Hasta La Gadget!

Samsung is known for releasing multiple variants of its flagship smartphones, there are often so many that it becomes hard to keep track of all of them. These variants come with slight changes under the hood, so developers have to fashion their ROMs around them. Its no secret that there isn’t a lot of developer support for Samsung’s Exynos powered variants, but today the folks at CyanogenMod have released a test build of the CyanogenMod 11 for Galaxy S4 GT-I9500 ROM, which happens to be the international Exynos powered variant of the 2013 flagship. The ROM is based on Android 4.4 KitKat.

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CyanogenMod 11 For Galaxy S4 GT-I9500 ROM Released original content from Ubergizmo.

Its not difficult to break your smartphone or tablet. Even though these devices are able to withstand drops to a certain extent, and even though some of them are even waterproof, they’re certainly not completely invincible. Some users opt to insure their device against such unfortunate incidents, SquareTrade Europe is just one of the many insurers that provide this service. It has created a list of the “world’s most breakable gadgets,” and concludes after a series of tests that the iPad mini sits at the very top of said list.

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Insurer Brands iPad Mini As ‘World’s Most Breakable Gadget’ original content from Ubergizmo.

It is clear that the Samsung Galaxy S4 is a hit, but its staying power might not be as good as its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S3, at least that’s what the trade-in numbers provided by Gazelle would seem to suggest. According to Gazelle, trade-ins for the Galaxy S4 happen 138% times more frequently in the second half of 2013 compared to the Samsung Galaxy S3 in the second half of 2013. To make matters worse, it seems that Galaxy S4 owners can’t wait to get rid of their phones as those numbers are actually increasing, where Gazelle claims that January 2014 was the site’s third-biggest month for Galaxy S4-related trade-ins.

It is unclear as to why Galaxy S4 owners are trading in their phones at a higher rate compared to Galaxy S3 owners back in 2012. Could it be due to the Galaxy Note 3 that made Galaxy S4 owners want to upgrade to that instead? Or could it be that Galaxy S4 owners are looking forward to the Galaxy S5 and want to get their handsets traded in ahead of time? The Samsung Galaxy S5 has been rumored for an announcement ahead of MWC and some of its rumored features include a QHD display and a possible metal body, a departure from the use of plastic that Samsung has typically favored in the past. In the meantime what do you guys think? What could be the reasons behind a higher Galaxy S4 trade-in rate?

Samsung Galaxy S4 Trade-Ins Are Higher Than Before original content from Ubergizmo.

When it comes to camera accessories for smartphones, most of the time we’re talking about simple lens attachments. However with devices like the Nokia Lumia 1020 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, smartphone photography has definitely been taken to the next level. However if neither of those devices interest you, how about a revolver camera kit for the Samsung Galaxy S4 then? Ztylus has announced the ZGS-4 camera kit for the Samsung Galaxy S4 which is basically an elaborate case for the smartphone that will transform it into a more “proper” camera. (more…)

Ztylus ZGS-4 Camera Kit Comes To The Galaxy S4 original content from Ubergizmo.

There are a lot of fake phones out there. By fake we don’t mean that they don’t work, but rather that some manufacturers deliberately set out to copy a popular smartphone right down to the company’s logo in hopes that they can pass it off as the real thing and sell it at a premium, even though chances are it probably costs them a fraction to build it. Heck, the Samsung Galaxy S5 has yet to be made official but we are already hearing that a company plans on making a clone of it based on renderings of the device. That being said, it seems that demand for the Galaxy S4 is still strong because according to reports, a shipment of fake Galaxy S4 handsets was intercepted by authorities in Germany.

Custom authorities in Germany have managed to get their hands on a shipment of fake Galaxy S4 devices and have since gone on to destroy them with a hammer. With the shipment originating from Hong Kong, the authorities found 250 fake units and are at the moment trying to deduce if this has been something that has been taking place on a regular basis, and if many of these fake phones are currently in circulation in the market, or if it might be a one-off thing, although we’re leaning more towards the latter. If anything this just serves as a reminder to make sure you purchase your gadgets at reputable locations, and while it is possible to get swindled at an established retailer, chances are they were duped themselves and will at least offer you a refund/exchange.

250 Fake Samsung Galaxy S4 Units Found And Destroyed By German Authorities original content from Ubergizmo.