MediaTek to Boost 4G Chip Market Share in Second Half of 2015

MediaTek was known to manufacture components and drawing up designs for consumer electronic goods such as CD-ROM devices, DVD players and TVs before there were smartphones. As the smartphone market grows over the year, the company is known for manufacturing cheap 2G and 3G Chinese handsets. Now, the company is looking for a way to enter U.S. and Western Europe smartphone markets. However, it has Qualcomm as the main competitor which is not easy to defeat.

It seems like MediaTek is able to reduce the phone-design and the mass production cycle from one and a half years to only six months, which makes a lot of people happy. As a result, the company ranks 788 n this year’s Global 2000 list compared to 1029 about a year ago. Qualcomm on the other hand, ranks 158.  Top smartphone makers apparently still prefer to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon SoC line in their flagship smartphones. Not to mention, Apple who likes to use their own product as much as possible is using Qualcomm’s modems in their iPhone. Samsung on the other hand, has started its own reference design program which is similar to MediaTek.

According to Forbes, the only way for MediaTek to enter US market is by sticking to Chinese smartphone manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Lenovo and Coolpad to use the company’s chip as these companies are set to enter the US market. Major carriers such as Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile are reported to be testing on MediaTek 4G chips on their LTE network. Therefore, it should not take long before MediaTek able to enter the US market.

MediaTek to Boost 4G Chip Market Share in Second Half of 2015

Sony Xperia E4g goes official, sports a 4.7” display and 4G LTE connectivity

Closely on the heels of its budget phone, the Xperia E4 earlier this month, Sony has unveiled another Xperia device, the Xperia E4g. While the Xperia E4 is an affordable phone with a 2-day battery life and confirms to Sony’s OmniBalance design, it offers no LTE support. The new Xperia E4g on the other hand, comes with 4G LTE connectivity.

Tony McNulty, VP Value Category Business Management at Sony Mobile says:

“Xperia E4 set out to bring many of the premium features people expect of Sony to lower-tier devices; Xperia E4g brings that same quality and ease of use – but with super-fast 4G LTE connectivity.”

The Xperia E4g design and most of the specifications are similar to Xperia E4 but it has a smaller display of 4.7” against E4’s 5” screen, a 1.5GHz quad-core MediatTek MT6732 SoC against E4’s 1.3GHz quad-core Mediatek MT6582 SoC and 4G LTE connectivity.

Other specs include 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot for expansion up to 32GB, a 5MP primary camera, 2MP selfie camera and a 2300 mAh battery giving a battery life of 2 days. Its dimensions are 133 x 71 x 10.8 mm and it weighs 135 gms. The smartphone runs Android 4.4.4 KitKat out of the box.

The Xperia E4g will be available in two colors – Black and White and will hit the shelves in April this year with a price tag of about €129, equivalent to $145. Like the Xperia E4, the Xperia E4g too will be available in dual SIM variants and will not be sold in the US.

Have a look at the photos and the video:

 

Source Sony Blog

Sony Xperia E4g goes official, sports a 4.7” display and 4G LTE connectivity

Huawei’s MWC teaser hints at a new 4G LTE standalone smartwatch

Just a few days back Huawei had revealed its roadmap for 2015 informing that it would be releasing several new devices during the year which also included an Android Wear smartwatch among others. Now the Chinese mobile maker has released a couple of teasers on its official Weibo profile, both containing the phrase “Next is here”.

One of the teasers could very well be for a smartwatch that Huawei may be planning to unveil at the MWC 2015 in Barcelona next month. This teaser shows a crescent shaped design with a star at one end which might be hinting at Huawei’s upcoming smartwatch with such a curved design. The phrase “Next is here” could mean that the next upgrade version of its smartband is here. Huawei had released its smartband TalkBand B1 last year which is a fitness band that also doubles as a Bluetooth headset.

The teaser also has the words “4G LTE” on top left hand corner which could mean it could be a standalone smartwatch supporting 4G LTE networks, a step ahead of Samsung’s Gear S which is also a standalone device but supports 3G. Huawei’s CEO Richard Yu had hinted in September last year that the company’s smartwatch will be a standalone piece like the Tizen-powered Samsung Gear S.

The second teaser could be that of Huawei’s Honor X2 (MediaPad X2) tablet, a successor to Huawei MediaPad X1. This teaser too has the words 4G LTE suggesting that the tablet phone will support it. This new tablet is also expected to be introduced at the MWC. Latest rumors suggest that this next gen tablet will feature a 7-inch display with 1920 x 1200 resolution, Huawei’s own Hisilicon Kirin 925 processor, 3GB RAM and a 5500 mAh battery. The tablet is said to be priced at about 1999 Yuan ($320).

Well, MWC 2015 is just round the corner and we will know more then.

 

Source Weibo

Via GizmoChina

Huawei’s MWC teaser hints at a new 4G LTE standalone smartwatch

Sony’s Selfie Smartphone Xperia C3 gets Certified by TENAA in China

Sony’s new recently unveiled “Selfie”smartphone Xperia C3 has made an appearance at TENAA which is the FCC equivalent in China. The dual SIM version of the smartphone having model number S55t has been certified by the agency for the 4G LTE network of China’s biggest carrier China Mobile.

As announced earlier, the Sony XperiaC3 will be released first in the Chinese market in August this year with other international markets to follow soon after.  The handset is expected to sell in China for 1999 Yuan or around US$322. The smartphone will be available in three color variants- White, Black and Mint. Mint color would be exclusively for China.

The Sony Xperia C3 is a mid-range phone sporting a 5.5-inch 1280 x 720p resolution HD display with Sony’s Bravia Engine 2. The device is powered by Qualcomm quad-core Snapdragon 400 (MSM8926) processor clocked at 1.2GHz with Adreno 305 for graphics. Also packed in are 1GB RAM, 8GB of internal storage (expandable to 32GB) and a 2,500 mAh battery.

Xperia C3’s special feature due to which it is called a “Selfie” phone, is its 5MP front-facing wide angle camera with auto mode and LED flash. It also has an 8MP rear camera and pre-installed Android 4.4.2 Kitkat. At TENAA, the smartphone has been passed for 4G LTE network bands 1900/1800/900 MHz (B34)/1900 (B39) MHz, GSM (B41)/2300 (B40)/1900 (B39) MHz and TD-SCDMA 2000 TD-LTE 2500; and FDD-LTE/W-CDMA for international roaming.

You can see the images of Sony Xperia C3 certified by TENAA below:

Sony’s Selfie Smartphone Xperia C3 gets Certified by TENAA in China