Smartphones

10 September 2013: Next iPhone Launch?

  • PDF

Bring out your calendars and mark the date-- if AllThingsD has it right the next iPhone launch will take place at a 10 September 2013 Apple event.

Plastic iphoneWhile not officially confirmed, the September date makes sense. After all, Apple tends to announce new software on the June Worldwide Developers Conference (iOS 7 in the case of WWDC 2013) before launching devices running said software on the following September.

However don't expect anything too revolutionary-- according to the rumour mill the next iPhone might even be called the iPhone 5S, meaning it will be mostly identical to the iPhone 5 but with a few spec upgrades.

Other sources suggest the new iPhone will carry at least one interesting feature. According to 9to5Mac a folder called "BiometricKitUI" lies in the iOS 7 version 4 beta, with references to users swiping a sensor on the home button. Maybe the next iPhone will carry a fingerprint sensor of some kind?

Read more...

LG Intros G2 Flagship

  • PDF

LG goes for something slightly different with the G2 smartphone flagship-- the first "G" series device featuring a 5.2 inch display and admittedly unusual physical button placement.

LG G2Unlike most other smartphones the G2 has all physical buttons (namely the power button and the volume rocker) placed beneath the rear-facing camera instead of the sides. According to LG such a design decision makes one-handed use of a larger smartphone easier while allowing for a thinner-than-usual (2.65mm) bezel.

Spec-wise the G2 aims to impress-- the 5.2-inch IPS display handles 1080p resolutions through a 2.26GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 SoC, 2GB RAM, 16 or 32GB internal storage and a 3000mAh battery.

The massive display carries Graphic RAM (GRAM) to reduce energy consumption by up to 26% (on a still frame) and increase overall usage time by around 10%, at least according to LG.

Read more...

Samsung Goes for Folding Nostalgia?

  • PDF

Sharp-eyed Japanese blog Ringer's Blue Men spots an interesting manual on the Samsung website detailing the Galaxy Folder, an Android handset sporting a pair of touchscreens and physical keypad within a clamshell design.

Galaxy FolderDescribed as a mid-range device, the Folder features two 3.67-inch 800 x 480 AMOLED displays on each side of the top section. Below the hinge are a physical numeric keypad and a large central button. You know, just like any number of popular 90s mobile phones inspired by the Star Trek communicator device!

The Korean language manual mentions Android as OS and specifications including Snapdragon 400 dual-core 1.7GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 1820mAh battery and 4G LTE connectivity.

Read more...

Moto X: The "True" Google Phone?

  • PDF

Motorola Mobility finally reveals the reason why Google shelled out $12.5 billion for it back in 2011-- the Moto X, the first Motorola product designed with Google supervision. 

Moto XAt first glance, the Moto X looks like any other 4.7-inch Android handset, if one carrying what Motorola calls "innovation themes." These include "Touchless Control" (as in voice-activated Google Now functionality), "Active Display" (a low power means of showing alerts on screen without unlocking the device) and "Quick Capture" (two flicks of the wrist activate the camera). 

Powering such features is the "X8 Mobile Computing System"-- a custom-built 8-core architecture designed to handle multiple tasks while sipping as little battery life as possible. It consists of a pair of dual-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 Processors, a quad-core Adreno 320 GPU and 2 custom processors (one for natural language, the other for contextual computing). 

Read more...

HTC One Gets Smaller Sibling

  • PDF

HTC One miniCustomers with too small hands for the 4.7-inch HTC One might be interested in the HTC One mini, a smaller version of the smartphone with similar premium industrial design within an aluminium unibody. 

Through bucking the "bigger is better" Android handset trend the HTC mini features a 4.3-inch 720p display, dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor (a downgrade from the quad-core number inside the One) and a smaller capacity battery. 

Other HTC One features return-- namely BoomSound audio, BlinkFeed homes screen and Zoe gallery capabilities. Customers also get 25GB worth of free Dropbox storage for 2 years. 

The HTC One mini starts shipping from August 2013.

Go HTC One mini