Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 to land at CES, hints official blog

Can they get it right this time, though?

Tech-site chatter that a sequel to the Galaxy Gear could land from Samsung at this month’s CES tech expo looks a bit more credible today, after the gadget-maker’s official blog dropped some heavy hints about its plans for the event.
In a heads-up post about CES to the Samsung faithful, the phone-maker initially alludes to the Galaxy Gear smartwatch’s arrival at IFA in Berlin late last year.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 metal build confirmed by Vice President?

VP gets loose-lipped at cocktail party.

Rumours that Samsung will opt for a premium metal build for the Galaxy S5 looked a smidgeon more nailed-on today, with the news that the company’s Vice President has been spilling the beans about its plans at what sounds like a boozy soiree.
A report in the Korean press claims that Dong-hoon Chang, Samsung’s Vice President and Head of Design Strategy, revealed (almost) all at a New Year’s Eve party at Seoul’s Shilla Hotel.

According to the site, Dong-hoon told the great and good assembled that the Galaxy S5 will indeed be made out of “new material”. That chimes with long-standing rumours that the next-gen Galaxy S smartphone will ditch the range’s plastic construction for a metal frame.

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Samsung backing wrong horse with flexible Galaxy phone, suggests survey

Punters won’t bend to whims of phone-maker, it seems.

Samsung may want to reconsider pinning its hopes on flexible phones or reserve the tech for devices other than its flagship handsets, after a study revealed strong levels of antipathy towards the nascent technology among punters.
After years of speculation, the handset-maker brought the first-ever curved screen smartphone to market earlier this year in the form of the Galaxy Round.

Samsung, which has shown off bendy smartphone prototypes at trade shows for some time now, is expected to make good on its tentative foray into the flexi-phone market by following up the Round with a bendable smartphone later this year.

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LG G Flex set for international release

December date pegged for flexible phone.

LG’s much-vaunted G Flex, the company’s first phone to pack a flexible display, is set to make its international debut next month. The curved-screen wonder has been available in the company’s native South Korea since early November.
A special media event, detailing plans for the device’s global rollout, will be held on December 3rd in Hong Kong. Orange's French division has already said it’ll be selling the G Flex across the pond ahead of Christmas.

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HTC One Dual SIM makes UK debut

Number-switching comes to flagship phone.

HTC has confirmed that the One Dual SIM blower is on its way to the UK, having already made its debut in China in recent weeks.
The new version of the Taiwanese mobile-maker’s flagship device has the ability to handle two SIM cards simultaneously, making it perfect for those who pack two devices for work and home.
There’s a special dual-network manager tool, which allows users to personalise each SIM to prevent confusion when taking calls.

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iPhone 5S stock shortages ease on UK networks

Calm breaks out in the iPhone market.

Supply of the iPhone 5S is finally catching up with demand, spelling an end to mammoth delays that have blighted the phone’s release thus far.
Until recently, online orders placed with UK carriers were subject to wait times of up to four weeks. That applied irrespective of the colour or storage variant you were after.

However, signs are now abroad that the situation has eased. Just in time for this year's seasonal stampede.
Cursory visits to O2 and EE's sites pledge that orders processed today will be delivered within two working days. That goes for every colourway. Even the massively in-demand gold model.
Meanwhile, Vodafone promises delivery dates of between one to two weeks for grey and silver models. Alas, if you want the gold handset, you’re still looking at a wait of two-four weeks.

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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.

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Samsung Galaxy S3 gets Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and Galaxy Gear support

One-time flagship phone now plays nice with smartwatch.

Samsung has made Android 4.3, aka Jelly Bean, available for UK editions of the Galaxy S3, bringing some swell new features to the smartphone as well as support for the Galaxy Gear smartwatch.
The software is available to download over the air now for Galaxy S3 owners who bought their handsets off-contract. To get it, just head to 'Settings' and select ‘More’. Done that? Good. Then go to ‘About device’ and choose ‘Software update’ to start the download.
If you got your phone via a monthly contract, you’ll have to wait until your carrier approves the update. That's having first ensured it plays nice with whatever bloatware and services they’ve stealthily dumped on your Galaxy S3.

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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.

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Apple trims price of iPad Air and iPad Mini for Black Friday

iPhone and iPad Mini 2 discounts a non-starter, though.

Apple has cut the price of its flagship iPad and first-generation micro tablet for 24 hours, as the buying bonanza-cum-newly-minted-Xmas-tradition that is Black Friday gets underway.
Buy an iPad Air from the Apple Store today and you’ll qualify for a £31 discount on the 16GB model in its Wi-Fi-only and 3G flavours, bringing the asking price down to £368. Reductions on the 32GB, 64GB and 128GB models are £41, £51 and £61 respectively.

Disappointingly, there’s no discount on the iPad 2, aka the slate that Apple’s diktats insist we refer to as the ‘iPad mini with Retina Display.

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