Nokia Lumia 1520 - Expected to launch on October 22

There have been many rumors in recent weeks suggesting Nokia is working on its first Lumia phablet, the Nokia Lumia 1520. Though Nokia has not announced anything officially. However, it is expected that Nokia revealed its first Windows Phone powered phablet next to five other devices on October 22 at an event next week in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It's expected to go on sale in the US in the second week of November.

According to the rumors, the forthcoming phablet Lumia 1520 will have a 2GHz Quad-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 6-inch 1080P AMOLED PureMotion HD display, 2GB of RAM, 16 and 32 GB storage options with support for microSD card, however, the leak did not reveal the maximum supported storage. The phablet will run the latest version of Windows Phone 8. The phablet have a 20.7 Megapixel camera featuring PureView camera with Zeiss Optics, Panorama , Auto Focus and advanced LED Mechanism. Other camera features likely to come preloaded on the device include the new Nokia Camera app, which will come with improved saturation settings. The phablet will come in black, white and yellow - and other leaks have suggested cyan and red are coming too. The Lumia 1520 is further said to support 4G and LTE, while would also come with nano-SIM card support.

It's worth mentioning that Microsoft announced the Windows Phone 8 GDR3 update recently, as well as the addition of a third column of Live Tiles on the Start screen. The third column will only be available for Windows Phone devices packing a display of full HD resolution. GSMArena has said the the GDR3 update, some UI changes and the third column of Live Tiles will land for the Nokia Lumia 1520.

My Nokia Blog - citing a leaked specification list - reported the Nokia Lumia 1520 will sport a 3,400 mAh battery and an inbuilt Qi wireless charging. Some news outlets have noted however that availability of wireless charging may vary by regions.

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Hugh Jackman as Brand Ambassador for Micromax Smartphones

Micromax has enjoyed success as the company behind the Canvas line of smartphones for quite some time now. So much so, that they've been able to employ the talents of actor Hugh Jackman as its brand ambassador. Mr. Jackman will be seen endorsing the soon-to-be-launched Micromax smartphone called Canvas Turbo, which is part of the Canvas series of smartphones for Micromax.

Micromax is an Indian Consumer Electronics company located in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It focuses on the manufacturing of Mobile Telephones, Tablet Computers, 3G, Datacards and LED Televisions. Micomax is the first Indian mobile operator to have roped in a Hollywood star as its brand ambassador.

Micromax's Chief Marketing Officer Shubhodip Pal said in a statement:

"As we look to expand our footprint across the globe in various international markets, the association with the Hugh Jackman is an ideal partnership for us to connect with audiences."

Jackman, who you'll undoubtedly recognize from his portrayal of Wolverine in many feature films, makes a brief appearance in the following teaser showing off Micromax's upcoming flagship, the Canvas Turbo.

"I am a huge lover of India as it is one of the most exciting countries in the world and we also share our love for cricket. Phones are genuinely time saving devices that can help you live a better life while juggling around with different situations," the X-Men movie series star said.

Micromax is next to Samsung in terms of handset sales in India as per second quarter mobile phone shipment figures of 2013 released by market research and analyst firm IDC.

Not much is known about the Canvas Turbo right now, except that it's set to run on a quad-core processor (MediaTek based chipset: MT6589T), 1GB RAM, 32GB inbuilt memory, 13.0-megapixel main camera and may be the first Canvas handset with a 1080p display. It'll likely feature many of the new Android software improvements introduced with the Canvas 4.

Micromax was able to win a lot of fans with its Canvas HD smartphone, as it was able to offer quad-core performance on a very competitive price compared to the major manufacturers.

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Microsoft Windows Phone 8 update features Driving Mode

MICROSOFT is introducing a drive mode to its Windows Phones to help users avoid distractions on the road. Other features include rotation lock, new layout for bigger phones.

Microsoft announced update for Windows Phone 8 software. This significant update offering a number of enhancements including support for higher resolution and to include a new featurecalled Driving Mode.

It's the third update to Windows Phone 8 software since the system's release a year ago. Devices with this new update will start appearing in the next few weeks. According to Microsoft, all the older phones will be eligible for a free upgrade.

A new Driving Mode will automatically silence incoming calls and texts so that you can focus on the road. You also can configure the feature to automatically send out a reply to say that you're driving. What the Driving Mode won't do, however, is block outgoing calls or texts.

It can be activated automatically when the phone is linked with a Bluetooth device in a car. Apple added a “Do Not Disturb” feature for iPhones, but that needs to be turned on manually.

The new OS is going to support 5 and 6-inch class devices with support for resolutions up to 1920X1080.Currently, the system supports a highest resolution of 1280 pixels by 768 pixels, which is adequate for phones with screens no larger than 5 inches on the diagonal. But video and image quality degrades when stretched out on larger phones, such as a 6.3-inch Android phone from Samsung.

There are a few ways Microsoft Corp. will catch up to the iPhone and Android phones with the new update. For the first time, Windows phones will have a rotation lock function, so that the screen won't switch back and forth between horizontal and vertical mode while you're curled up in bed. There also will be a central way to close open apps. Before, you had to go into each open app and press and hold the back button.

Microsoft is launching a program to give app developers early access to the new software. Apple has had a similar program for the iOS software behind iPhones and iPads, while Google often has worked with selected developers on unreleased features.

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Get ready for the Galaxy S5: Samsung to launch Galaxy S5 in Jan 2014

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is set to be one of the biggest smartphone launches of 2014

According to South Korean media sources, Samsung is planning to expedite the presentation and launch of its latest high-end smartphone. The Galaxy S5 unveiled as soon as January 2014 ahead of a release in February. The previous models in the line, the Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4, were launched in May 2012 and April 2013 respectively. It may be a party of five in the next three months, as the Nexus 5 smartphone that's expected to be announced next week could be joined by the Galaxy S5.

According to the media source in South Korea, Naver, Samsung's decision to fast-track the new model is because Galaxy S4 sales has been low, and the company hopes various new technologies in the Galaxy S5 will help turn the slump around. The company sold around 10 million Galaxy S4 phones worldwide within one month of the smartphone's release.

The source Naver is a site made up of ex-Samsung employees, and we do know that the Korean electronics giant really wants to upgrade its smartphone to compete with the iPhone 5S.

Rumors suggesting that the Galaxy S5 will be equipped with a 64-bit, eight-core Exynos 5430 chipset. This chip will feature Heteregenous Multi-Processing (HMP) technology that allows all eight cores of the processor to work simultaneously. In the current eight-core chips that Samsung uses in its Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3, only four of the eight cores can operate at a time.

Samsung co-CEO Boo-Keun Yoon revealed that Samsung plans to connect all of its devices together with the new operating system, Tizen – co-developed by Samsung and Intel.

Samsung Galaxy S5 is also expected to have a 16-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization and better performance in lowlight conditions. The recently unveiled Isocell sensor is also expected to debut with this smartphone. According to GSMarena the new lens has been designed to fit in its slimline range of smartphones.

Earlier reports point towards a waterproof and dust-resistant body and a curved and unbreakable screen. Rumors suggested that the Galaxy S5 might finally feature a metal housing in place of the flimsy-feeling plastics Samsung typically uses.

Samsung has recently unveiled the world's first smartphone with a curved screen, named Galaxy Round.

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Samsung Galaxy S6 Concept Smartphone

It’s hard to imagine what will the Galaxy S6 look like, but the guys from Apple Conspiracy wants it to tout a plastic unibody with a new protective nano coating called hyperskin, “a plastic you won’t be mad about”.

The Galaxy S6 concept flaunts a beautiful GravityUX on top of Android 6.0 (but what the code name will be…. Nobody knows!). The phone concept also has an 18MP camera with 4K high frame rate video recording. The most worthy part of the concept is a battery that could last a week of heavy usage off of a single charge.

Last but not least, the Galaxy S6 concept will have a 4.5-inch S-OLED display with a stunning 2K display. These are, of course, simply dreams and desires as the concept has technologies that we have yet to implement, but the folks from Apple Conspiracy say:

It includes technologies we have yet to implement, but it’s our only way of giving justice to the so-much-used word “innovation” without just being a marketing term. In our opinion, only in next couple of years we could have some real progress in this matter. But new models have to be launched in ever shorter time intervals, and justify their “innovation” by masking the real problems.

Let’s hope in two years that innovation won’t just be a marketing term so we can actually see something like this in the future.

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Apple cutting the production of iPhone 5C in half

APPLE has halved production of its new cheaper, plastic-cased iPhone only a month after its release due to low demand in Chinese market. It is reported by a Chinese website C Technology that the company will reduce its current 300,000 unit-a-day pace to 150,000.

No comments have made by Apple on the reason for the cutback, but if the report is accurate, the most likely reason would be because of poor demand for the iPhone 5C as compared to Apple’s flagship iPhone 5S. Both phones were released last month; most people have been buying the iPhone 5S than the 5C

Apple developed low price version of iPhone5C especially for China and India. In China, demand for the 5C has been so low retailers were forced to lower the sale price even further.

Furthermore there's no delay to order a 5C on Apple's own website. Yet the company warns orders for the 5S is on back order.

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Samsung Galaxy Round, a smartphone with a curved OLED display

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today unveiled GALAXY ROUND, the world's first curved display smartphone.

The Korean electronics company and the Apple's competitor in smartphones market, Samsung announced initial details on the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Round. Like the Galaxy Note 3, the new device packs a 5.7-inch 1080p Full HD Super AMOLED display with 7.9mm thick and weighs 154g. According to Samsung, the New device presents world's first commercialized full HD Super AMOLED flexible display. The phone is powered by a 2.3GHz MSM 8974 quad-core processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage and an up-to-64GB microSD card slot. A 2800mAh battery should amount for a fair number of running hours.

The new phone equipped with 13 megapixels camera on back with autofocus and flash and a 2-megapixel camera up front. Like the Galaxy S4 and Note 3, the phone runs Android 4.3. 

Samsung has also developed new software experiences like the Roll Effect that enables user to check information such as date, time, missed call and battery information easily when home screen is off, and the Gravity Effect for creating visual interaction with the screen by tilting the device. Seemingly gunning after HTC, the Bounce UX, as it's called, turn on music player shortcuts even while the screen is off. While the player is going, pressing one side of the screen plays the previous track or the next, and uses tilt controls to trigger video playback.

Samsung has announced that the Galaxy Round will be released for Korea in Luxury Brown shade, more colors will be coming soon. However, no details of an international launch have been made available.

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Huawei unveiled Dual-SIM, Quad Core smartphones in Pakistan

Chinese leading global Information & Communication Technology (ICT) solution provider, Huawei is finally listening to the customers and has unveiled a new mid-range smartphone G610 with Dual-SIM option in Pakistan. Currently Huawei’s flag ship device, the worlds slimmest smartphone Ascend P6 and budget smartphones Y300 and G510 are gaining popularity among the customers.

G610 comes with remarkable features. The phone features a 5-inch IPS QHD capacitive touch screen display with a screen resolution of 540x960 pixels. It will be available in White and Black colors with one year warranty of Airlink Communication at a price of Rupees 20 thousand. The phone is dual SIM with GSM+GSM and supports 3G. It’s powered by a 1.2GHz Quad Core processor, 1 GB RAM and 4 GB ROM. It supports expendable storage up to 32 GB via microSD card. Huawei G610 runs Android 4.2 with company’s Emotion UI on top.

Moreover, the mid range smartphone G610 comes with a 5-megapixel on back with LED flash and includes a 0.3-megapixel camera on front. It packs a 2150mAh battery and has dimensions of 142x73.6x9.9mm.

The other details are as:

Release	September 2013
Weight	170g
Removable Battery	No
Wi-Fi	Yes
Wi-Fi standards supported	WiFi B, WiFi G, WiFi N
GPS	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes
Wi-Fi Direct	Yes
HDMI	No
Headphones	Yes
FM	No
USB	Micro-USB
Charging via Micro-USB	Yes
2G frequencies supported	GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900
3G	Yes
3G frequencies supported	900, 2100
Proximity sensor	Yes
Accelerometer	Yes
Ambient light sensor	Yes
Java support	No
Browser supports Flash	No

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