Lenovo S820 Is a Dual-SIM Smartphone for Chinese Female Users

Today, Chinese mobile phone maker Lenovo officially announced a new smartphone for its homeland market, namely the Lenovo S820, a dual-SIM device aimed mainly at female users in the country.

The new smartphone runs under Google’s Android operating system, while featuring a vivid red casing with a velvet finish, as Engadget notes. The specifications list of the smartphone include a 4.7-inch 720p IPS display, along with a 1.2GHz quad-core MT6589 processor and 1GB of RAM, as well as 4GB of internal memory.

Furthermore, the new handset sports a 2000mAh battery, a microSD memory card slot, a 13-megapixel photo snapper on the back, and a 2MP front camera for making video calls. The handset is set to land on shelves at ¥1,999 (around $326 / 252 Euro) on June 2, and has already been made available for pre-order.

Lenovo S820
Image credits to Lenovo via Engadget

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Windows 8.1 Start Button Leaked

A new screenshot showing what seems to be the Windows 8.1 Start button reached the web a few minutes ago, confirming that Microsoft will indeed bring this new option in the next Windows release.

Paul Thurrott of WinSuperSite.com writes that the Start button will look exactly like the Start Charm and will obviously be placed in the same place like the previous versions available in Windows 7. It appears that Microsoft is planning to offer the Start button with a dedicated option to allow users to disable it, just in case they love the Windows 8 design so much that they don't need this old feature back.

According to the report, the Start button is available in Milestone Preview build of Windows 8.1, so expect a new ISO to get leaked anytime soon. Microsoft is projected to officially unveil it at the BUILD developer conference in late June.

The new Start button is available in the Milestone Preview of Windows 8.1
Image credits to winsupersite.com

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XOLO Q1000 Goes Official in India at INR 14,999 ($267 / €207)

Today, XOLO made the XOLO Q1000 smartphone official in India, as part of its QCORE series of devices, which already includes the Q800 and Q700.

The new mobile phone was spotted online a few weeks ago, and was even listed at retailers in the country, as recently reported. In fact, XOLO too confirms that the new Q1000 is already available for purchase around the country, and that it sports a price tag of INR 14,999 ($267 / €207). “XOLO’s Q Core series is getting bigger and better with every new launch. After the successful launch of XOLO Q800 and Q700, XOLO announces the launch of its 3rd smartphone in this series. The new Q1000 is very sleek and is designed for single hand operation,” the company said, AndroidOS reports. The new mobile phone arrives on the market with a 5-inch 720p HD (1280 x 720 pixels) IPS touchscreen display with DragonTrail Glass, and features a 1.2GHz quad-core processor inside, with PowerVR SGX544 graphics.

Furthermore, the new XOLO Q1000 sports 1GB of RAM, along with 4GB of internal memory, while also packing a microSD memory card slot with support for up to 32GB of additional storage space. The specifications list of this smartphone also includes an 8-megapixel rear photo snapper, with BSI and HD video recording capabilities, as well as a 1.2MP camera on the front, to enable video calling while on the go.  The device also features Dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) capabilities, a 2100 mAh battery (which can deliver up to 10 hours of talk time on 3G, or up to 346 hours of standby time), WiFi, Bluetooth, and the usual set of sensors. XOLO Q1000 runs under Google’s Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system, and can be seen on this page on flipkart’s website (at the moment, the retailer lists it as out of stock).

XOLO Q1000
Image credits to Flipkart

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Leaked Screenshots Show Nokia Amber/GDR2 on Lumia 925

Nokia Lumia 925, the latest Windows Phone 8-based smartphone from the Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia, will arrive on shelves with a series of new, highly appealing features, and leaked detail-loaded screenshots are now available online.

These features are expected to arrive on existing Windows Phone 8 Lumia handsets as well, in the form of a software update called Nokia Amber, which is said to be based on the Windows Phone 8 GDR2 platform release. Among the enhancements that existing Lumia users will enjoy in Nokia Amber, and which can be seen in the screenshots attached, available courtesy of DoSpy.com (via WPCentral forums), we can count FM Radio, an improved color management screen, along with Data Sense, for the monitoring of data usage.

Additionally, the update will provide users with a flip to silent feature, ISO settings up to 3200, and privacy enhancements in Internet Explorer 10, as WMPoweruser notes.

Nokia Amber/GDR2 on Lumia 925
Image credits to DoSpy.com via WMPoweruser

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Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini Confirmed with 1.7GHz Snapdragon 400 CPU

More info on the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S4 mini smartphone is available, as the handset is rumored to arrive on shelves with 1.7 GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor now, and not with the Exynos chip previously said to have been packed inside it.

According to a recent report for AllAboutSamsung, AnTuTu benchmarks with the upcoming mobile phone confirmed the processor inside it. Apparently, Samsung has decided to include the Exynos chip only in high-end devices, something that the smaller flavor of Galaxy S4 won't be (it should also sport an affordable price tag).

The Galaxy S4 mini is also expected to land on shelves with Adreno 305 GPU, a 4.3-inch (540 x 960 pixels) touchscreen, an 8-megapixel photo snapper, and Google’s Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean platform loaded on it, with Samsung’s own Nature UX interface loaded on top.

Samsung GALAXY S4 mini benchmark
Image credits to AllAboutSamsung

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MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming Motherboard

Gaming motherboards will come out in droves this week and the next, seeing that Computex Taipei 2013 will host the introduction of Intel's new Haswell CPUs (fourth generation Core series).

Micro-Star International has a very important one, so deemed by the Committee of the show. Called Z87-GD65 GAMING motherboard, the platform has won the Golden Award winner in the IC & Components category. That means that Functionality, Innovation and Market Potential are all very high.

Obviously, the newcomer is powered by the X87 chipset, top-tier from the 8-series. Perhaps not so obviously, the newcomer also has Killer E2205 Game Networking technology, plus Audio Boost technology and OC Genie 4 one-second overclocking technology. The basic details can be gleamed from a look at the press shot included above. Pricing and availability will have to wait a bit though.

MSI Z87-GD65
Image credits to MSI

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