Week 5 in review: Galaxy S6, HTC One (M9) and Exynos

With MWC 2015 just over a month away everybody is already itching to know what the mobile world has in store and naturally the news has been overflowing with leaks. Unsurprisingly Samsung once again stole the spotlight with its highly anticipated Galaxy S6 flagship, which might indeed have an edged variant, called simply Galaxy S Edge. The handset allegedly appeared in a leaked photo along with a Spigen case. Other humors suggest that the Korean giant might be planning to release an array of advanced back replacements for the device, which should bring various exciting features, such as additional lenses and e-ink displays.

HTC also appears to be on everybody's minds with its upcoming One (M9) flagship and perhaps if rumors are to be believed One (M9) Plus as well. The Taiwanese manufacturer also released the interesting, mid-ranged Desire 526G+ to the sprawling India market last week. Speaking of device announcement they were plentiful. LG premiered the Ice Cream Smart Android smartphone with a classical flip-cover look, Xiaomi was quick to update its Redmi 2 with more RAM and storage and we say new offers by ZTE, Meizu, Asus and Gygabyte as well.

In other news Qualcomm recently confirmed that they have lost a big client for their Snapdragon 810 SoC and everything seems to point Samsung. Seeing how the manufacturer's latest in-house Exynos chips are based on a superior 14nm production process and now are equipped with built-in LTE modems, there is really no more incentive for the current leader in smartphone sales to continue using outside chips. Furthermore the Exynos 7420 simply breezes through Geekbench 3.0 test and it is not unfeasible to consider a broader future for the chip spanning outside Samsung devices and being employed by third-party manufacturers as well.

Everybody seems to be gearing up for the upcoming major event and working around the clock. B sure to keep a close eye on the news section as from the looks of things it's going to be a busy season.

LG Ice Cream Smart flip smartphone goes official in Korea

LG took the wraps off the Ice Cream Smart flip smartphone in Korea. The casually characterful handset is the second flip phone from the Korean manufacturer after the LG Wine Smart that debuted in September last year. In terms of specs, LG Ice Cream Smart packs Qualcomm Snapdragon 400...

HTC One (M9) and (M9) Plus official photos leak

Weeks of leaks and rumors on the HTC One (M9) and One (M9) Plus have inevitably lead us to the first official images of the upcoming HTC flagship duo. The treat comes courtesy of notorious leakster Evan Blass on his twitter feed. The images confirm previous info of an all-glass front panel,...

iOS 9 running on iPhone 6 spotted in benchmark results

Apple typically announces new iOS versions at the WWDC, which is scheduled for June every year. While there's about four months to go, the first benchmark coming from an iOS 9 running on an iPhone 6 have hit the Basemark OS II database. Performance seems to be on par, except for the web score....

HTC One (M9) appears in Geekbench 3.0 database

The upcoming HTC One (M9) flagship made an appearance in the Geekbench 3.0 benchmark database. The smartphone achieved single and multi-core scores of 1232 and 3587 respectively. The device from the benchmark test unsurprisingly packs Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810 chipset with 1.55GHz...

Samsung may be working on advanced case for Galaxy S6

There's a whole flock of rumors surrounding the Samsung Galaxy S6 and they don't always agree. Earlier we heard that Samsung is likely to seal the battery with a non-removable glass cover, but now info from Poland comes that the company will do quite the opposite and do a small-scale version of...

Xiaomi Redmi 2 officially updated with 2GB RAM, 16GB storage

The Xiaomi Redmi 2 was one of the first phones to launch this year, a successor to the popular and highly affordable Redmi 1S. The upgrades weren’t huge, the new chipset was easily the most noticeable change. That left the phone with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage, which is considered low these days...

Alleged image of Samsung Galaxy S6 in a Spigen case leaks

Purported images of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S6 made the rounds online courtesy of Spigen. The Korean manufacturer of mobile accessories has already listed several cases for the yet to be announced smartphone on Amazon. The latest leaked images of Samsung Galaxy S6 fall right in line...

Samsung Exynos 7420 aces Geekbench 3.0

The Samsung Exynos 7420 chipset has been tested in the Geekbench 3 benchmark, likely residing in a prototype Galaxy S6 unit. The SoC aced the benchmark test scoring 5478 and 1520 points in the multi-core and single-core tests, respectively. In comparison, the Exynos 5433 with 1.9GHz CPU...

Alleged image of the second generation Moto E leaks

Purported image of the second generation Moto E made the rounds online. The successor of Motorola Moto E XT1021 is expected to make its debut in the near future. The alleged press render gives us a clear look of the front and the back of the upcoming device. The appearance of the newcomer...

Gigabyte introduces three new Android smartphones

Gigabyte announced today a trio of new Android smartphones which cover the high-end, mid-range and entry-level market segments. They're the GSmart Guru GX, GSmart Mika MX and GSmart Roma RX, but let's kick things off with the GSmart Guru GX, the most premium of the three. The Guru GX is built...

Qualcomm confirms Snapdragon 810 snub by a “large customer”

Qualcomm confirmed that the high-end Snapdragon 810 chip will not feature "in the upcoming design cycle of a large customer’s flagship device.” The San Diego-based chipmaker announced its first quarter results for the fiscal 2015. A series of rumors point at Samsung Galaxy S6 as the most...

HTC launches Desire 526G+ dual sim in India

HTC has launched a new budget phone in India. The Desire 526G+ has a 4.7-inch qHD display, octa-core 1.7GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 8/16GB internal memory with microSD card slot, 8 megapixel rear camera with 1080p video, 2 megapixel front camera with 720p video, Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.0, dual SIM...

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 gets Lollipop update in Russia

Android 5.0 is slowly making its way to more devices. So slowly, in fact, that as of January 5 it didn't even get its slice in the pie chart of the operating system's distribution. However, for the lucky owners of a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in Russia, the update is already seeding, beating the Galaxy...

Asus ZenFone C phone announced in Malaysia

Today Asus announced the latest addition to the ZenFone lineup - the ZenFone C. It is an entry-level device that the Taiwanese manufacturer has created as a replacement for the ZenFone 4. The full specs sheet for the device already surfaced online as well as a few photos of an actual unit. The new...

5-inch Meizu m1 goes official with capable hardware for $110

Just as promised today, at the "connected" event, Meizu announced the latest addition to its smartphone lineup - the Meizu m1. The budget-friendly device is Meisu's answer to the Xiaomi Redmi 2, which recently received a hardware update with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. The new m1 is a...

Edged variant of Galaxy S6 could be called simply Galaxy S Edge

Samsung's next expected flagship device - the alleged Galaxy S6 has been generating a lot of buzz in the rumor mill. But besides the usual talk of more RAM, a better camera and whether it will be water resistant or not there is also another exciting rumor floating around, namely that the device...

Galaxy J1 now official, listed on Samsung Malaysia website

Just a few hours after we gave you an exclusive sneak peek at the device’s photo and specs, the Samsung Galaxy J1 has been made official - it is now listed on the company’s Malaysia website. Pretty much in-line with what we’ve already noted, it’s an entry-level smartphone powered by a 1.2...

ZTE Blade S6 brings LTE and Lollipop on a budget

The ZTE Blade S6 was announced today and will be headed around the world to deliver dual-SIM LTE connectivity plus Lollipop on 64-bit power for people with a tight budget. The phone is built around a 5" IPS LCD with In-cell touch tech and 720p resolution. It runs ZTE's MiFavor 3.0 interface and...

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Motorola responds to criticism, says Apple charges “outrageous prices”

The criticism from Apple’s chief designer Jony Ive towards Motorola’s Moto Maker in a recent New Yorker magazine profile, saying “that’s abdicating your responsibility as a designer,” prompted a high-level response from the Lenovo subsidiary. Rick Osterloh, the CEO of Motorola has hit back at the Cupertino-based company, describing iPhone prices as “outrageous.”

“We do see a real dichotomy in this marketplace, where you’ve got people like Apple making so much money and charging such outrageous prices. We think that’s not the future,” Motorola president Rick Osterloh said. “We believe the future is in offering similar experiences and great consumer choice at accessible prices.”

Explaining that Motorola follows a “different philosophy” than Apple, he said, “our belief is that the end user should be directly involved in the process of designing products.” Introduced with the first generation Moto X, the Moto Maker tool allows users to change the color and style of their smartphone to their exact liking.

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The first Ubuntu phone sold out twice its first day on sale (Updated)

Update, 2/12: The first online flash sale took place as previously announced, and the Ubuntu phone sold out. Due to some technical issues with the ordering process — BQ said the weight of over 12,000 orders per minute contributed to the difficulties — a surprise follow-up flash sale began, and the phones sold out within 10 minutes. More flash sales — likely only located in Europe like these sales were — will be peppered throughout this month.

When Canonical unveiled its Ubuntu Edge concept phone on Indiegogo a couple of years ago, two things were clear: the ludicrously high funding goal showed that Canonical’s main goal was to generate hype rather than funds, and the company was taking a more aggressive approach to give Linux some mainstream appeal. If Ubuntu was treading water in the desktop space, maybe it could do a lap or two in the mobile market? The Edge didn’t meet its funding goal, but next week — two years after the concept was revealed — the first Ubuntu mobile phone will go on sale.Around one year ago — almost to date — we learned that Canonical managed to wrangle a couple of partners to help manufacture Ubuntu mobile phones, Meizu and BQ Readers. Since then, though, what we mostly heard was silence. Next week, BQ will be able to say it sold the world’s first Ubuntu smartphone. Canonical’s mobile OS will be placed on BQ’s Aquaris E4.5, traditionally a midrange Android phone, sporting a 1.3GHz quad-core Cortex A7 processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, and a micro SD card slot packed underneath a 4.5-inch 540×960 display, alongside a 8MP rear camera and 5MP front camera. There’s no LTE compatibility, but the phone does have two micro SIM slots. It’s not exactly the Ubuntu Edge, which promised to be a super phone that can morphfrom mobile to a full desktop environment, but for Canonical — at least at this stage — it’ll do. It’s clear that Canonical is simply testing the market with as little risk as possible, and seeing how big of a draw the unique Ubuntu mobile experience will be.

Canonical and BQ plan to generate hype not through the midrange specs, but through exclusivity. Not only will this be the only purchasable Ubuntu smartphone for now, but it will initially be sold through online flash sales, creating an air of urgency — and if you’ve been clamoring for an Ubuntu mobile device since the failed Edge campaign, you’re out of luck if you’re out of Europe. Canonical, at least, is working on a strategy to make the phone available in US markets, but there isn’t a definitive timeframe.

If you’re in Europe, you’ll have to keep an eye on both Canonical and BQ, as the flash sales seem to be just that — a flash. If you’re invested in the mobile Ubuntu alternative, hope that your European brethren gobble up the phones and help build a viable market.

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Windows 10 Technical Preview now available for phones

As leaked last week, the very first release of Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones is now out. You can download and install it on one of just six smartphones that are currently supported.

Microsoft promises more handsets will be added to subsequent Preview builds in the future, but for now you can only proceed if you own a Lumia 630, Lumia 635, Lumia 636, Lumia 638, Lumia 730, or Lumia 830.

The software giant also notes that this is a "very early" preview, which means many things may break or not work right from the start. Bugs are to be expected, and there's a very long list of known issues at the Source link.

The user experience isn't polished yet, and you will see rough edges here and there. Microsoft says it's sharing it now for you to be able to give it feedback and help shape the final Windows 10 release for phones.As described in the presentation video above, the Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones comes with a small subset of the features that will be in the final build. The full-size background image for the Start screen is in, as are more quick actions in the Action Center, and interactive notifications.

The speech-to-text ability of the OS has been improved significantly, and the more powerful Photos app will aggregate your local photos with those you have stored on OneDrive.

For now, Cortana will be limited to the US and will only work with English, which is a step back from its functionality in the latest version of Windows Phone 8.1. That said, Microsoft promises that by the time Windows 10 is finished, its virtual assistant will be more capable than it ever was.

Coming in future builds will be the Office universal apps, as well as the new Mail and Calendar apps and Skype integrated directly into Messaging.

If you own one of the aforementioned supported devices and wish to take Windows 10 for phones for a spin, you need to first join the Windows Insider Program. Then you install the Windows Insider app, start it up, register your device, then check for updates. As work on Windows 10 for phones progresses, you'll get all the new builds, including the final one when that's out.

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Apple officially doubled the size limit for iOS applications. Going forward, App Store package submissions can carry a maximum size of 4GB. The new iOS app size limit marks a serous jump from the previously allowed 2GB. Apple’s cellular network app delivery size has remained unchanged at 100MB. A 4GB app size limit is surely going to benefit high-profile video game titles for iOS. Larger space allowed will result in more media and better graphics. The classic game BioShock for iOS is a great game example that can take advantage of the larger binaries. The current version of the game arrived on Apple’s mobile platform with scaled-down graphics in order to squeeze into the previous 2GB app size limit.

Apple brought two-step authentication to FaceTime and iMessage. The Cupertino giant has been using the feature for iTunes and iCloud accounts since 2013.

Going forward, iMessage and FaceTime users will need to enter a second security code after their user name and password. The code is sent via text to a registered device or to the Find My iPhone application.

By offering the beefed up security feature, Apple will make it more difficult for hackers to access iMessage and FaceTime accounts. The feature is commonly used by banks for accessing their online services.

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Asus Memo Pad ME572C review: A pad to remember

We have in our anxious reviewer hands the current top-dog of the Asus 7-inch crowd, the Memo Pad 7 ME572C. The Asus naming convention doesn't help much in identifying specific models and one must resort to alphanumeric internal designations to differentiate it from the more humble Memo Pad 7 ME176C. The "C" in the end designates the Wi-Fi only version of the tablet, which we'll be reviewing, as opposed to the "CL" LTE-enabled model. Other than the cellular connectivity, however, both models are identical and our findings are equally true.

   
Asus Memo Pad 7 (ME572C) official photos

Asus boasts an extensive lineup of affordable tablets with multiple offerings spanning the entire range from 7" to 10". No less than five distinct 7-inchers are in existence, launched since 2014, and then we have a few more from earlier before, notably the Asus-made Google Nexus 7 (2013).

Either way, the tablet in question has a lot going for it.

Key features

• 7.0-inch IPS LCD with a 1200 x 1920 pixel resolution for 323ppi, Corning Concore glass
• Intel Atom Z3560 chipset with 1.83GHz quad-core CPU, PowerVR G6400 GPU
• 16/32GB of built-in storage, expandable via microSD up to 64GB
• 5MP main camera, 2MP front shooter
• Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.0; GPS/GLONASS; USB On-The-Go
• 3,950mAh battery capacity
• Stereo speakers
• Android 4.4 with proprietary ZenUI overlay
• Solid build, attractive styling

Main disadvantages

• Screen gets instantly covered in smudges
• Speakers prone to muffling when tablet is held in landscape mode

As you can see the Memo Pad 7 ticks all of the right boxes, and our complaints are more nitpicking than actual design blunders. The sharp display is the best in the company's lineup at this size and is easily into Retina-grade pixel density territory.

Intel's upper midrange chipset should be comparable to the popular flagship-grade Snapdragon 800. GPU is the same as in the iPhone 5S, but here it's clocked higher and should be able to beat the Adreno 330 bundled with the Snapdragon 800. 2GB or RAM allow for unhindered multitasking, while the expandable storage means plenty of room for content.

Design is a throwback to the Nexus 7 with the same camera and button placement and overall footprint, albeit with sharp corners this time around. That's not to say that the Memo Pad 7 doesn't possess its own personality.

  
Asus Memo Pad 7 (ME572C) live images

Those are just first impressions, though. Follow us as we delve deeper into our review routine, starting with a closer look at the body and design.

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iPhone 6 Sent To Space For The Ultimate Drop Test Video

If you were looking for a great drop test video, then you have landed at the right place. UAG, a case maker company has done the ultimate drop test for an iPhone 6 – they dropped it from space! Check out the videobelow which shows the iPhone 6 being dropped from space.

iPhone 6 Space Drop

There are lot’s of drop tests videosand more are being made but everyone has to outdo the other person. That is exactly what UAG tried to do in their drop test video.

They attached an iPhone 6 with the UAG case to a balloon, the balloon was rigged with two GoPro cameras, 1 GPS locator and a backup phone with GPS and active tracking installed.

The iPhone 6 attached with the balloon went to a height of 101,000 feet, survived temperatures of -79 F and wind speeds of over 70 mph.

Check out the iPhone 6 space drop test video below.

Although the video is great but it still lacks a true drop test as the parachute kicked in to reduce the speed (terminal velocity) and the phone actually landed in the mud. But it still is a great drop test video.

After the impact the phone was turned on to see if it worked or not. Not surprisingly it did work.

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Popular Apps Shown Running on Apple Watch

Apple Watch is going to be released somewhere in March, if rumors are to be believed. But so far we have not seen any popular apps running on the smart watch from Apple. Well, that is where concept artists come in. We now have concepts of how popular apps running on the Apple Watch will look like. Check them out below.

The digital agency HUGE has created these mock ups for everyone to see on how apps on the Apple Watch will look like and how they will function.

The Apple Watch is built to be more of a notification-focused device. Where users will mostly interact with notifications rather than the app itself.

Here you can check out how Uber, one of the popular apps, will work and function accordingly. Uber will mostly likely be focused on the estimated arrival times and the directions the car is going.

Here is the Foursquare app showing nearby locations and using voice-search to figure what where to eat.

Here is the chase Apple Watch app showing how to transfer money to someone.

Instagram Apple Watch app.

As you can see from the images above, the Apple Watch is going to have a complete different UI from what we are used to. Also, the way we interact with the watch is going to be different.

We really can’t wait for the Apple Watch to be released. What are your thoughts on this?

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