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.

Meizu M1 gets 100,000 orders in just one minute

The flash sale model is really taking off in the mobile world, at least in Asia. Pioneered by Xiaomi just a few years ago, it's now employed by many more companies. One of them is Meizu, which recently announced the M1 smartphone.

It went up for pre-order in China, with 100,000 units being made available. And people managed to order all of those in only 60 seconds.

Unlike what the term "pre-order" generally means in China, in this case it seems that money has changed hands, and those 100,000 M1 units will be shipped to the people who ordered them, at some point in the future.

It's not surprising that the Meizu M1 has proven to be this successful. After all it costs just CNY 699, which is around $111 or €97 right now. For that amount of cash you get a 5-inch 1,280x768 touchscreen, a 13 MP rear camera with LED flash, as well as a 5 MP front snapper.

At the helm we can find the MediaTek MT6732 chipset, which comes with a 1.5 GHz quad-core CPU, aided by 1GB of RAM. Internal storage is 8GB, expandable via microSD, and a 2,500 mAh battery completes the package.

HTC One for Sprint, Dev version now receiving Lollipop

The Samsung Galaxy S5 isn't the only smartphone sold by Sprint that is to be updated to Android 5.0 Lollipop starting today. It's joined by the original HTC One from 2013, which follows in the footsteps of its successor.

Sprint has been pushing the newest version of Android to its One units since this morning. The rollout is an over-the-air affair, so your phone will notify you once it's ready to download and install.

As always in these cases, keep in mind that these rollouts are usually staggered, which means it may take a few days or so for the update to reach all the devices out there.

The HTC One Developer Edition is also getting the new software. This model is in the process of being upgraded to Android 5.0.2 Lollipop, with Sense 6 on top. After applying its update, you'll have ROM version 7.17.1540.7. The download you'll need to perform comes in at around 702MB.

If you own either of these handsets and are impatient to see the new bits on your device, you can obviously head to Settings and manually check if it's available - who knows, maybe you'll get lucky.

Samsung’s SUHD TVs launching in South Korea this month, pricing starts at $5,000

Nearly a month after unveiling it at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Samsung has announced that it will be launching its SUHD TV series in South Korea this month. The premium range of Tizen-powered TVs will be available in four sizes – 55-inches, 65-inches, 78-inches, and 88-inches – with prices ranging from $5,000 to $7,250.

BT confirms EE acquisition in $19 billion deal

Confirming rumours that had been circulating late last year, the British telecommunications giant BT has announced that it has agreed to acquire the UK’s leading mobile carrier EE, effectively putting itself back into mobile services. The deal is worth $19 billion (£12.5 billion), with BT paying EE owners Deutsche Telekom and Orange in cash and shares.

The deal means that BT will have access to EE’s 31 million customers of which around 24.5 million are direct mobile customers, while nearly 834,000 are fixed broadband customers. The latter also has the largest 4G customer base of any operator in Europe.

Following the purchase, Deutsche Telekom will hold a 12% stake in BT and will be entitled to appoint one non-executive member of the BT Board of Directors. Orange will hold a 4% stake in BT.

20,000 Lenovo A6000 phones sold in 3 seconds

Lenovo conducted its second flash sale of the A6000 and it was as an unmitigated success. The affordable LTE-enabled smartphone went up for sale of Flipkart in India and 20,000 units were snatched in a matter of three seconds.

This is becoming a norm for this particular handset as last Wednesday (January 28) the initial flash sale event saw 10,000 phone sales in just two seconds. The particular sales model seem to be so effective that Lenovo has already announced its intention to have a third round on February 11.

Willing customers, who have missed the narrow window to get their hands on the A6000 need to register for the shopping frenzy. The manufacturer did not reveal how many units will be going on sale next week, but judging from the avalanche of sales the number of available units should be ramped-up even higher.

Samsung Ghana launches Galaxy A series onto Ghanaian market

Electronics giant, Samsung has introduced onto the Ghanaian market the latest addition to its galaxy family, the Galaxy A Series.

The company, known for top of the range devices – the Galaxy S series and the Galaxy Note series – unveiled the latest addition at an impressive event in Accra last Friday.

Galaxy A series, which comes in two variants - Galaxy A3 and the Galaxy A5 –packs the latest in technology when it comes to smartphones.

Ghana set to abolish mobile phone tax

The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) has welcomed Ghana’s commitment to abolish pricey import duties on smartphones.

The Ghanian government has announced these first steps in a drive to enable affordable internet access through policy reform. A4AI said the step, confirmed in the 2015 Budget presented, was a key recommendation developed by A4AI-Ghana Multi-stakeholder coalition established earlier this year.

VLC for Android splits into two, now available in both stable and beta form

Nearly three years after VideoLAN launched a beta version of the famous VLC media player for Android, the app is now available as a stable version in the Play Store.

What’s worth noting is that the beta version of the app is also available in Google Play as a separate listing, suggesting that any new features or improvements will be pushed out to the app first before being pulled over to the stable version.

Apparently, the stable version of the app also packs in support for Android TV, a feature the companypreviewed just last month.

Samsung Gear VR to be available Best Buy stores starting February 8

Samsung will be selling the Galaxy VR headset through 100 Best Buy outlets across America. This will be the first time the Gear VR is sold offline, which was until now only sold through Samsung, AT&T, and Best Buy online stores.

Best Buy stores will also be getting demo units so people can try out the device before purchasing them. Other than that, it also lets the company get feedback on the product, and if it gets enough positive response it will expand it to more Best Buy stores, and vice-versa.

The 3-minute demos include being able to watch a movie or video clip, a game, and 360 photos in virtual reality. Powering the Gear VR will be the Galaxy Note 4 as usual, since the device does not have a display of its own.

The Gear VR will be available for $199 but as mentioned, you will also need the Galaxy Note 4 to make use of it.

Universal Microsoft Office apps arrive on Windows 10 Technical Preview

Microsoft rolled out universal Office apps for Windows 10 Technical Preview. The trio includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

The touch-optimized applications are available for desktops, notebooks, and tablets with Windows 10 installed. The Redmond giant will open up the apps’ preview to smartphones in the weeks ahead.

Windows 10 Technical Preview users can seek out the apps in the Windows Store Beta. If you happen to be one of those users, feel free to drop us a line with your thoughts on the apps in the comments.

Google Search will soon include tweets

According to a report in Bloomberg, Google Search will soon include tweets. Google and Twitter have apparently reached and agreement, which will include the social network’s posts in its search results.

The feature is allegedly set to launch in the first half of this year. Tweets will appear in Google Search as soon as they are posted. Google will automatically receive content generated by Twitter’s 280+ million users.

Microsoft acquires Sunrise Calendar for $100 million

Microsoft has acquired the popular Sunrise Calendar application for a reported amount of $100 million dollars.

Sunrise is a free calendar application for iOS and Android. It featured an attractive interface design and synced with a wide variety of services such as Google calendar, iCloud, Microsoft Exchange and even Facebook for your events. The app also has other clever features, such as LinkedIn integration, weather forecast for your location, built-in Google Maps navigation for going to events, and timezone support.

It remains to be seen what Microsoft does with its latest acquisition as neither companies have announced their plans yet.

HTC One (M9) leaks out dressed in gold

Live photos of the upcoming HTC One (M9) made the rounds online yet again. This time around, the upcoming flagship from the Taiwanese manufacturer posed for the camera in gold color scheme.

Right in line with past leaks, the live photos once again allow us to catch a glimpse of the large squarish cutout for the handset’s camera. The latter is said to be a 20.7MP unit, coupled with a 4MP UltraPixelfront-facing snapper.

Samsung refutes Canalys report, says still on top in India

In an interesting turn of events, Samsung has dismissed the Canalys report that said Micromax has overtaken the South Korean company as the leading smartphone manufacturer in India. The tech giant has said that it’s still the number one player in the market, citing a GfK India report, which it said is based on the company’s actual sales.

"In the entire year 2014, we continued to lead the market with innovative and exciting offerings. Our volume market share in the smartphone market in the year was 35.7%, which is more than double than that of the next player, while our value share was 40.2%, which is more than four times the next player," said Asim Warsi, Vice President of Marketing for Samsung’s Mobile business in India.

Lollipop update coming to Sprint's Galaxy S5 today

Just a day after HTC confirmed that the Sprint HTC One (M7) will start receiving the Android 5.0 update today, it looks like the carrier's Galaxy S5 will get the update too.

According to Samsung's official support page, the S5 Lollipop update will roll out today, bumping the device to software version G900PVPU1AOA6, and will also include an enhanced Voice over Wi-Fi user interface, as well as the removal of the Lumen tool bar.

The news also comes just days after the Verizon Samsung Galaxy S5 started receiving the Android 5.0 update.

Google Chromecast scored 10 million sales in 2014

It’s not surprising that Google’s Chromecast HDMI streaming stick has been quite successful. After all it’s cheap and relatively easy to use, and it can instantly make your TV smarter than it was. Today though we get the first glimpse of just how successful the Chromecast was, at least during last year.

That’s because for the first time ever Google has shared some sales numbers with the media. According to a report out of South Korea, the search giant’s arm in that country has revealed that 10 million Chromecasts were sold globally in 2014.

Nokia N1′s second batch had 32,000 units, was sold out in 7 minutes

When the Nokia N1 went on sale in China earlier last month, the initial batch of 20,000 units was sold out in just four minutes and two seconds. The second batch went on sale a week later, and it too sold out in minutes, although there was no information on the number of units that were up for grabs, the time the batch lasted, and the number of interested buyers.

But it is now being reported that the second batch saw 666,594 interested buyers against 32,000 units of the N1 that were sold out in just 7 minutes and 47 seconds.

Instagram update brings along Vine-like endlessly looping videos

Instagram has updated its video feature, ensuring that video clips shared to the service now loop continuously, meaning they’ll start automatically and repeat continuously until you scroll past them.

Apparently, the feature is designed to please advertisers, who are always keen to get as many views for their ads as possible. As for the users, they probably won’t be happy given that the feature cannot be disabled altogether. For those who are fearing high data bills, the company has explicitly said that the feature won’t affect how much data the app uses.

The update, which comes just a few months after the Facebook-owned service started rolling out video ads, is currently rolling out to iOS and Web users, with Android expected to follow later.

Windows 10 double-height live tiles accidentally revealed by a Microsoft employee

While there have been numerous reports about double height live tiles in the recent past, we never got a real-world glimpse of the feature in action, but that was until now.

A Microsoft employee by the name of Vesku Paananen tweeted a picture (see above) showing a variety of systems running Windows 10. Apparently, he didn’t realize that the image also contained a phone with a double height live tile.

Although the image, which was first spotted by the Finnish blog Bestmobileblog, has since been deleted, it does show that Windows 10 for phones might still have some surprises in store.

Samsung Galaxy S6 gets portrayed in renders based on the most recent rumors

On March 1 Samsung is set to unveil its next flagship smartphone, which it will probably call the Galaxy S6. This is obviously one of the most hotly anticipated devices of the year, and because of that we’ve heard a lot of rumors about it recently. Some of them have even brought us pictures of such things as the phone’s metal frame. And now someone has decided to use all the information in the most recent rumors and leaks to create a few renders of what the Galaxy S6 might end up looking like.

So do keep in mind that these aren’t leaked images actually depicting the handset. Instead, they are renders that were created to give us an idea about its design, assuming of course that the rumors would pan out.

Sony Xperia Z4 to sport slim bezels and new speaker design

The Sony Xperia Z4 is one of the less likely announcements expected to be seen at the MWC a few weeks from now, judging by the lack of tangible info on the device. A recent leak on Chinese social network Weibo, however, might force us to rethink that position.

A couple of front panels have appeared in live images revealing interesting facts about the upcoming flagship, and suggesting its nearing launch. Revolutionary changes are out of the question obviously, but a few design tweaks are observed.

Most noticeably, the front camera and ambient light/proximity sensors have swapped positions. The bezels appear marginally slimmer than the ones on the previous generation, but if Sony's design language is to be followed, the outer frame will add a few more millimeters to the footprint.

Leaked doc points to QHD screen on the LG G4

There are two rumors about the LG G4 – one claims a 3K display, another claims a QHD one (what some might call 2.5K). A third piece of evidence swings the vote in favor of QHD, this comes from a leaked XML file extracted from a Lollipop ROM.

The file lists the LG F500 as "G4 (QHD)." It has three versions (S, K and L), which correspond to the three major carriers in South Korea. The LG G3 is F400 with the same three versions. To clear up initialism "QHD" stands for 1,440 x 2,560px while "3K" is 1,62 x 2,880px.

This entry is surrounded by the LG F490 (LG G3 Screen) and LG F510 (LG G Flex 2), both with FullHD resolution, which corresponds to the official specs.

Samsung loses its position as India’s top smartphone vendor

Just a few days after market research firm Counterpoint noted that Samsung actually lost its title of the world’s leading smartphone vendor in Q4, 2014, it is being reported that the South Korean company has been dethroned in the Indian smartphone market, too.

According to a report from market research firm Canalys, with 22% of the market share in Q4 last year, local budget brand Micromax has now become the top smartphone vendor in the country, ahead of Samsung at 20%. The Indian company already overtook the South Korean firm as the leading brand in all types of mobile phones last year.

Desire 626's existence confirmed, specifications revealed

Just a couple of weeks after leakster @upleaks provided information on HTC’s yet-to-be-announcedDesire 626 smartphone, the device has been approved by China's Telecommunication Equipment Certification Center, effectively confirming its existence.

The agency also published some images of the mid-range handset (one shown above), along with a complete set of specifications: the device is powered by a Mediatek chipset with an octa-core CPU, clocked at 1.7GHz, and features a 5-inch display of 1280x720 pixel resolution. It comes with 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage space (expandable via microSD).

The Desire 626 sports a 13 MP rear camera with flash, a 5 MP front-facing camera, and a 2,000 mAh battery. Weighing in at 135 grams and measuring 146.9 x 70.9 x 8.19 mm, the LTE-enabled smartphone runs Android 4.4 KitKat.

72% of Apple devices running iOS8 already

This month's numbers for iOS distribution are in and the current iOS8 claims 72%, Apple reports. The information is based on App Store access statistics and is current as of February 2.

iOS8 is up a notch from last month's 68% while iOS7 surrenders 4% of its share and is at 25% this month. iOS6 and earlier versions retain their marginal 3% of market share. Even so, the iOS8 rate of adoption falls behind the iOS7 from a year ago, which commanded an 80% percent adoption in the same period.

The latest 8.1.3 update featured stability improvements and the perceived maturity iOS8 has reached after initial issues has provided enough incentive for users to upgrade.

Either way, the number of devices, booting the latest version of iOS is massive, compared to its Android counterpart. As we reported, Lollipop only just made it to the distribution chart, with the huge variety of devices by numerous manufacturers being the culprit.

Samsung Galaxy S6 metal frame revealed in photos

The first photos of the Samsung Galaxy S6 metal frame have surfaced. Moreover, the new photos portray the frame from all angles and show the layout of its ports and buttons.

Leaked schematics of the phone suggest it'll measure just 7.2mm thick and the sides look have a carved design. At the top, there are plastic cutouts for the antennas, a secondary microphone and what looks to be a cutout for an IR blaster. The left side holds the volume rocker, while on the right there's the Power/Lock button and a SIM tray.

     
Samsung Galaxy S6 metal frame

The bottom is quite busy with a microUSB port, 3.5mm headphone jack, main mic and a single speaker grille. The camera is rumored to be 20MP and take a large place at the back and next to it is the LED flash and heart rate sensor.

In terms of specs, we expect the phone to pack a 5" Super AMOLED display of QHD resolution, Exynos 7420 chipset with an octa-core CPU and 3GB of RAM. The 20MP camera is coupled with a 5MP front-facing one and the phone will feature a non-swipe fingerprint sensor on the home button.

Finally, the source of the photos confirms the pricing scheme of the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S Edge,which leaked yesterday. The base Galaxy S6 will sport 32GB memory and will cost 749€ SIM-free, while the 64GB and 128GB will sale for 849€ and 949€, respectively. The Galaxy S Edge will start from 849€ for the 32GB version. The 64GB will go for 949€ and 128GB one for 1049€.

The Galaxy S6 will be offered in dark blue, blue-green, gold, and white. We'll know everything about the phone from the company's March 1 Galaxy Unpacked event in Barcelona.

Xiaomi schedules event for February 12 in San Francisco

Xiaomi may be the world's third-biggest smartphone maker, but most of its products never leave China. The company is reportedly looking to open up shop in India, but now the company is taking a trip to the US.

There, in San Francisco specifically, the company will hold an event on February 12. It's not clear what the topic will be though – opening a store, recruiting employees or just visiting? The company has already unveiled two new devices this year – Redmi 2 and Mi Note (with a Mi Note Pro version), so it's probably soon for a new announcement

Whatever the reason, the event is a big deal – San Francisco is the home of many startups and tech giants are a stone's throw away, with both Apple and Google campuses not far from there (Xiaomi's VP of International Hugo Barra is a former Googler). The location can't be a coincidence and sends clear message, especially to the former giants that Xiaomi leapfrogged to get into the Top 3.

Oppo R5 is now available for pre-order in the UK

Oppo's brief world record holder for thinnest smartphone has shown up on Amazon's UK site and is now available for pre-order. The precious units are set to start shipping as early as February 20.

The Oppo R5 is a stylish midrange offering, packing a 5.2-inch FullHD display in a slender 4.85mm body. That wasn't thin enough, the competition deemed, and the R5 is now in third place behind the Ivvi K1 Mini and the Vivo X5Max. That shouldn't make it any less desireable, though, as the two-tone aluminum body is a true stunner.

The rest of the Oppo R5 specs are not too shabby either. A Snapdragon 615 chipset is on board, featuring an octa-core processor, Adreno 405 GPU and 2GB of RAM. Where the R5 falls short is battery capacity, which at 2000mAh proves barely adequate for the screen size, but that's the trade-off for the super-thin profile.

The SIM-free Oppo R5 is listed at £296.99 but you can also claim a free Oppo powerbank with it to address the battery capacity issue.

iOS overtakes Android in the US in Q4 2014, report says

If you needed more proof about how successful Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have been, especially in the US market, then this is going to be it.

According to the analysts at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, iOS has managed to take the lead from Android in the US smartphone market in the fourth quarter of 2014 (so between October and December).

Granted, Apple's managed to sell only slightly more iOS devices than all Android makers combined - the difference is just 0.1%. Still, it's interesting because the last time something like this happened was in Q4 of 2012.

For the last three months of last year, Kantar says 47.7% of smartphones sold in the US were iPhones, while 47.6% ran Android. Windows Phone accounted for 3.8% of the market, while BlackBerry had to make do with just 0.3%.

Apple to put 'command' center where glass maker operated

Apple Inc. will establish a command center for its global operations in Mesa, Ariz., promising a $2 billion investment over the next 30 years, state officials announced Monday.

The facility will be housed in the location recently occupied by GT Advanced Technologies, the maker of highly durable sapphire glass that filed for bankruptcy in the fall after Apple used rival Corning glass for its new iPhone 6 devices.

Tablet Numbers Are Bad For Apple But Worse For Samsung

SAN FRANCISCO — The tablet computer market isn't what it used to be, and it ain't for growth investors.

Fourth-quarter and year-end tablet shipment figures from market researcher IDC show that growth has nearly evaporated for the iPad, the iPad Mini, and competing devices from Samsung and others.

Shipments from all tablet makers rose just 4.4% for the full year and suffered their first-ever year-over-year decline in the fourth quarter, slipping just over 3%, the report said.