Mobile Devices - Page 146

We thought it was coming, and it did: Apple has just launched a cheaper 8GB iPhone 5C smartphone. The cheaper iPhone has just launched on Apple's European online stores, where in the UK it is priced at £429, or around $714.

This is around 10% cheaper than the iPhone 5C, which is around 10% cheaper than the iPhone 5S. We should see it arrive on Apple's US store any minute now. There are no changes to the device apart from the smaller amount of flash storage on it, so we still have Apple's custom dual-core A6 processor, an 8-megapixel iSight rear-facing camera, and the new FaceTime HD front-facing snapper.

At $700+, I wouldn't exactly call this a cheap smartphone, especially when there are plenty of flagship smartphones on the market that are cheaper. One main competitor comes to mind, the Nexus 5 from Google, which is priced at $349 outright - close to half the price of the 'even cheaper' 8GB iPhone 5C.

The gold-colored smartphone craze is something that still baffles me, and I am having a hard time understanding why anyone would want a gold-colored device. My personal queries aside, Vodafone announced today that it will the the exclusive dealer of the new gold-colored Samsung Galaxy S5 in the UK region.

Samsung will release the Galaxy S5 in the UK on April 11th and with this new announcement, the only place to get a gold version in the UK is to visit a Vodafone store. Vodafone says that it will begin pre-orders for the yellowish-brown device starting next week on March 28th, but the company failed to disclose any price points for the 32GB and 64GB versions.

"It's a real tribute to the engineering prowess that we have within Samsung that our R&D guys have managed to increase the screen size in the Galaxy S5 to 5.1-inches without increasing the footprint. That's really important: when it's in your pocket or in your hand there's no increase in size, yet you've got a bigger screen to enjoy the range of services at your fingertips," said Samsung's James White. "And on that score, looking at the way that Samsung and Vodafone are working together is great," James adds. "The services that Vodafone offers, such as Spotify and Sky Sports Mobile TV, really leverage the 4G network and come to life on the Galaxy S5. In that respect, increasing the screen size has to be benefit-driven."

Members of European Parliament called for an effort to develop a common charger standard for mobile phones to reduce waste and therefore reduce the hassle to find compatible chargers. The MEPs have drafted a Radio Equipment Directive which points out the need to bring harmonized rules for 'radio equipment' such as mobiles phones and modems.

The draft law was amended to emphasize the need to have universal charging port for phones, though it will be up to the EU to decide which type of smartphones will need to use universal charging port.

The draft also makes sure that the increasing the range of particular devices will not interfere with other devices, followed by new health and safety requirements. Part of the draft emphasizes on reducing waste.

Apple and Samsung continue to find success in the smartphone market, while companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Intel try to catch up. However, yearly sales and overall price are both dropping, so the profit margin also is shrinking for manufacturers.

A slowing market means all companies that jumped in late will find it even harder to try and compete. The smartphone market has greatly accelerated with a larger number of casual consumers embracing the devices for the first time - and even started to outsell feature phones.

Emerging markets are now driving smartphone sales, which is good to expand device ownership - but bad because profit margins shrink even further.

With just days left before HTC unveils the 2014 edition of its flagship, the HTC One, the company has began sending out "dummy units" to retailers in advance so they can work out showroom floor displays and marketing materials. Fortunately for us, one of those dummy models has made its way to the internet in the form of the most detailed images of the device we have seen to date.

The images come from an eBay France shop called dummy_store, a retailer that specializes in selling... you guessed it, Dummy Phones. While the phone is not a functioning model, it is an exact replication of what the new HTC One will look like. The new HTC One appears thicker than the current model, and the dual cameras are actually there. The current HTC One features an anodized aluminum chassis, but the gunmetal grey version of the new HTC One appears to sport a brushed finish, giving it an amazing look. When combined with the darker gray plastic inserts, this is one of the best looking smartphones I have ever seen.

Specifications appear to have remained the same with no new reports surfacing today. The HTC One 2014 Edition will feature a full 1080p screen like its predecessor, a 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor, and 2GB of RAM will be present. 16GB and 32GB models will be available and a 2,600mAh Lithium-Ion battery will provide ample up-time for even the heaviest of users. Android 4.4.2, Sense 6.0, and a new version of BlinkFeed will installed as well. The big unveil happens on March 25th and TweakTown will be providing full coverage.

The Apple iPhone controlled 41 percent of the market and retained the top spot for hardware sales, but the Google Android operating system is No. 1 with 51.7 percent through January 2014, according to analytics specialist comScore.

Samsung has 26.7 percent of the smartphone market, and remaining competition drastically falls off, with LG, Motorola, and HTC all controlling less than 7 percent each, respectively. It's going to be difficult for Samsung to catch Apple, but the Korean electronics maker can continue to claw its way to the top, percent-by-percent.

The Facebook, Google Play, YouTube, Google Search, and Pandora Radio apps have the top target audience reach, according to comScore.

Seagate expects that tablet storage will change this year, with a normal hard disk drive instead of NAND flash being the storage found inside some tablets that will arrive on shelves later this year.

Mr. O'Malley said at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom conference this week: "There will be devices other than [Chromebooks with hard disk drives] that you will see - tablets - that have [hard] drives in. We really do believe there is an opportunity." The CFO of Seagate also chimed in, saying "We could penetrate with our 5mm [HDDs] into some of these tablets over the course of the year, and even leveraging the seven millimeter hybrid [hard drives] through that space as well."

With March Madness in full swing, Motorola has just created a way for you to show off your favorite NCAA team with its Moto Maker software. Now you can customize your Motorola Moto X smartphone in your alma mater's colors and include the mascot on the rear of the phone. Beginning today Motorola has opened up its College Collection design gallery and will allow customers to select pre-configured school color combos from over 40 NCAA colleges.

"Moto Maker lets you express yourself and your style through your phone. Now, you can express your school spirit too! Just in time for the tournament, we're introducing the College Collection, a range of college-inspired Moto X customization options that allow you to showcase your favorite school colors," said Motorola. "We took a look at college colors across the board and added nine new back colors and three new accents to our Moto Maker palette so you can create the ultimate fan phone."

Customized Motorola Moto X phones retail for just $399.99 off-contract or just $49.99 with a new two-year contract, but college students or anyone with a .edu email address will be given a $60 discount on new Moto X phones in collegiate colors, bringing the price down to just $339.

Former Apple, Inc's CEO John Sculley is going to launch a new smartphone brand for India. He'll be partnering with the former head of Micromax's smartphone division and HTC's India head Ajay Sharma. The team is based on former employees of HTC and Micromax and is funded by a Singapore-based investment and acquisition company 'Inflexionpoint'.

Though the name of the brand is not yet revealed, the unnamed company plans to launch its series of smartphones and feature phones at April. These phones are said to be priced between Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 15,000 which is that's approximately $82- $245.

India has a very large market presence for smartphone enough for a new brand to start, like how other local brands did in the past. According to IDC, in 2012 India has received up to 16.2 million in mobile unit shipments, but grew as high as 44 million in 2013. However, due to the influx of tier 1 and local brands selling phones in almost all price segments, it might be difficult to make any significant impact upon release. However, Ajay Sharma seems very optimistic as he claims he will have a different approach towards positioning and USP.

When we first heard rumors about Apple's iPhone 5C we all expected a cheaper version of the iPhone to be released by the company, but sadly that was not the case. The iPhone 5C debuted to the world as a very expensive iPhone 5 wrapped in a new plastic skin, and when asked about a cheaper version, Apple basically laughed in everyone's faces.

As with everything in the consumer-driven world, the consumer will glorify a product or condemn it to obscurity, and it appears that the public has spoken. A new report from VR-Zone is cluing us in on how well the iPhone 5C is actually doing. Since its release, reports have been flooding in that the iPhone 5C is a horrible failure for Apple and this new report suggest that the company has as many as 3 million units sitting in distribution warehouses just collecting dust.

While that may not sound like a big deal, you need to take into consideration that Apple usually has a hard time keeping iPhone's in enough supply to meet demand. With 3 million units sitting idle now, that number could double before Apple releases a new iPhone later this year, and with a manufacturing cost of about $200 each, Apple has roughly $600 million tied up in iPhone 5C units that just wont sell. Fortunately Apple has almost $100 billion sitting idle as well, so $600 million is just another drop in the bucket.

Fitness tracking devices are very popular today with a number of companies offering wearable devices to track your vitals. Many of these devices are wearables in the form a of a watch with embedded sensors. If you are the sort of person that doesn't like to wear watches, but you want to monitor your health Azoi has a case for your iPhone that might be perfect.

The case is called the Wello and it works with sensors to monitor your health functions and present them via an iPhone app. The case can measure your blood pressure, ECG, heart rate, blood oxygen, temperature, ling function, and more.

It appears that the smartphone case doesn't offer you statistics in real-time; you have to stop and hold the case for it to work. There are sensors embedded on the case that gather your data. The case also supports remote access allowing family members or others to keep an eye on your statistics.

One of the most prolific types of theft around the world today is the theft of smartphones. The reason is that smartphones are very common, worth a lot of money, and relatively easy to steal and resell. Authorities around the world are working with carriers in an effort to help curb theft.

The carriers are introducing methods that will make stolen or lost devices unusable for whoever has them. The hope is that by making it known that the smartphone a thief steals won't work the thefts will stop. Sprint has announced that it will begin adding all lost and stolen smartphones its customers report to an international stolen property database.

The database is called CheckMend and it will be open to carriers and police to use. The idea is that by listing all of the devices users buying a used phone can check to see if it has been reported stolen or lost. If the device shows up on the list Sprint won't activate the phone.

HTC has rolled out a new budget smartphone that aims at offering maximum value to the user. The smartphone is called the HTC Desire 310 and it will land in Taiwan next month. The smartphone promises seamless multitasking, video creation, and smooth web surfing for the entry-level users.

The phone has a 1.3GHz quad-core processor that promises enough power for smooth mobile gaming and other needs. The phone runs Android for the OS and has HTC BlinkFeed for the home screen. The phone supports an offline reading mode that lets the user save up to 120 articles when they are on Wi-Fi networks to read when networks aren't available.

The Desire 310 has a 4.5-inch screen with an unspecified resolution. Don't expect high resolution since this is a budget smartphone. The 301 also has a 5MP rear camera for shooting images and video. HTC is staying mum on pricing right now and there is no word on availability outside Taiwan.

Google's Nexus 5 smartphone has only been on the market for 5 months now, but that does not stop the rumor mill from cranking out new rumors about its successor. Today Gizmodo Germany released a report that suggest that Google will release the Nexus 6 later this year alongside its first Nexus smartwatch.

The rumor states that LG is sticking around as the manufacturer of the Nexus 6 which make perfect sense as it is also the manufacturer of the Nexus smartwatch. The reoport says that the Nexus 6 will be a "lightweight" version of LG's G3 flagship which also falls inline with the previous Nexus smartphones from LG that were versions of the Optimus G and G2 smartphones. With the news of the new Nexus 6, the report also suggest that it will be June before we see the LG G3 launched and October before the Nexus 6 arrives.

We first talked about the LG G Pad 8.3 tablet back in September of last year when it went official. If you like the idea of that tablet, but want one with baked in LTE connectivity Verizon has just announced exactly what you are looking for. The LG G Pad 8.3 will land on the Verizon network on March 6.

The tablet will cost $99.99 with a new 2-year contact between March 6 and March 10. After that, the tablet will sell for $199.99. If you want one of these, you should really pick it early up and save the hundo. The tablet can be added to a More Everything plan for $10 per month.

The tablet has a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor and an 8.3-inch screen. The screen has a native resolution of 1920 x 1200. Other hardware features includes 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and a 5MP rear camera.

Judging by a job listing at Microsoft Careers (now taken down), it looks like the company wishes to create an open source framework that is lightweight, extensible and scalable across multiple platforms, specifically naming the mobile platforms from Apple and Google. Since Xbox Live is integrated with its Windows Store and Windows Phone already, it looks like Microsoft wishes to do the same with iOS and Android.

Reports point out that Microsoft is also trying to win the hearts of game developers by working to provide improved tools for Xbox Live integration. Reports also indicate that Microsoft may ease up on restrictions and provide greater access to the necessary tools.

It could be a win-win for both sides. If Microsoft plays its cards properly, it can attract a good number of developers. Since Xbox Live will be present on almost all mobile platforms, the game achievements, scores and even ability to play games with their friends can be crossed over/shared/ played irrespective of the mobile OS. Though iOS and Google have Game Center and Google Play which shares scores and game achievements, its uncertain how does Microsoft plan to get ahead of its competition.

Google Android tablets saw 127 percent growth in 2013 and reached the No. 1 position, as consumers and businesses embrace the mobile technology, according to the Gartner research firm.

Tablet sales saw a 68 percent growth in 2013 when compared to the year before, selling 195.4 million units. Although iOS tablet sales grew during 2013 Q4, Apple's share of the market dropped to 36 percent - and will continue to battle against Android-powered devices.

The tablet market continues to mature, and the emergence of lower-cost models from well-known electronics brands will continue to put pressure on Apple.

With Samsung's Galaxy S5 having very little "WOW" factor everyone's eyes have now turned to HTC in hopes that the upcoming refresh of its flagship will raise the bar to something worth upgrading to. While several leaks have appeared in recent weeks, today is the first time we have seen an actual side-by-side comparison video of the new HTC One and its predecessor that was released last year.

The video shows the slight size difference with the new HTC One being 5-inches, as well as an aluminum bezel now wrapping the screen on the sides. Additionally, the headphone jack has been moved to the bottom of the phone, and a microSD slot is now present. The leakster in the video says that the new BlinkFeed is now "actually really cool," and he also calls the camera spectacular. From previous leaks, BlinkFeed does appear to be more refined, and since the update back in December, I actually like the current BlinkFeed. While I would prefer a pure Android experience, at least HTC is listening to its customers and tailoring its Sense UI to feature better functionality.

At the moment it appears that the HTC One 2014 edition will be sold at ATT, T-Mobile and Verizon, but no mention has been made of Sprint, one of HTC's largest retailers. With the current HTC One being such a popular phone with Sprint customers, I can not expect that the carrier would not offer it on launch day. HTC is scheduled to unveil the next-gen flagship during an event it is holding later this month on March 25th in London and New York City.

A new flaw was recently found in the Google Android Jelly Bean and Kit Kat OS flavors, with the "critical flaw" compromising the virtual private network (VPN) in the Android OS.

Compromised devices allow cybercriminals to monitor communication after VPN traffic is sent to a different network address.

The flaw, which was found in India, can be successfully remedied by installing updates from OEM manufacturers, the CERT-In team says. Installing anti-virus and anti-malware protection on the device should help add additional layers to prevent Android exploits from causing problems.

Mobile banking users looking to access bank accounts from smartphones and tablets are becoming increasingly sophisticated and demand intuitive banking services. Mobile banking adoption also continues to see strong growth, so banks now have the ability to embrace customers across a variety of platforms.

In Europe, customers are twice as likely to log into mobile banking apps while using a tablet over a smartphone, though financial institutions must cater to both market segments.

"Mobiles and tablets offer banks a variety of benefits but in different ways," a recent Forrester blog claims. "While widespread mobile and smartphone adoption presents banks with a large opportunity to engage consumers today, surging tablet ownership rates over the next few years will demand a robust tablet banking platform as well."