Is Microsoft preparing a Surface Windows phone of its own?

We saw that Microsoft is set on marketing a Windows 8 tablet of its own - the Surface. But perhaps the company has the same plans for the phone segment, too. Benchmarking tool WPBench certainly suggests so, as a new entry in its benchmark database says "Microsoft Surface Phone".

Sure, the whole thing may be an elaborate prank, but even if it is, you have to admit it kinda makes sense for MS to have its own phone too.

While it hardly looks believable that Microsoft would let any pre-production, unannounced device to post scores on a public benchmarking tool, we are still willing to give it the benefit of a doubt.

Microsoft is expected to launch its latest computer/tablet operating system - Windows 8 - on September 26. We still don't know any fixed launch date for the Windows Phone 8 OS, although, as we saw at IFA, some manufacturers already have their devices ready, so we are sure it won't take long.

Whatever it is, it seems the industry is in for a super exciting autumn with the new iPhone just around the corner along with the batch of new Windows Phone 8 devices.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/is_microsoft_preparing_a_surface_windows_phone_of_its_own-news-4745.php

Read More

Nokia teases City Lens AR on Windows Phone 8

Shoes, of course. What else would she be thinking about? 

Nokia's latest video teaser for its Windows Phone 8 handsets pretty much guarantees inclusion of the City Lens AR app.

Stephen Elop isn't going to have many surprises to reveal at Nokia's Windows Phone 8 event this week, especially after both the Nokia Lumia 820 and Nokia Lumia 920 were subject to pretty extensive leaks.

The AR-style overlay in the video, which relates to a shoe shop a young woman is walking weirdly past, includes social networking style stats as well as an editorial review.

It looks like Facebook and Foursquare are the networks of choice (friend check-ins and friends 'liking' things being the big giveaways).
That's logistics

But it's not clear exactly how you'll use these AR advisories - having to hold a phone up and scan it around would definitely ruin this lady's look. Also we're not convinced her balance will hold up.

All will become clear tomorrow (September 5) when Nokia takes to the New York stage to announce its new Windows Phone 8 handsets.

But after a perilous bike ride through a dockyard failed to get anyone particularly hot under the collar, is AR really the best Nokia has to whet our appetites with?

Source : techradar[dot]com

Read More

Orange UK: Galaxy S III, first droid with Quick Tap NFC payments

NFC promises to allow phones to take over a lot of functionality, including paying at a store. Orange and Barclaycard announced that the Samsung Galaxy S III will become the first Android smartphone to support their Quick Tap contactless payment service.

Quick Tap lets you pay up to £20 by tapping the phone on the payment terminal (optionally, you can set the phone to ask for PIN first). These payments have full fraud guarantee.

You can have up to £150 in your Quick Tap account and adding more money can be done with any UK MasterCard or Visa credit or debit card (you can add sums between £5 and £100 at a time). The phone will alert you when the account is running low.

Starting from September 5, Orange will be offering Quick Tap-enabled Galaxy S III phones. Better still, if you get one before October 5, your account will be loaded with £50.

You can check out this page to find stores that accept Quick Tap payments. There you'll also find more info on how to activate the service, security and managing your account.

Samsung and Visa already tried to build up hype for contactless payments with a special Galaxy S III at the Olympics (that used Visa's PayWave system though).

By the way, Quick Tap is already working with another Samsung phone - the Samsung Star or Tocco Lite as they call it in the UK.


Source : http://www.gsmarena.com

Read More

Huawei to ship the Ascend D Quad on September 12 in China

The Huawei Ascend D Quad was one of the superstars at this year's MWC in Barcelona, but it got off to a rocky start as the development of the company's own K3V2 chipset with quad-core CPU didn't go according to plan. As a result, the Huawei Ascend D Quad was delayed time and again, but it appears that the waiting is about to end.

Huawei has finally managed to solve the CPU production issues and has announced the Ascend D Quad will be hitting the shelves on September 12. In its home country, the flagship will be selling for RMB 2,699 ($425). However, with competition such as the quad-core monster Xiaomi 2, selling for RMB 1,999 ($315), Huawei will have a hard time convincing Chinese buyers to go for the Ascend D Quad.

Still, we haven't yet thoroughly tested what Huawei's quad-core K3V2 1.5 GHz CPU is capable of, so we might be wrong there. Unfortunately, the company still hasn't announced a date for the international release of its Android flagship device. Here's hoping it's not too far away now.


Source : gsmarena[dot]com

Read More

Samsung S Cloud pops up on the Galaxy Note 2

Samsung offers up a bit of cloud control 

Samsung's much rumoured but not yet confirmed S Cloud appears to be real, with an image of it working on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

The Samsung S Cloud is, yes you've guessed it, Samsung's apparent foray into cloud storage. We have to say apparent as Samsung has yet to confirm its existence. This is despite rumours that the technology was set to launch alongside the Samsung Galaxy S3.

Now the cloud storage service has cropped up again in a photo that seems to prove its existence. And the bonus is that even though it is a spy shot, it's not even blurry.
Cloud speaker

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 launched at IFA 2012 in Berlin and an eagle eyed German blogger from BestBoyZ spotted the functionality.

Interestingly, the S Cloud currently seems to be a shell for Dropbox, so it may well turn out that the S Cloud is a collaboration with the popular file-distribution app.

If S Cloud, when/if it does arrive comes with similar Dropbox functionality then it will be able to sync pictures, movies and documents into the cloud.

Given that Samsung has expanded Android to its latest camera range, this could well be an integral part of the camera's functionality – and it certainly wouldn't go amiss on Samsung's bevy of smartphones and tablets.


Source : techradar[dot]com

Read More

Samsung Galaxy S3 first Android smartphone with Quick Tap functionality

Quick Tap now appearing on Android 

Orange and Barclaycard have revealed that the Samsung Galaxy S3 has been the first Android phone chosen to get QuickTap functionality.

QuickTap is the contactless payment system conjured up by Barclays, and, using NFC, that offers users a way to pay for goods without having to punch in their pin numbers.

All you need to do is find a QuickTap enabled shop and, well, give the payment machine a quick tap and payment is achieved.

Yes, it's not really contactless – you actually have to tap the machine – but that's the term coined for such a service and who are we to argue?

QuickTap is already on a number of phones, such as the Tocco and Wave 578, but there's been something of a wait for an Android phone to come bearing QuickTap gifts.

Orange exclusively told TechRadar back in July, though, that something would appear soon and the company has stayed true to its word.

Tap dance
Although Barclaycard is now offering its service to Samsung galaxy S3 customers, not everyone can join the QuickTap club. You have to also be on the Orange network for the service to work, and you have to have gotten your phone from 5 September. Oh, and you need to have a UK MasterCard or Visa card as well.

We're guessing Orange will be bringing this feature to phones bought before this date but there's no news on when this is happening.

To rub salt in the wounds of those who went elsewhere for their S3, Barclays is offering Orange S3 customers who sign up to the service between 5 September and 5 October of this year £50 credit to spend using their phone.

Currently 100,000 locations support QuickTap – including the likes of McDonalds, M&S, Co-op Food, Prêt a Manger and EAT.

Although, from our experience, you may have to tell the shops that they actually have the technology installed before you start waving your phone at them, telling them that you no longer need money as your phone can perform QuickTap magic.


Source : techradar[dot]com

Read More