Samsung Galaxy Note III’s Front Panel Next To Galaxy Note II's

Earlier this week, a series of leaked photos emerged online offering a glimpse at what the front panel of Galaxy Note III would look like, and a new photo with it is now available, showing us the main differences that it will sport when compared to that of Galaxy Note.

As it turns out, the upcoming handset will not be much bigger than last year’s smartphone, and the newly released photo (available courtesy of rbmen) confirms that. Although the new Galaxy Note III will arrive on shelves with a larger display, it will also feature a smaller bezel, which allows it to keep about the same dimensions as last year’s large device.

It should also be noted that the new handset will have more squared corners when compared to Galaxy Note II, provided, of course, that the front panel in this photo is indeed showing the Galaxy Note III, as SamMobile notes.

Galaxy Note III's front panel next to Galaxy Note II's
Image credits to rbmen via SamMobile

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HTC to Launch Its Own Mobile OS in China [WSJ]

Taiwanese mobile phone maker HTC Corporation is working on its own mobile operating system, which is set to be officially launched in China and which should be exclusive for the market, a recent article on the Wall Street Journal reads.

Apparently, HTC is focused on integrated Chinese-specific apps and services into this mobile OS, including Weibo, the Twitter-like microblog. Expected to become official before the end of this year, the platform would be part of Chinese government’s effort to broaden the spectrum of homegrown software, which would allow it to detach from US companies.

No specific info on what the upcoming OS would be like has been provided as of now, and it remains to be seen whether it will be based on Android, the same as platforms used by various phone makers in China are at the moment.

HTC to build its own mobile OS for China
Image credits to HTC

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MSI Releases GeForce GTX 780 Lightning

Micro-Star International has finally made the official introduction of a graphics adapter which has been on our radar for a few good weeks, with the latest update on it having been made just six days ago.

We are, of course, referring to the GeForce GTX 780 Lightning, the video controller that, like all other GTX 780 cards, regardless of factory overclocking (or lack thereof), stands just one level below the GeForce GTX Titan. Normally, the GeForce GTX 780 runs the GK110 graphics processing unit (GPU) at 863 MHz, unless the GPU Boost technology kicks in. In that case, the clock speed jumps to 902 MHz. Not that large a leap, but still better than nothing. Obviously, MSI wasn't about to name a card “Lightning” without making it better than the original. Thus, is was that the product ended up with a core base speed of 980 MHz and a GPU Boost maximum setting of 1033 MHz. Clearly, those numbers are in a different league.

To ensure stability even at those settings, MSI gave the GTX 780 Lightning a 16+3 phase VRM, an additional GPU Reactor module (filters out electrical noise), high-grade chokes, PowIRstage driver-MOSFETs, and DirectFETs from International Rectifier, plus tantalum capacitors. That way, all that power brought through the two 8-pin PCI Express connectors is put to good use, instead of being wasted or overwhelming the circuitry. All the while, the 3 GB of GDDR5 VRAM work at 6 GHz over the 384-bit interface. Here, at least, there was no tweaking involved. As for the cooler, the TriFrozr merges the benefits of a large aluminum fin stack with those of several 8 mm heatpipes and three fans (each with its own 4-pin PCB connection). MSI's Afterburner utility is enough to individually control the rotary speeds of each fan. MSI's GeForce GTX 780 Lightning bears a price of $749.99 / €749.99. That's $100 / €100 more than the reference tag.

MSI GeForce GTX 780 Lightning
Image credits to MSI

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