LG G3 goes up for pre-order on contract in the UK

In the UK, pre-orders for the highly anticipated LG G3 have been available since the beginning of this month, but only in SIM-free form.

Starting today, though, you can pre-order a G3 even if you'd like to get it with a contract from one of the UK operators. That's because Carphone Warehouse is now offering the smartphone on a variety of plans. Delivery is expected to happen "by 1st July".

The cheapest contract that nets you the device for no cash upfront will cost you £37.99 per month for two years. It's at EE, and it comes with unlimited minutes and texts, and 4GB of 4G data each month.

Carphone Warehouse will even send you a £100 cashback cheque within 30 days of your new contract starting. This happens automatically, and you can use that cash for whatever you want. All of the currently available G3 plans seem to be eligible for this offer, not just the one described above.

Micromax Canvas Gold A300 with octa-core CPU specs, pictures leak

The Canvas Entice A105 apparently isn't the only new Micromax device we'll see this month. The Indian company has scheduled a press conference for June 16, and during that it may officially introduce the Canvas Gold A300.

This smartphone will reportedly come with some pretty interesting specs. And the 'Gold' in the name isn't there by accident, as the color options for it will be called White Gold and Black Gold. They can be seen below.

The Micromax Canvas Gold A300 is rumored to sport a 6.9 mm thin metal body, as well as a 5.5-inch 1080p touchscreen.Keeping things running will be a 2 GHz octa-core CPU, along with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of built-in storage space. The exact chipset isn't mentioned, but given the processor details, it's probably going to be the MediaTek MT6592.A 16 MP camera will be on the back of the phone, and the 8 MP front-facing unit will surely make selfie lovers happy. The A300 is said to run Android 4.4 KitKat from day one.This handset may be joined at the Micromax event on Monday by the company's first device to run Windows Phone 8.1. It got detailed last month, and it's rumored to come with a 5-inch 1080p display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset, 2GB of RAM, and a 13 MP rear camera.Update: Even more images showing the Micromax Canvas Gold A300 have surfaced. Thanks to them the front of the handset has been revealed for the first time.

   

Micromax Canvas Gold A300

It looks like the upcoming phone will have a grey color version alongside the gold ones.

Nokia Lumia 1320 debuts in the US at Cricket

After having been on sale in countless other places for a long while, the Nokia Lumia 1320 is finally out in the US.

You can get one right away from Cricket, the carrier that was recently acquired by AT&T and now serves as its prepaid arm.

The Lumia 1320 is priced at $279.99, and there's obviously no need for you to sign a long-term contract to get it. What's more, if you buy one until July 10, you can receive $50 back in the form of a Visa rebate card.

The mid-range phablet can be paired with Cricket's plans that start at $40 per month for unlimited talk, text, and data (with the first 500MB going up to 4G LTE speeds).

If you're not sure whether the Lumia 1320 is right for you, you can take a look at our review to help make up your mind.

Samsung Galaxy F pictured with ultra-slim bezels, metal chassis

Samsung's upcoming Galaxy F smartphone has been spotted online ahead of an official reveal from the company, giving fans of premium Android handsets their first look at the successor to the Galaxy S5.Assuming the leak, first spotted by PhoneArena, is real, the Galaxy F looks set to arrive with an ultra-thin screen bezel, 5.3in AMOLED display and metal chassis - finally marking Samsung's switch away from plastic in the light of all-metal handsets like the HTC One (m8).

The Galaxy F is expected to launch as Samsung's first smartphone with a QHD resolution, 2,560x1,440 display, matching that of LG's G3 and soundly beating the 'Retina' display found on Apple's iPhone. Other specifications are rumoured to include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, 3GB of RAM and a 16-megapixel ISOCELL rear camera with optical image stabilisation.First rumoured back in September, the Galaxy F has steadily gone from industry whisper to a full-blown reveal, before Samsung could make its own announcement. It was certified in Korea at the beginning of the month and shown off in leaked press shots, suggesting an official launch can't be far away.With Samsung having just pulled back the curtain on its Galaxy Tab S, it's not clear when the company will make the Galaxy F official, but we're betting it will be before September in order to avoid overshadowing the expected Galaxy Note 4 announcement at IFA in Berlin.

Samsung unveils Galaxy Tab S tablet

Samsung last night unveiled the Galaxy Tab S tablet at a launch event taking place at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Mobile News attended the event, with a full report upcoming in issue 567 (June 30) of the magazine.

The device, which will come in 8.4-inch and 10.5-inch variants, will be available in selected markets from next month, including the UK.

The 8.4-inch variant weighs 294g while the 10.5inch model tips the scales at 465g. They will be available in white and bronze, with both 6.6mm thick.

The Galaxy Tab S is powered by both a 1.9GHz and 1.3GHz processors, running the Android 4.4 KitKat operating system.

It has a Super AMOLED screen that produces 2,560×1,600 pixels, which Samsung said makes blacks darker and whites brighter.

The tablet’s contrast ratio of 100,000:1 is 100 times better than that found on an LCD screen. Samsung said it also produces 20 per cent more colour range than an LCD screen does.

Samsung CEO and president of IT and mobile JK Shin said: “The tablet is becoming a popular personal viewing device for enjoying content, which makes the quality of the display a critical feature.

“With the launch of the Galaxy Tab S, Samsung is setting the bar higher for the entire mobile industry. It will provide consumers with a visual and entertainment experience that brings colours to life.”

Other specifications include an eight megapixel rear and two megapixel front camera, HD video recording, 3GB of RAM and 16GB or 32GB of internal memory that can be the expanded to 128GB with a microSD card.

The Galaxy Tab S will also come with a variety of pre-loaded content.

This includes ‘Kick’, a football app that provides news and data in real-time as matches are played, and ‘Papergarden’, Samsung’s magazine service that will enable users to view a range of publications. This will initally launch in the UK, US, Korea and Brazil, with further countries to follow.

Samsung has also partnered with more than 30 mobile and content service providers, including Marvel and Amazon.

Users will be able to gain access to more than 15,000 Marvel Comics with three months of unlimited free membership to the Marvel Unlimited app.

Kindle for Samsung, which is exclusive for the manufacturer’s customers, provides users with a free book every month through Samsung Book Deals, also providing them with a selection of e-books in the Kindle store.

Analyst: Apple to sell record 39m iPhones this quarter

According to data from Morgan Stanley's AlphaWise Smartphone Tracker, which was sent in a note to investors, Apple is en route to score a record 39 million iPhones sold in the quarter ending this month.

To put that in perspective Apple was able to dish out 31.2 million iPhones in the same quarter a year ago, which was up from the 26 million of Q2 in 2012.

AlphaWise has been almost right on the money with Apple sales and more often than not is closer than the Wall Street consensus estimates which suggested Apple will sell 35 million iPhone units this quarter.

The increase in customer demand could translate into a $2.8 billion gain for Apple just for Q2 - an 8% bump over earlier predictions.

Analysts think that international expansion and carrier promotions are key factors in the increase of demand as well as the release of the 8GB iPhone 5c, which was also involved in a trade-in program in the US in early May.

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini leaks in high-res pics, specs in tow

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini has been in our rumor mill for quite a while, but today we are finally getting to see the real deal. We can got high-res live pictures of the S5 mini plus a comparison shot with its bigger Galaxy S5 sibling.

   

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini in black and white • Galaxy S5 mini next to a Galaxy S5

As you can see the Galaxy S5 mini utilizes the same design as the flagship, it even keeps the same dotted plastic back. Even the heart-rate monitor is on the same spot.

The picture source claims the device is still IP67-certified for water and dust protection even though there is no protective lid on the microUSB slot as is the case with Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S5 Active.

   

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini

We can also confirm S5 mini specs - it features a 4.5" Super AMOLED display of 720p resolution and runs on Exynos 3 Quad chipset with a quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU @ 1.4GHz, Mali-400 MP4 GPU and 1.5GB of RAM.

The rest of the Samsung Galaxy S5 mini specs highlight include Gorilla Glass 3 screen protection, 8MP rear camera, 2.1MP front snapper, 16GB expandable storage, fingerprint scanner and heart-rate monitor.

The connectivity options are pretty much the same as the Galaxy S5 - LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, IR blaster, GPS with GLONASS.

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini is running on Android 4.4.2 KitKat with the latest available TouchWiz UX that premiered on the Galaxy S5. You will be getting Ultra Power Saving Mode, Kids Mode, Private Mode, KNOX, among others.

Finally, the Galaxy S5 mini was tested on AnTuTu and here is how it stacks among the droids: