Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 (GT-S7582) Emerges

South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung Electronics will bring to the market a successor for its Galaxy S Duos in the not too distant future, namely the Galaxy S Duos 2.

The smartphone has yet to be officially confirmed, yet a photo that allegedly depicts it has already leaked online, courtesy of Hungarian website Tech2. The new smartphone was spotted with model number GT-S7582 attached to it, and with hardware specifications similar to those of its predecessor, SamMobile notes.

The entry-level device will be launched with 768MB of RAM, up from 512MB on Galaxy S Duos, and with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. It will also feature a 4-inch WVGA display and 4GB of internal memory, paired with a microSD memory card slot. Furthermore, the Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 is expected to arrive on shelves with a 5-megapixel camera, a 1500mAh battery, and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean loaded on top.

Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2
Image credits to Tech2 via SamMobile

Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2
Images credits to Tech2

Read more »

Android 4.4 KitKat (Unofficial) Now Available for Google Nexus One

Google Nexus One owners rejoice, as Android 4.4 KitKat is not an impossible dream for them. Although unofficial, the latest version of the operating system is now available for the first Nexus smartphone launched by Google.

The custom build was released courtesy of XDA Recognized Developer texasice, along with his team, and is based on AOSP. However, this unofficial Android 4.4 KitKat ROM for Nexus One also contains extra features that enhance functionality even further, which can be disabled. The bad news is that some things are not working yet and there’s no telling whether they will be fixed anytime soon. Developers of the ROM have confirmed that the ART compiler in KitKat does not work, so it should not be used as it causes bootloops. Then, there’s the graphics drivers that are not yet fully compatible and not working as they should. Last but not least, users won’t be able to take screenshots on the phone, and the camera may not work perfectly.

Nexus One users who aren’t concerned by the bugs and broken features of this port can flash the ROM on their smartphones and take advantage of the rest of Android 4.4 KitKat functionality. Here is a rundown of the basic and extra features included in this ROM:

Basic features:

• Extended PowerMenu;
• Battery %;
• Volume button music control;
• Trackball Wake;
• Theme manager.

Extra features:

• Sixbar signal strength;
• Lockscreen dialpad, and a few lockscreen mods;
• However our biggest feature is the ability to turn all that off with one switch in the toolbox, giving you 100% AOSP look and feel;
• We also do eng builds (instead of userdebug like everyone else) providing more open experience (ie adb root by default) and full complement of commandline tools (busybox, vim, ssh, curl/wet with ssl support!);
• Our newest addition is a custom updater written from scratch by Preludedrew and myself, featuring automatic update checks, support for downloading gapps, and advanced automatic install (TWRP and CWM supported but TWRP preferred).

For more details on how to download and install the unofficial Android 4.4 KitKat ROM for Google Nexus One, you may want to head over to the original thread on XDA Developers forum.

Google Nexus One
Image credits to Google

Read more »

Jolla's First Sailfish OS Smartphone Starts Shipping

Last night marked an important event in the evolution of Jolla, a Finnish startup that dreams of changing the mobile market, as the first device designed by it has arrived in users’ hands.

The company held the phone’s launch event in Helsinki, where it also handed out the first 450 units of its smartphone, which runs under Jolla’s own Sailfish OS. The phone was launched in Finland in partnership with wireless carrier DNA. Built based on MeeGo, the mobile OS that Nokia has started to develop a few years back in collaboration with Intel, Sailfish promises a different experience than what other mobile OSes out there can deliver. The platform’s UI is gesture-based, and the device comes with no buttons on the front, featuring an “original Finnish design,” as Jolla notes on its website. The software comes with no pre-loaded applications, but users will be able to choose to install apps they need straight from the startup wizard. In addition to the aforementioned interface that takes heavy advantage of swipes and other gestures, Sailfish OS comes with support for natively developed applications and for Android software. Right from the start, users will receive access to over 85,000 Android apps, courtesy of a partnership with Yandex. Furthermore, the platform offers navigation services via Nokia’s HERE Maps.

The platform is still not complete as of now, and it lacks support for features such as DLNA, MMS, and Calendar sync, as the company notes in a series of posts on Twitter. The handset packs some appealing hardware specs inside (such as a 4.5-inch IPS screen, 1.4 GHz dual-core CPU, 4G LTE, and 8-megapixel camera) and also arrives with a series of customization options, courtesy of “The Other Half” smart covers. Put up for pre-order several months ago, Jolla’s smartphone has been reserved by people from 136 markets, but no info on how many devices were booked has been provided. For the time being, however, the company won’t ship outside Europe.

According to Jolla, its smartphone will be available through its webshop for direct sales as soon as all reserved devices have shipped. Unfortunately, no timeframe for when that might happen has been provided. Jolla appears to be confident on its ability to grow and capture market share around the world. It will certainly receive support from people in Finland, especially now that Nokia’s handset division is becoming part of Microsoft. You can learn more on the new Jolla smartphone and on what the Sailfish OS has to offer via the promo video embedded below. You can also sign up for info on the availability of the device on the vendor’s website.

Jolla's phone starts shipping
Image credits to Jolla

Read more »