Will the PadFone mini look like the PadFone Infinity... but smaller? Is that all that will change?
While most companies are wrapping up and preparing for the holiday season, Asus looks to be busy getting ready to launch the PadFone mini next week on December 11.
Invites have gone out for a media event in Taipei, Taiwan, while a listing on the Global Certificate Forum (GCF) has also popped up.
The launch falls in line with Asus CEO Jerry Shen's comments back in September when Asus confirmed that it had been working on the PadFone mini, which we believe will be a miniature version of the smartphone/tablet hybrid PadFone Infinity.
What's in a mini?
Not too much is revealed in the GCF listing, but the PadFone mini is expected to sport a 7-inch tablet coupled with a 4.3-inch smartphone via a docking station, unlike the Infinity's 10-inch tablet and 5-inch smartphone .
The listing does however indicate that the mini only has 3G, though it's strange to think that Asus would forego 4G. Of course, an entirely different model could be announced by Asus next week.
There's also no information yet on how much it'll cost or which markets it will head to, though either way, all will be revealed on December 11.
Samsung's last Windows Phone was no stunner, but it wasn't bad either
It wasn't so long ago (literally yesterday) that a Samsung phone that may be the Galaxy S5 leaked online, and now a new Samsung Windows Phone handset may have done the same.
A listing for an unnamed and unknown smartphone has appeared on the Indian site Zauba.com.
The model number, SM-W750V, suggests that it's a Windows Phone, and the listing states it has a 5-inch display.
Based on the price per unit listed on the site (33,245), the new Samsung Windows Phone handset (if that's what this is) will cost around $540 (£330, AU$593).
Definitely not for sale
The listing for the new phone describes two shipments, one with 25 units and the other with two.
The site says the phones were sent for the purposes of testing, evaluation, and R&D.
At that price this seems likely to be a high-end device comparable to Samsung's other flagships, though we can't say for sure.
Samsung hasn't announced any new Windows Phone smartphones, but that doesn't mean there aren't any in the works.
We've asked the company whether it has anything to share, and we'll update here if we hear back.
Tinkering with Tizen
The company has become more well known for its popular Android phones like the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 2, but it has Windows Phone devices like the Ativ S under its belt as well.
And given the Korean company's efforts with the open source OS Tizen, it's clear that it doesn't want to get bogged down doing just Android phones forever.
Samsung has so far put Tizen in a camera and a refrigerator, and announced plans for Tizen-powered TVs. But Tizen phones aren't expected to begin arriving until 2014.
Currently, those wishing to listen to Spotify on their mobile devices, must fork over a monthly subscription fee or settle for customisable radio stations, but that may be about to change a new report has claimed.
The Wall Street Journal brings word from "people familiar the plans" that Spotify plans to offer limited, ad-supported free streaming through mobile apps, as it does on the web and through desktop clients.
According to the report, three major record labels have already signed off on the idea by agreeing new licensing deals.
Aside from that, details are thin on the ground at present, but it's entirely possible, if the report turns out to be credible, Spotify could announce the feature next week at a media event in New York City.
The company said it had paid $1 billion (around £612m, AU$1.1bn) to artists, which translates to as little as $0.006 per play. At that rate, a song needs to be played 166 times before the artist makes a buck.
It's great for Lady Gaga and Katy Perry who's songs get millions of plays. At the time of writing, the latter's Roar, which has been played over 65m times on Spotify single would have made her $392,643.
For the emerging artist who's play count is in the hundreds or thousands? Well they might be able to buy a 6-pack and a pizza for their troubles.
The Nexus 5 is a great smartphone in many ways except for its camera. After languishing with a rather lagging snapper, the Nexus 5 is finally getting a camera boost with the Android 4.4.1 KitKat update.
Due to come as an over-the-air update in the next few days, the latest Android update is geared towards fixing and enhancing the Nexus 5's picture taking capabilities. Google's Director of Engineering for Android David Burke told The Verge in an interview that the Nexus 5 shutterbugs should expect a faster camera overall.
Faster shutter speeds could help shutterbugs with shaky hands and subjects (credit: The Verge)
Burke explained that the camera before the update tended to create images focused on better quality over speed. 4.4.1 makes it so the camera fires frames at faster shutter speeds while not relying on optical image stabilization as it does now.
"There's a tendency to say, 'oh, we have this cool thing that stabilizes, so lets make the shutter time longer, reduce the gain even longer, and get better shots," Burke told The Verge. "But while the Nexus 5's optical image stabilization allowed it to get better-than-average shots in low light, in good lighting it just made for frustratingly slow shooting speeds."
Quicker images also might lose a bit of color and detail (credit: The Verge)
Post-update, the Nexus 5 camera will shoot images at faster shutter speeds producing pictures with less motion blur. This comes with the tradeoff of more pixel noise because the camera is probably bumping up the ISO sensitivity to do this. Burke says his team has also improved the camera's autofocus, the exposure, and the white balance.
Snappier
The trade off of faster images could be more noise (credit: The Verge)
On top of improving image quality, the camera app reportedly launches a full second faster. Default Camera app users will also notice a new progress indicator for HDR+ mode to indicate how far photo processing is progressing.
One extra non-camera related thing the 4.4.1 update fixes on the Nexus 5 is the face unlock bug. Currently facial recognition sometimes causes a bug that locks the camera app with a blank white screen, which requires a full device reboot to fix.
9to5google also spotted the Android 4.4.1 KitKat update will be arriving to the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7-inch 2 as well.
It's hardly got the catchiest name on the planet, but the Fujitsu Arrows A SoftBank 301F smartphone does have a neat party trick when it comes to battery life.
Fujitsu claims you'll be able to plug the SoftBank 301F in for just 10 minutes and it will have recharged enough to give you a full day of usage.
In 10 minutes the 301F can regain over 30% of its battery capacity, and when fully charged Fujitsu reckons you'll get up to three days use from the 2600mAh power pack.
So how is the Arrows A SoftBank 301F eke out so much life from the battery considering it's got a 5-inch full HD display, 2.2GHz quad-core processor and 2GB RAM? Well Fujitsu has done some clever stuff with the screen.
Screen saver
The TFT LCD display actually has its own RAM embedded in it which stores screen data and reduces power consumption when viewing static images.
That's all well and good if you're reading an article on a website or looking at a picture, but we fear as soon as you stick on an HD movie we will be back to the normal battery draining issues.
The SoftBank 301F has also been treated to the Fujitsu Human Centric Engine technology, which sounds incredibly fancy, but in reality means the phone constantly monitors your environment and activity and adjusts settings accordingly to eek out as much battery life as possible.
If you fancy fine tuning your power saving settings the 301F also comes with Fujitsu's NX!eco application, allowing you to tinker to your hearts content.
The Arrows A SoftBank 301F is highly unlikely to ever make it out of Japan, but it's the fancy new battery tech we're really interested in here and we could see it creep into more handsets in the future.
The CEO of fingerprint scanning firm Fingerprint Cards, Johan Carlstrom, still reckons that Samsung is going big on touch scanning in 2014.
After the launch of the iPhone 5S with its Touch ID fingerprint sensor in tow, there came a flurry of rumours that Samsung was on the cusp of following suit.
The rumours reached fever pitch when a false story came out that Samsung had bought Fingerprint Cards, a story which is now the subject of an official fraud investigation.
Carlstrom told Reuters that he "expects" Samsung to launch one or possibly two phones with swipe or touch fingerprint sensors next year, adding that "our goal is to be selected as one of their sensor suppliers in 2014".
That's despite word from an anonymous Samsung official who said in September that the company is "not yet developing the technology" for mobile fingerprint scanning.
What's more, it's strange that Carlstrom would even mention Samsung after buyout rumours from October, particularly when his company is still suspected of - and co-operating in an investigation about - falsely spreading the Samsung acquisition story to boost its own shares.
Plenty of fish
The company isn't putting all its eggs in Samsung's basket, hinting that it is also in talks with other smartphone makers including LG and Huawei.
Fingerprint is walking the walk as well as talking the talk, forecasting that it will make five times more money in 2014 than it did this year.
Carlstrom also revealed that Apple considered buying Fingerprint when it was shopping for a sensor supplier back in 2010 - it ended up opting for Authentec instead, which formed the basis of its TouchID tech.
While it's interesting to hear the viewpoint of a clearly outspoken industry insider, it's also worth bearing in mind Carlstrom's bias - after all, the CEO of a fingerprint scanning company is hardly going to come out with, "Yeah, fingerprint scanning's not that great really. I doubt it'll take off."
Imagine the scene: Barack, BlackBerry in hand, nervously scuttles over to the secret service to make his plea. "Please sir, I want an iPhone," he says. All he gets in response is a sunglass-covered stare that means "absolutely not," and the leader of the free world is sent dashing back to the Oval Office, a tear in his eye and disappointment in his palm.
It looks like even the President of the United States is falling out of love with BlackBerry, after Barack Obama revealed that he wasn't allowed one of Apple's shiny iPhones.
During a speech at the White House, Obama mentioned that he's "not allowed, for security reasons, to have an iPhone." Back in 2008 he was branded "cool" because he used as BlackBerry. How the times have changed.
He is, however, allowed both an iPad and a MacBook, so it's not all deprivation.
More blips
While you let the fact that you've probably got a better phone than the president of the United States sink in, take a look at some more awesome blips.
While it's skipped straight on by the mooted November 6 release date, the Nokia Lumia 929 does still seem to be on its way as it's been caught on camera once again.
Phone Arena's source has apparently bought a prototype Lumia 929 from some shady tipster, showing off its 5-inch screen and Verizon logo.
The phone is expected to hit the US first - it was the Verizon logo that gave it away - with no inkling of whether it'll proliferate out to Europe and Australia afterwards.
December phone
Phone Arena's sources tell it that the launch date could land in mid-to-late December, which seems an odd time to launch a new phone but hey, we're sure Nokia knows what its doing.
The handset's 5-inch screen should make for a smaller-hand alternative to the 6.5-inch Lumia 1520.
Rumour has it that the 929 will come with a 20MP camera and a price tag of around $500 (£309 or AU$535 or thereabouts).
Touchscreens of the future could have both front and back controls (credit: Patent Bolt)
As if curved screens like the one on the Samsung Galaxy Round weren't enough, the South Korean company has now filed a patent for a transparent display.
The patent, which was turned up by PatentBolt, describes a transparent display with both front and backside touch controls.
There are obvious advantages to this as it would allow users to make use of the otherwise empty space on the back of a handset and navigate a smartphone without obscuring the screen with their fingers.
For example, you could tap on the back of the screen to open a folder or use it to pause or rewind a video, thereby ensuring you don't miss anything by covering the front of the screen.
Future potential
But the potential uses can go even deeper than that. One example given in the patent application is of simultaneously moving two overlapping objects. One can be dragged by sliding across the front of the screen and the other by dragging across the back.
The technology could also be used to create more complex and secure pattern locks on a phone, where both the front and back of the screen are used.
With a household name like Samsung on board though this could be the next big thing - although given we got a headache using the Pureness' transparent display, we don't have high hopes for this idea from Samsung.
