IntoMobile » Yoeau

Huawei invests 70 million EUR in R&D facility in Helsinki, Finland

Yoeau — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 10:15:09 +0000

All those people fired from Nokia in the last couple of years present a great opportunity for other companies. Perhaps that’s why Huawei announced that it will invest 70 million EUR over a five-year period to establish an R&D center in Helsinki, Finland.

The facility will initially focus on software development for smartphones, tablets and rich-media devices, optimizing the user experience of existing operating systems such as Android and Windows Phone 8. From the outset, the company plans to recruit 30 employees, with the goal of hiring more than 100 people over five years.

According to Kenneth Fredriksen, Vice-President, Huawei Central, Eastern and Nordic Europe – Finland is an ideal place for Huawei to strengthen its global R&D capabilities for devices, “creating opportunities for both Huawei and the Finnish telecommunications industry.” Told you they want former Nokia employees…

Huawei’s previous investment in Europe was in September 2012 when they announced a $2 billion investment in R&D, local procurement and center of excellence initiatives in the United Kingdom. The company currently employs more than 7,000 people across the continent.

Verizon’s Galaxy Camera caught at and then promptly pulled from Samsung’s website

Yoeau — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 09:47:57 +0000

We’ve already told you that an LTE-enabled version of the Samsung Galaxy Camera has been caught at the FCC. The model in question had Verizon Wireless written all over it, with its 4G radio supporting the right bands to sing along Big Red’s network.

Now such device got a dedicated page at Samsung’s website before the Korean company or Verizon issuing the formal press release to announce it. Users found Galaxy Camera’s page and Samsung had to pull it since Verizon wasn’t ready — at least, that’s our explanation.

The good news is that with Samsung having a prepared page it’s now just a matter of timing. We’re sure Verizon doesn’t want to see AT&T being the only carrier offering this Android-powered camera and will issue the official press release in the next few days, touting the LTE connectivity support as a major plus of its model (whereas the Galaxy Camera offered by AT&T is limited to HSPA+ speeds). We’ll let you know when we get something new on this…

[Via: AndroidPolice]

Samsung Galaxy Pocket Plus in works?

Yoeau — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 10:20:49 +0000

The existing Samsung Galaxy Pocket S5300 is the cheapest Android smartphone in the company’s portfolio and it’s also available in a dual SIM variant. However, both devices (single and dual SIM versions) run Android 2.3 Gingerbread which may soon not be a “good enough” option even for the emerging markets of the world. To “solve” this “issue,” Samsung will soon launch the slightly improved Galaxy Pocket Plus (model number S5301), which will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of box. The new OS may also require better hardware and while we’re not sure what will be inside the Galaxy Pocket Plus, we guess it will build on top of the original Galaxy Pocket’s specs, which include a 2.8-inch QVGA screen, HSDPA and Wi-Fi connectivity, 832MHz processor, GPS, 2-megapixel rear camera, 3GB of internal memory and a memory card slot.

We don’t even have an image to show you at the moment and what you see above is the “plain old” Galaxy Pocket. We will watch this story closely and let you know as soon as hear something new. These kind of devices are important for Samsung as they help it conquer emerging markets of the world, bringing smartphones to more people…

[Via: Unwired View]

Canada: Bell and Virgin Mobile start offering iPhone unlock service for $75

Yoeau — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 08:24:45 +0000

It looks like Canada’s Bell and Virgin Mobile have started offering iPhone unlock services. However, since this will be “launched in phased approach” not all markets are covered initially with major ones [markets] like Toronto probably being first in line to get it.

In order to get your Apple smartphone unlocked — all iPhone models apply — you’ll have to shell out $75 and fit the following criteria:

You must own iPhone outright
You must not be on contract
You must be a post-paid Virgin Mobile or Bell Mobility customer
And, of course, you must give the carrier your credit card number so they can charge you the mentioned $75 fee

If you “fit the bill” and want your iPhone unlocked, your best bet is to ask at a local Bell or Virgin Mobile store for more information. Unfortunately, we can’t really tell you where to go or whom to call…

[Via: MobileSyrup]

Fake Apple apps appear on Google Play

Yoeau — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 09:38:10 +0000

Apple is apparently publishing its apps in the Google Play Store… NOT. But few apps made by “Apple Inc” have been spotted by Android users, namely Garage Band (instead of Garageband), iPhoto, iMovie, Keynote, Numbers and Pages. To make things worse, these fake apps are selling for the same money as original iOS apps. So some folks fell on this and as I’m writing this, we’re not sure whether there are some consequences like included malware. In any case, if you’ve seen these apps, don’t download them. Apple will not publish apps for Android. Ever. Period. There are alternative apps for everything you need; try them instead.

[Via: AndroidCentral]

Samsung ATIV Odyssey (SCH-I930) press images leaked

Yoeau — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 10:55:24 +0000

Verizon Wireless’ upcoming Samsung ATIV Odyssey has been leaked, compliments to EVleaks. As you can see from the image above, it’s not the ATIV S and we’re still not sure what this phone hides under the hood. For one thing, it looks thicker than the ATIV S but it also comes with support for 4G LTE connectivity.

Earlier we said that Verizon will start selling the ATIV Odyssey in December though now that it got the FCC clearance, it’s pretty much ready for launch. In that sense I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s unveiled in the next couple of days or week… but you never know.

Verizon’s Droid DNA press image leaked

Yoeau — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 09:29:20 +0000

The soon-to-be-launch Droid DNA has been leaked once again. This time the source is EVleaks, which quickly emerged as one of our favorite Twitter accounts. The image isn’t too revealing – we see a big screen, front-facing camera and three touch buttons at the bottom. We do, however, know that under the hood there’s the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 quad-core SoC, 2GB of RAM, LTE radio, while that screen is 5-inch with 1080p resolution. In other words, it’s like the HTC J Butterfly, which has already been unveiled in Japan. And yes – we can’t wait to try this monster out.

New unidentified Windows Phone device from Huawei caught in the wild

Yoeau — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 11:42:15 +0000

We know that Huawei will enter the Windows Phone game. Heck we’ve seen their W1 model, but apparently the Chinese company won’t stop with a single model. What we have here is an unidentified Windows Phone device wearing Huawei’s brand. And we can’t really say what’s it all about, or whether it will ever be released. However, we are pleased to see another major company exploring Microsoft’s mobile platform. Samsung and Nokia unveiled pretty awesome Windows Phones, but having another serious contender could drive prices south. Or at least that’s what we would like to think.

Anyway, here are the leaked images of the mentioned Huawei Windows Phone. Hopefully, we’ll have the specs sheet in no time at all. Stay tuned…

[Via: GSMinsider]

Intel Atom-powered Lava XOLO X900 gets its serving of Ice Cream Sandwich

Yoeau — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 07:58:16 +0000

Lava XOLO X900, aka the world’s first Android smartphone with Intel Medfield processor, is getting the Ice Cream Sandwich update as we speak. While we haven’t tried it ourselves, we guess the new software (version 2.190-CRAK), based on Android 4.0.4, packs minor UI changes which some of us, myself included, like a lot — when compared to handset makers’ custom UIs.

Price wise, the XOLO X900 is selling in India for 17,500 Rupees (about $338), which may sound tempting but I’m not sure you should “push the button” — you see there are other similarly priced options with proven ARM-based CPUs. It’s your money and you know best how to spend it…

[Via: GSMarena]

UK: HTC Windows Phone 8 devices launching in November

Yoeau — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 11:02:23 +0000

The newly announced Windows Phone 8 devices from HTC, the HTC 8S and HTC 8X, will be available in the UK in November and you can already pre-order your units from Unlocked Mobiles. The phone retailer obviously sells SIM-free smartphones, requiring no contract signing with the carriers.

Price wise, the HTC 8S could be yours for 224.98 GBP (about $364) with shipping date set at November 15th. As for the better model, HTC 8X, it could be yours for 398.98 GBP (around $646) and it’s expected shipping date is November 5th.

Aside from these unlocked deals, we’re sure that two HTC Windows Phones will also sell with carrier contracts. For the moment only Three vowed to offer the 8S and 8X though we guess other operators will also join the party at some point…

[Via: Unwired View]

Sony Xperia Tablet S now available in the UK

Yoeau — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 09:34:47 +0000

Good news for Sony-lovin’ Brits as they can now get the Japanese company’s latest (and greatest) tablet – Xperia Tablet S. At the moment, Sony UK’s website lists 16 and 32 GB models, offering them for 329 GBP ($524) and 379 GBP ($603), respectively. In addition, the 16GB version with 3G connectivity should be available soon for 429 GBP ($683).

Again, Sony’s baby comes with a 9.4-inch 1280×800 pixels screen, 1.3GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, 8-megapixel camera on the back coupled with 1.3-megapixel front-facing one, while Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is running the show. Jelly Bean update, in case you wonder, should be released in the near future (or so we hope).

[Via: Unwired View]