Is this an iPhone 6 – or a Chinese clone?

An “iPhone 6”, suspected to be a knock-off Chinese clone, has set pulses racing as Apple fans count down the last month until new phones are released.

The pictures of the device, supposedly in its final retail packaging,surfaced on the tech blog TechRadar on Monday morning. They show a phone similar to the iPhone 5S, albeit larger with more rounded edges and a few subtle design differences. The box itself is nearly identical to that of the 5S, while a picture of the phone being turned on shows the familiar Apple logo on a boot screen.

But a number of tell-tale signs highlight the pictures as probable fakes.

Most notably, the screenshot on the front of the case is of a device running iOS 7, due to be superseded by iOS 8 on the new devices released in the autumn. Missing from the front is the Health app, a default application on every iOS device and a major publicity target for Apple.

Similarly, the build quality of the phone itself appears not to be up to typical apple standards. The plastic strips breaking up the metal band around the side appear to have grown compared to the iPhone 5S, as has the visible separation between the glass and the screen – something Apple has been working to reduce over the years.

There are a number of discrepancies between the box art and the phone itself, with the box displaying a gold “iPhone 6” despite carrying a silver model.

To top it all off, the supposed source of the phone – “an Apple beta tester” – doesn’t match at all with how the company has previously distributed beta devices. In previous years, beta testers haven’t received their phones in retail packaging, and have instead been handed devices in cases designed to obscure the fact that they are an iPhone at all. It would a be a major change for a company with such a dedication to secrecy to lift such practices.

So where is the phone from? The pictures seem too imperfect to simply be a photoshop, and a few images – particularly the moire effect on the screen itself – would be hard indeed to fake.

Instead, it seems likely that the device is a knock-off iPhone 6 of the sort already produced and sold in Asian markets. Clone iPhones are big business, and the devices don’t just ape the physical look and feel of the phone, but even attempt to clone the UI as much as possible. In 2011, an American tourist in China even discovered a clone Apple Store, apparently staffed with employees who didn’t know they were not working for Apple.

In an effort to beat the competition, the knock-off vendors keep up to date with the rumour mill just as much as the biggest Apple fans, and begin production of their own versions well in advance of the launch. That might be how this device matches the rumoured screen size and hardware design so closely.

Despite Apple’s commitment to secrecy, the size of the initial shipment of iPhones is now so high, and the supply chain so large, that the firm struggles to prevent leaks to the same degree that it managed to in 2010, when the first generation iPad was introduced to an audience who had no clue what the device would look like.

The new iPhone is likely to include at least one larger model, with a screen measuring 4.7 inches, and maybe a second 5.5 inch device on top of that. Those screens could be made out of either sapphire or a sapphire blend, to make them more scratch-proof than any previous model.

10,000 ZenFone 5 units on sale exclusively via Flipkart today, says Asus

Following the footsteps of Xiaomi, Asus has announced that it will put 10,000 units of its ZenFone 5 smartphone on sale exclusively via Flipkart today. The Zenfone 5 is available in 8GB and 16GB versions, and the company hasn’t specified further break according to the storage space. Currently, the Flipkart page still shows the device is “out of stock” and it’s asking users to insert their email addresses to receive alerts about its availability.

The 8GB variant of the ZenFone 5 is priced at Rs 9,999, while the 16GB storage variant costs Rs 12,999.  The device was launched alongside a slew of other Zenfone models like the Zenfone 4, 4.5, and 6. Last month, the company had claimed to have sold 40,000 Zenfone units in a mere four days in India. 

Sitting in between the higher-end Zenfone 6 and low-end Zenfone 4, the dual-SIM Zenfone 5 sports a 5-inch screen.

It features a 1280 x 720 pixel IPS display, and comes with an 8MP rear camera.  There’s the standard 2MP camera for selfies and video calls. It runs on the same 2GHz Intel Atom dual-core processor as on the Zenfone 6, so it should be just as fast. It’s available in both 8GB and 16GB versions and you can add up to 64GB with a microSD card.

The Moto G was Motorola's biggest selling handset of all time. With the Moto E, it's going even cheaper – but is this a cut too far?

2013's Moto G was arguably one of the most significant handsets ever produced by Motorola, and that's saying something when you consider just how long the company has been making mobile handsets. It is apparently the firm's best-selling smartphone of all time, and attained that status by providing fantastically capable tech with excellent software at a bargain price.

Does the Moto E compete? Or is it just a cut too far? Join us for our full review of the Moto E.

Motorola Moto E Review: Design & Display

At first glance you would be forgiven for assuming the Moto G and Moto E are identical; they both share a minimalist design, with a largely plain front and a matte-touch back panel which is rounded neatly so that it sits perfectly in the palm of your hand. Motorola has been subtle when it comes to embellishing the phone, too. The iconic "M" logo resides on the rear of the handset, but aside from that, there's little else in the way of innocuous branding. 

Upon closer inspection it becomes clear that the Moto E lacks some of the physical refinements of its slightly more expensive sibling. The build quality remains excellent, but it feels a little less robust than the Moto G. It's slightly chubbier too, despite the fact that in length and width, it's actually a smaller handset. 

There are some neat touches, however: the silver strips above and below the screen, which double up as grilles for the earpiece and speaker, conspire to break-up an otherwise monolithic frontage. While the back panel of the Moto E can be removed – just as was the case with the Moto G – the battery contained inside is not removable. It does support MicroSD cards, however. 

The Moto E's screen is one of the most obvious areas where Motorola has cut back costs. Here we have a 4.3-inch 960 x 540 pixel display, which is a step backwards from the 4.5-inch 720p screen we were greeted with on the Moto G. As a result, you'll notice that it's possible to pick out individual pixels on certain images, text especially. On the whole, however, the difference probably isn't as pronounced as you might imagine. The lower resolution also means that the phone's slightly weak CPU doesn't have as much heavy lifting to do, which is a bonus. 

Despite its bargain basement price, Motorola has ensured that the Moto E can withstand the usual everyday punishments we put our tech through. The screen is constructed of Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which is a super-tough material designed to withstand marks and scratches, as well as prevent unsightly smudging. We're happy to report that it performs its role admirably; compared to our Nexus 5, which has a screen that attracts greasy fingerprints with worrying regularity, the Moto E's display managed to remain almost entirely smudge-free during the review period.

The bodywork of the phone is also splash proof, which means you don't have to be too concerned about getting it wet when you're running for the bus on a rainy Monday morning. However, it doesn't offer the same protection as truly water-resistant phones, like the Galaxy S5 and LG G3, so don’t go getting in the shower or bath with it.

Motorola Moto E review: Software & User Experience 

One of the most appealing elements of the Moto G was the fact that it used stock Android, with only a smattering of exclusive apps to set it apart from the likes of the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5. Stock Android is generally faster and slicker than the UIs produced by the likes of Samsung and HTC, and this is because it hasn't been tinkered with in any way –– it's a "pure" version of Google's OS

Motorola has wisely maintained this stance with the Moto E, which is running Android 4.4.2 and will be getting an upgrade to the next version, Android L, once it becomes available later this year.

Motorola Moto E Review: Hardware & CPU

The Moto E is packing a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon 200 processor backed by 1GB of RAM, and an Adreno 302 graphics processor. If that doesn't mean anything to you then take it from us, this isn't a cutting-edge handset. Even so, the overall performance isn't to be sniffed at. The Moto E may not offer the silky-smooth feel of the Nexus 5 or Galaxy S5, but it's still more than adequate for most users and not a million miles away from the experience provided by the Moto G, which is running a more powerful set of internal specifications.

Benchmark tests prove what we already know; the tech inside the Moto E isn't going to win any awards when set against the very best that Android has to offer. Running AnTuTu delivers a score of 12647, putting the Moto E well behind the likes of the HTC One M8, Samsung Galaxy S5 and LG G2. 

On Geekbench 3, the phone scores a 594 multi-core score, and a 322 single-core score – again, well below cutting-edge. Such figures sound damning on paper, but in reality the gulf isn't as pronounced as you might expect. 3D games naturally don't run as quickly or as smoothly, but every day usage is perfectly fine.

Motorola Moto E Review: Battery & Memory 

The Moto E comes with a 1920mAh battery, which can clearly be seen when you remove the back panel, but sadly cannot be accessed or removed. Motorola boasts that the phone is capable of lasting an entire day, and during our review this claim seemed to hold water.

We managed to get past that all-important 24-hour marker before a trip to the nearest wall socket was needed, but when we adopted a more aggressive usage pattern the stamina dropped massively. The Moto E may have a more modest CPU, but the fact that it's one of the older Snapdragon processors means that it's also not as economical with the juice and, therefore, won't last as long as its more expensive stable mate.

The Moto E comes with just 4GB of internal storage, of which you only have access to just over half – 2.16GB, to be precise. Needless to say, this fills up pretty quickly, so you'll want to invest in a Micro SD card as soon as possible. However, due to essential security changes in KitKat, external memory isn't the wild and free place it used to be on Android. Apps can only interact with folders they have created themselves on the SD card, so while you can create folders and add content using your PC, your apps won't be able to make changes within those folders due to Android's newfound security.

Translation: if you use a lot of apps you’re probably best of looking at a phone with more internal storage – 16GB and up-levels of storage, to be precise.

Motorola Moto E Review: Camera 

This is possibly the weakest point of the entire phone. The Moto E features a 5MP camera, but it's a fixed focus lens so you can't take close-up shots. There's also no LED flash.

While the auto HDR function does a good job of improving image quality, the overall performance of the Moto E's camera is rather poor when compared to most other Android phones. 

The fact that it's only when you use the Moto E as a photographic device that you're reminded of its low-cost origins says a lot about the general quality of this blower, but that doesn't make it any less disappointing. Photos are increasingly becoming a major part of our mobile experience thanks to apps like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and there's a good chance that you'll be too embarrassed to come along to the party when you're armed with such a lacklustre snapper.

It's also worth noting that the Moto E lacks a front-facing camera, so you can't use the phone for Skype calls or any of that kind of jazz.

Motorola Moto E Review: Conclusion 

The Moto G completely redefined the concept of the budget smartphone, providing an experience that most people would have happily paid twice or maybe three times as much for. The Moto E is even cheaper, but in order to shave some cash off the RRP, Motorola has had to cut corners when it comes to screen size, CPU power and camera capability. 

Despite this, the Moto E remains an impressive phone that puts rival low-cost smartphones well and truly in the shade. If you're in the market for a device and price is your primary concern, then it makes sense to save the additional pennies and pick this over the Moto G, but if you can stretch the cost then Motorola's 2013 offering is a cannier purchase. .

The Xiaomi Mi 3 ordeal: Why the Flipkart exclusive strategy is not working

Last month, everyone was excited about Xiaomi. A look at the Mi 3 specs and price, and you wouldn’t doubt the frenzy either. The company decided to go the Motorola way and opted for the online distribution model with an exclusive tie-up with Flipkart, rather than setting up a local sales base or its own online retail channel. However, that arrangement hasn’t quite worked as expected. That’s down to the lack of information about availability, Flipkart’s troubles in dealing with heavy traffic and the new registration process that hasn’t gone down well with several shoppers.

The Xiaomi Mi 3 went on sale on July 22, and the company had claimed to receive around 1,00,000 registrations by July 21 itself. Only registered users could buy the device the next day. However, pre-registration didn’t guarantee you a unit, and it only meant you were eligible to buy the phone. As soon as the Mi 3 went live on the site, Flipkart couldn’t handle the traffic and the site crashed temporarily. Within 40 minutes, Flipkart claimed the Mi 3 was out of stock, but the site promptly said it would bring in the next batch on July 29 while the registration would begin on July 28. And to top it all, the second batch apparently sold in five seconds.

Its third batch sold out at a record less than two seconds. Two seconds may sound unbelievable? This was possible as Flipkart had changed the process for the second batch wherein users simply needed to add the device to their carts, and could make the payment any time later that day.  All the hype has generated one simple question: How many Mi 3 units have been sold so far?

An earlier report by BGR claimed the number to be around 20,000, while Zauba and import-export tracking site, shows that only 10,400 units of Mi 3 units were brought to India on July 25. If these details are to be believed than Flipkart may have put up approximately 10,000 units on sale each of the previous two times. It then put up 15,000 units on sale, and today’s flash sal will see 20,000 units go up on sale. And when it is back in stock next week (which we suspect it will), then we could be in for a re-run of the out-of-stock drama next week too, when the Mi 3 will be back on sale.

It would also be safe to assume that Xiaomi was gauging the response to the relatively new Chinese brand in India and has been cautious about the number of units it has shipped to the country. In that case, the question many are asking is why did the company allow up to one lakh registrations if it had just 10,000 units. It wouldn’t have been able to meet the tenfold demand, anyway. It should also be noted that Flipkart claimed to have around 250,000 potential buyers on the Mi 3 page when the second batch went on sale. So the demand was several times the meagre number of units available, if the actual sales figures are true.

iPhone 6 release date, news and rumors

The new iPhone could be one of the most pivotal devices in the Cupertino brand's history - with the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C simple updates to previous models, there's a lot of pressure heaped on the iPhone 6.

As per usual, the internet is awash with rumor, speculation and downright lies over this next-generation handset, which is why we spend our time trawling through each nugget of info, debating its merits and curating it into this easy-to-read hub for all things iPhone 6.

According to a survey of 4109 US consumers the iPhone 6 is the most anticipated Apple smartphone ever, with interest easily outstripping that of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5.

We've already been given a small sneak peak at what Apple may have in store for us on the iPhone 6 thanks to the announcement of iOS 8 at WWDC - from a bigger screen and camera to health monitoring and more storage.

• What iOS 8 tells us about the iPhone 6

Some of you might have been expecting the iPhone 6 to have debuted in 2013, but given the iPhone's history - from the 3G onwards, there's always been a half-step S model before the next numbered iPhone - we were never going to get the 6 until 2014.

In fact, it will technically be the iPhone 8 when it finally launches... but hey, who's counting these days? It's unlikey to arrive alongside the new iPad, which is expected a few weeks later in October.

One thing is for sure, with the Samsung Galaxy S5, LG G3, Sony Xperia Z2 and HTC One M8 now out in wild, Apple needs to be on its game with the new iPhone - and many believe a bigger screen is simply a must.