Weekly Roundup: Galaxy Gear hands-on, iPhone 5S and 5C rumors, Microsoft / Nokia acquisition, and more!
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch hands-on
This week at IFA 2013, Samsung took the wraps off its long-rumored Galaxy Gear smartwatch. While we knew a lot about the device, some things still came to us as a surprise. The wearable accessory comes with a 320 x 320-pixel, 1.63-inch AMOLED touchscreen, an 800MHz processor, and a 315mAh battery. So what's the bombshell feature? The smartwatch features a BSI sensor and autofocus lens mounted in the wrist strap, which can capture 1.9-megapixel stills and 10-second video clips with sound. Read on for more details, and a hands-on video.
The iPhone 5S and 5C: rumor round-up
Earlier this week Apple confirmed rumors of a September 10th iPhone event, and rest assured we'll be covering the whole announcement live. Leaks and slip-ups have given us a somewhat clear picture of what we should expect come Tuesday: a new iPhone 5 flagship device (5S?) -- along with the long-awaited appearance of a cheaper model -- dubbed the 5C. What else should you anticipate? A redesigned fingerprint scanning home button certainly seems to be in the cards, and we wouldn't put it past Apple to slip out a few updated specs. As for other product reveals, we aren't expecting the Cupertino company to show us anything, but don't hold us to that. Click through for our full rumor roundup.
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 preview
While Samsung's Galaxy Gear certainly stole the spotlight at its IFA 2013 keynote presentation, an updated Note device is nothing to scoff at. The Note 3 has a 5.7-inch 1080p Super AMOLED panel, weighs just 168 grams, and measures in at 151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3mm -- a full 1.3mm narrower than the previous second-generation Note. But, without a doubt, the biggest departures in Samsung's design are on the back and sides of its new device. The plastic removable cover from previous Galaxy devices has been replaced by a more comfortable faux-leather cover, offering a better grip. Click the link above for our full first impressions preview.
Microsoft to acquire Nokia's devices & services business for around $5 billion
Last week, in the middle of the night, Nokia announced plans to sell "substantially" all of its device and service arms as well as licensing the phone maker's patents and mapping know-how to Microsoft. The Redmond company will be dishing out a substantial sum of 3.79 billion euros ($4.99 billion) for the business, and 1.65 billion euros ($2.18 billion) for its patent armory. Curious about the rationale behind the seemingly sudden acquisition? Let Microsoft explain it to you. Also catch up on the whole saga for complete coverage of the big buy.
