A couple of leaked images delivered by evleaks have shown a few of tomorrow's Nokia announcements including the Lumia 1520 phablet. The handset is joined by a couple of accessories - the Treasure Tag key finder and the Nokia Guru music player.
The first leak shows the Nokia Lumia 1520 from a new angle, that lets us get a better idea of the slim profile of the device. Judging from the photo, it's going to be as thin, if not thinner, than the Lumia 1020 cameraphone. Unconfirmed information states the Lumia 1520 will likely feature a 6" display, 20 MP camera and 3,390 mAh battery.
The Nokia Lumia 1520 will feature a potent quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor and FullHD 1080p display, who gained support for WP8 a couple of days ago with the GDR 3 update. The Nokia Glance Background will also be on board.
As far as the accessories go, the Nokia Treasure Tag is a little keychain device which resembles the HTC Fetch you might have seen. Basically, you hook it to your keys and then use the phone to make it ring and locate them when needed.
It seems that the Treasure Tag is working via Bluetooth and features a single button on the top side. The leaked photo reveals the yellow version, but we suspect Nokia will also have it in other colors. There’s also a specially designed Treasure Tag app for Windows Phone 8 to go along with the accessory.
The second leaked photo shows what looks like a music player device called Nokia Guru. The notable leakster also posted a product photo to go along with his tweet.
It’s not clear whether this name is the final one or if it’s a codename, but the Guru looks quite small. As you can see from the photo above it’s a bit larger than the pair of headphones. As the leaked photo shows, the Guru will connect to a computer via microUSB port and there’s a volume rocker on its right side. The 3.5mm headphone jack is alongside the microUSB port on the bottom.
The Nokia Guru will probably also be offered in multiple color schemes, but that’s mostly a speculation at this point. Here’s hoping Nokia won’t charge an arm and a leg for it.
The Nokia Lumia 1520 and the two accessories are expected to debut tomorrow at the Nokia event in Abu Dabi. We’ll be covering the action live, so stay tuned for an in-depth look at what the Finns have in store.
The Galaxy Note 3 might be what everyone currently on the market for a smartphone is interested in, but the Rumor mill is already getting busy with the the next Samsung flagship. According To ETNEws Sony and Samsung LSI are prepping themselves for a bidding war to become the main supplier of the camera, which according to sources is going to have a 16 MP sensor.
Samsung LSI has that ISOCELL technology to give it an edge as well as optical image stabilization, but that's only available in a 13 MP module for now. There's also the fact that Samsung LSI is part of Samsung itself so it has better connections around the Mobile division.
Still Sony has a reputation for its camera sensors used in point and shoots, DSLR and EVIL cameras and various smartphones, including the Galaxy S4.
Next come some rumors about the specs of the Samsung Galaxy S5 from Joseilbo. They are very optimistic and, one would argue, slightly unrealistic. First concerning the CPU, which is said to be 64-bit octa-core Exynos. We've heard about this chipset before and is said to be a 14nm Exynos 6. 4 GB of RAM is also mentioned, but that sounds more like a wishlist than actual insider information.
We've heard that the next Galaxy S device will also be able to withstand water and dust and that it will even have eye-scanning tech. Only time will tell if the development of those will actually finish on time so they make it to the Galaxy S5, though.
Archos has announced its latest range of latest range of smartphones, pitched at a wallet-friendly price tag. Archos has given them its Titanium branding, with the four devices covering screen sizes from 4 to 5.3 inches.
Archos isn't a brand that you'd normally associate with smartphones, with its most recent products being centred around the tablet market. You may have seen or heard about the Archos 80 Titanium or the Archos GamePad 2.
That said, some may remember that it announced a range of smartphones back in April.
Don't mention the B word
Although the budget market is one of the hottest markets, the spec list leaves little to set the world alight. Then again, when the cutting edge feature may well be price, maybe that doesn't matter.
Specs wise, though, all four handsets come with dual SIM capability, a small 1.3GHz dual core processor backed with 512MB RAM, and 4GB storage.
Screen wise, the baby of the bunch, the Archos Titanium 40, comes with a 4 inch WVGA 480x800 screen. Also aptly named, the Archos Titanium 45 and Titanium 53 come with 4.5 and 5.3 inch FWVGA 480x854 screens respectively.
The Archos Titanium 50 has the highest resolution, a qHD 540x960 5 inch screen.
There is no news of release dates or market availability, but prices have been announced at between €100-160 (about £85-135, $135-220, AU$140-225).
Google's showing no signs of slowing its pace of Android development, with Android 4.0 appearing on the Galaxy Nexus late in 2011, followed by the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean release that arrived powering the super Nexus 7 in July of 2012.
Two more flavors of Jelly Bean were to follow: Android 4.2 was released on 13 November 2012, and then Android 4.3 arrived on 24 July 2013.
Throughout the Jelly Bean reign, we've been gathering rumors of the next major Android update, Android 5.0. The word was that this release was being developed under the dessert-related codename of Key Lime Pie but then on 3 September 2013, Google announced that Android 4.4 KitKat would precede Android 5, so the Key Lime Pie name looks to have been ditched.
We're still expecting an Android 5 release, of course, but with different features, a new code name and a later release date than we were originally anticipating.
Cut to the chase What is it? The next major upgrade for Android, to follow on from Android 4.4 When is it out? We're thinking mid-2014 What will it cost? Nothing, it'll be a free upgrade
The dessert-themed moniker that we assume will begin with L is anyone's guess at this stage. Android 5.0 Lemon Cheesecake or Android 5.0 Lemon Meringue Pie, anyone?
As we wait on official news of that code name, as well as the Android 5.0 release date and features, we can start to pull together the latest rumors from around the web.
Android 5.0 release date
Until Android 4.4 was announced we had expected the Android 5.0 release date to be some time in October 2013. We now expect to see Android 4.4 KitKat launch during that month. In the face of that point release, we think it's now likely that we'll see Android 5.0 shown in mid-2014, quite possibly at Google IO, Google's annual two-day developer conference in San Francisco.
But on 13 May 2013, we got our confirmation that there would be no serving of Android 5 at Google IO from Sundar Pichai, Google's new head of Android. Pichai told Wired that 2013's IO is "not a time when we have much in the way of launches of new products or a new operating system". Boo! "Both on Android and Chrome, we're going to focus this IO on all the kinds of things we're doing for developers so that they can write better things," he added.
Android 5.0 phones
Rumors of a new Nexus handset started trickling in during the third quarter of 2012, as we reported on 1 October 2012. There was talk that this phone would be sporting Android 5.0 but the handset, which turned out to be the Google Nexus 4, arrived running Android Jelly Bean.
While the Nexus 4 didn't appear with Android 5.0, speculation that we reported on 21 January 2013 suggested that the Motorola X was the Android 5.0-toting handset that would be revealed at Google IO. The Moto X wasn't on show at IO and instead appeared in August 2013, running Android 4.2.2.
We also heard whispers that a new Nexus phone, most likely the Google Nexus 5, might be blessed with Android 5.0 and on 18 March 2013, supposed images of the Nexus 5 surfaced, with the handset apparently being manufactured by LG. If the accompanying specs, leaked along with the photo by the anonymous source, are true, then the Nexus 5 will feature a 5.2-inch, 1920 x 1080 OLED display, 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and 3GB of RAM.
If rumors that we covered on 30 May were correct, then HTC would have brought us an Android 5.0-powered 'phablet' in the form of the HTC T6. But that device launched in October 2103 as the Android 4.3-powered HTC One Max.
Android 5.0 tablets
The original Nexus 7 tablet was unveiled at Google IO 2012, so we thought it possible that we'd see a refreshed Nexus 7 2 at Google IO 2013. The speculation earlier in the year was that Google would team up with Asus for this, as it did with the original Nexus 7. We expected an upgraded display on the new Nexus 7 tablet, while Digitimes reported that the 2nd generation Nexus 7 would have 3G service and range in price from $149 to $199.
The new Nexus 7 was a no-show at IO, but the Asus-built device was later launched by Google on 24 July 2013, albeit running Android 4.3 rather than 5.
Samsung's Android 5.0 upgrades
Although Samsung is yet to officially confirm its Android 5.0 schedule, a SamMobile source is claiming to know which phones and tablets will be getting the upgrade. According to the source, the devices set to receive the upgrade are the Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy Note 8.0 and Galaxy Note 10.1. Do note that this claim was made before Google announced Android 4.4, so if it was ever correct, it's probably a lot less correct now.
As you'd expect, the S4 will be getting an Android update, but to which version?
Android 5.0 features
For 24 hours, it seemed as though the first kinda, sorta confirmed feature for Android 5.0 was a Google Now widget, which briefly appeared in a screenshot on the company's support forum before being taken down. As it was so hurriedly pulled, many people assumed it was slated for the big five-o and accidentally revealed early.
On 28 February 2013, we learned from Android Central that Google is working with the Linux 3.8 kernel, which gave rise to the notion that this kernel might power Android 5. One improvement that the 3.8 kernel brings is lowered RAM usage, which would mean a snappier phone with better multitasking.
We're now expecting that Linux 3.8 kernel to show up in Android 4.4, given that Google's stated aim with KitKat is "to make an amazing Android experience available for everybody".
Android Geeks reported that Google Babble would debut on Android 5.0. Babble was the code name for Google's cross-platform service and app with the aim of unifying its various chat services which include Talk, Hangout, Voice, Messenger, Chat for Google Drive and Chat on Google+.
A screenshot that we were sent from a Google employee on 8 April confirmed that not only was this unified chat service on the way, but that it was called Google Babel not Babble. The service was to come with a bunch of new emoticons and Google+ built-in so you can jump from Babel chat to hangout. A leaked Google memo on 10 April provided a few more juicy details including talk of a new UI and synced conversations between mobile and desktop.
Android Police found references in the code to functionality that doesn't exist in Glass, which suggested that developers accidentally shipped the full suite of Google Play Services with the Android application package.
The files in the package contained references to real-time and turn-based multiplayer, in-game chat, achievements, leaderboards, invitations and game lobbies.
While this is pure speculation, we're wondering whether Android 5.0 might bring with it a brighter interface, moving away from the Holo Dark theme that came with Android 4.0.
Google Now brought with it a clearer look with cleaner fonts, and screenshots of Google Play 4.0 show Google's app market taking on similar design cues. Is this a hint at a brighter, airier look for Key Lime Pie?
Google Play is lightening up [image credit: DroidLife]
With the Nokia World event scheduled for tomorrow, we're all pretty excited to see exactly what Nokia has in store for us.
However it seems that someone got a little too excited, with a Nokia Lumia 1520 page appearing over on Nokia's store on Chinese website Tmall.
The page offers up a few tidbits of information, appearing to confirm the rumoured quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and 20MP PureView camera.
Big is the new black... cyan, or yellow
All this will cost you a pretty penny, however, setting you back 4999 Yuan (around £510, $820, AU$850) although obviously the actual international prices will probably be different.
The anticipated 6-inch 1080p screen will mean that Nokia and Windows Phone venture into phablet territory for the first time. This puts the Lumia 1520 up against the new HTC One Max and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.
Samsung launched the official Android 4.3 firmware update for Snapdragon 800-powered Galaxy S4 model just last week and today it's the Exynos 5 Octa units to get the same treatment.
The first countries to get the update are India and Indonesia, but we expect many more regions to follow shortly.
Here is the complete change log:
OpenGL 3.0 Support
GALAXY GEAR Support
TRIM Support (Makes the device much faster)
ANT+ Support
Samsung KNOX Implementation (KNOX bootloader and dedicated application)
Samsung Wallet comes pre-loaded
Improved RAM management
Improved Display colour reproduction (Display looks much sharper than before)
Improved TouchWiz Launcher (Much less launcher redraws and less lag)
New Samsung Keyboard
New Samsung Browser (Full screen by default, new tab interface and more)
New Reading Mode (Optimises display for reading, used by only a few specific applications)
New Camera firmware
Minor UI tweaks (Contacts app, Flashlight Widget, dialog boxes etc)
If you are impatient, you can always download the update and install it manually via Odin, but you will be voiding your warranty, so only do so if you know what you are doing.
According to previous information, Samsung will be releasing the Android 4.3 update on the Galaxy S III next month, while the Galaxy Note II will be getting it in December because of the many S-Pen features that need to be ported.
After a bit of rough times it seems things are finally looking up for Nokia and the Windows Phone platform in general. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company managed to sell "at least eight million" Windows Phone devices between July and September this year.
On its own, that number hardly seems impressive (Apple sold nine million iPhone 5s/5c combined over the launch weekend). Still, when you compare it with the previous numbers there is definite improvement. For example, Nokia managed to sell 7.4 million devices last quarter this year, And last year they sold just 2.9 million devices in the same quarter.
Things would be getting even better now, with Nokia on the brink of announcing new Lumia devices during their event tomorrow at Abu Dhabi. Let's see how they do in the next quarter, then.
