| Is Moto's rumoured 5.9-inch Shamu phone the great white hope for the Nexus range? Jul 27th 2014, 12:52, by Chris Smith 
The new Nexus phone, the fabled Nexus 6, could be built by Motorola, according to rumours published this weekend. Android Police has received information from sources claiming a new 5.9-inch Nexus phone is on the way, which is currently codenamed Shamu. The site's sources says the device will also have a fingerprint sensor and will go on sale in November, shortly after the expected iPhone 6 launch. If the device comes to fruition, it is likely to be launched alongside the rumoured HTC Volantis, an 8.9-inch tablet also revealed by the site last month. Both devices would surely arrive to pioneer the new Android L software, which is currently under development. Nexus or Nixed?The future of the Nexus range has been the subject of heavy speculation for much of 2014. First LG, a long time Google partner, said it wouldn't be working on any Nexus devices in future. Then there was an assumption the home-brewed range would be supplanted by the Android Silver initiative. However, during a session at Google I/O last month, Android chief Dave Burke claimed there was still more to come from the Nexus line. Starting with Shamu and Volantis later this year perhaps?        |  | In Depth: Galaxy F, Galaxy Alpha and the mystery of the premium Galaxy S5 Jul 27th 2014, 12:00, by James Rogerson 
We'll admit it, the Samsung Galaxy Alpha (or should that be the Galaxy F? Or the Galaxy S5 Prime?) has left us confused. Normally when rumours of a new phone appear they quickly start to line up even if they're not always entirely accurate, but with the Galaxy Alpha it's not only gone through at least three different names but there's also a whole heap of conflicting leaks and rumours. So which ones are right? Is Samsung really going to launch a premium version of the Galaxy S5? Or will it be more of a Galaxy S5 lite? Will there be more than one handset? Does it even exist at all or is Samsung just pranking us? We don't have the answers to any of those questions, but we're going to put our analysis hats on and try and puzzle some out. The S5 killerInitial rumours largely pointed to a superphone that would prove more powerful and better built than the Galaxy S5. These included talk of a slightly larger 5.2-inch Quad HD screen, an all-metal chassis and a super-slim 6mm thick build. And that's before we even look inside the phone, which according to some rumours is going to be powered by a either a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor or an octa-core Exynos 5433 processor, coupled with 3GB of RAM and an Adreno 420 GPU, all of which are upgrades on what the Galaxy S5 has. 
This was an exciting idea but it was always a slightly suspect one. Samsung has traditionally released just one flagship a year, or two if you count the Note range, but that's aimed at a different audience. With a 5.2-inch screen this would clearly be aimed at the same market as the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the rumoured upgrades are substantial enough for it to be considered a true successor, rather than just a tweaked version. It's possible that Samsung could switch to releasing two flagships each year, much like Sony does, but an upgrade that big after just six months or so doesn't seem likely. We wouldn't totally count it out as the Galaxy S5 slightly underperformed, so Samsung may be trying to make up for that sooner rather than later, plus with a Quad HD screen it would be able to stand up to the LG G3, but it still seems like too much too soon to us. The iPhone 6 alternativeNext came a new set of rumours painting it more as an alternative to the iPhone 6. Three key things pointed in that direction. Firstly there's the rumoured release date, which has gradually slipped and currently the most likely one is September, which funnily enough is also when we expect to see the iPhone 6. We also heard new screen size rumours, suggesting that rather than it being 5.2 inches it would in fact be 4.7 inches, which is the same size as one of the iPhone 6 models is expected to be. As for the 5.5-inch model, well Samsung already has the upcoming Galaxy Note 4 to counter that. 
Finally there's the enduring rumour that it would have a premium metal build. There are any number of reasons that Samsung would want to ditch plastic for metal, it's certainly seen its handsets criticised for their cheap appearance for a long time now and even other Android rivals have overtaken it in that sense. But Apple in particular is known for delivering stylish, high end products, so if Samsung wants to go after the iPhone crowd it will need to create a similarly premium device and coating it in metal would be a good start. This is a set of rumours that we have more faith in. If any manufacturer has the muscle to take on Apple it's Samsung so we'd never rule it out, plus creating an iPhone 6 alternative doesn't require quite such a hefty upgrade as the initial rumours suggested. A 4.7-inch display is never likely to be QHD, so Samsung can stick with a 1080p screen. The Galaxy S5 liteAnother possibility is that far from being a superphone, the Galaxy Alpha will actually be a pared back version of the Samsung Galaxy S5. The possibility of a smaller screen already points in that direction and other rumours suggest there might not be a microSD card slot. Taking things out is hardly the sign of an upgrade. 
Add to the that the fact that the latest shots we've seen of the phone show it with a metal band rather than a full metal body and it doesn't look quite as premium as we were once expecting either, though it would still be an improvement on the Galaxy S5, which makes the concept of it being a lower end alternative problematic. Multiple phonesOf course with conflicting rumours flying around there's always a chance that they're all or at least mostly all true but that they're simply talking about two or three different handsets. The fact that we've actually seen images of at least two different designs adds credibility to that concept and Samsung has been known to flood the market with phones in the past. We'd say this is unlikely though. Fake images often pop up before a phone's announced and there aren't any rumours that really claim there's more than one mystery handset in the works. Plus while at least three names have popped up they all seem to be referring to the same thing so the market isn't likely going to get any more muddled, but it's always a possibility. Our takeWith all that in mind we're still leaning towards saying that the Alpha, F and Prime are all one and the same and that Samsung is most likely positioning it as an iPhone 6 alternative. 
In which case we'd expect similar or possibly slightly higher end specs to the Galaxy S5 and a more premium build, but with a smaller screen. To get a little more specific the recent shots of the metal edged but plastic backed handset certainly look convincing, so we're going to back them as the likely look. Then we'd expect it to have a 4.7 inch 1080p display and we'll go out on a limb and say a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor with 3GB of RAM. Samsung's already stuck 3GB in the Note 3, so that wouldn't be such a surprise and the Galaxy S5 is already 2.5GHz, this would just be pushing it up to a slightly newer processor. While it would work as an iPhone 6 foil it could also be seen as a Galaxy S5 alternative. No better (or not much better anyway), no worse, just different. - We're already hearing rumours about the Galaxy S6 too.
       | | In Depth: Read or dead: is this the end for the ereader? Jul 27th 2014, 09:01, by Jamie Carter 
Is this the end for the ereader?Do you read books on your phone? If you do (perhaps while leaving your e-ink Kindle in a drawer to gather dust) you'll know that the way we're consuming books is changing fast. The invention of the ebook caused a seismic shift in book publishing, but the ereader it gave rise to could be on the wane. With the release of Amazon's Kindle Fire HD tablets and most recently its big screen Fire Phone, has Amazon killed the ereader it created? The e-ink Kindle, the Kobo and the Nook could now all wane as we see a new genre of tablet-based books that contain much more than mere words. Ereaders through the ages "The dedicated ereader may well have a limited lifespan," says Darren Laws, CEO of UK publisher Caffeine Nights. "Amazon recognised this and has been building toward a natural transition. People used to talk endlessly about e-ink and eye strain, but these topics are no longer on the agenda. Now it's all about multi-functionality." It's also about age. Research in the UK by the St Ives Group found that 36% of adults own an ereader (half of them received it as a gift), but only 4% of people surveyed read solely on a digital device. Tellingly, however, this figure rises to 66% among those aged between 18-34. While 18% say they can read a digital book just as well on a tablet, that figure rises to 32% of those aged 18 to 24. The ereader has a demographic bomb under it. 
The e-ink ereader is old technology, but we're not talking about the device itself. "Amazon is smart. It knew it had to develop a stable platform first and did this through the more traditional reader who saw the transition of book to ebook as a progression," says Laws. "Amazon tapped into a more conservative market and the grey pound, converting many older readers to new technology." Laws thinks that older readers continue to adopt ereaders, while younger readers increasingly use tablets. "Amazon's next challenge, and that of the publishing industry, will be how to transition older readers to newer technology than ereaders," he says. "This may take some time or be a natural progression as the market matures, so dedicated ereaders may be around for a while yet." The boom in ebooksWhile ereaders will do well to have a long-term future, the ebook itself is doing just fine. The increasing use of multiple devices to read the same book, via the Kindle app for smartphones and tablets for instance, is not necessarily a bad thing for publishers. The St Ives Group found that those who read both physical and ebooks get through about 50% more than those who only use one format rather than both – about 27 books a year on average versus 18. 
Instead, readers with the most devices read the most books. "Anything that encourages people to read in their leisure time is good for the industry," says Laws. "It doesn't matter if they are picking up a traditional hardback or paperback or scrolling through a list of downloaded titles on their tablet or ereader. What publishing is offering is the choice of how they would like to consume their books, and that can't be a bad thing." The enhanced ebookOne effect of the shift towards reading on bigger smartphones (the Amazon Fire Phone has a 4.7-inch screen, with Apple's upcoming iPhone 6 rumoured to come in 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screens) and tablets could herald the birth of enhanced ebooks. Thus far, the print-to-digital migration has largely been text and few images, but as the ebook format comes to dominate, creative publishers are trying to use the medium of digital to blow wide open the boundaries around what is considered a novel. "Enhanced reader-interactivity with a digital text is soon likely to become commercialised on a mass scale," says Dr Gregory Leadbetter, Director of the Institute of Creative and Critical Writing at Birmingham City University. 
"Hyperlinks will act as online footnotes, taking readers to images or videos of places mentioned in the text, or atmospheric soundscapes, or critical commentary, all at the touch of a button." The rise of interactive ebooks may not be inevitable, however. "Enhanced ebooks have not really taken off yet despite many fantastic multi-layered ebooks being available that contain a mix of audio and visual media," says Laws. "People still want to read plain text and get lost in their imagination and not have their imagination mapped out for them – for that we already have films." The power of the paperbackIf the future of plain text is assured, so to is the humble paperback. "I see a new appreciation of the book as a physical object," says Leadbetter. "I know several users of e-reading devices who have gone back to books. As a technology, the print book has the advantage of functioning without a power supply, unless you count a reading light, maybe, and it is easier on human eyes. Importantly, a book also has tactile qualities that tablets and ereaders cannot reproduce." Even if the choice of books offered through a tablet or ereader far outweighs that which can be carried around as paperbacks, some readers will also be drawn to paper, with a whopping 51% preferring to buy paper books, according to the St Ives Group's research. 
"I don't foresee the extinction of print books with the rise of digital reading, especially if print publishers are sensible and don't try to fight the convenience of digital technologies," says Leadbetter. "For example, they should make e-versions available to purchasers of print versions, to develop habits of dual enjoyment." That already happens with movies; Blu-ray and DVDs often now come with a licensed digital copy in the cloud called UltraViolet, which can be downloaded to multiple platforms and devices. So why not with books? Reading the futureMore choice can only be a good thing and that includes both paper and e-ink devices. While tablets are entering classrooms, Leadbetter also believes that the textbook will continue to be paper-based for many years to come. "Children will most likely continue to learn to read and write through print and paper, rather than screen-based technologies, again, for the sake of their eyes, if nothing else, and that freedom from electronica will remain a possibility for them, as it remains for all of us." Nor does everyone think that the migration from ereaders to tablets for reading will cause the death of the e-ink tech. "I think ereaders will maintain their popularity," says Matt Graham, Technical Consultant at app developer Apadmi in London, which developed the BBC iPlayer Radio app as well as apps for The Guardian. "Amazon has by no means killed the ereader, because its tablets and phones do not replicate any of the USPs of an ereader, namely very long battery life, the ability to read in bright light, and no eye strain when reading for prolonged periods." Barnes & Noble's plan to separate from the Nook arm of its business suggests that the ereader may no longer have economics on its side, but it's likely to stick around as a cheap Christmas gift for the foreseeable future. Whether or not the ereader's status as a "genuine replacement for a book with no drawbacks", as Graham puts it, is enough to save it from long-term extinction is a different story. - All might not be lost for e-ink, especially if devices like the YotaPhone become popular, with an LCD screen on the front and an e-ink screen on the back.
       | | In Depth: IFA 2014: what to expect Jul 27th 2014, 09:00, by Chris Mills 
Samsung and SonyEvery September, the luminaries of the tech world (minus Apple) gather in an exhibition hall in Berlin to launch their must-have products. IFA 2013 saw hundreds of companies launching what seemed like a million new laptops, but what does it have in store for us this year? Galaxy Note 4: return of the Phantom PhabletThe biggest launch that'll almost certainly happen at IFA 2014 is the debut of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, the update to Samsung's market-leading, finger-stretching phablet, the Galaxy Note 3. The previous Notes have been launched at past editions of IFA, and Samsung have even hinted at a Note 4 launch to the press. What's slightly less certain is what the Note 4 will offer over the Note 3. Screen size is one of the important questions: the original Note launched with a 5.3-inch screen, and the Note 2 and 3 have rocked 5.5 inches and 5.7 inches respectively. Although it's entirely possible that the Note 4 will continue this trend and push things up to 5.9 inches and beyond (after all, Sony's Xperia Z Ultra is a whopping 6.4 inches), but rumours like a leaked Antutu benchmark point to a 5.7-inch 2,560 x 1,440 display. 
It's also a safe bet to assume that the Note 4 will see an improved processor - probably following Samsung's tradition of an Exynos-powered 8-core behemoth for the European market, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon (most likely the 805) for North America. RAM and graphics will probably get upgrades as well, to keep a more pixel-dense display humming along. Word has also been spreading of a curved display - not curved like the slightly bonkers Galaxy Round, but tapering off towards the edges to make the bezel disappear. This is off the back of a patent filed by Samsung last year, but it makes sense, given Samsung's history with curved phones and curved TVs, and its willingness to burn R&D money hand-over-fist to make the next big breakthrough. Software-wise, you can expect the Note 4 to launch with a version of Android 4.4, with Samsung's custom TouchWiz UI running on top. Even though the new version of Google's operating system, Android L, will launch around the same time, it's doubtful Samsung will be able to get the OS up and running in time for an early-September launch. Sony Completes the TrilogyAnother big smartphone we can look forward to with sweaty gadget-paws is the coming of the Sony Xperia Z3, the rumoured follow-up to the Z1 and Z2. Early leaks point to small spec bumps being the order of the day here, with an upgrade to a Snapdragon Qualcomm 801 processor, 1080p display (good news, since the display has historically been one of the failings of the Z line) and an upgrade to Android 4.4. Design-wise, you can expect the Z3 to retain the Omnibalance design (which basically boils down to lots of right angles) of its predecessor, along with the waterproofing that's proving increasingly common on flagship smartphones. 
Launching alongside the Z3 will supposedly be its 4.5-inch sidekick, the Z3 Compact. Sony impressed with the Z1 Compact, a premium Android phone with a relatively small screen, and it looks like the same winning formula might be applied to the Z3 Compact, with whisperings of a 2.5GHz processor, 2GB of RAM and a 20-megapixel camera. If that turns out to be the case, small-handed Android lovers could be in luck. Tablet-wise, IFA hasn't always been the most exciting show. New (or upgraded) models from the usual suspects - Samsung, Asus, HP and Archos - will most likely be on display, but there won't be anything quite as exciting as a new iPad. Smartwatches, laptops and 4K TVLet them eat smartwatchesWearables, on the other hand, are normally a Really Big Thing at IFA. Samsung debuted the Galaxy Gear, its somewhat-maligned debut smartwatch album, at IFA 2013, and fitness trackers and smartwatches will almost certainly be everywhere at this year's show. Samsung, LG and Motorola have already announced their Android Wear smartwatches, but there's a chance that we'll see watch launches from Sony, HTC, or any of the hundreds of keen startups that want a piece of the wrist action. 
There's also a good chance that we'll see a new Tizen-powered smartwatch from Samsung. Although the South Korean giant has made a good stab at an Android Wear-powered smartwatch in the Gear Live, Samsung's never been one for hedging its bets, so there's a chance we'll see an updated Galaxy Gear smartwatch (or three) at IFA. Don't forget the laptopsIt's easy to forget when everyone's harping on about tablets, wearables and the death of the PC, but laptops are still big business. Asus has traditionally used IFA to launch a handful of new Ultrabooks. It's been on the innovation warpath recently, launching a Windows laptop with a 4K display in June, and it has a long tradition of slightly wacky products like the Transformer Pad laptop-tablet hybrid, so expect to see something unusual alongside Ultrabook upgrades in September. Lenovo also has a history of debuting new hybrid laptop/tablets at IFA, with the review-topping Yoga 2 being unveiled last year. Given the success, it wouldn't be a surprise to see a Yoga 3 finding its way into Berlin. Television timeWhere IFA 2013 was the year of the 4K TV, you can expect this year's TV gimmick to be curved screens. Samsung, LG and Sony have had prototype and high-end curved TVs or show for a good year now so it's a fair bet that IFA will see those technologies tricking down to lower-end sets, or into the ranges of slightly less premium TV brands. There's also a chance that Panasonic - which has been resolutely ignoring the OLED and curved TV trends - will finally debut a curved model. It's worth remembering, however, that big TV innovations and launches traditionally happen at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, in January, so you might have to wait until then if you want more eyeball-bending electronics.        | |
No comments:
Post a Comment