Galaxy Note 3 rumor roundup – everything we think we know

The Galaxy Note 3 will be officially unveiled on September 4 during a special Samsung media event scheduled to take place in Berlin, Germany, a few days ahead of the IFA 2013 show.

As you expect, the web is filled with Galaxy Note 3 rumors and leaks, with more reports appearing day after day – even Samsung has mentioned the product’s name a few times on certain pages of its website. With less than three weeks to go, we’re going to tell you what we think we know about the device based on these unconfirmed reports mixed with educated guesses on the matter...

Read the full story here... Source: Android Authority

Minting a Moto X is fun, but not yet magical

Don't expect to be blown away by Moto Maker, the fresh online tool for creating unique Moto X phones with built-to-order designs. While its personal customization skills are a very cool differentiator and definitely help the handset stand out in a sea of smartphones, Moto Maker's tweaking options are somewhat limited...

Read the full story here... Source: CNET

Is the Nexus 5 based on the LG G2?

With LG’s latest flagship, the LG G2 having been unveiled late last week in New York, tech pundits, curious consumers, and others are already beginning to think about the arrival of the highly anticipated Nexus 5, rumoured to land in our hands around October this year.

There were more than a few murmurings that we would be seeing a Google Play Edition of LG’s latest flagship, which was publicly denied by LG’s PR. He confirmed that LG did not have any plans to release a Google Edition of the LG G2, but added “… as of right now”. This suggests that, potentially, at some point in the future, we could be seeing a Google Play edition. Could this be the Nexus 5...?

Read the full story here... Source: Android Authority

Why the Moto X Google Play edition doesn’t make much sense right now

Motorola announced a few days ago the highly anticipated Moto X handset, and revealed that a Google Play edition of the device will be available in due time, directly from its Google Play Store. But is that really a good thing?

At first, one could think that it makes perfect sense for Google to have a Nexus-like Moto X in the Play Store, but that may not necessarily be the case...

Read the full story here... Source: Android Authority

NSA 'secret backdoor' paved way to U.S. phone, e-mail snooping

The National Security Agency created a "secret backdoor" so its massive databases could be searched for the contents of U.S. citizens' confidential phone calls and e-mail messages without a warrant, according to the latest classified documents leaked by Edward Snowden.

A report in the Guardian on Friday quoted Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, as saying the secret rule offers a loophole allowing "warrantless searches for the phone calls or emails of law-abiding Americans..."

Read the full story here... Source: CNET

T-Mobile USA Looking to Expand Apple Product Offerings Beyond the iPhone

Following his company's earnings release earlier today, T-Mobile USA CEO John Legeretold AllThingsD that the carrier is looking forward to expanding its Apple product offerings beyond the iPhone. Back in April, T-Mobile became the last of the four major U.S. carrier to begin selling the iPhone...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

T-Mobile's John Legere: The most dangerous man in wireless

John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile, had the room with his first F-bomb.

The event was last January's Consumer Electronics Show, and scores of reporters, bloggers, and photographers had come to hear what Legere had to say in one of his first public appearances since his appointment as CEO in September. Expectations weren't high. The audience, gathered in the typical Las Vegas convention center room showered in pink lights, had expected to hear the same "challenger" strategy that his predecessor had put forth the year before...

Read the full story here... Source: CNET

Nokia Launches Lumia 925 Advertisement Bashing iPhone Camera

Nokia has taken a page from Microsoft's advertising book and has today launched (via UKMR) a new advertisement comparing the company's Lumia 925 to the iPhone 5. 

The ad focuses on the phone's photographic capabilities and is based on Apple's well known "Photos Every Day" commercial, which began running back in April. It uses a similar voice over and style, focusing on Lumia users taking photographs with their devices...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours 

Moto X software: it’s aware of you, so you should be aware of it

The Moto X is finally here. We knew quite a bit ahead of time, but now that it’s official, we can talk about it… officially.

The hardware is definitely not top of the line, but the workaround for that is software. If you have a phone in which the software takes great advantage of the hardware, it forgives the shortcomings quite a bit. So, how will the Moto X take asdvantage of the hardware? Waht software feature(s) will set it apart? The answer is one you probably already know.

Contextual awareness, or creepiness?

Android 4.2.2 backs everything up, and it’s a strong base layer for everything that’s going on here. Most importantly, the contextual awareness is there. Our initial reactions to that feature were wonderful. Now that we know the phone will learn your voice exclusively, the contextual application appeals to us much more. People won’t be able to accidentally activating your device, and kids in the car won’t have another way to bug you from the back seat.

The Moto X is always listening, too. That’s really good for a hands-free environment, like driving a car or riding a bike, but some find that a bit creepy. Fortunately, it seems to be activated by those key words of “Okay, Google Now”. So, you can curse drivers on your bike, and the Moto X won’t necessarily know you’re blaspheming all over the city.

The Camera

Many reports on the camera software note it’s terribly stripped down, and that settings are somewhat hidden. This is because the device is meant to capture all of your moments, and quickly. A simplified UI for a camera would allow for quick shots, and the “shake to take” feature is also helpful for that. We haven’t seen much from the camera yet, but we’ll be sure to give it a thorough overhaul in our review.

Soft on software

If you’re going to have limited hardware, you’re going to need good software to make it appealing. Motorola has done that much, with a very slight skin over Android and a really nice contextual twinge. There is enough about this one to question, and camera UIs are subjective, but the software seems to fall in line with the real aim of the device: simple, and simply useful.

Source: Android Authority

Moto X: The first true anti-iPhone

The iPhone 5 may have found its polar opposite in Moto X.

For better or worse, Moto X -- which was unveiled Thursday -- is everything the iPhone is not. Rather than a tightly controlled look and feel for the device, Motorola will let customers tweak the colors and materials. Instead of the latest specifications, Moto X employs a solid -- but not cutting-edge -- set of hardware features. Instead of a proprietary operating system built for one device, it runs on an open platform available to hundreds of other phones.

"This is the blueprint for where Motorola and Google are going to go from here," said Ramon Llamas, an analyst at IDC.

While Moto X can be considered the anti-iPhone, it is not is an "iPhone killer." Despite the gratuitous use of that title over the last few years, the iPhone has not been felled by any device, and Motorola's latest won't be that lucky phone...

Read the full story here. Source: CNET

Photo of Plastic Packaging with 'iPhone 5C' Name Surfaces

An image posted on Chinese site WeiPhone appears to show plastic retail packaging marked with the name "iPhone 5C". If the packaging is genuine, and it has not yet been confirmed to be, it could be for Apple's long-rumored plastic iPhone.

The "C" designation would presumably refer to the various color options available on the rumored lower-cost device. 

The packaging appears to be a white plastic box that would hold the device and associated accessories and documentation. A front cover, unseen in the photo but perhaps clear to show off the various color options for the device itself as seen on Apple's iPod lineups, would appear to rest on a small lip around the interior. 

A number of photos showing plastic rear shells alleged to be for Apple's rumored lower-cost iPhone have surfaced in recent weeks, and Apple is rumored to be launching the device alongside the iPhone 5S later this year. 

The WeiPhone forums are a fairly frequent source of Apple rumors, although the site itself does not frequently report on them, making it difficult to determine a steady track record as posting in the site's forums come from a variety of different posters. Still, the alleged plastic packaging and official look of the "iPhone 5C" moniker appear to have some legitimacy, and would increasingly make sense as Apple may be gearing up for a launch of the low-cost iPhone this Fall.

Source: Mac Rumours

Apple Wins 'Brand of the Year' Awards in Smartphone, Tablet, and Computer Categories

Marketing research firm Harris Interactive has awarded Apple the title of “Brand of the Year” in the categories of smartphones, tablets, and computers, as first reported byVentureBeat. The distinction comes after a poll asking 38,500+ Americans about the perceptions of their favorite brands, in which Apple was placed above other competitors such as Hewlett-Packard, Amazon, Samsung, and HTC. 

 "Americans continue to give Apple brands strong ratings," says Manny Flores, Senior Vice President at Harris Interactive. "And while their Consumer Connection scores are strong within their respective categories, what really stands out is that in all three of the categories Apple brands are measured - Computer, Tablet and Mobile Phone - its Brand Momentum scores are in the top 30 of all 1,500 brands evaluated in the study, showing that consumers see this as a brand of the future.

These awards come after BBC reported about a survey done by marketing group Added Value (AV), who claimed that Apple’s brand has become “less inspiring” among consumers.

Source: Mac Rumours