Samsung to make a 7-inch smartphone

Smartphone screens keep getting bigger and too bigger. Phablets push the boundaries of pocket-friendliness (let’s be honest, that threshold has been crossed a long time ago), but now Samsung is looking to create a 7” handset to usher us into an era of mobile screen size ridiculousness.

Welcome the Samsung SM-T2558, the cell phone with the largest display size to date.

The monstrous handset was spotted on the Chinese site TENAA, which delineates certification approvals for cell phones and various other consumer tech products.

Rumor has it that the tablet-with-phone-capabilities will be part of the Galaxy family, and will be named the Galaxy Mega 7.0. Specs wise it doesn't pack anything eye-popping: a 1.2GHz quad-core processor with 1.5GB RAM, 8MP primary and 2MP front-facing camera, Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, and 8GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot to boot. It’ll also run on Chinese 3G/4G networks: TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE.

Xiaomi will sell its smartphones in ten new markets this year

Xiaomi announced its plans to enter ten new market this year. The Chinese manufacturer’s founder and CEO Lei Jun delivered the news at a press conference in Beijing.

Xiaomi will begin sales in large developing markets such as India, Brazil, Russia, and Mexico. The rest of the list of countries includes Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Turkey. The move is part of a plan for international expansion. Xiaomi has a goal to increase its sales five-fold to 100 million handsets in 2015.

Four years after entering the industry, Xiaomi has enjoyed considerable success in China (the company sits ahead of Apple with 7% share in its home market), Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. The Chinese manufacturer is known for selling its keenly-priced devices directly to consumers online - a process which generates impressive sales over short periods of time.