Hasta La Gadget!

While Microsoft might have a slow start with their Windows Phone platform, things started to turn around with the release of Windows Phone 8, and with Nokia entering the fray with their slew of affordable Windows Phone devices like the Lumia 520 which turned out to be a surprising success, and thanks to the efforts of Microsoft and their manufacturing partners, it has been reported that the Windows Phone market share in Europe has hit an all-time high of 8.2%. Granted this pales in comparison compared to iOS and Android, but it’s still a good sign for the Windows Phone platform. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

These numbers were released by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech who notes that the rise of Windows Phone is not thanks to Windows Phone stealing iOS and Android market share, which we’re sure many might have assumed, but rather it has been on the rise thanks to the adoption of the platform by first-time smartphone owners. This was noted by Kantar’s strategic insight director, Dominic Sunnebo, who claims that devices like the Lumia 520 offered “the price and quality that new smartphone buyers are looking for.”

Windows Phone Hits 8.2% Market Share In Europe original content from Ubergizmo.

Come IFA 2013, Samsung will be holding their Unpacked event in which the company’s upcoming Galaxy Note 3 smartphone and Galaxy Gear smartwatch have been confirmed for an announcement. Given that we’re still a few more days away from Samsung’s 4^th of September event, the company has since posted a teaser video leading up to the event. The video has been titled, “Secret of Samsung Technology caught on tape” and basically shows an alien running about Samsung’s offices, interacting with employees, and partaking in daily activities, leading us to believe that Samsung’s technology has been invented by aliens! Unfortunately the video does not reveal anything about the Galaxy Note 3 or the Galaxy Gear, although we guess a leaked prototype has done a somewhat decent job at clueing us in to what we might be able to expect. In any case if you have a minute to spare, you can check out Samsung’s IFA teaser in the video above.

Samsung Releases IFA 2013 Teaser Video original content from Ubergizmo.

So we have heard that Sony could be announcing the A3000 (ILC-3000) entry-level E-mount camera, but apparently it seems that Sony has more cameras planned for their new ILC category and thanks to a photo obtained by the folks at Sony Alpha Rumors, we now have our first look at the upcoming Sony A7000, or ILC-7000 which it could be known by in other markets. This is the first we’ve heard of the A7000 and according to the rumored specifications, this will be a semi pro E-mount camera that will utilize the Z-shift sensor.

For those unfamiliar with the Z-shift sensor, this is a sensor that can move up to 18mm within the camera itself to allow for better focusing even when paired with third-party lenses from Canon or Nikon. Unfortunately apart from the leaked image and the Z-shift sensor, not much else is known about the A7000 at this point in time, but hopefully Sony will have something to share in the near future. So for those who think that the A7000 could be a camera of great interest to them, be sure to check back with us at a later date to see if there are any other additional details that can be had.

Sony A7000 (ILC-7000) Camera Photo Leaked original content from Ubergizmo.

As we’re sure some of you guys have heard by now, there are a number of companies who are looking to get into the smartwatch market. We know that Samsung will announce the Galaxy Gear smartwatch at IFA 2013, and recent patents from Motorola has hinted that the company could be looking to launch a successor of its MOTOACTV smartwatch that was launched a while back, so what do normal watch manufacturers have to say about this?

Casio is a brand known by most and it seems that the company is not too fazed by these watch efforts from these tech giants. Speaking to The New York Times, Casio’s Kazuo Kashio was quoted as saying, “Suddenly, everyone’s discovered the wrist […] We’ve known for a long time it’s prime real estate. We’re prepared.” While Casio has yet to offer up a watch that will be similar to what Samsung will be offering, and what other tech companies such as Apple are rumored to be working on, they have dabbled with technology that has integrated watches with our smartphones.

This includes previous offerings that allow for watches and phones to be paired via Bluetooth and display information on the watch such as incoming text messages, calls, and emails. Will Casio be able to prevail against companies such as Samsung and Apple? We guess only time will tell.

Casio Claims They Are Prepared For Smartwatches From The Competition original content from Ubergizmo.

Oppo’s N1 smartphone has been sitting on our watch list ever since we first got wind of its strange N-Lens camera add-ons, which will apparently offer a choice of zooms up to 15x. Now we can flesh out another key spec: the Chinese handset will run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 processor, which should more than cope with its equally unusual dual touch inputs and possibly help it to rival other imaging-centric Androids like the Galaxy S4 Zoom and Sony’s upcoming Honami. The HSPA+ Snapdragon processor (MSM8274) was shown on a photo of the N1’s internals that was “leaked” by an Oppo marketing staffer on Sina Weibo — and unless we’re horribly, horribly mistaken, the photo also seems to show a microSD slot to store all those optically stabilized, 16-megapixel images. Barring other significant pseudo-leaks, you can expect the next big N1 update on September 23rd.

Update: Oops! Oppo just reached out to us to say that the N1 doesn’t actually use the Snapdragon 800. Looking back at the original Sina Weibo post, the leakster only said “large screen, flagship” and not “N1,” so perhaps this is actually the rumoured Find 7 instead?

Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Mobile

Comments

Source: Oppo N1 (Sina Weibo)