HTC unveils Desire 310 with MediaTek chipset
HTC Desire 310 was spotted on the company's European website, before the listing was pulled down. The successor of the Desire 300 will be the first smartphone from the Taiwanese manufacturer to feature a quad-core MediaTek processor.
HTC's latest smartphone sports a 4.5-inch display with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels. It is powered by a MediaTek MT6582M chipset, featuring a quad-core CPU clocked at 1.3 GHz and 512 MB of RAM. The mid-range smartphone will feature a 5 megapixel shooter at the back, VGA front facing camera and 4 GB of internal memory with ability to expand it via microSD card.
The HTC Desire 310 will run on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and the juice for the smartphone will be provided by a 2,000mAh battery. The newest member of the Desire club measures 131.44 x 68.03 x 11.25mm and weighs about 140 grams.
The Desire 310 will be up for grabs in black and white colors, but there is no word on the pricing or the availability at the moment.
Samsung reportedly toning down TouchWiz tweaks and apps due to pressure from Google
Samsung, the world’s biggest Android manufacturer, is reportedly toning down its TouchWiz UI tweaks and own custom apps due to pressure from Google, reports re/code. Not long before, the Korean Chaebol unveiled a range of new Android devices at the Consumer Electronics Show, all featuring the company’s latest and heavily modified Touchwiz “Magazine” UX, that looked nothing like Android. And then we saw a couple more leaks of its adaptation for the mobile form factor, and even that was a drastic departure from the previous version of TouchWiz, let alone stock Android. This might have set Google off and reportedly, the two companies have come to a compromise(among many other things) in which Samsung will tone down its UI tweaks and replacement apps for Google’s services, going forward.
The image above, taken from a Ars Technica opinion piece paints a clear picture of how Samsung had its own ecosystem around Android, replacing almost every little Google service possible. It is all set to change soon.
Multiple sources familiar with the companies’ thinking say the two technology giants began hammering out a series of broad agreements at CES that would bring Samsung’s view of Android in line with Google’s own. The results of the talks, which have only just begun dribbling out to the public, also underscore the extent to which Google is exerting more of its influence to control its destiny in the Android open source world.This news comes just after both the companies announced a patent deal that talked up innovation without the fear of litigation. It is supposedly just a small part of all the talks Samsung and Google had. To be really frank, right from the beginning, Samsung’s Touchwiz was a different product altogether and never had its vision in line with the whole of Android. But Android and Google’s first party apps were limited or very nascent at that point in time, so Samsung had to make new apps and services to promote its devices. But as Google started making more apps(arguably better) and services an integral part of the experience, Samsung’s apps were clearly becoming redundant. The company had made its own apps for Music, Movies and Books even after Google launched the full suite of Play services, which was jarring in all the TouchWiz experiences.
In the mean time, Google had started enforcing its “Play apps” packages to OEMS that wanted Android compatibility, under various conditions. These apps are the non-open source part of Android and OEMs have to pay a license fee, albeit a small one, to pre-install Google’s services on to their phones running Android. With the search giant wanting a tighter control over Android and Samsung going parallel with its own services, and tangential with tweaks, something had to be done. And that had to be Samsung downplaying its tweaks to line up better with Google’s vision of Android. Will it be the end of the Magazine UX then? Mostly, and it looks like we might even see more Google Play edition devices from Samsung. But the question is, at what cost is the company willing to compromise on its brand awareness, as TouchWiz clearly has become an integral part of a Samsung-Android experience?
Samsung announces Galaxy Tab version for students
Apparently following the more is more philosophy, Samsung USA has revealed that they will be releasing a Galaxy Tab designed for education.
The tab has been created in coordination with the Google Play for Education program.
Available for grades Kindergarten through 12th grade, the education-centric tablet will give students access to specific content created for digital instruction.
We don’t have the nitty-gritty on the “Edu-Tab’s” tech specs yet, but we do know it’ll rock a 10.1” WXGA screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio, and will have WiFi, a dual-camera set-up, NFC, and Android 4.4, Kit-Kat, right out of the box.
The content that will be pre-loaded on the tablet will all be teacher approved as part of the Google Play for Education program. Additional apps can be purchased with a school PO instead of a customary credit card.
The maker of gyroscopic OIS for Nokia makes the component available to other manufacturer
According to a report in The Register, Nokia’s highly-effective gyroscopic OIS tech has become available to other manufacturers on the open market. The tiny part made by ST Microelectronics was previously exclusively available to the Finnish manufacturer.
The dual-axis gyroscope for image stabilization carries the model number L2G2IS. The package has measures of 2.3 x 2.3 x 0.7mm and has mechanics which have been micro-machined in silicon. The part is priced at the substantial for such component $1.70 per unit, and is sold in quantities of 1,000.
According to the source of the report, the clever OIS component might appear in new devices as early as next month during MWC.
AMD unveils its first ARM processor, the Opteron A1100
A new player has officially entered the ARM CPU market – AMD. Opteron A1100 packs four or eight Cortex-A57 cores clocked at 2+ GHz. As you can imagine (if the Opteron name didn’t give it away), this will be a server part.
This chip is aimed at high-density servers where it’s more important to run many threads than run one thread quickly. AMD will be offering a developer kit with a Fedora-based Linux OS and a set of developer tools (Apache, MySQL, PHP). The kit includes a micro-ATX motherboard.
The A1100 packs 4MB of L2 cache and 8MB of L3 cache and supports up to 128GB of DDR3 and DDR4 dual-channel RAM. For expansion and connectivity there’s PCIe 3, SATA 3 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet support. The chip is well outside the cooling and battery capacity capabilities of mobile devices with a 25W TDP, so there’s no hope of ever seeing the Opteron A1100 (or a similar chip) in anything smaller than a laptop.
NVIDIA has found some success with its Tegra chipsets in the mobile segment, but is it enough for AMD to follow? If only the company hadn’t sold its Adreno GPU division to Qualcomm, it would have been all set.
Project Ara will remain in Google after the sale of Motorola
Shortly after the official announcement about Lenovo’s acquisition of Motorola, a word got out on the fate of the Project Ara modular phone. Motorola’s Advanced Technology group which developed the device, as well as its patents will remain with Google.
According to people familiar with the subject, the division behind Project Ara will be integrated within the Android team at Google. The team of almost one hundred people will make a short trip to relocate from Sunnyvale to Google’s offices in Mountain View, California.
Going forward, work on Project Ara is to be accelerated using Google’s considerable resources. We will be keeping a close eye on any developments.
Lenovo acquires Motorola Mobility from Google for $3 billion
Google announced that it has reached an agreement to sell Motorola Mobility to Lenovo. The Chinese electronics giant will pay approximately $2.91 billion for the smartphones business with $1.41 billion due at the deal’s closing in cash and ordinary shares, and the remaining $1.5 billion as a three-year promissory note.
As part of the deal, Google will retain the bulk of Motorola’s massive patent portfolio, including current applications and invention disclosures. Lenovo will acquire about 2,000 patents alongside the Motorola Mobility brand and its trademarks. The Chinese company will receive a license for the remainder of Motorola’s portfolio which will remain at Mountain View.
After acquiring Motorola for $12.5 billion in 2012, Google raised the company’s profile last year with the launch of the characterful Moto X and Moto G duo of smartphones. Despite its efforts however, Motorola Mobility continued losing money each quarter.
Motorola’s acquisition will give Lenovo a much needed presence on the lucrative smartphone market in the United States (Motorola is currently number 3 smartphone manufactuer in the United States). It will also help the company counter the slumping sales of personal computers by expanding its focus on mobile devices.
Furthermore, the deal marks the acquisition of another legendary American technology brand by Lenovo. Back in 2005, the company bought the venerable ThinkPad division from IBM.
The transaction between the two companies is subject to regulatory approvals in both the United States and China.
Geeksphone offers two different OS' on one phone
The Geeksphone revolution made its news debut a little over a month ago, and not much was known about the device, except that it would offer multiple operating systems on a single handset.
True,Geeksphone offers both Android and an "alternative os", but don't think that you'll be able to use Windows Phone or iOS as that alternative. Also the base OS of the phone is Android, with the “alternative OS” being the auxiliary one you'll have to select to dual-boot into.
For now, the most prominent alternative OS option will be Firefox. You'll be able to boot into it using Boot2Gecko, and it will receive OTA updates, as will any other alternative OS options that you select. What are the other options? Geeksphone only refers to "any other community supported OS" being loaded onto the device.
There's no word on the versions of Android that the Geeksphone will be rocking, but we do know the specs: a 4.7” 960x540 display, 1GB RAM, dual-core 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, and an 8mp camera.
A release date hasn't been set nor has a price, which will probably be the most deciding factor for this nifty little piece of tech. Any curious readers plan on buying this?
Samsung ready to mass produce AMOLED tablets screens
Samsung put out a sweet AMOLED-packing tablet in 2011 but, disappointingly for AMOLED fans, hasn’t produced a sequel yet. The wait may be coming to an end – according to Korean publication ETNews Samsung Display will start mass production of tablet AMOLED screens next month.
According to the report, the display will be 10.5″ big and pack QHD resolution (2,560 x 1,440).
Earlier rumors point to 8″ AMOLED screens being in the works as well. With no Galaxy Note Pro tablets at 8″ and 10″, these screens could bolster Samsung’s premium tablet lineup.
Samsung recently imported two 8″ and one 10″ tablet in India for testing, so the devices may be close to being ready. Will they show up at the MWC? Since the displays are ready for mass production, that means there should be working prototypes. We’ll keep our eyes peeled.
Samsung is also working on a 5″ UHD AMOLED screen, supposedly for the Galaxy S5 (which won’t be at the MWC according to the latest info).
Olympus announces OM-D E-M10, Stylus SP-100 and Stylus TG-850
Olympus has announced three new and very different cameras. The first is the OM-D E-M10, the company’s newest micro four-thirds camera. The The E-M10 is a smaller version of the previously announced E-M5 and retains many of its predecessor’s features.
The E-M10 uses the same 16 megapixel Live MOS sensor as on the E-M1 and the E-M5 and a TruePic VII image processor. The E-M10 loses the 5-axis image stabilization on the E-M5 for a 3-axis system but gains a built-in flash instead. The E-M10 also has built-in Wi-Fi, 3.0-inch touchscreen, electronic viewfinder, 8fps burst mode and HD movie recording, all in a compact metal body.
The OM-D E-M10 is priced at $699.99 body-only and at $799.99 with the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-42 mm f3.5-5.6 II R lens. It will be sold in black and silver colors from March.
The Stylus SP-100 is a new superzoom camera and the first in the world to feature a red dot sight. Red dot sights are used on weapons because they help in tracking and focusing on fast moving objects and are parallax free so they are accurate regardless of the position of your eye. On the camera, a red dot sight will help you keep track of the subject, especially when you are zoomed all the way in. The red dot sight is placed above the electronic viewfinder and can be closed when not in use.
The SP-100 has a 24-1200mm, 50x optical Ultra Zoom lens with optical image stabilization. Inside there is a 16 megapixel BSI CMOS sensor and TruePic VIII image processor. On the back is a 3.0-inch, 920k dot LCD and 460k dot EVF. The SP-100 has a focus limiting feature to only focus within or beyond a particular distance, auto-focus lock mode and manual focusing mode. The camera can also record videos at 1080p60.
The Stylus SP-100 is priced at $399.99 and will go on sale in March.
Lastly, there is the Stylus TG-850, which is a waterproof camera. Other than having a rugged and waterproof body, the TG-850 also has a super wide angle 21-105mm lens with 5x optical zoom. On the back is a 3.0-inch, 460k dot LCD that can flip 180 degrees to take self portraits. The camera has a 7.1fps burst mode and 1080p60 video recording.
The Stylus TG-850 is priced at $249.99 and will be available in March.
Nokia X specs include a dual-core processor and 4" display
The Nokia X, a.k.a. Nokia Normandy, has been talked about for some time now. The latest information regarding Nokia's first ever Android smartphone comes again from evleaks, who has provided some of the key specs of the device.
Other specs include a 4.0-inch, WVGA (800 x 480) display, 5 megapixel camera, dual-SIM support and a 1,500mAh battery. If there was ever doubt that this is going to be a low-end device, this should take care of it.
The Nokia X will have Nokia's own application store on board, just like Amazon has on its Kindle Fire devices but you will also be able to install third party apps by sideloading them. The phone will allegedly be available in six colors.
Samsung ZEQ 9000 Tizen smartphone press image leaks
Last year Samsung said that we would see a Tizen-based device in 2013, but it didn’t happen. Image of the Samsung GT-I8800 codenamed Redwood back in May, later in October we saw a video of the Samsung Z9005 RedWood running Tizen 2.2. Korean website MovePlayer has posted a render of its first Tizen-based smartphone, which is expected to be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month.
The phone would be called Samsung ZEQ 9000, which would be called Zeke. It is rumored to feature a 4.8-inch (1280×720 pixels) HD display, powered by a 2.3 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor and come both in single and dual-SIM variants.
According to the leaked render, it is expected to come with a plastic build and a hardware home button. The homescreen looks like Tizen 2.1 that leaked recently, but it is likely to run on Tizen 2.2 or later. Samsung has scheduled a Tizen Developer event on February 23th, before the MWC. Even the date in the screenshot shows 24th February. Hope we can finally see the device next month.
Asus PadFone E with 4.7-inch HD display, 10.1-inch tablet dock announced
After announcing the PadFone mini 4.3 with a 4.3-inch qHD display last month and the PadFone mini earlier this month with a 4-inch WVGA screen at the CES, Asus has unveiled the PadFone E with a 4.7-inch HD screen and large 10.1-inch tablet dock in Taiwan. It has a 4.7-inch HD (1280×720 pixels) IPS display, 1.4 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor with Adreno 305 GPU and runs on Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean). It has PadFone station dock with a 10.1-inch (1280 ×720 pixels) display with anti-finger print coating and Corning gorilla glass protection.
It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, f2.4 aperture and a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera. The tablet dock has a 1-megapixel camera on the tablet. It also has dual SIM support with dual standby.
Asus PadFone E specifications
- 4.7-inch HD (1280×720 pixels) IPS display with Corning gorilla glass protection
- 10.1-inch (1280 ×720 pixels) display with corning gorilla glass protection
- 1.4 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor with Adreno 305 GPU
- Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean)
- 13 MP camera with LED flash
- 1.2MP front-facing camera / 1MP on the tablet
- Phone Dimensions: 139.6 x 69.7 x 9.08 mm; Weight: 126 grams
- Padfone station Dimensions: 181.5 x 263.6 x 17.44 mm; Weight: 525.67 grams
- 3G HSPA+, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.0, aGPS and GLONASS
- 1GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 64GB with microSD
- 1820 mAh battery (in phone)
- 5000 mAh battery (in Padfone station)
BLU outs the Vivo 4.8 HD, costs only $250
BLU is known for producing mid-range Android phones for bottom dollar prices, and the 4.8 HD is their newest handset to continue this trend.Coming in the standard Black and White colors, Blue is also offering two other ostentatious paint jobs: neon pink and neon yellow.
Aside from BLU's...interesting choices in alternate colors, the 4.8 HD will pack a, you guessed it, 4.8” display. It's a super AMOLED unit with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels.
Under the hood, BLU's latest offering will pack a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, and 16GB storage capacity. It's also rocking an 8MP primary camera, and a 5MP front-facing snapper. The most impressive aspect of the 4.8 HD's design is that BLU has managed to squeeze all of this tech into a device that is only 6.9mm thick.
It's capable of HSPA+ speeds only (sorry, no LTE), however, and runs Android 4.2 out of the box. Does this sound like a good deal to you?
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