High-performance hardware meets low-key design in the Huawei Honor 6, at a price that’s frankly hard to beat. In a market segment where budget matters, the Honor 6 is offering some top-of-the-range specs to raise itself above the crowd.

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The Apple Watch sure polarized opinions upon its launch a couple of days ago at the company's Spring forward event. What's become the center of controversy is mainly the product's pricing, as design and functionality were already revealed last year.

Meanwhile, details have surfaced regarding the Apple Watch production and supply. The company is reported to be planning a 3-million initial shipment, which comes as a more conservative figure, compared to the previously mentioned 5 to 6 millions.

Even so, chief manufacturer Quanta is running into workers shortage and is allegedly hiring by the thousands. Long-time Apple partner Foxconn is also reported to be joining in the Watch production, although the company's precise role is unclear. Its involvement isn't surprising though, when you have in mind that the initial batch of the Apple Watch is on par with the combined number of smartwatches shipped by the top four manufacturers in the entire year 2014.

Source (in Chinese) |…

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Samsung may be struggling to protect the number one spot in the global smartphone market, but the company is second to none in the smartwatch market, according to he latest report from market research firm Statista.

As per the report, the South Korean company sold a total of 1.2 million smartwatches last year, claiming 17.65% market share. Pebble came in at number two with 700,000 shipments, while Fitbit, Sony, and Lenovo rounded up the top five with 600,000, 550,000, and 500,000 shipments, respectively.

The report comes just a day after Apple released details of its Apple Watch at the company's Spring forward event.

Source |…

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ZTE can't keep its Nubia Z9 under wraps it seems. A couple of new images have surfaced showing the near-missing bezels around the device's screen.

The images also showcase what could prove to be the back of the device, which looks similar to the aluminum frame on glass back of the ZTE Nubia Z9 Max – which we saw at the Mobile World Congress.

ZTE Nubia Z9 alleged photos

This isn't the first time we're seeing the ZTE Nubia Z9 in photos and the images are so far the same except for this one instance where the back appears different.

ZTE Nubia Z9 alleged photos

We guess we'll have to wait a bit more – ZTE is scheduled to showcase the Nubia Z9 and probably give a bit of spotlight to the Z9 Max as well at a March 26 event.

Source |…

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Samsung is pushing its factories to meet the unexpectedly high demand for Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge. It will produce 13 million units instead of 12 million (as initially planned) in the March-April period. Analyst Henry H Kim from Citibank has revised his estimate of the total number of Galaxy S6 devices to be shipped this year.

The initial prediction was for 38 million Galaxy S6 and S6 edge phones total, this has since been bumped up considerably to 46 million.

The bank still expects Samsung's profits for this quarter to drop slightly (1%) due to seasonality (things like the Chinese New Year), but for the second quarter of this year the forecast is for a 39% jump in quarterly profits.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge will contribute to that, but the analysts sees the increased popularity of the Galaxy brand to benefit mid-range and even low-end models. All of this will have a positive impact on Samsung's component business as well.

Source |…

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Samsung Galaxy Xcover 3 went quietly official – it's the company's next mid-range rugged smartphone. The new Galaxy Xcover 3 packs a 4.5" WVGA display and runs on a quad-core 1.2GHz processor, of unknown architecture.

The rest of the specs include 1.5GB of RAM, 8GB expandable storage, a 5MP rear cam capable of snapping underwater pics, a 2MP front shooter and a 2,200 mAh battery. Samsung Galaxy Xcover 3 also relies on an altimeter, compass and GPS sensors and offers LTE connectivity.

The Galaxy Xcover 3 will launch running on Android 4.4 KitKat, but it will be brought to Lollipop later on.

Samsung Galaxy Xcover 3 has the same protection certifications as the Galaxy S5 Active. It is MIL-STD 810G certified for salt, dust, humidity, rain, vibration, solar radiation, transport and thermal shock resistance. The IP67 certifications means the Xcover 3 is dust-tight and can survive in 1m-deep fresh water for half an hour.

The rugged gadget offers physical control keys below its display and there is an additional Xcover key, which lights up the LED flash on a short press, or fires up the camera with a double click.

Samsung will reveal more details on the Galaxy Xcover 3 on CeBIT next…

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Carriers reportedly ordered 15 million units of Samsung's Galaxy S6 and 5 million of the Galaxy S6 edge and many have started pre-orders in anticipation on the launch, which will be April 10 or a week later for many countries.

Here's a table that shows the launch dates and prices for the countries where information is available. By the looks of it, the base 32GB Samsung Galaxy S6 will go for €700 and a bump in storage will be €100-€150.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge 128GB will top the range at €1,050, though it starts at €850 for the 32GB model and storage bumps are €100 each.

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Country Launch Samsung Galaxy S6 Samsung Galaxy S6 edge

32GB 64GB 128GB 32GB 64GB 128GB

Austria mid-April €700 €850

Denmark DKK 5,500 DKK 6,500

Estonia €700 €1,050

Finland €700 €830 €950 €850 €1,000 €1,050

Italy (unconfirmed) €740 €850 €890 €1,000

Kazakhstan April 17

Latvia €700 €1,050

Lithuania €700 €1,050

Norway NOK 6,600 NOK 8,000

Slovakia April 17 €700 €800 €900 €850 €950 €1,050

Spain €700 €800 €900 €850 €950 €1,050

Sweden April 10 SEK 7,000

Switzerland CHF 700 CHF 800 CHF 900 CHF 850 CHF 950 CHF 1,050

United Kingdom £550 £650 £700

US (Verizon contract) $200 $300 …

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During its MWC presentation this year Samsung put a huge emphasis on the exquisite display unit in its latest Galaxy S6 flagship. And, as it turns out, this is more than just a promotional stunt, the new Galaxy has a gorgeous QHD Super AMOLED panel, which might just turn out to be the industry's best.

But there is also another contender – the Galaxy Note 4. Both phones were sent to DisplayMate for testing and they are having a hard time crowning a definitive winner among the two.

Both the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge made it to the company's testing grounds and were put through rigorous tests. Although the phones differ in form factor, their display units are identical – 5.1-inch panel, with a QHD resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels and a ppi rating of 577. The only difference is the slight curve in one of the models, so both were tested just in case.

It turns out that the panel in the Galaxy Note 4 and the S6 are very close in terms of overall performance. Even though the screen on the new Samsung flagship has been scaled down in size by about 20% compared to the Note 4, it has maintained its amazing picture quality and is battling the phablet for the "Best Performing Smartphone Display" title. Here is what DisplayMate had to say on the matter:

The Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 4 are neck-and-neck record holders for display performance, effectively tied or alternating between first and second place in almost all categories except screen size for the much larger Galaxy Note 4, and the much higher pixels per inch for the Galaxy S6. What is especially impressive is that the overall display specs and performance of the Galaxy S6 have been maintained or improved after being scaled down by 20 percent in area from Galaxy Note 4. So. The Galaxy S6 matches the Galaxy Note 4 in overall display excellence and record performance and joins it as the Best Performing Smartphone Display that we have ever tested.

As it turns out, Samsung has a lot to boast about its current device lineup. Naturally, the best in class title wouldn’t be complete without a shootout with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, which currently hold the title "Best Mobile LCD Displays" and according to DisplayMate, Samsung leaves both of them in the dust as well.

We recently evaluated and rated the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus as the current Best Mobile LCD Displays, while the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 4 are the current Best Mobile OLED Displays. All are impressive and excellent displays with great state-of-the-art display technology. However, OLED displays have been advancing at a relentless and fast pace with a constant series of systematic and strategic improvements, while LCDs have been coasting on their laurels for years. So although OLEDs started from behind in 2010 they have now pulled ahead on performance and innovation based on the Lab test and measurement results reported here. To get back in the game and become more competitive, LCDs will need to adopt Quantum Dots and Dynamic Color Management.

The Galaxy S6 has more than double the resolution and more than 4 times the number of pixels as the iPhone 6. It also has significantly higher peak Brightness, significantly higher Contrast Ratio in both low and high Ambient Light, significantly higher Absolute Color Accuracy, significantly better Viewing Angel performance, and has 4 selectable screen modes instead of a single fixed one on the iPhones.

The incredibly thorough and detailed test documentation, results and final verdicts can be found at the source link, along with quite comprehensive comparison tables. So you can really dig deep into the question. But one thing is for sure, Mr. JK Shin was definitely not lying when he said that the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge are "the most advanced smartphones in the world". At least for now, that is.

Source |…

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Motorola is ready to offer the new Moto E (2015) in India. The Moto E (2015) has been listed exclusively at Flipkart for INR6,999 ($112) and will be available for sale once the clock hits 00:00.

This new model is a dual-SIM XT1026 version that supports one 3G (UMTS) SIM module and one 2G (GSM) SIM. By default, it runs Android 5.0 Lollipop and is powered by a quad-core 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 SoC paired with 1 GB RAM and 8 GB on-board storage.

It is surprising that the smartphone can support only up to 32 GB microSD card officially. Other specifications include 5MP rear camera, VGA front camera, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS support.

We expect Flipkart to throw in some goodies in terms of discounts and free eBooks as part of the launch day…

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The HTC One M9, which was announced at this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC), will also have a 64GB variant, according to prominent HTC leaker @LlabTooFeR.

During the unveiling, HTC had said that the device would offer 32GB of internal memory – no other variant was announced. It's worth mentioning that the Taiwanese company's previous flagships, the One (M8) and One (M7), come in both 32GB and 64GB configurations.

@LlabTooFeR also said that the 64GB One M9 will hit the market later this year in some regions. Needless to say, the news hasn't been officially confirmed by HTC, so like all rumours take it with a pinch of…

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