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Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.

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Posts by Stefan Constantinescu

Kyocera Hydro coming to Boost Mobile: $130 buys you a waterproof Ice Cream Sandwich

Boost Mobile, one of the many mobile virtual network operators who piggy back on Sprint’s dilapidated 3G network, is going to offer a smartphone dubbed the “Hydro” on August 3rd for $130. Said smartphone is made by Kyocera and it’s called the Hydro because it’s splash proof and water proof up to one meter for 30 minutes. Under the hood there’s a 1 GHz processor, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and a 3.5 inch display that pushes 480 x 320 pixels. For $130, it’s not that … Read more

hydro 10 months ago

Stefan Constantinescu

More iOS 6 features coming to the iPhone 3GS than previously thought

When Apple announced that the three year old iPhone 3GS was going to get iOS 6, that was a huge slap in the face to everyone who bitches and moans about not getting the latest version of Android on their non-Nexus device. Two weeks later Microsoft announced that Windows Phone 8 is going to require new hardware, and that made owners of the three month old AT&T Nokia Lumia 900 flip over dining room tables all across the United States. But back to iOS, just because the 3GS is getting … Read more

ios6 10 months ago

Stefan Constantinescu

HTC wants a third of their revenue to come from China by the end of 2012

HTC is hurting. Their devices aren’t meeting expectations in Europe, the One X faced some legal issues in the United States that delayed sales, and Samsung has proven that they have better relationships with the operators than even Apple has with AT&T and Verizon. According to a report from DigiTimes, roughly 80% of HTC’s revenues currently come from Europe and the United States. They want to change that. Their goal is to have one third (33%) of their revenue coming from China by the end of this year. Should we … Read more

peter 10 months ago

Stefan Constantinescu

Chinese handset vendors to release $50 Android smartphones this year

If you want a brand spanking new iPhone 4S, prepare to cough up over $650. Want a Galaxy S III? That’ll be $600 please. The Galaxy Nexus is an absolute bargin at $350, but what about $100? That’s today’s bar for low end smartphones. Sure, such devices typically have QVGA screens and processors that have transistors made out of vacuum tubes, but it doesn’t matter since they run Android. That means they have Gmail, Google Maps, an extremely competent web browser, and access to a massive library of applications. According … Read more

chinastore 10 months ago

Stefan Constantinescu

Apple patents the hiding vertical scrolling indicator; cue the lawsuits

Chances are that the computer you’re using right now has a vertical sidebar that tells you where you are on the page. Drag it down and the page moves down. Magic, right? Apple introduced a “feature” in iOS whereby that vertical sidebar disappears when you’re not scrolling anymore. Why? It’s pretty, but it’s actually quite functional when you consider how small the screen is on a mobile phone. Anyway, that disappearing act has now been patented according to The Verge. If you look at the patent itself [PDF document] you’ll … Read more

scott 10 months ago

Stefan Constantinescu

New NXP chip aims to make annoying ringtones up to 5x louder

NXP Semiconductors has just announced a new chip called the TFA9887. It combines a DSP, class-D amplifier, and DC-to-DC boost converter to enable the dinky little speakers in your smartphone or tablet to output sound that’s up to 5x louder than what they’re normally capable of delivering. What strange form of voodoo makes all this possible? The engineering is best explained in the seven minute video below, but here’s the layman’s explanation: This new chip includes a sensor that tracks how the speaker is performing. The audio that’s outputted is … Read more

nxploud 10 months ago

Stefan Constantinescu

First Nanoradio, now CSR, what exactly is Samsung up to?

Samsung has just announced that they’ve purchased CSR’s mobile phone connectivity and location technology for $310 million. They’re also getting 21 patents in the deal. Never heard of CSR? They were founded in 1998 as “Cambridge Silicon Radio” and they’ve done things such as design Bluetooth, WiFI, and GPS chips. The thing is, no one buys individual chips like that anymore in today’s market. Companies call up someone like Qualcomm and buy their Snapdragon product which integrates a CPU, GPU, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, 2G, 3G, and even 4G LTE. Samsung … Read more

gs33 10 months ago

Stefan Constantinescu

AT&T is likely going to charge iPhone users to FaceTime over cellular

According to a screenshot that was discovered by 9to5Mac, it looks like the ability to have a FaceTime call over a cellular connection, a feature that’s standard in iOS 6, is going to be switched off by AT&T. They’re either going to disable the feature completely or find some way to nickel and dime you to death to use it. If Steve Jobs were alive, would this have happened? That’s a stupid question, and it was kind of sort of supposed to be a joke, but think about it for … Read more

adhd 10 months ago

Stefan Constantinescu

IDC: “Samsung is expected to be the smartphone hero in the second quarter.”

The end of July is quickly approaching, and that means one thing: Companies are soon going to begin reporting their Q2 2012 financial results. Nokia is due to publish their numbers on Thursday, the 19th; Apple’s turn is next Tuesday, the 24th; and as for Samsung, they’re booked for next Friday, the 27th. According to analysts polled by Retuers, Samsung is expected to have sold over 50 million smartphones during the quarter; Apple is expected to have shipped 30.5 million iPhones, and as for Nokia … let’s not go there. … Read more

861482-samsung-pop-up-play 10 months ago

Stefan Constantinescu

ZTE profits for 1H2012 expected to be 60% to 80% lower; 12,000 jobs at risk

ZTE, who many people know because of their cheap Android handsets, is also in the business of providing infrastructure equipment to operators. According to Mobile Business Briefing, the company has issued a warning that profits for the first half of 2012 are going to be between 60% and 80% lower than profits during the same time last year. How low is low? We’re looking at $24 million here, which is barely break even. Rumors are now floating around that the company intends to cut around 12,000 jobs, many of which … Read more

zteguy 10 months ago

Stefan Constantinescu

WSJ: Next iPhone to have a thinner screen thanks to in-cell technology

Apple is going to ship a new iPhone this year and it’s going to run iOS 6. That’s pretty much all we know with 100% certainty. How large will the screen be? What chip will it have inside? Will it support NFC? Will it support 4G LTE? Will the back of the device still be as fragile as the back of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S? Those questions are going to be answered in late September or early October when Tim Cook gets up on stage and starts his … Read more

110694-cook-china 10 months ago

Stefan Constantinescu