Hasta La Gadget!

Nokia is likely to announce a profit warning to investors within the next few weeks, the Royal Bank of Canada has suggested, after worse than expected sales in Q2 2013. Lumia shipments haven’t met with Nokia’s predictions, the RBC claimed in a note to investors today, Finnish paper Taloussanomat reports, with operating margin for the smart devices division tipped to be around -3%.

Nokia had forecast a strong growth in Windows Phone sales back when it announced its Q1 2013 figures, suggesting that sequential growth in unit volumes would be “higher than the 27% sequential growth in the first quarter.” However, it still expected its Devices & Services operating margin to be around -2% (+/- 4-points).

According to the bank’s numbers, Nokia is estimated to sell 30m smartphones – down 2m from the previous estimates – while regular phone sales will drop from 218m to 193m, it’s suggested. The claimed reason for the shortfall is one we’ve heard many times before: cheap Android phones eating into the entry-level segment.

It’s not been a good few months for Nokia. Earlier this week, it was suggested that even in the company’s own home territory, Finland, Samsung was now outselling Nokia phones.

Meanwhile, the company has continued to flesh out its Lumia range, with the 925 the latest device to break cover. A variant of the Lumia 920 – and one which will stay on sale alongside that and the Verizon exclusive Lumia 928 – the new phone introduces a new camera system among other things.

At the other end of the market, the relaunched Asha Touch range has kicked off with the Asha 501, though that won’t begin shipping until late-June, Nokia has said.

We’re waiting on an official comment from Nokia, and will update when we know more. Update: Nokia tells us it “does not comment on market rumor.”

VIA Stefan Constantine

Nokia Q2 profit warning rumored as Lumia sales reportedly disappoint is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

When we last got a peek at Windows 8.1 “Blue,” most of the updates lurked under the surface: rumors of a Start button revival didn’t pan out. Flash forward to Paul Thurrott’s screenshots of a newer build, however, and it’s a different story. The leaked code has the Start button once more occupying a spot on the desktop taskbar, with behavior reportedly like what we’ve seen with Stardock’s Start 8 utility. More throwbacks also appear to be in store. Users can now transfer their desktop wallpaper to the Start screen, and the storied boot-to-desktop option is available — if turned off by default. Microsoft hasn’t acknowledged the existence of these (or any) Windows 8.1 features, but the rapidly approaching Build conference suggests that we’ll learn more in the near future.

Filed under: Software, Microsoft

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Via: The Verge

Source: SuperSite for Windows

Apple is thinking bigger for its next-gen iPhone and iPad models, according to rumors filtering out of Asia, with chatter of an “iPad maxi” alongside a far-higher-resolution iPhone 5S in the coming months. The rumors, which as with any iOS mutterings should be taken with the requisite pinch of salt, suggest Apple is looking to take on more directly not only the digital textbook market, but challenge big-screen Android phones with a jolt in pixel-dense resolution.

On the smartphone side, the Cupertino firm is tipped to be intending to roughly double the pixel resolution of the next-gen handset (which could launch as the iPhone 5S or the iPhone 6, depending on which flavor of speculation you’re tasting at the time). According to WeiPhone, the iPhone 5S display will remain at 4-inches, but clock in at roughly three times the resolution of the original iPhone.

In fact, it’s said to use a 4-inch panel with 1.5m pixels, up from the roughly 727,000 of the current iPhone 5. A 1704 x 960 display – keeping the aspect ratio the same, for ease of app transition – would fit the bill, though it’s unclear where Apple would source the screen, since panels of that size and (489ppi) resolution aren’t exactly common.

Adding to the intrigue is the suggestion that Apple will also trim the bezels of the iPhone, thus reducing the 5S’ size compared to the current handset.

At the other end of the scale in mobile, Apple is separately tipped to be considering a so-called “iPad maxi” with a screen larger than the 9.7-inches of the current full-sized iPad. The “maxi” variant would measure in at 12.9-inches, so ETNews claims, with a tentative release in the first half of 2014.

The larger tablet is being seen as a strong contender to replace textbooks in classrooms, but also as a rival to smaller ultraportable notebooks for those whose needs don’t extend to a full desktop OS. While the scale of that audience isn’t unclear, there’s undoubtedly been a surge in third-party keyboard dock accessories for use with both the regular iPad and iPad mini, turning them into notebook alternatives.

Apple has long insisted that it has no plans to introduce a touchscreen MacBook, claiming the ergonomics of such a device are not sound. However, a larger – normally keyboard-free – tablet might better fit the bill, presumably slotting into the company’s range between the existing 9.7-inch iPad and the MacBook Air.

As we said, Apple rumors can easily edge out of “possible” and into “wishful thinking”, though products such as those suggested would at least address some of the company’s bigger challenges at the moment: Android phones with rapidly climbing pixel-density, already out-Retina’ing Apple’s own Retina displays, and the growth of touchscreen ultrabooks running Windows 8.

VIA: UnwiredView 1 and 2

iPhone 5S “Retina 2″ and iPad maxi the latest Apple rumor-grist is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple‘s tussle for market share with Samsung has forced Foxconn to consider launching its own brand of accessories, sources claim, as the long-time iPhone manufacturing partner hunts alternative sources of income. “Limited order growth” among Foxconn‘s bigger clients has been blamed for the strategy shift, one Hon Hai executive told the WSJ, with sources claiming that the company is no longer satisfied with contract manufacturing and instead wants to leverage its own brand. Another possibility is white-label content supply, branching out into media Foxconn would supply to its existing customers.

For instance, one strand of the company’s new strategy is to “supply content for all of the devices it assembles” an unnamed executive told the newspaper. That’s prompted a hiring spree of software engineers in Taiwan, who are being brought in to focus Foxconn’s efforts on developing mobile apps, cloud-computing tech, and even smartwatch applications, foreseeing a greater emphasis on wearables in the future.

Meanwhile, Foxconn could also push its own range of devices, rather than simply manufacturing hardware for other companies. That will use its own branding, with the initial line-up said to include computing basics such as keyboards, cables, and headphones.

However, Apple-specific gadgets are likely to follow. “Chairman [Terry Gou] has ordered all business units to produce peripheral accessories of electronics products as it is more profitable than assembly services” an unnamed executive revealed. “We also plan to license Apple’s technology to make some own-brand accessories that are compatible with iPhones and iPads.”

The push isn’t a half-hearted one, either. According to the insiders, Hon Hai intends to sell its Foxconn-branded hardware not only online but in a new chain of physical stores, albeit initially only in China. A spokesperson confirmed Chinese retail strategy was being explored, but declined to comment on specific plans.

Foxconn’s over-arching problem is that its key clients simply aren’t growing in the same way that they once were. Sales declined 19-percent in the first quarter of 2013, blamed in no small part on a leveling out of orders for Apple’s iPhone.

“As our production capacity has grown to such a large scale and existing major-brand customers offer limited order growth, we need to actively expand our client base to help increase our manufacturing volume” Unnamed Hon Hai executive

At the same time, the growing appeal of “Made in USA” products has seen Foxconn expand its production facilities to North America, with some of Apple’s new Macs expected to be produced by the company in Texas. However, that’s a more expensive process than the relatively low-cost equivalent in Taiwan, where Foxconn has made paring back expenses an art-form, albeit one which has attracted the criticism of human rights organizations.

Apple is estimated to account for half of Hon Hai’s revenue, and it’s possible that the anticipated Mac refresh for WWDC 2013 could give the assembly firm a jolt.

Foxconn own-brand expansion tipped as Apple orders plateau is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Umeox isn’t exactly a household name in the smartphone market, but the company’s apparently getting ready to introduce the world to its most recent creation: a handset with an extremely slim profile. And while other details about the Umeox X5 remain light, rumors on the interwebs peg this 5.6mm-thick device as one that’s running a pretty fresh version of Android — Jelly Bean, to be precise. Unfortunately, things like screen size and more info on the X5 internals are still unknown, but, if all plays out as GizChina reports, we’ll find out all there is to know on that front when Umeox officially launches it “sometime in July.” For now, you’ll have to make do with the extra pics at the source below — and, if you have some time, perhaps you could even compare it with other slabs looking to take home the “world’s slimmest” title.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Source: GizChina