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Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 May Get Exynos Quad-Core Processor
When the tablet version of the Galaxy Note from Samsung was first announced in February, the 10.1-inch device was said to have a 1.4GHz dual-core processor like its phablet. Now however, the folks over at Nordic Hardware (via Liliputing) have spotted some benchmark results that suggest that the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet will get a bump in specifications. From the results, it seems that the tablet will be shipping to distributors with a 1.5GHz Exynos quad-core processor along with a Mali-604T GPU. Prior to this benchmark test that was spotted; a previous report by Netbook News apparently said the same thing. If this benchmark test is accurate, it would mean that the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet could be one of the fastest Android tablets in the market.
Reportedly, when the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7-inch tablet underwent the same benchmarking test, it scored 10.72 which is only a sixth of the score the Note 10.1 scored. The average score of 60 that this alleged tablet hit is a very high figure, and if it does ship with the quad-core CPU as indicated by the benchmark it would truly be impressive. Besides the stellar benchmarking scores (if it is accurate) the Galaxy Note 10.1 also includes an active digitizer and the S-Pen which is featured on the Samsung Galaxy Note ‘phablet’ although the one on the tablet is said to slightly larger.
Included in the tablet are an array of applications exclusive for the S-Pen which are said to enhance the user experience of the Galaxy Note 10.1 along with the S-Pen. The tablet features a 1280 x 800 pixel PLS display, a 2MP front-facing camera, 3MP rear camera with auto-focus and flash, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and optional 3G. The device which weighs in at 1.3 pounds will ship with 1GB of RAM and will be available with storage options from 16GB to 64GB.
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?