Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo available in mid-February

Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo will come with a 5-inch TFT display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. Under the hood, there is a 1.2 GHz quad-core A7 chipset powering the smartphone along with 1 GB of RAM.

The 5 megapixel rear camera with LED flash and the front facing VGA shooter completes the camera department, while the 8GB internal memory along with the microSD card slot takes care of storage.

The connectivity options of the Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo include Bluetooth 4.0, HSPA+ (21Mbps down, 5.76Mbps up), WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, micro USB, GPS and GLONASS support. However, there is no LTE or Wi-Fi ac radios built-in.

Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo has a design, which is quite similar to its predecessor and the device measures 143.7 x 77.1 x 9.6mm. The Neo will be powered by Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS and will feature the TouchWiz customizations on top of it. Lastly, a 2,100mAh battery will provide the required juice for the smartphone.

The smartphone will cost €299 after tax in Europe, and while we have no info on its availability, it can't take too long now that the sales materials are ready. We also know that the smartphone will be available in multiple color options.

The 5" Android device will start selling in Europe (Belgium at least) in Week 7 this year – that's February 10-16.

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Samsung's new TouchWiz Android UI

@evleaks took to his Twitter account to show off a few different screenshots, apparently detailing an upcoming look for Samsung’s TouchWiz UI.

The first thing you might think is that this is Samsung’s look for Kit Kat. Last night, Kellen and I had hands-on time with the new Galaxy NotePro and TabPro tablets from Samsung, each of which runs a revamped version of TouchWiz on top of Kit Kat. That UI didn’t look anything liked these leaked screenshots, as the notification bar actually sported white icons and text, just like stock Android 4.4.

As we can see in these screenshots, Samsung is apparently sticking to the green battery icon for now, as this could be a revamped version of TouchWiz just for smartphones. It would be interesting if the company decided to have two separate versions of their skin for phones and tablets, so we wouldn’t put our money on that idea.

In the pictures, we can see that Samsung has found a new love for flat icons as well, which reminds us of HTC and the release of Sense 5. Either way, these new shots don’t give us much detail, but if this version does come to fruition, we would be sort of happy about it. It’s definitely an improvement over the current look of TouchWiz.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 to use Sharp 2K display

According to a report by Chinese website Tencent, Samsung has decided not to use a Super AMOLED HD display panel for its Galaxy S5 flagship smartphone. Traditionally, ever since the first Galaxy S smartphone, Samsung has always preferred its own AMOLED displays for its flagships.

The Galaxy S5 will be an exception, as Samsung has chosen Sharp to provide a 5.25" 2K Ultra HD LTPS display panel. It's going to pack an exceptional pixel density of 560 pixels per inch.

The reason behind Samsung's decision resides in one of its subsidiaries, which has run into production issues with the 2K Ultra HD AMOLED displays. As a result of them, the company can't keep up the production and won't be able to make enough of them to meet the expected Galaxy S5 demand.

Choosing Sharp will also allow Samsung to free up its display factories for the upcoming flexible line-up of AMOLED displays, which it hopes will reach large market availability by 2015. Additionally, if Sharp really turns out to be the manufacturer of Galaxy S5's displays, this will be beneficial to Samsung, which owns 3% stake in the company back in March.

The report confirms earlier evidence of the Galaxy S5's 2K UHD display, which popped up in a leaked benchmark of the device. Other rumors suggest the Galaxy S5 will be launched (or at least shown) as early as Q1 of next year, have a 16 MP snapper with the ISOCELL tech, perhaps without optical image stabilization and possibly with some elements resistance in tow.

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Sony Mobile to launch Windows Phones

Sony Mobile Communications has decided to launch ODM models of Windows Phone 8-based smartphones, while concentrating its R&D efforts on Android and Firefox models, according to industry sources.

Through the cooperation deal, Sony Mobile aims to sell its WP8 phone to telecom operators in the US, while Microsoft aims to tap the Japan market in order to expand the global share of WP8 phones, said the sources.

Sony Mobile and Taiwan-based ODM Compal Communications have nailed down orders for 1-2 models, with an additional 2-3 models still under discussion, noted the sources, adding that order volumes for the initial 1-2 models will reach only tens of thousands of units each.

Global sales of WP8 phones are expected to top 50 million units in 2014, accounting for 4% of total global smartphone sales in the year, the sources estimated.

Nokia will account for 90% of WP8 phone shipments in 2014, and other vendors including Sony Mobile, HTC, Samsung Electronics and Huawei will share the remaining 10%, added the sources.

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HTC One’s successor to be called the One+

@evleaks revealed what he called “preliminary” specs for the HTC M8, which included a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 CPU, 2GB RAM, a 5-inch 1080p display, an UltraPixel rear cam, 2.1MP front cam and KitKat with Sense 6.0. Now if a new report from recognized XDA member Mike1986 proves correct, we’re learning even more about the handset.

First, the phone will reportedly be named the HTC One+, and it will feature the newer Snapdragon 805 CPU after all. We also have learned a bit more about battery size, camera and other specs.

Specifications
5″ FullHD 1080p covered by Gorilla Glass 3
Qualcomm Snapdragon 805
2GB LPDDR3 RAM
6 or 8MP UltraPixel camera (possibly with double lens)
2.1MP front camera
Software buttons
2900mAh battery
Android KitKat with HTC Sense 6.0
micro-SIM, microSD
NFC

The HTC One+ might not be a massive leap up from the original, but it look like it will feature some welcome changes when it comes to processing power, battery size, screen size and — most importantly — it will have an SD slot for memory expansion.

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