this week

HTC One mini goes official with 4.3" 720 screen, dual-core Krait

The HTC One mini is built around 4.3" display of 720p resolution resulting in a density of 341 pixels per inch. The screen itself is of the S-LCD2 variety and is protected from scratches by a Corning Gorilla Glass 3.Under the hood of the HTC One Mini there's a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset with 1.4GHz dual-core Krait 300 CPU, Adreno 305 and 1GB of RAM. The internal memory is 16GB and sadly, there isn't a microSD card slot for expanding it.

HTC One mini official photos
The HTC One mini runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with HTC' Sense 5 UI icing on top. It gets treated to HTC's BlinkFeed and Beats Audio technology as well.
At the back of the HTC One mini resides the same 4MP UltraPixel camera found on the HTC One. The only difference between them is the lack of optical image stabilization on the One mini. You still get HTC's ImageChip 2 and a BSI sensor of 1/3" size, though.
The camera is capable of shooting 1080p videos with HDR and the LED flash next to it uses five levels of luminance (Smart Flash). HTC's Zoe is available as well, along with slow motion video recording with variable speed playback. The front-facing camera is 1.6MP and sports a BSI sensor that can shoot 720p videos.

HTC One mini live photos
Measuring 132 x 63.2 x 9.25 the HTC One mini weighs 122 grams. The battery that powers it is an 1,800mAh Li-polymer unit and according to the HTC estimates is good for up to 13.2 hours of 3G talk time and 692 hours of 3G stand-by.
Connectivity is covered with LTE, Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX enabled, Wi-FI a/b/g/n with DLNA and GPS + GLONASS. HTC has provided a range of sensors, too - there's a gyro, accelerometer, proximity and ambient light sensors
The HTC One mini will be available in grey (Glacial Silver) and black (Stealth Black) for select markets starting from August for an estimated €449. Global rollout and availability will begin from September..

Darling Will Bring OS X Apps To Linux

Now to get all the Apple OS X programs and applications on Linux-based operating systems.

The concept is quite similar to Wine, the layer that allows Windows applications to run on Linux OS. The Darling project is attempting to create a similar layer of software compatibility to run OS X apps on Linux.As of now, the project has managed to get a small number of OS X programs which are working on Linux with Darling. Additionally, the project is testing various other apps, like Midnight Commander, QREncoder, Bayon, The Unarchiver and World of Warcraft. Though the project has not explained which apps will be compatible and non-compatible with the Darling layer.It is expected that this Darling layer will also be able to run iOS applications as the software it is targeting have been compiled using the Darwin software kernel, which is the base for both iOS and OS X.Another interesting aspect is that if the iOS applications are successfully ported to Linux, then probably the Linux-based Android OS will be able to run iOS apps too! Sounds exciting but there might be some time before it happens as the wiki page of Project Darling says there numerous technical barriers in this way. Starting from porting assembly code in the ARM-based Risc chip architecture used in smartphone handsets to adding support for relevant software frameworks.The Darling is based on GNUstep, which is an open source execution of Apple's Objective-C software libraries which is aimed to let applications be built in a way that they can be run on Macintosh, Unix and Windows systems.

 BlackBerry A10 leak specs and features

An internal slide for the BlackBerry A10 has been made public, and sheds some light on what you can expect from the upcoming device. In the below slide you'll see the A10 with its characteristic white band across the bottom, alongside a list of specs.

While the slide dates from back in May, and some specs may have changed since then, it does confirm that the 5-inch display will be of the 720p variety (rather than fullHD, as found on most recent 5-inch Android flagships). There's also mention of the dual-core Qualcomm processor, which will be clocked at 1.7 GHz, rather than 1.5 GHz as we previously heard.
Unfortunately, this latest leak does not indicated pricing or availability of the BlackBerry A10, but we'll keep you posted when we hear more on that front.

Leak Nokia Lumia 625 with 4.7-inch display and LTE

Nokia is working on a new Lumia phone, which is expected to launch shortly. Called the Lumia 625, it is said to be the cheapest Lumia phone in Nokia's range.
According to the sources at The Verge, the Lumia 625 will have a 4.7-inch, 800 x 480 resolution display, which is the largest for a Lumia phone so far. Other specs include a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, 512MB of RAM and a 5 megapixel camera.
The Lumia 625 will be releasing in China shortly for CNY1999 ($325) in multiple colors. No word yet on international availability.
This is the right step for Nokia as low-end devices is exactly what both Nokia and Windows Phone needs to increase market share. Now it's time for Microsoft to step up its game and introduce new features through regular updates.

Samsung plans a new Android flip-phone

By now, we all understand that Samsung's business model is the complete opposite of Apple. Where Apple focuses on a few devices and tries to make each device fit the needs of as many users as possible, Samsung wants to make sure it has a specific device for every single potential customer. And, it seems that even includes the flip-phone market.The new word from Korea is that Samsung is planning to release an Android powered flip-phone in August that will be called the Samsung Galaxy Folder (get it?). The device will feature a 480x800 WVGA display and a dual-core Snapdragon S4 chipset, along with LTE, and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

Sony Xperia Honami leak, 20 MP camera confirmed

Sony's upcoming cameraphone flagship has been spotted in few leaked images earlier and now, the specifications of the device have been leaked.


The Sony Xperia Honami will reportedly sport a 5-inch display of 1080p resolution. The smartphone is going to be powered by a 2.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor and feature 2 GB of RAM. The 20 megapixel Exmor RS main camera will feature Sony G-lens and BIONZ image processor, but its sensor will measure 1/2.3" rather than the previously rumored 1/1.6".
The impressive snapper will be joined by a 2 megapixel front facing snapper. The smartphone will have 16 GB of expandable storage to save all those shots and will draw its juice from a 3,000mAh battery.Sony Xperia Honami is said to be IP57 certified, which it is completely dust-protected and it will withstand a meter of water for 30 minutes. The Xperia Honami reportedly measures 144 x 73.9 x 8.3mm and will come with a great set of connectivity options along with latest version of the Android OS - 4.2. The upcoming flagship smartphone from Sony is expected to compete against the likes of other camera-phones such as Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom and, more importantly, the Nokia Lumia 1020.
Sony is set to unveil its Honami smartphone at its press event on September 4 at the IFA expo in Berlin.

Leaked photo of new HP smartphone

Leaked render of a new HP smartphone

A rendering of an HP branded smartphone came to our attention on Monday night from one of our sources. What made this an interesting and timely leak is that back when this month was young, HP Senior Director Yam Su Yin was quoted as saying that the company was planning on returning to the smartphone business with a unique model. The executive was quoted as saying that "HP has to be in the game."
HP killed off the U.S. launch of the HP Pre 3 in 2011 after a limited European release of the device. But HP no longer owns webOS, which was sold to LG in February for use on the Korean manufacturer's television sets. HP currently uses Android on its 7 inch HP Slate 7 tablet and it appears that Google's open source OS will also be powering the Palo Alto based firm's new smartphone. Our tipster didn't leave us any information about pricing or specs, but the timing of this leak, coming just a couple of weeks after an HP executive says that HP needs to be in the game, is awfully fascinating.

iPhone 5S photos appear, specs hint at 12 MP camera, higher CPU clock, quad-core GPU

Parts for the iPhone 5S have leaked quite a few times before, and now we have another batch of what seems to be chassis waiting to be stuffed with internal silicon.

The more interesting part here are the claimed specs accompanying them, which say that we'll get a 4" 1136×640 pixels IGZO display, meaning high brightness at frugal battery consumption, the same A6 SoC like in the iPhone5, but clocked higher, and a quad-core PowerVR SGX544MP4 GPU, instead of the tri-core unit we have now.The source also confirms 2 GB of RAM, NFC at last and the elusive fingerprint scanner we've been hearing about for a while, linked to mobile payment system of sorts, though we have to see the two gigs of RAM listed officially to believe them. As for the camera, it gets downgraded a bit in terms of resolution from the last leaks, claimed to be 12 MP instead of 13 MP now, but a dual LED flash system is confirmed

BlackBerry A10 renders reveal removable back cover and side-loaded SIM slot

BlackBerry A10 Aristo have been leaked and the renders reveal that the left side of the device will feature a side-loaded SIM slot as well as hosting both the micro USB port and the HDMI-out port. Another diagram shows a removable back cover for the BlackBerry A10.That might not seem like a big deal, but many of today's flagship models seal in the cell.Just because there is a removable battery door doesn't necessarily mean that the battery itself can be swapped. Especially since the 2800 mAh battery rumored to be powering the 5 inch 'Berry is supposedly going to be non-removable. We've seen a series of leaks showing the back of the phone, the front of the phone and a video showing the device in action. As responsive as the UI looks, the A10 does not offer flagship-type specs. The resolution on the 5 inch screen is expected to be offer a resolution of 720 x 1280 with a dual-core processor and an 8MP rear-facing camera. The latest buzz around the water cooler is that the Canadian OEM is having problems squeezing enough battery life out of an FHD resolution.

Images of the BlackBerry A10 show the micro USB port, HDMI-outport and a side-loading SIM slot