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BLU Products Announces The VIVO 4.65 HD, To Cost $300 In The US

BLU Products, announced the new VIVO 4.65 HD, as a big brother to the VIVO 4.3 which launched earlier this year. Improvements on the VIVO 4.65 HD, include an increased screen size to 4.65″, as opposed to 4.3″ from the previous model, as well as improved display resolution with an HD Super AMOLED display, and increase to 1GB of RAM.

The phone is slated to begin shipping in January, and is priced at $300 in the US and will soon follow through to parts of Asia.

[quote]”We are thrilled as we continue to add to the successful series of VIVO smartphone devices using Super AMOLED Technology displays, resulting in remarkably bright and vivid color reproduction, with the best viewing experience available on a mobile phone today,” said Samuel-Ohev-Zion, CEO of BLU Products. “BLU is determined to continue to bring the best technology and specs available on mobile devices, with several incredible product launches coming in the first half of 2013.”[/quote]

The Vivo 4.65 HD features a MediaTek MT6577 Cortex A9 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. The rear camera is 8-megapixels and offers HD video recordering. The handset features 3G and HSPA conenctivity, as well as dual SIM support; the handset is unlocked. There’s no Jelly Bean here, unfortunately, with the device running Ice Cream Sandwich.

Interestingly, we expect the next device in the Micromax A90 line up to have similar specs, as that was the case when the A90 was launched. Its specs were notoriously similar to the VIVO 4.3.

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BLU Products, one of the fastest growing mobile phone manufacturers in the world, announced the new VIVO 4.65 HD, as a big brother to the already popular and bestselling VIVO 4.3 which launched earlier this year. Improvements on the VIVO 4.65 HD, include an increased screen size to 4.65″, as opposed to 4.3″ from the previous model, as well as improved display resolution with an HD Super AMOLED display, and increase to 1GB of RAM.

“We are thrilled as we continue to add to the successful series of VIVO smartphone devices using Super AMOLED Technology displays, resulting in remarkably bright and vivid color reproduction, with the best viewing experience available on a mobile phone today,” said Samuel-Ohev-Zion, CEO of BLU Products. “BLU is determined to continue to bring the best technology and specs available on mobile devices, with several incredible product launches coming in the first half of 2013.”

The VIVO 4.65 HD, continues with its predecessor’s design language, which features no physical hardware buttons on the front to ensure a seamless elegant design, and is run by a MediaTek MT6577 dual core 1.2 GHz Cortex™-A9 CPU with 3G/HSPA connectivity, running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Operating System. Additionally, the VIVO 4.65 HD is designed to deliver high-end multimedia capability, with an 8MP autofocus camera, and HD video recording and playback. The highlights of the phone include the rich viewing experience of the brilliant HD Super AMOLED 4.65″ Display, along with true dual SIM capability allowing both SIMs to be active and receive calls simultaneously.

The unlocked VIVO 4.65 HD will begin shipping to major US Retailers in January of 2013, with an MSRP of $299.99 and will soon follow through Latin America, and parts of Asia.

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December 28, 2012
LG Wants Ban On Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Tablet Sales in Korea

The war between Korea’s two biggest mobile makers continues after LG Display moved to ban the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet on the grounds that it infringes three of its display patents, according to a Dow Jones report.

A statement made to the news agency confirmed that LG has made the request for a sales injunction and is seeking compensation of 1 billion won ($933,000) for each day of the “continued non-compliance”.

The two companies have been in a patent row since September when LG Display one of the world’s top flat-screen TV makers filed suits against Samsung Electronics and Samsung Display for allegedly infringing patents on seven organic light-emitting diode (OLED)-related technologies.

LG said that five of Samsung’s products, including its global hit Galaxy S-series smartphones and tablet computer Galaxy Tab, infringed its patents.

Later the same month, Samsung filed a court complaint accusing LG of luring away senior Samsung OLED researchers even though they had signed contracts preventing them working for a rival. LG’s new suit comes just over a month after Samsung moved to have seven of its rival’s patents annulled by Korean courts.

Samsung has also been battling Apple’s patent infringement allegations for a while now. Recently, in a rather interesting turn of events, Samsung affirmed that it would drop its lawsuits seeking a sales ban on Apple’s products in Europe. The company said it will not make attempts to stop the sale of some Apple products in Germany, Britain, France, Italy and the Netherlands. Interestingly though, Samsung has made no mention of whether it would put an end to its court battle for compensation.

December 28, 2012
Report : 2013 may Unleash the Budget Quad Core in India

With several Indian companies running in haste to deliver smartphones, tablets and now phablets into the market. Most have left out essential ingredients to delivering a smart – experience. Some have shoddy screens others have dwindling hardware and most have little RAM.

[pullquote_right]Have companies like Micromax and Karbonn truly understood the Indian market?[/pullquote_right]Looks like that is about to change, really soon. Have companies like Micromax and Karbonn truly understood the Indian market? Where Micromax broke the barrier with their A100 and A110 Canvas phones along side their Super Amoled based A90 and A90s . Karbonn had several A Series phones to offer to this mashup of Smartphone goodness.

Agreed that these phone truly penetrated the market and gave the user the New Android experience and “somewhat of an upgrade” when it came to hardware capability. However, these devices truly lacked panache, and if the 2012 line of Nexus devices has shown us anything, that price will not equal quality in all cases.

[pullquote_left] Heavily invested in the overall quality and user experience[/pullquote_left]In our recent meeting with one of the Indian Manufacturers, we learnt that the Indian Companies have heavily invested in the overall quality and user experience that users will get from their 2013 lineup of smartphones. With Micromax working on quad core variants of their Canvas and Pixel series, Karbonn has heavily invested in quad core Phablets.

These devices promise, Quad Core Mediatek Processors, bumped up graphics and minimum 1 GB of RAM, Micromax Plans to make 8GB standard the In-Built storage with expandability via a 64GB capable slot. Where as Karbonn is talking about storage size options in their quad core Phablets. Some designers are also hinting at close ties with NVidia, so don’t be surprised if you soon see budget NVidia Tegra 3 based smartphones and Tablets running Google’s flagship OS and running against their own Nexus Series.

However this circle does not stop there, the gap between flagship technologies and cheaper alternatives is soon deteriorating, and we dont see that date far when A flagship Smartphone will see an identical low budget replacement less than weeks from its launch.

December 28, 2012
Samsung To Ship Half A Billion Phones In 2013

Samsung expects to sell 510 million phones in 2013, the company announced on Wednesday. Samsung says most of those devices will be smart phones, cementing the company’s status as the world’s biggest phone manufacturer.

Apple sold 26.9 million iPhones in its fiscal Q4 2012 (or calendar year Q3 2012). The street consensus for the current quarter is somewhere between 46 and 48 million iPhones, based on strong demand for the new iPhone 5.

Samsung says three out of four devices it is on course to sell in the next twelve months will be smartphones and predicts an overall 20 per cent jump in phone sales on 2012.
Research firm Gartner, however, reckons Samsung might be just a little over optimistic in its forecasts. It has predicted the company’s phone sales in 2013 are likely to fall somewhere between 250 million and 300 million, though that’s still a quantum leap on the mere 23.9 million it sold just two years ago in 2010.

[quote]”Samsung’s proven ability to quickly produce and replace a wide range of handsets aimed at several different markets contrasts with Nokia’s struggles and Apple’s difficulties that are mainly related to parts sourcing problems,” said Hwang Min-seong, an analyst at Samsung Securities.[/quote]

As it gears up for further expansion Samsung, meanwhile, is expanding its manufacturing base beyond its own shores and into Vietnam, China and India where the lion’s share of new phones will be made.

December 27, 2012
Canon Launches The EOS-1D C In Japan!

Canon has launched its super-expensive EOS-1D C in Japan, and will be following it up with a launch in the United States rumored to take place in the next couple days. At $11,999, this latest Canon 1D is hardly set to become a DSLR bestseller, but there are certainly a few pro shooters willing to line up for an incredibly versatile 18-megapixel 4K cam, with EOS lens compatibility and a full-frame sensor.

For those interested, the 4K video is recorded using 8-bit Motion JPEG compression at 24p, and Full HD (1920 x 1080) video capture is available at frame rates up to 1080/60p. The camera supports internal recording to CF cards at all resolutions up to and including 4K, offering enhanced mobility. Video can also be output to external recorders (excluding 4K video) via an integrated HDMI terminal using an uncompressed YCbCr 4:2:2 signal.

Support for 24, 25, 30, 50 and 60p frame rates in Full HD resolution shooting is also included, as is the ability to capture 12fps continuous stills shooting (14fps in Super High speed shooting mode) in bursts of up to 180 large JPEG images (38 RAW) and a wide ISO range of 100 to 25600 for movies and 100-51200 for stills expandable up to ISO 204800.

There is a Super 35mm Crop Mode and Canon Log Gamma. In terms of hardware, the 1D offers an integrated headphone port and HDMI with time code. You will need UDMA 7 Cards that record at least 100MB/s to do the 4K video, and even then because of the high 500mbits per sec bitrate (Higher than RED EPIC’s 5K 24 fps 350mbps for some reason) , 1 min of footage will take up 4 GB of space!

Other stats to brag about the EOS-1D C are the 61-point AF system, the Dual “DIGIC 5+” processor and a 1,040k-dot 3.2inch Clear View II LCD screen.

There are a handful of nice test videos and images clicked from the EOS-1D C floating around online.

[Engadget]

December 27, 2012
Shopper : Amazon Sold Me A Stolen iPhone!

Ben Dreyfuss bought his mom an iPhone for Christmas. Mama D. tears open the package, finds a shiny aluminum bundle of joy, and then decides to set it up. One problem: When she called Verizon to activate the thing, they told her that her new iPhone was stolen.

Dreyfuss tweeted that the iPhone in question had been listed on Amazon’s warehouse deals as refurbished. He claimed that it originally came from an Amazon trade-in; in other words, someone likely stole the phone and sold it to Amazon.

Amazon should be responsible for checking whether the merchandise it sells is hot. Either way, Dreyfuss reported on Twitter that Amazon had instructed him to return it and was “very apologetic.”

We’re not sure if Amazon is merely going to credit the son, leaving mom short one Apple iPhone, or if they are going to send out another refurbished unit. Either way, we’re sure that Amazon will leave the customer satisfied because a retailer doesn’t grow as big as the online retailer has without keeping customers happy.

[Gizmodo]

December 26, 2012
Apple Wins Mini/Micro SIM Connector Patent

Apple has received a Granted Patent that relates to connectors that allow SIM cards to be easily removed and replaced, may be resistant to damage by an improper insertion of a SIM card, and may provide reliable mechanical performance.

The timing of Apple’s new micro SIM connector patent couldn’t have been more perfect in light of the battle between Nokia and Apple over the design of future miniature SIM cards for mobile devices. It was even been reported that Nokia had threatened to withdraw 50 or so SIM card related patents from ETSI if the Apple proposal is approved. Well, in June Apple’s design won that very battle. Today, Apple has been officially granted the patent regarding the Micro SIM card.

[quote]Connectors that may allow SIM cards to be easily removed and replaced, may be resistant to damage by an improper insertion of a SIM card, and may provide reliable mechanical performance. One example may provide a plunger system where a user can push on a plunger rod and eject a SIM card. Another example may provide contacts that are not damaged by improper insertion of a SIM card. Another example may provide a plastic housing, the housing reinforced by a metallic shield and having a relatively uniform thickness [/quote]

Apple has received the patent from the USPTO and while the official title is for a Mini-SIM card connector, the technology involved will work with a SIM-card, Mini-SIMor a Micro-SIM card. Actually, it will work with any sized SIM card. The connector allows for easy insertion and removal of the SIM card and is resistant to any damage that could be caused by an incorrect insertion of the card, and provides for “reliable mechanical performance” of the connector.

December 26, 2012
Nokia 10.1-inch Windows RT Tablet To Come With Battery-Equipped Keyboard Cover?

Quoting information provided by sources familiar with Nokia’s plans, The Verge claims that Nokia is working on a 10.1-inch Windows RT tablet. While rumors of a Nokia Windows RT tablet have surfaced as early as March this year, the latest report reveals some specifications of the device.

The Nokia Windows RT slate is said to be equipped with an ARM chip, HDMI and USB ports. It also has cellular connectivity and AT&T will be among the first carriers to sell it in the U.S.

Nokia’s tablet will go head-to-head with Microsoft’s Surface RT and will feature a battery-equipped cover that “clicks in” like the Surface’s, plus has a built-in kickstand, a keyboard, 10-hour battery life, two USB ports.

Nokia design chief Marko Ahtisaari had said in an interview with Finnish magazine Kauppalehti Optio that he was spending a third of his time on creating a tablet for the cellphone maker, which would stand out among hundreds of iPad-challengers. “We are working on it,” he was quoted as saying.

DigiTimes previously pointed out that the tablet will be unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2013.

December 26, 2012
BlackBerry X10 Pictured Next To BlackBerry Z10

Earlier today RIM’s BlackBerry 10 full QWERTY/Touch device leaked online. The image showed an updated look to the Bold 9900. Now, a post on 4Chan reveals the all-touch “BlackBerry Z10? sitting in between the full QWERTY/Touch – rumoured name is the “BlackBerry X10.”

There’s a white version and a black version, however the white version seems to have a different style as it’s missing the chrome frets. So it could be the Dev Alpha C that RIM gave 1,500 developers.

The new update to RIM’s mobile firmware is slated for official release on 30, January, 2013. RIM is on the path of comeback. It aims to take on its rivals like Google Android and Apple iOS with the new Blackberry 10. It is largely hoped by the company that the new firmware can bring back its lost reputation in mobile market. In his words about the firmware, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins instills his hope about BB 10 and its future products.

All set for 30th January then!

December 25, 2012
Blackberry Z10 Rumoured Specs

BlackBerry 10 is coming to spotlight. Slated for official release early next year, RIM’s new software may be the company’s final attempt to stay alive in mobile market. Things are not much good for Research In Motion. Google Android, Apple iOS and Microsoft Windows Phone are dominating the mobile and tablet segments with Android having over fifty percent market share in the U.S.

Rumours surfaced a couple days ago that the all-touch BlackBerry 10 device might go to market with the name of “BlackBerry Z10.

Little is known about the actual all-touch device, only that it will be powered by RIM’s new “mobile computing platform” BlackBerry 10. The screen resolution has been confirmed to be 1280 x 768, have LTE connectivity and that it’ll come with an HD camera.

Various hi-res pics and a video surfaced online that might give a greater insight into what we can expect the Z10 to look like. CrackBerry has done a fine job at dissecting all the rumours and have created a list of potential specs: 1.5GHz dual-core processor LTE, 4.2-inch display (1280×768) with a 356ppi, 8MP camera that shoots 1080p HD videos and a 2MP front-facing camera, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC, HDMI and a 1800mAh removable battery.

December 24, 2012
Samsung : Windows Phone 7.8 Updates For All WP 7.5 Handsets

WindowsPhoneItaly reports that Samsung has just confirmed that all its Windows Phone 7.5 handsets, including the Omnia W, would receive the hotly-anticipated Windows Phone 7.8 update.

As we’ve discovered in recent weeks, however, not all devices will be getting the 7.8 update. Last month, LG confirmed that its Optimus 7 won’t be updated, and with Dell now well and truly out of the smartphone business, it’s unlikely that the Venue Pro will be updated either.

All first- and second-generation Windows Phones were eligible for update to 7.5, so as Samsung says, this guarantees that all Windows Phone 7 handsets will qualify for the 7.8 update. However, the last part of that statement is critical; while each model will be offered the update, the responsibility for pushing the software to devices lies with Microsoft, which will need to work with carriers to test and finalise the update before it’s deployed.

Microsoft has just started the rollout of PR1.1 update for Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820, but the upgrade is only available in the United States and Canada. Nokia announced the rest of the countries would get it in early February, 2013.

Anyone excited for Windows Phone 7.8, or have you already set your sights on WP8?

December 22, 2012
Rumour : Sony Yuga Officially Named As Xperia Z, Coming In 2013

We’ve been bringing readers news about an upcoming Sony smartphone called the Yuga since October and just recently heard that it may be called the Sony Xperia Yuga along with some more leaked specs. Today we have rumored news that the Yuga name may be dropped before release and that it will then be called the Sony Xperia Z and we also have some further news on the specs and features of this phone.

According to sources close to XperiaBlog, Sony will title the 5-inch 1080p handset Xperia Z, knocking another letter off the dwindling alphabet of naming conventions. And, if the leaked dimensions are correct, the Xperia Z will be extremely svelte, coming in at 7.9mm at its thinnest point. at 139 x 71 x 7.9mm it will be significantly taller and slightly wider than the Xperia T’s 129.4 x 67.3 x 9.4mm frame.

The ‘Xperia Z’ will apparently have water and dust resistance ratings of IP55 and IP57, same as some earlier high-end offerings from the Japanese manufacturer. And the phone’s 1080p screen is said to include ‘OptiConrast’ tech, of the sort usually found in Sony TVs. Amongst other benefits, OptiContrast reduces on-screen reflections through its use of a special resin coating on top of the display.

We’d also imagine the Sony (Mobile) Bravia Engine, another holdover from Sony’s TV tech, will be included, just as it has been on previous Sony phones.

Other specs include a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor, a 12 or 13-megapixel rear camera with Exmor RS CMOS sensor, 2GB of RAM, microSD expansion and unibody frame. It’s also likely to have a flat glass back with a shutter key to one side. Frankly we can’t wait to find out more and hope that this is indeed unveiled by Sony at the Consumer Electronics Show in January in Las Vegas and then released soon afterwards.

One hell of a device if these rumours are true!

December 22, 2012
Leaked : Blackberry 10 QWERTY/Touch Smartphone Backside Image

The BlackBerry 10 leaks just keep on coming. Just a day after a leaked image suggested that the official name of the BlackBerry 10 L-Series smartphone might be “BlackBerry Z10,” a newly-leaked shot posted by NerdBerry shows the backside of the QWERTY/Touch. Not too many details are known and it’s unclear if this is the actual device or a Dev Alpha C that 1,000 developers were recently given.

The N-Series has previously had its keyboard photographed and also appeared as a render in a leaked promo video, but this new image gives us a look at the actual phone in the wild. It’s only the rear of the phone, so all that we can see is a rear cover that looks somewhat similar to the one found on the all-touch L-Series/Z10, but with an added fret divider like one found on the phone’s keyboard.

Just 40 days more to go till it all unveils!

December 22, 2012
Hurry! WhatsApp Free In App Store For Limited Period Of Time!

The wildly popular message client known as WhatsApp is now free for all to download on iOS. This mobile application usually goes for 99 cent, but for a limited time, users will get it free of charge. WhatsApp is a cool way for users to avoid SMS fees in mobile phone plans, as it lets users send messages to other members of the service over the internet.

Although the app is free for now to those rocking an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, folks on Android will continue to get it free, with a $0.99 yearly fee kicking in after the first 12 months.

A few things to note before handing you the download link. On iOS, WhatsApp is compatible only with the iPhone because it’s a telephony application that uses your phone number to let other people reach you. In other words, iPad and iPod touch devices are out.

It requires iOS 4.3 or later and has been recently optimized for the iPhone 5. It works with pretty much all carriers and networks but some carrier limitations may apply in certain territories.

WhatsApp supports English, Arabic, Bokmål, Norwegian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.

December 21, 2012
RIM Reports Fiscal Q3 2013 Results: Revenue of $2.7 Billion And Lower Subscriber Numbers

BlackBerry maker RIM has announced its third quarter results for the three months ended December 1, 2012. The company reported the revenue of $2.7 billion with GAAP net income was of $14 million, or $0.03 per share diluted, including a $166 million favourable tax settlement. The cash increase was of approximately $600 million to $2.9 billion while the cash flow from operations was approximately $950 million.

The company plans to invest heavily in marketing in the coming quarter, with high expectations for its BlackBerry 10 launch on January 30th. The first handsets are planned for sometime in February, though specific dates are not yet known.

RIM subscriber base now sits at 79 million, down over a million from the previous quarter. Though specific numbers have not been provided, the net loss is likely due to continued purging of the BlackBerry platform in North America, with significant gains in Africa and the Middle East. The company sold 6.9 million smartphones and 255,000 PlayBooks this quarter; that’s 500,000 fewer smartphones and 125,000 more tablets compared to last quarter.

RIM cash balance has increased to $2.9 billion this quarter as it continues to iterate on its Cost Optimization and Resource Efficiency (“CORE”) program. Although the company expects another net loss in Q4, CEO Thorsten Heins is bullish on the BlackBerry 10 launch. “More than 150 carriers are currently completing technical acceptance programs for the first BlackBerry 10 products,” he said in a statement.

December 21, 2012