Thursday, November 28, 2013

Sailfish OS-touting Jolla phone unboxed, shows off its fresh 'sandwich' design

Sailfish OS-touting Jolla phone unboxed, shows off its fresh 'sandwich' design
Jolla, a smartphone company that got jump-started thanks to its Nokia roots, has been hard at work on a device that's fresh and different, and their efforts have finally paid off – 'The First One' phone has now been officially launched. Right on schedule, too.

We've known pretty much everything there is to know about the first Sailfish OS-touting smartphone, including price, design and specs and even how The First One handles itself in at least one benchmark. Yet, nothing truly beats seeing, in the closest form to person, what a hefty €399 (about $540) price tag gets you. Thankfully, you can see several snaps of the entire contents of The First One's box and even the phone with its signature 'sandwich' design – a swappable backplate, called The Other Half, that changes the color scheme of the entire OS, depending on its own.

For those of you too busy to go digging for specs, keep in mind that those $540 bucks don't quite have the same bang they would otherwise do with, say, Motorola nowadays. Put forth simply, you get a 4.5-inch 540x960 qHD display, a 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. Camera capabilities sit at 8-megapixels at the rear, along with an LED flash. Of course, and while we're still at the topic of noteworthy things, do take this in moderation – there's still no telling exactly how resource-hungry Jolla's Sailfish OS will be, so these may actually do the job just fine.


source: C Tech

Nokia develops the world's fastest humidity sensor based on graphene oxide

Researchers from Nokia's Research Center in Cambridge developed a new humidity sensor based on graphene oxide. The researchers say that the new sensor is ultra fast (the fastest humidity sensor ever reported, in fact), thanks to the graphene 2D structure and its superpermeability to water molecules. The sensor Nokia developed is thin (15 nm), transparent and flexible.



The sensor's response and recovery time (the time to go from 10% to 90% of the high humidity value and vice versa) is less than 100 ms. The response rate is a function of the thickness of the GO, the thicker the film, the slower the sensor. Nokia has filed several patent applications regarding this work.

Source: Nanowerk

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

New BlackBerry CEO writes brief open letter to fans


BlackBerry CEO Letter

The BlackBerry saga took an unexpected turn recently when the company announced it is no longer interested in a full or partial sale. Instead, BlackBerry fired Thorsten Heins, it took $1 billion from Fairfax and other investors, it will seek another $1 billion from the Canadian government as it negotiates a huge tax refund, and it will continue making smartphones as it tries to right the ship. New BlackBerry CEO John Chen has quite a difficult task ahead, and he penned a quick letter to BlackBerry fans asking them to get ready for a big BlackBerry rebound in the near future.
“As you know, this is a time of significant change at BlackBerry as we accelerate our efforts to transform our business,” Chen wrote on BlackBerry’s blog. “I know there has been a lot said about BlackBerry, but let me remind you that at BlackBerry, we are not dwelling on the past. We are looking towards the future.”
He continued, “We have begun moving the company to embrace a multi-platform, BYOD world by adopting a new mobility management platform and a new device strategy. We are also leveraging our tremendous assets, including BBM, our network and QNX. While we are proud of these accomplishments, we know there is more work to be done. I know that it’s going to take time, discipline and tough decisions to reclaim BlackBerry’s success and we are ready for that challenge.”
Chen said BlackBerry is excited about the future, and BlackBerry fans should be excited as well. The full letter can be read on BlackBerry’s blog, which is linked below in our source section.
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BlackBerry

Friday, November 8, 2013

Cross-platform MoliPlayer Pro bring wide video format support to Windows Phone


While we have all been sitting on a thumbs waiting for VLC to eventually come to Windows Phone, Moli Time Technology has been porting their own video player, MoliPlayer Pro to the OS.
The app, which has more than 100,000 downloads on Android, claims to be able to play almost everything, including RMVB, AVI, MKV, FLV, FLAC, APE etc…
The app is also able to play video stored in your Camera roll and your SD card, and will let you transfer video wirelessly over WIFI from your PC.
The app features:moliqr
  • Plays almost all VIDEO formats: avi, mkv, mp4, h.264, rmvb, wmv, flv, ts, m2ts, and vob. etc.
  • Plays almost all MUSIC formats: aac, mp3, ape, flac, and ogg etc.
  • Displays almost all SUBTITLES: embedded or seperate: srt, ssa, and *.ass etc.
  • MANAGES videos in folders
  • Easy wireless video transfer from your PC browser in WiFi network.
  • FAST upload from PC to the camera roll of the internal storage and/or SD card.
  • Easy GESTURE control, swiping for volume, brightness.
Early reviews suggest the app lives up to its promises, but can struggle with high bitrate HD video.
The app lacks a free trial, but the developer appears enthusiastic about supporting the platform, and is offering 25% of his original asking price of $3.99, and is only charging $2.99 to start with.

Read more and find the app in the Windows Phone Store here.

Switching between launchers in Android 4.4 KITKAT [VIDEO]



To say that switching between multiple replacement launchers in Android has been a pain would be a vast understatement. It sucked, and for a lot of users — particularly those who don’t consider themselves “power” users — it was downright confusing. Thankfully, Google looked to address that in Android 4.4 KITKAT with a new menu option under settings.
Simply dubbed “Home,” this menu houses a list of all the different home-screen / launcher replacements you have installed on your phone. Touch one, and that is now your default launcher. It’s extremely simple, but it’s a change that’s going to save a lot of people a lot of headache (especially if you’re the type to switch launchers about as often as you switch underwear).
I should note that this menu also gives you the option to uninstall said launchers, though you obviously won’t be able to rid your device of the one that came pre-installed. No biggie, there — it’s always good to have a backup plan. Watch the video above to see how this simple, yet powerful feature works.

Indian multiplex chain, Fun Cinemas, release a clone mobile ticketing app

Fun cinemas

Fun Cinemas, one of the major multi-city multiplex chain in India, has released their mobile ticketing app for Windows Phone a few days back. The app allows you to check showtimes, choose your seats, and buy tickets with several payment options.
That sounds cool, and you’d wonder why I’d dismiss it as pointless. The Fun Cinemas app is published by Bigtree Entertainment Private Limited, and is a clone of the BookMyShow app. BookMyShow, a product of the same company, is India’s largest entertainment ticketing service, and has had an app on Windows Phone since forever.

Fun Cinemas

The app has identical design, user experience, and functionality as the BookMyShow app. Essentially it offers a subset of cinema choices (limited to Fun Cinemas) as against BookMyShow’s exhaustive options. So, while I could already book tickets for a movie at Fun Cinemas through BookMyShow’s app, the Fun Cinemas app allows you to book those tickets with similar functionality with no difference in user experience. Now why would I need that?
Clearly it's a marketing decision so that people who search for Fun Cinemas in the Store will find a dedicated app versus the more robust BookMyShow. In other words, it's good for the ecosystem but not necessarily for the savvy consumer.
If you wish, you could download the Fun Cinemas app on you Windows Phone 8 devices from here. However, I’d recommend you to download BookMyShow app instead, if you haven’t already.

QR: Fun Cinemas

Mobile devices account for more than a quarter of all Internet traffic

Mobile Devices Internet Traffic Q3 2013

Going all the way back to last May, only 10% of people accessing the Internet did so through a mobile device. According to the latest report from Walker Sands, that number has since surged to a walloping 28% in the third quarter of 2013, a 67% year-over-year increase from the same quarter in 2012. John Fairley, the director of Web services at Walker Sands, explained that “device preference aside, the share of traffic coming from mobile continues to grow.” That said, certain devices have increased their share of the online market, such as the iPhone and Android tablets. On the flip side, iPads and Android phones have actually had slight decreases in traffic this quarter. Overall, iOS devices are still in the lead with 47% of all mobile traffic, but Android continues to steal traffic every year and is now up to 44.4%.


Mobile Traffic Walker Sands
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Via:
Marketing Land
Source:
Walker Sands

IK Multimedia's iLoud portable Bluetooth speaker is, well, loud

Android Central

$299.95 buys you one of the loudest portable speakers you'll find anywhere

This week IK Multimedia — the folks behind the iRig range of music accessories for mobile — launched their latest product, the iLoud. And true to its name, it's loud. We're not short on premium Bluetooth speakers to use with our Android devices, but if you really like to crank it up to 11, this might be right up your street. Peter Cohen from iMore got his hands on one, and is mightily impressed.
If you're just interested in listening to music, iLoud may not look impressive, but it earns its stripes to that end the second you fire it up. Bluetooth gets knocked by audiophiles for having low-quality sound reproduction, but iLoud is easily one of the best-sounding Bluetooth speakers I've found for this price and in this size.
It may look somewhat unassuming, but it's a 40 watt sound system that not only plays your music, but can be part of your own portable music performance. With the iRig input on the rear you're able to plug in your Bass or Guitar to it as well. At moderate sound level the iLoud promises 10 hours of use with the internal batteries, but crank it up and it'll soon reduce.

AT&T releases hands-on video of Lumia 1520, places in-store display models to play with

AT&T Lumia 1520 Mobile Minute

Late last night, the pre-order page went live for the Nokia Lumia 1520 on both AT&T and the Microsoft Store. Where should you order your phone? Depends on which perks you want to pick up. Either way, AT&T is already in full preparation to be the sole carrier here in the United States where you can pick up the Lumia 1520. How are they getting ready? By dropping another “Mobile Minute” video and placing demo units in stores.
Head to AT&Ts YouTube channel and you’ll see a series of videos called “AT&T Mobile Minute”. The videos always feature a babe going over some of the specs of the phone that AT&T is currently offering or, in the case of the Lumia 1520, plan to offer.
Who knows when this video was filmed though, because she talks about Nokia’s Pro Camera, which you now just know as Nokia Camera.
We’re also now getting reports of the device popping up as demo units in some AT&T stores. Jason sent us a photo of one from his local AT&T store in Waterbury, CT. The device isn’t for sale just yet in store, but you can definitely place your pre-order there and at the same time get your own hands-on. Warning, this phone is ridiculously big. Also, do you notice the $50 bill credit you get when you purchase the phone?

AT&T Lumia 1520

Thinking of picking up the Lumia 1520? On AT&T it will go for $199 on a two-year contact for the 16GB version that comes in either red, yellow, white, or black. AT&T will eventually be picking up their own 32GB model. Still no word on international availability though.

The world’s first 20-inch 4K tablet will cost $6,000

Panasonic Toughpad 4K Tablet
Panasonic unveiled its Toughpad line of tablets back in 2011, which originally consisted of two Android devices with adequate specs. Two years later, the company is ready to release what might be the most visually impressive tablet on the market in the Toughpad 4K UT-MB5, the world’s first 4K tablet. Measuring in at an enormous 20-inches, this professional-grade tablet features an Intel Core i5 vPro processor, 256GB SSD, 8GB of RAM, 2GB of VRAM, 720p front-facing camera and Windows 8.1 Pro OS. In terms of its drop rating, the tablet can survive ”a 30-inch drop to its back while operating, and 12-inch drops to 26 angles when nonoperational.” The whopping 5.27-pound tablet will cost $5,999 when it goes on sale in January 2014. Panasonic’s full press release follows below.
Panasonic Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 Tablet Makes U.S. Premiere
 World’s First 20-Inch 4K Tablet Enables Ultimate Productivity for Professionals in Fields Including Media and Entertainment, Design and Healthcare
Los Angeles, November 7, 2013 – Panasonic, an industry leader in reliable and innovative mobile computers since 1996, tonight at a Hollywood event announced the U.S. availability of the Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 tablet, the world’s first 20-inch tablet with a 4K resolution display. Part of Panasonic’s Toughpad line of professional-grade tablets, the device is designed for professionals in fields where visual clarity and collaboration are essential to productivity, such as video production, architecture, design, photography and healthcare. With its crystal-clear, immersive display, the Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 also can be utilized in settings such as museums, training centers, sales showrooms and galleries.
The business-rugged Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 is powered by an Intel® Core™ i5 vPro™ processor, features Windows 8.1 Pro and offers a brilliant 3840×2560 pixel display that goes beyond Ultra HD resolution. With a 20-inch IPS Alpha LCD screen featuring 230 pixels per inch, a 15:10 aspect ratio and wide viewing angles, the Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 provides a lifelike viewing experience unlike any tablet on the market. Moreover, since the system is built on the Intel vPro platform, it bridges the gap between the needs of IT professionals and workers by including unique hardware enhanced security features, remote manageability and capabilities designed to increase end user productivity and data protection.
“In our highly connected and visual world, having access to the best quality, most detailed visual information available can be a critical component of success in many fields,” said Rance Poehler, president, Panasonic System Communications Company of North America. “By delivering an unsurpassed level of image quality, running on an Intel vPro processor and using Microsoft’s most advanced operating system, the Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 tablet allows decision makers in various visual fields to view, share, manage, and interpret information to drive their innovation.”
Professional-Grade Productivity and Durability
In addition to its 10-point multi-touch input, the Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 comes with an optional Panasonic Electronic Touch Pen, a unique new device offering pixel-level precision and a distinctly pen-and-paper-like feel for freehand sketching, annotation or handwriting. The pen uses infrared signals to distinctly read each pixel on the screen and communicates with the tablet via Bluetooth®. For natural and highly accurate drawing or handwriting, the pen can be held from various angles and can interpret more than 2,000 levels of pressure.
The Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 is the world’s lightest and thinnest 20-inch tablet*. With a magnesium alloy frame enclosed in a reinforced glass fiber case, it provides business-rugged durability worthy of the Toughpad name. It’s built to handle a 30-inch drop to its back while operating, and 12-inch drops to 26 angles when nonoperational.
*World’s lightest and thinnest 20-inch tablet as of November 7, 2013
Toughpad 4K UT-MB5: Key Features
  • 4K Visual Experience: 20-inch IPS Alpha LCD screen with 3840×2560 pixel display featuring 230 pixels per inch and 15:10 aspect ratio
  • High-Performance Processing Power: Intel® Core™ i5-3437U vPro™ processor with NVIDIA® GeForce® 745M GPU
  • Operating System: Windows 8.1 Pro
  • Storage & Memory: 256GB SSD, 8 GB RAM and 2GB VRAM
  • Connectivity & I/O: Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6235 Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth® v4.0 (Class 1), USB 3.0, SDXC card slot, smart card reader, docking connector
  • Camera: 1280 x 720 pixel built-in front camera
  • Durability: Business-rugged with resistance to 12-inch drops to 26 angles (non-operating) and 30-inch drop to its back (operating)
  • Battery: 2 hours per MobileMark® 2007 testing
  • Lightweight Portability: 5.27 lbs., 0.49 inch thick
Combined with accessories such as the optional Panasonic desktop cradle and carrying case solution, the device can be used as both a desktop PC and tablet. The cradle offers USB 3.0 x3, Ethernet and HDMI-output connectivity. A VESA-compatible mounting adapter plate will be available early next year.
The Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 adds to Panasonic’s ever-expanding suite of technology for producing and consuming 4K media, including the 65-inch VIERA® WT600 Ultra-High Definition 4K TV and the BT-4LH310 LCD production monitor. The Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 was unveiled at an event this evening in Hollywood, Calif.
Pricing and Availability
The Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 will be available in January 2014 at a list price of $5,999. All Toughpad tablets can be purchased through authorized Panasonic resellers.
All products in the Toughpad family come standard with the industry’s most comprehensive 3-year warranty.
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Sorry, Google: Samsung has flat-out conquered Android

Samsung Android Device Market Share

All of Google’s marketing clout hasn’t been enough to reduce Samsung’s total dominance of its Android platform. The latest data from Localytics estimate that Samsung devices now account for 63.3% of all Android devices in the entire world, a dominant share that has left rival manufacturers far behind. All other major Android vendors are stuck with single-digit market shares including HTC (6.5%), LG (5.9%), Sony (5.6%) and the Google-owned Motorola (5%). What’s more, Samsung devices account for the top 7 most popular Android devices in the world, led by the Galaxy S III and Galaxy S IV flagship smartphones. The only non-Samsung devices to crack the top 10 most popular Android devices are the HTC One and the Motorola Droid RAZR. Localytics’ chart breaking down Android market share follows below.


global-android-share
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Source:
Localytics

Share Your Story With Nokia To Try Out Nokia Lumia 1520

AT&T Nokia Lumia 1520
Nokia Connects has announced a new contest in which Nokia will be sending you a new Nokia Lumia 1520 WP8 device for two weeks to try out. You have to share a story with Nokia through some media and they will select 100 entries to send the device. Details about the story to be shared are below.
How will you tell your story?
It could be through a series of cool 6 second Vines, stunning images on Instagram, or even inspiring videos on YouTube. Whatever way you go about it, these are recordings of your amazing lives and adventures, memories, history … and that’s what this is all about.
So, what’s your story?
A family going on holiday, a teenager taking a gap year to travel the world, a graduate beginning her new job: we want to hear about it. A newborn, a baby’s first footsteps, your toddler’s first day at playschool and ride on a carousel: we’re all ears.
Whether you’re newlyweds leaving for your honeymoon or two pensioners who still travel to the seaside every year where you had your first date, your story is important. Tell us all about it with the Nokia Lumia 1520.
If you would like to get involved, email to stories@nokiaconnects.com, with details such as name, DOB, location, your story, Twitter, website, online presence and if you have any friends or family who you would like to involve in this project. Read more from the link below.

Source: Nokia

Hands-on with Mr. Postman, a smart mailbox that links your inbox to your letterbox

DNP  Mr Postman a mailbox that tells you when the postman cometh

Sometimes, even the oldest cliches can serve as inspiration. Take the dog and the letter carrier, for instance: when Manuel Masri first moved to the United States, he was surprised to find his canine companion obsessed with the mailman. Every delivery became an event, anticipation for a 4pm delivery and an excited pooch -- but the K-9 notification system only worked when he was at home. His solution? Mr. Postman, a mailbox that knows when to expect your mail, notifies you when it arrives and locks after delivery.
Masri's smart mailbox falls into that growing category of the "internet of things," something that links typically disconnected physical objects with each other and your digital world. It also happens to be one of Engadget Expand's Insert Coin finalists. We dropped by the company's show booth to see the project's take on the future of mail delivery.



At first glance, Mr. Postman just looks like an extra-wide mailbox, differing from your standard letterbox only by the breadth of its ten-inch mouth. Look a little closer, however, and you'll find a wealth of technological goodies: solar panels, an automatic locking system and a WiFi-equipped Rasberry Pi brain (although we're told the final product will use a Spark Devices Arduino). These components allow Mr.Postman to be a smarter, more secure mailbox. Using a companion app, users can check the status of their mail delivery, remotely lock or unlock the box and even dole out virtual keys to allow neighbors to pick up mail in the absence. Don't have anybody to look after your mail while on vacation? Don't worry about it: Mr. Postman can automatically learn your mail carrier's habits, unlocking 30 minutes before his typical arrival and securing the contents after delivery.
It's not just a way to upgrade your curb-side mail deliveries (it actually comes as a kit, complete with mailbox,) Masri tells us that there's a really good opportunity to integrate the technology into community mailboxes. This would mean your shiny new apartment could come complete with a smart mailbox. Masri also explained that the team has experimented with a variety of different sensors that would even let you see what packages have arrived. But, sadly, a mixture of USPS requirements, and low light (it's dark inside them boxes) make this impractical. He did, however, go on to confirm that an API would allow USPS deliveries to hook into the app, and let users know of their arrival that way.

James Trew contributed to this post.

#Nokia demos directional Rich-recording on #Lumia1520 with live recording of Niila “Bottle of Wine”.

Untitled
This is one of the big reasons why we love Nokia smartphones so much. No other smartphone on the planet earth can come close to them in  of audio and video recording quality. It has to be a “PureView” device, if it is so good!!
Nokia has further stepped up the audio recording on Lumia 1520 with first ever four HAAC mics which record “directional stereo“. We earlier brought to you a video by  “Nokia Spain” and now Nokia has posted this live recording video on its YouTube channel which demos the rich-recording capability of Lumia 1520. Titled Niila “Bottle of Wine”, the video is certainly a must watch and listen. Put your quality headset on and you will be mesmerized!!


Now Shipping: Lenovo IdeaTab Miix2 8-Inch 32 GB Tablet from Amazon (US)

Lenovo IdeaTab Miix2 (opt. cover + stylus)

Lenovo's 8-inch tablet now available on Amazon, end of the year for Microsoft Stores

Are you yearning for a swanky new 8-inch tablet? Of course you are. The 8-inch swarm of Windows 8.1 tablets are making waves these days and now Lenovo is stepping up to the plate. Their IdeaTab Miix2, at least the 32 GB version, is now available to order at Amazon.com. Do you want it tomorrow? Order it ASAP with next-day shipping.
The 64 GB version is still not in stock and ironically, we can’t even find the Miix2 on Lenovo’s site any longer (maybe we’re just missing it) for order or pre-order.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Google Keyboard gets update to 2.0; app brings a little KitKat to your phone

Google Keyboard gets update to 2.0; app brings a little KitKat to your phone

Android users not rockin' the Nexus 5 might be feeling a little jealousy about not having the latest and greatest Android OS build on their phone. On the other hand, if you own, say, the HTC One, you know that you're going to get that confectionery OS build on your device, so any jealousy should be short-lived. In addition, Android 4.4 was said to be designed to work on low memory models, including those with just 512MB of RAM. That compares with the 2GB to 3GB of RAM found on today's high-end Android devices. In theory, this means that older Android phones could receive the Android 4.4 update. But the ultimate decision about which phones will be updated lies with the carriers and most won't want to spend the money to test the new Android build on phones that are on the way out.

But if your Android handset runs Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or higher, you can have a little piece of KitKat on your Android phone right now, by installing the updated Google Keyboard 2.0 from the Google Play Store. The holo blue UI is gone, replaced by the black and grey look of Android 4.4. Among the changes, punctuation is laid out differently across different screen sizes (4 inches, 7 inches and 10 inches). You can swipe over the space bar to generate a space instead of lifting up your finger, and if your phone supports it, you can type more expressive emoji instead of  basic smiley faces.

Want some of the same features on your keyboard that Nexus 5 owners are rocking? Update to the new Google Keyboard app by clicking on the sourcelink.

Screenshots show features from Google Keyboard
Screenshots show features from Google Keyboard
Screenshots show features from Google Keyboard
Screenshots show features from Google Keyboard

source: GoogleKeyboard via AndroidCentral

Hangouts with SMS support starts rolling out through Google Play, iOS gets minor update

Hangouts with SMS support starts rolling out through Google Play, iOS gets minor update

One of the more anticipated updates has been SMS support coming to the Hangouts app. Google announced the update a few days before the Nexus 5 went on sale and Android 4.4 was announced. The Nexus 5 has been the first device to have the updated app, but it looks like the rollout of the update has begun in Google Play.

The official change log for the app mentions a few updates that will be coming to all Android devices running 2.3 Gingerbread and higher. On that side will be the support for animated GIF sharing, location sharing, and new status options. Users will now be able to share what device you’re on, whether you’re on a call, or your current mood. The app should also include bug fixes for crashing video chats. 

But, the updates that many users want are support for SMS and MMS, but those features will only be available on devices running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and higher. Once you get the update, you'll be able to import all of your messages to the app and start group MMS conversations. One thing to note is that Hangouts, unlike iMessage, keeps SMS and IM chats separate, so you'll have to make sure you're using the service you want when messaging someone. 

The iOS version of Hangouts has also been updated, but the only update it gets are the new status messages. It doens't have the SMS, GIF, or location features.

If you want to get in on the action a bit faster, there are APK download links at the source, or you can just wait for the update to roll out to your device. 

Download: Hangouts (Android & iOS)

HTC M8 (next year’s HTC One successor) allegedly poses for pictures

htc-m8-blue

The HTC One may be one of the best Android devices currently on the market, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start dreaming of what its successor will offer. Before today, all we knew about the HTC One’s successor was its code name, HTC M8, and that it will be the first device to run HTC Sense. That all changed when someone managed to snap a few pictures of the back metal panel of the device and post them to the web.
Based on the three pictures of the HTC M8, the device will feature a very similar design to this year’s HTC One. At first glance, the pictured device could easily be mistaken for a vivid blue HTC One, but there are a few subtle differences:
  1. Small hole on back panel, located above the camera. HTC could be experimenting with 3D camera again (the HTC EVO 3D features 2 camera on the back to capture 3D images), but due to the hole’s location it’s a bit more logical to assume it will be used for a fingerprint scanner.
  2. Metal casing curves around the edges of the HTC M8. HTC boasted about the HTC One’s chamfered edges with zero-gap injection molding, but we know the company has issues manufacturing the complicated chassis. By copying the HTC One X’s unibody design, HTC may be able to save time any money in the construction of the HTC M8.
We’re not expecting HTC to officially announce the HTC M8 until February or March of 2014, so expect a solid four months of HTC M8 rumors, leaks and speculation. Besides the usual bump in specs and a slightly tweaked design, what new features do you want to see included in next year’s HTC One successor?

Via: ePrice
Source: Baidu Tieba

Verizon Ellipsis tablet now available for $250, and we finally have a list of specs
























It wasn’t but two days ago that Verizon announced the 7-inch Ellipsis, a $250 Android tablet ($150 if you’re willing to sign a two-year contract agreement) that would house Big Red’s 4G LTE radios (and an oversized bezel). Those were literally the only things we knew about the device, though, because Verizon wasn’t interested in highlighting a specs sheet — likely for good reason.


Now that the device is available (right here if you’re interested), we most definitely are interested. So what’s inside this thing? Well, the tale of the tape is just as dull as we imagined it’d be. Here’s how it reads:
  • 7-inch 1280 x 800 display
  • 1.2GHz dual-core processor (unknown make and model)
  • 1GB of RAM
  • 8GB of internal storage with microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
  • 3.2MP rear camera / VGA front camera
  • 4,000mAh battery
  • Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
  • WiFi N, Bluetooth 3.0
The user interface looks like mostly stock Android, though you can expect many of Verizon’s own applications to be pre-installed on board. It doesn’t sound like it’d be a terrible experience, but when there are tablets like, oh, say, the Nexus 7 sitting out there for about the same price, it’s a tough sell.
Of course, the issues with getting the LTE-enabled Nexus 7 up and running on Verizon’s network haven’t gone undocumented, with the company going as far as releasing a statement as to why they have been unable to allow the tablet to be activated.
Long story short, they say it’s Google and ASUS in the wrong, not them. Many of you called bologna on that, but that’s the only official word we have to go on at this time. Whatever the case may be, the Ellipsis is the affordable 7-inch 4G LTE Android tablet wants to push to consumers, and they will look to do just that with today’s launch.

Apple is once again rated the world’s most valuable brand

Apple World's Most Valuable Brand 2013

Back in September, Interbrand rated Apple as the Best Global Brand of 2013, the first time in the brand survey’s history that any brand had managed to beat out Coca-Cola. Apple looks to continue its streak in another list, this one from Forbes, which once again rates Apple as the world’s most valuable brand above Microsoft, Coca-Cola, IBM and Google. Forbes lists Apple’s brand value at $104.3 billion, nearly double that of second-place Microsoft. Interestingly, the list notes that Apple’s advertising budget is significantly smaller than the three brands directly behind it.
Another major riser in the chart is Samsung, which “had the strongest one-year gain of any brand in the top 100″ and is up by 53% from 2012. On the other hand, Nokia’s brand value has shrunk by an alarming 55% in the past year, and BlackBerry’s fate is even more dire as the smartphone maker has fallen out of the top 100 altogether.
“In such a fast moving category and industry, it is murder to catch up once you fall behind,” explains Kevin Lane Keller, branding expert and professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.
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Forbes