Galaxy S IV Announcement Set for March 14

Its official, the Galaxy S IV will be unveiled in New York City on March 14.

After numerous rumors, Samsung has officially announced an Unpacked event for March 14 in New York City. Seeing as the slogan is “Ready 4 the Show,” we feel confident that this is indeed the launch event for the Galaxy S IV.

The event will kick off at 7 p.m. Eastern time, and you will be able to watch the livestream at YouTube.com/SamsungMobile. TechnoBuffalo will also be in attendance so be sure to check in for all of the live coverage of the event.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Nokia Unveils Lumia 720 and Lumia 520

Nokia took the stage during Mobile World Congress 2013 to unveil two new entry-level Windows Phone 8 handsets.

The Lumia 720 will launch in March of this year and features a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8227 processor, 512MB of RAM, 8GB of storage, a microSD card slot for adding additional storage, a 4.3-inch ClearBlack display with a WVGA resolution, a 6.7-megapixel camera, a “Skype HD Wide Angle” front-facing camera for video chat with a 1.3-megapixel resolution, a 2,000mAh battery and more. It will launch in red, yellow, cyan and black in matte and in a glossy white color.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Sony announces global availability of Xperia™ Tablet Z – the world’s slimmest tablet

At Mobile World Congress, Sony Mobile Communications (“Sony Mobile”) today announced that Xperia Tablet Z – the slimmest* tablet available – will launch globally in Q2 calendar 2013. Additionally, Sony’s flagshipsmartphone, Xperia Z will be available to buy in stores from March 1st.

Since it was announced in January, the Xperia Z has won 13 awards and received the widest ranging of any Sony smartphoneto date with 140 sales channels in 60 markets across the globe. Both the Xperia Z smartphone and Xperia Tablet Z combine premium specifications with the best of Sony technology, entertainment, design and connectivity.

Premium Tablet Design Xperia Tablet Z is the most premium, high performance 10.1” LTE Android tablet available. Built from quality materials and featuring the same stunning OmniBalance design as its smartphone sibling, Xperia Tablet Z is also incredibly slim and lightweight at 6.9mm and 495g. Available in black or white and in LTE and WiFi versions, it is the first tablet to run on Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ S4 Pro asynchronous quad core processor and has the highest levels of water resistance (IP55 & IP57) ever delivered in a tablet, making it immune to accidental spills and splashes.** ”Xperia Tablet Z sets new standards in entertainment by matching premium specifications and Sony technology with cross-device connectivity and a consistent user-experience,” said Kaz Tajima, Corporate Vice President, Head of UX Creative Design and Planning, at Sony Mobile Communications. “Xperia Tablet Z reinforces our intention to be a leading player in the premium Android device market, by building on the principles established by Xperia Z and perfectly optimising them for the tablet form factor.” Integrated Sony Technology Xperia Tablet Z includes the very best of Sony technology. With a 10.1” HD WUXGA Display, powered by Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2, it delivers enhanced colour reproduction for a brilliant TV-like viewing experience. It also draws upon Sony’s camera expertise with an 8MP rear camera featuring “Exmor R for mobile” as well as a 2MP HD front-facing camera for capturing the best images in any condition. Sony’s S-Force Front Surround 3D, guarantees soul-shaking audio performance alongside Sony’s Clear Audio+ mode and the innovative use of two in-built speakers with four ‘speaker halls’ on the left and right corners delivers amazing sound no matter how it is held. Xperia Tablet Z also includes Battery STAMINA mode, Sony’s unique battery management technology that can significantly improve standby time. The WiFi variant also offers up to 64GB of storage with an optional mircoSD card. Seamless One-touch Connectivity Xperia Tablet Z includes more connectivity options than any other tablet. It also includes Sony’s One-Touch functions that let users transfer content seamlessly from HD tablet to TV, tablet to speaker or phone to tablet just by touching them together. One-touch functions are a key component of Sony’s device range this year and no other consumer electronics company is bringing as many NFC-enabled products to market. The tablet’s Universal IR Remote allows users to control the TV and other Sony devices - as well as products from other manufacturers - directly from the tablet placing the device at the heart of the home. TV SideView is a new application that gives users an entirely new way to interact with the TV. Sony’s media applications Sony’s signature media applications - “WALKMAN”, Movies and Album - allow users to enjoy, control and view content regardless of their device. The Sony Entertainment Network can also be accessed from these applications and includes Music Unlimited with more than 18 million songs and Facebook social integration as well as Video Unlimited with access to over 100,000 movies and TV series. Xperia Tablet Z Accessories Xperia Tablet Z will launch with a number of accessories including a charging cradle, an LCD Screen Protector and Leather Carrying Cover that comes in Black, White or Red. These will be available from Sony stores or registered retailers.

Huawei Reveals the World’s Fastest 4G LTE Smartphone

Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, today introduced the HUAWEI Ascend P2, the world’s fastest smartphone, at the 2013 Mobile World Congress (MWC). The Ascend P2 features a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor and LTE Cat 4 providing an ultrafast web experience with download speeds of up to 150 Mbps. Continuing the fashion legacy of the Ascend P-series, it is only 8.4mm slim with an infinity edge 4.7-inch IPS HD in-cell touch display with second-generation Corning® Gorilla® Glass, and will be available in black and white.

“Ascend P2 is the perfect combination of elegance and power, and further proof that there’s no need to compromise when desiring a perfect smartphone. It is evidence of the outstanding smartphone experiences and great technology that we are committed to bringing to consumers globally,” said Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group.

The HUAWEI Ascend P2 will be on sale in France through Orange in June 2013.  

“We’re pleased to be working with Huawei again to enable our customers to have easier and faster access to all their favorite content,” said Yves Maitre, Senior Vice President, Mobile Multimedia & Devices, Orange. “We are impressed by the design and look forward to putting the Ascend P2 into the hands of consumers as soon as possible.”

“The technological capabilities of the HUAWEI Ascend P2 will enable our customers to have the fastest access to all their content, with speeds up to 150 Mbps on our brand new 4G network,” said Florence Paour, Device Marketing Director, Orange France.

The HUAWEI Ascend P2 runs on the Android 4.1 operating system, with Huawei’s own Emotion UI 1.5. Powered by a 2420 mAh battery and 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, the Ascend P2 downloads HD movies in minutes, and loads online videos, web pages, songs or e-Books in seconds. Huawei’s proprietary ‘swift sharing’ supports uploads and downloads two to three times faster than other smartphones in a Wi-Fi environment. With its NFC module*, Ascend P2 enables e-payments and can act as an electronic ticket. Huawei's unique Quick Power Control (QPC) and Automated Discontinuous Reception (ADRX) power-saving technologies, reduces power consumption by 30% and charging time by more than 25% compared to other smartphones.

Continuing the fashion focus of Huawei’s Ascend P smartphones, HUAWEI Ascend P2 evokes the image of an infinity pool with its seamless, elegant design and curvy contours. Using in-cell technology, its LCD 4.7-inch IPS HD touchscreen is an impressive 8.4mm slim. Its ‘magic touch’ feature provides enhanced screen responsiveness even with gloves, and instant keyword translation and Wikipedia searches can now be done on a single window with ‘smart reading’. The screen also calibrates its brightness automatically under any light conditions, allowing users to perform any function, under any light.  

The HUAWEI Ascend P2 provides optimal photo and video features including a 13 MP BSI rear-facing camera with HDR, and a 1.3 MP front-facing camera to support self-portrait and video shooting. A dedicated camera key on the side of the phone also allows instant access to picture taking, click once for the camera to be activated and another time to take the shot. With Huawei’s advanced camera algorithm, high-definition images can be captured even in backlit conditions. Auto adjustment modes further enable Ascend P2 to produce photos that rival professional cameras.

The Huawei Emotion UI*, available on the Ascend P2 is easy to use and customize. The UniHome function combines home panels with the main menu, while Huawei’s patent-pending Me Widget better utilizes screen real-estate by combining all the information and functions you need in a single, customizable widget. Emotion UI is also pre-installed with a smartphone housekeeper function to support real-time data traffic tracking, automatic blacklisting and blocking, periodical system cleaning, and spontaneous exiting of idle programs and cache cleanup, in addition to anti-virus, energy saving, privacy protection, software management, and more. 

For more information, visit Huawei Device online: www.huaweidevice.com

Do Mobile Phones Pose a Health Hazard?

The mobile phone has become one of the biggest necessities that a person could own and the one thing people are still debating about is the issue of what health hazards that your modern day mobile phone could cause to the human body.

Many people are concerned about the low levels of radiofrequency energy that mobile phones emit, and how the radiation could cause cancer or other serious health problems. Many studies have been conducted over the past 15 years by scientists who are looking at the effects on the human body caused from the frequency of the mobile phone, but the studies have failed to prove that any frequency from the handheld device has any impact on the said person's health.

Studies show that almost 80 million mobile phones in the UK are in operation, therefore the threat of causing any damage to your health directly from the mobile is one in which each corporation must consider as part of their business module. With times changing, the modern day mobile phone has a considerable amount of data flowing through it compared to 5 years ago. 

Ed Yong, who is head of the health information at Cancer Research UK, has released information to the global population in which he states that despite the dramatic rise in mobile phone sales since the 1980s, the rate of brain cancer has not increased at the same rate as the production and usage of the handheld device has.

There is not yet enough known information to completely rule out the risk of health implications due to using a mobile phone, but very little research suggests that this could be the case.

What do you think about this controversy? Post your thoughts below.

Microsoft was hacked in the same wave as Apple and Facebook

Microsoft has been hacked, in the same wave of attacks targeting Facebook and Apple. The company made the announcement in a blog post on its website.

You can sleep safe if you use Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8 though, as Microsoft says there's no evidence of any customer data being compromised. Funnily enough, the company says some of its computers in its Mac business unit were among those hacked.

Microsoft says it didn't make a statement immediately, as first it wanted to find out what exactly happened. Only a "small number" of computers were infected by malicious software "using techniques similar to those documented by other organisations."

Last week, Apple announced it had been hit by malware that attacked Java, and a few days earlier, Facebook said it too had been targeted. Just don't tell Jeff Jarvis. Twitter was also hacked last month, with 250,000 accounts affected.

Newspapers including The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal have all accused China of cyber attacks, though the origins of the hack targeting Microsoft haven't been revealed. Google's Eric Schmidt has penned a book on the subject, calling China "the world's most active and enthusiastic filterer of information", as well as the "most sophisticated and prolific hacker of foreign companies."

Microsoft acknowledged these kind of attacks are par for the course in the modern tech landscape. It said in its blog post: "This type of cyber attack is no surprise to Microsoft and other companies that must grapple with determined and persistent adversaries… We continually re-evaluate our security posture and deploy additional people, processes, and technologies as necessary to help prevent future unauthorised access to our networks."

[Source: CNET]

New Retina MacBook Pro Processor Bumps Offer Minor 3-5% Performance Improvements

Following last week's introduction of new processors for the Retina MacBook Pro lineup, Primate Labs has analyzed benchmarks coming in from the new machines through the company's popular Geekbench 2 software. 

Unsurprisingly, the benchmarks reveal a roughly 3-5% increase in Geekbench scores for each of the processor bumps. For the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro lineup, Apple bumped each of the three available processors by 100 MHz, accounting for the minor benchmark improvements. 

 

One thing to note is that the new mid-range Retina MacBook Pro has the same speed processor as the old high-end Retina MacBook Pro. However, the new mid-range model is slightly slower than the old high-end model. While this seems surprising at first, the difference is easily explained by comparing the two processors: the old high-end processor has more cache than the new mid-range processor.

For the 13-inch lineup, the 100 MHz speed bumps were limited to machines based on the high-end stock configuration starting at 256 GB of storage, with those machines also seeing a 3-5% improvement in Geekbench scores. 

Aside from the processor improvements for the Retina MacBook Pro lineup, Apple also reduced pricing on the 13-inch models by $200-$300, increased RAM on the high-end 15-inch stock configuration, and reduced pricing on storage options.

[Source: MacRumors]

More than 7m Brits are yet to use the Internet, government says

You might hate me for saying this (if you're over, say, 25), but I genuinely can't remember a world without the Internet. But it seems 15 per cent of UK adults have managed to avoid it completely -- more than 7.4 million Brits have never used the Web, according to an official report from the Office for National Statistics.

While those figures may sound surprising, the majority of the population who have yet to experience the wonders of the Internet are aged 75 or over. Internet use is highest among those between the ages of 16 and 24, of course, with very nearly 100 per cent of the population having used the Web. There were still 53,000 among the younger generation who had not, however, with poverty the main cause.

300,000 people who have not accessed the Internet put this down to earning less than £200 a week -- in stark contrast to the 100 per cent earning over £2,000 who are plugged in.

More and more people are accessing the Internet all the time though, with 1.2 million users having connected to cyberspace since last year.  

The report showed men were also more likely to use the Web, with 12 per cent of men having never been online as opposed to 16.9 per cent of women.

The older generation was not the only demographic with a particularly high proportion of people having never used the Internet: 32.8 per cent of people with disabilities live offline.

The report revealed that, unsurprisingly, single people were most likely to live their lives online with just 5.2 per cent having never accessed the information superhighway (you may have noticed I'm running out of synonyms here).

The problem with the social divide of Internet users could soon become much worse, with many government services being moved to its online portal. The first major service to get a 21st century overhaul will be the Department of Work & Pensions' Universal Credit project, which will combine six benefits into one, that can then be managed and claimed online.

[Source: CNET]

HP Slate 7 Android Tablet Revealed – Launches in April for $169

On the eve before Mobile World Congress officially kicks off in Barcelona, HP announced its first Android tablet, the Slate 7.

The device is a relatively mid-range 7-inch tablet with a 1024 x 600-pixel resolution. It packs a 1.6GHz dual-core processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, Beats Audio support, a 3-megapixel camera, a VGA front-facing camera for video chat and 1GB of RAM. It packs just 8GB of storage, however.

The real meat of the story here is that HP is re-entering the tablet space after its failed launch of webOS powered tablets. The Slate 7 is expected to launch in April for a budget-friendly price of just $169. We’ll be trying to find one here at Mobile World Congress to bring you a closer look.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 now official

Samsung has stepped forward and officially announced the Galaxy Note 8.0. We've sen and heard enough leaks and rumors to know that we would be seeing an 8-inch version of the popular Note series, but tonights' news clears up al the speculation and replaces it with information direct from Seoul. 

The Note 8.0 takes everything you love about the Note series, adds some great new features, and packages it all into a solid tablet form factor. The Note 8.0 will still be able to make phone calls in some countries, but the 8-inch screen puts this one squarely into the portable tablet genre. And that's a good thing. Users who didn't want a full-sized 10-inch tablet, but still wanted access to the great S Pen technology now have that option.

We've spent some time with the Note 8.0 on the eve of Mobile World Congress 2013, and have the answers to all your questions covered. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 will be available world wide (Europe, Korea, North America, S.E. Asia, S. W. Africa, the Middle East, China, Taiwan, and Latin America) in Q2. Keep an eye on Android Central for exact dates and pricing. The full press release, press photos, and a Chat-On video featuring the Note 8.0 are after the break.

[Source: AndroidCentral - Read the full story here]

Google will launch a free music streaming service, FT says

As if branching out into hardware like phones and tablets, driverless cars, and even augmented reality glasses wasn't enough, Google is also working on a free music streaming service, the Financial Times reports.

The service would try to drown out the likes of Spotify, Deezer, and Nokia Music. The launch is said to be "impending", so it seems Google is still just tuning up.

According to the FT, Google will offer subscriptions as well as free unlimited listening. Though you will have to put up with ads if you don't want to pay, just like on Spotify.

Why would Google go into unchartered territory then? Especially seeing as its Play Music service, which launched in 2011 as Google Music, is only available in the US and a handful of European countries. Well it's another way for Google to make money, seeing as at the moment 95 per cent of its revenues come from advertising. Streaming is big business, being one of the fastest growing areas of the music market.

Apple is also rumoured to be working on a streaming service, which would put it and Google in direct competition on yet another front. As if the smart phone war wasn't already bloody enough.

Google could preinstall the service on all Android devices. And seeing as the operating system is on three out of four smart phones, that should give Google quite some reach. Not that it wouldn't be short of competition though. I'm sure Spotify and its good buddy Facebook wouldn't be too happy about the Google boys crashing their party. The music industry is also no fan of Google -- just this week, the Recording Industry Association of America attacked the search giant for linking to pirate sites. It claimed Google had gone back on its promise to shunt such sites further down its search rankings.

[Source: CNET]

Twitter ratchets up phishing protection by adopting DMARC standard

Phishing emails often pose as being sent by major league sites rather than princes from far-flung countries, but Twitter's implemented a new measure to stamp out phonies that borrow its name. Costolo and Co. announced that, earlier this month, they began leveraging a tech called DMARC that establishes a way for email providers to authenticate senders and reject messages penned by impostors. While the DMARC specification does need support from e-mail services, outfits including AOL (which happens to be our parent company), Gmail, Hotmail / Outlook and Yahoo already make use of it. According to Twitter, it's now "extremely unlikely" that the majority of their users will receive emails masquerading as being sent from a Twitter.com address. We're sorry to disappoint, but it looks like you'll have to get your fix of foreign lottery notices from somewhere else.

[Source: Engadget]