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Saturday 20 September 2014

iPhone 6 Plus teardown reveals battery size and other internal components.



One of the things that has become a bit of a ritual after every Apple product launch is a teardown, and it’s almost always first recorded by the folks over at iFixit. The next device to go through the full treatment is the larger of the new iPhones, and this iPhone 6 Plus teardown has revealed some critical details such as the battery size.
First of all, the new battery is 2,915 mAh in size. That’s almost twice what can be found within the iPhone 5s, which explains why early reviews praised it so much – we’ll have the 6 Plus in our labs in just a few hours, and we’ll be delivering our impressions on the battery life as soon as we can, so stay tuned for that.
Apart from the battery, components such as the processor, modem, and flash memory chip have been detailed: there’s an Apple A8 APL1011 processor, a Qualcomm MDM9625M LTE modem, a SKhynix H2JTDG8UD1BMS flash memory chip, a Broadcom BCM5976 touchscreen controller, and an NXP 65V10 NFC chip (with a secure element) solely for Apple Pay purposes.
Stay tuned for in-depth coverage from Pocketnow of Apple’s hottest new devices as the day goes on, as we’ll be putting out lots of content for you to digest.
Source: iFixit
Via: 9to5Mac

The Most Fragile iPhone ever ?



We get it: with not just one, but two new iPhone models arriving today, emotions are running high. Apple fans have been waiting years for the chance to pick up a larger-screened handset, and between that, the promise of mobile payments, and the whole slew of other features Apple’s delivering, there’s plenty reason to be excited, But we’d like to take this opportunity to suggest that you new iPhone owners remember to keep your enthusiasm in check, lest you end up like the kid in the video below, introducing his brand new iPhone 6 to the pavement.
Australia’s in a prime location for launch-obsessed smartphone fanatics, lying just a couple hours west of the International Date Line – so even on a day when the whole world is getting a new device, Australia’s among the first nations to see it. But as a news crew descended on the crowd queued up outside an Apple Store in Perth, one of the first shoppers to emerge with an iPhone 6 in hand stopped to show it off for the cameras when near-disaster struck.
Struggling with a snug box-top, iOS user Jack Cooksey attempted to unbox his iPhone 6 for the news team, only to send it unceremoniously soaring towards the sidewalk. The reaction from the crowd pretty much matches the pain we felt just watching this clip, and despite Jack’s reassuring claim of “all good,” we can’t help but fear for that handset’s finish.
So take note: appropriate places to unbox your new iPhone 6 include on a table, in your car, and pretty much anywhere that you’re not putting it at immediate risk for falling onto a hard, abrasive surface. As for young Mr. Cooksey, we wish him all the best, and hope there’s a durable iPhone 6 case in his future.
Source: 9 News Perth (YouTube)
Via: Cult of Mac

Thursday 18 September 2014

OnePlus explains upcoming no-invite-required pre-order process


Yesterday brought some disappointing news for OnePlus fans, as the company announced that it would be ending its plans to deliver interchangeable StyleSwap covers for the One. But even facing that upset, we had cause to be a little optimistic, remembering what we heard late last month about the coming availability of pre-orders for the One that wouldn’t require users to track-down invite codes. Today the company shares new details on how all that will work, and this being OnePlus, it’s unsurprisingly a little weird.
First up, the company formally confirms its intent to open pre-orders without the need for invites, with its goal to get things started in late October.
OnePlus LogoBut as for the pre-orders themselves, they’re not just going to be open from then on out. Instead, OnePlus will selectively open pre-orders for a set period of time – it doesn’t say if that will be a matter of hours, or days. Anyone who wants to can place a pre-order during that period, and get their name on the waiting list. OnePlus isn’t placing restrictions on how many orders it will accept during one of these sessions, so your wait time will be determined both by the level of interest and how early you get your order in.
If you change your mind (maybe deciding that the wait is just too long), you can cancel that pre-order and remove your name from the waitlist.
And while pre-orders won’t require invites, OnePlus isn’t doing away with invites, either. In fact, you can convert one of these pre-orders into an outright order by applying an invite code (if you happen to find one) to it afterward.
It’s not an ideal system, we’ll say that, but we’ll take what we can get. And certainly, it’s preferable to the invite-only arrangement.
Source: OnePlus
Via: Android Central

Wednesday 17 September 2014

Apple Watch pricing could easily extend into the thousands of dollars





To say that Apple’s launch of the Apple Watch was a little unorthodox for the company might be an understatement: we don’t have a firm release date, nor a solid sense of pricing. Sure, Apple told us that the line will start at about $350, but with so many different options for both case materials and straps, that figure’s bound to go up quickly. But just how quickly, and how high will it get? John Gruber over at Daring Fireballmakes the case for his Apple Watch pricing theory, and it quickly sees the company blowing past that $350 mark to hit prices in the thousands of dollars.
The base idea here is that Apple’s not going after the smartwatch market, but the watch market period, and that means also tackling the luxury-priced segment. That Apple Watch Edition model isn’t just goldplated, and with as much solid gold as Apple’s using, a price tag well north of $1000 wouldn’t be so crazy. Gruber writes that his own estimate comes in at $10K, but concedes that $5000 might be a realistic starting point.
And while the aluminum Watch Sport with its glass screen might only fetch $350, even the steel Apple Watch with its sapphire display could attract a hefty premium of its own, maybe selling for $1000 itself. More than the gold Edition pricing, that one sounds a little hard to swallow, but these are uncharted waters for Apple, and it might be foolish to assume that just because it’s entering the smartwatch space that its offerings would be priced competitively with models like we get from Android Wear.

Was Apple ever really planning for a sapphire-screened iPhone 6?



If you were following iPhone 6 rumors going all the way back through the beginning of the year, you were probably a little surprised to see the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus debut without a sapphire display on either of them. Reports about Apple’s sapphire investment may have gone back-and-forth over whether both screen sizes would see the sapphire treatment, but surely at least one of them would end up with such an extremely scratch-resistant screen, right? Well, apparently not, and post-launch rumors attempted to frame the component’s absence as a late-stage manufacturing issue. But is that really what’s going on? A new examination in Time suggests that Apple was never really planning to deploy sapphire for its phone lineup at all, and we’ve been getting a little carried away with the rumors.
It’s an interesting theory, but parts of it are more convincing than others. Analyst Tim Bajarin makes the case for why this sapphire idea doesn’t make sense for Apple, citing everything from cost issues, to concerns over fragility, to suggesting sapphire is such an energy-intensive material to make that it’s use is a non-starter from an environmental-friendly manufacturing perspective.
sapphire slabsAnd those are all complaints about sapphire we’ve heard before – yet companies very much do release phones with sapphire displays. We just saw that Kyocera Brigadier launch on Verizon where it goes full-price for under $400, yet Bajarin claims that Apple wouldn’t have been able to realistically use sapphire for the iPhone 6, suggesting it would add at least $100 to the phone’s base price.
While he may have some valid points, we’re not entirely on board with all of the speculation here (and a lot of it does feel like just that). That said, Bajarin does make one much firmer claim, saying that he heard specifically from his sources that “sapphire was never targeted for the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus and its role in future iPhones hasn’t even been decided yet.”
In the end, we may just have to wait and see what becomes of sapphire in future Apple products; if it really is absent from the iPhone 7, we’ll have to believe all these rumors may have been overblown. For now, though, Apple’s full interest in the material remains less than clear.
Source: Time
Via: 9to5 Mac

Is Apple in denial about the iPhone 6 camera bump?


Being the smartphone-obsessive types that we are, we’ve seen more than a few cameras in our day that stick-out from the handset’s body. Those range from the exaggerated, like the old Nokia 808 PureView, to the minimal, like on the Nexus 5. This year, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus both sport some cameras that protrude a bit from the phones’ body. On the grand scale of things, the bump is minimal – much more in line with the Nexus 5 than the 808. So why, then, does Apple appear to be going to some lengths to obscure the presence of that raised lens?
Looking at most of the imagery Apple has made available on its own site, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are clearly depicted with that camera bump – so long as the phone is being viewed from the back. But in every single oneof the profile views we’ve come across, Apple is showing these phones as completely flat – not even a hint of bump.
As much as we enjoy smartphones that look sleek, we know that manufacturers aren’t giving their phones raised cameras on a whim – this is the sacrifice you make to cram-in all that advanced imaging hardware – so why not embrace it? The bump generally means you didn’t settle for a second-rate camera, so there’s little shame in acknowledging its presence. On the contrary, seeing Apple attempt to edit the iPhone 6 camera bump out of existence is only drawing negative attention.
iphone-6-camera
Only in rear views like this one does Apple emphasize the iPhone 6′s raised camera.
Source: Apple
Via: phoneArena

Android Silver sounding less and less likely




One of the more controversial rumors to touch upon Google and its hardware efforts arrived back at the start of the year, with claims that the company would scrap the Nexus line as we knew it in favor of something called Android Silver. Over the months that followed, the picture of Android Silver as a line of premium devices with near-stock software emerged, though maybe not with the same budget-friendly prices that Nexus models went for. But then instead of new rumors adding clarity, the situation only got murkier, as new reports suggested that Silver as a project might be losing steam within Google. Now the latest word on Android Silver piles more doubt on it ever seeing the light of day.
Like last time, Silver’s demise is described as tied to Google exec Nikesh Arora’s departure from the company this past July. Arora had previously been cheerleading the project, and without him pushing for it, momentum seems to have dried up.
But more than that, we do get some new, specific news about how Silver’s gone wrong, with claims that talks with potential partner companies amounted to less than a glowing success, all while doubts about Silver from within Google grew.
None of this is to say that Silver will never happen, but this recurring theme of middling interest at best sure doesn’t bode well for its chances.

Monday 15 September 2014

Micromax with the best android one device. ?

Micromax unveils Canvas A1 Android One phone for INR 6,499


Micromax Canvas A1Joining the likes of Spice and Karbonn, Micromax also unveiled its first Android One smartphone on Monday. Dubbed as Canvas A1, the phone is now exclusively on sale via e-retailer Amazon India. It has been priced at INR 6,499 and will retail in White and Black colour options
First teased during the Google I/O 2014, the Micromax Canvas A1 smartphone features same specifications as other Android One phones – a 4.5-inch FWVGA display, quad-core MediaTek processor, 1GB of RAM, and Android 4.4.4. The phone will also come with 5MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, FM Radio, and dual-SIM support. In addition, the A1 buyers will be getting 35GB of free Google Drive storage.
Like Spice Dream Uno and Karbonn Sparkle V, the Micromax Android One phone will also be getting free 200MB data per month from telecom operator Airtel, which can be used for app downloads from Google Play.
Offline Availability: Google has noted that the phone will reach brick and mortar stores before Diwali, so if you are not a fan of online retailers, you will get a chance to buy the Android One phones from offline stores but it will take sometime.
More about today’s Android One announcements in the related links below.

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