android
Details for Nexus S launch revealed
Best Buy has just released the launch info for Thursday’s launch of the Samsung Nexus S. In case you’ve been living under a rock all this while, the Samsung Nexus S is Samsung and Google’s upcoming flagship Android phone that will be the first phone to run Gingerbread (Android 2.3). In addition to the new operating system, the phone packs a curved display and an NFC chip. If you’re planning to purchase a Nexus S this Thursday, here’s what you need to know:
- Online sales of Nexus S begin at 8am Eastern time to coincide with the opening of Best Buy stores on the East Coast. All Best Buy stores have adjusted their holiday hours to open at 8am.
- The Nexus S will be available at all Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores, at a first come first serve basis, with each customer limited to 2 phones.
- There will be a hands-on demo unit for you to play with at the store, in case you haven’t made up your mind about the phone.
- The phone will be sold at $529 off-contract, and $199 with a 2-year contract with T-Mobile.
- Best Buy will also have their counters to ensure your phone is working before you leave the place. Specialists will be working to help you transfer contacts etc and set up your Bluetooth device with your new phone, in the event that you need help doing those things.
Will you be lining up for the Nexus S this Thursday?
The Fairphone 2 was first unveiled in June earlier this year, where this particular handset carried a modular design while featuring majority of its components that have been sourced from conflict-free mines. It seems that this particular handset that you can purchase with a clear conscience has begun to ship to those who happen to live across Europe.
Fairphone announced in a blog post, “It’s been almost two years in the making, and some of the earliest buyers have been patiently waiting since July to receive their new phones. As community manager, I want to personally welcome the new batch of Fairphone owners to our community.” The initial 1,000 units are tipped to ship this month, before the other pre-orders follow in January 2016.
In terms of hardware specifications, the Fairphone 2 will run on a Snapdragon 801 chipset, has a 5″ 1080p screen with Gorilla Glass 3 protection, 2GB of RAM, an 8MP camera, with Android 5.1 Lollipop in tow. It will be a dual SIM capable handset with a microSD memory card slot and plays nice with 4G LTE networks, retailing for approximately €525 a pop.
It looks like the upcoming flagship model from Xiaomi will feature NFC support, at least based on a document that was released by China UnionPay. Just in case you are scratching your head and wondering who China UnionPay is, they happen to be the only domestic payment gateway supplier and card organization, and hence, to see them offer detailed support concerning the newly released NFC-based payment system points to the very real possibility of the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 5 featuring NFC capability.
After all, the Xiaomi Mi 3 was also mentioned on the list, which so happens to feature NFC, and there is no mention of the Xiaomi Mi 4 which does not come with NFC. Still, such a new payment system would be the ideal tool to see the reintroduction of NFC to the flagship model.
OnePlus did make an announcement in the previous month that the Ceramic variant of the OnePlus X will be released on November 24. True to their word, they did exactly that – although only a pitiful number of units were made available, and not only that, this was through a charity auction. Thankfully for the rest of the masses who are on the lookout for this device, it has gone on sale officially already.
Needless to say, this particular variant is available only by an invitation, although do bear in mind that standard OnePlus X invites are not good here – you will still need to snag yourself a specific Ceramic variant invite before you make a purchase. OnePlus is also on the lookout to offer additional methods of picking up this smartphone, although no further details were revealed.
The OnePlus X Ceramic will be available only in select markets, where among them include Europe, India, and Hong Kong. To date, we do know that OnePlus had made only 10,000 units of the handset available. A case of the early bird getting the proverbial worm here?