HOT : New Images of Note 4 screen leaks

A few hours ago we brought you the first photos showing the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, and now we have a couple more shots for you to feast your eyes upon - though this time it's just the front panel of the phablet that is getting pictured.

It seems to have undergone a photo shoot somewhere in the wild, and it shows a design that's extremely similar (though at first sight not 100% identical) to that portrayed by the earlier images.


Samsung Galaxy Note 4 front panel

The cutouts for the front camera, speaker, and Home button are all where you'd expect them to be, and you can see where the capacitive touch buttons will go alongside the Home button too - adhering to Samsung's standards in terms of placement.

The Galaxy Note 4 is going to be unveiled at the company's pre-IFA event on September 3. The new phablet has been rumored to come with a 5.7-inch QHD (2560x1440) touchscreen, and either a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chipset or a Samsung Exynos 5433 (depending on market). It may reach stores after September 15.

Samsung: The largest Manufacturer in Indian Market

According to a report revealed last week, Samsung was no longer India’s largest phone maker (smartphones + feature phones) in Q2 2014, being dethroned by local handset manufacturer Micromax. However, it appears that this may not be accurate. Economic Times talked to BD Park, President and CEO of Samsung South West Asia Operations, who dismissed the report, saying that there was “some business motive behind the release of such kind of data.”

BD Park declared that, far from being eclipsed by another company, Samsung was still India’s largest phone vendor in Q2, controlling almost half of the market. The situation is similar when it comes to smartphones alone, with BD Park saying that Samsung’s smartphone market share has doubled over the share held by its closest competitor.

The report from last week, which put Samsung behind Micromax in overall handset shipments, was released by Counterpoint Research, allegedly being based on “thorough channel checks in terms of sales.” While the truth is out there, somewhere, BD Park acknowledged that Samsung’s growth had “slowed down” compared to a few years ago. But that, of course, doesn’t necessarily mean the company lost its leading position.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 leaks

Here's what the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 may look like. While looking very similar to the front of the current Note 3 the back and sides look new.

The phone appears to retain the plastic back with leather-like texture but the sides look similar to the ones on the yet-unannounced Samsung Galaxy Alpha and appear metal.


Samsung Galaxy Note 4

There's a plastic-like inlay in the side-frame that seems to add more water to the frame being metal rumors. The S Pen holster is etched into the side of the phone and there's a microUSB 3.0 port at the bottom along with a speaker grille.

There's what looks like a hear rate monitor alongside the camera lens on the back. The display of the Galaxy Note 4 should be 5.7" once again but with an improved resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels (QHD).

The retail box of the Galaxy Note 4 has also made an appearance. The design on the front looks similar to the one in the images above adding some more credibility to the leak.


Samsung Galaxy Note 4 retail box

The Galaxy Note 4 will be shown (as is customary with Samsung) this coming September 3 on the IFA floor and should make it to the shelves starting September 15.

Release date iPhone 6

We now apparently know when Apple plans on unveiling the Apple
iPhone 6 . Circle September 9th on your calendar, as Apple has
scheduled a huge media event for that date. Earlier reports indicated
that Apple would be holding an event in September to introduce the
next iteration of its iconic smartphone.
German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom had earlier this year,
revealed that the iPhone 6 would be on its shelves starting
September 19th . The latest rumor has the Apple iPhone 6 launching
on October 14th , the same date that the Apple iPhone 4 was
released in 2011. This time, the launch of the handset could be
accompanied by the launch of the rumored Apple iWatch.
Another event in October is expected to be called by Apple to
unwrap the 5.5 inch Apple iPhone phablet, the Apple iPad Air 2 and
the Apple iPad mini 3.

Android: Battery Widgets

Do you often check your Android device’s battery status, and
wished you’d see something a bit more colorful, or cuter, or simply
not that boring? Why, your wish can become reality, because you
can customize your battery status indicator with the help of
widgets. While these won’t change the way the default battery
status indicator from the notification bar looks like, they act as
secondary battery status indicators that are visible on your home
screen.
If you search for "battery widget" in Google Play Store, you’ll surely
find some widgets that you like - a lot of them are free, but there are
also paid versions. In both cases, the widgets can be cute, or cool,
or just clean and elegant.
After you download and install it, the battery widget that you’ve
chosen won’t automatically appear on your home screen. So you’ll
need to open your app drawer, go to the Widgets tab, and search for
it there. When you find it, long press on it to draw it to the home
screen. After that, you can play around with the widget’s position,
and - why not? - pick a wallpaper to look good behind it. You can
also customize the widget’s size and colors - or its characters, if it’s
a widget involving characters. Note that none of these widgets will
appear on the lock screen of your Android device.
As (almost) always when it comes to free apps, the battery widgets
that are free contain ads that my pop up when you're least
expecting. You'll find Google Play links to some of the widgets

XIAOMI MI 4

Xiaomi’s brand new flagship smartphone, the Mi4 , is now available
to buy in China, the company’s home country (where, as we type
this, it’s Tuesday, July 29). Just like the Mi3 from last year, the Mi4
is a high-end device that doesn’t cost too much. Xiaomi is selling
the 16GB model for around $320, and the 64GB model for around
$405. Both models are available in two color versions: black and
white.
Officially announced last week , the Xiaomi Mi4 was presented as
“the world’s fastest smartphone.” While we can’t verify this claim
yet, we have to agree that the Mi4 is a heck of a handset for its
price. Its features include a metal frame, a 5-inch 1080p display,
3GB of RAM, a quad-core 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 processor, and a
3,080 mAh battery. There’s a 13MP camera on the back of the Mi4,
and an 8MP camera on the front. The smartphone runs MIUI 6 UI,
which is based on Android 4.4 KitKat.
Xiaomi shipped more than 10 million Mi3 units until now, and it will
probably ship even more Mi4 units. But we’ll see about that later this
year.
The new Xiaomi smartphone will certainly be released in more
markets in the near future (for example, Italy may be getting the
handset starting next month). Would you buy a Xiaomi Mi4 if it were
available in your region?

HeartBEATS for Apple

When Apple announced that it had agreed to purchase Beats Audio
for $3 billion back in May, it was also said that the deal was
expected to finalize during Q2. Today, it looks like the deal has been
made official, despite hearing only from the European Commission
as far as regulatory approval. The news was broken by Tim Cook
and Dre tweeting the news along with links to the welcome page on
the Apple site and Beats site.
The Apple page welcomes Beats Audio and cofounders Jimmy
Iovine and Dr. Dre to the Apple family. The message goes on to say:
Beats cofounders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre have created beautiful
products that have helped millions of people deepen their
connection to music. We’re delighted to be working with the team
to elevate that experience even further.
And we can’t wait to hear what’s next.
On the Beats site, credit is given to the Macintosh computer as
being the "instrument of choice" for digital music creation, as well as
nods to the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. In addition to this welcome
page, Beats has updated its support pages to note that "All online
purchasing will go through the Apple Online Store" for Beats
products.
Of course, it isn't all good news, because it was reported recently
that Apple would be letting go about 200 Beats employees as part of
the acquisition. The rest of the employees will be kept on Apple's
staff.