The gold-painted LG G2 leaked a couple of days ago, but as it turns out it wasn't the only new color the Korean manufacturer has been working on. The company officially announced two new limited edition colors for its flagship smartphone - Red and Gold.
LG introduced the new paintjobs to celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday season. Both new versions sport a textured back cover, which is different from the original black and white variant. The new back is not fingerprint prone and said to offer better grip in your hand.
The red and gold paintjobs of the LG G2 carry the same price tag as the standard models. In Korea, the smartphone costs about $496 for the 16GB model, while the 32GB version is priced at $562. LG's new color additions will go on sale in Singapore, starting from January 18 and the device will be available from Starhub, SingTel and M1 for SGD898 (about $701).
Meanwhile, if you are wondering about the specifications and the features of the LG G2, then do check our detailed review to know more about the smartphone.
The LG G Flex is coming to the UK soon and is available for pre-order. Hooray! However, It'll cost a staggering £689 to buy off contract. Boo!
Carphone Warehouse is now taking reservations for the 6-inch 720p curved smartphone, but isn't yet bold enough to say when it'll actually be released into the wild. Previous estimates have suggested the device will get its UK bow next month.
Beyond the inhibitive near-£700 SIM-free price, the quad-core handset with 2GB RAM can be nabbed on contract from £52, for the up front cost of £79. For that buyers get 5GB of 4G data on any network.
Those upgrading through CPW get somewhat of a better better deal. They can get the handset free of charge on a 2-year deal with 2GB of data for £42 a month.
Those who device to order the 13-megapixel handset through the independent high street retailer will also have the chance to win one of LG's 55-inch OLED televisions worth £7,000.
The handset, which has a self-healing Wolverine-style casing, will step inside the smartphone octagon with the Samsung Galaxy Round, but there's still no word on whether that handset will ever set foot in Blighty.
It turns out that the international version of the LG G2 might not be getting an update to Android 4.4 KitKat this month. In a new tweet, LG Mobile Saudi Arabia apologized for releasing wrong information earlier today.
We apologize for the previous wrong tweet regarding G2 Kit Kat upgrade schedule,the date was for upgrading the KnockOn feature to Lii series
Instead of Android 4.4 KitKat for the company’s smartphone flagship, LG Mobile Saudi Arabia announced that the popular Knock feature will make its way to the second generation of L Series smartphones. This is hardly a surprise as LG officially announced the upcoming feature late last month.
All in all, users of the international LG G2 will probably have to be a tad more patient before they get the KitKat treatment. In the meantime, this walkthrough video of Android 4.4 on LG G2 should give them a taste of what’s coming.
The road to Canonical's Ubuntu smartphone has been long and it seems to only be getting even longer as the open-source software company makes a play for the major leagues.
Canonical's Community Manager Jono Bacon (yes, that is a real and awesome name) admitted that the first Ubuntu Touch smartphone for major OEMs and carriers is unlikely to appear until next year in a Reddit AMA.
"Longer-term we would love to see the major OEM/Carriers shipping Ubuntu handsets," Bacon said. "This is a long road though with many components, and I would be surprised if we see anything like this before 2015."
Bacon continued to say that Ubuntu phones will likely first ship to smaller OEMs looking for lower cost and risk trial devices. As for the buyer, Bacon believes "the ideal customer today is someone who wants a dependable device but does not require a large catalogue of specific apps (as we don't have many of them yet)."
Starting off with small beginnings and high sales, Canonical hopes to send a strong message to OEMs and build from there. So for now it seems that Ubuntu is still on track to release a smartphone by this year as Canonical Founder Mark Shuttleworth promised in December, albeit with a small mobile net.
Swing for the fences
As for what the Ubuntu phone will actually be able to do, Bacon did not confirm many features that users can expect. Instead, during the course of the AMA, there were more items that we can expect to be missing.
Bacon answered another question pertaining to CDMA support on the Ubuntu Touch OS to which he responded that it is not on the current Ubuntu phone plan; meaning Sprint and Verizon customers won't be able to jump on board with Canonical in the foreseeable future.
Similarly, there aren't any extra touches to add integration between Ubuntu computers and phones on the docket. As Bacon explained, "[t]he primary integration will be getting content and syncing it Ubuntu One, which syncs across devices."
With so much streaming music flying all over the place, how can a listener find the stuff that's right for them? Pandora may have the answer, at least for smartphone and tablet owners.
Pandora today announced the addition of personalized music recommendations on its iOS and Android apps, which serve up to six suggested artist stations based on what the user is currently listening to.
The feature can be found on the Create a Station screen as well as at the bottom of a Station List, and keeps in mind which content you have given a thumbs up or thumbs down before offering suggestions.
To kick things off, Pandora will deliver personalized artist station recommendations, but plans to "evolve and refine" the feature as time goes on, promising it will improve the more listeners engage with the service.
Personalized listening
Since launching in 2005, Pandora has collected more than 35 billion bits of "thumb feedback" from users, making the service "uniquely positioned to deliver the perfect balance of familiarity, discovery, relevance and repetition for each individual listener," according to Chief Scientist Eric Bieschke.
In the last month alone, Pandora served up 1.58 million hours of music to more than 76.2 million listeners - a staggering amount of content users have to weed through in search of favorites old and new.
"Music discovery has always been at the heart of the Pandora experience and we've spent the last thirteen years working on the most sophisticated music recommendation system ever created," Bieschke added.
With personalized recommendations now in place, listeners can tap to see a list of Artist Stations from the "More Recommendations" option, which is refreshed with updated content whenever a new station is created or deleted.
Break yourself off a piece of that Android 4.4 KitKat in our extensive review!
Just when you thought that the price of the Lumia 521 couldn't get any lower, MetroPCS comes in and offers the handset for $29.
It's worth mentioning that this is the price of the phone after a mail-in rebate. You'll have to shell out $49.00 initially (plus taxes), but you get $20 back with a mail-in rebate.
If you already use, or don't mind switching to MetroPCS as your carrier, then this is a pretty enticing smartphone deal.
For your $29, you'll get 4.7GB of internal memory with the option of expanding it via a microSD card, a 5MP camera, a 4-inch screen, 4G internet speeds, Wi-Fi calling, and mobile hotspot support. Not to mention Windows Phone 8 and all of its features. The only downside is that the 521 only has 512MB of RAM, so it won't have access to all of the applications on the Windows Phone store. Also, MetroPCS isn't known for having the best coverage in the States, so there's that to consider as well.
Still, at $29 the value for money of the deal is hard to match. If you're a MetroPCS customer or are considering making the jump, let us know in the comments!
Sony has announced the Xperia Z1 Compact for China. It will be oddly called Xperia Z1 Colorful Edition instead of Compact, but the rest is pretty much.
The specs of the Xperia Z1 Colorful Edition are similar to those of its global sibling - a 4.3" 720p Triluminos display, a Snapdragon 800 chipset, a 20.7MP camera and IP58-certification for dust and water protection. The Chinese Xperia Z1 Colorful Edition will also run on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, but the KitKat update should arrive soon after the release. The one thing missing in the Chinese Z1 Compact is the LTE support.
Sony is going to launch the Xperia Z1 Colorful Edition in China in late February for CNY 3,999 (€485). It will be available in black, white, lime and pink flavors.
One of the biggest problems in recent times is the digital surveillance by that invades our personal privacy. Well, with the upcoming smartphone named Blackphone, you can breathe a sigh of relief.
Silent Circly in association with Geeksphone has announced Blackphone, which according to the firm is the world's first smartphone that gives you full control over your privacy.
So, what platform does the smartphone run on? Blackphone is powered by a custom build security oriented operating system called PrivatOS that is based on the popular Android software. The new secured version of the Android OS allows you to receive phone calls, exchange texts, transfer and store files and video chat without having to compromise any of your data stored on the smartphone.
The newest invention is said to be a result of several careers' worth of effort. Phil Zimmermann, who is one of the creators, said "I have spent my whole career working towards the launch of secure telephony products. Blackphone provides you with everything you need to ensure privacy and control of your communications, along with all the other high-end smartphone features you have come to expect."
Blackphone will be officially showcased at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on February 24 and the smartphone will be available for pre-order from the same say.
Motorola has announced that it's bringing the Moto X to the UK on February 1 2014, six months after it was launched in the US, and trailing in the footsteps of the excellent Moto G.
TechRadar sat down with Mark Notton, Motorola's Head of European Product Management at the UK launch for the Moto X to find out why now is the right time, how the X stands out from the crowd and the future for the Google-owned firm.
Why now?
TechRadar: How does the Moto X fit into, and become relevant in, the UK, considering it launched six months ago in the US?
Mark Notton: "We've spoken to consumers in the UK and done a lot of research online and have found the Moto X is a product which definitely has a large appeal in the UK. The demand is out there, so we took the decision to bring the X to the UK to ensure the consumers who wanted to buy one could buy one."
It wasn't just a simple case of shipping the US version over to Britain however, Motorola did made some small tweaks to handset.
"We wanted to make sure the Moto X was fit for the UK market, so LTE bands on this model are the ones which are relevant for the European 4G market," Notton explained.
"This Moto X is launching on KitKat, which means it has the very latest software and the very latest experiences from Google. Along with the Moto G, both handsets we have in the UK are now running the latest version of Android."
The real magic
TR: Why should consumers spend their money on the Moto X over other handsets?
MN: "We've managed to deliver a number of experiences on the Moto X which you cannot get on any other devices. What we did through our research with consumers is ask them what problems frustrate them with their device, and what things do they wish they could do with their phone.
"The Moto X is architected on the X8 mobile computing system that includes a dual-core applications processor, quad-core GPU, a contextual computer processor and a natural language processor.
"The real magic of the X8 system is the contextual computing processor, that allows you to interact with the Moto X in a way you can't do with any other product out there.
"One of the ways we use the X8 system is taking a photo. You can have the phone in your pocket, pull it out and with a quick flick of the wrist open up the camera app - allowing you to take a photo very quickly."
The 10MP camera Motorola has crammed into the Moto X may not sound particularly stellar when compared to the 20.7MP Sony Xperia Z1 Compact or the 41MP Nokia Lumia 1020 - but size isn't everything, as Notton explains.
Never miss a shot
"The reason we've done this is because consumers tell us that they hate missing photos, and it doesn't always have to be about a 50MP camera, because if they miss the shot it doesn't matter what camera you have in your phone, you've still missed the shot.
"Another way we've used the X8 system to deliver a unique experience is with notifications. Usually devices have a blinking light in the corner for notifications, but that doesn't really tell you much.
"On the Moto X, using the X8 system, when the handset sees light its starts to glow with the time and any notifications you've got there, which stops you firing on the full screen."
This integration aims to save on battery drain, effectively making the Moto X last longer than its rivals, although you're still required to touch the screen to see information on your latest communication.
TR: It's only an icon, so doesn't tell you any more than a coloured LED. How does this beat the competition?
MN: "When you get a new notification pulsing on screen you can tap the icon and it gives you a preview of the message.
"We've found a number of examples where this will save time and battery. Take a meeting for example, and you're getting emails through all the time, you may be waiting for that one important email.
"Rather than having to power your phone on, push your code in and check your emails, you can just tap the email icon and it gives you a glimpse of who it's from and whether it's the one you need to read immediately."
Not about the spec
TR: Is the Moto X now Motorola's flagship device in the UK?
MN: "For us both the Moto X and Moto G are equally important. We've found the Moto G has resonated really well because of everything it can do at its price point and it's doing very well for us.
"The Moto X delivers different experiences to a different part of the market and for us I wouldn't say one is more important than the other.
"Generally with flagships they are phones with the highest spec, but you can see from the X and the G we're not just cramming all the latest spec in and having a flagship phone which costs £600.
"We're really about speaking to consumers, finding out what they need and then providing tailored solutions for those needs."
TR: Is Motorola looking at wearable technology and tablets?
MN: "A year and a half ago, before Motorola was acquired by Google, we had something like 39 products in development, but since the takeover we have really stripped that back to focus on the Moto X, Moto G and some Verizon phones in the US."
"We really scaled back our portfolio and focussed on delivering experiences and re-energising our brand. As we go through the next year we'll build upon that with other new products, but certainly right now our focus is on smartphones and then building from there."
After yesterday's tease of the upcoming Oppo Neo, the Indonesian branch of the Chinese phonemaker just made the phone official.
The Oppo Neo is built around a 4.5" IPS LCD display, which is extra sensitive and is capable of detecting touches even when you are wearing gloves. The screen packs a rather low resolution of 854 x 480 pixels, resulting in a pixel density of 217ppi .
This places the Oppo Neo straight up into the mid-range smartphone category, where it'll be providing backup for the Oppo R819. The Neo is powered by a 1.3GHz dual-core CPU, but there's no information of the processor architecture, internal memory or RAM at this point.
The Oppo Neo weighs just 130 grams and measures 132 x 65.8 x 9.2mm, which is pretty thin for the price range. It runs Oppo's ColorOS skin on top of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
At the back, there's a 5MP snapper, while at the front, there's a 2MP camera for video chatting. Specifications of the main camera are missing at this point - we guess it's going to record up to 720p videos, but Oppo is yet to confirm or deny that.
On the software side, the Neo features Quick reach, Oppo's gesture-based feature that can trigger a variety of features. The motтo of the phone is "Let your finger talk," which is an appropriate description of the feature.
The Oppo Neo will also be available in a dual SIM version. In Indonesia, the phone will retail for $215 (IDR2,599,000). There's no information if Oppo plans to bring Neo to more markets. We'll keep you updated as new information arrives.
Hot on the heels of news that the Samsung Galaxy S5 won't pop up at MWC 2014 comes a little more detail about what we can expect at the South Korean's mid-March launch.
According to a tip sent to Phone Arena, the Galaxy S5 will sport a much-improved 2900mAh battery, up from the S4's sizeable 2600mAh power pack.
News of a larger capacity is nothing special, but the same tip suggests that the S5's juice pack will charge from zero to full in under 2 hours, perhaps employing the self-healing technology developed at Sanford University.
This would be a massive boost, providing a viable alternative to the removable battery problem that has supposedly been the reason behind Samsung's lack of metal handsets.
2K or not 2K, that is the question
A larger battery would also make sense, given the persistent rumours that surround the inclusion of a 2K screen on the Galaxy S5.
We might be in for a shock though, as a device under the moniker SM-G900A appeared on UAProf, coming complete with 1080p screen.
This could prove to be a cheaper version of the S5, maybe the rumoured plastic Galaxy S5 or even the Galaxy S5 Mini. It could even be a completely new device.
We'll keep our eyes peeled for more information, and report back our findings from here, as well as from next month's MWC.
Before Microsoft bought out Nokia's phone division, the software giant was subsidizing the phone maker to the tune of $1 billion a year. That was a big incentive for Nokia to go with Windows Phone over other alternatives.
The company may be offering the same deal to other companies as well – at least according to Eldar Murtazin, whose prediction accuracy has gone down from its heyday.
Microsoft going to pay to each company for creating one wp8 model. No matter how they call this money, its not a real business for MS
Anyway, apparently Samsung has taken the deal and will be receiving $1.2 billion to make Windows Phone 8 handsets. There seems to have been some negotiations since the number was $1 billion in mid-December.
Windows phone 8 in 2014 - Samsung 1.2 bln USD, Sony 0.5 bln, Huawei 0.6 bln, others - 0.3 bln. Thats "support" from MS to develop one (1!)hs
Samsung isn't alone in this – we've heard that Microsoft has been courting Sony to make a WP handset too and it the wooing was reportedly in the form of $500 million. Even Huawei is getting a cut, more than Sony actually - $600 million. Other companies, which haven't been named, will reportedly be receiving lower sums, $300 million.
For instance, Sony with 0.5 bln from Microsoft already profitable in 2014, will meat internal goals in terms of money around September :)
Surprisingly, HTC is getting squat or has managed to keep it a secret. The Taiwanese maker is in the red and can use a cash infusion, but seems to have lost interest in Windows Phone and hasn’t produced a new handset since the 8X and 8S duo. Speaking of which, Samsung isn't exactly piling on new models either.
And that's a problem – now that Microsoft owns the Lumia line, it also owns around 90% of the market. While the company isn't afraid to produce its own hardware (like the Surface tablets), it prefers to license out software for other companies' devices (the highly successful model it uses for Windows).
Will those rumors pan out? Sony could use the cash infusion as some core businesses aren’t doing too hot (cameras, TVs, etc.), Huawei could use the legitimacy (the brand name isn't popular in the west) and Samsung is on the hook for making Windows Phone devices anyway (a legal agreement).
Still, take it with a grain of salt until the companies' press releases officially have a line stating payment from Microsoft.
Oh, and don't forget the sweet irony that Nokia may be making an Android-powered phone. Speaking of Android, Microsoft is making a pretty penny on licensing deals over Android so this might just be reinvesting the money into its own platform.
Sony announced two budget-minded devices – the Xperia E1 and Xperia T2 Ultra – both of which have optional dual-SIM versions. However, the company neglected the most important part – how much do they cost?
It seems that the entry-level handset, the Xperia E1, is currently listed at €139 in Germany for the single-SIM version and €149 for the dual-SIM. That matches the claims of XperiaBlog.net sources, which also mention the handset will be a bit cheaper or more expensive than that depending on the country (€129 in Belgium, €149 for the single-SIM in the Netherlands).
As for the Sony Xperia T2 Ultra phablet, the rumored price is €400 but we couldn’t find a listing to confirm it. That price is dangerously close to the Xperia Z Ultra (around €470), which has a bigger, sharper screen and a beefier chipset, plus water resistance. It's not clear what the price of the dual-SIM T2 Ultra will be.
It looks like privacy is set to be a big deal at MWC 2014 and Spanish mobile company Geeksphone is first out of the gates with its Barcelona-bound Blackphone.
Geeksphone hopes to make that a thing of the mobile past - rather than launching with a bazillion pixels, umpteen cores or the ability to turn water into wine, the Blackphone is all about making and receiving protected phone and video calls, sending private text messages and storing secure files.
True Incognito mode
Anonymous web browsing is also enabled via a VPN, thanks to a customised version of Android called PrivatOS. This was developed in partnership with specialist mobile encryption firm Silent Circle.
Few will be familiar with the brand Geeksphone - the manufacturer's recent forays into mobile have been through the Firefox mobile OS.
But as we become ever more aware of our digital footprints, we could see the Blackphone push Geeksphone to the fore and help it compete with the security-conscious likes of BlackBerry and Samsung Knox.
Pricing and availability have yet to be announced, although pre-ordering will begin February 24 at MWC 2014.
Samsung is now seeding the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for the AT&T's Galaxy S4 Active. The update is available both via Kies and over the air and weighs about 770MB.
The Android 4.3 firmware update brings Galaxy Gear support, Knox security, TRIM support and better RAM management and Daydream. There's also the usual batch of performance tweaks and bugfixes.
There is still no official information on when the international I9295 Galaxy S4 Active will get the Android 4.3 update, nor are there details on the Android 4.4 KitKat availability. We hope Samsung sheds some light on those soon enough.
LG Mobile's official Twitter account for Saudi Arabia has confirmed that the Android 4.4 KitKat update will arrive for the local LG G2 smartphones by the end of this month. This marks the beginning of the update rollout we knew was coming in this quarter after it hit the Korean G2 units at the end of November.
There's no official word for LG G2 smartphones outside of Saudi Arabia but we're guessing things will gradually start after this.
KitKat brings changes mostly on the performance side, plus some slight alterations to the settings menu and the white on gray status bar icons. Here's a video of a KitKat-kitted LG G2.
Perzo chief David Gurle knows a thing or two about communications. A messaging expert who previously founded Microsoft's Lync video conferencing service and once ran Skype's Business division, Gurle's latest app is a military-grade messaging system designed to keep private communications away from prying eyes.
Launched in December 2013, the service has more than 7,000 active users, racked up 60,000 sent messages, seen more than 2,000 files exchanged and adds on average around 100 users per day.
TechRadar Pro spoke to Gurle to find out more.
TechRadar Pro: The communications space is a crowded one. How does Perzo stand out from the crowd?
David Gurle: It certainly is and the need for more secure communications has become a mainstream one in the wake of the NSA spying revelations. The security policies for existing communications platforms are upside down.
The likes of Microsoft, Google and Yahoo have all built their services first and then added security on as an afterthought and for many service providers it's an inverse relationship between increased levels of security and convenience. To have more of one you get less of the other.
Perzo is the natural evolution of communication tools where email, text and instant messaging come together into an intuitive and smart interface. We built security as the foundation of the product in this next era of communications - new technologies but also new behaviours, which will bring new problems once again.
TRP: Perzo sounds like a Whatsapp equivalent but with military-grade security. Is that a fair description?
DG: No, it's much more.Perzo is a secure communications application that integrates the best of email, Instant Messaging and SMS into an easy to use and viral web application. Perzo guarantees privacy and reliability of user's data whether they are messages, files or pictures.
Perzo encrypts every message end to end. We use a three-layer encryption system along with a random key generator that encrypts each message with a different key. This ensures that there are no men-in-the-middle attacks.
TRP: What collaborative features does Perzo offer?
DG: You can think of Perzo like a privacy layer, sitting above all your existing communications tools and integrating them into one secure UI.
We also have features like Off the Record messages that enable the content of the sent message to disappear after a set timer or Private Messages that enable further encryption to prevent a 3rd party from reading the content of a critical message 'over the shoulder' and ability to request a Read Receipt for each message if needed.
TRP: Perzo is free. How is the company going to make money?
DG: Perzo will always be free. Our roadmap will see us introduce contextual intelligence, which we call smart parsing, to Perzo users.
When Perzo users decide to go to a movie, or have lunch or dinner they will turn on smart parsing and this will allow the end user to receive relevant information about the upcoming event they are talking about. It is like having search come to you at the most relevant time.
So, for example when sending a meeting invitation you can choose for Perzo to also show you recommended locations from various sites likes Yelp, Zagat or Google along with local deals coming from Amazon Local, Yipit or Foursquare, etc… If and when the user selects one of these deals, Perzo will receive an affiliate fee from the site that offers that deal.
TRP: Is Perzo aimed at consumers, businesses, or both?
DG: We designed Perzo so that it can be used for personal and professional communications. Perzo has all the reliability, security and power to be used for making communications effective in businesses while it has all the features individuals will like to be used with friends and family.
Perzo excels in business to business communications and business to consumer communications thanks to its ability to work on multi-operating system and multi-browser environments.
TRP: How pleased are you with Perzo's reception since launching a month ago?
DG: We are extremely pleased with the reception we are getting from users and from the industry. Since launch we've attracted 7000 active users, over 60000 messages sent, over 2000 files exchanged, and we're adding about 100 users a week on average.
TRP: How has your time at Skype and Microsoft helped you with Perzo?
DG: Yes significantly. I have not only learned the craft of building communication software that scales to massive number of users but I also realized that it is only outside of such big companies that I can develop a concept like Perzo which brings the best of email, sms and IM into an easy to use interface and offer true end to end security.
