this week

Xolo Q1000S goes official with 5-inch display and quad-core CPU

almgr -ato

Xolo Q1000S goes official with 5-inch 720p display and quad-core CPU

Xolo has officially announced its Q1000S flagship smartphone in India. The newest addition comes with an elegant design and is only 6.98mm thick. Xolo Q1000S also offers impressive features and hardware specifications for the price tag it carries.
The Xolo Q1000S comes with a 5-inch 720p IPS display with OGS technology, which makes the colors more vibrant. Under the hood, the Q1000S packs a 1.5 GHz quad-core MediaTek processor along with 1 GB of RAM.

The Xolo Q1000S feature sets continues with a 13 megapixel rear camera with BSI 2 sensor, 5 megapixel front facing shooter, 16 GB of internal memory and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
The juice for the smartphone is provided by a 2,500mAh battery which, according to the company, lasts for about 53 hours on music playback, up to 327 hours stand-by on 3G and 425 hours on 2G or up to 22.5 hours of 2G, 12.5 hours of 3G talk-time.
Xolo Q1000S is priced at INR18,999 (about $300) and will be available over the coming weeks.

Samsung's S Cloud may launch along with Tizen 3.0 next year

October may see the official launch of Tizen and the first Tizen handset. But, it may bring more than that, because the rumors have surfaced that Samsung may also finally have the end in site for its long-awaited answer to iCloud and Google Drive, which is obviously called S Cloud.

S Cloud is a service that has literally been rumored to launch along with each of Samsung's flagship Android devices over the past year and a half. The rumors first popped up just before the launch of the Galaxy S III, persisted for the Galaxy Note II, and even came back for the Galaxy S4. The new word around the service is that development on S Cloud will be finished by the end of this year, and it will launch in full along with Tizen 3.0 which is due out next year. It may even replace Google services on Android devices eventually.

S Cloud is exactly what you would expect it to be. It will be cloud storage for your media, and it will sync your data across devices. As yet we don't know about any other features meant to help it stand out from Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, Box, and all the other services that do the same thing.

GIGABYTE are launching their H81 series motherboards - entry level for Haswell

When it comes to our motherboard reviews, we typically attempt to focus on the high sellers with distinguishing features - this normally means chipsets aimed at the mainstream to high end with more capabilities.  Every so often we touch on something aimed more at the entry level or a cheaper chipset, and today GIGABYTE are launching their H81 series motherboards - entry level for Haswell.
To put H81 into perspective, the chipset offers two SATA 6 Gbps ports, two USB 3.0 ports, no RAID, no Smart Response Technology, a single PCIe 2.0 x16 from the CPU and six PCIe 2.0 lanes from the chipset.
GIGABYTE's H81 range covers both thinner ATX and micro-ATX motherboards, where PCIe 2.0 x1 and PCI ports occupy the extra slots down the motherboard.  The range will have seven SKUs, four of which are available online
All the motherboards will feature Ultra Durable 4 PLUS, which means 40A IR3550 ICs in the power delivery (all boards seem to feature a 2+1 VRM arrangement), as well as the new HD BIOS and GIGABYTE App Center which we examined on Z87. GIGABYTE state that some models will also be equipped with a USB 3.0 hub to increase USB 3.0 ports up to six, although none of the four models currently online do so, thus it seems reserved for the H/HD versions.  All the online models contain Realtek NICs and audio codecs, as well as either a serial or a parallel port or both:

No word on pricing or which regions these motherboards will be aimed for.  The interesting part from this PR is the H81.AMP-UP model, which would suggest that some of the G1.Sniper Z87 or A88X features are coming to H81: either the OP-AMP (adjustable amplifier) or USB DAC-UP (cleaner USB power for DACs) or both.  This could potentially be good news, as typically entry-level chipsets are paired with ALC887 codecs or similar.
I rarely (once or twice a year) get requests to review motherboards based on entry-level chipsets - there is not much to test and rarely anything new for comparison or explanation.  However this PR gives an opportunity to ask our readers if you would be interested in such a review?

Sony teases Xperia Z1 aka Honami will be water-resistant, 20.7 MP rear camera with G lens

Sony has posted a new image of what looks like its upcoming flagship, the Xperia Z1 aka Sony Honami. The new image suggests the Xperia Z1 will indeed be a water-resistant device similarly to its predecessor, the Sony Xperia Z.
The image right below allegedly shows the Z1 submerged in water and “about to make a splash…” in both the figurative and literal sense of the words. The new image also reveals the Xperia Z1 will have a dedicated phyiscal camera shutter key, located on its right, below the volume rocker.
Sony kicked off a marketing campaign under the slogan “The best of Sony is about to get better” and yesterday’s first installment made it clear it is for “the smartphone everyone’s been talking about…” All clues suggest this is for the upcoming Sony Xperia Z1 aka Honami.
The images Sony teases fall in line with all earlier rumors. Whispers have already drawn a nearly full picture of the expected specifications of the Xperia Z1, take a look right below:

• Shock-, dust-, shatter-, water-proof, IP 55/58
• 5.0-inch 1920x1080 pixel Triluminos display, 16% wider colour gamut
• Carbon fiber frame; Dragontrail tempered glass front protection; Corning Gorilla Glass 3 back protection
• 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 (Krait 400) chip
• Adreno 330 GPU
• 16GB expandable memory, microSD card slot
• 3100 mAh battery, new improved STAMINA mode
• MHL / Miracast / NFC / Bluetooth 4.0 / LTE / Wi-Fi (a/b/g/n; a/c)
• Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
• 20.7 MP rear camera with G lens (using Exmor RS CMOS sensor), f/2.3 aperture, capable of recording 4K (4096 x 2160) resolution videos at 30fps (using BIONZ imaging engine for still photos and X-reality Pro video engine for videos)
• 2 MP Exmor R front-facing camera capable of shooting 1080p full HD resolution videos at 30fps
• IR Remote
• 4G LTE connectivity
• Dual (Stereo) speakers
• 144 x 73.9 x 8.3mm

HP Omni10 appears at the FCC

The HP Omni lineup consists of Windows-based all-in-one personal computers, but this newest member of the series appears to be a bit more compact. Okay, it is probably a lot more compact as it is a 10-inch tablet, as far as we can tell. It is known as the HP Omni10 and it has just been spotted over at the FCC. 

As is often the case with FCC filings, little about the tablet's specs is being mentioned. The HP Omni10 has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a camera of some kind on its back, and that's pretty much all we have so far. We can't even tell if it is made to run Windows or not (although it most likely is). Who knows, the HP Omni10 might be one of those dual-booting hybrids, capable of running Android alongside a Windows installation. But the latter is just a guess.

Rumor Windows Phone 8 to get a notification center with GDR3 update

With Microsoft expected to launch the Windows Phone 8 GDR3 update by the year's end, rumors regarding its features are starting to accumulate. The latest one suggests Nokia India is already testing the GDR3 update internally, especially the new features the release brings.

One of them is a Notification center, which according to many WP8 users is a major shortfall of the OS.
According to the tip that was sent to nokiapoweruser.com, the GDR3 update also packs a feature dubbed "Appetitte". However, nothing is clear about it at this point. Judging from the name suggests some kind of app-recommendation service, but we can't know until more information surfaces.
Another alleged feature of the GDR3 update for WP8 is the updated start screen grid, allowing you to fit even more tiles in a row. This aligns with the recent rumor of a 6" Nokia phablet that's in the works. It's expected to be officially announced in September, and that's why Nokia India has been allegedly testing the GDR3 update so vigorously.
September is just around the corner and is promising to be one heck of a ride with all major manufacturer preparing some amazing smartphones.

Your Future Smartphone processor may be stuffed with wax

In the process of trying to make processors more efficient, they've hit on an intriguing idea: cover the chip in a mesh of wax which, when the processor is pushed, can melt and absorb some of that excess heat. It may sounds kinda bonkers, but the researchers believe it should allow chip manufacturers to run mobile processors faster, for longer.

Currently mobile chips tend to use a sub-set of their transistors most of the time to avoid overheating, just using a small central CPU most of the time and farming out other tasks to more specific processing units when they need to. The wax idea could provide a way of using more transistors, more of the time—and hopefully provide a massive speed bump, too.

The idea of "computational sprinting"—making use of all those transistors at once—has been floated for a few years, and the wax idea could make it a reality in mobile situations. In fact, the researchers believe they could run a chip at upto 100 watts for a short period, as long as their wax cooling system was their to absorb the heat.

Of course, it only buys short snatches of high performance: once the wax melts, its cooling efficiency is lost, and it needs to solidify again before the next sprint. But, maybe that's enough

Nokia Lumia 625 launched in India for Rs.19999 (INR19,999)

Nokia has officially launched the Lumia 625, the latest Lumia phone in India. It went on pre-order in India online earlier this week. The Lumia 625 was unveiled last month and packs a 4.7-inch  (800 x 480 pixels) LCD display, which is the largest screen on a Lumia phone till date. It is powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus MSM8930 processor and runs on the latest Windows Phone 8 OS with the latest Amber update. It has a 5-megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash and a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera.  It has Nokia Music and Here Maps. The phone has pebble design with curved edges and matte finish on the polycarbonate back cover.

Nokia Lumia 625 specifications:

• 4.7-inch (800 x 480 pixels) display at 201 ppi, Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protection
• 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus MSM8930 processor
• Windows Phone 8 OS
• 5MP Auto Focus camera with LED flash, 1080p Full HD video recording
• 0.3MP (VGA) front-facing camera
• 9.2mm thick and weighs 159grams
• 512MB RAM, 8GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 64GB with microSD
• 3G HSPA+, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GPS / aGPS,,A-GPS+GLONASS
• 2000 mAh battery

The Nokia Lumia 625 comes in orange, yellow, bright green, white and black colors and is priced at Rs. 19,999. It comes with out-of-the-box entertainment package such as eBooks from Flipkart and access to the Nokia Music Store to download music worth Rs. 16000 absolutely free. The Your Movies app by Digitainment that offers 3000+ free movies (streaming and download at 720p) worth Rs. 4,275 free for 3 months. Nokia has also announced that the Lumia 625 users free access (up to 10 GB of content  for 3 months) to Ozone Wi-Fi zones across India at more than 800 hangout zones including Café Coffee Day, McDonalds, and Subway among others in these zones at no extra cost during the first three months.

LG exec confirms a tablet by year-end: large phablet, smart watch, and flexible displays coming next year

The mobile communications head at LG Bulgaria, Dimitar Valev, sat down for an interview and gave us a hint at quite a few products coming down the pipeline from the Korean manufacturer.

First off, an Android tablet is indeed coming by year-end, confirming the rumors so far, and proving that where there's FCC certification, there's fire, as a G Pad just passed through the confines of the Federal Communications Commission.while talking about the big-screen phones of the company, like the Optimus G Pro and the Vu line, the exec confirmed an even larger phone from LG that will be making a cameo next year, perhaps joining the ranks of the 6" phablets that everyone is releasing these days. With the just-announced Quad HD 5.5-incher LG proves there's plenty of innovation still ahead in the mobile display department, so we can't wait to see what it will place in an eventual giant slab of its own.

Next year is also likely to see a smart wristwatch device of sorts, made by the second-largest Korean phone maker, and Mr Valev wasn't shy to point out that LG came out with a similar product three years ago, which he said was not the right moment for it. Talking of bendy wristwatches he also didn't fail to mention about that LG flexible display rumor that's been around in the last few months, and said there will be devices "in certain markets" with it, though the plans are for introduction next year, not this one as previously thought.

It turns out that the company is seriously looking into going back to Windows Phone as well, and it's in the planning stages of such devices, depending on what Microsoft has managed to do with the next iteration of its mobile operating system. Firefox OS devices weren't ruled out, too, but LG will apparently be taking a wait-and-see approach to gauge how those are faring in the wild, before it jumps the gun.

Canon updates premium compact PowerShot lineup

Canon has refreshed its range of premium compact cameras, including the G series and S series, along with new additions to the SX lineup of ultra zoom compacts. And the Canon G16, S120, SX510 and SX170 all come with Wi-Fi.
First up, the G series, and Canon's long established back-up camera sees the Canon G16 replacing last year's Canon G15. It features the same 12.1 megapixel count, but Canon says that the sensor is newly designed.
The key feature Canon really wants to push is the new Digic 6 processor, which enables the Canon PowerShot G16 to shoot at 9.3fps (JPEG only, with no continuous autofocus) with no buffer - it will last as long as there's memory on the card. You can also stop shooting and restart again without having to wait.

That processor should also allow for improved performance when shooting in low light. Shooting at up to ISO 12800 is available, too.
As is starting to become standard for compact cameras, the Canon G16, like all of the new compacts announced today, features Wi-Fi connectivity. That enables you to do such things as back up images to your computer via the Canon Image Gateway and share images to tablets and smartphones.
The Canon G16 features a 28mm 5x optical zoom lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.8. Canon has kept the same optical viewfinder that was found on previous G series cameras.

Mini me

Next up is the newest addition to the S family, the Canon S120, which replaces the Canon S110. This camera also features that ultra fast Digic 6 processor, enabling fast shooting speeds that are marginally faster than the Canon G16, at 9.4fps.
In many respects, the Canon PowerShot S120 is designed to be a miniature version of the Canon G16, and so shares quite a few specs with its larger sibling.
It also has a 5x optical zoom lens, which now features an f/1.8 maximum aperture - a first for the S series. It starts at slightly wider than the Canon G16, at 24mm.

Unlike the Canon G16, the Canon S120 has a touchscreen, while a control ring around the lens can be used to change customisable settings.
Both of these cameras also have a Star mode, for use when photographing stars at night. Different fully automatic modes produce the optimum settings for photographing night skies, star trials or a time lapse movie. Both star trail and time-lapse movies can be created within the camera itself without the need for post-production.
The Canon PowerShot G16 price will be £529.99 (around US$830/AU$920), while the Canon PowerShot S120 price will be £449.99 (around US$705/AU$780). They'll both be available from mid-October.

Bridge camera too

Also announced today are the Canon PowerShot SX510 and the Canon PowerShot SX170.
The Canon SX510 is a miniature bridge camera that features a 30x optical zoom, starting at 24mm at the widest point. It also features a 12.1 million pixel sensor along with a Digic 4 processor.

Meanwhile, the Canon SX170 is an advanced compact camera that features full manual control and a 16x optical zoom.
The Canon PowerShot SX510 price will be £289.99 (around US$455/AU$505), while the Canon PowerShot SX170 will be £169.99 (around US$265/AU$295). They will be available from the end of August.

Samsung announces another dual-screen flip-phone the Galaxy Golden

Samsung clearly thinks the flip-phone is here to stay. After all, why else would it launch two new clamshells in a matter of weeks? Today, the tech giant debuted the Galaxy Golden, which is strikingly similar to the Folder that leaked under an almost identical model number just prior to the Hennessey's official arrival. The Golden sports dual 3.7-inch Super AMOLED screens, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, a 1.7GHz dual-core processor and an 8MP camera. There's a slew of features aimed at older folks too, like an "easy mode" that can optimize the home screen, a pedometer that works with S Health, a business card recognition function and even an FM radio. Koreans in their golden years with a spare 790,000 won (if Google Translate is to be trusted), or just over $700, might appreciate these tailored features, as they'll probably be on-board with the aging form factor, too.

Nokia 106 and 107 Dual SIM are official

Nokia unveiled two new featurephones - the Nokia 106 and Nokia 107 Dual SIM. The former features quad-band GSM network support, while the latter is dual-band for both SIM cards. Both are built around a 1.8" 65k-color TFT display and run the Series 30 platform.

The similarities between the two phones continue in the design department. They both measure 112.9mm x 47.5mm x 14.9 mm and sport dust- and spill- resistant keyboards as well as FM radio receivers and a LED flashlights.
The Nokia 107 Dual SIM weighs a tad more at 75.8 grams because of its larger 1020 mAh battery, which allows it to survive 36 days of stand-by. The Nokia 106 packs an 800mAh battery but comes pretty close with a rated stand-by time of 35 days. Its weight isn't too much off either at 74.2 grams.
On top of that, the Nokia 107 Dual SIM features an microSD card slot that supports cards of up to 16GB. Nokia says customers can save up to 3,000 songs on it and enjoy music playback endurance of 34.8 hours.

Nokia 106 and 107 Dual SIM official photos
As you've already guessed the main attraction of the Nokia 106 and Nokia 107 Dual SIM is the pricing. Since the Nokia 107 boasts a larger battery and microSD card slot, it's priced at $25, while the Nokia 106 will retail for $23 (excluding taxes and subsidies).
Nokia is launching both phones in Q3 of this year (which runs until September) in China with no word on international availability just yet.

New Samsung SM-Z9005 Tizen phone to be powered by Snapdragon and run a 720p screen

The Samsung SM-Z9005 smartphone which started shipping to developers last week, has been visiting the Samsung website recently leaving valuable traces in the form of a User Agent Profile. It reports that the upcoming Tizen OS smartphone features a 720p display, which hints its mid-range nature right off the bat.

Moreover, the Samsung SM-Z9005 is reported to pack a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset with a Krait CPU. Most probably, it's going to be a dual-core one coupled with 1GB of RAM. That should be enough to run the jointly developed with Intel operating system. An added feature of the Snapdragon system-on-a-chip is the 4G LTE supporting modem.

Sadly, that's all that the web browser profile of the smartphone gives us. The Samsung SM-Z9005 reminds us of the Samsung I8800, which leaked some months ago, as that one also featured a 720p display. Unlike the SM-Z9005 though, the I8800 will most probably pack a Samsung Exynos 4 chipset and be the more powerful of the two.
While both smartphones are now in the hands of developers for testing and app development, there is no information when the platform or the SM-Z9005 and I8800 will make their commercial debut. All we know is that Tizen OS is live and breathing.

LG reveals world's first 'Quad HD' smartphone display

LG  revealed the sharpest smartphone display yet, which at 2,560 x 1,440 provides four times the pixels of a 720p display.The company calls it "the world's first Quad HD AH-IPS LCD panel for smartphones." It packs its 2,560 x 1,440 resolution into a 5.5-inch LCD form factor.This results in a pixel density of 538ppi. To put that into context, the HTC One's 1920 x 1080 (1080p) display boasts a pixel density of 469ppi.
This isn't quite a 4K smartphone, then, but it should be plenty sharp enough considering that many (especially Apple) maintain that the human eye can only really distinguish individual pixels in smartphone displays that produce less than 300ppi.Don't think that this sharp new display is an unwieldy prototype either. At just 1.21mm thick and with a bezel of just 1.2mm, LG Display is calling it "the world's slimmest and narrowest panel."
In other words, it's able to be popped into a very slender Android smartphone. Of course, that doesn't take into account the current cost of production and the inevitable battery life issues that such a pixel-rich mobile display would present, but both will no doubt be addressed in time.
Indeed, LG Display claims that the new panel "provides a glimpse at what's next after current Full HD smartphone panels."

Research says Android and iOS will continue to dominate, but others will find their niches

One of the most common questions that is asked any time someone hears the names Firefox OS, Sailfish, Ubuntu Touch, or Tizen, is whether or not these alternative platforms have much of a chance in a market that is dominated by Android (and to a lesser extent, iOS). But, a new report from Juniper Research says that emerging markets will give plenty of space for all comers.

According to Juniper, Android and iOS are expected to continue dominating the market. In fact, Juniper estimates that Samsung and Apple alone will ship more devices in 2018 than were shipped by all manufacturers in 2012. In 2012, all vendors combined shipped 677 million smartphones, but the estimate has Samsung and Apple combined shipping 800 million devices in 2018.

But, Juniper also says that the market will continue to split, and by 2018 newcomers like Asha, Sailfish, Firefox, and Ubuntu will have taken over 13% of the market. Given that recently, all "others" beyond Android, iOS, and Windows Phone combined for only 3% of global shipments, that's a pretty big shift.

Intel road map for smartphone and tablet platforms leaked

A road map for chip maker Intel has been leaked by "Taiwan makers" and includes upcoming introductions for both tablet and smartphone platforms.  The map begins with the 22nm Merrifield SoC, expected to be released by Intel for smartphone use sometime before the end of this year. This will bring a 50% boost in performance and longer battery life compared with the current smartphone platform, the Clover Trail+.  That will be followed up with the Moorefield SoC seeing the light of day in early 2014. By early 2015, Intel will be using a 14nm process to produce the Morganfield SoC.

Intel is still trying to get inside more smartphones and tablets

At the Intel Developer Forum, to be held next month from September 10 through the 12th, the silicon slinger is expected to take the wraps off its 22nm Bay Trail-based processors with the Silvermont architecture. Later, the company will unveil the Bay Trail-T processors for tablets which supports both Windows 8.1 and Android 4.2. This platform also supports the Silvermont architecture and allows for 8 hours of battery life while a slate is active, and will allow a tablet to be idle for weeks. It will support two clock speeds, 1.8GHz and 2.4GHz with a Gen 7 GPU.

Intel will distribute samples of its Cherry Trail platform for tablets to its partners at the end of the year, and will introduce the 14nm SoC at next year's Computex show. The CPUs will be announced in Q3 of 2014. Using the Airmont architecture, the clock speed will be 2.7GHz and the GPU will be a Gen8. By the end of next year, Intel will have the 14nm Willow Trail for tablets which will support both Android and Windows. It also will use Intel's Goldmont architecture and will include the Gen9 GPU.

Oppo confirms the N1 cameraphone with teaser images, will unveil it in September

Oppo is working on a cameraphone called the N1 – it leaked early this month and now the company has officially confirmed that it will announce it in September with a couple of teaser images. The Oppo N1 will be the company’s next flagship, at least until the Find 7 is ready (which Oppo said will launch after September).

So far we’ve seen renders of the device, with info suggesting it will have a 12MP camera with a chip called Owl (a nocturnal creature, hint, hint) and a special N-Lens, plus a xenon flash.
Of course, none of the official teasers confirm that, in fact, the second teaser just focuses on one side of the device with the loudspeaker, microUSB port and the 3.5mm audio jack.

The text under the first image reads simply “stay tuned” while the one under the second image reads “better use of the large…” and this is where Google Translate leaves us. If you can read Chinese, drop us a line in the comments, we’re curious what it says.
September should also bring a high-profile cameraphone from Sony, the Xperia Honami as well as the global release of the Nokia Lumia 1020 41MP monster.

iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S tipped to go on sale on September 20

 Rumor has popped up suggesting the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S will go on sale on September 20.

Apple is going to start rolling out the final version of iOS 7 on September 16. This sounds plausible, as the Apple iOS 7 Golden Master release is tipped to be out on September 5.
Previously, the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C were rumored to begin shipping on October 25. However, this date is most probably concerning only the second or third waves of countries that'll get the new iPhone lineup.
Meanwhile, according to the same source, the company is preparing for a second media event that will take place in October. There, Apple will announce the iPad 5 and iPad mini 2. Both are expected to go on sale on October 25.
The Apple iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S have a hard time staying off the radar recently with their parts and shells getting constantly exposed. We expect more and more leaks to start coming in as Apple's rumored September 10 event approaches.

MHL 3.0 standard announced: lag-free mobile games on your 4K TV

The MHL Consortium just announced the next version of its wired connectivity standard which you can meet on many smartphones lately, mainly Samsung, HTC and LG ones.

MHL 3.0 is backwards compatible, which means it will work with your existing dongles, and can use just five pins to function, so it's connector-agnostic and can be rolled into the microUSB port, just like what we have now. The Consortium jazzed things up significantly, introducing 4K video support for that expensive TV you haven't even bought yet, but will do in a year or two.

A fast bi-directional channel allows you to hook up peripherals such as touch screens, keyboard and mouse, while doing the 4K streaming, and your phone or tablet are also charged by your TV in the process. Here's the full changelog:

• 4K (Ultra HD): Support of 4K formats up to 2160p30
• Simultaneous high-speed data channel
• Improved Remote Control Protocol (RCP) with support for peripherals such as a touch screen, keyboard and mouse
• Power charging up to 10W
• Backward compatible with MHL 1 and MHL 2
• Latest HDCP 2.2 content protection
• Enhanced 7.1 surround sound with Dolby® TrueHD and DTS-HD
• Connector agnostic – uses as few as five pins 
• Support for simultaneous multiple displays

First Samsung and LG mass produced flexible screens to ship in November

We have long been hearing about flexible screens, and the first mass produced ones are finally coming this November. Samsung and LG are both pushing the envelope and will start first production runs to have bendable screens in November, and consider expanding their capacity further on.
This means that we could have the first actual devices with such displays as early as November 2013. It’s not all science fiction to reality just yet, though - the first flexible screens won’t bend in multiple planes, but only in a single one. That’s still a huge breakthrough and even more so given that this new type of screens is lighter, thinner and unbreakable. Being lighter and thinner are key features to enabling devices with even longer lasting batteries.
Right now, Samsung has a maximum capacity to produce around 1.5 million 5 to 6-inch flexible displays a month. That is at 100% yield, but the actual yields are lower, so the real number is likely around a million. LG Display has an even lower capacity.

Wacom announces Cintiq Companion tablets, built for artists and graphics designers

Wacom – a company known for its professional products built for digital artists and graphics designers – has unveiled a couple of tablets aimed at that particular demographic.

The more expensive of the two is known as the Wacom Cintiq Companion and runs Windows 8. In terms of hardware, it comes with a 13.3-inch, 1920x1080 pixel display, third-gen Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and Intel HD Graphics 4000 – plenty of punch to run even heavy drawing or image-editing software. Included in the set is a must-have tool for any professional graphics designer, namely the Wacom Pro-Pen digital stylus with 2048 pressure sensitivity levels.

The Cintiq Companion Hybrid looks similar to Wacom's Windows 8 slate, but lifting its hood up reveals quite a few differences. First of all, the company's other tablet runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. What truly makes it special, however, is that the Hybrid can be connected to a Mac or a PC, acting a second screen on which one can draw. Hardware specs include a 13.3-inch display with resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, NVIDIA's quad-core Tegra 4 SoC, and 2GB of RAM, meaning that the device will rank among the most capable Android slates on the market. Wacom's Pro-Pen is also bundled with the device, along with the Wacom Creative Canvas software.

But as we already hinted, the Wacom Cintiq Companion and Cintiq Companion Hybrid won't come cheap. When it is launched in October, the Windows 8 model with retail for $2000 or $2500 depending on whether you want a 256- or 512GB SSD installed. The more affordable Android-based alternative will be released in September, carrying a $1500 and $1600 price tag for its 16- and 32GB variants respectively. 

Alternatively, one can always grab just a stylus if the above two tablets are beyond their budget. Wacom's new Intuos Creative Stylus may be just the thing – it connects to an iPad over Bluetooth and handles 2048 levels of pressure. The accessory works with the company's Bamboo app for iOS, as well as with third-party software like Autodesk Sketchbook Pro and Procreate. It will be on the market in early October for $100.

Oppo R819 dual-SIM droid official, offers AOSP and custom ROMs

Oppo just announced the R819 – an Android-powered dual-SIM phone. The handst is just 7.3mm thick and is a featherweight at just 110g, quite impressive for a phone with a 4.7" screen. Oppo will be providing two ROMs for the phone – a stock Android 4.2.1 ROM and a customized Color ROM.
The Oppo R819 has a 4.7" OGS LCD (One Glass Solution by LG) with 720p resolution and 312ppi pixel density. Inside is a Mediatek MT6589 chipset with a quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU at 1.2GHz, 1GB of RAM and PowerVR SGX544 GPU. A 2,000mAh battery powers the phone and there's 16GB of non-expandable storage.

Oppo R819
The main camera uses a Sony Exmor 8MP BSI sensor and a fast F/2.0 lens, while the front-facing camera has a wide-angle 88° lens. Both cameras can shoot 1080p video.
The smartphone has quad-band 2G support and tri-band 3G support and works with two microSIM cards, with dual-standby support.
The Oppo R819 is available for preorder online right now and will ship in early September. Pricing for Australia, Hong Kong and Japan (the only three countries where it will be available at launch) are A$399, HK$2,798, and JPY36,000, respectively.

HTC Zara with 4.5" display and Sense 5.5 leaks

According to the leak, the HTC Zara will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8930 chipset with two Krait CPU cores running at 1.2GHz, 1GB of RAM and an Adreno 305 GPU. Internal memory is just 8GB, but is expandable via the onboard microSD card slot.
At the back, there's an 8MP camera with LED flash. While its video recording capabilities aren't mentioned, it should support 1080p video recording. Below the battery cover sits a 2100mAh battery.
It should be enough powering the 4.5" display (probably of the Super LCD2 variety) of qHD resolution. HTC Zara is the second phone we hear of that's going to launch with the updated Sense 5.5 user interface running on top of Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. The HTC One Max is going to debut with the company's updated UI.
Judging from the leaked photo, the HTC Zara is featuring the same capacitive button arrangement as the HTC One, HTC One mini and HTC Desire 600 dual sim. It has the same BoomSound speakers on the top and bottom of the phone. The back of the phone appears to be made from nice matte plastic, which looks rather nice.
There's no information when we should expect the HTC Zara to be announced. An educated guess would be that HTC is going to make it official in September alongside the HTC One Max.

Sony Honami press shot leaks, to be called Xperia Z1

Sony's frequently leaked cameraphone codenamed Honami could be officially named Xperia Z1. The rumor comes from a recognized XDA-Developers user, who has provided some leaks regarding past Xperia devices.
Additionally, a few press shots of the Xperia Z1 popped in today, but they are sadly rather low in resolution. The renders reveal that the phone is going to be available in three colors - white, black and purple. The other thing they portrays is the glass back of the phone, reminiscent of the original Xperia Z.

The Sony Xperia Z1 (or Sony Xperia Z One) was previously referred to as the Xperia i1 Honami, but should these rumors turn out correct we finally get to learn its official name.
To refresh your memory, the Xperia Z1 (Honami) packs the powerful Snapdragon 800 chipset with Adreno 330 GPU and quad-core Krait 400 CPU. It runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Sony's Xperia UI on top. As with many of the Sony high-end smartphones for 2013, the Xperia Z1 (Honami) is also expected to be water resistant.
The smartphone's key selling point is its 20.7MP camera, rumored to support 4K video recording and backed up by a Xenon and LED flash combo.

Nokia RM-940 certified, might have a S800 chipset, 1080p screen

Nokia 6" 1080p phablet with Snapdragon 800 power. The information is pretty circumstantial, but it's there – in a Bluetooth SIG filing and from data collected by AdDuplex.
AdDuplex collects stats on Windows Phone handsets and found in its logs a few unofficial Nokia devices like the RM-937, RM-927 and RM-940. RM-937 reported a scale factor (a measurement showing the relation between screen resolution and size) of 150, which is what 720p phones report. However, Nokia doesn’t have 720p devices, only WXGA (1280 x 768 instead of 1280 x 720).
So, either Nokia is making a device called RM-937 with a 720p screen, or this is a 1080p device with a larger screen diagonal. Again, it's pretty circumstantial. The RM-940 was apparently the same device running on AT&T's netwok and the RM-927 was on Verizon.
It was the RM-940 that showed up in a filing with the Bluetooth SIG. What's interesting is that the filing is linked to another one made by Qualcomm that lists a number of Snapdragon chipsets: MSM8974; MSM8x26; MSM8926; MSM8x10; MSM8916; MSM8x12; APQ8074.

The first one (ending in 74) is a Snapdragon 800 chipset (quad-core Krait 400 CPU, Adreno 330 GPU), then there's the xx26, which is a Snapdragon 400 chipset (quad-core Cortex-A7, Adreno 305) and finally the xx10 and xx12 chipsets, or Snapdragon 200 (dual-core and quad-core Cortex-A7 respectively, Adreno 302). It's not clear what the xx16 is, but it's probably Snapdragon 200 too.
Nokia already uses Snapdragon 400 chipsets for its lower-end Lumias but not ones with Cortex-A7. And it hasn't used Snapdragon 200 chipsets either. So, even if the Snapdragon 800 rumor doesn’t pan out, the RM-940 will at least use a quad-core Cortex-A7 (it's unlikely that a 720p device, let alone a 1080p device, will use Adreno 302), which is news too – Microsoft has yet to flip the switch on the quad-core support for Windows Phone 8.

Nokia planning an event for August 28th in Moscow

It looks like Nokia isn't done with its announcements. The company has said that it would be making major announcements every quarter this year, and we may have the time and place for the next major announcement. Nokia has started to send out press invites for an event that will be held on August 28th in Moscow, Russia.

Unfortunately, we have no idea what this announcement may be. The reports are saying that Nokia is going to announce a "major new smartphone". But, that seems unlikely, because the biggest thing in the Nokia rumor mill right now is the Windows RT tablet, but that won't be released until October, so Nokia's September event makes more sense for that announcement.

On the smartphone side, we still haven't seen the announcement for the Nokia Lumia 729, but that would be a Verizon phone, and it would make little sense to announce a Verizon phone in Moscow. And, of course there is the rumored Nokia phablet, but that has been rumored for a November release, which would put it out of the running for this event. 

ASUS working on Tegra 4 powered slate with a Retina display-like screen

An unknown ASUS Eee Pad has recently shown up at the GFX Benchmark site with a bullish nickname of Taurus. Including on-screen buttons, resolution on the 10 inch screen is 2560 x 1600 which brings the pixel density count to a Retina display topping 299ppi. This beats the 264ppi count for the 9.7 inch glass on the fourth generation of the Apple iPad. Under the hood will be a quad-core 1.9GHz Tegra 4 CPU.
Not much more information can be gleaned from the trip through the GFX site. We can add that the slate will be running Android 4.2.2 and there is a good possibility that we will see this tablet at the IFA show in Berlin next month. Besides the tablet seen on the GFX site, there is talk that ASUS might end up being the brand behind a refreshed version of the Google Nexus 10, taking over for Samsung.
By the way, for those who don't know the story, you might wonder how Apple could call the fourth-generation iPad a Retina display with a pixel density less than the 300ppi requirement that Apple came up with. Remember, this is Apple's own term. The answer is that the Apple iPhone is typically held 12 inches to 15 inches away from your face while the iPad is held further back at an average of 15 inches to 18 inches. This difference allowed Apple to reduce the requirements for tablets to 240ppi. Thus, the 264ppi found on that version of the iPad qualifies it as a Retina display.

Unknown ASUS slate goes through the GFX Benchmark site

4.3" Xperia Honami mini with S800, 20MP camera is coming?

Xperia Honami mini seems to just cut down on the screen size – 4.3" 720p Triluminos display – but keep the Snapdragon 800 chipset and 1/2.3" 20.7MP sensor with F/2.0 Sony G lens, the two things that made the Honami appealing in the first place. The battery will also be smaller – the rumor puts it at 2,400mAh (down from a rumored 3,000mAh for the big Honami) – but that's still quite a powerful juice pack (more than the S4 mini and One mini, actually more than the big One too).
Other known specs for the Xperia Honami mini (curiously codenamed Ray 3) are 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. The exact dimensions of the phone are not known, but it's good to see Sony thinking of smaller devices after the Xperia Z Ultra and the Honami (which will be about the same size as the Xperia Z).