Photo Supposedly Taken with Sony Odin C6503 Emerges Online on Picasa

Sony has been long rumored to plan the release of an Xperia handset featuring the codename of Odin, and a photo that has been allegedly taken with the device has recently emerged on Picasa. The handset sports the model number of C6503, and the EXIF data of said photo mentions this model number, Sony as manufacturer and firmware 10.1.A.0.174_61_a008 loaded on the phone, Ameblo.jp reports. The phone is expected to hit shelves with a Qualcomm APQ8064 Snapdragon quad-core processor inside, a 5-inch Full HD touchscreen display, and a powerful camera on the back (although the aforementioned photo does not prove that). Odin should arrive next year with Android Jelly Bean on board, accompanied by two other quad-core smartphones...

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SmartQ X7 Tablet with Android Jelly Bean and 1.5 GHz Dual-Core CPU Now Available for $250/€195

Following the huge success of the Google Nexus 7 tablet, the Chinese company SmartQ decided to launch an even better slate priced similarly, the X7. Although there are some major differences between the two tablets, the fact that SmartQ X7 is available worldwide for only $250/€195 should be a big advantage for the Chinese company. Check it out here. The SmartQ X7 comes with a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen display that supports 1280 x 800 pixels resolution and features 2-megapixel dual-cameras. The tablet is powered by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update and comes equipped with a 1.5 GHz dual-core TI OMAP 4470 processor, which is complemented by 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory. The X7 also packs microSD card slot for...

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Verizon HTC Windows Phone 8X Video Ad

Windows Phone 8X by HTC, one of the first smartphones that the wireless carrier has launched with Microsoft’s new mobile operating system loaded on it, has got a new video ad published online. The handset provides users with a nice range of features and capabilities, many of which have been integrated within the platform itself, such as Live Tiles or Data Sense. At the same time, the phone comes with Beats Audio and Wireless Charging (a feature exclusive to Verizon’s flavor of the device), as well as with other capabilities. According to Verizon, it is also simple to use. Have a look at the video embedded above to learn why. “The Windows Phone 8X by HTC on Verizon is incredibly advanced -- yet incredibly simple because it runs on Windows. It's simplicity achieved....

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ECS NM70-TI Mini-ITX Motherboard

Mini-ITX motherboards may not appear as often as normal PC platforms, as the range of applications for them isn't particularly broad, but they aren't really rare either. ECS is the company revealing one this time. Called NM70-TI, the newcomer is precisely the sort of thing that makers of small PCs or specialist electronics developers would be interested in. Its size allows it to fit in any mini case destined for nettops or HTPCs, while the integrated Intel Celeron 807 single-core CPU provides just enough power for low profile tasks. For those who don't know, Celeron 807 is a chip with a clock speed of 1.5 GHz. In case this is not enough, a dual-core Celeron 847 can be used instead. Moving on, since this is a very...

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ASRock A55 Pro, FMI1 Motherboard

Though hardware makers have some leeway when choosing how to arrange the interfaces on a motherboard, some things always go in the same place. ASRock figured it would stick to the blueprint a bit less this time. The motherboard in the press photos on the left is called A55 Pro and, being designed around the A55 chipset from Advanced Micro Devices, it features the FMI socket. A low-cost ATX motherboard, it has six SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, two PCI Express x16 slots, three PCI Express x1 slots, plus a pair of legacy PCI slots. Gigabit Ethernet, 5.1-channel audio, six USB 2.0 ports, and video outputs (D-Sub and DVI) complete the standard feature set. That leaves ASRock exclusive-features (Instant Flash, XFast USB, XFast LAN,...

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Samsung New Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S III Mini Colors

South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung Electronics is reportedly gearing up for the launch of a new set of color flavors for its Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S III mini smartphones. Apparently, the company is planning on matching the color options for these handsets with those available for Galaxy S III at the moment, which include Pebble Blue, Marble White, Amber Brown, Garnet Red, Sapphire Black and Titanium Grey. Starting with December or early 2013, Galaxy S III mini is expected to arrive on shelves in Titan Gray, Garnet Red and Onyx Black, in addition to the already announced color variants, SamMobile reports.    As for Galaxy Note II, it will soon be released in three new flavors as well, namely Amber Brown, Topaz...

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Apple iPhone 5S Reach Market Mid-2013 After WWDC

Apple’s Asian suppliers are preparing for massive component orders as the Cupertino giant is engaging in a more fast-paced refresh cycle on the smartphone front. Taiwanese news outlets are reporting that Apple might roll out the iPhone 5S at WWDC 2013. Apple has shifted its annual iPhone refresh cycle from summer to fall, yet the next refresh will put the iPhone back on stage at WWDC, according to Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes citing market observers. These people say that contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and packager Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) have both entered Apple’s supply chain for the next-generation iPhone. The unconfirmed device has been dubbed by the media...

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Crucial's Latest Creation, Ballistix Low Profile Memory

In high-end systems, oversized CPU coolers, sometimes get in the way of memory, or the other way around. That is why Crucial decided to create some low profile RAM modules that, rather than HTPCs or other mini computers, are intended for high-performance systems. The capacity is of up to 8 GB, yet the voltage is lower than usual (1.35 V versus 1.5 V) and the size is 15 to 35% smaller. Soon enough, the various modules will show up for sale, so we will finally see what prices they have. There will be both single-module and multi-channel kit offers, compatible with both Intel and AMD CPUs and APUs. "While other low profile offerings on the market provide some clearance, Crucial Ballistix LP memory delivers a true low profile...

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Intel Mighty Bay Trail-T 22nm Atom CPU for 2014

As Advanced Micro Devices is preparing its APUs for widespread tablet use, Intel is already thinking of what will come after the existing Atom series. Clover Trail, Intel Atom Z2760, turned out to be a decent attempt at an x86 tablet platform, with a solid number of Windows 8 tablets using it. It helps that there isn't much of an alternative when creating slates running Windows 8 instead of Windows RT. This will change over the next one or two years, and Intel knows it. To keep up its game, the company is preparing the Bat Trail-T chip. As Clover Trail's successor, the processor will possess up to 60% better computing performance (four 2.1 GHz cores versus two 1.8 GHz) and around three times better graphics (a GPU with...

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CyanogenMod 10 “Jelly Bean” Build for Samsung Wave I and Wave II

With Samsung trying to get rid of bada OS, owners of Wave series smartphones will have to switch to Android or Windows Phone 8, if they wish to continue using Samsung handsets, or iOS if they prefer Apple instead. However, there might be another choice in the future as the Android scene is readying a CyanogenMod 10 build for Samsung Wave I and Wave II smartphones. XDA Developer Elite Recognized Developer Rebellos has just released an Alpha build of this CyanogenMod 10 ROM which is based on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean platform. Given the fact that this project is still in a very early development stage and not all features are fully working, it is only intended for developers. For more details on how to download and install...

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Nokia Document Hints at New Windows Phone OS After WP 7.8 but Before WP 8

There have been many rumors suggesting Microsoft plans to launch the next version of Windows Phone 7.8 in the next few months, but we have yet to receive any official details on the upcoming release. Well, it looks like Nokia plans at least one more major Windows Phone 7.x update before Windows Phone 8. According to a Nokia document, leaked via German site WParea, there will be one more update after Windows Phone 7.8. For the time being, the mysterious one is dubbed Windows Phone 7.x, but it will probably receive an official name close to release. Obviously, it’s too early for any detail on what the rumored update could bring to Windows Phone 7.8 devices for the moment. However, if rumors prove accurate, we expect...

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NOX Media HD, HTPC Case with Support for Full ATX Motherboards

Most “desktop” PC cases of today are actually tower-shaped. The actual reason they are called “desktops” is the form that PCs started out in: rectangular boxes colored white or beige. NOX has used that primordial form factor, which is still used today by some low-cost PCs and white-box computers (PCs without a well-known brand name). The product it has created is called Media HD and measures 140 x 360 x 450 mm / 5.51 x 14.17 x 17.71 inches. Due to that, it can house not only mini-ITX or micro-ATX motherboards, but full-ATX mainboards as well. From a certain point of view, one might argue that this is not a proper HTPC case at all (home-theater personal computer). NOX may be advertising it as such, but it is really...

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AMD Vishera 8-Core CPU New Overclocking Record, 8.37 GHz

Overclocker T0LSTY from Ukraine has recently managed to overclock the AMD FX-8350 CPU to 8.37 GHz, which is more than the previous record of 8.17 GHz. In so doing, a new record has been set. We could say this feat is the greatest achieved by the new, top-tier 8-core processor from Advanced Micro Devices. We won't though. While the speed attained is, indeed, the highest, it was done on an 8-core central processing unit that only had two cores enabled. The previous record was achieved with all eight cores working at 8.176 GHz. Still, a record is a record. The MSI 990FXA-GD80 motherboard was employed in the test, along with an MSI R7970 Lightning graphics card. Coincidentally, this also allowed for the highest ever score...

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