Leaked hands-on shows the HTC One (M9) in all its glory

With less than 24 hours to go before HTC officially takes the wraps off the One (M9), someone mistakenly uploaded a hands-on video of the device to YouTube. Even if it's been taken down in the meantime, countless people have managed to capture it and reupload it, so we can once again see exactly what the One (M9) will look like.

Unsurprisingly, it's identical to what those leaked promotional materials (and videos) showed us a few days ago. In the image below, the One (M9) is on the left, with the One (M8) in the center, and the original One on the right.

The front of the new phone looks incredibly similar to that of the One (M8), with only subtle details having changed. The situation is different on the back, however.

In the picture above, the One (M9) is on the right, with the One (M8) in the center, and the original One on the left. Gone is the Duo Camera in the One (M9), as is the UltraPixel shooter, replaced with a higher-res sensor. The UltraPixel camera is now on the front.

These images are basically screenshots from the aforementioned hands-on video. If you want to see the whole thing, you can do that at the Source link unless it's been taken down.

Interestingly, HTC is said to debut a "dual finish metal unibody" construction for the One (M9). The unit in the video has a silver back, but its edges are gold (as made obvious in the shot above, which has the One (M9) on the right).

The HTC One (M9) is expected to come with a 5-inch 1080p touchscreen, a 20.7MP rear camera, a 4MP front snapper, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 SoC - sporting an octa-core CPU with four 2 GHz Cortex-A57 cores and four 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 ones.

Source (in French)

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Video recaps Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge leaks with new renders

Tomorrow in Barcelona Samsung will make both the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge official. And now, a mere one day before that event, a video has surfaced which does a good job recapping all the leaked details we've heard about the two handsets.

Not only that, but it seems to add a couple of new renders too - showing parts of the front of the Galaxy S6 Edge, as well as what could be the back of either model, since they're expected to be pretty much identical from that point of view.

The video stresses the main specs we've seen rumored so far. An octa-core CPU is pretty much a given, and according to past info Samsung has dropped Qualcomm as a supplier so we might have only one variant with the Korean company's own Exynos silicon. Aiding it will be 3GB of RAM.

The smartphones should both have metal frames, and Gorilla Glass 4 on the front as well as the back, for a more premium look than past Galaxy S-series devices. With this new build comes the revelation that neither handset will offer a microSD card slot, or a user-replaceable battery.

Both phones will sport 5.1-inch QHD (2,560x1,440) Super AMOLED touchscreens, but obviously the panel in the S6 Edge will curve slightly both on the left and right edges. In fact, the siblings are going to be mostly identical, save for the screen difference and the Edge also getting 50 mAh more battery capacity.

The fingerprint sensor may not be of the swipe variety this time around, like the one in past Samsung devices. So the new scanner should mimic the one Apple uses for its iPhones and iPads in terms of ease of use. The heart rate monitor that made its debut on last year's Galaxy S5 is still in, yet it has been repositioned along with the LED flash.

Unfortunately for fans of the feature, the S6 models will not be water resistant like the Galaxy S5. This seems odd, especially as Sony has been making water resistant smartphones out of similar materials (with metal frames and glass on both the front and back) for years now.

The Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge will be slimmer and narrower than the S5, and they will have wireless charging built-in - so no more aftermarket kits required for that.

Thanks for sending this in, Dean Levinson!

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Apple to seed iOS 8.2 next week, iOS 8.3 to follow shortly after

Apple might release the final version of iOS 8.2 to the general public as early as this Monday, as per a report by BGR. The last release was iOS 8.2 beta 5 at the start of February.

iOS 8.3 is already in the works and is expected to have 4 beta releases. Currently, iOS 8.3 beta 2 is available to developers, leaving two more iterations until the final build is ready. This should happen in early April coinciding with the purported start of Apple Watch sales.

Not that the Apple Watch can't launch without it, iOS 8.2 already supports it. The next version of the OS will introduce redesigned emoji picker as well as new emoji icons. Naturally, there's more the iOS 8.3 and we'll share with you as soon as anything new comes out.

Apple is holding its on March 9 and the Apple Watch is the most likely guest of honor. The event should answer any remaining questions on pricing and availability.

Source

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Hello from Barcelona, as we get ready for MWC 2015

Barcelona greeted us with warm and pleasant weather as we anticipate the Mobile World Congress 2015 kick-off. Technically, it starts Monday but many of the major players in the industry including Samsung and HTC are holding their pre-MWC press events tomorrow, it's going to be quite busy.

The Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge and the HTC One M9 are all but confirmed at this point, so expect detailed hands-on and impressions on our end. Fira Grand Via will be the home of the latest in mobile technology in the following days, so stay tuned.

We've also prepared a neat cheat sheet of all the MWC 2015 events complete with live stream links (where available) to make it easy for you to navigate around.

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Top 10 trending phones of the week

Samsung continues to dominate the popularity rankings, now the top 9 devices are all Samsung (there were 8 last week). Not all Galaxy phones though, the Samsung Z1 still clings on to fame, though it slipped from 4th to 8th place.

The Top 10 trending phones chart is a recap list of the devices that gathered the most hits throughout the week. In other words, the chart represents the interests of the majority of you, our visitors, and is an indication of what currently interests you.

The sole non-Samsung device in the Top 10 that remains is the Asus Zenfone 5. Announced in January 2014 (over a year ago!), the phone has serious staying power despite its mid-range position. There was a Microsoft Lumia 535 previously occupying the 10th position, but it has since slipped off the chart.

The rest is pretty much Galaxy flagships, with the incoming Galaxy S6 holding second place behind the curiously popular Galaxy A5. The Galaxy A7 is the newcomer of the group and we'll be publishing its review once the MWC craze dies down.

Anyway, other than the flagships, there's the Galaxy Grand Prime (an affordable mid-range device) and further down the ranks is the Samsung Z1 (a Tizen-powered entry-level handset).

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Google might be in talk with Huawei for a 2015 Nexus phone

According to the latest set of rumors, Google may be partnering with a Chinese phone maker for the next generation Nexus smartphone. The Weibo source cited by GizChina from where the information originates shares that the phone will be ready later in 2015.

A mockup of a Huawei-made Nexus

Additionally, there would be two different Nexus devices this year - one from LG and one from a Chinese maker. The last Nexus smartphone LG did was the Nexus 5 over a year ago. More interestingly, this will be the first time for Google to go with a Chinese phone maker, provided the rumor is true.

The source of the information hints that the Chinese company in question is yet to decide whether to use its own chipset or a Qualcomm-made one. Clearly, this leaves Huawei to be the company in question.

The mockups are based on the Huawei Honor 6

SlashGear has received a bunch of mocked up photos of the Huawei Honor 6 Plus rocking Nexus branding. Sadly, they're not the real deal, but give us a glimpse of how a Huawei-made Nexus device could look like.

If true, Google is on track to release two Nexus smartphones this year - one more affordable made by Huawei and a high-end one done by LG. We'll keep our ears to the ground additional rumors on the matter.

Source | Via

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Google might be in talk with Huawei for a 2015 Nexus phone

According to the latest set of rumors, Google may be partnering with a Chinese phone maker for the next generation Nexus smartphone. The Weibo source cited by GizChina from where the information originates shares that the phone will be ready later in 2015.

A mockup of a Huawei-made Nexus

Additionally, there would be two different Nexus devices this year - one from LG and one from a Chinese maker. The last Nexus smartphone LG did was the Nexus 4 nearly three years ago. More interestingly, this will be the first time for Google to go with a Chinese phone maker, provided the rumor is true.

The source of the information hints that the Chinese company in question is yet to decide whether to use its own chipset or a Qualcomm-made one. Clearly, this leaves Huawei to be the company in question.

The mockups are based on the Huawei Honor 6

SlashGear has received a bunch of mocked up photos of the Huawei Honor 6 Plus rocking Nexus branding. Sadly, they're not the real deal, but give us a glimpse of how a Huawei-made Nexus device could look like.

If true, Google is on track to release two Nexus smartphones this year - one more affordable made by Huawei and a high-end one done by LG. We'll keep our ears to the ground additional rumors on the matter.

Source | Via

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Week 9 in review: MWC leaks, Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, One (M9)

With MWC 2015 mere hours away everybody is naturally excited about the impending releases and interesting mobile innovations. This has been the general vibe for the last month or so, but things have really been getting heated during the last week.

All eyes are still on industry giants and their eagerly-anticipated flagship devices. This explains why the news section has been overflowing with various leaks and speculations about the Samsung Galaxy S6, its edged variant - Galaxy S6 Edge as well as the HTC One (M9). The former has been discussed so vigorously that Samsung decided to hop on the rumor train and fuel speculations even further by issuing a few over the top "official rumors" about the phone. Users in the US can also rejoice as AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint are already teasing the new devices they are going to offer.

Naturally HTC's One (M9) has also been getting a lot of attention. After an avalanche of cases and renders we finally saw precise images, as well as a few official teaser videos for the upcoming device. And while we are on the MWC topic, Sony still has a lot to show, despite the more-than-likely absence of the Xperia Z4. If rumors are true the Japanese manufacturer will bring a new midrange phone - the Xperia M4, as well as a tablet - Z4 Tablet to the Barcelona venue. Acer will also be present with what it says are "phones and a new wearable", but nothing more is known yet.

A few other devices made an appearance in the last few days, so if you think you might have missed something, the following list shows what you, our loyal readers, found most interesting in the news section over the course of last week.

Two glass panels clamped with metal frames does give both new devices a premium, classy look.

Images of the HTC One (M9) in gunmetal grey and gold on silver colors surface in online listing.

The previously leaked mid-range smartphone is likely to debut during MWC in Barcelona.

HTC UK has released a new video teaser, promoting the upcoming launch event on March 1.

Samsung Norway has released another round of over-the-top rumors about the upcoming Galaxy S6.

The feature is missing in Google's interpretation of Lollipop, but Samsung brought it back.

The high-end Android slate will make its debut during the upcoming MWC in Barcelona.

A lot of Material design sprinkled with some Sony on top. The software is based on Android 5.0.2.

A new rumor states that a VAIO brand smartphone will be unveiled on March 12.

Update: the leaked videos have been removed shortly after appearing on YouTube.

The Chinese tech giant is expected to reveal its next flagship smartphone in April.

Most of the products that Asus announced during CES last month will also be available in the country.

Also, the screen grew to 4.5" and now you get 720p video from the 5MP camera.

It's practically the same image as the one from T-Mobile, but it's in AT&T's colors instead of magenta.

It appears that Microsoft is about to quit offering smartphones with 512MB of RAM on board.

The new products will definitely be stylish, as the Facebook teaser confirms.

A leaked document alleges that we're about to see a successor for the Xperia M2 Aqua from 2014.

The tagline "More than better" makes big promises about the second Ubuntu phone.

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Sony Xperia E4g is already up for pre-order in the UK

Sony unveiled the Xperia E4g just a few days ago, as the 4G-capable version of the original Xperia E4. And today it's already up for pre-order at a few online retailers in the UK.

For now, all of them are only offering the phone in SIM-free and unlocked form. So if you're one to usually purchase your handsets with an operator contract attached, you still have some waiting to do before you can grab an Xperia E4g.

If, on the other hand, you have nothing against paying full price for a smartphone, then the Xperia E4g can be yours for £110 at MobileFun, £125 at Clove, or £129.99 at Amazon.

MobileFun and Amazon don't say anything about a release time frame for the device, while Clove mentions that its first stock of the Xperia E4g is expected in early April. So even if you do pre-order, it will be a while before the Xperia E4g is delivered at your doorstep.

The Xperia E4g has a 4.7-inch 540x960 touchscreen, a 5MP rear camera with LED flash, a 2MP front snapper, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of expandable internal storage, and a 2,300 mAh battery. It's powered by MediaTek's MT6732 chipset, which comes with a 1.5 GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU.

Via

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