Galaxy Note too big? Galaxy S III Mini too small? Samsung hopes it has all customer preferences covered with yet another smartphone size-- the 5-inch Galaxy Grand.

The Grand's TFT LCD touchscreen might be (err) grand in size, but it does not impress-- not 800 x 480 resolution. In comparison both Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II display resolutions clock at 1280x720.

Mind, this mid-range smartphone does have a few interesting features. Running on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean), the Galaxy Grand comes Continue reading...

In what surely is a bid to raise much needed funds, Nokia sells off its Espoo, Finland HQ-- the so called "Nokia House" now belongs to Finnish company Exilion.

The 48000 square metre building cost all of €170 million, and the sale should be complete by end 2012.

"Owning real estate is not part of Nokia's core business," Nokia CFO Timo Ihamuotila says. "When good opportunities arise we are willing to exit these types of non-core assets."

The mobile maker will remain based in the building, if on Continue reading...

Finland-based mobile developer Jolla finally shows off the fruit of its labours-- CEO Marc Dillon appears on MTV 3 Finland with a live demo of Sailfish, its MeeGo-based smartphone OS.

Running on what looks like a Nokia N950 developer device, the OS looks rather interesting. It has a tile-based UI, with running apps showing up on the homescreen as large, interactive widgets.

A "pulley" menu allows users to control music playback or answer/end calls, without need to open separate apps. Customisation Continue reading...

Is the Galaxy S III is too massive for small European hands? Samsung Mobile Communications head JK Shin confirms the release of a 4-inch version of the smartphone, citing increase in demand for 4-inch devices from the European market.

"There's a lot of demand for a 4-inch device in Europe. Some call it an entry-level device, but we call it "mini,'" JK Shin says.

The regular Galaxy S III display is 4.8-inch-- not too unusual (or large) in an Android landscape where the average size for a high-end Continue reading...

As the world waits for the launch of the Surface tablet, rumours emerge on Microsoft's future hardware ambitions-- the launch of a Surface-branded Windows Phone 8 smartphone.

The first round of speculation comes from the China Times, with a report claiming a Surface smartphone will be available from H1 2013. More rumours come via BGR, with a "trusted source" saying Microsoft plans to take on the high-end offerings Apple, Samsung... and its own vendor partners.

Does Microsoft want to anger the smartphone vendors, just like it did with tablet makers such as Acer? What about Nokia, who put its entire fortune behind Windows Phone?

Apple reveals the iPhone 5-- taller (4" Retina display), thinner (18%), lighter (20%), faster (2X with a new A6 chip that's 22% smaller), and longer-lasting in battery power (finally!).

Tim Cook presented Apple's typically bullish outlook, showing off an impressive new Apple Store in Barcelona (complete with blue shirt-clad Geniuses and huge lines) and bragging about global domination in the tablet market.

The bigger display confirms earlier rumours... Apple is clearly aware of the success rivals (Samsung, HTC etc) have had with larger smartphones. That means you get a fifth row of icons on the home screen. Third-party apps (if not updated to the new screen size) will still work, but will appear with black borders on each side.

The total display resolution stays at 326 pixels per inch and we now have a 16:9 aspect ratio. According to Apple, widescreen movies will look better with 44% more color saturation than the iPhone 4S.

It is official-- the next big Apple launch event will happen on September 12 2012, at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco.

The location is significant, seeing it is where Apple tends to launch new products. What product this time? The invitation image says "it's almost here," on top of a giant "12" with a shadow reading... 5. What else?

Maybe some were expecting a glimpse of the legendary (as in like a unicorn) Apple TV set, or a smaller iPad mini, or... something entirely new?

Sometimes big is just not big enough-- Samsung announces the Galaxy Note II at IFA 2012, an even bigger successor to the massive 1st-generation Note phone-tablet hybrid device.

While the Galaxy Note has a 5.3-inch display, the Galaxy Note II carries an impressive 5.5-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen. Looks-wise it resembles the Galaxy S III, complete with rounded edges, thin display bezel and similar physical button configuration.

The internals include a 1.6GHz quad-core processor and 2GB RAM, making Continue reading...