Samsung may have to make some hard choices this year with their Samsung Galaxy S8. Rumors are already pointing to the removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack and the inclusion of the wireless headphones. Samsung may have a lot of disappointed fans due to this move. But, just like with the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, consumers will move on from this.
The new image leak of the Samsung Galaxy S8 from Chinese website notorious for leaks indicates a thin top and bottom bezel on a the old dual edge display, except this time there is no home button and fingerprint scanner. If the image is an actual leak, the Samsung Galaxy S8 could very well be the first phone with a fingerprint sensor that sits behind the display, hence, removing the need of a separate component.
If the design is real, and it appears to be either real or an exceptionally good replica, then the Samsung Galaxy S8 may also lack touch capacitive buttons and utilize on-screen buttons from the Android OS. Alternatively the controls could be on either side of the Samsung logo seen at the bottom.
The most hotly anticipated wearable of the year, the Moto 360 smartwatch, couldn’t come soon enough. Announced way back in March, the device hasn’t exactly been Moto’s secret project with multiple demos and hands-on videos at this Google I/O this year.
But do we really know every detail about the smart watch? Here’s a rumor roundup to sum up everything we know other than the official information on Motorola’s website.
Use of Premium Materials
As Motorola and Google have made sure to point out several times now, the Moto 360, unlike its Android Wear siblings, the LG G Watch and the Samsung Gear Live, will be crafted of premium materials, namely glass and metal. Yes, no cheap plastics here.
But is this really true? A Chinese website, G for Games, recently made claims that the Moto 360 would actually be made of plastics that mimic metal. Now, before you start frowning, we should point out that a lot of tech reviewers are claiming these rumours to be fake. But we can’t be certain until the watch officially releases.
Standard Dimensions
Ever since the announcement, Motorola has made a big deal out of how the Moto 360 will look and feel just like a regular watch. It will have a regular 44mm round dial and a leather strap that can be switched with any other strap.
However, another rumor recently surfaced that Motorola will have to increase the thickness to 13.5mm to incorporate wireless charging into the watch. This will make it considerably thicker than either of it’s siblings, the G Watch and the Gear Live, who stand at 9.95mm and 8.9mm thick, respective
Wireless Charging
In the past couple of months, this has been one of the most consistent rumors. If the Moto 360 manages to support any Qi Wireless Charger, this will be a major accomplishment for the smart watch as it will eliminate the need for proprietary charging docks.
Water Resistant
It has been confirmed by Motorola that the watch will be water resistant. However, no comment has been made on whether it will be IP67 rated or not.
Leaked Images from Mistergadget.net
Optical Heart Rate Sensor
Recent leaked pictures by Italian website Mister Gadget show the Moto 360 flaunting an optical heart rate sensor on its back. We are yet to find out how it will be implemented.
Release Date
Finally, the Moto 360 is believed to be be launching by the end of this summer. This is exciting news, as summer is just coming to an end, and we should expect the watch to be launched at an event in the near future. A very recent rumor is floating that the watch will be released this September. We wish this stands true.
The Moto 360 has definitely managed to become one of the most hotly anticipated gadgets of the year. While we all wait with baited breath for the launch event, if you haven’t already, check out this video by Motorola:
Micromax has just launched the Canvas turbo mini, but this time it seems that the company is planning to try something different. If rumors are to be believed Micromax will soon launch its dust and waterproof smartphone named as splash.
The rumored Micromax Splash was leaked by MMXNewscaster, which states “Micromax Splash (unconfirmed) First IP67 certified Waterproof (1m for 30 mins) and Dust proof phone.” No other information is available yet, but we can assume that this smartphone will be packed with some mid range specifications.
The leaked image which you see above does not tell much about the phone but shows a 5 MP camera at the back along with LED flashlight. We will have to wait and see if and when Micromax will launch this product in the market.
Apple has just acquired Kinect Co-Creator PrimeSense for a whopping sum of US $ 345 Million, according to Israeli news source Calcalist.
If the news is true, this could mean that Apple’s future devices may have motion sensing technologies. Alternatively it could mean that Apple could make displays with this technology built in. Maybe Apple’s rumored iTV will have this tech inbuilt to interact with the hardware. According to reports, the last time Apple tried to acquire PrimeSense, the deal was scrapped due to legal woes. However this time around the company was eager to acquire the ex-kinect maker to improve on the Apple TV.
Along with Lumia 1520, Nokia is also expected to unveil the mid range device the Lumia 1320 in the event today. The new leaked images from evleaks reveal a new Lumia 1320 code-named Batman.
The leaked renders of the rumoured Nokia Lumia 1320 suggest that the device will feature a large touchscreen and showcase a similar design we have seen on Lumia 625. However, the alleged Nokia Lumia 1320 might launch by end of this year. The images show the front and the back of the device. While this is some leaked news, stay tuned for some official news which is just few hours away!
Samsung has already confirmed that its Galaxy Gear smartwatch would launch on September 4th, but that does not stop more details from leaking out. As the launch date comes near, we all now have a good idea of how the Galaxy Gear would look like, but this recent leak shows the mobile app for Smart Watch and gives us a better picture of how would the device work.
Evleaks posted screenshots of the Gear Manager, an app that is said to connect with the Galaxy Gear. The images mostly contain details from the past rumors, like the SM-V700 model number, app support and NFC pairing. There are also a couple of nifty features like the “find my watch” tool, while another tab shows an abstracted representation of the Samsung Galaxy Gear itself.
The unpacked event is less than a week away, so we will soon know what the final product will look like and what features will it bring to the consumers.
Sony is rumored to launch a set of new camera lenses, called the QX10 and QX100. According to SonyAlphaRumors they have built-in sensors, Bionz processors, Wifi/NFC wireless connection and a SD card slots. These lenses have no LCD screen and no usual camera controls. According to the website one will be able to control them through any smart phone or tablet (via WiFi or NFC). The lenses can be magnetically attached on your smartphone and they work on both Android and iOS devices.
QX10 and QX100
The price and launch dates are still not out, but the lenses could be shown off on the 4th of September during IFA. Also as per Sonyalpharumors the phone showed in the images is the much rumored i1. So expect both the devices to be announced if not launched at IFA which is around the corner.
Another leaked image showing how the lens look like with a phone.
A picture that appeared on Chinese site Digi-wo and XperiaBlog, shows a splash of purple across a black background,but if you look closely, that’s actually a phone. This can be, Sony’s rumoured next addition to the Xperia line, previously going under the codename of Honami – and now referred to as the Sony Xperia i1.
As we can see, the image teases a September 4 date on the bottom with “Berlin” written below it. This means that Sony might have this device ready for us this year at IFA 2013 (Berlin).
The picture shows a teasing glimpse of the right side of the phone where you can see the power button, a flap and volume rocker. This purple-coloured Honami seems to show that the frame will be of a different material – perhaps aluminium ?
As per the rumors this device supports a 20 MP camera capable of shooting a 4K video, and phone is supposed to be powered by a quad-core processor.
Just for your reference here is an closer look for the device:
A closer look showing the power button of the device.
A closer look that shows the volume rockers.
We can’t take this rumor as legit until Sony declares the handset globally and officially, hopefully at IFA 2013 next month.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Apple has chosen Samsung to supply the displays for the next generation iPad Mini, which will also boast a retina resolution. As originally imagined, Apple was intending to only employ LG and Sharp for the supply of the LCD panels, but the it seems due to lack of supply, the displays have been also ordered from Samsung’s display division.
Apple has often been known to test components before confirming the final elements of the build. Earlier reports had stated that Apple will not launch an iPad Mini Retina this year, but if the present report is to be believed, not only will Apple Launch a iPad Mini with a high resolution Retina Display, they will also employ their arch nemesis with the job of providing hardware for the unique build.
Apple has tried to completely block off purchasing from Samsung, but the korean giant is probably the only producer of high quality panels that can be produced at an economical and profitable price. Apple presently gets their displays form AU Optronics, who have clearly stated
We cannot take [Apple’s] orders because our rate of output efficiency is too low to be profitable, the company doesn’t make a profit from manufacturing the current iPad Mini’s screens. – said an AU Optronics manager.
In these desperate time it appears that Apple might just have to buy a LCD technology company, but unfortunately for them none are for sale.
LG was the OEM of choice for building the Google Nexus phone last year, and the Nexus 4 has been quite a hit in the industry. Several tipsters and online rumors have pointed to different hardware being manufactured by different companies. The latest news comes from a Korean site called Daum, that claims that the Nexus 5 is already in testing and may be announced sooner than expected. The site also claims that LG is the choice as a manufacturer due to huge success with the Nexus 4 and an overall positive report from the market watch.
Google is known to have the same company build the Nexus device year after year, as they did with Samsung’s Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus, LG could be chosen for the Nexus 5 seeing as how well they executed the previous edition of the Google Phone.
While no real specs, images or design ideas for the upcoming product are available, it is claimed that the Hardware has already done several rounds of the Google Campus. With no real information to back this one, take it with a pinch of salt guys.
The Blackberry R10 is supposedly going to be a cheaper alternative to the Q10 with almost the exact same features, minus the multimedia benefits, ifDGtle is to be believed. The Blackberry R10 will have the same 3.1-inch screen size and 2GB of RAM as the Blackberry Q10. However, the R10 reportedly steps down to a 5-megapixel camera in addition to previously hinted cutbacks in storage (to 8GB) and battery (to 1,800mAh).
Blackberry (Previously RIM) pegged big hopes on their new range of Blackberry 10 devices, but as the sales reports for the company are lower than ever, a quick shift in policy and strategy may help the company come back from its current situation. Blackberry may need to retarget the lower end of the spectrum with budget Blackberry 10 devices, making the masses once again appreciate the company.
HTC M7 has to be the worst kept secret for the company, with images and renders doing rounds on the internet, Android Police has an image and screenshots for the M7, a prototype HTC smartphone. Quite similar in looks to the Droid DNA for Verizon and similar in specs too. However the M7 appears to be running Sense 5.0
The widgets and the overall look of the UI seems to have been overhauled. The locations of buttons resemble the Windows Phone 8x along with the front facing camera. While the design is reminiscent of the Butterfly and the DNA it feels like a completely new device. Lets see what HTC has in store for us at Mobile World Congress.
What appear to be images of a Macbook Pro Retina 13 inch running Windows, yep Windows, have been found online. The possible leak shows a 2,560 x 1,600 LCD (4 X resolution than the existing MacBook Pro) there are also dual Thunderbolt ports and HDMI video that shipped with15inch variant.
No information on how the computer performs or if it runs on the Ivy Bridge platform, the images do show Windows running on it. However the macbook pro 13 inch with Retina display could be a perfect balance between a unibody and SSD design and portability.
The images are also speculated to be of a Chinese ripoff replica running windows on substandard hardware, like the macbook Air replica seen earlier.
Apple will hold a special event on Oct 23rd to launch several products including the new iPad Mini and the rumored revised Macbook Pro 13 inch with Retina Display.
iPad Mini is all set to launch on the 23rd of this month according to a report by AllThings D. The Apple iPad Mini is said to be a stab at success stories behind the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 type tablets. The iPad Mini will be, if at all, Apple’s first foray into this size segment. Weather or not the tablet will fit the size bill is unknown.
You might want to take this news with a pinch of salt as there is really no confirmations surrounding it. Recent reports have been in agreement that we should expect a 7.85-inch iPad with Apple’s new Lightning connector, and an “ultra-thin” design.
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is looking to sell cloud services provider NewBay and some of the other minor assets it recently acquired, as part of a strategic review process, according to a source familiar with the matter.
RIM acquired NewBay, a provider of photo, video, and social-networking tools for smartphones and computers, in October 2011 for reportedly around $100 million, as it sought to roll out a new strategy to stem its steady decline.
RIM declined to comment on the sale report.
RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, is a pioneer in the smartphone industry, but has struggled over the last couple of years, as its aging line-up of BlackBerry smartphones have not been able to compete against more-advanced devices like Apple Inc’s iPhone and a slew of other devices based on Google Inc’s Android software.
The acquisition of NewBay in Dublin, Ireland, was a huge part of the former RIM leadership’s plan to alter its course and boost service revenue by having carriers use its services for messaging, content delivery and analytics on all smartphones.
When RIM bought it in late 2011, NewBay had over 80 million subscribers. NewBay stores media on its own servers and delivers it to any Internet-connected device, including mobile phones, personal computers and tablets.
But in the face of mounting pressure RIM’s Co-Chief Executives Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie resigned early this year. RIM’s new CEO Thorsten Heins has begun a strategic review process within the company and is focused on delivering a new line-up of devices that run on RIM’s new BB10 operating system, in the first-quarter of 2013.
Since taking the reins early in 2012, Heins has retained RBC Capital Markets and JPMorgan to explore options for RIM.
Its share price has fallen more than 60 percent over the course of the last year, as RIM has continued to hemorrhage market share to the likes of nimbler competitors like Apple and Samsung Electronics Co.
RIM’s shares closed more than 6 percent higher at $8.29 on Friday on the Nasdaq, after Bloomberg reported that tech giant International Business Machines Corp had at one point considered buying RIM’s enterprise division.
