2015 Audi A3

With the 2015 A3 and S3, Audi has a new entry-level family of cars that completes a circle. Going back almost two decades, Audi brought over its first compacts under the A4 nameplate; while the A4's been growing larger, and has outgrown its original mission, the redesigned A3 sedan steps in—almost exactly the same size as that...

2015 Jeep Cherokee

The completely new Jeep Cherokee that returned this past year has some big shoes to fill. They're building on quite the reputation established by the original 'XJ' Cherokees, which in 1984 arguably shaped the future of sport-utility vehicles. And they were tough, yet economical enough, and charmingly simple. Flash forward to 2015, and...

2015 Jaguar XJ

An aluminum body and structure keep the 2015 Jaguar XJ from being a heavyweight, even though it's the brand's flagship and its largest sedan offering. The XJ is built on a pretty daring design and represents a big departure from the nameplate's history; meanwhile, this model's relative lightness imparts a smaller, sportier feel and...

2015 Fiat 500

The 2015 Fiat 500 manages to merge fun and practical in with cute and quirky—just in the right amount that should win over urban commuters. It's an excellent city car for small parking spaces—and a surprisingly sporty or fuel-efficient one, depending on which model you choose. We love the Abarth editions, which have picked...

2015 MINI Cooper

The 2015 MINI Cooper hardtop is the first complete redesign of the British minicar since 2007. It's a little more complicated than that--2014 was a split model year, meaning that a 2014 MINI could be either the previous generation or the brand-new one--but 2015 is the first full model year in which the three-door hardtop MINI is...

2015 Scion tC

The 2015 Scion tC is no longer the most exciting thing at the Scion corner of your local Toyota dealer. That would be the rear-drive FR-S coupe, which isn't as practical as the tC, but is far more entertaining to drive. The tC, meanwhile, is a competent and reasonably practical little liftback coupe. There's nothing significantly new...

2015 Kia Sportage

From a style standpoint, the 2015 Kia Sportage is probably one of the most interesting compact crossover models on the market. While standbys like the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 have evolved to favor space efficiency and practicality over design, the Kia stands as the fun pick—albeit a slightly less practical one. Last year...

Android One makes it to the UK with Karbonn's Sparkle V

Starting today, you can purchase a Karbonn Sparkle V even if you're in the UK. This is interesting because this device is part of the Android One lineup which got official in India in September. Thus, the Sparkle V is the first Android One phone to be sold in the UK. The Android One initiative was made public earlier this year during Google's developer conference. The smartphones in this lineup are primarily built for emerging markets, have specs put together by Google, and they run stock Android. Furthermore, they receive software updates straight from Android's maker. All of the three Android One handsets that have launched so far have the exact same innards - the Karbonn Sparkle V shares its specs with the Micromax Canvas A1 and the Spice Dream Uno. The Sparkle V features a 4.5-inch 480x854 touchscreen, a 5 MP rear camera with LED flash, a 2 MP front snapper, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of built-in storage, and microSD card support for expanding that. Running the show is a MediaTek MT6582 SoC with a 1.3 GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU, and powering things up is a 1,700 mAh battery. The phone currently runs Android 4.4.4 KitKat, with the update to version 5.0 Lollipop reportedly coming by the end of January. Amazon UK is selling the Karbonn Sparkle V for £129.99, with free delivery. What's more, a Black Friday deal will see the price drop to just £99.99 in a couple of days. However, the original Moto G from last year, with a higher-res screen, more internal storage, and a bigger battery, can be had for £127.98. And this year's slightly updated Moto G goes for £139.95 at the same retailer. So the Karbonn Sparkle V just isn't as good of a buy as many would have expected. Source |...

Samsung announces $2 billion share buyback

Samsung has let the markets know that it wants to buy back $2 billion worth of its own shares. Specifically, the electronics giant will nab 1.65 million common shares and 250,000 preferred shares. The move represents its first share buyback since 2007, and the second biggest one ever.

Xiaomi scales back international expansion until next year

Back in April, Xiaomi had big plans for 2014 in terms of expanding its reach internationally. The company then announced that it would enter ten new markets by the end of the year. These were supposed to be India, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Turkey. While it has entered some of those countries already, Xiaomi won't be able to arrive in all of them this year. And it doesn't even want to anymore. In a change of strategy, Xiaomi will focus on India and Indonesia in 2014, two markets which it did enter this year. Xiaomi VP Hugo Barra said his company now wants to expand slowly, only entering a new market after it's brought all of its products to the previous one, and so on. So hopefully we'll see the Mi 4 (pictured above) officially on sale in more places soon. Scaling back its international expansion is apparently the smart thing to do. So the next country in which Xiaomi will sell its wares will be Brazil, but its arrival there will only happen in the first half of 2015. After that, it will finally make it to Thailand, Russia, Mexico, and Turkey, though for these markets we don't even get a rough...

Sony’s A7 II lands in the US on December 9, starts at $1,699

The full-frame mirrorless Sony A7 II was made official last week, and now the Japanese company has shared its release details for the US.

Apple to discontinue production of iPhone 5C next year

A report posted by Taiwan's Industrial and Commercial Times states that the iPhone 5c production will likely stop in the middle next year. The company did not cite any specific reason for the withdraw of the model, but dwindling interest seems like a likely explanation. In September the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 was introduced, along with the iPhone 6 Plus phablet and stores still offer the 5s model for as little as $99 in certain deals. So saving just $100 on the plastic iPhone 5c is not a viable option for many. The 5C was unveiled last year as a low-cost alternative to the very popular iPhone 5s and it is basically a plastic-dressed iPhone 5. Statistics show that during the last quarter of 2013, the device was doing quite alright, even outselling Samsung premium devices on certain carrier contracts, like AT&T and Sprint. Sales of the 5c however failed to meet initial expectations and have slowly been dwindling ever since. It seems that more and more users are looking towards the premium iPhone 5s if they need a lower-cost/more compact iOS phone now. Even though the iPhone 5c was expected to be geared towards budget users, with its regular retail price set at about $550 was never actually set to be a budget smartphone. It never stood out as a "cheap" phone and was quite out of reach to developing markets. Without seeing a detailed report of Apple`s sales, which is unlikely, given that they only put out total numbers, it is really hard to accurately determine how successful the Apple iPhone 5c actually was. One thing is for sure though, the enormous demand for this year's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models and the availability of the 5s in retail will make sure no one misses the iPhone 5c. Source |...

GSMArena smartphone buyer's guide: November 2014

Black Friday around the corner and it's also nearly time for the holiday shopping spree. Our last smartphone buyer's guide for 2014 will hopefully come in handy when you out there trying to find a smartphone present for your closest ones...

Samsung says its ChatOn messaging service will remain available worldwide

A couple of days ago a report surfaced in South Korean media claiming that Samsung was getting ready to shut down its ChatOn messaging service, which has failed to challenge WhatsApp, Viber, and Facebook Messenger in terms of user base.

Unlocked version of 32GB Fire Phone now available for $199

Just a few weeks after admitting that it did not price the device correctly, Amazon has slashed the price of the unlocked version of 32GB Fire Phone to $199. The company is still including one year of free Amazon Prime (worth $99), a service that allows you to get unlimited, free shipping upgrades on various purchases without a minimum-order balance, stream unlimited music, movies, and TV shows from the company's library, as well as access to one free Kindle book to borrow each month. Originally unveiled back in June this year, the smartphone was initially priced at $199 with a two-year AT&T contract or $649 unlocked. A few months later, the price was dropped to 99 cents with a two-year contract, or $449 unlocked. The Fire Phone runs on Fire OS, a heavily modified version of Android with no Google services. It packs in a Snapdragon 800 chipset with a 2.2 GHz quad-core CPU and a 4.7-inch 720p LCD display, face-tracking IR cameras, 13MP camera at the back, 2.1 MP camera at the front, 2GB RAM, and a 2,400 mAh battery. Source |...

The more you share the OnePlus Black Friday deal on accessories, the cheaper they get

Black Friday is fast approaching and OnePlus has decided to make it a collaborative event – the company will be trading Facebook shares for money. Or rather for discounts on its accessories – 5% off goes for 2,000 shares, but the maximum 20% off is a steep 20,000 shares.

Sony Xperia M2 and M2 Dual get a bump to Android 4.4.4

In mid-August the Sony Xperia M2 and Xperia M2 Dual made the jump to Android 4.4.2 KitKat and now Sony has nudged them to the last KitKat, 4.4.4. The version number jumps to 18.3.1.C.0.21 form the earlier 18.3.C.0.40. That old version introduced a sound delay bug, which has been fixed with the new software. There were also reports of fast battery drain, but it's not clear if that has been fixed yet. The Xperia M2 Aqua is a waterproof variant of the base M2, but there are no reports of it getting the update just yet. Sony released open-source builds for the 18.3.1.C.0.21 build for all M2 variants, including the Xperia M2, about a week ago so the rollout should be quick. There's no word from Sony on a Lollipop update for its lineup outside of the premium Xperia Z...

HTC Desire 620 photos and specs leak in a hands-on

Photos and specifications of the unannounced HTC Desire 620 have popped up courtesy of Bulgarian blogger Nixanbal. The phone is going to be the latest mid-range addition to the company's line-up and packs a 5" IPS display of 720p resolution and is reported to have slightly larger dimensions than the One (M8). Reportedly, the HTC Desire 620 is powered by a Snapdragon 410 chipset with a 1.2GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU and Adreno 306 GPU as well as 1GB of RAM. At the back, there's an 8MP camera with LED flash and 1080p video recording, while at the front there's a 5MP snapper. The Desire 620 runs Android 4.4.4 KitKat, but will probably be updated to Lollipop. The back cover of the Desire 620 is removable and reveals the 2,100mAh battery as well as the microSIM and microSD card slots. Internal storage is 8GB. HTC Desire 620 live photos The phone is expected to make its official debut in Europe in January next year for an approximate price of €255 (BGN...

HP Slate 6 Voice Tab II launches in India for $260

The HP Slate 6 Voice Tab II has just launched in the Indian market from the official HP Online store. It is priced at $260 (INR 15,990) and will soon be officially launched.

Lumia 535 officially announced in India to sell for $150

Today Microsoft announced the arrival of the Lumia 535 to the Indian market. For its $150 price (INR 9,200) you get a 5" IPS LCD display a Snapdragon 200 CPU, 1 GB of RAM, as well as two 5 MP cameras, which as a whole is really good bang for the buck. The device is powered by Windows Phone 8.1 and comes preloaded with Jabong, Flipkart, Paytm and Box TV apps, each of them bundled with an exclusive deal. Jabong offers a total of INR 6,000 off on their online purchases over a 3 months period, while Flipkart and Box Tv are respectively giving device owners INR 1,500 worth of eBooks and a 2 month free Box TV subscription. Other goodies include 500 MB of free mobile data traffic for Vodafone subscribers, not yet using an internet package, as well as a total of INR 600 extra charge value from Paytm over a period of 4 moths. The Dual SIM version of the device will hit the market this week with a wide array of color choices: bright green, bright orange, white, dark grey, cyan and...

Android 5.0 Lollipop ROM for Sprint's Galaxy S5 leaks

It's been nearly a month since the last major Lollipop-related leak for the Samsung Galaxy S5 - but that was only screenshots and a video demo. If you're really desperate to take Android 5.0 for a spin and have a Galaxy S5 from Sprint you can now download a leaked, preliminary version. The XDA-Developers member who posted the leak has tried out basic functionality, including calling and texting, and it works. There might still be things that don't work though. Note that installing this will wipe all data stored in the phone, so make a fresh backup before you install the new ROM. You'll need Odin (3.04 through 3.07) to flash the ROM, it has been rooted with Chainfire. Head over to the XDA thread for more details and the download link (it's a 1.3GB file). You can also have a look at some screenshots from an earlier build (no word on the rumored theming functionality though). Source |...

Windows 10 to include native free FLAC playback support

This September saw the announcement of Microsoft’s next big version of Windows, Windows 10. It is set to be the biggest redesign of the OS to come along in years and it promises a whole lot more than the just design changes. This next iteration is set to be such a formidable step forward for [...]

Cyber Monday $140 discount on carrier unlocked Moto X

Motorola just announced a few sweet offers for Moto X, starting December 1. At precisely 11:00 AM CET be ready to hit their Cyber Monday landing page (at the source link below for $140 discount on a contract-free Moto X. In addition the nice folks at Motorola are also throwing in a 30% discount on all accessories with the smartphone purchase. The promotion is tempting bringing the device down to a little over $300 for a completely unlocked unit. If however this still seems to pricy you could still sign up for a 2 year contract with AT&T or Verizon and get it for as little as a penny. The Cyber Monday promotion is, as always limited to 5:00 p.m. CET or until supplies last. This does however have all the right ingredients to turn into a frenzy and quickly swipe the whole stock out of existence or crash the servers so be sure to act quickly if you fancy a new shiny Moto X before the...

Moto Maker stars in Motorola’s latest Moto X ad

Motorola is quite proud of the Moto Maker, which allows you to customize the Moto X to your liking including back cover type and color, engraving, base color and accent colors. The latest Moto X ad features the Moto Maker and the fun you get from it.

Linshof i8 is an octa-core droid with extraordinary design

A new player is apparently joining the market with the announcement of an upcoming smartphone, named i8. The German company sent out a press release describing the rather interesting device as a "high-end hardware for a mid-ranged price". The first impression we inevitable get from looking at the official renderings is that the device is quite oddly shaped. The body, however appears quite slick and nicely designed and it's said to feature brushed aluminum in either black or coffee color. But without a physical unit not much can be judged about material and production quality yet. The cited specifications are quite thorough, with the exception of no specific processor information. The smartphone will feature a 5" 1920x1080 pixel Super AMOLED display and 80GB of onboard storage, which is quite spacious. At the core there will be an octa-core processor clocked at 2.1GHz. This is however quite unspecific and could possibly be an implementation of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, which seems likely given the Samsung-like Super AMOLED display, or perhaps a variation of a MediaTek MT6795, but this is all speculation at this point. Other notable feature on the device include 3GB of RAM, a 13 MP HD rear camera (28mm Wide-angle, fast low-light F1.8, Sony CMOS sensor) and 8 MP front camera and a 3100mAh battery. A lot of other bells and whistles are included in the press release and the i8 will supposedly come equipped with GPS, Bluetooth v4.0, electronic compass, gyroscope, HDMI 1.4 with 3D support, USB port, NFC and WiFi/ LTE (4G) wireless. Linshof also states, that the device will be running Android 5.0 Lollipop with an accelerated Linshof UI. The company stresses quite a lot on the benefits of this software environment, boasting things like: "No added trialware. No in-phone advertisements—the clean and lean system has been carefully tweaked for this specific hardware." Linshof UI will supposedly also feature an optional tile-based layout, as seen in the renditions of the i8. The press release announces a price tag of precisely $380 and the Linshof website features a release date of Q1 2015. All of this does sound quite interesting, especially given the different design concept, but it should definitely be taken with a grain of salt. Linshof is largely unheard of and has little to none online presence with their Facebook page, for example, existing since only November 19. It also appears rather odd, that their website features an equally designed and almost identically specked 10" tablet device, which is mentioned nowhere in the press release. For the time being we will just have to wait and see if this turns into more than a mere Photoshop exercise and the company actually releases its...