Yesterday in the evening I've received a notification on my Galaxy S3 device with a Software update. I was so excited about it as possibly it would be the multi-window update for the S3 device that was anticipated. Eventually it was. In addition they've added some few stuff like the Google chrome and Group Cast for Wi-Fi files netwark sharing and Paper Artist for tweaking your photo
We would love to see some new stuff from the gigantic Korean company especially with the new update ... Please post your experience and comments below.
The Galaxy Camera is Samsung's first Android based point and shoot camera.
Check the video review after the break.
The Samsung Galaxy Camera is powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core processor, it has a 8GB of storage (expandable via microSD card), a 16 megapixel BSI CMOS sensor with a 23mm wide-angle lens, 21x optical zoom, 4.8-inch 1280 x 720 (308ppi) touch screen, 3G/4G and Wi-Fi connectivity, runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of box and retails for $499.99.
After its Android lineup, Huawei has announced its first Windows Phone 8 device, the Ascend W1. Check the hands on video after the break.
The Ascend W1 features a 4-inch (480 x 800 pixels) display, dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor at 1.2 GHz with Adreno 305 GPU, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage expandable (up to 32GB) via microSD card, 5-megapixel rear camera, VGA front-facing camera, 1,950mAh battery and will be available in blue, red, black and white colors. It will be released this month in China and Russia (no price details), with Western Europe, Middle East, USA and other selected countries to follow.
With all the speculation running wild about Windows Phone sales with no real numbers to back them up Microsoft CEO himself Steve Ballmer took the stage at Qualcomm's keynote where he made the following statement:
"The new Windows Phones are incredible," he said. "In November, we reported that sales were four times greater than the same time last year, and during the week of Christmas, we sold five times more phones than the same week last year."
While these are real numbers they are also numbers that Microsoft is clearly picking and choosing for statements. I mean "...during the week of Christmas, we sold five times more phones than the same week last year." If that is not cherry picking sales numbers to make them look better I don't what is. That being said what did sales number look at during the 4th Qtr?
According to the best source on these matters Gartner 2,759,000 Windows Phones were sold in Q4 2011 so using the more reliable number of four times of the sales of last year Windows Phone sold slightly over 11 million units in the 4th Qtr of 2012.
So how many phones is this relative to all phone sales? It's a pretty good chunk actually. To put it in perspective AT&T had a record setting 4th Qtr in smartphone terms by sell 10 million smartphones... So to put it in tangible terms picture every smartphone that AT&T sold in the 4th quarter being a Windows Phones than add one million on top of that. Soon we will have real numbers to go by and we will see if Ballmer's figures hold true or if he is simply spinning the numbers.
Lenovo has announced its 5.5-inch Android-based phablet at CES, the IdeaPhone K900.
Check the videos after the break.
The Lenovo IdeaPhone K900 features a 5.5-inch 1080p display (400ppi), it’s powered by 2GHz dual-core Atom processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage (expandable via microSD card), it has 13 megapixel back camera with dual flash (Sony Exmor BSI sensor, f/1.8 focal length lens), a 2 megapixel front-facing camera with 88 degree viewing angle, its just 6.9mm thin and weighs 162g. The prototype device runs Jelly Bean 4.1 but Lenovo promises Android 4.2 on launch.
The phablet will start selling in China later this year (most probably April) and it will later hit India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Russia, and the Philippines. Sorry, but the Lenovo IdeaPhone 900 is not coming to US.
Great specs and great looking device! What do you say guys?
T-Mobile has announced the most affordable BlackBerry smartphone to its customers.
The Curve 9315 features a 320×240 164ppi display, 512MB of RAM, 3.2 megapixel rear camera, a microSD storage expansion slot (up to 32GB), built-in FM radio, GPS and run Blackberry OS 7.1.
Brad Duea, senior vice president of product management at T-Mobile said:
"At T-Mobile, our goal is to delight customers. The new BlackBerry Curve 9315 will delight customers with unprecedented value while also allowing them to combine their mobile business and personal use in one great device. The Curve 9315 is the most affordable BlackBerry smartphone on our nationwide network and provides our customers with a wide variety of productivity and social features to keep them connected and make their mobile lives easier."
Richard Piasentin, managing director for the U.S. at Research In Motion said:
"We're pleased to work with T-Mobile to bring the BlackBerry Curve 9315 to customers. The Curve 9315 is designed to make it incredibly easy to stay connected with friends, family and coworkers and will be popular with customers upgrading to a smartphone for the first time, as well as existing Curve customers looking for a step up in speed and functionality."
The BlackBerry Curve 9315 will be available for preorder for T-Mobile business customers starting January 16th and will hit the stores at January 23rd. It's priced at $49 out-of-pocket down payment and 20 equal monthly payments of $10 per month via T-Mobile’s Equipment Installment Plan with a new two year contract, a little bit pricy knowing that the new BlackBerry 10 devices will launch at the end of the month.
It seems that Nokia is ready and willing to roll out the Windows Phone 7.8 update to all their devices but they are waiting on Microsoft at the moment.
This is according to a site called PocketGamer.biz. Nokia has told them:
...the roll out of 7.8 to existing devices remains in Microsoft's hands, though the firm's Windows Phone 7 currently shipping to retail – such as the Lumia 800 – have the update pre-loaded.
However sadly that is all the information that Nokia could give on this subject at the time.
"With Windows Phone 7.8 beginning to ship pre-loaded on Nokia Lumia smartphones, we will naturally be deploying the software to our factories for product rollout,... At present we have no more information we can give about wider availability of the update for phones running Windows Phone 7.5."
This update was expected late last month and devices have already been flashed to WP 7.8 using Navifirm so it is disappointing that Microsoft is not letting it go to the masses. Hopefully this leak is a good start and it will force Microsoft's hand on this update.
Last month, Jolla officially unveiled its MeeGo-based Sailfish OS and now the guys over at Engadget had a chance to take a closer look at the UI and other nifty features.
Check the walk-through video after the break.
The first Jolla device is expected to be released by summer 2013.
Very, very soon RIM will make it's return to the mobile market with the launch of a few very key devices. The Blackberry Z10 is one of those devices. This is BlackBerry's first major all touch screen device since the BlackBerry Storm 2 and if it doesn't do better than the Storm did Blackberry is in for a world of trouble. This will officially launched on the 30th of January with launch of the new OS Blackberry 10. Check out more pics and rumored specs below:
Processor: Dual Core 1.5GHz TI OMAP 4470? Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960 (US and Canada)
Radio: Quad Band HSPA+ / UMTS (850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz) ?Quad Band GSM / GPRS (850/900/1800MHz) ?Quad Band LTE: Bands 2,4,5,13,17 (700, 850,1700, 1900MHz)
Display: 4.2"?1280x768?356PPI ?24 Bit Color ?15:9
Camera: 8MP Auto Focus ?2MP Front Facing ?Flash ?1080p Video Recording
Connectivity: NFC ?microUSB ?microHDMI-Out ?Bluetooth 4.0 LE
Are these specs in this device enough to get back on board with a BlackBerry device? I am personally waiting for the BB10 OS unveiling before I pass judgement however, I really think Blackberry is too late coming back into the smartphone game for it be a success.
U.S. Cellular has started to roll out the much awaited multi-window software upgrade for its Galaxy Note II users. Check the full changelog after the break.
The multi-window update brings some bug fixes and the following new features and enhancements:
-Split screen functionality is supported (Multi-Window)
-The following U.S. Cellular pre-loads are included:
City ID - v. 1.25.1
Daily Perks - v. 4.5.14
Your Navigator Deluxe - v 3.1.4.7141069
Tone Room Deluxe - v. 2.0.31
Gameloft Portal - v. 2.1.1
Mobi TV - 5.1.1.6-216355
Amazon Apps - v. 2.6.53
Amazon Audible - v. 1.3.9
Amazon IMDB - v. 2.7.0
Amazon MP3 - v. 2.7.0
Amazon Shopping - v. 2.0.2
Amazon Zappos - v. 2.0.2
Amazon Kindle - v. 3.7.1.8
Let's Golf 3 - 1.0.2
Slacker Radio 3.2.1062
Wi-Fi Now - 4.4.67
When taking pictures using “BURST” mode sometimes when you go to gallery pictures would not be displayed they would be black images
-Devices would occasionally toggle between 3G and 1X which is not customer impacting but could generate calls
-Could not search image files by “Search” option in My Files application
-UI changes
-In drop down menu "Sync" was replaced with "Multi-Window" option
-Sound icon (4th position) color was changed from Gray to Green
The update is available via OTA, to update your Note II just go to Settings - About Device - Software update.
