Samsung has now sold five million Galaxy Note 2 smartphone/tablet hybrid devices, which is two million more than it had sold at the beginning of the month. However, could the Droid DNA be about to take some of its sales?
Not a month has passed since Samsung last got its sales trumpet out, but this morning it has practiced its embouchure for a second time during November and like before, it’s celebrating another Galaxy Note 2 sales record.
A short post on Samsung’s Korean website has confirmed the Galaxy Note 2 has racked up five million sales since its release in September, beating the original Galaxy Note to the figure by three months.
The news follows analysts voicing their expectations for the company during the final three months of the year, with UBS number-crunchers suggesting it’s on its way to reaching sales of 61.5 million Galaxy devices before the calendar flips to 2013. It also expects Samsung to add another two million Galaxy Note 2 sales to its tally, bringing the total to seven million.
Last time out, we questioned when the Galaxy Note 2 would receive some meaningful competition, and the fact it has sold another two million in-between then and now only emphasizes how little choice there is in this expanding mobile industry niche. In the U.S., the Note 2 may not hog all the 5-inch-plus device sales from now on though, as Verizon and HTC have released the Droid DNA.
The Droid DNA’s 5-inch 1080p screen is the first of its kind to go on sale in the U.S., and despite perhaps unwarranted concerns over the battery performance, the exciting new phone could soon start to take some of the attention away from the Note 2. Sadly, its chance to do the same internationally has taken a hit this week, and for it to slow the Note 2’s stampede it’s going to need a wider release.
We can expect another rousing blast from Samsung’s trumpet sometime before the end of the year, depending on which milestone it chooses to share next.
How can you get the best internet phone experience?
Only a few years ago, phone-based internet browsing was a basic, and frankly horrific, experience.
While the original iPhone brought proof that the mobile web didn't have to be a stuttering, monochrome experience, today's offerings highlight just how far things have come.
It's 2012 and that once sparse mobile web has drastically changed. See you later, stripped down sites; hello sites in their full desktop glory, on massive HD screens backed up with quad-core innards.
The modern web is no longer just for PCs; it's a cross-platform convergent media space. The developments in web technologies such as WebM and HTML5, as well as better battery life in handsets, mean that smartphone internet browsing is now a real alternative to turning on a computer.
This shift in perception has really enabled the mobile web to shine, and has inspired some of the well-travelled mobile sites we now have at our disposal. It has also given rise to a new breed of mobile browsers.
Safari, on the iPhone, gave rise to mobile versions of some of the biggest and best known browsers. Microsoft brought along Internet Explorer, Mozilla (eventually) mobilised Firefox and Opera has had its own mobile browsers for a while.
Where does this leave us? We all know not every handset is created equally. Some handsets are far better at carrying out your Internet dreams than others, and finding the best internet experience among the smorgasbord of smartphones can be nigh-on impossible.
We've tested and used every handset out there; finding which mobiles deliver the web wrapped in all its shiny HD glory, and which ones delivered it in little more than a paper bag.
So here's our list of the best internet phones for the four most popular operating systems (including skinned and un-skinned Android), as well as four of the best alternative browsers available should you want a super-charged internet experience.
Rumored for a next year release comes the ZTE Apache. It will reportedly run on an 8 (that's right, eight) core processor made by MediaTek. It will be made using the TSMC 28 nm process with Cortex-A15 CPU inside.
The ZTE Apache is expected to arrive by May next year and sport a 13 MP camera, 1080p display, 3G and 4G LTE.
These are just rumors so take them with a grain of salt. Even if we do see an 8-core powered smartphone next year we doubt it will be the sole leader of the pack - there will be new Tegras and Exynoses ready to take on it.
Doubt has been cast over the leaked HTC Deluxe being the European version of the Droid DNA/HTC J Butterfly, after a spokesperson on HTC's German Facebook page said it wouldn't be released there.
The news comes after an HTC spokesperson responded to a new round of leaked images of the Deluxe, saying — after a little translation — “the Deluxe unfortunately will not come to Europe.” How annoying.
A series of press-style images of the Deluxe, this time named the HTC Deluxe DLX, an amalgamation of several potential names, appeared late last week, showing the phone in black, white and brown color schemes. The source told GSMarena.com that we would find out more on December 6, but didn’t elaborate further on the situation.
Prior to this, a leaked picture of the phone appeared on Twitter using the HTC Deluxe name, along with a short description saying it was a “global edition.” Since then, we’ve been eagerly awaiting some news from HTC itself, and in traditional be careful what you wish for terms, now some has arrived it’s not quite what we expected.
What’s going on?
There are several possible scenarios here. The first is the J Butterfly/Droid DNA won’t be coming to Europe at all, the second is that it just won’t be doing so under the Deluxe name, and third, the HTC spokesperson has got it all wrong and we’ll hear good news on December 6.
It’s difficult to understand why HTC wouldn’t bring a re-branded Droid DNA to Europe, as it’ll never reach former heights by releasing cool phones in fewer markets. The wording of the Facebook post suggests the Deluxe does exist, which could mean it’s off to parts of Russia, Australia or other Eastern countries, and Europe will get the HTC DLX or the HTC One X5 — two other names linked with the phone.
The one slight concern is the handling of previous Droid international releases, and not only by HTC. The original Droid phone came out in October 2009, and was renamed the Motorola Milestone for the rest of the world. It took several months before it arrived in Europe and even when it did, its availability was limited to an online retailer, where it sold out almost immediately. Other subsequent Droid phones have met with a similar fate.
Despite the doom and gloom, it just seems so unlikely that HTC would not take advantage of its position as the first manufacturer to offer a smartphone/tablet hybrid with a 1080p screen in the UK and Europe, particularly as there is plenty of competition on the horizon.
Although the dream has taken a hit this weekend, it’s still alive, and a more positive statement from HTC headquarters is all that’s needed to see it back on its feet. Could that come on December 6?
Multiple sources are suggesting the Windows Phone 7.8 update may land on the current crop of WP 7 handsets this week.
WMPoweruser received a tip that the update would arrive on Wednesday, although it's unclear how reliable its source is.
Meanwhile, Chinese site WPDang has also got wind of the November 28 release date for the upgrade, adding a bit more weight to the rumour, but we still remain sceptical as we've heard nothing on this from official sources with only a couple of days to go.
However instead of completely shunning these legacy handsets, Microsoft is furnishing them with a less feature-packed update, which will see the new live titles move onto the older phones.
If you're not sure what difference Windows Phone 7.8 will make to your handset, a handy little video has popped up online apparently showing the software upgrade running on a Nokia Lumia 510.
The new screen is a lovely thing, but its extra height isn't ideal for smaller hands
It seems that for many people, the iPhone 5 is a disappointment - so what's missing? We asked for your suggestions and scoured the online reviews, and the results are below. It's your ultimate iPhone 6 (or iPhone 5S, if Apple's next iPhone is so named) wishlist.
Blogger Ed Valdez cites six reasons why we can expect an iPhone 6 announcement by June 2013 - a mere nine months after the iPhone 5. But it's still likely there will be an iPhone 5S instead.
iPhone 6: design
Many of you weren't sold on the iPhone 5's design. For some of you the taller screen was odd - it "looks strange at best," said nebulaoperator - and for others it simply wasn't big enough.
Lions87a reckons even 4.5 inches would be too little: "popular phones like the Galaxy S2 and S3 have shown that people are pretty happy nowadays to accept bigger than what the iPhone 5 is currently offering."
Writing in the Chicago Sun-Times, influential tech journalist Andy Ihnatko suggests that taller isn't necessarily better. "The benefit of bigger screens is almost entirely in their increased width, not their length," he writes.
"A wider keyboard is easier to type on. Books, web pages, and emails will have wider margins and they'll be more comfortable to read."
John Gruber of Daring Fireball agrees that bigger isn't always better, but he's not a fan of wider, either: while he says that "navigating the full screen while holding the iPhone in one hand is worse," rivals' wider screens mean it "really is far more difficult to do anything on them one-handed, including typing."
A new set of patents filed by Apple, that we outlined on 15 October 2012, suggest that the iPhone 6 design might hide external-facing components such as the camera and flash from view using a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal window which can change opacity on demand.
The question at the moment is whether Apple's next-generation iPhone will be beaten to the punch by the new Samsung Galaxy S4 which could even debut at Mobile World Congress in February.
iPhone 6: processor
No surprises here: we had plenty of people telling us that rival firms' processors have more cores. However, as Lions87a pointed out, "If the iPhone 5 or Nokia 920 can run their OS without any lag or delay, and delivers a flawless experience, and the Galaxy S3 does the same with a quad-core, then the number of cores, and the speed of the cores is irrelevant. The argument turns into 'which operating system is best?'"
Did someone say operating system?
iPhone 6: operating system
iOS has been around for a while, and for many it's getting stale. "I don't think anyone can deny that the
UI needs a refresh when you see widgets and live tiles on competitors' phones," says Vincennes, while Tubemonkey2000 says that "the current [UI] is so tired and old it makes it seem really basic, sort of like a kids' toy."
Our own Gareth Beavis agrees, arguing that "there are so many tweaks Apple could make to its OS to turn it into more of a powerhouse – icons that update with information, or extending the widgets in the notification bar beyond weather and stocks... Apple is taking things very slowly on this front."
iPhone 6: price
iPhones have never been cheap, but in a world of credible - and cheaper - competition they look pricier than ever. Or maybe it's because the iPhone's price has gone up. Saltire is "surprised no-one has mentioned the price increase for the 16GB model", while Gareth Beavis says that "we simply cannot see how a 16GB model can cost £529 / $199, but to double the memory will cost an extra £70/ $100 with no other changes to the design."
There's no doubt that you pay more for the materials, fit and finish of an iPhone than you do for, say, a plasticky Android handset, and not everyone thinks that's worth it.
"£529 for a phone that is no better than my six month old Android shows the arrogance of Apple," Alastairmack says, while Beavis points out that when you consider contracts, "it's far and away the most expensive in the shop, and most of the time you don't even get unlimited data."
iPhone 6: features
NFC has, possibly unfairly, been dubbed "Not For Commerce" (or more saltily, "No Effing Customers"), but for many it's the most obvious omission from the iPhone 5 - "not because of the technology itself," says Fmartins, "but to really give the critical mass contactless payments need. Plus, I would love to use the phone as my Oyster card."
For Fmartins, that would be good for everyone: while s/he isn't an iPhone fan, "it would have been nice seeing Apple push the envelope again so that I could benefit on [a] Lumia down the line." Gareth Beavis agrees. "It's not quite there yet in terms of market penetration for payments, but the world's largest network of accessories could definitely have made use of it for making ever cooler docks and cases," he says.
Other suggestions included more LTE bands, which we're sure we'll get next year when other UK 4G networks launch; expandable storage - not something we imagine Apple doing when it can flog you iTunes Match and/or get you to pay a small fortune for the 32GB model over the 16GB - and brighter, more saturated screens, although given the improvements to the iPhone 5's screen that one's largely a personal preference. Oh, and of course you'd like Apple to fix Maps too.
Maps has the potential to be a superb and very useful app, but it needs some work
iPhone 6: reception
No, not antennas - they seem fine this time - but the critical reception. As Lusky79 says, even without cock-ups such as Maps, any new iPhone is going to be disappointing: "Even if Apple had all the suggestions [here], it would still seem mediocre because the revolution was the original iPhone and the other, similar, smartphones that followed." As Nenslo put it: "What the iPhone really needs is Steve Jobs."
Anything else?
Hit the comments to add your wishes for the next iPhone.
Nokia has announced two new additions to its Asha range of affordable mobile phones, the Asha 205 and Asha 206. Both available in either single or dual-SIM configurations, they also introduce Nokia Slam, a fast media sharing app that also works with Android phones.
It was at the beginning of the year that Nokia announced it had sold 1.5 billion phones running its S40 operating system, which has evolved over recent years to become a sub-smartphone OS for the company to sell in markets where Windows Phone isn’t relevant yet.
Today, Nokia has added another two Asha phones to its range, the Asha 205 and Asha 206. As you’d expected from such lowly model numbers, the pair won’t even be troubling the likes of the 308 for supremacy, but they do bring with them the introduction of Nokia Slam, a new way of sharing content with friends.
Let’s take a look at that before the phones. Nokia Slam works in a similar way to Bump, where media can be shared with friends nearby, but without the hassle of pairing Bluetooth, or even the receiving party having a Slam application. Nokia says it’s faster than Bluetooth, although it does use it to transfer files, and that it’s also compatible with Android phones — a handy bonus for potential owners — but strangely, not with Windows Phone 8 devices, an embarrassing problem given Nokia’s dedication to Microsoft’s OS.
Nokia Slam comes as standard on both the new phones, which are available as either a single-SIM or dual-SIM handsets. The Asha 205 is a QWERTY phone with a 2.4-inch,240 x 320 pixel screen, a 0.3-megapixel camera — which seems hardly worth including — while the Asha 206 is a candybar phone with the same size and resolution screen, but a 1.3-megapixel camera instead.
Facebook users will appreciate little tweaks made to each phone too, as the Asha 206 has a dedicated Facebook button for quick and easy status updates, while the Asha 205 — equipped with the better camera, remember — optimizes its photos using some clever software before they’re uploaded to the social network.
Despite these differences, deep down, they’re both almost identical. Standard features on each include FM radios, 2G connectivity, a microSD card slot to take the memory to 32GB, a 3.5mm headphone socket and a 40-game Electronic Arts package. Nokia’s usual range of social apps and its data-sipping Xpress Web browser are also part of the deal, plus in the case of the 206, a battery which provides up to 47 days standby.
Both will be available in some very bright colors, including cyan, magenta and either orange or yellow depending on which model you purchase. They’re expected to go on sale before the end of the year, and prices have been set at $62 each.
