Samsung Galaxy Note 3 'Lite' confirmed for Q1 2013 launch

A low-cost Galaxy Note 3 got mentions in several rumors leading up to the phablet’s launch, and now*SamMobile*has confirmed that a Galaxy Note 3 Lite is in the works.

The Note 3 Lite (SM-N7505) appeared in a shipping manifest recently, revealing that Samsung is testing the device with both 5.49-inch and 5.7-inch screens, though what the screen size will ultimately be is unknown at this point, as are the other specs of the phone. Previous rumors have indicated that the screen will be an LCD unit instead of AMOLED, while the camera will be downgraded to 8-megapixel – the S Pen stylus will probably remain unchanged, as it’s one of the defining features of the Galaxy Note series,*though it’s possible Samsung will make sacrifices in several other areas to justify the “Lite” tag in the device’s name. ,

According to SamMobile, the Galaxy Note 3 Lite will be announced at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in February, and launched in markets sometime in February or March, in black and white color variants. Pricing is a key factor that will decide the fate of the device – the Galaxy Note 3′s price tag would have dropped considerably in a couple of months, so the price of the Note 3 Lite would have to be relatively low from the start if Samsung expects consumers to opt for it over the original Note 3, while being high enough so as to not cannibalize sales of the company’s mid-range large-screen devices like the Galaxy Mega.

Source:*SamMobile

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Nokia Lumia 929 shows up in white again ahead of probable mid-December launch

It might have taken Nokia a little more time than Android players to join the Full HD, quad-core mobile game, but once the Finns got the hang of it, there’s no stopping them.

Following the astonishing 6-inch Lumia 1520, unveiled back in October and rolled out commercially a month or so afterwards, the Lumia 929 is all set to make a debut, slated according to the most recent rumors for mid-December.

December 20, to be exact, so the kind of timing not regularly used by hardware manufacturers as it’s a touch too close to the jolly season. Then again, if the 929 does indeed come out on the 20th (as in starts selling that date), it still leaves enough time for folks to score it, gift wrap it and tuck it under the Christmas tree.

Now, just to be clear, the December 20 ETA is far from official. But the Lumia 929 is looming large (pun intended) at the horizon, and I’m not sure how wise it’d be for Nokia to wait for the holidays to pass. Remember, early January brings CES and then comes MWC in February, both events with oodles of new gadgets in store.



There’s also a chance the 929 will go official earlier, as no one says the device and two accessories spotted on Amazon need to land at exactly the same time. Whenever it’ll happen, try to keep in mind the 5-incher is destined to be a Verizon exclusive.

As such, expect premium on-contract pricing and, according to a trusted tipster, limited availability for the silky white version pictured above. You know, the one that @evleaks also tweeted about at one point.

As for hardware, the quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU and 2 GB RAM of the Lumia 1520 are near certainties here as well, whereas the size shrinking will force the battery to shrivel, from 3,400 mAh to roughly 2,510. That’s 90 mAh smaller than Samsung Galaxy S4’s ticker and a whopping 490 mAh less than Xperia Z1’s, yet it should still do an honorable job in keeping the beast going.

Such a shame Big Red gets dibs, eh?

Sources: WP Central , WM Power User



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Man trades in his testicle for a Nissan 370Z

A Nissan 370Z is worth one nut, but not just any nut.

A man is reportedly going to sell one of his testicles for $35,000, and what else can he do with the money besides buy a sports car?

Mark Parisi’s, a marketer for a coffee shop and bakery, nut will be used for research at an unnamed institution.* This walking-talking human guinea pig and parts dealer is not new to the paid experiments profession.* Parisi recently took part in an Ebola study that gave him a payout of $5,000, and, according to him, he netted over $150,000 in the last two years by being a test subject.

Say what you want about this brave man.* At the end of the day, he will be the one cruising past us in a brand spanking new 2014 370Z.* He’s got a lot of balls (correction: one ball), that’s for sure. Hopefully he’ll still have enough left in him to floor it and drive the car like it’s meant to be driven.

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Amazon Kindle Fire HD and HDX 7 get $50 price trims for Cyber Monday

In addition to offering almost unusual savings on next-gen games for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Amazon has a couple of Cyber Monday treats for hardware buyers too, slashing the prices of two Kindle Fire tablets.

The special promotion has been kicked into gear already and is set to end come night time today. Unless stocks run out earlier, which may well happen as the 7-inch duo on sale is fairly popular even when going for normal prices.

Right now, the Fire HD 7 costs $119 in a model packing 16 GB of storage and including “special offers”, whereas the version sans ads and sponsored screensavers is 15 bucks pricier. In each case, you’re looking at $50 discounts, but oddly the 8 GB variation wasn’t invited to the Cyber Monday party, so for a limited time it’s more expensive than the 16 GB-er, going for $139 and up.

Meanwhile, the Fire HDX 7, the lighter, sleeker, much more powerful and vibrant slab of silicon, commands a starting price of $179, with 16 GB built-in memory, special offers and Wi-Fi only connectivity.



Between you and I, this thing is a total knockout at 180 clams, the value for money being downright mind-blowing, as you score quad-core Snapdragon 800 heat, an incredible 1,920 x 1,200 pixel count and 2 GB RAM.

$15 extra can of course get you rid of pesky commercials, while the versions with a bit of extra wiggle room go for $219 (32 GB storage) and $259 (64 gigs). $50 savings are valid across the table, albeit speed junkies out there are bound to be saddened by the top-shelf 8.9-inch Amazon Fire HDX not being invited to the Cyber Monday celebration. Oh, well, I guess beggars can’t be choosers indeed.

Source: Amazon

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Samsung starts work on 20-megapixel cameras for future flagships

The latest titbit from the Korean media suggests that Samsung has begun working on 20-megapixel camera modules.*

It’s pretty much a given that the Galaxy S5 will sport a 16-megapixel camera, but the report claims the second half of 2014 will see Samsung show off its new 20-megapixel camera sensor, work on which was reportedly started from scratch on December 1. However, there’s no mention of whether the new sensor will come with optical image stabilization (OIS), the lack of which is expected to be a glaring negative on the Galaxy S5′s feature list as well, owing to problems Samsung is facing in procuring enough*autofocus actuators.

The 20-megapixel camera likely won’t debut on the Galaxy Note 4, as the Note series of devices has never come with a camera upgrade over that year’s Galaxy S flagship. However, judging by the camera quality on both the Galaxy S4 and Note 3, the 20MP sensors will no doubt rank among the top, though again, there’s little chance of them being used on any device before the Galaxy S6 (or whatever Samsung decides to call its flagship at the time).

Source: ETNews

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Amazon has a lot to do before Prime Air’s drones start flying

FAA regulation might keep Amazon’s air delivery service on the ground for the next decade.

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos unveiled his plans to use a fleet UAVs to deliver certain items ordered from his online store in as “little as 30 minutes” during an interview Sunday night with Charlie Rose on 60 Minutes.

According to a promotional video shown during the broadcast the items are attached to the drone by a worker in the warehouse, and the drone flies away to its destination guided by GPS. It lands, detaches the package from itself, then flies back to the warehouse.

Bezos said the drones are able to take a package that weighs up to five pounds to an address that’s within 10 miles of an Amazon facility.

http://youtu.be/98BIu9dpwHU

But for Bezos, the problem is regulatory and not technological.

“The hardest challenge in making this happen is demonstrating to the standards of the Federal Aviation Administration that this is a safe thing to do. This is years of additional work at this point,” he said during the interview.

Bezos said that Amazon’s drones will be ready to launch in 2015, provided that the FAA’s rules are in place at the time. In November, the FAA released a roadmap regarding bringing unmanned aerial systems to the skies above the United States. For example, the FAA requires a slight restructuring of air traffic control systems in order for drones to co-exist with other civilian air traffic.

But the problem Bezos faces is that the regulations in production are for unmanned aerial systems, not autonomous ones. As far as the public and press has been led on to believe, Bezos is planning for Amazon’s UAVs to be autonomous — without human control. Technologically this is practical if the vehicles were equipped with radar for collision detection, and customers had some sort of beacon on their property to tell the drone where to land. However, regulations for truly autonomous drones is a long way off as the FAA understandably would have a long list of concerns.



Next, these drones are currently limited by range; Bezos said say can currently only do a 10 mile round trip. This means that Amazon will need to build urban fulfillment centers, thus would further limit the products available via Amazon PrimeAir. It’s also currently unknown what the costs would be to have a package delivered this way.

This project sounds promising, and has certainly been a big PR win for Amazon. But regular deliveries via drones won’t be happening anytime in the near future. There’s just too much work for regulators to do before automated aircraft take to the skies.



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Sony's Fergal Gara: PS4 stock to get 'regular replenishments' in UK

In a recent interview, Sony UK exec Fergal Gara reveals that the company is taking active measures to ensure the stock of PS4′s is replenished for the holiday season.



The demand for Sony’s next-gen PlayStation 4 console has surged overseas, so much that some retailers have sold completely out of their stock. This is a normal occurrence and is to be expected, but the timing was a bit surprising: shortly after the PS4′s Nov. 29 launch in the UK, stores were beginning run out of systems.

With the holidays coming closer and closer, many gamers–and mothers who want to make their children very happy come Christmas morning–are scrambling to find a PS4 of their own.

Fergal Gara, the Managing Director for Sony UK, isn’t very concerned about the situation.



According to a recent interview with The Gaming Liberty , Gara divulges that Sony is doing everything it can to make sure there are plenty of units come Christmas, and affirms worried UK gamers that “regular replenishments” are coming.

All he asks is for a bit of patience:

“Winding the clock back, as we started to see the bigger demand for consoles later than we expected, but we’ve done everything we can do to increase production. This has given us more than we were expecting some weeks and months back for example – so that is a good job.

“Stock is flowing over time so there is regular replenishments!

“Even if it was to sell out this weekend, we expect more stock to be available next weekend for example. It might pop in and out of stock between now and Christmas, and yes, we do apologise to anyone that can’t get one, but again, we would ask for patience.”

As always if you’re looking to pick up a PS4 the best thing you can do is keep on trying; call and visit your local retailers, sign up for notifications and lists, and stick to forums and the PS4 Reddit . You might get lucky, but as Gara affirms, Sony is aware of the situation and will be sending fresh waves of PlayStation 4′s soon.

Via DualShockers , The Gaming Liberty



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