Project Ara: Google's Modular Smartphones (Phonebloks, anyone?)

Fancy HTC's amazing Boomsound speakers on your iPhone? Is your old Galaxy S3 too slow for gaming? Well, Google plans to make a free, open hardware platform codenamed Project Ara where you can add any feature or specifications that you want. In simpler terms, you can customize your phone. Remember the Phonebloks concept that surfaced half a year ago?

If Project Ara sounds very similar to Phonebloks, it is because it is. When Google sold Motorola to Lenovo, Google kept some of it for itself. It still holds Motorola's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group where Project Ara is being co-developed by Phonebloks.

Project Ara: It looks like completing a puzzle.

Time explains that Google plans to create a "grayphone", which is a customizable exoskeleton that only comes with a screen, a frame and WiFi connectivity. From there, users can add anything they want, and the exoskeleton would only cost $50.

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.

Mobile World Congress 2014: Day Zero Summary

The show was supposed to start on Monday, but some people spilled the beans early. Here are all the important news in a nutshell of day 0 at MWC 2014.

Samsung Gear 2 & Gear 2 Neo

(Credit: Samsung)

Ahead of Galaxy S5's launch on Monday, Samsung announced the Gear 2 on Sunday to prevent cannibalizing the grand launch of its flagship smartphone. It comes in 2 variants-- Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo, the latter without camera. Some changes include moving the camera and microphone to its body such that the wristband could be replaced. Samsung also dropped the "Galaxy" moniker to differentiate it from other Android devices. They now run Samsung's in-house Tizen operating system and has 2-3 days of battery life.

The 2nd-generation Gears also picked up a hear rate sensor, pedometer and music player. Full spec sheet below:

(Click here for full article)

Mozilla pushes for $25 Firefox OS Phones

Hold your horses, the mobile OS wars are not all about iOS vs Android. Android might be popular among mid-to-low end smartphones, but Mozilla plans to compete in the niche of low-budget smartphones. Mozilla's current partners include Alcatel, ZTE and Huawei, who showed off some inexpensive smartphones at MWC. Mozilla aims to drive prices down to just $25.

A prototype phone running Firefox OS

(Click here to read full article)

LG brings its flagship phone

LG unveiled its G Pro 2 phone even before the WMC event, but they brought it there to show journalists. It is a quad-core powerhouse with 13-megapixel camera featuring optical image stabilization and 4k video recording capability.

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.”

Redmi sold out in 8 minutes, to launch in Malaysia by April!

If you have not heard of Xiaomi, it is a reputable Chinese smartphone maker endorsed by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Its phones are currently sold in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Xiaomi launched its Redmi in Singapore yesterday and Mi-3 will be available on 7th March.

Exploding Popularity: Sold out within 8 minutes.

During Redmi's release in Singapore yesterday, it was sold out in a lightning-fast 8 minutes! With a 4.7-inch IPS display with 720p resolution (312ppi), 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 1Gb RAM and a 8-megapixel camera, it is a mid-range smartphone. The catch? It is priced at only S$169 (~RM440).

Find Out If Your Sent Email Was Read!

Have you ever wondered if the recipient read your email? You no longer have to guess!

Streak's Homepage.

A startup called Streak developed an extension for Gmail in Google Chrome and Safari. Senders will be notified when the recipient opened the email. Best of all? The recipient does not have to install Streak to make it work!

Google Launches 3D Sensors & Computer Vision (Project Tango)

Google announced Project Tango, an experiment with 3D sensors on a prototype 5-inch Android smartphone. It is the latest announcement among projects coming out from its Advanced Technology And Projects (ATAP) department.

You can scan your own room and play a game in it.

Google's Chase Cobb said:

"Imagine that you scan a small section of your living room, and then are able to generate a little game world in it."

Yes, the phone can build a visual map of rooms using 3D scanning. The 3D sensors will have more than a quarter million measurements every second. Google believes that advanced computer vision
technologies, coupled with sensors will enable indoor navigation and immersive gaming.

Mind Blown: The 3D sensors measures more than 250,000 parameters every second.

ATAP's technical program leader, Johnny Lee said:

“Project Tango strives to give mobile devices a human-like understanding of space and motion through advanced sensor fusion and computer vision, enabling new and enhanced types of user experiences – including 3D scanning,

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

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

Icis: A fashionista's version of Google Glass

We all know what Google Glass is--glasses that can take pictures, videos, search, find directions and many more. The avant-garde Glass may be groundbreaking, but having a prism on top of your right eye makes you look like a cyborg. Well, Icis glasses may just be the perfect solution.

A fashionable alternative to Glass.

Icis glasses are designed to look like normal glasses, but houses a computer and display. Laforge Optical, the firm behind Icis, told Cnet why Icis is made:

"Style is a subjective thing and currently the bar is set pretty low."

Amanda Rosenberg coined the "Okay, Glass," command.

Using your phone's sensors, the system knows if you're sitting, running or in a car, thus automatically switches modes between Normal, Active and Drive.

Information displayed will not block field of vision.

Laforge Optical's aim is to make wearable eyewear that looks good and has a user friendly interface. Relevant information are displayed around the outside of the field of vision.

Your vision when using Icis

The company launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise more money. The Icis glasses will sell for $420.



Written by: Kheng Wei Ang

No More Codes: Google acquires SlickLogin

Sick of forgetting your passwords? You're in luck!

SlickLogin, a startup offering sound-based password alternatives, confirmed the acquisition by Google, joining them to "make the internet safer for everyone."

As TechCrunch put it:

"To verify a user’s identity and log them in, a website would play a uniquely generated, nearly-silent sound through your computer’s speakers. An app running on your phone would pick up the sound, analyze it, and send the signal back to the site’s server confirming that you are who you say you are — or, at least, someone who has that person’s phone."

SlickLogin debuting at TechCrunch

 The approach can be used as a password replacement or a two-factor authentication. The founders of SlickLogin also squashed any potential worries by saying:

"Everything is very heavily encrypted, so man in the middle attacks are out. You can’t record the audio signal and just play it back later, as the audio is uniquely tied to that moment. You can’t just hold your phone up to someone else’s audio signal (or grab it from across the room with a directional mic) in hopes of getting logged in to their account before they do; your phone wouldn’t have their login credentials stored on it, and that crucial bit isn’t wrapped into the sound."

The product is still in a small, closed Beta.


Written by: Kheng Wei Ang

Stop The Flappy Bird Clones! (App Store & Play Store)

Since Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen took down the simple yet addictive game Flappy Bird, a plethora of clones have surfaced on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Search for the word "flappy" on Play Store and it returns more than 250 results, including "Flappy Troll" and "Flappy Pig."

So long Flappy Bird!

Dong, who reportedly received $50,000 per day in ad revenue, took down the game because he intended it to be played leisurely, rather than being addicted. Developers who are eager to emulate Dong's success are likely the reason behind the number of Flappy Bird clones.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), Apple and Google are cracking down on this craze. According to Apple, the clones are rejected for "attempt to leverage a popular app." So that's it, guys. No more Flappy Bird clones!


Written by: Kheng Wei Ang

Fitness Watchmaker Basis Selling Itself?

TechCrunch reports that Basis Science, a company that makes health-centric smartwatches, is looking for potential suitors.

Unable to secure enough funding, Basis is looking to be acquired. Rumor has it that they are in talks with Apple, Google, possibly Microsoft and Samsung about the sale. Although Basis' market share is unclear, the smartwatch market is regarded as future of mobile computing, thus attracting interests from bigger companies.

Google, who recently bought Nest for $3.2 billion, is looking to enter the consumer hardware market. It is worth nothing that Google currently has Google Glass Explorer Edition in the wearable tech sector, and is unclear about making a smartwatch.

Could this lead to Apple iWatch?

On the other hand, Apple looks more likely to make a smartwatch, after Tim Cook said that there will be new product categories in 2014. Previously, Apple has acquired companies to implement new technology directly. Siri was acquired and became the star attraction of iPhone 4S; Touch ID became selling point for iPhone 5S (besides gold color, of course). Could Apple acquire Basis to work on an iWatch?

Samsung could also acquire Basis, after having a lukewarm reception to its Galaxy Gear smartwatch.


Written by: Kheng Wei Ang