Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Motorola Nexus 6 'Shamu' gets benchmarked

It looks like the rumors about the Nexus line dying are dead themselves. Following the rumors about Motorola producing a Nexus device which is code-named 'Shamu', we now have concrete information about the device's existence. 

 Once again, the information is leaked via a popular bench-marking website, this time GFXBench. While it seems the person who ran the benchmark was careful not to reveal too much information about the device, and we don't have the full specs, we do have some basic info.

 From the bench-marking score, we can derive the following: Since it got on par with the S5 and Z2, we can assume it has a 1080p display, since QHD would be closer to the G3. While that might be disappointing to some, especially considering the device's rumored giant size, it's not too bad and shouldn't be a deal-breaker. That also means we can expect better battery life than if it had a QHD display.

 While we can't tell  for sure, the range in which the score was hints at the processor being a Snapdragon 801, since this are the general scores it tends to generate when coupled with a 1080p display.

 So, what do you think? Does a 5.9' Motorola Nexus 6 boasting a 1080p display and SD 801 sound good to you? Remember, this is nothing concrete, and all of the above might change by the time the device is officially announced. Stay tuned.

 Link: GFX Bench

Galaxy Note Edge trademark hints at curved name of curved Galaxy Note

Since Samsung revealed Youm back in CES 2013, we've been hearing rumors concerning when this technology will actually be available in the market. According to Samsung's new trademark, it seems that day is not too far. 

 As you might remember, back in CES 2013 Samsung unveiled its Youm product line, showing us concepts of what phone with flexible/two-sided displays might offer us. Here's the official video by SamsungTomorrow:


Samsung has trademarked the name, "Galaxy Note Edge". While this is only a name and we didn't receive any blueprints of the device, the filing sparked rumors which claim this to be a curved Galaxy Note variant, similarly to what we say at CES with Youm.

 While this doesn't have to be a curved display, and if I would start throwing suggestions around then it might be and edge-to-edge display, it would make more sense for this to have a curved display. Keep in mind, filing a trademark doesn't mean this will actually turn into a real device.

 What do you think, what kind of features would a Note with an edge to the display offer?

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Verizon Moto X+1 to launch on September 25th

The Moto X+1 rumor mill is now working at full speed, and the latest ouput comes courtesy of the trusty Droid Life. According to the report, Verizon will officially launch its Moto X+1 on September 25th, which means launch, as the announcement would probably comes a week or two before that.

 While that might very well be the case with Verizon, Motorola promised us a Summer launch date, which would mean pre-September 22nd. We would guess that would be the exact release date, probably the day in which the phone will launch on the Motorola website.

 As phones tend to be announced a short while before their launch, you can expect a mid-September announcement date to reveal the full details of the upcoming handset. We already know the probable full specs of the device thanks to a specs-leak on a benchmarking website.

While for Verizon customers it might be more comfortable to buy from the carrier and perhaps a necessity (sometimes only the Verizon model supports the network), Moto Maker offers customization advantages and so you can expect to get that in the area of September 22nd. Stay tuned for more details! 

Google, Intel, Apple, Adove employees "no-poach" settlement rejected by judge


In a court ruling, the judge rejected the quadruple's settlement to pay $320 million to the employees that were hurt by the companies joined "no-poach" alliance, saying it should be higher at a minimum of $380 million.

 Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe all formed a pact, which was acclaimed in the lawsuit and proved to be correct, so none of these companies hired any employees who work for one of the other three. That has caused sort of a quad-opoly, allowing the employers to pay lower than they might have had there been a competition over the employees.

 As a result of the lawsuit, which represents 60,000 Silicon Valley employees the companies were required to settle the matter with the employees who were hurt by the agreements, and hence came the settlement, which judge Lucy Koh ruled was too low, requiring the companies to up their bid by $60 million.
The quadruple's deal was revealed by email conversations which were uncovered following the lawsuits, in which the scandal was discovered. One of the causes of the companies' agreement was the scrapping of plans to build a Google center in Paris.

Yota to manufacture devices in Canada


Yota is the company who brought us the YotaPhone, the world's first dual-screen smartphone. With Yota seriously thinking about a relocation from its current Russian base in Moscow, it seems the choice will end up being Canada. To understand some of the reason, let's have a quick look at the Canadian-based Blackberry.

Blackberry is experiencing some tough years. Market share is dropping, and the company has had a tough time dealing with the competition. This tough situation has caused Blackberry to lay-off a lot of high-quality workers, and it seems Yota is going to jump on the spoils.

Since Blackberry is based in Canada, that means there are now a lot of high-quality engineers and other kinds of workers, who are left in Canada without a job. That makes Canada the perfect place for Yota to base its HQ, and is definitely great news for North-American dual-screen-lovers.

Yota is apparently considering either Waterloo or Toronto, both of which are in the Ontario region of Canada. While Yota considered many locations in North America, unemployed BB workers seemed to turn the decision to Ontario.

While the first YotaPhone might have been a somewhat-immature device, the YotaPhone 2 is definitely out there; With a 5' AMOLED 1080p front display, paired with Snapdragon 800, 2 GB RAM, 32 GB Storage and KitKat 4.4, it can be a great standard device. The twist comes with the secondary back display, at 4.7', the always-on e-ink display could keep you always updated without having to turn on your regular screen at all, and is a very cool feature.

YotaPhone 2 is expected to roll-out in Africa, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East end-2014, and will get to North America at 2015. By that time the device might be somewhat-outdated, but with the North American move the YotaPhone 3 might get here much sooner.  

What do you think about the YotaPhone 2, do you like the secondary screen? Do you find it as simply a gimmick? Let us know below!

Source: Financial Post

Galaxy Alpha full specs, price and release date leaked

It would seem Samsung will have nothing left to tell us when the official release date does arrive. We already had the full specs of the phone thanks to an Antutu benchmark, and now thanks to a Brazilian blog, not only are these specs confirmed but we also got a release date and a price tag.

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha was initially thought to be the long-rumored 'Prime' version of the Galaxy S5, but eventually it turned out to be a Samsung-made iPhone 6 contender, boasting a small screen in order to fight Apple's customers.

Full specs include a 4.7' 1280x720 SAMOLED display, two versions which would include either an octa-core Exynos or a Snapdragon 805, 2 GB RAM, 12/2.1 MP cameras, and an 1,860 mAh battery. The device will come with 32/64 GB storage options, which will not be expandable.

While the screen is somewhat disappointing, we would have gotten over that if the rest of the specs would match up. However, the phone doesn't do a thing to wow us, and with the 4.7' screen it is almost identical to the GS3's specs, with an upgraded processor. We could have expected more.


According to the source, announcement will occur between end-August to mid-September, and the device will be released between end-September to mid-October.

 Source: Tecmundo

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Apple employ name Sam Sung sells his Apple business card

One person used to work for Apple Canada as a "specialist". The job allowed him to get a business card, in order to hand to customers. Sounds normal until now? Well, ironically the name of the person is Sam Sung. Surprise he no longer works there.

Now, after his unlikely romance with Apple is over, he is selling off the memories on eBay. His business card makes for a funny sight, and if you are interested in purchasing it you can get it right off eBay, in a package that includes a business card and an Apple shirt, all wrapped up in a glass frame.

Now, don't take Sam for a money-hungry guy; He is giving away all the incomes of the bidding to charity. If all the above grabbed your attention, you are welcome to make a bid for the item. It will not come cheap though, as the current bid is already at $8,000. If that did not set you back, or you just want to glance, the link is below.

Link: eBay