LG G3 Expected to Arrive in June, Sample Image Leaks Online

South Korean mobile phone maker LG Electronics has been long rumored to plan the launch of a new flagship Android-based smartphone before the end of this year, yet no specific info on when the device might hit shelves has been provided as of now.

According to the latest reports out there, however, we might see the mobile phone made available sometime in June, provided, of course, that LG’s plans on the matter pan out. Moreover, the upcoming smartphone is rumored to hit the market as a true Galaxy S5 killer, something that has been rumored a while ago as well. The info comes from giga.de, which has it on good authority that the device will become official sometime in June, in line with previous reports on LG’s plans on the matter, which suggested that May could be the earliest when we’ll see the new smartphone. LG has already confirmed that it is working on a successor for the LG G2, but it did not provide further details on what to expect from the device or on when it will release it.

However, the phone’s availability in early summer appears almost confirmed, as another source claims that LG could have it on shelves sometime in July. A recent post on ortud.com brought to the web a leaked camera sample coming from the LG G3, while also unveiling some more info on the device and its capabilities. As phonearena notes, the source of the leaked photo claims that LG could launch the mobile phone sometime in July. Moreover, the poster claims that one of his friends has been testing the G3, and that the camera sample should prove it. The sample photo indeed appears to have been shot with an LG G3, given that the EXIF data attached to it clearly mentions model number LG D972, previously associated with the upcoming device.

The smartphone is also said to come to the market with a 13-megapixel camera on the back, with a sensor identical to the one included on the LG G Pro 2. Optical image stabilization capabilities are also expected to be available for users. However, with no official confirmation on the matter available as of now, we’ll have to take the info with a grain of salt, at least until some more consistent proof of LG G3’s existence emerges, if not until LG formally introduces the new model. LG has been long trying to grab some more market share on the smartphone segment from Samsung, but it has had little success in this regard until now. However, should LG G3 indeed prove to be the Galaxy S5 killer that it has already been teased to be, we could see the odds turning in its favor, that’s for sure.

LG G Pro 2
Image credits to LG

Alleged LG G3 camera sample
Image credits to Ortud.com via PhoneArena

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OPPO Confirms Two Find 7 Models for March 19

Chinese mobile phone maker OPPO has been long rumored to plan the launch of two Find 7 models before the end of this month, and an official confirmation on the matter has already emerged.

The handset vendor has posted on its Twitter account a new teaser image for the upcoming device, mentioning clearly that two variants will be announced to the world. “Two models of the Find 7 are coming on March 19,” OPPO said in a tweet, while attaching to it the photo that can be seen above. The image confirms something that has been long said about Find 7, namely that users will be able to buy a premium version of the device, packing a 2K (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution, as well as a standard flavor, which will include only a full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) screen.

According to previous reports on the device, the screen on the 2K model will measure 5.5 inches, while the other variant will pack only a 5-inch screen. OPPO Find 7 is also expected to land on shelves with a removable 4000mAh battery and a microSD memory card slot. Yesterday, a leaked sample photo coming from the smartphone also suggested that it could be launched with a 50-megapixel camera on the back.

OPPO confirms two Find 7 models
Image credits to Oppo on Twitter

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Sony Xperia Tablet Z2 Is the First to Bundle the New MHL 3.0 Standard

You might have keeping tabs on the developments at MWC 2014 last week, so you probably know Sony launched its next flagship tablet, the Sony Xperia Tablet Z2, at the event.

But there’s an interesting detail that has been kept away from the spotlight. The Sony tablet is one of the first devices (along with Sony’s flagship Xperia Z2) to feature MHL 3.0 technology. For those who aren't familiar with what MHL 3.0 is, this is the newest standard which allows native 4K video output through a single cable, as well as the possibility to charge the device at the same time (up to 10W). Getting content from our smartphones or tablets can currently be done in a variety of ways. For example, most mobile devices currently have a physical HDMI output. There’s also the possibility of doing things wirelessly, though Miracast technology or a third-party accessory like Chromecast. But there’s certainly a lot of smartphones that use MHL technology to connect to the television sets. Now, the latest MHL 3.0 has made it into Sony’s latest flagship tablet model.

A highlight of the new standard is increased data bandwidth, a functionality that allows the coexistance of 4K video and high-speed peripheral support for mass storage and input devices, including touch screen, keyboard or mouse. MHL 3.0 is all about 4K, being able to display video with a resolution of 3840 x 2160, while MHL 2.0 only supported full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels). The new standard also brings support for new multi-channel audio formats plus the ability to stream content to multiple screens. The newest MHL 3.0 standard might be an extra bonus, for those thinking of picking up the Xperia Z2 Tablet. Sony markets the tablet as being the “world’s slimmest and lightest waterproof tablet,” which could in fact be true judging by is dimensions. The slate is only 6.9mm / 0.27 inches thick and weighs 426 g / 439 g – 0.93 / 0.96 lbs depending on whether we’re talking about the Wi-Fi or 3G/LTE model.

The new Xperia Z2 Tablet has a 10.1-inch screen with a 1920 x 1080 Triluminos display bundling Sony’s new Live color LED tech. This new system blends red and green phosphor with blue LEDs in order to produce a bright, uniform light. A 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor lies under the bonnet, combined with a hefty 3GB of RAM. All of the above sound like pretty good reasons to be picking up the new Sony slate and the addition of the new MHL 3.0 standard will only make it more attractive.

Sony Xperia Tablet Z2 is among the first to support MHL 3.0
Image credits to BusinessInsider

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Apple CarPlay Will Not Include Pandora Radio at Launch

If you’re thinking that CarPlay will finally let you enjoy Pandora radio in your car the way you’ve always dreamed, the company headquartered at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California, has a message for you: keep dreaming.

Well, technically they didn’t say anything, but that’s exactly the point. In announcing CarPlay yesterday, Apple confirmed a number of third-party apps that would be supported at launch, including Beats Music, iHeartRadio, Spotify, and Stitcher. One notably absent name on that list was Pandora, the music service Apple rivals with its own iTunes Radio product. Which is probably the reason why Pandora isn’s in CarPlay. But, according to a statement offered by Pandora to MacRumors, the service could one day be a part of CarPlay after all.

“At this time, Pandora is not integrated with Apple CarPlay. As a first mover in the auto space, we continue to broaden our relationships with OEMs while also exploring other opportunities to expand our presence in the car. Apple has been and continues to be a valued partner,” a company representative said. There’s also the possibility that Pandora itself didn’t want to bother its head with CarPlay integration as the music streaming service is already present on the dashboard of hundreds of vehicle models.

CarPlay music promo
Image credits to Apple

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Windows 8.1 Update 1 RTM Screenshots Leaked

Windows 8.1 Update 1 has already reached RTM, according to some new reports, while the public launch is expected to take place in April for both MSDN subscribers and end users.

Windows leaker WZor, who has a good track on Windows information, claims that the build string of the new RTM version is 6.3.9600.17031.WINBLUE_GDR.140221-1952 and partners are already trying it out as we speak. Two screenshots published today seem to confirm that this particular build has indeed been compiled, which means that users could indeed get it as soon as next month.

There are no details regarding the new features that might be part of this RTM build, but according to WZor, Microsoft is still conducting some internal testing on this new build, so most of the bugs and issues found in the OS update until the public release are very likely to be fixed before it reaches users. Windows 8.1 Update 1 is expected to launch on April 2 for MSDN subscribers, while end users should get it on April 8, the same day when Redmond officially debuts the Patch Tuesday update cycle. Windows 8.1 Update 1 will be offered free of charge to all those already running Windows 8.1 and will be delivered via Windows Update.

Windows 8.1 Update 1 has reached RTM and is now being tested out by partners
Images credits to WZor

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Meizu MX3 to Go Official in France on March 6

Chinese mobile phone maker Meizu is expected to make its MX3 smartphone official in France on March 6, and it has already started to send out invitations to a press event that will take place in Paris on that day.

The company does not unveil specifics on what will be announced at the event, but rumors on the possible arrival of the smartphone in the country as soon as this week have emerged a few times before, and the event is almost certain to be focused on this unveiling. Following the official launch in France, the Meizu MX3 is expected to become available in some other markets across Europe as well, though specific details on this have yet to be offered. The mobile phone was made official several months ago, and it can already be bought in a great deal of countries out there, in addition to China, via Lightinthebox. The handset was added to the online portal with a price tag of $429.99 (€312) for the 16GB model, while being priced at $458.99 (€332) for those who will go for the 32GB variant. Meizu has announced the device with a 5.1-inch touchscreen display that can deliver a full HD (1080 x 1800 pixels) resolution, as well as with an octa-core Exynos 5410 chipset packed inside (a quad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A15 CPU and a quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7 processor).

Moreover, the handset sports PowerVR SGX 544MP3 graphics, 2GB of RAM, and was also unveiled with 64GB and 128GB of internal memory options, in addition to the aforementioned two. It comes with an 8-megapixel camera on the back, with full HD video recording capabilities, as well as with a front camera for making video calls. Meizu also packed the smartphone will all the usual connectivity options, including Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0, as well as Wi-Fi Direct and GPS receiver. The entire range of usual sensors is also available on the device. Meizu MX3 is powered by a Li-Po 2400mAh battery that can deliver up to 14 hours of talk time, and features the Flyme 3.0 platform, which is based on Google’s Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system.

For those out of the loop, we should note that Meizu also announced a new flavor of the device at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week, one that runs under Ubuntu. However, this model is only in its development phase for the time being, and it might take a while before it arrives on shelves. According to GizChina, however, chances are that Meizu will discuss more about the Ubuntu-based MX3 at the aforementioned press event in Paris. Stay tuned to learn more on the matter.

Meizu MX3
Image credits to Meizu

Meizu MX3 with Ubuntu
Image credits to Meizu

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Oppo Find 7 Reportedly Brings a 50MP Camera

Chinese mobile phone maker Oppo is gearing up for the launch of a new high-end smartphone in the form of Oppo Find 7, and it seems that it might pack it with a 50-megapixel camera on the back.

The info comes from a sample photo that was published on weibo and that is 8160 x 6120 pixels in size (it weighs 9.7MB), as GizChina has found out. The image, which can be seen in a reduced size above, clearly points at a device featuring a 50-megapixel camera, while the EXIF data attached to it mentions Oppo’s Find 7 smartphone. Give that no official confirmation on the matter has been provided as of now, we’ll take the info with a grain of salt for the time being, though it would not come too much as a surprise if the smartphone indeed included such a large camera.

After all, Nokia has already released two phones that feature 41-megapixel PureView cameras on the back, and the technology was recently said to have been opened to other mobile phone makers out there as well. Oppo has already confirmed the Find 7 with a 5.5-inch screen capable of a 2560 x 1440 pixels resolution and with a Snapdragon 801 processor inside, but it will unveil all its capabilities only on March 19, during a launch event announced for Beijing.

Oppo Find 7 camera sample
Image credits to Weibo via GizChina

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Galaxy S5 Benchmark Result Spotted with 5.2-Inch Screen, Full HD Resolution

Samsung Galaxy S5 was one of the most anticipated smartphones at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week, but the hardware specifications that Samsung has announced for the device were not in line with what many enthusiasts were actually expecting.

To be more precise, Samsung unveiled the new device with a 5.1-inch touchscreen display capable of delivering a full HD resolution and with a 2.5GHz quad-core processor inside, while many were dreaming of a 5.2-inch 2K screen and a 64-bit octa-core CPU. While it might seem that Samsung has scrapped plans for very high-end hardware specs inside the smartphone, it appears that things are not quite as such, and that a new flavor of Galaxy S5 might hit shelves later this year. Just as mentioned above, it would include a larger screen and a more powerful processor, and a previously spotted AnTuTu benchmark emerged online to confirm that, as PhoneArena notes. However, things are not as simple in the end, and a brand new Galaxy S5 model was spotted online over the weekend, with model number SM-G900H attached to it, and with a 5.2-inch screen. It can be seen listed on this page on the GFXBench website.

What’s confusing about it is the fact that it can deliver only a full HD (1080p) resolution. The mobile phone is also listed there with a Samsung Exynos 5 Octa (4xCortex A15 + 4xCortex A7 - ARMv7 big.LITTLE) processor inside and with the ARM Mali-T628 MP6 (hexa-core) GPU. Running under the Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system, the Samsung SM-G900H packs a 16-megapixel camera on the back, a 2MP front camera, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal memory. When looking at these specs, one immediately understands that this is not the premium version of Galaxy S5 that was long rumored to arrive on shelves this year, but a brand new favor of the flagship handset.

What’s unclear about it, however, is why Samsung would plan on launching the phone in so many variants. In the end, they might prove to be confusing to users. However, this would not be the first time that the South Korean mobile phone maker actually releases various iterations of the same device, aiming each of them at different markets out there, in an attempt to increase sales. Unfortunately, there’s no official confirmation on plans to make a similar move with the Galaxy S5 too, and we’ll have to wait for a formal announcement to learn more on the matter. Hopefully, such an unveiling will come sooner rather than later, so stay tuned.

Samsung Galaxy S5
Image credits to Samsung

Samsung Galaxy S5 at GFXBench
Image credits to GFXBench

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Google and Samsung Concerned over Microsoft’s Nokia Takeover

Microsoft is still waiting to get regulatory approval for the Nokia takeover in some large countries across the world, and the company might have to wait a little bit longer in China due to some recent comments made by Google and Samsung officials.

Representatives of the two companies are said to be discussing with the Chinese governments over their concerns that a potential deal between Nokia and Microsoft could lead to higher patent license fees, a report by Bloomberg reveals today. It turns out that officials have already contacted China’s Ministry of Commerce and asked for conditions on the deal to make sure that patents that remain with Nokia won’t be sold at a higher price, while Microsoft won’t abuse on the technologies it’s going to take over from the Finnish mobile phone maker. The $7.54 billion (€5.44 billion) deal between Microsoft and Nokia was announced in September 2013 and involves the hardware unit of the Finnish mobile phone maker, but most of the patents will remain with the company.

The EU cleared the deal in late December and the Chinese government is expected to do the same in the coming weeks, despite the concerns of Google, Samsung, and other local manufacturers. “We look forward to the date when our partners at Nokia will become members of the Microsoft family, and are pleased that the European Commission has cleared the deal without conditions,” the software giant said back in December when the EU approved the deal. Nokia is playing a key role in Microsoft’s mobile strategy, especially as the latter company continues the transition to a devices and services firm through its One Microsoft transformation plan launched by former CEO Steve Ballmer.

“We are excited and honored to be bringing Nokia’s incredible people, technologies and assets into our Microsoft family. Given our long partnership with Nokia and the many key Nokia leaders that are joining Microsoft, we anticipate a smooth transition and great execution,” Ballmer said in September when Microsoft officially announced the Nokia takeover. As part of the deal, former Nokia boss Stephen Elop is also joining Microsoft, with a recent report revealing that he’ll take over the Xbox division and will be in charge of all hardware products developed by the software giant, including the Surface tablet. Julie-Larson Green, who was until now in charge of the same unit, will become the new chief experience officer (CXO) of the Applications and Services Group.

Microsoft announced the Nokia takeover in September
Image credits to digithoughts.com

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BBM Will Get Photo Sharing in Multi Person Chats, Increased Size for Shared Files

Canadian mobile phone maker BlackBerry is getting ready to bring a nice range of enhancements to its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), and it has already unveiled a series of details on the matter.

The company has announced that these changes are based on the feedback received from users and that they will make it to BBM in the near future, but it did not provide a specific released date for them. As for the upcoming enhancements themselves, the most important one will be the inclusion of support photo sharing in multi person chats. BBM has already provided users with a series of sharing capabilities when it comes to multi person chats, such as the possibility to send voice notes, files (from a Dropbox account), and location (powered by Glympse). Support for photo sharing in multi person chats will be available in the next BBM release, and will be accompanied by another great enhancement, namely the option to send files that are larger than the currently supported 6MB.

BBM will allow users to send files that are of up to 16MB in size, which translates into the possibility to easily share larger photos and documents, as well as longer videos. “For example, the 6MB transfer limit today allows you to send 6 seconds of 1080p HD video (recorded on a BlackBerry Z30 smartphone). With the increase to 16MB, you will be able to send 16 seconds of video using the same settings,” Jeff Gadway, head of product and brand marketing for BBM, explains in a blog post. The upcoming BBM release will also bring along an increase in the size of emoticons, also based on the feedback received from users. However, the increase will be only a small one, it seems.

“With millions of you depending on BBM to connect with your most important contacts, we want to provide the best messaging experience possible. So, we’re taking your feedback and we’re trying to knock it out of the park by bringing new features and improvements to BBM on a regular basis,” Jeff Gadway also said. BBM has seen a nice range of enhancements over the past several months, including some that are meant to provide owners of Android and iOS devices with a better experience than before.

Moving forth, the Canadian vendor is also planning the release of its messaging application on Windows Phone smartphones, as well as on Nokia X devices. However, these are only some of the changes that users will see in the not too distant future, as the company is also working on ensuring that more features and capabilities are available for them as well. In fact, only last week, BlackBerry also announced that stickers would be coming to BBM via the BBM shop, while unveiling eBBM Suite and BBM Protected earlier this week.

BBM with photo sharing in multi person chats
Image credits to BlackBerry

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