First look at Sony's Xperia Z1 Compact from CES 2014

Sony continues its rollout of Xperia devices at CES 2014. Here's the 4.3-inch counterpart of the flagship Xperia Z1 which also sports a 20 megapixel camera. Looking forward to seeing this practical mini smartphone come to market, but in the meantime, we can bask in the glory of the photos from the show.

Photos by Alex Davies

Why is no one selling the Moto G replaceable shells?

Talk about a missed opportunity.

When the Moto G launched late last year, one of the device's biggest draws (aside from a quad core processor, an almost Pure Android OS and a lower price) was the promise of removable colourful backplates called Moto G Shells, Flip Shells and sporty Grip Shells.

The standard Moto G sold in Canada ships with a matte black shell that's a magnet for smudges and I'm sure that outlets that sell the phone would easily sell one or two of these accessory shells to new users. I've been to various TELUS and Koodo outlets asking about the Motorola Shells only to be met with blank stares or offered other cases from Otterbox or generic manufacturers. Big box retailers? Forget it, they only seem to carry iPhone or Samsung Galaxy S device cases right now. Here's hoping we see these Shells in stores soon, it's been two months since the Moto G launched after all.           

China Mobile's iPhone orders in the multi-millions

"We see this as bringing the world's best smartphone to the very largest and now the fastest network in China," Apple's CEO Tim Cook said in a recent CNBC interview together with China Mobile's Xi Gouhua. China Mobile is the world's largest mobile phone operator with over 760 million subscribers, it is also one of the fastest networks in terms of data speeds. The iPhone 5s and 5c are set to launch in China on Friday and there have been a reported 1.2 million totla preorders for Apple's latest handsets. Coming to China Mobile in the near future are WiFi + Cellular versions of the iPad Air and iPad mini.

Source: CNBC

HP gunning for mobile market with two new phablets

HP's long hinted that it may get back into the mobile market post-webOS. Now that they've sold off Palm's mobile operating system to LG, HP is betting on Android to power their Slate 6 and  Slate 7 tablets which feature voice calling. Looks like HP is shooting straight for the supersized smartphone market where it can make a dent. The new Jelly Bean powered slates are coming to India first but we'll hopefully see them come to North America sometime soon.

Source: Re/code