this week

Geeksphone Peak+ with 1GB RAM goes on pre-order for €150

Geeksphone has started taking pre-orders for the Peak+ Firefox-powered phone. Geeksphone typically makes phones targeted at devs or tech savvy enthusiast, but says the Peak+ is also ready for consumers.
It's a small upgrade over the regular Peak – the RAM has been doubled to 1GB and the material used for the exterior has been changed to make it feel better to the touch. The phone will come with Firefox OS 1.1 out of the box, the same version the other two (Peak and Keon) recently got.


Other than that, you're still getting a Snapdragon 8225 S4 Play chipset (dual-core Cortex-A5 at 1.2GHz, Adreno 203 GPU), 4.3" IPS screen qHD (540 x 960) resolution, 4GB storage plus microSD cards slot and a 1,800mAh battery.
The Geeksphone Peak+ pre-order is at a promo price of €150 ($200), the same as the original Peak. This price will go up slightly after the initial batch of units is sold out (there's no indication what the standard price will be). The original Peak sold out fairly quickly.
If you pre-order now, Geeksphone will ship your Peak+ in mid-September.

Android may soon support 4K displays

You may have thought that smartphone displays would be stopping at 1080p, and tablets may take a while to move past the 2560x1600, but some new code inside Android 4.3 indicates that Google is getting ready to offer support for crazy high pixel density as well as 4K displays. Apparently, Android 4.3 has added support for XXXHDPI, which is for screens with an approximate DPI of 640.

Let's roll back a bit to give some context there. Android smartphones started out in the Medium DPI (MDPI) range of ~160ppi, which is what you'd find on the T-Mobile G1. Eventually, we moved up to HDPI (~240ppi), which was the Nexus S type display. We then blew right through the XHDPI range (~320ppi) which were essentially the 720p displays on devices like the Nexus 4, and we are now in the world of the XXHDPI range (~480ppi) which you'll find on 1080p displays like the HTC One.

Samsung Galaxy Note III leaks out again: 5.7" screen, 3GB RAM, Android 4.3

The Samsung Galaxy Note III will feature a 5.7-inch display, 3GB of RAM and the latest Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, according to the latest leaks coming from Korea’s Business Daily.
The alleged Galaxy Note III spec sheet has surfaced and it shows the device will run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chip and support the latest 4G LTE-A standard, allowing twice the speed of traditional LTE.Most importantly, the G Note III is once again said to come with a 5.7-inch display, and not the 6-inch one we’ve initially heard about from rumors.Design-wise, there seems to be a metal ring encircling the third-gen phablet, adding a more premium feel to it. Samsung is expected to officially announce the Galaxy Note III at its IFA event in Berlin on September 4th.

New Google Nexus 10 on the way?

With all off the hubbub over the new version of the Google Nexus 7, featuring a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a higher-resolution screen and Android 4.3 installed, there is some talk about a refreshed version of the Google Nexus 10. This information is said to come from none other than Google's own Sundar Pichai, who told a plugged-in WSJ reporter about the tablet.
Amir Efrati, a reporter for the businessman's bible, sent out a tweet earlier on Wednesday, saying that he was told by Pichai that a new Google Nexus 10 should be expected in the near future. Just like the current version of the slate, the new version would be manufactured by Samsung. With the tablet running Android 4.3 at present, depending on when the revised version of the Nexus 10 would be released, Android 5.0 just might be debuted on the device.

6" Nokia Lumia phablet front panel pictured

Rumors of a phablet in the works from Nokia for a while now. Back in May we even saw a (blurry) glimpse of what appeared to be a large-screened Nokia device, expected to see the light of day as the Lumia 1030.
This latest leak which supposedly comes from a factory floor in China brings the phablet one step closer to reality. It measures 6-inches in diagonal and is supposedly already being mass-produced by Nokia.

As you can tell from the image, it has a very thin bezel and looks to also feature a slot for a front-facing camera. Unfortunately there's nothing else that we can make out from it and the source didn't provide any additional specs either.
It's possible Nokia may be readying this device for the anticipated Windows Phone GDR3 update. The new release is set to start seeding by the end of the year and will add support for 1080p resolution to the Windows Phone 8 platform as well as an additional column of tiles - perfect for larger, phablet-esque displays.

Nokia Lumia 625 brings a 4.7" screen

The Nokia Lumia 625 is an entry-level Windows Phone 8 handset with a rather big (for the class) screen – 4.7".
That's not groundbreaking, though as the WP7-powered HTC Titan had a 4.7" screen back in 2011. The Lumia 625 is mostly a stretched out 620 with some additional extras.


The Nokia Lumia 625 has a 4.7" IPS LCD with WVGA resolution (480 x 800, 201ppi) and "2.25D" curved Gorilla Glass 2 ("2.5D" has curved edges, we guess "2.25D" means less curvy"). The screen packs Nokia's proprietary image tuning options that let you change the color profile. It has super sensitive touch too, meaning it works with gloves and fingernails.
The phone measures 133.3 x 72.3 x 9.3mm and weighs 159g, roughly the dimensions of the One X, but 29g heavier.
The Nokia Lumia 625 continues the WP tradition of having entry-level phones with fairly high specs (compared to Android's entry level). It packs a dual-core Krait processor at 1.2GHz, 512MB RAM and 8GB of built-in storage, expandable with a microSD card slot.
There's HSPA+ and 4G LTE connectivity, along with Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 + LE and GPS + GLONASS for positioning. Nokia's HERE mapping suit is on board with HERE Drive beta (it gives you free offline GPS navigation for one country).
The main camera is a 5MP shooter that can capture 1080p video and the front-facing camera has VGA resolution. There's an LED flash and one HD mic. Other goodies include Smart Camera and FM radio, meaning the Lumia 625 comes with the Amber update. Free Nokia Music subscription is also included.


The Nokia Lumia 625 will launch in China, Europe, Asia Pacific, India, Middle East, Africa and Latin America in Q3 2013 in a variety of colors (orange, yellow, bright green, white and black), with exchangeable semitransparent shells to easily switch colors (just like the 620).
In the UK, the Lumia 625 is expected in September for £200 though EE, Vodafone and O2 as well as retailers Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4U. Elsewhere the price will be €220 before taxes and subsidies.

Nexus 7 brings WUXGA screen, quad-core Krait CPU

New Nexus 7  a 7" tablet running pure Android 4.3 and improves the screen and chipset over the first generation Nexus tablet. The base price is set at $230, a little higher than the $200 that the first Nexus 7 costs (both prices are for the respective 16GB model).
So, what do you get for the extra $30? A 1920 x 1200 screen with 320ppi pixel density (50% more than the first Nexus 7 and more than even the Nexus 10) for one. It's the highest resolution 7" display on a tablet. The screen also promises a 30% wider color gamut.
You also get the chipset from the Nexus 4 – Snapdragon S4 Pro with quad-core Krait processor at 1.5GHz, 2GB RAM and Adreno 320, a sizable update over the Tegra 3 chipset.
While the display size was kept the same, the new Nexus 7 is smaller. Google and Asus shaved off 1.8mm off the thickness, 2.8mm of the bezels on either sides and reduced the weight by 50g. Google kept well-liked the soft touch back.


There's also a back-facing camera – a 5MP shooter that can also record 1080p video joins the 1.2MP front-facing camera of the first Nexus 7. Other changes include an LED notification light on the front and SlimPort, which means you can get HD video out of the microUSB port.
Other connectivity features are dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 (Android 4.3 adds native support for 4.0 + LE) and NFC. Wireless charging is also supported.
Google announced the Wi-Fi and 4G LTE models of the Nexus 7 from the get go this time around. One device will be able to use 4G from AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, no different versions required.
For storage, there's 16GB for the base model, $230, and 32GB for $270. Those prices are for the Wi-Fi only model, the 4G LTE model comes in 32GB only and costs $350.
The Nexus 7 2 will be available starting Tuesday (July 30) through the Google Play store and a number of retailers including Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart, Staples, Amazon.com.
In the coming weeks, Google will expand availability for the Nexus 7 2 to Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Australia, Japan and South Korea.

Exynos 5 Octa 5420 is 20% faster, set to star in the Galaxy Note III

The new Exynos 5 Octa 5420, which is likely to power the Samsung Galaxy Note III, is retaining its ARM big.LITTLE architecture with four Cortex A15 and Cortex A7 cores. Thanks to a boost in the clock speeds of both quartets of CPU cores, the new Exynos 5 Octa packs 20% more punch than its predecessor. The quad Cortex A15 now run at up to 1.8GHz, as opposed to 1.6GHz in the 5410 version, while the Cortex A7 can now operate at 1.3GHz, compared to 1.2GHz in the previous version.

Samsung has opted out of using Imagination's PowerVRSGX544MP3 graphics of its new gen Octa chip and has decided to use the 6-core ARM Mali-T628 MP6. The memory is updated as well and while its the same dual-channel 32-bit LPDDR configuration it can now support up to 1866MHz clock speed. This results in a maximum bandwidth of 14.9Gbps.
As a result of this boost in the memory, the new Exynos 5 Octa comes with full HD Wi-Fi display support. As with any new generation chip, Samsung has made improvements in the energy department and the 5420 chip is more efficient when used on high-resolution display devices, improving battery life.
Samsung says the Exynos 5 Octa 5420 is now sampling and will enter mass production in August. That means the chipset will be ready just in time for the Galaxy Note III announcement, which should happen on September 4.

New high-res Google Nexus 7 up for preorder

Today we'll be seeing the second generation of the Google Nexus 7 tablet that last year started the upward climb of Android tablets market share, and the full list of specs and the price has already leaked out.

  

Best Buy obviously concluded that there is no point in hiding the device anymore, so it is up for preorder, reconfirming the price rumors: $229.99 for the 16 GB versions, and $269.99 for the 32 GB variation.

Not bad at all when  consider the 1920x1200 pixels 7" screen with 300 nits of brightness, 2 GB of RAM and the quad-core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro that is powering it. There are also a 5 MP camera on the rear and 1.2 MP front shooter, while the whole package is just 0.3" thin. The newest Android 4.3 jelly bean is running the show, which we should see detailed at Google's event today as well.

DROID Ultra and DROID Maxx made official by Verizon

Verizon and Motorola have just announced their latest collaboration with the updated DROID family of phones.

    

Motorola DROID Ultra in red

As per tradition, the Motorola DROID Ultra and Motorola DROID Maxx feature an improved Kevlar body, which makes them stronger yet thinner than their last-gen DROID counterparts. They also feature a water-repellent nano-coating that should keep them dry.                                                                                               
Motorola has built an entirely new system-on-a-chip called the Motorola X8 Mobile Computing System. It packs a dual-core 1.7GHz CPU, quad graphics cores and, more interestingly, a contextual computing core alongside a core for processing natural language. The company didn't disclose any further details regarding the CPU and GPU, but they did reveal that the processor is 24% punchier than the previous generation DROID phones and the graphics - twice as fast. There's also 2GB of RAM onboard as well.                                                             
At the back, both phones pack a 10 MP camera with f/2.4 lens and LED flash. They also share the same screen - a 5" OLED (no PenTile here) display of 720p resolution. There's also 32GB of on-board memory and 4G LTE, complete with NFC connectivity with 48 hours of battery life as the phone's key feature.There's also wireless charging as well. The DROID Ultra is much tinner, at 7.18mm and Verizon dubs it "the thinnest 4G LTE smartphone."

DROID Mini gets announced by Verizon 

A refresh of last year's DROID RAZR M, the DROID Mini is Motorola's/Verizon's attempt jump onboard the 'Mini' nomenclature alongside recent similar offerings from Samsung and HTC.The Mini is part of Verizon's just-announced refresh of their DROID lineup, alongside the new DROID Ultra and DROID Maxx.

  

As expected, the DROID Mini is the smallest of the new trio, sporting a 4.3-inch 720p screen. It is the only one to feature Motorola's edge-to-edge display, aimed at minimizing the bezels on either side of the screen.Other specs include a dual-core 1.7 GHz CPU with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory, a 10MP camera capable of 1080p video recording, alongside a 2MP front-facer also capable of fullHD recording. All of this will be powered by a 2130 mAh battery.                                                                                                                  

Like the previous DROID, it features Kevlar protection, although this model features a reinforced unibody to go with the Gorilla Glass up front.                                                                                                                 

There's also a few software optimizations thrown into the mix, such as Droid Zap, which lets you quickly send files to other smartphones via the cloud. The new camera interface from Motorola is also here, which aims to minimize the amount of icons cluttering the screen.                                                                                      .