Windows 9 Getting Sept. 30 Reveal (Report)

The wait for Windows 9 could soon be over. The Redmond tech giant is reportedly planning a major preview event for Sept. 30, when the company is expected to show off an early build of its much-anticipated Windows 9 operating system. 

Citing sources familiar with the matter, The Verge reports that Microsoft is likely to release a developer version of Windows 9 around the same time as the Sept. 30 press event. This is consistent with last week’s report from ZDNet Microsoft expert Mary Jo Foley, who claimed that a preview version of the software would release by late September or early October.  

MORE: Windows 9 Rumors: New Start Menu, Apps on Desktop, More

The upcoming preview build of Windows Threshold (the current codename for what will likely be Windows 9) is expected to feature the revitalized Start menu for Desktop mode, a nixed Charms bar and Metro apps that can run windowed. A desktop version of Microsoft’s mobile voice assistant Cortana was previously teased for Threshold, though we’re not sure if she’ll show up for this initial build. 

The Verge notes that, on top of Windows 9, we might see a new hybrid of Windows RT and Windows Phone at the Sept. 30 event. This matches up with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s comments of a more unified Windows, though we’ll have to wait until the date draws closer for official details. 

via The Verge

A devout gamer and tech enthusiast, Mike Andronico joined the Laptop team in July 2013. With a B.A. in Journalism from Purchase College and experience at GameNGuide, Examiner and 2D-X, Mike tackles everything from iPhone rumors to in-depth hardware reviews.

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iPhone 6 to Sport Blazing Quad-Core A8 Processor (Report)

Apple was the first smartphone maker to pack a 64-bit processor inside a smartphone with the iPhone 5s, and it looks like the iPhone 6 will kick things up a notch. According to a new report, Apple’s big-screen sequel will have a quad-core CPU under the hood (up from dual core) along with quad core graphics.

According to the Commercial Times of Taiwan, Apple is working with chipmaker TSMC, which means the company could be dumping Samsung as its primary supplier. It’s no secret that Apple and Samsung’s relationship has been damaged by ongoing copyright court battles, and this could be one way Apple is distancing itself from its main rival.

MORE: iPhone 6 Rumors: Inside Apple’s Next Big Thing

The A7 processor inside the iPhone 5s is already quite fast, beating the Samsung Galaxy S4's Snapdragon 600 CPU by a wide margin in the Geekbench 3 performance test. Apple’s device notched 2,556, compared to 1,880 for the S4. However, the Galaxy Note 3's new Snapdragon 800 chip scored an even higher 2,979.

The iPhone 5s was also in between the S4 and Note 3 in terms of graphics performance, registering 13,795 on the 3DMark Icestorm Unlimited Test. The S4 yielded 10,393 and the Note 3 reached 18,808. Keep in mind, however, that Samsung had been artificially boosting its devices for better benchmark results, a practice it has apparently halted with the latest KitKat devices.

The new Galaxy S5 sports a newer Snapdragon 801 chip, which has a quad-core Krait 400 CPU with speeds up to 2.5 GHz per core. There’s also an Adreno 330 GPU. This processor promises much faster camera performance (thus the S5's speedy auto-focus claim), in addition to 28 percent faster graphics and 17 percent faster memory than the Snapdragon 800.

However, the Snapdragon 801 CPU doesn’t benefit from 64-bit architecture as the A7 does and A8 will. iOS 7 and its apps are built on 64-bit, which supposedly delivers desktop-class performance. 64-bit also paves the way for smartphones with memory capacity that exceeds 4GB. Today the highest-end smartphones have 3GB of RAM. It remains to be seen how much system memory the A8 chip might support.

The biggest advantage for the iPhone has been apps, so it will be very interesting to see which game developers and app makers vouch their support for the A8 chip when it’s announced.

via Apple Insider, AFP

Responsible for the editorial vision for Laptopmag.com, Mark Spoonauer has been Editor in Chief of LAPTOP since 2003 and has covered technology for nearly 15 years. Mark speaks at key tech industry events and makes regular media appearances on CNBC, Fox and CNN. Mark was previously reviews editor at Mobile Computing, and his work has appeared in Wired, Popular Science and Inc.

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iPhone 6 Launching Late Summer (Report)

While we originally expected the iPhone 6 to hit shelves this fall, Apple addicts may be able to get their hands on the highly-anticipated handset even sooner. According to Apple analyst Peter Misek, a late summer release is likely for the company’s latest flagship smartphone.

A late summer iPhone 6 launch would be a slight bump from the phone’s expected fall 2014 release, though it would also come later than a rumored June launch that would coincide with WWDC 2014. According to Misek, display yields will likely keep the device from hitting stores early in the summer.

MORE: iPhone 6 Rumors: Inside Apple’s Next Big Thing

The analyst also believes that Apple is working on a new motion co-processor to complement the iPhone ‘s M7 chip, which could be delaying a possible early summer reveal. 

As far as the iPhone 6's specs, the rumor mill continues to churn rapidly. The smartphone giant is once again expected to release two models of its new flagship. A recent rumor suggests that a 4.5-inch screen is possible within the iPhone 5s body,  while Reuters previously reported that Apple is toying with even bigger 4.7 and 5.7-inch screens. 

The iPhone 6 may pack an extra-strong sapphire crystal display and could make the jump to 1600 x 900 or 1920 x 1080 pixels, depending on the screen size. The device’s 8-MP camera isn’t expected to change, though the phone may gain some new camera features in the vein of the Nokia Lumia 1020 and LG G2.

Source: Street Insider

Mike Andronico has been reporting on the latest tech trends for Laptop since July 2013. With a B.A. in Journalism from Purchase College, Mike's love for "Street Fighter," comic books, and cool gadgets has led to contributions at GameNGuide, Examiner, Joonbug, and 2D-X.

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Apple to Kill iPhone 5c in Favor of Two iPhone 6 Models (Report)

Although the iPhone 5c is one of Apple’s newest smartphones, the company may cut it out of the lineup completely in favor of the iPhone 6. A new report from the South China Morning Post says that Apple will discontinue its colorful handset when it introduces two new smartphones in September.

The Chinese publication claims to have spoken with “two insiders” who have seen prototypes of Apple’s forthcoming handsets. Apple will reportedly stop selling the iPhone 5c and will continue selling its current flagship, the iPhone 5s. although it will be made from cheaper materials. This isn’t too different from Apple’s strategy when it launched the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s in September and axed the iPhone 5 from its lineup.

MORE: iPhone 6 Rumors: Inside Apple’s Next Big Thing

Despite Apple’s aggressive marketing efforts, from its colorful New York City billboard campaign to its homepage redesign, the iPhone 5c hasn’t been a hot seller. During Apple’s most recent quarterly conference call,  CEO Tim Cook said that demand percentage “turned out to be different than we thought.” The Wall Street Journal also previously reported that Apple will cut the iPhone 5c from its lineup later this year. 

The report continues to echo rumors we’ve heard in the past about Apple’s future plans for the iPhone line. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company will supposedly roll out two new iPhones, one with a 4.7-inch display and another with a 5.5-inch screen with 426 ppi. Apple is also expected to outfit its next smartphone with a sturdy scratch-resistant sapphire glass display.

Apple has been rumored to enter the phablet market since before it launched the iPhone 5s last September. Back in June, Reuters reported that Apple was experimenting with 4.7-inch and 5.7-inch displays for future mobile devices.

The jump in display size would pit Apple’s handsets directly against its biggest competitors, the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3, which come with roomy 5-inch and 5.7-inch displays compared to the iPhone’s 4-inch screen. The Galaxy S5 is also rumored to get a 5-inch screen.

“There probably will be a larger screen iPhone at some point,” said Avi Greengart, research director for consumer devices at Current Analysis, when we asked about Apple’s future plans several months ago. “The speculation is really simple. We’ve seen that there is concerted consumer demand for larger displays.”

Apple is expected to announce its iPhone 5s successor in September 2014, but we should hear about Apple’s next mobile platform, iOS 8, this June.

via The South China Morning Post

Lisa has been reporting on all things mobile for Laptopmag.com since early 2013. When she’s not reviewing gadgets, she’s usually browsing patent databases or interviewing experts to track down the hottest tech trends before they even happen. Lisa holds a B.A. in Journalism from SUNY Purchase and has contributed to The International Business Times, The New York Daily News and Guitar World Magazine.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 Unlikely to Feature Curved Display (Report)

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Report: F.A.A. May Allow Gadgets During Takeoff and Landing

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Report: HTC One Headed to Verizon Wireless

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Report: Shipping Crews Staffing Up for Sept. 21 iPhone 5 Launch

The iPhone 5 puzzle pieces are finally starting to fall into place, and it looks as though the finished picture will look pretty close to what we’ve expected. Today’s tidbit: the phone’s launch date. Apple has already sent out event invites sporting a suspicious-looking shadow for September 12th, which will very likely be the day the iPhone 5 is unveiled to the world. But when will the finished product actually end up in our hands?

Apple fanatics might want to clear their schedule on September 21st. GottaBeMobile spoke to “a trusted source familiar with Apple’s iPhone shipping plans” who claims that shippers are staffing up for that day in anticipation of the first major wave of iPhone preorder fulfillments.

The website claims that cellular carriers and retail stores will also start selling the iPhone on that day, which is backed by earlier reports that both AT&T and Verizon have scheduled vacation blackouts on the 21st. T-Mobile, however, looks as though it won’t be hopping on the Apple bandwagon this time around, either.

Rumors peg the iPhone 5 as having a 4-inch 16:9 display, 4G LTE and NFC functionality, a unibody Liquidmetal design and a shrunk-down dock connector, along with iOS 6.

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Report: T-Mobile Planning to Sell Against iPhone 5 on Sept. 21

If you’ve found yourself thinking the iPhone 5 would be a good match with T-Mobile’s new Unlimited Nationwide 4G Plans, you’re probably right! A new report says you’re probably also going to be disappointed, however. TmoNews has received leaked screens indicating that Apple’s iconic handset will be a no-show on T-Mobile once again, and it may even be preparing to unleash a “Selling against the iPhone” counteroffensive.

According to the images, the carrier plans to receive new SIM kits for its Monthly4G prepaid plans tomorrow, including micro-SIM kits designed specifically to help iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S owners make the jump to T-Mobile. In addition, the carrier’s sales staff will be trained in the aforementioned “Selling against the iPhone” techniques… and that’s where another interesting tidbit lies.
The new sales initiative is slated to start rolling out on September 21st, the widely expected launch date of the iPhone 5 — and a date that both Verizon and AT&T have blacked out for employee vacations. Is T-Mobile acting on first-hand knowledge or just following the trail of bread crumbs like the rest of us?

Assuming the memo turns out to be true, it strongly suggests that T-Mobile isn’t going to hop on the Apple bandwagon this year, and if so, the anti-iPhone push and unlimited 4G announcement make a lot of sense. Back in February, T-Mobile announced it had lost around 700,000 subscribers thanks to the launch of the iPhone 4S on competitors’ networks, history that T-Mobile obviously hopes doesn’t repeat itself.

The major barrier preventing T-Mobile from carrying the iPhone is the carrier’s spectrum band, which isn’t supported by the iPhone hardware.

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Intel, HP, SanDisk Ranked Best In Conflict Mineral Report

The Enough Project, part of the non-profit organization Center for American Progress, has released their second report ranking electronics companies by their use of conflict minerals. Conflict minerals, such as tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold, are used in nearly every electronic device and often their demand funds war groups in eastern Congo.  

The Enough Project hopes their report, “Taking Conflict Out of Consumer Gadgets: Company Rankings on Conflict Minerals 2012,” will help raise consumer awareness as well as encourage companies to further improve their efforts.

Intel moved up one spot, taking first place, followed by HP and SanDisk as the top three companies making the most effort to limit the use of conflict minerals. Also in the green—companies with 30% or higher progress towards responsible sourcing—are Microsoft and Apple, both companies more than doubling their score since 2010. Remaining at the bottom of the list, without any improvement since 2010, is Nintendo, which has made no known effort to trace or audit its supply chain.

The progress report measures improvement in three main areas: tracing, auditing and certification. Tracing involves following the supply chain in order to locate the mineral sources. Seven companies, starting with Apple, have made this information publically available, and thus provided a map for other electronics companies to follow. Auditing requires 3rd-party audits and getting certified means making a commitment to helping the communities near mines in the Congo.

There are also several areas that the Enough Project pinpoints as still needing improvement, including buying from conflict-free smelters, ensuring that all smelters are audited and encouraging other industries, such as jewelry, automotive and industrial machinery, to get involved. The report recognizes, however, that that improvements are largely attributed to direct consumer action, so pressure to improve other industries must be a joint effort between electronic companies and consumers.

United States legislation, fueled by consumer activism, is largely responsible for the rapid improvements over the past two years. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, signed by President Obama in 2010, requires companies that use tin, tungsten, tantalum or gold to trace the origins of these minerals and perform due diligence and audits if they originate in the Congo. Companies are already making large improvements to their mineral sourcing process even though the final rules of this new act have not been issued.

The Enough Project’s report is released just days before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) upcoming vote on the rules for the conflict minerals law on August 22nd. “The SEC should ensure that retailers and all firms that use the minerals are covered by the rules and that there is not a long phase-in period,” said Sasha Lezhnev, co-author of the report and the Senior Policy Analyst for the Enough Project. “Otherwise, the Intels and HPs will be left unfairly holding the bag for a problem that belongs to thousands of companies that have been turning a blind eye to this problem for years.”

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Report: LG Optimus Vu Tablet Phone Coming to Verizon

The market for phablets (phone/ tablet) has been severely limited her in the U.S. So far as the only real option consumers have is the Samsung Galaxy Note for AT&T and, as of today, T-Mobile. But if you’re a Sprint or Verizon Wireless, you’re currently out of luck. Fortunately, for Verizon customers at least, that looks like it’s about to change.

Android Police is reporting that they’ve gotten their hands on a Verizon-branded version of LG’s Optimus Vu. Measuring a massive 5-inches, the Optimus Vu sports a 1024 x 768 HD IPS display with a decidedly box-like 4:3 aspect ratio. We spent some time with the Optimus Vu back in February during Mobile World Congress and were blown away by the display’s brightness.

Beyond its display, the Optimus Vu features a 1.5-Ghz dual-core Snapdragon S3 processor, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of storage space, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. The original Optimus Vu came preloaded with Google’s Android Gingerbread operating system, but Android Police say that the Verizon version will instead come loaded with Android Ice Cream Sandwich. Also on tap for the Verizon version, 4G LTE.

No word yet on when the Optimus Vu will touchdown on Verizon.

via: Android Police 

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Report: Samsung Halting Production on Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) To Go Quad Core

Our friends over at Netbook News have just dropped some interesting news about the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1). Supposedly, one of their inside sources at Samsung Korea has just informed them that the company has stopped production on the 10.1-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 2  in order to upgrade the tablet to a quad-core CPU.  The new version of the tablet has been codenamed “Espresso.” 

At this point, it’s unclear whether the quad-core processor hiding inside the tablet will be Samsung’s Exynos 4412 and there’s no word as yet about any changes for the US launch. But intriguingly, there’s also been talk about sticking the same quad-core CPU in the Galaxy Note 10.1. The Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0), however, will keep its dual-core processor, according to Netbook News’ sources.

via Netbook News

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Report: iPad 3 to Launch March 7th, Apple Developing 8-Inch Tablet

It’s really getting down to the wire for the iPad 3. We all know that Apple’s next tablet is set to launch in early March, but now the website iMore has a specific date for that much-anticipated event: March 7th. That date falls in line with previous reports from the Wall Street Journal and other sources.

Apple hasn’t even unveiled the iPad 3, but that doesn’t stop the tablet rumor mill from churning out new gossip about products further down the pipeline. The WSJ spoke to sources at Apple’s suppliers who say that the company is developing a smaller tablet with a screen size of about 8 inches.

Clearly, a more compact iPad would help Apple compete against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and Amazon’s Kindle Fire, both of which are available in smaller screen sizes than the iPad’s 9.7 inches. But let’s tackle one thing at a time: The iPad 3 is on the horizon, and that’s plenty exciting in and of itself.

via iMore, the Wall Street Journal

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Report: Google To Launch “Drive” Cloud Storage Service

Never one to  let others hog the spotlight, Google is getting set to launch a new cloud storage service, putting the search giant on a collision course with the likes of Dropbox and SugarSync.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the new service, which is simply called Drive, would allow users to upload and store their music, video, and other files to Google’s servers where they can later be retrieved from any web-connected device.

The service, the Journal says, will feature a smartphone and tablet app for mobile users, similar to those offered by the aforementioned Dropbox, SugarSync, and to a lesser extend Apple’s iCloud. Apple’s service is currently only available to iOS 5 users. In the report, the Journal cites sources familiar with Google’s Drive as saying the service will make it to market in the coming weeks or months.

Drive will in all likelihood offer users a certain amount of storage space for free. Users looking for more space will probably have to cough up some cash. The interesting thing here is that Google already offers some form of web-based storage for photos, videos, and documents via Picasa, YouTube, and Google Docs. What makes Drive special is it will be the first time Google allows its users to storage all of their files in one place.

Since cloud storage and mobile computing go hand-in-hand, we’re curious to see if Google will integrate Drive with its Android operating system. Could a cloud-ready Ice Cream Sandwich be on the horizon? We’ll just have to wait to see.

via The Wall Street Journal

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Report: iPad 3 to Run Quad-Core A6 CPU, Ship with Wi-Fi Only or with Global LTE

Hot off the presses is this juicy addition to your iPad 3 rumors diet: It looks like the new tablet will come in Wi-Fi-only and Wi-Fi plus GSM/CDMA/LTE versions. BGR received images detailing these specs from a source claiming to have an iPad 3 in hand. The photos show information about the Apple tablet generated by the dev and debug tool iBoot.

The photos also appear to confirm a long-circulated rumor about which processor the iPad 3 will run; according to the iBoot document, it’s a quad-core A6. If this is true (which it probably is), the iPad 3 will be the fastest iOS device yet.

While the leak lent credence to one rumors, it also appears to lay another one to rest. According to BGR, the two iPad 3 model numbers, J1 and J2, refer to the different connectivity options—Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi plus global LTE—and not two completely different versions. It’s previously been reported that Apple would release two iPad 3 models: one with a mid-range price and one more high-end model. At least according to this latest report, that’s not the case.

via BGR

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