handset
Latest
Microsoft's 'Your Phone' screen mirroring app is down
Microsoft's Your Phone feature has been down for most of the day. When it's working, the new app lets users mirror their Android device's screen on a Windows 10 PC. But the app has been struggling to connect since early this morning. "We've identified a potential issue within infrastructure responsible for processing service traffic," Microsoft's service outage page says. "We're taking corrective action and we'll closely monitor the service to ensure recovery."
Google is buying HTC's Pixel team for $1.1 billion
After weeks (months, and years) of speculation, HTC has announced that its "Powered by HTC" R&D division -- the team behind Google's Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones -- will be purchased by Google for $1.1 billion in cash. According to HTC's CFO Peter Shen, this will mean about half -- yes, half -- of the 4,000 people in his company's R&D team will be joining Google, but he emphasized that HTC will continue developing its own range of smartphones, including its next flagship product. The agreement also grants Google a non-exclusive license for a large part of HTC's intellectual property. The deal is expected to be approved and closed by early 2018. Curious about what all of this means? You could do worse than to check out our guide to the subject from last week.
Moto focused on slimming down for the Z2 Play
If you liked the original Z Play for its low price and compatibility with Moto Mods, you'll probably dig the pending follow up, Motorola's Z2 Play. They pretty much look the same, minus the shape of one of the buttons. If you expected the original's long battery life, however, the sequel might disappoint you. According to a review of some marketing material by VentureBeat's Evan Blass, the new Moto Z2 Play might be thinner than its predecessor yet more underpowered when it comes to battery life. The original Z Play has a 3510mAh battery in it, while the Z2 could come with a lowly 3000mAh pack, according to VentureBeat.
Google will release a new Pixel phone this year
The Pixel represents Google's first proper foray into the smartphone market, allowing the search giant to directly compete with Apple and cement Android's reputation as a premium platform. While sales have been steady, it's been particularly hard to get a hold of one due to component shortages. That hasn't dampened the company's plans to continue investing in its own smartphones, though: according to Rick Osterloh, VP of Hardware at Google, there will be a successor to the Pixel this year and will continue to carry a high price tag.
Native Union gets Victorian with Monocle, a hybrid handset for the hipster crowd
Native Union is known for finding inspiration in retro form factors -- as we saw with the Pop Phone -- and the company is going even more old school with its latest offering: Monocle. The epitome of faux-vintage hipster chic, Monocle is equal parts speaker, handset and speakerphone. If, for some reason, you ever come across another intrepid soul carrying a Monocle, the devices can be linked together in a daisy chain, letting you listen in on each other's calls and boost your speaker power. This triple threat launches tomorrow on Native Union's website (linked below), with a starting price of £40 (roughly $62). If you're so inclined to add this curious accessory to your collection, may we suggest pairing it with an actual monocle? After all, nothing says street cred like a monocle overdose.
Sony's SBH52 Smart Bluetooth clip acts as your secondary handset
HTC may have its Mini Bluetooth handset, but Sony thinks such implementation works best as a big clip without the numeric pad. Dubbed the SBH52, this splashproof device comes with FM radio, a headphone jack plus a small OLED display to show caller ID and text messages, so in a way it's similar to its predecessors. What's new is that you now get NFC as well as an earpiece -- the latter lets you use the clip as a mini phone. Expect to see this on the shelves in Q3 this year. %Gallery-192247%
Switched On: BlackBerry's depressing keyboard trends
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In a March interview, Google chairman Eric Schmidt, whose company's smartphone ambitions led to his vacating a board seat at Apple, claimed that he didn't use either an Android phone or iPhone. Rather, he uses a Blackberry, citing his affinity for its keyboard despite a number of Android models released over the years integrating physical thumb keyboards. RIM devices had keyboards even before they had email; the feature was part of the BlackBerry's predecessor, the RIM Inter@ctive Pager. Indeed, tactile feedback was so valued by the company that it tried to integrate it into the touchscreen with the BlackBerry Storm. In reviewing that phone for The New York Times, David Pogue noted, "A BlackBerry without a keyboard is like an iPod without a scroll wheel." Imagine such a thing.
BlackBerry rep shows off L-Series smartphone, forgets it's meant to be a secret (video)
While the rest of us are chasing after dev phones and blurrycam shots, BlackBerry representatives in Mexico seem to be happy to wave honest-to-goodness L-Series handsets around on video. Website Hola Telcel filmed the sequence after the break, in which we're given a shaky tour of BB10 -- including the camera app's interesting "best shot" feature -- but with virtually no attention given to the hardware itself. Nevertheless, we can just about make out the previously-noted design, with the screen panel sandwiched between slightly rounded matte black plastic top and bottom parts, and a big silver BlackBerry logo emblazoned across the bottom. Also, unless we're reading way too much into it, the way people hold the device suggests it could be nice and thin.
ASUS Padfone 2 launch event slated for October 16th in both Milan and Tapei
ASUS has sent out invitations for the official launch of the Padfone 2, the follow-up to its hybrid smartphone / laptop / tablet Padfone device. According to an invite nabbed by Notebook Italia, the unveiling will take place simultaneously in Milan and Taipei on October 16th. The picture shows a corner of what is likely the upcoming handset, but we'll have to wait till next month to get a closer look at the full package.
Sharp Aquos SH-10D makes pit stop at FCC, earns stamp of approval
NTT DoCoMo announced a roster of phones this past May, and among them was Sharp's Aquos SH-10D. After spending some quality time with the FCC, the handset now has paperwork that could allow it to travel stateside. Along with a quartet of oddly angled corners, the phone packs a GSM and HSPA+ / WCDMA radio, 4.5-inch screen, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 12.1 MP rear-facing camera and a 0.32 MP frontward-facing cam for those awkward, Facebook-bound self-portraits. Hit the link below if you'd like to rifle through the FCC results yourself.
LG Q2 2012 earnings show a loss on cellphones, but higher profits overall thanks to home theater
LG has released its earnings statement for the Q2 2012 period, the claim of "turning a corner" in Q1 has just managed to hold up as it registered net profits of $138 million, up 46 percent from the same period last year. Revenues, while higher than Q1, were actually down from last year and blamed on declines in featurephone sales and slow sales of IT products. The mobile division also struggled after a strong Q1 and took an operating loss, however the positive takeaways are a rising percentage of smartphone shipments and plans to launch new LTE-connected models in North America (we've spotted the likely Spectrum 2 for Verizon already), Europe and Asia later this year. The good news for the home theater segment continued however, with an operating profit of more than double last year at $187.5 million despite slightly lower sales due to an increase in sales of premium products like its Cinema 3D HDTVs, which it expects to become the "top global seller" in the 3D segment. There's more details in the press release after the break or PDF linked below if you need more numbers.
Sony Xperia U review: a little slice of Android that punches above its weight
More Info Sony Xperia P review Sony officially debuts Xperia U at MWC 2012 Sony Xperia U gets torn to pieces, FCC destroys something beautiful There's an oft-used idiom about small packages, which frequently doesn't apply to the world of technology. That's to say that a diminished form factor often doesn't bring the "best things" with it. For example, Sony's NXT family members, revealed between CES and MWC, gifted consumers with the choice of three new handsets: the Xperia P, S and U. The last one in that list is by far the smallest, and in congruence with the general trend of mobile technology, the most lightly armored. However, we're not ones to make assumptions, and heaven forbid we pre-judge something based on size alone. We're as willing to be surprised as anyone, and the new baby of the Sony bunch is as likely a candidate as any to throw us a curveball. Our initial impressions in Barcelona were largely positive, so this review -- as the firm says on its marketing material for the phone -- is all about (the Xperia) U.%Gallery-156734%
Samsung's SHV-E170K has dual-core Snapdragon, LTE and an inferiority complex
We're sure Samsung isn't playing favorites... but after that rather extravagant product launch just the other week, it seems it's released another phone to market with barely a streamer nor slice of cake in sight. The phone in question is the SHV-E170K, and will be coming to South Korea's KT network. The handset was announced with minimal details, other than having a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED qHD (960×540) display, LTE, 5-megapixel rear camera and 1.3-megapixel shooter up front. However, with a little bit of internet cunning (i.e. some discovered benchmark tests) SammyHub has determined that we're dealing with a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 on top of Android 4 (TouchWiz'd by the looks of things). It should be out later this month, again, alas, potentially in its sister's shadow.
Republic Wireless now issuing invites for summer beta program: is your name on the list?
Republic Wireless is now issuing the cellphone equivalent of Willy Wonka's golden tickets: an invite to its forthcoming beta. When you've been assigned a wave, you'll then be placed on a wait list, only told a week before you have to place cash on the barrel for a handset. Our tipsters have told us that the company is pitching (via a survey, of course) to hit three price points for customers, each fee buying a smartphone and the first month's service. All they could supply were the specs, so we've suggested some handsets that could fit the bill: Entry Level: $199 gets a phone from an "unknown" manufacturer with a 3.5-inch touchscreen, 600MHz CPU, 0.5GB of storage and a 5-megapixel camera -- which puts us in mind of the ZTE Libra or the iNQ Cloud Touch. Mid-range: $299 will buy a handset from a "well known" manufacturer, 3.7-inch touchscreen, 1GHz CPU, 1GB storage, 5-megapixel camera and a VGA front-facer, similar to the Galaxy U, HTC One V or Huawei Vision. Top Line: $499 gets you a 4.3-inch touchscreen phone with a 1.2Ghz dual-core CPU, 8GB storage and, weirdly, a 7-megapixel camera. We hope that last stat is a typo, since it rules out the vast majority of handsets at that level. If it was 8-megapixels, for example, we'd be thinking about phones like the Galaxy S II. We reached out to the company for more details, and were told that it's simply in a discovery phase of sorts -- it's still trying to get a better grasp on exactly what phones would be desired. Unfortunately, that means that there aren't any concrete handset decisions to be shared just yet, but we'll be sure to pass those along as soon as we find out ourselves. [Thanks, Matt]
China Times: HTC wants to develop its own processors for low-end phones
Encroaching into the semiconductor business might not seem the most obvious move for a phone manufacturer that's trying to unify its efforts. Nevertheless, China Times reports that HTC has signed a "memorandum of cooperation" with ST-Ericsson to co-develop a new dedicated chip for low-end handsets coming out next year. Since ST-Ericsson is a fabless chip designer, HTC won't risk getting silicon between its fingernails. Instead, if this agreement is what it seems, the Taiwanese manufacturer may simply want more direct control over its supply chains and to reduce its current reliance on ready-made designs from Qualcomm or NVIDIA. After all, it can't be easy for HTC's new CFO, looking on while others gobble up those margins.
US carriers agree to national stolen phone database
According to a Wall Street Journal report, four of the largest wireless carriers in the US are working with the US government to create a national stolen phone database. Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile will develop their own databases and then merge them into a centralized server within the next 18 months. Eventually, regional carriers will also participate in this initiative. The database will help carriers and law enforcement track lost and stolen phones. Besides tracking phones, carriers have agreed to block both calling and data services for these blacklisted phones. This will be an easy task for Verizon and Sprint, but not so simple for T-Mobile and AT&T. Verizon Wireless and Sprint already track each subscriber's phone using the phone's unique electronic serial number. This lets them easily block any phone that's been reported lost or stolen. AT&T and T-Mobile do not have a similar service in place, because their GSM phones use SIM cards. As long as you have a valid SIM card, you can use any phone, regardless of whether it is lost or stolen. These two GSM carriers are working on new technology that would let them track and block a phone using a unique ID.
Apple iPhone edges out BlackBerry in Canada
Apple surpassed RIM as the top mobile phone manufacturer in Canada said Bloomberg on Thursday. Data from IDC and Bloomberg suggests Apple shipped 2.85 million handsets in 2011, while RIM shipped 2.08 million. This is down from 2008 when RIM out shipped Apple almost five to one.
Windows Phone launches in China today (updated)
Microsoft China has finally christened its first Windows Phone. The HTC Triumph (or Titan, or even Eternity, according to the official Windows Phone Blog) is out, brandishing a 4.7-inch display and double camera setup. The phone arrives unlocked and apparently loaded up with "a slew" of popular native apps. We'll be taking a look at those once we've got our hands on this regional variant. We've included a few screengrabs of the Chinese language UI after the break.Update: Looks like something got lost in translation with Microsoft's official blog -- the Triumph isn't yet on sale. Expect to see it on Chinese store shelves on March 28th.
HTC One X could be coming to Sprint on June 10th, bearing LTE and 'Jet' codename
If unnamed "internal sources" at Sprint are to be believed, then HTC's new flagship phone is set to become one of the Now Network's first LTE handsets as soon as June 10th. The only sticking point, beyond us having no notion of whether these sources are credible, is that they didn't use the right name for the phone -- calling it the "HTC Jet" instead of the One X. Despite this switched moniker, S4GRU reports that all the leaked specs match up perfectly with the LTE variant of the One X, including a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm S4 processor (Tegra 3 being reserved for non-LTE version in other markets), 4.7-inch 1280 x 720 SLCD display, 1GB RAM, NFC, Gorilla Glass 2 and a polycarbonate unibody. As for the branding, 'Jet' would surely be a disposable codename, replacing the earlier Endeavor disguise, otherwise HTC's fresh start has already taken a hit.
BlackBerry 10 coming to the PlayBook, RIM confirms
RIM's handsets won't be getting BlackBerry 10 until later this year, but once they do, the PlayBook will be next in line. That's according to Rob Orr, RIM's VP of product management, who confirmed the news to TechRadar. "We've said publicly a number of times that our first BB10 handset will be available towards the end of 2012, and that's still firmly the case," Orr said. "At some point after the launch we'll bring BB10 to our PlayBooks, yes." Orr apparently didn't get any more specific than that, though he did mention that RIM has seen a spike in updates to PlayBook OS 2.0, which came out just last month. According to the exec, about 50 percent of all users made the jump on the day it came out, which just goes to show how great e-mail is.
