Samsung Galaxy S3, which telco to choose?

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is now in 3 major telco in Malaysia and many people waiting for this device still considering which telco to go with to get the best deal out there and worth every buck you are paying. The Galaxy S3 is an amazing phone to start off with and regardless of which plan you are with, it will still be awesome. The only complaint I get from most people is that the design of this phone is a little let down which looks really back dated. If the design were better, this could be a killer phone. For now, read on to find out the best plan for you from the 3 big telco from Malaysia.

Before we start, the recommended retail price for Samsung Galaxy S3 is RM2199 for the 16GB version but you can buy it outright at as low as RM2149 or lower depending on your bargaining skills.

Lets start off with Maxis. [Click image for larger view]

Digi

Celcom

If you want to know more about the plans, click on the link above to get more information. As what we can conclude from all these plans, in the money wise, Maxis is the most worth it because it has bundled calls and SMS with the plans where Digi does not. Celcom also have bundled calls and SMS but the plans are a tiny bit pricier. There are also many other things to consider apart from the money you are paying such as the strength of signals, customer services and other stuffs. So please choose wisely in this. But you can always get the phone outright if you do not like contracts. It will cost you only RM2199 and prepaid is good to go! =)

Please drop us any possible questions you have and we will get to you asap. Thanks.

Click here for another comparison from a fellow tech blogger

Click here to know everything about the Samsung Galaxy S3, if you still dont know anything about it yet.

Blueprint of the possible next iPhone leaked

 

Could this be your next iPhone? Let’s assume it is genuine and take a look at what the plan tells us about the next iPhone. It’s hard to establish the size of the device because without those specifics, but it certainly seems to sport a longer form factor with a larger display. It definitely has a home button, despite rumors suggesting that that will disappear, and it seems the FaceTime camera has been moved. The small circle above the handset’s earpiece could be the FaceTime camera’s new home, though that could also be a proximity sensor.

Unfortunately there are no plans for the handset’s rear end, so this is all we have right now. But you can be sure we’ll see plenty more of these leaks before the new iPhone gets its unveiling later this year.

We still doubt this is for real. We will have more designs coming out in the coming weeks based on our experience. Stay tuned!

[Source][Via]

Best iPad Styluses to Date

I found this article to be very useful for those who like art and iPad at the same time. Here you go!

You only need look at a child’s drawing to know why you need a stylus.

“If you see a stylus they failed.” That might be everybody’s favorite Steve Jobs quote about touch screens, but the fact is the finger is terrible at both drawing and writing — just look at your kid’s scrawlings up on the refrigerator door if you don’t believe me.

If you want to make pictures and words that the rest of the world can recognize as such, you need a little help. Luckily, iPad accessory makers also ignored Jobs’ complaints and set out to fill the world with wonderful iPad pens. Here are the best you can buy.

 

Best Stylus That’s Also A Pen

AluPen Pro — RM120

Slimmer than the original AluPen, and with a thinner, more accurate tip, the Pro stylus adds a replaceable ballpoint pen to the mix. Just twist the tip and the pen pops out, meaning you never need to carry an extra pen again.

Best Stylus For Drawing

Wacom Bamboo Stylus For iPad — RM90

Wacom’s years of pen and tablet experience show in this excellent iPad stylus. It is perfectly weighted, the tip is thin and glides over even dirty screens and you can even remove the pocket clip. Replaceable tips round out the most professional stylus on this list.

Best Stylus For Portability

TruGlide Mini — RM50

The TruGlide might be tiny (it’s the little blue one in the photo above), but it is solidly built and will fit into even the smallest pocket. It also has LynkTec’s metal mesh tip to let it really slide easily across the glass screen of your chosen iDevice (don’t worry, it won’t scratch). And if you don’t have a pocket? No worries! The TruGlide has a tail with a plastic tip that slots into the iPad’s headphone socket. It’s possible that this is the first stylus you can’t lose.

Best Stylus For Accuracy

Adonit Jot Pro — RM90

The Jot Pro started out as a Kickstarter project, and is now ready to buy. It uses a see-through circle as its tip so you can precisely align strokes, has an embedded magnet for sticking to the iPad, and a rubber grip for, well, better grip. If your regular stylus feels a little inaccurate, this is the one for you.

Best Stylus For Fat Fingers

Cosmonaut — RM75

Studio Neat’s Cosmonaut is probably a pun on the Russian space pen, which was a pencil. It’s chunky, and designed to feel more like a dry-erase marker than a ballpoint pen, which makes sense in the iPad’s shiny screen.

Best Stylus For Serious Use

The Hand Stylus — RM90

The Hand Stylus might be the best stylus, period. From its anodized aluminum shell to the tip that rotates every time you retract it to even out the wear, to the replaceable packs of tips you can buy, it oozes quality. What’s more, the tip is 4mm in diameter — this is the smallest a tip can get before a capacitive screen stops seeing it.

Best Stylus For Artists

Nomad Brush — From RM60

The best stylus for “painting” pictures on the iPad is not a stylus, but a brush. Nomad’s range of bristle-tipped capacitive brushes really feel like you’re painting onto the screen. I have used several, and they are also well made and come in a variety of sizes and stiffnesses. You can even get one with a single shaft that takes interchangeable, screw-on tips.

Best Stylus For Kids

Griffin Crayola – RM90

To be honest, any stylus would do for kids. In fact, given that they are so “good” at finger painting, no stylus is probably the best stylus for your rugrats. But if you insist, go for something chunky, plastic and colorful. Chunky, for their under developed grasps, colorful, to make it harder to lose and plastic so they don’t crack the screen when they inevitable drop it.

The Best Pressure Sensitive Stylus

Ten One Blue Tiger  RM TBA

Currently only a prototype, Ten One’s Blue Tiger is the holy grail of iPad styluses: a capacitive pen with a pressure sensitive tip. It beams pressure information to the iPad 3 using low-power Bluetooth 4 (requiring apps to include the Ten One APIs), and has an LED on the side which shows the color of the currently-selected ink. Who knows when it will ship, but when it does, I’m totally buying one.

[Source]

Facebook Introduces App Centre, Its Own App Store For Web And Android, iOS Devices

Facebook just announced the App Center, a place for discovering and installing social apps/games that tie into Facebook’s developer platform. Apps offered in the App Center will be available on the web and mobile, including Android and iOS devices.

If you think Facebook is trying to take on Apple and Google’s storefronts directly, fret not. The App Center will be part of the official Facebook application and send mobile users to their respective storefronts, whether it be Apple’s App Store or Google Play.

From Facebook’s official blog:

Today, we’re announcing the App Center, a new place for people to find social apps. The App Center gives developers an additional way to grow their apps and creates opportunities for more types of apps to be successful.

In the coming weeks, people will be able to access the App Center on the web and in the iOS and Android Facebook apps. All canvas, mobile and web apps that follow the guidelines can be listed. All developers should start preparing today to make sure their app is included for the launch.

Developers who get their apps ready for Facebook’s App Center by May 18th will have a better chance of getting in when the store launches on an unspecified date. Paid apps are supported, and each app in the App Center will need to use the official Facebook login. Developers can find more information on Facebook’s developer website.

[Via]

Free The Star ePaper Subscription for Samsung Galaxy Tab owners

If you are a legit Galaxy Tab owner, here is something awesome for you. Samsung is now giving out 6 months of free subscription to The Star ePaper edition to all Galaxy Tab owners. Ranging from all the Tabs covering Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9, Tab 7.7, Tab 7.0 and the original Galaxy Tab.

Just redeem your free Star ePaper in the Samsung Mobile Malaysia Facebook Page by just hitting “Like”.
Free stuffs are always the best! Thanks, Samsung!

[Via]

 

The Cheaper iPad 2 Gets Better Battery Life [Report]

Since the launch of the New iPad (3rd Generation), Apple reduces the price of iPad 2 and making the 16GB version of iPad 2 the only version available now. The good news is not only the price reduction of the iPad 2 to a mere starting price of RM1199, but some variant of these models boast an improved battery life. These variant of iPad 2 are modified internally to get a more advanced 32-nanometer version of the dual-core A5 processor instead of a 45-nanometer chip in the previous iPad 2, according to Anandtech.

Anandtech performs some test on the new variant of iPad 2 and the results shows noticeable improvement on battery life.

(Credit: Anandtech)

(Credit: Anandtech)

“The iPad 2,4′s gains in battery life…are significant. We measured a 15% increase in our web browsing battery life, a nearly 30% increase in gaming battery life and an 18% increase in video playback battery life” compared to the iPad 2 with the older A5 chip, according to Anandtech.

Finding one of these iPad 2,4 variants is not easy, however. “If you’re in the market for an iPad 2, the 2,4 is clearly the one to get – if you can find one that is,” wrote Anand Shimpi.

So if you want to get an iPad 2 with improved battery life, you have to make sure the iPad 2 you got is the iPad 2,4. It is not easy for sure. The only way to know for sure is to open up the box. The iPad 2 variant may have iOS 5.1 preloaded. The older iPad 2 models — which Apple still has in inventory and continues to sell — may have 5.0.1 or older, Shimpi said.

But the most accurate way to find out is by using a utility like Geekbench that will indicate whether it’s the iPad 2,4, Shimpi said.

But we think most of the iPad 2 found is Malaysia is still the old variant. But you will never know. So check or ask first before buying one.

[Source] [Via]

Nokia Lumia 610 for an incredible RM699

The Nokia Lumia 610, a very capable smartphone running Windows Phone OS. Always being shadowed by it’s more powerful sibling, the Nokia Lumia 710, the Lumia 610 does not lack in any case. We think that Lumia 610 is a very good smartphone given the cheap pricetag. And what is more amazing is the fact that the device is just priced at RM699 now. That is an awesome price for a device like this.

It is true that Windows Phone does not stand out when it comes down to the number of apps but the OS is as powerful as any major mobile OS out there today. Simple and intuitive. So if you are planning to get a new smartphone and cash is not your best friend in the moment, the Nokia Lumia 610 is your new best friend.

Specs:

-800MHz processor
-256MB of RAM
-8GB of internal storage
-3.7″ WVGA display
-1,300mAh battery
-5MP shooter with assisted LED flash
-Available in 4 different colors (as in the picture above)

*You might want to look out for other good budget smartphones like the HTC One V, Samsung Galaxy W, Sony Xperia U or Apple iPhone 3GS.

[Via]

Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia getting the Samsung Galaxy SIII in June 2012

With all the hype over the weekend about the new Samsung Galaxy SIII, people all around was asking about the availability of the Samsung’s new toy in Malaysia and other countries in South East Asia. We just cant wait to get our hands on the new Galaxy. Many people are very anticipated and waited for the new Samsung device as their phone upgrade. The European countries will be getting it on the 29th May 2012 followed by few other countries after.

Just recently, Lee Jui Sang, Samsung Electronics director of regional mobile business for Southeast Asia, Oceania, and Taiwan, said he’s confident that Samsung Galaxy S3 will make its way to Malaysia in early June. So we shall expect the Galaxy SIII to land on Malaysia on the first week of June 2012. That was faster than we expected because devices will usually take around at least a month to reach the Malaysian market. Seems like the popularity of Samsung devices in Malaysia is kinda good for Samsung to bring it over so soon after it’s launch.

For Singapore and Indonesia, the device is expected to be available on the month June also but no confirmation whether it will be early, mid or late June. But knowing it is June is good enough for us. One month wait is not that long although it might be very long for some hardcore fan.

So if you think that the wait for Galaxy SIII will be too long, well think again! =)

[Source]

The All New Samsung Galaxy SIII: Everything you have to know

Samsung announces the new Galaxy, Samsung Galaxy SIII yesterday in a soothing event in London they called the Samsung Mobile Unpacked Event 2012.The event is held around 2am local time in a big hall with a huge stage, too huge for a mobile event we would say. And the whole event was accompanied by an amazing orchestra which makes the evening just so cozy and warm while Samsung introduces us to their new flagship smartphone.

We think that it is the best smartphone by Samsung to date. In the hardware side, the new Galaxy get an usual, normal upgrades from the SII but in software wise, the SIII is remarkable. Samsung is officially in the human like interactive smartphone business now. And that is just awesome.

Here is all you have to know about the new Samsung Galaxy SIII and little bit about the other announcements made in the event.

Hardware:

Screen: 4.8” Super Amoled HD display
Storage: 16/32/64GB(coming soon) depending on model, plus expandable MicroSD card
Cloud storage: 50GB Dropbox for two years
Colour: Pebble blue or marble white (White is my personal fav)
Battery: 2,100mAh
Camera: 8MP rear; 1.9 MP front (capable of HD recording)
Resolution: 720 x 1280 px (306ppi, around 20ppi lesser than the iPhone but with a much bigger screen)
RAM: 1GB
Dimensions: 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.55 mm
Weight: 133g
Operating System: Android 4.0.4
Processor: Exynos 4 Quad (1.4GHz) Awesome Awesome processor

Software:

Samsung says that their new Galaxy SIII can see, listen and response to our normal human behavior and predicts what we want to do. This is an amazing stuffs we have there in a smartphone which we use in our daily life. “It is designed for Humans” they said. Lets see what are the great software tweaks we have here.

Smart Stay
To prevent the Galaxy SIII’s screen to turn off or black out by itself after a certain time frame, it has a new feature called the Smart Stay which will keep the device’s screen awake as long as you are. It uses the front-facing camera to “see” you and detect whether you are opening your eyes or not. If you close your eyes, the screen will automatically dim off. That is one great feature seeing that most of us are really annoyed when our smartphone’s screen turns off while you are reading a website or ebook. Especially for those who sets the screen to dim off every 5 seconds, this is for you.

S Voice
Here is a Siri competition and we would say that it is really similar to Siri with the human like interaction and how it can understand human speech. We have to do more hands-on on this to see how well it works. But it certainly looked great. One thing the S Voice have that Siri don’t is that, S Voice can be activated by just saying “Wake up” or any other command you like to set. No physical touch is needed to activate the S Voice(AWESOME).  The device is always ready for your command and once you say “Wake up, Galaxy” or “Wake up, Buddy”, it will automatically wake up and wait for your next command. This is really useful while you are driving or when both your hands are occupied. =)

Direct Call
So you are messaging a friend and you think the message will be really long. Well, just raise your phone to your ears like how you speak on a phone and a phone call will be made to the friend of yours. Simple but not really so useful. But it is definitely something good to have on your phone.

Smart Alert
This is another great feature in the new Galaxy SIII. Lets say you are really busy and u did not have the time to event turn on your phone to check for any notifications, missed calls or messages. But this new features will give you a small buzz if you have any notifications when you pick your phone up. There is no need to turn it on, just pick it up and you will know if you missed anything while you were away. Smart.

S-Beam
By using NFC and Direct WiFi, the Galaxy SIII can be used to send media or any file just by touching it’s back on another SIII. And Samsung claims that this is the fastest file transfer available now.

Buddy Photo Share
Take a group photo, SIII detects the faces, tagged them based on contact list images, prompt if you want to send the photo to people in the photo. You can also tap on a face in a photo to make a call or message that person. Hmm, not bad.

Pop Up Play
This feature actually lets you watch a video in a smaller window while you do something else like browse the web, etc. I personally don’t see how this is useful. Maybe Samsung made this feature to boast how good the quad-core processor is.

Intelligent Camera
Ok, the camera is pretty amazing. 8MP with LED flash. And it can now take 20 or 8 burst-shots and automatically chooses the best one for you. Although in the demo of this in Mobile Unpacked event, the “best” photo it chooses is not so well “best”. Or maybe we should say, it chooses the clearest, not the best.
Apart from that, you can also snap picture will recording a video now. Which is really useful at times.

Others:

Samsung announces that there is an optional wireless charger for the SIII. Just leave the device on the charging slot and it will charge wirelessly. And they also announce that they will have their own version of Apple Store called the Samsung Mobile Pin which have the same concept with the Apple store where people can experience and touch and feel everything. Lastly, The Galaxy SIII will be available in the end of May. 29th May 2012 to be exact. And we expect it to be available locally around Mid June or the end of June.

That’s about all you have to know about the event and the all new Samsung Galaxy SIII. So what do you think? It is awesome? Tell us what do you think at the comment section. Come on, tell us how excited you are, or you think this is just another regular smartphone?

UPDATE: The Galaxy SIII will be priced in the bracket of RM1800-2100 to keep the market competitive. Just all hope it will be RM1799! You WISH!!

Click here to see how the Samsung Galaxy SIII stands among the other flagship smartphones.

Click here for the Samsung Galaxy SIII commercial.

More pictures of Samsung Galaxy SIII [Click on image to enlarge]

Samsung Galaxy SIII commercial: Designed for Humans

This ad by Samsung on its new Galaxy SIII does sums up pretty much about the new toy.