Panasonic P81 with Octa-Core CPU and 5.5-Inch Display Launching in India

We reported last week on the upcoming P81 high-end smartphone that Panasonic planned to launch in India this month and now it looks like the handset’s specs, along with price and release date, have just leaked online.

Panasonic has teased its flagship smartphone for India in a few images and videos, but has not unveiled any specs-related info and will probably keep it secret until the official announcement. According to NDTV Gadgets, Panasonic P81 will be officially introduced in India on May 20 and is likely to go on sale immediately for Rs 18,990 off contract, which is about $325 or €235. The Black leatherette P81 will be offered with various "freebies worth Rs 11,900" such as flip cover with screen guard and lots of digital subscriptions for various apps and services (Evernote, Hungama). This might sound a high price for a Panasonic handset, but judging by the leaked specs, this might be a good deal for Android enthusiasts in India looking for an affordable high-end smartphone. Keep in mind that these specs have yet to be confirmed by Panasonic, so take it with a grain of salt until the company goes official with the P81.

First of all, Panasonic P81 will have a powerful "true octa-core processor" provided by MediaTek, which will be clocked at 1.7GHz. The CPU inside is complemented by 1GB of RAM and only 8GB of storage, but users will be able to further expand storage up to 32GB via microSD memory card. Potential customers in India will be pleased to know that the P81 will offer dual-SIM capability with dual standby support. The smartphone is said to accept only microSIM cards, so bear that in mind before making your investment. Another strong point of the Panasonic P81 would be the large 5.5-inch HD (720p) capacitive touchscreen display that puts the device in the "phablet" category.

If that still hasn’t convinced you that the Panasonic P81 is a good deal, then you should know that the phablet boasts a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture and 28mm wide angle lens, autofocus, LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording. There’s also a secondary 2-megapixel front-facing camera for video calls. Panasonic P81 offers a wide range of connectivity options, including 3G HSPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, microUSB 2.0, GPS with A-GPS and FM Radio. The smartphone is only 7.9mm thick and drains energy from a rather high-capacity 2500 mAh battery, which has yet to be rated by the manufacturer.  The only downside is that Panasonic P81 will ship with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box, which is unacceptable for a high-end smartphone launched several months after the release of Android 4.4 KitKat platform.

Panasonic P81
Image credits to NDTV Gadget

Panasonic P81

Video credits to Panasonic India

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Samsung SM-G800H (GALAXY S5 Mini) Emerges in UAProf with 2.5GHz CPU

South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung Electronics is getting ready for the release of a mini flavor of the flagship Galaxy S5 smartphone, and some more info on the device is now available, courtesy of a User Agent Profile.

The phone was spotted there with model number Samsung SM-G800H attached to it, supposedly a European flavor of the device. As SammyToday has discovered, the mobile phone was listed on Samsung’s website with a 2.5GHz processor packed inside. The Samsung SM-G800H will come to the market with a faster processor when compared to the SM-G800A, the Galaxy S5 mini variant that was spotted online previously, and which included only a 2.3GHz processor. One thing that should be noted, however, is that the mobile phone is expected to come to the market with a Snapdragon 400, which will not be clocked in at 2.5GHz, but much lower. However, it might be able to top such a speed if tweaked.

The rest of the smartphone’s hardware specifications appear to be similar to what was spotted on the phone before. This would include a 4.5-inch touchscreen display capable of delivering a 1280 x 720 pixels resolution, an Adreno 305 GPU, 1.5 GB of RAM and an 8-megapixel camera on the back.

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
Image credits to Samsung

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Samsung Galaxy W Phoneblet Leaks with Huge 7-Inch HD Display, Quad-Core CPU

It looks like Samsung plans on releasing a huge Android smartphone in the next couple of weeks, the Galaxy W. The device can hardly be tagged as a smartphone, but sources close to the matter insist that this “phoneblet” will be a bigger version of the Galaxy Mega 2, which has yet to be officially revealed.

As SamMobile points out, the Galaxy W has recently been spotted in South Korea and will be available for purchase through major carrier SK Telecom. Although the phablet strongly resembles the previously leaked SM-T2558 tablet, it features capacitive keys specific to smartphones. The unannounced Samsung Galaxy W comes with similar buttons as the Galaxy S4, which means that it will pack a physical home key, as well as contextual menu and back buttons. The recent apps capacitive key that replaces the contextual menu button does not seem to be included in the Galaxy W. According to the source of the leak, the phablet will be launched internationally as well, but as a much larger version of Galaxy Mega 2, which is said to boast a large 6-inch capacitive touchscreen display. However, given the fact that Samsung tests various prototypes with different displays, it’s hard to tell which one will be included in the final version of Galaxy Mega 2.

Another interesting piece of information revealed in this brochure for SK Telecom is the fact that Galaxy W will come with “Phoneblet UX” with landscape mode and Multi Window split-screen multitasking feature. Design-wise, the Galaxy W is said to feature a faux-leather back cover, just like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. It will probably be packed with an S-Pen, though the information has yet to be confirmed. Unfortunately, aside from the fact that it will boast a huge 7-inch HD (720p) capacitive touchscreen display, no other details on the Galaxy W’s specs sheet have been revealed in this leak. Still, if we are to believe previous leaks concerning the Galaxy Mega 2 specs sheet, Samsung Galaxy W should ship with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box and a 1.2GHz quad-core processor inside.

It might also come equipped with 1.5GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, microSD card slot (up to 64GB), 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and 2-megapixel camera in the front. Samsung Galaxy W will be initially launched in South Korea via SK Telecom, but it has been confirmed by sources familiar with the matter for an international rollout soon afterwards.

Samsung Galaxy W fo SK Telecom
Image credits to undergo.co.kr

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Xiaomi Mi3 Officially Introduced in Malaysia, Redmi 1S Arriving in June

Xiaomi announced earlier this year that it would enter new smartphone markets in the coming months, including India and Malaysia. The Chinese handset maker has yet to introduce one of its new smartphones in India, but fans in Malaysia can already purchase the Mi3.

Unveiled last year in September, Xiaomi Mi3 hit shelves in late 2013 and was available in the Mainland via major carrier China Unicom. The high-end Android smartphone is one of the most popular Xiaomi handsets, which is probably one of the reasons that the company decided to bring it to additional markets. According to AndroidOS, Xiaomi Mi3 is now available for purchase in Malaysia for only RM 889 outright, which is about $275 or €200. Along with the release of the Mi3, Xiaomi announced that it would launch another Android smartphone in Malaysia next month, the Redmi 1S. Given the fact that the latter is a mid-range device, it will be priced much lower. There’s no word on how much the Redmi 1S will cost when it goes on sale in June, but rumor has it that Xiaomi will sell it for around RM 415 ($130 / €95) off contract.

Potential customers should know that the Xiaomi Mi3 is now available for purchase in Malaysia, online and via Celcom, Maxis and Digi carriers. Keep in mind though that Xiaomi has confirmed that there will only be 4,000 Mi3 units on sale in Malaysia, but additional devices will arrive in the country in the coming weeks if needed. Xiaomi Mi3 ships with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box, but the Chinese company has confirmed that Android 4.4 KitKat update is undergoing testing and will be released soon. Hardware-wise, the smartphone is equipped with a 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor inside, along with an Adreno 330 graphics processing unit and 2GB of RAM.

The Mi3 comes packed with only 16GB of internal memory and there’s no microSD card slot for storage expansion, which is one of the few downsides of the phone. It is also worth mentioning that the Mi3 sports a hyper-vibrant 5-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display that supports full HD (1080p) resolution and 441ppi (pixel density). The phone does not offer dual-SIM capability, but it comes with other connectivity options such as: DC-HSDPA, HSUPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and microUSB (USB On-The-Go). Xiaomi Mi3 boasts an impressive 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus, LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording, and it is powered by a high-capacity non-removable 3050 mAh battery.

Xiaomi Mi3

Xiaomi Redmi 1S
Images credits to Xiaomi

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LG to Launch One of the First Android Silver Handsets

Nexus 5, the latest handset included in the popular Nexus series of devices, has been developed by LG, and it seems that the vendor’s collaboration with Google will continue past that as well.

Apparently, the two companies are already working on a new Nexus-like smartphone, one that will be included in the recently rumored Silver series of devices. For those out of the loop, we should note that Google has been recently said to plan on killing the Nexus series of smartphones in favor of the aforementioned Silver lineup. While initial reports suggested that the Nexus family of phones would end with a Nexus 6 this year, some of the latest rumors on the matter claim that the phone will actually never be released. Despite that, however, the first smartphones in the Silver series will not be released this year but will arrive on shelves only sometime in February next year. New info coming from infamous tipster @evleaks suggests that one of the devices included in the lineup will be coming from LG, and that it will be a high-end smartphone (which falls in line with previous reports on the entire series).

Apparently, said smartphone might be powered by a Qualcomm MSM8994 processor, which would be the Snapdragon 810 CPU that Qualcomm made official only last month. At the same time, the first LG phone in the Silver lineup is said to be destined for the network of wireless carrier Sprint in the United States. However, with the Nexus phones available through Google’s Play Store with support for the networks of various wireless carriers out there, chances are that the Silver-series devices, said LG handset included, will suffer a similar fate. Powered by the Snapdragon 810 processor, the LG smartphone will manage to deliver great performance capabilities to its users, that’s for sure.

On top of that, the phone is expected to run under a stock version of the Android operating system, the same as Nexus and Google Play models at the moment, which should ensure a fast, appealing experience at all times. One thing that you should keep in mind, however, is the fact that there is no official confirmation on the existence of this LG smartphone or of other devices in the Silver lineup, so take the info above with a grain of salt for the time being. However, considering the track record of the leaker, there’s a very good chance that all will pan out in the end, so keep an eye on this space for updates on the matter.

LG to launch one of the first Silver-series handsets
Image credits to Google

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Samsung SM-G9098 Flip Android Smartphone Emerges in China

South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung Electronics appears set to bring to the market new Android smartphones in different form factors than the usual candy-bar, and one such phone has made an appearance in China on the handset vendor’s own website.

Featuring model number SM-G9098, the mobile phone is set to hit shelves at wireless carrier China Mobile in the country, yet no specific info on the price tag that it will sport when released has been provided as of now. The one thing that is certain, however, is the fact that this smartphone will sport a flip form-factor, packing both a touchscreen display and the usual alpha-numeric keyboard that mobile phones in this category usually include. Moreover, the same as many devices released on emerging markets such as China, the new Samsung SM-G9098 will be released with dual-SIM capabilities inside, with support for both TD-SCDMA and GSM networks. As SammyHub notes, the upcoming smartphone will include a faux leather design (which reminds us of the Galaxy Note 3), as well as two Super AMOLED displays. The phone’s two screens, which measure 3.7-inch diagonally, will boast a WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) resolution.

Due to the fact that it sports two touchscreens, Samsung SM-G9098 will allow users to enjoy its capabilities either as they would with any other regular candy-bar phone, due to the external display, or as a flip device, courtesy of the internal screen. Other hardware specs of the new device, however, bring it closer to what users usually find inside top Android smartphones out there, such as a 2.3GHz quad-core processor, which might be a Snapdragon 800 unit, although not specifically mentioned. Moreover, the Samsung SM-G9098 includes 2GB of RAM, which means that it will be able to deliver great performance capabilities at all times.

At the same time, the mobile phone will arrive on the market with a 13-megapixel camera on the back, most probably capable of recording videos in full HD resolution. A 2MP front camera for making video calls will also be present on the device. Moreover, the smartphone is said to arrive on shelves with a microSD memory card slot, as well as with the usual set of connectivity capabilities, including Wi-Fi 802.11, a/b/g/n 2.4+5GHz, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS receiver for navigation purposes. Now that the Android-based handset is official on Samsung China’s website, it remains to be seen when exactly China Mobile will make it available for purchase, so stay tuned for additional details on the matter.

Samsung SM-G9098
Images credits to Samsung via SammyHub

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iOS 7.1.1 Jailbreak Announced, Demoed on Video

An untethered jailbreak for the latest iOS firmware available has been created and demoed on video, though it remains to be seen whether or not developer winocm is willing to roll it out publicly before the launch of iOS 8.

Sometimes it takes months to find flaws in Apple’s mobile operating system. But if you’re lucky (and talented) like winocm was last week, you can find the bugs/exploits to develop a new jailbreak within hours. On May 18, female jailbreaker winocm announced on Twitter, “I was bored today, so I did this,” she wrote while throwing in a YouTube link. The embedded clip shows a jailbroken iPhone running iOS 7.1.1 with Cydia installed. Winocm carefully shows viewers that the jailbreak sticks even after a reboot, essentially confirming its “untethered” nature, sort of like the Holy Grail of jailbreaks. “Oh yeah, this is iOS 7.1.1 untethered if you didn't notice earlier. (iPhone 4 GSM though, don't want to mess with any other devices that I have. Would work elsewhere... if you put in the effort),” winocm adds on YouTube.

People commenting on Twitter and YouTube are naturally begging the hacker to release the untethered iOS 7.1.1 jailbreak publicly, in what would allow thousands of users to hack their devices and use mods, themes, and pirated apps on their respective iDevices with the latest firmware available from Apple. However, despite achieving this only on old-generation devices, there’s a chance winocm will save her jailbreak exploits for later, when iOS 8 is released. On the other hand, if the exploits are only usable in iOS 7 firmware, then she will most likely roll out her jailbreak soon. But if the bugs are worth preserving in hope that iOS 8 will be hackable through these exploited flaws, then you can be certain winocm will not want Apple patching them.

Finding vulnerabilities to exploit in iOS has become a very difficult task in recent years, so giving Apple the heads up regarding any flaw that might lead to a jailbreak is not something these hackers want to do. It has been estimated that the cost of an all-new jailbreak (such as the first jailbreak developed for iOS 7 in 2013) can run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, the hackers responsible for these jailbreaks have stressed on numerous occasions that they are not selling their hacks to the government / army / intelligence agencies, preferring to rely on donations and page views on their blogs as their means of capitalization on these hacks.

iOS 7.1.1 untethered jailbreak demoed on video
Image credits to winocm

Music is: 08 The Capital City of Flowers in the Sky (86) ~ HertzDevil - PC-98 Perfect Cherry Blossom. You must approve of OPNA to watch this video. This is the culmination of boredom, 3 hours of work and lots of masochism.

@winocm

Oh yeah, this is iOS 7.1.1 untethered if you didn't notice earlier. (iPhone 4 GSM though, don't want to mess with any other devices that I have. Would work elsewhere... if you put in the effort. ジ)

Yay, poorest woman's untethered jailbreak.

Video credits to rmsiphone

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