We have a couple of rumors for you guys from LG today. First, we are likely to see LG's first flexible displays and a phone including the technology later in the fourth quarter of this year. Here's a quote with some of the details,

LG Display expects to produce 12,000 sheets of flexible OLED every month, the company told The Korea Times, with the first device from LG itself to use the flexible screens also due later this year.

“We have completed the development of our first flexible displays” LG Display said in a statement. “We will mass produce flexible displays from the fourth quarter of this year.”

LG itself had already confirmed its flexible phone plans, saying back in April that it would have a model using bendable OLED on the market before the year is out. The company declined to give specifics on hardware, however, and it’s unclear what sort of resolution the AMOLED screen will run at. ~ SlashGear

Our second rumor is that LG is working on a phone which will include always-on voice commands which will be available sometime in 2014. Here's another quote with more info,

Our sources say that this would be beneficial in certain settings or environments, in particular inside automobiles. With hands-free laws gaining momentum, using voice command would allow users to more safely operate their smartphones for key functions without requiring them to touch the screen un-necessarily.

In one example, users can speak a voice command to tell Google Maps to pan around and switch views. Users can also tell Google Maps to zoom in or out. This is different from existing voice solutions, which are based mainly for searching, launching apps, and dictating. The navigation of the Android OS by voice will be a new user experience for some people.

This matches with what we’ve been hearing about the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, which will have always-on voice capabilities. Originally, we had thought that the feature would be limited to select voice commands, like Google Now, but it seems that LG is tapping into the hardware feature to make its phones more adaptive. ~ GottabeMobile

Here's a story we didn't quite get to yesterday afternoon. The Huawei Ascend P6 was officially unveiled and it is an elegant piece of smartphone hardware. It has excellent specs which we will detail below, but its standout feature is its thinness. It is only 6.18mm thick, making it the thinnest smartphone on the planet. Here's a spec-list:

• Body: 6.18 mm thick, 120 grams, metallic case
• Display: 4.7-inch LCD, HD resolution, 312 PPI pixel density
• Platform: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Emotion UI 1.6
• Processor: 1.5 GHz quad-core Huawei K3V2 processor
• RAM: 2GB
• Storage: 8GB built-in, extendable up to 32GB through an SD card
• Front-facing camera: 5-megapixel with feature support for “selfies” and capable of capturing 1080p videos
• Rear-facing camera: 8-megapixel BSI with F2.0 aperture, LED Flash and 4cm macro view, can record Full HD videos
• Battery: 2000 mAh with power saving technology

The video above gives a great view of the device. It will be hitting international availability later this month. Sadly, it is unlikely to ever come to the United States.

The phone already has pre-order availability and pricing in the UK: Carphone Warehouse taking pre-orders for July 4 availability, £329.95 SIM-free

Here's the full press release,

Elegant and edgy, the new HUAWEI Ascend P6 is the world's slimmest smartphone
At 6.18mm slim, the HUAWEI Ascend P6 is impossibly beautiful and always intuitive

London, United Kingdom, June 18, 2013: Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, today unveiled the HUAWEI Ascend P6, the world's slimmest smartphone measuring 6.18mm. The smartphone features a 1.5GHz quad-core processor and a sleek metallic body. With its 4.7-inch high definition in-cell display, industry-leading 5MP front-facing camera, and outstanding software, the HUAWEI Ascend P6 is the embodiment of elegance with an edge.

“The HUAWEI Ascend P6 is a star among smartphones with its industry-leading design, high-quality camera, and intuitive user interface, Huawei's proprietary Emotion UI,” said Richard Yu, Chief Executive Officer, Huawei Consumer Business Group. “Building on the success of our Ascend P series of fashion smartphones, the HUAWEI Ascend P6 provides unsurpassed technology and a design that is simply stunning.”

HUAWEI Ascend P6 is ultra slim at 6.18mm and weighs just about 120g. While it is small enough to slip into the tiniest of pockets or clutch bags, the stylish HUAWEI Ascend P6 is designed to be seen and coveted! It features a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, Android 4.2.2 operating system, 2000mAh battery, 4.7-inch HD in-cell LCD screen technology, and ‘MagicTouch' for enhanced screen responsiveness even when wearing gloves.

As the flagship smartphone of the Huawei Ascend P series, the HUAWEI Ascend P6 embodies a cutting edge design for the fashion conscious. The smartphone's brushed metallic look with a naturally curved base is both elegant and intuitive. Impossibly beautiful, the Ascend P6 balances fashionable features and user-friendly functions.

Perfect for ‘selfies', the HUAWEI Ascend P6′s industry-leading 5MP front-facing camera and auto facial-enhancing capabilities create model-gorgeous shots you'll want to share. Its 8MP rear-facing BSI camera with F2.0 aperture and 4cm macro view also enables 1080P full HD video recording and playback. With Huawei's proprietary IMAGESmart software, the HUAWEI Ascend P6 turns even the most novice photographer into a professional, with contrast and color enhancement, auto scene recognition, object tracing focus, and instant facial beauty support.

The HUAWEI Ascend P6 is even more intuitive and able to be customized with Huawei's Emotion UI. Inspired by people, for device users worldwide, Huawei has gathered input from over 5 million consumers to help us optimize the latest version of Emotion UI. The proprietary user interface includes updates to Uni-Home including enhanced security, Huawei's Me Widget, MagicTouch, and SmartReading. New to Huawei's Emotion UI are the panoramic shoot and facial recognition photography functions.

Huawei's unique Automated Discontinuous Reception (ADRX) and Quick Power

... [Read More]

Over the last few months we have seen the tumultuous times over at HTC lead to the exodus of a number of HTC executives. It looks like some of these folks have decided they might be able to do things better and are going to give it a shot by starting a rival smartphone company called KAZAM. Here's a quote with the details,

Michael Coombes, former head of sales at HTC, will be the CEO of Kazam, and James Atkins, former U.K. marketing head for the company, will continue that line and be the chief marketing officer for the new smartphone manufacturer. The promise of Kazam is to build smartphones that are about "stunning design, robust hardware, and intuitive technology, underpinned with improved customer service."

Kazam will focus on the European market, and Coombes says that the size of the company will be a because its "dynamic structure and focus on local markets" will allow it to react more quickly to consumer needs. Kazam aims to differentiate itself from the competition by offering and improved "mobile experience that doesn't just stop once you've bought the phone."

It's admirable that they want to stay in the game and have some pretty great ideas, but it seems like a pretty late time to enter the market. Of course, technology moves so fast, and sometimes consumers can be very fickle, so you never know what could happen.

Source: PhoneArena

That Red Aurora version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is now available over at AT&T. It's a 16GB version and is $200 on-contract. It's a few days later than the June 14th date AT&T originally, but it's better late than never for folks wanting to grab a unique looking version of the SGS4.

Here's a quick-link to AT&T: Samsung Galaxy S 4 - 16GB Red Aurora cell phone from AT&T

We have heard inklings, rumblings and rumors over the past few weeks of a next-gen HTC phone called the Butterfly S. HTC quelled the rumor-mill this morning with an official announcement of the device. As it turns out, it appears to be a slightly larger, almost phablet style device. Above is a video demo of the device, and below we have the specs below and the full press release.

• 5.0 inch Full HD 1080p, 440PPI, with Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• Android (unknown version at this time - probably will be 4.1.2 at launch and an upgrade to 4.2.2 shortly after)
• Sense 5
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 600, (quad-core, 1.9GHz)
• 2GB of RAM
• 16GB, microSD for up to 64GB extra storage
• UltraPixel Camera.
• 3200mAh Battery
• Dual front-facing BoomSound Speakers with Beats Audio
• Bluetooth 4.0
• UMTS/ HSPA: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz with HSDPA up to 42 Mbps

Just as predicted, this device includes the dual-front facing stereo speakers like the HTC One. It also features the same processor. There are some interesting differences though. First, the display is a bit bigger at a full 5-inches. Next we notice that the on-board storage is actually less at 16GB; however, the device also comes with a microSD slot, which should help mitigate some of this disparity. One very interesting thing to take note of is the large 3200 mAH battery, which is much appreciated. The press release below indicates it will be coming to the Asia Pacific markets, which is where the first Butterfly landed. Perhaps some version of the phone will come to the U.S. sometime in the near future. We will keep an eye out for it.

Taipei, June 19, 2013 — HTC, a global leader in mobile innovation and design, has today announced the HTC Butterfly S. This stylish, supercharged 5-inch device is powered by a 1.9 GHz quad-core processor and features HTC BlinkFeed™, HTC Zoe™ and HTC BoomSound™, first introduced with the award-winning HTC One. The new device also offers HTC’s latest Sense 5 experience and Android Jelly Bean, with astamina battery that packs 3,200 mAh of raw power, guaranteeing peak performance for longer.

“We’ve upgraded the popular HTC Butterfly to reflect the new standards set by the HTC One for smartphone performance.” said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation. “The HTC Butterfly changed the way people looked at a smartphone thanks to the world's first full HD 1080p, 5-inch screen and that complete viewing experience has been taken to the next level with HTC BlinkFeed. HTC BoomSound and HTC Zoe integration also make the experience of the HTC Butterfly S unlike that of any other 5-inch device.”

HTC BlinkFeed: Stop digging for information with live home screen updates from your favourite sources HTC’s acclaimed BlinkFeed makes perfect use of the breath-taking 5-inch, full HD Super LCD 3 display of the HTC Butterfly S. Transforming the home screen into a customisable, vibrant stream of live information, BlinkFeed delivers the freshest content from social updates, news and articles at a glance.

With local and global content drawn from more than 2,000 media sources, BlinkFeed pulls more than 10,000 articles from some of the world’s leading media companies including AOL, ESPN, MTV, The Financial Times and Reuters to give you the most interesting and important stories of the moment, wherever you may be.

HTC BoomSound: sharper, richer, bigger sound HTC BoomSound’s dual front-facing stereo speakers and two dedicated amplifiers deliver sound quality and power like no other. Listen to music, play games and watch videos with less distortion and more clarity. Beats Audio™ integration completes the unrivalled audio experience for you and your friends’ ultimate listening pleasure.

HTC UltraPixel Camera with HTC Zoe and Video Highlights: reimagining mobile photography HTC’s revolutionary camera experience delivers high-quality, instantly-sharable images wherever you are and whatever you’re doing. The HTC Butterfly S’ stunning UltraPixel Camera captures 300 per cent more light than traditional smartphone camera sensors, ensuring fantastic images even in low light. With its advanced editing capabilities and functionality of HTC Zoe, you’ll always be able to create the perfect picture wherever you are. Further enhancing the imaging experience is the phone’s 2.1 MegaPixel Ultra-wideangle front-facing camera, which makes room for you and your

... [Read More]

Here's something we haven't seen for quite some time... a new Droid Landing! That's right, a new Droid should be punching through Earth's atmosphere and arriving to dominate our Verizon and retail stores very soon. The last time we were notified of a Droid Landing was back in November of last year! For now it is just a teaser so we don't know any details for sure.

What new Droid do you think we will see? Could it be an HTC Droid One perhaps? We will let you know as soon as more details emerge!

Source: @DroidLanding