HTC One production to double in May
The HTC One’s head start over the Samsung Galaxy S4 was hampered somewhat by delays, supposedly caused by production issues pertaining to the handset’s unique rear camera.
The good news is that the issues have reportedly been overcome, and the Taiwanese manufacturer is set to go into production overdrive, with twice as many HTC One units pumped out in May than in April.
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JK Shin: Samsung Galaxy S4 to hit 10m sales next week, ‘more time needed’ for unbreakable displays
The Samsung Galaxy S4 storage issue has been widely publicised, thanks to folk like BBC Watchdog, but it doesn’t seem to be doing sales any harm.
We heard a few days ago that Samsung expected the Galaxy S4 to hit 10 million sales by the end of May, but JK Shin reckons it might happen as early as next week. Good lawd.
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OVIVO Mobile, PAYG, 150 mins, 200 texts, 500MB, one-off £15 @ OVIVO Mobile
Get this OVIVO Mobile deal @ OVIVO Mobile
OVIVO Mobile offers cheap-as-chips tariffs in exchange for five seconds of ads when you open your browser, and they’ve just increased the monthly allowance on the Freedom package (which carries a one-off charge of £15) to include 150 minutes, 200 texts, and 500MB of data.
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Review of the week
This week will forever be known as the week that failed to deliver the Nokia EOS, Motorola X-Phone, Google Nexus 5, Google Nexus 7 refresh, 32GB Google Nexus 4 with LTE, Key Lime Pie Android 5.0 or even Jelly Bean Android 4.3. But I have a theory about all that, one I’ll share next week.
In the meantime, the big talking point this week was the Samsung Galaxy S4 storage issue, specifically that only 9GB of the advertised 16GB is available to el usero. Anne Robinson was not happy.
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iPhone 5S: familiar on the outside, significant overhaul inside
While we’d love to see a spanking new iPhone 6 later this year, history tells us it’ll more likely be an iPhone 5S, essentially an iPhone 5 with a few tweaks under the hood.
However, some leaked pics suggest it won’t just be a case of a slightly faster processor and enhanced camera.
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Draw Something 2 iOS review
The original Draw Something was a bit of a social gaming phenomenon, and saw Zynga snap up the title – along with developer OMGPOP – for a whopping $210 million.
Alas, as the saying goes, all good social gaming phenomena must come to an end (see: Words With Friends, which was everywhere at one point), and there was a huge drop-off in play – from 15 million to 10 million in the month after Zynga’s purchase.
One year later, with Draw Something 2, Zynga aims to inject the fun back into proceedings. But is there life in the old app yet?
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Samsung to reduce Galaxy S4 bloat?
The Samsung Galaxy S4 has been making headlines for various reasons of late, perhaps most notably because around 7GB of the advertised 16GB storage is consumed before you’ve even unboxed the phone.
The South Koreans previously explained that it’s merely symptomatic of having an array of fantastic software features, but word on the street suggests Samsung might look to compress the significant bloatage.
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I’m starting to think there’s some sort of conspiracy with new stuff. Where’s the Nokia EOS? And the Motorola X-Phone? And the Google Nexus 7 refresh? And the 32GB Google Nexus 4? And Android 4.3?
Well, we have the answer to at least one of those. Android 4.3 is tipped to accompany a white Nexus 4 to Google Play on June 10.
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I’ve been back and forward on the whole freemium thing (freebies that rely on in-app purchases to make money), frequently venting in lengthy features, but occasionally convincing myself – somehow – that it’s not that bad.
However, the past few months have seen two of arguably the worst culprits for taking the proverbial P, namely Candy Crush Saga and Real Racing 3, and resultantly, it’s time for a Friday rant.
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HTC 8S, PAYG upgrade, £120 delivered @ Carphone Warehouse
Get this HTC 8S deal @ Carphone Warehouse
If you’re eligible to upgrade your PAYG phone via Carphone Warehouse (check out the terms here - scroll to the bottom for Ts and Cs), they’ll sell you the Windows Phone 8-rockin’ HTC 8S for £119.95 on O2, T-Mobile or Orange.
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Google Search iOS review
Over the past few months, I’ve been using the iOS Google Search app a heck of a lot, perhaps more so than my actual browser (Chrome).
The app has been making headlines lately due to Google Now-related battery concerns, and since Google I/O is currently underway in San Francisco, I figured what better time to review Google Search.
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Jan fired up a quick link about this last night, but when your news editor holds a spear to your groin and tells you to write a story, you write that story.
Essentially 95% (94.7%, to be precise) of Q1 2013 Android profits went to the world’s top mobile manufacturer, the all-conquering Samsung.
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We’re still pretty surprised at the lack of new hardware this week (pointing the finger at Nokia and Google), but Mountain View certainly had plenty to say at I/O 2013.
I’ve already covered Google Play Game Services; now it’s time for a look at Google Play Music All Access (terrible, terrible name) and the Google Maps refresh for Android users.
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Dear mobile world, I am disappoint
Last Friday, I penned Dates for your Diary – May/June 2013, and promised that – after an undeniably slow start to the year – things were about to get crazy up in da proverbial hizouse.
Fast-forward six days and most followers of mobile be sitting like: ‘Say what?!’ We be sleeping on a bed of broken promises, yo. Note: I’ve no idea why I’ve started writing like an embarrassing white-boy hip-hop fan, but I’ll can the act after the break. Maybe.
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SwiftKey keyboard for Android, half price, £1.49 @ Google Play
Get this SwiftKey deal @ Google Play
What the hell’s a SwiftKey? Check it: “SwiftKey replaces the touchscreen keyboard on your phone with one that understands how words work together, giving the world’s most accurate autocorrect - and predicting your next word before you press a key.” Sound good? It’s currently half price (£1.49) at Google Play.
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Samsung Galaxy S4 is the new Nexus phone
The primary Google I/O 2013 keynote wasn’t massively exciting, and there was plenty to be disappointed about with exactly this many new devices: none.
That is unless you count the Samsung Galaxy S4. Yes, the South Korean manufacturer’s flagship has gone all Nexus. What the…?
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Google Play Game Services was rumoured at the weekend, and now it’s become a reality – thanks to Google I/O 2013 in San Fran.
In a nutshell, Google Play Game Services is Googs’ answer to Apple’s Game Center, though the former doesn’t function as a standalone app. Indeed, the backend functionality is largely compatible with iOS and the web.
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Kaspersky to come preinstalled on Android Snapdragon phones
It’s nice to see people playing nice together in the world of mobile. Notable examples include Microsoft and Nokia, and, uhm…
Joining that lengthy list are security guys Kaspersky and processor chaps Qualcomm, who’ve held a virtual (i.e. entirely-made-up-in-my-head) press conference to announce their undying love for each other. The good news is: the arrangement (which genuinely exists outside my brain) will benefit people buying Android phones with Snapdragon processors.
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Samsung Galaxy S4: six million sold already, 10 million by June?
When it comes to sales of its Galaxy S handsets, Samsung isn’t shy, largely because they tend to move in ludicrous volumes; Sammo ain't got nothin' to hide.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 is – surprise, surprise – no different to its predecessors, proving stupidly popular, and an anonymous exec has been leaking all sorts of impressive figures.
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Acer Cloud Mobile, SIM free, £170 delivered @ Expansys
Get this Acer Cloud Mobile deal @ Expansys
Did you know that the Acer Cloud Mobile won some sort of 2012 design award? True story. In any case, Expansys has knocked £100 off the price, meaning you can grab it for £169.99.
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