Samsung Galaxy S6 to have glass back panel, not metal unibody

Building the Galaxy S6 from the ground up has been Samsung's strategy all along following criticism of the lineup's lack of premium feel. A metal unibody was one way to go, and seemed confirmed by leaked images and supposed insider quotes. A month before the expected unveiling of the flagship at MWC in Barcelona, however, an unnamed "Samsung Electronics official" has shattered those rumors. The phone will, indeed, come in regular and dual edge flavors, but they will both feature a glass back panel. The company's decision is likely driven by a desire to differentiate the Galaxy lineup from the A-series with their metal frames and plastic backs. The source also confirms what we suspected would be a non-removable battery. It's a bold move on both fronts, which will undoubtedly spark raging comments from both fans and critics of the brand. The user-replaceable battery has been the reason many power users have swayed towards the Galaxy series for instant 100% charge on the go. And with Sony and Apple having used glass backs in the past, Samsung's choice of material will provide a field day for the brand's haters. However, none of this is truly supported by any material evidence, and care should be taken not to jump to conclusions. Mobile World Congress, where everything will probably become official, is not all that far ahead. Source (in Korean) |...

Source: http://www.gsmarena.com/upcoming_galaxy_s6_now_reported_to_have_a_glass_back-news-10823.php

Lava launches Iris Alfa 4.4 KitKat smartphone for $105

Lava's new droid costs only INR 6550 (around €90/$105) and brings the usual combination of midrange hardware and Android software. The Iris Alfa runs Android KitKat 4.4, 5" 854 x 480px IPS display, has a quad-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of on-board storage, a microSD card with support for up to 32GB of expansion. Lava Iris Alfa On the front the Lava Iris Alfa has a VGA camera while the back-mounted snapper is a backside-illuminated 5MP unit with LED flash. A battery of 2,200mAh capacity is charged with running all that hardware daily. The phone has dual-SIM capabilities as well. Lava Iris Alfa Measuring 141mm x 71mm x 9.2mm and weighing 156g it's reasonable for a 5-incher. The Lava Iris Alfa will be available in India starting today. Thanks for the...

Source: http://www.gsmarena.com/lava_launches_iris_alfa_44_kitkat_smartphone_for_inr_6550-news-10819.php

Official Android 5.0.1 ROM for Samsung Galaxy S4 leaked

A new Lollipop ROM has leaked for the Samsung Galaxy S4 and this time it appears legitimate. The files were posted on a Chinese forum and unsurprisingly were quickly picked up by the XDA community and spread like wild fire. Lollipop on the Galaxy S4 has been rumored a few times and is already a reality on the Google Play Edition of the handset so the leak is not completely out of the blue. The ROM in question is a 5.0.1 Android build and according to the original source should be good for GT-I9500/9502/9508/9508v versions. The nice folks over at XDA have been playing around with the new software for a few hours now and it appears to be a legitimate official Samsung firmware as opposed to the recent Aurora ports of the leaked Note 3 software. A few things need to be noted about the Galaxy S4 ROM, though. First of all it has a Chinese region, so even though English is available as a system language, along with two variants of Chinese, some system messages will remain regionalized and so will some functions, like the weather widget. A stock English keyboard is also missing, but that is easily fixable. Other than that the build seems to be doing well in terms of functionality. NFC, sbeam, GPS, Bluetooth, 3G DATA, Wi-Fi, all sensors for motion and light, hotspot function, Multiwindow all seem to be in working order, as reported by various early adopters. If you are feeling adventurous and decide to check out the leaked Lollipop software remember to back everything up, as update will almost definitely wipe your internal storage. And if you are a little bit skeptical and wish to wait for the official OTA to start seeding, it shouldn't be long now, as the ROM seems to be just about ready for public consumption. Thank you for the tip Shubham Sharma Source |...

Source: http://www.gsmarena.com/official_android_501_rom_for_samsung_galaxy_s4_leaked-news-10818.php

BlackBerry Classic gets real gold attire

BlackBerry's latest Classic, the aptly named basic pure BlackBerry, released last December, is getting the gold treatment. Vietnamese luxury brand Karalux is offering a 24K gold-plated edition of the phone for business professionals with a penchant for sparkle. The outer stainless steel frame gets a precious metal coating, as well as the keyboard row separators. The back remains in formal black, but a company branded gold plate below the keyboard makes sure your fellow coworkers know where to enhance their bland stock Classic. The plate is actually customizable though, so buyers can have a text or logo of their choosing engraved on it. The gold-plating process takes up 4 man-hours of work, and will set you back 7,000,000 Vietnamese Dong ($350). Add the price of the smartphone itself for a total of...

Source: http://www.gsmarena.com/plebeian_blackberry_classic_gets_golden_attire-news-10817.php

Microsoft shipped 500K Lumia 535 phones in India alone

Microsoft launched the Lumia 535 in India on November 27 and since then the device has been enjoying great market reception. According to the data from Zauba, a website tracking imports in India, a total of 502,468 Lumia 535 smartphones have been imported into the country. Their worth is estimated at $30.3 million with all units originating from China. AdDuplex, which is also used to track smartphone usage through its ad network, confirmed at the end of last year the Lumia 535's popularity. The phone rose up to 4% usage in less than a month. The Lumia 535 sells for roughly $137 (INR 8,500) in India as the device is in its first days of officially selling in Europe. In the UK, the phone retails for a nudge below £100. We're yet to see if Microsoft will enjoy the success of the Lumia 535 outside Indian borders, though. The phone comes with a 5" 540x960 pixel touchscreen, a couple of 5 MP cameras on each side and 8GB of storage that's expandable via microSD. It's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 chipset with a 1.2 GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU and 1GB of RAM. Source |...

Source: http://www.gsmarena.com/microsoft_shipped_half_million_lumia_535_phones_in_india-news-10816.php

Now you can jailbreak iOS 8.1.2 devices using a Mac

Last month, TaiG released a jailbreak tool capable of jailbreaking iOS 8.1.2 devices. However, it only worked with Windows, meaning Mac users were out of luck. But that's no longer the case as they can now jailbreak their iOS 8.1.2 devices with a new tool, dubbed PP Jailbreak As of now, there's no word from members of the jailbreak community on the safety of PP Jailbreak, so you'll have to use it at your own risk, although folks at iClarified as well as iDownloadBlog have been able to use the tool successfully without any issues. Hit the source link below to download the tool from its official website. Source |...

Source: http://www.gsmarena.com/now_you_can_jailbreak_ios_812_devices_using_a_mac-news-10815.php