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Samsung Galaxy Ace and Galaxy Suit revealed
One of the two “mini” Galaxy S phones that were recently spotted now has its proper name and specs revealed, along with another phone that could possibly be the other “mini”, thanks to some folks who decided to publish their details online. It looks like Samsung are trying to bring their Galaxy phones to the folks looking for an entry-mid level Android device. Though all we have are grainy images, they correspond to the photographs leaked last week so we’re definitely looking at the same phones. The Galaxy Ace looks like the first “mini” phone that was revealed, the S5830. The most noticeable difference being the lack of buttons on the front of the phone, but the first leaked image looks like a very rough version of the device anyway. Other than that, the different parts of the phone match up in the same position.The Samsung Galaxy Ace will pack a 3.5″ touchscreen, Android 2.2, a 5 megapixel camera, a microSD slot (supports up to 32GB), Bluetooth, WiFi, 3G and an FM Radio.
The other Galaxy “Mini” phone to leak is the Samsung Galaxy Suit – it is smaller than the Ace (which already looks like a mini version of the Galaxy S) and will pack a 3.2″ OLED touchscreen, Android 2.2, a 3.2 megapixel camera, a microSD slot (supports up to 32GB), Bluetooth, WiFi, 3G and an FM Radio. It looks pretty cute with its small form factor and curved looking screen. The Galaxy Suit doesn’t look like the Mini S5570 that was leaked previously, so it’s probably a different phone – but the previous images could be of an early version of the device. We’ll just have to wait and see if Samsung announces anything at the upcoming Mobile World Congress event next month. Do we really need another Android 2.2 phone? If updates are in order, it shouldn’t be a problem, but given Samsung’s track record with Android updates, it doesn’t look too promising. We’ll just have to wait and see.
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?