Word on the street has it that the apparent delay for Nokia to release their Lumia 800 smartphone is because of this – the Finnish phone company is working to throw in LTE connectivity into the package before it makes its way to the US, something that Windows Phone 7.5 Mango at the moment does not support at all. Perhaps Nokia will roll out the Lumia 800 LTE with Tango, which is the next version of the Windows Phone operating system, or they could actually release it with specific Mango-based code drops which will be able to play nice with LTE functionality. Regardless of the outcome, AT&T does seem to be one of the more prominent figures in the equation. There are whispers of the Lumia 710 hitting the US via T-Mobile as well, and if that happens, you can be sure that it will not feature LTE connectivity in any way.
Ah well, as with most rumors, they are either confirmed or debunked in due time, so I guess we will just have to be patient and sit out on this one for the moment. You can always check out our Nokia Lumia 800 review while waiting for the (currently) fabled LTE version…
At CTIA last March, AT&T stole the show by announcing its intent to purchase T-Mobile US. This time around, the news is a bit more modest in comparison but the company's still hoping to give us a bit of a shock nonetheless, introducing a litany of new handsets right on time for the holiday season. The carrier promised the release of 12 Android devices throughout the course of the year, and this week's announcement pushes the 2011 running count to 19. Not too shabby. But we're looking for quality more than quantity, so what exactly are these new devices coming out? There's five to show off after the break.
Our first contestant is the long-awaited Motorola Atrix 2, the follow-up to the original smash hit of the same name. Everything appears to be exactly what we expected, such as the inclusion of HSPA+ 21Mbps, 4.3-inch qHD 960 x 540 display, 8MP camera with front-facing cam and 1080p HD video capture. AT&T also announced the Samsung Captivate Glide, which looks to be a decently-spec'd QWERTY-packing device that comes complete with 4-inch Super AMOLED display, Android 2.3, a 1GHz dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 CPU, 21Mbps HSPA+, an 8MP rear camera with 1.3MP front-facing cam, 1080p HD video capture and HDMI playback.
Let's check out the two new members of the Android family that offer a... well, different form factor. The Samsung DoubleTime is a clamshell QWERTY device with two capacitive touch screens -- an external and an internal. We give applause all around to attempting a new form factor, though the internals are a bit on the low-end; the new handset sports a 600MHz Qualcomm CPU and comes with Android 2.2. Yes, Froyo. To be fair, we imagine the DoubleTime will sell at a rather inexpensive price point, since it seems to be aimed at first-time smartphone buyers who want a crazy new phone design. Oh, and it comes in white and pink.
Next up is the Pantech Pocket, which offers a candybar Android 2.3 experience with a unique aspect ratio. How does a 4-inch SVGA (800 x 600) display sound? All in all, the Pocket sits squarely on the mid-end, with a 1GHz CPU, 5MP rear camera with flash and HD video capture (we're assuming 720p here, though it doesn't specify). Pricing hasn't been announced yet, but we've been told to expect the Pocket showing up on November 6th. Last but not least is the AT&T Avail, a ZTE device that's tailored specifically to the carrier's prepaid lineup. This one appears to hold up its end of the no-contract bargain pretty well, using a 3.5-inch display, running Gingerbread, and offering a 5MP rear camera with 512MB of RAM.
Get all that? It's certainly a mouthful, and the full listing of specs for each of the five devices can be found in the press release below -- as well as a gallery showing. We weren't told pricing for any of the phones, and the Pantech Pocket was the only one to receive a tentative release date. We're hoping to get the skinny on the missing details as we continue through CTIA. After all, we're just getting started.
KOREAN HARDWARE GIANT Samsung has launched its 5in Galaxy WiFi device with the 3.6in model still to come. Samsung announced its 3.6in WiFi phone last month at the IFA conference in Germany. It didn't mention the 5in model that is available now and the 3.6in model has been delayed until next month.
Simon Stanford, MD of mobile at Samsung said, "With the Galaxy Wi-Fi we have created a device that allows consumers all the fun and freedom of our other Android Galaxy devices. Consumers can choose from thousands of exciting apps and communicate with friends using the Social Hub or even services such as Skype. The different size options mean there is something for everyone."
The device looks like a Galaxy smartphone but doesn't have a SIM card slot so can't be used to make calls, for example. We guess that it's similar to how the Ipod Touch is basically an Iphone without the phone.
Both versions come with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, a 1GHz processor and the option of 8GB or 16GB of internal storage. This can be expanded thanks to the inclusion of a microSD card slot.
The larger size will have a better camera and battery, though, at 3.2MP compared to 2MP and a 2500mAh against 1500mAh battery. Both have Bluetooth, USB 2.0 and, of course, WiFi.
The 3.6in WiFi will retail at £146 and £169 for the 8GB and 16GB models whilst the 5in is available for £199 and £219 for the same capacities, respectively. ยต
WSJ has reported that Sony is looking to take over the reins from Ericsson after ten years of mobile device collaboration, in a move in which we’re hoping will provide more synergy between the company’s wide-spread gadget ecosystem.
The Japanese electronics mogul has already shown promise in the Tablet S and its ability to interact with home entertainment devices. And its PlayStation brand has proven that it can play nice with smartphones like the Xperia Play.
Tighter control and increased collaboration between gaming, mobile and entertainment divisions will hopefully result in an Apple-like future for the company in which all of Sony’s products will integrate seamlessly with each other. Here's to the future.
The BlackBerry Torch 9860 is a 3.7-inch touchscreen smartphone, sweeping aside the Storm name to give RIM another crack at a keyboardless device. It arrives with BlackBerry OS7, the same as the BlackBerry Bold 9900 which we reviewed recently, but offering a large screen BlackBerry experience.
Touchscreen devices are the most competitive category of smartphones. With big players producing increasingly sophisticated devices and refining the user experience at such a pace the BlackBerry Torch 9860 faces a huge challenge. Can BlackBerry still make an impact on the consumer space, or does forgoing a keyboard leave the handset toothless?
Design and controls
BlackBerry devices have been consistent in their design over the past few generations. One glance and you know the Torch 9860 is a BlackBerry. The framing of the two halves of the device with the silver band reflects a design highlight BlackBerry have been using for a couple of years. The soft curve at the top of the phone means you don't get a hard edge against your ear when you make a call.
By contrast, there is a sharp, hard, edge at the back of the phone and given the location of the lock/unlock on the top of the device, it's almost impossible to unlock the display comfortably using one hand. It's a small point and one of the first things we noticed. Even so, after about a week of use it stopped bothering us.
Running across the bottom of the display are a familiar selection of controls and all are physical buttons that stand proud of the body of the phone, unlike the flattened controls of the Bold 9900 or Torch 9810. Having pronounced controls might seem a little retro but at least you don't knock them as you use the device, so accidental presses are almost non-existent.
The screen tapers off to the left and right too, which makes it nice to swipe across the entire width of the phone, something that BB7 will let you do, thumbing through the menus or your messages.
The delicate contouring of the body of the phone around the 3.5mm headphone jack and the Micro-USB look great. It's nice to see attention to detail, especially design detail, but it does makes the BlackBerry Torch 9810 look a little unloved.
Measuring 120 x 62 x 11.5mm it's a good size too, although we feel the 120mm height is perhaps a little larger than it needs to be - we don't know how many extra millimetres went into those ends that feel just a bit too sharp.
We've mentioned main controls running across the bottom of the screen. These give you proper calling buttons, although BlackBerry now doesn't colour the call accept and reject buttons in green and red respectively, instead they are all white. Then there are menu button, the clickable, optical, navigation key and finally the back button.
Running down the side of the handset you'll find the usual arrangement of volume controls, in the centre of which is an additional button which will act as play/pause for your music, although, annoyingly, it won't launch the music player if it isn’t already open. Finally there is the convenience key that can be programmed to launch an app of your choosing.
Screen and hardware
Being a touch model and offering a large 3.7-inch display mean that the screen has to be good. It offers you resolution of 800 x 400 pixels, making it comparable to a number of Android and Windows Phone 7 devices. One thing is clear here: BlackBerry has figured out that people do care about specs.
What we find interesting, however, is that this gives you a different aspect to the BlackBerry Torch 9810, so across all the current devices you have different screen ratios. In the Torch 9860's favour, this is at least fairly conventional, so when you pair it up against something like the HTC Desire S your screen real estate is effectively the same.
It is a bright and vibrant screen. In direct sunlight we had no problem making out the details, with colours staying authentic, which is great. At the other end of the scale, however, it doesn't seem to want to dim to save the strain on your eyes - and battery - as the light drops, so you'll find that at night it can be a little dazzling.
But we're impressed with the performance. It is sharp, video playback looks good and the colour is impressive - a little on the warm side of the colour scale, but that brings a nice vibrancy to reds.
Elsewhere on the hardware front you'll find a 1.2GHz processor under the hood, along with 768MB RAM and 4GB of internal memory. This internal memory can be further boosted by microSD card. Hardware specs aren't the measure of a mobile phone, but with more and more people seeking out these sorts of numbers, at least the Torch 9860 comes to the track with the right kit.
Software and keyboard
Hardware can only get you so far however, if your software isn't optimised then the user experience will suffer. Refining software is something that RIM has been doing for a number of years, resulting in the most recent iteration of the operating system BB7. It isn't significantly different from BB6 visually, more of a refinement of the changes ushered in with the last generation.
There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but a doubt hangs over these new BlackBerry devices with ongoing discussion of a move to the QNX platform next year. As it is, the user experience on the Torch 9860 is somewhat marred by the software: at times it will drag its heels or stop responding for reasons you can't quite determine.
Some things obviously do have an impact on it: installing apps seems to tax the phone, locking you out of pretty much everything else and we've found that the homescreen and the browser would both regularly hang. We would often have to pull the battery to get it going again.
Of course the feature that BlackBerry owners get excited about is email, and you'll find everything present and correct. Setup out of the box is a breeze and within a few minutes you'll find yourself connected, receiving email and logged into your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Giving the nod to Google users, you can set up syncing to pull over your contacts and calendar too, which were swiftly handled. Unfortunately, as we've seen before, if you have more than one calendar associated with a Google account then you can't access them all: so we had to resort to Google Sync (the app) to bring the other calendar into line.
Take this step with caution, however, as we subsequently found that our PC calendar then had the appointments in triplicate, with no logical discernable method of easily tidying things back up again.
BlackBerry 7 offers up a respectable user experience and is more adept at touch control than in the past. A long press often brings up the pertinent menu controls, but you'll still find yourself needing the full menu to really get things going.
On other BlackBerry devices you have the advantage that you can easily get things going with the keyboard by using universal search. That advantage has now gone because you have to use the on-screen keyboard, although universal search is still in place, along with voice search.
Voice searching did a good job of picking out for contacts, but once you get into more difficult language, like the name of our local vet for example, the success ratio drops off rapidly. At least you get the run of universal search applications to choose from, be it BlackBerry Maps, Twitter, YouTube, etc.
The default keyboard itself isn't especially good. We're spoilt from using great third-party Android keyboards, which make BB7's keyboard look rather prehistoric. But with some tinkering you can probably find the right settings for you, the first port of call for us was speeding up the response from the keyboard as the default is rather sluggish.
Of course the keyboard opens whenever you enter a text field and can be closed with a quick swipe down the middle. After that you'll either have to find another text field to open it, or you'll have to open the menu and hit the "Show Keyboard" option. You might want to do this to take advantage of some of the BB shortcuts, like "T" for "top", for example.
In portrait we found the full keyboard was just too cramped and too inaccurate, meaning text entry slowed right down. Fortunately the reduced keyboard is also an option, the same as appears on the likes of the Pearl 8100 series, with two characters on each key. The phone can then sensibly pick out the words you're trying to write and the whole experience gets much better, as long as you don't need too many special characters. Some of the traditional BB shortcuts still work too, like a double space for full stop, or a space for inserting the @ into an email in an address field.
The core BlackBerry applications work well enough: universal inbox pulling in messages from all sources, including apps, and in many cases we've found the BlackBerry Facebook app to be much faster than the equivalent on Android. Being able to compose a message and get an option of just about all message types to send to is useful too.
We're not huge fans of BlackBerry Maps, which looks a little dated compared to most other mapping services like Google or Bing Maps on Windows Phone 7, but will just about do the job and Google Maps can be installed if you prefer. We found that there was no link from the calendar locations through to maps, leaving us to copy and paste. At least copy and paste is relatively simple to control, but can be a little too eager, for example selecting text in the Twitter app, when all you really want to do is scroll.
Browser and apps
The biggest change, however, is the browser. BlackBerry knew they had to improve it, and it really has done. It is now much faster than previously, so straight website browsing is a pleasure, with pages quick to load.
However, it isn't without problems. We've already mentioned that we experienced a lot of lock-ups when using the browser and this is a problem compounded by one of the other issues that faces the Torch 9860 and BB7 devices: apps.
Without dedicated apps, you'll spend more time using the browser to access those services, or that information, to get what you need. Although BlackBerry has BBC iPlayer, Spotify, eBay, Skype apps, for example, they aren't available for the Torch 9860. Head to the BBC iPlayer website and you'll get the standard "Your phone isn't supported" message.
What this points to is the immediate need for apps to be updated to give the Torch 9860 the best fighting chance as a competitive handset. Of course we found the same position with the Bold 9900 when we reviewed it in August and we're no better off. With the spectre of QNX hanging over this generation of devices, we can't be entirely confident it'll get the attention it needs to shine.
Camera and multimedia
With 3.7-inches of screen on offer video certainly comes to the fore. Despite the very obvious omission of Flash video support limiting your consumption of common online video, we found that local content was handled nicely. HD media from the memory card was delivered smoothly, so if you happen to have a stack of MPEG4 movies, then you'll be able to easily enjoy them on your phone. There is no sign of DLNA support however.
The 5-megapixel camera on the rear of the device is supported by an LED flash, suffering from the usual shortcomings you'd expect from a phone. Low light shots aren't great, but in good light, the Torch 9860 will give you reasonable results. Being an autofocus camera, you'll get nice sharp images.
It does lack some excitement though, not offering anything by the way of effects. Video is also impressive, churning out good quality 720p footage at 30fps. Again, during video filming you'll find that you get continuous autofocus, so we don't have much to complain about.
Plug in a set of reasonable third-party headphones and you'll find that the BB Torch 9860 sounds sweet. The external speaker also provides good quality and volume, be that for sharing your tunes at the bus stop or that ad hoc conference call in your hotel room.
Finally, we never had a problem getting through a day on the battery. We did come close to emptying it during a normal working day, but we never felt that we needed to leave the house on a full charge in the same way we often to with similar spec Android devices.
Verdict
Some areas of the BlackBerry Torch 9860 feel a little antiquated as a consumer device. Diving into the menus you still need to "save" as you make changes. We also can't help feeling that, although the sliding app tray, and the choice of homescreen menus is useful, it isn't as dynamic as other operating systems. Without the app tray up, you're looking at a simple wallpaper, so you don't get the same sense of immediate control as you might from widgets, notification bar controls or lockscreen controls.
But some aspects of BB7 shine on the Torch 9860. Messaging, be it SMS, email, BBM, Facebook or Twitter, continue to be strong and integrated. We've also found that those essential apps work well. Sharing (or sending as it's referred to) works as well as it does anywhere else. So barring a few exceptions, the Torch 9860 is every bit as effective a social communicator as any other device.
Pair that with strong camera performance, great video, and good screen and speedy browser, all packed into a phone that's actually rather attractive to look at and there is something going for the 9860. It's a shame then that minor software details are what really let the package down: the lack of app support for BB7 and tendency to become unresponsive are challenging, but not insurmountable, problems.
The Samsung Galaxy Note is set to launch on 17 November, bringing with it a 5.3 inch screened beast of an Android handset.
Looking like a Galaxy S II after too many pies, the Galaxy Note features a 1.4 GHz dual-core processor, Android 2.3.5, 8 megapixel camera and 16 or 32 GB of internal memory.
The Super AMOLED display slapped on the front of the Galaxy Note is one of the most impressive that Pocket-lint has ever come across, with colours as vibrant as the Galaxy S II's. The tablet/phone is designed to act like a digital notepad, similar to the HTC Flyer and comes with a stylus and note taking apps included.
The Galaxy Note comes as part of Samsung's increasing efforts to expand the Galaxy family. The Galaxy range has been renamed, minus the Note, to help explain to potential customers exactly what they are buying. In a slightly cringe inducing piece of advertising, the S in Galaxy S for example stands for Super Smart.
The handset is also listed as having optional NFC connectivity and includes new Samsung Note Apps. The newly launched iMessage style Samsung ChatOn makes an appearance on the Note as well.
Expect more on the Galaxy Note as it gets closer to its 17 November launch date. In the meantime why not take a peek at our hands-on. Excited about the Samsung Galaxy Note? Let us know in the comments below ...
type="html" xml:base="http://infotechnologi.com/cricket-huawei-ascend-ii-android-smartphone.html"> Cricket meluncurkan Wirless Huawei Ascend II , Ponsel yang menjalankan OS Android 2.3 Gingerbread pada prosesor 600MHz dan mempunyai layar touchscreen 3,5 inci HVGA dan mendukung Bluetooth dan konektivitas WiFi , dan sudah dilengkapi slot microSD .source : engadget.com]]>
type="html" xml:base="http://infotechnologi.com/sony-ericsson-xperia-active-android-smartphone-untuk-gaya-hidup.html">Sony Ericsson meluncurkan Smartphone di Q3 , Xperia baru yang dirancang untuk konsumen yang aktif berolahraga yang memungkinkan konsumen dengan mudah melacak tingkat kebugaran , dan dapat memantau denyut jantung dan denyut nadi secara realtime (diaktifkan oleh ANT + teknologi nirkabel).
Ponsel Android powered Xperia mempunyai Layar touchscreen 320 x 480 Realitas dengan tampilan BRAVIA Engine Mobile , kamera 5 megapixel dan video recording HD 720p ,LED falsh , auto focus ,radio fm,Bluetooth, slot kartu microSD dan koneksi WiFi sudah terdapat pada ponsel ini . Prosesor yang digunakan Ponsel ini 1GHz dan menjalankan OS Android 2.3 Gingerbread . Jaringan Ponsel ini mendukung quad-band GSM/EDGE dan HSPA /UMTS 3G
type="html" xml:base="http://infotechnologi.com/motorola-droid-3-android-smartphone.html">Verizone mengumumkan smartphone DROID generasi berikutnya , new DROID 3 dari Motorola ini menampilkan keyboard QWERTY dengan slide samping , DROID 3 memiliki keyboard 5 baris yang didukung oleh prosesor dual cor 1GHz dengan RAM 512MB dengan menjalankan OS Android 2.3 .
Motorola Droid 3 memiliki layar 4 inci 540 x 960 QHD touchscreen di sertai dengan kamera 8 Megapixel dengan auto focus , LED flash dan video recording , Anda juga bisa melakukan video chat dengan kamera depannya , memori onboard 16GB , GPS/A-GPS , Bluetooth dan konektivitas WiFi serta output HDMI dan slot kartu microSD , seperti Smartphone lainnya DROID ini dilengkapi dengan Accelerometer ,Ambient Light ,Proximity sensor .
Sebagai Ponsel global , 3 Droid mendukung CDMA 800/900MHz , tri-band WCDMA 3G dan jaringan quad-band GSM. 3 Droid Dilengkapi dengan baterai 1540mAh yang menawarkan hingga 550 menit waktu bicara dan 300 jam waktu siaga
DROID 3 by Motorola Features Talk and Standby Time1 Up to 550 minutes/Up to approximately 300 hours Bands/Modes CDMA 800/1900 MHz WCDMA 850/1900/2100 MHzGSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHzWeight 184.0 g Dimensions 64.10(x) 123.30(y) 12.90(z) mm OS Android 2.3 Processor Dual-core 1GHz processor Battery 1540 mAh Connectivity2 3.5mm, USB 2.0 HS, HDMI, DLNA, OTA, Stereo Bluetooth, Version 2.1+EDR Display 4-inch qHD (Quarter High Definition) (540 x 960) TFT Messaging/Web/Apps MMS, SMS, Email (Corporate Sync, Google Mail, Push Email, Yahoo!® Mail), IM (GTalk™, AIM, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo!® Messenger), WebKit with Flash Audio AAC, AAC+, AAC+ Enhanced, AMR NB, AMR WB, MIDI, MP3, WAV, WMA v9/v10, OGG Video Capture/Playback/Streaming, HD video, Video-C/P 30fps, H.263, H.264, MPEG4, WMV v9/v10 Camera 8-megapixel, VGA P2P video, 8x digital zoom, AF, LED Storage 16GB on-board memory, microSD card slot for up to an additional 32GB Memory 512MB RAM x 16GB eMMC Form Factor Touch QWERTY Slider Sensors Accelerometer, Ambient Light, Proximity Address Book/Calendar Facebook®, MySpace, TwitterTM and GmailTMmessages and contacts aggregation as well as syncs and merges your work contacts, email and calendar Location Services aGPS, sGPS, eCompas
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Word on the street has it that the apparent delay for Nokia to release their Lumia 800 smartphone is because of this – the Finnish phone company is working to throw in LTE connectivity into the package before it makes its way to the US, something that Windows Phone 7.5 Mango at the moment does not support at all. Perhaps Nokia will roll out the Lumia 800 LTE with Tango, which is the next version of the Windows Phone operating system, or they could actually release it with specific Mango-based code drops which will be able to play nice with LTE functionality. Regardless of the outcome, AT&T does seem to be one of the more prominent figures in the equation. There are whispers of the Lumia 710 hitting the US via T-Mobile as well, and if that happens, you can be sure that it will not feature LTE connectivity in any way.
