Giant iPad "Air Plus" design details leaked

At this point, it can't really be said that it is a rumor that Apple is working on an extra large iPad. The rumors have been consistent enough that it is relatively certain that such a product is in the works; but, the details about the device are still mostly unknown. That may be changing with a new report about the larger tablet, which we had been calling the iPad Pro, but might actually be called the iPad Air Plus given the name of the larger iPhone.

Apparently, the January issue of the Japanese version of MacFan has published a leaked blueprint for Apple's larger iPad. The blueprint claims that the larger iPad will have dimensions of 305.31 x 220.8 x 7 mm (12 x 8.7 x .28 inches). For comparison, the 12.2-inch Samsung Galaxy Note/Tab Pro is 295.6 x 203.9 x 7.95 mm (11.6 x 8 x .31 inches), so the size of Apple's device would be big enough to house a 12.2-inch display and the iconic home button with TouchID fingerprint scanner.

The report also mentions the A9 processor, but that could easily be considered an educated guess rather than being based on verifiable information. However, there is also a very interesting setup of "four built in speakers on each edge of case, in order to play stereo sound, even if iPad rotated" [sic]. That could be pretty cool. The real question, though, is whether Apple will be updating iOS to take advantage of the larger display.

Microsoft Lumia 535 released in India, will also be available in the UK

Not long after announcing the Lumia 535 as its very first own-branded Windows Phone handset, Microsoft this week started selling the device (more exactly, its dual SIM variant) in India. As far as we know, this is the first market where the 535 becomes available.

If you’re in India, you can order a dual SIM Lumia 535 from Microsoft via the source link below. The smartphone costs $149 (9,199 INR), and for now it’s available in four color versions: black, white, green and orange.

Succeeding the Nokia Lumia 530, the Microsoft Lumia 535 runs Windows Phone 8.1, thus offering stuff like Microsoft Office, Cortana, OneNote, Skype, and 15 GB of free OneDrive storage space. Technical specs include a 5-inch display with 540 x 960 pixels, 5 MP cameras (both on the back, and at the front), quad-core 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 200 processor, 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of expandable internal memory, and a 1905 mAh battery.

While it’s targeted mainly at emerging markets, the Lumia 535 will also be released in the UK. Microsoft UK’s website lists the handset as “coming soon”, but doesn’t say how much it’s going to cost there.

Are you going to buy a Microsoft Lumia 535?

Meet the world's first smartphone with two 1080p displays: Gionee W900

Gionee is a Chinese handset maker known in the Western world for releasing two smartphones that were, at the time of their launch, the thinnest on the market: the Elife S5.5 and the Elife E5.1. Now, Gionee is getting ready to introduce another interesting smartphone: the world's first to sport two 1080p displays.

Called Gionee W900, the smartphone is a clamshell designed to resemble Samsung’s Android flip phones - which seem to be very popular in China. Its internal and external displays both measure 4 inches and offer 1080 x 1920 pixel resolutions (with a pretty crazy 550 ppi density).

The W900 runs Android 4.4 KitKat, weighs 172 grams, and is 14.8mm thick when closed. It’s powered by a quad-core 1.5 GHz processor of unknown provenience, while other features include: LTE, a 13 MP rear camera, 5 MP front-facing camera, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of expandable storage space, and a 2050 mAh battery.

At the moment, there’s no word on when and for how much the Gionee W900 will be released. In any case, it will probably be available only in China, where it's been already certified by authorities. Would you buy such a smartphone if you had the chance?

Gionee W900 :-

OnePlus One will be updated to a Lollipop-based ROM in India (following Cyanogen's exclusivity deal with Micromax)

OnePlus is getting ready to launch its One smartphone in India, planning to start selling it on December 2 there. Until that happens, the company has an important announcement for fans: its handset won’t be supported by Cyanogen in India. This means that, although the OnePlus One will be launched running CyanogenMod, it won’t be receiving any CyanogenMod updates. Fortunately, OnePlus will deliver software updates by itself.

According to OnePlus, the company is working on a “stable, fast, and lightweight” ROM based on Android 5.0 Lollipop, and wants to release a “community build” for One users in India sometime next month. A production-ready build should be available in February 2015.

Cyanogen can’t support the OnePlus one in India because it recently signed a deal with Micromax (one of the country’s leading handset makers), providing it with exclusive rights to use CyanogenMod there. The situation doesn’t affect OnePlus One handsets in other markets in any way.

OnePlus didn’t say how much the One would cost in India, but we know that the smartphone will be offered exclusively via Amazon there.

Xiaomi plans to start producing smartphones in India and Brazil to meet huge demand

Last week, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun declared that his company could become the world’s largest smartphone maker in 5 - 10 years, dethroning Samsung and Apple from the top. Of course, in order to get there, Xiaomi needs to establish itself as a top handset maker in key markets. The company is already hugely successful in China (its home country), and it’s also doing great in India. However, Xiaomi has problems meeting demand in foreign markets.

According to Reuters, Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra recently said that the company was shipping 200,000 handsets per week to India. That’s not always an easy task, and the company had to charter special flights with several occasions to meet delivery schedules. With that in mind, Xiaomi is currently in talks with Foxconn (which builds some of its smartphones) to start producing hardware in India in 1 or 2 years. Xiaomi also plans to begin producing handsets in Brazil, likely earlier than in India.

Because it can’t keep up with demand, Xiaomi decided to wait - possibly until next year - before it officially enters new markets like Thailand, Russia, Turkey and Mexico. Meanwhile, the company will focus on selling its smartphones in India, Indonesia, and other Asian markets (in addition to China, of course).

What do you think, should Apple and Samsung fear Xiaomi?

This iOS 9 concept full of great ideas Apple should seriously consider

When it comes to really good concepts and ideas for iOS' future development, Ralph Theodory is second to none. Brought to you by the man that "ported" the Apple Watch round springboard to iOS 8 before the device is even remotely close to shipping, this iOS 9 concept video explores some seriously cool ideas that we feel are very worthy of Apple's consideration. Some of them make so much sense that we can't help but think they must have been tossed on the table at Cupertino at least a couple of times before they were axed out of the operating system.

Check out the ideas here, and make sure to watch the video below so you can see them in motion. This way, Ralph has made them look very believable!

view as slideshow »
iOS 9 concept ideas by Ralph Theodory

1. Search in Settings
Easily find the setting you want by doing a fast search.

2. History in Settings
Displays every change you did in Settings so you undo it without losing yourself in menus.

3. Color Look
Customize the color of buttons, UI elements, and Control Center.

4. Night Mode
Darkens the menus to make them easy on the eyes in dim lighting.

5. Settings Everywhere
Access every app and privacy setting with a single swipe down in the switcher.

6. Close all running apps
Close open apps with a single tap, instead of swiping all running apps up.

7. Siri Spell
If Her Siriness doesn't recognize your words, it will ask you to spell it so it can learn it. Apple won't ever implement it, because let's face it, we'll all teach Siri swear words.

8. Round Springboard
Add the round springboard from Apple Watch to the Zoomed and Normal display modes

9. Language Auto Playlists
The new Music App automatically recognizes the song's language and adds it to its language playlist.

10. Smart Sleep Mode
Siri shows up every 5 or so songs to ask if you're awake. If you don't respond with a button press or speaking into your ear-phones' mic, Siri will automatically turn off music.

11. Smart Shuffle
The music player automatically finds the best set of songs and albums that will resonate with the time, weather, movement, and occasions around you.

12. New Video Feed
The Video app feeds your online video addiction with a video feed that combines all streaming apps on your device in one manageable feed.

13. Lock Screen Clock
You can customize the lock screen Clock with custom widgets.

14. Learn
The Tips app is transformed into Learn, which teaches you everything about using iOS. Google should look into something like this for Android.

15. Button Control
Assign virtual buttons on the screen and change the tasks they execute.

New HTC Desire 620 revealed - a mid-range smartphone with dual front-facing speakers

The next smartphone in HTC's Desire series - you know, the one that's about the "everything else" in "flagships, carrier-branded devices, and everything else" - seems to be the new HTC Desire 620. Bulgarian website Nixanbal.com managed to get its hands on it and presented the device for the rest of us. The original article has been pulled down from the media, but a cached version is still available.

The device, which appears retail-ready and could be announced very soon, offers an all-plastic build, a 5-inch 720p display, a quad-core 1.2GHz (probably the Snapdragon 400) paired with the Adreno 306 GPU, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, an 8MP main camera and a 5MP front cam. The smartphone runs Android 4.4.4 KitKat topped off with HTC's own Sense 6 interface. The house is ran by a 2100mAh battery, which is interchangeable. And if you look extremely hard, you might spot the dual front-facing speakers that adorn the top and bottom bezels.

Although it's a far cry from the HTC One (M8)'s might and magic in all departments, the Desire 620 is shaping up as a promising low mid-range offering. When we reviewed the HTC Desire 510, which is an even lower-positioned model, we had to note the phone ran very smoothly and didn't have much trouble with browsing or gaming. So the 620's performance should be alright, at least theoretically.

DESIRE 620 :- 

Samsung Galaxy S6 (Project Zero) rumor round-up: specs, features, price, release date and all we know so far

This is the internal codename of the Galaxy S6, the supposed next Samsung flagship. So far, Samsung has been quietly codenaming its flagships with letters from the alphabet - the S4 was Project J, the S5 -- Project K, but rather than the S6 being ‘Project L’ (which also coincides with Android 5.0 ‘L’ollipop), it decided it is time for a reset.

It’s all back to the basics. After a few prosperous and worry-free years of growth, Samsung has to go to the drawing board to re-think its ‘next big thing’, which no longer looks so big after sales tumbled and the Galaxy S5 sold slower than the S4.

And frankly, a lot of the fairy tale growth for Samsung thus far ONE THING IS CERTAIN: THE GALAXY S6 WILL BE A VASTLY DIFFERENT SMARTPHONEis not least due to the fact that Apple was inexcusably late with its product cycle, taking years to make an adequate, large-sized iPhone. Now that there are two of them, and a mature market with a plethora of strong offerings from China, Samsung is starting to feel the heat and this time it’s serious. Samsung mobile head JK Shin is said to be leaving, replaced by Samsung electronics head BK Yoon.

One thing is certain: the Galaxy S6 will be a vastly different smartphone, aiming to show the best of Samsung in one device.

Design: entirely new vision

Display: wave goodbye to 1080p, welcome Quad HD
Interface: an unknown direction for TouchWiz
First 64-bit Samsung flagship: Snapdragon 810 and Exynos 7420 models
Camera: Galaxy Note 4-like excellence
Storage: 32GB in the basic model
Connectivity: first with all sensors on one chip, in-house LTE modem
Samsung Galaxy S6: release date, price, and carriers

                      Design: entirely new vision

We’ve been criticizing Samsung a long time for its uninspiring, all-plastic, cheap-looking devices, and that chant reached a crescendo in the Galaxy S5, where the company ignored all hopes and pleas for a more refined style, and stubbornly released the S5 with the same plastic design.

With ailing financials, though, and a series of well-made, metal devices, Samsung might finally make a change.

Going back to the ‘Project Zero’ codename, it’s very likely that the reset it implies refers to the visual style of the device at most. After all, previous Galaxy S series devices were never criticized for their processors and performance power. All of this leads to one logical conclusion - Samsung is probably developing an entirely new style for the Galaxy S6.

Take a look at how its predecessors looked like right below.

S5 ( 2014 )

S4 ( 2013)

S3 (2012)

S2 (2011)

S (2010)

Display: wave goodbye to 1080p, welcome Quad HD.

.

The Samsung Galaxy S5’s other big disappointment was the screen. The 5.1-inch Super AMOLED panel - despite being praised by Samsung loyalists - has one big shortcoming - its green tint that throws it off in terms of color accuracy, making it look unnatural.

The recent advancements in the land of Samsung AMOLED displays that the company showed with Galaxy Note 4 make one thing clear: it can do a good-looking display, if it wants, so we have high hopes that the S6 will finally have a well-calibrated display. As to the size? We do expect it to be slightly larger, going from 5.1” to not more than 5.5”.

The road towards higher-resolution screens has been a one-way street, and despite the little perceived difference of going from 1080p to Quad HD (1440 x 2560-pixel) displays, the Galaxy S6 is said to make that jump.