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.