Apple has officially launched iOS 8.2 earlier this week, but the company hasn't stopped working on the next release of its mobile operating system either.

We've already seen two beta versions of iOS 8.3 going out to developers, and today Apple made iOS 8.3 beta 3 available for them too. But along with this release comes something that has been rumored before, but never actually done by Apple so far – a public beta for iOS.

Yes, the company is now letting non-developers try out the next iteration of iOS too. The Apple Seed website has been updated to include iOS 8.3 as a public beta. You first have to sign up, after which you can enroll in the iOS 8.3 beta. Keep in mind however that this is still rolling out, and a link to join the iOS program may not appear immediately for you. If that's the case, simply try again later.

After you're in, you'll need to first backup your device to iTunes, then download a configuration profile from the Apple Seed website. This will allow the beta release to show up in Software update on your device.

If at any point you want to go back to the previous stable release of iOS, you'll need to "first erase the beta software, then re-install the latest shipping version of iOS, and finally restore from your previously saved iTunes backup", according to Apple's notes. Once the final version of iOS 8.3 lands, you'll be able to update to that even if you're running the beta release, of course.

As for what's new in this third iOS 8.3 beta, you should know that it comes with the Apple Watch app that is also part of the final release of iOS 8.2. Messages settings gets a new "Conversation list filtering" option, which adds tabs to the Messages app, separating your conversations with people who are in your address book from those with anyone else. Also, messages from unknown people now have a "Report junk" link, which apparently sends the message details to Apple for review.

These seem to be the only new things for now, but as always iOS 8.3 beta 3 should also include a number of unnamed bug fixes and performance enhancements.

Source 1 • Source…

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Remember that top of the line LG smartphone that's supposed to launch in the second half of this year sporting higher-end specs than even the G4? It was hinted at by an LG exec earlier this month, though unfortunately no details about its specs were revealed.

Now it turns out that this could be called G4 Note, and it's going to be a phablet. An extremely high-end one, that is, undoubtedly made to compete head-on with both the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and the successor to Apple's iPhone 6 Plus.

This information reportedly comes from unnamed sources in LG's native South Korea. If it's true, the G4 Note would mark LG's return to the high-end phablet market. The company did release the Optimus G Pro in 2013 and the G Pro 2 last year, but then gave up on this space because sales of those two devices had cannibalized its other flagships.

It remains to be seen whether it will somehow manage to prevent that from happening once more with the G4 Note and G4 (allegedly pictured in the leaked render attached to this article). On the other hand, the different release time frame might help, with the G4 coming in the first half of the year and the G4 Note in the second – emulating Samsung's model of releasing the Galaxy S flagship in spring and the Note in the fall.

LG is confident that the G4 and G4 Note will help it reach the No.3 position in the global smartphone sales rankings. In fact, it apparently expects to sell 10 million G4 units this year, compared to just 7 million G3 devices it moved in 2014.

Image source • Source |…

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Today Verizon has unveiled a new color variation for the Motorola Droid Turbo. This smartphone, like all Droid-branded devices before it, will only work on Verizon's network. It's also Motorola's current flagship smartphone on Big Red, being tied in terms of specs with the Nexus 6, which Verizon has started selling today.

The Droid Turbo is smaller though, which should make it a better fit for most people. And if the colors that were previously on offer didn't entice you to buy one, perhaps the new option will.

It's called "Sapphire Blue Ballistic Nylon", because two-word commercial names for colors are old fashioned now it seems. A mere mortal may just call it "blue", but that's not its official moniker.

Anyway, on the inside you're looking at the exact same handset as before, nothing has changed except the hue. The blue model is available now in stores and online for $199.99 with a new two-year contract, or $599.99 sans long-term agreement. Alternatively, you can also use the company's Edge installment plan, in which case you shell out nothing upfront, then followed by 24 monthly payments of $24.99.

The Droid Turbo features a 5.2-inch 2,560×1,440 Super AMOLED touchscreen, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 SoC with a 2.7 GHz quad-core CPU, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of non-expandable storage, a 21 MP rear camera with dual-LED flash, a 2 MP front-facing camera, and a 3,900 mAh…

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Huawei's own chipset line – Kirin has never really been trendy or widely-discussed. Unlike Qualcomm's and Intel's chips it does not have proprietary graphics and instead relies on ARM technology which often lagged behind in performance.

This might change very soon as the Chines tech giant is apparently preparing a major upgrade to its lineup, featuring three new upcoming SoCs – Kirin 930, 940 and 950. An alleged specs sheet for the future chips has slipped through the cracks and they do look mighty impressive. And before you say to yourself, "Well that sounds awesome for the new Huawei MediaPad or the P9 which I am not really interested in that much", consider this. Huawei will, most-likely, be a manufacturer of choice for the next Nexus device, so the capabilities of Kirin chips might turn out to be more important than you think.

So let's have a quick glance at what Huawei is working on.

KIRIN 930

KIRIN 940

KIRIN 950

CPU

Quad A53 + Quad A57 (up to 2.0GHz)
Quad A53 + Quad A72 (up to 2.2GHz)
Quad A53 + Quad A72 (up to 2.4GHz)

RAM

Dual-channel LPDDR3
Dual-channel LPDDR4 (25.6GB/s)
Dual-channel LPDDR4 (25.6GB/s)

GPU

ARM Mali T628 GPU
ARM Mali T860 GPU
ARM Mali T880 GPU

DSP

Tensilica HiFi 3 DSP
Tensilica HiFi 4 DSP
Tensilica HiFi 4 DSP

ISP

32MP ISP
Dual ISP (32MP)
Dual ISP (42MP)

Video Encode

1080p
4K
4K

Modem

Dual SIM Cat. 6 LTE
Dual SIM Cat. 7 LTE
(Dual-SIM) LTE Cat.10

Sensor Hub

i3 Co-Processor (Sensor Hub)
i7 Co-Processor (Sensor Hub + Connectivity + Security)
i7 Co-Processor (Sensor Hub + Connectivity + Security)

External Component Interfaces

eMMC 4.51 / SD 3.0 (UHS-I)
BT 4.0 Low Energy
Dual-band a/b/g/n Wi-Fi
USB 2.0
UFS 2.0 / eMMC 5.1 / SD 4.1 (UHS-II)
MU-MIMO ac Wi-Fi
BT 4.2 Smart
USB 3.0
NFC
UFS 2.0 / eMMC 5.1 / SD 4.1 (UHS-II)
MU-MIMO ac Wi-Fi
BT 4.2 Smart
USB 3.0
NFC

Release

Q2 2015
Q3 2015
Q4 2015

First up is the Kirin 930. This is the one we are probably most familiar with, as we already know it will be powering the upcoming Huawei MediaPad X2 and the Huawei P8. It comes equipped with four Cortex A53 cores plus another four A57 ones, with a max clock of 2GHz. The GPU is an ARM Mali T628, which may not be the most powerful on the market but still offers plenty of oomph. The SoC supports up to 32MP sensors and offers 1080p video encoding.

A very important feature that the Kirin line will get is the always-on dedicated sensor coprocessor. In the Kirin 930, it is dubbed the i3 and it is going to be replaced by an upgraded i5 model (not to be confused with the Intel processor though). This should allow for continuous measurements as well as better connectivity and security.

The Kirin 940 will be a major improvement over the 930. It replaces the A57 cores, with the even more capable A72, throws in LPDDR4 memory support, DUAL ISP with 4K video encoding, as well as the Mali T860 for admirable graphic performance and many, many more other improvements.

The Kirin 950 will only bring small tweaks to its predecessor. It will come with a beefed-up camera support (up to 42MP DUAL ISP), Cat. 10 LTE and a Mali T880 GPU. If rumors are to be believed, we should be seeing the all three chips this year, in Q2, Q3 and Q4,…

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The LG G4 rumors are heating up in the rumor mill with suggestions that it will adopt a slight curve, similar to the LG G Flex2. Leaked renders of the device and now cases for it confirm that the LG G4 will indeed have a slightly curved screen, similar to the LG Magna and Spirit we saw at the MWC and not nearly as curved as the G Flex2.

The cases are even on sale at a Chinese retailer site. Unfortuanately there are no product dimensions to confirm the rumored size of the LG G4, 148.9 x 76.5 x 9.9mm.

Leaked render • LG G4 cases

Specs are unconfirmed, but allegedly the new phone will add a fingerprint reader on the back, specifically on the Power key. A stylus may make a surprise appearance too.

The exact screen size is unknown but is should be between 5.3" and 5.7' (both the LG G3 and G Flex2 are 5.5") and it should have 1,440 x 2,560px or 1,620 x 2,880px resolution. The camera should get an upgrade to 16MP or 20MP, while the chipset is expected to be a Snapdragon 810.

Source 1 (in Chinese) • Source…

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The follow-up to the ZTE Nubia Z7 flagship of last year has been showing up in supposed live images recently, though with some disconcerting differences. The final looks of the Nubia Z9 aren't officially known yet, but we appear to have obtained the specs, courtesy of an Antutu database entry.

The popular benchmark's site lists the device with an internal designation NX510J to pack the mighty Snapdragon 810 chipset, expected to be found in each and every flagship this year except the Samsung Galaxy S6 / S6 edge. Operating memory is solid 3GB and internal storage is quoted at 32GB, both befitting the high-end aspirations of the smartphone. What's not up to 2015 flagship standards though, is the score of just shy of 47K, which is very much a last year figure.

Interestingly, we witness a decrease in both screen size and resolution, compared to the previous installment. The Nubia Z9 is reported to feature a 5.2-inch FullHD display, as opposed the 5.5-inch QHD panel in the old generation.

Other than that, the Antutu entry reveals a rather capable camera equipment, at least on paper. The main unit on the back employs a 16MP sensor, while the selfie-loving crowd will be pleased to find an 8MP front snapper.

The rest of the hardware, as well as the smartphone's final appearance, remains to be disclosed, and that's expected to happen on March 26 at a dedicated ZTE press event.

Source |…

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As most of you surely remember, Microsoft announced two new Lumia devices at this year's MWC venue. The smaller Lumia 640 has been available for preorder for a week now in Germany, France, and the UK. Today the Lumia 640 XL has also popped up in an online listing and is available for preorder.

Bear in mind, that while the former can be found on the official Microsoft device store, the Lumia 640 XL has made an appearance on Amazon Germany, but the offer looks legitimate enough. The smartphone is priced at €219, which is quite reasonable, considering the Lumia 640 goes for about €160. Interestingly enough, the very same listing also features the smaller Lumia 640 model, in both 3G and LTE variant and the prices do match up with what we have seen so far, so it looks like the real deal.

The Microsoft Lumia 640 XL comes with a 5.7" HD IPS screen with ClearBlack technology and a 13MP camera with Zeiss f/2.0 lens and 5MP selfie camera, both of which can do 1080p video. It is powered, by a rather dated Snapdragon 400 SoC, that includes a 1.2GHz quad-core Cortex-A7, 1GB of RAM and Adreno 305 GPU and has a 3,000 mAh battery.

Source |…

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Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S6 duo in three common colors, plus a unique color for each. Now, however, we learn that the Samsung Galaxy S6 might be getting a second unique color option, at least in the UK. It's not quite official yet, but a Brown color may soon join the current Gold Platinum option.

Samsung UK's web site lists the Galaxy S6 in five colors, instead of the official four. The fifth option cannot be clicked and disappears if you navigate away from the specific page in the source link. There isn’t even an image of the device in Brown.

So, publishing the Brown color option was certainly a mistake. Its existence might be for real though. There's no trace of it on other local Samsung sites, suggesting it may be a UK carrier exclusive. The Galaxy S6 edge does not have a fifth color either, at least not yet.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and its S6 edge sibling are already on pre-order in the UK starting at £550.

Source |…

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VAIO Corporation, now 95-percent owned by Japan Industrial Partners, just unveiled its first foray into the smartphone market. Following an industry trend of naming simplicity in recent months, the device is plainly called the VAIO Phone.

The handset is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, presumably within a Snapdragon 410 chipset. 2GB of RAM should offer adequate multitasking capabilities, while the 16GB of built-in storage can be expanded via microSD.

The VAIO Phone sports a 5-inch IPS display of 720p resolution, and a rather common nowadays 13MP/5MP camera combo. Battery capacity is 2,500mAh, fitted in a body measuring 141.5 x 71.3 x 7.95mm and weighing 130g. Observant users have pointed out that the VAIO Phone is not unlike the Panasonic Eluga U2, but with the notable distinction that the Panasonic screen is FullHD.

The smartphone boots Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box, without much VAIO customizations. The Phone will set you back JPY3,000 upfront ($25 more or less), and JPY2,000 for 24 months, for a total of JPY51,000 ($420). Unlimited data plan is JPY1,980 a month on top of that.

Source |…

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Verizon Wireless has quietly listed the LTE-packing Motorola Moto E (2015) on its website. The 3G model of the Moto E (2015) is already on sale in the US.

Listed for $99 with no long-term contract, the new Moto E (2015) sounds like a very decent deal. As reported earlier, Sprint, Boost, and Virgin mobile are offering the unlocked version for the same price.

New 4G LTE enabled Moto E (2015) is slightly bigger than its predecessor and features the same 4.5-inch display with qHD (960×540 pixels) resolution. It is powered with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 SoC with a 64-bit quad-core 1.2 GHz CPU, 1 GB RAM, a 5MP rear camera, a VGA front camera, and a 2,390 mAh…

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