iTap wants to be the ultimate Apple plug 'n' play device

Plug meet tap, tap meet plug

With the tech world awash with rumours about the iPhone 5C, iWatch, and Apple iTV, a new product is hoping to tap into the steady stream of coverage Apple is getting at the moment.

Called the iTap, this peripheral looks to be perfect for those whose love for Apple runs both hot and cold.

All right, you've got us: it's just a charging plug shaped like a tap. But it's just the sort of thing Jony Ive would design if he hadn't sold his soul to the Bauhaus movement.

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Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/itap-wants-to-be-the-ultimate-apple-plug-n-play-device-1174695

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MHL 3.0 for smartphones strides into view with 4K video support

With great ports comes great power

Good news for those of you who love hooking your smartphone up to TVs or monitors to watch a movie or play a game on a big screen: MHL 3.0 has been announced complete with 4K (Ultra HD) resolution capabilities.

For those of you who are unsure what MHL is, in its most basic form it allows you to plug your smartphone or tablet into an HDMI port in your TV via the handset's microUSB port.

Nokia, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba make up the MHL Consortium that governs the standard and the latest update in the form of version 3.0 will be available from next month.

More sound, screens and peripherals

The 4K upgrade means the bandwidth for the service has been doubled over MHL 2.0, and alongside the visual update version 3.0 also offers 7.1 surround sound support for better a better audio experience.

For those of you who like dabbling with more than one screen at a time MHL 3.0 also supports multiple displays as well as input devices such as keyboards and mice.

Of course you're only going to fully benefit from this upgrade if you a) own an MHL enabled device (of which we're told there are over 330 million in the world) and b) own a 4K monitor or television, which are still very expensive at this point in time.

However, as the mobile phone or tablet increasingly becomes part of the connected home, the ability to stream 7.1 surround sound will be key for online video services, or content you've downloaded to your device. We can see a time when such enhancements can be charged extra for, enabling new content streams for media providers.

The price of 4K technology will also drop over the next few years, and it's good to see that at least our wired connections between mobile devices and large displays will be ready for the mass uptake - now on to 4K wireless streaming.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/mhl-3-0-for-smartphones-strides-into-view-with-4k-video-support-1174673

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Unbreakable flexible smartphone concepts to arrive this year?

Unbreakable and lightweight

Chances of a smartphone sporting a flexible display arriving before the year's end are slim, but we're hearing that we may at least see concept devices before 2014 rolls around.

According to Korean site ETNews the two major manufacturers of flexible displays - Samsung and LG - will start shipping the screens this November with a couple of concept smartphones in the pipeline.

This is all coming from unspecified "industry analysis", so we're taking it with a heavy dose of salt, but the source goes on to claim the concept handsets will be billed as 'unbreakable and light' and used as pilots to gauge market response.

Flex your muscle

Both Samsung and LG have a lot of work to do if the market reaction is positive however, with both firms needing to increasing their flexible panel production lines to cope with a mass market device.

That means will probably have to wait several months into 2014 before the first real, flexible smartphones possibly hit shop shelves.

Samsung is really pushing the flexible display envelope, as it recently set up a competition encouraging people to come up with ideas surrounding the technology with a prize of $10,000 (about £6,400, AU$10,900) up for grabs.

It's not just smartphones that are being groomed for flexible displays, with tablets and wearable tech such as smartwatches also heavily tipped to benefit from the bendy screens.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/unbreakable-flexible-smartphone-concepts-to-arrive-this-year--1174651

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LG creates world's first Blu-ray quality smartphone display

Love at first sight

LG has announced that it's developed the world's first, and highest resolution, Quad HD AH-IPS LCD display for smartphones capable of giving an incredible pixel density of 538ppi.

The 5.5-inch panel sports a 2560 x 1440 resolution, considerably sharper than the screens on the Samsung Galaxy S4 (441ppi), HTC One (469ppi) and LG G2 (424ppi) which all boast still splendid - yet smaller - 1080 x 1920 displays.

While questions might be raised over the need for such a high density display on such a small surface area LG claims its new screen will allow users to enjoy Blu-ray quality movies and view desktop versions of websites without image distortion on their smartphones.

Now that's great for the average Joe consumer, but LG's screen tech breakthrough with improved contrast, more delicate colours and life-like images could see it excel in various fields such as medicine and military scenarios where greater detail is required.

Slim Jim

If that retina-popping resolution wasn't enough, LG is claiming that its fancy new display is also the world's thinnest at 1.21mm in depth - which could see our top end smartphones get even thinner than the already svelte 7.9mm Xperia Z and Galaxy S4.

This is still some way off the 4K resolution we're beginning to see on televisions, and while 3840 x 2160 on such a small display is not really necessary - with questions raised over what the human eye can distinguish - it's surely only a matter of time before we're carrying round a 4K screen in our pocket.

It's not clear when we'll see LG's fancy new screen actually make its way into a handset, although it's quite possible we'll get treated to it sometime next year.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/lg-creates-world-s-first-blu-ray-quality-smartphone-display-1174622

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Samsung SM-Z9005 UAprof confirms 720p display, Krait CPU

The Samsung SM-Z9005 smartphone which started shipping to developers last week, has been visiting the Samsung website recently leaving valuable traces in the form of a User Agent Profile. It reports that the upcoming Tizen OS smartphone features a 720p display, which hints its mid-range nature right off the bat.

Moreover, the Samsung SM-Z9005 is reported to pack a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset with a Krait CPU. Most probably, it's going to be a dual-core one coupled with 1GB of RAM. That should be enough to run the jointly developed with Intel operating system. An added feature of the Snapdragon system-on-a-chip is the 4G LTE supporting modem.

Sadly, that's all that the web browser profile of the smartphone gives us. The Samsung SM-Z9005 reminds us of the Samsung I8800, which leaked some months ago, as that one also featured a 720p display. Unlike the SM-Z9005 though, the I8800 will most probably pack a Samsung Exynos 4 chipset and be the more powerful of the two.

While both smartphones are now in the hands of developers for testing and app development, there is no information when the platform or the SM-Z9005 and I8800 will make their commercial debut. All we know is that Tizen OS is live and breathing.

Source | Via

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/tizenrunning_samsung_smz9005_specs_pop_up_720p_display_in_tow_-news-6616.php

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Sony Xperia Z1 benchmarked, Snapdragon 800 does as expected

We saw the press image of the Sony Honami a.k.a Xperia Z1 earlier today and now, we have the alleged benchmark results of the upcoming cameraphone flagship from Sony.

The alleged AnTuTu scores of what seems to be the Chinese variant of the Xperia Z1 once again confirms that the smartphone will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset with Adreno 330 GPU and quad-core Krait 400 CPU.

AnTuTu

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  33,832
• Galaxy S4 LTE-A
  31,491
• Sony Xperia Z1
  30,625
• Galaxy Note II (S600)
  26,901
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  26,275
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  24,716
• HTC One
  22,678
• Sony Xperia Z
  20,794
• LG Optimus G Pro
  20,056
• HTC Butterfly
  19,513
• Huawei Ascend Mate
  15,714
• Samsung Galaxy S III
  15,547
• Oppo Find 5
  15,167
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  13,562

The Xperia Z1 with codename L39h runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and has managed to score an impressive 30,625 points in the Antutu benchmark. This puts it among the most powerful smartphones in the market right now, even though its firmware is certainly far from finished.

Sony's upcoming flagship smartphone has created a buzz among the tech enthusiasts, in no small part due to its rumored 20.7 megapixel camera it carries. The camera is also said to support 4K video recording and the shooter is expected to perform well during the low-light conditions helped by its Xenon and LED flash combo.

Unfortunately, there is no authentic confirmation on the benchmark results, so take it with a pinch of salt.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_honami_gets_benchmarked_snapdragon_800_chipset_in_tow-news-6615.php

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Multitasking made easy in latest YouTube iOS update

Multitasking with your main source of procrastination

Google may be the algorithmic brains behind Android, but the company is playing fair with Apple devices by updating its YouTube iOS app at the same time as the Android version we demoed yesterday.

That's good news for multitasking iPhone and iPad owners who find that watching just one video isn't enough sometimes. The big change here is that users can minimize a video while searching for content they want to play next.

This functionality arrived on Android at the same time today, though we were able to report on the Android version yesterday thanks to an early APK that was made available outside of the Google Play store.

Where's the dividing line?

The differences between the YouTube iOS and Android app updates? There are none, according to Google.

"The iOS has the same features and design as the Android update this morning (they launched at the same time), save for small platform design differences," a Google spokesperson told TechRadar.

That's good news because it means the in-app multitasking and new ability to search public playlists makes the YouTube viewing experience easier no matter which platform you're on. Oh, unless that platform happens to be Windows Phone in which the app is blocked.

• There's this X-citing phone you may want to check out (hint, hint).

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/multitasking-made-easy-in-latest-youtube-ios-update-1174551

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