Apple grabs biosensor specialists for wearables drive

Apple has added two medical wearables specialists to its team, reigniting speculation that the upcoming "iWatch" could track health issues as well as provide a wrist-worn window to your iPhone. Former medical device specialists from Vital Connect and Sano Intelligence each quietly joined Apple in December, 9 to 5 Mac spotted, bringing expertise in biosensors, minimally-invasive blood monitoring, and more.

For instance, Nancy Dougherty, formerly of Sano Intelligence and now a "hardware engineer" at Apple, was responsible for developing a system of micro-needles which can be worn as an adhesive patch. According to details shared with Fast Company, that patch has a texture like sandpaper and is battery powered and wireless, with Sano Intelligence predicting it will eventually be able to track glucose, potassium, and electrolyte levels, not to mention kidney functions.

Vital Connect, meanwhile, developed a disposable wireless health monitor we tried last year which tracks ECG, temperature, and movement for up to three days from its onboard battery. That data is squirted to a nearby smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth LE, delivering insights not only on ongoing wellbeing but being able to monitor things like trips and falls for elderly or disabled wearers, notifying a remote caregiver accordingly.

From the startup, which could begin selling its sensors in Verizon stores this year under the carrier's mHealth banner, Apple has snatched R&D VP Ravi Narasimhan. He was responsible for sensor processing, not to mention involved in operating Vital Connect's clinical trials, essential if products are to achieve regulatory approval as medical devices.

Neither new employee has detailed exactly what they're doing at Apple, nor the team on which they're working, though their individual backgrounds in medical devices and biosensors does make it seem likely that they'll be involved in the Cupertino firm's oft-discussed wearable plans.




Although those plans - and the many rumors around them - have centered for the most part on the "iWatch", a smartwatch-style companion device for the iPhone and iPad, it's entirely possible that Apple has more than one iron in the body-worn gadget fire. Fitness and health have long been associated with the iPhone and iPod lines - such as their inbuilt Nike+ functionality - and a range of new sensors that extend that could allow Apple to tap into what's predicted to be a growing and lucrative market in personal health.

It won't be the only firm aiming to do that, of course. Google made the surprise announcement yesterday that it was developing smart contact lenses that can track glucose levels for diabetics, while signs of a "fitness API"were spotted in Android code earlier this week.

Meanwhile, Apple is also said to be investigating iris scanning systems, 9 to 5 Mac's sources claim, with work taking place around whether other sensors already in smartphones could be used to improve the accuracy of face recognition. Earlier in the month, a Samsung executive suggested the Korean company was looking into its own iris scanning tech, with whispers that it could show up as soon as the Galaxy S5 expected later this year.

How soon Apple's wearable products will arrive is still a mystery. During CES, reports surfaced that the company was weighing a change in display technology for the iWatch so as to reduce power consumption and prolong battery life.

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Spec Sheet: Sony, Lenovo, and Archos' budget smartphone battle

A lot of products come out each week — we don't highlight all of them, but all of them make it into The Verge Database. In Spec Sheet, a weekly series, we survey the latest product entries to keep track of the state of the art.Sony may have put out an exciting new Xperia smartphone just last week, but it seems that wasn't enough for it. This week it came back with a new pair of devices, the Xperia E1 and the Xperia T2 Ultra, two stylish smartphones aimed at emerging markets. But Sony isn't the only manufacturer that's been releasing lower-cost phones recently. Lenovo and Archos both unveiled a series of devices headed to various locations across the globe, all offering quite a bit at bargain prices. We're taking a look across this group of recent phones to see which manufacturer has the best offering at each size.


Click above for full available specs on all six phones

LTE HAS BECOME A DEFINING FACTOR AMONG LOWER-COST PHONES

Both Sony and Lenovo are releasing large phones with 6-inch displays — Sony the Xperia T2 Ultra, and Lenovo the S930. The devices are fairly comparable on paper, with 1GB of RAM, 720p displays, and quad-core processors running at 1.4 and 1.3GHz respectively. Those processors set them a bit further apart than numbers suggest though. Sony is using a Snapdragon 400 series processor — an older line, but one known for fine performance — while Lenovo is using a processor from MediaTek, which are generally only found in lower-end phones.

There's another big difference between the two phones thanks to those processors: the Xperia T2 Ultra supports LTE, while the S930 does just 3G. Above all else, that gives Sony's phone a distinct edge here — though since Sony hasn't released exact pricing, it's hard to say how clear cut any decision between the two would be. There's a good chance that Sony's phone will be more expensive though. Sony suggests that the T2 Ultra will be priced for the mid-range, rather than than low end, and at $319, Lenovo's S930 lands on the more affordable side of the fence.

While Sony skipped the 5-inch size in its announcement this week, Lenovo and Archos both addressed it recently. Unfortunately for Lenovo, it falls into the same trap here. Archos' 50 Helium is using the same Qualcomm processor that Sony's Xperia T2 Ultra uses, so it's able to support LTE even while costing just $249.99. That puts Lenovo's 5-inch A859 in the very same spot that its larger phone is against Sony: having fairly comparable specs, bearing a slightly lower price, but falling far short due to its lack of LTE.

The final pair of devices puts Archos' 4.5-inch 45 Helium against Sony's 4-inch Xperia E1. Unfortunately, Sony isn't giving this small phone quite as much power as the other device it announced this week, leaving the Xperia E1 with a still-unspecified 1.2GHz processor and without LTE. It has half as much RAM as the 45 Helium too, though their near-identical screen resolutions gives Sony's phone a slight edge when it comes to pixel density. Otherwise, the 45 Helium likely has a lot more going for it. It includes LTE, and is selling for $199.99, while Sony is again planning to price its phone for the mid-range.

Even if these phones aren't at the pinnacle of their field, they're far from being made up of years-old scraps. It's clear that low-cost phones are becoming more and more attractive as LTE works its way down in cost — and this year, that's likely to make its way into a whole lot more phones.

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Zoom Q4 camcorder for musicians takes on Sony

Zoom has launched a new camcorder targeted at musicians wanting their audio to be just as good as their video, the Q4, complete with a flip-up X/Y microphone that records up to 24-bit/96k stereo along with 1080/60p footage. Running for around 2-3 hours on a full charge, the Q4 has a detachable color LCD and easily-accessed physical controls for gain level, switchable low-cut filter, and headphone levels.

Up front is an f/2.8, 22mm wide-angle, 130-degree lens, with the sensor having three modes - auto, concert, and night - depending on the shooting environment. Storage is courtesy of an SDXC memory card slot - up to 128GB - and audio can be switched between uncompressed WAV or AAC for extending the capacity at the cost of quality.
Connectivity includes a mini-HDMI output, miniUSB, external stereo microphone input, and a headphone jack. The Q4 can also be used as a USB camera for live-streaming or even Skype, or indeed as a USB microphone, including direct into Apple's iPad if you have the Camera Connection Kit.

It's not too far removed from what we saw in Sony's Music Video Recorder, itself a palm-sized camcorder promising high-quality audio to go with Full HD video recording. The main differences are in the screen - the Zoom's is removable, and folds out - and the arrangement of the microphone, which on the Q4 pops up at the back, while on the Sony it's slung underneath the lens in a protective cage.
The Zoom Q4 is on sale now, priced at $299.99; in the box you get a hairy windscreen for the microphone. Optional extras include a guitar head mount, mic stand mount, and a water-resistant jacket.

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Meet the super secure smartphone which promises ultimate privacy from NSA

Yes, Black really is the new black

It looks like privacy is set to be a big deal at MWC 2014 and Spanish mobile company Geeksphone is first out of the gates with its Barcelona-bound Blackphone.

Thanks to a certain Mr Snowden, the whole world knows that the NSA has been paying attention to our private conversations, going so far as to access our offline PCs.

Geeksphone hopes to make that a thing of the mobile past - rather than launching with a bazillion pixels, umpteen cores or the ability to turn water into wine, the Blackphone is all about making and receiving protected phone and video calls, sending private text messages and storing secure files.
True Incognito mode

Anonymous web browsing is also enabled via a VPN, thanks to a customized version of Android called PrivatOS. This was developed in partnership with specialist mobile encryption firm Silent Circle.

Few will be familiar with the brand Geeksphone - the manufacturer's recent forays into mobile have been through the Firefox mobile OS.

But as we become ever more aware of our digital footprints, we could see the Blackphone push Geeksphone to the fore and help it compete with the security-conscious likes of BlackBerry and Samsung Knox.

Pricing and availability have yet to be announced, although pre-ordering will begin February 24 at MWC 2014

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Sony Xperia Z2 back cover leaks along with some specs

A report out of China, published on Friday, shows an image that purportedly reveals the back cover for the Sony Xperia Z2, code named Sirius. The source of the photograph is said to be someone working in Sony's R&D department. The picture was accompanied by a short list of specs. According to the Sony insider, the phone will feature a 5.3 inch screen, be equipped with a 23MP rear-facing camera, and is expected to be offered in 5 colors.

The picture, if legitimate, reveals that Sony is moving away from the glass backs that it has been using on its high end models. Instead, it would appear that the Japanese OEM is using a metallic or carbon fiber material for the rear panel. The rumor also comes with a possible launch date, which is listed as next month. That would seem to indicate that we will see the Sony Xperia Z2 in February at MWC.




Picture allegedly reveals images of the Sony Xperia Z2 back cover
Thanks, Anonymous Tipster!
source: Digi-wo (translated) via gforgames

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Windows 8 referred to as "the new Vista" by Microsoft employees

Windows 8 is a tough nut to crack. Some people love it, and some people hate it (and whether or not your Windows 8 device has a touchscreen seems to be a big determinant in which side of the fence you fall on.) But, would you go so far as to call Windows 8 "the new Vista"? Because it seems that some Microsoft employees have been saying just that.

The news comes from Microsoft uber-newsman Paul Thurrott, which makes it fairly credible. Thurrott tends to have the inside scoop when it comes to Microsoft. The difference is that Vista was widely panned due to usability issues, while Windows 8 is getting its reputation based on "sales and market acceptance" according to Thurrott.

There were high hopes for Windows 8 to bring back some interest in PCs, or at the very least to steer consumers towards PC/tablet hybrids, but so far the public has been reluctant to choose Windows over Android or iOS offerings. Either way, this is good news for consumers, because if Microsoft believes there is something wrong, there will certainly be work going on to fix it.

source: @Paul Thurrott 1, 2, & 3 via BGR

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LG G3 to launch in May with 5.5" QHD screen, G Pro 2 at MWC

Rumors of various 2014 flagships have started and now LG is the target of gossip. Apparently the company is working on a Optimus G Pro successor, which will be unveiled at the MWC and pave the way for the LG G3.
LG unveiled the G2 relatively late last year – Sony, HTC and Samsung announced their flagships in Q1, while the G2 announcement came in August. The flagship launch timetable has been moved up this year, according to Korean publication Asiae.
According to its sources, the LG G3 will launch on May 17, compared to the G2, which was released in September. There's speculation that this is to counter the alleged Galaxy S5 launch in March.
The publication goes on to add that LG continues the one-upmanship by using a QHD (2,560 x 1,440) that's as big as 5.5". Both Samsung and Sony's upcoming flagships are rumored to have 5.2" QHD screens. To put things in perspective, 5.2" is the same size as the G2, while 5.5" is the screen size of the Galaxy Note II.
LG will allegedly unveil the Optimus G Pro 2 in late February at the MWC (the original was announced at the MWC too). The second generation phablet is said to have a 5.9" QHD screen.
Concrete details on other specs of either device are not known at the moment, but there's probably going to be a Snapdragon 80x chipset at their hearts (hopefully 805) and quite possibly an OIS camera. If the launches are indeed so close, we should be seeing leaks of near-final hardware soon, so we might not have to wait long.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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HTC M8 aka Two to feature QHD screen, twin UltraPixel camera

HTC One's successor codenamed M8 and also known as One 2 and Two should launch this March, following an MWC debut in late February. As the rumor has it HTC M8 will be powered by the latest Qualcomm chipset (currently the Snapdragon 805) and will come with a bigger, at least 5", screen of QHD resolution (1440x2560px) display.



The insider reveals even more details about the M8 - HTC will keep using the UltraPixel technology for its new flagship, though the new camera will feature twin UltraPixel sensors. This should improve the auto-focus, image quality, and depth of field. There is no word on the resolution of the two UltraPixel sensors though, nor more details on their exact manner of operation.

If this insider is indeed telling the truth, then HTC will probably announce the One successor at the MWC in Barcelona by the end of February.

We already saw various HTC M8 leaks and rumors. Some leaked benchmark results showed the test M8 device was running on Snapdragon 800, while others suggested it won't be called HTC Two, but One+. We guess we'll know soon enough.

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Oppo N1 review

Oppo has got a mammoth mountain to climb to become the familiar name that it wants to be for a European audience. Good job it's just released the N1, then, a mammoth-sized phablet that's certain to grab your attention.
It will do so for a number of reasons. Primarily because that 5.9-inch 1080p screen is huge, firmly nestling it in the phablet rather than smartphone space. Secondly there's a 13MP camera on board mounted on a 120-degree rotational bracket. Say hello to standard shots, selfies, and beyond without the need for front- and back-facing devices.
And the last yet prominent point is simply that Oppo likes to do things differently. Enter ColorOS, the Chinese company's custom skin and set of apps that tweaks Android 4.2.2 into a new kind of beast. Or, if you're one that want a more standard Android experience minus the clutter then a limited edition CyanogenMod version of the phone is the first to see proper Google backing.
Mammoth size, big on features, and certainly different. But with a price that’s the opposite of its melange of "big" features. At £375 - however, it has to be imported from Europe, priced €449 - the Oppo N1 is highly competitive, and that's a giant factor in its possible success. Does this mixture make for a surprise phablet champion? We've been using the Oppo N1 for a number of weeks to find out.

Handsome in the hand

Phablets, by their very nature, are large. But we've not only grown accustomed to them, we've come to love them too. If you don't take many calls then it's a viable phone alternative and that screen will come in handy. In the case of the N1 its a 5.9-inch IPS panel with 1920 x 1080 resolution that generally looks great. It might not have the brightness and saturation of something like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, but that's a device with double the price tag.

READ: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 review

Oppo has opted for a plastic finish to the N1, but with its white matte finish it looks attractive rather than budget. It's finished off with a silver trim to the front and where the two panels adjoin around the side.

The camera sits proudly to the top, where its default resting position sits in seamlessly with the rest of the design. It’s not the very first time a phone has featured a rotational camera, but there is something very cool about it and we’ve used it a lot - and not for selfies, but at a 45-degree tilt for discreet street shots for the most part.
With a 9mm thickness the device isn't razor blade thin, and it's chunkier overall than even a 5.9-inch size may suggest due to all the other features housed in the device, but we found it to rest in the hand really well. The back panel - which can't be removed as the battery is fixed - has a subtle curve to it which further aids in the comfort and that material finish is smooth but not to the point of it sliding around the palm.
Moving from our go-to HTC One, the Oppo is certainly a whole lot larger and heavier - 213g is heavier than the Nokia Lumia 920 - but we got accustomed to it over our weeks of use. It’s considerably smaller than the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, though, as we side-by-sided the two devices and in terms of footprint the Sony dwarfs anything but proper tablets.

The proportions are a little strange, however, or at least they are for our hands. To the right hand side there's an on/off button with a plus/minus volume rocker below this and, frankly, we feel they're misplaced for a device this large. The power button feels too low down, although as with any device your brain will learn to adjust for the positioning over time.

The scale of the device also makes it tricky to make use of the full touchscreen with just the one hand. Oppo has tried to be considerate of this with a rear touchpanel - called O-Panel, and it's literally on the rear of the phone - to assist with gestures and swipes. Now we say "try" because when we first used the phone at the launch event we thought the panel was small and tricky to naturally gravitate towards. Those sentiments remain now, even after prolonged use. We often forgot it was there, until striking it into use by accident, and when we tried to use it we pretty much just failed. It's not something we found useful at all, but as its presence is all but undetectable it can easily be ignored too and, therefore, isn't an issue. Each to their own, some users may find its inclusion of use.
But that moan aside here is a device that, if budget is a consideration, looks the part and costs less than most large-screen smartphones. If it's scale you want then here's a great alternative option.

Cyan, magenta, yellow

Oppo’s default ColorOS isn’t something we’ll hang around on as, we suspect, most people that buy this phone won’t be using it. It’s really easy to install CyanogenMod, or there’s that built-in CyanogenMod limited edition model for sale which includes the open-source operating system installed by default. But if you can’t find that model a simple download of a ZIP file, drag, drop, and reinstall in safe mode will wipe the phone and implant your new OS. It’s that easy.
This does mean, however, that it’s one operating system or the other. Yes, both are Android-based with their own specialist application sets and features, but it is not possible to run the two in tandem. Which is a bit of a shame - but we can live with that.

READ: Installing the customer CyanogenMod simplified

If you’re happy to live with ColorOS then it’s not as giant a compromise as we thought it could be. All the usual Google Play access is there, as are your favourite Android apps, alongside some additional fun features. ColorOS handles multi-finger and shape-based gestures via a pull-down menu. Pull down from the top of the screen to the left side to bring up this "drawing pad" where gestures and symbols can be drawn and learned to activate specific actions. Pull down from the top right of the screen and the more typical Android settings menu pops up instead.
Within ColorOS three-finger swipes will perform actions such as, for example, a screen grab, while a three finger pinch will open the camera. A nice idea but try doing a three finger pinch - it doesn't feel all that natural. It also means handling the phone with two hands, not one, which was part of the point of the rear touchpad control as an alternative.

In our use we predominantly used CyanogenMod, so that's been part and parcel of shaping our opinion of the N1. For the most part it feels like Android 4.3 with a few quirks here and there and while this isn't an outroght review of CyanogenMod, in short we can say we like it. There’s no clutter, no nonsense, no bloatware or hoops to jump through. The option to arrange icons and widgets for layout is welcome, but we were happy to just stick with standard icon sizes, sometimes stacking multiple apps into single icon containers.
Swipe left and there’s a default music player, swipe right and by default there’s a library widget. The home screen shows time, date, location and weather while leaving a four by four grid space for apps. With extended desktop on there are also many screens available to fill up with apps as you desire.
It’s a largely stable system too, we experienced three random auto-off reboots in as many weeks - and that was when trying to do much within the not-so-stable Skype app on each occassion.

Our main moan in use wasn't to do with the software, but the Oppo’s trio of light-up Android soft keys. They just don’t like a delicate touch at all. We’re so used to the likes of the HTC One or Nexus 5 that many of our home key presses seemed to be ignored when we first got the N1.
Double tapping the home icon to view all open apps, for example, will often take more than one attempt because it’s just not sensitive enough. That can be quite annoying, although if you use only this phone and no other for a couple of weeks - as we did - you will begin to adapt for it. But the second we swapped back to a different device it further highlighted how poor the sensitivity of these keys was. An oddity given how responsive the touchscreen otherwise is throughout.

Behind the times?

Too often it’s easy to look at a phone’s spec sheet and make a grumbling noise that it doesn’t have the latest, most powerful processor and then consider it a write-off before even using it. With the Oppo N1, the 1.7Ghz quad-core Snapdragon S600 processor at the phone’s core might not be the latest and greatest, but it does still perform very well - partly thanks to 2GB of RAM on board.
Some will shun the N1 for being a generation behind. But in use we didn’t really feel it, and it’s a step ahead of a device such as the Huawei Ascend Mate without costing much more cash. For the price point it’s hard to complain.

READ: Huawei Ascend Mate review

We’ve been playing Angry Birds Go! without a hitch, and that giant screen works really well for gaming. There’s enough space top and bottom for a solid grip and the IPS panel means viewing angles are really good too.
When not gaming we used the N1 as a wireless hotspot for hours on end during the Consumer Electronics Show 2014, all the while with the usual email, messengers and other communications apps in the background. Put simply there was nothing the phone wasn’t able to do for our needs. S600 will be ample for many users, even if it isn’t as top-spec as the latest kit and, with all eyes of Mobile World Conference 2014, come March and April time we will be seeing the step-up generation of new phones too - so that's something to keep in mind.

Because the S600 is less power intensive than the latest processors, paired up with the on-board 3610mAh battery we found the N1 could last our for an age. We were giving it very heavy use on the trade show floor, and even while acting as a permanent Wi-Fi hotspot we were getting a full day’s use out of it. In Airplane mode or when just doing less it lasted out considerably longer - if you’re cautious with the brightness and a light user we’d wager two days of use no problems. That’s really good going.
On the inside the entry model comes with 16GB storage, with a 32GB option available. There’s no microSD expansion slot though, so you’ll need to pick wisely upon purchase.

Calls, connectivity and audio

When is a smartphone not a phone? When it’s a phablet. We didn’t take stacks of calls using the N1, but when we did there were a couple of things that we didn’t like.
First, the vibration from the phone is really weak. We want to really feel that buzz so we can catch it even when walking around. Secondly, finding the right position for your ear when taking a call can take a bit of moving around, because the device is that big and the speaker section - on the back, or the front depending on how you look at it, of the camera unit - is really small. Even the receiving microphone section is on the base of the phone rather than the front panel, and given how far the device protrudes from the face that’s not the best place for it. All this could have been thought out better.

But, at the end of it, it’s successful for calls and we experienced no drop-outs or issues - even when overseas. The call quality itself is passable, but not the most crystal-clear that we’ve ever heard. That probably comes down to the speaker and mic units that are hardly stand-out for their audio reproduction.
Connectivity, however, is limited by the S600 on board. As this particular Snapdragon chip isn’t LTE compatible straight out of the box - it can be with the addition of another modem, but that’s not the case here - there’s no LTE support. Although 3G HSPA+ is good enough, if you want the fastest connectivity available then look elsewhere. In the UK 4G comes at a premium, and the networks are still limited to a point, so we suspect this will be a bigger issue for our American readers than on this side of the pond.

READ: Best phablets: The best big-screen phones to buy today

Shoot and swivel

A standout feature of the Oppo N1 is its camera. Now it’s not the best of best smartphone camera out there, but we genuinely found the 120-degree rotational bracket to be of considerable use. Not so much for selfies - we’re not huge fans of the narcissistic snap - but for tilting to less obvious angles. Typically we would tilt at 45-degrees and as the camera section doesn’t significantly protrude from the camera, it’s easy to take discreet shots - it just looks like you're fiddling around in an app on a giant phone rather than taking a picture. We did this plenty of times in places where we would have otherwise been told not to. It’s our new covert camera.

Autofocus works well too. A simple tap on the screen and a circular focus area will "twist" as it brings the subject in to focus and you're ready to shoot. There are some basic settings on offer too, and while not as complex as something like the Nokia Lumia 1020, the simple approach is sometimes the best approach. Works for us.
The 13-megapixel sensor behind the lens delivers good enough shots in a variety of conditions, and even indoor shots in so-so light don’t end up immediately riddled with image noise. Out in Las Vegas we visited the Ultimate Fighter Championship training gym one evening where the octagon wasn’t exactly the brightest lit spectacle and the camera did a decent job. The 1/3.06in sensor size is supported with an f/2.0 maximum aperture to let lots of light in for the best possible results, and this shows when there’s not much light available.
In better light shots expose well, but there's a clear presence of grain and this is amplified further when viewed at 100 per cent scale. Smooth gradients seem to lack, as in a sample shot we took out in the desert where the blue, gradated sky looked rather grainy. It gives a sort of character rather than being something to cry over, but it also adds up to not being the best smartphone camera on the block.

Oppo N1 review - sample image - click for 100 per cent crop

The thing is these shots will rarely be used at the full 13-megapixel resolution. And as CyanogenMod has built-in filters to use with the camera app, we spent a lot of time converting to black and white, adding a vignette, or colour cast to a shot and then outputting at 1024 pixels on the longest edge. Ideal for sharing on social sites and the like.
If you do want to use the camera for selfies and portrait shots then Oppo has added another feature, similar to the dual flash found in the iPhone 5S. There’s a normal, white light, and a second more golden light for far more flattering portraits. As both are mounted on the rotational unit they can flash in the forward direction throughout any given camera rotation. Very nice.

Verdict

Of all the phones we’ve handled we’ve never been approached by so many members of the public and fellow press to ask about what we're using. From restaurants, to casinos, to conferences - the Oppo N1 caught peoples’ eyes and stood out as the different, alternative phone that it genuinely is. Now that doesn’t make it an instant success, but it goes a step in pointing out how the leftfield can be more interesting than the norm.
Even though the S600 processor at the N1’s core isn’t the most up to date, we didn't mind. Because for the price it’s a fair association, and as a smartphone it still did everything that we wanted it to. But the S600 chip does bring with it one issue that's probably of most concern for our American readers: it doesn’t support LTE out of the box. So the N1’s connectivity isn’t top-tier either, although 3G HSPA+ does a fair job.
If the idea of CyanogenMod - think about it like an open-source Android re-skin - sounds scary, then fear not. It’s a lot like using Android 4.3 and works a treat. Add to that a decent 1080p IPS screen, a quirky camera that’s of genuine use, solid design and fair price and the N1 gives us a lot to marvel at.
It’s the small things that let the phone down though. It’s obviously big and fairly weighty and if the idea of that freaks you out then this 5.9-inch phablet might not be the right choice for you in the first instance. Button positions and ill-responsive Android soft keys are among the main nuisances, as is the all-too-casual vibrate alert, and the O-Touch touchpanel control, for us, was as good as pointless - but that last feature can be ignored so it doesn’t really matter. But are these little moans enough to hold back a phone that’s trying to do things differently? We don't think so, no.
If you’re on a 3G network and are looking for a fully-featured bargain phablet then the Oppo N1 walks all over the likes of the Huawei Ascend Mate. Can’t stretch to a Galaxy Note 3? The N1 would be our alternative budget choice. It’s got a lot going for it, even if it does come from a brand that many Westerners will look at and say "what?". It’s like the hipster of phones; a positively different device that, while it won’t suit all, we have grown to love over time.

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Here's what happens if you give a Nexus 5 to a photographer

One way or another, it's clear that smartphones have already narrowed quite the gap in terms of quality, compared to traditional DSLRs. Sure, sure, it's still a child's play for the latter, but there's no denying that phones are coming dangerously close to transforming the traditional DSLR into a professionals-only product. That's because smartphones can now manage shots that are more than good enough for 99% of the trigger-happy crowd out there. These people are not professionals, and most smartphone snaps taken are done by amateurs or hobbyists at best. But what happens if you put a flagship phone into the hands of a trained professional? Some pretty darn good shots. Duh!

Anyway, Italian blog AndroidWorld has done just that with a Nexus 5. They've given the budget-friendly flagship to a professional photographer for a month, and the results are quite impressive, indeed. Some of the snaps below, taken by photographer Alexander Michelazzi, have been edited, using VSCO Cam or the built-in Android editor. According to the reviewers, the Nexus 5 is the best cameraphone in its class.

You can also check out the video at the bottom, which was wholly shot and edited using a Nexus 5

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New HTC One with bigger screen, better camera reportedly planned for March release

HTC is working on a new version of its flagship One phone with a planned release date in March, says Bloomberg. A source close to the project has reportedly said that the company will keep the same design as the One but increase the screen size and bump up the specs: it will supposedly include what's described as a twin-sensor rear camera that will improve focus and image quality. Toshiba recently announced a two-sensor smartphone camera that would allow photo refocusing similar to that of the Lytro light field camera, and other companies have worked on similar modules in the past. Bloomberg's report fits with the timing of the first HTC One announcement, which happened just before February's Mobile World Congress in 2013.

The screen on the new One is said to be at least 5 inches compared to the current version's 4.7 inches, but smaller than that of the 5.9-inch HTC One Max; it's been rumored previously to come with a Snapdragon 805 processor. The phone is said to be named the HTC One+, following in the footsteps of the One X+, an iteration on the company's last flagship phone: the One X+ looked virtually identical to the One X but came with a processor and storage upgrade. Outside the obvious change to screen size, the design of the One+ is supposed to be very similar to the One — which hopefully means HTC won't downgrade build quality as it did on the mini and Max versions it's already released.

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5.5" LG G3 to arrive May 17th, 5.9" G Pro 2 to start warming the bench next month, both with QHD displays

According to Korean media, the expected LG G3 flagship release date will be May 17th, and it will sport a QHD display (1440 x 2560 resolution). That shortens the typical annual upgrade cycle since the G2 a bit, but apparently LG doesn't want to leave much sales on the table to the Galaxy S5, like it did last year.


The screen diagonal is reported to be slightly larger than on the G2, to a speculated 5.5 inches, which would naturally mean quite the thin bezel all around, if LG wants to keep the overall size in check, too. Previous rumors pegged the rear camera to be 16 MP, probably with OIS tech, while the processor part rumor is more interesting, claiming LG's own Odin mobile chipset will be in there.


As for the alleged LG G Pro 2 phablet with QHD display that was supposed to be announced next month, this seems to be still in play, with a 5.9" screen diagonal bandied about, and unveiling around the MWC at the end of February, which would give LG a headstart before Samsung with QHD phones, warming up the bench until the G3 arrives three months after that.


source: Asiae.co.kr via G4Games

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Huawei's new MediaPad 7 Youth2 is a Samsung Galaxy Tab3 Lite competitor

The affordable tablet market is getting crowded with each day that passes by. The latest tablet that’s going to try and win the hearts of users on a budget comes from Huawei, and it’s called MediaPad 7 Youth2.

Like the MediaPad 7 Youth launched last year, the new model has a metallic frame, and a 7-inch display with 600 x 1024 pixels. It runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with Huawei’s Emotion UI 1.6, further featuring HSPA+ (21 Mbps), Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, A-GPS, a 3MP rear camera, VGA front-facing camera, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal memory, MicroSD card support, and a 4,100 mAh Li-Po battery helped by “Huawei’s patented power-saving tech and the Dynamic Power Management system.”

Huawei says the processor inside the MediaPad Youth2 is a quad-core 1.2GHz MSM8x12 A7 - which likely means it’s a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 (either the 8212, or the 8612 model).

With these features, the Huawei MediaPad 7 Youth2 will give Samsung’s latest Galaxy Tab3 Lite a run for its money. We could even say that the Youth2 looks a bit better on paper, specs-wise. The Galaxy Tab3 Lite should cost around $130, and we’re guessing that Huawei won’t ask more for its new tablet. The Chinese company hasn’t announced when and where it intends to launch the MediaPad 7 Youth2, but we’ll likely hear more on this soon.

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New Lava Iris Pro 30 is a thin, light Android

Android Lava has launched a new line of smartphones under the theme of "Art meets Smart". The Lava Iris Pro 30 is the first in the family and the company's new flagship. The Android smartphone measures only 7.5mm thick and weighs just 114g, which was achieved in part thanks to the slim 4.7" IPS LCD from Sharp. The screen has 720p resolution (312ppi) and puts out 500 lumens of brightness. It's a "One Glass Solution," meaning the Gorilla Glass is laminated making the assembly thinner. The phone uses Content Adaptive Backlight Control, which Lava says, results in 30% better battery life. The battery is fairly thin too and packs 2,000mAh capacity. The device weighs 114g in total. It's not the thinnest or lightest smartphone ever, but the ones compact as this one are quite rare. Lava Iris Pro 30 Anyway, the Lava Iris Pro 30 runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean on a quad-core 1.2GHz processor and PowerVR SGX544 GPU (we're guessing a MediaTek chipset, so Cortex-A7 CPU cores). The phone is USB OTG enabled, and features voice and face unlocking, gestures like flip to mute and lift to answer/call. The main camera uses an 8MP BSI sensor and dual-LED flash. It can record 1080p video and shoot panoramas. There's a 3MP front-facing camera, too. The Lava Iris Pro will cost INR 16,000 in India ($260, €190) and Lava points out that with quad-band support, the phone will work in the Americas, Asia and Europe. What the company doesn't say is if it will actually bring the Iris Pro 30 to those markets.

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Customize your Motorola Moto G as Grip Shells are now available

Just because the Motorola Moto G isn't born from your mind in combination with the MotoMaker, doesn't mean that it can't be customized. The back cover of the phone is removable (although the battery isn't) and can now be replaced with one of five different colored Grip Shells. Available from Motorola's online store for $19.99 each, the colors available are black, chalk, royal blue, lemon lime and cherry.

The Grip Covers easily snap onto the back of the phone, and include a nice protective rubber bumper around the outside of the shell. In addition, the textured back makes it easier to hold on to your Moto G even with sweaty hands. To order, all you need to do is visit the Motorola online store or click on the sourcelink below.








Grip shells for the Motorola Moto G are now available from Motorol's online store

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ZTE Blade Q Mini launches in UK exclusively on Virgin Media for only £60

ZTE has announced its Blade Q Mini smartphone will be on sale in the UK from today as a Virgin Media exclusive.

The handset is a mid-range smartphone offering a 4-inch 480 x 800 resolution (233ppi) IPS display, 1.3GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM, 5-megapixel autofocus camera, 4G storage up to 32GB with microSD, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS, and a 1500mAh battery.

The ZTE Blade Q Mini will be sold exclusively on the Virgin Media network. ZTE has not said if other networks will sell the handset in future or if there will be an offline version available. What's certain is that pricing will be excellent with this handset aimed at those hoping to buy an affordable smartphone with mid-range specs.

Argos and Sainsbury's are selling the ZTE Blade Q Mini for £60. Argos should have it first. It will be locked to the Virgin Media network.

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