The G Surge

South Korean handset maker Samsung has just released a new mid-range smartphone in the Galaxy series, the Galaxy Trend 3. The handset has been silently introduced in China, but details on availability and price tag are still unknown for the moment. As the name suggests, this is the third Galaxy Trend smartphone that will soon go on sale on the market. The other two were not that popular among Android enthusiasts, but now Samsung is trying to bring the Galaxy Trend series to a much larger market, China. The Galaxy Trend 3 will be available in the Mainland through all four major carriers in the country, which means that Samsung will launch four different models, one for each network operator.

  On August 1, mobile phone maker Motorola officially announced the long-rumored  Moto X smartphone, with a near-stock Android experience loaded on top, and with a series of unique features packed inside as well.  The handset is set to arrive on the market in the United States via all major wireless carriers in the country, including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, and US Cellular, and will feature a price tag of $199.99 (€151) with the signing of a two-year contract agreement.  The smartphone was announced with a 4.7-inch touchscreen display capable of delivering a 720 x 1280 pixels resolution, while being powered by a  1.7 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro  CPU, paired with an Adreno 320 quad-core GPU.

Today, Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia officially announced the upcoming availability of the  Nokia Lumia 1020  smartphone on the market in India.  The Windows Phone 8-based device will become available for purchase in the country starting with October 11, the company announced.  Nokia didn’t  reveal the price of  Lumia. The company says it will release the price on 10 October. According to sources reports, Nokia didn’t reveal the price due to the fluctuating rupee and the phone is likely to priced close to Rs 50,000.

Acer's Aspire R7 laptop came out some time ago, but the product has been upgraded, now that IFA 2013 has rolled around. One of the new additions is an active pen, which visitors can lay their eyes and hands on at Acer's booth here in Berlin, Germany. What I can confirm, though, is that Acer has updated the CPU to Haswell. The model in the gallery below runs a Core i7. Still, at the  end of the day, the Ezel hinge steals the show. It allows one to switch from laptop to tablet form whenever they want, with a single hand. The hinge even allows the keyboard half of the laptop to act as a stand when flipping the display backwards. Once the field of view flips in turn, you can use the 15.6-inch screen for drawing, watching a film, etc.

The Xperia Z1 is Sony’s new flagship smartphone and packs all the features that an Android enthusiast would want from a powerful device. According to  Sony Mobile , Xperia Z1 will be available for purchase in Black, White and Purple, beginning later this month.  Additional details on the phone’s price tag will be unveiled later this week, but we will likely get more details as soon as Xperia Z1 gets listed at major retailers across the globe. As expected, the Xperia Z1 comes equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor clocked at 2.2 GHz and the Adreno 330 graphics processing unit. Unlike the Galaxy Note 3, which packs 3GB of RAM, Sony’s flagship handset packs only 2GB of RAM, but that is more than enough to handle even the most demanding operations one would want from his/her  smartphone .  The 20.7-megapixel rear-facing camera and the 5-inch display are definitely the strong points of the Xperia Z1. 

Microsoft is reportedly trying to clear out Surface RT inventories in anticipation of the  second-generation model  which, according to people familiar with the matter, is projected to go on sale this year. While details on  Surface 2.0  is pretty vague right now, a report published by  PhoneArena  and citing a GFX benchmark test reveals that Microsoft might equip the new model with a Tegra 4 processor. That would of course provide enhanced hardware performance, while also making room for new technologies and features, as Microsoft has promised to deliver important updates for both the RT and the Pro models. In addition, it appears that the new Surface could come with a resolution of 1371x771, as compared to 1366x768 on the old model.

Rumors on Nokia’s first 6-inch smartphone, the Lumia 1520, emerged a few weeks ago, but the Finnish company denied any comment on the information. Earlier this week, we’ve been presented with the  first screenshot  taken from the alleged Nokia Lumia 1520, which shows the new Live Tile interface and confirms that the smartphone boasts a very large display. Today, the first press render showing the Nokia Lumia 1520 in all its glory has just been published online via  evleaks . Unfortunately, no details on the phone’s specs sheet have surfaced yet, but we expect that more info will emerge in the coming weeks. Nokia’s Devices & Services division has been recently  acquired  by Microsoft, which might delay some of the smartphones the handset maker intended to announce this year. However, there’s a high chance that Lumia 1520 will go official later this year, so stay tuned for more updates on the matter.

We've made it to Berlin a couple of days before the real action starts, because we have appointments at some nice, early launch events from  Samsung  and  NVIDIA , among others. Unfortunately, this means that most booths haven't even been built to completion yet.   So if you were hoping for some quick hands-on photos early on, you're not in luck. From what we've seen so far, they're all still in their crates.  That doesn't mean I don't know what they are though. I was able to find out some of the things we'll get a chance to hold in our hands over the next few days, like Acer's lineup.  So far, I can confirm the arrival of the 7.9-inch Iconia A1 tablet, the 7-inch Iconia B1 tablet, the Aspire R7 laptop (featuring that unusual but cool Ezel hinge), the Liquid S1 smartphone, and the Aspire P3 convertible ultrabook, and the Aspire S7-392 full-feature ultrabook.  Presumably, the Liquid S2 phone is in a box somewhere as well.

One of the first companies to launch their new products at IFA 2013 trade fair, Alcatel has announced the upcoming availability of yet another Android smartphone, the One Touch Idol ALPHA. At first glance, the One Touch Idol ALPHA doesn’t stand out and may give you the impression of an average mid-range handset.  However, Alcatel claims that the phone features translucent edges that illuminate in various modes such as charging, video, notifications, and more. Aside from this nifty feature,  Alcatel  One Touch Idol ALPHA is said to have a unique and sleek design with nice curves, a metal case and aluminum metal frame.  The One Touch Idol ALPHA is only 7.5mm thin and has a “distinctive finish” that doesn’t seem obvious from the press pictures.

The Fonepad series of tablets seems to have some success among Android enthusiasts otherwise it would have been less likely for Asus to launch a new smartphone/tablet hybrid. During its press conference at IFA 2013, in Berlin, Asus unveiled the Fonepad 7, a weird  phone/tablet hybrid that offers Android fans both worlds a large screen and full voice telephony. Aside from that there’s really nothing that would want you grab it over a pure smartphone or tablet. According to Asus, Fonepad 7 “features a new non-slip finish” and comes with HSPA+ and 3G connectivity that allows up to 42Mbit/s download speeds. In addition, Fonepad 7 is equipped with an Intel Atom Z2560 processor with Hyper-Threading technology that offers smooth multi-tasking performance with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

With just a few days left until IFA 2013 trade fair opens its gates, Alcatel has announced its new flagship Android handset, the One Touch HERO. Alcatel One Touch HERO is a beast and comes packed with a huge 6-inch full HD IPS capacitive touchscreen display, as well as a powerful 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, which is complemented by 2GB of RAM. On the back, the high-tier smartphone boasts an impressive 13-megapixel photo snapper with autofocus, LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording. There’s also a secondary 2-megapixel front-facing camera for video calls and self-portraits.

       Ross Nanotechnology has developed a product called Rust-Oleum NeverWet that does just what its name says. Just spray pretty much everything you own with NeverWet and it becomes basically waterproof NeverWet is designed to be used on multiple surfaces by creating a superhydrophobic barrier, which repels water. When any liquid hits this barrier, it forms beads that roll of the surface without clinging on. This is often referred to as the  Lotus effect

      Windows 8.1 (codenamed Windows "Blue") brings a redesigned and much improved Windows Store that should make it easier for users to find applications. A search box is now present at all times, whereas in Windows 8 users have to swipe from the right or put the cursor in the top or bottom right of the screen to bring up the charm with the search button. The new store has a bigger emphasis on the promotion of top apps instead of categorization by genre. You can still easily bring up categories, but they are no longer the first thing you're presented with. Automatic updating of apps will be supported, and people will be able to buy gift cards with stored balances. Microsoft is promising an improved in-app purchase experience, although since all we have now is the preview of the software, we can't say exactly how it will work. To show how the Store has changed and improved, here is a look at the Windows Store in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 (we'll call i...

     Gigabyte outed a pair of gaming laptops today, each featuring the latest 4th generation Intel Core i7 quad-core processor. The P27K and P25W are aimed at performance enthusiasts looking to get the most out of their mobile systems, and the latter can support up to  24GB of RAM! Besides the impressive maximum memory, the P27K has a 17.3-inch 1080p screen, Nvidia GTX 765 2GB GPU, space for up to two 256GB SSDs and a 1TB RAID 0 HDD, a plethora of ports and connectivity features including USB 3.0 and Bluetooth v4.0, at a weight of 3.2kg. The P25W is the smaller-screen member of the duo, with a 15.6-inch 1080p display, Nvidia GTX 770M 3GB graphics card, support for up to 16GB of RAM, and comes in at a slightly lighter 2.8kg footprint. According to Gigabyte, each will become available in June (P25W) and July (P27K) for $1299 – $1799, depending on configurations.

Electronic Arts has announced  Need for Speed Rivals , the next iteration of the popular racing game, for the upcoming  Xbox One  and  PlayStation 4  consoles. The game will also be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and the PC The new game throws players into an open world-style gameplay, in which they can choose to become racers or cops, with each side offering its own set of challenges and rewards Players can work together or against one another — or they can independently engage virtual challenges in the same game world. Ferrari lovers will be happy to know that the brand has returned to the Need for Speed franchise, and that includes the prestigious F12berlinetta  Read more...

     Following the footsteps of last year's  Batman themed Nokia Lumia 900 , the Finnish company is about to release another superhero themed Windows Phone flagship. The freshly announced  Nokia Lumia 925  Superman Limited Edition will land on the Chinese market a day after the Man of Steel movie's official June 14 launch. The Nokia Lumia 925 Superman Limited Edition will be available in an initial run of 925 devices. The Nokia flagship will feature a Superman livery on its back. A wireless charging cover, gone through the same visual treatment will also be available for purchase as a separate accessory when the smartphone becomes available.

     A  Nexus 4  running build number JWR45B was spotted at the Thailand Mobile Expo recently labeled as Android version 4.3, suggesting the update to the OS could be right around the corner. While the validity of the sighting remains unconfirmed, we do get three shots of what could be the next version of Android: the Jelly Bean easter egg (confirming the update won’t be Key Lime Pie), the About Phone screen, and a slightly tweaked camera UI. It appears that Android 4.3 won’t come with a major design overhaul in tow and rather will be the sort of incremental update that was the move from 4.1 to 4.2. Major platform changes aren’t expected until Android 5.0, which could still be on track for a release this year, though closer to the holiday season. [via  XDA ]

            Jif's tweet came less than a day after the creator of the Graphics Interchange Format (ie GIF)  revealed  that GIF is actually pronounced "Jif." This simple declaration set off countless tweets and much self-doubt among the GIF-faithful.

     Just when you thought display technology could hardly get any better, along come quantum dots, making screens more colorful while consuming less power This is not just some pie-in-the-sky dream of scientists and geeks. Nanosys and 3M have put this  Star Trek -like tech to work, and it's gone way beyond the experimental stage, to where it's now almost ready to be built into smartphones, tablets and TVs. The two companies said in a  press release  they'll have samples available to manufacturers by the "late second quarter of this year," which means companies interested in using this technology in their screens might be getting their hands on it within five weeks or so.

     With Computex just around the corner,  MSI  has taken the wraps of what can truly be described as a next-gen gaming laptop. According to  CNET , the 17.3-inch GT70 Dragon Edition 2 will pack a yet-to-be-announced  Haswell  chip alongside an equally mysterious NVIDIA GTX780M GPU that is claimed to deliver a 3DMark Vantage score of 36,000 -- in other words, roughly equivalent to the benchmark stat you'd get from a desktop rig containing an Ivy Bridge Core-i5 and a full-size GTX670, if the boast happens to be true. A  SteelSeries -branded keyboard is attendance, alongside multiple SSDs in Raid 0 config and three video outputs, all contained within a 21.8mm-thick package that weighs 2.9kg (6.4 pounds). Lesser variations will bring the weight down to 2kg (4.4 pounds) by reducing screen size to 14 inches and switching to a less frenetic GTX760M. Expect pricing and availability details once the big Taiwanese expo gets underway.

Google I/O 2013 recently wrapped up, and I’ve been spending some time ingesting all the information from sessions during the event, including ones I couldn’t directly attend. While Google didn’t announce a new version of Android at the event, something nearly everyone speculated would happen, it did directly allude to new upcoming features that will be implemented in this still unnamed upcoming version. Google allegedly assigns version numbers late in the process, but what is known is that this next release will implement upcoming API level 18. If you  follow the progression  there’s a likelihood this will be Jelly Bean MR2 (Management Release 2), where Android 4.2 was management release 1. Based on some other discussions and sources I also suspect this might be Jelly Bean MR2. All of that is really just semantics however, what really matters are what specific features are coming and which of those Google touched on during I/O.

    Think your network is fast? Getting a gigagbyte-sized movie over your local wireless network to your hard drive in a few seconds is old hat. Now there's a network that can push a 2-hour, high-definition movie to a computer a mile away in less time than it takes to read a single word. At the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, a new record has been set: 40GB per second over a distance of about .6 of a mile. That's like sending 10 high-def feature films. What makes this possible is a combination of better hardware and the use of higher radio frequencies, in this case, 240 gigahertz. That hardware is a set of chips developed at Karlsruhe that can process signals at higher frequencies. Higher frequencies mean smaller components, since a shorter wavelength can be picked up by a smaller antenna (which is why FM and AM radios need relatively large antennas, while Wi-Fi receivers can use small ones). These chips were only a few millimeters on a side.

                                  Google plans t o unveil Android 4.3, an updated version of its popular mobile operating system, at the Google I/O confere as much of a surprise to those who follow the mobile industry onfirmed, however, as a Google search result discovered by Verge references the new Android build in a page that will soon go live on the Android developer website. Google’s I/O keynote is scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m. EDT, and we will be bringing you all the news as it breaks. A screenshot of the Google search result mentioning Android 4.3 follows below.  

  Google I/O 2013 brings together thousands of developers for three days of deep technical content focused on building the next generation of web, mobile, and enterprise applications with Google and open web technologies such as Android, Google Chrome, Google APIs, Google Web Toolkit, App Engine, and more. 

Sony Xperia ZR lets you dive underwater to take photos [VIDEO] Sony has just announced a new smartphone for those who like to capture underwater memories every now and then. It’s the Sony Xperia ZR, and its claim to fame will come from its ability to take photos while submerged in up to 5 feet of water (for up to 30 minutes) thanks to its IP55 and IP58 compliant build. That won’t be useful for you deep sea divers, but you can get by with it at a day at the pool if you don’t have a better underwater camera to take long with you. Of course, there’s a lot more to a smartphone than its durability in water. The Sony Xperia ZR features a 4.6 inch HD Reality display, a 13 megapixel Exmor RS sensor that can do HDR in both still images and video, Qualcomm’s quad-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro, 2GB of RAM, NFC, and 4G LTE connectivity. The device will be available starting in Q2 in various markets around the globe, though pricing details and exact shipping dates will vary region-to-reg...

White Nexus 4 breaks cover again — will we see it at Google I/O? Ever since the  Nexus 4  launched in November we’ve wondered whether or not Google would ever introduce a white color option. Rumors suggested one was in the works, with leaks from retailers and carriers tipping us off to its existence. Six months later and we still haven’t the slightest idea of where it is, but it is still floating around and has reared its beautiful head again. Google+ user Ervin Sue bravely posted pictures  of the pearly-white Nexus 4 online, and we were given a bit of context. The user used the hashtags #io13 and #io, suggesting Google might be bringing this thing to San Francisco with them. From what we can tell from the images, only the rear and sides of the device will be white — the front will still sport a black bezel. A couple of different possibilities exist. The first is that this could be a special edition of the Nexus 4 that Google might give away to I/O attendees. ...

Samsung developing 5G technology, hopes to hit 1 gigabit speeds by 2020 Samsung, one of the mobile industry’s biggest players in network and infrastructure, has revealed that it has started work in developing 5G data technology. While a standard for “5G” doesn’t exactly exist, we would naturally expect it to be a vast evolution from what we know to be 4G right now. Even though  4G didn’t quite start off as 4G , the standards were tweaked to allow carriers to claim as much. Indeed, the speeds we get now far surpass what 3G afforded us, giving us double digit downstream numbers (in megabits) compared to the single digits 3G (HSPA+ not withstanding) was capable of. We can’t even imagine what the next plateau for mobile data speeds will be, but Samsung believes it can deliver throughput speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second to a device by the end of the year 2020, with a single sub-station able to handle 10 gigabits of bandwidth. We’re not sure if said numbers would hold up a...

The World's First Entirely 3D Printed Gun That's 3D printed. Yes, printed. It's the firs t entirely 3D printed gun, previous 3D printed weapons have just been specific parts. Welcome to the future. The 3D printed gun, called 'The Liberator', was made by Cody Wilson, the 25-year-old University of Texas law student who was the star of  Motherboard's documentary Click. Print. Gun.  Wilson has built the prototype weapon above and plans to release the CAD files for the gun next week to the public. Basically, anyone will then be able to print the weapon with no background checks or serial numbers. Forbes says  that the Liberator is made from sixteen different pieces and uses interchangeable barrels for different calibers. All those pieces are made from ABS plastic and formed from a Stratasys Dimension SST printer. The gun also uses a nail to act as its firing pin and Wilson added a six ounce piece of steel to the gun so it can be recognized by metal dete...

It has the makings of a film but the fallout from one of the world's most sophisticated  ATM heists  is very real.  The New York Times  is reporting that a massive team of criminals worked in concert in order to grab some $45 million in a matter of hours over the course of two operations. The sheer scope of the project is hard to wrap one's mind around, involving trained personnel positioned in over  two dozen  countries. Earlier today, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn "unsealed an indictment charging eight members of the New York crew, offering a glimpse into what the authorities said was one of the most sophisticated and effective cybercrime attacks ever uncovered." In essence, the hackers were able to infiltrate various credit card processing companies and raise withdrawal limits on prepaid accounts -- from there,  cashing crews  hit thousands of ATMs, socking away millions in the process. Hit up the source link for the full read; it's a wi...