The Galaxy Note 3 does exactly what we thought it would do: takes over the mantle of the world's most powerful smartphone, although the gap is a lot smaller this time.
Samsung seems to have run out of ideas when it comes to improving the specs on its smartphones, and that's a jolly good thing. It's meant that the company has been forced to really think about what it's doing with the Galaxy Note 3, and it's all the better for it.
With the Galaxy S4 lauded for its core abilities, but criticised for its pointless amount of 'innovative' features, Samsung made far less of a point of talking about anything to do with eye tracking, and more about the enhanced use of the S Pen.
Don't get us wrong: we're still a long way from thinking that the S Pen is a killer feature, but what Samsung has done with it here has at least come from a place of sensibility and actually putting the user first.
Well, the user that can afford to spend a good portion of their wages on a smartphone, that is. In the UK, the Galaxy Note will be available for £47 per month if you want a free phone, and we're expecting the US Note 3-fanciers to shell out $299 on contract, making it one of the most expensive smartphones in the world.
However, that doesn't mean it's not worth the money - with so many features on offer, surely there's enough to warrant the cost?
Samsung is making a big deal about the freedom the S Pen brings you, with the definitely-not-a-stylus now imbued with even greater power.
Called Air Control, all you need to do is hover the S Pen over the screen and click the button, with a little fan dock coming up to give you some new options. These include smart cutting, where you simply draw a circle around the content you want and it will automatically save it to whichever scrapbook you want for future reference.
Why you'd want to do this (Samsung seems to think everyone from a chef to a florist will be snicking videos from the web) is a little less clear, but at least the option is there.
Other new abilities include an enhanced multi-tasking capability, with one of the fan-dock options in Air Power letting you draw a square on the screen and have a select amount of apps pop up for use. So if you need a calculator, to watch some YouTube or set an alarm, and can't be bothered to exit your current app, then this is a great option to have.
Samsung's back with the Multi-window too, and now you can add two of the same app at once. This makes sense if you want to check two emails at once or have two chat windows open at once, although it seems like more hassle than it's worth to do this.
This leads us neatly to one of the issues that we've got with the Samsung Galaxy Note family as a whole: there's just too much going on at once to be really worthwhile. Most people will never use multi-window, as nine times out of ten you'll find you're using it for the sake of it. On the odd occasion you annoyingly have to keep switching between windows to copy text, it's really helpful, but we've never found it anything other than fiddly to use.
The notion of being able to draw more windows fills us with dread, to compound that issue.
We're not criticising the amount of power on offer here though - far from it, we're all for a more powerful smartphone and it's the reason a lot of people pick it up. However, to sell it on such features feels a little counter-intuitive. Why not make a bigger deal of the amazing 5.7-inch screen with a much thinner bezel, and the fact it's been crammed into a frame that's even smaller than before?
That seems like a much better selling point than the ability to look at maps and email at the same time - but then again, perhaps millions of sales of the Note family worldwide tells a different story.
Talking of design, we can't really say we like the faux leather on offer. In the promotional videos it looks slick and premium, but when you hold it in the hand it doesn't give the desired 'life's notebook' feeling Samsung was clearly going for.
It will be interesting to see how people engage with this notion - it's not always practical to go for metal, so at least Samsung is taking things in a different direction - we're just not sure this is the right one.
Samsung has repeated another annoying trick from the S4, and that's the decision to release different versions of the Note 3 with a variety of functionality. You can get it with the ability to shoot in Ultra HD, or in an octa-core version, or just 2.3GHz quad core processor instead. We presumed the quad core option would have 4K capabilities, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Early verdict
The Galaxy Note 3 is very much an evolution, with the specs starting to top out. The 3GB of RAM, the 13MP camera and octa-core processor are all nice additions, as well as things like superfast 4G on board.
It's excellent sonically, can display images in a superbly crisp manner and has a number of tweaks to really make the camera take some decent snaps. Those are the things we want to judge the Note 3 on, not the ability to click the S Pen in a different manner.
We're not sold on the design of the back, nor the high price - but there still seems to be an appetite for the Note range, so perhaps this is just the handset Samsung needs.
Sell out with me oh yeah, sell out with me tonight
BlackBerry looks like it may be the next former smartphone kingpin to admit defeat in its battle to rejoin the mobile elite, with the ailing Canadian company reportedly looking for a quick and painless sale.
Just days removed from Nokia's sale to Microsoft, the Wall Street Journal claimed BlackBerry has courted potential suitors with a view to handing over the keys, potentially as soon as November this year.
The paper said preliminary discussions have already taken place with interested parties regarding taking on all or part of the company.
Final throw
The BB10 experiment was widely seen as BlackBerry's final throw of the dice, but despite some respectable reviews for the Q10 QWERTY handset and Z10 all-touchscreen affair, both handsets fell flat commercially.
The company does have more phones in the pipeline, with the rumoured Z30 expected to arrive before the year is out.
What's this, another smartwatch is entering the fray? Yep, the Qualcomm Toq was a rather surprise announcement at the firm's annual Uplinq conference in San Diego this week, following swiftly in the footsteps of the Samsung Galaxy Gear.
Before you get too excited though we will start with the bad news. The Toq will only be available in the US, and Qualcomm is limiting the run to "tens of thousands" with the smartwatch only being sold via online marketplaces.
Qualcomm tells us the Toq will go on sale during the fourth quarter of the year and will retail somewhere between $300 and $350 (around £190-£225, AU$330-$380).
It will however work in any country round the world, so if you're really keen to get your hands on one you're not completely out of luck.
Sporting what is believed to be a 1.6-inch display, the Toq has a unique Mirasol screen which doesn't feature a back light, instead it harnesses the ambient light in its environment.
This means that even in direct sunlight you can see the display without issue, something which is almost impossible on many smartphones and other back-lit devices such as the Sony Smart Watch 2.
The colour display never switches off either, so you can quickly glance down and see what's on screen without having to wake the Toq or click a button.
Even though the screen never switches off Qualcomm claims you'll be able to get "days" of battery life from the Toq, depending on your usage patterns.
If you're struggling to see the screen on the Qualcomm Toq at night there is a front light which you can stick on to aid you.
The screen has a pretty low resolution, but that's not a huge issue as it is clear and it's not like you're going to be watching movies or viewing pictures on the Toq.
It's predominantly a text based display, with messages, call information, emails and calendar appointments front and centre.
We did find the Toq's screen looked washed out at times, and if you're not looking front on you will struggle a little to see what's being displayed.
The screen is responsive to the touch, although you won't be blown away by speed with an off-the-shelf 200MHz Cortex M3 processor stuck inside the Toq instead of one of Qualcomm's Snapdragon offerings - but it's not much of an issue.
We weren't left waiting long when we fired up the weather app or dived into the calendar, and the ability to select a custom homescreen on the Toq allows you to have the information most important to you front and centre.
You can have just a clock, the time and date or even your next calendar appointment or the weather on the homescreen. It's up to you.
The stocks and shares app will be handy for anyone business minded considering splashing out on the Toq, although everything requires a great deal of scrolling due to the tiny nature of the display - but that's hardly surprising.
A handy feature is the music player which gives you basic on screen controls allowing you to manipulate your tunes as the Toq streams them to the Bluetooth ear buds which come bundled in the box.
The ear pieces are both completely wireless, but have the unfortunate design which is very similar to a hearing aid, so they aren't exactly the coolest buds about.
Sadly they weren't available to get hands on (or should that be ears on?) with at Uplinq so apart from the look there's little else we can say about them for now.
The watch itself is relatively lightweight and it's pretty large, but certainly not as chunky as the Samsung Galaxy Gear, and there's no physical buttons present allowing for a clean design.
There's a touch sensitive button hidden in the strap below the screen though, allowing you to lock the Toq to avoid any unwanted presses and also toggle the front light if it's just too dark to see.
Qualcomm has managed to keep the size of the watch down by moving the battery for the unit into the clasp, allowing it to sit relatively flush to your wrist.
The clasp itself is a little clunky, the fastening mechanism doesn't feel overly robust and we can see it breaking if you're not careful with the Toq.
Rather frustratingly there's no easy way to adjust the strap on the Qualcomm Toq to fit the more dainty of wrists. You actually have to cut the strap to make it smaller - there's no links to remove or a range of holes for you to slip a peg into here.
The Qualcomm Toq smartwatch is compatible with handsets running Android 4.0.3 or higher, which pretty much covers the majority of the Android devices out there now. Obviously Bluetooth is also required to pair your phone with the Toq.
Qualcomm hopes app developers will get behind the Toq and update their applications to work with the smartwatch, plus the software is upgradeable so we could see new features in the future.
Another selling point for the Qualcomm Toq is that it's the first smartwatch to support fully wireless charging. You get a special charging tray for the watch as well as the two headphones, although you'll still need to plug that into a wall.
Early verdict
We quite like the Qualcomm Toq. It knows what it's doing and does it well. It's not trying to pull out all the stops with over the top functionality or gimmicky features, it's purely an aid to let you quickly check a notification or skip that One Direction track you've been meaning to remove from your playlist but haven't yet.
The small, low res screen can irk at times and the strap adjustment issue will cause some people grief, but if you're looking for simple companion device which saves you having to dig your smartphone out of your bag or pocket every two seconds then the Toq may well suit.
Android 4.3 in your hands, courtesy of a wristwatch
There's one benefit to the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch even if you don't want to attach one to your wrist: the battery-friendly Android 4.3 update is reportedly being prepped for Samsung Galaxy smartphones.
The newer Jelly Bean update is said to add to Galaxy Gear functionality to the Galaxy S4.
TechRadar reached out to Samsung to see if the Galaxy Note 2 would share in the Android 4.3 download fun this October or a future release date. We'll update this story when we hear back.
Better battery over Bluetooth
It sounds like Samsung wants to take advantage of Android 4.3 features like Bluetooth 4.0, which would help keep the battery of the company's new smartwatch ticking all day long.
Considering the Galaxy Gear is touting a battery life of just "more than a day," the low-powered Bluetooth connection found in Android 4.3 would be a major benefit for both the phone and the smartwatch.
Right now, the Samsung smartwatch is only compatible with its newly unveiled Galaxy Note 3 phablet and Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 tablet, both of which run Android 4.3 with Bluetooth 4.0.
Look for the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 updates in October, if your carrier permits it, of course.
Qualcomm loves mobile. And let's be honest, who doesn't? But now it's looking to add to your touch, sight, smell, taste and hearing with something it's calling the "digital sixth sense".
While that sounds pretty brazen there is a deeper meaning behind the showy name, with Qualcomm aiming to connect all our devices and have them interact with others located in your current environment.
Predictions suggest that there will be 25 billion connected devices by 2020 and over half of those won't be a mobile phone, with things such as TVs, cars and wearable technology so Qualcomm is looking at ways to make all these work in unison.
It's not just the simple link of devices talking to each other either. Qualcomm is working on technology to allow your mobile phone to react to your preferences and your current location by providing useful, relevant and timely information.
Not so natural senses
There are a number of offerings Qualcomm has developed to push towards this extension of our natural senses, keeping the smartphone at the centre of everything we do, but requiring us to use it less.
First up there's Gimbal, a context aware system which can communicate with Bluetooth beacons and push things such as notifications and offers to your smartphone - we've already tried out the system at the conference.
Then there's the AllJoyn and AllPlay services, the former providing a secure framework for joining various devices together and the latter building on top of that with a music streaming service allowing you to play music from your smartphone or tablet to enabled speakers.
It's a similar sort of deal to Sonos, but Qualcomm is offering the SDK for AllPlay to developers, allowing them to build the functionality directly into their applications.
Lastly is Qualcomm Vuforia, an augmented reality engine which allows you to interact with objects which aren't connected - such as magazines. Nothing really new here then.
What is new is something Qualcomm is calling Smart Terrain which uses Vuforia and it can turn every day objects into a virtual world which can then be used as a platform for game play.
The example we were shown during the conference was a coffee tablet being turned into a game world, with a unique 3D mapper slapped on the back of a Sony Xperia Tablet Z creating a mesh of the surface and the objects on it and then building the world on top.
It was certainly impressive, but we're not completely sold on the concept of people holding their smartphone or tablet up to their coffee table just to play a game, when sitting back on the sofa is a far more appealing option.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 was unveiled at Samsung Unpacked on September 4, and it didn't throw any real surprises at us. The massive smartphone or phablet--a word we still refuse to accept into the English language despite what the Oxford Dictionary says--is an incremental upgrade to its predecessor, the Galaxy Note 2.
Samsung's latest smartphone is bigger and better than the last generation model, if only by just a little bit. Physically, it has a bigger display than the Note 2, yet it's slimmer and lighter than the older version. Depending on your market, it also has a more powerful CPU.
Battery capacity has been upped, along with the camera resolution, which was to be expected since the Galaxy S4 is rocking a 13MP shooter, too.
Samsung also added a few extra software goodies to the latest Note smartphone, but we're left wondering whether you good folks will find use for them, or if they're just another array of gimmicks. But we guess it's better to have all the Note apps and not need them, than to need them and not have them?
One nice change is the faux-leather back with stitching. When it comes to Samsung's build quality and choice of materials, the chief complaint is that its hardware is made of mostly plastic, and it feels cheap. With the added touch of fake leather and possibly fake stitching, the Galaxy Note 3 will at least have a somewhat premium feel.
Take a quick look at the short comparison sheet below, and you'll find that the differences aren't very drastic. Though the Galaxy Note 3 isn't a radical overhaul of its predecessor, it's nice to have a new version with some bumped up specs. Whether you think it's worth upgrading is entirely up to you and your needs, but if I were to give a little advice for those that want it, I'd say go for it only if you can afford to throw away some cash.
The Galaxy Gear is a wrist-mounted phone that Samsung hopes will be a fashion icon. It has a touch screen, Bluetooth, email, texting and apps.
So did the Samsung S9110, which came out in 2009.
The Gear is better in almost every respect, but the underlying philosophy is identical.
Henry Ford famously said that he didn't ask people what they wanted, because they would have asked for faster horses.
The Galaxy Gear is a faster horse.
Where's the wow?
The S9110 was a fine piece of engineering, but it wasn't a paradigm-shifting, world-changing, envelope-pushing, category-defining sensation, which is why you almost certainly aren't wearing one on your wrist right now. Neither is the Gear, which does much the same but with slightly better tech.
Where's the wow?
There's nothing wrong with the Galaxy Gear. It's a decent and decently priced smartphone/tablet accessory. But where's the killer app?
Maybe there isn't one. Maybe the tech press is so desperate for a Next Big Thing story that it's blown the smartwatch idea out of all proportion, putting a Saviour Of The World label on something that's going to be as important to our lives as iPod Socks.
Or maybe it's that Samsung, for all its talents, just doesn't have the vision thing. And neither does Sony, or Pebble, or Google, or LG, or anybody else working on a smartwatch project.
Does Apple?
It's easy to assume Apple has some kind of magical powers, but over the years it has excelled at one particular thing: spotting what everybody else is doing wrong, and finding a way to do it right. Music players existed before the iPod, smartphones before the iPhone, tablets before the iPad. Maybe it's going to do the same with the smartwatch.
What's frustrating for me is that I can't see how. I can see what's wrong with the Galaxy Gear, but I can't see how to do it right: I can't work out the smartwatch killer app, the must-have feature, the thing that'll make me spend money I can't afford on a product I can't need.
Samsung's new smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear, has been revealed at IFA 2013.
The Android-running wrist-warmer allows you to make handsfree calls through your phone, and hopes to get a headstart on the long-rumoured Apple iWatch and give the recently-announced Sony Smartwatch 2 a run for its money.
It was revealed with a jaunty orange strap and seems to incorporate a camera.
"I believe it will become a new fashion icon around the world," said JK Shin, Samsung's CEO.
It will launch on September 25 in over 100 countries, with more to follow in October 2013.
Sony has debuted its 20.7MP camera-toting 5-inch Android-running Xperia Z1 and its brimming over with tech.
Sure, it's got a bit of heft to it (okay, a lot of heft to it) but that screen is mighty impressive and it comes rocking a quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor.
So when and where can you get your mitts on one? It's expected to launch in Europe before September 2013 is out and here are the places you can get it:
EE
They're big 4G fans over at EE so it's no surprise that the network was first out of the gates with its intention to range the 4G-friendly Xperia Z1.
You can pre-order the handset from EE today in black or white, on EE's 4G network on a range of price plans - you can get the handset for £29.99 on a £41/month 24-month plan.
As an added extra, anyone pre-ordering direct from EE will also get the Sony Smartwatch 2 thrown in for free.
Orange / T-Mobile
You can also get the Xperia Z1 on Orange or T-Mobile plans: it is £37 a month on a 24 month Orange or T-Mobile plan (with an upfront cost of £49.99 on Orange and £69.99 on T-Mobile).
Phones 4 U
If you pre-order the Xperia Z1 from Phones 4U, you can also get the Smartwatch 2 for free, or nab £200 off a Sony Xperia Tab.
The new Sony Xperia Z1 will be available for upgrades and new contracts on both 3G and 4G tariffs at the phone retailer. The handset is free on a £42 a month across a range of networks, and will be in store and online from the end of September 2013.
The Sony Xperia Z1 is yet another step in the comeback of a failing brand. While the headline spec may be the 20.7MP G Lens camera sensor, this is a phone packed to the rafters with cutting-edge tech.
It's hard to express the joy of comparing the Z1 to a previous Sony flagship cameraphone: the Satio from four years ago. Okay, that was a time when things were decidedly more Ericsson, but the difference between these two phones is vast.
That's not because the Z1 is an amazing phone (it might be, but it's hard to tell with only an hour's time playing with it) but just how bad the Sony Ericsson Satio was. It may have had a 12MP camera, but it was running Symbian, packed a resistive touchscreen and was generally one of the worst phones we've played with.
Thankfully Sony recognised its tailspin and is now producing phones like the Z1 - the follow-up to the Sony Xperia Z that launched earlier this year, and the design principles back that up.
Design
However, while this is also a water resistant and dust-proof phone (IP55 and IP58 rated), the chassis has a lot more metal packed in, with aluminium replacing the glass in many places throughout the Z1.
In doing so it's acquired some heft, with the depth of the phone noticeably greater in the hand. That's to accommodate the new camera sensor while maintaining the flat exterior, but it does make a huge difference when you pick up the phone for the first time.
Compared to the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One it's not that different, but with the added weight combined with the heavier innards and angular design, the Z1 feels like a much more substantial beast, which may put some people off.
There's a lot that's reminiscent of the Xperia Z Ultra here; not only because of the amount of technology that's been nabbed from the big Sony factory, but also because some of the clever design tweaks have made their way over to the new device too.
One of the things we're happiest to see is the headphone slot being open and unfettered. Sony has made the waterproof phone its own over the last year, and by removing the need for the headphone to have a cover it's made the Z1 so much more usable compared to its predecessor.
The rest of the slots follow Sony's heritage of premium design, being easy to shut while feeling secure against the elements should you want to lob your phone in a bucket of water and then roll it through a desert.
Don't do that, though. You'll probably lose it and be inadequately hydrated for such a trip.
There's a microSD card slot on offer still, which partly makes up for the lack of a removable battery. We're getting sick of the latter refrain – consumers want it, but phone designers want to make things as integrated as possible, and it's the ones with the pencils that win out.
But overall the Sony Xperia Z1 is a very well-finished phone that makes use of a number premium materials in its construction – the only issue for consumers could be the sheer heft of the device they're carrying in their pocket, and they'll have to decide whether the mega powerful new camera is worth it.
Screen
With the Xperia Z1, Sony has opened the door to the TV factory, selected its favourite model and then crammed it into a 5-inch screen, meaning you've got all manner of technology on offer.
Triluminous Display tech brings a really crisp and clear picture, and combined with X Reality on video playback serves to bring a phone that knows what its doing when it comes to a 1080p screen.
The display is definitely a step forward from the washed out nature of the Xperia Z, although the viewing angles are still not as impressive as seen on other phones.
The LG G2 is still the poster boy for phone displays, but the Z1 isn't that far behind, especially when its video processing kicks in.
The clarity and refresh rate are certainly impressive, but it still doesn't pack the wow factor seen from a number of other smartphones.
That's not to say it's not really good, it just still falls slightly short when compared to the clarity of the G2 or the colour reproduction of the HTC One or Samsung Galaxy S4 (provided you like higher colour saturation, that is).
Video playback
We can see that Sony has really worked hard on the video playback capabilities of the Xperia Z1, with the movies app in particular coming with a really nice interface.
Your last watched flick will display in the background of the app while you're selecting your next file, which really makes the phone feel like yours, rather than a sterile area to trawl through in search of anything to make the commute feel shorter.
The quality of 1080p video is really impressive on here as well, with the precision of the display making it a really high-end experience and the X Reality engine working hard to make sure even standard definition footage is upscaled to look clean and crisp.
Given that video (movies in particular) is one of Sony's strengths, we're glad to see that it's made a decent fist of things on its mobile devices.
CPU
Like its Xperia Ultra brother, the Sony Xperia Z1 comes with a 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 processor, meaning whizzy fast speeds in a quad-core package.
This is the highest level of CPU on offer at the moment, and promises better battery management as well as an improved ability to connect to 4G networks, allowing the double speed connection that has been rolled out in a number of countries.
Combined with 2GB of RAM, there's very little you'll want when it comes to speed from the Sony Xperia Z1, thanks to a well-integrated chipset that's really more than enough for most users.
There will be 16GB of internal storage on offer as well as the microSD card slot, which means that even if you want to pack in a session of video editing on your phone you'll be able to do so easily with the required grunt on board.
We've yet to test the capabilities of the 3000mAh battery in the Z1 as yet, although we didn't notice a massive drop in the power pack during our testing, and this included a large amount of picture taking.
In our tests with other Snapdragon 800 devices we've seen some excellent battery life on offer, so we've got high hopes the trick will be repeated on the Xperia Z1.
Interface
Sony hasn't beaten around the bush when it comes to the interface on the Xperia Z1, keeping things simple and similar to that seen on its other Android devices at the moment.
Running Android 4.2 (with an upgrade to 4.3 likely in the next few months) things are very simple and well laid out on the Z1, with the ability to move widgets around with ease and the exploded view of all homescreens at once available simply by pinching in on the screen.
The widgets on offer are decent, with options like a camera pane that allows you to instantly open different modes rather than just booting into the main camera app and having to scoot around in there.
On top of a simple layout of music, movies and internet browsing, with things like Music Unlimited combined nicely with the relevant app, Sony has kept things simple with the Z1 while allowing most things you open up a good amount of power.
Camera
Here's where things get really interesting: the Sony Xperia Z1 camera is where the Japanese firm has really pushed the boat out.
With a 20.7MP sensor, strong low light ability and wide range of options to improve the quality of your photos, the camera on the Z1 takes mobile photography to another level.
When compared with the likes of the Nokia Lumia 1020, with its 41MP sensor, and the HTC One, with its 4MP Ultrapixel option, there's a feeling that the Z1 fits in between the two.
However, this is more of a camera in the traditional sense, taking really crisp and clear photos with little interpolation of multiple shots (as we've seen on the Nokia range). The result is a photo that just looks good, especially if you're firing the Superior auto mode which makes it almost impossible to take a bad shot.
We really like messing around with this option, as no matter what you're trying to do, be it take a close up picture, get a low light snap without the flash or even take a picture of text, the Z1 was able to work out what we needed time and again and adjust the settings to make use of it.
However, go beyond this and there are loads of modes to play with – some useful, and some less so.
We're intrigued by the possibility of being able to stream video from our phone over Facebook with Social Live – Sony seems to think there will be loads of uses for such a feature, but we can't really see what they might be beyond accidentally turning it on while you're on the toilet.
If you are desperate to destroy your battery at a wedding just so your grandparents, who sadly couldn't be there, can try to set up a Facebook account and miss it, then the option is there.
Timeshift Burst is probably the only other mode we think is worth talking about, and it really is. With a stupendously fast capture rate, you're getting dozens of photos from one shot that means you won't miss the right moment if there's movement going on.
Beyond that, the interface for selecting said photo is just brilliant. Being able to slide your thumb up and down the arc of picture options works so well, and while there was often a lot of blur present in most of the snaps we took, we generally could find at least one useable one.
This isn't a mode you'll be using regularly, but for anything where you aren't able to set the scene properly it's a really excellent option.
However, Sony told us that the camera software wasn't ready for final testing, and that seemed to bear out during our time with the phone - in comparison tests with the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One, it was certainly a better picture, but not by much.
The raw pictures captured are decent without being mind blowing at the moment - but as we saw with the Xperia Z (and a multitude of other cameraphones) the tricks are mostly performed in post processing, so we'll wait to pass judgement.
However, it was disappointing to see that the pictures didn't blow our mind at this point, as that's what we were hoping from a cameraphone with such a ridiculous sensor.
Although we should mention: we do love the augmented reality option. DINOSAURS!
Early verdict
The Sony Xperia Z1 is definitely another step forward from the brand that's going from strength to strength in the smartphone market.
It's an impressive phone that packs so much technology inside you can't help but enjoy all the treats on offer - and it's well packaged in a way that makes us love to try all the different features.
It's a chunky beast, which may put some people off, but the metallic chassis is one we really like and pushes the premium message even further, and the addition of a microSD card slot is one we always love to see.
Given it's not likely to command the mega cost of the Lumia 1020, the Z1 is a decent phone that wiSnapll rival the Galaxy S4 on the shop shelves - so if you can get over the bulk, it's one of the most exciting smartphones to check out this year.
We have Wi-Fi, we have NFC, we have dedicated applications - so what's the next step in event connectivity? A head mounted display for every attendee? A watch-like device which thinks it's a phone?
Perhaps in the future, but for 2013 we have the proximity beacon - used for the first time to track the movement of attendees at Qualcomm's annual Uplinq conference in San Diego .
Upon registration every attendee has the option to pick up a Gimbal Proximity Beacon which is linked to their account and allows the mothership to determine your location when you're in the vicinity of a receiver - which can take the form of a mobile phone, tablet or dedicated, plug-in device.
The plastic beacon itself is pretty small, fitting snugly into the palm of the hand. It's also incredibly light. You won't notice it in your pocket or attached to the lanyard around your neck.
There's a small battery inside to power the Bluetooth LE (low energy, AKA Bluetooth 4.0) broadcast system, and the device can send various bits of information to a receiver including an identifier (i.e. your name), the battery level of your unit and even ambient temperature.
As well as feeding data back to Qualcomm on the whereabouts of its various attendees, the system is also linked up to a mobile application which can send each person notifications, deals and offers when they trigger particular receivers.
Integration with the app goes further at the Uplinq conference, with the Beacon automatically checking people in to various sessions. A list of people currently present is relayed to the application so you can see who else is in the room with you, because using your eyes is so 2012.
While a data connection is required to view such information on your mobile phone, your mobile doesn't need to have a connection - or even be on - for the auto check-in system to work.
This means there's no dependence on your mobile's battery life (increasingly important these days), and the battery inside the beacon can last up to three months - depending on the usage it's set up for.
The receivers themselves can be fine-tuned to create geo-fences in certain areas, and ranges can be tweaked from 1m to 50m, and even up to 100m in open spaces.
There are obvious advantages here for Qualcomm, as it can track which panels are best attended and by who, and which aren't - giving it key feedback for next year's event before asking anyone to fill out a survey.
Now Qualcomm assures us it's anonymising all the data it collects via the proximity beacon so it won't be able to track individuals, and if at any point someone doesn't want to be tracked they can opt out, with the option to delete all data collected on them so far too.
The Gimbal system isn't just for Qualcomm's benefit.There's a whole SDK available to developers allowing them to create applications for numerous use case scenarios which interact with the system - such as allowing restaurants and shops to offer discounts to passers-by.
We just hope this is completely unrelated to the proximity mines we frequently dished out in Goldeneye on the N64, otherwise things could get messy...
So now we can start to look forward to the Android 4.4 KitKat release date. But when? We'll take a guess at late October or early November 2013 for now – which is when we were previously expecting to see Android 5.0 break cover.
Android 4.4 features
Android 4.3 came with a few minor upgrades including better multi-user customisation, support for Bluetooth smart technology and an updated keyboard. As a minor release, Android 4.3 didn't even get its own desert-themed name, sharing the Jelly Bean moniker with Android 4.1 and 4.2.
So with a brand new code name, we can expect Android 4.4 to bring some bigger changes, but all Google is saying at this stage is: "It's our goal with Android KitKat to make an amazing Android experience available for everybody."
We also learned from Android Central back in February 2013 that Google is working with the Linux 3.8 kernel. One improvement that this kernel brings is lowered RAM usage, which fits with Google's goal of bringing Android to more devices.
Shown off in a 38 second advert, the new Nexus handset looks to be equipped with a large camera and a matte black finish, carrying an LG logo on the back.
Google has since taken the video down, leading to further speculation that it did indeed reveal the Nexus 5.
Farewell Panasonic smartphones, we hardly knew ye.
Literally - no one bought them in Europe, and the same seems to be the case in the company's native Japan where the company has finally had enough of "bleeding red ink" and decided to stop even trying.
Google officially announced this week that the latest iteration of Android will go by the name of Android KitKat, but it also may have let something else slip as well.
In a commercial for its sweet-flavoured operating system, Google revealed what seems to be the long-awaited Nexus 5.
There has been much rumour about this handset, with supposed leaks stretching back to March of this year. But this is the first time we have seen the fifth iteration of Google's phone in the wild.
Nexus 5 leak
The new handset, shown off in the 38 second advert, looks to be equipped with a large camera and finished off in matte black.
There is also a LG logo on the rear, which would make sense as LG is the rumoured handset manufacturer for the so-far unannounced phone, and the current maker of the Nexus 4.
The video has now been taken down by Google, which has led to further speculation that this is indeed the Nexus 5 and not just a Nexus 4 with a fancy case on it.
