Jolla Tablet returns to Indiegogo with 64GB of built-in memory

The Finnish manufacturer Jolla resumed the crowdsourcing campaign for its first ever Sailfish OS slate. The original Indiegogo campaign for the Jolla Tablet ended on December 9 last year with 480% funded.

Jolla Tablet returns to Indiegogo with slightly improved hardware and special $249 price tag. The changes in the tablet include 64GB of built-in memory (up from 32GB on the original offering) and support for 128GB microSD cards.
Laminated display, built-in gyro and compass, and slightly larger 4,450mAh battery are also features that were missing in the last campaign. The slightly improved Jolla Tablet will begin shipping to backers in June.
Users who already ordered the Jolla Tablet with 32GB of memory should not despair - a $25 perk is available for those who are willing to upgrade their existing order. The 32GB version is still available to order for $219.
Jolla’s latest Indiegogo campaign will last through February.

LG Mobile reports 16% increase in annual revenue in 2014

It's been a hectic several weeks for accountants the world over, and after Apple boasted record numbers, now LG's figures have been published. LG Mobile Communications Company reports a $14.26B annual revenue, a steady 16% increase on a yearly basis.

The rise is fueled in no small part by the North American market, where Q4 2014 marked a substantial 78% increase in units shipped compared to the same period in 2013.
Out of a total of 78.2M handsets sold globally, 59.1M were smartphones, a 24% increase. The smartphone sales are reported to be the reason for the boost in full-year consolidated revenue to $55.91B.
The figures of the mobile subsidiary are only average for the corporation as a whole. LG Home Entertainment Company (the one making HDTVs) is the top dog with a 31% percent increase in revenue to $18.35B.
More importantly, the combined net profit of the conglomerate has skyrocketed to $474.81M, a massive 125% increase over 2013 numbers. Operating profit has seen a notable 46% growth to $1.73B, as well.

Nokia Annual report shows steady rise and strong Q4 2014

It comes as no surprise that Nokia is still recovering from the fairly recent restructuring, brought about by the acquisition of its devices & services units department by Microsoft. But while a lot of people think the Finnish tech giant is dead, the latest fiscal report for 2014 definitely shows otherwise. The fact is that even though Microsoft is, for the time being at least, in charge of the Lumia brand Nokia is still a very reputable player in terms of network equipment and services and still carries out productive research activities.

That being said the Finnish company has still a lot to account for when it comes to its three main divisions - Nokia Networks, Nokia Technologies and HERE. Even since the aforementioned acquisition was completed sales numbers and operation costs have been on the rise and the latest report now confirms that in Q4 2014 Nokia finally achieved higher overall net sales over the same period in 2013 when Microsoft was still out of the picture.

The year over year change is about 9% from 3 476 million net sales in Q4 2013 to 3 802 million in Q4 2014. This represents an even more impressive 14% quarter over quarter rise. Nokia seems to be getting on its feet again and predominantly thanks to Nokia Networks, which reals in more of the income with its operations stretching all around the world, but most notably in Europe and Asia-Pacific. Operational profit increase is even more impressive with 28% overall growth from 2013 and an impressive 25% for Nokia networks in particular.

Even though networking seems to reel in the big money this is not to say that Nokia's other two major divisions are not doing good. On the contrary, Nokia Technologies, the dedicated research department marks a 23% yearly growth in net sales over 2013, but sadly a drop in operating profits. HERE, which concerns itself mostly with navigation and the HERE software, recently made available for Android is in pretty much the same position with 15% yearly net sales increase and 20% drop in operating profits.

Rajeev Suri, current CEO of Nokia had this to say about the report:
The power of the new Nokia could be seen in our fourth quarter results. All of our businesses delivered strong year-on-year net sales growth. Profitability was excellent in Nokia Networks, and we were particularly pleased with our net sales growth in North America and core networks. HERE continued its momentum in the automotive segment, and the early reception to the Nokia N1 tablet has been remarkably favorable, showing the ongoing power of the Nokia brand and the long-term potential of our brand licensing business. Looking ahead, while 2014 was a year of reinvention, we see 2015 as a year of execution.
Things seem to be finally looking up for Nokia and with the Nokia N1 tablet already captivating users, perhaps the Finnish company still has a chance to regain some of its former glory on the mobile market, but for now all eyes are on Microsoft to take proper care of the Lumia name.

Samsung’s latest earnings report reveals declining profits

Samsung released its earnings report for Q4 of the fiscal 2014. The Korean giant posted operating profit of 5.29 trillion won ( about $4.87 billion) from revenue of 52.73 trillion won ($48.6 billion.

The results show a decline from the same period a year ago by over a third. Samsung posted operating profit of 8.3 trillion won last year from 59.28 billion won of revenue. The company’s net income has now declined on an annual basis for four straight quarters.
Samsung’s mobile division posted 26.29 trillion won of revenue and 1.96 trillion won of profit for the quarter thanks to strong sales of Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The profit is down by more than 60% from 5.47 trillion won ($5.09 billion) a year ago.
The company expects its mobile business to grow throughout 2015 in emerging markets such as India and China. Expansion of 4G LTE services globally will also help its cause.
Samsung will also focus on “new materials, innovative design and differentiated features” in order to make its future devices stand out from the crowd. The newly launched Galaxy A series of smartphones will drive the company’s performance over the next quarter until the launch of Samsung Galaxy S6.
On the tablet side of the business, Samsung will focus on both premium and affordable devices. The company will continue to push forward in the market for wearables as well.
The manufacturer’s processor and RAM businesses unsurprisingly did well during the quarter. Considering Samsung’s plans to utilize its own silicon in future products, expectations point at a strong year ahead for the units

Edged variant of Galaxy S6 could be called simply Galaxy S Edge

Samsung's next expected flagship device - the alleged Galaxy S6 has been generating a lot of buzz in the rumor mill. But besides the usual talk of more RAM, a better camera and whether it will be water resistant or not there is also another exciting rumor floating around, namely that the device might be available is a variant with a curved screen.

This is an exciting thought and it seems to be inching closer and closer to becoming a reality. One of our readers tipped us off that the source code of a certain product page on Vodafone.nl holds a comment carelessly left behind by a developer, that hints of an upcoming preorder for something dubbed the "Galaxy S Edge".
If might just indicate that Samsung has decided to go with the same naming scheme as its first edged device - the Galaxy Note Edge and drop the number from the title. Even if we trust Vodafone's anonymous developer on the preorder set to happen this still tells is little about the device itself and there is a lot that needs clarification.
To mention some of the chaos and confusion surrounding the Galaxy S Edge, it is still unclear whether its screen will be curved on just one side, like the Note Edge or it will extend downward on both sides. Rumors, however go beyond and state that the device not only exists, but a testing unit has made it to India for R&D purposes.
In any case Samsung is still to confirm anything regarding the mythical Galaxy S Edge. Hopefully we will know more pretty soon, but seeing how MWC 2015 is just around the corner we might have a month or so of waiting if Samsung decides to hold up until the big venue.

HTC One (M9) photos leak, reveal new camera

The upcoming flagship device by HTC, dubbed presumably HTC One (M9) or more recognizably HTC Hima, has seen the light of day. Visually very similar to the predecessor, the device is only distinguishable by a different main camera on the back.

The square cutout is to house the new 20.7MP sensor which is set to replace HTC's rather unsuccessful attempts at camera innovation. The UltraPixel concept gathered a lot of criticizm for its uninspiring good light performance and lack of 4K video recording and was replaced in the company's upper-midrange, with the flagship to follow.
HTC Hima is reported to keep the predecessor's screen size and resolution at 5 inches and 1920x1080 pixels, contrary to most of this year's flagships, which are keen to jump on the QHD bandwagon. The Snapdragon 810 will power the device, coupled with 3GB of RAM.
All this can change, of course, upon official unveiling, which is expected to take place on March 1.

Samsung dominated smartphone shipments in 2014

In the year 2014 the world saw an increased number of smartphones shipped but overall little change in the top three vendors. Samsung has been the leader for some time now but is seeing its market share slowly reduced by the likes of tough competition.
Year over year Samsung's market share has shrunk by 4.5 percentage points and TrendForce's prediction is that the top smartphone maker will lose another 1.4 percentage points by this time next year.
The second place is again reserved for Apple, which sits more firmly with just 0.2% lost year over year. Lenovo is once again in third but it's only able to claim that position thanks to the acquisition of Motorola, which added a 3% share of its own.


Huawei and LG have fought over fourth place for awhile now but LG managed to come out on top in TrendForce's yearly numbers and reclaim the spot with just 0.1%.
Overall shipments in 2014 are 1.2 billion units - up from 2013's 927.2 million.
In the projection for next year Samsung, Apple and Lenovo are expected to hold onto their positions but Chinese makers like Xiaomi and Huawei will surpass LG and move closer to Lenovo.

HP announces three new Android tablets, including a 12-inch beast

HP has just pulled the curtains on a trio of Android, coming in three different sizes. 
HP Pro Slate 12
The centerpiece of the announcement is the Android duo, the Pro Slate 12 and Pro Slate 8, slates in the truest of senses. The larger 12.3-inch model actually has a lower resolution at 1600x1200 pixels, resulting in a rather mediocre by today's standards 163ppi.
The Pro Slate 8 offers a much better 324ppi on its 7.9-inch 1536x2048 pixel screen.
  
Pro Slate 12 • Pro Slate 8 • Duet Pen
Both tablets boot Android KitKat and are be powered by the Snapdragon 800 chipset, accompanied by 2GB of RAM. What's more intriguing is HP's Duet Pen which will be a part of the Slates package. The innovative stylus implementation allows the user to draw on any surface, with the result automatically transferred to the tablet.
A more traditional stylus experience is offered by the Pro Slate 10 EE. It is equipped with an Intel Atom 1.33GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and a 10.1-inch 1280x800 pixel

Samsung tests new 7-inch tablet, bigger ones could be 4:3

Last week we told you about a few purported new tablets that Samsung was rumored to be working on. Their model numbers leaked, but today we have another yet unheard of slate making its way to India for testing purposes.
The Samsung SM-T239 has a 7-inch 1,280x800 touchscreen, and mobile data connectivity (since it sports a SIM card slot). Judging by the model number at play this could be the 7-inch version of the Galaxy Tab 5. That fact is seemingly backed up by a user agent profile for the device, which tells us it sports a 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU. This could be part of the 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chipset, seen in many recent lower-end offerings right and left.

If this is the Galaxy Tab 5 7.0, then it may be joined in Samsung's lineup by bigger models which will have 4:3 aspect ratio displays. The 4:3 aspect ratio has been used by every iPad ever released, though for quite a while the Android world seemed more focused on 16:10. That's starting to change after the release of the 4:3 Nexus 9, and Samsung may want to follow Google's lead on this.
So a new rumor claims that the company's next slates will employ the same aspect ratio as the Nexus 9. The previously leaked SM-T35x and SM-P35x could be 8-inch devices in this situation, while the SM-T55x and SM-P55x might be 9.7-inch offerings.
Either way, all of these tablets are apparently going to be powered by the 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 SoC. The SM-Tx5x models may get branded as Galaxy Tab 5, while the SM-Px5x might be new entry-level Note-branded tablets. Don't expect them too soon, though - they're only due to see the light of day in Q2 or Q3. On the plus side, this means they'll launch running Android 5.0 Lollipop, so there's that.
As for the SM-T239, this looks set to stay with the 16:10 form factor, for whatever reason.

NEWS Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge won’t be water resistant

an apparent attempt to increase its profit margins, Samsung is reportedly doing away with the IP certification from the non-Active models of its upcoming flagship, the Galaxy S6. This, in layman's terms, means that the device, as well as its all but officially confirmed cousin, the Galaxy S6 Edge, will not be water resistant.

It is worth noting that the South Korean company’s previous flagship, the Galaxy S5, which the company launched last year, came with IP67 certification, which officially means "dust tight" and surviving up to 30 minutes at 1m underwater.
The alleged move, though disappointing, isn’t exactly surprising given that Samsung had a rough last year with S5 sales falling short of expectations, and the company reporting its lowest profits in more than two years.

HTC's Lollipop update schedule leaks, original One is next

Yesterday the HTC One (M8) started receiving the update to Android 5.0 Lollipop in earnest, after the original rollout for the Google Play Edition units last month. Now the Developer Edition version joins in on the Lollipop fun - but not only that, even the One (M8) models sold unlocked are getting the new bits.
You might however be wondering which will be the next HTC smartphone to be updated. And the completely unsurprising answer for that seems to be the original One from 2013. That's according to the table you can see below, which is said to be an accurate representation of HTC's plans on the matter.


Only the two One flagships are due for a Lollipop treat this month, but things will pick up in February. That's when the HTC One (E8), Desire Eye, One (M8) Eye, and Butterfly 2 should be seeing the new software.
Then, in March, the One Max, HTC One Dual-SIM, Desire 816, Desire 820u, One Mini 2, and the Chinese variations of the One (E8) and One (M8) Eye will follow suit.
The last HTC devices to get Lollipop will do so either in March or in April. These are the Desire 610, Desire 820s, Desire 510, and the original One Mini. And that's it.
HTC is apparently working to finish the Lollipop updates by the end of April, so it can then gradually issue updates to a new version of Sense starting in May. This will be introduced alongside the company's next flagship device, and will presumably come to a few of its past higher-end offerings as well.
A word of caution, though. Even if this information may be 100% accurate right now, update time frames can slip. Also, there's absolutely no way to tell if these details are truthful, since HTC hasn't officially said anything about the updates.
If this does pan out, then we're looking at a pretty big number of handsets that are getting the latest version of Android, which is great news. And the rollouts won't be taking too long either, compared to some past experiences.

Apple iOS 8.1.3 update will reportedly arrive this week

According to a new report, Apple will release iOS 8.1.3 to devices worldwide this week. Cupertino has already seeded iOS 8.1.3 build 12B460 to a number of retail employees for testing.

Apple has not tested upcoming iOS builds with retail employees in the past. There is no word on the changes that iOS 8.1.3 will bring for the time being. We are betting on minor improvements and bug fixes.
The Cupertino giant released iOS 8.1.2 a month ago. The build addressed issues with ringtones purchased through the iTunes Store.

Upcoming Microsoft Lumia 435 gets certified in Brazil

Microsoft Lumia 435 made yet another unscheduled appearance. This time around the already leaked, upcoming budget smartphone passed through the Brazilian counterpart of the FCC called Anatel.

The certification authority’s paperwork confirms the smartphone’s name and RM-1068 model number. The device in the filing totes dual-SIM 3G connectivity.
The confidentiality request by Microsoft for the device’s images in the filing is set to expire at the end of this month. This means that the official debut of the Lumia 435 is not far into the future.
Rumored specs of Microsoft Lumia 435 include Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 chipset, 4” WVGA display with 235ppi, and 5MP main camera. The smartphone will slot below the already affordable Microsoft Lumia 535 in the product range of the Redmond giant.

Samsung Galaxy A7 goes official with 6.3mm metal unibody

Samsung Galaxy A7 is finally official. The metal-clad smartphone with optional dual-SIM functionality will be available at the end of Q1 this year in two different chipset configurations.

The Galaxy A7 will feature a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 SoC or 32-bit Exynos 5430 solution. Both chipsets feature octa-core CPU (1.5GHz quad A53 + 1.0GHz quad A53 for the Snapdragon 615 and 1.8GHz quad A15 + 1.3GHz quad A7 for the Exynos 5430).

Both versions of the smartphone will offer 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in memory. A microSD card slot for further expansion will also be available.

Samsung Galaxy A7 packs 5.5” HD Super AMOLED display. The rest of the device’s specs include 13MP main camera, 5MP front-facing unit, and full connectivity suite headed by Cat. 4 LTE.
The smartphone boots Android 4.4 KitKat with TouchWiz UI. An update to Android 5.0 Lollipop is naturally in the works.
Physical measures of the Samsung Galaxy A7 are 151 x 76.2 x 6.3 mm, while its weight tips the scale at 141 grams. A 2,600mAh battery powers the device. The handset is the slimmest offering with metal unibody to date.
Samsung Galaxy A7 will be available in dark blue, white, or gold color schemes. The Korean giant promises a “competitive price point” for the device.

Update finally ends touch issues on dual-SIM Lumia 535

he Microsoft Lumia 535 (first MS Lumia device ever) was well received by users on a tight budget but exhibited issues with touch sensitivity soon after launch.
Microsoft was quick to provide a fix for the single-SIM variant of the phone but those with the slightly more expensive dual-SIM version were left out.

But now Microsoft is issuing a firmware update that will bring an end to touch inaccuracies for both the single and dual-SIM Lumia 535.
The update also enables Windows Phone's virtual assistant Cortana for Germany, France, Italy and Spain and the ability to add a cellular data toggle to quick actions in Action Center.
Check for the update right now and if it isn't there it should arrive soon.

Sony to sell both FHD and QHD versions of the Xperia Z4

Taiwanese ePrice has been a frequent source of rumors and the latest batch concerns the upcoming Sony Xperia Z4. According to an unnamed source, the next Sony flagship smartphone is going to be available in two versions - one with a 1080p display and another with a QHD one. The version with a higher-resolution display is going to retail in the US, while other markets will have to make do with the full HD version.

Furthermore, it's said that Sony has managed to further improve the water resistant capabilities of the Xperia Z4. The phone would not have a flap cover on the USB port in order to keep the internals dry. The front-facing camera is also believed to be improved, but there's no further information on specifics.
In December, an alleged photo of the Xperia Z4 leaked through an email. It shows a Sony-branded smartphone with a glossy metal frame and a camera shutter button on the right side. The rumored specs of the Sony Xperia Z4 include a Snapdragon 810 SoC with 4GB of RAM and Cat.6 LTE as well as a 5.2" display.
Sony is anticipated to officially unveil the Xperia Z4 in either May or November. We hope to catch the phone at MWC 2014 in March, though.

iOS 8 now powers 68% of Apple's mobile devices

According to the latest data from Apple itself, iOS 8 is now on 68% of the devices that are currently registered with the iTunes App Store. Thus, we can assume that the same percentage of Apple mobile devices currently in use are running the latest version of the OS.
That's up from 64% on December 22 of last year, 56% on November 12, 52% on October 29, and 46% on October 5.


29% of Apple devices are still on iOS 7, while those on even earlier iterations of the software make up just 4% of the pie at this point. If you were doing the math, the current distribution numbers add up to 101%, which is probably due to all of the numbers having been rounded upward.
The fact that around two thirds of iPhones and iPads are now on iOS 8 is confirmed by two mobile analytics firms too. Mixpanel says iOS 8 has a 69.1% share, while Fiksu has it at 64.9%. Apple's numbers are from this Monday, as are Fiksu's. Mixpanel's data is from today.
The adoption of iOS 8 has lagged behind what we've seen for iOS 7 over the same period, but it's still growing, albeit slowly. At the same time last year, iOS 7 was already installed on 78% of devices. It might just be that some people aren't able to free up the 2GB of space that the iOS 8 download requires.

Amazon's Fire Phone is now down to $189 unlocked

Let's face it, Amazon's Fire Phone has been anything but successful, despite its overhyped introduction. The company's first smartphone has, in fact, been such a flop that it's already caused some $170 million in losses. That's quite the amount, even for such a big retailer.
Since it banked on the Fire Phone's success, Amazon apparently ordered quite a few of them, and now it has a lot of units lying around. So it's resorted to cutting the price of the handset multiple times so far. The latest drop, from today, makes the device the most affordable it's ever been.
That's because you can now grab a Fire Phone, SIM-free and unlocked, for just $189. That price level is usually reserved for much lower-end hardware in the Android world, but the Fire Phone does come with caveats of its own, chief among which is that it runs Amazon's forked version of Android which is devoid of any Google apps.
Let's not forget that buying a Fire Phone means you get one year of free Amazon Prime, which in itself is a $99 value. So we're getting closer and closer to the point where Amazon simply starts giving its first smartphone away for practically nothing.
It's amazing to think that when it launched, Amazon was charging $649 for an unlocked Fire Phone. That then changed to $449, $199, and now $189.

Updated Android distribution chart shows gains for KitKat

oogle has made its monthly update to the Android developer dashboard, specifically the "Platform Versions" chart. This tells us how much market share each Android iteration still has among currently active devices. The data is collected from the Google Play Store app.
KitKat is now at 39.1% of the pie (and up 5.2%), though the three different versions called Jelly Bean are still in the lead when counted together. In total, Jelly Bean is installed on 46% of devices, though obviously KitKat keeps growing and should catch up in the next few months.

If we don't count all Jelly Bean variants together, then KitKat is already in the lead. Gingerbread sticks around too with 7.8% of the market (though 1.3% less than before), while Froyo is at 0.4% and clearly on the way out.
Google notes that versions with less than 0.1% distribution don't make it to its chart, which means Lollipop has yet to cross that incredibly low threshold, despite being the latest incarnation of the OS. This tells us that sales of the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 aren't record breaking by any measure, at least not so far.
KitKat is now more than a year old and it still hasn't managed to cross 50%, so it will take a very long time for Lollipop to rise, that's pretty much a given.