Sony Xperia Z1-S spotted !!!

Sony's long-rumoured Xperia Z1s, believed to be the upcoming international variant of the Xperia Z1 fand the mini-variant of the Xperia Z1, has been spotted in a leaked image.

The latest leaked image was first spotted by Xperia Guide on Chinese Digi-Wo forum. The new leaked image shows the rear panel of the alleged Xperia Z1s in black. The back panel includes the rear camera accompanied by an LED flash, Sony logo branding in the middle and also an Xperia branding embedded at the bottom. The purported leaked image of the Xperia Z1s shows a rear panel that is identical to the flagship smartphone's (Xperia Z1) rear panel.

The yet-to-be-announced Sony Xperia Z1s has made multiple appearances on the Internet previously via leaked renders but this is the first time the device's rear panel has been leaked.

Earlier this month, the rumoured Sony Xperia Z1s was spotted at the FCC under another name.

The FCC listing showed the alleged Xperia Z1s with model number Sony D5503, and notably, a codename: 'Amami'. Further, the FCC listing shows the alleged Xperia Z1s running few Android versions, with build numbers 14.2.A.0.144 and 14.2.A.0.78, which hinted that the device would be based on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and not Android 4.4 KitKat.

The yet-to-be-announced Sony Xperia Z1s is rumoured to come with a 4.3-inch Triluminos HD (720x1280) display with X-Reality for Mobiles; a 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm MSM8974 processor; 2GB of RAM; 16GB of inbuilt storage that's further expandable up to 64GB via microSD card, and a 2300mAh battery with STAMINA mode. Further, the Xperia Z1s believed to be much like the Xperia Z1 f and Xperia Z1 in terms of optics, sporting the same 20.7-megapixel Exmor RS sensor alongside the BIONZ image processor engine and pulsed LED flash. In addition, like other Xperia Z smartphones, the Xperia Z1s is said to be waterproof and dust-proof.

Samsung to release Galaxy Note 3 Lite by end of Q1 2014

The Galaxy Note 3 Lite is Samsung's planned lower-end version of its popular Note smartphone. There were talks of it being leaked in four different variants earlier in the year. Well it seems that the rumors are still alive and it is quite possible that a Note 3 Lite may be released by the end of the first quarter, 2014.

Rumors say that the Note 3 Lite should make use of an LCD of either 5.5 or 5.7 inches. Apparently, the Korean manufacturing giant is testing both sizes. Since it is a "lite" version of the phone, it would be safe to assume that they will go with the smaller screen.

The source of the new rumor is SamMobile's twitter:

SM-N7505 - Samsung GALAXY Note 3 Lite LTE - Green - 2014 W12

— SamMobile (@SamMobiles) December 27, 2013

The tweet also tells us the model name for the LTE version of the smartphone - N7505. It's a safe bet that the non-LTE version will be labeled N7500. The Note 3 model names are N9005 for the LTE version and N9000 for the 3G version.

Specs-wise there isn't much news, but it is thought that the "lite" moniker will replace the "mini" series of phones, as there are rumors of a Samsung Galaxy Grand Lite in the works as well. Like Samsung's mini models, expect a downgrade in tech specs compared to their big brother variants.

Tegra Note 7 gets Android 4.3, some new Camera and Stylus Features

Nvidia on Thursday issued an over-the-air software update to its Tegra Note 7 tablet, adding new stylus and camera features as well as upgrading the device to Google's Android 4.3 mobile operating system.

The upgrade adds support for left-handed users of the 7-inch tablet's stylus input device, Nvidia saidof the "first significant software update" for its self-branded Tegra Note 7, released last month and currently made for the company by EVGA, Advent, Gigabyte, Shenzhen Homecare Technology, Zotac, and Xolo.

The Tegra Note 7 features a 1,280-by-800 resolution touch-screen display, a rubber-tipped stylus that fits into a slot on the side, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, support for Bluetooth 4.0 LE and GPS, and comes in at 7.88-by-4.75-by-0.3 inches (HWD) and 12.3 ounces.

The tablet also makes use of Nvidia's DirectStylus technology baked into the 1.9GHz Tegra 4 System-on-a-Chip (SoC) that powers it. More new capabilities to the input device added in the software update include a new stylus help option in the device's settings menu, notifications for when the stylus is removed or inserted back in its housing, and the ability to capture the notification bar with full-screen capture.

With the update, the Tegra Note 7's camera now "gets always-on high-dynamic range (AOHDR) capability, which provides more lifelike images across a range of lighting conditions," Nvidia said. That improvement and things like the addition of video stabilization for shaky video captures take advantage of "Tegra 4's processing power and Chimera computational photography architecture," the company said.

Meanwhile, the Tegra Note 7 isn't the first Nvidia-branded device to get the upgrade to Android 4.3. In October, the company also updated its Shield handheld gaming system with the last major version of Google's Jelly Bean platform.

Android 4.3 (actually the minor 4.3.1 bug-fixing update from October) marked the end of the line for"Jelly Bean. Now rolling out to devices everywhere is Android 4.4 KitKat.

For more, see our full review of EVGA's Tegra Note 7 as well as the slideshow above.