Mobile Devices - Page 140

Apple has been having a tough time with the bending iPhone 6 Plus, but it looks like German magazine ComputerBild.de is having an even tougher time, with Apple reportedly banning the magazine from official events after its coverage of #BendGate.

ComputerBild.de is claiming that Apple has stopped sending them test devices, as well as revoking invites to any future Apple launch events after they posted a video showing how the iPhone 6 Plus could be bent with your bare hands. As you can see in the video above, the iPhone 6 Plus is easily damaged through bending just below the volume button.

The site has talked with Apple's PR department in Germany, which refused to answer any questions about the bending iPhone 6 Plus, telling the site that it "will not get any testing devices and no invites to official events any more". ComputerBild.de then wrote an open letter to Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, asking him if this was the reaction that his company wants to have to publications that are covering the issue, like we have been - I still ask: seriously, what's Apple going to do with #BendGate.

Android L is expected to be unveiled with the forthcoming Nexus 6 smartphone, which should sport a 5.9-inch QHD display, but this new mobile OS will be modified for Google's modular Project Ara smartphone.

Google's Paul Eremenko has teased that we are to expect hot-swappable components, so that users can switch out the camera module for example, without having to power off the entire phone. Virtually every single component will be hot-swappable, apart from the display and the CPU. On its Phonebloks blog, Google said: "Project Ara will use a modified version of Android L, developed in collaboration with Linaro. Thanks to this version, the modules, except the CPU and the display, will be hot swappable".

These hot-swappable modules will be made available through the Google Play store, which will open up "a new online store" to sell the modules too. We should expect the modular smartphone to be made available to consumers early next year.

Google is close to unveiling its new Nexus 6 smartphone, which according to Android Police, will feature a 5.9-inch 2560x1440 QHD display. There's some great new information on the phone, with a detailed picture of Google's upcoming flagship.

The 5.9-inch display is going to make it feel absolutely huge, even against the now large iPhone 6 Plus, or Galaxy Note 4. We have black, front-facing stereo speakers, with the power button and volume rocker finding their homes on the side of the device. Inside of the Nexus 6, we have a 3200mAh+ battery, which should keep the massive 5.9-inch QHD display and the rest of the pone powered for the entire day.

There's a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with OIS, backed up by a 2-megapixel front-facing camera for selfies. The 5.9-inch QHD display will provide a retina-busting 496PPI, which should have display enthusiasts drooling. With Android Police giving this rumor a '9/10' we should expect this smartphone to be announced any day now, but I'm disappointed we have seen Google push the new Nexus right up to 5.9-inch. I'm hoping Google surprise us with a second Nexus, with a 5.2-inch (or so) display.

Samsung is gearing up for the release of its Galaxy Note 4, unleashing a new four-minute ad that focuses on the 5.7-inch smartphone, which has two friends with the new Galaxy Note 4, deciding to play a game where they rename as many words they can, with "note".

It sounds like it won't work, and to some they won't think it's funny, but I actually didn't mind the ad. It didn't force the features of the Galaxy Note 4 down our throats, but I would've liked to have seen a little more of the features in between. An introduction and acknowledgement of Gear VR would've been good too, with one of them even sitting on the couch playing it, and using the 'note' pun somewhere in there.

I do have to say, the bit with the barista/bartender was golden, when he started pushing back with the puns.

We've been all over the #BendGate issue with the bending, or warping iPhone 6 Plus smartphone from Apple, which is bending from sitting in consumers' pockets. But don't worry, Apple has now finally replied, saying that only nine people have contacted them with problematic iPhone 6 Plus'.

The Cupertino-based iGiant has said that their iPhones are designed, engineered and manufactured to be both beautiful, and sturdy. Both of the next-gen iPhones feature a precision engineered unibody enclosure that is constructed from machining a custom grade of 6000 series anodized aluminum, which is tempered for extra strength.

Apple continues its PR campaign against #BendGate, adding that its phones feature stainless steel and titanium inserts to reinforce high stress locations, as well as using the strongest glass in the smartphone industry - yet, it's not enough to stop bending iPhones. Apple adds that it chooses these high quality materials and construction methods very carefully for both their strengh, and durability. Apple also performs rigorous tests throughout the entire development cycle, which includes 3-point bending, pressure point cycling, sit, torsion and user studies.

Apple publicly apologized to its customers for releasing and quickly pulling the iOS 8.0.1 update on Wednesday, and promised a new download "in the next few days."

"We apologize for the great inconvenience experienced by users, and are working around the clock to prepare iOS 8.0.2 with a fix for the issue," Apple said in a statement.

Despite software problems - and a bendy phone - the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models have sold well. More than 10 million units were sold in the first weekend of its release, while Apple enthusiasts seemed eager to pick up one of the two models. Overall, financial analysts believe the company will persevere, but need to further efforts to innovate.

I'm sure you've heard by now that Apple's new iPhone 6 Plus is bending in some pockets, so what better time to tease the world of the upcoming next generation Nexus handset? Gogole is preparing to launch the new Nexus mid next month, alongside the launch of its 9-inch, NVIDIA Tegra K1-powered Nexus 9 tablet made by HTC.

According to sources of Android Authority, Google is planning to launch 'new phone hardware' and an unveiling of 'a new software initiative'. The first, should be the new Nexus, possibly named Nexus 6, while the software initiative is most likely Android L, or Android 5.0. The final version of Android L won't be official until November 1 according to these same sources. We should hear more about both the new smartphone and mobile OS in the coming weeks.

Shortly after releasing the iOS 8.0.1 update, Apple has decided to pull it and users will have to wait for a new update. Some people reported they installed the update and lost the ability to make phone calls, use the Touch ID fingerprint scanner, and other problems related to the update. It only took about an hour before Apple decided to pull 8.0.1 as further improvements are made.

"We are actively investigating these reports and will provide information as quickly as we can," Apple said in a statement. "In the meantime, we have pulled back the iOS 8.0.1 update."

Apple has been frantic to improve faults of iOS, as many iPhone owners were anxiously awaiting the opportunity to upgrade to iOS 8.

Apple has just finished launching its new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones, as well as announcing its first wearable: Watch. But now that is all out of the way and iPhones begin shipping to consumers around the world, the rumors of the new iPad begin.

The latest rumor is that the Cupertino-based iGiant will announce its new iPad on October 21, as well as the official release date of OS X Yosemite. The successor to the iPad would be the sixth-generation full-sized iPad, while a new iPad mini would be a third-generation slate. It would make sense to announce them next month, for two reasons.

First, Apple probably didn't want to take the hoopla away from the iPhone launch, as the iPhone is obviously very important to them. And second, the fifth-generation iPad and second-generation iPad mini were announced in October 2013, launching them on November 1.

Apple has just pulled the trigger and launched iOS 8 to the world. Apple is calling it 'the biggest release since the launch of the App Store', in their own words.

iOS 8 will come installed by default on the newly announced iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones that are due to start shipping to consumers around the world soon. Apple this week also announced that it sold four million iPhone 6 devices in just 24 hours during the start of its pre-order phase.

As you can see from the screenshot above, one of our editor's iPhone 5 devices in Taiwan was eligible for the iOS update just minutes before this post was published. Head over to the update section on your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and iPad Mini now to see if your update is ready. It weighs in at almost 1GB, and may take longer than usual to download, due to the demand on Apple servers right now.

According to the latest rumors, Google will finally announce its new Nexus 9 tablet at a media event on October 8. Various media are being invited to an event with the title "Double Exposure".

This event falls in place with HTC's event, where the company is expected to unveil a GoPro-like camera, as well as a new super selfie smartphone - also teasing Double Exposure. What will be powering the Nexus 9? For starters, NVIDIA's more-than-capable Tegra K1 processor, 3GB of RAM, a 9-inch 1920x1080 display, 16GB of flash storage, 100GB of Google Drive storage and much more.

The biggest part of the Nexus 9 will be its 'tube-shaped' 16-megapixel camera, and possible waterproof abilities. We will also see Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as the ability to control the 9-inch slate from an Android- or iOS-powered smartphone with an app developed in-house by HTC.

HTC is planning to unveil a waterproof camera to compete against GoPro. The smartphone maker sent invites for a press event named 'Double Exposure' that will be held on October 8th in New York. The Taiwan-based smartphone maker made it obvious that this would be a camera-specific release, but the company's plans seem to have leaked ahead of schedule.

According to the source, HTC will be unveiling two of its devices. One will be an extreme sports camera which is aimed to go head-to-head against a well-known player, GoPro. The second device is a smartphone made for selfie shots.

Its said that HTC will be implementing a 16-megapixel sensor with an ultra-wide angle lens. This yet-to-be-named tube-shaped camera will need to paired with either Android or iOS device via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi wireless connectivity. As one would expect from an action camera made for extreme sports, it will be rugged and waterproof. HTC will also be making apps for android and iOS device to pair with this camera.

Amidst the hub bub of this week's Apple Event which saw the company, as expected, officially launch both the iPhone 6 and its larger brethren along with the long rumoured Apple Watch, the device that started it all - the original iPod, now dubbed 'iPod' classic' was being quietly shuffled off stage before being put out of its misery.

Officially discontinued as of September 9th, the sixth generation 160GB iPod will no longer be manufactured and once inventory has cleared, will no longer be available for sale. The news will hardly come as a shock to Apple fans - the writing has been on the wall for some time, with Apple CEO Tim Cook confirming that the iPod product line was "a declining business". Apple have removed the device from online listings.

The iPhone 6 line goes on sale worldwide next Friday.

When Apple announced the iPhone 6, we had confirmation that Apple's next generation iPhone would be powered by the company's A8 processor. We heard it was a 20nm design, one of the first on the market at this process, and that we should expect a decent bump in performance over the iPhone 5S' A7 processor.

At the time we didn't know what clock speed the A8 would be clocked at, but we knew it be another dual-core processor, the same amount of cores found in the A7. Apple's A7 chip runs at 1.3GHz, so most expected the A8 to be clocked much higher - maybe 1.5-1.6GHz - to provide the jump in performance, but now we know: the A8 processor in the iPhone 6 runs at 1.4GHz, just 100MHz more than the A7 chip in the iPhone 5S.

The news is coming from Rightware's benchmark database, with Basemark X being run on a slew of devices. Apple's A7-powered iPhone 5S scores 20253.80 while the A8-powered iPhone 6 scores 21204.26 - barely any difference. We will have more benchmarks on Apple's latest smartphone when ours arrives next week, so keep your eyes peeled on TweakTown.

Microsoft is reportedly phasing out Nokia and Windows Phone branding, as the company wants to move ahead with its Microsoft Lumia smartphones. The multi-billion-dollar purchase of Nokia's devices division gave Microsoft access to the company's phone portfolio, but Nokia is still a different company.

Dropping Windows Phone might prove to be a puzzling choice, however, recent Microsoft smartphone marketing referred to devices as "Windows." The upcoming Windows 9 desktop should be designed to cross both smartphones and tablets with a single OS, as Microsoft won't try to promote three separate OSes for desktop, smartphones and tablets again. Microsoft's commercial for the Lumia 930 didn't refer to Windows Phone, only referring to the device running Windows.

Marketing efforts aside, Microsoft faces an uphill battle to compete in the mobile market, dominated by Google Android and Apple iOS software - and led by Apple, Samsung, and other manufacturers.

Something that was expected from Apple today was an NFC-powered payment system, with the company unveiling Pay. Pay is an "entirely new payment process" that leverages NFC technology, which stores payment information in the iPhone itself.

Pay uses Passbook, and mixes in with TouchID for something that should be a little safer than most other payment methods - except when someone steals your iPhone and chops your thumb off.

Apple's new Pay system allows you to take a photo of your credit card, and then adding it into the iPhone. I don't know how safe I'd feel snapping a photo of my credit card with the iCloud leak of late...

The iPhone has always featured an above-average camera, with the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus featuring "great new cameras". Both of the new iPhones feature an 8-megapixel rear-facing iSight camera, with True Tone flash, 1.5 micron pixels, and f/2.2 aperture.

Apple has also baked in something it calls "focus pixels" into the new iPhone 6 with its 'next-generation iSight sensor'. The new iPhone has faster 'phase detection' autofocus, which means that the iSight camera is twice as fast as the iPhone 5S when it comes to focusing on your photo.

Panorama shots receive an injection of technology, with panorama shots now capable of being a massive 43 megapixels.

Apple has just revealed its next generation iPhone, announcing two models: the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Both of the new iPhones feature a 'Retina HD' display' and much stronger build quality, with an anodized aluminum backing. The iPhone 6 has a 4.7-inch display, with the iPhone 6 Plus cranking it up to 5.5 inches.

The iPhone 6 and its 4.7-inch display features a resolution of 1334x750, while the iPhone 6 Plus features a 5.5-inch 1920x1080 display. Compared to the 4-inch screen on the iPhone 5S, the iPhone 6 has 38% more pixels, while the iPhone 6 Plus has 185% more pixels.

The iPhone 6 is 6.8mm thin while the iPhone 6 Plus is just 7.1mm thin, and when compared to the iPhone 5S, they're both much thinner - with the iPhone 5S being 7.6mm.

The iPhone 6 launches in just five days time, but over a week out from its announcement (and not its release date) eager Apple fans are already lining up at Apple's flagship store in New York City.

Apple is poised to unveil its iPhone 6 next week, with two devices to be unveiled - a 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone. The 4.7-inch iPhone should be available starting September 19, ten days after its announcement, while the 5.5-inch version might be launched at a later date. But with IFA 2014 kicking off, Apple has a mountain of competition to fight off, with the new Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge smartphones from Samsung. Sony has announced its new Xperia Z3 smartphone, and that's not counting the Galaxy S5, HTC One M8 and more that are already here, and purchased by millions of consumers around the world.

Rumor has it that we will also see Apple unveil its new iWatch at the event on September 9, as well as a full unveiling of its next mobile OS, iOS 8.

Open WebOS has been given a name change, now known as LuneOS, and has been designed as an open source alternative to Google Android and other mobile operating systems.

Open WebOS is based on WebOS, designed by Palm and later owned by Hewlett-Packard, with HP deciding to contribute the software to open source coders. HP's last webOS update was in January 2012 when the company released webOS 3.0.5, but the open source community hopes to pick up the slack. webOS is now supported by LG Electronics, and has opened the door to coders and open source developers to play with a cross-platform JavaScript SDK.

LuneOS currently only supports the Google Nexus 4 and HP TouchPad, but designers hope to create a stable offering for these devices - and slowly expand to other smartphones. Instead of trying to directly compete with Android or Apple's iOS, LuneOS wants to bring back a bit of nostalgia for users that enjoyed webOS back in the day.