Samsung has always aimed to have a few devices on every shelf, top to bottom. Outdoor-targeted smartphones are no exception, but the two most recent offerings, Galaxy S5 Active and Galaxy S4 Active, have been based on the respective flagships. The more affordable Xcover range hasn't seen an update for two whole years, with the latest Galaxy Xcover 2 launched in January 2013.

Well, that is about to change, as we've just been treated to an exclusive peek at the entirely new Samsung Galaxy Xcover 3. The device carries a model designation SM-G388F, and is fitted with distinctly average hardware.

Samsung Galaxy Xcover 3

The tough smartphone packs a Marvell Armada PXA1908 chipset with a quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU and 1GB of RAM. No other specs have been revealed, but judging by the photos we could speculate that the screen size is close to 4.3 inches corresponding to a total footprint of around 150x78mm. The SoC supports resolutions up to 720p, but achieving that is rather unlikely at this size and price range.

Performance isn't the Galaxy Xcover 3's main selling point though, ruggedness is, and by the looks of it, the phone will deliver. Design cues have been borrowed from the latest Galaxy S5 Active, namely the toughened corners, button shape and arrangement and sensor placement.

The back reveals its status, however, with flash-camera-speaker layout of more lowly Samsung phones of late. It's also nicely textured and appears to provide a secure grip in muddy or wet hands, a supposedly frequent scenario.

The upcoming smartphone will run Android 4.4.4. No word is out on pricing and availability, naturally, but stay tuned.

Special thanks to our anonymous…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1BxUjZV
via IFTTT

While we know that Q4, 2014 was a blockbuster quarter for Apple, which sold a whopping 74.5 million smartphones during the period, the question whether that was good enough for the Cupertino-based company to become the top smartphone vendor in the world apparently doesn’t have a single answer – it depends whom you ask.

While IDC acknowledged that it was a close contest, with Samsung ahead of Apple, Strategy Analytics said it was a tie between the two companies. Now, another research firm by the name of Counterpoint is claiming that Apple actually shipped more smartphones than its South Korean competitor in Q4.

The Counterpoint report notes that Apple led the smartphone market with 20.2% market share, followed by Samsung, which shipped 73.8 million units, good enough for 20% share of the market. Lenovo, Huawei, and Xiaomi rounded up the top five with 7, 6.6, and 4.6% market share,…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1tCSLA1
via IFTTT

Back in February last year, Motorola made India’s largest e-commerce website Flipkart its exclusive online retail partner, and now, the Economic Times is reporting that the Lenovo-owned company has sold 3 million smartphones in the country since then, with Moto G and Moto E smartphones making up for more than half of the sales.

According to Amit Boni, head of Motorola’s India operations, the company considers India as a “critical market,” and is planning to increase its efforts in the country. Starting this year, the company will set up several Motorola experience centers that will also double up as service centers.

The report also notes that moving forward Motorola is planning to launch new handsets in India before other global markets, and may also bring Moto Maker to the country – China is the only Asian country where the create-your-own-design store is available as of…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1zkN4Gn
via IFTTT

After things with Cyanogen went a bit sour, OnePlus announced that it is working on its own Android ROM for the OnePlus One. The company also released an alpha version, with a stable version arriving in February.

The company has now announced the name for the ROM, and it will be called 'Oxygen'. Oxygen, OnePlus says, is, "all around us. It’s part of us and everything we do. It creates the water that carves out valleys and moves mountains. By itself, it’s simple and pure—a fundamental building block. But, as a part of something greater, it can do amazing things. Just like us."

The company says the OnePlus ROM will be "open, customizable, and free of bloat and unnecessary features."

OnePlus has promised more details on Febrary…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1yIpoIb
via IFTTT

Purported images of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S6 made the rounds online courtesy of Spigen. The Korean manufacturer of mobile accessories has already listed several cases for the yet to be announced smartphone on Amazon.

The latest leaked images of Samsung Galaxy S6 fall right in line with renders from another case maker, which emerged a couple of days ago. They confirm that the Galaxy S6 will have its LED flash and heart sensor on the right side of its camera, not below it like in the case of Samsung Galaxy S5.

If the images are to be believed, Samsung Galaxy S6 will have the same back texture as the Galaxy S5. We doubt this will be the case when the device debuts. The handset is all but certain to feature an all-metal body a la Samsung Galaxy A series.

The case maker’s product listings point at a potential mid-April availability for the smartphone. Two of the accessories are going to be in stock on April 13.

Considering the track record of Spigen in revealing devices before their launch through product listings, there is little room to doubt the credibility of the renders you see above. The company has leaked a number of high-profile devices in the past including Nexus 5 and iPhone 6.

Purported specs of Samsung Galaxy S6 include Exynos 7420 chipset with octa-core CPU, 5.2″ QHD display, 3GB of RAM, and 20MP camera. The device is expected to launch during MWC in Barcelona.

Source 1 | Source 2 | Source 3 |…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1uHyepg
via IFTTT

The Finnish manufacturer Jolla resumed the crowdsourcing campaign for its first ever Sailfish OS slate. The original Indiegogo campaign for the Jolla Tablet ended on December 9 last year with 480% funded.

Jolla Tablet returns to Indiegogo with slightly improved hardware and special $249 price tag. The changes in the tablet include 64GB of built-in memory (up from 32GB on the original offering) and support for 128GB microSD cards.

Laminated display, built-in gyro and compass, and slightly larger 4,450mAh battery are also features that were missing in the last campaign. The slightly improved Jolla Tablet will begin shipping to backers in June.

Users who already ordered the Jolla Tablet with 32GB of memory should not despair – a $25 perk is available for those who are willing to upgrade their existing order. The 32GB version is still available to order for $219.

Jolla’s latest Indiegogo campaign will last through February.

Source…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1uH32Gr
via IFTTT

According to report in The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft will make an investment in Cyanogen Inc. The Redmond giant is expected to become a minority investor in a $70 million round of equity financing.

The latest round of funding is said to value Cyanogen Inc. “in the high hundreds of millions.” Spokespeople from both Microsoft and Cyanogen Inc. declined to comment on the matter.

Cyanogen made quite a splash a few days ago when the company’s CEO Kirt McMaster told an audience in San Francisco that the company wants “to take Android away from Google.” The ambitious startup plans to create a version of Android, which isn’t dependent on Google Play apps and services.

The round of financing for Cyanogen could grow further. As it turns out, more strategic investors have expressed interest in the company now that its plans to loosen Google’s hold on Android became clear.

Considering the roughly 3% market share Windows Phone holds, it is hardly a surprise that Microsoft want a piece from the action in the Android realm. The tech giant surely wouldn’t mind further exposure for its Bing search engine.

Source…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1ChWTs6
via IFTTT

Sony's upcoming Xperia Z4 smartphone may have just received the necessary certification from Postel, the Indonesian authority that deals with such things.

Three Sony phone models have been given the all clear by Postel, one of which could in fact be the Xperia Z4. The Indonesian authority has only given us the devices' model numbers, but we can make some assumptions based on them.

So let's start with the E6533. Last year's Xperia Z2 had the model number D65xx, while the Xperia Z3 was D66xx. The letter used has to do with the year of release – so "E" is right on track for 2015, "D" was for last year, and "C" for 2013. If Sony keeps its naming scheme for the model numbers intact, and there's no reason why it shouldn't, then the E6533 could very well be the Xperia Z4.

Joining it in the Japanese company's portfolio at some point during this year will be the E5333, as well as the E2353. The latter will obviously be the lowest-end of them all, and could actually serve as the successor to the Xperia M2 (which is the D23xx).

The E5333 looks like a midranger by its model number, though exactly which handset it's supposed to replace in Sony's roster isn't clear. The closest older device to its model number is the Xperia T2 Ultra phablet, but that doesn't necessarily mean that this one will have a big screen too.

As for the Z4, if it has started its certification tour already then it should become official sooner, rather than…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1JOYVBb
via IFTTT

Amosu is known for its love of all things shiny and expensive, and for pairing those things with smartphones from time to time. The results are obviously not for mere mortals, but people who can afford to spend small fortunes on bespoke mobile devices.

For this year's Valentine's Day, Amosu is preparing to launch the "world's first pink iPhone 6". Yes, it apparently couldn't resist joining in on all the pink 'fun' that's coming up prior to said celebration of love and whatnot.

As you can see from the picture to the left, the pink iPhone 6 will look extremely pink – so it's only going to be for die hard fans of this color. That probably won't be a problem, however, since Amosu is only going to be making exactly ten units.

Each of those will cost £1,899. That's actually quite cheap when compared to other Amosu wares from the past, but do keep in mind that there are no diamonds here – just a new hue, basically, and the Alexander Amosu logo on the iPhone's back. Hopefully the "World's first pink iPhone 6" text is only in this image for promotional purposes and won't make it to the final product.

So there you have it. If your loved one has been craving a pink iPhone, there's now a solution for that. Don't forget – no case can ever be pink enough when compared to a real pink…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1tz62tm
via IFTTT

The Nokia N1 continues its victorious march on Chinese territory, with two more weekly lots sold since we last updated you on January 15. Ever since the the tablet's launch in China on January 7, the batches have swiftly cleared the shelves.

After the first flash sale of 20,000 units, no word has gotten out, detailing the quantities. Invariably though, the online store, selling the tablet, has listed it as "out of stock" promptly after launch.

The high demand is natural, considering the aggressive pricing and the impressive specsheet of the tablet. The slate retails for 1599CNY ($256) and comes with a 7.9-inch IPS display of 1536x2048px resolution for a Retina-grade 324ppi.

The Intel Atom Z3580 chipset inside is a benchmark beast packing a 2.3GHz quad-core CPU and a PowerVRG6430 graphics chip. 2GB of RAM and 32GB of non-expandable storage round up the chief specs.

The great market response seems to have depleted the inventories and the next sale is planned for a whole month from now, on February…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1yErHfe
via IFTTT