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Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 gets Android 4.4 KitKat

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Samsung may be busy transitioning its tablet lineup to AMOLED screens and expanding it with new sizes, but it hasn’t completely forgotten about the devices it already has. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, which once was a premium mid-sized tablet is starting to receive its Android 4.4 KitKat update across the globe.

The Korean version was the first to get the boost, but only a few hours later the international version joined the fun with Poland the first market to receive it. Unless there are unexpected issues with the update, all Galaxy Note 8.0 units should follow suit shortly. Read more »

Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo gain turn-by-turn navigation

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Turn-by-turn navigation is one of the best things to have when exploring a city, but constantly looking at your phone while walking is hardly ideal. Well, now that the guys from Symphony Teleca have brough the feature to your Gear 2-touting wrist, you no longer have to.

In March the same company brought its TurnByTurn app to the original Galaxy Gear and now it has managed to port it to its Tizen-powered successors. And despite the change of platform the app has retained the same core functionality. Read more »

GOkey puts charger, data cable, Bluetooth locator and memory on your key-ring

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Key-rings haven’t been the focal point of much innovation over the years but a new crowd-sourced campaign is aiming to change that. Dubbed GOkey the device brings a Bluetooth-enabled key locator, an external battery, a USB flash drive and a USB cable (or Lightning if that’s how you roll) into one.

The cool looking piece of tech has a battery of its own, which according to the manufacturer will provide enough juice for two hours of talk time for those emergency cases. It has a built-in cable (either microUSB or Lightning depending on the version) so you won’t need to carry that either. Read more »

Nokia Lumia 630 gets a cool video promo full of football trick shots

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In the days between the official announcement and the market release of one of their smartphones, each manufacturer is trying to build up hype about it and promo videos are a commonly used tool for that. In the case of the Lumia 630, Nokia has hired Finnish goalkeeper and trick shot master Lassi Hurskainen to produce what is certainly one of the coolest promo clips we’ve seen in a while.

Using the help of an assistant, Hurskainen makes some pretty sweet shots to knock several people’s handsets out of their hands. It’s unclear if the phones take any damage, but everyone involved gets a free Lumia 630 and they all seem pretty happy about it. Read more »

LG G Pad 8.3 now available for just 119 quid in the UK

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Looking to strike a great deal on a mid-sized tablet? Well if you live in the UK you probably need to look no further than the LG G Pad 8.3. The slate, which we reviewed and really liked a while ago, can now be had for just £119.

Update: It appears the stock has been depleted rather quickly and the offer is currently unavailable. It’s unclear if there’s new stock on the way or if that was all about the promotion.

For the price you are getting an 8.3″ IPS LCD of 1200 x 1920 pixel resolution, a Snapdragon 600 chipset and a sleek metallic body that only weighs 338g. Even the Nexus 7 (2013) looks rather overpriced in comparison to this offer. Read more »

Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet hands-on

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We’ve got yet another hot device in our office that is due for a full review. The Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is one of the contestants for the hottest tablet of the year, combining a great screen, powerful hardware and an ultra sleek design.

Not only is the Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet the slimmest and lightest full-size tablet around, but it’s also among the very few to offer water and dust resistance. Read more »

Nokia Lumia 930 promo video is out

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The Nokia Lumia 930 just debuted on the stage of the Microsoft BUILD conference and as tradition goes with such high-profile devices the announcement is accompanied by a brief promo video, showing you the key selling points.

On this occasion Nokia has focused on the build and the design of the smartphone, its 20MP PureView camera and the new Windows Phone 8.1 that’s powering the whole thing. Read more »

Sony Xperia Z2 system dump appears, porting spree to follow

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If you would like to try some of the latest software goodies by Sony, but don’t want to splash on a new Xperia Z2, we have some good news for you. A system dump of the smartphone, complete with all the apps and features has appeared enabling ROM builders to try and extract those and implement them in their own solutions.

Of course, it’s anyone’s guess how long the porting of a certain apps will go – those that are reliant on the Sony Xperia Z2 hardware, like the camera, can need more tweaking before they are able to run on other handsets and support their different sensors. Read more »

Check out our two hands-ons videos of the Samsung Galaxy S5

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Having spent our fair share of time with the Samsung Galaxy S5 we keep bring you all the details on the latest flagship by the Korean company. We already gave you the live photos, the benchmarks and the camera samples and now it’s time for the hands-on videos.

We’ve got two clips showing you various parts of the Samsung Galaxy S4 UI and how the smartphone performs in real life. You get to see the updated TouchWiz as well as some of the key software goodies introduced by the handset. Read more »

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo kernel source now published

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As mandated by the Android terms of usage, Samsung has followed the market release of its latest Galaxy Note 3 Neo phablet with the publishing of the kernel source code of the device. That’s great news to any developer looking to build more elaborate ROMs or simply custom kernels for the Note 3 Neo.

So if you have some coding skills you can follow the source link to obtain the files and start fiddling with them. And even if you don’t, you’ll just have to wait for the first group to do their magic and then hope they’ll be kind enough to share their creations with the rest of us. Read more »

New Mugen Power case adds 3,000 mAh to the Sony Xperia Z1 battery

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Looking to add some extra protection and double the battery life of your Sony Xperia Z1? Mugen Power has just the thing for you – its newly introduced case with the catchy name CC-C6903 combines shock resistance and a 3,000 mAh external battery that can be used to top up your juice pack.

The case will start shipping on February 22 and costs $89.50. If you make an order for over $150 you also get free worldwide shipping (although import taxes will be due in most regions). Read more »

Windows Phone 8.1 notification center screenshots leak

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The Windows Phone 8.1 update is expected to come in a couple of months, bringing the widely requested notification center to the Microsoft platform. Yet, until now, we didn’t have a very good idea of what it will look like.

This changed today, though, thanks to a couple of leaked screenshots that allegedly come from an internal Microsoft document. It shows that the notification center will actually be called Action center and will contain connectivity toggles in addition to notifications. Read more »

Smartphone Champions League Quarterfinals final scores

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The quarterfinal clashes in the Smartphone Champions League are now over and they certainly were an amazing spectacle. The four games got over 270,000 votes, which is by far the highest we have seen in a single matchday.

Two of the four manufacturers remained in the competition concluded their participation at the quarterfinal stage, while Nokia continued to be the dominant force with its Lumia lineup getting the whooping three spots in the semifinals. Read more »

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 S-View cover with wireless charging now on sale

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Until now, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 owners had to pick between wireless charging capabilities and the cool UI tweaks of the S-View flip cover. However, yesterday Samsung finally started the sales of a wireless charging–enabled S-View cover, which brings the best of both worlds.

It costs $70 and is available in black and white colors, from the Samsung US store (other stores should follow shortly). The price is certainly steep, but if history is any indication it will be cut down to more reasonable levels eventually. Read more »

Smartphone Champions League Round of 16, Matchday 2 final scores

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And then there were eight. The Round of 16 in the Smartphone Champions League is now over and all quarterfinalists have been revealed. We saw for more exciting games draw to a close and set up four interesting battles in the next round.

Going into the quarterfinals Nokia is the best-represented company, having three handsets in the mix. Sony managed to secure two spots, while HTC, LG and Samsung complete the picture with one contender a piece. Read more »