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A miniature companion for your smartphone, and a new security keyring

HTC is continuing to roll out accessories for its flagship One series, and today weve had the chance to go hands-on with two quirky new additions to the HTC accessory family the HTC Mini+ and HTC Fetch.

First up, the Mini+ is the successor to last years HTC Mini, which shipped alongside the original Butterfly handset in China. As weve said before, this is effectively a phone for your phone. It pairs to your full-sized HTC handset over NFC and Bluetooth, allowing you to control your phone remotely as long as the Bluetooth connection is active.

The Mini+ lets you make or receive calls, view text messages, remotely take pictures using your main phones camera, or control your TV using the Sense TV app and an inbuilt IR blaster. The latter works even if your main phone is one without IR, such as the One Mini. Other goodies include the ability to control Microsoft PowerPoint presentations using a companion app, and a laser pointer built into the top of the device.

The chassis is extremely thin, light and compact, with a metallic front and a glossy-feeling back. Much of the front face is taken up with the keypad and other buttons, and up top youve got a 1.5-inch 4-grey OLED display. Using it is enough to make you nostalgic for the for the days of featurephones, but it isnt a standalone device, and youll need an HTC smartphone to make full use the Mini+.

By the same token its not meant to consign your smartphone to a pocket-ridden life instead its designed to allow certain tasks to be performed quickly and easily without unlocking your larger handset. So its safe to say were probably looking at a niche product here. HTC says to expect 9 hours of talk time or 95 hours on standby, thanks to the built-in 320mAh battery.

HTCs second new accessory is an unassuming little plastic keyring dubbed the HTC Fetch. Like the Mini+, it pairs with HTC smartphones, but the main focus here is security. The Fetch has a single button which activates the phones ringtone when you press it, and works within Bluetooth range (around 15 meters). The alarm can also be set to sound automatically when the phone moves out of range of the Fetch, and for added security the last location where the two devices were paired is stored useful if youre particularly forgetful, we guess.

HTC says the the Fetchs battery will last for up to six months of use, after which a new one can be swapped in.

Both the HTC Mini+ and Fetch are due to appear in the UK during Q4.

It's a Galaxy S4Zoom, but with LTE

When we first saw the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom for ourselves at the Premiere 2013 event in London, one noticeable absentee was an LTE version. That open book can now be closed, as Samsung is today announcing an LTE S4 Zoom for European markets.

In every other sense, this is the same exact camera phone we saw back in London. A Galaxy S4 Mini class phone on one side, with a 16MP camera on the rear with a 10xoptical zoom and a bunch of specialist camera applications to help make the most of it. If you're going to be taking and sharing a lot of pictures with this thing which lets face it, is why you'd buy one in the first place, right? then on-board LTE is going to be a big assist. Check out the full press release after the break.

Samsung expands Galaxy S4 Zoom range with powerful new LTE model, now available in Europe

The Galaxy S4 Zoom LTE combines industry leading 10x Optical Zoom with advanced photographic capabilities and Android OS

LONDON, UK August 30th, 2013 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced the launch of the new Galaxy S4 Zoom LTE edition, now commercially available in Europe. Samsung continues to grow its pioneering smartphone range, building on the critical acclaim of the Galaxy S4 Zoom with the addition of cutting-edge LTE connectivity. With a faster connection, the LTE capabilities allow users to experience the connected features of the Galaxy S4 Zoom with greater speed.

Simon Stanford, Vice President, IT & Mobile Division, Samsung UK & Ireland, said: "The introduction of LTE capabilities to the Galaxy S4 Zoom demonstrates our commitment to providing customers with the best possible product on the market. Today's consumers place great importance on being connected with their world, a need that is catered for with the LTE technology. Its powerful, stylish and is perfect for those who want to take outstanding pictures from a device thats always with them and then share them immediately and easily."

Central to the Galaxy S4 Zoom is the revolutionary Zoom Ring, a simple way to access all the devices key features through one intuitive control system. These features include In-Call Photo Share, which allows users to capture and send an image directly to whoever they are talking to, quickly and easily. The Zoom Ring also provides instant access to the Quick Launch and Shortcut features and replaces the traditional manual zoom with an easy-to-operate digital control.

For unparalleled photographic results in a smartphone, the Galaxy S4 Zoom combines an industry leading 10x Optical Zoom with 16 Mega Pixel BSI CMOS Sensor, Optical Image Stabilisation and Xenon Flash, delivering beautiful, vivid photographs. These features ensure that users can always capture outstanding images, regardless of skill level. Photo Suggest uses GPS to pinpoint the location of the photographer, showing images taken by other photographers in the same place for inspiration and can even provide directions to nearby spots with the best possible vantage point. The Galaxy S4 Zoom also features Samsungs popular Smart Mode, which lets the user choose from a series of preset modes to ensure they capture the best photo possible. Smart Mode Suggest assesses the scene and recommends the best Smart Mode settings to snap that perfect shot.

Just like a piece of art, Photo Signature provides a way of putting a physical stamp on a photo, so that photographers are properly credited for the images they produce. Once created, signatures can either be manually added to photos in one click or automatically added to photos as they are taken.

As well as photography capabilities, the Galaxy S4 Zoom comes jam-packed with entertainment features, including the new Samsung Hub, a one-stop destination for the latest music, videos, books and games, while Group Play lets users wirelessly share new tracks or games with friends so that groups can all listen and play together.

As with the Galaxy S4, the Galaxy S4 Zoom runs on Android Jelly Bean 4.2 while the cutting edge LTE connectivity enables superfast 4G LTE uploading and sharing whilst on the go. The Galaxy S4 Zoom also offers Touchwiz, which allows the customisation of various aspects of the device, Story Album to collate images and videos into one easy-to-share timeline and Samsung Link for safeguarding images on laptops or tablets. Alternatively pictures can be synched via the cloud through HomeSync, while prints can be ordered directly from the device via blurb*.

The UK availability of Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom LTE will be announced in due course.

US stores will see the new Android-powered mirrorless camera starting in October

We were generally taken by surprise when Samsung unveiled the Galaxy NX as a spiritual successor to the original Galaxy Camera, and now we know when and how much you'll have to spend to buy one. It will come as no surprise to camera geeks that this is going to be one expensive piece of kit, but for someone coming from the point-and-shoot camera realm may be surprised.

Samsung is setting pricing at $1599.99 for the body (no lens) or $1699.99 with a standard 18-55mm kit lens, and expects to have it on U.S. store shelves and directly from Samsung starting in October. Now you're certainly getting something for that high price tag on the imaging front we're looking at a 20.3MP APS-Csensor with a 1/6000 second shutter speed and up to ISO 25600 sensitivity. You also have the proper lens mount for Samsung's range of NX lenses if you're ready to expand your shooting options

Flip the camera around to the back and you have a huge 4.8-inch LCD screen with a quad-core processor,2GB of RAM and Android 4.2 behind it, giving you tons of possibilities for sharing the photos that you'll be taking with this thing. We're not entirely sure the Galaxy NX will sell that well considering its high price point, but it certainly is going to be one to look at for Android enthusiasts in the market for a "prosumer" level camera.

Source: Samsung (BusinessWire)

Another great reading and RSS option to pick up where Google Reader left off

When Google Reader finally closed up shop we saw a scramble of replacement services crop up, and now Digg has launched its Digg Reader Android app to accompany its RSS service. Just like another familiar RSS serviceFeedly, Digg Reader offers syncing of RSS feeds tied to an account in this case Google, Facebook or Twitter and serves news to you on multiple devices.

The app is basic, clean and seems to perform well. You can browse around through popular stories without an account, or after signing in add feeds by content type or specific URL through a search function. The basic article view gives options to favorite, view on the web, digg and share out to any service and seems on par with the other apps out there. Naturally unread counts and favorites sync between your devices and on the web

Backing up the app is the Digg Reader web service, which has a very similar look to Google Reader and Feedly, with options to import OPML files for new users and a few other basic tweaks.

If you've yet to settle down on a news reader after Google Reader, you may want to give DiggReader a look. You can grab a download of the app from the Play Store link above and visit the Digg Reader website at the source link below.

More: Digg Reader

Phone app to control pairing, apps and 'find my watch' functionality

We're just a week away from seeing what Samsung has to show us in the smartwatch game at IFA in Berlin, and now we're getting a quick look at an app that will help control that device. The leaked "Gear Manager" app, shown above in two screenshots, gives us a good idea of what we can expect when the device is finally announced.

The first screen shows a simple pairing process over NFC with a phone, as we could've guessed, and the second one shows several different settings and management functions. A standard-looking settings screen shows the name of the watch paired (presumably over Bluetooth) to your phone, ways to manage clocks and apps, a function to "Find my watch" and more advanced settings underneath.

Nobody is quite sure how deep the phone integration will go nor how apps will work on the device, but it does clear up how you'll be connecting to your phone and what will be available to you. Samsung is set to show off the whole thing on September 4th, so be sure to check back to Android Central for full coverage then.

Source: @evleaks

Phone plans start at $55 with2GB of data, tablets start at $15 for 250MB

AT&T has just announced that its separately-branded prepaid service called Aio Wireless will expand to be available nationwide starting in mid-September. The service, which is currently only available to customers in Florida, Texas, Metro-Atlanta and Chicago, will expand to cover customers across the country at an unspecified date in September. Not to be confused with AT&T's self-branded GoPhone prepaid brand, AioWireless offers lower levels of service and cheaper prices than GoPhonebut also offers a wide range of handsets and BYOD options.

Aio Wireless offers a few different mid-range Android devices like the Samsung Galaxy Express and ZTE Prelude, but we're going to assume most will use these plans with their own device and a standalone $9.99 SIM card from the carrier. There are just two simple smart phone plans to choose from in either case unlimited talk, text and data with 2GB of high-speed data for $55, or 7GB of high-speed data for $70 per month.

Following along with GoPhone's recent upgrade, Aio Wireless is now offering LTE data speeds to customers as well, which is a big upgrade for prepaid customers. The phone plan terms explicitly cap data speeds at 8mbps, however, which is not the case on GoPhone's plans in our experience.

Data speeds are slowed rather than cut off after you hit the given limit, and additional buckets of data can be purchased at the rate of $15 per1GBif you want to top-up. Standalone tablet plans are also available, with the base price of $15 per month for250MBof data.

If you're interested in browsing Aio Wireless' plans you can visit their website at the second source link below, but you'll need to enter a Florida or Texas zip code to browse until it opens up officially nationwide.

Source: AT&T; Aio Wireless

No indication of pricing or availability

Although AT&T and Verizon have both announced and launched their variants of the Moto X, T-Mobile customers are still waiting for the carrier to expand on its vague statements from the Moto X's initial launch day. Back when it was announced, T-Mobile's official statement was that the carrier wouldn't be selling the handset directly, but rather Motorola would be handling the distribution. The above training documentation obtained by TmoNews seems to indicate that Google Play, not Motorola, will be handling the sales instead.

A certain launch date or any other details aren't available at the moment, but this one makes us scratch our heads a little bit. Is T-Mobile expecting to just support an unlocked version of the Moto X? That could certainly be the case, but then we're unsure how pricing will break down. We haven't seen Google Play sell devices with contracts or financing the main way T-Mobile sells phones before, and we don't really see it starting now.

Hopefully we get a better feel for when the handset will be available for T-Mobile, as well as Sprint, in the coming weeks.

Source: TmoNews