Moto X said to get a price drop to $100 in Q4 this year

Motorola's latest and greatest Moto X has generally been lauded by everyone for its unique customizable colors and performance but the $200 price tag on contract has often raised questions, especially considering you get much more powerful smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One for the same price.

It seems Motorola is aware of this and is planning a price drop in the near future. evleaks has revealed that the Moto X will be getting a price drop in Q4 this year and will drop down to $100 on a contract.

Moreover, the wooden panels that Motorola showed off when the device was announced (but are not yet available) will be available around the same time for a $50 premium. You can see the four panel options that will be available through Moto Maker later this year.

Source

iPhone 5S name pops up on Japanese KDDI carrier

HTC Zara to be unveiled as HTC Desire 601

HTC Zara is actually HTC Desire 601, according to the usually very reliable evleaks. An official render of the phone has already leaked once along with a bunch of specs.

HTC Zara will ship as the Desire 601

— @evleaks (@evleaks) August 30, 2013

HTC Zara a.k.a. Desire 601 will supposedly pack a 4.5" qHD display and will run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8930 chipset with two 1.2GHz Krait cores, 1GB of RAM and an Adreno 305 GPU. The rumored specs sheet continues with an 8MP camera, 8GB expandable storage and Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with Sense 5.5 UI on top of it.

HTC Zara

Recently we saw another unannounced HTC model leaking, which according to the latest rumors is codenamed HTC Zara mini. It will probably have the same internals as Zara/Desire 601, but downgrade the display to a 4.0" WVGA unit and the rear camera to 5MP resolution.

HTC Zara mini

An educated guess would be that both HTC Zaras are going to be unveiled in September alongside the HTC One Max.

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Galaxy Note III to hit UK on Sept 16, Xperia Z1 on Sept 24

Samsung is doing great job so far keeping the Galaxy Note III phablet under wraps and we are yet to see leaked pictures of the actual device. However we spotted renders, specs, panels, different model rumors, and, most recently a launch date.

Today's piece of info comes for Three UK internal document, which contains various devices release dates including the Samsung Galaxy Note III and Sony Xperia Z1.

According to this leaked doc Three UK will be launching the Samsung Galaxy Note III on September 16, while the Xperia Z1 flagship will hit the UK shelves on September 24. If the document is indeed authentic, we guess the other UK carriers and retailers will be getting the two devices around the same time, as well as the rest of the world's major markets.

Both devices will be unveiled on September 4 in Berlin and we'll be there to cover the events live for you.

Source

Alcatel One Touch Idol S and Idol Mini go official

Alcatel has extended its collection of smartphones with the introduction of One Touch Idol S and One Touch Idol Mini. Both the devices come with a compact design along with a slim profile. The Idol S is the slimmer of the two with its profile measuring just 7.4mm, while the Idol Mini is also very slender at 7.9mm.

The highlights of the Alcatel Idol S include a 4.7-inch IPS display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. The device is powered by a dual-core processor clocked at 1.2 GHz along with 1 GB of RAM and features an 8 megapixel rear camera that is capable of recording 1080p videos at 30fps.

Th Alcatel One Touch Idol S comes with a 1.3 megapixel front camera and runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The device has 4 GB of internal memory and there is a microSD card slot for further expansion. Alcatel's latest mid-range addition has a wide range of connectivity option and the smartphone will be available in Slate, Fresh Rose and Cherry Red color options.

On the other hand, the Idol Mini is an entry level smartphone, sporting a relatively small 4.3-inch display with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels. The smartphone also features a 1.3 GHz dual-core processor, 512 MB RAM, 5 megapixel rear camera and 4GB inbuilt memory with microSD card support.

The Idol Mini runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and comes with HSPA+, Wi-Fi, A-GPS and Bluetooth 4.0 radios.

The Alcatel Idol Mini will also be available in a dual-SIM variant with its hardware specifications remaining mostly unchanged. The only difference is the dual-SIM Idol Mini does not come with a microSD card slot and has 8 GB of internal storage.

Alcatel Idol Mini will also be up for grabs in three different color options - Cranberry Pink, Silver and Slate. There are no details on the pricing and the availability of either new smartphone at the moment.

Source 1 | Source 2

LTE-enabled Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom launches across Europe

Samsung announced the Galaxy S4 Zoom back in June and unleashed its 3G version worldwide in July. It's just now though Samsung is releasing the LTE-capable version of the S4 Zoom.

The LTE Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom is completely identical with the already available version but as you probably guessed adds support for 4G networks. The gadget will be available on various EU markets and carriers very soon, though there is no official pricing just yet.

We already spend some quality time with the SM-C101 non-LTE model and you can read all about our encounter right here.

In case you need a refresh, the Galaxy S4 Zoom is basically a hybrid between Galaxy S4 mini and a digicam with its 4.3" qHD screen and 16MP OIS camera with 10x optical zoom at the back.

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Huawei outs waterproof Honor 3 in China

Huawei has launched the Huawei Honor 3 on the Chinese market. The successor of the popular Honor 2 features a 4.7" 720p IPS in-cell display and runs on the Huawei's homebrewed K3V2E chipset with a quad-core 1.5GHz processor and 2GB of RAM.

The rest of the specs of the Honor 3 include a 13MP camera with Sony lens, a LED flash, 8GB expandable internal storage, and a 2150 mAh battery. There is also a 1.3MP front-facing camera for video chats. The Android version ticking inside is 4.2.2 Jelly Bean skinned with Huawei's Emotion UI.

Huawei Honor 3

Huawei Honor 3 is IP57-certified, which guarantees its survival under 1 meter deep water for up to 30 minutes. The IP57 certification also includes dust protection.

Huawei Honor 3 is already available for purchase through Huawei's official online store. It costs CNY1,888, which equals about €235 or $310.

Source | Via

Archos unveils its IFA lineup early: Android phones and tablets galore

Archos unveiled its IFA lineup a few days early – the new additions include many tablets and smartphones, all powered by pure, unskinned Android.

The company is introducing a new line, Oxygen. The Archos 50 Oxygen features a FullHD screen, 13MP front-facing camera and 5MP secondary camera, quad-core 1.5GHz processor running Android 4.2 and 16GB of storage.

The new phones in the Titanium range will start at €99 with a 4" screen, dual-SIM connectivity, 5MP main camera, dual-core processor running Android 4.2. The Platinum range will see new phones too, but Archos will unveil the full details for them and its other new phones at IFA.

The Archos 97b Platinum tablet is an iPad 4 competitor with aluminum body, a 9.7" screen with 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution. The French company is also kicking off its Gen11 tablets with the Archos 101xs2 with HD IPS screen, stereo speakers on the front and a magnetically attached keyboard. Both have quad-core processors and run Android 4.2.

The Xenon line will see 3 new tablets with HD screens, 3G and 3G+ (whatever that means) connectivity, quad-core processors and Android 4.2. There will be a sequel to the Archos GamePad too (a tablet with built in game controls), but detail will only be made available at IFA.

Finally, there will be a couple of kid-oriented ChildPad tablets with Android 4.2 and Play Store filtered for kid-friendly content. There will be an 8" and a 10.1" tablets and the bigger one will be able to use "magnetic figurines" for more tangible play.

Source (PDF)

Cheaper Galaxy Note III with LCD and 8MP cam is in the works

The latest rumors coming from Korea suggest Samsung is trying to lower the cost of the Galaxy Note III phablet for the emerging markets by replacing some internals with cheaper components.

To achieve a price cut, the Galaxy Note III will lose the Super AMOLED screen in favor of a regular LCD unit plus the camera will be downgraded to an 8MP one. Thanks to those sacrifices, Samsung will be able to launch the Galaxy Note III phablet at a cheaper price point in the emerging markets.

According to the etnews report, those new LCD/8MP Galaxy Note III phablets are 30% of the entire first batch of Notes III that is currently manufacturing in Samsung's factories.

We admire Samsung putting efforts to make the Note III available to more customers, though we hope if indeed true, Samsung would still launch the top-shelf model in those countries too so people have a choice.

Samsung will unveil the Galaxy Note III on September 4 in Berlin and we'll be there to cover the event as it unfolds.

Source (in Korean)| Via

BlackBerry Q10 cited to be commercial failure by retailers

Phones with QWERTY keyboards have always been the strong suite of BlackBerry. Which is why when the company revamped their product portfolio with BB10 and the Z10, they decided to not forgo QWERTY phones altogether and launched the Q10 (and consequently the Q5).

Well, it seems that strategy isn't working out so well. According to The Wall Street Journal, who talked to retailers in the US and Canada, the Q10 is an unmitigated failure. There is no demand for the device and the retailers have had to return their stock.

One Canadian retailer even went as far as saying "I think we'd all say that the Q10, the one we all thought was going to be the savior, just hit the ground and died." And this is BlackBerry's home country we are talking about.

While this doesn't mean the all-touch Z10 are flying off the shelves things are looking particularly bleak for the keyboard based BlackBerries. Clearly the market for these devices has dwindled in the past and few would now want to waste precious space for a physical keyboard when they could have a large display instead.

BlackBerry now needs to rethink their strategy and assess if people really want to buy QWERTY BlackBerries anymore. Or simply BlackBerries, for that matter.

Source

Updated ASUS PadFone Infinity A86 leaks, expected in September

The current ASUS PadFone Infinity has just been out in the market for a few months but ASUS is already working on its successor. The new PadFone Infinity A86 (the current one is A80) won't be a radically new from the current one but have just a handful of new features.

Chief among the changes is a switch to Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC from the Snapdragon 600 in the current PadFone Infinity. The other change is a switch of color palette from the all-black design on the current model to an all-white design on the next one.

The design is going to be identical, which means the PadFone Infinity will continue to work with the tablet dock of the current Infinity.

The new PadFone Infinity is expected to be priced at 10,009 yuan and will go on sale in late September.

Source

Sony Xperia M review: Morning show

Spigen posts a Samsung Galaxy Note III render on its site

A Samsung Galaxy Note III teaser with a rendered image of the device has been posted on Spigen's website. Spigen, in case you haven't heard the name, is a company that manufactures cases for a huge variety of smartphones.

So, out of the blue Spigen has published a teaser image of the upcoming Galaxy Note III phablet that is going to be unveiled on September 4. The render definitely looks plausible and while there's no way to know if it's the real deal, it probably bears quite a lot of resemblance to the final product.

The Galaxy Note III is rumored to pack a 5.7" 1080p Super AMOLED display and run on Snapdragon 800 or Exynos 5420 chipset depending on your region. It will offer 3GB of RAM, a 13MP sharpshooter, expandable 16/32/64GB storage and LTE connectivity. A huge 3200 mAh battery will power the monster and, naturally, you can expect an integrated S-Pen.

The third generation Samsung Galaxy Note will go official next month, on September 4 in Berlin. We will be live at the unveiling, so be sure to tune in for the full scoop on the phablet.

Source | Via

Samsung may ditch plastic panels next year in favor of metal ones

Golden iPhone 5S casing leaks in a video alongside white 5C

A video has surfaced which shows the rumored iPhone 5S' golden casing and compares it side by side with the silver iPhone 5.

The prominent differences are the dual-LED flash cutout on the iPhone 5S casing, the different third microphone pinhole shape and the fact that the chamfered edges on the sides aren't colored and are instead just plain aluminum.

We've seen pictures of the champagne-gold casing more than once. Also a grey SIM tray points to a possible fourth color option.

The video also features a comparison of the would-be iPhone 5S casing with the would-be iPhone 5C one.

If these rumors are true and this actually becomes a reality on September 10, alongside iOS 7 we could expect pretty minor updates on the latest Apple gadget compared to the current iPhone 5. The screen and body would be all but the same.

Sony Xperia Z1 leaks in high-res live photos

Sony Xperia Z1, previously rumored as Honami, is one of the regulars in our news section lately. We already know so many things about the gadget that we wonder if Sony will have any surprises left for us at the official announcement next week.

Anyway, today's leak brings us something we haven't seen so far - the Sony Xperia Z1 in good quality high-resolution photos. No more blurry cams!

Sony Xperia Z1

The Sony Xperia Z1 is expected to feature a 5" 1080p display and to run on a Snapdragon 800 chipset. At the back it will boast a 20.7MP camera with 1/2.3" sensor capable of 4K video recording, and a 3000 mAh battery.

Sony has already started the PR campaign on the gadget. We already saw the power key, the water-proof panels, the G-lens at the back, as well the slim profile which also revealed the announcement date - September 4 - the same day Samsung will premiere the Galaxy Note III. We'll be at both events, bringing the latest details as they come, so stay tuned for our coverage.

Source | Via

O2 and Vodafone launch 4G LTE networks in UK

Today, O2 and Vodafone have officially launched their LTE services in the United Kingdom. However, Vodafone's LTE network is available only in London, while O2 offer's its 4G services across three cities - London, Leeds and Bradford at the moment.

The 4G LTE networks across the UK is dominated by EE, which is currently offering 4G in 100 markets in the country. EE also has the government's spectrum license and all the other carriers need to buy the spectrum through an auction from EE.

Both Vodafone and O2 are currently offering a wide range of usage plans for its potential consumers. Currently, Vodafone's LTE services starts at £26 a month and offers 2 GB of data with unlimited text messages and voice minutes. On the other hand, O2 has a similar offer at the same price tag, but the carrier gives only 1 GB of data with free messages and calling minutes.

Along with the launch of LTE networks, Vodafone and O2 have also announced that they will start selling 4G enabled smartphones. Check out the source links below for more information.

Meanwhile, Three announced its plans to roll out its own 4G network from the December 2013 and the carrier will begin its campaign from London, Manchester and Birmingham. The expansion of Three's LTE network is expected to be quite rapid next year and the carrier is expected to have over 80% of its consumer base on 4G by the end of 2014 and 98% by 2015.

Source 1 | Source 2

IDC: Micromax close to overtaking Samsung in India

IDC released a report on the smartphone market in India and claims the country will become the world's second biggest smartphone market, displacing the US (which lost the lead to China in 2011).

Despite a sluggish overall phone market (21% growth year on year, 4% quarter on quarter), smartphones are exploding in India. Smartphone shipments in Q2 2013 are up 50% quarter on quarter and have nearly tripled compared to the same quarter last year (9.3 million smartphones were shipped during the quarter, compared to 3.5 million in Q2 last year).

Cheap 3G and 2.5G smartphones are displacing feature phones (IDC estimates smartphone ASP will fall under $200 by the end of the year). Dual-SIM functionality and large screens are the most sought after features. Devices with 5-7 inch screens accounted for 30% of the market, growing a whopping 17 times year over year.

Foreign companies are still going strong in India, but local brands like Micromax and Karbonn shipped over half of the smartphones in the country during the second quarter.

Samsung is still on top, with the Galaxy Star pointed out as a particularly hot seller, but the company's mid-range and even high-end phones are selling well too. Even the Galaxy Note II, thanks to the zero interest Equated Monthly Installment plans.

Then there's Micromax in second with over 2 million smartphones shipped and its Canvas line is seeing growing screen diagonals (the Canvas Doodle 2 has reached 5.7"). Karbonn comes in third with increasing shipments too and popular A and Titanium series.

Nokia is fourth with the Lumia 520 one of its best sellers (it's very popular around the world too). Sony has climbed back to fifth with good sales from its mid-rangers and affordable dual-SIMs.

Unknown HTC leaks, 4-inch WVGA display and slim profile in tow

An unknown HTC smartphone has leaked today via two photos. The device looks nothing we've seen so far from HTC and is very slim.

As the rumor has it the phone will pack a 4" or so WVGA display, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage, a 5MP rear and a 1.3MP front camera. There is no word on the processor, connectivity or Android version.

The final piece if info in this rumor is the smartphone's price - $210. Since the leak source is Chinese, we guess China will be the first market to get it and the phone will probably support dual-SIM. Another China-bound Desire perhaps?

Source

Nokia Lumia 625 is now on sale for £240 in the UK

Nokia Lumia 625 is the latest WP smartphone to come out of Nokia. It comes with a 4.7" WVGA IPS display, runs on a dual-core 1.2GHz Krait processor with 512MB RAM, supports LTE connectivity, and packs a 5MP snapper with 1080p video recording. Just like the Lumia 620, the Lumia 625 also offers exchangeable battery covers in different youthful colors.

Various UK retailers have begun selling the WP8 Nokia Lumia 625. The lowest price we could find is at Expansys - the phone costs just £239.99 - though there are only 14 units in stock and they are all of the black flavor.

Clove is selling both the black and white models and they cost £252 with VAT. Phones4U offers the Lumia 625 for free through Vodafone with a two-year contact, while MobilePhonesDirect is selling the SIM-free version for £244.99. Carphone Warehouse expects the first Lumia 625 stock in September.

Nokia Lumia 625 is now available in India as well. There you can get the Black, White, Yellow or Green flavor for INR19,499 which equals at about €220.

We guess other markets will be getting it any moment now, if not already.

Via

Galaxy Note III to go on pre-order on Sep 16, sales start Sep 27

Verizon now offers Moto X through its website, $200 for 16GB

Just as previously promised Verizon is now offering the Motorola Moto X through its website. In-store availability is said to come in the coming weeks.

The device costs $199.99 on a two-year contract but only comes with 16 GB of storage and in black and white flavors.

AT&T has claimed exclusivity on the 32GB model of the device and is the only carrier to offer the device with the Moto Maker customization options.

Reddit user admiralANCHOR found the "VERIZON30" coupon code, that you can try and get 30% off the price of the Moto X. Some Reddit users report that the discount is working so if you want and are eligible, give it a world.

The Moto X supports Verizon's LTE network but without the snazzy customization options it's somewhat of a duller affair.

Source | Via

HTC One Max spotted again with dual SIM slot and removable back

The HTC One Max has surfaced yet again, this time in China, sporting a dual SIM slot and a fingerprint scanner. The SIM slots are placed underneath a back cover, which unlike on the One and One Mini, can be removed.

The fingerprint scanner can also be seen below the camera sensor and there is also an button in the notification screen that shows a fingerprint icon.

Lastly, there are also metal connectors on the side that hint at a case for wireless charging. The current metal body of the One Max wouldn't allow wireless charging directly without a snap on case, which is likely what the connectors are for.

The One Max, is essentially a bigger HTC One (although it looks more like the One Mini) with a rumored 5.9-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 800 SoC, UltraPixel camera, Android 4.3 and Sense 5.5. The phone is expected to be announced next month, around the same time as the Samsung Galaxy Note III.

Source

Nokia Lumia 1520 first photo leaks, sized up next to Lumia 1020

Nokia Lumia 1520, previously known as Bandit, is rumored to feature a 6" 1080p display and run on the latest Snapdragon 800 chipset. Other alleged specs include a 20MP camera on the back, wireless charging support, a polycarbonate body and Windows Phone 8 GDR3.

Today we get to see what is allegedly a live photo of the phablet. How we know it's indeed the 6" Lumia 1520? Well, the phones next to it is the recently launched Lumia 1020 and it's easily dwarfed by the Lumia 1520.

Last month we saw a picture of the front glass of a 6" Lumia phablet and it looks the Lumia 1520 is using the same panel. So we guess the Lumia 1520 existence is pretty certain at this point and all we have to wait for is for Nokia to announce it officially.

Yesterday's Nokia press event in Moscow turned out to be about the Nokia 515 not the Lumia 1520. We guess the official premiere will happen about the same time all other phablets are going to war - sometime in September.

Thank you, gmfady, for the tip!

Source

Android VP Hugo Barra leaves Google for Xiaomi

In a surprising twist of events, Vice President of Android - Hugo Barra - has decided to move on from Google and join Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi.

The news was first broken by AllThingsD and was later confirmed by Barra in a post on Google+. He would be joining Xiaomi Global in China as their Vice President and "help them expand their incredible product portfolio and business globally".

Barra joined Google back in 2008 and for the past few years has been the face of Android, appearing in all recent Google keynotes for product announcements. While leaving, Barra praised the Android team, calling them "the most amazing group of people I've ever worked with in my life" and especially calling out Andy Rubin (who left the Android team recently), Hiroshi Lockheimer, Sundar Pichai and Vic Gundotra.

Google is yet to announce who will be taking on the role of Barra in his absence.

Source

Verizon, Kyocera and Bear Grylls unveil Hydro Elite

Bear Grylls might currently be off-air, but he came back to brings some awesomeness to Verizon's latest though smartphone - the Kyocera Hydro Elite.

Hydro Elite, as the name suggests, is an IPX7-certified water resistant droid. It can last for up to 30 minutes under a meter of water.

Other than water protection, the Kyocera Hydro Elite comes with a 4.3-inch 720p display and runs on a dual-core 1.2GHz processor. The rest of the specs include an 8MP rear and a 1.3MP front cameras, NFC and LTE connectivity, and a 2100 mAh battery.

The Hydro Elite runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with some proprietary skin from Kyocera. The gadget is promoted by the though Bear Grylls, so in addition to the water-resistance you'll also get the famous adventurer's seal of approval.

Here, check the commercial.

The Kyocera Hydro Elite launches on Verizon tomorrow and costs $99.99 with a two-year contract.

Source | Via

The Nokia 515 is a precision-crafted dual-SIM featurephone

Nokia just announced the 515 - a featurephone that goes directly after many high-end smartphones in terms of design and build quality. Its body is carved out of a single piece of anodized and sandblasted aluminum, the screen is made out of gently-curved and polarized Gorilla Glass 2 and the keyboard is built from hardened polycarbonate resin.

Nokia 515 official photos

The Nokia 515 sports a 2.4" QVGA display, has a 5 MP camera with voice-activated self portraits, there's a microSD card slot with support for up to 3GB cards.

Although available in single-SIM there's also a dual-SIM option while the battery is taunted to last a whopping 38 days of stand-by with a single SIM inside.

The Nokia 515 will begin shipping in the third quarter of 2013, starting with Russia, Germany, Switzerland and Poland. Its price tag will be around €115/$149 before taxes and subsidies.

Are feature phones still relevant enough to pour in so much effort in their design? Nokia obviously believes that this is the case.

Source

Acer Liquid S2 pops up on GFX Bench, runs on Snapdragon 800

Acer Liquid S2 seems to be the company's next flagship device that will supposedly hit the shelves very soon.

According to a leaked roadmap Acer Liquid S2 will run on a quad-core 2.3GHz processor and pack a 5.98" 1080p IPS display. The rest of the mentioned specs include 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage and NFC. The Android version is dubbed K OS, although we are not sure if that is shortened from Key Lime Pie or some proprietary launcher. Acer Liquid S2 is supposed to be released this month in Russia for about €585.

The most recent leak comes from the GFXBenchmark database. The Acer Liquid S2 has already run through the GFX tests and the results are in. What's most important though is along with those results we get to see new information on its internals.

The Liquid S2 in the GFX database was running on a quad-core 2.1GHz processor with Adreno 330 graphics and 2GB RAM, which can mean only one chipset - the mighty Snapdragon 800. The device was using Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. Since the next major Android version won’t be out until October, the Liquid S2 will probably run on what's available on time of release. August is almost over, so we can cross out the release date as well.

Whenever Acer announces the Liquid S2 phablet we expect to see it followed by a dual-SIM model shortly after.

Source | Via

Sony Xperia Z1 network license unveils new photos, more info

The Telecommunication Equipment Certification Center in China has given the Sony Xperia Z1 a network license allowing it to operate on the country's mobile networks. However, the Certification Center has also leaked four snapshots of the smartphone from the front, back and two of its sides.

The photos confirm just about everything we've already seen about the phone in all of its leaks and appearances to date. In its design, the Xperia Z1 is almost identical to the Xperia Z and features a cool new notification LED above the Sony logo.

On the right side, there's the SIM card slot covered by a protective flap, Sony's signature Power/Lock button, the volume rocker and dedicated camera shutter key. On the other the photo we see a microSD card slot and the microUSB port. They too are protected with flaps, which along with some more other Sony tricks results in the phone's waterproof nature.

Furthermore, the Xperia Z1 network certification also reveals the phone will be flaunting WCDMA, HSDPA/HSUPA and GPRS support. Sony has also implemented the Chinese WAPI standard for wireless LAN.

Sony Xperia Z1 has already leaked in various pictures and it looks much like its Xperia Z sibling. The Z1 will supposedly feature a 5" 1080p display and run on a Snapdragon 800 chipset. At the back it will boast a 20.7MP camera 1/2.3" sensor capable of 4K video recording, and a 3000 mAh battery.

With the official Sony Xperia Z1 teaser now out in the wild, the smartphone is all but official at this point. The Xperia Z1 will undoubtedly be the headline of the company's pre-IFA event on September 4, so stay tuned!

Source | Via

BlackBerry Z30 shows up in yet another leaked video

The BlackBerry Z30 (also known as the A10) has made its rounds several times through the rumor mill with plenty of leaked images and even a few videos.

The latest video is of the fullHD variety and shows off the device from all sides - granted not always in focus. There's no AT&T branding this time around, which hopefully means the smartphone will be available in international markets as well.

The pleasantly-textured back panel is accompanied by an alleged 5" OLED 720p display, 1.7 GHz dual-core Krait CPU with quad-core Adreno GPU, and microHDMI port support, as you may have noticed in the video.

There's still no word on pricing or launch date.

Thanks, 4Leakz, for the tip!

Nokia Asha 502 and Asha 503 with curved glass in the works

Once again evleaks brings us some juicy information on phones that are yet to become official. This time it's about two upcoming Asha handsets previously rumored as Pegasus and Lanai.

Nokia Pegasus / Nokia Lanai = Asha 502 / Asha 503 (doubleshot)

— @evleaks (@evleaks) August 28, 2013

Nokia Lanai will be called Asha 503 and we've already seen it leaking in February in five pictures. It will look much like the firstborn of the refreshed Asha lineup - the Asha 501. However, the Nokia Asha 503 will replace the hardware Back key with a capacitive one and will have its entire front will be covered by a curved glass. You can also spot the 5MP rear camera with a LED flash. Naturally, the Asha 503 will get a dual-SIM version.

Nokia Pegasus is bound to go official as Nokia Asha 502, but we know nothing besides the name for that one. The Asha 502 should slide between the Asha 501 and the Asha 503 in the pecking order.

We guess the announcement of those Asha phones is close now that the official renderings are done.

Source | Via

Samsung Galaxy Note III front pictured next to Note II panel

We got to see plenty of leaked photos of the front panel of the Samsung Galaxy Note III yesterday, but a new photo from today includes the front panel of the Galaxy Note II and puts things in perspective.

After many different values for the screen diagonal of the Note III, the rumor mill seems to have settled on 5.7". That would make for another 0.2" jump, after the original Note had a 5.3" screen, and its sequel had a 5.5" display.

Note that the image is a composite of two separate shots that have been scaled to match the alleged 5.7" diagonal of the Note III.

More interesting is that the bezels are thinner (they measure just 2.2mm) and the whole panel is barely bigger. Depending on how the sides of the phone are made, the Note III can be as little as 1mm taller and wider than the Note II. Not seen in this photo, but the new panel is reportedly thinner too.

Also, the design has changed - the Note III corners are not as rounded (following the design tweak from Galaxy S III to Galaxy S4).

September 4 is fast approaching and we'll be there when Samsung unveils the Galaxy Note III (and Galaxy Gear smartwatch). The expected specs are 5.7" 1080p screen, Snapdragon 800 or Exynos 5 Octa chipset (or both) and maybe, maybe 4K video recording from a 13MP camera.

Source (in Japanese) | Via

Nokia Pro Camera installed on HTC 8X, mostly working

The Nokia Pro Camera app is reserved for the high-end phones of the Lumia line – the 1020, 925, 928 and 920. However, there are ways, unofficial ways, to install the app on other Windows Phone handsets. The Windows Blog Italia demonstrates a way to put the camera app on the HTC Windows Phone 8X.

The HTC WP 8X also received the GDR2 update for Windows Phone 8 (on Lumia phones that was part of the Amber update, which also included the Pro Camera and Smart Camera apps). You can follow the guide here. It's in Italian so you might need to use Google Translate.

Here's a demo of the app in action:

The video is in Italian too, but here are the major issues – the manual autofocus doesn’t work, neither does video recording and you can't set the Pro Camera app to be the default camera app (the one started by the shutter key). The rest is working as promised.

Source (in Italian) | Via

Google gave the Nexus 4 a $100 price cut in the United States

In a truly surprising fashion, Google gave the LG-made Nexus 4 smartphone a massive discount. The device is currently priced in the Google Play Store at a sweet $199 for the 8GB version, and $249 for a handset with 16GB of on-board memory.

The abovementioned price tags will get you a brand new, contract-free Nexus 4. This is quite an aggressive move by Google, as most top-shelf smartphones in the United States are price in the $200 range with a contract.

Furthermore, the LG Nexus 4 has received at least a 25% discount in a handful of other markets. They include Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, Korea, and the UK.

The Nexus 4 was already quite a bargain at its original $299 starring price. We suspect that the available quantities won't last long, so if you are on the market for a top-end Android smartphone on a budget, now is a good time to act.

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Samsung Galaxy Core review: Two for one

Sony seeds new update for Xperia Z Ultra, brings X-Reality engine

Sony is definitely doing great with the firmware updates lately. The latest one is already heading to the Xperia Z Ultra phablet users around the globe and brings some key improvements.

Here is the unofficial changelog that early adopters have managed to compile so far:

• X-Reality for Mobile display engine included


• Superior Auto mode included in camera settings


• Enhancement of stock email


• Improved battery life


• Improved video playback


• One-hand keyboard operation possible now


• White background UI

All those features are sure to improve the user experience of early adopters of the phablet quite significantly. In case the update isn't available for you just yet, keep calm - these rollouts are gradual and you might have to wait a few days for it to reach your device. It's a good idea to check both over-the-air service and the Sony PC Companion software, though.

Thanks, Anurag, for the tip!

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