Blackberry are looking to cash-in with their new low-cost Qwerty smartphone. The Blackberry Q5 was unveiled by CEO Thorsten Heins on Tuesday in Orlando.

The Q5 features a trademark Blackberry QWERY keyboard, along with a 3.1-inch touch screen, but that’s about all we know about the entry-level handset from a hardware point of view. Blackberry have announced that the Q5 will be available in black, white, red, orange and pint and will go on sale in selected markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia from July. No pricing has been announced yet.

What’s most interesting about the Q5 is that it is clearly a budget device — something that Blackberry originally intended to keep BB10 away from for a while. What do you think of the Q5? Hope it comes stateside?

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Sammobile is reporting that Samsung will announce the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini later this week with a launch date scheduled for around the end of May.

According to previously leaked specification details and from purported images of the new phone, the S4 Mini will have a 4.3-inch display, 8 mega-pixel rear camera, plus all the usual Android smarpthone features. In addition to a single SIM S4 a dual-sim model is also thought to be heading to stores too both of which ail be available in Black Mist or White Frost colour options.

This will be a similar pattern to what we saw with the S3 Mini, which resembled the looks of its bigger brother but didn’t have even close to the same specs. What do you think of the idea of the Galaxy S4 Mini, interested or not?

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Samsung is quite easily the master of secrecy when it comes to new product launches. Finding hard evidence, genuine leaked photos or a talkative employ seems downright impossible. In comparison, Apple is a ship full of holes with leaks stemming from every orifice.

With this veil of secrecy it has been hard to determine what the Samsung Galaxy S4 will offer users once it is finally unveiled this Thursday in New York, but looking at the competition and current Sammy phones we can make some educated guesses.

Full 1080 HD display

Not everyone believes we need a full 1080p display on our smartphones. The 720p unit on my current phone is great and I never wish I had anything more. However, as the Galaxy S4 will be up against a horde of 1080 phones from the likes of HTC, ZTE, Huawei, Oppo and others a full HD S4 seems to be a no brainer.

8-core processor

Similarily many of you will be happy with your current quad-core’s performance, but it is likely the Galaxy S4 will be packing the new Exynos 5-Octa 8 core processor. What’s great about the Exynos 5-Octa is that it uses ‘Big Little’ task switching which makes the device running it more efficient and less hungry. So while a current quad-core might be just as powerful as the S4 it may not be as battery friendly. There could also be the chance that different versions of the S4 will receive different processors as we reported here.

Multi-band LTE

There is nothing pointing to the fact the S4 will have a multi-band 4G LTE modem, but the chances are they will have made changes to make it more energy efficient. It makes sense that while Samsung engineers were in there tinkering away they might have added extra network support similar to what Qualcomm has achieved.

A larger battery

Even with a more efficient CPU and modem, that larger 5-inch full HD display is going to drain a battery faster than normal, then throw in the fact the nature of a flagship device and the S4 is going to see some pretty intensive CPU, screen and camera action meaning a larger battery will be very much appreciated.

Eye and head tracking

So, ok maybe Samsung hasn’t been able to keep a lid on everything. Purported leaked screen shots show the S4 will feature new eye and head tracking features. For example a browser window will automatically scroll as your eyes approach the end of the page, and videos could pause if you look away from them.

Of course this is all speculation, but we feel these are educated guesses which could certainly appear on the Galaxy S4, the exciting details though are the ones we still know nothing about. What do you hope to see out of the Galaxy S4?

The post What Does Samsung Have Planned for the Galaxy S4 Unpacked Event? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

When ZTE initially announced the Grand S at CES, they only mentioned details of the phone arriving in China. Now after some careful prying, ZTE Head of North American Business, Lixin Cheng has confirmed the 5-inch phone will make an appearance in the U.S. as well.

Cheng didn’t go in to details about when the Grand S will go on sale, or how much it will cost, but he did mention that the overall impression from carriers has been very positive.

The ZTE Grand S launched at CES earlier this week as the world’s thinnest 5-inch, 1080 quad-core phone, and features a Qualcomm S4 pro CPU, 2GB RAM, 13 mega-pixel rear camera and 5-inch 1080 Full High-Definition screen.

What do you think, would you be interested in the Grand S if it hits North America at a reasonable price point?

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Earlier this week, rumours were rampant around Chinese tech sites with details of ZTE launching their new flagship phone brands today (21st December). The so called “Doomsday” launch was expected to be the day that Chinese phone fans would learn the true specs and pricing of the Nubia Z5, however the launch hasn’t happened.

ZTE has announced that they will unveil the Nubia branded 5-inch phone on the 26th December, citing no reason for the change in plan. However, sources suggest that ZTE want to put some distance between their launch and the recently release of the Meizu MX2, which became available to buy on the 19th.

The Nubia Z5 is expected to go on sale in for $480 before the end of the year and could be equipped with a 5-inch 1080 screen, quad-core Qualcomm S4 Pro CPU, 2GB RAM , 13 mega-pixel rear camera and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

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New smartphones from smaller brands arrive everyday in China, while larger domestic brands such as Xiaomi, Meizu and Oppo release new phones every 6 months or so. With all the competition from domestic manufacturers you would think demand for the iPhone 5 would be minimal.

According to China Unicom this isn’t the case, and the mobile operator is claiming more than 100,000 iPhone 5′s were ordered during the first day of pre-sales. China Mobile announced an additional 5,000 pre-orders, despite not being an official Apple partner. What makes this pre-order more surprising is the fact the iPhone 5 has been available on the grey market since launch, but has failed to sell well due competition from domestic and international Android phone launches.

The iPhone 5 will go on sale on the 14th of December, just 2 days after the Oppo Find 5 launch event and around the same time the Meizu MX2 enters the market.

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After the HTC Droid DNA made its debut, Europe and the rest of the world watched on with patience. The Droid DNA packs a 5-inch 1080p display that makes all other screens seem small and dull.

When a Facebook fan could not wait any longer, he posted a link to an article about the HTC Deluxe on HTC DATCH’s (HTC Germany’s) Facebook page. The reply that would follow set the story straight:

“Das Deluxe wird leider nicht nach Europa kommen.”

Or in English:

“The Deluxe will unfortunately not come to Europe.”

Despite this direct and straightforward comment, it is not the official word. HTC failed to comment and social networking has not been the most reliable in the past.

As for the phone itself, the HTC Deluxe’s specs are near perfect. For starters, the 5 inch display measures at 1080 x 1920 pixels and 441 pixels per inch. Covering that master piece is Corning Gorilla Glass 2. Moving to the inside, the Deluxe comes standard with a not so Deluxe 11 GB of available storage. The beast runs off of a quad-core 1.5 GHz CPU, Adreno 320 GPU, 2 GB of RAM, Android 4.1 (upgradeable to 4.2), HTC sense 4+, and an 8 MP rear-shooter. Backing all of this power up is a 2020 mAh battery and LTE.

You can expect to see the HTC Deluxe drop somewhere in the world by early 2013. At the latest, it is rumored to come out in Q2 of 2013. Were you looking forward to the HTC Deluxe launch in Europe?

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Talks about Google Drive (GDrive) first started way back in 2006 and there have been no shortage of rumors and speculations regarding the mysterious online storage service ever since. But it appears like the service is finally going to launch. According to GigaOM’s Om Malik, who got tipped off by “well placed sources”, Google Drive will arrive in the first week of April 2012.

It’s really disappointing that Google is taking so much time for launching the much anticipated service. But, as you know, the company is already into online storage via other services. You can upload documents and files to Google Docs, upload photos to Picasa, and Gmail can also be used as a storage locker. There is unlimited storage available for photos via Google+ and Google Music allows up to 20,000 song uploads.

But the problem with these services is that you won’t be able to manage all your files at one location. That is why a service such as Google Drive is much needed.

Om Malik says that Google will be offering 1GB of free online storage via GDrive, but you will be charged for more storage (Just in case you didn’t know, Dropbox currently offers 2 GB for free). GDrive will come with a local client and the interface will resemble that of Google Docs. Reportedly, the service will be available for Google Apps customers.

But Malik himself is not too confident about the new info. He says, “…the storage drive might just see the day in early April…. I say might, just because of Google’s history with the Google Drive.”

And that’s not all on Google Drive today. According to this report, Google Drive might arrive in mid April with 2GB of free storage (5GB is also a possibility).

The post Google Drive Might Launch Next Week Or In Mid April appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Indonesia was the country selected to launch the new Blackberry 9790 Bold to the entire world. The Reason? Indonesia’s TOP-5 Mobile Phones are all BlackBerry Models.

During this launch, BlackBerry offered a 50% discount on its new phone over its suggested price.

When it became obvious that there weren’t enough phones to satisfy all of those waiting, a mass of shoppers fell out of the line creating a bit of frantic situation. This break in the line would lead to over 90 people being injured with three needing to be hospitalized for broken bones, and more than 200 police officers were needed to restore peace.

As you can see, when a massive event is poorly organized only bad things will happen. At least in the States RIM wouldn’t have to worry about such a massive crowd causing problems thanks to declining Blackberry popularity. Apple on the other hand? They might want to keep this event in mind when the iPhone 5 launches.

Here is a short video showing just how large the crowd was for the event:

The post Blackberry Bold Launch Ends In Chaos appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Apple Store employee with the iPad - Photo: Flickr

There’s no reason why anybody should be awake at 5 a.m., but for Apple lovers there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be awake.

Today marks the launch of Apple’s iPad in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, the U.K. and Canada.  The tablet computer arrived in the United States at the start of April and so for international Apple fans that had to wait another two months, May 28 couldn’t come any faster.

In Ottawa’s Rideau Centre Apple store in Canada, the line-up started at 5 a.m.  A handful of Apple store employees had been there all night behind a black curtain that covered the entire storefront.   As the 8 a.m. opening approached, they dropped the curtains and revealed a totally revamped Apple store that was all about the iPad.  Customers were greeted with enthusiastic employees who ran up and down the long line, cheering, clapping and high-fiving customers.  Tickets were handed out to over 100 eager customers and as the clock hit 8 a.m. the cheering only got louder.

Each customer got their own personal Apple employee shopper and received applause and handshakes as they entered the store.

Adam Tibbetts, 13, and his dad Paul Duvernet were one of the first people to purchase an iPad in Canada.  They woke up at 4 a.m. just for the launch.  First thing they’re going to do with the iPad? Well Tibbetts still has to go to school his father says, but after that, he’s going to use it to play games.

Jean-Philippe Bergeron, a university student, borrowed his friend’s credit card for the week just so he can purchase and download apps off of iTunes. He vows that he won’t be taking his eyes of his iPad for the rest of the day.

Another lady walks out of the store and has committed herself to a nap; the iPad can wait another few hours she says.

The line continued to grow and it wasn’t until 9:30 a.m. did it start to slow down.

The most popular model of the iPad appeared to be the fully loaded 64 GB model with Wi-Fi and 3G networks.  Both Rogers Communications and Bell Canada will be providing data plans for Canadian iPad owners.

The iPad will also be available at Best Buy, Futureshop and at a few other select authorized dealers.

The post Apple iPad goes international appeared first on Mobile Magazine.