
• 8GB internal memory with expandable microSD
• 5MP back facing camera with 1080p@30fps video recording
• 2MP front facing camera with 720p video recording
• NFC
• LTE
• Non-removable Li-Ion 2180 mAh battery
• 120 x 66 x 10.8 mm
• Blackberry OS 10.1

The event started with offical greeting from both emcee and followed by Mr Annamalai Muthu, Managing Director Malaysia, Blackberry.

According to Mr Annamalai, Blackberry currently focusing on user experience as their main selling point. In other words, regardless which version of Blackberry 10 you purchase, the user experience is definitely same. Though the spec wasn't as high as current competitor in market, however I gotta admit Blackberry had done a good job in optimising both software and hardware. It doesn't matter eventhough it is dual core, you will still get great user experience.

Here my quick video of first hands on on Blackberry Q5.

Overall, I felt it is cheap, affordable and good buy device for those who wanna start experiencing Blackberry 10 OS. With only RM 1,299 retail priced, you can get this NFC and LTE enable device on your palm. Not to mention the best of both world, touch screen and Keyboard. The only thing I dislike is the cheap plastic built body and also very light to hold. Alright don't get me wrong. Eventhough it is plastic, it is definitely durable. The next thing I wish to see an improvement from Blackberry is the camera.

Blackberry Q5 will available immediately on 15th July from all retail store and also Telcos with retail priced RM 1,299 and come with three color - Black, white and red.

Canon announces EOS 70D mid-range SLR with 'Dual Pixel CMOS AF'

Canon has announced 60D successor, known as EOS 70D which features a new sensor with Dual Pixel CMOS AF. The brand-new 20.2MP 'Dual Pixel CMOS AF' sensor in Canon 70D will splits every single pixel into two photodiodes for on-chip phase detection, promising vastly improved autofocus performance in live view and movie mode.

• 20.2 megapixels
• APS-C (22.5 x 15 mm) CMOS Sensor
• Digic 5+ Imaging Processor
• ISO 100 - 12800 (25600 with boost)
• 19 Number of focus points
• 3″ touch screen Fully articulated LCD
• 1920 x 1080 (29.97, 25, 23.976 fps) video recording
• Built in Wi-Fi
• Water and Dust resistant

The 70D be available at the end of August for $1199 body only, $1349 with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens, and $1549 with the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens.

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