The Samsung Galaxy S4 is about the same size and weight as the Galaxy S III, except that the new model is slightly thinner. Even so, the battery capacity has increased by 500mAh to a nicely sounding 2,600mAh total.

Still, that battery has to feed four Krait 300 cores and a bigger screen with over twice the number of pixels. Let’s see how the 2013 flagship from Samsung compares to the one from 2012. Before we continue, we should make it clear that we’re using the I9505 for this test, that’s the Snapdragon 600 chipset and not the Exynos 5 Octa. Read more »

Gmail is one of the most popular email services available in the market and the Android version of the mobile app has received a minor update.

The update is expected to enhance the performance of the app and might even a carry few new features. Unfortunately, this cannot be confirmed as Google has failed to provide the changelog for the latest version of the application. Read more »

Google has updated the mobile app for Android and iOS and introduced some new UI changes along with added features. One of the first major updates is the introduction of new image filters. Yes, Google+ now joins the ranks of countless social networking apps that let you add gaudy filters to your images before posting them.

The image filter option is thanks to the recent acquisition of photo editing application Snapseed. Although the editing options in the Google+ aren’t as comprehensive as in the Snapseed app there are a ton of filters for you to choose from. Interestingly, the photo filters are only available in the iOS version of the Google+ app. Read more »

The ASUS made Nexus 7 slate has officially made its way to the Google Play Store in India. Users can currently order the 16GB version of the tablet from the freshly popped up “devices” section of the market for everything Google.

The 7″ tablet is priced at Rs. 15,999, which is a smidge below $300. Read more »

The Snapdragon 600 version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 might have another ace up its sleeve that we didn’t know about so far. The Qualcomm-powered version is reportedly going to boast 1080p video recording at 60fps, which will be a first in the smartphone world.

Update: It turns out that it was a mistake on Qualcomm’s side. The company got in touch with us to confirm it.

This was mentioned as one of Samsung’s flagship key features in the chipmaker’s press release, issued after the Galaxy S4 announcement. However, the Galaxy S4 unit which we have in in our office, doesn’t offer such functionality, despite its Snapdragon chipset. So what is the truth? Read more »

Android 4.2.2 will be the last update for Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 2 lineup. The slates have started their lifecycle on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, then were updated up to 4.1 Jelly Bean and now they will be getting their last major firmware upgrade with the 4.2.2 version.

The update rollout for those devices should be completed by the end of September this year. Read more »

HTC’s chief marketing officer Benjamin Ho will ditch the company’s current “Quietly Brilliant” slogan for a “bolder” tagline.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal Ho said HTC will be adopting a more aggressive marketing strategy as it’s time for things to change. He added that HTC “has a lot innovations but we haven’t been loud enough” Read more »

Sony is about to launch the Xperia Tablet Z in mid-April worldwide. The slate is going to be available in three flavors – 16GB Wi-Fi only, 32GB Wi-Fi only and 16GB with LTE.

The 16GB and 32GB model pricing is close in most EU countries, while the price of the LTE-capable Sony Xperia Tablet Z tends to vary quite a bit. Read more »

The software glitches in iOS 6.x devices, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Samsung Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note II and few other Samsung Galaxy devices had allowed the users to bypass the lock screen of their devices. Now, a latest security flaw in Sony Xperia Z allows you to bypass its lock screen in few simple and easy steps.

Scott Reed, a tech enthusiast, who has recently purchased a Sony Xperia Z smartphone, has managed to bypass the lock screen of the device with ease. The method involves few simple steps and allows you to gain full access to the device. Read more »

Steve “Cyanogen” Kondik, the leading man behind the popular CyanogenMod, joined Samsung in mid-2011 but now, less than two years later, he left the company. He had spent some “quality time” with the new Galaxy S4 and had some words to share about it.

For one, he seems to be a fan of the device, saying in a Google+ post that it “blows the competition out of the water” and feels more solid than the Galaxy S III he loves and uses every day. What he had to say about TouchWiz was less pleasant. Read more »

The Tablet Z is Sony’s latest Android slate, which was confirmed to go global at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. We witnessed its beauty with our eyes and were impressed by its weight and slim waistline. And to tickle the inner geek inside all of us, Sony has put up an official teardown video of the tablet.

Before tearing it down, Sony offers a walkthrough of the Tablet Z and then gets down to business. Read more »

So it’s not a pipe dream after all – Google Now for iOS may even be in the works. At the Big Tent summit in India Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt was asked point blank when could we see Google Now on the iPhone and had this to say – “You’ll need to discuss that with Apple”, “Apple has a policy of approving or disapproving apps that are submitted into its store, and some of them they approve and some of them they don’t,”.

Although skillfully avoiding giving a direct answer to the question Schmidt didn’t dismiss it entirely giving this blogger the idea that just like it did with Gmail, Maps, Drive and Chrome, Google intends to push its Now service over to iOS. Read more »

HTC One production has been troubled lately by component shortages lately and the Taiwanese were even forced to delay the smartphone launch in most of the markets. Yet, HTC is keen to make you so excited about its flagship that you wouldn’t mind waiting a bit longer to get it. Each week we get new videos through the HTC’s YouTube official channel and the newest one advertises the smartphone’s signature BlinkFeed feature.

HTC BlinkFeed is the leftmost pane of the homescreen. It aggregates posts from your social networks and news from over a thousand news sources. You can pick what topics you’re interested in and BlinkFeed will automatically pull up interesting news. You can also use the search function if you’re looking for something in particular. Read more »

According to a survey by Strategy Analytics which was gathered by data collected last fall Apple’s iCloud is the most popular cloud service in the US.

27% of those surveyed who use a cloud service have tried iCloud in US with Dropbox and Amazon Cloud Drive in second and third with 17& and 15% respectively. Read more »

The latest way to bypass the Galaxy S III/Note II/Note/S II lockscreen has been modified and now allows you to completely disable the devices’ locksceens. We already saw this exploit about three weeks ago, but back then it didn’t appear too dangerous as it only gave the intruder access to what’s on one of your homescreen panes.

Now, however, the author has found a way to use it to gain full control of the smartphone. You’ll need lots of time, patience and precision timing to accomplish this trick, but as you’ll see in a second it’s possible. Read more »