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HTC announces trade-in program for HTC One credit

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Feb 2013 6:52

HTC announces trade-in program for HTC One credit Earlier today we reported on HTC's launch of the new "One" flagship smartphone, a powerful device with a few notable features including a high ppi display, an "ultrapixel" camera and a built-in IR transmitter.

The company has also introduced a new trade-in program offering $100 to smartphone owners who want to upgrade to the One.

All you have to do is register your email to qualify and then purchase a One when it becomes available.

Afterwards, when you receive the new device you can ship back your old phone along with proof of the new One and get a $100 Visa prepaid card. If your device is not worth $100 elsewhere and you were looking to upgrade this is a good deal, but if you think you can get more than $100 for your phone than it is probably smart to do that.

HTC says the offer is limited and it is unclear when the promotion is over.

If you are interested, check it here: HTC One Trade-In




AfterDawn: News

Canonical unveils tablet-ready Ubuntu OS

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Feb 2013 12:03

Canonical unveils tablet-ready Ubuntu OS Just weeks after showing off their new smartphone ready Ubuntu OS, Canonical has unveiled their new tablet interface today.

The OS will be optimized for touch (obviously) and feature edge gesture navigation, removing the need for buttons. The interface is similar to that of Canonical's smartphone OS, including the universal hub and gesture access to "favorites."

Additionally, the company has added a new multitasking mode for its tablet interface called "Side Stage." Windows 8 users should be familiar with Side Stage as it acts just like W8's Snap View, allowing for apps to be used in phone mode in a side window.

The tablets will be share-able, since the OS supports multiple user logins and a full guest mode.

Minimum specs for the tablet OS are a 6-inch screen, an A15 processor, 2GB of RAM, and 8GB internal storage.

Ubuntu Touch Developer Preview will be made available for Google's Nexus 7 and 10 in two days.




AfterDawn: News

Sprint expands LTE to more metro cities

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Feb 2013 11:49

Sprint expands LTE to more metro cities Sprint has confirmed it has turned on its LTE network for more major cities this week.

New York City, San Francisco, Washington DC, Jacksonville, Miami and Tampa will now have access to the fast mobile broadband network for their supportive phones.

In January, the company announced 58 other areas would begin getting LTE, as well, and the new cities are in addition. For now, LTE will remain spotty in all areas, until the carrier "achieves a density of sites to indicate that our customers should consistently have a great 4G LTE experience."

For now, customers will be able to test the 4G while the company works on its infrastructure.

Rivals Verizon and AT&T have been blanketing the U.S. with their networks, with full rollouts expected by the end of the year.




AfterDawn: News

Tizen 2.0 is here

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Feb 2013 11:39

Tizen 2.0 is here The SDK and source code have been made available for Tizen 2.0, codename "Magnolia."

Tizen is notable because it is backed by Intel, and has support from Japanese major carrier DoCoMo and global powerhouse Vodafone. Samsung has already confirmed it will release a couple of Tizen phones for Korea and Japan later this year.

Magnolia includes (via Slash) "a new web framework that provides "state-of-the-art" HTML5/W3C API support. There is a new Web UI framework that includes full-screen and multi-window support. There are APIs for Bluetooth and NFC support as well as access to the core apps like calendar, contacts, gallery, phone, settings, and the video player. There is a native framework supporting full-featured application development. Enhanced Web IDE providing WYSIWYG design environment, and a native IDE that provides a project wizard."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Lumia owners happier with Nokia than Symbian owners were

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Feb 2013 11:30

Lumia owners happier with Nokia than Symbian owners were According to a new YouGov survey of 4,169 British adults, it appears Lumia owners are happier with Nokia than Symbian owners ever were.

The survey, completed in December, concluded that Lumia owners are much more likely to recommend their phones to others.

In December 2011, 99 percent of Nokia smartphone owners had Symbian phones, compared to 40 percent being Lumia owners as of December 2012.

42 percent of owners said they would buy a Nokia next time, with 45 percent saying they would recommend the company, the highest numbers in years.




AfterDawn: News

The $1000 Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan is here

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Feb 2013 11:18

The $1000 Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan is here Nvidia's mega-gaming GPU, the Titan, is here.

The processor maker has announced its GeForce GTX Titan, a $1000 beast ready for shipping next week.

Titans feature 2,688 CUDA cores at 837MHz, 6GB of GDDR5 memory and 384-bits of memory bandwidth which allows for high-resolution gaming across multiple monitors with no issue.

Furthermore, the Titan is 3-way SLI capable, in case you have $3000 laying around.

The Titan has "fan control that includes voltage and RPM," and a TDP rating of 250w.






AfterDawn: News

HTC unveils new One flagship with 'UltraPixel' camera

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Feb 2013 11:03

HTC unveils new One flagship with 'UltraPixel' camera Exactly as been leaked over the last month, HTC used their press event today to unveil the new "One" flagship.

The device has a 4.7-inch LCD with 1080p resolution and a massive pixel density of 468ppi.

Under the hood is a Snapdragon 600 SoC that includes a quad-core processor clocked at 1.7GHz and LTE. The device runs on Android 4.1 with HTC Sense 5, has 2GB RAM, 32 or 64GB internal storage, GPS and GLONASS, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and a large 2300mAh battery.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Microsoft begins migrating users away from Hotmail and towards Outlook

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Feb 2013 10:44

Microsoft begins migrating users away from Hotmail and towards Outlook Earlier this week, Microsoft announced that its new web-based email service Outlook had moved out of beta.

The service will replace Hotmail/Live, and the company has begun migrating users away from its existing services.

Preview versions of Outlook.com went up six months ago and it appears that Microsoft has done sufficient testing.

Microsoft will look to steal users back from Google's Gmail, and Microsoft's director of product management Dharmesh Mehta says the transition will make Outlook one of the largest free email services in the world. "It's a pretty massive bet we've made that Outlook.com is a great choice," Mehta added.

All Hotmail settings, contacts and messages will make the transition and you can continue to use your existing email addresses.

Get started at Outlook.com now.




AfterDawn: News

Nvidia reveals Tegra 4i with integrated LTE

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Feb 2013 10:29

Nvidia reveals Tegra 4i with integrated LTE Nvidia has revealed one of its most powerful chipsets to date, the Tegra 4i.

The chip will be Nvidia's first with integrated LTE, but it loses the ARM Cortex A15 architecture of the Tegra 4.

Tegra 4i chips run on the Cortex A9r4 architecture, have 4 cores (plus the ninja fifth core) and can clock in at 2.3GHz. The chip has 60 GPU cores, less than the 72 of the Tegra 4.

Additionally, the chip supports less RAM and only 1080p resolution than the Tegra 4. We have the full specs below.

Finally, the company also introduced the "Phoenix" dev platform and a new developer phone which includes a 5-inch 1080p display.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Google planning on launching retail stores

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Feb 2013 10:10

Google planning on launching retail stores Google is in the process of launching retail stores in the U.S., following in the footsteps of rivals Apple and Microsoft.

The stores would showcase Google-branded hardware like the Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 and potentially Chromebooks, as well.

Sources say there is no word on where or when the stores may launch, as the plans are not set in stone.

Apple has long used retail outlets to help sales of its iOS devices, giving would-be buyers a chance to test the devices before buying. Microsoft has begun expanding their retail presence recently thanks to the launch of the Surface and Windows Phone 8.

The sources also claim that Google would not promote Motorola at all in the stores, even though the company acquired Motorola Mobility in 2011. That move makes sense as any favoritism would be seen as an attack on its other Android partners, most notably Samsung.




AfterDawn: News

Samsung will 'definitely' unveil new phones on March 14th

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Feb 2013 11:45

Samsung will 'definitely' unveil new phones on March 14th Eldar Murtazin, well-known for breaking some big news in the past, has said today that March 14th will be a big day for Samsung.

Other sources were quick to confirm that Murtazin was making veiled references to a launch for the Galaxy S IV, among other new phones.

The supposed event will be held in New York City.

Additionally, the design of the model is said to be a "tightly-guarded secret" and "the leap in cool new features from [Galaxy S III] to the next flagship will be bigger" than even the leap was from the S II to the S III.





AfterDawn: News

Report: Sony PlayStation 4 to cost £300 in UK, won't be unveiled this week

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Feb 2013 10:32

Report: Sony PlayStation 4 to cost £300 in UK, won't be unveiled this week British daily The Times has reported today that the Sony PlayStation 4 will be cheaper on launch than its predecessor.

The paper says the console will launch for about £300. "Industry sources and leaked internal documents suggest that Sony is considering pricing the new device at about £300, more than £100 cheaper than the starting cost of its predecessor," reads the report.

Sony launched the PS3 in 2006 in the UK for £425.

Additionally, the report says Sony will not unveil the new console at this week's PlayStation meeting in NYC, as widely expected. Instead, the company will wait to see Microsoft's Xbox 8 before launching their own.

When it does launch, however, the PS4 will support 4K displays, include cloud streaming and include a touchscreen controller.




AfterDawn: News

LG makes large investment in OLED TVs

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Feb 2013 9:51

LG makes large investment in OLED TVs LG Display has announced a large investment in the future of OLED.

The company, which released their first large-screen OLED TV in 2012, will invest 706 billion won ($654.8 million) in manufacturing the next-gen displays.

Mass production for the new OLED line will begin in the Q1 2014, says the company.

The company recently announced that its $10,000 55-inch OLED had reached 110 pre-orders, hardly a huge number but still somewhat impressive given the price tag.




AfterDawn: News

Sony slashes Vita price in Japan

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Feb 2013 9:32

Sony slashes Vita price in Japan Sony has cut the price of its Vita handheld in Japan in an effort to boost sales.

The company's console launched with hype but a high price tag and a lackluster catalog has led to slow sales around the globe.

For now, the company has announced a price drop of the 3G + WiFi model to 19,980 yen ($215 USD), down from 30,000 yen ($325), a large price cut.

The price drop goes into effect on February 28th and could lead to a similar price drop in the U.S.

Sales have been a bust, with Sony selling 7 million consoles compared to initial expectations of 16 million.




AfterDawn: News

Archos to get in the Android smartphone game

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Feb 2013 9:18

Archos to get in the Android smartphone game Archos has announced it will be introducing three new Android smartphones at next week's Mobile World Congress event in Spain.

The company is best known for its PMPs in the early 2000s and more recently for budget tablets that include hard drives instead of flash memory.

On the low-end, the Archos 35 will include a 3.5-inch display with 320x480 resolution, a 1GHz single-core processor, 512MB RAM and 512MB internal storage. The phone will run on Android 4.0, have dual-SIM support and 3G. The phone will only lighten your wallet by €90 ($121 USD).

The company will then introduce the large-screened 5.2-inch 800x480 Archos 52 Titanium. The device will be underpowered, however and have a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 512MB RAM and 4GB internal storage. There was no word on price.

Finally, the company's flagship is the Archos 48 Platinum. The device has a 4.8-inch IPS with 720p resolution, is powered by a 1.7GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6589 processor, runs on Jelly Bean, has LTE and an FM Radio. The device will go on sale in May for €249 ($330).

Read more...



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