| Report: Microsoft plotted Surface phone in case Nokia failed with Windows Phone Sep 14th 2013, 11:49, by Chris Smith 
Microsoft built several Surface phone prototypes to safeguard against a Nokia Lumia Windows Phone failure, according to reports on Friday. The software and devices giant developed the handsets as a back-up plan if Nokia proved unable to produce the goods with its early Lumia devices. However, that scheme was put on the back burner, according to The Verge, as Nokia's handsets lived up to expectations and it became apparent that an acquisition might be in the pipeline. Nokia aside, the company has struggled to convince other manufacturers to dedicate significant support for Windows Phone as the likes of HTC, LG and Samsung focus on better-selling Android offerings. What if?The reports surfaced on the same day it was claimed Nokia experimented with the Android OS, before deciding to throw its eggs into the Windows Phone basket. The New York Times reported that the Finnish company has tested Android on an existing Lumia device and claimed the task of porting the OS to its existing was not "herculean." The revelations leave Nokia hardware fans - and probably some shareholders - wondering what might have been if the company had pulled the trigger on its Android experiment. You'd have to think, with Nokia's vastly superior hardware design history, it may have wiped the floor with the plastic-fantastic galaxy offerings from Samsung. Unfortunately, we'll never know.        |  | Microsoft fires another iPhone barb and guess what? This one's actually funny Sep 14th 2013, 11:11, by Chris Smith 
Making fun of Apple is approaching shooting-fish-in-a-barrel territory for the company's rivals, but in a break from the norm, Microsoft's latest effort is actually kind of humorous. Who'd have thunk it? The clever, two-minute parody video does a pretty decent job of taking the mickey out of Apple's newly-launched iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S handsets, in a fly-on-the-wall style video. The clip features a "presentation" from fake Apple staff, pitching the merits (or lack thereof) of the new handsets, mocking the colour scheme, "unashamedly" plastic materials and Touch ID fingerprint sensor. The killer line? "And you know what the beauty part is? We can charge whatever we want, bro!" Time to switch?The video, which has been taken down by Microsoft, probably by design, continues to exist on YouTube ends with the hastag #timetoswitch. It's by no means the first time Microsoft has assumed the position as chief Apple agitator, it's recent Windows 8 vs iPad commercials have had their moments too. Will it encourage people to switch in the same way Samsung's Next Big Thing commercials managed to make Apple seem uncool? You can enjoy the latest clip below. YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avO5FXj7K-c       | | Fix for HTC One camera issues coming with Android 4.3 update Sep 14th 2013, 09:46, by Chris Smith 
HTC has pledged to resolve an issue with the HTC One's Ultrapixel camera that causes photos to be tinted with red, purple or blue, when photos are shot in low-light conditions. The Taiwanese company says it is working on the issue, experienced by a not-insignificant number of HTC One owners and will roll-out the solution when it releases Android Jelly Bean 4.3 for the handset. "My problem is that in night shots and very low light scenes, the camera turns the black into blue (or red in very very dark scenes)," one affected user posted on HTC's support forum. In a recent poll, reported by Ubergizmo, 323 out of 388 surveyed users revealed they were experiencing such problems with the camera. Help is on the wayCurrently, HTC is advising users to reduce the ISO levels to lessen the impact of the flaw, or return their handset and receive a replacement. In a statement obtained by Italian blog HDBlog.it, HTC said: "We recently received isolated reports of a purple colour that appears on the images taken with HTC One. After examining the internal relations, we are planning a software update that will improve the contrasts of colour in low light conditions. "As we work to improve this aspect of the user experience, we would like to thank our customers for their patience. In the meantime, if you are experiencing this issue, we ask you to contact our customer service for assistance." There's still no word on exactly when the company will drop the Android 4.3 update, so now might be as good as any to freshen up your HTC One handset.        | | If only: Nokia Android phone reportedly tested before Microsoft buyout Sep 13th 2013, 23:43, by Matt Swider 
Prospects of a Nokia Android phone are no more now that Microsoft has scooped up Nokia's handset division for $7.2 billion (about £4.5b, AU$7.8b). However, there was a time that the Windows Phone partner was actively working on an Android Lumia smartphone, according to The New York Times. According to the report, the long-desired combination of Nokia's hardware with Google's operating system was being handled by a team within the company that had Android running on a Lumia handset. Worst of all for those who have had this "if only" fantasy, it wouldn't have been all that hard for the company to start using Google's interface and apps on Nokia's phone. Porting Android to the Nokia Lumia was not a "Herculean" task, according to the paper's sources. Nokia's Android escape podNokia's test run of Android on a Lumia smartphone happened before negotiations began with Microsoft, reports the Times, citing two anonymous sources. It was seen as a "plan B," as Nokia's original partnership with Microsoft allowed the Finnish company to exit at the end of 2014. While Microsoft was said to be aware of the Nokia Android project, it wasn't part of the discussions between the two companies, noted another confidential source. Now Nokia can't make the switch from Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 platform still in its infancy to Google's much more popular Android operating system. That's good for Microsoft because Nokia accounts for 80% of Windows Phone sales, far surpassing other WP8 handset makers like HTC and Samsung. Nokia fans who prefer Android, however, are left wondering how the company's stellar hardware would have performed in conjunction with the world's No. 1 mobile operating system.        | | Been there, done that: Dell rules out return to smartphones Sep 13th 2013, 21:20, by Chris Smith 
When the Dell Streak smartphone arrived in 2010, it was looked on as the black sheep of the Android world. After all, who wants a 5-inch Android phone? Well, quite a lot of people as it turned out. While the Streak may have been ahead of its time in foreseeing a future where smartphone users would clamour for extra display real estate, Dell currently has no desire re-enter the game. The CEO of the soon-to-be-privately-owned company bluntly informed CNBC today: "We're not getting in the mobile phone business." He continued: "Every time a new mobile company gets born, they need servers and infrastructure and storage. Companies need to protect and secure their data on these mobile devices." Bruising battleDell's comments make clear the company has other plans to profit from the ever-growing reliance on mobile products, without taking the monetary risk of launching standalone devices. Dell is set to regain near-full control of the company he founded, following a bruising year-long battle to buy it back from shareholders, for $24.9 billion (about £15.7b, AU$26.9b). A stockholder vote this week approved the deal meaning, once ratified, Dell will come out with 75% ownership of the computing giant. The private-equity firm Silver Lake will also have a minority stake.        | | Nexus 5, Android KitKat debut on Oct. 14 sounds sweet but require grains of salt Sep 13th 2013, 20:14, by Matt Swider 
KitKat bars may be on your mind all October long, as Android 4.4 KitKat along with the Nexus 5 phone are rumored to be announced on Oct. 14, a little more than two weeks ahead of Halloween. Google has yet to confirm the Android 4.4 features list or release date outside of "October." However, anonymous tipsters are trying to fill in the blanks, indicating that the firmware update is destined for both newer and older phones, according to Ausdroid. The site's sources are also saying that there's a new notifications widget on the way along with fresh animations, APIs, and gallery visualization tweaks. This report, if true, would be excellently timed pre-Halloween buzz for KitKat-maker and new Google promotional partner Nestle. Nexus 5 on Oct. 14, too?The Oct. 14 announcement would also be good news for owners of the last phone that Google designed, the LTE-less Nexus 4. That's because the LG Nexus 5 is supposed to be a seven-band LTE device that supports the higher data speeds its otherwise stellar predecessor lacked. This bit of information comes from recent a FCC filing for a phone with the codename D820. Photos in the documents match the supposedly leaked mysterious Nexus phone seen during the unveiling of the KitKat statue on Google's lawn. The filing also points to a smartphone with a roughly 5-inch display (measured to be 4.96 inches in the FCC report) and a Qualcomm Snapdragon System-on-a-Chip. While the FCC documents point to hard evidence of a incoming smartphone that looks and sounds a lot like the Nexus 5, the KitKat and phone's release date, as sweet as it is, should be taken with a grain of salt.        | | HTC One Max fingerprint scanner spotted for zillionth time Sep 13th 2013, 18:44, by Michelle Fitzsimmons 
If you're over all the iPhone 5S/iPhone 5C hoopla and looking for a non-iOS handset to sink your teeth into, look no further. In a pair of new images, we have what's supposedly a prototype of the HTC One Max, the larger follow-up to the HTC One. Clearly visible on the back is the same square, thought to be a fingerprint scanner, that's appeared in previous leaks. Thanks to Chinese-language social site Weibo (via mobileleaks.nl, translation needed), the possible One Max is situated between two regular Ones, looking large enough to gobble up its predecessor. The Max here is referred to as a prototype by the source, though it matches with photos we've seen before. We'd be amazed if HTC altered the Max's look to completely different than the popular One, though it could reposition (or nix) the fingerprint reader. 
HTC One Max specsIf HTC fashions a fingerprint scanner to the rumored phablet, it would join the iPhone 5S as the latest phone to feature the print-reading tech. As part of its iPhone 5S announcement, Apple revealed a new feature called Touch ID located inside the new iPhone's home button. Touch ID replaces a passcode in unlocking the 5S and makes it easier to conduct iTunes Store purchases. What the Max's fingerprint reader is capable of, if it's real, is far from known, but we're likely to see some similar features. As for the rest of the phone, most expect a Snapdragon 800 2.3GHz processor, 5.9-inch Full HD screen and 2GB of RAM. Look for UltaPixel camera tech, 16GB of internal storage and a 3300mAh battery. The rumored device could feature Android 4.3, too.        | | iPhone 5S online orders kick off at 12:01 a.m. PT on Sept. 20 Sep 13th 2013, 16:39, by JR Bookwalter 
Jealous your friends are all pre-ordering the iPhone 5C today while you're left twiddling your thumbs, iPhone 5S hopefuls? Turn that frown upside down, because Apple has now confirmed an exact time you'll be able to buy that swanky new 5S. Apple issued one of its traditional emails to customers early Friday to herald the arrival of the iPhone 5C, which can now be pre-ordered from its online store starting at $99 with a two-year agreement (SIM-free £469/AU$739) in your choice of five colors and two storage capacities, 16GB or 32GB. But tucked away at the bottom of the email is the news eager iPhone 5S buyers have been waiting for: The flagship device goes on sale in the U.S. Apple Online Store beginning at 12:01 a.m. PT next Friday, Sept. 20. For those who would rather roll into an Apple retail store instead of waiting by their computer, the doors will swing open at 8 a.m. local time the same day, although if history has taught us anything, it's likely to be a typical launch day madhouse. It's a dateWhile Apple hasn't yet confirmed a launch day time for other parts of the world, the iPhone 5S will also roll out to Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the United Kingdom. For our readers in Australia, the on-sale time for the U.S. online store corresponds to 5:01 p.m. Melbourne time, while across the pond in London it's 8:01 a.m. local time. In the U.S., the iPhone 5S starts at $199 with a two-year agreement or $649 unlocked for 16GB, while a comparable unlocked model in the U.K. and Australia is priced at £549 and $869, respectively. Last but not least, the iPhone 5S is available in your choice of silver, space gray or a new gold finish and will also be available from select Apple resellers including carrier partners in the 10 launch countries.        | | Interview: Forget smartwatches - wearable tech is going elsewhere Sep 13th 2013, 15:15, by John McCann 
Smartwatches are the talk of the town at the moment with the recent arrival of the Samsung Galaxy Gear, Qualcomm Toq and Nissan's Nismo Watch, but E Ink reckons they've all got it wrong. TechRadar spent some time talking to E Ink's Director of Product Management, Giovanni Mancini, who explained where the current crop are going wrong and where the future of wearable tech lies. "Some of the smartwatches so far have been panned because they give the user something else worry about without offering any additional functionality," he told us. "We believe smartwatches will only really take off when they deliver functionality which is unique to a capability." The weight issueSmartwatches need a screen and they need a battery to power said screen, and therefore there's already a significant amount of weight on the wrist before you start popping everything together. The main smartwatches around at the moment are using LCD displays which are relatively weighty, not the most slender and require a larger battery pack - and this is something E Ink thinks it can solve. "E Ink displays (which are black and white, not colour) enable a lightweight device which doesn't require significant battery or the weight of a LCD screen," Mancini explained. "The way to think about wearable is not 'how do I duplicate the display of the smartphone on my wearable device.' One size doesn't fit all"The smartphone provides a platform which gives you a significant amount of compute power and a high level of connectivity. This means wearable devices need to be more along the lines of having sensors in them that will provide unique capability. "You can then take advantage of the smartphone as a computer engine to provide information for later processing." Mancini suggests that instead of having a smartwatch, you instead have a device aimed at a specific area, such as exercise, to provide you relevant information on that activity. "That information then can be offloaded into your smartphone, either because you need it to do additional computing while you're exercising, or you want your phone to capture the information and make it available online," he said. The Human Network"Essentially what you then have is a series of devices which are then specialised. Think about it more of you becoming a human network as opposed to a smartwatch which is basically a smartphone with a smaller screen." Perhaps smartwatches are purely just a halfway house in the wearable tech life cycle, and if we're honest we can't see too many people dropping big bucks on such a device after shelling out a similar amount for a smartphone. At the end of the day it comes down to do you actually want information delivered to you from your mobile via another device, or can we all just live with the fact we'll need to fish our phone out of a pocket if we want an update?        | | Updated: iPhone 5C release date: where can I get it? Sep 13th 2013, 10:48, by Kate Solomon 
After months of guesswork, the iPhone 5C is official and it's basically an iPhone 5 in plastic coating. But that won't stop you (or perhaps your kids) wanting one when you see the colourful array of finishes the handset comes in - green! yellow! white! pink! etc. The good news is that there isn't long to wait: the iPhone 5C release date is September 20 while pre-orders opened on September 13. We've had a quiet word with all the networks to find out who's stocking what. Let's do this: - But wait! First decide if the new handset is worth your money with our hands on iPhone 5C review
EEYes, EE will be stocking the iPhone 5C and it will be running on its 4G network and you can pre-order it now, but there's not sign of a free handset on the 12 or 24 month contracts. If you want to shell out the least amount of cash up front then you'll need to commit to paying EE at least £46 per month over two years, netting you 10GB of data and an initial payment of just £9.99 for the 16GB iPhone 5C. EE "recommends" its £36 per month 24 month contract, which gives you 1.5GB of data, but requires £69.99 up front, unless you want the 32GB variant in which case it reckons the £41 per month tariff with 2GB of data and £109.99 up front. If you're not that bothered about 4G, or can't afford the premium cost EE is also offering 3G contracts via its T-Mobile and Orange arms, with the best of the bunch being the £32 per month everything unlimited tariff from T-Mobile with the iPhone 5C setting you back £89.99. VodafoneThe iPhone 5C pre-order machine is also up and running over at Vodafone with 4G and 3G price plans for you to choose from. If you commit by October 31 you'll get 4GB of extra data on the listed allowances below. Unlike EE you can get hold of a free 16GB iPhone 5C on a two year 4G contract, although you'll be paying either £47 (with 4GB of data) or £52 (with 8GB of data) every month. The only other two year 4G option is £42 a month tariff which requires you to pay £19 for the handset. As we've mentioned 3G tariffs are also on the cards here starting at £29 per month, although you'll have to pay £149 up front for the iPhone 5C. ThreeThere's no free iPhone 5C on offer over at Three, nor does the network boast a 4G network for now (it's arriving in December), but the big pull here is the all-you-can-eat data tariffs. You get just three choices of tariffs on Three's 3G network which all require £49 up front, with the £37 per month two year deal providing unlimited data, 5000 texts and 500 minutes while the top billing £41 per month plan gives you 2000 minutes and 5000 Three-to-Three minutes. It looks like we will be getting a PAYG option for the 5C on Three, but it's currently listed as "out of stock", and there's no price on display. O2There's a little bit of an issue if you're looking to get the iPhone 5C on O2, as its 4G network won't actually support the phone from the off. That doesn't mean the bubbly network won't be stocking the 5C though, with the handset hitting shelves at the same time as its rivals. On the 4G tariffs side of things the iPhone 5C falls under O2's Refresh programme, which splits airtime and handset cost - allowing you to switch handsets part way through your two year deal without disrupting your airtime. You ca get the iPhone 5C on 4G for free, but once again you'll need to splash £47 a month and you'll only get 1GB of data, which isn't particularly amazing. No sign of any PAYG or SIM-free offers though. AppleIf you're ready to shell out £469 for the 16GB iPhone 5C or £549 for the 32GB model off-contract, you can buy directly from Apple.   | |
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