LATEST ON THE APPLE- BEAT DEAL

First and Foremost, we congratulate the whole APPLE Inc. family for its acquisition of BEATS MUSIC Inc. As some of you know, APPLE Inc. broke the banks to acquire the company known to deal with everything music and quality. Due to some procedures, EU's bla bla bla, BEATS MUSIC has not been able to join the cupertino giant officially not until a few days back. Rumors though are spreading round that APPLE will have to lay off some 200 staff which henceforth(due to the deal) are now surplus to requirement. Call me stale but its still news.

LG G Pro 2 hands-on

LG G Pro 2 went official 10 days prior the MWC. It has already gone on sale in Korea, while US and Europe will be getting in in March and April.

The G Pro 2 is the successor of the Optimus G Pro phablet and upgrades all major specs. It comes with a larger 5.9″ 1080p IPS display, runs on the Snapdragon 800 chipset with 3GB of RAM, and comes with a 13MP camera with enhanced optical image stabilization (OIS+).

LG G Pro 2 next to the Samsung Galaxy Note 3
The G Pro 2′s display looks great, colors are punchy, the viewing angles are OK too, though the performance under direct sunlight is rather unimpressive. Still the display occupies 77.2% of the entire front, which results in tiny screen bezels – indeed a great achievement.
Other interesting key features of the LG G Pro 2 are the expandable 16 or 32 GB internal storage, the video recording capabilities – 4K@30 fps, 1080p@60fps and 720p@120fps, and the removable 3,200mAh battery.

LG G Pro 2
LG G Pro 2 is running on Android 4.4.2 KitKat skinned with LG’s proprietary Emotional UX. The phablet also introduces the so-called Knock Code – it allows the user to unlock his/her device by knocking on its display using a specific combination. We’ve tried this feature and it is indeed a very clever way to unlock the phone, you’ll need some time and quite a few attempts until you get used to its behavior.

LG G Pro 2: a closer look
Here’s a quick video demo of LG’s latest software, including a demo of knock codes:

LG G Pro 2 is made entirely of plastic. Its back has barely visible texture, but is glossy and very slippery. We expected to find fingerprints and smudges all over the G Pro 2 after handling the phablet for a while, but as it turns out it is not prone to such unpleasantries.
The back of the G Pro 2 has the already familiar control deck just below the camera – a Power/Lock key flanked by the two volume keys. Those can be configured to launch different apps (such as the camera) upon a long press.

A peek under the battery cover
We’ve taken the LG G Pro 2 for a quick spin outside. We were eager to test its OIS camera, so we snapped e few photos.

LG G Pro 2 10MP 16:9 camera samples
And here is a full 13MP 4:3 photo.

LG G Pro 2 13MP camera sample.

BBM coming to Nokia Lumia [Update: And Nokia X]

Nokia has taken to the stage at the MWC 2014 and the announcements are coming in thick and fast. One of the first announcements is some new apps for the Lumia platform, including BBM for Lumia.

BBM or BlackBerry Messenger has traditionally been limited to BlackBerry devices until it was made available on iOS and Android last year. Now BBM will also be available on Lumia devices, bringing it to an even wider audience. The app will be available ‘in the coming months’.
Update: BBM will also be available on the new Nokia X series phones, but that is not that big a deal since BlackBerry already has an Android app.
Source

Sony unveils stereo microphone accessory for its Xperia gadgets

When talking about smartphone camera quality, the main focus is the video quality, but quality audio often draws big attention. Sony released an unusual accessory – a stereo microphone you plug into your phone or tablet.

The Stereo Microphone STM10 is the type of add-on we’re more used to seeing on prosumer cameras.

Sony has yet to put up the product page, so there’s no info on price and device compatibility yet. Until then you can check out the kind of audio quality the STM10 achieves with an Xperia Z2.

Sony Xperia Z2 hands-on MWC 2014

Sony unveiled its first flagship for 2014, the Xperia Z2 smartphone. It revamps last year’s Z1 with a bigger screen, 4K video recording, stereo speakers, a lighter body plus a number of changes under the hood.

We got a chance to handle the device at the MWC grounds.

Hardware

The Sony Xperia Z2 closely resembles the Z1 (which is to say it’s a looker), but it has a larger screen – a 5.2″ Triluminos display. The display has 1080p resolution, despite all the rumors of QHD screens at the MWC. The sharpness is great though and Sony has used the same tech for the screen as it does for its TVs.


5.2″ Triluminos screen
The camera features a 20.7MP Exmor RS sensor and now Sony has enabled 4K @ 30fps video recording (aka 2160p). You can use digital zoom during video recording, but it remains to be seen if it’s as good as Note 3′s.
Other new camera modes include 120fps slow-motion (at 720p resolution) and Background Defocus, plus Vine is pre-installed.
The Xperia Z2 runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat with Sony’s customizations, which have gotten a reputation of minimal but functional changes to Android. More interestingly, Sony uses Qualcomm’s brand new Snapdragon 801 chipset – a faster version of the already fast 800.


The Xperia Z2 little narrower and thinner than the Z1
Previous Sony Z phones didn’t have the loudest speakers (the price to pay for water-proofing), but the Xperia Z2 features stereo speakers, so it should perform better.
Sony continues to use its long process of taking an aluminum slab and machining most of it off to create a thin, light chassis. The Xperia Z2 is 12g lighter than its predecessor. Here are the steps of the process:


Creating the Xperia Z2 body is a lengthy process
The larger screen led to a slight increase in size but that’s only in the vertical dimension, the Xperia Z2 is 2.4mm taller than the Z1, but a hair narrower and thinner. As before, the body has an IP58 certification, so it can go as deep as 1.5m for half an hour.
The Sony Xperia Z2 comes with 16GB of built-in storage and a microSD card slot. The slots and ports are covered by flaps to prevent water damage.
Speaking of ports, the microUSB 2.0 port features MHL and can output 4K video – now all you need is a 4K TV to watch the videos you’ve shot in their full glory.

Xperia Z2 camera samples

The Xperia Z2 camera uses the familiar recipe from Z1 and Z1 Compact – 20.7MP Exmor RS sensor, 1/2.3″ big, Sony G Lens (f/2.0, 27mm wide angle). We couldn’t take the phone outside, but we still captured a sample photo:


Sony Xperia Z2 camera sample
And we recorded a 4K video too. Here it is uploaded to YouTube. Keep in mind that your computer and video player need to be able to handle 4K video. If not, at least you can view the YouTube video at 1080p.

Xperia Z2 benchmarks

We had just enough time with the Z2 to run several of our usual benchmarks – this is our first encounter with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801, so we didn’t know quite what to expect. The Xperia Z2 chipset is clocked at 2.3GHz and has 3GB of RAM, so it should do well against other flagships. It’s worth pointing out the device is still a month away from store shelves.



Running benchmarks on the Xperia Z2
We will repeat the benchmarks once we get more time with the Xperia Z2, but the GPU performance is quite impressive. The processor didn’t top the charts, but performance is still very good.

AnTuTu 4

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 34016
• Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (S800) 33996
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition 33198
• Transformer Pad TF701T 32991
• Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos) 32796
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 31109
• Sony Xperia Z2 30189
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 24236
• Sony Xperia Tablet Z 20216
• LG Optimus G Pro 20056
• Asus Nexus 7 (2013) 19131
• Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 17159
• Google Nexus 10 12695
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 9070

Geekbench 3

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact 2968
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 2937
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra 2670
• Sony Xperia Z1 2638
• Apple iPhone 5s 2561
• Sony Xperia Z2 2481
• LG Nexus 5 2453
• LG G Flex 2254
• LG G2 2243
• HTC One 1972
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600) 1869
• HTC One mini 887

GFXBench 2.7 T-Rex (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z2 27.7
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 26
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 26
• Apple iPad Air 25
• Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (S800) 25
• Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos) 22
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition 22
• Transformer Pad TF701T 21
• Asus Nexus 7 (2013) 15
• LG G Pad 8.3 15
• Google Nexus 10 13.9
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 7.0
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 4.0

GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z2 10.1
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 9.7
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact 9
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 8.9
• LG Nexus 5 8.5
• Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (S800) 8.1
• Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos) 5.6
• Galaxy Note 10.1 (Exynos) 5.6

GFXBench 2.7 T-Rex (on-screen)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z2 29.3
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 27
• Apple iPad Air 21
• Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (S800) 17
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 17
• Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos) 14
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition 14

SunSpider

Lower is better

• Apple iPad Air 373
• Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos) 531
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition 569
• Transformer Pad TF701T 606
• Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (S800) 607
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 651
• Sony Xperia Z2 952
• LG Optimus G Pro 1011
• Asus Nexus 7 (2013) 1150
• LG G Pad 8.3 1190
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 1233
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 1366
• Google Nexus 7 1703
• new Apple iPad 1722
• Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 1891
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 1953
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus 1992
• Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 2253

Nokia 220 and Asha 230 hands-on MWC 2014

Nokia made the most headlines with the Android-powered X line of devices (X, X+ and XL) but did push the boundaries of affordability with the Nokia 220 and Asha 230. Both feature dual-SIM versions as well.

We got to spend some quality time with the 220 and Asha 230. The 220 starts at an insanely-low €29 while the Asha 230 starts at €45. Both devices we handled at the Mobile World Congress were yellow in color. Jump after the break for the impressions and images.

Nokia Asha 230

The Asha 230 is a full-touch operated device – even the back button is capacitive. There are physical unlock and volume keys too. It has a 2.8″ of the same QVGA (320 x 240) resolution and clocks in at 142 pixels per inch. The Asha 230 includes Nokia’s Glance screen tech, a slap in the face of the Lumia 520, which lacks it. The Nokia 220 has a 2 MP camera on the back.
The plastics used in the Asha 230 feel even lesser in quality compared to the Nokia 220. The Asha 230 is heftier at 89.3 g.

Nokia Asha 230
The screen looks okay at these parameters. Asha’s UI operation is a little stuttery probably due to the lower-end specs.

Nokia Asha 230
The Asha 230 comes with a 1020 mAh battery that’s good for 33 days of stand by time according to Nokia. Talk time over 2G is rated at 11 hours. To complete the tally there’s a 1.3 MP camera on board.

Nokia Asha 220

The Nokia 220 is a non-touch device which focuses on the bare essentials in order to accommodate the €29 price tag. The 220 comes with only 2G connectivity, skipping even Wi-Fi along the way. It does, however, feature preinstalled Twitter and Facebook. The plastic used in the 220 isn’t the best but feels okay to the touch.

Nokia 220
At this price point we can’t really expect miracles, the phone is very thick at 13.2 mm for starters. The UI is fluid enough and the buttons are good and those not enamored with touch-operation will love the full numpad. The 2.4″ QVGA LCD offers an unimpressive 166 ppi but has good colors. The 220 weighs a manageable 83.6 g.

Nokia 220
The Nokia 220 is available starting today while the Asha 230 will hit the first wave of shelves in March.

Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet hands-on MWC 2014

Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is the successor of the popular Xperia Tablet Z. Just like its predecessor, the Z2 Tablet is water and dust resistant. It has upgraded water endurance though it can now go to a depth of up to 1.5 meters for a duration of 30 minutes.

The Xperia Z2 Tablet looks exactly like the Tablet Z – it is based on the OmniBalance design philosophy, which was introduced a year ago by the Xperia Z smartphone. It’s a really sleek design that scales impressively well to tablet size.

Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
The new Z2 Tablet is powered by the Snapdragon 800 chipset with a 2.3GHz quad-core Krait 400 processor, Adreno 330 GPU and 3GB of RAM. It comes with an 8MP cam over its back and a 2MP front snapper for video chats.
As usual, the slate will be available in two flavors – Wi-Fi only model and an LTE-capable one. It seems both versions will be offered with 16GB internal storage, expandable via a microSD slot.

Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
Even though the Xperia Z2 Tablet is a significant update over its predecessor, it does not look like such. Yes, the Android 4.4 KitKat is lightning-fast, but it the changes are only under the hood, on the surface it looks just like before. And if it wasn’t for the few different icons and premium apps (such as the OfficePro Suite), we wouldn’t even know we are handling the new Z2 Tablet.
Still, the slate is a real pleasure to handle with very nice soft touch at the back. We’ve always thought the Tablet Z as one of the best looking tablets on the market and a year later we can still say the same thing about its similar-looking sibling.
The upgrade might not be a major one, but it is still a worthy one. The Tablet Z users will be getting all the same software enchantments with the upcoming KitKat update and we guess they could easily stick for at least another year with their gadget. But the Xperia Z2 Tablet will be a very easy purchase for all newcomers.