BLU Products launches a premium addition to the Life Pure smartphone series-- the Life Pure XL, a 5.5-inch flagship number available in 2 configurations.

It carries a 1920 x 1080 display, quad-core 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU and either 3GB RAM and 32GB storage or 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. Powering all is a 2500mAh battery, while cameras come in 16MP rear- and 8MP-front-facing.

Connectivity comes via wifi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and NFC, while the OS of choice is Android 4.2.

Samsung follows the Galaxy S 4 Zoom by grafting improved camera optics on a better smartphone-- resulting in the Galaxy K Zoom, essentially a Galaxy S5 variant with a 20.7MP sensor and 10x optical zoom.

The K Zoom carries a 4.8-inch 1280x720 resolution display, runs on Android 4.4 and features camera-focused software such as a "selfie alarm" and a Pro Suggest mode for optimised photo filters.

Oddly enough it is powered by two processors (one quad-core 1.3GHz, the other dual-core 1.7GHz) together with 2GB RAM and 8GB built-in storage. It also includes all familiar Samsung software additions, such as the S-Health suite.

Can an underdog device maker truly take on the heavyweights of the mobile industry? OnePlus believes so as it launches the One, a smartphone promising superior build quality and features at a "disruptive" price.

Not to be confused with the HTC handset sharing the same name, the OnePlus One is a nice-looking 5.5-inch number featuring a 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 CPU, 3GB RAM, 3100mAh battery, 13MP f/2 camera and JBL-designed bottom-facing speakers.

It runs on CyanogenMod 11S, a special version of the modified Android version turned standalone OS.

Imagine a modular smartphone, with upgrades as easy as switching out a module with another. This is the Google plan for the phone of the future, as shown off at the first Project Ara developer conference.

Project Ara was first revealed by Motorola back in November 2013. It hails from the Google ATAP (Advanced Technology And Projects) group, and is one of the few things Google kept when it sold off Motorola to Lenovo. Thus the conference is part of an effort to stir developer interest in the device.

As described above the concept is fairly straightforward-- it consists of a Google-designed metal frame, into which users can slot 3rd party modules. The platform promises to free users from the obsolesce cycle, as one should be able to freely upgrade devices according to their requirements with a potentially infinite array of components.