Mobile Devices - Page 162

Motorola has confirmed that the Droid RAZR and Droid RAZR MAXX will be getting updated to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. This update will allow these two devices to have access to Google Now, a feature that is being hailed as revolutionary. It makes sense that Motorola would want to update their devices to the latest Android as they are owned by Google.

Like most over-the-air updates, this update will be rolled out in stages. If you don't have the update quite yet, don't worry as it will eventually roll out to your device. You can find out more information about the updates from Motorola's blog post.

We've been so busy hearing about Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S IV, that iPhone rumors are now getting a back seat - isn't that a big change in the tides? Now we have KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo issuing a new research report, which claims that we should see two new iPhones and iOS 7 launched in June.

The new smartphones would be made available to the public a month later in July. Kuo continues:

According to The New York Times, the Samsung Galaxy S4 will track a user's eyes to enable scrolling on webpages. Their source, a Samsung employee who spoke on a condition of anonymity, says that software will take a precedence over hardware in the upcoming Galaxy S4 device.

Samsung has filed for a trademark of "Samsung Eye Scroll" in the United States back in February. The device will track a user's eyes and use that to determine where to scroll. Imagine finishing reading a paragraph on a webpage. When you're eyes reach the last line, the device will automatically scroll to the next paragraph.

This isn't the first time that Samsung has employed eye tracking. Their current Galaxy S3 device makes use of the feature called Smart Stay to know not to dim the screen when it's being looked at. We'll hopefully see this feature demonstrated at the press event on March 14, though it hasn't been confirmed that it will be making an appearance.

Corning, the company behind the uber scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass used in many smartphones, has said that it does not think that any smartphone manufacturers will be able to make use of flexible glass any time soon.

Corning knows a thing or two about flexible glass as it has been hard at work on a project called Willow, which is in fact a flexible glass that can be rolled up like a newspaper. While the technology exists, and we have seen prototypes, the glass giant thinks that most smartphone manufactures are just not ready to take full advantage of the technology at this stage.

"People are not accustomed to glass you roll up," said Corning president James Clappin, after an event marking the opening an $800 million factory for liquid-crystal-display glass. "The ability of people to take it and use it to make a product is limited." That does not mean that we will not see Willow make an appearance for three years, Corning expects to see it in things like solar panels soon.

Samsung's Galaxy S IV is coming, and you have officially been invited to its launch event in New York City on March 14th at 7:00pm US Eastern time. This morning Samsung released an official teaser image that invited everyone down to Times Square to watch the unveiling via a live stream.

If there was ever any doubt about what this event was about, the large number 4 in the center should clear that up for you. The invite reads: "Be the first in the world to experience it!...You can watch Samsung Unpacked via live stream and experience Samsung's new flagship smartphone at Times Square."

It is widely expected that the Galaxy S IV will overtake the iPhone 5 as the most popular smartphone, by sporting a 4.99-inch HD SoLUX LCD and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 clocked to 1.9GHz. Will any of you TweakTown readers head to Times Square for the event? Let us know in the comments below.

It was only a matter of time, but we should expect a PC-like smartphone to be released later this year. At Mobile World Congress, i-mate were showing off something that most people don't seem to have noticed, a new smartphone with a 4.7-inch display but it was what was cranking along inside that was interesting.

The smartphone from i-mate was powered by Intel's "Clover Trail" hardware and the full version of Windows 8 Pro - meaning that the smartphone is capable of running most desktop-based software, which is a huge deal for a smartphone. i-mate's smartphone is called the Intelegent, and could go up for sale later this year for $750. Featuring an Atom processor, 2GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, the Intelegent would go up against most smartphones and completely win when it comes to its OS.

Backing up the usual specs, we have HSPA and 4G LTE capabilities, and up to 10 hours of talk time. i-mate will sell the phone by itself, or part of a desktop hardware suite for $1600, this suite would include a docking station they call the "hub". Once Intelegent is docked in the hub, the phone can be used with a traditional, wired phone handset, or make video calls. It will also function as a normal desktop PC, which will include a 23-inch touchscreen display, keyboard and mouse which powers an auxiliary wireless tablet with a 10.1-inch, 1080p-capable display.

Samsung is set to launch their competition crushing Galaxy S IV in just over two weeks time, but now we have some benchmarks to share with you. It looks like Samsung's upcoming flagship smartphone has enjoyed some leaked benchmark scores, with a result posted to Browsermark's database today.

In raw CPU performance, it completely demolishes the competition - scoring 2710 using Google Chrome 25. The previous champion? Apple's iPhone 5 with 2416 using Safari. Samsung's Galaxy S III LTE model scored 2359. If these results are true, the Galaxy S IV is going to be a true powerhouse of a smartphone, and you can't complain at that.

The other thing to remember is that there won't be much in the form of competition against it, as any phone that would trump it would require even faster internals. Sure, we have the Snapdragon 800, Tegra 4 (and 4i) coming, as well as Samsung's own Exynos 5 Octa, but the Galaxy S IV is going to be here, very soon. Those other SoCs are months away.

Wireless charging of mobile devices is the next big thing, and we will definitely see more of it this year. Foreseeing the future, LG has released a tiny yet powerful wireless charging base.

Being billed as the "world's smallest" wireless charging device, the WCP-300 is a 6.9cm, round little pad that is compatible with any standard 5-pin micro-USB charger. Unfortunately at the moment there are only two devices available in the US that support wireless charging: the LG Spectrum and the Nexus 4.

The recently announced LG Optimus G Pro will support wireless charging as well as a few other smartphones released this week at the Mobile World Congress. The WCP-300 will hit shelves in South Korea next week with a worldwide roll-out to follow. MSRP is said to be $60 USD, but that number is unofficial.

Dell have updated their Latitude 10, releasing the "Enhanced Security" version of their 10.1-inch slate. Dell's updated Latitude 10 Enhanced Security is the only dual-authentication Windows 8-based tablet on the block, providing an integrated SmartCard and fingerprint reader.

If you thought they were the only two security measures, the tablet boasts Dell Data Protection, Trusted Platform Module 1.2, Microsoft BitLocker full-drive encryption, Computrace, and a Noble Lock slot. Inside the updated Latitude 10 Enhanced Security we find the aforementioned 10.1-inch 1366x768 IPS display with five-finger touch support and Gorilla Glass, an Intel Atom Z2760, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, 64GB SSD, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, HSPA+ support, a 720p front-facing camera backed up by an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and finally, a swappable 30Whr battery.

As for price, it is $200 more than the standard Latitude 10, at $779. Dell have also mande a point of their testing with Principled Technologies, which compared how easy it was to implement the Latitude 10 against the iPad in large scale environments. Their testing reported that the Latitude 10 is 17% faster and 94% less expensive to deploy, saving an incredible 580 hours in system preparation and installing applications.

Direct from Mobile World Congress, Sony have announced that their latest smartphone and tablet, the Xperia Z and Xperia Tablet Z respectively, will launch globally on March 1. Yes, globally - not just a localized launch, but a complete global launch.

Sony's Tablet Z sports a nice 1920x1200 display, Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and 2GB of RAM. It'll launch with Android 4.1 but Sony have noted that it will be upgraded to Android 4.2 in the near future. Sony are also pushing the Tablet Z as the thinnest tablet on the market, and it is both water- and dust-proof, just like the Xperia Z.

Upon launch, the Tablet Z will see a few first-party accessories, such as a charging dock and leather carrying case.

When digital camera's came onto the mainstream scene, the film camera industry was all but wiped out overnight, and we may be on the verge of a similar event now. Aptina, maker of most of the image sensors in high-end mobile phones has just released two next-generation image sensors that could change everything.

At the Mobile World Congress, Aptina has announced it's newest 12MP and 13MP mobile image sensors, that are aimed at use in flagship smartphones. The 12MP AR1230 is a 1.1-micron pixel device, with 4k video at 30fps support as well as 1080p at 96fps. The 13MP AR1330 sports image stabilization at 1080P and includes 4K UHD and 4K Cinema formats at 30fps.

Aptina also released a new image sensor designed for use in the tablet PC / TV segment of the market. The AR0261 is a 1080p sensor that features 1.4-micron pixels, and is reported to be able to handle 60fps at 720p, can work with apps that utilize gesture recognition and 3D video capture.

MWC 2013 - ASUS have just unveiled their latest smartphone during their conference at Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, Spain - enter the Padfone Infinity. Sporting a 5-inch 1080p display, we have the ability to dock the Padfone Infinity with a 10.1-inch 1920x1200-capable tablet.

You should be used to this by now with the previous Padfone, but this new Padfone Infinity bumps the specs up as well as offering a "sleek aluminum body", and inside we find Qualcomm's 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 - which is quite an amazing piece of kit.

ASUS chairman Jonney Shih took the stage, unveiling the Padfone Infinity itself. Something ASUS are calling "Customer Happiness 2.0" is the central part of the Padfone Infinity's design - touch, responsiveness, uniquity and more. A whole new design is behind the Padfone Infinity using aerospace-grade aluminum alloy, unibody frame and brushed metal finish, twice-anodized diamond cut edge glass display.

We knew it was coming, and we knew of a day, but now Samsung have confirmed it - the Galaxy S IV will be unveiled on March 14. Edaily has reported that Samsung mobile top dog, JK Shin, has said that the successor to the Galaxy S III will definitely be unveiled at the Samsung Unpacked event in New York City.

This might not sound special, but it is, as it is the first time a flagship Samsung smartphone has been unveiled in the US - the last one? Samsung's original Galaxy S all the way back in 2010. There's not much concrete info on the Galaxy S IV, but I'm hoping we don't just see a few things changed from the S III. I hope we see the material used being of better quality, a higher resolution display (5-inch 1080p has been rumored), and something else 'magical' - more than one magical thing would be nice.

It looks like the Barnes & Noble e-readers and tablets might not be around too much longer if a New York Times report is correct. The Times' report is from an unnamed source familiar with Barnes & Noble's corporate strategy, who said while "they are not completely getting out of the hardware business", executives can see that they need to shift the company's focus from low-margin hardware to licensing its "crown jewel" content to other platforms.

Barnes & Noble are reporting their third-quarter results this Thursday, which they're already downplaying in their Nook department. Could we see them leave the hardware game? I think so. I guess we'll find out more later this week.

Update: We've heard from a Barnes & Noble spokesperson who has said that "we have no plans to discontinue our award-winning line of NOOK products".

MWC 2013 - It's that time of the year again folks, we're seeing mobile devices being unveiled quicker than Taylor Swift writes songs about her ex-boyfriends, and now we have Lenovo's turn at unveiling some new products you might be interested in.

The company have released two new slates, the 7-inch A1000 and A3000 tablets, backing it up with a 10-inch S6000 tablet. The first tablet, Lenovo's A1000 is the entry-level device, featuring a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 16GB of on-board storage which expandable by up to 32GB with microSD - finally, it runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

The bigger brother of this is the 7-inch A3000, which is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core MTK processor, and features up to 64GB of expandable storage through microSD. It also runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, but has an underwhelming 1024x600 IPS display. Also included in the A3000 series is another family member that will sport HSPA+ abilities.

MWC 2013 - Samsung have used Mobile World Congress to let the skinny slip on their latest device, HomeSync. It's not a smartphone, it's not a tablet, but rather a TV-connected device running the same type of specs that we see in our mobile devices.

This means we're greeted with a 1.7GHz dual-core processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of flash, a 1TB HDD for storage, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11n 2.4 and 5GHz Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet, optical audio and finally, HDMI 1.4. Samsung's HomeSync even supports up to eight individual password-protected and encrypted user accounts, which can each individually sync content from other devices, and share it through various accounts.

HomeSync is mostly a media hub capable of pushing out your content at 1080p, as well as streaming it from local Galaxy-branded devices. There's no news on whether this is anything to do with Google TV, but it does have the ability to grab content from the Play Store, as well as run its own apps. Another nifty feature is the ability to use your smartphone as a remote control with HomeSync.

MWC 2013 - Samsung have unveiled a new member of their Galaxy family of devices, the Galaxy Note 8.0. We've had a hands-on experience with it a little while ago, but now we have some more details to report on Samsung's latest device.

The new Galaxy Note 8.0 slides between the 5.5-inch Galaxy Note II smartphone and the 10-inch Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, but has some nice abilities for a middle child. We're looking at Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean as the OS, an 8-inch 1280x800 display with a pixel density of 189ppi. This makes the Galaxy Note 8.0's screen slightly better than Apple's iPad mini which features a 7.9-inch 163ppi display.

Cranking along inside the device we have a 1.6GHz quad-core processor, Samsung's own Exynos 4 - backing this up we have 2GB of RAM and either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage. There will be LTE-capable Note 8.0's in the wild, but at first there will be 3G connectivity on offer through HSPA+. Thanks to being part of the Note family of devices, we will have the S Pen stylus, which is really useful for the included apps from Samsung.

You might not have even heard about Sony's Xperia Z, or you haven't had the time to grab one, or it's not available in your country yet - whatever the situation, the latest and greatest handset from Sony has already been rooted.

The XDA Developers forum is at it again, with the device being rooted already - how was it done? Modifying the code of a Nexus 4 root, while leveraging Teamviewer to remotely test it on a real-world device. Others have come in saying that the trick used isn't just a one-time occurrence, but should be repeatable. The hack, like most, is risky and currently lacks a recovery tool.

You can read more on it, and even try it right here.

During this morning's press conference, HTC didn't really touch on the hardware specifications of its new flagship the HTC One, and that lead some of us to believe that it may not pack the punch we were hoping for. The HTC One's webpage just went live and "wow" did they deliver on performance.

The HTC One features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor running at 1.7GHz, 2GB of RAM, 32GB or 64GB of internal storage and built-in NFC capabilities. The display is a 4.7-inch Full HD 1080p, 468 PPI density LCD that is the company's brightest, sharpest and most vibrant display to date.

Other notable features include GPS, Digital Compass, Gyro, Accelerometer, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi, DLNA and an IR blaster that lets your phone function as a remote control for all your home theater devices. It also features a completely redesigned camera that is built on HTC's exclusive Ultrapixel technology. The camera is set at f/2.0 with a 28mm lens, is capable of full HD 1080p video capture as well. A front facing 2MP camera with an 88 degree field of view is also placed on the phone.

During this morning's launch event, HTC design lead Jonah Becker, walked us through the new and exciting design specifications of the new HTC One. It appears that HTC has beaten Apple to the punch when it comes to an all-aluminum uni-body smartphone.

Before we get into the body though, let's talk about some exciting new hardware featured in the HTC One. First off, the new flagship phone was given an entirely new design with front facing speakers, which HTC is calling BoomSound. The speakers are said to offer a much more rich and vibrant sound than previously seen on other HTC devices. HTC has also included an IR blaster into the phone for full home media control.

Up next is a completely re-imagined camera, that bucks the trend of packing more pixels into a smaller package. "The new HTC One makes the camera experience better", Becker said. "I saw an opportunity to shake things up with the camera experience. It starts with a new approach about camera technology, it's not about megapixel count, but pixel size." he continued.