Earlier this week, rumours were rampant around Chinese tech sites with details of ZTE launching their new flagship phone brands today (21st December). The so called “Doomsday” launch was expected to be the day that Chinese phone fans would learn the true specs and pricing of the Nubia Z5, however the launch hasn’t happened.
ZTE has announced that they will unveil the Nubia branded 5-inch phone on the 26th December, citing no reason for the change in plan. However, sources suggest that ZTE want to put some distance between their launch and the recently release of the Meizu MX2, which became available to buy on the 19th.
The Nubia Z5 is expected to go on sale in for $480 before the end of the year and could be equipped with a 5-inch 1080 screen, quad-core Qualcomm S4 Pro CPU, 2GB RAM , 13 mega-pixel rear camera and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
It's a story of David vs Goliath, but in this version Goliath has rather cruelly crushed little David.
Apple has closed down a Kickstarter project by refusing to licence its Lightning charger. So now the POP portable charging station won't see the light of day, and the technology and design lab behind it has to return the $139,170 in funding it received on the crowd-sourcing website.
The POP was going to be a portable charger that let you juice up your Apple device, among other phones and tablets. Apple, not happy with its iPhones and iPads sharing the stage with rivals, didn't licence its Lightning dock, and so the team have had to abandon the project.
Understandably peeved
The team at Edison Junior, the company behind the POP, are understandably annoyed, and aren't shy about letting it be known. "We are pissed," CEO Jamie Siminoff told VentureBeat. "I think they are being a bunch of assholes, and I think they're hurting they're customers."
Edison Junior will have to foot the fees from credit cards as well as the Kickstarter charges. In total, that amounts to more than $11,000.
"We would have loved to have made the product," Siminoff said. "At the same time I feel like we're making the correct decision… I'm not willing to compromise on the product."
He guaranteed all backers would get their donations back in full.
And he had a word of warning for Apple over its business practices. "When you do things that are bad for the customer… I think it will be bad for them," he said.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 - TechRadar's phone of the year
It's often said that God works in mysterious ways. And for those who believe in the afterlife, the thought that the late Steve Jobs may have been upstairs whispering into the ear of the big man isn't hard to imagine.
After all, it's been a busy year for the South Koreans, from innovating to litigating - and finding $1bn down the back of the sofa to pay a fine to Apple.
How things has changed since Samsung came onto the scene years ago with the dual-screen A300. Now, they're, debatably, the market leader in tech.
Here, we take a look at their highs and lows of 2012.
Samsung's Highs
1. The Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy Note 10.1
Love them, or hate them, there's no denying that 2012 has given us probably the best portfolio we've seen from Samsung.
When the much-anticipated Galaxy S3 was announced earlier this year, it wasn't at CES or MWC like its peers.
The Galaxy S3 – TechRadar's phone of the year, so far
Such was the excitement around it, Samsung was able to hold its own event, taking a cue from arch-rival Apple, because it was so confident the crowds would come specifically to see what was on offer.
The day of launch came and we were there to see the queue at the Samsung store in Stratford. It may not have been iPhone length, but it was pretty big.
It's still at the top of our list as best phone. The punters agree – Samsung managed to ship 18 million of the things in the third quarter of this year.
And don't get us started on the Note 2, which we reviewed and found to be one of the best devices out there.
Even the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet has managed to sell impressively – despite having a fairly lower-resolution screen than those we've grown accustomed to.
2. Beating Apple (to an extent)
Naturally, this annoyed Apple.
Remember how Steve Jobs threatened to "go thermonuclear" on Android because he felt it was a stolen product? Well, as Samsung got bigger, Jobs' ire (and that of Apple after his demise) appeared to shift less from Google and more to Samsung.
Things like S-Voice didn't help the issue (come on – who thinks that isn't Siri rebadged and made into a more rubbish product?)
The legal toing and froing has made us dizzy and reminiscent of a game of ping-pong, with a £652m ($1.05bn) fine in place of the ball.
But the sweetest part of Samsung's fight will have been the victory it scored in forcing Apple to publish an apology on its website. Not just tucked away anywhere as was originally the deal – but on the UK front page, no less. Ouch! And it's still there, for all to see as they head to Apple online to buy their Christmas presents. Double ouch!
3. Giving us the first Galaxy Camera
Nobody (even Cupertino) could accuse Samsung of not being innovative.
Sure, a lot of things in Android (and TouchWiz) are similar to those found in iOS, and vice versa. Who invented them is a whole other story.
But the newly launched Galaxy Camera has been a great creation.
Snap Happy – The Galaxy Camera, allowing peeping toms to Instagram their naughty snaps
Again, Wi-Fi enabled cameras aren't new – but one running 3G and Android?! Now, that is cool.
Remember, this isn't a phone with a great camera. It's a great camera with a phone added on. Or, at least, the phone functionality - without the calls bit.
Naturally, it's more of a niche device – and it's hardly sleek or cheap - but the thought of being able to edit your phones on the go and even mix up a bit of Instagram action, then tweet or Facebook them, is truly marvellous. We're currently working on our detailed review – but early indications are that it's a belter.
4. Getting a new boss
And it's not just new products hitting the shelves; it's new people at the top too. Never ones to accuse companies of nepotism, we wouldn't dream of saying that Jay Y. Lee's recent appointment to vice president has anything to do with the fact that he is the son of the chairman.
In fact, his dad, Lee Kun Hee has been the big cheese there for the last 25 years – meaning old Junior will have learned from the best. And the news went down well within Sammy circles – meaning there's every chance Jay Y. Lee will continue to build on Samsung's incredible success.
5. Golden publicity
At London 2012 the world was watching and Samsung had a front-row seat as one of the main sponsors, meaning it got even more publicity worldwide.
The partnership was highly evident during the games – and tickets to events were even given to those early adopters of the Galaxy S3 if they bought direct from a Samsung store.
A golden endorsement even came from Goldenballs himself, David Beckham, as recently as late November, when he refused to answer a reporter's iPhone at a press conference because it wasn't a Samsung product. The video went viral. PR doesn't get better than this.
Samsung's Lows
1. Losing out on key partnerships
It's not been a great year for some of Samsung's partnerships though.
Apple and Samsung have long held a deal where Samsung supplies parts to Cupertino, including memory chips. But Apple was reported to be cutting its reliance on its bitter rival amid the court action that has had the two sides at such odds.
Samsung's had to make up with orders from its own handset division and so, even though it's making huge profits on its phones, it'll be taking a hit on components, which can't be great for balance sheets.
Not only that, but Google went with rival South Koreans, LG, for their latest phone offering - the Nexus 4.
While Samsung did manage to secure a Nexus tablet deal, it will have been a bitter blow after successfully holding the Nexus contract with Google for nearly two years, giving us the Nexus S and the Galaxy Nexus handsets in that time.
2. Confusion over Ativ S
Samsung has also been struggling with other product lines.
Yes, Android is going great guns, but remember that motto, 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket'? Yup – that's one Samsung could be learning from, as the firm's Windows Phone 8 offerings seem to have been given the B-Class treatment.
In fact, the debut Windows Phone 8 handset from the firm has been delayed until January, according to Carphone Warehouse, which means that it's missing out on that key Christmas market. Especially galling, considering offerings from the likes of Nokia and HTC are on the shelves and that by the time the Ativ S does grace us with its presence, it's going to be nothing special in most eyes.
The unloved sibling: The Ativ S has seen more delays than London Bridge station
3. Dropping fail
You know those videos that show idiots smashing up phones that we would kill to have? Yeah, those. Well, despite our personal feelings, there was something voyeuristic about seeing which would come out top when dropped onto a hard floor.
It made sense to pitch the Galaxy S3 against the new kid iPhone 5 and, sadly for Samsung, in most cases - surprisingly - the iPhone 5 proved to be more of a hard man. It's not what we'd have expected considering the weight and materials used in both, but the proof is all over the web.
And don't say that it doesn't matter because you take care of your phone – we do too. And all the casing and protection made no difference when we dropped our S3 on a concrete floor last week, shattering the screen. Cue tears, rants, emptying of bank accounts and insurance claims!
4. Security fears
And it's not just the physical side where Apple came out top, but the security element, too. Yep, we know Apple has long prided itself on that walled-garden approach when it comes to apps (for non-jail-broken devices), which means you're not susceptible to viruses, compared to Android.
But the fear was stoked earlier this year when it was revealed that Samsung devices in particular contained a specific line of code, thanks to TouchWiz, which made them vulnerable to nasty people and their nasty plans to do bad things to your phone if they so wished. There weren't reports of any handsets actually being exploited – but Samsung was forced to rush out a fix and the publicity wouldn't have done it any favours.
5. Being blinged up – badly
You remember that scene from ET where a young Drew Barrymore gets her hands on him and dresses him up? Yeah, that feeling when you see someone walking a cat in a pair of mini Ugg boots or pushing a pooch in a pram? That's how lots felt when they saw what Swarovski had done to the Galaxy S3.
The crystal kings got their hands on a model and rushed out this concept for those with more money than sense. Yours for a snip at £2,099 - but bad news for the wallet. At least you get a free case with it though – so the spirit of Christmas is alive and well.
Bling tidy – but imagine the insurance premium on this! Source : techradar[dot]com
It's been claimed that Research In Motion will be calling its new BB10 touchscreen device the BlackBerry Z10, indicating a new nomenclature strategy for the Canadian mobile maker. The device, along with a qwerty-keyboard-equipped handset, will be unveiled at a special event on January 30.
On the same day that Research In Motion announced a mixed bag of financial results for its third quarter, word has emerged that the name of one of the two handsets set to be unveiled at the end of January as part of its BB10 launch will be the ‘BlackBerry Z10’. Catchy enough for you?
Unwired View said a “reliable” – though unnamed – source had informed it that Z10 would be the name of the touchscreen ‘L-series’ handset, and should could come to market in two flavors, black and white. The name of the qwerty-keyboard-equipped ‘N-series’ handset isn’t mentioned in Unwired View’s report. Anyone want to hazard a guess – X10? Z11?
In its report, the website also included supposed marketing material (pictured right) clearly showing the touchscreen device in both colors below the text, “The new BlackBerry Z10.”
A new nomenclature strategy would of course make perfect sense for RIM, seeing it’d all be part of its “re-designed, re-engineered, re-invented” next-generation operating system, BB10 – the platform designed to save the company from extinction. And besides, the names of its existing products – eg. Torch 9810, Curve 9350 – hardly roll of the tongue.
BlackBerry 10 is all set for lift-off at a special event on January 30, with its new devices hitting stores by the end of February.
In other RIM-related news on Thursday, the company announced its Q3 revenue had dropped 47 percent year on year. It also saw its subscriber base shrink by a million users over the last quarter, dropping to 79 million. Meanwhile, its cash reserves increased by $600 million to $2.9 billion.
Even the cheapest Android phone is a complex device
Where do old Android phones go to die?
You could sell your phone and get perhaps £30. You could just send it for recycling and give your conscience a boost. Or you could reuse it for something useful, saving yourself spending more money and extending its life at the same time.
At its heart, even the cheapest Android phone is a complex, internet-connected device that can be put to a host of useful tasks.
If you've got an old Android phone or tablet lying around, here are our top ways to reuse the forgotten thing and help increase the employment figures.
One thing to keep in mind; some of these ideas will require the device to remain powered, so investing in a spare mains-power adaptor and USB lead might be required.
If you're interested in seeing how much you can get for your old mobile phone, why not try TechRadar's mobile phone recycling service, powered by Sellmymobile.com. Just pop in your handset name and it will compare a wide range of deals from multiple services to get you the best price for your old mobile phone.
1. Security or nursery monitor
This is the idea that kicked all of this off.
We had a cheap £30 motorsied Wi-Fi security camera from Ebay, which we decided we could use as a nursery monitor – turns out it had audio built in as well.
There are a number of excellent apps that will tap into the huge range of these IP cameras and will make your phone function as an ideal security or nursery monitor.
Try IP Cam Viewer Lite for free, with a 'pro' version available for £2.50.
2. AirPlay audio streamer
How much does Apple want for its AirPlay adaptors like the AirPort Express? A lot.
Stuff that. Grab a fee app such as AirPlay/DLNA Receiver, just install it and reboot your device and connect the device to your local network. Open iTunes and click the 'AirPlay' icon where a new ITV@86 AirPort Express device will magically appear.
We admit that an app in Chinese isn't the easiest to understand, so you could try AirBubble which has a 30-minute limit, unless you get the £1.31 licence.
3. A kids' toy
Children always want to join in with what daddy or mummy is doing, which, if you're trying to send an email or reply to a text message can be just adorably annoying.
Plenty of people have PC-connected TVs, and while many may have a Media Center remote control, these are horribly limited.
A far, far better solution is the free and easy Unified Remote which supports direct mouse and keyboard control of multiple PCs over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
It includes dedicated remotes for WMC, WMP, NetFlix, Spotify and pretty much anything else you can mention.
If you search the Google Play Store you will also find dedicated Wi-Fi remotes for many Smart TVs too.
5. Kitchen assistant
Using a combination of Google Tasks, web browser and a cheap stand, a spare Android phone or tablet becomes the ideal kitchen assistant.
You can build up a shopping list on Google Tasks, synchronise it with your other devices and take it with you shopping.
Then in the kitchen use it to follow recipes and cook items to perfection, by using the built-in timer, so nothing ever gets overcooked.
As it's also touchscreen, it's easy to keep clean too.
6. Ultra low-power server
A phone can't be a file server, can it?
Think again; the free app Servers Ultimate is an ambitious project that brings pretty much every server-based protocol to your Android phone, turning it into an HTTP(S), DLNA, DDNS, IRC, FTP, POP3 serving master.
This is very geeky - and not for technological lightweights - but works a treat.
7. Portable media player
You're lucky if you get a day's worth of battery life out of your phone at the best of times, never mind if you're also trying to watch a film on the train, or enjoy the latest One Direction album on your commute to work.
So save its battery and use your old device for these menial tasks.
Add in a cheap SD card for storage, which will also take the load off your main device, and enjoy it as a dedicated audio/video media player.
8. Portable games console
Gaming is big business on tablets and phones.
So not only is your Android device a solid gaming platform – though if it's an older device newer games may not run – but what it can also be is a classic gaming platform through emulation.
IP Webcam is a neat free app that turns your Android device into a handy IP-based webcam, so you can connect to it from another Android device or any network computer using a browser, or even Skype.
It supports audio and a host of clever features such as streaming to VLC.
If you're after a cheap Wi-Fi IP camera, this certainly does the trick.
10. Video camera
It's unlikely you're going to want to use an old Android device as a spare camera, as we'd imagine the camera quality leaves something to be desired.
But that's not to say it can't be used as a decent video camera, though.
The moving image, being lower resolution, is a lot more forgiving on poor quality sensors and lenses, while even old devices can offer HD 720p encoding.
Again, slap in a suitable SD card and you have a device to capture hours of video.
11. Sat nav
Grab Navfree. It is, importantly, an offline sat-nav app, as otherwise with Google Navigation you'll need a data connection.
Make sure you grab the UK maps and postcode downloads and you're ready for a bit of free navigation.
Using a spare device means you could more permanently fix it within the car with attached power without worrying about it.
It'll also work without hassle when your main phone might not have any signal.
