Leaked ZTE Grand X Quad press photo confirms 5" display
A press image of the ZTE Grand X Quad has been leaked by the kind folks over at @evleaks today, alongside some specs which shed more light on the company's mid-range offering.The ZTE Grand X Quad stands right below the company's flagship - the Grand S - and comes with a 5" gapless TFT display of 720p resolution. It's powered by an undisclosed 1.2GHz quad-core processor (likely the MediaTek MT6589), 1GB of RAM. Internal memory remains a mystery, but it's rumored the Grand X Quad will pack a microSD card.
At the back, there's an 8MP camera with LED flash, purportedly capable of shooting 1080p videos. The battery is removable and has a capacity of 2500mAh. Still, according to preliminary specifications, the Grand X Quad weighs 163 grams and measures 141.0 x 70.0 x 8.9 mm.
Information regarding pricing isn't available at this time, but we suspect it should come around the same time the Grand S is bound to hit China - the first quarter of this year.
First Samsung Galaxy S4 mini live photos appear
With the Samsung Galaxy S4 now official, it's time for the rest of the new generation Galaxy devices to start making an appearance. It turns out the first one to break ground is the Galaxy S4 mini.SamMobile has got hold of some live photos of the smartphone, which reveals a design quite similar to the Samsung Galaxy S4. The photos below confirm that the S4 mini will even feature the back cover design of its bigger brother. The Galaxy S4 mini (GT-I9190) will be available in a dual-SIM version as well (probably carrying the Galaxy S4 mini duos moniker and GT-I9192 model number).
Despite its name and resemblance to Samsung's flagship, the Galaxy S4 mini allegedly won't pack a monster of a CPU, but rather a 1.6GHz dual-core CPU and a 4.3" Super AMOLED display of qHD resolution (960x540 pixels, 256ppi).
It's slightly bigger than the ongoing Galaxy S III mini, which features a 4" display of WVGA resolution. Unfortunately, the S4 mini's CPU type isn't known at this point, but what's known from the photos above is that the smartphone will run what's currently the latest version of Android -4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
According to the source the Galaxy S4 mini is expected to make its debut in June or July this year
Sony Xperia SP announced with 720p LCD, dual-core Krait and LTE
Sony has just introduced the
latest addition to its smartphone lineup called Xperia SP. The mid-range
smartphone runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and comes with a 4.6" 720p
Bravia Engine 2 LCD and a Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960Pro chipset.
The Sony Xperia SP's dual core Krait CPU is clocked at 1.7GHz, while an Adreno 320 GPU is in charge of graphics. There's 8GB of storage, but you can use the microSD card slot to expand that. The 8 megapixel camera is capable of shooting 1080p video and there's a VGA front-facer to take care of video chats.
Sony Xperia SP official photos
The Sony Xperia SP features a plastic body and with a co-moulded aluminum frame, measures 130.6 x 67.1 x 9.98 mm and weighs 155g. There's an illuminated notification strip, which can be customized to flash in different colors depending on who is calling.
The connectivity department offers the usual Bluetooth, GPS/GLONASS, Wi-Fi and MHL-powered microUSB as well as NFC and LTE.
The battery inside the Sony Xperia SP has a capacity of 2370 mAh, which combined with the Sony home-backed Stamina mode, should give you pretty good power autonomy. The official stand-by times are 635 h (GSM), 734 h (UMTS) and 709 h (LTE), while talk time is rated at 18 h 53min.
The Sony Xperia SP should be available in white, red and black from Q2, but its pricing is yet to be confirmed.
We had a chance to spend some quality time with the Sony Xperia SP and we can give you some live photos of the smartphone.
The Sony Xperia SP's dual core Krait CPU is clocked at 1.7GHz, while an Adreno 320 GPU is in charge of graphics. There's 8GB of storage, but you can use the microSD card slot to expand that. The 8 megapixel camera is capable of shooting 1080p video and there's a VGA front-facer to take care of video chats.
Sony Xperia SP official photos
The Sony Xperia SP features a plastic body and with a co-moulded aluminum frame, measures 130.6 x 67.1 x 9.98 mm and weighs 155g. There's an illuminated notification strip, which can be customized to flash in different colors depending on who is calling.
The connectivity department offers the usual Bluetooth, GPS/GLONASS, Wi-Fi and MHL-powered microUSB as well as NFC and LTE.
The battery inside the Sony Xperia SP has a capacity of 2370 mAh, which combined with the Sony home-backed Stamina mode, should give you pretty good power autonomy. The official stand-by times are 635 h (GSM), 734 h (UMTS) and 709 h (LTE), while talk time is rated at 18 h 53min.
The Sony Xperia SP should be available in white, red and black from Q2, but its pricing is yet to be confirmed.
We had a chance to spend some quality time with the Sony Xperia SP and we can give you some live photos of the smartphone.
Sony unveils the mid-range Xperia L
The Sony Xperia L joins the mid-range ranks in Sony's smartphone portfolio with a cameraphone twist to it. The Xperia L is equipped with an 8MP camera, which uses Sony's latest mobile Exmor RS sensor and offers a built-in HDR mode for both stills and video. What's more, the smartphone comes with a dedicated camera shutter key.As for the rest of the features on the Xperia L - the whole thing revolves around a 4.3-inch screen with a resolution of 854x480px and a scratch-resistant cover glass.
Under the hood there's a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8230 chipset, which utilizes a CPU with two Krait cores so performance should be respectable.
Even though the camera and the large screen will probably be the biggest selling point of the Xperia L, one of its highlights is the LED at the bottom of the handset, which produces some neat illumination effects matching in color the image you are looking at on the screen.
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G HSPA connectivity are a given, but there's also NFC support for one-touch connecting to NFC-capable accessories.
Sony Xperia L official photos
The Xperia L has a 1900mAh battery and a battery STAMINA Mode for optimizing power consumption.
The Xperia L will be available in white, red or black and will run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean straight from its launch in Q2 this year.
Sapphire glass is nearly three times tougher than Gorilla Glass, might be on future smartphones
A type aluminum oxide, sapphire is transparent and nearly three times tougher and more scratch resistant than current glass. It is actually so tough it’s comparable to diamonds. However unlike diamonds, it is much cheaper. This ruggedness and relatively affordable price make it a good candidate for the future superphones. The only hurdle? It is not yet affordable enough.
While Gorilla Glass could cost around $3 apiece, the same sized slab of sapphire might run phone makers up to $30.
There is a lot of savings to come though as competition in the space heats up and mass production would also significantly lower its costs.
We’re sure Corning will also not be resting idle while other companies try to make the case for sapphire. The end result though will surely be tougher and more scratch resistant glass in our smartphones.
Sony, Lenovo, Huawei and ZTE to launch MediaTek-based quad-core phones soon: are the cheap 1080p devices coming?
The quad-core MT6589 might not be among the most powerful ones out there, but it delivers a very solid performance for an extremely low price that allows Chinese manufacturers like Umi to deliver 1080p 5-inch phones with an IPS screen for a price of around $200 or less. That is the off contract price, nearly three times less than what known manufacturers charge for their 1080p smartphones.
With Sony, Lenovo, Huawei and ZTE on board, though, that might be a huge opportunity for Taiwanese chip maker MediaTek to start rivalling the bigger chip makers like Qualcomm and samsung.
Kobo releases Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for its affordable Arc tablet
Users should notice a significant improvement in the device's performance, as the update will not only bring features like Google Now, expandable notifications and Face Unlock, but, probably more importantly, will also enhance the responsiveness and speed of the tablet
The update should become available as soon as users connect the Kobo Arc to a Wi-Fi network
Fujifilm announces FinePix XP200 ruggedized camera, S8400W superzoom
The other flavor is a superzoom model, or a "bridge camera," as manufacturers are calling them these days. The lens is the focus here, and this one's got a 24-1,056mm, 44x optic with a maximum aperture range of f/2.9 to f/6.5. There's also optical image stabilization and a Super Macro mode that lets you shoot subjects that are just 0.39 inch from the lens. There's a 16-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor, sensitivity through ISO 12,800, 1080/60i video capture, a 10 fps continuous shooting mode and WiFi. You can preview images on the 3-inch, 460k-dot LCD or the 201k-dot electronic viewfinder. This model, the FinePix S8400W, comes in black and ships in May for $350. The XP200 will also ship in May, priced at $300. Read up on both in the PR after the break
Xiaomi Mi-3 to boast a 5" 1080p screen, Snapdragon 800 chipset
Xiaomi phones are known for their excellent specs and surprisingly low price and the rumored third generation is no exception. The Xiaomi Mi-3 is not official yet and the announcement will probably wait until Google I/O as the new phone from the young Chinese company is said to launch with MIUI software based on Android 5.0.The Xiaomi Mi-3 will reportedly feature a 5" 1080p screen and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset. The Krait 400 cores will be clocked at the stunning (and implausible sounding) 2.3GHz. Previous rumors said 4.5” screen and Tegra 4 chipset (quad Cortex-A15 CPU).
Anyway, the upcoming Xiaomi is said to pack a 13MP camera and a massive 3,000mAh battery.
There’s no word on pricing yet, but the previous two Xiaomi phones launched at RMB 1,999 or about $310, so there’s no reason to expect the Mi-3 to be any different. Again, these are just rumors, we’ll have to wait for official info from Xiaomi.
It’s a real shame that the company’s phones are virtually impossible to buy outside of China. The company has yet to make serious move to the international market.
BLU announces the LIFE series of affordable dual-SIM smartphones
US-based BLU Products has announced a new Android trio to join its lineup of affordable smartphones. All new phones are part of the LIFE series offering dual-SIM connectivity alongside some more than decent specs for a price that's really hard to match.All members of the LIFE line-up are powered by the same MediaTek MT6589 SoC with 1.2GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU, a GPU from the PowerVR Series5XT series and 1GB of RAM. Android 4.2 is the starting point for the three.
With their similarities out of the way, the Life View features the largest display of the bunch, a 5.7" IPS display of HD resolution (257 ppi). The phablet packs a 12 MP camera at the back, and a 5MP unit at the front. Internal memory is 16GB, expandable via the onboard microSD card slot. However, we're not so sure how the rather small (for the class) 2,600mAh battery will cope.
On to the Life One, which touts a 5" 720p IPS display (that's 293 ppi). With an expandable storage of 16GB, the One features a 13MP camera at the back, coupled with a 5MP unit at the front. Battery is smaller, due to the more reasonable screen size, and is 2,000mAh.
Finally, there's the Life Play, with the smallest screen of the trio - a 4.7" display, again of HD resolution gives you a pixel density of 312 ppi. BLU boasts it to be just 7.9mm thick (the same thickness as the Galaxy S4 and Xperia Z) featuring an 8MP rear camera and 2MP front-facing one. There's 4GB of expandable storage and a 1,800mAh battery.
BLU has outdone itself with the pricing of the LIFE series members. The Life View and Life One will be sold unlocked for $299, while the SIM-free Life Play will set you back just $229. Expect the phones to be offered by Amazon and several other US retailers in April.
Canon reveals new generation of processor in latest PowerShots
Canon has introduced two versions of its PowerShot SX travel cameras - the SX270 and SX280 - both of which have 20x optical zooms.The two cameras are the same in most ways, however the Canon PowerShot SX280 HS also has inbuilt Wi-Fi and GPS for increased connectivity.
Most interestingly perhaps is that these are the first cameras to include Canon's latest generation of image processor - the Digic 6 processor. Canon always debuts its new processors in compact cameras first, before placing them inside its DSLRs at a later date.
The new processor facilitates Full HD video recording at a smooth 60fps. Canon also claims that low light performance has been enhanced with the capability to capture up to 30 per cent more detail than the previous model.
A 12.1 million pixel high sensitivity CMOS sensor is included in the cameras, with ISO capability up to ISO 6400.
Zoom zoom
Both the cameras have a 25mm wide-angle 20x optical zoom lens, which includes a 4-stop optical Image Stabiliser. ZoomPlus technology, Canon's digital zoom offering, extends the reach of the zoom to 40x.The latest version of Intelligent IS is included, which features a Dynamic IS mode. This improved mode employs a five-axis Image Stabiliser to correct for different types of camera shake, including rotational and parallel shake. This makes it easier to create smooth footage when recording while walking.
A 3-inch 461,000 dot LCD screen can be found on the back of both cameras. A tempered glass layer has been included to add strength and protection. Quick Bright technology is designed to help the screen cope with bright sunlight.
The Canon PowerShot SX280 HS price will be £299 (around US$453/AU$436), while the Canon PowerShot SX270 HS price will be £279 (around US$423/AU$407). An on-sale date is yet to be confirmed.
Canon refreshes world's first touchscreen DSLR
Canon has revealed a new DSLR to sit at the top of its consumer lineup of EOS cameras.The Canon EOS 700D will replace the Canon EOS 650D, which was announced in June last year, but will share many of the same specifications.
First up is the 18 million pixel sensor, with hybrid autofocusing. A Digic 5 processor is also included which facilitates 5fps shooting, Full HD video recording and a native ISO sensitivity of 100-12800.
The main differences between the Canon EOS 700D and its predecessor are changes to the ergonomics. For instance, there's now a textured covering that gives it a more premium feel and is designed to help with gripping. There's also a 360-degree mode dial that enables quick flipping between the different modes available on the camera.
As on the Canon EOS 650D, a 3-inch vari-angle Clear View LCD touchscreen can be found. It's a capacitive device - like those on iPhones or iPads - so should be responsive.
Ease of use
A number of easy to use shooting modes are available, including Scene Intelligent Auto and a range of dedicated scene modes. A range of creative filters, including Fish-Eye and Miniature, are available, with the new ability to preview effects before the shot has been taken (in Live View).Canon has also introduced a new kit lens, which will come with the Canon 700D as standard. The 18-55mm STM zoom lens features a 4-stop optical stabiliser and a full-time manual focusing ring. STM means that autofocus is near silent, which is ideal when capturing movies.
The Canon EOS 700D price will be around £619 (around US$933 / AU$899) body only, or £749 (around US$1,129 / AU$1,088) with the 18-55 STM kit lens. It should be available to buy from the end of April.
Canon debuts world's smallest DSLR
In the wake of compact system cameras
continuing their inevitable march on the traditional DSLR, Canon has
hit back by producing the world's smallest and lightest APS-C sized
DSLR.
It seems like barely a day goes by when something isn't lauded as the world's only something or other, but Canon really has done a remarkable job of miniaturising a traditional DSLR in the shape of the 100D.
Featuring an APS-C sized sensor, the same size as those in many of its conventional DSLRs, the Canon EOS 100D boasts 18.1 million pixels and a traditional optical viewfinder. That viewfinder manages 0.87x magnification and 95% coverage.
It's roughly 25% smaller than the Canon EOS 650D, and around 28% lighter. In fact, body only, it's around the same size as some of the compact system cameras on the market that don't use mirrors and have smaller sensors - the Panasonic G5 being an excellent example.
As the company to introduce the world's first DSLR touchscreen, Canon has decided to include one on the 100D too. It's a 3-inch capacitive touchscreen. That makes even more sense when you consider that much of the space saving can come from removing a few of the direct access buttons and letting the touchscreen take over.
That 18 million pixel sensor combines with a Digic 5 processor, while it also features the same hybrid autofocusing as found on the Canon EOS 650D and Canon EOS M. Canon says that it's a completely a new sensor that uses phase detection pixels spread across 80% of the imaging surface to provide increased AF speed and tracking performance when in Live View or capturing Full HD video recording.
Canon has also introduced a new kit lens, which will come with the 100D as standard. The 18-55mm STM zoom lens features a 4-stop optical stabiliser and a full-time manual focusing ring. STM means that autofocus is near silent, which is of course ideal when capturing movies.
The Canon EOS 100D price will be around £569 (around US$858 / AU$827) body only, or £699 (around US$1,054 / AU$1,016) with the kit lens attached. It should be available to buy from late April.
It seems like barely a day goes by when something isn't lauded as the world's only something or other, but Canon really has done a remarkable job of miniaturising a traditional DSLR in the shape of the 100D.
Featuring an APS-C sized sensor, the same size as those in many of its conventional DSLRs, the Canon EOS 100D boasts 18.1 million pixels and a traditional optical viewfinder. That viewfinder manages 0.87x magnification and 95% coverage.
It's roughly 25% smaller than the Canon EOS 650D, and around 28% lighter. In fact, body only, it's around the same size as some of the compact system cameras on the market that don't use mirrors and have smaller sensors - the Panasonic G5 being an excellent example.
As the company to introduce the world's first DSLR touchscreen, Canon has decided to include one on the 100D too. It's a 3-inch capacitive touchscreen. That makes even more sense when you consider that much of the space saving can come from removing a few of the direct access buttons and letting the touchscreen take over.
That 18 million pixel sensor combines with a Digic 5 processor, while it also features the same hybrid autofocusing as found on the Canon EOS 650D and Canon EOS M. Canon says that it's a completely a new sensor that uses phase detection pixels spread across 80% of the imaging surface to provide increased AF speed and tracking performance when in Live View or capturing Full HD video recording.
Creativity
Enhanced creative modes have been included on the Canon 100D, including new Kids, Food and Candlelight modes. Creative filters, which include Fish-Eye and Miniature, are also available. Extra Effect Shot mode enables one shot to be captured with the filter, and another without, just in case you change your mind at a later date.Canon has also introduced a new kit lens, which will come with the 100D as standard. The 18-55mm STM zoom lens features a 4-stop optical stabiliser and a full-time manual focusing ring. STM means that autofocus is near silent, which is of course ideal when capturing movies.
The Canon EOS 100D price will be around £569 (around US$858 / AU$827) body only, or £699 (around US$1,054 / AU$1,016) with the kit lens attached. It should be available to buy from late April.
Dual-SIM HTC E1 China-bound Jelly Bean droid unveiled
Today HTC announced the dual-SIM E1 smartphone in China. The droid is powered by a 1.15GHz dual-core processor and comes with a 4.3-inch Super LCD2 display of WVGA resolution. There's a 5MP main camera and a 2.1MP front snapper, 8GB of internal storage expandable via a microSD slot and 1GB of RAM.HTC E1
The HTC E1 key selling point it its dual-SIM with dual stand-by support. The primary SIM is capable of tri-band GSM and dual-band HSPA connectivity, while the secondary supports only GSM networks. Naturally, the E1 is Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled.
HTC E1 runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean skinned with HTC Sense 4+ UI and features the Beats Audio enhancements.
HTC E1
HTC E1 is already available on pre-order in China for 1799 CNY (€225). There is no info if the phone will be available outside the Chinese market, but it seems unlikely.
Motorola X Phone is highly unlikely to be customizable
We’ve been talking with sources in the know, and from the information we’ve been given, it is very unlikely that the X Phone would be sold as a customizable device. Those close to the X Phone project said that the most likely to know about this have never heard about the plan. And, if they haven't heard, its highly unlikely to happen.
However, that’s not to say that Guy Kawasaki is not to be believed. The X Phone may not offer customization, but we’ve been told that it is a real possibility to see a Motorola device that is customizable later in the year. This makes sense because, we’ve already seen Google managing expectations about the X Phone, which would seem to indicate that the real Googley options aren’t coming with the X Phone.
Samsung Galaxy S4 to ship with Snapdragon 600 in the UK
Samsung has already confirmed the Galaxy S4 flagship will ship with Snapdragon 600 chipset in the USA, Canada and Sweden. Today the UK joins the markets where the Galaxy S4 won't be powered by the company's own Exynos 5 Octa platform.Since its announcement we knew Samsung Galaxy S4 will be available in two flavors - one running on Samsung's latest and greatest Exynos 5 Octa chipset and another based on the Qualcomm's Snapdragon 600 platform.
The Exynos 5 Octa chipset features two processors (which can't operate simultaneously) - a quad-core 1.6GHz ARM Cortex-A15 CPU used for heavier loads and a quad-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A7 CPU for lighter tasks. The Exynos 5 Octa also features a tri-core PowerVR SGX544MP3 graphics.
The Qualcomm's Snapdragon 600 chipset is already available on the market and utilized by a few smartphones out there. It comes with a quad-core Krait 300 processor and Adreno 320 graphics. In the Galaxy S4 models to use it, the four Krait 300 cores are clocked at 1.9GHz and as we saw in our preview that was enough to beat every other phone we've tested so far.
Still we expect the four Cortex-A15 cores to do even better and beat those four Krait 300 cores.
We suspect the LTE-enabled Galaxy S4 model (I9505) is the one based on the Snapdragon 600 chipset, while the Exynos 5 Octa one (I9500) won't feature LTE connectivity. That's probably why those key markets (USA, Canada, UK) are getting the Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S4 - because of the LTE availability in those countries.
Oppo officially outs a stunning-looking black Find 5
Oppo hast just announced a black version of the Oppo Find 5 droid, adding an additional color to its flagship offering, and in our opinion it looks even more magnificent as its white sibling.As you can see from the photo above, the black version of the Find 5 actually looks a bit more like dark gray, but it still oozes class. Oppo will start selling the Find 5 in black starting April 1 in China. A timeframe for the international launch of the new color variation hasn't been disclosed yet.
In our in-depth Oppo Find 5 review, we shared we are quite fond of the phone's design, and the new dark color makes it all that more appealing. The 5", 1080p droid beast is powered by a 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and packs a 13MP camera with LED flash at the back.
Pricing of the black version is also unknown, but there's no reason it should be different from the price of white Find 5 ($499).
Finally, CNMO.com got hold of the phone and have taken some hands-on pictures with it. You can feast your eyes on them below.
Black Oppo Find 5 hands-on photos
NVIDIA shows 2015 roadmap with processors 100x faster (than the Tegra 2)
NovaThor is no more as STMicro and Ericsson end joint venture
Yesterday, STMicroelectronics and Ericsson - creators of the NovaThor line of mobile processors - announced the end of their largely unprofitable mobile chip-making venture. The two manufacturers will divvy up the company back into their respective parts.The split follows years of operating at a loss, in large part due to decreased orders from Nokia, a main smartphone customer that had lost much of its market share to other big-name rivals. In fact, ST-Ericsson had failed to turn a profit ever since its foundation in 2008.
The split will move some 1,800 employees under Ericsson's wing throughout Sweden, Germany, India and China, while STMicro will retain about 950 employees in France and Italy. Another 1,600 will lose their jobs.
Samsung: 'the Tizen phone will be out in August or September, and this will be in the high-end category'
We
kid, but it seems that Samsung has been spreading its resources pretty
thin betweent the efforts to make the world's first Full HD AMOLED display with the nutty 441ppi pixel density, on the hardware side, and elevate the alternative Tizen OS to commercial launch status, on the software aspect of things.
“Android, among other mobile operating systems, is tightly controlled,” elaborated Chase Perrin, an official with the Tizen Association. “As an open-source software platform, Tizen is designed to make it easy to develop for a range of devices.”
On
the other hand, Doh Hyun Woo, an analyst for Seoul-based Mirae Asset
Securities, thinks Samsung's Tizen phone is just an insurance policy for
now: “This is just sort of a safety
net. But if Google dominates the market just like Microsoft did in the
PC market with more than 90 percent share, it may turn totally opposite.”
Tizen
is going to launch with “thousands” of apps, confirmed the Tizen
Association official, but whether it will be possible to shoehorn
Android ones with some 3rd party help as we've already seen, remains unclear. Lee Young Hee also added that “the device will be the best product equipped with the best specifications,” so we are eager to see what the company has in store come late summer/early fall.
4K UltraHD video is expected to come to Android this year
Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 800 can do 4K HD Video
|
At CES and MWC, Qualcomm showed off the 4K UltraHD recording capabilities of its Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chip and has previously stated that it would be "in commercial devices" by the middle of 2013. For those unaware, 4K UltraHD video offers resolution four times the 1080p that is considered a Full HD display. That works out to 4096 x 2304.
So you might as well pick another one of the alleged specs belonging to the LG Megalotron to call the whole thing a fake, because we could very well see 4K UltraHD video sometime later this year.
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