With one notable exception, the Samsung Galaxy S IV rumor mill seems to have been dramatically slowed this week, which could indicate that the anonymous sources that have been only too eager to gab about the device of late are putting the lid on as time ticks down toward many of the rumored release dates.
The aforementioned exception, of course, is a new release date -- the ever-busy SamMobile site reports that March 15 will be D-Day.
[ MORE ANDROID: Android Trojan infects smartphone to launch attack on PC ]
It does fit with what we've been hearing lately, of course -- the more credible-seeming rumors have been consistently predicting a post-Mobile World Congress release for some weeks, and there are other indications that the wheels are in motion on the device already. DigitalTrends yesterday cited a Korean report which said that screens matching the rumored 5-inch, 1080p specs of the Galaxy S IV have entered production.
Still, the fact that the consensus has shifted considerably over the past couple of months -- if you remember, plenty of folks, including myself, were betting on an MWC launch not long ago -- highlights the fact that there's very little solid information out there about the Galaxy S IV. Hopefully, we'll get a real look at it before this summer.
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LG has a lot of enticing-looking adjectives in this video, which tells me ... well, actually, it doesn't really tell me much, but they sure sound excited, don't they?
All those words -- it's like the opening of "The Colbert Report," though less truthy and grippy.
Nobody seems to have the tiniest notion what they might be teasing for MWC 2013, though a new handset would make sense. Hopefully they can get a better handle on popular demand this time, if that's the case.
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Speaking of which, both versions of the Nexus 4 can still be bought from the Play store as of this writing, although they'll be delayed by two to three weeks.
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Pictures of what might be the HTC M4 have leaked on the website of a Chinese telecom regulator, according to GSM Arena, though it's far from clear whether it's a new model or simply a Chinese-market version of the HTC One SV.
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The International Business Times says there's a pre-Key Lime Pie version of Jelly Bean on its way in mid-February, citing anonymous sources at Google who say they've been testing Android 4.2.2. No particularly notable changes are expected, but IBTimes says there should be a host of bug fixes in the new version.
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While I freely admit that I'm only including it here because I saw it pop up on Reddit, I must say that I'm intrigued by Swearport, an app that translates invective and profanity into a variety of other languages. OK, yes, it's terribly silly and not particularly useful, but $1? Not a bad ******* deal. (Link here. Be aware that the logo is a middle finger, those of you with particularly puritan workplace Web guidelines.)
Email Jon Gold at jgold@nww.com and follow him on Twitter at @NWWJonGold.
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