| Samsung Galaxy Note 4 specs suggest it's all about QHD Jun 20th 2014, 15:07, by Chris Smith 
It's still more than two months before the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is likely to make its official bow at IFA 2014, but by that point there'll be little left to tell. In the latest leak, the fourth-generation phablet appears to have taken a little tour of the AnTuTu benchmarking suite and kindly left its specs exposed for us all to get a good gawp at. The tests reveal two variants: a quad-core Snapdragon 805 version an Adrendo 420 GPU, and another with an octo-core Exynos 5433 (the newest version of the SoC) processor, ARM Mali-T760 GPU combo. That appears to be where the inconsistencies end. The benchmarking tests re-emphasise reports claiming there'll be a 2,560 x 1,440 QHD display - thought to be 5.7 inches, although not revealed within these tests. What about that curve?The info dump also shows 3GB of RAM, 32GB internal memory, a 16-megapixel camera and a 3.6-megapixel front facing snapper. Of course, Android 4.4.3 KitKat will also be on board. Something that isn't mentioned within the benchmarking tests is the device's form factor. Samsung is expected by many to unleash a version of the Note 4 rocking a curved display. So, that's at least one thing we're going to have to wait a little bit longer to find out about.        |  | Fighting Talk: iOS 8: Apple needs to innovate Jun 20th 2014, 13:00, by Phil Lavelle 
When I watched the iOS 8 announcement, it was with a sense of bemusement, sadness and only the occasional 'that's nice' moments popping up in my head. It's digested now, having had enough time to ferment in that vacant space I refer to as my brain. The jury's in - and it's not overwhelmed. While the general consensus is the new platform is a good enough change, the iOS 8 announcement left me cold. I'd waited for signs of a revolution, one that would delete the mistakes of iOS 7 - but they never came. Quite simply, the feeling for me was that Apple has run out of ideas. Before we go any further, NO. I am not a secret Google spy. Yes, I am running an iPhone but I had to jailbreak it to be able to enjoy it. I'm not a biased fanboy. But I just couldn't see anything there to make me jump out of my seat. And I really wanted to. Active notifications! Purleease! Shortcuts to call most used contacts? Widgets (sort of)! This is so last year to the jailbreakers. And it just highlights Apple's problems - it's just doing what the competition has been up to for years. 
Steve Jobs famously referred to Android as a stolen product (whilst forgetting the drag down notification centre wasn't entirely his invention) but everywhere I look in iOS 8, I see things that the jailbreakers have been offering for years. There's no acknowledgement that it needs the jailbreakers - not just to be the bogeymen to Geniuses everywhere, but to keep its creative juices flowing. They'll be designing the damn iPhone next! And let's not get started on poor WhatsApp - which has seen a few of its selling points pinched. Not that we feel sorry for Facebook after it opened its wallet and dropped a few billion on the service. But that's hardly the point. Don't get me wrong - there were some things in that unveiling that really are great. Continuity, for example. That will be brilliant in day to day use. Homekit and Healthkit have potential, but nothing that will excite me for a while yet. It's hardly up there with Steve Jobs' Keynote back in 2007. Apple's share price didn't rocket as iOS 8 was announced - and there's a good reason for that. Sure, I'll probably download iOS 8 come the autumn like everyone else. But I won't stay up all night to do it and smile sweetly when my 90% download falls down and forces me to start again. I'll give it as much priority as watering the plants. And that says it all. - Read all the iOS 8 news and rumours and see if you agree with Phil.
       | | Android 4.4.4 update sneaks out with tightened security Jun 20th 2014, 11:46, by John McCann 
Just a couple of weeks after Google started to push out its Android 4.4.3 update it's already following up with another in the form of Android 4.4.4 KitKat. Hitting the search giant's Nexus devices first, owners of the Nexus 5 can expect the over the air (OTA) update to land on their devices very soon after XDA forum members noticed the new software. By the looks of things it's just the Nexus 5 getting the 4.4.4 treatment at the moment and our in-office Nexus 7 is yet to receive the update, so you may need a little patience. You can expect the 4.4.4 update to also come to the Nexus 4, 7 and 10 in due course. This is a small software update which doesn't bring any major new features or changes, with a Google employee revealing it mainly contains a few security patches.        | | Nokia wants to make you green with envy on June 24 Jun 20th 2014, 10:26, by John McCann 
Head over to the Nokia Conversations blog right now and you'll spy a cryptic post sporting a teasing green countdown timer and the simple headline "Green with envy." We're also treated to the words "Summer brings out our inner glow… stay tuned to Conversations to find out what we've got in store." It's not giving a great deal away then, but we can have an educated guess at a couple of things Nokia might have in store for us. The most obvious thing to pick up on here is the abundance of green - when Nokia launched the Android-driven Nokia X range it turned its Facebook page green for the day. There could, therefore, be a new Android based device waiting in the wings, although we haven't seen any major rumours surrounding one. Lumia 930 and 635?Of course Nokia also loves loud colours on its Windows Phone, Lumia range and something we know that's on the way is the flagship Nokia Lumia 930. It's expected to land before the end of July, so Tuesday's announcement could signal its arrival in stores. We're also still waiting on the 4G-enabled, budget focussed Nokia Lumia 635 to show its face in stores - so perhaps we're in for a double handset whammy. We contacted Nokia for more information, but a spokesperson said the firm had no comment on the post. Oh, you tease.        | | Week in Tech: Week in Tech: Amazon sets fire to phone market, 3D is saved and Nexus nixed Jun 20th 2014, 10:10, by TechRadar 
In years to come, we'll tell our children that Amazon wasn't always the only company on earth - and they'll laugh at us, and make goofy faces when they think we're not looking. Jeff Bezos's latest step towards total world domination is an Amazon-powered phone, but is it good enough to rival iPhone 6? And will there even be a Nexus 6 for it to face off against? If only there was a fact-filled weekly missive that could answer those questions and more. Hang on! There is! It's here! It's Week in Tech! Amazon: resistance is useless!We've had Fire tablets. We've had Fire TV. Guess what Amazon's new smartphone is called? It's the Amazon Fire Phone. The key USP leaked ages ago - we knew it would use multiple cameras and head tracking to create a glasses-free 3D interface, which so far seems limited to interesting lock screens and some fun map-related tomfoolery. But the Fire also includes Firefly, a camera- and mic-based recognition system that's designed to let you scan or listen to anything in the world and immediately buy it on Amazon. You can see why Amazon might want that. Will potential smartphone buyers? We suspect that depends on whether developers embrace the SDK to make their own Firefly-enabled services. Let's talk about 6, babyThe closer we get to the iPhone 6 launch, the more the leaks move from "unlikely and probably entirely made up" to "man, Tim Cook's going to be annoyed by that one." The rumoured sapphire displays are indeed coming, it seems, but they're only coming to the larger, 5.5-inch iPhone 6; the 4.7-incher is getting Gorilla Glass and a significantly lower price tag. The ETA is still September. Shot vs chatIt's the battle of the century, a genuine clash of the titans. In the red corner it's Snapchat, king of messaging in this crazy mixed-up world of ours. In the blue, Facebook, everybody's favourite potentially Orwellian social network with its new Slingshot app. The battle? Social image sharing. As Nick Pino explains, Facebook wants to "shoot Snapchat out of the sky" - but Snapchat is a moving target. How's that "don't be evil" thing working out?"Nice fanbase you've got there, Google appears to be saying. Shame if something happened to it." That's Gary Marshall's interpretation of the spat between Google and indie record labels, with the big G threatening to boot them off YouTube if they don't agree to join its imminent streaming music service. With both Google and Amazon playing hardball with suppliers, Marshall fears "streaming firms refusing to carry particular artists' products if they don't do what the streaming service says… Fancy being held to ransom by Jeff Bezos or Sergey Brin?" IMAX - the saviour of 3D?3D has something of a mixed reputation, largely because it's often rubbish - so hurrah for IMAX, which promises to revolutionise 3D and provide "a thrill ride that audiences haven't seen before." The secret? A fabby new 65mm 4K 3D camera that promises to transform 3D movie making. You'll be able to see the first results in Transformers: Age of Extinction, although sadly the camera can't do anything to improve scripts. Football - the saviour of TV?Good news for footie fans and and haters alike: the World Cup is helping decide the very future of TV. Over to you, Gareth Beavis: from the first colour game in 1970, "the World Cup has been a constant proving ground for new technology that affect the way we watch TV every day." 4K World Cup footage will be delivered to retailers to help showcase the tech, and if that helps drive 4K adoption that will in turn encourage more 4K content. In the meantime, there's always 4K Breaking Bad on Netflix. Let's all do the robotHands up who thought Nike had abandoned Android? Us too, so it's all the more surprising to see the arrival of a FuelBand app for Android 4.3 and above - a whole two years after the FuelBand first went on sale. If athletes took the same approach we'd still be waiting for the 2012 Olympics to finish. No 6 please, says GoogleHands up who thinks LG will make the Nexus 6? LG's hand is conspicuous by its absence, because Google hasn't asked it to make the next-gen Nexus. That doesn't mean the Nexus 6 won't happen - as Hugh Langley points out, HTC is apparently making the Nexus 8 tablet, so Google may have given it the 6 too - but the Android Silver leaks do suggest that the Nexus's days may be numbered. - Google's might have gone cold on LG, but we still love the Nexus 5
       | | Vodafone giving customers free data this weekend, apologises for network issues Jun 19th 2014, 23:11, by Farrha Khan 
Starting midnight tonight, June 20, to 3am Monday June 23, all Vodafone customers will have unlimited data access that won't count against their allowance. Vodafone is hoping this "free weekend of data" will make up for network problems that had been affecting call, SMS and data service across the nation on Thursday, June 19. "We know our customers had a less than perfect network experience today and we want them to know we're sorry," said Vodafone's Chief Technology Officer Benoit Hanssen in a statement sent out last night. "Our team is proud of our network. That's why we want to say sorry by giving them what we know they value the most – data – so they are free to surf, tweet, post, stream, download, click and play without limits." TransparencyBefore launching its 4G network and its new Red plans last year, Vodafone had been shedding customers by the droves due to network capacity problems across the nation from about 2010. Former CEO Bill Morrow had admitted that Vodafone had dropped the ball, but it has since been working on gaining back customer trust. Faced with network issues yesterday, the telco was quick to send out a statement yesterday to explain what had happened. "At approximately 11.00am (AEST) services across Western Australia were impacted by a transmission network failure. As Hanssen's network team was restoring services at approximately 1.00pm (AEST), problems occurred which had an impact on the network nationally. Some customers experienced issues with call, SMS and data services," Vodafone explained. Services were restored nationally by 4.10pm (AEST) yesterday, though data services weren't restored in Western Australia until 6.30pm (AEST). Vodafone is currently investigating the cause of the network failure. "Our only priority today was restoring full network services to all customers as soon as possible." Hanssen said. "While no mobile network in the world can guarantee it will never experience occasional issues, we're working to ensure it doesn't happen again."   | | Meet BlackBerry's square screened handset, the Passport Jun 19th 2014, 22:50, by Kevin Lee 
Earlier this month we spotted a BlackBerry with a square screen rumored to be Windermere and despite all disbelief, this oddly proportioned device will be one of the Canadian company's new handset next year. The squarely proportioned handset appeared in BlackBerry's latest financial results presentation labeled the Passport. According to the presentation the Blackberry Passport will feature a 4.5-inch 1440 x 1440 resolution display that's as square as an Instagram photo. This isn't the company's first square screened device - BlackBerry has already released the BlackBerry Q10. That said, the Passport will be significantly be wider at 3.18-inches, which is even wider than the pocket busting 3.12-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 3 even though the Passport has a much shorter screen. What's more, an accompanying photo shows the handset will have BlackBerry's shortest keyboard yet featuring only three rows of physical buttons. The Passport also appeared along two other handsets named the Z3 and Classic. Windermere is comingUp until now the BlackBerry Passport has been rumored with the code name Windermere and it could potentially be BlackBerry's most Innovative smartphone yet. Previous rumors have said the Passport's keyboard is capacitive making it usable as a touchscreen surface, perhaps to make up for the handset's short and stout screen. Internally, the Passport is said to be packing a quad-core Snapdragon MSM8974 processor backed by an Adreno 330 GPU and 3GB of RAM. The phone will also supposedly be powered by a 3,450mAh battery. If BlackBerry truly plans to release the Passport next year, it could be a while before we see the phone officially announced. Until then, stay tuned to this space as we report on any more BlackBerry oddities that leak out. - Apple's also planning to change up the screen on the iPhone 6
Via SlashGear        | | Add a barometer to the list of rumored iPhone 6 sensors Jun 19th 2014, 19:49, by Michael Rougeau 
Apple might be preparing the perfect storm of wearables, health apps and smartphone sensors for its fall line-up. The latest rumor claims the iPhone 6 will have a barometer/air pressure sensor, making it useful for mountain climbing, hiking and a whole bunch of other intensive activities you will probably never actually use it for. Developers discovered hints about the possibility of an iPhone 6 barometer in iOS 8 and the latest version of Xcode 6, which reportedly have new APIs that refer to hardware-based altitude measuring capabilities. With help from these developers, 9to5Mac tested the API in question on the iPhone 5S and received a negative result, indicating that the feature will likely be launched on future iOS devices. A first time for everythingIn addition the site discovered references to ambient pressure tracking capabilities in iOS 8, lending more credence to these assumptions. Barometers, which measure air pressure, temperature and other weather-related data, are already found in several Android devices. But the iPhone 6 would be the first Apple gadget to have one. However all these features could easily be rolled into the iOS compass app to make it less useless. Combined with the rumored iWatch and the HealthKit features arriving in iOS 8 in the fall, Apple's ecosystem of devices could soon comprise the perfect arsenal for daredevils and adrenaline junkies.        | | Windows Phone 8.1 will have its very own anti-theft kill switch Jun 19th 2014, 19:15, by klee 
Anti-theft features are coming to handsets everywhere and now Microsoft plans on adding some of its own for Windows Phone 8.1 users. The Windows-maker has posted a blog story detailing its plans to include anti-theft features in a forthcoming update, which will prevent thieves from using stolen devices. In April, Microsoft signed on to the CTIA's Smartphone Anti-Theft Voluntary Commitment, and now the Redmond company promised a Find My Phone feature for Windows Phone 8.1 will come before the CTIA's scheduled goal of July 2015. Lock it upIt's a long time before the new feature will show up, but once available, Microsoft claims the tool will allow users to remotely erase personal data on their smartphone. Addtionally users will be able to lock up the device, rendering it useless except for making calls to 911 and other emergency numbers. Once made inoperable, the device can only be reactivated with the original owner's authorization. If the user is lucky enough to get their device back, Microsoft also says users can restore their handsets using data stored in the cloud. Hands off!Anti-theft isn't just a good idea; its become a proven asset at lowering smartphone thefts. Since the introduction of iCloud Activation Lock for Apple's iOS 7 devices, the London police have noted a 24% decline in iPhone thefts. In San Francisco, there's been a 38% drop. Microsoft isn't the only party interested in anti-theft features. Also in April, it was joined by an alliance of device manufacturers including Samsung, Google, HTC, Nokia, Motorola and Huawei who all signed the same afformentioned CTIA commitment.        | | Windows Phone earns a ticket to the BBM party in July Jun 19th 2014, 18:32, by Michael Rougeau 
Android and iOS won't be alone at the BlackBerry Messenger party anymore come July, when BBM will launch for Windows Phone devices. After BlackBerry launched BBM for iOS and Android in 2013 it was only a matter of time before the messaging service arrived on WP as well, and the company confirmed in February that it would arrive this year. Now BlackBerry CEO John Chen has informed the public that BBM for Windows Phone will in fact arrive in July. Four's a crowdChen dropped the news on an earnings call Thursday morning, CrackBerry reports. Windows Phone will be the fourth platform to host BBM, after BlackBerry 10, iOS and Android. The most recent advancement on the iOS and Android side was the addition of free calling among BBM users. However, it's unclear at this point what features will be available in the WP version when it arrives next month. We've asked BlackBerry for some more details about BBM for Windows Phone, and we'll update here if we receive any.        | |
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