Apple began seeding iOS 8.3 beta to registered developers. The Cupertino giant launched the new build barely a week after it released iOS 8.2 beta 5, thus indicating that it is hard at work on improving its mobile OS.

The latest iOS build brings a number of new features to the platform headed by wireless CarPlay support. The functionality was previously available only via USB cable.

Google login has been improved as well. A brand new emoji picker is also on board.

Finally, iOS 8.3 code suggests that Apple Pay is headed to China via Union Pay. Access to the vast Chinese market is certain to give Apple’s payment system a massive boost.

It will surely be a while before iOS 8.3 makes its way to end users. Apple is yet to begin seeding iOS 8.2 to its mobile hardware.

The latest iOS beta arrives amid rumors about the next major release of Cupertino’s mobile platform. Apple iOS 9 is tipped to focus on improved optimization and stability.

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According to a new report online, Apple’s upcoming iOS 9 will not bring the usual host of new features as its predecessors. Codenamed Monarch, Cupertino’s next major iOS release will focus on bug fixes and overall stability improvements.

Some new features will of course make their way into iOS 9. However, optimizing the OS is going to be the major focus of Apple’s team of engineers – hardly a surprise considering the bevy of issues iOS 8 initially carried.

Apple is also said to be working on making iOS require less free storage for new updates. This particular issue stormed into the spotlight with iOS 8, which forced many users to delete content from their devices in order to install it. Owners of 16GB Apple iOS devices were unsurprisingly affected the most.

Such a step by Apple should hardly catch anyone by surprise. The company has made similar moves in the past with its OS X desktop and notebook platform.

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Following quite a few Android device makers, Microsoft has today announced that it too will hold a special press conference during MWC 2015 in Barcelona in March.

Specifically, the software giant will talk to the press on March 2 at 8.30 AM local time. That's one day after Samsung's big event, by the way.

Microsoft hasn't given us any information as to what exactly it will talk about, but it's safe to assume we're going to see some new phones getting unveiled.

However, it's unlikely that we'll see a new Windows Phone flagship device being introduced on this occasion, despite the very long amount of time that has passed since the previous high-end Lumia-branded smartphone was made official.

Obviously, Microsoft might surprise us, and unless it wants the Lumia brand to be associated just with low-end and midrange offerings, it probably should.

One handset which may be announced at MWC could be the successor to the Lumia 1320. It will probably be called Lumia 1330, and its specs were purportedly leaked back in December.

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A 14-month investigation into Qualcomm's business practices in China is reportedly nearing completion. That said, its conclusions will clearly not be loved by the well known chip maker.

Apparently the company may be forced to pay a $1 billion fine by the Chinese authorities, for engaging in anticompetitive practices over there. This would be the biggest amount ever paid by any company in China.

Last week, during talks between Qualcomm representatives and those of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) "significant progress" has allegedly been made towards ending the investigation.

Aside from the record fine, Qualcomm could also be forced to lower its royalty rates by around a third for patents used in China. Additionally, the company would also agree to make changes to its licensing practices, yet not in a very damaging way for its bottom line.

The NDRC is soon expected to announce the antitrust settlement with Qualcomm. The record fine won't influence the company's financials that much, since around half of its $26.5 billion global revenue was earned in China for its latest fiscal year.

However, a big part of Qualcomm's profit in China came from its patent licensing arm collecting royalties. This business was disrupted by the NDRC's investigation, which created disputes between the chip maker and its licensees, and caused other companies to delay signing new licensing…

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After quite a few delays, the Xiaomi Mi 4 is due to finally be up for grabs in India starting tomorrow, through a series of flash sales. This is the company's normal way of doing business, so nothing out of the ordinary here.

But tomorrow you'll only be able to pick up the 16GB white version of the smartphone. If you like the Mi 4 but were hoping for some more built-in space, then you'll have to wait until February 24.

The Chinese company has officially announced that it will start selling the 64GB Mi 4 in India on that day. The 64GB variant will cost INR 23,999, which at the current exchange rates means around $386 or €341.

The 16GB model is going to be offered for INR 19,999, which is about $322 or €284. This is so far only going to be made available in white. It's still unclear whether the higher-storage variation will be in the same situation.

Thanks for the tip, Santosh…

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Each year there's slump in sales of mobile devices in the January/February. That's because all the holiday gifts have been bought and the MWC – and all next-generation phones it brings – is just around the corner. This doesn’t mean it's a bad time to buy…

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As we already reported, OnePlus is making the One available without an invite tomorrow in India. However, the company additionally revealed in a blog post that the promotion stretches far wider than that. The smartphone will be the case every Tuesday from now on and to every market it ships.

The sales of the phone will be open 24 hours starting at 8AM GMT. On the rest six days of the week, the company is keeping the invite system and says invite generation hasn't stopped.

The slight amendment in the OnePlus One sales model comes after the company received numerous complaints from potential buyers that the phone was too hard to buy. The effect of the company's policy will be seen in the next financial report. For the last year, OnePlus shipped nearly one million…

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Following numerous online appearances, the HTC Desire 626 is finally official in Taiwan.

The HTC Desire 626 sports a 5" 720p display and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chipset with a 1.2GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU and 1GB of RAM. Internal storage is 16GB and is expandable through the microSD card slot. At the back, there's a 13MP camera with a BSI sensor and f/2.2 aperture that records 1080p video. A 5MP selfie camera is at the front and it also records 1080p.

The 2,000mAh battery is non-removable and can handle up to 30 hours of 3G talk time and 760 hours of stand-by. Connectivity is handled by Bluetooth 4.0 and single-band Wi-Fi 802.11n with DLNA. The phone supports LTE bands 1, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 28.

The HTC Desire 626 is already available for purchase in Taiwan and costs $190 (NT$5990). Color options include dark blue and white.

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Renders of a new Xperia phone have leaked – thanks to a case manufacturer, of course – which suggests the device is pretty much ready for an appearance at the MWC in the first days of March. The E2105/E2115 model number matches with the Xperia E4 that leaked in December.

The specs also fall pretty close to the Xperia E1 II, which showed up on a phone retailer's web site. There was some uncertainty there about the screen size as the site lists both 4" and 5", though the given dimensions match the Xperia E1 exactly and that one just doesn’t have the room for a 5" screen.

Sony E2105/E2115, likely the Xperia E4

Whatever the official model name, the Sony Xperia E2105/E2115 should have a 5" screen with qHD resolution (540 x 960px), a quad-core processor courtesy of a MediaTek chipset, 1GB of RAM and 5GB of storage, plus a 5MP main camera and 1.9MP selfie camera. The phone ran Android 4.4 KitKat when it was previewed in December, months ahead of its official announcement.

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Microsoft promised that the Windows 10 update is coming to "most" of the Lumia phones, but that meant some are not getting it. One suggestion was that it will be phones with 512MB RAM that will get the axe as even the lowly Lumia 435 has 1GB of RAM.

But no – Joe Belfiore (VP of Operating Systems) confirmed on Twitter that Microsoft is working on an update for those phones. Note that "working on" is not the same as "will certainly release." Also, Belfiore says that "features may vary," the timing of the update is variable as well.

Hey all: we ARE working on Win10 for 512MB, including 520. Our ambition is to make #Win10 available for these devices but features may vary— joebelfiore (@joebelfiore) February 8, 2015

The Lumia 520 alone makes up 23.8% of the Windows Phone devices worldwide, but most of the others in the Top 10 are also 512MB devices. In short, if 512MB devices miss out on Windows 10 it would have been a major blow to the platform.

It's sill not clear which features will be cut. In fact it's not particularly clear what new features Windows 10 will add to phones, beyond the universal app platform. Limiting features is not a new practice, Apple has been doing it with iOS and older iPhones for years.

Timing for various phones may be variable as well. When we first launch insider program, it'll be a subset of phones with more coming latr— joebelfiore (@joebelfiore) February 8, 2015

This month Microsoft will be releasing the first test build of Windows 10 for phones to the Insiders community that is helping with the beta testing. This will give us a better idea of what the new phone OS will be like.

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