Oppo R1S passes through Tenaa, a Snapdragon version of the R1

The Oppo R1, a slim, dual-SIM phone, went official late last year with a MediaTek chipset but Oppo has a Snapdragon version in the works too, which was just certified by Tenaa (the Chinese wireless authority).

Tentatively dubbed Oppo R1S, the phone maintains the slender dimensions of 142.7 x 70.4 x 7.1mm and it's actually a bit lighter at 136g. The phone has a 5" TFT screen with 720p resolution (294ppi), just like the regular R1.

   
Oppo R1S photos by Tenaa

Where the phones differ is that the Snapdragon chipset (presumably Snapdragon 400 MSM8926) supports LTE – both Chinese and global. The new phone is a bit more powerful too – the CPU is still a quad-core Cortex-A7 but it's now clocked at 1.6GHz and there's 2GB RAM instead of just 1GB.

The Oppo R1S runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, one up from the 4.2 Jelly Bean that the R1 came out with. The Snapdragon chipset should allow for easier updates to newer Android versions over the MediaTek chipset too.

Another upgrade is the camera – the main camera is now a 13MP shooter, up from 8MP. It can record 1080p video. From the Tenaa info we can't quite tell if the Oppo R1S is a dual-SIM like the R1 or not.

Samsung Galaxy S5 costs $256 to build

Analytics company IHS has released its teardown report of the Samsung Galaxy S5, which also reveals an estimate of the phone's bill of materials (how much its parts cost). The Galaxy S5 costs Samsung about $256 to build, which is just slightly more than what the Galaxy S4 cost back in 2013 - $244.

The most expensive component in the Galaxy S5 is its 5.1" full HD Super AMOLED display. It costs $63, which is $12 cheaper than the 5" one of the Galaxy S4. It appears that Samsung has managed to streamline its display production to achieve the lower price. The DRAM and flash memory of the Galaxy S5 cost $33 combined.

Interestingly, according to IHS the fingerprint sensor in the Galaxy S5 costs just $4, which is significantly less expensive than the one found in the iPhone 5s. Apple spends $15 for each one they place in their current flagship phone, which carries a $199 bill of materials.

Lastly, Galaxy S5's heart rate biosensor is made by chipmaker Maxim and adds $1.45 to the cost of the device. IHS estimates the cost of assembly is $5 per device.

Be wary that while this component price estimation gives a neat overview of the phone's cost, it doesn't include R&D, software, distribution and marketing costs.

Lenovo to out $130 Golden Warrior S8 octa-core smartphone

Promo shots of the upcoming Lenovo Golden Warrior S8 smartphone have emerged out of China, and what's more impressive than its octa-core MediaTek chipset is its alleged price of just $130.

Even for the typically low-overhead Chinese manufacturers, it's quite a low price to pay for a Gorilla Glass 3-covered 5.3" display of 720p display, 16GB of expandable memory, 2GB of RAM, 13MP/5MP camera combo, and 2,000mAh battery. By the looks of it, it even has dual-SIM support.

   

Furthermore, the 1.4GHz MediaTek octa-core processor inside the Golden Warrior is of the company's recent "true octa-core" outing - the first of its kind that runs all eight cores simultaneously, rather than just four at a time.

Perhaps the only ding on the device is that it runs a somewhat dated Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean OS, but if the incredible price turns out to be true, it becomes a relative non-factor. Unfortunately, it's unlikely the Golden Warrior S8 will see life outside of China, but here's hoping Lenovo will release a capable low-cost variant for the Western market, should it prove successful at home.

Leaked APKs show Samsung Galaxy S5 Active coming

Samsung’s unannounced Galaxy S5 Active made an appearance yet again. An alleged list with 277 APK files, set for the upcoming smartphone made the rounds on Twitter, courtesy of @evleaks.

Alleged Samsung Galaxy S5 Active APK list (click to enlarge)

The yet to be announced Samsung Galaxy S5 Active is all but certain to be significantly more rugged than its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active. The latter’s IP67 certification has already been matched by the regular Samsung Galaxy S5.

The official unveiling of the Samsung Galaxy S5 Active is yet to take place. We reckon that the handset will likely appear at some point this summer, when the sales momentum of the G900 slows down.

Samsung Galaxy S5 first day sales break Galaxy S4’s record

Filter this under non-surprising developments, but reports from Korea are saying that the Samsung Galaxy S5 has enjoyed quite some success on launch day. The new flagship has managed to set a new record for the company for launch day sales beating the achievement of its predecessor by over 30%.

In some European markets the sales of the Galaxy S5 have surpassed those of the Galaxy S4 more than twice, Samsung says. The number would have been even higher had the new smartphone stock not depleted in many places. In places like Paris, Amsterdam and London hundreds of people had gathered in front of the Samsung flagship stores ahead of opening, waiting impatiently to get their hands on the latest flagship.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 launched in 125 countries on Friday, making this the largest-scale launch the Korean company has ever pulled. It will rollout to 25 more markets in the next few days bringing the total number to a round 150. Pricing for the SIM-free units start at $699 in the US and around 599 in most of Europe and Asia. Naturally Samsung is also partnering with a huge number of carriers, which offer the handset at a subsidized price.

Amazon's smartphone may be announced in June

When Amazon got into hardware production, they started it with a unique business model: offer products for bottom-dollar prices, even if it costs the company money initially, and then turn a profit from the content that you sell.It's been working well for the online retailing mega-giant so far, and it looks like they will continue their momentum with their very own Amazon smartphone.

There's been some talk about the Amazon phone for a while, but new reports from the Wall Street Journal indicate that the company plans to make an official announcement by this June and start shipping out the phone to customers in September.Amazon has allegedly shown off some prototypes of the device. Features wise, the Amazon smartphone may be 3D capable (without the need for glasses) by using a patented, retina-following tech that utilizes four front-facing cameras to trick users into thinking they are seeing a hologram-esque image. Pretty cool stuff, if it works as well as it sounds.There aren't that many other details known about the Amazon phone, but don't expect it to be locked to any one carrier. Given Amazon's track record, they will most likely offer the smartphone at a discounted price, but it's hard to imagine that they'll be able to sell it for too cheap, if the “hologram tech” is to be included in the final product.It's also worth mentioning that September is also around the same time that Apple will be releasing its next iPhone. Do you think Amazon has what it takes to make an impact in the smartphone game? They've been doing pretty well for themselves in the tablet market so far, so why not phones?

Google’s Verify Apps now features full time app scanning

Security and malware have been really hot issues in the world of Android, but for all the wrong reasons. Many have sensationalized Android’s problems with malware, despite the the fact that the problem is extremely minimal and completely eliminated with the smallest amount of common sense. Either way, Google takes security very seriously and has now updated Verify Apps, its security scanner.Previously, Verify Apps would scan every app that you installed outside of the Play Store. (The Play Store apps are scanned with their own system). With the latest update, Verify Apps will continue monitoring apps on your device to make sure they don’t pull tricks on you that weren’t detected when it was installed.Google explains that potentially harmful apps are very rare, and that the risk is miniscule. But the company will make Android as safe as possible nonetheless. Verify Apps works well; fewer than 0.18% installs occurred last year after a warning was given due to the scan. With a huge majority of people heeding the warning, it’s an effective safety Leave a comment!