Oppo N1 Goes Official with 5.9-Inch Screen and Rotating 13MP Camera

Today, Chinese mobile phone maker Oppo officially announced the latest addition to its lineup of high-end smartphones, namely the Oppo N1.

The new handset went official during a special press event held in Beijing, China, which was streamed live over the Internet. The device was announced with a large 5.9-inch touchscreen display that can deliver a full HD resolution, and which sports a pixel density of 373 pixels per inch. The new mobile phone features Oppo’s own Color OS loaded on top, and the usual three capacitive Android keys placed beneath the display, namely back, home, and menu. The smartphone comes to the market with a 13-megapixel camera with dual LED flash and an f/2.0 aperture, which is paired with Oppo’s Owl imaging processor.

The most interesting aspect of the device is the fact that the entire camera module can rotate up to 206 degrees, which means that it can also be used as a front camera. The sensor comes with a 6-lens design. The Oppo N1 also comes with a special touch-sensitive area on the back called O-Touch, which enables users to control the device through performing various gestures, including swipes, long-presses, or double taps. Additionally, the smartphone comes with a special accessory, O-Click, which works as a remote controller for the camera, and which can be operated from up to 50 meters away from the device.

On top of that, Oppo announced the new N1 with 16GB / 32GB options of internal memory, as well as with a 3610mAh battery packed inside. The smartphone sports Wi-Fi connectivity inside as well, along with Bluetooth, NFC, and the like. It also comes with support for USB On-The-Go (OTG), Oppo announced. There will be two official ROMs available for the new mobile phone, one of them bring Oppo’s proprietary Color OS, while the other being the previously rumored CyanogenMod software. Oppo also unveiled that the new Oppo N1 would hit shelves in China with a price tag of 3,498 Yuan ($571 / €423) attached to it. The smartphone will become available for purchase in early December.

Oppo N1
Images credits to Oppo

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Samsung Galaxy Note 3 "Cheaper Version" in the Works, Launching in November

This is not the first time we hear about Samsung planning to release a much cheaper version of Galaxy Note 3 in emerging markets.

Back in August, sources close to the matter claimed Samsung would launch an affordable Galaxy Note 3 in several countries in order to boost its sales. Today, Sammobile reports new details on the unannounced phablet emerged and point to an imminent launch of a cheaper Samsung Galaxy Note 3 model.

According to Sammobile citing ETNews, the cheaper Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will sport a 5.5-inch LCD capacitive touchscreen display instead of the Super AMOLED screen included with the original model, as well as an 8-megapixel main camera. We can expect this affordable Galaxy Note 3 to go on sale in countries like India and China at some point in November. Stay tuned for more updates on the matter.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 shipping manifest
Image credits to SamMobile

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Secret 3G Radio in Every Intel vPro CPU Could Steal Your Data at Any Time

We wonder if anyone expected this, but we suppose Intel had to drop a bomb at some point. And what better way to secure your spot on the enterprise 2-in-1 laptop, tablet and mobile workstation market, than by giving all of those PCs 3G support?

Hilariously enough, Intel has created one of the most sought after technologies without letting anyone know about it. Basically, all Intel vPro CPUs (which include new mobile Core i5 and Core i7 chips) have an undocumented 3G chip inside. That chip is visible to the 3G network, even when the PC is not powered on. Freelancer Jim Stone has just discovered the secret (or so he says), and according to him, the 3G is part of a second physical processor embedded within the main one. Said second CPU has its own embedded operating system and can be woken up at any time because the “phantom” power of the system is always there to draw upon. In other words, the secret 3G chip can act as a backdoor, complete with wake-on-LAN and wake-on-mobile. Which is to say, the computer can be turned on remotely through this undocumented 3G radio.

Intel actually embedded the 3G radio chip in order to enable its Anti Theft 3.0 technology. And since that technology is found on every Core i3/i5/i7 CPU after Sandy Bridge, that means a lot of CPUs, not just new vPro, might have a secret 3G connection nobody knew about until now. Sadly, Jim Stone doesn't actually provide any evidence for this, so we can either take him at his word or not think about any of this, seeing as how we can't really do anything about it even if it's true. On the one hand, it might all be fake. On the other hand, Intel may very well have integrated a secret ARM chip with always-on 3G on its vPro chips, but no one knows because the NSA forbid the disclosure of this info in order to have a backdoor into every computer. For security reasons of course.

Some will definitely argue that it's all for the sake of easy IT administration, but there will always be naysayers that will think this sort of thing exists so the hidden autocrats of our world can steal ideas from the hardworking little man. In the end, it all boils down to how suspicious and paranoid each person is about the people living in the higher echelons of our society.

Intel Core vPro Core i7 CPU might be just a little thief
Image credits to Intel

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Customers Say: iOS 7 on iPhone 4 Is “Unusable,”

A number of iPhone 4 users are reporting a terrible experience with the new iOS 7, with some incurring an unacceptable lag when trying to use the virtual keyboard.

Commenters responding to our June 11 article on the iPhone 4 experience with the early iOS 7 betas are revealing that nothing has changed since. With the final version of iOS 7 out and into end-users’ hands, the same issues are being reported by some, confirming out fears that the A4 chip inside the iPhone 4 is no match for the new software. “iOS 7 has basically ruined my iphone 4,” writes a reader identified as micwich.

“There is at least a 5-15 second delay whenever I used the keyboard to type anything - pw to open phone, text, email, notes..... It is awful. I wish I could remove it and go back,” this person says. “i hope they fix this soon my phone is so slow and i cant type without a delay,” writes another. Others claim iOS 7 works fine on their iPhone 4 handsets, but that the battery now heats up tremendously.

“I installed iOS7 last night on my iPhone4 and my battery is worthless and my phone is HOT to the touch-burning hot....not a fan of that, otherwise, it seems to be working well...for the 5 mins it holds a charge,” writes a user identified as MP. A reader using the handle TinMan chimes in to say, “I upgrade on my iPhone 4 to iOS 7 and now the typing is very slow. It takes over a minute and a half just to type in a 10 letter password. Can I go back to my old OS?”

Finally, Betty tells us, “My iphone 4 is so slow, it's almost unusable. I'm no longer even able to text because of the delay when I type and the time it takes for the letters to appear ten or twenty seconds later. You'd think they'd warn the customers of the pitfalls. My phone is only 2 years old.” Numerous others are describing similar scenarios, but many of them seem to be unaware that downgrading to iOS 6 is not only possible, but really easy to do.

iOS 7 on iPhone 4
Image credits to ios.wonderhowto.com

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BBM for Windows Phone? Not So Fast

BBM was supposed to arrive on both Android and iOS this weekend, but due to technical difficulties, BlackBerry decided to pause the global rollout of the app for the time being.

While this is clearly bad news for those who wanted to at least try out BBM on their smartphones, it's also an indication that BlackBerry still has chances to get back on track. At some level, people are actually interested in its apps, hence the surprisingly big number of downloads that BBM for iOS experienced in the first hours on the market. The Canadian company claims that more than 1.1 million users registered to download BBM in the first 8 hours, even though the Android version wasn't yet available.

As you can see, we're only talking about two different platforms here, Android and iOS, both of which are said to be ruling the smartphone market at this point. But what about Windows Phone? Microsoft wasn't invited to the BBM launch party, but nobody knows the reason right now. And still, it's easily to figure out why. It all comes down to only a couple of reasons. First, Microsoft doesn't care about it. Secondly, nobody cares about it.

At this point, Windows Phone is still struggling to compete with iOS and Android on almost every market out there, even though Microsoft has invested a fortune in making the platform successful. The Softies have even lied to us, claiming that Windows Phone was growing so much that it could become number one at some point. That never happened though, and Windows Phone seems to remain a mediocre mobile OS that some developers are avoiding. Because the cash is somewhere else. Making and selling an iOS app, for example, is much easier than doing the same thing on Windows Phone. In a recent meeting with financial analysts, Microsoft has admitted that Windows Phone has almost no market share. Here's what outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer told the audience:

“If there's one thing I guess you would say I regret, I regret that there was a period in the early 2000s when we were so focused on what we had to do around Windows, that we weren't able to redeploy talent to the new device form factor called the phone,” he said during his keynote.

“That would probably [be] the thing I would tell you I regret the most, because the time we missed was about the time we were working away on what became Vista, and I wish we'd had our resources slightly differently deployed.”

So, if Microsoft doesn't think that Windows Phone has chances to succeed, why should we? And this makes porting BBM to Windows Phone a waste of time and resources. Which, let's be honest, BlackBerry doesn't afford right now. Now, let's get down to the second reason. As an avid BlackBerry user, I think that BBM is a great app. The only problem with it is that nobody uses it these days. With WhatsApp available on so many platforms and already becoming extremely popular in every little corner of the world, BBM has slight chances to impress. Even if it arrives on Android and iOS.

As a result, bringing BBM on Windows Phone, a platform that has a really small market share, isn't worth the effort. Again, BlackBerry doesn't have the time and resources to do it. Maybe at some point, when another company that has the financial strength to do it will buy BlackBerry, BBM might land on Windows Phone too, but for the moment, you have no other option than to stick to WhatsApp. I started crawling the web looking for an answer to this question this morning, and the same answer is basically posted on every forum, blog, or website. People aren't interested in BBM, not with WhatsApp holding such a large user base. And here comes my next question: if BBM is not at all appealing, how come millions of iOS and Android users are trying to download the app right now?

Native BBM on Blackberry 10
Image credits to n4bb

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Android 4.4 KitKat Screenshots Reveal SMS and Phone Apps

It's only been a day since the first screenshots revealing some of the visual changes in the Android 4.4 KitKat platform leaked online and now a new set of photos emerged.

The folks over at 9to5google have just published four screenshots allegedly taken from the upcoming Android 4.4 KitKat operating system. They're showing the Phone and SMS applications, as well as the “About phone” and one of the home screens that features the Hangouts shortcut.

The Phone app seems to have the same flat design recently adopted by Apple in iOS 7, though there are obvious differences. Some might like it, whereas other will surely hate it. According to the latest hearsay, Google is said to reveal more details on Android 4.4 KitKat platform next month, but we expect more info will leak ahead of the official announcement. Stay tuned for more on this.

Android 4.4 KitKat screenshot
Images credits to 9to5google

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Qualcomm Confirms Snapdragon 800 Inside Lumia 1520

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia is getting ready for the launch of a new Windows Phone 8 smartphone, supposedly called Lumia 1520, which might arrive on shelves with a Snapdragon 800 processor inside.

The handset hasn’t been officially confirmed as of now, but Qualcomm appears to have let slip on Twitter the fact that it will feature their high-end mobile processor. Responding to a tweet that stated, “See you in Lumia 1520 with superior 20 Mpx Camera,” Qualcomm said, “You are correct – and we’re proud to be a part of that awesome device.”

However, the company backtracked on the statement, claiming in another tweet that they had actually misread the initial message, and that their response was posted by mistake, as WPCentral reports. Previous rumors on the matter did suggest that Lumia 1520, a 6-inch smartphone, would arrive on shelves with a quad-core processor inside, and chances are that this will pan out in the end.

Nokia's Lumia 1520 to feature a Snapdragon 800 CPU, Qualcomm suggests
Image credits to Nokia

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HTC Desire 600c Goes on Sale in India

The CDMA-enabled HTC Desire 600c recently went on sale in India. The GSM version has been launched in the country for quite some time, but the CDMA model has just arrived and is priced a bit higher than the former.

Customers can pick this one up for no less than Rs 28,900 outright, which is about $465 or €345. The smartphone is now available through major retailer Flipkart, as AndroidOS points out. HTC Desire 600c ships with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box and packs a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor clocked at 1.2 GHz along with 1GB of RAM.

The smartphone sports a 4.5-inch Super LCD2 capacitive touchscreen display that supports 540 x 960 pixels resolution, as well as dual cameras (8-megapixel main camera and 1.6-megapixel front-facing camera). Dual-SIM support and microSD card slot for memory expansion are included as well.

HTC Desire 600c
Image credits to Flipkart

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Lava Iris 506Q Lands in India with Quad-Core CPU and 5-Inch Display

Lava Mobiles has just released another mid-range Android smartphone in India, the Iris 506Q. The handset has been announced earlier this week, but only went on sale recently.

The new device comes with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean platform out of the box and offers dual-SIM support, as it should for a handset aimed at the Indian market. As fonearena points out, Lava Iris 506Q packs a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor inside, along with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal memory that can be further expanded up to 32GB via microSD memory card.

The handset boasts a large 5-inch qHD capacitive touchscreen display that supports 540 x 960 pixels resolution, as well as a 5-megapixel rear-facing shutter with LED flash. A secondary VGA front-facing camera is included as well, along with 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity.

Lava Iris 506Q
Image credits to Fonearena

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Google Makes Quickoffice Free for Everyone, Integrated to Google Drive

A year after Google acquired Quickoffice, the company is pushing forward with its Microsoft Office alternative (that isn't called Drive/Docs) and making it more appealing than ever by making the Quickoffice app for both Android and iOS free.

Google was already offering some Quickoffice functionality, including editing documents and spreadsheets, for free to Chrome OS users. But it has now made all the apps free, all you need to do is log in with your Google account. "Quickoffice also integrates seamlessly with Google Drive storage so you can safely access your files from anywhere. And while the easiest thing to do is simply convert your old files to Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, Quickoffice gives you another way to work with people who haven’t gone Google yet," Google explains. Quickoffice is a bit of an odd thing at Google, a rare admission that it can't do everything in-house perhaps. Google Drive has always had a the ability to view Office files or convert them to native Drive files. But the conversion has never been great and many details are lost in the process.

By comparison, Quickoffice offers great support for Office files, so Google bought the company behind it and started integrating the functionality into its products. But, even as the new free Quickoffice is tied into Drive, it's still a separate app requiring a separate download. But to drive the point home, that Quickoffice is a part of Drive, Google is offering 10 GB of free Drive storage for two years to anyone who installs the Quickoffice app by September 26. The bonus storage space will be enabled in the next few weeks after you install the app. Apart from being free, the updated app also comes with a new Google Drive inspired icon, support for ZIP folders and Excel and PowerPoint charts.

Quickoffice is now free
Image credits to Google

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