Have you imagined how an iPhone of the future would look like? What you see above is from the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and that might be how Apple’s handset might look like sometime in the coming years.

According to the details available, it’s an “electronic device with wrap around display”. The device has a flexible AMOLED screen “rolled up” and placed inside a conical transparent enclosure. The screen real estate available will be way more than what is available with current smartphones and tablets as the device’s display wraps around it. Facial recognition tech will be used to make sure that content is displayed in the user’s field of vision.

Among other features, there will be no physical buttons and gestures will be used to perform actions such as unlocking the handset. Although they are talking about a transparent housing, it is very unlikely that the processor and parts will be visible to a user. And as you can see above, the folks over at Apple have several versions of the design in mind.

It’s a very innovative and cool design, but certainly don’t expect to see something like this anytime soon. There is also always the chance that others will beat Apple to it.

What are your thoughts on Apple’s new design idea, like it or not?

[Source]

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In light of the recent news regarding a flexible battery, it’s not surprising that rumors are popping up again about an upcoming flexible display coming its way to the smartphone world. What is a little unexpected though is that these rumors claim that the upcoming Galaxy Note 2, which is expected to be shown off on August 29th, might have such a display, a flexible super AMOLED.

Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean that the rumors suggest the Galaxy Note 2 will be a flexible smartphone. So why make the screen flexible if the plastic and battery in the Note 2 wouldn’t flex? From what we are hearing, such a design would allow it to contort enough to free up space for extra components like a larger battery, it would also make the displays a little more durable as well. More than likely though, this will be a semi-flexible display, able to bend and turn a little but not with the great twisting, bending and folding expectations that we eventually have for such display types.

Is it possible? Sure, it is, but even if a flexible display does ship with the Note 2, it really won’t be a noticeable component. I’d wager that we are still years away from truly flexible, bendable phones, though I could be proven wrong in time. What do you think about this rumor? Possible or unlikely?

[ source ]

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Samsung is known for incorporating new technology into their cameras and they have just introduced three new cameras into the company’s NX Series of compact, mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras – the NX1000, NX20 and NX210. Unlike other large sensor cameras which might require you to use an Eye-Fi memory card for getting online, the new NX models are coming with built-in Wi-Fi.

Coming equipped with Samsung’s own 20.3 megapixel APS-C (23.5 x 15.7 mm) CMOS sensor, all the models feature ISO100 – 12800 sensitivity, one button upload to social networking sites, in-camera editing, 2D and 3D Panorama modes, the i-Function system which will allow you to control parameters at the lens, and are compatible with the full range of nine lenses.

The cameras will wirelessly link to a Samsung smartphone via the SMART technology and you can use the handset as a remote viewfinder, and the Samsung Mobile Link will allow you to enjoy the shots you have taken on internet enabled TVs or tablets. The models also feature Full HD 1080p H.264 video recording, and also offer an unusual 1920 x 810 pixel resolution setting.

Among the three new cameras, the above pictured NX1000 has the best resolution display at 921,000 dots on a 3-inch TFT LCD panel. Its 1030mAh battery promises 320 shots between charges and it will be available in black, white or pink in June, but no hints on the price tag. And no built-in flash, but you can attach external lighting.

The NX20 has a DSLR-like body and features an SVGA-resolution electronic viewfinder and a 3-inch, 614,000 dot AMOLED swivel display. It also comes with a fast 1/8000 shutter speed, a pop-up flash, and will allow you to take 360 stills between charges all thanks to its 1300mAh rechargeable battery. If interested, you can pick one up next month for $1,099.99.

The NX210 is also coming next month and it will take the place of the NX200. Featuring the same AMOLED display as the NX 20, the NX210 is coming with 8 fps continuous shooting. No built-in flash for this one as well, but external units can be attached. Similar to the NX1000, the NX210 has a 1030mAh battery for taking 320 stills in between charges. The camera comes with a price tag of $899.99.

So, which one has caught your eye?

The post Samsung’s New NX Series Mirrorless Cameras With Built-In Wi-Fi appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Toshiba’s Thrive tablets were certainly not crowd favorites, and the company, after listening to customer complaints, has introduced a new line of tablets in the Excite line. It’s a good thing that they are changing their designs and bringing out pretty looking devices: the 7.7″ tablet which has the same AMOLED display on the Galaxy Tab 7.7 and the 10″ Excite with a resolution of 1280 x 800. But why in the world have they decided to include an unnecessarily large 13″ model in the list?

The new Android ICS powered Excites feature an extremely thin chassis (good that they are moving away from the bulky, port-heavy body designs) and will pack NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 SoC. The 10″ and 13″ models both come with a full-sized SD card slot, but no USB and HDMI ports.

About the 13-Inch device, Toshiba says that it will be good for indoor use, particularly in the kitchen if you want to look at recipes or the weather forecast. But we can do those things with a $400 iPad 2 or some other mid-range tablet, and this fact becomes important when we take a look at the Excite 13’s price tag: $650 for the 32GB model and the 64GB model costs $750.

And we don’t think that the company thought about portability while designing it. 10 inch tablets can be handled without problems, but anything larger and heavier will certainly be uncomfortable to use and may also lead to shoulder and neck strain. But if you still want to check out the device, it’s coming on June 10^th, but don’t say we didn’t warn you.

And the price tags of the other two devices:

Excite 7.7″ – June 10th Release Date

• 16GB model – $500
• 32GB model – $580

Excite 10″ – May 6th Release Date

• 16GB model – $450
• 32GB model – $530
• 64GB model – $650

[Image Source: 1, 2]

The post Toshiba’s 13-Inch Excite Tablet Is Not That Exciting appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Up here in Canada, the Galaxy Note is available from the big three: Bell, Rogers, and Telus. In the United States, though, the massive phablet is exclusive to AT&T. What if you’re on T-Mobile and you want some 5.3-inch AMOLED goodness? Well, it looks like you can do that too, even if it’s a little unofficial.

The interesting thing about the AT&T version of the Samsung Galaxy Note is that it really is capable of using T-Mobile’s bands right out of the box. You just have to let it do that. In order to get the Note on Old Magenta, you need to load up a custom modem software that lets the phone latch onto those T-Mobile HSPA+ airwaves.

Naturally, the Galaxy Note must first be rooted before you can do any of this kind of tinkering and, even after that, dealing with the modem configuration files can be a little daunting for the uninitiated. If you’re willing to take that leap of faith, though, you’ll find that voice and data work just fine on T-Mobile, albeit at weaker than normal reception levels.

The full instructions can be found on XDA Developers.

[Source]

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Even though we’re fairly certain that Samsung won’t be unveiling the Samsung Galaxy S III (S3) at Mobile World Congress, it looks like the AMOLED-touting crew may have another surprise for us, and their calling it the Galaxy Note 10.1.

Are you a touch confused? You should be. I went hands on with the 5.3-inch Galaxy Note at CES earlier this year and I’ve also reviewed the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet (photo above) as well. If we base our predictions solely on the naming scheme, the assumption then would be that the Galaxy Note 10.1 is a tablet device, but it’ll make use of the same S Pen as the existing Galaxy Note.

The Galaxy Note 10.1 is mentioned in the documentation for Samsung Developer Day at MWC 2012, as well as the S Pen SDK, the current Galaxy Note, the Wave 3, and the Wave Y. Should we then assume that, moving forward, anything with the “Note” moniker will do the capacitive stylus thing, whereas a Galaxy “Tab” would be a more conventional tablet? Or are the lines blurring between the two? Samsung certainly isn’t ruling out the extension of the S Pen to other products and the Galaxy Note 10.1 could represent the first addition to the family.

[ source ]

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Samsung and Corning are buddying up on a joint venture to develop what is called Lotus Glass technology. Yeah, that gentle flower may not sound quite as tough as King Kong, but it should be. And it comes with several other improvements too, including better picture quality, faster response times, and higher resolutions.

Considering just how great AMOLED (and all of its HD Plus Super Elite Ultra Awesome variants) is on Samsung smartphones, things can only get better with some Lotus Glass action entering the picture. Could we be seeing a Lotus-AMOLED combo with the Galaxy S III?

Update: We have received the following message of clarification from Corning: “Corning Gorilla Glass is a cover glass for the exterior of display devices, while Corning Lotus Glass is a glass substrate that can enable cutting-edge technologies including organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays and next generation liquid crystal displays (LCD) and panels. Therefore, many electronic devices could feature both Corning Gorilla Glass and Corning Lotus Glass. While they are formed with the same manufacturing process, the chemical compositions of the glass are also different.”

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On the AT&T side of the equation, they’ve formally announced a launch date of February 19th for the phone/tablet and it’ll sell for the expected $299.99 with a qualifying two year contract. They’re starting pre-orders this weekend with the first batch of deliveries starting on February 17th. You’ll have your choice of carbon blue and ceramic white.

For Canadians, Rogers isn’t being quite as specific, merely saying that the Galaxy Note will come to Rogers “in February.” The Rogers Reservation System has the Note listed, so you can add yourself to the pack and wait for the LTE-equipped smartphone that way. Best Buy has apparently narrowed it down to the February 14th launch date, not only for Rogers, but for Bell and Telus too. We’re hearing a $250 price point with a 3-year contract is likely.

Happy Valentine’s Day?

The post Samsung Galaxy Note Confirmed: February Release for AT&T and Rogers appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

If you have dropped your phone in the toilet, sink, swimming pool, or pond, you’re going to love Fujitsu. The device in the photo above is being is a new waterproof smartphone from Fujitsu, dubbed the ARROWS ES IS12F.

The ARROWS claims to be the “world’s thinnest smartphone”, and thin it is, measuring in at just 6.7mm.  That beats Motorola’s RAZR sitting in at 7.1mm but just a bit thicker than Huawei’s newly revealed at 6.68mm  P1 S.

Although being waterproof and thin, the device does come with decent specs. The ARROWS runs the Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, comes with a 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8655 processor,  4 inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 480 × 800 and 100,000:1 contrast ratio and the front of the device is cased in Corning’s Gorilla Glass.

Other features include 1GB ROM, 512MB of RAM, a 5.1 MP CMOS camera, Bluetooth 2.1 and Wi-Fi connectivity, DLNA support and a microSDHC memory card slot. And all that is packed into a body that weighs in at only 105g.

Just in case you are wondering, the handset could withstand water up to 1.5 meters (4.5 feet) for up to 30 minutes.

The Fujitsu ARROWS was unveiled in Japan in December, and is now being shown off at CES 2012 in Las Vegas. It is currently intended only for the company’s home market, but is expected to hit some carriers from around the world sometime in the near future. We haven’t got any hints regarding pricing; we will let you as soon as it’s available. So, stay tuned.

The post Japan’s Tsunami Waterproof Fujitsu ARROWS Ultra Thin Android Smartphone appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Samsung has released a commercial showing off their new 5.3-inch smartphone? tablet? They aren’t even sure what it is. Regardless, the screen is massive and the battery may be terrible, but its too soon to tell. The Galaxy Note will have a HSPA+ quad band and 4G LTE, EDGE/GPRS quad band modem, a dual core 1.4Ghz processor, but still stuck on Gingerbread.

Back to the 5.3” WXGA display. Samsung makes some really nice displays, and this one will be capable of 1280 x 800 at 285 PPI. Oh ya, it’s an HD Super AMOLED too. Check out the video with the S Pen in action.

[Samsung]

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