IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (AnandTech) 7/22/2013

Sunday, July 21, 2013

IT News Head Lines (AnandTech) 7/22/2013

AnandTech

The AnandTech Podcast: Episode 23

In this episode Brian and I talk about Nokia's Lumia 1020, Microsoft's struggles in the phone space, the HTC One mini, a giant battery for the Galaxy S 4, Aptina and ARM's Cortex A12.

The AnandTech Podcast - Episode 23

featuring Anand Shimpi, Brian Klug
iTunes

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Direct Links - mp3, m4a
Total Time: 1 hour 4 minutes
Outline h:mm

Nokia Lumia 1020, Windows Phone - 0:00

HTC One mini - 0:23

HTC One 4.2.2 - 0:27

SGS4 with a Giant Battery - 0:29

SGS4 Wireless Charging Pad - 0:33

ARM Cortex A12 - 0:36

Aptina - 0:55

The AnandTech Podcast: Episode 22

This is a special episode where Dustin and I debate the merits of Haswell on the desktop, from an enthusiast's perspective.

The AnandTech Podcast - Episode 22

featuring Anand Shimpi, Dustin Sklavos
iTunes

RSS - mp3, m4a

Direct Links - mp3, m4a
Total Time: 1 hour 28 minutes
Outline h:mm

Haswell on the Desktop - The Entire Time

NZXT Phantom 530 Case Review
With the 530 model, NZXT continues to fill out their product line with a Phantom for every season and price tag. But is the 530 the Phantom they and we needed?

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NVIDIA GeForce 326.19 Beta Drivers Available

Following the release of the WHQL 320.49 drivers earlier this month, NVIDIA has moved on to their next driver branch, R325. The first release of these drivers, 326.01, was published in a limited form as part of the Windows 8.1 preview, and today NVIDIA is following that up by releasing the first full beta of R325 with the 326.19 beta drivers.
As is usually the case NVIDIA’s release notes mostly focus on the performance of these drivers. Among other things, NVIDIA notes that 326.19 “Increases performance by up to 19% […] in several PC games vs. GeForce 320.49”, calling out Tomb Raider and Codemasters’ racing games in particular.
Meanwhile users on the cutting edge of display hardware will want to pay attention to the fact that this is the first full GeForce driver to support “tiled” 4K displays such as the Asus PQ321Q, which requires support for 2 device “mosaic” mode to properly drive the display at 3840x2160@60Hz. Outside of 3 display Surround modes, this functionality was previously limited to NVIDIA’s Quadro cards as a product differentiator.
As usual, you can grab the drivers for all current desktop and mobile NVIDIA GPUs over at NVIDIA’s driver download page. And thanks to reader SH SOTN for the heads up.

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HTC Announces One mini - 4.3 inch display, aluminum, and Snapdragon 400

We knew it was coming, and after a long wait and endless leaks the HTC One mini is upon us. Smaller phones seem to be something everyone wants more of to augment the ever-growing size of the flagships, and with the HTC One mini we get some of that, although the miniaturized HTC One isn't quite as powerful as its full fledged brethren. The One mini isn't exactly that miniaturized flagship that everyone was looking for, rather a more midrange, cost-reduced version of the One with a number of concessions made to get there.

Starting off, the HTC One mini continues the same predominantly aluminum construction and virtually the same exact design language, although there is visibly more polycarbonate around the edges. I'm told that the One mini doesn't use exactly the same construction methods as the One, you can see this bear itself out in the photos with the plastic wrapping around the edges a bit more on the front and back. The backside is still curved and segmented into three pieces, with the bottom and top strips serving as the primary and secondary cellular antennas from what I can tell. In that plastic band for the top antenna separation is also still a secondary microphone, for stereo audio on video and ambient noise suppression on calls. You'll notice the vertical strip running along the middle to the camera module is gone, and with it, the NFC functionality which necessitated it. The power button is also now silver since there's no IR Tx/Rx port behind it, and the volume rocker is now two discrete buttons instead of one.
Flash moves to a centered 12-o-clock position above the rear-facing camera aperture, which is still 4.0 MP with 2.0 µm "ultrapixels," although there's no OIS this time around for cost reasons, which is a bit unfortunate since that was half of what made the HTC One's camera exciting.

HTC One mini Specifications
	HTC One mini
SoC	1.4 GHz Snapdragon 400 (MSM8930 - 2 x Krait 200 CPU, Adreno 305 GPU)
RAM/NAND/Expansion	1GB LPDDR2, 16 GB NAND
Display	4.3-inch LCD 720p, 341 ppi
Network	2G / 3G / 4G LTE (MSM8930 MDM9x15 IP block)
Dimensions	132 x 63.2 x 9.25 mm, 122 grams
Camera	4.0 MP (2688 × 1520) Rear Facing with 2.0 µm pixels, 1/3" CMOS size, F/2.0, 28mm (35mm effective) no OIS 1.6 MP front facing
Battery	1800 mAh (6.84 Whr)
OS	Android 4.2.2 with Sense 5
Connectivity	802.11a/b/g/n + BT 4.0, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS, DLNA
Misc	Dual front facing speakers, HDR dual microphones, 2.55V headphone amplifier
Bands	GSM/EDGE: Quad Band WCDMA/HSPA+ 42 Mbps: EMEA: 900/1900/2100 MHz Asia: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz LTE Cat. 3: EMEA: 800/1800/2600 MHz Asia: 900/1800/2100/2600

On the front the One mini retains the stereo boomsound speakers, front facing camera module (1.6 MP), and capacitive button placement. The display is 4.3-inch 720p LCD – as an aside it's amazing that 4.3-inch and 720p is now a midrange feature just a year after 720p's introduction. The HTC One mini runs Android 4.2.2 with the updates to Sense 5 we already talked about in that update to the HTC One.

Hardware Comparison
	HTC One mini	HTC One	HTC One S	iPhone 5
Height	132.0 mm	137.4 mm	130.9 mm	123.8 mm
Width	63.2 mm	68.2 mm	65 mm	58.6 mm
Thickness	9.25 mm	9.3 mm	7.8 mm	7.6 mm
Mass	122 grams	143 grams	119.5g	112 g

So how mini is the One mini, and how much of a spiritual successor to the HTC One S is it? Turns out it's somewhere inbetween the One S and One in size and mass, and still somewhat tall of a phone if you're comapring dimensions in the table I've made above. I don't have any hands-on impressions with the device to share for various spatial reasons, but I'm hoping it maintains the same kind of quality that the One does without making sacrifices.
Update: A number of people have asked how the One mini compares in size and mass to the iPhone 5, I've tossed that in the table as well.

HTC One (left), HTC One mini (right)

What made the HTC One S awesome was that it was every bit as powerful as the One XL but in a smaller, sleeker, metal chassis. With the HTC One mini it's obvious that this isn't a flagship device squeezed into a smaller, more pocketable device like the One S was, but rather a phone catered to a different lower-end market entirely. Among enthusiasts that's not at all what everyone has been clamoring (sometimes quite loudly) for, but it will bring HTC a much needed update into a different price point not commonly home to such material or build quality. I'm going to wait until I finally get the chance to hold and review a One mini before passing judgement.
The HTC One mini will launch in some markets (Europe, others) in August and globally in September this year. HTC isn't naming a price for the One mini, but with the specs above it has to be competitive given the relatively midrange spec list and targeting. There's no official word on availability, operator partners, or pricing for the USA market, but it is inevitably coming here in some shape or form.

Gallery: HTC One mini

Huawei in a Huff Over Former CIA Director's Allegations of Spying
Huawei says that its ties to the PLA doesn't mean it will spy for China

ACLU Sues Over Feds Spending up to $1.4B to Monitor Millions of Americans
License plate scanners are non-transparent and a threat to privacy, says ACLU

Strong Sales Prompt Ford to Double Lincoln MKZ Hybrid Production for 2014
Lincoln plans to sell more hybrids despite fuel efficiency complaints

Quick Note: iWork for iCloud Beta Opening up to Non-Developers
Apple is sending invites to users who aren't in the developer community

Scientists Power Mobile Phone With Fuel Cell, Urine
R. Kelly's dream phone is here

Google Misses Wall Street Earnings, Revenue Expectations for Q2 2013
But revenue saw a 19 percent boost from the year-ago quarter

Microsoft Takes $900M Charge on Surface Flop
Investor bloodbath awaits as Microsoft tries to revamp its company

Verizon Adds Nearly 1M Postpaid Customers, But Analysts Aren't Impressed
30 percent rise in profit was overshadowed by revenue growth miss

CIA Funds Study Looking on the Effects of Geoengineering, Blocking the Sun
Queue the conspiracies, this one is going to get ugly

Quick Note: Samsung Chromebook is Top Selling Notebook on Amazon
11.6-inch, $249 USD laptop is drawing rave reviews

Intel CEO Apologizes for 29% Profit Drop, Promises $150 Atom Tablets
Mobile demand is driving Intel into the low-end chip market, the last place it wants to be

Researchers Mute Extra Chromosome Responsible for Down Syndrome
The team used an RNA gene called XIST

Drivers Want to Use Smartphones in Cars, Not Infotainment Systems' Software
There's a large disconnect between smartphone apps and vehicle software

7/18/2013 Daily Hardware Reviews
DailyTech's roundup of reviews from around the internet for Thursday

Nokia Posts Lower-Than-Expected Sales for Q2 2013; Outsells BlackBerry with Lumia Line Alone
Nokia sold 7.4 million Lumia devices for the quarter while BlackBerry's total sales were 6.8 million

Lenovo Discontinues Online Sales of Yoga 11 Windows RT Tablet
Some units still available through resellers

HTC Launches "One Mini" Smartphone
HTC One Mini will launch in August

Available Tags:AnandTech , NVIDIA , GeForce , HTC , Ford , Google , Microsoft , Samsung , Notebook , Amazon , Intel , CEO , Hardware , Nokia , BlackBerry , Lenovo , Windows , Tablet , Smartphone ,

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