Oneplus One launches stock android for the One

One of the key strengths of the OnePlus One is its software, developed by Cyanogen. But there are folks out there that prefer bone stock Android, just as Google intended it. For them, OnePlus announced today the availability of a stock Android ROM for the OnePlus One.

The ROM is based on AOSP, and is currently a “work in progress” meaning that there are some issues that need to be ironed out. Among them are issues with the gyroscope on some units, and broken encryption and VPN, but OnePlus warns that other problems may crop as well.

Flashing this ROM will not void your OnePlus warranty, however, the company will not fix your phone for free in case you brick it. You can find basic instructions on how to install the AOSP ROM on OnePlus’ forums here, as well as a link to a repository of Google apps, that you will need to install separately.

So, what’s the difference between stock Android and CyanogenMod? In terms of appearance, you get largely the same experience, but CM packs additional features and customizations, such as a powerful theming engine, a private messaging feature, and more.

OnePlus promised it will update the One to Android L within 90 days of the new release’s availability. The company has not specified how it will handle updates for the AOSP ROM.

Fully functional iPhone 6 shown on video.

The Internet is full of two things lately: conflicting rumors on the launch date for the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6, and a ton of dummy units that tease what to expect. The biggest problem with these dummies is that we’ve learned they aren’t close to the level of detail we’ll find in the final design, so it’s really hard to use these in order to land predictions. Hardware aside, what if you could see how a 4.7-inch iPhone would handle itself if it were a working dummy?

Well, instead of calling this a dummy, let’s call this a clone as a new video shows us the “Wico6″ being tested. This is a fully functional iPhone 6 clone up to the finest level of detail. It’s shipped in an iPhone 5 box, it allows you to add your SIM card, and yes, it boots up to work like a normal phone will. Now, there’s a catch here, as the Wico6 is actually not running any version of iOS. This is a skinned version of Android that replicates iOS in almost every way.

Probably the only thing we can take away from this video is how the extra thinness of the iPhone 6 allows for one-handed usability on a 4.7-inch display. Rumors point to the launch of this particular model in September, so we’ll report back as soon as we learn some more.

Source: Danny Widget (YouTube)
Via: 9to5Mac

Quad HD Lenovo K920 (Vibe Z2 Pro) launch date teased

Is Lenovo really intending to crank-out 60-odd smartphones before the end of the year? We continue to wonder if that boast from earlier this month is the stuff of bravado or maybe just a poor translation, but whatever the company’s goals are over the next several months, its more immediate future looks like it will involve the arrival of a quad HD phablet, as a Lenovo exec teases the launch of the K920 in just a couple weeks.

We first talked about this model as Lenovo’s Vibe Z2 Pro, though recent leaks have been going with the more numerical designation. Whatever it’s called, the hardware we’ve seen consists of a six-inch 2560 x 1440 display, 16MP camera with optical stabilization, Snapdragon 801 SoC (presumably an AC based on the clock speed), and a king-sized 4,000 mAh battery. All that should live in a body just 7.7mm thick.

According to this teaser, posted to Chinese social sites, Lenovo intends to introduce the phone on Tuesday, August 5. It may not refer to the model by name, but the image it provides is a solid match to the hands-on pics we’ve seen of the K920 in action.

That leaves the big questions as what Lenovo intends to charge for this phablet, as well as where it intends to market it; China’s a given, but a phone like this is liable to attract interest in other markets, as well. It remains to be seen just how willing Lenovo might be to make it available internationally.

Source: Lenovo (Weibo)
Via: GSM Arena

Samsung Gear VR software leaks.

Rumors about Samsung’s involvement in a project to deliver a virtual reality accessory for its smartphones have been snowballing since the spring. Early, vague talk about a VR headset gave way to evidence of an official Gear VR name, and just a few weeks back a leak appeared to reveal a render of the actual hardware. Today we shift from hardware to software a little as we check out the latest arrival, a relatively in-depth leak of what sure seems to be the Gear VR companion app.

The app’s setup guide talks users through the configuration process and confirms certain aspects of Gear VR’s operation, like how your phone will slide into the Gear VR headset, rather than it containing its own display. There are also references to things we saw in that last leak, like a headset-mounted touchpad for control. Some of that expands on the information that was already available, mentioning how the button we were told would be used to activate the phone’s rear camera to let the user see “through” the headset will also be used as a general Android back button.

While not having access to the Gear VR hardware limits the usefulness of this leak, we do get to see signs of a few features: for instance, an alignment guide will appear on-screen to help you get your phone properly seated in the Gear VR’s dock.

An official Gear VR launch could be just over a month away, with rumors suggesting Samsung may be working towards an IFA premiere.

Source: SamMobile

At&t confirms windows phone 8.1 for select devices.

Yesterday we shared we you a post from an AT&T community manager on one of the company’s forums that seemed like it might be saying thatWindows Phone 8.1 updates for some of the WP8 handsets in the carrier’s stable might be on their way this week. At least, maybe; we could also read the same statement as simply acknowledging that sales of native WP8.1 devices had arrived. And considering how international updates only began last week, was it too soon to expect a US network to join in? Apparently not, as AT&T has gone ahead and formally confirmed the start to its WP8.1 updates.

The first one up on the roster is an update headed to the Lumia 1520, getting Nokia Cyan alongside Windows Phone 8.1 itself. That combo means that 1520 owners will be seeing the arrival of new features like Cortana alongside enhancements to existing phone software, like improvements to camera performance.

What about other Lumia models like the 1020 or 925? So far, we’ve only heard AT&T talking specifically about the 1520 getting the WP8.1 update, but we’re optimistic that if its update is incoming now, the others can’t be too, too far behind. Nokia’s own update tracker sheds little light on the situation, with all AT&T phones still marked as having their updates being “under testing” – and that includes the 1520, in spite of today’s announcement.

Source: AT&T

Separate iPhone 6 launched its a interneural strategy.

Many of the rumors that have surround the two iPhone 6 models have claimed the possibility of a delay in the launch of the 5.5-inch model due to manufacturing issues. Newer rumors even mention that Apple is having a hard time deciding on the date for the announcement because it wants to launch both devices at the same time. Now, what if these rumors were wrong and a separate iPhone launch is actually part of a strategy to compete against companies like Samsung?

Digitimes is reporting that Apple wants to launch the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 before it launches the 5.5-inch model in order to avoid the mistake it made with the launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. If you all remember, the meager price difference between the existing iPhone models left Apple with significant problems to meet the demand of the iPhone 5s, and by contrast, the iPhone 5c left the company with an insane overstock of units.

It’s hard to predict if this strategy is true, but it does have a lot of logic to it. Launching just one iPhone every year leaves the company with a significant drop in market share during the spring launch of devices from Samsung, Sony and HTC. If Apple would recur to the six-month cycles that we saw with its iPad line-up at some point, this could help Apple regain momentum for its smartphone lineup throughout the year. Sadly, the source wasn’t specific on how these cycles would work, nor which time frames would be chosen.

Source: Digitimes
Via: 9to5Mac

Android L may be against Android ie it's skins.

While users may not have always responded favorably, the ability of OEMs to deliver wildly divergent looks for their Android UIs could be seen as big success story for the sort of openness and flexibility that only Android offers.

In the very early days of Android, everything looked the same. Manufacturers kept the stock OS intact and focused on deploying hardware — that’s where the real creativity was exercised back then. That approach didn’t last long. Shortly after HTC built the G1 for T-Mobile, it created other phones with interfaces that began to refine the somewhat basic look and feel of Android Cupcake. The app drawer icon was replaced with a swooping curve that incorporated various other shortcuts. At the time I thought this was simply the “next version” of Android — and I’m sure I wasn’t alone.

It wasn’t the next version of Android. It was HTC trying to improve upon the user experience of stock Android. Over time these improvements spread further and further from “stock”, and other OEMs started to join in.

Samsung, ZTE, Huawei, LG, and more all started creating their own “skins”, branding the experience of their users with a distinct GUI that eventually only “resembled” Android. It’s gotten to the point now where someone, knowing that I’m “Joe the Android Guy”, will ask me how to do something on their smartphone, and I’ll stumble around hunting through screens and menus trying to find the setting that I know is there somewhere. If you think that’s frustrating for a Power User like you and I, imagine how it must feel to a typical user who has had a phone from one particular OEM and tries to switch to a device from another. The changes are frustrating, to say the least.

Since Google released Android Ice Cream Sandwich, that trend has been reversing, albeit slowly. Stock Android is taking on a much more polished and refined look, and the need for OEM skins is becoming less important. Consequently, a more unified look is appearing on devices powered by Android, regardless of who makes it. HTC’s latest version of Sense is drawing closer to stock. The interface on the Asus PadFone X looks very much like a compromise between Android 4.4.4 and Android L. Even ZTE is embracing the Google Now launcher.

Combine this with Android One, Google’s push into emerging markets, and the pattern is hard to deny: the stock Android experience may very well become the standard, regardless of who makes the device.

I’ve been an advocate of stock Android for a very, very long time. One part of me feels this direction may be a success in the sense that Android as a whole is figuring out how it wants to look and feel, and moving to a unified design. However, another part of me can see that this could be seen as a failure for those users who had looked to Android as the bastion of diversity in an otherwise rapidly homogenizing landscape.

Android was designed to be the open platform upon which OEMs could build their solutions. And OEMs did just that. They made devices look distinctly their own. They stretched the limits of what Android could do, then pushed past those limits with customizations and modifications. This, I feel, was the primary strength of Android, and what made it more promising than any other mobile platform on the market.

Success or Failure?

The question now is whether OEMs returning to stock marks the success of Android as an operating system and user experience, or the failure of Android as an open platform where OEMs could make devices be anything they wanted them to be.

What are your thoughts? Head down to the comments and let us know which side of the fence you’re on, or if you’re torn between the two, just like I am.

New Sony Xperia Z3 spec leaks.

Sony’s Xperia Z3 is still very much an enigma; looking at the hardware specs that have leaked, it’s difficult to appreciate how Sony intends to make the handset a meaningful improvement over the Xperia Z2. Maybe the most obvious changes have emerged in some of the leaked pics we’ve seen, and even then they’ve seen minor: stuff like how the Z3′s edges appear to be much more rounded and lacking the Z2′s metal accents. Today we get a closer look at that hardware, with the arrival of a couple new supposed Xperia Z3 shots.

The edge shot here appears to be a perfect matchfor last week’s leak, though now in a higher resolution and just a bit easier to make out all the detail. There’s also a new pic of the phone’s backside, and while this one doesn’t offer so much to see, perhaps it’s notable for what’s not there. Namely: all the prototype labels and warningspresent in the Z3 leak from a couple weeks back.

While that could just suggest an alternate source behind this new imagery, it may also speak to the Z3 moving closer to its release, when commercial-ready handsets start becoming more widely available (at least within the walls of Sony). We haven’t heard a lot about a possible release window for the phone, but the best source we have so farindicated that the smartphone could become available before the end of summer.

Source: @evleaks

Red and Pink HTC one M8 released.

If the Silver and Grey HTC One M8 options (and black, if yore on Sprint) were not enough for you, don’t worry. Following last year’s example with the HTC One (M7), when the manufacturer made available, post launch, different color options, we now get two additional flavors for this year’s flagship, the One M8.

Red, as seen above, and pink, as seen below, will soon be available for you to choose from, if you’re in the UK. The Red flavor will be an O2 exclusive starting August 5 with pre-orders, and in-store availability two days later, on August 7. The Pink version will be a Carphone Warehouse exclusive starting august 7, but customers who will pre-order it starting tomorrow, July 25, will be eligible for a free HTC Dot View case.

Looks aside, these two variants are exactly the same as the One M8, down to the Snapdragon 801 processor, 2GB of RAM, five-inch Full HD display, and four-megapixel UltraPixel camera.

Source: HTC

Google play store to receive material design update soon.

Last week we checked out a leak that detailed many of the changes coming in an upcoming Google Play Store redesign, embracing the aesthetics of Material Design with a look that was clean, with bold color, good use of white space, and big eye-catching graphics. Back then we had no real sense of how soon these changes might hit the public, or if we’d even be waiting until the Android L this fall before seeing them land. As it happens we’re finding out already, as word arrives that Google is already pushing out updates that begin to deliver the Play Store’s new look.

The changes aren’t all-encompassing (at least, not yet), but product pages see a major overhaul to embrace Material Design: videos are front and center, social connections are highlighted, and in general, information is relocated and condensed to keep things tight and relevant. For instance, app changelogs are tucked away out of sight except in the cases of apps you’ve already installed.

The update is rolling out currently, but considering how relatively major an update this is, we wouldn’t blame you for feeling a little impatient and wanting to get an early crack at it. In that case, hit up the source link below for links to the Google-signed Play Store APK, all ready for you to manually install.

Source: Android Police
Via: Mobile Syrup

At&t teases windows 8.1 update.

A little over a week ago, Microsoft got the ball rolling for Windows Phone 8.1 updates, as confirmation arrived that Nokia Lumia models would soon be getting WP8.1 alongside the phones’ Cyan software updates. Of course, carriers being what they are, even that news didn’t mean that users everywhere would be receiving 8.1 immediately. Those Windows Phone users in the States who check Nokia’s update page are currently presented with notices that updates are still under testing across multiple carriers, with no ETA given; just when might we expect them to arrive? At lease some might turn up earlier than you’d think, or at least that’s what AT&T is now telling its users.

In the AT&T community forums, one subscriber posted a message all the way back in April (when Windows Phone 8.1 was first formally announced), inquiring about its availability. Yesterday, an AT&T employee dug the old thread up and offered the response, “Microsoft Windows 8.1 will be available from AT&T on certain devices as early as this week.”

Even assuming that’s correct (and that’s far from a certainty; while this user is an AT&T community manager, this isn’t exactly an official conduit for confirmed update news) we’re still left with a ton of questions, not the least of which concerning the specific WP8 models on AT&T that might see their 8.1 updates descend first.

Then again, we also have to keep in mind the possibility that this message isn’t referring to OTA updates at all, but to availability of WP8.1 by virtue of AT&T starting Lumia 635 sales. While that’s very much not a helpful response to the thread in question, neither is it a concern we can simply ignore.

We’ll be keeping an eye out this week to see if any updates indeed land.

Source: AT&T
Via: WPCentral

Nokia lumia 530 announced.

We’ve been hearing a lot about the Nokia Lumia 530 recently, and just yesterday, the phone was teased by a Vietnamese online retailer. Today, Nokia has made the phone official, and, while the Finns call it “the most affordable Lumia yet”, it runs the latest version of Microsoft’s mobile operating system: Windows Phone 8.1.

€85 before taxes and subsidies is what you should expect this phone to cost, when it will start rolling out in select markets next month. For the money you can choose between a single and a dual-SIM version, both of which are powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, with a four-inch LCD screen. 512MB of RAM are included, and so is a five-megapixel shooter without LED flash though. You can check out more details at the source link below, or by watching the embedded video.

Source: Nokia

LG G3 with snapdragon 805 made official.

It almost seems like par for the course by this point: you’re a major smartphone OEM, you release your latest flagship handset, and then a couple months later you follow that up with a tweaked edition boasting some slightly better hardware (and available only in a very limited market). Samsung did that with its LTE-A Galaxy S5, just as it had with the GS4 before it, and we’d been tracking rumors of LG working on a similar upgrade for its G3. A little earlier this month we spotted what looked like official confirmation of just such a G3 on an LG site, and today the hardware finally sees a formal announcement, with the debut of the G3 Cat.6.

That “Cat.6” stands for the phone’s LTE support, and while we already saw the regular G3 sporting the LTE-A logo for its South Korean release, that model only supported slower Cat 4 speeds. In the presence of networks that work with this more advanced protocol, this new edition is capable of of speeds as high as 225Mbps.

That new radio compatibility is bestowed upon the G3 Cat.6 by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 805 SoC, an upgrade over the original G3′s 801. That’s the same move we saw Samsung make with its LTE-A Galaxy S5, though here the changes are purely on the silicon side: there’s no corresponding display upgrade, not that LG really had anywhere to go from the quad HD panel already present.

Alas, there’s still no sign of this 805-based G3 popping up anywhere but South Korea, where it should arrive later this week. Admittedly, the move from an 801 to 805 shouldn’t result in a night-and-day performance difference, but we doubt spec junkies will find much comfort in those words; the Western world will just have to keep waiting for an 805-based flagship.

Source: LG (Google Translate)

LG G3 screen complaints.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, as the saying goes, and every so often we see a manufacturer come out with a phone that commits wholeheartedly to some noble idea, only to see everything come apart in the execution. LG’s G3 is the first phone many smartphone fans will ever get to see with a high-res quad HD display, so it only stands to reason that LG will be doing its darnedest to make that screen look as impressive as possible. But now a growing number of complaints is piling up from new G3 owners frustrated about one way LG seems to be pursuing that goal, as it implements what appears to be a sharpening filter.

If you’ve played around with anything like Photoshop, you’re familiar with the effect: by enhancing contrast through color transitions, sharpening can make things like text stand out better against backgrounds. When you want to be seeing something like that, that’s well and good, but what looks like it’s happening with the G3 is a pervasive sharpening effect, with no clear way for users to disable the post-processing.

The comparison shot you see down below isn’t ideal, as the left (non G3) image isn’t in crisp focus to begin with, but that notwithstanding, on the right we can see obvious signs of sharpening, like those extra-white pixels added between and within individual letters.

Recent reports suggest that an update may be addressing the problem, but we’ve yet to confirm whether it indeed resolves things.

We’ve reached out to LG for comment on the situation, and will update this post if we hear anything.

Source: XDA-Developers forums

Amazon wallet hits Google play.

Even with the lack of success that companies likeGoogle have found in wallet applications, that doesn’t mean that these are giving up on this service. Apple’s approach was different withPassBook where you can’t really buy anything with it due to the lack of NFC capabilities on iPhones, but you can still store certain cards on it instead of having to carry them around. Amazon Wallet is a mix of these things as we saw on the Amazon Fire Phone, and this just became public for the rest of us.

Amazon has just launched its Amazon Wallet service on the Google Play Store. This app won’t allow you to buy anything sadly, but it does give you the ability to scan the codes of cards provided by “supported” merchants in order to save you the hassle of having to carry physical cards all over the place. At the moment you can use this service for store gifts, loyalty cards, and some other options you’ll find on the app.

Again, there are a ton of ways in which Google Wallet is superior to this service, but given this is only the first version of the service, we should expect more to come in the near future. Just keep in mind that the service is in beta for reasons that were not explained.

Source: Google Play
Via: Droid-Life

Motorola's new unlocking feature.

Wearables, man. It used to be that if you wanted to be at the forefront of technology, having a smartphone in your pocket was all you needed. But now with smartwatches and the likes of Google Glass being picked up by new users every day, living on the bleeding edge means strapping a bunch of that gear right on to your body. Some of these futurists are taking things one step further, and today Motorola shares one of the ways users are doing just that, introducing a “tattoo” that lets Moto X owners unlock their phones.

Well, the VivaLnk Digital Tattoo may describe itself as such, but this is no capital-T tattoo; instead, the Digital Tattoo is an NFC-enabled sticker that’s designed to be worn on your arm for up to five days at a time.

Remember the Motorola Skip, the little Moto X NFC accessory you could use to unlock the phone? The Digital Tattoo works in exactly the same manner, but instead of carrying around Skip clipped to your clothing, you just adhere the Digital Tattoo to your wrist and forget about it.

Right now the Digital Tattoo only works with the Moto X, but the company is considering expanding to support other devices – though we wonder if any other OEMs are similarly enthusiastic. A ten-pack of Digital Tattoo stickers will run you just about ten dollars.

Source: Motorola, VivaLnk

How Apple can rule the smart watch market.

To say I’ve been excited about Google Now on a smartwatch is a bit of an understatement. I’ve ranted about how Google Now and wearables were a match made in heaven more than once. And the minute Android Wear was announced, I stopped what I was doing and vented about my buyer’s remorse over the $250 I had just spent on Pebble Steel.

Things have changed somewhat, though, and I’m now perfectly okay – even quite pleased – with Pebble Steel. Android Wear has finally hit virtual shelves and the launch hardware is, dare I say,boring and bland. And turns out, our Michael Fisher found the new Google Now-centric smartwatch software to be undercooked and not quite ready for prime time.

When Google announced Android Wear, I was certain it would totally upend the smartwatch space, that Samsung’s Gear watches would quickly die out, Pebble would struggle to innovate and keep up, and Apple’s so-called iWatch would still please consumers and fly off shelves, but would come with a fraction of the utility and functionality.

So far, it’s still too soon to tell if my knee-jerk predictions are even remotely close to how things will actually pan out. The Android Wear hardware most are looking forward to – the classic and stylish Moto 360 – isn’t even out yet, nor is Apple’s rumored watch. Samsung just started updating the original Galaxy Gear to Tizen just yesterday. And will continue to be the most well-rounded and polished smartwatch for the foreseeable future, simply because it has more history, a strong development community, cross-platform support, and it’s rock solid at the basics.

All that said, most can certainly agree that Android Wear did not enter the smartwatch scene with the flare and bang we expected it to. It launched, as expected, at I/O and garnered some attention, which carried on for a few days, then it fizzled.

I blame this on the unmoving, basic hardware and a beta-like software experience on a retail device.

I wouldn’t call it the rockiest launch in tech – or even Google – history, and there is a lot of promise in the future of Android Wear. But Google definitely dropped the ball here. Rushing a product and sacrificing user experience through excessive bugs and a mostly unreliable, inconsistent experience never works.

However, the real question now is, how can Apple capitalize on Google’s fumble?

A reliable Bluetooth connection

For starters, it can try to figure out one of the most frustrating bugs that plagues many wearables: the Bluetooth connection.

Both with Android and iOS, I’ve struggled with maintaining a solid connection with Pebble. It’s usually solid for the first two or three days after the setup process. Then it starts going haywire. It will randomly connect and disconnect while no more than six inches from the phone. Notifications on iOS will sometimes halt indefinitely, and on Android, you’ll get random bursts of notifications upon a reconnect.

Michael notes in his review of Android Wear and the individual reviews of the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live that Bluetooth connectivity problems still abound on Android Wear.

The idea of a smartwatch is to not miss notifications when your phone is on silent in your pocket or across the room. But in my experience, constant disconnects often make missing notifications an inevitability, especially if you rely solely on the watch 100 percent of the time.

Make Siri smarter

Presumably, the iWatch will be heavily centered around fitness and, of course, Siri.

I’ll go ahead and say it. Google Now is smarter than Siri and it’s a better suited for a smartwatch. It learns your interests and various things about you and calls up information that it feels you will find useful in the background – local weather and events, travel time to meetings or places you frequent, articles of interest, information on things you’ve been researching, etc.

Siri only works when you tell it what you want. You have to tell it to do things for you and ask it questions before it will provide you with any information, which is fine if you want to constantly use voice commands on your wrist.

While I wouldn’t mind the occasional voice command, I’d much rather have the information I want at a glance … or no more than a few swipes away. This is why I never use Siri on the iPhone or iPad and why it will only be so useful – at least in its current state – on the wrist.

A more useful UI

Remember those touchscreen iPod nanos with clips? Yeah, the UI was horrible. And for what it’s worth, the UI isn’t so great on Android Wear. Sure, it’s beautiful and has a lot of utility built-in. But as Michael explains in his review, getting to the list of installed apps on Android Wear is a chore. Fortunately, Android Wear has already been graced with a third-party launcher which brings third-party apps to the foreground with a single swipe.

Point being, Apple has its work cut out to make its wearable interface useful with a great UX. It’s iOS platform is heavily centered around applications at the risk of being boring.

Either way, its wearable will need a clean, concise, and straightforward UI which reduces the number of swipes needed to get from one end of the software to the other.

Battery life

This one is tricky. Battery Life.

My Pebble has graciously crept back up to a five to seven-day charge cycle. At one point, it had shrank to just over one day per charge, which was ludicrous considering I had been getting upwards of nine days just weeks before. Android Wear devices will likely need to be charged every day or every other day. So long as charging is as simple as dropping the watch on a dock, it’s not the end of the world. Google nor the manufacturers promised long battery life – especially not anything comparable to Pebble’s stamina.

However, Apple could make Google’s wearable platform look amateurish by instilling double or triple the battery life in its own wearable. Of course, I wouldn’t be surprised if it charges via Lightning, though.

How do you think Apple’s rumored iWatch can outdo Google’s Android Wear and the respective hardware? How can Apple capitalize on this fumble from Google?

Microsoft acknowledges aborted Surface Mini launch in earnings report

For a moment in time, it seemed like such a sure thing: following the first two generations of full-sized Surface tablets, this past spring it finally looked like Microsoft was going to introduce a more compact Surface Mini. In the days leading up to the company’s May event, the Mini was the clear favorite for the new hardware likely to be featured, but at the last minute focus shifted to what we ultimately saw announced, the Surface Pro 3. In the weeks that followed we’ve been picking up bits and pieces of the Mini’s story, like the multiple mentions of the device in the Pro 3′s manual, and recent rumors have suggested that a launch is still in the cards. Today Microsoft releases its latest earnings report, and within we finally see it address the Surface Mini launch that never was.

In discussing its revenue from hardware sales, Microsoft notes that its “current year cost of revenue included Surface inventory adjustments resulting from our transition to newer generation devices and a decision to not ship a new form factor.” That “new form factor” is almost certainly the Surface Mini.

Where does that leave the Mini? Last we heard a summer release could still be happening, and today’s disclosure may only serve to drive investor interest in seeing this project finally realized.

Source: Microsoft
Via: Tech Crunch

Nokia 530 leaks.

The Nokia Lumia 530 has been on our radar for the last couple of weeks. Surely it’s not the next Lumia flagship that many of us would dream about, but after the success of the Lumia 520 last year, it’s clear that a lot of people are looking forward to a well-priced and decent Windows Phone experience. If you’re holding off to see what the Lumia 530 is all about, new leaks show us everything we want to know about it.

Vietnamese web shop Mainguyen is famous for posting information on upcoming smartphones and getting the spec information right. On a new listing for the Lumia 530, we do see that the previous rumors on its specs were accurate. We’re expecting to see a minor bump in its 4-inch display to a 480 x 854 resolution in order to allow a 16:9 aspect ratio. Other specs mention a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 200 processor powering this device, and even though the storage is cut to just 4GB, you do get expandable storage, and the device does retain the same 512MB of RAM. You can also expect the device to include a 5MP camera capable of 720p video in addition to a 1430 mAh battery. The device is reportedly thicker than the Lumia 520 at 11.7mm, but that may be due to the dual-SIM functionality that we expect.

We still don’t have word on when this device will launch, but given the retail listings from Mainguyen, it could only be a matter of days.

Source: Mainguyen
Via: GSM Arena

NVIDIA released its sheild tablet.

Earlier this month, details started coming together in a hurry about NVIDIA’s plans for its latest Android hardware, and we rounded last week out with a detailed leak seeming to reveal all about the company’s new Shield Tablet. The hardware specs and product shots making up that find were accompanied by rumors of a July 22 launch date, and just as promised, NVIDIA has gone ahead and formally unveiled its new gaming lineup.

The Shield Tablet is the star of the show, with an eight-inch 1080p display and Tegra K1 SoC. It will work with NVIDIA’s GameStream PC-streaming tech, as well as third party services like Twitch. Just as leaked, the 16GB WiFi version of the tablet will go for nearly $300, while the 32GB LTE version will cost about $400. Pre-orders are open now, with availability coming later this month.

We also see the launch of the Shield wireless controller, the $60 accessory that will give Shield Tablet users a more traditional console-style way to interact with their games. In addition to the hardware buttons and thumbsticks, there’s a built-in touchpad and assortment of Android buttons. The big caveat here is that the controller will only work with other NVIDIA hardware – at least initially.

Finally, we get a little update on last year’s Shield handheld console, and it’s surprisingly not being phased-out upon the Shield Tablet’s arrival. Instead, it’s being re-branded as the Shield Portable, and will continue be sold and supported by NVIDIA.

Source: NVIDIA
Via: Android Police

One plus One bamboo cover launched.

A couple weeks back, we saw OnePlus tease something new for its One smartphone. The company told us to “knock on wood” for a July 22 announcement, and unless we were seriously misinterpreting the signs, that sure looked like the company following-up on earlier plans to deliver a variety of alternate One backplates, including a bamboo option. With the day now upon us, OnePlus has gone ahead and confirmed our expectations, revealing the OnePlus One bamboo StyleSwap cover.

While it’s great to see the cover confirmed like this, four months following the initial StyleSwap announcement, its launch doesn’t arrive without a few hiccups. For instance, even after all this waiting, we still don’t have a date for when the cover will actually become available; for the moment, OnePlus just says that it’s coming soon. And then there’s the price, and while the $50 OnePlus is asking won’t exactly break the bank, it’s notably more expensive than the $25 wood options Motorola offers with the Moto X.

Then again, this OnePlus wooden solution has the big benefit of being user-replaceable, and owners will be able to install the bamboo cover (and any future ones that arrive) at their convenience, or go back to the phone’s original look when the mood strikes them. That kind of flexibility is valuable, though we’ll be curious to see if other StyleSwap options (like the promised denim) will share the same $50 price point.

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Don’t forget to enter our OnePlus One invite giveaway contest, to get your chance to order this hard-to-come-by smartphone.

Source: OnePlus

HTC one E8.

“If you’re looking for the best flagship smartphone experience, but want to stand out from the crowd, this phone’s for you.”

HTC CEO Peter Chou’s words, taken from the press release announcing the company’s One E8 early last month, elegantly sum up the eye-catching device. When our review unit arrived in the office yesterday morning for its unceremonious off-camera unboxing, we took a few beats longer than usual just to stare at the “Electric Crimson” paint job of its polycarbonate unibody construction. The phone bears a thick glossy coating that we’d normally revile, but here it compliments the nail polish-red finish well enough that we actually prefer it to the matte models – despite having serious reservations about its scratch resistance.

Whether you love or hate the hyperglaze candy coating, though, you’ll probably appreciate the specs: as we said last month, the E8 is almost a pure port of its metal M8 sibling, from the Snapdragon 801 to the BoomSound speakers to the 5-inch Full-HD IPS display. The most visible difference (aside from the change in chassis material) is the substitution of the One M8′s UltraPixel shooter with a more conventional 13MP camera – something that didn’t work out terribly well for HTC’s One mini 2, but we’ll wait for the full comparison to make a final judgement. Much less visible but more useful for those in certain markets: the E8 offers dual-SIM support along with a reduced price tag.

We’ve got a week of E8 coverage to explore further details, but for now let’s get to know this crimson-clad Android in our HTC One E8 hands on. Be sure to leave a comment below letting us know what you’d like us to cover in the full review, and tune in to this week’s podcast Friday at 2pm for your chance to ask us questions about the E8 live on the air!

HTC One E8 Hands On