Huawei teases cheap quad-core Android thrills with the Honor 2

Huawei has announced the Honor 2 Android smartphone, a quad-core device that could cost between $300 and $370 if it makes it to US shores. Its predecessor did, so there's a good chance it will do too.

Huawei has recently had more headlines dedicated to it allegedly posing a threat to US national security than its cut price, great spec Android smartphones for which it was once best known. With the announcement of the Honor 2, it could turn this around, provided it sees an international release sometime soon.

News of the Honor 2 seems to have originated from Huawei’s Weibo account, where the phone is named the Glory, a name repeated on the Chinese version of the manufacturers own website, where just to confuse matters it also listed as the “Glory Quad-core Love Shared Exclusive Edition.” Now that’s a memorable name for a smartphone.

So why are we calling it the Honor 2? Well, the original Huawei Glory U8860 was renamed the Honor in the USA and other regions (as well as the Mercury if you grabbed it from Cricket, or the Honour if you live in the UK), and Huawei’s CEO has also referred to the phone under this name, when he hinted at its impending release late last week.

Hopefully that’s cleared up any confusion over the name, so on to the most interesting part — the specification. Inside the Honor 2 is a 1.4GHz, quad-core Hass K3V2 processor of Huawei’s own design, plus 2GB of RAM. The screen measures 4.5-inches and has a 1280 x 720 pixel resolution, providing an excellent 326ppi pixel density.

Android 4.0 is its operating system, and there is also an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p video, 8GB of internal memory and a 2230mAh battery that could offer 72 hours of standby. This does make it a little larger than its competitors, as it measures 10.5mm thick and weighs 145 grams. Some may consider this to be a small price to pay for the bigger battery though.

Talking of small prices, there’s confusion over the Honor 2′s possible cost, with Engadget.com saying it will come in at a little over $300 — a bargain if so — while pocketdroid.net says it will be around $370. Whichever turns out to be correct, the Honor 2 will go on sale early next month, and given that the original Glory/Honor made it out of China, there’s a good chance its sequel will do as well.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/huawei-teases-cheap-quad-core-thrills-with-the-honor-2/

Read More

Verizon welcomes Windows Phone back into the family with the Nokia Lumia 822

Verizon has welcomed Windows Phone back into the family with the announcement of the Nokia Lumia 822, an exclusive Windows Phone 8 device set to be released soon.

Verizon has announced the Nokia Lumia 822, a Windows Phone 8 handset exclusive to the network. The news comes a few hours ahead of Microsoft’s big Windows Phone 8 event, which will be held in San Francisco, where the last pieces of information regarding the new OS will be shared.

In the meantime, lets look at the Lumia 822. The screen measures 4.3-inches and hides behind a sheet of protective Gorilla Glass, and although no resolution is mentioned in the press release, it’s likely to be the same as the GSM Lumia 820, which stands at 480 x 800 pixels.

An 8-megapixel camera sits on the rear of the curvy device, complete with Carl Zeiss lens and 1080p video recording, while a 1.2-megapixel video call lens can be found above the screen around the front.

Nokia makes a point to emphasize all the applications it bundles with its Lumia phones, including Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive, City Lens and the recently launched Nokia Music. This music streaming service has been out in Europe for a while, and is particularly interesting due to there being no subscription charge and no streamed advertising either.

Other features include NFC, Bluetooth and a choice of black, white or an online exclusive grey color scheme, plus the chance to swap the rear cover for one that enables wireless charging.

The Lumia 822 will connect to Verizon’s 4G LTE network, but aside from all this there is a lack of information on the device’s finer technical points. That won’t stop us hazarding a guess though, as the 822 will probably share the same dual-core, 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory as the Lumia 820.

All this is identical to the Lumia 810 too, which is exclusive to T-Mobile USA, while the Lumia 820 can only be found with AT&T. As they share the same spec sheet, the 810, 822 and 820 should really be considered network-exclusive designs, as the differences are all cosmetic.

The Lumia 822 is the first Windows Phone to hit Verizon since last year, when it carried the affordable Lumia 710, and confirms rumors dating back to August of the network’s plans to once again carry handsets running Microsoft’s mobile operating system. Verizon and Nokia have so far committed only to the Lumia 822’s “upcoming availability,” so we’d expect to hear more following Microsoft’s final big reveal later today.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/nokia-lumia-822-coming-soon-to-verizon/

Read More

Nokia Lumia 822 for Verizon goes official

Nokia's flagship Windows Phone 8 handset may be exclusive to AT&T for the first half year, but its Lumia 820 sibling is not - Nokia just announced the Lumia 822, Verizon's version of the device.

The phone comes fully loaded - it has the Nokia Drive+ offline navigation with US maps pre-installed, the City Lens and Transit apps and several camera apps (Smart Shoot, Cinemagraph, Panorama and Creative Studio).

The free, no-ads, no-log-in Nokia Music streaming service will be available on the phone too, to make use of that fast 4G LTE connectivity.

CDMA and LTE with Verizon bands aside, the Nokia Lumia 822 features the same specs as its GSM twin, including an 8MP camera with Carl Zeiss lens, 4.3" WVGA ClearBlack AMOLED display and dual-core Krait processor.

Different shells can be put on the back of the Lumia 822 to enhance its looks and functionality, including a shell that enables wireless charging.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_lumia_822_for_verizon_goes_official-news-5011.php

Read More

LG Nexus 4 turns up in a bar, everyone gets déjà vu

Stop us if you've heard this one before (credit: Wired)

An LG Nexus 4 handset was apparently "lost" in a San Francisco bar by a Google employee last month.

The handset, which no one came back frantically looking for, was locked and had a "not for sale" sticker and Google logo on the back.

Jamin Barton, the bartender who found it, showed the mysterious handset to a regular in the know about these things, who "immediately" identified it as the unannounced but leaked-to-high-heaven LG Nexus 4.

L'odeur du rat

This suspiciously clued-in regular named Dave called Google, as you do, at which point the tech giant began panicking and strong-armed the bartender and Technology Dave into returning the phone.

But not before Barton took some photos of the handset and sold them to Wired. The images aren't particularly inspiring, but they are in line with the host of other leaks we've seen to date.

The story is ridiculously similar to that of the lost iPhone 4 which was found in a bar and sold to Gizmodo, prompting a major war between Apple and the tech blog back in 2010.

Image credit: Wired

It smells like a planned marketing leak to us but hey, what do we know. The LG Nexus 4 was set to be unveiled at a Google event in New York today which has been cancelled due to the imminent arrival of Hurricane Sandy.

Image credit: Wired

No word on if or when a rescheduled launch is set to take place - we're expecting to see an updated version of Android Jelly Bean and a 10-inch Google Nexus 10 tablet.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/lg-nexus-4-turns-up-in-a-bar-everyone-gets-dj-vu-1108203

Read More

Jelly Bean update for HTC One X boosts performance

The Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for the HTC One X recently started rolling out and it brings a good performance boost with it. One of our readers (thanks, Safal) sent in screenshots of some benchmarks he ran on a JB-running One X.

SunSpider • Quadrant * AnTuTu

The web browser saw the biggest boost and it’s the area where the HTC One X most needed one. The old results just weren't fit of its quad-core flagship status. A slight boost in AnTuTu and Quadrant point to an overall performance increase too.

Here's how the updated phone stacks up against its ICS-running self and other high-enders.

AnTuTu

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  13562
• HTC One X (Tegra 3, JB)
  12932
• Samsung Galaxy S III (JB)
  12288
• Meizu MX 4-core
  11820
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  11735
• HTC One X (Tegra 3)
  11633
• LG Optimus G
  11226

Quadrant

Higher is better

• LG Optimus G
  7439
• HTC One X (Tegra 3, JB)
  6822
• HTC One X (Tegra 3)
  5952
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  5916
• Samsung Galaxy S III (JB)
  5375
• Meizu MX 4-core
  5170
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  4814

SunSpider

Lower is better

• Apple iPhone 5
  915
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  972
• Motorola RAZR i XT890
  1059
• HTC One X (Tegra 3, JB)
  1117
• Samsung Galaxy S III (JB)
  1192
• Meizu MX 4-core
  1312
• LG Optimus G
  1353
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  1446
• HTC One X (Tegra 3)
  1468

The Jelly Bean-running HTC One X gets ahead of a Jelly Bean-running Samsung Galaxy S III, at least in these benchmarks, and makes it very competitive with the LG Optimus G (which has a next-gen Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset but ICS is keeping it back).

Note that we're talking about the regular One X here, not the zippier One X+ and its overclocked Tegra 3 chipset (it will launch with JB out of the box too).

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/jelly_bean_update_for_htc_one_x_boosts_performance-news-5010.php

Read More

HTC One X Jelly Bean update starts to rollout

Jelly Bean incoming for One X

The Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update has begun to roll out to HTC One X handsets in Europe.

According to Android Central the Taiwanese firm has confirmed that owners of the international version of the One X in Europe and Asia will start seeing the update pop up on their devices over the next few days.

A report from September claimed that we'd see the Android 4.1 upgrade arrive on the One X in October, as HTC looks to keep up with its biggest rival the Samsung Galaxy S3, which has recently received the sweetly named software.

Smoother and faster

The update will be available over the air (OTA), meaning you won't need to plug your One X into your computer to download and install Jelly Bean, but due to the size of the file you'll need to hop onto a Wi-Fi network and make sure your battery isn't too low.

Android Jelly Bean is a smaller update than Ice Cream Sandwich, bringing incremental upgrades to the Google platform, the most noticeable of which is Project Butter, which aims to deliver a smoother and faster user experience.

We're waiting for official word from HTC to confirm which regions can expect the update and when, and we'll update this article once we hear back.

We've also contacted the UK networks to find out their plans on the HTC One X Jelly Bean update, but we're still waiting to hear back from all of them.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/htc-one-x-jelly-bean-update-starts-to-rollout-1108188

Read More

Painfully short video teases Google’s Nexus 10 tablet

Just barely giving us a chance to look upon the Nexus 10, a new five-second video has been posted to tease the masses. The tablet was supposed to be announced on Monday, but this will suffice for now.

We’re not sure why this video wouldn’t be extended into something mildly satisfying, but as it is, we have a five second video of the Nexus 10 in action. The latest Nexus tablet was set to be announced at Google’s event on October 29, since cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy.

BriefMobile, an organization responsible for previous Nexus 10 leaks, posted the video. It doesn’t show much, but exists more as additional proof to the 10-inch tablet’s existence. Unfortunately, it’s still kind of goofy looking with an overly rotund appearance. The video’s length is definitely odd (we can’t get over it) and if anyone knows why it had to be this short then please tell us.

Said to be manufactured by Samsung, the Nexus 7′s sequel will logically feature some bumped up internals. The oddly round design isn’t our favorite, but there’s no denying a 10-inch Nexus tablet is a good idea if competing with Apple is the goal here (it is). Specifically, the Google Nexus 10 is rumored to run on a dual-core 1.7GHz Samsung Exynos processor with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. The screen is an impressive 2560×1600 pixels, being called “retina-grade.”

NFC is on-board as is typical of a Google device. The camera is allegedly 5-megapixels and Android 4.2 will be preinstalled, still carrying the Jelly Bean title. We covered some rumors surrounding Android 4.2 earlier, said to bring multiple user accounts and quick settings in the notification tray.

What do you think of Google’s latest Nexus tablet? Do you prefer it to the iPad?

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/painfully-short-video-teases-googles-nexus-10-tablet/

Read More