Category: Rumors
Switch view

Huawei P8 VIP Service will offer same-day replacements in the UK

by 11 comments

Huawei unveiled the P8 a couple of days ago. The flagship smartphone is headed to stores soon, and it looks like the Chinese company has a surprise prepared for its customers in the UK. The leaked image you can see below is complemented by a rumor saying UK-based buyers of the P8 will get “VIP Service”.

What this means is that you’ll get same-day courier replacement if you have a faulty unit. According to a source inside Huawei, customers will be able to call a special number and speak to a customer rep who will diagnose the problem. If the issue is covered under warranty, then a new handset will be dispatched immediately, with same-day or next-day arrival (if the call happens after the cut-off time for the same-day option) at the customer’s doorstep. Read more »

Nokia might be looking to sell its maps business

by 28 comments

It definitely looks like Nokia is in the midst of a major business restructure. After the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent was made official today, new information hints at an uncertain future for the Finnish company’s maps division.

The fact of the matter is, that in recent years Nokia has centered its business around network equipment and the respective research and development. And while the new tech orientation leaves a lot of nostalgic mobile fans in sorrow, the venture has been mostly profitable for Nokia and it is doing fairly well in the network realm. Read more »

Apple is still struggling to push NFC payments in China

by 17 comments

Apple’s current pair of flagship devices – the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are enjoying an ever-growing level of popularity, bringing more and more attention to one of the company’s most ambitious projects – widespread NFC-based payments. The Cupertino giant has bee investing heftily in the new service, pushing it all throughout the US, Canada and Europe, despite some major retailer distrust.

But this steady expansion has yet to reach China – an area where the service has hit a lot of problems and is still in limbo. As some of you might remember, Apple has been struggling to strike a deal with China’s UnionPay and bring Apple Pay to the enormous market. After a lot of hardships, the feature was supposed to finally see the light of day in iOS 8.3, but the OS update is already here and NFC payments are still nowhere to be found. Read more »

New report details Google’s progress in getting Android Wear to support iOS

by 18 comments

As Apple is set to start taking pre-orders for its first ever smartwatch tomorrow, Google is once again said to be working on making its wearable platform play nice with iOS. We first heard something like this about one month ago, and this new report even has some details about Google’s progress on the matter.

Apparently Android Wear already works with iOS in Google’s labs, through a companion app. That’s nothing out of the ordinary, since the same path is taken on Android itself. However, this might become an issue when the search giant will want to publish said companion app in the iTunes App Store. Read more »

More Sony Xperia Z4 sample shots appear online

by 64 comments

You all remember the Sony Xperia Z4 right? That one flagship phone that simply refuses to become reality for quite a few months now. We have stumbled upon another few images, allegedly taken with the device’s main shooter, to add to the one we shared with you yesterday.

The two additional shots seems to be part of the same album, if you will, as the one from yesterday and are taken with identical settings at pretty much the same location. The phone is once again listed as E6553, the model number of the upcoming Xperia Z4, and the shots are made at 20.7 megapixels with a resolution of 5248 x 3936 pixels and an ISO of 50. Read more »

Apple Watch allegedly photographed in its retail box

by 36 comments

You’ll be able to pre-order an Apple Watch in a couple of days, Apple employees will enjoy a massive discount. No one but Apple employees have handled the watch though it seems that the Daily Mail have a review unit as photos of an Apple Watch in its retail box were posted on Instagram.

The Instagram account has since been made private, but the photos show the Watch with the Milanese Loop mesh band along with a separate brown leather band in its box. Read more »

Next generation Apple TV tipped to lack 4K video support

by 48 comments

According to a new report, the soon to be revealed, next generation Apple TV will lack support for 4K video streaming. The successor of the currently available TV console is expected to debut in June this year.

The upcoming fourth generation Apple TV won’t support 4K video streaming initially, because Cupertino believes that the high resolution is “still in its infancy.” Read more »

Apple Watch-themed front displays are coming to Apple retail stores

by 40 comments

According to a report in 9to5Mac, come April 10, Apple will have Watch-themed front displays for its retail stores. The Cupertino giant’s upcoming smartwatch will be available to try in-store and pre-order on the aforementioned date.

Apple’s store front displays will consist of clusters of circles, which resemble the user interface of the wearable device. Read more »

Samsung could inadvertently save Apple $533 million

by 86 comments

We have grown pretty accustomed to hearing about the never-ending ping-pong of court cases between Samsung and Apple. It almost seems like their legal departments are in an all-out feud over every single patent and device that sees the light of day. But in an odd twist of fate, the two antagonistic tech giants might stand united in defending against patents they are both accused of infringing.

The common enemy in this odd case is a company by the name of Smartflash and the patents in question have to do with mechanism for controlling access to digital data through payment systems. Apple was targeted by the company for overstepping a subset of these very patents in iTunes and was ordered by court in February to pay $533 million in dues to the small US company. Read more »

Dropbox is testing a collaborative note-taking service, codename “Project Composer”

by 13 comments

If you have been following Dropbox during the past year or so, you already know that the cloud file sharing service has been growing exponentially in both popularity and features. The San Francisco company has been putting a lot of effort to escape from its simple roots and grow into a sprawling ecosystem, based around collaboration and creative work.

This has led to the acquisition of a lot of other services and startups by the cloud system, as well as the introduction of clever new features, options and the vital integration with other major platforms and suites, like Microsoft Office, for example. Read more »

Likely Nvidia Shield Portable successor gets Bluetooth and Wi-Fi certification

by 7 comments

It looks like the Nvidia Shield Portable gaming console is about to get a replacement. The likely successor of the device appeared in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi certification filings.

The model number of the Nvidia Shield Portable suggests that it might pack the monstrous Tegra X1 chipset. Read more »

AMD might soon become part of the Samsung family

by 86 comments

AMD has definitely lost a lot of its former glory. Once on top of the food chain, the company is now struggling to make ends meet with shrinking CPU and GPU sales. This decline has naturally been felt on the stock market as well, where AMD is now priced at around $2.64 a piece – a number which was as high as $40 in 2006.

This has put the company in a tough spot, but its extensive R&D capacity really makes it a desired target for acquisition. Over the past few years, there has been a lot of talk about such buy-outs, most recently Mediatek was cited as a prospective buyer, but none of the plans has actually stuck. A new rumor now hints that Samsung might have its sight set on the struggling semiconductor company. Read more »

YouTube Live coming soon to take on Twitch

by 36 comments

As some of you surely remember YouTube has its sights set on Twitch – the popular game streaming platform, and was on the verge of paying $1 billion to own it last year. The online video giant has surely recognized the growing popularity of online streams and has likely not given up on its goals to enter the market.

Seeing how the deal was cancelled, allegedly due to “antitrust concerns” and Twitch was acquired by Amazon, for the sum of $970 million it is only natural that YouTube is looking at other options to deliver the service. A new report has surface, stating that the company is already hard at work on a new YouTube Live platform, which will focus on live streaming games and e-sports. Read more »

Apple Watch production targets cut in half, report claims

by 80 comments

When Apple unveiled its smartwatch, it promised it for “early 2015.” The current launch target is set for late April, but Chinese publication UDN reports that there are still issues that will cut the production rate in half.

Production issues for the Apple Watch started early in its life, the early ones surrounded the difficult to source sapphire lens. Now, the display below is reportedly causing headaches. Read more »

Windows 10 may not play well with a another OS

by 289 comments

For a lot of people Windows 10 sounds like the a dream come true. The net installment of the popular OS promises universal apps across all hardware platforms and versions and perhaps even more exciting – compatibility with every Windows Phone 8 handset out there.

Things looked even better after the US tech giant announced its plans to captivate the Chinese market by offering legal upgrades to both genuine and non-genuine Windows installs. Another piece of the Windows 10 puzzle has surfaces today, courtesy of a leaked China presentation and it could potentially show a slightly darker aspect of the upcoming OS. Read more »