Droid DNA

 Verizon is one of the more common proponents of silly Android device names, in part through its insistence on that "Droid" prefix for some hardware. When its smartphone badges practically demand a pause for breath, you know there's a problem. Android Central's purported copy of a Minimum Advertised Pricing list could show that there's hope for the carrier yet. The chart shows the HTC DLX (6435LVW) skipping the rumored Droid Incredible X name in favor of Droid DNA -- and that's it. No superlatives, no arbitrary "4G LTE" tags to remind us of the network we already know we're using. The 5-inch phone might have even been a reasonable launch, as the MAP shows a $200 contract price that would potentially take effect just before Thanksgiving.

Want more? Other smartphones are on the supposedly leaked MAP list as well, primarily focusing on Windows Phone 8 gear: the as yet unconfirmed Nokia Lumia 822 shows up with a $100 price and a mid-November release window, while Verizon's take on the Windows Phone 8X is present with a $200 price and similar timing. Those who'd rather go for a Samsung phablet than HTC's aren't left out, either. The Verizon edition of the Galaxy Note II is on the list with a $300 price and availability that starts immediately -- rather convenient, that.

Pics From Lumia 820 Leaked

       The pics are taken with he 8 MP unit on the back of the Nokia Lumia 820, which Nokia says has overhauled software algorithms compared to the ones it is using in the Lumia 900.The picture is apparently of an office building, and the source says his prototype unit didn't allow him to take anything with higher resolution, or he couldn't find a way to switch from the settings, which were obviously in the "email resolution" position.

Alleged camera sample from the Nokia Lumia 820 emerges

Ipad Mini Ignores Thumb Resting On Display

When Apple announced the iPad mini, one of the things I noticed was how thin the bezel is on the side. The iPad has a sizable bezel all around its display and Apple’s reason for that was to be able to hold the device without touching the screen. So why did they make the bezel so thin on the iPad mini?

At first glance it seems like a major design gaffe but turns out, it’s not. Because the bezel on the iPad mini is so thin on the sides, the software has been designed to ignore your thumb even if you rest it directly on the display.
This works similar to the way the MacBook multi-touch trackpad or the Magic Mouse works. On either of these devices, you can have one finger on the touch surface and continue to scroll or tap using the other finger and the software is smart enough to ignore the resting finger and just accept the input from the moving finger.
The iPad mini uses similar sorcery to cancel out the inputs from your thumb resting on the side and only accept the inputs from your other fingers. This has allowed Apple to significantly reduce the size of the bezel, which makes the device easier to hold in one hand and the display also looks bigger than it actually is (bezels tend to make the screen look tiny).

Ipad Mini-Worth The Price?

Leading up to the reveal of the iPad mini, we put a lot of thought into just how Apple might see fit to price the tablet in its lineup of other iOS devices. Now that the iPad mini is official, along with its $329 starting price, some people have been wondering if that might actually be too steep a price for the tablet, considering what you get for it. Apple exec Phil Schiller is unsurprisingly not among them, and spoke to reporters about why he feels the $329 sticker is appropriate.

Reuters specifically asked about what impact the $329 tag may have on shoppers who are out to get a budget-priced tablet, instead of the type of consumer who routinely buys $500 iPads each year, as new ones arrive. Schiller seems to think that shoppers will appreciate the value of the iPad mini when they compare its cost to those of full-sized iPads. He offers the fact that users still bought regular iPads even when $200 7-inch Androids were readily available as support for why the mini’s pricing will succeed.

Do you think Schiller has a point here, or is he failing to understand consumer behavior? Won’t there be a good number of shoppers this holiday season so focused on price that they may not be able to appreciate the subtleties of the difference in user experience between a Nexus 7 and the iPad mini? Did Apple make a mistake by failing to make iPad mini pricing even more competitive than it did?

Lumia 920 Teardown

Nokia’s Lumia 920 is just around the corner, and as we look forward to the Windows Phone 8 handset finally arriving, we get the opportunity to take an in-depth look at the phone’s hardware, thanks to a detailed teardown of the phone, along with the leak of a nice exploded view of its assembly.

Supposedly sourced from a Nokia service manual, these pictures give us a great look into all the components that come together to create the Lumia 920. Don’t expect much in the way of surprises here, but it’s still a great chance to see part of the phone that we’ve been hearing so much about, like the inductive coil on the phone’s rear cover that provides it its wireless charging abilities.

Three New Ads By Samsung

Samsung has released three new commercials for its flagship Samsung Galaxy S III. Out of the trio of commerecials, only one takes a shot at the Apple iPhone. That commercial shows a guy and gal on a bus bench, both battling each other in some type of zombie-related game. When he loses, the guy starts complaining about the size of the screen on his Apple iPhone compared to the larger screen on his opponent's Samsung Galaxy S III. "How can I win?," asks the guy. "Your screen is like as big as my phone," he says. When the girl answers that not everything is about winning, the guy responds by saying, "I like to win." This elicits a response from the old lady on the end of the bench who has been observing the scene. She turns to him and say, "You like to whine." Was this sit-com moment Sammy's way of calling all Apple iPhone users whiny losers?

An Apple iPhone user is called out for whining in a new ad

         
The other two ads are more sugary sweet. In one, a couple are on the couch and looking for some mood music, and his Samsung Galaxy S III starts spewing out the Spice Girls which is not exactly what she had in mind. With a tap of their Galaxy S IIIs and S Beam, a more appropriate tune is added to his phone. In the last ad, a businessman is getting into a cab for a ride to the airport when the wife uses S Beam to send him some video. The kids had made him a video to watch on the plane. How cute! How adorable! Then, the wife moves close to her hubby and whispers that she too made him a video. "You probably shouldn't watch it on the plane," she suggestively adds.

Skype 6.0 For Mac & Windows Released

Skype for Mac and Windows has received an update to version 6.0 with an alternative sign in and extended Microsoft-integration in tow.





You can log in without a Skype ID and opt for using a Microsoft Live ID or a Facebook one instead. There’s also Retina support for Mac, visual changes and more.

Signing in with a Microsoft account will let users chat with their contacts from Windows Live Messenger, Hotmail and Outlook.com directly from Skype. The Skype team is also working to bring video calling between Skype and Windows Live Messenger contacts and says the feature will be available in the coming weeks.

The user interface has been refreshed and “flattened” for a less cluttered look. The “currently online” count has been removed too. On the Mac side of things there’s an option for multiple windows for individual chats.

To download the latest version of Skype,  hit the Check for updates button (listed under Help) in the app itself.