smartphone News - Page 58 of 73 - CNX Software

November 26, 2013November 30, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

ThL W200 Unboxing Pictures and Video

I recently decided I had enough of my Nokia C6-01 phone, and decided to look for a Chinese smartphone with the following specifications: quad core processor, 5″ to 5.5″ display (720p resolution), at least 1 GB RAM, at least 8 GB flash, GPS, Wi-FI and 3G (UMTS) support, all that for about $200. It also had to run Android 4.2.x as I want to give Miracast a try. Ideally, I would also have liked a phone with Bluetooth 4.0 LE in case an Android 4.3 was in the work. But since Bluetooth versions are rather a game of luck in Chinese websites, I did not put too much importance to this last point. I finally went with ThL W200 as it matched my minimum specifications, the price was right, and it got a few people excited over at XDA Developers Forum. I bought the white version for $187.20 on DealExtreme, […]

November 25, 2013December 24, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

GalaGreat GalaRing NFC Smart Ring Unlocks Doors, Smartphones, and Exchanges Data

Once upon a time, last August more exactly :), the NFC Ring launched on Kickstarter, and funding was an amazing success. Thanks to NFC technology, the ring is battery-less, and communicates with other NFC enabled devices so that you can unlock your door, unlock your smartphone, share information such as contact details, website links, pictures, etc… The rings will most probably be shipped to Kickstarter wizards backers next month or in January. However, a very similar product called GalaGreat GalaRing G1 has appeared on websites such as GeekBuying and Expansys for about $30. [Update: It’s now available on DealExtreme for $28.47] There are 2 NFC chips from NXP in the ring which is also said to be water- and dust-proof (IP68). The ring is available in small (Ø 17mm), medium (Ø 20), and large (Ø 22mm) sizes. As mentioned above the device is battery-less, so you won’t have to worry […]

November 22, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

1Sheeld Arduino Shield Leverages Your Android Smartphone Hardware

To get started with Arduino, a simple board is enough, with soon, you’ll need to add shields for Wi-Fi, sensors, maybe a small display, etc.. and costs add up. Integreight, an Egyptian startup, had to idea to create a simple shield called 1Sheeld that can leverage your smartphone hardware assets such as Wi-Fi, LEDs, sensors, the display, the speaker, etc.., so you don’t have to spend extra money on shields. Technical Specifications: Runs on an ATmega162 @ 16 MHz Uses a standard HC-06 adapter (Bluetooth 2.0) providing up to 30 feet range (about 9 meters) Uses a modified version of the Firmata protocol Can communicate with Arduino using UART 50mA current draw That’s for the hardware, and there’s also a software platform and Android app to manages the communication between the shield and the smartphone, and select different shields options. You’d have to write your sketch using the company’s library, […]

November 21, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon 805 Processor with Full 4K Support

Qualcomm has just announced their “next generation” Snapdragon 805 “Ultra HD” processor, part of the Snapdragon 800 family. The SoC supports video playback and capture, image and graphics processing on display supporting Ultra HD (aka 4K2K or 2160p) resolution. Snapdragon 805 features four Krait 450 core up to 2.5GHz, and an Adreno 420 GPU which is claimed to have 40% more graphics processing than its predecessor: Adreno 330. Snapdragon 805 key features: High performance – Krait 450 quad-core CPU @ 2.5 GHz per core, memory bandwidth support of up to 25.6 GB/second. High graphics performance and Ultra HD resolution – Adreno 420 GPU with support for hardware tessellation and geometry shaders, and 4K processing. Connectivity – Integration with either the Qualcomm Gobi MDM9x25 or the Gobi MDM9x35 modem (just announced too) for cellular connectivity. Gobi MDM9x25 support LTE Category 4 with peak data rates of up to 150Mbps, and the […]

November 15, 2013November 18, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Low Cost Rugged, Waterproof and Dustproof Smartphones Powered by Mediatek Processors

If you need a truly waterproof and dustproof smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active, compliant with IP67 standard, is probably the most popular phone with this particular feature. However, the phone sells for nearly $600 on site like Amazon, and it may be nice to have some lower cost options. Today, I’ve come across two smartphones powered by Mediatek dual and quad core SoC that are both compliant with IP67 standard, and although their specs do not match the Galaxy S4 Active, the features found in these phones are still pretty good, and they can be purchased at a much lower price. The smartphones I’ll feature in this post are also rugged, which is not really the case for the Samsung device. IP67 standard? What does that mean in practice? The IP Code, Ingress Protection Rating, aka International Protection Rating, classifies and rates the degree of protection provided against the […]

November 12, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Tizen 3.0 Features & Tizen Lite Unveiled

We have just learned about NX300M camera, the first Tizen device, based on Tizen 1.0, but development of the new mobile operating systems is still going on, and the key features of Tizen 3.0, as well as Tizen Lite, Tizen for low-end hardware, have been unveiled at the Tizen Developer Summit on 11th of November 2013. Tizen 3.0 features: Update core OS and toolchain Multiple user support 64-bit Intel and ARM architecture support (New) 3D UI Framework with 3D rendering for 2D and 3D objects in 3D, and a dynamic animation library WayLand based compositor replacing X Crosswalk – HTML5 based application runtime based on Chromium/Blink Tizen 3.0 release is scheduled for Q3 2014, so the first Tizen smartphones and tablets which are expected for Q1 2014 will probably ship with Tizen 2.2.1, or even possibly with an earlier version. Android KitKat 4.4 has been optimized to run smoothly on […]

November 10, 2013November 10, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Mediatek News – $100 Quad-core MT6582 Smartphone, and Eight-core MT6592 Smartphones Available For Pre-order

Daxian XY100S was the first decent quad core smartphone I’d seen selling for less than $100, but for some reasons the price has since then been increased and now sells for at least $125 from Chinese online sellers with decent feedback. The other problem with this phone was the use of TD-SCDMA which meant 3G was not usable in places like Europe. There’s now another quad core phone based on Mediatek MT6582 called W450 that sells for $99.99 on GeekBuying (promotion that will last for about 24 hours more), but you can also find it on Aliexpress for $110 up including shipping. The good news is that it’s using WCDMA 850/2100MHz so 3G will be accessible in most countries. W450 specifications: SoC – Mediatek MT6582 Quad Core Cortex A7 up to 1.3GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 4GB NAND Flash + micro SD card […]

November 5, 2013May 22, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Motorola’s Project Ara Open Source Hardware Plaform for Modular Smartphones

A few months ago, I posted a video about “The Smarter Phone“, a concept smartphone that was supposed to be serviceable and upgradeable just like PCs used to be, in order to reduce e-waste among other things. Based on comments here and on Reddit, most people did not really believe the concept was feasible, practical or cost effective, myself included. Fast forward to September, a video about another concept modular smartphone called Phonebloks went viral with over 17 million views. The overall idea is basically the same, but this time there seems to be at least a mockup. Phonebloks features a base where you can attach blocks such as the display, a wifi module, processor module, bluetooth module and so on. It turns out Motorola’s Advanced Technology and Projects group has been working on something similar for a year with Project Ara, and they recently partnered with Phonebloks’ guys, since […]