this week

Samsung built A7 processor rocks the new Apple iPhone 5s

Samsung has provided many of the parts for the Apple iPhone and Apple iPad over the years. But this year, there were some who believed that Apple had reached an agreement with TSMC to replace Samsung as the provider of the A7 processor that drives the Apple iPhone 5s. But apparently that deal won't ttake affect until 2014. The recent tear down of the new full-feature iPhone 5s that we told you about a couple of days ago, revealed that the A7 comes from Samsung using its 28nm process. Apple and Samsung are the tech world's version of the  Hatfields and McCoys.

The rivalry between the two is pretty intense, and yet Apple relies on Samsung for key parts used in the device that is its most important. This is akin to having Pepsi fill up those famous little glass Coke bottles. While both sides are eager in a courtroom setting to appear as though they hate each other's guts, somewhere there is a Samsung rep and an Apple parts buyer who can always get together and shake hands on a deal.

Specs for Jolla, the first Sailfish OS smartphone, are now official

The Jolla smartphone is definitely one those 'alternative' projects that we're secretly rooting for, and we can't wait to see if the Sailfish OS will manage to cause ripples in the established state of affairs. If it does, however, it certainly won't be because of impressive hardware or a low price point. Rather, the company has decided to narrow it down to a great experience, and really stylish hardware -- the Jolla smartphone is a looker.

So, specs. As we said, Jolla has no intention of getting into the hardware wars currently raging in the high-end tier. Instead, the specs include a far more conservative dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon clocked at 1.4GHz, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of microSD-expandable storage. Along comes a rear 8MP Auto-Focus camera with an LED flash, and a 2MP snapper taking the front. The handset is powered by the aforementioned Sailfish OS, which Jolla promises will feature compatibility with Android apps1, and a 2100mAh user-replaceable cell. Last, but not least, the display is a rather underwhelming 4.5-inch qHD panel, meaning a resolution of 960x540, so it's pretty fair to say it represents possibly the weakest link in Jolla's specs list.

BlackBerry Z30 is now official, runs BB10.2 out of the box

BlackBerry has just announced the Z30 - the smartphone with the largest touchscreen it has even put into production. Moreover, it's the first BlackBerry to ship with the company's latest version of BB 10 OS.

The BlackBerry Z30 is built around a 5" Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. This makes the pixel density meter stop at 295 ppi. In its core, the Z30 is powered by a dual-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset and 2GB of RAM.
Behind the battery back cover lies a 2,880mAh battery and measures 140.7 x 72 x 9.4mm. The larger battery found in the Z30 hasn't made it much thicker than the Z10 - the difference is just 0.1mm. The BlackBerry Z30 supports LTE as well as dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC.
The back of the Z30 holds an 8MP camera with an f/2.2 lens and 1080p video recording capabilities. Video chatting has been taken care of with an 2MP front-facing snapper, which records 720p video.
As we mentioned, the BlackBerry Z30 runs BB 10 OS version 10.2 out of the box. It brings some improvements to the BlackBerry ecosystem including BB Priority Hub, message previews in the lockscreen as well as Wi-Fi Direct support, multiple alarms and standard Unicode emojis.
BlackBerry Q10 and Z10 users would be happy to know that the company will be launching the BB 10 version 10.2 update in mid-October. There might be some delays, which would be due to carrier approval of the update.
BlackBerry hasn't specified any pricing or availability information just yet, but the Z30 is expected to hit the UK as early as next week. We'll keep you posted when more information becomes available.

NVIDIA Tegra Note tablet platform goes official

NVIDIA took the wraps off the 7” Tegra Note complete tablet platform. Designed by the chip manufacturer, the Tegra Note will be brought to market by NVIDIA’s partners with a starting suggested retail price of $199.

Unsurprisingly, the NVIDIA Tegra Note is powered by a Tegra 4 SoC with quad-core Cortex-A15 CPU and 72-core GeForce GPU. NVIDIA claims that the slate will be the most powerful seven incher when it hits the shelves.
The most impressive bit of the Tegra Note’s spec sheet is the inclusion of a stylus. Based on NVIDIA’s own DirectStylus tech, the gadget will offer superb response, and will come bundled with a number of apps which will utilize it.
The rest of the Tegra Note’s specs include a 7” IPS display with the rather underwhelming resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, 5MP camera, VGA front-facing unit, 16GB of built-in storage, and microSD card slot. The tablet will also feature built-in stereo speakers with bass-reflex port.
There’s no word on the Android version of the NVIDIA Tegra Note. NVIDIA however, claims that it will be the latest version of the OS. The chip manufacturer will also be in charge of the software updates – they will be provided OTA.
NVIDIA Tegra Note based tablets will be launched by a number of hardware manufacturers which include the likes of ASUS, Toshiba, HP, XOLO, etc. The first slates will be available in the coming months.

Jolla's Sailfish OS now compatible with Android hardware

                                      

Finnish-based Jolla, responsible for the MeeGo-spinoff that is the Sailfish OS, has today announced that it has hit a major milestone by achieving compatibility with both Android apps, and the hardware that usually powers Google's OS.                       

This will definitely make Sailfish a considerably more enticing option for  manufactures that would usually think long and hard before getting involved with a new OS. And Android's sheer popularity, while a part of the equation, is hardly the sole reason for OEMs' abstinence from experimenting – as great as the OS itself may be, in the end it's only as good as its app ecosystem is extensive. In the case of Jolla and its nascent Sailfish OS, the aforementioned problem should prove to be much less of an issue, seeing as the company is already boasting that ultra-popular apps such as Spotify, WhatsApp and Instagram are fully functional on Sailfish. This has the potential to convince quite a few more manufacturers to give Sailfish a spin.

Nikon 1 AW1 is first lens-swapping all weather camera

Behold the Nikon 1 AW1: braving all that the elements can throw at it, the rowdy AW1 is the first waterproof, all-action, super-toughened interchangeable lens camera.

The lens-swapping AW1 -- I like to think it stands for All Weather -- can go swimming down to 15m, survive a plunge to the floor from heights of up to 2m, and stay chilled to temperatures of -10 degrees C.
As well as being waterproof, shockproof and freeze-proof, the new Nikon is rubber-sealed and dustproof to stop sand, grit, or a particularly untidy flat from ruining your camera.
An O-ring protects the lens mount, so water and general crud can't sneak in there.
Inside the well 'ard shell is a 14.2-megapixel CX-format CMOS sensor. Based on the Nikon 1 system of interchangeable-lens system cameras, the AW1 shoots bursts at speeds of up to 60 frames per second, and can fire off 15fps while autofocusing.
The AW1 launches today with a pair of new water, shock and freeze-proof Nikkor AW lenses. With an 11-27.5mm f/3.5–5.6 lens the AW1 costs £750, and with a 10mm lens as well, the AW1 will set you back £950.

Nokia 108 and 108 Dual SIM are official, carry a VGA camera

Nokia continues its march in the affordable phone market with today's official announcement of the Nokia 108 and 108 Dual SIM - its latest camera-rocking feature phone.

The Nokia 108 sports a 0.3MP fixed focus camera of VGA resolution, which the company says is perfect "for people purchasing their first-ever camera phone." Additionally, the handset features a microSD card slot, supporting cards of up to 32GB. The software side of the phone offers an MP3 player, a FM radio as well as the legendary Snake game.
The Nokia 108 is quite compact and measures 110.4 x 47 x 13.5mm and weighs just a hair under 70 grams. At the front, there's a 1.8" 64k color LCD display with a resolution of 160 x 128 pixels.
Nokia says the 950mAh battery is good for 31 days of standby, 13.8 hours of 2G talk time as well as nearly 41 hours of music playback.
Here's a promo video of the Nokia 108:
At launch, the Nokia 108 will be available in red, white and black, with yellow and cyan to follow later on. Both the Nokia 108 and Nokia 108 Dual SIM will rock a price tag of just $29 (excluding taxes and subsidies). Expect Nokia's latest feature phone to start shipping some time in Q4 this year.