LUSARAP

Apple has reportedly finalised the iPhone 6 design, with the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5 rival said to be heading to launch with a 4.8-inch display in tow.

Samsung is expected to launch the brand new Exynos Infinity processor at MWC 2014 inside the Samsung Galaxy S5.


New information has emerged suggesting the Samsung Galaxy S5 will be used to showcase Samsung’s Exynos Infinity processor next week.

Originally, it was believed that Samsung’s next chipset would be called the Exynos 6, but an image posted on the official Samsung Exynos Twitter account suggests it will be called Exynos Infinity.

Strangely, this image has since been removed but not before it was spotted by Sammobile. Samsung issued a secondary tweet suggesting that the above image had been removed due to animal rights protests, stating:

“We respect animal rights and had no intention to promote the opposite. We apologise to all that may have been offended.”

The site, notorious for accurate Samsung gossip, also spotted that a 64-bit quad-core Samsung CPU with the codename GH7 was mentioned in a Linux kernel patch. The GH7 SoC was listed with the ARMv8-A 64-bit architecture.

It seems a little too coincidental that the two pieces of information were discovered on the same day, and it’s not the first time that a 64-bit CPU for the Galaxy S5 has been tipped.

Apple introduced the 64-bit A7 processor with the iPhone 5S in September, so Samsung should want to equal its rival’s processing power with its latest flagship.

Yesterday, the camera specs and features of the Galaxy S5 were leaked, with a special Aqua Mode suggesting that the device will be waterproof.

Other Samsung Galaxy S5 rumoured specs include a fingerprint scanner, 5.25-inch full HD resolution display and a 16-megapixel rear camera.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is heavily anticipated to be launched at MWC 2014 during the Samsung Unpacked 5 event on Monday, February 24.

Google has released a new version of Hangouts for iOS with a fresh look and a host of new features.


The first thing you’ll notice is that Google Hangouts 2.0 for iOS has an altogether flatter, more iOS 7-friendly style about it. The UI now features contextual options menus that drop down from the top of the screen with a touch, meaning they stay out of the way until needed.

Having updated the app, Google has included a bunch of tutorial speech bubbles to walk you through its new features.

Stickers allow you to add expressive animated images to your messages. They’re a bit like emoji, but are significantly larger (taking up a whole message bubble to themselves), and more detailed.

You can also now add brief video messages to conversations. Simply hit the attachment button (which is also how you add stickers) followed by the camera button, then press the shutter button for a picture or hold for a video and release to stop recording. It’s very intuitive.

This attachment menu also now facilitates location sharing, enabling you to quickly send out a map of your current location.

Finally, Hangouts 2.0 has been fully optimised for iPad. You can now enjoy two-pane video calls, making much better use of the extra screen space afforded by Apples tablets.

Rovio has officially announced the next instalment in its bird flinging game series, Angry Birds Star Wars 2, complete with an interactive toy lineup from Hasbro.


Angry Birds Star Wars 2 will be available across various app stores on September 19, complete with a full range of Star Wars Angry Birds toys that will work in a similar fashion to Skylanders.

“Today we’re extremely excited to announce the arrival of Angry Birds Star Wars 2, launching on September 19 across app stores worldwide”, said Rovio. “The new game will tackle the preview, introducing a wide roster of never-before-seen Angry Birds Star Wars characters. The best part? You’ll get to play with over 30 of them!”

As expected by the Angry Birds Star Wars teaser released at the end of last week, Rovio’s next game will focus on the Star Wars prequel movies including lots of new characters and elements from the films.

We expect that Anakin Skywalker, General Grevious, Darth Maul and Padme Amidala will all get an Angry Birds make-over, but interesting Rovio are declining to comment on whether Jar Jar Binks will be making an appearance.

“At this point we will not comment on rumours or speculation that Jar Jar Binks will be in the game.”

Hasbro will also be launching a range of 30 Angry Birds Star Wars figures that can be scanned into the game, similar to the functionality of Skylanders: Spryo’s Adventure.

Known as Telepods, the toys are around an inch high and are placed onto a plinth which can scan them into the game via the front-facing camera on iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 8 devices.

“To compliment this wide lineup of characters, there will also be a line of over 30 collectable Telepods figures from Hasbro. Placing these figures onto your phone or tablet camera will scan your character of choice directly into the game, allowing you to select new characters on the fly.”

Angry Birds Star Wars 2 will also introduce the new “Pork Side” mode that allows players to toss Empire Pigs instead of the birds.

“Stay tuned for more news on Angry Birds Star Wars 2 over the coming weeks; we have some really cool reveals planned! Also, look out for Return of the Jedi in the original Angry Birds Star Wars!”

A new Google Nexus 5 update has been rolled out, but strangely this one has nothing to do with the phone’s Android 4.4 KitKat OS but instead its design.

King Arthur has gone mad, fueled by his jealousy toward Lancelot for romancing his wife, Queen Guinevere. In his desperation, Arthur has been tricked by his sister, the all-powerful sorceress Morgana Le Fey, to open the Hellgate and allow all forms of demons to enter the world. Meanwhile, Morgana has captured Guinevere and holds her hostage on the magical island of Avalon.

Now Lancelot needs to confront King Arthur and the evil Morgana in order to free the world from these evil creatures and save Guinevere.
The time for Sir Lancelot to face his destiny is now!

Following weeks of endless leaks and countless rumours, the red Google Nexus 5 has been officially unveiled, with the brightly hued handset available for purchase right now.


Having made a number of premature appearances in recent weeks, Google has now officially unveiled its new red Google Nexus 5, with the colourful model lining up alongside the original black and white offerings in both 16GB and 32GB storage options.

Not one to keep consumers waiting, Google has launched the red Nexus 5 through its online Google Play Store with immediate effect, with both storage options currently listed as available to ship within “1-2 business days.”

Like its black and white counterparts, the red Google Nexus 5 will set wannabe owners back £299 and £339 for the 16GB and 32GB options respectively.

As well as being available directly through the Google Play Store, UK high street chain Carphone Warehouse has become the first to confirm it will stock the handset, with the retailer again stocking the phone with immediate effect.

“Carphone Warehouse has announced that it will be stocking the latest Google handset, the Nexus 5 in red,” an official statement from the company has declared.

They added: “The handset will available at the UK’s lowest price SIM Free for £298 or from £21 per month in stores, online at.”

An official video from Canadian network provider Rogers has prematurely revealed the Moto X release date and some of its major new features.


The Moto X release date has been set for next month, with the Motorola flagship touching down in August playing host to a whole range of voice command features.
The leaked video appears to show a number of unique Moto X features, including the ability to speak to the phone without touching it.

It looks to be an expansion of the existing Google Now function, but without the need to physically interact with your phone. It reveals that the Moto X will always be listening out for vocal prompts within its hands-free mode.

In the demonstration, a Rogers representative simply says "OK Google Now" before asking for todays weather forecast, and the Moto X at her side responds.

Apparently the Moto X is "ready to listen and respond," and it also "learns your voice" - a feature that Engadget has learned, through another leaked video, is set to be called Open Mic.

Another useful Moto X feature that this leaked video reveals is its ability to provide "active updates." Meant as an intelligent alternative to those dumb blinking notification lights, which dont tell you anything, the Moto X will subtly flash up the nature of the incoming notification without fully waking from sleep.

Finally, the video showcases the Moto Xs advanced sensor usage. Here, we see that you can activate the camera by holding the phone and twisting your wrist twice.

Its still no replacement for proper physical shutter button activation (as seen on Windows Phone devices), but it could prove easier to activate in a hurry than the current touch-driven solution favoured by Android manufacturers.

With many flagship phones currently running near identical specs sheets, Samsung has suggested that smartphone hardware progressed too quickly.

All new Android phones must come pre-installed with the latest Android 4.4 KitKat operating system, a leaked internal Google memo has suggested.


The claimed Android memo has suggested Google will fail to approve the GMS distribution of new handsets that favour older Android iterations over the latest KitKat OS. It has been suggested that the restrictions will affect all handsets, from the high-end likes of the inbound Samsung Galaxy S5, to mid and low end models.

The document has surfaced courtesy of Mobile Bloom, with claims suggesting the Google memo was sent from a senior member of the Android team to at least one major OEM partner.

“Starting February 2014, Google will no longer approve GMS distribution on new Android products that ship older platform releases,” the internal document reportedly stated.

It added: “Each platform release will have a GMS approval window that typically closes nine months after the next Android platform release is publicly available."

Despite the claimed inbound Android restrictions, a move that would act to heavily reduce ongoing Android fragmentation issues, handsets unveiled this month have landed with older Android iterations. Just today the entry-level Huawei Ascend Y530 was announced running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.

Although helping reduce fragmentation and improving Android-wide software support, the move would mean truly budget handsets, or those targeting emerging markets, would be phased out as minimum specifications requirements would need to be hit.

Without Google’s GMS approval, devices would be bereft of a number of core Android features, such as Google Maps, Google Now and Hangouts.

Google has yet to officially comment on the newly teased Android restrictions.

Apple will reportedly launch a new model of the Apple TV set top box some time in the first half of 2014, and it could come with proper gaming features.

From Monday, using a smartphone in any European Union country will cost a third less as part of data roaming price cuts introduced by the EU regulator.


Just in time for the masses to embark on their summer holidays, the EU has cut roaming fee costs by 36 per cent as part of an effort to show the value of the European Union to its countries’ citizens.

“The EU has to be relevant to people’s lives,” said Neelie Kroes, the EU’s telecoms regulator as part of the roaming data price cut announcement.

The price cuts were announced in March last year, but are finally coming into effect from Monday, July 1, perfectly timed for the summer exodus.

The EU has been steadily lowering roaming charges since 2007, with current prices marking an 80 per cent decrease during that time.

Kroes aims to make data roaming charges extinct for all of the 27 countries part of the European Union. However, many doubt that this can be accomplished in the 18 months remaining in her position as the EU’s telecoms regulator.

“The latest price cuts put more money in your pocket for summer, and are a critical step towards getting rid of these premiums once and for all.”

From Monday, July 1, internet browsing in any EU country will cost 45 cents (38p) per megabyte, down from 70 cents (60p). Call costs fall from 29 cents (25p) to 24 cents (21p) per minute, and to receive a call users will now pay 7 cents (6p) rather than 8 cents (7p) per minute.

Although, as normal, users won’t pay to receive text messages, sending one will cost 8 cents (7p) per message, down from the previous 9 cents (8p).

The data roaming price drops also tie in with the addition of Croatia to the European Union on Monday, July 1, meaning anyone travelling there will also benefit from the price cuts.

A range of Samsung Galaxy S5 specs have leaked online, with the phone’s innards tipped alongside a claimed March unveiling.

The Sony Xperia Z2 tablet specs have leaked ahead of a potential MWC 2014 unveiling.


The follow-on from the Sony Xperia Tablet Z is rumoured for an official launch at MWC and now we can take a look at its specs.

According to notorious tech tipster @evleaks, the so-called Sony Xperia Z2 tablet will run on a 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with 3GB of RAM.

It will supposedly have the same 10.1-inch 1920 x 1200p resolution display as its predecessor, but Sony has somehow apparently managed to slim down the Z2 tablet even more from 6.9mm to just 6.4mm.

The Z2 tablet will come with 16GB of internal storage as standard, bolstered by a microSD card slot.

There’s supposedly an 8-megapixel camera in the rear, coupled with a 2-megapixel front-facing alternative. We expect the specs will actually match that of the existing Tablet Z, which has an 8.1-megapixel rear camera with 16x digital zoom and a 2.2-megapixel front-facing camera capable of 1080p full HD video recording.

Running Android 4.4 KitKat, the Z2 tablet will be powered by a hearty 6000mAh battery, which should enable a rather healthy battery life.

The leak also mentions the Z2 tablet will retain its IPX5/7 water resistant and dust-proof qualities, which is to be expected.

From the looks of these specs, it seems Sony isn’t looking to give its tablet a huge update for 2014. Mostly, it’s been given a new processor and Android 4.4 KitKat, but sadly retains the full HD display instead of opting for something like a 2K resolution.

Sony is expected to launch this second-generation tablet at MWC next week, along with the heavily rumoured Sony Xperia Z2 flagship smartphone.

The Z2 smartphone is predicted to have a 5.25-inch 2K resolution display, a 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor with 3GB of RAM.

There is someone in every household who always forgets to turn off the lights or television before bed.

Samsung has announced Samsung Galaxy Note 3 shipments have topped 10 million in the two months since launch.

The Google Nexus 5 runs great from the moment you pull it out of the box, especially with the new and improved Android 4.4 KitKat software on board. However you’ll want to make a few immediate changes to be better prepared, more secure, better performance and the best experience possible.


Everyone is different when it comes to how they use their smartphone, and what for, but below you’ll find 5 essential tips to help you get started with the Nexus 5. With Android 4.4 KitKat Google Now is integrated more than ever before, the lockscreen is smarter, and information is a swipe or voice command away, but you’ll still want to make a few of these important changes.

The average user will find that out of the box Google’s improved Android 4.4 KitKat to better serve you, the user. Instructions will walk you through the initial boot process and what everything does like never before, improved over previous versions of the OS, and everything is easy to understand and navigate. However, it still doesn’t recommend users set up a passcode lock, pattern, or any other security after signing into Gmail, and their life. We want better security, data usage limits, battery saving additions, and many more, so here they are.

Device Security

While Android is great at going through the first few steps, signing in and syncing your Gmail, and generally getting started it forgets one key important feature. Security! It takes about 30 seconds to set up a passcode or pattern lock, and your device will be protected from prying eyes or in case of loss/theft, and here’s how.

Simply slide down the notification bar and head into settings, or find the gear-shaped icon from the screenshot above in the application tray.

Settings > Security > Screen Lock > and select Pattern, PIN, or even Face Unlock

From this same menu you’ll be able to also enable lockscreen widgets, which we’ll talk about below, and even add owner info to the lockscreen as well. Once you set a PIN you’ll see additional options in this menu for time before lock, and things of that nature, so your not constantly typing in a pin every singe time you use the device. I found 5-10 minutes is ideal.

While we’re talking about security it’s also worth nothing two other things. One being to enter the Google Play Store and under settings enable password protection for purchases. This ensures a lost device won’t incur charges, nor will kids accidentally buy a bunch of games or apps. At the same time, head to the Android Device Manager and prepare the device for those services. This will allow you to call, lock, or even erase the device if it’s lost, missing, or stolen.

Set Mobile Data Limits

We all wish we had unlimited data options from carriers, but sadly that’s becoming less and less of an option. As a result many users have 2 or 4GB data plans, or even a pay-as-you go plan for their smartphone. The Nexus 5 with fast 4G LTE and a 5-inch 1080p display can churn through data if you’re browsing the web, viewing YouTube and Netflix, or installing large games like Asphalt 8.

Before you go over your data limit and get additional charges from a carrier, you’ll want to quickly set a mobile data limit for the device. You’ll do this by heading into:

Settings > Data Usage > Enable Mobile Data > Set Data Limit

From here you can slide the bars to your specific days in which your plan begin/ends, and even see what’s taking up the most data. You can cycle through previous months, and even enable WiFi tracking in settings.

As a reminder, this may not be 100% accurate with carrier data limits, so use caution. However, we’ve found it to be extremely accurate in the past. The settings menu inside data usage can also be used to enable data roaming, restrict background data usage and more.

Enable Backup and Restore

Google offers a backup and restore feature for smartphones and tablets, but with Android 4.4 KitKat it’s even better. A quick swipe into the Backup & Reset option in settings will give you the rundown. During initial startup of your device, you may have restored from your Gmail account, but whether you did or not, you’ll want to enable backup on your new Nexus 5.
Not only will this backup data, WiFi passwords, and other information, but the automatic restore will even replace the settings and app data when an app is reinstalled. From custom settings to game progress and more. This has improved lately with Google Services Framework, and is better than ever with Android 4.4 KitKat. We strongly recommend backing up your new Nexus 5. Then you’ll be set next year when you get the Nexus 6. (or 5.5)

Battery Tips

It’s no secret one of the biggest complaints of the Nexus 5 is the small 2,300 mAh battery. Even though KitKat is efficient, the Snapdragon 800 is the best processor in terms of battery consumption, and LTE is pretty smooth, you’ll still want to try and conserve battery. There’s a magnitude of ways to do so, so we’ll just mention a few quick and easy ones to enable during initial setup. This is a beginners guide, and we’ll dive into the battery later.

Screen brightness, sleep time, and location settings are the three key areas we wanted to focus on for battery life. For starters you’ll want to head in and choose screen brightness. Many opt for auto-mode, but that will make the screen fluctuate so much, especially outside, that it can in turn make the battery die faster. You don’t need the screen to be a spotlight, and your battery will thank you.

Settings > Display > Brightness (and don’t forget to set the “sleep feature”, default is 30 seconds)

Disabling things like animations in the developer settings can improve battery, but disabling the pulse notification light will be so minimal it isn’t worth it to lose the feature. The second thing you see above is location settings. This is new to Android 4.4 KitKat, and will help you better control what uses location services, and when. GPS for Maps, Google Now, and Facebook kills data.

Settings > Location > Mode > and select Battery Saving

High accuracy is the best, but Google Now has worked wonderfully for me with the battery saving mode enabled instead. The phone will still use WiFi and mobile networks to determine location, and GPS won’t be fired up and draining your battery. These are just a few tips of many, and expect more to be coming soon from the team here at GottaBeMobile.

Performance

Now there’s also plenty of ways to increase performance, and tweakers in the Android community may root the Nexus 5 and install custom ROM’s and kernels, but the average user should just enable a few things to get the most from their new device. Correctly setting up Gmail, enabling sync, and selecting how far back to sync emails is one, and Google Now is another.

Google Now is deeply integrated into Android 4.4 KitKat. It’s a quick slide up away on the lockscreen, and a swipe to the left on your homescreen. This is where you get any and all information. We suggest taking the time to enable certain cards in the Google Now settings. This will give you news, weather, sports alerts, driving directions, nearby restaurants and more all automatically, if you choose. This also will hurt battery life to some degree, so pick your battles.

The middle image above is widgets on the lockscreen, as mentioned before. Everything from Gmail, Twitter alerts, Sound Search for music, and even weather info can all be added to the lockscreen. This ensures users can get the features and information they need, without ever unlocking the device. You’ll want to enable this.

Settings > Security > Enable Widgets

This is in the security section, since you’ll add them after setting a passcode lock, but will work fine without. Simply slide left on the lockscreen to add more, and get the most from your device without unlocking it.

Last, while many are probably familiar with it, get use to using the multi-tasking and multi-window function in Android. Tapping the button right of the home icon will launch the image shown above. Here you can quickly and easily toggle from app to app, and never miss a beat. Stock Android does this better than any manufacturer skin in my opinion, and takes my performance and multitasking to new heights. It won’t just remember you’re in the settings menu, but which sub menu too. Easily navigate through your phone quickly using this feature. It’s extremely powerful. Slide to clear those you don’t need, like Maps, which could be killing that battery behind the scenes.

Final Thoughts

The few changes outlined above will improve the overall experience with your new Nexus 5, while also keeping it safe and secure in case of an accident or theft. You’ll be able to use the device with comfort, restore data and apps if needed, and get better battery life than you expected. They are simple and easy to do, so give it a try and enjoy.

New information has emerged surrounding Nokia’s heavily rumoured Android smartphone, suggesting production is steaming ahead.