LG has given some pretty cool details on the next-gen technology we can expect to see in camera phones.
The most interesting is the confirmation that the Korean brand is working on optical zooms for smartphones, something which hasn't been seen outside of Asia for over half a decade.
Jakyung Jeon, Senior Research Engineer from LG's camera sensor development arm, Innotek, said that brand was working on a: "slim optical zoom for the [smartphone] size."
He added: "We're looking at developing a 16MP cameraphone sensor as well as working on optical image stabilisation for our sensors.
"We've already completed and ramped up iris and mechanical shutters on cameraphones for another customer too."
Power snapper
While consumers may have lost interest in the megapixel wars (especially since the launch of Nokia's 808 Pureview) but the notion of a mechanical shutter is interesting, as it will allow crisper and better-lit pictures from a mobile.
LG also said that optical image stabilisation, shown off on the Nokia Lumia 920 handset, was something that many other of its customers had requested and it was hoping to complete development on the technology soon.
So it's good news for those that just HAVE to show the world how much fun they're having – and even more chance to ruin them with Instagram too.
Hands-on pictures of LG's new Optimus G flagship phone and some of its new camera features.
Earlier today, LG unveiled its Optimus G flagship phone. We were on hand in Seoul, South Korea for the event. You can read more about the Optimus G here, or check out our hands-on video of the new Android phone. These are some rough pictures I was able to take of the phone at the debut event. We’ll have more pictures and hands-on impressions soon, but these show off a few of the new features, especially the voice-activated camera shutter and Time Catch Shot, which takes a series of pictures before you press the shutter button, allowing you to go back and choose from the best one.
If free and speedy Wi-Fi is important to you when you fly, JettBlue's plan to improve connectivity on its aircraft may be of interest.
American low-cost airline JetBlue is gearing up to roll out super-fast Wi-Fi on its aircraft, with the free service scheduled to launch early next year.
An internal email to company employees obtained by The Verge reveals the importance JetBlue is placing on in-flight connectivity.
“Currently, Wi-Fi on board is a competitive advantage. Customers, especially those traveling for business, with everything else being equal, will choose the airline that offers connectivity, even if the service is spotty or expensive,” it said.
JetBlue will apparently be using satellite communications provider ViaSat to provide the Wi-Fi service. The email said that in a test using the company’s technology, 10 webpages loaded in just 80 seconds. “The second-fastest service, commonly deployed by our competitors, took as long as 8 minutes, 42 seconds,” the airline claimed in the correspondence.
It said that up to now passengers found on-board Wi-Fi to be disappointingly slow. “The challenge for us was building a Wi-Fi product that broke this slow, frustrating and ultimately unsatisfactory mold. We wanted to find a way to deliver [a] faster and less expensive service that would result in greater satisfaction.”
The email says the service will be free until at least 30 of its planes offer it, though no time-frame for this is suggested. However, the good news is that for basic tasks, such as emailing and surfing the Web, it will remain free.
JetBlue is apparently set to confirm its plans at the World Low Cost Airlines Conference, taking place in London this week.
With smartphones and tablet ownership on the rise, an increasing number of gadget-equipped passengers are expecting Wi-Fi during their flight as a basic offering. JetBlue evidently believes in-flight connectivity to be an important factor that by itself can influence which airline a passenger books with.
How about you – would you book a flight ticket based on whether the carrier offered decent in-flight Wi-Fi, even if the airline’s overall service was known to be “spotty or expensive”?
LG has revealed more tantalizing features of its upcoming flagship phone, the Optimus G, which is set to be shown later today in South Korea.
LG has been teasing its upcoming Optimus G flagship phone since August, and today I’ve got one more tease for you. I’m in South Korea and will soon get some hands-on time with an actual Optimus G, but for now, LG has given us yet another textual glimpse into the future of its Android lineup. Below are some new features promised on the Optimus G, which already has some impressive specs.
(Update by Jeff: I’ve added some hands-on pictures. I will have a full hands-on writeup and video coming soon!)
Cross-tasking: Is it better than multitasking?
With Windows 8 coming soon, Android manufacturers seem eager to push Google’s Android OS to have some real multitasking. Samsung did it with the Galaxy Note 10.1, to a degree, but it sounds like the Optimus G may have a more robust solution in place. LG is promising “cross-tasking of activities without limitation.” What is a cross-task, you ask? I’m not exactly sure yet, but LG defines it as “complex tasks that can be completed simultaneously without having to compromise other tasks.” When I’m finally able to spend time with the phone, I’ll translate that into english.
Some of the new “cross-tasking” features:
QSlide Function: Full splitscreen, which can show two entirely separate screens side by side on one phone. We don’t know the limits of this functionality yet. Hopefully, there aren’t any limits.
Live Zooming: You can zoom in up to 5 times on videos you’re streaming (possibly local videos as well).
Dual Screen Dual Play: You can mirror your smartphone screen on the TV or project different content to your TV screen, like a PowerPoint presentation. While you project the slideshow, your phone can show notes.
QuickMemo: Allows you to draw on the screen and then use those notes in new ways.
Screen Zooming: You can zoom in and out of lists in certain apps like the music player, email app, texting app, and photo gallery. You can also change the screen layout and font size, I assume, of the entire phone.
Application Link: You can tell your Optimus G to launch certain apps, like email, as soon as you shut off your alarm in the morning, shaving valuable seconds off your day.
Icon Personalizer: Have you ever wanted to create your own icons? You will be able to change app icons and edit their size to better customize your phone.
Fancy new camera
We already knew the Optimus G would come with a 13-megapixel camera (8-megapixel in the U.S., I’m guessing), but we now know it packs a few new features.
Time Catch Shot: This feature is popping up everywhere. You can choose between different pictures which were taken before you even pressed the shutter button.
Cheese Shutter: You can take photos by literally saying “cheese,” “kimchi,” or “smile” out loud.
Smart Shutter: This adjusts the shutter speed based on how much the camera is shaking and how much movement is in the shot.
Low Light Shot Noise Reduction: This feature uses the light sensor on the phone (or the camera itself) to monitor light levels and reduce noise in low-light situations.
Crystal Reflection
LG has revealed that the phone is built as a unibody design, meaning it is all one big piece. This, of course, means that there is no removable battery, but the 2100mAh battery supposedly lasts longer than current batteries and can charge more times (800) without losing charging capacity. The back of the phone has a “Crystal Reflection” process applied to it, which supposedly gives it the ability to display different patterns based on what angle and light you look at it from. The effect is three dimensional in some way and resembles “a jewel.” We won’t really understand this until we see it tomorrow.
This is all in addition to the 4.7-inch 1280 x 768 pixel screen, which has “Zerogap Touch,” which will hopefully improve the responsiveness of the screen, which runs on an IPS+ LCD display, which is pretty cutting edge itself.
Coming soon
The Optimus G will hit shelves in South Korea “next week” and will be released elsewhere around the world in “October.” Please stay tuned for full hands-on coverage this week.
We see QR codes everywhere, though research suggests they're rarely scanned. Tourism officials in the British outpost of Gibraltar are hoping that won't be the case when it launches 'Gibraltarpedia', an initiative that will equip the territory's landmarks and places of interest with their own QR codes linked to Wikipedia pages offering more information.
We see QR codes all over the place, from magazines to posters to business cards. There’s even a cemetery in Denmark that’s using them to tell the life story of the deceased. A giant one turned up in a Canadian cornfield the other day, too.
Gibraltar, a small overseas territory of the UK located at the entrance to the Mediterranean in southwestern Europe, is also getting in on the act with its soon-to-launch Gibraltarpedia project. The plan is to plaster the place with QR codes giving smartphone-equipped tourists quick access to information about various sites and points of interest.
With 11 million visitors a year coming to the British outpost, tourist officials there are keen to find new ways of enriching their experience, and Clive Finlayson of the Gibraltar Museum thinks QR codes can go some way to help.
“Gibraltar is a multi-layered cake of historical events, starting with the Neanderthals of 50,000 years ago through to modern humans,” Finlayson told the BBC. “Here we have another way of getting all this information across to the world.”
The codes will take users to a Wikipedia page explaining about the place of interest. Volunteers are currently working hard on creating the new pages in a multitude of languages.
Roger Bamkin of Wikimedia, the charity that owns Wikipedia, is planning for the QR codes to communicate with the user’s handset to determine the language of the uploaded webpage.
“By scanning QR codes around them, tourists will be to able to find out about the place they are visiting in their own language, with the description written by a volunteer speaking that language,” Bamkin said.
Of course, it could be that many visitors, fearful of pricey roaming charges, will simply stick with a traditional printed guidebook rather than scanning codes. To get around this, the authorities are considering introducing free Wi-Fi.
Despite the good intentions of Gibraltar’s tourism office, getting visitors to use the codes may be an uphill struggle. The results of a recent comScore study showed that in July this year only 11 percent of UK smartphone owners scanned a QR code. That’s pretty dismal for a technology that’s been around almost 20 years.
Either way, the codes will provide tourists visiting the territory with another option for pulling up information besides guidebooks, pamphlets and apps.
While QR codes have failed to really take off in other areas, do you think it could find its place in the tourism industry? Would you be tempted to whip out your smartphone if you saw a QR code beside a famous landmark?
At a special event in South Korea, LG officially launched the most powerful Android phones do date, the Optimus G.
Built around a 4.7-inch True HD IPS Plus display with a resolution of 1280 x 768 (15:9 ratio), the Optimus G is powered by a Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset, featuring a 1.5GHz quad-core Krait processor and the whopping 2GB of RAM. Naturally, this powerhouse boasts LTE connectivity as well as NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, and Wi-Fi with DLNA.
At the back there's gonna be either 13MP or 8MP snapper, both teamed up with a LED flash and capable of shooting 1080p video. Below the back cover resides a 2,100 mAh battery rated for 15h of talk time and 335hours of standby.
Measuring 131.9 x 68.9 x 8.45mm, the Optimus G weighs 145 grams which is pretty good for a smartphone with such large screen and powerful internals. Internal storage is 32GB.
The LG Optimus G runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, with LG's proprietary Optimus UI launcher on top. However, an update to Jelly Bean is scheduled to follow in the not so distant future. Speaking of the customization LG has put on the Optimus G, it has quite a few outstanding features.
One of the most useful is called QSlide Function and it allows you to split the screen in two and have different apps running in each half. Some of the other interesting ones are Application Link, which launches a pre-defined app once you turn off the alarm and Cheese Shutter for taking pictures with voice commands.
Pricing of the LG Opitmus G is not known yet, but will surface when the device goes on sale in Korea starting next week. Global availability will follow soon afterwards.
LG has announced its launch plans for it new quad-core powered LG Optimus G smartphone and more details on its new flagship.
The new handset, which was announced last month, features a quad-core chip from its pals over at Qualcomm, with the Krait S4 Pro chip making an appearance, along with LTE connection speeds.
LG has also lobbed in a number of new user experience features, such as being able to play video while browsing the web (wait a minute…) personalise your icons through pics and size alterations and Time Catch Shot to give you an even better chance of finding the best photo.
Bigger and better?
There's a 4.7-inch WXGA True HD IPS Plus display on there too, offering up 1280 x 768 pixels (although eschewing traditional widescreen formats for a 15:9 option).
It's also, disappointingly, only going to launch running Android Ice Cream Sandwich, with no word on when Jelly Bean will be offered. However, given LG's relatively slow progress in updating Android versions, this isn't too much of a surprise.
Enough with the negative stuff though, as the LG Optimus G is chock-full of next-gen tech. It's got 2GB of RAM, which, combined with the S4 chip, will allow even greater efficiency when multi-tasking, according to LG.
Snap attack
This is backed up by a 13MP camera (although this will drop to 8MP in some markets when launched), and a 1.3MP snapper on the front for video chatting and pouty self-portraits.
LG is also proud of its battery technology, developed by LG Chem for a prolonged lifetime of use – hopefully meaning you won't have to fork out for an improved power pack during your contract.
Continuing the collaborative theme, both LG Innotek and LG Display have contributed to the Zerogap Touch and True HD IPS Plus display, which the company claims will have: "the slimmest, sharpest and clearest viewing experience yet".
Thin but when?
This is all packed into a handset that's just 8.45mm thin… sure, that's nearly a millimetre thicker than the iPhone 5, but at this level we can't seen anyone really caring.
The final piece of the puzzle has yet to be revealed though: when we can expect to see it. LG tells us it's going to launch in LTE markets first, meaning the likes of Japan, South Korea and the US are listed.
Europe is on the cards too, so the UK might get something superfast for the new EE network or possibly a watered-down 3G version… we're pushing LG hard to get us something resembling an answer.
With its likely unveiling less than 48 hours away, an alleged press shot of HTC's long rumored 5" smartphone has emerged. When official, the Taiwanese Android powerhouse will likely be called HTC One X 5.
The rumored specs of the HTC One X 5 include a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset and a 1080p display. If this is the case, the handset will easily top the current crop of Android top dogs.
The device in the press shot also looks a lot like the one which leaked out in a blurry image a couple of weeks back.
We will likely find out all about the new device at HTC's event in New York City this coming Wednesday. We will be covering it live from the spot, so be sure to stick around.
With Google scooping up Nik Software and its iOS app, Snapseed, Google Plus users might be seeing some dramatic changes to the way we publish images on the social network.
Facebook has an emerging competitor in the wake of the Instagram acquisition. Google has acquired Nik Software, a 17-year-old company that develops digital image editing tools. But there’s a catch: A report from TheVerge says that the acquisition’s motivation was so that Google can get its hands on Snapseed, an iOS photograph app.
The acquisition should bring the coveted photography-based mobile reach (a huge motivation for Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram) to Google’s social network, Google+. Like Instagram, Snapseed adds a vintage flair to your photos, although it also has comprehensive in-app photo editing functions and photo-altering filters including tilt-shift effects. It was also an iOS first app – Snapseed started out as an iPad app and followed up with an iPhone app launched in August 2011. The differences lie, of course, in the fact that the number of Snapseed users is dwarfed by Instagram’s user base. In Snapseed’s latest figures (released in the middle of June), Nik Software revealed said it had amassed more than nine million users. It’s defintiely a far cry from Instagram’s 100 million users.
Currently Snapseed claims the spot of the 13th top paid app in the photograph genre in Apple’s App Store (it costs $4.99) and the 178th top grossing app, according to Appdata.
Snapseed may not have the largest number of users, but is has a decent reputation and Google now also has unprecedented access to Nik Software’s product line of photography software that typically runs for just under $100 dollar to upwards of $300. We could see Google wrapping Nik Software products into improving photos and maybe even videos on Google+.
In a Google Plus post by Vic Gundotra, the Senior Vice President of Engineering at Google, the acquisition was confirmed and corroborated by the official announcement by Nik Software. “We are pleased to announce that Google has acquired Nik Software. For nearly 17 years, we’ve been guided by our motto, ‘photography first,’ as we worked to build world class digital image editing tools. We’ve always aspired to share our passion for photography with everyone, and with Google’s support we hope to be able to help many millions more people create awesome pictures,” said Gundotra.
What hasn’t been announced yet is whether Snapseed would continue to live on iOS devices, although we can’t see why that wouldn’t be the case. Of course launching the Android app will be a major priority for Google. We checked out Snapseed’s site, and noticed that the Android app was in the works and will only work on operating systems running the Android OS 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) version or later.
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's mobile payment service Square is now worth a reported $3.25 billion (£2bn) following a recent injection of cash.
A round of funding has raised $200 million (£125m), which will see the company expand beyond the United States later this year, according to AllThingsD.
Significantly, a large chunk of that sweet investment dollar came from Starbucks, which will now switch to using the Square technology and allow customers to pay for coffee using the Square app.
Boost for small businesses... and Starbucks
Square has been a huge boon for small business owners allowing them to take credit card payments, simply by plugging a white dongle into the headphone jack of an iOS or Android devices.
Square is now processing $8 billion a year in credit and debit card transactions.
Once Starbucks starts using the service, those numbers are likely to go through the roof.
Google has picked-up its own photo-sharing app to rival Facebook's purchase of Instagram, by acquiring the German photography software company Nik.
Nik developed the Snapseed application for iOS devices, which was the iPad App of the Year in 2011 and grabbed nine million users in its first year.
The application costs $4.99 from the App Store and it is thought that an Android version of the software is in the works too. You'd imagine that process may be sped up a little now.
The app garnered huge popularity thanks largely to its multi-touch enabled editing capabilities, but Nik also boasts a range of photography software which is now also under Google's control.
Joining Google+
The Snapseed team will relocate to the Mountain View HQ to join the Google+ team, so Google's intentions are pretty clear on this one.
"We want to help our users create photos they absolutely love, and in our experience Nik does this better than anyone," said Google+ boss Vic Guntora.
In a statement on the Nik website, the company said: "We are pleased to announce that Google has acquired Nik Software. For nearly 17 years, we've been guided by our motto, "photography first", as we worked to build world class digital image editing tools.
"We've always aspired to share our passion for photography with everyone, and with Google's support we hope to be able to help many millions more people create awesome pictures."
HTC may announce the new One X 5 phablet this week
With new phones like the iPhone 5 and Lumia 920 seemingly being unveiled every week this month, it should come as no surprise HTC may be planning a big reveal (or two) of their own.
HTC already has an event scheduled for Sept. 19, though it's anyone's guess what the company may be showing off.
However, newly discovered press photos may have prematurely revealed at least one of the to-be-announced devices HTC is planning to show off.
Dubbed the One X 5, the new phone could be construed as more of a phablet considering it's believed to come with a 5-inch screen.
One X to get super-sized?
There's little else known about this mystery phone at the moment, including whether or not it will be part of HTC's planned event.
It's rumored the One X 5 will use a Snapdragon S4 quad-core processor, and that it may use a full 1080p display, but exact specifications have yet to be discovered.
HTC's One X 5 could arrive just in time to compete with Samsung's Galaxy Note 2, or even LG's recently revealed Intuition.
Coupled with the purported existence of the HTC One X+, a slightly revamped One X, and what could be a the Vertex tablet, HTC appears poised to make a large statement this week.
We'll just have to wait until Wednesday to see how many of these rumored devices are actually unveiled.
Shazam announced its foray into providing auxiliary content to enhance your television viewing experience in over 160 channels.
Shazam, boasting over 250 million users worldwide, announced today that the app will now support television programming on just about any channel, at any hour.
You may have noticed during American Idol, the Super Bowl, or the London Olympics that a Shazam icon would appear at the bottom corner of your TV screen, during a participating commercial or programming. If you’ve ever bothered to press on “Touch to Shazam,” during a show, additional information about the programming would pop-up on your mobile device. With today’s announcement, Shazam users will be able to access complimentary content through over 160 participating television channels and its users won’t be required to own any cable or satellite television subscriptions.
A Pew Research study from its Internet and American Life Project, which we reported on earlier, is evidence to the growing demand by consumers for additional content that accompanies the television viewing experience. In fact, 52 percent of adult cellphone owners will supplement their television watching with their smartphone.
Now for those of you that use the Shazam app used while watching television, you’ll be able to find further details about the show that you’d otherwise be forced to tediously Google. Shazam’s television integration will determine what music is playing from the show’s soundtrack, what actors and actresses appear in the program (including other shows that the actors have appeared in), and relevant links to the show’s IMDB and Wikipedia pages, and the official website. You’ll find some interactive and social features that you could access during the downtime during commercials including the latest celebrity gossip about the show and stars, trivia about the show, and a live Twitter feed where viewers can read or weigh in on what other fans are saying about the program.
And if it’s a sporting event that you’re watching, in lieu of cast information you’ll be provided stats, scores, and schedules.
“Over the last year, Shazam has been testing and learning what works by building dozens of custom interactive second-screen experiences for select television shows and events,” Shazam Chief Revenue Officer, Doug Garland, said in a statement. “We’ve applied what we’ve learned to our newly expanded service, and will continue to work closely with our network partners and show producers to build special, unique second-screen experiences for their tent-pole television events and many of the most popular shows on TV.”
Shazam’s also doing what it can to boost its own social integration, a necessity for most apps today. In the coming weeks, Shazam also make its way on your Facebook newsfeed and Timeline when your friends are tagging the shows that they’re watching.
Amazon has put pre-orders for legacy device-enhancing adapters made by third parties on its site, offering them up for $9.99 (about £6) and $17.95 (about £11).
Two companies - Nanotch and iTronz - are schilling the products, with the latter, selling the $10 version, promising to ship it by next week.
Apple’s adapters are “available to ship” in October.
Thanks to an erroneous message, customers thought they'd get a free adapter with the purchase of an iPhone 5, but Apple quickly pulled the message and reminded customers that they would indeed have to fork over some dough for the dock adapter.
New iPod pre-orders available, too
In other Apple/Amazon news, Amazon has begun taking pre-orders for Apple’s new iPod line - the reinvented iPod nano, iPod touch, and cheaper iPod shuffle.
Apple won’t start shipping the new iPods until October, so it’s unlikely Amazon will stray from the launch plan.
There also appears to be no change on the price front, either.
The iPod touch and iPod nano both need the slimmer Lightning cable to charge and connect.
TechRadar has reached out to Apple for comment on its policy towards third-party product manufacturers and will update this story if and when information is available.
A couple of hours after AT&T announced that the iPhone 5 had broken the previous record for best-selling iPhone, Apple stepped up and gives us some exact numbers.
In a Press Release the Cupertino-based company shares that the iPhone 5 has hit over 2 million pre-orders in the first 24 hours after it went available.
In comparison the iPhone 4S got 1 million pre-orders last October in its first 24 hours, while the iPhone 4 got 600000 in 2010. Of course, the iPhone 5 is available in more markets than its predecessors, but the growth is still pretty impressive.
You can find the Press Release in the source link below.
Apple has revealed that pre-orders for the iPhone 5 have been more than double that of the 4S – bringing the total to 2 million in just 24 hours.
There was no doubting that the iPhone 5 was going to be a success, given the amount of pre-release hype the rumour mill offers up for the phone, but even by Apple's standards the pre-order haul is impressive.
According to the computing giant, Apple will ship the majority of pre-orders on September 21 when the phone is officially on sale but there will be some orders that will fall into October.
Given the Apple Store changed its tune within a few hours of the iPhone 5 being available to shipping the handset 'in two to three weeks' this isn't really a surprise.
Shattered
Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said about the news: "iPhone 5 pre-orders have shattered the previous record held by iPhone 4S and the customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal.
"iPhone 5 is the best iPhone yet, the most beautiful product we've ever made, and we hope customers love it as much as we do."
Apple is opening up its stores at 8am September 21 to handle the iPhone 5 deluge – given that there are already queues forming, this time won't come soon enough for those brave stupid enough to camp out for a gadget.
Apple claims a new record, with more than 2 million iPhone 5 units pre-ordered in the first 24 hours.
Apple sold more than 2 million iPhone 5 units in the first 24 hours of pre-order availability, the company boasted in a press release this morning. That’s more than twice the 1 million iPhone 4S units the company sold last year — more than twice! See, the iPhone 5 isn’t as boring as you thought, according to Apple.
Last year, Apple sold app approximately 1 million iPhone 4S units in the first 24 hours, and more than 4 million units during the first weekend. We wouldn’t be surprised to see another press release from Apple touting record weekend sales of the iPhone 5 as well.
The iPhone 5 went on sale at about 12:01a.m. in U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore on Friday, September 14. The iPhone 4S, on the other hand, was not initially available in Hong Kong and Singapore, which presumably helped boost early iPhone 5 sales figures.
AT&T, the first U.S. wireless service provider to offer the iPhone, also released a statement this morning saying that the iPhone 5 is “the fastest-selling iPhone the company has ever offered.” The iPhone 5 is also available through Verizon Wireless and Sprint in the U.S., as well as a number of smaller carriers.
Due to the supposedly unprecedented demand for the latest iPhone, Apple says that “initial supply” of the smartphone has already been depleted. While “the majority” of pre-ordered iPhone 5 units will arrived on customer doorsteps by the previously promised September 21 launch date, says Apple, some people who pre-ordered the iPhone 5 won’t receive their devices until sometime in October.
All 356 Apple retail stores in the U.S. will begin selling the iPhone 5 at 8a.m. on September 21 — but you’ll likely have to stand in line to get one. Fortune reports that Apple fans in New York City have already begun camping out for the big launch. A better bet is to hit up an AT&T, Verizion, or Sprint retail shop, which will begin selling the iPhone 5 in-store at the same time as Apple.
The iPhone 5 features a new, 4-inch Retina display made with in-cell technology, 4G LTE connectivity, an A6 system-on-chip, dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity, and the new iOS 6 mobile operating system. People with the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPhone 4S can all update to iOS 6 on Wednesday, September 19.
We've updated our Samsung Galaxy Nexus review to reflect the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update which has now been rolled out to the handset.
The Samsung Galaxy Nexus was the world's first phone to run Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich and now just under a year later it's the first phone to run Android 4.1: Jelly Bean. It's an upgrade that keeps it as relevant as ever and we've updated our review to reflect the changes.
There are some gadgets in geek-world that are announced and we just could not wait to touch. The Nokia N95, the original iPhone, the T-Mobile G1 and Palm's first Pre.
The Galaxy Nexus fitted firmly in that category back when we first reviewed it and in many ways, coming back to it now, it still does.
The big selling point here is not so much the handset – it's what powers the Galaxy Nexus. With Android 4.0 Google redrew its Android OS in probably the biggest overhaul since it launched and the Galaxy Nexus was the flagship device for that OS.
Despite the fact that many handsets are still stuck with Android 2.3: Gingerbread, Google hasn't stood still and the result of their hard work is Android 4.1.
It's an evolution rather than a revolution, an attempt to refine what the company did with Android 4.0. But it's no less exciting for it and once again the Galaxy Nexus is Google's standard bearer, bringing smartphone users their first taste of the new OS.
On top of that, the specs include a fantastic Super AMOLED HD screen, dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 5MP camera and NFC support, to name a few.
The Nexus itself is fairly big, with dimensions of 135.5 x 67.9 x 8.9mm, though it's actually slightly smaller than Samsung's flagship handset, the Samsung Galaxy S3.
Although it's slightly smaller it's also a little bit heavier at 135g compared to the latter's 133g. It doesn't feel enormous, really it's at the upper end of what we'd consider to be an ideal size for most users, but you can tell you are not using an iPhone 4S.
The front is probably as minimalist as you can get. It's all black and being built from the ground up as an Android 4.0 handset there are no buttons in sight.
In fact, all you have on the front is the screen, front facing camera and the brightness sensor, plus a cheeky little light beneath the screen that you don't even know exists until you get an email and it begins to pulsate.
The sides are fairly unremarkable with power/standby on the right along with three charging pins (for a dock accessory), volume on the left, nothing up top and the bottom housing the charge/sync socket and headphone jack.
The whole handset has a curved shape much like that on the Samsung Galaxy S3 but it's not too severe.
The rear takes its design cues from the Samsung Galaxy S2 with a snap on cover that feels slightly coarse to give a good grip. It has both Google and Samsung branding on it.
You won't find an SD slot on the outside, or indeed, the inside. Ridiculously, this – the flagship Google handset which is so set up as a media device – has been crippled by having NO expandable memory. Words fail us. And they may fail you when you realise that 16GB internal storage is your lot.
But the screen, when lit up, looks fantastic. It's 4.65-inches with a resolution of 720 x 1280, giving it a pixel density of 316ppi. It really is super sharp. We would have expected nothing less with Samsung's mobile displays among the best out there, but it's cracking for internet and video.
There is no doubt about it – this is a premium handset and is up there with the iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy S3 in terms of marketing position.
If you want one, there's good news: the price has dropped to just £21.50 per month on contract and £295 SIM free.
Are you ready to say hello to Huawei's Windows Phone 8 devices?
The Huawei Ascend W1 may get unveiled next week as the Chinese firm looks to launch its range of Windows Phone 8 devices.
According to Chinese site winp, Huawei will launch the Ascend W1 in a range of four colours (black, white, blue, pink) on September 25 with a different design to the likes of the Ascend P1 and Ascend P1 S.
Although no specifications were leaked alongside this information, the Huawei Ascend W1 will apparently be available from either November or December in Europe, China and the US.
Fab Four
Huawei is one of four manufacturers given the green light by Microsoft to produce the first wave of Windows Phone 8 devices, and looks set to be the last to announce its handsets.
We've already seen the Samsung Ativ S, Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820, and HTC has a press conference scheduled for Wednesday in New York, where it's expect to unveil its Windows Phone 8 offerings.
We've contact Huawei to find out more information and we'll update this article once we hear back.
AT&T issued a Press Release concerning the new iPhone 5's selling pace. The carrier declared the iPhone 5 the fastest selling iPhone on its network to date, but chose not to provide specific numbers.
The early statement is very impressive and in tow with what analysts have projected so far. The Apple iPhone 5 is expected to sell 10 million units in September alone. And it should come as no surprise as this is Apple's fastest roll-out of an iPhone device to date so numbers were expected to be higher.
Here's the Press Release itself. We hope to hear actual numbers soon from Apple itself.
AT&T SETS SALES RECORD FOR IPHONE 5
Most Successful iPhone Launch Ever
DALLAS, Sept. 17, 2012 – AT&T* set a sales record with iPhone 5 over the weekend, making it the fastest-selling iPhone the company has ever offered. Customers ordered more iPhones from AT&T than any previous modelboth on its first day of preorders and over the weekend.
iPhone 5 is still available for preorder at www.att.com/iphone and will be available in AT&T retail stores beginning at 8 am local time on Friday,September 21.
AT&T offers a number of advantages for iPhone 5 customers. · AT&T's network lets you talk and surf the web at the same time.
· Largest 4G Network. Customers get blazing-fast speeds on the nation’s largest 4G network, covering 275 million people. · FlexibleRate Plans. AT&T doesn't force customers to switch data plans to get the best device price when they upgrade to a new device and new AT&T customers aren't forced into a certain plan; they have the flexibility to choose from one of several individual or Mobile Share plans.
More customers choose AT&T for iPhone than any other U.S. carrier.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 could get an earlier than expected outing, with rumours suggesting the Korean firm will launch the handset in March.
According to the Korea Times a Samsung representative said that the Galaxy IV would go on sale in March 2013, after an unveiling at MWC 2013 in Barcelona.
Samsung's part supplies claim the Galaxy S4 could well sport a bigger, 5-inch display – up from the 4.8-inch offering on the Samsung Galaxy S3 - along with LTE capabilities and a quad-core processor.
Sooner rather than later
The Galaxy S3 was only announced in June of this year, so a March arrival for the next incarnation seems a little too soon in a world where annual product cycles are the norm.
However analysts are suggesting Samsung is looking to bring outs its next flagship handset sooner rather than later, following Apple's announcement of the iPhone 5 last week.
We'd be surprised is Samsung has to launch the Galaxy S4 just nine months after the S3 touched down, so we're taking this report with a relatively high dosage of salt, but in today's smartphone world you can never rule these things out.
Rumors of the Samsung Galaxy S4 suggest an increase to a 5-inch screen size and an MWC 2013 release date.
There’s nothing like a good rumor to get the week started and this time it’s a big one, as it concerns the follow-up to the current darling of the Android world, the Samsung Galaxy S3.
According to a report in the Korea Times, Samsung is readying the Galaxy S4 for launch during Mobile World Congress next year, before going on sale in March.
The quote comes from an unnamed Samsung official, who adds that the next Galaxy flagship will have a similar design to the S3 — keeping its “popular rectangular shape with rounded corners,” but potentially increasing the screen size again, this time to 5-inches.
A quad-core Exynos processor will power the device, Android will be the operating system, and it will support 4G LTE networks all over the world. The article makes particular mention of Europe here, where 4G is beginning to become more widespread, plus the UK will hold its 4G spectrum auction early next year too.
The report continues to say that Samsung is still considering using its flexible screen technology for the S4, but hasn’t made a final decision, although talk of production problems make it sound unlikely.
Samsung is almost certainly working on a follow-up to the Galaxy S3, and it could well be named the Galaxy S4, but what about the rest of the report’s speculation? It’s equally as likely to use another Exynos processor in the S4, but whether this will be another quad-core chip, or the Exynos 5 Dual with its high resolution screen support, isn’t quite so clear cut.
Android and 4G LTE are also obvious features, while a push to a 5-inch screen isn’t that unlikely either. Remember, the S3 and the Galaxy Note 2 aren’t that much larger than their predecessors, despite the respective increase in screen size.
A March 2013 release would also see the S4 go on sale less than a year into the S3’s life, which seems very early for such a capable device.
But then, accuracy isn’t the point of this leak, it’s about letting everybody know that Samsung is hard at work on the next big thing, and not to be distracted by shiny offerings from the competition.
