Omio News Blog

BlackBerry Z10 specifications appear online

Canadian email phone maker Research In Motion has had details published of its upcoming flagship BlackBerry Z10 full touch screen handset, which will run the BlackBerry 10 OS.

This information comes from a piece by India based BlackBerry news website BBin. It states: “There are many BlackBerry Z10 specification roaming on web & interestingly, none of them matches with each. Though the officials aren’t too friendly talking about this, we gathered bits & pieces to get a closest specification of the device releasing early next year.”

“Radio: Quad Band HSPA+ / UMTS (850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz)

Quad Band GSM / GPRS (850/900/1800MHz)

Quad Band LTE: Bands 2,4,5,13,17 (700, 850,1700, 1900MHz)

Display: 4.2″, 1280 x 768, 356PPI, 24 Bit Color, 15:9

Camera: 8MP, Auto Focus, 2MP, Front Facing Flash, 1080p Video Recording”

The title also mentions the memory and storage specs, which have been captured in a screen shot and that the processor hasn’t been confirmed – but it is thought to be a dual-core 1.5GHz TI OMAP 4470 Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960.

“Memory: 2GB RAM 16GB/32GB Internal Storage Hot Swappable microSD Slot

WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n 2.4/5GHz

GPS: Autonomous A-GPS

Battery: 1800mAh Removable

Sensors: Ambient, Light Detector, Accelerometer, Magnetometer, Gyroscope, Face Detect for phone calls

Connectivity: NFC, microUSB, microHDMI-Out, Bluetooth 4.0 LE”

Stay tuned to Omio and we’ll bring you all these from the launch event on the 30th of January, which we are attending.

BlackBerry X10 QWERTY keyboard handset leaked

Canadian email phone maker Research In Motion has had photos appear online of its purported BlackBerry X10 mobile phone, due to be launched at the end of January 2013.

This handset will be one of a pair that are thought to be announced at that time, running the new BlackBerry 10 OS – based upon the Playbook tablet platform.

The images have come from an article published by the BlackBerry news website N4BB.com, which notes: “The BlackBerry N-Series has been more elusive than the L-Series. We haven’t quite seen so many leaks for the device.”

“We did capture its first glimpse as a render in a promotional video. Since then, we’ve only been given a Mr. Blurry Cam look at the back-side and front of the N-Series.”

“Furthermore, we’ve learned the final production name for the N-Series might be BlackBerry X10.Nonetheless, take a gander at these new clear photos of the X10. We finally see how the screen proportions look with icon rows”, ended the title.

These pictures support the leak that Omio reported on last week, where two upcoming BlackBerry Z10 and X10 mobile phones were captured in a leaked photo.

The X10 photos are nearly as detailed at the BlackBerry Z10 ones (formerly known as L-Series), which appeared online early December.

Monthly Newsletter – December 2012

The month began with Omio reporting that HTC 8S is now available from £21 With Phones4U, and in the USA, LTE accounts for 7% of mobile connections. Google Nexus 7 tablet is available on a contract with Three and Text messaging turned 20, while automatic photo uploading comes to Facebook apps and Sony Xperia phones get a new OS.

Earlier in the first week, a new version of Samsung Galaxy Pocket is said be announced soon and the WhatsApp could be merging with Facebook. Android Key Lime Pie was leaked by a Google staffer and a Samsung Galaxy Note II budget version is on the way. LG is set to make its own chips and the Huawei Ascend G 330 is now available for £10 a month. The Google Nexus 4 became available at 5pm on that day and the Google Nexus 7 price dropped to £50.

Midweek, we reported that Facebook no longer needs an email address and the Nokia Lumia 620 Windows Phone 8 mobile was announced and we ran photos and video of the device. Android Jelly Bean 5.0 Key Lime Pie is to be announced in May 2013 and the Sony Xperia E low-cost phone was unveiled, we also published photos and video of the handset – while BlackBerry banned passwords were found.

Toward the end of the week, a new Apple iPhone 5 was leaked and EE is to offer 4G Apple iPad 4 and iPad mini. HTC M7 5-inch HD mobile phone is to launch before March. Huawei is to make its own 6.1-inch HD 1080p Samsung Galaxy Note II and Facebook was updated with BlackBerry Messenger built in, where Google Now became updated for Christmas travelling

At the end of the first week, HTC Butterfly mobile phone with a 1080 HD screen was announced for the UK and we brought out the handset’s photos and on video. Skype is to offer video messaging and Samsung Galaxy S3 successor is to have an unbreakable display. The Samsung Galaxy S3 premium suite update was caught on video and we published the Apple iPad mini contract and prices compared, while Samsung ATIV S is to go on sale in the UK Tuesday 11th of December.

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The second week started with Jelly Bean 4.1 coming to the RAZR i before April, and EE is to lose the Nokia Lumia 920 exclusivity. HTC 8S is available with Three for just £17 and LG sells 10 million mobile phones, while the HTC Butterfly became available to buy in the UK and Angry Birds came to older mobile phones.

Earlier on in the week, the Samsung Galaxy S3 premium suite update was caught on video and Sky Go became available for Nexus 4 and the Jelly Bean OS. Free calling came to BlackBerry handsets through BBM, while the HTC Jelly Bean update schedule was leaked. The Sony Xperia E low-cost phone prices were made public; HTC mobile phones gained Sony PlayStation access and we published an abridged Christmas present ideas article – from a guest post on the Expansys website, while Microsoft Office for iPhone and iPad leaked.

Midweek, Windows 7.8 feature set was leaked in a survey. Apple iPhone 5S will be available in up to 8 colours and Microsoft rolled out its first Windows Phone 8 update. O2 is increasing monthly costs, and we published a guest post by Phones 4u entitled – Windows Phone 8 Face-Off – HTC 8X vs. Samsung ATIV S vs. Nokia Lumia 920. Samsung Galaxy Note II gained a new Jelly Bean OS; HTC One SV 4G mobile phone comes to EE and is now available to order for £349.99. Omio run Nokia Lumia 620 hands-on photos and a hands-on walkthrough on video.

Toward the end of the week, Google Nexus 4 became available on Three and Google Maps came to Apple iOS. BlackBerry 10 OS L-Series mobile phone leaked in best photos to date and with a hands-on video. 17 more places are to get 4G from EE and the Nokia Lumia 920 has a disabled radio. Vodafone unveils new Femtocell Sure Signal device and Windows Phone apps are up by 40 per cent.

At the end of the second week, we brought out the news that Nokia has no plans for a Lumia 710 successor Windows Phone 8 handset and Windows Phone 7.8 became available, Facebook 2.0 is now out for Android and Android tablets come to 4G EE. We published an updated piece on the Apple iPad mini contract and prices compared: Three, EE, Orange, T-Mobile and now Vodafone; BBC iPlayer coming to Android Jelly Bean.

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The third week commenced with Omio reported on Windows Phone 7.8 is being deployed to Nokia Lumia 800 handsets. TalkTalk launched new SIM only plans and the Samsung ATIV S is now on sale. Apple iPhone 5 sells another five million, while the Nokia Lumia phones ships with Windows Phone 7.8. Google is to ends Microsoft Exchange support; Nokia Windows Phone 8 phablet caught on video and we published the BlackBerry 10 OS keyboard: hands-on video walkthrough, where the Nokia Lumia 620 price and arrival date was announced.

Earlier on in the week, we wrote that BlackBerry 10 OS is to be launched globally and the HTC M7 specifications leaked. Leaked Sony Xperia mobile phone with a 5-inch 1080p screen gets reviewed where the HTC One SV is available from £20.50 per month. Google Maps for iOS hit 10 million downloads; the Samsung Galaxy Grand was announced and Sony Xperia mobile phones are to get Jelly Bean in February.

Midweek, Samsung ATIV S became available with O2 for £34 a month. BlackBerry 10 OS mobile phones are coming to Three, O2, Vodafone and EE; NVIDIA next mobile processor was leaked and the Motorola RAZR i in white arrives at Phones 4u.

Towards the end of the week, we reported that the Nokia Lumia 920 is coming to Vodafone and the Samsung Galaxy S3 vulnerability to malware is to be fixed soon. Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 Windows Phone 8 update is rolling out; BlackBerry 10 OS web browser vs. Windows Phone 8 IE and Apple iOS 6 Safari is caught on video and the 4G bidders were announced. And the Samsung Galaxy S3 premium suite update became available.

At the end of the week, BlackBerry Z10 picture leaks and Three reduced the Apple iPhone by £100 on PAYG. Twitter brought out is most popular retweets and Samsung Windows Phone 7 mobile phones are to get Windows Phone 7.8. HTC is to make Windows 8 tablets and we published a mobile phone review round up of the HTC 8S. Three is now selling the Asus Windows 8 tablet on a £30.99 a month contract and Top 10 tell-tale signs your mobile phone needs upgrading

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The fourth week began with Omio reporting that the Nokia Lumia 920 will be available with Three and Carphone Warehouse next month, and BlackBerry 10 OS Z10 mobile phone was seen at Carphone Warehouse. This is along with Archos launching a tablet with Apple iPad screen

Towards the end of the week, ZTE nubia Z5 mobile phone was announced with a full HD screen and the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry X10 were leaked in a photo.

At the end of the week, 17 million Apple and Android devices were given as Christmas presents and petition starts online for Windows Phone OS to get Google apps.

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The biggest story of the month came from Research In Motion, which had the purported official name leaked for its inaugural BlackBerry 10 OS run mobile phone – BlackBerry Z10.

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The next most significant piece came from Research In Motion, which had photos its upcoming full touch screen L-Series handset published online.

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The third largest news item of the month was from Apple, when a purportedly photo of its next iPhone 5 was leaked.

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The following most significant story was when Google announced its Maps app for the Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices.

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The fifth biggest piece of the month came when HTC unveiled a global version of its first full high definition 5-inch display based handset, under the name of HTC Butterfly.

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Petition starts online for Windows Phone OS to get Google apps

Internet search engine giant Google is now being petitioned by owners of handsets running Windows Phone 7 and the new Windows Phone 8 OS, for support to come to them in the form of popular Google apps.

This has been covered by an article on Microsoft mobile OS news website WMPoweruser, which notes: “To this day, Google has ignored Windows Phone users by making the controversial and arguably anti-competitive decision to not build apps for the platform beyond a very basic search app.”

“[There is now] a petition that the goal is to make Google hear the Windows Phone community and to get them on the path of making polished apps on the Windows Phone platform,” added the publication.

The partition reads – “Google Inc: Support your popular Apps (Google+,Talk, Drive ..) on Windows Phone

Because consumers exercise choice and use multitude of products from different providers. Sometimes we also pay for those services. It is discrimination against consumers if they are being forced to choose platforms based on eco-system support and not their choice. There is no denying that Windows Phone is a promising platform, but app providers like Google keeping their apps walled to Android or iOS is not helping the consumers. The rivalry between the vendors is their own and consumers shouldn’t be dragged into it.

Google has made public statements about not supporting Windows Phone platform, even to an extent of pulling support for the Exchange Activesync protocol. At the end, the consumer suffer.

Google will do great service to their users and consumers by offering some products on rival platform, notable Google Apps, Drive, Google+ and Google Talk.

Thank You.”

17 million Apple and Android devices were given as Christmas presents this year

Cupertino based iDevice maker Apple and Google mobile OS based devices gained more than 17 million new additions on Christmas day, as that number of new activations were recorded.

This figure comes from a blog post by the application data analyst company Flurry, which noted that Christmas 2012 shattered more smart device and app download records.

It states: “More iOS and Android devices are activated on Christmas Day than on any other day of the year. This year was no exception. On this Christmas Day 2012, more iPhones, iPads, Galaxy’s, Kindle Fires, and more, were activated than on any other day in history. Moreover, as soon as we could tear the wrapping paper off our cool new devices, we started downloading a record volume of apps.”

“In order to appreciate the magnitude of new devices activated on Christmas Day, Flurry established a baseline using the average from the first 20 days of December. Over this period, daily activations averaged around 4.0 million per day, with variance of a few hundred thousand in either direction per day.”

Adding – “On Christmas Day, activations soared to more than 17.4 million, a 332% increase over the December baseline. By comparison, Christmas Day 2011 held the previous single-day record, having reached 6.8 million device activations. Christmas 2012 is more than 2.5 times larger than Christmas 2011, which surpassed its own baseline by more than 300%.”

“Download volumes increased by 112% on Christmas. Despite the ever-growing installed base of existing smart devices, the influx of new devices on Christmas Day still helped deliver a record download day, besting that of any previous day in history”, wrapped up the article.

BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry X10 photo leaked

Canadian email phone maker Research In Motion has reportedly had its two upcoming BlackBerry Z10 and X10 mobile phones captured in a photograph. These are both thought to be launched at the end of January, running the BlackBerry 10 OS.

This image has been published in an article by mobile phone news website mobilesyrup, from a post on the 4Chan forum.

It states: “Earlier today RIM’s BlackBerry 10 full QWERTY/Touch device leaked online. The image showed an updated look to the Bold 9900. Now, a post on 4Chan reveals the all-touch “BlackBerry Z10″ sitting in between the full QWERTY/Touch – rumoured name is the “BlackBerry X10.”

“There’s a white version and a black version, however the white version seems to have a different style as it’s missing the chrome frets. So it could be the Dev Alpha C that RIM gave 1,500 developers.”

“Regardless of the number of online leaks, nothing is yet confirmed. RIM will officially unveil the new BlackBerry 10 OS and the two new BlackBerry 10 devices on January 30th, 2013”, added the title.

Omio reported at the start of the week that the BlackBerry Z10 phone has been listed in Carphone Warehouse’s inventory, while at the end of last week we cover the news of the first marketing image of this device – called the BlackBerry Z10.

Stay tuned to Omio and we’ll bring you more on these mobile phones as we are attending their launch event, at the end of next month.

Archos launches tablet with Apple iPad screen

French low cost computer maker Archos has released details of its 97 Titanium HD tablet, which has an IPS wide-angle 9-inch 2,048 x 1,536 display.

This is the same screen size and resolution found in the third and fourth generation Apple iPad tablets, only this device runs from the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system and not iOS.

It has an aluminium casing and measures 9mm and weighs in at 640g, while powered by a dual-core 1.6GHz A9 processor, with a quad-core graphics chipset and 1GB of RAM.

There is also 8GB of internal storage and the 97 supports microSD cards up to, and including, 64GB – offering a total of 72GB of possible maxim capacity.

On the front is a 2-megapixel camera, with the rear sports a 5-MP version. It is capable of 1080p video playback, from the likes of AVI, MP4, MOV, 3GP, MPG, PS, TS, MKV and FLV media.

No price or an arrival date have been announced for the Archos 97 titanium HD, as yet. Its 9.7-inch 97 Carbon 16GB version costs £229.99, and Omio expects that it’ll be priced above that and way below the Apple iPad 4.

BlackBerry 10 OS Z10 mobile phone seen at Carphone Warehouse

Canadian email handset maker Research In Motion has had its purported upcoming BlackBerry Z10 phone listed in Carphone Warehouse’s inventory.

This has come from an article on the BlackBerry news website N4BB.com, with a captured picture from the high-street retailer’s database.

It notes: “To add more fuel to the fire, BlackBerry Z10 has surfaced in a Geek Squad inventory screen for Carphone Warehouse. Yesterday, we saw what was claimed to be marketing material for the new all-touch BlackBerry 10 phone. (see here)”

“Research In Motion looks to be venturing away from the four digit nomenclature. Whether you like the new ‘Z10′ branding or not, it looks to be a reality. The above inventory screen also looks to confirm the BlackBerry Z10 will be in both black and white colors, as rumored”, added the title.

The snapped image does have some credibility, as the internal database that lists the BlackBerry Z10 has the same appearance of the 32GB Nexus 7 leak – from early October.

Omio reported on this here, where that Asus-made tablet was captured in the same Carphone Warehouse system. This was nearly a month before it was officially launched by Google, with the new leak possibly proving the BlackBerry Z10 will be the actual name.

Nokia Lumia 920 will be available with Three and Carphone Warehouse next month

Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia has announced a new mobile phone network that will be retailing the flagship Windows Phone 8 run Nokia Lumia 920, along with a new high-street store.

Nokia has unveiled that Three; Carphone Warehouse and Micro-P will be carrying the mobile phone, with the existing EE umbrella company – consisting of the 4G EE network, Orange and T-Mobile, and with Phones 4u.

This follows the news that Omio reported last week:Vodafone has confirmed that it will be carrying the phone next year. That established that EE was losing its exclusive deal, of reselling the Lumia 920.

Vodafone will also be retailing the Lumia 820, in the same month. Nokia noted that handset will continue to be on sale from EE, Orange, T-Mobile, O2, Tesco, Phones4U, Carphone Warehouse and Micro-P – which distributes into independent retail channels.

The Finnish outfit has also stated that the Nokia Lumia 620 will be available to buy in February 2013. This will be through Vodafone, O2, Three UK, Virgin Mobile, Carphone Warehouse, Phones4U and through Micro-P.

Omio has recently published a hands-on walkthrough of the Lumia 620 in pictures here and on video, here.

Weekly Newsletter – 17th December – 21st December

The week began with Omio reported that Windows Phone 7.8 is being deployed to Nokia Lumia 800 handsets. TalkTalk launched new SIM only plans and the Samsung ATIV S is now on sale. Apple iPhone 5 sells another five million, while the Nokia Lumia phones ships with Windows Phone 7.8. Google is to ends Microsoft Exchange support; Nokia Windows Phone 8 phablet caught on video and we published the BlackBerry 10 OS keyboard: hands-on video walkthrough, where the Nokia Lumia 620 price and arrival date was announced.

Earlier on in the week, we wrote that BlackBerry 10 OS is to be launched globally and the HTC M7 specifications leaked. Leaked Sony Xperia mobile phone with a 5-inch 1080p screen gets reviewed where the HTC One SV is available from £20.50 per month. Google Maps for iOS hit 10 million downloads; the Samsung Galaxy Grand was announced and Sony Xperia mobile phones are to get Jelly Bean in February.

Midweek, Samsung ATIV S became available with O2 for £34 a month. BlackBerry 10 OS mobile phones are coming to Three, O2, Vodafone and EE; NVIDIA next mobile processor were leaked and the Motorola RAZR i in white arrives at Phones 4u.

Towards the end of the week, we reported that the Nokia Lumia 920 is coming to Vodafone and the Samsung Galaxy S3 vulnerability to malware is to be fixed soon. Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 Windows Phone 8 update is rolling out; BlackBerry 10 OS web browser vs. Windows Phone 8 IE and Apple iOS 6 Safari is caught on video and the 4G bidders were announced. And the Samsung Galaxy S3 premium suite update became available.

At the end of the week, BlackBerry Z10 picture leaks and Three reduced the Apple iPhone by £100 on PAYG. Twitter brought out is most popular retweets and Samsung Windows Phone 7 mobile phones are to get Windows Phone 7.8. HTC is to make Windows 8 tablets and we published a mobile phone review round up of the HTC 8S. Three is now selling the Asus Windows 8 tablet on a £30.99 a month contract and Top 10 tell-tale signs your mobile phone needs upgrading

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The biggest story of the week came from Research In Motion, which had the purported official name leaked for its inaugural BlackBerry 10 OS run mobile phone – BlackBerry Z10.

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The next most significant piece was when Sony Mobile had its yet-to-be-released purported Yuga C6603 mobile phone leaked, in both pictures and with a review.

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The third largest news item came from HTC, where its purported next flagship, the M7, specifications were been outed online.

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The following most significant story was when the Samsung Galaxy S3 reportedly was found to have a serious vulnerability, which left the mobile phone open to malware.

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The fifth biggest piece was when Apple unveiled that five million iPhone 5 handsets had been sold in China, in the first three days it was available to buy.

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The next most significant news came when NVIDIA had its next generation Tegra 4 chipset leaked, which could power upcoming HTC flagship handsets and Asus tablets.

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The seventh largest story was Vodafone announced that it will be carrying the Nokia Lumia 920, confirming that EE is losing its exclusivity on the mobile phone.

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The following most significant item came from HTC reportedly producing Windows RT tablets along with 12-inch and 7-inch versions, due to be released next year

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The penultimate piece of news was Nokia shipping older Lumia handsets, running the Windows Phone 7.8 update.

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Lastly, with Christmas only days away, we thought we would add some humour and merriment and publish something more light-hearted – Top 10 tell tale signs your mobile phone needs upgrading – Merry Christmas and enjoy.

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