Nokia 230 is Microsoft’s New Feature Phone

A blast from the past, it is still amazing to think that mobile juggernaut Nokia is now longer really with us in a hardware capacity… until now. While Nokia helped to put the Windows platform on the map in recent years, the company is still best known for being the feature phone king, the best-selling mobile phone maker in the world during the 2000-2010 decade. The Finnish brand is now back with a new feature phone, the Nokia 230.

Sort of. That burst of nostalgia quickly ebbs when you learn that this is Microsoft’s handset and not Nokia’s. Of course, Redmond purchased Nokia’s Lumia brand and with it came licensing of the Nokia name until 2016, so Microsoft has slapped the Nokia name on the 230, probably because it knows that Nokia is a hugely respected name in the feature phone market.

Don’t underestimate Microsoft in this market either, thanks to feature phone sales the company is the third largest mobile manufacturer in the world. In terms of feature phones the Nokia 230 gets just about every single thing right and it is even a good looking old thing too. We are sure those limited by economy will love this, while we can also see mobile enthusiasts and hipsters casting covetous glances to the 230 as a second device.

The specs are large unimportant on a handset like this, but some of the most important include the Series 30+ platform, 16MB of RAM, a 2.8-inch screen with 240 x 320 resolution, and a 2MP lens on the back and a 2MP lens on the front, both of which comes with LED flash. It also sports Bluetooth 3.0 and GSM connectivity. The handset ships with Bing Search, Opera Mini Browser, and MSN Weather all on board.

As we mentioned, the Nokia 230 looks great in that old school kind of way and will be on sale across Asia from December at the price of $55. Any takers?

SOURCE: MobileBurn

Xiaomi CEO Talks Up Delayed Mi 5 Flagship

Xiaomi has been delaying its Mi 5 flagship for what seems like an eternity. It has certainly been an eternity in smartphone flagship terms as the Mi 4 launched way back in the summer of 2014. To put that into perspective, most rival brands have release two new flagships since then, leaving Xiaomi’s Mi 4 looking just a bit dated.

We know why the Chinese giant has been holding off, it has been waiting for Qualcomm to launch the Snapdragon 820 processor, and in the meantime Xiaomi has treated us to high end offerings such as the just announced Redmi Note 3. However, now that Qualcomm has raised the curtain on the Snapdragon 820, Xiaomi can get underway in releasing the Mi 5, with the launch likely to take place during the first week of December.

The company’s CEO Lei Jun has recently said that the Mi 5 "is worth the waiting", and that the phone is "very very good". He didn’t mention any specific specs though and did not confirm when the smartphone will be launched.

Samsung Galaxy A7 close to Launch

Samsung is at work readying sequels for its entire Galaxy A series. The Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 have passed through the FCC in the United States, while the Galaxy A8 and a new Galaxy A9 have both been the subject of leaks recently. Today, the Galaxy A7 has passed through Chinese regulatory body TENAA, which means it is nearing its launch.

The Galaxy A7 (SM-7100) comes with a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED Full HD 1080p screen, a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor clocked at 1.5GHz, a generous 3GB of RAM, 16GB of native storage, and in a break from Samsung’s current trend there will also be a micro SD card slot to expand the storage memory.

A 2600mAh battery will keep the lights on, while a 13 megapixel camera sits on the back with a 5MP selfie lens rocking the front panel.

While Samsung has not officially announced the Galaxy it is expected that all the new A series devices will be launching in December, with the A7 mooted to be arriving on the 1st of next month.

LG Unveils the Ray with some Dodgy Advertising

LG likes to launch smartphone, much like its compatriot Samsung, and now the South Korean giant has rolled out the LG Ray, a modest entry level device that will be making its way Latin America and Commonwealth of Independent States countries.

There is nothing really special here, although LG is clearly pushing this as a design oriented smartphone as the company says it is both slim and metallic. It is a head scratcher for sure as the Ray is neither slim (9.8mm) nor metal (its plastic), but it does at least look like a metal smartphone.

In terms of specs, there is a 5.5-inch 720p screen, an unnamed octa-core processor, 1GB of RAM, LTE connectivity, 16GB of native storage, a micro SD card support, a 3,000mAh battery, 13 megapixel rear camera, and an 8 megapixel front facing lens.

With no launch date or price we will have to wait to see if this is worthy of a second glance.

Sony Xperia Z3+ Finally Makes it to U.S. Market

Sony’s smartphone strategy puzzles us. The company treats the U.S. market like an afterthought and then is worried because sales remain low against rivals. Sure, the uninterested U.S. market is hardly welcoming Sony with open arms, but still the company is not in the race to win it. Take the very good Xperia Z3+, a smartphone flagship that launched in June but is now only making its way to the United States.

Sony has catered for the discrepancy in launch time by slashing the price to $499.99, which is around $20 more than the Moto X Pure Edition with a wood or leather back. That means the Xperia Z3+ is entering a rather busy price point that is not short of enticing options. We are thinking of the likes of the OnePlus 2, Motorola Moto X Pure Edition, and several impressive Chinese smartphones. We could also throw the likes of the HTC One A9 into the mix and some of last year’s flagships like the LG G3 and HTC One M8. Of course, the Xperia Z3+ is last year’s flagship in a way, although it is an update of Sony’s 2014 driver.

You will get a well spec’d and ultra-smart looking device that oozes premium, although you will only be able to use it on AT&T and T-Mobile and not Sprint nor Verizon.

Of course, the Xperia Z3 was a very good smartphone, delivering plenty of quality with only a few caveats. Design is possibly one of the low points here, but we say that cautiously and it really does come down to taste. There is no doubt that the Xperia Z3+ (like its predecessor) oozes premium with its two glass panels sandwiching a metal frame and sides. It is a striking smartphone and we know plenty who think the Xperia Z3 is a design triumph, so those people will be happy to see the Xperia Z3+ arrive with no aesthetic changes. While we would be stupid to outright deride the design here, we do think that Sony's flagship range could do with a slight refresh as the move from Xperia Z to Z3+ or indeed Xperia Z4 has been minimal in terms of looks. It is worth noting that this device is thinner than the Xperia Z3, 6.9mm compared to 7.3mm.

As for specs, it's a mix of been there, done that and brand new. The Xperia Z3+ retains the 5.2-inch 1080p screen found on the Z3, it is the exact same panel meaning no Quad HD market pushing display. That is hardly a major gripe considering we still get plenty of joy from a good 1080p screen, which this is. Under the hood things are improved, with Qualcomm's troublesome Snapdragon 810 making its way to the Xperia Z3+ with 3GB of RAM, a 20.7 megapixel rear camera, and an improved 5 megapixel front facing lens also along for the ride.

Sony has also improved the waterproofing, with an IP68 rating meaning this can be submerged in water up to 3 meters (9 feet) deep. Considering the Xperia Z3 is being updated to Android 5.0 Lollipop, we imagine that the Xperia Z3+ will get Lollipop out of the box.

The Z3 had an amazing battery, with Sony squeezing every last drop out of the 3100 mAh juicer to ensure market leading battery performance (we mean market leading too). To make the Xperia Z3+ thinner, the Japanese company decided to reduce the pack to 2900 mAh, but apparently improvements in other areas will mean the Z3+ is equally impressive in terms of battery life. Sony says it will last for two days, obviously we will have to wait to get the device in hand to prove that, but the company has been spot on in this department before.

Amazon’s Black Friday Deal Announced

Amazon doesn’t really need Black Friday to run a deal, the online retail giant is always having offers, especially for mobile apps (really, every Android users should get Amazon’s Store for this reason alone). However, when Black Friday does come around Amazon goes suitably deal crazy, and 2015 will be no different judging by these announced offers.

Discounts are not just limited to electronics, but if you are after a good deal on something from the mobile industry or electronics as a whole, here’s what Amazon is offering:

20 percent off on various Samsung Galaxy tablets
$34.99 Fire 7-inch tablet (from $50)
A mobile printer for less than $100
$25 off Amazon Fire TV (from $100)
$15 off Amazon Fire TV Stick (from $40) and Amazon Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote
50 percent off Sony Extra Bass Bluetooth Headphones
50 percent off on Sennheiser HD 598 Special Edition Over-Ear Headphones in Black (Amazon-exclusive)
$99.99 Kindle Paperwhite (from $119)
$30 off Kindle and Kindle for Kids Bundle
Fire Kids Edition for $84.99 (from $100)
Samsung 32-inch 1080p LED TV for $177.99
LG 49-inch 1080p LED TV for less than $370
Samsung 75-inch 1080p Smart LED TV for less than $2,000
A 60-inch 4K LED TV for $799.99
TCL 55-inch Roku Smart LED TV for $348
TCL 32-inch Roku Smart LED TV, $125
Hisense 55-inch 4K Smart LED TV, $448 (app-only deal)
A 50-inch 1080p LED TV, $149.99 (app-only deal)
Acer Home Theater Projector, $299.99
Vizio 38-inch 2.1 home theater sound bar for $79.99 (from $180)
$49 off Sonos 2-Room Streaming Music Starter Set (from $398)
40 percent off on a Polk Audio Omni S2 wireless speaker
25 percent off Denon Heos 1 wireless speakers
$100 off an Intel Dell 2-in-1 Laptop
Asus 15-inch laptop, $129
40 percent off select Acer desktops, monitors, Chromebooks and tablets
$99 Jawbone Up3 (from $150)
70 percent on select SanDisk memory cards and USB flash drives

SOURCE: Amazon
VIA: MobileBurn

Bin Lin Teases Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Pro ahead of Launch

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Pro is imminent, we know that much by the numerous benchmarks and leaks over the last weeks, while a TENAA certification last week sealed the deal for a November launch. That launch date is going to be November 24th and before the big unveiling, Xiaomi co-founder Bin Lin has teased the device once more.

Using his Weibo social media page, the executive showed a handset that by now is very familiar. The round camera module, flash, and round fingerprint scanner setup on the back matches pervious leaks of the Redmi Note 2 Pro.

The Redmi Note 2 Pro will come with a 5.5-inch screen with 1080p Full HD resolution and an octa core 64-bit MediaTek MT6795 Helio X10 processor clocked at 2.0GHz. There will also be 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable native storage, a 13 megapixel primary shooter, a 5 megapixel front facing lens, and even a fingerprint scanner. Rounding out the spec-list will be a 3060mAh juicer that should keep the lights on a long time, and Android Lollipop on board.

That is a respectable package overall, and as we are used to with Xiaomi, the Redmi Note 2 Pro will not bust the bank and will cost the same as $172. However, as always with the Chinese company, this will not be coming to western markets, so it's off to your local smartphone importer if you are interested in this.