21 September 2012

GSM Dome - Mobile Phone News

GSM Dome - Mobile Phone News


BlackBerry 10 L Series Gets Hands On Teardown Before It’s Even Announced

Posted: 20 Sep 2012 10:51 AM PDT


We’ve seen of pre announcement hands on pics, videos, specs leak and stuff like that, but it’s very rare that we actually get to see the insides of a yet unannounced and unlaunched handset. Such is the case with the BlackBerry 10 L Series unit that you see below. Odds are that this is the exact same model that has already leaked on the web a bunch of times, but this time we get to check out its insides…

So, we get a full capacitive touchscreen on this supposed BlackBerry London relative, with a keyboard version of the handset coming out a month later (in 2013, mind that folks!). There’s a dual core CPU inside, the display uses an IPS panel and there are colors of the model: black and white. The white one is reported to be even more beautiful than the iPhone 5, says the guy testing both handsets, the new apple one and RIM one. The front camera brings video chat features like Team View and there’s also the option of showing the screen of the person you’re talking to.

The main camera comes with autofocus and can take pics at one shot per second and then allow you to choose the best one, a hardly revolutionary feature, since we’ve seen that on a lot of Android phones. An interesting feature is the one that allows you to save up to 10 facial expressions of a person and then scroll back and forth between their emotions, so to say and choose the best one.

I can’t say I’m blown away by these details, but rather that I’m underwhelmed, since RIM promised a quad core Snapdragon S4 handset with BB 10 OS.

Related posts:

  1. BlackBerry 10 L Series Handset Leaked on Hands On Clip and Photos (Video)
  2. BlackBerry 10 L Series and N Series Leaked, Specs Included
  3. BlackBerry London/ L Series Leaks Again, Fresh BB 10 OS Handset Pictured

ZTE Unveils Blade III Android 4.0 Smartphone, Coming to Nordic Countries First

Posted: 20 Sep 2012 08:06 AM PDT


ZTE Blade III appeared online a while ago, but now it gets an official unveiling, with a 4 inch display, mediocre resolution and Android 4.0 ICS as the OS. We’re dealing here with a model that runs on a 1 GHz Qualcomm processor and also packs 512 MB of RAM, so it’s not that type of high end newcomer.

ZTE Blade III supports a 800 x 480 pixel resolution, has 4 GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot to complete that. At the back there’s a 5 megapixel camera that for some reason lacks a flash, or so it’s shown in the official picture. This is a HSPA device that will debut in Nordic countries, with the black Blade III coming to Sweden for around $228, while the white one will come to Finland this month. The black Swedish model will launch in October apparently.

Other European countries will get the product till the year end. The phone weighs 130 grams and measures 10 mm, so it’s pretty bulky by today’s standards. Its download speeds over HSDPA can reach 7.2 Mbps and on the good side we get Dolby technology and DLNA on this model.

Related posts:

  1. ZTE Blade S Unveiled, Coming as Orange San Francisco II
  2. ZTE Blade III Leaks Ahead of Announcement
  3. General Mobile Unveils Android 2.0 smartphone Cosmos

iOS 6 on the iPhone 3GS. How Does it Run?

Posted: 20 Sep 2012 03:19 AM PDT


iOS 6 came out for the Apple devices, including the over 3-year old iPhone 3GS powered by a 600 MHz Cortex-A8 CPU. It is interesting to see how Apple managed to optimize the software for the low-end specs of the device and how does it run it. With just 256 MB of RAM and a way under-powered chipset by today’s standards, it is a laudable effort from the manufacturer to bring the latest software version for the 3GS.

3GS_iOS6

Apple managed to include what they claim to be over 200 improvements compared to the previous version of iOS. Among these worth mentioning are: Improved Facebook integration, New MAPS app, VIP MailBox, Improved Web Browsing, DND function, and Passbook. While most users agree that iOS 5 was preforming rather poorly in some key areas on the iPhone 3GS, I bet most were curios to find out what Apple has done to improve the experience and bring a whole bunch of new features with the latest version of the software.

Let me start with the good new. iOS 6 on the 3GS feels snappy and works as it should most of the time, an obvious improvement over the previous version. There are no lags or stutters and apps open even faster then before. Opening basic apps, such as email or messages, even with a full gallery, poses no problem for the OS and it’s done without a noticeable slowdown. Battery life seems to be the same as with iOS 5 but some more testing is required to get more accurate impression.

One of the apps that was considered to cause some performance issues on the 3GS was the new Maps app. Upon testing, it has been revealed that the new Apple navigation app, that came to replace Google Maps, performs rather good with no noticeable hiccups or lag. Other new apps and/or features have have been included with the update also offer a comforting level of performance, a very good job on Apple’s side.

iOS6_Update_iPhone_3GS

The conclusion is this : Just because the 3GS runs an under-specked hardware configuration it doesn’t mean Apple hasn’t placed a great deal of effort to make the software run as intended on the “old” devices. If you were thinking if you should upgrade, given the experience with the previous version of the OS, then there is no need to worry. iOS 6 is an improvement for all Apple devices.

Related posts:

  1. iPhone X Coming on Tuesday? Let’s See The Possibilities (iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 4 8GB)
  2. The REAL iPhone Killer; RIP iPhone 3GS (Video)
  3. Apple iPhone OS 4.0 Gets Detailed… a Bit

Trade Your Phone for a HTC Handset, Get Up to $300 in Return

Posted: 20 Sep 2012 03:02 AM PDT


HTC has set up a new trade program that allows you to send in your old handset and get back up to $300. The thing here is that you have to buy a new HTC model first and then send in the trade phone to get part of the cash back. The process is fairly simple and if you access this link everything will be clear.

Once the purchase of your new HTC phone is done, you need to mail back the older device and HTC will send you a check worth $300 at most. HTC also posted a quote calculator on the site, allowing you to enter your name and the trade in phone maker, the name of the model and after answering some simple questions you will get a price for your handset. The iPhone 4S for example brings a $215 check from the Taiwanese company. Considering HTC just introduced two new Windows Phone 8 models, it could be time for a change of phone, don’t you think?

Or you could get the HTC One X for cheaper than usual, provided that you don’t have a really poor phone, that only gets you $10. So, who’s ready for a trade in? Did you ever take part in such a process? How did it go?

Related posts:

  1. Trade Your iPhone for a HTC HD2; T-Mobile Bargain?
  2. Kyocera Zio, the Company’s Return to the Phone Biz, Android 2.1 Included
  3. Federal Trade Commission to Investigate Apple’s Business, on Mobile Software Side Specially

ZTE Preparing a Firefox OS Smartphone for Early 2013

Posted: 20 Sep 2012 01:40 AM PDT


Believe it or not ZTE is some sort of an up and comer when it comes to future devices. They’ve been seen recently with 3 new leaked Windows Phone handsets, a Windows 8 tablets and they won’t stop here. Apparently, the company is planning to launch Firefox OS-based smartphones in early 2013.

ZTE is among the many handset makers who are trying to get rid of the Android dependence, after Samsung was rumored to be working on an OS of its own. While Samsung is an established Android partner and they may have a hard time getting rid of Android, ZTE is not a household name, so they can change strategy on the go. Last I heard, Mozilla included among its hardware partners the likes of ZTE, TCL and Qualcomm, at least initially. A couple of months ago the maker of the famous browser Firefox unveiled plans to create its own operating system.

The Firefox OS will be based on HTML5 technology and will power handsets built to open Web standards. Among the partners in this initiative we also find a bunch of carriers, like Deutsche Telekom, Smart, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefonica and more. Firefox OS is built on the Mozilla Boot to Gecko project, that unlocks limitations of web development on mobile.

Related posts:

  1. Mozilla’s Boot to Gecko OS Will Come in Early 2013 (Video)
  2. Firefox Mobile Early Developer Release Available Now! Fennec M9 Unleashed! (Video)
  3. Oppo Preparing Windows Phone 8 Model for 2013, Probably Very Thin Handset

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