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Purchasing a modern day smartphone these days will more often than not require another “compulsory” purchase, that is, a protective case of sorts to go along with your device. Having said that, this has proven to be a rather lucrative market for accessories manufacturers, but most of them tend to skew their products toward the more successful smartphone models like the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S3. Well, if you so happen to have picked up a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 or the LG Google Nexus 4 in recent times and have yet to find a suitable protective case, perhaps it is high time you checked out the Acase SuperLeggera Pro dual layer protective case.

It sounds more like a Lamborghini model than an actual protective case, but the Acase SuperLeggera Pro will target your precious new smartphone, being specially designed for maximum durability. Combining the toughness of a polycarbonate plastic exterior with a flexible interior silicone molding that enables it to provide superior shock absorption, you can carry your smartphone around without looking as though you are being too careful with it. In order to ensure optimal appeal and long-lasting looks, the exterior hard shell case was specially crafted using customized scratch-resistant Japanese paint, resulting in extremely vivid colors that are pleasing to the eyes.

The SuperLeggera Pro for Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and LG Google Nexus 4 were custom designed to tightly cradle the smartphone, all without having to add on additional bulk or weight, and boasts of cutouts which enables it to easily access all buttons and connections. Not only that, it has a special back coating all around the camera lens so that the “flashback” effect is no longer there when one snaps photos with it.

Tom Hsieh, sales and marketing manager of Acase, said, “The SuperLeggera Pro combines the innate protective qualities of two different materials into one stylish case capable of withstanding the perils of everyday use. Acase places special emphasis on details such as finish, fit and design; and believes that a superior product should also be affordable.”

Prices start from $19.95 onwards for the SuperLeggera Pro for Samsung Galaxy Note 2, where it will come in black, blue, white, red, purple and pink colors. LG Nexus 4 owners will have to settle for just black or white colors.

Press Release
[ Acase SuperLeggera Pro dual layer protective case copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

When it comes to smartphones, you can more or less say that Nokia has already lost the race a long time ago across the globe, no thanks to full touchscreen devices from the iOS and Android camps. Well, the Finnish phone manufacturing company has come up with their Windows Phone 8 collection of handsets recently, but this does not mean that they have forgotten to cater to other developing countries whose population do not have the kind of purchasing power to change their smartphone every single year to a new flagship model. Featurephones, then, still have a place in this world, and the Nokia Asha 310 is the latest featurephone to arrive from Nokia, sporting dual SIM capability not to mention Wi-Fi connectivity for the first time in a device of its class.

As the Nokia Asha 310 allows you to enjoy the benefits of both Wi-Fi and dual SIM, it will, in the long run, help you cut down on costs as you get to save money by choosing a wireless network for accessing the Internet, as well as having the flexibility to use the right SIM card for the right purpose, all without having to even change your handset or to turn off your mobile device in order to swap SIM cards.

After all, Nokia makes life easy with the Nokia Asha 310 courtesy of its Easy Swap Dual SIM technology that was specially designed to make swapping between different SIM cards a snap. This is made possible as your main SIM card remains comfortably tucked away behind the battery, but the second SIM card slot is at the side of the phone, letting you switch the second SIM easily, all without having to turn off the phone. The included SIM manager lets you assign unique profiles for up to five SIM cards, and you can even define just which SIM card you want to use for calling, sending text messages or for using Internet data.

This GSM/EDGE 900/1800 featurephone will come with a 3-inch WQVGA, capacitive touch display, up to 20MB of internal memory, a microSD memory card slot, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP connectivity, and up to 17 hours of talk-time. Expect to see the Nokia Asha 310 hit Asia, India, the Middle East, Africa and Brazil sometime in Q1 2013 for $102 a pop.

Thanks: Nokia Conversations
[ Nokia Asha 310 does the dual SIM dance copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Some people really don’t need a cell phone. Seriously. A 5 year old kid does not need to have a phone. Elderly folks are another market that does not necessarily benefit. If your parents or grandparents are like mine they have an old school cell phone but never have it on. Hhhhmmmm, sort of defeats the purpose. But there are definitely reasons that young ‘uns or elderly may have a need to communicate. In emergencies or when they get lost a phone can be a savior. Many manufacturers have attempted a minimal button phone. Yet none have taken off. Are they still too complicated?

An Irish company wants to try to keep the hassle to a minimum for children or the elderly with a simple, cell phone-like device that eliminates any complexity. The Swish Mini Phone claims to be the smallest cell phone in the world. About the size of a 6^th generation iPod Nano, Swish contains 4 simple buttons.  Two are programmable to the numbers of your choice. One button is used for hangup. The fourth button (SOS Panic) will continuously dial your two programmed numbers until a connection is made. To make a call simply press a button and the device automatically goes to speaker mode. The kids can reach mom or dad with a single button touch or elderly can call their caretakers when needed. The Swish also comes with built in GPS, so the users location can be detected. 72 hour standby time or 90 minutes of talk time before charging give plenty of life.The Swish Mini Phone operates on GSM networks and can be purchased at the site of Swish Arthouse Studio for €285 (about $380 US). Pop in a SIM card and you can give yourself and the more vulnerable people in your life a little peace of mind with The Swish.
[ Small Phone, Big Peace of Mind copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Huawei seems to be an up and coming smartphone manufacturer, where they have had made quite an impression at the recently concluded CES 2013 last month. Well, they do Android and Windows Phone devices, and it is the latter that we will talk about today. Microsoft and Huawei have been working together for some time now, and the culmination of their concerted efforts has resulted in a new Windows Phone device that was specially designed for Africa, which incidentally, is one of the most rapidly-growing technology markets in the world. The phone has been dubbed The Lion King, nay, I jest, but rather, it is called the Huawei 4Afrika, and will be the first in a series of smart devices that are being custom developed for the continent, and will be part of Microsoft’s sweeping new 4Afrika Initiative.

As you know, Africa is not exactly the most prosperous continent on earth, and many people there still live in poverty without gaining access to the basic needs of life such as food, water and shelter. Well, it is nice to know then that the Huawei 4Afrika handset has taken this into consideration, and will be marketed as an affordable option for students, small businesses, developers, and first-time smartphone owners. Expect the Huawei 4Afrika that runs on Windows Phone 8 to debut later this February in seven countries, and they are Angola, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa, where you can pick up this stylish device in blue, red, black, and white colors.

What kind of hardware can we find underneath the hood? For starters, this is a variant of the Ascend W1 just in case you were wondering why it looks similar from certain aspects, carrying a 4-inch display at 480 x 800 resolution, powered by a dual-core 1.2 GHz Snapdragon processor, carry 4GB of internal memory, as well as the customary front and back cameras for you to capture beautiful moments, all crammed into a 10mm thin chassis. Huawei claims that its integrated power saving technology will allow the Huawei 4Afrika to have a whopping 420 hours of standby time, now how about that?

Press Release
[ Huawei heads to Africa with new Windows Phone 8 device copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

As smartphones and the apps we run on them become more and more popular, concerns over privacy are growing as well. The FTC has taken a pretty strong stance on privacy issues throughout the years, and today it delivered a list of recommendations to pretty much everyone involved in the smartphone business. These recommendations give platform holders, app developers, and advertisers suggestions on what they can do improve mobile privacy, and we have to say that there are some pretty good ideas in the report.

Starting right off with mobile platforms, some of the things the FTC recommends include providing “just-in-time” disclosures and asking for a user’s “affirmative express consent” before allowing apps to access sensitive information. It would also like to see mobile platforms require app makers to make privacy discloses, and recommends an icon or something similar that can show when user data is being transmitted. One of the most intriguing recommendations is a “Do Not Track” list users can add their name to, saying they don’t want to be tracked by ad networks as they use apps.

On the app developer side of things, the FTC would like to see privacy policies that are accessible via app store listings, along with more just-in-time disclosures when an app is about to collect data. The FTC also recommends that app developers join self-regulatory programs that can help them make privacy policies that are clear and easy for users to read. The list of recommendations for app developers is quite a bit shorter than the list for mobile platforms, with the FTC clearly thinking that most of these privacy concerns can be solved by platform holders.

While mobile platforms and app developers play a big part in privacy concerns, there’s also advertising networks to worry about. The FTC suggests that ad networks and other third-parties work with app developers to make sure users are seeing truthful privacy disclosures. The organization is also pushing for advertising networks to implement the aforementioned Do Not Track list and make it work.

The FTC “strongly encourages” everyone in the mobile space to begin following these recommendations, but whether or not developers, mobile platforms, and ad networks will listen is another story entirely. The FTC makes some good recommendations in its report, but in the end, they don’t mean much if the parties at the heart of the privacy debate don’t follow them. There are more recommendations other than the ones mentioned here, so if you have a moment to read through the entire thing, you can find the FTC’s release through the source link below.

[via Federal Trade Commission]

FTC releases long list of mobile privacy recommendations is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
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