iPad air and iPad mini 2 unveiled, more powerful and dropping November

Apple takes the fight to low-cost slates.

Apple landed a heavy one-two punch combination on its rivals in the burgeoning Christmas tablet market tonight, with the unveiling of new, significantly upgraded full-size and mini iPads.
The new full-size tablet has been re-christened the iPad air and was touted at the press event as the "biggest leap forward ever for the full-size iPad".

As its name suggests, it's 20% slimmer at 7.5mm thick and has slimmed down from 1.4lb to 1lb while retaining its 9.7-inch super-high-density Retina Display, thanks in part to a smaller bezel around the screen.
According to Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller this makes it by some distance the "lightest full-size tablet in the world" and offers a "dramatically different experience when you hold it".
Under the bonnet, the improvements are similarly far-reaching. For the first time, the iPad air debuts the same 64-bit A7 processor as the iPhone 5S, as well as the smartphone's M7 auxiliary processor. These combine for a tablet that's purportedly eight times faster than the original iPad.
The M7 takes some of the strain off the A7 and, in the case of the more portable iPhone 5S at least, serves a secondary purpose of offering more accurate motion-tracking for improved sports and so-called 'quantified self' apps.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 to pack 16-megapixel camera?

Camera details filter through.

Samsung’s Galaxy S4 has been on sale just shy of six months or so now. But already it seems the handset’s maker’s next flagship smartphone is starting to take shape.
Over recent weeks, a slew of reports have attested that the Galaxy S5 will pack iPhone 5S-style biometric security technology. But that it will scan users’ eyeballs and not fingerprints to determine their identity.

Depending on who you believe, the S5 is also rumoured to feature a faux-leather, Galaxy Note 3-style back, an aluminium unibody construction and possibly even a flexible display. Oh and could sport the octa-core Exynos processor that some expected to debut in the S4 too.
Today, we’ve been graced with some details about the S5’s camera. And assuming they’re on-point, it sounds like it could be one of its standout features.
According to Unwired View, which picked up the story from ET News, the S5 is almost certain to pack a 16-megapixel camera – up from the 13-megapixel snapper that features on the S4.
What’s less clear is who’ll be making it. The site claims that Samsung’s LSI wing and Sony are competing to get the nod, with obvious benefits and disadvantages either way. Not least the depth of experience with SLRs that Sony would bring.

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Microsoft’s iPad attack: If tablets are 'easy' why was the Surface a flop?

Back-biting is never a good look, says Joe Minihane.

This week’s blistering attack by Microsoft’s vice president of communications Frank Shaw on Apple’s decision to release the new iWork for free, and by extension its new iPad Air, shows an astonishing level of hubris.
In a blog post that appeared just hours after Tim Cook had gazumped Microsoft and Nokia’s announcements of new Windows Phones and a new Lumia tablet, Shaw tore into Apple’s move.
According to the Big M’s man, it showed that the ‘reality distortion field’ of an Apple event had extended beyond Cupertino, suggesting the coverage of the decision to free iWork was disproportionate.
This is always a complaint of companies who feel they’ve been treated unfairly by the media, when in fact they’ve been releasing products that have simply failed to capture the imagination of tech’s hardcore or the general public.
But beyond Shaw’s complaints about iWork, it’s his comments about Microsoft Surface that are particularly interesting.
He describes the tablet as a “single, simple, affordable device that helps you both lean in and kick back”.

Surface may well let you ‘lean in and kick back’. But the simple fact is that it has been an unmitigated disaster for Microsoft.
It had to write down $900 million to cover the cost of the device, making just $853 million from sales up to July.
There’s still no official word on how many were sold, even if the tech giant claims sales doubled in the most recent quarter.
This failure to reveal numbers means the slate has been a flop, make no mistake about that.
If it had been a success, Steve Ballmer would have been shouting from the rooftops.
Shaw’s assertion that “helping folks kill time on a tablet is relatively easy. Give them books, music, videos and games, and they’ll figure out the rest. Pretty much all tablets do that,” is also hilarious.

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HTC One and One Max get update to Android 4.3 Jelly Bean

Sense 5.5 incoming too.

HTC has begun rolling out Android 4.3 and HTC Sense 5.5 to its flagship One phone and its phablet cousin the One Max, bringing a suite of spiffy new features to the handsets.
Originally scheduled to arrive on European smartphones back in September, Android 4.3 isn’t a massive upgrade over 4.2. But it’s not without its merits, not least among them the fact it adds support for multiple users with security-protected profiles.
The fresh software (fresh-ish, anyway) also enables One and One Max users to pair their handsets with Bluetooth Smart accessories.
And the latest version of HTC’s Sense custom skin isn’t to be sneezed at either. This offers the chance to disable BlinkFeed and revamped, improved Camera, music and Gallery apps.

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LG G Flex curved phone official

Korea only.

LG has pulled the wrappers off the new G Flex curved phone in its home territory of South Korea. The first LG handset with a flexible display, it’s going head-to-head with key rival Samsung’s recently revealed Galaxy Round.
Rather than curving from left to right like Sammy’s effort, the G Flex uses a flexible display which curves from top to bottom. The idea is that the handset sits more comfortably when taking calls.
Packing a whacking 6-inch screen, the G Flex only manages to squeeze in 720p resolution, a step down from the 1080p devices that are dominating the top-end of the smartphone sector.

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iPad air to defy predictions and outsell iPad mini 2 by 2 to 1, survey reveals

Top-end tablet is most in-demand.

Analysts who forecast the iPad mini 2 would trounce the refreshed version of the top-end Apple slate in the sales stakes were wide of the mark, a survey suggest.
The second-gen iPad and the fifth-gen full-size tablet, now rebranded as the iPad air, debuted last week at an uncommonly busy launch event down at Yerba Buena.
In the week before the showcase, smartphone-industry sages from the likes of RBC Capital Markets predicted that the iPad mini 2’s Retina Display and keen price point would see it outsell its more established stablemate by a margin of two to one.
Not so, it seems. At least not if a uSwitch Tech poll can be believed.
Of the 538 customers asked which of the slates they intended to buy, 65.75% (or almost two thirds) named the iPad air. That’s an almost exact reversal of what analysts told us in the run-up to their grand unveiling.

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Samsung Galaxy Gear returns running at 1 in 3, says US retailer

First iterations of new gadgets are never perfect. But even so…

The Samsung Galaxy Gear has left early adopters unimpressed, it seems, with return rates at a cripplingly high level at one of the US’s largest gadget retailers.
According to a hush-hush doc procured from Best Buy reps by Geek, Samsung’s heavily marketed smartphone accessory is being brought back by 30 per cent of buyers.
The document states: "The Galaxy Gear attachment rate within Best Buy is the highest among all channels; however the overall return rate is trending above 30 per cent,
The reason for the slew of unhappy customers isn’t yet clear. But it’s certainly something Best Buy is keen to discern and has asked Samsung to help it investigate.
Until we find out for sure, our money is on the fact that right now very few Galaxy kits support the Gear; just the Galaxy S4 and the Galaxy Note 3. More importantly, this isn’t immediately apparent unless you closely follow news on tech blogs, so there's a good chance that punters are buying it without realising.
On the positive side, the range of supported kits is set to expand soon enough when Samsung rolls out Android 4.3 to the S3 and Note 2, both of which are expected to join the Galaxy Gear club soon.
Samsung is also set to add support for Samsung's Galaxy S4 Mini, S4 Active, Mega 5.8, Mega 6.3, and S4 Zoom at the end of the month with a separate update.
Reviews of the Gear in the tech press were distinctly average, with many highlighting a lack of third-party apps and the fact that Gmail is not supported as key deficiencies.

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Samsung Galaxy Gear returns running at 1 in 3, says US retailer

First iterations of new gadgets are never perfect. But even so…

The Samsung Galaxy Gear has left early adopters unimpressed, it seems, with return rates at a cripplingly high level at one of the US’s largest gadget retailers.
According to a hush-hush doc procured from Best Buy reps by Geek, Samsung’s heavily marketed smartphone accessory is being brought back by 30 per cent of buyers.
The document states: "The Galaxy Gear attachment rate within Best Buy is the highest among all channels; however the overall return rate is trending above 30 per cent,
The reason for the slew of unhappy customers isn’t yet clear. But it’s certainly something Best Buy is keen to discern and has asked Samsung to help it investigate.
Until we find out for sure, our money is on the fact that right now very few Galaxy kits support the Gear; just the Galaxy S4 and the Galaxy Note 3. More importantly, this isn’t immediately apparent unless you closely follow news on tech blogs, so there's a good chance that punters are buying it without realising.
On the positive side, the range of supported kits is set to expand soon enough when Samsung rolls out Android 4.3 to the S3 and Note 2, both of which are expected to join the Galaxy Gear club soon.
Samsung is also set to add support for Samsung's Galaxy S4 Mini, S4 Active, Mega 5.8, Mega 6.3, and S4 Zoom at the end of the month with a separate update.
Reviews of the Gear in the tech press were distinctly average, with many highlighting a lack of third-party apps and the fact that Gmail is not supported as key deficiencies.

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LG G Flex: Why curved phones will never catch on

LG’s new G Flex phone is the second curved phone released in the past month. The Korean company’s big-time rival Samsung released its Galaxy Round device to much fanfare in its home territory a few weeks ago.
It means flexible screens, so often touted as ‘the next big thing’ at tech trade shows, are finally getting something approaching mainstream recognition.
There are key differences between the two devices. LG’s phone curves from top to bottom, meaning it supposedly sits more comfortably on the face when taking calls.
Sammy’s effort curves from side to side, offering neat features which allow it to be pushed up to notifications without turning it on.
LG’s already giving it the big talk about the G Flex. It says it’s the first ‘real’ curved phone (it isn’t).
Its clever ‘self-healing’ rear cover is certainly a pointer to a time when minor scratches disappear after a few minutes.

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iPhone sales soar, but Apple profits drop

iPhone still on top.

Apple sold a massive 33.8 million iPhones in the three months from July to September, smashing its previous record for the quarter.
The number represents a substantial jump from the tech giant's sales of 26.9 million in the same period last year and 31.2 million handsets shifted from April to June this year.
That headline number covers the launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, which accounted for nine million sales in their opening weekend alone.
However, both devices only launched in the last week of the reported period, suggesting iPhone 5 sales remained strong over the summer.
Despite these impressive results, Apple profits slipped to $7.5 billion, down from $8.2 billion in the same quarter in 2012.

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Samsung Galaxy Round to be first flexible phone?

Round the bend.

The name of the first-ever flexible screen-toting smartphone might just have leaked online, ahead of its debut later this month.
According to sources cited by South Korean site Asiae, Samsung will opt for the name 'Galaxy Round', which we’re guessing alludes to the curved effect of the display.

The report, which puts the phone's asking price at $900, also claims that it's spec sheet will closely resemble the Galaxy Note 3 and that it will be made in very limited quantities.
This chimes with earlier leaks that claimed this was down to low production yields for the screen tech, as well as Samsung's wariness of overcommitting to technology that has yet to be properly tested with the public.
JK Shin, co-CEO at Samsung Electronics, is reputed to have told Korean press sorts to expect the tech giant’s first flexible smartphone this week.
The company, which was joined by LG in making a firm announcement about flexi-screen tech earlier today, has been touting bendy phones as concept devices at trade shows for years.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 concept packs flexible screen and aluminium unibody

Another designer gets all ‘what-if?’ on us.

The next flagship Galaxy S smartphone will be a radical break with form. Or at least it will be if the Samsung-fixated sorts at galaxys5info.com have anything to do with it.
A designer at the site has worked up a concept phone packing the flexible screen technology that’s been earmarked for Samsung phones for what feels like ages. But which has been omitted so far, presumably because it’s not market-ready yet.
The 5.3-inch flexible OLED YOUM screen wraps around the edges of the phone, with touch-sensitive controls where you’d normally expect to find a physical volume rocker. The standard physical home button has gone the way of all flesh too and is replaced by a touch sensor.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 concept packs flexible screen and aluminium unibody

Another designer gets all ‘what-if?’ on us.

The next flagship Galaxy S smartphone will be a radical break with form. Or at least it will be if the Samsung-fixated sorts at galaxys5info.com have anything to do with it.
A designer at the site has worked up a concept phone packing the flexible screen technology that’s been earmarked for Samsung phones for what feels like ages. But which has been omitted so far, presumably because it’s not market-ready yet.
The 5.3-inch flexible OLED YOUM screen wraps around the edges of the phone, with touch-sensitive controls where you’d normally expect to find a physical volume rocker. The standard physical home button has gone the way of all flesh too and is replaced by a touch sensor.

Read more »

Samsung Galaxy S5 concept packs flexible screen and aluminium unibody

Another designer gets all ‘what-if?’ on us.

The next flagship Galaxy S smartphone will be a radical break with form. Or at least it will be if the Samsung-fixated sorts at galaxys5info.com have anything to do with it.
A designer at the site has worked up a concept phone packing the flexible screen technology that’s been earmarked for Samsung phones for what feels like ages. But which has been omitted so far, presumably because it’s not market-ready yet.
The 5.3-inch flexible OLED YOUM screen wraps around the edges of the phone, with touch-sensitive controls where you’d normally expect to find a physical volume rocker. The standard physical home button has gone the way of all flesh too and is replaced by a touch sensor.

Read more »

LG G Pro Lite gets official

Phablet unveiled.

LG has given the official nod to the recently leaked G Pro Lite device. The super-sized phablet packs in average-sounding specs, pitting it against the slightly cheaper Samsung Galaxy Mega, as opposed to its Korean rival’s new, high-end Galaxy Note 3.
The Android 4.1.2-powered phone's key feature is the 5.5-inch display. That’s more than ample for watching movies on the move, although the 960x540 resolution doesn’t exactly excite. Sure, things will look sharp, but they’ll be well short of the HD standard we’ve come to expect.
There’s also an 8-megapixel snapper round the back, while under the bonnet there's 1GB of RAM and a 1GHz dual-core processor to keep things ticking along. That’s pretty sluggish by today’s standards, but should at least ensure the G Pro Lite is cheap.

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Google Nexus 5 and Android 4.4 Kit Kat dropping October 15th?

Google clearing the decks for double-whammy.

The future of the Android platform will hove into view next week, rumours suggest, amid chatter that October 15th will see the unveiling of the fifth-gen Nexus phone alongside all-new smartphone software.
Talk doing the rounds among developers at the Google Launchpad event indicates that the Nexus 5 and Android 4.4, aka Kit Kat, will show their faces at a press event in New York next Tuesday.
A double-whammy of announcements is entirely in keeping with Google’s previous form. The search giant typically uses new Nexus devices to showcase freshly baked versions of Android and set standards for manufacturing partners who base their handsets on the OS.

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BlackBerry sale: why it's descended into farce

Things have taken a turn for the ridiculous in Ontario.

For a once-great company, BlackBerry is really making a hash of its sale.
While Nokia bowed out gracefully, fixing up its inevitable deal with Microsoft with minimal fanfare, the deal to sell BlackBerry is becoming much like the launch of its products: Drawn-out and tedious.
After seemingly arranging a deal to sell to key investor Fairfax Financial, the company said others would be welcome to bid.
It then turned out it had spoken to Google and attempted to draw Samsung and LG into a battle for its patents and enterprise network.
That’s understandable. Analysts have said already that the company is worth far more broken-up than as a single entity.
But now Fairfax appears to be struggling to raise the necessary $4.7 billion to push its deal through.
And to make things worse, Mike Lazaridis, the man who founded the company but oversaw its descent into irrelevance, says he wants to buy the company.

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iOS 7 blocks unofficial Lightning cables

Third-party peripherals given the heave-ho.

iPhone owners will no longer be able to use unofficial Lightning cables to charge their handsets, reports reveal, with the news that Apple’s new software renders them incompatible.
According to 9 to 5 Mac, iOS 7 blocks third-party cables from charging iKits that use the newish dock standard. That's the iPhone 5, iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. Official Apple cables pack a chip as a means of authentication.
It’s not clear if all non-certified cables are affected all the time. However, an unreliable charger isn’t much use, given how rubs smartphone batteries are in the first place.
That’s especially the case in light of the fact that some iPhone 5 users are apparently experiencing longevity problems since downloading iOS 7.

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iPhone 5 and 4S to be discontinued to make way for iPhone 5S and iPhone 6?

Current-gen model to go the way of all flesh?

The iPhone 5 may not be long for this world, it has emerged, amid speculation that the handset could be phased out when new models land later this year.
According to Korean site ET News, whose scoop was brought to the western world by MacRumors, the current-generation iPhone, plus the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, are being dropped to make way for the new standard iPhone and the low-cost model.

Apple’s move is partly aimed at allowing it to phase out its trad iPhone connector and ensure the newer standard it adopted last year is used across its smartphone range.
The iPhone 5 will apparently be joining the older Apple kits in the phone graveyard because the touchscreen it uses is not “suitable for low-volume production", making the handset unviable as a mid-range or low-cost option.

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iPhone 5s and 5c: Five key differences between them

Colours, cameras, cases and more.

Apple made history this week by announcing not one but two new iPhones. But which one is right for you?
We've put together a list of the main differences between them, so you can decide which to make room for in your pocket.

1 Price

The 5c was rumoured to be a budget iPhone, but that turned out to be off the mark.
It'll set you back £469 SIM-free, or starting at £30 on contract (though you'll have to shell out £32 a month for two years). And that's the more affordable of the two new additions to the iPhone range.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 concept packs flexible screen and aluminium unibody

Another designer gets all ‘what-if?’ on us.

The next flagship Galaxy S smartphone will be a radical break with form. Or at least it will be if the Samsung-fixated sorts at galaxys5info.com have anything to do with it.
A designer at the site has worked up a concept phone packing the flexible screen technology that’s been earmarked for Samsung phones for what feels like ages. But which has been omitted so far, presumably because it’s not market-ready yet.
The 5.3-inch flexible OLED YOUM screen wraps around the edges of the phone, with touch-sensitive controls where you’d normally expect to find a physical volume rocker. The standard physical home button has gone the way of all flesh too and is replaced by a touch sensor.

Read more »

BlackBerry co-founders keen on takeover bid

Lazaridis rises.

Mike Lazaradis, the erstwhile-BlackBerry CEO, company-founder and the man who oversaw BlackBerry's rise and fall, is said to be readying a takeover bid for the company.
Partnering with co-founder Doug Fregin, Lazaradis has asked Goldman Sachs to help find potential backers for a $4.7 billion deal. That’s according to a filing made with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the US.
The men already own an 8% stake in the failing mobile-maker. They started the firm in 1984, with Lazaradis helping it to become dominant in the pre-iPhone era.
However, his and co-CEO Jim Balsillie’s blasé approach to the threats of Apple and Google helped turn BlackBery into the tech world’s biggest basket case.

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iPhone 6 could feature Liquidmetal exterior

Very metal.

Changes could be afoot when it comes to the iPhone’s build quality, it has emerged, amid signs that Apple could ditch the glass and aluminium construction of the current-gen model for Liquidmetal.
Rumours that Liquidmetal would figure in a future iPhone have been circulating since April last year. The alloy is favoured by Apple because it is less scratch-prone than glass but still offers the same silky smooth surfaces.

However, speculation that a LiquidMetal iPhone is an idea whose time may have come got fresh legs today after a site discovered a patent awarded to Crucible Intellectual Property. This is the inauspicious-sounding company at the heart of Apple’s licensing deal with LiquidMetal Technologies.
The patent details a fresh approach to production, which has until now been restricted to SIM ejector tools. This is due to unspecified manufacturing challenges, of the sort that LiquidMetal inventor Dr Atakan Peker outlined last year.
How viable the new method is for mass production of devices isn’t clear. But while it’s unlikely that the next iPhone will debut the technology, there’s a very good chance that Apple will feature LiquidMetal for iPhones some time in the future.
Under the terms of its agreement with LiquidMetal Technologies, which was signed in 2010, Apple has exclusive rights to use the technology.

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