WhatsApp soon to offer voice calls

The possibility of VoIP functionality in WhatsApp has been floating around in the rumor mill for quite some time now. While it has never been officially confirmed, little bits and pieces have been popping out here and there.

Recently a few interesting screenshots have surfaced, showcasing the popular chat application adorned with shiny new voice features.



While the functionality is still not available and probably not even fully complete, Android enthusiasts have managed to dig up a glimpse of what it may look like.

As it turns out, the Android version of WhatsApp exists in two main build branches, One stable branch, which can be found on the Play Store and which almost everybody has on their devices and another one, distributed directly off of the company’s website.

The latter gets updated a lot more frequently and avid Android tinkerers and developers have figured out that it often includes features that are still in the making. Those are hidden away for testing purposes.

The latest version of the application, supplied by the Facebook owned company, includes a lot of new secret screens that set the ground for a future voice calling function.



The leaked screenshots prove, almost without a doubt that voice calls are in the works, although still unconfirmed officially. There are a few bits of information that can be discovered by analyzing the screenshots. For one, the whole calling functionality seems, at least at present, pretty much separated from the chat function. There are separate screens that handle dialing, call logs and of course, the obligatory contacts screen and call status.

Little traces of voice conversation do however make their way into the standard chat interface as past or missed calls seem to pop up in the chat log, just like pictures. Perhaps this separation is simply artificial and solely for the sake of testing the new feature and things might look different when the service goes live.

Another interesting possibility that the photos hint at is that perhaps WhatsApp will allow for calls to be recorded and played back at a later time, which is definitely a nice little bonus.

As far as availability and pricing goes, we can’t really be sure yet. Facebook has made it clear that, for the time being, it does not intend to monetize on WhatsApp and will keep the app ad-free. It is somewhat safe to assume that the new voice feature will be free, or at least for the first year, as is the app itself at present.

Currently, the discovery is pretty intriguing, but it is too early to draw any conclusions based on the early screenshots. If you think that there is something to this story and know your way around the Android debug console, you could poke around and see what else you can find by yourself.

Be sure to check back with any interesting scoops.

Nokia C1 is the company's first post-Microsoft Android phone

Following the announcement of the Nokia N1, the company's first Android tablet after the Microsoft deal, now we hear the Finns are working on a phone running Google's mobile OS. The phone is dubbed simply C1 and an alleged product shot of it popped up.

Alongside it, there's also a rumored spec sheet, which includes an Intel-made chipset with 2GB RAM. The Nokia C1 would sport a 5" display, probably of 720p resolution, and have 32GB of storage. At the back, there is believed to be an 8MP camera joined by a 5MP one at the front.
The Nokia C1 will launch with Android 5.0 Lollipop garnished with Nokia's Z Launcher, just like the N1 tablet. It will be manufactured by Foxconn, since Nokia is prohibited from manufacturing devices until 2016 as per its acquisition contract with Microsoft.
There's no information regarding availability just yet. We suspect Nokia will announce the phone in the first quarter of 2015, but we're yet to see and hear more about the C1.

HTC One (M8) gets caught with Android 5.0.1 and Sense 6.0

Screenshots and videos of HTC One (M8) running Android 5.0.1 with Sense 6.0 made the rounds online. This time, the device boots software number 4.1 as opposed to 4.0 from a past leak.

Unsurprisingly, the Sense-d Android 5.0 on the HTC One (M8) looks fresh yet familiar. The Recents view is almost stock Android-like, while the Notification area and the Quick Settings are, in terms of design, a fusion between the language seen in Google's Lollipop and HTC Sense.


The new OS version should arrive on the Taiwanese company’s flagship smartphone in the near future. HTC promised to update the One (M8) to Android 5.0 by February 2, 2015.

Samsung rumoured to unveil Galaxy S6 at CES 2015

Although Samsung typically announces its Galaxy S series smartphones in the February-May period, rumor mills are abuzz that the company could unveil its upcoming flagship, the Galaxy S6, a bit earlier this time.

According to a report from Korean online publication Chosun Biz, which cites analysts from South Korea-based Mirae Asset Securities (MAS), the Galaxy S6 could be unveiled between January 6 and 9. That coincides with the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Furthermore, if the latest rumors are to be believed, we might see the curved screen variant debut alongside the Galaxy S6.
MAS analysts also predict that the South Korean company is aiming to sell a total of around 45 million units of the Galaxy S6, including 10 million units of the Edge variant. Needless to say, none of this has been officially confirmed by Samsung, so like all rumors take it with a pinch of salt.
The Galaxy S6 is expected to feature an Exynos 7420 octa-core processor, 5.5-inch QHD (1440×2560 pixels) display, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB internal storage. The device is said to have a 20-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front snapper.

Samsung launches the Galaxy A3 and A5 in Taiwan

Today Samsung held a press conference in Taiwan during which it made the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 smartphones official for that particular market. Of the two, we've seen the A5 already up for grabs in both China and Russia.
And now it's headed to Taiwan, along with its smaller and less capable sibling. The Galaxy A3 will be priced at TWD 8,990, which is about $287 or €231, while the A5 will retail for TWD 11,990 ($383, €307).

Both phones come with the same specs as elsewhere, and with the metal bodies you can expect from members of the new A series of Samsung handsets.
The Galaxy A3 has a 4.5-inch 540x960 Super AMOLED touchscreen, an 8 MP rear camera with LED flash, a 5 MP secondary cam, and a 1,900 mAh battery. It's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chipset, with a 1.2 GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU, aided by 1.5GB of RAM. There's 16GB of storage inside, and the device runs Android 4.4.4 KitKat.
The Galaxy A5 sports a 5-inch 720p Super AMOLED screen, a 13 MP rear snapper, 2GB of RAM, and a 2,300 mAh battery. Otherwise, it's identical to the A3

LG G3 Lollipop update spreads to more European countries

t looks like LG is going to actually deliver on its promise to update the G3 to Android 5.0 Lollipop by the end of this year. A couple of days ago we told you that units sold by Vodafone UK started getting the new bits, and now it turns out that the rollout has spread to many more European countries. This follows past releases in South Korea and Poland.
As this is an over-the-air rollout, it might take а few days for it to reach your particular G3, but if you are in one of the countries in the list below, then the update is on the way to you.

As always, devices bought unlocked and SIM-free might get the update sooner than ones purchased from carriers. After installing the new software, you'll be running version D85520e.
Now that it's made its way to Europe, hopefully the Lollipop update for the G3 will soon travel to the USA. And then LG could focus on the G2, last year's flagship.

New photos of Lumia 1030 leak, device said to be here to stay

A few interesting photos found their way to Baidu today. They show a Lumia prototype device, which is said to be the 1030 McLaren. Interestingly enough we saw very similar photos last month of what appears to be the same unit and perhaps even the same photo-shoot.
   
Back then, the Lumia at hand was said to be a cancelled successor to the Lumia 1020, but the new info says it's actually an upcoming Microsoft smartphone.
The newly leaked shots, unlike the initial ones, show a lot more from the device. It appears to be fully working and we can gather bits and pieces for its specifications from the new post. The alleged Lumia 1030 will supposedly feature a 1080p display, 2GB of RAM, 32GB onboard storage and if initial rumors are to be believed, a quad-core Snapdragon chipset.
   
A clearer close-up view of the PureView module, Zeiss-certified camera and confirmation thatthe device will have a dual-LED flash, as opposed to the xenon one found in its predecessor. One of the photos also reviews that the new handset will support 4G, while another clearly shows a microSD slot along with a micro SIM. We also got a few side-by-side shots with the iPhone 6 for size reference.
   
As curious as these new photos are the new alleged Lumia 1030 is still not confirmed in any official way so it may indeed end up as a dead prototype. So this new information should be taken with a grain of salt for the time being.

First phablet with Gorilla Glass 4 is Samsung galaxy note 4

We first heard about the potential next Gorilla Glass 4 edition when a Lumia flagship prototype leaked out, and was featured with the tough and thin protective layer on top of its display. At the time it was dismissed as a typo or a fake rumor, but a few weeks later, at the end of November, Corning indeed took to the airwaves, and announced the fourth iteration of its Gorilla Glass franchise. This one is thinner and stronger than its predecessor, as they always are, but we knew nothing about which handsets are or will be equipped with the durable sheets.

Well, yesterday Corning issued a press release to inform us that it's the Galaxy Alpha that had the privilege to be the first handset flaunting Gorilla Glass 4, which allowed it to remain thin, light and yet a tough nut to crack. Now, we are learning that there is at least another handset out there with the new cover sheet from Corning, and it is none other than the Note 4 - the world's first phablet with Gorilla Glass 4, suits it right.

Kirin-powered Huawei Honor 4X gets listed before announcement

According to an oizoioi report, a Kirin 620-powered version of the Huawei Honor 4X is now available for pre-sale. This is particularly interesting given the fact that the company hasn’t yet announced the device - a launch event is scheduled for December 16.

The device is powered by the Kirin 620, rather than the Snapdragon 410 used on the original version. The home-baked chipset still offers 64-bit and LTE support, but it features an octa-core CPU and the Mali 450 GPU.
Other features include a 5.5 inch HD display, 13 MP rear camera, and 5 MP front camera. In addition, the device packs in a 3000mAh battery, and will be available in two versions: a lower-end version with 1GB of RAM and a higher end version with 2GB of RAM.
As for the price, the report says the 1GB version is expected to retail for 799 yuan ($129), while the 2GB version is expected to retail for 999 yuan ($161).
Aside from the Honor 4X LTE, the upcoming event will also see the launch of the Honor 6Plus with Dual Rear Camera.

Next Samsung Exynos SoC rumored to feature Cat.10 LTE

LTE Cat. 6 is quickly becoming the standard with new flagship handsets. It delivers quite respectable data speeds of up to 300Mbps on the downlink wherever capable enough networks are available.
And while carriers still have a long way to go to catch up to current tech, chipset manufacturers are already preparing to move forward. Recently Qualcomm announced a Cat.10 LTE-capable chip, which boasts speeds of up to 450 Mbps. The chipset in question, however, is not the Snapdragon 810, that will power a lot of next generation flagships, as it features Cat. 6 LTE.
But surprisingly enough, Cat. 10 modems might be closer to consumer markets than we thought. According to the Korean media, Samsung will be shipping Exynos devices with the new technology as early as next year. Rumors even extend further and speculate that the Samsung Galaxy S6 might support the new bandwidths in its Exynos-powered version.


This marks a huge step forward for Samsung for two main reasons. Firstly if the Korean tech giant does manage to incorporate Cat. 10 LTE in consumer devices in time for the arrival of the next Galaxy S flagship, that would give the company's own SoC a formidable advantage over Qualcomm's Snapdragon series.
Perhaps even more importantly this would mark another move towards a full in-house chip manufacturing process for Samsung. Having its own CPU, GPU and Modem would allow Samsung to pursue new development strategies and consumer markets.
This, however is still entirely in the realm of speculations and for the time being Samsung will most likely be sticking to the current scheme of offering Qualcomm chips its their own.
There are a number of reasons for this arrangement ranging from lower costs to marketing and manufacturing concerns and Samsung might even never achieve, or for that matter want a completly closed production circle.

Samsung starts rolling out Lollipop to Galaxy S5 in Korea

After several leaks Samsung has now started rolling out the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for the Galaxy S5 in Korea. The update is rolling out on all three major carriers, namely KT, SK Telecom and LG Uplus.

We have talked about Samsung's Lollipop update previously but if you missed it, honestly, it's not much. Surely there are under the hood changes but if you are expecting a major leap forward in terms of design you won't get it. It still very much looks like TouchWiz did on KitKat with some minor changes.
No word on when the update will roll out to other regions but it probably won't be too long from now.

Samsung Galaxy Core Prime (SM-G360) released in India

Although not officially, Samsung has released the Galaxy Core Prime SM-G360 in India. The entry-level Android device is now listed on eBay and Amazon.in at a price tag of INR9,380 ($151) and INR10,200 ($164), respectively.

The device is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and features a 4.5 inch WVGA (480×800 pixels) LCD display, 5 megapixel rear camera with LED Flash and 2 megapixel front-facing camera take care of photography. Internal storage is 8GB and is expandable by up to 64 GB, RAM is 1GB. The whole thing runs Android on 4.4 KitKat.
The smartphone is equipped with dual SIM slots, and has multiple connectivity options including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and HSPA+.
The release comes nearly two months after the smartphone was briefly listed on one of the country’s largest e-commerce websites, Flipkart.

Lamborghini Tauri 88 smartphone runs Android, packs 20MP camera

You're getting into your Lamborghini and your phone rings – with the default iPhone ringtone. Well, that's embarrassing, a 16 year old school kid has one of those. To prevent future embarrassments you need something like the Tonino Lamborghini Tauri 88, a smartphone with premium materials, Italian design and good specs.
The Tauri 88 is made of steel (available in Gold, Black or plain steel colors) and leather (a choice of Black, Blue, Red, Orange and Brown) complete with decorative stitches. The phone was designed in Italy and sports the recognizable raging bull logo (which was inspired by the Taurus constellation).


The phone packs quite a punch – a 5" screen with 1080p resolution, runs Android on a Snapdragon 801 chipset with 3GB of RAM, 64GB of built-in expandable storage and a beefy 3,400mAh battery that promises up to 35 hours of 3G talk time. If you can afford a phone like this, you'll be making a lot of calls so that's good.
There's a 20MP camera on the back (most likely from Sony) and an impressive 8MP camera on the front – Tonino Lamborghini is challenging you to take the most luxurious selfie in the world (post it on Instagram with #TheLavishSelfie), apparently even big shots are not immune to the selfie craze.


Anyway, only 1947 Tonino Lamborghini Tauri 88 phones will be built, each costing $6,000. In case you were wondering, Antonio "Tonino" Lamborghini is the son of Ferruccio, the founder of Lamborghini, and was born in 1947.

 Flagship camera shootout 2014HTC One (E8) review NEWS Samsung announces its press conference for CES 2015

Following Sony, Samsung is the second mobile device maker to officially unveil its schedule for CES 2015. The huge trade show is fast approaching, as we're now exactly one month away from its debut.
January 5 is when Samsung will hold a press conference at CES, starting at 2 pm Las Vegas Time. This will be followed by a keynote address by BK Yoon, Samsung Electronics CEO and President, at 6:30 pm.

On the same day Sony will hold its CES presentation, though that will start at 5 pm. So this is shaping up to be a pretty crowded day, as the day before the trade show's doors open has always been.
Right now it's unclear if Samsung will use this avenue for announcing new devices, but given past behavior we wouldn't rule that out.

Apple is on its way to a record quarter thanks to iPhone 6

According to research data gathered by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech through the month of October, Apple is on its way to a record quarterly performance. Unsurprisingly, sales of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are the main reason for the impending achievement.
The launch of the iPhone 6 product family led to jump in Apple sales in most major markets. The latter include Australia, the United States, and major European economies headed by Great Britain.
UK sales have been particularly stellar for Apple. The company has the highest share of sales to date with almost 40%. The transactions have been driven mostly by loyal Apple fans (86% to be precise) - only 5% switche from a Samsung device.
A traditional Apple stronghold, the US market saw iPhone sales rise by a modest 0.7% from the same period last year. AT&T and Verizon are responsible for the majority of all iPhone 6 sales (83.6% combined). In line with what we know already, Kantar data suggests that iPhone 6 outsells its bigger brother by 3:1 ratio.
China saw Apple sales grow 0.2 to 15.7% through October. It is worth noting that the iPhone 6 didn’t launch until October 17 on the Chinese market. We reckon that a timelier start of sales would have made a more significant impact.
Xiaomi was the most dominant company in China for the period in question with almost 30% share of the market. The RedMi Note was the company’s bestseller.

Android 5.0 arrives on Samsung Galaxy S5 in Europe

Android 5.0 Lollipop is now seeding to Samsung Galaxy S5 handsets in Europe. The exact device model to receive the new build is SM-G900F.
As seen already, Samsung Galaxy S5 runs TouchWiz-ed version of Android 5.0, so the user experience will not be dramatically different from the one in version 4.4. However, thanks to the brand new ART runtime, we reckon that users will feel a noticeable improvement in the responsiveness of the device.
The update is currently available for the devices in Poland. It will begin rolling out to more markets across Europe soon.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 for Verizon gets Android 4.4.4 KitKat

Verizon unleashed Android 4.4.4 KitKat update for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and while at it pushed a few bug fixes and some of its proprietary carrier apps. The update improves LTE data connectivity and touts enhanced voice performance.


The Galaxy Note 3 now shouldn't experience issues with audio over Bluetooth when connected to a Wi-Fi network and random bugs with SMS sending are also squashed. Using a VPN will no longer cause the phone to disconnect mobile data, too.
As for the added software, Verizon includes in the update Find My Mobile, Side Sync call forwarding, Virtual tour camera mode and Kids Mode. Knox 2.0 for enterprises is also baked into the update.
Expect Android 4.4.4 KitKat for your Verizon Galaxy Note 3 in the coming days.

Android 5.0 Lollipop demonstrated on the Samsung Galaxy Note 4

We have seen Android 5.0 Lollipop being shown off before on the Galaxy S5 and the Galaxy S4. Now, SamMobile has managed to get their hands on the Lollipop ROM for the new Galaxy Note 4.
If you have seen the images and videos for the S4 and S5 Lollipop ROMs, you know what to expect by now. The general look and feel of the UI is still very much TouchWiz, to the point where most people will find them indistinguishable. There are only minor changes in the UI, most notably in the notification area, but that's pretty much it. Samsung is still sticking to its own UI design and only making minor modification to fit in with the new Material Design of Lollipop.
You can check out the UI in the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2DW6YKhLxY

Sony Xperia Z Ultra GPe getting Android 5.0 Lollipop update

Sony may have demoed early Android 5.0 Lollipop builds on the Xperia Z1, Z2, Z3 trio but it’s the Sony Xperia Z Ultra GPe that is getting the coveted update first. GPe – short for Google Play Edition – is a line of purified flagship devices from several makers, like a branded Nexus line.
Some lucky bloke on the Android Central forums already downloaded the system update, weighing in at 397.3MB it requires at least 500MB free to install (that’s not much, considering iOS 8 requires 4-5GB).

Android 5.0 Lollipop update for the Sony Xperia Z Ultra GPe now available
The update introduces a "bold new visual style" (Material Design), improves performance and adds new features. Among them are notifications on the lock screen, interruption controls for the notifications and Smart Lock (disable the secure lockscreen when connected to certain Bluetooth devices or NFC tags). The battery saving mode has also been improved.
Again, note that this update is for the Sony Xperia Z Ultra Google Play Edition, the one with Xperia software is still waiting (but will certainly get the Lollipop update).
Go on, check for updates on your phone and if it’s available, drop a line in the comments with your region – it will be very informative to our other readers.

Downgrading to iOS 8.1 no longer possible

Nearly a couple of weeks after releasing iOS 8.1.1, which brought along several bug fixes as well as increased stability and performance improvements for the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S, Apple has stopped signing iOS 8.1. This means that you’ll no longer be able to downgrade or restore to the previous firmware version.

The change in the signing status of iOS 8.1 can be confirmed on the popular third-party iOS firmware database IPSW Downloads -- the iOS 8.1 page on the website now shows red ‘!’ icons instead of green check mark icons.
If you prefer jailbroken devices, you’ll be pleased to know that iOS 8.1.1, which is compatible with the iPhone 4S and newer, iPad 2 and newer, and the fifth-generation iPod touch, is jailbreakable as well.

Samsung may be working on an in-house GPU

Late last year we heard that Samsung may be designing its own processor core. That is yet to materialize, but now reports from Korean media suggest the tech giant is looking to make in-house GPUs too.
The GPU will reportedly be ready by the middle of next year. It's not entirely clear if it will be combined into an all-Samsung chipset with the homebrewed CPU or not, but if it is the plans are for a chipset with a 64-bit capable big.LITTLE processor and a Cat. 6 LTE modem.


The company already has its own modems and if it lives up to both its CPU and GPU ambitions, it will join the ranks of Qualcomm, Intel and Nvidia, companies that make chipsets from all in-house parts.
Until now Samsung had its Exynos line (using ARM-designed CPUs and GPUs), but over the last couple of years it was mostly relying on Qualcomm’s offerings.
The GPU information was revealed as part of a conversation with the SEC – Samsung is currently embroiled in a battle with Nvidia over GPU patents.

5 things that Nokia did before (but not necessarily better than) Google

While Google and Nokia started as (and have always been) very different companies, there are quite a few important things that the two have in common. In its glory days, Nokia accomplished things that Google also achieved some years later. Unlike Nokia, however, Google seems to be doing everything better - maybe just because times have changed, or because Google simply knows how to make plans work. Or maybe both reasons are valid. In any case, we could say that, in some ways, Google is now what Nokia once was.

Naturally, Google is evolving differently, thanks to its astonishing financial power and all the talented employees it has. Meanwhile, Nokia is no longer involved in the phone making business (having sold its Devices and Services unit to Microsoft) - so we thought that this would be a good time to look back and check out some of the things that the Finnish company managed to do before its collapse. Mind you, we're talking about Nokia's collapse strictly as a phone maker. 

1. At some point, Nokia was the sole owner of the world’s most popular smartphone OS

Symbian Ltd. was established in the late 90s, following a partnership between Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson, and Psion. It wasn’t until 2008 that Nokia fully acquired it, thus becoming the sole owner of Symbian OS. Nokia then created the Symbian Foundation, making the platform open-source. At the time, Symbian was still the undisputed leader in the smartphone market, with a share of over 50%. For the record, 2008 was Android’s first year of public existence, ending with a 0.5% market share for Google’s OS.

Nokia’s control over what was the world’s most popular smartphone OS only lasted for 2 years: in the fourth quarter of 2010, Android took over Symbian, thus forever ending its hegemony. After that, Symbian went downhill, and its development ceased in 2012.

Fast forward to today: Google is about to enter its fifth year as the owner of the world’s leading smartphone OS. Right now, Android’s market share sits at over 80%. Things are looking very promising for the future, and it’s hard to believe that Android will lose its top position anytime soon.
 
1. A look at the evolution of the main smartphone OSes from 2009 to 2011

2. Nokia offered maps navigation for its smartphones before Google

Google launched Maps Navigation for Android (for free!) in November 2009, first only in the US, with other markets receiving the service starting 2010. Nokia was already providing maps navigation for its Symbian handsets via what was called Ovi Maps from 2007 to 2011. Nokia made some major acquisitions in this regard, with NAVTEQ (bought in 2007 for $8.1 billion) being the most important among them. Right now, Nokia’s mapping and navigation services are controlled and developed by HERE - a separate business unit of the company, which recently started offering HERE maps for Android.

3. Nokia had a mobile gaming platform

Five years before Google launched its Play Games service (in 2013), Nokia introduced N-Gage: its very own mobile gaming platform for select Symbian S60 devices. The platform’s release was delayed from 2007 to 2008, when it was finally released to the public on the Nokia N81 (with more compatible smartphones being added not long after that). Apart from letting users discover and download games, Nokia N-Gage also had social features, including friends lists and score tables. The platform was not well received, and Nokia had no clear strategy regarding it. Thus, in 2009, Nokia started offering games via Ovi Store, announcing it would scrap the N-Gage platform. As for Google, its Play Games service is wildly successful, luring more than 100 million users this year alone.

4. Nokia had a WebKit-based browser for smartphones since the mid 2000s

Nokia’s Symbian S60 web browser was based on WebKit starting 2005, thus being included on lots of iconic Symbian smartphones - like the Nokia N95 and the Nokia E71. Google also relied on WebKit to build its Android browser that debuted on the T-Mobile G1 in late 2008. At the moment, Chrome for Android (which replaced the original Android browser) is based on an engine called Blink - this uses some WebKit components, too.

5. Nokia was behind smartphones believed to be "iPhone killers"

The term “iPhone killer” was quite popular some years back, but now almost no one uses it anymore (probably because everyone realized that the iPhone can’t be killed). Nokia introduced several smartphones believed by some to have had the potential of being iPhone killers, including the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic (released in 2008), the Nokia N97 (announced in 2008, but launched in 2009), and the Nokia N8 from 2010. Needless to say, Google was also behind some so-called iPhone killers, though not always directly: the original Motorola Droid, the original Samsung Galaxy S, the Nexus One, the original HTC Desire, and others.