Lilbits (7-25-2014): Fire Phone dissected, Firefly dev board unveiled

The tech world is on fire… or something. Amazon’s Fire Phone hit the streets this week and underwent the usual rite of passage: several different groups took it upon themselves to rip the phone apart and see what’s under the hood.

Meanwhile there’s a new Fire in town… the Firefly-RK3288 isn’t going to get as much attention as Amazon’s phone. But it’s a pretty nifty looking dev board powered by Rockchip’s new ARM Cortex-A17 processor.

Here’s a roundup of tech news from around the web. You can keep up on the latest news by following Liliputing on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook.

• Firefly-RK3288 developer board is basically a tiny, ARM Cortex-A17 powered computer
  The board features 8GB of storage, a microSD card slot, a quad-core CPU, Mali-T674 graphics, HDMI and SPDIF and support for 4K video as well as expansion headers for developers. [CNX Software]
• GE says it has technology that will offer better color reproduction on phones, tablets, TVs with LED displays
  The trick is apparently making the reds look redder and the greens greener. [GE]
• Ematic takes its budget tablets to new lows with the $50 EGD172
  It’s still probably not worth it though. The tablet has Android 4.4 KitKat, but just 512MB of RAM and an 800 x 480 pixel display. [TigerDirect]
• Former Googler Jean-Baptiste Queru gives his impressions on HP’s 14 inch Android laptop
  Android may have been designed for phones and tablets, but most things work just fine on the HP Slatebook 14 laptop. Portrait-only apps run with black bars on the sides, and font rendering and other graphics elements leave a bit to be desired. [+Jean-Baptiste Quéru]
• Intel adds Atom Z3530 Moorefield chip to its smartphone/tablet lineup
  This appears to be a 1.33 GHz quad-core, 64-bit processor which will likely be a bit cheaper than the Atom Z3560 and Z3580 chips in the same family. [CPU World]
• Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS released: stable update for the long-term-support version of Ubuntu
  Don’t expect major new features, but do expect security updates and bug fixes. [Ubuntu]
• Report: Android tablets with Intel Braswell chips, full HD screens coming in 2015 for $299 to $499
  There will also be cheaper Bay Trail and Cherry Trail tablets with prices ranging from $179 to $249. [Fudzilla]
• Lenovo may have a new Miix 2 8 inch Windows tablet with a Full HD display
  The company may be sold out of 8 inch Windows tablets in the US at the moment, but European retailers are starting to show a new model with a full HD screen. [Mobile Geeks]
• Report: This could be the Motorola Moto X+1 (photos)
  Motorola’s next phone is coming… and this is what it looks like. Maybe. [Android Police]
• Comixology now offers DRM-free backups for select digital comic books
  Titles are available as download in PDF and CBZ formats. It’s up to individual publishers to decide whether to offer the feature though. [Comixology]
• Amazon Fire Phone teardowns suggest it has $208 in parts and is tough to repair
  Odds are that you weren’t planning on fixing the phone yourself anyway, but iFixit is a repair shop, so the company gives a repairability score to everything it takes apart. Tech Insights, meanwhile, estimates the bill of materials. Does the $208 figure mean Amazon makes more than $400 in profit on every phone sold? Not necessarily: research, development, and distribution don’t come cheap. [iFixit and Tech Insights]