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.

Read more »

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 »