Oppo Find 7 to have a 5.5-inch screen with 2K resolution

As it became clear today, the upcoming Oppo Find 7 will have a 5.5-inch with the first ever 2K resolution display on a mobile phone. The resolution of 2560 x 1440px on a screen with a 5.5-inch diagonal adds for the whopping 538 pixels per inch.

Not only that, but the company is also promising "a 5.5" screen with the feel of a 5" screen device", meaning that it will probably have super slim bezels.

The Oppo Find 7 is a successor to the Oppo Find 5 but unlike what the name might suggest, it doesn't have a 7-inch screen.

We first heard about the Oppo Find 7 back in July but back then we weren't sure about the specs even though we heard rumors of some serious hardware.

Then in December things started heating up with more rumors and teasers coming out.

First, Oppo teased us that their new device will have LTE connectivity and we started hearing rumors about the device having a Snapdragon 804 chipset and a 5.7-inch screen.

Later, Oppo announced that the phone will be launching in early 2014.

In another move, we saw Carl Pei, director of Oppo's New Markets division, refute on Google+ the rumors about the device having a 5.7-inch or 7-inch screen leaving us curious and still guessing.

Then finally, ten days ago the company teased that the Oppo Find 7 will be the first phone to have a 2K display. That wasn't hard to believe as it was namely Oppo that introduced the first smartphone with a 5-inch 1080p screen. That was the Find 5, which was announced exactly a year ago.

Today we finally see the official specs of the Oppo Find 7 screen - just enough to wow us, but leaving us wanting to learn more.

Nokia Lumia 1320 premiers in China

The Nokia Lumia 1320, Nokia's lower-powered Windows Phone phablet, is launching to customers in China today. And in the coming weeks people will find it in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries.

The Lumia 1320 is the more affordable version of the Lumia 1520 phablet. It offers the same size screen covered by Gorilla Glass, but cuts corners in display tech, processing and camera by going with a 720p 245 ppi display, a dual-core Snapdragon S4 and a 5 MP camera.

Other than that, the big handheld offers the same premium suite of Nokia apps, a super sensitive touchscreen expandable storage and much more. Here's a promo video of the Lumia 1320 that would serve as a nice refresher.

Huawei Ascend Mate 2 pictures leak

Someone's been snapping some pictures of Huawei's upcoming Mate 2 handset, and it being 2013, the photos ended up online. Although the shots are taken from less than ideal angles, they give a pretty good impression of the Mate 2's aesthetics.

The original Huawei Ascend Mate is an enormous device with a 6.1 inch screen, so expect the Mate 2 to continue this trend of phablet gigantism.

  
Huawei Ascend Mate 2 leaked photos

We can gather from these leaked Mate 2 pics that Huawei has decided to make some nice cosmetic changes. The device has a curved posterior, akin to the Moto X. Huawei's also given a brushed metal trim to frame the device. Overall, this phone is looking fairly attractive.

Hardware specs are nothing but rumors now, but expect the same 6.1 inch display with a possible bump up to 1080p resolution. Under the hood it seems that a 1.6 GHz quad core processor with 2GB of RAM is likely.

No word has been made on whether or not the Ascend Mate 2 will be available outside of China, but we sure hope so. We'll keep you updated on any further developments.

Samsung teases more powerful Exynos-powered gadgets at CES

CES is right around the corner - just days after New Year’s Eve, tech companies and journalists will be flooding the halls in Las Vegas. Samsung is bringing along something with Exynos inside.

The Samsung Exynos Twitter account posted the a teaser titled “Flying even higher in 2014”.

So, what does #UnlockExynos refer to? True octa-core support on Exynos chipsets is already official, though we have yet to see a real device with one. Other tweets mention “pioneering Widcon Technology”, which offers higher memory bandwidth (to feed those 8 cores). 64-bit support has also been officially promised for 2014.

On a side note, @SamsungExynos is running a promotion, which involves prizes if you tweet #UnlockExynos.

LG's Odin octa-core chip benchmarked by AnTuTu

LG's looking to start early in the octa-core chip race, and their processor has just been benchmarked by AnTuTu. The results are good, but not Snapdragon 800 good. It's quite on par with Samsung's octa-core Exynos chipset.

Nicknamed the LG Odin, LG's octa-core chip performed similarly to the quad-core Samsung Exynos 5410. This probably means that the Odin isn't a true octa-core processor, but that it only uses half of the cores at once for the real dirty work, and the other half for menial tasks.

It's also worth mentioning that the AnTuTu benchmark results revealed that the Odin was clocked at a low speed (100 MHz-1GHz). This probably bodes well for the actual every day use of LG's octa-core processor. One, because its performance was that good at these low speeds, and two, it will only get better if it's speed increased when the chip comes to market.

Graphical performance is expected to be great on LG's SoC, as its GPU will be the Power VR Series 6. So gamers interested in potentially getting a G3 in the future can rejoice.

Samsung to release Galaxy Note 3 Lite by end of Q1 2014

We reported on rumors of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Lite a little while back. To refresh your memory, the Galaxy Note 3 Lite is Samsung's planned lower-end version of its popular Note smartphone. There were also talks of it being leaked in four different variants earlier in the year. Well it seems that the rumors are still alive and it is quite possible that a Note 3 Lite may be released by the end of the first quarter, 2014.

Rumors say that the Note 3 Lite should make use of an LCD of either 5.5 or 5.7 inches. Apparently, the Korean manufacturing giant is testing both sizes. Since it is a "lite" version of the phone, it would be safe to assume that they will go with the smaller screen.

The source of the new rumor is SamMobile's twitter:

SM-N7505 - Samsung GALAXY Note 3 Lite LTE - Green - 2014 W12

— SamMobile (@SamMobiles) December 27, 2013

The tweet also tells us the model name for the LTE version of the smartphone - N7505. It's a safe bet that the non-LTE version will be labeled N7500. The Note 3 model names are N9005 for the LTE version and N9000 for the 3G version.

Specs-wise there isn't much news, but it is thought that the "lite" moniker will replace the "mini" series of phones, as there are rumors of a Samsung Galaxy Grand Lite in the works as well. Like Samsung's mini models, expect a downgrade in tech specs compared to their big brother variants.

Samsung announces 4GB DDR4 mobile DRAM

Samsung has been working hard this holiday season and today announced its 8Gb (that's 1GB) LPDDR4 mobile DRAM chip. This is not only the industry first LPDDR4 mobile DRAM, but it's also the first mobile DRAM to fit such a high density (8 gigabits) on a single die. Four of those dies can successfully be combined for a total of 4GB of mobile memory - an amount that so far has not been achieved commercially.

Fabricated on the 20nm manufacturing process, the new mobile LPDDR4 chips are reportedly 50% faster than the fastest LPDDR3 memory on the market, while also consuming 40% less power at 1.1 volts.

Here's what Young-Hyun Jun, executive vice president, memory sales & marketing, Samsung Electronics said regarding the new product.

This next-generation LPDDR4 DRAM will contribute significantly to faster growth of the global mobile DRAM market, which will soon comprise the largest share of the entire DRAM market

The data transfer speeds the new 8Gb LPDDR4 DRAM chip can achieve are 3,200Mbps per pin - twice the speed of currently produced 20nm LPDDR3 DRAM.

Samsung also hints that the resulting 4GB RAM modules will be included in "UHD smartphones, tablets and ultra-slim notebooks," which says something about the jump in smartphone screen resolution during the next year. Perhaps even the upcoming Galaxy S5 may be one of those UHD smartphones.

Mind you, to utilize that kind of memory, the Galaxy S5 will need a 64-bit CPU architecture. Good thing Samsung promises it's 64-bit SoC will be ready in time for the phone's announcement (usually in the first half of the year).

Apple in 2014: what to expect

Apple - one to watch in 2014

For Apple, every year is "magical" and, indeed, "amazing" - but it does look like 2014 will live up to the superlatives. Tim Cook promised "amazing new hardware, software and services" into 2014 - so what can we expect to see coming from Cupertino?

What hot hardware should we see at WWDC? Come with us as we pilot the canoe of news down the river of rumour.

1. iPhone 6

The only certainties in life are death, taxes and an annual iPhone event. 2014's one is likely to be a biggie, quite literally: even-numbered iPhones tend to get new shapes, and reports of big-screened iPhone prototypes have been getting louder. We'll be adding to our iPhone 6 rumour roundup throughout the year to help sift tiny truths from the sand of speculation.

Could the iPhone 6 have a 3D sensor? Apple bought quite a few companies in 2013, and one of the most intriguing is Kinect creator PrimeSense. Its 3D sensing technology can detect 3D objects, recognise gestures and even scan rooms so that when you go furniture shopping, you can check whether items will fit.

2. iPad Air 2

New iPads are another safe bet, with the next iPad Air likely to deliver improved performance and probably TouchID too. One of the most tantalising rumours is of an iPad Pro, a big-screened iPad that would sit happily between the iPad Air and the MacBook Air. We reckon a 12.9-inch iPad would be an easy sell.

3. A better Apple TV

Expect a new one of these, not an enormous flat-screen TV

Apple's TV set remains the stuff of rumour and speculation, but its Apple TVset-top box is due an update and is likely to go 64-bit in 2014 with the addition of Apple's A7 processor. Difficulties in getting broadcasters on board and the vast differences between different countries' TV industries means that TV is likely to remain Tim Cook's "hobby" for a while longer.

4. Grown-up gaming

iOS 7's support for gaming controllers is beginning to bear fruit, with the first iPhone controllers hitting the shelves just in time for Christmas. More will follow, and we hope they take off: button-mashing is so much more fun than finger-tapping. The controllers also raise the tantalising possibility of connecting to that A7 Apple TV, turning it into a pretty powerful little console.

5. iOS in the car

Siri Eyes Free will be everywhere this year as car firms embrace it

Siri Eyes Free hasn't caused much excitement so far, but that might change in 2014 as iOS in the car comes to a showroom near you. 18 car companies have announced plans to put Siri Eyes Free in their cars, including BMW, GM, Mercedes, Audi. Honda, Volvo, Nissan and Ferrari. Ford, which has its own Microsoft-powered Sync, is notable by its absence.

6. iOS 8: better maps and smarter Siri

iOS 8 won't look much different, but it should be much smarter

Studying Apple's recent acquisitions provides some interesting clues about the future of iOS. While iOS 8 is unlikely to come with a dramatic visual overhaul so soon after iOS 7 scared the horses, the underlying tech could be getting much smarter and more useful. Apple has bought public transport navigation services HopStop and Embark, business mapping firm Locationary and Google Now-esque personal assistant Cue, whose technology creates personalised agendas by scanning users' email. Who knows, we might even get some of the things on our wish list.

7. A brand new MacBook Pro

According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, whose predictions have been pretty reliable in the past, Apple is working on a brand new MacBook Pro that harks back to the much-loved 12-inch Powerbook: it'll have a twelve-inch Retina display and be thinner and lighter than a MacBook Air thanks to a new clamshell structure. Apparently it's going to "redefine laptop computing" just like the MacBook Air did.

8. A cheaper iMac

It's nice, yes, but it's also quite pricey. Analysts say a cheaper one's coming

Could WWDC 2014 see a new, cheaper iMac? Ming-Chi Kuo thinks so. Apple isn't immune from the global slowdown in PC sales, and plugging the gap between the £499 Mac Mini and the £1,149 iMac could give its bottom line a boost.

9. OS X 10.10

Details are firmly under wraps, but web servers are already recording visits from computers running the next version of OS X. The iOS-ification of OS X is likely to continue, with OS X and iOS remaining separate platforms but sharing data and features, and OS X's look and feel may well get an iOS 7-style refresh too.

10. iWatch

The lack of leaks suggests that Apple's iWatch isn't imminent

We do love the rumour mill: apparently the iWatch, a product currently made entirely from wish lists and dreams, has been delayed to speed up development of the iPad Pro, which might not exist either. Apple's secrecy appears to be holding, which suggests that an iWatch isn't imminent, but the inclusion of the activity-tracking M7 in the iPhone 5S indicates that Apple's plans for wearable computing aren't just bloggers' excited imaginings.