Identity Crisis: Confused Nokia N9 can't choose which OS to use, comes with 7 to cover all the bases [VIDEO]
Proud owners of a new Nokia N9 are probably more than happy with its unique, quirky and individual OS MeeGo, but for some, that just isn’t enough.
This unusual looking lime green N9 has been demoed on video showcasing its ability to switch between not just one, but seven different mobile operating systems. Of course it’s not some special edition or in house unit leaked from the Finns but in fact a peculiar shanzhai/’Nok-off’ straight from the back streets of China.
This Chinese impostor, although not quite living up to the hardware specs of the real-deal does have the unique power to switch between MeeGo, iOS 5.0, Windows Phone 7, BBOS, HTC Sense, Samsung’s TouchWiz and Symbian Anna.
Assumedly this device is for users who just can’t make up their minds, or at least like to keep things interesting. Along with this menagerie of operating systems, the Nok-off N9 totes dual-SIM functionality, a 3.8″ WQVGA resistive touchscreen, a 1.3MP camera on the back and to top it all off, a Talking Tom app, typically found on a genuine iOS device and a selection of pre-installed porn too, one would assume for when the OS switching loses its appeal.
We don’t have a price for this confused N9 but it’s at least caught our attention as one of the most impressive knock-offs we’ve seen.
Footage of how it would feel to fly over Planet Earth [VIDEO]
Space has always captured the minds of people for centuries, from those who the spent time to map and document stars and planets across the night sky, to the first men and women who actually took flight beyond our atmosphere into the unknown.
Despite a lull is televised space exploration and media attention on space research in recent years, our love for this mysterious void is alive and well. Don’t believe me, just take a look at this recent footage from the International Space Station and try to not be impressed.
The video condenses a sizable rotation around the earth into all of 60 seconds, starting somewhere over the Pacific Ocean and moving across the America’s by night, before coming to daybreak over Antarctica and covering a host of other locales in between, such as Mexico, and the Amazon, check it out, it’s breathtaking.
Apple gets the Galaxy Tab 7.7 sales banned in EU, loses in the Galaxy Tab 10.1N case
Apple and Samsung had another round in the Dusseldorf’s Higher Regional Court that ended up badly for the Galaxy Tab 7.7.
Apple scored a victory in its crusade against the Super AMOLED-packing tablet and got its sales banned across the European Union. It’s up to the members of the EU to decide whether to respect this decision or not though.
Here’s Samsung statement regarding the ban:
“Samsung is disappointed with the court’s ruling. We will continue to take all available measures, including legal action, to protect our intellectual property rights and defend against Apple’s claims to ensure our products remain available to consumers throughout the European Union.”
The court also brought an end to the Galaxy Tab 10.1N case, ruling in favor of Samsung. The 10.1N slate will remain available in the EU markets.
And here is what Samsung has to say about the this decision:
“Samsung welcomes the court’s ruling which confirms our position that the GALAXY Tab 10.1N does not infringe Apple’s intellectual property and does not infringe laws against unfair competition. Should Apple continue to make legal claims based on such a generic design patent, design innovation and progress in the industry could be restricted.”
The Apple spokesmen weren’t available to comment on the decision.
LG has taken the wraps off their brand new Android tablet – the LG G Pad 8.3. The G Pad 8.3 has a 1920×1200 resolution display, which LG claims makes it the first 8-inch tablet with a Full HD display.
Other features on the G Pad 8.3 include a Snapdragon 600 chipset with a quad-core CPU clocked at 1.7GHz and Adreno 320 GPU, 2GB of LPDDR2 RAM and 16GB internal storage space. On the back is a 5 megapixel camera and on the front is a 1.3 megapixel shooter. The G Pad 8.3 is powered by a 4,600mAh battery but LG hasn’t made any claims regarding the battery life. The G Pad 8.3 runs on Android 4.2.2.
The G Pad 8.3 measures at 216.8 x 126.5 x 8.3mm, which is slightly more than the Nexus 7, which measures 200 x 114 x 8.65mm. It also weighs a bit more at 338g, compared to the Nexus 7′s 290g. LG hasn’t specificed any network connectivity so it’s likely that the G Pad 8.3 is Wi-Fi only, unlike the Nexus 7 which also supports LTE.
The LG G Pad 8.3 will go on sale in North America, Europe and Asia as well as other regions starting in the fourth quarter of 2013. No prices have been mentioned so far and will be revealed at launch.
Android-running INFOBAR CO1 is a colorful Japan-oriented candybar
The INFOBAR CO1 is part of a 5 smartphones lineup announced yesterday by Japanese carrier KDDI au.
It is the most interesting in the lineup and offers a heavily overhauled UI based on Android 2.3 Gingerbread (iida UI), colorful looks and hardware numpad to go with its touchscreen display.
Looking at the features the INFOBAR CO1 offers a 3.2″ display of FWVGA (854 x 480)resolution and a pixel density of around 306 ppi, an 8 MP camera and more.
INFOBAR C01
To clarify on the pixels per inch number of the INFOBAR CO1 it is slightly above 300, which coincidentally is the mark an average human retina can distinguish. Meaning that UI elements should look smoother and pixels would be impossible to spot at an arm’s length.
For a better look at the iida UI check out the video below, Japanese narrated.
The INFOBAR CO1 weighs only 106 g and is 12.3 mm thick. It features an e-wallet function by carrier KDDI au, CDMA/GSM/GPRS compatibility and digital TV tuner.
The INFOBAR CO1 will begin retailing next month courtesy of KDDI au.
Nokia Tune Dubstep Edition: The new sound of Finland's phone royalty [VIDEO]
When you have the most iconic and recognizable mobile theme in the world, you’d have to be pretty confident to let the general public loose on it, with a mind to then putting the result on 100 million handsets worldwide, but that’s exactly what Nokia have gone and done.
The Nokia Tune competition opened at the start of September and asked musicians, music lovers and Nokia fans everywhere to reinvent the iconic Nokia theme in their own style.
Update: Nokia just came up and made it clear that this new controversial DubStep remix is not replacing the original Nokia tune.
The winner would then have his or her new theme pre-loaded onto over 100 million new Nokia phones to be sold across the globe as well as bagging themselves a $10,000 first prize.
The theme itself originates from Spanish classical guitarist and composer Francisco Tarrega’s piece, ‘Grande Valse’. What we know today as the Nokia tune, is merely an adapted arrangement, dating back to 1902. Nokia first used the theme in 1994 with the Nokia 2100 series and have over time reshaped and updated the theme to suit the devices the company makes and Nokia’s image as a whole.
Video used to promote the Nokia Tune competition
The winner of the competition was 22-year-old Milan based audio design graduate and DJ, Valerio Alessandro Sizzi. Valerio’s theme was one of over 6200 other entries from across the world and received nearly 2000 likes on Facebook in the short time the competition has been running. His theme was handpicked by a group of seven judges, who trawled through around 3000 minutes of audio to find the theme they were looking for.
Winner: Milan-based DJ Valerio Alessandro Sizzi
The winning theme sees classic Nokia tune blended with an aggressive injection of electronic bass lines and synth overtones to create the ‘Nokia Tune dubstep Edition’, which you can listen to here or click play just below.
When explaining why he decided to create a dubstep version, Valerio said:
��I made a dubstep version of the Nokia Tune because the style has become massively popular during the last two years. I just thought that a sparkling, cool version of the Nokia Tune would attract young customers.”
��The original Nokia ringtone is the most representative ��symbol�� of Nokia��s brand identity. It is not just a ringtone, it��s a sound-logo, something that in the last few years has reached a massive importance. Whenever you hear the Nokia Tune, you know it��s a Nokia product.��
With over 1.4 million visits and 11 plays of the various entries, Valerio faced stiff competition, but as you heard, the end result is an exciting refreshing take on the classic and oh so familiar theme.
We hope Valerio will go on to create more great tunes and in the meantime, you’ll be able to start picking up Nokia’s with his new flavor of theme in the not-too-distant future.
If you want to hear the other entries and see the leader boards, you can find that here and a full rundown of the ‘winning tune’ story can be found on the Nokia Blog, here.
Microsoft take UK retailer Comet to task over claims of producing and selling 94,000 bootlegged Windows CDs
UK-based electrical retailer Comet have incurred the wrath of the big ‘M’ over in Redmond, Washington.
Microsoft are presently taking legal action against Comet following allegations of the production and sale of bootlegged copies of both Windows XP and Windows Vista recovery CDs.
Microsoft Corp. today began proceedings against Comet Group PLC for allegedly creating more than 94,000 recovery CDs which were then sold onto customers who had purchased Windows-loaded PCs and laptops in their retail stores.
Microsoft’s David Finn, associate general counsel of Worldwide Anti-Piracy and Anti-Counterfeiting, stated that “Comet’s actions were unfair to customers. We expect better from retailers of Microsoft products — and our customers deserve better, too.”
Comet on the other hand argue that they were doing their customers a service, creating and distributing the disks as in recent years, manufacturers have done away with providing bundled recovery CDs with new computers in favor of creating special partitions on hard drives, so users may create a disk in their own time if they so wish.
Comet’s official statement is as follows: “Comet firmly believes that it acted in the very best interests of its customers. It believes its customers had been adversely affected by the decision to stop supplying recovery disks with each new Microsoft Operating System-based computer. Accordingly, Comet is satisfied that it has a good defense to the claim and will defend its position vigorously.”
The ‘dodgy’ disks were apparently produced at a factory in the English county of Hampshire and then distributed to Comet’s 250 retail stores. The company are currently in the process of changing hands, being sold by French parent retail company Kesa Electricals PLC to London-based investment capital firm OpCapita LLP. As such, a costly legal battle is the last thing the company would want, given their current delicate financial situation.
So who do you think are in the wrong? Comet for producing and profiting from software originally created by Microsoft, or Microsoft for berating a company trying to provide a service that they know many of their consumers will appreciate. Leave us your comments below.
VLC media player gets updates to 2.0.2, brings Retina display support on OS X
The popular VLC media player for Windows and OS X has received another update, which brings it to version 2.0.2. Among the chief changes in this version is support for the Retina display on the new MacBook Pro. This means that the application interface will be displayed at native resolution instead of being upscaled as before.
Another important change is that VLC will no longer ask users on OS X to wait while updating the font cache. As users of this player will know, you had to wait for a lengthy loading animation as the player built the font cache after every update, but that stops with 2.0.2. Of course it will still build the font cache, just that you won’t have to stare at a dialogue box for ages.
Some of the other changes include:
Enabled drag and drop of playlist items between the temporary playlist and the persistent media library
Various video output improvements, notably for crop, zoom, osd and menu support
Enabled import of playlist items taken from the service discovery modules to the media library or the temporary playlist
Added media key support for keyboards by other manufacturers than Apple.
Added HiDPI / Retina Display save UI artwork
Restored the preferences’ fullscreen options, which allows the user to start videos directly in fullscreen mode
Keep Aspect Ratio when resizing is back
Added controls to manipulate the Subtitles Duration to the Track Synchronization panel
Hidden items in the sidebar are being retained for the next launch now
Fixed crash when trying to open an Audio CD by drag & drop
Improve reliability when opening DVDs or BDs by drag & drop
Fixed a crash when attaching hard drives with multiple partitions while VLC is running
Improved OSD rendering in fullscreen mode
Improved fullscreen behavior when using a smartphone remote based upon VLC’s http interface
The selected audio device is retained throughout multiple VLC sessions now
Since running the OS X interface as an Extra Interface or Control Interface can lead to undefined results, the respective options will be automatically reset on the first launch, if needed.
This fixes issues with unresponsive playback controls and crashes on quit.
Updated Growl plugin supporting Growl 1.3.
Improved reliablity in detecting VIDEO_TS folders when opened through the “Open Disc” panel.
Re-implemented the “Window Decorations” option, which, if disabled, hides all the UI elements from the video output window to give you the cleanest experience possible.
Improved the window title behavior when using the dark interface mode. It correctly responds to right and double-click events now.
Miscellaneous minor interface improvements
To get a full list of changes, click on the source link below. To download the VLC media player, click here.
Rockstar issues a dozen new Grand Theft Auto V screenshots
Rockstar Games has released a dozen of new Grand Theft Auto V screenshots to build up even more hype about its upcoming game.
Though static, the new batch of screenshot is more action-packed than ever. There are car and bike chases, airplane flights, scuba-diving, skydiving. All screenshots showcase the game’s gorgeous scenery and graphics. One screenshot even depicts the three main game characters – Michael, Franklin and Trevor.
Exactly a week ago, the company released a trailer showcasing the protagonists in detail. Rockstar boasts that the game features the biggest map it has ever created and the latest screenshots definitely support this claim.
Expected to launch on September 17, Grand Theft Auto V is going to be available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Sadly, PC gamers are left out, as the company is figuring a way to save the game from being pirated.
Apple launches new Mac mini, includes new Sandy Bridge processors, AMD graphics and Thunderbolt port, lacks optical drive
Yesterday, Apple also refreshed their cheapest Mac – the Mac mini – along with the MacBook Air. The new Mac mini has the new generation of dual-core Intel Sandy Bridge processors that replaces the Core 2 Duo found on the previous generation model. There are two models now, with the base model having a 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 and the more expensive model running on a 2.5GHz Intel Core i5 and can be configured to 2.7GHz Core i5 through Apple’s online store.
The 2.3GHz model comes with 2GB of RAM whereas the 2.5GHz model comes with 4GB of RAM. Either of these can be configured to have up to 8GB of RAM. Both the models come with a 500GB 5400-rpm hard drive and both can be configured with a 750GB 7200-rpm hard drive with the 2.5GHz model also having the option to be configured with a 256GB SSD or a combination of 256GB SSD and 750GB HDD.
The new Mac mini forgoes the Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics found on the previous generation model in favor of Intel HD Graphics 3000 for the 2.3GHz model and AMD Radeon HD 6630 for the 2.5Ghz model.
The new Mac mini comes with OS X Lion pre-installed.
Apart from the two models mentioned above, the Mac mini also comes in a server edition, that has a faster quad-core 2.0GHz Intel Core i7 processor with 4GB of of RAM (configurable up to 8GB) and dual 500GB 7200-rpm hard drives with a variety of configuration options. It also uses the Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor. The server edition comes with Lion Server pre-installed.
The new Mac mini looks identical to the older model but you will notice that there is no longer a slot for putting in your discs and that’s because all the new Mac mini models now lack an optical disc drive. The extra space that you get due to this omission lets you add another hard drive or a combination of SSD and HDD as we saw before.
The new Mac mini also comes with the ultra-fast Thunderbolt port, which lets you connect high speed drives and other accessories as well as displays with a Thunderbolt connector.
The 2.3GHz model with default configuration is priced at $599 whereas the 2.5GHz model is priced at $799. The server edition will set you back by $999.
FaceTime over cellular confirmed by Verizon for iPhone 5
As you may or may not recall from the recent iPhone 5 announcement from Apple, the new iPhone was claimed to support FaceTime video calling over cellular networks, although it wasn’t clear for which networks.
Verizon has since confirmed that FaceTime on the iPhone 5 will be available to customers on any of their data plans.
This is in contrast to what some other carriers are offering, such as AT&T, who are requiring iPhone 5 users to sign up for a new Mobile Share plan in order to use FaceTime over anything other than WiFi.
Verizon’s announcement, of course comes with the added caveat that data restrictions will apply, depending on the type of data plan you have, so you’ll have to keep an eye on your data cap.
Now here’s an interesting concept for you – a smartphone that is able to change its weight-balance on command, giving you another way to interact with it and thus enriching the user-experience.
This idea was introduced by Fabian Hemmert, who used a moving battery on an axis to change not only the center of gravity, but also the shape of the gadget. Check out an early (and we mean really early) prototype in the following video shot as part of an TEDx event in Berlin.
Of course, a device that would allow a smartphone or a tablet to shift its center of weight would increase weight and thickness by quite a lot and we imagine it would need quite a lot of power to work.
So this idea will probably never make it to the market, but if we are lucky it might land on some other portable devices like game consoles or SatNav units.
ZTE shoots four Android tablets into the MWC orbit, meet the V9S, V96, PF 100 and T98
ZTE didn’t come all the way from China to Barcelona to just announce smartphones. No, the Chinese are stepping up the slate market as well with their four latest Android tablets.
Image courtesy of IntoMobile
The line-up of new ZTE tablets consists of the PF 100, T98, V96 and V9S. The first two sport quad-core Tegra 3 processors and the other two make do with dual-core chips. Let’s start with the first duo.
PF 100 and T98
The PF 100 and T98 are both running on the Tegra 3 platform clocked at 1.5GHz with 1GB of RAM and Icera 450 modem supporting HSPA+. Storage for both is 16GB, with no microSD card support, sadly.
At the back, both the PF 100 and T98 have 5MP cameras with autofocus and 720p HD video recording. Above the screen resides a 2MP fixed focus camera for video chatting.
Time for the differences. The main one is the screen size, as you may have guessed. ZTE PF 100 is a 10.1-incher with WXGA resolution, while the T98 is pushing the same resolution on a 7″ diagonal. And to wrap those two up, their radios differ as well. The 10.1″ PF 100 rocks quad-band GSM, and tri-band UMTS networks, while the T98 supports only dual-band GSM and TD-SCDMA networks.
Both the PF 100 and T98 run Ice Cream Sandwich.
ZTE V96 and V9S
Both the ZTE V96 and V9S are 10.1-inchers and get their oomph from dual-core Snapdragon processors.
The V96 runs on Qualcomm’s MSM8960 platform with dual-core CPU clocked at 1.7GHz and the V9S features the slower Qualcomm MSM8260 with its two cores clocked at 1.2GHz. Both have 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory. MicroSD card slots are missing here as well.
Like the other two, the V96 and V9S sport 5MP autofocus cameras at the back and 2MP fixed focus at the front. The V96 is the lucky one to run Android 4.0 ICS, while the V9S has to live with the older Honeycomb 3.2.
Pricing and release dates are not available at this time.
Battery tests for Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 complete, here are the results
The Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 is one of the few smartphones with IP67 rating – it combines simple durability and advanced functions, so it needs to prove its endurance both when trekking in the wilderness, but also when enjoying modern conveniences like browsing the web.
A 1,700mAh battery is on the low side of what we would have imagined for a phone that’s likely to spend a lot of time away from an electricity socket, but let’s see if the Xcover 2 can counter the limited capacity with efficiency.
In our talk time test (over a 3G network) it lasted just over 10 hours, a respectable score for that batter capacity. Also, keep in mind that calls on a 3G network usually burn more battery than 2G calls and rural areas are more likely to have 2G-only networks.
Talk time
Motorola RAZR MAXX (ICS) 21:18
Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX 20:24
Motorola RAZR i 20:07
Samsung Galaxy Note II N7100 16:57
LG Optimus G 15:30
Oppo Find 5 14:17
Google Nexus 4 14:17
HTC One X+ 13:31
Huawei Ascend P1 12:30
Samsung Galaxy Note 12:14
Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam 11:58
Samsung Galaxy Premier 11:30
HTC Droid DNA 11:07
HTC Windows Phone 8X 11:07
Samsung Wave 3 S8600 11:07
Samsung I9105 Galaxy S II Plus 11:06
HTC Desire X 11:03
HTC One X (AT&T, LTE) 10:35
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III 10:20
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III (JB) 10:15
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 10:03
HTC One V 10:00
Meizu MX 4-core 10:00
Samsung Galaxy Express 10:00
HTC One X 9:57
HTC One S 9:42
Samsung I9103 Galaxy R 9:40
HTC Sensation XL 9:30
Nokia Lumia 810 9:05
Nokia Lumia 710 9:05
Acer CloudMobile S500 9:05
Motorola Atrix HD 9:04
HTC Vivid 9:02
Nokia Lumia 920 8:56
Nokia Lumia 610 8:51
HTC Rhyme 8:48
Apple iPhone 5 8:42
LG Optimus 3D Max P720 8:42
Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V 8:41
Meizu MX 8:39
Samsung Galaxy S II 8:35
Samsung Galaxy S Duos 8:28
Nokia Lumia 800 8:25
Samsung Galaxy Nexus 8:23
Nokia Lumia 510 8:22
BlackBerry Z10 8:20
HTC Desire V 8:20
Samsung Captivate Glide 8:20
Sony Xperia T 8:15
HTC Rezound (LTE) 8:10
Samsung Galaxy Note (LTE) 8:02
LG Optimus Vu 7:57
LG Optimus 4X HD 7:41
Apple iPhone 4S 7:41
Samsung i937 Focus S 7:25
HTC Evo 4G LTE (LTE) 7:21
Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G 7:14
Nokia Lumia 820 7:09
Sony Xperia acro S 7:09
Samsung Rugby Smart I847 7:09
Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro 6:57
Nokia N9 6:57
HTC Radar 6:53
Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos 6:53
BlackBerry Curve 9380 6:52
Sony Xperia E dual 6:42
Samsung Galaxy S III mini 6:22
Samsung Galaxy Pocket 5:54
Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T (LTE) 5:53
Sony Xperia ion LTE 5:52
Sony Xperia P 5:33
Nokia 808 PureView 5:16
LG Nitro HD (LTE) 5:16
HTC Titan II (LTE) 5:10
BlackBerry Bold 9790 5:00
Pantech Burst 4:46
The Galaxy Xcover 2 ran for 6 hours and 35 minutes in our web browsing test, which compares favorably against mid-rangers and even high-end phones. Surprisingly, it beat the I8530 Galaxy Beam by an hour (and that one has a similar chipset and a 2,000mAh battery) .
Web browsing
Apple iPhone 5 9:56
Motorola RAZR MAXX (ICS) 9:12
Apple iPad mini 9:05
Samsung Galaxy Note II N7100 8:48
Nokia Lumia 810 8:20
Nokia Lumia 610 8:01
HTC One X+ 7:56
Sony Xperia E dual 7:42
Samsung Galaxy S III mini 7:38
Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX 7:23
HTC Radar 7:17
Samsung Galaxy Express 7:09
Motorola RAZR i 7:06
Apple iPhone 4S 6:56
HTC One V 6:49
Samsung I9105 Galaxy S II Plus 6:40
HTC Droid DNA 6:40
Samsung Galaxy Premier 6:40
Motorola Atrix HD 6:40
BlackBerry Curve 9380 6:40
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 6:35
BlackBerry Z10 6:27
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III (JB) 6:27
Samsung i937 Focus S 6:15
Nokia Lumia 510 6:13
HTC Windows Phone 8X 6:01
Sony Xperia ion LTE 5:56
Samsung Rugby Smart I847 5:53
Pantech Burst 5:51
Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G 5:45
HTC Desire V 5:44
HTC Evo 4G LTE 5:41
Nokia Lumia 920 5:40
Samsung Wave 3 S8600 5:34
Oppo Find 5 5:33
Sony Xperia T 5:33
Samsung Captivate Glide 5:33
Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam 5:28
Samsung Galaxy Note LTE 5:24
Samsung Galaxy S Duos 5:23
HTC Sensation XL 5:20
Meizu MX 4-core 5:19
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III 5:17
Sony Xperia acro S 5:16
HTC Rezound 5:16
HTC Desire X 5:16
LG Optimus G 5:15
HTC Rhyme 5:08
Samsung I9103 Galaxy R 5:07
HTC One X (AT&T) 5:03
Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro 4:50
LG Optimus Vu 4:49
HTC Vivid 4:46
Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos 4:45
Meizu MX 4:35
Google Nexus 4 4:34
Nokia N9 4:33
Acer CloudMobile S500 4:32
Nokia Lumia 820 4:24
Samsung Galaxy S II 4:24
Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V 4:20
HTC One X 4:18
Nokia 808 PureView 4:14
LG Optimus 3D Max P720 4:10
Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T 4:10
Nokia Lumia 800 4:07
HTC Titan II (LTE) 4:05
HTC One S 4:03
BlackBerry Bold 9790 4:02
LG Nitro HD 4:00
LG Optimus 4X HD 3:59
Sony Xperia P 3:59
Nokia Lumia 710 3:51
Samsung Galaxy Pocket 3:47
Samsung Galaxy Note 3:35
Huawei Ascend P1 3:23
Samsung Galaxy Nexus 3:01
Without the constant wireless connection, the Galaxy Xcover 2 did better in the video playback test, posting a time of 7 and a half hours. You can watch a couple of movies and still have plenty of battery left over.
Video playback
Motorola RAZR MAXX (ICS) 16:35
Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX 14:17
Apple iPad mini 12:51
Samsung Galaxy Premier 12:51
Samsung Galaxy Note II N7100 11:27
Apple iPhone 5 10:12
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III 10:01
Samsung Galaxy Express 10:00
Samsung I9105 Galaxy S II Plus 10:00
Nokia 808 PureView 9:53
Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam 9:42
Samsung Rugby Smart I847 9:34
HTC One S 9:28
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III (JB) 9:27
Apple iPhone 4S 9:24
HTC Evo 4G LTE 9:07
BlackBerry Z10 8:44
Nokia N9 8:40
Samsung Galaxy Note 8:25
HTC One X+ 8:11
Motorola RAZR i 8:11
Samsung Galaxy S II 8:00
Samsung i937 Focus S 7:55
Samsung Wave 3 S8600 7:52
Samsung Galaxy S III mini 7:46
Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V 7:45
Huawei Ascend P1 7:38
Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G 7:33
HTC Droid DNA 7:30
Samsung Galaxy Note LTE 7:30
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 7:30
Nokia Lumia 610 7:23
LG Optimus G 7:16
Meizu MX 4-core 6:33
HTC Windows Phone 8X 6:27
Sony Xperia E dual 6:27
Nokia Lumia 810 6:27
HTC Desire V 6:26
HTC One X (AT&T) 6:26
Nokia Lumia 820 6:25
Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos 6:25
Nokia Lumia 510 6:23
LG Optimus Vu 6:23
Samsung I9103 Galaxy R 6:21
Nokia Lumia 920 6:19
HTC Sensation XL 6:12
Samsung Galaxy Pocket 6:06
Samsung Captivate Glide 6:04
Sony Xperia ion LTE 6:03
Samsung Galaxy Nexus 6:02
Sony Xperia T 6:01
Motorola Atrix HD 6:01
HTC Vivid 6:00
HTC Radar 5:54
Nokia Lumia 800 5:52
HTC Titan II 5:50
BlackBerry Bold 9790 5:47
HTC One X 5:45
Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro 5:44
Sony Xperia acro S 5:38
HTC Desire X 5:38
Pantech Burst 5:38
Meizu MX 5:27
HTC Rhyme 5:23
HTC One V 5:20
Acer CloudMobile S500 5:18
Oppo Find 5 5:18
Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T 5:18
BlackBerry Curve 9380 5:09
HTC Rezound 5:03
Google Nexus 4 4:55
Samsung Galaxy S Duos 4:30
Sony Xperia P 4:30
LG Nitro HD 4:17
LG Optimus 4X HD 4:14
LG Optimus 3D Max P720 3:28
Nokia Lumia 710 3:27
If you go off the beaten track with a Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 in your pocket and you make sure you’re back in 48 hours, the smartphone should have you covered with enough juice for a an hour of talk-time, and hour of web browsing and an hour of watching video for each of the two days.
That’s quite good and even heavy usage won’t kill the battery in under a work day. We do wish that the battery was bigger, but since it’s easy to swap it out, you can always get a second battery for when you really need extended battery life.
Max Payne for Android gets delayed, comes next week instead
In a tweet yesterday, Rockstar Games announced that they’ll delay the Android version of the highly anticipated Max Payne game.
The game was originally planned to come out on April 26, but apparently some last-minute bugs popped up and the release date had to be pushed back. Don’t fret too much, however, because the game will be available in the Play Store some time next week.
And on May 15, the next iteration of the Max Payne franchise will be released for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, which will undoubtedly make fans of the game even happier.
22nm Intel Valley View Atom specs leaks, to bring a four-fold increase in graphics
With all the effort focused on ultrabooks and ULV processors like Sandy Bridge, the Intel Atom lineup has hardly been having the best of times recently. However, a leaked presentation indicates that we might not have seen the last of the super power-efficient chipsets.
The next generation of Atoms, codenamed Valley View, will be using 22nm process and will reportedly be coming out next year. It will have an architecture similar to Cedar Trail, but with Ivy Bridge graphics.
This means that you’ll be getting the graphics performance of a current low-to-mid-range discrete GPU and Ivy Bridge ULV-grade processing power in a chip that will have a TDP of less than 10W.
What’s even more impressive the Valley View Atoms will have support for up to 8GB or RAM and will be available in single, dual and quad-core configurations. We imagine this will make them ideal for powering Windows 8 tablets, where lower power consumption is particularly important.
22nm Intel Ivy Bridge processors dated for April 29
After numerous delays, Intel’s much-anticipated release of the new high-performance processors has finally been dated.
As an added bonus, the mobile Ivy Bridge processors will be released at the same time as their desktop counterparts. This is good news, as it was initially believed that the mobile versions might be delayed until June the least.
The mobile Core i7 and i7 Extreme lines are expected to meet that same April 29 launch date as the new desktop Core i7′s and i5′s, at prices ranging from $184 for the i5-3450 base model, to a cool $1,096 for the i7-3920XM.
All of the processors announced on the last week of April will be of the quad-core variety, while additional dual-core variants should be available on June 3.
Nokia promises two battery-related updates for the Lumia 800 in the next two months
Ever since the Nokia Lumia 800 went on sale, there were sporadic reports that the smartphone battery life is less than stellar. Nokia obviously did some investigation on the matter and they found that the poor battery life wasn’t caused by software glitches, but rather by the user behavior.
So the Finns will be releasing a couple of updates over the next couple of months, which should improve the battery performance as a whole. The first update will come in December and will focus on the power efficiency of the device, while the second will come in January 2012 and will tweak the charging of the 1450 mAh battery.
According to Nokia, both of those are planned updates and will be made available through Zune. Given that software updates normally take much longer than a few weeks to prepare we are inclined to believe that.
Google+ mobile page gets updated design to match the updated Android app
Google recently updated the desktop version of its Google+ social network and the accompanying Android app. Those who check Google+ through the browser on their smartphone can now enjoy the new design too.
The new Google+ mobile page uses the search giant’s new favorite UI element – the card. Now all posts in your stream are displayed as cards and they feature easy to use +1 and Share buttons.
The Profile and Page, uh, pages have been redesigned too, with a big cover photo and bigger buttons that are easier to hit with your thumbs.
You can check out the new site by opening plus.google.com in your phone’s browser. The site will suggest you download the app if you’re running a supported OS.
Angry Birds Rio passes 10 million downloads mark after just 10 days
People are flocking in to download Angry Birds Rio – 10 million did in the first 10 days since the game launched (it was exclusive at the Amazon Appstore for a day). That’s an impressive number indeed.
Rovio is going all out with cross promotion, they’re even going to put out a new Rio themed wallpaper out every day…
Angry Birds Rio is available for iOS and Android – iPhone and iPod users will can grab it for $0.99 or for $2.99 if they have an iPad. Android owners can get it from two places – the Android Market (free, ad-supported) or from the Amazon Appstore ($0.99, no ads).
The 10 million number takes into account both the iOS and the Android version and adds to the 100 million or so downloads of the game franchise in total.
Rovio will be publishing a new wallpaper every day for a week too – the first one is out already (used in the image above). You can grab it from here (iPhone/iPhone 4/iPad/computer versions are available).
10 in 10:-) Angry Birds Rio breaking all records. A massive thanks to all our fans!!!
Samsung provides an overview of the big.LITTLE ARM architecture of Exynos 5 Octa
Last month, Samsung announced the Exynos 5 Octa, an eight-core behemoth of a mobile processor that uses four Cortex A7 and four Cortex A15 cores on a single chip. Samsung has now uploaded a video that provides an overview of how this multi-core processor works.
The processor in the video below uses triple Cortex A7 cores and two Cortex A15 cores in the big.LITTLE configuration. The MP scheduler is able to figure out the task load and intelligently assign it to the right domain.
The Cortex A7 cluster and A15 cluster work discretely and depending upon the workload, the OS would either use the A7 cluster (for less demanding tasks) or the A15 cluster (for high demand tasks). This is similar to the way the NVIDIA Tegra 3 and 4 perform, with their 4+1 configuration.
You can get a better understanding of the woking of the big.LITTLE architecture, along with a visual demonstration, in the video below.
Opera has just announced that it has released updated versions of its two Android-compatible mobile browsers. Opera Mini 6.5 and Opera Mobile 11.5 are already available for download in the Android market, allowing users to experience the latest goodies brought by the Norwegians.
The first change you will notice when you start the Opera Mini 6.5 or Opera Mobile 11.5 is the newly added screen, which shows you exactly how much data you have spent and saved using the two browsers.
Of course, Opera Mobile won’t be saving anything if you are not using the cloud-assisted Turbo mode, but Opera obviously thought few people use it that way.
The other notable change brought by the updates is the tighter integration of the two browsers with the Android operating system. With a handy bookmark import function you can easily transfer your existing bookmarks to your Opera browser, while the homescreen shortcuts let you access your most-used websites quicker than ever.
So, hit those Android market icons or follow this link to get the Opera Mini 6.5 and Opera Mobile 11.5 up and running on your droid.
Symantec have identified a possible string of botnet Android apps, may affect between 1-5 million users
Despite a point of contention over the true nature of these applications, a string of 13 apps have been identified as potential threats on the Android Market.
One of the largest security software makers in the business, Symantec (best known for the Norton security software family) say they’ve identified these applications and relate them to a botnet-like virus called Android.Tonclank.
The applications in question run a type of malware called Android.Counterclank. Botnets spread from a host ‘command’ computer and take control of other device via means of spam messages or in this case, malicious applications.
Symantec already say millions of users could be affected and they consider the damage level to be “medium” with regards to data and identification theft. So far a list of 13 applications have been identified on the Android Market as malicious, with the majority of them being mobile games of some form.
Mobile security firm Lookout Mobile don’t believe these applications pose quite as much of a threat however, they are not to be taken lightly, as a spokesperson explains.
��Some companies are calling this a botnet or malware. Lookout has some concerns about the functionality, however at this time, and as far as we can tell, it does not meet the standard to be classified as malware or a ��bot. Consumers should take these apps very seriously as they appear to tread on privacy lines, but they are not necessarily malicious.��
The company estimated that last year criminals made around $1 million by exploiting Android devices and say its likely to get worse in 2012. Last year Lookout identified a similar botnet string called Geinimi which originated from China. The malware had the ability to take commands from a remote server, steal information from your device and could potentially infect other connected devices too.
The most likely applications to harbour these technological nasties predominantly come in the form of mobile games or porn/adult applications as demonstrated in the list above.
iPhone 4S dual antennas solve antennagate issue, Bumpers no longer required to make calls
When Apple announced the iPhone 4S, one of the features they mentioned in the keynote was the new antenna system. The antenna system on the iPhone 4 caused a lot of controversy last year due to its failure to hold on to the network when the gap on the side was bridged by your hand, a very likely scenario. Apple’s solution to this was to provide free Bumper cases, a change in the network signal bar algorithm and a suggestion to hold the phone differently.
With the iPhone 4S, Apple changed the antenna system. It now has two antennas and it can automatically switch between them, even during a call, to ensure the phone remains connected regardless of how you hold it. But has it worked? Let’s find out.
The following video has been taken by TodaysiPhone.com, where they take an iPhone 4S and and iPhone 4 running on AT&T’s network and see if the iPhone 4S suffers from the same antennagate problem as the iPhone 4.
As you can see, it does not, which means the dual antenna system is doing its job. We have one more video here, this time from TechnoBuffalo, who performed the same test and got similar results.
So now with the antennagate problem behind us, we can now concentrate on other things, like the batterygate problem people are talking about. We’ll be doing a full review of the iPhone 4S soon and will keep you posted about any batterygate, cameragate or anyothergate that the new iPhone 4S might be suffering from.
Galaxy Tab 10.1 to hit US stores with Android 3.1 any day now
We mentioned that Samsung Germany recently updated their online store to include a host of accessories for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. This pointed to the possibility of the 10.1′s official release very soon and our suspicions look to be on the money.
Samsung US let out a highly suggestive tweet the other day with a link to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 notification site. Rumor has it that 8 June is the date to mark down in your calendars and if all goes to plan, you should be able to pick up some 8.6mm thick goodness from then on. Since the tweet is coming from Samsung US, this suspected release may only be for the US market but we can’t be sure. What we are certain of is that the 10.1 will in fact now ship with Android 3.1 rather than the expected 3.0, this information coming courtesy of a follow up tweet again from Samsung US. The 3.1 update includes notable improvements like faster graphics and hardware acceleration, resizable home screen widgets, USB hosting and the recent apps screen will now be able to display up to 16 apps.
If you’re in the US have your credit card ready for 8 June, you never know…
Facebook for Android updated, the two extra icons removed
The previous update (1.9.0) to the Facebook app for Android brought two extra icons to your app drawer – Camera and Messenger apps.
Most users weren’t particularly happy with that though and it appears that Facebook listened as today we get a new release, which removes those icons. The functionality should still be available right from your homescreen, though, via widgets .
The dedicated Facebook Camera app gave users a fast shortcut to uploading images while the Messenger is the Facebook chat service that’s available as a standalone app for iOS, Android and Windows 7.
Anyway the latest update to the Facebook app on Android brings along the usual batch of performance improvements and bug fixes as well as the option to create and manage group messages (adding people to a group chat, etc.) and more. We’re hoping that Facebook adds sharing of posts to its mobile apps soon – it’s a feature we have really missed.
Microsoft shows off Windows 8's advanced sensor support [VIDEO]
Windows has been a mostly desktop/laptop OS with only the occasional slate. But with slates being one of the primary targets of Windows 8, devs had to tackle an interesting problem – what to do with all those sensors that smartphones and tablets have?
Windows 8 will feature support for ambient light sensors and also an accelerometer, compass and gyroscope, which will be mashed together into something Microsoft calls “Sensor fusion” to improve the sensor’s performance.
Adjusting the screen’s brightness according to the ambient lighting conditions is an old (but vital) trick in portable devices, even Windows 7 supported it.
The Sensor fusion is more interesting though. Microsoft’s team looked at all sorts of apps that use the motion and orientation of a portable device for inspiration. One of their tests was to create a virtual reality app that allows you to look around a room using a tablet (think Street Maps with Compass mode on).
What they found was that using just an accelerometer and a compass wasn��t enough, so they added a gyroscope to the mix. But that wasn��t enough – data from these sensors was noisy and didn��t provide a smooth experience. To solve this problem, they combined the readings of all three sensors to provide better data apps.
Here’s a video demo of Windows 8 and Sensor fusion in action and how it compares to the traditional approach:
Most of the data crunching is done by the sensor hardware before it even reaches the processor and then it’s sent only as fast as the app wants it. This keeps CPU load as low as possible and reduces power usage.
Better still – sensors will use a Microsoft-provided driver. Anyone who has ever had headaches will be pleased to hear that.
You can read the full post over at the Building Windows 8 blog if you’re curious for more details.
Apple releases Find My Mac for developers with iCloud beta access
Find My iPhone, that convenient service from Apple that you wish you would never have to use, has found its way to the Mac. Aptly renamed to Find My Mac, this new service does what it did on the iPhone, it helps you track down your Mac in case you have lost it.
The service is currently available only to developers who have access to the iCloud service. Along with being able to locate your Mac, Find My Mac can also play a sound, send a message, remotely lock it and even wipe the hard drive clean to prevent unauthorized access. The ability to locate uses only Wi-Fi since Macs don’t have a GPS radio inside of them so won’t be perfectly accurate but it’s still better than nothing.
The Find My Mac service is expected to go live along with iCloud this fall for the general public. But if you have a developer account you can try it out right now.
The sequel to the highly popular game Draw Something is now available for download. The game is currently available only on the App Store and for the iPhone and iPod touch. You can either go for the free version with ads or the premium version for $2.99.
For those who are not aware, Draw Something is a game where you are given a word and you have to draw it on the screen using the various tools available to you. Your opponent then has to guess the drawing and name the word using the letters available to them.
The game had reached significant popularity a while back and it was hard not to come across someone scribbling or drawing something on the screen for a while. The popularity has waned in the recent past but should go right back up with the release of the new version.
Draw Something 2 brings new features such as new tools, patterns, stamps and colors, a new Instagram-like Gallery mode for others to showcase your drawings to others (which would previously get lost once the game ended) and over 5,000 new words have been added.
It’s a shame the game is only available on iOS for now but if you have an iPhone or iPod touch you can download it from the links below.
Gameloft launches five HD games for the Nokia N8, C7, E7 and C6-01
Don’t give up on the Symbian gaming just yet. Gameloft just launched five games for the latest Symbian^3 platform – Asphalt 5 HD, Avatar HD, Hero of Sparta HD, Guitar Rock Tour 2 HD and GT: Racing Motor Academy HD.
As you can guess the HD tag in the names doesn’t mean the games run at 720p or similar, it just marks their premium status.
The smartphones currently running Symbian^3 are Nokia N8, C7, E7 and C6-01, where only the first two are available on the market. Here, enjoy the demo video of the games and give us your thoughts in the comments.
All games cost 3 US dollars and are now available at the Ovi Store.
