Is a 7-inch Smartphone too Much? Because Huawei is About to Sell You One
Let's face it, there are a lot of you out there that are really into big smartphones. After all, the Galaxy Note line wouldn't be anywhere as successful as it is today if big phones weren't big business. It's not just Samsung that have been producing large phones however, and in fact it was Dell with the 5-inch Dell Streak that first introduced all this "phablet" stuff. Back then, we thought 5-inch was far too big for a smartphone, but now we don't think much at all about 5-inch devices and the Galaxy Note 3 at 5.7-inches is a large device, but it's no longer considered ridiculously big by most users. Huawei's upcoming phablet however, most definitely will be cause for concern when it comes to screen size.
Hitting Chinese social media site Weibo recently has been a 7-inch Huawei device, that is apparently a smartphone, and not a tablet. That's right, Huawei is looking to sell you a 7-inch smartphone. According to the leaker, the device itself measures 183.5 x 103.9 x 7.5 mm and weighs 239g. Specs apparently include a 1920 x 1200 display resolution, a quad-core HiSilicon V9R1 chipset, with 2GB of RAM and a 13-megapixel camera. Unfortunately, the device is said to be running Android 4.2.2, which is a strange choice for a device launching this late. Never the made specs though, this is a 7-inch smartphone we're talking about. That's a pretty big jump from the 5-inch and 6-inch smartphones that are available today. They're not the first to try this however, as ASUS have their FonePad to entice people into sticking a tablet to their ear.
This is perhaps not a device that's meant for consumption outside of Asia, and with the resolution of 1920 x 1200, which is more of a tablet ratio, there's a chance the tipster has their wires crossed. Chinese manufacturer Huawei have been selling large-screen devices like these for a little while now, with their Ascend Mate line coming in at 6.1-inches, but at 7-inches even this would large next to such a massive device.
I'm not making this stuff up, but the wording in the article might suggest otherwise. (Mind you, I don't like Motorola at all, tried them but not as a smart phone)
"iPhones are 'No Match' for Motorola's DROID Lineup" Says Consumer Reports, Is This Good News for Motorola? Alexander Maxham | October 16, 2013 | 4 Replies
Consumer Reports has put out an article about the Motorola DROID lineup on Verizon and the iPhone lineup that's on every carrier. The site have been very impressed with Apple's newest iPhone offerings (guess they have bad taste then...). However, surprisingly, Consumer Reports has said that they are still 'no match' for Motorola's offerings. Motorola has four phones on Verizon right now, while only three of them are actual "DROIDs". Their lineup includes the DROID Maxx, DROID Mini and DROID Ultra. Alongside the Moto X. Now I've already reviewed the Moto X and Droid Ultra, and just got the Droid Maxx in today, so that review is coming soon. I've been very impressed with Motorola's 2013 devices. The only downside I've seen with the Moto X is the exclusive for Moto Maker, which is the only thing that keeps me from recommending the device to those on T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon.
According to Consumer Reports' findings, Google Now and Motorola's Always listening feature was a serious killer feature of the iPhones. Not to mention the Active Display technology Motorola is using on their devices this year. All of this means that Consumer Reports is ranking the Droid Mini, Maxx and Ultra above the iPhone 5S and 5C. Which is kind of sad, since the iPhone's have always been at the top of the list. Surprisingly, this year I've heard a lot of Apple evangelists complaining about the iPhone 5S and how it's actually slower than the iPhone 5. So it's looking like the start of something bad for Apple. I'm hoping they don't fall of the face of the earth like Blackberry, because we need competition. We may all hate Apple, but they are a competitor and even the mighty Android needs a competitor.
Now we might be a bit biased, well our name is 'Android Headlines', but we'd also recommend the Droid Ultra, Mini, Maxx or the Moto X over the iPhone 5S and 5C too.
Second-hand phones reveal sensitive personal data By Matthew Sparkes2:31PM GMT 07 Feb 2014
Analysts recover SMS, browsing history and medical information from second-hand handsets bought at shops which claim to delete data before sale
Your old mobile phone can reveal sensitive data such as email passwords, medical records or personal text messages even after data is deleted, reveals a Channel 4 investigation.
Journalists bought three used mobile phones from the high street second-hand shop CEX, which tells customers when they sell old handsets that all data will be erased.
Analysts were able to recover 5,000 files from one of the devices using specialist software, revealing SMS sent between the owner and his girlfriend and his browsing history.
Other devices included an email address and password for a work account, full name and postal address and medical records. Although the data had been deleted it was still recoverable in many cases.
A CEX spokesman told Channel 4: "As technology evolves so do our systems and we are currently rolling out a new procedure that improves on the current erasing technique used in the second hand phone market."
SensePost, the security firm who recovered the data, said in a blog post that it was "trivial" to recover large amounts of data from mobile phones and said that unencrypted handsets were "easy game".
"iPhone devices encrypt their data by default, which makes it hard (almost impossible) to recover data after performing a factory reset," it said.
"Android devices by default have no encryption, which means that somebody (like us) could easily recover large amounts of supposedly deleted data. It's a good idea to keep your phone encrypted.
"Both Windows phone 8 and BlackBerry allow optional encryption to be configured, but this is not enabled by default. Windows phone 7 does not support encryption of the core filesystem.
"If you have an existing phone that you're about to sell we'd recommend you encrypt the phone twice after resetting it to factory default (once to destroy your data, the second time to destroy the key used for the first round)."
Would a 8gb non expandable phone be enough if one does NOT intend to play any game and use it only for mails, whatsapp, skype and viber and some necessary Islamic apps?
There are plenty of things to look into, like Processor speed, ram, disk space, internal, external (now even dual sim)
My wife's ex Galaxy S4 was 16gb, and it ran out of space in no time (obviously the kids were downloading apps left right and centre, plus the videos, photos, MP3's voice recordings, PDFs and so on) Luckily it had an option of a MicroSD, so I upped the capacity by another 8gb.
In 2012, after five generations of iPhone, Apple switched up the size of their flagship smartphone. Rather than sporting a 3.5-inch display, as it had for five years, the iPhone 5 had a 4-inch display making it longer, thinner and lighter than any generation before it.
This year, it's entirely possible that the same shift will occur, with reports suggesting that Apple is working on two separate models, a 4.7-inch version and an XL 5.5-inch version.
Wondering what that might look like?
So is designer Federico Ciccarese, who has put together these concept designs for larger screened iPhones with metal frames.
Take a look:
Of course, there's no guarantee that Apple's iPhones will look anything like this. They may very well keep the flat back design language of current models, rather than Ciccarese's curve (which is likely in homage to the much-beloved iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS).
Plus, the edge-to-edge display is a bit of a stretch.
But rumor season for the iPhone has only begun - now is the time to dream big.
How to get even more hard drive space back from iTunes, and other tips
Delete unnecessary software updates
iTunes has a habit of spawning copies of firmware files for your iOS devices, which is helpful in the moment if you have to do a restore of your device. But once you've updated to the latest revision, having backups of previous firm updates is unnecessary, since the file is useless - Apple's firmware updates are "signed" with the servers to make sure that you can't downgrade your device.
The net result is that you may have gigabytes of wasted space on your hard drive for firmware files you'll never be able to use again. What's more, iTunes doesn't give you a way to manage these files - you have to go plumbing the old fashioned way, from the Finder. To check for these files, and to delete them:
1. Go to the Finder and hold down the Option key on your keyboard.
2. Select the Go menu and click on Library. (Library is ordinarily invisible to you from the Go menu unless you hold down the Option key)
3. Find the iTunes folder.
4. Look for the following folders: iPad Software Updates, iPhone Software Updates, and iPod Software Updates.
5. If you find a file with a name that ends in "Restore.ipsw," drag it into the Trash.
It's safe to do this - if you need to restore your iOS device again, iTunes will go out to Apple's servers and download the latest firmware update necessary for your device.
What to do with your iOS device once you've cleaned up iTunes
Deleting apps from your iTunes library is fine, and you can get back sizable amounts of hard disk space that way - but what happens when you reconnect your iOS device to your Mac to back up?
You'll get a message that looks like this:
In short, iTunes is telling you that it's found software on your iPad that it can't reconcile with the contents of your iTunes library.
At this point, unless you have apps that have been pulled from the iTunes Store, it's safe to just click on the Don't Back Up Apps button. That way your Mac won't waste space backing up stuff you can just download again from the App Store if you need to.
For us Android guys, we don't have this nonsense of storage and syncing in this way. Phew! Apple do waste a hell of a lot of space. Real nightmare.
Disclaimer: if you lose your apps, don't hold me responsible, I'm only trying to help and if you can't follow the instructions, then by another smart phone that is smarter than the iPhone ;) i.e. anything else, but an iPhone.
Android handset manufacturer ran afoul of courts in 2013, will make payments to Nokia
HTC and Nokia today announced that they've reached an agreement on disputed patents and "explore future technology collaboration opportunities."
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but HTC will make payments to Nokia, according to today's news release. All lawsuits between the two companies have been dismissed.
The April 2013, HTC found itself in violation of a microphone technology that was exclusive to Nokia devices. In December, a UK court ruled that the HTC One Mini could not be sold, but that ban was stayed pending appeal. In December, a German court banned the HTC One over patent issues. There have been other rulings as well.
Nokia and HTC have settled all pending patent litigation between them, and entered into a patent and technology collaboration agreement. HTC will make payments to Nokia and the collaboration will involve HTC's LTE patent portfolio, further strengthening Nokia's licensing offering. The companies will also explore future technology collaboration opportunities. The full terms of the agreement are confidential.
"We are very pleased to have reached a settlement and collaboration agreement with HTC, which is a long standing licensee for Nokia's standards essential patents," said Paul Melin, chief intellectual property officer at Nokia. "This agreement validates Nokia's implementation patents and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities."
"Nokia has one of the most preeminent patent portfolios in the industry." said Grace Lei, General Counsel of HTC. "As an industry pioneer in smartphones with a strong patent portfolio, HTC is pleased to come to this agreement, which will enable us to stay focused on innovation for consumers."�
Salams
Does anyone here have experience of using a Huawei top end phone?
I have had good feedback from others using their low - mid range smartphones but nothing at the top end.
Techradar earley verdict on Huawei's upcoming smartphone:
The Huawei Ascend Mate 2 4G is a big phone, there's no way look past it, but size isn't the only that makes it special. With a much tighter screen-to-body it's a completely useable with just one hand.
With some new better selfies taking features and a large 4050mAh battery-life, that Huawei also used to take a swing at the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, the Ascend Mate 2 4G definitely falls into the notable category from our initial impressions. We'll have to reserve our judgment on whether the phablet is a winner for our final review but Huawei could have something big on its hands.
I read a while back that one of the reasons why Huawei is not big in the smartphone/ gadget market is because America refuses to allow them to sell there and accuses them of cyberspying and posing a security threat...what a joke.
I loved the look of the P6, but I think its cheapified if you know what I mean.
Example: Press the screen of an iPhone or HTC then press the screen of the P6 and you will see the liquid in the display. Not very good build quality. Didn't bother with the rest of the spec.
Remember reading a discussion on this thread that caught my attention on a Huawei Ascend handset, to an extent that I felt inclined towards looking into it, but my focus turned into getting an iPhone. However got sold to HTC instead, by the HTC sales expert on here, an unregrettable purchase. Alhumdulillah.
I read a while back that one of the reasons why Huawei is not big in the smartphone/ gadget market is because America refuses to allow them to sell there and accuses them of cyberspying and posing a security threat...what a joke.
With some new better selfies taking features and a large 4050mAh battery-life, that Huawei also used to take a swing at the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, the Ascend Mate 2 4G definitely falls into the notable category from our initial impressions. We'll have to reserve our judgment on whether the phablet is a winner for our final review but Huawei could have something big on its hands.
Apparently the HTC One Max is the phone for selfies and group selfies. Personally never took one nor intend to.
I was quite taken by the Huawei Ascend D Quad when it was announced but it took so long for them to manufature and release to market that I went for the HTC One X, alhumdulillah no regrets with that choice.
This cannot be undone and I am sure it will be greatly appreciated.
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