this week

Samsung launches dual-SIM version of the Galaxy Note 3

Samsung has just launched the dual-SIM version of the Galaxy Note 3 phablet. Most of the recent Galaxies received a dual-SIM treatment shortly after release and the Galaxy Note 3 is no exception.
The first country to get the dual-SIM Galaxy Note 3 is China, though the gadget is carrier unlocked and can be exported and used on other countries around the world. You should check, of course, the supported network bands and be careful where you activate the device.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Dual-SIM is also based on the Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 chipset, just like the international N9005 model, which means it is probably LTE-capable as well.
The dual-SIM Galaxy Note 3 costs €735 in Asia, which sounds about right since its international single-SIM models is priced at €700. There is no info on official pricing and availability, nor there is even a press note announcing the dual-SIM version. We expect the device to expand its market reach in the next few months though.

Samsung Galaxy S4 and Note 3 won't get true octa-core update

Samsung recently brought the true octa-core performance to its Exynos chips. The Exynos 5 Octa big.LITTLE chip, which is currently powering the Galaxy S4 and Note 3, was also expected to gain the ability to run all of its cores simultaneously via an update.

However, Samsung's senior technical expert, Oleg Artamonov has confirmed that both flagship devices will not get the true octa-core update. The reason quoted is power consumption and heat dissipation of 8 cores will be higher than 4 cores, which will affect the stability and reliability of the performance of the big.LITTLE chip.
However, Samsung will be releasing a revised Exynos chipset that fits into the heat requirements even when all the 8 cores are in operation.
The executive also revealed that the company will be upgrading their older models to Android 4.3 Jelly Bean this fall.

HTC One Max leaks with a microSD card, removable back

The HTC One Max has leaked over in China sporting a removable back panel and a microSD card underneath. We've already seen a similar HTC One device, which also had a second SIM card but this HTC One Max appears to be single SIM.
We also get a new glance of the One Max next to a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 but the information says the HTC phablet has a 5.7" screen and not the rumored 5.9-incher along with 16 GB storage (and not 32 GB).

HTC One Max leaked photos
The HTC One Max may appear on October 17 officially and thus far is quoted as having the same 4 MP camera as the HTC One, Snapdragon 800 chip along with a fingerprint scanner on its back.

Android 4.4 screenshots surface, show off new camera UI

Google unveiled its latest Android build, version 4.4 KitKat exactly one month ago, and today we have some screenshots of exactly what's been updated.
As with the other incremental updates since version 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the updates of the latest build are almost exclusively under the hood. Nevertheless, some of the latest inclusions are more noticeable, like the updated camera interface.
The leaked images are likely a bit dated - or Google simply hasn't gotten around to changing the build name - as there are several mentions of Key Lime Pie rather than KitKat.
In the Settings menu, you'll find new integration for a Printing and Payments system, which brings wireless NFC payment to the main Android architecture, rather than relying on third party apps. Looks like the same will be done with printer support. Then comes Miracast, which will let you screencast your device to a supported TV.

Like we said, UI changes are mostly minor, although animations are reportedly much smoother.
A few additional Google apps are set to come preloaded on KitKat - Drive and Keep. The first lets you access your documents on Google's cloud storage service, while Keep is used for note-taking.

The camera UI now features Instagram-like previews of your applied filters. There's also a print menu that allows you to save your image as a PDF, or print to a local or network printer. There are options for paper size, colors, orientation and number of copies.

Android 4.4 KitKat may become available as early as this month, with the release of the new Nexus 5.

Vertu Constellation puts mid-range Android in luxury garbs

Vertu has turned to Android whereas its former parent company Nokia went Windows Phone exclusive. The luxury phone maker has created its second Android-powered phone, the Constellation.


Each Vertu Constellation is handmade by a single craftsman in England. It's constructed out of grade 5 titanium and draped upholstered in fine calf leather from "one of Europe’s oldest tanneries." The leather will come in five different colors.
As for tech specs, the Constellation is – dare we say it – reasonable. It has a 4.3" 720p screen (342ppi) that doesn’t bother with bourgeois scratch-resistant glass and goes for sapphire instead. It's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8260 S4 Pro – dual-core Krait CPU at 1.7GHz and Adreno 320 (similar to the Moto X chipset). It runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean too, which is fairly recent. 

It has a 13MP camera on the back and a 1.3MP shooter on the front and comes with either 32GB or 64GB storage. It lacks LTE connectivity, but you get unlimited Wi-Fi worldwide from iPass. The only spec that is on the weak side is the battery – it has only 1,800mAh capacity.
Select Vertu boutiques will carry the Constellation starting this month. This one's cheaper than the previous model (with lower specs), the Vertu Ti. The Constellation will set you back €4,900 / $6,600. We're guessing that's for the 32GB version.

Qualcomm VP: Apple A7 chip is a marketing gimmick

One of the major features of the recently announced Apple iPhone 5s is the company's own A7 chip and its 64-bit nature. However, according to Qualcomm's senior vice president and head of marketing Anand Chandrasekher, the 64-bit architecture of the A7 chip is a "marketing gimmick."
"I think they are doing a marketing gimmick. There’s zero benefit a consumer gets from that," states Chandrasekher. He acknowledges that the 64-bit processor enables the use of more than 4GB of RAM, but this isn't relevant in the iPhone 5s' case.
As a result, consumers get "zero benefit" from the 64-bit A7 chip. It's the OS developers, who are going to require the 64-bit feature at some point in time, according to Chandrasekher.
Gimmick or not, the Apple A7 chip proved itself to be quite potent when we put it through its paces in our benchmark tests. Check out our Apple iPhone 5s review to see just how fast it is and how it fares against the competition.
The exec revealed that Qualcomm is also working to release a 64-bit mobile processor, as it makes sense from an "engineering efficiency standpoint." He didn't specify an exact timeframe on when those chips will make it to the market.
The shots fired from Qualcomm are reminiscent of how Samsung and Nvidia reacted back in 2012, when Apple announced their A5X chip at the then new iPad announcement event. Nvidia was unhappy with Apple's allegedly untrue statement that its quad-core GPU is faster than Nvidia's ultra-low voltage GeForce GPU found in the Tegra 3.

Samsung and LG to unveil curved OLED phones this month

Word out of Korea is that both local tech giants, Samsung and LG, will each be unveiling flexible display devices in October.
Samsung has officially confirmed a curved display smartphones, reportedly a Galaxy Note 3 Active model, which could be announced as soon as next week. LG meanwhile, are taking it a step further with their new LG Z series (Z as in Z-axis), featuring a concave display, likely of fullHD resolution. The Z series flagship is allegedly already in production, and is expected to launch this month.

While both devices will feature unique, non-straight angle displays, they are not flexible per se, as internal components like circuit boards and batteries cannot be made bendable, yet. Current flexible OLED technology will allow displays which require less screen bezel, and will be unbreakable - hence the Active moniker attached to Samsung's upcoming device.
Both smartphones are expected to be released in limited quantities as neither manufacturer has the capabilities to mass produce flexible displays yet.

Samsung quietly releases Galaxy Star Pro, forgets to announce it

Samsung has released its newest entry level smartphone named Galaxy Star Pro in the Indian market but it appears someone forgot to make an official announcement of it.
Samsung Galaxy Star Pro is an Android smartphone for beginners, which comes with an affordable price tag. The hardware specifications of the device are not very exciting with the star upfront being a 4-inch display of 480 x 800 pixel resolution.

The Dual-SIM Galaxy Star Pro is powered by a 1 GHz Cortex A5 processor along with 512 MB of RAM and features a 2 megapixel rear camera, 4 GB of internal memory with the ability to expand via microSD card slot.
Samsung's affordable offering supports Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, but lacks 3G connectivity. The device runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and the juice for it is provided by a 1,500mAh battery, which according to the company lasts for about 15 hours on call or up to 370 hours of standby time.
Samsung Galaxy Star Pro is currently available in India and costs INR6,989 (about USD$111).

Nokia Glee is the Lumia 525, to star the next WP budget line-up

The Nokia Lumia 525 is the official name of the recently rumored Nokia Glee, according to a tweet by evleaks. The Lumia 525 is the replacement of the hugely successful Lumia 520 and, naturally, is going to be a budget Windows Phone handset.


The Nokia Lumia 520 was launched in February this year and is one of the reasons Windows Phone marks a growth in its market share in Europe.
As a result, The Nokia Lumia 525 is going to aim and build on the foundation that the Lumia 520 has set throughout the year. Happily, the phone has undergone the popular GFXBenchmark test suite, which gives us a glimpse at its specs. It's going to be powered by a 1GHz dual-core Krait CPU and an Adreno 305 GPU (probably the on the Qualcomm MSM8227 chipset). The Lumia 520 is running Windows Phone 8 on the very same platform.
Furthermore, the display is reported to pack a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, again the same as the Lumia 520. Screen size isn't provided from the benchmark website.
It's all but confirmed that the Finns are going to announce the Lumia 525 at their upcoming event on October 22 in Abu Dhabi. Alongside it, the company is rumored to announce five more devices. Those are expected to include the Lumia 1520, the Nokia Lumia 2520 tablet, as well as new members from the Asha family of phones.

Fujitsu Arrow Tab FJT21 with multi-user fingerprint reader goes official

Fujitsu has officially announced its latest Arrow Tab, the FJT21. The newest member of the Android tablet club packs a punch with its powerful hardware and is probably the first tablet to feature a fingerprint scanner.

The Fujitsu FJT21 sports a LCD display of 10.1-inch 2,560 x 1,600 pixels resolution that is protected by Gorilla Glass 3. It is powered by a monstrous Snapdragon 800 processor clocked at 2.2 GHz along with 2GB of RAM.
The 8-megapixel sensor at the back and the 1.3-megapixel front facing shooter complete the camera department. There are also 64GB of inbuilt memory, which can be expanded via microSD card slot.
Fujitsu’s newest Arrow Tab is equipped with LTE bands and supports a wide range of connectivity options. The slate runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and the juice for the tablet is provided by a 9,600mAh battery.
The Fujitsu Arrow Tab FJT21 is expected to go on sale in Japan by the end of November. However, there is no word on pricing or potential global availability at the moment.

Jolla unveils more specs of its upcoming smartphone

Finns are taking the loss of Nokia's phone division hard but they still have Jolla to look forward to. The breakaway company posted some more specs on its upcoming phone.
The dual-core 1.4GHz processor and 1GB RAM in the phone are on a Snapdragon chipset and while Jolla didn’t give its exact model number, it's probably a SoC similar to the one in the HTC One mini.
The 4.5" qHD (960 x 540 pixels) screen will be of the IPS LCD variety and will feature 6-point multi-touch and Gorilla Glass 2 protection. There will be an RGB indicator too. The 8MP back camera and 2MP front-facing camera have two mics for sound recording and noise reduction.
On the connectivity side, there's Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 + HS, A-GPS with GLONASS, NFC and I2C for connectivity with extensions, which sounds pretty interesting. The only extension that Jolla has shown so far is the exchangeable back cover, but with I2C there are plenty of options to expand (e.g. a keyboard wouldn’t need to connect over Bluetooth).
The 2,100mAh battery is rated at 7.7/5.5 hours of 2G/3G talk time respectively and 500 hours of standby. Finally, the dimensions of the Jolla phone are 131 x 68 x 9.9mm and the weight is 141g.
The global pre-order for the Jolla is over, but Finns can still book one for €100. The total price of the handset is €400 (including VAT, the phone is unlocked).

Nokia Lumia 929 coming to Verizon in November

Nokia is planning to announce the Lumia 929 for Verizon later this month. Expected to go on sale in November, this handset is similar to the Lumia 1520 for AT&T that was leaked earlier but with a few key differences.
Like the Lumia 1520, the Lumia 929 is said to have a 1080p resolution display and a 20 megapixel PureView camera with oversampling functionality. The difference here is that while the 1520 is said to have a massive 6-inch display, the 929 will have a comparatively smaller 5-inch display.
The device will be sold in black and white and possibly in a red color as well. The off-contract price is said to be $500, much less than the $599 price for the Lumia 1520.

Archos refreshes its Platinum lineup with a trio of Android tablets

After launching the Platinum line in the beginning of this year, Archos pulled the cover of three new members with updated internals. The ARCHOS 97b Platinum HD, ARCHOS 101 Platinum and ARCHOS 80b Platinum aid to take on the established players on the market by sporting a lower price tag to go with premium looks.

Leading the way is the ARCHOS 97b Platinum HD pictured above. The slate is an update of the Archos 97 Platinum with more powerful SoC which includes a Quad-Core ARM Cortex A9 CPU clocked at 1.6GHz. The rest of the specs include a 9.7” IPS display with an iPad Retina-like resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels, duo of 2MP cameras on the front and back, 2GB of RAM, 8GB of built in memory, and microSD card slot. The tablet boots Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
The Archos 101 Platinum HD sports the same specs as the 97b, but comes with a 10.1” IPS display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels.

Finally, there’s the entry-level ARCHOS 80b Platinum. The late sports the same SoC and most specs as its larger siblings, but comes with an 8” IPS display with the lowly resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. It also sports less RAM with only a gig on board.

The ARCHOS 97b Platinum HD, ARCHOS 101 Platinum and ARCHOS 80b Platinum will be available in October, priced at $299.99, $269.99, and $199.99 respectively. While the 97b Platinum can somewhat make a case for itself by undercutting the Apple iPad by $200 for somewhat similar specs, both the 101 Platinum and the 80b Platinum face an uphill battle by sitting right in the price range of the 2013 ASUS Nexus 7.

Lenovo Vibe Z with 1080p display, Snapdragon 800 goes official

After announcing the Lenovo Vibe X at IFA 2013, the company has added a second member to the Vibe family dubbed Vibe Z.

The Lenovo Vibe Z was previously known as K910 and sports a metal body and a design similar to the Vibe X, which the company hopes to appeal to the younger demographic outside China.
The Lenovo Vibe Z sports a 5.5" display of 1080p resolution. The phone is powered by the a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset, 2GB of RAM and Adreno 330 GPU. As you'd imagine, this configuration runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean without problems.

At the back, there's a 13MP camera with LED flash, which is similar to the one found on the Lenovo Vibe X. At the front, there's a 5MP snapper. The phone measures just 6.9mm thick, but battery size hasn't been detailed yet.
Lenovo has announced its plans to update the device to Android 4.4 KitKat in the future. Specific plans aren't yet revealed, as isn't the pricing and availability of the Vibe Z.

Dell delivers XPS 15 ultrabook with FullHD display or Quad HD+ 3200 x 1800 touchscreen

We like ultrabooks that go for portability without sacrificing performance. And we really, really like them when they come made from high-grade materials like carbon fiber and magnesium. Add a screen that go great distances with resolution and technology and we are in love.

If you’re like us then you should check out the new Dell XPS 15. It comes in either 15.6″ 1080p glory with a Core i5 processor and integrated graphics for $1,499 or with a Quad HD+ (that’s 3200 x 1800 pixels) touchscreen that goes for around 235 ppi across the 15.6″ panel, quad-core i7 Haswell chip and dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GT750M GPU, 16 gigs of RAM, 512 GB SSD for a price that’s yet to be confirmed.
The device is expected to start shipping in the US on October 18 with Windows 8.1 professional and we’d like to know the exact price it will be coming with.
The logical rival for the XPS 15 is the 15″ Retina MacBook Pro and that costs north of $2 thousand. All well, no-compromises ultrabooks are expensive, there’s no two ways about it.

Dell announces Android and Windows based Venue tablets

Dell recently revived the ill-fated Venue brand for their tablets. Today, the company has launched four new tablets under the Venue brand, two of which run Android and the other two Windows 8.

The Android based Venue 7 and Venue 8 are basic budget tablets, with each having a 1280×800 resolution IPS LCD and Intel Atom Z2580 SoC with 2GHz dual-core CPU. The Venue 7 will have 16GB internal memory and the Venue 8 (pictured above) will have a choice between 16 and 32, with both models having a microSD card slot.

The Venue 7 and Venue 8 will have Android 4.2.2 at launch and are said to be upgradable to Android 4.4 KitKat. They will be available in 4G and Wi-Fi-only configurations from October 18, starting at $150 for the Venue 7 and $180 for the Venue 8.

As for the Windows models, The Venue 8 Pro has an 8-inch, 1280×800 resolution IPS display, Intel quad-core Atom “Bay Trail” processor, 32/64GB storage space with microSD card slot and Windows 8.1. The Venue 8 Pro will be priced at $300 when it releases in October 18.

Lastly, there is the flagship Venue 11 Pro, which competes with the Microsoft Surface Pro. It’s a 11-inch tablet with a 1920×1080 resolution display, Intel Atom “Bay Trail” processor with optional Intel Core i3 or i5 “Haswell” processor, 2GB RAM (supports up to 8GB), 32GB storage space (expandable up to 256GB), USB 3.0 port, 11 hour battery life and runs Windows 8.1.
You can get it with an optional soft keyboard cover, a keyboard dock or a docking station with additional ports. The keyboard dock also has its own built-in battery for extended battery life.
The Venue 11 Pro will go on sale on November 7 starting at $500.

LG G Pro Lite Dual to have stylus, lower-end screen and chipset

The LG G Pro Lite Dual is back with a brand new leak and while last time we wondered why it was called "Lite," now we wonder why it's called "Pro." There's also a curious change – the phablet will have a stylus that can be sheathed into the device's body, Galaxy Note style (unlike the LG Vu's, which had no slot for the stylus).
The dual-SIM LG G Pro Lite Dual will reportedly have a 5.5" IPS screen like its single-SIM sibling, but that screen will only have qHD resolution (540 x 960 pixels) with half the pixel density. But it's the chipset that got the greatest cutback – instead of a Snapdragon 600, the G Pro Lite Dual will have only a dual-core 1GHz processor, according to the new leak. It will have 1GB of RAM (down from 2GB) and 8GB built-in storage (down from 16GB/32GB) with a microSD card slot.

The phablet will run Android 4.1.2 with LG's customizations (KnockOn, Guest mode, etc.) and will pack an 8MP camera with a BSI sensor. There will also be an FM radio and a 3,140mAh battery (same as the Optimus G Pro). The dimensions will be almost identical, 150.2 x 76.9 x 9.5mm (there's no info on weight).
The phone will launch in Russia mid-October at RUR13,000 (around $400 and half the price of the Optimus G Pro in Russia), where it will compete against the likes of Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos, Galaxy Mega 5.8 and Sony Xperia C.

Samsung to manufacture 30-40% of Apple’s upcoming A8 chip

While the freshly announced, 64-bit CPU toting iPhone 5s is enjoying its time under the spotlight, a report has emerged, potentially shedding light on the production of Apple’s next generation mobile SoC. According to Korean media, Samsung will handle the manufacturing of around 30 and 40% of the upcoming Apple A8 chip which will find a spot in future iOS devices.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is said to handle the rest of the chips’ production. Apple reportedly wanted TSMC to handle the entire A8 chip manufacturing process. However, the challenges associated with the production of state of the art 20nm chips necessitated the involvement of Samsung in the process.
There has been no official confirmation from any of the parties involved in the deal. The rumor however, falls in line with previous reports about Apple’s intent to diversify its chain of suppliers.

this week

Nokia tipped to unveil a total of six new devices on October 22

Nokia is holding an event dubbed Innovation Reinvented in Abu Dhabi on October 22 and according to sources close to the company's plans, the Finns are preparing to unveil a total of six devices.

At least two of them are going to be "new Lumias." Most probably, one of them is going to be the Nokia Lumia 1520 6-inch phablet that has been leaking recently. The other Lumia is allegedly the Nokia tablet, which is also going to be part of the Lumia family of products.
Additionally, there are going to be a set of accessories that'll also debut in Abu Dhabi. One of them, according to the TheVerge source is going to be "pretty special." No further details have been given, but we guess the rest of the devices will be budget mobile phones from the Asha series.
Nokia has been gradually revealing more information regarding its upcoming October 22 event. The start time of the event is yet to be confirmed.

Samsung ISOCELL image sensor likely to star in the Galaxy S5

Samsung has unveiled its latest CMOS image sensor, promising substantially increased light sensitivity. Dubbed ISOCELL, Samsung says its new imager produces photos with higher color fidelity thanks to its improved control of electron absorption.

The company states that all of these enhancements make the ISOCELL CMOS sensor suitable for its upcoming line of smartphones and tablets. As a result, it wouldn't be at all surprising to see the Samsung Galaxy S5 camera feature an ISOCELL image sensor.
The ISOCELL image sensor is the result of consumer desire for increased camera resolution as well as the quality of the photos without making the camera overly large. Pixels need to get smaller while at the same time preserving their performance. Samsung camera gurus compare the ISOCELL technology to FSI and BSI sensors in their inability to preserve pixel quality while shrinking its size at the same time.

Previous sensor technology developments focused on improving the light absorption of each pixel, and have progressed pixel technology from FSI (Front Side Illumination) to BSI (Back Side Illumination) which places photodiode at the top to maximize photoelectric efficiency. While being very effective at the time, this BSI technology also faced limitations in improving image quality as pixel sizes continued to decrease.

The first Samsung image sensor to adopt the new ISOCELL technology carries the model number S5K4H5YB and is an 8MP one with 1.12μ ISOCELL pixel size. The sensor is currently being sampled by Samsung customers and is expected to hit mass production in Q4 2013.

iPhone 5s chipset detailed, 1.3GHz CPU, PowerVR Series 6 GPU

the new iPhone 5s runs on a new Apple A7 SoC that utilizes a 64-bit processor. This new CPU turns out to be a dual-core unit clocked at 1.3GHz and uses the latest ARM v8 64-bit cores. Apple's new cores are called Cyclone and the whole SoC is manufactured by Samsung on its 28nm High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) process.

The GPU in charge is the quad-core PowerVR (Series 6) G6430, which supports OpenGL 3.0, DirectX 10 and OpenCL 1.x. It's currently among the best of the market and eats benchmarks for breakfast.
Apple kept the RAM amount the same - 1GB, though the RAM used in the iPhone 5s is of the newer LPDDR3 variety, compared to the LPDDR2 embedded in the iPhone 5 and 5c.
Finally, the modem chips are made by Qualcomm. If you want to know more about their model numbers and other embedded controllers just head over to the source link below.
So, as expected, Apple is currently using the latest pieces of available technology for its flagship. There are no other smartphones that utilize the new ARM v8 cores (Cortex A53 and Cortex A57 are yet to come) yet and the new Series 6 of Imagination's PowerVR GPU's is making its official debut

Oppo N1 announced with 5.9-inch fullHD display and Color OS

Oppo has just announced its latest smartphone in a special event in Beijing, China. It's called the Oppo N1 and runs the latest version of the company's home-brewed Color OS based on Android 4.2.

The Oppo N1 is built around a 5.9" IPS display of full HD resolution, which equals out to a pixel density of 377 pixels per inch. The display is super sensitive and allows you to use gloves and even pens, just like the Sony Xperia Z1.
Below the display there are 3 capacitive Android keys - back, home and menu. The whole phone is made of plastic and will be available in two color options - black and white. The Oppo N1 sports either 16GB or 32GB of internal memory, but sadly, there's no microSD card slot.
The Oppo N1 measures 170.7 x 82.6 x 9mm, which is just a bit thicker than the Galaxy Note 3 (8.3mm), and weighs 213 grams. The phone is powered by a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600, Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB of RAM.
The back of the Oppo N1 is especially interesting. Firstly, there sits the 13MP camera with CMOS sensor and f/2.0 aperture and Oppo's specially-designed in partnership with Fujitsu IPS imaging chip. Oppo dubs the N1 as the first Android smartphone to feature 6 piece lens design. The whole camera module rotates 206 degrees allowing it to act as a front-facing camera as well.
Oppo says the swivel mechanism of the N1's camera has been put through 100,000 times of rotating in a durability test. This means the Oppo N1's camera can be swivelled 40 times a day for 7 years and it'll be as good as new.

Oppo has also created special plug lens. Not to be confused with Sony's QX100 and QX10 camera modules, Oppo's lens are like usual plug-in lenses that attach to the phone. Oppo boasts it only takes 0.6 seconds for the camera to fire and shoot a photo.
Secondly, the area below the camera is touch sensitive. The feature is called O-Touch and depending on the gesture that you make, the phone is can either play next song, browse the web or do a custom action. For example you can long touch the back of the phone while the camera app is on and it'll take a shot with the front facing camera. The supported gestures are long press, sliding and double tapping.
Oppo has also made a special bluetooth camera accessory dubbed O-Click. It is essentially a remote control for the camera and can operate within 50 meters away from the phone - perfect for self group shots. It's also included in the retail box of the Oppo N1.
Right below the camera there's a dual LED flash, while on top of the phone you'll find a 3.5mm headphone jack. Below the back cover sits a 3610 mAh battery, which is respectable for a phone with such size.
On the connectivity side, the Oppo N1 sports dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC. Oppo has partnered with two of the major NFC payment systems in China to allow paying for transportation as well as other goods just by using the N1.
The Oppo N1 will be priced at $571 (3498 CNY). China Mobile customers can already pre-order the Oppo N1 and expect it to arrive some time October. Oppo is yet to announce exact dates for worldwide availability.
Lastly, at the event Oppo announced their rumored partnership with Cyanogen. While no further details were given, the Oppo N1 is going to be able to run pure Android thanks to CyanogenMod. It's speculated that customers will be able to choose between Color OS and CyanogenMod upon ordering the N1 from the Oppo website.

Google Search now powered by a Hummingbird

Google celebrates its 15th anniversary by announcing that it's changed its underlying search algorithm -- again.

MENLO PARK, Calif. -- Google kicked off its 15th anniversary a day early by once more invading its original headquarters in Susan Wojcicki's former garage at 232 Santa Margarita Ave. Along with a hearty pat on the back, the company revealed that it's changed the engine that drives its queries.
The new engine, called Hummingbird, is the first change to Google's core algorithm since the launch of Caffeine in 2010. Hummingbird, said Amit Singhal, Google senior vice president and one of its earliest employees, affects 90 percent of searches with Google worldwide.
"When I joined Google, people would be amazed when a simple query for a Web site would work. As they became more comfortable, they began to ask more complex questions. Hummingbird," he said, "is the result of that foundational rethink."
Singhal was careful to note that while page ranking and indexing are bound together in a search engine, Caffeine focused more on the ranking side of the algorithm. Hummingbird is more about indexing.
"Hummingbird gave us an opportunity after years of building to rethink how we use the power of these things," he said, referring to Google Search features old and new. He had previously noted that as Google has added features to the search engine such as autocomplete, synonym recognition, voice recognition, precaching, universal search, and contextual recognition, searching itself has gotten easier.
Google may not be afraid to examine its engineering of search, but Wocjicki, who's now a senior vice president of marketing at Google, said that the company's central values haven't changed.
She reiterated what she called the company's three commitments. Google, she explained, has always been focused on building great search for its users, on reaching a global audience, and on what she called "thinking big."
"When we were here and a small, tiny company, we were thinking big. It's just that not as many people were listening," she said. "Today, we're looking at projects like Glass, or Loon for access, or driverless cars."
Wocjicki recalled how even when Google only had seven employees, there was a whiteboard in the back room that read, "Google Worldwide Headquarters."
"Even though a lot of things are different with Google, the core is really the same," she said.

Can iOS 7 induce motion sickness?

Some users trying out the new parallax and zoom features are getting sick to their stomach, experiencing vertigo, headaches and nausea. Some are comparing it to getting car sick. The experience has been making some iPhone owners so ill, that they have resorted to downgrading back to iOS 6.

With the new parallax feature, iOS 7 users can have the screen appear as though they are head on, even if the screen is tilted in another direction. The zoom feature works when accessing applications. The zoom feature can not be disabled but the parallax feature can be shut off. Go to the Accessibility menu in iOS 7. Choose "Reduce Motion" and you should be able to eliminate that effect.

For those sensitive to such things, this is no joke. Some have complained about having to go home from work because of severe vertigo. The complaints are similar to what those who used the HTC EVO 3D used to report after viewing the stereoscopic screen for hours.

You can no longer downgrade from iOS 7 to iOS 6

After a significant period of testing, Apple's overhauled iOS 7 has made the move and gone public and official. As with any major software rework, there was no shortage of bugs (some bigger than others), nor was there a lack of complaints about the new look of the OS. At PhoneArena we're overall happy with the new iteration of iOS – it sure is a work in progress and needs some tweaking, but the change was definitely needed, and for the better.

As always, however, there are those who don't quite like the new OS and want to revert back to iOS 6. Whether their concerns are strictly related to the new design, or they simply suddenly found out just how old their iPhone 4 is getting (the oldest iPhone to support the new OS), due to the significantly more animation-heavy iOS 7, they're simply not given a voice. Said more explicitly, in a typical Apple fashion the plug has been pulled on iOS 6 officially, meaning that whatever ways you could find to revert back will no longer work. That's not to say you can't revert back to it at all, it's just that Cupertino has stopped signing older firmware, meaning that you won't have access to essentials, such as the iTunes store.

Some of you will be quick to demonize Apple for this, and we fully get it – we're, after all, enthusiastic proponents of choice. On the other hand, Apple has traditionally kept OS fragmentation to a minimum thanks to a strong hand approach like this -- a good thing for a number of reason, like an overall better and more targeted support for our iPhones.

European group finds a way to get around the Touch ID on Apple iPhone 5s

Saying that the hardest part about hacking the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the Apple iPhone 5s was finding an iPhone 5s to use, the Chaos Computer Club has found a way to circumvent the new fingerprint sensor on the latest full-featured iPhone. The process requires someone to take a picture of a person's fingerprints at 2400 DPI and then print it at 1200 DPI. The image is used to make a latex sheet that is used to trick the Touch ID sensor.The bottom line is not to count on the Touch ID sensor to protect your more important information such as the number of your secret Swiss bank account. Granted, this is not a quick 1-2-3 process, but on the other hand there are not enough hurdles to prevent someone from doing it. The actual process dates back to 2004 showing you how elementary it is to fool the Touch ID sensor on the Apple iPhone 5s.

Moto X beats out iPhone 5S, 5C, and Galaxy S4 for durability

Apple fanboys and Samsung believers aren't going to like this: Google's Moto X has been crowned the king of durability.
The latest "breakability" score by protection plan company SquareTrade claims Moto X is the best surviving smartphone when it comes to drops, slides, and water dunks. Coming in second place is Apple's iPhone 5S, then Apple's iPhone 5C, and lastly Samsung's Galaxy S4. SquareTrade only tested these four smartphones, so its unclear how other brands and models would rate.

BlackBerry's problems affect Taiwan manufacturers

After announcing on Friday that it would write off nearly $1 billion worth of BlackBerry Z10 models, some Taiwan handset manufacturers are affected by the Canadian manufacturer's decision to leave the consumer market. For example, ODM/OEM Wistron is expected to have its orders from BlackBerry reduced by half as BlackBerry cuts its line up from 6 models to 4. That will consist of 2 high-end and 2 entry-level phones.
Other suppliers such as keypad producers Silitech and Ichia will both be less affected by BlackBerry's plans since they have already started cutting back on their reliance to orders from the Waterloo based firm. Sales to BlackBerry represent only 10% of each company's revenues.
Sources close to the situation say that BlackBerry has started taking deliveries of its first 5 inch model, the BlackBerry Z30. But initial orders for the most powerful Berry ever from the Canadian handset provider are lower than the initial orders placed by BlackBerry for the BlackBerry Z10 back in Q1. But back then, the BlackBerry 10 platform was untested and there was real hope that BlackBerry had come up with a winning OS. But after announcing its intention to do the write off, it certainly looks like the whole BlackBerry 10 platform has not been the success that was hoped for.

Remotely lock your Android device with Android Device Manager  

                

Early last month, Android users received a gift from Google called the Android Device Manager. Used in combination with an app that you install on your Android phone, the Device Manager allows you to have your phone ring at maximum volume, just in case you lost it in your couch. It also allows you to track the device in real time so that if the phone is lifted by a thief, you can track him and your phone to his lair inside the third stall in the mens' room inside Grand Central Station. And in case you're worried that this master criminal who stole your phone is going to discover your Fantasy Football draft secrets, you can wipe the data completely clean off the phone.

Google has added another very important feature that enhances the safety of your Android model. Now, the Android Device Manager will remotely lock your Android phone. This actually helps you delay that gut wrenching moment when you wipe all data off your phone. With the remote lock, you can buy some time to find the device before you go with the nuclear option.

With the new feature, it doesn't matter if your Android handset is locked down using a pattern, PIN or other method. The Device Manager will override it and allow you to create a new password that will be used to open the handset once it is back in your possession, if it ever is. The feature will also allow you to turn off the screen if it's on. Just make sure that under the security section for settings, the Android Device Manager is listed as a Device administrator.

AppSeed turns your sketches into functioning app prototypes 

In a bid to streamline the app creation process, Canadian design studio Transmitter has created AppSeed — an app that uses real-time computer vision to automate the process of turning a two-dimensional sketch into a functioning prototype right on your device.
It looks super easy to use. You draw the page elements inside two crop marks and then photograph the sketch with your phone's camera. The app then identifies the crop marks and automatically sizes the sketch to fit the screen. It also identifies separate enclosed-space elements on the page — the user can then go through and choose, from a drop-down menu, the element type, such as a map, a button or a text input field.
"The secret sauce behind AppSeed is the use of computer vision to search your sketch and isolate individual elements," the team said. "Specifically, we use the wonderful OpenCV to isolate lines and drawn shapes within your sketches. We then use our own algorithms to identify the UI elements. These are generally identified because they follow a visual pattern (for example, an enclosed rectangle can be taken as a button). That drawn element is then copied from the original image and made into a button with the drawn shape as its up state."
Once you have a prototype on your phone, you can export it as an HTML5 app or send it to Photoshop via PS Connection, which will separate out all the elements into their own layers for individual editing.
This will allow designers and developers to showcase their ideas to clients, co-workers and backers without having to undergo the fiddly middle process of manually coding an app from design to prototype.
Initially, AppSeed will be available for iOS, with an Android version further down the line, should the project reach its stretch goals.
The app alone is being offered as a reward for the CA$8 pledge tier, and you can get the app and sketchbook combo for CA$30. For CA$40, you can also get five crop-mark whiteboard stickers. Head over to the AppSeed Kickstarter page for more information.

Samsung in 'final stages' with a 64-bit Exynos processor, prime candidate for the Galaxy S5

Samsung won't be far behind Apple with a 64-bit mobile chipset, it seems, as Korean media is reporting its own Exynos line has a 64-bit SoC in final stages of development, most likely utilizing the scorching ARM Cortex-A50 architecture, whose advantages you can see in the slideshow below.After it became clear that Samsung is still producing the A7, and the Koreans chimed in they are all for doubling the mobile chipset bits, it was a matter of time before we learn such an Exynos is indeed in the pipeline, and we might see it in the next flagship, the Galaxy S5. This chip is meant for smartphones as well as tablets, said the Samsung source, cited by the publication.

The 64-bit architecture has its advantages before the 32-bit, and these are not only the much higher amount of addressable RAM it allows, but also multitasking and overall productivity shenanigans. Its power will really shine when software gets written from the ground up to take advantage, and what better way to push developers than actually have flagship phones and tablets with the tech already on the market.