Nokia Lumia Malaysia launch happening on 10 February
Update: @ganaeshd tells us via Twitter that the Nokia Lumia 800 is already on display for you to play with at the Nokia Store in the Gardens Mid Valley. We can assume that a number of other Nokia Stores will have the device and possibly the Lumia 710 on display as well. Thanks for the update Ganaesh!
This is it folks, the Nokia Lumia Windows Phones will be officially launched next Friday, 10 February. The event is happening at Pavilion KL around 6.30PM.
The Nokia Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 duo are the first batch of Nokia branded Windows Phone 7 devices to hit the market. The only last clue to the puzzle is the pricing which we expected the Lumia 800 to be priced around RM1700-1900 range while the Lumia 710 below the RM1000 mark. According to sources familiar to the matter, Nokia is planning something special as this is one of the most important launch for them this year.
Earlier on, we managed to play with both devices and you can watch our hands-on video as well.
Follow us on Twitter at @Soya_cincau for the latest updates.
RIM Creates Mascots to Spread the “Be Bold” Message. We’re Not Impressed
Fact of the matter is, RIM’s not in a good position right now. Its stock price have seen better days, it’s trying hard to shake the “corporate use” image off its BlackBerry brand and at the same time the company has yet to find a way to effectively stop losing market share in the US and Europe. Despite Thorsten Heins (RIM’s new CEO) telling you otherwise, the Canadian tech company is struggling.
If this latest marketing effort is anything to go by, it looks like RIM is desperate as well.
GoGo Girl, Justin Steele, Trudy Foreal and Max Stone, these are the four characters that RIM has recently created as part of its “Be Bold” marketing campaign that took off at the start of the New Year. The story goes, on New Year’s Eve, RIM asked its Twitter followers to describe how they will be bold in 2012. The characters were created based on over 35,000 responses.
We don’t know about you but we don’t think these four fictional characters are going convince anyone to buy a BlackBerry.
To be fair, RIM is currently without a CMO. Heins is looking to find one soon but that still doesn’t excuse the company from launching this – in our opinion – silly marketing stunt.
Enough with the advertising and marketing RIM. Let’s focus on speeding up on the launches of your BB10 devices shall, and make them awesome please.
Head on over to after the jump to get to know these characters a little better.
Samsung officially reveals Galaxy S Advance
The Samsung Galaxy S Advance has gone official after its pre-announcement appearance yesterday. At first glance, it looks like a Galaxy Nexus with mid-level specs.
Now full specs have been revealed as well. Just to recap, the Galaxy S Advance comes with a 4.0″ Super AMOLED display which supports 800×480 resolution and it is powered by a dual-core 1.0GHz processor and 768MB of RAM. For storage it comes with either 8GB or 16GB or 32GB built-in which is expandable with microSD. For imaging, it comes with a 5MP camera with assisted LED at the back and a front facing 1.3MP camera.
While Samsung higher end models like the Galaxy S II and Note supports HSPA+, the Galaxy S Advance supports only HSPA up to 14.4Mbps download. At the moment it is running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread with no mention of Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade at the moment. In terms of dimensions, the Galaxy S Advance is 9.69mm thick and weighs 120g. As comparison, the similar looking Galaxy Nexus has a thickness of 8.94mm and it weighs 135g. The bundled Lithium Ion battery is rated at 1,500mAh capacity.
According to Samsung’s press release, the Galaxy S Advance will be available February onward starting at Russia followed by the rest of the world including South East and South West Asia.
Head after the break for more official pics.
If you say you’ve never been addicted to Snake then you’re lying. Back in the day when everyone had a Nokia phone, Snake was the game to play. Actually, it was the only game to play on your Nokia phone.
Now you can waste time like its 1997 again with these remake versions of the ridiculously simple yet addictive Snake game first seen on Nokia phones complete with dot-matrix display, monotone sound effects and original old school controls.
The Snake game is available on Android, iOS and Windows Phone albeit from different developers. It’s free on Android (ad supported) and US$0.99 on iOS and Windows Phone. There’s a free trial version on Windows Phone app which is almost like the full paid version so it’s virtually free. It’s not like Malaysian can purchase any apps from the Windows Phone Marketplace at the moment anyway.
Download links for your convenience after the jump. Have fun!
Sony Xperia S Camera Shutter Performance Demoed
The Sony Xperia S boasts a Fast Capture, a feature where you go from screen switched off stand-by mode to successfully taking a picture in just 1.5 seconds. While that’s certainly fast, many want to know how the shutter performance of the Xperia S fairs in comparison to the Zero Shutter Lag feature seen on the Galaxy Nexus.
This video gives you an idea of what kind of shutter speeds you can expect from the Xperia S. It’s pretty snappy considering the pixel count (12MP on the Xperia S) but it’s not really as fast as the Galaxy Nexus’ Zero Shutter Lag.
Why is a fast shutter important? The faster the shutter, the less likely of you taking blurry pictures, It’s certainly something we can appreciate. In this respect, the Xperia S does a commendable job but again we’ll save our final word on this device when we get a review unit to test thoroughly. Also, we’re not sure if the unit seen in this video is a final production unit. As you are aware, different production versions have marked differences in performance.
Another thing worth pointing out, the Xperia S will be getting Ice Cream Sandwich, with that it’s also possible that the device will be getting the Zero Shutter Lag feature as well. While some will argue that Zero Shutter Lag is hardware dependent and a feature that exclusive to the Galaxy Nexus, we’re inclined to think that it is possible for other ICS devices to have the feature as well.
Zero Shutter Lag is officially listed as one of the features of Ice Cream Sandwich, so we’re expecting ICS devices other than the Galaxy Nexus to have fast shutters at the very least if not Zero Shutter Lag.
What do you think?
[via]
Samsung Galaxy S Advance appears
Just when you think Samsung has enough of phones to go around, a new Samsung Galaxy S Advance model has emerged. The Galaxy S Advance at first looks like another facelift of the Galaxy S. However looking into the details, it appears all new but with slightly lower spec than the current Galaxy S II.
It comes with a 4.0″ WVGA Super AMOLED display which is slightly curved like a Galaxy Nexus. Powering it is a dual-core 1GHz processor and it runs on Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread with TouchWiz UI. At the back, there’s a 5MP camera with video support up to 720p HD. Overall, it sure does look like a trimmed down version of the Galaxy Nexus.
With MWC coming up next month, Samsung is likely to reveal this during the event. No mention on availability but if it does come to Malaysia, it is likely to be priced somewhere between the Galaxy S Plus and Galaxy S II. According to the source in the Philippines, it is expected to be priced at PHP22,900 which is about RM1622.
One more pic and some videos after the break.
VIDEO: Sony Xperia S anti-stain coating tested
The Sony Xperia S body comes with a nice matte finish that doesn’t leave any fingerprint smudges all over. In addition, the Xperia S also comes with a special dirt repellent coating to keep its surface clean. So what happens if you scribble a pen on that nice white Xperia S back cover? Watch the video to find out.
Jump right into 0:30 to see it in action. The hands-on video was recorded by Mobile Review and it’s in Russian.
[ SOURCE ]
Siri vs Google Voice Actions
The Woz says his favourite Android phone at the moment is not the Galaxy Nexus but the Motorola DROID RAZR. That was probably what inspired Motorola to do this video comparing Siri with Google Voice Actions.
Biased, maybe, but sill worth a look.
What’s also worth a look is this article from The Daily Beast about what Steve (Wozniak) thinks about Android. Here’s an excerpt about what he thinks about Siri.
Then there’s Siri, Apple’s new voice-recognition software. Woz says he’s been using Siri for a long time and used to love it when it was an independent application created for the iPhone.
But ever since Apple bought Siri and built the software into the iPhone 4S, it doesn’t work as well as it used to.
“I used to ask Siri, ‘What are the five biggest lakes in California?’ and it would come back with the answer. Now it just misses. It gives me real estate listings. I used to ask, ‘What are the prime numbers greater than 87?’ and it would answer. Now instead of getting prime numbers, I get listings for prime rib, or prime real estate,” Woz says.
Worse, a lot of the time Siri says it can’t make a connection to the back-end servers that power the system. “With the iPhone 4 I could press a button and call my wife. Now on the 4S I can only do that when Siri can connect over the Internet. But many times it can’t connect. I’ve never had Android come back and say, ‘I can’t connect over the Internet.’”
The Android system also delivers better results, he says. “I have a lower success rate with Siri than I do with the voice built into the Android, and that bothers me,” Woz says. “I’ll be saying, over and over again in my car, ‘Call the Lark Creek Steak House,’ and I can’t get it done. Then I pick up my Android, say the same thing, and it’s done. Plus I get navigation. Android is way ahead on that.”
Full article here.
Galaxy S III to Be Unveiled at Mobile World Congress? Samsung Still Vague
A couple of days back, rumours claim that Samsung is looking to delay the debut of the Galaxy S III. Many anticipated that Samsung’s new flagship smartphone will be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress this year just as the Galaxy S II made its debut at the 2011 MWC.
Speculators speculate that the reason behind the delay is that Samsung didn’t want such a long lead time between the unveiling of the device and it’s slated US launch which is said to happen sometime in June. This sounds legit as Samsung sees the US as a key market where it hopes to break Apple’s stranglehold in the smartphone segment but as far as the delay is concerned, it’s still very much a rumour.
Seeking clarification on the matter, Samsung was asked in a conference call earlier today on whether its next flagship device will be revealed at MWC. Officially, Samsung says that they’re “still reviewing several options when to launch” the Galaxy S III. You can listen to the audio clipping of the official answer from Samsung right after the jump.
While the response is vague, it does open up the possibility of a Galaxy S III debut at MWC and the possible availability of the device in Malaysia before June.
So are the delay rumours just rumours? We have a feeling that they are. In any case we’ll see a lot more information about the Galaxy S III presenting itself in the coming weeks. That should give a better picture on what Samsung is up to.
Sony Tablet S pre-orders start now. Available before Valentine’s Day
Sony has revealed more details of its Tablet S Android tablet with pre-order package details. The pre-ordering info on their website is still quite sketchy at this point but the Tablet S models and pricing are revealed as follows:
- Sony Tablet S (16GB WiFi) – RM1,499
- Sony Tablet S (32GB WiFi) – RM1,799
For those that pre-order, they will get an exclusive ST Slip Case worth RM139. At the bottom, it is stated that estimated shipping time for Sony Tablet S pre-order package will begin tomorrow 28th January 2012 but no ideas what does that mean right now.
According to a tip from Fizie, My Sony & Sony Store members are being notified that they can get a Tablet S at Sony Store KLCC and at The Curve on 12-13 February 2012 with their exclusive booking numbers. That’s just couple of days before Valentine’s Day which falls on the 14th February.
Just a little recap on the Tablet S, the 9.4″ tablet runs on dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 processor, comes with 1GB of RAM and weighs 598g. In terms of thickness, it is between 10.1mm at the thinnest point to 20.6mm at the thickest. When announced, it was running on Android 3.1 but it is upgradable to Android 3.2. For imaging, it comes with a 5MP camera at the back and a 0.3MP VGA camera in the front.
For more information, head over to the Sony Tablet S page.
Thanks to @fizie76 for the alert!