Thursday, January 9, 2014

More iPhone 6 details emerge

Apple’s next-generation iPhone 6 will not feature a 13-megapixel or 16-megapixel camera as had been previously rumored. Instead, the upcoming handset will apparently sport an 8-megapixel unit that touts improvements in other areas.

“According to Nomura Securities, Largan’s recently lagging performance in the market is caused by rumors that Apple may adopt an 8 mega-pixel (MP) camera with improved optical image stabilization on its upcoming handset, instead of the 16 MP upgrade anticipated by industry observers,” The China Post’s Ted Chen wrote. “Apple’s decision is based on the design requirement to retain the handset’s more portable form factor, said Nomura Securities.”

The latest rumors suggest that Apple is prepping two new iPhone models that will debut this year. The first is supposedly an iPhone phablet that could launch as early as May, and the second is the iPhone 6, which will supposedly be thinner than the iPhone 5s and will feature a larger 4.7-inch display that reaches nearly to the edges of the device on either side.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 Release Date

Samsung has some of the most popular smartphones on the market with its Galaxy S series of devices. Currently the Galaxy S4 is one of the most popular smartphones from Samsung. Reports are now coming in from a highly placed Samsung executive that the next generation Samsung Galaxy S smartphone will be coming in April.

Samsung's executive vice president of mobile business said during an interview with Bloomberg on January 6 that the Samsung Galaxy S5 would be launching in April. Lee noted that Samsung launches a new flagship model around the first half of each year.

Lee also tipped that the S5 won’t be the only thing coming in April. The executive also said that a Gear successor will be coming then as well. The Galaxy Gear successor will have more advanced functions and a new design with less bulk than the original.

The Galaxy S5 is expected to have a different design than its predecessors. Some people complained that the S4 looked too much like the Galaxy S3 it replaced. Lee says that the S5 will go back to basics and be "mostly" about the cover and display. There is also an indication that Samsung may be looking at some sort of eye scanning tech. Samsung had previously said they would launch a new smartphone in 2014 with a 2k display.

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Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Nokia Normandy leaks, dual-SIM and runs on Android 4.4

Last month we learned the codenamed Normandy device is supposed to be an entry-level Android smartphone. The leaks suggested Normandy will be reusing the iconic Lumia design and will come in a plethora of different colors, just like the affordable Asha and Lumia phones.

@evleaks has posted renders of Normandy running on Android. We get to see a glimpse of Nokia's launcher, particularly the lockscreen, Viber and Skype apps. Judging by the Normandy's status bar, this should be a dual-SIM phone.


Another leaks from today sheds some more light on the alleged Normandy specs. As it turns out someone has put the Normandy through AnTuTu's test, so we can see some of its specs. Nokia RM-980 A110 codenamed Normandy reported featuring a 4" FWVGA display (480x854 pixels), a 5MP rear camera and runs on Android 4.4.1 KitKat. Naturally, the chipset powering the Normandy is Qualcomm Snapdragon.

 



If Normandy is similar to the previously tipped "Mountain View" Android prototype, then it might be running (as previously suggested) on the Snapdragon 200 chipset (quad-core Cortex-A5/Adreno 203 or quad-core Cortex-A7/Adreno 302).

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

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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