| Huawei Ascend W2 leaks again, this time with a stylish design May 30th 2013, 11:29 
The Huawei Ascend W2 has popped up again and this time instead of a blurry snap shot we've been treated to what looks like a press image of the Windows Phone 8-toting smartphone. So far we've had a smattering of leaks and rumours surrounding the Ascend W2, with reports suggesting it will slide in above the budget-centric Huawei Ascend W1. This latest leak comes from the oft-reliable @evleaks, who provided the picture along with the words "Huawei Ascend W2, 2013" - and nothing more. Left in the lurchWhat this means is that apart from knowing that the Ascend W2 will likely make an appearance sometime this year. Details on specs, release date and price are still a relative mystery. Previous reports have suggested the Ascend W2 will sport a 4.3-inch 1280 x 720 display, 1.5GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 2000mAh battery and an 8MP rear camera with 1080p HD recording. If the press shot does transpire to be true then Huawei may be onto a winner as the Ascend W2 looks set to be an attractive smartphone, with a definite design upgrade from the toyish Ascend W1.     |  | Has Apple found the iPhone Mini's creator? May 30th 2013, 10:58 
In an attempt to balance out its supply chain, Apple is said to be using Foxconn competitor Pegatron for production on a certain budget handset that's been rumoured for some time. Pegatron, which sounds one of the forgotten Transformers, has actually made some iPhones and iPad Minis for Apple in the past. According to The Wall Street Journal, it's now being tapped for production of Apple's low-cost iPhone - aka the iPhone Mini (or cheap iPhone) which we're expecting to arrive this year alongside the iPhone 5S. iPhones in disguiseIt's also reported that Pegatron is upping its work force by up to 40 per cent during the second half of this year, adding further fuel to the cheaper iPhone fire. Last year, a Foxconn chief said that making iPhones for Apple is incredibly difficult, and that keeping up with demand was proving an impossible task. It looks like Apple may have taken this on board in its decision to share the load a bit more, and while a competitor, it'll mean less of a burden for Cupertino's favourite supplier.     | | Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini release date, specs and features May 30th 2013, 10:27 
The existence of the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini was hardly in question after the raft of rumours and leaks we've seen over the past few months - even the Korean firm managed to let slip on its own website. What is surprising however is the way the Galaxy S4 Mini was announced, with many assuming that Samsung's London event on June 20 would provide the platform to launch the scaled down smartphone, but instead it was rather understatedly revealed a couple of weeks early via a press release. Following on from the Galaxy S3 Mini, the S4 Mini has received a modest boost in terms of specifications, but don't expect to see any eight-core power or full HD displays here. Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini release dateIn terms of a Galaxy S4 Mini release date the trail is pretty cold for the moment, although we hope to find out more at the London event on June 20, so we shouldn't have too long to wait. Samsung has confirmed that the Galaxy S4 Mini will be coming, with more details to be announced "in due course". Phones4U in the UK was the first to give any indication, tentatively reckoning the Galaxy S4 MIni will appear in July. Let's talk moneyWe're equally in the dark when it comes to the Galaxy S4 Mini price, but if the Galaxy S3 Mini is anything to go on you can probably expect it to set you back around £320 (around $485, AU$500) SIM-free. In terms of cost the Galaxy S4 Mini will probably see itself going head to head with the likes of the Nokia Lumia 820, Motorola Razr i, Sony Xperia SP and even the Samsung Galaxy S3. Look at thisWhen it comes to the display on the Galaxy S4 Mini you're greeted with a 4.3-inch, Super AMOLED qHD display - that's 960 x 540 - so it's certainly no match for the full HD offering on the Samsung Galaxy S4. The good news it the S4 Mini's display is an improvement over the 4-inch, WVGA offering we got on the Galaxy S3 Mini - and this helps make the handset that bit more appealing. It's worth considering that even though Mini is in the name, it's actually got a bigger screen than the 4-inch iPhone 5 - plus it's also cheaper - although the iPhone's Retina display has a far better resolution. 
Internal gruntUnder the hood the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini packs a 1.7GHz dual-core processor, backed up by a not too shabby 1.5GB of RAM. Once again that's up on the S3 Mini and should see things run smoothly on screen, and 8GB of internal storage sounds acceptable - that is until you read that only 5GB will be available to the user. Thankfully the S4 Mini's saving grace is the inclusion of a Samsung smartphone tradition - a microSD slot, which supports cards up to 64GB in size. Jelly BellyThat power will be responsible for running the latest version of Google's mobile platform, Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, which Samsung has sprinkled with its TouchWiz interface. This means you'll also get a raft of Samsung apps, such as Samsung Knox, S Voice and S Travel, included on the S5 Mini, which some may find useful, but others will just view them as unnecessary bloatware. Well connectedAll the expected bells and whistles are present on the Galaxy S4 Mini with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS all featuring inside the 124.6 x 61.3 x 8.94mm, 107g plastic frame. There are some added extras however, with an infra-red blaster, NFC technology and 4G connectivity also finding their way inside. In some regions the Galaxy S4 Mini will only be available as a 3G handset, which also doesn't feature NFC, although it's not clear which markets will receive which model just yet. 
And the restSo what else can you expect from the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini? Well it's got an 8MP rear facing camera complete with LED flash, plus there's a front facing 1.9MP snapper for those pouty profile pictures and important video calls. There's a 1900mAh battery hiding round the back which we hope will give a decent amount of life, although we'll put that to the test in our Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini review. You'll be able to pick from two colours as well - White Frost and Black Mist - although we wouldn't be surprised if more colours appeared later this year, especially as Samsung has confirmed new shades for the Galaxy S4. We hope to spend some time with the handset at Samsung's event in London in a few weeks time, so keep your eyes peeled for our hands on Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini review.     | | Updated: Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini officially unveiled May 30th 2013, 09:50 
Samsung has taken the surprising route of announcing the phone-we-all-knew-about Galaxy S4 Mini ahead of the expected launch event in June. The new S4 Mini packs a number of top end features in a diminutive package, with things like S Translate, Group Play and an upgraded camera system. However, it does away with a lot of the "innnovation" we saw in the S4 - so Smart Scroll and friends don't seem to have got a look in (which, if you read our Samsung Galaxy S4 review, is a good thing). In terms of hardware it's as expected: a Super AMOLED qHD (960 x 540) 4.3-inch screen sits on top of a polycarbonate phone (coming in White Frost and Black Mist... or white and black) with dimensions of 124.6 x 61.3 x 8.94mm. It's going to be super light too, with a weight of just 107g. All the speedsComing in both 4G and 3G flavours, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini will have a dual core processor clocked at 1.7GHz, although the South Korean brand hasn't confirmed whether this will be the expected Snapdragon 400 or an older S4 chip - the former would really help the phone whip through the arduous tasks thrust on it by a modern smartphone user (or a parent prodding at the new phone bought by their offspring). Samsung has delivered a strong nod to the recent "Internal Memory-Gate" (working title) of the Galaxy S4 by noting that while the S4 Mini only comes with 8GB of storage, 5GB of that is user accessible and "may change after a software upgrade". It does have a microSD slot capable of reading cards up to 64GB, and 1.5GB of RAM doesn't sound too shabby at all. 
Android 4.2.2 is adorning this little number, so you'll be getting all the fancy menu systems and layouts offered to the S4 proper, and an 8MP camera on the rear should be enough to keep you snapping happily too. It's a mini adventureIs it better than the Galaxy S3 Mini, which we weren't overly impressed by? In like-for-like terms, of course it is, with nearly everything upgraded. However, the clarity of the screen is the same as the predecessor, something we had an issue with, and we can't help but wonder if Samsung has done enough to the phone to make sure that the dual core processor can handle all the new elements that Samsung us throwing in. The good news is we'll have our answer in the not-too-distant future, with the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini on show at the June 20 event in London. We sadly don't have a release date just yet, nor anything approaching a price, but we're going to make it up: The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini will be available in the UK from July 5 and will start at £329 (about AU$515, US$500) for the 3G version. If that's right, you owe us a cake. Update: looks like that cake is going to need to be (partly) ordered: Phones4U in the UK has given a tentative Galaxy S4 Mini release date of July. Tentative, mind you.     | | Apple may release two iPhones this year, including an iPhone Mini May 30th 2013, 01:31 
Apple is reportedly working on not one but two iPhone models this year, including what sounds like the long-rumored iPhone Mini, according to a report out of Taiwan this week. The company plans to launch both an iPhone 5S and a low-cost iPhone model in the third quarter of 2013, claims industry sources who talked to the sometimes-reliable DigiTimes. The cheaper iPhone's specs are said to be comparable to the smaller iPhone 4S model, which syncs up with what we have heard about the iPhone Mini. While the low-cost smartphone may have a less advanced display and processor, the iPhone 5S is rumored to double its predecessor's pixel count to almost 1.5 million. 'We haven't so far'This iPhone Mini news comes at the same time Apple CEO Tim Cook said his company decided against releasing multiple smartphones at once. "We haven't so far," said Cook at the to All Things Digital in response to a question about why there aren't a range of new iPhone models out every year. "It takes a lot of work, a lot of really detailed work, to do a phone right, when you manage the hardware, software and services around it." "We've chosen to focus our energy on getting those right. And we've made the choices in order to do that. So we haven't become defocused [by] working on multiple lines." Cook's "so far" comment leaves the door open to Apple making multiple iPhone models simultaneously in the future, just as the company did with the iPod years ago. All iPhones on SeptemberThe iPhone 5S and rumored iPhone Mini are expected to start mass production in June and be released in September. Although a low-cost iPhone has been predicted before every smartphone-focused Apple press conference in recent history, 2013 may be the year the rumors actually pan out. That's because Samsung may come out with a smaller version of its Galaxy S4 smartphone, dubbed the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini, making an iPhone Mini all the more relevant. - Between now and the new iPhone launch, read our WWDC coverage for more information on Apple's upcoming computer hardware announcements.
    | | J'accuse! HTC hurls sabotage shot at Samsung May 29th 2013, 23:43 
Samsung has been using its dominant position in the mobile component business to harm rivals, according to a senior HTC official. Jack Tong, the president of HTC North Asia, has reportedly said Samsung "strategically declined" to supply his company with the AMOLED displays that had featured in 2010's brilliant HTC Desire handset. According to the Focus Taiwan report, Tong accused Samsung of using components as a "competitive weapon" to sabotage companies it sees as a threat to its market-leading position in Android devices. "We found that key component supply can be used as a competitive weapon," he said. Keeping it localTong said that since Samsung's change of heart, HTC and other Taiwanese companies such as Acer and Asus have sought to keep mobile component makers working in the country to ensure a good supply. He also said those companies are attempting to persuade foreign parts manufacturers to relocate to Taiwan in order to lower manufacturing costs. The report follows plenty of speculation that Apple is actively looking to move away from Samsung as a content supplier as a result of the pair's endless legal battles. TechRadar asked HTC for further comment and will update this story if and when a response is forthcoming.     | | Motorola's next hero phone is called the Moto X, look for it by October May 29th 2013, 23:21 
X did mark the spot: Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside announced today that the company's new "hero" handset will be called the Moto X. Woodside, speaking at the AllThingsD D11 conference, uttered the name of the device, putting to bed the rumors Moto had an criss-cross handset cooking. This will be the first major product to come out of Motorola since Google purchased the company last year. In fact, the device is already out in the wild...sort of. "It's in my pocket, but I can't show it to you," Woodside teased. Android head Sundar Pichair has apparently laid eyes on the device, though Woodside assured the company doesn't use its proximity to mobile OS to gain an unfair advantage. Halloween hauntThe Moto X will be built in the same Texas plant where Nokia handsets used to come to life. Seventy percent of the handset will be built on U.S. soil, making it the first smartphone built in the country, Woodside said. It will be broadly distributed, Woodside noted, though just which carriers plan to plant a flag in the X is still obviously unknown. And the hero phone isn't all: Woodside said that people should expect a "handful" of new Motorola handsets by October. Besides tempting us to pick his pocket, Woodside revealed that the Moto X will house a number of tightly integrated sensors that will, for example, cause the handset to act differently if a car is traveling 60 miles per hour, allowing for safer user interaction. "It anticipates my needs," the CEO said of the Moto X's sensory powers, according to ATD's live blog. The device will also draw little power, Woodside noted, and we expect now since the cat is out of the bag, we'll hear much more on this X phone soon.     | | Super slim Huawei Ascend P6 looks to be a June 18 arrival May 29th 2013, 20:29 
Huawei took to Facebook today to confirm that the super slim Ascend P6 Android phone will be officially unveiled on June 18. "On June 18th, Huawei will unleash an intimate experience to consumers," reads a post on Huawei's official Facebook page with a close-up photo of the Ascend P6. The June 18 date was previously teased when Huawei Device Chairman Richard Yu posted on the Chinese microblogging service Sina Weibo that the Ascend P6 will be revealed during a London event that day. This is the first confirmation we've seen that the P6 will be present at that event, though. Bragging rightsHuawei used the social media site to brag about the Ascend P6's signature feature - thinness. "We do everything to the fullest," the Chinese company wrote. "The Huawei Ascend P6 challenges all phones to be the thinnest, smallest, and one of the most compact smart phones with a screen that can rival its competitors. "Care to guess how large the screen to body ratio is?" it added. We've no idea, but the 6.2mm-thin phone will be the slimmest on the market when it debuts. Its rumored specs include a 4.7-inch HD display, 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, a 5MP camera and Android Jelly Bean.     | | Facebook Home's road to success will be a marathon, not a sprint May 29th 2013, 20:15 
Facebook may be one of the most dominant social networks of all time, but the company has struggled to find its footing beyond the confines of the world wide web. With Facebook Home, Zuckerberg and crew seemed poised to finally make a big splash on smartphones that could expand the network's outreach on mobile devices. It's strange to think of Facebook Home having 1 million users being a bit of a disappointment, but when you consider more than 1 billion members utilize Facebook globally, the disparity is hard to ignore. That doesn't seem to bother the executives at the social network though, as they see the adoption and growth of Facebook Home as a long haul effort. Homeward boundSpeaking at the D: All Things D conference on Wednesday, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg talked a bit about the network's vision for Home. "I think it will be a long road. [The smartphone is] an incredibly powerful device and social device," Sandberg said. "We believe that the phone will get re-organized around people - Home is the first iteration of that." Home hasn't exactly set the world on fire, and even though its available on a myriad of Android devices like the HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4 and the dismally received (at least in retail) HTC First. Even those who have been brave enough to make the jump to Home have a fair share of complaints, but Sandberg promised those voices are being heard. "We consider [Home] a v.1, a very early version," Sandberg said. "We would love if we could put out a v.1 version and get everything right." Home is supposed to be updated monthly, and time will tell if Sandberg and the rest of the Facebook team are right in believing Home has what it takes to survive amidst the rapidly changing smartphone landscape.     | | Don't expect new iPad or iPhone at WWDC, says top Apple blogger May 29th 2013, 19:38 
A top Apple blog predicted today that Apple will not reveal a new iPhone or iPad at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June. "The important thing to remember about WWDC is that it is a developer conference," The Loop wrote. The event is Apple's annual opportunity to catch developers up on the company's software plans for the next year. As such it's expected to focus on announcements concerning OS X and iOS 7. "[The iPhone and iPad] are Apple's flagship products and they demand separate events," the site continued. "Entire industries watch these products because they shape what will happen in the mobile space. They are that important." How about a new Mac?While The Loop predicted that WWDC 2013 will focus on iOS 7 and changes to OS X, the blog also suggested that a new Mac announcement is not out of the question. "The Mac is still an important part of what Apple does, but I don't know that Apple would hold a special event specifically for a Mac product anymore," the site wrote. "If they did, it would have to be quite a spectacular product." OS upgrades incomingThere may be some big changes headed to Apple's mobile OS with the impending reveal of iOS 7. English designer Jony Ive is known to be redesigning iOS, and his input could result in a massive overhaul. Then again, it could remain largely the same - we'll have to wait until it's revealed to find out. Meanwhile, just because the iPhone 5S and iPad 5 won't be revealed at WWDC doesn't mean they aren't coming eventually—Apple is just staying secretive for now, like it always does. Who knows, maybe all these predictions are wrong and we will see a new iPhone and iPad next month.     | | Wicked fast: Verizon's Galaxy S4 will jump on quicker LTE spectrum May 29th 2013, 17:21 
Sure, you can buy a Samsung Galaxy S4 from any major U.S. carrier, but how many of them can promise you'll have an even faster data connection in just a few short months? If you answered Verizon, give yourself a pat on the back. Bloomberg reported this week that the first Verizon handset to take advantage of its forthcoming network upgrade also happens to be its latest arrival, the Galaxy S4. Although the Advance Wireless Service (AWS) upgrade won't arrive for a few months, the S4 Verizon began shipping last week and has been built to take advantage of the additional spectrum, which will be activated through a software update. Once applied, the update will allow the Galaxy S4 to more than double existing 4G LTE speeds wherever AWS spectrum is available. Speeding into the futureAccording to Verizon Vice President of Network Support Mike Haberman, LTE traffic is expected to grow by six to seven times over the next three years - volume which the carrier is preparing for today. The required network upgrade is already underway, utilizing AWS-compatible spectrum acquired in a deal last year with Comcast and other cable providers. AWS will first arrive in major cities like New York in the next few months, by which time the existing Samsung Galaxy S4 will be joined by handsets from other manufacturers. Now available from Verizon Wireless for $199.99 with a two-year agreement, the Galaxy S4 has shipped more than 10 million units since its introduction in late April. - Heard about the Galaxy S4 Mini? There's some new specs out for the tinier handset
    | | Leaked Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini specs hold a nice surprise May 29th 2013, 14:10 
We're expecting Samsung to lift the lid on the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini box at its June 20 event, but as for the specifics inside, most of it has been a lot of guess work until now. Now German blog All About Samsung claims the Galaxy S4 Mini will be powered by a 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor. We'd previously heard that the Mini would arrive with a Snapdragon S4 processor, so if true, this is good news. The diminutive device will also have 1.5GB of RAM with a 8-megapixel rear camera, 2.1-megapixel snapper on the front, and a 540 x 960p qHD resolution display. We're also expecting the S4 Mini to arrive with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. Nice and snappyOf course, the Mini won't be as beefy as the older S4, but we're still impressed with that Samsung will be packing into the phone if these benchmark results are true. The 4.3-inch phone appeared on Samsung's official apps page a few days ago, pretty much confirming its existence. Alongside the Mini, we're also expecting Samsung to drop a larger handset, with a leaked render appearing to show the whole family side by side.     | |
No comments:
Post a Comment