Nokia 109 announced – cheap, small and old-school

Nokia has just announced the Nokia 109 entry-level phone. It packs a 1.8-inch TFT screen with 128x160 pixels resolution, dual-band GSM/EDGE connectivity, FM radio and microSD card.

Nokia 109 runs on S40 platform and comes with Nokia’s Xpress Browser, which compresses the web pages up to 90% and saves you data traffic. Some handy social apps will come pre-installed as well.

The phone spreads at 110x46x14.8 mm and it weighs just 77 grams. According to Nokia the battery will last 33 days in stand-by.

Cyan and Black versions of Nokia 109 will hit the shelves in Europe, Asia Pacific and China very soon for $42 before taxes.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_109_announced__cheap_small_and_oldschool-news-5029.php

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Huawei announces Honor 2 with a quad-core CPU and 2GB RAM

Huawei has announced the Android-based Honor 2, which comes with some major hardware improvements over its predecessor.

The Honor 2 has a 4.5-inch, 1280 x 720 resolution display with a pixel density of 326ppi. Inside, there is Huawei's K3V2 1.4GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM. The Honor 2 also has 8GB internal memory with a microSD card slot. On the back is an 8 megapixel camera with 1080p video recording.

The Huawei Honor 2 will be releasing in China later this week for 1,888 yuan ($302).

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/huawei_announces_honor_2_with_a_quadcore_cpu_and_2gb_ram-news-5021.php

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Samsung and LG smartphones reportedly going 1080p in 2013

HTC J Butterfly leads the 1080p movement

A recent report says Samsung and LG have big plans for smartphones in 2013, at least when it comes to screen resolution.

According to Korean news site MK News, both manufacturers are hoping to launch smartphones with 1080p displays within the first half of next year.

Earlier this year, LG showed off a 5-inch mobile display at full 1080p resolution. The screen featured a 16:9 aspect ratio and pixel density of 440ppi, making it an improvement over the already crisp iPhone 5's 326ppi retina display.

Samsung, according to the report, is developing a new smartphone screen with a pixel density of 400ppi. While a 400ppi display would still look fantastic, technically it would still be slightly under full HD resolution.

First out of the gate

If Samsung and LG do launch 1080p smartphones next year, the companies will hardly be the first.

That distinction belongs to the Oppo Find 5, which will sport a 1080p display when it launches in China.

However, there seems to be little chance of the Find 5 ever finding its way overseas, so your first glance of a 1080p smartphone may be to the rumored HTC DLX.

While the HTC DLX is still unconfirmed, rumors suggest that the 5-inch Jelly Bean handset is coming soon, with recently leaked images showing the purported smartphone with branding for U.S. carrier Verizon.

Taking a step back from rumors, HTC actually has already confirmed a 1080p smartphone with the HTC J Butterfly in Japan.

Conveniently, the J Butterfly shares similar specs with the rumored HTC DLX, indicating that it could even be the same phone, just under a different name for the different geographies.

Whatever HTC calls its 1080p handset, it sounds like it will only be the first of many as more manufacturers embrace full HD resolution for the next generation of smartphones.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/samsung-and-lg-smartphones-reportedly-going-1080p-in-2013-1106623

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Rumor: Samsung working on midrange Galaxy Premier smartphone

The Premiere is said to pack the same display size and resolution as the Galaxy Nexus (credit: unwiredview.com)

While the tech world is still reeling from Samsung's introduction of the Galaxy S3 Mini, reports surfaced on Friday claiming that yet another exciting new Galaxy phone is in the works at the Korean company.

Called the Galaxy Premier, the new device is rumored to lie somewhere between the Galaxy S3 and Samsung's Galaxy Nexus in tech and scope.

What's now being called the Galaxy Premier appears to have surfaced for the first time in late September, when a photo taken by an unknown device with the model number GT-i9260 appeared online.

At the time, the unknown device was assumed to be Samsung's Galaxy Nexus 2, but the Galaxy Premiere is more than a simple Nexus successor.

Origins of a rumor

The rumor about the Samsung Galaxy Premiere first appeared on German site Mobile Geeks, which may have caught wind of the device at the same event at which the S3 Mini was unveiled.

The exact origin of the Galaxy Premier rumor is unclear, though, and TechRadar reached out to Samsung for clarification, though the company hasn't yet responded.

Either way, the information that's currently available suggests that the Galaxy Premier may only be planned for European markets at this time.

Samsung Galaxy Premiere specs

The Galaxy Premier carries specs that place it in the middle territory somewhere between the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Nexus, with Android 4.1: Jelly Bean and a 1.5GHz dual core processor.

The Premier is said to pack the same display size and resolution as the Galaxy Nexus, with a 4.6-inch 1280x720 Super AMOLED screen.

According to the reports, the Premier also features a 8-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC capabilities, and DLNA.

Hopefully, more concrete information about the Galaxy Premier appears soon.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/rumor-samsung-working-on-midrange-galaxy-premier-smartphone-1104118

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Instagram evidently phasing out live filters with iOS 6 update

The update for Instagram on iOS 6 is here, and while it fixes the resolution issue, you'll notice one big feature missing: Live filters.

Those who have purchased the iPhone 5 may have already noticed that several apps that have not received their iOS 6 updates are often cut off in display, leave a large chunk of black blocks to fill in the shorter display of the iPhone 4. Instagram finally fixed this issue with its iOS 6 update, but that’s not the only thing users noticed. Sorely missing is the live filter feature, which allowed iPhoneographers to apply an overlay of their intended filter in live camera view before snapping a photo. If you’re one of the Instagrammers who frequent this functionality, tough luck. Instagram has updated its “known issues” section of the Help Center to reflect the following message:

“As of the current release (v3.1), Instagram does not support live filters on the iPhone 5. Going forward, live filters will be phased out as we work to improve the Instagram experience for all users.”

We’re not sure how exactly removing live filters is an improvement, considering this added functionality was one of the bigger focus of past Instagram updates for iOS. For fans of live filters, this will also prove to be a dilemma for whether or not they should update the app. On one hand, you can only avoid the update for so long, and the black bars that cut off on iPhone 5′s screen continues to be awkward without the update. On the other, updating means you might lose a feature you’ve come to use more commonly. Could you possibly stand to not see the world in Instagram filter after all?

Who knows, perhaps phasing out live filters is for the best. After all, my Android version of Instagram crashes often enough even without live filters so the company definitely has bigger issues at hand that might require the removal of this functionality overall — across all platforms — to make the app less buggy.

Image credit: The Next Web

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/instagram-evidently-phasing-out-live-filters-with-ios-6-update/

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First 1080p Android handset on the way to China

Oppo's Jelly Bean handset will boast a pixel density of 441 ppi

The world's first smartphone with a full HD screen resolution is coming to China.

The Oppo manufacturer recently announced the Find 5 device, which the company says will boast a 5-inch screen at 1920 x 1080p.

That would give the Find 5 an Retina Display-trouncing 441 pixels per inch (the iPhone 5 has 326 pixels per inch).

Quad-core and more

The rest of the spec-set is also pretty impressive. Oppo cites 2GB of RAM, a Qualcomm quad-core 1.5GHz processor and a 12-megapixel camera.

It's also lists the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system, Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi a/b/g/n.

As Android Central points out, the spec list does sound a little too good to be true, and it's unlikely that it'll ever reach western shores anyway.

Still, it's interesting to see that some manufacturers are looking to push the boundaries of mobile screen technology.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/first-1080p-android-handset-on-the-way-to-china-1098040

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First 1080p Android handset on the way in China

Oppo's Jelly Bean handset will boast a pixel density of 441 ppi

The world's first smartphone with a full HD screen resolution is coming to China.

The Oppo manufacturer recently announced the Find 5 device, which the company says will boast a 5-inch screen at 1920 x 1080p.

That would give the Find 5 an Retina Display-trouncing 441 pixels per inch (the iPhone 5 has 326 pixels per inch).

Quad-core and more

The rest of the spec-set is also pretty impressive. Oppo cites 2GB of RAM, a Qualcomm quad-core 1.5GHz processor and a 12-megapixel camera.

It's also lists the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system, Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi a/b/g/n.

As Android Central points out, the spec list does sound a little too good to be true, and it's unlikely that it'll ever reach western shores anyway.

Still, it's interesting to see that some manufacturers are looking to push the boundaries of mobile screen technology.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/first-1080p-android-handset-on-the-way-in-china-1098040

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