Korea gets Galaxy Note 10.1 with 4G LTE, U.S. could be next on the list

Samsung has announced a 4G LTE version of the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, but so far only for Korea. When the Note 10.1 debuted on August, Samsung teased the arrival of an LTE model in the U.S., so its release may not be far behind.

Samsung has announced the availability of a 4G LTE Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, but only for the Korean market. As well as the introduction of 4G LTE and VoLTE — that’s voice over LTE — the new Note 10.1 has Android 4.1 Jelly Bean installed along with a few new features added to the S Pen’s functionality.

You’ll remember that the S Pen is Samsung’s name for a stylus, and now it can access a quick launch menu where you can search the web, easily copy and paste content, plus use the same Air View feature seen on the Galaxy Note 2. Here, when you hover the pen over a picture gallery or folder, the contents can be quickly explored, or when watching a video, it becomes a quick way to scrub through scenes.

Otherwise, it’s business as usual for the Note 10.1, which means a 10.1-inch screen with a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, a 1.4GHz Exynos 4 Quad processor, 2GB of RAM and a 5-megapixel camera with 1080p video recording on the rear.

The Galaxy Note 10.1 was announced back in August, after Samsung took its first attempt off the market to update the device following a less than enthusiastic greeting during Mobile World Congress.

At the time, Samsung released the Galaxy Note 10.1 with Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi plus 3G, but not a 4G LTE model, although it did confirm a Wi-Fi and LTE Note 10.1 would follow later in the year. Now, with the Korean launch set for November 23, a U.S. launch can’t be too far away.

Samsung hasn’t given a price for the Note 10.1 LTE, but as the standard Note 10.1 is around $499 in the U.S., expect it to be more than this when it arrives.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/samsung-launches-the-galaxy-note-10-1-with-lte-in-korea/

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Sony takes over the Xperia S AOSP project, previews it

Sony announced that it has taken the lead on the Android Open Source Project for its popular Xperia S smartphone. The exercise began back in August when Jean Baptiste Queru, Google’s Technical Lead of the AOSP announced it. The current progress on the Sony Xperia S has been demonstrated in a video, which appeared in the Sony developer’s blog. See it below.

Sony has taken the lead because from Android 4.2 Jelly Bean on, the Xperia S will not remain as the target handset of the main AOSP branch. However, the current progress on the Xperia S will not go to naught – Sony will maintain the AOSP for the device at GitHub, where developers are encouraged to step in and help.

Stock Android 4.1 Jelly Bean has worked out quite well for the Sony Xperia S with most of the hardware functioning properly, including the SD card, Wi-Fi, and all sensors. The audio and modem are also working, but Sony won’t release its binaries right now for proprietary reasons. The next planned step is to bring Android 4.2 to the smartphone.

Source | Via

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_takes_the_lead_on_the_xperia_s_aosp_project_shows_it_off-news-5059.php

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'Microsoft design style' may be latest, and final, Windows 8 UI rebrand

Microsoft's Windows 8 UI undergoes another name change

Microsoft admitted it was abandoning the "Metro" name to describe its design language for Windows 8 in August after threats of a potential lawsuit from a German company surfaced.

At the time, Microsoft claimed "Metro" was merely a codename used during W8's development, and that it would switching it to a broader term closer to launch was always part of the plan.

Since then, Microsoft has adopted terms like "Windows 8-style UI," "New User Interface," "Windows 8 design" and "Windows 8 application" in place of "Metro."

Now, new information has surfaced indicating Microsoft is once again flip-flopping on the name of its UI design in the wake of ditching "Metro."

Microsoft design style

Based on terminology discovered in Microsoft's app design guidelines for Windows 8, it appears the company is opting for "Microsoft design style" as the final replacement for "Metro."

Any and all mentions of "Metro" have been seemingly stricken from the record, as Microsoft readies itself for the consumer launch of Windows 8 on Oct. 26.

Curiously, the new term isn't capitalized, giving some credence to the thought the title is more of a descriptor than an actual branded name.

For now, consumers and developers are stuck with this new branding, which doesn't exactly speak to simplicity like "Metro" or Windows 8 and Windows RT.

Having already gone through nearly half-a-dozen different names just to describe the look of the Windows 8 user interface, it wouldn't be that surprising to see yet another change happen in the future.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/microsoft-design-style-may-be-latest-and-final-windows-8-ui-rebrand-1105766

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