October is shaping up to be a big month for mobile tech following a monstrous September that saw the debut of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, Motorola Moto X, Xperia Z3, and the iPhone 6/6 Plus. This month we are looking forward to the expected debut of the upcoming Nexus devices, the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9, a new HTC One, and the newest iPad Air. Along with these upcoming devices comes news regarding the ever-popular iPhone 6 Plus and Samsung continuing the trend of metal-framed devices.
Apple
A little over a half of a month has passed, and Apple’s iPhone is selling as well as ever. Apple stunned the tech community when they finally ditched their small 4 inch screens for more mainstream 4.7 and 5.5 inch displays. It seems as Apple has definitely chose the right path, following other phone manufacturers such as HTC’s One series, LG’s G series, and Samsung’s Galaxy series.
Both iPhone 6 variants are selling well. With close to 20 million units moved since the September 19th release, with around 20% of those devices are the iPhone 6 Plus. Unfortunately for consumers and Apple, the massive 6 Plus is still on back-order.
The iPhone 6 Plus is back-ordered 3-4 weeks on the official Apple store whereas the smaller iPhone 6 is only back-ordered 7-10 days. This may change in the coming weeks. It is rumored that Apple is shifting production to manufacture more 6 Plus units to combat the high demand and short supply.
In other Apple news, it seems as if the upcoming iPad 2 has reportedly leaked. The images above are courtesy of 9to5Mac via a Vietnamese blog. These images show what looks like an enlarged iPhone 6 Plus.
The updated iPad Air 2, which is rumored to be debuted before the end of this year, can be seen with the popular Touch ID fingerprint scanner, no mute switch, and a highly slimmed down design. The iPad Air 2 is rumored to be just 7 mm thin, compared to 7.5 mm of the previous iteration of the Air and 7.1 mm of the iPhone 6 Plus.
It is unknown if this device is a full working or dummy unit. Regardless, it gives us a great glimpse as to what is to come to the iPad series. Apple has a tough fight on their hands. They are trying to balance enlarging their phones while attempting to keep their tablet sales high.
HTC
HTC has something up their sleeves, and it seems that we will find out later today (10/08/2014). In the image you can see the phone looks very similar to the HTC One M8. It may look identical on the outside, but as we all know, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.
The image above is rumored to be the HTC One M8 Eye. It looks identical to the original M8, but will come with more premium specifications. It is rumored that the ‘Eye’ will come with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5 GHz and 2 GB of RAM that came on the original M8.
The major difference, is that it the ‘Eye’ is expected to come with not one, but two 13 megapixel cameras. You read that correctly; HTC is expected to have a phone with a 13 megapixel rear shooter instead of HTC’s favorite 4 ultra-pixel camera, and a 13 megapixel camera in the front of the device instead of the 5 megapixel shooter seen on the M8.
HTC has drew much criticism from both consumers and people in the tech community for the lack of image quality. While the ultra-pixel trend was a good attempt at something different, it’s good to see that HTC has listened and will up the megapixels.
Along with the bump in camera specs, the phone is also expected to come with a bump in screen size. The Eye’s display will be bumped up to 5.2 inches, however it will come with the same 1080p resolution
HTC’s launch event can be streamed live on YouTube at this link here at 3 P.M. central standard time.
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Google Nexus
Lots of rumors and high-anticipation has been swirling around with the latest leaks of the upcoming Nexus 6 device. It is causing quite the stir with its high-end rumored specs. Among those are an absolutely massive 5.9 inch QHD display, 3 GB of RAM, Snapdragon 805 processor, 13 megapixel camera with OIS, and of course, the latest iteration of Android: Android L.
According to 9to5Google, the Nexus 6 or also known as Shamu, has been passed through the FCC according to this document here. While this is inviting news, it does not mean a release is imminent. Most rumors are pointing to Halloween or October 31st for Google to debut the new line of Nexus devices.
This device is a big step for stock Android devices developed by Google. Previous models of the Nexus line have also been phones with decent specs at an even better price. Most notably, the Nexus is still prevalent today with its full 1080p 4.95 inch display, 2 GB of RAM, and 8 megapixel camera with OIS. This is the first time Google is stepping up to the plate and pushing out a premium device with great specs.
Along with the Nexus 6, Google is expected to announce the Nexus 9. We previously covered the rumors surrounding this monster of a tablet earlier, however this device has passed through the FCC as well. The documents can be seen here.
The Nexus 9 will sport an 8.9 inch QHD display, the super-fast NVIDIA 64-bit Tegra K1, 3 GB of RAM, a 16 megapixel rear shooter, and come with 16 or 32 GB of storage.
Samsung
It all started with the Galaxy Alpha. It was Samsung’s first metal-framed phone since they adopted the ever criticized plastic on all previous models such as the Galaxy S4, Galaxy S5, and the Note 3. Now it seems as if Samsung isn’t slowing down on the ‘metal’ trend.
Just last month, Samsung showed off its metal-framed Galaxy Note 4 and it drew much praise. Samsung has finally ditched the plastic. Now Samsung is rumored to be releasing even more metal devices.
Samsung is now rumored to be pushing out an all-new line of devices tentatively called the ‘A’ series. They have three devices on tap already: Galaxy A3, Galaxy A5, and Galaxy A7. These devices will be a more budget-friendly line of Samsung phones looking to retail between $400-600.
The Galaxy A3 is likely to sport a smaller 4.7 inch display, similar to the likes of the Galaxy Alpha. It will come with a resolution of 720 x 1280.
The Galaxy A5 will come in at the middle range of a 5 inch display, 13 megapixel rear shooter, and a massive 5 megapixel front shooter. This device will also have a resolution of 720 x 1280. The leaked images of the A5 can be seen below.
The Galaxy A7 is expected to ship with a slightly larger screen coming in at 5.5 inches. This will still be a budget-friendly device, but will come with full 1080p resolution. It is unknown what specs will be on the inside of this device, but we will keep up on the details.
We expect these devices to be debuted early November.