Firefox OS tablet pops up at Computex made by Foxconn: More on the way?

   We heard the rumours the other day and it turns out they were true and Foxconn have announced their partnership with Mozilla on Firefox OS tablets. Indeed, one such device popped up at Computex today, but noone was allowed to touch and we're not entirely sure it's a working device and it's certainly not ready, but it's something for the future.

   Talking of which Foxconn's Young Liu said:

"Currently, Foxconn is executing on a vision of 'eight screens, one network, and one cloud' with all our strength. Besides the native advantages of hardware manufacturing, Foxconn is also developing a brand new integrated approach to providing hardware, software, content, and services."

So if that's anything to go by there could be a fair few more devices on the way from the guys!
Via Engadget.

Foxconn Adopts Firefox OS
New integrated offerings will expand the ecosystem based on open Web technologies
The Foxconn Technology Group today announced at a press event in Taipei a wide-ranging partnership with Mozilla to collaborate on the use of the Firefox OS open platform, based on HTML5 and open Web technologies, on Foxconn devices. Foxconn is extending past its origins in original design manufacturing to a combination of integrated software and hardware offerings, which extends its domain to the open operating platform and positively carries out its integration plan of hardware, software, content, and services.
"Currently, Foxconn is executing on a vision of 'eight screens, one network, and one cloud' with all our strength. Besides the native advantages of hardware manufacturing, Foxconn is also developing a brand new integrated approach to providing hardware, software, content, and services." Young Liu, the general manager of Foxconn innovation Digital System Business Group (iDSBG), said: "Because of our shared vision, we are excited to work with Mozilla. Firefox OS from Mozilla is based on HTML5 and open web technologies. The whole idea perfectly matches to the strategies promoted by Foxconn. We believe that the integration of software and hardware development will offer greater benefits to our customers and consumers."
"We are very excited about the cooperation with Foxconn and we are glad to see more partners supporting the Firefox OS and the open Web." Dr. Li Gong, SVP of Mobile Devices, President of Asia Operations, and CEO of Mozilla Taiwan, also said: "At Mozilla we see the open Web as the biggest and the best platform for the mobile world. The Firefox OS initiative helps solidify open Web standards for mobile computing; it also encourages and enables more openness in system integration and device interoperation. This cooperation demonstrates the full potential of Firefox OS, the open Web mobile operating system, to enable not only the smartphone but also a wide range of mobile devices.
About Firefox OS
Firefox OS is based on HTML5 and other Web technologies and is constructed by Mozilla as an open Web mobile operating system. Firefox OS and the apps are entirely built with HTML5, JavaScript, and new Web Application APIs including emerging Device, Web App, and System API standards pioneered by Mozilla. Firefox OS will set the mobile users, developers, and manufacturers free from the limitation of current proprietary mobile operating systems. Firefox OS has globally gained support from numerous manufacturers and telecom service providers and the first Firefox OS devices will be released this summer. Firefox OS is an extension of the Firefox open Web experience that is secure, private, customizable and puts people in control.
About Foxconn
As the partner of choice for all aspects of contract manufacturing services in Computing, Communication and Consumer electronics ("3C") industries, Foxconn grew to be a US$73 billion revenue group in 2008. Arms with its proprietary eCMMS business model and world leading IP portfolio, Foxconn Technology Group has revolutionized the CEM/EMS/ODM industries since turn of the century. Through its renowned offering of best speed, quality, engineering services, efficiency and value-added, Foxconn Technology Group determines to make the comfort from electronic products usage an attainable luxury for all mankind.
Focusing on fields of interconnection, nanotechnology, heat transfer, wireless connectivity, material sciences, and green manufacturing process, Foxconn's approx. 60,000 filed and over 26,500 granted patent portfolio worldwide, of which contains over 1,000 nanotechnology related patents, made it a recognized leader of innovation. Looking forward, Chairman Gou is expanding the group's scope from traditional 3C industry to including auto parts, content, channel, medical equipment and alternative energy.
A firm believer of social environmental responsibility, Foxconn is not only a proud member of EICC, but also actively promoting wider adoption of better environmental standard in electronic supply chain. This Fortune Global 500 company has actively using its role as the largest exporter and largest non-government affiliated manufacturer in Greater China to make its vision of making the comfort of electronic product usage an attainable luxury to all mankind closer to reality each day goes by.
About Mozilla
Mozilla has been a pioneer and advocate for the Web for more than a decade. We create and promote open standards that enable innovation and advance the Web as a platform for all. Today, hundreds of millions of people worldwide use Mozilla Firefox to discover, experience and connect to the Web on computers, tablets and mobile phones. For more information please visit mozilla.org.

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Rumour: Mozilla and Foxconn to partner on a Firefox OS tablet?

   According to Reuters there is set to be a partnership between the huge manufacturer Foxconn (or HonHai) and the Mozilla foundation in a bid to create a new mobile device running the latter's Firefox operating system.

    There hasn't been any specific information on the news issued from a Mozilla spokesperson, but according to Focus Taiwan the device is quite likely to be a tablet and we'd be pretty excited if this rumour does turn out to be true. That would mean that Mozilla's new OS could, assuming they can offer a good tablet interface, could be seen by OEM's as a compelling new operating system for their mobile devices.

   Obviously, Foxconn and Mozilla declined to comment when asked about the statement by Reuters, but
it's quite well known that Foxconn want to look at ways of generation more revenue and trying to find ways to diversify from their reliance on producing Apple's products. That means Foxconn could be looking at producing the tablet for Mozilla which would help them secure the higher margins which they want.

   In case you haven't seen any of the devices running Firefox OS then head over here and have a little look at all of the devices which there are! We expect there to be many more added in the coming months!
Via Reuters and FocusTaiwan.

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Gary Kovacs steps down from post as Mozilla CEO.

   You might have heard about Mozilla, they're pretty famous for their iconic Firefox browser, the icon of for which is pictured above and recently they've launched their new open sourced Firefox OS! The latter of which is a direction which was taken by their CEO Gary Kovacs.

   Today though, we've heard that Kovacs will be stepping down as CEO less than three years since the ex-Adobe exec took the reigns. Apparently Kovacs has lined up his next venture which is said to be more commercial in nature. This isn't the end of the Kovacs Mozilla affair though, because Kovacs will remain as a member on the board of directors.

    Kovacs actually leaves the company in fairly good shape. They just renewed their sponsorship from Google, Firefox OS is just in its infancy and the guys recently announced their new deal with Samsung to build a new mobile rendering engine called Servo.

   Kovacs has confirmed that he will stay on until a new suitor is found. You can find the full announcement which he sent out embedded below!
Via AllThingsD.

Hello, all,
What a ride!
When I first joined Mozilla in 2010, it was clear that the Web was at a turning point. Competition on desktop was more intense than ever, smartphone adoption was on fire, and new challenges to openness were developing in both areas of these converging worlds. We needed to move faster, pivot hard to mobile, and scale globally. And we needed to change how we operated if we were to lead the Web through these market transitions. It was this challenge that lured me to Mozilla back in 2010, and it was this challenged that kept me engaged ever since. I just knew that if we focused our energies and executed with the passion and urgency that defined us, we would do amazing things together.
And we have! This period has been an incredible time of growth for Mozilla, and for me personally. I couldn't be more proud of the work we have done - on desktop, on mobile, and in advancing our mission to empower the next 2 Billion Web citizens coming on line for the first time. The project today is led by experienced teams, set on a strong foundation financially and operationally, and with a clear path to the future.
It is my confidence in this team that makes this the right time for me to move on to the next phase of my personal journey. Today, I am announcing that I will be stepping down as CEO of Mozilla later this year. I am committed to continue through the search for a new CEO and to ensure that we do not miss a beat in the process. Following this, I will stay on as an active member of Mozilla's board of directors - so I am staying within the family to help as much as I can.
So, what next? In 2010, when I told my father I was joining Mozilla, he said "Son, you don't know anything about cheese." (he has a strong accent). Last year, after he learned more about us, and our mission, (including how to correctly pronounce our name), he simply said: "Wow, the work you are doing is critical to the world. "lease keep going!" And today, I simply pass along that message: Please keep going! We have momentum, we have a great vision and mission, and we have tremendous support from all of our partners and users for what we are doing. We cannot let up - not for one second! Stay focused, keep going, and keep rocking the free Web!
The world is expecting nothing less!
– gary

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Samsung and Mozilla team up for next gen. mobile browser engine!

   Today we've heard about a new joint project from both Samsung and Mozilla who have teamed up to create a new browser engine which is fully prepared to "take advantage of tomorrow’s faster, multi-core, heterogeneous computing architectures." That’s the reason why the two companies have paired up to work on a new web browser engine called Servo.

   Mozilla's CTO, Brendan Eich, said that:

"Servo is an attempt to rebuild the Web browser from the ground up on modern hardware, rethinking old assumptions along the way. This means addressing the causes of security vulnerabilities while designing a platform that can fully utilize the performance of tomorrow’s massively parallel hardware to enable new and richer experiences on the Web. To those ends, Servo is written in Rust, a new, safe systems language developed by Mozilla along with a growing community of enthusiasts."

   The engine is designed specifically for both ARM processors and Android in particular, which makes perfect sense really. Mozilla always want to target the most people with their releases, Android is the most popular mobile operating system and Samsung are the biggest phone seller in the Android market, everything fits together perfectly for all camps really!

   There's really not many more details available for this project at the moment; there's no time frame for release and the only mention of time is when Mozilla say they want to have the first major revision of Rust done this year. If we get any more specific details then we'll be sure to let you know!

   You can find the full announcement from Mozilla's CTO here.

Via Engadget.

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In Other News: 11/03/2013.

• According to a Nokia filing with the SEC the Finnish company is starting to become concerned with the possibility that Microsoft may be making, "strategic decisions or changes that may be detrimental to us. For example, in addition to the Surface tablet, Microsoft may broaden its strategy to sell other mobile devices under its own brand, including smartphones. This could lead Microsoft to focus more on their own devices and less on mobile devices of other manufacturers that operate on the Windows Phone platform, including Nokia." Surface phone on the way?
  Via ZDNet.

• Rovio's CEO, Mikael Hed, has said that:
  "With over 1.7bn downloads, we can reach a far wider and more engaged global audience than traditional distribution would allow. Launching the channel, and partnering up with some of the best video-on-demand providers and TV networks, is an important milestone for us on our journey towards becoming a fully fledged entertainment powerhouse."
  It's amazing how far Rovio have taken this series and it seems they still have grand plans in the pipeline!
  Via Guardian.

• It seems that those rumours that Lenovo is interested in buying Blackberry just won't go away! PhoneArena is reporting that the Chinese giants potential acquisition 'could make sense', but we'll have to wait and see on that one!

• A new study called "Convert Anything to Calories" from PHP Science World has worked out just how much energy it takes to operate you computer's mouse! The guys worked it out to being somewhere in the region of 1.42 calories burned per mouse click! That's not quite spot on because that figure assumes you 'completely' contract your muscle, so if you don't the figure is slightly less, but still you can burn a fair few calories that way!
  Via Slashgear.

• Bare with us for a minute while we explain this next (or should we say NXT) one...There have been some rumours that Motorola's supposed X-phone has been pictured and there's a spec sheet which goes with this picture too. Basically we don't want to expand because we think these are very outlandish claims! Feel free to check them out at the sourcelink below though!
  Via UnwiredView.

• The LG Optimus L5 II and the L3 II have both popped up on O2's coming soon page! The pair of devices are currently slated to land this month, but there's no word on pricing or availability!
  O2 Via TheInquirer.

• Calling all comic fans! You can currently download 700 Marvel Comics for free via the Comixology app for iPhone/iPad and Android devices! The offer runs until 4am 13 March GMT!
  Via PocketLint.

• ST Ericsson's CEO, Didier Lamouche, has resigned from his post! At the moment there's no word on a successor or what's next for the company, we'll let you know what the chipmaker does next!
  Via PCAdvisor.

• Mozilla’s VP of Products, Jay Sullivan, has confirmed that his company will not be building another version of Firefox for iOS. Part of this is attributed to the draconian attitudes towards third-party browsers, but with Firefox OS being launched lately, Mozilla have more on their proverbial plate at the moment!
  Via HotHardware. 

And finally, would you consider selling your smartphone's lock-screen to advertisers for $25 a month? That's what SmartAds pledges to do for you! The company is currently trying to raise some money via an IndieGoGo campaign, but it's looking unlikely they'll reach their goal. That's actually a shame because we like the idea and we think for $25 a month, we would offer our lock screen! Anyway check the video below for a little bit more detail and let us know what you think in the comments below!

Via MobileBurn.

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Mozilla have some minimum requirements for 'Powered by Firefox OS' branding!

   In what would appear to be a perfect leaf out of Google's Open Source book, Mozilla have revealed that they will be imposing minimum hardware requirements for phones wishing to parade themselves as 'powered by Firefox OS'!

   Now the hardware requirements are by no means spectacular, but these are the very minimum that even a low end mobile phone should run in 2013. Mozilla stipulates that there should be: an 800MHz single-core processor, 256MB of RAM, and in screen terms Mozilla will accept anything from QVGA, that's 320 x 240p, upwards! If any device fails to meet these requirements Mozilla won't allow it to wear their branding, which you can see above on the ZTE Open, and it won't be permitted to access Mozilla's official app store, but it should be easy to find ways around that!

    So this goes some way to explaining why neither the ZTE Open and Alcatel One Touch Fire pushed the boat out, but going with low end hardware is the best way to get as many Firefox OS powered devices into as many hands as possible at the fastest pace and that ultimately is what will secure Mozilla a hold in the mobile phone market!

   What we're more interested in is seeing a more mid-range handset more akin to the Geeksphone Peak? What would you like to see? Let us know in the comments below!
Via TheVerge.

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Sony are set to join the Firefox OS band too!

   The past few days we've been treated to a fair bit of news about Mozilla's new HTML5 based Firefox OS. We've seen hardware from ZTE and Alcatel have shown off at MWC and we know that LG and Huawei will, in due course, launch smartphones with the OS on board, but today we can add another one to that bunch because Sony will be offering device at some point in 2014!

   Sony have already displayed their Android efforts at this year's show, but it seems that Telefonica have managed talk Sony into offering a Firefox OS device, as the two companies agreed “to explore the development of a handset” running Firefox OS, when Telefonica announced they would carry Sony's Xperia Z and the Xperia Tablet Z!

   In recent years Sony hasn't really been getting the mobile operating systems in the same way Samsung and LG have. The Japanese company had Symbian as the OS of choice during the Ericsson partnership, before the pair chose to go for Android a couple of years ago (Did any of you have a phone from the Xperia X10 series?)

   Sony's Deputy CEO, Bob Ishida, wants the devices ready for next year, but does this matter? Do you want one? Would this be a low-end device aimed at emerging markets? We're not sure, but let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Via TheNextWeb.

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Everything from Mozilla's Firefox OS MWC event!

Apps and the Marketplace:

   Firefox OS, as we know, will utilise web standards and as such Mozilla is all about HTML5 apps! So whose apps will we have when this crop of phones, which we'll get to in a minute, eventually go on sale? Well you could have guessed that Facebook and Twitter will have offerings, as will Cut The Rope, Where's My Water and a few other Disney Mobile and EA games. Box have announced that they will offer their cloud storage on the new platform and there are SoundCloud, Pulse News, Time Out. Airbnb and Nokia's Here maps all confirmed for the platform! The OS will allow app payment directly through your mobile operator, something which probably helped to get so many carriers on board!

Carrier partners:

   Mozilla have confirmed that carriers from Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Venezuela will be offering the first wave of Firefox OS based devices. The carriers involved are: Móvil, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Hutchison Three Group, KDDI, KT, MegaFon, Qtel, SingTel, Smart, Sprint, Telecom Italia Group, Telefónica, Telstra Telenor, TMN and VimpelCom. 

   With so many carriers it should help Mozilla get a good starting presence for their devices. In case you were wondering about when Firefox OS powered devices will land in the USA, then Mozilla have said that they're aiming for a 2014 release!

Devices:

   Mozilla has confirmed that they are working with Alcatel, LG and ZTE for the first wave of Firefox OS smartphones. These devices will later be complemented with a phones or two from Huawei! All of these devices will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipsets and lets get into the real meat here Lets look at the devices!

Alcatel One Touch Fire.

   Deutsche Telekom and Mozilla have teamed up with Alcatel to release of the first Firefox OS powered smartphone in Europe!

   Again this is a low end device: it'll feature a HVGA, that's 480 x 320p resolution, 3.5-inch screen, 1GHz processor, 3.2-megapixel rear-facing camera, 256MB of RAM and 512MB of storage which is MicroSD expandable.

   The Alcatel One Touch Fire will first be available in Poland this summer and after that it will roll out to more Eastern European countries throughout the second half of the year!

ZTE Open.

   We actually saw the spec sheet for this little phone yesterday, but here it is in an official capacity!

   Just in case you missed it yesterday here is a little recap of the specs. There's a HVGA, that's 480 x 320p resolution 3.5" display and there's a 3.2MP rear-facing camera. There's also a 1200 mAh battery, 512MB of internal storage, 256MB of RAM and the usual array of sensor and connectivity options you would expect!

Reference devices.

   Mozilla may not have said anything about these devices today, but don't forget the Geeksphone made Keon and Peak. The full details for those can be found here!

Sources: Mozilla Press Center (1), (2), Engadget, TheVerge.

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ZTE Open spotted at MWC: Firefox OS for emerging markets will become a reality!

   Hot on the heels of the pictures of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 some cheeky monkey has managed to get around to the ZTE booth where they've snapped a picture of what will soon be ZTE's first Firefox OS based device.

   As you can see from the spec sheet above there's a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and the MSM7225A is actually the same processor as in the LG Optimus L5, the HTC Desire C ans Sony's Xperia Tipo. It can be clocked at speeds up to 800MHz, although either 600 or 800MHz are the standard choices, so this is not a powerhouse by any means!

   Other than that there's a capacitive TFT LCD screen which has a HVGA, that's 480 x 320p resolution and there's a 3.2MP camera which may well be just on the front of the device, we're not sure what 'FF' stands for at this point. But, the 1200 mAh battery, the 512MB of internal storage, the 256MB of RAM, the usual array of sensor and connectivity options round out the budget handset! 

   With this device don't be too phased by the poorer specs, Firefox OS is designed for emerging markets so this is exactly the sort of hardware Mozilla is targeting. When we have more details or a picture of the 'ZTE Open' we'll be sure to let you know!
Via Engadget.

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Bits and Bobs from Day 3 at CES: ZTE to launch a Firefox OS powered device this year in Europe! Kogan show off a super cheap 5" smartphone! And one of Apple's guys pops up for the cameras!

ZTE set to offer a Firefox OS device in Europe!

   In an interview with Bloomberg today ZTE's CEO, Cheng Lixin, say that his company was planning to offer a device running Mozilla's HTML5 based operating system, Firefox OS, within the year! 

   It's reported that ZTE is teaming up with an unspecified European wireless carrier to introduce the device. The potential candidates at the moment are Deutsch Telecom (parent company of T-Mobile) and Telefonica (O2's master) because they are key supporters of Mozilla's Firefox OS project. 

   Cheng also said that they are considering branching out into the US, probably depending on how well this upcoming phone sells and what else is brought to the table this year. He said, “We closely monitor the ecosystem and how it evolves... If that is ready and if consumer studies support that data, then we may launch one in U.S. also this year.” A US launch would probably be supported by Sprint, who are also carrier partners of Firefox OS!

   On thing to mention is that Engadget had a little hands on with a phone earlier in the week that was running Firefox OS! The device and picture from Engadget are embedded to the above and to the right. We're very surprised that no one has noticed that this looks surprisingly like ZTE's design language! But, that is not to say that this is going to be released, but it could very well be a test device manufactured by ZTE!

   For example it looks very similar to the ZTE N910 crossed with the ZTE Kis! Both of those phones are pictured below! Try to merge them both in your head and you'll see what we're on about! Take the speaker grill from the N910, the capacitive buttons, the white frame and even the microphone hole on the bottom left side! 

   What do you think? Are we onto something here?

Bloomberg Via PhoneArena and Engadget.

Kogan go after the phablet buyers with an unbelievably cheap offering!

   Sometimes manufacturers drop something that makes you say wow. Sometimes it's because it's bad, sometimes because it's good, sometimes it's because it's spectacularly good value! This device, the Kogan Agora, is the latter of those options. 

   The Agora 5.0 is a phablet, well it's the same size as the new Xperia Z and the Droid DNA, but it's got a dual-core Cortex A9 processor, 4GB of internal memory and a Micro-SD card slot which can take cards up to 32GB, 512MB of RAM and a 2,000 mAh battery which promises nearly 5 hours of talk time. If you're wondering about the screen, that's a 5" WVGA (480 x 800) LCD panel, which is capacitive and you get a pair of cameras, the front one is 0.3MP and the rear-facer is a 5MP unit. The whole device runs Android 4.0.4 ICS, which is not all that bad really!

   But, that's not really the story here. The real treat is the price. How much would you expect a dual-sim phone with those specs to cost? £250? £200? £150? No. In fact this thing will set you back £119! That's the same price as a Galaxy Y Pro from Expansys! 

   If you're interested then you can pre-order the device here! It might not be your primary phone but it would be a good back up or a good device for taking on holiday with you! It's also worth bearing in mind that there is a limit of 3 devices per customer, we're not sure why at the moment, but if we find out then we will be sure to let you know!
Via ZDNet.

ZTE announce the Grand S!

   Like many of the other phones which we have seen announced this week ZTE have brought along a new Android device with a quad-core processor, a 5″ display 1080p screen! Despite the similarities it's hard to deny that this one is a looker!

   ZTE's new Grand S has everything you'd expect of a flagship 2013 device: there's a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro running at 1.7GHz, a 13 mega-pixel rear and 2MP front-facing camera, the 2GB of RAM should keep this chugging along nicely, 16GB of internal storage, MicroSD card slot and there's LTE compatibility too! Android Jelly Bean will be powering the show along with some 'expert hardware and software safety protection' which will help manage power usage and help keep your information safe, ZTE didn't specify what that was though.

   Not that that really matters because the real talking point is that they managed to cram all of that hardware into a frame which is 6.9mm thick! That skinniness will go some way to explaining why the battery is a tad disappointing, coming in at 1780mAh.

   The device will arrive in China for 'online purchases' in Q1 this year. We're not sure whether this device will make it to the rest of the world yet. The press release for this device is available at the bottom of this post!

   And finally, Apple might not be at CES to give us a presentation, but that hasn't stopped some of their employees going along and having a look around! Apple's Craig Keithley has been spotted and snapped on the CES floor by 9-to-5 Mac. Here he is pictured below!

The full press release for the ZTE Grand S is embedded below, otherwise you can find it here:

ZTE Announces World Debut of the Thinnest 5.0 FHD Quad-core Smartphone Grand S at CES 2013
Introducing more High-end Smartphones with Power and Style in 2013

LAS VEGAS, N.V. – January 9, 2012 – From the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), ZTE Corporation (“ZTE”) (H share stock code: 0763.HK / A share stock code: 000063.SZ), a publicly-listed global provider of telecommunications equipment, network solutions and mobile devices, today announced the world debut of the ZTE Grand S – 5.0 FHD LTE.  As the flagship handset in ZTE’s high-end Grand Series line of products, the ZTE Grand S is the company’s first FHD smartphone and the world’s thinnest within 5 inch FHD quad-core smartphones, enabled by the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated. Developed by ZTE, the ultrathin body and high definition display of the ZTE Grand S offer consumers the latest in style, quality and functionality.

From the full-website display which enables optimal content browsing, to the 4G LTE high-speed network which powers a world-class multimedia experience, the ZTE Grand S offers cutting-edge features for even the most discerning smartphone user. The blazingly fast 4G LTE network allows for top-speed downloading and establishes the handset as a premier gaming and movie-viewing portal. Furthermore, the ZTE Grand S offers smartphone photography mavens advanced functions for more vivid self-photography and video calling effects. With face recognition, anti-shake and a panoramic camera, the ZTE Grand S truly presents a high-quality multimedia option for today’s smartphone audience.

The introduction of the ZTE Grand S completes the new Grand Series, which also includes the Grand Era and Grand X. In the series, the ZTE Grand X is for consumers with a passion for high tech, the ZTE Grand Era is for the most advanced smartphone user and the ZTE Grand S is the flagship handset offering the perfect combination of art and technology. The ZTE Grand S represents the company’s latest entry in a new era of smartphone design, which will continue in 2013 with the introduction of additional high-end smartphones.

“The ZTE Grand S gives our customers the latest in technology, functionality and style. We understand that today’s consumers call for advanced features and state-of-the-art multimedia options in their handsets, and the ZTE Grand S confidently addresses those demands,” said Mr. Kan Yulun, Corporate Vice President of ZTE Corporation and CTO of the ZTE Mobile Device Division. “It is fitting that we can announce the world debut of the ZTE Grand S at CES 2013, the world’s largest annual innovation event.”

Key features of the ZTE Grand S include:

- 4G LTE –Customers can expect fast download speeds of 100 Mbps and upload speeds of 50 Mbps in 4G LTE Mobile Broadband coverage areas
- Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor with 1.7GHz quad-core CPU
- Android Jelly Bean operating system
- 13M AF camera with Flash and 2M FF 1080P video
- Expert hardware and software safety protection standard - Palm Manager helps users manage mobile phone software, optimize electricity use and protect private information
- 5 inch FHD screen capable of full-website display
- Dolby Digital surround sound
- Memory: 2GB RAM + 16GB EMMC
- Dimensions: 142*69*6.9mm

 The ZTE Grand S was introduced at a special press event at the Las Vegas Convention Center and will remain on display at the ZTE booth (Las Vegas Convention Center, Booth #36612) throughout CES.

The ZTE Grand S will be available for online purchase in China first in Q1 of 2013.

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23/11/2012: LTE on the Nexus 4: only if you're lucky, Samsung releasing a 'Premium Suite' update for the Galaxy Note 10.1 and more!

So you can use LTE on the Nexus 4... But only if you're lucky.

    A few days ago the dismantling of LG's Nexus 4 revealed there was in fact an LTE chip inside it, but for various reasons no one thought that that chip would be able to work. It turns out it can, but only in a specific set of circumstances! Find out what they are after the jump!

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11/10/2012

Samsung Galaxy SIII Mini finally official.

   This lovely little device, ladies and gentlemen, is the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini. It became officially official in Germany today after tonnes and tonnes of leaks in the past week. Which, incidentally  turned out to be totally correct!

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