Nexus 9 LTE and dual-SIM Lumia 532 released in India

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BY Unknown 00:35 0

Nexus 9 LTE and dual-SIM Lumia 532 released in India

Today two new devices have become available to purchase in India. These are the Microsoft Lumia 532, in its dual-SIM iteration, and the 32GB HTC Nexus 9 with 4G LTE support baked in.

The Lumia 532's launch isn't a surprise, and it follows in the footsteps of the Lumia 435, which went on sale in the subcontinent just last week.

The phone (pictured above) can be bought for INR 6,499, which means around $104 or €92, so it's pretty affordable. Then again, its specs aren't stellar by any measure.

It comes with a 4-inch 480x800 touchscreen, a 5 MP rear camera, a VGA front-facing unit, 1GB of RAM, as well as 8GB of expandable internal storage. It's powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 200 chipset, with a 1.2 GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU and Adreno 302 GPU. The handset has a 1,560 mAh battery and it runs Windows Phone 8.1.

The HTC-made Nexus 9 has been out in India for a while now, but so far only in the Wi-Fi-only version. Now though you can purchase a 4G LTE capable variation of the tablet too, if you so wish.

You'll have to head to Amazon for this, and be ready to part with no less than INR 43,073. That's about $692 or €610. At least you're getting 32GB of storage too, which is the maximum possible for this device.

The LTE Nexus 9 is otherwise identical to the model sans mobile data connectivity. So you're getting the same 8.9-inch 2,048x1,536 touchscreen, Nvidia Tegra K1 SoC with dual-core 2.3 GHz Denver CPU, 2GB of RAM, 8MP primary camera with LED flash, 1.6MP front snapper, and the 6,700 mAh battery. Like its sibling, the Nexus 9 LTE runs Android 5.0 Lollipop.

Huawei’s latest MWC teaser hints at an LTE smartwatch

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BY Unknown 23:02 0

Huawei’s latest MWC teaser hints at an LTE smartwatch

Huawei’s released a couple of teasers for an upcoming MWC announcement. The cryptic images appeared on the tech giant’s official Weibo profile, with each carrying the punchline “Next is here.”

The teaser appears to hint at an upcoming smartwatch with 4G LTE connectivity, which will rivalSamsung Gear S. Huawei invites the readers to guess what the device could be by looking at the shape of the lines in the image. The latter appears to show the side and part of the strap/band of a timepiece.

A smartwatch launch by Huawei should hardly catch anyone by surprise. The company’s 2015 plans revealed an Android Wear device in the works last month.

Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A I9506 gets Android 5.0 Lollipop

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BY Unknown 00:13 0

Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A I9506 gets Android 5.0 Lollipop

If you bought a Samsung Galaxy S4 I9506 – aka S4 LTE-A or S4 LTE+ - you may have been feeling a little left out of the Lollipop update bonanza.

This version of the phone has a Snapdragon 800 chipset, just like the Galaxy Note 3 and an update over the Snapdragon 600 in the I9505. Most of its siblings got Android 5.0 – the Google Play Edition and Exynos versions of the Galaxy S4, the Galaxy Note 3 as well.

Anyway, the update is finally available – for SIM-free devices in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, plus Vodafone handsets in Germany and the Czech Republic. The China Unicom version of the Galaxy S4 LTE-A G9006 is being updated too.

The firmware is a heavy one – 1.2GB for the European phones. The exact version those phones are receiving is Android 5.0.1, build I9506XXUDOA6, while the China Unicom software is Android 5.0, build G9006WZNU1BOA4.

You can download these files to manually flash your Galaxy S4 LTE-A though that's for advanced users (make sure to back up your data first!). Hit the source link for download links, but proceed at your own risk – it's safer to wait for the OTA update to arrive in your region.

This only leaves the TouchWiz version of the Snapdragon 600-based Galaxy S4 with no Lollipop.

Nexus 7 3G and Nexus 7 LTE finally gets Lollipop factory images

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BY Unknown 21:56 0

Nexus 7 3G and Nexus 7 LTE finally gets Lollipop factory images

The Nexus family is treated like Android royalty and is among the very first devices to get updated to a new software version. That’s great, except the Nexus 7 tablets with mobile data did not get the princely treatment they deserve and their update was delayed.

This affected both the original Nexus 7 and the Nexus 7 (2013). No more though, Google released the factory images for Android 5.0.2 Lollipop for both devices.

Other Nexus devices (including the Wi-Fi only versions of the Nexus 7 tablets) started their update process in November last year so this has proven quite a delay. Now tech-savvy users can update theirs to build version LRX22G.

You’ll need an unlocked bootloader, the factory image and the driver for your device. You can grab the files straight from Google.

There doesn’t seem to be an OTA version of the update yet.

Speculation depicts that Samsung SM-T239 may be called Galaxy Tab 4 Lite 7.0 LTE (64-bit chipset)

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BY Unknown 23:24 0

Speculation depicts that Samsung SM-T239 may be called Galaxy Tab 4 Lite 7.0 LTE (64-bit chipset)

It seems that Samsung is updating its Galaxy Tab 4 lineup to 64-bit processors – the Galaxy Tab 4 10.1,the Tab 4 8.0 and now the Tab 4 7.0 as well. The 7″ device (model number SM-T239) was recently imported into India for testing.

The same tipster that sent us the Galaxy Xcover 3 info dropped us a line, saying that the market name of the tablet might be Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Lite 7.0 LTE (*takes breath*), so probably not a Galaxy Tab 5 model though that’s not 100% confirmed.

Also, while it packs a quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, it will not use a Snapdragon 410 chipset. Instead our source points to the Marvell Armada Mobile PXA1908. That’s the chipset that will allegedly be used in the Galaxy Xcover 3.

It’s also a successor to the PXA1088 used in the Wi-Fi only Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 (the Tab 4 7.0 3G used a Vivante chipset, the Tab 4 7.0 LTE had an Exynos 3). The new PXA1908 chipset supports both TD-LTE and FDD-LTE, along with 3G, TD-SCDMA and GSM, meaning it will play well with Chinese carriers.

Anyway, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Lite 7.0 LTE will launch with Android 4.4 KitKat though we don’t have an exact launch date. It can’t be long now that the device is in testing though.

ZTE Blade S6 welcomes LTE and Lollipop on a budget

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BY Unknown 01:40 0

ZTE Blade S6 welcomes LTE and Lollipop on a budget

The ZTE Blade S6 was announced today and will be headed around the world to deliver dual-SIM LTE connectivity plus Lollipop on 64-bit power for people with a tight budget.

The phone is built around a 5" IPS LCD with In-cell touch tech and 720p resolution. It runs ZTE's MiFavor 3.0 interface and Smart Sense motion gestures, which can open Play music, snap a series of photos or turn on the flashlight.

   

 
ZTE Blade S6 will also come in Matte Pink

The Blade S6 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chipset and will be among the very first to run Android 5.0 Lollipop on that chipset. The chipset has eight Cortex-A53 cores (half clocked at 1.7GHz, the otherhalf at 1GHz), those are 64-bit cores too.

Lollipop is the first Android version to make proper use of the new instruction set. Anyway, there's 2GB of RAM and Adreno 405 GPU. The storage is 16GB out of the box plus whatever you add with a microSD card.

The main camera packs a 13MP sensor (Sony IMX 214), while the selfie camera is a 5MP shooter with a wide-angle lens. The phone measures 7.7mm thick and will be available in matte Silver and Pink.

  

ZTE Blade S6 official photos

Connectivity combines practicality with speed – LTE gets up to 150Mbps and there are two nano-SIM slots. There's also a side dish of Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, FM radio and A-GPS too. The phone is powered by a 2,400mAh battery.

AliExpress will sell the ZTE Blade S6 has globally at $250, in select markets it will also be available through Amazon and eBay. In Hong Kong there's an exclusivity deal with carrier CSL.