8:15 PM
Ri
Friday, February 15, 2013
3D Nokia backs 3D printing for mobile phone cases
Nokia is releasing design files that will let owners use 3D printers to make their own cases for its Lumia phones
Files containing mechanical drawings, case measurements and recommended materials have already been released by the phone maker.Those using the files will be able to create a custom-designed case for the flagship Lumia 820 handset.
The project makes Nokia one of the first big electronics firms to seriously back 3D printing.
In a blogpost, John Kneeland, one of Nokia's community managers, revealed the Finnish phone maker's decision to release the 3D drawings.
Printing in 3D involves sending a design file to a printer that then forms a solid version of that object by slowly building it up in layers of plastic. Early 3D printers could only work in one colour but the latest versions can produce intricate, multicoloured objects.
Industrial sequel Mr Kneeland said Nokia was releasing what he called a "3D printing development kit" to help people produce the cases. The files are already available on the site Nokia maintains for its developers.
He said 3D printing was another way that the firm wanted to build links to that vast community of software and hardware engineers. To get the files, users must have registered with Nokia.
He said Nokia already used 3D printing internally to do rapid prototyping, but decided to back it more publicly to help the nascent technology realise its "incredible potential".
In the future, he said, 3D printing was likely to bring about phones that were "wildly more modular and customisable".
Nokia might just end up selling a phone template, he said, allowing entrepreneurs to use that to produce handsets that satisfy the particular needs of their locale.
"You want a waterproof, glow-in-the-dark phone with a bottle-opener and a solar charger? Someone can build it for you - or you can print it yourself," he wrote.
He added that, in his view, 3D printing was a technology that justified its hype and said it was "the sequel to the Industrial Revolution".
"However, it's going to take somewhat longer to arrive than some people anticipate, and that may disappoint people," he said.
iPhone 6 set to land in Q2, says analyst
he sixth-gen iPhone could be along sooner than expected, a mobile
industry wonk forecasts, amid a welter of recent speculation around the
handset.
After unveiling the fourth and fifth-gen iPhones in October 2011 and September 2012 respectively Apple is widely expected to stick with the now-established Q3 date for introducing the next model.
Not so. Or at least not if we can believe Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley.
In a note to investors, Walkley claimed that Apple is most likely to drop a “higher-end iPhone” during the second quarter. That suggests that the company could return to releasing new iPhones in June, as it did with the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4.
The former Piper Jaffray number cruncher also backs reports that a cheaper iPhone – AKA the fabled iPhone Mini - could be in the pipeline, as Apple looks to see off the challenge from low-cost Android kits in the booming smartphone markets of the developing world.
Walkley wrote: “We believe Apple could launch a higher-end iPhone model by the June quarter versus its more typical September/October timing for a new iPhone launch.
“We also believe Apple could potentially launch a lower-end iPhone focused on more price-sensitive pre-paid markets, as we believe consumers in markets such as China, Latin America and Eastern Europe would have very strong demand for a more affordably priced 3G iPhone.”
Rumours about Apple's plans for 2013 come after another analyst claimed that this could be the year we finally see the iPhone land in a range of colour options, most likely the pink, yellow, blue, green, purple, silver, slate and red hues currently in use with the iPod Mini.
Via:
Samsung Galaxy S4 launch looms as 5-inch 1080p display enters mass production this month
amsung will begin manufacturing its new full HD AMOLED smartphone
panel later this month, adding weight to rumours it is gearing up for an
imminent launch of the Galaxy S4.
Citing unnamed “industry sources”, Korean news site DDaily reports that the five-inch display, which it teased at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas last month, will be mass produced from the end of February and shipped for commercial release in early March.
The display is a dead cert to debut on the much-anticipated Galaxy S4, which a recent spate of forecasts and conjecture suggests will be launched sometime after mid-April.
While popular panel-makers in Japan and Korea, namely Japan Display, Sharp and LG Display, have already begun large-scale manufacturing of LCD panels boasting a full HD resolution, Chinese manufacturer are reportedly struggling to reach stable yield to cope with demand.
According to sources, only a small amount of full-HD panels for premium smartphone products will be shipped from China this year, which could potentially lead to an initial shortage of the year’s biggest flagship releases, including Apple’s iPhone 5S.
Aside from a five-inch 1080p display, the Galaxy S4 is also mooted to feature an eight-core Exynos processor, also showcased at CES – plus a 13-megapixel camera and built-in wireless charging capabilities.
Samsung is tipped to officially raise the curtain on the S4 sometime between March 15th and 22nd in a location supposed right on “Apple’s doorstep”.
Source
iPhone 6 'about to enter production, packs 4.8" screen'
he iPhone 6 is preparing to enter production ahead of its mooted
launch date in June, reports indicate, as the start of a new year brings
a slew of new rumours around Apple’s plans for 2013.
In a note to investors, Jefferies analyst Peter Misek claims that Apple is already undertaking trials of the next iteration of the iPhone and the fabled iPhone Mini, presumably in the environs of its Cupertino campus, before they enter production in March.
Misek also corroborated persistent rumours that the iPhone 6, also informally dubbed the iPhone 5S, will be home to a 4.8-inch screen, up from the four-inch display that debuted on the iPhone 5.
That tallies with a separate report from the China Times, also claiming that Apple will enter the fast-growing phablet market this year with a device that teams smartphone functionality with dimensions that verge on tablet territory.
The industry expert also backs conjecture that the handset will be equipped with a super HD camera, Near Field Communications technology to up the handset’s credentials as a digital wallet, improved battery life and 128GB of storage.
Apple is also thought likely to make its seventh-generation handset available in a host of new colour options, including pink, yellow, blue, green, purple, silver, red and slate.
Source:
Samsung Galaxy Fame coming to Three
he Samsung Galaxy Fame is coming to Three, the network has confirmed,
offering cost-conscious smartphone-fanciers the chance to get up to
speed with the latest version of Android.
Unveiled earlier this month, the Fame sits squarely in the low-cost smartphone space once occupied in the Galaxy Ace, with a spec sheet that takes in a 3.5-inch display, a five megapixel camera and a 1GHz processor.
Impressively for a phone that you’ll probably be able to pick up for around £200 on pay as you go, it also runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box and packs NFC chips to enable users to swap content with NFC-enabled phone owners simply by touching their devices together.
And in a nod to the nature-inspired user interface tweaks of its more illustrious stablemates, the Fame features motion-sensitive features that mean users can update their news, weather and emails by shaking the handset.
Sylvia Chind, Head of Devices at Three, said: “The Samsung Galaxy Fame is a welcome addition to Three.
“Complemented by our award winning network, browsing the internet, using apps like YouTube or sharing music, photos and videos on the go, this innovative smartphone fits your needs perfectly”.
Three has yet to give a concrete due date for the Galaxy Fame, but assures us that it’s "coming soon".
Samsung Galaxy
As well as all the headline features of Jelly Bean (think: the card-based voice activated digital assistant wondrousness of Google Now and the series of optimisations called Project Butter), the Ace 2 will apparently also get a taste of Samsung’s Nature UX interface.
First-sighted on the Galaxy S3, this offers nature-inspired interface options such as the Smart Stay intelligent sleep mode, which uses a phone’s front-facing camera to detect owners’ eye movements and more efficiently determine if the phone is in use.
Source:
Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update imminent?
amsung Galaxy Ace 2 owners can look forward to getting up to speed
with Android Jelly Bean soon, reports suggest, after it emerged that the
phone-maker has started work on test versions of the software.
According to sources cited by Sam Mobile, the phone, which shipped with the superannuated Gingerbread iteration of Android, will skip an update to the Ice Cream Sandwich version and will go straight to the newer Jelly Bean software.
The site, which has unearthed what it claims are snaps of the Ace 2 running an early Jelly Bean build, claims that the upgrade could be ready to roll out as early as March.
