Reviews Update

HTC One M9 confirmed by website source code

by Sean Keach 16 February 2015 |

HTC One M8

HTC may have inadvertently confirmed its upcoming One M9 flagship smartphone within the source code of its own website.

TechTastic spotted the reference while digging through the Taiwanese company’s site, revealing a specific mention of the ‘HTC One M9’ under a ‘product title’ HTML tag.

What’s more, the ‘product tagline’ tag contained the phrase ‘One Life’, which we already know is the term being used to market whatever HTC has in store for us at this year’s Mobile World Congress in March.

There was talk that HTC would eschew its previous ‘One MX’ naming convention for the codename ‘Hima’, but recent rumours have suggested otherwise.

The handset is expected to be unveiled at MWC in Barcelona on March 1, landing in direct opposition to the also MWC-bound Samsung Galaxy S6.

Related: Best Smartphone 2015

The HTC One M9 will likely carry Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 810 chip, which offers 64-bit architecture, LTE Cat 9 support, a built-in killswitch for added security, and improved battery life.

It’s also expected to boast 3GB of RAM, a 20.7-megapixel rear-facing camera, and two storage options, specifically 32GB and 64GB.

Rumours have also pointed to the HTC One M9 dropping its duo-camera set-up we saw on the back of its predecessor, the One M8.

The phrasing of ‘One Life’ perhaps suggests we’ll also see a big focus on battery life, with lacklustre smartphone juice-packs now a common gripe for smartphone users.

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Samsung forced to pay $15m over Bluetooth patent infringement

by Sean Keach 16 February 2015 |

Samsung logo

Samsung has been ordered to pay $15.7 million (£10.2m) in damages after being found guilty of Bluetooth patent infringement.

The decision to declare Samsung liable for reparations payments to Rembrandt Wireless Technologies came from a Harrison County, USA, federal jury last Friday (via Marshall News Messenger).

The jury took less than an hour to vote in favour of Rembrandt, finding Samsung guilty of infringing on two separate patents.

Rembrandt Wireless Technologies is a patent investment company, so it’s likely no stranger to patent litigation.

Interestingly, Rembrandt initially wanted $31.9 million in royalty repayments from Samsung, but this was later reduced to the $15.7m sum.

Samsung’s attorney, Jesse Jenner, said: “Even though we think Samsung owes nothing, I have to address damages because Rembrandt wants $30 million.”

“[Approximately] 24,000 companies believe Bluetooth technology should be shared for free. Obviously, Rembrandt is not a part of that, and they’re taking advantage of that.”

The patents specifically related to a ‘system and method of communication using at least two modulation methods,’ which were allegedly infringed by Samsung selling devices that used enhanced data rate Bluetooth.

Rembrandt’s Attorney, Demetrios Anaipakos, said: “It’s not easy to file a patent case against the biggest electronics company in the world.”

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LG G4 to skip MWC for April launch, sidestepping Galaxy S6

by Sean Keach 16 February 2015 |

LG G3 S

The LG G4 will pass over Mobile World Congress 2015 without appearance, instead launching a month later in April, according to a new report.

The Korea Times cites insider sources as saying ‘LG Electronics decided not to release the G4 at the Mobile World Congress exhibition in Barcelona in March.’

What’s more, the report details how LG made the decision to avoid being outshone by Samsung and its expected Galaxy S6 launch on March 1.

“Another source said that from a marketing point of view the MWC was not the right place to show off the G4 because Samsung will unveil its Galaxy S6 there. He said LG will wait until it is fully ready,” read the article.

The source was then quoted as saying: “Samsung usually releases its new flagship in the first quarter of each year, and Apple in the second quarter. We need some in-between time to make a bigger splash.”

The LG G3 launched in May last year, so an April release for the LG G4 would mean less than a year between both handsets.

It’s unsurprising that LG wants to skip MWC, as Samsung’s flagship is expected to scoop up most of the press attention.

This is doubly so for this release, largely because Samsung is tipped to be launching two different flagships, namely the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge.

The latter will double-down on the Galaxy Note Edge display technology, seeing the screen curve over both side edges of the device.

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Flicks: the speaker-cum-projector that's perfect for parties

by Joe Svetlik 16 February 2015 |

A portable cinema

You can't have a party without music. But what if you could add visuals to the mix too?

Flicks is a portable speaker with a projector built in, so you can beam out images and video while playing tunes.

It connects to your phone or tablet using Bluetooth, and promises room-filling sound. It also streams with Roku devices, Google Chromecast and the Amazon Fire TV Stick. But it's on the imaging side of things that it gets really interesting.

It's positioned as a cooking companion – load up a recipe video, and you can beam it onto the wall and follow the steps. But we prefer it as an aid to – admittedly amateurish – VJing.

Of course you can also use it for business presentations. Zzzzzzz.

There are separate power buttons for the projector and speaker, so you can enable one and shut off the other if you like.

It doubles as a handsfree speaker too, so you can take calls on it.

Battery life is seriously impressive. Away from the mains, you'll get 28 hours of audio or four hours of video, which is long enough for most films.

It's pretty chunky, so you'll want a car to transport it rather than lugging it around yourself. Slapping projectors into devices has a bit of a chequered history, but this makes sense.

It's passed its $50,000 funding goal and should start shipping in May.

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Samsung Exynos 7420 performance 20% up on 20nm chips

by Sean Keach 16 February 2015 |

Samsung Exynos 7420

Samsung has confirmed that the Exynos 7420 chipset will offer 20 per cent better performance than its 20nm predecessors.

The Exynos 7420 is, of course, the chip widely expected to land in Samsung’s next flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S6 .

A new report from the South Korean electronics giant provides details on its new Exynos chip, although no specific model number is mentioned.

Instead, Samsung talked up the fact that it had managed the ‘industry’s first mass production of 14nm mobile AP.’

The new application processor was revealed to use 35 per cent less power than 20nm chips, and improve productivity by 30 per cent.

This is thanks to the fact that it uses a more efficient 14nm FinFET manufacturing process.

Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 810 chip, by comparison, is built using a 20nm manufacturing process.

We recently had a chance to test the Snapdragon 810 chip on a test handset via the AnTuTu benchmark.

What's interesting is that the benchmark score turned out to be higher for the 810 than the leaked AnTuTu benchmark scores purported to be from the Galaxy S6, which would indicate that Snapdragon chips haven’t quite been usurped by the Exynos series just yet.

The report also confirms that the Exynos 7420 will be an octa-core chip that, when paired with the fact it will run a Mali-T760 GPU, should be a worthy contender for 2015 mobile chip glory.

We’re expecting the Exynos 7420 to land in both the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, tipped to launch on March 1 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

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Technology not holding back console-quality mobile gaming, Qualcomm suggests

Unclear business models, not a lack of technical progression, are holding console quality gaming on mobile devices back, a leading component supplier has suggested.

According to Qualcomm’s Vice President of Marketing, Tim McDonough, console quality visuals are not far from making their way to smartphones and tablets, at least not from a technical perspective.

Where things are getting stuck, however, is a lack of clear developer direction in regards to organised business models and revenue streams.

“I think you are starting to get close from what a user can perceive already,” he said speaking with TrustedReviews at the company’s San Diego headquarters.

Highlighting some potential stumbling blocks, he added: “The key for me is that there is a technical piece and a business models piece. If you solve the technical piece without solving the business model piece, it doesn’t make a difference.”

Offering further insight into these business model constraints, the Qualcomm head highlighted the unavoidable issue of revenue discrepancies between mobile and console games.

“Games in the mobile space are mostly free or they cost a dollar or two,” he said. “The consoles compete in a closed ecosystem where there isn’t as much competition so if you want a game you have to shell out $60.

“The development community is trying to figure out how to make money on mobile. That’s going to be what really drives mobile gaming more than anything else.”

Reiterating his point, he added: “I think it is more about the money. That’s the thing the industry has to go figure out.”

Related: Best iPhone Games

Although there are still issues for the industry to overcome, McDonough highlighted a few instances were console and mobile gaming are already creeping closer together.

One such instance is Activision’s Skylanders series. Admittedly not the most graphically demanding of titles, the latest Skylanders title made a simultaneous bow on both traditional and mobile platforms.

Are you pining for console-quality visuals on your mobile or are you happy passing the time with simple, app-based games? Let us know via the comments section below.

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Nintendo TVii not coming to Wii U in Europe

by Jon Mundy 16 February 2015 |

Wii U

European Wii U owners patiently looking forward to receiving Nintendo's TVii service are in for a disappointment.

Nintendo released the TVii service in the US and Japan back in December 2012, shortly after the launch of the Wii U. Shortly after, in January 2013, it revealed that it would be bringing the service to the European region "as soon as possible."

Now, some two years later, the company has revealed that it is scrapping such expansion plans.

The company announced the cancellation over on the official Nintendo Europe website. Apparently, this is "due to the extremely complex nature of localising multiple television services across a diverse range of countries with varied licensing systems."

Nintendo's TVii is a free service that enables Japanese and American users to browse TV content from Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, and cable TV on their Wii U pads. It's then possible to watch this content on TV or on the Wii U pad itself.

Users can get information on the TV content they're watching on the Wii U pad, which is taken from various online sources such as Wikipedia and IMDb. It's also possible to comment on this TV content through Miiverse or social networks.

Read More: Best Wii U Games

Given the potential usefulness of this TVii feature, Nintendo's attempt at softening the blow for Europeans may come as a bit of a slap in the face. The company has announced that it is launching the Nintendo Anime Channel, a new video on demand channel for Nintendo 3DS.

On it, users can stream anime content from series such as Pokémon, Kirby, and Inazuma Eleven. Apparently, new content for this free app download will be added regularly.

Quite how this is supposed to benefit Wii U users hoping for an integrated TV service, we're not sure.

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