FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler speaking to the cable industry in April 2014. NCTA

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler today stated what is obvious to US Internet users: for broadband speeds fast enough to serve modern homes, competition simply does not exist in most of the country.

The numbers are OK if you use the FCC’s outdated broadband definition of 4Mbps downstream and 1Mbps upstream. But the FCC is proposing to boost the download portion of the definition to 10Mbps and considering whether to raise the upstream portion. Even 10Mbps doesn’t cut it in homes where numerous devices connect to the Internet, however, Wheeler said.

“A 25Mbps connection is fast becoming ‘table stakes’ in 21st century communications,” Wheeler said in a speech this morning at 1776, a self-styled "hub for startups" in Washington, DC (transcript).

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Lenovo has made quite a few announcements at IFA so far, but most have related to their traditional PC business. Today they announced a new high end smartphone branded the Lenovo VIBE X2, a sequel to 2013's VIBE X. Below I've laid out the specifications for Lenovo's new flagship.

Lenovo VIBE X2 SoC MediaTek MT6595m True8Core
4 x Cortex A17 at 2.0GHz + 4 x Cortex A7 at 1.5GHz Memory and Storage 32GB NAND, 2GB RAM Display 5” 1920x1080 IPS LCD 441ppi Cellular Connectivity 2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Category 4 LTE) Dimensions 140.2 x 68.6 x 7.3 mm, 120g Camera 13 MP Rear Facing, 5MP Front Facing  Battery 2300 mAh (8.74 Whr) Other Connectivity 802.11 b/g/n/ac + BT 4.0, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS SIM Size Micro-SIM (dual Micro-SIM SKU in certain markets) Operating System Android KitKat with VIBE UI 2.0

The VIBE X2 looks a lot different from its predecessor. The rounded corners and tapered edges have been replaced with flat edges and a more rectangular profile. The VIBE X2 is also smaller but thicker than the VIBE X, which was likely done to help accommodate the larger battery. Lenovo is calling the VIBE X2 a "layered" smartphone, in reference to the three distinct color layers that make up the body of the device. 

In terms of specs, the VIBE X2 is similar to the VIBE X. It retains the 13MP rear camera and 5MP front camera, along with the 5" 1920x1080 IPS panel on the front. However, the VIBE X2 sports improved connectivity and processing power. Support for 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, and category 4 LTE have all been added. The new SoC is MediaTek's MT6595m True8Core which has 4 Cortex A17 cores clocked at 2.0GHz and 4 Cortex A7 cores at 1.5GHz.

The VIBE X2 will be launching in China in October of this year. Other countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East will receive the phone shortly after. Certain markets such as China will receive a dual-SIM SKU. Retail pricing is pegged at $399 USD.

Kyle Orland

When Oculus eventually releases a consumer version (CV1) of its Rift virtual reality headset, the company wants to "stay in that $200-$400 price range," founder Palmer Luckey told Eurogamer in a recent interview.

That lines up roughly with the $350 currently being charged for the second Development Kit (DK2) version of the Rift, which began shipping to developers recently. Luckey warned Eurogamer, though, that the consumer version price range "could slide in either direction depending on scale, pre-orders, the components we end up using, business negotiations..."

One thing that won't be sliding around anymore is the technical specs for the CV1. "We know what we're making and now it's a matter of making it." Luckey wouldn't be pinned down on the specifics of those consumer specs, but he said to expect a jump in resolution above the DK2, similar to the 720p to 1080p jump we saw between the first development kits (DK1) and DK2. Luckey also teased improvements to 90Hz "or higher" refresh rate (up from 75Hz in DK2) and lowered weight and size for the consumer headset.

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On Thursday, Epic Games announced that it would make the complete Unreal Engine 4 suite free to use for universities and students on a case-by-case basis. Interested teachers and administrators can now submit their credentials via Epic's official site, and upon acceptance, they will have access to the suite without having to pay the standard $19 per month fee.

"There's no separate 'academic' version or anything like that," UE4 General Manager Ray Davis said to Ars in a phone interview. "The cool thing is, as a student, even if you don’t decide to subscribe upon graduation, you'll still retain access to any version of the engine you had at that point. We’re not leaving people hanging at the end of a school year or anything like that."

Though UE4's university-specific offer isn't quite as accessible as Crytek's CryENGINE, which can be downloaded by anybody on a non-commercial basis, Epic's revision does stem from feedback the company received after it announced UE4's pricing structure during this year's Game Developers Conference.

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Version:next-20140904 (linux-next) Released:2014-09-04

When missionary Gary Roberts came across a herd of elephants that had been killed by poachers in Chad, he attempted to rescue the sole surviving calf which he then flew home in his small lightweight plane.

Temptation to look is once again being used as bait for a variety of malware attacks, thanks in part to the widespread coverage of the recent nude celebrity photos leaks on 4chan and reddit. The old bait-and-switch move, a well-worn social engineering attack on Twitter and other social networking services, has now been updated with promises of intimate photos of Jennifer Lawrence. In reality, the link delivers malware “dropper” software instead.

Researchers at Trend Micro have uncovered a number of new social engineering attacks based on the celebrity photos. One in particular uses Lawrence as the bait, with a shortened URL that the Twitter lure promises will take you to “Jennifer Lawrence Leaked Photos.” The tweet uses hashtags for Jennifer Lawrence both by her full name and by “JLaw” in order to target people actively seeking information about her.

A fraudulent tweet, used as a lure. Trend Micro Labs

Those who fall for the bait are taken to a website with a “video”—which is in fact a link to fake “Video Converter” software. What really gets delivered is a malware package that Trend Micro calls ADW_BRANTALL, an adware installer that targets Microsoft Windows 7 and earlier Windows versions.

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The FBI offered its assistance to the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) back in July to help with what the organization sees as a growing tide of harassment of game developers, according to a report from Polygon. IGDA Executive Director Kate Edwards said the FBI approached her during Comic-Con in San Diego to let her know "the FBI's capability."

Edwards told Polygon that the FBI noted a rise in activity in the online harassment of game developers. Over the last year, BioWare senior writer Jennifer Hepler left her job after getting death threats from fans, and Adam Orth, a Microsoft creative director, got a "tidal wave of vitriol" for tweeting his support of always-online devices. Since the FBI's meeting with the IGDA took place, developer Zoe Quinn has been harassed over personal details aired by her ex-boyfriend, and a flight carrying Sony Online Entertainment CEO John Smedley was diverted after getting a bomb threat from a gaming hacker group. On Tuesday, thousands of developers released a signed petition "asking for tolerance and acceptance in the larger gaming community."

In addition to keeping in touch with the FBI, Edwards said the IGDA is creating a special interest group for mental health issues surrounding harassment. Last week, the IGDA released a statement condemning the personal attacks that had taken place over the last several weeks against Quinn, her supporters, and supporters of Anita Sarkeesian, who received death threats over her latest video about tropes of women in video games. "We call on the entire game community to stand together against this abhorrent behavior," the statement reads.

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Six teenagers are still being sought by Police in Tennessee after they escaped from a juvenile detention centre.

Kyle Orland

Since the Xbox One launched at $500 with no pack-in game and one forced pack-in Kinect last year, there have been quite a few attempts to lower the price and/or increase the value proposition for people looking to buy. The offer Microsoft is rolling out next week might be the best such value yet, though, including a free retail game of your choosing when you purchase a new Xbox One.

The temporary offer comes on top of current bundles that already include a copy of Madden NFL 15 or Forza Motorsport 5, meaning you can in essence get a system and two games for the same old bare-hardware price (though it appears the Forza bundle still only comes in a Kinect-bundled $500 package).

The choose-your-free-game offer runs from September 7 through 13 at "participating retailers," so call ahead to make sure you can cash in. It also only applies to currently available disc-based games $60 or less, so if you want a free copy of the $250 Titanfall Collector's Edition or even just a downloadable version of Titanfall, you're out of luck.

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Super Bowl-winning coach Pete Carroll actually prefers the one-eared version of Bose's new noise-canceling Bose NFL Headset: "I'm a one-eared kind of guy." Bose / NFL

Ahead of the NFL season kickoff, Bose invited us to a noise-canceling test on Thursday that got us pretty pumped. The longtime producer of speakers and headphones doesn't enjoy the best reputation among audiophiles, but the company does pride itself on solid noise-canceling tech, and it had just announced a four-year partnership with the NFL to equip every team's head and assistant coaches with a new fleet of game-ready headsets.

Since the Seattle Seahawks won the last Super Bowl, that meant the event was taking place at Centurylink Field, perhaps the ultimate test site for all things noise. After all, this stadium is notorious for record- and eardrum-shattering crowd noise, and the Seahawks' "12th Man" army of fans has topped 135 decibels on more than a few occasions.

Unfortunately, Bose didn't invite 67,000 of its closest friends to fill Centurylink's seats. Instead, I walked past a mostly empty football field to a small testing room. Against the wall rested eight headsets, uncreatively named Bose NFL Headsets. A few enormous speaker and subwoofer rigs hid beneath floor-level banners.

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The United States and the other 27 members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization plan to aid the defense of any other NATO country in the event of a major cyber attack, according to an agreement that will be ratified this week at a major alliance meeting.

On Thursday, NATO members will meet with 40 partner countries at a major summit in Wales, United Kingdom, to discuss the future security of the region. While the conflict in eastern Ukraine will dominate the meeting, the alliance will also agree to work together to defend its communications network and aid each other against major cyber attacks.

The policy, endorsed by NATO ministers in June, will task NATO countries with sharing information on cyber threats, lending expertise to harden member nations' communications and information systems (CIS), and working with industry partners to improve NATO's ability to respond to cyber attacks.

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At the IFA convention in Berlin, Lenovo launched two PCs and a tablet yesterday, and today they are at it again with the new ThinkPad Helix 2-in-1 Ultrabook, HORIZON tabletop PCs, the ThinkCenter Tiny-in-One (TIO), and the Edge 15 laptop. All are a different take on an existing device.

In May 2013, Lenovo released the ThinkPad Helix which is a 2-in-1 laptop with a “Rip & Flip” keyboard which can be detached from the tablet. The current model is getting a bit long in the tooth, with Ivy Bridge processors as the available options. Today, Lenovo announced an updated version of the Helix. The new model is 12% lighter than the outgoing version, coming it at 1.8 lbs, and at 0.38 inches thick, it is 15% thinner than the first gen device. The processors are getting a big boost, with Intel Core M CPUs now under the hood which should boost performance, but even more so, battery life and thermals. The Helix will function in five modes – tablet, stand, tent, laptop, and desktop. ThinkPads are known to have quality keyboards, and the ThinkPad Helix will hopefully keep to that tradition even though it is detachable. The Helix is well suited for business, with both a fingerprint scanner and a smart card reader. The 11.6” display is 1920x1080, is topped with Corning Gorilla Glass, and has provisions for a digitizer pen. The Helix will start at $999 and is available starting in October.

The second laptop announced was the Edge 15, which Lenovo claims is its thinnest 15 inch consumer laptop yet. At under an inch thick, and with a weight of 5 lbs, it doesn’t quite match some of the other 15” ultrabooks on the market for thickness and weight, but it does pack a lot of compute under the hood in addition to being able to fold the display back into a stand mode for media consumption. The Edge 15 can be configured with up to a Haswell Core i7 CPU, 16 GB DDR3L, optional NVIDIA GeForce GT840M graphics, and either a 1 TB hybrid drive with 16 GB of Flash, or a 256 GB SSD. The 15.6” 1920x1080 display also includes 10-point multitouch, and Lenovo claims up to 8 hours of battery life. The Edge 15 goes on sale in October starting at $899.

Lenovo also introduced an interesting take on the All-In-One (AIO) computer with the ThinkCentre Tiny-in-One 23. This is the first ever modular AIO for business. The Tiny-in-One is a 23” 1920x1080 display with a mount for the ThinkCentre Tiny PC on the back side. Any Tiny PC from Lenovo can be used, and it requires no tools. If your business PCs are getting out of date, you can simple pop a new Tiny PC in the back for a new system, or if there is an error with either the monitor or the PC, both do not need to be repaired or replaced like a traditional AIO. All cable connections are done inside, and a single power cord is all that is required. At $279, the Tiny-in-One 23 is not even much more than a traditional monitor. Availability begins in October.

Finally, Lenovo also launched an updated version of the original HORIZON 2 27” tabletop PC. The new models are the HORIZON 2s and 2e. The “s” in 2s stands for slim, with the 2s dropping 10 lbs off of the original HORIZON 2, while still providing the same Stand and Flat modes. Lenovo also has an optional stand made of aluminum which also serves as a charging station for the 27” 1920x1080 tablet. The HORIZON 2e is a smaller version of the original, with a 21.5” 1920x1080 display. Both models are powered by Haswell Core processors and battery life of 2.5 hours for the 2s and 3 hours for the 2e. Prices start at $749 for the HORIZON 2e, and $949 for the larger HORIZON 2s, with availability in October.

Lenovo seems to have a device for everyone. At IFA, they have now announced everything from an 8” tablet for $199 to a 27” tabletop PC. I believe the Tiny-in-One is an interesting idea, with the upgradability of a desktop system but the smaller footprint of an AIO computer. The ThinkPad Helix should be a great device to showcase the Core M, and looks to be a better laptop than some other 2-in-1 devices with detachable keyboards. However we will need to wait for final judgment until we can see some of these devices for ourselves to see just how much of the promise they deliver.

Consensus? It's complicated and does not involve A) everyone agreeing or B) everyone meeting for coffee. Digital Desktop Wallpaper (via Flickr)

One of the many unfortunate aspects of arguments over climate change is that it's where many people come across the idea of a scientific consensus. Just as unfortunately, their first exposure tends to be in the form of shouted sound bites: "But there's a consensus!" "Consensus has no place in science!"

Lost in the shouting is the fact that consensus plays several key roles in the process of science. In light of all the consensus choruses, it's probably time to step back and examine its importance and why it's a central part of the scientific process. And only after that is it possible to take a look at consensus and climate change.

Standards of evidence

Fiction author Michael Crichton probably started the backlash against the idea of consensus in science. Crichton was rather notable for doubting the conclusions of climate scientists—he wrote an entire book in which they were the villains—so it's fair to say he wasn't thrilled when the field reached a consensus. Still, it's worth looking at what he said, if only because it's so painfully misguided:

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The PC market is warming up to the ECS LIVA 'nettop' that we reviewed back in July. The fanless nature and low cost, as well as 'good-enough' performance serve as positives for the unit. Recently, ECS conducted a media event, where they gave a sneak peek into the future of the LIVA lineup. ECS also fielded questions from the media and tried to address the concerns raised.

One of the first things that needs to be cleared up is the configuration of the currently shipping 32 GB LIVA kit. Our review unit came with the Celeron N2806. Apparently, only the first batch of 600 units sported that SoC. Subsequent production batches have the Celeron N2807. The update addresses one of the improvement aspects we raised in our review - the use of a Bay Trail part enabled with Intel Quick Sync for transcoding. This opens up additional use-cases for the LIVA kit.

Coming back to the product roadmap, ECS is going to bring the 64 GB version into mass production soon. Next month, the company is also planning to release the BAT-MINI motherboard standalone into the market (users can bring their own chassis). In late November, we will see the 2nd generation LIVA. This is also based on Bay Trail, and comes in a solid metal chassis. ECS was mum on the internal configuration, but we can see that the chassis addresses concerns regarding the positioning of the USB ports, amongst other things.

Gallery: 2nd Generation Bay Trail LIVA Chassis & I/O

Early next year, ECS also plans to introduce an AMD-based unit. Obviously, the Bay Trail units will get upgraded to Braswell too. The LIVA kits are quite exciting, with the competition mainly coming in from the Bay Trail-based Zotac C-series. Zotac already has the Windows 8.1 + Bing OS pre-installation aspect fixed up. ECS needs to act fast on that, as the LIVA kits currently ship barebones. The attempts of the company to translate their success in the NUC / mini-PC OEM space to the consumer market brings choice to the users - and that is always good.

During the event, ECS also talked about their LIVA chassis design contest. The Z97 motherboards were also talked up, with emphasis in particular on the Z97-PK for overclockers.

Today in Berlin Microsoft announced two new midrange Windows Phones, as well as several accessories to compliment the Windows Phone ecosystem. We now have the rest of the phones to fill out the Lumia lineup with the Lumia 730/735 and Lumia 830 announced today. As well, there is a new wireless charger to match this year’s Lumia color lineup, and a Miracast enabled screen sharing device to allow the broadcast of your phone (or anything Miracast compatible) onto a television.

 

First up are the 4.7” Lumia 730 and Lumia 735 models which are “built for Skype calls and selfies” as described by Microsoft. These devices integrate a wide-angle 5 megapixel front facing camera with a f/2.4 aperature which is the feature point of this midrange phone. The internals are similar to the Lumia 630/635, with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 (MSM8926 is listed for both devices but the 730 is likely MSM8226 due to the lack of LTE) and a bump in memory over the less expensive cousins with 1 GB in these new models. Storage is 8 GB internal memory, with support for 128 GB microSD cards. The display is a 1280x720 AMOLED for 316 PPI, and has a curved glass on the front in addition to ClearBlack, SuperSensitive Touch, High Brightness Mode, and Sunlight readability enhancements. The rear camera also looks to be good for a mid-range phone, with a 6.7 megapixel sensor with Zeiss optics and a f/1.9 aperature as well as LED flash. NFC is included, as well as optional Qi wireless charging of the 2220 mAh removable battery via an exchangeable shell. To round out the experience, a new Lumia app has been created just for this model – Lumia Selfie.

The final phone to fill out the Lumia line is the Lumia 830. This device bumps up to a 5” display, but keeps the same resolution as the 73x models at 1280x720 as well as the curved glass. The SoC also stays the same, with the 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 (MSM8926) and 1 GB of memory, but the storage is bumped up to 16 GB internal NAND as well as up to 128 GB extra storage from microSD. The rear camera gets a spec bump up to a PureView 10 megapixel model with Zeiss optics, Rich Recording (3 HAAC microphones for up to Doiby 5.1 audio recording), and Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) which has been tweaked for the 830 with Microsoft claiming it to be the thinnest OIS of any Lumia phone to date. The Lumia 830 can also charge its removable 2200 mAh battery with Qi wireless charging. NFC is not listed, but due to the accessories coming up it seems likely it is included.

New Lumia Lineup   Nokia Lumia 730 Nokia Lumia 735 Nokia Lumia 830 CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon 400
MSM8226 1.2 GHz Cortex A7 quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400
MSM8926 1.2 GHz Cortex A7 quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400
MSM8926 1.2 GHz Cortex A7 quad-core RAM/NAND 1 GB / 8 GB + MicroSD 1 GB / 8 GB + MicroSD 1 GB / 16 GB + MicroSD Display 4.7" 1280x720 OLED 4.7" 1280x720 OLED 5.0" 1280x720 Network GSM/WCDMA/HSPA+ up to 21 Mbps GSM/WCDMA/DC-HSPA/LTE up to 150 Mbps GSM/WCDMA/DC-HSPA/LTE up to 150 Mbps Dimensions 134.7 x 68.5 x 8.7 (mm) 134.7 x 68.5 x 8.9 (mm) 139.4 x 70.7 x 8.5 (mm) Weight 133 g 134.3 g 150 g Camera 6.7 MP rear camera, Zeiss Optics, f/1.9, LED Flash, 5 MP f/2.4 FFC 6.7 MP rear camera, Zeiss Optics, f/1.9, LED Flash, 5 MP f/2.4 FFC 10 MP rear camera, Zeiss Optics, OIS, LED Flash, FFC, 5.1 Dolby Digital HAAC audio Battery 2220 mAh removable 2220 mAh removable 2200 mAh removable Current Shipping OS Windows Phone 8.1 with Denim Firmware Windows Phone 8.1 with Denim Firmware Windows Phone 8.1 with Denim Firmware Connectivity 802.11 a/b/g/n + BT 4.0 LE, NFC, USB2.0, MPT, DLNA, FM Radio 802.11 a/b/g/n + BT 4.0 LE, NFC, USB2.0, MPT, DLNA, FM Radio 802.11 a/b/g/n + BT 4.0 LE, USB2.0, MPT, DLNA, FM Radio SIM Dual SIM Single SIM Single SIM

All of the phones announced today will ship with Windows Phone 8.1 and the Lumia Denim firmware update which brings some big features to the camera functions. The new firmware will allow for a new version of Lumia Camera (formerly Nokia Camera) and add a series of enhancements over what is currently offered. The new Lumia Camera improves camera startup and capture speeds, with Microsoft claiming only milliseconds between shots. 4K video recording is now available, with a long press of the camera button within the camera app. 4K video will be at 24 frames per second, and any single frame can be selected and saved as an image. Rich Capture adds the HDR mode that has been missing since, well, forever in Lumia Camera, and includes auto HDR and Dynamic Flash which lets you edit the photos after the fact to perfect an image. Finally, updated low-light algorithms improve the already impressive performance of PureView cameras in dim scenarios.

The updated Lumia Camera app will come to the Lumia 830 in Q4 2014, and to the Lumia Icon, 930, and 1520 as part of the Denim firmware update following partner testing and approvals (read carriers).

 

In addition, two accessories were revealed today. First, there is a new Wireless Charging Plate. The charging plate connects to the phone over Bluetooth which allows the plate to give status updates for the phone, and will even alert you if the phone needs to be charged. The charging plate will perform a “breathing” light to invite you to charge your phone if the device paired to it has 30% or lower battery. In addition, the charging plate will give two blinks to display notifications such as a missed call or SMS message. While charging, the plate will show a continuous light, and if there is a charging error, it will continually blink until the issue is addressed. The Nokia Wireless Charging Plate is available in green, orange, or white to match the 2014 Lumia colors. Pricing is expected to be $59 USD and EUR 59, with availability in October.

The final accessory is the long named Microsoft Screen Sharing For Lumia Phones HD-10. This Miracast receiver allows you to beam your smartphone display and audio to any HDMI TV or monitor. The HD-10 is NFC enabled, allowing easy pairing by just tapping a phone on the NFC disc, which is removable as well so the disc can be kept away from the receiver. Being Miracast, the device is compatible with any Wi-Fi certified Miracast product. Availability is September with a MSRP of $79 USD and EUR 79.

The new smartphones look like nice mid-range devices to fill the huge gap that exists between the Lumia 630 and the Lumia 930. Pricing was not available, which will be the key to where these fit in the market, but there again is a large gap between the Lumia 630/635 which is already available for $99 or so, and the Lumia 930 which is closer to $600. The bump to 1 GB of RAM and the display resolution increase are the most important additions to these devices to pull them away from the low end 630. Both the 730 and 830 have decent looking cameras, with the 830 even being added to the PureView stable now with OIS to back the 10 megapixel sensor.

The charging plate looks quite interesting, and having it pair with the phone via Bluetooth is a nice trick. The Miracast receiver is the one thing that Miracast needed more than anything, assuming it works well and is as easy to use as indicated. The inclusion of NFC should assist for smartphone users at least for initial setup.

The rich marine life off Tanzania's coast is coming under threat because of blast fishing - a technique using explosives that some fishermen use to maximise their catch.

According to HTC, the Desire 816 proved to be a popular device in the mid-range smartphone market. Now, only a bit longer than six months after its release, the Desire 820 is here to replace the 816 as HTC's new flagship of the Desire lineup. It's one of the first Android devices with a 64-bit ARMv8 SoC, and the first to adopt Qualcomm's Snapdragon 615. Below I've laid out all the specifications for the Desire 820.

HTC Desire 820 SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 with 4 x Cortex A53 at 1.5GHz and 4 x Cortex A53 at 1.0GHz + Adreno 405  Memory and Storage 16GB NAND + MicroSDXC, 2GB RAM Display 5.5” 1280x720 LCD at 267ppi Cellular Connectivity 2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Qualcomm MDM9x25 UE Category 4 LTE) Dimensions 157.7 x 78.74 x 7.74 mm, 155g Camera 13 MP f/2.2 Rear Facing, 8MP Front Facing  Battery 2600 mAh (9.88 Whr) Other Connectivity 802.11 a/b/g/n + BT 4.0 with aptX, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS, NFC SIM Size Nano-SIM (dual Nano-SIM SKU in certain markets) Operating System Android KitKat with HTC Sense 6

In many ways the Desire 820 is similar to its predecessor. The appearance is very similar, with colorful plastic backs and a front sporting HTC's Boomsound speakers on the top and bottom, with the front facing camera off to the left on the top bezel. The dimensions are also similar, with the 820 being ever so slightly taller and thinner than the 816. Keeping the same dimensions also allows the Desire 820 to retain the same 5.5" 1280x720 display and 9.88Whr internal battery. Where things get interesting is the SoC.

For a long time the hardware platform for mid-range devices has remained the same. Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 with 4 x Cortex A7 cores and either 1.5GB and 2GB of RAM. Obviously there are cost and performance reasons for this. Snapdragon 200 was a big step down, and Snapdragon 600 and 800 were a big step up. With the launch of Snapdragon 410, 610, and 615 there's finally some more options for the mid-range market.

HTC has chosen to adopt Qualcomm's Snapdragon 615 which sports 8 Cortex A53 cores in two clusters. One cluster of 4 cores is optimized for high performance, running at 1.5GHz, and the other is optimized for low power and runs at 1.0GHz. This is the first device to ship with Snapdragon 615, and one of the first 64-bit Android devices with the ARMv8 instruction set. However, support for 64-bit under Android won't exist until Android L ships later this year, and HTC is committing to updating the Desire 820 to Android L some time after it releases. For more information about Snapdragon 615 as well as Qualcomm's other Cortex A53 SoCs you can read the piece that Anand previously wrote about them.

Beyond the SoC there are a few other improvements. The RAM has been bumped from 1.5GB in the Desire 816 to 2GB in the 820. The front facing camera also moves up a notch from 5MP to 8MP. In terms of connectivity the Desire 820 retains the same Qualcomm MDM9x25 modem solution but now includes 5GHz band support on 802.11n and aptX audio support over Bluetooth which is appreciated by users like myself who use Bluetooth headphones.

HTC Desire 820 in Santorini White

While the Desire 820 won't win over buyers looking for the highest end smartphone, it definitely breaks new ground in the mid-range segment of the market. Like its predecessor, the Desire 820 comes in a wide variety of colors. Below is the entire list of color options, including whether they are a glossy or matte finish.

Tuxedo Grey (matte) Marble White (glossy) Santorini White (glossy) Milky-way Grey (glossy) Tangerine White (glossy) Saffron Grey (glossy) Flamingo Grey (glossy) Blue Mist (glossy) Monarch Orange (glossy)

HTC plans to begin sales of the Desire 820 by the end of September, with the goal being to eventually have it at carriers and retailers worldwide. In certain markets, it will have dual Nano-SIM slots. Pricing is yet to be announced.

A water main has burst causing flooding in a San Diego neighbourhood, where locals took the opportunity to use their inflatables.

Valerie Trierweiler, the former partner of French President Francois Hollande, says Mr Hollande 'dislikes the poor'.