Verizon's Nokia Lumia 928 vs AT&T's Nokia Lumia 920 – See what are the differences and which is your choice

Verizon’s Nokia Lumia 928 has just now finally become official and it’s Nokia’s first Windows Phone 8 device on the biggest carrier in the United States. But after so much time waiting for it, how does it differ from the AT&T and internationally launched Nokia Lumia 920 that we saw half a year ago? And has the wait been worth it?

Different design, Xenon flash

Good news is there are some differences. They start from the design - the Lumia 928 is virtually the same size with a 4.5-inch 1280 x 768-pixel OLED display, but the device is more blocky, rectangular, without the sharp edges of the Lumia 920, which thus produces better visual experience for people to watch HD movies on Lumia 928. Still, the back retains the typical Nokia pillowy convex shape.

Samsung planned to release waterproof and dust resistant variant of Galaxy S 4 and an 8-inch tablet, said The Wall Street Journal

Without doubt, the Samsung Galaxy S 4 has become the most popular Android smartphone for 2013 spring since its official release. As reported, Samsung has seen four times as many pre-orders for the standard Galaxy S4 as for its predecessor, the Galaxy S3. With such a big fame and popularity among worldwide smartphone users, there’s no reason that Samsung would refuse to provide more variants of Samsung Galaxy S 4. And that comes to the point. From a report of The Wall Street Journal, Samsung is going to release two variants of Samsung Galaxy S 4 and an 8-inch Samsung tablet in the near future.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the Korean monolith plans to release a variant of the much anticipated Galaxy S4 Android smartphone dubbed the Galaxy S4 Active. This new variant will be reportedly waterproof and dust proof but still have the same look and feel as the flagship S4. Meanwhile, the report also says that Samsung plans a new 8-inch Galaxy tablet and a smaller, 4.3-inch version of the Galaxy S4. But no further information of the three devices mentioned above has been available currently. We have to wait for a while.

5 Best and Most Popular Android Smartphones So Far

Unlike iOS smartphone, which only includes a single iPhone, Android phones come in all different shapes, sizes, and feature sets from various manufacturers. With such a steady stream of excellent handsets, the list of best and most popular Android smartphones updates frequently, so it is necessary to make it clear that these smartphones on the list are just the best and most popular Android smartphones so far. Let’s cut the crap and go to the topic directly to see the list.

Samsung Galaxy S3 (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Verizon)

Pumped with high-performing hardware and creative software features, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is an excellent, top-end phone that's neck and neck with the HTC One X.

Pro: The Samsung Galaxy S3 comes fully loaded with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, 4G LTE/HSPA+ 42 capability, a zippy dual-core processor, and a strong 8-megapixel camera. S Beam is an excellent software enhancement, and the handset's price is right.

Con: The Galaxy S3's screen is too dim, and Samsung's Siri competitor, S Voice, disappointed.

Samsung Galaxy S IV reportedly to feature 13MP camera and 1.8GHz quad-core processor in leaked images

The next Thursday’s Samsung Galaxy S IV event is just around the corner. At that time all the detailed specs and features of Samsung Galaxy S IV would be exposed. Samsung is always not good at keeping their devices under wraps, especially when their carriers have got the devices in hand a few days before the official release, though, it could be considered as some kind of advertisement. Just before the announcement, new specs of Samsung Galaxy S IV have been exposed. This time comes to the camera and processor. As reported, Samsung Galaxy S IV would come with a 13MP camera and a 1.8GHz quad-core processor.

The screenshots, released by GSM Israel, apparently shows the Quick System Info PRO app running on the Galaxy S4 – which revealing specifications such as a 5-inch 1080 x 1920 display with a 480ppi pixel density. With such wonderful screen display, it would be amazing for people to enjoy HD movies on Galaxy S IV.

A detailed introduction of HTC One specs – Larger Screen, Full HD resolution, Ultrapixel camera and Android Jelly Bean

It’s been sometime since the official release of HTC One, perhaps one of the best all-rounded packages set to come out on the market in the first half of 2013. Widely known, HTC has got a tradition in making aluminum unibody phones with the absolute latest tech available for all its gadgets. So is the HTC One. This brand-new smartphone no doubt delivers quite amazing excitement for people with the wonderful features.

The biggest bullet point in the features list is the camera - a 4MP "ultra-pixel" camera. Yes, the resolution sounds too low, but this camera marks a first in the mobile phone imaging world, which puts it next to the Nokia 808 PureView and Lumia 920, which means that the “ultra-pixel” 4MP camera could even snap pictures with high quality like that of Lumia 920 and Nokia 808 Pureview, according to HTC announcement.

Of course, HTC One is also performing excellent in other specs. The 4.7" 16M-color 1080p (1080 x 1920 pixels) Super LCD 3 capacitive touchscreen delivers up to 469ppi. With full HD resolution, watching HD movies on HTC One is no doubt a big enjoyment. The smartphone features 1.7GHz Qualcomm APQ8064G Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor with 2GB RAM, which ensures smooth and fluent operating. As to the software, HTC One operates with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and Sense 5. People could get quite advanced software experience.

HTC One features at a glance:

* General: Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, quad-band UMTS/HSPA, optional LTE Cat 3 (100Mbps downlink, 50Mbps uplink);

* Form factor: Aluminum unibody touchscreen bar phone;

* Dimensions: 137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3 mm, 143 g;

* Display: 4.7" 16M-color 1080p (1080 x 1920 pixels) Super LCD 3 capacitive touchscreen, 469ppi pixel density; Corning Gorilla Glass 2;

* Chipset: Qualcomm APQ8064T Snapdragon 600;

* CPU: Quad-core 1.7 GHz Krait 300;

* GPU: Adreno 320;

* RAM: 2GB;

* OS: Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with Sense 5;

* Memory: 32GB/64GB storage;

* Camera: 4 megapixel auto-focus camera with ultra-pixels and Optical Image Stabilization; LED flash;

* Video camera: Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps with HDR; 720p @ 60fps;

* Front camera: 2.1MP front-facing camera, 88°; 1080p@30fps video with HDR;

* Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, standard microUSB port with MHL and USB host, GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS, 3.5mm audio jack, NFC, IR port;

* Battery: 2,300mAh Li-Po;

* Misc: Beats Audio, BoomSound stereo speakers on the front, HDR microphone, HTC Zoe photo gallery;

Samsung to release Snapdragon 600 Galaxy S IV in US and Exynos 5 Octa Galaxy S IV in Europe?

For a long time of rumoring and reporting, what we know about the exact details of the next Samsung Galaxy now is that Samsung will announce Galaxy S IV on March 14th on the Samsung media event. As for the specs of the rumored-to-be-called Samsung Galaxy S IV, from the previous reports, we know this smartphone would be coming with a 4.99" FHD (1920x1080 pixels) Solux screen display, quad-core processor, three different models (16GB, 32GB and 64GB), and some other minor features. The processor of this smartphone has been rumored a lot. Many people expect Samsung Galaxy S IV to be featuring a Samsung Exynos 5 Octa processor, though some rumors suggested the Samsung Galaxy S IV might be out with Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor.

According to the latest news, Samsung would announce different models of CPU for Galaxy S IV in different regions. It is reported that Samsung Galaxy S IV would use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 600 in the United States, and a Samsung Exynos 5 Octa in Europe and other places of the world where LTE is not that widespread, according to a recent JPMorgan note. For the Snapdragon 600, Samsung might be placing orders with TSMC, the foundry that uses its 28nm process to make Qualcomm’s chip. All this might be of a big benefit to TSMC and one more reason why the company expects stronger than usual Q1 revenue. Of course, for the detailed specs of Samsung Galaxy S IV, we still need to wait for the March 14^th Samsung Galaxy event. 

HTC's 1080p Droid DNA Available Nov 21 on Verizon to Greet Thanksgiving Day

HTC's One X+ and Droid Incredible 4G LTE are both solid Android phones, but neither of them really did Anything Samsung wasn't already doing at least as well in its Galaxy series. The Droid DNA, announced today and available on Verizon beginning November 21st. The device may help HTC in its battle against arch-rivals Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc, to which it has heavily lost ground in recent years.

Every major hardware and software improvement HTC has come up with lately are also thrown in there, like Beats Audio and dedicated speaker amplifiers, wide-angle front camera, the ImageChip ISP and latest Sense 4+, plus HTC has wrapped it all up in a very slim and elegant for this screen size chassis.

With a 5-inch 1920 x 1080 (1080p) Super LCD 3 display, a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 CPU, 2GB of RAM, LTE, NFC and built-in wireless charging, the Droid DNA's specs match or exceed its competition in just about every category.

The phone barrels through the Android churn with the highest density display in the U.S. market, a HD display that sports 440 ppi (pixels per inch). To put that into perspective, the iPhone 5 has a pixel density of 326ppi. HTC shoved a S4 Pro quad-core 1.5Ghz processor and 2GB of RAM into the Android 4.1.1 (Jelly Bean) phone. And because it’s HTC, it has Beats Audio for all your jams. For no reason, it would be a quite amazing device to enjoy HD movies on HTC DNA.

The Droid DNA will cost $199 to customers who sign a two-year contract and goes on sale November 21, the day before Thanksgiving, the un-official start of the shopping season. The phone will be exclusive to Verizon Wireless in the United States. A similar device is being sold in Japan under the Butterfly brand, HTC said.

Sharp exposed new smartphone with up to 440ppi and 1080P IGZO screen display

Nowadays, the brightest spot, also the most competitive point, of smartphone is the hardware configuration, among which the screen display is commonly a big concern for various smartphone manufacturers. Sharp is one of the screen display manufacturers to release 5-inch full HD screen display for smartphones. Though the 5-inch display screen is premiered on HTC Droid DNA, it doesn’t mean Sharp would give up this advantage on their upcoming smartphones.

Sharp recently exposed its first IGZO screen smartphone with codename Aquos Phone SH930W. As claimed, the IGZO screen on Sharp SH930W would provide better image quality and longer battery duration. The screen pixel density of the new IGZO screen would reach up to 440ppi, far higher than iPhone 5 Retina display.

As explained by Sharp, IGZO is the abbreviation of the initial words of Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide. Compared with the traditional LCD screen, the new technology supports up to 40X electronic mobility, less occupation required for pixel and less backlight. It improves screen brightness, and at the same time reduces power consumption. For people who prefer to watch 1080P movies with smartphones, this phone would produce amazing effect.

Sharp didn’t expose the detailed specs of this new smartphone. But according to the leaked testing news from GLBenchmark, the Aquos Phone SH930W might disappoint people in its other specs, including: Qual-comm 8260A dual-core processor, 1.5GHz RAM and Adreno 225 GPU, which would be a strain to the 1080P screen. Besides, Aquos Phone SH930W will be coming with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, microSD card slot for maximum 32GB memory expansion, built-in 2G/3D modules, but no support for 4G LTE network. Sharp also claimed that Aquos Phone SH930W will be available in Russia on November 8^th, with price unknown. 

5-inch Samsung Galaxy S 4 to Launch during the Next MWC in February 2013

The Samsung Galaxy S 3 has been out for some time and got a quite satisfactory sale for Samsung around the world. It has received a worldwide popularity due to its excellent performance. And now, the latest news from The Korea Times showed that the Galaxy S 4, the next flagship of Samsung, is scheduled to be released on the February MWC 2013, with global shipment available in March.

From the report, the most shinning feature of the Galaxy S 4 is that it will roll your eyes with 5-inch large OLEG screen display, which no doubt produces excellent image and video effect for users. The source also indicates that the next Galaxy will continue using a quad-core chip. That’s a bid odd considering that the ARM Cortex A15 is going to be all the rage next year. The first chips to use ARM’s latest generation processors will be dual-core variants, simply because the A15 uses way more power than the A9. As a reminder: The GS3 has four ARM Cortex A9 cores inside.

The Galaxy S 4 will continue to use Android OS and supports 4G LTE network connectivity for fast and better internet experience.