It’s the new year, and that can only mean one thing: new devices. With this year’s Mobile World Congress a little over a month away, CBR gives you the inside look at what we can expect in terms of smartphones in 2014. Screens are getting better, operating systems smoother, and there’s a few oddball features thrown in just to put a spanner in the works. Here are ten smartphones that are sure to make waves in 2014.
HTC M8
A sequel to the hugely successful HTC One, the HTC M8 (or rather, HTC Two) looks set for release in the spring, with an announcement perhaps coming in February.
The device will most likely sport a 5 inch 1080p HD screen, with a Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 2.1MP front camera, and comes loaded with Android’s latest OS, KitKat.
There are rumours flying around that the HTC M8 may even show off 3GB RAM, but nothing’s for certain yet.
We’re sure all will be revealed at Mobile World Congress being held in February in Barcelona.
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Samsung Galaxy S5
The S5 will be Samsung’s 2014 flagship mobile device, and if the S3 and S4 were anything to go by, the S5 will be just as appetising.
Nothing is set in stone yet, but judging by the May 2012 launch of the S3 and March 2013 launch of the S4, we can expect the S5 to hit shelves around April 2014. Last year, Samsung held a separate launch event for the S4 so we may not seen the S5 announced at MWC 2014.
Specs of the S5 are still a little thin on the ground, but we’re probably going to see Samsung partner up with Qualcomm and a 64-bit CPU. That means a 64-bit OS, so we may see the first ever 64-bit version of Android.
Rumours suggest a 16MP camera, and perhaps a 4K screen, the world’s first on a smartphone.
Nokia Lumia 1820
Set to be the 1020’s replacement, the Lumia 1820 will be Nokia’s next camera-centric mobile device. With a metal, unibody design and a Lytro-style camera, Nokia will retain the title of best camera on a smartphone. In case you didn’t know, a Lytro-style camera means that users can change the focus of an image after it’s been taken!
The 1820 will be the first Lumia device to run with Windows Phone 8.1.
Credit: Qxerro
iPhone 6
Despite the iPhone 5S and 5C being released very recently, rumours are already circulating everywhere about the next iPhone, the iPhone 6.
With not really much of a hardware step-up coming with the 5S, we can expect some radical changed coming with the iPhone 6. We know that Apple has interest in curved screen technology, and other companies are looking at eye scanners, which could work with the fingerprint scanning technology very well. Apple has also bought the company which produces the Microsoft Kinect, so could gesture technology also feature in the iPhone 6?
We’re likely to see it arrive in September, as Apple normally leave a year between its products hitting shelves, but others suggest we may see something along the lines of a new iPhone as early as May.
Credit: ADR Studio
Blackberry Z50
In a possible move to bring Blackberry back from the brink of extinction, the Canadian company is ploughing ahead with a Q2 release of its newest flagships, the Z50 and Q30.
The Z50 will be the successor to the Z10, and rumours suggest it will feature a 5.2in screen with 1080p HD resolution, and of course a quad-core processor.
Amazon Phone
A bit of a wildcard, but with the success of the Kindle Fire, it’s a natural progression for the company to move onto a smartphone.
Although it’s not actually confirmed yet, there are rumours aplenty, but we can be sure it’ll be running on Android due to Google and Amazon’s links. This is definitely a device to look out for.
LG G3
The G3, a successor of the G2, will likely be revealed at MWC 2014, and feature a fingerprint scanner alongside a smartwatch and fitness tracker. It could also see LG introduce a Quad HD resolution screen, which gives a pixel resolution of 2560 x 1440.
Going head to head with the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the HTC M8 (HTC Two), the insides will most probably sport a 64-bit CPU and a 16MP camera.
Credit: BGR
Sony Windows Phone?
Nothing has been confirmed yet, but it has been reported that Sony is currently in talks with Microsoft to release a Windows Phone of its own, maybe coming as early as mid-2014, ending the long run of Android exclusivity. Sure, they’re rivals in the video game market but how would a Sony WP fare?
Microsoft has also made moves to attract partners like ZTE, improving the incentives for potential WP handset makers with emerging markets and cut software licensing fees.
Ubuntu Phone
Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Canonical, has made comments alluding to a new Linux-running smartphone to be made in 2014.
Speaking to CNET, Shuttleworth said: "We have concluded our first set of agreements to ship Ubuntu on mobile phones.
"We’ve shifted gears from ‘making a concept’ to ‘it’s going to ship.’ That has a big impact on the team."
He didn’t say who an initial partner might be, but it’s exciting that high-end smartphones running Ubuntu will be available next year. I was sold on the idea ever since I saw the Edge.
Furthermore, Shuttleworth has said that Canonical are in ‘board-level discussions’ with more than one hardware maker!
Yota Phone
Russian phone maker Yota Devices has announced that it will introduce the second version of its dual-screened smartphone later on in 2014.
The original Yota smartphone features a full-colour LCD screen on one side and an electronic paper display (EPD) on the other. The touchscreen side comes with 4.3in display featuring Gorilla Glass. Users are able to use one side as a traditional touchscreen device then flip it over and use the other side as an e-reader.
The additional low-power screen isable to show social network updates and display critical information even when handsets are not turned on.
The original device comes with a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, 2GB RAM, a 12-megapixels rear camera, a front 720p camera and 2,100mAH battery, so at least we can expect an upgrade from that.
