10.LG To Launch Flagship LG G4 And A Mystery Premium Phone

Mobile World Congress 2015 has sought us a lot of interesting phones and plans from companies, keeping us tech nerds entertained for the past few days.
After Samsung and HTC unveiled their latest flagship smartphones at MWC, LG has instead announced plans to launch the LG G4 and a new high-end flagship that will “stand above the G series.”
“We are planning to release a product that stands above the G series,” Cho Jun-ho, head of LG’s mobile business said at the Mobile World Congress. “It will be launched during the second half of this year.”
It is being speculated that the new LG series will use more premium materials like metal and glass, along with an additional in-house processor modeled for the handset. The LG G4, which is the successor to the flagship LG G3, is most likely to be announced in April, while the company seeks to regain its position as number three in the smartphone market share.
“We aim to have our smartphone sales grow 20 percent on-year in 2015,” Cho added. “If the popularity of the G2 and the G3 continues through the G4, we expect to grab a meaningful third-place presence.”
Word is also rife that LG is considering to equip the G4 with a fingerprint scanner. As Apple and Samsung have already incorporated features like Payment and biometrics in their devices, LG feels a little left out and has decided to step into testing with biometric verification.

“LG Electronics has recently decided to deploy a fingerprint sensor on its next flagship smartphone and the scanner will be placed at the back of the device,” as the company “has been left behind in the race for fintech (portmanteau of finance and technology) as it has continued to postpone the adoption of fingerprint technology.”

HTC had unveiled its 2015 flagship smartphone, HTC One M9, at the Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona. The smartphone is encased in an aluminum unibody, garnished with pretty awesome specs which are sure to sell like hot cakes once HTC One M9 becomes available at all four major U.S. carriers later this month.

Samsung also debuted its flagship next-generation Galaxy S6

Source:

http://techfrag.com/2015/03/06/lg-launch-flagship-lg-g4-mystery-premium-phone/

08.M.W.C. - Honorable mentions:

Huawei's circular Android Wear watch is fine, but nothing special. Unless! Unless it turns out to be dirt cheap. We'll see!

Huawei's Android Wear Watch Is Handsome, But Still Too Bulky

Huawei is launching not one but three wearables this year at Mobile World Congress, and the new…Read more

Sony's Xperia Z4 tablet is about as slick and slim as 10-inch Android tablets get, if you are still into 10-inch Android tablets. Also, it's vaguely Surface-y with its new keyboard accessory!

Xperia Z4 Tablet: Slick and Slim, With Laptop Aspirations

There's a new tablet in town. It's the new Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet and yeah, it's…Read more

LG's mid-ranged smartphones are going to have slightly curved screens, which is a way to make mid-range a little more fun.

LG's Bringing Curved Screens To Its Cheaper Phones, Because Why Not

That curve on LG Flex's screen might seem like a total gimmick, even if it's pretty rad.…Read more

Meanwhile, Sony's new Xperia M4 Aqua is everything a cheap phone should be. Waterproof and two day battery, count me in. 

Sony Xperia M4 Aqua Hands-On: Proper Waterproofing, Two Day Battery

With the Xperia Z4 smartphone nowhere to be seen at MWC 2015 (even if its tablet cousin is knocking …Read more

BlackBerry teased a phone with curved edges and a slide out keyboard. OK! Sure!

Blackberry Is Bringing Back the Slider Phone Because Sure Why Not

When square phones don't quite work and suing Ryan Seacrest is taking too long, what's a…Read more

HTC's new One M9 seems like a fine little improvement on its existing flagship, but with nothing super special or exciting to speak of.

HTC One M9: Definitely Better But So Much the Same

This is the new HTC One, the third in a line of phones that got Android devices to adopt metal…Read more

You can read about allllll of our Mobile World Congress coverage here.

05.Will Sprint win new Google phone service?

Sprint appears to be the favorite partner for Google's much-anticipated wireless phone service.

Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) confirmed Monday that it plans to launch a new, small-scale wireless service that will become as a mobile virtual network operator riding onSprint Corp.'s network. The service, which doesn't aim to compete with the four largest carriers in the U.S., should become available in coming months, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Though Google has yet to confirm details, the new service is rumored to switch between Sprint(NYSE: S), T-Mobile and Wi-Fi networks to use the best network to serve customers telecom needs. The service had been rumored for years, but Monday marked the first public acknowledgment by the company. WSJ reports that Sprint negotiated "volume triggers"should the service soar in popularity.

Much like its Google Fiber service, Google's Nova product appears to be another attempt to drive other providers to enhance their services, be it broadband or mobile Internet. Better Internet infrastructure, and more people using it, translates to more engagement with Google's other Web products. The wireless service also further complicates Google's relationship with carriers that use Google's Android products.

Source:

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2015/03/03/will-sprint-win-new-google-phone-service.html?s=image_gallery

06.Life at your fingertips - Ubuntu Phone

  Ubuntu reinvents the way you interact with your smartphone. Everything you need in your day is now at your fingertips.

A Scope for every moment

Ubuntu offers a revolutionary way of interacting with your smartphone thanks to the new concept of Scopes. Scopes are individual quick start screens that give you access to everything you need: music, videos, social networks, etc. without having to go from one application to another.

NearBy

When you´re out and about, NearBy will find you the best restaurant, a gig for tonight and even which bus you can catch.

News

The News Scope offers you the latest news feeds selected from a long list of providers. Create your own digital newspaper to your liking.

Music

Listen to music from your smartphone or stream it via SoundCloud and Grooveshark. Download it from 7digital or get your tickets on Songkick. You can do all this without even leaving your Music Scope!

Today

Go back to the Home screen at any time and see the most important interactions on one screen, personalise it and decide what matters most.

Source:

http://www.bq.com/gb/ubuntu.html#aquaris-e4-5

THE FIRST UBUNTU PHONE IS GOING ON SALE IN EUROPE NEXT WEEK

Canonical announced today that the first Ubuntu phone, made in partnership with BQ, called Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition, will go on sale in Europe starting next week on BQ.com, through a series of "flash sales", and it will cost 169.90 Euros (~ $193 / £127).

Aquaris E4.5 is a completely unlocked dual micro-SIM phone which comes with a 4.5 inch, 540x960 resolution display, a 1.3 GHz MediaTek Quad Core Cortex A7 CPU, 1GB of RAM, 8GB internal memory, an 8 Mpx rear camera and a 5 Mpx front camera. For the complete Aquaris E4.5 specs, see THIS page.

It's important to mention that the phone targets early adopters and if you just want WhatsApp or Skype, Ubuntu phone isn't for you just yet, as these services won't be available at launch.

The exact date, time and URL of the flash sales will be announced on the Ubuntu and BQ Twitter accounts as well as the Ubuntu Facebook and Google+ pages next week, so keep an eye on them if you want to be among the first to get an Ubuntu phone.

Courtesy of Canonical, I was one of the lucky few "insiders" who received an Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition phone and I'll be reviewing it soon.


Source:
http://www.webupd8.org/2015/02/the-first-ubuntu-phone-is-going-on-sale.html

3 Lessons of Amazon’s Fire Phone

Engineers can learn lessons in best practices in product design from the cautionary tale of the flame out of Amazon's Fire Phone.

There’s been a lot of speculation in the press about what went wrong with Amazon’s Fire Phone. We are often taken aback when one the world’s most successful companies unsuccessfully brings a new product to market. But it reminds us how incredibly difficult it can be to get every aspect right when it comes to product delivery.

It’s no secret that failure rates are high -- in the neighborhood of 80% -- especially for complex technology products. So, what can engineers do to get their products right and minimize the potential for failure?






Some in the industry believe Amazon’s problem with the Fire Phone stems from its initial design. Rather than building a product that addressed customer’s needs, the phone may have been designed for only one person, Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos.

Before development starts, engineers need to ensure their initial requirements are solid and then remain true to that vision as development teams navigate the journey from concept to launch. It sounds simple, but defining business and product requirements is the more challenging aspect of development. In the Amazon scenario it was the CEO, but in every situation, multiple stakeholders have a voice in product delivery, and they each bring different perspectives about which elements are most important.



Source:
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1325564

2015: If wishes were penguins, everyone would fly

Jack Wallen offers up his Linux wishes for 2015 and what he believes will help the open-source platform reach more users and businesses. 

It's the end of yet another year. I'm not going to go on record to say that 2015 will finally, finally, finally be the year of Linux! It may, but it may not. What I will go on the record for is to say what my personal Linux and open-source wishes for Linux are in the coming year. They aren't many, and they aren't tilting at any given windmill ... they just are.

I've already made my "predictions" for Linux in my post "2015 will be the year Linux takes over the enterprise (and other predictions)". This time, however, I want to take a look at what might be necessary for some of those predictions to actually come true.

Ubuntu Phone

Personally, I've grown quite disillusioned by Canonical and their drive to release a Linux-based phone. It's so long over due that it's become almost irrelevant. So, here's what I wish for the Ubuntu Phone:

Either the Ubuntu Phone is released in 2015, or the project is scrapped.

Source:
http://www.techrepublic.com/article/2015-if-wishes-were-penguins-everyone-would-fly/