Smartphones

Apple Unveils iPhone 5C, 5S

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Like clockwork, second week of September brings about the Apple keynote and its customary iDevice launches-- in this year's case, a duo of new iPhones, the 5C and 5S.

iPhone 5COpened, as these things tend to, by CEO Tim Cook the keynote kicked off with talk on the iTunes festival and a new Apple Store before moving on to iOS. Apparently September 2013 sees Apple shipping its 700 millionth iOS device, and the company hopes iOS 7 will become "the world's most popular mobile OS."

But of course the main news is not the update on the venerable iDevice (iPhone 4+, iPad 2+, iPad mini, 5th gen iPod touch) OS, or how the iPhone 5 helped Apple "take [its] iPhone business to an entirely different level." No, the real meat of the keynote is the iPhone 5 replacements-- the multicolour iPhone 5C (in white, pink, green, yellow and blue) and the "forward-thinking" iPhone 5S.

As suggested in earlier rumours, the iPhone 5C is a non-metal (hard-coated polycarbonate) device featuring a 4-inch retina display, A6 processor, 8MP iSight camera and 16/32GB storage. It is "Arsenic-free, mercury-free, and Android-free" (cue laughs from the iFans) and ships with a range of colourful protective silicon cases.

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IFA Reveal for Galaxy Gear, Note 3

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Samsung finally reveals its foray into smartwatch territory-- the company reveals the Galaxy Gear, as well as the 3rd iteration of the Galaxy Note phablet, at the Samsung Unpacked IFA 2013 event.

Galaxy GearsLooking like a chunky plastic wristwatch, the Galaxy Gear pairs with Samsung smartphones via Bluetooth 4.0 + BLE. It provides previews of incoming messages and emails, as well as "other valuable features and commands" (as Samsung puts it) such as pedometer, Find My Device (finds a lost phone from 1.5m away), compatibility with 70 Android apps (including Pocket, Evernote, RunKeeper and Runtastic), camera and, shockingly enough, a digital timepiece. Shocking.

Inside the Gear are a 1.63-inch 320x320 Super AMOLED display, 800MHz processor, 512MB RAM, 4G storage and a 315mAh battery promising "about a day" of use.

While the decision to use Bluetooth 4.0 allows for less drain on the battery, it also cripples the Gear-- the device is only compatible with the newly announced Galaxy Note 3 (more on that below) and the 2014 edition Galaxy Note 10.1 on launch. It will eventually pair with the Galaxy S4, Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II, but only following an eventual software update.

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Alcatel Reveals One Touch Hero at IFA

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Alcatel has one flagship device launch at IFA 2013-- the One Touch Hero, a 6-inch Android 4.2 smartphone complete with stylus and a number of intriguing optional accessories.

One Touch HeroAccessories seen at the show include a inductive wireless charging cover, a MagicFlip cover (provides notifications via embedded LED), an E Ink cover (provides a low-power eReader display), a Bluetooth miniature headset accessory (similar to the LG Mini+), a TV Link video adapter and even a pico projector that doubles as a stand.

Meanwhile the included stylus "transforms the phone into a creative enterprise tool," the company claims.

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Acer Phone Features 4K Video

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Customers demanding a phone with the highest possible video recording resolution? Acer proposes an answer at IFA 2013 with the Liquid S2, an Android handset with 4K video recording capability.

Liquid S2lThe 13MP rear-facing camera features an LED ring flash and BSI sensors as well as software enhancement such as "quick first shot" (takes pictures from the unlock screen), "smart best shot" (automatically takes multiple shots for best selection) and separate focus/exposure adjustment.

Running on a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, the Liquid S2 features a 6-inch IPS display, 4G LTE and wifi 802.11 ac connectivity, 2GB RAM, 3300mAh battery, Doly Digital Plus-powered speakers and a 2MP front-facing camera.

Also seen at IFA 2013 are further Acer launches-- namely the 10-inch Iconia A3 tablet and the Aspire R7-572 Windows 8.1 notebook with "Ezel" flexible multi-mode hinge.

Go Acer at IFA 2013

How Cheap is Cheap for an iPhone?

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Multiple reports indicate Apple will announce both an upgrade to the iPhone 5, potentially called the iPhone 5S, and a new lower-cost version, possibly named the 5C. The latter is slated to be housed in a plastic case, and to ship in multiple colours. These reports remain based on speculation, backed up by numerous leaked photos, but confirmation waits for Apple’s announcements, rumoured to be due on 10th September.

iPhone 5C images from Sonny Dickson

The rationale for a lower-cost iPhone seems sound. Apple continues to dominate the smartphone market in the US, but in other parts of the world it is faring less well. In particular it lags in the largest phone market, China, where the company posted a 14% year-on-year decline in revenues in its 3rd quarter.

The last few iPhone cycles have seen Apple seek to address this by retaining older models at reduced prices – the 3GS remained in the lineup for two iterations, and the 4 is the current entry point. However there are three reasons why Apple may have chosen to break this cycle: build cost, Lightning and iOS 7.

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