The Samsung Galaxy S4 will go on sale in Malaysia this coming Saturday with 4 telcos offering it on contract. So far 2 of the telcos have indicated that they will be offering the Exynos model (GT-i9500) which offers an Octa-Core processor but it lacks 4G LTE connectivity. For those craving for faster mobile internet speeds, there’s the other variant, GT-i9505 which runs on a Quad-Core Qualcomm processor and comes with LTE support.

So far there hasn’t been any sightings of it until recently it was spotted in the SIRIM approval database. Since it was just approved yesterday, we are not too sure if it will be available for this weekend launch but it is likely to be available at a later date. From the looks of it, we may just be seeing all 4 telcos offering the Octa-Core Exynos version for now.

While getting a 4G LTE supported model may be a smart choice to prepare for the future, we don’t think its a big deal if you go with the Exynos 3G model. Currently the 4G LTE coverage is rather limited and it will take some time for its coverage to blanket more populated areas nationwide.

Thanks @weisheatan for the heads up!

The wait for Celcom’s 4G LTE service is finally over and they have finally revealed its Broadband Plan with download speeds up to 50Mbps. The 4G LTE service is tied with their Celcom First Data Pro plan which offers 10GB of data at RM138/month.

At the moment they cover Bandar Sunway, Shah Alam, Putrajaya, Danau Kota, Jalan Imbi, Jalan Pudu, Bangsar, Jalan Tun Razak, KLCC in the Klang Valley. Selected places at Ipoh, Pulau Pinang, Johor Bahru and Melaka are covered as well. You can check for the full list of its coverage here.

As an early bird promotion, they are offering the 4G LTE Modem for only RM199 with 3 months free subscription. This is limited to the first 1,000 sign up and it can be done at Blue Club @ Sunway Pyramid, Blue Cube Pavilion and Blue Club Menara Celcom tomorrow onwards (23rd April 2013).

To promote Celcom’s 4G LTE service as the fastest network, they have gotten some help from Usain Bolt which is known as the fastest man in the world.

Check out the official commercial starring the Jamaican sprinter after the break. For more information on the service, head over to Celcom’s 4G LTE page for more info.

After announcing the arrival of Sony Xperia Z for Singapore yesterday, we finally gotten good news of our own. Sony Malaysia has finally sent a teaser to save the date for March 6th which is about a month away. Actual availability at the stores would be expected soon right after.

If you’re looking for a high end Android device that has the looks with water/dust resistance capability, the Sony Xperia Z is certainly a device worth checking out. So far no word on pricing yet but Singapore has priced it at S$988 which is about RM2,470. Let’s hope for more sensible pricing once it gets here.

To recap on the specs, the Xperia Z has a 5″ Full HD display that’s mated with a Quad-Core Qualcomm S4 Pro 1.5GHz processor and 2GB of RAM. In the camera section, the camera boast a new 13MP shooter which also shoots video in HDR mode. 3 colours are available – Black, White and Purple which looks rather gorgeous. So far no word on the availability of its smaller non-water resistant Xperia ZL sibling.

Do check out our hands-on video here if you haven’t seen it yet. More details of the device in our previous post here.

Sony has just announced that it will make the drop-dead gorgeous Xperia Z available in Singapore from March 1 in black and white while the striking purple will come a week later in March 8.

The Xperia Z will retail for SG$988 when it is available in Singapore. That converts to about RM2,470, but we don’t think Sony will ask for such a premium when the device lands here in Malaysia.

Speaking of Malaysia, from what we can gather, Sony is gearing up to launch the Xperia Z in Malaysia soon as well. Sources are tight-lipped on when exactly this will happen but a launch sometime in March is a common thread among the people we spoke to. More details are expected to surface after the Chinese New Year holidays.

In the meantime, check out our Xperia Z hands-on video right here.

Thanks for the tip @azizsabbir

[via]

The Samsung Galaxy line up list just keeps growing and this time in a form of a Galaxy Express, a mid spec device which comes with LTE support. At the front, the Galaxy Express comes with a modest 4.5″ display that pushes 800×480 pixels resolution and it is powered with a dual-core 1.2GHz processor mated with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of on-board storage. Like the rest of the new Galaxy line up, storage is also expandable via microSD.

Juicing up the device is a 2,000mAh battery and overall it weighs 139grams with a thickness of 9.3mm. You’ll also get a 5MP shooter, 1.3MP front facing camera, NFC and it runs on a recent Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS. In terms of LTE band compatibility, the Galaxy Express supports 2600MHz which is the spectrum that’s being used by our telcos.

While LTE support is normally found on flagship models, this allows more affordable choices for consumers to tap onto faster connectivity. That’s of course if the Galaxy Express is priced appropriately when it comes here.

Head after the break for more product shots.

[ SOURCE, VIA ]

We managed to get a hands-on of the new Sony Xperia Z from its Singapore event recently. From the short period of time we have, we are overall impressed with the new device. Firstly the build quality of the Xperia Z is rather impressive and is probably one of the best we’ve seen for a phone.

In our short hands-on experience with the device, the screen refresh rate is impressive but colours and blacks tends to be washed out. It appears that there’s some issues with contrast but probably Sony would have refine these imperfections once it is commercially available. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to get any sample photos due to limited time and less than ideal lighting conditions.

In other news, Sony Malaysia has confirmed that the Xperia ZL which was left out from the initial availability announcement will be coming to Malaysia after all. So for those who are wiling to sacrifice water/dust resistance for a smaller dimensions, the Xperia ZL would be your option.

Head after the break for the Xperia Z’s sample HDR Video taken in low light condition.

UPDATE: Sony Malaysia has updated that the Sony Xperia ZL will also be available in Malaysia as well. Still no availability dates and pricing mentioned at moment.

The Sony Xperia Z and Xperia ZL will be launched today in this region at Singapore where we will be getting a hands-on pretty soon. Both devices are the latest flagship models that carry a quad-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm S4 Pro processor mated with 2GB of RAM, a Full 1080p HD 5″ display and an improved 13MP camera.

What differenciates the 2 is the Xperia Z offers water and dust resistance at IP55/57 rating in a slim 7.9mm profile while the Xperia ZL has a shorter and narrower dimensions for a more compact design. You can get more details of both devices in our earlier post here.

In terms of model availability, Malaysia will be getting the water resistant capable Xperia Z while Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines will get both Xperia Z and the more compact Xperia ZL. No exact dates and pricing are mentioned but it is slated for Q1 this year which is within the next 1-2 months. The Xperia Z will come in Black, White and Purple while the Xperia ZL comes in just Black and White.

Both devices support 4G LTE but the Xperia Z in particular supports Band 7 2600MHz, which is the LTE spectrum our telco are operating in.

We will share our hands-on experience later today. Do follow us on twitter at @soya_cincau as we will be tweeting from the event.

Sony has started 2013 in a big way by announcing its latest flagship devices – Xperia Z and Xperia ZL. This marks Sony Mobile’s entry not only in the quad-core bandwagon but also having a Full HD display. Interestingly it has been a year since Sony had introduced its Xperia S which broke new ground with its high density 4.3″ 720p HD display and dual-core processor.

The Xperia Z and Xperia ZL have identical top notching hardware which include a 5″ Full HD display, Quad-core Qualcomm S4 processor running at 1.5GHz, 2GB of RAM and a 13MP camera. What sets both of them apart is the Xperia Z comes with water resistant capabilities while the Xperia ZL has a smaller footprint. The dimensions and weight as follows:

Sony Xperia Z – 139mm x 71mm x 7.9mm, 146 grams
Sony Xperia ZL – 131.6mm x 69.3mm x 9.8mm, 151 grams

Read on for the full details of the two Xperias.

Xperia Z

Let’s focus on the Xperia Z which seems to be getting the main attention. Sony continues impress with its unique design on the Xperia Z which now employs what they call OmniBalance with the use of reflective glass design and subtle rounded corners. Both front and back uses tempered glass with anti-shatter film for extra protection.

To cater for all weather protection, the Xperia Z also comes with Sony’s familiar IP55/IP57 water and dust resistance capabilities. According to Sony, that’s good to withstand being submerged under water for 30 minutes. In terms of dimensions, the Xperia Z is only 7.9mm thick and weighs 146 grams which is rather impressive for a device this size.

The main highlight is its 5″ display that pushes a Full HD resolution of 1920×1080. This gives a rather high pixel density of 443 ppi (pixels per inch) and puts it on par with other Full HD smart phone rivals. As usual, Sony has thrown a couple of visual enhancements including an updated Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 and a new OptiContract panel which reduces air gap and reflection on the screen.

In the imaging department, Sony has bumped up their camera pixel count to 13MP and it still retains its signature Fast Capture. In addition, they have enhanced this further with their Exmor RS which not only captures HDR photos but also HDR videos as well. The front facing 2MP camera too has Exmor R sensor as well which improves self shots in low light conditions. For high speed action scenes, the Xperia Z can shoot burst mode of 10 frames per second with unlimited number of continous shots. However photo resolution is limited to 9MP. Just like its newer rivals, the Xperia Z also lets you take photos while shooting videos.

NFC functionality has also been improved as well with One Touch Sharing of photos & music among NFC device and One Touch Mirroring which can be activated by tapping onto Sony Bravia TV’s remote control. Powering the device is a 2,330mAh battery which unfortunately is non-removable. In terms of storage, the Xperia Z has 16GB on board which is expandable with micro SD. OS wise, it runs on a recent Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update to roll out shortly after commercial availability. The Xperia Z comes in 3 colours – Black, White & Purple.

Full details of the Xperia Z over at their product page.

Xperia ZL

Next is the Xperia ZL which is the non-identical twin brother of the Xperia Z. Unlike the Xperia Z, the ZL lacks the water and dust resistance but instead it comes with a much smaller dimensions which is 5% shorter and 2.1% less in width. With the width of just 69.3mm, the Xperia ZL offers a big 5″ Full HD screen in a more compact form factor which is even smaller than other smart phones of smaller screen size. As comparison, the 4.8″ Galaxy S III has a width of 70.6mm while the 4.7″ One X+ at 69.6mm.

Other differences include a different position of the front facing camera which is placed on the bottom right instead of the usual top, a unique notification light stripe at the bottom and a non-glass back design. The rest of the specs remains unchanged with Quad-Core 1.5GHz Qualcomm S4 Pro processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and 13MP camera but it comes with a slightly bigger battery of 2,370mAh. The Xperia ZL comes in 2 colours – Black & White.

Full details of the Xperia ZL over at their product page.

LTE Support
In terms of LTE connectivity, you would be pleased to know that the Xperia Z supports LTE Band 1, 3, 5, 7, 8 & 20 where Band 7 is 2600MHz which is the frequency that our networks operate in. However for the Xperia ZL, it supports a different set of LTE Band 1, 2, 4, 5 & 17 which is more catered to US based networks such as AT&T.

Availability of the device is slated for Q1 2013 and based on the LTE compatibility, we are likely to get the Xperia Z.

Sony Xperia Z Gallery

Sony Xperia ZL Gallery

Celcom today has unveiled its foray into the LTE race by launching its 4G LTE Experience Hubs. The experience centres are located at Menara Celcom in Kuala Lumpur and its Blue Club flagship store at Sunway Pyramid.

Celcom’s 4G LTE network runs on the 2600MHz LTE spectrum which came into effect this year. This practically means if you have a new device that supports 2600MHz (Band 7), it is likely to be compatible with their network once their service is commercially available. Among its future 4G LTE product portfolio includes Huawei’s array of 4G LTE USB dongles, tablets & smart phones.

For a start, Celcom will only be introducing data only plans in February and smart phone plans are expected to follow right after.If you’re eager to try it out yourself, head over to their experience hubs.

For more information, visit Celcom’s 4G LTE page.

Information made available to us has revealed that Celcom is very close to launching its LTE network and it likely to happen this week. Supporting this information is the LTE experiential booth that Celcom has setup at its headquarters in KL. Customers wanting to know more about Celcom’s LTE network can visit Menara Celcom to try out the service themselves.

Like Maxis, we expect Celcom to have its LTE service available in a few key market areas and gradually expand coverage and subscriber momentum builds up. Also, we don’t expect Celcom to offer LTE smartphones in its initial launch however there are three phones in the market right now that supports the 2600Mhz LTE standard in Malaysia – ASUS PadFone 2, Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 – but it remains to be seen if Celcom (and Maxis) have provisioned its network to allow these devices to surf on LTE data.

We’ll be on hand to try our Celcom’s network when it is available, stay tuned for updates on plans and pricing. And finally, no, the iPhone 5 will not work on Malaysia’s LTE network. Hope this clears any confusion.

[picture credit, via]