HTC Nexus 9 Appears in First Leaked Picture, Shows Nexus 5-like Plastic Back

Earlier today we told you the highly anticipated Nexus 9 tablet had been spotted paying a visit through the FCC, which is a good indication the slate would soon be launched into the wild.

Anyway, things seem to be getting really hot in the Nexus 9 department. Seemingly taking up the job @evleaks used to do in the past, @upleaks now offers us a sneak peek at the tablet, which is expected to make a debut on October 16. The slate dubbed HTC T1 seems to be appearing in the first real-life image, but only showcasing its back panel. As you can see from the picture, the tablet doesn’t seem to have a metal body but will be made of black plastic like the Nexus 5 smartphone, which was manufactured by LG.

There’s a circular camera lens located in the top corner, which raises Nexus 7 or Nexus 5 vibe again. One can also spot the big, obvious Nexus logo placed in the middle. As it has been mentioned several times, the tablet should have a 4:3 aspect ratio display, an aspect which is apparent in the image. With all these leaks, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the Nexus 9 will soon be upon us, and things will hopefully stick to the plan and we won’t see any derailing of the grand event.

Nexus 9 smiles for the camera
Image credits to upleaks

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Sharp 7-Inch Tablet with Revolutionary New MEMS-IGZO Display Tech Coming in 2015

Most mobile devices these days rely on LCD technology. Surely, there are the ones that come with AMOLED displays, but they aren’t really that widespread. But, Japanese company Sharp wants to push the boundaries of display making, so to that end it has partnered with chip giant Qualcomm.

A while ago, Sharp promised amazing new MEMS-IGZO displays are coming in 2017 and this week we are finally able to tell you more about the project.

Sharp will be making a 7-inch tablet

It appears the development process of the new tech is going quite well, because Sharp seems confident a 7-inch tablet taking advantage of this display tech will be ready to be released to the public by 2015. The MEMS-IGZO combo should bring about a high-speed display on thin panels that will boast the same energy efficiency as e-ink grayscale panels. But what is MEMS-IGZO, to be more precise? Well, you might be familiar with the MEMS name, as the technology showed up in Qualcomm’s TOQ smartwatch. The wearable didn’t turn out to be all that popular with consumers, despite it taking advantage of an MEMS display which doesn’t put a strain on battery life. Qualcomm claims MEMS utilizes just 1/6 of the power in current displays.

Moving on IGZO, the name stands for indium, gallium, zinc and oxygen. This combo pushes pixels around the screen and, in doing so, brings about a thinner plane. IGZO makes use of a thin-film transistor located on the rear of the device, in order to decrease the size needed to house the screen. On top of that, it can move images at about 150% the speed of LCD. The extra TFT layer brings about other advantages too, a batter backlighting and it doesn’t need a color filter. In the long term, it should allow MEMS-IGZO to produce brighter colors without the washed out effect being attached to it.

Preliminary specs have been revealed

To summarize, MEMS-IGZO could bring about a Sharp tablet with a thinner, faster and power-efficient battery. The tablet doesn’t currently have a name, but we’re given a few specifications to cling to before the device makes it on the market. The 7-inch display will boast a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution (lower than you’d expect from Sharp, but given that this is a new tech, we shouldn’t be all that surprised). The powerhouse of the device will be a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and Android 4.4 KitKat will run as default operating system. Sharp says the tab should be IPX7 rated for water resistance and should bundle an LTE chip. Expect it to make an appearance in 2015.

Sharp's future tablet will take advantage of MEMS-IGZO display
Image credits to Sharp Japan

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Samsung Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 Leak in Live Pictures

Samsung launched the Galaxy Alpha series last month to fill a gap into its Android offering and the first smartphone in the family is already available for purchase in almost all major markets.

However, the Galaxy Alpha won’t remain the only smartphone in the series for too long, as sources familiar with Samsung’s future plans claim the South Korean company will launch three new premium smartphones. All the Galaxy Alpha series put design over features, but the most powerful of the smartphones in the series may be a beast in terms of hardware performance. The Galaxy A7 will be the most expensive and the better featured in the Galaxy Alpha series, but for the time being it’s unclear exactly when the smartphone will go on sale. The good news is we now have more information on two upcoming Galaxy Alpha series smartphones that should be launched on the market by the end of this year.

Samsung Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 have just popped up online in a few live pictures, which suggests that we’re very close to an official announcement. The smartphones briefly appeared in Mexico, GSMArena reports, and judging by their look, there’s a high chance that these are the final versions of the Galaxy A3 and A5.

Both premium smartphones favor look over features

The more expensive of the two, Samsung Galaxy A5 expected to go on sale for the price of around $400 – $450 (€320 – €360) outright. The smartphone is said to sport a 5-inch Super AMOLED display with HD (720p) resolution and an impressive 13-megapixel camera on the back. In the front, the Galaxy A5 will pack a no less impressive 5-megapixel camera for selfies and video calls, while on the inside the smartphone will be equipped with a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 or 410 processor. Last but not least, the handset is likely to feature 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory, which can be further expanded up to 64GB via microSD card slot.

The cheapest of the Galaxy Alpha series will be available on the market for around $350 – $400 (€280 – €320) off contract. Samsung Galaxy A3 will be powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. The smartphone is rumored to sport a 4.52-inch AMOLED display with qHD (540 x 960 pixels) resolution, as well as microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 64GB) and dual cameras (8-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front-facing photo snapper). It’s also worth mentioning that both Galaxy Alpha smartphones will be powered by Android 4.4.4 KitKat operating system out of the box. Added a new video showing all three Samsung Galaxy Alpha smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy Alpha flanked by Galaxy A5 (left) and Galaxy A3 (right) 

Samsung Galaxy Alpha A5 back side
Images credits to AndroidMX.net

Nuevos dispositivos Samsung Galaxy A5 y A3 los cuales son hechos completamente de aluminio con cuerpo unibody, la tapa trasera NO es removible, ocupan nanoSIM y vienen con Android KitKat 4.4.4.
Para comparar también se aprecia el Samsung Galaxy Alpha con borde de aluminio y tapa trasera de plástico.
Android México: http://androidmx.net
Twitter: @AndroidMX
Video credits to AndroidMX

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Nexus 6 Could Be the Most Powerful Smartphone on the Market, Benchmark Shows

Although there’s no telling when exactly Google will unveil the next Nexus smartphone, from previous experiences we can tell that it may be this month that the search giant plans to make the device official.

Google usually introduces a new version of Android in October and launches a new Nexus smartphone during the same event, but this year the company had decided to release a preview version of Android L in June, so that developers can prepare their apps for the upcoming OS. But what about the new Nexus handset that should be launched along with Android L? Well, fortunately we do know that it will be manufactured by Motorola and that it will pack a huge 5.9-inch QHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution display, as well as a powerful quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor. The phablet is also said to be equipped with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory, as well as an enhanced 13-megapixel main camera with OIS (optical image stabilization).

The upcoming smartphone has already leaked a few times as Motorola Shamu, as Google is still working to secure the Nexus 6 name for the smartphone. The latest info on the Nexus 6 indicates that this might be one of the most powerful Android smartphones available on the market. Spotted on Geekbench website, the benchmarks scores show high performance when it comes to multi-core test, as well as single-core where the Shamu is placed third after iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Motorola Shamu is armed with a 2.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor

The results in the Geekbench testing benchmark might have been achieved with a prototype unit, so the final version may score even higher than that. Even though we did not expect something less superior from Google, the Nexus 6’s benchmark scores are still impressive and quite an achievement for a device that has yet to be launched on the market. The only issue would be with the fact that Google plans to launch a single Nexus 6 variant, which might not appeal to all customers who favor smaller smartphones over phablets.

However, there is hope for Nexus family fans, as Motorola is expected to launch a smaller 5.2-inch Nexus smartphone, which might go on sale under a different name. The smaller Nexus model may be launched under the Android Silver brand, though everything is a bit blurry now as Google is still mum on everything related to its new Nexus and Android Silver smartphone programs. Stay tuned for more on this one.

Motorola Shamu benchmark result
Images credits to GeekBench

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