iPhone 5S gold edition shell snapped alongside iPhone 5, design unchanged

‘Old’ meet ‘gold’.

Photos of the back plate for the next-gen iPhone in gold have cropped up online alongside the current edition, giving us a glimpse at how the fresh colourway will look.
Snapped alongside black and white models of the iPhone 5, the photo suggest that rather than the gaudy gold colourway of some tech-scribes’ imaginations, the handset will feature a subtler shade, probably best described as ‘champagne’.
And there’s scant sign of radical changes elsewhere too. As earlier leaks have shown, the new photos indicate that the placement and design of the iPhone 5S’s fixtures and fittings (SIM try, buttons, volume rocker) will remain unchanged.
Earlier this month, reports surfaced claiming that the golden edition of the iPhone 5S could come in a super-deluxe 128GB edition and will be aimed principally at the bling-fancying middle-classes in China.

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Samsung Galaxy Gear: Five key rumours you need to know

With the Watch seemingly months away, all eyes are on Samsung's smartwatch.

Samsung’s iWatch-bashing Galaxy Gear is all set to officially break cover in the next few weeks.
But like all good top-end mobile kit, Sammy’s new slice of wearable tech has been the subject of a slew of rumours.
From colour schemes to flexible screens, there’s a heap of gossip about the futuristic timepiece. Here’s our pick of the five key rumours you need to know.

1 It’ll be revealed on September 4th

Samsung is holding its much-anticipated Unpacked event on September 4th in Berlin, ahead of the annual IFA gadget show in the German capital.
The Galaxy Gear is expected to be the headline-grabbing device at the event, gazumping the new Galaxy Note 3, which will also be unveiled at the same time.
A release date is expected at the end of September or beginning of October.

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Sony teases Xperia Z1 on Twitter

Phablet update primed.

After a whole heap of rumours, Sony itself has begun teasing its forthcoming Xperia Z1. The company has taken to Twitter, posting a cropped image of the device, with the missive, “It’s the smartphone everyone’s been talking about…Not long now #bestofSony.”
While the Xperia Z1 has undoubtedly been the subject of intense gossip, Sony’s pushing it somewhat to say it’s the phone everyone’s been talking about. That title falls to Apple’s forthcoming iPhones, surely.

That said, the Z1 certainly promises to mix things up. A step up from January’s Xperia Z, it’s said to rock a Full HD 5-inch display, 2GB of RAM and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor.
The big news, though, will doubtless be the handset’s 20.7-megapixel camera. Sony will be desperate to wrest back the initiative from Nokia’s new Lumia 1020 and reassert itself as the premium camera phone brand.

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One in ten British kids own a mobile phone by the age of five

The age gap in mobile ownership and spend in Blighty is shrinking.

More than a million British children get their first mobile phone by the time they are just five years old, uSwitch research reveals.
According to the study, the typical British child gets their first handset by the age of 12, costing just £125 on average, which is a little more than half of what parents spend on their own mobile devices.
Young ‘uns also spend about £11 per month on mobile bills, compared to £19 by their parents. However, more than one in ten (11%) children end up with bigger outlays than their old folks.
In something of a shocking revelation, 42 per cent of mums and dads admit they seldom check how much their children are spending on mobile phones, with just a quarter of parents bothering to place caps on their kids’ contacts.

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Exclusive: iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C parts revealed in new leaked photos

Fourth iPhone 5S colour spied.

New images of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, shared with uSwitch Tech, appear to show a fourth iPhone 5S colour option, as well as a string of new angles of both of Apple’s forthcoming handsets.
The graphite grey iPhone 5S appears alongside the now seemingly nailed-on 'champagne gold' edition of the device. The images suggest it’ll have a slate-coloured central panel, with black panelling along the top and bottom.
Once again, the gold iPhone 5S looks as if it won’t come in a gaudy bullion-colour, but rather a more mute champagne tone.
Other images, from insiders close to Apple’s supply chain, show the iPhone 5C’s plastic shell in a rather natty red/orange colour.
Both the budget iPhone 5C and top-end iPhone 5S are due to be launched on September 10th, with a number of sources close to Apple confirming that date for a special event. The phones will then go on sale on September 20th, according to reports last week.
As those dates near, expect to see plenty more snapshots of the devices leaking out across the web.

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Blue HTC One seen in the wild

Blue for you.

HTC is priming an amped-up phablet edition of its flagship One smartphone. But while we wait for the so-called One Max, another version of the One is also said to be edging closer to launch.
A blue-coloured HTC One has been spotted in the wild and papped by a worker at one of the Taiwanese giant’s factories. The device was seen earlier this month in a leaked press shot.
While the colour is different, there’s little to suggest the internals of the device will not be the same. That means the latest version of Android, layered with HTC Sense and the company’s ace Ultra Pixel camera round the back.

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IFA 2013: Five key gadgets you should be excited for

We list five mouthwatering kits you should be looking forward to this year's tech expo in Berlin.

Berlin’s annual gadget bash, IFA, is just over a week away. And while trade shows have become less of a draw in recent years, with the biggest players preferring to reveal products at their own specially organised events, this year the German capital is set to see some pretty major launches.
Some of late 2013’s key phones, tablets and, yes, smart watches, are going to be unveiled. Here are five key products you need to know about.
Samsung Galaxy Gear
Samsung has done a purposefully poor job of keeping a lid on leaks about its forthcoming Galaxy Gear smart watch. Details of the iWatch rival have been leaked extensively over the summer, even if spy shots have so far proved hard to come by.

The timepiece is expected to rock a 2.5-inch flexible touchscreen display, use the same eye-tracking tech as the Galaxy S4 and pack in a string of fitness-focused features. Expect this to be the most talked about product at the show.
**Samsung Galaxy Note 3 **
Of course, Samsung will also be wanting to tout a new device to work with the Galaxy Gear. And that’s where the Galaxy Note 3 comes in. Hyped all year, this new phablet is believed to pack a 5.7-inch Full HD display, Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 800 processor, 3GB of RAM and Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 3: new components leaked

Phablet fantastic.

Gossip about Samsung’s forthcoming Galaxy Note 3 has gone quiet in the past couple of weeks. But the all-new phablet has burst back into the headlines this morning, after a screen component was snapped by mobile leakster Sonny Dickson.

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Dickson says he snagged the images from ‘a trusted source in China’. They appear to show a brushed metal design, with the usual Samsung branding and home button placed at the bottom of the device.
The images add little to what we already know about the spec sheet. The screen is believed to measure 5.7-inches. However, they do clearly suggest the bezel has been shaved down, with other reports claiming it’ll come in at just 2.2mm.
Other Galaxy Note 3 features are believed to include a 13 megapixel snapper and Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.

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Steve Wozniak dismisses Apple critics

Don’t expect greatness every year, says co-founder.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has said the company’s critics have got to understand that the company can’t release revolutionary kit year after year.
In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC, Wozniak said, “Everybody says, ‘oh my gosh, two years have passed and we need something really new and great from Apple’.” Well yeah, great advances for mankind don't happen every year.”
Launching a staunch defence of Tim Cook’s tenure as Apple CEO, Wozniak said the current boss was hand-picked for the role by his predecessor. “Steve Jobs had very strong feelings about what makes a company great, what makes products great. He more-or-less chose Tim Cook to be in that role, in that position.”
Wozniak also said he welcomed the challenge from Samsung, saying the Korean giant was able to lead thanks to its penetration in markets where Apple had no presence until just a few years ago.
He also suggested that Steve Ballmer’s time at Microsoft had not gone as well as Bill Gates’s, saying the Big M was losing its value and that it was resting on its laurels.

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Nokia Lumia 625 review

Is the Lumia 625 the mid-range smartphone you've been waiting for? Joe Minihane spills all.

The Nokia 625 bids to take on the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut that is Android, with a spec sheet that is better than most mid-range kits out there and a price tag that's even more unbelievable. Could this be the best-value smartphone currently in the market. Read on to find out.

First impressions

Nokia’s all-new budget blower is a colossus. Measuring in at 4.7-inches and with the look and feel of a top-end smartphone, it doesn’t have the air of a budget device. It blasts into life quickly and feels nippy when flicking through Windows Phone’s various native apps, as well as the various Nokia add-ons. It’s hard to believe that this is a sub-£200 handset.

8/10

Design

Much like other Nokia Lumia phones, the 625 is a plastic device with real heft. That’s a plus point, as it feels as if it can withstand any nasty drops and scrapes. Its size is comparable to Google’s Nexus 4, while its curved rear design means its sits comfortably in the hand.

The buttons along the right hand side of the handset aren’t obtrusive, while our white model didn’t appear to pick up any nasty fingerprints on its rear shell. There aren’t many cheap smartphones that can match the Lumia 625 in the design department.
8/10

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