Nokia Lumia 925 Antenna System Explained

Nokia Lumia 925, the latest Windows Phone 8 smartphone from the Finnish mobile phone maker, is the first of them to arrive on shelves with metal as part of its outer design, and Nokia has decided to provide some details on the matter.

According to the company, the aluminum frame that Lumia 925 sports was meant not only to add robustness to the device, but also as part of its antenna system.  “This looks gorgeous, and adds robustness to the phone. But what’s worth noting is that it does not impact on the strength of the signal you’ll be able to receive on the phone,” a post on Nokia Conversations reads. “On the Lumia 925, the aluminum ring around the phone actually acts as parts of the phone’s radio antenna system.” The aforementioned post also explains that the main antenna is placed in the bottom area of the phone, and that there are two other antennas placed at the top of the device, and that stripes separate them from the other parts of the metal ring.

Additionally, the blog post explains that Nokia has included specific technology inside the antenna so as to maximize its use of radio bands, regardless of whether on GSM, WCDMA or LTE networks. “It will also adjust the ‘balance of power’ between the antennas according to how you’re holding your phone,” the blog post continues. “The end result is that you’ll get equally good radio performance out of the Lumia 925 as you would from a wholly polycarbonate phone, plus the most important benefit in the form of a stunning design.”

However, the company also notes that users will be able to reduce the signal strength when deliberately using both hands to cover every edge of the phone. This will also make it harder to operate the buttons of the device.

Nokia Lumia 925
Image credits to Nokia Conversations

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Samsung GT-i8800 Emerges in Leaked Photos, Runs Tizen 2.1

Although Samsung hasn’t provided specific info on its upcoming smartphones that will run under the Tizen OS, more and more details on them are pouring in, the latest of which include photos with one of these smartphones, supposedly featuring model number GT-i8800.

The handset, said to sport the codename of Redwood, can be seen in the aforementioned photos (available courtesy of Tizen Greek Community) below, with Tizen 2.1 loaded on top. The phone has already made headlines a few times before, and has even been confirmed by a User Agent Profile spotted on Samsung’s website (as GT-i8805), and is said to sport the codename of Redwood.

As Engadget notes, the leaked photos with the device unveil that it will arrive on shelves with S-Voice capabilities inside. No further details on the smartphone are available as of now.

Samsung GT-i8800
Images credits to tizen.gr

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Huawei Ascend P6 Press Photo, Launch on June 18

Chinese mobile phone maker Huawei is said to be working on the launch of a smartphone that will be very slim, and a press photo with the device appears to have emerged online, courtesy of @evleaks.

The smartphone, supposedly called Huawei Ascend P6, is said to be only 6.2mm thick, which should make it the thinnest Android phone in the world. Huawei has yet to deliver specific details on the new mobile phone, and it seems that June 18 might be the lucky day for enthusiasts, according to Engadget.

Rumor has it that this device will arrive on the market with a 1.5GHz quad-core processor packed inside, 2GB of RAM, 8GB of internal memory, and a 4.7-inch 720p HD display. Running under Android Jelly Bean, the smartphone will also pack Huawei’s Emotion UI on top, it seems.

Huawei Ascend P6
Image credits to @evleaks - weibo

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Samsung GT-I8805 (Tizen-Based) Spotted in UAProf

South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung has yet to make any Tizen-based smartphone official, and it seems that the previously leaked GT-I8805 might be the first such handset to hit shelves from the company.

The mobile phone has been spotted recently in a User Agent Profile on Samsung’s website, one that confirms that the Tizen OS has been loaded on it, and that it would arrive on the market with a 720 x 1280 pixels screen. According to Techtastic, the new device will also feature 4G LTE connectivity when released, as well as a Cortex A9-based processor packed inside.

The rest of the handset’s hardware specifications are unknown for the time being, but it might not be too long before Samsung decides to make it official. As previous reports suggested, the handset might be formally introduced later this summer.

Samsung GT-I8805 UAProf
Image credits to Samsung

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Intel Core i7-4770 and i7-4770K CPUs Now Available on eBay

It is true that Intel won't officially introduce the Haswell series of central processing units, the fourth generation Core series, before Computex Taipei, which will take place between June 4 and 8.

That doesn't mean the chips aren't already out though, or at least up for pre-order in certain regions. We've already seen them in China, among other places. Now, the Core i7-4770 and i7-4770K chips have surfaced again, this time on eBay. Or at least they did briefly. The auction for the former ended early, and the chip wasn't sold, while the latter should still be there.

The starting bid was of $990 / €990, but offers were at $1,289 / €1,289 at the time of this blog's posting. Curiously, other online stores where the chips are actually up for order ask for less money than that.

Intel Core i7 logo
Imgage credits to Intel

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Nokia Confirms to Launch 41MP Lumia on July 9

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia is expected to bring to the market a Windows Phone 8-based Lumia device packing a 41-megapixel photo snapper on the back, and the handset is said to have been already confirmed.

Apparently, the device will be able to deliver a great video recording experience, with three different frame rate options available for 1080p video capture only, a post on mobilegeeks reads. The smartphone, supposedly called Nokia EOS, will feature a redesigned camera interface, a 4.5-inch screen, and a body thinner than that of Lumia 920, despite the large camera sensor.

Nokia has yet to confirm details on this device, but it seems that it might not be too long before that happens, as the smartphone is rumored to have been pegged for a July 9 unveiling. Stay tuned for more on this.

Nokia logo
Image credits to Nokia

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LG Optimus GJ Official with Waterproof Capabilities

South Korean mobile phone maker LG Electronics has made official a new smartphone in its Optimus lineup, one that comes to the market with waterproof capabilities, namely the LG Optimus GJ.

The new device was made official in Taiwan with IXP5 and IPX7 certification, said to withstand immersion in water at one meter for up to 30 minutes. Unfortunately, LG did not offer specific info on the smartphone’s landing in more markets around the world, yet it might release it in more of them as well. The specs list of the new mobile phone includes a 4.7-inch IPS display that can deliver a 1280 x 720 pixels resolution, protected with Corning Gorilla Glass. The smartphone is powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8064 processor, paired with 2GB of RAM, and sports 16GB of internal memory, as well as a microSD memory card slot with support for up to 64GB of additional storage space. On the back, the LG Optimus GJ features a 13-megapixel photo snapper, with support for full HD video recording, complemented by a 1.3MP front camera for making video calls.

Measuring 139.6 x 68.9 x 9.39mm and weighing 141.2 grams, the new mobile phone packs a 2280mAh battery inside and runs under Google’s Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system. The new smartphone also features WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, 4G LTE support, GPS receiver, and the usual set of sensors. However, it lacks NFC capabilities, it seems. The LG Optimus GJ is said to arrive on shelves in Taiwan with a price tag of NT$17,990 ($600 / €467) attached to it, contract free. It will be released in Black and Red flavors.

The smartphone is expected to become available for purchase in Taiwan in June, ePrice reports. Apparently, LG might be set to put it on pre-order starting with June 1, and should start shipping it about two weeks later.

LG Optimus GJ
Image credits to ePrice

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Limited Edition Gold Porsche Design BlackBerry P'9981 Goes Official

Porsche Design’s BlackBerry P'9981 smartphone was already an appealing device, but it seems that the company felt there was room for more, so a new flavor of the handset is set to arrive on shelves in July, all dressed up in gold.

The new flavor of the device is said to be made out of a stainless steel case with a gold-colored titanium coating, while also featuring a 24-carat gold layer on top, and a 24-carat gold camera cover. The device will arrive on the market in a very small number of units, as only 25 such devices will become available for purchase worldwide through certain Porsche Design stores.

However, as CrackBerry notes, no changes will be made to the hardware specifications of the mobile phone, which means that the gold P'9981 will be identical with the other models.

Gold Porsche Design BlackBerry P'9981
Image credits to Crackberry

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Top Z87 ATX Motherboards from Gigabyte

Gigabyte isn't going to pull any punches at Computex 2013. The trade show in early June, taking place in Taipei, Taiwan, will play host to quite a few motherboards, as well as other products.

 We've already seen one of the mainboards that Gigabyte will bring to the trade show: the very small but very thorough Z87N-WiFi, which happens to be the world's first mini-ITX Z87 platform ever. Not that it's saying all that much. After all, it's not like there are so many Z87 motherboards up for sale at this time, and small ones are rarer than the rest. But we digress. We are here to talk about the other two platforms that Gigabyte managed to leak through LegitReviews website. They are called Z87X-UD4H and Z87X-UD5H and have the full ATX form factor. If we're reading things right, they will be the top-tier models in the LGA 1150 series. Z87X-UD4H has three PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots (for graphics cards, electrical x16/x8/x4), a PCI Express 2.0 x1 slot, a legacy PCI slot, eight internal SATA 6 Gbps ports and two eSATA 6 Gbps ports.  Thus, the bases are all covered, and then some. The ten USB 3.0 ports (six back panels, four headers) and the multiple video ports only reinforce that impression.

Speaking of video ports, the list is made up of DisplayPort, DVI, D-Sub, HDMI. All of them will be rather superfluous when an add-in video board is installed, but it's the thought that counts. Other specifications include a 16-phase power supply, 8-channel HD audio, a hot-rod red+silver+black color-scheme, and Ultra Durable 5 components. As for the Z87X-UD5H, it is colored gold+silver+black, has two DVI ports instead of just one (lacks D-Sub though), uses Dual Gigabit Ethernet LAN, has ten internal SATA 6 Gbps ports, and gets FireWire. The prices will be of over $150 / €150, for both.

Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H
Image credits to LegitReviews

Gigabyte Z87X-UD5H
Image credits to LegitReviews

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Gigabyte Z87N-WiFi, First Mini-ITX Z87 Motherboard

One would think that the high-end chipset meant to support Intel's Haswell CPUs would only be found on ATX motherboards and larger, and maybe the occasional micro-ATX, but this is not the case.

Gigabyte hasn't released the press shots yet, but the folks over at LegitReviews have managed to snag a few photographs of one Z87N-WiFi motherboard when it was unveiled the other day. The main trait of the motherboard is that it is smaller than most other PC platforms, featuring the mini-ITX form factor. It is the first Z87-based mini-ITX mainboard, albeit probably not the last. Given the ease with which a PC can be made powerful even without large mainboards, we don't doubt that Gigabyte's competitors will unveil similar inventions. At any rate, the Z87N-WiFi gets its name from the Lynx Point chipset we've already named, and the 802.11ac WLAN technology. The Z87 chipset brings with it the LGA 1150 socket which, in turn, ensures compatibility with the Haswell central processing units bound for June release.

4-phase power supply delivers energy to the CPU socket, as well as the two DDR3 DIMM memory slots (dual-channel supported). A lone PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot is present, but that makes sure top-tier video boards are supported. Sure, in the end, the chassis will determine which video cards will fit, but that's not the Z87N-WiFi's fault. Moving on, the reason the WiFi is part of the name is that wireless support isn't integrated in the mainboard. Instead, it is delivered by an add-in card slotted into the mini PCI Express slot.

Other specs include four SATA 6 Gbps ports, a pair of HDMI connectors, dual-link DVI, six USB 3.0 ports, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, and 8-channel HD audio. Everything gets energy from the PSU via a combination of 24-pin and 4-pin ATX connectors.

Gigabyte Z87N-WiFi Mini-ITX Motherboard
Images credits to LegitReviews

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