Meizu MX4G Will Sport a 5.5-Inch, 2560 x 1536-Pixel Screen

Chinese mobile phone maker Meizu is getting ready to enter the high-resolution smartphone battle, and it has already confirmed plans to launch a device that will feature a 2k+ resolution.

To be more precise, the handset is expected to arrive on shelves under the name of MX4G and will pack a 5.5-inch, 2560 x 1536-pixel screen. This means a 542 PPI pixel density on a 15:9 aspect ratio display. Meizu’s J. Wong, former CEO, has already confirmed plans for this device, though no other details on what it will include in terms of hardware specs have been provided as of now.

However, as UnwiredView reports, the upcoming mobile phone will prove a worthy competitor for the Vivo XPlay 3S, which is expected to become available shortly with a 2K (2560 x 1440 pixels) touchscreen. More on this should emerge soon, so stay tuned for more on the matter.

Meizu MX4G confirmed with 2560 x 1536-pixel screen
Image credits to UnwiredView

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Oppo Plans R1 Smartphone for Mid-December

Soon, Chinese phone maker Oppo might bring to the market a new smartphone running under Google’s Android operating system, namely the Oppo R1.

The smartphone has been spotted only under the name of Oppo R829T, featuring an all-glass back plate, and has been said before to arrive on shelves as the Oppo Find 7. Apparently, this won’t be the case, but Oppo might offer it for purchase sometime in mid-December as Oppo R1, aimed at the mid-level smartphone market. Allegedly leaked photos with the mobile phone are also available online for your viewing pleasure, courtesy of mtksj, showing a pretty appealing outer design. The yet unannounced mobile phone will also be able to provide users with high performance capabilities, a recent article on GizChina reads.

The phone should land on shelves with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor packed inside, complemented by 1GB of RAM. It is also said to feature a 5-inch touchscreen display on the front, capable of delivering a qHD resolution. At the same time, the forthcoming mobile phone is expected to become available for purchase with an 8-megapixel camera on the back, most probably capable of full HD video recording, complemented by a 5MP front camera for video calling. Apparently, Oppo is planning on packing a 2400mAh battery inside the Oppo R1, though it will manage to keep its body at only 7mm thin.

Rumor has it that Oppo is also aiming at making the new smartphone available for purchase via China Mobile, with support for the wireless carrier’s TD-SCDMA network. However, with the Oppo N1 already confirmed to be released internationally next week, other devices from the Chinese mobile phone maker might follow suit. Unfortunately, nothing has been officially confirmed on Oppo R1 for the time being, and we’ll have to wait for the company’s announcement on it to learn more on what it will have to offer. Stay tuned for the news.

Oppo R1 expected in mid-December
Images credits to MTKSJ

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16GB Moto G Arrives in the UK Tomorrow at Clove

Starting tomorrow, users in the UK interested in the new Moto G smartphone from Motorola will be able to take advantage of the features and capabilities of the 16GB flavor of the device, online retailer Clove UK has announced.

Users will be able to grab the smartphone from this page on the retailer’s website where it is listed with a price tag of £174 ($285/€210) attached to it, VAT included. Moto G was made official a few weeks ago as the cheaper variant of the Moto X, featuring a 4.5-inch 720p touchscreen display and being powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor.

The smartphone also packs 1GB of RAM, 8GB/16GB of internal memory, a 5-megapixel camera on the back, and a 1.3MP front camera for video calling. The smartphone runs under Android 4.3 Jelly Bean (an upgrade to 4.4 KitKat will arrive in January).

Moto G with 16GB of memory arrives at Clove UK tomorrow
Image credits to Clove UK

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Sailfish OS Coming Soon to Android Device

Jolla, the Finnish company that has just released the first smartphone powered by Sailfish OS, has just confirmed it will provide Android users with the option to install the mobile platform on their devices.

The Next Web reports Jolla CEO Tomi Pienimäki told Finnish website Talouselämä that his company is both a device and OS business and that Sailfish OS is fairly easy to install on Android devices. Jolla’s move is part of a larger plan to bring more attention to Sailfish mobile platform, which is a smart move rather than restricting it to a certain device.

No word on when exactly Jolla will make its Sailfish OS available for installation to Android devices, but given Pienimäki statement that the platform is easy to be integrated into smartphones and tablets powered by Google’s operating system, it shouldn’t take too long.

Jolla's smartphone
Image credits to Jolla

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Colorful CW5200, 6-in-1 Router, Has Wi-Fi, 3G and Other Assets

We'd name this new product from Colorful a “hybrid,” but that implies a merger of two things, traits or objects. And though it is used even to describe things with traits from more than two other base forms, the new router from Colorful has six different roles, so it is more than just a hybrid.

Well, perhaps we should be accurate and say that the CW5200 has six potential roles, since not all of them are likely to be played at once. Well, they could be, but they depend on situation, need and one's surroundings, so it's unlikely. Still, the versatility will be appreciated by those who love all-in-one solutions. The Colorful CW5200 is a 6-in-1 wireless router, combining the benefits of a LAN-based Wi-Fi router, 3G Wi-Fi router connectivity (connected devices link via Wi-Fi while the router taps into 3G Internet for them), an AP travel router, data storage, an integrated charger. The default role is that of wireless access point, meant to make it easy for travelers to instantly tap into the Wi-Fi networks of hotels. You can also use the Wi-Fi Driver to set up shared Internet connections.

Also, there is a LAN port, so that you can plug a cable and allow all Wi-Fi-capable gadgets access to it. Then there's the USB cable which allows you to plug in flash drives, portable HDDs / SSDs, and pretty much anything else with on-board storage. Furthermore, a portable charger is included. Indeed, despite the height of just 80 mm / 3.14 inches, there's enough room in this credit-card-sized (well, credit card-tall) product for it. There's about as much energy in it as in a Samsung 5200mAh lithium battery, and the supply input and output is of 5A 1A.

Finally, the Colorful CW5200 has 32 MB DDR2 dual-channel memory, for caching, optimizing the performance of the antenna (integrated into the PCB).

Colorful CW5200
Image credits to Colorful

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Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 (GT-S7582) Emerges

South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung Electronics will bring to the market a successor for its Galaxy S Duos in the not too distant future, namely the Galaxy S Duos 2.

The smartphone has yet to be officially confirmed, yet a photo that allegedly depicts it has already leaked online, courtesy of Hungarian website Tech2. The new smartphone was spotted with model number GT-S7582 attached to it, and with hardware specifications similar to those of its predecessor, SamMobile notes.

The entry-level device will be launched with 768MB of RAM, up from 512MB on Galaxy S Duos, and with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. It will also feature a 4-inch WVGA display and 4GB of internal memory, paired with a microSD memory card slot. Furthermore, the Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 is expected to arrive on shelves with a 5-megapixel camera, a 1500mAh battery, and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean loaded on top.

Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2
Image credits to Tech2 via SamMobile

Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2
Images credits to Tech2

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Android 4.4 KitKat (Unofficial) Now Available for Google Nexus One

Google Nexus One owners rejoice, as Android 4.4 KitKat is not an impossible dream for them. Although unofficial, the latest version of the operating system is now available for the first Nexus smartphone launched by Google.

The custom build was released courtesy of XDA Recognized Developer texasice, along with his team, and is based on AOSP. However, this unofficial Android 4.4 KitKat ROM for Nexus One also contains extra features that enhance functionality even further, which can be disabled. The bad news is that some things are not working yet and there’s no telling whether they will be fixed anytime soon. Developers of the ROM have confirmed that the ART compiler in KitKat does not work, so it should not be used as it causes bootloops. Then, there’s the graphics drivers that are not yet fully compatible and not working as they should. Last but not least, users won’t be able to take screenshots on the phone, and the camera may not work perfectly.

Nexus One users who aren’t concerned by the bugs and broken features of this port can flash the ROM on their smartphones and take advantage of the rest of Android 4.4 KitKat functionality. Here is a rundown of the basic and extra features included in this ROM:

Basic features:

• Extended PowerMenu;
• Battery %;
• Volume button music control;
• Trackball Wake;
• Theme manager.

Extra features:

• Sixbar signal strength;
• Lockscreen dialpad, and a few lockscreen mods;
• However our biggest feature is the ability to turn all that off with one switch in the toolbox, giving you 100% AOSP look and feel;
• We also do eng builds (instead of userdebug like everyone else) providing more open experience (ie adb root by default) and full complement of commandline tools (busybox, vim, ssh, curl/wet with ssl support!);
• Our newest addition is a custom updater written from scratch by Preludedrew and myself, featuring automatic update checks, support for downloading gapps, and advanced automatic install (TWRP and CWM supported but TWRP preferred).

For more details on how to download and install the unofficial Android 4.4 KitKat ROM for Google Nexus One, you may want to head over to the original thread on XDA Developers forum.

Google Nexus One
Image credits to Google

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Jolla's First Sailfish OS Smartphone Starts Shipping

Last night marked an important event in the evolution of Jolla, a Finnish startup that dreams of changing the mobile market, as the first device designed by it has arrived in users’ hands.

The company held the phone’s launch event in Helsinki, where it also handed out the first 450 units of its smartphone, which runs under Jolla’s own Sailfish OS. The phone was launched in Finland in partnership with wireless carrier DNA. Built based on MeeGo, the mobile OS that Nokia has started to develop a few years back in collaboration with Intel, Sailfish promises a different experience than what other mobile OSes out there can deliver. The platform’s UI is gesture-based, and the device comes with no buttons on the front, featuring an “original Finnish design,” as Jolla notes on its website. The software comes with no pre-loaded applications, but users will be able to choose to install apps they need straight from the startup wizard. In addition to the aforementioned interface that takes heavy advantage of swipes and other gestures, Sailfish OS comes with support for natively developed applications and for Android software. Right from the start, users will receive access to over 85,000 Android apps, courtesy of a partnership with Yandex. Furthermore, the platform offers navigation services via Nokia’s HERE Maps.

The platform is still not complete as of now, and it lacks support for features such as DLNA, MMS, and Calendar sync, as the company notes in a series of posts on Twitter. The handset packs some appealing hardware specs inside (such as a 4.5-inch IPS screen, 1.4 GHz dual-core CPU, 4G LTE, and 8-megapixel camera) and also arrives with a series of customization options, courtesy of “The Other Half” smart covers. Put up for pre-order several months ago, Jolla’s smartphone has been reserved by people from 136 markets, but no info on how many devices were booked has been provided. For the time being, however, the company won’t ship outside Europe.

According to Jolla, its smartphone will be available through its webshop for direct sales as soon as all reserved devices have shipped. Unfortunately, no timeframe for when that might happen has been provided. Jolla appears to be confident on its ability to grow and capture market share around the world. It will certainly receive support from people in Finland, especially now that Nokia’s handset division is becoming part of Microsoft. You can learn more on the new Jolla smartphone and on what the Sailfish OS has to offer via the promo video embedded below. You can also sign up for info on the availability of the device on the vendor’s website.

Jolla's phone starts shipping
Image credits to Jolla

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Titanium Backup Adds Support for ART Runtime on Android 4.4 KitKat

An updated flavor of the Titanium Backup is now available for download for the owners of Android-based devices, namely version 6.1.4.1.

The new application release brings along initial support for ART runtime on Android 4.4 KitKat, while also packing a series of updated translations. Titanium Backup was made available for Android devices as a simple to use tool for backing up and restoring applications, user data, and Google Play links.

“This includes all protected apps & system apps, plus external data on your SD card. You can do 0-click batch & scheduled backups,” the application’s description reads. However, users will need to be rooted to enjoy the features of this application. The software works with all devices running under Android 1.5 or higher.

Titanium Backup for Android
Image credits to Google Play Store

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Jolla's Sailfish OS Smartphone Launches Today

Today, the first Jolla smartphones become available for purchase in Finland, at a launch event set to kick off at 7pm in Helsinki.

Jolla, a Finnish startup that has designed its smartphone around Sailfish OS, a brand new platform based on Nokia’s MeeGo OS, has partnered with wireless carrier DNA for the launch, and also plans on bringing the phone to more markets in the near future. Today, the first 450 Jolla phones will be handed to users who pre-ordered the device, at a pop-up store in central Helsinki, ZDNet notes in a recent article. The smartphone was put up for pre-order with a price tag of €399 attached to it, and should start shipping to users who reserved it in the not too distant future. For those out of the loop, we should note that the handset packs a 4.5-inch IPS qHD display that is protected by Gorilla Glass 2.

Furthermore, it arrives on shelves with 1GB of RAM inside, 16GB of internal memory, and a microSD memory card slot for expansion purposes. On the back, the new device features an 8-megapixel camera with LED Flash, while packing a 2-megapixel front camera. The specs list of the device also includes GSM/3G/4G LTE connectivity, and a battery that can deliver up to 10 hours of talk time on 3G. The phone measures 131 x 68 x 9.9 mm and weighs 141 grams. As mentioned above, Jolla’s device runs under the Sailfish OS, which should prove to be a truly open platform, different from what other mobile operating systems out there have to offer.

The fast and intuitive UI that Sailfish comes with is complemented by the availability of a wide range of applications for the platform, either designed specifically for the OS, or developed for Android. This is possible courtesy of a partnership that Jolla signed with Yandex.Store Android apps portal for the distribution of software to Sailfish OS devices.

Jolla's Sailfish OS phone
Image credits to Jolla

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