| Samsung Galaxy Note 4 possibly leaked, but three-sided display is MIA Aug 11th 2014, 15:18, by Hugh Langley 
Could this be the Samsung Galaxy Note 4? A few new images have leaked onto the web claiming to be of Samsung's next phablet, and they're pretty convincing. The pictures, delivered by an anonymous source to GSM Arena, show a device with the Note 3's faux leather back (sans fake stitching), while the sides are squared-off and look metallic. Sat on the back of the device is what looks like a heart rate monitor built into the camera flash - just like the Galaxy S5 has - and we expect a fingerprint scanner to be included too. And along the bottom we can see the S Pen holder, a microUSB port and the speaker grilles. Faux-giveness please
Meanwhile, a different image (this one leaked by Phone Arena) may reveal the retail packaging for the same device. While we're staying cautious, the picture on the box seems to match the phone in the other shots. But there's always a chance that we're looking at a bunch of mockups instead of the real deal, so we wouldn't take any of this as fact just yet. There's also been a lot of talk of the Note 4 possibly arriving in a second, more premium form with a curved screen that will give it a three-sided display. Whatever's coming, Samsung's pretty much confirmed that it'll be announcing the Galaxy Note 4 at IFA 2014, and we'll be there to bring you the news as it breaks.        |  | Moto X+1 rumored to launch on September 25 Aug 11th 2014, 13:43, by Hugh Langley 
Motorola's already confirmed that the Moto X will arrive "late" summer, and the latest word is that we'll officially see it on September 25. That's according to sources speaking to Droid Life, who claim that US network Verizon is expecting the new phone "by September 25". That doesn't guarantee that September 25 is the earliest we'll see it, as there's always a chance Verizon could get it a bit later than other US carriers. But it's certainly as 'late summer' as you can push it (in fact, that's three days into autumn if you're living in the US). Wake me up when September is almost over but not quiteAlso promised for late summer is the Moto 360, so there's a strong possibility we could see it launched alongside the Moto X+1, and possibly after the iWatch - John Gruber's hypothetical scenario may be realised after all. The Moto X took around six months to break out of the US after launch, so here's hoping Motorola doesn't leave the rest of the world waiting so long this time. - See what we thought of the original Moto X
       | | Samsung Galaxy Alpha could be announced this Wednesday Aug 11th 2014, 11:25, by Hugh Langley 
The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is beginning to feel like the worst kept secret of all time, but in just a few hours we may see it revealed in all its metal-clad glory. According to Korean media source Money Today, the Galaxy Alpha will be announced on August 13, this coming Wednesday. That agrees with a rumour from last month that also said Samsung would drop the phone on that very date, with an aim to get in before the iPhone 6. That will also push it ahead of IFA 2014, where we've been expecting the Alpha to make its debut. Super size meRight now we're expecting the Alpha to arrive with a 4.7-inch 720p Super AMOLED display, a quad-core Snapdragon 805, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB internal storage. Another claim from the rumour mill reckons that Samsung will also offer up a 64GB version of the phone. But as ever, don't take any of that as gospel - just cross your fingers that we'll see it this week.        | | Super-secure Blackphone gets rooted in under five minutes Aug 11th 2014, 10:20, by Hugh Langley 
Blackphone, the smartphone that aims to provide high-end security at a consumer level, has just been hacked into. Last month, BlackBerry and Blackphone took shots at one another's security features, but the latter has just been given a taste of the humble pie. At the recent BlackHat security conference, @TeamAndIRC had a play around with the phone and successfully gained root access without unlocking the bootloader. One of the discovered vulnerabilities has already been patched by Blackphone, while the other requires direct user consent, rendering it mostly harmless. Don't build your house on the sandy landDespite the fix, this is a nasty hit to the joint venture between Silent Circle and Geeksphone, which is designed to protect personal data from leaking out to third parties. But basing the phone's PrivatOS skin on top of Android (rather than building something from scratch) has already led to concerns over the possibly extent of the Blackphone's security, considering that Android wasn't designed with the upmost security in mind. BlackBerry's probably feeling rather smug right now.        | | HTC One M8 Max to come with next-gen power? Aug 11th 2014, 10:05, by Gareth Beavis 
HTC likes to make a family, which is why the news that the sequel to the HTC One Max is on its way seems legitimate. Of more interest is that it could be coming with a Snapdragon 805 processor, the next level of power and battery management, and could lead to an insanely good handset if you don't mind a bigger device. The news comes from sometimes-right Twitter account HTCFamily.ru, which has posted a pic of the possible device and the 'news' that the powerful CPU will be in tow. However, let's get one thing out of the way: that picture is from months ago and was posted by UK site Recombu (as the massive watermark gives away). It's just being re-used here… so any claims that it's a new pic of the One M8 Max are not to be believed. 
The Twitter feed is quoting one of the final EVleaks… leaks, and also states that the phone will have a QHD screen, oodles of RAM (around 3GB) along with the graphical power of the Snapdragon 805 processor. What does it mean?Let's get analytical: there's no doubt that there's an HTC One M8 Max on the roadmap for the brand, as it looks to keep up momentum in markets that are in love with phablets (a lot of Asia, for example). However, it was clear that 2013's One Max was a device to satisfy a need - a phone with a basic Snapdragon 600 processor when others were using the more powerful 800 option - which brought multiple benefits. As such, it could make one question the legitimacy of this year's model pushing out all the best specs for the sequel – a jump to a QHD screen and cutting edge CPU is a big change. But if Apple is joining the phablet race in markets where the best specs often win (there's a reason HTC launched the One M8 in China with a slightly clocked-up processor, as speed wins love from consumers in that region) and Samsung is going bigger again with the Note 4, a move to actually make a decent device could reap the rewards from HTC. The good news? We won't have to wait long until the HTC One M8 Max appears, as September is usually the time when we start seeing the new wave of phablets for the year.        | | Neat iOS 8 feature pulls Maps data into iPhone's 'Recents' list Aug 10th 2014, 16:00, by Chris Smith 
The fifth version of the iOS 8 beta, currently in the hands of Apple's army of developers, has revealed a minor, but neat new feature which improves the synchronicity of the Maps and Phone apps. An AppleInsider reader discovered when users call a business like a restaurant from within the Maps app, that information will be transferred to the Recents tab within the iPhone's phone app. Not only is the number listed, but the name of the establishment too. Tapping on the listing will also bring up the location on a smaller map, the address of the business, it's web page and even the Yelp scores. The idea appears to be to make it easier for iPhone users to easily save their favourite places to the contacts or have the ability to easily redial without searching all over again. RefinediOS 8 was announced by Apple at WWDC in June and is currently being tested by developers and refined by Apple ahead of a launch this autumn. The operating system will arrive alongside the iPhone 6, but will be installable across a wide range of iPhones, iPads and iPod touch media players. You can find out which here.        | |
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