With the Kindle Fire HD selling like hotcakes and rumours of an Amazon smartphone getting louder and louder, the online retailer has decided to throw more fuel on the fire of speculation by opening its App Store to an additional 200 markets around the world.
Previously only available in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Spain, the App Store will roll out over the coming months to a large number of additional countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, India, South Africa and South Korea.
The Amazon app store, with more than 50,000 apps, will be available to download to a wide number of Android devices, offering Android users an alternative source of apps to buy on their device.
Developers can now dictate which countries they wish their app to appear in, while international developers can also begin enjoying the new global reach of the Amazon ecosystem.
Setting the world on Fire
The last time that Amazon expanded its App Store access back in 2011 from the US-only to include the UK and European countries, it was a precursor to international availability of the Kindle Fire overseas.
Whether this global expansion is planned for the current range of Fire tablets or a new breed of Amazon smartphone is pure speculation, but it's unlikely that Amazon doesn't have a strategy to expand its hardware footprint outside of the US and Europe.
The Optimus G Pro is the great new hope for LG Mobile
LG has pledged to improve its devices after admitting to a sluggish start to the smartphone era.
In a briefing with TechRadar in Seoul today, Won Kim, LG's head of mobile communications in Europe, confessed that the smartphone market is currently a two horse race with bitter rivals Samsung and Apple dominating heavily.
"Sadly the mobile market is a two horse race at the moment with Samsung and Apple," he said.
"It's not easy for us to shake the lands. It's getting more and more difficult. Never the less we have a strong footprint led by our new smartphones and on top of that we have the Nexus 4 and the Optimus G as a flagship phone with best in class hardware features and most up to date software."
Kim says the UK is the most tricky phone market in the world, with Samsung and Apple picking up more market share than anyone else. However, he pointed to some other European countries where LG is already a strong number 3 and pledged to take that position in the UK – something Sony is also striving hard to achieve.
"LG has been a bit sluggish in terms of rollout of our next gen mobiles in Europe but nevertheless our footprint in 3G smartphone has improved in the last year and we're reaching about 10 per cent market share in Europe now and we have a number 3 brands in European countries like Spain, Italy and Poland. At the same time we have good customer relationships and recognition in Northern countries.
"We are very weak in the UK market but it's time for us to challenge this most difficult market this year and we must do something in order to establish a footprint in the UK. But with the Optimus G and Optimus G Pro we feel we have the products to do this. Sooner or later we will be the number 3 brand in the UK as well."
Kim In Kyung, head of 4G LTE research at LG, added that LG is defrentiating itself from competitors like HTC and Sony by making "better products".
"We are different from brands like Sony or HTC. So we are the true competitor of our neighbour, so our strategy is to never forget that phones are connected devices – all LG devices should connect and talk to each other. They are copying our features such as putting embedded IR in a phone to make it a remote control.
"The Optimus G Pro is just better than any other phone and people will see this when they use it."
Will you be buying an LG mobile phone this year? Let us know in the comments or tweet @techradar
Call Facebook ubiquitous and you're understating your case. Unlock any random smartphone and you're guaranteed to find a little blue F icon waiting on the home screen.
Facebook is so big, so everywhere, so omnipresent that it's already on everyone's phone, but apparently that's not enough for the sharing mogul. Now Facebook has decided to completely take over devices with Facebook Home, and has collaborated with HTC to create the HTC First, a phone meant to show just what that experience can be.
The First moniker comes from being the first phone with Facebook Home preloaded. It's a well built, unassuming little handset, nowhere near as big, flashy or as fast as the quad-core HTC One.
It's so subdued, you could almost mistake it for an iPhone 5 secured in a rubber case. It's a 5-inch dual-core handset that's currently exclusive to AT&T's 4G LTE network, going for $99 with two-year agreement. It comes in black, red, white, pale blue or red, and will cost you $450 at full price.
Once you dive into the software, however, the First resembles nothing else. Thanks to the Facebook Home overlay, it takes some digging to realize the HTC First is running Android 4.1: Jelly Bean with no manufacturer or carrier tweaking.
There's actually an excellent stock Android experience to be had here, one with solid battery life thanks to a small screen and restrained dual-core processor. There's also fast data service, provided by LTE coverage from AT&T. That's something you can't get on the other best stock Android experience in town, the Nexus 4.
This comes once you've disabled Facebook Home, however. With it enabled, all the basic smartphone functionality is there, it's just been buried by layer upon layer of whatever stuff your Facebook friends are posting. Posts are there right from the lock screen, using friends' cover photos as backgrounds.
Even SMS text messaging, that old standby of the smartphone, has gotten all Facebooked. On the HTC First it's been baked into the social network's own Messenger app, and displayed with floating Chat Heads icons.
So does total Facebook integration add or detract from the Android experience, or is it a whole different beast altogether? Is this a natural evolution, or has the premier service for liking cat videos and posting pics of meals growing cold finally gotten too big for it's britches? Read on for our take.
Design
Physically, the HTC First has a very manageable design. It's just 5-inches tall, like an iPhone 5. That makes it perfect for users who find large handsets, such as the Galaxy S3 and the upcoming Galaxy S4, too big.
It nestles nicely in the palm, and has a rubberized body with rounded corners like the HTC 8X. Unlike aluminum bodied phones such as the HTC One and the iPhone 5, it won't scuff easily, and doesn't need a case to prevent unsightly scratches.
At 4.37 ounces, it's a very balanced weight. There's enough there to be substantial, but it's light enough to toss in a pocket or purse and forget about.
HTC phones, even cheaper ones, usually have nice screens, and the First is no exception. The display is 4.3-inches and with a resolution of 1280 x 720, we're in 720p HD territory.
As is also the case with HTC phones, the color saturation is well tuned. Colors are true to life, and videos and pictures look quite good. You'd have to hold the First next to the best screens around, the HTC One, iPhone 5 or Galaxy S3, to realize it's less than premium.
Continuing with the HTC traditions, the First has a sealed body design. There's no opening it up to remove the battery or add storage, but this also gives it a very solid build quality. It doesn't feel like a phone that costs a lot of money, but it doesn't feel as cheap as, say, the HTC One VX, either.
Below the screen you'll find three capacitive buttons that light up when the First is active. Other than their looks, this is typical Android stuff. The back button is an arrow pointing left, home is a circle and the option button is a line or dash.
These symbols don't correspond to any Facebook features that we're aware of, so we're not sure why HTC stepped away from the typical Android design language. Maybe just to give the first Facebook phone a unique look?
On the back things get normal again. There you'll also find the lens for a 5-megapixel camera and an LED flash.
The First is also surprisingly restrained when it comes to branding. For the device meant to introduce the world to Facebook Home, it only has one little F logo on the back, next to HTC and AT&T's marks. We applaud everyone's restraint here.
On the right there's a SIM card tray, which pops out when the included SIM tool or a paper clip is inserted. Above that is the standard mini USB charging port, which struck us as odd placement. It'll only be annoying if you frequently use your phone while it's charging.
Usually the charging port is found on the bottom, below the screen, but instead that's where the First's speaker grill resides. This is the only speaker on the phone, and we sometimes had to take care not muffle it when watching videos, so it's not optimal placement.
On the upper left side you'll find a run-of-the-mill volume rocker. It's easy enough to find and press without looking at your phone.
At the top you'll find a headphone jack and lock button. As with the iPhone 5, it's easy to reach the lock button since the phone is just 5-inches. Tall handsets with hard to reach lock buttons on the top, like the HTC One, tend to annoy us.
One thing that strikes us as missing is a dedicated camera button. If there's actually someone out there who would like a phone built around Facebook, they would surely be obsessed with picture taking and Instagram. The lack of quick shutter snapping access is a major design fail.
Overall though, the HTC First is pleasant, if unremarkable to hold. The functional but milquetoast design of this phone, as well as the fact that Facebook Home buries the best Android functionality, reveals the sort of audience the First is chasing. This phone is for someone who wants to forget about their phone when they're not using it, and only wants to do basic things like text, share pictures and check Facebook when they are using it.
Furthermore, the immense pleasure we felt at having a Jelly Bean phone of a reigned in size speaks to oversaturation of too-large handsets in the Android market. Won't someone please make a reasonably sized quad-core LTE phone and let it run stock Android? Help us, Google Nexus 5, you're our only hope!
Huawei announced its Ascend Mate phablet at this year's Consumer Electronic Show, but the device is only now starting to make its way to stores around the globe. The device will go on sale in Australia, starting from April 20.
Huawei Ascend Mate sports a massive 6.1" IPS display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. The phablet features a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor along with 2 GB of RAM, 8 megapixel rear camera with LED flash, 1 megapixel front facing camera, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and a relatively big 4,050mAh battery.
Sadly, the latest phablet from Huawei will not be 4G enabled, but the device will support five 3G frequency bands along with 4 GSM bands, which allows you to use the phablet overseas without any hassle.
Huawei Ascend Mate will be available in black color option and the device carries a price tag of AU$429.
Is this really a new Samsung design? (credit: evleaks)
It emerged this week that Samsung could choose a new unibody metal chassis for the Galaxy Note 3, and today images appeared online that could show Samsung's new design language in the wild.
The Twitter account @evleaks posted the images with the question "Upcoming Samsung design language?"
Evleaks has an excellent track record when it comes to these things, though it's by no means infallible. Well this could very well be what it seems, it's also unclear what we're really looking at, and the pictures are of extremely low quality.
Nevertheless, the recent whispers of a new Galaxy Note 3 design - not to mention what looks like an S Pen slot on this alien Samsung device - are at the very least suggestive.
Galaxy Note 3 going metal
Rumors of a new unibody metal Galaxy Note 3 design came with a report that said Samsung had taken "note" (ha) of the HTC One's striking design.
If this really is the new Galaxy Note 3 we're looking at, then it appears last month's reports that it would feature an unbreakable flexible display won't pan out.
Report's of the Galaxy Note 3's screen size have varied as well, with massive 5.9- and 6.3-inch displays both hinted at last month.
We've asked Samsung to comment on these images, but we're not anticipating a response.
Regardless, remember that leaks of this nature are always to be handled with a healthy dose of skepticism until something's officially announced.
Throughout the rest of the week, Microsoft will be rolling out a new security upgrade for its accounts, which will provide a new two-step verification process.
The accounts affected include Outlook, Skype, SkyDrive, Xbox, and anything else that used to fall under the old Windows Live ID banner.
With more than 700 million people using Microsoft accounts on various devices around the globe, that's a lot of potential users that will no doubt benefit from stronger security provided by the new two-step process.
The optional process has already been offered for services at commerce.microsoft.com and xbox.com, but is now being opened up to the rest of the Microsoft-using public.
Microsoft doubles down
While you can still use just the standard password to access any of your networking or email accounts, the voluntary second step requires a unique code to also be entered.
This code is activated and sent to secondary devices or email accounts once you decide to take the necessary action to activate this new dual-layer measure.
If you want to take advantage of the added layer of security, all you have to do is visit the Management page to get started.
Some Microsoft apps and devices, like the Xbox 360, don't allow for two-step security, however you can set up a specialized password specific to that device for added defense.
Once you have set the new level of security up on your devices (laptops, phones, etc.), you can arrange to have them set to be trusted, so you only have to enter the password/code combo the first time it's activated.
Other companies like Google and Facebook already use such security measures to provide as much of a barrier against hackers as possible.
Seeing Microsoft take the necessary steps to help its user base stay safe as well as it can bodes well for the foreseeable future, but such tactics will only work as long as the consumers make use of them.
An minor update to the Google Voice VoIP app for Android this week may hold a few clues regarding the Babel messaging service, the company is reported to be cooking up.
The app update only lists "Improved the reliability of SMS delivery" as its reason for being, but Android Police took a glance beneath the surface to find one particularly intriguing little detail.
It may not sound like much, but the APK teardown showed that Google Voice's configuration settings can now be read by other applications within the Android ecosystem.
Putting two-and-two together (perhaps to make five), some have concluded Google is intending for another app to take on Voice's settings. Could that be the rumoured all-encompassing Babel application?
Babel fishing?
Recent rumours and leaks have suggested that Babel will bring together G-Talk in Gmail and on Android, as well as a client for Chrome, Android and iOS.
According to a leaked Google memo, the service will run across synchronised devices (a la Apple's iMessage), while it'll also support 800 emoji and video based Google+ Hangouts.
Speculation has also pointed to the eventual integration (and replacement) of Google Voice, which brings us neatly back to today's reports.
"I think it all points to another app taking over Google Voice's duties," wrote Android Police's Ron Amadeo. "Google is either baking in special support for its own app, or they're going to start supporting a 3rd party Google Voice ecosystem about a million years too late. GV is, at least partially, readying to transfer data to something, we just aren't sure what."
The UK arm of T-Mobile is now forbidden from advertising 'unlimited' data with its top-of-the-shop Full Monty tariffs.
The Advertising Standards agency has ruled the company's practice of throttling customers peer-to-peer sharing activities from 8am to 2am does (surprise, surprise) constitute limiting data.
The practice leaves only a 6 hour period in the middle of the night when restrictions are not in place and that gave the ASA the excuse it needed to crack the whip.
According to The Inquirer, T-Mobile has already changed its Full Monty advertising to reflect the ruling.
It ain't just the amount of data
The verdict read: "We noted that the Full Monty plan was described as having 'unlimited' UK internet and that this was in the context of a mobile dataservice on a handset. We considered that 'unlimited' was a general claim about the whole service, rather than about a specific aspect of the service."
"We considered that consumers were likely to expect that services, or features of services, described as 'unlimited' were not unduly limited and that where policies existed, which limited speed of access, that the restrictions could reasonably be considered to be moderate only."
Is 4Mbps sufficient?
However, the ASA appeared to have no objections to the overall speed restrictions T-Mobile places on its Full Monty customers.
As The Inquirer also pointed out, the company limits download speeds over 3G to just 4Mbps, while uploads are only processed at 1Mbps, which T-Mobile says is "sufficient."
The company said in a statement: "Our customers should rest assured that the speeds available to them on our Full Monty plans are sufficient for all devices and users - including data downloaders with the latest smartphones, and data services such as video streaming, social networking, browsing, emailing, and music downloading."
According to the source, LG will give the device a full launch on British soil in Q3 or Q4 this year, but there was no information on potential tech specs.
While Brits were able to by the LG-made Google Nexus 4, through the search and mobile giant, the launch would mark LG's first official launch of an Optimus G branded device in the UK.
The first version of the device, launched in other territories last year, only became available SIM-free through the third-party retailer Expansys earlier this month.
It seems the company has no plans to launch the updated Optimus G Pro in the UK either.
LG has been tentative with its smartphone launches due to the youthful nature of the UK's 4G LTE infrastructure, meaning we've missed out on some big name devices. Hopefully the hiatus is about to come to a long overdue end.
Samsung is allegedly working on a 10" tablet, which has been codenamed Roma. If latest rumors are to be trusted, the Samsung Roma will essentially be a TouchWiz version of the Nexus 10. The slate is said to come out with microSD card slot for memory expansion and 4G LTE support.
Samsung Roma is rumored to sport a 10.1" display with 2560 x 1600 pixels, making up for pixel density of 299ppi. The tablet will feature a 1.7 GHz Dual-core Exynos 5 processor along with 2 GB of RAM, 5 megapixel rear camera, 1.9 megapixel front camera, 16 GB inbuilt memory with microSD support up to 128GB and latest connectivity options.
The 10" slate allegedly measures 257x177.7x 8.4mm and weighs about 583g. Samsung Roma will run on the latest Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS and the juice for the slate will be provided by a 9,000mAh battery.
Unfortunately, there is no official confirmation from Samsung yet, but the device is rumored to go official pretty soon.
Samsung has announced 14 stateside-based partners which will get the Galaxy S4 in the next couple of weeks. The list includes seven carriers and seven retailers.
The seven carriers to offer Samsung's latest and greatest smartphone are AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, U.S. Carrier, Cricket and C Spire. All of them will start selling the Galaxy S4 by the end of April.
AT&T's launch date is April 30, while T-Mobile stores will have it in stock on April 24. The Samsung Galaxy S4 will hit Sprint's network on April 27. Pre-orders are available - the AT&T pre-order campaign is already on, the T-Mobile and Sprint ones starts tomorrow.
The seven major retailers that will launch the Galaxy S4 flagship, also by the end of April, are Best Buy (incl. Best Buy Mobile), Costco, Radio Shack, Sam’s Club, Staples, Target and Wal-Mart.
The Galaxy S4 will cost $200/16GB and $250/32GB if you take it with a two-year contract on AT&T, $150 upfront ant $20 per month if you choose to sign a contract with T-Mobile, and $250 if you opt for Sprint's contracts (Sprint is willing to shave $100 of that if you switch your old number to its network). The SIM-free prices start at $650.
We want to remind you that the initial Galaxy S4 stock will hit the United States (and Europe too) will be of the I9505 Snapdragon 600-powered variety. There is still no information if and when the I9500 Octa-core units will become available in the US.
Feel free to check out our in-depth Galaxy S4 review, while you wait for your unit to arrive.
The leak of the day comes courtesy of popular Twitter channel evleaks, which has gained a serious reputation for its reliable photo leaks in the past.
This time, however, even the author behind the account is not sure about what the image means and suggests it may be showing a new design language, which will be adopted by Samsung in the near future.
Now, we would be the first to cheer a move away from the pebble-inspired design language that has penetrated the whole Samsung mobile portfolio and is getting quite boring already.
However, this is hardly the case. We've seen devices like this before (a pre-release Note 2 being the last one) and it's nothing but a shell, meant to conceal the final design until the product is properly announced.
So even though we wish these photos were showing a real product with a fresh new design language, this time it's more like a case (literally) of misunderstanding.
Jolla, the startup partly comprising of ex-Nokia employees, reckons it will have hardware ready next month.
While the phone won't be available to buy, the move will show that Jolla, formed by disgruntled Nokians who wanted to continue the work into MeeGo (the OS created by the Finns and Intel) through the Sailfish operating system, is serious about bringing out hardware based on the concept.
The handset, which will feature 'modern Scandinavian design', according to Jolla Chairman Antti Saarnio, will also be offered early in a Kickstarter-style agreement where users will get a level of personalisation based on their contribution.
Sailfish OS will take a huge number of cues from MeeGo, meaning a BB10-style swipe to move between windows (although it should be noted MeeGo got there first with this concept before being scrapped by Nokia).
Coming soon
There's no word on how the phone will look, but it appears this isn't a fly-by-night scheme set up to curry the affection of ex-Nokia-lovers who have had to sit and watch Symbian and MeeGo crumble.
According to DigiToday, the Finnish news site which ran the story, Jolla has enough cash to launch the first phones in Finland, and is seeking more funding to increase its rollout later in the year.
While it's hard to see the OS gaining that much traction in a world dominated by Android and iOS, the concepts that underpinned MeeGo impressed us greatly, with a similar-yet-superior feel to BB10 noted when we first played with the Nokia N9 (the design of which became the Nokia Lumia 800).
So here's hoping the brand can expand outside of Finland (that was totally a triple rhyme) and we can see a renaissance of another fallen OS.
Sony’s mid-ranger with aluminum charm is up for pre-order in several countries from a variety of stores. The other recently announced model, the Sony Xperia L has made its way to some stores too.
Here are the ones we managed to curate:
Sony Xperia SP
Three UK will put the Sony Xperia SP on sale on April 30. The white one will be available first, with the black one following after a few days. There’s no info on pricing.
The situation with Clove is just the opposite – the black SP will be available on April 30, while the white one will become available on May 6. The price for both models is set at £323.
Expansys is also taking pre-orders, but there’s no telling when its stock will arrive. The price is set at £340.
If you prefer getting a phone on contract, Phones4U has the black and white models, plus an exclusive pink Xperia SP on pre-order for Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile and EE. Contracts start at £25 / month.
Moving to continental Europe, the Sony Xperia SP can be pre-ordered in Germany for €363 from Guenstiger or €420 from Amazon.
In Italy and the Netherlands the phone costs €400 without a contract.
The Sony Xperia SP has been on pre-order in Russia and India for a few days too.
Sony Xperia L
In the UK, the Xperia L is available for pre-order from Clove at £234 and will ship in early May.
Amazon Germany has priced it at €300. The price in Italy is the same.
It’s also up for pre-order in the Netherlands at €280 with the shipping date set at April 25.
If you find more deals on these two phones, drop a link in the comments section.
HTC 606w - blue piping for you, blue piping for me
The HTC 606w may sound like a lightbulb, but it is in fact souped-up HTC First without the tedious burden of Facebook Home to contend with.
HTC tried to sneak the device through Chinese regulatory channels but it was spotted by Digi.Tech which managed to skim off some renders of the handset, showing off a natty blue piping around the bezel of an otherwise fairly uninspiring handset.
On to the HTC 606w's specs, and we're looking at an Ultrapixel camera on the back, 4.3-inch 720p display boasting 342ppi and a 1.2GHz processor to keep the whole thing chugging along.
Battery woe
Unfortunately, it's rocking a 1700mAh battery which may be a bit on the weak side for the mooted specs.
The HTC 606w is running Android 4.1.2 with the HTC Sense 5.0 overlay, and there's also 2GB of RAM and 16GB of device storage to play with.
No word on an official device name nor possible release date but we'll be keeping the heat on HTC til it makes the 606w all official.
It's not just high-end handsets being churned out over in Korea at the moment, with a new benchmark result apparently revealing a more budget-friendly phone in works over at Samsung in the form of the Galaxy Ace 3.
Looking to replace the Galaxy Ace 2 and the still wildly-popular-with-networks original Galaxy Ace, the Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 has reportedly turned up on GL Benchmarks with a handful of specs leaked in the process.
According to the results of the test, the Galaxy Ace 3 - or GT-S7272 if you prefer - will arrive packing a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 800 x 480 display and running Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
Smoking Aces
It's good to see the latest version on Android on a cheaper handset, as cut-price phones usually have to make do with older versions of Google's OS.
Round the back you'll apparently find a 5MP camera with 720p video recording capabilities, while under the hood you should be greeted with contactless NFC technology.
Samsung hasn't said anything about its future products, so we're just going on hearsay for the moment and we know that benchmark results can be forged - although it's probably pretty safe to say a Galaxy Ace 3 will arrive at some point.
LG has put out a press invite for an upcoming product unveiling in New York City on May 1.
The event features the heading "share the genius," and as is usually the case with announcement events from major manufacturers, cryptically urges us to "Capture the Spotlight in True Brilliance."
What they'll be revealing is really anyone's guess, but the "true brilliance" bit likely refers to a new Optimus device with a sharper display, like an Optimus G Pro for the US market, or perhaps a new Optimus altogether.
Be sure to check back with us on the 1st for all the latest on LG's newest device.
A Facebook exec has confirmed that the social network is 'talking' to Apple about bringing Facebook Home to it's famously locked-down iOS.
That doesn't mean that the part-OS part-overzealous-app will make it to your iPhone or iPad any time soon though, with Adam Mosseri, Facebook's director of product, describing the talks as 'ongoing'.
"We've shown them what we've built and we're just in an ongoing conversation," he told the Bloomberg.
Facebook Studio Apartment With Shared Bathroom
Even if the talks prove fruitful, Mosseri isn't sure that what makes it to iPhone will look much like the Facebook Home the company launched last week - it could be more like Facebook Bedsit.
"It may or may not be Home. We could also just bring some of the design values to the iOS app. That might be how it ends up. Or we could build just the lock screen. Maybe then it's not called Home, it's called something else."
Glad we cleared that up.
His comments echo those of COO Sheryl Sandberg who told reporters, "We are going to continue to develop for both [Android and Apple]."
"It is true that Android is enabling us to provide a more immersive Facebook experience than we can on other operating systems. Home is based on the openness of Android. It allows users to customise in ways that Apple does not."
Given that Facebook Home for Android basically skims all the useful user data that can be used to target and sell advertising and Apple's traditional unwillingness to share any of the data or revenue love with other companies (take a bow, 30% app store cut), we can't see an all-encompassing Facebook skin making it to iOS.
Still, a 'lite' version could well be on the cards, particularly since Chat Heads have already begun infiltrating the iOS apps.
The rumor mill has been expecting an UltraPixel-packing mid-ranger, dubbed HTC M4, and an approval from the Telecommunication Equipment Certification Centre in China confirms its existence. It looks similar to the HTC One with two speakers on the front, but the camera on the back looks different.
This phone, which goes by as HTC 606w, packs a 4.3” 720p screen and is powered by a Snapdragon 400 chipset, featuring two Krait 200 cores, 1GB of RAM and Adreno 305 GPU, likely the exact same chipset as the one in the HTC First. The phone runs Android 4.1.2 with Sense 5 on top like the HTC One (it has just two capacitive buttons on the front too).
Of course, the headline feature is the UltraPixel camera on the back. Unfortunately, not much is known about it at the moment – the resolution will likely be the same as on the One, but the HTC 606w being a mid-range model might omit the Optical Image Stabilization. The front-facing camera has 1.6MP resolution.
Other known specs on the HTC 606w include 16GB of built-in storage (no word on microSD), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS + GLONASS and dual-SIM support.
We’ll have to wait until the official announcement for more info on the camera, but the HTC 606w should be hitting the Chinese market soon. We should also see some version of this phone, the M4 perhaps, hit western markets in spring if the rumors are to be believed.
There was the Note. Then the Note 2. But has Samsung finally pushed things too far with the 6.3-inch Galaxy Mega, or is it the ultimate fusion of tablet and smartphone?
The Galaxy Mega might not have a price yet, but it's certainly not going to be jostling with the Galaxy S4 at her sharp end of the smartphone market. Packing a 1.7GHz dual core processor and 1.5GB of RAM, it's not slouch in the performance department, but it's a far cry from the power and force of the S4 or even last year's S3.
So who is it aimed at, this gargantuan effort at a smartphone? Samsung tells us that it's the 'perfect device of students', which means it dispenses with the need for a phone and a tablet. The subtext there is affordability, and there's no doubt the Galaxy Mega is going to be closer to the mid-range market.
That said, and perhaps it's an acceptance of the likes of the Galaxy Note 2, but that whopping screen didn't feel too bad in the hand at all. It's huge, that's for certain, and no matter what, you're going to feel stupid holding it to your ear.
But given we said the same thing about the Note 2 last year (and has since gone on to be one of the world's top selling phones) there's clearly an appetite for a phone that is great for the Internet and video with the ability to make calls too.
The Samsung Galaxy Mega does have a surprisingly clear and sharp screen for a phone / tablet that isn't full HD nor uses Samsung's proprietary Super AMOLED technology either, opting for an HD PLS LCD effort instead.
We were therefore expecting low colour reproduction and a slightly jagged experience, but even at the larger screen size we were really impressed when it came to video and Internet use, with everything appearing clear and sharp.
Holding the phone to do these things was less of a joy, as you can imagine - it wasn't too heavy in the hand when using with only a single palm, but try to do anything like send a text message and you have to do so using one hand to brace yourself before knocking out a missive.
The messaging system is much more accurate than found on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S3, which has a simply woeful keyboard. We can still see any user installing a new option ASAP, but what was on offer wasn't bad.
It's clear to see that the Galaxy Mega is a phone that's the first to feed off the design ethos of the Galaxy S4, with the more robust feel to the chassis and a more metallic rim around the edge.
Like so many Galaxy products, the Mega is as light as can be - you'll struggle to believe that something this large can weigh so little and still actually work. It's only got up to 16GB of onboard storage, but this can be supplemented using the microSD slot hidden under the flimsy polycarbonate cover.
Compared to a Samsung Galaxy S3, it's huge
There's also an impressive 3200mAh battery, which should power the massive screen for a full day and still leave you a good slug of juice should you forget to charge up during the night. We couldn't test the battery power due to the fact it was locked to a charger in our hands on time, but we've got high hopes for this one.
The Samsung Galaxy Mega comes with a similar feature to the Galaxy S4 in the shape of a high power touchscreen than allows you to use gloves with the device, and also gives you Air View. This function allows you to hover a finger over things like photo albums or calendar entries to see more of what's hidden beneath without having to actually open it.
Taking more features from the Samsung Galaxy S4, the camera mode has been upgraded to include drama shot (to let you put loads of frames into one still) and Eraser mode, sponsored by Schwarzenegger (WE JOKE, it's a film reference).
We tried the latter at the event, and we have to say it was really impressive - more so than on our early tests with the S4, which means Samsung is probably managing to perfect the technology.
There was one big problem during our experience, and that was with the overall running of the device. You'd have thought that a phone / tablet with a 1.7GHz processor and 1.5GB fo RAM could have handled anything you threw at it, but twice we had a forced reboot situation.
This was when we were trying to use the device for its more taxing purposes, such as multi-screen or Eraser shot, and was a bit of a worry.
You always allow for elements like this to occur when testing devices on a stand, as the software is never fully ready for proper review. However, perhaps it's an indication of where we've got to these days, but it was still surprising to see it happening on a device from Samsung, which is usually rock solid in this area.
However, like most brands, we'll give it the benefit of the doubt until the final review sample is made available.
Early verdict
Samsung has done something odd to the world - it's made the phone and tablet combination acceptable. We should have been almost disgusted at the size of this phone, but unlike the Asus FonePad it doesn't seem irrational to hold it in your hand.
It brings the sharpness of much higher-res screen and doesn't feel overly cumbersome in your hand, which is impressive.
We're a little worried by the lag that was present in our early tests, but given few Samsung phones show this in final software, we're sure it will be sorted.
The presence of the advanced camera modes is a boon, as is the improved power of the touchscreen to mimic its more powerful brother.
We can't really understand why Samsung hasn't made this a more powerful device - but it makes us hanker for what it's going to do with the Galaxy Note 3.
Android activation figures are some of Google's favorite numbers and something they never forgets to mention at any event. Last time we heard about it, the company was doing 1.4 million activations, which was just last month.
Now, Eric Schmidt has revealed that they have reached the 1.5 million milestone and that the company is on track to reach the one billion total activated devices by the end of the year.
For those who are still wondering what exactly counts as an activation, it is when you get a new Android device and log into it with your Google account. There would be several devices out there that were purchased but never logged in, so they won't be counted in this number. Also, not every device that was activated would be in use any more. So while it does seem like a very impressive number, it might not be as useful as you'd think.
