Samsung Reveals The Very first Tizen Phone

This week while all eyes were glued to Computex 2014, Samsung launched the world's first commercially available Tizen phone, the Samsung Z, during the Tizen Developer Conference in San Francisco. The phone will be released in Russia in Q3 2014, and then to other markets after that for an unspecified amount.

According to the specs, the phone has a 4.8-inch screen with a 1280 x 720 resolution, backed by a quad-core SoC clocked at 2.3 GHz. The phone also has 2 GB of memory, 16 GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot supporting 64 GB of additional storage.

Additional specs reveal a 2.1MP camera on the front, an 8MP camera on the back, a fingerprint sensor, dual-band Wireless N and Bluetooth 4.0 LE connectivity, and NFC. Other features include a heart rate sensor, GPS, a barometer, accelerometer, gyro, a proximity sensor and more.

The phone will be made available in Black and Gold, and feature a faux leather back panel. The form factor has a slim, angular design, giving the device a "differentiated" look. The overall dimensions are 5.45 x 2.74 x 0.33 inches, and the weight is 0.299 pounds.

"The Tizen platform delivers a fast, optimal performance with improved memory management," states the PR. "The Tizen-based Samsung Z offers a faster startup time and immediate multi-tasking capabilities. The Samsung Z fully supports superb 2D and 3D graphic qualities, smoother scrolling and an improved rendering performance for web browsing. Users will also be able to enjoy safe and secure privacy protection using the built-in fingerprint sensor."

Source: tomshardware.com

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Neowin: Google Nexus 7 (2013) review

The evolution of  the tablet has been one of the most interesting, and certainly among the most significant, developments in personal computing history. Its genesis arguably lies in science fiction, with tablet-like devices featuring in movies, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, and TV shows, such as Star Trek, giving a glimpse of what was to come.

The first devices to realise this tablet vision would not come until decades later, with the likes of Apple’s Newton, PDAs such as the Palm Pilot, and Microsoft’s ill-fated Tablet PC platform all attempting to make the concept a reality for a wide audience.

But it was Apple, in 2010, which largely defined the tablet computing experience that we know today. The original iPad set a new standard for others to follow, with a light and slim form factor, a generously sized high-quality display, a rich and diverse software ecosystem, and pricing that finally made the tablet vision affordable.

Today, tablets are available in all shapes and sizes, but it is the smallest tablets that are becoming the most popular. Devices such as Amazon’s Kindle Fire range and Apple’s iPad mini are vying for the attentions of buyers who are snapping them up with glee.

Google jumped into this space too in June 2012, with the launch of its Nexus 7, a seven-inch device manufactured by Asus. With prices starting at just $199, it enjoyed broad critical acclaim, and considerable sales success – in July of this year, Google said that it had sold around 7 million units, representing around 10% of all Android tablet

sales.

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iPad Air costs Apple between $274 and $361 to produce

Some new data on how much it costs Apple to produce the iPad Air has surfaced from IHS courtesy of All Things D, and looks as though the company is making top dollar on its most well received tablet to date. Based on the data, Apple is making as much as $568 per unit.

According to IHS, the iPad Air costs Apple between $274 and $361 to manufacture, a number that varies depending on the model. At retail, an Air will run you anywhere from $499 all the way up to $929 for the 128GB model with Wi-Fi and cellular technology, so with some simple math we can see Apple is doing quite well for itself with the new offering.

 

To break it down, the data points at the device's display as being most costly, factoring for more than half the cost of the lower end model. IHS says that the screen itself runs Apple around $90 and the touch screen elements add on another $43.

Beyond that, the researchers say that Apple has done a good job of cutting costs quite significantly compared to previous options, the base model iPad Air is in total $42 cheaper to produce than the third generation entry model iPad. This time around Apple has managed to cut better deals with its suppliers due to not having made many intensive changes to the design, allowing them to bring the cost down on certain components. The Samsung manufactured A7 chip only costs the company $18, a number that has reduced from the $23 the company was spending on the A5 processor just a year and a half ago.

So in total, IHS estimates that the company's margins on the new iPad Air sit at around 45% for the 16GB base model and 61% on the 128GB LTE version. You can see the call-out slide from IHS's research below:

 

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Twitter for Android: how to stop unwanted alerts

The official Twitter app on my Android phone has started popping up a new sort of notification. Every so often, it’s taken to buzzing and vibrating to advise me that some people I know have started to follow someone I don’t know.

Clearly, it’s an attempt to get me to “engage” more with Twitter – as if I don’t enough already – and it’s not a wholly brainless approach. It stands to reason that if my friends like a certain Twitter feed then there’s a fair chance I might like it too.

I really don’t appreciate the intrusion, however. And based on the comments I’ve seen popping up on my own feed it looks like I’m not alone. I won’t be surprised if Twitter ends up backtracking in short order – but in the meantime, it looks like we’ll just have to live with the unwanted interruptions, or uninstall the Twitter app entirely.

That’s what it looks like; but in fact it is possible to disable these unwanted notifications. Here’s how.

The secret is that Twitter’s settings interface actually offers many more configuration options than are obvious at first glance.

To see this for yourself, first open up the Twitter app, then hit the Menu button and select Settings (you can also get here by tapping on your own profile, tapping the cogwheel button and selecting Settings).

The menu that opens offers only a perfunctory selection of Settings. There’s certainly nothing here about notifications. If you were looking for a way to turn off intrusive alerts, I wouldn’t blame you for giving up at this point.

At the top, however, there’s a section headed Accounts, the first entry under which should be your account name. Though there’s nothing to indicate it, clicking on this takes you to another menu offering many more settings – including a whole section headed NOTIFICATION SETTINGS.

The options on offer still don’t actually look very promising. You can turn vibrations and audio alerts on and off, but there’s only a single tick-box for “Notifications”. If you’re anything like me, you still want to receive alerts when someone mentions you in a tweet, or sends you a direct message. It looks very much as if your only options are to receive all alerts, including the unwanted ones – or none.

Tap the tick-box, however, and you’re in for a surprise. Another submenu opens. And from here – praise be – you can specify precisely which types of alert you want to pop up on your phone or tablet. Scroll down and untick Recommendations and Other (this time the tick-boxes are for real) and the job is done. You should no longer be bothered by notifications about things that don’t involve you.

It’s a relief to find this is possible, but the requisite tick-boxes are so well tucked away – hidden, indeed, behind an overtly misleading interface design – that I can’t help but wonder whether someone is deliberately trying to prevent people from finding them.

If so, it’s a real disappointment. I never imagined the service was a philanthropic venture, but so far I thought it had steered clear of the worst Facebook-style excesses of user manipulation. If this sort of thing is now on the table, it’s not an encouraging augur of what things will be like after the IPO.

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Lenovo Yoga Tablet review: first look

Under the jubilant “#betterway” hashtag, Lenovo has revealed its latest brainchild, the Yoga Tablet, in synchronised events in Los Angeles and Milan.

Running a lightly customised version of Android 4.2.2 and coming in 8in and 10in variants, the Yoga Tablet resembles nothing so much as an oversized Apple Magic Trackpad. Across most of the screen area it’s an exceptionally slim 3mm deep, but with a cylindrical protrusion of around 8mm bulging out along one edge.

The purpose of this protrusion is threefold. Like Lenovo’s Windows 8-based Yoga systems, the Yoga Tablet is a “multimode” device, and in its first “mode” – that is, handheld usage – the bulge serves as a handgrip. This isn’t a brand new idea: the Sony Tablet S offered a similar bulging chassis back in 2011. But it works. Moving the centre of gravity into the user’s hand makes even the 10in model much easier to use one-handed than its 605g weight would suggest. In portrait mode, the natural way of holding it feels pleasingly like holding a notebook in one hand and writing on it with the other. The 8in model feels almost weightless; a neat trick, since it really weighs 401g, 111g more than a 2013 Nexus 7.

Secondly, the cylindrical design functions as a hinge for the built-in stand. If you wish, you can of course lay the device almost flat on a desk, like a Magic Trackpad; but flip out the integrated stand and the top edge is raised by around 3cm, elevating the whole thing to a comfortable typing position, which Lenovo calls “tilt mode”.

Flip the tablet up with the stand extended and the whole thing stands upright – the third usage “mode”, allowing you to conveniently watch movies and TV shows. As a bonus, the bulge also provides a convenient space to build in a chunky battery: the 8in model gets a 6,000mAh unit, while the 10in one gets a whopping 9,000mAh battery. Lenovo claims these will deliver 18 hours of use on a single charge, though we’ve yet to confirm that for ourselves.

Inside, the Yoga Tablet uses a dual-core MediaTek CPU based on ARM’s Cortex-A7 architecture. Presumably to help battery life along, it’s clocked at a relatively slow 1.2GHz, supported by 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage (with 32GB models on the way too). 

There’s a microSD slot at the rear too, for easy expansion, and a micro-SIM slot next to it – though no details of 3G/LTE models have yet been announced (we tried the 802.11n-equipped Wi-Fi version). Look closely and you’ll spot a 5MP rear-facing camera and a 1.6MP front-facing lens. The only other connectors are a micro-USB charging port at the left and a headphone socket at the right. 

On the 10in model, text looks chunky, especially compared to Apple’s 10in iPad

One disappointment is that Lenovo has opted for a comparatively low-resolution 1,280 x 800 panel on both models. On first impression it certainly appears bright and vibrant, and on the 8in model it looks no more than slightly grainy. On the 10in model, however, text looks distinctly chunky, especially compared to Apple’s 10in iPad. Homescreen icons appear oversized, as if you’re using a tablet for kids, or for the partially sighted.

It must also be said that in our preliminary tests, performance wasn’t exactly impressive. The SunSpider benchmark took 1,449ms to complete – some 20% slower than the 2013 Nexus 7 – and in the T-Rex GfxBench benchmark the Yoga Tablet managed just 4.4fps – implying around a third of the 3D power of Google’s official tablet. That suggests the Yoga might struggle as a gaming device, if not now then in a year or two.

UK prices hadn’t been confirmed at the time of writing, but Italian consumers will be paying €229 for the 8in Wi-Fi model or €299 for the 10in version. With its magnesium alloy casing, it feels like a solid piece of kit for the money, so its distinctive design and impressive battery life claims could yet persuade customers to forgive its unspectacular performance and mediocre resolution.

To partner the Yoga Tablet, Lenovo is offering a range of colourful cases: a striking green and grey design was shown to partner the 10in model, while the 8in was demonstrated with a more discreet range of orange, black and white cases.

There’s also a dedicated Miracast adapter for wireless display sharing, and a standalone Bluetooth keyboard which doubles up as a 5mm-thick cover, snapping magnetically over the front of the screen for easy storage and transit. As with Apple’s iPad covers, attaching the screen sends the tablet immediately to sleep, and removing it wakes it up again.

It’s an open question whether a keyboard is really a must-have accessory for an Android tablet, and the charging mechanism is hardly elegant – a proprietary three-pin plug that connects under a fiddly flap directly above the keyboard. Still, Lenovo claims the keyboard will last 75 days between charges, so this shouldn’t be a regular frustration. Much will depend on the cost, which hasn’t been announced.

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Nexus 5 Will out to Worldwide With default os KitKat

The phone industry’s worst kept secret since the iPhone 6 (Editor - Shhhh, no one knows yet) has officially been revealed, released, revered and reviled over the last 24 hours.

Google’s inevitable Nexus 5 has been on the cards for some time now, with leak after leak occurring straight from Google’s obviously porous HQ, but finally it’s out and here we are to bring you all the details you need to know about the new pretender to the smartphone crown…

Coinciding with the the release of Google's Android version 4.4 software codenamed KitKat, the Nexus 5 promises to be the smartest and most immersive Android experience yet. There might not be queues stretching for miles or midnight launches with frenzie shoppers experienced, but Google’s Nexus 5 has indeed quietly launched, noticeable only by a post on the official Android blog.

Despite forgoing the glitz and glamour of other phone launches, the Nexus 5 has erupted off virtual shelves, already selling out in its American homeland within a matter of hours.

Back in August we detailed the leaked specs of the Nexus 5, and these have turned out to be overwhelmingly true. The Nexus 5 is an LG branded phone packing a 5 inch 1920x1080p HD display (Xbox One take note) display, a quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU clocked at a hefty 2.3GHz and an 8-megapixel camera for all your photojournalism needs.

Despite the increased screen size and better specs, the Nexus 5 is actually smaller, lighter and slimmer than its predecessor, the Nexus 4.

The KitKat update to Android comes packing a whole host of improvements, including a new Google hangouts app, hands free search and more. Android phones and iPhone’s feature sets are beginning to sound more and more alike, it’s enough to question where these machines are going to have to go next to satiate the urge for yet another marketing bullet point.

Enough rambling, the Nexus 5 is priced at $349/£299 for the 16GB model and $399/£339 for the 32GB and is available from today for those living in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Korea and Japan.

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Windows Phone 8 Update 3 adds support for bigger screens

Microsoft today announced its third Windows Phone 8 update. The update has been previously referred to as GDR3 (General Distribution Release 3) and brings changes important to the future of Microsoft's mobile OS such as; larger screen support, support for more powerful processors, a new driving mode and the ironing out of a few other wrinkles such as the provision of a screen rotation lock.

Windows Phone engineering team manager, Darren Laybourn, writing on the Windows Phone Blog summed up the WP8 GDR3 improvements as; “A bigger Start screen for more Live Tiles. A new, customizable Driving Mode. Better accessibility options.” However there’s quite a lot more important updates than that, including support for powerful processors like the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800.

Bigger screens

Bigger screened phones are ever more popular but you can’t keep making screens bigger without support for more pixels. In Update 3 Windows Phone will get support for high resolution screens much like on the many Android ‘phablets’. Interestingly the name of the picture file on the Windows Blog showing the first new screen shot of GDR3 is “Phablet...”.

The new larger screens, with higher pixel resolutions, will be able to utilise a Start Screen tile grid of up to six tiles wide instead of the current maximum of four. See below for an example. You can get many more apps and shortcuts on a screen, or mix large and small tiles to please your own eyes and fingers.

Driving mode for Dad’s taxi

A new driving mode is meant to help you get somewhere with less distractions. It can work alongside a connected Bluetooth device and can limit notifications, and the temptation to pay heed to them, while you get from A to B. Usefully it can be configured to send automatic replies to people who call or text while you are driving. A message like “I’m on my way and told you not to call/text” might be pretty useful for Dad’s taxi.

Other additions and enhancements

Microsoft has also overhauled WP8’s accessibility features to make it easier for users to see, hear and use their smartphones. Internet sharing has been improved with a special Bluetooth facility with Windows 8.1 devices – when configured/paired you are able to turn on internet sharing on the smartphone without touching the phone. There will also be, at last, a way to lock screen rotation, more custom assignable ringtones, better storage management, improved app switcher/closing, Wi-Fi access before set-up and improved Bluetooth.

Developer Preview program

Laybourn also took the opportunity to announce a new Windows Phone Preview for Developers. This allows developers early access to Windows Phone updates so they can test their apps before the roll out to the general public. Read more about this on the developer blog.

When will you get the update on your compatible Windows Phone? Windows Phone 8 Update 3 will start to roll out “in the coming weeks and will continue over several months”.

Source: hexus.net

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