this week

Samsung announces ATIV Book 9 Plus, ATIV Book 9 Lite ultrabooks

Samsung has announced the next generation of their sleek Series 9 ultrabook. The two new ultrabooks are called ATIV Book 9 Plus and ATIV Book 9 Lite respectively and both run Windows 8, as you might have guessed.

Both feature aluminium unibodies and 13.3-inch screens with touch functionality. The one on the ATIV Book 9 Plus however packs the whopping 3200 X 1800 QHD+ resolution.
The ATIV Book 9 Plus uses Intel’s fourth gen Haswell CPUs – both Core i5 and i7 ULT are available – and provides up to 12h of battery life. It has 2xUSB 3.0 ports, it weighs only 1.39kg and comes in black.

Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus
The ATIV Book 9 Lite takes it easier on the wallet with a screen, which has 1366 x 768px resolution and touch functionality only as an option.
The ATIV Book 9 Lite is powered by a low-voltage quad-core CPU and weighs 1.44kg-1.58kg depending on the touchscreen option. It has one USB 3.0 port and another USB 2.0 port on board. It will be available in both black and white.

Samsung ATIV Book 9 Lite
There is no info on pricing and availability just yet.

Samsung officially unveils ATIV Q and ATIV Tab 3 Windows 8 tablets

Samsung officially announced two tablets – the convertible ATIV Q and ATIV Tab 3. Both devices run Windows 8, while the ATIV Q can dual boot Android as well.

Starting up with the Samsung ATIV Q, as it is the more interesting slate of the two. It’s built around a 13.3″ display with the jaw-dropping resolution of 3200 x 1800 pixels. This results in pixel density of 275ppi, more than some not-so-old smartphones out there.

Since its a slider tablet, it supports a few lock modes: typing, floating (the display is lifted from the base), stand and writing.
It’s powered by a fourth-gen Intel Core i5 processor with Intel’s HD Graphics 4400 GPU, 4GB of RAM and 128GB SSD storage. It runs Windows 8 and can run Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, as well. Connectivity options include one USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 port each, micro HDMI, Ethernet port (via a dongle), and an SD card slot. The front-facing camera is capable of shooting 720p HD video.

The Samsung ATIV Q weighs 1.29kg (2.84 pounds) and measures 327.0 x 217.8 x 13.9mm, which is not too shabby for a tablet with these specifications. The battery is of unknown size, but Samsung claims it can power the ATIV Q for up to 9 hours.

Samsung ATIV Tab 3

On to the Samsung ATIV Tab 3, which sports a 10.1″ display, packing a more modest 1366 x 768 pixels resolution. It runs Windows 8 again but is powered by he Intel ATOM Z2760 CPU and 2GB of RAM. The internal storage is 64GB, expandable via the on-board microSD card slot.

The ATIV Tab 3 weighs 550 grams and is just 8.2mm thick, which Samsung claims is the world’s thinnest as far as Windows 8 tablets go. The company hasn’t provided details about the battery yet, but says it’ll be good for 10 hours of usage. There’s one microUSB and one microHDMI port as well.
Sharing the design of the Galaxy Tab series, the ATIV Tab 3 also features an improved S Pen, which is fully compatible with the Microsoft Office suite, which is preloaded on it (Home &amp: Student version).

Samsung announces Galaxy NX, first Android-powered interchangeable lens camera with 20.3MP APS-C sensor

The Galaxy NX uses an APS-C sensor with an effective resolution of 20.3MP. Besides high resolution stills, the camera can also record 1080p video at 25fps. The camera features DRIMe IV Image Signal Processer and can do burst shots at 8.6fps with a maximum shutter speed of up to 1/6000 sec.
The big sensor isn’t the only advantage – with the Galaxy NX you can use any NX mount lens, pancake lenses, fish eye lenses, long primes and zoom lenses, even a 45mm 2D/3D lens. Some lenses feature Optical Image Stabilization too.
The camera packs a powerful xenon popup flash and you get an electronic viewfinder with SVGA resolution (800 x 600) if you are into that sort of thing.
The Samsung Galaxy NX also packs a 4.8″ HD TFT LCD display on the back, which is a lot better than what cameras usually get (yes, even expensive DSLRs). It gets much better functionality too, thanks to Android 4.2.2 with TouchWiz 5, which is becoming standard issue for recent Galaxy devices.
The Samsung Galaxy NX is powered by a 1.6GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage. The storage can be expanded with a microSD card (up to 64GB). Connectivity is worthy of a smartphone too with LTE (market dependent), HSPA+ (42Mbps download), Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS plus GLONASS for accurate geo-tagging.

The TouchWiz software means users get the same creative camera modes that we saw on the Galaxy S4 Zoom – more than 30 Smart modes including Animated photo (creates a GIF), Multi Exposure and Sound & shot.
The Galaxy NX will come bundled with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for advanced image processing, but the camera also comes with True 3D Creator for making 3D images and movies.
The camera measures 136.5 x 101.2 x 25.7mm and weighs 495g with the battery. Speaking of which, it’s a 4,360mAh battery, which is close to four times the capacity of the Samsung NX2000 battery, but it’s needed for the bigger screen and powerful chipset.
There’s no info on the price and availability of the Samsung Galaxy NX just yet.

Alleged pictures of the Apple iPhone 5S leak

While Apple successfully managed to be tightlipped about the iOS 7, it looks like it's not having the same luck keeping the upcoming iPhone 5S a secret. Two new images of what claim to be the next generation iPhone have surfaced and show us what we had already guessed; it's going to be a spec update over the current iPhone 5.
The image on the left show the redesigned internals with a new logic board that matches one of the previously leaked images, which gives it some credibility. The 5.92Whr battery is bigger than 5.45Whr battery on the iPhone 5, suggesting improved battery life.
The image on the right shows us the new LED flash next to the camera lens. The shape has changed and now there are two LEDs under the lens. The rest of the design is identical to the iPhone 5. Also, as you can see from the edges, this device shares its affinity to scratches with the iPhone 5, although that may not be the case with the final version.
The iPhone 5S is expected to go on sale later this year. As can be seen from the images above and using the previous iPhones as reference, it is not going to be a completely redesigned product but more of a faster, more refined version of the current iPhone. So it's best to adjust your expectations accordingly

Sony Xperia Z Ultra screenshots reveal an updated launcher

While the other day's screenshots of the Xperia Z Ultra (Togari) confirmed the device's specifications, today's batch of snaps reveal the changes made to the Sony launcher in its Android 4.2.2 version.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra screenshots
The screenshots were acquired by an acquaintance of a member of the XDA-Developers forum, who confirms they are the real deal. As you can see, Sony has done well to utilize the extra screen estate by expanding the rows and columns of the app drawer to a 6x5 grid.
The icons on the homescreen itself look a lot smaller, too, hinting that the grid there has been expanded as well. Other small cosmetic touches include an updated app drawer icon (3x3 circles, not 4x4 squares) as well as the dock, which can now take up to 6 icons, not just four.
Sony is holding a press event next week on Tuesday and the Xperia Z Ultra is dubbed to be one of the stars of the show. Naturally we'll be covering it live for you, so stick around.

Nokia RM-875 also passes FCC. Nokia EOS international edition?

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Nokia keeps slipping out clues as to what we might expect from its Zoom Reinvented event: following the RM-877's appearance at the FCC, an RM-875 device has also popped up at the US agency. This new hardware looks like an international variant of the RM-877, and thus a second take on what we believe is the EOS. The RM-875 sheds what traces were left of its sibling's 1,700MHz HSPA+ data and switches the LTE to more exotic 850MHz, 1,800MHz, 2,100MHz and 2,500MHz frequencies, but it's otherwise a near perfect match in terms of dimensions and antenna layouts. The camera grip accessory and wireless charging cover persist, too. As such, it's quite possible that whatever Nokia unveils on July 11th will ship worldwide -- let's just hope it ships quickly.

Oppo confirms Find 7, though not for September, denies Find 5 Mini

After the Oppo Find 5 came around and convinced us that the Chinese manufacturer is perfectly capable of standing up to the big names in business, we've been keeping a close eye on the company's new projects. Recently we've heard about Find 5 mini and Find 7 coming up, and as luck would have it we were just contacted by an Oppo representative, who wanted to clear out a few things about them.
The bad news is the Find 5 Mini version isn't coming at all and the rumors about it are unfounded.Here is the official quote:

One article mentioned the possible release of a Find 5 Mini. Unfortunately, there are no plans to release any Find 5 Minis.

The good news is the rep officially confirmed Oppo is indeed working on a Find 5 successor called Find 7. The device is still in very early stage of development though and won't launch this September as some reports suggested.




Here is the relevant part of the statement:

OPPO is excited to be currently developing the next phone in the Find series, the Find 7. However, development is still in the early stages and has no finalized designs or specifications. There is also no release date at this time and will unfortunately not be available this September.

Qualcomm announces 6 new Snapdragon 200 chipsets

Qualcomm has secured the high-end with its Snapdragon 600 chipsets (and soon the 800) and has turned its attention to entry-level phones with six new Snapdragon 200 chips. They will be available in Qualcomm Reference Design (QRD) platforms in late 2013.
The new Snapdragon 200 chipsets come in dual and quad-core flavors (8x10 and 8x12) and will be built on a 28nm process (same as the 600 and 800, current 200s are made at 45nm).
The new 200 chipsets support cameras up to 8MP and come with a new Adreno 302 GPU, which Qualcomm promises will deliver "class-leading graphics performance" (current models use Adreno 203). There's Quick Charge support too.
The chipsets support 3G HSPA+ (up to 21Mbps), TD-SCDMA for emerging markets in China and elsewhere, and can work in dual-SIM, dual-standby (or dual-active) phones and even tri-SIM, tri-standby handsets.
We can expect to find Snapdragon 200 chipsets inside entry-level Android, Windows Phone and Firefox handsets, but it's too soon to be talking about launch dates.

LG and Qualcomm partner up for next G-series smartphone

LG and Qualcomm announced their collaboration on the next G-series smartphone. The successor of the LG Optimus G will sport Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 800 chipset with quad-core Krait 400 CPUs.

The latest Qualcomm chipset promises up to 75% better performance than the Snapdragon S4 Pro. The new Adreno 330 GPU on the other hand, promises to deliver more than twice the oomph of the currently used Adreno 320.
The press release goes further to point some of Qualcomm Snapdragon 800's key features. They include support for advanced 4G LTE, Ultra HD video capture playback and display support, as well as dynamic power sensing for better power management.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra screenshots emerge, confirm specs 

Screenshots taken from the upcoming Sony Xperia Z Ultra phablet have emerged, thus confirming the previously leaked specs. Codenamed Togari, the large-screen device is expected to break cover next month, on July 4.

The screenshots reveal most of the phablet's specs (click to enlarge)
The screenshots confirm that the Sony Xperia Z Ultra features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 chipset with 2.2GHz quad-core CPU, and Adreno 330 GPU. There's 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in memory on board, which can be further expanded via microSD card slot. The OS version is Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
The display's resolution is listed at 1080 x 1824 pixels. The remaining pixels up to 1920 are likely reserved for the trio of virtual buttons. The listed pixel density of 342ppi on the other hand, confirms that the unit sports a 6.4" diagonal.

Ultra-rugged NEC Terrain gets announced for AT&T

AT&T took the wraps off the ultra-rugged, LTE capable NEC Terrain. The Android smartphone with full QWERTY keyboard and push-to-talk functionality will be available exclusively through AT&T Business Solutions and online on June 21 for $99.99 with a two-year commitment to the carrier.


The NEC Terrain features a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 SoC with a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU. There's 8GB of built-in memory on board, which can be further expanded via microSD card slot. A 3.1" display with a yet to be known resolution and the ageing Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich are also part of the smartphone's specifications.
Being a rugged business device, the NEC Terrain exceeds the MIL-810G specifications for water, dust and shock resistance. Combined with the full QWERTY keyboard and PTT functionality, the rugged credentials of the device are bound to make it a credible niche proposition.

41MP camera officially confirmed for the Nokia EOS

The Nokia EOS rumor fire has been burning for a very long time now, but since recently Nokia itself has started adding fuel to it. The first rumors started soon after the last Symbian Nokia 808 PureView was announced and even though the Lumia 920 with OIS lens was carrying the PureView brand it didn't turn out the 41MP monster many fans hoped for.
Well the wait is almost over. The company just posted a second teaser for its July 11 event in New York, which says that there will be 41 million reasons to follow it. Get it? 41 million - the same as the number of pixels on the sensor of the upcoming WP8 smartphone.
Over the past few weeks we finally saw the first live pictures of the mysterious Nokia EOS device. Now that we also got to learn the resolution of its sensor, there are very few unknowns about it remaining.



Now the 41 megapixel sensor suggests we might also see an update of the Windows Phone platform pretty soon. Since the currently available WP8 release doesn't support higher-resolution sensors, either Microsoft will have to deliver an update with added drivers, or Nokia will have to do it by itself.

HTC Butterfly S is official, packs HTC One's UltraPixel camera

HTC Butterfly S official and it's a significant bump over the first Butterfly. The smartphone is powered by a 1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 - the same as the one in the Samsung Galaxy S4 - and has 2GB of RAM.
It's built around the same 5" display boasting full HD resolution and a pixel density of 440ppi. Internal storage is 16GB, and as is usually the case, HTC has teamed up with Dropbox to provide 25GB of free cloud storage for 2 years. MicroSD card support is available, too.
At the back of the Butterfly S, there's the same UltraPixel camera as the HTC One. It packs a 1/3" BSI sensor size with a 2.0 micron pixel size and wide F/2.0 aperture. Since the smartphone is running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with the latest Sense UI 5 skin on top, there's HTC Zoe with HTC Share and Video highlights.

HTC Butterfly S official photos
Not much has changed in terms of visuals, and the Butterfly S looks more or less the same as its predecessor, safe for its thickness and different color variations - red, white, gray - and some details here and there. The most prominent of which is the metal ring surrounding the camera glass at the back.
Measuring 144.5 x 70.5 x 10.6mm, the Butterfly S weighs 160 grams and is significantly thicker than before. That's because under the hood, there's a 3200mAh battery, a lot bigger than the original Butterfly's 2020mAh unit. Connectivity options are the usual for a high-end offering and include Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, DLNA, NFC, GPS.
The HTC Butterfly S is expected to debut in Taiwan for NT $22,900 (US $766) in July. The company's plans for a wider release at this point are still unclear.

GDR 2 update for Windows Phone 8 to bundle OEM and OS updates

We don't know a lot about the GDR 2 update that is coming soon to Windows Phone 8. We've heard that quad-core processor support will be coming with the GDR 3 update, but all we have learned so far with GDR 2 is that it will be bringing CalDAV and CardDAV support for Google accounts. A new report is saying it will also help unify Windows Phone updates by bundling OEM and OS updates.

Previously on Windows Phone, OS updates would roll out to devices separately from OEM fixes, which tended to cause problems because the timing wasn't always organized properly, which would mean that the OEM fixes would come first, but users wouldn't be able to install them, because they required the OS updates. Now, Microsoft is going to send the OS updates to the OEMs, who will customize and add device specific fixes to the bundle before pushing the update to users. 

This is actually how updates worked back in the days of Windows Mobile. It may cause a bit of a delay in updates, but since the amount of OEM customization allowed is limited, the delays shouldn't be that noticeable.

NVIDIA to license its Kepler GPU core to grab more from the "explosion of Android devices"

NVIDIA isn't content with the number of Android devices that use its Tegra chipsets and wants to get more of the market, and the plan to do that looks like the company will license its Kepler GPU core to other chipset manufacturers. NVIDIA hopes that doing this will enable it to get more from the "explosion of Android devices".

Basically, NVIDIA is tired of seeing its revenue from the PC market dropping as the PC market itself gives way to mobile devices, and the company wants to be more integrated in the mobile revolution. So, NVIDIA is going to license its "GPU cores and visual computing patent portfolio" to manufacturers working on mobile processors.

NVIDIA has done this before, and had licensed its GPU core design to Sony for use in the PlayStation 3. NVIDIA says that this new world "presents an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate this effort" because so many companies are building Android devices.

It will start by licensing the Kepler GPU core, which supports DX11, OpenGL 4.3, and GPGPU. It will also license its visual computing portfolio, so companies can "develop their own GPU functionality".

Huawei Ascend P6 now official – "world’s slimmest smartphone"

The Huawei Ascent P6 was just announced official. Meet the new slimmest smartphone, with an awe-inspiring thickness of only 6.18 millimeters. But even though it is so impressively slim, the Ascend P6 has quite a lot of goodies packed under its hood.

Inside the sleek metallic body of the Huawei Ascend P6 ticks a 1.5GHz quad-core processor. There is a 4.7-inch LCD  touchscreen with HD resolution gracing its front – 1280 by 720 pixels, we assume. Huawei notes that an in-cell touch display has been used, which are known for their slimness. The 8-megapixel main camera can capture macro shots from as close as 4 centimeters, while the front-facing 5MP shooter ensures that your self-portraits will look as good as they should. And although there is a decent 2000mAh battery tucked behind its back plate, the Huawei Ascend P6 weighs a mere 120 grams. 

To give users more value for their money, Huawei has added a few extra tricks as well. Among them is the so-called MagicTouch tech, which allows the screen to be operated even while the user has gloves on. Through some power management optimizations, Huawei has managed to make the Ascend P6 battery last as much as 30% longer than cells of this size used in other handsets. The AirSharing feature is present as well, allowing one to instantly share content over the air with TVs and other devices. Android 4.2.2 will come pre-loaded onto the Huawei Ascend P6, with the maker's Emotion UI layered on top.

The Huawei Ascend P6 will be released in China this month. Markets throughout Western Europe will get the phone in July via a number of carriers and retailers:vodafone, Telefonica, Orange, H3G, O2, Carphone Warehouse, TalkTalk, MediaMarkt & Saturn, TIM, Amazon and CDiscount. At this time, there is no information whether the Huawei Ascend P6 is ever going to be released in the U.S. Color choices include black, white and pink, with optional color-matching cases sold separately.

First Tizen phone to be powered by an Exynos 4 chipset

We're still waiting for the first Tizen device – it will launch in August or September according to Samsung VP. In the meantime we get leaks that paint a picture of what the device will be like – a smartphone with 720p screen and an Exynos 4 chipset.
TechTastic looked through the Tizen repository for stuff committed by Samsung and there seems to be support for only two chipsets – the Exynos 4212 and Exynos 4412. The first is a revamped version of what went into the Galaxy S II (under the alias s5pc2xx) and the second is the Galaxy S III chipset.


The chipsets pack two and four Cortex-A9 cores respectively (at 1.4-1.6GHz clockspeed) and a Mali-400 GPU.
This means the Samsung I8805 Redwood, which is the first Tizen to launch according to rumors, won't match Android flagships like the Galaxy S4 in terms of raw power (actual performance is another story, of course). It's the higher-end of the two Tizens that have leaked so far – Redwod and the I8800 Melius.

AMD building ARM chips for non-mobile servers

With a code name of "Seattle," Advanced Micro Devices is building its first chips based on the ARM Holdings designs that are prevalent in smartphones and tablets. But AMD isn't looking to sling silicon for mobile devices. Instead, these chips are headed for the server market. With AMD's share of x86 chips quickly heading south, the company needed something new to enhance the top line of its balance sheet.

While producing ARM based chips for servers might be new for AMD, it has been done before. Applied Micro Circuits starting shipping samples of its X-Gene chip in April. The foundry calls it "a server on a chip". Meanwhile, AMD will start shipping samples of "Seattle" in Q1 of 2014 with commercial shipments rolling out the door the following quarter. It will operate at speeds of 2GHz or faster and come in 8 or 16 core variants.

With the production of its first ARM chips en route, will AMD decide to enter the competitive market to manufacture ARM chips for mobile devices? Considering the competitiveness of that market, led by big names like Qualcomm and Samsung, it might seem a tough business to enter. And with MediaTek enjoying big business in the low end of the market, it seems like AMD might be better off with this niche for now.

LG confirms the production of flexible displays will start in Q4

LG spokesman Frank Lee said the Korean company is set to start mass production of flexible displays in the fourth quarter of this year.

Furthermore, LG Electronics plans on releasing its first smartphone with a flexible display before the year’s end.

The new displays are of the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) variety, which LG first introduced in its products via a 55-inch OLED television unveiled at CES last year.
LG also plans on selling the technology with to other major mobile producers, as the company predicts its flexible display technology will become the latest trend in mobiles. This, in turn, raises speculation as to which next generation device we could see with flexible displays this year, or in the first half of 2014.
In LG’s own camp, the rumored LG Nexus 5 is one such candidate, as is the LG Optimus G2 (although not according to these leaked images).
The anticipated Apple iPhone 6 could also be in store for a flexible display, although that product is not expected until at least 2014.
Finally, LG hopes that its flexible display technology will give it the upper hand over hometown rival Samsung, who are supposedly facing problems with the development of their own flexible display tech. Then there’s also last years OLED panel leak, which makes this a hot button issue between the two Korean giants.

Lava to launch a $50 Firefox OS smartphone in India

The first commercially available Firefox OS smartphones – the Peak and Keon by Geeksphone – are already pretty cheap, priced at €150 ($200) and €91 ($121) respectively. That doesn't mean, however, that smartphones powered by Mozilla's mobile platform won't go any lower than that. In fact, $50 Firefox OS handset are expected to launch in India, produced by a local smartphone company.

Lava is the Indian company that has chosen tho give Firefox OS a try. It is currently known for producing affordable Android smartphones with a reasonable set of features for what they cost. It's latest Lava Iris model, for example, packs a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 4.5-inch screen, and 8MP camera, yet can be bought for the equivalent of roughly $145. 

The upcoming $50 Firefox OS, on the other hand, will most likely have an unimpressive specs sheet. But hey, it might still be better than alternative phones costing as much. Lava has yet to announce any details as to when its low-cost Firefox OS smartphone may be released. In the meantime, you can keep an eye on the Geeksphone web page in case you want to grab yourself one of them Firefox OS phones.

Nokia Working on Lumias with Snapdragon 800 SOC? Up to 55MP and 2560×2048 displays

The evidence that Nokia is working on a quad-core Windows Phone 8 handset is mounting and this time we're talking the big guns – Qualcomm Snapdragon 800. A changelog in a file hosted on Nokia's servers indicates that the terms "quad_core", "adreno_330", "qualcomm_snapdragon_s4_msm8274" and "qualcomm_snapdragon_s4_msm8974" were added recently.
The MSM8274 is a Snapdragon 800 chipset with four Krait 400 cores at up to 2.3GHz and Adreno 330 GPU. The MSM8974 also adds support for LTE-Advanced, CDMA, and the Chinese TD-SCDMA.



And supports up to 55MP, “ultra HD capture” and displays up to 2560×2048 (nice for a future LumiaTab). We’re still waiting on MS to expand WP’s resolution support to 1080p.

Quite recently a quadcore Lumia was found, but quite interestingly with a 16:9 (720p vs Nokia’s 1280×768) which was hoped the ratio was in place as a filler in prototypes with 1080p displays but no support yet.
Let’s hope that battery life isn’t forgotten.

1080p is not enough: high-end smartphones in 2014 may feature 6-inch 1600 x 2560-pixel screens

The industry just won’t settle at 1080p. Next year smartphones could get even more detailed screens as we are about to jump right into 1600 x 2560-pixel screen territory. The new displays are expected to ship on 6-inch phablets, devices that are expected to become way more common in the near future.

For the geeks, the new 1600 x 2560-pixel resolution goes by the WQXGA acronym, and means that next year the resolution on your smartphone might be higher than the one on an Apple iPad.

With a pixel density of over 500ppi, the obvious benefits will be that text will appear crystal clear and images even sharper.
We first heard about a 6-inch 1600 x 2560 pixel displays back in 2011 when Toshiba announced it has made an LCD screen with the world’s highest pixel density. Since then, Japan Display and Sharp have also unveiled 1600p displays late last year.

If we had to give out an award for the fastest growing mobile technology, it would probably go to makers of smartphone screens. Just a couple of years ago, the Apple iPhone 4 stunned us with its high-resolution “Retina” display and Android followed up quickly with a ton of 720p devices. Fast forward to today and we have 1080p quad-core smartphones selling for around $200 in China.

Screen resolutions

Having a 500 pixel per inch screen might seem like an overkill - after all many experts said that the human eye simply wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a 1080p and a 720p display from a regular viewing distance. However perfection is where technology is going and good news is that high-res displays will inevitably start arriving to more affordable devices.

To see a piece of that future, right below is a demonstration of Sharp’s new 1600p 6-inch display.

HTC Desire 200 is officially announced with 3.5" display

HTC has just officially announced its latest budget offering dubbed Desire 200. It's running HTC's own Sense UI skin on top of currently unspecified version Android and packs Beats Audio music enhancement.
Built around a 3.5" LCD display of 320 x 480 pixels resolution, the HC Desire 200 packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 chipset with single-core 1GHz CPU and 512MB of RAM. The internal memory is just 4GB, but thankfully it is expandable via the on-board microSD card slot.

HTC Desire 200 official photos
At the back, the Desire 200 has a 5MP, f/2.8 fixed focus camera with 34mm lens that supports VGA video recording. The battery has a capacity of 1230mAh and is user-removable. According to HTC, it'll be able to provide you with 7 hours and 30 minutes of 3G talk time and 812 hours of stand-by.
Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB and GPS. There's a trio of sensors, too - accelerometer, proximity and ambient light.
Pricing and availability are unknown at this point, but it's just a matter of time until major retailers and carriers are ready to share this info.

Transparent solar films add 20% to your phone's battery life on the cheap

The French from SunPartner are having a very pragmatic approach to the promising field of transparent solar cells that can be used as a screen cover, charging our phones even while in use and off the grid.

Instead of the complex and expensive projects from the likes of MIT and UCLA that are trying to weave miniature solar cells into the touchscreens themselves, or other projects that harvest the light leaking from OLEDs, SunPartner is just combining traditional with transparent solar cells.

The visible traditional solar stripes are then being hidden vie an add-on cover with numerous lenses that distribute the light in a certain way. Currently the company has achieved 82% transparency, with future prototypes expected to hit 90%. The CEO has been in the Silicon Valley recently, demonstrating the product to the mobile talent there.

Apparently the solution adds about 20% to your battery life with normal usage, and can also power the phone completely when standing by in daylight, thus being gentle on your juicer, no matter how many mAh the manufacturers manage to cram in. SunPartner says that three phone makers have already expressed interest and are working with prototypes of the technology.

Samsung starts mass production of PCIe SSD, your storage is about to get 2.5 times faster

Samsung has confirmed that it has started mass production of the new PCIe-based (PCI-Express) solid-state drives, which bring about 2.5 times performance boost over current SATA-based drives and around 7 times more than a conventional 7200 RPM hard-drive.

The new XP941 PCIe-based SSDs are also smaller than their predecessors making them ideal for use in ultrabooks.
The SSDs will come in 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB variants. The new XP941 SSD allows for 1400 MB/s read, due to the PCIe 2.0 interface. It weighs around 6 grams (compared to the average of around 50 grams of 2.5″ SATA SSDs) and offers a seventh of the 2.5″ SATA SSDs volume, leaving more room for stuff like battery.
To put things in perspective, Samsung points that the new XP941 SSD will be able to read 10 HD movies at around 5 GB each in 10 seconds.
Currently the mid 2013 MacBook Air is the first device on the market rocking Samsung’s PCIe SSD but other PC makers are lined up for the upgrade.

Oppo Find 7 to come in September with 4,000 mAh battery

The new report confirms previous online gossip about the specs and adds a 4000 mAh battery and 9.9 mm thickness. That would put it on par with the 6" Huawei Ascend Mate, which has the largest battery of any smartphone to date.

In case you need a refresh the Oppo Find 7 is supposed to run on the latest Snapdragon 800 chipset and pack a 5" 1080p display. The previous rumors also suggested a 13MP rear and an 8MP front camera for the next Oppo flagship.
The rest of the previously confirmed specs are the NFC connectivity and 2GB of RAM.
Anyway, if this new info turn out correct the Oppo Find 7 announcement should be just around the corner, so we'll know sooner rather than later.

Quad-core Nokia with WP8 shows up in GFXBench scores

Qualcomm recently announced the first quad-core chipset with Windows Phone 8 support and Nokia may already have a phone with it in the works according to GFXBench results. The promised GDR3 update should bring quad-core and 1080p screen support.
However, the Nokia device that ran the benchmark had screen resolution of 720p, suggesting this might be a separate update.
The GPU of the chipset was Adreno 305, but unfortunately GFXBench didn’t detect CPU clockspeed or the amount of RAM.


The Snapdragon 400 chipset that Qualcomm announced was a mid-range model with four Cortex-A7 CPUs at 1.2GHz and LTE support. Qualcomm also has Krait 300-based quad-cores with Adreno 305, but it's not clear if they support Windows Phone 8 and without CPU clockspeed it's hard to guess which one it is anyway.
The benchmark is also mum on the name, but it confirms Nokia as the manufacturer and Windows Phone 8 as the OS. There's been some talk that the Nokia EOS will pack a quad-core CPU, but this could be a completely different device (or even a fake entry altogether).

Motorola X smartphone specs leak, packs 10MP camera

Purported specifications of the Motorola X smartphone have appeared on evleak's Twitter account. The renowned leakster suggests the device will pack mid-range specifications, despite being touted as a "hero" device by the company's CEO Dennis Woodside.

Anyway, the specs include a 720p display of unknown dimensions and 1.7GHz dual-core Krait CPU with 2GB of RAM on the MSM8960 Pro chipset. Internal memory is 16GB, but a microSD card slot isn't mentioned.
At the back, the Moto X is suggested to feature a 10MP camera. This sounds promising and in line with Vic Gundotra saying we can expect awesome camera from the company. A 2MP camera at the front will be used for video chatting.

Photos of metal-clad Nokia EOS body leak out

The previously leaked Nokia EOS made an appearance once again, flaunting its metal-clad body. This time around, the upcoming camera-centric Windows Phone smartphone got allegedly caught in front of the camera on what appears to be a production line under way.

The leaked photos reveal the right side of the device, where (unsurprisingly) the volume rocker, power/lock key, and dedicated camera button reside. The back of the upcoming smartphone is also on display, thus revealing the opening for the camera tech.
Nokia is expected to take the wraps of the EOS at an event in New York City on July 11. Be sure to tune in for the full scoop on the newcomer.