Corning can now make 3D Gorilla Glass for wearable tech

Corning announced that it can produce Gorilla Glass three dimensionally. A new manufacturing technique allows the company to make the product conform to different shapes and designs without sacrificing its strength.

Durability is certainly a question on consumer's minds when they purchase their latest tech, so expect wearable technology makers to begin implementing the use of 3D Gorilla Glass on various watches, bracelets, and any other devices they can conjure up this year.

There haven't been any partner companies named which will employ the use of 3D Gorilla Glass just yet. We will certainly keep you posted on any further developments.

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Top 5 online deals on smartphones and tablets

Saving on mobile gadgets should be one of the resolutions for the year 2014. Since it is one of our resolutions, we will continue to scout and present some of the best deals on the mobile devices for you. This week, we have selected two tablets and three smartphones that are being sold at an attractive discount.

Do note that these products have been available in the market since a while.

Xolo Q600

Launch price: Rs 8,499

Deal price: Rs 6,999

Xolo Q600 was introduced a couple of months back it has a quad-core processor and is in the sub Rs 10,000 budget segment. It is powered by quad-core 1.2 GHz MediaTek processor with PowerVR SGX544 GPU. The Q600 has a 4.5-inch TFT display with 480x854 pixel resolution and offers pixel density of 217 pixels per inch.

By default, it packs 512 MB RAM and offers only 4 GB on-board storage with memory card slot. This smartphone offers dual-SIM configuration with dual standby mode. Other connectivity options include WiFi , Bluetooth and GPS . Xolo has packed 5 megapixel camera at the back for imaging and VGA camera in the front for video calls. Packing 2000 mAh battery, the Xolo Q600 runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update. Buy this smartphone for as low as Rs 6,999 from Indiatimes Website.

Nokia Lumia 929 Icon appears wearing Incipio case

A purported Nokia smartphone allegedly being developed for US carrier Verizon has been spotted donning an Incipio case on the makers own site. The device is identified as the Nokia Icon, which has been confirmed as the codename for the upcoming Lumia 929.

It's reported that the Lumia 929 was initially slated for a pre-holiday release, but has suffered a delay and got pushed back to January 16 instead.

Another important caveat surrounding the Icon moniker is that sources indicate that it could be released directly under its nickname, which would be a first for Nokia, that has always outed devices with a name and model number. Perhaps this has something to do with the pending Microsoft merger?

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Oppo Find 7's 5.5-inch 2K display pictured

Last week (or should we say, last year), Oppo revealed details about its upcoming Find 7 flagship, which is slated to have a 5.5-inch screen of 2K (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution. Now, several shots of what appear to be the Find 7's front panel have emerged, alongside a Pepsi can and a 100 Yuan note for comparison purposes.

The display appears to be similar to the 5-incher found on the Find 5, but is set to have narrower screen bezels than the former flagship. Up top is room for the usual array of sensors, as well as a large-ish front-facing camera.

Also speculated is the inclusion of a Snapdragon 800 or 805 chipset (with a quad-core Krait CPU), alongside 3GB of RAM.

Truly impressive screen bezels and a top-of-the-line processor could be enough to propel Oppo into the bigtime alongside some of the expected upcoming flagship offerings from the likes of Sony and Samsung.

And yes, we're as confused as you as to why it's called the Find 7.

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MediaTek bringing LTE and Cortex-A15 big.LITTLE to CES

MediaTek is quickly establishing itself as one of the most popular chipset vendors but it has only been associated with value-for-money devices. What it's bringing to CES will help it break away from that image and even jump on the wearables bandwagon.

One of the key components is the MT6290 modem. Built on a 28nm process, the modem supports LTE Cat. 4, meaning it can achieve downlink speeds of up to 150Mbps. This chipset is compatible with MediaTek's current application processors, so integrating it into new products should be easy.

The MT8135 will also be at the trade show – a big.LITTLE processor with two Cortex-A7s and two Cortex-A15s and a PowerVR Series 6 GPU (same generation as the iPhone 5s GPU). This chipset was announced back in July, so we hope to see actual devices with it at CES. The octa-core MediaTek MT6592 will be at the stands too.

Then there's the smallest chipset in the world (according to MediaTek), which will be used for wearables (a market set to explode in 2014). Smart TVs, another market gaining popularity, will be catered to by a chipset capable of decoding UHD HEVC-encoded video at 60fps. There will be products for home automation, indoor positioning an Qi wireless charging too.

With demand for NVIDIA Tegra chipsets waning, Samsung's 5th gen Exynos struggling and TI out of the game, MediaTek has a golden opportunity to become the other big player on the market (other than Qualcomm that is, which is making big promises too).

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Acer Liquid Z5 goes official with a 5-inch display

Acer has unveiled Liquid Z5 - the successor of the very affordable Liquid Z3. The new Z5 model comes with a bigger 5" FWVGA TFT display, though it is powered by the same MediaTek MT6572 platform.

The MT6572 is based on a dual-core 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 processor, Mali-400 graphics and 512MB of RAM. It should be enough to power the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean ticking inside the Liquid Z5.

The rest of the specs include a 5MP rear camera with a LED flash, a VGA front facer, 4GB of expandable storage, and a 2,000mAh battery. The Liquid Z5 also offers dual-SIM support, 3G with HSPA+, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi N, GPS and an FM radio.

The Acer Liquid Z5 will launch in white and gray flavors and will cost as low as €169. The first markets to get the Z5 are Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Ukraine and the UK.

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iPhone 6 to come in two sizes, Foxconn leaks claim

Foxconn, the folks responsible for the production of Apple's iPhone, have oftentimes been the source of leaks either through actual employees or infiltrators.

According to information coming out of China's Weibo platform, several Foxconn insiders have revealed that production of the new iPhone 6 will be split between two models, one with a 4.7" screen, and a 5.7-incher. There are even hints at the display possibly even crossing the 5.7-inch mark.

It's speculated too that all variants will have at least one form of biometrics, which could include fingerprint or eye recognition.

Granted, the alleged release date is at least 8-9 months away (if Apple continue to follow their Q3 release cycle), meaning that a rumor of such distance turning out accurate is a rather long shot.

Given general market trends, however, it's not completely out of the realm of possibility that Apple would finally embrace the larger screen tendency that's become prevalent in smartphones in 2013. Last years' introduction of the colorfully plastic iPhone 5C proves that Apple isn't afraid to get out of its comfort zone, and moving into the phablet range would be another step in that direction.

Source (Chinese) | Via | Image

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