android
Google to Reveal Android 5.0 Jelly Bean on a Few Nexus Devices?
A new rumor has surfaced with what is said to be the next installment of Android’s OS. The folks over at the Wall Street Journal had got the information from a person who claims to be in-the-know and he apparently told them that Google is planning to grant mobile device manufacturers an early access to new releases of Android in a bid to stop wireless carriers from controlling the devices. As opposed to what Google previously did by providing just one selected manufacturer an early look at the newest OS, the rumor indicates that it will instead be giving out the early releases to a few mobile manufacturers.
When we say that Google would select on manufacturer in particular, it has been for the production of its Nexus devices such as the Nexus One which was manufactured by HTC along with the Samsung-manufactured Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus. The source also claims that Google will have up to five Google devices beginning with Android 5.0 which is codenamed Jelly Bean which will apparently be part of a new ‘Nexus’ portfolio that includes both smartphones and tablets.
In addition to that, Google will allegedly sell the devices directly to consumers in the US, Europe and Asia through its website and probably some retailers. The final and most interesting piece of information that the alleged source claims is that the five purported Nexus devices will apparently be available by Thanksgiving 2012. Of course, we know that this source has not been confirmed and Google hasn’t mentioned anything officially yet. But for just a moment, what if this announcement had been an official one? Wouldn’t that be just awesome?
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?