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Google debuts Computational Journalism Research Awards in Europe to support digital news projects

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Through its Digital News Initiative launched last April, Google has selected three projects to honor with its Computational Journalism Research Award in Europe. Google says that each project it selected “create[s] innovative new tools and open source software that will support online journalism and benefit readers.” In addition to being highlighted by Google with an award, these recipients also receives cash funding as well as computing credit to support their projects:
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LG G4 to be ‘radically different,’ phone more powerful than the G series in the works

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A couple reports out of Korea today highlight some of LG’s plans for the relatively near future, including a statement (via Korea Times) from the company’s mobile chief Cho Jun-ho suggesting that the upcoming LG G4 is going to be “radically different” than its predecessor. The device will reportedly feature a “metal-mixtured” body and sport the company’s LG UX 4.0, which Cho says will be announced sometime before the new phone.

Also, LG also reportedly has a completely new device series in the works (via Korea Herald), featuring more powerful specs than the current top-of-the-line G series…
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Androidify characters are back again in Google’s ‘Selfie Slam’ ad (Video)

Android: Selfie Slam - YouTube 2015-03-03 09-06-21

It’s only been a couple weeks since the last time Google shared an Androidify ad, but now the company is back this week with yet another basketball-themed advertisement. As we noted yesterday, Google has been heavily pushing the “Be together. Not the same.” mantra at Mobile World Congress, and now that continues with a quick and cute ad uploaded on the official day one (yesterday) of the conference.

Here’s the ad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwSrL97kQSU

And here’s the last Androidify ad, also with a basketball theme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5oxLdzdebI

HTC’s ‘Utopia in Progress’ Mobile World Congress event is now on YouTube for replay

HTC at MWC 2015: New Product Launch - YouTube 2015-03-02 12-21-57

HTC announced its new One M9 flagship yesterday, but the company also took time to tell us about the GRIP fitness device they’re working on with Under Armour and the new Vive virtual reality headset being made in partnership with Valve. Sunday in the United States feels like an odd time for all of these announcements to have happened (meaning they caught many of us off guard), but if you’re one of those that missed the keynote, you’re in luck. HTC has this morning uploaded the full press event video to YouTube for your viewing pleasure:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWhM_oHr558

Google pushing ‘Be together. Not the same.’ at MWC, shares ‘Young Together’ Android ad

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Google made its Mobile World Congress presence clearly known this morning in the form of a Sundar Pichai interview (which included some really interesting tidbits), but that’s not the extent of the company’s involvement this year. The Mountain View, California company is very much pushing its “Be together. Not the same.” mantra at MWC in many of ways (like they did at CES 2015 with the pins), and those Androidify characters are popping up left and right…


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HTC One M9 announced in 4 colors, 20MP sapphire camera, more – available this month

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One of the worst-kept tech secrets in recent memory, the HTC One M9 was finally announced today on stage by CEO Peter Chou at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. None of the specs were much of a surprise though the 20 megapixel sapphire camera and new configurable DotView cover will make some headlines. Under the hood is Qualcom’s new flagship 810 processor which HTC calls the fastest mobile processor in the world.

As for the appearance, I’m not sure I’m a fan of the Dual-Tone finish tweeted below but that beats the Pink version of the M9 IMHO.

[tweet https://twitter.com/htc/status/572052425693138944]

Me? I’ll skip the Sense 7 and will take a GPE if/when it comes out thank you very much.

Huge gallery and hands-on video below. We’ll have more HTC updates as they happen.
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Samsung posts live stream & countdown to upcoming Mar. 1st Galaxy S6 event

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Following a number of teasers showing off what looks to be a next-gen, curved Galaxy device, Samsung today posted a live stream and countdown for its upcoming Unpacked 2015 event scheduled for March 1st.

The event takes place during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona during early March, a venue Samsung and others use annually to unveil their latest devices.

That curved next-gen Galaxy device the company has been showing off in blurry teaser videos is likely its new flagship Galaxy S6, but we’ll have to wait until March 1st to know for sure.

We’ll be at MWC in Barcelona to bring you live coverage of the event as always, but you can also tune into the live stream here on March 1st to watch the announcements in real-time.

Hit up our Galaxy S6 expectations video to get more of the rumored details ahead of the official unveiling.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/CVk3ZWrhHxc]

HTC One M9 purportedly coming in both ‘Dark Gunmetal’ & ‘Gold’ color variants

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Purported HTC One M9 renders <a href="http://9to5google.com/2015/01/28/evleaks-htc-one-hima-render-m9/">via Evleaks</a>

The next HTC One is right around the corner, but more and more details continue to stream out as the device’s March 1st reveal date gets closer. Most recently, a system dump of the software shipping on the HTC One M9—codenamed “Hima”—leaked out, giving us an idea of what HTC’s Sense 7 software is going to look like (spoiler: not much different than Sense 6). Today, the same source of that information has come out to share the color variants of the device.


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HTC takes to Twitter to tease the ‘new HTC One’

We have a full-on teaser war happening right now. HTC has revved up their Twitter engines and started to post about a device they’re calling the “new HTC One,” slated for announcement on March 1st, 2015 in Barcelona, Spain. No mention of the “M9” moniker that the device is widely assumed to have (and was spotted on none other than HTC’s website), but we’ll have to wait and see what happens…

[tweet https://twitter.com/HTC_UK/status/567783134180040704 align=’center’]

The most reliable leaks we’ve seen thus far claim to show the “Hima” M9 device in two variants. Details are currently sparse in terms of specifications, but at least one of these bad boys should have a 5.5-inch display, the Snapdragon 810 SoC is widely expected to power them, and 3 GB of RAM seems to be the norm for this refresh cycle. Upleaks, which has a decent track record, spilled some “Hima” specs in December.

HTC’s next flagship preparing for launch on March 1 at Mobile World Congress

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Rumors have been swirling for a long time about what HTC might have planned for us this year, and while the Taiwanese company isn’t telling us just yet, they’re at least giving us some kind of idea of when exactly they’ll be making some big announcements. To no one’s surprise, HTC is today sending out invites for a press event being held at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this upcoming March.


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Specs for HTC’s upcoming ‘Hima’ flagship leak out as phone begins carrier testing

HTC One M8 GPE

HTC released its One (M8) flagship in March of this year, so we’re probably only a few months away from the Taiwanese company showing what it has up its sleeve for the next generation (being called the “M9” by some). Today, thanks to consistent leaker @upleaks, we’re being given an idea of what kind of power the smartphone is going to pack. And according to upleaks at least, the “M9” doesn’t exist; this particular phone is being codenamed “Hima.”


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Motorola working on a smartwatch for 2014, SVP says

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During a panel discuss during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today, Motorola senior vice president Rick Osterloh revealed the hardware company is working on a smartwatch with plans to ship later this year, CNET reports.

Osterloh didn’t reveal much more in terms of specifics about what Motorola’s offering will present, but did hint that its smartwatch would consider fashion in its presentation:

“Right now, there are non wearable products you actually want to wear, and it’s because they’re all extremely ugly,” Osterloh said at an event at Mobile World Congress on Tuesday.

Google, which recently announced a deal to unpack Motorola onto Lenovo in a multibillion dollar deal, is also reportedly working on its own smartwatch offering through a partnership with LG.

While Motorola offered no specifics on when to expect its smartwatch aside from later this year according to CNET, Google is expected to reveal its smartwatch next month before it’s launch in June at Google I/O.

 

Live stream: Watch Samsung unveil the Galaxy S5 at ‘Unpacked5’ MWC event

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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wOnaoq1AYE]

Samsung is about to officially unveil its new flagship Galaxy S5 smartphone at Mobile World Congress and a live stream of the entire event will be available through the YouTube channel above.

On top of the S5, it’s likely Samsung will have some other product announcements and give us a look at the new Gear smartwatch. There have been plenty of rumors about what might be included in the Galaxy S5, but we’ll know for sure in less than an hour.

The live stream of the press conference is embedded above and kicks off at at 2 p.m. ET/8 p.m. Barcelona time. 
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New Samsung Unpacked ad indicates Galaxy S5 will be waterproof, rugged and…Next

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y42eQJmGbxk]

A lot of clues in the above ad, but obviously nothing is guaranteed. The waterproof angle would be a major blow to Sony’s Z line which is the only major phone than can get dunked. Samsung’s S4 Active is water resistant, but not very rugged. I’ll be waiting for the Google Play edition, personally.

Samsung Galaxy S5 said to have fingerprint unlock, with website logins also supported

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The fingerprint sensor is said to be embedded in the home button

The fingerprint sensor is said to be embedded in the home button

SamMobile is reporting that the Samsung Galaxy S5 will have a fingerprint sensor which will both unlock the phone and allow automated website logins. We’re expecting to see the S5 officially announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on 24th February, though it may not go on sale until March or April.

It had earlier been rumored that the S5 would have iris recognition, but a KGI Research document pointed instead to a fingerprint sensor, which SamMobile claims to be able to confirm via sources inside Samsung.

We are finally confirming that Samsung’s upcoming flagship device, the Galaxy S5, will be equipped with a fingerprint sensor […]

Samsung hasn’t opted for on-screen buttons and is still using physical buttons, like it has been using in the past on all of its flagship devices. The sensor itself works in a swipe manner, which means that you would need to swipe the entire pad of your finger, from base to tip, across the home key to register your fingerprint properly … 
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Samsung S5 “Prime” & “Standard” models on the way, Sprint getting lower-spec’d one?

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Samsung looks set to launch at least two different versions of the Galaxy S5, its replacement for the current range-topping S4, code-named Prime and Standard – and it appears possible that Sprint will be getting the lower-spec version.

The two versions first showed up in benchmarks by AnTuTu, showing a Prime model labelled US Cellular and a lower-spec Standard model labelled Europe … 
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Samsung teases new-look TouchWiz, hints at possible first look at Galaxy S5 this month

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Samsung has updated its blog with what appear to be nine new-look icons, each with a superscript 5 hinting at the possibility of an earlier-than-expected first look at the Galaxy S5 at the company’s Unpacked event at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on 24th February. Samsung had previously suggested that the S5 would be launched “by April.”

It’s possible that Samsung could officially announce the Galaxy S5 on the 24th but not make it available for sale until April … 
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The amazing SlimPort will be on the next generation of LG phones too

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Analogix, the company behind the SlimPort accessory that allows the Nexus 4 to output HD audio and video via its micro-USB port, today announced the next device to include support for the technology: the LG Optimus G Pro. We noticed SlimPort in the specs when LG just recently announced the quad-core, 5.5-inch, 1080p smartphone, but today Analogix confirmed in a press release it would indeed be a SlimPort-enabled device. The SlimPort technology, demoed by Analogix in the video above, allows users to output 1080p video and audio to any HDMI, DisplayPort, VGA or DVI-enabled TVs, projectors and monitors via its SlimPort accessories. We had a chance to try the technology on a Nexus 4 at CES this year and were very impressed with demos of graphic intensive 3D games running smoothly on the big screen while simultaneously charging the device.

“With SlimPort, LG is able to deliver unprecedented functionality at a lower cost, because of its streamlined design and standard USB connector,” said Dr. Ramchan Woo, division leader/smart phone platform division of LG Mobile Communications Company. “SlimPort unleashes content from the Optimus G Pro smartphone, making it a snap to share and enjoy videos, games, photos and more on any screen.”

The full press release from Analogix is below:
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More alleged HTC M7 images & renders leak, show off Sense 5.0

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HTC’s rumored upcoming flagship device, the 4.7-inch ‘M7’, was looking quite iPhone-like in the last set of alleged leaked renders. Today, we get images of the device from a couple of other sources that show HTC might be experimenting with various designs ahead of the product’s launch.

The first set of images, above, come from AndroidPolice, and they show off Sense 5.0 with rearranged home and multitasking buttons. We also get a look at the backside of the device that oddly shows a different Beats audio logo and flash position than the rendered images (below) posted by HTCSource yesterday. It’s of course possible that we’re looking at a prototype of the device in the photos above, and perhaps the renders are closer to what the finished device will look like. Hopefully we actually get eyes on the device next month a Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
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LG’s 5-inch, 1080p ‘Optimus G Pro’ leaks, as LG announces 1M sales of Optimus G

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LG-OptimusG-ProThe image above comes courtesy of Engadget and shows what appears to be some official promo material for the LG’s next Optimus G device, the LG Optimus G Pro. While we don’t get a lot of specs from the image itself, the report passed along rumored specs from BlogofMobile. It claimed the device will sport a 5-inch, 1,920-by-1,080 display, a 3,000-mAh battery, LTE, 32GB of memory, 2GB of RAM, and a 1.7Ghz Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064. Other specs mentioned in the report include a 13-megapixel main camera, 2.4-megapixel front-facing camera, and dimensions of 139-by-70-by-10.1mm. It’s a possibility we’ll hear more about the device at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month.

In related news, Korean news agency Yonhap reported today (via TNW) that the LG Optimus G sold over 1 million units since its launch in September. We’re guessing that doesn’t include the estimated 375,000 units it sold of the Nexus 4, which is essentially the same device.
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HTC’s 4.7-inch ‘M7’ flagship looks very iPhone-like in latest leaked renders

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We have heard a lot about HTC’s upcoming M7 smartphone expected to replace the company’s One X line in recent weeks. The rumored 4.7-inch device has some pretty impressive specs, including “several industry firsts,” according to recent reports. However, it certainly doesn’t have an industry-first design, if this new leaked image from UnwiredView is legit, and I think Apple might agree.

The report quoted a “trusted source” and claimed the image above is clipped from “a short animation clip instructing new owners on first-time SIM card installation” for the M7. It’s likely we’ll get our first real look at M7 next month during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

HTC One V now available from Virgin Mobile for $199 contract-free

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We heard rumors in March that the HTC One V, which unveiled at MWC in Barcelona, would land in the United States on Virgin Mobile in “late spring” for $200. As noted by Engadget, the company has since announced plans to bring the device to a number of carriers this summer. The One V was spotted today on Virgin Mobile for $199, contract-free. We did not get word of an announcement from Virgin, so we are nor sure exactly when the device went up for sale, but it is definitely an enticing option at $200 for Android 4.0 device packing Beats Audio, a 5-megapixel camera, and a 3.7-inch WVGA display.


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HTC One V coming to Virgin Mobile for $200?

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According to a report from PocketNow, HTC’s 3.7-inch One V that unveiled at MWC in Barcelona last month will launch on Virgin Mobile for $200 in “late Spring.” We already knew the device would more than likely come in under the $200 price tag, because it is the more budget friendly option in the line of three new devices displayed by HTC at MWC. The One V packs a 1GHz processor, Android 4.0 (with Sense 4.0), a 3.7-inch WVGA display, 512GMB of RAM, and 4 GB of onboard storage. It will also come with Beats Audio and a 5-megapixel camera when it launches later this year.

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