Asus announce the FonePad Note: 6" phablet with a stylus on the way!

   It was only a couple of weeks ago that we were complaining that there's not enough devices in the 6" sweet spot between phone and tablet and we don't want to claim credit, but it appears that we weren't the only people who thought that way. That's why we've seen another device in the FonePad series from Asus and this time it's the FonePad Note and it doesn't take too much to realise where that name took inspiration from!

   Asus' FonePad Note looks to be a solid device with a 6 inch Full HD, that's 1920 x 1080p Super IPS+ display! That screen will be driven along by a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2560 processor, 2GB of RAM and we don't currently know how much internal storage there will be with this device or whether or not there will be microSD expandability!

   We do know though, that there will be a pair of cameras on this device: the rear option is an 8MP camera without a flash, and on the front there's a 1.2-megapixel camera for selfies and for Skype calls!

   Obviously the Note part of the title is because this device comes with a stylus and there will be some of Asus' own apps which make the most of that functionality! Asus have also included front-facing speakers on this device and with a bit of luck they'll be somewhat comparable to the fantastic speakers on the HTC One!

   One thing to add is that this device is a 3G and DC-HSPA+ device, so there's no LTE option here, but that isn't necessarily too much of an issue for the majority of people!

   For the moment Asus haven't conclusively said which version of Android this is running, but it's pretty safe to assume it's a version of Jelly Bean, but we don't know which just yet.

   Again Asus haven't said anything about price or availability, but when we hear more we will update this post!

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Acer announce the Liquid S1 'phablet'.

   Where Samsung takes Android it seems everyone else follows and the latest people to have a go at cracking the 'phablet' arena are Acer. The Taiwanese company have today announced their latest smartphone and it's the Liquid S1, which is essentially a budget phablet.

   In terms of what you'll be getting here there's a 720p 5.7-inch display taking centre stage, that should be pushed along comfortably by a 1.5GHz quad-core processor from the guys at MediaTek. That package will be backed up by 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, which mercifully is MicroSD expandable with cards of up to 32GB in size. 

   As you would expect there's a solid 8MP camera on the rear and a front-facing webcam too. The debice has all of the connectivity options you'd expect from this sort of handset and there's BlueTooth, WiFi and 3G connections, with support for dual-SIM cards.

   Our one concern would be that the tiny 2,400 mAh battery might not, as Acer say, 'last a day' and that tiny cell may well cripple this phone.

  If that doesn't phase you then the device will be available with its aluminium side grips in matte black or white colourings in the third quarter of the year and it will cost around €349 or £298 ($455)  when it lands in France, Belgium, Netherlands, Ukraine, Russia, UK and Germany, and later in Spain and Italy. 

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Samsung Galaxy mega set to arrive in the UK in July for £460!

   The Samsung Galaxy Mega was never going to be a phone which appealed to everyone. The 6.3" screened variant might be too big for a lot of people, the 720p resolution might not be enough for some people and then we didn't initially know the price of this thing.

   Today the guys over at Clove have posted up some information on their blog which reveals just how much this phone is going to cost and their post reads:

"With a 6.3” display the Galaxy Mega will not appeal to all but for those of you who are looking for something of this size, then we can confirm that we now have a price and an estimated arrival time.
Set to be available in both Black and White, the Mega will be priced at £383.33 excluding VAT or £459.99 including VAT.
First stock of the I9205 16GB model is expected in July, the exact date for which is still to be confirmed."

   That £460 will buy you a 1.7GHz dual-core processor, a 3,200mAh battery, 16GB of internal storage which is expandable with cards up to 64GB, 4G LTE and that 6.3" 720p TFT LCD display!

   Well there you have it guys, if you really want a giant phone then it might be better to consider the Asus FonePad which although is nowhere near as powerful in the processor stakes also has a huge screen as is less than half the price at £180!
Clove Via Twitter.

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ZTE release the Grand Memo: The first phablet to feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800!

   What's a better way to combat the latest round of phablets? Well naturally it's to release your own, so here's ZTE's answer to the Galaxy Note, it's the ZTE Grand Memo!

   So how good is the screen on this device? Well ZTE have equipped this phone with a 5.7-inch 720p HD TFT display which should be good enough for most people's eyes! Other than that the Grand Memo is the first device to feature Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 800 quad-core CPU out of the box. In this instance the processor will be clocked at 1.5GHz and it'll be paired with 2 GB of RAM. On the optical side of things there is a 13MP rear camera and a 1MP front shooter so you photos will happily fill up the 16GB of internal storage! As you'd expect Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean is running the show and the only real limit here seems to be the internal storage on the device.

   ZTE will be customising your interface on this device with their 'Miflavour UI' and there's one unique addition which is the ability to "tap and hold on the screen for a few second, or you can do a pinch-out gesture that brings up a few shortcuts, like the phone, calendar, camera, etc" which should be quite useful for jumping straight into your apps, assuming you don't have a pin code on your device.

   All of that will be crammed into a chassis which is 8.5mm thick and ZTE have also put a well size 3200mAh battery in there too! As you would expect with a device which is targeting the higher end of the market you'll get WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, a gyro sensor and LTE connectivity!

   The Grand Memo will be coming to China in March this year and those of you in Europe can pick it up 'later this year'. For the moment there's no word on pricing and we don't know if it'll land on US shores!

   Just in case you missed ZTE's other big announcement, the Firefox OS powered ZTE Open is detailed here!

The full press release is embedded below:

ZTE Launches Grand Memo 5.7-inch handset using Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Processor
Featuring leading performance, battery life and a 13MP camera, the ZTE Grand Memo offers high functionality for home and office use
25 February 2013, Barcelona, Spain – ZTE has launched the ZTE Grand Memo 5.7-inch handset running on Qualcomm ® Snapdragon ™ 800 processors.
The ZTE Grand Memo offers the ideal balance between the portability of a handset and the larger viewing and easier touch-interaction experience of a tablet. It features a 5.7-inch, high definition, 720 x 1280 display, and a powerful Qualcomm 800 processor with quad-core Krait CPUs and 2GB of RAM. Combined with a 13MP rear-facing camera, 1MP front-facing camera and 1080 HD video playback, this gives users a smooth, high quality multimedia experience that is perfect for gaming and video.

The Grand Memo caters for those who are always on-the-go, with voice-response technology which allows users to answer calls safely while driving, and A-GPS and car-mode navigation system for high quality mapping and directions. It comes with a HD version of ZTE’s Mifavor user interface that is specially designed for smartphones, providing a simpler user experience, and ZTE’s Z Cloud service for the security and access-anywhere provided by cloud services. It also includes a 3200mAh battery for super-long standby time.
“The ZTE Grand Memo’s large, high definition screen makes it perfect for media and entertainment, but its uses reach far beyond that,” said Mr. He Shiyou, ZTE EVP and Head of the Mobile Devices Division. “With ZTE’s custom Mifavor UI, a powerful processor, and LTE connectivity, this device offers users a wide array of benefits that go well beyond the capabilities of the typical handset.”
Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processors target premium mobile and computing devices. They are designed to deliver outstanding overall user experience, expand the possibilities of seamless connected computing and enable brand new mobile experiences while maintaining industry-leading battery performance.
“Qualcomm Snapdragon platforms are at the heart of over 770 announced smartphones and tablets, and we are thrilled to work with ZTE to bring the Grand Memo to consumers” said Raj Talluri, senior vice president of product management at Qualcomm Technologies.
The Grand Memo is a slim 8.5mm, ensuring that its advanced performance is matched by its sleek appearance. The 1080P HD video and 13MP rear-facing Intelligent Camera, coupled with the 16GB storage memory make movie watching as sharp and detailed as the capturing of users’ own multimedia. Combined with high-speed LTE capabilities of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, integrated Qualcomm WCN3680 802.11ac/.11n dual-band Wi-Fi plus Bluetooth solution for high-bandwidth communications, MHL and DLNA connectivity for mobile entertainment, the ZTE Grand Memo is perfectly suited for both personal and office use.
“We have really tried to make this device fun for use at home, and practical for use in the office. By combining both of these factors, we have created a well-rounded large-screen handset that is suitable for any situation. It’s perfect for videos, gaming and music, and also for sending e-mails, checking news and making calls on the go. For those with a busy lifestyle, the ZTE Grand Memo will be indispensable,” said Mr. He Shiyou, ZTE.

Key specifications of the Grand Memo
ü Android 4.1 – Jelly bean
ü Thickness: 8.5mm
ü 5.7inch, HD.TFT, 16M color, multi-touch capacitive screen
ü Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with quad-core Krait CPUs
ü 3200mAh super-long standby battery
ü Memory: 16GB Rom +2GB RAM
ü Mifavour UI user interface
ü WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, accelerometer, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, gyro
ü LTE 100/50Mbps
ü 13MP Intelligent AF Camera with face recognition and panorama,1MP front-facing camera, 1080p HD video playback
The ZTE Grand Memo is on display at Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona at Stand 3C64/3C74, Hall 3. ZTE Grand Memo is expected to launch the second quarter of 2013 with specifications varying between countries and regions.

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Samsung announce the Galaxy Note 8.0: A real phablet!

 

   So we saw the leak yesterday and now we have the real thing with us, here ladies and gentlemen is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.0!

   To be honest this seems to be a scaled up Galaxy Note 2 and as such you've got your S-Pen support, all of the apps and features of an Android tablet and crucially you have the abilities of a phone! The rest of the specifications look like this:

Click to enlarge.

   Samsung's Touchwiz skin will also add some value to this device again with Smart Stay, Multi-Window, Air View functionality, Popup video, Popup note, AllShare Play and AllShare Cast being options on the tablet. Samsung has has also thrown in Flipboard which will be modified to make use of the S-Pen for previews and Awesome Note which will be exclusive for a year! And at long last Samsung have implemented S-Pen control of the Android navigation buttons!

   Right at the bottom of the press release Samsung sneaked in some new features too. The first of which is 'Reading Mode' which 'transforms the GALAXY Note 8.0 into an e-Book reader [and] provides the optimal reading conditions', it manipulates to make the display easier to look at for prolonged periods! And Samsung were also keen to mention that the IR blaster will be able to control your home entertainment systems!

   So if you want this to be your next proper phablet then it will have a HSPA+ option which will be available first and then later on there will be WiFi only and a LTE option!

   For the moment there's no word on price, but we do know that the device will be available in Q2!

The full press release is available here.

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Research: iPhone users are the data hungriest and smartphone data use overtakes tablet usage!

Image credit: OFCOM.

   There's been some very interesting research from Arieso.com today exposing the latest trends in mobile data use released today. The three key findings were that 'smartphone users now consistently consume more mobile data than tablet users', iPhone 5 users are officially the “hungriest” data consumers and 40% of all data is consumed by 1% of users!

   First and foremost we're going to look more in depth at how mobile phone data usage has overtaken tablet usage. Unsurprisingly, smartphones occupy all of the top ten usage spots excluding the 4th, 8th and 9th, which are inhabited by unspecified tablets, although we think the iPad will be one of them, as will the Kindle Fire. In case you were wondering what effect 'phablets' are having on the market then Arieso reports that the devices "are currently being used like smartphones, not tablets. If you can use it to make a phone call, the ‘phablet’ won’t be much like a tablet at all.” Instead, we think that phablets simply offer you the best of both world's: screen estate and the connectivity of a smartphone, so they're not designed to replace the tablet entirely.


   So, which one of these devices was sucking down the most data? Well, perhaps unsurprisingly it was the iPhone 5, followed by the HTC One XL and the Galaxy S3! Arieso reported that of the whole set of 125 devices, that they focused on in their research, the latest iPhone was challenged in usage for the first time in three years!

   It's interesting to note that there are a fair few people out there rocking the iPhone 3G as they used of quarter of the data that their iPhone 5 owning counterparts did and iPhone 4S users used half the data of people using the iPhone 5, which is perhaps the more surprising statistic. It suggests that people either upgraded their iPhone 4S to a 5 or that the iPhone 5 has proved considerably more popular! But, the 4S was the highest data consuming device in the research last year, so we think there has been a lot of upgraders. iCloud syncing and the amount of familiarity of most users with iOS and the app offerings are attributed for the consistently high data usage. The research was't dominated by the offerings from Cupertino though, Samsung's Galaxy S III users utilised nearly four times the amount of data than iPhone 3G users when it came to uploading quantities. Their usage also beat the iPhone 5, but trailed the Galaxy Note II users who are serial uploaders! Surprisingly, when it came to tablets Samsung Tab 2 10.1 users gobbled up 20% more data than iPad users!

   The top ten phones usage compared to iPhone 3G users look like this:

1. iPhone 5 - 414%
2. HTC Sensation XL - 317%
3. Samsung Galaxy S III - 315%
4. Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 - 309%
5. Samsung Galaxy Note 2 - 307%
6. HTC One X - 286%
7. iPhone 4S - 279%
8. iPad - 261%
9. iPad 2 - 259%
10. Sony Ericsson Xperia 5 - 252%

   And finally, there was an interesting little statistic which showed how the heaviest users of mobile data used a whopping 40% of all of the data used by these mobile devices! Interestingly this was down 10% on the year before, so people are probably consuming a bit more data on average. So if 1% use 40%, you'll be surprised to hear that the top 10% of data users suck down 80% of the data, so it seems that you either go all in and use your data or you try your best to be very conservative with it! With figures like that in mind it's not at all surprising that US carriers are so keen on throttling the top 5% of users just to ensure their networks run nicely, it does seem slightly unfair on everyone else that people can use so much bandwidth!

The press release for this information can be found here.
Via PCPro.

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09/10/2012

Rumours of a new HTC phablet grow!

   There have been rumours about HTC making a challenger to Samsung's self-invented 'phablet' market for quite a while now. But, everything had gone quite quiet on that front until the rumours were reignited today by a pair of tweets from @EVleaks and @Football4PDA.

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Will there be an all in one device?

   So if you're a proper techie you probably have at least three of the following; a MP3 player, a GPS, a digital camera, a mobile, a tablet, a laptop, a desktop or a home server.

   But, how many of these do you actually need? I was thinking about this because on the train this weekend I saw tablets, lots of tablets, well more specifically lots of iPad's. You know them business types with their iPad's who obviously aren't working, but are playing Temple Run, while speaking to their boss on the phone. I felt a bit out of place with my Tablet S, but I did see the guy opposite puzzling over my device because he didn't know what it was.

   I listened to music through my tablet, as did the guy opposite. One guy, to my left, was watching a film on his tablet and there was a few people listening to music through their phones, mainly iPhones. So I got thinking, are MP3 players dead? I didn't see a single soul with an iPod touch or a Sony Walkman, it was just phones, tablets and one guy with his laptop for the long journey.

   I can see the draw of Tablets for the journey; you can game, watch a movie, listen to music or browse the internet whilst on the train (you could also work too!), so whatever you need to do the tablets have got you covered, but you can't really properly work and word process on them and you also need to have your phone sitting next to you. I felt a bit silly because I had my tablet, phone and a magazine sitting on a limited space in front of me, yes I was using all three at once (texting, music and reading). Then I was thinking 'why can't I do all of this from one device?'.

   There must be a way to incorporate text messaging into a tablet so that while I'm sitting down I can leave my phone in my pocket and the messages come through on my tablet instead. There might be a way to do this already because I know Pre's and Touchpad's can do this already, but I'm an Android guy!

   I just think it would be good for Android to incorporate this sort of cross-device support. It's just useful and if WebOS saw this ages ago there's no reason why the world's most popular mobile OS can't do this! So come on Google whip out tablet-to-phone support, even if you don't make a Galaxy Note-esque Phablet!!!! I just want to be able to do everything from one device at one time so we don't have to look like a silly show-off! This is the best we can hope for at the moment I think, connected devices are great!

   One day I think there will be an all-in-one device, but that's the future and that's something I covered here, it will happen, one day!

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