2012 Tech News Update: Galaxy Note II coming in October, Titan Gray of Galaxy S III soon? davidlim, Auckland, 0212640000

An unnamed retailer contacted SamMobile and said that there are two surprises that await us in September. The first is the Samsung N7100 Galaxy Note II, which by all accounts will be unveiled this Wednesday at the pre-IFA Samsung event.

A screenshot of the retailer's database shows two color versions of the Galaxy Note II - Ceramic White (not "Marble" White like the Galaxy S III) and one more that is listed as 'TBD'. If we look at the launch colors of the Galaxy S III, it should be blue though there are other possibilities.

According to the retailer, the Samsung Galaxy Note II will launch in Week 40 of this year - that's the first week of October.

The second surprise is a new color version of the Samsung Galaxy S III - we already have the Marble White, Pebble Blue, Garnet Red and Black, but it appears that a new color called Titan Gray will be joining the palette.

As usual, this info is to be taken with a pinch of salt until it comes out of the mouth of a Samsung spokesman, but we may have already seen the Gray Galaxy S III in early June. We'll know for sure in week 37 (September 10-16), when the Titan Gray color version is supposed to launch.

2012 Google Android News: HTC Desire X returns with new photos (Auckland, New Zealand, David, Lim, 0212640000)

The HTC Desire X (codenamed 'Proto') was caught out in the wild in Taipei, reports a poster on ePrice. Even better - the leaks comes from an event to promote the phone to retailers, so it came in both colors with plenty of press material.

HTC Desire X press materials

We already know the basics of the Desire X - a 4" Super LCD WVGA screen, dual-core 1GHz processor, 768MB of RAM, Beats audio and a design inspired by Desire V (a dual-SIM phone for Asian markets). The press materials add some more info - the Desire X will run Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich with Sense 4.0 on top, it will have 4GB of built-in storage plus 25GB from Dropbox along with a microSD slot.

Here's the phone in white and in blue, with a quick size comparison between it and the One X:
      

HTC Desire X in White and in Blue • Desire X vs. One X size comparison

The camera is a 5MP unit with LED flash, F/2.0 aperture and HTC ImageChip (same technology as in the One X and One S phones). The phone will have Bluetooth 4.0 with high-quality aptX audio streaming.

The HTC Desire X measures 118.5 x 62.3 x 9.3mm and weighs 120g - which is about as big as an iPhone. It will not use a microSIM card, but we couldn’t tell from the press materials if it's a dual-SIM phone like the Desire V or not. This final table marks a feature that the One X lacks, but we can't tell what it is - if you speak the language, we'd appreciate a post in our comments.

   

Is the Desire X a dual-SIM phone or not?

The HTC Desire X will reportedly cost $360/€290. Unfortunately, there's no launch date info on the press materials.

The grandmother who got trapped in her own bathroom for 3 weeks

  
A French woman was rescued after getting trapped in her own bathroom for three weeks. The 69-year-old grandmother got stuck after the lock on the door snapped behind her. Despite banging for help for nearly a month, she was forced to survive on tap water before neighbors realized what had happened. They had thought the noises during the night had just been workmen carrying out maintenance. The unnamed grandmother was rescued from her apartment in Essone, near Paris, by police. They said she had been in a terrible state when they forced their way into the bathroom.

The man whose wheelchair got stuck to a truck and got a 4-mile ride! (real story, true, event, news, report)

A 21-year-old man got the ride of a lifetime when his electric wheelchair became lodged in the grill of a semitrailer and was pushed down a highway for several miles at about 50 mph. Ben Carpenter was unharmed but was taken to a hospital as a precaution. He had been secured to his wheelchair by a seat belt. Carpenter, who has muscular dystrophy, told a television station that he thought he might not make it through the ride.

Carpenter had started to cross at an intersection in Paw Paw, about 140 miles west of Detroit. The light changed to green while his son was in front of a semi, which started moving. The wheelchair's handles became lodged in the grille, the father said, and the wild ride started.

Motorists called police on their cell phones, and a pair of undercover police officers who happened to be nearby saw what was happening. They pulled the truck over and told the disbelieving driver, Donald Carpenter said. The chair was undamaged except for losing most of the rubber on its wheels.