Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones News - Page 295

Word on the street is that Microsoft is working with component suppliers in Asia to test their very own smartphone design, at least if the Wall Street Journal's sources are to be believed. There has been a rumor circulating that this was the case ever since Microsoft unveiled their new Surface tablets.

Of course, Microsoft has refused to comment on the rumor, neither confirming nor denying the smartphone's existence. Microsoft's parts suppliers say that there is a current device being tested, though its not clear that the device will go into mass production or not. The screen is reportedly between 4 and 5 inches, slotting in between the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy S III.

"We're quite happy this holiday [season] going to market hard with Nokia, Samsung and HTC," said Mr. Ballmer. "Whether we had a plan to do something different or we didn't have a plan I wouldn't comment in any dimension."

With every new mobile device launch, somebody inevitably decides its a good idea to drop it from various heights onto hard surfaces. The launch of the iPad mini today is no different as drop test videos have already appeared online. SquareTrade, a company that deals in extended warranties is the perpetrator of the following video that compares the iPad 3, iPad mini, and Nexus 7:

In the video, the iPad mini performs well when dropped from 4 feet on its corner. The Nexus 7 cracks in the corner ever so slightly, and the iPad 3's screen is destroyed. The folks at SquareTrade then dropped the tablets on their faces. The iPad mini's screen cracked everywhere and would need to be replaced. The iPad 3's screen also cracked quite a bit and the Nexus 7's screen did the best.

The tablets were then placed in water for 10 seconds to see how they would survive an accidental dunking. The iPad mini performed the best out of the three and seemed to be fully functional. The iPad 3 seemed to have a couple of bugs from the water, and the Nexus 7 was unresponsive, likely due to resetting from going into the water.

Some bad news for Australians regarding the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 3G devices, big Australian telcos Telstra and Vodafone won't be stocking them. Telstra have weighed in, saying they won't be stocking either of the Nexus devices:

At this stage we don't plan to offer the Nexus 4 smartphone or the Nexus 7 3G tablet. Our customers are increasingly demanding a high speed mobile internet experience on their devices so we are focused on bringing 4G LTE compatible models to market.

Telstra are expanding their LTE network, but their 3G side of things has far more customers and is a way bigger piece of the network pie. Myself and 99% of everyone I know is on 3G, with the only people I know on 4G are one, with Telstra, and two, have an iPhone 5. It was only on the first day that I saw people bragging about 4G speeds, and now it has died off - the honeymoon period for 4G disappears quite quickly, it seems.

Users of Android on the Verizon network will now have the ability to bill their Verizon Wireless account, instead of using a credit card or other form of payment. This change should help users purchase more apps easily, and is especially important for those users who do not have another form of payment, such as a credit card.

Users will be able to charge up to $25 of apps and other Google Play "merchandise" to their wireless bill every month and then they only have to pay through one channel. This latest addition brings the feature to Verizon, a feature that Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T have had for a while now. Just be sure to keep track of how much you're spending.

If you'd like, it appears to be something you can disable by going to Verizon's site and enabling "Block Web Purchases."

According to Strategy Analytics' latest figures, loyalty for the iPhone has dropped in both the US and Europe. This marks the first time since the iPhone launched in 2007 that the number of iPhone users stating they'd either definitely, or will probably purchase their next phone from Apple has dropped, both in the US and Europe.

The latest figures from the Wireless Device Lab Report found that 88% of US-based iPhone owners planned on upgrading to another iPhone, which is down from 93% last year. Over in Europe, 75% would stay with the iPhone, down from 88% in 2011.

Strategy Analytics' director said that the new numbers show a continuing success for Apple, where they've been able to retain their existing user base, while attracting new customers. He did cite that negative press and accusations of a lack of innovation by Apple are pushing customers toward other products from different manufacturers like Samsung, for example.

I know I used the whole "can it play Crysis" thing yesterday when we reported about the new Titan supercomputer - but how can I pass up the chance again? Intel have announced plans to use their 48-core processor in future mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones.

Intel CTO, Justin Rattner, has said that baking the powerful chips into mobile devices could arrive "much sooner" than the 10-year window predicted by researchers. The chip is currently used for linear algebra and fluid dynamics, but being the heart and soul of a mobile device could speed up just about everything.

Having 48 cores on top would lead to immensely powerful multitasking that dual- or quad-core parts just can't even dream of doing. Future mobile devices could be running a Full HD (or 4K) game in the background, a 4K movie, while streaming YouTube, and sending e-mails, all while it feels like it has just loaded up and isn't even running a single task. The problem is now software developers having to develop the goods to take advantage of 48 cores. Let's just hope it's capable of running Crysis.

Amazon has started the tablet wars. On their homepage, you will see the ad, pictured below, which compares the Kindle Fire HD to the newly released iPad min. Sure, they pick on a few features where the iPad mini is weak, but what is even more interesting is the quote they picked up from Gizmodo. Take a look for yourself:

Pretty funny, right? Everything about that ad is factual. The Kindle Fire HD does feature a higher resolution screen and pixel-per-inch count. It also picks on the iPad mini for not featuring stereo speakers, though I imagine most people use headphones when watching a move or listening to music as the built-in speakers of most mobile devices are pitiful.

I had to laugh at the quote Amazon pulled from Gizmodo: "...Your 7.9-inch tablet has far fewer pixels than the competing 7-inch tablets! You're cramming a worse screen in there, charging more and accusing others of compromise? Ballsy." However, what Amazon is forgetting to compare is the "cool factor" of the iPad mini, something that famous UK judge noted about the original iPad.

Google has unleashed a new wave of Nexus devices upon the world, even after canceling their press event due to Hurricane Sandy. Get ready for some great new devices because that is what Google has on offer. Out is the old Nexus 7 8GB, in is a 16GB at the same price. Also new to the Nexus 7 is cellular network capability.

The new Nexus 4 is not quite for sale, at least not yet. However, a sign-up page has been put online for users to be notified when the device is actually available. It comes in two models, an 8GB version for $299 and a 16GB version for $349. Noticeably lacking from the devices is LTE capability. Instead, they both feature unlocked HSPA+ radios.

The nexus 7 has seen a price cut along with some new features. The 16GB version will set you back $199, the 32GB version, $249, and a new 32GB model with mobile data will set you back $299, though this model isn't available yet. It has the same sign-up form that the Nexus 4 has. Google is no longer offering an 8GB model.

Two years ago, a prototype iPhone 4 was left at a San Francisco bar, which lead to huge waves going through the Internet and technology industry - Apple was pissed, Gizmodo were flooded with hits for one of the most exclusive stories ever.

Well, it looks like it has happened again, with the Nexus 4 coming from LG. Wired reports that Jamin Barton, a bartender at the 500 Club in San Francisco, ended up with an unclaimed smartphone at the bar sometime last month. The smartphone didn't have a SIM card installed, sported the Google logo on the back as well as a sticker saying that the phone was "not for sale".

Barton says that a friend who is only referenced as "Dave", saw the phone and thought it was Google's next Nexus handset, and agreed to contact the Mountain View-based company. The next day, Dave was upset, saying that Google had gotten in contact with him regarding the prototype Nexus 4, threatening him as being an accessory to what is considered a crime.

Google took the world by storm by releasing the Nexus 7, which has been incredibly popular but the larger screen size end of the market doesn't really have anything in the same league without talking about the iPad.

Well, the Nexus 10 is set to change that with a 10-inch 2560x1600-pixel display, a dual-core 1.7GHz Samsung Exynos 5250, Mali-T604 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage (no word on expandable storage via microSD), a 5-megapixel rear-facing snapper, NFC, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0.

We're talking "Retina"-like screen res here, at 298.9 pixels per inch, baby. The tablet will be used to usher in Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, meaning that this is just a slight jump in the OS and not a leap like some were hoping. Android 4.1 is still the best Android OS out to date, so Android 4.2 will be a nice evolution of that.