Smartphone

Looks like OnePlus is giving you a chance to buy its $299 phone without an invite for a limited time. You might want to hurry because this (disputed) best low cost Android phone always sells out quick and unexpectedly. 
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We’ve known about the Desire 620 for a while now, but now HTC has announced that the budget handset—previously only officially available in Taiwan—will be available in the European market as early as January of next year (via Pocket-Lint).

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If you can afford to spend upwards of $200,000 on a brand new Lamborghini, then chances are you are doing quite well for yourself. If that is the case, then look no further than the luxury car maker’s new Tauri 88 smartphone in gold and leather. For just $6,000, you are getting an Android-based smartphone with some impressive specifications under the hood. You can’t miss this deal.
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It appears as if having just one super-powerful and super-low-priced flagship Android phone wasn’t enough, because a company called “xodiom” has just popped up out of thin air (via PhoneArena) and launched a Snapdragon 805-powered budget smartphone with decked out specs. And while the entry price doesn’t quite dip as low as that of the 16 GB OnePlus, it appears that this phone might be a worthy contender.

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According some speculation from DroidForums, Motorola is working on a new “Droid” phone that’s largely based physically on the Nexus 6, but is going to have specs that make Google’s latest smartphone look pale in comparison. The device is said to sport the same 5.9-inch QHD display as the Nexus 6, but will come with a next generation Snapdragon 810 processor. The most interesting part of this rumor, and part of what actually helps us believe its legitimacy, is that the source claims this phone might not be a “Droid” at all, and that it might just be another Motorola-branded alternative.

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A new clip has emerged on the internet showing off one of Samsung’s upcoming handsets, namely the Galaxy A3. This device is one of a pair—the other being the A5—that were announced by the Korean company earlier this year, filling a gap in the company’s lineup with some mid- to low-range thin and metal-clad handsets.

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Just weeks after Xiaomi overtook Huawei and LG to become the world’s third-largest smartphone maker, The Guardian reports that the Chinese handset maker’s chief executive and founder Lei Jun is out with a bold prediction that his company could move past Samsung and Apple to become the world’s largest smartphone maker within the next five to ten years.
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Samsung’s Galaxy Note Edge

Samsung continues to be the world’s largest smartphone maker by a sizeable margin, but the South Korean electronics maker recently reported a massive 74% drop in mobile profits in the third quarter due to declining Galaxy sales and increasing competition from Apple and Chinese rivals Xiaomi and Lenovo.

In an effort to cut costs and combat declining profits, it was reported last night that Samsung will sell up to 30% fewer smartphone models next year. But that doesn’t appear to be the only move up Samsung’s sleeve, as ZDNet reports that the tech giant is also gearing up to launch a smartphone with a flexible and foldable display by the end of the year.
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The Wall Street Journal reports this evening that Samsung will sell fewer smartphone models next year as part of a cost-cutting measure to fight declining profits. Samsung head of investor relations Robert Yi confirmed during a presentation in New York that the South Korean electronics maker will cut the number of smartphone models it sells by between 25% to 30% in 2015.
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When you hear the word Droid, you probably think of two things: Star Wars and Android. While both items are a correct association, the latter comes with a bit of a twist. Armed with a licensing agreement with Lucasfilm, Verizon launched the Motorola Droid in the fall of 2009. To make a long story short; the device went on to become one of the first commercially successful Android smartphones, but with one small carryover. Verizon ran a very aggressive, but highly successful marketing campaign for the Motorola Droid and as a result, casual tech consumers started referring to Android phones and tablets as “Droids.”

Up until now, Verizon has typically released a few Droid-branded phones each year. But here we are at the end of 2014 and its hardware partner Motorola Mobility has been busy working on its own smartphones like the Moto X, which recently launched across multiple wireless carriers, including Verizon. With the exception of a questionable camera and a few small quirks, the former Google company’s flagship handset is truly sublime. So when Big Red and Motorola announced the Droid Turbo, we saw a device that looked to right some of the Moto X’s wrongs, at least on paper. However, is it really enough to lure us away from the phone that made us feel all warm and fuzzy just two short months ago?

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Despite the fact that Samsung called the Galaxy Note Edge a “limited edition concept device” at launch, we now have word (via SamMobile) that the phone will actually be making it to quite a few more countries. It’s still to be seen how widely the phone will be available, but it’s likely that only a few selected stores within these countries will actually carry it. The device will be priced around €899 in Europe, and for an idea as to when it will launch, it will supposedly be available in Denmark on December 12th.

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According to a new report from Reuters, Samsung plans to invest as much as $3 billion toward opening its second Vietnam-based smartphone factory in an effort to produce hardware at a lower cost. An unnamed government official confirmed that the project is ongoing, and a Samsung spokesperson shared that the company is in talks with the government over the investment.

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) has applied for a license to invest $3 billion in building a second smartphone factory in northern Vietnam, a government official said on Monday.

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The latest numbers from Strategy Analytics reveal that Android was installed on over 8 of 10 smartphones worldwide in the third quarter, as the mobile operating system captured 84% global market share for the three-month period ending September. That figure arrives just one day after the research firm reported that Chinese company Xiaomi has become the third-largest smartphone maker in the world.

Android continued to be a dominant player in global smartphone operating system market share, increasing its lead over iOS by three percentage points compared to the year-ago quarter. Apple’s mobile operating system held 12.3% market share during the third quarter, trailed by Windows Phone (3.3%) and BlackBerry (0.7%). Other mobile platforms accounted for less than 0.1% market share.
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Motorola has been busy creating a new lineup of smartphones that go beyond the next-generation Moto X and Nexus 6 in partnership with Google. Verizon Wireless is set to host a press event in a few hours in which it unveils its all-new lineup of its iconic DROID devices, including the Motorola DROID Turbo that has been leaked ahead of time.
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Following a number of leaks for an upcoming new DROID device from Verizon, we’ve now received word that Verizon has scheduled an Oct. 28 press event specifically to unveil its latest DROID product. While we know that the event will focus on the latest DROID device from the carrier, we can only assume it’s the DROID Turbo leaked through official Verizon channels in recent weeks (pictured above).
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQzqjPx-50Y

After months of rumors and speculation, HTC is finally holding its Double Exposure press event today in New York City. Thankfully, for those of you not attending the event itself, the company will also be live streaming it for everyone to see on YouTube.

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AT&T took to its YouTube channel this morning, uploading a video that outlines all the great features of Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Alpha handset. Sadly, this video came without any real information about when the handset will be coming to the carrier, much less how much it might cost. Not long after that happened, Samsung expectedly made its formal announcement, telling us that the phone will be available from September 26th, will come in three colors, and will start at the usual $199 on contract.

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As we’ve previously covered, the state of California has been in the process of passing a bill that would require all smartphones sold within the state to come with a remote killswitch option to deter thieves. The bill was passed by the state legislature earlier this year, and today it was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, as noted by CNET.

The law goes into effect in July 2015, and will require all smartphones sold within the state to include an option for remotely disabling a stolen device. Google has already plans to meet the requirements of this law with its upcoming Android L release, but now such features will be required by law on all future Android, Windows Phone, and other handsets by default, meaning OEMs distributing older versions of Android will need to find a new solution.

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