Nokia Kills Developer Support for Symbian and MeeGo

Nokia has just confirmed it has ended support for Symbian and MeeGo mobile platforms beginning January 1, 2014. The Finnish company announced beck in October it will kill support for both operating systems in early 2014, so the move doesn't really come as a surprise for Symbian/MeeGo users.

However, those who still own Symbian/MeeGo smartphones will still be able to download applications and games through Nokia's Ovi Store, though developers are not allowed to publish new apps or updates anymore. Developers who still have apps and games published in Ovi Store will continue to receive their payments as usual until the application store closes and their products will no longer be available for download.

These are surely dark times for Symbian/MeeGo users, but usually when something old disappears, something new always appears to take its place. Perhaps now is the time for Symbian fans to switch to other mobile platforms like Windows Phone, Android or iOS.

Symbian logo
Image credits to Nokia

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Huawei Ascend Mate 2 Leaks in Live Pictures with 720p Display and 13MP Camera

The sequel to Huawei’s Ascent Mate phablet has just leaked once again in China. The first live pictures of the smartphone popped up a few days ago and now a new set of photos are available online.

Courtesy of Chinese Engadget, the new photos show the Ascend Mate 2 compared with its predecessor. Some pictures also confirm some of the phablet’s specs, such as the 13-megapixel rear-facing camera and the 1.6 GHz quad-core processor complemented by 2GB of RAM.

The bad news is that the anonymous source that leaked these photo via Engadget Chinese claims that the Ascend Mate 2 will pack the same 6.1-inch HD (720) capacitive touchscreen display and not the previously rumored full HD (1080) screen. Other specs confirmed by the cited source include Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Emotion UI on top, 16GB of internal memory and secondary front-facing camera. Image gallery below, click for larger images.

Huawei Ascend Mate 2
Images credits to Chinese Engadget

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China Telecom’s Xiaomi Hongmi Leaks

Chinese mobile phone carrier China Telecom is reportedly getting ready for the launch of a new Xiaomi smartphone on its network, none other than the Xiaomi Hongmi that landed on shelves several months ago.

The affordable device has already been launched in the country on the networks of China Mobile and China Unicom (with TD-SCDMA and WCDMA connectivity, respectively), and it seems that CDMA users will also enjoy it soon. Furthermore, leaked info on the matter, available courtesy of cnbeta, suggests that China Telecom will release an updated version of Hongmi (Red Rice).

The mobile phone should sport a 13-megapixel camera on the back, paired with an 8MP one on the front. It will also arrive on shelves with a 4.7-inch HD 720p display, as well as with a 1.5GHz quad-core MT6589T processor, paired with 1GB of RAM. Xiaomi Hongmi will be powered by a 2000mAh battery.

China Telecom’s Xiaomi Hongmi
Image credits to GizChina

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LG Odin Octa-Core Chipset Spotted in AnTuTu Benchmark

LG’s in-house octa-core chipset has just popped up in AnTuTu benchmark, which suggests that the system-on-chip solution is close to being officially unveiled.

As Phonearena points out, LG’s Odin chipset might not be a real octa-core chipset like MediaTek’s MT6592 processor. Instead, the South Korean company’s proprietary chipset will have a set of 4 core handling the heavy resource apps and games, while the other 4 cores will only be used for apps and features requiring low resources. This can be seen in the AnTuTu benchmark as well. The LG Odin seems to have been clocked at low speeds (100 MHz – 1GHz), but still scored pretty high.

It is also worth mentioning that LG’s Odin chipset will feature the new Power VR Series 6 graphics processing unit and 2GB of RAM. This particular prototype unit was packed with only 4GB of internal memory and ran Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, but the final version of the rumored G3 is likely to arrive with completely different specs.

LG Odin benchmark results
Image credits to AnTuTu Bechmark

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Galaxy S5 to Pack a 64-Bit CPU, 4GB of RAM, Quad-HD Screen

Today, Samsung officially announced a new mobile RAM module, one that would have future high-end smartphones arriving on shelves with 4GB of RAM inside, and rumor has it that Galaxy S5 might be the first to include it.

Apparently, Samsung is set to kick off the production of the new memory in early 2014, and it would have enough stock to launch its next flagship smartphone with the feature packed inside. This will make the upcoming phone a very powerful device, though it seems that it might not be the only great feature that Samsung is planning for it. According to IT Today, the company will also include a 64-bit processor inside the handset, further enhancing its performance capabilities.

Moreover, as BGR reports, Galaxy S5 has been rumored to feature a Quad HD screen (2560 x 1440-pixels, aka 2k), thus becoming an even more appealing smartphone. Unfortunately, none of these rumors has been confirmed as of now, so we’ll take it with a grain of salt.

Samsung to pack Galaxy S5 with 64-bit CPU, 4GB of RAM
Image credits to Samsung

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Xiaomi Mi3 WCDMA to Be Released Tomorrow

Chinese mobile phone maker Xiaomi has made its Xiaomi Mi3 flagship device official a few months ago in different flavors, including one that sports WCDMA connectivity inside, yet it hasn’t made the device available for purchase as of now.

According to the latest reports on the matter, however, this should change as soon as tomorrow, when the new Mi3 model is released. The mobile phone will offer support for China Unicom’s 3G network and will feature a Snapdragon 800 processor inside, as GizChina reports. The phone will be put up for sale in two different versions, one featuring 16GB of internal memory and another one with 64GB of storage, priced at 1,999 Yuan ($330/€240) and 2,499 Yuan ($412/€300), respectively.

The smartphone also features 2GB of RAM, 330 Adreno GPU, and the MIUI V5 platform loaded on top (based on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean).

Xiaomi Mi3 WCDMA to arrive on shelves tomorrow
Image credits to PCOnline via GizChina

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Android 4.4 KitKat Update Arriving on Micromax Canvas Series

We reported in late September Indian OEM Micromax plans to offer an Android 4.3 Jelly Bean upgrade to some of its high-end smartphones, including the Canvas Doodle 2, Canvas 4 and Canvas HD.

However, a few weeks later Micromax reportedly stopped working on bringing this major update to its Android smartphones. No details on the reasons behind Micromax's decision leaked online, but those who owned one of the said devices were left with an unpleasant feeling the Indian company doesn't care too much about software updates. Well, it appears that Micromax had indeed dropped work on Android 4.3, but the reasons will sure please fans of the Indian brand. MMXNewscaster reports Micromax is currently readying Android 4.4 KitKat upgrade for lots of its smartphones in both mid- and high-end range.

According to a leaked internal document, the following Micromax smartphones are eligible for an Android 4.4 KitKat update next year: A250, A240, A210, A200, A117, A116, A116i, A115, A114, A113, A111, A110Q, A110, A101 and A100. As one can see in the picture attached to this article, some of the smartphones mentioned earlier will receive the latest Android 4.4.2 update, while the rest will get Android 4.4 KitKat. For the time being, only the Canvas series of smartphones has been confirmed to receive Android 4.4 KitKat, so Bolt series users may want to switch to one of these devices if they want to take advantage of the latest version of Google's mobile platform.

Unfortunately, the leaked document does not mention any release dates for the update, but we suspect more details will surface in the coming weeks. Hopefully, Micromax will not change its plans for the KitKat update like it did with the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean upgrade. Stay tuned for more info on the upcoming Android 4.4 updates for the Canvas series.

Micromax Android 4.4 KitKat update scheduler
Image credits to MMXNewscaster

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Samsung Galaxy Note Pro Coming to AT&T with Codename SM-P907A

There have been many leaks regarding Samsung's next lineup of tablets, which are supposed to be unveiled next year at Consumers Electronics Show (CES) and Mobile World Congress (MWC) trade fairs.

The Galaxy Note Pro seems to be the top of the line Samsung tablet and rumor has it the slate will go official in February, probably at MWC 2014. There's no word on price tag and availability yet, but we know for sure it will be picked by many carriers around the world.

Android fans in the United States will be pleased to know Samsung Galaxy Note Pro will arrive in their country via AT&T with model number SM-P907A. The information recently emerged via @evleaks, so we expect it to be somewhat accurate. Stay tuned for more updates on Samsung Galaxy Note Pro's availability.

Samsung Galaxy Note tablet
Image credits to evleaks

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Sony WALKMAN App Update Adds Enhanced Offline Download Speed

Sony's proprietary multimedia application WALKMAN has just received another update meant to improve overall user experience. The latest build promises to bring better download speeds, easier access to some functions, and new features.

XperiaBlog reports that Sony WALKMAN build number 8.1.A.0.3 is now available for download on every compatible Xperia device. According to the official changelog, the latest update adds improved download speed for offline Music Unlimited content and easier access to options for each song, album, artist and playlist.

Last but not least, Sony WALKMAN users will now be able to transfer Music Unlimited content using the one-touch function. Obviously, some performance enhancements and bug fixes have been included as well. The latest update has been confirmed for availability on Sony Xperia Z series via Update Center, so make sure you check it out.

Sony WALKMAN app (screenshot)
Image credits to XperiaBlog

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Android 4.4.2 KitKat-Based AOKP ROMs Now Available for Download

CyanogenMod might have been the first to release custom ROMs based on the Android 4.4 KitKat platform, but others weren’t too far behind either.

The first nightly builds of the Android Open Kang Project (AOKP) software to be based on the Android 4.4.2 OS version are now available for download, although only for a small number of devices. Among these, we can count the Nexus 5, Nexus 4, and Galaxy Nexus smartphones, as well as the Galaxy S 3 (Verizon, ATT, T-Mo, USC), Galaxy S 4 (Verizon, Sprint, T-Mo, USC), and Galaxy Note 2 (ATT, T-Mo, LTE-Intl.).

Moreover, owners of the HTC One (ATT, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mo, Intl.) can also download it, along with Xperia Z, ZL, Xperia T and Xperia V users. Those who would like to download and install these ROMs should head over to the AOKP website for that. They should also keep in mind that a device wipe will be necessary.

Android 4.4 KitKat
Image credits to Google

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