Nexus 5 Leaked Image, Android 4.4 Kit Kat and Internal Service Manual

Android Police has reported on a document that presents itself as a draft internal Service Manual for the Nexus 5 (LG-D821) — revealing a:

• 4.95 inch Nexus device
• 1080p display
• Snapdragon 800 processor
• Android 4.4 KitKat
• 2300mAh battery
• 2GB RAM of memory
• 32GB internal storage
• 8-megapixel rear camera
• 1.3 megapixel front camera.

Take a look at the whole 281-page document below.

Document removed due to copyright infringement  

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First Look: Amazon's 3D Smartphone

Amazon is working on devices with an eye/head movement tracking 3D user interface, and has been at it for at least 5 years.

Code Name "Smith"

Amazon filed quite a few patent applications at the U.S Patent and Trademark Office describing their 3D user interface ideas, and a lot of them talk about things we are now hearing about: device with a camera on each corner, eye and head movement tracking, adjusting user interface elements based on viewing angle, etc.

Those four front-cameras that Kindle smartphone should come equipped with? It seems that they are not really necessary to make Amazon’s faux-3D smartphone UI work. One, or at most two cameras should be plenty enough to accomplish the movement tracking task. Instead they are needed for Amazon’s Kinect like touch-less input gesture user interface.

If the ideas from this patent app make it into the commercial release, you should be able to operate your Kindle Phone by hovering your finger and making various gestures above the device, without touching it. But following your finger movement and hand gestures requires much more detailed resolution and precision, than just figuring out your viewing angle. That’s where 4 front-cameras come into play.

Why would you need such a thing for a smartphone or tablet? Touch works just fine? Yep, multi-touch works great on a 2D UI’s of today. But to effectively navigate through the 3D interfaces, you also need the depth dimension. And that’s what Amazon’s multi-dimensional input UI is all about.

Another smartphone feature that Amazon has been working on for a while now, is constant awareness and user tracking. A bit similar to Moto X's constant voice command monitoring for Google Now integration. But also able to track your whereabouts in the room through device cameras, and always ready for your voice or gesture commands. It’s described in some detail in these patent apps: App 1, App 2.

And why would Amazon go through all this trouble with their own smartphone? Well, to better integrate its services and sell you more stuff, of course. They think they can do it much better with own 3D UI, than with currently available 2D stuff. In Amazon’s own words:

"...an electronic marketplace might not display information through a conventional Web page in a browser, but might provide information to a device that can be displayed along one or more dimensions of a multi-dimensional interface and can be sorted and modified just as any data stored on the device. For example, a shopping view might show dimensions such as past purchases, browse history, reviews, wish list items, etc. A user can select such a view and navigate to content of interest using approaches discussed and suggested herein. Further, since the data can be associated with other data dimensions, the user can obtain information that would not previously have been readily determinable. For example, if a product on the marketplace was reviewed by a reviewer that the user recognizes, but cannot remember where the user met that reviewer, the user can change the view to combine contacts, location, or other such dimensions with the shopping dimension to locate the information.”

Original story by Stasys Bielinis
Photos courtesy of Amazon

iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C: Which New iPhone Is Right For You?

iPhone 5S on the left and iPhone 5C on the right.

From a hardware perspective, the 5c is very similar to the iPhone 5: It uses the same processor (Apple’s A6), the same graphics circuitry, and the same screen. The main differences are that the 5c includes a slightly more capacious battery, compatibility with more bands of LTE, and an updated FaceTime HD camera that features larger pixels and a better backside-illumination sensor.

When can I get the new iPhone models?

You can pre-order an iPhone 5c starting on Friday, September 13; the 5c will actually be available on September 20. The iPhone 5s will also be available on September 20, but Apple isn’t taking pre-orders for that model. These dates apply to the US, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, and the UK.

How much do the phones cost?

The iPhone 5c costs $99 for 16GB of storage or $199 for 32GB with a new two-year contract. Unlocked versions—without a contract—will cost $549 and $649, respectively. With the unlocked version, you can choose one that ships with a T-Mobile SIM card, or one without a SIM card at all. Both unlocked options work only with GSM networks.

The iPhone 5s costs $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB, or $399 for 64GB of storage with a new two-year contract. Without a contract, those same phones will cost $649, $749, and $849, respectively. As with the 5c, you can get the unlocked model for use with T-Mobile. (Apple’s site doesn’t currently list a no-SIM option for the 5s.)

The iPhone 5C with the new colorful cases.

How does the 5s compare to the 5c and the 5?

Apple calls the 5s its most “forward-thinking” phone. Though its aluminum body is almost the same as the iPhone 5’s, there’s a bunch of new hardware inside. Most impressive is the new A7 processor, which Apple touts as the first 64-bit processor available in a phone. The iPhone 5s also includes a new M7 “motion coprocessor”; some big camera upgrades and capabilities; and the Touch ID fingerprint-authentication system. (More on these below.)

Other improvements over the iPhone 5 include a slightly larger battery, expanded carrier support, and a new color. Speaking of which...

What colors can I get?

The lower-cost iPhone 5c, constructed of hard-coated polycarbonate, will be available in candy-like light blue, light green, pink, yellow, or white. Each—including the white version—has a black bezel surrounding the screen.

There is one tiny—and we mean tiny—difference between the iPhone 5c models: On the blue, green, yellow, and white models, the Ring/Silent switch shows an orange line when flipped to the Silent position. On the pink model, the line is white. Details, people.

If you splurge on the aluminum-body iPhone 5s, your choices are different: “space gray” (with a black screen bezel and back trim), silver (with white screen bezel and back trim), or gold (also with white screen bezel and back trim). The gold is subtler than it sounds; it’s more of a champagne color. A nice touch on the 5s is that the metal ring around the Home button on each phone matches its main color: gray, silver, or gold.

The iPhone 5S with the new leather cases.

I hear Apple also makes cases for the new phones?

The $29 iPhone 5c case, available in the same five colors as the phone plus a black version, is made of silicone with a microfiber interior lining and sports a pattern of 35 circular holes on the back that let your iPhone’s own color peek through. You can match your phone to the case or opt for something a bit more interesting like, say, a white phone with a blue case.

The $39 iPhone 5s case is made of leather with a microfiber interior and is available in brown, beige, black, yellow, blue, and Product(Red) red. The case is molded over the Sleep/Wake and volume buttons, with openings for the Ring/Silent switch and back camera and flash.

The iPhone 5s

What’s this about a new processor and a co-processor?

The A7 inside the new iPhone 5s is unquestionably the most powerful chip Apple has ever put in a mobile device. It’s also the first one that uses a 64-bit architecture—usually found only on laptop and desktop computers. The implications of that architecture might not be immediately apparent, because apps have to be written to take advantage of it. But down the road, the new chip will offer some exciting possibilities for expansion and power.

The A7’s support for the latest OpenGL ES 3.0 standard means better graphics performance, too. In fact, Apple claims that the new A7 processor is twice as fast at both processor-intensive and graphics-intensive tasks as its predecessor. We’ll see about that when we test the 5s.

The iPhone 5s also includes a separate processor, called the M7, that handles sensor data.

What’s this M7 thing good for?

The M7—which Apple calls the motion co-processor—is a brand-new chip inside the iPhone 5s that complements the A7 by handling data from the device’s many sensors, including the accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass. Why a separate processor for all that? The key to the M7 is that it can log data from those sources without waking the full A7 processor. This means that not only can fitness-tracking apps more easily run in the background, but they’ll also chew up less of your precious battery power. And using the new CoreMotion API, third-party apps can use real-time location and motion information—like, say, whether you're walking or riding in a car—to determine how the app behaves, without dramatically affecting battery life.

iPhone 5S's newly improved 8PM camera.

Is the iPhone 5s camera really that much better?

For starters, the 5s uses a new, five-element lens that Apple designed specifically for the new iPhone. This new lens offers an f/2.2 aperture, a 15-percent-larger area than the iPhone 5’s lens, and 1.5-micron pixels—larger than those on the iPhone 5 and other smartphones.

The phone also includes a new dual-LED True Tone flash that Apple says is the first of its kind on a phone or a standalone camera. One flash is cooler white, while the other is amber with a warmer color temperature. The phone monitors ambient light and then fires the two flashes together to match that light. Together, Apple says, the two flashes provide more than 1000 unique light combinations, for flash lighting that’s brighter and more natural.

But iOS 7 also includes a bunch of software specifically designed to take advantage of the improved camera hardware. For example, before you take a photo, the phone automatically adjusts white-balance and exposure to create a tone map for better highlights and shadows; it also performs auto-focus matrix metering for improved sharpness. When you take the photo, the phone actually takes multiple images, analyzes them in real time, and then shows you what it thinks is the best one.

The 5s also includes image stabilization in software: In situations—such as low lighting—where you’d normally end up with blurry images, the phone takes multiple photos with a single shutter press, and then it blends them together into a single, sharp image. And a new burst mode captures ten full-resolution frames per second for as long as you hold down the shutter button. But unlike most burst modes, on an iPhone 5s, the phone automatically filters out bad shots to show you only the “best” ones. (You can choose others manually, if you like.)

When taking video, you can capture 720p video at 120 frames per second, slowing it down later for true slow-motion video. (You can do the editing in your favorite video app, or you can choose, right in the Photos app, which section of the clip to view in slo-mo.) And Panorama mode now lets you adjust exposure as you pan.

Fingerprint-sensor, Touch ID: how does it work?

It’s a capacitance-based (as opposed to optical) scanner built into the iPhone 5s Home button. The “capacitance” part means that instead of taking a visual scan of your finger or thumb, the scanner detects minute differences in electrical charge caused by a fingerprint’s whorls, loops, and curves.

The phone then produces a digital template (again, not an image) based on that scan. In other similar systems, software then runs such a template through a cryptographic hashing process, making it virtually impossible to recreate the original print from the template. If that’s how Touch ID works, the hashing process should make it harder—if not impossible—to spoof your prints. For further security, your fingerprint is never stored in the cloud or anywhere in the phone’s memory—only in a secure area of the A7 chip itself.

We don’t yet know all the details about how iOS 7 will use the fingerprints it detects. But we do know that it will let you bypass the lock-screen pass-code. (You do have a lock-screen pass-code, right?) It will also let you authenticate with iCloud and the App Store using your finger.

With all this new technology and speed on the iPhone 5s, is the battery life worse than that of the iPhone 5?

Apple claims that the iPhone 5s offers battery life equal to or greater than that of the iPhone 5. Specifically, the company says the iPhone 5s offers 10 hours of 3G talk time, 10 hours of LTE or Wi-Fi browsing, or 250 hours of standby time. Compare that to Apple’s claims for the iPhone 5 when that model was released: 8 hours of 3G talk time, 10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing, or 225 hours of standby time.

Apple says that the iPhone 5c’s battery life is identical to that of the iPhone 5s.

By Macworld staff

Photos courtesy of Apple


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The Facebook-Phone: Leaked Photos

9to5Google has released what it claims are leaked images of the new Facebook Home user interface that is rumored to be unveiled tomorrow morning at the social networking giant’s headquarters. As rumored, the phone is said to be manufactured by HTC, but it will apparently be named “First" rather than the previously reported "Myst."

The leaks show a sleek, clean-looking interface that seems to borrow some of its style from stock Android rather than HTC Sense’s UI. As 9to5Google reports, Facebook Home features a “minimal aesthetic” with a heavy focus on photography—likely because of Facebook’s photo-friendly integration with features like cover photos and customizable photo albums. 

Be sure to follow Ars Technica's liveblog tomorrow morning for the full scoop.

Photos: 9to5Google

Story: Florence Ion

Future Smartphone Screens May Be Made of Sapphire

Manufactured Sapphire Disk.

Manufactured sapphire—a material that’s used as transparent armor on military vehicles—could become cheap enough to replace the glass display covers on mobile phones. That could mean smartphone screens that don’t crack when you drop them and can’t be scratched with keys, or even by a concrete sidewalk. 

Sapphire, a crystalline form of aluminum oxide, probably won’t ever be as cheap as Gorilla Glass, the durable material from Corning that’s used to make screens on iPhones and other smartphones. A Gorilla Glass display costs less than $3, while a sapphire display would cost about $30. But that could fall below $20 in a couple of years thanks to increased competition and improving technology, says Eric Virey, an analyst for the market research firm Yole Développement. And since sapphire performs better than glass, that price could make it cheap enough to compete, he says. 

Sapphire is harder than any other natural material except diamond; by some measures, it’s three times stronger than Gorilla Glass, and it is also about three times more scratch resistant. That’s why Apple uses it now to protect the camera on its iPhone 5. Virey says that all major mobile-phone makers are considering using sapphire to replace glass. “I’m convinced that some will start testing the water and release some high-end smartphones using sapphire in 2013,” he says. 

An alternative to using pure sapphire is to laminate an ultra-thin layer of sapphire with another, cheaper transparent material, maintaining much of the performance advantage of sapphire at a cost comparable to that of the glass typical in mobile-phone displays. 

For this purpose, GT Advanced Technologies, based in Nashua, New Hampshire, is developing a method for making sapphire sheets thinner than a human hair—much thinner than the nearly millimeter-thick glass used now on mobile phones.

GT is also cutting the cost of sapphire manufacturing by following the strategy that it used over the last several years to reduce the cost of making crystalline silicon for solar cells. 

To make the sapphire, aluminum oxide is melted down in a specialized furnace and then allowed to slowly cool to form a large crystal. That crystal is then cut with a diamond-coated wire saw. GT designs its furnaces so that they can be cheaply upgraded to make ever larger crystals as the technology improves, allowing customers to increase production without buying new equipment. 

GT is more optimistic about prices than Virey, estimating that sapphire displays might cost only three to four times as much as those made from Gorilla Glass. People at the company say prices will fall further as GT improves its furnaces, and as the manufacturers that buy those furnaces streamline their operations. 

Several other companies with proprietary technologies are also lowering the cost of sapphire, including Rubicon Technologies in the United States, Monocrystal in Russia, and Sapphire Technology in South Korea. If costs can get low enough, these manufacturers may have a large market waiting for them. But they’ll have to continue to contend with the incumbent technologies—Gorilla Glass and similar materials offered by other manufacturers. This year Corning introduced a new version of the material that it says is about twice as resistant to scratches. It could be in products later this year.

By Kevin Bullis

Startup Seeo Creates Safer Next-Gen Lithium Battery

The unnerving capability of lithium ion batteries to catch on fire emerged as headline news last month, as Boeing was forced to ground its futuristic 787 Dreamliner FLEET after two batteries caught on fire. But the next generation of lithium ion batteries are promising to be safer, and a few of them are already starting to be used in real-world situations in the power grid, electric vehicles and gadgets.

Six-year-old startup Seeo — which is backed by Vinod Khosla, Google Ventures and others — has installed its first battery system to act as energy storage in conjunction with a solar panel system developed by SunEdison, according to Seeo CEO Hal Zarem, who I interviewed last week. The solar battery installation is a trial for now, but a sizable one: on the level of kilowatts and tens of kilowatts, explained Zarem. For comparison’s sake, the Nissan LEAF uses a 24 kilowatt hour battery, while an average cell phone will use 2,000 to 3,000 milliamp hour batteries (far smaller than a kilowatt hour of capacity).

Batteries, like the one Seeo has installed for SunEdison’s solar system, can act as storage for the energy produced by solar panels, so that when the sun goes down (or behind a cloud) the battery can then offer up the stored power. Utilities, building owners and even home owners are starting to see the benefits of having battery storage systems connected to solar systems, because power can be far more smooth and reliable. Likewise solar installer SolarCity has been working with Tesla’s batteries to sell a home battery system with its solar panels in certain markets.

THE NEXT GEN-TECH

iPhone 5 - The Worlds Most Innovative Gadget. Ever.

Lexmark Exiting The Printing Business

On August 28, 2012, Lexmark announced restructuring actions which included the exiting of the development and manufacturing of the company's remaining inkjet hardware. Overall, the total pre-tax cost of eliminating the division is likely to be $160 million through 2015, Lexmark said. Despite this decision, Lexmark will continue to provide service, support and aftermarket supplies for its inkjet installed base.

"Today's announcement represents difficult decisions, which are necessary to drive improved profitability and significant savings," said Paul Rooke, Lexmark chairman and chief executive officer. "Our investments are focused on higher value imaging and software solutions, and we believe the synergies between imaging and the emerging software elements of our business will continue to drive growth across the organization.

By the end of 2012, Grasso said, Lexmark expects to employ about 2,300 people in Lexington (Lexmark's main facilities in the US), down from about 3,000 before the cuts. An additional 1,100-plus employees worldwide also will be affected, with a plant in the Philippines closing by 2015. The company is attempting to sell the inkjet division and its approximately 1,000 patents.

"So we think we're in good shape," Grasso said. "Technology evolves. There just wasn't the return on investment that we needed. We think inkjet is still viable, just not for us."

Edited by Limewit Tech Blog

Source Lexmark and Businessweek
Photos courtesy of Lexmark

Breaking News: iPhone5 Revealed! (Live Coverage-Video)

Live coverage enter here

Notable Features

• Will run on Higher Speed LTE networks.
• Made entirely out of glass and aluminum.
• Weighs 112 grams (iPhone 4S = 140 grams)
• A larger, 4-inch screen, showing five rows of icons with a "retina" display. The screen has 326 pixels per inch, the same as the iPhone 4S, but because it is longer it totals to 1136 by 640 resolution.
• New “A6” processor, which executives claim runs twice as fast as the previous generation.
• Three microphones.
• Improved 8 megapixel camera that can take pictures on higher resolutions. The front facing camera is now able to shoot 720p video.
• Upgraded and a more interactive Siri.
• Battery will last for 8 hours of talking on 3G networks or talking and browsing on LTE networks. The new battery lasts for 10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing.

Photo by: James Martin/CNET

Out of Power? Print a New Battery! Berkeley Grads Create Printable Battery

Imprint Energy is a new start up founded by campus graduates Christine Ho and Brooks Kincaid that has created printable batteries. The design, produced in part due to a $250,000 grant from the university, is seen as a new way for batteries to be produced and disposed of in way a less harmful to the environment.

But how does one print a battery?

“It’s a variety of inks, and in combination they create a battery,” Kincaid said. “There are four to five layers that, once deposited, create the battery.”

Kincaid explained that the process used is called “screen printing” — the same type of industrial printing that is used to print T-shirts or other high-volume materials. At the moment, it is not possible to print at home, but Kincaid said this could still become a reality in the long term.

“We don’t use heavy metals or seriously toxic materials,” Kincaid said. “We use materials that are widely available and at a low-cost battery technology.”

Professor of metallurgy James Evans, who taught Ho when she was a graduate student studying materials science and engineering, further explained the company’s sustainable nature.

”The invention here is a way of making a rechargeable battery with a zinc electrode work. Because you can recharge it, it has less of an impact on the environment,” said Evans, who is also an adviser to the company.

The start up is currently located in Alameda and employs five people. According to Kincaid, the company is seeking to grow and develop more investors and customers.

By Levon Minassian

Curated by Limewit Blog

Try Before You Buy: The Future of Online Shopping?

One of the biggest hurdles of buying stuff online is the inability to try products out first hand before knowing whether you want to purchase it or not. But increasingly, companies are getting around that by offering a try-before-you-buy option for online goods, something Warby Parker has done successfully with glasses. YBuy, a Southern California company, has built a monthly subscription service around the try-before-you-buy model for gadgets, appliances and other products and it’s getting a big name backer in Google Chairman Eric Schmidt.

Schmidt’s TomorrowVentures is leading a $1 million Series A round investment that also includes funding from David Hanna, Chairman and CEO of CompuCredit, and Jim Patterson, Chief Product Officer at Yammer. The money will help YBuy scale up to handle a waiting list of 50,000 people, who have signed up for the service. YBuy exited public beta in January but it has been limited to a smaller group of users so far.

YBuy users pay $24.95 to try out a curated list of products, things like the iPad 3, the Xbox 360, the Jawbone Jambox or Limewit's Sony and Dell Laptop batteries. Users have up to 30 days to try out the product. If they decide to buy it, the $24.95 gets applied to the purchase price. If they don’t, they just send it back and try out something new. Shipping is free both ways. The service curates a list of products based on the tastes of a user. In addition to gadgets, it also offers appliances, such as coffee makers and blenders, and sporting goods, such as golf drivers.

The Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based company was started by Stephen Svajian, Kevin and Tim Wallin in 2009 and previously raised $750,000 from its founders and other angels.

Here's how Ybuy works:

1. Join the club

• Select products from a curated list
• Get a personal customer assistant

2. Try products

• Pay nothing until you choose your first product
• Skip a month at any time

3. Buy or return

• Return your product by the last day of the month
• Or, just keep the product and trial fees go toward the purchase

Is this the future of online shopping?

By Ryan Kim

Photo courtesy of Ybuy.com
Curated by Limewit Blog

Apple iOS 6 VS. Google's Jelly Bean: Which Is King?

Both Apple and Google have demonstrated and released betas of their new smartphone and tablet operating systems. The question everyone is wondering is, which of the two can be crowned King?

We are going to make this simple. No fancy graphs, no Cal Tech level talk, and no references to obscure operating systems or features from the past. Just photos and why one operating system is better than the other. Enjoy.

Siri vs. Google Now Voice Search | The Winner: Siri (iOS 6)
Both voice-controlled search functions work great if you know the limitations of each service. Siri is more attractive, but its social integration and app launching is what really gives it a leg up over Google Now.

  
Apple Maps vs. Google Maps | The Winner: Google Maps (Jelly Bean)
Apple’s first attempt at a home-grown mapping app is nice, but it can’t beat years of Google experience in building out a mapping infrastructure. In fact, we’re impatiently waiting for Google Maps to appear on iOS 6.

Notifications & Alerts | The Winner: Apple (iOS 6)
Google may have been first but Apple has mastered the game. Google needs to look beyond Google+.

On Being Social & Networking | The Winner: Google (Jelly Bean)

Facebook Payment Services and Banking: Coming Soon?

These days, brick and mortar businesses displaying some kind of signage saying "Like us on Facebook," are nearly as common as those displaying Visa and MasterCard logos. That's worth considering, when you think about using Facebook as a way to pay for goods and services in the physical world.

Of course, Facebook users have developed some trust issues with the site over the years. It would be quite interesting to see if a PayPal-like service from Facebook would be widely adopted. It's one thing to trust a third party with your status updates and photos. It's another to trust them with your money.

Last week, Facebook announced that it is getting rid of Facebook Credits, in favor of real money. Users will start paying for virtual goods using their native currencies. This represents the beginning of users being able to treat their Facebook account like a bank account, or at least like a PayPal account. I'm not sure if Facebook is FDIC insured.

Facebook has not mentioned anything about using currency to pay for things in the physical world but one can simply connect the dots. For one, Facebook has over 900 million users. Many of them carry it around in their pocket all day long. Now, consider that Facebook recently acquired Tagtile, described as "your universal loyalty card," for which you can "visit local stores, tag the Tagtile Cube with your phone, and get rewarded for being an awesome customer."