Samsung may soon give budget phones a 128GB storage upgrade

Just because you don’t have a flagship smartphone, doesn’t mean you can’t have more storage. At least, that’s the hope of Samsung. They’re introducing a new 3-bits-per-cell flash memory chip that can give 128GB storage to mid- and even entry-level devices.  It makes use of the existing eMMC tech found in most phones. It’ll offer a respectable 260MB per second read speed. There isn’t any word yet though when this will come out but it makes us look forward to future budget devices that can handle that much storage.

Source: Samsung | Via: Engadget

Lenovo to debut Windows-powered phone mid-year 2015

Lenovo has been previously listed as a partner for Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8.1 but they haven’t released any device yet. Now, with Windows 10 coming out, it seems Lenovo is finally entering Microsoft’s mobile space. According to a blog post from Microsoft, they will be debuting in 190 countries and that Lenovo will be creating a Windows-powered phone. It is said to be available in the middle of 2015 through Chinese carrier China Mobile.

According to CNET, China Mobile is the nation's largest carrier. They have around 808 million subscribers, which certainly can help boost both Lenovo’s and Microsoft’s efforts in the mobile space. It isn’t known yet though what type of device it’ll be or if it’ll make its way out of China. But getting into that market will be important for Microsoft especially as they look to roll out Windows 10 to all devices (from phones, tablets, to PCs) and make its presence known in the mobile device space. China would be a good place to start as it has the largest smartphone market.

Source: Microsoft + CNET

Google now reviews apps before they’re put up on Play Store

As a US$7 billion-plus market, it’s no wonder Google is policing apps now with a new review and rating system. Much like what Apple does when it comes to the App Store, Google now reviews apps before they get put up on the Play Store to make sure no malware or any bad apps get put up. The search giant is also introducing a new rating system to help developers better target the users they want as well as help parents police children when it comes to apps that they can or can’t use. Google has partnered with several independent bodies to help rate ads. They’re working with the likes of ESRB, USK, PEGI, the Australian Classification Board, and ClassInd. Countries not covered by those rating boards will get a generic age-based rating.

Developers are going to be asked to answer content rating questionnaires. If they don’t choose to comply, they might be banned from certain regions or from specific users. Beginning in May, all new apps and updates will have to go through the questionnaire before they can get published.

Source: Android Developers

Microsoft working on a ROM to 'transform Android phones to Windows 10 phones'

Microsoft is said to be working on a custom ROM to emulate Windows 10 for Phones on compatible Android smartphones.  The report from Phandroid says, "this won’t be some simple Metro-styled launcher, either — this is apparently going to operate as a full-blown operating system as if you had originally bought a Windows 10 phone with access to Microsoft’s wealth of apps and services."

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