New photos of 'thinnest ever' Huawei P6-U06 smartphone leak

There’s a long list of smartphones claiming to be the "world's thinnest" and the Huawei Ascend P6-U06 is the latest in line with a thickness of just 6.18mm. The Android-running phone is yet to be officially announced, but we’ve already seen a second batch of photos, this time showing the phone in black (there's supposed to be a pink version too).

   

BlackBerry OS 10.1 update seeding now

BlackBerry Z10 users have a reason to celebrate today, as the Canadian company started seeding the first major update for their smartphones. BlackBerry has just started the rollout of the BlackBerry OS version 10.1, which requires a download of about 1GB. We've only received confirmation of the update being available in the Philippines, so far.

There is no official changelog provided with this update, but we already knew what to expect thanks to the the previously seeded developers' build. HDR stills, PIN-to-PIN messaging, APN edition, improved BlackBerry World store, improved text picker are among the major novelties brought by BlackBerry 10.1

Microsoft to reveal Windows Blue pricing, availability soon

Up until now, Microsoft's official pronouncements about Windows Blue have been few and far between.

But the informational floodgates are going to open in the next couple of weeks or so, said Tami Reller, chief financial officer of the Windows client division at Microsoft.

During the interview at the Microsoft New York City headquarters on Monday, Reller outlined Microsoft's disclosure plans for the next version of Windows, codenamed Blue. Here's what Reller would -- and wouldn't -- say about Blue:

• Reller said the Windows team will share pricing, packaging, and go-to-market details about Blue in the next couple of weeks. Yes -- that's ahead of the upcoming Computex Taipei, Microsoft TechEd and Microsoft Build 2013 shows, all happening in June. She would not comment as to whether Microsoft will go public with details about Windows Server Blue, Windows Phone Blue or Visual Studio Blue at the same time. My guess is no.
• Reller reiterated that Blue is just an internal codename and that Microsoft is describing and positioning Blue "an update" to Windows 8. Reller wouldn't say how many new features will be in Blue. She also wouldn't confirm the final name of the product will be "Windows 8.1," which is the nomenclature we've seen in the leaked Blue builds.
• She wouldn't comment on when and whether there will be a public customer preview of Blue (which is something tipsters have said will be coming in June or so). But she did say Blue will be out in time for holiday 2013. Tipsters have said the release to manufacturing of Blue looked to be on track for August or early fall -- another date on which Reller declined to comment.
• Reller repeated the same message shared by Microsoft's outgoing CFO Peter Klein during a recent earnings call -- that Blue will address customer feedback that Microsoft has been collecting about Windows 8 and Windows RT. She would not say whether the rumored return of the Start Button and a boot straight to desktop option will be among the ways that Microsoft does this. "We feel good that we've listened and looked at all of the customer feedback. We are being principled, not stubborn" about modifying Windows 8 based on that feedback, Reller said. She said Microsoft has paid attention to where people are getting stuck when using Windows 8, with the goal being to help people use the product more and more fully.
• She also reiterated that Blue, which will be available for both Intel and ARM-based PCs and tablets, will be tailored to work on smaller form-factor tablets and devices. She said it will support the various iterations of Intel's Haswell Core processor, and new Qualcomm and Nvidia chips on the ARM front. She also said that some of these new smaller form factor Windows 8 devices will arrive before Windows Blue does.
• Reller wouldn't say whether Blue is just the first of what will be an annual release cadence of new versions of Windows. "You shouldn't assume we won't be doing this yearly... or that we will," Reller said. (Tipsters have told us the current plan is a new Windows "update" is happening every year from now on.) She also wouldn't say when to expect the follow-on to Blue -- which some inside are calling Blue+1, from what I've heard.

Reller's compatriot, Julie Larson-Green, who heads up Windows engineering, is 7 slated to speak at the Wired Business conference on May 7 at 1:45 p.m. ET. That's probably one reason Microsoft is talking a bit about Windows Blue this week. But Reller also said Microsoft officials had decided it would be sound to clear the decks so that Build 2013 will be all about the Windows developer story when the show kicks off at the end of June....

BlackBerry R10 pictures and specifications leak online

BlackBerry seems to be gearing up to add more devices in its BlackBerry 10 portfolio. Earlier we heard rumours regarding affordable BlackBerry 10 smartphones being in the works, and there's more buzz around the same.

A few purported pictures of this affordable BlackBerry 10 smartphone have been posted online courtesy Chinese website, DGtle. The past rumours suggest that this smartphone will be dubbed BlackBerry R10 and will be an affordable Curve smartphone.

MobileSyrup via DGtle is reporting that the BlackBerry R10 will come with a 3.1-inch display with a 720X720 pixel resolution. The smartphone is expected to pack in 2GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage and a 5-megapixel rear camera.

In the past, we have spotted the BlackBerry R10 in White and even Red colours but this is the first time that images of a Black R10 have surfaced online. From the pictures it seems that the BlackBerry R10 has borrowed its looks from the iPhone 3G/ 3GS. The smartphone seems to have a curved, glossy rear panel with the camera lens situated on the top left.

BlackBerry R10 will allegedly be the first BlackBerry smartphone to come with a non-removable battery. It is likely to have a 1800 mAh battery. The BlackBerry R10 will run on BlackBerry 10.1 OS.

The past speculations have hinted a Q3 release for this smartphone and also pegged that BlackBerry R10 is likely to be priced between $300 to $400 without any contract.

BlackBerry is already offering its flagship Z10 smartphone in the market. This smartphone was launched in January 2013 and has been followed by a touch-QWERTY smartphone Q10.

BlackBerry Q10  comes with the brand new BlackBerry 10 operating system. It sports a 3.1-inch super AMOLED touchscreen.

There is an 8-megapixel camera on-board. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4G and NFC. BlackBerry Q10 also packs in 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and a 2100mAh battery. The Canadian smartphone maker has already started selling Q10 in some parts of the world like Canada and UK but it is not available in India yet.

Xolo Q700 with 1.2GHz quad-core processor, Android 4.2 to launch for Rs. 9,999 (about.$180) in INDIA

Xolo is all set to launch a new smartphone in the Indian market. Dubbed the Q700, the smartphone will be available in the market for Rs. 9,999, making it the most affordable quad-core offering from Xolo.

Moreover, Xolo Q700 is also the first smartphone from Xolo to offer Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) out of the box. Internally the Xolo Q700 will pack in 1.2GHz quad-core processor with PowerVR SGX544 GPU. The smartphone also offers 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage, which can be expanded by up to 32GB.

Adobe shows off new Creative Cloud features with across the board updates

Adobe's popular Creative Suite got more than just a rebranding on Monday, as the company also revealed a number of new and advanced features for the rechristened Creative Cloud package.

Customers buying Adobe's new subscription-based Creative Cloud service will see improved capabilities across Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash Pro, After Effects, Muse, Dreamweaver, and other titles. In perhaps Adobe's best-known offering, Photoshop, the most notable new feature is a tool that reduces image blur brought on by camera shake. Photoshop also includes a redesigned Smart Sharpen utility, improved upsampling, and the ability to apply RAW edits as a filter in any layer. 

Apple's iOS widens lead over Android in US mobile Web traffic share

According to a report from investment bank Piper Jaffray, Apple's share of the mobile Web is not only dominating Android in the U.S., but has shown growth at the expense of Google's operating system, leading the firm to believe iOS users are generally more engaged with their devices than owners of rival handsets. 

In a research note furnished to AppleInsider, Piper Jaffray noted that the third party data analysis from Investing Analytics showed significant growth in iOS Web share over the past three months. Android's presence, while still substantial, is shrinking.