Hasta La Gadget!

I’m a fan of gadget teardowns if for no other reason than to see exactly what’s on the inside of some of the coolest gadgets out there. Not too long ago I mentioned that iSuppli had performed a teardown of the Samsung Galaxy S4. The caveat there is that the company didn’t actually have a device to work with, so they only guessed what was inside.

On the other hand, iFixit has got their hands on the new HTC One smartphone and did a teardown the old-fashioned way using heat, screwdrivers, spudgers, and copious amounts of gadget lust.

The result of their work is a gutted HTC One smartphone showing us all the glorious insides. The downside is the One isn’t the easiest device to open up. In fact, it took the gadget surgeons over half an hour just to take the back cover off, and while doing it, they damaged the plastic bezel which surrounds the aluminum case.

Once inside, they found the brains of the operation – a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core CPU, running at 1.7 GHz, along with 2GB of DDR2 RAM, 32 GB of Samsung flash memory, Qualcomm power management and 4G modem chips, a Broadcom combo 802.11ac/Bluetooth 4/FM receiver chip, and a variety of other utility chips.

The HTC One’s 1080p 4.7″ LCD may look great, but it’s a pain to replace – as you have to take everything out of the rear case, including the motherboard – before it can be removed.

In the end, iFixit gave the HTC One an abysmal repairability score of just 1 out of 10. If you worry about breaking your smartphone and being able to fix it, you’d be better off buying insurance. Easy repairability just isn’t in the cards with the HTC One.

Many would call the HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus the only true Nexus of its era. Still, Google is willing to treat the CDMA versions as equals, and it just posted factory images with the latest available Jelly Bean builds for those devices. Anyone with a Verizon model can now flash with Android 4.2.2 if their existing OS install ever goes awry; Sprint users aren’t quite on an equal plane, but do get a 4.2.1 image to work from. Relevant driver binaries are also available. Whether you’re a custom ROM creator looking for a starting point or just want a fallback for any risky experiments, the relevant source links should have what you need.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, Google, Verizon, Sprint

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Via: Droid-Life

Source: Google Developers (1), (2)

If you were pumped up about the Samsung GALAXY S 4 revealed earlier this month but found its massive display to be just a bit too much to swallow, you’ll be glad to hear the tip about a “mini” coming on quick. This smaller iteration of the GALAXY S 4 would take on the design aesthetic of the larger, working with many of the same features but with specifications that point to a slightly lower price on the market.

While this release has not yet been confirmed (nor, according to Engadget, has it been denied), but given the release lineup of the past few Galaxy smartphones, a mini version of this “4″ hero is almost a given. The original suggestion comes from Bloomberg where, in an extended report, say they’re pretty sure the GALAXY S 4 mini will be released rather quickly after the GALAXY S 4 goes on sale.

Inside the GALAXY S 4 mini, the following specifications have been tipped. We’re expecting that the processor will be made by Qualcomm – likely a Snapdragon S4 Pro, similar to the Google Nexus 4.

Samsung GALAXY S 4 mini:

• 4.3-inch display (lower than 1080p)
• Dual-core 1.6Ghz processor
• 8 megapixel back-facing camera
• 2 megapixel front-facing camera
• Plastic body, Gorilla Glass 3 on front
• Removable battery
• microSD card slot capable of using 64GB cards

This machine will follow up on the GALAXY S 4 in markets such as the UK and Japan while the USA will see an off-contract iteration for sure, with carrier possibilities less likely. With the release of the Samsung GALAXY S 4 we’ll once again see a multi-carrier release almost at the same time, while each carrier’s unique release dates are flowing in as we speak. Have a peek at the timeline below for more info!

And don’t forget to check our Samsung GALAXY S 4 hands-on experience for the in-depth action you desire!

Samsung GALAXY S 4 mini tipped on hero’s heels is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’re seeing the reports today of a “confidential presentation” making a case for Foxconn creating the iPhone 5S in time for June 2013, you’ll know how vague leaks can get. What we’re seeing here is an information source that points us toward a launch of the next iPhone well within the bounds of predictability with Apple’s past launches and suggests a couple extra doozies we can just as easily dismiss as believe outright. The report seems to have been delivered to TechCrunch where their source says they’ve got information so specific, it’s like nothing a source of their caliber has had before.

The source, they say, is a manufacturer operating out of Shenzhen, China, and is likely set to release some iPhone-friendly accessories at the launch of the next model. What’s not entirely clear is how the information they possess seems to be so pinpointed. Where every launch of the iPhone (or any Apple product, for that matter), has accessory makers only getting Apple certification of products after the device they’ve revealed is shown to the public.

In this case, Apple is said to be working directly with Foxconn and this one manufacturer of products (again, likely accessories), to be revealed right as the iPhone 5S is revealed, launched as it is launched.

You can read this one of two ways. On one hand, we could be looking at a whole new age for Apple where they’ve become willing to work with manufacturers of devices and accessories that function with Apple-manufactured hardware at a level more extensive than basic Apple certification. On the other hand, it could all be bunk.

Have a peek at our iPhone 5S timeline below to see if this device rings a bell for you before it’s revealed later this year!

iPhone 5S tip suggests rather unique Apple launch is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you were worried that you’d never get your hands on a BlackBerry 10 smartphone because the first touchscreen device was too expensive – bucker up! Today BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins has made an almost offhand comment about the future of the inexpensive BlackBerry 10 handset – a device he’d previously all but dismissed as a possibility. Today during an earnings call that had rather mixed news for the company, a “midrange BlackBerry 10″ smart device was confirmed.

If you’re all about the least-expensive of this notoriously business-oriented smartphone lineup, it looks like you’ll be waiting until mid-year. According to Heins, “various markets” will be getting a so-called “midrange” BlackBerry 10 device, while up until then the world will be working with the two top-tier devices we’ve seen thus far. Heins added that the company was looking forward to [this midrange release] because [BlackBerry] knowss that there’s a big demand even in the midrange.”

“We know there’s a big demand [for BlackBerry 10] even in the midrange.”

This announcement has this lesser BlackBerry device pinned for right around September – that’s not halfway through the year, you might say, but Heins wasn’t talking about the normal year, he referred instead to the fiscal year. BlackBerry’s fiscal year just ended with this particular earnings call, the next starting presently.

This midrange machine’s existence will quite likely hinge on the success of the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10, both of which are hitting the market either immediately or rather soon. Have a peek at the rest of the earnings call results in our BlackBerry earnings wrap-up and hit the timeline below for more BlackBerry 10 hands-on magic!

CEO changes mind on inexpensive BlackBerry 10 handsets is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.