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Sony Combines the Xperia Z and ZL to Produce the Xperia UL

awie — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:05:00 +0000

What do you get when you combine the water- and dust-resistance capabilities of the Xperia Z with the dedicated camera button of the Xperia ZL?

You get the Xperia UL, a Japan-only (at the moment) Sony smartphone with IPX5/8 water-resistance and IP5X dust resistance capabilities with a 5-inch 1080p display, 1.5Ghz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and a 13MP Exmor RS camera that does 15FPS burst shots in addition to NFC, DLNA and IR.

We’re not sure if Sony has plans to bring the Xperia UL out of Japan but if you’re looking for a phone that you can take swimming with you, the upcoming Xperia ZR is something you want to wait for.

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Sony Combines the Xperia Z and ZL to Produce the Xperia UL

Blast from the past: Classic Karateka Game available on iOS and Android for 99 cents

awie — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:01:00 +0000

The classic Karateka side-scrolling game is now available on your smart phone. This is the game the game that started it all before Prince of Persia. To give it a more retro feel, the loading of the game even includes the sound of a loading old school 5 1/4″ floppy disk. Just like the original, you can’t save the game midway and the only way to end the game is by killing it in the recent apps on Android.

To relive your childhood memory, you can download it now on Android and iOS for US$0.99.

For those who didn’t know, there’s an alternative ending of the Karateka game. Watch it after the break.

[ SOURCE ]

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Blast from the past: Classic Karateka Game available on iOS and Android for 99 cents

Who is Avunit? The Hunt for LulzSec’s Ghostly Sixth Member

awie — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:04:00 +0000

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Who is Avunit? The Hunt for LulzSec’s Ghostly Sixth Member

White leather DBrand skin review

awie — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:35:00 +0000

DBrand makes vinyl skins for the BlackBerry Z10. I personally don’t use skins on my phone and I am hesitant to do so because I am very specific and precise with these types of things. That being said I was nervous applying the skin, but the first thing that was a positive was that the skin removed easily when I was refitting the device with the skin. There was no sticky residue which was positive as well. One suggestion I would make is for the skin piece for the top and bottom to cover the full piece because part of the skin is cut a little smaller for the screen itself, which I can understand but looks a little odd. I think it was noticeable because I was putting it on a black z10. The skin is easy enough to put on without following any instructions which was provided by DBrand.

The skin I had was the white leather skin. It was a nice look on the device something I could definitely carry around. The feel of the back piece was not bad and gave the device a little bit of a grip to it. That is nice especially if you have the skin on a red or white z10 which has a smooth back. I personally don’t like white especially if it gets dirty but I didn’t see that with the white leather skin. It does not add any bulk to the device which is a great for me, I do not like bulk because I put my phone in my pocket. For anyone who wants a nice white look to their z10, I definitely recommend getting the white leather skin for the z10. I did try removing the skin like a week later for another skin to test and I had issues removing it. This may be because i dont really have much fingernails but I was able to remove it after a few tries.

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White leather DBrand skin review

BlackBerry Live No Behind Us, Do You Feel Like BlackBerry Delivered?

awie — Mon, 20 May 2013 06:37:00 +0000

Last week in Orlando, BlackBerry took the stage to update the state of the company and give us a flurry of new announcements which included the Q5 mid-tiered smartphone, BBM channels , 10.2 and of course BlackBerry Messenger for iOS and Android. Do you think BlackBerry Live was a success? Did you expect more? Maybe less? Vote Below and make sure you leave a comment telling us why!

Take Our Poll

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BlackBerry Live No Behind Us, Do You Feel Like BlackBerry Delivered?

The BlackBerry Q10 is coming to DiGi

awie — Mon, 20 May 2013 06:18:00 +0000

You can add DiGi to your list of operators offering the BlackBerry Q10 as the QWERTY-toting BlackBerry will be available from DiGi from May 30.

Currently the Q10 is available from Celcom and Maxis from as low as RM1,388 and RM1,178 respectively. Outright the Q10 is priced at RM2,388. Pricing details for the BlackBerry Q10 from DiGi has not yet been revealed.

While the BlackBerry Q10 supports 4G LTE, there’s still no indication on when DiGi will announce its commercial 4G LTE service. We can only hope that by the time they launch, their 4G LTE coverage would cover most populated areas nationwide.

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The BlackBerry Q10 is coming to DiGi

Purported rugged Samsung Galaxy S4 Active leaked

awie — Mon, 20 May 2013 05:50:00 +0000

Samsung is not letting Sony having all the fun in the water and here we have is the purported Samsung Galaxy S4 Active with water and dust resistance. Seen as a direct competitor of Sony’s Xperia Z, the S4 Active comes with top notch specs such as a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 Quad-Core 1.9GHz processor with a 5″ Full HD display like the current flagship device.

Over at the front, it comes with 3 physical buttons which makes it usable in any tough situations while the opposite side sports a metal looking back secured with bolts. If the rest of the specs are similar as the S4, it should also pack a 13MP shooter as well.

Apart from the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active, more S4 variants such as the Galaxy S4 mini, Galaxy S4 Mega are expected to be released as well. This was unofficially confirmed in the description of Samsung’s WatchON app which has been changed at time of posting.

Head after the break for another shot of the S4 Active.

[ SOURCE, 2 ]

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Purported rugged Samsung Galaxy S4 Active leaked

How BlackBerry Can Drive the Resurgence of the Physical Keyboard

awie — Mon, 20 May 2013 05:06:00 +0000

These days, the term ‘smartphone” usually implies a full-touchscreen device with a virtual keyboard. After all, almost all of the recent mid- and high-tier smartphones have no physical keyboards. There is a reason for this of course. And let’s face it. What most people want are smartphones with large screens on thin devices along with apps that they can use to entertain themselves or get things done. Of course, nobody wants a phone that is inconveniently large, but generally the larger the screen the easier it is to create software that brings a superior experience.

But it is all set for all-touch? Not quite. The demand behind the BlackBerry Q10 has shown that there is still a solid market for that good ‘old BlackBerry with the front-facing keyboard. At the end of the day, the fundamental physical limitations of a solid sheet of glass to act as a traditional keyboard makes it unable to deliver the intricate feel and experience of mechanically functional keys. Smartphones with hidden, retractable keyboards don’t quite make for a thin device with a quality keyboard too, which is probably why you don’t see a BlackBerry 10 device with a sliding keyboard. These days though, no matter how great the BlackBerry Q10 may be, it is working against a massively strong trend toward the larger screens.

The QWERTY market has steadily been taking a smaller and smaller slice of the smartphone pie. Is the market forever doomed to swathes of slabs of glass, giving fewer and fewer options to those who stand by all that is QWERTY? Maybe, just maybe, all is not lost. The fate of the physical keyboard smartphone may rest in BlackBerry’s hands.

BlackBerry, as we all know, is here today because of their iconic QWERTY keyboard smartphones. It takes a brave soul to argue against the supremacy of BlackBerry in the QWERTY keyboard smartphone market. On the other hand, the BlackBerry Z10 is a small fish in a big pond as it stands. BlackBerry will very likely do decently well anyway with their all-touchscreen offering. Though against my strong advocation for the virtual keyboard, I believe that BlackBerry is in the best position to deliver the second coming of QWERTY with their hardware keyboard pedigree.

The trend towards larger smartphone screens is extremely strong and is largely independent of preference towards physical or virtual keyboards. In fact, the proportion of smartphone users who prefer a physical keyboard remains very significant despite the migration towards touchscreen smartphones. Compile all this information and you end up at the inevitable conclusion that QWERTY smartphones need larger screens.

With flagship smartphones like the Galaxy S4 and HTC One (and even ridiculously huge phones like the Galaxy Note 2) selling quite well, it just shows there is a market for larger smartphones. At only 3.1 inches diagonally, the BlackBerry Q10 is obviously in a different league. But with the benefits of the physical keyboard, it is obviously not practical for the Q10 to match these other all-touchscreen smartphones in terms of screen size. But there is definitely room for improvement!

Alas, I propose my vision for the BlackBerry Q11!

A 720x 960 portrait screen QWERTY device, designed to give that large screen experience with the same solid Q10 keyboard. With an aspect ratio of 3:4, you’re able to cram more onto the display, which is great for browsing, BBM, email, Twitter, FaceBook, pictures, documents, and pretty much everything else that people do on smartphones. Games should be easier to port onto the Q11. User interfaces of apps will also be easier to tweak to work as well. I firmly believe that this type of QWERTY device is the kind that will draw people back to QWERTY. Many of those who are hesitant to switch from all-touch smartphones to QWERTY smartphones are worried about losing the big-screen experience. In my opinion, there is no reason why so much screen real estate has to be sacrificed. Why not make that decision easier and give them the best of both worlds?

The Q10 has screen dimensions of approximately 2.2 by 2.2 inches. The change would result in the Q11 having a screen size of 2.2 by 2.9 inches, a vertical increase of about 0.7 inches or 18mm. To put this in perspective, this is about the height of the bottom navigation bar on the Z10. This increase in display height makes it easier to accommodate such a navigation bar.

Now, of course there can be some issues with the design. Firstly, the balance of the phone is a potential issue. But considering how it will still be shorter than the Z10, and perhaps only 1 cm taller than the present Q10, I doubt it will be a problem at all. Secondly, it will be difficult to cram the multitude of smartphone components inside such a frame. The earpiece speaker, cameras, sensors, power button, and perhaps another microphone will have to be squeezed into a narrower top bezel. While this could be an issue, it’s more of an excuse. This is a potential problem that can be solved with the excellent engineering we know BlackBerry is capable of. There even may be more drawbacks, but to be brutally honest, I doubt they will justify keeping a square display. The advantages are simply huge cannot be realized without an increase in display height. The Q10 may be “great” and “good enough” to some who prefer having a smaller form factor, but this larger screen can be integrated into the present Q10 with very little change to the size. There is plenty of space on the front of Q10. Even if it is technically difficult to do, BlackBerry should aim to accomplish it.

With that taken into account. If BlackBerry is to truly give a ‘no compromises’ experience, the Q-series cannot remain as is with a square display. Going to a 3:4 aspect ratio will make for a better experience with apps, better content consumption, and perhaps even more room for an even larger battery. The market has spoken, and it is about time to redefine the QWERTY experience into something better suited to the times we live in. BlackBerry now has the chance to resurrect the QWERTY segment of the smartphone market with a hybrid device that can take full advantage of the BlackBerry 10 experience while delivering a solid physical keyboard. I firmly believe that this type of device is one that can truly compete with other touchscreen smartphones while maintaining a fundamental advantage with a hardware keyboard. BlackBerry should not aim to create the best QWERTY smartphone, but the best smartphone. Period.

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Presenting the Carbon Fiber BlackBerry Z10 Oreo

awie — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:57:00 +0000

Apple’s MacBook’s sleek and simplistic look has always captured my eye. The classic silver with black accents is very appealing to me. After seeing the first BlackBerry Z10 ‘Oreo’ on CrackBerry, I just had to do something similar.

Though, I didn’t want it exactly the same. I needed mine to be original and with a little more flair. Enter dbrand. The company makes very high quality vinyl skins for electronic devices.

A fellow Canadian company, dbrand, saw it fit to support the BlackBerry Z10. They offer multiple skin variations, such as leather, titanium, and carbon fiber.

The skins are made of authentic 3M vinyl, so there’s never any adhesive residue left on your device. The company says they’ve “meticulously measured each of the cutouts on our skins for the BlackBerry Z10 hundreds of times, down to the micro millimeter. It literally isn’t possible to find a better fitting, higher quality BlackBerry Z10 skin than the one you’ll find at dbrand inc.”

The best part about dbrand vinyl skins are their quality. They are not just images printed on the vinyl. They feel exactly as they look. Everyone, including myself, who had the opportunity to feel the Carbon Fiber Z10 Oreo was quite impressed that you could ‘feel’ the design.

It was quite easy to apply the skin on the Z10. I’ll admit, I applied it during the BlackBerry Live 2013 keynote, in the dark. I have a knack for detail so I did have a few tries before the cut-outs lined up perfectly. Though, the best part about the application process is there’s no messy spray or the use of a squeegee to rub out any bubbles.

Each dbrand skin covers nearly the entire right parts of the device. This ensures the design looks natural. It certainly fooled people into thinking I had a custom-made BlackBerry Z10.

To accomplish the ‘oreo’ effect, I simply used a white OEM battery door. Ross will likely use this same carbon fiber skin from dbrand to make a “Limited Edition Carbon Fiber Z10″ for his red Z10.

You can even mix and match the skin’s colors. For instance, there is white and black carbon fiber designs. I could have gotten black carbon fiber for the front and back of the device, while using a white carbon fiber for the sides. This comes at no additional cost.

The vinyl skins at dbrand are top-notch and priced very, very reasonably. You can pick from three different styles with different color variations at a price of only $20.

dbrand makes customizing your BlackBerry Z10 a breeze, without having to send it away for the customizations. Check out all of the dbrand vinyl skins for the BlackBerry Z10 at dbrand.com.

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(HTC One, Nokia Lumia 920, iPhone 5, Xperia Z, BlackBerry Z10)

Daytime – Photo Comparison
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Night – Photo Comparison
Night – Video Comparison

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Galaxy S4 Camera vs the Others: Daytime Comparison