Apple filled a gaping hole in its product lineup with new iPhones boasting larger screens like Samsung's flagship Galaxy smartphones. Now, Samsung is coming out with a smaller phone that looks and feels more like an iPhone.

The new iPhones measure 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches diagonally, up from 4 inches before. Still, that's smaller than the 5.1 inches on the Galaxy S5 and the 5.7 inches on the Galaxy Note 3 and 4 phones.

But even Samsung is stepping back from its recent practice of releasing ever-bigger phones. The new Galaxy Alpha matches the 4.7 inches on the iPhone 6 and has a metal frame like the new iPhones, reflecting Samsung's attempt to mirror Apple's emphasis on design.

Unfortunately, the Alpha falls short in a few ways, including the resolution of its display. Other shortcomings will become apparent as I go through the various features.

The Alpha will be available in the U.S. starting Friday through AT&T. It will cost $200 with a two-year service contract, or $613 without one. The $613 price, which can be paid in installments, is less than the $650 starting price for the Galaxy S5 and the iPhone 6. You also get double the storage with the Alpha, but it's still a high price to pay for technology that isn't top of the line.

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— THE BUILD:

The Alpha's metal frame represents a departure from previous Samsung Galaxy phones, which primarily consisted of polycarbonate plastics.

However, the Alpha still has a plastic back, albeit one that feels smoother and nicer than what's on the S5. You can swap in a spare battery, but can't add a memory card.

What struck me most was how the Alpha feels much like last year's iPhone 5s. The sides are smooth and straight, and the edges are at right angles, like the box for a deck of cards. The corners, though, are curved.

By contrast, the new iPhones feature curved edges, so they feel thinner, lighter and less boxy. But the Alpha is actually smaller, thinner and lighter than the iPhone 6 — by a tad. Compared with both, the S5 feels giant.

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— THE SCREEN:

Size isn't all that matters. The screens on the iPhone 6 and the S5 are both sharper than the Alpha's. The Alpha's screen is decent for reading text and viewing images, but it's about the same resolution as what Samsung built into the Galaxy S III phone back in 2012.

Like other Samsung phones, the Alpha uses a screen technology called AMOLED, for active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes. This is designed to produce richer colors than iPhones, but sometimes the technology goes overboard. For instance, some people complain that AMOLED technology distorts color, so human skin looks too orange, for instance. There was a hint of that when viewing photos and video, but not enough to bother me.

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— THE CAMERA:

The Alpha's camera is 12 megapixels, less than the 16 megapixels on the S5. Although the Alpha's megapixel count is still higher than the iPhone's 8 megapixels, Apple has squeezed many other technological touches into iPhones to deliver consistently good images.

I took dozens of photos with all three phones and found the megapixel count mattered only in a handful. In good light, street signs and posters on a store window across the street came out slightly better on both Samsung phones.

BLACKBERRY MESSENGER (BBM) for Windows Phone is all available to all, following its limited release last month.

BBM for Windows Phone launched at Mobile World Congress in February, and it is now available for all to download. As you would probably expect, the app allows users to send messages, images and files to fellow BBM users, as it looks to challenge the likes of Whatsapp.

The app description reads, "BBM for Windows beta. We're getting ready to welcome Windows Phone users to the BBM community. BBM brings you together in the moment with friends and family through instant chats, voice calls, picture sharing, voice notes and more."

The app has been tailored for Microsoft's Live Tile user interface, and users will find three sections in BBM - Chats, Contacts and Feeds - which can be accessed by swiping through the app.

Bryan Biniak, VP and GM of developer experience at Microsoft said, "We are intent on bringing the most popular application experiences to Windows Phone, and with BBM, we are pleased to bring many of its top features to the Windows Phone platform.

"BBM on Windows Phone brings our customers the secure, easy-to-use messaging experience they demand, and we expect that new features will roll out in the months to come."

While BBM for Windows Phone isn't as functional as its iOS and Android counterparts yet, Blackberry has promised that it will bring new features, such as BBM Voice and Channels, to the app in the "coming months."

BBM for Windows Phone is compatible with handsets running Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 8.1. It is available to download for free from the Windows Store now. 

The Android-based X series is not the only casualty of Microsoft’s big move on Thursday to restructure the company. Apart from a record 18,000 job cuts and the decision that X series designs will become future Lumia products running Windows Phone, Redmond also announced a decision to abandon Nokia’s Asha and Series 40 phones.

“With the clear focus on Windows Phones, all Mobile Phones-related services and enablers are planned to move into maintenance mode, effective immediately,” Jo Harlow, who heads the phone business under Microsoft devices said in an internal email accessed by BGR and The Verge. “This means there will be no new features or updates to services on any Mobile Phones platform as a result of these plans,” Harlow added.

The transition is likely to happen over the next 18 months, as Harlow said, “We are committed to supporting our existing customers, and will ensure proper operation during the controlled shutdown of services over the next 18 months.”

As part of the shutdown, all developer activities around these platforms will also be ramped down.

“To focus on the growing momentum behind Windows Phone,” said Harlow, “we plan to immediately begin ramping down developer engagement activities related to Nokia X, Asha and Series 40 apps and shift support to maintenance mode.”

Nokia Xpress Browser and MixRadio are likely to be spun off into a separate business.

“We plan to consider strategic options for Xpress Browser to enable continuation of the service outside of Microsoft,” Harlow said in the memo, while a MixRadio spokesperson told ZDNet, “We are not closing down or ceasing to develop the service. We are being spun out as a separate company, although we will continue to be preloaded to Microsoft devices.”

-NDTV

ONLINE RETAIL GIANT Amazon is expected to announce its debut smartphone, likely to launch under its Kindle brand, at an event in Seattle on 18 June, with the firm looking to challenge the likes of Apple and Samsung.

We've rounded up everything we already know about the Amazon Kindle smartphone so far, and will update this as we learn more, so keep this page bookmarked.

Release date
It's pretty much confirmed that Amazon will launch a Kindle smartphone at the firm's 18 June event, which it teases in the below video, but there's no word yet as to when the device will hit shelves.

However, given Amazon's track record of prompt device release dates, it likely will arrive before the end of the month, despite the Wall Street Journal having previously claimed that it will go on sale in September.

Price
Amazon's smartphone, much like its Kindle tablets, likely will be cheaper than its top-end rivals, such as the iPhone 5S and Galaxy S5. It's unclear how much the smartphone will cost - but it's expected to be priced similarly to the Google Nexus 5.

Specs
Of course, with Amazon yet to unwrap its debut smartphone, the handset's specifications remain to be announced. However, there has been plenty of speculation surrounding the device - telling us almost all we need to know about it.

The screen is expected to be the Amazon smartphone's standout feature, with rumours claiming that it will boast a 4.7in HD 720p screen, complete with three-dimensional features. According to reports, the display will support glasses-free 3D images, which it will achieve by using Retina tracking technology embedded in four front-facing cameras. This also will apparently allow users to navigate the device by moving their eyes.

The WSJ reported in April, "The 3D screen technology can sense the movement of a person's eyes and whether the screen is moving closer to a user's face, according to people familiar with the matter. In response, the phone will be able to automatically zoom into images as it moves closer to a user's face and could manipulate text and images as a person moves the phone."

Beyond its screen, the Amazon smartphone reportedly will look a lot like Apple's iPhone, with leaked images (above) pointing towards a boxy, glass-coated casing, complete with exposed screws on its rear. It;s unclear what material the device will be built from, but given that it's likely to be cheaper than its competitors, we'll put our money on plastic.

The Amazon smartphone likely will arrive running Google's Android 4.4 Kitkat mobile operating system, although the firm will skin this in its heavy custom user interface, similar to that found on its Kindle smartphones. This skin likely will provide the phone with Amazon's "Mayday" feature, and will offer access to Amazon's Appstore, which has tripled its content over the past year.

Other rumoured specifications include a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a yet-unspecified dual camera set up, and support for 4G LTE.

The recently launched LG G3 smartphone has been selling like hot cakes in its parent country South Korea, where it started selling from May 28.

According to a reports the LG G3 sold more than 100 thousand units within five days of its launch. It has become the fastest selling LG device ever.

According to a different news report, the LG G3 has been selling around 25,000 to 30,000 units per day while its competitor the Samsung Galaxy S5 sold around 7,000 to 8,000 units per day during the launch week. So, the LG G has outperformed its rival the Galaxy S5 in home market.

LG G3 versus Samsung Galaxy S5 is seen as battle between two titans from the same land–South Korea. Launched on May 27, LG G3 is the successor to the company’s well-received LG G2. LG G3 comes with a 5.5-inch Quad HD display with 538ppi with four times the resolution of HD and almost two times higher resolution than a Full HD display.

Google is reportedly planning to introduce a new feature which means your phone will be constantly listening so it can respond to commands entirely hands free.

The feature was first debuted on the Moto X and works by keeping the microphone on all the time. This then allows the user to simply say 'Ok, Google' and start using the phone hands free.

According to Android Police, the new feature is condenamed 'KITT' (because of course it is), and would allow users to talk to their phones whilst driving without ever having to look at the device or touch it.

At present the feature is only available on the Moto X smartphone and has primarily been designed for simple functions like setting a reminder, or sending a text message.

This new feature however would allow users to search Google even if the phone was turned off, as long as it was charging then the phone would be listening.

With Apple Siri and Google Now both offering handsfree voice control, Google is clearly planning to take it to the next step by removing any physical buttons entirely, instead opting for a system that, one day, would be completely controlled by voice.

For now though the company's main efforts are reportedly being focused on using KITT as a feature specifically targeted to driving with the hopes of making it safer for people to use their smartphones whilst driving.

Apple introduced its latest update to the iPhone operating system, iOS 8, at its annual World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco on Monday. If you're a big texter, some of the changes should make your life a lot easier. iOS 8 will be available for the iPhone 4S and above this fall.

If you're still recovering from Apple's last OS update don't worry: These changes are nowhere near as huge as last year's move to iOS 7 -- a radical redesign of the iPhone interface and one of the biggest moves Apple made post-Steve Jobs. Some iPhone people appreciated the modern design. Others complained of the new look, and some even reported that the design gave them motion sickness.

This year's changes won't make you ill. And, some of them are pretty much irrelevant. Here are the ones that you must know about:

Now when you get a notification for a text message or a Facebook comment, you can respond from whatever app you're in. So if you're looking at Twitter and you get an iMessage from your mom, you can quickly respond without leaving Twitter.

If a notification appears -- on the lock-screen or wherever -- and you don't want to deal with it immediately, you can flick it up and off the screen.

You will also be able to use the double tap you use to see your open applications to see the people you communicate with the most frequently.

There are significant changes to Apple's Mail app. You can mark emails as unread or delete them with a single gesture, and you can swipe down a message you're composing in order to see the rest of your inbox.

Texting is what most people do on their iPhones - iMessage is the device's most popular app by far, Tim Cook said on Monday. He introduced QuickType for iMessage, a new feature that could potentially eliminate embarrassing auto-correct errors. As you type, you'll get suggestions for what to type next. QuickType learns from you, based on what you type and to whom. It will suggest different words based on how you generally speak to a specific person.

Group messaging is also going to be vastly improved. With iOS 8 you can name your group texting threads and add or remove people from group texts. You can also leave a group messaging thread or push "do not disturb" to mute a specific thread. No more annoying group texts!

If you want to find your friends, you can share your location through messages and show your friends where you are for an hour, until the end of the day, or until you decide to stop.

If you're less into texting, you can send audio, video or photo messages right from iMessage. Taking a cue from Snapchat, these messages will self-destruct unless you say otherwise because they take up so much space on your iPhone.

Technology that could one day power your smartphone using just body heat has been developed.

Wearable computers or devices have been hailed as the next generation of mobile electronic gadgets, but finding a way to deliver sufficient, long-lasting power has been a problem.

Now scientists have come up with a novel solution using a glass and fabric-based thermo-electric generator that could spell a new age of discreet smart technology.

A team of researchers at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology University) in South Korea headed by Professor Cho of electrical engineering are behind the innovation.

Professor Byung Jin Cho with his team created a flexible thermoelectric (TE) generator that allows you to recharge electronic devices from your own body heat.