Hasta La Gadget!

Rumors of the next-generation iPhone aren’t slowing down, especially when we’re expecting the new device at some point this year. Close-up photos of a few parts that are said to be going in the iPhone 5S have been leaked, and they suggest a major internal overhaul is underway that’s set to make room for more parts and features.

It’s said that the latest iPhone will look practically identical to the iPhone 5, similar to how the iPhone 4S had the same design as the iPhone 4, but the iPhone 5S is suggested to be getting a major internal redesign in order to pack in even more features, including a rumored fingerprint scanner that could be built right into the Home button.

Boy Genius Report has obtained a few high-resolution photos of what are said to be parts going into the iPhone 5S. These include the loud-speaker bracket, ear speaker bracket, vibrating motor assembly, WiFi ribbon cable, and the SIM card tray. Overall, there’s nothing too special about these parts other than a slight redesign in them to make them a bit smaller.

However, photos of two different SIM card trays reveals something interesting. BGR points out that not only is the SIM card tray smaller than the iPhone 5S, but the photo includes two trays that are different colors, which could suggest that the next-generation iPhone will come in different color variety. Of course, this could also just be for the two different colors of the aluminum band that’s on the iPhone 5S, where the black model has a black band, and the white model has a silver band.

These parts don’t tell us much other than the fact that they’ve been slightly redesigned. However, if the iPhone 5S body is staying the same, the only reason for redesigned internals is to make room for something else, and that something else could be a variety of things, including the aforementioned fingerprint scanner or even NFC. The iPhone 5S is rumored to launch in August, and it’s expected that iOS 7 will be revealed at WWDC next month. Stay tuned!

SOURCE: Boy Genius Report

iPhone 5S internal overhaul tipped to make room for new features is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Sony is working on another smartphone that looks to pack some serious camera technology. Codenamed “Honami,” the new phone is said to pack in a Sony-built 1/1.6″ Exmor RS stacked 20MP sensor with a Cybershot G glass lens. Essentially, the sensor will be larger than any of its competitors, except for the Nokia 808 Pureview.

Overall, the phone is said to be a massive improvement over the Xperia Z, which we have still yet to see in the US. Honami will come packing with a lot of the same features in many of Sony’s Cybershot cameras, so we’re guessing one of the main focal points of the new phone will be its 20MP camera, and it’s easy to see why.

However, as for internal specs, we’re looking at some powerful hardware on board. It’s rumored to be packing a 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, with the standard 2GB of RAM, as well as a huge 2700mAh battery. The device is also said to be surfaced with a 5-inch 1080p display to compete with the Samsung GALAXY S 4 and HTC One.

As for further features of the camera component on Honami, it’s said to come with an completely new image-processing algorithm, as well as a redesigned camera UI, which will be based off of Sony’s Cybershot line. As for the LED flash on the Honami, it’s said to be ten times brighter than a typical LED flash on a today’s smartphones.

[via VR-Zone]

Sony “Honami” 20MP flagship Xperia leaks is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

One of the many new features of the HTC One are the dual front-facing speakers, and it looks like HTC is continuing that trend with an upcoming phone which was leaked today. Known as the HTC 608t, the smartphone sports front-facing speakers on the top and bottom in a budget-friendly form factor that’s reminiscent of the HTC One SV.

However, there are obvious differences with this iteration. It comes with the same navigation soft-button layout as the HTC One, along with the dual speakers, although the design is certainly a step backward when compared to the aluminum unibody design of the HTC One. However, that’s typical for a budget device like this.

As for specs, it’s running Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and it’s packing a quad-core processor, although the exact chip being used is unknown at this point. As far as the display goes, it’s your traditional budget selection: 4.5-inch LCD running at a resolution of 960 x 540. There’s also an 8MP camera on the back, with a 1.6MP front-facer.

You’re also looking at 1GB of RAM, and the amount of internal storage is unknown right now, although don’t expect a lot of space to store all those songs and videos. The leak is Chinese, suggesting that the phone will make its way to China at some point, with a US release highly unlikely, although a similar phone could release in the states at some point.

[via Blog of Mobile]

HTC One cut down to budget size in leaked model 608t is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

As the book “The New Digital World” is published this week by Google’s Eric Schmidt and co-author Jared Cohen, a transcript of a “secret” meeting held between the two men and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has come to light. The transcript of this meeting – as well as the audio (uploaded this week) has been being mined by the public, revealing notes such as the one appearing today involving “internet educated youth” as spoken about by both Assange and Cohen.

While the original intent of those involved in this meeting was the exchange comments which would eventually be used in the book The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future, it would appear that it wasn’t Schmidt or Assange that approved of the transcript of the meeting being published by WikiLeaks. The WikiLeaks team is part of the subject being spoken about, this youth which is becoming radicalized in our modern internet age.

Jared Cohen: I am just wondering, on the human side of this, you have such experience of the world you described earlier. …some combination of technical and altruistic people and what amounts to a kind of subculture that you’ve been in for some 15 years now.. So you know about how the subculture works. And that subculture needs to either I guess stay the same or expand in order to do the work that you are describing, and so since our book is about ten years away…

Julian Assange: It’s dramatically expanded…

JC: What are the patterns there in terms of the people part, rather than the…?

JA: That’s the most optimistic thing that is happening. The radicalization of internet educated youth. People who are receiving their values from the internet… and then as they find them to be compatible echoing them back. The echo back is now so strong that it drowns the original statements.

Completely.

The people I’ve dealt with from the 1960s radicals who helped liberate Greece and.. Salazar. They are saying that this moment in time is the most similar to what happened in this period of liberation movements in the 1960s, that they have seen.

Assange continued by expanding on the idea that young people are changing the way our society acts and thinks with the tools they’ve created for themselves with the internet. This age we’re in now, he says, is one in which the technical generation that created the internet – and those that are coming in with the web as a given – are becoming politically educated.

JA: This is the political education of apolitical technical people. It is extraordinary, in the same way that the young…

Lisa Shields: A-political? Do you mean one word?

JA: One word. People are going from… young people are going from apolitical to political. It is a very very interesting transition to see.

Lisa Shields is another of the very few people in the room during this conversation, she having been mentioned in our first short glimpse into this environment last week. This isn’t the last time we’ll be jumping in to this set of ideas being explored by Schmidt and Cohen – now that the book is out, we’ll be leaping in all week long!

Eric Schmidt and WikiLeaks founder talk “radicalization of internet educated youth” is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This morning a single photo of what very much appears to be the fabled low-cost plastic iPhone. This device has been said to be appearing later this year in a collection of colors for a price that will allow Apple to not only sustain iPhone sales on the whole, but to expand to markets previously unavailable to them due to the cost of producing the standard iPhone. This case may well also be just that – a case.

What you’re seeing here is the back of what’s very much intended to look like an Apple product, at least. If you have a peek at the camera lens hold and flash bulb hole, you’ll see that there’s also a microphone hole in-between. You’ll see a printed-on ink Apple logo as well as the standard “iPhone” lettered-logo in their regular places, while the left-hand side of the device appears to have slightly updated places for buttons.

This setup shows the new iPhone – if that’s what this is – to be working with volume knobs and a lock switch not unlike that of the iPod touch units of the past. This case also appears to be a bit thicker than the iPhone is currently, leading us to believe that this will either be a high-capacity model using a massive battery or that it is, again, just a case for a future iteration of the standard model.

Another possibility is that this photo has been forged entirely – keep your wits about you and make sure you’re questioning everything that appears with an Apple logo on it in this time before the launch of Apple’s newest product. Head down to the Apple hub we’ve got set up for more information on the possibilities this summer and stay tuned as more colors arrive!

[via Tactus]

Plastic iPhone shell appears in leaked photo is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.