Samsung announces 4GB DDR4 mobile DRAM!

Samsung has been working hard this holiday season and today announced its 8Gb (that's 1GB) LPDDR4 mobile DRAM chip. This is not only the industry first LPDDR4 mobile DRAM, but it's also the first mobile DRAM to fit such a high density (8 gigabits) on a single die. Four of those dies can successfully be combined for a total of 4GB of mobile memory - an amount that so far has not been achieved commercially.

 

Fabricated on the 20nm manufacturing process, the new mobile LPDDR4 chips are reportedly 50% faster than the fastest LPDDR3 memory on the market, while also consuming 40% less power at 1.1 volts.
Here's what Young-Hyun Jun, executive vice president, memory sales & marketing, Samsung Electronics said regarding the new product.

This next-generation LPDDR4 DRAM will contribute significantly to faster growth of the global mobile DRAM market, which will soon comprise the largest share of the entire DRAM market

The data transfer speeds the new 8Gb LPDDR4 DRAM chip can achieve are 3,200Mbps per pin - twice the speed of currently produced 20nm LPDDR3 DRAM.
Samsung also hints that the resulting 4GB RAM modules will be included in "UHD smartphones, tablets and ultra-slim notebooks," which says something about the jump in smartphone screen resolution during the next year. Perhaps even the upcoming Galaxy S5 may be one of those UHD smartphones.
Mind you, to utilize that kind of memory, the Galaxy S5 will need a 64-bit CPU architecture. Good thing Samsung promises it's 64-bit SoC will be ready in time for the phone's announcement (usually in the first half of the year).

Samsung to release Galaxy Note 3 Lite by end of Q1 2014

We reported on rumors of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Lite a little while back. To refresh your memory, the Galaxy Note 3 Lite is Samsung's planned lower-end version of its popular Note smartphone. There were also talks of it being leaked in four different variants earlier in the year. Well it seems that the rumors are still alive and it is quite possible that a Note 3 Lite may be released by the end of the first quarter, 2014.
Rumors say that the Note 3 Lite should make use of an LCD of either 5.5 or 5.7 inches. Apparently, the Korean manufacturing giant is testing both sizes. Since it is a "lite" version of the phone, it would be safe to assume that they will go with the smaller screen.
The source of the new rumor is SamMobile's twitter:

SM-N7505 - Samsung GALAXY Note 3 Lite LTE - Green - 2014 W12
— SamMobile (@SamMobiles) December 27, 2013

The tweet also tells us the model name for the LTE version of the smartphone - N7505. It's a safe bet that the non-LTE version will be labeled N7500. The Note 3 model names are N9005 for the LTE version and N9000 for the 3G version.
Specs-wise there isn't much news, but it is thought that the "lite" moniker will replace the "mini" series of phones, as there are rumors of a Samsung Galaxy Grand Lite in the works as well. Like Samsung's mini models, expect a downgrade in tech specs compared to their big brother variants.

LG will bring the Knock feature to the L Series II smartphones, Knock-Knock!!

LG announced that it will bring the Knock feature to the L Series II family of smartphones. Formerly known as KnockON, the useful gesture allows users to turn their smartphone on by tapping on its display twice.

The second generation LG L Series devices will get treated to the feature via a global maintenance
release update. It will be seeded to devices in January 2014.
The Knock feature debuted on the LG G2 flagship. The LG G Pad 8.3, LG G Flex, and the recently announced LG GX are among the devices having the functionality.

LG may release a G-Arch smart watch and a sports band soon

With Samsung making a big push to sell customers wearable devices to pair with their higher end devices, one would expect another certain South Korean manufacturer to jump in on bandwagon, too (cough, LG, cough cough).
Rumor has it that, in concurrence with the launch of the G3, LG will be releasing the G-Arch smart watch and the G-Arch fitness band. The names of the devices are self explanatory, so expect them to have features similar to the Galaxy Gear smart watch and Nike fuel band respectively. In fact, LG had a device akin to Nike's fitness recorder at CES 2013 called the Smart Activity Tracker, so they definitely do have their eyes on wearable tech.



LG hasn't confirmed any specific details on potential wearable devices, but they did confirm that they were planning to release a "wearable product" in the future. A debut at CES 2014 is a safe bet.
Would you be interested in wearable tech from LG? If so, what kind of features would you want? Sound off about it in the comments!

Vulnerability found in Samsung Knox Software!

The corporate world has made a substantial migration from the Blackberries of old to iOS and Android. In a scramble to pick up that corporate market share, Samsung created Knox, its own security software designed to fortify Google's OS, and make it secure for business environments. However, a "serious vulnerability" has been found in Knox which could put users' data at risk.

According to cyber security researchers at Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, emails and data communications on Samsung devices are among the data susceptible to the exploit. Hackers are able to record and "easily interpret" the data which is supposed to be protected. The worst part of the vulnerability is that a capable malicious attacker could insert hostile code via the breach, thus creating system-wide harm.

The chink in Knox's digital armor was reportedly found earlier this month. Samsung has denied the severity of the vulnerability and has argued that the handset which was tested did not have all of Knox's features installed.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 is being considered for use by the US Department of Defense's staff, including internal use in the Pentagon. If a foreign manufacturers' handsets aren't deemed secure, then there is no way the US government will consider using the phones. Samsung could therefore be losing a lucrative government contract if Knox can't make the cut.

First CyanogenMod Retail Smartphone : Oppo N1 Out Now

Oppo is now selling the CyanogenMod N1. The first CyanogenMod retail smartphone is going for $599, which was the initially expected price.

In Europe, the smartphone is selling for €448 for the 16GB version. Just like the regular Oppo N1, this one comes with the O-Click accessory, but in addition will also receive a special CyanogenMod cover as well as a special sticker pack.

If you happen to own the standard Oppo N1, you can go ahead and download the CyanogenMod image that the ROM maker has released today. The second source link below will also give you access to the Kernel image that you'll need to flash in order to install CyanogenMod on your N1.
Currently, the CyanogenMod Oppo N1 is running CyanogenMod 10.2 based on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. However, the team behind the custom ROM is hard at work on CyanogenMod 11 (based on Android 4.4 KitKat) so an update for the N1 is coming shortly.

Nokia 'Moneypenny' leak hints at dual SIM Windows Phone

The acquisition by Microsoft doesn't seem to have hindered Nokia at all as it continues to work on new devices. According to the latest leak by evleaks, Nokia is also working on a dual SIM Windows Phone 8 device.

Codenamed 'Moneypenny', the phone is expected to be a budget device aimed primarily at Asian markets where dual SIM phones are popular. Judging by the time on the screen, the phone could likely be named Lumia 630. Also, we can see that 3G is available on both the SIMs, which is rare as most phones have 3G on one and 2G on the second.
Not much else is known about this phone at the moment other than it would be the first dual SIM Windows Phone device. We'll keep you updated on this device as we learn more.

Gionee Elife E7 Mini goes official

Gionee has officially announced the Mini variant of its flagship smartphone, the Elife E7. The E7 Mini comes with a rotatable camera module, which was first seen on the Oppo N1 a while ago. The folks at FoneArena have managed to get their hands on the Gionee Elife E7 Mini and you can check some live photos below.

The Elife E7 sports a 4.7-inch HD display and is powered by the MediaTek MT6592 chipset with 1.7 GHz octa-core processor and 1 GB of RAM. The device features a 13 megapixel swivel camera, 16 GB of inbuilt storage, dual-SIM support and the usual set of connectivity options.
Gionee's latest addition packs a non-removable 2,100mAh battery and comes to you with a price tag of INR 18,999 (about $307).

LG G Flex Review

The LG G Flex is curved top to bottom and, as the name suggests, it can flex. It's not bendable like rubber, you have to really put some muscle to it. It's quite impressive all the same, as nothing about phones is flexible, not the screen glass, not the screen itself, nor the motherboard or battery. Oh well, they didn't use to be.

Features
 
General -
The LG G Flex supports 2G, 3G and 4G with a micro-sim slot.

Body -

The dimensions of the device are 160.5 x 81.6 x 8.7 mm (6.32 x 3.21 x 0.34 in), its is 177 g & sports a Curve body with a Self-healing back panel coasting.

Display-

The display is a Curved P-OLED capacitive touchscreen with 16M colors, Size is 6.0 inches with a resolution of 720x1280, which achieves 245ppi.

Camera-

The Main camera is a 13 MP autofocus shooter with LED flash. The camera is capable of recording a  1080p video at 60 frames per second with stereo sound recording and video stabilization.
 The back camera is 2.1 MP which is capable of recording  a 1080p video at 30 frames per second.

What's Inside-

The Device Runs Android v4.2.2 Jelly Bean which is kinda disappointing for a new device now a days, LG should've loaded android v4.3 on the device, but its not a big con. as it may hopefully get a 4.4 KitKat update soon.
The Chipset is Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 which runs a Quad-core Krait 400 at 2.26 GHz. The Processor is mated with a Adreno 330 GPU.
The Internal storage is 32GB (No other options for now) & RAM is 2GB.
The Battery is a 3500 mAh Li-Po battery but unfortunately its a Non-removable battery.