Sony Xperia Z 5-inch Android superphone announced officially

Sony Mobile has announced the launch of its new flagship smartphone for 2013, the Sony Xperia Z.

The new phone, a mammoth 7.9mm thick, 5-inch beast, has previously gone under the guise of the Sony Yuga and enjoyed the usual array of leaks ahead of its unveiling at CES, where Sony has finally made the phone official.

Called the Xperia Z – because, according to Sony, everything before has been a build-up to this moment – the new smartphone will go on sale in the UK in the coming weeks, with mobile phone operators including Vodafone all keen to stock it in white, black and purple.

The phone itself, which Pocket-lint has already had a chance to play with, measures 139 x 71 x 7.9mm and weighs 146 grams, and comes with a Full HD 1080p Reality Display with Mobile Bravia Engine 2 that builds on the technology found in the company’s 2012 range of phones.

That screen, which is as stunning as it looks in our hands-on pictures, is the main focus of the design, with the casing emphasising Sony’s “OmniBalance” approach that means it looks the same from all angles.

That means the front is void of all buttons and fixtures aside from a front-facing camera and the Sony logo. It’s the same for the back – and, for the most part, the sides – with Sony opting to cover all the ports to create not only an almost seamless design, but also one that is waterproof. Yep drop it in the swimming pool, or more likely the toilet, and it’ll be fine.

There is one feature that breaks away from the smooth lines, and that’s the rather large aluminium power button on the right. It’s an interesting choice, but one that feels well-made and comfortable to use. It’s the phone’s worry button and many will welcome that.

Of course that 5-inch 1080p 443ppi display (a lot more than most phones on the market) is big – like, really big as our hands-on pictures show – and like the Samsung Galaxy Note II makes phones like the iPhone 5 and even the Samsung Galaxy S III look tiny by comparison.

Surprisingly it’s not quite as big as we were expecting, with the screen real-estate smaller than the SGN2 and the casing (just 7.9mm thick) keeping the size to a minimum as much as possible. Interestingly the Sony Xperia XL, also announced at CES 2013, comes with the same display in a smaller non-waterproof housing, but Sony has confirmed to Pocket-lint that it won’t be coming to the UK.

But it’s not just a big screen. There is power behind the Xperia Z too in the guise of the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon processor – the 1.5GHz asynchronous quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor with 2GB RAM – a 13-megapixel fast-capture camera, 4G LTE, NFC, and a 2400mAh battery which, with additional help from a new software feature from Sony, should give you more than nine days of battery life. We’re thinking standby, not active use here.

Message originally posted at http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/48940/sony-xperia-z-pictures-preview

Samsung Hints of Q1 2013 Release for Galaxy S4 via its AMOLED Roadmap

samsung‘s Galaxy S4 is likely to come out within the first quarter of 2013, a new blog report said, which based the claim on the hints ‘leaked’ by Samsung during a side gathering in the recently-concluded Las Vegas CES.

4.8-inch and 5.5-inch, fitting the two handsets with 310ppi that were launched successively second and third quarter last year.

The map finished off with a Full HD screen launch projection, scheduled between the months of January and March this year. The still unidentified handset on this AMOLED screen will sport pixel density of 440ppi to be hosted on a 4.99-inch screen.

Tracking the development that Samsung itself supplied, it is highly possible that the next AMOLED rendition will be accorded to the Galaxy S4, rumoured to debut anytime within the first half of 2013, and the Galaxy Note 3 after that.

It was also indicated, AnandTech said, that the new AMOLED technology will deliver battery savings of about 25 per cent, suggesting that the next batch of Galaxy smartphones will enjoy longer operation times.

UniverCell plans to launch tablet computer

Chennai-based mobile handset retail chain UniverCell is looking at the opportunity of launching its own brand of tablet computer with foucs to cater the education sector. The company is in talks with hardware suppliers and content providers about the project, said D Sathish Babu, founder and managing director of UniverCell.

The company has been observing the market and has identified the accelerated growth of tablet market, with the tablet computers in the lower price points gaining momentum. It would decide on the brand and plans are also there to speak with various state governments to offer the product in government schools.

“We have seen that a lot of students are using the tablets for educational purpose. Our plan is to tie up with a content provider and incorporate various contents into the tablet, which would be useful for both the teachers and the students in education sector,” said Babu.

“Plans are in a nascent stage and we will take further steps after the festival season is over. But we see a huge market for the tablet computers in the country in near future,” he added. He said that the tablet market is growing faster than the smart phones market in the country, though did not revealed any numbers.

The company, with around 450 stores across South India an a few in non-South region, is planning to expand with another 100 stores next year. This year, it had a target of opening 100 stores, of which already have opened around 70 stores. The company is planning to launch its stores in Goa and Orissa and expand market in Maharashtra where it has a little presence.

The company had a revenue of Rs 850 crore last year and expects it to grow towards Rs 1200 crore by end of this year. The company today announced launch of the Apple iPhone 5 in Chennai. The company would sell the product through its selected stores and would showcase in its live stores where customers could have a touch and feel of the news phone, said Babu.

T-Mobile USA Plans to Introduce Apple Products in 2013

It’s official, Apple products will be available through T-Mobile in 2013. The plans were unveiled Thursday at Investor’s Day by company CEO Rene Obermann though the details did not include specifically which devices would be available. Speculation suggests that their offering will include both the iPhone and iPad models.

Adding the iPhone to their phone lineup may be just what the now-struggling mobile carrier needs to perk up sales. Lately their subscriber base been dwindling, which many analysts have suggested is because of their lack of Apple support (although some of their customers do use iPhones on the T-Mobile network that were purchased unlocked from other sources).

Unless the company is planning on waiting for quite some time until a new model of the iPhone or iPad becomes available, it is expected that the carrier will debut with the current iPhone 5 smartphone as well as the iPad Mini and fourth generation iPad Retina tablets.

According to representatives at T-Mobile, more details on this news will become available “at a later date.”

Courtesy : http://www.padgadget.com/2012/12/07/t-mobile-usa-plans-to-introduce-apple-products-in-2013/

Motorola to pull out of South Korea in 2013, shed around 500 jobs

As part of its Google-led overhaul to become a lean and mean smartphoneoutfit,Motorola is pulling out of South Korea next year. Around 540 jobs will be lost, with 60-or-so staffers being offered a chance to relocate to the company’s R&D departments elsewhere. It’s not the first high-profile departure from the country this year, after HTC found it difficult to compete with the local superpowers – and we can’t imagine it’ll be the last.

Courtesy :   http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/10/motorola-to-pull-out-of-south-korea-in-2013-shed-around-500-job/

Apple iPhone likely to be sold by T-Mobile in 2013

Courtesy : NDTV

T-Mobile USA had been the lone iPhone-less carrier among the four national wireless companies in the U.S. Although it has been possible to use iPhones on T-Mobile networks, customers had to provide the phones themselves. The phones also work at much slower speeds, though T-Mobile has been reshuffling its network to match or exceed AT&T’s data speeds.

The three larger carriers, AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp., already sell the iPhone, as do many smaller ones.

Deutsche Telekom AG said Thursday that T-Mobile will add Apple products to its portfolio in the coming year. Though it didn’t mention the iPhone by name in its press release, that’s the product it is most likely referring to. It’s possible T-Mobile will also sell a cellular version of the iPad, as the three national carriers do.

Apple spokeswoman Natalie Harrison confirmed the agreement but would not comment further. In an email, T-Mobile also wouldn’t mention the iPhone by name, saying only that more details will come “at a later date.”

Having the iPhone would likely win T-Mobile more customers and help it keep up with rivals. But the upfront costs of carrying the device are high for phone companies. That’s because carriers subsidize the iPhone when they sell it to customers, counting on making up the money in service fees over the life of a two-year contract. Last year, U.S. Cellular Corp., the country’s sixth-largest cellphone company, said it turned down an opportunity to carry the iPhone, saying it’s too expensive.

T-Mobile has agreed to combine its cellphone business with MetroPCS Communications Inc. in a deal they signed earlier this fall. The combined company will stay No. 4 among U.S. wireless carriers, though the combination is aimed at letting the two better compete with larger rivals. Deutsche Telekom will hold a 74 percent stake in the combined company. MetroPCS shareholders will own the rest. The deal awaits government clearance.

Originally posted at http://gadgets.ndtv.com/telecom/news/apple-iphone-likely-to-be-sold-by-t-mobile-in-2013-302278

Upcoming Nokia Mobile – Nokia Lumia 920

Approximate Price – 24,999

 Nokia Lumia 920 is a new gift by Nokia in the very famous and successful Lumia series, which supports wireless charging. The Finnish handsets maker, Nokia, has some way back launched the highest ever 41 megapixels camera sensor smartphone, Nokia PureView 808, which was very warmly welcomed by the Indian customers. The company has again created the magic with Nokia Lumia 920 that has the same PureView camera, but this time it is 16 megapixels only. The body built of this phone is very attractive and to make it more appealing the company designed various vibrant colored body cover for this smartphone. The Lumia series is doing a good business in the market and with the time to come it is supposed that this will also boost up the decreased market share of Nokia. The display of this droid is very sharp and crystal clear. Unlike the PureView 808, this smartphone is not running on the Symbian operating system but it has the very new and advanced Microsoft Windows Phone 8, Apollo, operating system that brings a whole new experience at your feet. Another most appealing feature of this phone is its Dual core 1.5 GHz processor that makes the processing speed of this beast pretty fast, like the lightening in the sky. The only drawback with this smartphone is that it does not hold any microSD card slot, so you cannot extend the external memory of the device.

Nokia Lumia 920 has an AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with multi touch facility. The 4.5 inches wide display provides a screen resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels with 16 million colors conspiring to make so many color combinations. The 326 ppi of pixel density brings real life like look to the device thus you will feel everything moving on the screen is real and you can touch it with your naked hands. Not only the screen, but the sound quality of this handsets also very good and of superior quality. The Internet connectivity options like EDGE, GPRS, 3G with HSPA+ speed, Wi-Fi, etc. delivers very fast connectivity speed and to add more usability to this, you will also find GPS navigation application in the device. The internal storage capacity of this phone is 32GB with 1GB space for RAM. The camera has Carl Zeiss Optics and the lens has auto focus feature with support of LED flash. This camera completely depends on the PureView technology and this shooter can also record 1080 pixel videos by capturing 30 frames per second.
Nokia Lumia 920 is also the owner of very robust and strong battery that delivers you a fair enough talk time and standby time.

Courtesy : http://mobiles.pricedekho.com/mobiles/nokia/lumia-920-price-pladl.html#Review