Blackphone: A Phone For Paranoids

SGP Technologies, a joint venture based in Switzerland announced a rather novel smartphone. It was formed between Silent Circle, an American company which provides secure communications apps, and a Spanish smartphone startup called Geeksphone. Their main aim is to create a phone that emphasizes on privacy and security. After the revelation of NSA's spying, the Blackphone could not have been announced at a more appropriate time.

PrivatOS: A tweaked version of Android for extra security.

Blackphone runs on a custom Android called PrivatOS. According to Silent Circle CEO Mike Janke, the Blackphone encrypts your calls and messages and protects your wireless transmissions (e.g. Wi-Fi) from being logged. It encrypts the device such that data that lands on 3rd parties or the government are useless.

Users of the Blackphone could also control permissions for every app. It comes pre-loaded with all Silent Circle encrypted communications apps (2-year subscription), 5GB of encrypted cloud storage by SpiderOak, anonymous browsing and Virtual Private Network (VPN) from Disconnect.me.

Unfortunately, the Blackphone is not completely "NSA-proof" for all the technology it packs. Mike Janke said:

HTC Unveils Mid-range Desire 816!

Taiwanese phonemaker HTC has announced a new mid-range phablet, codenamed Desire 816. It will replace the Desire X that was introduced in 2012. Being a phablet, it features a 5.5-inch screen with 720x1280 pixels (267 ppi), sitting between HTC's One and One Max models.

Boomsound: The front-facing stereo speakers makes a return.

It features a 13-megapixel rear camera that can record 1080p (full HD) videos. This is rather impressive considering other mid-range phones like Moto G only has a 5-megapixel rear camera. On the front side, it has a decent 5-megapixel camera that records 720p (HD) videos.

The HTC Desire 816 has a 1.6 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor and 1.5 GB of RAM. It runs Android with HTC's Sense 5.5 user interface. The phone has 8 GB of internal storage and has a microSD slot.

Sony Introduces Xperia Z2!

Although Sony had just introduced the Xperia Z1 during September 2013, it has already announced a successor at MWC today. Sony debuted the new flagship, the Xperia Z2, with the tag line "details make the difference." So, let us take a closer look at it now!

Xperia Z2: Glass front and rear panels with aluminum frame.

The Xperia Z2 looks familiar on the outside, but has significant upgrades inside. Screen size has been increased to 5.2 inches, up from 5.0 inches in the Z1. Screen resolution remains at 1080x1920 (full HD), causing a slight drop in pixel density due to the larger screen. The drop in pixel density is negligible since it still has a respectable 424 ppi. The big deal here is what Sony called "Live Color LED" that widens color gamut, thus giving more color saturation.

The new flagship from Sony is now faster as well, thanks to a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core chip which clocks at 2.3 GHz. RAM has also been increased to 3GB. Internal Storage stays at 16GB with a MicroSD slot.

Stereo speakers have been moved to the front, with the new S Force Surround Sound. It also features digital noise cancellation. The headphones provided by Sony will have microphones to detect ambient noise, which the phone will cancel out.

Samsung Unveils Galaxy S5!

With much anticipation, Samsung has finally took the wraps off from its heavily-rumored flagship Galaxy S5 smartphone. It offers some minor upgrades to its predecessor, the Galaxy S4, as well as some interesting additions. The upgrades aren't huge but they make a difference, and the device is still instantly recognizable as Samsung.

Recognizable: It still looks like a Samsung.

From the front, the Galaxy S5 looks rather similar to its predecessor, but the display is slightly increased from 5 inches to 5.1 inches. Does 0.1 inches make any difference? The Super AMOLED screen display stays at 1080x1920 pixels (full HD). The bottom part looks familiar as always, except that the home button is now integrated with a fingerprint scanner.

Dont get too agitated on the fingerprint scanner first though, as there are room for improvements. As The Verge put it:

"Samsung’s version requires a vertical swipe over the home button to activate the scanner, and we found it to be quite unreliable and virtually impossible to activate when holding the phone in one hand. It can store up to three different digits, but it was very particular about the speed and orientation of the swiping motion used — if we weren’t doing a perfectly straight swipe down, it would refuse to unlock the phone."

Fingerprint Scanner: An interesting addition but needs refinement.

The Galaxy S5 now features USB 3.0 for faster charging and data transfer, and has an integrated port cover. Why, you ask? The device is certified for IP67 water and dust resistance. The S5 is able to withstand up to 30 minutes when submerged in 3 feet of water, although I'm not sure if anyone would be willing to test the claims.

Nokia X: Ditches Windows Phone for Android!

Nokia was reportedly working on an Android phone before it was acquired by Microsoft. It had little success with Windows Phone, and now it's going back for Android! Nokia is launching not 1, not 2, but 3 Android handsets at once: X, X+ and XL.

The X and X+ models have 4-inch displays with 800x480 pixels while the XL has a 5-inch display (thank Nokia for the pun) with the same resolution. All 3 models will share a 1GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, microSD slot, dual-sim slot and 1500mAh of battery.

The base model, X, has 512MB of RAM and a 3-megapixel camera. The X+ is similar but has slightly more RAM at 768MB, and includes a 4GB MicroSD card. The larger variant, the XL comes with 768MB of RAM, 5-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front camera. Do note that all cameras on these phones do not have flash.

Although it runs Android, it is heavily tweaked and will include Microsoft and Nokia apps pre-installed. Skype will be pre-installed and includes 1 month of free calls to landlines and mobiles. Nokia's navigation apps are also included.

Smartwatch Craze: Google is preparing Gear & potential iWatch Competitor

Pebble just launched a new smartwatch; Samsung just announced a new Gear watch and Apple reportedly has one in the oven. Now Google is believed to be working on a smart watch and according to insiders, it's almost finished. TechCrunch is reporting this weekend that the search giant is putting the finishing touches on a watch that runs Android and houses a full-color display. 

Google Smartwatch: Samsung Gear's Rival

According to Sarah Perez and Darrel Etherington's report : 

“The smartwatch prototypes are currently on lockdown in a Google building, under high security, and they’re not able to be taken out for fear that news will leak. (Oops.)

According to people familiar with the matter, an early prototype of the watch had a Pebble Steel-like metal band, square face, and a colorful digital display featuring a gradient background where colors gently fade from one to the next. It also seemed to have a more masculine vibe, also like the Pebble Steel.”

Leaked: Photos of Nokia's First Android (Normandy)

It was reported earlier that Nokia will probably switch to Android for its "X" phone, or known internally as the Normandy project. How would it look like after ditching Windows Phone?

These are the few leaked images from Coolaxap.com :

Xiaomi to launch in Singapore, with Malaysia next

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is finally going global, expanding out of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. CNET Asia reports that Xiaomi will launch in Singapore and Malaysia soon.

If there is an idiom to describe Xiaomi, it would be "bang for the buck."

Xiaomi's midrange Android smartphone, Redmi will sell in Singapore for S$169 (US $134) starting this Friday, 21st February. It includes a 4.7-inch IPS display with 720p resolution (312ppi), a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and a 8-megapixel camera, making it a great bargain. Redmi will run on MIUI v5, a modified version of Android. It can be purchased at Xiaomi's website.

Xiaomi's flagship Mi-3 has a slick look.

However, its flagship Mi-3 smartphone will launch in Singapore on 7th March, with a pricetag of

Champagne Gold HTC One successor

Recently leaked photos suggest that the HTC One 2 (or known as M8) might be available in a champagne-gold metal unibody frame, following the footsteps of Apple's iPhone 5s. Other color options are probably silver and gray.

Gold is the trend.

With a typical HTC 3-view arrangement, the leaked photo seems legitimate.

HTC are focused on improving camera quality, with the photo suggesting that the HTC One 2 will house dual cameras and a twin flash module. The dual-camera, dual-sensor setup will likely bring 2

World Mobile Congress 2014: What To Expect

World Mobile Congress (WMC) 2014 is around the corner, but what does it signify? What will it bring? Here is what to expect on the Monday, 24th February event.

The Big-timers

• Samsung Galaxy S5. It's time for an annual refresh of Samsung's flagship device. The South Korean tech giant announced an event called "Unpacked 5", which points to the new Galaxy S5. It is reported to have a fingerprint sensor and improved LED flash.

LG's recently unveiled G Pro 2.

•  LG G Pro 2. Although it has already been unveiled, LG will bring it to the WMC. With a quad-core processor and front camera flash, will it steal some shine off the Galaxy S5?
• Android Nokia. After Windows Phone fails to gain market share, Nokia is reportedly

Nokia's "X" Phone: Switching to Android?

Before Nokia was acquired by Microsoft in September 2013, it was reportedly working on an Android smartphone. Nokia's "X" smartphone might just be that.

Nokia teases the "X"

Specs are somewhat low end, as tweeted by evleaks:

"Nokia X: Snapdragon (1GHz x2), 4" WVGA, 512MB/4GB (+microSD), 5MP, 1500mAh, Android apps from Nokia Store + 3rd-party stores. Six colors.— 
@evleaks (@evleaks)"

As Windows Phone struggles with market share, could Nokia finally give up and switch over to Android?



Written by: Kheng Wei Ang