An Amazon ad broadcast Wednesday night appeared to reveal a number of products set for launch on Thursday, including a large-screen Kindle Fire tablet and back-lit Paperwhite e-reader.
It looks as if Jeff Bezos and his team are having some fun, teasing TV viewers the evening before a big product launch with an ad featuring, apparently, some or all of its new devices.
Interestingly, a large-sized tablet makes several appearances during the 60-second ad – likely the much-talked about 10-inch Kindle Fire. There even appears to be a shot of someone tapping away on a keyboard connected to the device – could the e-commerce giant be about to unveil a keyboard cover similar to the Touch Cover accompanying Microsoft’s soon-to-launch Surface tablet?
The existence of the Paperwhite e-reader is also apparently confirmed in the ad, with a fleeting shot of someone holding a device with a super-white back-lit screen.
There’s no sign, however, of a smartphone, though the company is said to be in the process of making one.
Broadcast during Wednesday night’s Giants vs Cowboys NFL game, the 60-second ad (below) begins with boxes – lots of boxes (with Amazon printed on them, naturally) – and a voiceover saying, “We’re the people with the smile on the box. We’re the reinventors of normal.”
Various shots of various people with various devices follow – there appears to be a (new) 7-inch Kindle Fire, a larger tablet and a new e-reader. And lots of boxes.
It is of course possible that the ad wasn’t meant as a tease at all but was instead broadcast as the result of a scheduling error. Either way, we’ll all find out on Thursday exactly what the Seattle-based company has up its sleeve.
Digital Trends will of course be covering Amazon’s media event, which begins at 10.30am PT, so stay tuned for more information.
Quite possibly a giant waste of time for the Secret Service, an investigation has been launched into threats of stolen tax returns.
Covered by Venturebeat earlier today, the United States Secret Service is looking into a claim that hackers stole several years worth of Mitt Romney’s tax returns from the offices of PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Franklin, Tennessee. Posted on Pastebin earlier this week, the hacking team that allegedly stole Romney’s tax returns detailed an account of the theft. According to the account, the thieves gained access to the PriceWaterhouseCoopers office on August 25 through the third floor of the office building. Moving down to the second floor, the group allegedly accessed the PriceWaterhouseCoopers office in question and copied scans of all available Romney tax returns to a USB drive. After leaving the offices, the hacking team allegedly copied the documents onto three USB drives. They had flash drives delivered to the PriceWaterhouseCoopers office as well as the local branches of the Republican and Democratic party.
After the group threatened to release all files to the public on September 28, they posted a follow-up threat on September 4 regarding payment by Bitcoins. Detailed in the second Pastebin post, the group claims to have accessed the network file servers at the Tennessee office of PriceWaterhouseCoopers and copied the tax documents. The second threat states that all major news organizations will be sent an encrypted copy of the files and the key to unlock Romney’s tax returns will be distributed on September 28.
However, the group setup two separate Bitcoin addresses in an attempt to force a bidding competition between parties that want to see the Romney’s old tax returns and parties that want to keep the tax returns out of the public’s eye. According to the group, they want $1,000,000 million in Bitcoin currency in order to make any decision prior to September 28. The group doesn’t seem to care if the entire amount comes from a single donor or multiple donors, nor are they particularly interested in either outcome.
PricewaterhouseCoopers released a statement that denied the hacking attempt on the servers as well as the theft from the office building. Regarding the threats, company representatives stated “We are aware of the allegations that have been made regarding improper access to our systems. We are working closely with the United States Secret Service, and at this time there is no evidence that our systems have been compromised or that there was any unauthorized access to the data in question.”
According to CNET, both the Democratic and Republican offices within Williamson County received a package last week with a black Cruzer 4GB USB drive, a letter with the first threat that was eventually posted on Pastebin and a stamp of Mitt Romney’s signature.
Peter Burr, the chairman of the county’s Democratic Party headquarters, noted that they found the envelope dropped through the mail slot. People within the office didn’t take the package seriously and it apparently caused quite a bit of laughter as the package was passed around the office.
Also mentioned in the Tennessean, representatives at the GOP office in Williamson County were equally skeptical. Executive director Jean Barwick jokingly stated “A million dollars seemed kind of low. If you’re going to go for a million, why not go for $100 million?” Neither office attempted to access any information on the flash drives and both drives have been turned over to representatives with the United States Secret Service.
Busted within 24 hours of posting the promotional ad online, Nokia backpedals regarding a misleading video featuring PureView technology.
Detailed on the Conversation by Nokia blog, editor-in-chief Heidi Lemmetyinen released an apology for misleading consumers with a video that was meant to show off how optical image stabilization helps when shooting high definition video on smartphones like the Lumia 920. The concept of the video in question was designed to show the difference between shooting with OIS turned on compared to shooting when it’s unavailable. In the video, the side-by-side-comparison video stream shows a couple riding bicycles and the twenty-something man is filming a young girl with a Nokia smartphone using PureView and OIS as they speed down the street.
Noted by many people on YouTube and other news organizations, a van can be seen filming the girl with a high-end dSLR or video camera in a reflection off the window of a nearby trailer around the 27 second mark of the video. Not only was the video taken while someone rode in a stable car compared to a less stable bicycle, the type of camera used was completely different from the PureView camera in the Lumia 920.
In the apology, Lemmetyinen stated “In an effort to demonstrate the benefits of optical image stabilization (which eliminates blurry images and improves pictures shot in low light conditions), we produced a video that simulates what we will be able to deliver with OIS. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but we should have posted a disclaimer stating this was a representation of OIS only. This was not shot with a Lumia 920. At least, not yet. We apologize for the confusion we created.”
In addition to the written apology, Lemmetyinen posted a video shown at the press conference that displayed the difference between shooting with a smartphone without OIS and a Lumia 920 prototype with OIS turned on. While Nokia didn’t identify the other smartphone in the video, the side displaying the OIS feature clearly shows a significantly smoother video stream while someone is walking and filming toward a fixed spot.
Nokia's second Windows Phone 8 handset is a little bit more interesting than its flagship older brother, as it comes with some alternative design features.
We're not going to wax lyrical about the interface, as we were given very little time to play with it. However, we did notice that a very slight amount more lag than we saw on the Lumia 920 when flicking about the apps – although we're going to thoroughly put that down to this being a pre-production model.
If you want to learn all about the software features on board the Lumia devices we suggest you check out our in-depth hands on: Nokia Lumia 920 review for a sneaky peek of how Windows Phone 8 looks on the device.
But let's move onto the design, shall we? And it's quite a departure from the original Nokia Lumia 800 – in fact, we almost feel saddened that the 800, which we consider something of an icon in smartphone design, has been 'downgraded' to be the budget option alongside the Lumia 920.
The main difference is to the outer shell – no longer are we looking at a unibody design; instead we're offered the choice of covers, be it to change the colour, iprove protection or allow it charge wirelessly.
The latter option is pretty cool, as there are a range of docks on offer to facilitate said functionality – plus a little bean bag from Fatboy as well.
However, the effect isn't the most premium, as the glossy covers seem to be a little bit lightweight in the hand, although they're a nightmare to remove from the Lumia 820 itself.
The 820 comes with very similar internals to its larger brother, wit the S4 Qualcomm chip delivering the power of two cores. This means operation should be slick once the whole phone is better optimised for Windows Phone 8.
The buttons on the side are also ceramic, and have a nice travel for when opening up the camera or locking/unlocking the phone. It fits well in the palm, although the rounded wireless charging cases we tried out did feel a little bit chunky, even though the thickness is tiny.
But it's things like the budget feel of the camera placement that bother us – while we're all for re-designs, this doesn't feel very high end as a snapper.
There is one neat trick up the sleeve of the Nokia Lumia 820… well, two actually, The first is you can remove the battery, which is something Windows Phones have been notoriously loathe to do in the past.
And under there is a little surprise: a microSD card slot for all your media needs! Sure, it's irritating you have to take out the battery to get to it, but it's a great way to supplement the meagre 8GB of onboard storage.
Early verdict
We can't help feeling like the Nokia Lumia 820 should feel a little more premium, in the same way the 800 was mostly a shrunken down version of the 900 with something of the same clout.
The 820 is a more rounded affair, which certainly lends the air of being pocket friendly. Whether this will appeal to the Windows Phone 8 buyer, although the notion of being able to switch cases to change functionality is interesting.
The Lumia 820 will live or die by its price; get this under £200 and there could be a seriously good phone out there, but if it's more aimed at the premium user we can't see why you wouldn't opt for the 920 unless you love microSD slots and hate larger screens.
Apple acquired more than 300 new advanced long-term evolution (LTE) patents within the past year, creating a buffer if Samsung makes good on its threats to sue the Cupertino company if it releases any devices with LTE technology.
Since the iPhone 5 is rumored to have the speedy mobile tech, LTE is likely to become the next battleground in Apple and Samsung's well publicized patent war.
Over the past year, Apple's gained 318 patents regarding the fourth-generation mobile technology, according to the Korea Intellectual Property Office.
Raking in the patents
Last year, the iPhone purveyor had no LTE patents, but now ranks among the top 10 patent holders for LTE technology with just about 5 percent of total LTE patents held worldwide.
"This shows that Apple has been taking strategic steps to acquire intellectual property to prepare for potential legal disputes before it launches its own LTE smartphones," a KIPO official told The Chosun Ilbo.
Apple developed about 44 of those patents itself. The company then bought the rest of the patents from Nortel and Freescale.
Apple also owns a major part of a patent enforcement company, Rockstar Bidco, which has an additional 116 patents, bringing Apple's current LTE patent holdings to 434.
Samsung's hoard
However, if Apple hopes to rival Samsung's number of LTE patents, it will have to get busy acquiring a few more.
The South Korean company is the No. 1 LTE patent holder, with a total of 819. That's about twice the amount of arrows Apple has in its LTE patent quiver.
Though the extra patents will help protect Apple from Samsung suits, how sure those defenses are remains to be seen.
The Chosun Ilbo reported that Apple only holds undisclosed commercial patents for its LTE technology, but disclosed standard technological patents provide more legal firepower. So Apple may find itself at a disadvantage when it comes time to defend those patents.
Another interesting wrinkle is that versions of the iPad already have LTE technology, but Samsung has yet to sue. We'll see if this comes into play when the two techno-giants head back to court December 6.
Amazon is reportedly planning to unveil its first smartphone at Thursday's press event in Santa Monica.
There have been rumors swirling around for some time now about the possibility of an Amazon smartphone coming to market. A report from The Verge suggests it is going to happen, and that it may even be unveiled at Amazon’s press event in Santa Monica on Thursday.
The report obtained its information from “multiple sources”, adding that the handset would run “a variant of the Kindle Fire’s Android-based operating system.” Other than that, few details are known about the device.
The phone is reportedly not yet finished, though it appears this won’t stop it from being presented to the press at Thursday’s event.
Chatter surrounding the possibility of Amazon readying itself for the smartphone market increased significantly a couple of months back when reports surfaced claiming the e-commerce giant was “working with component suppliers in Asia to test the smartphone.” Foxconn is rumored to be manufacturing the phone at its plants in China.
As with its Kindle Fire tablet, any such handset from Amazon will likely be placed at the low end of the market, sold at cost, or possibly at a loss, in order to boost sales of the device and push people towards its well-stocked online store.
It’s set to be a busy day for Amazon tomorrow. The Seattle-based company is widely expected to launch the second iteration of its 7-inch Kindle Fire tablet at the media gathering, possibly together with a cut-price Fire with ads. An updated Kindle Touch e-reader, or possibly a brand new ‘Paperwhite’ e-reader, is also thought to be on the way.
Digital Trends will be at the event, which kicks off at 10.30am PT, so be sure to check back for the lowdown on Amazon’s new offerings.
The Nokia Lumia 920 is set to be Nokia's next flagship handset, taking the reins from the Nokia Lumia 900. The Finnish firm has been through some tough times recently with its own Symbian OS failing to deliver. Even partnering with Microsoft to become the face of Windows Phone hasn't proven to be an enormously successful endeavour, as the platform has struggled to compete with iOS and Android.
Now Microsoft is launching the much-anticipated Windows Phone 8, a complete overhaul of their operating system that brings with it a lot more flexibility for homescreen tiles and sizing, proper multi-tasking, support for more powerful hardware and a bunch of other features.
It's this that will power the Nokia Lumia 920, giving consumers their first taste of the new OS. So there's a lot riding on the new Lumia; Nokia and Microsoft both need it to be a hit.
Nokia Lumia 920: Design
At first glance it doesn't look a whole lot different than its little brother the Nokia Lumia 900. They're both quite angular, both coated in polycarbonate and both come in a blinding array of colours (grey, yellow, red, white and black in the case of the Lumia 920).
Look closer though and you'll see that the Nokia Lumia 920 has an ever so slightly bigger display at 4.5-inches compared to 4.3-inches on the Nokia Lumia 900.
Nokia Lumia 920: Specs
It's got a bountiful 32GB of internal storage space and takes Windows Phone into dual-core territory with a 1.5GHz dual core Snapdragon S4 processor.
Nokia still apparently doesn't see the need for quad-core, but thanks to the upgrades made by Windows Phone 8 dual-core has now become necessary to handle the extra apps on board.
We're also treated to 1GB of RAM to help power things along, which is a welcome addition the party.
Nokia Lumia 920: PureView
The headline feature of the Nokia Lumia 920 is undoubtedly the 'PureView' technology powering the camera. That might bring to mind the recent Nokia 808 PureView with its gargantuan 41MP lens, in which case you'll be slightly underwhelmed to hear that the Nokia Lumia 920's lens is a fairly standard 8.7 megapixels.
But worry not, because under the hood there's a whole lot going on to earn it the name. Using 'floating lens technology', it can compensate for shaky hands, plus it can capture up to ten times more light than other smartphone cameras, which should lead to brighter, blur free images. It's a Carl Zeiss lens too, which means cleaner and sharper images.
There's also a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera, capable of recording 720p video, making it a good fit for Skype and the like.
Nokia Lumia 920: Puremotion HD+
Going back to the screen, the size isn't the most exciting thing about the 1280x768 curved-glass WXGA display. No, that honour is reserved for the tech driving it. Going by the name 'PureMotion HD+', it actually covers a handful of different things that in theory should provide an enviable display, with Nokia making the bold claim that it provides a better than HD experience.
It's 25% brighter than the next brightest smartphone display on the market. It can detect how much light is hitting the screen and automatically adjust the colours in direct sunlight so that you can still see the display.
It can also supposedly both render objects and refresh the screen faster than other smartphones, resulting in a smoother, blur free image when watching video, playing games or just operating the phone.
That covers the 'PureMotion' part of the name. The 'HD+' part (and Nokia's associated claim that the display is better than HD), actually refers to the aspect ratio of the handset, which is 15:9 rather than the HD standard of 16:9 and is a better fit for the phone.
Nokia Lumia 920: super sensitive touchscreen
The display is also 'super sensitive' to the touch, allowing you to interact with the Nokia Lumia 920 using gloves or long finger nails. Its sensitivity adapts depending on what you're using on it, which should allow for more accurate and flexible use.
Incidentally it has a pixel density of 332ppi, beating the retina-display toting iPhone 4S's 326ppi.
Nokia Lumia 920: Apps
Nokia is seeking to get some differentiation from the rest of the smartphone pack by chucking a glut of apps on the Lumia 920. For instance there's 'City Lens', a new augmented reality feature that displays information such as restaurant names and other points of interest when you point the phone at them. We've seen things like this before on other devices, but with Nokia and Microsoft backing it it's one to watch.
More impressively City Lens is integrated with Nokia Maps, meaning that if you bring up directions on the map and then hold your phone up to the street, the directions will show up in front of you. It remains to be seen whether that's any more useful than seeing them on a map (you're certainly more likely to trip over things!), but it's definitely pretty nifty.
Nokia Drive is integrated with the mapping software too and you can save maps for offline viewing. Nokia Maps is further boosted by Nokia Transport which displays public transport information, including multiple routes and times for buses and trains.
Nokia Lumia 920: NFC and battery
The Nokia Lumia 920 also includes an NFC chip and wireless charging technology. In practice that means putting it on a 'charging pad,' a device which you may never have seen but may one day soon become a common staple of coffee shops and bars, making it easy to charge on the go.
Right now these pads have been announced for Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and for the London Heathrow Virgin Atlantic lounge, but there's bound to be more coming, right? (hint: Nokia has confirmed there are).
There's a bunch of other things to get excited about too with the Nokia Lumia 920. It's packing an enormous 2000mAh battery, which Nokia reckon gives it '30 per cent' more juice than its quad core competitors.
It's not all good news though, as the Nokia Lumia 920 doesn't have a microSD card slot. That's perhaps not such a big deal given the generous 32GB of internal storage, but for a flagship handset and one with so much riding on it it's still a tad disappointing.
Nokia's Lumia 920 is seen by some as a vital phone for the survival of the company – but is it a leading smartphone worthy of Windows Phone 8?
We'll get it out the way early on: Nokia was being overly-cautious with the Lumia 920 at its Nokia World press event – we were allowed only brief time to take pictures and were only shown the device being used, rather than play with it as intensely as we normally like to.
But let's get onto the design: it's the same polycarbonate as used before, but given an odd glossy sheen. We'll be honest: we're not fans of the shine, as the matte finish of the earlier devices really stood out.
However, it does represent a difference between this and the Nokia Lumia 900, which will be necessary on the shop shelves.
The phone feels a little larger in the hand than its predecessor though, and while glossy doesn't really slip about when used.
The 4.5-inch screen isn't as large as some others on the market, but that shouldn't detract from the performance, as it's very good. The larger screen is perfectly sized for the tile arrangements, and while it's annoying the extra width and resolution don't allow for more tiles on the screen, the display is vivid to say the least.
It uses Nokia's PureMotion HD Plus technology to make it 'better than HD', according to the Finns' Jo Harlow. It's actually just HD in reality, but it does sparkle when viewing media.
The layout of the buttons isn't to be sniffed at either, as we couldn't see any reason to jiggle the phone around in the hand during our quick test, as all could be reached without effort.
The ceramic effect of the buttons is an interesting contrast to colourful polycarbonate and is attractive, which is fast becoming a feature of Nokia phones these days.
The rest of the Nokia Lumia 920 is also interesting, featuring some alternative design options. For instance, there are micro-drilled holes at the top of the phone that function as a microphone (and the trick is repeated at the bottom for speakers) – plus the headphone jack is placed centrally for easier use in the pocket apparently.
A single slot gives access to the SIM card, and you'll need the familiar tool to get it out, which means hot swapping is out of the question. Talking of which, there's no option to plop a memory card in there either, which is infuriating.
There's plenty of talk about the fact that consumers don't really NEED microSD card slots from the big manufacturers – after all, it does make designing the unibody handsets so much easier.
But given Windows Phone 8 now supports expandable memory, it's only right we should see it from the flagship handset.
The interface of WP8 is well-documented – you can read our hands on: Windows Phone 8 review to get the full insight there – but it does look good on the large display, as we mentioned before.
There was minimal lag in the demonstration we saw, with flipping between apps showing nothing in the way of slowdown. This is always helped by the overly-elaborate animations that greet each app movement, but it does remain slick in the eyes of the user.
We checked out Nokia Maps (which looked great on the large screen – this is going to be a really decent satnav device) and the new cinemagraphs app. This essentially allows you to take a small film, choose a thumbnail as the photo itself then scrub over certain elements to animate them.
This has the effect of making a load of GIFs on your phone – it looked cool and easy to do, but we can't see it being more than a gimmick when users get their hands on it.
There are plenty of other features we're excited to try out: for instance, the PureView camera looks decent (although not really worth the whooping in the room when it was announced) and the NFC capabilities, so long a strength of Nokia, are once again well-implemented. From wireless speakers to, well, wireless headphones, Nokia is excited about the tech.
It didn't work well at all in the demonstrations we saw – but then again, this is prototype stuff. Which is why it's annoying we weren't granted longer with it to bring you a better picture of the Lumia 920.
Early verdict
Nokia is being frustratingly precious about its phones at the moment – surely Windows Phone 8 should be more ready for at least beta testing by now – which means forming a decent opinion on the new phones is difficult to say the least.
But the Nokia Lumia 920 is a good phone from the outset, although it didn't really give us much to feel wowed by. That's partly down to the fact we couldn't properly play with it, but also because it still bears so much of a resemblance to previous models.
While many readers will be able to easily tell the difference between this and the Lumia 900, whack Windows Phone 7.8 on the older model and place them next to each other on the shop shelf and see if consumers are bothered to find out the difference between the two.
Nokia's Pureview, Drive, Maps, Public Transport and Music are decent apps to differentiate in a crowded market, but we can't help but feel that this may not be enough of an evolution to really take Windows Phone to the next level.
The mobile world has changed a lot since Nokia last put out a phone that truly wowed large amounts of people. Its tie in with Microsoft spawned some half decent handsets but despite Nokia's best efforts, the world was never truly set alight.
Cue Nokia World 2012 and the announcement of the Nokia Lumia 920. Make no mistake, this is more than a big deal for both Nokia and Microsoft, with both having a lot riding on their respective contributions. Many see it as Nokia's big throw of the dice: make Windows Phone 8 into a top OS and the rewards are huge... fail, and things look ropey for the Finns.
So the big question on everybody's lips is: just how does it shape up against its two current biggest rivals, the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the HTC One X?
(We'll be adding in the iPhone 5 when it's launched on 12 Sept - it's not really fair to use the iPhone 4S at this point)
OS
The Nokia Lumia 920 comes running Microsoft's latest version of its mobile OS, Windows Phone 8, complete with its interactive "Live Tiles" interface.
Both the One X and the Galaxy S3 run Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) with custom user interfaces; Touchwiz on the S3 and Sense 4.0 on the One X. Samsung has said that it plans to update the S3 to 4.1 (Jelly Bean) very soon. HTC has also promised its arrival, but has yet to name a timeframe.
HTC One X: Ships with Android 4.0 overlaid with HTC's newest version of Sense
Processor
Nokia have opted for a dual core Snapdragon S4 chip clocked at 1.5GHz, with Nokia standing firm on its belief there's such a thing as too many cores.
Why, might you ask? As Nokia puts it, "why put something you don't need at the expense of battery life?". However on the 'bigger is better' side of the fence, Samsung pops one of its Exynos 4412 1.4GHz quad core's in to Galaxy S3, whereas HTC plumps for the quad core 1.5 GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 chip.
However, in the US all three run the same Snapdragon S4 chip - so the power is pretty even.
Screen
In terms of size, all three devices are rather similar and rather large, with the Lumia 920 measuring in at 4.5 inches, the Galaxy S3 at 4.8 inches and the One X at 4.7 inches.
All three look great, with the Samsung's 306ppi being pipped by the HTC's 312ppi. On the Lumia 920, Nokia have put in 'Nokia PureMotion HD+' which is supposedly better than HD in terms of screen performance. It certainly looks great, but we still can't feel we weren't as 'wowed' as we were when looking at the Super AMOLED HD of the Galaxy S3.
Storage
In the Lumia 920 you'll find 32GB of on board storage, backed up by SkyDrive, Microsoft's cloud storage system.
The Galaxy S3 comes with microSD support on top of Samsung's 16/32/64GB internal drive, whereas HTC decided to only go for 32GB internal storage. However, the former comes with 50GB of Dropbpox of storage, and the latter 25GB from the same source.
Google users also have access to Google Drive, which is Google's answer to the cloud storage question.
Samsung Galaxy S3: Samsung's device comes with 3 different storage size options
Camera
Nokia is playing its trump card in the camera department. Long being known for fantastic camera devices, with Carl Zeiss lenses, Nokia is bringing its PureView technology first seen on the Nokia PureView 808. However, this is placed over the top of a more modest 8MP sensor, with a 1.3MP front facing camera.
It does come with a wealth of fancy features, such as being able to plug in camera apps and optical image stabilisation to help stop blur when you least want it.
Both the Android devices also come with 8MP rear sensors, burst mode for millions of photos per night out, and the HTC also has a 1.3MP front sensor. Samsung, however, has a 1.9MP sensor.
Connectivity
Believe it or not, being the latest breed of smartphones, all three devices come fully loaded with every type of connectivity; 3G/HSDPA, Wi-Fi, (for fast internet browsing on those mega screens), Bluetooth (4.0 on the Galaxy S3 and One X, 3.1 on the Lumia 920), GPS and NFC.
Near Field Communication: With NFC gaining traction, mobile payment is becoming more prevalent
Dimensions and weight
The Nokia Lumia 920 is the shortest phone at 130 x 70.8 x 10.7mm,but the heaviest at 185g. Samsung manages to squeeze in at a similar size of 136.6 x 70.6 but is the thinnest at 8.6 mm, and weighs only 133g.
The HTC, more akin to the Galaxy S3, is the narrowest and lightest at 134.4 x 69.9 x 8.9 mm and 130g.
Battery
Being unreleased, we have yet to have any battery comparisons for the Nokia Lumia 920, but with only a dual core processor, and a 2000mAh battery, we'd be surprised if it wasn't very competitive. Samsung debuted a lot of nifty battery saving tech in the Galaxy S3, and its 2100mAh (removable) battery managed to last a lot better than the 1800mAh (sealed in) offering of HTC.
Early verdict
We can't yet say for sure, as the Nokia Lumia 920 hasn't been released yet, and will hit American shores first in Q4 2012.
That said, Nokia seems to have a device that will continue the strides that the original WP7 Lumia phones made.
As for the other two, both are superb devices in their own right, garnering 4.5 stars each. Maybe you should check out the Samsung Galaxy S3 and HTC One X reviews to keep yourselves going until we bring your the web's most in-depth Nokia Lumia 920 review.
Verizon won't play around with Windows Phone 8 devices
Get ready for "multiple" handsets equipped with Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 platform to come to Verizon before 2012 is up.
Verizon executives confirmed the U.S.'s largest carrier will sell more Windows Phones during the fourth quarter, though just when that will be they didn't say.
Tami Erwin, Verizon's chief marketing officer, was quoted in a published report as saying the company will "sell multiple Windows Phones in the fourth quarter."
A new chapter
Currently, the only Windows Phone the Big Red stores on its shelves is the HTC Trophy.
Verizon added a trio of new phones to its lineup Wednesday too as Motorola announced the advent of its new Droid Razr family.
Comprised of the Razr HD, Razr Maxx HD and Razr M, the phones, when available, will hook up to Verizon's 4G LTE network.
According to Marni Walden, Verizon's chief operating officer, the company has engaged in "healthy conversations with Nokia" though that company has a long way to go in terms of rebuilding a relationship with American consumers.
Another Nokia Windows Phone 8 handset, the Lumia 820, was also released. The same source who said Verizon will carry the 920 said T-Mobile plans to pick up the lower-spec 820.
Whether Verizon's interest is peaked by Nokia's first Windows Phone 8 offerings remains to be seen.
In keeping with comments made by Fran Shammo, Verizon's chief financial officer, in April, Erwin said the company would like to nurture a third OS ecosystem, one beyond Apple's iOS and Google's Android.
To that end, Erwin said that when Research In Motion launches the BlackBerry 10 early next year, Verizon plans to carry a smartphone running the new OS.
The Samsung Galaxy Camera is getting its legs prior to launch.
For the better part of the last year, digital camera talk has shifted from being focused entirely megapixels, sensor sizes, and lens quality to connectivity and OS concerns. The digital imaging industry was turned on its head not by a revolutionary new pocket point-and-shoot or a faster-than-fast DSLR, but by a dark horse known as the smartphone.
Appropriately, manufacturers are responding with all sorts of experimentation to keep digital cameras competitive in their own right. Wi-Fi connectivity is starting to become a more popular feature, although it’s being implemented to varying degrees of usability, and several names have tip-toed into Android integration.
And the trail blazer is proving to be Samsung. In addition to bringing a bevy of connect cams to market this year, the manufacturer recently unveiled its Galaxy Camera at IFA. The part-camera, part-smartphone device is the first to really bring this sort of hybrid to the mainstream.
Today, Dropbox announced it would integrate its cloud storage service into the Galaxy Camera, giving users the ability to sync their images to their other connected devices. And then there are the expected features you’re going to get with this thing, such as instant Instagram posting – which there should be some mixed feelings about. Personally, I’m anti-non smartphone-captured images making their way to Instagram, but to each their own. But there are other apps which will have easy access to the Galaxy Camera’s photos, most notably Facebook and Flickr.
When it comes down to it, Samsung took their Smart Camera lineup (16.3 megapixel sensor, 21x optical zoom, manual controls and pre-set modes), and attached a Galaxy phone to it – complete with Jelly Bean and 3G/Wi-Fi or 4G/Wi-Fi connection options. I was a big fan of how easy the WB150F’s Wi-Fi settings were to navigate, but this is a whole other level of easy use.
It’s certainly exciting, and the newly announced Dropbox integration is extremely promising for where this thing can go. But it begs a really big question: Why isn’t anyone else doing this? I can’t help what’s happening with Polaroid’s ambitious SC1630 Smart Camera – last I heard, back in March, the camera was still in production and samples were unavailable for reviews. And where are Nikon and Canon? Clearly, Samsung’s mobile prowess is giving the brand a serious leg up, which is at once wonderful and frustrating. Samsung’s never quite been a digital camera powerhouse, offering up decent but never cutting-edge quality devices. As a user, I want the best of the best of the best and I want it to have every featured I crave – and that now means connectivity for cameras.
Our picks for the best Android tablet games. These games are specially designed to take advantage of large-screened Android tablets.
Android tablets have been around for more than a year, but there still aren’t very many games designed to take advantage of a large screen. These games are not only playable on tablets as well as Android phones (at no extra charge, unlike iOS apps), they are all more fun to play on the big screen. Some of these games were first available on Apple’s iPad, but as the number of Android tablets increases, we are seeing some companies release games for both formats at the same time.
Keep in mind that, try as we might to pick the best Android tablet games with broad tablet support, it is possible that any given game on our list might not be compatible with your tablet. If your favorite game hasn’t made our list, please let us know and we will take a look at it.
Once you know what games to play, you’ll need a tablet to play them on, so check out picks for the best Android tablets.
Why be limited to specific games when you can install the free OnLive app and play the latest console titles on your Android tablet? The service allows you to stream games to your tablet from remote servers. You can check out our OnLive hands-on impressions to find out more. There are a few touch-based options available, like L.A. Noire, or you can opt to buy the wireless controller and play games like Batman: Arkham City in all their glory.
It looks gorgeous and it plays like a physics-based dream. World of Goo started its life as a Wii game, which makes it ideal for your Android tablet. If you’ve never seen this smash hit before it’s essentially a very weird and addictive puzzle game that came out a few years back. Just buy it, you won’t regret it. If you’re tempted then check out the Humble Bundle where you can pick up World of Goo, along with a bunch of excellent indie classics for your Android tablet, and give to charity at the same time.
Fancy yourself as a tactician? You have to try out the turn-based strategy classic, Great Big War Game. The cartoonish graphics are great, it has a bit of humor to it, but most importantly the gameplay is immersive. You’ll need some real tactical skill to emerge victorious from the 50 mission single player campaign. You can also indulge in a spot of multiplayer action so there’s plenty of content on offer to justify that price tag.
You just can’t beat a bit of first-person shooter action with zombies. There’s something relaxing and deeply satisfying about slaughtering wave after wave of the undead. Dead Trigger features the standard post-apocalyptic zombie uprising scenario and it looks great. The basic game is free, but you do have the option of splashing out on in-app purchases like better weapons and upgraded abilities.
Revolution Software reached its Kickstarter goal for Broken Sword 5. Now it's hoping to raise additional funds for Beneath a Steel Sky 2.
With more than two weeks to go, Revolution Software’s Kickstarter campaign raising funds for the hand drawn adventure game Broken Sword: The Serpent’s Curse has already reached its goal of $400,000. Kudos to the British studio keeping its sweet, conspiracy-fueled Parisian puzzler alive in the modern age! Fans of classic point-and-click adventure have more to look forward to than fighting off templars though. If the Kickstarter funding reaches $1 million, Revolution will start developing Beneath a Steel Sky 2.
Beneath a Steel Sky was Revolution Software’s second game. Made in 1994, it was a cyberpunk adventure set in a post-nuclear war Australia. The game benefitted from the help of comic book artist Dave Gibbons, famous for his work with Alan Moore on the series Watchmen.
Revolution head Charles Cecil has hinted at a sequel for most of the past decade, even going so far as to purchase the domain name steel-sky2.com in 2004, but it’s never materialized. The original game was remastered Beneath a Steel Sky for the iPhone in 2009, and included a new animated scene at the end that hints at a potential continuation.
Beneath a Steel Sky is fantastic, as is Broken Sword. Revolution’s projects are well worth supporting.
The Motorola RAZR M 4G LTE is finally official, though it certainly wasn’t a secretive launch at all. The newly announced device is a pretty decent looking midrange device, though it’s nothing to get all that excited about either.
Next to the RAZR HD, this device isn’t nearly a powerhouse, but it’s still capable enough.
What kind of specs do we get with the RAZR M? The Razr M run on a dual-core Snapdragon S4 and features an 8-megapixel camera, 8GB of internal storage and 1GB of RAM. It also has NFC and a resolution of 960×540. The phone will launch with Android ICS, but a Jelly Bean update is expected to arrive shortly after.
If you aren’t much into having a large bezel around your phone, you may end up loving the RAZR M. The device is nearly edge-to-edge with glass, which means you get a good deal of screen real estate space in a very thin and light package.
The official launch date for the RAZR HD and MAXX HD are yet to be announced, but the RAZR M is coming very soon. Verizon should have the device available starting next week for just $99 with a two year contract.
Interested in the RAZR M? Preorders start today.
Verizon Wireless and Motorola Add Three New and Exclusive 4G LTE DROID RAZR™ SmartphonesAll the power, battery life and cool design of DROID RAZR™ with the speed of 4G LTE three times over
Sept. 05, 2012
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. – Verizon Wireless and Motorola Mobility today announced that they are adding three new and exclusive smartphones, DROID RAZR™ M, DROID RAZR™ HD and DROID RAZR™ MAXX™ HD, to the DROID RAZR™ by Motorola family on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network.
All three devices offer the power and reliability that customers have come to expect from Motorola and Verizon Wireless. DROID devices give customers speed, power and revolutionary technology, while the RAZR design delivers a thin, compact device built with strong, top-of-the-line materials and long-lasting battery life. The new smartphones are powered by the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network, giving customers the capability to simultaneously talk and browse the Web and also access the blazingly fast speeds that cover more than 75 percent of the U.S. population. With three brand new options, this lineup has something for everyone.
DROID RAZR M: The Full-Screen Phone DROID RAZR M is an unbelievably compact smartphone that puts the world in the palm of your hand with an edge-to-edge 4.3-inch Super AMOLED™ Advanced display. Customers will be amazed with the DROID RAZR M’s design, which is significantly shorter and narrower than the original DROID RAZR, yet includes the same size display, making it the most compact 4.3-inch 4G LTE smartphone.
DROID RAZR M also features powerful Web browsing capabilities by combining Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network with the speeds of Chrome™ for Android™ mobile browser for an unrivaled mobile Web experience.
The DROID RAZR M’s SMARTACTIONS™ feature maximizes battery efficiency with every charge, allowing customers to browse the Web and watch videos without worrying about draining their device’s battery.
DROID RAZR HD: Performance and Power Building on the DROID RAZR legacy, the new DROID RAZR HD expands the innovation with a new 4.7-inch Super AMOLED HD display that allows movies, photos, magazines and even websites to appear with vivid clarity. DROID RAZR HD provides customers with 78 percent more pixels for a more vibrant display and features 40 percent greater battery capacity than the original DROID RAZR.
The viewdini app is at its best with the HD display and 4G LTE speeds to watch movies, television shows and other video content. Viewdini brings the power of Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network to the screen by streamlining access to videos from a wide range of content providers, including cable operators, websites and other popular video sources. The viewdini app can be downloaded from Google Play.
DROID RAZR MAXX HD: Long Live the Battery Packed with the same leading features as DROID RAZR HD, the DROID RAZR MAXX HD raises the industry standard for battery life with 32 hours of normal use. The DROID RAZR MAXX HD is remarkably thin, yet packs sufficient battery power for 13 hours of straight video playback, enough to watch a movie trilogy without needing a charge. Customers also have enough battery life to talk the day away with up to 21 hours of continuous talk time or browse the Web on 4G LTE for up to a full eight hours.
A Trilogy of Premium Design, Speed and Features: ● 4G LTE – customers can expect fast download speeds of 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps in 4G LTE coverage areas. ● Interactive Circles Widget allows quick access to notifications, weather, time and more ● Quick Settings can be accessed directly from the home screen so customers can easily manage their volume profile, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth®, GPS and more ● Enhanced Help Guides provide interactive tutorials, help topics and tips to become a DROID RAZR expert ● Global Ready so customers can have voice and data service in more than 205 countries ● Business ready with enterprise grade security and data encryption, remote wipe, complex password support, IPsec multi-headed VPN client and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync® support ● 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and 1 GB RAM ● Mobile Hotspot – Share a 4G LTE connection with up to eight Wi-Fi-enabled devices ● 8-megapixel camera with LED flash and 1080p HD recording ● Front-facing camera for video chatting ● NFC-enabled so customers can send contacts, links, maps and more directly to compatible phones with Android Beam™ ● Corning® Gorilla® Glass display, DuPont™ KEVLAR® fiber and water-repellent nanocoating ● microSD™ card slot with support for up to 32 GB
The new DROID RAZRs run Android™ 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (upgradeable to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean by end of 2012) and come with the best of Google Mobile Services, including: ● Chrome™ for Android™, giving a personalized Web experience ● Google Play™, apps and games, millions of books and songs, thousands of movies and TV shows ● Google Maps™ for Android (Beta) for voice-guided, turn-by-turn directions ● Voice Actions for Android™, letting customers control their phones with their voice ● Google+™, which can automatically upload photos to a private album online ● YouTube™, watch videos in stunning HD, Preload subscribed channels or individual videos and the YouTube app will automatically download videos over Wi-Fi while the phone is charging – making them ready to watch in an instant
Pricing and Availability:
● DROID RAZR M will be available for pre-order starting today, September 5th, at 5 p.m. ET at http://www.verizonwireless.com/droidrazrm and will be available on September 13th in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at http://www.verizonwireless.com for $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement. Customers receive the rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted. The DROID RAZR M will be available either Black or White. ● DROID RAZR HD and DROID RAZR MAXX HD will be available before the holidays. The DROID RAZR HD will be available in either Black or White and the DROID RAZR MAXX HD will be available in Black. ● Customers who purchase a DROID RAZR M, DROID RAZR HD or DROID RAZR MAXX HD will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless data plan. Share Everything Plans allow customers to add smartphones to their account for $40 monthly access. For additional information, customers should go to www.verizonwireless.com/shareeverything
About Motorola Mobility Motorola Mobility, owned by Google, fuses innovative technology with human insights to create experiences that simplify, connect and enrich people’s lives. Our portfolio includes converged mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets; wireless accessories; end-to-end video and data delivery; and management solutions, including set-tops and data-access devices. For more information, visit motorola.com/mobility.
Media Contact Danielle McNally Motorola Mobility 312.613.7021 danielle.mcnally@motorola.com
About Verizon Wireless Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s largest 4G LTE network and largest, most reliable 3G network. The company serves 94.2 million retail customers, including 88.8 million retail postpaid customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 78,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.
Media Contact Albert Aydin Verizon Wireless 908.559.7513 Albert.Aydin@verizonwireless.com
