Sharp's Aquos Phone Xx is almost all screen

Sharp announced Aquos Phone Xx that can disgust team because 80.5 percent of its 5.2-inch front is all screen. At 70 x 132 x 9.9mm, the Xx is more compact than Sony's rival 5-inch phablet, the Xperia Z1, but its collection of top shelf specs gives it a fatter profile. The Android device, which joins Softbank's 4G LTE lineup this December, crams a 1080p display, 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 running Jelly Bean 4.2, 2,600mAh battery and a 16.3-megapixel rear camera and water-resistant frame. It also features pre-loaded translation software to make sense out of captured English text -- handy if you're, Japanese. We realize this is an unfair mobile tease for those of you green-eyed monsters living in the Western world; you'll likely never see the Xx make that transcontinental trek. But it's always nice to dream. For more information…

Samsung claims 100 million people use its ChatOn messaging service

Though we haven't received any ChatOn messages ourselves lately, Samsung says that its messaging service has caught on with some. In fact, it's just chalked up a "global subscriber base" of 100 million folks in around two years, thanks to its availability on diverse platforms like iOS, Android, Bada, the web and Windows Phone. Samsung singled out China and India as key markets for the service and touted features like drag-and-drop media sharing and the ability to hand-write messages with an S Pen-equipped device. Though the numbers sound good, we're not sure if the Korean company is counting active users or just those who registered out of curiosity because it came pre-installed on their phones. By contrast, WhatsApp counts 300 million subscribers who use the service monthly. We've reached out to Samsung to confirm and maybe we'll get around to registering for the service ourselves, some day.

HTC One Max has October 17th release date?

The HTC One Max is one of the most eagerly awaited Android models expected to launch before the end of the year. The phablet resembles a giant HTC One and pictures of the device have revealed that a fingerprint scanner is on board A published report out of China on Friday says that the HTC One Max will finally be launched on October 17th. The HTC One Max will feature a 5.9 inch screen with 1080 x 1920 resolution. Unlike the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600, which powers the normal sized HTC One, the phablet brings little more speed with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 powering the phablet. Or is it a 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with 2GB of RAM that will be on board? One person who tested the phone found a new UI for the camera and also reported that the fingerprint scanner was flawless. The "recognition rate is very high, there was no awkward situation [with using it]," said the tester.  We expect the camera to offer HDR video recording, three levels of blemish correction and a beauty mode. For details...

Toshiba's new dual camera module brings 'deep focus' imaging to smartphones

 Toshiba is bringing dual camera with technology that you're much more likely to use. Its new module uses two 5-megapixel cameras to record depth and images at the same time, producing a "deep focus" picture where everything is sharp. The technique offers a Lytro-like ability to refocus, even after you've taken the shot; it also provides gesture control and very fast digital autofocusing. You'll have to wait a while before you're snapping deep focus vacation photos, though. Toshiba doesn't expect to mass produce the sensors until April, and finished products will likely come later. Read more…

EA's free-to-play FIFA 14 arrives on iOS and Android

Whether you refer to it as fútbol, football or soccer, there's no denying that the FIFA franchise is one of the sports' best options for gaming across the various existing platforms. Now, following in the footsteps of its relative Madden 25, FIFA 14 is available for iOS as well as Android. As with its sporting game sibling, the renowned title's latest mobile edition can be downloaded at no cost, with EA hoping to bring in revenue by way of in-app purchases -- which includes anything from Ultimate Team points to the unlocking of additional game modes (such as Manager and Tournament). Be prepared to make some room for FIFA 14 on your device though, since the app's size is a little more than 1GB in both the App Store and Google Play.

Next Vivo phone might come with a 1/1.7'', 20.2MP sensor and a Nikon SLR chip

In a world where words such as Samsung and Apple have become synonymous for a smartphone, it's a rough life for the many no-name brands that may not be particularly bad or even at all. In a growing number of instances, that seems to have a fair bit to do with the companies' lack of marketing “chops” (= money), when compared to that of the big guys. Especially in the Western hemisphere.This same situation is quite different in the East, however, which, most agree, will stage the next clash for superiority in the industry. Relatively unknown brands such as Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, Meizu and others are just getting their names heard, and it will probably be a longer while still, until you start spotting them in the mainstream. At the same time, those very brands are generating waves in their home markets, and are already readying quite a surprise for their behemoth, but laggard rivals.

One such brand is BBK. You've probably never heard of it, though you may have heard of Oppo and, recently, Vivo – currently holding the world's thinnest smartphone title with the X3. Oppo, along with Vivo, are both the brainchildren of BBK. And though it might take a not-too shabby nudge to get most to see quality under a name different than the prior-mentioned giants of technology, phones like the about-to-be-unveiled Oppo N1 have been proving why they deserve attention. Read more...

Oppo announces its update Color OS running on the new Oppo N1

Oppo, at its Beijing event for the camera-centric N1, showed the latest update to its latest Android OS overlay which it calls Color OS. As before, the proprietary UI follows the basics of Android but has a deeply overhauled look – from icons to its heavily gesture-based functionality. According to Oppo the OS was developed with lots of research from users and is accompanied by some 43 patents.

Some features include getting the weather info for whoever you’re dialing, opening the camera from just about everywhere with a three finger gesture, and more.