Nokia Lumia 929 leaks in a live photo , this time dressed in white

After taking a break for a few weeks, the previously leaked Nokia Lumia 929 for Verizon appeared in live photos yet again. This time around, the yet to be announced Windows Phone powerhouse showed up dressed in white attire.

Nokia Lumia 929 (click to enlarge)

Alongside the leaked photo, alleged information on the battery of the Nokia Lumia 929 made the rounds. The device will reportedly hit the shelves with a 2,510mAh unit on board.

The previously rumored specs of the Nokia Lumia 929 include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC, 5” 1080p display, and 20MP PureView camera (we’ve seen an alleged sample from it already). The handset will have 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of built-in memory to go with a microSD card slot.

The latest report suggests that the Nokia Lumia 929 will launch on Verizon in the second half of December. Previous rumors about November unveiling have obviously failed to materialize.

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LG G2 to get the Android KitKat update in Q1, 2014

The LG G2 received favorable reviews from critics as well as customers. Now that Google has announced the Android 4.4 KitKat update, naturally everyone who bought one is wondering when will they be receiving the update.

According to Mobile Syrup who contacted the Canadian division of LG, the company will be providing the Android 4.4 build to all the carriers in Q1, 2014, near the end of March. From then onwards it depends upon the carriers how quickly they start rolling out the updates. Those are using unlocked version of the handset can probably expect to receive the update a bit sooner.

The LG G2 is currently one of the best Android smartphones available on the market with top of the line specifications across the board. The software has been criticized for being over the top due to the many features LG tends to add in its phones. Although the KitKat update likely won't be fixing that problem, you would get all of the under the hood improvements that Google has introduced. Too bad there is going to be a long wait for it.

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SIM-free BlackBerry Z10 now available for $199

Black Friday is now behind us, but the Cyber Monday deals are already starting to come in. BlackBerry is among the first to give you a cool smartphone promotion, letting you have its former Z10 flagship for just $199.

That’s the price for SIM-free BlackBerry Z10 with no commitment to any carrier. Shipping is also free, so the price announced is final (no taxes included, of course). To take advantage of the promotion you need to use the promo code BFEMAILZ10 at checkout.

The BlackBerry Z10 didn’t quite manage to become the best seller its maker so desperately needed and it’s certainly not a device without its flaws, but it’s hard to argue that at $199 contract-free it offers excellent value for your money. If you are willing to stray off the beaten path and try a non-mainstream operating system this seems like a perfectly good chance.

The deal is only valid until Monday, so make up your mind quickly. If you decide to go for it, just follow the source link to place your order. And if you are still sitting on the fence, feel free to check out our review – it should answer all your questions about the smartphone.

Source | Via

Quechua announces a rugged 5" smartphone

Quechua in association with Archos has unveiled a rugged smartphone. The handset is designed with an active lifestyle in mind and is resistant to shock, mud, water, sand, cold and snow.

Quechua's newest smartphone is IP 54 certified and is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and has 1GB of RAM on a Qualcomm chipset. The rugged device is built around a 5-inch display and offers a 5 megapixel main camera and 4 GB of internal memory that can be expanded via microSD card slot.

The smartphone runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and packs a 3,500mAh battery, which according to the company lasts for about 22 hours on calling.

Quechua's rugged smartphone is priced at €230 (about $313). Unfortunately, there is no word on the availability of the device at the moment.

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Unlocked Moto G goes up for pre-order on Amazon in the US

Android 4.4 now seeding to Unlocked and Developer HTC One

Unlocked HTC One devices, as well as their Developer Edition siblings are now getting updated to Android 4.4 KitKat with Sense 5.5 in the United States. HTC USA announced the pleasant surprise on its official Twitter account.

HTC surely isn’t wasting time in updating its flagship smartphone to the latest version available. The Sense-d version of the HTC One saw KitKat only four days after the Google Play Edition got treated to the update, and barely a month after Android 4.4 made a debut on the Nexus 5.

Carrier versions of the HTC One in the United States are due to get the update by the end of January. HTC vowed to do so earlier this month.

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Microsoft Surface 2 review: Sink or swim

Android 4.4 KitKat now seeding to Korean LG G2

Xolo unveils Q500, a dual-SIM Android phone

Samsung unveils Galaxy Note 3 in red and rose gold

Samsung Argentina has unveiled two new colors of the Galaxy Note 3 flagship. Currently the phablet is selling in black, white and pink, but it seems Samsung will be adding more options to the pallete.

The red Galaxy Note 3 is rumored to hit the shelves in the first week of January, while the rose gold edition will launch two weeks later. Both version will be available globally, but some carriers and retails may get some exclusivity deals for a month or two.

Here are some official images of the new flavors.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in red and rose gold

There is still no official info on when those new colors will be hitting Argentina and the rest of the world.

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Samsung Galaxy S4 goes free on BestBuy

BestBuy is now offering the Samsung Galaxy S4 for free with a 2-year contract on Verizon, AT&T and Sprint. More specifically, it's the Snapdragon 600 version of the phone with 16GB of on-board storage.

Available in black and white, BestBuy also offers its own exclusive Arctic Blue model for no upfront fee. Additionally, the Galaxy S4 Active is also eligible for a free grab with a 2-year contract on AT&T in either blue or brown.

Normally, the phone costs $249.99 on Verizon and $199.99 on AT&T, but with this deal you can save the hassle of reaching for your wallets thanks to this Black Friday deal.

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Android 4.3 update for S4 and S III gets to Europe

Some users are seeing their Samsung Galaxy S4 and S III receiving the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update in Europe.

The update was first rolled-out but was shortly found to be infested by a lot of bugs and was since pulled. Not after AT&T resumed seeding the fixed version of the update. And now the update has started making its way to other regions.

The update brings improvements to performance, the Galaxy S4 gets Galaxy Gear and Knox support along with Group Play 2.5 and more.

Users that have installed the buggy 4.3 update should shortly receive a small patch update through Samsung Kies. And the Galaxy S4 should receive Android KitKat soon as well so this isn't the last one.

Source | Via

Red and white gold flavors of Galaxy Note 3 coming in January

Samsung is prepping to launch two new colors of the Galaxy Note 3 flagship, according to inside sources. Currently the phablet is selling in black, white and pink, but it seems Samsung will be adding more options to the pallete.

The red Galaxy Note 3 is rumored to hit the shelves in the first week of January, while the white gold edition will launch two weeks later. Both version will be available globally, but some carriers and retails may get some exclusivity deals for a month or two.

The images you are seeing below are just renders made by the guys over at Android Authority and are for illustrative purposes only.

We still don't know what this white gold version is supposed to look like. The champagne which the rendered image suggests isn't quite what white gold looks like but who knows. Anyway, January is just a month away, so we'll find out soon enough.

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5.5-incher from Huawei leaks with octa-core processor

Leaked images of a Huawei smartphone going by the G750 codename have surfaced. The smartphone is running on MediaTek's new true octa-core MT6592 chipset.

MediaTek has been high on praise for its new chipset, which it claims is the first "true octa-core" solution, being capable of running all eight cores simultaneously. This is in contrast to chipsets like Samsung's Exynos 5 Octa SoC, which runs either its four faster cores or four slower cores depending on processing needs.

The new SoC from MediaTek also has the ability to support 4K video playback and cameras that do up to 16MP stills and fullHD recording,.

But going back to the G750, the device is expected to sport a 5.5-inch screen of a rather disappointing 720p resolution, alongside 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory. According to the about screen, Android 4.2.2 is the OS version.

The G750 shares many of the internals leaked from Huawei's unannounced Glory 4 handset, so it's possible that we're seeing that same device under a new name here.

Source (Chinese) | Via

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 for Verizon drops to $170

Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 droid leaks

A new leak from Hungary details the Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2, the successor of its popular dual-SIM Android-powered phone.

It has a 4" WVGA screen (480 x 800) and runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. It's powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz processor with 768MB RAM, though the exact chipset isn't clear. Anyway, the phone has a 5MP camera, 4GB of built-in storage, microSD card slot and a 1,500mAh battery.

The Galaxy Ace 3 has virtually the same specs and it has a dual-SIM version (LTE version too, but that's single-SIM only). The Galaxy Duos 2, as the name suggests, comes only in dual-SIM flavor.

The Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 was unveiled in Hungary but it will reportedly be available in a few days in India too at INR10990 ($175 / €130). Also note that the phone is very different than the Galaxy S II Duos for China Telecom.

Thanks to K for sending this in!

Source 1 (in Hungarian) • Source 2

Firefox OS picks up speed in Europe

Mozilla's Firefox OS based smartphones have hit the stores of Serbia, Montenegro, Hungary and Greece. With the inclusion of the new markets, Mozilla's OS powered devices are now available in 13 countries across the globe.

Telenor has the Alcatel One Touch Fire smartphone up for grabs in Serbia, Hungary and Montenegro. In Hungary, the device is also available with the Deutsche Telekom and COSMOTE is offering the One Touch Fire in Greece.

Meanwhile, Telenor, the Norway-based operator has also revealed its plans of bringing the Firefox OS phones to Asia in the early 2014.

Mozilla Firefox OS smartphones are already on sale across Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Brazil, United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Colombia, Venezuela, Poland and Germany.

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Nokia Asha 502 Dual SIM and Asha 503 go on sale

Nokia put two Asha 50x phones on sale – the 502 Dual SIM and the 503. The two are based on the Asha 501 design, but add a transparent outer layer on the back (while being every bit as colorful underneath).

The Nokia Asha 502 Dual SIM improves the phone's photography skills by bumping the camera to 5MP and adding an LED flash. The video recording is still at the abysmal QVGA@15fps, though.

As the name suggests, it comes only in dual-SIM. Unlike the 501, this model has only 2G connectivity, but Wi-Fi is still available and so is WhatsApp. Note that the Asha 502 has a slightly smaller battery.

The Nokia Asha 503 comes in single- and dual-SIM versions. It also brings back the 3.5G connectivity from the 501, while keeping the improved camera. The battery is back to the original 1,200mAh capacity too.

Both the Asha 502 and the 503 have 3" QVGA screens (240 x 320) protected by Gorilla Glass 2, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, microSD card slots. They also feature social networking integration (Facebook, Twitter, Sina Weibo, LINE, WeChat) and Nokia's data compressing Xpress Browser.

The Nokia Asha 502 Dual SIM and Asha 503 are available right now in select IMEA (India, Middle East and Africa) and Asia Pacific regions.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 will not have OIS camera

HTC One Dual SIM with microSD slot coming to UK

HTC One hit the shelves in late March and despite its initial production issues, it's still one of the most popular smartphones in the market.

Unfortunately HTC One didn't have a microSD card slot for memory expansion and it faced a lot of negative feedback about it. What's really odd is that HTC was offering a microSD-enabled dual-SIM model of the One on the Chinese market, but didn't give the international version the same treatment.

The good news is HTC is finally going to offer the same dual-SIM and microSD-enabled HTC One in the UK. The phone is already available on pre-order via the official HTC online store and costs £494.99 for the 32GB model.

There is no info on the release date just yet, but we hope it will ship before Christmas. There is also no info concerning carrier availability and potential rollout of the microSD-enabled One to other markets.

Source | Via

Nokia Lumia 520 goes on sale for $50 off-contract

Just a day after the Nokia Lumia 525 became official, its predecessor the Lumia 520 gets an impressive price cut. AT&T and the official Windows Store will be selling the phone for $50 starting today.

The price is for an off-contract device. Starting today select AT&T stores across the USA as well as the online Windows Store will be offering the Lumia 520 for $50. You don't have much time to make up your mind whether you'll want it or not, because the promotion ends December 2.

The Nokia Lumia 520 is by far the greatest bestseller of the Finns and we liked it a lot when we reviewed it. Admittedly, Nokia has cut some corners here and there to make the Lumia 520 as affordable as it could possibly be, but at $50 buying it is a no-brainer.

Nokia is yet to put a price tag on the Lumia 525. Hopefully, the manufacturer won't go much higher than the Lumia 520.

Via | Source

Oppo Find 7 teased in a first official photo

Oppo has posted the first official photo of its upcoming Find 7 flagship on its Weibo page. The teaser image shows just the back of the phone - but its enough to give us a better idea of what the phone would look like.

The photo shows that the Find 7 will have some sort of reflective material used for its back panel and won't stick with the matte finish of the Find 5. Oppo calls it a "holographic mirror design" and promises the phone to be another Oppo classic.

Strong words, indeed, but we definitely like what we see. The edges of the glass back look to be chamfered and you can spot the metal frame surrounding the phone. The camera and LED flash are situated on the top left corner with earlier rumors pointing at a 13MP snapper. The Oppo Find 7 is also speculated to pack a Snapdragon 800 chipset and a 4,000mAh battery.

However, we wouldn't count on it, as in September Oppo officially disclosed the Find 7 will be made available in late 2014. We doubt the manufacturer is going to put last year's chipset in its latest flagship.

Source | Via

Oppo R827T and ZTE Grand S II get certified in China

Two yet unofficial phones have hit the Chinese wireless authority Tenaa for certification – a mid-range smartphone from Oppo and one phablet from ZTE.

Oppo R827T

The Oppo R827T, previously thought to be Oppo Find 5 Mini, doesn’t quite live up to the "mini" part though, nor the "5". It has a 4.7" screen with qHD resolution (540 x 960) and measures 137 x 68 x 7.75mm. The weight is 128g.

Oppo RT827T Find 5 Mini photos

The Oppo R827T will be powered by a MediaTek MT6589 chipset (quad-core Cortex-A7 at 1.2GHz) with 1GB RAM. There's an 8MP camera on the back, 2MP on the front and microSD card slot (built-in storage info is unavailable).

The affordable smartphone will come in Black, White and Blue and the version that was certified has GSM and TD-SCDMA, but that doesn’t mean there won't be an international version.

ZTE S221 Grand S II

The ZTE S221 is likely the Snapdragon-powered Grand S II we saw leak through AnTuTu a couple of days ago. The device is a phablet with a 5.5" 1080p screen and is a millimeter thicker than the original, measuring 154x77x7.9mm. The Grand S II weighs 156g.

ZTE S221 Grand S II photos

Judging by the benchmark scores, the S II will be powered by a Snapdragon 800 chipset and it's supposed to have 2GB RAM. Storage is unknown but there's a microSD card slot on board.

The ZTE S221 Grand S II will be available in Black and White, again with China-specific 3G/4G support.

Source 1 • Source 2

Nokia working on a dual-SIM Lumia smartphone

We already knew Nokia is working on a some sort of smartphone with the codename Moneypenny. Now a new info from popular leakster @evleaks says the company is also releasing a dual-SIM variant of the upcoming device.

Nokia planning a dual-SIM version of Windows Phone Blue-powered Moneypenny.

— @evleaks (@evleaks) November 27, 2013

Nokia's Moneypenny along with Goldfinger will be the first smartphones to feature the WP 8.1 Blue out of box. It appears that the new release will finally bring support for dual-SIM smartphones to the platform, allowing Nokia to compete more successfully in developing markets, where a second SIM slot is often seen as a mandatory feature.

If the earlier rumors are to be trusted, WP 8.1 Blue will also bring a notification center, better multi-tasking and a Siri-like Cortana voice assistant.

There is no word on the specifications and the launch date of Moneypenny, but since Microsoft is expected to announce the WP 8.1 OS in early 2014, we might see the device going official either at CES or at MWC.

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Oppo N1 review: Head spin

Off-contract Moto X will get a $150 price cut on Cyber Monday

Motorola will be offering the contract-free Android 4.4 KitKat booting Moto X with a substantial discount on Cyber Monday. The US manufacturer announced on its official Google+ account that it will be selling its flagship smartphone with a hefty $150 off its regular price.

The one-day only pricing means that users will be able to snag a 16GB Moto X for $349.99. The 32GB version will be offered at $399.99. The discount will be available for any off-contract Moto X, including the Developer edition, as well as personalized devices.

The new one-day pricing puts the Moto X in the same territory as the LG Nexus 5. Not nearly as powerful as the Nexus 5, the Moto X will entice potential users with infinite customization options, as well as superb ergonomics.

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Sailfish-based Jolla now available for sale

Just as promised the Jolla phone has just became available in Finland. The launch event is still ongoing in Helsinki.

Jolla costs €399 and comes with a 4.5" qHD IPS display. It is powered by Snapdragon 400 chipset with a dual-core 1.4GHz Krait processor, Adreno 305 graphics and 1GB of RAM. There is an 8MP rear camera, 16GB expandable storage, and rich connectivity options including I2C.

Jolla is running on the MeeGo-succeeding Sailfish OS, developed by ex Nokia employees. It relies heavily on gestures and is able to run Android apps. The Sailfish OS comes with acess to 85,000 Android applications through its preinstalled Yandex store. Nokia HERE Maps comes pre-installed, too.

Here is the latest promo video of the Jolla smartphone.

Jolla is available in 9 different colors. Smart exchangeable covers are sold separately and you can change the looks of your phone at any time.

Jolla is already available in Finland, but it will be rolling to 135 more countries in the near future.

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Carphone Warehouse UK gets three new Galaxy S4 mini colors

The UK will be getting three new flavors of the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini via Carphone Warehouse. The retailer seems to have signed an exclusive deal with Samsung and will be offering orange, pink and purple editions of the mid-ranger.

The pink and purple Galaxy S4 mini are already in stock and you can have either of them for £379.95. You can opt for a 2-year agreement with any of the major carriers and you'll get the phone for free with tariffs starting at £21 per month.

The orange flavor first stock will be arriving on December 9, but you can pre-order it right now.

There is no info on if or when the Carphone Warehouse exclusivity will expire at this point.

Source | Via

Gold HTC One now available on O2 Germany

HTC added a new color option to the HTC One palette – Gold. Not actual gold like the limited edition One mind you. Anyway, just two days after the announcement, the first carrier to offer the phone has already stepped up.

O2 Germany has exclusivity on the Gold HTC One in the country. On contract the phone costs the same as the other color versions (again, it's not real gold). It's a symbolic €1 with €40/month deal for two years.

Off contract, the phone is €540. You can find an HTC One for €460 on Amazon.de, but there's no Gold option, of course. Also that price is for the silver version, the most expensive version – Blue – is €510.

The Gold color option of the HTC One should launch in other countries soon too, but there's no official info from any other carriers just yet.

Source (in German) | Via

Snapdragon 800-packing Galaxy S4 Advance hits France

AdDuplex: Nokia controls 90% of Windows Phone market

Nokia – or rather Microsoft – now owns 90% of the Windows Phone market. The numbers are from the latest AdDuplex report and reveal other interesting facts of the WP landscape.

That the Nokia Lumia 520 accounts for over a quarter of all Windows Phone devices should come as no surprise. That Windows Phone 7 devices account for another quarter, however, is surprising.

We keep careful track of outdated Android versions, but it's worth keeping in mind that WP7 devices will never see Windows Phone 8. Is WP7 the Gingerbread of Windows Phone?

Anyway, back to the Lumia 520. If you combine its share with that of the 521 – which is just a T-Mobile branded 520 – the market share jumps to nearly 30%. Also, this is the only phone with a double digit percentage when it comes to market share.

Second and third are the high-end Lumia 920 and the other low-end Lumia, the 620, both with under 9%. Other than the 920, there are virtually no high-end devices with an appreciable market share – neither the Lumia 1020 that has been out for a while, nor the 925 and 928 have managed to make a significant impact. The large-screened Nokia Lumia 625 has carved out a 2.9% share, though.

It's worth pointing out one more time that the above chart shows the worldwide marker share of all Windows Phone devices. There's just no HTC, Samsung or other maker that has a single phone with appreciable market share.

HTC does have 7% of the market, but Samsung and Huawei can't even break 2%.

In the US, the three major carriers have a WP dog in the game – Lumia 521 for T-Mobile is on top, followed by Verizon's Lumia 822 and the AT&T's Lumia 920 complete the Top 3.

In the UK, the 520 leads by a wide margin and oddly, it is followed by the old Lumia 800. HTC has third place with the 8S.

In India, the Nokia Lumia 520 has over 40% of the market followed by its low-end compatriots the Lumia 720 and 620. The 625 is at 7%, the affordable large-screen phone is meant to compete with cheap local brands.

From these numbers two things are clear – Microsoft practically owns its own market and it badly needs a high-end phone to achieve any sort of success.

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Kantar: 76% of smartphones sold in Japan in October were iPhones

HTC announces Desire 700, 501 and dual-SIM 601 in Taiwan

HTC held a presentation in Taiwan today to show off its new range of low and mid-range phones. Dual-SIM is feature on two of the three new phones, which all belong to the Desire lineup.

HTC Desire 700

The HTC Desire 700 is a more affordable alternative to the HTC One, with a bigger 5" screen but a lower resolution, qHD. Just like the One, it packs stereo BoomSound speakers on the front. It's powered by a quad-core Snapdragon chipset (the S400 with four Cortex-A7 cores most likely, details are sparse) and offers 1GB RAM.

The Desire 700 has a traditional 8MP camera with a BSI sensor and an f/2.0 aperture, 2.1MP front-facing camera (again with BSI sensor). The main camera can record 1080p video and has HTC Zoe support. The built-in storage is 8GB and there's a microSD card.

The HTC Desire 700 is a dual-SIM phone with HSPA support on the first SIM slot and GSM/EDGE on the second SIM slot. Both slots are of the micro variety. The 2,100mAh Li-Po battery (rather small for a phone of this size) is good for nearly 12 hours of 3G calls.

The phone is priced NTD 13,900 in Taiwan, which works out to $470.

HTC Desire 501

If the 700 is a HTC One alternative, then the Desire 501 looks up to the HTC One mini. It has a 4.3" WVGA screen, dual-core 1.15GHz processor (almost certainly not a Krait, maybe it's a Cortex-A6 like the Desire 500).

The phone has the same 8MP/2.1MP camera combo as the 700 along with HTC ImageChip, but strangely no Zoe support. There's no stereo speakers on the front either.

Still, the Desire 501 is like the 700 in several other aspects, it has 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage with a microSD expansion slot and a 2,100mAh battery. This gives the phone several weapons over the One mini (card slot, bigger battery) but the screen is no match for the 720p LCD on the mini, nor is the CPU up to par with the Krait-based chipset.

The 501 is not a dual-SIM phone, you can look to the very similar HTC Desire 500 for that.

The phone will cost NTD 9,900 ($330) in Taiwan.

HTC Desire 601

The HTC Desire 601 is already official, but now it also got a dual-SIM version. The phone is a 4.5" version of the 701, with almost the exact same feature set except that the main camera has been demoted to a 5MP/1080p shooter and the internal storage has been halved to 4GB (the microSD card slot is still in place).

There's dual-SIM support, front-facing BoomSound stereo speakers and a dual-core 1.2GHz processor. This one is a bit strange as the single-SIM Desire 601 has a dual-core 1.4GHz processor.

This one is priced NTD 10,900 ($370).

HTC also showed off the Desire 300, but there's nothing new about that. It's the cheapest of the bunch, costing NTD 7,900 ($270).

There's no indication of which (if any) of these phones will be available worldwide and when.

Source | Via