KB-Technologies

Google is keenly working on Project Ara, a new endeavor to build a modular smartphone, which was started while Motorola was part of the company, and Google has scheduled an Ara Developers' Conference on April 15-16. The event will take place in Mountain View, California, and will be streamed online to the whole world. In fact, Google claims that Project Ara is designed for 6 billion people. This indicates that Android maker may be working on a highly affordable modular phone for the masses. However, everything surrounding Ara has been kept under strict secrecy and nothing has leaked so far. Google reveals that it has its focus on releasing an alpha version of the Ara Module Developers' Kit (MDK), which will hit the web as a free and open platform specification reference. It will guide and contain developers through everything that's necessary to get them familiar on how to develop an Ara module. The company wants developers and companies of ...

Samsung Huron for Verizon has been confirmed via the GFXBenchmark's database and @evleaks tweets . Huron is supposed to be a Windows Phone 8.1 running device headed to Verizon this spring. According to the latest info, courtesy once again of the notorious @evleaks, Samsung codenamed Huron will be called ATIV SE. Since Verizon is already offering the first ATIV, we guess the SE might be short for Second Edition. Anyway, Samsung ATIV SE is rumored to pack either a 4.3" 720p or a 5" 1080p display. It should be running on a quad-core Snapdragon processor with 2GB RAM and a 13MP camera. As the latest rumor has it the ATIV SE will come with the latest available Windows Phone 8.1 OS. This means it will most probably launch in April or later, after the Microsoft's BUILD conference where the WP 8.1 is going to premiere.

Speaking to Japanese K-Tai.Impress Sony Mobile's Creative Director, Director of Product Planning and UX General Manager, Yoshiro Kurozumi, addresses the early rise to the throne by the Xperia Z2 and why he thinks a half a year upgrade cycle is a better fit for this industry. According to him, in order to maintain the flagship status of the product, you must upgrade it faster to keep it competitive. He went on to confirm that the Xperia Z2 will likely be Sony's flagship for only the first half of 2014. He also commented about design, saying Sony doesn't want to rely on a single design, which could mean the company will perhaps move away from its OmniBalance design language, which has dominated the Xperia line so far (including Z, Z1 and Z2, compact and ultra included). And while we can extrapolate from Mr. Kurozumi's words that Sony will be releasing its next flagship some time in Q3 or Q4 of 2014 and that it may feature a new design, we truly ho...

In a not so surprising move Samsung released its latest flagship with a fingerprint scanner just as rumors suggested. The home button on the Galaxy S5 does more than just unlocking the phone though. Samsung is also providing its fingerprint scanner information for use with other apps so developers can, for example, replace passwords with biometric print data. This is done with the Pass API, released as part of the Galaxy S5 development kit. PayPal is the first to utilize the open API and will allow confirming payments via fingerprint on the Galaxy S5. Apple on the other side held its fingerprint scanning information under lock and key inside the A7 chip and only allows data to be shared (read used) with its own services (like iTunes, iBooks, etc.). Some might argue the latter is a safer approach amid constant raiding of online-accessible personal information. On the other hand the fingerprint scanner opens a world of possibility and enhanced usability. What ...

According to a report in Time , Google’s project Ara smartphone could arrive in early 2015 with an entry price tag of $50. The search giant retained the team behind the project when it sold Motorola to Lenovo last month. The affordable price is said to include the most basic setup with Wi-Fi, but no cellular connection. Additional modules will cost extra. Multiple models may be available when the device is launched. Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group told Time that Project Ara will come in three different sizes which will cover everything from a pocket-friendly device to a full-blown phablet. Size of the devices will reportedly not be customizable. As expected, Project Ara will be built around an endoskeleton which will be supplied by Google. This way, the search giant will be able to maintain tight control over the platform. According to the report, the prototype of a Project Ara main unit with added modules is 9.7 mm thick. With larg...

According to a report in Chinese online media, the freshly announced HTC Desire 816 will cost below $300 when launched. Allegedly, the phablet will be priced at ¥1799 (about $294) when it goes on sale in China in the near future. Should the reported pricing turn out to be the real deal, the HTC Desire 816 is bound to become a mighty good mid-range proposition. The phablet sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC, 1.5GB of RAM, 13MP camera, and 5.5” 720p display, tucked into a sleek-looking, well-built body. There is no word on international pricing of the HTC Desire just yet. We surely hope that it remains in the same vicinity as in China. You can find out all about the HTC Desire 816 in our MWC hands-on .

Asus has announced its plans to upgrade the latest PadFone devices with Android 4.4 KitKat. The update will not only bring your device to the latest Android version, but will also install the latest Asus Zen UI. So, the compatible PadFones to get KitKat + Zen UI are Padfone Infinity (also known as PadFone A80), PadFone Infinity 2 and PadFone 2. There is no word on other PadFone devices, but we hope Asus will consider updating the mini PadFones as well. The Android 4.4 KitKat update is currently in development for all three gadgets. It will launch in Q2 for the PadFone 2 and PadFone Infinity, while the PadFone Infinity 2 will get it in Q3.

New wearable syncs with Galaxy smartphones for notifications. Samsung has added a new entry into the growing fitness wearable market with the new Gear Fit. Like the FitBit and Nike Fuelband, the Gear Fit is worn on the wrist and keeps track of its user's fitness stats, but also delivers notifications from their Galaxy smartphones. The 1.84-inch curved Super AMOLED display features a 432 x 128 resolution, and comes with changeable straps—owners can choose between black, orange, and mocha grey straps. The device is dust and water resistant, and its 210mAh battery is projected to last 3–4 days with typical use, or 5 days with lighter use. When paired with a Galaxy smartphone, the Gear Fit will be able to receive call, email, SMS, and alarm notifications, as well as notifications from third party apps. The 27g wearable is also equipped with an accelerometer and gyro sensors, a heart rate monitor, and Bluetooth 4.0. ...

Android with a touch of Windows Phone. It's official: Nokia is now offering a line of Android-powered smartphones. During the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Nokia announced a trio of devices as part of the Nokia X family, each of which run a customized version of the open source operating system. All three phones—the Nokia X, X+, and XL—are entry-level options for emerging markets, and are appropriately equipped to keep the cost of the devices as low as possible. The Nokia X and Nokia X+ both use a 4-inch 800 x 480 display, a 1GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, and a single 3-megapixel rear-facing camera. The difference between the two is memory, with the Nokia X coming with 512 MB of RAM and the Nokia X+ equipped with 768 MB of RAM. The Nokia XL is the largest of the lineup, featuring a 5-inch display with the same WVGA resolution. The Nokia XL includes the same processor and memory found in the Nokia X+, but also includes a larger 2,000mAh battery, and a 2-meg...

New features include fingerprint scanner, improved camera, and even a heartrate monitor. As expected, Samsung has taken the wraps off of its latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S5. Announced today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the Samsung Galaxy S5 builds upon last year's Galaxy S4 with improved camera capabilities, a new design, a fingerprint scanner, fitness tracking capabilities, and more. The Galaxy S5 deviates from the plain plastic look of the previous iteration with a new perforated pattern on its back and comes in new "shimmery white, electric blue, and copper gold" color variants. The changes to the design also offers new device protection, including a a dust and water resistant coating and a built-in fingerprint scanner built into the home button for added data security. The screen size has been increased sligh...

A solid start, with plans for the future. A little over three months ago, Microsoft's Xbox One launched in 13 territories. It sold one million units in 24 hours, and since then, it's been supported with a handful of good games . Console launches often come with a plethora of games, sales figures, and other info, so we're sorting through the clutter and taking a look back at what the Xbox One accomplished in its first three months on the market. Plus, we discuss what Xbox One owners can expect in 2014. Curious about Sony too? Check out  our feature  on the first three months of the PlayStation 4. Games Having only been on the market for three months, a small but strong collection of exclusive games is already available for the Xbox One. But unless you're interested in more niche genres, you may not know it. Our favorites include: Dead Rising 3 Forza Motorsport 5 Killer Instinct Peggle 2 ...

Fancy a Nokia X+ with more conventional Android user interface? It looks that you are going to be in luck as the handset was caught looking like a “regular” Android device on the MWC floor thanks to Nova Launcher. As you can see in the image above, the freshly announced Android child of the Finnish company runs the wildly popular homescreen replacement without any hiccups. We reckon that the rest of Nokia’s Android family will also run the app and be able to switch to a more conventional UI. There is no word on how the launcher ended up on the Nokia device. I personally, truly doubt that it was installed by a company rep. Even though Nova Launcher is all but certainly among the 75% of Android apps which will work unmodified on the Nokia X family, I wouldn’t expect to see the app in the Nokia store. The manufacturer would prefer that the device’s UI remains as close to that of a Nokia Lumia, so sideloading an apk file will likely be your best option to install the ...

A year after it introduced it for the first time, Samsung unveiled Knox 2.0 security platform for Android. The beefed up enterprise suite will ship with the Samsung Galaxy S5 , while older devices will receive it after they upgrade to Android 4.4 KitKat. The biggest change which Samsung Knox 2.0 brings to the table is different method of handling Android apps. The suite digitally secures Google Play apps data, therefore eliminating the need to run them in a dedicated Knox mode like in the previous version. Samsung Knox 2.0 will also utilize the fingerprint sensor of the Galaxy S5. Two-step biometric authentication which requires a fingerprint and a passcode will be available. Finally, Samsung will launch a dedicated Knox marketplace. The cloud-based app store will allow companies’ IT administrators to easily install apps on multiple devices.

Apple has released the second major update to OS X Mavericks since it was released last year. The 10.9.2 update brings with it some useful new changes, along with a major security fix. One of the changes in this update is a fix for the SSL/TLS bug that allowed an attacker to access sensitive information on machines on a network. This bug was also present in iOS, which was patched in iOS 7.0.6 and has now been patched in OS X as well. Other than that, 10.9.2 also brings FaceTime audio, which means you can now make and receive voice calls to an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and other Macs over Internet connection. Other than that there’s also call waiting for FaceTime audio and video calls, ability to block iMessages from particular users, bug fixes for Mail app, Safari Autofill improvement and a lot more. If you’re running OS X Mavericks, it’s highly recommended you download this update immediately.

Samsung Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo went official just three days ago, running on a Tizen-based OS. This time around though Samsung has confirmed both smartwatches will support third-party apps. The lack of third-party apps was a major drawback on the first Gear watch and we are happy to see Samsung is changing its strategy. So, just as promised at the announcement, the SDK for the Gear 2 duo is now live. Even better, the SDK also supports the Tizen-based Galaxy Fit band, so it will also welcome third-party apps once it hits the shelves. Finally, Samsung is launching another SDK for the S-Health services. Both SDK kits are now available for download on Samsung’s Developer Portal.

Nokia X is a brand new platform but its app store felt acceptably full, considering it launched just a couple of days ago. There we found a couple of the usual benchmarks we run (there’s also the browser-based SunSpider) so we decided to find out how the Nokia X and XL stack up against the competition. The Nokia X prioritizes affordability over performance, Nokia made it clear that Lumia is its top performer. Still, the Moto G offers goodies like a quad-core processor (a Cortex-A7 no less) and a 720p screen, but it’s nearly double the price. The 4.5″ Moto G starts at €170, while the 4″ Nokia X and 5″ XL are €90 and €110 respectively. Benchmark Pi Lower is better Sort by Label Sort by Value Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600) 132 LG Optimus G Pro 147 HTC One 151 Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 169 Sony Xperia Z 264 HTC Butterfly 266 Samsung Galaxy Note II 305 Alcatel One Touch Hero 308 Huawei Ascend Mate 347 Mot...

The new Nokia X line of phones slot between the Lumia and Asha families and tout affordability as one of their key features. Still, the Nokia XL has a 5MP camera with a 1/4″ sensor, the same setup as the Lumia 520 (no 720p recording though). The Nokia X has a 3.15MP camera with a smaller, 1/5″ sensor. We snapped photos with both for an early glimpse of what those cameras can deliver. Here are four shots from the Nokia XL: Nokia XL camera samples And three from the Nokia X: Nokia X camera samples The lighting here in the halls of the MWC are not the best for photo comparisons, so a more detailed look into the matter will have to wait until the review.

Internet Explorer 11 has been captured on a short YouTube video and users can take a look at some of the mobile browser’s new features. It includes Reading Mode, the ability to save passwords, and stop and refresh buttons in the address toolbar. Hit the jump to learn more about these new features. Reasing Mode is one of the coolest new features as it allows you to read web pages without advertisements and formatting. There are different styles as well, such as Bright, Light, Medium, Dark, and Justified. Saving passwords works just like it sounds: you’ll now be able to store your passwords in Internet Explorer 11, as well as the ability to the stop the loading of web pages and refresh them with simple buttons in the address toolbar. Check out the video below to see IE11 in action.

While handling the Nokia X phones we installed a couple of benchmarks from Nokia’s app store and it dawned on us that it will be interesting to find out just how rich the app store is on what is basically Day 1. We opened Google Play Store on one of our standard Android phones and checked the Editor’s Choice and Top Free sections, then we searched for those apps on the Nokia’s. What we found is that the X phones use an interesting setup – there’s Nokia’s app store, but there are several others preinstalled too. If an app isn’t available in Nokia’s store, but is available in one of the others, it will show up in the search results. Just tap on it and the other app store will launch and repeat the search. We spotted 4-5 different app stores in our searches. Apps marked with a * are from other app stores. Available Missing TuneIn Radio BBC News Wunderlist – To-do & Task List Telegram WhatsApp Messenger * LINE: Free Calls & Messages Face...

The GSM Association organizes the annual Mobile World Congress and along with it the traditional Global Mobile Awards (its 19th edition this year). More than 175 independent analysts, journalists, academics and subject matter experts throughout the world participated in the judging process. The entry deadline was November 29, 2013, so it's generally last year's products that get awarded every February. There's a multitude of categories, some of which may sound pretty obscure unless you are in the telco business, so we've shortlisted the few categories that we think would matter most to mobile phone enthusiasts (such as ourselves). The HTC One was named the Best Smartphone in the past year. The other nominees, which were considered, were the Apple iPhone 5S, the LG G2, the Lumia 1020 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Last year's winner was the Samsung Galaxy SIII. "The HTC One remained one of the most advanced smartphones throughout 2013. It...

It has begun a tradition Samsung to have its flagship smartphone utilize two types of chipsets. The Galaxy S4 was the first to get a Snapdragon and an Exynos version, followed by the Galaxy Note 3 . Now the Galaxy S5 is getting a similar treatment as well. The Exynos 5 Octa chipset, even though it didn't become as popular as Samsung probably hoped for, is still quite a capable chipset with flagship performance. In an attempt to popularize its Exynos SoC, Samsung has recently started to use it for the non-LTE models of its slates (the Galaxy Tab and Note Pro series). We already met with some of those and their performance turned out great. Today Samsung has introduced the newest revision of the Exynos 5 Octa system-on-chip - the Exynos 5422 Octa . It has four Cortex-A15 cores clocked at 2.1GHz and four Cortex-A7 cores @ 1.5GHz. This is a good 200MHz upgrade over the previous Exynos 5420 SoC. The 5422, naturally, uses the big.LITTLE ARM architecture, but comes with...

Following in the footsteps of the Xperia Z2, the Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is available for pre-order. We made the rounds and collected the prices of the tablet around Europe. The launch date will be in April, the same time frame as the the Z2 phone. The good news is that it's cheaper than the phone in most places – in the UK, it's £500 (€610) from Clove UK . Update: The Xperia Z2 Tablet 16GB LTE is £500 on Sony's site. The Wi-Fi only versions are £400 for the 16GB and £450 for the 32GB. If you pre-order you get a free Magnetic Charging Dock too (normally, £40). The price in Germany is €500 (and €650 from Sony's official web site). Note that these are pre-order prices and might change in time for the launch. The 32GB Wi-Fi model is €550 , the 16GB LTE model is €650 . In France and the Netherlands the Xperia Z2 tablet is €630, €670 in Sweden (SEK 5 995,00) and €700 in Spain and Poland (PLN 2 899). These prices are from the official site, so it...

Jussi Nevanlinna, VP for Mobile Phone marketing, officially confirmed for Nokia Conversations that the three devices, which make up Nokia's X series, won't be available in the US, Canada, Korea, and Japan. Jussi Nevanlinna, VP for Mobile Phone marketing at the Global Mobile Awards 2014 (Photo: GSMA ) When they announced the Nokia X series back the other day, Nokia's official press materials only mentioned launch dates for the Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. So up until now it wasn't clear whether the devices will reach other key markets such as the US, Canada, Korea, and Japan. Then again, perhaps those markets are too developed for low-cost smartphones to make a dent on the grand picture. On the other hand a 5-inch Android smartphone that cheap, made by one of the world's most renowned manufacturers, would not go unnoticed no matter the country. As a reminder, the Nokia X should be available right aw...

Allwinner is a chipset maker you’ve perhaps ran into when looking for Android-powered media players or affordable tablets (even HP has one ). While its chipsets were never associated with performance, the new Allwinner UltraOcta A80 is poised to change that. The A80 uses ARM’s big.LITTLE setup with four Cortex-A15 and four Cortex-A7 cores. The previous generation Allwinner chipsets, the A31, was based on a quad-core A7 processor and PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU, so this is already a big jump in performance. Speaking of the GPU, the UltraOcta A80 moves to PowerVR 6-series. The G6230 GPU will offer double the graphics power compared to what A31 had. The GPU supports OpenGL 3.0 and ES Next, plus DirectX 10. This means the Allwinner chipset could be used for Windows RT tablets, as well as Android ones. It will also provide a huge boost to Android boxes/sticks that are gaining popularity.

Yesterday Samsung took the wraps off its latest flagship – the Galaxy S5 with a bigger 5.1″ screen, faster Snapdragon 801 processor, UHD video capture, IP67 water and dust resistance and more. In case you’ve missed it, Samsung has made the announcement video available to watch on YouTube, find it after the break. Here’s the video itself – the Galaxy S5 comes after the 14 minute. And if the video doesn’t cut it, here’s our in-depth hands-on .

Having spent our fair share of time with the Samsung Galaxy S5 we keep bring you all the details on the latest flagship by the Korean company. We already gave you the live photos, the benchmarks and the camera samples and now it’s time for the hands-on videos. We’ve got two clips showing you various parts of the Samsung Galaxy S4 UI and how the smartphone performs in real life. You get to see the updated TouchWiz as well as some of the key software goodies introduced by the handset. So now seems like the perfect moment to ask you where do you stand on the Galaxy S5? Do you believe it has what it takes to keep Samsung at the forefront of the Android race or did the company missed a great opportunity here?

General 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - D6502, D6503, D6543 3G Network HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 - D6502, D6503, D6543 4G Network LTE 700/800/850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100/2600 - D6503   LTE 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1800 / 1900 / 2100 / 2600 - D6543 SIM Micro-SIM Announced 2014, February Status Coming soon. Exp. release 2014, March Body Dimensions 146.8 x 73.3 x 8.2 mm (5.78 x 2.89 x 0.32 in) Weight 163 g (5.75 oz)   - IP58 certified - dust proof and water resistant over 1 meter and 30 minutes Display Type IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors Size 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.2 inches (~424 ppi pixel density) Multitouch Yes, up to 10 fingers Protection Shatter proof and scratch-resistant glass   - Triluminos display - X-Reality Engine Sound Alert types Vibration; MP3 ringtones Loudspeaker Yes, with stereo speakers 3.5mm jack Yes Memory Card slot microSD, up to 64 GB In...