BlackBerry 10 screen resolution got standardized by RIM

RIM standardized the screen resolution for upcoming BlackBerry 10 OS running devices. The future smartphones running the OS will come in two resolutions: 1280 x 720 pixels for full touch devices, and 720 x 720 pixels for handsets with hardware QWERTY keyboards.

RIM took the abovementioned step after taking feedback from the BlackBerry developer community, whose members have complained about having to deal with a few screen resolutions too many in the past. The new standard set by RIM is bound to make their life easier moving forward.

With the BlackBerry developer alpha unit, as well as the upcoming first consumer handset sporting the slightly different (and uncommon) screen resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels, RIM has advised the people involved in creating applications to use two possible options. The first one involves utilizing the new OS resolution, while the second requires "letter boxing" the apps to 1280 x 720 pixels, thus leaving 24 pixels unused on each side of the display.

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Samsung Galaxy S II to get Jelly Bean in a month or two

While Samsung Galaxy S III users are enjoying their leaked official Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean ROM, Galaxy S II owners got some good news too. Insiders tipped SamMobile that the former flagship is getting JB soon too.

Currently, the update is undergoing testing and it will be released via KIES when it passes. That's expected to happen in the September-November timeframe.

The original Galaxy Note (which uses pretty much the same hardware as the S II) will most likely get the JB update around the same time.

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Microsoft and Nokia to hold joint press event on September 5

In a rather bold statement, Nokia's executive VP of sales and marketing has called out Samsung directly in anticipation of Nokia and Microsoft's press event scheduled for September 5th during Nokia World.

Samsung take note, next generation Lumia coming soon. #nokiaThu Aug 16 04:00:57 via webChris Weber
CWeberatNokia

Just as expected, Nokia World will be the venue of choice for Nokia and Microsoft to unveil the first Lumia devices running on Windows Phone 8. The latest version of Microsoft's mobile OS wasunveiled in June and everyone has been eagerly waiting to see some actual phones powered by it.

It's no secret that Nokia has lost major ground to iOS and Android devices in the smartphone realm. The largest portion of that has gone to Samsung, which now controls some 21.6% of the global mobile market (this includes both smart and feature phones).

So now that the first volleys of the WP8 hype-war have been fired, we won't have to wait long to see if the platform will be enough to dig Nokia out of its hole.

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New Xiaomi Mi-Two handset is first ever with quad-core Krait

The Xiaomi Mi-Two is going to be the fastest smartphone on the market when it launches in October. We've seen dual-core Krait CPUs stand up to quad-core Cortex-A9 designs (Tegra 3, Exynos 4), but the APQ8064 chipset has four Krait cores, 2GB of RAM and Adreno 320 (over the Adreno 225 of current Snapdragon S4s). Xiaomi promises Xbox 360-like graphics performance and that might not just be PR talk.

The screen on the Mi-Two will be a 4.3" IPS LCD with 720p resolution (342ppi), there will be an 8MP camera on the back (F/2.0 aperture, 26mm FoV), 1080p@30fps and 720p@90fps (yeah, that's right) video recording, MHL-enabled USB, HSPA+ capable of 42Mbps downlink, 16GB of built-in storage and microSD card slot. The standard battery is 2000mAh and there's an optional 3000mAh battery.

The Xiaomi Mi-Two measures 126mm x 62mm x 10.2mm. The phone will be priced RMB 1,999 ($315, €225), making the Xiaomi Mi-Two one of the cheapest quad-core (and even dual-core) smartphones out there.

Now it's time to come back down to earth - we've avoided calling it an Android phone, because Xiaomi uses their heavily customized MIUI software, which is Android in an iOS mold. Still, the software is based on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The launcher features its own voice recognition, which is weird considering how good Google Now is.

The second phone that Xiaomi announced today is the Xiaomi 1S, an update of the Mi-One. It will use a speedier 1.7GHz dual-core processor (Snapdragon S3 chipset), while the rest of the specs are the same as on its predecessor. This one will be priced RMB 1,499 ($235, €190) when it launches on August 23.

The bad news is buying a Xiaomi phone outside China may prove quite the challange. We could only find the old one on Amazon.com, but costs more than double its new price of $204.

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Google evidently working on Play Store gift cards and wishlist

Google recently started seeding the latest v3.8.15 update to the Play Store app to Android devices. While on the surface the app seems to bring just minor UI changes, the file size was too great for such a minor change.

The super sleuths at Android Police smelled something fishy, so they ripped open the APK file (which you can download here) to see what secrets it hid. And hide secrets, it did.

Turns out, Google is planning to release gift cards support for the Play Store. As you can see from the screenshot above, found inside the APK but currently inaccessible to the user, you will be able to enter a gift card code and redeem the amount. If you remember, Google added the ability to have a balance amount in your account when they started giving away $25 to every Nexus 7 buyer to spend on the Play Store.

There is also evidence that a wishlist feature would be added as well. This way you can add, say, an app that you intend to purchase in the future, perhaps when it gets a price drop.

Unfortunately, there is no indication of Google adding the option to gift apps directly, something that the App Store does. Also, the Play Store update still leaves a lot to be desired, with several annoyances, such as going to the top of the list when you go back after opening an app, still persist.

It is unknown at this point when Google will be releasing these features to the public but since they have been added in the latest Play Store APK, and considering how often it gets updated, it wouldn't be too long.

You can find more information with additional screenshots in the link below.

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Official Jelly Bean ROM for Samsung Galaxy S III I9300 leaks

Another proof that Samsung is hard at work on the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for its Galaxy S IIIflagship has emerged. An official Samsung Jelly Bean 4.1.1 ROM for the I9300 has surfaced in an ten-minute long video, thus showing us what the TouchWiz-ed version of Google's OS looks like.

Here's the video itself.

As you have probably noticed, the visual change is not overly dramatic, compared to the current ICS interface of the I9300. The notification area has been improved at a first glance, along with the expectedly smoother scrolling and integration of Google's latest additions to Android.

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Galaxy Note 10.1 is now official in the US, hits stores tomorrow

Following its Europe and Asia releases, Samsung just launched the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet in the United States. The announcement came at a dedicated event in New York.

Sporting a 10.1-inch display with a 1280x800 resolution, the tablet has some serious horsepower under the hood. It runs Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich with a splash of TouchWiz on top on the powerful Exynos 4 Quad SoC, featuring 1.4GHz quad-core CPU with 2GB of RAM.

The Galaxy Note 10.1 is available in 16GB or 32GB Wi-Fi and 3G variations, expandable via the microSD card slot. It also comes preloaded with cool apps like Adobe Photoshop Touch and Adobe Ideas, S Memo and S Note, which really take advantage of the included S Pen.

Here's the official video from Samsung presenting the Galaxy Note 10.1

The tablet will hit US stores tomorrow with prices starting at $499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and $549 for the 32GB one. Prices for the 64GB Wi-Fi and 3G versions has not been disclosed yet.

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