Samsung Galaxy Gear: New screens confirm specs

App unveiled.

Samsung’s Galaxy Gear is all set for its official unveiling on September 4th. But the chaps at @evleaks are still unearthing the goods about Sammy’s forthcoming new smart watch, this time revealing screen shots of the device’s smartphone control app.
The pair of screens confirm a string of info which has already leaked about the timepiece. NFC is mentioned, with a diagram showing a Samsung phone and a Galaxy Gear pairing via touch.

A ‘My Apps’ tab supports rumours that the Galaxy Gear will have its own suite of dedicated add-ons. And, interestingly, there’s a ‘Find My Watch’ function mentioned too.
How this works is as yet unclear, but we’d be willing to bet it could be a potential flashpoint with Apple, whose ‘Find My iPhone’ feature is hugely popular.

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iPhone 5S: champagne and graphite models star in new videos

Golden future.

Apple’s forthcoming champagne and graphite iPhones have starred in a pair of new videos, as their planned September 10th launch date edges ever closer.
The champagne iPhone 5S, filmed by the guys at TLD, highlights the differences with the current iPhone 5. Aside from the colour options, the video also looks at the internal changes, with greater space for the battery, suggesting Apple might have at last cracked its power woes.
In a separate video, the graphite iPhone 5S is shown alongside the current black and white editions of the iPhone 5. But with initial iPhone 5 prototypes having come in this colour, it’s been suggested in some quarters that this version may not go on sale later next month.

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Wozniak’s note of caution is a rare slice of common sense

Is the Woz-man right to urge more patience with Apple's pace of innovation? Joe Minihane gives his two cents.

The pace at which the world of smartphones and tablets moves today means that the demands from hardcore fans, hungry for bleeding edge updates, are relentless. If a new phone doesn’t cram in a game-changing feature, then it’s instantly dismissed as irrelevant, despite the fact its software may be spanking new and a game-changer in and of itself.
That’s why this week’s words from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak are so refreshing. In an interview with the BBC, Wozniak essentially put demanding fans in their place. “Everybody says, ‘oh my gosh, two years have passed and we need something really new and great from Apple’,” he said. “Well yeah, great advances for mankind don't happen every year.”
Wozniak was answering a question about whether Apple had lost its innovative edge since Tim Cook took over the helm at Cupertino. But his remarks are telling and show how ludicrous things have got that a wholly rejigged iPhone 5S, albeit with a similar design, is dismissed outright as iterative and unexciting in some quarters.
In the past seven years, Apple has released two products that have completely reshaped tech as we know it. The iPhone and iPad were both trailblazers and updates to those devices are only ever going to offer a minor jump on the last year’s model. Cumulatively, that can add up to a huge difference, as is being seen with the move to iOS 7 and a bulging App Store, full of stunning native and third party add-ons.

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BlackBerry boss: We can survive as niche company

Not over yet.

BlackBerry can continue to exist as a niche company and will not be completely killed off once it’s been bought out. That’s the opinion of Bert Nordberg, who sits on the ailing mobile maker’s board.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Wall Street Journal, Nordberg said, “I think BlackBerry is able to survive as a niche company.
"But being a niche company means deciding to be a niche company. Historically, BlackBerry has had larger ambitions. But battling giants like Apple, Google, and Samsung is tough."
Nordberg said that BlackBerry’s products did still have something to offer. “BlackBerry's unique assets make it stand apart from other phone makers.
“BlackBerry is strong on the enterprise business, its products are NSA-proof in the sense that you can't intercept their communication, its handsets' keyboards have many fans around the globe, and the company has a leading worldwide data network.”

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iPhone 5C: New manual and package images leaked

One week to go.

Just eight days before Tim Cook is due to reveal the iPhone 5C, new images purporting to show the device’s packaging and manual have appeared online.
The most intriguing is a snap of the red version of the budget handset. The packaging is consistent with previously leaked pics of the phone, with the same design and a mocked up screen of iOS 7.
Users on Chinese site Weibo have also been treated to shots of the iPhone 5C’s one card manual, as well as a photo of the classic Apple SIM ejection tool bundled with the blower.

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Samsung Galaxy Gear photos leak, fitness monitor highlighted

Not much of a looker. And pretty huge at 3-inches too.

Images purportedly showing a prototype of the soon-to-land Samsung Galaxy Gear have leaked online, ahead of the device’s launch tomorrow.
Sourced by VentureBeat, the work-in-progress smartwatch appears to blend industrial design aesthetics with the, um, practical, unshowy looks of Garmin’s sportswatches and packs a whopping three-inch screen that has seen it termed unappealingly bulky in some quarters.
But while it’s indisputably not much of a looker, it may yet emerge that what we’re looking at is unrecognisable from the finished product. That's certainly been the case with Samsung Galaxy smartphone prototypes, with the square-looking test models bearing little resemblance to the curved kits that eventually emerged into the spotlight at launch.

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iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S dropping Sept 20th, network leak reveals

Carrier cancels holiday, sparks release-date chatter.

Speculation that the next-generation iPhone and its cheaper stablemate will go on sale on September 20th got a good deal more credible today, amid rumours that one of the largest US networks has cancelled holiday for staff for the period.
Talk of the handsets tipping up on the 20th has been abroad for months now. The date was initially mooted after some keen-minded deduction on the part of the editor of the International Business Times, who based his prediction on Apple’s previous form.
His claim got fresh legs over the weekend when mysterious sources told TmoNews that T-Mobile employees over The Pond have been barred from taking holiday between September 20th and 22nd. This is so that the carrier is able to cope with the huge swell in demand that marks the release of new Apple smartphones.
AT&T is also reported to have issued a blanket ban on holidays over that weekend. However, seemingly anticipating even greater demand than its rival, T-Mo’s competitor is forbidding staff from taking holidays for all remaining days in September too.
Demand for the low-cost iPhone 5C, which features a money-saving plastic shell, is expected to be buoyed by a price point of around £250. This will arguably make the iPhone a viable pay as you go handset for the first time ever.

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iPhone 5C working model crops up on video

First time we’ve seen iOS 7 and plastic shell in tandem.

With shells in multiple colours, buttons, screens and mock-up devices appearing online in recent months, the iPhone 5C could well be Apple’s most-leaked phone ever. But there’s been no sign of a working model. Until now, that is.
A lo-fi, grainy clip has surfaced on Chinese tech site C Technology showing the phone fully assembled, running the forthcoming iOS 7 version of Apple’s operating system and working well enough to enable the user to conduct a web search.
Judging by the footage, the iPhone 5C and its proprietary Safari browser zip along at a fair old lick for what’s being touted as a cheap phone, which could corroborate claims that the handset will offer 4G support.
Some tech scribes suggested the low-cost iPhone might be restricted to last-gen 3G networks, helping to differentiate it from the top-end iPhone 5S.
However, before you get too excited it’s worth noting that the clip is pretty low-grade, making it hard to tell what we’re seeing.
And given that the user doesn’t see fit to show us the tell-tale product info that Apple secretes at the rear of phones, there’s even more reason to remain somewhat incredulous that we’re looking at the real deal.

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Microsoft buys Nokia phones business for £4.6 billion

Nokia sold.

Microsoft is to buy Nokia’s phones division in a deal worth £4.6 billion. The news, announced overnight, will see Microsoft take ownership of Nokia’s Devices and Services, as well as licensing its HERE maps and patents.
While the Big M will own the Lumia and Asha brands, the Nokia name will be licensed for ten years and used to brand ‘current Nokia mobile phone products’ according to a statement from Microsoft.
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, along with a number of other senior executives, will now work for Microsoft, with Risto Siilasmaa, Chairman of the Nokia Board of Directors, stepping up to act as Interim CEO.

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HTC Zara: new mid-range smartphone leaked

Plastic model incoming.

HTC is working on a new plastic handset, dubbed the Zara, with a release date pegged for late 2013.
The device was leaked by evleaks, which is developing a solid-gold reputation for getting the inside line on new mobiles.

With HTC unleashing aluminium handsets earlier this year, with the One and One Mini leading the line, a plastic device makes sense in light of the impending release of Apple’s iPhone 5C.
The Zara is said to pack a 4.5-inch qHD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 plus processor and 1GB of RAM.
Beats Audio and an ample eight-megapixel camera complete the package. A Q4 release date is expected.

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