Alleged Motorola X smartphone specs leak, packs 10MP camera

Purported specifications of the Motorola X smartphone have appeared on evleak's Twitter account. The renowned leakster suggests the device will pack mid-range specifications, despite being touted as a "hero" device by the company's CEO Dennis Woodside.

Anyway, the specs include a 720p display of unknown dimensions and 1.7GHz dual-core Krait CPU with 2GB of RAM on the MSM8960 Pro chipset. Internal memory is 16GB, but a microSD card slot isn't mentioned.

At the back, the Moto X is suggested to feature a 10MP camera. This sounds promising and in line with Vic Gundotra saying we can expect awesome camera from the company. A 2MP camera at the front will be used for 

video chatting.

Lastly, evleaks has posted that the smartphone will run Android 4.2.2, which may disappoint Android fans out there who have hoped to see Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie being announced by the time the device launches. This information, if true, also hints that we may not see Android 4.3 being released before the fall.

Later last month, Motorola chief Dennis Woodside disclosed that the company is indeed working on a hero device dubbed Moto X and that it's going to pack a lot of sensors. One of them will be used to tell whether the phone is pulled out of a pocket, while another will be aware of the speed a car is driven and show appropriate information on the screen.

The Motorola X smartphone is bound to arrive in October, Woodside unveiled at the D11 conference in May, and is going to be manufactured in the US.

Quad-core Nokia with WP8 shows up in GFXBench scores

Qualcomm recently announced the first quad-core chipset with Windows Phone 8 support and Nokia may already have a phone with it in the works according to GFXBench results. The promised GDR3 update should bring quad-core and 1080p screen support.

However, the Nokia device that ran the benchmark had screen resolution of 720p, suggesting this might be a separate update.

The GPU of the chipset was Adreno 305, but unfortunately GFXBench didn’t detect CPU clockspeed or the amount of RAM.

The Snapdragon 400 chipset that Qualcomm announced was a mid-range model with four Cortex-A7 CPUs at 1.2GHz and LTE support. Qualcomm also has Krait 300-based quad-cores with Adreno 305, but it's not clear if they support Windows Phone 8 and without CPU clockspeed it's hard to guess which one it is anyway.

The benchmark is also mum on the name, but it confirms Nokia as the manufacturer and Windows Phone 8 as the OS. There's been some talk that the Nokia EOS will pack a quad-core CPU, but this could be a completely different device (or even a fake entry altogether).

Samsung prepping a Galaxy S4 with LTE-Advanced technology

An LTE-Advanced version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is slated to hit the South Korean market as early as next month. The news was delivered by the company's co-CEO J.K. Shin, so it's as real as it gets.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 will be one of the first smartphones to support the new LTE-Advanced standard, which promises data transmission speeds of more than double those of conventional 4G LTE.

The news came as an announcement by Samsung's co-CEO J.K. Shin today, who declined to reveal too many details in regards to the upcoming model, save for it being powered by a Qualcomm chipset, and costing more than the current Galaxy S4.

Samsung is also looking to become a leader in an emerging network gear market, as many countries with developing 4G LTE networks are contributing to Samsung's fastest growing network gear division - with sales rising by some 30 percent a year since 2010.

This is what iOS 7 will look like on iPad

Apple hasn't said when the iOS 7 beta will hit the iPad yet, but some savvy developers have managed to run an emulator to see what the software will look like when it lands.

Unsurprisingly, it's not hugely dissimilar to the iPhoneversion of the software but, you know, bigger.

The Control Center panel is the most noticeably different, arraying its icons horizontally rather than stacked as they are on the narrower iPhone screen.

The software still offers the new torch option which seems redundant since there isn't an iPad with a flash at this point; is that a mistake, or a hint at a possible feature of the iPad 5 and iPad mini 2? Or it could just be because this is the iPhone software being emulated on a tablet. One of the two.

Control Center (L) and Spotlight (R) [Credit: Apfelpage.de]

This isn't the first time we've caught a glimpse of the iPad running iOS 7 - Apple itself includes the iPad 2, iPad with Retina and iPad mini on its iOS 7info page, although you don't get to see much beyond the home screen with Apple's traditional app layout.

Oooh, pretty

There's one new icon of note - a red box which, as 9to5Mac points out, is probably PhotoBooth.

As today's screenshots come from an unofficial source and are freely admitted to be run off an emulator, we'd say there's a strong chance we'll see some tweaks and changes before iOS 7 hits iPads officially.

And when will that be? We're expecting iOS 7 to get its official release in September alongside the new iPhone 5S.

Three fun ways to personalise your Android home screen

One of Android's benefits (or weaknesses, depending on your perspective) is the ease with which you can tweak various aspects of the software, including apps, settings, widgets, home and lock screens and icons.

You can get under the hood of the operating system in a way that just isn't possible on Apple devices without resorting to jailbreaking, and with the right tools to hand, you can put together a home screen that looks completely different from anyone else's.

If you're eager to try your hand at transforming the appearance of your Android phone or tablet's home screens, we've pulled together everything you need to know - cut out the unnecessary clutter and focus on the apps, widgets and information that you really do want to see front and centre.

All of the customisations here can be made without rooting your phone or tablet, though even more tweaks are possible if you do. Here's our ultimate guide to customising your Android device's home screen.

• Want to know what's next for Android? Check out Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie release date, news and rumors

1. Install a launcher

Installing a launcher is the first step in transforming the look of your home screen, and most come with tutorials.

These alternative tools jump into action whenever you hit the Home button, replacing the standard launcher with layouts of their own.

They can change icon sizes, screen layouts and app drawers, as well as show or hide elements like the Google search widget and the notification bar.

Whenever you install a new launcher from Google Play, you'll be given the option to use it as the default. Switch back to the original launcher and your customisations are undone in one fell swoop.

Apex Launcher and Nova Launcher are two of the most popular and most comprehensive launchers in town, and both apps have limited free versions available if you want to test them out before paying any money. You'll need Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or later to run either of these tools, but both apps are regularly updated and come with a dizzying array of features and options.

SSLauncher is another popular choice and eschews the grid-based layout favoured by Apex and Nova to give you full pixel-by-pixel control over your widgets and icons. It's compatible with Android 2.2 and above as well, so it's suitable for older handsets.

Other launchers worthy of your consideration include ADW.Launcher, Go Launcher EX and Lightning Launcher. Which one will work best for you depends on your device and exactly what you want to achieve.

2. Build shortcuts and widgets

You can just use a launcher on its own to modify the look of your home screens, changing the size of icons and widgets and hiding any elements (such as the dock) that you don't want to see. If you're happy to go a few steps further, though, you can start building your own widgets and icons to your exact requirements, or load in packs and themes created by other users.

Ultimate Custom Widget (UCCW) is the go-to tool here, enabling you to combine images and text with hotspots that lead to an app or setting when tapped.

You can create a custom icon for Gmail, or set the entire home screen to launch Facebook. UCCW can take some getting used to, but play around with the interface and you'll soon get the hang of it. You can drop in the time and date, your current location, the battery status and more besides.

You'll find many themes on MyColorScreen and other sites that come with .uzip files that can be opened up and modified in UCCW, and you can transfer them over to your phone and tablet with an app such as Dropbox or via a good old-fashioned USB cable.

Other tools that will come in handy include Desktop VisualizeR, which gives you free reign to create shortcuts and icons of your own design, andWidgetLocker, which provides a stack of options for modifying the lock screen. Simple Text is one of several apps that can convert your app icons into text instead, while Missed It! is a great choice for customising notification alerts.

3. Put it all together

Use a launcher to change the settings and framework of your home screens, then a widget tool such as UCCW to create your own designs to put into this framework, and you're just about done. Whether you want to go ultra-minimal, or would like to cram as much as you can into one screen, these tools are flexible enough to adapt.

Credit: MyColorScreen

Plenty of pre-made icons and themes can be found on Google Play, as well as other sites such as MyColorScreen and DeviantArt.

To give you a few of examples to get started with, we'd recommend the cheap Minimal UI icon pack, which works with most launchers, the freePower Toggles pack to replace the standard widget set for options such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and Beautiful Widgets Free for some eye-catching clock and weather graphics.

Leaked Windows 8.1 screenshots show off Xbox Music, Movie Moments apps

We already know about Microsoft's impending Windows 8 overhaul, but previews of app specific updates have been few and far between. Now, thanks to an apparent Windows Store update on leaked builds, we're starting to see what kind of updates we can expect. In addition to updates for the news, weather, travel, finance and sports apps (see the video after the break), images are leaking for the OS' new calculator application, sound recorder, Movie Moments and an Xbox Music redesign. It's hard to judge these tweaks without actually handling the update ourselves, but we'll say it again for good measure: we may have to review Windows 8 all over again.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 leaked, looks the same as Galaxy Note 8.0

Samsung's ever-growing desire to be all things to all people is likely to see the launch of some new Galaxy Tabs later this month and this looks like the first pic of the 8-inch iteration.

The purported Galaxy Tab 8.0 which appears in black and white, looks pretty darn similar to the Galaxy Note 8.0phablet, which launched at MWC in Barcelona earlier this year.

Naturally, the Galaxy Tab 8.0 won't have a stylus, but other than that, it doesn't appear there'll be much separating the two devices in terms of appearance.

The leak, which comes from TechTastic, also touts some prospective specs for the device. The site says it'll harness a 1.5GHz dual-core processor with 1.5GHz of RAM.

Siblings

The screen resolution is touted at 1280 x 800, while 4G connectivity is also likely to be on board the device, while Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2. and a 5-megapixel camera are also thought to be on board.

The Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 is likely to debut alongside 7.0 and 10.1-inch siblings at Samsung's London event on June 20.

That event will also see Samsung update its Activ range of Windows-based products, while a Galaxy Camera 2 is also scheduled to make an appearance.

Alleged photos of metal-clad Nokia EOS body leak out

The previously leaked Nokia EOS made an appearance once again, flaunting its metal-clad body. This time around, the upcoming camera-centric Windows Phone smartphone got allegedly caught in front of the camera on what appears to be a production line under way.

The leaked photos reveal the right side of the device, where (unsurprisingly) the volume rocker, power/lock key, and dedicated camera button reside. The back of the upcoming smartphone is also on display, thus revealing the opening for the camera tech.

Nokia is expected to take the wraps of the EOS at an event in New York City on July 11. Be sure to tune in for the full scoop on the newcomer.

HTC Desire 200 leaks before launch

It seems HTC will shortly be updating its portfolio with yet another Android device, as can be seen from the pictures below. What we have here is the HTC Desire 200 and by the looks of it it will be a budget device.The 

HTC Desire 200 looks quite familiar. On the front, it has the earpiece section that is inspired from the HTC One and the controls below look like any other recent HTC Android device. On the back, it looks almost identical to some of the previous HTC phones, such as the Desire C.

Inside, there is a 3.5-inch, 320 x 480 resolution LCD, 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB storage space with microSD card slot and a 1,400mAh battery. The device seen above was found running on Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich but it's unlikely that the final device would be running on anything older than Android 4.1.

No word on pricing and launch date so far.