While handsets like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One are pushing 4G into the hands of more and more people, there's a segment of the market that simply can't afford these premium 4G handsets.
LG is doing its best to cater to this market, launching its Optimus F5 handset to provide the prepaid market an affordable 4G-enabled device. At AUD$299 outright (roughly $US285, £185), the handset certainly ticks the affordable check box.
A quick perusal of the spec sheet also promises plenty of features you'd expect from a higher-class of phone. A 4.3-inch IPS display, 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor and 8GB of internal storage expandable via MicroSD would all be appropriate for devices costing significantly more.
While it only comes with the 4.1 version of Jelly Bean running the show, the benefit of affordability over most up to date software should be enough to keep the budget-conscious happy.
Design
Can you say iClone? Of course you can. But that's almost exactly what the handset looks like front on. The screen proportions, the bezel, and even the front camera and earpiece look like they were magically transported directly from Jonny Ive's brain.
Of course, there are differences too. There's no hard home button, for a start. Instead, the standard Android trio of touch sensitive soft buttons line up below the F5's screen.
The IPS display is vibrant and colourful, with great viewing angles and a decent resolution at 960 x 550 pixels at 256ppi.
The bottom of the device houses a MicroUSB port, while the left of the phone is home to the volume rocker and the power button lives on theright hand side.
The removable plastic back is a glossy white with a fancy diamond pattern, which surrounds the phone's 5-megapixel camera. Take it off, and you can see the removable 2150mAh battery, SIM card slot and MicroSD port.
The plastic backing the phone is a little bit slippery. That diamond pattern isn't actually textured onto the case, unfortunately, and the slippery plastic feel does make its way onto the sides of the phones as well.
The overall feeling is that the phone could slip from your grip at any second. Mind you, phones like the Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5 have the same sort of feel, so it's hardly a deal-breaker.
The F5 is also much chunkier than you'd expect. At 9.3mm thick, it's hardly what we'd call fat, but it does feel significantly wider than the premium phones of today.
It's also feels heavier than it looks, coming in at 134 grams.
Power and the passion
While power users will hate the lack of the most recent version of Jelly Bean, there's no denying that the 4.1 version, coupled with the dual-core Snapdragon processor, actually makes the F5 sing.
Animations are smooth, transitions are fast and the integrated features are nice too.
LG has stuffed its QSlide functionality, previously seen on the Optimus G into the F5. It lets you multitask, adding different apps on top of your current screen and adjusting the transparency so you can keep doing what your doing.
There are QSlide apps for video, memos, internet, calendar and calculator, and two can be used at a time.
The QSlide apps work pretty well. We saw a video of the Family Guy playing back in a transparent window while the main phone switched between apps and took notes.
LG has also bundled in its Quick Memo function, which lets you take a note on F5's, which can stay on the screen until you're ready to clear it away. Useful for taking down a phone number then calling that number.
One other nifty feature is the ability to customise pretty much any botton on the home page, making icons bigger or smaller for convenience, as well as changing the icon image.
This includes the ability to take photos and use the subsequent image as an app icon. Which is kind of neat, really, when you think about it.
Early Verdict
This handset isn't meant to compete with the likes of the Galaxy S4 or Xperia Z. It's a mid-range handset aimed at converting prepaid customers to 4G.
But given its snappy performance and bargain price point, there's a lot to like about the F5, in a way that sees it competing with phones double its price.
The handset itself seems well-made, and while it's not going to win any beauty pageants, it certainly doesn't look ugly.
There are question marks over the 5MP camera, and we haven't tested to see how well the processor performs under duress, but overall this looks like a really promising handset for affordable 4G access.
The Nokia EOS is certainly one of the most hotly anticipated smartphones right now, but so far the Finns have managed to keep a tight lid on it. All we've seen so far are a few photos of the smartphone's panels that don't really give a great idea of its design and dimension.
Well the guessing may stop now, thanks to a bunch of live photos, sent to us by one of our readers. Those show the upcoming smartphone from every possible angle, revealing its design and confirming its PureView sensor and xenon flash.
Nokia EOS front panel
The labels around the camera lens have been concealed, so we can't be certain about the resolution of the Nokia EOS sensor, but the sheer size of the camera module seems to confirm those earlier 41MP rumors. Besides, it would make much more sense if Nokia used the 808 PureView sensor, which is yet to be beaten in the cameraphone game than develop a new one from scratch.
Nokia EOS rear side
There's no way for us to verify the authenticity of these images, but they certainly look like the real thing. Besides, they match the leak from earlier today perfectly, and given that they were sent to us just a couple of hours after that story broke out, it's extremely unlikely that it's simply a matter of someone creating a fake 3D model based on the first images.
Nokia EOS sides and top
Unfortunately, we don't have any confirmation on the rest of the Nokia EOS specs at this stage, but we'll keep an ear on the ground for more info and we'll keep you updated.
UPDATE: Thanks to WPCentral, we spotted these two photos, which have been leaked a couple of hours ago. They are still hot and show the Nokia EOS in much better light (literally!). If anything, at least they confirm the previous mugshots we received as legit. Their source is a newly registered Twitter account, which goes by the name of ViziLeaks.
Network woes left Three customers without data on Tuesday
UK mobile operating Three UK faces questions from communications regulator Ofcom, following a data services outage that left many customers without 3G internet access for long periods on Tuesday.
The network has issued an apology for the outage, but in a statement to Sky News, Ofcom said it will seek clarification from Three over the incident.
A spokesperson for the regulator said: "Ofcom is aware that Three customers have been affected by a recent mobile data outage on its network.
"We understand that data services have now been restored but are continuing to liaise with Three to understand the cause of problem."
All night long
Three was quick to say sorry to its customers on Wednesday, claiming its engineers pulled an all-nighter to resolve the problems, but the communications failed to offer any insight as to the cause
"Our engineers have worked through the night to resolve some issues related to yesterday's internet access problems that affected some of our customers' internet access.
"All services, including My3 account services have been restored and we are monitoring closely so we can address any performance issues if they arise.
"Voice and text services remained available throughout. We apologise for any interruption of service and for those affected - thank you for your patience."
If in doubt, reboot
The network had claimed on Tuesday afternoon that the issue had been fixed, but users continued to experience problems well into the evening.
Any of the network's 9 million customers who're still without data service have been advised to reboot their handset.
Nokia EOS - it's got bits, it's got pieces (credit: WPDang)
We've caught our first glimpse of what we think is the Nokia EOS, a photography-heavy handset coming from the Finns at some point this year.
The photos, snapped by an anonymous source who sent them to Chinese site WPDang, show the chassis of what is supposedly the EOS alongside a Lumia 920 for comparison.
The snaps show the same body design as the Lumia 920 but with a giant round hole ready for the camera in the back panel.
It looks as though the camera, rumoured to be a hefty 41MP affair similar to the one found in the 808 Pureview, will be housed in plastic rather than the polycarbonate of the rest of the body.
Lens talk
The round camera chassis is the main difference between the EOS body and that of Nokia Lumia 920 which rocks a traditional rounded oblong camera unit.
Whoever took the photos has made a valiant effort at demonstrating the handset's thickness relative to that of the Lumia 920, sadly choosing an uneven surface and slightly wonky camera angle to do so.
Credit: WPDang
But you can see that while the camera element is fairly chunky, the rest of the handset's chassis is about the same girth as the Lumia 920's 10.7mm.
There are two small holes further down the back panel which suggest that the Nokia EOS will play nice with the same wireless charging clip-on peripherals that the Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 925 vibe with.
Coming from an anonymous source as they do, we haven't been able to verify the photos but we like them for legitimacy - they're just rubbish enough to be real and we'd expect the handset to be fairly far along in development given the leaks we've seen already.
Other mooted specs include a quad-core processor, 32GB of storage, a 720p OLED display, FM radio, Xenon flash and a debut on AT&T in the US. Today's leak posits that the handset will go on sale on July 9.
Apple made the screen bigger last time. Is an even bigger iPhone on the way?
When Apple unveiled the iPhone 5, the reaction was a bit muted: where previous phones were massive leaps forward, the iPhone 5 was a bit longer and a lot easier to scratch.
So what can we expect from the next iPhone, the iPhone 6 or 5S? Let's see what we can glean from the varying sources of the internet - some reliable, some not so much.
One thing is for sure, with the release of such super handsets as the Samsung Galaxy S4, Sony Xperia Z and HTC One, the next iPhone will have to seriously up its game.
iPhone 6 and the iPhone 5S are two different phones
The rumour mill doesn't seem too sure whether the next iPhone is going to be the iPhone 5S or the iPhone 6. Given the iPhone's history - from the 3G onwards, there's always been a half-step S model before the next numbered iPhone - we'd bet on an iPhone 5S first and an iPhone 6 a while later.
However, in May 2013 Stuff reported it received a photo of the till system at a Vodafone UK store (which it has since removed along with the reference to Vodafone), with '4G iPhone 6' listed. Interesting.
It's been suggested that there could even be three size variants of the new iPhone - check out these mocked up images by artist Peter Zigich. He calls the handsets iPhone 6 Mini, iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 XL.
Could we see both an iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 this year? Some reports suggest a new 5S in the middle part of the year before a revamped iPhone 6 towards the end of the year or very early in 2014.
iPhone 6 release date
Many pundits predict a summer iPhone 6 release date. It's quite likely that Apple is moving to a two-phones-per-year upgrade cycle, but we'd bet on a springtime 5S model and a bigger, iPhone 6, update in the Autumn, probably September.
Digitimes reckons predicts a summertime reveal for Apple's next generation phones, which again fits with a WWDC unveiling. In May it became clear that US carrier Verizon introduced an iPhone 5 price cut of as much as $100 USD.
Reports in April also suggested that Foxconn has added as many as 10,000 assembly line workers per week to its Zhengzhou plant as it readies itself for the iPhone 6 release date.
But Jefferies analyst Peter Misek reckons we'll see an iPhone 5S first, with a June 2014 release for the iPhone 6. Citi's Glen Yeung also believes that we won't see an iPhone 6 or cheap iPhone until 2014.
Apple may have a new roadmap, with new phones every spring and autumn
iPhone 6 casing
Multiple rumours say Apple's working on plastic cases for its next iPhone, mixing plastic and metal in such a way that "the internal metal parts [are] able to be seen from outside through special design." Could these images from Apple.pro be a new iPhone 6 complete with plastic casing? The cynic inside us says no, but you never know...
It's unclear whether such cases would be for the iPhone 5S or iPhone 6, or if Apple is simply considering making cheaper iPhone 4s to sell when the iPhone 3GS reaches the end of its life.
Speaking in March 2013, a KGI analyst said it believed Apple would turn to manufacturer Pegatron to make up to 75 per cent of low cost iPhone products. Indeed, rumours in early June 2013 pointed at a $399 price point for the cheap iPhone 6.
Pretty, yes, but also horrifically scratch-prone. Will your next iPhone have a plastic back?
The iPhone 6 will finally do NFC
That's what iDownloadblog reckons, quoting Jefferies analyst Peter Misek: it'll have a better battery too, he says. Many Android phones now boast NFC.
PayPal's chief information security officer, Michael Barrett said this during a recent keynote speech: "There is going to be a fingerprint enabled phone on the market later this year," he said. "Not just one, multiple."
Could this be inside the iPhone 6?
See our video below on what Apple needs to do to slay Samsung's Galaxy S4
We're expecting a September or October release date for iOS 7 in line with previous releases. We'll almost certainly see a reveal at WWDC in early June. Apple has promised to give devs "an in-depth look at what's next in iOS and OS X".
9to5Mac spoke with several sources who said the new iOS 7 will be attractive to new iOS users but may alienate older iPhone addicts. Described as "very, very flat" by one source, another said the interface is without gloss and shine and is rather like Microsoft's Metro design language on Windows Phone.
iPhone 6 storage
We've already seen a 128GB iPad, so why not a 128GB iPhone 6? Yes, it'll cost a fortune, but high-spending early adopters love this stuff.
iPhone 6 home button
According to Business Insider, of the many iPhone 6 prototypes Apple has made, one has a giant Retina+ IGZO display and a "new form factor with no home button. Gesture control is also possibly included" - more on that shortly. Mind you, it was mooted that Apple would dump the home button in time for iPhone 5, but it never happened.
iPhone 6 screen
The Retina+ Sharp IGZO display, would have a 1080p Full HD resolution. It's also been widely reported that Apple could introduce two handset sizes as it seeks to compete with the plethora of Android devices now on the market.
Take this one with a pinch of salt, because China Times isn't always right: it reckons the codename iPhone Math, which may be a mistranslation of iPhone+, will have a 4.8-inch display. The same report suggests that Apple will release multiple handsets throughout the year over and above the iPhone 5S and 6, which seems a bit far-fetched to us.
Could the touch screen even be transparent? Emirates 24/7 sin't the first source we'd turn to for bone fide rumours about a new smartphone, but it claims that an ultra-sensitive transparent touchscreen will make it into iPhone 6. The site also believes the display will be made by Sharp, which wouldn't be so surprising. One thing's for sure - a potential wraparound screen is probably a pipedream.
Jefferies analyst Peter Misek also says he believes the new iPhone will have a bigger screen. Different sizes also seem rather likely to us.
You'll probably still be able to see the camera lens in the iPhone 6
iPhone 6 processor
Not a huge surprise, this one: the current processor is a dual-core A6, and the next one will be a quad-core A7. The big sell here is more power with better efficiency, which should help battery life.
Expect to see it in the 2013 iPad first, and expect to see an improved A6 processor, the A6X, in the iPhone 5S.
iPhone 6 camera
Apple's bought camera sensors from Sony before, and this year we're going to see a new, 13-megapixel sensor that takes up less room without compromising image quality.
An Apple patent, uncovered by Apple Insider in May 2013, shows a system where an iPhone can remotely control other illuminating devices - extra flashes. It would work in a similar manner to that seen in professional photography studios. Interesting stuff.
Will the iPhone 6 be handy for pro photographers? [Image credit: Apple Insider]
iPhone 6 eye tracking
One thing seems certain - Apple can't ignore the massive movement towards eye-tracking tech from other vendors, especially Samsung. It seems a shoe-in that Apple will deliver some kind of motion tech within the next iPhone, probably from uMoove.
The new iPhone will have better 4G LTE
On its UK launch, just one UK network had 4G LTE: Everything Everywhere, which currently offers 4G on the 1800MHz band. In 2013, all the other big names will be coming on board, offering 4G in other frequency bands. International iPhones already work across different 4G bands to the UK, so you can expect the UK iPhone 6 (and possibly the iPhone 5S) to be more promiscuous than the iPhone 5.
By the time the iPhone 6 emerges, iOS devices should also have "nonclassified communication approval" status from the US FCC, which means they won't need to go through a lengthy approval process.
iPhone 6 Wi-Fi may be 802.11ac
Apple likes to lead Wi-Fi standards adoption - its Airport really helped make Wi-Fi mainstream - and there's a good chance we'll see ultra-fast 802.11ac Wi-Fi in Apple kit this year. It's faster than Lighting, and not very frightening.
iPhone 6 wireless charging
Wireless charging still isn't mainstream. Could Apple help give it a push? CP Tech reports that Apple has filed a patent for efficient wireless charging, but then again Apple has filed patents for pretty much anything imaginable.
The tasty bit of this particular patent is that Apple's tech wouldn't just charge one device, but multiple ones. Here are more details on the iPhone 6 wireless charging patent.
Meanwhile, a further Apple patent seems to imply that future iPhones will be able to adjust volume as you move them away from your ear.
The first live photos of the hotly anticipated Nokia EOS have surfaced. Obtained by WPDang the photos reveal Nokia's first Windows Phone 8 proper cameraphone in detail, although it misses the 41MP camera at the back.
As you can see, the body of the Nokia EOS looks to be made from the same polycarbonate plastic used in the Nokia Lumia 920. According to the source, the smartphone is 9.7mm thick, which is quite acceptable considering that it also features wireless charging (see the two connectors on the back panel).
Naturally there's a large hump at the back, where the large camera module will be located, but it appears to be smaller than the one on the Nokia 808 PureView.
This gives a lot of credibility to previous reports of the Nokia EOSbeing a hybrid between the Lumia 920 and 808 PureView.
Here are some more photos of the phone compared to the Nokia Lumia 920.
Images of an upcoming smartphone from Meizu, codenamed as Charm Blue, have surfaced online. The smartphone has a model number Meizu M035, but it's yet to get a proper announcement.
Leaked images of Meizu M035
The Meizu M035 smartphone will sport a 4-inch display with a resolution of 640 x 960 pixels. The M035 features a 1.5 GHz Exynos 4212 dual-core processor along with 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of internal memory, 8 megapixel rear camera and Dual-SIM card slots.
The Meizu M035 is all set to be announced on June 13 in Beijing and the smartphone will be up for grabs from Beijing Mobile for CNY1399 (about $228). The firm also offers a Meizu EP21 headphone as a complimentary gift for its potential consumers who purchase their product between June 13 and June 16.
The Huawei Ascend Y300 will go on sale in the UK from tomorrow, June 6, and it will carry a price tag which will please even the most frugal among us.
We first saw the Ascend Y300 back in February at MWC 2013 where we got our hands on it and were impressed with its feature list and generally solid build quality.
Considering it's going to set you back just £59.95 on PAYG for upgrading customers (it's £69.95 otherwise) - or free on contracts starting at £7.50 per month - the Ascend Y300 appears to be a decent contender on paper with a 4-inch display, 1GHz dual-core processor and Android Jelly Bean operating system.
On paper winner
It may only be running version 4.1.1 of Android but considering Google's only up to 4.2.2 this isn't a big issue - although the custom Emotion UI Huawei has stuck on the Ascend Y300 may not sit well with some users.
There's more good news when it comes to the camera, with a 5MP snapper 'round the back of the handset - plus you get a front facing 0.3MP option which may not be the best, but it puts it above the lacking Optimus L3 2.
In the past however Huawei handsets haven't always lived up to their on-paper billing, with sluggish performance and frustrating UI - so we'll wait until we've put the Huawei Ascend Y300 through our in-depth review process before commenting on whether it really is value for money.
The early HTC One mini rumors were mostly hearsay, but now we have something more solid. Estonian site Forte got hold of the actual device and took a few photos of it and its big namesake.
The HTC One mini shares many of the great features of the big HTC One – an attractive aluminum body, 4MP UltraPixel camera, stereo speakers on the front and Beats audio.
The screen is smaller, obviously, it's 4.3" in diagonal and has 720p resolution (342ppi pixel density). The processor was also stepped down to a dual-core (most likely a Snapdragon chipset), but the RAM remains at 2GB. The internal storage got the cut though, it's 16GB.
HTC One mini next to the big HTC One
The HTC One mini reportedly runs Android 4.2.2, though that's not 100% certain (the version info was hidden somehow). Still, it's going to be stiff competition to the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini.
The mini seems to be about as wide as the regular One, but it is shorter. Surprisingly, it appears thinner (mini versions are usually thicker), but this could be due to the camera angle.
According to Forte the HTC One mini will launch in August at the earliest and be priced around €400.
The official photo of the Huawei Ascend P6 leaked earlier and now the live photos of the upcoming flagship smartphone have appeared along with its benchmark results.
Live images of Huawei Ascend P6
The images of the Huawei Ascend P6, which will be one of the slimmest smartphones in the market, show the presence of volume rockers, power button and the two SIM card slots that are located on the right side of the smartphone.
Benchmark results of Huawei Ascend P6
The yet to be announced Huawei Ascend P6 has been spotted in the GLbenchmark database too and according to its scorecard, it sports a 4.7-inch display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. Furthermore, the Ascend P6 will be powered by a 1.5 GHz Hass K3V2 quad-core processor and run on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
Huawei Ascend P6 is said to come out with 2 GB of RAM, 8 GB of internal memory, 5 megapixel rear camera and Emotion UI 1.6.
Huawei is expected to introduce its flagship smartphone at a press event in London on June 18 and the Ascend P6 might be priced around $330.
The HTC One mini, a rumoured cut-down version of the flagship HTC One, could arrive this summer pretty much at the same time as its Samsung rival.
According to hit-and-miss Taiwanese site Digitimes and its dubious "industry sources" the HTC One mini is set to roll off the production line in July, but may be announced sometime this month.
This would see it go head to head with the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini which we expect to also go on sale in July, and sets both handsets up for an almighty tussle for market dominance.
The sources go on to claim that the HTC One mini will have a 4.3-inch 720p display, dual-core processor, metal chassis and come running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
The same report cites sources revealing the T6 will sport a metal chassis as well as a 5.9-inch full HD display and punchy 2.3GHz quad-core processor.
We've already seen the HTC Desire 600 launched by the Taiwanese firm, but the industry insiders go on to reinforce reports that an entry-level HTC Desire 200 is also on the cards.
We're not getting too carried away with this news however, as Digitimes' sources are often pretty unreliable, so we'd suggest taking everything here with a decent pinch of salt.
After numerous leaks, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active has finally been officially announced by Samsung.
The most notable feature of the new smartphone is the addition of IP67 certification for dust and water protection, thanks to the newly-designed body. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Active is able to capture underwater pictures with its 8MP camera, and there's even a special "Aqua Mode" that will "increase visual quality and clarity for enhanced underwater images and video."
Samsung I9295 Galaxy S4 Active official images
Apart from the camera downgrade, you also get an LCD display rather than the Super AMOLED found on the vanilla Galaxy S4. Everything else is in large part the same as the I9505 Galaxy S4: the 1080p display measures 5 inches and there's a 1.9 GHz quad-core Krait processor under the hood. The 16 GB of memory are expandable via the microSD card slot, while the 2 GB of RAM will enable trouble-free multitasking.
LTE, IR-port alongside the latest wireless ac band and NFC, complete a perfect connectivity combo. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Active is powered by a 2600 mAh battery.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Active next to the Galaxy S4
The smartphone runs on the latest Android 4.2.2 release, which comes with Samsung's Air View and Air Gestures, and the S Health fitness and WatchON IR apps.
As far as measurements go, the Galaxy S4 Active is slightly larger and thicker than the original, coming in at 139.7 x 71.3 x 9.1mm (compared to the 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9mm on the vanilla Galaxy S4). The weight has also gone up by 21 grams to 151 g.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Active will go on sale in the summer in Urban Grey, Dive Blue and Orange Flare color versions. Samsung is remaining vague on exact pricing, but it did say initial markets would be the US and Sweden.
