Category / Smartphones

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Apple unveils Watch and iPhones, big and bigger, at San Francisco keynote

“Can’t innovate any more, my ass,” joked Apple’s Phil Schiller last year as he unveiled the latest generation Mac Pro. After accusations of the company stagnating and failing to put out a revolutionary product since 2010’s iPad sparked the post-PC revolution, Apple’s share price tumbled despite record sales figures.

Though targeted at the likes of video professionals rather than you or I, the ‘trash can’ Mac Pro was a sign of bright things to come. With a unique construction designed to save power, space and noise, the desktop workhorse (and Schiller’s comment) appeared to perfectly represent Tim Cook’s all-new Apple. They were going to innovate. They wouldn’t be afraid to have some fun. They were going to strike back.

Along came September 9th and Cook graced the stage at San Francisco’s Flint Center, bringing with him a pair of new iPhones and the long-awaited Apple Watch. All are clear responses to the likes of Samsung and Motorola, though is the catch-up effort enough to restore Apple to the head of the pack? Continue reading →

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Apple does thing that everyone expected Apple to do, just like always

You know how Apple has an event every September in which they announce iPhones and other assorted technology devices and everyone freaks out about 2 weeks before when an invite lands in the inboxes of all the big tech blogs and has an Apple logo and a few words that don’t reveal anything useful and gets deconstructed to hell by Apple bloggers everywhere clamouring for a piece of the news that Re/code broke the day before?

Yeah, that happened. See you Tuesday 9th.

Source Kurt Colbeck (Twitter)

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Nokia announces Lumia 930, its new Windows Phone 8.1 flagship

At Microsoft’s Build developer summit today, future subsidiary Nokia has unveiled its new Windows Phone flagship device, the Lumia 930. Serving as true successor to the Lumia 920 (because the 925, 928, 1020 and 1520 just don’t cut it) which debuted in September 2012, the 930 is effectively Verizon’s recent Lumia Icon for a global market, with the relatively uninspired design being improved tremendously by the addition of chromatic rears, including black, white, green and, finally, orange. Continue reading →

by Neil Thomas

Apple iPhone 5s review

I’m sure that you all know by now that Apple has announced their latest addition to their smartphone lineup – the iPhone 5s. As ever with Apple, there has been a lot of hype surrounding this launch, and that has resulted in the fact that some of the sites that have reviewed it haven’t really understood what the phone is about, or what it is trying to be. Some put it down for its “bad” specifications. Others fawned over the device just because it was sent down by the Apple gods from above.. Even though I’m pretty late with this review, hopefully I’ll be able to give my thoughts on the device, and while doing that tell you what this device is really about. Continue reading →

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Porsche Design and BlackBerry reunite for P’9982, a £1500 Z10 in a steel and leather costume

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=huC1ae3XeGk]

It happened again. This time, Porsche Design and BlackBerry have mutilated the Z10 into a steel-bodied phone for people with more money than sense (and disgraced congressman Peter Russo in House of Cards), with this package set to cost you £1500 in Harrods. By my calculations, outgoing BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins could buy 9166 of these with his $22,000,000 severance package, but something tells me that’s not the greatest idea ever.

Source The Verge

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

LG Nexus 5 hits Google Play with Android 4.4, starting at £299 for 16GB and shipping immediately

Screen Shot 2013-10-31 at 18.07.00

It’s here, folks. Shipping within 2 days for £299/£339 for 16/32GB variants in both black and white. Go nuts. It’s exactly as leaked, with a 5″ 1080p display, Android 4.4 and powerful internals. Shocking, I know. Continue reading →

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Samsung announced things and I hate their keynotes so here’s some news stuff from it

Samsung keynotes, especially ones laden with Jason Bradbury and his increasingly dreadful glasses, always make me lose the will to live, so here’s stuff that I’m trying to not pay attention to but can’t avoid. Continue reading →

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Wooden Moto X options pictured in press shot with price set for $50

[tweet https://twitter.com/evleaks/status/373759936406114304]

As long as you’re with AT&T in the US or are willing to import and unlock one yourself, the most compelling feature of the Moto X is that you can customise its external appearance using the Moto Maker tool. While the range of colour choices sparked much argument among orange enthusiasts, one option that is rather unique is that of a wooden backing. This wasn’t available at launch as Motorola was still finalising the exact tones and materials, but the ever-reliable Evleaks has posted an image of the four woods that will be available later this year. Choosing one over a polycarbonate shell will add a $50 premium to the cost of the device, though it is also reported that the baseline handset cost will drop to $100 with a 2 year contract later in Q4.

Source Evleaks

 

 

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

King Cheapo Nexus 4 receives substantial price cut to just £159 unlocked

Nexus 4

The Nexus 4 may be getting slightly long in the tooth now as it approaches its first birthday, but it’s still pretty powerful and boasting the very latest version of Android with continued prompt updates from Google. Our own Neil Thomas loved it when he reviewed it earlier this year, and now the phone – which was already mindblowingly cheap at launch – has received a price cut on Google’s Play Store, presumably in preparation for the impending release of its successor. The 8GB model, previously £239, is now just £159, and the 16GB variant, formerly £279, is now just £199. While neither variant sports LTE connectivity, there is absolutely no question that the best mid-market Android phone you could buy is now the best cheap Android phone the world has ever seen. Providing you’re willing to accept that there’s a new one pretty much right around the corner (and let’s face it, if that’s beyond you then you should avoid technology at all costs) then, like me, you’ll be sorely tempted.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some money to find.

Source Google Play