Samsung Galaxy A5 Launching in November with 5-Inch HD Display, 13MP Camera

Good news for Samsung fans anxiously waiting for the South Korean company to launch the next smartphones in the Galaxy Alpha family.

We already know Samsung plans to release at least three new Galaxy Alpha smartphones in the next few months, the Galaxy A3, A5 and A7. Unfortunately, little is known about their exact release date. The only info we now have is that Samsung Galaxy A5 might be officially unveiled sometime in November, according to SamMobile. It’s also worth mentioning that sources close to the matter confirmed the Galaxy A5 would be available on the market for around $400 – $450 (€315 – €355) off contract. Spec-wise, Samsung Galaxy A5 is a mid-range smartphone that is likely to ship the latest version of Android KitKat platform onboard.

According to the latest rumors, the handset should sport a good enough 5-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display that supports HD (720p) resolution. On the back, the Galaxy A5 is said to pack an enhanced 13-megapixel photo snapper with autofocus, LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording, while in the front there will be a 5-megapixel camera for great selfies and outstanding video calls experience. A quad-core Qualcomm  Snapdragon 400 processor will power the Galaxy A5, along with 1GB of RAM. When it comes to storage, the smartphone offers 16GB of internal memory, but there’s no word on microSD card slot. Last but not least, Samsung Galaxy A5 is supposed to drain energy from a 2330 mAh battery, which is likely to be removable. The smartphone has been confirmed to pack dual-SIM capability as well.

Samsung Galaxy A5
Image Credits to SamMobile

Read more »

Redesigned iPad Specs Leaked

In about a week from now, Apple plans to hold its second fall event to unveil the rest of the stuff it has prepared for this year. This includes a new iMac and a new iPad.

The latter will reportedly boast minor design changes and substantial enhancements on the inside. This, according to a leak by The Michael Report.

The display

The blog’s sources say, “the new iPad Airs will come with a fully-laminated display [...] which means that it’ll be quite a bit thinner than the current iPad Air.” The iPhone has had a laminated display for quite some time now. Because of the display enhancement, and probably other factors too, “iPad Air 2 is around 0.5 mm thinner than the current iPad Air,” according to the sources.

The design

Technically, the iPad Air 2 is a redesigned version of the original. But the changes are so small you probably won’t spot them until after a few minutes of usage. “Based on what we’ve seen, the form function of the iPad Air 2 is identical to the current iPad Air’s and there are no changes in the bezel,” the source reveals.

Some of the most notable changes include:

1. the mute/orientation-lock switch is no longer available, “with sources from within Apple telling us that it was a necessary move to achieve the thinner profile of the new tablets”;
2. there will be a Gold option, in addition to Space Gray and Silver;
3. the speaker grills will merge into a single strip and will sport larger holes.

Also, Apple will market the iPad Air 2 as the thinnest tablet out there, the sources note.

Camera, chips, Touch ID

Apple is reportedly upgrading both the front-facing camera and the rear-facing one. The FaceTime cam is getting support for 720p video calling, while the one on the back is getting an 8-megapixel sensor just like the iPhone line. No word on the optics used in the tablet. The device will adopt the new generation of A8 processors and will gain an extra gig of RAM, for a total of 2GB. The sources note that there’s a possibility Apple will ditch the 16GB storage option to start at 32GB. The maximum storage capacity remains 128GB in the iPad Air 2, while only the iPad mini line will continue to offer the 16GB options.

iPad Air 2 will be the first Apple tablet to get the Touch ID fingerprint sensor for unlocking the device and authenticating purchases. The hardware enhancement will go hand in hand with Apple Pay integration, which is also part of the iPad Air 2 upgrade.

iPad promo
Image credits to simonblog.com

Read more »

HTC Nexus 9 Appears in First Leaked Picture, Shows Nexus 5-like Plastic Back

Earlier today we told you the highly anticipated Nexus 9 tablet had been spotted paying a visit through the FCC, which is a good indication the slate would soon be launched into the wild.

Anyway, things seem to be getting really hot in the Nexus 9 department. Seemingly taking up the job @evleaks used to do in the past, @upleaks now offers us a sneak peek at the tablet, which is expected to make a debut on October 16. The slate dubbed HTC T1 seems to be appearing in the first real-life image, but only showcasing its back panel. As you can see from the picture, the tablet doesn’t seem to have a metal body but will be made of black plastic like the Nexus 5 smartphone, which was manufactured by LG.

There’s a circular camera lens located in the top corner, which raises Nexus 7 or Nexus 5 vibe again. One can also spot the big, obvious Nexus logo placed in the middle. As it has been mentioned several times, the tablet should have a 4:3 aspect ratio display, an aspect which is apparent in the image. With all these leaks, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the Nexus 9 will soon be upon us, and things will hopefully stick to the plan and we won’t see any derailing of the grand event.

Nexus 9 smiles for the camera
Image credits to upleaks

Read more »

Sharp 7-Inch Tablet with Revolutionary New MEMS-IGZO Display Tech Coming in 2015

Most mobile devices these days rely on LCD technology. Surely, there are the ones that come with AMOLED displays, but they aren’t really that widespread. But, Japanese company Sharp wants to push the boundaries of display making, so to that end it has partnered with chip giant Qualcomm.

A while ago, Sharp promised amazing new MEMS-IGZO displays are coming in 2017 and this week we are finally able to tell you more about the project.

Sharp will be making a 7-inch tablet

It appears the development process of the new tech is going quite well, because Sharp seems confident a 7-inch tablet taking advantage of this display tech will be ready to be released to the public by 2015. The MEMS-IGZO combo should bring about a high-speed display on thin panels that will boast the same energy efficiency as e-ink grayscale panels. But what is MEMS-IGZO, to be more precise? Well, you might be familiar with the MEMS name, as the technology showed up in Qualcomm’s TOQ smartwatch. The wearable didn’t turn out to be all that popular with consumers, despite it taking advantage of an MEMS display which doesn’t put a strain on battery life. Qualcomm claims MEMS utilizes just 1/6 of the power in current displays.

Moving on IGZO, the name stands for indium, gallium, zinc and oxygen. This combo pushes pixels around the screen and, in doing so, brings about a thinner plane. IGZO makes use of a thin-film transistor located on the rear of the device, in order to decrease the size needed to house the screen. On top of that, it can move images at about 150% the speed of LCD. The extra TFT layer brings about other advantages too, a batter backlighting and it doesn’t need a color filter. In the long term, it should allow MEMS-IGZO to produce brighter colors without the washed out effect being attached to it.

Preliminary specs have been revealed

To summarize, MEMS-IGZO could bring about a Sharp tablet with a thinner, faster and power-efficient battery. The tablet doesn’t currently have a name, but we’re given a few specifications to cling to before the device makes it on the market. The 7-inch display will boast a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution (lower than you’d expect from Sharp, but given that this is a new tech, we shouldn’t be all that surprised). The powerhouse of the device will be a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and Android 4.4 KitKat will run as default operating system. Sharp says the tab should be IPX7 rated for water resistance and should bundle an LTE chip. Expect it to make an appearance in 2015.

Sharp's future tablet will take advantage of MEMS-IGZO display
Image credits to Sharp Japan

Read more »

Samsung Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 Leak in Live Pictures

Samsung launched the Galaxy Alpha series last month to fill a gap into its Android offering and the first smartphone in the family is already available for purchase in almost all major markets.

However, the Galaxy Alpha won’t remain the only smartphone in the series for too long, as sources familiar with Samsung’s future plans claim the South Korean company will launch three new premium smartphones. All the Galaxy Alpha series put design over features, but the most powerful of the smartphones in the series may be a beast in terms of hardware performance. The Galaxy A7 will be the most expensive and the better featured in the Galaxy Alpha series, but for the time being it’s unclear exactly when the smartphone will go on sale. The good news is we now have more information on two upcoming Galaxy Alpha series smartphones that should be launched on the market by the end of this year.

Samsung Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 have just popped up online in a few live pictures, which suggests that we’re very close to an official announcement. The smartphones briefly appeared in Mexico, GSMArena reports, and judging by their look, there’s a high chance that these are the final versions of the Galaxy A3 and A5.

Both premium smartphones favor look over features

The more expensive of the two, Samsung Galaxy A5 expected to go on sale for the price of around $400 – $450 (€320 – €360) outright. The smartphone is said to sport a 5-inch Super AMOLED display with HD (720p) resolution and an impressive 13-megapixel camera on the back. In the front, the Galaxy A5 will pack a no less impressive 5-megapixel camera for selfies and video calls, while on the inside the smartphone will be equipped with a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 or 410 processor. Last but not least, the handset is likely to feature 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory, which can be further expanded up to 64GB via microSD card slot.

The cheapest of the Galaxy Alpha series will be available on the market for around $350 – $400 (€280 – €320) off contract. Samsung Galaxy A3 will be powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. The smartphone is rumored to sport a 4.52-inch AMOLED display with qHD (540 x 960 pixels) resolution, as well as microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 64GB) and dual cameras (8-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front-facing photo snapper). It’s also worth mentioning that both Galaxy Alpha smartphones will be powered by Android 4.4.4 KitKat operating system out of the box. Added a new video showing all three Samsung Galaxy Alpha smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy Alpha flanked by Galaxy A5 (left) and Galaxy A3 (right) 

Samsung Galaxy Alpha A5 back side
Images credits to AndroidMX.net

Nuevos dispositivos Samsung Galaxy A5 y A3 los cuales son hechos completamente de aluminio con cuerpo unibody, la tapa trasera NO es removible, ocupan nanoSIM y vienen con Android KitKat 4.4.4.
Para comparar también se aprecia el Samsung Galaxy Alpha con borde de aluminio y tapa trasera de plástico.
Android México: http://androidmx.net
Twitter: @AndroidMX
Video credits to AndroidMX

Read more »

Nexus 6 Could Be the Most Powerful Smartphone on the Market, Benchmark Shows

Although there’s no telling when exactly Google will unveil the next Nexus smartphone, from previous experiences we can tell that it may be this month that the search giant plans to make the device official.

Google usually introduces a new version of Android in October and launches a new Nexus smartphone during the same event, but this year the company had decided to release a preview version of Android L in June, so that developers can prepare their apps for the upcoming OS. But what about the new Nexus handset that should be launched along with Android L? Well, fortunately we do know that it will be manufactured by Motorola and that it will pack a huge 5.9-inch QHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution display, as well as a powerful quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor. The phablet is also said to be equipped with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory, as well as an enhanced 13-megapixel main camera with OIS (optical image stabilization).

The upcoming smartphone has already leaked a few times as Motorola Shamu, as Google is still working to secure the Nexus 6 name for the smartphone. The latest info on the Nexus 6 indicates that this might be one of the most powerful Android smartphones available on the market. Spotted on Geekbench website, the benchmarks scores show high performance when it comes to multi-core test, as well as single-core where the Shamu is placed third after iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Motorola Shamu is armed with a 2.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor

The results in the Geekbench testing benchmark might have been achieved with a prototype unit, so the final version may score even higher than that. Even though we did not expect something less superior from Google, the Nexus 6’s benchmark scores are still impressive and quite an achievement for a device that has yet to be launched on the market. The only issue would be with the fact that Google plans to launch a single Nexus 6 variant, which might not appeal to all customers who favor smaller smartphones over phablets.

However, there is hope for Nexus family fans, as Motorola is expected to launch a smaller 5.2-inch Nexus smartphone, which might go on sale under a different name. The smaller Nexus model may be launched under the Android Silver brand, though everything is a bit blurry now as Google is still mum on everything related to its new Nexus and Android Silver smartphone programs. Stay tuned for more on this one.

Motorola Shamu benchmark result
Images credits to GeekBench

Read more »

Canon EOS 7D Mark II: First Images and Video Samples

The Canon EOS 7D Mark II is one of Canon’s latest products, which got unveiled not so long ago at Photokina 2014 in Germany.

The highly anticipated DSLR takes advantage of a new autofocus system with 65 autofocus pints (all are cross type and deliver advanced levels of sensitivity in portrait and landscape mode). The 7D Mark II arrives with a 20.2MP CMOS sensor, which is the same you find in the EOS 70D. However, the processor has been upgraded to the new Dual Digic 6 chip, so the DSLR is expected to perform a whole lot better. Anyway, in some locations Canon is already accepting pre-orders for the EOS 7D Mark II, like it’s the case in US where you can already sign up for the new shooter, if you’re willing to pay $1,799 / €1,421.

While photographers wait for your brand new shooter to be shipped out to them, Canon Japan has just posted a sample of new images and movies for the EOS 7D Mark II. You can check them out below to get an idea of how the camera performs (for the full-res versions go here). They might be able to help you decide if your financial efforts should go into Canon’s latest and greatest EOS 7D Mark II, or not.

Image of Vancouver shot with Canon EOS 7D Mark II
Image credits to Canon

Video credits to Canon JP and Canon SG

Read more »

Intel and AMD Continue to Bet on Tablets, New Chips Coming in 2015

Microsoft has initiated a fierce war against Google and its Chromebooks. With the advent of Windows 8.1 with Bing, we have seen many device manufacturers launch inexpensive Windows notebooks, designed to take customers’ mind off Chrome-OS laptops.

But the power of Chromebooks and Bingbooks combined is expected to put a pressure on the slowing tablet market, as more and more vendors roll out cheap notebooks, say industry watchers. On top of that, smartphones with bigger screens will also impact overall tablet sales. Tablets with 7-inch displays used to hold for over 70% marketshare, but these numbers have dropped to 60% because of handsets with big screens. The demand for tablets seems to be going downwards, but chip makers like AMD and Intel continue to persist in their hopes that all is not lost. According to DigiTimes, both giants are expected to unveil new tablet platforms in 2015.

Intel to roll out Cherry Trail

Starting with Intel, the company is expected to roll out Cherry Trail, a 14nm-based SoC processor platform which has been designed especially for tablets taking advantage of Intel’s 8th-gen GPU. These tablets will take advantage of both Android and Windows OS. Intel will unveil Cherry Trail in the first quarter of 2015, while volume production will kick start in March. Apart from Cherry Trail, Intel is hard work on the Atom Z3000 processor designed for the 64-bit tablet market. Moreover, Intel also has some 4G chips in the pipeline, in the form of the SoFIA-series processors. Intel has partnered up with Chinese low-cost chip maker Rockchip for the development of next-gen SoFIA chips for Android tablets, but despite this alliance Intel is still expected to face important obstacles in its assault against Qualcomm or MediaTek.

On top of that, Intel had hoped its partnership with Rockchip will help it transition more smoothly into the Chinese market, which is a budding market while tablets are concerned, but the company is just not there yet.

AMD has Nolan and Armur

For its part, AMD will launch the Nolan, an x86-architecture tablet platform and Armur. This is said to be heterogeneous system architecture (HSA) Android-specific tablet platform which is based on ARM Cortex-A7. Both Nolan and Armur are expected to arrive a little later than Cherry Trail, namely in the third quarter of 2015, said to sources inside the supply chain. Armur is a platform that will be able to support both Android and Linux and AMD is currently testing it internally.

Intel and AMD continue to focus on tablets
Image credits to New Computer Build

Read more »

Google Wanted to Buy Cyanogen and Got Rejected

Google has apparently tried to acquire Cyanogen Inc., the maker behind the custom build distribution of Android, known as CyanogenMod, but the offer was rejected.

The Information, reports that the chief executive of Cyanogen, Kirt McMaster, told shareholders that Sundar Pichai, the chief of Chrome and Android at Google has expressed an interest in acquiring the firm and even went to meetings on the topic. However, Cyanogen Inc. rejected Google’s offer, saying that it still had a long way to grow, choosing to focus on getting a $1 billion valuation to help in its third round of funding. CyanogenMod operates on two handsets from small manufacturers. OnePlus One and Oppo N1 use a special Cyanogen build, something that turned the operating system into something used by everyone, not just those tech-savvy enough to replace the Android version on their own phones.

Why is Google interested?

It is rather unclear what Google would do with Cyanogen since they’re working on the same software. It is perhaps the long-term goal that the company has – becoming the third most popular mobile ecosystem, which the company hopes to manage to do since it provides an even more open version of Android – that attracted Google. There’s also the option that Google might want to kill the competition, although this seems like one of the lesser plausible alternatives, even though Cyanogen is the most threatening among the custom Android builds out there. A more likely situation is one in which Google wants to protect its interests. Some recent reports indicated that Cyanogen and Micromax have come up with a deal that sees the company’s Android build to be released on a new device before the year ends. Micromax is one of the Android One partners that Google signed with recently, which the Internet giant wants to keep under tight control.

Even so, it barely generates any income and it’s unclear if the company has any actual plans to create revenue. A recent rumor indicated that Cyanogen wanted to start charging for themes at one point, although that was never confirmed by the company itself. While it’s true that Cyanogen has rejected a Google offer right now, it does not mean that it will not accept another offer somewhere down the road, after the company has attracted more funding and when it has finally grown to the size it aspires to reach. There’s still some ways to go until then, however.

Google shows interest in Cyanogen
Image credits to Google

Read more »

Windows 10 Registry Hack Reveals Next Preview Builds

Microsoft presented Windows 10 Preview earlier this week and everyone rushed to download it, despite Redmond's warnings that this particular build is only aimed at IT admins and experienced users.

The company said that the very first preview build only ships with limited features, but more would be added at a later time through a new built-in update mechanism. While no other details have been provided, Neowin has come across a small registry tweak that enables all users to see the upcoming testing builds of Windows 10 Preview. At this point, however, none of the options that would show up in the “Update and recovery” screen of your Windows 10 Preview PC settings menu actually work, so Microsoft saw this coming and decided to lock them until the company is ready to ship more features.

How to enable it

First and foremost, you need to keep in mind the fact that messing with the registry editor isn't quite the best thing you should do if you care about system stability, as deleting the wrong items could actually crash your PC. If you do not care about such a thing (and you shouldn't since this is just a testing version of Windows 10), write regedit.exe in the Start menu search box and hit enter. In the registry editor, navigate to the following path:

code:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/WindowsSelfHost/

Once you're there, create two new DWORD keys named ThresholdInternal and ThresholdOptedIn and change their value to “1.” Simply launch PC settings, go to “Update and recovery” and the new option called “Preview builds” should already be there, with no reboot required.

Locked options for now

At this point, the new options that you get access to with this registry hack are locked, but they are supposed to provide you faster access to new preview builds as soon as they're available. For example, you can choose “how fast you'd like to get new preview builds,” but Microsoft warns that “choosing to get them faster might mean there are more bugs.” At the same time, you can choose where to get the preview builds from, as the company provides multiple branches for user downloads, but also change the time when your PC should automatically install new preview builds. It's not yet clear if Microsoft plans to unlock these features in the coming months, but we expect a similar trick to be found in order to get faster access to new builds despite the locked status of these options.

The new options show up in the PC settings screen
Image credits to NeoWin

Read more »