HTC One (E8) now available at Sprint for $99.99

A couple of weeks ago a leaked video told us that the HTC One (E8) would be headed to Sprint in the US, and today the carrier has announced that the smartphone is available for order.

So you can already go ahead to Sprint's website and purchase the One (E8) in either Polar White or Misty Gray.

The price you'll need to pay for this handset varies based on what method you choose. If you want to go the traditional two-year contract route, it will set you back $99.99.

If you want to use Sprint's Easy Pay installment plan, you shell out nothing upfront, then followed by 23 monthly payments of $20.84 and a final 24th payment of $20.67.

The HTC One (E8) comes with a 5-inch 1080p Super LCD3 touchscreen, a 13 MP rear camera with LED flash, as well as a 5 MP front snapper for selfies.

It's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset with a 2.3 GHz quad-core CPU, aided by 2GB of RAM. Internal storage is 16GB, expandable via microSD cards. LTE support is obviously in tow, and a 2,600 mAh battery keeps things juiced up. The One (E8) runs Android 4.4 KitKat.

Interestingly, the official press renders show that Sprint hasn't added its logo anywhere on the device.

Nokia Lumia 735 with LTE gets pictured in black and white

Next week Microsoft has a pre-IFA event scheduled in Berlin, during which it's widely been expected to unveil two new smartphones - the Lumia 830 and the Lumia 730. However, it turns out that a third device may join them - the Lumia 735.

This is basically going to be the LTE-capable version of the oft-leaked Lumia 730, which itself will apparently only come in a 3G dual-SIM iteration.

The Lumia 730 and Lumia 735 are allegedly pictured next to each other in the images you see above and below this paragraph. They seem to have starred in a photo shoot over in China.

That said, both handsets look like they have a 4G connection at the moment of the shots, so we may in fact be staring at two of the Lumia 735's color versions, the most conservative ones actually: white and black. Undoubtedly, we're bound to see many more daring hues for this model, like for its non-LTE capable sibling.

Previously rumored specs for the Lumia 730 talked about it coming with a 4.7-inch 720p touchscreen, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, and a 5 MP front-facing camera that will probably be the main selling point of the device. So yes, look for Microsoft to try and exploit the selfie craze as best it can.

The Lumia 730 has been said to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset with a 1.2 GHz quad-core CPU. It should sport a polycarbonate unibody construction, and on-screen software buttons. Keeping things running will be a 2,000 mAh battery.

All of these specs are probably going to be found on the Lumia 735 as well, with the only difference between the phones being the types of connectivity they each support, and the price of course. The 3G model could cost around $240.

Lenovo IFA event invite teases an Android L-running Vibe X2

We already knew Lenovo had an IFA event planned for Sept. 4, but the event invite is rather interesting on its own.

The invite shows in a straightforward way that the Lenovo Vibe X2 will be the centerpiece of the event. The lolipop is also a certain clue that the new device will be running Android L.

The last tiny piece of interest on Lenovo's invite is a friendly jab to Apple for their recent invite, which claimed the company wished it could say more about their event, which will surely be all about the iPhone 6.

The Lenovo Vibe X2 has not made the headlines that often as the likes of the Note 4 or the iPhone in question, but a recent leak surely suggests it's a proper flagship-grade device. It will have a 2.2 GHz octa-core CPU, a 5-inch 1080p touchscreen, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of built-in storage, a 13 MP rear camera with LED flash, and a 5 MP front snapper for selfies.

Anyway, the IFA 2014 starts next week, and we're sure to be hit by a torrent of new devices. Stay tuned, we'll be on the ground in Berlin, covering it all live as it unfolds.

Galaxy Note 4 spotted on Samsung Mobile site

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is just days away from being officially announced at the IFA trade show in Berlin, and the leaks keep piling up. The latest is in the form of a UAProf found on Samsung's mobile site, which confirms a large number of the devices' specifications.

Besides the SM-N920T model number, there's confirmation of a QHD display at 1440 x 2560px resolution. Also possibly listed is the presence of a 64-bit processor.

These latest bits of information can be added to what else we've heard regarding the device, including the 5.7-inch display, S-Pen, and USB 3.0 port alongside the fingerprint sensor and heart rate monitor introduced with the Galaxy S5. The device will also be one of the first to run Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 805 variant, which is hinted at making an appearance on the SM-N910S model of the Note 4.

We'll be covering the Note 4 launch live from Berlin on September 3, so be sure to check back with us then for all the juicy details, as well as full IFA 2014 coverage all of next week.

Meanwhile, check out the latest glimpse of the Galaxy Note 4 poster for IFA.

BlackBerry Passport detailed review appears ahead of launch

BlackBerry plans to launch the Passport in September, but luckily for everyone who has been expecting it, a detailed review has surfaced before its debut. It comes courtesy our Czech colleagues fromMobilenet.cz and reveals just about everything about the smartphone.

Inside the BlackBerry Passport there's a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 chipset with a quad-core 2.2GHz Krait 400 CPU, Adreno 330 GPU and 3GB of RAM. There is also 32GB internal memory, which can be expanded further via the microSD card slot. The battery is quite large in capacity at 3,450mAh but because the phone didn't stick around for long, there was no time for a proper battery test.

The phone measures 128x90.3x9.3mm and weighs the massive 195 grams. At the back, there's a 13MP camera with LED flash and 1080p@60fps video recording capabilities. It has optical image stabilization, too. While there's NFC and LTE connectivity options, the Passport's Wi-Fi is limited to 802.11n only.

The 4.5" display of 1440x1440 pixel resolution boasts a pixel density of 453 ppi. It's also covered with a protective layer of Gorilla Glass 3. The review reveals that the phone feels really sturdy and is built to last. On the side, there's a steel frame, while the back is made of soft touch material to be less slippery.

One of the most interesting features of the Passport is its keypad which doubles as a large touchpad. There are few interesting gestures available. One of them is the ability to quickly delete words by swiping to the left. The keyboard itself is fantastic to write on, but one handed use is quite hard as the phone is just too wide.

Lastly, the review mentions the phone's availability in Europe, which will happen in October. The price of the Passport is quoted at $760 (CZK16,000). Follow the source link to check out more live photos of the BlackBerry Passport.

CPU-Z confirms 64-bit Tegra K1 SoC for Nexus 9

While we've been waiting for HTC and Google to announce an 8.9" Nexus tablet we've been treated to more than one leak about the coveted Nexus 9. The latest one is from hardware-assessing app CPU-Z, which confirms the SoC in charge of the tablet is the latest Nvidia Tegra K1 64-bit.

We've already suspected the tablet will carry a 64-bit Nvidia chip and with two leaks behind it, the rumors seem plausible to say the least.

The Tegra K1 inside the Nexus 9 will have a top clock speed of 2.5GHz which is higher than the 2.2GHz non-64-bit Tegra K1 we benchmarked and found to top our charts, especially in the graphics department.

Nvidia claims its Tegra K1 chip is 1.5 times more efficient than its competition which should translate into reasonable battery life despite the immense power within. The Tegra K1 has a 192-core GPU based on the desktop-grade Kepler architecture and Nvidia's Cuda cores.

As for the Nexus 9, it's rumored to have a 4:3 aspect 1440 x 2048 pixel 8.9" display of 281ppi, 8MP camera and the latest Android L from Google.

Archos unveils two Android phones, one WP handset

Archos put out one its traditional "here's what we'll announce" announcements. It details three phones, two tablets and additional gadgets that will be shown at IFA at the start of next month. Details for the first two Android phones are available in full, while the other devices are just outlined.

Archos 50b Platinum

The Archos 50b Platinum is a dual-SIM phone. It will have a 5" IPS screen with qHD resolution and run Android 4.4 KitKat. The phone is based on a MediaTek MT6582 chipset with 1.3GHz quad-core Cortex-A7, Mali-400MP2 GPU and just 512MB RAM.

   

Archos 50b Platinum

There will be an 8MP / 1080p main camera with LED flash and a 2MP front-facing camera. The 50b Platinum will come with an 8GB microSD card in addition to 4GB of built-in storage, a number of colorful cases and a 1,900mAh Li-Po battery.

The Archos 50b Platinum will launch in September and will cost £120 (€150 / $200).

Archos 45c Platinum

The Archos 45c Platinum will be smaller with a 4.5" IPS screen with FWVGA resolution (480 x 854 pixels). It's a dual-SIM phone as well and will be powered by the same MediaTek chipset.

   

Archos 45c Platinum

The main camera has been dropped to 5MP / 1080p, the front-facing camera remains at 2MP. The battery is a Li-Po unit with 1,700mAh capacity.

The Archos 45c Platinum will also launch in September for £100 (€125 / $165)

Archos 40 Cesium

Earlier this year Archos CEO Loic Poirier said the company was considering making a Windows Phone handset and here's the result – the Archos 40 Cesium. It will have a 4" screen and run Windows Phone 8.1 on a Snapdragon 200 chipset with a quad-core processor (it's not clear if it will have Cortex-A7 or A5 cores).

The 40 Cesium will launch in September at £80 (€100 / $130 and will come in Yellow, Blue and Black.

Archos 101 Oxygen

The Archos 101 Oxygen is an affordable Android tablet. £200 (€250 / $330) buys you a 10.1" 1080p screen and a quad-core Cortex-A17 processor with 1.5GB RAM. It will come with 16GB of built-in storage.

<3h>Archos 80 Cesium Tablet

The Archos 80 Cesium is will come in October at £130 (€165 / $215). It's an 8" tablet with 1,280 x 800 resolution and will run Windows 8.1 (not phone) on a quad-core Intel processor (presumably Atom).

Connected Objects

Archos has gotten into the home automation and has additional gadgets to make your place cooler. The Archos Weather Station will come in September at £100 (€125 / $165) and will connect to your iOS or Android device.

It will track temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, air quality and noise pollution and looks quite cool.

There's also the Archos Music Light – a £50 (€65 / $85) lamp that can play music from a Bluetooth-connected iOS, Android or Windows device.

For music on the go, the Archos Music Beany is a plush beany with built-in headphones and a microphone, which again connects to your smartphone over Bluetooth. It will set you back £30 (€40 / $50).

Nokia 130 Dual SIM

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 900 / 1800 - SIM 1 & SIM 2
	SIM	Dual SIM (Mini-SIM, dual stand-by)
	Announced	2014, August
	Status	Coming soon. Exp. release 2014, August

BODY	Dimensions	106 x 45.5 x 13.9 mm (4.17 x 1.79 x 0.55 in)
	Weight	67.9 g (2.40 oz)
		- Flashlight

DISPLAY	Type	TFT, 65K colors
	Size	128 x 160 pixels, 1.8 inches (~114 ppi pixel density)

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration; Polyphonic
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

MEMORY	Card slot	microSD, up to 32 GB
	Phonebook	500 entries
	Call records	Yes

DATA	GPRS	Yes
	EDGE
	WLAN	No
	Bluetooth	v3.0
	USB	microUSB v2.0

CAMERA		No

FEATURES	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, IM
	Browser	WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML
	Radio	FM radio
	Games	Yes
	GPS	No
	Java
	Colors	Red, black, white
		- SNS applications - MP3/WAV/AAC player - MP4/H.263 player - Photo viewer - Organizer - Voice memo

BATTERY		Li-Ion 1020 mAh battery (BL-5C)
	Stand-by	Up to 624 h
	Talk time	Up to 13 h
	Music play	Up to 46 h

HTC Desire 510 goes official with mid-range specs and LTE

HTC announced the Desire 510 smartphone. The newcomer combines mid-range specs and LTE connectivity.

HTC Desire 510 features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chipset with 1.2GHz quad-core CPU. There’s a gig of RAM and 8GB of built-in memory, which can be further expanded via microSD card slot.

The device’s display is a 4.7” FWVGA unit. Its main camera is a 5MP unit, coupled with front-facing VGA snapper. HTC Desire 510 boots Sense-d Android 4.4 KitKat.

Measures of the Desire 510 are 139.9 x 69.8 x 9.99 mm, while its weight tips the scale at 158 grams. A 2,100mAh battery powers the device.

The handset will make its way to regions in Europe, Asia, as well as some carriers in the United States. The price of the handset is expected to be highly affordable.

IUNI U3 packs 5.5” QHD display, high-end specs, and $325 price tag

The Gionee spinoff manufacturer IUNI took the wraps of the premium, yet highly affordable U3. The handset packs a flagship worthy spec sheet, coupled with the barely believable price tag of CNY 2,000 (around $325).

IUNI U3 features a 5.5” QHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) display made by Sharp. The 538 ppi screen is adorned by slim bezels and has takes up the impressive 77% of the device’s body.

The rest of the IUNI U3 specs include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 SoC with 2.5GHz quad-core CPU, Adreno 330 GPU, and 3GB of RAM. The device offers 32GB built-in memory.

On paper, the IUNI U3 appears to have a highly capable camera department. The main snapper is a 13MP unit with Sony sensor and optical image stabilization. The front-facing camera on the other hand is a 4MP UltraPixel solution, lifted straight from the HTC One (M7).

Connectivity options of the device include dual-SIM functionality, where one of the slots is dedicated to LTE networks. A 3,000mAh battery powers IUNI U3.

The handset boots skinned Android 4.4.4. It will be available in black, white, and light green when available.

Speaking of availability, the IUNI U3 is expected to be available in limited numbers in the first half of September.

LG G3 review

The LG G3 is one of the best-looking phones we've ever seen. With its super-high-res 5.5in 2,560x1,440 IPS display and ultra-thin bezels, it's not only gorgeous to look at, but its simple, clean design also makes it supremely comfortable to hold.

Like its predecessor the G2, the G3 has its power and volume buttons on the rear of the phone, which takes some getting used to, but does mean you don’t press them accidentally when using the phone one-handed. We particularly like the G3's smooth, curved back, which fits perfectly in your palm. Its metallic finish isn't real aluminium as on the HTC One (m8), but it doesn't attract fingerprints and provides a decent amount of grip compared to the sometimes-slippery G2. We prefer the design to that of both the One (m8) and Samsung Galaxy S5, but it's the G3's screen that really makes it stand out from its competitors.

With a resolution of 2,560x1,440, the G3 has a massive 3.68 million pixels crammed onto its 5.5in display, giving it an astonishing pixel density of 534 pixels-per-inch (PPI). To put that figure into perspective, a 5.5in phone with a 1,920x1,080 resolution would have just 2.07 million pixels and a PPI of 400. That's almost double the number of pixels in the same amount of space, giving the G3 a much crisper and clearer-looking screen than that of any other top-end smartphone.

Text was noticeably sharper on the G3 than on phones with Full HD displays, and we had no problem at all reading headlines and smaller body copy on web pages such as The Guardian and BBC News running in Desktop mode. Even Full HD phones force us to zoom in occasionally, but we felt no such need with the G3.

We measured the G3's black levels as 0.56cd/m2, which isn't particularly deep, but we found this made little difference to the clarity of text as the screen's high brightness of 417.32cd/m2 really makes letters stand out against its clean white backgrounds. Colours were also extremely bright and vivid thanks to the phone's high sRGB colour accuracy score of 91.7 per cent, and our measured contrast ratio of 741:1 led to plenty of detail in light and dark areas of images.

It's easily one of the best smartphone screens we've ever seen, but we did notice that the G3 wasn't able to sustain its maximum brightness setting during extended periods of use. Instead, the phone would gradually lower its maximum brightness level automatically, and wouldn't let us increase it again until the phone's internal temperature had cooled down. This was a little disappointing, but even though the G3 did get quite warm during every day use, it never got so hot that it was uncomfortable to hold and the brightness level rarely dropped below 90 per cent, meaning we could still use it outside in bright conditions without any trouble.

Of course, one of the benefits of having such a large resolution screen is having a lot more workspace to play with, and LG has made the most of the G3's screen with its Dual Window app.

Like the Multi Window feature on current Samsung devices, Dual View lets you use two apps simultaneously, and you can adjust the height of each window to fit your needs. This means you can send a text while looking at Google Maps or browse the web while chatting to friends in Google Hangouts. Using apps in Dual Window can be a little cramped compared to using apps in full screen view, but it's great for multitasking and we much prefer it to continually going back and forth between different apps via the home screen.

In terms of performance, the G3 is right up there with the HTC One (m8) and Samsung Galaxy S5. With a quad-core 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, it completed our Sunspider JavaScript benchmark in a lightning-fast 649ms using its default browser, and we saw no signs of lag or hesitation whatsoever when browsing the web. Image-heavy pages were quick to load and scrolling and panning round zoomed-in pages was incredibly smooth.

The G3's graphics performance wasn't quite as good on paper as the One (m8) and S5's, but this isn't surprising given the G3 has to render almost double the number of pixels. Taking this into account, the phone's Adreno 330 GPU coped brilliantly with our graphics benchmarks, as it scored a respectable 8,552 (roughly 34.9fps) in the Extreme version of 3DMark Ice Storm. It even managed a smooth 28.9fps in the Epic Citadel benchmark on Ultra High quality settings at a resolution of 2,392x1,440, so the G3 should be able to handle any game available in the Google Play Store.

Of course, powering such a large screen is going to take its toll on the G3's battery life, but the handset's huge 3,000mAh battery still lasted an impressive 13 hours and 12 minutes in our continuous video playback test with the screen set to half brightness. This is just 16 minutes shy of the HTC One (m8) under the same conditions, so you should be able to get a full day's use out of the G3 without having to charge it up during the day.

camera

According to LG, the G3's 1/3in camera sensor has laser autofocus technology. This means the camera supposedly takes just 0.276ms to focus on a subject, which is less than a blink of an eye. When taking landscape shots, the camera took no time at all to focus and the resulting images were well exposed and showed plenty of fine detail. This fast focus is great news, as shots often present themselves quickly and if you or your camera aren't ready to go, then you stand a good chance of missing out on the shot you want. Part of the challenge with snapping off a shot quickly is getting to the camera app on the phone. Most handsets have shortcut on the homescreen, but the LG G3 goes one step further. All you have to do is long-press the volume down button and the phone will wake itself and jump straight into the camera app. It will remember your last shooting settings, too, so you're ready to go extremely quickly. High Dynamic Range is set to Auto by default, but unlike those from other phone cameras with HDR modes, we found the G3's HDR effects were well balanced. Colours didn't look too harsh or unnatural when we switched on HDR, and bright skies didn't suffer from overexposure. LG's promise of tapping anywhere on the screen to take a picture is a little misleading, though, as you can only do this once you've got rid of the menu overlay. Otherwise, you have to press the onscreen shutter button.

When HDR is turned off (above), shots are well exposed and show plenty of detail. When HDR is turned on (below), the sky is better exposed but colours don't look quite as rich

The G3's camera also has a Magic Focus mode that lets you tweak the focus of an image after you've taken it. It's a similar feature to the One (m8)'s U Focus mode, but as well as letting you tap the screen to focus on a subject, the G3 has an onscreen slider you can use to switch between five possible points of focus. It doesn’t work as quickly as on the One (m8), or give you as many points of focus (the One (m8) has two cameras for this purpose) but the results looked great. Macro and portrait shots really stood out against their backgrounds, but there were often only two points of focus that really worked. The rest blurred out the entire image, so judging how close to get to your subjects can be a bit tricky.

The front-facing 2-megapixel sensor also has a few tricks, as you can initiate a timer by raising your hand and then clenching your fist to take a selfie. It's a little fiddly in practice, as you've got to make sure the camera recognises both your hand and the shape of your fist, which didn't always work when we tried it out. There's a Dual camera mode, too, allowing you to take photos with both cameras simultaneously. For more practical advice, see our how to use the LG G3 camera guide.

It's not just the display and camera that make the G3 stand out from the crowd, though, as we're also big fans of LG's customised Android interface. This highly personalised version of 4.4.2 KitKat has a much cleaner, simpler design than that of previous LG handsets, and it helps make LG's new smart features easier to use. On your home page, Smart Bulletins provide useful information cards about the day, such as advice on whether to take an umbrella if it's going to rain later or reminders about forgotten missed calls. Swipe left from the main home page and you'll find a screen dedicated entirely to LG's Smart Bulletin feature, which monitors your health with the LG Health app and provides access to video tips on how to use the G3.

LG has also made the G3 easier to use one-handed, as you can swipe left or right on the keyboard, dial pad and lock screen PIN number to change its position so it's nearer your free thumb. The Smart Keyboard's another great tool, as this lets you adjust the height of the keyboard and make the keys bigger or smaller depending on the size of your hand. The keys practically double in size when the keyboard is raised to its maximum height compared to its smallest setting, so those with big hands should have plenty of room to type accurately. It's a shame you can't change the height of the keyboard on the fly, but at least there's a shortcut to the main keyboard settings right next to the space bar.

Even the G3's lock screen has been customised to make room for LG's new Knock Code. Instead of typing in a PIN code or swiping a pattern onscreen to unlock your phone, you can simply tap out your own personalised code on four main The G3 is easily LG's best smartphone to date. At £490 SIM-free or around £35 per month on contract, it commands a high price, but its industry-leading display, innovative features and excellent performance make it more than capable of competing with the equally expensive Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One (m8). The G3 may not have such sophisticated health apps as the S5 or the unique Duo Camera of the (m8), but if you want the best screen money can buy, there's simply no competition. It wins a Best Buy award.

Hardware
Processor	Quad-core 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801
RAM	2GB
Screen size	5.5in
Screen resolution	2,560x1,440
Screen type	IPS
Front camera	13-megapixel
Rear camera	2.1-megapixel
Flash	LED
GPS	Yes
Compass	Yes
Storage	16GB
Memory card slot (supplied)	microSD
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 802.11/ac
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.0
NFC	yes
Wireless data	4G, 3G
Size	146x74x8.9mm
Weight	149g
Features
Operating system	Android 4.4.2
Battery size	3,000mAh
Buying information
Warranty	one year RTB
Price SIM-free (inc VAT)	£490
Price on contract (inc VAT)	Free on a £35-per-month contract
Prepay price (inc VAT)	N/A
SIM-free supplier	www.expansys.com
Contract/prepay supplier	www.three.co.uk
Details	www.lg.com/uk
Part code	LG G3 D855

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/android-phones/1400286/lg-g3-review/specifications