HTC has just confirmed the HTC One will be available with the pure Google Nexus experience from the Play Store from 26th June 2013.
Updates will all be managed by Google. Initially it will be US only and in 32gb. It will sell for $599 and come with android 4.2.2 out of the box.
Image – Evleaks Twitter
Huawei has released on Facebook an image of its new Ascend P6. This android phone is 6.2mm thick. That is crazy thin. Sadly it is all downhill from there. It has only 8mb of internal free storage, which with apps and games only being allowed to be stored in this memory, this phone will only be for those who don’t install many apps or games. It will however be made of quality materials apparently, feature a quad core processor at 1.5ghz and have 2gb ram.
If only Huawei had made this a 32gb phone then this would be something to take note of. But then, it might be cheap and have its appear for those that cannot afford a Samsung S4 or HTC One.
Google just had its developer conference a few weeks ago. However, there was one thing absent and that was a mention of the next version of android or next stage release to 4.3.
I must admit I did find it odd at first, but then I thought if Google did hold back and wait until Apple’s WWDC on 10th June to make such an announcement, they could upstage Apple.
Well it looks like that is exactly what Google is planning. On 10th June 2013 Google will announce android 4.3. And lets not mince words here, they will try their best to make comparisons between android and iOS.
iOS 7 is important to Apple, as it provides Mr Ive with the power to stamp his name on the software as well as the hardware.
But will it be enough?
HTC’s Jack Tong went on record and recalled his company’s troubles following the launch of the HTC Desire.
Jack Tong that made a huge accusation. Tong said that the Desire initially launched with an AMOLED display supplied by Samsung. After the phone started gaining momentum and sales picked up, the executive says Samsung suddenly couldn’t supply it with panels anymore.
Tong said “We found that key component supply can be used as a competitive weapon,” This meant HTC ended up having to redesign the Desire and relaunch it without the Samsung-built AMOLED displays.
I am sure there is another side to this story, but in the ruthless big bad world, nothing would surprise me.
What are your thoughts on this?
Some surprising news.
The Blackberry Q10 in France is outselling the Samsung Galaxy S4, iPhone 5, HTC One and Nokia Lumia 520.
I’m speechless.
Samsung has announced a new press event at Earls Court for its Galaxy range and Ativ Windows Phone. Samsung teased with a line that other phones will look very small.
Maybe this is the new Samsung S4 Active, Mega or perhaps Samsung S4 Zoom. Whose knows might even be some new tablets. A long shot would be the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. But if they could announce the Note 3, this could potentially really hurt other competitors who are prying for market share.
Yesterday, I got invited to an event to see the new Sony Z Tablet. It is available in black and white. Before seeing the tablet in the flesh, I had firmly in my mind that black was the best colour. Having seen the white version, which is a white back and sides only, I am not so sure. In fact I cannot decide which colour I prefer.
There are two things that strike you straight away with the Z tablet, its weight and profile. It is crazy thin at 6.9mm thin and weighs around 495g which is very light. And it feels light in the hand. It comes in two sizes thankfully from launch, 16 or 32gb wifi or a 3g 16gb version. The tablet also allows expansion via the micro sd slot. It comes with android 4.1.2 (why not 4.2 at launch), CMOS Exmor R 8.1mp rear camera, 2.2mp front camera, infra red blaster, NFC, Bluetooth 4 and so much more. Pricing is £399 for 16gb wifi, £449 for 32gb wifi and £499 for 16gb LTE/Wifi model.
Using the tablet, you can now browse tablet apps and games from the tablet section in the Google Play store. Sadly, it still is not a patch on the iPad apps and games, but now there is a dedicated section, this should accelerate. Sony had added their own skin and software, from the Infra Red remote software (its learning as well), TV Sideview, Playstation Mobile and more graphics.
The other selling point of this tablet is it is water resistant and dustproof. So now you can tweet in the bath or shower!
My walkaway thoughts are £399 for the starting model. In reality you would go for the 32gb at £449. It is water resistant and dustproof, fitted with a decent camera and audio, thin profile and light but is it worth this price versus the competition?
What do you think?
There is no denying that Google Glass is innovative. But is it too ahead of its time?
Across America, it is looking likely that cafes, cinemas, parks and retail stores will ban them. Lap dance venues have even gone further and said they would kick the person out of their club.
The infringement of privacy is the biggest challenge Google is going to face with Google Glass, apart from its current high price.
What is your views on the issue of privacy with Google Glass?
At Google I/O Play Game services was introduced. A number of games have been updated to take advantage of this Game Center alternative. These include –
5 Tiles (Free) (achievements)
A2Z (Free) ( achievements)
Avabel Online (Free) (90 achievements)
Ball Maze (Free/$1.29) ( achievements)
Beach Buggy Blitz (Free) (48 achievements)
Chip Chain (Free) (43 achievements)
Circulo (Free) (12 achievements)
Cosmic Defense (Free/$0.99) ( achievements)
Eternity Warriors 2 (Free) (29 achievements)
Eufloria (Free/$4.99) (achievements)
Eyelord (Free) ( achievements)
Farm Invasion USA (Free/$5.20) (20 achievements)
GRave Defense HD (Free/$2.99) ( achievements)
Gunslugs (Free/$1.49) ( achievements)
Hungry Slimes (Free/$1.29) ( achievements)
Ice World Labirynth (Free) (achievements)
Kingdom Rush ($1.99) (achievements)
Mega Run (Free) (achievements)
Memory Temple (Free) (achievements)
Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour ($6.99) (49 achievements)
No Gravity ($3.50) ( achievements)
Numbers Plus Game (Free) (achievements)
Osmos ($2.99) (?achievements)
PBA Bowling Challenge (Free) ( achievements)
Plague Inc. (Free) (54 achievements)
Plasma Sky ($1.99) ( achievements)
Riptide GP ($1.99) ( achievements)
Rocket Island (Free) (24 achievements)
Save the Puppies (Free) (36 achievements)
Shine Runner ($0.99) ( achievements)
Stick Stunt Biker 2 (Free) (achievements)
Super Stickman Golf 2 (Free) (60 achievements)
Townsmen (Free) (61 achievements)
Triple Town (Free) (26 achievements)
War Of Wizards (Free) ( achievements)
Wind-up Knight (Free) ( achievements)
World of Goo ($4.99 $0.99) (22 achievements)
Unblock 2 Escape (Free) ( achievements)
Zookeeper Battle (Free) (achievements)
The Oppo Find 5 will be available to buy from its new European Store in a few hours. But who is Oppo?
OPPO Electronics Corp., Ltd is an electronics manufacturer based in Dongguan, Guangdong, China. Its major product lines include MP3 players, Portable Media players, LCD-TV, eBook, DVD/Blu-ray Disc players and mobile phones. Founded in 2004, the company has registered the Oppo brand name in many parts of the World, with a company mission to become one of the worldwide leading brand in consumer electronics. It’s older phone the Finder once held the title for the thinnest phone in the world at 6.65mm. More info on both its phones can be found from its main website here..
The Oppo Find 5 specs include –
– 5 inch 1080p at an excellent 441ppi using OGS screen technology
– 3.25mm bezel
– 13mp rear camera 1/3 06 CMOS f2.2 with HDR supported via hardware, 4 layer glass with blue filters
– Burst mode takes 100 photos, 5 per second.
– 120fps video
– quad core S4 Qualcomm chip at 1.5hz. 320 Adreno 320 GPU .
– Dirac HD sound for high quality audio
– smart tags, NFC, DNLA
– 165g but apparently long battery life
– 16 or 32g. No micro SD slot as far as I can tell
– Networks 850, 900, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100 no LTE
– GPS
– Gyroscope
– Digital compass
– Light Sensor
– IR Proximity Sensor
– Magnetic Sensor
– Gravity Sensor
Now you might be asking isn’t this a risk to buy as a Chinese company. Well it is slightly. It is a bit of an unknown. However, via Oppo’s forums firmware updates occur every 2 weeks based on your feedback.
Update : the battery is a massive 2500maH.
Update 2 : Oppo released Tips and Tricks which has some clever stuff.
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