HTC One M8 Receives Desire Eye Experience with New Android 4.4.4 KitKat Update

HTC introduced a new high-end smartphone a few days ago, the Desire Eye, which will be released on the market sometime this month.

The Desire Eye’s main selling point is the 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, which comes with dual-LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording. However, the camera is not the only thing that HTC included in the smartphone. The so-called Eye Experience greatly enhances the Desire Eye’s camera and it is exclusive to this handset, which is not yet available on the market. However, it won’t remain exclusive to HTC Desire Eye for too long, as the Taiwanese handset maker has announced that it will offer the Eye Experience to other compatible HTC smartphones soon. Well, it looks like the first device to receive the promised Eye Experience is the HTC One M8. As GSMArena points out, a new Android 4.4.4 KitKat update is now being pushed to HTC One M8 handsets worldwide.

Beside the Eye Experience, as mentioned in the changelog, the update also brings some security fixes, which have probably been on HTC’s list for quite some time. The update is about 250MB in size and is pushed OTA (over-the-air) in waves, so not all HTC One M8 units will get it at the same time.

Other HTC smartphones will receive the Eye Experience as well

With the Eye Experience, HTC One M8 owners will be provided with exclusive enhancements for taking photos and making videos. Face Tracking is one of the features added via Eye Experience, which allows the camera to track up to four faces during a video chat and ensure that they stay within the camera’s angle of view. Split Capture is another interesting feature that provides the camera with the option to record the action in front of you and yourself at the same time. You can also record the action first and then record a commentary.

Then there’s the Face Fusion feature that uses two photos, such as your selfie and a photo of your favorite celebrity, and merges them together. With Voice Selfie, you can take a picture or video selfie by saying “Cheese” or “Action.” Living Makeup is another new feature that smoothens your skin before taking your selfie, while the Photo Booth option takes 4 selfies and merges them into a single picture. HTC One M8 owners might want to check their phones for the update by going to Settings / About phone / Update. If it’s not available, you might want to try out later.

Android 4.4.4 KitKat update for HTC One M8
Image credits to GSMArena

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Galaxy GeForce GTX 750 Ti Razor Single-Slot Graphics Card Released

Motherboards may have multiple PCI Express slots, but sometimes those slots are too close together to be used, since graphics cards usually take up the space of two because of their coolers. Not so for the new Galaxy GeForce GTX 750 Ti Razor though.

The GeForce GTX 750 Ti graphics card may be based on the Maxwell architecture, but the GM107 doesn't produce much heat, and neither do the 2 GB of GDDR5 VRAM, since 5.4 GHz is a pretty tame setting. Still, the original card was made in a dual-slot form. Now, though, the board has been outfitted with a single-slot cooler. Admittedly, it's not the first time this happens. Still, it's good to see a mid-range board showing up now, when only high-end NVIDIA cards have been unveiled, all of which are mostly MIA anyway.

The GTX 750 Ti Razor has 1,020 MHz GPU clock, 1,080 MHz GPU Boost clock and the 2 GB of 5.4 GHz VRAM we already mentioned. The cooler chills the GPU, memory chips and VRM. The price is of around €140, which can mean anything from $140 to $177, depending on how much retailers care about exchange rates. Needless to say, you'll have to install the product in a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot.

Galaxy GeForce GTX 750 Ti Razor
Images credits to TechPowerUp

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Cube T7 Is a 7-Inch Tablet with 64-Bit MediaTek Octa-Core CPU, LTE Networks

We are seeing more and more 64-bit devices being unveiled these days and the growing trend has even hit China.

Device manufacturer Cube has recently launched the T7 tablet, a device that runs a 64-bit octa-core MediaTek chipset on the inside. The MediaTek MT8752 processor living inside is the tablet alternative to the MT6752 which the chip-maker uses for smartphones. The tablet is a 7-incher with 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution and brings about 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, as Giz China reports. Other selling points of the tablet include GPS, Glonass, 15 network frequencies, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and H.256 video.

The tablet runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat and is 9.3-inch / 236 g thick so it can’t be considered the skinniest in the bunch. The tablet should be available for pre-order starting next month with a price tag of $162 / €127 in China. At some point international third-party retailers might pick the tablet up, but you’ll probably have some time to wait before that happens. In related news, MediaTek is rumored to go into the Chromebook business soon. The first models taking advantage of the low-cost chips are said to come on the market sometimes in 2015.

Cube T7 is octa core tablet
Image credits to GizChina

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Motorola DROID Turbo Could Be Powered by a 3900 mAh Monster Battery

Even though Motorola has yet to officially introduce the DROID Turbo on the market, we can already agree that this will be a very powerful smartphone.

Since most of the smartphone’s specs have already leaked online and some of them have been confirmed in the “User’s Guide” that popped up on the Internet a few days ago, the only thing that remains to pinpoint is the exact release date of the device. Oh well, that and probably a few of the specs that did not yet appear in any of the leaks we reported on. For example, the battery of the DROID Turbo is supposed to be pretty large given the fact that the smartphone is considered the sequel to the DROID Maxx which is powered by a huge 3,500 mAh battery. The only information we had until today has been the fact that the DROID Turbo will be compatible with Motorola’s Moto Turbo charger that’s capable of replenishing your battery’s charge up to 80% in under 30 minutes.

Slashgear reports Chinese e-tailer TaoBao has just listed the Motorola DROID Turbo’s battery, which is labeled as model EQ40. The good news is that this is a 3,900 mAh battery, which makes DROID Turbo’s battery one of the best on the market, only second to Huawei Ascend Mate7’s 4100 mAh monster battery. Obviously, there’s no certainty that the DROID Turbo will indeed be powered by a 3,900 mAh battery until Motorola and Verizon have made it official.

The DROID Turbo will be a Verizon Wireless exclusive in the US

However, the FCC filing and the listing at the Chinese e-tailer are both a clear indication that Motorola plans to pack a huge battery inside the DROID Turbo, which isn’t surprising considering what specs the upcoming smartphone is said to feature. For example, the DROID Turbo has been tipped to boast a stunning 5.2-inch QHD (2560 x 1550 pixels) resolution display, as well as powered by 2.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor. As we reported a few days ago, Motorola DROID Turbo has been confirmed to feature an amazing 21-megapixel rear-facing camera with dual-LED flash, autofocus and video recording.

Furthermore, Motorola DROID Turbo is also expected to pack 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage inside. There’s no word on microSD card slot for memory expansion for the moment, so we will just have to wait until the smartphone is officially unveiled. Keep in mind that Motorola DROID Turbo will be exclusively available in the US through Verizon Wireless, but different versions may be carried by other operators as well.

Motorola DROID Turbo battery
Image credits to TaoBao

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Dell Alienware 17 & 18 with Intel i7 Overclocked CPUs Launched

In recent days lots of gaming solution manufacturers have unleashed new or revamped notebooks taking advantage of NVIDIA’s latest GPU architecture which consists of the GeForce GTX 980M and GTX 970M.

We were expecting a similar announcement from Dell related to its Alienware notebooks, but it appears the producing company has postponed making any GPU updates for the time being. In the meantime, Dell and Intel have partnered up to bring overclocking enthusiasts a nice surprise.

Two overclocked Alienware laptops announced

In a short press release, the chip giant announced the availability of Alienware 17 and 18 with overclocked core i7 CPUs up to 4.4 GHz (for the 18-inch models) or up 4.0 GHz (for the 17-inch model). The larger model can be configured with an Intel Core i7-4940MX (Haswell) processor normally clocked at 3.1GHz (4.0GHz in Turbo Mode) that can be overclocked to reach 4.4GHz. The 17-incher will bundle an Intel Core i7-4910MQ clocked at 2.9GHz (3.9GHz in Turbo Mode) with 4.0GHz in overclock mode. Such frequencies might generate a lot of heat under the hood, but Dell and Intel have thought about this unwanted by-product and have come up with a solution. Alienware engineers have developed a new thermal solution which aids with the dissipation of heat and helps the notebook run in reliable and cool conditions.

Alienware 17 is the less powerful of the duo coming in with less powerful processor solutions and NVIDIA GPUs and starting price of $1,399 / €1,101. On the other hand, Alienware 18 has a starting price of $2,099 / €1,652 and for this money customers will be given access to more advanced processor options, dual NVIDIA graphics in SLI configurations or AMD (Crossfire). Both models support 32GB of RAM and should last you a few hours of game time off the chord.

The thinnest and lightest Alienware comes next month

Dell’s Alienware lineup is quite hailed by gaming enthusiasts for obvious reasons. The producing company is also expected to bring out what’s being called “the thinnest and lightest” model in the lineup in November. The laptop will take advantage of a smaller 13.3-inch display and customers will be given a choice between 1366 x 758, 1920 x 1080 or 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution. Under the hood, Alienware 13 will bundle an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M working in concert with Haswell-based Core i3/i5/i7 processors. A Broadwell version is said to be made available at some point in the future.

Dell managed to squeeze all these specs in a laptop weighing just 4.5 lbs / 2.04 kg, so if you want a new, portable machine, keep an eye on the Alienware in November.

Dell and Intel overclock the Alienware 17 and 18
Image credits to Alienware

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Google Still Negotiating for Nexus 6 Name, Two More Nexus Phones May Be Launched

We reported about a week ago that Google is working to secure the Nexus 6 name for its next flagship smartphone, which is supposed to be launched sometime this month.

Unfortunately, it appears that the search giant hasn’t been able to license the use of this particular name yet, though negotiation will continue until the very last minute. As per TK Tech News’ report, the retail package of the flagship handset won’t have any mention of Nexus 6 or Nexus X, instead Google will probably release it with the simple Nexus logo if the negotiations fail. In worst case scenario, if Google is not allowed to use the Nexus 6 name for its flagship handset, the smartphone will most likely be announced as Nexus X. It’s unclear with whom Google is now negotiating the use of the Nexus 6 name, but we assume it’s related with the company’s issues that date back in 2010 when it launched the Nexus One.

After receiving a cease-and-desist letter from Isa Dick Hackett, owner of sci-fi author Philip K. Dick, which claimed the name Nexus One is a direct reference to the “Nexus-6” model series of androids that appears in the “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” (known as Blade Runner), Google was threatened with a lawsuit. Apparently, nothing happened though the owner of Philip K. Dick’s intellectual properties hasn’t been approached at all for negotiations at that time. Even though things did not escalate, we believe using the Nexus 6 name would probably be a bigger mistake for Google, as the reference to Philip K. Dick’s novel is even clearer.

Motorola Moto G 2014 and HTC Desire could be turned into Google Play Edition smartphones

In the same piece of news, the same report claims sources familiar with Google future plans say the company will launch two more Nexus smartphones along with its flagship handset, though both will be entry-level. There’s a high chance that along with Nexus 6, Google will also announce Google Play Editions of Motorola Moto G 2014 and HTC Desire (no clue which model). Both these affordable smartphones will be powered by stock Android and will be available along with the Nexus 6 via Google Play Store. Obviously, along with these handsets, Google will officially launch the final version of Android L, its new mobile operating system.

As we’re getting close to official announcement, more and more details seem to emerge online, so stay tuned for additional info on Google next major event.

Motorola Moto G 2014
Image credits to Motorola Mobility

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