Day: June 2, 2014

After several delays, Samsung has finally launched its first Tizen-powered smartphone, the simply named Samsung Z.The Samsung Z comes with a 4.9-inch, 1280×720 Super AMOLED display, 2.3GHz quad-core processor (probably the Snapdragon 800), 2GB of RAM, 16GB internal memory with microSD card support, 8 megapixel rear camera, 2.1 megapixel front camera, LTE, NFC, IR sensor, 2600mAh battery and version 2.2.1 of Tizen. The Samsung Z also has a fingerprint sensor in the home button and a heart rate monitor on the back, which first debuted on the Galaxy S5. There doesn’t seem anything particularly new or appealing about the Tizen OS as of now but Samsung does promise fast performance, quick multitasking and high quality web browsing experience. The UI is somewhat similar to the one on the new Galaxy S5. The phone will initially launch in Russia in the third quarter of this year, and will make its way to some of the other markets later. via gsmarena.com

Apart from innovative tablet/laptop hybrids, Asus had three good old-fashioned Android slates to unveil today at the Computex 2014 expo. These belong in the Asus Fonepad and MeMO Pad, and are all powered by Intel’s new Atom line of mobile processors. This makes the Fonepad 8, and the MeMO Pad 7/8 all 64-bit Android 4.4 KitKat devices, so let’s recap what each one offers.The Fonepad 8 seems to have the slowest, 1.8 GHz Atom Z3560 version of the quad-core processor, but it sports 3G connectivity, and Asus also managed to place an 8″ 1280×800 IPS-LCD display inside, and surround it with just 5mm bezels. This makes the Fonepad 7 sport the best screen-to-body ratio amongst all 8″ tablets out there, at 72.2% ratio. The tablet also flaunts dual stereo speakers, situated at the front.The MeMO Pad 7 also has two stereo speakers, but comes with a smaller display, and powered by a 64-bit Intel Atom Z3745 quad-core processor. Asus put a 5 MP camera on the rear of the 7-incher, and an HD 720p display in this one. Read more here: