Samsung confirms Galaxy Note 3 and other high-end smartphones are region-locked

We’ve all heard of region-locked DVD players and DVDs, but it turns out Samsung wants to introduce the same resolutions on its smartphones.

It all started with UK-based mobile retailer Clove detailing certain functionality limitations regarding SIM cards on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, the newest iteration of Samsung’s popular phablet.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 box featured a sticker that said that the phones are only compatible with a SIM-card issued from a mobile operator within Europe.

Following a disclosure, a number of customers shared a images of the American box as well, that had a sticker which mentioned that the phone was compatible with a SIM-card issued from a mobile operator within the Americas, including North, South and Central Americas and the Caribbean.

When phones by carriers under contracts are locked to prevent violations, it’s hard to understand why carrier-unlocked phones should come with regional restrictions except for preventing grey market imports and exports. But this also implies that customers would not be able to buy phones from other regions.

After widespread outrage, Samsung issued a statement to German website All about Samsung saying that the company is SIM-locking new devices including the Galaxy S II, Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note, Galaxy S4, Galaxy S4 Mini, and Galaxy Note 3 devices produced after the end of July 2013. It is also clarifies that all these devices sport a sticker indicating the same and that the region look can be removed free of charge through a Samsung service partner if the device is used outside the region it’s meant fro and has not been used with a local SIM that region.

The statement doesn’t clarify if users will be able to use a local SIM-card when travelling outside their region, and it even mentions that internationally roaming services would work. However, developer Jan Ole Suhr tweeted about Samsung Germany clarify that the region lock is automatically removed once a user plugs in the local SIM-card.

iPhone 5s costs $191 to make, cheaper than iPhone 5: IHS

While the iPhone 5s includes of new features that set it apart from Apple’s previous model, the actual cost to make the phone hasn’t changes very much, according to a new study.

An IHS Inc. teardown of the new smartphone found that the components make up a 16-gigabyte iPhone 5s (Review) cost $190.70. Manufacturing costs add another $8, bringing the total production cost to $198.70.

In comparison of iPhone 5 that will be hit the market last year ago that costs up to $197 to make.

According to a Andrew Rassaweiler, the IHS director the cost of the benchmarking service has been noted the iPhone 5s includes the extra new features that gives extra functionality to this smartphone, such are 64-bit apps processor and a finger-print identification sensor without any kind of significant jump in the costs of this iPhone.

Also the research firm also dissected a 16-gigabyte iPhone 5c (Review), a cheaper version of the 5s, and put its total production cost at $173.45, including all the manufacturing costs that are $7.

In the last press interview, Rassweiler said the 5c is basically an iPhone 5 wrapped in plastic, nothing that it has basically the same features, but benefits from typical components price drops, along with its cheaper plastic enclose.

The starting price of iPhone 5c is $549, but it will sell for $99 with a two year wireless contract. It’s Apple’s least-expensive iPhone ever and is an effort to boost sales in China and other areas where people don’t have as much money to expend on new gadgets as they do in the U.S. and Europe. But critics have said that the phone is still too expensive to sell well in emerging markets.

IHS said that while I cost substantially less to produce an iPhone 5c than it did an iPhone 5, those costs are still on the high side.

It added that in order to merit the low-end smartphone pricing of $400 that many industry observers had expected while maintaining typical Apple profit margins the company would need to reduce its 5c production to about $130.

Monday Apple reported that it sold 9 million of the two new models since their launch on Friday – its strongest iPhone launch ever – and that demand was exceeding supply.

In midday trading, shares of the Cupertino, Calif., company slipped $5.98 to $483.12.

HTC One Android 4.3 update reportedly begins rolling out

While we have not heard any official word from HTC about the Android 4.3 update to the HTC One, it seems the company has started the rollout in its home-turf, according to reports.

@LlabTooFeR, who claims to be a ROM developer, has posted an image of the screenshots of the Android 4.3 update for the HTC One Twitter. The tweet mentions, “HTC One in Taiwan just started getting Android 4.3.”

The latest Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for the HTC’s flagship smart phone looks to be available over the air (OTA). The screen reveals the software build number to be 3.18.709.2 and is about 512MB. The tweet also mentions that the update brings bug fixes and enhancements for the HTC One which is majority include battery charging animation in power-off state, improvements in gallery and camera department with upgrade to colour contrasts in low-light situations and adding soundtracks to highlights. However, the official change log has not been revealed, yet.

It was also rumored that with Android 4.3 update, the HTC One would also receive the new Sense 5.5 UI, however there’s been no mention of this with the currently reported update.

Last month, a tweet by HTC’s president of global sales, Jason Mackenzie confirmed that the Android 4.3 update would be rolled out to the HTC One in US and Canada by the end of September. HTC’s 2013 flagship smartphone was released in February and natively ran Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with Sense 5 UI out of the box. Despite the company announcing an update for the One to Android 4.2.2 in Asia and European markets, the update has not been rolled out across the globe.

For those unaware, the HTC One comes with a 4.7-inch full-HD display with 468 pixels per inch packed in an aluminium unibody. It is powered by a 1.7 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor alongside 2GB of RAM. HTC One comes with 32GB and 64GB storage options, but without expandable storage. Connectivity options include Wi-FI 802.11 a/ac/b/g/n. Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, NFC, Infrared and Micro-USB.

Samsung announces curved display smartphone for October release

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said it will introduce a smartphone with a curved display in October, as the world's top handset maker seeks to set the pace of hardware innovation and maintain its supremacy in a fiercely competitive business.

Curved displays are an early stage in screen evolution which is shifting to bendable or foldable designs, eventually allowing mobile and wearable gadgets to take on new forms that could radically change the high-end smartphone market.

“We plan to introduce a Smartphone with a curved display in South Korea in October, “Samsung’s mobile business head of strategic marketing D.J. Lee said on Wednesday at an event launching the Galaxy Note 3 Smartphone in Seoul.

In January Samsung which has taken over from Apple as the global Smartphone leader, showed off prototype products with a flexible screen and a display that extends from the side of a device.

But technology firms have yet to figure out how to mass produce the parts cheaply and come up with display panels that can be as a sheet and highly heat resistant.

Curved display is already commercially available in large-screen televisions. Samsung and its home rival LG Electronics Inc had started selling curved OLED TV sets year priced at about $9,000.

LG Vu 3 with 5.2-inch display, Snapdragon 800 processor unveiled

LG has finally taken the wraps off the third generation of the Optimus Vu smarrtphone in Korea. However, the company has not revealed the pricing and availability details of the new phablet, yet.

The LG Vu 3 comes with a 5.2-inch IPS display with a 960x1280 pixel resolution. It is powered by 2.26GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 (MSM8974) processor, coupled with a 480MHz Aderno 330 GPU. The device sports a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera, both with BSI. It comes with 2GB of RAM and includes 16GB of inbuilt storage, though there is no word for now about expandable storage.

It also includes speakers that can deliver high-quality 24-bit/192KHz audio, which were first seen on LG’s flagship smartphone, the G2. The company has also included Carrier Aggregation (CA) technology that doubles the speed of LTE-advanced. The LG Vu 3 runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and packs in a 2610mAh battery (unspecified talktime and standby time). Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, AGPS and Micro-USB. The device comes with dimensions 132.1x85.6x9.34mm and weighs 161 grams. It will come in three colours variants – Indigo Black, Mint and White.

Earlier this month, a Korean report noted that the South Korean major will officially announce the LG Vu 3 at the end of September while the device will be released in October. Additionally, the company had teased few images of the QuickView cases for the LG Vu 3.

Moreover, LG also pulled the curtains off its long-rumoured tablet, the LG G Pad 8.3 earlier this month. 

iPhone 5s fingerprint scanner Touch ID 'hacked' by German group

A group of German hackers claimed to have cracked the iPhone fingerprint scanner on Sunday, just two days after Apple Inc launched the technology that it promises will better protect devices from criminals and snoopers seeking access.

If the claim is verified, it will be embarrassing for Apple which is betting on the scanner to set its smartphone apart from new models of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and others running the Android operating system of Google Inc .

Two prominent iPhone security experts told Reuters that they believed the German group, known as the Chaos Computing Club, or CCC, had succeeded in defeating Apple's Touch ID, though they had not personally replicated the work.

One of them, Charlie Miller, co-author of the iOS Hacker's Handbook, described the work as "a complete break" of Touch ID security. "It certainly opens up a new possibility for attackers." Apple representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

CCC, one the world's largest and most respected hacking groups, posted a video on its website that appeared to show somebody accessing an iPhone 5s (Review) with a fabricated print. The site described how members of its biometrics team had cracked the new fingerprint reader, one of the few major high-tech features added to the latest version of the iPhone.

The group said they targeted Touch ID to knock down reports about its "marvels," which suggested it would be difficult to crack. "Fingerprints should not be used to secure anything. You leave them everywhere, and it is far too easy to make fake fingers out of lifted prints," a hacker named Starbug was quoted as saying on the CCC's site.

The group said it defeated Touch ID by photographing the fingerprint of an iPhone's user, then printing it on to a transparent sheet, which it used to create a mold for a "fake finger." CCC said similar processes have been used to crack "the vast majority" of fingerprint sensors on the market. "I think it's legit," said Dino Dai Zovi," another co-author of the iOS Hacker's Handbook. "The CCC doesn't fool around or over-hype, especially when they are trying to make a political point."

Touch ID, which was only introduced on the top-of-the-line iPhone 5s, lets users unlock their devices or make purchases on iTunes by simply pressing their finger on the home button. It uses a sapphire crystal sensor embedded in the button. Data used for verification is encrypted and stored in a secure enclave of the phone's A7 processor chip.

Two security experts who sponsored an impromptu competition offering cash and other prizes to the first hackers who cracked the iPhone said they had reviewed the information posted on the CCC website, but wanted more documentation.

"We are simply awaiting a full video documentation and walk through of the process that they have claimed," said mobile security researcher Nick DePetrillo, who started the contest with another security expert, Robert Graham. "When they deliver that video we will review it."

The two of them each put up $100 toward a prize for the contest winner, then set up a website inviting others to contribute. While the booty now includes more than $13,000 in cash, it was not clear that the CCC would receive the full payout, even if DePetrillo and Graham declared them winners. A micro venture capital firm known as I/O Capital, which had offered to pay $10,000 of the prize money, issued a press release late on Sunday saying that it would make its own determination about who won the contest.

Android 4.4 KitKat to release in October: Nestle

It looks like Android’s latest iteration will see the light of the day in October, as Nestle has revealed the first news about the launch of Android 4.4 KitKat on facebook.

While replying to a user who asked “When Android 4.4 KitKat will be available”, Nestle German KitKat Facebook handle replied “Android 4.4 KitKat is available from October “(Google translation).

While this might not be an official confirmation about Android 4.4 KitKat’s release, at least the German Nestle Facebook handle was kind enough to confirm that it is coming next month.

Earlier this month, the search engine giant which has been known for nicknaming its Android operating systems for smartphones and tablets after desserts, had for the first time announced a candy brand name for the version 4.4. However, Google made no mention of when the android 4.4 update would rollout.

The search giant has been in news ever since it announced the next iteration of its mobile operating system, with the Nexus 4 successor, which is expected to be the platform lead device for Android 4.4 jelly, making multiple appearances on the Internet via FCC filing and image leaks.

In the official promotional video of the Kitkat announcement released by Google, a person seen holding up a phone which came with Nexus logo at the back, very identical to the Nexus 7 (2013). The back of the mysterious phone had a matte finish and include a large camera lens which has not been seen on any Nexus device, yet.

Recently, the alleged Nexus 4 successor was again spotted in new images and a video. The purported pre-production unit of the next Nexus smartphone revealed the front and rear panels. It is rumored that the Nexus smart phone would run Android 4.4 KitKat OS and both are expected to be launched at the same event.