Friday, November 14, 2014

Nokia says vanishing consumer brand may return

LONDON (Reuters) - Don't call it a comeback yet. But Nokia (NOK1V.HE:Quote) is thinking about how to revive its brand name in consumer markets just months after selling off its former flagship mobile phones business to Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote) for more than $7 billion.
"I think you can expect our brand will return to the consumer world," Nokia's chief executive Rajeev Suri said on Friday when asked about rumors that the networks equipment maker was looking to re-enter the handset market.

Suri told investors at a presentation in London that his company will look to licensing the brand name to other firms rather than starting up a new handset business itself.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Sony Xperia Z4 release date in March; Specs include 5.5 inch screen display

The release date for Sony Xperia Z4 is speculated to happen in March and the device will be introduced at the Mobile World Congress.
Next year's tech event will be held on March 2 to 5, 2015. The company will most likely follow its previous release date timeline. Sony launched the Xperia Z2 at this year's MWC. The Sony Xperia Z3 was released just last September. Sony is notorious for updating its Xperia Z line every six months.
However, new reports claimed that the Japanese manufacturer realized that there is no need to update the smartphone in a very short span as it makes the consumers anticipate less for the newest smartphones thinking that they can always get the new smartphone in six months.

Read more...

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

You'll Be Able To Get A Super-Cheap iPhone 6 At Wal-Mart This Black Friday

Wal-Mart is already teasing its tech deals for Black Friday, as the blog 9to5Mac first spotted, which include some appealing bargains on the iPhone 6, iPad mini, and other gadgets.
The iPhone 6 will be available for $179, and Wal-Mart is also throwing in a $75 gift card, which the retailer says is a $274 value.
That saves you about $100. This issimilar to Target's deal, which made the rounds earlier this week.
Wal-Mart is also selling the 16GB Wi-Fi-only iPad Air for $397 with a $100 gift card and the iPad mini for $199 with a $30 gift card.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Samsung reportedly had problems producing all-metal Galaxy A3 and A5

This month, Samsung announced its first metal phones in the form of the Galaxy A3 and the Galaxy A5. This isn’t Samsung’s first foray into metal construction (the Note 4 and Galaxy Alpha also had metal elements), and rumour has it next year’s Galaxy S6 will also have some metal elements. However, while other companies have been churning out metal phones for ages, Samsung has apparently had some teething problems producing its first full metal phone.
Word on the street is that the reason the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 are to enjoy such a limited release is because Samsung had a lot of trouble producing the phones themselves.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Samsung homes in on India for its mobile operating system 'Tizen' launch

NEW DELHI: India will likely become the launch pad for Samsung Electronics' own mobile operating system. 

The Korean major is expected to launch a smartphone that operates on the Tizen operating system in India within a month, said people with knowledge of its plans. India has never been a launch destination for Samsung, and its plan now to bring the product first to the South Asian nation comes at a time when its leadership position in the local smartphone market is under threat from ho .. 

According to sources, the phone is likely to have a 4-inch screen and dual-SIMs with a 3.2 megapixel camera and 512 MB RAM, and is likely to be affordably priced. In India, the affordable segment typically ranges between Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000. 

A Samsung spokesperson called the news "market speculation" and didn't comment further. 

Friday, November 7, 2014

Hands-on with the new, free-to-use Office for iPhone apps

Microsoft has been pretty nice to Apple users over the last couple weeks. Last week there was a new version of Outlook for Mac that actually feels like it was made by the same company that makes Outlook for Windows. And today, the company has released several Office for iOS updates that make it substantially more compelling than it was before.
Version 1.2 of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for iOS adds free document editing for users with Microsoft accounts, Dropbox support, iPhone support, and more. We downloaded the new apps to take a look at the new phone UI, how the new stuff works, and exactly what features are still locked away behind Office 365 subscriptions.

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Galaxy Tab S 8.4 review: Slim design, long battery life and sleek design

Samsung’s $419.99 CAD Galaxy Tab S 8.4 is one of two variants in the Tab S lineup that comprise the company’s top-of-the-line tablets. Along with the Galaxy Tab S 10.5, there are two tablets that are absolutely worth a look if you’re in the market for a first class Android-powered tablet.

I recently tested out the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 out and was very impressed with its great AMOLED screen that displays 2560 x 1600 pixels, which works out to 360ppi.
The Tab S 8.4 has an 8.4” display and is 125.6mm W x 212.3 mm H x a mere 6.6 mm D and it weighs in at 294 grams. The Octa-Core 1.3ghz CPU makes it a snappy little tablet. The standard 4900 mAh battery offers up to ten hours of playback and 12 hours of video playback time.