smartphone News - Page 61 of 73 - CNX Software

July 22, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Mediatek Smartphone and Tablet SoC Product Line (Mess) Explained

This week-end, I have been tipped about a $91 Mediatek MT8317 based 7″ Phablet, but I really did not know what to think about it as Mediatek seems to have so many SoCs, and really felt lazy trying to dig information about this. Yet, in the back of my head, I had decided to eventually make a post trying to clarifying Mediatek SoCs. This morning, I felt relieved not to have to spend hours investigating, as AndroidPC.es found an analyst paper doing just that, at least for recent and upcoming Mediatek processors. Mediatek Smartphone SoCs Roadmap MT6589 is certainly the most common SoC for cheap quad core smartphones, and starting this month, it will be available in MT6589M and MT6589T versions, the former with a weak video processing unit (VPU) and ISP, and GPU frequency, and the latter with higher GPU and CPU frequencies. Contrary to the table below, MT6589 […]

July 4, 2013July 4, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 46 Comments

$87 NEO NS Goddess Dual Core Android Smartphone Powered by Qualcomm MSM8225

If you’re following the Chinese low cost smartphone space, you may only think about phones based on Mediatek or possibly Spreadtrum SoCs, but Qualcomm is now entering the arena with its dual core Cortex A5 MSM8225 SoC, and Android smartphones based on the platform such as NEO NS Goddess are available for less than $100, and in this case just $87. NEO NS Goddess specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Dual Core MSM8225 @ 1GHz with Andreno 203 GPU System Memory – 512MB RAM Storage – 512MB ROM + micro SD card slot (TBC) Display – 4.0″ 5-point capacitive touchscreen (800×480) Camera – 0.3MP front camera, 5.0MP back camera Connectivity – Wifi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS Network – 2G GSM 900/1800, 3G WCDMA 2100MHz (Dual SIM card) USB – 1x micro USB Audio – 1x earphone jack Sensor – G-sensor Support Battery – 1500mAh rechargeable Li-ion battery (up to 3 days) Dimensions – 124x64x11.6 […]

July 1, 2013July 2, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

ZTE Open, the First Firefox OS Phone, is Available in Spain

Phones based on alternative mobile operating systems (Firefox OS, Sailfish OS, Tizen…) are due to be available this year. The first entrant appears to be Telefonica ZTE Open, an entry level phone running Firefox OS that will be available in Spain on July 2, 2013 (Tomorrow). Here are the specifications of the device: SoC – Qualcomm MSM7225A ARM Cortex A5 @ 800Mhz System Memory – 256 MB RAM Storage – 512 MB ROM + micro SD card slot (4GB SD card included) Display – 3.5″ HVGA TFT, One Point touch + Gesture Captive (Two point option) Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n + Bluetooth 2.1 + GPS (with AGPS) Network – UMTS Sensors – Accelerometer, Ambient Light Camera – 3.2MP canera Battery – 1200mAH Dimensions – 114 × 62 × 12.5 mm This a low end device by today’s standard, but that’s exactly what Firefox OS is for. I’ve recently been […]

June 22, 2013June 22, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

$70 Cubot GT72 Android “4.2” Smartphone Powered by Mediatek MT6572

Mediatek MT6572 is a new dual core Cortex A7 processor with a Mali-400 GPU, as well as a HSPA+/TD-SCDMA modem. This SoC announced last month, is now starting to show up in low cost smartphones such as Cubot GT72. The phone is said to run Android 4.2.2, comes with a 4″ display, and 256MB RAM, and 512MB flash. Here are the specifications of this phone: SoC – Mediatek MTK6572 dual core cortex A7 @ 1.2GHz + Mali-400 GPU System Memory – 256MB RAM Storage – 512MB Flash + micro SD card slot (up to 16 GB) Display – 4.0″ TFT capacitive (2 points) touch screen (800×480) with 260K colors Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0, built-in GPS Network – GSM 900/1800MHz, dual SIM card slot. Camera – 3MP rear camera with flash light, and 2MP front camera Audio – 3.5mm earphone jack Misc – Gravity sensor, FM Radio Battery – […]

June 21, 2013June 21, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

$25 Babuino Stick & Board Let You Control Your Devices with Your Smartphone and Vice Versa

Babuino Stick and Babuino Board are tiny low cost Arduino-compatible USB dongle and board featuring Atmel AVR MCU, and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR connectivity. Both have basically the same hardware, but Babuino Stick is more suited to control a computer or Smart TV via your smartphone, and Babuino Board can be used for robotics and automation projects. The device can also be used to control your smartphone (e.g. to write SMS) from your PC or Mac. Here are the specifications of these “Babuini”: MCU – Atmel ATXMega128A1 @ 32 MHz with 128KB flash program memory, 8KB boot code section, and 8KB SRAM. Master/Slave selectable Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR module Infrared transmitter and receiver USB – micro USB (board) and USB port (stick) User and reset push-buttons Headers (Board only) – ICSP pins, ADC & DAC, PWM, I2C & SMBus, SPI and UART LEDs – Bluetooth and User LED for both, […]

June 10, 2013June 11, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Hynix Announces 4GB LPDDR3 for Mobile Devices

More and more devices this year come with 2GB RAM in 4x 4Gbit configuration, and this is about the limit today because there aren’t 8Gbit (1GB) mobile RAM chipset available. This is about the change as Hynix has just announced they have developed 8Gbit LPDDR3 based on 20nm process technology. Hynix new memory can be stacked up to provide 4GB (Gigabyte) in a single package that can be provided as ‘PoP’ (Package on Package), or the memory can be bundled with eMMC. Existing LPDDR3 chipsets work at up to 1600Mbps, but Hynix memory will be able to achieve 2133Mbps data transmission speed, an increase of about 33 percent. That means it can process up to 8.5GB of data per second in a single channel, and 17GB in a dual channel using 32-bit I/O. Samples have already been shipped to customers, mass production should start at the end of this year, […]

June 6, 2013June 6, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 28 Comments

Meet DAXIAN XY100S, a $100 Quad Core Android Smartphone

Last year, I wrote about a $50 Android smartphone, and yes, it was cheap but the specifications were pretty poor. But today, I’ve just learned about DAXIAN XY100S powered by Mediatek MT6589 quad core Cortex A7, with a 4.7″ display, and running Android 4.2, which just sells for under $100 on Buyincoins.com, including shipping. That’s about $50 cheaper than the cheapest MT6589 models I found. DAXIAN XY100S specifications as listed on buyincoins: Operating System: Google Android 4.2 SoC – Mediatek MTK6589 quad core Cortex A7 @ 1.5GHz + PowerVR SGX544 GPU System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 4GB NAND Flash + micro SD card slot (Up to 32GB) Display – 4.7″ Multi-touch Capacitive screen (854 x 480) Network – GSM: 900/ 1800 MHz, 2010-2025 MHz / 1880-1900 MHz (Dual SIM), 3G: TD-SCDMA Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n Camera – 2.0 MP front camera, 8.0MP rear camera USB – 1x micro […]

May 28, 2013May 28, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

The Smarter Phone is Upgradeable Just Like a PC

The “Smarter Phone“, which is just a concept right now, would allow users to easily upgrade or repair it by changing key modules. Your phone currently has a 5MP camera, and you’ll like to upgrade for a 12MP. No problem, just replace the camera module. We’re now in 2016. The quad core processor in your smartphone feels really slow, and memory is tight, so you’d like to replace it with the latest Exynos 7 20-core processor with extra-large.big.medium.little.tiny processing technology, and finally get 8GB RAM. You can do so by just updating the CPU module, and on and on. Basically, your smartphone would be just as upgradeable as your PC, which is probably timely since in a couple of years, your phone may become your PC. This concept designed by Bernat Lozano (Product Designer), and Rocío García (Architect & Product Designer), would help save consumers’ money, and reduce e-waste, as they […]