Nokia might have pushed back 1520 phablet announcement

We reported earlier that Nokia's upcoming Lumia phablet could be announced on September 26. According to @evleaks however, Nokia might push back the date of the Lumia 1520 unveiling to late October.

According to several sources, Bandit launch was pushed back. Could be 10/22.

— @evleaks (@evleaks) September 14, 2013

Nokia's first Windows Phone phablet, which was formerly known as Bandit is rumored to sport a 6-inch display and a 20 megapixel PureView camera which comes with Optical Image Stabilization and Carl Zeiss lens.

There is no official word from Nokia at the moment.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_might_have_pushed_back_1520_phablet_announcement_-news-6798.php

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Nokia's Windows Phone handsets outsell iPhones in Middle East

Smartphone sales have picked up in the Middle East, according to a report from International Data Corporation. The volumes are up to 16.4% in Q2, 2013 when compared to the same quarter last year. IDC's Middle East region includes Turkey but does not feature Egypt and North Africa.

With 45.2% share, Nokia leads the overall Middle East mobile market (that's both smartphones and featurephones), followed by Samsung that accounts for 18.3% of the market in the second quarter.

Just for smartphones, Nokia's market share climbed from 9.7% in Q1 to 11.8% in Q2, 2013, thanks to its Lumia series of Windows Phone lineup. That's enough to overtake Apple and its iOS, which held 11.4% of the market.

BlackBerry's latest smartphones - the Z10 and Q10 were off to a slow start and accounted for only 13.3% of the sales in the Q2. However, BlackBerry has managed to hold on to its second position as the vendor in the smartphone sector.

As one can expect, Android is still the most popular operating system in this region with 60% share of the overall smartphone volume. But, it is reported that the Google OS is not gaining any market share due to the rise in iPhone and Windows Phone sales.

Source | Via

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/nokias_windows_phone_sales_outsell_iphones_in_middle_east-news-6797.php

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iPhone 5s and 5c reservations in china to start from Sep 17

Apple's latest smartphones - the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c will hitting China since day one for the very first time. The Cupertino company has announced that the consumers in the world's largest smartphone market will be able to reserve their iPhones, starting from September 17.

All the consumers who reserve the iPhone 5s or iPhone 5s can pick up their units at an Apple store on September 20.

Apple's reservation policy in China follows bottle throwing incident in the country, when the iPhone 4S was launched. The chaos had resulted in Apple halting the iPhone 4S sales for a while before the company came up with the reservation system.

The iPhone activation process requires you to complete a few forms. You can check out the source link to know more about the procedure.

Source | Via

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/iphone_5s_and_5c_reservations_in_china_to_start_from_sep_17-news-6796.php

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Nokia tested Android on Lumia devices before the Microsoft deal

A report by the New York Times sheds light on what Nokia’s future could have looked like without Microsoft in it. Allegedly, the Finnish company was testing Android on Lumia devices before the deal with Microsoft was announced.

Nokia had the option to get out of the Microsoft partnership in late 2014. Testing out Android devices was preparing the company for such a future. According to NYT’s sources, getting Nokia devices to boot Android was an easy task to accomplish from an engineering perspective.

Microsoft executives were apparently aware of the Android project inside Nokia. However, its existence wasn’t part of the acquisition negotiations.

A potential switch to Android by Nokia would have had massive consequences for Microsoft. The software giant would have taken a particularly serious hit, as Nokia accounts for over 80% of all Windows Phone devices sold. Nokia would have certainly gotten the better part from such a deal (the company’s current share of the smartphone market is 3% for the first half of 2013, down from 32.8% in 2010) – Android powers about three quarters of all smartphones sold globally.

So, there it is, folks. Nokia smartphone with Android was indeed a real possibility. Considering the new reality for the Finnish company however, we doubt it will actually happen.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_tested_android_on_lumia_devices_before_the_microsoft_deal_-news-6795.php

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Nokia Lumia 1020 gets its on-contract price slashed to $150

The Nokia Lumia 1020 is one beast of a cameraphone, carrying a huge 1/1.5" senor of 41MP resolution and optically stabilized lens. In addition, it's the most capable smartphone that Microsoft's WP8 has to offer and yet, the overly enthusiastic $300 on-contract pricing prevented it from fulfilling its potential so far.

Good thing then, that Amazon has started offering the smartphone at a far easier to swallow $149. That's $50 lower than even AT&T newly reduced price of $200 with a two-year contract and should make a lot of cameraphone fans have a second look at the Lumia 1020. The deal applies to all three colors of the device - Yellow, Black and White.

It's unclear if this is a permanent price slash or a temporary promotion, but logic suggests it's the first. Still, if you are interested you might want to act quickly just in case. Check out the source link for the details.

Source | Via

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_lumia_1020_gets_its_oncontract_price_slashed_to_150-news-6794.php

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Dual-SIM Samsung Galaxy Note 3 leaks, Snapdragon 800 in charge

Samsung has done dual-SIM versions of all its recent flagships and it appears the Galaxy Note 3 won't be an exception. In fact we just got a bunch of leaked photos of N9002 model which will be hitting China shortly.

The leaked photos reveal that the dual-SIM Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will be powered by the Snapdragon 800 chipset, featuring four 2.3GHz Krat 400 cores and the Adreno 330 GPU. The beast was even subjected to an AnTuTu benchmark and the score came at the pretty impressive 31,276. That's still a bit short of the score of the regular Galaxy Note 3, but since neither version has its firmware finalized just yet, it's too early to draw any conclusions.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 N9002 Duos

The source of the leak also mentioned that the N9002 will be one of the four different Galaxy Note 3 versions to hit China, where it will be available on China Unicom. China Mobile model will be N9008, while China Telecom is getting Galaxy Note 3 N9009.

Besides the second SIM slot the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 N9002 should have no differences to the international Galaxy Note 3 version, carrying the same 5.7" 1080p screen, 13MP camera and running on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. It's unclear if it will be leaving the China borders, though.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/dualsim_samsung_galaxy_note_3_leaks_snapdragon_800_in_charge-news-6793.php

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Report: Microsoft plotted Surface phone in case Nokia failed with Windows Phone

Back-up plans aplenty

Microsoft built several Surface phone prototypes to safeguard against a Nokia Lumia Windows Phone failure, according to reports on Friday.

The software and devices giant developed the handsets as a back-up plan if Nokia proved unable to produce the goods with its early Lumia devices.

However, that scheme was put on the back burner, according to The Verge, as Nokia's handsets lived up to expectations and it became apparent that an acquisition might be in the pipeline.

Nokia aside, the company has struggled to convince other manufacturers to dedicate significant support for Windows Phone as the likes of HTC, LG and Samsung focus on better-selling Android offerings.

What if?

The reports surfaced on the same day it was claimed Nokia experimented with the Android OS, before deciding to throw its eggs into the Windows Phone basket.

The New York Times reported that the Finnish company has tested Android on an existing Lumia device and claimed the task of porting the OS to its existing was not "herculean."

The revelations leave Nokia hardware fans - and probably some shareholders - wondering what might have been if the company had pulled the trigger on its Android experiment.

You'd have to think, with Nokia's vastly superior hardware design history, it may have wiped the floor with the plastic-fantastic galaxy offerings from Samsung. Unfortunately, we'll never know.

• Read about Huawei still being on board with WP8 despite the Nokia buyout.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/report-microsoft-plotted-surface-phone-in-case-nokia-failed-with-windows-phone-1181137

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Microsoft fires another iPhone barb and guess what? This one's actually funny

Gold standard? No, just gold. (credit: Microsoft)

Making fun of Apple is approaching shooting-fish-in-a-barrel territory for the company's rivals, but in a break from the norm, Microsoft's latest effort is actually kind of humorous. Who'd have thunk it?

The clever, two-minute parody video does a pretty decent job of taking the mickey out of Apple's newly-launched iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S handsets, in a fly-on-the-wall style video.

The clip features a "presentation" from fake Apple staff, pitching the merits (or lack thereof) of the new handsets, mocking the colour scheme, "unashamedly" plastic materials and Touch ID fingerprint sensor.

The killer line? "And you know what the beauty part is? We can charge whatever we want, bro!"

Time to switch?

The video, which has been taken down by Microsoft, probably by design, continues to exist on YouTube ends with the hastag #timetoswitch.

It's by no means the first time Microsoft has assumed the position as chief Apple agitator, it's recent Windows 8 vs iPad commercials have had their moments too.

Will it encourage people to switch in the same way Samsung's Next Big Thing commercials managed to make Apple seem uncool?

You can enjoy the latest clip below.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/microsoft-fires-another-iphone-barb-and-guess-what-this-one-s-actually-funny-1181135

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Fix for HTC One camera issues coming with Android 4.3 update

A tint too far?

HTC has pledged to resolve an issue with the HTC One's Ultrapixel camera that causes photos to be tinted with red, purple or blue, when photos are shot in low-light conditions.

The Taiwanese company says it is working on the issue, experienced by a not-insignificant number of HTC One owners and will roll-out the solution when it releases Android Jelly Bean 4.3 for the handset.

"My problem is that in night shots and very low light scenes, the camera turns the black into blue (or red in very very dark scenes)," one affected user posted on HTC's support forum.

In a recent poll, reported by Ubergizmo, 323 out of 388 surveyed users revealed they were experiencing such problems with the camera.

Help is on the way

Currently, HTC is advising users to reduce the ISO levels to lessen the impact of the flaw, or return their handset and receive a replacement.

In a statement obtained by Italian blog HDBlog.it, HTC said: "We recently received isolated reports of a purple colour that appears on the images taken with HTC One. After examining the internal relations, we are planning a software update that will improve the contrasts of colour in low light conditions.

"As we work to improve this aspect of the user experience, we would like to thank our customers for their patience. In the meantime, if you are experiencing this issue, we ask you to contact our customer service for assistance."

There's still no word on exactly when the company will drop the Android 4.3 update, so now might be as good as any to freshen up your HTC One handset.

• Have a break, have a read of the latest word surrounding the forthcoming Android 4.4 KitKat update.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/fix-for-htc-one-camera-issues-coming-with-android-4-3-update-1181125

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