MasHD Blog

Techno has announced their latest handset - the Techno Spark 8, the handset powered by a Mediatek Helio G22 Soc features 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage and it runs on Android 11 Go edition. The front of the phone features a 6.5" 720p LCD display and houses a notch for a 8MP front sensor and is complimented by a 16Mp rear main camera and a VGA secondary one. The phone comes with a 5000 mAh battery and is expected to retail at around $130. Source - Gizmochina

Lenovo has announced their latest phone - the Lenovo K13 in Russia. The handset - an Android 10 Go powered device is basically a budget handset powered by a Unisoc SC9863A Chipset and it has a 6.52" 720P+ resolution display and an IP52 ingress protection rating as well. The phone has 2GB of RAM, 32GB of onboard storage and has 4G support .  Cameras and other specs include a 5MP front, 13MP rear and 2MP depth camera. The phone also has a 5000 mAh battery and is expected to go on sale for $105 (RUB 7777) with a discount. Source - GSMArena

Motorola has gone official with their latest smartphone - the G50, the device - launched with the Australian market in mind, offers a Mediatek Dimensity 700 Chipset,4GB of RAM and 128GB storage. Camera specs on the phone include a 13MP front sensor supported with a 48MP main camera at the back and 2MP macro and 2MP depth cameras. The phone has a 5000 mAh battery and 15W fast charge side mounted fingerprint sensor and NFC. The phone is expected to retail for AU$399 (~USD289). Source - GSMarena

 Intel is set to challenge AMD's Radeon and NVIDIA to the GPU game thanks to its new Xe -HPG core architecture (based on TSMC's 6nm architecture) the upcoming ARC GPU - which are currently un-named are said to be 1st  generation "  Alchemist GPU's"  which will use the Xe core and will rival most offerings from AMD's Navi based 6700XT and Nvidia's RTX3070 and will pack ray tracing processing  and overclocking for those who require optimum performance. The Alchemist generation of GPU's are said to go on sale in Q1 of 2022 and Intel hopes to continue the lineage of Xe-HPG based GPU's in the future with the "Battlemage" "Celestial " and "Druid" planned for the future Source - WCCFtech   , Hothardware

"You are just a Machine, an imitation of Life" - Detective Spooner (irobot) Tesla is said to be working on building a new humanoid robot named simply the Tesla Bot. The robot, which was announced at AI Day by Elon Musk is said to be powered by a still in development AI system which would allow it to navigate and do menial or repetitive tasks (such as stacking up boxes, lifting heavy- dangerous material, feeding your cats  or finding Sarah Connor ). For now, not much is known about the internals of the robot or how it would operate, but the robot is said to be 5'8 tall and weighs around 125lb thanks to light weight materials used in construction. According to Tesla, the robot is limited in its mobility and will hit a maximum of 5mph which is similar to human walking speed, but it will still carry around 45lb without any issue, Tesla expects to have a prototype by 2022.  Source - Engadget  

Sony has announced a more pocket friendly version of their Xperia 10 III for the Japanese market. The new Xperia 10 III Lite brings a host of pastel colors - Sony's excellent IP65/68 ingress protection and a 6" OLED display with 2520x1080 resolution. The internals of the Sony Xperia 10 III Lite include a Snapdragon 690 Soc with 5G, 6GB of RAM and 64GB of UFS storage (Around half of the larger model) - you still do get a MicroSD card slot so there is not much to worry here.  On the camera side, the phone packs a 12MP wide sensor with PDAF, a 8MP ultrawide sensor and a 8MP telephoto with 2X optical zoom. The front of the device features a 8mp camera which sits inside the top bezel - a rarity these days. Other specs include a 3.5mm headphone jack, side mounted fingerprint sensor a 4500 mAh battery with 30w fast charge and Nano and E-Sim for dual usage. Pricing starts at JPY46,800/$435 and will be sold exclusively in Japan by Japanese retailers.  Source - GSMArena

Samsung has released a refresh of the original Galaxy A52, the new A52s 5G packs mostly a hardware bump and thus most of the core design elements and the camera remains the same with the exception of the Snapdragon 778 5G processor (with 128GB storage +6GB or 8GB of RAM or 256GB + 8GB RAM options available throughout the range. Starting off, the phone packs the same 6.5" AMOLED display with 2400x1080 pixels (120hz) and has a punch-hole camera of 32MP at the front. The rear of the phone carries over the same 64MP wide,12MP ultrawide,5MP macro and 5MP depth sensors as before and an front optical fingerprint reader as before. The phone also has the same 4500 mAh battery and 25W fast charging. Pricing for the device starts at GBP 410 for the base model and ships on August 24th with Andorid 11 out of the box. Source - Samsung UK

Google's much anticipated Pixel 5A is official. The phone - a more affordable alternative to the Flagship Pixel line brings all the goodness of Stock Android and timely updates which are important if you are a developer or someone who hates skinned versions of Android or just want a phone without issues for $449, then the pixel is the right choice for you. First off, the design of the new 5A is basically the same as before, and looks somewhat dated. The phone has rounded corners, a plastic build, a rear fingerprint sensor and this time around, the phone gets IP67 ingress protection which is a good thing. The front of the phone features a 6.34" 1080x2400 Pixel resolution OLED display and it has a single punch-hole camera of 8MP for selfies. The rear of the phone packs a 12.2MP (27mm Wide) with Dual-Pixel stacking and a 16MP (119 degree ultrawide) and LED flash and records 4K60. And thanks to Google's special software tweaks, you can expect them to rival or even beat most fl...

IMO UK has announced their cheapest 4G ready feature-phone - the IMO Dash 4G. The handset, which has a decent 14 Day standby time or 15 hours of usage doesn't pack much inside but is adequate as a back-up device for when your touchscreen device goes dark. The phone packs a 2.4" color display, 48MB of RAM and 128MB of storage with an expansion slot, you do get FM Radio a torch a 1500 mAh battery and other core functions you can expect from a featurephone. Source - GSMArena

In the modern world, planned obsolesce seems to be the norm as every gadget seems to be glued shut in order to make device thinner and make it expensive to repair - encouraging users to migrate to a newer device. But with new laws and public outcry for right to repair, any manufacturers have slowly started to take note - but things wont be the same as they used to be in the 2010's when gadgets reached the peak of being repairable and good looking at the same time.  Laptops, like most "disposable" appliances, tend to have components which are mostly soldered or sealed shut from would-be DIY repairs and in some extreme cases - feature part authentication to block out any unauthorized repairs done by "uncertified" repair centers (who repair these devices for a fraction of what it would cost from the manufacturer) but one company - named Framework hopes to bring some change to the market by offering a repair friendly laptop with modular components which could be eit...

Samsung has announced their latest Active noise cancellation capable (ANC) Galaxy Buds 2 earbuds. The true wireless headphones packs dynamic 2 way speakers which offers deep bass and the ability to cancel out thanks to 3 microphones and a VPU (Voice pickup unit) for identifying and isolating caller and user voice while isolating background ambiance. The buds, which weigh just 5g per earbud has a tiny 61 mAh battery and with the QI enabled case of 472mAh capacity and this offers 5-20Hrs with ANC activated and 7.5-29H without of total playback with in case charging. Pricing starts at USD 150/EUR 149/GBP 139. Samsung also announced the Galaxy Z Fold3    Galaxy Z Flip3   Watch 4 series  at their August 2021 Unpacked event. Source - Samsung

Samsung has announced its new Watch 4 series of smartwatches - alongside the new Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 smartphones, and the new Galaxy Buds 2 ANC earbuds at their special unpacked event. The new watch 4 series - the sportier (base model) ,  comes in two variants -  40mm and 44mm.The 40mm variants have a smaller 1.2" circular 396x396 SAMOLED display while the 44mm variants feature a 1.4" one. The devices, powered by Samsung's new Exynos W920 Dual core processor, contains 1.5GB of RAM and has 16GB of onboard storage.  Both variants pack 5ATM water resistance (IP68) and has MIL STD810G drop resistance and has a optical heart rate,ECG,Biometric impedance and the usual suite of sensors including gyro,GPS,bluetooth and light sensors and if you spec the LTE model, it will come with more options for worse case scenarios as well. The base (bluetooth only model) is priced at USD 249/EUR 269/GBP 249 while the LTE model is priced at USD 299/EUR 319/GBP 289. At the other end of the ...

Samsung has announced their long awaited Galaxy Z Fold 3, the phone, a successor to the Z fold 2 from last year, is a much needed successor to the line as features such as IPX8 water resistance, and support for S-Pen have been brought to the table making the phone a compelling buy.  Powering the device is a Snapdragon 888 Soc with 5G support. The phone also comes with 8GB of RAM and has 128GB or 256GB of storage (UFS 3.1) and like most modern Samsung flagships, it no longer has a MicroSD card for expansion.  The phone, which consists of a small notification display at the front and a larger display within the clamshell are both AMOLED panels and has smaller display has a 1.9" 260x512 color display and is complemented by a folding 6.7" 2640x1080 resolution 120hz display. The front of the phone - basically the top of the phone clamshell consists of 2 cameras with 12MP resolution with one being wide angle (1/2.55" sensor) with OIS, and an ultra wide of 123 degrees. The inne...

Samsung has announced their long awaited Galaxy Z Fold 3, the phone, a successor to the Z flip 2 from last year, is a much needed successor to the line as features such as IPX8 water resistance, a new industrial design and a larger -more vibrant front display and feature set Powering the device is a Snapdragon 888 Soc with 5G support. The phone also comes with 8GB of RAM and has 128GB or 256GB of storage (UFS 3.1) and like most modern Samsung flagships, it no longer has a MicroSD card for expansion.  The phone, which consists of a small notification display at the front and a larger display within the clamshell are both AMOLED panels and has smaller display has a 1.9" 260x512 color display and is complemented by a folding 6.7" 2640x1080 resolution 120hz display. The front of the phone - basically the top of the phone clamshell consists of 2 cameras with 12MP resolution with one being wide angle (1/2.55" sensor) with OIS, and an ultra wide of 123 degrees. The inner camera...