Image of BlackBerry 10-Based London Emerges

One of the smartphones that Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion has been long rumored to plan to bring to the market, with the upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system on board, was the BlackBerry London.  The smartphone has surfaced once again in a leaked document over at Crackberry, offering us a glimpse at what the next generation devices from RIM will have to deliver.  The outer design is completely different than what we’ve seen so far in the mobile phone maker’s lineup.  Featuring a large touchscreen display, the handset also appears to be impressively slim. Overall, it should fit the previous description that suggested it would look like a smaller PlayBook.  Specs-wise, it should be capable to impress...

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AMD Llano A8-3870K APU Overclocked to 6067MHz

AMD’s launch of the multiplier unlocked A8-3870K and A6-3670K processors have enabled overclockers to push Llano APUs to higher frequencies than ever before, such a chip just surpassing the 6GHz barrier during a recent OC competition. The processor in question is actually the A8-3870K APU which, with the help of liquid nitrogen (LN2), managed to achieve a core clock of 6,067.71MHz. By using LN2 for cooling the APU, Christian Ney, the enthusiast responsible for reaching this record, was able to push no less than 2.0V through the chip, that was running at a 258.2MHz bus speed, with a 47x multiplier. Besides the special cooling and the AMD APU, the rest of the system used for establishing this record was comprised out of a Gigabyte GA-A75-UD4H...

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CDMA iPhone 4S Coming to China in February via China Telecom

Apple’s iPhone 4S has already been launched in China last month and is now available for purchase exclusively from China Unicom. However, the China Unicom’s exclusivity over the iPhone 4S is about to end, as Apple it trying to boost the sales of its latest iOS smartphone in China, one of the biggest markets in the world. Apple unveiled plans to sell around 40 million iPhone 4S units in China, by 2013. This is the main reason why the company is trying to accelerate the launch of the iPhone 4S at a second carrier. Moreover, China Telecom seems to have a bigger share of the market when it comes to high-end smartphones, which might increase iPhone 4S sales and would make China the ideal market for Apple’s high-end handset. The information is...

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Retailer Pulls Asus Transformer Prime, Stock and Reliability Issues Are to Blame

Clove, the first retailer to start selling the Transformer Prime in the UK, has just announced that it decided to pull the Asus quad-core tablet from its offer, due to availability problems and an outstanding number of technical issues. The retailer made its decision public in a post on its official blog: "Stock supply has been a real issue and good levels of stock are not expected until late February/March." "However we have been able to obtain some stock sooner than expected; but because of complaints of faults with the model we took the decision to thoroughly test stock before fulfilling any orders." "We are at this time not satisfied that all units we could provide you with are working correctly, and performing to the standard we expect...

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NTT DOCOMO and Disney Launch Two Android Handsets for Japan

Today, NTT DOCOMO, INC. and The Walt Disney Company (Japan) Ltd. announced the release of two phone models that would be marketed as part of the “Disney Mobile on docomo” brand, namely F-08D and P-05D.  The “Disney Mobile on docomo F-08D” smartphone will hit shelves at the end of February, while the “Disney Mobile on docomo P-05D” handset is expected to become available for purchase in March. These models will be sold exclusively in Japan. Both devices will arrive on the market with special services and content, offering unique Disney experiences. Content loaded on these devices includes: Access to Disney full-length animations, live actions and overseas dramas. Digital content from Disney, such as puzzle and music game applications...

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INFOBAR C01 with Gingerbread Launching in Japan via KDDI on February 3

It appears that KDDI has just resurrected its highly-acclaimed INFOBAR series of phones that managed to amaze customers through their design. Although the last INFOBAR handset that was launched on the market, the A01 had a unique “slab” design, it didn’t have the success forecasted by the manufacturer.  All in all, KDDI decided to bring back the INFOBAR phones one more time in an attempt to attract customers with new designs and new features. Starting February 3, KDDI customers will be able to purchase the INFOBAR C01 smartphone. At first glance, it becomes obvious that the phone’s selling point is the bar form factor combined with the elegant design. The phone is available in three distinctive colors, and each phone is aimed at different...

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AMD Readies 2 New FX-Series Processors, Also Prepares FX-8150 WOX CPU

AMD is getting ready to update its FX-Series processor lineup based on the Bulldozer architecture with two new chips packing four and respectively six processing cores, which will also be joined by a new FX-8150 bundle. This bundle was dubbed the FX-8150 (WOX) by the chip maker, the WOX suffix at the end of its name pointing out that the processor is shipped together with an AMD-branded water cooler. Besides the new bundle, the CPU sports the same specs as the regular FX-8150, meaning that it includes four Bulldozer modules to deliver a total of eight cores.  These have a base speed of 3.6 GHz and are joined by 8MB of Level 3 cache. Pricing however is significantly higher than that of the regular FX-8150, CPU-World reporting that some...

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Nokia Carla Currently Under Testing at Nokia

Following the release of Symbian Anna and Belle last year (the latter was released as Nokia Belle), Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia has started to work on the next version of the mobile operating system.  Called Carla, the new platform release is already under testing, at least this is what recent entries on the company’s developer blog show, MyNokiaBlog reports.  No specific details on the features that Carla could sport have been unveiled, nor on when the new OS flavor might be released on devices, but it is clear that the upcoming platform version is currently under heavy testing in Nokia’s labs.  Carla should be pushed out to all devices running under Belle at the moment (either released with it or upgraded from Anna)....

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New Kindle Fire Android 4.0 ROM Gets Custom Lock Screen, Bug Fixes

Android 4.0 has been running on the Kindle Fire for quite a while now, but lately the devs working on this port have made great progress with it. While still under development, the port has now received a custom lock screen, which no longer has the camera option since the Kindle Fire doesn’t come with such an accessory, and a series of bug fixes. These focus mainly on issues with screen rotation, Google Talk, and thumbnail previews of running apps. Other major changes don’t seem to have made their way into this new build, so video still doesn’t work, which is definitely a major bummer. The source code for this latest build of the Android 4.0 Kindle Fire port can be downloaded right now from the XDA-Developers Forums. Detailed install instructions...

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Samsung GT-P3100 and GT-P5100 Tablets in the Works

Leaks really have a tendency of cropping up when and where people least expect them, as proven by Samsung's GT-P3100 and GT-P5100 tablets.  These two are products that Samsung hasn't even hinted at, but that didn't stop a completely different source from spilling the beans.  It was in the database of the Wi-Fi Alliance that the codenames (first and second) were found, and that's pretty much all there was to find.  Unfortunately, there's nothing more to say on the matter. There is nothing online about the internal hardware or the screen, except for the P3100's UserAgent Profile, that seems to suggest a resolution of 1,024 x 600 pixels.  Just the fact that it was the Wi-Fi Alliance that leaked them shows that Wi-Fi is supported,...

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Office 15 Won’t Sport the Metro UI on Windows 8

Yesterday, Microsoft announced the Technical Preview availability of its next-generation productivity suite, codenamed Office 15.  The software is promised in a public beta flavor sometime in summer (only lucky few will get a taste of it now), and might hit the market later this year, most probably at the same time as Windows 8.  In fact, it appears that Office 15 was built with support for Windows 8, and that it features a load of touch optimizations, such as a radial menu system.  The only thing it is said to lack is the Metro UI, which would have made it a true Windows 8 application.  A recent article on The Verge claims that the upcoming Office app from Microsoft will actually feature more white space, and that it...

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This May Be Samsung's Windows 8 Tablet SoC, Exynos 5450

According to PhoneArena, Samsung is preparing more than the still unannounced Exynos 5250 System-on-Chip. In fact, the company is building something called the Exynos 5450, a quad-core platform operating at 2GHz (the cores themselves are Cortex-A15). The report also mentions the Mali-658 as the graphics processing unit. It is quite possible, as the report speculates, that Samsung will use the Exynos 5450 in its Windows 8 tablets. One can only wonder what capabilities those things will have, knowing that the Exynox 5250 already has what it takes to handle an 11.6-inch display, with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 pixels. It will also be interesting to see how this platform faces down the NVIDIA Tegra 3 and whatever other competitors decided...

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New Camera-Equipped iPod nano 7G Photos Emerge

Rumors of a camera-equipped iPod nano are being reignited by a Taiwanese site flashing around photos of a new prototype. The design doesn’t seem very convincing, but the imagery doesn’t seem to be fake either. This is not the first time Apple.pro posts images of a new-generation iPod nano bearing a camera. In fact, this is not the first time said iPod nano appears metallic green either. It’s basically the same rumor, only viewed from different angles - and with a few additional technicalities, such as the 1.3 megapixel resolution. As the images show, the protruding camera would poke its head through the clip that allows users to wear the player on their clothes. It’s not exactly what you’d expect from the company headquartered at 1 Infinite...

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Nikon Coolpix P310 Features f/1.8 Lens and 16.1MP BSI CMOS Sensor

Together with the new S-Series and L-810 Coolpix cameras, Nikon also introduced the P310 point-and-shoot, which comes as the company’s high-end pocketable snapper thanks to its improved features and specifications. The most important of these improvements is the inclusion of a new 16.1MP back illuminated CMOS sensor, which should provide better low light performance than its counterparts. The 4.2X 24-100mm f/1.8 (maximum) VR lens should also help in this regard, just as is the case with the high ISO sensitivity of Nikon’s latest creation (the standard ISO 100-3200 range can be expanded up to 6400). This sensor can also be used for capturing movies in Full HD resolution (1920x1080) with stereo sound at 30 frames per second. The content captured...

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Samsung, Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic and Others Seek Bond with Olympus

After a debunked rumor about possibly acquiring Olympus' camera business, Samsung is reported to be seeking ties with the company for its other assets.  In short, Samsung wants a partnership with Olympus, reportedly because of the latter's expertise in making medical equipment.  It is not alone in that either. Fujifilm, Sony and Panasonic also want the same thing, according to Mainichi.  A tie with either or all of the companies could be just what Olympus needs, knowing the $1.7 billion (1.29 billion Euro) accounting discrepancy it is faced with at the moment.  These are all still closed rumors, though, and it is Sony, not Samsung, that is said to be the company most likely to secure a deal.  Of course, there is...

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New Episode in Itanium Saga Sees Oracle Lose in a Move Against HP

One wouldn't think that a server processor could cause such a big fuss, but the whole Itanium debacle has gotten very heated, leading to a direct clash between Oracle and HP, the latter having, apparently, gained the upper hand.  This isn't a case of patent infringement, like the quarrel between Samsung and Apple that most recently got the former slapped with an antitrust investigation by the European Commission.  What is going on between HP and Oracle is an argument that started last year, in March, when Oracle suddenly decided to stop supporting Itanium.  What this means is that it announced that it was no longer going to develop software for the chips.  HP, being the major supplier of Itanium servers, was not put at...

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HTC Sensation XE Confirmed to Get Android 4.0 ICS "Early This Year"

It looks like HTC feels the need to reiterate every month that the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade will be rolled out to most of its high-end devices, in the first half of the year.  Rumors on HTC’s planner for the Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade have come and gone, but the company has yet to make any official announcements regarding the exact release dates for its lineup of Android smartphones. Last month, HTC Turkey published on its official Facebook account an interesting table containing Ice Cream Sandwich release dates for no less than nine smartphones. However, the company quickly pulled the information, which probably means that most of the data was inaccurate. Based on the information received from HTC over the last three...

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Club3D Radeon HD 7950 Graphics Card Makes Its Debut

Club3D, a company specialized in developing graphics card based on AMD’s as well as Nvidia’s GPUs, announced the introduction of a new solution designed around AMD’s recently unveiled Radeon HD 7950. Club3D graphics card doesn’t seem to differ in any way from AMD’s reference design for the HD 7950, which means that it uses a centrally placed fan to blow fresh air over the heatsink and PCB found underneath. That being said, the reference cooler developed by AMD is quite capable, judging by the HD 7950 reviews that have popped us so far, as it manages to chill the card without producing too much noise. Of course the 28nm fabrication process used for the Tahiti Pro GPU also helped in this regard, since it enabled AMD to build a much larger...

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Samsung Confirms Galaxy S III for the First Half of 2012

Samsung will not bring the successor of its highly popular Galaxy S II smartphone to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month.  The company said so last week, when announcing the financial results for the last quarter of 2011, and has confirmed it once again.  Moreover, the vendor also announced that it planned on hosting its own separate event for the launch of this mobile phone.  According to Techradar, the South Korean mobile phone maker is still on track to launch the mobile phone in the first half of the year, and will officially unveil it closer to its market availability.  “Samsung is looking forward to introducing and demonstrating exciting new mobile products at Mobile World Congress 2012,” the leading...

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4GB DDR3 Memory Modules Cost $16.5/12.65 Euro, Prices Stabilize

It appears that the memory industry may have finally gone past that stage where demand was so severely overshadowed by supply.  According to the most recent findings of DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the prices of memory modules and kits are stabilizing.  That is to say, the supply of chips and modules is no longer so much higher than demand, as was the case throughout 2011 and part of 2010.  At the moment, 4GB modules are priced, on average, at $16.5, which translates into 12.65 Euro.  No matter how one looks at it, this is a very convenient price point, so if anyone was waiting for more cuts, they won't be coming, so one may as well go buy memory now.  We actually wrote about how memory was the...

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Nikon Coolpix S9300, S6300, S4300 and S3300 Point-and-Shoots Debut

Less than half a year after updating the S-series of point-and-shoot cameras, Nikon refreshed this product line yet again with some new models that offer slightly improved specs when compared to their predecessors. Starting at the bottom end, the first new Coolpix model that we encounter is the S3300, which keeps things rather simple with its 16MP CCD sensor, 6x zoom lens and 720p video recording. As expected, all these features arrive with a rather low price tag of $140 (107 EUR). Adding $30 (23 EUR) more will get you the S4300, which features pretty much the same entry-level specs, but adds a touchscreen to the mix. If this isn’t enough, moving up to $200 (153 EUR) will get you an entirely new camera as the S6300 swaps the CCD sensor of...

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PowerColor Has a Pair of AMD Radeon HD 7950 Graphics Cards Too

Since Advanced Micro Devices finally made the official introduction of the Radeon HD 7950, PowerColor decided to reveal its own two cards.  We have already seen the video controllers prepared by VTX3D and Micro-Star International (with and without Twin Frozr III cooling).  Now, we are looking at PowerColor, otherwise known as TUL Corporation.  The company has two cards to sell, dubbed PowerColor HD7950 series and PCS+ HD7950.  They share the majority of specifications: 3GB of GDDR5 VRAM, an interface of 384 bits, support for DirectX 11.1 and a memory clock of 5GHz.  What's more, the two adapters boast support for AMD Eyefinity 2.0 technology, HD3D and AMD PowerTune, plus AMD App Acceleration, which offloads tasks...

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ADATA Intros 8GB DDR3-1600 Notebook and Desktop Memory Modules

Introduced back in October last year, ADATA’s Premier memory series has just received the addition of a new set of 8GB memory modules, working at 1600MHz speeds, that are available in both DIMM and SO-DIMM form factors. Compared to standard memory, these new Premier series modules are built only with DRAM chips that go through an extensive burn-in process designed to eliminate the parts that have a tendency to fail. Once this process is finished and the DRAM memory is installed in the DIMM modules, ADATA claims that the Premier Series goes through another series of tests. According to the company, these cover a wide range of failure scenarios that were encountered through years of field application, and which are also designed to uncover...

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