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HTC One To Be Android Flagship For 2013, Ultrapixel Camera May Come To Mid-Range Smartphones

According to HTC representatives, the One will be the company’s only flagship release this year, in contrast to previous years when the company brought out multiple high-end devices. The idea is simple: focus on marketing a single product to millions of potential customers across hundreds of carriers. The less HTC dilutes the top of the Android pyramid, the more room it has for its own flagship.

HTC’s Ultrapixel technology, the high-quality image capturing system powering the camera on its HTC One flagship smartphone, is likely to roll out to the company’s other handsets – including its more affordable mid-range offering.

A direct answer to the Nokia 808 PureView, a phone with a 41-megapixel camera which uses supersampling to improve the quality of the final five or eight megapixel captured image, the HTC One’s Ultrapixel technology offers similar claims: using multiple image sensors, rather than a single high-resolution sensor as with PureView, the camera captures each pixel in the final image multiple times in order to create a higher-definition picture despite an apparently low final resolution.

Asked whether the UltraPixel camera will land in more affordable HTC devices, HTC UK head Phil Robertson said: “It could … the core is around the sensor and the image chip that we are using.”

Don’t expect the full scale of improvements that the HTC One brings, though, as the Snapdragon 600 chip is a key part of the performance of the camera. More affordable devices clearly won’t feature such a powerful chip.

“However, the Qualcomm Chipset [used in the HTC One] does enable a lot of this to happen. The ability to take HD video and high-res images at the same time is powered by the quad-core on the device, as well,”Robertson noted.

Ultrapixel and BlinkFeed, two marquee features of the One, will eventually trickle down to cheaper devices. HTC has found success in entry-level smartphones like the Desire C, and will benefit from using consistent branding on all its future devices. Whether we’ll see these rumoured entry- and mid-range devices in 2013 is anyone’s guess, but we predict HTC will get itchy before the beginning of Q4 and out a couple of cheaper handsets.

HTC is also promising to bring Sense 5 to an array of 2012 devices, including the One X and One S.

[Omio]

March 6, 2013
Rumour : Apple iPhone 5S Coming In August With Faster Processor and Improved Camera

We all know that a new iPhone will be hitting stores’ shelves this year, but what exactly will this device bring to the table?

As soon as a new iPhone is announced the next wave of rumours begin. Surfacing today is a report from iMore noting that Apple is planning to announce the follow-up to the iPhone 5 with the iPhone 5S (if that’s what it would be called!) sometime this summer, possibly in August of this year.

As for the design, no plans for this new iPhone 5S to come with a laser keyboard or holographic display, but will keep the same overall general style as the iPhone 5 and come with a better camera and faster processor – possibly “A7.” According to previous rumours the iPhone 5S will also come with a fingerprint sensor under the home button for added security, plus additional details revealed camera will have an improved LED “SmartFlash” sensor.

More specific rumours point to a 13-megapixel camera, and a storage capacity as high as 128GB.

Without compromising with overall design and thickness of casing, Apple is trying to raise the bar of upcoming iPhone 5 only to stay above than the competition.

Despite of high-sales of iPhone 5 and iPad Mini, the year 2012 remained below expectations for Apple and for investors. However, with a line of products reportedly scheduled in 2013 at regular intervals – Apple iPad Mini 2 in April, Apple iPhone 5S in August and Apple iWatch by end of the year – last three-quarters could make Apple swipe off the market beating expectation with significant margins.

[iMore]

March 5, 2013
Samsung Issues Public Apology For Fatal Gas Leak At Semiconductor Plant

Samsung has issued a public apology for a January 28 gas leakage at one of the company’s semiconductor plants that resulted in the death of a contractor.

The public apology, made by company vice chairman Kwon Oh-hyun, comes after Samsung co-president Jeon Dong Su apologized to families of the workers affected and confirmed a third-party investigation into the causes of the hydrofluoric acid gas leak.

Originally reported by Yon Hap, the publication said that roughly 2.6 gallons of acid leaked–mainly in gas form–from a 132-gallon tank of hydrofluoric acid twice in 24 hours, one leak apparently at 11 p.m. local time, and then a secondary leak at 5 a.m.

The problem was allegedly not reported to local Korean authorities until hours afterwards, and after calling in maintenance firm STI Service to fix the problem–something Samsung described as “minimal.”

Samsung was fined just one million won (about $1,000 USD) for not reporting the gas leak quickly enough.

Kwon said in his statement that Samsung will revoke its application to have its Hwaseong plants certified as “green” by the government for the next five years. The company’s plants in Hwaseong were first certified as green in 1998, which meant they could bypass regular inspections. An application for re-designation had been submitted to the government in late August.

Seven people, including three of Samsung’s officials, are being investigated on charges of negligence related to the hydrofluoric acid gas leak. Kwon said that the company is taking steps to prevent similar accidents from happening.

[Tech Crunch]

March 5, 2013
Apple iPhone Could Have Been Called ‘Telepod’, ‘Tripod’ or ‘Mobi’!

Before Apple settled for iPhone, Apple considered several other names for its first smartphone. Not only was the name iPad originally in contention for the phone rather than it later being used for the company’s tablet, but it also almost went with TriPod. Really.

Considering that Apple named their desktop computer system the iMac and their portable media player the iPod, it isn’t surprising that they decided to name their mobile phone the iPhone. However that wasn’t always the case and according to former Apple marketer, Ken Segall.

Speaking to 9to5Mac, Segall said that Apple considered the names “Telepod” and “Tripod” for the smartphone at one point.

The former brand would bring “telephone” together with the iPod, while the latter would refer to the iPhone’s three core capabilities – a phone, an iPod and a device to get onto the internet.

According to Segall, Apple also evaluated the name “mobi” as a play on the word “mobile”, and could even have called the phone “iPad”. That brand was used for Apple’s tablet computer product that debuted in 2010.

But Apple co-founder Steve Jobs previously revealed that the firm actually started working on the tablet before the phone, only to end up prioritising the iPhone in its product strategy.

So yeah, looking at what names Apple might have picked for its iconic smartphone, we’re glad it chose the “iPhone” eventually. Otherwise, we would now be talking, tweeting and snapping photos using our Tripods, and that just sounds silly. Don’t you agree?

[Via 9to5Mac]

March 5, 2013
Opera Browser Beta With Webkit Rendering Engine Now Available In The Play Store

Opera has switching over to the open source WebKit engine to power its mobile browser on the Android platform, instead of the Presto engine it is currently using. WebKit is the same engine that powers browsers such as Safari, Chrome and the stock Android browser. While opinions vary, it’s generally regarded as the fastest option around, routinely beating competitors like Mozilla’s Gecko.

The browser is in beta mode, and is now available to Android users via the Google Play Store.

The new browser centres around its homepage which features three columns that you can swipe left and right between. The left most is the familiar history while central is Speed Dial and to the right is Discover.

Speed Dial is a place to store bookmarks to your favourite sites, which are laid out in a grid pattern and can be combined into folders just like apps.

As for Discover, its yet another variation on these news feed apps that present curated content in a stylised column of pictures. It does go a step further than many such offerings though as it also caches the first couple of paragraphs of the article saving having to download the whole lot.

Also key is the new Off-road mode which when engaged, like Opera mini, routes page requests through Opera’s servers where they’re compressed before being delivered to your device.

Other features of the new browser include tabbed browsing, a combined search and address bar and an offline mode for saving whole webpages for reading later.

The download manager can be used to save, rename, start, stop, and resume downloads. The browser’s compatibility is currently listed as “varies with device.” Have you downloaded it yet? Tell us what you think in the comments!

March 5, 2013
Microsoft Targeting Next Release Of Windows Phone During The Holiday Season

Microsoft is planning to release a new version of Windows Phone for the holiday season, according to a job listing posted by the company.

In the listing, Microsoft is looking for a software development engineer which would work on Windows Phone software.

[quote]

According to the listing :

This is a great time to join as we’re completing our current release are getting ready for our next release targeting the holiday of this year and we’re chartered with keeping the momentum for Windows Phone by bringing new killer devices and delightful user experiences. There are enormous growth opportunities in this role and organization.

[/quote]

Windows Phone is considered key to Microsoft’s mobile strategy, as well as Bing’s mobile market share. However, Windows Phone has been slow to catch on with consumers, a majority of whom continue to snap up iPhones and Android devices.

“Next release” does not give us much in terms of features or any other details, but we’d expect the update to be a major one, since Windows Phone 8 was launched in October 2012, and the previous major update, Windows Phone 7.5, was released in September 2011.

According to earlier reports, the next WP release, codenamed “Windows Phone Blue,” should bring both kernel updates and user-interface improvements.

Microsoft recently released “Portico,” the first significant WP8 update, and the software maker is planning other improvements under a broad effort known as “Apollo Plus.”

[WMPU]

March 4, 2013
Asus Transformer Pad To Get Android 4.2 Update Today In The US, Will Roll Out Globally This Month

Asus has started rolling out an update to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean for its Transformer Pad TF300 tablet.

The software update means that the Transformer Pad 300 is the first tablet to get Android 4.2 Jelly Bean aside from Google’s Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. Asus is rolling the firmware out in the US from today and other regions during March.

In a time where Android 4.2 is still a rarity for those who don’t own a Nexus device, ASUS has come along and, once again, put a lot of OEM to shame with swift action on the latest version of Android.

Along with all of the goods Jelly Bean 4.2 brings, including widgets on the lock-screen and user profiles for multiple users, ASUS will also have significant updates in tow for its App Locker, its virtual keyboard, the lock-screen and setup wizards. Users can grab the upgrade over-the-air so be sure to take a quick trip to the Settings > About Tablet menu where you’ll be able to pull this one down.

In related news, ASUS has confirmed several other tablets in its lineup that will get Android 4.1 in the second quarter of this year. These tablets include the Transformer Pad Infinity, the ASUS MeMO Pad Smart 10, and the MeMO Pad.

Good going Asus!

[toggle_box title=”Press Release” width=”Width of toggle box”]

Android 4.2 released for the ASUS Transformer Pad TF300

Improvements include enhanced performance, stability and multiple user account logins

Fremont, CA (March 4, 2013) — ASUS is excited to announce Android 4.2 is now available in the US region for the ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T. Android 4.2 will be released to Transformer Pad owners via a free over the air update starting today in the United States and will be available in other regions during March. This new version of Android enhances performance and stability, improves the user experience with new features as well as providing multiple user account logins.

The ASUS Transformer Pad TF300 is one of the most successful ASUS tablets to date and offers a full notebook PC experience when attached to the innovative mobile dock. ASUS is committed to providing the best customer experience, and is the first manufacturer to receive Android 4.2 for partnered tablets. The ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity, ASUS MeMO Pad Smart 10”, and ASUS MeMO Pad will receive Android 4.2 in Q2.

[/toggle_box]

March 4, 2013
Report : Google Testing Data Compression To Speed Up Chrome for Android

Google’s Chrome for Android team is experimenting with a new data compression proxy feature to speed up browsing similar to the methods used by Opera Turbo and Amazon Silk. The feature is currently optional but could one day be flipped on by default if Google deems it ready, significantly helping those on slow connections.

The latest build of Chromium, the open source browser project which Chrome is built upon, sports this new functionality. The feature was first spotted by developer Francois Beaufort, who talked about it in a Google+ post.

“Reduce data consumption by loading optimized web pages via Google proxy servers,” Google describes the feature.

The feature is still in early testing, users can enable it in Chrome for Android via a command line flag, which means they’ll need to be able to run a command like shell on their phones, either remotely via adb or via a terminal emulator on the device.

It’s unclear whether the technology actually works at this point or whether it’s just a placeholder.

There are several ways in which Google could lighten the load on the connection and speed up website loading. For one, as the name suggests, Chrome will connect to the Google cloud via SPDY, reducing some of the overhead.

What’s more, using the proxy means that Chrome will connect to the closest Google data center rather than to a server which may be halfway around the world. Popular websites would also be cached by Google ensuring faster load times.

Both Opera Turbo and Silk use pre-processing on their respective company’s servers to optimize a web page, reducing the amount of data that is sent to the browser by compression and other methods.

[TNW]

March 4, 2013
First Samsung Galaxy S4 Teaser Trailer Released

Samsung has unpacked a video teaser ahead of its big Galaxy S4 launch later this month, but it’s giving nothing away.

Samsung’s upcoming Samsung Unpacked event at March 14th in New York City looks set to see the Galaxy S4 released then, but just what the heck is the Samsung Galaxy S4 going to look like? Sure, we have seen alleged specifications of it leaked out via an Antutu benchmark earlier this morning, but how about its physical aspects? The Galaxy S4 teaser video would help you salivate more over the upcoming flagship smartphone by building up the overall anticipation, but it did not reveal nary a bit on how it would look like.

The trailer is titled ‘Be ready 4 the next Galaxy’ and features Jeremy, the secret messenger of Samsung Unpacked 2013.

Unfortunately, the video contains no new info on the Samsung Galaxy S4 or even the tiniest glimpse of the new handset. Essentially a small boy is given the huge job of keeping the Galaxy S4 secret until the launch on 14 March in New York’s Times Square.

There’s only one phone on show during the short clip but it’s too small to see what it is. It’s likely to just be a Galaxy Note 2 phablet. Jeremy’s driver says: “I know this is going to be one of the most amazing products to hit the market since TVs went colour.”

Rumors have been swirling around the Samsung Galaxy S4. Among the features that might come to the device is an eight-core Exynos processor, a separate eight-core graphics processing unit, a 4.99-inch Super Amoled display, 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel rear camera with 1080p video capability, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, and the latest version of Android, known as 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

Check back in with iGyaan on March 14 for full coverage of Samsung’s event. Until then, here’s today’s teaser video:

March 4, 2013
Apple Blocks Older Adobe Flash Versions In Safari

It would appear that, regardless of browser choice, there’s a plugin to cause problems. Years ago the primary culprits would have been toolbars, but now it’s the turn of Oracle’s Java and Adobe Flash Player. If you use either, you’ll notice frequent updates to protect against vulnerabilities.

While Adobe has already fixed the flaws being exploited, Apple instituted the plug-in-blocking feature in its Safari web browser to safeguard users who may not have downloaded the latest patches. The change affects Macs running OS X Mountain Lion, Lion, and Snow Leopard.

[quote]

From Apple’s support document:

To help protect users from a recent vulnerability, Apple has updated the web plug-in-blocking mechanism to disable older versions of the web plug-in: Adobe Flash Player.

[/quote]

Users who have not yet downloaded the most recent version of Flash, designated as version 11.6.602.171, will see a “Blocked Plug-in” alert in Safari. Selecting the prompt will bring up a pop-up window containing a link to download and install the most up-to-date version of Adobe’s software.

Apple is making this work through OS X’s inbuilt Xprotect malware scanner; maybe not an orthodox method, but it’s getting results for the company, driving down consumer problems simultaneously. Not everyone knows about Xprotect, and information about it is thin on the ground, but it certainly seems to be flagging outdated software effectively.

Earlier, Adobe rolled out an update to address three vulnerabilities in Flash, two of which supposedly targeted Mozilla’s Firefox browser.

[Neowin]

March 3, 2013
Judge Cuts $450 Million From $1 Billion Award To Be Paid By Samsung To Apple, Second Trial Ordered

A judge on Friday cut $450 million from the $1 billion award to be paid by Samsung in a landmark patent lawsuit from Apple, saying a jury had wrongly calculated the damages.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, today reduced the jury’s damages award by $450.5 million and said Samsung deserves a new trial on infringement claims over its Galaxy Prevail and other smartphones. Koh rejected Apple’s request to enhance the jury’s award, saying the amount Samsung owed was heavily disputed and the jury wasn’t bound to accept either side’s damages estimate.

[quote]“It is not the proper role of the court to second-guess the jury’s factual determination as to the proper amount of compensation,” Koh said in her ruling.[/quote]

The rulings are the latest twist in the global litigation war between Apple and Samsung. The case at issue covers a series of older Samsung products that Apple says violated its intellectual property. A second lawsuit is pending before Koh in which Apple makes similar claims against Samsung’s more recent smartphones and tablets.

[quote]”We are pleased that the court decided to strike $450,514,650 from the jury’s award,” Samsung said in a statement. “Samsung intends to seek further review as to the remaining award. We are also pleased that the court earlier found that Samsung had not acted willfully, denied Apple’s request for a permanent injunction, and denied Apple’s motion for increased damages.” [/quote]

While not an outright loss for Apple, the ruling is not the best news for a company that’s been on bit of legal losing streak.

March 3, 2013
Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag Cinematic Trailer Leaked

Even if Ubisoft officially confirmed Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag earlier this week, the leaks surrounding the game keep on coming, this time with a cinematic trailer appearing online, focusing on the brand new protagonist, Edward Kenway.

The trailer was leaked through GameRadar’s YouTube channel, and taken down soon afterwards, but to Ubisoft’s horror, many more copies of the videos took its place. It includes several cinematic shots of ship battles, pirates and trademark assassination moves by Kenway. It’s narrated by Blackbeard the pirate, who gives his “honest opinion” about the newest assassin.

“You ask me, can this new captain promise you a life of prizes, plunder and adventure?” he says. “Aye. For amongst all the gentleman of fortune sailing these west indies, he ranks among the most clever.”

“This man is a fearsome dog, a fiend of trouble and turmoil,” Blackbeard continues. “… Fighting like a devil, dressed as a man.”

Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag will be available on current and next-gen consoles. Earlier this week, Ubisoft released box art for the game.

It looks like Ubisoft can go ahead and cancel that “World Premiere Trailer” website they had designed and prettied up all for Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag. Besides getting a sneak peak at the game, and finding out its official release date is October 29th, there isn’t much else we know yet about the game. It is rumored that Assassin’s Creed IV will be taking place in either Jamaica, Bahamas, Cuba, Mexico, or England.

Check out the trailer below :

March 3, 2013
Microsoft Photosynth For Windows Phone 8 Devices Finally Here

Microsoft’s ever-popular panoramic app Photosynth has arrived on the company’s own Windows Phone 8 platform. The app had previously only been available for iOS devices (as well as WP7), but after being absent from Microsoft’s new mobile platform for several months after its release, Windows Phone 8 users can now capture Street View-esque panoramic images with their new Windows Phone devices.

The app was initially slated for the OS’ launch in late October, but Joe Belfiore, Windows Phone team lead, said he “asked them to ‘re-do’ their UI to be a terrific lens experience and they obliged.” In other words, the app had to be retooled to be successfully integrated into the new Lens system, a feature Microsoft has been touting as especially convenient for users.

Three main improvements include:

– Lens integration – Quickly capture and view panoramas by launching Photosynth directly from the camera.
– Ability to view shared panoramas—New sharing capabilities let other Windows Phone 8 users view your panoramas on their phone, and as always you can show off your panoramas by email, Facebook and Twitter.
– More camera controls – Adjust for various lighting conditions by using new exposure and white balance locking options.

One of the biggest criticisms of Windows Phone (as well as BlackBerry and other smaller phone systems) is that not as many apps are available as there are for Android and iOS. However, Microsoft has been steadily increasing the number of apps available for its newest smartphone operating system to catch up with its bigger rivals.

If you’re an avid photographer, download Photosynth for WP8 and stitch some scenes together.

March 3, 2013
Samsung Galaxy Fame Hands-On
At an event yesterday, Samsung launched its latest entrant in the budget smartphone segment, the Samsung Galaxy Fame.

The Galaxy Fame has a 3.5in 320×480 display which uses TFT rather than AMOLED technology, behind which is a single-core 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage – which, again, can be upgraded by up to 64GB using a micro-SD card. The device includes a five megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash and VGA resolution front-facing camera, and runs Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.

Samsung has packed a 1,300mAh battery inside.

Times have changed over the years, but never did we see the smartphones reach the consumer market with such a blow that feature phones would almost disappear.

Samsung Galaxy Fame
- Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
- 3.5-inch 320×480 TFT display
- 1GHz processor single-core
- 512MB RAM
- 4GB of storage, externally expandable to 64GB
- 5MP rear camera, with LED flash
- VGA front camera
- 1,300mAh battery
Pricing and availability in India is yet unannounced and we’ll update you soon as soon as we get a hint of it. Till then, stay tuned.

Check out our hands on video below :

Images
March 2, 2013
Samsung Galaxy Young Hands-On
After launching the Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus earlier today, Samsung also launched two cheaper handsets aimed at younger or low-budget users, one of them being the Samsung Galaxy Young.

The Samsung Galaxy Young has a 3.27in 480×320 TFT display with a 1GHz processor and upgradeable 4GB of storage but with 768MB of RAM. Sadly, the camera has a measly 3.15-megapixel sensor, while there is no secondary camera. The Samsung Galaxy Young runs Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.

Samsung has packed a 1,300mAh batterie to help users enjoy increased multimedia use and long talk time. Well, most of Samsung’s handsets are known for their decent battery life.

Pricing and availability in India is yet unannounced and we’ll update you soon as soon as we get a hint of it. Till then, stay tuned.

Looks like Samsung is not going to slow down. They’re releasing devices too fast and it’s getting hard to keep up with all these releases!

Check out the hands-on video below :

Galaxy Young
- Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
- 3.27-inch 480×320 TFT display
- 1GHz processor
- 768MB RAM
- 3.15 MP rear camera
- 1,300mAh battery
March 2, 2013