The Best Features In iOS 8

Yesterday, Apple took the wraps off iOS 8 at its WWDC keynote. Considering the paucity of leaks before the event, no one really had any high hopes from the update as far as new features were concerned, which is why everyone was pleasantly surprised when Apple started firing one great new feature after another during the event that would have made even users of other platforms sit up and take notice.

Today, we are compiling some of the truly great new features that Apple introduced with iOS 8. Note, when I say “new”, some of these may not be new in general but just new to iOS. Still, for current users of iOS, this is the kind of stuff that will keep them interested in the platform and for those on the fence or looking to switch over, these are the features that could serve as the final push.

Extensions

I’m just going to start with what I think is the best new addition to iOS. One feature in Android that a lot of iOS users have been clamoring for was ability to apps to interact with each other instead of residing in their respective silos. This allows apps to talk to each other, thereby letting you share content from one app to another.

This is what Extensions brings to iOS. In iOS 8, apps can place an extension in the share sheet, that will allow you to share, say, a web page to any app that supports this functionality, whereas previously you’d be limited to the few built-in apps along with Twitter and Facebook. Or apps can provide specific functionality in other apps, such as the Bing Translate action Apple demonstrated during the keynote in Safari.

Vertu Signature Touch goes official with high specs and price

The manufacturer of luxury smartphones Vertu took the wraps off its latest creation, the Signature Touch. The Android KitKat device packs high-end specs and the usual whopping price tag which kicks off at a cool £6,750 (about $11,300)

Vertu Signature Touch sports Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC with 2.3GHz quad-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, and 64GB of memory. The handset’s display is a 4.7” 1080p unit covered by sapphire glass.

The camera department of the handset is where things get really interesting. The device features a 13MP camera unit with dual-LED flash, tuned by the photography powerhouse Hasselblad. The front-facing snapper is a 2.1MP unit.

Hasselblad is not the only co-branding partner in the Vertu Signature Touch. The smartphone’s audio is tuned by Bang & Olufsen. The audio products’ manufacturer also supplies an ultra-premium over-ear headset and wireless speaker as additional accessories.

Connectivity options of the device include LTE in addition to the standard high-end smartphone fare. The device is powered by a 2,275 mAh battery and supports Qi wireless charging.

Out of the box, the Vertu Signature Touch will boot Android 4.4 KitKat. Naturally, Vertu’s exclusive Concierge service will also be on board.

Vertu released a promo video for its latest creation. See it below.

The Signature Touch will be available to order this month. Each handset will be made and signed by a single craftsman in England. The choice of materials includes Grade 5 titanium and a slew of exotic leather options.

The manufacturer of luxury smartphones Vertu took the wraps off its latest creation, the Signature Touch. The Android KitKat device packs high-end specs and the usual whopping price tag which kicks off at a cool £6,750 (about $11,300)

Vertu Signature Touch sports Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC with 2.3GHz quad-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, and 64GB of memory. The handset’s display is a 4.7” 1080p unit covered by sapphire glass.

The camera department of the handset is where things get really interesting. The device features a 13MP camera unit with dual-LED flash, tuned by the photography powerhouse Hasselblad. The front-facing snapper is a 2.1MP unit.

Hasselblad is not the only co-branding partner in the Vertu Signature Touch. The smartphone’s audio is tuned by Bang & Olufsen. The audio products’ manufacturer also supplies an ultra-premium over-ear headset and wireless speaker as additional accessories.

Connectivity options of the device include LTE in addition to the standard high-end smartphone fare. The device is powered by a 2,275 mAh battery and supports Qi wireless charging.

Out of the box, the Vertu Signature Touch will boot Android 4.4 KitKat. Naturally, Vertu’s exclusive Concierge service will also be on board.

Vertu released a promo video for its latest creation. See it below.

The Signature Touch will be available to order this month. Each handset will be made and signed by a single craftsman in England. The choice of materials includes Grade 5 titanium and a slew of exotic leather options.

Full List Of iOS 8 Fmprovement and Features

Apple iOS 8 went official yesterday at the company's WWDC opening keynote. Several interesting features were announced and demoed on during the event, but a lot more were left out of the spotlight. Luckily, Apple at least listed those on its iOS 8 conclusion presentation slide.

So, Apple iOS 8 is another game changer for the company, but this time it's not the design Apple is focusing on. It's the third-party access to core system functionality and developer APIs.

Here is what we saw yesterday:

• Refined UI in multi-tasking, Mail, Messages, third-party sharing options among other system apps.
• Safari plugin support, bird-eye tab view for iPad
• iCloud Drive with 5GB free storage
• Third-party keyboards, adaptive default one
• Family Share - share and control the content across Apple IDs using the same credit card, children app purchase requests
• Handoff support with Mac OS X Yosemite - continuity from any iOS 8 iDevice to Mac OS X, instant automatic hotspot, SMS/MMS/iMessages and voice calls transition supported
• New Photos with smart editing, search, third-party filters
• Health pack
• Better Spotlight with automatic internet suggestions from popular services such as Wikipedia, Maps, IMDb
• Enterprise easy setup
• Better Siri with voice activation, Shazam integration, 24 new dictation languages
• Third-party widgets in Notification Center
• Updated App Store with category browsing, Beta apps, Bundles
• China gets lunar calendar, turn-by-turn navigation, better weather data

And here is what Apple listed, but didn't bother to detail:

• Safari Private Browsing per tab
• Camera: Instant Burst Mode, Timer, separate focus and exposure, Panorama for iPad
• Integrated iBooks with auto night mode, Book Series support
• Battery usage per app statistics
• Tips app
• Rich Text Editing in Notes
• RSS Feeds in Shared Links
• Wi-Fi calling support
• Travel time notifications
• FaceTime call waiting
• Improved accessibility, In Case of Emergency card, TouchID to exit Guided Access, Braille keyboard
• Flyover city tours
• New keyboards, dictation languages and dictionaries

This is what we know so far about the new iOS 8. While the iOS 7 brought the massive UI overhaul, the iOS 8 focuses on extensibility. It comes this Fall for iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPod Touch 5, iPad mini, iPad mini 2, iPad 2, 3, and 4 as well as the iPad Air

Alleged official image of Amazon’s phone emerges

Purported official image of the upcoming Amazon smartphone made an appearance. The image is reportedly the work of graphic designers at Amazon and has been verified as the real deal.

At a quick glance, the yet to be annoucned Amazon phone looks like a mashup of design elements from Apple iPhone (particularly the iPhone 5c) and the Samsung Galaxy S family (per that button below the display). The image reveals all sides of the device, except for its top. Unsurprisingly, the handset looks decidedly understated, much like the Kindle Fire of tablets.

This is not the first time the Amazon smartphone leaks.The positioning of the buttons, the SIM slot, as well as the look of the earpiece from those photos fall right in line with today’s image.

The Amazon smartphone is tipped to feature a 4.7” 720p display, Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC with quad-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, and six camera modules for 3D UI effects. The OS will be a highly modified Android build as seen in the Kindle Fire tablets and will only utilize the Amazon app store.

Amazon is tipped to launch its first smartphone at some point in Q3. AT&T is expected to be an exclusive partner. It will offer the device with a special monthly Prime Data package.

HTC One (M8) mini to be called HTC One mini 2

We already know that HTC is working on a mini variant of its flagship smartphone, the HTC One (M8). Today we learn that the upcoming smartphone and the successor of the HTC One mini will be called HTC One mini 2, according to the popular tipster @evleaks.

M8 mini = HTC One mini 2 [comments: http://t.co/XvFgRppiFI]

— @evleaks (@evleaks) May 1, 2014

The HTC One mini 2 is rumored to sport a 4.5-inch 720p display, Snapdragon 400 chipset with quad-core Cortex A7 CPU clocked at 1.4 GHz, 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory, expandable via a microSD card. There's also a 13 megapixel rear camera, 5 megapixel front-facing shooter, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 and Android 4.4.2 KitKat with Sense 6.0 UI on top.

The leakster had earlier revealed that Verizon will carry the upcoming One mini 2, but it remains to be seen if the carrier is going to exclusively offer the phone. And, outside the United States, we know that Swedish carrier Telia will be offering the smartphone after it accidentally listed the One mini 2 on its website.

If the rumors are to be trusted, the HTC One mini 2 will go on sale this month, but there is no official word at the moment.

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini support page spotted on official site

The Samsung Galaxy S5 mini has been rumored for a long time and we’ve encountered its SM-G800 model number a few times. This time it’s right on Samsung’s official web site (the Finnish portal in particular).

Unfortunately, the web page appears to be just a placeholder at the moment with no additional info. The Galaxy S5 mini is rumored to come with a 4.5” 720p screen, Snapdragon 400 chipset and an 8MP camera.The Galaxy S5 mini will be water-resistant with an IP67 rating, just like it's bigger sibling.There’s also an SM-G750 in the works, currently known under the Galaxy S5 Neo moniker. This one seems to be a higher end model - a 5.1” 720p phone with a 2.3GHz CPU - despite the lower model number.

LG G3 hits the assembly line, shooting for 10 million sales

The LG G3 doesn't have a specific launch date yet, but many believe that it will drop sometime near the end of May.

And LG must be a a little busy bee, as the Korean manufacturer is aiming to sell 10 million units of the smartphone at its release.

What further gives credence to these rumors is that LG has announced that it will be throwing an event on May 27th, San Francisco, New York, and London. The following day, the same event will take place in Singapore, Seoul, and Istanbul.

So what will be headlining the event? Why not the company's upcoming flagship smartphone? It seems like a safe bet that the LG G3 will be the star of the show.

Another Apple iPhone 6 dummy unit makes the rounds

Yet another alleged Apple iPhone 6 dummy unit made the rounds online. The mockup is of much higher quality than the one we saw earlier , potentially giving us a better look of the upcoming smartphone.

The latest dummy unit is tipped to be the creation of a case manufacturer and falls right in line with past leaks. It showcases the power/lock and volume buttons on the side of the handset, as well as its already leaked, slightly protruding camera unit with LED flash.

There is no word on the screen size of the handset in the photo. Judging by its proportions however, we reckon that we are looking at the rumored 4.7” iPhone. A number of reports suggest that Apple will launch a duo of large-screen iPhone devices – one with 4.7” screen and one with 5.5” unit.

We don’t know when the iPhone 6 will go official just yet. The usual September time frame is likely.

Samsung ships more smartphones than major competition combined

Samsung is ubiquitous; there’s no doubt that they are a mobile powerhouse, however, the latest IDC quarterly update gives us a look into just how much of a powerhouse the Korean manufacturer is.

30.3% of total smartphone market share is controlled by Samsung, which is about 85 million units, in Q1 2014.

Now compare this number to Apple, Huawei, Lenovo, and LG, who account for 15.5%, 4.9%, 4.6%, and 4.4% respectively; .9% less than Samsung’s share.

All “other” smartphones account for 40.5% of the market share, but these are hardly the bigger players that pose a threat to Samsung’s current market dominance.

IDC predicts that smartphone shipments will reach 1.2 billion units, total, for 2014; a 200 million increase from last year. This is due to growth in the smartphone market and the constant spread of new models entering the market, especially low-range handsets.

If you suprised about this,you shouldn't be,We virtually see a samsung device everywhere we go?

Apple initiates an iPhone 5 power button replacement program

Apple has initiated the iPhone 5 sleep/wake button replacement program for those with a malfunctioning button. Under this program, if you have an eligible iPhone 5, Apple will replace the button free of cost.

Apple has determined that the sleep/wake button mechanism on a small percentage of iPhone 5 models may stop working or work intermittently. iPhone 5 models manufactured through March 2013 may be affected by this issue.

Apple will replace the sleep/wake button mechanism, free of charge, on iPhone 5 models that exhibit this issue and have a qualifying serial number.

Apple has setup a website where you can check if your iPhone 5 is eligible for a replacement. Not all iPhone 5 phones have this issue but if you think yours does then this is the time to get it fixed.

Oppo Joy goes official with 4” screen and a dual-core CPU

The entry-level Oppo Joy quietly got unveiled in Indonesia. The dual-SIM Android smartphone will go on sale in the country in the near future for about $138 in black or white color scheme.

Oppo Joy features a MediaTek SoC with 1.3GHz dual-core Cortex-A7 CPU, Mali 400 GPU, 4” WVGA display, and 512MB of RAM. There’s 4GB of built-in memory on board and a microSD card slot for further expansion. The handset boots Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Color OS UI.

The camera department of the Oppo Joy consists of a 3MP main snapper and 0.3MP front-facing unit. Connectivity options include HSPA+, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and microUSB port.

The measures of the smartphone are 124 x 63 x 9.9mm, while its weight tips the scale at 125 grams. It is powered by a 1,700mAh battery.

There is no word on availability of the Oppo Joy outside of Indonesia. We wouldn’t be surprised to see the handset appear in more developing markets.

No carrier will sell Xperia Z2 in the US but Sony will

Sony recently announced that its flagship smartphone, the Xperia Z2 will be available in the US this summer. However, if you were planning to pick the device on a lower price with a contract, then we have some bad news for you.

According to a new report, Sony has confirmed that neither the Xperia Z2 nor the Xperia Z1 Compact will be available in the US stores in the nearest future. Sony will have its flagship smartphone for sale only on its online store in the US. And, if you are planning to get your hands on the Xperia Z1 Compact, then getting it from overseas is your only option.If you are a Sony or Xperia fan in the US, then all you got at this point of time is the Xperia Z2 tablet, which will hit the shelves on May 4.

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini with IP67 certification confirmed

We already know that Samsung is going to release the mini version of its Galaxy S5 flagship, just like it did for the Galaxy S4 last year. The upcoming Galaxy S5 mini has already been leaked via a case maker, and today Samsung has confirmed one of the features of the device.

Samsung New Zealand on its website has affirmed that the Galaxy S5 mini will come out with IP67 certification. The company has posted the warranty information of the upcoming device, which states that the warranty is excluded if the Galaxy S5 mini is submerged in water for more than 30 minutes.

Both Samsung Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S4 Active boast IP67 certification and have the same warranty exclusions. This means that the upcoming Galaxy S5 mini smartphone will also carry the same feature.

The other rumored specs of the device include a 4.5-inch screen with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, quad-core processor along with 1.5 GB of RAM on a Snapdragon 400 chipset, 8 megapixel rear camera, 2 megapixel front facing shooter, 16 GB of internal memory and Android 4.4 KitKat.

There is no word on the pricing and the availability details of the smartphone, we will know more about that when the device goes official.

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini with IP67 certification confirmed

We already know that Samsung is going to release the mini version of its Galaxy S5 flagship, just like it did for the Galaxy S4 last year. The upcoming Galaxy S5 mini has already been leaked via a case maker, and today Samsung has confirmed one of the features of the device.

Samsung New Zealand on its website has affirmed that the Galaxy S5 mini will come out with IP67 certification. The company has posted the warranty information of the upcoming device, which states that the warranty is excluded if the Galaxy S5 mini is submerged in water for more than 30 minutes.

Both Samsung Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S4 Active boast IP67 certification and have the same warranty exclusions. This means that the upcoming Galaxy S5 mini smartphone will also carry the same feature.

The other rumored specs of the device include a 4.5-inch screen with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, quad-core processor along with 1.5 GB of RAM on a Snapdragon 400 chipset, 8 megapixel rear camera, 2 megapixel front facing shooter, 16 GB of internal memory and Android 4.4 KitKat.

There is no word on the pricing and the availability details of the smartphone, we will know more about that when the device goes official.

LG G3 seen with back-mounted keys

We’ve been getting hints about it for a while now, but this is the first time we get to actually see what will certainly be one of the hottest smartphones of the summer. We got a photo of the LG G3's back and while it’s not the best quality it tells quite a lot about the device.

The design aligns nicely with those cases that leaked earlier this week and we can clearly see that the innovative back-mounted keys are here to stay. The actual keys have been redesigned, though compared to what the G2 lineup had.

We can also confirm that there is some sort of sensor next to the camera of the LG G3. Earlier we speculated that it’s either a sensor or a second LED flash, but here you can see that it looks nothing like a flash. We are yet to see what kind of sensor that is, though.

Scott Croyle, HTC’s SVP of design is leaving the company

HTC’s Senior Vice President of Design, Scott Croyle is leaving the Taiwanese company. Since joining the company's ranks in 2008 as head of industrial design and user experience, Mr. Croyle has been the man behind the eye-grabbing designs of the company’s smartphone flagships, including M7 and M8.

During a lengthy period of transition, Croyle will remain involved with HTC product development as s consultant. He will fulfill this role until he hands off all of his responsibilities, including the design of the next HTC flagship device.

Jonah Becker, the right hand of Mr. Croyle, is expected to fill in the vacancy and lead the HTC design studio in San Francisco.

HTC confirmed Mr. Croyle’s plans in a short statement. See it below.

"HTC remains at the forefront of smartphone innovation. Scott Croyle will be focusing on special projects and dedicated on next generation developments."

In a move which is likely related to Mr. Croyle’s future plans’ announcement, HTC promoted Drew Bamford, the man responsible for the Sense user experience, to head of HTC software and services. See the official statement below.

"Drew Bamford is an experienced and talented leader at HTC with solid track records in leading and building our user experience team. Effective immediately, in addition to his current duties in product development and user experience, Drew will lead HTC Creative Labs and focus on innovative new products and user experience strategies."

Mr. Bamford will report directly to Peter Chou, the CEO of HTC. The latter scaled back its corporate involvement a few months back in order to focus deeper on product design and development.

Considering the industry-wide accolades which HTC has enjoyed for its industrial design, there is little doubt about that the successor of Scott Croyle will have big shoes to fill. Here’s hoping that the company will weather the transition with no hiccups.

4.5" Samsung Galaxy Core 2 leaks with quad-core CPU

The Samsung Galaxy Core 2 has leaked in dual-SIM form over in Russia and carries the product codeSM-G355H. We got two images that show the device with a physical home button along with a capacitive recent apps and back buttons.

According to the leak the Galaxy Core 2 Dual SIM has a 4.5" WVGA (480 x 800 pixels) display on the front, quad-core 1.2 GHz processor, a lowly 512 MB of RAM, 4 GB of internal storage and a microSD card option.

Samsung Galaxy Core 2

The phone comes as heir to the Galaxy Core, Galaxy Core Plus and Galaxy Core Advance lineup. It measures 129.7 x 67.9 x 9.8 mm - around the same as the 4.3" Galaxy Core and Core Plus - and weighs in at 138 g. The camera is a 5 MP unit at the back and a front-facing 0.3 MP.

Nokia-Microsoft deal now officially done

It's done – Nokia has just announced the completion of the sale to Microsoft of "substantially" all of its Devices & Services business to Microsoft. "Substantially" since two factories were excluded from the deal – the Chennai factory in India, but also the Masan factory in South Korea.

The South Korean factory employed roughly 200 people, but Nokia will be closing it down. The fate of the Chennai factory is unclear, but Nokia will be offering financial assistance to its employees so they can "explore opportunities outside Nokia starting from a sound financial base".

The deal underwent other changes too – the final price is expected to be slightly higher than the initially announced €5.44 billion due to a positive adjustment in net working capital and cash earnings.

US customer satisfaction led by Apple, Samsung close second

J.D. Powers ran a customer satisfaction study in the US and results revealed interesting changes since the previous edition from 2011. Apple topped the charts across the board, beating Samsung on all major US carriers.

That said, Samsung stayed close behind Apple and above average for AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. HTC managed to beat the average only on Verizon, but lost to BlackBerry on AT&T. Motorola was disappointingly low, at the bottom on two out of four carriers. LG and Nokia didn't do too hot either.

Unfortunately, there's no breakdown by device - it's probably the iPhone 5s driving Apple customers' satisfaction, but where does Samsung's multitude of Galaxy phones stand?

AT&T scored the highest in customer satisfaction (844/1000), while its main rival Verizon came in forth (829/1000) with Sprint (839/1000) and T-Mobile (835/1000) slotting in between.

Features were still the most important factor for picking a device, but it was well down from what it was before – 35% now, 57% then. However, those that picked a phone for its features were more satisfied (860/1000) than those who picked it for its price (808/1000).Price became an increasingly important factor of why a customer bought their device. 21% of surveyed users claimed price was the main reason for picking the device they did, up from 13% in 2011. Surprisingly, however, the average purchase price went up to $202 from $174 over the last three years. Fewer people received a discount too, 52% down from 60%.

As for what features the users actually want, voice control and built-in sensors (temperature, noise and mood) both scored just over a third. Facial recognition and biometric security (i.e. a fingerprint sensor) claimed the remaining piece of the pie.

HTC Desire 601 gets Android 4.4 KitKat and Sense 5.5

HTC Singapore has announced via its official Facebook account that it has begun seeding a firmware update for the HTC Desire 601.

The update includes the latest available Android OS 4.4.2 KitKat plus v5.5 of the company's proprietary Sense launcher. The KitKat update will speed up your system further, while the Sense 5.5 will give you some more Blinkfeed options, camera and gallery improvements, Video Highlights, new Zoe, DND mode, Quick Settings and Scribble app.

Nokia releases Asha 1.4 software update with new features

Nokia Asha Software Platform v1.4 is now available as an over-the-air update for five Asha phones - 230,500, 501, 502 and 503. You can get it right now by visiting the Settings -> Phone Update menu on your phone.

Version 1.4 of the Asha platform brings Nokia Mix Radio on Asha 500, 502 and 503. It's a free streaming music service that will allow you even to listen music offline in case you are out of internet connectivity.

All five Asha phones also get these new features:

• OneDrive app with free 7GB cloud storage
• Updated and more social Fastlane
• Camera upgrade - voice-guided selies, panorama shots
• Video camera upgrade - improved video stabilization
• Power Saver mode
• Parental control in Nokia Store and Nokia Browser

If you own one of those five Asha phones, then the update is either awaiting you in your Settings menu or it will reach you any moment now.

Oppo R1S outed with LTE and faster chipset

Oppo has announced Oppo R1S - an upgraded version of the recently launched Oppo R1 with a faster chipset and a better camera.

  Oppo R1S

The Oppo R1S looks absolutely identical to its R1 predecessor, it even has the same footprint and weight. The 5" 720p IPS display also remains intact, but the chipset has been upgraded.

The Oppo R1 runs on MediaTek's MT6582 chipset with a quad-core 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 processor and Mali-400MP2 GPU, while the newly introduced Oppo R1S is powered by the Qualcomm's Snapdragon 400 with a quad-core 1.6GHz Cortex-A7 CPU and faster Adreno 305 GPU. The RAM stays the same at 1GB.

Due to the new chipset the Oppo R1S is LTE-capable, but it drops the dual-SIM support. Oppo R1S offers a more capable camera than its predecessor - it features a 13MP sensor instead of 8MP. Its extra features stay the same though - HDR stills, panorama shots, 1080p video recording.

Oppo R1S runs on Oppo's Color OS based on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. It will become available on pre-order for €290 (CNY 2,498) starting tomorrow. You will be able to choose between white and blue flavors

New Sharp Aquos flagship offers unparalleled screen-to-body ratio

Sharp has announced an impressive new flagship for its Aquos line, the Xx 302Sh. And while it isn't heralded for its amazing screen-to-body ratio, it really should be. The Xx 302Sh sports a 5.2-inch screen and measures just 132mm long and 70mm wide - notably more compact than the Samsung Galaxy S5,Sony Xperia Z2, and HTC One (M8).

What's more, the device comes with and IP57 rating, and features respectable internals including a Snapdragon 800 processor, 32GB of expandable storage, 2GB of RAM, and a hefty 2600 mAh battery. The panel is of Sharp's own IGZO variety, allowing for thinner footprint than traditional TFT displays.

With its 16MP camera and bright f/1.9 lens, the Xx 302Sh is no slouch in the camera department either, and Sharp brags that its half-second autofocus time is one of the fastest in the industry. There's even a whopping 12MP front-facer as well.

Unfortunately, availability for this killer device will be

limited to Japan, where the device retails for about $670.

Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon 810 and 808 64-bit chipsets

Qualcomm unveiled the chipsets that will power a good number of next year's flagship and mid-range phones. The Snapdragon 810 and 808 both bring improvements in processor performance, 3D rendering and LTE.

Both have 64-bit processors and use ARM Cortex A5x CPU cores instead of Qualcomm-designed Kraits. They leverage the big.LITTLE architecture, similar to the Samsung Exynos quad and hexa-core chipsets.

Note that these aren't the first 64-bit chipsets by Qualcomm, the first was the Snapdragon 410, followed by the 610 and 615.

Snapdragon 810

The Snapdragon 810 replaces the 805 as the top of the line chipset. It features four Cortex-A57 and four Cortex-A53 processor cores. Those are the Cortex-A15 and A7 replacements respectively, but the A57 should offer a 25-55% increase in performance at the cost of just 20% increase in power consumption. And the power consumption will probably actually be even as the 20% difference will be offset by the use of a 20nm manufacturing process, instead of 28nm.

The way the two new chipsets work is that the CPU cores are divided into two groups. All cores can work at the same time, but cores in a group must use the same frequency (the two groups can use different clocks though). This differs from the Krait designs where the clock speed of each core can be set individually.

In terms of GPU, the Snapdragon 810 has a brand new Adreno 430, which is advertised as 30% faster than the Adreno 420, which in turn is 40% faster than the Adreno 330 found in current Snapdragon 800/801 chipsets. The end result is something like an 80% performance increase over the current generation.

This chipset also has a hardware H265/HEVC encoder. The ISP uses 14-bit image processing, both of which can have tangible effects on camera image quality.

The 810 has a 64-bit bus to LPDDR-1600 RAM, that's 3,200MHz data rate and 25.6GB/s bandwidth.

Snapdragon 808

This one uses an A57/A53 combo but is a hexa-core processor – two Cortex-A57 cores and four Cortex-A53 cores. Given the performance benefits of the new cores, the 808 chipset should be about as good as the current quad-A15 designs.

The Snapdragon 808 uses a new GPU too, Adreno 418. It slots under the Adreno 420 found in the Snapdragon 805, with 30% better performance than the Adreno 330.

This chipset has a 64-bit memory bus to LPDDR3-933 RAM, that's 1,866MHz data rate and 15GB/s bandwidth. The chipset has an ISP that can decode H265/HEVC but not encode it.

Both chipsets should be available in H1 2015.

LTE

The two new chipset feature 4G LTE Cat. 6 modems, which offer whopping maximum download speeds of 300MBps. To do that it bonds up to three 20MHz data pipes, compared to Cat. 4 modems that use a single 20MHz channel.

This, of course, relies on the carriers having enough available bandwidth. If there are not enough 20MHz channels, the modems can use 20MHz + 5MHz + 5MHz to boost the speed.

HTC Q1 2014 results: net loss, missed revenue forecast

HTC posted unaudited results for the first quarter of this year and the numbers are worse than even the company expected. When HTC announced its Q4 2013 performance, it predicted a revenue of $1.12-1.18 billion for the first quarter of this year.

The unaudited results, however, point to $1.09 billion in revenue and a net loss after taxes of $62 million. This compares poorly to the Q1 results of last year too, then HTC made $1.4 billion in revenue and $2.5 million of profit.

Note that these numbers don't reflect the new HTC One (M8), which launched at the very end of the quarter. The company expects things to pick up now that the One (M8) and Desire 816 (which had agreat reception in China) are available.

March sales did increase, the first month-to-month increase in revenue since October 2011. HTC's forecast for Q2 this year is a net profit, the revenue is expected to drop 20% from what it was for the same period last year.

Nevertheless, HTC stock was up 3.6% before the quarterly results went out, and up 13% this year as a whole.