MasHD Blog

A few hours ago , Google announced its new developer preview of Android M - A system that is said to bring refinement to the already gorgeous material design . Unveiled at Google IO 2015 in San Francisco , the entire show as usual was broadcasted live via youtube , although i was never able to attend any of the Google IO events , i managed to secure a seat at our national GDG Sri Lanka Google IO Extended event held in Colombo where i was able to use the slow and crowded Wifi connection to type this blog entry .  Contents  *Android M  *Google Photos  *Android wear  *Chromecast *Android TV *Android auto *Google cardboard  *JUMP (with GoPro) *Project Brillo and WEAVE Android in numbers  Did you know that 8/10 smartphones shipped last year were Android devices ? and did you know that there are over 4000 specific Android devices launched at date ..well these were some of the specs Google put out last night , and here is the remainder *600 million new Android users added

With Google IO 2015 just around the corner , the anticipation for new software as well as hardware in the form of Nexus devices are at a all time high . Although the probably of Google announcing new hardware at the event is low , rumors spread that Huawei and LG are prepping up some good gadgets for this year in the form of a large phablet and a smartphone . Internally known as the Angler , the rumored LG nexus device is infact a replacement for the Nexus 5 , the device  , which is said to have a 5.2" display is basically a slimmed down LG G4 as the phone is rumored to have a Snapdragon 808 as well  , other specs are still unknown ,and even the existence of the phone is also unknown at this point , if it becomes true , this will be the Nexus 5 for 2015 . The second device , from Huawei  is known by the code as   Bullhead , although the names are a bit fishy, Google has a reputation of giving maritime related codenames for its nexus devices so it will possibly turn out to

Rumors about the next gen Zenpads leaked out last week confirming the existence of two Asus tablets with one being the Asus Zenpad 7 and the  Zenpad 8 . Details and pictures of the two tablets remain sketchy , but today we have some leaked photos of the upcoming Zenpad 8 by Ausdroid . According to the pictures , the Zenpad 8 is Asus' first 4:3 Android tablet , previous models , including the upcoming cheaper Zenpad 7 are 16:9 but the new model features a 2048x1536 resolution IPS unit which confirms to the 4:3 standard which is slowly becoming the new default Android tablet screen aspect ratio . Other specs include a 64bit Intel Z3560 and a decent 2GB of RAM . The tablet will feature Micro SD expansion and it will come with either 16/32 or 64GB of onboard storage .The Asus Zenpad 8 and its cheaper brother - the Zenpad 7 are expected to be launched in June. Written by Rakitha for MasHD Source - Ubergizmo

Sony announced the Xperia Z4 for japan just last month , although fans expected a bit more in the form of a new design , the company instead went for a different route and polished the existing Z3 design with minimal changes and and flapless ports and launched it only for Japan , but today , we have the the phone available for the rest of the global market in a strange naming scheme - The Xperia Z3+ Say hello to the Sony Xperia Z3+  , the phone , which is the technical successor to the Xperia Z3 brings a 64bit chip , and a 32GB option instead of the 16GB entry level specification offered earlier , The Z3+ naming scheme was probably adopted as the phone is just a refined version of their older generation model  .The display is kept in the same 1080p resolution and it is still 5.2" .But dont't let its design fool you into thinking that thus is some run  off .under the sleek 6.9mm thin IP  IPX5/X8 water and dust protected chassis lies  Sony's new 64bit hardware- the cont

Chinese OEM Elephone has unveiled a rather beastly smartphone called the P8000 .The device - which has some genric looks is powered by a Mediatek MT6753 ,which is a 64bit chip with Mali T720 graphics and a Global LTE modem . The phone ,available only with a 16GB option comes with 3GB of RAM , a 13mp rear camera with Led flash and a 5mp front facing camera which sits above the 5.5" 1080p IPS display .The unit also has a rear facing fingerprint sensor which will work as a unlock option on this Android 5.0 powered device . The phone has a 4200 mAh non removable battery - which might give it top marks for battery life as well , all in all the package is expected to cost in the ~$210 price range , but like most Chinese smartphones , this unit might just be another bang for your buck device we may never be able to buy . Specs at a glance *5.5" 1080p IPS display *Mediatek MT6753 Quad core processor , 64bit Cortex A53 cores *Mali T720GPU *3GB RAM *16GB onboard storage *1

Although Sony has a reputation for dishing updates a little late , the company has a good track record of keeping its old flagships updated even though 2 and a half years have passed since many of them rolled out . Android Lollipop (5.0.2) is now available for the Xperia Z1 - a Snapdragon 800 powered device from 2013 and its little brother the Xperia Z1 compact as well as the humongous Xperia Z Ultra , The company also confirmed that 5.0.2 is now available for the first gen Xperia Z and ZR  - both Snapdragon S4 powered devices from the first half of 2013 . The Xperia Z tablet and Xperia ZL will also receive the update in a short time . Android 5.0 brings out some of the biggest changes to android yet , along with the new Xperia UI , the update brings the ability to  – Ensured the lock screen / notification bar doesn’t indicate “no service” when the device has coverage – Added a Sony feature; bringing back the “close-all-button” in the activity menu, so you can easily close al

Google and Skrillex unveiled their limited edition live cases for Nexus and Some Samsung smartphones . The product - which is only available for Nexus 5 , Nexus 6 . Samsung Galaxy S5 and S6 and the Note 4 have a embedded  NFC chip and button which can be customized to launch any app or website once the cover is put on and tethered to the phone ,buying the case also gets you a free copy of his OWSLA Album . Rest of the specs of the case include the ability to download Skrillex's live wallpapers which are taken from his newly launched balloon satellite , in the morning hours , the wallpaper changes to a live wallpaper created using the images taken from orbit and at night the wallpaper changes to a star constellation of the area . The case costs $40 and is available in "Space Shield,""Circuit Bae," and "lil planet" designs .Cases for the Nexus devices are already available , but Samsung owners will have to wait for the Case drop in June . Writ

Nvidia's Shield console originally came with 16GB for a price of $199 . Although a Android TV console rarely goes beyond this storage capacity , existence of a 500GB Nvidia shield console leaked out on Amazon last week , and in a swift move , all traces were pulled down . Today news of the console has come back in the form of a acknowledgement by Nvidia employee ManuelG . The console - which originally cost $199 will have a 500GB option for a $100 more and it is expected to go live this month (end of the month more like it) along with the Andorid 5.1 update for the Shield tablet . The Nvidia shield console is a Android TV console which comes with a 64bit Tegra X1 chipset , 3GB of RAM , Gigabit Ethernet,HDMI 2.0 ,Two USB 3.0 (Type A),Micro-USB 2.0,MicroSD slot,IR Receiver as well as Wifi and chromecast support . Written by Rakitha for MasHD Source - Androidpolice

Oppo has unveiled two new smartphones to its new R series , the R7 &R7 plus . Both phones are said to pack some mid range processing power , but it is said to make that up with its design elegance , biometric sensor and battery life . Both models are almost identical and they share the Snapdragon 615 Soc - a 64bit Octa core processor with Adreno 405 GPU , both phones also share the same 3GB RAM , 8MP front cameras and 13MP rear camera modules which feature Schneider-Kreuznach optics that allow image layering which can produce photos of 52MP , there is also RAW and GIF support in the camera UI .Both models feature Dual sim support with the second slot serving as a optional MicroSD slot , the device supports LTE  on both sims.  Both phones also use 1080p Amoled pannels and they employ Oppo's custom Android ROM - Color OS along with fast battery charging which will re charge 75% of the battery from 0% in 30 minutes First up , we have the smaller Oppo R7 This ph

Sony has been a bit busy during the past few weeks , the newly launched Xperia C4 and the Japan only mini -flagship Sony A4 made some headlines here and there , but so far , Sony's designs on all current handsets are a bit similar , but change is in the air as the company is said to be working on a handset nicknamed "Sony Lavender" - which is a almost side bezel-less smartphone designed from the ground up to be a selfie hogs best friend . The phone - which comes with the code number E5503 is said to pack a 1080p display , 4G connectivity , and a MediaTek MT6752 64 bit processor . The selfie cam on the phone is accompanied by a flash which brings it closer to the selfie centric Xperia C3/c4 , further details of the handset are unknown , but rumors suggest the handset to launch with Android 5.0.2 out of the box with Sony's own UI . Written by Rakitha for MasHD Source - GSMArena

When Blackberry announced its $275 off contract price Blackberry Leap , the only color option listed for this Budget handset was Black , although the black option is a bit meh (boring) , the new White version - which retails for the same price is probably more eye catching as  it gives the handset a premium look in its frosty color .The Blackberry leap handset is Blackberry's latest touch only handset and most of its design elements hark back to the Z10 from a few years back , the handset , unlike the business oriented Classic and Passport is aimed at a younger audience so adding a color rather than charcoal black is a step in the right direction . The Blackberry Leap  features a 5" 720p display , a Dual core Snapdragon S4 Plus chipset at 1.5 Ghz and 2GB of RAM with 16GB of storage+ a micro SD card slot , the handset comes with a 8MP rear camera and a 2MP front facing one . The phone has a non removable 2800 mAh battery which is said to give the handset some good battery lif