Moto X+1 leaks via the Moto Maker website

Motorola is holding a press event on May 13 in London to unveil a new smartphone. There is no more information on the device but the rumors have it Motorola might be unveiling either the Moto E or the Moto X+1.
Well, it seems @evleaks was right about the existence of Moto X+1, because Motorola has just added a placeholder for the Moto X+1 on its Moto Maker website.
We still know nothing about the Moto X+1, but our best guess is it will be an upgraded version of the Moto X on a bargain price (as the invitation suggested).
We'll know everything on the morning of May 13.
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HTC One (M8) mini to be called HTC One mini 2

We already know that HTC is working on a mini variant of its flagship smartphone, the HTC One (M8). Today we learn that the upcoming smartphone and the successor of the HTC One mini will be called HTC One mini 2, according to the popular tipster @evleaks.

M8 mini = HTC One mini 2 [comments: http://t.co/XvFgRppiFI]
— @evleaks (@evleaks) May 1, 2014

The HTC One mini 2 is rumored to sport a 4.5-inch 720p display, Snapdragon 400 chipset with quad-core Cortex A7 CPU clocked at 1.4 GHz, 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory, expandable via a microSD card. There's also a 13 megapixel rear camera, 5 megapixel front-facing shooter, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 and Android 4.4.2 KitKat with Sense 6.0 UI on top.
The leakster had earlier revealed that Verizon will carry the upcoming One mini 2, but it remains to be seen if the carrier is going to exclusively offer the phone. And, outside the United States, we know that Swedish carrier Telia will be offering the smartphone after it accidentally listed the One mini 2 on its website.
If the rumors are to be trusted, the HTC One mini 2 will go on sale this month, but there is no official word at the moment.
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Nokia XL Dual SIM review: Start to Finnish

Introduction

The Nokia XL goes where Asha never dared, 5" screen territory. Windows Phone itself only recently got there, but the Nokia X family is really an extension of touchscreen Asha "smartphones" rather than a failsafe in case Windows Phone get messed up.

Nokia XL official images
We say Asha "smartphones" because that's what Nokia chooses to call them even if no one else would. Even the Finns eventually had to acknowledge the limitations of platform - QVGA resolution kept screens tiny and the app ecosystem never had much promise.



The Nokia X software is based on the Android Open Source Project, just the OS without any of the Google stuff. The more advanced software has opened doors to bigger, higher resolution screens and modern, up-to-date apps, plus more powerful hardware.
The ease of customization also let the company create a unique, Nokia experience with a blend of Nokia and Microsoft services filling in for the missing Google goodies that we are accustomed to seeing on Android.
Here's the summary of what the Nokia XL has to offer:

Key features

• Quad-band GSM, GPRS, EDGE
• Dual-band 3G with HSPA
• Optional dual-SIM support, dual standby
• Nokia X software platform 1.0.1, based on the Android Open Source Project (4.1 Jelly Bean)
• 5" IPS LCD WVGA capacitive touchscreen, ~187 ppi
• 1.2GHz dual-core Cortex-A5 processor, Adreno 203 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8225 Snapdragon S4 Play chipset
• 768MB RAM
• Proximity sensor, accelerometer, display auto-rotation
• 4GB internal storage (1.2GB available to the user)
• Nokia HERE maps with free lifetime voice-guided navigation and offline maps support
• Data-efficient Nokia Xpress browser
• Nokia MixRadio
• Nokia Glance screen, double-tap-to-unlock
• 5MP camera, FWVGA video recording @30fps; 2MP front-facing camera
• microSD card support (up to 32 GB)
• Wi-Fi b/g/n connectivity
• FM radio
• Bluetooth v3.0
• Standard microUSB port, charging
• 2,000mAh Li-Ion battery

Main disadvantages

• Large and heavy for a 5" device
• Low screen resolution
• No Google services (Play, Gmail, Maps, Calendar, Drive), you can't even sync contacts
• Budget-grade hardware may result in system bottlenecks
• Poor video capture
• No smart dialing
• No document reader

The specs aren't meant to impress but, as an Asha alternative, the Nokia XL prioritizes price over features. Indeed, the XL and its siblings are cheaper than the revered Moto G (barring temporary discounts and promotions).
We shouldn't discount the value of Nokia's premium services - HERE maps with free offline navigation, MixRadio, Glance Screen and double-tap to wake (trademark features that go way back). A familiar brand name also counts for a lot, considering the Android low end is getting populated with small brands with only the Lumia 520 / 525 to fight back.

Nokia XL in our office
While the Nokia Lumia 520 has dropped to stunning prices of €100, that's not without some subsidies from Nokia, Microsoft or both to boost WP market share. The Nokia XL and its two shorter siblings instead deliver hardware at its actual price, no catch.
It's a race to the bottom that in the long term will only get fiercer as cheap smartphones become "good enough". Is the Nokia XL "good enough" or perhaps even "better"? Flip to the next page and begin to find out.

Blu Life Pure XL with Snapdragon 800 and FullHD display announced

Blu has announced the Life Pure XL smartphone. Based on the Gionee Elife E7, the two smartphones are virtually identical, which is not such a bad thing.

The Life Pure XL has a 5.5-inch, 1920x1080 resolution display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC with 2.2GHz quad-core CPU and Adreno 330 GPU, 16 megapixel rear camera with 1.34μ pixels, 1/2.3-inch sensor, 8 megapixel front facing camera with autofocus(!), 2,500mAh battery and Android 4.2 (upgradable to 4.4).
The Life Pure XL will be sold in two models, one with 32GB internal memory and 3GB RAM for $399 and one with 16GB internal memory and 2GB RAM for $349.
The 32GB+3GB model will go on sale on May 2 exclusively on Amazon in black and on May 9 in white. The 16GB+2GB model will be available in June in black, white, blue and pink.

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Apple shipping sapphire to China for iPhone 6 display

It's not exactly a secret that the iPhone 6's display is going to be made out of sapphire for extra scratch resistance. Now UBS Research's first quarter preview on GT Advanced Technologies, which is the company that's been contracted by Apple to create all of the sapphire for the iPhone 6 display, shows that they've begun shipping sapphire screens to China.



Here's what their research had to show:

“Checks find GT’s Arizona factory likely started producing sapphire last month. Our own checks found that for the first time GT shipped some small quantities of sapphire made in its Arizona fab to one of Apple’s partners in China who is in charge of making sapphire covers. Our checks find the amount of ingots it sold into China last month was only about 2,200kg which would be in line with our estimate of about 100 sapphire furnaces turned on and running (our checks find 100 furnaces were targeted for installation in 4Q13). We believe GT is still on schedule in Arizona, where we estimate GT was to install another 400-500 sapphire furnaces in 1Q14 and 900-1,000 in 2Q14. GT confirmed last week that it received a 3rd prepayment from Apple recently (we estimate the 4th and last prepayment will be made in May) which also gives us confidence that its Arizona sapphire factory for Apple is tracking on schedule.”

Analyst Matt Margolis believes that “approximately 100,000 to 115,000 sapphire screens could be produced from 2,200 kg of sapphire ingots”. GT will be selling each sapphire screen for $8.50-$10 a unit. This makes GT's prices significantly cheaper 25% to be exact) than Apple's previous sapphire supplier.
Overall, GT is estimated to score anywhere from $600m-$800m, with about 80% of their sales coming from Apple alone.
GT Advanced has enough equipment to produce 100 million iPhone displays a year, if they should desire to make that many. Seeing as the next generation iPhone is going to have a purportedly 5” screen, it might be a big enough change that'll make the iPhone fly off the shelves in a frenzy like never before.
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Samsung boasts about S-Health and more in new ad spots

Just because the Galaxy S5 has officially been released doesn’t mean that Samsung is going to stop talking about all the great features its latest flagship boasts.

In the Korean manufacturer’s latest series of advertisements, some of the Galaxy S5’s best new features are shown off.
First up is S-Health, a fitness and health tracking application that takes advantage of the S5’s built-in heart rate monitor (it’s the first cell phone to have one.)

Samsung was also sure to play up their Ultra Power Saving mode, which helps to conserve your phone’s battery and keeping it from going dead when you’re low on battery and there’s no way for you to juice up your phone.

The S5’s excellent 16MP camera also gets its time in the sun, along with its Super AMOLED screen. Samsung is sure to mention that the S5’s screen trumps the iPhone’s in size in the advertisement.


What do you think of the commercials?
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Samsung ships more smartphones than major competition combined

Samsung is ubiquitous; there’s no doubt that they are a mobile powerhouse, however, the latest IDC quarterly update gives us a look into just how much of a powerhouse the Korean manufacturer is.
30.3% of total smartphone market share is controlled by Samsung, which is about 85 million units, in Q1 2014.


Now compare this number to Apple, Huawei, Lenovo, and LG, who account for 15.5%, 4.9%, 4.6%, and 4.4% respectively; .9% less than Samsung’s share.
All “other” smartphones account for 40.5% of the market share, but these are hardly the bigger players that pose a threat to Samsung’s current market dominance.
IDC predicts that smartphone shipments will reach 1.2 billion units, total, for 2014; a 200 million increase from last year. This is due to growth in the smartphone market and the constant spread of new models entering the market, especially low-range handsets.
Anyone surprised at just how dominant Samsung is?
Source | Via