| Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to slim down on design, bulk RAM up to 3GB? Jul 3rd 2013, 13:24, by Hugh Langley 
We can expect a slimmer design but a fair bit more power in the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, according to a few new morsels of information that have surfaced. The Note 3 will apparently measure just 8mm thick and weigh in at 183g, which is slimmer than but about the same weight as the Galaxy Note 2. The 3GB of RAM had been mentioned previously, although some sources had claimed that the Galaxy Note 3 would land with 2GB of RAM on the 3G version and only sport the 3GB on the LTE model. But we're now hearing that both versions – or just the one depending on your country - will come with the 3GB of RAM inside. And it's not galaxies awayAt the start of this week we heard that the Galaxy Note 3 is gearing up for September 4 unveiling, which, by no coincidence, is the first media preview day of IFA 2013. As far as the other specs go, we're anticipating the handset to rock a bigger display, somewhere around the 5.9-inch mark. It's also rumoured to pack a Galaxy S4-style octa-core chip.     |  | EE's double speed 4G hits UK tomorrow, shared plans land July 17 Jul 3rd 2013, 09:20, by John McCann 
EE has announced that it's switching on its double speed 4G network in 12 UK cities on July 4, giving consumers a theoretical top speed of 150Mbps. In reality, however, users are unlikely to see that kind of speed on their smartphones, with EE revealing customers can expect speeds around 24 - 30Mbps on average. This additional grunt is being provided at no extra cost and, according to EE, current 4G users can expect to see download times for apps, games, movies and so on halved. If you're hankering for some double speed goodness from your 4G EE contract then you'll need to make sure you're in one of the following cities: Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Derby, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield. That coverage, EE claims, means that from July 4, 24 per cent of the UK population will be covered by its double speed 4G network. Sharing's caringWe heard a few weeks ago about EE's plans for double speed 4G, at which point it also mentioned it would be bringing shared 4G plans in - although information was scarce. Well now we know that you'll be able to pick up a shared 4G plan from July 17 over at EE, and these are aimed at families, couples and individuals with multiple devices. A family can have up to five people on one shared plan, with everyone getting unlimited calls and texts while data is shared from one central pot. An additional data SIM can be added for just £5, while family members/a loved one will cost an extra £12 per month each on a SIM-only deal, or £22 per month if they want a 4G handset thrown in too. All charges are collated into one central bill, you can choose up to 20GB of shared data in the contract, and extra data can be purchased - which may be required if you're putting your children onto the shared plan. It's clear that EE is ramping up its 4G efforts ahead of its rivals O2, Three and Vodafone launching their LTE services in the coming months, but we'll have to wait and see if it's done enough to stay on top. Shared Plans aren't the only service EE is launching on July 17, with its mobile and fibre broadband packages also coming online at the same time - the latter of which sports the UK's first AC-enabled wireless router for improved signal around the home.   | | Red Bull Mobile to exit Australian market Jul 3rd 2013, 03:53, by Farrha Khan 
Red Bull Mobile's flugtag has lost its wings and is about to crash in Australia - though slowly, and not quite dramatically. The mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is seemingly exiting the Australian market, announcing on its homepage that it will no longer be signing up new customers. "As of 1st July 2013, new customers will no longer be able to purchase pre-paid or post-paid tariff plans from Red Bull Mobile," the company posted on its website. "Red Bull Mobile will continue to service existing customers until the customer's current recharge or contract expires," it said. It added that these customers will still have access to all of Red Bull Mobile benefits up until the end of their contract or recharge as well, including access to its mobile portal, tickets to events and merchandise. MV-NO moreThe Red Bull branded MVNO launched less than two years ago, using Vodafone's network and offering competitive postpaid and prepaid plans. Its 365-day plan, which required a one-off fee of $365 for unlimited calls and 5GB of data a month for the year, means that Red Bull Mobile may finish up servicing its last customers up until mid-next year at the latest. As to why the company decided to pull out of the Aussie MVNO market, it only had this to say on its website: "With the prevalence of 'open' mobile platforms in Australia, Red Bull is taking this opportunity to focus its marketing efforts on existing and future digital assets to allow an even greater number of consumers to access the World of Red Bull through their own mobile device." But while Red Bull Mobile's run of energy will be going the way of Crazy John's (another Vodafone MVNO that shut down in February), Kogan Mobile, Boost Mobile and Aldi Mobile have launched their own MVNO flugtags just this past year. Via: LifeHacker     | | ACMA announces new international mobile roaming standard for Australia Jul 3rd 2013, 01:08, by Farrha Khan 
For Australians, travelling to another country could really spell disaster if you decide to use international roaming, with stories and complaints of bill shock on a steep and pricey rise. Complaints about global roaming charges soared by almost 70 per cent in 2011-2012, according to a report by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, while the proportion of disputed amounts above $5000 doubled in a year to over 10 per cent. In August last year, former Communications Minister Stephen Conroy tasked the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to implement a new mobile roaming standard for Australians telcos. Today, the ACMA revealed the new International Mobile Roaming (IMR) standard, which is to be implemented by all Australian telcos by September 2013, while resellers will be given until May 2016 for some of the items in the standard. According to ACMA Chairman Chris Chapman, the new standard extends "the information that suppliers must make available to Australian consumers under the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code". "They will now receive similar information when they travel overseas and use roaming services," he said. The four key protectionsStarting from 27 September, SMS notification will need to be sent to consumers when they arrive overseas to warn them that significantly higher charges for roaming services may apply. An SMS will also be sent to customers with pricing information for using roaming services, which includes those that would normally be free when back at home, such as receiving a call. Telcos will also need to provide customers a way to stop international roaming, at low cost and at any time, including from an overseas location. The IMR standard also requires spend management tools for customers, including notifications at "$100 increments for data usage and notifications at 50, 85 and 100 per cent of included value" if the customer has purchased a travel package. The ACMA has also supplied a time frame for the implementation of the new IMR standard for telcos. Roaming rip-off "Forewarned is certainly a major part of being forearmed," Chapman said. "These new measures will help consumers travelling with their mobile phone to be much better equipped than ever before to avoid travel bill shock." The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) has welcomed the standard, but ACCAN spokesman Asher Moses believes that more needs to be done to end the "roaming rip-off". "Consumers have been gouged on roaming for far too long," said Moses. "The standard will not solve the underlying problem, which is that global roaming charges are still way too high and do not come close to reflecting the true cost of providing the service." "The excuse from providers that they are simply passing on the costs from international carriers is not convincing, as virtually zero transparency is provided as to how such exorbitant fees are derived," he added. The bilateral roamingIn 2011, an OECD report found Australia's international data roaming charges to be about $12 per megabyte, according to ACCAN in its statement, which places the prices as the third highest in the world behind Japan and Chile. ACCAN cited the recent Trans-Tasman roaming agreement between the Australian and New Zealand governments where both governments acknowledged that roaming prices were out of control. The governments committed to pass legislation that would have potentially capped roaming charges between the countries, such as has been implemented in the European Union starting from Monday, but the legislation wasn't passed in time for the last parliamentary hearing in Australia. "ACCAN would like to see similar bilateral agreements between Australia and other nations to help reduce gross over-charging on roaming," it said in the statement.     | | Motorola wants YOU to design the Moto X, touts device's homegrown cred Jul 2nd 2013, 21:04, by Chris Smith 
Motorola has hinted buyers will be able to customise the design and hardware specs of the still mysterious Moto X handset in a new advert scheduled to appear in U.S. newspapers over the 4th of July holiday. In a new ad, revealed by AdAge, the company promises the device will be "the first smartphone you can design yourself" while boasting that the handset will be assembled on home soil in the United States. Within the full-page ad, the company teases Moto X is "coming soon" and that "users should have the freedom to design the things in life to be as unique as you are." What Google-owned Moto means by 'design yourself' isn't exactly clear yet, but earlier this year Google advisor Guy Kawasaki did (sort of) suggest the device could be personalised like a Porsche sports car. FutTv : 6E8RqMr77E5TQPhones are like shoesIn real world terms, that may mean users could choose colour options, build materials, extra memory, processing power and a wealth of other variables usually determined for them by the manufacturer. In an interview with AdAge, Moto's Motorola's Vice president of Global Brand and Product Marketing Brian Wallace said it was about time those decisions were put back into the hands of the consumer. Without revealing which elements would be customisable, Wallace said: "Smartphones are very different than other tech products a consumer owns. "They're closer to shoes or a watch. You carry it with you everywhere you go. Everyone sees what phone you're carrying and they judge you on it. Yet, it's the one thing you carry that's the least customisable." USA! USA! USA!The ad, which will appear in the July 3 edition of the New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post is nothing if not patriotic. "Imagine what it'll be like when you have the world's best design, engineering and manufacturing talent here in the U.S.," the company purred. "Some people said it couldn't be done. But we're not just any company. And nothing this exciting ever comes easily." The ad is also the first time we've seen Moto's new Googley logo in any form of public communications.     | | MediaTek might launch a low-cost, actual octa-core processor this year Jul 2nd 2013, 20:12, by Lbrown 
Samsung might not be the only manufacturer in the eight-core processor game for much longer, if new reports are to be believed. According to a leaked company roadmap uncovered by Sina Weibo, MediaTek is fast-tracking development of its own octa-core chip, which it hopes will be ready by November of this year. Though Samsung's Exynos 5 Octa does indeed feature eight processor cores, only four are ever active at once. Based on the reports about MediaTek's new Cortex-A7 MT6592, all eight of the processors will truly work in unison, and at a lower cost to boot. Eight is enoughTaiwanese site UDN first picked up on the Cortex-A7 MT6592, which it reported will run at 2GHz, and has already been shown to several potential MediaTek clients in the past week. The chip purportedly scored a 30,000 using AnTuTu's benchmarking, which puts it behind Qualcomm's quad-core 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800. MediaTek's chip, however, is believed to cost quite a bit less. MediaTek is supposedly planning to use TSMC's 28nm manufacturing process starting in November, with the first phones using the octa-core processor due to arrive in early 2014, around the Chinese New Year. The Taiwanese company is also believed to be ramping up its 4G LTE compatibility alongside its new chip, as a separate UDN report revealed more than a 100 new jobs had opened up at MediaTek last month. Quad-core coming too?The octa-core MT6592 might not be the only new processor coming from MediaTek this year either, as the company appears to be readying a quad-core version, too. The leaked company documents uncovered named a 1.7GHz MT6588 quad-core processor as arriving in Q4 as well, though it sounds like more of a faster upgrade of the existing MT6589 chip than an off-shoot of the MT6592. While more details on the MT6592 are sparse at this time, those same docs did reveal the octa-core processor would be able to decode 1080p video at 30fps. What's more, both of the new chips are purportedly compatible with the upcoming quad-core 1.3GHz MT6582, which should help keep the costs down on the later-arriving chips. MediaTek's MT6290 LTE modem will also be compatible with all three of the chips, which bodes well for the company's plans to finally delve into faster cellular space. Even if MediaTek's new chips aren't quite as powerful as Qualcomm's offerings, the value incentive may be enough to sway some Chinese manufacturers to the cheaper processors. With Sony already reportedly on board with MediaTek for its upcoming C3 smartphone, there's no telling which others will follow suit.     | | Blip: HTC ships the One S off to no more updates land Jul 2nd 2013, 17:05, by Michelle Fitzsimmons 
HTC can't seem to stop showering the love on its flagship One, what with the whole Nexus version and all, but another phone is being pushed to the has-been bin. The company confirmed today that its mid-range, 2012-released One S will stay stuck on Android 4.1, never seeing Android 4.2 and beyond, or Sense 5. "We can confirm that the HTC One S will not receive further Android OS updates and will remain on the current version of Android and HTC Sense," a spokesperson said in a statement. "We realize this news will be met with disappointment by some, but our customers should feel confident that we have designed the HTC One S to be optimized with our amazing camera and audio experiences." For further quasi-consolation, HTC offered that the ROM community will be able to build out "their favorite ROMs for the One S," while the One X is still on track for updates. More blips!We're waiting on FDA approval, but we're pretty convinced a few blips a day keeps the doctor away.     | | Port authority: 'Honami' camera app features hop onto current Xperias Jul 2nd 2013, 16:45, by JR Bookwalter 
Honami, Honami, Honami. Shoot, we were hoping that would manifest Sony's purported next flagship, a.k.a. the Xperia i1, but until the spell works we can at least have a look at some of the phone's camera app features. Thanks to an enterprising hacker and a post on Xperia Blog, we have a glimpse at the snapper functions that could very well take advantage of Honami's rumored 20MP lens. XDA-Developers member krabappel2548 cooked up the mod that ports Honami's shutterbug features onto the Xperia Z, Xperia ZL and Xperia Tablet Z. New features include AR-effect, or augmented reality mode, Info-eye for visual search and Time shift, which allows users to choose the best photo out of a series of shots taken at the same time. 
Modders onlyThe leaked Honami build also includes higher resolution image processing and a number of user interface improvements aimed at the probable next-gen Sony flagship. Full instructions on how to port the Honami camera app to current Xperia devices are available on the XDA-Developers forum, but as always, this mod isn't for the faint of heart. 
Krabappel2548 did wrap everything up with a tidy bow, so if you're already adept as flashing Android devices, this one should be a breeze. Fair warning: The Honami mod replaces the built-in camera app from existing devices, so proceed at your own risk - or better yet, just sit tight and see if Sony releases these goodies in a future update instead.     | | Updated: iPhone 6 release date, news and rumours Jul 1st 2013, 14:40, by Dan Grabham 
When Apple unveiled the iPhone 5, the reaction was a bit muted: where previous phones were massive leaps forward, the iPhone 5 was a bit longer and a lot easier to scratch. So what can we expect from the next iPhone, the iPhone 6 or 5S? Let's see what we can glean from the varying sources of the internet - some reliable, some not so much. But when might the iPhone 6 release date even be? One thing is for sure, with the release of such super handsets as the Samsung Galaxy S4, Sony Xperia Z and HTC One, the next iPhone will have to seriously up its game. iPhone 6 and the iPhone 5S are two different phonesThe rumour mill doesn't seem too sure whether the next iPhone is going to be the iPhone 5S or the iPhone 6. Given the iPhone's history - from the 3G onwards, there's always been a half-step S model before the next numbered iPhone - we'd bet on an iPhone 5S first and an iPhone 6 a while later. However, in May 2013 Stuff reported it received a photo of the till system at a Vodafone UK store (which it has since removed along with the reference to Vodafone), with '4G iPhone 6' listed. Interesting. It's been suggested that there could even be three size variants of the new iPhone - check out these mocked up images by artist Peter Zigich. He calls the handsets iPhone 6 Mini, iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 XL. Could we see both an iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 this year? Some reports suggest a new 5S in the middle part of the year before a revamped iPhone 6 towards the end of the year or very early in 2014. FutTv : k5C7uNPo0LkauiPhone 6 release dateMany pundits predict a summer iPhone 6 release date. It's quite likely that Apple is moving to a two-phones-per-year upgrade cycle, but we'd bet on a springtime 5S model and a bigger, iPhone 6, update in the Autumn, probably September. Digitimes reckons predicts a summertime reveal for Apple's next generation phones, which again fits with a WWDC unveiling. In May it became clear that US carrier Verizon introduced an iPhone 5 price cut of as much as $100 USD. Reports in April also suggested that Foxconn has added as many as 10,000 assembly line workers per week to its Zhengzhou plant as it readies itself for the iPhone 6 release date. But Jefferies analyst Peter Misek reckons we'll see an iPhone 5S first, with a June 2014 release for the iPhone 6. Citi's Glen Yeung also believes that we won't see an iPhone 6 or cheap iPhone until 2014. 
iPhone 6 casingMultiple rumours say Apple's working on plastic cases for its next iPhone, mixing plastic and metal in such a way that "the internal metal parts [are] able to be seen from outside through special design." Could these images from Apple.pro be a new iPhone 6 complete with plastic casing? The cynic inside us says no, but you never know... It's unclear whether such cases would be for the iPhone 5S or iPhone 6, or if Apple is simply considering making cheaper iPhone 4s to sell when the iPhone 3GS reaches the end of its life. Speaking in March 2013, a KGI analyst said it believed Apple would turn to manufacturer Pegatron to make up to 75 per cent of low cost iPhone products. Indeed, rumours in early June 2013 pointed at a $399 price point for the cheap iPhone 6. 
The iPhone 6 will finally do NFCThat's what iDownloadblog reckons, quoting Jefferies analyst Peter Misek: it'll have a better battery too, he says. Many Android phones now boast NFC. PayPal's chief information security officer, Michael Barrett said this during a recent keynote speech: "There is going to be a fingerprint enabled phone on the market later this year," he said. "Not just one, multiple." Could this be inside the iPhone 6? See our video below on what Apple needs to do to slay Samsung's Galaxy S4 FutTv : 92l21W4GmvvIdThe iPhone 6 will run iOS 7 iOS 7 has been announced at WWDC 2013. It's a radical overhaul of the OS, especially in terms of the design which has fundamentally changed and is far flatter and more Android-like. There are rounded icons, striking colours and a stark font. There are new features, of course, such as Control Center, AirDrop and iTunes Radio. We're expecting a September or October release date for iOS 7 in line with previous releases. 
iPhone 6 storageWe've already seen a 128GB iPad, so why not a 128GB iPhone 6? Yes, it'll cost a fortune, but high-spending early adopters love this stuff. iPhone 6 home buttonAccording to Business Insider, of the many iPhone 6 prototypes Apple has made, one has a giant Retina+ IGZO display and a "new form factor with no home button. Gesture control is also possibly included" - more on that shortly. Mind you, it was mooted that Apple would dump the home button in time for iPhone 5, but it never happened. iPhone 6 screenThe Retina+ Sharp IGZO display, would have a 1080p Full HD resolution. It's also been widely reported that Apple could introduce two handset sizes as it seeks to compete with the plethora of Android devices now on the market. Take this one with a pinch of salt, because China Times isn't always right: it reckons the codename iPhone Math, which may be a mistranslation of iPhone+, will have a 4.8-inch display. The same report suggests that Apple will release multiple handsets throughout the year over and above the iPhone 5S and 6, which seems a bit far-fetched to us. Patents show that Apple has been thinking about magical morphing technology that can hide sensors and even cameras. Will it make it into the iPhone 6? Probably not. Could the touch screen even be transparent? Emirates 24/7 sin't the first source we'd turn to for bone fide rumours about a new smartphone, but it claims that an ultra-sensitive transparent touchscreen will make it into iPhone 6. The site also believes the display will be made by Sharp, which wouldn't be so surprising. One thing's for sure - a potential wraparound screen is probably a pipedream. Jefferies analyst Peter Misek also says he believes the new iPhone will have a bigger screen. Different sizes also seem rather likely to us - the word on the street after WWDC 2013 was that there would be 4.7 and 5.7-inch versions. 
iPhone 6 processorNot a huge surprise, this one: the current processor is a dual-core A6, and the next one will be a quad-core A7. The big sell here is more power with better efficiency, which should help battery life. Expect to see it in the 2013 iPad first, and expect to see an improved A6 processor, the A6X, in the iPhone 5S. iPhone 6 cameraApple's bought camera sensors from Sony before, and this year we're going to see a new, 13-megapixel sensor that takes up less room without compromising image quality. An Apple patent, uncovered by Apple Insider in May 2013, shows a system where an iPhone can remotely control other illuminating devices - extra flashes. It would work in a similar manner to that seen in professional photography studios. Interesting stuff. 
iPhone 6 eye trackingOne thing seems certain - Apple can't ignore the massive movement towards eye-tracking tech from other vendors, especially Samsung. It seems a shoe-in that Apple will deliver some kind of motion tech within the next iPhone, probably from uMoove. The new iPhone will have better 4G LTEOn its UK launch, just one UK network had 4G LTE: Everything Everywhere, which currently offers 4G on the 1800MHz band. In 2013, all the other big names will be coming on board, offering 4G in other frequency bands. International iPhones already work across different 4G bands to the UK, so you can expect the UK iPhone 6 (and possibly the iPhone 5S) to be more promiscuous than the iPhone 5. By the time the iPhone 6 emerges, iOS devices should also have "nonclassified communication approval" status from the US FCC, which means they won't need to go through a lengthy approval process. iPhone 6 Wi-Fi may be 802.11acApple likes to lead Wi-Fi standards adoption - its Airport really helped make Wi-Fi mainstream - and there's a good chance we'll see ultra-fast 802.11ac Wi-Fi in Apple kit this year. It's faster than Lighting, and not very frightening. iPhone 6 wireless chargingWireless charging still isn't mainstream. Could Apple help give it a push? CP Tech reports that Apple has filed a patent for efficient wireless charging, but then again Apple has filed patents for pretty much anything imaginable. The tasty bit of this particular patent is that Apple's tech wouldn't just charge one device, but multiple ones. Here are more details on the iPhone 6 wireless charging patent. Meanwhile, a further Apple patent seems to imply that future iPhones will be able to adjust volume as you move them away from your ear. And could the iPhone 6 really have 3D? It's unlikely, but the rumours keep on coming.   | |
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