Roughly a couple of weeks after its first appearance, a new screenshot of Samsung’s next generation TouchWiz user interface made the rounds. Once again, the capture got out on Twitter thanks to @evleaks.
The screenshot shows a revamped UI in the works (click to expand)
The screenshot reveals a radically new, tiled UI. Similar to the Magazine UX which launched alongside the company’s latest Android tablets, the feed delivers a host of relevant information to the user in one feed. We can’t help but notice a slight resemblance to HTC BlinkFeed, though with more functionality.
All in all, considering the duo of leaked screenshots this far, it appears that Samsung’s next generation mobile UI will represent a serious change from the one currently on offer. The updated user interface is more than likely to debut on the next Samsung Galaxy flagship.
In a truly bizarre fashion, the yet to be announced, Nokia Lumia 929 went on sale in China. The top-end Windows Phone device is currently available for purchase in the popular online marketplace TaoBao for ¥3800 ($628).
Also known as Nokia Lumia Icon, the smartphone is shown in a number of live photos, proudly wearing its Verizon Wireless branding. This is hardly a surprise, as the handset is bound to replace the Nokia Lumia 928 when it goes official on the Big Red.
Nokia Lumia 929 (click to enlarge)
In addition to the host of live photos, the seller reveals the full specs of the Nokia Lumia 929. They include Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of built-in memory, microSD card slot, 5” 1080p display, and 20MP PureView camera.
With enoughleaks this far to leave nothing to imagination, all Verizon and Nokia are left with, is to finally take the wraps off the device. Considering its recent appearance on the carrier’s webpage, we doubt it will be a long wait.
Just a day after the dual-SIM version of the Motorola Moto G went official in Australia, the phone has reached Malaysia. Thankfully, this time around, we also have a price for the phone.
In Malaysia, the dual-SIM Motorola Moto G carries a price tag of $210 and $240 for the 8GB and 16GB models, respectively. The phone was announced at a joint event of Motorola and local carrier Brightstar.
The extra SIM card slot has added a just over $30 to the cost of the 8GB model and $10 on top of the price of the 16GB one. Originally, Motorola priced the Moto G at $179 for 8GB and $199 for double the storage.
Malaysian online retailer Lazada Malaysia is already taking pre-orders and promises to fulfill them on January 21. Early adopters will be treated to a screen protected and a Motorola Flip Shell free of charge.
Huawei quietly put out an S version of its super-thin Ascend P6 smartphone. The Huawei Ascend P6 S is 0.3 thicker, but still only goes as high as 6.5mm, though it has the same battery capacity of 2,000mAh.
The chipset has been bumped up a bit and now features a quad-core 1.6GHz processor (up from 1.5GHz). It’s not clear if it’s Huawei’s own chipset again, but there’s no LTE support either way. It’s a dual-SIM, dual-standby phone, the original P6 had a dual-SIM option.
The rest of the specs are identical - 4.7” LCD with 720p resolution (the display works with gloves), 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, 8MP main camera and a 5MP front-facing camera.
The Ascend P6 S runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with Emotion UI 2.0 on top. The phone is currently available on Vmall (Huawei’s own web store) and is available only on China Unicom.
The price is CNY 2,700 ($446 / €330), but is temporarily CNY 300 off (until tomorrow). This puts the price at the same level as the 8GB Ascend P6 (CNY 2,400). The regular price is the same as the Ascend Mate 2, which went on sale a couple of days ago.
LG is allegedly planning to skip the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for some of its smartphones and move them straight to the latest Android 4.4 KitKat, according to a report from PhoneArena.
In fact, some of the smartphones will also jump the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update and go from 4.1 to Android 4.4 version. The devices that are expected to get the KitKat release with their next major update include LG Optimus F3, LG Optimus F6, LG G Pad 8.3, LG G Pro Lite, LG Optimus F7, LG Optimus L9 II, LG Optimus Vu II, LG Vu III and a couple unannounced models such as LG-D315 and LG LS740.
The report also claims that the LG Optimus 4X HD will be stuck on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS as it looks like the smartphone has completed its software upgrade cycle. However, there is no official confirmation at the moment. So, take it all with a pinch of salt.
Sony reportedly in a hurry to get the Z2 out there
Sony has barely got a around to taking down the promo posters for the flagship Xperia Z1 handset, but a series leaked photos suggests its successor is already waiting to steal its spot in the limelight
The leak artist claims the device is 5.2-inches in size, a couple of tenths of an inch larger than the existing device, while the smaller bezel may enable the device itself not to grow too much.
Pocket-Now also points out that the placement of the buttons and flaps will probably mean Sony continues the tradition of waterproofing its smartphones.
Three way fight?
It would be somewhat surprising for Sony to wait such a short period of time to replace the Xperia Z1, considering the fanfare it received on arrival.
Given the potential that Samsung and HTC could also use the Barcelona expo to announce their flagship Galaxy S5 and HTC One Two handsets, we may have quite a battle on our hands in Catalonia.
Companies like IDAPT are hoping 2014 is a big wireless year
Wireless power today is mostly about convenience; not having to fish out a cable and get it the right way round when you plug it in. But once it becomes ubiquitous, it will change the way devices are designed; they can have smaller batteries or save space by not needing the power port at all.
This year at CES, as well as seeing the latest wireless power products and the next step in wireless charging technology, we also got some good news on getting more users and businesses on board with wireless power - 2014 will definitely be a big year for wireless charging.
There are over 60 different phones that have Qi wireless charging (the inductive charging standard) built in today - and 40 million of them have been sold - and because it's a standard, you can put your phone down on any Qi charging surface and it will just start grabbing power.
If your phone doesn't have Qi built in, Incipio introduced a line of wireless charging pads and protective cases at CES that add it (including Lumia models like the Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 1520 that have a connector designed to simplify adding a charging case).
Incipio has single and double Qi charging pads
That surface doesn't have to be a pad on your desk either. It could be a light or a mouse mat: silicon valley startup Kudos Tech had prototypes for both, although no dates for putting them into production yet.
You don't have to only charge a phone; IDAPT has added a Qi charging module to its clever Modulo battery system, which lets you connect up to five external 2000mAh batteries to charge your phone or tablet.
Snap on as many batteries as you need to take with you and drop it onto a wireless charger to keep them topped up before you leave.
Or it could be a car cradle (Nokia has a wireless charging cradle already and Tylt was showing off a prototype of its own at CES, with a perpetually sticky surface to hold your phone in place) or a tray built into your car. Both have NFC which can trigger your phone to launch a specific app, like GPS navigation, or pair with the car's Bluetooth automatically when you start charging it.
Car makers like that, John Perzow of the Wireless Power Consortium says, because it will let them take information from your phone – like your personal music collection – and display that on the screen on your dashboard. "They want a path for extending your personal device into the car and shifting some of the load to your phone, but you can only do that if you can charge the device."
The wireless charging shelf that Jeep will fit in the Cherokee
The Jeep Cherokee will have a wireless charging shelf in the 2014 model, Toyota will put it in the Avalon and Prius and the German auto consortium that advises Mercedes, Volkswagen, Audi and BMW is recommending Qi, after a three year study on wireless charging.
We even saw an FAA-approved wireless charger for use on planes; expect to see it in private jets first rather than on your next economy flight though.
Making wireless power resonate
So with a standard like Qi and products already in the market, why is wireless charging still not common?
Perzow says that confusion over standards has been slowing adoption. Yes, there's the Qi standard, but there have been plenty of other wireless charging launches that haven't been part of Qi. Even Qualcomm has its own wireless charging system for electric cars (it charges the motor, not your smartphone, but still, it's something else to confuse people).
The WPC is trying to tackle that by bringing new wireless charging developments into the Qi standard, and we saw some of that at CES.
Today Qi uses near-field coupling, between the coil antenna inside your phone and the one inside the charging mat; you have to either put multiple coils in or rely on people lining up devices in just the right spot.
The latest Qi mats give you a little more freedom of movement but to be able to put devices down anywhere on the surface and to be able to fit the charging pad underneath a thick surface like a table or a kitchen worksurface requires the next technology to be included in the Qi standard, magnetic resonance.
Resonant charging lets you put the phone off to one side of the charging spot or have something else in the way and still get charge.
We saw a new charger from Convenient Power that has resonant charging that's fully backwards compatible with Qi, so we were able to stack two notebooks on the charger and put a Nokia Lumia on top of them and have it charge. Bolt the pad under a table and you can charge through the surface.
Convenient Power also showed us a five-device charger that automatically detects the power requirements of the phones and tablets you put on it and delivers the right charge, and again you don't need to worry about lining them up neatly.
Charge multiple devices in different places on this pad from Convenient Power
New Zealand wireless power experts PowerByProxi also creates resonant chargers, although it will licence its designs to other companies rather than selling them directly like Convenient Power. Phones will need to have a new charging antenna but they'll still charge on older Qi pads.
The big advantage of the PowerByProxi system is that it puts devices in charge of setting the power level they need, and it can send different power levels to different devices. That means your almost-flat tablet can get lots of power instead of just the trickle of power needed to top up your almost-fully-charged phone
Getting new developments into a backwardly compatible standard like this is vital if we want to see wireless charging on offer at Starbucks and every hotel the way wireless networking is – something that would really make wireless power ubiquitous and something Perzow is working on.
"Infrastructure has been stalled because it's a very conservative market. A hotel wants maximum usability and long life before they're going to put this on every night stand. There needs to be an experience that adds value beyond charging," he says.
The new chargers that can be bolted under tables without having to chisel out a slot will help, as will more freedom of positioning. "You just put the phone down on the charger; you don't have to get the placement just right."
And so will management software that shows which devices are sitting on a table, charging, and whether the power is getting through to them properly. Making wireless power easy to fit, easy to support and easy to use could be what we need to see it everywhere in the next couple of years.
