The Z1S will reportedly be the new flagship, with a 4.3-inch 720p display and the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chip.
More importantly
The other new device rumored for the Nov. 12 event is something being called the Sony Xperia "Tianchi," and it's a whole lot more interesting.
The Tianchi will reportedly be aimed at budget-minded consumers, but will nevertheless sport an eight-core processor.
That's because that eight-core chip will be MediaTek's more affordable 2GHz MT6592 or MTK6592, its first "True Octa Core" processor.
Like a spider's legs
MediaTek considers its processor the first "true" eight-core chips because all eight of its A7 cores can operate simultaneously.
Speculation over the summer held that this powerful MediaTek chip might hit phones as early as 2014, but apparently it might arrive even sooner than that in Sony's Xperia Tianchi.
In addition to the new chip, the Tianchi is said to pack a 6-inch 1280×720 display.
With Nov. 12 just a few weeks away we might catch a glimpse at these new Sony devices soon.
Sorry Instagram users, but the grace period following Facebook's buyout is all but over. Ads are invading imminently and today we got our first glimpse at what we can expect from the commercial interruption.
In a post on the Instagram blog, the photo sharing app said photos and videos marked as 'Sponsored' will start to appear in feeds in the US next week, beginning with a small number of brands already using the app.
The company says it is encouraging advertisers to be creative and engaging with their posts, while a FAQ post on its website says the posts will remain in 'the spirit of the community,'
That could mean a number of things, but it's likely the ads will have some sort of faux artistic merit and deploy the famous filters, frames and blurring tools.
No hiding from ads, but ads can be hidden
Interestingly, the company will tap into a user's Facebook likes and their basic profile information to determine which ads will display on that individual's Instagram feed.
However, those who aren't connected through Facebook won't avoid Instagram ads. The company will make use of previous Insta-likes or, failing that, just throw stuff at your wall and see what sticks.
"We want to show ads from businesses that are interesting to you, and to do that we will use information about what you do on Instagram and Facebook (our parent company)," the company said.
"For instance, this might include the people you follow and the photos and videos you like on Instagram, and your interests and other basic info on Facebook."
Feedback
In somewhat better news, users will also be able to hide ads from their feed (not without seeing them first of course) and offer Instagram some feedback on why they don't want to see anymore like it.
In the blogpost the company wrote: "If you see an ad that doesn't interest you, you can tap the "…" below it to hide it and provide feedback about what you didn't like. This will help us show you more interesting ads in the future."
An image from Samsung's glasses patent (credit: Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service)
Is Samsung working on its own version of Google Glass, either on its own or in collaboration with the Big G?
That question came up earlier this month, and it's popped up again thanks to a newly discovered patent filing.
The Samsung patent was submitted to Korean authorities this month, according to the Wall Street Journal, and it shows a wearable device that looks an awful lot like Google Glass, but with a "sportier" focus.
But the existence of the patent suggests that Samsung is in fact not working with Google on a Samsung version of Google Glass, as was previously suggested, but rather creating its own, separate wearable device.
Barreling forward
Samsung's interest in wearables is no secret, though the company's Galaxy Gear smartwatch was recently met with a mixed reception.
That shouldn't stop the Korean company from barreling forward, and a jump from the wrist to the face could be just the thing.
The patent in question today covers a design for "a type [of glasses] with earphones integrated, allowing [users] to take phone calls and listen to music during workouts."
Like Google Glass, this Samsung facewear can reportedly tether to a smartphone to display alerts and messages, or provide controls for the device through the glasses.
That's part of the sports focus, as the Samsung wearable is meant to be used during workouts and other activities where a user's hands are occupied, the patent suggests.
It also features lenses that are transparent or translucent.
What's in a name?
The initial rumor earlier this month said that Samsung's version of Google Glass will be called "Gear Glass," to match the Galaxy Gear's branding.
But we're thinking "Galaxy Glass" might be an even better option.
No matter what Samsung calls its facewear tech - if it does indeed come out with it at some point - it could provide a welcome companion to users' iPhones and Android phones, not to mention the Galaxy Gear itself.
Vine has sprouted scores of users, and now editing the perfect 6-second clip just got a whole lot easier.
Today the Twitter-owned app on iOS and Android received an update that introduces saved sessions, which means you can save your clips for later.
Although the Vine app has never forced you to post a video immediately, before this update there was no way to roll back to an older clip once you recorded a new one.
The new update lets you save up to ten posts at once, giving plenty of wiggle room to edit and share all your snappy masterpieces later on.
OUTATIME
Speaking of editing, the other new feature the Vine update introduces is "Time Travel." The new functionality lets you remove, reorganize, and even replace any shots within a clip.
No more Vine-bombings
Now when you're editing the video will be split into smaller image boxes which you can move around to rearrange every shot in the clip.
Did someone Vine-bomb your short clip? Now you can jump back into the short video and remove any instance of their existence.
The update covers both the iOS and Android versions of the app, and is available for download now.
Smartphones are great, they're basically a computer in your pocket packed full of features to make your life easier. But some of those features are less obvious than others, so to help you get the most out of your phone here are 10 things that you might not have known it could do.
1. You can change the launcher on your Android
Almost every smartphone maker overlays Android with its own interface, be it Samsung's TouchWiz or HTC's Sense. They spend enormous amounts of time making sure they get it just right, trying to improve on stock Android while standing out from the crowd.
But despite their best efforts they can't please everyone. Features are lacking or forced on you and things just don't look or feel right.
Thankfully there's a solution. Smartphone makers aren't the only ones who can develop an interface (or launcher) for Android and many third parties have unleashed their own creations onto Google Play, allowing you to download new launchers and replace whatever one your phone came with.
A quick search for 'launcher' will turn up many, but some are better than others. Nova Launcher is among the best. It closely resembles stock Android but gives you a number of powerful tools to further customise it, from a scrollable dock, to new homescreen transition effects and the ability to add widgets to the dock.
The basic app is free, but a paid for 'Prime' version adds even more features, such as customisable gesture controls.
Another option, particularly if you want a launcher you can show off with, is Next Launcher 3D. As the name suggests, it uses a 3D effect to make icons pop out of the screen.
Fancy effects aside it's also got a robust feature set, including the ability to create custom themes and app icons. At £10.35 it's not cheap, but can you really put a price on the sense of satisfaction you'll get from having the showiest launcher around?
2. Control other devices with your infrared equipped phone
More and more Android phones are being released with infrared blasters, particularly high end handsets like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One.
If your phone has one of these then in theory it can control anything that responds to infrared signals. You'll likely find that your phone already has an app that makes use of it hidden away somewhere, for example on the Samsung Galaxy S4 you're looking for 'WatchON', which can be programmed to control your TV or set top box.
But even if your phone doesn't have a built in infrared control, or you just don't get on with the one that is included, you'll find that Google Play has a few available to download.
3. Your phone can identify songs
You might have realised that you could get Shazam or SoundHound for your Android, Apple or BlackBerry phone, either of which can be used to identify a song as it's playing. But did you know that Google and Microsoft have also created their own song identification tools?
Microsoft's is built right in to Windows Phone 8. While a song is playing simply tap the search button on your phone, then tap the music icon and it will get to work.
Google's solution is called 'Sound Search' and if it's not already built into your phone you can download it from Google Play.
It takes the form of a widget which you can simply tap on to identify something without even leaving your homescreen. It can only identify songs which are available on Google Play, but the upshot is they can then be purchased straight from the widget.
4. You can turn your Android into a games console
There are some tremendously powerful Android phones around, but raw power isn't all that's required for a good gaming experience. Sometimes you need a big screen and a proper controller too.
The good news is that both of those things are within your reach. MHL (aka Mobile High-Definition Link) is a way to connect phones and other portable electronics to HD televisions and monitors, using an MHL cable connected to the micro USB port on your phone at one end and your screen's HDMI port at the other.
Not all phones support this but some do, with Samsung and Sony in particular supporting MHL on a number of handsets.
Assuming your phone supports it, you can pick up an MHL cable from around £10 and then you'll be able to experience media from your smartphone on a big screen.
That's great for video, but for games you're still stuck with a touchscreen interface. However there are also a number of Bluetooth smartphone controllers available, including Samsung's own Game Pad. With one of those in hand you can take smartphone gaming to a level that approaches home consoles.
5. You can use your smartphone as a level
Most smartphones include an accelerometer, which is used to identify your phone's orientation, so that for example the screen will know when to auto rotate.
However it can also be used as a spirit level. If you have an Android or BlackBerry phone you can download apps to do this, but if you have an Apple device running iOS 7 the function is built right in.
Having said that, you might be hard pushed to find it, as to get to it you first have to launch the compass app and then swipe across to a second screen. It's not the most obvious location but now you know where it is you can get to work checking your bed/table/sofa/TV/house/cat is level.
6. Use your Galaxy S4 to check temperature and humidity
The Samsung Galaxy S4 is packed full of useful and not so useful features, but one that you might have missed is its temperature and humidity sensors.
The data from these is buried in the S Health app, under the heading 'Comfort Level'. The idea is that the sensors are used to judge whether you're comfortable in your current environment.
It's an odd use for an unusual feature, but it can be interesting to see the temperature and humidity of your surroundings and whether you're likely to be comfortable in them, particularly if you use it to judge a good time and location to start a workout.
7. You can give your phone visual voicemail
You might have visual voicemail already and if not you're missing out. Smartphone users can get access to it by downloading an app, such as 'HulloMail', which is available for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry.
It displays your voicemail as a menu, allowing you to tap a message to play it rather than having to listen to every message in order. You can also pause, fast forward and rewind messages and the app even allows you to view voicemails as text, though that latter function isn't free.
8. You can use the volume buttons to skip songs
Using a phone as an MP3 player is great, but when the screen's off and the phone's in your pocket it can be a chore to skip past that Haddaway song you drunkenly added to your playlist. However with a little bit of setup you can make your volume buttons double as a way to skip track.
On BlackBerry 10 this is easy, just head to 'System Volume' in the settings screen and turn 'Music Shortcuts' on. Once you've done that you'll be able to skip to the next track by holding the volume up button and skip to the previous one by holding the volume down button. A tap on either of them will change the volume as usual.
On Android something similar can be achieved with the help of a third party app such as 'Pocket Skip Track', which allows you to change track with a double tap of the volume buttons.
Unfortunately on iOS this is only possible with a jailbreak, while Windows Phone 8 has no way of doing it without first turning the screen on.
9. You can get Nokia apps on any Windows Phone 8 handset
One of the great things about Nokia's Lumia range of phones is the selection of Nokia apps that come with them. HERE Maps and HERE Drive+ in particular are impressive mapping and sat-nav applications.
However even if you don't have a Nokia handset there's nothing to stop you making use of some of them, as HERE Maps, HERE Drive+ and HERE Transit are all available to download from the Windows Phone 8 store.
10. You can block numbers
No longer do you have to suffer PPI claims lines and other nuisance callers, as most smartphones offer the ability to block numbers.
Now that iOS 7 has arrived this is a breeze from an iPhone. There are several ways to do it but the easiest is usually just to go into your call log, tap the 'i' next to the number you want to block and then tap 'block this caller'.
On Android things can be a bit more convoluted as how you do it depends in part on what phone you have. It may be that you can do it in a similar way to iOS 7, as for example on the HTC One you can simply tap and hold a number in your call history and then tap 'Block contact'.
Many other smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S4, feature an auto reject list, which is generally found in the settings menu and allows you to manually add numbers to a list of rejected callers.
However if all else fails there are also apps to do the job, such as 'Truecaller' and 'Mr. Number'.
Sadly it's not currently possible to natively block a number on BlackBerry 10, nor can Windows Phone 8 do it natively, however there are apps available from BlackBerry World that do the job, while Nokia has implemented a blocked numbers list on Lumia phones, which you can access from the 'extras + info' section of the settings screen.
And a few more for luck…
Rocking a Windows Phone 8 handset and wish there was an easier way to access your Internet Explorer tabs? You're in luck! The browser defaults to having a stop/refresh button to the left of the address bar, but you can switch this for a tabs or favourites button in the internet settings menu.
Loving your HTC One but wishing BlinkFeed would blink off? Well, while there's no way to fully disable it you can make it a whole lot less intrusive.
First off you can sort-of hide it by changing your default homescreen to something other than BlinkFeed and putting BlinkFeed on your far left or far right homescreen, so that you never need to see it.
Both of these can be done by tapping the three dots at the top of BlinkFeed, then selecting 'customize home screen'. From there you can move homescreens around and set your default one (the one that the phone always starts on) to something else.
If you're worried about BlinkFeed draining your battery and really never plan to use it, you can turn off all the feeds from the 'Topics and services' section of the menu and if you want to totally hide it you can always use a different launcher.
And finally…You can automate Android with the help of a third party app, such as 'Tasker'. What do we mean by automate? Well for example you can tell your music player of choice to launch whenever you plug headphones in, tell your Wi-Fi to automatically turn on when you get home or turn off between midnight and 8am (or whichever period you plan to be asleep during) and a whole lot more.
Tasker in particular has an incredible number of options and variables that you can tweak. It can be a little daunting but if you put the time in now to get your Android phone automated to your liking, it will save you a lot of time and hassle in the future.
Your phones battery is likely to thank you too since it can ensure that data connections are never on when they don't need to be.
Looking for a fancy new phone to go with your new-found knowledge? Check out our top list.
October is quickly running out which means Android 4.4 KitKat should be with us very soon, but right now it sounds like the new OS updates will be concerned more with TV rather than smartphones.
Korean ETNews has reported that KitKat's focus will be all about enhancing Google's TV efforts and improving compatibility between TV and devices.
According to sources speaking to the news site, KitKat will improve the big screen interface, as well as boosting communication between TVs and smaller bits of Android kit. Apparently there will be some changes to the app development environment too.
Given that Google TV is built on the Android OS, we're surprised it didn't do this sooner. But hopefully by bringing its TV efforts under the Android Google can clear up any confusion and take a decent swipe at the smart TV market.
Of course, KitKat will usher in some small phone-based changes too, but it sounds like they won't be main event this time around.
What does the future hold for our smartphones? Well according to chip maker Qualcomm the sky's the limit as manufacturers succumb to consumer's greed for bigger, better, more fantastical tech in their pocket.
TechRadar spoke to Michelle Leyden Li, Qualcomm's Senior Director of Marketing, about the developing technologies in the mobile field.
"Consumers never seem to be satisfied and people want more and more things on their devices," Li explained.
"People are using their phones more for movies, TV, video... it's their own personal device and they want a beautiful experience."
You say 4K
It's this impossible dream of true satisfaction which is pushing manufacturers to develop 2K, and ultimately 4K displays for our smartphones.
We've already seen the first 2K toting smartphone sneak out in China in the form of the Vivo Xplay3S and there's a lot of talk surrounding 4K screens arriving on handsets as soon as 2014.
With 4K comes a couple of obvious questions: do we need it, and isn't it going to kill battery life? Li doesn't seem to be concerned.
"The industry always seems to solve issues. The 4K screens will require a lot of power, but the industry always seems to rise to the challenge."
With higher resolution screens comes the need for better batteries to ensure you still get a full days use from your smartphone on a single charge, and Li says it's one of Qualcomm's top priorities.
Batteries and 64-bit
"Battery life is key. It's all about low power now and it's critical you keep processors as low powered as possible. Consumers don't want to trade off performance for better battery life - they want the best of both worlds.
"Everyone has a different day of usage and we're really focused on delivering the full feature set to customers."
While Apple is lauding the 64-bit chip in the iPhone 5S, iPad Air and iPad mini 2, Qualcomm isn't getting too carried away with the PC level processor just yet.
"We're always looking at what's going on in the industry, and the timings of launches and adoption," Li explained.
"Currently we're happy with our roadmap and the Snapdragon 800 chip."
That chip can be found in the likes of the Galaxy Note 3, LG G2 and Xperia Z Ultra, and although Qualcomm is staying coy on 64-bit involvement you get the feeling it will enter the arena at some point in the not too distance future.
Say cheese
Li also noted that the firm's 800 processor currently provides support for up to 55MP cameras as well as a software suit including HDR, object removal and zero shutter lag.
"The smartphone camera is huge," Li told us. "People always want to have great pictures and don't want to carry camera as well as phone."
Considering no phone is currently pushing Qualcomm's chip to its full camera potential, it raises the question what the next generation of SoCs (system on chip) will offer us.
The Nokia Lumia 1020 with its 41MP snapper suddenly doesn't seem so impressive now.
