January 31, 2012

HTC Ville caught on video, shows new HTC Sense on Ice Cream Sandwich [update: video pulled]

Android Central Android Central Android Central
Update: Unsurprisingly, the video's now been pulled. We've got a selection of screen grabs after the break in case anyone missed it.
Original story: Behold, the HTC Ville, seen here with Android 4.0.1 Ice Cream Sandwich and HTC Sense Version 4.0.
The Ville (that's more than likely still a codename, which has been around since early November) appears to be done in the usual HTC fashion -- a rounded-off rectangle with a mix of soft-touch and metal. We can't help but be reminded of the HTC Desire and, of course, the Nexus One, but it's also pretty reminiscent of the newer Sensation as well.
It's a pretty extensive video walkthrough. The first thing that stands out is the 4.3-inch screen at qHD resolution, with a front-facing VGA camera up top. Then there's the fact that it has just three capacitive buttons below the screen -- back, home and menu -- exactly like the LG Spectrum. While the Spectrum's still running Gingerbread, we opined that the removal of the search button was to make way for the search integration in the ICS UI. We're not seeing quite the same search bar in this latest version of HTC Sense, but it still lines up. An interesting note -- what you see here doesn't quite match up with a render that leaked back in November, when it had four capacitive buttons. Figure it's easier to change a render than a device, so we'll expect three buttons when it gets official.
Other specs seen in the walkthrough include a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel camera, with Beats audio thrown in for good measure. The Sense dock has given way to a more traditional Android dock -- here we see icons for the phone dialer, e-mail, app drawer, text messaging and camera, and there are app icons for Fruit Ninja and Antivirus, among a slew of other third-party apps in the app drawer.
We're kind of starting to salivate over the Ville (figure we'll get to see it at Mobile World Congress in a few weeks), but, man, it's tough to go back to a qHD display once you've tasted 720p. We'll just have to see.
Source: Youtube; via HTC-Hub (translated);
More in our HTC Ville forums; Thanks, Bruno!
Android Central Android Central Android Central Android Central Android Central Android Central Android Central Android Central Android Central Android Central Android Central
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January 30, 2012

Sony LT22i Nypon to be marketed as Xperia P


Just a week ago the Indonesian equivalent for the American FCC posted the retail name of the Sony's ST25i Kumquat a.k.a. Xperia U. Today we find another retail name in there - the LT22i Nypon's.
Sony LT22i Nypon should be called Xperia P when it is launched. It looks just like the Xperia S, but is based on NovaThor U8500 chipset and its screen and camera are less impressive than the Xperia S ones.

According to this leak, the Xperia P will be launched this April and will cost about €370. It should be announced on the MWC in Barcelona in a few weeks along with the Xperia U and the codenamed Pepper.
Source | Via
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Samsung I9070 Galaxy S Advance goes official, confirms rumors


Samsung just introduced the latest dual-core addition to their lineup of Android smartphones. Dubbed Samsung I9070 Galaxy S Advance, the new handset promises to become the most affordable dual-core smartphone by the Korean company.
Samsung I9070 Galaxy S Advance is built around a 4" Super AMOLED, which is the unit we came to know from the I9000 Galaxy S. The Android 2.3 Gingerbread-running smartphone sports a 1GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU, 768 MB of RAM and 8GB or 16GB of internal storage.

 



















Samsung I9070 Galaxy S Advance
The Galaxy S Advance main snapper can capture 5 megapixel stills and 720p videos. There's also a 1.3 megapixel front-facing snapper for video calls and chats on board.
As is to be expected from a modern-day smartphones, connectivity is quite well covered. The Samsung I9070 Galaxy S Advance comes with support for 14.4 Mbps HSPA, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, A-GPS, Bluetooth 3.0 and USB 2.0. There's no 4G radio support, but given the mid-range targeting of the device that was to be expected.
Samsung is yet to provide pricing details or release time frame for the Galaxy S Advance, but we guess it will only take a month or two for this one to hit the shelves, and it should cost about as much as the
Galaxy R.
Source
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HTC Joins IBM To Bolster Sales With An Enterprise Mobility Initiative

HTC, a maker of smartphones and tablets, hopes its new partnership with IBM, coupled with the mobility hardware maker’s success in the consumer space, will help launch strong sales in the enterprise market.
The company only recently began targeting enterprises, said David Jaeger, executive director Global Enterprise and Services at HTC, in an interview with eWEEK during IBM Lotusphere and Connect. During the general session that kicked-off Lotusphere, IBM executives demonstrated their smart business applications running on HTC smartphones and tablets.

Going for gold

“It’s only been really relatively recently that HTC has broken into the enterprise space. We’re driving toward that magic 100-million device number globally,” Jaeger said. “We see IBM as the gold standard for an enterprise partnership. We want to make sure if IBM is talking about Android or tablets, HTC is in the conversation.”
HTC worked closely with IBM to ensure its mobile devices employed the features and capabilities of IBM’s business software, he said. The mobility device-maker also focused extensively on security, added Jaeger.
Propelled by Apple’s success with the iPad, a growing number of vendors are targeting the tablet market. Android tablets are rapidly gaining marketshare, and developers are predicted to ship more than 116 million tablets based on Google’s operating system by 2015 compared with about 11 million last year, according to Gartner. By comparison, Apple’s iPad sales are slated to increase to more than 148 million in 2015 compared with almost 47 million in 2011, the researcher found.
“So far, Android’s appeal in the tablet market has been constrained by high prices, weak user interface and limited tablet applications” said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner. “Android can count on strong support from key OEMs, has a sizeable developer community, and its smartphones application ecosystem is second only to Apple’s.”
Worldwide, at 186 million units expected to ship by 2015, tablet sales will represent almost 36 percent of total PC sales, according to Computer Industry Almanac. Within the United States the percentage will be higher: Tablet sales are forecast to be more than 53 million units or more than 43 percent of total PC sales, the report said.
Looking to differentiate itself from competitors, HTC developed its stylus and Scribe software to deliver increased functionality on its tablets, including the Flyer, Jetstream and EVO View. HTC currently has about 35 applications – some targeted at consumers, some developed with enterprises in-mind – to use the stylus’ strengths, Will Ro, director of Global Enterprise Operations and Strategy at HTC, told eWEEK.
“There’s a certain amount of precision with what you can do with the pen,” he said. “Our stylus is an active stylus.”
Enterprises can design their own applications for HTC’s tablets. And the company is partnering with third-party developers to further extend the tablet’s capabilities, he said.
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T-Mobile USA Testing IPv6 On Select Devices - Here Is What It All Means (And Yes - No More NAT)

This post is going to be a bit more technical than most people are probably comfortable with, but I'll try to explain it as simply as possible. T-Mobile USA is running an open beta for enabling IPv6 address assignment to some devices on its network in place of the traditional IPv4 addresses.
If you have one of these devices, you can sign up for IPv6 support here right now, change a few settings on your device, and start rocking testing your IPv6 address as soon as you're approved:
Additionally, if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, you don't even need to fill out a form - IPv6 is already live here, and you just need to change some settings for it to take effect.

IPvWhat?

So, why is this IPv6 testing important and what benefits does it bring to the table?
Every device connected to the Internet needs to have an IP address assigned to it. IPv4, the current scheme, only allows 2^32 or 4.3 billion different addresses, which we have been running out of lately.
In order to alleviate the shortage, some ISPs (your mobile carrier is also an ISP) have been using NAT, or Network Address Translation, or IP masquerading, to connect multiple devices to the web using only a subset of unique IPs. This allows them to only use 1 IP per tens, and probably hundreds or even thousands of individual devices, but has all the downsides of NAT, the most important one being the inability to connect to your device directly from the Internet. If you ever wanted to SSH or VNC into your Android device, stream a video directly to it, etc, all from somewhere outside of your LAN, NAT is the reason you can't (since you can't set up port forwarding or control the NAT configuration of your carrier).
image
NAT visualized - image credit
Guess what - IPv6 has such a huge address space - 2^128, or 340 undecillion (also search that page for Googol and Googolplex, you may be surprised) - that we don't need NAT anymore. And never-ever will, even if we conquer the whole galaxy and set up billions of devices on every star (this is a highly scientific fact I just made up, but go ahead, do the math).
IPv6 deployment has been complex, with many obstacles along the way (you can read about them here), so we commend T-Mobile for being the first second U.S. carrier (at least known to us) to run an open trial as well as one of its technical staff architects, Cameron Byrne, for leading the charge. In comparison, Verizon, for example, mandated that all of its LTE devices need to be IPv6-compatible, but hasn't run an open test like T-Mobile is doing. Update: Apparently, VZW has already rolled out dual IPv6/IPv4 support on such devices, but only when on LTE, and they are blocking all inbound traffic at the moment. Other carriers are likely to follow, but we don't know how soon just yet.

No More NAT, Are You Sure?

Yup, at least right now. We were able to sign up for the trial, get it enabled within 10 minutes (on a Saturday too!), and then configure the Nexus S with an IPv6. We then opened up port 22 by running sshd, and I was able to port scan the acquired IPv6 address, showing port 22 wide open. Brilliant.
# nmap -6sT -p1-100 2607:fb90:400:ef14:0:a:85ac:ce01
Starting Nmap 5.00 ( http://nmap.org ) at 2012-01-29 09:29 PST
Interesting ports on 2607:fb90:400:ef14:0:a:85ac:ce01:
Not shown: 99 closed ports
PORT   STATE SERVICE
22/tcp open  ssh
Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 6.48 seconds
Of course, having your device directly accessible to the outside world opens up an array of security issues, which a lot of devices may not currently be ready for (a proper firewall needs to be put in place for one), but the important bit is that IPv6 works, NAT is gone, and the future is just one little step closer.
wm_ipv6
So, is anyone else excited about the progress we're seeing with IPv6 in the mobile space or is it just the uber-geek engineer in me?
Source: T-Mobile IPv6 Beta via tmoipv6beta forums
Big thanks to Justin Case for participating in the IPv6 test
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Network Spoofer – Wreak Havoc On (And RickRoll) Unsuspecting Wi-Fi Users With The Click Of A Button

For those tired of strangers latching on to their unprotected Wi-Fi network, or simply looking to have a little fun at the expense of others, Digitalsquid created Network Spoofer, allowing users to play a few tricks on those connected to just about any accessible Wi-Fi network.
Users can switch, blur, or flip images, redirect browsers to specific URLs or videos (with a special setting for automatic RickRolling), and change Google searches (on others' computers) all from their rooted, Android-powered device. Of course, to carry out these commands, you must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your target(s). With functions like these, I only wonder how I didn't run into this app before.
unnamed (3) shot_Jan_28_2012_2 shot_Jan_28_2012_3
The app works just as you'd expect, operating with simple one-click commands, and carrying out your bidding in relatively short order. Some of the commands (like image replacement) can get a little chaotic with complex websites, but when using an app like this, I don't think the target's user experience is a primary concern.
image
All of that being said, there are a couple of downsides to this app. First off, Network Spoofer requires a hefty download before running (~120MB). This isn't a huge complaint, but it does mean that Network Spoofer is not an app that one can install and deploy instantly – the fun provided by the app requires at least marginal planning. The other downside is battery performance. I observed a 40% drop in battery over a period of about one hour with the app running. For a novelty app like this, battery life may not be the most important feature, but a 40% drop in one hour is unacceptable.
Overall, Network Spoofer is a fun app, and has potential for a few laughs. Of course neither Android Police nor Digitalsquid can be held responsible for any use or consequences stemming from the app, but if you're looking for an April Fools shoe-in, you may be in luck.
Download Network Spoofer from the Android Market

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Mystery Device Sporting Qualcomm's S4 Krait SoC Shows Up In NenaMark2 Benchmark, Shows Off Adreno 225's Power

An intriguing NenaMark2 benchmark showed up earlier today, giving us a glimpse of an unknown device packing Qualcomm's 28nm Snapdragon S4 Krait MSM8960 SoC. The device has a 1.5GHz CPU, 1024x600 display and an Adreno 225 GPU. Did I mention it's running Android 4.0.3?
MSM8960
As you can see, the mystery device's Adreno 225 GPU got an impressive 54.9 fps – a number that's even more astonishing considering the fact that Samsung's Galaxy SII (which has a considerably smaller 800x480 resolution display) scored 46.2 fps with its Mali-400 MP4 GPU.
As AnandTech rightly points out, it will be interesting to see how the Adreno 225 compares to upcoming GPUs including the Mali T-604 and Apple's A6 chip. That being said, the Adreno 225  already appears to pack a serious punch, and is worth keeping an eye on as other next-gen GPUs begin to surface.
Source: Nena Via AnandTech
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January 29, 2012

Google Announces The Death Of The Menu Button, Long Live The Action Bar

We can't say we didn't see this coming. Google just announced on the Android Developer blog that the Menu button is well and truly dead, in case you hadn't gotten the memo. The post has relevant information on how to update your apps to accommodate the new changes without breaking support for devices running software older than Honeycomb (which are the overwhelming majority at the moment).
Untitled Untitled2
Left: Glorious new Action Bar. Right: Shameful old Menu.
It's not a surprise, but it's certainly another nail in the Menu button's coffin. Google's pushing hard to give the stock software a distinct, beautiful experience. Not to mention encouraging best practices among developers no matter what custom skin a user might be running. This move isn't quite the kick in the pants that, say, Windows Phone 7 was when it first came out, but it's certainly a heads-up to developers: the old ways are over, so keep up or get left behind.
Source: Android Developers Blog
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BBC updates its Android app for tablet goodness

As Ice Cream Sandwich rolls out to tablets, app developers are taking a good hard look to see whether it’s worth it for them to update their existing phone apps with tablet compatibility. Unlike iPhone apps on the iPad, Android has built-in compatibility features that stretch certain elements to fit the entire screen of a tablet, but they don’t work so well, and look ugly as a result.
BBC has seen the light and updated its excellent app with tablet compatibility. Like most news apps, there are categories on the left and content on the right, with a horizontal scrolling mechanism akin to Pulse Reader.
If you own a newly-minted Android tablet, do yourself a favour and pick this one up.
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HTC Primo: Another Interesting Middle Range Smart Phone

Oh, rumors, rumors! You are driving me nuts! The good news is that we’ve heard about the HTC Ville and the HTC Edge and that both smart-phones will be announced at the upcoming Mobile World Congress 2012 event. Despite the good news we are also aware that those smart-phones will come tagged with very inappropriate prices. Due to their high-end specs and Android ICS on a board only dedicated fans will do their best to grab one of them. Others will wait until smart-phones’ availability on contract bases. But there is also a rumor that HTC plans to release something modest but pretty great as well and this something will be known as the HTC Primo. It will come equipped with a 3.7-inch Super AMOLED display protected by Gorilla Glass, a 1GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM, a 5MP rear camera, Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth connectivity and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich right out of the box. As far as we know it will come offered for $389 which is pretty fair for the list of specs mentioned.
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January 28, 2012

Sony Xperia S to be a fast-charging stain-fighting machine


As we roll at a glacier’s pace towards March and the Sony Xperia S, a few new new details have emerged about its new lithium-polymer battery technology and its stain-resistant outer body.
According to an interview with a Sony Europe Product Manager, the Xperia S is to incorporate a new type of fast-charging lithium polymer battery technology, necessitating a non-removable cell. The battery itself requires a higher current than traditional Lithium Ion versions, a more powerful battery controller built into the motherboard, which itself needs a a more stable connection to the battery due to smaller connection areas. Another important benefit to this is insanely fast charging times: ten minutes of charging will net over an hour of usage.
So why the removable cover at all? For the most part, to make repairs easier and to install the NFC antenna, which is affixed to the inside of the plastic shell.
Also interesting a so-called “nano coating” that wraps around the body of the Xperia S repelling not only dirt but fingerprints and oils. It does this by activating in UV light and has been shown to repel things like chocolate without so much as leaving a mark. Very impressive.
I’ll be honest: I’m very excited for the Xperia S, and can’t wait to try it when it arrives in the next few months. We had a hands-on with the device at CES, if you’re into that.
Source: PocketPC.ch
Via: Phandroid
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HTC Sense 4.0 will be toned-down and mature, with heavy Dropbox integration

We’re honestly pretty excited for HTC Sense 4.0, which is supposed to de-clutter, de-compress and beautify the bloated state of Sense UI in its current incarnation. According to Pocketnow, after a hands-on preview with the upcoming software running Android 4.0, it’s clear that HTC is learning its lessons.
Main features include a typical improvement for typography, owing to the Roboto font inclusion in ICS, but more so there are going to be significant UI improvements to almost every app. Although it looks like HTC devices will not forgo capacitive hardware buttons below the screen, most of the UI elements will shift appropriately to the side when the device is turned to landscape mode (think HTC Status). It does seem that, like LG, HTC are getting rid of the dedicated Search button (good riddance).
Along with an improved 3D task switcher (different from the current ICS version) Sense 4.0 is to overhaul the lockscreen, incorporating notifications a la iOS 5 as well as the traditional app shortcuts. There will be a Guest Mode for users who want to play around without gaining access to the core file system and protected apps, and the browser is to get a Reading List-type feature to save pages for later (another feature taken from stock ICS).
The email app has seen significant improvements, and Pocketnow calls it “the best-looking and most functional email client available for Android.”
One of the coolest additions to Sense 4.0 will be integrated Dropbox support, with all new HTC owners earning 50GB in free storage from the rather pricy company. This is huge, and will be a big draw to users. Apparently your Dropbox folder will interpreted like a regular device folder, and you can sync certain files to store locally on the device if needed. And, of course, Beats Audio will be expanded to support all music players.
Like what you hear? Wait for the first official details at the end of February at MWC.
Source: Pocketnow
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Qualcomm starts their own game studio, you can expect at least a game title a year from them

Qualcomm recently launched GameCommand to showcase games that leverage on the capabilities of the their Adreno GPUs. GameCommand features games from various dev companies, but apparently, Qualcomm are upping the ante with a game studio of their own.
They are also working on a much improved version of GameCommand, which is expected to launch at the upcoming MWC.
Qualcomm’s game studio will target phones and tablets powered by the company’s Snapdragon chipsets (which use Adreno graphics). They are promising “console-quality graphics” on the mobile devices.
Current plans are to release one game each year, starting with an expanded version of the Desert Winds Mini Game. The Mini Game is free, but it’s not clear if the games from Qualcomm’s in-house studio will ultimately be free or not.
GameCommand’s selection of games will be expanded with games from Gameloft and EA Mobile too.
As for the app itself, the new version will reportedly feature landscape mode for tablets, better ways to search for games and it will allow you to add custom RSS feeds to the news reader.
Source
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January 27, 2012

Upcoming Samsung tablets may come with S-Pen, 3D gestures


A Samsung marketing manager has let slip some significant developments in the Android tablet space, if they are to be believed. The company is set to bundle the S-Pen, that capacitive stylus slotted into the Galaxy Note, with future tablets.
The exact quote, from Ryan Bidan is: “I think a pen interface continues to make a lot of sense across a number of screen sizes, like the larger is more obvious of those. That’s about as specific as I can be without announcing a product.”
There doesn’t seem to be a lot of sense to this. As much as the stylus has the potential to aide in certain types of input like design sketching and jotting down quick notes, the input lag is still too significant to do comprehensive note-taking. The HTC Flyer was the first such Android tab to include a capacitive stylus and an accompanying SDK, with Samsung launching its S-Pen SDK shortly thereafter with the launch of the Galaxy Note. Neither platform has seen developers flock to it.
That being said, Bidan hinted at other, more esoteric forms of input. The use of 3D gestures through the tablet’s front-facing camera are possible (as we saw with some Samsung televisions at CES) as well as voice input to a more limited extent. The good thing about the S-Pen is that in its current incarnation it is built into the hardware, merely fleshing out the Galaxy Note’s capabilities.
It won’t be niche products like the S-Pen that finally turn people onto Android tablets: it will take a significant number of quality third-party apps from trusted vendors. If those apps happen to support the stylus, all the better. As Bidan says: “It’s about getting back to that really tactile and personal communication method. We think there’s a huge amount of value in that.” Indeed.
Source: Laptop Magazine
Via: Electronista
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iPad still dominates the tablet realm, but Android is getting close, analysis shows

We just got the report on the tablet market in 2011 from Strategy Analytics and it tells some interesting stories. The iPad managed to just over double its sales compared to 2010 and is still the dominant force, holding a market share of 57.6%.

However, the iPad is no longer able to keep up with the overall market growth, which is fueled by the strengthening Android sales. The green robot tablets shipments grew over three times year-over-year and that helped them reduce the gap to their iOS counterparts.
The Windows tablets also managed to snatch 1.5% of the market, while other platforms (that would mostly the HP TouchPads and BlackBerry PlayBooks, we guess) got 1.9%.

If iOS and Android do keep their growth rate through 2012, the two will be tied at the top come the end of the year. Windows will probably be unable to make a strong impact just yet, but there’s huge potential there too with the Windows 8 platform, so we should probably be keeping an eye on it, as well.
Are you planning on getting a shiny new slate in 2012? If yes, what would be your platform of choice? Share with us in the comments section below.
Source | Via
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Motorola RAZR MAXX available at Verizon for $299 on contract



The Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX was one of the phones that managed to impress us at CES this year is available now from Verizon. The phone boasts a humongous 3,300 mAh battery while still staying relatively slim - a hair under 9mm.
If battery life is what you're after, the RAZR MAXX is a champ - how do 21 hours of talk time sound? For reference, the standard RAZR for Verizon packs a 1780 mAh battery for twelve and a half hours of talk time.
The RAZR MAXX is thicker and heavier than the standard RAZR (9mm, 145g vs. 7.1mm 127g), but other than that it has the same appealing features - 4.3" SuperAMOLED screen with qHD resolution, 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 8MP camera with 1080p video recording. And it has Gorilla glass on front and Kevlar on the back too.
Verizon is offering it for $299 on a two-year contract or $649 without a contract. You can grab it only from Verizon's website right now. For comparison, the vanilla XT912 RAZR goes for $279/$649 respectively for the 32GB version (which is how much you're getting from the MAXX). The 16GB version is $199/$599.
Source
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HTC to lower smartphone output in 2012, focus on “hero” devices


HTC used to be the king of Android: its Nexus One was a piece of Google-endorsed design marvel; its Hero was sleek, and the Legend beautiful. But somewhere along the way it got caught up in trying to please everybody and in turn started pleasing nobody.
Last year HTC released nearly a dozen phones in Canada, from the HTC Sensation to the Status to the EVO 3D to the Amaze. All of them are excellent products marred by a confusing and inconsistent nomenclature (so the Amaze is more sensational than the Sensation, right?) but this will change in 2012.
According to HTC UK head Phil Roberson, “we have to get back to focusing on what made us great – amazing hardware and a great customer experience. We ended 2011 with far more products than we started out with. We tried to do too much.” While the company still made a (comparatively) small $365m profit last quarter, it was a decline of 26% from the previous one. More importantly, market share and consumer mind share have eroded, too.
In Canada, the “hero” devices are the Samsung Galaxy S II series, which HTC CEO Peter Chou called “nuclear weapons.” And though HTC has seen its fair share of success, 2012 needs to be a year of regrowth and rebuilding for them, focusing on fewer smartphones centred around a core brand.
HTC is expected to debut big things at Mobile World Congress at the end of February.
Source: Mobile Today
Via: The Next Web
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LG Prada 3.0 launches in the UK this Friday


Prada Phone by LG 3.0, the latest smartphone to come out from the partnership between LG and the fashion giant, will hit UK stores tomorrow.

Phones4U will be the lucky store to offer the device in the UK starting tomorrow with others (including Play and Clove) to follow in the days after.
So if you feel like becoming one of the first LG Prada 3.0 owners you can get it for free as early as tomorrow with a two-year contract costing £31/month. If contracts are not your thing, unlocked Prada Phone 3.0 units will be available in the beginning of February.
Not sure if the LG Prada 3.0 is worth your hard-earned cash? Check out our hands-on of the device with live shots and its UI walkthroug to make up your mind.
Source | Via
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Samsung Wave Y LeFleur edition quietly goes on sale, costs $165


It seemed that Samsung has forgotten all about its LeFleur lineup of female-targeted phones, but as it turns out they were simply flying under the radar. We just stumbled upon a LeFleur edition of the Samsung Wave Y that is already on sale, but we have never seen before.
The Samsung Wave Y S5380 LeFleur surfaced on a Ukrainian online store's website and it costs just $165. Judging by the specs on the handset's listing page, there are no functional differences between the LeFleur and the original version.


Still, the nicely decorated purple back and the accents on the front will probably be enough to win the Wave Y LeFleur plenty of fans among the ladies, and with Valentine's day just around the corner that might work out quite well for Samsung.
Unfortunately, there's no official information about the Samsung Wave Y LeFleur availability outside Ukraine, so we are not sure if you'd be able to get it at your local store. We'll be keeping an eye on it though and will make sure to keep you up to date if more info pops up.
Source | Via
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Motorola Mobility ships 5.3m smartphones, loses $80m in Q4 on $3.4b revenue


Motorola Mobility, on the brink of being swallowed by Google, have come out with their Q4 ’11 earnings and the results are not great. The company earned $3.4 billion in revenue and posted an $80 million loss, despite selling 10.5 million mobile devices, 5.3 million of which were smartphones. The 10.5 million target was in line with expectations.
A year ago, in Q4 2010, the company earned $110 in profit, but were seen as slowing down. On the bright side, the Mobility Devices portion of the company increased its net revenue up 5% y/y to $2.5 billion for the quarter, and to $13.1 billion for the year. Yearly net losses stood at $249 million, an increase from $86 million a year earlier.
According to the earnings report, “The Company shipped a total of 10.5 million and 42.4 million mobile devices in the fourth quarter and full year 2011, respectively. This included 5.3 million and 18.7 million smartphones and approximately 200 thousand (200,000) and 1 million tablets in the fourth quarter and full year, respectively.”
As for Motorola’s successes? CEO Sanjay Jha says that there were some great products launched in 2011, including the Atrix and RAZR, and the proliferation of their webtop platform. On the upcoming Google merger, he said, “we remain energized by the proposed merger with Google and continue to focus on creating innovative technologies.”
Source: Motorola
Via: The Verge
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January 26, 2012

Is Samsung delaying the launch of Galaxy S III until after MWC?


It is needless to say that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S III is one of the most anticipated Android devices, which are going to break cover this year - one of the brightest stars of the MWC which is set to kick off next month in Barcelona.
Or not? According to a fresh new rumor, the yet to be revealed Korean flagship might break cover after MWC, but before the summer. The reason for this shocker is the company's consideration for the U.S. market - one of its most important ones. Apparently, Samsung wants to avoid a huge gap of availability as in the case of the Galaxy S II last year.

Reportedly, Samsung will try to fill the giant void by focusing on tablets, as well as Windows Phone sporting devices.
Since we're talking rumors here, don't forget the usual pinch of salt. As always, we'll keep you posted, should we find out more on the subject.
Source
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Motorola RAZR Ice Cream Sandwich ROM leaks

An ICS ROM for the GSM version of the Motorola RAZR has leaked online that gives a glimpse of what we could expect later during the year when it starts rolling out officially.


At first glance it looks almost stock but that's mostly because it is still in the developmental stage and there is a lot of work left to be done on it. only visible changes are a new lock screen that features four custom spots where you can drag the lock icon and the option to put the phone on silent or vibration, sorely missing from the stock ICS ROM. Also new is a camera app that is similar to the one on the current Gingerbread ROM for the RAZR.


Unfortunately, the final version may be drastically different, which, considering Motorola's track record, not something we're looking forward to. Hopefully, Motorola sees sense and keeps the customization to a minimum.
For more images click on the source link below.
Source
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January 25, 2012

New Samsung ad again goes after Apple iPhone users



Samsung keep hitting Apple fanboys/fangirls hard with their ads. It’s honestly been a couple months of consistent bashing – first starting with a jab at their lineups, then most recently coining the phrase of “We just got Samsunged”. This latest ad shows how easy it is to use the “type with your voice” in the Galaxy SII, plus all that’s really needed for the Apple fan to switch is a little flirting from the oposite sex.


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Sony Ericsson Nozomi finally gets official as Sony Xperia S

Sony Xperia S
Sony recently acquired Ericsson’s stake in the company and today at CES the company just announced it’s first Xperia smartphone Sony Xperia S (long rumoured Sony Ericsson Nozomi). Sony Xperia S made for ultimate entertainment experience with the content from Sony Entertainment Network such as Music Unlimited offers a global catalogue of 12 million unique songs while Video Unlimited has the latest Hollywood blockbusters and TV shows from all major studios. Xperia S is also PlayStation™ Certified, guaranteeing a high quality smartphone gaming experience and access to the PlayStation® Store. Let’s have a look at the Key Features for Xperia S:
  • 4.3 inch Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine with HD resolution screen (1280 x 720), as well as front (720p) and back (1080p) cameras for HD recording.
  • 1.5GHz dual-core processor for fast browsing and content download, which can be stored on the internal 32GB flash storage.
  • 12MP back camera with Sony Exmor R™ for mobile along with Fastest Capture to take shots in just 1.5 seconds directly from standby mode.
  • NFC (Near Field Communications) enabled to access growing range of NFC applications and services as well as Xperia SmartTags.
  • With HD sharing through DLNA, HDMI and using BRAVIA Sync for controlling your Xperia S with your TV remote control when connected to the TV, Xperia S delivers a full HD experience on TV.
 
Sony Xperia S is scheduled for  first quarter 2012 with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) at launching and will be upgraded to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) during the second quarter 2012.
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Maximum battery! DROID RAZR MAXX coming on January 26


Maximum battery! DROID RAZR MAXX coming on January 26
What was rumored has finally become official - Motorola is launching the DROID RAZR MAXX on January 26, stuffed with that gigantic battery of its, which should vastly improve battery life with the handset. Not only that, but with all of those 3300 mAh, the RAZR MAXX will easily beat almost any other Android handset in terms of battery life, as it will hold enough juice to deliver the exceptional 21.5 hours of talk-time and 15.8 days of stand-by.

DROID RAZR MAXX will come with a 3300mAh battery
Well, there's been a slight trade-off, of course, and it's found with the handset's slightly increased thickness, which is now 8.99mm, instead of 7.1mm. But hey, who cares, as long as the phone it still markedly slim (which it is)? The handset will retail for $299.99 with a two-year contract, and will be equipped with 16GB internal memory as well as a 16GB microSD card - same as the current DROID RAZR 32GB variant. However, keep in mind that you can also get the DROID RAZR 16GB for the more affordable price of $199.99, and then buy a 32GB microSD card for around $30 more, if you need the space. It's your call.

So, who's getting it?

source: VerizonWireless
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A closer look at Sony SmartWatch (Hands on / Demo Video)

Sony SmartWatch
Fancy to wear a smart watch which will let you do things without taking out the phone  from your pocket? Sony just shows off it’s new SmartWatch at CES. This social network oriented device on your wrist able to connect with any Android Smartphone running on android 2.1 or higher and interact to shows social network update, messages, weather, make phone call or reject call etc. Rather than being a standalone device, it’s just an Android phone accessory.
Sadly, the SmartWatch got no built-in speaker or 3.5mm headset jack to listen music but you can still use a pair of bluetooth headset. The device also offer fitness app to track your walking/running. Users will also be able to download compatible apps from Android Market. Checkout below the video demonstration of Sony SmartWatch in courtesy of Nick from androidandme.

 

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