MWC 2014

It's happening, guys - MWC 2014 is finally here, and with it, the largest mobile-centric tradeshow is bringing some of the most exciting products that we'll be enjoying this year. For example, we've already witnessed the LG G Pro 2 - an exciting proposition for phablet lovers, but there have also been some impressive offerings from Huawei, Alcatel, and of course - we've also seen the new Samsung Gear 2 smartwatches!

But do you know what the best part is? It's that we'll be seeing many other superphones announced during the next couple of days, so you guys should definitely stay tuned to us. We'll say it one more time, because we need to make sure that you've gotten the message - we're absolutely positive that we're yet to see the best of MWC 2014. With a bunch of other leading manufacturers yet to make their announcements, there will surely be some other handsets that will easily steal the show. 

This is going to be our one-stop shop place for all things MWC 2014. Be sure to check back from time to time, because we'll be regularly updating this post with more sizzling-hot MWC-powered content!

The Samsung Galaxy S5 leaks in its full, high-resolution glory: waterproof, fingerprint sensor, 16MP camera

It's been quite the day at the MWC 2014, with both Sony and Nokia making some very interesting announcements. But it's Samsung's upcoming christening of the new Galaxy S5 that is bound to draw the most attention, if only because the world's biggest smartphone manufacturer managed to keep details around it a secret for this long. Well, that streak is now over, as somebody over at MWC managed to snap several photos of the Galaxy S5 in its full glory hours before the announcement is due to take place, and also outed some details of the flagship's new hardware and software features.

Perhaps most interesting is the claim that the Galaxy S5 has a swipe type fingerprint sensor embedded into the home button, which will apparently allow you to make PayPal payments. We're also told it's IP67-certified, meaning it's water- and dust-proof. The camera is said to be a 16-megapixel one. It's also interesting to note that the phone has gone through some rather minor, but visible design changes. For starters, the back has a rather aggressive dotted pattern, so no faux-leather this time around. Moreover, a snap that puts the Galaxy S5 next to yesteryear's Galaxy S4 and Note 3 indicates that the phone has grown perceptibly -- the screen looks slightly bigger, and we're guessing that waterproofing the phone had its adverse effect on dimensions.  

There are visible changes in the software department, too. TouchWiz, for one, appears to have gone through some flattening, and folders are definitely different than what we're used to. The camera UI, along with the S Health app have also been tweaked, design-wise, and we're shown an all-new Download Booster feature that will likely come pre-loaded on the Galaxy S5. The feature will apparently allow you to download files over 30MB faster, by using both an LTE and Wi-Fi network. 

 

 

source: Hardwarezone

The Nokia 220, a $40 connected feature-phone, brings the low in low-cost

100%-+

MWC 2014 is all about Nokia's budget line-up, which saw the addition of the new Asha 230, as well as the all-new X series, which blew everyone away with the fact it runs Android. The most budget-y of all, however, is the $39 (before tax and subsidies) Nokia 220. A feature-phone that's more smart than you think, the 220 is the successor to the Nokia 110 - a bar phone of the kind which only the Finns are keeping alive now.
The Nokia 220 has a 2.4-inch color screen, a 2-megapixel camera, and up to 32GB microSD card support. Connectivity wise, the Nokia 220 has a micro USB port for data transfer and charging, and Bluetooth 2.1 with Nokia SLAM - a feature that allows you to share multimedia content with nearby phones.
The Nokia 220 supports GSM 900/1800 bandwidths and lasts up to 13-hours of talk time, and a whopping 51 hours of media playback. Obviously, websites and multimedia aren't fit for such a small display, but the battery efficiency probably makes the 220 a great music player. Standby times reach 24 days for the Dual-SIM model and 29 days for the Single-SIM.
The Nokia 220 comes in a Lumia-ish range of covers – red, black, white, yellow, and cyan. Most importantly, the Nokia 220 has an integrated flashlight! These will always be cool, no matter what year is it.
Although MediaTek and Mozilla's low-cost initiatives will make such unpretentious little phones obsolete before long, the Nokia 220 is a dear. According to the Finns, shipping to "select markets" will start "pretty much immediately".

you can sideload any APK on Nokia X

The Nokia X is the first Nokia Android smartphone, but it looks more like an Asha phone or a Windows Phone device with its tile-based interface and Fastlane notification aggregator. That’s hardly a surprise - Nokia actually “forked” Android doing this, much like Amazon does with its Kindles, so that the X series can be a gateway to Microsoft cloud, not Google’s.
Yet, while the Nokia X does not support Google Play, this being an Android, you can still easily sideload any Android app via an APK. APK is the file format for Android applications that you can get from various sources.
In particular, you seem to be able to download a custom Android launcher that will overhaul the look of the Nokia X to a more stock-like Android one. How do we know? A Nokia executive confirmed the fact that there are no limitations to the type of APKs that you can sideload onto the Nokia X:

Yet, we have not checked for ourselves and the executive was a bit hesitant with this answer, so we'll just wait until we try this ourselves. 

Interestingly enough, Nokia also confirmed that you should be able to sideload Google's apps as well, but some apps that require certain APIs might need to be recompiled. 

Good news is that we should be able to try this out soon and give you a hands on look with a Nokia X running a sideloaded APK (hopefully, a custom Android launcher), so stay tuned. 

 

 

source:Nokia

"The most affordable touch device ever" announced at MWC – meet the Nokia Asha 230

Apart from the much anticipated Nokia X and its unexpected peers, the Nokia X + and the Nokia XL, the Finnish manufacturer introduced a plethora of other devices, one of which is a fresh member to the Asha family – the Nokia Asha 230. Touted as the "most affordable touch device ever", this Asha feature phone costs just $62 (€45). It will "start rolling out immediately" in select regions, such as Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, Latin America, and Africa. The feature phone will come in two variants – a single and dual-SIM ones. 
The Nokia Asha 230 comes with a new motion application for Asha devices, which allows users to create their own wallpapers. Nokia's cheapest Asha phone also comes with the signature UI of the Asha family, Fastlane, which allows fast-switching between apps and features. Apart from Fastlane, a number of popular social networking and messaging apps, such as Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, Direct Chat, and Viber are available for the feature phone. Other popular apps, such as WeChat, Vine, and Line are also on board.
Thanks to an upcoming software update, future users of the Nokia Asha 230 will receive 7GB of free storage on the recently-rebranded Microsoft OneDrive cloud service. An automatic photo backup to OneDrive will be implemented, as well.
Hardware-wise, the most-affordable Asha device features a full-touch display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. With a size of 2.8 inches, it has a pixel density of no more or less than 142 ppi. The Asha 230 comes with 64MB RAM and 256MB of native memory. The storage space is expandable up to 32 GB via a microSD card. The Nokia 230Asha comes with a 1.3MP camera on its back. A 1020mAh removable battery powers the affordable device and it is stated that users can squeeze as much as 42 hours of battery life during music playback.
The Nokia Asha 230 is not just affordable, but compact, as it has dimensions of 3.9 x 2.30 x 0.51 inches and tips the scales at 89 grams. The feature phone will be avaialable in black, white, red, yellow, green, and blue.
It is important to say that the manufacturer's suggested retail price of $62 (€45) may vary after taxes and subsidies are applied.


 source:Nokia

Nokia XL announced: forked Android on a 5-inch Nokia

After months of restless speculation, Nokia has finally done it: The Nokia X line of Android-powered devices is now a tangible reality. The Nokia XL, in particular, is the priciest member of the X family, but the price is justified with better specs. Before we get into those, however, it's important to understand that this is Nokia's take on Android, and not Google's. This means that, much like Amazon's Fire OS (which is also based on Android), Nokia has played with the code to a significant degree. What are the practical results, then? Well, for starters, the Nokia XL's UI looks nothing like the standard Android interface -- it's inherently different. The other important distinction is the lack of access to the Play Store -- you can download app from Nokia's store, and a third-party app store, Yandex.

Anyways, lets talk specs. As you may have gleaned from the title, the Nokia XL is a fairly large, 5-inch device, in tune with the times. As far as the Android platform is concerned, at least. The resolution of the IPS LCD panel, at 480x800 pixels, is nothing to write home about -- it adds up to 187 pixels per inch, which ain't a whole lot. Under the hood, you'll find a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 chip from Qualcomm, and 768MB of RAM, which will hopefully be enough to provide a smooth experience on Nokia's fork of Android. On-board storage sits at 4GB, and is expandable with a microSD card for up to 32GB more. Nokia has also disclosed quite some details about the duo of cameras found on the XL. The LED flash-equipped, 5-megapixel rear-facing unit has a 1/4 inch sensor and aperture of f/2.8. Focal length is 32mm. On the software side, things look satisfying -- there are manual ISO and white balance controls, and the phone can take panoramic photos. The wide-angle, front-facing snapper, at 2-megapixel, doesn't sound at all bad, either, and it should prove more than sufficient for the occasional video call or selfie. 

The rest of the specs include Bluetooth 3.0 HS, A-GPS, and FM Radio, and a 2000mAh battery. Last, but not least, the Nokia XL has support for two SIM cards, which makes a lot of sense, considering that Nokia is targeting emerging markets. It also makes sense that Nokia has priced the XL pretty aggressively, at €109 ($150). The phone will be made available in Q2 2014, but the US is an unlikely target for the time being. 

Nokia X, android smartphone

Nokia X, the first Nokia Android smartphone, is now official: no Google Play, "a gateway to Microsoft's cloud, not Google's" 

 

It’s finally happened: the Nokia X, the first Nokia Android smartphone is here. It is not just one smartphone, though, the Nokia X kicks off a new family of devices for the Finnish company that will be more affordable than its primary Lumia Windows Phone series.  

The most prominent feature of the Nokia X is the fact that it runs on a “forked” version of Android. Nokia took the open source parts of Android from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and built a new platform on top of it with signature Nokia and Microsoft experiences like a tile-based interface, Skype and tight OneDrive integration. Nokia’s chief executive Stephen Elop made sure to make it perfectly clear: the Nokia X is a gateway to Microsoft’s cloud, not Google’s. 

Indeed, the Nokia X lacks the Google Play store with its over million apps, it lacks Google’s Maps, Gmail, Chrome, Drive and all the others. Instead, it comes with a curated Nokia Store that will be pretty much empty when the phone launches (but Nokia expects to curate hundreds of thousands of apps), and it will support third-party web store like the Yandex Store, popular in Russia. It also features Microsoft’s and Nokia’s suite of applications like Here Maps in lieu of the Google ones. In addition, Microsoft is throwing a Skype and OneDrive promo with Nokia X devices, giving away one month of free unlimited Skype service and 10GB of OneDrive cloud storage. 

While you cannot directly install apps from the Google Play Store on the Nokia X, you can still sideload Android applications from APK files, so it should not be too hard to almost completely change the experience on the Nokia X to a stock Android one via one of the many launchers available out there.
In terms of specs, the Nokia X is a decidedly affordable smartphone that impresses with price, not with ground-breaking silicon. It comes with a 4-inch 480 x 800-pixel capacitive IPS LCD touchscreen, a 3-megapixel fixed-focus camera and a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 chip. With 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage, it looks decently powerful for its price.
The device comes in one of six colors, and all of them are typically vibrant and cheerful in a typical Nokia fashion. The Nokia X features only 3G connectivity with download speeds of up to 7.2Mbps. It also has a 1500mAh battery with quoted talk time of over 10 hours.
Nokia today also unveiled the Nokia X+ which seems to differ only in the fact that it features slightly more RAM - 768MB. Both devices support dual SIM connectivity. The third member of the Nokia X family is the Nokia XL, an affordable phone with a 5" display.
The Nokia X will be released immediately, launching in Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, and in other growth markets, but it won’t be shipping to the United States, or Western European countries. The Nokia X price is set at the very affordable 89 euros, and the Nokia X+ will set you back 99 euros.


 source:Nokia