Hasta La Gadget!

Just yesterday Samsung announced their new Exynos chipsets, one of which was the Exynos 5260 which unlike the 5422, is a hexa-core chipset. What this means is that instead of four cores or eight cores, it will pack six cores, which at the moment is a pretty rare configuration as far as smartphones are concerned.

As it stands the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo is the only device to feature a hexa-core setup. That being said, it seems that MediaTek will be interested in releasing a hexa-core chipset of their own, thanks to a recent product roadmap that was posted onto Weibo (China’s equivalent of Twitter). (more…)

MediaTek Preparing Hexa-Core Chipset Of Their Own original content from Ubergizmo.

[CES 2014] MediaTek has stepped into the limelight yet again, where this time around, they have unveiled what is touted to be yet another first in the world – being the first multimode wireless charging solution, that is. Offering what the chip manufacturer calls resonance charging that delivers a great amount of advantages in comparison with traditionally used inductive chargers. For example, you will be able to place a particular device anywhere in relation to the charging station, or perhaps even in a different room, rather than to have to make do with a particularly precise location. Other than that, it will also be able to juice up multiple devices of varying form factors and power consumption via a solitary charger coil.

This particular resonance method does seem to grasp the gist of what wireless charging should be about right from the get go, offering a cable-free experience. Early adopters of devices that sport inductive chargers need not fret though, as MediaTek’s invention will pave the way for charging from a current existing inductive charger as well as resonance chargers that are about to roll off production lines down the road Could this development from MediaTek help usher in a new level of user comfort? [Press Release]

MediaTek Develops First Multimode Wireless Charging Solution original content from Ubergizmo.

It’s easy to think that Chinese smartphone makers are thriving solely on sales of ultra-cheap devices, but that’s only partly true. In many cases, they’re striking careful balances between features and pricing — handsets like the Vivo X3 tout sleek designs and big screens, but their modest processing power keeps costs in check. Oppo wants to bring that high-value philosophy to the rest of the world through the international version of the R819. For $349, it’s an exceptionally thin phone with perks you don’t always get at this price, including dual SIM slots and better support for custom firmware. However, it faces stiff competition from new rivals like the Moto G and Nexus 5. Is the R819 still worth buying when it’s not the fastest or cheapest in the pack? That’s what we’re here to find out.%Gallery-slideshow121950%

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Just because a particular processor comes with its fair share of cores, that does not mean that more is necessarily better. After all, there are still many other considerations to think about, and when it comes to the MediaTek MT6592 which features not three, four, five, or even six, but eight (!) Cortex-A7 CPU cores, then one would definitely sit up and take notice. Making use of the 28nm manufacturing process, it is said to be able to run all eight cores at once.

With the MediaTek MT6592 prototypes already available, it is then no surprise to see it appear on an AnTuTu 4.0 benchmark which will offer us a better idea on how the chipset performs in comparison to other chipsets that are already in the market. When paired alongside a Mali-450 GPU, 1GB RAM and a 720p HD display, it seems that the MediaTek MT6592 did not impress much. The Galaxy Note 3 from Samsung leads the pack, with the MediaTek MT6592 dwelling near the bottom, not even surpassing the HTC One. For instance, the LG G2 hit 31,077, while the NVIDIA Shield carries a score of 37,985, with the MediaTek MT6592 sporting a count of 25,495. Sure, this is a prototype only, so the future might bring something else with the finished product, but this is a pretty good indicator of what’s to come.

MediaTek MT6592 AnTuTu Benchmarks Not Too Impressive At All original content from Ubergizmo.

Kogan’s Agora brand may not drive techies wild like Galaxies or iThings do, but its motto is clear: try to deliver reasonable hardware at the lowest possible price. The company’s first bid for a piece of the smartphone pie launched earlier this year, and today we’re learning of its sequel. Design-wise, this second Agora handset is a little curvier than the last, with a soft key replacing its predecessor’s physical home button. A 5-inch, 720p IPS LCD display occupies the face, and inside we’re looking at a 1.2GHz quad-core MT6589 Mediatek SoC (Cortex-A7), 1GB of RAM and 4 gigs of internal storage, expandable with up to 32GB cards of the microSD variety. It runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, hosts two SIM slots, an 8-megapixel main camera, 2-megapixel front-facer, 2,000mAh removable battery and 3G (850 / 1900 / 2100), WiFi (802.11b/g/n) and Bluetooth 4.0 antennae.

Most importantly, it costs $189, £149 or 199 Aussie dollars — it’s up for order now at the relevant source links and is expected to ship to the US, Australia, the UK and other European countries, as well as a couple of Asian markets starting October 3rd. We’re hoping to get a review unit through soon, so keep an eye out over the coming weeks for our impressions. In our opinion, anything that rings up at under $200 is worth a fair trial.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Source: Kogan (UK), (Aus), (US & elsewhere)