This year, around July, it emerged that Apple could be introducing a gold, or "champagne" color configuration of its forthcoming smartphone, which we now know to be called the iPhone 5s. At the time, commentators didn't really know what to make of it, but the response, coupled with the lack of availability of the gold model due to huge sales, spoke for them. Samsung already had a stab at bringing out a gold Galaxy S4 (although this was not, the company maintains, a shameless copycat effort), but now, the South Korean outfit has gone one better by taking the wraps off the - drums please - Galaxy S4 Crystal Edition.
Samsung's Galaxy S4 may be the flagship smartphone, but the Galaxy Note 3 appears to be creeping up on its smaller cousin. The larger of the two major Samsung handsets has just passed the 10 million sales mark in 60 days, and considering the S4 took 50 days to achieve this feat, the Korean company's phablet revolution is getting stronger with each new release.
Samsung's Galaxy S4 is the company's current flagship, and since its release in the spring, many millions of units have been sold. With so many in the wild, it's only natural that some should develop faults, but with all the extensive testing carried out by Samsung to ensure that users aren't put in any danger, GS4 owner Richard Wygand was stunned to wake up next to his device bellowing smoke and flames.
In the video below, we pit Moto G vs Samsung Galaxy S4 in a comparison test to see which of the two smartphones offer best value-for-money.
Security and general privacy tends to be of paramount importance to most mobile device users, and with very good reason. But while the battle to steer clear of the unscrupulously-intended, non-niceties of the mobile world are well documented, one company obscures its potentially dangerous spying app under a veil of legitimacy.
The CyanogenMod team rarely slacks, but even by their standards, it has been a really busy past couple of weeks. Not too hectic, however, to have any major effect on the schedule it would seem, for CyanogenMod M1 has just been released, supporting most Nexus devices in the process. As we learned earlier on in the week, CyanogenMod 10.2 would be the last version supporting those old Android Jelly Bean ROMs, and in a matter of just 72 hours, the "Milestone 1" release of the Android 4.4 KitKat-based version 11 is upon us.
Although Android is, due to its open source nature, seen as a target by many hackers and individuals that wish to steal information for illicit purposes, the Google Play Store is, at least in theory, as safe as most other app portals. After all, it is moderated by Google to ensure that apps comply with the rules and terms of service, and anything suspect is usually disposed of in a swift and timely manner. But one app by the name of Brightest Flashlight, which requires no further description, appears to be keeping users in the dark about how it collects user location data before sending it to third party ad firms.
Every year in December, the Google Play Store picks the best apps of the twelve months previous, and today, the time has come for the 2013 round-up. With the end of the year quickly approaching, we're going to be seeing a lot of these "best of" lists, and although you mightn't agree with every single one of the Play Store picks, there's still bound to be at least a few gems in there for everybody to appreciate.
Every new smartphone seems to be following the same set of rules: bigger display, better processor, improved camera and a few extra mAhs of battery life to tide us over. But not every OEM is following the archetypal new handset policy. The Russian makers of YotaPhone have expressed their interest in going against the grain by teasing a dual-screen handset featuring an LCD on one side and an eInk (think Kindle Paperwhite) display on the other, and after months of nothingness, the devices is finally being released throughout many parts of mainland Europe.
Android 4.4 KitKat gone down about as nicely as its sweet and chocolately name implies, and already, Google is plotting a minor update to its flagship operating system in the form of Android 4.4.1. The reason behind this impromptu release is to improve the performance of the Nexus 5 camera, and as you would imagine, Android 4.4.1 is only specific to the LG-made Google smartphone.
