Nokia Android Smartphones Manufactured by Foxconn Coming to India, China & Europe

While Nokia's CEO Rajeev Suri has already confirmed that his company is determined to return to the smartphone business, he did not share details on when and where the Finnish company would launch its first device.

Nokia can't enter the smartphone market with its own product until 2016 due to the acquisition agreement with Microsoft, but once that embargo is lifted, we expect the ex-handset maker to come in full force with a range of new smartphones. After going all out with Windows Phone operating system, Nokia is now expected to launch new Android smartphones, after the failed Nokia X series experiment that seems to have been completely buried by Microsoft. Until then, Nokia is now selling its amazingly popular Android tablet, the N1. Sadly, the slate is only available in a few countries (China, Taiwan), but we expect it to go on sale in additional countries in the coming months.

The first Android smartphones are likely to be low-end

According to NokiaPowerUser, sources familiar with Nokia's plans claim the Finnish company will launch its first smartphones as early as next year. They will be powered by Google's Android mobile platform and will be manufactured by Foxconn. Nokia has already partnered with the Chinese company for the release of N1, so it makes sense to continue to collaborate with one of the largest handset/tablet manufacturers. The same source say the first Nokia smartphones powered will be launched in China, India and some European countries. Judging by the selection of markets, there's a high chance that these Nokia Android smartphones will belong to the low tier.

Nokia is also said to debut its marketing campaign, as well as official product websites by the end of this year, so we should have more details on the company's Android smartphones in the next couple of months.

Nokia Android smartphones
Image credits to Nokia

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Snapdragon 820 Gets Benchmarked, See How It Performs

Back at MWC 2015 in Barcelona, Qualcomm teased the successor of the notorious Snapdragon 810 chipset, called the Snapdragon 820.

We were told that the SoC would take advantage of the company’s own custom-designed 64-bit CPU cores, dubbed Kyro, and in recent days, it was revealed these cores would be clocked at up to 3.0GHz. Well, this week, the Snapdragon 820 popped up in benchmarks, although the traces have been wiped clean since then. Luckily, the folks at My Drives (via GSM Dome) have managed to capture a screenshot showcasing the results in the benchmark tests. We’ve recently told you that the Snapdragon 820 will be built using Samsung’s 14nm node manufacturing technology, the same that was used in the construction of the Exynos 7420 powering the Samsung Galaxy S6. So, let’s see how the new silicone performs.

Will the Snapdragon 820 clear Qualcomm's name?

Snapdragon 820 was put through the Geekbench test, where it scored 1,732 points in the single core test and 4,970 points in the multi-core test. Now, let’s see how these results compare to the Snapdragon 810 inside the Xiaomi Mi Note Pro and the Exynos 7420 fueling the Samsung Galaxy S6. The Snapdragon 820 beat the single-core results of the Exynos 7420, which managed to score 1,486 points, and of the Snapdragon 810 that only grabbed 1,227. As for the multi-core test, the Snapdragon 820’s 4,970 topped its predecessor, which scored 4,424 points. However, it failed to tower over the Exynos 7420 and its 5,284 score.

Even so, judging by these test results, it seems that the Snapdragon 820 will be able to deliver decent performance, a lot better than the Snapdragon 810 at least. We expect the first mobile devices powered by Snapdragon 820 to start making an appearance on the market soon enough. Xiaomi’s next-gen flagships, the Mi5 and Mi5 Pro, are both rumored to make a debut with a Snapdragon 820 under the hood.

Word on the street has it that LG is also working towards a ramped-up version of its current flagship, which will arrive in the wild as the G4 Pro and will bundle a Snapdragon 820 on the inside.

Snapdragon 820 shows up in benchmarks

Exynos 7420 benchmark results

Snapdragon 810 benchmark results
Images credits to MyDrivers

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Meizu MX5 Shows Impressive Performance in Leaked Benchmark

Chinese company Meizu is expected to unveil its next flagship smartphone, the MX5, on June 30. A launch event has already been confirmed for that date and invitations have been send to the local media.

We also know that the MX5 will feature a metal body, courtesy to some pictures that leaked a few days ago. Last but not least, the latest rumors claim Meizu's high-end smartphone will be launched in China for just 1,799 yuan, which is about $290. Some of the phone's specs have been leaked as well, but these leaks haven't been followed by any confirmations from the Chinese company. Well, it looks like a benchmark of the Meizu MX5 that's been recently spotted in Geekbench shows the smartphone is capable of great multi-core performance. Unfortunately, things are a bit different when it comes to single-core performance, but rest assured that you won't experience any lags while browsing the phone's menu.

Meizu MX5 will be equipped with a 64-bit octa-core MediaTek MT6795T Helio X10 processor, which scored no less than 5352 points in the multi-core benchmark.

Single-core benchmark results are a bit behind the competition

That's close to Samsung's Exynos 7420, which is considered one of the best processors available on the market. Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 is nowhere near this performance and that's probably due to the chipset's overheating issues. When it comes to single-core performance, the Meizu MX5 shows disappointing benchmark results, way below Samsung's Exynos 7420.

Nevertheless, it's good to know that Meizu MX5 will perform decently in any condition, thanks to it high-end specs sheet. Speaking of which, the MX5 is expected to pack 3GB of RAM and a 20-megapixel camera on the back. The smartphone is said to feature a 5.5-inch capacitive touchscreen display that supports full HD (1080p) resolution, and a non-removable 3,150 mAh battery.

Meizu MX5 benchmark results
Image credits to Geekbench

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Elephone P9000 Could Be First to Arrive with MediaTek Helio X20 Deca-Core

Things are getting pretty wacky in the mobile chipset ecosystem. Not so long ago, MediaTek announced the advent of a deca-core silicone piece which would bear the name of Helio X20.

This is a 20nm chipset equipped with a pair of ARM Cortex-A72 cores sustaining the heavy duty operations, four ARM Cortex-A53 managing the medium load, while four Cortex-A53 cores will deal with the low-power operations. Apparently, MediaTek is striving for a chip that’s energy efficient and not a benchmark ripping behemoth, although at least on paper, two Cortex-A72 cores seem quite menacing. Anyway, MediaTek is poised to release the Helio X20 sometime in the fourth quarter of 2015, and now a new report coming out of WebCusp reveals that the Elephone P9000 could end up being the first device to take advantage of the 10-core monster.

The chipset inside the phone will work in combination with an ARM Mali-T800 series GPU clocked at over 800MHz with 4GB of RAM on board (note that the MT6797 is limited to LPDDR3 RAM, however). The Elephone P9000 will also take advantage of a 5.5-inch 1080p display, 32GB of expandable storage, a 20.7MP main camera (probably made by Sony), a 8MP selfie snapper, and a 3,100 mAh battery under the hood.

The source goes on to mention that the phone could go on to make a debut on the market for $500 / €439 a pop. Expect the phone to debut in October with Android 5.1 Lollipop on board.

Teaser image of Elephone P9000

Elephone P9000 might come with MediaTek's deca-core Helio X20

The benefits of a tri-cluster assembly
Images credits to Webcusp

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Nokia Confirms Return to Smartphone Business in 2016

Nokia fans rejoice, as the Finnish company has finally admitted that it is now ready to return to the smartphone business as early as 2016.

Previously one of the largest handset maker in the work, Nokia sold its devices and services division to Microsoft. Under agreement, the company can't launch another smartphone until late 2016. But that didn't stopped Nokia to launch its tablet computer, the Android-powered N1. The first Nokia tablet commercially available has been selling like crazy in China and now in Taiwan, but it's expected to be similarly popular in other countries too when the company decided to launch it. There were numerous rumors coming from different sources with knowledge of Nokia's future plans that claimed the Finnish company will definitely return to the mobile phone market, but they were denied by officials.

However, it looks like Nokia's CEO Rajeev Suri has decided to go all out in an interview with German publication Manager Magazin. He admitted that Nokia is already looking for partners that will help the company brings its smartphones to the market one way or another.

"We would simply design them and then make the brand name available to license"

According to Suri, Nokia will design new smartphone and then make the brand name available to license: “We will look for suitable partners. Microsoft makes mobile phones. We would simply design them and then make the brand name available to license.” It looks like Nokia has decided to continue to design mobile phones, but this time the Finnish company may approach the smartphone business slightly different. Instead of making use of its resources to launch new products on the market, advertise them and run marketing campaigns, Nokia will simply design them and let other companies interested in its brand do the rest.

Obviously, we should not rule out a 100% Nokia smartphone in the coming years, but for the time being the Finnish company won't risk a possible fail.

Nokia smartphones
Image credits to Nokia

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Acer Liquid Z630 with 5.5-Inch HD Display, 2GB RAM Leaks in Benchmark

Acer recently confirmed that it has no intention to merge its smartphone/tablet business with other major companies in the industry.

The handset maker said it's committed to launching new products in the coming months, which, hopefully, will prove to be popular among customers. The next addition to Acer's Android platform is the Liquid Z630 and judging by the specs that have just been spotted by Winfuture.de in GFXBench database, this is a mid-range device. This is the first time we hear about the Liquid Z630 and since Acer has yet to make it official, we're not sure that this is also the phone's market name. Nevertheless, the specs seem more important at this time than the phone's market name, so let's see what the Acer Liquid Z630 has to offer.

First of all, the smartphone is powered by Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system, which is good thing for a mid-range device. The rest of the phone's specs are those of a pure mid-ranger, so we expect the Liquid Z630 to be priced accordingly.

4G LTE support and 8-megapixel selfie snapper

Acer Liquid Z630 sports a 5.5-inch capacitive touchscreen display that supports HD (720p) resolution. There's no mention of Corning Gorilla Glass coating, but for a mid-ranger it's highly doubtful. On the inside, the smartphone is equipped with a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735 processor, a Mali-T720 graphics processing unit and 2GB of RAM. The handset packs 16GB of internal memory, which can be further expanded up to 64GB via microSD card slot. There's also a 8-megapixel camera on the back, which features autofocus, LED flash and video recording, as well as another no less impressive 8-megapixel camera in the front for state-of-the-art selfies.

Acer Liquid Z630 comes with 4G LTE support, as well as other connectivity options, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microUSB 2.0 and GPS with AGPS. Not word on availability and pricing options, but we expect the smartphone to be unveiled in the coming months, so stay tuned for more updates on the matter.

Acer Liquid Z630 specs
Image credits to GFXBenchmark

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BlackBerry Passport Running Android 5.1 Lollipop Spotted in Live Photo

Since the first reports about BlackBerry possibly launching an Android smartphone later this year popped up, we've been intoxicated with many rumors on the matter.

The latest rumor comes from a BlackBerry developer who claims the BlackBerry Passport in his possession is powered by Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system, PhoneArena reports. It’s a picture showing the “About phone” window of what appears to be a BlackBerry Passport smartphone. In fact, we're pretty sure that this is BlackBerry's square-sized device, which has an easily recognizable form factor. Unfortunately, aside from the picture published on Twitter, the owner of the BlackBerry Passport allegedly powered by Android 5.1 Lollipop platform doesn't reveal anything else.

BlackBerry OS can already emulate Android apps on most of the devices it's running on, even though the experience is not always smooth.

It would be nice to be able to choose between BlackBerry and Android

A Passport running Android is a possibility, but we don't know if BlackBerry really plans to launch a different version of the smartphone. We reported earlier today that BlackBerry plans to launch a high-end slider smartphone, which is called Venice. This smartphone might or might not be powered by Android, but word is BlackBerry will allow customers to choose between two operating systems. The same could be the case for the BlackBerry Passport, which could ship with either BlackBerry 10 OS or Android 5.1 Lollipop right out of the box.

That way the Canadian company will be able to make both BlackBerry and Android fans happy at the same time. So, instead of asking BlackBerry fans if they would like to purchase a BlackBerry smartphone powered by Android, why not offering them the option to choose between two OSes? Given the fact that we can't tell whether or not the photo showing the BlackBerry Passport powered by Android 5.1 Lollipop is legit, we recommend out readers to take the information with a grain of salt.

BlackBerry Passport running Android 5.1
Image credits to Nicola D'Amico

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Sony Not Willing to Add USB Type-C Ports in Xperia Smartphones Yet

USB Type-C port adoption is on the rise, as two of the most important companies in the mobile industry, Apple and Google confirmed they are very committed to this connector standard and will certainly include it in their products.

Many other handset makers have decided that USB Type-C standard is much better than microUSB standard and decided that now would be a good time to try and make it streamline. Unfortunately, Sony Mobile is now one of those companies, FocusTaiwan reports. After the Japanese company confirmed a few days ago that it's not yet ready to include Quad HD displays into its smartphone, Sony now says that USB Type-C port is not on its immediate agenda. While speaking at a technology workshop in Taipei, Takeshi Nitta, a program manager at Sony Mobile Tokyo, said that his company is investigating USB Type-C, but that the industry needs more time to migrate to the new connector standard.

Moreover, Nitta said that while Sony could include USB Type-C port into its Xperia smartphones that will not benefit in the near term to the company's focus on achieving thinner and light designs.

Thinner camera modules are more helpful for Sony

For the time being, the only things that count and need to be smaller and thinner are camera module and display. As soon as these become thinner, Xperia smartphones will be thinner and lighter, Nitta believes. The next Nexus smartphones built by LG and Huawei are expected to pack USB Type-C ports, but Google's Chromebook laptops and Android smartphones launched by other companies are likely to include the connector standard in the coming months. Unfortunately, by not adopting the latest technology at a faster pace, Sony will remain behind competition, which in turn means lower sales and large financial losses.

Let's hope the Japanese company will start being more open-minded in regard with the new technologies that appear in the smartphone industry, otherwise it could end very soon for Sony.

Devices with USB Type-C ports
Image credits to Analogix

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Gionee Elife E8 Goes Official with 6-Inch Quad HD Display, Octa-Core Helio X10 CPU

As expected, Chinese OEM Gionee introduced its innovative Marathon M5 that comes with two batteries inside, as well as the premium Elife E8 smartphone.

We already reported on the Marathon M5's launched earlier today, so let's see what the other Gionee smartphone, the Elife E8 has to offer in terms of specs. First of all, fans of the brand should know that Gionee Elife E8 won't come cheap. The Chinese company confirmed the smartphone will be available beginning July 15 for no less than $645. The good news is the device is packed with more than decent specs, such as 23.7-megapixel rear-facing camera that can take 120-megapixel resolution photos thanks to the embedded software.

The camera features True Tone LED flash, sapphire glass 6-element lens, OIS (optical image stabilization) and 4K video recording. There's also a secondary, no less impressive 8-megapixel camera in the front with autofocus and full HD (1080p) video recording.

Premium design, powerful features

Another strong point of the Elife E8 is the huge 6-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display that supports Quad HD (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution and 490ppi (pixel per inch). On the inside, Gionee has included the new 64-bit 2GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6795 Helio X10 processor, which is complemented by a PowerVR 6200 GPU, 3GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal memory, which can be further expanded up to 128GB via microSD card slot. It's also worth mentioning that the smartphone is powerd by a 3,500 mAh battery and that it will ship with Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system with Amigo UI on top.

The Elife E8 will be initially launched in China, but we expect Gionee to make available in other countries as well. In that regard, we reported yesterday that the smartphone was already introduced in Romania as Allview X2 Xtreme, which will be available beginning August 15.

Gionee Elife E8
Images credits to Gionee

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Sony Xperia Z4 Launches in Japan, People Already Complain of Overheating Issues

We reported yesterday about the issues the Xperia Z3+ might face if Sony doesn't do something about the overheating issues of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 chipset.

A video showing a prototype unit with pre-release software proved that Xperia Z3+ powered by the Snapdragon 810 has major issues when running multiple apps. The smartphone issues warning messages from time to time telling users that some apps might have been closed in order to cool down the CPU. Keep in mind that Sony Xperia Z3+ is equipped with a revised Snapdragon 810 v2.1 chipset, which was supposed to address all the overheating issues that date since the launch of the silicone piece. Even Japanese carriers posted warning messages inside their stores informing customers about all the smartphones equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processors, which inexplicably overheats regardless of what users do with their device.

Well, it looks like there are serious problems with the Xperia Z4 as well, which is likely to be equipped with the same revised version of Snapdragon 810 chipset.

This seems to be a widespread issue

As many of you probably know by now, Sony launched the Xperia Z4 in Japan on June 10. Sadly, many customers that purchased the phone are now complaining of overheating issues, XperiaBlog reports. They have taken it to Twitter, Sony support website and other forums to find out why is that happening and how they can prevent their phones from becoming too hot to be used. This doesn't seem an isolated issue where only a limited number of users is affected. However, we expect Sony to release a software update for the Xperia Z4, which should throttle down the Snapdragon 810's speed. In fact this has become mandatory since Xperia Z3+'s global release is just a few weeks away and no will buy it under these circumstances.

People complain about Xperia Z4's overheating issues
Image credits to XperiaBlog

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