HTC M9 Prime to Arrive in Q1 2015, Before HTC M9

HTC One (M8), the latest flagship Android-based handset from the Taiwanese mobile phone maker, has been on shelves for only several months, but the company is already hard at work with its successor, it seems.

The handset, supposedly codenamed HTC M9, and most probably set to arrive on the market as HTC One (M9), if the current naming scheme from the company is anything to go by, is currently rumored to arrive on the market in the first quarter of the next year. The info comes from infamous tipster evleaks, that also claims that the handset will be accompanied by a premium version, called HTC M9 Prime. In fact, it appears that HTC might be actually planning to release the Prime model before the actual flagship device, yet specific details on when that might happen haven’t been unveiled as of now. However, the tipster does suggest that a premium version of the HTC One (M8) might never arrive, and that HTC would be focusing on the next high-end model instead. The company was previously rumored to have been working on a HTC M8 Prime model that was supposedly featuring a Quad HD touchscreen display, yet no confirmation on the matter has been provided as of now.

Moreover, the Taiwanese handset vendor decided to make official a cheaper flavor of the HTC One (M8), one that no longer features the aluminum design of the original, but replaces it with a plastic body. This resulted in a significant drop in price when compared to the flagship model. Next year, however, the company is expected to release HTC M9 Prime as a full refresh of the One Mx family, most probably with various hardware enhancements when compared to the HTC M9, though no info on what these could be has been shared as of now. Even so, we can assume that the Quad HD screen rumored for the M8 Prime will be present on the upcoming model, along with a faster processor and a better camera. The HTC M9 should feature improved specs when compared to HTC One (M8) too.

What remains to be seen, however, is whether HTC will also release a cheaper version of the flagship, the same as it did this year. If it does, then it would have its next One Mx model targeting a wide range of price points simultaneously, something that could prove great for sales. And the one thing that is certain at the moment is that it does need to sell more devices to return to profitability.

Allegedly leaked photo of HTC One (M8) Prime
Image credits to evleaks

Read more »

Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini Leaks in High-Res Photos, Full Specs Revealed

The mini version of Samsung Galaxy S5 has yet to be announced, but there are plenty of leaks suggesting that the smartphone will be quite decent in terms of hardware, as well as design.

Obviously, if you didn’t like the look of Galaxy S5, you won’t like the mini version either, as Samsung did not change much. You don’t have to take our word for it as the first high-resolution pictures showing the Galaxy S5 mini, alongside the original model, have just leaked online. This is not the first time a picture of the Galaxy S5 mini pops up online, but these are high-quality, so Samsung fans will have a better idea of what the smartphone really looks like. From what we can see, this is a prototype that’s very close to the final version that’s supposed to hit shelves this year, so you might as well think of it as the real deal. The pictures have been published by SamMobile and show that Samsung has kept the same design for both Galaxy S5 versions, with a few exceptions. For example, the mini version of Galaxy S5 does not feature a rubber stripe over the USB port like the original model. But that does not mean that it’s not IP67 certified. On the contrary, it looks like Samsung has managed to solve the issue with water infiltrating through the USB port inside the phone and has removed the rubber stripe covering it.

Hardware-wise, the specs of the Galaxy S5 mini are well known thanks to a series of benchmarks that have leaked as well. However, we recommend our readers to take the info with a grain of salt until Samsung confirms these specs. But in order to offer you an idea of what the Galaxy S5 mini might look like on the inside, here are some of the details that have recently appeared on AnTuTu benchmark. So, the Galaxy S5 mini will sport a 1.4GHz quad-core Exynos 3 Quad, a Mali-400 MP4 graphics processing unit and 1.5GB of RAM. The smartphone will come with 16GB of internal memory, which can be further expanded up to 128GB via microSD card slot.

Although the name would suggest that this is a smaller version of the Galaxy S5, it’s not really too small. The phone is said to come with a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display that supports HD (720p) resolution and features Corning Gorilla Glass 3 coating. It also comes packed with fingerprint scanner, heart rate sensor, LTE and 3G connectivity, along with Bluetooth, IR Blaster, NFC (Near Field Communication) and GPS with A-GPS support. Samsung Galaxy S5 mini will ship with Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system out of the box, and it is likely to receive an upgrade to KitKat 4.4.3 soon after launch.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini
Image credits to SamMobile

Read more »

OPPO N1 mini Goes Official with 13MP Rotating Camera

OPPO R3 is not the only new handset that Chinese vendor OPPO has made official today, as the smaller version of last year’s flagship N1 has also been revealed to the world.

The handset, called OPPO N1 mini, was hinted at last month, and has been fully detailed today, during a press event held in Beijing. The mobile phone arrives on the market with a 5-inch screen, which is indeed much smaller than the OPPO N1, but keeps the rotating 13-megapixel camera present on its predecessor. The handset also keeps the design of its larger counterpart and has been announced in three color flavors, namely white, blue and yellow. OPPO N1 mini will be released with a 5-inch IPS JDI touchscreen display capable of delivering a 1280 x 720 pixels resolution, as well as with a 1.6 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor inside, paired with Adreno 305 GPU.

Moreover, the handset sports 2GB of RAM, along with 16GB of internal memory. A microSD memory card slot should also be included, though nothing has been mentioned on it as of now. One of the main selling points of the new device will be, of course, its 13-megapixel rotating camera, which sports 1/3.2″ Sony IMX214 stacked sensor, 6-element lens, an f/2.0 aperture, and LED flash. At the same time, the mobile phone has been made official with support for 4G LTE and 3G networks, as well as with WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity capabilities, and with a built-in GPS receiver. Oppo N1 mini is powered by a 2140mAh battery and sports a 9.2mm thick body. The handset weighs 150 grams, OPPO has unveiled. Apparently, the company managed to reduce the weight of the rotating camera module, which resulted in a lighter handset.

Moreover, we should note that the new device runs under OPPO’s own Color OS 1.4, which is based on the Android operating system. Moreover, OPPO has also unveiled that it has built the new smartphone using the same materials that were included in OPPO N1 last year. As fonearena claims, OPPO will make the new mobile phone available for purchase in China as soon as the next week, with a price tag of 2,699 Yuan ($434 / €320) attached to it. This makes it an affordable device, despite its high-end hardware capabilities. Most probably, the mobile phone will become available for purchase on other markets out there as well, yet no specific info on the matter has been provided as of now.

Oppo N1 mini
Image credits to Oppo

Read more »

OPPO R3 Goes Official with 5-Inch HD Screen

Today, Chinese mobile phone maker OPPO has officially announced the upcoming availability of a new handset in the R series, in the form of OPPO R3.

The new mobile phone has gone official during a press event held in Beijing and should arrive on the market in the not-too-distant future with 5-inch IPS touchscreen display capable of delivering a 1280 x 720 pixels resolution. The handset is set to land on shelves in China before the end of this month and will sport a price tag of 2299 Yuan ($369/€273) attached to it when that happens. The specs list that OPPO R3 will be released with is quite appealing, especially when considering the market segment that the phone is aimed at. The mobile phone was announced with a 1.6 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor inside, as well as with Adreno 305 graphics. Moreover, the handset sports 1GB of RAM, along with 8GB of internal memory, and a microSD memory card slot to allow users to expand the available storage.

On the back, the new device features an 8-megapixel camera with LED flash, most probably capable of recording videos in full HD resolution. A 5-megapixel front camera is also present on the new smartphone, so that users could snap selfies and make video calls while on the go. The smartphone also sports OPPO’s O-Video feature, which was designed to combine both photos and videos and then upload them online. The functionality also makes it possible for users to re-scan images with their mobile phones in order to automatically play the video, as a recent article on fonearena explains. Moreover, the new device packs support for 4G LTE and 3G networks, as well as WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity. It also includes a GPS receiver to offer support for navigation services.

Moreover, the specs list of OPPO R3 boasts a 3.5mm audio jack and a 2420mAh battery. The phone is only 6.3mm thick and weighs 140 grams. According to the Chinese vendor, this is the slimmest 4G LTE capable handset. OPPO has unveiled the mobile phone with its own Color OS 1.4 loaded on top. The platform, which powers other smartphones in the company’s lineup as well, is based on Google’s Android operating system. Unfortunately, OPPO has not provided specific info on when we might see the new device made official on other markets out there as well, though we suspect that it will launch it in additional countries in the not-too-distant future.

OPPO R3
Image credits to Oppo via fonearena

Read more »

Galaxy Note 4 (N910) to Come with 16MP Camera, Quad HD Screen

This fall, South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung Electronics is expected to make official a new device in the popular Galaxy Note series of smartphones, one that will allegedly be called Galaxy Note 4, and some more info on the handset is now available.

According to a SamMobile report, the smartphone will land on shelves with a Quad HD touchscreen display and with a 16-megapixel camera on the back, and will feature model number N910. Moreover, the news site claims that Samsung is planning the release of two versions of the device, one with a Snapdragon 805 CPU inside, and the other with an Exynos 5433 SoC. It will also sport a 2MP front camera, the same as Galaxy S5. The Snapdragon 805 will land on shelves in North America, Korea, China and Japan, while the Exynos 5433 model will be released in the rest of the world, and will also sport Intel’s XMM7260 Cat. 6 modem. In addition to sharing these details on Galaxy Note 4, SamMobile also unveiled that the previously rumored KQ / kqlte device from Samsung, the Galaxy S5 Prime, might have been cancelled.

Moreover, they claim that the G906 handset model that might be released with a Snapdragon 805 CPU and a full HD screen won’t be a true successor of Galaxy S5, but that it will arrive on shelves soon. At the same time, they note that the Galaxy F hasn’t been confirmed as of now, but that it is likely to be released with the same hardware specs as a rumored “kcat6” Galaxy S5 successor, packing an Exynos 5433 CPU and the Intel XMM7260 modem.

Samsung Headquarter
Image credits to Samsung

Read more »