Hasta La Gadget!

Here’s a contradiction in action: a Nokia phone that goes down a model number, but up in features. That’s what we’ll see if regulatory screenings and leaks surrounding the unreleased Lumia 510 are any indication. China’s TENAA, the FCC and Indonesia’s DG PosTel have all taken a look at the device ahead of time and point to a short, squat design that won’t have the budget chic of the Lumia 610. However, if Baidu tips are correct, the 510 may be an ever-so-slight upgrade to its higher-digit predecessor with a larger 4-inch screen and a likely fast track to Windows Phone 7.8. Just don’t anticipate more than the existing 800MHz Snapdragon, 256MB of RAM and 5-megapixel camera — or a US release, for that matter. The FCC has only tested the Lumia 510 against American GSM bands, which hints that its 3G support is meant for China, Indonesia and other countries where low-cost smartphones matter most.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Nokia Lumia 510 put under the regulatory limelight, hints low-cost Windows Phone 7.8 on the way originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 11:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink WMPowerUser, Baidu Teiba (translated)  |  FCC, Nokianesia Blog, TENAA  | Email this | Comments

Samsung intends to chase a sales injunction against the new iPhone 5, court documents apparently reveal, alleging that Apple infringes wireless patents the Korean company holds. New filings in the US legal system, seen by Reuters, detail Samsung’s intentions to append the new Apple smartphone – which hits store shelves tomorrow, Friday September 21 – to its existing motion chasing a block on sales.

“Samsung anticipates that it will file, in the near future, a motion to amend its infringement contentions to add the iPhone 5 as an accused product,” the Samsung filing apparently states. “Based on information currently available, Samsung expects that the iPhone 5 will infringe the asserted Samsung patents-in-suit in the same way as the other accused iPhone models.”

Samsung has not commented on the reported addition to its case, but said in a statement that it feels legal action is warranted as long as Apple maintains its own litigious ways. ”Apple continues to take aggressive legal measures that will limit market competition” Samsung said in a statement. “Under these circumstances, we have little choice but to take the steps necessary to protect our innovations and intellectual property rights.”

Check out our full iPhone 5 review!

Still, Samsung’s track record in the US courts so far has not been good. Apple escaped with a grand total of zero damages to pay its South Korean rival, while Samsung was slapped with a billion dollar fine for infringing on Apple’s patents and designs.

Nonetheless, Samsung is looking to have that decision overturned in the appeals court, as well as doubling down on its attempts to have Apple’s own potential infringement of things including LTE technology taken seriously. An injunction, even a preliminary one, could have a significant impact on Apple’s bottom line: the company has already announced 2m presales in the first 24hrs the iPhone 5 was put up for sale, and analysts predict as many as 10m sales by the end of September alone.

Samsung chasing iPhone 5 sales ban is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

What’s tipped to be one of HTC’s new Windows Phone 8 devices, the HTC Accord believed to launch as the “Windows Phone 8X,” has shown up in the wild. Expected to be officially revealed at a New York event tomorrow, the phone in the live photo sent by an anonymous phoneArena tipster also bears Verizon branding, and the source says it will also support the CDMA carrier’s LTE network.

Those earlier leaks also suggested some specifications we can expect, including a dualcore Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 4.3-inch display, and an 8-megapixel camera. Interestingly, the leaked specs also claimed that the 8X/Accord would be able to record 1080p Full HD video using both the front and rear cameras.

Other tidbits include Beats Audio, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, WiFi, GPS and NFC, while physical ports will consist of microUSB and a 3.5mm headphones socket. No microSD has been mentioned, however, which would mean the rumored 16GB of internal storage is all buyers are getting.

We’ll know more after HTC’s event tomorrow, when the company is expected to spill all the details on its new range. What we really want to know, however, is when the Windows Phone 8 smartphones will actually reach store shelves, but we may have to wait for Microsoft to officially launch the OS before manufacturers can step up with that news.

Windows Phone 8X aka HTC Accord spotted with Verizon LTE is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

With all of this exciting talk about incoming Windows 8 tablets, it’s easy for a detail or two to get lost in the crowd. Once such detail that has been generally missing from announcements and previews is pricing. We’ve seen what these new tablets can do, but it seems that most manufacturers aren’t ready to talk about pricing just yet.

The prices for three incoming ASUS Windows 8 tablets have been leaked today, as part of the company’s holiday roadmap. As you can see from the image above, which was secured by the folks at ZDNet, the prices are pretty high, with the ASUS Vivo Tab RT coming in at $599. Its big brother, which is running Windows 8 instead of Windows RT, will set you back $799, and if you want the dock for either tablet, you’ll have to shell out an additional $199.

The ASUS Taichi convertible tablet is going to cost you even more, as that has been stuck with a price tag of $1,299. ZDNet says that the roadmap also details a number of other machines that aren’t pictured in the image above, including a laptop that is priced at $549 and the next generation Transformer, which comes in at a whopping $1,399. Keep in mind that these prices may change by the time these machines actually hit shelves, but if these are the prices ASUS has decided on, then it’s going to have some difficulties finding an audience.

That’s especially true when there are other tablets out there available for much less. Why ASUS is pricing these tablets so high when it got the price of the Nexus 7 so right is entirely beyond us (though, to be fair, that may have been more Google’s doing), and we doubt that people are going to be jumping up and down for these products after seeing their prices. Still, as is usually the case, we can’t say for sure until it’s been confirmed, so maybe these products will launch with price tags that are a little easier to swallow. Stay tuned.

ASUS Windows 8 tablet pricing revealed in leaked holiday roadmap is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Samsung is aiming to launch its next flagship, the Galaxy S 4 and the replacement of the Galaxy S III, as early as February 2013, execs reportedly claim, maintaining its pressure on Apple’s iPhone. The new phone will be revealed at Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, an unnamed executive from Samsung told The Korea Times, with a global release in March; the biggest change could be a bigger screen, now up to 5-inches according to the insider source.

That would move the Galaxy S 4 further toward “phablet” territory; the existing Galaxy S III uses a 4.8-inch screen, itself a sizable step up from the 4.3-inch panel on the Galaxy S II. Samsung is tipped to stick with its own OLED technology, unsurprisingly, though it’s said to be undecided whether it will use a flexible panel of some sort – which could be curved around the phone’s chassis or simply bent to better suit the curvature of the user’s face – after Samsung’s display division encountered production issues.

Other specifications are expected to include LTE and Samsung’s own Exynos quadcore chipsets, rather than the mixture of Exynos and Qualcomm Snapdragon processors on the current phone. As with the current model, it will run Android.

The new phone could also feature a significantly higher resolution camera than the 8-megapixel example Samsung’s current high-end range tops out at. The company is believed to have intended to use a 13-megapixel camera in the recently announced Galaxy Note II, but had its plans scuppered when LG monopolized sensor supplies for its own upcoming Optimus G.

“Samsung wants to keep its one-year product schedule and the Galaxy S4 will be the first to match that strategy” a local Samsung partner apparently told the Korean paper. “The S4 will see some external changes but retain its popular rectangular shape with rounded corner concept.”

According to the sources, Samsung’s ambitious timetable was settled upon three days after Apple’s iPhone 5 event last week, with the company hoping that a refresh of its flagship after just nine months will prove suitably compelling in contrast to the iOS 6 handset. Third-party figures suggested the Galaxy S III surpassed the iPhone 4S in US sales in August, the first time Apple’s device had been eclipsed, though the milestone was swiftly followed by the reveal of the iPhone 5.

[via The Next Web]

Samsung Galaxy S4 tipped to chase iPhone 5 with March 2013 release is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.