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Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 can take phone calls even when upside down
Yes, that's me holding a phone upside down while pretending to make a phone call. It may look silly, but that's exactly what the folks over at Alcatel OneTouch want to see going viral on the streets soon. What we have here is the new "orientation-free" Idol 3 smartphone series, which lets users quickly pick up phone calls without having to check whether they are holding the device -- either the 4.7-inch version or the larger 5.5-inch model -- the right way up. The trick? It's all down to the symmetrical design consisting of a speaker and a mic at each end of the phone; and yes, you do get to use the two front-facing speakers in stereo mode for entertainment purposes.
HTC's Desire 510 claims to be the company's cheapest LTE device yet
HTC's Desire lineup often lives in the shadow of the One and Butterfly series, primarily because most of them are designed to appeal to budget-minded phone buyers. The company's been cranking out a lot of them this year (the 816, 616, 516, 610, 310 and 210, to name a few), and HTC isn't done adding more to the list. Its next phone is the Desire 510. Its claim to fame is that it's the least expensive -- er, "most affordable" -- LTE-capable phone the Taiwanese manufacturer has produced to date. Sadly, we weren't given any pricing details, but it likely varies by region. The 4.7-inch device should be available in markets worldwide, including Europe, Asia and the US (HTC confirmed that the device will be sold on Sprint, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cricket). The 510 will begin selling in some markets in September, but we'll have to wait for each region to offer more specific launch details.
One of HTC's first 64-bit phones is a budget model for Sprint
Qualcomm teased us with the prospect of powerful 64-bit smartphones arriving in late 2014 and early 2015, but it looks like you'll have to dial back your expectations for the first wave of devices. New tipster @upleaks has posted details and photos of HTC's A11, a starter smartphone in the Desire line that reportedly uses the more modest (if respectable) 1.4GHz Snapdragon 410 for its 64-bit processing. Other elements are modest, too; you're looking at a 4.7-inch 854 x 480 screen, plain speakers (sorry, no BoomSound here) and both a 5-megapixel rear camera as well as a front 0.3-megapixel shooter. No great shakes, then, although hints of a Sprint launch suggest that you'll see it in the US. There's no word on when the A11 will ship, although it's believed to run the existing Sense 6 interface on top of Android 4.4 KitKat -- that suggests that HTC may deliver its first 64-bit phone well before its usual spring refresh.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 to bring LTE and 64-bit support to emerging markets
We knew it was only a matter of time before Qualcomm came out with its own chipset capable of supporting 64-bit, but we figured it'd be in something a little more... high-end. The Snapdragon 410, however, is a 28nm SoC that seems to be focused more on lower-end devices and emerging markets instead. Announced by the company today, the new Snapdragon is expected to sample to manufacturers in the first half of 2014, with it reaching consumer devices during the second half. The chip also comes packed with plenty of extra feature support. First on the list is LTE, which Qualcomm says is a feature it wants to bring to all product tiers. In particular, this next-gen connectivity comes with multimode and multiband support, ensuring that many devices carrying the chip will work on LTE networks around the globe (a feature we assume will be up to the OEM to enable). In addition, the Snapdragon 410 will feature an Adreno 306 GPU and offer support for dual- and triple-SIM devices, with 1080p video playback, up to a 13MP camera, GPS/GLONASS, WiFI, NFC and Bluetooth. It'll also be compatible with Android, Windows Phone and Firefox OS, and is geared toward "high-volume" devices in emerging markets which sell for under $150. Of course, even though a lower-tier Snapdragon is the first Qualcomm chipset with 64-bit support, we strongly suspect that it won't be too long before the company comes out with new higher-end SoCs that offer the same capability. After all, CES and MWC are not too far away.
