Mobile Devices - Page 160

A rumor has surfaced today that Nokia is working on a 6-inch phablet. This would mark the largest device that Nokia has ever built, a record currently held by the Lumia 920's 4.5-inch screen. The rumor says the phablet would come with a 1080p display and a quad-core CPU, making the device decently competitive with other phablets on the market.

The device is said to be launching in Q4 2013, meaning it should be coming out in time for holiday shopping. It's said that the device will cost between 400 and 500 pounds, which could be as much as $775 dollars. The release timeframe is consistent with Windows Phone 8 GDR3 update currently scheduled for late summer.

GDR3 will bring support for 1080p displays and quad-core processors, along with numerous other features and improvements. As with all rumors, take this one with a grain of salt until more information is available.

It's not just you, the Samsung Galaxy S 4 is proving to be massively popular with consumers, rocketing up to the fourth most popular device in the UK in a mere four days. According to data by uSwitch.com Mobile Tracker, the Galaxy S 4 proved to be the fourth most popular smartphone in April.

The iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S came in number one and two, respectively, but Samsung is hot on their heels. After all, those devices have been out for six or more months and the Galaxy S 4 has been out for just four days. The top five spots are rounded out with the HTC One and Galaxy S III.

Impressively, eight of the top 10 sports are held by either Apple or Samsung. Ernest Doku of uSwitch.com:

Sony are working on something with the codename of "Honami", which is said to be part of the company's "One Sony" branding initiative, which will see all of Sony's top technology to a single, superphone.

Chinese site, ePrice, have said that this new superphone from Sony would feature a 5-inch 1080p display, with a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor and a huge 20-megapixel rear-facing camera with a Cybershot CMOS sensor and Carl Zeiss lens. We should also expect 2GB of RAM, a non-removable battery, as well as it being dust- and water-proof.

We should expect Sony to unveil this monster at the IFA trade show in September. If it's anything like their impressive Xperia Z, we should begin to get excited.

Samsung have just announced their latest addition to the constantly growing Galaxy range of devices, the Galaxy Tab 3. Samsung's new Galaxy Tab 3 features a 7-inch display running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

The previous-generation Galaxy Tab 2 featured a 1GHz dual-core chip, with the Tab 3 receiving a slight upgrade to a 1.2GHz processor. 16GB of internal flash storage is on offer, up from the 8GB maximum on the Tab 2. We also have a 3-megapixel rear-facing camera and 1.3-megapixel front facer on offer.

The resolution of the 7-inch display hasn't changed from the Tab 2, with the Tab 3 offering a 1024x600-pixel display, not even matching the 1280x800 display on the Nexus 7. There's no details on price at the moment, but Samsung have said that the Wi-Fi-only Tab 3 will be made available at the beginning of May, and will be followed by a 3G-capable model in June.

Some leaked specifications on Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Note III have floated onto the Internet, and if they're correct, we'll be looking at the fastest smartphone on the market. Check out the specs:

We should hear more about the Note III at IFA 2013 which is in October, until then we'll just have to dream of this phone. What do you think? An 8-core smartphone with 3GB of RAM and a 1080p display. This thing is better specced than most PCs!

This morning a screenshot appeared online of what appears to be an AnTuTu benchmark ran on the Google / Motorola X Phone. While the benchmark is cool, the truly interesting thing to be noted is the name change.

Having long been rumored as the Motorola X Phone, the screenshot shows that the device used in the benchmark was named Google X. While this could be a development codename, it is more likely that the X Phone takes on Google's name and could even become the Nexus X. To me this makes more sense as Motorola is deep in branding for the Razr line of phones.

The screenshot also seems to confirm rumors that the X Phone will run Android 5.0.1 codenamed Key Lime Pie, which was rumored to be unveiled at Google I/O. Unfortunately there are more rumors that Key Lime Pie will not make an I/O appearance due to development delays and setbacks.

T-Mobile had high hopes to be the first to market with Samsung's highly anticipated Galaxy S4, but it appears that the company will most likely be the third company to offer retail sales of the device in the US market. Late Tuesday night the company issued a statement that said it has been forced to delay the Galaxy S4 launch due to unexpected inventory deliveries.

T-Mobile will now begin offering the Galaxy S4 for sale on Monday April 29th, a full two days after rivals Sprint and AT&T begin selling the device. While to some two days is no big deal, T-Mobile was hoping to cash in on the early adopters who wanted the latest and greatest, but wanted to forgo the annual contract that comes with a new phone.

In a statement T-Mobile said:

Today is the day for Apple news, isn't it? We've just seen the iPhone makers earnings report for Q2 2013, and had news to not expect a bigger iPhone anytime soon, but now we shouldn't expect any new products between now and Q4 2013.

This isn't a rumor or another site rustling around the dark for some traffic, but from CEO Tim Cook himself who hinted that new products would come out during the fourth fiscal quarter of the year, continuing throughout fiscal 2014. This means that we shouldn't see many products unveiled between now and Q4, or around the holidays this year.

Personally, I think Apple are behind the ball and will have to come out with something that truly deserves the title of 'magical' and 'revolutionary' this time around. Google, LG, Samsung, Sony, HTC and more all have great products out and many more to come between now and Q4.

For years, Apple and more specifically, the late Steve Jobs, defended the 3.5-inch display on the iPhone. It wasn't until Apple were getting kicked all over the market by consumers demanding a bigger display that Apple shifted gears and increased the display to 4 inches on the iPhone 5.

Apple aren't looking to make the iPhone screen bigger right now, with company CEO Tim Cook claiming that competitors have had to make sacrifices in multiple parts of the screen, such as resolution, white balance, color quality, screen longevity and portability in order to deliver consumers a larger screen. He continued:

Considering Apple released the iPad mini with its god awful low resolution screen (when compared to the Retina display in the third- and fourth-generation iPads), I truly have no idea where Cook is coming from there. Unless they're having issues securing large numbers of high-resolution, bigger panels from their partners.

There appears to be at least some demand for devices running the new Firefox OS. The first Firefox OS devices were released today and the company's website crashed and the devices quickly sold out. The devices, its worth noting, don't even feature the highest of specifications.

One thing that probably helped sales is the fact that they are unlocked and priced fairly reasonably. The cheap pricing comes as a direct result of low-power specifications. The devices are known as the Keon and Peak, which cost 91 euros and 149 euros respectively. The devices are made by a Spanish startup known as Geeksphone.

The Keon specifications are:

According to an anonymous Foxconn worker who spoke with China Business, Apple have returned something between five and eight million iPhone's back to Foxconn over quality control issues. The anonymous Foxconn worker said the issues are "due to the appearance of substandard or dysfunctional problems".

If the anonymous Foxconn workers claims are true, this would have cost Foxconn somewhere in the vicinity of $1.6 billion. This is also assuming that the returned iPhone's are thrown away, and aren't repaired or used to make another iPhone. There's no information on whether this applies to certain iPhone's, or how far these quality control issues go.

Then we have to ponder... do these quality control issues affect the new iPhone?

An Indian-based startup has created something quite incredible, the first true smartphone for the blind. The design had help from the Center for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship and the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad campus, and uses an invention that uses a screen that transforms into Braille characters as messages are received.

Sumit Dagar is behind the phone, and has said: "We have created the world's first Braille smartphone. This product is based on an innovative 'touch screen' which is capable of elevating and depressing the contents it receives to transform them into 'touchable' patterns".

Dagar has said that the response to the Braille smartphone has been immense so far, adding: "It comes out as a companion more than a phone to the user. We plan to do more advanced versions of the phone in the future".

Someone is having just a bit too much fun with the new HTC One. HKEPC decided to overclock the HTC One to 1.72GHz, using liquid nitrogen to keep the CPU cool. Once overclocked, HKEPC ran some benchmarks on the device to see how much extra performance they could squeeze out of the newest HTC smartphone:

As you can see, the device became rather frosty:

So just what were they able to achieve with the super-cooled and overclocked device? 11585 in the 3DMark Ice Storm benchmark. Impressive:

Yesterday we saw AT&T begin taking pre-orders on Samsung's long anticipated Galaxy S4, and tomorrow Sprint will follow suit ahead of its April 27th release. T-Mobile also confirmed that it will begin taking pre-orders for the S4 on April 24th.

T-Mobile customers will be able to purchase the Galaxy S4 for an upfront cost of $149 with 24 monthly payments of $20 when tied to the company's new Simple Choice Plan, which starts at $50 a month. AT&T is offering the device for $199 with a new two year contract.

Sprint customers can pick up the device for $249.99 with a new two year contract, but will receive a $100 credit which brings the price more in-line with T-Mobile's price range. I am still stuck deciding between Samsung's Galaxy S4 and HTC's aluminum unibody One.

Next week Australia will see Huawei release a phone only rivaled in size by Samsung's Galaxy Note series of so-called phablets. The Ascend Mate is a 6.1-inch Android based smartphone that can only be described as a hand full of phone.

Featuring a 6.1-inch 720p IPS+ display, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage, the phone will be powered by Huawei's own quad-core 1.5GHz processor. A monstrous 4050mAh battery and an 8 megapixel camera round out the phone/tablet mutation. Huawei has skinned Android Jelly Bean 4.1 with a custom launcher dubbed "Emotion UI", which appears to make use of so called "Me Widget."

The standard Android app folder is ditched in favor of placing all your apps on the home screen similar to how Apple handles multiple apps. Australian consumers will be able to purchase the device next Monday for $429 AUD through Harvey Norman, which also includes a Boost starter pack, that runs on Telstra's phone network.

One thing that annoys most, especially me, is that I want an all-day (all-week preferably) battery life on my devices. Running a quad-core smartphone with all the trimmings is great, but charging it every night is not the ideal thing for me.

New technology is required, and this is where the Massachusetts Institute of Technology steps in, with Professor Donald Sadoway's new research - liquid metal batteries. Professor Sadoway told BBC News:

Professor Sadoway's concept uses liquid as a key component, where a molten-salt electrolyte is sandwiched between two liquid metal electrodes. From here, a dense positive electrode lies at the bottom of the battery, while a low-density negative electrode floats atop the electrolyte. The difference in composition between the two liquid metals gives rise to a voltage.

Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 might have already looked tempting enough, but how does $25 worth of Google Play credit sound? Yeah, I thought so. Samsung are offering $25 worth of Google Play credit when you purchase a Galaxy Note 8.

All you need in order to receive the $25 credit, is the box your Note 8 came in, power up the device and connect it to Wi-Fi. From here, you the form's instructions, fill in your model, serial number and MAC address. Minutes later you should receive your gift code in the Gmail account that you provided. The Galaxy Note 8 perks page is where you'll need to go.

Brian White, an analyst at Topeka, has issued a new research note with some thoughts on what to expect from what the analyst is calling the iPhone 5S. White expects Apple to release the iPhone 5S this summer.

White did previously predict that the new iPhone would come in multiple screen sizes, but he now reports that the iPhone 5S will continue with its 4-inch screen size. White claims the left side volume and mute buttons will be arranged differently, and that the iPhone 5S will come with the rumored fingerprint technology. This addition to the phone will be what Siri was to the iPhone 4S, differentiating the devices.

White also touches on the subject of a cheaper iPhone that will be released this summer, where he says:

According to a CNet report, the next iPad--likely the iPad 5--could be slimmed down by shrinking the LEDs used to backlight the screen. They cite NPD DisplaySearch, an authority on all things display related: "It's likely that part of the thinner/lighter design will be reducing the size of the LED backlight, partly by making the display more efficient and partly by using more efficient LEDs."

Other option for Apple to reduce the thickness and weight of the next iPad would be to change the touch sensor: "The other significant change that we feel is likely is a shift to a film-based touch sensor," Paul Semenza, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch, wrote.

Apple has also been rumored to be looking into different display technology, such as IGZO. Sharp has heavily pursued IGZO and was originally expected to be present in the third-gen iPad.

LG is looking to combat rival Samsung's Galaxy S4 head on with its flagship Optimus G Pro, which features similar hardware included in the Galaxy S4. With some planned software tweaks and a "Value Pack" upgrade, the Optimus G Pro will even more closely resemble the Galaxy S4 in function.

The Value Pack will introduce a "Smart Video" feature which like Samsung's Smart Pause, will pause video when a user's eyes are not focused on the screen. Also included in the upgrade pack is the ability to pause live recording and start it again in the same video file. Users will also be able to use both the front and rear cameras to capture both a photo of the subject and the user at the same time.

Existing Optimus Pro smartphones in the Korean market will begin getting the Value Pack upgrade beginning today, with further roll-out taking place in the coming weeks.