Hasta La Gadget!

The other day we reported that a bunch of Nokia codenames had leaked, suggesting that we had a few more devices that we could expect from Nokia before they were officially bought up by Microsoft. Well the last we heard, some of those devices had their features revealed, such as Goldfinger which supposedly will introduce the “3D Touch” technology which basically allows users to interact with the phone without having to actually touch the display. Now thanks to @evleaks, we have additional details about the upcoming devices, although we’re not sure which particular device these features correspond to.

In any case according to @evleaks, it has been suggested that one of the devices will feature a Siri-like assistant, which is essentially a voice assistant software that allows users to perform tasks on their device by telling it vocally, such as setting an alarm, reading out a message, searching for things on the web and etc. The other rumor claims that another one of those handsets is expected to be Nokia’s next imaging flagship handset, which at the moment is the Nokia Lumia 1020. We have heard how a certain upcoming Lumia 1820 could feature a Lytro-like camera, so it certainly corroborates what we’ve been hearing lately. Take it with a grain of salt for now, but we’ll keep our eyes peeled for more info.

Upcoming Nokia Phones Expected To Get Siri-like Functionality, New Imaging Flagship In The Works [Rumor] original content from Ubergizmo.

The Google Play Store is host to many an interesting piece of software or app, and most of the time, you will find that one app is far more useful than the others. For those who have heard about the FCC Speed Test, we are pleased to say that this particular app has already appeared on the Google Play Store today, which will be kind of similar in nature to the Speedtest.net app. I guess having some kind of variety is always a good thing, don’t you think so? After all, with Speedtest.net being a staple on the app market for some time already, it is nice to see the FCC come up with an alternative for the masses. The FCC Speed Test will rely on information that has been collected via the app, where this information will then help it hunt down select patterns as it builds out a “map of mobile broadband” that will span through multiple states.

How about privacy concerns, and how will the FCC address them? The FCC has mentioned that “privacy is paramount,” which is why they will ensure that “significant measures” will be taken so that it will be nigh impossible to identify the volunteers who use the app. With the FCC Speed Test app, you will gain privy to real time performance data and historical records, in addition to participating in the FCC’s Measuring Broadband America program. I wonder what is the impact on your device’s battery life when you run the FCC Speed Test app all day long in the background. [FCC Speed Test App]

FCC Speed Test Debuts On Google Play Store original content from Ubergizmo.

Congress, the White House and the FCC’s new chairman Tom Wheeler have all come out in favor of setting our phones free, but the telcos who can actually grant our handsets liberty have been slow to heed the governmental call. Because of that, Wheeler sent a veiled threat letter to the CTIA imploring it to amend its Consumer Code to include a policy ensuring our rights to get our phones unlocked once we’re off contract. Apparently, the FCC has been working with the CTIA for eight months to craft a policy that requires telcos to:

• provide a clear, concise and readily accessible policy on unlocking
• unlock mobile devices for legitimate owners of those devices once their service contract has been fulfilled
• notify customers when their devices are eligible to be unlocked and/or automatically unlock those devices for free
• unlock devices or provide an explanation of a denial of any unlock requests within two days
• unlock devices for military service men and women upon deployment

The two sides are in agreement with four of the five requirements, with the only sticking point being the bit about service providers having to notify us when our devices are eligible to be unlocked. Tom Wheeler, however, isn’t willing to see The Wireless Association’s side of things because “absent the consumer’s right to be informed about unlocking eligibility, any voluntary program would be a hollow shell.” Furthermore, he wants the new unlock policy put in place before the holidays this year, whether by the CTIA’s voluntary or the FCC’s regulatory action. Looks like we’ll be getting phone freedom for Christmas this year. We like the sound of that.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Source: FCC letter to CTIA [PDF]

As expected, the FCC has launched a Speed Test app that measures mobile broadband performance for Android devices. Available as a free download from Google Play, the app runs periodically in the background and performs tests when you aren’t using your handset. There is a manual test option, for those of you steeped in the ways of Speedtest.net.

According to the FCC, the app is a “first step towards evaluating mobile broadband network performance, arming consumers with information to make fact-based, informed decisions about their wireless providers.” In practice, data gathered from FCC Speed Test will help build out visualizations and maps that compare speeds and technologies across the country. Android users can hit up the Google Play link below to try it out. iPhone users, meanwhile, will have to wait till early next year; the FCC says it will submit an iOS version by late 2014.

Filed under: Cellphones, Networking, Mobile

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Via: Phone Scoop

Source: Google Play, FCC

It was rumored last week that Apple might release an incremental iOS 7 firmware update in the near future. Web traffic from devices running iOS 7.0.4 started increasing last week, presumably because the update was being tested by Apple’s employees prior to its release. Today, Apple has released iOS 7.0.4, its an incremental update which does not bring any major features. It only brings a few bug fixes.

The official release notes state that this update, iOS 7.0.4 build 11B554a, comes with “bug fixes and improvements.” It also brings a fix for an issue that caused FaceTime calls to fail for some users. This update is compatible with the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. All smartphones from iPhone 4 right up to iPhone 5s are covered, and so are all tablets from iPad 2 to the recently released iPad Air. iPad mini and the Retina iPad mini are compatible with this update as well, and the fourth generation and fifth generation iPod touch models are included too. Apple releases the updates over-the-air, so they can be downloaded and installed right on the device itself. No need to connect to a computer, simply head to the Settings app and go to the Software Update section. IOS 7.0.4 weighs in at 37.6MB.

Apple Releases iOS 7.0.4 original content from Ubergizmo.