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phablet

Infocus is a rising star in the smartphone market and each iteration of their products has done nothing but solidify this idea. The phablet market has become saturated with overpriced devices that fail to deliver as well as cheap knockoffs that claim to have the same features of the pricier models. Infocus has had to work hard to make inroads in this saturated marketplace due to their late entry, but with top notch products, they have chance to shake up the major players eventually.

The thing that sticks out first with the M810T is the price point. Coming in at less than $143 on gearbest.com it’s a heck of a bargain once you understand everything it can do. This is a calculated, generous platform created by Infocus to show customers that they deserve the same amount of features as an iPad but without the arm and a leg it costs to buy it. This phablet has high quality components such as a Snapdragon 801 processor (one of the fastest) and Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The processor obviously allows for seamless use between applications and the glass keeps it from breaking if you tap it too hard.

The phablet was shipped very fast and we received it in a few business days. The packaging is good and sturdy, it comes in an elegant box and it’s wrapped in a layer of bubble wrap and another layer of packaging on top as you can see in the pictures:

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Even though it’s quite durable, it’s also on the light side. As rival companies Samsung and Apple seek to create thinner and lighter tablets, everyone else has to raise the bar as well. This one is only 6.99mm thick and very compact. The screen itself, made of the durable glass, is 5.5 inches with a very high resolution and vibrant color scheme built in. This allows great photos to be taken with its rear camera which clocks in at 13 megapixels. It’s also got the even more necessary selfie or front camera with 5 megapixels.

The high end processor will let you watch movies, play games or surf the web and leave all these applications open at the same time. This thankfully doesn’t lead to overheating on the device, a common drawback that users encounter. And since it does connect up to 4G you’ll be able to access the highest speed internet available.Infocus-M810t-unpacking4

On the storage side, you’ll find it comes standard with 16 GB with the option to insert a 64 GB memory card, if you need. Some of the games you download can take up some serious space, so might be worth the investment. Since the price is so reasonable to start, you can probably afford to splurge on the memory card.

For people who are getting their first phablet or looking to replace one, the Infocus M810T is a modest and relatively safe investment. You’ll only be paying around $143 and you get a lot of upside. As Infocus becomes more recognizable their products will increase in demand. The time to get on the bandwagon is now.

Performance screenshots from AntuTu:

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Lenovo’s newest iteration of 4G smartphones is quietly becoming higher demand. Why? Because it does everything the iPhone 6 gets right and fixes all the things it doesn’t. The Zuk Z1 is a smartphone and phablet combination which manages this careful balancing act with surprising precision. It does both of these things and clearly beats on price. The iPhone has developed a cult following and a large percentage of the $700 or so you’ll spend on a new one, reflect this changed reality. But Lenovo has the same quality phone for less than half that. Isn’t that worth checking out?

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There are some areas where the Z1 actually puts the iPhone 6 to shame. Its battery life for example is a far cry better than the status quo over at apple. You can surf online for over 12 hours before it putters out and even manage 15 hours of watching video before a recharge. Lenovo designed the battery to be trapezoidal and fit neatly into the back arc of the phone. This allowed them to enlarge the battery without compromising the contour of the frame, so it’s still comfortable to hold.

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The Z1 also manages a 5.5 inch display; larger than the 4.7 iPhone 6 Plus and with an equally impressive 1920 x 1080 resolution with a very comprehensive color palette. These combine to give the interface some extra “pop” when you’re using the phone. The other technical specs make the Z1 great for gaming as well; you’ll be blessed with 3 GB of RAM and a lightning fast processor that stacks up very well against Apple’s own chips. It’s double impressive that this device s1441072931241-P-2971191atisfies against a wide range of categories, because people use their smartphones for literally everything these days.

Sometimes it’s the little things that make a user experience better as well. Though it has a large screen, it can be comfortably held in one hand and easily navigated with your thumb. Lenovo has smartly designed a small port at the bottom, like Apple, for charging and syncing. It’s also ultra-thin which allows it to comfortably balance in your hand.

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If you’re a dedicated smartphone user that sees the overpriced iPhone as a need to break free, you’ve found your calling. With the ability to run both Android and Windows operating systems, you get a phone that’s bigger, better and more reasonably price than the competition. You get your choice of operating systems (instead of being forced into one) and will feel at home with more phone for your buck. Can anyone say win-win?

Main Features:
Display: 5.5 inch FHD Screen,1920×1080 pixels
CPU: Qualcomm 8974AC Quad Core
GPU: Adreno 330
System: Android 5.1
RAM + ROM: 3GB RAM + 64GB ROM
Camera: Back camera 13.0MP OIS anti-shake + 8.0MP front camera
Features: USB Type-c 3.0
Bluetooth: 4.1
GPS: GPS/GLONASS
Sensors: Accelerometer/Proximity /Gyro/Ambient Light/Hall/Magnet
SIM Card: Dual SIM dual standby, Dual Nano SIM
Network:
2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100MHz
4G: FDD-LTE 1800/2100/2600MHz

Samsung has unveiled two new smartphones, the Galaxy S6 Edge+ and the Galaxy Note 5.

Both smartphones have 5.7in screens and are going on sale earlier in the year than their previous generations.

The new launches follow five successive falls in Samsung Electronics’ quarterly profits.

Analysts say the popularity of mid-range phones from Chinese rivals, and Apple’s shift to bigger iPhones, have dented demand for Samsung’s devices.

However, Samsung remains the world leader in terms of overall smartphone shipments.

The announcements were made at a press conference in New York.

Samsung also revealed that its smart wallet service, Samsung Pay – which allows the phones to trigger payment card transactions.

The service would go live in South Korea on August 20.

Samsung Pay will be extended to the US on September 28 and then to the UK and Spain at an unspecified date.

Like previous versions of the Note, Galaxy Note 5 comes with a stylus – which Samsung says makes it suitable for productivity tasks. But the phone now has metal edges and a glass back to give it a more “premium” feel.

Photo Samsung

Photo Samsung

In a change of strategy, Samsung has no plans at present to release the Note 5 in Europe – a decision it says is purely for marketing reasons.

Unlike last year, there is no “edge” edition of the Note.

Instead, the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus is targeted at those who want a “phablet”-sized handset with curved sides.

The “plus” in its name refers to the fact that its screen is both 0.6in larger than the earlier edition and more scratch-resistant.

Photo Samsung

Photo Samsung

The Galaxy S6 Edge+ now has an extra gigabyte of memory, taking it up to 4GB of RAM to aid multi-tasking, but uses the same in-house Exynos processor as before.

This marks a change from the S5 Plus, which was the same size but contained a faster processor than the original S5.

The decision to host a standalone press conference for the handsets marks a change of strategy for Samsung.

All the previous versions of the Note were unveiled at Germany’s annual IFA tech show, which is still three weeks away. The S5 Plus was announced last October in a low-key press release.

One of the benefits of announcing the new models together at this point is that it should give Samsung about a month’s lead on Apple – reports suggest the company will update its own smartphones on September 9.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ and the Galaxy Note 5 go on sale on August 21.

HTC One Max – its latest handset – has been announced a day earlier than planned after its details leaked on to the net.

The Android-powered One Max – which includes a fingerprint scanner and a 5.9 in screen – had been scheduled to be unveiled at a press conference in China on Tuesday.

The device is a larger “phablet-sized” version of its flagship model.

HTC’s original One was well-reviewed but has been outsold by Samsung’s Galaxy S4.

That helped cause HTC to post its first ever quarterly loss earlier this month.

The Taiwanese firm announced a deficit of just under 3 billion Taiwan dollars ($100 million) for its July-to-September quarter.

By contrast Samsung Electronics has forecast record profits for the same period.

HTC said it decided to abandon the restrictions it had placed on information about the One Max after a member of the media broke a Tuesday embargo placed on its specifications. A spokeswoman for the firm said she was unable to name the publication responsible.

The HTC One Max’s inclusion of a fingerprint scanner makes it the first and only Android handset to do so since the launch of Apple’s iPhone 5S in September, which included a similar component.

However, both were preceded by Motorola’s Atrix handset, released in 2011. It also included a scanner on its rear, but struggled to take accurate readings, leading the firm to ditch the feature in later models.

HTC One Max has been announced a day earlier than planned after its details leaked on to the net

HTC One Max has been announced a day earlier than planned after its details leaked on to the net

“The fingerprint scanner allows users to lock or unlock the screen and quickly launch up to three favorite applications by assigning an individual finger to each,” HTC said in a statement.

Apple’s software chief, Craig Federighi, recently told the Bloomberg news agency it had designed a “walled off” enclave on its custom-designed A7 processor to store iPhone owners’ fingerprint data to ensure the biometric information could not “escape”.

By contrast the new HTC handset uses an off-the-shelf Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor, but the firm offered the following assurance to consumers: “The fingerprint data is encrypted and stored in local memory and can’t be readily accessed or copied. The fingerprint data cannot be easily converted into any other form or used by a third party.”

However, one security expert suggested the firm still needed to provide more detail.

“The obvious question is: What kind of encryption is the company using?” said Alan Woodward, chief technology officer at the consultancy Charteris.

“The bottom line is that whenever your biometric data is being stored for security purposes it could potentially be misused.

“So, consumers will always want to be sure it is stored in such a way that if you lose the phone, it is hacked into or there’s some other kind of unauthorized access, that it can’t be readily obtained.”

The new mobile expands the HTC One family following the launch of a “mini” 4.3in-screened handset in July.

The original HTC One – which has a 4.7in screen – obtained a higher review score than Samsung’s rival S4 on The Verge and Techradar news sites and recently beat its competitor to be named T3 magazine’s gadget of the year.

However, HTC has repeatedly blamed marketing problems for its failure to match its South Korean rival’s sales.

In August HTC employed the Hollywood actor Robert Downey Jr. to head a new campaign, however its share price remains about 90% below its 2011 high.

“If you look at Samsung Electronics’ financials, in the June quarter it spent $2.1 billion on marketing – most of which went on mobile phones – that’s more than all HTC’s revenue for the same period by quite a margin,” said Benedict Evans, from the media and tech advisory firm Enders Analysis.

“HTC does have a marketing problem – but it’s not the creative part that’s the issue, it’s the scale.

“It’s also worth bearing in mind that when you talk about Samsung’s marketing spend over half of the sum is below the line: sales commissions mostly. And this isn’t just an HTC-specific problem – it’s a problem that applies to LG, Sony, Motorola and others as well.”

Samsung’s next earning figures are due to be released on October 25.

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Sony has unveiled Xperia Z, the thinnest tablet computer of its kind.

The Android-powered Xperia Z is 0.27in (6.9 mm)-thick. That is 0.01in thinner than Apple’s iPad Mini despite featuring a bigger 10.1in screen.

Sony Xperia z launch coincides with news that LG is releasing a 5 in handset – the Optimus G Pro – making it the latest to offer the so-called “phablet” form factor.

Both devices have only been confirmed for release in Japan, but more details are expected next month.

Mobile World Congress is being held in Barcelona from 25 to 28 February and is a popular time to announce global launches of new smart devices.

Samsung has already said it would show off a new 8 in version of its Galaxy Note tablet family at the event.

Beyond being thin, Sony’s new tablet can also lay claim to being the lightest for its size.

The firm says it weighs 1.1 lb (495 g) – a fraction below the Toshiba Excite 10 LE which previously laid claim to the title.

Sony has unveiled Xperia Z, the thinnest tablet computer of its kind

Sony has unveiled Xperia Z, the thinnest tablet computer of its kind

In addition it is water and dust-resistant – featuring similar plastic covers to protect its ports as are found on the firm’s Xperia Z smartphone which was announced a fortnight ago at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

The two Sony devices are designed to work together, allowing photos and other data to be transferred between the phone and tablet using the firm’s “one-touch sharing” facility which is activated by waving the machines close to each other to activate their near field communications (NFC) chips.

“It’s a good product and on the face of it it should do well, but it is hampered by a potential squeeze on the larger tablet segment as a lot of consumers and other manufacturers are moving to the smaller 7in-to-8in form factor – in part because of their cheaper price,” said David McQueen, principal analyst at the Informa Telecoms and Media consultancy.

“So the success of the Sony tablet might ultimately be determined by how much it costs as well as whether the firm bundles some of the content it owns from its music, movie and gaming divisions.”

LG has released 5in handset Optimus G Pro, the latest smartphone maker to offer the so-called phablet form factor

LG has released 5in handset Optimus G Pro, the latest smartphone maker to offer the so-called phablet form factor

LG’s new handset is effectively a version of its existing Optimus G phone with a bigger, more detailed screen.

It offers 440 pixels per inch (ppi) – matching HTC’s newly-released J Butterfly and Huawei’s Ascend D2.

This density of its pixels allows LG’s handset to be marketed as offering playback of 1080p videos in their full high definition resolution.

However, the trade-off is the screen is power-hungry. LG’s handset features a 3,000 mAh (milliampere-hour) battery as a consequence which is bigger than that of most other smartphones.

“4G high-speed data connections are helping push the adoption of higher definition bigger screens on phones, but I do think it will remain a small, though high-end, segment of the market,” said David McQueen.

Sony and LG’s devices were revealed as part of Japanese network NTT Docomo’s Spring line-up announcement.

It also featured a more unusual handset from NEC Casio featuring two screens.

The Medias W N-05E’s displays are placed on either side of the device, but can also be folded out so that the two 4.3in LCD screens sit alongside each other.

It is the second dual-screened smartphone to be announced in recent weeks – Russia’s Yota unveiled a model in December which features one LCD screen and one e-ink display, which it said would go on sale in the second half of the year.

However, recent history suggests such devices might only appeal to a niche audience.

Samsung, LG and Kyocera are among others firms to have released dual-screened phones over the past two years which only achieved limited sales.

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