Mobile Devices - Page 161

The US Department of Defense (DoD) has just placed an order with Apple for over 600,000 iDevices to help supplement its arsenal. This huge purchase comes at a time of major budgetary cuts, a sequester which equates to $85 billion in lost spending.

Electronista first broke the news earlier today which detailed over 650,000 Apple devices being ordered. Included in the order were 120k iPads, 100k iPad minis, 200k iPod touches and 2010k iPhones. By my reasoning, that could amount to more than a $250 million payday for Apple.

Before everyone grabs their pitchforks and torches, the US Government has been looking to move from its antiquated BlackBerry devices to something new for some time now. This is most likely the first wave of a transition to iOS based devices and likely not the last major order we will see.

What do you do when you have more cash reserves than any other company in the world? You develop a system that magically flips your company's flagship phone into the proper position during a fall to lessen damage. Yes, Apple has patented a method that turns your phone into a cat.

US Patent #20130073095 describes a "Protective Mechanism for an Electronic Device" that appears to use centrifugal force to reorient an iPhone in the event of a drop or fall. From the patent drawings, it looks like a small motor with a weight on one end would spin up and make the phone flip into an orientation that would lessen damage to sensitive parts like the screen.

The patent also mentions alternative methods that would deploy airfoils to levy aerodynamics to reorient the phone. There is also mention of cables that could be jettisoned to catch the phone mid fall, and other far out there concepts like gas canisters used in conjunction with thrust nozzles to reorient the phone. Below you can see more of the artwork courtesy of Apple Insider.

Amazon hit a home-run when they launched the original Kindle Fire HD, and now if rumors are true, they are looking to knock another one out of the ball park. A $99 Kindle Fire of the 7-inch class is said to already be in production and could ship later this year.

The new 7-inch Kindle Fire would be a direct competitor to Apple's iPad mini, as well as other small tablets such as Google's Nexus 7, as well as offerings from ASUS, Samsung and Sony. It would also offer competition to the flood of off brand Chinese Android tablets that have been popping up in the sub $100 range.

We are not finding any reports on hardware specifications yet, but we know that the device is said to feature a 1280x800 LCD and it could contain similar hardware to Amazon's current $99 7-inch Kindle Fire HD. Would you buy a new 7-inch Kindle Fire HD at $99 if you owned a larger Kindle Fire or even another tablet? Let us know in the comments.

NVIDIA have been doing quite well in the System-on-a-Chip (SoC) department lately, with Tegra 2 and 3 making big splashes in mobile devices across the world. Tegra 4i is nearly here, but what is coming next? Well, NVIDIA have updated their mobile roadmap at NVIDIA's GPU Technology Conference.

The next SoC we should expect from NVIDIA is codenamed "Logan", and the one after that was previously said to be "Stark", but is now "Parker". Both will use NVIDIA's CUDA technology, with Logan featuring a Kepler GPU and Parker running a Project Denver 64-bit ARM-based CPU as well as packing a next-generation Maxwell GPU. Logan should reach us early 2014, with Parker not being baked into devices until sometime in 2015.

Last week's launch stole the smartphone news show, but this week, everything is about Sony's next offerings. The company has announced two new Android based smartphones today in its Xperia line. In a series of videos, Sony shows off the best features of each phone.

The Xperia L is a lower end smartphone that is aimed at improving photo quality. Sony is touting the L as "the beat of Sony Camera Experience in a smartphone." It features a 1GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8230 processor, 1750mAh battery, an 8MP camera and 8GB of internal storage. The Xperia L will come in three colors - white, black and red.

The Xperia SP looks to be the new flagship phone from the company. Sony states that the XP was "precision crafted in every detail." and "the Xperia SP brings Sony brilliance to life, inside and out." The Xperia SP features a 4.6-inch 1280x720 "reality display" and is powered by the Mobile Bravia Engine which can sense the type of content on the screen, and adjust settings for the best image possible.

Android and Me have received an an image from an anonymous source, claiming that they work for Google, telling them the image below is the real deal on the Nexus 5. Their source claims that the Nexus 5 would be released later this year, October to be precise, and that they are evaluating several prototypes from different manufacturers.

One of these prototype's is LG's, who made the Nexus 4, and is going under the codename of "Megalodon". Megalodon looks like a serious powerhouse, but before we get into them we will state that this is a serious rumor, and half of these specs are most likely not correct:

A Nexus 5 with a 5.2-inch display would make sense, since we're seeing more high-end smartphones feature bigger displays, like the Galaxy S4's 4.99-inch display. 3GB of RAM is quite insane, so is a 2.3GHz-clocked processor. The 16-megapixel rear-facing camera with 4k video recording is quite a step forward, as is the 3300mAh battery. I'd expect those specs to be the ones that change, but I do think we'll see Google put even more pressure on Apple going into the future. Bring it on!

I imagine that many of our readers tuned into the Samsung Unpacked 2013 event last night. If you didn't, you might have been following our coverage of the event. But, if you were just following our coverage, you missed out on quite the show. You missed out on the ridiculousness that was Unpacked 2013. Check it out for yourself:

We all know the basic story line that press conferences follow. Some big player will come up on stage and tell you about their new product. Some try to deviate from this basic story line by bringing up celebrities to endorse their products. Last night, Samsung deviated far from this basic story line to some success.

While I found the whole show quite contrived, it did have several funny moments thrown in. The humor didn't come naturally, but it still managed to get the occasional laugh. If you've ever been to Disneyland's Innoventions Dream Home, you'll probably understand what I mean by that.

People have quite a bit more time to speculate on just what Motorola might be planning for the X Phone now that Samsung's Galaxy SIV has been detailed publicly. Again, we're hearing some incredible claims about what Motorola will be doing with this rumored iPhone-killing X Phone.

Like we warn with nearly every rumor, none of these details have been confirmed so don't take them for cold hard facts. However, the claims we are hearing now aren't so far-fetched. The Nexus 4 retails for $300, pretty cheap as far as phones go, especially considering that it comes without a contract.

The new rumors are saying that the X Phone will launch with an extremely low price point, possibly as low as $199. This low cost helps to explain why the device is said to only be coming with a Snapdragon S4 Pro, 2GB of RAM, a 4.65-inch display, and a 2,200mAh battery. It's not a bad phone in terms of specs, but it isn't the best.

It seems like it's been forever since I covered an Apple rumor, but today I am going to break that trend. Apple Insider is reporting that the Cupertino company will be keeping some old and bringing some new features to the table on it's upcoming budget model iPhone.

Analysts are saying that Apple may release the cheaper iPhone with the same 4-inch Retina display featured in the current generation iPhone, and that it's half millimeter thick plastic case could come in as many as six different colors in addition to the traditional black and white.

That sounds like a very thin, very easy to break case, but it is reportedly reinforced with glass fibers which makes it as strong, if not stronger, than current phones with plastic cases. The colors will be similar to those found in iPod's and should appease the mass of teens who will flock to the cheaper device.

The Galaxy S4 is the most full featured smartphone that Samsung has ever built, and as such, the phone has some dedicated "Smart Accessories" to match. Today, the Korean company has listed all of the official accessories on its Galaxy S4 micro site.

First up we have the S Band which is a fitness band that records your steps, calories burned and distance walked. It is followed by the Body Scale, which is a traditional but smart weight scale. It reports back to the Galaxy S IV via Bluetooth and can store date for up to four users. Both of these new accessories work in conjunction with the S Health app to help keep you in shape.

Up next is HRM or heart rate monitor which is a real-time heart rate tracking device. It sends heart rate data to the Galaxy S4 via Bluetooth, which is then displayed by using the Running Mate app. Another official accessory that is useful to those who run is the Head Set. It features two speakers in each ear bud and has a volume control pod built into the cable.

Samsung's Galaxy S IV has been making major news all morning across the web, and as with such things, people are beginning to notice things that may allude to an upcoming new device. Engadget came across an interesting little tidbit of information while browsing the Galaxy S IV microsite.

One of the official accessories for the upcoming Galaxy S IV is a game pad that features a sliding clamp that secures the phone to the game pad. That's pretty awesome by itself, but what others failed to take notice of is the mention that it supports up to a 6.3-inch device.

Call me crazy, but I do not think that Samsung would include support for a larger device than it's flagship phone unless it were planning on releasing a device in the future that featured a 6-inch class screen. There are rumors that the next Galaxy Note phone would feature a screen in the 6-inch range. What do you think? Is this Samsung's way of leaking information about an upcoming device, or is it just a number on a screen that we should not worry about?

Both Apple and LG have come out swinging against Samsung before their unveiling of the Galaxy S IV, and now HTC have come out taking a swing. HTC were on the offensive during the Galaxy S IV launch, giving out hot cocoa and snacks to people waiting in line for the Galaxy S IV launch, even showing off their One handset to consumers.

HTC followed this up by offering up the hashtag "#theNextBigFlop", taking a swing at Samsung's slogan of "The Next Big Thing". The mocking didn't end there, with HTC's CMO Ben Ho saying that the Galaxy S IV is just "more of the same", and that his company's "all-aluminum unibody HTC One" with their "original cutting-edge technology, mouth-watering design and a premium feel" is what consumers really want. His full statement:

With the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S IV, Samsung introduced some really cool software features. The Galaxy S IV is mainly focusing on unique software features that can set it apart from the competition. The two software features that I want to bring to your attention are the Dual Camera technology and Smart Scroll.

First off, the Dual Camera technology. The Galaxy S IV has software features that allow you to simultaneously record video and take pictures from the front and back cameras. The software then puts the two pictures together into a single image so that the person stuck taking the picture doesn't have to be left out.

Other cool features of the camera is the ability to turn the front-facing camera on and off while the camera is recording. Samsung has also introduced a feature that allows sound to be recorded before or after a picture is taken. Additionally, the camera is capable of taking 100 frames in four seconds. The software then picks some good pictures from those frames and combines it into a single picture. They call this feature Drama Shot.

I'm not going to lie: I love my iPhone 5. After watching the Samsung Galaxy S IV press conference, several key features of the new Galaxy S IV caught my eye. The main one that I'm interested in is the integrated temperature and humidity sensors. The new device features nine different sensors for sensing the environment around you.

The first six in the list seen above are commonly available in most devices on the market. It's the new sensors that they have added into the device that really allow the device to go to the next level. It's absolutely sweet that my phone can figure out the temperature outside as well as how humid it is.

Those sensors turn the Galaxy S IV into a mobile weather station, especially when coupled with the barometer. The new IR Gesture sensor is what powers the cool new Air Gestures feature. For more about Air Gestures, see my colleague's post from earlier this evening.

In just a few hours time we'll know everything about Samsung's Galaxy S IV, but what about the advertisement in Times Square, New York City for Samsung? They've teased 'Be Ready 4 the Next Galaxy', which should be unveiled in a few hours time.

LG have come out throwing an ad above Samsung's, trolling, "LG Optimus G is here 4 you now!'. It's nice to see LG pulling the strings and not Apple, but Apple didn't stay quiet today, remember? It's a strange time to have Samsung as the company to out-advertise, so where's Don Draper when you need him?

We don't have long until we know every nitty gritty detail on the Galaxy S IV from Samsung, but we 're seeing some specs leaked thanks to Chinese site it168. Check them out below:

Not too badly specced at all in my book - an 8-core processor will be interesting, the bump in GPU is needed for the now Full HD display. 2GB of RAM is standard on high-end handsets now, and the continued inclusion of a microSD card slot really sticks it to Apple who forces you to spend hundreds of dollars more just to get more internal storage.

Samsung are going to destroy it tomorrow, I can feel it. We should hopefully have a review here as soon as humanly possible, even if it comes out of my own pocket.

Dell has just announced a new Windows 8 based tablet, and normally that would not be much of a big deal, but this tablet is actually a very big deal - literally. Measuring in at a whopping 18.4-inches, the new Dell XPS 18 is the direct competitor to Sony's VAIO Tap 20.

The 18" Windows 8 beast features a run-time of about five hours on a single charge, and weighs in at 4.85 pounds. The tablet features custom flip-out feet that allow it to transition from "desktop mode" to lap mode quickly. The tablet will ship with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse when it ships in April.

For a mere $900 you will get a dual-core Pentium ULV processor and 320GB hard drive. Premium editions will feature a Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. This monstrosity may not be for everyone, but it is the first tablet that has me considering purchasing a Windows 8 device.

AT&T has announced that the Sony Xperia TL will be getting an update to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The roll out will continue to be slow, though some users will be getting the update right away. The update brings with it the new features that have been added to Android 4.2, including Google Now.

AT&T says that the following features will be included in the update:

If you're a Sony Xperia TL user, we'd love to hear your thoughts on the new update.

Images of what appear to be Samsung's Galaxy S IV have surfaced, and from what we can tell they look authentic. The images first appeared on 52samsung.com, a Chinese message board centered on Samsung products.

The phone in the images has a model number of GT-I9502 and looks similar in design to the Galaxy S III, but is larger and squarer in form. Information from the site confirms that the screen is a 5-inch 1080p display, and the device is running an eight-core 1.8GHz Exynos 5 Octa processor, which has been long rumored to be in the Galaxy S IV.

The phone appears to be similar in thickness to an Galaxy S III and has an aluminum bezel similar to an iPhone 5. It's running Android 4.2.1, which would make it the first handset to launch with the latest version of Android other than Google's own Nexus devices, which recently upgraded to 4.2.2. With the official launch just three days away, we will soon find out if these images are the real deal. Stay tuned to TweakTown for full coverage on the Galaxy S IV launch.

Apple's A series processors are nothing to joke about. They routinely smash the competition in graphics benchmarks and often win the power consumption war with rival chips. Unfortunately they are more expensive than off the shelf ARM SoC's.

Cost savings is a huge part of bringing a cheaper iPhone to market, and is why Apple could be considering an alternative for its cheap iPhone that is set to launch later this year. Rumors are circling through the tech media world that Apple may be eyeballing Qualcomm's Snapdragon as the replacement chip for the cheaper iPhone.

Much like Apple's A6, Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon features on-board LTE, custom cores and low power consumption. As it is designed to power a wide range of Android smartphones, there is an abundance of the chips available, which brings the price down considerably if you were looking to purchase a few million of them, as Apple no doubt would. In reality we are still unsure if the so-called "cheap iPhone" is even a real thing so as always, treat these rumors as such.