Meizu MX5 Rumors: 5.5-Inch 2K Display, MediaTek CPU and Crazy Nokia-Made 41MP Camera

Earlier today we just showed you a concept image of Meizu’s upcoming flagship, the MX5. Since the MX4 was launched back in September, we dare say we have quite a few months ahead before seeing the MX5 make a debut into the wild.

In all possibility the handset will probably launch somewhere in Q4 2015, but even so Chinese website MyDrivers has apparently managed to get its hands on the preliminary specs of the upcoming Meizu handset. According to the leak, the Meizu MX5 will arrive with a 5.5-inch QHD display (2560 x 1440 pixel resolution and bizarre 5:3 aspect ratio) and a fingerprint scanner. It’s unclear at the moment whether Meizu will continue to position the scanner on the back of the device, although a new device might bring a new design arrangement into the picture.

The Meizu MX5 has the chance to be great

We’re also told the device will be powered by a MediaTek chip, although the report doesn’t mention which one we should expect. We could speculate that Meizu will end up using the MT6795 platform which bundles some impressive capabilities, like the ability to shoot super slow-motion 1080p video at 480fps. The handset will be among those monsters which will pack a hefty 4GB of RAM, so it should run pretty swiftly. Another interesting piece of information is that the handset will be accompanied by a colossal 41MP camera with a Nokia PureView sensor running the shots. This part sounds a little wild, but at some point rumors emerged saying Nokia and Meizu are looking to partner up for the development of a handset, although the tidbit later proved to be a fake one.

On top of that, consider that the MX4 and MX4 Pro are both loaded with a 21MP Sony IMX220 camera, so Meizu will have to almost double the capacity with the next-gen flagship. Will it be able to do that? It remains to be seen. In related news, the Chinese device maker is known to have taken a partnership with major Asian retailer Alibaba which will develop an OS for its handsets. Meizu is also expected to be an important presence at MWC 2015 in Barcelona, where it will launch an Ubuntu-powered smartphone.

Meizu MX5 concept
Image credits to Phone Concept

Meizu MX4
Image credits to UnBox

Nokia Lumia 1020 has a 41MP camera
Image credits to Economic Times

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HTC One M9 Gets Listed with Retailer, Shows Specs and Price

We’re just a few days away from one of the tech world’s biggest gathering, MWC 2015, which will be take place in Barcelona.

HTC is going to be one of the major brand vendors coming at the event with one purpose in mind: to unveil its latest flagship, the One M9. Many details have popped up online regarding the HTC One M9, even if they don’t all agree with each other. Anyway, not so long ago the first real-life images of the HTC One M9 showed up on the web, showing an awful resemblance to the current One M8.

The HTC One M9 shows up on website

Well, this week German retailer CyberPort has listed the upcoming flagship, thus revealing a bunch of images showcasing the model plus specs. Since then the mentions have been removed, but luckily the folks over at Mobile Geeks have managed to retain an overview of the listings before they were taken down. According to this information, HTC will be offering the flagship in either gunmetal gray or gold or silver. As for specs, we are shown the handset will boast a 5-inch display with 1080p, exactly like the One M8. Hopefully, for those of you who crave a 2K display smartphone in your life, HTC will also roll out the One M9 Plus to appease more demanding customers.

Going back to the One M9, the processor pumping life into the handset is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, just like in the case of the LG G Flex 2 and Xiaomi Mi Note Pro. The smartphone bundles 3GB of RAM (maybe the Plus version will take things further to 4GB of RAM), 32GB inbuilt storage which is expandable to 128GB via microSD card. In the photography department, we have a primary 20MP sensor with optical image stabilization and dual LED and dual color flash, while on the back lives a 4.0 Ultrapixel camera. The One M9 is expected to be a tad lighter than its predecessor coming in at 157 g / 0.28 inches but also a bit thicker at 9.61 mm / 0.37 inches due to its larger 2,900 mAh battery.

Last but not least, it appears the HTC One M9 will go on sale for a hefty price of €749 / $850 which might as well indicate that the handset will sell for $750 / €660 when it arrives on US grounds.

HTC One M9
Images credits to Mobile Geeks

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Gemalto SIM Card Maker Promises to Investigate Claims of NSA Hacking

It looks like the Gemalto, the biggest mobile chip maker in the word, has been the victim of a hack by N.S.A. and British spy agencies back in 2010.

The information has been reported by investigative online publication The Intercept and comes directly from whistleblower Edward Snowden. Following the report that claims NSA and GCHQ spy agencies manage to hack Gemalto for millions of SIM card encryption keys since 2010, the company issued an official statement: “We cannot at this early stage verify the findings of the publication and had no prior knowledge that these agencies were conducting this operation.”

The company further states that the the Gemalto is taking the “publication very seriously and will devote all resources necessary to fully investigate and understand the scope of such sophisticated techniques.” How long this will take and whether or not Gemalto will make the results known is unclear, but the report published last week seriously affected the company. Immediately after The Intercept's news about the hack went online, Gemalto's shares dropped by 7.5% on Friday afternoon. We'll be keeping an eye out for any additional details on this matter and will continue to report on the results of the investigation, so stay tuned for more info.

SIM cards

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Encased Huawei P8 Leaks in Live Pictures Ahead of April Announcement

Chinese handset maker Huawei is one of the biggest smartphone makers in the world, especially thanks to its sales in the Mainland. Although the company is not present in several important markets, the sales in China brings Huawei a big chunk of its profits.

The next high-end smartphone Huawei plans to launch in Q2 2015 is P8, the sequel to Huawei P7. However, if you expect to see the Huawei P8 at this year Mobile World Congress trade fair, then you might be disappointed to hear the smartphone won't be officially unveiled until April. This means that there are still two months until the P8 will be officially announced during a dedicated event confirmed for April 15. The first details on Huawei P8 leaked a few weeks ago when a prototype unit has been tested in AnTuTu and the specs leaked online.

Now Italian blog site AndroidHDBlog has published the first live pictures of the Huawei P8, though the smartphone is encased in a special case with which most of these prototypes are coming to hide their design. Still, we have noticed the Huawei P8 will come with microUSB and 3.5mm ports, as well as stereo speakers that seem to have been placed on the bottom side of the smartphone.

A Lite variant will be launched as well

Other specs of the P8, which might or might not be confirmed by Huawei when the device goes official, including the company's proprietary 2GHz octa-core Kirin 930 processor, as well as 3GB of RAM. The smartphone is also expected to pack 64GB of internal memory, but there might not be microSD card slot included in the P8. On the back, Huawei P8 will pack a 13-megapixel photo snapper, while in the front there will be an 8-megapixel camera for selfies and video calls. Huawei stated numerous times that it will not launch smartphones with 2K displays, which is why we expect the P8 to feature a 5.2-inch capacitive touchscreen display that supports full HD (1080p) resolution.

Obviously, the smartphone will be powered by Android 5.0 Lollipop and Huawei is expected to launch a lite version of the P8, but more details will certainly be revealed on April 15.

Encased Huawei P8
Image credits to AndroidHDBlog

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HTC One M9 Leaks in Live Pictures

With less than two weeks until the kick-off of Mobile World Congress 2015 trade fair, new info and pictures of the upcoming devices continue to leak online.

Apart from Samsung Galaxy S6, which is supposed to be officially announced on March 1 during an Unpacked event. We already have quite a lot of leaks and teasers for Samsung's flagship smartphone, but many details on HTC's upcoming One M9 handset popped up online in the last couple of the days as well. However, we did not have any pictures showing the HTC One M9 except for several good-looking concept designs, which were meant to show fans what the smartphone might look like. Fortunately, Android fans won't have to imagine what the One M9 will look like because the folks over at Phandroid have just published several live pictures received from a reliable source.

Judging by these pictures, the One M9 looks awfully similar to the current HTC One M8, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Still, those expecting a complete redesign for the One M9 might be disappointed. There are a handful of changes meant to make HTC One M9's functionality smoother like the fact that the power on/off has been moved from the top side on the right side.

The One M9 will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset

Aside from that and the relocation of the volume keys slightly lower on the right side, there aren't other obvious changes on the front and sides parts of the HTC One M9. Along with the leaked pictures, Phandroid was also able to confirm that the smartphone would feature a Quaclomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core processor and an Adreno 430 graphics processing unit. The smartphone is also rumored to pack 3GB of RAM, as well as a 5-inch full HD capacitive touchscreen display. On the back, HTC One M9 is expected to boast a 20.7-megapixel camera and a 4-UltraPixel in the front.

It will be powered by a non-removable 2,840 mAh battery and will run Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system with HTC Sense 7.0 UI on top.

HTC One M9 (front & right side)

HTC One M9 (horizontal)

HTC One M9 (back)
Images credits to Phandroid

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Sony Xperia E2303 Mid-Range Smartphone Leaks: Octa-Core CPU, 5.2-Inch HD Display

As we're getting closer and closer to Mobile World Congress 2015 trade fair, more news about unannounced smartphones will continue to pour in.

After reports on HTC and Samsung's new flagship smartphones, it's time to take a look at other companies that won't be releasing any high-end devices but will still be present at MWC 2015 with some budget-friendly and mid-range handsets. Sony has already confirmed it won't be releasing two flagships per year, so the next top of the line smartphone from the Japanese company will arrive in the summer. Until then though, Sony does plan to launch a few mid-range smartphones, such as the Xperia E2303 and E2333, which have just been spotted in benchmarks.

As GSMArena points out these smartphones could be related in some way given their codenames and almost similar specs sheet. Speaking of which, these unannounced Xperia phones will be powered by Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system and will be equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets.

Both smartphones will be demoed at MWC 2015

However, while Xperia E2303 will be powered by Snapdragon 615 chipset that accommodates an octa-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz, while the Xperia E2333 is supposed to come with a Snapdragon 610 chipset that features a 1.5GHz quad-core processor. Both smartphones are packed with 2GB of RAM and 5.2-inch HD (720) displays, but the E2303 has 16GB of internal memory, whereas the E2333 features only 8GB of storage. The good news is both come with microSD card slot for memory expansion, so there won't be any issues regarding storage space.

Last but not least, both Xperia smartphones will be equipped with 13-megapixel rear-facing cameras and 5-megapixel secondary photo snappers in the front. Sony is expected to showcase the Xperia 2303 and 2333 in early March at MWC 2015, though it's unclear whether or not they will be announced during a dedicated event.

Sony Xperia E2303 benchmark

Sony Xperia E2333 benchmark
Images credits to GSMArena

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HTC One M9 Plus Spotted with QHD Display, MediaTek MT6795 and 4K-Capable Camera Combo

HTC is one of the prominent device makers expected to take center stage at MWC 2015 in Barcelona to unveil its upcoming flagship device, the One M9.

There have been rumors circling around that the company is also looking to introduce a variation of the phone, called the One M9 Plus. It’s been uncertain whether or not the device will show up at MWC 2015, but it appears this will be the case after all.

HTC One M9 Plus specs show up

The folks at Tech Tastic have stumbled upon the device in Compubench, so we can give you the scoop on what specifications you can expect to encounter onboard this model. The One M9 Plus (OPK71) will apparently arrive with a 5.1-inch display with 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution. This is good news for those of you who were disappointed by the fact that the One M9 will arrive equipped with a display capable of only 1920 x 1080 resolution. The One M9 Plus is expected to bundle an octa-core MediaTek MT6795 chipset on the inside (Cortex A53 clocked at 1.9GHz) fitted with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage.

As we saw yesterday, the MediaTek MT6795 is shaping up to be quite a beast. One of the most attractive qualities the chip brings forth is its ability to shoot super slow-motion 1080 videos at 480fps. The silicone bit should offer 2K support (which is what the One M9 Plus supports), 120MHz refresh rate and ClearMotion technology. It’s interesting how the current report claims the MT6795 will take advantage of Cortex-A53 cores. Yesterday, we speculated that, taking into account that the platform is a 64-bit affair, the chip should flaunt ARM Cortex-A57 cores.

Anyway, moving along - in the photography department, the handset will don an impressive 20MP/13MP camera combo which will be capable of shooting in 4K. Naturally, the handset will ship with Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box, so you won’t need to worry about updates for now. We’re just a few days away from MWC 2015, so stay tuned to see if all this turns out to be the real deal.

HTC One M9 Plus shows up in benchmarks
Image credits to TechTastic

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Samsung Galaxy S4 Now Receiving Android 5.0 Lollipop Update

Samsung confirmed back in December that Android 5.0 Lollipop will arrive on older Galaxy smartphones like the S4 sometime in early 2015. The South Korean company did not provided an exact release date for the rollout, but that shouldn't be surprising since it never happened in the past.

The good news is Android 5.0 Lollipop is now live for Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphones and users in India are the first to get it. The update can be downloaded OTA (over the air) or through Samsung Kies desktop software. As shown on XDA Forum, the update nets in at a little below 1GB (990MB), so make sure you have enough storage on your smarpthone before attempting to upgrade. If you live in India, the update will bring your Galaxy S4 to Android 5.0.1 Lollipop and with it, the whole range of new features and improvements by Google. The update is rolled out in stages, so if it doesn't show on your smartphone right away, you should check for it in a few days by going to Settings / About Phone / System Updates.

The important improvements are underneath, TouchWiz UI looks the same

Moving on to actual change the Android 5.0 Lollipop brings to Galaxy S4, those who upgraded confirm they got slightly better battery life and a bit more speed when it comes to navigating the menus. However, the TouchWiz UI has remain the same to the point that you won't be able to tell the difference between the previous version and Lollipop. In fact, you shouldn't expect to many visual changes when upgrading to Android 5.0 Lollipop from a previous version, as Samsung did not redux its TouchWiz UI instead it only applied a few tweaks to make it work with the new OS.

Hopefully, the big changes will come with the Galaxy S6 that will be announced in early March, though many would prefer Samsung would drop TouchWiz UI entirely. Have you downloaded Android 5.0 Lollipop on your Galaxy S4? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

Android 5.0 Lollipop update for Galaxy S4
Image credits to XDA-Developers forum

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Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Finally Getting Android 5.0.1 Lollipop Update, in Poland

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 owners, it seems your week is about to get a lot better. After months of waiting and hoping, your favorite tech manufacturer appears to have finally started rolling out the Android 5.0.1 Lollipop update for your new handset.

According to Sam Mobile, the new build is hitting users in Poland, so if you’re located in Europe, it shouldn't be that long before you received the much-hoped-for notification. As we mentioned before, the new build is based on Android 5.0.1 which is not the latest version available given the fact that Android 5.0.2 has made its way to a slew of Nexus devices. But taking into the consideration that Google has quietly made Android 5.1 official through a bunch of postings on its Indonesian Android One page, Samsung’s next update for the Galaxy Note 4 might skip the 5.0.2 version.

Android 5.0.1 finally arrives on the Galaxy Note 4

Anyway, going back to the current update, Android 5.0.1 for the Galaxy Note 4 brings a new look and feel, faster performance, lockscreen notifications, improved battery life and other specific Lollipop-goodies you have been craving for all of these months. The update is yet to be made available on Kies, so for the time being the only way to get the official Lollipop on your Galaxy Note 4 is to wait for the OTA to reach you. Or if you feel like taking the pro-active route, you can go ahead and go to Settings > About phone > Software updates menu and tapping on the Check now button.

Samsung might not have been among the first manufacturers to pick up the Android 5.0 Lollipop update as companies like Motorola and LG beat it to the punch. However, the Korean tech giant seems to be doing everything in its power to catch up. The device maker has rolled out similar updates for the Galaxy S5, Galaxy S4 and now the Galaxy Note 4. We expect that more Samsung handsets will be updated in the near feature. Moreover, the latest hearsay claims Samsung is also working on a Lollipop update for its premium AMOLED tablet duo, the Galaxy Tab S.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4, Lock Screen

Samsung Galaxy Note 4, Apps

Samsung Galaxy Note 4, About device

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 , Device info

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 , Settings

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 , more Settings

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 , soft version
Images credits to Sam Mobile

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ASUS 4 GB GeForce GTX 750 Ti Strix Graphics Card

A new graphics card has been released by ASUS, one that bears a brand name often associated with gaming-grade hardware.

Which is somewhat intriguing because the new video card is not really what you would call gaming-grade. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti may not be as “mediocre” as the GTX 750, but it is still a mid-range video card. On the other hand, CPUs and APUs with integrated graphics did away with the real low end a while ago, which turned the former mid-range into the new low end, and by extension, the performance segment into the mid range. Basically that means that the GTX 750 Ti is a pretty strong video card despite being the (second) weakest Maxwell-based board.

As good as it was, however, ASUS decided to give it twice the memory capacity, leading to the release of the GeForce GTX 750 Ti Strix 4GB. This card has the GM107 GPU (640 CUDA cores) clocked at 1,124 MHz / 1,202 MHz Boost, and the VRAM at 5.4 GHz. Sadly, the price is unknown. But since the 2 GB board is priced at $160 / €160, the 4 GB one should at least get close to the two hundred mark. GDDR5 memory isn't cheap.

ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti Strix 4GB

ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti Strix 4GB full view

ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti Strix 4GB side view

ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti Strix 4GB video port view
Images credits to ASUS

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