iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 concept packs 4.5" screen and 12MP camera

Just a hint of the HTC One in the looks department too.

Yet another render of the next iPhone is doing the rounds today, based on what we think we know about Apple's next handset.
Worked up by Giorgi Tedoradze and highlighted by Phones Review, the concept handset sticks fairly closely to the iPhone 5 template in the design stakes with just a tiny suggestion of HTC's unibody dream, the HTC One.
However, in place of the four-inch screen that features on Apple's current-gen kit, there's a 4.5-inch Retina display that means the handset veers into phablet territory.
To make space for the larger display, which has been rumoured for some time among tech-watchers, there's also a thinner bezel around the screen.
Under the bonnet, the slimmer phone (dimensions are 130mm x 60mm x 7mm) is home to a 12-megapixel iSight camera, with a more powerful A7 processor to keep things ticking over.
As purported component leaks in recent weeks appear to indicate, Tedoradze imagines the iPhone 6 coming in a host of colour options, including white, black, grey, black, blue, purple, red, yellow, green and brown.

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LG Optimus 2 Android 2.3-toting phone showcased

Stripped down Android 2.3 smartie.

LG has lifted the lid on a new addition to the Optimus-branded range of Android phones.
Dubbed the Optimus 2, the handset reportedly packs the 2.3 version of Android (A.K.A Gingerbread) out of the box, alongside a 3.2-inch touchscreen with 480x320 resolution and 3.2 megapixel snapper.

Elsewhere, it’s home to a 800MHz processor, plus microSD card support to boost the on board storage of 179MB by up to 32GB. A 2GB microSD is included when you buy the handset.
Rounding off the package is the handy Swype touchscreen typing app pre-installed and a 1,500 mAh battery which offers up to five hours talk time on a full charge and the usual array of connectivity options.

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Apple site partners with UK carriers for iPhone pay as you go offer

Pay as you go offer until May 9th.

Apple has teamed up with UK carriers to offer Britons pay as you go SIM cards with iPhones directly from its site for the first time ever.
Customers buying an unlocked iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and newest 4S edition in white or black from the site right now get the option to add a SIM card from O2, Vodafone or Three.

Choose O2 and you’ll get £10 of call credit, 300 texts, 500MB data and 500MB of data to be used within 30 days of purchase.
Three’s SIM offers 300 mins, 3000 texts and unlimited data also to be used within 30 days. Go with Voda at £15 and you’re looking at 300 mins, 3000 texts and 500MB of mobile data, which, you’ve guessed it, you’ve got to use within 30 days.
The pay as you go offer, which has the neat bonus of meaning you avoid pesky credit checks that come as standard on contracts, is set to run on the Apple Store until May 9th.

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BlackBerry PlayBook: Five things that killed world’s biggest tablet flop

BlackBerry's slate is dead. Joe Minihane carries out the post-mortem.

And so the game is up for the BlackBerry PlayBook.
Nearly three years after its launch, the Canadian company last week confirmed that the tablet would not be getting a taste of its ace new BlackBerry 10 software, effectively consigning the device to the history books.
From the off, the slate was a disaster, beset by problems and a focal point for the hubristic last days of the former BlackBerry exec team.
Here are five things that helped ensure the PlayBook would never compete with the iPad

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iPhone 5S cheap plastic model photos leak, features 3 colours

Red handset looks to be the pick.

More photos seemingly showing the much-rumoured, low-cost iPhone are doing the rounds online, as chatter around Apple’s plans continues to build in the run-up to the anticipated unveiling of new ‘product’ in the autumn.
Snaffled from serial Chinese leakers Wei Phone by French site Nowhereelsefr, the snaps show the rear shell and interior frame of a green, red and yellow editions of the handset, chiming with rumours that the lower-priced iPhone will be available in a range of iPod-style colour options.

Very much in evidence too is a plastic shell, marking a major departure from the premium materials (think: aluminium and glass) that Apple has favoured for earlier iPhones.
The change is aimed at keeping the phone’s asking price down and making it more viable in Android-dominated markets in the emerging world.
Otherwise, the iPhone 5S doesn't look much altered from previous iterations in the design stakes, with a shape that adheres pretty strictly to the look that Apple has favoured since the iPhone 4 saw it drop the more rounded look of the iPhone 3GS in favour of a squarer form factor.
After years of speculation, the Cupertino company is expected to officially showcase its debut low-cost smartphone alongside a refreshed version of its full-price model in September. 

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Android malware: Five ways to fix Google’s big problem

Joe Minihane dons his sheriff’s hat and cleans up Android

New research by Juniper has revealed that 92 per cent of mobile malware occurs on Android phones.
What’s more, mobile malware is up by an unbelievable 600 per cent in the last year, as more and more of us share personal data on our smartphones.
The question is, how can Google take this and make its platform as secure as iOS? Here are five ways we think the Big G could grasp the nettle.

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iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 concept packs 4.5" screen and 12MP camera

Just a hint of the HTC One in the looks department too.

Yet another render of the next iPhone is doing the rounds today, based on what we think we know about Apple's next handset.
Worked up by Giorgi Tedoradze and highlighted by Phones Review, the concept handset sticks fairly closely to the iPhone 5 template in the design stakes with just a tiny suggestion of HTC's unibody dream, the HTC One.
However, in place of the four-inch screen that features on Apple's current-gen kit, there's a 4.5-inch Retina display that means the handset veers into phablet territory.
To make space for the larger display, which has been rumoured for some time among tech-watchers, there's also a thinner bezel around the screen.
Under the bonnet, the slimmer phone (dimensions are 130mm x 60mm x 7mm) is home to a 12-megapixel iSight camera, with a more powerful A7 processor to keep things ticking over.
As purported component leaks in recent weeks appear to indicate, Tedoradze imagines the iPhone 6 coming in a host of colour options, including white, black, grey, black, blue, purple, red, yellow, green and brown.

Read more »

iPhone 6 concept packs fingerprint scanning & 18MP camera

Designer works up ‘what-if’ render.

A designer has given us a glimpse of what the next iPhone may look like, in the latest in a rash of renders of the iPhone 5S / iPhone 6 that have appeared online in recent weeks.
Created by Antonio De Rosa of ADR Studio, the concept design takes on board much of what leaks suggest will be on board the forthcoming Apple smartphone. That means there’s a larger screen – albeit at 4.3-inches one that’s much smaller than talk of an iPhablet suggests – and a beefier A7 quad-core processor.

De Rosa’s fantasy phone also substitutes the current iPhone’s eight-megapixel snapper for a lavish 18-megapixel camera, complete with double-flash LED and noise reduction.
But it’s perhaps the use of fingerprint scanning tech – also a long-time fixture of the iPhone rumour mill - and transformation of the area beneath the screen where his render stands out.

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BlackBerry PlayBook denied BlackBerry 10 upgrade

PlayBook even less fun than before.

BlackBerry’s CEO Thorsten Heins has confirmed that the company’s PlayBook tablet will not be getting an update to the mobile-maker’s critically lauded BlackBerry 10 software.
The news came in an investors’ conference call earlier today. Heins had said at a major event in January that the slate, which has been a commercial flop, would eventually get BlackBerry 10.
However, he has now admitted the engineers at BlackBerry couldn’t get its sleek new OS to work satisfactorily on the PlayBook.

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Apple iWatch trademark filed in Japan

Smartwatch edges closer to reality.

Apple has applied to trademark the iWatch name in Japan. Cupertino says the product using the title would be a “handheld computer or watch device”, leaving little doubt that it’s at least hoping to produce its own smartwatch.
Tellingly, the application was made on June 3rd, the same date Apple also filed for an iWatch trademark in Russia. News of that attempt broke early last month.
There’s no news yet on what exactly the device will look like, although rumours abound that it’ll pack biometric tech for beefed-up security.

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