Review TechRadar: Phone and communications news 02-11-2014

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Even Apple can't afford to equip iPhone 6 with a sapphire crystal display Feb 11th 2014, 14:06, by James Rogerson Just before the weekend it was uncovered that Apple was preparing to build large quantities of sapphire crystal displays. This followed a patent filing which described the use of an extra-resilient material on the iPhone screen, so the natural assumption was that we'd see a sapphire crystal clad iPhone 6. Unfortunately it doesn't look like that will be the case, as Chinese site MyDrivers is citing sources from Taiwan's industrial chain as saying that it's unlikely the iPhone 6 will have a sapphire crystal screen. That's not for lack of trying as apparently there are already prototypes of the device that are rocking a sapphire display, but according to the unnamed sources the production capacity is too low and the costs too high. It's not all bad news though as the same sources claim that Apple's iWatch will have a sapphire crystal display instead. Tougher than a gorilla Apple is no stranger to sapphire crystal as it already uses the super-strong material to cover the fingerprint reader on the iPhone 5S as well as for its camera lens, but making the move to displays is a big step and it could mean the end of scratched and shattered screens as sapphire crystal is substantially more resilient than Gorilla Glass. Unfortunately it's also around ten times more expensive, so it's no wonder Apple is struggling to keep the costs down. That's not to say that future iPhone's won't use it, but it doesn't look likely that it will appear in the iPhone 6's screen. If you can't wait any longer for a handset with a sapphire crystal screen though you're in luck, as the Vertu Ti has one and it can be yours for around £6,700. Gorilla Glass is the current favorite for screen protection. Head on through to find out how it works. Blip: It's your fault that Flappy Bird is dead Feb 11th 2014, 12:19, by Kate Solomon You. It's your fault that Flappy Bird is gone. You took something that was meant as a quick five minute distraction, and you turned it into a rage-inducing competition to see who could waste the most time. "I just wanted to create a game that people could enjoy for a few minutes," creator Nguyen Ha Dong told the WSJ. "It was just too addictive, that was the main negative. So I took it down." You couldn't just settle for a high score of zero, could you. THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS. More blips! Siri just became really, really human-like Aliens called, it wants its Power Loader exosuit back Xbox Kinect is keeping the peace on the Korean border The LG G2 Mini seems to be having an identity crisis Feb 11th 2014, 10:18, by James Rogerson A phone that might well be the LG G2 Mini has popped up on not one, but two websites, and despite having 'Mini' in the name it could actually be pretty big. First up a device with the model name LG D6218 (thought to be one of the G2 Mini's model numbers) is listed on the FCC's database. The listing states that it's 65.8mm wide and 128.8mm tall, which would mean it's only slightly smaller than the LG G2 and gives it almost identical dimensions to the LG Optimus L9 II, a phone which has a 4.7-inch display. The FCC listing doesn't say much else, though it does mention that the handset will have a removable battery. The LG G2 Mini also seems to have appeared on Bluetooth Special Interest Group's website. This time it has the model number D6220, but both are thought to be the G2 mini. The listing is even less enlightening than the FCC one, but with the handset popping up on both these sites it's likely to be launched before long. Big is the new small We'd heard initially that the LG G2 Mini might be as big as 4.7 inches and if true it would be the same size as the HTC One and substantially bigger than the 4.3-inch Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini or Sony Xperia Z1 Compact. Previous rumors also point to it running Android 4.4 and having a Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM, which could give it a similar amount of power to the LG G2. In other words the LG G2 Mini looks to be a big, powerful, high-end handset. If that all turns out to be true then LG might want to rethink the name. We might see the LG G2 Mini at MWC. Check out what else is on the agenda. Samsung invite hints at new fitness and privacy features for the Galaxy S5 Feb 11th 2014, 10:08, by Hugh Langley It feels like the Samsung Galaxy S5 rumors are coming in by the minute, but the clues on Samsung's latest official teaser are perhaps most telling of all. The company has tweeted a new MWC invitation adorned with nine colorful, labeled icons, with Speed, Privacy and Fitness catching our eye in particular. It's no surprise to see Samsung pushing a new focus on fitness in its upcoming smartphone, especially as the S5 is also believed to be arriving hand in hand with the Galaxy Gear 2. Five alive As for privacy, there's been endless back-and-forth speculation about whether the S5 will have some sort of fingerprint and/or retina scanner. The latest rumor is that the entire screen may actually be a fingerprint scanner. However we're a bit more doubtful about that eye scanner as there's a good chance Samsung isn't quite ready to roll out the technology just yet. Seeing speed on there is no surprise - the S5 is expected to be faster than the S4 - but that white bolt could be hinting at camera speed specifically. The teaser may also hint at the new Touchwiz design. Is this what Samsung meant when it promised the S5 would be going "back to basics"? All will be revealed at MWC in Barcelona, February 24 and we'll be there to deliver the news as it breaks. Everything else you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S5. iTunes Radio comes to Australia Feb 10th 2014, 20:22, by Chris Smith and Farrha Khan Apple's iTunes Radio service is now officially available in Australia, marking the first time the customised radio service has been available outside of the United States. The company announced the availability of the new service on devices running iOS 7, as well as set top boxes, PCs and Macs with the latest version of iTunes. The internet radio service, which rivals similar offerings from Spotify, Pandora, Rdio and more, rolled out in the US on September 2013 alongside the launch of iOS 7. It allows users to create ad-supported, free radio stations based on songs and artists, as well as access stations created by Apple and guest musicians. There's also "first listens" where albums from the likes of Eminem have made debuts and gives users the opportunity to add songs to an iTunes wishlist where they can be purchased to own. Down Under love Since Apple launched iTunes Radio in the United States, users have patiently waited for the international roll out. There have been a few false starts, with the service becoming briefly available to a few iTunes users in the UK and Canada in recent weeks. While this makes it a little surprising that Australia is the first to receive the service outside of the US, Apple said that it will launch later in 100 countries, including the UK, Canada and New Zealand. Users can download the iTunes Radio app from the App Store, and Apple has said customers that subscribe to the iTunes Match cloud music storage service, which costs $34.99 annually, will get iTunes Radio ad-free. Google's "I'm Feeling Lucky" Radio looking to take the fight to iTunes Radio. It's another Apple vs Google showdown. Nokia 'Normandy' Android phone to launch at MWC sans signs of Google? Feb 10th 2014, 19:53, by Michael Rougeau The Nokia "Normandy," the long-rumored Nokia Android phone, looks squared away for an official reveal at MWC 2014. Normandy will also be released this month, the Wall Street Journal reports. While it's good news for 'droid lovers, apparently Normandy will be specially tailored so that some Google features won't be promoted as heavily as they might be on a traditional Android phone - you know, one not made by a company now owned by Microsoft. That means no Google Play Store, and the Normandy will instead feature a selection of apps created by Nokia and Microsoft, like Here maps and Mix Radio, plus a Nokia app store full of Android apps, the Journal's sources said. Let's be practical Nokia has long been focused on Windows Phone, but its work on an Android handset has been rumored for months. The Normandy's debut at MWC has even been touched on before. However, ever since Microsoft picked up the Finnish phone maker for $7.4 billion (about £4.4 billion, AU$7.9 billion) in 2013, the Nokia Android phone's fate has presumably been up in the air. Considering it was never officially announced to begin with, it seemed Microsoft could put its foot down at any time and cancel it altogether. But the WSJ report says Nokia's engineers were working on the Android phone long before Microsoft began conducting due diligence leading up to the purchase, and the Windows company will reportedly let Normandy continue all the way to retail. The apparent reason for that? Pragmatism. If the phone is debuting in a matter of weeks, then the legwork was likely completed months ago, and Microsoft would likely rather make some money off of it - even if it does run Android - then scrap it entirely and throw away all of Nokia's hard work. Speaking of Android, here's everything we know about the Samsung Galaxy S5. First quad-core, then octa-core? BlackBerry processor ambitions revealed Feb 10th 2014, 19:15, by klee A rumored Blackberry phone codenamed Ontario has whipped by in a leaked benchmark, though a speedier device demon may be waiting in the wings. According to a Geekbench Browser test, Ontario is set to run BlackBerry 10.3, sport a quad-core 2.15GHz Snapdragon 800 processor and 2GB of RAM. The last BlackBerry flagship, the Z10, only ran a dual-core chip. As BlackBerry has previously announced, it doesn't have plans to leave the smartphone business, and it's inked a deal with Foxconn to produce cheaper handsets. The manufacturing contract agreement would have the Chinese company create devices while BlackBerry supplied the software. BlackBerry to go octa-core? N4BB has it on the authority of sources that BlackBerry plans to use a 2.3GHz Snapdragon MSM8974 quad-core Krait processor in Ontario. The phone is part of its O-series, and the site claimed the MSM8974 will also appear in its W-series (or QWERTY) phones and B-series (all touch). It's a fine chip, but N4BB sources also say that BlackBerry plans to utilize the Snapdragon MSM8994 in a device due in 2015. The MSM8994 is built on the 20nm HKMG process, and boasts an octa-core, 64-bit architecture. The high-end chip also features an Adreno 430 GPU, 1600MHz 4GB RAM LPDDR3 PoP and cores that can hit frequencies of 2.5GHz with 4MB L2 cache. It's no guarantee the 64-bit device or Ontario will ever come to market, especially if BlackBerry decides its resources may be better spent elsewhere. However, we'll keep an ear to the ground. The LG G Pro 2 might jump the MWC 2014 gun for an earlier showing. Huawei's first smartwatch is a go for MWC 2014 Feb 10th 2014, 17:50, by JR Bookwalter At the rate Apple is going, it may very well be the last maker of consumer electronics to introduce a smartwatch now that a hardware maker from China is readying its own device set to unveil later this month. The Wall Street Journal's Digits blog has the word that Huawei is preparing to enter the smartwatch scene during this year's Mobile World Congress, which kicks off in Barcelona, Spain on February 24. A Huawei spokeswoman declined to elaborate on details of the company's smartwatch plans. She also stayed tight lipped on a new smartphone and two new tablets that are also set to be shown at MWC. One thing's for sure however - the smartphone Huawei plans to announce won't be a sequel to the Ascend P6. Instead, the company will hold a separate launch event for its next-generation flagship handset. Tick-tock The burgeoning smartwatch market continues to make headlines, with Sony, Pebble, Samsung and others duking it out amidst rumors that Apple will soon jump into the fray with its own Bluetooth-connected wearable for the wrist. Although Huawei is ranked third behind Samsung and Apple as a major player in the global smartphone market, the Chinese vendor has little brand recognition for anything but networking gear outside its home turf. Huawei took the wraps off a video game console called the Tron at last month's CES, but now plans to follow rival Chinese manufacturer ZTE into the wearables market. Ironically, smartwatches appear to be a "market" in name only thus far: Canalys recently claimed a mere 500,000 such devices would ship globally last year, but expected that figure to mushroom to five million in 2014 - assuming major players like Apple, Google and Microsoft decide to join in. Get a glimpse of what the Samsung Galaxy S5 might have in store for us! Updated: Android 4.4 KitKat release date: when can I get it? Feb 10th 2014, 17:24, by Thomas Thorn If you hadn't heard Android 4.4 KitKat is out in the wild on the Google Nexus 5, where have you been? It's been over 3 months since the launch of KitKat, leaving many owners wondering when their handset is set to get the update. Unfortunately with different OEMs all adding their own skins and networks having to certify these updates, the roll out of any new Android OS is less than smooth. With MWC 2014 just around the corner we might be set to see a whole glut of update announcements but here's our guide to what handsets can currently get their hands on the chocolatey goodness, those set for the new software and those that will miss out. If you're wondering about the next generation of Android handsets that will run KitKat, we've seen* the Galaxy S5 running it through a leaked* video. (*not seen, not leaked. This is TechRadar's concept for Samsung's next flagship). YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4reayg4Suc Hopefully we will see the latest Android update land on a much wider range of devices this time, with KitKat supporting devices with as little as 512MB RAM. This will mean we should see it on new budget devices, and we can hold a little hope that older budget handsets will get a refresh - although it's unlikely manufacturers will revisit their older, cheaper smartphones. Read our Android 4.4 KitKat review We have been in contact with various manufacturers to get a feel for their update cycles, and we will continue to update this article as news trickles in, so keep your eyes peeled. Here's our guide to whether or not you're going to get the update to Google's latest iteration of Android, and when those updates should land. Google Nexus Android is Google's mobile OS, so the Android 4.4 KitKat update was always bound to land on certain Nexus devices. Unfortunately, the word 'certain' is key. Google is only supporting the Nexus 4, Nexus 7 (both editions) and Nexus 10, with the updates for the tablets now finally here - although shorn of the Google Experience launcher, which seems to be something to do with the larger devices being unable to handle the transparent bar at the bottom of the screen. This is taking a while though - not everyone has got the update yet, but it is rolling out slowly, so stay tuned to the 'System updates' section of your menu to see when it arrives. The certain devices getting the KitKat update also include the Play editions of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One, but not the Samsung-made Galaxy Nexus. Reasons touted are that it doesn't fit in Google's 18-month update window, and that Texas Instruments no longer make mobile chips, so is unable to provide support. Samsung Updated: Samsung has outlined a few handsets that it will be pushing to the new level of software, but as expected the OS update is being pushed out to its latest flagships first. Both the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Samsung Galaxy S4 are currently receiving the updates in Poland and South Korea, with other territories currently being prepped to receive KitKat. With any luck it shouldn't be too long until the update is passed over to the rest of globe. Alongside these flagships other devices set to receive the update sometime in the coming months include the Galaxy S3, Galaxy S3 Mini, Galaxy Note 8.0, Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy Mega. Both the Galaxy S4 Zoom and Galaxy S4 Active are also set, as well as the Galaxy Tab 3 7.0. HTC Updated: According to HTC's official update page (UK, US), all UK models of the HTC One, One Mini and One Max are in the integration stage meaning networks have yet to get their hands on the software to certify it. Its a different story in the US where the unlocked, developer edition, Google Play edition as well as Sprint and Verizon branded handsets have all received the updates. AT&T, T-Mobile are still running their own test. Owners of the HTC One Max on Verizon should also be in line soon as the carrier is in testing, with Sprint still awaiting the updated OS from HTC. AT&T are also waiting for HTC to pass on the update for the One Mini. Older handsets including the One X and One X+ will miss out on the update - although we're keeping an eye on that one, as things can change... don't hold your breath though. Sony Updated: Sony has confirmed that Android 4.4 KitKat will be coming to the Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia Tablet Z, Xperia Z Ultra, Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z1 Compact although there is currently no word on exactly when this is going to happen. Current rumours put Sony's KitKat launch towards the end of February or the beginning of March. LG Updated: The good news is that the LG G2 Android 4.4 KitKat update is real. Given that LG built the past two Nexus devices, we were a little hopeful. The bad news is that there is still no official word on when we are likely to see the update although current rumours have it pegged to land before the end of March. Rumours surrounding the LG G Pad 8.3 also have tablet set to receive the update making the jump direct from Android 4.1. Motorola Updated: Owners of the European Moto G have been able to the Android 4.4 KitKat update since mid-January. In the US those that purchased the budget handset through Amazon, direct from Motorola or on Boost will also be able to gain the download. Android 4.4 KitKat is also available from launch in the UK on the Moto X, with US owners now also able to grab the download. Other handsets in the US are also receiving the KitKat update including Verizon's Droid Ultra, Droid Maxx, and Droid Mini. In line for the update but without any time frame includes AT&T's Atrix HD, US Cellular's Electrify M and Verizon's Razr HD and Razr Maxx HD. Over in Australia updates are a little more sparse. Currently the Motorola Razr HD is listed for updating with the decision on the Razr M having yet to be made. Huawei When it comes to devices, Huawei may be famed for its budget offerings. This sometimes means that software updates can be a little hard to come by. The Huawei Ascend P2 and Ascend P6 both have a lot to shout about, though, so we might well see Huawei Android 4.4 KitKat with the Emotion UI landing on both devices. Updated: According to the Huawei Ascend P6 Facebook page the handset started receiving the update to Android 4.4 KitKat in January. ZTE Alongside Huawei, its Chinese compatriot ZTE is another firm famed for lower end devices. Both the cheaper quad-core ZTE Blade V, now on the market toting 1GB RAM, as well as the 512MB RAM ZTE Blade 3, both technically support KitKat. Although ZTE currently has no word on planned updates, we could see an Android 4.4 KitKat upgrade land on these devices if there proves to be enough of a clamour. Acer Acer isn't necessarily a brand that many will associate with Google's mobile OS, however it does have a few devices out there running Android software. With tablets such as the Iconia A1, and Liquid branded smartphones like the Acer Liquid S1, we might well see some Android 4.4 KitKat update love being shared to the Taiwanese firm's devices. As with every other manufacturer, we have contacted Acer to find out more.

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