Coming this summer: Plummeting phablet prices

Samsung (005930) stared down an army of critics when it launched the Galaxy Note in 2011. The 5.3-inch screen was viewed with deep suspicion by many industry experts. By August 2012, Samsung had sold 10 million units. Now the handset industry is set to face the onslaught of an armada of copycats. Huawei's Ascend P2. ZTE's Grand Memo. UMI's X2. HTC's (2498) One. Sony's (SNE) Xperia ZL. And on and on. These smartphones all have display sizes ranging from 4.7 inches to 5.7 inches, and most of them are fairly close copies of the Note concept.



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Adobe Photoshop Touch: No longer just for tablets

Adobe has taken their excellent Photoshop Touch application for tablets, and shrunk things down to fit on the smaller screen. Available as a separate download -- with it's own $4.99 price tag -- The app offers the same great features the tablet edition does, which are essentially the core features of the desktop version. The app includes the ability to work with layers, filters, and brushes all bundled into an intuitive, gesture-based interface. In addition, the application is integrated with Adobe Creative Cloud, giving users 2GB of free storage to sync projects between the tablet app, the phone app, and the desktop.

I use the tablet version of Photoshop Touch frequently, transferring images taken with my phone to Dropbox, then importing them into my tablet. The app is really well done, and takes mobile image editing to the next level. I'm not sure how well this will translate to my phone -- I'm currently using the Nexus 4 -- but folks with a Note 2 or even the original Note have another great use for the S Pen. You can find Adobe's press release after the break, and the download link from Google Play above.

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[From Adobe Photoshop Touch: No longer just for tablets]

Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy Grand

With devices like the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note, Samsung has been an integral part of the push towards bigger screens on smartphones. But traditionally these larger, higher-resolution devices have been aimed towards the high-end, carrying expectedly high-tier price tags. Today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, we saw a device that aims to defy that convention.

The Galaxy Grand is a mid-range smartphone with high-end ambitions. Its 5-inch screen and Galaxy Note-like aesthetic give it the appearance of a premium handset, though like most Samsung smartphones it#8217s bright, white shiny and plasticky. There#8217s no #8216S-Pen#8217 stylus to be found, but aside from that the Grand offers a fairly complete Samsung software experience. You#8217re getting the latest version of the company#8217s TouchWiz UI, which runs on top of Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. The software package even includes newer additions like multi-window support -- Samsung#8217s method for running more than one app on-screen at a time.

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[From Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy Grand]

Nokia Lumia 520 and 720 leaked ahead of official announcement

Mobile World Congress will kick-off on Monday and two of the upcoming Nokia devices have been leaked before being officially announced. We#8217ve already told you about the Lumia 520 and 720 and now we#8217re glad to show you how they#8217ll look like. The image above shows the former (Lumia 520), while the latter (Lumia 720) is pictured below.

Again, these two are not high-end smartphones and will rather appeal to the mass market users, including folks buying their very first smartphone. Both run Windows Phone 8 and in typical Nokia fashion, both will be available in multiple color options.

As far as I can tell, the Lumia 520 is a more interesting phone as it can help the Finnish company increase its market share in the emerging markets of the world. The Lumia 720, on the other hand, is a successor to the Lumia 710 and I would call it a #8220classic mid-ranger.#8221 We#8217ll make sure to spend some quality hands-on time with both devices when we#8217ll get back to you with additional information. Stay tuned#8230

[Via: evleaks1, evleaks2]

Nokia Lumia 520 and 720 leaked ahead of official announcement originally appeared on IntoMobile.com on 2013-02-23T17:14:33Z. FV1gMYsz9b5j

[From Nokia Lumia 520 and 720 leaked ahead of official announcement]