Apple and Gorilla Glass will be
parting ways with the release of their iPhone 6, as the Cupertino-based
tech giant will be switching to sapphire screen-coating for their next
line of smartphones.
Sapphire coating has been used in high-end watches for a while due to its high-durability and scratch-resistance.
Currently, sapphire coating has only been used on iPhone camera
lenses and the iPhone 5s fingerprint sensor. The upcoming iWatch will
supposedly enjoy sapphire coating as well.
And the company behind Apple's sapphire coating, GT Advanced, stands
to make a pretty penny from their deal. They are looking at $500-$700
Million for the first six months, since coating a display with sapphire
costs 3-4 times more than coating it with Gorilla Glass (which only
costs $3 per screen).
Although the specific number of displays GT Advanced will be
producing isn't known, we do know they haven't produced enough to make a
May shipment date of the iPhone 6. Analysts believe that, based on GT
Advanced's shipments, that the iPhone 6 will be ready for sale come
September 2014.
Anyone excited to see how the sapphire displays will hold up on the iPhone 6?
The GSM Association organizes
the annual Mobile World Congress and along with it the traditional
Global Mobile Awards (its 19th edition this year). More than 175
independent analysts, journalists, academics and subject matter experts
throughout the world participated in the judging process. The entry
deadline was November 29, 2013, so it's generally last year's products
that get awarded every February.
There's a multitude of categories, some of which may sound pretty
obscure unless you are in the telco business, so we've shortlisted the
few categories that we think would matter most to mobile phone
enthusiasts (such as ourselves).
The HTC One was named the Best Smartphone in the past year.
The other nominees, which were considered, were the Apple iPhone 5S, the
LG G2, the Lumia 1020 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Last year's winner
was the Samsung Galaxy SIII.
"The HTC One remained one
of the most advanced smartphones throughout 2013. Its great design and
excellent user interface continue to provide a differentiated user
experience, standing out from the competition."
The Nokia Lumia 520 was announced as the Best Low-Cost Smartphone (sub-$150 wholesale price).
The rest of the considered nominees were all Android smartphones and
included the Lenovo A390T, the Samsung Galaxy Young, the Sony Xperia E,
and the Xiaomi Hongmi.
"A smartphone that hasn’t compromised on quality – a trailblazer for Nokia’s low-cost efforts."
The Nokia 105 was announced Best Entry-level or Featurephone.
The other nominees were the Nokia 208, the Nokia 515, the Nokia Asha
210, and the Nokia Asha 503. Last year the winner was the Nokia Asha 305.
"Outstanding value for money, with impressive durability
and battery life, this is driving mobile penetration into further
markets."
The Apple iPad Air was pointed as the Best Mobile Tablet. The
other nominees were the Apple iPad mini 2, the Google Nexus 7 (2013) and
the Sony Xperia Tablet Z. At last year's awards it was the original
Google Nexus 7 made by Asus.
"The iPad Air packs
class-leading performance in an attractive and svelte frame, while its
ecosystem has an undisputed advantage in the number of format-optimized
apps."
LG was named the Most Innovative Device Manufacturer of the Year. Last year that was Samsung.
"Impressive across the board with ground-breaking innovation – LG is flexing its technological muscle."
The FiLIP wearable locator and phone watch for kids, sold exclusively by AT&T in the US, was announced as the Best Mobile-Enabled Consumer Electronics Device.
Sony's SmartWatch 2 was another wearable device among the nominated for
this category. Last year it was the Samsung Galaxy Camera that won this
one.
"The FiLIP is a new breed of self-reliant wearable
device that is a simple way for kids to reach their parents, and for
parents to find their children quickly and easily. FiLIP affords parents
peace of mind with the ability to quickly call and locate their
children. This is a really well designed product fulfilling a clear
market need and making a complex solution very simple for the user."
As for the mobile app awards, Device 6 was announced as the Best Entertainment App (Gaming, Music, Sports, Video), CityMapper was called the Best Overall Mobile App, while CamMe was named the Most Innovative Mobile App.
You can check out the full list of winners here.
Be sure to check back with us tomorrow, February 26, as that's when
the Best New Mobile Handset, Device or Tablet at Mobile World Congress
2014 will be announced. Which one would you pick?
Pop diva Rita Ora exposes her private at a party at Milan fashion week last night where she was riding on some guy’s shoulder, accidentally exposing her lady nest.
Well, football money is just like money rituals..
Obafemi Martins just acquired a brand new Mercedes Benz Slr Mclaren worth 91 Million Naira.
More photo below:
- See more at:
http://www.naijaloaded.com.ng/2014/02/25/balling-obafemi-martins-acquires-n91m-mercedes-benz-see-pics/#sthash.z2zAOd54.dpuf
The HKN boss Davido shared his new customized gold plated iPhone on his Instagram page this morning,
the singer made it clear that it was exclusively made for him by Tonto Dikeh’s man, Malivelihood CEO.
In 2011, fresh off the MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye West surprised a London crowd, Nigerians as well, with an announcement as he welcomed respected Nigerian entertainer D’Banj into the G.O.O.D. Music family.
Fast forward to today, seems that relationship is no more cos D’Banj has deleted G.O.O.D Music from his Twitter Bio:
Recently n***d photos of the 80year old Head Prophet of the Cherubim and Seraphim, Idimu District in Alimosho Lagos State, Prophet Timothy Adewoye, went viral alleging that he had s*x with a married woman who worshiped in his church. (I’m sure some of you saw the report)
Well, the national body of the Church, the Holy Order of Cherubim & Seraphim Movement Church, has spoken out about the case, saying it was all an act of blackmail.
According to one of the leaders in the church, Senior Apostle Abimbola Esuola, the clergyman had gone to the house of the said married woman to pray for her but was setup in the process.
She said that 4 men came into the house where he was praying for her and ordered him to take off his clothes after which pictures of him n***d were taken. They then decided to use the pictures to extort money from the Prophet. Continue…
C N S 2 N*de Photos Of Our Apostle On Internet Was Blackmail C&S Church
They first demanded for N10million but was able to get N2million from him after much persuasion. They still continued asking him for money and at a time threatened to kill him if he didn’t provide the money being asked for.
Worried about the developments, the Clergyman spoke to his Secretary about his predicament, who in company of other members of the church proceeded to lay a complain at the Idimu Police station.
The police then did their investigations and apprehended one Sherifat Baalogun who already had a case of extortion with them and Makanjuola Olagunja. Sherifat’s husband who was also found to be an accomplice in the incident, is said to be on the run.
Sherifat and Makanjuola are currently being remanded in police custody after an Ejigbo Magistrate, Mrs M.B Folami, heard their case and ordered for them to be remanded until others involved in the case are produced.
D’Banj’s younger brother and soon to be baby daddy, KaySwitch is excited his girlfriend of a year, some weeks old is pregnant for him.
ENCOMIUM Weekly put a call through to Kay Switch on Friday, February 14, 2014, and the budding artiste was happy and excited to speak about the pregnancy. He told Encomium:
“Yes, it is true. My girlfriend is pregnant. It really makes me feel like a man.”
When he was asked if he is willing to walk down the aisle with her or she will just remain his baby mama,
Kayswitch replied:
“Definitely, we will get married one day, though I cannot disclose when now. By the time we are ready, you will get to know about it.”
The Head Coach, Tony International Gymnastics, Abuja, Anthony Asuquo is the first Nigerian coach to be certified by world gymnastics body, International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG).
Speaking with Trust Sports after his return from South Africa where the training programme was held between December 16th and 20th 2013, Coach Asuquo said he was glad to have acquired the certification.
“I wouldn’t say I am the best in Nigeria but I was opportune to be there for the training. It was an IFG course and this course certifies you as a gymnastics coach all over the world just as the FIFA license course.
“The course is run once in four years. I gained a lot in South Africa because I was able to learn about anatomy, bi-mechanics, psychology and trying to fix gymnasts in the proper way and every other thing you need to
impart in a gymnast to become a champion,” he said.
The Coach added that: “These and the flexibility aspect of gymnastics are what have been missing in me but I’m better prepared now as a coach.”
He said having gone through the course; he was now well positioned to groom world champions in Nigeria.
“I have started training (the athletes) since I returned from South Africa. I have seen how it is done over there and I am determined to impart same into Nigerians.”
Coach Asuquo expressed optimism that Nigeria could produce world champions as talents are available all over the country, stressing that inadequacy of funds was the only hindrance.
Meanwhile, Tony International Gymnastics (TIG) has been offered the opportunity to attend a training tour in Canada.
In a letter signed by the Women Elite Head Coach of Gymnastics Gym Club, Jeremy Mosier, the Club has informed the Canadian High Commission about the invitation it extended to TIG.
“It would be an honor to have their coaches and athletes to come and train with us,” the letter read in part.
The invitation was extended to Coach Tony, his coaches and athletes.
It’s
official: the Nokia X Android phone is here. Microsoft might be buying
Nokia’s phone business shortly, but the Finnish smartphone maker is
still pushing ahead with the launch of three Android-powered handsets
today. The Verge first revealed details about Nokia’s plans
in December, and the company is now ready to talk specifics about the
X, the X+, and the XL. As expected, all three combine Lumia-style design
with low-cost hardware aimed at the masses, from a large 5-inch screen
on the 109-Euro XL to the 4-inch display on the 99-Euro X+. The X will
be released for just €89 in Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, and a
few other global locations, but it won’t be making its way to North
America, Japan, Korea, or Western European countries. These aren't
competitors to Samsung’s Galaxy S4 or Apple’s iPhone 5S, and there are
certainly no surprising hardware additions like a 41-megapixel camera or
a giant 6-inch display. Instead, the standout feature of the Nokia X
lineup is the software that powers it: Android.
Nokia may have pledged
allegiance to Microsoft’s Windows Phone software, but that hasn’t
stopped the company from experimenting with Android. The X introduces a
new “forked” version of Android that’s akin to what Amazon does with its
Kindle Fire line. Nokia is effectively taking the open-source elements
of Android and then bolting on its own services, a Windows Phone-like
UI, and yet another Android app store. The downside to this is that the
Nokia X devices won’t have access to Google’s Play store or
Google-specific apps like Gmail, Chrome, Maps, and others. However,
Android apps will run on the devices with only limited changes required
by developers. Nokia is creating its own store where it will curate
“hundreds of thousands” of apps. Third-party stores will also be
integrated into the Nokia Store, providing other sources for Android
apps. The Nokia X will also support sideloading, just as Amazon’s Kindle
Fire tablets do.
A Nokia Lumia 520 with Android
If you put the Nokia X side-by-side with the company’s Lumia 520
handset it might be hard to tell them apart. The same striking colors
and design are available on both, and they each use the same 4-inch
display. Nokia isn’t going for the high-end with the X at all, and the
company has clearly trimmed its hardware specifications as much as
possible to ensure the phone is low-cost but still usable. There are
just 4GB of storage with 512MB of RAM, but microSD cards will be
supported to help boost the tiny amount of storage available. The Nokia
X+, identical in appearance to the X, also boosts both the storage and
memory. Apart from the internal storage and dual-SIM support, the Nokia X
only really differs from the Lumia 520 on the outside, with a lack of
Windows Phone’s three capacitive buttons and a slight camera change.
Nokia's XL takes a slightly
different approach, with a 5-inch display and a combination of a
5-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front-facing one. Nokia is
positioning the XL as "great for Skype, while the X and X+ both ship
with just a 3-megapixel fixed focus camera. All three have just a single
capacitive button for navigation. You hit the button once to go back
and hold it down to return to the home screen. Software customizations
on the home screen and across the OS are where the X line gets
interesting, or, perhaps, confusing. Nokia has created a Windows
Phone-like tiled home screen that looks like a blatant rip of
Microsoft’s own UI. All installed apps will be displayed here instead of
a separate app drawer, and you can even alter the tile sizes to be
medium or large. They’re not as live as Windows Phone’s versions
or Android widgets, but apps like the calendar will display the date as
you’d expect. You can also display widgets from installed apps on the
home screen.
Swiping across reveals the
Fastlane feature, an option that makes its way over from Nokia’s line of
Asha handsets. Fastlane is a mixture of notifications and recent
activity combined into a stream. Favorite contacts, recent pictures, and
any app notifications will all be listed in a single UI, with options
to pull down and peer into future calendar appointments.
Nokia has been working on the X for a long time
Using the X software can be
quite frustrating, however, as the entire interface is prone to slow
response and a lot of lag. Closing or switching between apps on the X
takes far longer than other, even entry-level, smartphones, and browsing
the web will quickly test your patience. The third-party apps we saw on
the X, such as Facebook, looked as they do on other Android
smartphones, but they too suffered from poor performance. Nokia’s choice
to combine the functions of home and back into the single back button
is confusing, and it’s difficult to predict exactly where in the
interface the button will take you when you press it.
Part of the reason for the
laggy interface and apps could be related to the low specifications of
the X family, but it’s more likely related to the Android version in use
on these devices. Windows Phone runs well on the almost identical Lumia
520 hardware, but Nokia has opted for Android 4.1.2 on the X series.
This particular Jelly Bean version of Android was released back in
October 2012 and doesn’t include the more recent Android 4.4 changes that are optimized for lower-end, low-memory devices.
KitKat uses 16 percent less memory than Jelly Bean, so things like task
switching and app resuming would likely be improved if Nokia had opted
to fork the latest Android version. The use of such an old version of
Android indicates just how long Nokia has been working on the X, though.
The real question around the X
family is simple: why? Nokia says its X Android phone is just the first
of many, a whole line of X phones that are designed to combine the
flexibility of Android apps and services from Microsoft and Nokia.
Additional members of the X line are supposed to be coming this year,
assuming Microsoft doesn’t kill the project once the company fully
acquires Nokia in the coming weeks. Some of the answers for why such
devices are coming to market at this stage are clearly present in the
apps that Nokia is bundling with the X. MixRadio, Here Maps, OneDrive,
Outlook, and Skype will all be preinstalled, and Bing is the default
search engine on the X. While it might seem obvious that Microsoft
wouldn’t want its closest mobile partner to go Android, Nokia appears to
be positioning the X as a method to draw people to Microsoft’s cloud
services. The bundling of key apps instead of the usual Google
equivalents is a clear method to push the masses towards Microsoft’s
ecosystem.
Microsoft will control the future of Nokia X
Nokia’s announcement comes less than a day after Microsoft unveiled hardware improvements for its upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 update
that are specifically designed for low-cost devices like the X.
Microsoft is chasing after Android and it will soon have its own flavor
to either push ahead with or kill. The Nokia X just feels like an
experimental project created by a team of determined engineers who
wanted to see this phone on shelves. It has all the hallmarks of Nokia’s
approach with the N9: a phone that felt like it was released merely
because of the amount of effort that went into developing it. It’s going
to face the same problems Amazon experiences with out-of-date Android
apps in its own store, and the delay between new apps arriving and
filtering down to these non-Google stores. For Microsoft, who will
acquire Nokia’s phone business in a matter of weeks, the use of Android
is questionable.
At a press event yesterday,
Joe Belfiore — who runs a team focused on PCs, phones, and tablets at
Microsoft — said the software maker has a "terrific" relationship with
Nokia when questioned about the X announcement. "What they do as a
company is what they do," said Belfiore. "Certainly they'll do some
things that we're excited about, and some things that we may be less
excited about." Microsoft’s reaction in the coming weeks and months will
reveal exactly how excited the company is about Nokia’s X project, but
until then these Android phones are still a puzzling result of what
Nokia has always done best: experiment.
Nollywood Actor and school proprietor, Emeka Ike has been thrown out of his rented apartment in Magodo GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, over his inability to pay an accumulated three years rent of N8.5 million.
The apartment, a twin duplex located at 1, Raji Oladimeji Street, Magodo GRA, was until his ejection, used by Emeka to run his business.
Emeka had in 2007 diversified by establishing a secondary school named St Nicholas College and decided to hire the premises on a five-year lease agreement from an 87-year-old retiree, Chief Samuel Agboola Akintan at the rate of N2 million per annum for the first two years and N3 million annually for the remaining three years, bringing the total rent of five years to N13 million.
Recently Emeka was able to get his landlord accept a deposit of N2 million with a promise to pay the rest later. Trouble, however, started when a year after moving in, the popular Actor began to default and at a point issued a dud cheque of N1.5 million.
To force Emeka to pay his money and eject him from the property, Chief Akintan through his company, Samak Investments Ltd, had to drag the Actor to the Ikeja Magistrate court where he was ordered out of the house.
BlackBerry has announced a new duo of smartphones at the MWC 2014 - the BlackBerry Z3 and the BlackBery Q20.
The BlackBerry Z3 is a full-touch smartphone with a 5" display and
runs BlackBerry OS 10.2.1. BlackBerry CEO John Chen says that this is
the first phone to come up with the strategic partnership with Foxconn.
Update: specifications of the Z3 came in and the 5"
display boasts a qHD resolution and is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core
Snapdragon 400 chipset and 1.5GB of RAM. Internal storage is 8GB, but
there's no information if there's a microSD card slot available.
At the back, there's a 5MP camera, while at the front there's a
1.1MP one. Music lovers would also like the fact that the Z3 features an
FM Radio, too.
The phone will hit Indonesia in April and will cost less than $200 off contract.
As for the BlackBerry Q20, the company has gone back to its roots and
the phone features a physical QWERTY keyboard and a trackpad. It seems,
the BlackBerry wants to attract some of its core fans back and offers
them a phone they'll be productive with.
Here’s a quote from John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO at BlackBerry regarding the Q20. "In my first 90 days on the job, I consistently heard from our
ardent BlackBerry customers that the hard buttons and trackpad are an
essential part of the BlackBerry QWERTY experience, that made their
BlackBerry smartphone their go-to productivity tool. I want these
customers to know that we heard them, and this new smartphone will be
for them. Today, we’re delighted to announce the new BlackBerry Q20
smartphone, which is designed to give you the distinct experience that
every BlackBerry QWERTY loyalist and high-productivity business customer
absolutely loves. With the BlackBerry Q20 smartphone, you’ll get the
familiar hard buttons and trackpad that you want, along with the best
email service, the best keyboard experience and the best battery life
possible."
The Menu, Back, Send and End buttons and the trackpad will be made an
integral part of the device and user interface and in conjunction with
the 3.5" display, BlackBerry says the phone will offer the best email
experience on the market. The company also states that the Q20 will be
made of premium materials, which
will result in reliability and
durability, but doesn't specify which ones.
We wish BlackBerry had disclosed more details, but that's not the
case. We'll keep you posted for any new information that comes up.
Hopefully BlackBerry will shed more light on the specs soon enough.
It’s
official: the Nokia X Android phone is here. Microsoft might be buying
Nokia’s phone business shortly, but the Finnish smartphone maker is
still pushing ahead with the launch of three Android-powered handsets
today. The Verge first revealed details about Nokia’s plans
in December, and the company is now ready to talk specifics about the
X, the X+, and the XL. As expected, all three combine Lumia-style design
with low-cost hardware aimed at the masses, from a large 5-inch screen
on the 109-Euro XL to the 4-inch display on the 99-Euro X+. The X will
be released for just €89 in Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, and a
few other global locations, but it won’t be making its way to North
America, Japan, Korea, or Western European countries. These aren't
competitors to Samsung’s Galaxy S4 or Apple’s iPhone 5S, and there are
certainly no surprising hardware additions like a 41-megapixel camera or
a giant 6-inch display. Instead, the standout feature of the Nokia X
lineup is the software that powers it: Android.
Nokia may have pledged
allegiance to Microsoft’s Windows Phone software, but that hasn’t
stopped the company from experimenting with Android. The X introduces a
new “forked” version of Android that’s akin to what Amazon does with its
Kindle Fire line. Nokia is effectively taking the open-source elements
of Android and then bolting on its own services, a Windows Phone-like
UI, and yet another Android app store. The downside to this is that the
Nokia X devices won’t have access to Google’s Play store or
Google-specific apps like Gmail, Chrome, Maps, and others. However,
Android apps will run on the devices with only limited changes required
by developers. Nokia is creating its own store where it will curate
“hundreds of thousands” of apps. Third-party stores will also be
integrated into the Nokia Store, providing other sources for Android
apps. The Nokia X will also support sideloading, just as Amazon’s Kindle
Fire tablets do.
A Nokia Lumia 520 with Android
If you put the Nokia X side-by-side with the company’s Lumia 520
handset it might be hard to tell them apart. The same striking colors
and design are available on both, and they each use the same 4-inch
display. Nokia isn’t going for the high-end with the X at all, and the
company has clearly trimmed its hardware specifications as much as
possible to ensure the phone is low-cost but still usable. There are
just 4GB of storage with 512MB of RAM, but microSD cards will be
supported to help boost the tiny amount of storage available. The Nokia
X+, identical in appearance to the X, also boosts both the storage and
memory. Apart from the internal storage and dual-SIM support, the Nokia X
only really differs from the Lumia 520 on the outside, with a lack of
Windows Phone’s three capacitive buttons and a slight camera change.
Nokia's XL takes a slightly
different approach, with a 5-inch display and a combination of a
5-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front-facing one. Nokia is
positioning the XL as "great for Skype, while the X and X+ both ship
with just a 3-megapixel fixed focus camera. All three have just a single
capacitive button for navigation. You hit the button once to go back
and hold it down to return to the home screen. Software customizations
on the home screen and across the OS are where the X line gets
interesting, or, perhaps, confusing. Nokia has created a Windows
Phone-like tiled home screen that looks like a blatant rip of
Microsoft’s own UI. All installed apps will be displayed here instead of
a separate app drawer, and you can even alter the tile sizes to be
medium or large. They’re not as live as Windows Phone’s versions
or Android widgets, but apps like the calendar will display the date as
you’d expect. You can also display widgets from installed apps on the
home screen.
Swiping across reveals the
Fastlane feature, an option that makes its way over from Nokia’s line of
Asha handsets. Fastlane is a mixture of notifications and recent
activity combined into a stream. Favorite contacts, recent pictures, and
any app notifications will all be listed in a single UI, with options
to pull down and peer into future calendar appointments.
Nokia has been working on the X for a long time
Using the X software can be
quite frustrating, however, as the entire interface is prone to slow
response and a lot of lag. Closing or switching between apps on the X
takes far longer than other, even entry-level, smartphones, and browsing
the web will quickly test your patience.
The third-party apps we saw on
the X, such as Facebook, looked as they do on other Android
smartphones, but they too suffered from poor performance. Nokia’s choice
to combine the functions of home and back into the single back button
is confusing, and it’s difficult to predict exactly where in the
interface the button will take you when you press it.
Part of the reason for the
laggy interface and apps could be related to the low specifications of
the X family, but it’s more likely related to the Android version in use
on these devices. Windows Phone runs well on the almost identical Lumia
520 hardware, but Nokia has opted for Android 4.1.2 on the X series.
This particular Jelly Bean version of Android was released back in
October 2012 and doesn’t include the more recent Android 4.4 changes that are optimized for lower-end, low-memory devices.
KitKat uses 16 percent less memory than Jelly Bean, so things like task
switching and app resuming would likely be improved if Nokia had opted
to fork the latest Android version. The use of such an old version of
Android indicates just how long Nokia has been working on the X, though.
The real question around the X
family is simple: why? Nokia says its X Android phone is just the first
of many, a whole line of X phones that are designed to combine the
flexibility of Android apps and services from Microsoft and Nokia.
Additional members of the X line are supposed to be coming this year,
assuming Microsoft doesn’t kill the project once the company fully
acquires Nokia in the coming weeks. Some of the answers for why such
devices are coming to market at this stage are clearly present in the
apps that Nokia is bundling with the X. MixRadio, Here Maps, OneDrive,
Outlook, and Skype will all be preinstalled, and Bing is the default
search engine on the X. While it might seem obvious that Microsoft
wouldn’t want its closest mobile partner to go Android, Nokia appears to
be positioning the X as a method to draw people to Microsoft’s cloud
services. The bundling of key apps instead of the usual Google
equivalents is a clear method to push the masses towards Microsoft’s
ecosystem.
Microsoft will control the future of Nokia X
Nokia’s announcement comes less than a day after Microsoft unveiled hardware improvements for its upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 update
that are specifically designed for low-cost devices like the X.
Microsoft is chasing after Android and it will soon have its own flavor
to either push ahead with or kill. The Nokia X just feels like an
experimental project created by a team of determined engineers who
wanted to see this phone on shelves. It has all the hallmarks of Nokia’s
approach with the N9: a phone that felt like it was released merely
because of the amount of effort that went into developing it. It’s going
to face the same problems Amazon experiences with out-of-date Android
apps in its own store, and the delay between new apps arriving and
filtering down to these non-Google stores. For Microsoft, who will
acquire Nokia’s phone business in a matter of weeks, the use of Android
is questionable.
At a press event yesterday,
Joe Belfiore — who runs a team focused on PCs, phones, and tablets at
Microsoft — said the software maker has a "terrific" relationship with
Nokia when questioned about the X announcement. "What they do as a
company is what they do," said Belfiore. "Certainly they'll do some
things that we're excited about, and some things that we may be less
excited about." Microsoft’s reaction in the coming weeks and months will
reveal exactly how excited the company is about Nokia’s X project, but
until then these Android phones are still a puzzling result of what
Nokia has always done best: experiment.
The Samsung Gear 2 is a surprising addition to the MWC 2014
party, not just because it's predecessor has been on sale for such a
short amount of time but because it's been joined by a little brother:
the Gear 2 Neo.
It's also dropped the Galaxy part of its name for the update, presumably as the range is based on Tizen OS rather than Android.
If you read our initial Galaxy Gear review,
you'd see why Samsung has rebooted this so quickly. A smart watch may be
cool, but if it costs too much, has too short of a battery life and is
filled with useless gimmicks, it's not going to sell well – and that's
precisely what we found with Samsung's first effort.
The
Gear 2's got the same 512MB of RAM as the first iteration, but with a
dual-core 1GHz processor, which is much needed over the original.
So now we have the rebooted version, and it's likely to be tied in heavily with the Samsung Galaxy S5 – read on to find out all about the two new watches as Samsung battens down the hatches ahead of the iWatch release.
Gear 2 design
When
it comes to the new look of the Gear, it's pretty much business as
usual. The screen is precisely the same (a 1.63-inch 320 x 320 Super
AMOLED option) and the surround looks pretty similar to the original as
well.
We actually liked the design of the first Gear, as
it combined industrial-looking materials with sleek lines – but
combined with the camera it was just too large.
Rumors
it would be up to 20% thinner are unfounded – it's actually closer to 9%
- so The Samsung Gear 2 doesn't deviate a huge amount from the first
iteration, coming in with 36.9 x 58.4x 10.0 mm, and weighting 68g.
That's not a lot different from the Gear 2 Neo, which clocks in at 37.9 x
58.8 x 10.0mm, but is 20% lighter at 55g, which will make a fairly big
difference.
It's not the major redesign we were hoping
for, but at the same time, there are some tweaks we like: moving all the
sensors onto the watch face means you can now change the straps rather
than having to have the same lurid rubber option, which will appeal to
those who want a genuine watch replacement.
There's also a home button now, which will make it easier to navigate around the device when you just want to know the time.
Gear 2 vs Gear 2 Neo
The
two devices differ very little in actual fact – the main change is the
dimensions listed above, with the Neo coming in a lot lighter than its
better-specced brother.
In terms of actually being better
on the spec front, it's only the camera that's missing – both still
have the all-new infra red blaster to control TVs and DVD players, but
the same 1.9MP camera pervades on the Gear 2.
Both are
also dustproof and water resistant to IP67, which is pretty impressive
given the last model could barely look at rain before deciding to curl
up into a technoball and hibernate for the winter.
All new OS
We've
heard loads about Tizen in the run up to MWC 2014, where Samsung is
supposed to be showing off phones using the new operating system.
But
here's an interesting one: the new Gear range are running the OS as
well. There are a number of reasons for this, but one that could have
legs is it would make the watch a lot more enticing for developers.
The
reasons for the switch to Tizen are unclear, but Samsung is touting the
fact that the OS will work widely with other devices, and TVs from the
South Korean brand are tipped to switch to the OS soon too, which would
make sense from a brand unity point of view.
Here's a conundrum: is it acceptable to release a new top-end phone
just months after the last flagship if the new version is markedly
better?
That's what Sony has done: just five months have passed
since it launched the Xperia Z1, and yet here we are at MWC 2014 seeing
the Xperia Z2 – and it's a much better handset.
If you imagine
that Sony had never made the Xperia Z1, and just jumped straight here
from last year's decent Xperia Z, then I'd be applauding the firm for
coming in with a 5.2-inch screen that delivers great colour
reproduction, tons of strong features and an ever-increasing connection
to its entertainment network and accessories. Perhaps
it's better to let the phone speak for itself. After all, this is a
flagship phone that has had a huge bulk of the issues from the Z1
upgraded and improved.
I've mentioned the screen, but let's start
there, as it's the element that most impressed when picking up the
handset. The display is one of the most crucial parts of any phone,
given you'll be spending oodles of time starting at it, and the 5.2-inch
IPS LCD display here delivers a really strong performance. It's
not just the IPS that helps (although its omission from the previous
two models was horrendously obvious, creating a washed-out screen
effect) but the Live Colour LED technology used on this screen really
helps make everything look a lot better.
The 'trick' here is that
while standard LEDs are a blue diode with a yellow phosphor on top which
alters the wavelength to create white light, Sony has added in red and
green elements to create a display that really pops with colour. Left: Xperia Z1. Right: Xperia Z2It's
claiming that this helps make everything more natural, more true to
life, without being over-saturated (while it didn't mention Samsung
specifically, this seems like more than a subtle dig at Super AMOLED
screens which place a strong emphasis on boosting colour to the point of
overdoing it in some people's eyes).
Placed side by side, the
Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z2 are markedly different when viewing the same
image or movie. More detail is shown in your snaps, and while Sony
clearly chose the image below to show off the improved red and green
performance, it is impressive how different the two are.
On top of this, you've also got Android 4.4 under the hood,
making things look a lot better by removing the bars at the top and
bottom of the screen to add a extra dimension on the homescreen and
throughout operation - it all combines together to make a really strong
and vibrant display that warrants the mountain of attention Sony will
heap upon it.
The quick notifications centre has also been overhauled, bringing a much more impressive and functional feel. The
design of the Sony Xperia Z2 is interesting – like I said, if this was
compared to the Xperia Z then it would make a lot of sense, but with the
Z1 in the mix it seems like Sony is really pushing the boundaries of
how many flagships it can launch before consumers get annoyed..
Once
again we see the huge bezels above and below the display, and the
device is a few millimetres bigger as a result of adding in the larger
screen.
Overall it feels a little larger than the previous
iteration, but it is definitely a sleeker model that builds on the
strong design language of the Xperia Z1, combining something inherently
more powerful with a chassis that's much nicer to hold. Sony
has rammed some of the best tech around into the Xperia Z2, which
includes being one of the first handsets out there to use the Qualcomm
Snapdragon 801 CPU – combined with 3GB of RAM it's really something
under the finger.
That said, I've written that loads of times
before and it's kind of redundant with today's smartphones. The speed
under the finger shouldn't be any kind of an issue when you're playing
with a smartphone that offers a quad-core CPU clocked at 2.3GHz and
comes with that much RAM. Actually,
there was one element that was a little slow - the camera. Both the
shutter speed and the time to boot up from sleeping was rather tardy,
with the latter taking around 4-5 seconds. However, given the Xperia Z1
can do the same thing in around 2 seconds, I'd wager that was down to
unoptimised software rather than an inherent flaw.
Speaking of the
camera: it's a great option and one that seems to be a little improved
over the Z1, with the 20.7MP sensor showing great snaps and the Live
Colour screen offering great colour reproduction. The difference over
the predecessor appears marked, but that could be the result of a better
display. One
thing to bear in mind is that I couldn't give it a good trial in darker
scenes, which is where other Sony Xperia phones have fallen apart. I'm
really hoping this has been improved, as while the likes of Timeshift
Video (for taking iPhone 5S-esque slo-mo video at 120fps) and Background
Defocus are useful and fun new features, if the camera doesn't function
as well as the likes of the HTC One in the key situations then it can't
be classed as a decent one. There
are a few features that Sony has been 'inspired by' from its
competitors. These were locked away in the far reaches of the menu, but
it was weird to see the likes of 'Smart Backlight Control' (also known
as Samsung's Smart Stay) and the option to double tap to wake the phone
(LG's Knock On) appearing. These functions worked pretty well too – the double tap was particularly nifty, although not as wide-ranging as LG's offering.
There
are a number of other features that Sony is using to impress with the
Xperia Z2, including internal noise cancellation that even has 'Office'
and 'Train' modes for those very environments. This
would have been even more impressive if it allowed users to use any
headphones, but apparently you'll need Sony's special variants if you
want to get rid of some of that pesky sound out of your life. Given that most headphones come with a microphone now it's annoying Sony can't extend this function.
Early verdict
The
Sony Xperia Z2 is a phone that can be viewed in two ways. On the one
hand, it's an excellent upgrade over the Xperia Z, and features all the
top end technology you could want in a very premium-feeling chassis.
On
the other, it's too much like the Xperia Z1, which is only a few months
old – albeit a much better version. I'm still not a fan of all that
bezel above and below the screen, nor am I confident the camera will be
excellent in low light.
But for a flagship phone, Sony has made a
very well thought out device that ticks nearly every box you can think
of, and then some.
A man was jailed after failing to pay his child support.
During sentencing, Judge Abednico Ndebele said that being unemployed is not an excuse for not taking care of children. Unemployed men were surprised when Ndebele said that they should stop
having sx, as it could lead to pregnancy and not paying child support.
“If you are unemployed, you should not have sx and stay away from
women since you can no longer afford to care for children,” Ndebele
said.
Zivanai Chitima of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, was held in contempt of court
after he stopped paying $55 a month in child support to his former wife.
Chitima reportedly owes his estranged wife $375 in back child support. He was ordered to pay or face jail time. The man had argued that he could not afford to pay $55 each month to his wife Ndanetsei Nyandoro because he does not have a job.
The judge sentenced Chitima to 3 months in jail after which he will have to find a way to pay his child support.
The Huawei Ascend Mate2 4G mobile telephone with an Android operating
system is shown at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las
Vegas, Nevada January 8, 2014.
Kelly Ochuko, a guy who works as security, has been arrested
for ra'ping a 24-year-old lady, Tivere, while she was returning from a
vigil at Prophet TB Joshua's Synagogue Church of All Nation. The
incident took place around 2am on Mutiatu Street in Ikotun, Lagos State.
The victim, Tivere, had travelled to Lagos from Delta State to
participate in the midnight programme. At 2am, she left for her lodgings
when 27-year-old Kelly Ochukwo accosted her. The guy who was employed
by the Igando area guards, allegedly threatened to harm the victim with a
cutlass.
She yielded and followed him into a nearby building where he "did it" with her...
After having carnal knowledge of the 24yrs old, Ochuko was said to
have pleaded with her to marry him, and he exchanged phone numbers with
her that night.
But after being freed from him, the victim approached some policemen
she saw at a junction and narrated her ordeal to them. The policemen
plotted with Tivere to call Ochukwo to see her off to the park where she
would board a bus back to Sapele.
The unsuspecting Ochukwo came out to see off his "sweet lover", only to be arrested by the police.
He was arraigned before an Ebute Meta Magistrate’s Court, Lagos, on
2-counts of ra'pe. Ochuko pleaded not guilty to the charge and elected
summary trial.
Magistrate Ms Badejo-Okusanya granted him bail in N50,000 and adjourned the case till March 4, 2014.
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