Hasta La Gadget!

We guess by now everyone has learnt that Nokia could be set to debut an Android phone of their own come MWC 2014. It’s an interesting move considering that Microsoft will be acquiring the company, but then again we guess it could be like the case of the Nokia N9 which was Nokia’s first and last MeeGo efforts, and in a way a swan song before they are bought out by Microsoft. That being said, reports from the Chinese media have suggested that the Nokia Normandy/Nokia X will not be the Finnish company’s first and last Android efforts, but would actually be the first of several Android handsets the company has planned for the rest of the year.

According to the reports, the Nokia Normandy is a low-end Android device (as expected based on its specs) and that Nokia has plans for higher-end Android devices that could be released sometime in the May-June timeframe. The report cites inside sources from Artesyn Technologies, whom Nokia is one of their clients as the company deals with design, manufacturing and sales of embedded board solutions and power conversion for networking. Like we said the fact that Nokia could be going ahead with the Nokia Normandy is pretty interesting given their situation at the moment, but for them to release more Android devices? Take it with a grain of salt for now but what do you guys think?

Nokia Rumored To Launch Multiple Android Devices This Year original content from Ubergizmo.

The iPhone 5c can hardly be called a success. In fact Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, had admitted that sales of the iPhone 5c were lower than expected. We’re not sure why the iPhone 5c didn’t do well, perhaps it wasn’t cheap enough or perhaps it didn’t have as many features to justify its price, but if there’s one thing it did do was help drive iPhone 5s sales, at least that’s what the analysts seem to think. That being said, will there be an iPhone 6c later this year? We’re sure Apple had kicked off the iPhone 5c with hopes to continue it with every generation of iPhones they launch, right?

Well it turns out that the iPhone 5c will be dropped completely once the iPhone 6 is launched. This is according to a report from the South China Morning Post who claims that Apple will be discontinuing the iPhone 5c once the iPhone 6 is launched. The iPhone 5s on the other hand is expected to be kept around although it will be made from cheaper materials. We’re not sure what that means since using cheaper materials would essentially turn it into another device, but since nothing is confirmed for now, take it with a grain of salt. In the meantime what do you guys think? Do you think the iPhone 5c will be discontinued?

iPhone 5c Rumored To Be Discontinued Post-iPhone 6 original content from Ubergizmo.

Earlier this year word on the street was that Xiaomi was working on a new handset called the Hongmi 2. We’re not sure what has happened to the device since, but thanks to a post by Hugo Barra (formerly of Google), it looks like Xiaomi could have decided to change the name of the Hongmi to Redmi, although based on Barra’s post, it seems that Redmi is more of a brand rather than an actual device, like how Samsung has their Galaxy series of Android devices, Nokia their Lumia lineup and so on.

According to Barra, “Today we’re introducing our new brand #Redmi to the world (originally “Hongmi” in Chinese), and it’s soon coming to Singapore!” Barra also provides a link to Xiaomi’s website but unfortunately apart from the typical marketing spiel, not much is known about Xiaomi’s phone plans. Could the Redmi be talking about a lineup of devices or are we talking about a single handset? Could the Hongmi 2 be part of the company’s new Redmi brand? In any case it seems that the launch will be happening soon so perhaps we will learn more then. It is also unclear if this means that the launch will only see the release of the new device (or devices) in Asia or if it will rollout to those of us living in the US as well, but either way we will keep our eyes peeled.

Xiaomi Announces New Redmi Brand original content from Ubergizmo.

At last, Google Now will enable you to refer to people by relationship whenever you want to make a voice call or a text, which is a good thing actually. For those who have tried to make use of Google Now voice commands in the past, you would run into limitations of voice commands if you want to call someone with a more unique name. Basically, not everyone has a name that is easy for the voice command system to understand, but you can be sure that voice recognition is moving in the right direction. Well, Google has introduced the ability for Google Now understand your referral to other contacts by relationship, thanks to the relationship descriptor. This would mean you are able to say, “Call dad” or “Text my wife”, and it will do so.

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Google Now Understands Your Relationship Connection original content from Ubergizmo.

One way of improving an app is by writing a review for it which provides feedback to the developer on what sort of changes should and could be made. However it seems that Samsung could be looking to make that a more automated process, thanks to a report from The Information who claims that Samsung is developing a service called “Context” in which it would allow third-party services to offer targeted features to a user based on what he/she likes. In a way this is kind of like how Facebook and Google offer users targeted ads, but instead of ads, what Samsung hopes to achieve with Context is to offer up improved app experiences.

Based on the information being collected, such as what you type, what apps you use, what kind of data is collected by your phone’s sensors, it will then allow developers to use that information to tailor apps to your liking. For example if you frequently search for vegetarian recipes, a cook book app might open up with vegetarian recipes listed by default since it knows that is your preference, or a restaurant-locator might list vegetarian restaurants first, and so on. In a way it is kind of creepy and sort of like an invasion of our privacy, and thankfully the service has reportedly been delayed as Samsung is debating as to whether such a service would actually help them sell more phones, but what do you guys think? Is this a service you would like to have on your phone?

Samsung’s Rumored “Context” Service Will Collect Your Data original content from Ubergizmo.