The on again, off again saga of the Motorola X Phone continues with a new entry today courtesy of graphic benchmarking site GFXBench. Going by the codename “Ghost” a Motorola XT1058 showed up sporting an 1196 x 720 screen resolution and Android 4.2.2. The device lists a MSM8960 chipset, which makes it seem likely it is running a Snapdragon S4 Pro or Snapdragon 600, although the testing results may reveal something more. » Read the rest
We know how painful the wait for the Galaxy S 4′s launch is for you Verizon customers out there, but it’s looking like you customers out there won’t need to wait too much longer to grab one of those puppies after all. The nation’s largest wireless carrier has confirmed by tweet that it is moving the official launch up one week to May 23rd— next Thursday. This means that those of you will finally have a chance to pay $199.99 for the 16GB version and sell your soul to Verizon for the next two years… or you could just suck it up and pay $649.99 and grab the flagship device outright. Either way, we’re sure that prospective customers must be more than happy at this exciting news.
source: @Verizon
While Samsung hasn’t officially announced the multiple rumored variants of its recent Galaxy S 4 flagship, it is likely they will launch as soon as next month. The most recent leak is apparently the first photo from its cameraphone variant, the SM-C101, also known as the Galaxy S 4 Zoom, which was recently spotted in Bluetooth SIG. The phone will prominently feature a 16-megapixel camera with a massive 10x optical zoom.
There is still no word on what this device will pack internally, but some have speculated that it will be similar to the recently leaked Galaxy S 4 Mini so as not to hurt the S 4′s sales. The S 4 Zoom will join the S 4 Mini, S 4 Mega and the water and dust-proof S 4 Activ with release dates this summer. » Read the rest
If you’re a T-Mobile customer who owns a Samsung Galaxy S III, you’ll be happy to learn that an update should be arriving very soon for your device, in the form of Android 4.1.2. The only issue is that we’re not really sure of what the update includes (other than multi-window support), as T-Mobile has yet to update their support page.
However, we do know that the update adds two new apps, including Paper Artist and Group Play. It also supposedly adds T-Mobile’s new “4G” logo to the phone’s notification bar. The update is a full 187MB and according to reports, owners started receiving the update as early as 3AM this morning.
Let us know how the update is if you got it, and we’ll let you guys know some more information as soon as T-Mobile updates their support page.
source: TMONews
According to a new report by Strategy Analytics, existing smartphone users in the second half of 2012 were most likely to be interested in devices with a screen size between 4.2-inches and 4.7-inches. These statistics show an increase from a similar study done in the second half of 2011 where the preferred screen size was 4.3-inches.
Those who intended on buying their first smartphone showed a preference towards slightly smaller screens, while most current smartphone owners were interested in an increase over their current device. Males preferred slightly larger screens than females, and current brand ownership made an impact on preference as well. Nearly all participants in the study showed a preference for their next device to have a larger screen size than their current handset.
Source: Strategy Analytics
Sure Samsung may be in the midst of an onslaught of devices for 2013, but it appears that we may see a first from the manufacturer: a tablet/computer hybrid. According to sources, Samsung is quietly working on the special device as we speak and will utilize Intel’s new Bay Trail processing unit from the newly-released Silvermont line, which aims to give tons of speed for users, but with less energy consumption. Additionally, the new hybrid device will feature a keyboard, in addition to the on-screen display, which will give users tons of flexibility when using the device. Unfortunately, there are no additional features like what OS will be running the show or what exact display size will be used, but we’re hoping that we will see more information leak out sooner than later.
source: Technastic
via: Phone Arena
Just two days ago we let you know that the Samsung Galaxy S 4 Mini was just around the corner, and now there are pictures to back that up. As we said before, the phone will most likely be announced later this month alongside the Samsung Galaxy S 4 Activ, as well as the Samsung Galaxy S 4 Zoom.
As you can see from the pictures, the Galaxy S 4 Mini is just a smaller version of the original Galaxy S 4, but with mid-range hardware. Instead of a 5-inch screen with a 441 ppi pixel density, the Galaxy S 4 Mini features a 4.3-inch display with only a 256 ppi pixel density. Also, instead of the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor in the Galaxy S 4, the Galaxy S 4 Mini will only have a dual core 1.6GHz processor on-board.
We’ll keep a lookout for any more information on the device and update you as any news comes in.
Source: Sina Weibo
Via: Phone Arena
Until now we had only seen the Galaxy S 4 available in white frost and black mist, but Japanese provider DoCoMo will apparently have a new color variant available for their customers. Promotional materials by DoCoMo show a “Blue Arctic” version, shown above, expected to be announced on May 15 and available next month.
We knew Samsung would eventually release more colors for the phone as they did with the S3 — the question was just when. It will be interesting to see if and when the “Blue Arctic” version will arrive in other markets. The Galaxy S 4 Activ has been rumored to come in a metallic orange color - could that make its way to the regular S4 as well?
We had another busy week at TalkAndroid so here’s a recap of all the top stories. Google I/O is next week and we have the full scoop on the new and improved Nexus 7. Rumors say the Motorola X phone is scrapped for the time being, but a recent FCC filing seems to indicate it might actually be sooner rather than later. We weren’t expecting to see it announced next week, but could we get a surprise? Google Babel is expected to be unveiled under the “Hangouts” name, and recent developments support that Google will unveil an updated Nexus 4 with LTE. Lastly, Google will unveil cloud sync gaming with Play Games. There were a lot of new apps, including a couple of reviews as well. It’s time to get caught up and get ready for another exciting week.
Guides
How to remove apps from the Google Play Store ‘My Apps’ list
How to make a Drama Shot or Sequence Shot on the HTC One
Reviews
The name “Project J” was thrown around quite a bit with Samsung’s devices, and is now known to be the original codename of the Galaxy S 4. However, there were multiple variants of the Project J, such as the J Mini and J Activ. The J Activ seems to be a waterproof version of the S 4, known as the Galaxy S 4 Activ, which should be announced by the end of the month. The next logical assumption would be that the J Mini would be code for the Galaxy S 4 Mini, but the name “Serrano” has been tied to the Mini as well. The Serrano is coming to AT&T with the model number of SGH-1257, so it’s safe to assume this will be the Galaxy S 4 Mini. The Galaxy S 4 Activ will probably also land on AT&T, but no word yet.
Either way, these Project J variants are not expected to surpass the original Galaxy S 4 in any way— they are simply mid-range alternatives, with some slightly different features. We’ll keep you guys posted on these phone announcements expected later this month.
Source: @evleaks