Sony updates Xperia Z and Xperia ZL, improves performance

New firmware updates are now available for the Sony Xperia Z and Xperia ZL. Both new ROMs bring similar improvements over the system, signal and touch sensitivity, bug fixes and are still based on the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

There is no official change log on the updates, but some users have already compiled a list of all the notable changes.

• More smooth Boot animation


• Efficient RAM management


• Home launcher is smoother, no more lag


• Update Center has new UI


• 3G Signal strength improved


• Touch response is improved a lot


• Faster sleep and wake


• Low-light image quality improved


• Changes in car mode app


• High resolution image snapping while recording a non-HDR video


• No screen flickering


• No unusual battery reading bug

Our tipster mentions unusual heating when running the AnTuTu benchmark, but there's no confirmation of that from other sources.

The updates are available both over-the-air and via the Sony PC companion.

Sony recently updated the Xperia Z and ZL with Android 4.2.2 but the ROM contained some bugs and it seems Sony was working hard to fix them as fast as possible. As you can see some new features made it with the update as well that weren't probably ready in time for the previous 4.2.2 major update.

Anyway, it's good to see Sony is taking good care of its flagships and is pushing faster than ever firmware updates.

Thank you, Jean Bassil, for a great tip!

Source

Samsung outs dual-mode LTE Galaxy S4 and S4 Mini versions

Samsung has made big claims regarding its readiness to support developing LTE markets, and its most recent announcement of two new Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S4 Mini variants supporting both FDD and TDD LTE networks confirms that sentiment.

As global LTE coverage expands, many markets are adding support for TDD-LTE networks, particularly in places where FDD-LTE technology is already in place.

The two dual-mode variants of the Samsung flagship and its compact counterpart are able to seamlessly switch between different types of LTE networks while maintaining uninterrupted voice and data communications.

Samsung's head of Mobile and IT JK Shin elaborated that the first commercially available dual-mode LTE handover devices will "will allow customers to fully enjoy the benefits of fast mobile data communications no matter where they are."

Samsung is vested in the LTE market more than simply through handsets. Through developing LTE infrastructure, its network gear division grew by some 30% since 2010, and is one of Samsung's more profitable ventures.

Source | Via

HTC One mini goes on pre-order in the UK for £370

HTC One mini is now available on pre-order through various UK retailers. The lowest price for the SIM-free device we were able to find is £370 and it's offered by Expansys.

The rest of the retailers we've checked so far - Clove, Phones4U, Carphone Warehouse and MobileFun - are taking pre-orders for the HTC One mini at £380.

None of the stores has given a specific launch date for the smartphone, and there isn't official confirmation of the availability in Britain from HTC either. The initial information that we got after the announcement said the international rollout will happen this September, while limited markets will be getting it as early as August.

Both black and silver flavors are available for order. If you are interested in the 4.3" One mini now might be a good time to book your unit. Meanwhile you are welcomed to check our preview of the smartphone.

Microsoft releases Office Mobile for Office 365 Android app

Last month Microsoft unveiled the Office Mobile for Office 365 for iOS and now the Redmond company is following up with an Android version. It allows you to edit docs on your phone and sync them with SkyDrive.

The user interface looks lifted straight out of the Windows Phone 8 version, but the flat design goes well with Android's Holo looks. The app supports Word, Excel and PowerPoint docs with charts, animations, SmartArt Graphics, shapes and comments.

Better still, the Office Mobile for Office 365 reflows the docs so that they look good on your phone and are easy to edit, but that doesn’t break the formatting on the PC. Speaking of the PC app, the last files you edited will show up in the Recent Documents tab so you can continue editing on the phone right away, even the Resume Reading feature works (it takes you to the point of the document you were editing last).

Sharing is enabled, so you can easily share a doc from your phone when you're done with the corrections.

The Office Mobile for Office 365 (catchy name, isn't it?) is available right now in the Google Play Store, but there are some limitations. For one, the app is available only in the US, but Microsoft is promising to add more countries to the list in the coming weeks.

Also, you need an Android 4.0+ phone. Note phone, not tablet – it's an annoying limitation as people are more likely to edit a doc on a tablet than a phone. Also you need an Office 365 subscription to use the app (you can get a 30 day trial), unlike the WP8 version which is free out of the box. And unlike the iOS version, which also requires a subscription, you can't buy one from the app itself, you need to go www.office.come and get one from there.

Source

Xiaomi unveils quad-core Red Rice droid as Hongmi

Xiaomi has announced the long rumored Red Rice smartphone. Its official name is Hongmi which is Chinese for... well, red rice.

Xiaomi Hongmi packs a 4.7-inch 720p IPS display with 312ppi density, protected by a Gorilla Glass 2. The Hongmi is powered by Mediatek's MT6589 chipset featuring a quad-core 1.5GHz Cortex-A7 processor, PowerVR SGX544 graphics and 1GB of RAM. Other notable features are the 4GB storage plus a microSD card slot, and a 2000 mAh battery.

Xiaomi Hongmi

The phone comes with an 8MP BSI Samsung-made rear camera with 1.4ųm pixels for improved low-light performance and 28mm wide five-element lens. The Hongmi is capable of shooting 1080p videos. There is also a 1.3MP front snapper for video chats.

Xiaomi Hongmi is dual-SIM handset with support for GSM/3G and TD-SCDMA networks on both SIM slots.

The Hongmi is running on the proprietary MIUI V5 launcher on top of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

Xiaomi Hongmi

Here comes the best part of the news - the Xiaomi Hongmi costs only CNY799 which equals a few cents less than €99. The phone is already available on pre-order in China at QZone and is going to start shipping on August 12.

There are three flavors you can choose between - Black, Chinese Red and Metallic Gray. The battery cover is exchangeable and you can opt for additional blue, green and yellow panels.

Unfortunately the Xiaomi Hongmi is highly unlikely to leave China. We'll keep you updated if we hear something about international availability, though.

Source 1 | Source 2

Spy shots reveal Moto X will be very compact, use nanoSIM

The Moto X phone will be announced at tomorrow's event but the specs won't be a huge surprise as we've seen so many leaks already and today brought a new batch. First off, the phone will use a nanoSIM card, instead of the more popular microSIM as revealed by a photo from Hong Kong.

Moto X will use a nanoSIM card

Why Hong Kong, when the Moto X should be assembled in the US? Here's hoping this means that Motorola will launch the phone worldwide not just the US (Google is usually quite terrible at this).

Other photos have surfaced, comparing the Moto X to the Motorola Milestone 3, which gave us an opportunity to measure the dimensions of the X. The photos are heavily cropped (presumably to hide the identity of the leaker), you can get a better look at the Moto X here.

Moto X sized up against the Motorola Milestone 3

The Motorola Moto X phone measures 8.7mm at its thickest part and just 5.8mm at its thinnest. The other measurements work out to 125.9mm tall and 66mm wide, which sounds amazing for a phone with a 4.7" screen. We got a little suspicious, so we measured the screen size in the first photo and ended up with 4.7".

Other specs on the Moto X include a 720p resolution for the screen, dual-core Krait processor, 10MP camera with an unusual image sensor that can shoot 1080p video at 60fps.

The Moto X will be announced tomorrow and we'll be covering the event, so make sure to tune in for the official specs and (hopefully) availability details.

Source

Sony Xperia ZR review: Ready to dare

BlackBerry Q5 hits Canada on August 13, USA to follow suit

BlackBerry has just announced its cheaper QWERTY smartphone - the BlackBerry Q5 - will be unleashed across Canada on August 13.

According to the official press release the Q5 messenger will be available through these authorized partners: Bell, Fido, Koodo, Sasktel, TELUS, and Virgin Mobile Canada, as well as retail stores Best Buy Canada, Future Shop, Target, TBooth Wireless, The Mobile Shop, The Source, Walmart, and WIRELESSWAVE.

BlackBerry Q5 will be available through all carriers and retailers in Black, while the Pure Red flavor will be exclusive to Virgin Mobile. Unfortunately the white model won't make it to Canada.

There are still no details on the pricing though.

BlackBerry Q5 is already available in selected European and Asian markets. The smartphone will supposedly hit the USA through AT&T after the Canadian premiere but there is no confirmation on the exact launch date.

We already spend some quality time with the BlackBerry Q5 and you can read all about it right in our review.

Source 1 | Source 2 | Via

Nokia Lumia 1020 gets internals revealed in first teardown

Nokia and Windows Phone have certainly received their fair share of flak lately. Still, one can't help but marvel at the very impressive hardware package Nokia was able to squeeze into the modest frame of its latest Lumia 1020 flagship.

The Lumia 1020 internals

The Nokia Lumia 1020 is a marked improvement over its predecessor, the Lumia 920, in almost every aspect. Most importantly the new smartphone features the impressive 41MP Pureview camera sensor, double the RAM, and retains all of the connectivity features, while actually reducing the measurements and shedding nearly 30 grams off its waistline.

For more on the Lumia 1020, check out our in-depth preview.

Source (Chinese) | Via

Moto X camera specs leak, 10MP stills and 1080p@ 60 fps video

Motorola Moto X in Neon Green appears in leaked images

The upcoming smartphone from the Google-owned Motorola is one of the worst kept secrets in the tech world. The device has been leaked numerous times ahead of its announcement. We have also seen the official press renders of the Moto X and let's not forget the leaked hands-on video, which guided us through the user interface.

Moto X was seen in public for the first time in the hands of Eric Schmidt, the Google's Executive Chairman. Now, however we get to see the device in its Neon Green paint job at what seems to be a corporate party.

The upcoming Moto X will sport a 4.7-inch 720p display and is powered by a dual-core 1.7 GHz processor. The smartphone also features a 10.5 megapixel rear camera, 2.1 megapixel front camera, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal memory and runs on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.

Moto X is also rumored to be available in light blue, red, purple color variant along with the Black, White and the Neon Green paint job, which have already been leaked. We will know more about the device in the two days, when Motorola officially announces it.

Stay tuned to our website as we will be bring you all the latest news from the event live.

Via

BlackBerry officially issues the BB10.1 OS Maintenance release

Sony Honami visits GFXBench, Snapdragon 800 in tow

The Sony Honami, going by the alias C6903, has appeared on GFXbench database, confirming its rumored Snapdragon 800 chipset with four Krait 400 cores, a FullHD display (with on-screen buttons) and the latest Adreno 330 on board.

The scores posted by the potent GPU were pretty impressive, wiping the floor with the devices we have tested so far.

GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• Sony Honami
  
  58.5


• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  
  43


• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  
  41


• HTC One
  
  37


• Samsung Galaxy S4 GPE
  
  33


• HTC One GPE
  
  41


• Google Nexus 4
  
  32


• Sony Xperia Z
  
  31


• Sony Xperia ZL
  
  31


• Sony Xperia SP
  
  31


• Apple iPhone 5
  
  30


• LG Optimus G Pro
  
  30


• LG Optimus G
  
  21


• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  
  17


• HTC One X
  
  11

GLBenchmark 2.7 T-Rex (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• Sony Honami
  
  20.5


• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  
  17.1


• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  
  17.1


• Apple iPad 4
  
  16.8


• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  
  16


• Samsung Galaxy S4 GPE
  
  15


• HTC One GPE
  
  13.9


• LG Optimus G
  
  13.9


• Sony Xperia Z
  
  13.5


• Sony Xperia Tablet Z
  
  13


• Sony Xperia ZL
  
  12.8


• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  
  4.9

The Sony Honami leaks have been all over the news lately and we're expecting to see it at this year's IFA in Berlin on September 4, rocking that spanking Snapdragon 800 chip to rival the Galaxy S4 LTE-Advanced. We'll be there to cover the unveiling live.

Source | Via

HTC expects 30% decrease in revenue in Q3

Analyst: Lumia 1020 sales "modest at best", Xperia Z sales too

European Nexus 7 no longer specified to support LTE

One of the key additions to the second generation model of the Nexus 7 over its predecessor was the addition of LTE. Google's website clearly mentioned the presence of LTE on both the US as well as the European models, with support for the respective bands.

If you were to visit the Nexus 7 specifications page now, however, you'd notice that it no longer mentions LTE bands for the European model. Whether this was just a mistake on the specifications page that was later corrected or Google cancelling plans on releasing the LTE model in the Europe is not yet known. For what it's worth, they never talked about the European LTE model during the event.

This doesn't mean there won't be data connectivity at all but if you're in Europe you would have to contend with HSPA+ connectivity on your new Nexus 7.

Source

Kantar: Android still leads in the US but iOS catches up

Google's Android continues to lead in one of the most important smartphones market, accounting for 51.5% of all smartphone sales in United States in the past quarter. The report comes the popular research firm, Kantar Worldpanel.

However, the green robot's share has shrunk compared to the same period of last year, when the stats read 52.6%. And while iOS is still some way back it's has considerably shortened the distance in the third quarter of the iPhone 5 availability.

Apple's platform has seen its share rise by 3.3 percent points over the same period last year. With 42.5% of all smartphone sales, Apple comfortably sits in the second position with no real treat from Windows Phone or BlackBerry OS.

Microsoft's Windows Phone is the other OS to improve its standing reaching 4%, up from last year's 2.9%. Despite launching its revamped OS at the start of the year, BlackBerry continues to lose ground in the US market. The BB OS share has dropped to 1.1% from 4% over the same period last year.

The sales of the Android smartphones were largely from Verizon, which has managed 35% of the overall sales, while Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile accounted for 17%, 16%, and 13%, respectively. 40% of iOS sales also came from Verizon, while AT&T attracted 39%, Sprint had 10% and 8% was from T-Mobile.

Source

iOS 7 beta 4 links surface, Gold Master to come in September?

If you're a developer (or have registered your iDevice as a developer device) then you could be getting iOS 7 beta 4 (build number 11a4435d) today as the links have surfaced on Apple's Dev site. The links have been since pulled but are expected to return soon.

Also according to sources Apple could be releasing just two more betas before an eligible Gold Master version arrives to devs this September with Apple about to start testing a GM release internally.

It's likely the rumors are true as we expect a new iPhone device (or devices, perhaps?) to arrive in the second half of September, and that one will certainly sport a ready version of iOS 7.

Source 1 | Source 2 | Via

Verizon-bound Nokia Lumia 729 with PureView camera leaks

Fresh out the rumor frying pan comes a press shot of a yet unheard-of Nokia Lumia 729. The device sports a yellow paint job, PureView branding on the camera and is apparently destined to Verizon Wireless in the US.

Nokia Lumia 729 (click to enlarge)

Despite similarities in the name the alleged Nokia Lumia 729 looks nothing like the Lumia 720 but may sport the same innards, save maybe for the camera.

The Nokia Lumia 729, could slot just below the Lumia 928 in the carrier's WP8 lineup. There are no specifics surrounding the pricing or specs sheet but some suggest an HD screen is involved. Keep in mind that the information is subject to change or may be a hoax entirely.

Source

The Nokia PR2.0 Amber update full changelog appears

Xiaomi teases something new on Facebook, is it the Mi-3?

Xiaomi's Facebook page has a hot new addition - a teaser image of some kind of device sitting behind a red curtain. Xiamomi teases it as "Something New is Coming" and we can bet it will turn out to be the upcoming Xiaomi Mi-3.

The device is hyped to feature a Full HD 5.5-incher at the front, 3 gigs of RAM to support a quad-core Snapdragon 800 chip with four 2.1 GHz Krait 400 cores. There will be two cameras on board, likely a 13 MP main one and a 5 MP front-facing one. There's talk of a Hi-Fi audio and a beefy 3600 mAh battery to power it along.

We've that August 16 is when the unveiling of the Xiaomi Mi-3 takes place, but that's yet to be confirmed.

Thanks, Bazan for the tip!

Source

Moto X will allegedly feature wrap-around Magic Glass

According to Taylor Wimberly, former editor for Android and Me, the Moto X will feature a specially-treated Gorilla Glass. That will not only cover the entire front of the smartphone, but will also wrap around its sides, making for a neat gapless desing.

Motorola and Google will likely call the surface Magic Glass. The Moto X will also likely sport a laminated aluminum structure making for a tough and yet light construction.

We've already seen the Moto X official images and even saw a video of the device in action, and saw it in the hands of Eric Schmidt, the list goes on and on.

It's likely the device will feature a 4.7" 720p display, 10 MP camera, a 1.7 GHz Krait processor, 2 gigs of RAM, expandable storage and the latest Android 4.3 Jelly Bean on tap.

There's not much left to wait for the Moto X, which will make its debut on August 1 in the Big Apple. We'll be there naturally, to cover the whole thing live for you.

Source | Via

MediaTek unveils quad-core MT8135 big.LITTLE SoC

MediaTek unveiled its new MT8135 big.LITTLE SoC aimed at the mid to high-end tablets. Unlike other big.LITTLE ARM chips to date, the MT8135 is able to operate its dual Cortex-A15 and dual Cortex-A7 clusters simultaneously.

Also, it features the new PowerVR Series6 graphics processor, which is rated at up to four times the ALU power of its predecessor, the Series5XT.

How this will translate to real-world performance remains to be seen, although MediaTek was kind enough to provide some numbers from several benchmarks.

	MT8135 Reference Device (2x1.7GHz Cortex-A15, 2x1.2GHz Cortex-A7	Nexus 10 (Exynos 5, 2x1.7GHz Cortex-A15)	ASUS Device (Tegra 3, 4x1.4GHz Cortex-A9)
Geekbench v2.4.3	2895	2530	1295
GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt onscreen / offscreen	47 / 46	28 / 40	14 / 10
Vellamo	2755	1757	1295
AnTuTu v3.0.1	23557	12915	11352

No word on pricing or availability yet.

Source | Via

LG G2 to launch on 100 carriers 3 months after its premiere

LG G2 name has been already officially confirmed by the Korean manufacturer. The flagship is going to be unveiled on August 7 with a 5.2" 1080p display, Snapdragon 800 chipset with 2GB RAM, Android 4.2.2, 13MP camera and 2,540mAh battery.

LG is also prepping to sell 10 million units of the G2 during its lifecycle, which is quite impressive given the company's recent track of sales.

To achieve that LG is determined to make the smartphone's rollout one of the fastest in its history. Previously LG had been launching its phones globally nearly half a year after the official announcement. Now the Koreans are looking to change that and the G2 will hit South Korea in August in South Korea, USA and Europe in September, and everywhere else - by the end of October. The global rollout will include more than 100 carriers worldwide.

This surely looks like a great plan and we hope LG manages to meet its goals. The market definitely deserves a good competition - something LG has failed to provide lately.

Source | Via

Samsung Galaxy Note II with Snapdragon 600 goes official

The Snapdragon 600-powered Samsung Galaxy Note II that leaked some days ago is the real deal. The sped-up version was just announced by China Mobile, the largest carrier in China. The device is designated N7108D.

The new Samsung Galaxy Note II looks virtually identical to the original with a 5.5" 720p Super AMOLED touchscreen and S Pen, but the new chipset adds TD-LTE, FDD-LTE and TD-SCDMA alongside regular WCDMA and GSM.

And, of course, the new quad-core Krait 300 CPU wipes the floor with the old quad-core Cortex-A9 as does the Adreno 320 GPU with the Mali-400. According to benchmarks (there's no official word) the CPU is clocked at 1.9GHz and there's 2GB RAM. The Samsung Galaxy N7108D Note II runs Android 4.2.2 with TouchWiz.

There's no indication if this redesigned Note II will make its way to other countries or not – the Galaxy Note III with Snapdragon 800 (and 3GB RAM) should be officially unveiled at IFA this September. The screen size seems to be in flux though.

Source (in Chinese) | Via

Spy photos shows the box of an iPhone 5C, the budget iPhone

The budget iPhone rumors started with the same back panels photographed over and over again, but slowly we're getting more believable stuff – first the FCC labels on the phone's box. Interestingly, it's labeled iPhone 5C.

The design of the box is also notable – old iPhone boxes had square angles and a big image of the phone inside. The boxes in the image are all white (no images except a black Apple logo), glossy (plastic?) and have round corners. This would fit the new design direction by Jony Ive, who really streamlined iOS with the latest version and removed all unnecessary eye candy.

Also, it looks close to the iPod touch box. The old iPod touch box (4th gen), which casts a shadow of doubt over these images (more than there already was).

Anyway, the box is reportedly 7-8cm thick and big enough to fit a Samsung Galaxy S4 – does this mean the cheaper iPhone will have a bigger screen or Apple got bad at packaging? That doesn’t sound like the idealistic team stationed at 1 Infinite Loop.

Then there's the model name – "5C". We're expecting the iPhone 5S to be this year's iPhone, the S indicating it's an upgraded version of the current model rather than a complete redesign. Does that mean the "C" stands for… what? Compact? Just a letter meaning "mid-range"? China (Apple is pretty weak in the big Chinese market)?

The latest rumor is that the budget iPhone will be announced on September 6, but there's other gossip contradicting it. Keep in mind this could all be sham.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Source (in Chinese)

Moto X shown off in official press shots

By now we know almost there is to know about the upcoming Moto X, which would be officially announced three days from now on August 1.

@evleaks, who have given us plenty of Moto X images until now, have these final set of press shots, in both black and white, that give a good clear look at the device. We assume these will be the default colors and on top of that you would be able to customize the look and feel from Motorola's website. Whatever it is, we don't have to wait too long now to find out.

Source

HTC One Google Play Edition review: One for Google

Samsung testing the Galaxy Note III in three screen sizes?

According to a listing of Indian logistics website Zaumba, the Samsung has began testing the Galaxy Note III in three different screen sizes. If Zaumba is to be believed, Samsung hasn't yet decided wether the Galaxy Note III should pack a 5.5", 5.7" or 6" display. Mind you, couple of reports clearly suggested that Samsung has chosen to build the Galaxy Note III around a 5.7" display, so maybe the testing is already complete.

Furthermore there are rumors floating around suggesting the Koreans' R&D team is testing flexible OLED display technology alongside standard OLED and LCD display variants. The original Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note II both packed Super AMOLED screens.

There's strong evidence that points to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset as the heart of the Samsung Galaxy Note III. But even in the performance department Samsung is said to be preparing an alternative version of its third-gen phablet and ship it with the latest Exynos 5 Octa chipset in some regions.

Other specifications include 3GB of RAM, a 13MP camera with purported optical image stabilization and the freshly announced Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. Naturally, there'll be the an updated version of the S Pen accompanying the Note III, but nothing about it has leaked just yet.

Source | Via

Sony Xperia Honami visits FCC, confirms launch date

Sony Xperia Honami has appeared in front of a camera a few times already and now the upcoming cameraphone from Sony has made a visit to Federal Communications Commission.

According to the FCC report, the Sony Xperia Honami will be announced before September 30 and the smartphone is expected to hit the stores by the first week of October.

The Sony Xperia Honami is rumored to sport a 5-inch Full HD triluminos display with the X-reality engine. Furthermore, the smartphone is said to feature a 2.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor along with 2 GB of RAM, 20.7 megapixel rear camera with Sony G-lens and BIONZ image processor and 16 GB of inbuilt memory that can be expanded via microSD card slot.

Sony Xperia Honami is said to be IP57 certified, which means the smartphone will be completely dust-protected and has the ability to withstand a meter of water for 30 minutes. The connectivity options for the Xperia Honami include Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, Wi-Fi and supports GSM/UMTS/LTE networks.

Lastly, the Sony Xperia Honami is rumored to run on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and the juice for it will be supplied by a 3,000mAh battery. The latest smartphone from Sony will be available in White, Black and Purple color options.

Sony is all but certain to unveil its Xperia Honami on September 4 in Berlin at its dedicated press event.

Source | Via

MediaTek announces first true octa-core processor

MediaTek has officially announced the world's first true octa-core processor. The latest SoCs allows all the eight cores to run simultaneously, unlike the Samsung implementation, which can activate up to half of its CPU cores at once. The true octa-core processors offer you enhanced performance, power efficiency and improved user experience.

The MediaTek true octa-core processor allocates processing power to different cores on per-application and per-task basis that gives the ultimate multi-tasking experience. The newest addition to the MediaTek SoCs comes with advanced web browsing feature that has the unique ability to allocate individual browser tabs to CPU cores.

The processor also has the ability to delegate user input to individual cores and renders 3D effects more smoothly and enhances the user interface. The multi-threaded programming in the processor enables improved video framerate processing, which gives superior gaming experiences.

Lastly, the octa processor has an efficient video playback feature that reduces that battery used for decoding HEVC FHD video by up to 18% when compared to the current quad-core processors. The octa-core solution also provides 20% more frames while on display mode.

Unfortunately, there is no word on the specifications and the launch date of the true octa-core processors.

Source | Via

Another budget iPhone photo leaks, this time with FCC labels

So far we’ve been pretty skeptical of the budget iPhone leaks as they bear a very strong resemblance to a certain China-built Android phone. This, however, could be the money shot - the plastic budget iPhone with FCC labels on the back.

None of the other leaks we’ve seen (and there have been plenty) had such labels. The labels could, of course, be faked quite easily (especially in a blurry shot like this). Still, we’re on the lookout for official FCC docs - a non-blurry shot with the FCC ID clearly visible would be a great start.

Anyway, the rumor mill also says that this budget iPhone will be unveiled on September 6. There are other rumors that contradict this date so we'll see. For what it’s worth, the iPhone 5 was announced September 12.

Source | Via

BlackBerry Q5 review: The apprentice

IDC: Apple and Samsung lose market share in Q2

According to the latest figures from Internation Data Corporation (IDC) market analysis, Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the smartphone market. However, the companies have seen their shares slip in Q2 of this year compared to what they had last year.

Of the estimated total of 237.9 million smartphones shipped this past quarter, Samsung accounted for some 72.4 million units, or 30.4%. Despite shipping more units in Q2 than for the same period of last year, Samsung's market share dropped from 32.2% due to seasonal sales rates and lost market share to up-and-comers like LG and Lenovo.

LG was able to ship 12.1 million units in Q2, giving it a 5.1% market share, while Lenovo sold 11.3 million units, or 4.7%. Those two saw their shipments increase by 108.6% and 130.6% YoY, respectively.

Apple, meanwhile saw its market share drop by almost a quarter to 13.1% in Q2. The (highly) rumored release of a budget iPhone model alongside the iPhone 5S should hopefully bring things back for the Cupertino-based company, but the effects of those will only be properly felt in Q4.

iCharts

The lost market share is likely of little concern to either Apple or Samsung, as both are raking in huge profits from their smartphone offerings. Particularly Samsung, who is celebrating a record $8.5 billion profit for Q2.

Source | Via

T-Mobile US drops all phones to $0 on contract, iPhone 5 included

T-Mobile has dropped the upfront cost of all phones available in the carrier's stores to $0, including flagships like the Apple iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S4, Sony Xperia Z and Nokia Lumia 925.

There's a catch though – you still have to pay for the phone, you just do it in monthly installments on top of your regular monthly payments. Starting tomorrow, customers can grab a new phone on T-Mobile's Simple Choice Plan (starts at $50 for unlimited talk and text plus 500MB high-speed data).

Here's a table that shows the monthly payments for some of the most popular devices. We've added a third column, which is the total cost of the device over 24 months (which T-Mobile conveniently neglected).

Device	Down Payment	Monthly Payments 24 equal monthly payments for 0% APR on approved credit1	Total for 24 months
Samsung Galaxy S® 4	$0	$25	$600
Samsung Galaxy Note® II	$0	$27	$648
Samsung Galaxy S® III	$0	$22	$528
Xperia® Z from Sony	$0	$25	$600
iPhone 5 16GB only	$0	$27	$648
Nokia Lumia 925	$0	$20	$480
Nokia Lumia 521	$0	$5	$120
BlackBerry® Q10	$0	$25	$600
HTC One®	$0	$25	$600
Samsung Galaxy Tab(TM) 2 10.1	$0	$20	$480

Note that this is a limited time offer and T-Mobile didn’t say when it ends. You can also sign up for the JUMP! upgrade program that costs $10 a month and adds insurance and the option to sign a new contract (and get a new phone) every six months. It's similar AT&T Next (which goes live today) and Verizon's Edge.

Source | Via

Press render of BlackBerry 9720 Samoa leaks

BlackBerry recently announced that the company will be coming up with a new BlackBerry 7 smartphone. The handset carrying the now obsolete platform is targeted at consumers in the emerging markets and we now have a press render showing what it looks like.

The BlackBerry 9720 Samoa has been leaked, courtesy of evleaks. The image confirms that the phone packs a QWERTY keypad and an optical trackpad with send, menu, end and back keys alongside it.

It looks like the BlackBerry 9720 will come out with few dedicated buttons placed on the sides of the smartphone. The upcoming BB 7 device is rumored to sport a 480 x 360 pixel display, but info on its other specs is scarce at the moment.

Unfortunately, there is no word on the launch date of the smartphone, but with the press renders ready, we expect it to happen pretty soon enough.

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Specs of Samsung Galaxy Note III leak, 5.7-inch display confirmed

The upcoming Galaxy Note phablet has been doing the rounds in the rumorland for quite a while now. The specifications of the third generation Galaxy Note have appeared several times and now we have an official confirmation from a Samsung insider, in front of Business Daily.

Samsung Galaxy Note III is confirmed to feature a 5.7-inch display, 3 GB of RAM and Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. Furthermore, the alleged spec sheet of Galaxy Note III reveals that the device will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset with the latest 4G LTE-A support.

We will know more about the Galaxy Note III, when Samsung unveils its next generation Galaxy phablet on September 4 in Berlin.

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Samsung Galaxy S4 in Purple Mirage pictured

Samsung recently announced a few new colors for its flagship smartphone. The Galaxy S4 was initially launched in two color options - Black and White, but the new announce meant it will also be getting Blue Arctic, Purple Mirage, Red Aurora, Brown Autumn and Pink Twilight versions.

We have already seen the fourth generation Galaxy S smartphone in Red Aurora and Brown Autumn, courtesy of some leaked press renders. Now, the live images of Purple Mirage variant of the Galaxy S4 have surfaced.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Purple Mirage is said to be an Exynos Octa variant and the availability of the version will be restricted to only a few regions.

Unfortunately, there is no word on the launch date of the new paint job, but it shouldn't be far away now.

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Sony Honami gets pictured side-by-side with Xperia Z

Up until now, all we've seen of the Xperia i1 Honami from Sony is pretty much everything. From high res captures to alleged press images to specs, there's even a system dump that revealed a new camera UI for its 20MP shooter.

One thing we haven’t seen yet is it pictured next to the flagship it's set to succeed, the Sony Xperia Z. Judging by how similar the design strategy looks to be and seeing as how the Honami is set to also have a 5" 1080p display, it's a pretty safe bet that the devices should look very similar.

The first two shots indicate that the Honami is slightly longer and just a hair wider than the Xperia Z.

Also included are some shots of the new camera UI. Although we've already seen this interface via the earlier leaked camera app, this time they're in English, so we get a better idea of what it is about.

By all accounts, the Honami is expected to be revealed at Sony's dedicated press event at IFA in Berlin on September 4. Be sure to check back with us then for full coverage!

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