A few days ago we reported that the Tizen-based Samsung Z1 has just launched in Malaysia, but back then it wasn't clear exactly how much it costs.

New information came through today suggesting the Samsung Z1 is priced at 6,900 Bangladeshi Taka or about USD $90.

The Samsung Z1 recently launched in India too and was off to a flying start there. Pricing is similar, being INR 5,700 or again, around $90.

The Samsung Z1 comes with a 4" WVGA display and runs on a dual-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A7 processor with 768MB RAM. It also offers a 3MP rear camera, dual-SIM connectivity with 3G support, FM radio plus a 1,500 mAh battery.

Thanks for the tip, Abu…

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With all the hype around Samsung's much anticipated next flagship our news section has been overflowing with various reports about the new device, its possible specs and variants. While Samsung has the final word on this matter, with MWC still about a month away it seems unlikely that we will get any closure on the pressing question any time before the beginning of March.

We do however have a lot of little bits and pieces to go by and seeing how the whole situation is quickly getting out of hand we have tried to make a quick rundown of what has surfaced about the Galaxy S6 up to date.

If you think you might have missed something or feel understandably confused you can refer to the table below. From what we have heard so far it seems that the Next Galaxy flagship will be available in two separate variant – a standard one, supposedly with a 5-inch screen and a edged one, which if rumors are to be believed will go one step beyond the Note Edge and offer slopes on both sides of the display.

We also hear bits and pieces about the build and design of the device. Apparently it is going to spout a metal frame, which is all but understandable seeing how metal phones are in style nowadays and will probably have a protruding camera, similar to the one on Galaxy Note devices.

Be sure to remember that all of this is taken straight out of the rumor mill and should be taken with a grain of salt, but for now this sums up what we know about Samsung's next flagship handset.

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Samsung Galaxy S6 color options revealed
Earlier today, when Samsung sent out invites for its Galaxy Unpacked 2015 media event, it didn’t reveal anything, except for a teaser image suggesting a curved screen flagship. However, it’s all but confirmed that the Galaxy S6, as well as its curved screen variant, the Galaxy S Edge, would be…

Alleged European pricing for both Galaxy S6 and S Edge revealed
Samsung has already announced that it is holding its Galaxy Unpacked 2015 event on March 1, and it’s all but confirmed that the South Korean company will use it to announce both the Galaxy S6 flagship as well as its curved screen cousin, the Galaxy S Edge. While the countdown for their…

Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S Edge to debut on March 1
It's official – Samsung is holding its Galaxy Unpacked 2015 event on March 1. The company's press event is going to focus primarily on its upcoming flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S6. In the teaser image below, however, you can see the company will also introduce a product with a distinctive curve…

Samsung Galaxy S6 to debut a new payment system
A report in the Korean media suggests that Samsung is preparing to launch a new payment system alongside the Galaxy S6. Samsung has lured in Visa as one of its main partners for the new payment system. The Apple Pay competitor is going to be based on the LoopPay technology, which enables…

Samsung Galaxy S6 metal frame revealed in photos
The first photos of the Samsung Galaxy S6 metal frame have surfaced. Moreover, the new photos portray the frame from all angles and show the layout of its ports and buttons. Leaked schematics of the phone suggest it'll measure just 7.2mm thick and the sides look have a carved design. At the top,…

Rumor: Galaxy S Edge screen to be less curvy than Note Edge
The rumor mill is abuzz with Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S Edge tips and leaks. Reportedly the Galaxy S6 and S Edge bodies will be uniformly colored, with the same texture on the front. Apparently even the camera module will get a paint job, it's normally black regardless of the phone's color….

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Counterclockwise allows us to recount smartphone lore from years past. This time we focus heavily on camera phones, take a quick tour through rugged phones, Nokia's attempts to save its platform, Android's fragmentation issues and finally a surprise appearance by HTC's CEO.

An ode to camera phones

Early February has been rife with rumors throughout the years and many of them promised the bleeding-edge in mobile photography. Back in 2009, the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD appeared in spy photos with an 8MP camera that records 720p video.

It was a Symbian-running device (with TouchWiz 2.0), unlike the Samsung Omnia, which was a Windows Mobile handset. That same week Samsung launched the Omnia Reloaded, which had a decent camera for the time – 5MP stills and D1 (720x480px) video.

Not quite as impressive as the Samsung T929 Memoir that went official the previous day though. A T-Mobile exclusive with an 8MP camera and D1 video. Despite its appearance it did not have optical zoom, but it did have a hardware shutter and xenon flash.

Samsung T929 camera phone

The LG KM900 Arena, which had a 5MP camera with "DVD video quality" had also leaked that week. Despite its touchscreen-centric design it was a feature phone.

A couple of years later in 2009 LG had made the jump to Android (and flirting with Windows Phone). It was launching the LG Optimus 2X with an 8MP camera and 1080p video – the first one we experienced on a mobile phone.

Of course, no camera phone discussion is complete without Nokia. The Nokia 7650 was the first Symbian camera phone (not to mention one of the first phones with a camera in general). In 2011 the Nokia N8 ruled that segment with a large 12MP sensor (1/1.83"), Zeiss optics, ND filter and xenon flash.

A year later its successor was set to drop people's jaws but we heard the worrying rumors that it will be the last Symbian. It was, but the platform had a glorious run of camera phones – from the 7650 through the Omnia HD, the N8 and finally the 808 PureView.

Windows Phone took over with the Lumia 800 (based on the N9). It had an 8MP camera with Zeiss optics and 720p video. Not too impressive on paper, but it was a good quality camera and was selling great in Finland. The Lumia 900 had just gone on pre-order and offered the same basic camera.

Two iterations and Windows Phone had failed to match Symbian's camera phones. The Lumia 920 was advertised as the second stage of PureView, but that meant optical image stabilization, not insane resolutions. There was a persistent rumor of a 41MP Lumia though, which eventually materialized in mid-2013 as the Lumia 1020.

Finally, both branches of PureView – large, high-resolution sensor and OIS – combined into the Lumia 1520 and Lumia Icon/930. This year we're waiting on a new successor.

In this period other manufacturers have attempted to revolutionize the smartphone camera in other ways. HTC chose large pixels over high resolution and sprinkled OIS. Apple added duo-tone camera flash, while Samsung put phase-detection on its sensor. Then LG built on that with Laser autofocus (with OIS for good measure), while HTC went with two cameras, though by the looks of this won't last.

Deep dive

Smartphones started looking too similar – rectangles with big screens, the lot of them – so manufacturers were looking for ways to stand out. Many tried to co-opt the cool of outdoor adventures, like Sony Ericsson and its Xperia active.

In February 2012 the company partnered with Billabong, a surf company that makes clothes, backpacks, watches, skateboards and snowboards. The Xperia active Billabong edition had stylized waves on its back and the words "Surf Snow Skate Wake."

It was rated on the IP scale – IP67 to be precise. That meant it was dust-tight (the first digit)and can dive to a depth of 1m for 30 minutes (the second digit). The same week there was a rumor that the Galaxy S III and iPhone 5 will be waterproof too.

That didn’t pan out, but the Galaxy S4 got an Active version (also IP67 certified), while the Galaxy S5 was IP67 certified in its base version. That wasn’t until 2014 though.

Japan likes them waterproof too, take the NEC MEDIAS ES N-05D for example. It earns its all-caps name with impressive specs for 2012. It was only 6.7mm thick and weighed just 110g. And it was waterproof, of…

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Major manufacturers are prepping for the MWC, finalizing the flagships that will shape the smartphone market for the rest of the year. As a result, the past week didn't witness major official launches but there was still plenty of movement in our chart.

The Top 10 trending phones chart is a recap list of the devices that gathered the most hits throughout the week. In other words, the chart represents the interests of the majority of you, our visitors, and is an indication of what currently interests you.

Samsung claimed the top three again, but we have a new winner this week. The Galaxy A5 inched its way to first place, climbing from second position last week. Long-time favorite Galaxy Grand Prime surrendered the top spot but is still in the running. The Galaxy S5 retained its third position.

A fey new entries made it to the list this week. The yet-to-be-announced Samsung Galaxy S6 accumulated the most hits among the newcomers, driven by the bucket load of leaks. The Galaxy A3 was likely ushered in by its bigger brother, and the Tizen-powered Z1 completed the Koreans' strong performance. An unexpected Lumia 535 also managed to sneak in the chart, ending up in tenth position.

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Samsung Galaxy A5
RANK: 1WAS: 2

specs gallery

Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime
RANK: 2WAS: 1

specs review

Samsung Galaxy S5
RANK: 3WAS: 3

specs review

Asus Zenfone 5
RANK: 4WAS: 5

specs gallery

Samsung Galaxy Note 4
RANK: 5WAS: 4

specs review

Apple iPhone 6
RANK: 6WAS: 6

specs gallery

Samsung Galaxy S6
RANK: 7NEW IN

specs gallery

Samsung Z1
RANK: 8NEW IN

specs gallery

Samsung Galaxy A3
RANK:…

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Spice has launched Android One series in Indonesia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. In Indonesia, the phone will be sold under the brand name Nexian Journey One.

The Android One phone being launched in these countries is essentially the same device launched in India and Bangladesh. Only difference is that it now comes with Android 5.1 Lollipop pre-installed.

The phone will be priced less than 1.5 million Indonesian…

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Another week has passed and its time again to take a look back at what the mobile world excited us with during the past few days. Announcements have been rather slow and justifiably so as everybody seems to be gearing up for MWC 2015. The venue is set for Barcelona and all eyes seem to be on Samsung, with their event scheduled for March 1.

The next S flagship has been gathering so much attention lately that leaks and bits of information have basically been flooding the news section. To be fair most of what we have seen so far from the Galaxy S6 are leaked panels, along with renderings of the device, based on preliminary information.

One such leak may have just confirmed the existence of a double-sided curved display variant of the Galaxy S6, presumably the future Galaxy S Edge. The new metal frame of the device was also showcased along with the port, camera and flash layout.

But rumors extend beyond Samsung land. Android fans seems to be just as excited about HTC's next flagship phone. Pickens have been rather slim for the HTC One (M9), but word has come out that it might just be equipped with a 20MP main camera.

Other than that LG and Sony are still not completely out of the ball park and hopes are up that at least one of them will announce a flagship device at MWC. The Android update craze has also been running ramped the past week with updates flying all over the place. Google even made the next major OS version official so we now have Android 5.1 to look forward to.

If you think you might have missed anything from the past week here is a quick rundown of the post popular news articles in no particular order.

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Cyanogen branding disappears from OnePlus One
OnePlus one no longer ships with Cyanogen branding on its back cover. The Chinese manufacturer quietly dropped the logo of the ROM developer from its flagship killer. When announced a year ago, the OnePlus One proudly sported a Cyanogen stamp on its back. However, due to the tiff between…

Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop update delayed due to Gear VR
With the Lollipop craze in full steam and the Galaxy Note 3 already up for a soak test in Russia it is only natural to expect that Samsung will give an equal share of attention to the Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge. We already saw a leaked manual for Android 5 with the device model on it so…

Sony Xperia Z4 to sport slim bezels and new speaker design
The Sony Xperia Z4 is one of the less likely announcements expected to be seen at the MWC a few weeks from now, judging by the lack of tangible info on the device. A recent leak on Chinese social network Weibo, however, might force us to rethink that position. A couple of front panels have…

HTC One (M9) leaks out dressed in gold
Live photos of the upcoming HTC One (M9) made the rounds online yet again. This time around, the upcoming flagship from the Taiwanese manufacturer posed for the camera in gold color scheme. Right in line with past leaks, the live photos once again allow us to catch a glimpse of the large…

Samsung Galaxy S6 dimensions confirmed, port layout too
The upcoming Samsung Galaxy S6 hasn't yet surfaced in live images, but based on numerous leaks, we can now paint a pretty accurate picture. Yet it seems that case manufacturers have precise details ahead of launch. After two rounds of case renderings of yesterday and the day before, now we're being…

Samsung Galaxy S6 metal frame revealed in photos
The first photos of the Samsung Galaxy S6 metal frame have surfaced. Moreover, the new photos portray the frame from all angles and show the…

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Just a couple of days ago, some screenshots of Windows 10 Technical Preview for Phones were spotted in the wild, and now it looks like the first preview build will be available to Windows Insiders soon.

According to an NPU report, the build (8.15.12495.44) will be released on Monday, February 9 at 9 am PST.

"This build is currently being tested by Microsoft employees and if no major bugs are found it will be released for Windows Insiders on Monday morning," the report said, adding that "not all the phones will get the first preview build, but more phones will be supported in the upcoming updates."

A point worth mentioning is that the news came in the form of an anonymous tip, and NPU itself is sceptical about its authenticity, so you are advised to take it with a healthy pinch of…

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HTC has announced that the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for T-Mobile's HTC One (M8) will roll out starting next week.

Mo Versi, HTC's VP of Product Management, tweeted the news saying that the company has received the technical approval for the update, which will be rolling out over-the-air starting Monday.

The announcement came on the same day when Sprint's version of the HTC One (M8) started receiving the Lollipop…

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Motorola, which shipped over 10 million smartphones last quarter, up a whopping 118% compared to the same period of 2013, has said that Samsung might lose its position as the world's top smartphone vendor, just like Nokia and BlackBerry.

During an interview with Forbes, Motorola COO Rick Osterloh said, "Every seven years, the person who’s been on top of the market has gone away," adding that "we are going through one of those fascinating shifts where people are starting to realize that you don’t need to pay $600 for a top-tier phone to get a top-tier experience."

He also said that the Lenovo-owned company, which focused on just 10 countries in North America, Europe and Latin America while being owned by Google, has its presence in around 50 countries now, and has plans to enter 10 or 15 more countries this year.

The company is also expected to return to profitability in four to six quarters.

Via 1 | Via…

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According to a new report, NVIDIA is hard at work on the successor of the Shield Android tablet. The sequel of the 8″ gaming slate is rumored to launch in mid-March or earlier.

Unsurprisingly, the biggest highlight in the upcoming tablet will be its NVIDIA Tegra X1 chipset with Maxwell GPU. Announced during CES in January, the X1 is the first mobile processor in the world capable of 1 teraflop floating point performance.

Chipset aside, there is no other information available on the yet to be revealed slate. However, the 8″ screen size of the current generation is likely to remain unchanged, as will the optional LTE connectivity.

During the Tegra X1 unveiling, NVIDIA announced that devices with the new silicon will launch in the first half of this year. As always, we will be on the lookout for more info on the upcoming device. Until then, take the above report with a grain of salt.

Source |…

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