Xiaomi Mi-Two Probably Selling in Under 5 Minutes at Launching on October 26

Xiaomi, one of the most popular Chinese handset makers has just announced its MI-Two Android smartphone will go on sale on October 26.

Obviously, the device will only be available in China, so those Android enthusiasts in other countries won’t be able to purchase it online. Given the fact that the Chinese handset maker has a special way of selling its products, we expect the Mi-Two smartphone to be sold out in under 5 minutes. This is based on previous experiences when Xiaomi managed to sell each stock of 200-300k units in a bit more than 4 minutes. GSMArena reports that the first 200,000 Xiaomi Mi-One S were sold in about 30 minutes, but then the second stock of 300,000 units went in under 5 minutes.

The same happened with the Mi-One S Young Edition, but this time Xiaomi sold 350,000 units in only 4 minutes and 15 seconds. There’s a high chance the same will happen with the upcoming Xiaomi Mi-Two superphone, which is currently priced at only $315 USD (225 EUR). For the time being, we don’t have any info regarding the first batch of Mi-Two devices, so we must assume it will be around 300-350k for the start. If the batch sells in a few minutes, Chinese customers will have to wait several weeks until Xiaomi builds up another batch of Mi-Two smartphones. For those unfamiliar with this device, Xiaomi Mi-Two will ship with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean platform out of the box. It will be equipped with a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor clocked at 1.5 GHz and 16GB of internal memory.

Xiaomi Mi-Two sports a 4.3-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display that supports HD (720p) resolution. The phone is powered by a 2000 mAh Li-Ion battery, which has yet to be rated by the manufacturer.

Xiaomi Mi-Two ad
Image credits to Xiaomi

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Android 4.1-Based HTC PJ40xxx (Could Be One S) Emerges at Bluetooth SIG Certification Page

A new HTC smartphone has received the necessary certification with Bluetooth 4.0 packed inside, namely the HTC PJ40xxx_Android 4.1.

The phone’s model number suggests that it might be HTC One S, and that the handset vendor is making sure that it is fully compatible with all communication standards even after being upgraded to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. It also points to a possible near release of the OS upgrade for the mobile phone, which should reach devices before the end of October, just as HTC announced officially several weeks ago.

For the time being, however, no specific info on what the new device might be all about has emerged, so stay tuned to learn more on it. You can see it on Bluetooth SIG’s website on this page.

Android 4.1-Based HTC PJ40xxx at Bluetooth SIG
Image credits to Bluetooth SIG

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Nokia Lumia 920 Phone’s Internals Unveiled via Service Manual

Nokia Lumia 920 is a highly appealing device on the outside, but it also comes with powerful hardware packed inside.

Those of you who would like to learn some more info on the phone’s internal circuitry can now do so, courtesy of a series of images that emerged over at WindowsPhoneMania.pl. A service manual is available through the forum, along with photos of a disassembled Lumia 920, offering us a glimpse at the device’s wireless charging module as well.

As WMPoweruser notes, the module appears to be a thick one, which most probably means that it is also heavy, thus explaining why the entire device is thicker and heavier than other similar smartphones on the market today. All of the Lumia 920’s internals have been brought to light in the aforementioned photos, and you can have a look at them below.

Nokia Lumia 920
Images credits to WindowsPhoneMania.pl

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Huawei U9508 Spotted at Bluetooth SIG Certification Page

Chinese mobile phone maker Huawei is getting ready for the release of a new Android device, one that has emerged over at the Bluetooth SIG with model number U9508 attached to it.

The handset will arrive on shelves with Bluetooth 3.0 packed inside, and is now said to be powered by Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich. According to Blog of Mobile, the smartphone will land on shelves with a quad-core CPU inside (a Hisilicom K3V2 Hi3620 chip), and with a 4.5-inch HD screen (a 720 x 1280 Qimei LCD).

The phone should pack an 8-megapixel photo snapper on the back, complemented by a 1.3MP camera on the front. Support for W-CDMA/GSM frequencies will also be included in this device, along with a 2150mAh battery. No official info on the handset has been provided as of now, but rumor has it that it will be released internationally.

Huawei U9508 at Bluetooth SIG
Image credits to Bluetooth SIG

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LG Nexus 4 Photo Emerges Again

October 29 is expected to be a great day for Android, with brand new devices set to become officially available, along with a new flavor of the OS itself, namely Android 4.2.

One of the new handsets is rumored to come from LG, has been long rumored to hit shelves as Nexus 4, and can be seen now in a new photo available courtesy of @evleaks. No official word on the handset’s hardware specifications has emerged so far, but rumor has it that it will be based on Optimus G, thus hitting shelves with a large 4.7-inch (1280x768) screen and a quad-core processor inside.

The smartphone is also expected to pack an 8-megapixel camera on the back, 2GB of RAM, 8GB of internal memory (with no microSD card slot), and Adreno 320 GPU. A second photo is now available, embedded below.

LG Nexus 4 leaked photo
Images credits to EVleaks on Twitter

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Raspberry Pi Now Has Open Source ARM Drivers

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has revealed that the drivers stack powering their mini PC have just went open source.

Users of the Raspberry Pi mini PCs can rejoice because this is incredibly good news. So far, developers have been somewhat limited on what they could do with Raspberry Pi, but now the development gates are wide open. “As of right now, all of the VideoCore driver code which runs on the ARM is available under a FOSS license (3-Clause BSD to be precise). The source is available from our new userland repository on GitHub,” stated the official announcement.

Broadcom is the first company to provide open source drivers for their hardware and we can only hope that, further down the line, a lot more companies will make the same gesture. Raspberry Pi relies on an ARM processor with a clock speed of 700 MHz, 512 MB of RAM, an SD card slot and a 5V Micro USB connector that supplies the power. It also features RCA and HDMI ports.

Raspberry Pi Mini-pc
Image credits to Raspberry Pi Foundation

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Gigabyte S1082 Windows 8 Tablet

As we've known for months, Microsoft will officially introduce the Windows 8 operating system, and its ARM-compatible sibling, two days from now (October 26, 2012). In anticipation of that, Gigabyte has a treat.

The company has prepared a certain tablet, called S1082, which, rather than Windows RT, runs the full-fledged Windows 8 operating system. Understandable of course, as, instead of an ARM chip, the slate uses an x85 processor from Intel, the dual-core Celeron 847 (1.10 GHz). This is actually an unusual choice, not because of some shortcoming or other, but because of what Intel-powered tablets and notebooks used in the past. We've seen lots of Atom slates, even based on the Clover Trail, the newest in the series. Likewise, we've seen our share of portable systems designed with Core Series CPUs. At any rate, the Celeron 847 is backed by up to 8 GB of RAM (DDR3 obviously) and features the integrated HD 2000 graphics chip. Storage space (320/500 GB) is provided by a hard drive, or an SSD (64/128/256 GB), while a pair of USB ports let external media be connected, or peripherals.

Speaking of which, there is a dedicated docking station that owners can also get. We aren't clear on whether it is included in the price or sold separately though. At any rate, the tablet also has two video ports (HDMI and D-Sub), a 1.3-megapixel camera, a 5-in-1 card reader, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi and 3.5G WWAN. As for the 10.1-inch display, its resolution is of 1366 x 768 pixels (HD) and its touch panel can track multiple fingers at once.   When shipments begin (probably in a few days, or November at the latest), the price will be of $599-$799. According to exchange rates, that means 463 – 617 Euro, but it is more likely that European stores will choose the 599 – 799 range instead.

Gigabyte S1082 tablet
Images credits to Gigabyte

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iPad Mini Use a Different iOS to Ignore Accidental Taps

Because of the reduced size of the iPad mini, some customers might be concerned that its narrow side bezels might cause some accidental input on the tablet’s touchscreen display. Apple says not to worry.

In pitching the iPad mini’s benefits, Apple says the device is not merely a scaled-down version of the original, but a “concentrated” effort to get all the features working just as well – some even better – in a smaller form factor. “iPad mini is small. But when you use it, it doesn’t feel small. That’s because it’s designed to give you the maximum amount of screen in the minimum amount of space,” says the company. “To achieve that, we had to rethink the relationship between the screen and the overall shape of the product. iPad has symmetrical bezels around all of its edges,” Apple elaborates. “But for iPad mini, we reduced the width of the bezels on two sides of the display. So although the screen is smaller, it’s even more prominent.” The smaller Pad mini comes with iOS 6 pre-installed, just like most other iDevices Apple ships. But this iOS is not identical to the one that ships with other iPads.

On the marketing pages of the diminutive portable PC, the Cupertino giant explains that “Rethinking the screen meant we also had to rethink the software behind it.” “iPad mini intelligently recognizes whether your thumb is simply resting on the display or whether you’re intentionally interacting with it. It’s the kind of detail you’ll notice — by not noticing it,” reads the literature. The company believes this feature, like many others, is a flagship example of how its hardware and software seamlessly integrates with one another “to give you the best experience possible.” iPad mini is slated to ship in early November in around three dozen countries. Pricing starts at $329 / €250 for the base configuration with Wi-Fi wireless, no cellular capabilities, and 16GB of storage.

iPad mini marketing (resting thumb highlighted)
Image credits to Apple

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BlackBerry 10 Toast Notifications Detailed in Slides

Some of the many enhancements that Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion is set to pack inside the upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system will be related to the manner in which notifications are handled.

The new platform builds on the features and capabilities packed inside the current flavors of the BlackBerry OS, while also improving some areas that should make the overall user experience a better one. When it comes to the manner in which  BlackBerry 10 handles system dialogs and notifications, users are in for a treat in BlackBerry 10. All the pop-ups, dialogs and alert windows have been improved using Cinnamon toast and French toast, and a series of leaked slides that emerged over at n4bb unveil more details on the matter. With Cinnamon toast inside, BlackBerry 10 will provide users with the possibility to preview messages on the lockscreen. Moreover, depending on the angle of the BB10 device, the Cinnamon toast will be able to show more info to the user, with three different kinds of data being displayed based on the degree of angle.

The information is revealed continuously, and the process is reversible. When placing the device on the tablet, the data will disappear from the screen in the same manner it appeared. As for French toast, it was packed inside the platform to provide users with the ability to undo delete operations. There is no need for a delete confirmation when using French toast, but the feature will make things run smoother than before and will also enable users to recover files after accidental deletes. However, it will work only with moderate deleted items. The French toast dialog will remain on the screen after an item has been deleted and will provide users with a 3-second window to undo the action. It is triggered by users’ next interaction with the screen after the delete operation.

BlackBerry 10 CinnamonToast
Image credits to N4BB

BlackBerry 10 French Toast
Image credits to N4BB

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Samsung Galaxy Premier Live Picture Emerge

The first press photo of the Samsung Galaxy Premier emerged online about two weeks ago, along with some of its specs. The smartphone was rumored to be a slightly less-featured version of the Galaxy S III.

Today, the folks over at EVLeaks have just published the first live picture of Samsung Galaxy Premier, also known as GT-I9250/GT-I9260. Although Samsung has already officially unveiled the smaller version of the Galaxy S III, the Galaxy mini, it looks like the Galaxy Premier has much more in common with the former when it comes to design. We’re not yet sure exactly when the Galaxy Premier might be announced, but there’s a high change this one will go on sale before the end of the year. As for the specs, Samsung Galaxy Premier is a mid- to high-end Android smartphone, which is equipped with a dual-core processor clocked at 1.5 GHz and possibly 1GB of RAM.

There are no details on the phone’s amount of storage, but rumor has it that the smartphone will arrive with microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB). Even though it does not come with a 4.8-inch display that is packed inside the Galaxy S III, Samsung Galaxy Premier sports a more than decent 4.65-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display that supports HD (720p) resolution. On the back, the Galaxy Premier is said to boast an 8-megapixel photo snapper with autofocus, LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording, while in the front there’s a 2-megapixel camera for video calls. Software-wise, the Galaxy Premier will ship with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box, integrated with Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface. According to the latest hearsay, the smartphone will go on sale for a suggested retail price of $620 USD (480 EUR). Obviously, this is subject to change.

Samsung Galaxy Premier
Image credits to EVLeaks

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