Phil Schiller dismisses rumors of Apple making a cheap iPhone

We have been hearing rumors of Apple working on a cheaper iPhone, something that is backed by both The Wall Street Journal as well as Bloomberg. But it seems that may not be the case after all.

In an interview with China's Shanghai Evening News, Senior Vice President Worldwide Marketing at Apple - Phil Schiller - said that “Despite the popularity of cheap smartphones [in China], this will never be the future of Apple’s products".

While this comes across as a clear dismissal of the rumors, it won't be the first time when Apple said that they were not going to do something and then basically do that thing later on. Then again, with Apple's strategy of selling previous generation iPhones at a lower cost, one does have to wonder where this 'cheap iPhone' would fit and if it is even necessary.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/phil_schiller_dismisses_rumors_of_apple_making_a_cheap_iphone-news-5332.php

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Meet the poor (like, broke) man’s Google Glass: the Vuzix M100

When Google first premiered Project Glass last year, it inarguably struck a chord. The augmented reality device is but-yet a prototype, only making it into the hands of developers and a handful of elite “beta testers” (looking at you, Diane Von Furstenburg and co.).

Despite the impossible-to-kill hype around this project, Google has more or less been the only pioneer seriously attacking the wearable interface market – or at least the loudest. But there are other, smaller, quieter cotenders in the space. At CES, a company called Vuzix had its M100 smartglasses on display… sort of. The unit that Vuzix is showing off is a non-working prototype. When wearing the M100s, your right eye sees a homescreen of apps that you would select actions from. But that’s all we were able to do with the device.

The unit itself is incredibly light-weight, in fact they’re a little flimsy feeling. The viewable display is surprisingly clear, however. But it’s hard to determine how well Vuzix works given the fact they are little more than a prop right now. Actually, it’s not just hard: It’s impossible.

Still, given the fact that we haven’t had a chance to go hands-on with Google Glasses, this is the next best thing. Apparently, being the next best thing is sort of what Vuzix is banking on. The platform is, more or less, planning to piggyback on Google Glasses. They will run Android, and a rep tells me that apps built for the Android market – and by extension, augmented reality apps developers are working on for Project Glass – will work on the M100s.

Basically, the smartglasses will be like a second, wearable screen for your smartphone. You can wear the unit and stare straight ahead into the display and operate your Android phone after connecting them via Bluetooth. The augmented reality part only comes in if you’re using specifically designed augmented reality apps – so those dreams you have of wearing these glasses and reaching out in front of you, touching thin air, interacting with apps? That’s only going to happen once developers create programs that support this type of function. Luckily, Project Glass has invited, encouraged, and inspired a whole ecosystem to do just that.

Vuzix plans to capitalize on this. And why not? Let a brand like Google, with deep pockets, infinite resources, and no shortage of name recognition do the heavy lifting of starting a consumer market around wearable interfaces. It’s going to be the bargain smartphone of the augmented reality accessory industry. Vuzix is shooting straight for the middle.

Which, really, might not be such a bad business plan. If wearable computing devices and augmented reality take off like more and more analysts are predicting they will, then there’s going to be a whole industry around these devices. People will want options, and different price points. Apple isn’t the only one making smartphones, after all: While the iPhone has an inarguable grip on the market, it’s not like Samsung and Nokia aren’t making money.

A rep tells us that the M100s will be available in the second half of the year and will cost less than $500.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/google-glass-competitor-vuzix-debuts-m100-smartglasses-at-ces/

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Kogan releases super-cheap dual-SIM Android phone

Hope it fares better than the last Agora smartphone

The Kogan Agora smartphone has something of a chequered past, but the Australian technology company seems to have put that behind them, this week announcing a dual-SIM Agora handset running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

The phone, which boasts a 5-inch 480 x 800 pixel screen, dual core 1GHz Cortex A9 processor and 4GB of internal memory, will sell exclusively via Kogan's retail shop.

Also featured in the Android handset is a 5MP rear-facing camera, a 0.3MP front facing camera, integrated FM Radio and support for the 850, 900, 1900 and 2100MHz 3G frequencies.

Super cheap

The asking price for the new Agora handset is AUD$149/$US149/£119, plus delivery. Kogan are selling the phone exclusively through their website, and will ship to 11 countries, including Australia, the US and the UK. The product will ship from mid-February.

The move to release a dual-SIM Agora smartphone comes a month after the online retailer launched its the Kogan mobile network in Australia running on Telstra's network infrastructure.

Naturally, Australian customers are automatically offered a free SIM during the order process for the new handset, but it does give an indication of where Kogan hopes to grow in 2013.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/kogan-releases-super-cheap-dual-sim-android-phone-1124371

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Nokia had a good year afterall, hints at something 'very cool'

One of Nokia's 2012 MVPs (Most Valuable Phones)

Nokia had an unexpectedly good quarter at the end of 2012, seemingly surprising itself most of all.

Though the company initially had a pessimistic outlook going into the end of the year, the Lumia and Asha smartphone lines outsold expectations.

Nokia's mobile broadband service, Nokia Siemens Networks, also helped bolster profits.

The good news comes from preliminary financial info released by Nokia today. The report also contains a few non-legally binding predictions for 2013.

The Nokia numbers

Nokia had grim predictions when it came to its Devices & Service performance, expecting its operating margins to shrink about 6 percent.

But thanks to strong, unforeseen sales of the Lumia line, business mobile phone and lower than predicted operation expenses, Nokia is now expecting Devices & Services to break even or grow by 2 percent.

The department's net sales were about EUR 3.9 billion (US$5.17, UK£3.20, AUD$4.88), as it moved 86.3 million total devices for Q4.

Though Lumia phones did better than expected, Asha won the day.

Nokia reported it sold 9.3 million Asha smartphones for the quarter. Lumia sold 4.4 million units, and the Symbian comes in third with 2.2 million moved.

Nokia Siemens Networks also brought in EUR 4.0 billion (US$5.3, UK£3.3, AUD$5) in net sales. It grew about 13 to 15 percent in operating costs, which was expect to grow only 8 percent.

The service sold better than expected in some regions, as well as keeping operational costs low.

All of those numbers are using non International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), so the figures might change a bit when more standard accounting practices are followed. But we can't expect too much from a preliminary report like this.

2013 not looking so rosy

Though the last quarter went better than expected for Nokia, it hasn't improved the company's outlook on the first quarter of 2013.

But the pessimistic thing seems to be working for the company, so why stop now?

Nokia expects to lose some ground in the first part of the year due to competition in the smart device and business phone markets, weak seasonal demand and the "macroeconomic environment."

But part of the decline includes ramp up in production of Lumia and Asha phones. So maybe the company will recoup those losses later in the year.

Something cool this way comes

But Nokia is looking forward to at least one thing in 2013: something "very cool" involving its PureView technology, according to Nokia's official blog.

PureView was introduced a one year ago and was created to help with image stabilization and low light performance.

It was first used in the Nokia 808 PureView, a smartphone with a whopping 41MP camera.

But PureViews seems more of a state of mind, judging from what Juha Alakarhu, Nokia's head of imaging technologies, had to say about it.

"Well, I think it's important to underscore that PureView doesn't mean any specific technology," Alakarhu told the blog during CES.

"It's the latest and greatest in imaging. When you buy a Nokia phone with PureView, you are getting our highest quality imaging innovation."

Though he didn't drop any specific hints about what is to come, he seemed pretty jazzed about the future of PureView:

"We're really driving innovation in key areas to deepen and enrich the imaging experience," Alakarhu said. "I can't tell you about the specific things we're working on. Safe to say it's very cool."

Well, guess we'll have to take his word for it.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/nokia-had-a-good-year-afterall-hints-at-something-very-cool-1124342

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Nokia had better than expected year end, hints at something 'very cool' for PureView

One of Nokia's 2012 MVPs (Most Valuable Phones)

Nokia had an unexpectedly good quarter at the end of 2012, seemingly surprising itself most of all.

Though the company initially had a pessimistic outlook going into the end of the year, the Lumia and Asha smartphone lines outsold expectations.

Nokia's mobile broadband service, Nokia Siemens Networks, also helped bolster profits.

The good news comes from preliminary financial info released by Nokia today. The report also contains a few non-legally binding predictions for 2013.

The Nokia numbers

Nokia had grim predictions when it came to its Devices & Service performance, expecting its operating margins to shrink about 6 percent.

But thanks to strong, unforeseen sales of the Lumia line, business mobile phone and lower than predicted operation expenses, Nokia is now expecting Devices & Services to break even or grow by 2 percent.

The department's net sales were about EUR 3.9 billion (US$5.17, UK£3.20, AUD$4.88), as it moved 86.3 million total devices for Q4.

Though Lumia phones did better than expected, Asha won the day.

Nokia reported it sold 9.3 million Asha smartphones for the quarter. Lumia sold 4.4 million units, and the Symbian comes in third with 2.2 million moved.

Nokia Siemens Networks also brought in EUR 4.0 billion (US$5.3, UK£3.3, AUD$5) in net sales. It grew about 13 to 15 percent in operating costs, which was expect to grow only 8 percent.

The service sold better than expected in some regions, as well as keeping operational costs low.

All of those numbers are using non International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), so the figures might change a bit when more standard accounting practices are followed. But we can't expect too much from a preliminary report like this.

2013 not looking so rosy

Though the last quarter went better than expected for Nokia, it hasn't improved the company's outlook on the first quarter of 2013.

But the pessimistic thing seems to be working for the company, so why stop now?

Nokia expects to lose some ground in the first part of the year due to competition in the smart device and business phone markets, weak seasonal demand and the "macroeconomic environment."

But part of the decline includes ramp up in production of Lumia and Asha phones. So maybe the company will recoup those losses later in the year.

Something cool this way comes

But Nokia is looking forward to at least one thing in 2013: something "very cool" involving its PureView technology, according to Nokia's official blog.

PureView was introduced a one year ago and was created to help with image stabilization and low light performance.

It was first used in the Nokia 808 PureView, a smartphone with a whopping 41MP camera.

But PureViews seems more of a state of mind, judging from what Juha Alakarhu, Nokia's head of imaging technologies, had to say about it.

"Well, I think it's important to underscore that PureView doesn't mean any specific technology," Alakarhu told the blog during CES.

"It's the latest and greatest in imaging. When you buy a Nokia phone with PureView, you are getting our highest quality imaging innovation."

Though he didn't drop any specific hints about what is to come, he seemed pretty jazzed about the future of PureView:

"We're really driving innovation in key areas to deepen and enrich the imaging experience," Alakarhu said. "I can't tell you about the specific things we're working on. Safe to say it's very cool."

Well, guess we'll have to take his word for it.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/nokia-had-better-than-expected-year-end-hints-at-something-very-cool-for-pureview-1124342

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Hands on: HP’s ElitePad 900 tablet easily outshines the TouchPad, except on price!

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We go hands on with HP’s ElitePad 900, the first tablet its produced since the HP TouchPad’s short shelf life more than a year ago.

HP knows it needs to get back into the tablet world, but after the HP TouchPad disaster (a tablet that sold so poorly HP had to hold a fire sale at $100 a piece), it’s treading lightly. The ElitePad 900 is the first attempt to dip a foot back in. It skipped the Windows 8 launch entirely and though it’s supposed to come out anytime now, we’ve barely seen it. Until now.

The ElitePad is one of the better Windows 8 tablets we’ve used. With a 1280×800 pixel 10.1-inch screen size, a new 1.8GHz dual-core Atom processor, 2GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage, a microSD slot, and 8-megapixel camera, the ElitePad meets all the standard specs you’d expect in a Windows 8 tablet, but doesn’t push the envelope. HP doesn’t appear to be packing a lot of custom software on the ElitePad either, which isn’t necessarily bad. 

HP’s hardware does raise the bar a little, however. The ElitePad has a nice aluminum body with a decent feel to it, reminiscent of Motorola’s Xyboard tablets a year or so ago. More interesting than how it looks on the outside is how its put together. Instead of screws and bolts, the ElitePad’s back panel is actually held together with a special kind of magnet, allowing the panel to be popped off quite easily and serviced, providing you have a fancy tool.

If you don’t frequent power outlets very often, HP also has a snap-on battery extender, which adds some bulk to the fairly thin tablet, but also nearly doubles its battery life from about eight hours to 14-15. HP also sells several docks and a keyboard dock, which also extend battery life.

Overall, HP’s ElitePad 900 isn’t pushing any new ideas, but it may become a popular device among those looking for a stable, decent Windows 8 tablet with good battery life. It’s not always the innovators who do best, and HP has learned that first hand. But at $650, it’s no bargain.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/hp-elitepad-900-tablet-hands-on/

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Qi Wireless will once and for all put an end to power cords

The concept may seem simple, but Qi Wireless may be the biggest wave of technology headed to the mobile world. Setting the standard for wireless charging, we could only hope future gadgets will never require power cords ever again.

The fact that we still need to carry USB cords on the go whenever we need to charge electronics is appalling. It’s 2013, the future is already here. If the Qi Wireless technology exists, we don’t know why any gadgets are manufactured without it built-in.

As part of the Wireless Power Consortium, Qi can be integrated into mobile manufacturers products so cords can, once and for all, become obsolete. A tiny electromagnetic field generated through a pad features a metal coil that, when placed above Qi-enabled conductors, communicates with its mate to send a charge to your device. It isn’t the first time the concept of charging a phone wirelessly has been bandied about, but this technology marks the first time that it has been practical and available to most manufacturers.

The pads can be built atop NFC chips, barely taking any space in a smartphone’s hardware. Some of the latest smartphones, such as the Nexus 4, HTC 8X, and Nokia Lumia 920, already have Qi outfitted into the body, meaning they can wirelessly charge on a Qi pad – no phone case necessary. For older phones, however, companies are beginning to offer phone cases or USB add-ons to enable Qi on their electronics.

What this all means is that essentially any surface can become a charging pad. At Qi’s CES booth, we saw a table lamp with Qi integrated into the base. There were also speaker docks that require no connector, so you won’t have to worry if your iPhone needs a Thunderbolt or Lightning slot. We saw tables with docks seamlessly built into the surface to give restaurants, hotels, and cafes cool options to invite customers in and stay. At the moment, Qi runs at a maximum capacity of five watts, equal to a full cellphone charge in approximately one hour. Basically, if this technology exists on a larger scale, power mad journalists here in the CES press room would never have to fight over power outlet availability, and that equals a lot less cat fights.

But envision a word of wireless charging wherever you go. Students can bring laptops to classrooms and not run out of battery midway through lectures. Drivers can leave their phone charging on the dock as they venture through a lengthy road trip. Those at home can put their phones on a chair’s arm rest and not worry about leaving it in the other room to charge. That imagery is part of the truly mobile world the Wireless Power Consortium promotes, and we couldn’t be more on board with that sort of future.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/qi-wireless-will-once-and-for-all-put-an-end-to-power-cords/

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Hands on: Alcatel One Touch Scribe HD review

What's the smartphone world missing? Yep that's right, more handsets which come with a stylus – luckily the Alcatel One Touch Scribe HD is here to save the day.

Ok so maybe that's not what it's missing, but Alcatel has launched this 5-inch smartphone anyway as it looks to take on the S-Pen wielding Samsung Galaxy Note 2 as well as handsets such as the Sony Xperia Z and ZTE Grand S.

Sporting a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 5-inch IPS HD display and running Android Jelly Bean the One Touch Scribe HD certainly has the vital statistics of a high end mobile device.

Apparently the One Touch Scribe HD has been designed in such a way that its quad-core chip won't suffer from overheating, an issue Alcatel claims affects some of its rivals – zing!

Expected to launch globally the exact Alcatel One Touch Scribe HD release date and price is yet to be announced, with no guarantees on which countries will be treated to it.

The One Touch Scribe HD is clad in glossy plastic which doesn't really exude high-end, but the handset feels solid enough and at just 8.5mm thick it isn't overly cumbersome either.

We were easily able to wrap our paw round the One Touch Scribe HD and hit the volume rocker on the right and power/lock key on top without issue, while our thumb happily danced over the bright, crisp AMOLED display.

You can't get into the Scribe HD's chassis, meaning there's no access to the reasonably sized 2,500mAh battery and to reflect this there is a covered port on either side of the phone.

On the right, just below the volume switch is the microSD slot, while on the left is a port for your microSIM.

There's a groove above each of the plastic dust covers, making it easy to open them up and slide in a card.

You'll definitely be thankful for the microSD card option on the Scribe HD as for some reason Alcatel has only put 4GB of internal storage into the handset, with just 2GB actually available for use.

This shockingly low amount of storage on a handset clearly designed to consume media on is completely baffling and a poor choice by Alcatel in our eyes.

There are no touch buttons present below the 5-inch display with Alcatel opting to have the Android navigation keys on screen – just like Google would have wanted.

The screen was responsive to our various pokes and prods which meant we were easily able to navigate around the Jelly Bean interface.

As with its other handsets launched at CES 2013, the One Touch Idol and Idol Ultra, Alcatel has applied a simply design overlay on the Android system, changing the style of the icons and adding a couple of additional apps such as a compass and torch.

We were able to breeze through the homescreens and apps without any hint of slow down, probably thanks in part to the quad-core chip house inside the One Touch Scribe HD.

The stock Android keyboard is the default text input method on the Scribe HD which offers up a palatiable experience, but Alcatel has added an emoticon button above it, just in case you need to pop a winking smiley into your message. ;-)

With such a large screen the One Touch Scribe HD should be a joy for anyone who likes to watch video on the go, or at least that's what we hoped.

The reality was that video playback on the Scribe HD is a bit of a letdown as the clip we watched lacked the definition and sharp lines we've witnessed on other devices.

Alcatel has taken the liberty of fiddling with the Android camera application, giving you a new layout which we found pretty easy to use, although the video and shutter buttons were a bit too close together for our liking.

The 8MP camera on the back of the One Touch Scribe HD provides relatively decent images and there's a single LED flash to help with low light situations.

If you fancy a quick vanity shot or a video chat Alcatel has equipped the Scribe HD with a front-facing 1.3MP snapper which like the rear cam can shoot 720p video.

Stylus

It's not just the handset you get when you buy the Alcatel One Touch HD though, you're also furnished with a stylus.

We'll tell you where we stand with the stylus from the off, it's ugly, too big and basically pointless.

You'll notice it looks just like a pen and that's because it is… Yep twist the pointy end of this metallic stick and the nib will poke its head out of the end.

This gives you the first clue that the stylus isn't much cop, making it clear to the user you're far better of writing on a piece of paper than trying anything fancy on the One Touch Scribe HD.

At the other end of the stylus pen is the main attraction – a large rubber dome which is almost the same size as your finger.

This means it doesn't provide you with any greater accuracy on screen and thanks to its enormous size it can't be hidden away in the handset like the S-Pen on the Galaxy Note 2.

Adding insult to injury there doesn't seem to be any dedicated apps on the One Touch Scribe HD which utilise a stylus.

We did asked about dedicated applications and according to the representatives on the booth the Scribe HD should come with a drawing app, although we found no evidence of this on the two handsets we played with.

Early verdict

The Alcatel One Touch Scribe HD feels like a device which is only halfway to becoming a decent smartphone.

The lack of internal storage, disappointing video playback and unnecessary stylus just screams of a product which was rushed out to cash in on the big-phone revolution which seems to be sweeping the industry.

We can't see the Scribe HD gaining any meaningful traction in the major global markets and you'd be best advised to spend your money elsewhere.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/alcatel-one-touch-scribe-hd-1124143/review

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Samsung unveils the Galaxy S2 Plus – are you confused yet?

Samsung has announced a new smartphone, the Galaxy S2 Plus. Prepare for confusion.

Samsung may have left us disappointed after a pretty mellow keynote, but it looks like this isn’t stopping them from throwing out a few more announcements this week. While rumors abound over a Galaxy S4, Samsung decided to relaunch an old favorite: the Galaxy S2 Plus. 

Though Samsung is far from naming products as badly as Qualcomm, the new product is sure to confuse customers as they make their way to stores looking for the latest Samsung Galaxy smartphone, and while they’re glaring at the Galaxy S3, or Galaxy Note 2, they could also get the new Galaxy S2 Plus, a smaller, but beefy buddy to the Galaxy S3. The phone has some pretty good hardware: a 1.2GHZ dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 4.3″ Super AMOLED display, and Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2. Compared to the Galaxy S2 it’s a big upgrade, though the Galaxy S3 still outmatches it in a few departments. Still it’s probably going to be a great choice for those who want a smaller screen or (likely) a cheaper phone than the Galaxy S3 or upcoming Galaxy S4.

We’re guessing the rehash was done by Samsung to encourage sales of the phone with the Galaxy name, but not to make it look like a successor to the Galaxy S4 and its superior hardware. Either way, if Samsung can prevent customers from getting confused when they head to the store, it should be another welcome addition to the Galaxy family.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/samsung-unveils-the-galaxy-s-ii-plus-are-you-confused-yet/

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Hands on: Alcatel One Touch Idol Ultra review

The Alcatel One Touch Ultra is the latest device to claim the title of "world's thinnest smartphone" thanks to its incredibly slender 6.45mm frame.

Arriving as the slightly punchier sibling to the One Touch Idol the Idol Ultra features a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and an HD 4.7-inch AMOLED display which sports a 720x1280 resolution.

Confirmed for the European market, the One Touch Idol Ultra won't be available in the US and other select regions – although the reason for this is being kept under wraps along with the handset's release date and price.

The slim body fits nicely in the hand and the One Touch Idol Ultra feels like a much more premium device than the plain old Idol, with a polycarbonate chassis getting the nod over the cheap plastic of its brother.

This provides the One Touch Idol Ultra with a nice weight in the hand, but does mean there's no access to the battery – with a slot for a microSIM located on the right hand side of the device.

It's got a small plastic cover over it to avoid dust getting inside, but it's quick tricky to open up as it requires you to push it in at one end to pop out the other – all a bit fiddly if you ask us.

Sadly there's no microSD slot on the One Touch Idol Ultra, meaning you're stuck with the 16GB of internal storage Alcatel has crammed inside that wafer thin design.

On the top you have the microUSB port and power/lock key although they are switched around compared to the usual layout on top of smartphones – with the lock key on the left which just felt wrong when we came to unlock the Idol Ultra.

It's not a make or break issue and we're sure you'd get used to its position after a few days, but it certainly felt odd during the short time we had with the phone.

Surprisingly there's no sign of a headphone jack anywhere on the handset, so if you're someone who likes listening to music on their phone, steer well clear of the One Touch Idol Ultra.

We can only assume it was ditched in an effort to make this the slimmest phone in the world and we ask, was it worth it?

There's touch buttons below the screen for back, home and multi-tasking which weren't always responsive to our prods, leading to some frustrating pokes.

On screen though Android Jelly Bean is more responsive and runs pretty smoothly making for an enjoyable user experience – as long as you don't need the touch buttons.

Alcatel has put a light skin over the Jelly Bean system, changing the app icons and adding in quick settings to the notification bar.

It's certainly more of an aesthetical overlay as the core Jelly Bean experience is still there, although we're not huge fans of the icon design, as it makes the system look a bit cheap.

This means a lot of the core Android 4.1.1 features are present on the One Touch Idol Ultra including the stock keyboard, providing a decent form of text input and the large responsive screen makes typing easy.

The main web browser is the default Android offering while Google Chrome has also been installed, giving you a choice of apps to access the internet on – although we were unable to put either through their paces due to the lack of a web connection.

Another stock Jelly Bean application is the camera, giving you Google's intuitive system which offers fancy features such as panorama and photo sphere modes as well as stalwarts such as white balance, scene modes and video recording.

The camera itself is an 8MP offering and protrudes slightly from the rear of the phone and we're willing to bet that at this point the One Touch Idol Ultra is not 6.45mm.

There's a single LED flash to the left and you can record 720p video from the camera, while round the front there's a 1.3MP lens, also capable of recording at 720p, but quality will not be great.

Shutter speed was pretty quick with the One Touch Idol Ultra letting us take shots in quick succession, although the results were not quite as stellar.

The photos we snapped of the Alcatel booth appeared to come out slightly blurry and pixelated, which is disappointing for a handset which is looking to elbow its way into the higher end of the market.

Early Verdict

The Alcatel One Touch Idol Ultra is a capable mid to high end device offering you a decent smartphone experience.

Without knowing its price it's difficult to tell where the One Touch Idol Ultra will be pitched, and if Alcatel is looking to match the likes of the Galaxy S3 and HTC One X+ then it's going to run into difficulties.

However if the price is kept suitably low then the One Touch Idol Ultra could be an interesting proposition, even without a hole to plug your headphones into.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/alcatel-one-touch-idol-ultra-1123469/review

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Nokia’s gamble on Windows Phone finally pays off as mobile sales ‘exceed expectations’

Nokia’s fourth-quarter earnings show a return to the black for the struggling company, thanks in large part to the success of its Windows Phone 8 devices.

After announcing a “broad strategic partnership” with Microsoft that saw Nokia producing Windows Phone devices exclusively, the Finnish company is finally seeing it bear fruit. On Thursday, Nokia announced fourth-quarter mobile sales that “exceed expectations,” causing its stock to soar more than 18 percent.

Things weren’t always so rosy in Windows Phone land. Nokia’s partnership with Microsoft got off to a turbulent start with the initial launch of Windows Phone 7. The first iteration of the operating system was not what the world wanted, and sales reflected that for the last two years. However, it seems that’s beginning to change with the release of Windows Phone 8 in conjunction with Nokia’s powerful and affordable hardware. The Lumia 920 sold out in less than 20 minutes when it launched a few months ago, which gave a hint that we were going to see some interesting numbers from Nokia in the fourth quarter.

While the fourth quarter of 2012 will be in the black for Nokia, it won’t likely last. Nokia has already said it expects to slide back into the red due to industry dynamics – Samsung and Apple outselling them in the stores. Regardless, this is welcome news for the manufacturer, and it may be a sign of future good to come for the company, as long as Microsoft doesn’t start selling its own phone.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/q4-mobile-sales-for-nokia-exceed-expectations-stocks-soar/

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Holster-wearers rejoice! Blackberry 10 is actually pretty awesome

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We go hands on with a near-final build of BlackBerry 10 at CES 2013, and what we see is quite amazing.

In June 2011, I spent some time with an early version of BlackBerry 10 and commented that things “can only get better.” I said that because. at the time, things weren’t good. At all. BlackBerry 10 was a mess and the developer unit I tried it on was so glitchy I felt guilty writing a hands-on piece at all. Yesterday, off-site at CES, I got a full run down of a near-final version of BlackBerry 10 by the folks at Research in Motion. I can’t believe the difference six months can make. BlackBerry 10 is not only fully functional now, but it’s exciting.

RIM’s been talking about things like “flow” and universal inboxes for months, and now that I’ve seen all of BB 10′s parts working together, I have to believe that RIM has a fighting chance. I wouldn’t have said it until today, but BlackBerry 10 could bring the comeback RIM so desperately needs.

It’s all about flow

Talking about a user interface having “flow” and being easy to use is, well … easy. Anyone can run their mouth and every single phone manufacturer does. Usually it’s a spiel filled with silly words like “friendliness” and “human emotion.” But RIM has done something close to that. BlackBerry 10 is simple to use and has a smoothness to it that puts it right up there with Google’s newest Nexus devices and iOS.

Like the competition, BB 10 has a lock screen, notifications, a list of installed apps, and all the crap you expect in a post-iPhone operating system, but RIM has perfected some new ideas. Instead of a blank homescreen like  you get on Android or an apps list, like you get when you turn on an iPhone, BlackBerry 10 sends you straight into your recently used apps. BB 10 can manage up to nine active applications simultaneously and freeze others in the background, and lays them out in a 4×4 grid of tiles that scrolls downward. You enter an app by tapping on it, or simply hit the X in its lower right corner to shut it down. It’s not the most gorgeous homescreen, but managing active apps is something no one is getting right in mobile, which gives BB 10 an advantage out of the gate.

After looking at your active apps, a swipe from the right will take you to your apps list, which will go on and on, depending on how many apps you have installed, just like an iPhone. You can re-order your installed app icons, make folders, etc.

Swipe back to the active apps page and then to the left once more and you come to the BlackBerry Hub, a complete universal inbox that organizes all of your emails, messages, notifications, social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), and a bunch of other stuff. I still need to play around with the Hub more, but from my first glimpses, it does appear to do a good job of organizing all of your information in one place. No other OS is doing this well. I’m wondering how much time I might save if I was on a BB 10 phone. Calendar, flash, and many other functions are built right into the Hub and work seamlessly with swipes and gestures.

Whether you’re in the Hub or any other app, you can easily exit by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. Or you can do what RIM calls “peeking” and pull up from the bottom of the screen and over (to the right) to get a glimpse of what your Inbox looks like. This feature is mostly for show, but it is easy to do, and fun. It’s a small detail, like many others, that makes the interface feel very complete.

Lastly, a swipe down from the top of any home screen will bring up a menu of quick settings, so you can easily connect to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and things like that. It’s fantastic that RIM chose to include them in a permanent, prominent place because there are few things you’ll want to mess around with more than these as you change locations or try to manage battery life.

Separating work and play

If you want (or if you work at a company that forces you), your BB 10 phone can actively separate your work and personal life. A swipe down on the homescreen lets you toggle between the two modes. With a press of a button, you can make all of your work emails, notifications, apps, active apps, all of it, disappear. For once, you’ll be able to enjoy a weekend of peace. And if you get that face-punchingly annoying urge to do work on your free time, you can simply turn it back on. It works in reverse, too. You can shut off your personal accounts during work, if you’d like.

Because BlackBerry has been working in business environments for so long, RIM has an advantage here. It has many features that make it ideal for IT departments. They can even set up their own app stores for employees now, giving them access to custom BB 10 apps that they should have.

The camera … has problems

I’ve been raving about BlackBerry 10 for almost 900 words now, but one thing you haven’t heard is a compliment for the camera. While I really like RIM’s new feature that lets you fix your face in a photo (it records about 2 seconds of footage surrounding a pic), the camera app is currently quite laggy and glitchy in the  Dev Alpha unit I used, and even in the near-final units employees showed me. I wasn’t impressed by the pictures these phones were taking and the camera app just didn’t respond right. Hopefully RIM will iron this problem out before launch.

70,000 apps strong

Anyone can launch a new operating system, but these days, the toughest part is getting enough developers to support your vision and create software for it. Luckily, RIM appears to be more prepared than you might expect. The company is aiming to have 70,000 apps available at launch. While I’m sure most of those apps are terrible (most apps are on any platform), execs assure me that their efforts are focused on getting top apps to the platform. They’ve made a lot of bold moves. Since last year, RIM has passed out more than 6,000 BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha units to developers and 25,000+ BlackBerry PlayBooks (PlayBooks run on the same basic OS). This, along with a series of major BlackBerry developer Jam conferences around the country has lead to a renewed sense of interest in BB 10.

Most importantly, instead of forcing developers to cater to its needs, RIM appears to be going out of its way to make BB 10 extremely compliant with the programming languages and tools that devs use to create Android, iOS, and other apps. Porting from Android is especially easy. 

If RIM can launch with 70,000 apps, it will make history. For reference, Windows 8 had about 5,000 apps at launch and still hasn’t reached 70,000. This level of support has me excited that BB 10 could hit the ground running – something it desperately needs after being delayed for more than a year.

Show me where to sign

There are plenty of questions, and I haven’t gotten a glimpse at final hardware, but the BlackBerry 10 OS has serious potential. I’ve been critical of RIM in recent years, but holding off on releasing BlackBerry 10 might have been the best move it could make. The final product is fun to use and polished. There are a couple kinks, but far fewer than I’d expect in a first-generation operating system. 

I’m no soothsayer, but using BlackBerry 10 made me want to use it more. That’s somewhat rare. Unlike the first time I used Windows Phone, or many of the times I’ve seen Android skins and devices, I can see myself using BlackBerry 10 on a daily basis. And I like what I see.

Here’s to hoping that RIM can pull this off. We could use some real competition for Android and iOS. BlackBerry 10 will be announced in full on January 30.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/blackberry-10-hands-on-awesome/

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