MasHD Blog

Samsung has a long tradition of making crazy ideas happen, the Gear S is no exception as it is probably the first consumer smartwatch to offer 3G  and GPS capabilities without being linked to another device . The stand-alone 3G smartwatch , which looks a bit like a stretched out Samsung Gear fit , will basically handle almost all the basic tasks of your phone as this is powered not by Android wear , but Samsung's very own Tizen . The Tizen OS , which already runs on almost all the Gear smartwatches has a good selection of apps so you won't feel bad .The display , which is a curved AMOLED , has a resolution of 480x360 and is 2" in size . The watch comes with 512MB of RAM ,4GB of local storage and a 1.2 Ghz Dual core processor . The watch features 2G /3G quadBand ,Wifi 802.11a/b/g/n ,Bluetooth  4.1 ,USB 2.0 for data , GPS and GLONASS .The Gear S will come with a kind of awkward 300mAh battery , and considering that this is a 3G "phone" that might possibly turnou...

IFA is going to be big this year , but in order to avoid the rush , many manufacturers release their device early in order to get better media attention , LG is one such company , yesterday , they anunced the LG G3 Stylus smartphone , and today they launched their Second Android wear smartwatch - The LG G Watch R . At first glance , the watch looks a bit like the Moto 360, but unlike the Moto 360 - which is not completly round because of a sensor bezel at the bottom , the G Watch R is complete circular with a number inscribed ring to make it look more "authentic" . The watch , running on Android Wear - which is a build of Android for smartwatches , uses the round format to display notifications and text . The watch is powered by a 1.2Ghz Snapdragon 400 chipset and it has 512MB of RAM and 4GB local storage .The watch has a 410 mAh battery which is probably enough to give the 320x320 Plastic OLED display enough power to run for more than a day.The watch has a acclero...

Buying a Oneplus one can be like winning a lottery , and considering that the company has only issued a small number of invites and handsets to lucky people who could secure a invite by either participating in one of  Oneplus' competitions or waiting for a invite via email or a  friend are probably feeling like they worth a million bucks right now , but sadly for this chap , his Oneplus decided to go on a separate path and gave its owner a 1st degree burn and shattered dreams . The incident which left the  owner's 64GB OnePlus One blown off from the left side , was the result of the phone's sealed battery malfunctioning .The Phone , which according to its owner was in his back pocket at the time of the incident , the phone suddenly started to steam up , resulting in a burnt pair of jeans and a burn wound . The owner's brother , who was witness to the incident captured the photos  on his phone as the OnePlus started to smoke .OnePlus ,a company that was said to have ...

It's a case of Horse before cart with the new LG G3 stylus as the phone is made official before LG's IFA event scheduled for next month .The phone , which borrows aesthetics from the LG G3 and some stylus features from the long gone Optimus VU is probably the Korean tech giant's latest "note" rival . The phone , which comes with a Rubberduim stylus and a 5.5" 960x540 resolution display is yards away from beating the 2K resolution display of the G3 , but that might reflect in price as the whole device more budget oriented rather than being a flagship . The phone comes with a Quadcore processor of 1.3Ghz (unnamed , but it's most probably a Snapdragon 400 chip a-la G3 mini) 13 mp rear camera ,1.3mp front facing camera and it comes with a MicroSD card slot that will run as extra storage for the 8Gb available on-board .The phone comes with a 3000mAh battery so battery buffs will surely rejoice as the phone's low end hardware will surely do its magic on th...

Twitch - a popular video sharing site used by gamers has apparently been bought for $970 million by Amazon . The twitch service , which lets users share their gameplay or record video sessions is probably the second most popular game related website/service after Steam so the acquisition for that kind of money is quite reasonable . Amazon already owns cloud based services and has its "Fire" based smartphones and tablets  so the move was probably done in order to integrate the cloud services with the video streaming capabilities to further promote the Fire brand and Amazon's online service network in the long run . Google , who also wanted to buy the service for a whooping $1billion was apparently turned down due to concerns about anti-trust issues that can arise as they planned to integrate twitch to their already existing streaming site - YouTube .The Amazon purchase ,which is the largest purchase by the company since it accquired Zappos for $850 ,is said to spearhead ...

The iPhone 6 by now is probably no secret , the phone leaked out months ahead of its alleged September  debut , but even after almost every nail has been leaked out , the interest for this device is still high , so high in fact fake artists have started to exploit it on their free time . Presenting the alleged iPhone 6 leak via China Telecom ,the photo , which leaked out a few days ago drew attention from many of the tech enthusiasts from around the world , but now , it is apparently fake , even though the render does look a lot like the real life leaks .  The brain child -or Brain Childern behid this are Tomas Moyano and Nicolàs Aichino ,of Yanko design the two created the iPhone 6 render , which looks somewhat like the real deal , although the duo got us with this one , this incident teaches us a good lesson as we are are more likely to believe things more easily in this time and age , and that we should take rumors with a grain of salt. Written by Rakitha for MasHD S...

Sixty-four bit processors on mobile devices are the latest must have Soc's in the tech world , the trend , set in motion by the iPhone 5S is still somewhat stagnant , but in the next few months , the architecture will probably start the next Smartphone arms race as each manufacturer promotes its product over the other .Oualcomm who holds the monopoly in the SOC business,  has taken a bit of a back seat when it comes to making 64Bit chips , and while rivals design and test their own models ,Qualcomm has instead decided to wait out the storm , and instead launch mid range 64Bit processors - mainly the Snapdragon 410/610 And the Snapdragon 615 , which is rumored to be on the upcoming HTC Desire 820 . The latest leak , which when roughly translated into English states that indicates a date (9) September and 4th and a huge 64 in front , which is accompanied by another poster with the text - World's first 8 core 64 phone , which definitely points at the 8 core Snapdragon 615 proces...

Sony has not had much success when it comes to tablets , the Sony Xperia Tablet range , which started with the Tegra powered Tablet S upto the current Tablet Z2 are all large size tablets with a huge price tag , but now , according to the latest leaks in the internet , Sony is planning to launch a smaller Tablet under the name Xperia Tablet Z3 Compact . The tablet , which is said to come at 8" IPS display +Xreality engine with a resolution of 1920x1800 is probably a bit stale for our modern taste of higher specs , but in return , the tablet is rumored to have a Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC processor ,3GB of RAM ,16GB of Onboard storage+MicroSD card slot and a good 4500-5000mAh battery along with NFC , WIFI 802.11ac and optional LTE .The camera module on the tablet is said to be 8mp one with a rear LED flash , which is a omission Sony had in previous tablets .Further details will be available in a weeks time as the tablet  , along with the Xperia Z3 will be anounced at IFA 2014 ,...

Do you see something strange about the tablet in the picture? ..is this the Nexus 8/9?  (via -Brightsideofnews/GoogleIO2014) Although we didn't get to see a Nexus device at Google IO this year we are sure to see not one , but two during the next two months , the rumored Nexus 8 /Nexus 9 also known as the HTC Volantis tablet and the Nexus 6 are both set to be released during the end of October or November of this year .The HTC Volantis (Nexus 8/9) tablet is probably the most expected Nexus device this year as it is obviously going to be a killer device thanks to the rumored 64Bit Nvidia Tegra K1 chipset and HTC's build quality .Latest details about the tablet surfaced after its WIFI certification was leaked out .The device , which is said to have 16 /32GB of onboard storage will be available in WIFI only and LTE+wifi versions once it is announced .Although the wifi certification doesn't reveal much , so far rumors about the device point out that the device will almost ce...

The ALS Ice Bucket challenge is probably the biggest internet sensation since the Harlem shake , the process , which involves the participant(s) pouring water with ice cubes while naming 3 other competitors while donating some amount for ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) in the process, at first the competition was reserved for the elite , but soon after everyone and their brother took up the challenge as a form of entertainment and all the while managed to generate $80 million for  ALS research.Samsung , which spends billions on advertising annually , decided to use the event to promote the Galaxy S5's waterproofness by doing its own icebucket challnge last Friday . The 15 second video , which consisted of a mounted Galaxy S5 and a S-Voice "voice over" and ice in a pail showed off the waterproof abilities of the Galaxy S5 which remained  soaking wet from the ice water drop and afterwards it(the voice) challenged the iPhone 5S , HTC One M8 and the Nokia Lumia 930 to d...

Tablets with cellular connectivity is nothing new ,the concept ,which became global after the launch of the 1st gen iPad gave users the option to use a data sim for media consumption and internet , but later on ,some  tablets which ran Android started serving dual purposes by allowing voice calls and texts which meant that users can swap sims , or use the tablet as the main device altogether , although holding a large screen device to your face is kind of awkward , that hasn't stopped the sectors' growth during the past few years and according to a new report from IDC , tablets with telephoning functionality has started to sell rapidly . According to the new Report , Android tablets that allow telecommunications are responsible for 25% of all tablet sales in the Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan) this quarter , the number of slates shipped is estimated to be 13.8 million and out of that a massive 3.5 million units are voice-capable tablets , according to the findings...

Facebook has received a lot of criticism after they announced that users will be forced to use a messenger app if they wanted to chat on their iOS or Android device , the second app , Facebook messenger works as a separate chat application while the original app is used for notifications and news feeds without Chat . The Facebook messenger app has recieved poor ratings from users who awarded it One star and this can be justified as the older application offered core features without requiring the user to download a seperate app that hogs more storage and memory . According to facebook ,the app has currenty hit 500 million app installs on Android and that's mainly because users on facebook were forced to download it . Apple has not released their app download numbers yet , but considering that Facebook messenger received a one star rating at the Appstore , Facebook might not be interesting in getting their numbers anytime soon. Source - GSMArena

Two years ago , Barnes and Noble launched their Nook series of Android tablets to the market , the move , which was probably in response to Amazon's Kindle Fire series wasn't able to gain any ground in terms of tablet marketshare , so the famous Book store dropped the line in late 2013 , but now they are back , and this time , they have struck a deal with a well known , and possibly the biggest Android Tablet OEM , Samsung. At first glance , the Samsung device looks like a typical Galaxy Tab 4 , that's because the tablet , which is designed for Nook is still typical Samsung , the buttons , the design and the internals are not changed except for the addition of a dark violet color and a Barnes and Noble Android interface which substitutes for Touchwiz . Some Touchwiz features like Multi-window are still available so it so all those who plan on doing some multitasking might enjoy the device as well. The tablet offers access to Google Play so the move to add the B&N sk...

Apple's alleged iPhone 6 is probably one of the worst kept secrets of all time , the leaks kept coming day after day and by now , most of us have some idea about its alleged design . The iPhone 6 , which will be the 2nd  iPhone lineup to break the screen size limitations that was ridiculed by many rival  companies is said to feature a 4.7" and a 5.5" variant with the same design that matches the recent iPad Air and iPad mini . The iPhone 6 "leak"seen here is said to be the 4.7" version , which is said to have slightly  lower specs than the bigger iPhone , but both phones will not compromise on their processors as both will feature the 64bit Apple A8 soc and atleast 1 or 2GB of RAM . The iPhone 6 variants are expected to be launched on the 9th of September along side the rumored Apple Smartwatch so be sure to visit our blog then Written By Rakitha for Mashd Source - GSMArena

Small size luxury(aka executive) cars are becoming quite popular these days , the segment , which is dominated by the Germans(mostly BMW) for a while, might get some new competition from its long time British Rival Jaguar .Armed with  its new lighweight XE platform , The Jaguar XE , which is dubbed as the BMW 3Series killer will surely challenge the German's executive car range head on , but to fully attack the segment, Jaguar needs more than a comfy sedan , it needs a hardcore performance version as well , so according to latest rumors , Jaguar is set about making a high performance version of the XE with a V8 and a good amount of horse power underneath . The alleged Jaguar XE SVR , which has a 489BHP  V8 from its F type brother is said to propel the sedan from 0-60 in 4Seconds ,the car will have LSD (not the drug , but a limited slip diff , alogng with a 8 speed automatic) and bonkers body designs that will differentiate this from the standard XE The Jaguar XE 2016 mod...

Sony has been making Waterproof devices for some time , but since the start of last year , Sony prioritized the feature to the Z lineup of premium devices which was sort of a disappointment for those who wanted waterproof features in a affordable package , so Sony has gone back to the drawingboard and designed the Xperia M2 Aqua , as the name suggests , the phone is basically a Xperia M2 underneath , but some design features have been altered to accommodate the waterproof features . First off , the specs , as i said before , the handset is basically a Xperia M2 , the phone has the same Snapdragon 400 processor and same 1GB RAM as well as the storage , LTE and other features , The camera on the M2 Aqua is a 8mp sensor and it features a LED flash and a vga front camera like the  M2 .The battery is still non removable and it comes at 2330mAh's . The differences however include the said waterproof additions , which include rubber lined flaps for charging ports , sim and MicroSD c...

LG's G watch was one of the first 3 Android wear smartwatches to be unveiled at Google IO this year  , the watch,which had a dual core Snapdragon 400 processor , a IPS display was sold below the $300 price , but like most first gen products , it wasn't complete , Batterylife among all the smartwatches available right now is poor , but the G watch mighht have suffered a bit more due to the display type , which used more power than the OLED based competition , so according to new rumor , LG is planning to unveil the LG G-Watch 2 , which , like the predecessor will feature a Qualcomm processor but the display will be replaced by a OLED panel , but so far no solid confirmation of the device has been confirmed , so we can accept this as a grain of salt for now. Written By Rakitha for Mashd Source - GSMArena

Smartphones are progressing ahead , and in that process most companies usually avoid the responsibility of updating their devices , but HTC , which like a small minority of Android OEM's pledged a oath to keep their top handsets updated for a minimum of 2 years ,the process started with the Original HTC One , which many of us have forgotten by now . The Phone , which came with Jellybean at launch is now issued a update to Android 4.4.3 Kitkat today .The update , which is said to feature security features from Android v4.4.4  will currently seed European versions of the Handset (most handsets sold in Asia Might be European versions so look out for the update) with the software serial number - 6.09.401.5 which is about 550MB+ , you can check for any update by going into settings and be sure to have enough charge before downloading and installing . Written By Rakitha for Mashd Source - GSMArena

Yesterday , HTC launched its latest Verizon only Windows Phone device based on the successful Android handset by the same name , The HTC One M8 (for Windows) is basically the same handset as its Android counterpart, except for the Operating system . The phone , which comes with a 2.3Ghz Snapdragon 801 processor , 2GB of RAM , 16GB of onboard storage with external MicroSD card support and HTC's Ultrapixel setup which consists of 2 4MP units to give depth perception and a 5" 1080p display which has onscreen Windows Phone buttons makes the One M8 for windows  the most powerful Windows phone handset to date . The Phone is currently aimed at being a Verizon only device , but apparently , other networks like At&T will get its own M8 with its branding in the future , although dates are not confirmed , and no word about a international launch was confirmed , we can expect it to be available on AT&T in a month or two Written by Rakitha for MasHD Source - att

IFA is going to be really busy this year , on one side , we have Samsung anticipating a perfect Galaxy Note 4 launch , along with Sony , who will launch their Xperia Z3 handset at the event along with many other manufacturers , Asus , who has been a pioneer in making Android devices is said to be working on a Smartwatch which will officially be unveiled on the 3rd of September .Although specs are not available , the shadow like picture might mean that Asus is planning something curved unlike the current Samsung and LG devices sold right now . we will post further details as they are available , So be sure to check our blog upto the Month of September as we bring you the very latest tech releases from IFA 2014 , Click the IFA 2014 tag for related articles. Written By Rakitha for Mashd Source - GSMArena

HTC has unveiled a new addition to its Butterfly family of high end Android smartphones , The HTC Butterfly 2 , which was also known as the Butterfly J in Japan features some features of the HTC One series with a  charm design made out of plastic . The HTC Butterfly 2 features a different dual camera Ultrapixel system with 2 sensors for depth perception with the main camera being of the 13MP type and the camera on top being a standard 4mp unit along with Dual LED flash .The front camera of the phone is said to be of 5mp quality,The phone has a 2,5Ghz Snapdragon 801 processor with 2GB of RAM , 16GB of storage with MicroSD card slot ,LTE and other knickknacks like NFC , 1080p video recording . The front facing boomsound speakers have been enhanced with  a Harman Kardon LiveStage signal amplifier for better audio quality . The phone runs on Android 4.4 out of the box and it comes with the latest version of HTC Sense which will be visible on the 5.0" full HD display .battery lif...

Siri can answer most of your day to day questions and demands , although most of who use Siri use it to ask random Wikipedia questions and the weather (i never use my iPad's siri for anything other than asking jokes and "tell me a story" as finding things outside Siri's approved countries will lead you to disappointment )  ,A college student in the U.S has apparently used Siri to ask for a suggestion on where to dump his roommate . If you have asked this as a joke before , you can expect Siri to respond to it humorously by either suggesting places like swamps , reservoir or abandoned mines or keeping numb about it , but in the case of Pedro Bravo , who is now accused of murdering his Roommate after a disagreement over his ex-Girlfriend , Siri has basically let him down by not offering the advice he needed in order to dispose the  evidence . Based on the testimonial given by the offender , the Police was able to get location data of his iPhone in order to piece ...

Samsung has faced a lot of criticize for using poor quality plastic on their phones , although the build of Samsung devices were top notch , the finish - either fake leather  or dimpled / glossy finished plastic made their owners sometimes want more than just a phone , So after a few years , Samsung has finally introduced the metal premiumness   people demanded in the form of the Samsung Galaxy Alpha . Armed with a real metal frame and a textured plastic back , the new Galaxy Alpha looks a bit like a iPhone 5 with Samsung written on it at first glance ,But the device , which comes with a 4.7"  720p AMOLED display is probably made to counter the upcoming 4.7" iPhone 6 this September . Apart from the display , the metal frame , which measures in at 6.7mm thick makes this one of the thinnest smartphones on the market today ,The phone measures a 132x65mm in height and width with a weight of just 115g . Powered by a Exynos Octa chipset , the Samsung Alpha can have eithe...