Samsung Galaxy S4 on Sprint gets its first OTA update

Samsung's latest flagship smartphone is now available across the globe and the smartphone is now up for grabs in the US after the initial delay. The good news for all the Galaxy S4 consumers on Sprint is that the device is now getting its first OTA update today.

The over-the-air update is about 24 MB in size and brings the software version to build L720VPUAMDL. Unfortunately, there is no change log available for the update, but we assume the update to be a last minute patch for the device's software.

A notification of the software update will pop up on your smartphones, but in case you missed it, you can update your device by going to Settings > More > System Update.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4_on_sprint_gets_its_first_ota_update-news-5947.php

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Original iPhone becomes 'vintage' on June 11

Ah, how times have changed

Look out for the Primrose Hill set rocking a 2G iPhone after June 11, as the first Apple handset is set to be classified 'vintage' as of that date.

At least, that's the case in the US according to this leaked internal Apple document - in the rest of the world, the 2G phone simply becomes obsolete.

What that means is that Apple Stores will stop acknowledging the handset so if there are any issues with your ageing iPhone, you should get them sorted out ahead of the June 11 cut-off.

One more thing...

Also reaching obsolescence on June 11 are the 2005 Mac Mini, 2007 iMacs, the AirPort Express Base Station and a handful of MacBooks.

Apple will stop offering repairs or parts for these products so any post-June 11 issues will have to be dealt with by an unofficial repair outlet.

If you're still using an original 2G iPhone, we salute you. Tell us, how is that going?

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/original-iphone-becomes-vintage-on-june-11-1147946

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Apple and Samsung to do battle again this November as court sets date

Hi-ho, hi-ho it's back to court we go

Apple and Samsung will be off to court once again come November 12 as the tussle over the level of damages the Korean firm is due to pay the Cupertino-based company continues.

Last summer saw a long, drawn out legal battle between the two manufacturing giants, with Apple claiming a number of Samsung smartphones had infringed on a variety of its patents.

Samsung was initially ordered to pay Apple $1.05 billon (around £652 million) in damages, but that was reduced by $450.5 million in March this year - and it's the latter of the figures which is up for debate in November.

My dad is bigger than your dad

Obviously Samsung isn't too happy about having to pay Apple anything and this isn't the only topic the firms have clashed on, with a seemingly never-ending list of law suits and allegations between the two.

The trial in November will focus on 13 Samsung products and the judge in charge of the case, Lucy Koh said: "This is going to be Groundhog's Day, you're going to be reliving July of 2012" - oh boy, sounds thrilling. We can't wait...

So it looks like we're in for another gargantuan clash of the tech titans in the run up to Christmas, let's just hope Santa doesn't strike them off his list.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/apple-and-samsung-to-do-battle-again-this-november-as-court-sets-date-1147937

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Impossibly slender Huawei P6 could be world's thinnest smartphone

That's some diet (credit: Tenaa.com.cn)

It's a title which changes hands every few months and the next handset in line to be crowned the "world's thinnest smartphone" could well be the Huawei P6-UO6.

The Huawei P6 hasn't been officially announced yet but apparently it's already appeared at China's equivalent of the FCC, revealing specs and a couple of pictures.

While specs such as a 4.7-inch HD display, 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, Android Jelly Bean and 5MP camera won't exactly set the heart racing, it's the dimensions of the P6 which pique our interest.

Wafer thin

According to the leaked details the handset - which could arrive on the market as the Huawei Ascend P6 - measures 132.6 x 65.5 x 6.18mm.

At 6.18mm in depth it would make the P6 the thinnest smartphone around, with the iPhone 5 looking porky in comparison at 7.6mm and the current leader, the Alcatel Idol Ultra, comfortably beaten at 6.45mm.

Huawei did hold the thinnest phone title for a while after it launched the Huawei Ascend P1S at MWC 2012, which came in at 6.7mm.

We've contacted Huawei to find out if the P6 does indeed exist, or if this is just a fabricated rumour. We'll update this article once we hear back.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/impossibly-slender-huawei-p6-could-be-world-s-thinnest-smartphone-1147914

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Kantar: WP on the rise in th US, BB down, Android ahead of iOS

Android and iOS are slugging it out for the top spot in the US smartphone market, but the OS that showed the biggest year over year growth for the first quarter was Windows Phone, according to the latest report from Kantar.

Microsoft’s mobile OS gained 1.9 percentage points for a market share of 5.6% at the end of March. This solidifies Windows Phone’s third place position, albeit a distant one.

The analyst firm also points out that WP is seeing more interest from former featurephone owners – 52% of newcomers to WP previously had a feature phone, while only 45% and 49% of iOS and Android owners respectively upgraded from a featurephone. Over half of US phone users are yet to jump on the smartphone bandwagon, so Windows Phone can probably expect to see even more growth.

Anyway, Android now commands 49.3% of the smartphone market in the US, up from 47.9%. Its chief competitor, iOS, went down a notch to 43.7% (from 44.6%).

BlackBerry lost more share though, 1.7 percentage points, and is currently down to 0.9% market share. “Other” smartphone OSes also declined and now sit at 0.5%.

The situation with carriers in the US meanwhile is more stable – Verizon remains on top with 37.2%, AT&T second with 27.9% and Sprint third with 12.3%. T-Mobile lost some ground (3.2 percentage points) and fell to 9.5%.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/kantar_wp_on_the_rise_in_th_us_bb_down_android_ahead_of_ios-news-5945.php

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US variants of Galaxy S4 ship with locked bootloaders

CyanogenMod developed Steve Kondik has confirmed in his post on Google+ that the AT&T version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 comes with a locked bootloader.

As you may know, an unlocked or unlockable bootloader is imperative if you want to run a custom ROM on a device. Without that you are stuck with whatever software that comes pre-installed on your phone. In case of carrier locked device this is especially necessary as they are often slow to update the device and you get updates much faster if you go through the custom ROM route. Not to mention, a lot of people prefer stock ROMs to Samsung's TouchWiz Nature UI whatchamacallit.

Kondik has only confirmed this for the AT&T model of the Galaxy S4 but according to AnandTech's Brian Klug other carriers are also selling the phone with a locked bootloader.

Samsung has so far been supportive of the developer community but this move is the complete opposite of that. In comparison, HTC also sells locked version of the One through the carriers but they have an unlocked developer edition available through their website, should someone want to be more adventurous with their phone. Samsung's and the carrier's move to lock the bootloader won't not go down well with Android developers, who are now likely to spring for the HTC One instead.

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Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/us_variants_of_galaxy_s4_ship_with_locked_bootloaders-news-5944.php

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4G promises mobile shopping boost

Ready to buy more on the phone

More than a third of consumers reckon they are likely to buy more items by phone when they begin using 4G technology, according to a new survey.

The eCustomerServiceIndex (eCSI) survey of 2,000 people, carried out in April by eDigitalResearch and IMRG, the online retail industry association, found that 39% of smartphone owners already use them for shopping, and that 34% are 'likely' or 'very likely' to do more – even though just 14% of devices have a 4G capability.

This is being encouraged by early experiences with 4G, the new generation of wireless standards being phased in across the UK. Of the respondents who had it on their phones, 43% said it was 'considerably faster' in browsing the internet, and 39% said it was 'faster'.

Derek Eccleston, Commercial Director at eDigitalResearch, said: "The introduction of 4G technology looks set to have a considerable impact on retail markets. With faster internet speeds and a better all-round browsing experience, more and more shoppers are likely to turn to their 4G enabled device to help them through their multichannel purchase journey."

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/4g-promises-mobile-shopping-boost-1147785

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