The good news is, these newer TecTile tags are backward-compatible with older Samsung devices that are NFC-enabled, allowing you to use them with your new Galaxy S 4, as well as any other Samsung devices you have lying around, including the Galaxy S III. These tags will allow you to automate a variety of tasks for certain situations, like adjustments to settings and opening up an app with a wave of your phone.

If you’re not all that familiar with TecTiles, they are Samsung-specific NFC stickers that you can program to activate certain phone tasks when the tag and the phone are touched together. You can place these tags all around your house and in your car, which allow you automate tasks, like setting alarms, switching a phone to silent mode, starting up media players, etc.

The downside is that if you’ve invested in the original TecTiles and have upgraded to the Galaxy S 4, you’ll need to grab the newer TecTile 2 tags, which sell for $15 for a pack of five, and are available now online, with availability in stores coming next month.

Currently, the only device that comes with native support for TecTile 2 is the Galaxy S 4, but we’re guessing that future Samsung devices will be utilizing the updated technology as well. As for the advantages of TecTile 2, it seems it’s a bit faster than the previous-generation, with the possibility of extended NFC capabilities, but if you can’t rush out and get new tags now, it won’t hurt you to wait around in order to grab some.

For instance, tap your phone or tablet against your notebook, and you can push a website address from your laptop, or vice-versa, Sony suggests. The NFC can also be used as a way to quickly pair two devices via WiFi or Bluetooth, much as Sony has already done with its NFC-enabled smart TV remote controls.

Meanwhile, there’s aluminum detailing on the Fit 14/15, an optional capacitive touchscreen, and Exmor R webcams. The Fit E-series models get plastic casings, with the Fit 14E and 15E having “big box” speakers, Sony says, while the 15E also gets a subwoofer.

The Fit 15/15E also accommodates a separate numeric keypad, though all the models have backlit ‘boards. NVIDIA GeForce graphics with up to 2GB of dedicated memory are optional, and there’s a choice of regular HDD, hybrid hard-drive, or SSD options. DVD and Blu-ray are also on offer.

Sony says the VAIO Fit 14 and 15 will hit shelves in mid-May, priced from $649 for the Fit 14 and $699 for the Fit 15, each available in black, pink, or silver. The Fit E 14E and Fit 15E will be offered in black, pink, or white, priced from around $549 and $579 respectively.

Samsung stated that it will be introducing the next-gen TecTile 2, which is set to be released within the coming weeks. TecTile 2 will be using the standard NFC Forum tag types, which are readable by a variety of NFC-enabled devices, like the Nexus 4. Samsung says that TecTile 2 will also be usable by other NFC-capable Samsung devices currently on the market. In the statement it released, Samsung says,

“TecTile 2 will use the current NFC technology on the market, allowing Samsung customer to further incorporate NFC into their daily lives and to use with the latest Samsung Mobile products and services, including the GALAXY S 4. As industry standard continue to evolve, Samsung remains committed to meeting those standards and adapting its technologies if necessary.”

TecTiles are NFC stickers developed by Samsung. Using the Samsung TecTile’s app, a user can program the tags before they are used. Users then place the stickers anywhere they feel convenient, such as their night stand. In order to active the TecTile’s action, all the user has to do is place or tap their NFC-enabled phones onto the tag. There can be a variety of actions performed with TecTile tags, including setting alarms, switching a phone to silent mode, starting up media players, and more.

Luckily for current Samsung Galaxy S III and Samsung Galaxy Note II owners, TecTile 2 tags will still be usable with your device. Unfortunately for TecTile users looking to purchase the Samsung GALAXY S 4, you’re going to have to replace your tags. While the pricing hasn’t been released for the TecTile 2 tags, it should be relatively the same as the current TecTile prices. Samsung has taken down their TecTile’s purchase page to prepare for the launch of its new tags. Also, if you’re still deciding whether or not to purchase the Samsung GALAXY S 4, you can check out our review of the phone here to see if it’ll meet your needs.

[via AnandTech]

The LG Pocket Photo is 4.76 x 2.83 x 0.94 inches in size and will be taking some little packets of photo paper – special fancy photo paper, mind you – that you’ll be able to purchase individually. The final result is not unlike what you’d create with an instant Polaroid camera, with an image rather true to what you had on the screen. And it’s just so cute!

It’s not entirely clear at the moment if you’ll need to be using an LG smartphone or not with this device at the moment, and you are able to work with Bluetooth as well as NFC, but one thing is for sure: you will need the Pocket Photo app. Which doesn’t do anything for you if you’ve not got the printer, of course. The app is also able to do some basic photo editing and generate QR codes that you’ll subsequently be able to print as well.

Note: we started the process here with the LG Optimus G Pro, then found it easier to just transfer the photo we had to the LG Optimus G units they had on display because they’d already had the Pocket Photo app installed. The resulting photo looks fabulous even though it’d been taken with one device, transferred to the other, then printed wirelessly with an instant process.

The printing process this machine uses is Zink – that’s Zero Ink paper technology. The process is a combination of efforts between the LG Pocket Photo and the paper itself, the paper having a layer of dye crystals that change color according to heat generated by the device. The resulting photo is ever-so-slightly warm when you receive it and doesn’t have any ink to smear – it’s instantly ready to be touched, if you like.

This device will be coming to greater Europe in April and will be costing you right around 130 Euro MSRP. At the moment there don’t seem to be any solid final price or release dates released for the device – we’re hoping soon as well!

Have a peek at the Mobile World Congress 2013 tag portal to see more up to the minute news blasts from Barcelona as well as more hands-on action than you can handle!

Samsung began a revolution with NFC when it launched devices capable of S-Beam. Now it plans on taking it a step forward by enabling NFC mobile payments with its future devices. It will load the Visa payWave application on all of its future devices, which will allow consumers to “wave and pay” for their transactions. Dr. Won-Pyo Hong, president and head of the Media Solution Center at Samsung Electronics, said, “Samsung has been a pioneer in NFC devices and is again leading the way in enabling NFC-based mobile payments. The partnership with Visa represents a step towards a global mobile payment platform.”

Alongside Samsung’s devices being able to make NFC mobile payments, Samsung will also allow banks to be able to load personal account information onto Samsung’s devices over-the-air. The transfer of information will be secured by a security chip inside of Samsung’s devices that utilizes the Visa Mobile Provisioning Service linked to Samsung’s Key Management System.

ABI Research believes that 1.95 billion devices will be NFC-enabled by the year 2017. Samsung wants to be the jump-starter that makes NFC-mobile payments commonplace. With it’s huge market share, and large number of loyal followers, Samsung is one of the best candidates to popularize NFC-payments in countries like the United States.

[via Business Wire]

At the bottom of this holder you’ll notice a little space, this being open so that your smartphone’s microUSB can be accessed for a more traditional charging experience. Of course your device will need to have a centered microUSB port for this to happen, but still – that’s rather nice of them to think of this, yes? Charging power comes from a lighter plug that’s also got an extra USB port on its back – from there you’ll be able to output power galore once more.

This device is made for the Lumia lineup and will be sold with Nokia device in mind, and you’ll want to head to the store to test it out before you assume it’ll work perfectly with your wireless charging-capable device. If you only want it for NFC and the port at the bottom for ease in holding whilst charging, you’re in luck! Unfortunately there are not details regarding pricing or a release date as of yet – you’ll just have to wait!

You can find a whole lot more Nokia news from this week in our lovely Nokia tag portal right this minute if you like. You should also head straight into our Mobile World Congress 2013 portal while you’re at it – we’ll be here through the rest of the week as well!

NFC is used to pair the HTC Mini with the Butterfly – aka the non-US version of the DROID DNA - after which point it works as a remote terminal. In addition to calls, it can show messages on its monochrome display, calendar entries, and call logs.

However, it will also apparently work as a remote control, useful when the Butterfly is plugged in to your TV and used as a media device. Then, the Mini can navigate through menus when the Butterfly is tethered near to the screen via HDMI; it also looks like it can be used to trigger the shutter in the camera app.

Finally, there’s a handy “find my phone” feature which makes the Butterfly ring when you’ve put it down somewhere and can’t locate it. No word on how much the HTC Mini might cost, though we’re hoping the company releases it as an accessory in markets other than China.

[via Xataka; via MIC Gadget]

With S Beam, the NFC in the Galaxy S III Mini is used to set up an impromptu WiFi-Direct connection between the phone and another compatible device. That’s then used for whizzing across music, video, and other content; Samsung says a 10MB music file can be shuttled over in around two seconds.

Otherwise, the NFC is expected to be used for the growing range of mobile wallet services, though Samsung is being vague about whether any specific providers will actually be taking advantage of the updated handset’s abilities. Elsewhere, it’s the same – somewhat disappointing – phone as we’ve seen before, borrowing some of the brand cachet of the full-sized Galaxy S III but with altogether humbler specifications.

So, you get a 4-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display and a 1GHz dualcore processor running Android 4.1, clad in Samsung’s own TouchWiz skin. The camera is a 5-megapixel unit (with a VGA snapper up-front for video calls) and there’s WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, and either 8GB or 16GB of internal storage.

Samsung isn’t talking pricing at this stage, but online retailers are currently offering the existing Galaxy S III Mini from around £270 ($429) unlocked and off-contract.

Earlier this week we shared the original details, and today we managed to catch up with Sony for a quick hands-on look at their new NFC enabled remote controls for their smart TVs. (read: the expensive ones). So you ask what this is for? And we’ll tell you below.

Want to share the song you’re enjoying on that Xperia smartphone, or the YouTube video you’re viewing on the small screen to the big one? Simply tap your NFC capable Xperia to your Sony remote and their One-touch mirror mode will activate. Within seconds you’ll be streaming that content or enjoying that music on the big screen and your home theater. We saw their easy-pairing approach already, and this is just one more aspect that will make their new smartphones and TVs great.

Sony doesn’t want us fumbling through settings, enabling share features or trying to pair our phone to the TV for hours. Let the built-in settings and NFC (Near Field Communication) feature do it for you. This is so dead simple the mass public should be able to adopt and enjoy the feature with ease. Simply tap your smartphone to the remote and a quick haptic feedback vibration lets you know the connection was received and mirror mode is active. A simple second tap and hold will kill the connection and let you get back to enjoying content on the Xperia display.

As expected, this feature will be exclusive to Sony’s own Xperia devices. While this makes sense for them, the mass public using iPhones or the Galaxy S III could also use this feature and I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of it soon. Hopefully one day soon they’ll open this up for all smartphones to enjoy.

TYLT had tons of products on display here, and we’ll be showing off more all week long. Their brand new TYLT TUNZ Bluetooth speaker had a few unique features up its sleeve like bass reflex, NFC tag capabilities, Bluetooth, USB 2.0, and even acts as an external charger for those moments in need.

All of TYLT’s new products are fun and full of color. Who needs the boring and old white anyways right? The TYLT TUNZ includes three adjustable and interchangeable silicon bands of different colors so you can personalize the look whenever you’d like. Connectivity is as usual via Bluetooth, but also offers the usual 3.5mm audio in, as well as audio out to export sound to a nearby device or TV. Then we mentioned NFC. The TUNZ comes with a free NFC app by Tagstand for easy NFC tagging to instantly play your favorite music and more.

With 30 hours of playback, the 2,500 mAh battery inside also doubles as a portable charger via USB 2.0 to your favorite smartphone. For more details and information you’ll want to start by heading here, and TYLT told SlashGear to expect their new speaker to hit the streets in early Q2 of 2013. The expected retail price will be $149, so should compete nicely with other options such as the JAMBOX. Even though the competition doesn’t offer the charging feature.

Sony already showed us its easy-pairing approach using NFC on the Xperia Z, but the system has more uses than just streaming audio over Bluetooth to a speaker or headset. The TV controller – which Sony is calling the One-touch Remote – when tapped briefly against your compatible Xperia phone automatically pairs up a WiFi Direct connection, and begins screen mirroring.

That means photos, videos, music, and apps on the big screen, and in a way that’s probably so straightforward that we can even envisage the mass-market adopting it. Tapping the phone against the remote a second time cuts the connection, with a little haptic-feedback buzz from the Xperia to let you know it’s worked.

In fact, the limiting factor is likely to be the fact that it’s Sony-only right now. Just as with other customized NFC-based systems we’ve seen – Samsung’s S Beam comes to mind, on the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II – there’s no playing nicely between the technologies. Being able to hand your friends and family the remote and have their content almost instantly appear on the big-screen is great; having to frisk them to make sure they have a Sony Xperia first is less impressive.

This concept is being shown on the manufacturer’s New Generation i30, using Near Field Communication to make the connection. Your smartphone makes the vehicle unlock its doors and is then placed in a center console in the vehicle for further use. Once you’re connected within, you’ve got a 7-inch touchscreen to work with up front on the dash where you’re able to access music, phone contacts, radio, and phone settings.

This system also works with wireless charging, this we must assume being compatible with all of the new devices that are working with said technology including the Nokia Lumia 920 and friends, the HTC DROID DNA (and Butterfly), and the LG Nexus 4. Of course it’s no guarantee, and the device they’re using in the demonstration thus far is none of these, but we can dream!

Allan Rushforth, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Hyundai Motor Europe, noted the following about the system as it stands today:

“Hyundai’s Connectivity Concept showcases the brand’s philosophy of making tomorrow’s technology accessible to a wide range of customers. With this technology, Hyundai is able to harness the all-in-one functionality of existing smartphone technology and integrating it into everyday driving in a seamless fashion. As the technology continually develops there will be capabilities to store driver’s seating positions and exterior mirror settings, providing customers with a comfortable and individual driving environment.” – Rushforth

This system works with MirrorLink technology for wireless connectivity and also makes it known that Hyundai is working in a joint development agreement with Broadcom Corporation to make this all possible. We’ll be seeing more of this action soon!

The QCA1990 is integrated with the Snapdragon S4, and, according to the press release, creates “seamless user experiences” when used with Qualcomm’s WCN3680 wifi/Bluetooth chip. Also, and perhaps one of its best offerings, the QCA1990 supports antennas that are 8 times smaller than current standards.

What does this mean for consumer technology? While NFC has been generating a nice deal of buzz amongst adopters of the latest and greatest gadgets, many devices still lack the feature due to its energy drain, with many critics saying that Bluetooth 4.0 is a better option. This new chip by Qualcomm puts the kibosh on those arguments, however, and is certainly a step in the right direction.

Qualcomm’s Vice President of Product Management David Favreau offered this statement. “Qualcomm Atheros believes NFC will be another key element of an enriched experience for smartphone and tablet consumers. As consumers continue to adopt functions like mobile payments and contactless data exchange, Qualcomm intends to be at the forefront of delivering simple, easy-to-use solutions to OEM partners.”

Flomio set a goal of $80,000, and they actually passed it with 423 backers donating a total of $83,637 so far, with just 11 hours to go at the time of this writing. Flomio notes that these last 11 hours will be the last chance to buy a FloJack at a discount price before they eventually charge full price for the dongle. You can get one now for as little as $49.

During the Kickstarter campaign, the company unveiled what they call the FloCase. Thanks to a ton of reader feedback and suggestions, Flomio has now made an iPhone case that has an NFC reader embedded inside. This might be a better option for some users who don’t want to deal with a dongle that might get lost easily, but the case certainly doesn’t win any awards in the design department.

Flomio’s Tim Ronan says that “this is only the beginning” for Flomio. The company will continue to “deliver products that will prompt the NFC ecosystem.” Both the FloJack and FloCase are scheduled to ship sometime in March. You can get a FloCase now for $99, but just like the FloJack, the company will initiate full prices after the Kickstarter campaign is over. It’s yet to be known what these full prices will be.

The back of the device is a beastly amalgamation of components not often seen in a battery cover. Of course since it’s not technically just a battery cover, but half the device, not meant to be removed by just anyone, it makes a whole lot of sense. This half of the device has a set of pressure contacts that power the NFC antenna and connect to the induction coil needed for wireless charging to the motherboard.

The battery sits in the front half of the device and is held down with a large amount of adhesive – not meant to be removed, ever. The folks at iFixit do remove the battery, but warn that you’ll not want to be a first-timer if you plan on making it work for yourself. The speaker enclosure, on the other hand, is held in place with two screws and no cables, working with spring contacts that make replacing it perfectly simple.

The back-facing camera is labeled as AC2AD D5A261, the motherboard contains Toshiba THGBM5G6A2JBA1R 8GB Flash and Samsung K3PE0E00A 2GB RAM. Imagine that – a big mix! For those of you that do not check the innards of your devices up-close very often, this isn’t out of the ordinary at all. It’s a team effort!

Also inside you’ll find a lovely Qualcomm WTR1605L Seven-Band 4G LTE chip. This does not mean that the device here is capable of working with a 4G LTE mobile network – it only means that, as you’ve seen with the LG Optimus G (with much of the same gear inside), Qualcomm’s setup is capable of 4G LTE where specified. We’ll see if this means that Verizon or AT&T will be running up with their own LG Nexus 4 with 4G LTE in the future – it’d require just a few hardware tweaks, and as we know from the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, it’s not out of the question that a carrier-based “Nexus” device would exist.

[via iFixit]

FloJack is a small dongle that plugs into the 3.5mm headphone jack of your iOS device, and Richard Grundy, founder of Flomio and who has over 12 years of experience working with embedded systems, says that the company is “extremely excited to invite iOS customers to the NFC party” and “since Apple didn’t include NFC in its latest iPhone version—that’s where we [Flomio] come in. The possibilities are endless.”

Flomio has already raised a little over $16,000 from 241 backers with 18 days to go. Their goal is $80,000. The FloJack is compatible with most newer iOS devices. This includes the iPhone 4, 4S, and 5, the iPod Touch 4th gen and 5th gen, and all iPad models except for the 1st gen.

Currently, $49 will get you a FloJack NFC dongle and five “Zapps”, which Flomio is naming their NFC tags. If Flomio reaches their goal, it’s expected they’ll start shipping the product in March of 2013. We’re not sure how well a separate NFC dongle for iOS will catch on, but it makes us wonder why there isn’t an iPhone case with embedded NFC, which would be far more popular on our books.

Let’s start right off with the skin for the HTC One X+, shall we? It comes equipped with a 1,500mAh battery that Powerskin says should double your battery life. Of course, it’s also an NFC-enabled skin, so you get that added bonus. The case for the HTC One X+ is available starting today (it’s up on Powerskin’s website right this minute) and will set you back $79.99. It also works with the original One X, so if that happens to be your phone of choice, you might want to give this case a look.

Next up we’ve got the case for the Galaxy Express. It’s the same idea as the case for the HTC One X+, only this one comes packing a 2,000mAh battery, which Powerskin says should extend talk time by 70%. It costs the same as the HTC One X+ case – $79.99 – and will be available starting November 20.

Finally we have the case for the HTC Windows Phone 8X, which features a 1,500mAh batter that should extend total talk time by 60%. Like the others, this case sports a price tag of $79.99, although it doesn’t seem to have a solid release date quite yet – Powerskin says that it’ll be available “around November 28.” Will you be picking up one of these for your shiny new handset?

This device also works with wireless charging with a replaceable battery cover that comes in the box. We’re in contact with Verizon now to get more information on this aspect of the device, so stay tuned. You’ve also got NFC to use with LG Tag+ stickers we’ve seen on the LG Intuition and LG Optimus G in the past, and DLNA to project your videos and photos wirelessly to your HDTV.

You’ve got the near-newest processor inside from Qualcomm – that’s the dual-core S4, less powerful than the newer S4 Pro quad-core, but still perfectly awesome. You’ll find this same processor on the recently released Motorola DROID RAZR HD, the Samsung Galaxy S III, and the DROID Incredible 4G LTE as well. You’ve also got an 8 megapixel camera on the back and LG’s own unique set of apps inside.

You’ll be working with LG’s advanced image editor and Video Wiz as well as viewdini and Verizon’s full collection of video apps too. Take care of your data with Verizon’s set of helpful carrier-specific apps and bring it all home with LG’s own QuickMemo: take a screenshot and leave a note on it with your finger instantly. This device is also Global Ready for international travel, has Bluetooth 4.0, and is available in stores starting today!

Users can now add different profiles to TecTile, meaning that you can allow custom settings for various situations like work, home, night, etc., and each of which can be activated (and deactivated) using NFC. As an example, if you want your phone to be on different settings when you’re at work, you can assign it to a “work” profile, and then write it to an NFC tag. As soon as you tap the tag, the profile is activated.

The update also includes assigning multiple actions to a single tag, which compliments the aforementioned profiles feature. With a single tag, you can trigger things like silent mode, full brightness, and disable WiFi all at once. This is probably the most convenient feature included in the update, since a lot of users end up wanting to change multiple settings all the time.

Aside from those features, the update also brings stored tag history (for reference on older tags that you made in the past), support for private tags (so that only your phone can read them), and the ability to unlock a previously locked TecTile tag. TecTile 3.0 is a free download and the update is available now in the Google Play store.

We found out today iOS app size is on the rise, and that the FCC will allow AT&T to take advantage of unused airwaves for mobile broadband. Google is allowing third-party developers to use its plethora of Maps information with a set of new APIs, and Facebook’s new promoted posts feature is undergoing and expansion in Europe. RIM CEO Thorsten Heins had something to say about a recent (and rather negative) write-up about BlackBerry in The New York Times today, and a series of leaked AT&T training videos revealed that the Lumia 920 will be exclusive to the carrier for six months after its release.

Call of Duty Elite won’t be featured in the Wii U version of Black Ops II, and Apple has been granted a patent for an alternative NFC technology. Speaking of Apple, the company will be holding a meeting with the MFI group next month to talk about the future of the Lightning connector, and Foxconn is saying that the iPhone 5 is a difficult device to make, but assures that it’s getting better. Consumers are reporting a decline in overall Internet usage, but Forrester (the company that did the study) has a good explination for that, while V-MODA was busy pulling the veil off its Crossfade M-100 headphones today.

A new video called “Star Trails” shows time-lapse footage captured by the International Space Station, and the Color app that has been gracing Verizon phones lately may be going dark soon. Just a little while ago, Google sent out invites to an Android event that will take place in New York in a couple of weeks, and we got a high-definition look inside the company’s data centers today. The Pirate Bay told us this afternoon that it has switched its servers to the cloud, eBay posted some strong Q3 financial results, and Project Eternity from Obsidian reached its funding goal on Kickstarter (and then some).

Finally tonight, Chris Davies asks why we care about the iPad Mini, and Craig Lloyd brings us his review of the Loop Mummy iPhone case. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, enjoy the rest of your night everyone!

Apple currently doesn’t have any devices with NFC built in, but that doesn’t mean the company has been ignoring the technology. They’ve been not only studying NFC, but have also been researching alternative methods for the NFC technology. The company received a patent on the alternative technology that deal with the “method and apparatus for triggering network device discovery.”

While it was heavily rumored that the iPhone 5 would come with NFC capabilities, many anxious customers were disappointed to find out that the new device did not come with the technology. Naturally, because of the rising popularity of NFC, a lot of people were confused by the move. However, Apple CEO Tim Cook stood behind the company’s opinion that NFC isn’t needed just yet.

Maybe he’s right. Does the iPhone really need NFC? Cook said that Apple’s new Passbook app was enough to make its customers happy. While the app doesn’t use NFC, it allows you to manage all of your tickets for various events and use it for confirmation and such without having a physical copy to deal with.

[via Patently Apple]

With a mobile payment system you’ve got one whole heck of a lot of bugs to worry about – it’s no small matter making a whole payment system a reality. What we’ve got here is a set of phones already on the market with NFC sensors ready to go, their only need being an app to make them all worthwhile. With Isis’ concept of a fully functional multi-business plan for wireless payments with just a tap, we could very quickly see a mass of phones become a whole lot more useful – and wallets tossed.

“Isis will be launching in Austin and Salt Lake City on Oct. 22. By year end, as many as 20 Isis Ready handsets are expected to be in market. We look forward to sharing more details on Oct. 22.” – Isis marketing lead Jaymee Johnson

Of course that’s just wishful thinking, the final evolution to a one-device system being many years off, if a possibility at all. Apple has a system for cards that work like coupons from your smartphone, and Google already has Google Wallet working with NFC as well – but no system has taken hold at a level that’s game-changing right this minute. Isis plans to be that system.

The Isis group’s marketing lead Jaymee Johnson has let it be known that business should be starting in Salt Lake City and Austin with “as many as” 20 smartphones compatible by the end of the year. With NFC on the rise and more smartphones with the technology being released by the week, Isis is set for a rather large success story if all goes as planned. The final combination that an Isis-capable phone will need is the finalized Isis app, a SIM card compatible with the system, and a store that’ll allow Isis payments. We shall see soon enough!

Users will be able to work with the Lumia 810′s high-powered 8-megapixel camera on the back of this device with Carl Zeiss optics and HD video as well. This device also has a 1.2-megapixel camera up front that Microsoft notes is Skype HD certified. The Lumia 810 brings with it a collection of photo-friendly features such as Cinemagraph which will let you make animated GIFs – strange stuff! Another back-shooter-ready feature on this device is Group Shoot, allowing you to pick the best faces and smiles from a set of quickly shot photos of a group of people (or just one person, if you prefer.)

Of course you’ll also have Nokia Music with a lovely collection of advertisement-free, registration and subscription-free music tracks. You’ve got offline play and playlist availability as well – also free – and the ability to access playlists created by “an expert team of global and regional musicologists.” Sounds pretty nice right out of the box!

This device also works with Nokia City Lens, a GPS and camera-utilizing service which has you actually looking at the world around you with tags on businesses that you can access with a tap. This feature has been in the works along with Nokia Drive (for voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation) and Nokia Transit (for all the guides you could possibly need) for a very long time now – it’s time for action! The Nokia Lumia 810 is set to release “in the coming weeks” from T-Mobile with a pricing structure attached – it’ll also be working with T-Mobile’s Unlimited plans – 4G to get pumped up!

This device works with ASUS’ own TruVivid technology for a “remarkably vivid and brilliant viewing experience” – enhancing an IPS display is a feat, and ASUS is ready to take it on, so we’ve seen. This device works with 32GB of internal storage and will be appearing on AT&T’s 4G LTE network rather soon. Just like the Samsung ATIV Smart PC for AT&T revealed earlier, this device will be out by the end of the year, more than likely in time for the holiday shopping season.

This tablet has a 1366 x 768 pixel resolution for a lovely sharp experience and runs with 2 GB RAM inside. You’ll be working with NFC abilities and a docking keyboard as well. This device looks rather similar to what we’ve seen from ASUS’ transformer series in the recent past, particularly similar to the ASUS Transformer Prime. Have a peek at our ASUS Transformer Prime original review for a closer look at what ASUS does in the hardware department – then stay tuned for this Windows-toting experience.

Just as it has been with several AT&T devices announced today, no pricing or release date has been dropped for the ASUS VivoTab RT. It does seem like a lock for 4G LTE, but we’ve yet to get absolute final confirmation on the date. Stay tuned for the release of this and a whole new torrential downpour of devices from AT&T and manufacturers galore, soon!

This isn’t the first time Apple has been involved with security companies. The company purchased AuthenTec, a mobile security firm, for $356 million back in July. We really didn’t know what Apple would have up its sleeve, but with this recent deal with Microlatch, it’s becoming a bit more apparent.

Microlatch owns patents that allow users to use their fingerprints and process them on their smartphone without a need for it to be transmitted or stored externally to a database. Since we obviously didn’t see this kind of technology in the iPhone 5, Apple might add it to the next iPhone, or create a separate service entirely.

The financial details of the deal with Microlatch hasn’t been disclosed, and we’re still not really sure what Apple is expected to do with the deal. Take speculation with a grain of salt, but it’s probably at least a safe bet that we’ll see Apple jump into the fingerprint security game at some point.

[via ZDNet]

HTC is particularly proud of the design language of its new Windows Phone 8 line-up, based – so the company’s designers say – on the squared-off Live Tiles of the OS’ homescreen, only plumped up and crafted in polycarbonate. Whether or not that convinces you is beside the point; in the hand, the 8X is a solid and tactile shape, legions apart from the bland and bloated lumps that were HTC’s first Windows Phone 7 devices.

The matte-finish plastic – which will be available in blue, black, yellow, and red, though the red won’t be making it to the EMEA – is easily gripped and the curved edges are comfortable to hold. It doesn’t make for a bulky phone, either, though the 8X is arguably reminiscent of Nokia’s own polycarbonate smartphone range, perhaps more in the way the Gorilla glass smoothly meets the bezel.

Whatever the inspiration, it’s a solid and nicely weighted phone. HTC – or more accurately Microsoft – isn’t allowing anybody to dig any further than the Windows Phone 8 homescreen, but that’s enough to give a glowing impression of the 4.3-inch Super LCD II display. At 720p HD resolution it’s crisp, and the viewing angles are great, aided not least by the optical lamination construction of the display stack itself.

Windows Phone 8X by HTC hands-on:

Colors are vivid and blacks (which make up so much of Windows Phone’s UI color scheme) are suitably inky. A bright lockscreen image was the closest we could get to a decent test, which the 8X handled with aplomb. HTC will theme the UI colors according to the handset’s own hue, though that will be user-adjustable if you’d rather have contrast.

HTC’s specifications certainly don’t single the 8X out as the weak cousin of an Android device. Hardware we’re familiar with from the One X make an appearance in a new Windows Phone guise, with NFC, LTE (for North American models, at least; Europe will have to make do with HSPA+/DC-HSDPA for the moment), a 1.5GHz dualcore Snapdragon S4 chipset, and 1GB of RAM. The decision to bypass expandable storage and instead settle on 16GB of fixed internal memory is unpleasantly reminiscent of Microsoft’s initial limitations on Windows Phone, however, and while we understand HTC was loathe to mar the 8X’s sleek lines, it’s hardly a capacious phone for the sort of power user it’s targeted at.

Happily the camera promises to redeem the 8X somewhat, taking a step ahead of what the One X already offers. The main, 8-megapixel backside-illuminated shooter is paired with an f/2.0 lens and HTC’s own Image Chip processing, while the front camera is an impressively pixel-packing 2.1-megapixel BSI CMOS which can also shoot 1080p Full HD video. HTC is particularly proud of its front lens, too, an 88-degree wide-angle example that can fit four people into a vanity shot.

That, along with the Beats Audio tuning that throws not one but two amplifiers at the 8X – one for the boosted headphone jack, the other for the integrated speaker – will have to wait to prove its worth until review samples arrive. If anything, though, HTC has convincingly done its part: delivered an admirable house for Windows Phone 8 to live in. Whether the smartphone – and its 8S sibling – sinks or swims in the marketplace depends on just how good Microsoft’s platform proves to be, and how much heft the software giant puts behind its marketing. At least as the “signature handset” of Windows Phone, the 8X promises to reap the main rewards of the hype machine.

This brand new smartphone works with a 4.7-inch WXGA True HD IPS+ display at 1280 x 768 pixel resolution with a 15:9 aspect ratio. Inside you’ll find 2GB DDR RAM, internal memory at 32GB, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich running the whole beast. The back of this device has a 13 megapixel camera on its back and a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front, and inside you’ve also got Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, USB2.0 HS, A-GPS, MHL, DLNA, and NFC wireless connectivity abilities.

This device works with a 2,100 mAh battery and is 131.9 x 68.9 x 8.45mm in size, 145g in weight. The display works with Zerogap Touch and True HD IPS+ Display from LG Innotek and LG Display, this bringing on a picture that’s right up there as close to the surface of the glass as you’ve ever seen it. On the back is a unique panel made with LG’s own patented Crystal Reflection process, this bringing on an intricate polarized pattern under its surface. With this physical build you’ve got a three-dimensional illusion that is, as LG notes, “exquisitely reminiscent of a jewel.”

Inside you’ve got a collection of features that also recently appears on the LG Intuition (see our full review here) in both the camera and the user interface. You’ve got Time Catch Shot allowing you to choose whichever shot you like best out of a series, Cheese Shutter activated by you saying the word “cheese” out loud, Smart Shutter with automatic adjustment of shutter speed based on movement, and Low Light Shot Noise Reduction as well. And of course the camera on the back of this device is massive at 13 megapixels – we’ll see how fabulous it is when we get our hands on it soon!

This device will also be working with Cross-Tasking, a new term from LG that covers all the different ways in which the LG Optimus G will be able to work with multiple complex tasks at once with no compromise on one another’s ability to work at top quality. This environment currently supports the following abilities:

· QSlide Function shows two different screens simultaneously on one display. As it doesn’t show a part of the screen but the entire screen of both functions, the user can complete two tasks concurrently – such as sending a text message or searching the web while watching a video;

· Live Zooming enhances the video-watching experience as users can zoom in up to five times while the video is being streamed for a close-up of one’s child while watching a recorded video from a school recital;

· Dual Screen Dual Play not only allows mirroring between the smartphone and a TV, it also has the ability to display different content on each screen wirelessly. For example, a slide presentation can be displayed on the TV while the Optimus G shows the accompanying speaking notes;

· QuickMemo allows users to write, draw, or jot a memo with their finger directly on the captured screen for sharing instantly with others as an attachment or a URL. The QuickMemo can also be used as an overlay feature – like jotting down a number using the QuickMemo and directly dialing the number while the number is on the top layer;

· Screen Zooming allows for the zooming in and out of lists in music player, email, text messages and photo gallery. It also offers the ability to change the font size and screen layout;

· Application Link launches preset applications (Email, calendar, weather, etc) when the alarm is turned off – making your preparation time in the morning go a little faster with all the information prepared on your screen;

· Icon Personalizer allows users the ability to customize icons by editing size and adding images so the most frequently used apps can be most easily accessible.

As Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG notes, “The Optimus G is a groundbreaking premium device not only in the history of LG but also in the smartphone industry – With the Optimus G, users will be able to experience unsurpassed UX features that will allow them to perform tasks that really enhance their daily lives.”

This device will be appearing in stores soon – starting in Korea next week with an October release in “key global markets” – the USA we hope! Stick around our LG tag portal for more as the Optimus G gets closer and closer!

Hardware

The LG Intuition is the USA version of the device we’ve known up unto this point as the LG Optimus Vu, it having been revealed earlier this year at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The device we’re looking at now is essentially the same as it was in that first showing, here coming with what LG calls its Rubberdium Pen that works with any capacitive display-toting device, two LG Tag+ stickers that you can use to activate different phone modes using the Intuition’s NFC capabilities, and of course a charging cord for good measure.

This device works with a lovely 5-inch HD display at 1024 x 768 pixel resolution at a rather bright 650 NIT. The display is an odd 4:3 aspect ratio, that being the same as the first three iPads, with the same amount of pixels too. Now that those pixels are smashed down into a much smaller display, you’ve got a rather sharp and bright – and colorful – vision in your hand – or hands, as it were.

The back of the device is made of a soft plastic that’s almost rubbery, this making a great case for the idea that this could be a one-handed device – but you’re certainly not going to get away with doing much other than scrolling with one hand unless you’re a giant. Two-handed operation here feels much more natural. If LG’s aim here is to replace your tablet – and it is – then they’re doing it right.

If LG’s aim instead is to replace your smartphone, a smartphone that you’ve gotten used to working with using a display that’s closer to 4-inches for many moons, they may have a bit larger of a challenge on their hands. This device, like the Galaxy Note, looks a bit absurd to be holding up to your head to make a call. LG suggested to us that this device will make a great case for people to be using Bluetooth headsets to avoid such odd looks – but then again that adds another component where this device’s aim was supposedly to replace two.

The Rubberdium pen, too, is interesting to use, but because it really doesn’t do anything that a normal capacitive-friendly stylus wouldn’t be able to – it’s definitely not contending for any top spot in the pen-included smart device market. It’s a sturdy accessory, but it also doesn’t fit in a dock inside the device as Samsung’s S-Pen for the Note does. It feels much more natural to just use your finger for circling items and making notes with the Intuition.

This device has 1GB of RAM inside alongside a dual-core Snapdragon S3 processor clocked at 1.5GHz. That’s basically the same as what we saw in the tiny LG Lucid back in March of this year. LG informs us that the S3 should be perfectly capable of bringing on awesome “multitasking muscle” even if it’s not the newest architecture on the block – and for the most part we’ve seen that to be true in everyday use. Have a peek at a few benchmark tests here to see how it adds up:

Software

Inside of this device you’ll find LG’s newest user interface working with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. You’ve got the regular awesome abilities of ICS such as a Recent Apps button – included in an odd set for this device in the physical row – notice how there’s a menu button in there too, this being a unique set for any Android device thus far released to the market. The lockscreen here allows you to do a simple unlock by swiping across any part of the screen, or you can swipe through any one of five app shortcuts to go there too – pull down your notifications work on the lockscreen as well.

You’ve got facial unlock fully intact, Home Screen folders for your apps, and even icon customization abilities – you can literally draw your own icons or take photos to use as icons for your apps. That’s a move we did not see coming from anybody as it has the potential to make your apps look rather terrible – but if you’re an awesome artist or designer, you could be making something totally lovely.

The standard web browser here allows you to switch between mobile and desktop versions with the tap of a button and you’ll be able to save websites in their entirety for offline reading, too. Then comes the best part – a hardware button at the top of your device that takes screenshots that you can write on.

When you take a shot like this, you bring up a toolbox of icons that have multiple abilities. You’re meant to use your Rubberdium pen at this point, but you certainly do not have to if you don’t want to. The first button you see allows you to take a note with the screenshot you’ve just taken or without – this bringing you to a notepad for your note-taking pleasure. There are forward and backward buttons incase you need to undo or redo, and you can pick your pen type and color as well.

You’re able to share a memo to any of your various social networks and share-friendly apps, or simply save your memo for later viewing – you can save here to your gallery in a brand new folder specifically for notes such as these, or you can save them to your NoteBook. This whole interface is part of your QuickMemo environment, the idea that you’re the type of person that takes notes and memos being a large selling point for this device in the end.

LG has for some time now been working to provide the user with a unique ability – coming from a manufacturer, that is – to switch between user modes. You can use the LG Tag+ NFC stickers to activate your different modes, or you can simply do it yourself with a couple of taps. The LG Intuition comes pre-set with Car, Office, Sleep, and User modes, each of them bringing you a standard setup for their respective environments.

These modes bring you different home screens full of apps as well as settings – for the office, for instance, you could have your Office Mode set to silent, while your Sleep Mode could have your wi-fi and data connections shut off entirely while you snooze. On the Office subject, this device also comes pre-loaded with Polaris Office, this including Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint compatibility.

This device also securely syncs with Microsoft Exchange for secure email action and is able to access your corporate network “without worries” with LG’s built-in VPN. You’ve got DARE – Data At Rest Encryption – at work here, and you can work with items such as secure booting, rooting detection, and remote wipe for relatively hardcore security measures all around.

As shown above, this device once again continues Verizon’s new set of apps as well as Amazon’s apps, yet works with a Google-certified set of apps like Google Play, Gmail, and Play Music. This device also comes with Shark Dash – an insanely odd game to say the least – and Real Racing 2 so you know you can have some fun while you’re making all kinds of doodles all week long.

Camera

This device works with an 8-megapixel back-facing camera and a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front – the back-facing camera taking some relatively lovely photos and videos – the placement of the shooter in the corner of the device makes taking video and photos feel natural with this device, much more so than it does with the Galaxy Note – in that way, this device wins.

Battery and Data Speed

This device works with notoriously battery-hungry 4G LTE connectivity, which though it is a power-gobbler, has nothing on the ability of the Intuition’s display to cut you down to size. Though the Snapdragon S3 processor under the hood doesn’t quite have the same awesome standby power-saving abilities that the S4 does, we’re still seeing some rather standard battery life action going on here.

If you’re a person who uses their device every 10 minutes, you may have to charge the device once halfway through the day. If you’re a regular person who works with their smartphone every half-hour or so, you’ll probably be good to go for your whole workday. This device uses a 2080 mAh non-removable battery, by the way, just a bit bigger than the Motorola DROID RAZR M (which has a 2000 mAh, massive for a device of its size.) This device, once again, runs on Verizon’s 4G LTE network which you can see rocking quite well in the speed tests included here:

Wrap-Up

This device certainly isn’t the magic all-in-one device for everybody – evidenced by the lack of a microSD card slot and 32GB of onboard storage as well as by the S3 processor inside – not quite perfect for future-proof-seeking gamers. On the other hand, the average office-goer will likely find this device to be more than a match for any tablet they’d been using up unto this point – this device is meant to replace the tablet, after all. You’ll have a much more awesome time with a 5-inch display than you have had with a 7-inch display if you’re finding yourself needing a whole extra bag to carry that device around all day.

Here you’ve got a device that’s massive – yet small enough to still fit in your pocket. That’s assuming you’ve got standard-sized pockets, of course. The display is perfectly bright and viewing angles are more than sufficient for everyday browsing and note-taking action, and the phone is, on your average day, swift enough to handle your office-bound needs. This is certainly one of LG’s most impressive devices yet, and though we’re not entirely convinced that we’d not rather have its main competitor in the end, LG does currently have the Verizon piece of the market cornered.

The disappointing announcement comes from Isis head of marketing Ryan Hughes, who said in an interview with CNET that the company is more concerned about launching the service the right way instead of as quickly as possible. He also assures that the Isis team hasn’t hit any major setbacks, but instead they’re going down a “punch list” of necessary features and goals. The reason for the delay wasn’t revealed, but it seems like getting Isis ready for its trial run phase is simply taking longer than expected.

We’re told that we don’t have much longer to wait until that trial run launches, however. That seems to suggest that Isis is quite far along in the development process, but its developers just need a little more time to iron out the kinks. Hughes says that he’ll have more news for us in October, and it’s likely that announcement in October will be when we’ll find out more about the state of Isis.

Even when Isis does launch, it’ll have a fight ahead of it. Google Wallet has enjoyed a lot of exposure since its debut, but that hasn’t helped with the slow uptake from consumers. Many phones these days are coming with NFC capabilities, but one of the most notable handsets that will be lacking NFC is the freshly-revealed iPhone 5. Hughes, however, says that Isis team is working on a sleeve that will allow iPhone 5 owners to use an NFC chip with their new handset, but at any rate, he claims that one device not utilizing NFC probably won’t do anything to slow the adoption of mobile wallet services. Keep an ear to SlashGear for more information on Isis!

This device works with a powerful 1.2GHz dual-core processor under the hood and will be working with a 5 megapixel camera on the back and a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front. This device has NFC integrated to make use of Google Wallet and works with S Voice, Samsung’s own voice recognition system that enables device-user communication for questions, answers, and commands galore.

The Galaxy Victory also works with S Beam, AllShare Play, and AllShare Group Cast. S Bean allows you to connect with Google’s integrated “Android Beam” system of NFC sharing device-to-device with media transfer. You’ll be pushing photos, videos, and documents galore from phone to phone without a hassle. AllShare Play allows you to connect to other devices that also use AllShare Play – like the Galaxy Note or the Galaxy S III, for example, playing media between devices with great ease. AllShare Group Cast works within the AllShare universe to show presentations and photo albums between devices on the same wi-fi network.

Above you’ll see these systems working on the Samsung Galaxy S III. The Galaxy Victory will work essentially the same way but will be doing it with a smaller display and a slightly different phone body. Stay tuned as this device hits the market this Sunday!

One of the main objectives the designers of the iPhone 5 had in mind was the overall thinning of the device. The final product is, as the video you’re about to see will show, precise down to tiny, tiny details throughout the iPhone 5′s hardware build. The features we’re about to speak about here are not included on the iPhone 5 for their own unique reasons, but the technology being… well… fat – is one of the main reasons why they’re not included on this device.

NFC

We’d heard some weeks ago that NFC was set to be included on the iPhone 5, and even heard a rumor that said an iPhone 5 with NFC embedded was created – but the final word is this: the infrastructure surrounding NFC as a technology being used in the wild just isn’t strong enough. Even more important than the fatness of the architecture that’d be needed for the iPhone 5 to work with NFC is the idea that the technology just isn’t mature enough.

If there’s any shadow of a doubt that a feature will not be usable in a short amount of time after it’s included on an Apple product, it will not be included. One example of this is the MacBook and its inclusion of HDMI-compatible hardware. You didn’t see HDMI compatibility on Apple products until a large enough cross-section of media-makers and hardware developers adopted the technology – and no, I nor we know any specific numbers in this situation.

Wireless Charging

If you keep up with all the gadgets and gizmos that get released no matter what manufacturer makes them here with SlashGear, you know that Nokia released a couple of devices recently – the Lumia 820 and 920 – that work with wireless charging. This technology is another one that requires some bulk and weight – and of course, an added cost for production. When you weigh these simple elements against the positive factors involved in wireless charging, they simply do not add up – not for the iPhone 5, anyway.

One of the biggest reasons for this is simply the fact that you cannot charge your device wirelessly and hold your device while using it at the same time. At the moment, Nokia’s chargers, while awesome in an of themselves, are certainly larger than a simple USB-wired charging solution. It’s not as if this concept is new – the idea that you can hold your device while charging if it’s not wireless – but it still holds true through the iPhone 5.

Localized Haptic Feedback

If you’ll look way back to March of this year you’ll find an Apple patent outlining Localized Haptic Feedback for their iPhone line. To keep it simple: this technology connects an array of piezoelectric actuators to the device’s display, each of them able to give you vibrations localized to the point where you’re touching your screen. This is just one of several different ways you can do this, but the end result is the same.

Apple simply isn’t going to include a system like this unless it’s necessary for the device to function. More important than that, Apple won’t include a system like this because it’d simply weigh too heavily on the battery – why use up battery time for a system that shakes your finger so precisely it seems like magic? At the moment, the ends do not justify the means.

Have a peek at our Apple portal for more info on the iPhone 5 and let us know what you think of these features – especially what it means to you that they’re not included in this release. Also be sure to check out our iPhone 5 hands-on experience to get close – real close!

If you take a peek at the new Nokia lineup – including our hands-on with wireless charging – you’ll find that the new Lumia smartphones certainly are not thin. Not nearly as thin as the iPhone 5 is, anyway. There will certainly be a massive amount of 3rd party accessory manufacturers clamoring to create so-called wireless solutions soon, of course, as the iPhones before today have been working with for some time. The iPhone 5 on its own will be relying on the new Lightning port and cord – and we’ve yet to see how much faster or more efficiently that piece of equipment works.

NFC on the other hand is a technology that Apple does not appear to want to work with at all. They’ve not included it in any iPad device thus far, nor have any of the iPods in their collection – including those today – been working with an NFC sensor. Instead Apple appears content to work with businesses not through wireless payments as such, but with scannable coupons and cards with its own Passbook. Check our pre-event software rundown for more information on Passbook and prepare yourselves for more information on the software in its final form soon!

Also have a peek at the timeline of events from earlier today below to catch up entirely on the iPhone 5 and all its many details as it heads to the market for pre-order this Friday!

You’ll find that this beast keeps the Spectre brand name hot with NFC technology to tap your devices together and share media wirelessly and utterly simply. You’ve got many of the same features the rest of this newest HP wave of machines have such as Beats Audio for enhanced sound. And HP Connected Remote, Photo, and Music are included as well – HP is presenting an experience here both in hardware and software, with HP technology making a unique experience for you both outside and in.

You’ll get the computer itself along with a wireless multi-touch touchpad and a keyboard inside the box. With what may very well be a giant step forward for how we use PCs in general, HP has opted out of including a wireless mouse in the package you’ll be getting when you purchase the HP SpectreONE. The true test is at hand – can we bring the desktop world into the universe our notebook-loving hands have been working with for quite a few years already?

UPDATE: HP informs us that there WILL be a mouse in the package now. Good for you traditionalists!

HP might be taking a gamble here – even if it is a tiny one. If you want a mouse, you can buy one for next to nothing, after all – even a wireless mouse doesn’t cost a pretty penny if you know where to look. However, it’s the thought that counts. HP has thrown the mouse out the window here, and with it goes the last component that did not look flat. Now with the HP SpectreONE, HP can present a package that is, indeed, working with basically all flat hardware – and you’re going to love it.

This beast will be appearing on November 14th for a starting price of $1,299 USD MSRP – that’s an expected price and release date, of course, we’ll have to wait a bit longer for the final word on that. You can start saving up now though, no harm in that! Have a peek at our HP tag portal to see the rest of HP’s new Windows 8 machine offerings from start to finish – great stuff on the horizon!

There are also the usual bugfixes and tweaks to stabilize the whole Spotify mobile experience. As before, you can access the company’s 10m+ catalog of audio, as well as synchronize playlists with the desktop app and other devices.

We booted up the new app on the Galaxy S III, and had no problem playing with the audio EQ tools which are now found in a submenu from the app’s settings page. The NFC implementation is a little counter-intuitive, however.

Initially, we tried to exchange a specific track (between the GSIII on Android 4.0 and a Galaxy Nexus on Jelly Bean), with the music playing on one phone. Holding them back-to-back did bring up the regular Android Beam option, but nothing came through to the other device; however, when we did the same with an album, that listing subsequently popped up on the second phone.

It seems that, right now, only full album records can be swapped between phones via NFC, not specific tracks, though that’s still better than nothing. NFC exchange didn’t interrupt playback on either device.

Spotify for Android is a free download from the Play store. However, you’ll need a premium account with the streaming music service in order to actually use the app.

On the top of the lozenge-shaped speaker there’s a wireless charging pad and radio set: hold the Lumia 920 close to the platform, and it automatically pairs and re-routes the audio through to the JBL. As we’ve seen in other Nokia speakers before, that happens on-the-fly even if you’re in the middle of playing a song.

Because of the 920 has wireless charging support too, and that’s built into the JBL, you can stream music without running down your battery.

There’s also Monster’s new Purity Pro headphones, announced earlier in the week, which also include NFC for pairing and Bluetooth for audio streaming.

With this new mobile payments system, Orange Galaxy S III owners will be able to link any Mastercard or Visa debit or credit card to their phone. Once that’s been done, those users can then make contactless mobile payments of up to £20. Using the service only requires that you download an app and link your card to Barclaycard, and then after that you should be good to go (provided you have a Galaxy S III with an Orange SIM card in it). Those who sign up for the service between September 5 and October 5 will get a free £50 to spend, so if you’re planning on signing up for this system, better to do it sooner rather than later.

In a statement today, Barclaycard’s head of digital payments Tom Gregory said that this service will work with all UK bank accounts. “Barclaycard is committed to making paying for things faster, safer and easier,” Gregory said. “With the launch of Quick Tap payments on the Samsung Galaxy SIII, Barclaycard is bringing a safe and secure new way to pay to customers of all UK banks. Mobile payments are safe and have a full fraud guarantee and we’ve seen ever growing numbers of people using contactless to make quick and secure payments of up to £20.”

Once this deal goes live on September 5, you’ll be able to pick up a Samsung Galaxy S III with Quick Tap from Orange stores, orange.co.uk, and Orange telesales. Overall, it doesn’t sound like too bad a service, especially when they’re giving £50 to early adopters. Be sure to have a glance at our story timeline below for more information on Orange and Barclaycard!

Once paired, the Purity Pro headphones use Bluetooth for streaming audio, and also function as a hands-free kit for calls. There’s active noise cancellation, too, which uses a combination of technologies to smooth out not only persistent ambient noise but percussive noise too, such as knocks and bumps.

Both noise cancellation and Bluetooth are turned on and off by folding and unfolding the headset. They’ll go on sale in Q4 2012, priced €299 ($376).

As for Windows Phone 8, SlashGear will be in New York City on Wednesday, September 5 covering all of the news of Nokia’s new Lumia line-up. Two of what’s tipped to be three new phones have already been leaked, the Lumia 920 PureView and Lumia 820, and it’s worth noting that the colors in the press photos match up with the different color options for the Purity Pro headphones.

The PlayUp speakers certainly are reminiscent of the Play 360° speaker, but we’re thinking that the color has more to do with that than anything else. As you can see in the image above, the speakers come in four colors – cyan, black, white and bright yellow. On the outside, we’ve got “specially created double-shot plastic” which makes for a more durable speaker, and though we don’t get many specifics about the speaker’s innards, Nokia says that this bad boy is capable of a maximum output of 89dB. In other words, this tiny thing (its dimensions are 118 x 118 x 128mm and it weighs 760g) can get pretty loud.

You’ve got a pretty big range when it comes to frequency response, which comes in at 85Hz – 22kHz (-6dB). Users can connect their phones through Bluetooth or, in the case of next-generation Lumias running Windows Phone 8, through NFC. Of course, Nokia isn’t about to leave anyone out in the cold, so if you’ve got a phone that doesn’t have Bluetooth or NFC, you can connect your device to the speaker through a 3.5mm jack. To top things off, we’re told that the battery lasts for 10 hours before needing a recharge.

There isn’t a solid release date for the PlayUp speakers yet, but Nokia says that they’ll begin shipping “before the end of the year.” While we don’t know the release date, we do know the price – picking up one of these will set you back €149, which is around $187. The PlayUp speaker is only the first product of Nokia’s partnership with JBL, and we’re told that more is on the way in the future. Stay tuned.

This device uses its seamless magnetic latch to work as a perfectly solid notebook or as a tablet, both in one device. The device weighs in at 3.1 pounds with the keyboard attached or just 1.5 pounds with just the top half. This device has a 11.6-inch diagonal HD touch display for you to work with whilst entering the Windows 8 world this Fall.

You’ll be getting ultrawide viewing angles galore with this device’s 400nit IPS LCD panel that’ll have you working well both indoors and outdoors alike. You’ve also got an HD webcam on the front of the device above the display and an 8-megapixel camera on the back. Inside you’ll also find Beats Audio integration for high-quality sound delivery, and HP has shown off an optional stylus accessory you can purchase specifically for this unit as well.

The HP ENVY x2 has solid-state memory integrated within for both fast startup times and improved reliability, and you’ve got an NFC chip integrated in the tablet portion as well! With Near Field Communication technology you’ll be able to share content with devices around you with a single physical tap.

Inside you’ll be working with a collection of software that makes this HP device unique. With the HP Connected Photo application you’ll be able to connect your photos across multiple devices and sync them for editing from any device you’re working with. This app also works with instant-sharing abilities for several social networks as well. This HP machine also has HP Connected Music inside powered by Meridian – you’ll be able to download music, stream media, and work with internet radio as well.

The HP ENVY x2 will be appearing in the USA near the end of the year right in time for the holiday season. At the moment no pricing is available – check back soon!

With a feature part – read: product placement – in the new James Bond movie Skyfall, the Sony Mobile Communications group showed off the Xperia T, a device that’s got an HD display, a massively powerful camera, and NFC-powered “One-touch” functionality. Sony also showed off the Xperia J, a smartphone with a “stand-out screen size” that’s set to be released in the fourth quarter of 2012. There’s also an Xperia V smartphone that was showed on-screen at the IFA keynote for Sony that has not been detailed in full.

The Xperia T and J work with “design language” introduced with the Xperia arc and Xperia arc S released last year. These devices come with a brand new application called WALKMAN. This application of course uses the still-popular brand name that’s represented mobile music for decades and is ready to bring high-quality sound here in app form. This WALKMAN app is also able to work with Sony’s “recommended sound” with “ultimate clarity and presence across the entire spectrum of sound” with a simple activation of Sony’s ClearAudio+ mode.

Each of the new Xperia smartphones get a free 60 day trial of the cloud-based music network Music Unlimited. The T also gets Sony’s implementation of NFC and “One-touch” functions. With One-touch, these devices will be able to share content with a tap to 3rd party devices made to connect with them wirelessly. This includes the new Sony SRS-BTV5 NFC enabled speaker which will play your music with a simple tap connection.

NOTE: to clarify – the Xperia J does NOT have NFC – the T and the V on the other hand, DO have NFC.

The Xperia T has a 4.6-inch HD Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine for “razor sharp clarity”. This device has a 13 megapixel camera, 1080p HD video recording on the back, and 720p HD video on the front. This device is PlayStation certified for gaming excellence and has a 1.5GHz dual-core processor under the hood. You’ll be working with Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich and Sony has made it clear that Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is on the way. This device will also be known as the Xperia XT in some markets.

The Xperia J is bringing on a lovely 4-inch display with FWVGA (480 x 854 pixels) on a chassis that’s just 9.2mm slim. This device works with illumination for social media updates and has a 5 megapixel camera on the back. This device also has a front-facing camera for video chat and will be appearing on the market in Black, Gold, White, and Pink. The Xperia T will also have several color choices: black, silver, and white.