Hasta La Gadget!

According to the rumor mill, we can expect the Samsung Galaxy S5 to be announced in the next few months. However it seems that Samsung will not be alone in announcing a new phone and that their South Korean rival, Pantech, will reportedly be launching a new phone as well in the form of the Vega Iron 2. If you’re wondering why that name sounds so familiar, it is because back in 2013, Pantech announced the first Vega Iron. The phone featured a pretty nice and sleek design and packed pretty impressive hardware specs as well, although its selling point is admittedly its extremely thin bezel which gives off a edge-to-edge display.

In any case according to reports coming out of Korea, the Vega Iron 2 is expected to be released in April, which is roughly around the same time the Galaxy S5 will be launch/released, give or take a few days/weeks. No word on the specifications of the Vega Iron 2, but apparently it will sport a metal design, like its predecessor, and will also incorporate a fingerprint scanner which is also one of the Galaxy S5’s rumored specifications. Either way Pantech is said to be competing with the Galaxy S5, although whether they are successful or not is an entirely different story. In any case take it with a grain of salt for now, but we’ll definitely keep our eyes peeled for more information so be sure to check back with us at a later date for the details!

Pantech Vega Iron 2 Rumored For April Released original content from Ubergizmo.

Pantech, a player in the smartphone market that hails from South Korea, has recently gotten off to a good start for their Pantech Vega Secret in its home country, that is, South Korea. What other kinds of goodies does Pantech have in store for us then? Well, the company is said to be working on rolling out a new high end Android-powered smartphone which will feature a 5” display, and to make things spicier in the highly competitive niche market, there will also be a rumored fingerprint sensor located at the back of the handset.

ET News reports that this new Pantech device will most likely be available in December, but other than that, there are not too many details which surround it, so certain assumptions will need to be made. For instance, will the 5” display be one that has Full HD capability? Regardless, the fingerprint recognition sensor seems to be one feature that newer smartphones do not want to miss out on, being a bandwagon that is being led by the iPhone 5s from Apple. Just how much money are you willing to fork out for a new high end smartphone, and do you think that the fingerprint recognition sensor will be commonplace, or is it a feature that only some will find useful?

Pantech Has Plans For Smartphone With Fingerprint Recognition Sensor original content from Ubergizmo.

Let us have a show of hands here – how many people were impressed with the introduction of TouchID from Apple with the announcement of the new iPhone 5s? I am not quite sure about you, but that does seem to be a rather minor change to the smartphone that actually revolutionized the way phones are used. However, it is more of an evolution than a revolution this time around, but will the idea actually catch on with other hardware manufacturers that are in the smartphone and tablet game? Perhaps, or perhaps not. One thing is for sure though – Pantech, the South Korean hardware manufacturer, has lined up several new phablet models – the IM-A890S, IM-A890K and IM-A890L, which will be marketed as the Vega Secret Note.

These will begin to sell in operator stores all over South Korea, if not already. First of all, the IM-A890S that is already available, will follow in the footsteps of the Pantech Vega LTE-A that was launched in August earlier this year. The three handsets that we mentioned above will make up as the Fingerprint Cards’ (FPC’s) first launch in phablet devices.

According to Mr. Lee, leader of the Component Development Team of Pantech, “We have received very positive feedback on the finger sensor and its associated secure applications in Pantech Vega LTE-A and we are happy to deploy this important feature on our phablet product line-up. Our finger-sensor-enabled products are compatible with the new Korean payment service called Bartong, also being launched in October.”

Fingerprint Cards AB (FPC) are the ones that come up with the biometric components as well as technologies that will rely on the analysis and matching of an individual’s unique fingerprint in order to verify the person’s identity. The technology is made up of biometric sensors, processors, algorithms and modules which can be used individually, or in combination with one other. It would be interesting to see whether other future Pantech devices will feature a similar technology, and will Android-powered smartphones, phablets and tablets challenge the existing supremacy of TouchID?

Press Release
[ New phablets rely on finger sensors as a new feature copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Pantech isn’t exactly a household name in the West, many people won’t be aware of the fact that this manufacturer makes pretty decent smartphones. It is actually the third largest manufacturer in Korea, but it isn’t in the spotlight always like Samsung and LG, who’re both ahead of it. Tomorrow the manufacturer is going to announce Pantech Vega Note, a phablet of its own that comes with stylus support. A purported picture of the Pantech Vega Note has leaked online ahead of the upcoming official announcement.

Much like the Galaxy Note 3 from rival Samsung, Pantech’s phablet also has a stylus tucked in. It is interesting to see that there also appears to be a fingerprint scanner on the back, an additional which will definitely give the Vega Note a leg up on its local rival. It was recently reported that Galaxy Note 3′s fingerprint scanner was dropped as it didn’t pass Samsung’s quality assurance tests, though the company is rumored to make a variant which brings this feature. Pantech seems to have figured out how to put a fingerprint scanner on its phablet the first time around. Other rumored specifications include a 5.9 inch full 1080p HD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quadcore processor, 2GB RAM, Android 4.2 and support for LTE-Advanced networks. [Image via G4Games]

Pantech Vega Note Picture Leaks Ahead Of Official Announcement original content from Ubergizmo.

Pantech’s been mustering all it’s got to win folks over with its smartphones, but poor business performance has prompted Park Byeong-yeop, the firm’s founder and current vice chariman, to resign. Despite Samsung’s recent $50 million investment, the firm’s taking additional measures to solve its financial woes, which weren’t eased by disappointing smartphone sales and a $46 million operating loss in Q2 2013. The Korean manufacturer is asking approximately 800 employees — roughly a fourth of its workforce — to take a voluntary, unpaid leave of absence for six months. If the outfit’s circumstances haven’t improved by the end of that period, it plans to ask another 800 folks to swap places with those on leave. Tough times are ahead for camp Pantech, but here’s hoping the fiscal belt-tightening changes the state of its coffers.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Via: Ameblo (translated)

Source: Yonhap News