Intel Employees Rumored To Be Working On LTE Modem For iPhone 7

Apple styles its personal chipsets which resulted in the A-series of chipsets utilized in the iPhones and iPads. However you will find some components not from Apple, like the LTE modem which at the moment is made by Qualcomm. However in accordance to some report from VentureBeat, Intel now has 1000 employees that they have dedicated to making the LTE modem for the new iphone 7 which is pegged for a launch in 2016.

Now this is not the very first time we have came across these rumors. Earlier this year there were talks that Apple could move from Qualcomm to Intel for their LTE requirements for subsequent year’s apple iPhone. Evidently this modem is claimed to be able of 450Mbps down and also will support 29 LTE bands, and now with this report, it seems like issues are starting to ramp up fairly a little.

However the report also claims that Apple could end up dual-sourcing the LTE modems from both Intel and Qualcomm, which will be a fascinating move given the A9 chipsets this year which were dual-sourced from both Samsung and TSMC. This led to “chipgate”/”batterygate” exactly where TSMC’s chipset was found to have much better battery life, if only by a small margin.

Assuming there'll be discrepancies, and there most likely will, we've to question how customers will react. Nevertheless VentureBeat’s sources declare that Intel and Apple may not have a signed deal yet, but it is feasible that it will be signed quickly if Intel has the capacity to meet Apple’s standards and requirements.

Oppo’s First Smartwatch Might Charge to Full in Just 5 Minutes

Wearable definitely seem like the next big thing when it comes to technology, which is why many companies are getting into wearables. Many renowned companies like Samsung, Motorola, LG and Huawei have joined this market and it seems it’s time for Oppo to join everyone. According to reports, Oppo is also thinking of being a part of this market with a smartwatch of their own. To compete against other big competitors, Oppo is going to offer fast battery charging which others don’t offer. As the rumors suggest, Oppo is going to use a special technology that will charge the smartwatch to full in just 5 minutes.

This will be quite appealing for customers who are not big fan of charging their smartwatches for so much time every day. Fast charging is not something Oppo doing for the first time, company has been using their VOOC fast charging technology with Oppo N3 and Find 7 that increase the speed of overall charging time of the phones. There is a good chance company might be using the same technology in the Smartwatch too. We still don’t know when Oppo will introduce their smartwatch but if it comes 5min charging then many will be looking forward to it.    

The CEO of Mercedes-Benz is not worried about rumors of Apple entering Automobile Industry

When it comes to disrupting the market, Apple is quite known even with all the critics. When iPhone was first launched many people were skeptical about it, many said that iPad will fail really hard when it was announced. The MacBook Air also didn’t get welcomed with positive comments but look at these devices now, they are leaders in their categories. So does that mean Apple has Midas Touch and can make every product a hit? Well, it seems the CEO of Mercedes-Benz Dieter Zetsche isn’t worried about rumors of Apple making Electric car of their own. 

Dieter Zatsche says, “If there were a rumor that Mercedes or Daimler planned to start building smartphones then [Apple] would not be sleepless at night. And the same applies to me, and this is full of respect for Apple. That is what I am saying.”

If you still don’t know about it, there have been some rumors recently that Apple is working on making an Electric car and this project is being worked on for a year now. There are teams of hundreds that are working on this project. However, there is no confirmation of this project, Apple has yet to come and uncover it. 

Galaxy S6 Leaked Battery

As Samsung’s Mobile World Congress 2015 is coming closer, rumors are jumping everywhere. Samsung is going to unveil its next flagship device Galaxy S6 in Barcelona and rumors and reports about the device are even becoming hard to handle. Today it seems the battery of Galaxy S6 has been leaked and it also seems to go along with the previous rumors. As you can see in the image, the model number is EB-BG925ABE meant for SM-925, which is supposed to be Galaxy S6 Model number and also the battery is manufactured recently as the manufacturing date is just couple a days ago.

All this indicated that this must be the real battery of Galaxy S6 and it also complies with the rumors which stated it will come with 2600mAh battery instead of 2800mAh battery. It has also been rumored that the battery of galaxy S6 will be no removable with support for wireless charging right from the box. The phone also must be really slim as it is reported to come with metal body and the battery is also sacrificed. Samsung is definitely not going to confirm any of these rumors but the MWX 2015 is close enough to wait for it.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple Placed Order of 5-6 Million units of Apple Watch

Apple Watch is definitely a hot topic and everyone has different opinion about it. Some says it will be a huge flop and other say it can will make Apple leader in the Smartwatch industry just like Apple did with iPad and iPhone. However, it will definitely be a big step for Apple as they entering a completely new market and on top of that smartwatch market doesn’t actually have any obvious leader. Even with all the pressure, it seems Apple is quite confident about its first wearable. It has been reported by The Wall Street Journal that Apple has Order 5-6 Million units of Apple Watch from suppliers.

All models of Apple Watch are combined in the report but the actual breakdown of the units is still unknown. Although, entry-level Apple Watch Models occupy half of these units, so this means that Apple expects people to go for cheap models instead of mid-range or High-end model. The entry-level Apple watch will come with a price tag of $350 which is quite a lot compared to other smartwatch manufacturers and the price of others is yet to be revealed. 

LG Working on New Octacore 64-Bit Chipset (Rumored)

Samsung is going to use its own Exynos chipset for its upcoming Flagship with out relying on other companies for processors and now it seems LG wants to do the same. LG is not new to this however, as last year they offered NUCLUN chipset in their LG G3 Screen which was released only in South Korea. However, the chipset was not a success due to overheating issue and led to decrease in sales of the handset. The chipset was never issue again to any other device leading to complete shutdown of it. But this doesn’t mean LG will never make another chipset in future. It has been rumored that LG is working on an Octacore 64-Bit Chipset that will compete straight against Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810.

The Chipset will be ARMv8 based and will come with four Cortex-A53 and four Cortex-A7w cores. These chipset will be manufactured by TSMC on its 20nm process for LG. There is no information on what kind of GPU will be used with this processor but many expect it to be Mali one, but there is no confirmation. 

Sony Also Has Interest in Automotives

Recently, technology companies are showing great interest in Auto market. Google has been working quite hard on its Self-driving car project. After working hard for few years they have even managed make a prototype which is up and running. They have achieved so much even before the stating of the competition. Now, it seems Japanese electronics giant Sony also wants to join the race and take a step in automotives. It has been reported that Sony is partnering with ZMP, a Start up working on Self-driving cars and Sony is even ready to invest 100 million Yen in the Start up company. 100 million yen are roughly equal to $840,000 and with this investment Sony will be able to buy 2% stake in ZMP.

Both companies will use their specific set of skills to develop self-driving car technologies. ZMP’s robotics experience and Sony’s image sensors experience to create the perfect technology. Apple is also expected to join the race and it has been reported that they are hiring new talent to work on this new secret project. 

Apple Is Hiring Automotive Technology and Vehicle Design Experts (Rumor)

There have been some reports about Apple hinting towards its interest in automotive business. It was even suggested that they are working on an electronic car. Now another report coming from financial times has revealed even more interest of Apple in the automotive sector. The report says that Apple is hiring automotive technology and vehicle design experts to work on secret research labs. These labs are very secret and not even located inside the Apple’s Cupertino campus. It has also been reported that Jonathan Ive and a team of designers from Apple are having meetings with some engineers and automotive executives.

All this directly points at Apple’s interest in automotive industry however it is still not known whether it will be just some experiments or a actual product will be made. A report for Wall Street Journal also stated that a team of hundreds of Apple employees are already working on a project codenamed “Titan”. Earlier there was also rumor suggesting Apple is working on something that will give Tesla “run for its money” and Tesla CEO also acknowledge that Apple is trying to poach some employees of Tesla. Although there is potential in all these rumors but still we should take it with a grain of salt for now. 

Google Might Show Off Project Ara At MWC 2015

Everyone is crazy about Google’s Project Ara and the wait is becoming quite a pain. However, the Project Ara is still a prototype so there a good chance we will have to wait a bit till it is released to the masses. Although, if you are just curious as what will Project Ara is going to offer, then you might be in luck as a rumor states that Google might bring Project Ara to MWC 2015. Of course, Google will not be making any announcements related to it but according to rumors Google will be revealing some more details about Project Ara and the handset in working along with some modules will be shown. Word on the street is, Google will be showing off 50 different modules and a working prototype.

The idea behind Project Ara is definitely exciting. The ability to swap new modules according to your desire to customize and upgrade your phone is quite appealing as people will never have to buy a new phone again and just upgrade the current in hand. We are still not sure when Project Ara will be released to public but let’s hope we get a clue from MWC 2015. 

Samsung Galaxy S6 will Come with “Intelligent” Camera

Samsung Galaxy S6 is going to be revealed soon and many rumors are jumping around about it before the release. There are rumors claiming it will come with a metal body with a completely new design. There even have been rumors about it having a 20 MP camera with “Pro” mode that will let the user control the camera manually. If you think all those rumors were not enough then how about Samsung teasing about its new Flagship device? As said by Dong Hoon of Samsung, he says about its camera that “It will be intelligent and do all the thinking for users, allowing them to take amazing pictures under any conditions, without having to worry about anything more than just pressing the shutter button.”

Along with teaser about its rear camera Samsung also confirmed about a past rumors regarding its front camera that it will support a 5MP front facing camera. ”Taking this even further, the Galaxy A7, A5 and A3 all feature a monster 5MP front-facing camera for even better-looking selfies. While earlier front-facing cameras were regarded as an “extra”, superfluous to the “main” camera on the rear, this is clearly no longer the case anymore.”

Apple Might Give Tesla a Run for Its Money (Rumor)

Recently, a mysterious Apple Van was spotted on the streets of Bay Area. Some people said that they might be working a project like Google Street view and may be mapping and some thought that Apple might be working on a self-driving car just like Google. Now a new rumor has came from business insider in which the claim that an Apple employee contacted them saying Apple is working on a project that will give Tesla a “run for its money”. Tesla, for people who still don’t know about them, is an electric car manufacturer who was in the news recently when it was spotted that Apple is poaching employees from the company.

We can’t say what exactly these reports mean like is Apple actually working on an electric car? Or may be even a self-driving electric car. There is also a good chance that the Apple employee was just talking about Apple found a way for better iOS integration in cars, however, it is impossible to give Tesla a run for their money with such small difference. So for now we will just have to take all of this with a grain of salt and lets see what future holds.

iOS 9 Will Focus More On Stability Instead Of Adding New Features (Rumor)

At the MWC 2015 Apple is expect to introduce its new operating system iOS 9. In the previous release, the whole focus of Apple was on adding new features and they also showed many new features but it seems that this time there focus will be on overall stability instead of adding new features. According to a rumor, the new iOS 9 will focus on optimization and stability instead of adding tons of new features. Stability is quite core on iOS devices and there have been update for it in every new update small or big. As new features were added, it led to damaging overall performance of the phone that ultimately led to software issues for the users.

The rumor says that there would be many improvements. Engineers are going focus on fixing bugs, improving system performance and over all stability. Of course, all this doesn’t mean iOS 9 will not come with any kind of features at all, it might just come, but the core feature will be the stability if the rumors are to be believed. The update will also take minimum space to make it easier for 16 GB devices users.

Photo Suggests Nexus 6 Might Come With Verizon Branding

So you are thinking of buying a Nexus 6 from Verizon? It was listed on the website of Verizon that the handset will be “Coming soon”. However, when it will be available is still not known. In the meantime, if it is your biggest wish that your next favorite phone doesn’t come with Verizon branding then it seems you will be disappointed. As you can see in the image above it seems that the phone will come with Verizon branding on the back of the smartphone. For many people it is not that much of a big deal but still there are people who prefer a “Clean” Phone and also if you would like to resell it later then this can be quite an issue.

Of course, these photos could be completely fake as anyone can easily photoshop a Verizon Logo but when it comes to branding Verizon seem to like it quite much.  So we can say that this could be a real deal.  Now the last thing remains is whether Verizon will install bloatware on it or not which completely destroys the fun part of owning a Nexus 6 as it comes with Stock Android, but the chances are it will come with it. So we can just hope for the best even if the odds are against us. 

Qualcomm Might Get Sued By LG for Making Samsung Its Favorite (Rumor)

If you remember from an earlier rumor that claimed that Qualcomm might be working on a modified version of Snapdragon 810 chipset specifically for Samsung to solve its overheating issue. Well, according to a report from Korea LG didn’t like this move and might even sue Qualcomm if they will provide a modified version of Snapdragon 810 chipset to Samsung. Interesting part is that, as claimed by a rumor LG didn’t face any kind of overheating issue with the regular Snapdragon 810 and is still against the decision. However, it does make sense to some extent as the current LG G Flex 2 is running the regular Snapdragon 810, so if Samsung gets a modified version this can lead to playing favorites.

We should keep in mind that all this comes from different rumors and nothing is official, so there is a good chance that all this didn’t even happen. Samsung is also using its Exynos chipset instead of Snapdragon 810 and a rumor suggests it's not because of the overheating issue but to promote their chipset. 

Qualcomm Might Fix Snapdragon 810’s Overheating Issue Specifically For Samsung (Rumor)

You might have already heard that Qualcomm is having overheating issue with its Snapdragon 810 chip which is supposed to power many new flagships. Well, Samsung was one of the companies who was going to use this new chip in its new Flagship Samsung S6 but had to drop it and use its own Exynos chips.  However, according to a new rumor, it seems Qualcomm is trying to fix this issue just for Samsung. It is said that Qualcomm is working on fixing this overheating issue and will provide the fixed chips to Samsung in March. It could be a problem though, as Samsung is said to reveal its new flagship by March so Snapdragon 810 won’t be able to make it to the handsets. There is a good chance that initial Samsung Galaxy S6 might feature Exynos and after that other will come with Snapdragon 810.

There are also other OEMs, which rely on Snapdragon 810 but didn’t actually face any overheating issue. Like LG, they reported they didn’t face any such issue and it is currently being used in LG G Flex 2. Some people say that Galaxy S6 might have QHD display and LG G Flux 2 has a Full HD display so Galaxy S6 uses more power and is prone to overheating. We will have to just wait till MWC 2015 to see how it works for Samsung.

Images of Purported HTC One M9 and Specs Leaked

Well, it seems there are still some rumors left before the reveal of HTC’s next Flagship HTC One M9 or Hima. The picture you are seeing is said to be the HTC One M9 Plus. It seems it is going to be just like HTC One M9 but with a bigger screen and better specs. According to the Leak, this HTC One M9 Plus is going to feature 5.5-inch Quad HD display, while being powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 processor along with 3GB RAM and some other features like Dual rear camera and Fingerprint scanner.

Although, this new source of rumor doesn’t have much of a reputation so we can’t rely on the information they have provided. However, if such device with larger display and few extra features do come it won’t shock the people as HTC is already known for making a larger display version of its flagships. There is also a chance that this could be the prototype of HTC One M9 which company tested but then moved on to another. BoomSound stereo speakers have never made to any of HTC’s devices but in the picture it can be found on top and bottom.

Nokia Might Be Working On A New Phone With Meizu (Rumor)

Nokia was the market leader in its time, but now it has really fallen hard and had to sell its devices division to Microsoft. After that, only thing which Nokia have made is a Tablet which is also limited to just China. Now it seems Nokia is partnering with a Chinese company. According to a rumor, Nokia is going to partner with Meizu to create a new Smartphone. Meizu is a new smartphone manufacturer from China and its new devices MX4 and MX4 Pro both have done quite well in China. The problem is Meizu is only limited to China with no exposure to the West. Even if they try to sell their product in such big markets, they don’t have enough reputation or a specific strategy to compete against companies located in West.

This is where Nokia will help out, according to the reports both Nokia and Meizu are working on a new smartphone with codename MX4 Supreme. The new smartphone will be same as Meizu’s old devices when it comes to design, but internal specifications will be set by Nokia. The phone will be branded under Meizu’s name as Nokia is not allowed to sell a phone with its own name according to the deal with Microsoft. 

Microsoft might Launch Phone/Laptop Hybrid Device

Laptop/tablet hybrid has been quite known in the past year or so and many devices like these have been released in the market. The device might sound different but it actually makes sense. The tablet portion of the device can be used while you just want to go light and do some web surfing and keyboard can be used when you want to do some serious typing. However, now there are rumors that Microsoft is working on phone/Laptop hybrid and to tell you the truth, we don’t know anything about how it will look. The rumor states “Microsoft also plans to introduce new hardware, with some set to appear this week and a phone-laptop hybrid that might appeal to enterprise customers being developed for further in the future.”

We only know that Microsoft is working on such device, there is still no details on how it will look and what it will feature. As said above, a laptop/tablet hybrid is just like a laptop, but comes with a display like tablet that can easily be removed and played around with. However, this new phone/laptop hybrid will be a completely new thing. 

The upcoming watch by Samsung will include Wireless Charging

If you have kept your eye on rumors related to Samsung products then you must have already heard of Samsung working on a round shape Smartwatch that will be introduced at the Mobile World Congress in March 2015. Though nothing have been confirmed officially by Samsung, but still there have been many rumors about this watch that claim to list its features. According to another rumor, the next Samsung smartwatch will come with wireless charging. The codename of the device is Orbis and this is going to be the first watch by Samsung that will be Round in shape and will be directly competing against LG G watch R and Moto 360.

Sammobile claims that Orbis will be the first watch by Samsung that will ever feature Wireless charging. The feature will come out of the box and there will be no requirement of case or cover to use this feature. If Orbis does come with the wireless charging feature it will make it very easy to charge the watch and user will never have to deal with charging stations. However, how good the charging mechanism of the watch will be remains to be seen.

Rumored iPhone 6s might Feature 2GB RAM

Currently, Rumors about iPhone 6s are bouncing everywhere – a Smartphone that is far from even existing and is said to feature Dual-Lens camera for optical zoom purposes. Now a rumor from Taiwan suggests that the iPhone 6s will also feature 2GB RAM instead of 1GB like its current devices. If it’s true, then Apple must be using the recent LPDDR4 technology, which will double the bandwidth pushing it at 34Gbps, also doing it without consuming any extra power. Currently, both iPhone 6 and 6 Plus comes with 1GB RAM using the old technology LPDDR3.

It should be noted that such technology also doesn’t come cheap, LPDDR4 will cost 35% more as compared to the old LPDDR3. Along with pricing issue, production of these chips will also be quite a problem, although Micron is largely responsible for the production of such chips. So it could be handle by it, but Apple will not be depending on them only as they have a history of assigning tasks to more than one manufacturer.