Category: Mobile hardware
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Apple to switch faulty flash storage type for iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus

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Apple’s apparently got a problem on its hands regarding its two latest smartphones, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. And no, it’s not #bendgate. According to rumors out of South Korea, a type of flash storage is causing the company some headaches in two models of the new iPhones.

Only the 64GB iPhone 6 and the 128GB iPhone 6 Plus seem to be affected. These iterations use a type of flash storage called TLC (triple-level cell) NAND. Read more »

iFixit tears down Nexus 9, gives it poor repairability score

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The freshly launched Nexus 9 got the iFixit teardown. The HTC-made slate received the poor repairability score of 3.

As expected, the iFixit disassembly of the Android 5.0 Lollipop tablet reveals a number of details. Read more »

LG Display outs a 5.3″ 1080p panel with 0.7mm narrow bezel

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LG Display has made a 5.3″ LCD panel with a bezel of just 0.7mm. The display of 1080p resolution sports a pixel density of 415ppi.

To put it into perspective, the left and right sides of the panel are thinner than the 0.8mm thickness of a credit card. In order to pull this off, the company uses its “Neo Edge” module processing technology as well as the first “Advanced In-Cell Touch (AIT)” technology. Read more »

Project Ara update video announces DevCon2 conference

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Google released a Project Ara update video announcing the second developer conference for the platform will take place on January 14. There, registered developers will discus the Ara MDK 0.20 as well as have access to early modules and prototypes.

The company is also going to reveal its marketing plans. The pilot Project Ara device will come in the first half of 2015. Read more »

Apple iPad mini 3 gets a poor repairability score from iFixit

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After picking the iPad Air 2 apart, the team at iFixit focused its attention of the iPad mini 3. Like its predecessor, the latest compact slate from Cupertino received the poor repairability score of 2.

The iPad mini 3’s identical repairability score with that of last year’s model should hardly catch anyone by surprise. Read more »

iFixit tears down iPad Air 2, gives it poor repairability score

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Hot on the heels of the Apple iMac with 5K Retina display, iFixit tore down the iPad Air 2. Cupertino’s full-size tablet received the poor repairability score of 2.

As it turns out, despite being even more elegant, Apple iPad Air 2 is just as difficult to repair as its predecessor. Read more »

Alleged Nexus 6 camera samples leak

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A Google+ album has surfaced containing unimaginative but important pictures. The creator, one Duan Dao, claims the images in the album have been captured with the mint-fresh Motorola Nexus 6.

Some of the images have been resized and all of them lack EXIF data so we can’t really be sure if the claim is true but some images carry the 4160x3120px (13MP) resolution of the Nexus 6 giving the claim some credibility. Read more »

Carl Zeiss is making its own $99 VR headset

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Renowned optics manufacturer Carl Zeiss is making its own alternative to Samsung’s Gear VR headset that uses an inserted smartphone to generate a 3D world.

Unlike Samsung’s offering, the Carl Zeiss VR One will be compatible with a wide range of smartphones between 4.7″ and 5.2″, although you will have to purchase a special tray for each new device. Read more »

Nvidia launches GeForce GTX 980M and GTX 970M for mobile gamers

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The Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M and GTX 970M went official today offering superior performance over the Kepler series of GPU they replace. The GTX 980M and and GTX 970M use the company’s latest Maxwell graphics architecture, which also powers the company’s latest desktop GPU line-up.

Thanks to the Maxwell architecture, the two mobile GPUs are more power efficient and offer greater performance. The GTX 980M and GTX 970M feature 1536 and 1280 CUDA cores, respectively. Naturally, the GTX 980 is the more powerful one with a GPU base clock of 1038MHz, while the 970M is clocked at 924MHz. Read more »

Samsung Gear VR to launch on December 1, according to leaked document

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The Samsung Gear VR virtual reality headset could finally be released on December 1, at least in South Korea. That’s what a leaked document, purported to have originated at Samsung’s customer service department, claims.

Furthermore, we even get a price to speak of. In Samsung’s home country, the Gear VR will apparently go for KRW 200,000 (which is approximately $187 or €148 at the current exchange rates). Read more »

Samsung plans to invest $14.7 billion in a new chip plant

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Reuters reports that Samsung is planning to invest the gargantuan $14.7 billion in a new chip-making factory over the next three years. That’s the biggest investment the company has ever made into a single plant.

According to Samsung’s plans, the plant is going to be built in Pyeongtaek, which is 75 km south of Seoul and create 150,000 jobs (about a third of the city’s population). Read more »

Take a peek inside the Galaxy Alpha, Samsung’s first metal-clad smartphone

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iFixit.com has finally gotten around to taking apart the Samsung Galaxy Alpha – the Korean company’s first smartphone not to be made entirely out of polycarbonate.

The Galaxy Alpha features a 6.7mm wide metal frame flanked by a 4.7-inch Super AMOLED display and pleasantly-textured back panel. But just how easy is it to take apart? Read more »

Samsung anticipates sales boost following Apple chip deal

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Samsung is planning to start producing chips using its 14nm manufacturing process at the end of the year. It seems the company has managed to secure a deal with Apple and it anticipates a notable sales boost once it begins to deliver on it.

Kim Ki-nam, President of Samsung’s semiconductor business told reporters at the company’s HQ in Seoul that profits “will improve positively” once the deal goes through. Read more »

Here is Samsung Galaxy Note 4 going through a three-point bending test

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This has been coming for quite some time now. Hot on the heels of the Apple iPhone 6 Plus bending controversy, Samsung released video footage of the Galaxy Note 4 going through the rigors of the now popular three-point bending test, as well as a human weight test.

We already know that the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is built like a tank, so, naturally, its successor has big shoes to fill in. Read more »

Tablet chipset shipments mark 23% annual jump in Q2 2014

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According to a report by Strategy Analytics, chipsets destined for tablets have marked a year-on-year jump of 23% in Q2 2014. According to the estimates, $945 million worth of tablet chipsets have shipped in the last quarter alone.

Standing on top is Apple with its iPad slates, which hold a 26% revenue share. Interestingly, Intel is close by at second place at 19% and Qualcomm is third with 17%. Read more »