Handset Launches - News Snippets

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Sony Ericsson launches first Android Walkman phone W8

Source

As we reported earlier, Sony Ericsson today made first Android powered Walkman series phone official on its Website. Dubbed as W8, it looks like an extended version of Sony Ericsson Xperia X8, and bears similar specifications.

Sony Ericsson W8 features a three inch display with 320 x 480 pixels resolution, 600 MHz processor, 128 MB internal memory with microSD card support upto 16GB and 3.2 MP camera. Features and pretty basic as per the industry standard nowadays, so we would expect an aggressive pricing from the company.

This phone is targeted towards music lovers, so company hasn't bothered it with the latest version of Android and it comes with Android 2.1. W8 will be available in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam from Q2 2011.

[digitalnirvana 646]

^

Would sell quick if priced correct, the walkman series has amazing music. I like the way Sony/SE is adapting all it's products to fit into the android spectrum - from walkman phone to playstation phone.

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

Another SE android without multi-touch???

[Karthik R 246]

Weak specs - 600MHz processor and 168MB of RAM. Small screen. I doubt it getting the Froyo update.

It is going to be another mega flop if they dont price it in the sub Rs. 10,000 band.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Dell Streak India price drops to INR 24,350; Streak 7 incoming?

Source

Dell today reduced the price of its Android tablet cum smartphone Streak in India. Dell Streak, which was reselling for INR 31,000 till now, will now be available for just INR 24,350.

Dell Streak features an impressive feature set at the current pricing, it comes with Android 2.2 on-board, 5 inch display [Gorilla Glass], 5MP camera with front facing cam, Dell Stage UI, and 1 GHz Snapdragon processor.

This huge price-drop can be attributed to the possible Streak 2 launch in India. Dell Streak 2 is already available for sale in US, and UK. Streak 7 was announced at CES earlier this year, and features Android 2.2, nVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, 7 inch display and rear-facing 5 megapixel camera, front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera, 16 GB of internal memory and SD Card slot.

The WiFi only version of Dell Streak 7 can be sold around INR 21,000 in India, although nothing official has been announced till now.

Dell Streak At Flipkart For Rs 24,399

[rajanmehta 4,056]

[digitalnirvana 646]

Here is a detailed review.

[digitalnirvana 646]

Samsung Galaxy S II available for pre-order in India, delivery in early May

Here.

[digitalnirvana 646]

Dell's roadmap leaks, revealing details of upcoming Honeycomb and Windows tablets

Source: thinkdigit.com and androidcentral.com

[digitalnirvana 646]

G'Five to bring low-cost Android smarpthones and tablets to India soon

It was back in January when G’Five introduced 21 mobiles that we got an inkling it would be bringing low-cost Android tablets and netbooks to the country, with some basic devices present at the launch. Now, various reports over the past week confirm that G’Five will also be bringing entry-level and mid-range Android phones to the country.

Jaideep Chopra, VP of G'Five, spoke to the Mobile Indian about the upcoming devices, saying: “We will enter the Android smartphone space with multiple devices with different hardware options, but all phones will be based on Android 2.1 version.”

As for tablets, a 7-inch device is expected, with a capacitive touchscreen and an 800MHz processor, priced at around Rs. 13,000.

Source.

[shrik 9]

Olive Telecom Launches OliveFluid V-W1 Android in India at Rs. 10,490 A New Android From The Indian Brand

Available on Flipkart for Rs. 7549 Must say quite a rapid drop in price within a week! It's now the third cheapest Android phone on the site, after Micromax A60 and Dell XCD28.

Edited April 26, 2011 by shrik

[digitalnirvana 646]

Samsung Galaxy S Plus featuring 1.4GHz processor and Gingerbread to launch soon

Also known as the Samsung Galaxy S 2011 Edition, the Galaxy S Plus has been officially launched in Russia for 21,990 rubles, or roughly $780, and is expected to hit shelves in May. The phone will apparently also be available in other markets soon, and we’ll be keeping an eye out for it.

Running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the phone indeed looks an updated ‘2011’ version of Samsung’s current Android smartphone flagship device, the Galaxy S, at least until the Galaxy S II lands. The 1.4GHz Scorpion processor is part of the Qualcommm Snapdragon MSM8255T chipset, also featuring the slightly outdated Adreno 205 GPU. According to Qualcomm, the chipset surprisingly consumes approximately the same power as the 1GHz chipset powering the current Galaxy S. The Galaxy S Plus has the same 4-inch screen as the rest of the current Galaxy S family, with the same Super AMOLED display technology, and a little ironically, not the Super AMOLED Plus tech the phone’s name could imply.

The two phones, Galaxy S and Galaxy S Plus, are virtually identical in terms of dimensions, weight, and the remaining specifications. There are a few minor differences though, apart from the processor and chipset. The Galaxy S Plus has a larger 1650 mAh battery instead of the 1500 mAh battery of the original, promising better battery life, if Qualcomm’s power efficiency claims are to be believed. It also has improved 3G connectivity, with HSDPA 14.4Mbps compared to the original’s 7.2Mbps. The Galaxy S Plus is also only available with 8GB built-in storage, unlike the I9000 Galaxy S, which had a 16GB variant on offer as well.

Lastly, the Galaxy S Plus has a metallic back panel instead of the original plastic. In other news, Samsung has been introducing numerous other devices in Russia that the rest of the world should see soon, including dual-SIM dual-standby GSM-GSM phones – making India an almost definite destination. These include the Samsung Duos E1182, E2232, and C3322, as well as the Samsung C6712 Star II Duos.

Source: thinkdigit.com

[rajanmehta 4,056]

RIM Introduces New BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 Smartphones

Source

Research In Motion today announced two new BlackBerry Bold smartphones 9900 and 9930 smartphones which features BlackBerry 7 operating system.

These BlackBerry Bold smartphones are built on a new performance-driven platform featuring a 1.2 GHz processor, Liquid Graphics touch screen, and support for high speed 4G/HSPA+ wide area wireless networks.

The new platform also provides support for 4G networks; the 9900 supports HSPA+ connectivity, and the 9930 supports CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and HSPA+ global roaming on GSM/UMTS networks.

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 smartphones include built-in support for NFC (Near Field Communications), a new technology that will enable many rich and exciting experiences.

Through NFC, users will be able to, for example, pair the BlackBerry Bold to an accessory or read information such as a web link from smart tags by simply tapping their BlackBerry Bold to an NFC tag (eg. Smart Poster).

The BlackBerry 7 OS is designed to power the new performance-driven BlackBerry Bold platform. It provides an easier and faster user experience with improved browsing, voice-activated searches, the ability to manage personal content separately from corporate content, as well as additional personal and productivity apps out of the box.

BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 Specifications

• 115 x 66 x 10.5 mm, approximately 130 g

• 2.8″ capacitive touch screen display – VGA (640×480), 287 dpi resolution

• Ultra-easy QWERTY keyboard, optical trackpad

• 1.2 GHz Processor, 768 MB RAM

• 8 GB on-board memory, plus microSD slot supporting up to 32 GB cards

• NFC technology

• 5.0 MP camera, supports 720p HD video recording

• Orientation Sensor (Accelerometer), Digital Compass (Magnetometer), Proximity Sensor

• Built-in GPS / aGPS

• Dual-Band Wi-Fi® – 802.11 b/g/n at 2.4 GHz and 802.11 a/n at 5 GHz

• Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR support

• Wireless Network support:

• 9900: Tri-Band HSPA+, Quad-Band GSM/EDGE

• 9930: Dual-Band CDMA/EV-DO Rev. A, Dual-Band HSPA+, Quad-Band GSM/EDGE

• 1230 mAh removable, rechargeable battery

• BlackBerry 7 OS

The new BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 smartphones are expected to be available from carriers around the world beginning this summer.

The BlackBerry 7 OS is designed to power the new performance-driven BlackBerry Bold platform. It provides an easier and faster user experience with improved browsing, voice-activated searches, the ability to manage personal content separately from corporate content, as well as additional personal and productivity apps out of the box.

[digitalnirvana 646]

^

So the Dakota and Montana rumors posted earlier here and here are correct. The only surprise is BlackBerry 7 OS not 6.1.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Sony Ericsson Reveals Next-Gen Xperia Mini, Mini Pro

Source

As expected, Sony Ericsson today announced the successors to Xperia X10 Minis and these will be called Xperia Mini and Xperia Mini Pro. Sony Ericsson will start selling them in the selected markets around the globe in Q3.

Xperia Mini and Mini Pro come with significant upgrades in the form of 1GHz Snapdragon processor and Android 2.3. Both the smartphones features Reality display along with Bravia Engine.

Other features of the SE Xperia Mini and Mini Pro include 720p HD video recording, 3 inch scratch-resistant, multi-touch display and 5MP camera.

Xperia Mini Pro will have the slide out QWERTY similar to Xperia Pro and will come with pre-installed office suit, McAfee antivirus.

We wanted to provide consumers even greater choice across the Xperia range, while building on the success of the original mini series. These turbo-charged smartphones now contain even more power, enhanced functionality, a larger screen and premium features unique to Sony Ericsson. They are packed full of features, making them a perfect choice for consumers looking for all the benefits of Android and Sony in a beautiful and easy to use compact form factor.

-Steve Walker, Head of Marketing, Sony Ericsson

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

G'Five to bring low-cost Android smarpthones and tablets to India soon

It was back in January when G’Five introduced 21 mobiles that we got an inkling it would be bringing low-cost Android tablets and netbooks to the country, with some basic devices present at the launch. Now, various reports over the past week confirm that G’Five will also be bringing entry-level and mid-range Android phones to the country.

Jaideep Chopra, VP of G'Five, spoke to the Mobile Indian about the upcoming devices, saying: “We will enter the Android smartphone space with multiple devices with different hardware options, but all phones will be based on Android 2.1 version.”

As for tablets, a 7-inch device is expected, with a capacitive touchscreen and an 800MHz processor, priced at around13,000.

Source.

Hmmm... They should atleast bring Android 2.2 phones, so that apps can be moved to SD, imho... Because they usually bring phones with just 128KB (YES KiloBytes) of Internal Memory (Eg GFive E71, etc)... Now guess an android phone with just few MB of PhoneMemory and running Eclair :NOTriste:

[digitalnirvana 646]

Upto 2.1 we can use apps2SD application available on XDA and market which does exact same thing, from 2.2 and further this feature is built into android. Infact apps2sd also has option of moving dalvik and cache to SD.

[digitalnirvana 646]

Motorola buzzed to launch two quad-core powered smartphones in 2012

There still a long way to go before change in calendar to 2012 rumors have already started pouring in. High profile launches include Nokia’s Windows Phone based devices and something very exciting cooking up at Motorola as well. Droid-Life reported that they have been tipped on two new Motorola devices scheduled for a 2012 Q1 launch. These may apparently be the first devices from Motorola to run on NVIDIA’s upcoming Tegra 3 quad-core processor.

Motorola codenamed these devices with the names: Motorola Bullet and Motorola Jet. Both the devices will run the Tegra 3 processor and would support 4G LTE capability. There is still a long time before we actually hear this from Motorola itself, so we might see some changes in the specifications when they make an appearance during CES 2012.

The Motorola Bullet is rumored to come with a 4.3-inch 960X540 screen and it would be a full touchscreen device. It will have at least 1 GB of DDR2 RAM (or maybe 1.5 GB), 16 GB of internal storage, NFC capability, and a 12 megapixel camera.The Motorola Jet will be a keyboarded version of Bullet. Bullet is supposed to launch before Jet so we might see some differences in internal specifications too.

Source.

[digitalnirvana 646]

HTC Incredible S - review

Price: Rs. 28,900 (MOP)

Full review here.

The HTC Incredible S is a really good phone, and is one of those few devices we can call "well rounded". Very good performance meets a great display, and good construction meets a great keypad. The 4-inch display is a great compromise between bulkier 4.3-inch units and the smaller 3.7-inch ones. We're greedy though, and in lieu of dual core phones on the horizon, we'd like the Incredible S to be around 4,000 bucks cheaper, but all said and done, if you're hunting for an Android phone in this price range today, the Incredible S should top your shopping list.

Pros

• Well built with a nice rugged, rubberised finish
  
• Good performer across all tests
  
• Good battery life, most welcome for an Android device
  
• Is one of those few devices with no serious flaws
  

Cons

• Slightly expensive. At Rs. 24K would be a really sweet deal
  
• Contrast of the display could have been slightly better, ditto blackness levels
  
• Microphone near mouthpiece picks up micro noise and transmits it to the earpiece
  
• Not really a con, but this is a single core device so future proofing is "iffy" at the moment
  

Source: thinkdigit.com

Edited May 10, 2011 by dipanlahiri

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Pantech Cooks Up World's First 1.5 GHz Dual-Core Phone

Source

If you keep a close eye on the latest dual-core superphones, you'll be blown away by the latest offering from...Pantech? The Korea-based company may not have a large smartphone presence in the West, but it throws together some decent devices at home. The latest in its Android lineup is the Vega Racer, the world's first superphone with a 1.5 GHz dual-core chip inside. With plans to go on sale later this month on SK-Telecom, it's got some real power under the hood with Qualcomm's MSM8660 Snapdragon chip, 1GB RAM, and Adreno 220 GPU. On top of these killer specs, the Racer also sports a 4.3-inch TFT LCD display with 800x480 WVGA resolution, dual cameras at 8MP / 1.3MP, and 1650 mAh battery. Not bad for a phone that weighs 120g (4.23 oz) and is 9mm thin.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Sharp and Softbank Releases The World First Android 2.3 Clamshell Phone

Source

Here you are ladies and gentlemen the world first Android 2.3 Clamshell phone. Heresy? Not so fast! Japanese people love clamshell phone more than anything else and it is not surprising that a company like Sharp decided to jump into this niche by designing the world first Android Clamshell.

Sold via Softbank, the AQUOS Phone "The Hybrid 007SH" is a unique phone that comes with everything you could think of! An IPX5/IPX7 Waterproof body, a 16.10Mpix sensor, a 3.4" WVGA 3D New Mobile ASV touchscreen, 720p video recording mode, 3D Photo and Video Mode, AQUOS TV connector Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and Android 2.3!

Mark my word on this one, but this is "The Hybrid 007SH" is THE phone that will bring the average Japanese customer to the Smartphone world… Japanese people are still so much attached to the Clamshell form-factors that many people here were waiting for something like this to happen in order to move from the Feature Phone era to the Smartphone one… Well-played Sharp!

[digitalnirvana 646]

Nokia Windows Phone 7 devices to feature dual-core 1.2GHz CPU and Mali 400 GPU

Some interesting details about the upcoming Nokia Windows Phone 7 devices have leaked – ST-Ericsson’s CEO, Carlo Bozotti has revealed the WP7 phones will be sporting his company’s U8500 dual-core mobile processor. While he didn’t mention the clock speed, the same processor has been seen running at 1.2GHz before, so it definitely seems possible.

If true, this puts the upcoming Nokia WP7 phones in the same league as the Samsung Galaxy S II, at least in terms of processing power, as the chipset also contains the same Mali 400 GPU as Samsung dual-core 1.2GHz Exynos chipset.

The new Nokia WP7 phones will be shipping with the yet-to-be-released Mango update onboard, or Windows Phone 7.5.

More information about Nokia’s WP7 roadmap was revealed by Bozotti, with the Finnish phone maker supposed to deliver 12 WP7 devices over the course of 2012. ST-Ericsson will also be providing mobile chipsets for Windows Phone 8.

Source: thinkdigit.com here.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Dual screen sporting LG Genesis out on LG website

Source

LG has made dual screen Android smartphone Genesis official. The smartphone was spotted today on LG US website. It is expected to be soon announced on US regional telecom operator US Cellular and possibly by Verizon.

LG Genesis features 3.5-inch WVGA external and a 3.2-inch WVGA internal display, 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8650 processor, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, standard connectivity package and microSD card slot (8GB card included).

It runs on Android 2.2 rather than newer Gingerbread.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

HTC Officially Announces Wildfire S in India For Rs 14,700

Official HTC Webpage http://www.htc.com/w...cification.html

Successor to HTC Wildfire with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, 600 Mhz Processor, 5 MP Camera, 512 MB Ram, 3.2" Display 320x480

Available on Letsbuy for Rs 12,999 (After rcomlb1 discount code) http://www.letsbuy.c...dfire-s-p-17202

[st_7 138]

ASUS Padfone

According to the some of the leaks, Asus is going to announce tomorrow at Computex its new innovative product ASUS Padfone - the company's first smartphone with a tablet(to dock it with) included as an accessory and you can see in the below pictures that the phone when docked appears to be fully comsumed by the tablet when the two are merged. Here are the some cool Pics of it.

The full specs will be announced at Computex tomorrow, but according to the leaked reports We can expect the tablet to be available in two colors: copper and black and save on costs and to fully take advantage of the unique integration between the phone and the tablet, ASUS will allow the camera lens to "show through" a hole in the cover that protects the phone. From this view we can also see a pair of speaker meshes, which suggests that the tablet has dual speakers.