Galaxy S4 Review

The Samsung Galaxy S4 has arrived to America, and if you have been eagerly waiting to know how it feels to use the Galaxy S4 in the real world, the wait is over. Since its predecessor sold more than 50M units worldwide, the Samsung Galaxy S4 has to live up to rather high anticipation and expectations. You may have followed our first hands-on review of the S4, so you may know a fair amount about this smartphone. for this complete review, we have had more time to use the Galaxy S4 as a primary smartphone, and needless to say that on paper, it improves upon all aspects of the Galaxy S3 with which you may have seen or played with. If not, don’t worry, we’ll provide a good picture of what the S4 is. Now, the question is: how does it actually behave in the real world, and is it a smartphone for you? Samsung Galaxy S4 Specs (powerful) First of all, let’s go over some critical specifications of this new smartphone (a Sprint unit), just to have a frame of reference: Galaxy S3 iPhone 5 Galaxy S4 HTC One Weight 133 112 130 143 Display Size 4.8 4 4.99 4.7 Resolution 1280×720 1136×640 1920×1080 1920×1080 Pixel Density 306 326 441 468 microSD 64GB max No 64GB max No OS Android 4.1 iOS 6 Android 4.2 Android 4.1 Battery mAh 2100 1440 2600 2300 Battery removable Yes No Yes No Infrared blaster No No Yes Yes Camera (F) MP 1.9 1.2 2 2.1 Camera (B) MP 8 8 13 4 Thickness (inches) 0.34 0.3 0.31 0.37 Note that there are a few variants of the Samsung Galaxy S4: this one is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor at 1.9GHz, but the two others feature a Samsung Exynos Octa 5 4+4 cores that I have described at length in my Exynos Octa 5 post. The Samsung chip may embed 8 cores, but it should be considered to be a quad-core chip (in code execution terms) since only 4 can run at any given time. Samsung used the big.LITTLE architecture from ARM, and if you are curious, check what I think of big.LITTLE, it’s pretty neat. Update: experts say that the GS4 is also “easy” to repair. Many of you have asked “why” Samsung comes up with these hardware variations, and although none of the companies involved would usually comment on this hot topic, my guess is that carrier certifications end up being what’s driving those choices. Since the Qualcomm communications software stack works obviously much better with their own processor/modem combo, and given that US carriers (AT&T in particular) have tested and approved Qualcomm, it’s likely that Samsung has chosen Qualcomm to have a faster time to market (Samsung may not have time to qualify their own chips) in order to hit a worldwide market at launch. Although you may hear a lot of noise about the hardware differences, the user experience of both platforms is largely comparable. That’s my opinion after playing with an “Exynos version” of the S4 recently. Context We all use our phones differently, so it’s important that I tell you what I do with my smartphone(s): I typically check email often with the built-in email app (via Microsoft Exchange), and reply moderately because typing on the virtual keyboard is tedious. I browse the web several times a day to check on news sites, but rarely watch movies or play music. I don’t call much – maybe 10mn a day, if at all. On the “apps” side, I have a couple of social networks (FB, G+), a receipts manager and random apps (<20), but I rarely play games or do something super-intensive like video editing. This usage pattern will affect battery life and the perception of what features are useful. Now you know where we’re coming from…

source-ubergizmo.com

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Samsung Galaxy S4 vs. HTC One Google Edition

You knew that those devices were coming: the Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition (GPE) was announced at Google I/O and the HTC One Google Play Edition followed shortly after that. There are even unconfirmed rumors of an XPERIA Z Google Edition (loaded with the stock Android OS, without modifications), but so far only two have finally landed in our offices: The S4 and the HTC One. You may wonder why Google does sell those devices, and the reason is quite simple: Google wants the general public to be able to experience Android as it was originally developed, on the best possible hardware. In this review, we will focus on the Android aspect, and if you are not yet familiar with the industrial design, performance and other critical aspects of those phones, I recommend reading our in-depth Galaxy S4 Review and HTC One Review articles since they will provide a lot of details.

source-ubergizmo.com

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Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie Release At Google I/O Reportedly Delayed

A lot has already been rumored about Google’s I/O conference. It is believed that the company will announce a revamped Nexus 7 and a 32GB LTE Nexus 4 instead of a next generation Nexus 5 smartphone. Google was also expected to announce the next major Android platform update, Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie. Its release has now reportedly been delayed by as much as four months to give ample time to OEMs so that they can keep up with the new Android version. Another reason for this delay could be the launch of Motorola X smartphone. The company’s top executives have sung its praises, perhaps they’ll merge both announcements together? At the moment 29.3% of Android devices are powered by Ice Cream Sandwich, in second place comes Jelly Bean which powers some 23% devices. Pushing back the Key Lime Pie release will aid both OEMs and Google itself. Despite being announced at last year’s I/O, many manufacturers and carriers are still rolling it out to Jelly Bean deprived customers. Launching a new version would further increase the fragmentation, and if this rumor is anything to go by, Google looks intent on avoiding that.

source-http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/04/android-5-0-key-lime-pie-release-at-google-io-reportedly-delayed/

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Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie Concept

It has been said that the next update of the Android mobile operating system would bump Jelly Bean to version 4.3, but that particular version number is said to lack any major, earth shattering changes, so most folks have already cast an eye in the direction of Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie. Well, what do you think one can expect from Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie when it arrives? We have absolutely no idea, so it is left up to the folks with an imagination to think of how “delicious” Key Lime Pie would look like on your smartphone down the road with this particular concept from a certain Jinesh Shah on Google+. Shah’s day job is a graphic artist, and his Key Lime Pie concept boasts of a minimalist and beautiful vision, sporting an extremely clean design approach. It looks like the “flat” graphical user interface scheme is catching on, where being minimal is a surefire trend in the right direction where mobile operating systems are concerned. This concept would see the Home Screen arrive with highly functional “hidden” widgets, showing up only when the user indulges in a customizable gesture. This helps reduce unnecessary clutter on the interface, coming into play only when you need to use it. Do you like what Shah did with his conceptualization of Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie?


source-ubergizmo.com

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Certain Samsung Smartphones Might Skip Android 4.2.2 Update For Android 4.3

There are certain Samsung smartphones that are yet to receive the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean update, these include the Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy S3. Rumor has it that Samsung might not roll out said update for these devices, instead opting to skip it in favor of Android 4.3. The problem is though, no one knows exactly when Android 4.3 is going to be released. To make matters worse, Google hasn’t as yet recognized that Android 4.3 is indeed the next major update. According to the rumor Samsung won’t release the update until November or December, and if by that time Android 4.3 is out, it would update these devices directly to the latest version. Furthermore, the rumor claims that Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note 2 and the yet to be released Galaxy Note 3 will all be updated to Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie. Once again, the same problem is present here as well. Google hasn’t confirmed that Android 5.0 carries the Key Lime Pie moniker. Google is expected to release a major platform update in the coming months, though an exact release time-frame is not known as of now.

source-ubergizmo.com

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iQi Is A Wireless Charger For Your iPhone That Will Fit Into Your Case

If there’s one feature that the iPhone lacks compared to the likes of some Android and Windows Phone devices is wireless charging. Granted at the moment wireless charging is not as useful as one might think, namely because you’d still need to place your device on top of the base charger, we guess there are still some out there who love it and have their uses for it. Well the good news is that while wireless charging may or may not come to iPhones in the future, the iQi wireless charger for the iPhone is an accessory worth taking a look at. As you can see in the video above, what makes the iQi so unique is that half of the wireless charging component is apparently thin enough to the point where it will slip inside your existing iPhone case no problem. If you don’t use an iPhone case then we guess you’d be out of luck, but if you already have a case you love and don’t want to switch it out, the iQi boasts a thinness that should fit in just fine. The iQi will be paired with a transmitter on which you place your iPhone on top of to begin the charging process. As it stands, the iQi is an Indiegogo project seeking funding where a pledge of $65 will nab you both the charger and the transmitter:


source-ubergizmo.com

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Samsung Galaxy S4 Launching April With S Pen

We caught a glimpse of a Samsung Galaxy S4 concept video earlier this morning, but let’s return from the land of make-believe for a minute to take care of some real Samsung business, shall we? We know many of you, like us, are highly anticipating the reveal and release of the next Samsung Galaxy S device, which may be coming in nearly four months from now and may pack a little surprise if a recent rumor turns out to be true.

According to Korean website Enuri, Samsung plans to launch its Galaxy S4 in April 2013 that sports a 5-inch 1080p AMOLED display, a quad-core Exynos 5440 chip, 13-megapixel rear auto-focus camera and an S Pen, which previously was only made available for Samsung’s Galaxy Note line of smartphones and tablet.

Seeing how Samsung is going to be a total buzzkill and not announce the Galaxy S4 at CES next week, we’ll just need to sit back and wait until they decide to officially unveil their next Galaxy S phone, which if it’s launching in April, may be sometime next Spring.

Source-ubergizmo.com

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Facebook For Android 2.0 Aims For Speed

Facebook has just announced its Facebook for Android 2.0 app which is landing in Google Play later today. The new app is now using native code, just like it does on the iOS version which brought a huge speed boost, especially on the new iPhone 5 hardware. This is the same kind of performance increase that we expect for Android devices this afternoon when the update cycle starts.

Although the app should look the same on the surface, there was a lot of coding work and performance analysis that led to this new version 2.0 (more info on that). This is the biggest change in Facebook for Android since it was first released, and the good news is that Facebook should be able to rely on this foundation for a while, so expect the next release to be more about functionality than performance.

This is great news for Android users who may have grown frustrated by the slow performance of the Facebook app for Android. This was the #1 issue with this app from what I can tell. We’ll see if the release lives up to the expectations, but I’m pretty optimistic, and we’ll know for sure in a few hours. My Galaxy Note 2 cannot wait one more second to get this one.

Source-ubergizmo.com

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Zophone i5, another iPhone 5 clone

Fancy the awesome looking iPhone 5 but cannot buy it because of its high selling price or because you just hate iOS 6? Well, there are a lot of options for you if you are willing for a China made smart phone. Yes, we are talking about another iPhone 5 clone from a Chinese manufacturer. A few days back, I wrote about the Goophone iPad Mini clone, the Goopad Mini, which was a perfect replica of the newly announced 7.9 inch iPad Mini. The same company, Goophone, has an iPhone 5 clone as well, known as the Goophone i5. And today, we are going to have a look at the Zophone i5, which is said to be one of the most iPhone 5 clones to hit the market.

The Zophone i5 has managed to replicate a lot of features of the iPhone 5, including the awesome 4 inch display with the same resolution of 1, 136 x 640 pixels. Not just this, the company has proved itself very capable by developing a Siri clone for the phone as well. If you think it could never duplicate the Lightning adopter that the Cupertino tech giant boasts about so much, you are wrong. The Zophone i5 has a Lightning port as well.

The Zophone i5 runs on a 1.2 GHz dual core Mediatek MT6577 processor. It features 1 GB of RAM and 4 GB of on board memory. So you are not going to get 8 GB, 16 GB, and 64 GB variants. But the smart phone clone does give you the option to expand the on board storage with an external microSD card. The Zophone i5 features an 8 mega pixel camera on the back, and there is also a front facing camera (VGA I guess). To power up all these, the phone comes with a 1, 400 mAh battery. And you are going to miss the EarPods, as this just comes with normal earbuds. All this with the power of the Android operating system running on it. Yes.

The Zophone i5 is going to sell for just $200 in China. The international availability of this iPhone 5 clone is a doubt. So you will have to either import it, or fly to China and get one yourself. It still surprises me that in China, iPhone 5 clones started coming out to the market even before the official launch of the iPhone 5.

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iPhone 5 16 GB Factory Unlocked to cost $649

If you have been waiting for the factory unlocked iPhone 5 to come to the market, your wait seems to be coming to an end soon. This is because a new report on Apple Insider has a screenshot from the official US Apple online store which lists the factory unlocked iPhone 5. Apple Insider reports that over the weekend, when the online publication tried the search string “iPhone 5 factory unlocked” on the US Apple online store, and got the prices for the respective models.

The prices for these factory unlocked iPhone 5 smart phones remain the same as the prices for the factory unlocked iPhone 4S smart phones. You can get the 16 GB model for $649, the 32 GB model for $749, and the 64 GB model for $849. In some countries, the Cupertino tech giant releases the factory unlocked version of the iPhones soon after the release of the wireless carrier locked version of the smart phone. But in the United States, that is not the case. In the United States, there will be a delay of at least 6 weeks between the release of the carrier locked iPhone and the factory unlocked iPhone.

For example, the wireless carrier locked iPhone 4S was launched in early October. The pre orders for the factory unlocked version of the iPhone 4S started in early November. And the shipping of these factory unlocked iPhone 4S smart phones did not start until the third week of November, which is exactly 6 weeks after the launch of the carrier locked iPhone 4S.

Now, we are well into 6 weeks after the release of the wireless carrier locked iPhone 5. So we can expect the Cupertino tech giant to start taking pre orders for the factory unlocked version of the iPhone 5

source-tuaw

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Apple Spends 2 Percent in Overseas Tax Spending

The top executives at Apple has once again showcased their knack at avoiding the punitive hands of the tax collector after the Silicon Valley-based tech company reported a 2 percent tax spending for the chunk of money generated by the sales of their products overseas in the last fiscal year.

According to its annual report filed with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple only shelled out $713 million in taxes on $26.87 billion in foreign profits.

On the other hand, the iPhone maker spent a whopping $12.26 billion in federal taxes and $1.06 billion in state taxes for the profits they earned in the United States.

Apple’s growing business empire was attributed to its engaging line of innovative products and tax strategies overseas.

Like many multi-national conglomerates, Apple is racking up the large portion of their profit money from the sales of their products abroad, where tax policies are lax and favorable for their business.

However, these profits tend to stay overseas as companies tried to avoid an onerous 35 percent tax rate if they decided to ‘repatriate’ their money obtained in foreign lands back to the United States.  Several companies such as Cisco Systems have previously asked for tax relief for the repatriation of their overseas profits.

Despite spending an incredibly cheap amount of money for their overseas taxes, Apple has not utilized any loopholes just to prevent paying lucrative taxes.

Instead, the company’s top executives used their smarts to capitalize on the slack tax regulations abroad, giving them the leverage to spend less out of their enormous profits.

“These technology giants are playing by the rules, but the problem is the rules are broken. Who sets the rules? The government. And yet the government all but takes it out on the individual taxpayer by making them drag the country out of economic downturn kicking and screaming,” said ZDNet’s Zack Whittaker.

With the competition in the U.S tech market increasingly becomes tighter than ever, Apple will not stop at tapping all possible options to capitalize on the profit opportunities at tax-friendly countries such as China and India.

source-CNET

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LTE iPhone 5 coming to EE and Three in UK, but not O2 and Vodafone

Brits ready to stake their preorder claim this Friday might have a harder time deciding between the myriad of networks offering the device. While all of the major UK carriers will be ready to offer you the iPhone 5, that LTE radio will only be working on the newly-christened EE from the start, with Three likely to use that purchased spectrum (after getting the okay from Ofcom) to similar effect in the near-future. Unfortunately for Vodafone and O2, the forthcoming Ofcom spectrum auction is gearing up to sell off the 800MHz (Band 20) and 2.6GHz (Band 7) frequencies -- neither of which are found on Apple's multiple iPhone 5 models, and the latter being a bigger problem in Europe and Asia, where LTE networks already make use of the 2.6GHz frequency. However, Apple have followed up an initial phone launch with additional network-specific models before -- so there's a slim chance we could see another model at a later date. All the UK carriers are keeping their contract prices a tightly-guarded secret at the moment, but we'll update as soon as we hear more. Meanwhile, those on that little European isle can expect to pay £529 for the entry-level iPhone 5 from the source when pre-orders start this Friday.

Apple UK

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Facebook opens mobile ads for apps to all developers, keeps them on the money train

It's no secret that Facebook saw FarmVille for iOS as writing on the wall: it had to either tap into mobile app revenue or risk losing income (and marketing-savvy developers) whenever someone left the web. Following a beta this summer, the company's solution to its dilemma is now open to everyone. All developers on the social network can build ads that link from Facebook's Android and iOS apps to either Google Play or the App Store -- offering both an easy plug for their native apps and that all-important ad revenue for Facebook. The system currently takes a shotgun approach and may pitch social networkers for apps they already have or don't want, but it should be refined in the next few months to where some curious purchasers won't even have to leave Facebook to load that hot new title. Hopefully the increased recognition for mobile developers is worth sullying our once pristine news feeds.


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App of the Week: YouTube for iOS Runs on iPhone, iPod

App Name: YouTube

Price: Free

Available Platforms: iOS (new iPhone App), iPod Touch, and Android

What does this app do? With this week’s announcement of Apple’s iPhone 5 and iOS 6, it’s fitting that Google should follow suit with something new too. It released YouTube in app form for the iPhone and iPod touch. (If you hadn’t heard, Apple will stop pre-loading Google Maps and YouTube in iOS 6.)

Developed by YouTube engineers, the latest app comes with thousands of more videos, according to a blog post by Andrey Doronichev, head of YouTube mobile.

Log in with your email account, and use a tab at in the upper left hand corner to toggle between the YouTube home feed and your own collection of channels. With one swipe to the left, you can view channels you subscribe to, or, if you are a newcomer, peruse the home feed, which you can adjust to show highlights or uploads only.

Tapping on a video will reveal a few familiar icons on the screen allowing you to like or dislike a video, and view it in full screen mode. You can also comment on or share your selection using Google+, Twitter, Facebook, or email.

Some additional functions allow you to add all of those “cute-cat-doing-funny-things” videos to playlists or favorites, and flag it to watch later.

Is it easy to set up? Yes. Although the app will not come built into iOS 6 as it did with previous versions of Apple’s operating software, the standalone version downloads in seconds. Log in with your email account and go!

Should I try it? When you think of online video sharing sites, likely you think of YouTube before anything else. The app’s channel guides, sharing capability and full screen mode make viewing videos on your mobile device effortless.

One drawback? Google now allows ads to appear on the screen. That aside, this is a very clean and easy-to-navigate app.

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Apple sets September 12 event, latest iPhone expected

(Reuters) - Apple Inc distributed invitations to an event in San Francisco on September 12, setting the stage for what is widely expected to be the release of the iPhone 5.

The typically cryptic invitation said "It's almost here", sported a number 12 - corresponding to the date of the event - and cast a large shadow of the number 5, a clue that the fifth version of the popular smartphone could be in the pipeline.

Apple's iPhone launches are among the most-watched events on the tech industry calendar. The latest version of the company's main product -- generating more than half its revenue -- may sport a larger, higher-end screen, sources have said.

The new screen could measure 4 inches from corner to corner, one source has said, an increase from the 3.5-inch display that has been held constant since the smartphone began selling in 2007 and revolutionized the mobile industry.

Some analysts say the larger screen may be a response to rival Samsung Electronics, whose larger, Google Android phones have helped it become the world's biggest smartphone maker.

Speculation had also arisen in past months that the company might offer details about a smaller version of its iPad, but the emailed invitation offered no hint of that on Tuesday.

The event will take place at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the preferred venue for the unveiling of past products such as the iPad.

The new iPhone will hit store shelves in time for the crucial holiday season. Shares in the company edged 0.6 percent higher to $669.44.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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LG announce the Optimus L9

The LG Optimus L9 will continue the stylish L-Series lineup of smartphones with its global debut. Following the successful launches of the Optimus L3, Optimus L5, and Optimus L7 earlier this year, the Optimus L9 is anticipated to continue in the success of the L-Series emphasizing premium design heritage developed from LG's design leadership.
Inheriting LG's premium L-Style design philosophy, the Optimus L9 has a 9.1mm thin body with a slimming metallic streak and modern square style that offers a comfortable grip from its slim and stylish design.
The largest-in-class 4.7-inch IPS display of the Optimus L9 offers clear and true-to-life images with incredible detail for comfortable viewing experience. The high-density 2,150mAh SiO+ battery allows users to enjoy the various new UX features all day long with maximized performance while retaining its incredibly sleek design.
The Optimus L9 was also developed to be a smarter smartphone through LG's differentiated UX features, such as the QTranslator and My Style Keypad function along with the ever-popular QMemo.
The QTranslator function instantly translates not only words, but also entire sentences and phrases with a simple scan from nearly 44 foreign languages to 64 user languages. Using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, it recognizes letters upon scanning with the camera and utilizes electronic dictionary or online translation engine to translate words, sentences or phrases.
  The My Style Keypad function comfortably adjusts the key formation of the keypad according to whether the user is texting with one hand (right or left-handed) or two hands. Lastly, the Optimus L9 will also include the QMemo, allowing users to capture, memo and share their ideas with others using their fingertip or handwriting.

"The Optimus L9 is a great smartphone that appeals to every consumer," said Dr. Jongseok Park, President and CEO of LG Mobile Communications Company. "LG will continue to offer differentiated value through the Optimus L9 and strengthen our position in the smartphone market."

Key Specifications:
OS:  Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
Chipset: 1GHz Dual-Core
Main Display: 4.7-inch IPS Display
Memory: 1GB DDR2 (RAM) / 4GB e-MMC
Camera: 5MP rear / VGA front
Battery:  2,150mAh SiO+
Size:  131.9 x 68.2 x 9.1mm / 125g
Others:  DLNA, QMemoT, QTranslator function, My Style Keyboard function

Source: LG
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Want Security and Privacy? Turn Off Your Mobile Devices' GPS

People with smartphones and tablets may be giving Apple and Android apps they download the permission to capture their geolocation data to know where they are, but security experts are making the strong argument to just say no instead -- and turn off that GPS function unless really needed.

"There's the privacy concern, maybe you don't want billions of people to know where you live," says Alan Brill, senior managing director, Kroll Advisory Solutions, who points out that smartphones with GPS chips today will embed geotagging information into the photo you upload to social-networking sites. It's fairly simple to use EXIF interpreter software that's freely available online to cull that geolocation data out of your photo, Brill says. In fact, this is happening today in military situations where adversaries watch for photos posted by the other side, he adds.

[Smartphone Spying Reality Check | Is Your Android Phone Spying On You?]

There are implications about GPS for businesses, too, according to Kroll, which recently sent out an advisory to its clientele on the topic. Regulatory agencies around the world, especially in Europe, are starting to consider whether geolocation information should be considered sensitive data. And that means that businesses that collect and store geolocation data as part of marketing campaigns will need to start regarding it as something that they one day may find carries a huge legal burden in the event of a data breach.

Brill says he's especially concerned about geotagging in photos when it comes to children and teens who frequently post photos online, not knowing that it likely is possible for strangers to figure out where they are. The device GPS function can be turned off, and in most cases, it probably should be, Brill recommends. GPS can help with getting road directions, but there are so many unexpected ways that personal GPS information is being collected today.

GFI Software this week came out with a report that described how apps created by the Barack Obama and Mitt Romney campaigns as outreach to potential voters are designed to be able to capture GPS information related to the user's device, among other personal information.

These Google Android and Apple iOS apps -- one is called "Mitt's VP" and the other "Obama for America" -- are both available through the official Apple and Android app stores and are intended to give the presidential campaigns a closer connection to potential voters. But according to Dodi Glenn, GFI's product manager for the VIPRE anti-malware consumer product line, both the Obama and Romney apps extend the ability to monitor and control the user's tablet or smartphone a little too far.

The Romney app is designed to give that campaign the ability to activate the device camera and turn on the audio like an open mike, Glenn points out. Both the Romney and Obama apps can read the user's contacts and upload them. And both can exploit GPS functions in devices with GPS chips. "Both have the ability to capture GPS data," he says.


The "Obama for America" app takes geolocation data to the greater extreme, he points out. The Obama app allows for the presentation of a U.S. map where Democrat-registered voters are displayed as blue flags in the neighborhood where they live. The Obama app encourages supporters to canvas neighbors to get them to vote, says Glenn. He says he finds it all a "little creepy."

"They want you to go to the neighbors, it's how to volunteer for the campaign," Glenn surmises. The nation's political-party voter registration information is readily available to political campaigns and his long been widely used for targeted political advertising via telephone calls and regular mail asking for donations, for example. But even though personal names aren't being displayed on the Obama for America app map, Glenn says he finds it disconcerting to see GPS data used in a modern political campaign in this way on user smartphones and tablets.

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ZTE Grand X unboxing video

We first saw the ZTE Grand X when James attended the launch event last month. The initial impression was that this new ZTE handset represented great value for money bringing features and spec that you'd commonly find in higher-end devices while maintaining a relatively budget price tag.
With a 4.3" display, dual-core 1.2GHz CPU, 8 Megapixel camera and 4GB of internal memory, the Grand X is probably the least expensive smartphone to be able to deliver on this specification.
Performance-wise the ZTE Grand X doesn't disappoint as you'll be able to see in the unboxing and demo video below.
 
ZTE Grand X specification:
2G Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G Network: HSDPA 900 / 2100 Dimensions: 127 x 65 x 9.9 mmWeight: 110 gDisplay: TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colours, 540 x 960 pixels, 4.3 inches (~256 ppi pixel density)3.5mm jackDolby mobile sound enhancementMemory Card slot: microSD, up to 32 GBInternal: 4 GB storage, 1 GB RAMWLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspotBluetooth: v2.1 with A2DP, EDRCamera: 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, Geo-tagging, 1080p VideoOS: Android OS, v4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)Chipset: Nvidia Tegra 2CPU: Dual-core 1.2 GHzGPU: ULP GeForceSensors: Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compassRadio: Stereo FM radio with RDSGPS: Yes, with A-GPS supportBattery: Standard battery, Li-Ion 1600mAh
Posted by: Matt


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Nokia Camera Extras for Windows Phone 7 now available

Nokia Lumia’s default camera app is pretty basic and low on features. If you are unsatisfied with the default camera app, fear not because Nokia has started rolling out Nokia Camera Extras on a global scale. The app basically adds various features to the camera found on Windows Phone models. Once Nokia Camera Extras is installed, you can see various additional features using which you can click action shots, panorama shots and smart group shots. The app also brings self timer, a pretty basic feature that is missing in Windows Mobile 7. When you buy a smartphone, you take these features for granted, but Microsoft doesn’t care and it is good to know that Nokia does.
Readers from Belgium and France have already been able to get their hands on this app. To check the availability of Nokia Camera Extras in your country, you can check the Windows Phone Marketplace or the Nokia Collection.
A lot of features that are added by Nokia Camera Extras are already available in stock camera apps of Android and iOS phones. We expect these features, and even more advanced, to make its appearance in stock camera app of Windows Phone 8 models. The panorama shot option lets you click many pictures and stich them together in order to get a single wide picture. The smart group shot selects faces automatically, thus helping to get the best group shot. The Action Shot mode enables the phone to click rapid shots and the self timer of course does what it should.
The app has been released for Nokia Lumia 710 and Nokia Lumia 800, as those camera features are already available by default on low end Lumia handset, the Nokia Lumia 610, and high end Lumia handset, the Nokia Lumia 900. For those having Lumia 710 and 800 and crazy about clicking snaps, this app is a must have for you folks. This app will at least bring your phone’s capability in par with your friend’s iOS and Android phones.
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Apple to post online that Samsung did not copy them

Apple has been claiming that Samsung "slavishly copied" the looks of the iPad. However, it is proving tough to convince the courts. This is especially true for the U.K. Judge, Colin Birss. Bloomberg are reporting that this is the same judge that previously threw out Apple's case against Samsung proclaiming that Samsung's tablets were unlikely to be confused with Apple's iPad because they weren't "cool enough." He has taken things a step further in his final ruling and has ordered Apple to publicly state on their own website that Samsung did not copy them. Here's a quote with some additional detail:

A U.K. judge ordered Apple Inc. (AAPL) to publish a notice on its website and in British newspapers alerting people to a ruling that Samsung Electronics Co. didn't copy designs for the iPad.
The notice should outline the July 9 London court decision that Samsung's Galaxy tablets don't infringe Apple's registered designs, Judge Colin Birss said. It should be posted on Apple's U.K. website for six months and published in several newspapers and magazines to correct the damaging impression the South Korea-based company was copying Apple's product, Birss said.
The order means Apple will have to publish "an advertisement" for Samsung, and is prejudicial to the company, Richard Hacon, a lawyer representing Cupertino, California-based Apple, told the court. "No company likes to refer to a rival on its website."

Apple may have to stand in the corner for the rest of lunch break and possibly have to send a letter of apology to Mr. Samsung for being such a big silly.
Posted by: Gareth


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