Best of IFA 2014: smartphones, tablets and accessories

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IFA is essentially over – journalist were free to roam the IFA grounds before the event was open to the general public and while technically, the doors are still open, we are already on our way home.It's been a busy couple of days and we would understand if you couldn’t follow it all so here's a summary of the best and brightest new gadgets that were unveiled.

Best flagship phone

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 4, a beefed up, premium version of last year's top Galaxy phablet. It followed the Alpha with a premium metal chassis, upped the screen resolution to QHD and added an optically-stabilized 16MP camera.

   
Samsung Galaxy Note 4

If that wasn't a dream come true for follower of large-screened devices, Samsung also unveiled theGalaxy Note Edge. It has the same basic specs as the Note 4 but has a uniquely folded display that adds 160px on the right side of the device. It enables a variety of gestures and tricks. If you're thinking "no one will want that," consider that most people thought the same of the original Galaxy Note and look at the market now.

   
Samsung Galaxy Edge

Sony revamped the Xperia Z phone but its 6-month update cycle meant it was a relatively small update. It's the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact that takes the cake, a true compact flagship. With the same base specs as the big Xperia Z3 and a 4.6" 720p screen it's perfectly positioned to take on the Galaxy Alpha and iPhone 6. Waterproofing and front-facing stereo speakers give it an edge over both (unless Applereally surprises us).

   
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact

Motorola brought out the new Moto X with a metal chassis and a choice of back cover materials such as genuine leather or wood. It relies on rich customization options, premium materials and Motorola's Active screen and listening as well as fast track software update program.

   
Motorola Moto X (2014)

Best smartphone

Nokia/Microsoft didn’t have any flagships to show, they had something better – attractive mid-rangers. There hasn't been a mid-range Lumia since the 720 and 820 that were unveiled two (two!) years ago, a hole between cheapo phones and pricy flagships that was strongly felt. Keep in mind that Lumia is essentially 90% of the Windows Phone market.

The Lumia 830 has the thinnest OIS module yet – the phone measures 8.5mm – but it's a 10MP PureView shooter with Zeiss lens. Thin as it may be, the 830 also has built-in wireless charging and a relatively big battery. Other than that a 5" 720p screen positions it as an affordable alternative to the Lumia 930 (complete with a metal frame).

   
Nokia Lumia 830

The Lumia 730 Dual SIM/Lumia 735 focuses on selfies with a wide-angle 5MP front-facing camera with 24mm focal length. It has a 4.7" AMOLED screen with 720p resolution, a nice break from the gargantuan Androids we saw this week. It comes in 3G dual-SIM and 4G LTE versions.

   
Nokia Lumia 730

HTC unveiled its second 64-bit smartphone, which also happens to be the successor to the Desire 816 phablet. The HTC Desire 820 (available in dual sim flavor too) is has a 5.5" 720p screen, eight Cortex-A53 cores and LTE connectivity. The phablet also one-ups the Lumia 730 with an 8MP front facing camera.

   
HTC Desire 820

Huawei promoted the Mate phablets to flagship status with the new Ascend Mate7. The phablet has a metal unibody with super-thin bezels around its 6" 1080p screen, a home-brewed octa-core processor and a fingerprint scanner on the back.

   
Huawei Ascend Mate7

Lenovo came out with an interesting design for the Vibe X2, the "first layered smartphone." The body of the phone is made of distinct colorful layers that look quite attractive but you can add an extra layer with the Xtension accessories – a battery pack and a JBL loudspeaker specifically designed for the Vibe X2.

   
Lenovo Vibe X2

Best tablet

Sony was one of the few big players to announce tablets. The Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact offers the familiar razor-thin body (6.4mm), waterproofing and proprietary Sony features. This tablet (along with the other Z3 devices) supports Remote Play – connect a DualShock 4 controller and you can play a game on your PS4 using the tablet as a screen.

   
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact

There were also a number of Windows 8.1 tablets – the Asus Memo Pad 7 made of duralumin and fiberglass, the colorful Lenovo Tab S8 and the 7" Toshiba Encore mini. The three are powered by quad-core Intel Atom processors and bring Windows on the cheap, the Toshiba in particular is $120.

  
Asus Memo Pad 7 • Lenovo Tab S8 • Toshiba Encore mini

Alcatel showed off an 8" Android tablet, the Hero 8, which boasts a slender 7.3mm aluminum body, LTE connectivity and an octa-core processor with 2GB RAM (the Windows tablets have just 1GB).

Alcatel Hero 8

Best accessory

Wearable fans had a good week, we probably saw more smartwearables than smartphones. Motorola finally put the Moto 360 on sale today, some still say the best round smartwatch yet (or best, period).

It had competition though, the LG G Watch R was here too and it's truly round but with a thicker bezel. If diving watches are your thing the bezel actually makes it look better, like a real watch.

   
LG G Watch R

Sony unveiled a third-generation SmartWatch 3 (fourth if you count the LiveView). Unlike previous attempts this time the company went with Android Wear instead of a proprietary solution.

   
Sony SmartWatch 3

Asus unveiled the ZenWatch, another square smartwatch. It joins the AMOLED club and has a curved 2.5D Gorilla Glass for protection, all the while undercutting the rest in terms of price.

   
Asus ZenWatch

Samsung brought the Gear S, a smartwatch with 3G connectivity. It has a large, curved 2" Super AMOLED screen and can work completely autonomously, unlike most other smartwatches. It will have Nokia's HERE Maps on-board with full navigation capabilities too.

   
Samsung Gear S

Sony unveiled its second-gen lens cameras. The Sony QX1 is essentially the good parts of a Sony α5000 but without screen and such internals, those are left to a smartphone of your choosing (which will have a better screen, chipset and connectivity anyway). The Sony QX30 will add an Xperia Z3-like sensor and 30x optical zoom to any smartphone (Android or iOS).

VR fans enjoyed the company of John Carmack, who recently joined Oculus (the company behind the much talked about Rift). Samsung unveiled the Gear VR, a headset designed specifically for the Galaxy Note 4, and already has game devs lined up.

   
Samsung Gear VR

Motorola had another premium accessory, the Motorola Hint. It's a tiny Bluetooth headset that is built out of metal and wood, similar to the Moto X handset.

   
Motorola Hint

So that's that with IFA 2014. If some of these devices were not up to your liking, you can pick your own favorites using our IFA cheatsheet, which shows all the devices announced at the event.

Working iPhone 6 unit appears in new images and a video [Updated]

http://www.gsmarena.com/working_iphone_6_unit_appears_in_new_images_and_a_video-news-9571.php

T-minus 3 days left for Apple's iPhone event, according to the timer on Apple's website. These last few days before an event is when we get some of the best leaks, and today we have what looks like the actual iPhone 6, or at least one of the two that are going to be announced (the 4.7-inch version).

The photographs, taken from Chinese website cnBeta, show a fully assembled and functional iPhone 6. It resembles all the leaks we have seen before. The front looks like a stretched out iPhone 5s. The back has a full metal finish, with strips running around the top and bottom for the antennas. The camera has a raised edge with the dual LED True Tone flash on the side. The sides are curvy, unlike the last four generations and the buttons on the side are now flush with the body.

    

The device featured here is the silver model, although there will be a gray and gold variant as well.

The homescreen UI is similar to the iPhone 5s, except now there is space for a sixth row. The software on the device is iOS 8, which will come pre-installed.

There is a brief video of the phone, where the person unlocks the device using TouchID. You can watch the video here.

At this point we know pretty much exactly how the phone looks. We'll have to wait for the keynote to find out the actual specifications.

Update: More images below.

   

HTC rumored to have cancelled plans to release smartwatch

Now that Android Wear is out and manufacturers have had time to make a smartwatch, we’re seeing a flood of them release. Samsung already has one on the market, along with fifty of its own Tizen-powered watches, LG has two, Motorola just released the beautiful Moto 360, and ASUS has announced one as well.But if this rumor ends up being true, we won’t be seeing a smartwatch from HTC for a while. The company was planning to release a smartwatch, but it looks like those plans were cancelled due to high price and lack of differentiation. And that makes a lot of sense, as HTC doesn’t want to release another mediocre product for the sake of getting it out to the market (it doesn’t work well for Samsung).On one hand, this means that HTC can’t get a foot into the door and start gaining market share. On the other, we don’t need another mediocre smartwatch on the market and HTC doesn’t need another financial failure of a device. So it’s probably for the best that it was cancelled. Though the rumored similarities to the Qualcomm Toq (like the Mirasol display) sure were interesting.Were you excited for an HTC smartwatch? How do you think the company could have made it stand out? Leave a comment!

Android Wear update to feature custom clock faces, coming to all devices

Android Wear is only a few months old. It’s a very new product, and naturally, it has limitations and missing features. People are waiting patiently for an update to add some simple features to their devices. Luckily, Google has announced a new update for Android Wear watches on its blog.This update will add a bit of standalone functionality to devices, allowing you to listen to music and track your movement via GPS without a smartphone connected to the watch. Music can be done using Bluetooth headphones. There will also be support for custom watch faces, something I know a lot of people really want. This will allow developers to create their own watch faces and release them for the world to use.And since Android Wear is currently so standardized, all current watches will be getting this update. This goes for the older Samsung Gear Live and LG G Watch, along with the freshly announced ASUS Zen Watch, LG G Watch R, and even the Sony SmartWatch 3. This is update heaven, at the cost of manufacturer customizations of course.This update will be released in the coming months and it should have even more cool stuff by then. I know that watch faces aren’t exactly the most useful thing in the world, but I simply can’t wait for the custom watch faces. It’ll make Android Wear devices the ultimate fashion accessory.

iOS 8.0.1 already in the works, will be seeded to partners soon

Next Tuesday, Apple is set to unveil the long awaited and much leaked iPhone 6. The handset may come in two sizes, and it could be joined by new tablets at the same time.What is certain though is that the finalized version of iOS 8 will be made available soon after those announcements, perhaps even on the same day.Over the past few weeks, Apple has been tirelessly working on iOS 8, releasing a few builds as betas for developers to tinker with. Now it seems that the company is already hard at work on iOS 8.0.1.

This version might be seeded to Apple's partners very soon, according to some unnamed sources. There's no changelog right now for iOS 8.0.1, but given the small incrementation of the version number, it will probably consist mainly of bug fixes and various enhancements.This seems to imply that Apple has already found a few things it could change for the better in iOS 8, hopefully they aren't very big or impactful - otherwise the launch of the 8.0.0 version might not please everyone.On the other hand, the 8.0.1 update could arrive shortly after the release of 8.0.0. Or who knows, maybe Apple will go with 8.0.1 from day one.

Motorola Trade In gives you up to $300 for your old phone

Motorola has launched Trade In, a program that allows you to get money in return for your old smartphone. This works only if you want to buy a new Moto X or Moto G (or if you've ordered one already). The nice thing is that you can receive up to $300 for the old handset you're replacing with Motorola's new wares.

The way it works is pretty straightforward. First you go to the Trade In website, and get a quote for your old phone. Then you purchase either the new Moto X or the new Moto G. After that, you have 30 days to send in your old device (the one you got a quote for).And after Motorola receives it, it will mail you a Visa Prepaid Card which will have the money for your old piece of tech on it.The Trade In program only applies for purchases made through MotoMaker. And if you've already bought a new Moto X or Moto G, you can participate in Trade In too, just have your proof of purchase handy.We've tried the system and got a $280 quote for a 64GB iPhone 5S, in pristine condition. Regardless of which carrier it was purchased from, we received the same amount. So it's rather unclear what device you could get $300 for, keep that in mind. And obviously quotes depend on model, how old it is, and how damaged.The funny thing is that last year's Moto X, for example, will only net you $60, even if it's good as new. For the old Moto G we received a $25 quote. So sending in a 2013 Moto G is probably not worth the bother. It's interesting to see Motorola's own Trade In system place such a low value on its very products, compared to those from competitors such as Apple.To learn more about the new Moto X and Moto G, which got official yesterday, do go through our hands-on report.