Elop Strikes a pose, opposes competing with Samsung
Nokia is finally offering insight into why it chose to exclusively support Microsoft's unproven Windows Phone platform instead of the more popular Android operating system: Samsung.
"What we were worried about a couple of years ago was the very high risk that one hardware manufacturer could come to dominate Android," said Nokia CEO Stephen Elop to The Guardian.
"We had a suspicion of who it might be, because of the resources available, the vertical integration, and we were respectful of the fact that we were quite late in making that decision."
Samsung has indeed become the go-to manufacturer of Android devices and has even replaced Nokia, now No. 2, as the top phone maker in the world.
Could have been another HTC
Elop noted that there are a lot of quality Android devices on the market right now, which could allude to the HTC One, but Samsung continues to overshadow its Android competitors.
"Examine the Android ecosystem, and there's a lot of good devices from many different companies, but one company has essentially now become the dominant player."
Instead of being another HTC with poor financials, Nokia predicted that it was better off being part of a "third alternative."
"As an operator [AT&T] wants to negotiate with different people and keep pressure on everybody and have the best range of options, [and] wants that third alternative."
"So strategically we have an opening with AT&T and every other operator in the world - because we've taken that path as the third ecosystem."
The road ahead
Elop admitted that it's been difficult, as Nokia's use of the Windows Phone platform makes it a credibility-seeking challenger with phones like the new Nokia Lumia 1020 running Windows Phone 8.
Still he contends that the Finnish company's agreement with Microsoft was the right move.
"It was the right decision," he said. "You look at a number of other Android providers right now and they're in a tough spot."
Eight cores coming to a Galaxy Note 3 near you? (credit: Sim Only Radar)
Like its Galaxy S4 cousin, the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will arrive in eight-core and quad-core flavours, according to leaked documents which appeared online on Thursday.
Pages that have reportedly come direct from the device's user manual, courtesy of SIM Only Radar, showcase sketches of the device along with a list of top-line specs, including the two processor breeds.
There's nothing in the sketches beyond familiar design language, but the Enynos 5 Octa (ARM A15, ARM A7) SoC is listed alongside the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, clocked at 2.3GHz.
While that potentially great news for those keeping tabs on the handset, it's unlikely that would-be Note 3 buyers will have any control over which version of the device they're able to pick up.
Will Samsung pack this new 'enhanced' and 'more powerful' version of the processor into the Note 3? And does it have enough of them available to ship globally?
Other specs outed within today's supposedly leaked document backs up much of what we've already learned about the S4.
It lists a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display, 13-megapixel camera and Android Jelly Bean. The device itself is thought to be making its official bow on the eve of the annual IFA tech show in Berlin on September 4.
'This guy is building exactly what you think he is'
Earnings season is in full swing, with Nokia posting not-so-awful results earlier today.
Google took the mic with investors later on, and while we'll get to its second quarter 2013 numbers in a minute, there's one device the collected Mountain View crew mentioned more than once.
"I know you're eagerly anticipating what Motorola is launching soon, and having been a tester for awhile, I'm very excited," CEO Larry Page said as he opened the company's earnings call.
He's referring of course to the Moto X phone, a device we've heard much about yet and are still waiting to see (out of Eric Schmidt's hand, that is). The wait is likely over soon as Motorola itself tweeted a photo today showing production at the Texas factory where the handset will be built is underway.
Mo-mo-movin' on
CFO Patrick Pichette took a broader view of Motorola as he ran through the figures, saying the company is "very excited" about the subsidiary's "upcoming product line." Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside dished in May that a "handful" of devices are due by October.
On the earnings side, Motorola hit $998 million.
Page described the quarter as "great," and by the average person's standards, it was just that.
Google posted $14.11 billion in Q2 consolidated revenue, up 19 percent year-on-year. However, net revenue was $11.1 billion, missing expectations of $11.4 billion. Not a huge miss, but a rare one.
Samsung has just announced an enhanced version of its Exynos 5 Octa chipset. Currently the Octa chipset is available only on the I9500 Galaxy S4 flagship.
The second generation Exynos 5 Octa might be called Exynos Evolved and will be officially presented next week. So far the teaser just says it’s "a more powerful, enhanced Exynos 5 Octa".
It seems Samsung is launching the new chipset just in time for the Galaxy Note III that's supposed to be unveiled in September and launch this Fall. The smartphone has been in the rumorlands for quite a while and it should be available in a couple of versions - one with Snapdragon 800 and another one powered by this improved Octa chipset.
Samsung promises to bring detailed specifications and more details on the new Exynos next week. Then we'll learn more about its GPU and the exact clock speed of its eight cores.
It's official - LG G2 is the name of the company's next flagship device. LG will dropping the Optimus moniker for its next flagship and the G series will be established as a premium brand. The LG G2 is going to be unveiled at a dedicated event on August 7 in New York.
LG G2 was previously rumored as Optimus G2 and has leaked numerous times with specs and live pictures. It's likely to bring forward a 5.2" 1080p display and an optically-stabilized 13 MP camera as well as a Snapdragon 800 chipset. The smartphone will run on Android 4.2 with a new version of the company's own launcher on top and will featuer on-screen buttons.
According to the South Korean ETNews, LG aims to sell 10 million units of its new flagship. It's not as ambitious target as the ones Samsung sends for its latest flagships, but given LG's recent performance it doesn't sound too bad either. Here's hoping that it achieves it as the Android market can certainly use some extra competition to spur more innovation.
There is less than a month to the LG's press event and you can bet we'll be there to cover everything for you.
Samsung and Apple better beware – the HTC One combines stunning design, a supreme screen and explosive power to offer one of the best smartphones around.
It's got a full HD screen crammed into 4.7-inches, which brings a 468ppi – well above what's needed for the eye to discern, and it does definitely bring sumptuous sharpness throughout the use of the phone.
On top of that there's a CPU and RAM combo that is barely bettered, a more-than-enough 32GB of storage and top-end Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 3G / 4G connections, all topped off by a completely re-imagined version of HTC Sense. What's not to like?
It's at the sharp end of the smartphone price scale, although can be had for around £34 per month on a two year deal in the UK, which isn't too bad at all compared to the competition. On a SIM free deal, it's actually very impressive: £480 for the phone without having to monkey about with a network.
Given it's over £100 more to get it on a PAYG deal, that's not bad at all.
The design of the HTC One is something that you simply have to experience in the hand. Where those that pick up the Samsung Galaxy S3 will go ' Oh, it's a bit plastic, isn't it? But ooh, it's quite light' and those who encounter the iPhone 5 will, to a person, say 'Ooh, it's very light isn't it? You don't expect it to be that light!' those that try the HTC One will simply intone: 'Oh, that's really nice. Really, really nice.'
And do you know why? Simple: the HTC One is one of the best-designed phones on the planet. Not content with inventing a new machining process to allow the body to be all aluminium, the Taiwanese firm has extended the screen to the edges of the chassis further than ever before, meaning you're getting a 4.7-inch Full HD display without the additional heft you'd probably expect.
It's even thinner than its predecessor, the HTC One X (we know, that naming strategy leaves a lot to be desired) and as such slides nicely in the pocket. It's not light either, weighing more than most of the competition, but rather than feeling overweight, combined with the metallic chassis is oozes a premium build. Samsung is probably hoping not a lot of people hold this phone side-by-side with the new S4 as otherwise the buying choice is going to be a lot more of a worry for the Koreans.
On top of that, there's a whole host of little design wins that delight when you first try the HTC One. For instance, the machined holes that allow sound toe emanate from the dual front-facing speakers (can you say BOOMSOUND?) looks amazing, and the lines on the back of the phone give a nice textured movement to things, helping to break up the constant greyness of the aluminium.
You could argue that straight on it looks far too much like either an iPhone 5, with its chamfered edges, or a BlackBerry Z10 front on, and you'd have a good point as this phone doesn't reinvent the rectangle-with-rounded-edges formula that we're so used to, but in the hand the curved back brings a whole new dimension to things.
There's a zero-gap construction at work here as well, which means that you won't find any gaping distance, holes or light leakages to make you feel like you've not spent your hard-earned cash on something wonderful.
The volume control on the right-hand side of the phone is in the same dazzling metal, and contrasts nicely with the rubber/plastic that makes up the sides. Our sample actually showed a fair amount of wiggle in this area, and slightly detracted from the overall premium feel.
The power button resides on the top, and doubles as the infra-red blaster - however, this is one of the poorer points as it doesn't have a whole lot of travel.
Similarly, the placement of this button, even on a phone that's been shrunk down while accommodating a larger screen, is still a bit inconvenient. We had to shuffle the phone around in the palm to turn it on and off on many occasions, and a lot of the time we couldn't use our thumb to hit the whole of the screen without jiggling the phone up and down.
That's another problem with the design: it's pretty slippery thanks to the metallic chassis. We thankfully only ever suffered two serious drops when we were about a foot off the carpet (basically scrabbling for it to turn off the alarm in the morning) and a more alarming one stepping out of a cab, but there have been a few near misses when trying to manoeuvre around the screen.
If only that power button was on the side, or a physical home button unlocked the phone, this whole issue would be negated for a large part.
But as we mentioned, HTC has wandered away from the physical buttons - where once it put a trackpad in the Nexus One, now it's stripped the capacitive buttons down from three to two, with the multi-tasking option going the way of the dodo. You can still get the same functionality by double tapping the home button, but it's not the same.
Overall though, you can guess we're impressed with the construction and design of the HTC One. We're not even looking at final hardware here - although we appear to have got lucky with our sample, as there are few design flaws in sight - so the chances of metallic chipping ('because that's just what it does....' OK, Apple) are slight to say the least - providing you don't fling it on tarmac. Seriously, we tried that... don't do it.
We thought we'd scuffed it so many times during our test, but each time it was simply a slight amount of dirt or dust that wiped right off. Tick from TechRadar on the design front, HTC.
The rumour mill has been hot about the next LG Optimus G phone, and now the electronics giant has confirmed that its flagship Optimus G successor will be simply known as G2.
"Our vision is to make LG's newest G devices synonymous with excellence, raising the bar even further for the ultimate in user experience," said Dr Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Mobile Communications, according to a Korean newswire.
"The new G2 will build upon the excellent reputation established by previous G Series products."
LG has also said that its premium 4:3 display smartphones will also be rebranded as "Vu".
Mysterious LG
With a firm name in place, not much else has been confirmed about the G2 except that it will be powered by the new Snapdragon 800 processor.
Along with other members of the media, TechRadar has been sent a very mysterious invite for an event in New York on August 7, so we're predicting that the phone will be unveiled then.
The invite says "Great 2 have you!" – making it rather easy to assume that it will probably be about the G2, though we won't know for sure until then.
