MWC 2013: All the news from Day 2!

Asus' MeMoPads Priced Up!

    Asus has launched a pair of new slates, there are both 10.1 and 7" options. The larger 10.1 tablet, which goes by the really elegant, ME301T name, and features a Tegra 3 processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean tablet, that 1280 x 800p 10.1" IPS display, along with 16GB of internal storage and your choice of midnight blue or other hues, but they'll arrive later! You can pick up the device from Currys, PCWorld, Tesco and Amazon and pre-orders should be live now and you can pick the device up in store on March 7th for £249. 

   The 7" slate will be called the MeMo Pad ME172V and just like its big bro you'll get Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, but this time the internals are decidedly less impressive. There's a 1GHz VIA WM8950 processor, the screen will have a 1024x600p resolution, but you will still get 16GB of on-board storage. But, for £129 noone will be complaining! This device should land some time in April.
Via AndroidCentral.

Huawei Ascend W1 Priced Up too!

   There's been a fairly large Windows Phone 8 presence at MWC this year, admittedly that's mainly been down to Nokia, but lets have Huawei take some of the lime light too! The Huawei Ascend W1, just in case it's slipped your mind, features a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM and it's sporting a 4" WVGA, that's 800 x 480p display. There's 4GB of on-board storage, a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 1,950 mAH battery. So what will that set you back?

   Not very much it turns out! The package will cost you £119.99 or you can secure one with a contract from O2 from £13.50 per month!
Via ITProportal.

LG show off a Qi-certified wireless charger!

   That diddy little hockey puck lookalike pictured above is actually a compact little wireless charger from LG! We don't actually have too many details on it yet, but we do know that the 'LG Spectrum 2 and Nexus 4 feature built-in support for wireless charging right out of the box' and that the plug is Qi-certified so it should work with a fair few devices, but we'll update you as and when we find out price and availability!
Via AndroidCentral.

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CES 2013: Huawei introduce two new Android smartphones and a new Windows Phone!

Image Credit: Huawei Twitter.

The Huawei Ascend Mate!

   At long last it's officially official! Here is the Huawei Ascend Mate that we've seen teased by Huawei's chairman and that has been caught on more cameras than we have fingers! 

   Now we finally have some concrete details too. Firstly, there is that huge 6.1-inch 720p HD IPS+ display, a 1.5 GHz Hi-Silicon quad-core processor and a 4050 mAh battery. On top of that there's Android 4.1 and an 8.0-megapixel AF rear-facing camera with HDR and 1.0-megapixel HD capable front-facing camera. Huawei has been keen to point out the dual MIC noise reduction technology and the Dolby sound system and stereo recording options on this device too!

   The device also has a screen to body percentage of 73% something which Huawei is keen to promote as notably higher than their competitors and it's something which should in theory make your experience with the device better!

   We expect we'll hear pricing when carriers start announcing whether or not they are carrying these phones! The full press release is available here!

The Huawei Ascend D2!

   We've already seen the monster phablet from Huawei, but Huawei knows that not everyone wants the biggest phone going and so to compensate for that here is the Ascend D2. 

   It's a water proof and dust proof device which will more than keep up with the superphones which are coming out this year. First up this is a 5" full 1080p IPS device, which gives this Gorilla Glass coated screen, a resolution of 443 pixels per inch! You'll also get a stellar pair of cameras here too, as the D2 features a 13MP BSI rear-facing camera and we're not sure of the resolution of the front-facing camera at the moment!

   The D2 has an ample 3000mAh battery, 1.5GHz quad-core processor and for those of you that think the 5-inch display is just a bit too unmanageable then the D2 will also be available in a 4.7-inch option! You can check out the full details here!

As for availability the Ascend D2 will be hitting China this month and the Ascend Mate will follow in February!

Via PhoneDog.

The Huawei Ascend W1!

   For whatever reason Huawei chose not to give their new Windows Phone 8 powered Ascend W1 the same centre stage treatment they gave their Android pairing. It might have something to do with the fact that this is a decidedly average offering and they didn't want to detract from the high-end offerings.

   So yesterday evening Huawei pushed out the Ascend W1. It's a 4" device which offers a 4-inch 480 by 800 pixel display, a 5-megapixel rear and 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera all of which is kept chugging along by the 1.2GHz dual-core processor. Huawei have made a good habit of including big batteries in their devices this year and the Ascend W1 is no exception: it's packing a 1,950mAh battery! To round out the rest of the specs there's 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage, thankfully there's also a MicroSD card slot because that will probably need expanding!

   If this one doesn't tickle your fancy then Huawei mentioned to CNet that they have a Windows Phone 8 device on the way which will be comparable in size and performance to the 6.1" Ascend Mate! We're looking forward to seeing that one! If you want to see the Huawei Ascend W1 in action then WPCentral's hands-on is embedded below!
Via Engadget.

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19/11/2012: CyanogenMOD launch their 'Apollo' music player, Nexus 4 drop test, 'Modest' Windows 8 sales and much more!

CyanogenMod launches their 'Apollo' music player on the Play Store!

   CyanogenMod is undoubtedly the most popular custom ROM in the Android world and recently they've been looking to slightly expand their horizons. The devs over there have been looking into ways to make not just the firmware better but also the apps you use on a daily basis. One of the first targets was the music player which undoubtedly is one of the less attractive parts of Android.

Picture Via LandOfTechnology.

   So today we present you with the fruits of the guys labour! A new, more attractive, holo-themed music player.

   At the moment you have two options; the first of which is the buy the app for £0.62 or $0.99. This will get you Apollo+ and it has the added bonus of faster updates and it will rid you of ads, both privileges will be missing in the free version! You can get Apollo+ here or standard Apollo here. 

   And yes they do both work with un-rooted devices!

Via LandOfTechnology.

So how does that glass-clad Nexus 4 hold up when it's dropped?

   That question is something we're sure you've been asking yourself ladies and gentlemen. After all when LG and Google announced the device we ourselves were sceptical about the devices resilience to accidental drops and bumps, especially since Apple's iPhone 4 and 4S' had a reputation for getting cracked backs! The lovely demo above, in German unfortunately, has all the clunks and damage on it, so watch that bit before you carry on, otherwise we'll spoil the results for you!

   Surprising, the Nexus faired rather well in the tests. When dropped from waist height, probably the most likely height for the device to be dropped from, there was very little damage only a couple of scuffs around the edges. Although, had the phone landed flat on either side we think there could have been a nasty smash.

   From head height though your shiny new Nexus probably won't survive. The one in the video landed towards the top of the phone on its back and even Corning's Gorilla Glass 2 wasn't enough to save it! 

   Just like it's iPhone predecessor though the phone still worked absolutely fine despite the impacts and assuming you look after them well and take a little bit more caution with it, or perhaps even put it in a case, the phone will be absolutely fine!

Via PhoneArena.

In other news:

• It's the 5th birthday of Amazon's Kindle eReaders!

• Apparently Microsoft's sales of Windows 8 have been 'modest' since the software's launch. Microsoft puts it down to OEMs and their "inability to deliver" more inspiring hardware with better availability. Although, perhaps it isn't fair to blame OEM's for the slow start because Windows 7 is an excellent operating system with very few flaws, when it launched it replaced Vista, an operating system with very little love, so perhaps it will take a while for people to see the merits of Windows 8.
  Via Engadget.

• The guys over at Sammobile have got hold of a render which shows special Valentine's day themed to their Galaxy S3, Galaxy Ace 2, Galaxy Ace DUOS and Galaxy S DUOS! How do they look to you?

• Google has reached a licensing deal with Armonia, who are a music licensing initiative that represents an alliance of publishers from across Europe. The agreement will boost the Play stores content by about 5.5 million songs, just in case 3.5million wasn't enough already! The unique thing about this deal is that Google has got a license for 30 countries in one go! Normally companies have to negotiate on a single country basis so this makes it a lot easier for Google!
  Via AndroidPolice.

• Huawei may be the next phone manufacturer to release colourful Windows Phones if leaked pictures of their Ascend W1 are anything to go by!
  Via Phonedog.

• Intel's CEO, Paul Otellini, has announced he will step down in May next year after nearly 40 years with Intel. He said:

"I've been privileged to lead one of the world's greatest companies. After almost four decades with the company and eight years as CEO, it's time to move on and transfer Intel's helm to a new generation of leadership. I look forward to working with Andy, the board and the management team during the six-month transition period, and to being available as an advisor to management after retiring as CEO."

Via The Verge.

• It's been confirmed that there is indeed a bug in Android 4.2's calender which means that December does not currently exist. Hopefully Google will be working on a patch as we speak, but that didn't stop HTC UK tweeting that they aren't releasing Jelly Bean at the moment because of this bug. Strangely though that tweet has since disappeared so we've only got Modaco's, Paul O'Brian, and his retweet of their post to show you.

No no NO! You're not releasing 4.2 yet anyway! “@htc_uk Google cancels Christmas... #WhyWeHaventReleasedJellyBeanYet ow.ly/foO6N”
— Paul O'Brien (@PaulOBrien) November 19, 2012 

• Phones4U appear to have found to details about the Windows Phone 7.8 update! You can find the full details here.

• Some of you may remember that at the tail end of last year LG and Box.net signed an agreement that enables all LG smartphone customers to get 50GB's of storage on Box's servers. It turns out that the Nexus 4 also gets the same privilege because it is an LG phone after all! That's an added bonus for you guys out there who've managed to get your hands on one already!
  Via Android Central.

And finally, the UK has a new MNVO today after 'The People's Operator' launched today. The network itself piggy backs on EE's network and the main selling point of this new enterprise is that they give 25% of their profits to charity. You can find more information about the company, including their price plans, which are not as cheap as most networks at the moment, can be found here. Although, our take on this is that we would buy a phone contract and then donate money to the charity of our choice via direct debit instead, but each to their own, this way you halve the direct debits!

Via Engadget.

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