Tag Archives: mobile-phone
Chinese smartphone market shows rare shipment decline
The world’s largest smartphone market, China, isn’t so hungry for the products anymore.
First quarter smartphone shipments there dropped by 4 percent year over year, according to research firm IDC. It’s the first time in six years that China’s smartphone market has contracted, signifying that the country’s appetite for the handsets is reaching its limit.
LG G4 review: Great price and camera but misses the mark in other areas
The LG G4 has arrived in leather and ceramic with hardware and software upgrades
Price: Around £500
Rating: 8
LG has launched the LG G4 phone which will have to compete with the iPhone 6, Samsung Galaxy S6,HTC One M9 and others. We’ve been testing the leather-clad phone so here’s our full in-depth LG G4 review.
Chinese smartphone vendors focus is now on pricier products
This week when ZTE launched its latest phone, the Z9, the Chinese company wasn’t embarrassed to reveal its high price.
The cutting-edge device will retail in the country starting at 3499 yuan (US$574), which is far more than the cost of low-end handsets that have flooded store shelves, and turned China into the world’s largest smartphone market.
For years, Chinese handset vendors have been competing in the local market by offering cheap products that most people can afford. Prices have continually gone down, as rival companies have sought to undercut one another with Android phones at 599 yuan or even lower.
All eyes on Android at Google I/O
While Google is known for a multitude of technologies, including search and cloud services, it’s the Android mobile development platform that will take center stage at the Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco the last week in May.
Sessions at the conference will spotlight a multitude of topics related to Android, including Android application architecture, the Android Backup feature for backing data, Android Wear wristwatches, Android Auto, and TV technologies and application testing.
HTC One M9 review: A gorgeous flagship Android phone but hardware hasn’t moved on much for 2015
Is the HTC One M9 different enough to stand out from the crowd?
Price: £579 inc VAT
Rating: 8
Competition in the smartphone market is tough at both ends of the price range, so can HTC take on theiPhone 6 andSamsung Galaxy S6 with the new HTC One M9? Here’s our full and in-depth HTC One M9 review. Updated on 21/4/15 so you can watch our full video review above. Also seeBest smartphones 2015andBest Android phones 2015.
Announced at MWC 2015, the HTC One M9 is the Taiwanese firm’s flagship smartphone for 2015. It was announced on the same day as the Samsung Galaxy S6 which is one of its main rivals – at least until LG and Sony unveil their new premium handsets.
Samsung expects 70M Galaxy S6 and Edge phones to be sold
Samsung has publicly described the first week of Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge sales as “impressive” and predicted overall sales for both devices will break a record, passing 70 million globally for both.
That prediction, offered by an unnamed Samsung executive in a recent Korea Times report from Seoul, would be welcome, indeed, after the company’s problems selling the Galaxy S5.
Lumia-less Nokia might have new smartphones in 2016
Don’t call it a comeback! Nokia is reportedly planning a return to the mobile phone business by 2016.
Okay, it’s a comeback. But Nokia’s future mobile efforts reportedly won’t look anything like its original business. This time around, Nokia plans to develop products in-house but then license the designs and the company’s brand name to a manufacturer, according to Re/code’s Ina Fried.
The only thing holding the company back right now is an agreement with Microsoft stemming from the Windows maker’s purchase of Nokia’s devices and services business in 2013. Under that contract, Nokia is barred from licensing its brand on smartphones until the end of 2016. Nokia can’t touch feature phones for nearly a decade as Microsoft retains the right to use the Nokia brand on dumb phones.
OnePlus One review: bargain flagship Android is still a great deal even with a price hike, and now you can buy it without an invitation
OnePlus must be the only company in history to increase the price of its year-old phone, but the OnePlus One is still a great deal
Price: From £229 inc VAT
Rating: 9
OnePlus must be the only company in history to increase the price of its year-old phone, but the OnePlus One is still a great deal: the mid-range smartphone with premium specs. Is the OnePlus One a bargain? Read our OnePlus One review to find out. Features: OnePlus One benchmarks, specs and new features.
OnePlus One review: What it is
The One from OnePlus is a high-end smartphone at a mid-range price. It’s an Android smartphone running an OS based on 4.4.2 KitKat, with high-quality specifications, but in the UK it retails for just £229 – for now. As of 25 March in response to the falling value of the Euro the price will be increased to 299 Euro for the 16GB model and 349 Euro for 64GB (up from 269/299 Euro). It’s still a great deal, though, around a third of the price of the most expensive smartphones with which it shares key specifications. The catch? Well there really isn’t much of one. See: OnePlus Two release date rumours: Something’s happening on 22 July.
Xperia Z4 launch reflects Sony’s timidity in smartphones
Sony’s decision to launch its new high-end smartphone, the Xperia Z4, only in Japan, shows its hesitancy about this market and puts into question its commitment to it.
Monday’s introduction of the Xperia Z4 stands in stark contrast to the arrival of competing products like the HTC One M9 or the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge from Samsung Electronics, which were launched with much fanfare at Mobile World Congress. And when LG premiers the G4 on April 28, it will do so at events around the world.
OnePlus One release date, price, specs UK: No invite needed any longer
The OnePlus One is now available to buy without an invite any day of the week, but the price has gone up. Here we reveal everything you need to know about the OnePlus One, including its UK release date, price and specs. Updated on 20/4/15.
