Intel introduces Atom Z2420 for emerging markets, Lava announced as the partner

Intel just unveiled its new SoC platform for value smartphones in emerging markets. It is codenamed the Atom Z2420, and it directly aimed at the ever burgeoning mid range smartphone market that craves for powerful hardware. And it looks like Intel might have just the solution for value smartphones, yes, that’s what they call mid range devices now. The platform was unveiled today along with a reference device with a 3.5 inch screen, 5 megapixel camera that can shoot 7 frames per second and 1080p full HD video.

The Atom Z2420 has a 1.2 GHz single core processor with hyper threading technology and incorporates the Power VR SGX540 GPU from Imagination technologies. The SGX540 was introduced with the Galaxy S, if we remember right. According to Inte, this chip enables low – mid range smartphone to be blazing fast in web browsing and major multimedia tasks. And talking about multimedia, Intel has made sure that this reference platform is choc a bloc filled with every feature that you can imagine, including full support for most of the video codecs and full HD 1080p encoding/decoding with Intel Wireless display support. We find it a pretty impressive feat for this reference platform. And yes it runs Android and can run all the apps and games, much like the Intel XOLO.

Intel also claims that they have massively improved upon in the battery life department claiming that they can last even longer than rival ARM platforms like the Qualcomm S4. And that’s not it, it includes full support for micro SD, dual SIMs and FM radio. Now we are talking! This pretty much sums up the mid range device range. This platform is all set to be utilised by partners like Lava, Acer and Safaricom. With the popularity of the Xolo range of devices here, the Z2420 based devices can’t come sooner.

Image via Engadget

Alcatel One Touch X’Pop, S’Pop and T’Pop Android Phones

We’re hearing plenty of news from the Alcatel camp today and now we have details of the new 2013 lineup of budget Android smartphones from the company. These One Touch handsets will be released in Q1 and available in Asia, Africa and Europe. The three phones on the way are the One Touch X’Pop, S’Pop and T’Pop with the X’Pop top dog followed by the S’Pop and the T’Pop in that order, although all have something to offer those who want an affordable smartphone.

Earlier today we told readers about the quietly impressive Alcatel One Touch Scribe HD 5-inch smartphone and also new Alcatel One Touch tablets so Alcatel is certainly setting out purposefully into the New Year. Each of the three One Touch Pop phones detailed here come in two varieties, one offering HSPA connectivity over 900/2100MHz bands and the other touting HSPA over 850/1900/2100MHz bands. Quad-band GSM connectivity is available on every model.

We’ll start with the best of these three One Touch handsets, the X’Pop with specs including a 1GHz dual-core processor, 4.5-inch qHD display with resolution of 960 x 540, 512MB of RAM and microSD card slot. It also features a 5-megapixel rear camera and a VGA front-facing camera and runs on Android 4.1 jelly Bean and will be released later this month, according toEngadget.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 and 600 quad-core processors announced, offers speeds up to 2.3 GHz

Qualcomm has announced Snapdragon 800 and Snapdragon 600 series at CES 2013. The Snapdragon 800 is the high-end processor that has quad core Krait 400 CPU and Adreno 330 GPU. It would offer speeds of up to 2.3 GHz per core and up to 75 percent better performance than the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processors. It can also play UltraHD or 4K videos and has built-in 4G LTE Cat 4 and 802.11ac support. The Snapdragon 600 series has quad-core Krait 300 CPU running at up to 1.9 GHz and Adreno 320 GPU that offers 40% better performance than the Snapdragon S4 Pro processor. The company has also announced Snapdragon 400 series of processors for mid-range phones and Snapdragon 200 series aimed at entry level smartphones.

Features of new Qualcomm Snapdragon Processors

• Snapdragon 800 Processors – up to 2.3 GHz quad-core Krait 400 CPU, Adreno 330 GPU, 4G LTE Cat 4 and 802.11ac, UltraHD 4K video support DTS-HD, Dolby Digital Plus and 7.1 surround sound, Dual Image Signal Processors (ISPs) up to 55MP. aimed at premium smartphones, Smart TVs, digital media adapters and tablets.
• Snapdragon 600 Processors – up to 1.9 GHz quad-core Krait 300 CPU, Adreno 320 GPU, LPDDR3 RAM, aimed at  mid-high tier smartphones and tablets.
• Snapdragon 400 Processors  - aimed at high volume smartphones and tablets.
• Snapdragon 200 Processors – aimed at entry level smartphones.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 and the Snapdragon 600 processors are expected to be available in commercial devices by mid-2013.

Huawei Ascend D2 announced at CES, 5 inch 1080p 1.5 GHz Quad core Android Jellybean

We have seen the leaks and we definitely saw this coming. Yes, Huawei has unveiled the new Ascend D2 and Ascend Mate at CES today, at their press conference. It has a 5 inch full HD 1080p screen, which means that it will join the ranks of HTC’s J Butterfly and many more Android devices to come this year. The phone sports a 1.5 GHz Quad core in house K3V3 processor and runs on Android Jellybean. The battery is rated at 3000 mAH and the device sports a 13 megapixel rear camera.

As we said earlier, the screen is a 5 inch 1080p LCD TFT display with a pixel density of 443 ppi, the same as the HTC J butterfly. Interesting facts about the camera is that it has a f2.2 aperture and  a hybrid IR filter. The device also boasts a very loud loudspeaker that can be heard from 2 metres away. Additional features being dust proof and water proof.

The device measures at 9.9mm in thickness and has a curved design, with a plastic back. Huawei also calls this the “most powerful” smartphone. The jury is still out on that one and we are sure that our friends at AnandTech will clear those doubts soon. Is Huawei hitting this out of the park? We’ll see for sure, soon.

The Huawei Ascend mate was also launched along with the Ascend D2, sporting a bigger screen and similar internals save for the display, which is 720p on the Ascend Mate. You can check out the Ascend Mate here.

Sony Xperia Z with 5-inch 1080p display, 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, 13MP camera announced

Sony has finally announced the Xperia Z, their latest flagship at CES 2013. It has a 5-inch Full HD (1920×1080 pixels) Reality display with mobile Bravia Engine 2 and is powered by 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm APQ 8064 processor with Adreno 320 GPU. It has a 13MP camera with LED Flash, Exmor RS sensor for HDR images and video. It has IP55 and IP57 ratings for dust and water resistance and has PlayStation Mobile support.

Munitio Nines Tactical 9mm Bullet Earphones with debatable price

We’re already seeing news coming from CES 2013 in Las Vegas and a unique item that has come to our attention so far is the Munitio Nines Tactical 9mm bullet Earphones. The increasing desire for high-end headphones should be fulfilled by these earphones and they certainly stand out amongst the many others aimed at this end of the market. Munitio aims itself at the urban lifestyle brand and we think the design of the Nines Tactical 9mm Earphones will appeal to many.

We have said in the title Munitio Nines Tactical 9mm Bullet Earphones with debatable price because we are not too sure if the price is too steep or just right. Before you flinch at the $169.99 price tag take a good look at our images here and you can see just how stylish these Munitio earphones are. If they sound as good as they look then they could well be worth the money and Munitio itself bills them as delivering “unmatched sound quality.” The Nines Tactical earphones have enhanced acoustics and the new Nines have earth neodymium 9mm drivers and Bass Enhancing Chamber tweaks and also custom tuned Acoustic Sound Flow System. This offers less bass distortion, crystal clear mids and detailed highs and a more expansive dynamic range.

According to Nokia WP 7.8 Update for Lumia’s “Imminent”

It seems that Nokia is ready and willing to roll out the Windows Phone 7.8 update to all their devices but they are waiting on Microsoft at the moment.

This is according to a site called PocketGamer.biz. Nokia has told them:

...the roll out of 7.8 to existing devices remains in Microsoft's hands, though the firm's Windows Phone 7 currently shipping to retail – such as the Lumia 800 – have the update pre-loaded.

However sadly that is all the information that Nokia could give on this subject at the time.

"With Windows Phone 7.8 beginning to ship pre-loaded on Nokia Lumia smartphones, we will naturally be deploying the software to our factories for product rollout,... At present we have no more information we can give about wider availability of the update for phones running Windows Phone 7.5."

This update was expected late last month and devices have already been flashed to WP 7.8 using Navifirm so it is disappointing that Microsoft is not letting it go to the masses. Hopefully this leak is a good start and it will force Microsoft's hand on this update.

Black and Red Samsung Galaxy S3 launched in Korea

Samsung has launched the Sapphire Black and Garnet Red Galaxy S3 in Korea. The Garnet Red version of the Galaxy S3 went on sale in India last year. The Galaxy S3 is already available in Marble White and Pebble Blue colors, and Samsung launched Martian Pink Galaxy S3 in Korea last September. The company has also announced that the Martian Pink Galaxy S3 would now be available in 16GB version in Korea.

Android 4.1.2 update rolling out for Galaxy Camera

Delivering on their promise of providing Android 4.1.2 for the Galaxy Camera, Samsung has today flipped the switch for the update and are pushing it to devices around the world. Our own unit just received the update over the air. Users shouldn’t expect too much in terms of new features from the update which mostly contains bug fixes.

You should expect some speed improvements all around. What has been confirmed is that the update will bring a fairly big update to the Gallery application. New layouts, viewing modes are some of the features expected in the application which has already been seen on the Galaxy Note 2. 

Lenovo Erazer X700 Gaming PC announced, coming in June starting at $1499

Lenovo has announced Erazer X700 a new Windows 8 Gaming PC at International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2013. The Erazer X700 is aimed at high-end gamers and people who uses intensive multimedia applications. It has a eye-catching diamond-cut and cold blue lighting design and comes with a dedicated Onekey overclocking feature to boost the processor’s performance for complete gaming experience. It has liquid cooling system to prevent from over heating issues while overclocking.

NVIDIA Project Shield Tegra 4-powered Handheld gaming console with 5-inch HD display announced

NVIDIA has announced Project Shield, the company’s first handheld gaming console at CES 2013. This has a 5-inch 720p multi-touch display with NVIDIA DirectTouch. It is powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra 4 processor and runs on pure Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) without any skin. It has a dedicated Shield button that takes you to NVIDIA Tegra Zone to purchase and play games. You can also get games from the Steam store that has more than 2,000 titles.

Belkin Thunderstorm Handheld Home Theater speaker dock for iPad launched

Belkin has launched a new speaker dock, Thunderstorm Handheld Home Theater for the iPad at CES 2013. It offers rich, powerful and immersive audio experience for movies, music and games. It features high-efficiency, front-facing speakers powered by Audifi that offers a cinematic audio experience. It has a unique design with integrated air channels that offers optimal airflow for thumping bass.

NVIDIA unveils Tegra 4 with quad-core A15 CPU, 72 GPU Cores

NVIDIA has announced Tegra 4 processor for smartphones and tablets that has 72 GPUs cores and 4 ARM A15 CPU cores at CES 2013. It also comes with an optional 4G LTE chipset. NVIDIA is calling it the fastest mobile processor in the world. The Tegra 4 tablet takes 24 seconds to load 25 unique web pages, twice faster than the Nexus 10 that has a dual-core A15 CPU. The Tegra 4 slide leaked last month revealing the features.

It is developed using a new 28nm manufacturing process, rather than the 40nm manufacturing process in the Tegra 3. This offers less power consumption and better heat dissipation. It is based on the same 4-PLUS-1 technology, but has second-generation battery saver core for low power during standard use. If consumes 45 percent less power than its predecessor, Tegra 3. The PRISM 2 Display technology reduces backlight power while delivering superior visuals. Tegra 4 also has 4K ultra-high-definition video support.

Zeusmos Is Another Installous Alternative – No Jailbreak Required

uhelious has introduced to the iOS community a new free app download service called Zeusmos that makes the iPhone, iPod and iPad users able to install cracked or pirated applications without jailbreaking their devices, it will be an alternative to installous for many users but without jailbreaking their devices.uhelios is a 15 year old developer and I don’t think he will be able to survive in such a stringent situation where no one will allow him to crack or pirate the software, he may very soon face stoppage of his hosting account etc. Still this is good for the people who can not afford the original apps and want to try some good apps before they can purchase.

TNW asked for more information about the zeusmos from the hacker and uhelious has responded saying that he’s offering the service as a sort of ‘try before you buy’ option.

Two Google Services Are Acknowledging The iPad Due To Bug

Apple and Google separately are two big entities in the world of smartphones and tablets. Both of these have their own fan following in the market which empowers them to stand dominating among all others. Entire world is familiar with these two famous brands which are also popular for one more thing and that is their rivalry. These two companies have been pulling each other’s leg to increase their share in market.

In their prevailing scenario of rivalry, there comes a bug which makes things odd between these two. The bug found in Google Now and Translate appsperforms oddly in this tense rivalry. On asking the right queries to Google Now and translate, this odd behaving bug sort of praises the iPad. The problem found is with the text-to-speech engine of Google. We do not know why it does this but every time when someone inserts a phrase that ends with ‘filled with’, ‘enraged with’ and ‘end with’, it additionally inserts this phrase ‘he now praises the iPad’. This seems like a love from Google to Apple that is actually not understandable.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Jelly Bean update features before release

Despite being the best part of two years old now the Samsung Galaxy S2 remains a hugely popular smartphone with millions of owners around the world, and the device is still available for purchase via some channels. The smartphone will eventually be given a new lease of life once it receives the next version of the Android operating system, and now we can share some of the Samsung Galaxy S2 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update details with you after they have been revealed before the firmware’s release.

The smartphone was one of the must have handsets during 2011 and arguably laid the foundations for its replacement the Galaxy S3, and now according to SamMobile the company’s Korea division has revealed what the update will bring to the handset once it is released. The new software has already been seen running on the handset in a video, so there are no concerns the device can handle the new OS.

iPhone 5 iOS 6.0.2 Untethered Jailbreak Done – Releasing Soon

Good news for jailbreak community, we were a little bit disappointed that it might be difficult to jailbreak iphone 5 and iOS 6.0.2 after it was tweeted few days back by a famous jalbreaker that Apple has made iOS 6.0 more secure. But today a new breeze of  hope came when planebeing has posted on reddit that he has already done untethered jailbreak of iPhone 5 and the exploit which they have discovered will be used for iOS 6.1 jailbreak which we believe will be released any time by Apple. I beleive the situation is becoming similar to last year when we were waiting for a long time to jailbreak 5.1 and at the end we got 5.1.1 untethered Absinthe jailbreak which is still the latest untethered jailbreak for iPhone 4, 4s, ipad3 and all older devices.

How To Troubleshoot Personal HotSpot in iPhone

Because I was also facing the problem in personal hotspot frequently therefore I decided to write few lines on how to troubleshoot personal hotspot in iPhone. First of all we need to confirm from our data carrier that the service provides internet tethering or not because if internet tethering is not supported by the carrier you will not be able to use thepersonal hotspot for using your iPhone as a wired or WiFi modem or bluetooth. In that case if you go to settings you will not see the option ofPersonal HotSpot.

CES 2013: Codex The Warrior For Tegra 4 Devices Gamers Treat

The consumer electronics show for 2013 is only a few days away, and a lot of buzz has been floating around of what everyone would get to see. From the latest high-tech gadgets to augmented reality, there’s sure to be a lot in store for everyone. One of the main attractions is the expected launch of a Tegra 4 processor. The most excited bunch out of every one are the gamers on the smartphone platform, who are already preparing themselves for the exciting announcement.

Developers are also doing a great job keeping up with the ever growing demands of technological developments. Codex The Warrior is a game that has been developed for devices that come packed with Tegra 4. This is a game that requires a swipe action to launch an attack on someone. There’s a storyline also expected which will further enhance the experience and add to the fighting action the game has promised so far.

There are multiple players that can play online, and this is expected to be added by the game. This would add to the fun as friends would be able to play against each other and feel the action together.

Codex the Warrior is going to support Tegra 3 as well, and devices like Nexus 7 will also gain compatibility sooner or later. It’s going to one exciting game, and those who are interested in gaming would be awaiting the CES 2013. What are your thoughts? Will it be the best CES ever? Feel free to leave comments.

iPhone 5 100,000 foot drop test video

Over the years we have seen many drop test videos, some of them taking things to the extreme, and one such case manufacture does seem to take testing smartphones to the limits to see if a device can survive when wearing one of their cases. That case manufacturer is G-Form, who have now published a video testing out their new Xtreme case for the iPhone 5, and naturally we have that footage for our readers viewing consideration below.


We have seen a few G-Form case test videos in the past such as with the original Apple iPad being dropped from 500 foot, and we have even seen the iPad 2 having a bowling ball dropped onto it to see if it can survive the impact, and of course both of these Apple products survived the tests.