U Mobile is now offering the Samsung Galaxy Y on its new postpaid plans, it’s was a great deal if you’re looking for an affordable Android smart phone with an affordable plan.

The Samsung Galaxy Y is a decent entry level device at its price point below RM500. It runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and a modest 832MHz processor which retails at RM499. On U Mobile, it is offered at RM399 on U28 plan, RM199 on U58 and FREE on U88.

To recap on the plans (U28, U58, U88), they come with 1GB, 2GB and 3GB mobile internet quota respectively with either free calls/sms or both. To make it easier to purchase, U Mobile is also offering 6 months easy payment programme as well. When signing up, U58 and U88 requires some advance payment of the subscription fee while U28 requires no upfront payment. The device bundle is tied with a 24 months contract.

For more information, head over to U Mobile Phone Deals page.

Maxis is now re-offering the Samsung Galaxy S II on its bundled plan options. It goes for as low as RM1,099 with 24 months data add-on of 1.5GB or 3.0GB. For those that rather commit less for shorter period of time, it can be yours for RM1,499 with 12 months contract of 500MB data plan.

Surprisingly the data plan rates are still showing the old rates with 500MB plan at RM58/month which was recently revised.

For more information, head over to Maxis Android page.

DiGi has made a drastic change on its Galaxy Nexus offering after more than a week of its pre-launch sales. They have stopped offering the device from RM1,399 with 12 and 24 months options completely. Now the device is offered at RM1,999 with just RM100 off.

Galaxy Nexus is the first phone to run Google’s newest mobile operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich (or Android 4.0), phone thickness is same as the iPhone 4S, but sports a massive, 4.65-inch, 720p display, and a speedy dual-core TI OMAP 4460 CPU clocked to 1.2GHz, 1GB of RAM, 32GB or 16GB of storage. The camera on the rear of the device is a 5-megapixel shooter with a companion single LED flash, while up front there’s a 1.3-megapixel camera. For more detail click here.

Just like the iPhone 4S deals, the new offer subsidises less on the phone but they give extra rebates on the monthly subscription instead (RM28 for DG Smart Plan 48 and RM38 for DG Smart Plan 68). In terms of contract period, DiGi now only offers a single option of 24 months duration. It also appears to be no upfront payment required since you’re paying almost full retail price for the device.

So how does this affect the overall cost? If we compare with the previous plan, it is much higher overall. For the current 24 months DG Smart Plan 48, the cost of ownership is RM1,999 (Device) + RM672 (Subscription) which totals up to RM2,671 (previously RM2,581). On 24 months DG Smart Plan 68, now it costs RM1,999 (Device) + RM2,911 (subscription) that totals up to RM2,911 (previously RM2,551). All prices are after auto-billing rebates.

For more information, head over to DiGi.

LG has revealed that selected range of its Android smartphones is scheduled to start receiving the Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) upgrade starting the second quarter of next year.

The phones that LG has identified to be able to receive the update are:
1. Optimus 2X
2. Optimus Sol — Release date in Malaysia unknown
3. Prada phone by LG 3.0 — Release date in Malaysia unknown
4. Optimus LTE — Not available in Malaysia
5. myTouch Q — Not available in Malaysia
6. Eclipse — Not available in Malaysia

The range if LG devices will be extended to the following starting from the third quarter of 2012.
1. Optimus 3D
2. Optimus Black
3. Optimus Big — Not available in Malaysia
4. Optimus Q2 — Not available in Malaysia
5. Optimus EX — Not available in Malaysia

Despite the timeline, LG says that exact update release dates will vary depending on market and operator. Considering there’s almost no operator customisation for smartphones in Malaysia, you can expect the updates to be available for local units shortly after it becomes globally available.

In comparison, Samsung has announced that a selected range of its Galaxy devices is scheduled to receive Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update within the first quarter of next year while Sony Ericsson has indicated ICS update roll out to start by March 2012.

Official statement from LG via its Facebook.

[Source]

Lenovo today announced a new addition to its family of tablets – the IdeaPad Tablet A1. The 7-inch (LED with 1024×600 pixel resolution) IdeaPad A1 runs Android 2.3 and features a magnesium alloy “roll-cage” that is designed to protect critical internal components. The A1 is Lenovo’s third Android tablet to hit the market — the first two being the 10.1-inch IdeaPad K1 and the ThinkPad Tablet, also with a 10.1-inch screen.

Other vital specs include a single-core 1Ghz Nvidia Tegra Cortex A8 processor with 512MB RAM and 16GB of on board storage. You also get a 3MP rear camera (VGA front), a micro SD card reader and Mini USB connector

The A1 also features a “unique offline GPS navigation technology that allows direct satellite connection regardless of internet access”. We’re not sure how this is unique because virtually all devices can access GPS without the need for internet connectivity. You need connectivity to render the maps not to access GPS satellites but we’re not sure if that is what Lenovo means by this unique offline GPS navigation technology.

The A1 is available in black or white and will go on sale in Malaysia in January 2012 for RM799.

That RM799 price tag is very attractive for a 7-inch tablet but we’re not expecting that single-core 1GHz processor to deliver blazing performance either.

Celcom now offers the entry level Samsung Galaxy Y which is priced at RM499 outright.

For Celcom Exec consumer plans, the Galaxy Y is offered as low as RM208 on 18 months contract of Celcom Exec 50 + Celcom Broadband Advanced. The subscription should be RM108/month but the commitment was written as RM250/month on their website. For light users, there are lower options of Celcom Exec 50 + mLite data and Celcom Exec 50 + mBasic which should be priced at RM78 and RM88 respectively.

The major thing that we couldn’t understand is the upfront payment for the Galaxy Y. Celcom requires RM300-600 upfront for a phone that is priced below RM500. Also worth mentioning is that the upfront payment is rebated over 12 months. As the Galaxy Y is already an affordable device, it is ridiculous for Celcom to demand such a high upfront payment. Perhaps this is a typo by Celcom’s website team as they have been prone to mistakes recently like their “Droid RAZR” and “1.5GHz Galaxy Tab 8.9“. We suggest contacting Celcom for more details.

For Biz users, it is offered for free with 24 months contract of P148 + SMS Pack RM2 package.

For more information, head over to Celcom’s Smartphone page.

DiGi has started offering the affordable Samsung Galaxy W from as low as RM399 with 24 months contract of DiGi Smart Plan 68. As usual, you do get 2 contract period of 12 or 24 months and a lower plan option of Smart Plan 48.

The bundled pricing for Galaxy W as follows:
DG Smart Plan 48 (12 months) – RM799
DG Smart Plan 48 (24 months) – RM599
DG Smart Plan 68 (12 months) – RM699
DG Smart Plan 68 (24 months) – RM399

If you opt for auto-billing, DiGi will rebate RM5/month from your month subscription. Those that opt for Smart Plan 68 with 24 months period will also get extra RM15/month off for 24 months, which is a substantial RM360 additional savings. There’s an advance payment between RM50-RM500 required upfront depending on plan and option that you go with.

For more information, head over to DiGi’s Online Store.

Great news for Samsung Galaxy users. Samsung has just announced that it is aiming to roll-out Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for a selected range of its Galaxy devices as early the first quarter of 2012. The update will start rolling out to the Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note devices within the first quarter 2012 while the following devices are slated to get ICS later in the year.

Galaxy R
Galaxy Tab 10.1
Galaxy Tab 8.9
Galaxy Tab 7.7
Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus

Samsung says they will make separate announcements on details of ICS update schedule for each market according to availability taking into account market situation and carriers’ requirements. If we hear anything, we’ll update you.

The Motorola Atrix 2 is finally here with the price tag of RM1,599 from IMCC. Despite having a “2? behind the Atrix name, it isn’t really a full fledged replacement.

First, the screen is increased from 4.0? to 4.3? which is an improvement with non-Pentile display. The screen resolution is still maintained at qHD which pushes a rather high 960×540 pixels. In terms of processor, instead of the 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 on the original Atrix, the Atrix 2 uses a 1GHz dual-core TI OMAP 4430. This puts it a notch lower than the RM1,999 Motorola RAZR that runs on 1.2GHz dual-core.

At the back, the camera is given an upgrade from 5MP to 8MP which now shoots 1080p HD videos. Unfortunately the battery capacity is reduced from 1,930mAh down to 1,785mAh. The Atrix 2 supports HSPA+ with download speeds up to 21Mbps which is similar to the Samsung Galaxy S II. It is also worth pointing out that the Atrix 2 doesn’t come with a bio-metric fingerprint scanner which was available on the original Atrix.

If you’re interested, head over to IMCC’s Motorola Atrix 2 page.