Using the Galaxy A5 and A3, Samsung breaks Guinness World Record for most selfies taken in a day

Samsung has set a new world record for the highest number of selfies taken in 24 hours. Following the launch of it’s Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A3 handsets in the South African cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town, the South Korean company invited people to use the two devices and take selfies.

A total of 12,803 selfies were taken with the company’s Galaxy A series devices, which was 3,000 more than the previous record. During the attempt, the tech giant also gave away 100 Galaxy A3 and A5′s, as well as several selfie sticks, to participants. You can check out the entire album of selfies here.

Announced back in October last year, both the A5 and A3 sport a premium all-metal unibody with a 5MP front-facing unit. As for the main camera, the former has a 13MP unit, while the latter features a 8MP unit.

Twitter blames ios8 for loosing 4 million users in Q4

While reporting its Q4 earnings, Twitter revealed that it added 4 million new monthly active users (MAUs) in the quarter, bringing the total number to 288 million, which was clearly short of the 292 million figure expected by analysts. But Twitter is not to blame for that, or so say its executives, who are claiming that the company lost 4 million users due to Apple’s roll-out of iOS 8.

The company says that it lost 3 million of those users after Apple rolled out iOS8, effectively changing the way the Shared Links feature in the Safari web browser works.

For those who are not in the know, the Shared Links feature was added to the mobile web browser in iOS 7, allowing you to see links shared by people you follow. While earlier the feature allowed Safari to automatically request information from Twitter’s servers, that changed with iOS 8 wherein the information is fetched only when you actually open up Shared Links.

As for the remaining 1 million users Twitter lost, they couldn’t get their passwords to work because of an encryption problem related to the microblogging service’s integration with iOS, CEO Dick Costollo said.

Galaxy S6 case leak confirm a double-edged S Edge exists

With MWC 2015 right around the corner the hype is on for new handset releases all over the place. Naturally Samsung is in the spotlight and the rumor mill has been overflowing with bits and pieces of the new Galaxy S6 flagship.

Stories have been ranging all the way from hardware specs, like a supposed withdraw form Snapdragon SoCs and optional 4GB of RAM all the way to quirky concepts like advanced case designs and Gear VR compatibility.

Perhaps the most prominent debate about the new device has been centered around its screen and Edge variant. Today comes with another leaked render that seems to showcase a double-edged variant of the device, supposedly called the Galaxy S Edge. The shot is said to be one of many, but Cnet Korea has provided only a single teaser to protect the identity of the source.

Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A I9506 gets Android 5.0 Lollipop

if you bought a Samsung Galaxy S4 I9506 – aka S4 LTE-A or S4 LTE+ - you may have been feeling a little left out of the Lollipop update bonanza.

This version of the phone has a Snapdragon 800 chipset, just like the Galaxy Note 3 and an update over the Snapdragon 600 in the I9505. Most of its siblings got Android 5.0 – the Google Play Edition and Exynos versions of the Galaxy S4, the Galaxy Note 3 as well.

Anyway, the update is finally available – for SIM-free devices in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, plus Vodafone handsets in Germany and the Czech Republic. The China Unicom version of the Galaxy S4 LTE-A G9006 is being updated too.

The firmware is a heavy one – 1.2GB for the European phones. The exact version those phones are receiving is Android 5.0.1, build I9506XXUDOA6, while the China Unicom software is Android 5.0, build G9006WZNU1BOA4.

You can download these files to manually flash your Galaxy S4 LTE-A though that's for advanced users (make sure to back up your data first!). Hit the source link for download links, but proceed at your own risk – it's safer to wait for the OTA update to arrive in your region.

This only leaves the TouchWiz version of the Snapdragon 600-based Galaxy S4 with no Lollipop.

Meizu sold 1.5 million smartphones in January

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer Meizu shipped a record 1.5 million smartphones last month. Jack Wong, the company’s CEO announced the achievement on the social network Weibo.

Sales of the company have jumped 50% on a monthly basis. Back in December last year, Jack Wong announced that the manufacturer is shipping a million devices monthly.

Meizu’s stellar sales should hardly catch anyone by surprise. In addition to offering the impressive, high-end Meizu MX4 and MX4 Pro, the company took on Xiaomi by launching the budget-friendly, well-equipped Meizu m1and m1 note.

The freshly announced Meizu m1 got 100,000 pre-orders in just a minute yesterday. Therefore, we can certainly expect Meizu to do even better throughout 2015.

Samsung might lose its leadership position

Motorola, which shipped over 10 million smartphones last quarter, up a whopping 118% compared to the same period of 2013, has said that Samsung might lose its position as the world's top smartphone vendor, just like Nokia and BlackBerry.

During an interview with Forbes, Motorola COO Rick Osterloh said, "Every seven years, the person who’s been on top of the market has gone away," adding that "we are going through one of those fascinating shifts where people are starting to realize that you don’t need to pay $600 for a top-tier phone to get a top-tier experience."

He also said that the Lenovo-owned company, which focused on just 10 countries in North America, Europe and Latin America while being owned by Google, has its presence in around 50 countries now, and has plans to enter 10 or 15 more countries this year.

The company is also expected to return to profitability in four to six quarters.

T-Mobile's HTC One (M8) update rolling out on Monday

HTC has announced that the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for T-Mobile's HTC One (M8) will roll out starting next week.

Mo Versi, HTC's VP of Product Management, tweeted the news saying that the company has received the technical approval for the update, which will be rolling out over-the-air starting Monday.

The announcement came on the same day when Sprint's version of the HTC One (M8) started receivingthe Lollipop update.

Win 10 preview for phones tiped to release next week so watch out guys

Just a couple of days ago, some screenshots of Windows 10 Technical Preview for Phones werespotted in the wild, and now it looks like the first preview build will be available to Windows Insiders soon.

According to an NPU report, the build (8.15.12495.44) will be released on Monday, February 9 at 9 am PST.

"This build is currently being tested by Microsoft employees and if no major bugs are found it will be released for Windows Insiders on Monday morning," the report said, adding that "not all the phones will get the first preview build, but more phones will be supported in the upcoming updates."

A point worth mentioning is that the news came in the form of an anonymous tip, and NPU itself is sceptical about its authenticity, so you are advised to take it with a healthy pinch of salt.

Good news to Indonesians because Spice brings Android One to Indonesia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka

Spice has launched Android One series in Indonesia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. In Indonesia, the phone will be sold under the brand name Nexian Journey One.

The Android One phone being launched in these countries is essentially the same device launched in India and Bangladesh. Only difference is that it now comes with Android 5.1 Lollipop pre-installed.

The phone will be priced less than 1.5 million Indonesian rupiah.

Incase you are buying a phone this weekend here is a top 10 trending phones of the week to look out for

Major manufacturers are prepping for the MWC, finalizing the flagships that will shape the smartphone market for the rest of the year. As a result, the past week didn't witness major official launches but there was still plenty of movement in our chart.

The Top 10 trending phones chart is a recap list of the devices that gathered the most hits throughout the week. In other words, the chart represents the interests of the majority of you, our visitors, and is an indication of what currently interests you.

SwiftKey for iOS brings new languages, emoji predictions in its new update

The popular third-party iOS keyboard SwiftKey received a major update. Version 1.2 of the application is currently available in the Apple App Store.

The list of new features included in the update is rather extensive. One of the biggest highlights is the long-awaited access to more than 800 emoji via a dedicated button. Emoji suggestions have also arrived on board.

Keyboard click sounds, support for 11 new languages, and SwiftKey Flow for the iPad version round up the list of new features. Naturally, some bug fixes and improvements have also taken place in version 1.2.

Have you tried the new SwiftKey for iOS yet?

Galaxy S6 gets rendered in cases based on actual dimensions and is just getting better and better

Just a couple of hours or so after a leak showed us the alleged schematics of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S6, now we get some new renders of the device.

These are showing it inside cases designed by Verus, a company which claims that the following images are based on the actual size measurements of the highly anticipated smartphone.

  

So while the design shown here for the handset may not be a 100% accurate representation of the final product, the dimensions and proportions should be. We also assume the curves are accurately portrayed.

Asus enters the mobile accessory market with ZenPower 9600 power bank

Asus has unveiled ZenPower 9600, a 9600mAh power bank capable of charging most smartphones 3-5 times. The device, which has a metal finish and squarish edges, contains three 3200mAh battery cells. This compares to Xiaomi’s 10,400 mAh power bank which contains four 2600mAH cells, making Asus’ offering lighter and more compact.

Compared to Xiaomi’s 9 layers of protection, Asus’ new portable battery charger comes with 11 layers of protection, and includes four LED indicators, full size USB outputs, and a micro USB input.

As you can see in the image above, you can also protect the device using a rubber case, available various colors, including black, silver, red, and cyan. There is no word on the price yet.

Sony SmartWatch 3 with a metal band goes on sale in the UK

Just as promised, the Sony SmartWatch 3 with a metal band starts selling in the UK from today.

Clove UK is the first store to offer the smartwatch. The price of the regular SmartWatch 3 is around the £180 ballpark, but its metal counterpart is slightly more expensive at. £ 215. Sony’s UK store as well asAmazon UK still haven’t listed

Good news for ipad users because this time paper app for ipad is free this time

The Paper app for iPad, made by the folks at FiftyThree, has today gone 100% free. Previously, you were able to install the app without paying, but you had to shell out $0.99 for each of the following tools: Draw, Sketch, Outline, Write, Color, and Mixer.

From today on these become free, which essentially means you can use the whole app for free. The decision to stop charging for the tools in the app probably means FiftyThree now expects to make enough money to stay afloat simply from sales of its Pencil stylus.

Lollipop update for Xperia Z2 and Z3 coming soon

Sony has regularly been criticized for its support policies, leaving behind mid-range models and taking its time with flagship updates. The entire Xperia Z lineup has been promised the Lollipop update, though, and the company is slowly delivering.

Vodafone Australia has confirmed that the Android 5.0 update for the Xperia Z3 and Z2 is nearing, with the carrier awaiting the software for testing later this month. That would likely push the actual release to March for Vodafone branded devices.

Gionee prepares an ultra-slim phone for MWC 2015

Gionee has officially announced it is preparing to launch a new, ultra-slim smartphone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in March. More specifically, the yet unnamed phone will be launched at Hall 8 on March 2015.

"The race to make the slimmest smartphone was getting out of hand. Going so slim is actually not benefiting user experience without the performance to back it up," said by Oliver Sha, head of global marketing of Gionee. It'll be nice to see what the company has in store, but it's clear that Gionee isn't the only one wanting to carry the crown of thinnest phone manufacturer.

The company's thinnest smartphone is the Elife S5.1 measuring just 5.2mm thick, but it was decrowned by the Oppo R5 at 4.9mm. Subsequently, Vivo came out with the 4.8mm X5 Max, but in the end the Coolpad Ivvi K1 Mini with its 4.7mm profile is currnetly on top.

It wouldn't be surprising to see Gionee's latest smartphone to carry a MediaTek chipset and either a 720p or 1080p display. Either way, we're in for a lightweight phone with a non-removable battery. Here's hoping the later is larger than Elife S5.1's 2050 mAh unit.

HTC One (M9) leaked again, this time in a Dot View case

The HTC One (M9) is due to be officially announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in the beginning of March. Still, we're only a few leaks away from being able to draw a complete picture of the upcoming flagship.

This next piece of the puzzle is brought to us by an HTC employee, who chose (or was he encouraged?) to share live images of a Dot View case on Chinese social site Weibo. HTC's official case, photographed from the back, confirms the large camera lens, that's been also visible in numerous previous leaks.

  

The front raises a few questions, though. A recent supposedly official image showed the selfie camera placed along the central axis of the phone. The pictured Dot View case, however, has the cutout on the front slightly to the right.

ZTE announces Blade S6 Lux in China

You might remember that ZTE recently unveiled a budget-oriented handset with dual-SIM LTE connectivity. It is dubbed the Blade S6 and should be available from AliExpress globally for around $250 and also through Amazon and eBay in select markets.

Today the Chinese manufacturer put a little twist to the story, announcing two devices for their home market. The handset will bear the names ZTE Blade S6 and Blade S6 Lux.

Samsung Galaxy S6 schematics show a protruding camera

Newly leaked schematics of the Samsung Galaxy S6 have appeared and are telling a bit of a different story from the initial ones we stumbled upon not too long ago. Apparently, the Galaxy S6 will have a protruding camera module, which isn't ideal as this might make it wobble when placed on a flat surface.