We got spicy info on two new upcoming Samsung feature phones aiming the entry-level market - the C3520 clamshell and the touch-based Champ 2.
Samsung C3520 is a clamshell with a 2.4-inch QVGA display, a 1.3 megapixel snapper, a 3.5mm audio jack, FM radio, a microUSB port, and a microSD card slot. It supports quad-band GSM/EDGE networks and is based on the latest Samsung non-touch proprietary interface with social networking integration.
Samsung C3520 will be released in four flavors - Metallic Silver, Charcoal Black, Coral Pink and Bright Orange.
Samsung C3330 Champ 2 is also a feature phone and comes with a 2.4-inch QVGA resistive touchscreen (stylus is included), quad-band GSM/EDGE network support, Bluetooth 3.0, a 2 megapixel camera, FM radio (with FM recording option), 3.5mm audio jack, a microUSB port and microSD card slot.
The Champ 2 is running on the company's latest TouchWiz Lite 2.0 UI and comes with native social networking integration.
Both phones should become available very soon. And just to be clear, we do have these official photos and specs, but both devices are not yet officially announced by Samsung.
A very legit looking image of the Nokia Searay has just been leaked by The Nokia Blog. The image is allegedly from T-Mobile Germany and has a short description of the phone on the side.
If we translate the text to English, we get the following result:
Drive safely to your destination with Nokia - including 3D. Representation and voice navigation Windows Mobile 7.5 (Mango) operating system. 3.7" brilliant domed AMOLED display.
The phone itself looks identical to the N9, as it did in all the previous leaks, which means it is also very easy to fake an image like this. Just like The Nokia Blog, we're finding the idea that Nokia would call the final version of this phone by the name 'Searay' a bit hard to swallow. More so because recently Nokia opened a poll to decide the name for their series of Windows Phone 7 devices, with options like Phoenix, Genesis, etc. This means the actual phones will probably be called something like the Nokia Genesis N1 rather than simply 'Searay'.
Things are yet to get finalized though, so eventually they might just go with individual names instead of having a name for the series. Whatever it is, we'll find out before the end of this year.
We first met the HTC Desire S at MWC in Barcelona, back in February earlier this year. As the natural successor to the HTC Desire. We saw performance improvements in terms of a better GPU, bigger amounts of RAM and ROM, and faster connectivity, but that aside, the step up wasn't as dramatic as we'd have liked.
Once it launched, the Desire S came running Android Gingerbread 2.3.3 and HTC's Sense 2.1 UI out of the box. The latest development however is that the next update for the Desire S, has started rolling out without so much as a whisper.
Users in the UK are reporting that they've noticed the update innocuously popping up on their devices since the last day of September.
As with any ROM update, when you get the all important notification isn't exactly set in stone. The update appears to be coming to users in the UK with stock Desire S ROMs, so carrier specific variations will, as usual take a little longer.
With this update, not only does your S get a boost from Gingerbread 2.3.3 to 2.3.5, but Sense UI moves up to 3.0 which means key updates like the interactive lock screens, new animations, an updated launcher as well as a host of new widgets, the latest version of the Android Market and access to HTC's Watch service. Users are also reporting better GPS performance.
Back in May, at Google I/O, it was said that Android devices, at least from a group of selected manufacturers and carriers, would receive full support for at least 18 months after a device's launch. In this instance, it seems HTC are most certainly making good on that promise. We've had no word on carrier locked ROMs and when the update will spread overseas, but if you notice anything, let us know.
We got a chance to interview the HTC EMEA Vice President of Marketing Stefan Streit, who was kind enough to answer all our questions about the company's Beats technology and on their plans about Windows Phone, Android and whatnot.
On Beats
Naturally HTC's newly formed partnership with Beats was of most interest to us. HTC is quite serious about improving the audio experience of its smartphones and the purchase of the Dre-founded company was a pretty major step.
Stefan told us HTC is still evaluating all possible scenarios about the Beats enhancements distribution across their portfolio so even they are not sure how exactly it will pan out.
As you know the first two HTC smartphones with Beats came with a special Beats headset and a few software audio tweaks to make best use of them. There's no different audio chip inside the Sensation XE and its unclear when/whether such will appear in the future.
What's more interesting is that “HTC is considering all options in the future and it doesn’t mean that every future HTC Beats device must automatically include a headset”. With the audio enhancement working with any Beats headphones the company is considering releasing some smartphones with just the software tweaks in markets where such headphones have good penetration already (such as the US).
Such move would allow them to bring the price down and users who already have Beats headphones won't have to pay twice for the same thing.
On Android and Windows Phone
HTC feels pretty positive about the Nokia/Microsoft deal as they believe HTC will actually benefit from it. HTC has had a really long partnership with Microsoft and it's confident that the software giant won't do anything to upset that partnership. According to Streit, anything that Nokia gets in terms of customization options will eventually be made available to other partners as well so it's a win-win situation.
Furthermore, Nokia should help rapidly boost the WP7 market share and HTC hopes to take advantage from that too. HTC currently holds half of all WP smartphones sales so the increase in popularity of the platform can only be considered good news for them.
HTC has no regrets of the Motorola acquisition by Google either and even feels that it will help Android as a whole. The welcome patent reinforcement will help all Android manufacturers in their court battles and HTC is positive that Motorola won't be getting any unfair advantages from this deal - the playing field should remain level.
On displays and CPUs
We were curious to hear more about HTC plans about two of the most important parts of modern-day smartphones.
The good news is that no bridges were burned when HTC stopped getting enough AMOLED units for its smartphones and switched to S-LCDs. So a return to the technology offering the best contrast on the market is possible, Streit admits.
However, HTC believes LCDs are still doing better in terms of color accuracy and it's easier to achieve higher resolution there, so a switch back is not by any means certain.
As for their mobile chipset manufacturer of choice, Stefan Streit said that they have a long and successful partnership with Qualcomm, but no exclusivity deal, so Nvidia or TI-powered smartphones and tablets are possible in the future.
On tablets
Unfortunately, HTC is not planning to bring the 10-inch Jetstream tablet to Europe. Not only do they have an exclusivity deal with AT&T, but with no big LTE networks available around this part of the globe, HTC feels that the Jetstream will be losing a large chunk of its appeal were it cross over our side of the pond.
They do have big plans about the tablet market, though, so new devices are on the way. Until they arrive, the Flyer will have to do for those wanting an HTC slate outside US.
Streit described the sales of the Flyer as "pretty ok" with the device obviously doing good given its sales targets.
On the Apple lawsuits
In regards to the ongoing lawsuits with Apple, HTC feels that it’s holding a strong position and it isn't afraid of the outcome. The company is ready to defend itself and it is confident that it will come out on top.
A really nice point made by Stefan Streit was that all those lawsuits a waste of effort, which would be better spent somewhere, where there is benefit for the end users. There's hardly anything for consumers to gain from all those patent battles and it would be best if it all ended as soon as possible.
Of course, HTC believes that intellectual property should be protected, but according to the company, the whole patent and licensing hunt should be approached more reasonably.
A big thanks to Mr. Streit for filling us in on the latest details surrounding HTC.
Samsung have the luxury of making their own chips and they are quick to put out new and better versions of them. The Exynos chipset, which debuted with the Samsung Galaxy S II at a 'mere' 1.2GHz is getting a 1.5GHz version, called the Exynos 4212.
Samsung also has a pair of high-end mobile cameras headed for the production line. One is a 16MP main shooter with a back illuminated sensor for better low-light performance (expected to ship in November) and the other is a 1.2MP module with 720p@30fps capture capabilities for front-facing cameras.
We can't quite make out the Google-translated press release but it seems the front facing camera will have 1/8.2 sensor (that sounds pretty small, but we'll see) and the ISO of the main shooter goes up to 1,600.
Going back to Exynos, it's built using the 32nm process and was designed with 3D performance in mind. Gameloft is apparently showing interest and will offer several titles to put the new SoC to good work.
The Korea-bound Galaxy S II LTE and Galaxy S II HD LTE will sport Exynos chipsets with the CPU clocked at 1.5GHz, which makes them the most likely candidates for being the first phones with the new chipset.
Samsung already has a 1.4GHz version of Exynos that's powering the Galaxy Note and the Galaxy Tab 7.7, but there's no info what kind of change in performance we can expect in the 3D department (beyond the obvious gain from the faster clock speed).
Samsung has just unveiled a rather unexpected addition to its fleet of tablets, with the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus. Available in both 16GB and 32GB varieties, this new slate is fueled by a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU, runs Android 3.2 Honeycomb and features a seven-inch LCD with 1024 x 600 resolution. It also packs a two megapixel front-facing camera, along with a three megapixel shooter that supports 720p video, boasts 1GB of RAM and ships with Sammy's TouchWiz UI baked-in. In terms of connectivity, you'll find support for quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, 3G with 21Mbps HSPA and the usual smattering of Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS capabilities. In addition, this little guy offers WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n at both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, along with support for channel bonding and apt-X Codec for Bluetooth. Pricing has yet to be announced, but the 7.0 Plus is slated to hit Indonesia and Austria by the end of October, before rolling out internationally. Slide past the break for more details, in the full PR, or check out the gallery below for more images.
We just got wind of the following video that shows what seems to be an iPhone 4 with a bigger screen. The phone seems to be the same size as the iPhone 4 but the screen now stretches from edge to edge with minimum bezel as those early mockups suggested.
Is this the iPhone 5?
Here's the video so you can see it for yourselves. And honestly, it does look legit no matter how hard it is to believe a working iPhone 5 unit has escaped Apple's stringent security.
Update: All evidence leads to this video being an incredibly carefully staged fake. We noticed that when launching the two apps - Safari and the game - the guy never lifts his thumb off the icon and iOS doesn't work that way. The game level also starts without anyone touching the Touch To Start button. Then the dates on the lockscreen and on the homescreen don't match up. The guy also doesn't show the phone all around and even makes a point of hiding the home button the whole time. We bet the whole thing it's probably shot on video and then used much like that elaborate joke we did for April's Fools Day back in 2010 - pretending we've installed iOS on the HTC Hero. So what do you say?
P.S. If you are interested, that game demoed on the video is ECA Games' Rock(s) Rider. We suppose that the whole thing was created to promote it.
Picture the scene: you're checking your emails on a shiny new device (worth two months pay) and from nowhere, a greasy-fingered infant is screaming at you to play. Reluctantly, you pass it over, watching your own hands cup the air beneath any potential drop zone, wondering how best to explain the jam-smeared calamity to your insurance company. Then you wonder if there isn't a useful, hard-wearing and cheap device you could let them play on without fear of bankruptcy. That's what prompted Norwich-based bedding magnate Andrew Kerry to conceive the AndyPad, an inexpensive, 7-inch Android tablet he could fling at kids. It wasn't long before jealous adults were demanding their own version, so a tooled-up edition of the device called the AndyPad Pro was born.
The tablet is currently UK-only and it retails for a lot less than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 (£280; $345 on Amazon) and Acer Iconia Tab A100 (£273 for the 8GB version; $328 on Amazon), and HTC Flyer(£330; $499 on Amazon). What's more, Verticool, an outfit founded by a man more famous for his Mattressman chain than any interest in technology, believes it can match the competition in a fair fight. Do the electronics giants have something to fear from the bargain-basement tablet or does it promise much and deliver little? Read on to find out.
In the box, you'll find the tablet, a micro-USB cable, wall adapter and a pair of earbuds so large that inserting dinner plates into your ear canals would seem to be an easier proposition. The 5 x 8-inch device weighs in at 0.8 pounds (180 grams), measures 0.5-inches thick and is pleasingly chunky without feeling heavy. It also happens to be thinner than most of the other devices in its class. The only significant drawback is a creaking in the thin plastic rear shell that reduces one's confidence in its durability. The white device hides fingerprints well, though it is a veritable dust magnet. Even so, a quick wipe on the back of the sleeve will prevent people from thinking you live in a cotton mill.
In portrait mode, the power button, reset pin and speakers are on the top edge of the device, the right side houses a volume rocker and the bottom contains mini-HDMI and micro-USB ports, a headphone jack and a microSD slot. Up front is a 0.3 megapixel VGA camera and round the back, a 2 megapixel camera (in the pictures you'll see what appears to be an LED-flash beneath it; it's actually a light-sensor.) Beneath the display are three touch buttons: home, back and menu. Button placement presents a challenge when using the device in landscape -- hold it on the right and the heel of your hand will invariably catch enough of the button sensor to take you out of your app or media. Hold it on the left and you will utterly obscure the speakers housed on the other side.
Steve Jobs may think that the 7-inch form factor is "DOA" but once we learned the best way to hold the device, it was very comfortable to hold for long periods of time. The screen is large enough to comfortably enjoy full-screen apps with movies and can even fit into a pants pocket, although we wouldn't recommend you use it that way. It's sufficiently compact enough that you can even comfortably use it one-handed, as long as your fingers are agile enough.
Display and sound
The tablet's 1024 x 600 capacitive display has weak backlighting, which means it won't win a fight against direct sunlight. Still, it has a wide viewing angle and the matte covering won't attract fingerprints as easily as its high-gloss cousins. It handles video pretty well, with a detailed picture, good black levels and only minor colour bleaching -- well enough, in fact, that it's a worthy replacement for a similarly endowed PMP. The display supports multitouch gestures, and in most apps they feel surprisingly fast and responsive. In the home screen, specifically, the tablet became sluggish and unresponsive, giving the impression of being far slower than it actually is.
Taking the device on a train journey with a pair of high-end Radiopaq earbuds, video refused to play stereo sound correctly even after several restarts. Afterward, testing with a pair of JVC Marshmallow earbuds and a variety of cheaper pairs, the problem seems isolated, but it's worth noting that it can throw a fit with the wrong accessories. Build quality rears its ugly head when you plug in headphones -- any pressure, like a finger tap on the rear shell causes any sound you hear to be replaced by an electrical buzzing.
Camera
On the back is a 2 megapixel camera, which provides reasonable shots and a 0.3 megapixel VGA lens for video chatting on the front. Sadly, none of the bundled apps, nor Skype can take advantage of the camera and only Fring was able to do anything useful with the snapper. Again, this is a software issue that should have been addressed before the device went on sale. At least you can get away with not putting any makeup for a video chat, it's highly unlikely anyone will notice.
The company rates battery life at six hours, and in our test (WiFi on, Bluetooth off, video looping) it actually went over that benchmark by a few minutes, which was a pleasant surprise. Six hours of battery life puts it in the same ballpark as the Galaxy Tab 7 and you feel as if this could go a full day, maybe two, without a recharge if it's only being used casually.
We can't be as effusive about the general performance of the device. Running the show is a Rockchip RK2918 Cortex A8 1.2GHz with 512MB RAM, and while it's a budget chip, it's no slouch. In general, apps run smoothly and video playback is fluid. Punctuating it all, though, is that lingering annoyance with the home screen, where performance slows to a crawl. Button pushes and swipes take far too long to register, and the icons have a habit of disappearing momentarily. It's worth repeating that the home screen's lagging performance makes a poor impression, even though it's otherwise an adequate performer.
Software
The AndyPad Pro runs a barely-modified version of Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), Swiftkey X replaces the standard Android keyboard as default, although the split layout in landscape mode takes some getting used to. Aside from Dropbox, Evernote and Facebook, the majority of the apps are free or demo versions of popular Android market games (Chess, Drag Racing, Checkers, Four in a line, Glow Hockey,Mouse Trap, Move it!, Reversi, Jewels, et cetera), which at times makes the device feel cluttered and bloated. You also get Android Market access to download most anything you want.
Aside from UI tweaks, Verticool has bundled the Andy App, its own software designed to hold the hand of novice users. It can handle OS updates, install apps and includes a series of short video tutorials that explain how to use the device -- something we wish came with all devices to teach impatient relatives.
The browser contains no surprises -- nearly everything renders quickly over WiFi, apart from element-intensive sites like, erm, this one. Trying to load the desktop versions of many sites means waiting for everything to load before you can commence browsing. We expected the device to collapse at the idea of a full-Flash page like GetTheGlass.com and yet it actually ran it, nearly keeping up with the constant stream of animation that the California Milk board threw at it.
Wrap-up
When reviewing an Android Tablet, the question to ask is "Why this device over another?" In this case, it's because for the price of an iPad 2, you can have two £180 ($280) AndyPad Pros with enough change left over for a meal out. It's wise to mention that UK gadget prices are substantially higher than in the US. In sterling, the 16GB AndyPad Pro is very aggressively priced: £90 cheaper than the 8GB Iconia A100 (£273; $328 on Amazon), £100 cheaper than the 16GB Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 (£280; $345 on Amazon) and nearly half the price of the 16GB HTC Flyer (£330; $499 on Amazon).
This is a device that high-end users will struggle to appreciate. Suspect build quality, fussy with accessories and the operating system all detract from the tablet's strengths. There are performance issues with the AndyPad Pro, nearly all of which can be laid at the feet of Gingerbread. The company is currently investigating porting Honeycomb onto the device. If it can achieve that and improve the build quality without inflating the price, it would be hard to justify the higher prices of tablets in the same class. Until then, this is a budget tablet that will appeal to price-watching novices only.
So far all we had regarding the Ice Cream Sandwich UI was a couple of screenshots and the word of an anonymous 4chan user. But now someone has managed to take a video of Ice Cream Sandwich running on the Nexus S.
The device was allegedly bought off eBay and much to the surprise of the buyer (and everyone else) it was found to be running Ice Cream Sandwich. Of course, the buyer then wasted no time in putting up a video of the UI for everyone's viewing pleasure.
One look at the UI and we can see it matches what we have already seen of it. The homescreen now has four icons at the bottom next to the application drawer button, the folder function seems to have had a makeover, there's a new look notification screen and an application drawer that looks straight out of Honeycomb as does the new task manager with large thumbnail images of the running apps.
What we haven't seen before is the new lock screen. You can now see that you will be able to launch the camera app right from the lock screen. Android phones from HTC and other OEMs have had this functionality before but it's only now that Android is getting it by default. Hopefully this feature is customizable so you will be able to add other functions as well other than the camera app.
The camera app itself is new as well. Other than the UI changes, you can also see the addition of a panorama mode
The changes are nice and we're sure there will be more under the hood that we are not seeing in the video. Hopefully, stuff like GPU accelerated UI and optimization for CPUs with multiple cores will be present as well.
Today Microsoft announced that it has signed a cross-licensing patent deal with Samsung, which should help protect both companies from outside attacks in court. Under the terms of the deal Samsung will be paying royalties to Microsoft for every Android smartphone it makes.
Obviously, Samsung feels that either the Google/Motorola deal won't happen fast enough or that it won't do enough to protect its interests at all, so they simply reached an agreement with their other partner.
As a part of the deal, Samsung has also agreed to help in the marketing of the Windows Phone system and collaborate with Microsoft on the development of the platform itself. Apparently, Microsoft was concerned that Samsung would neglect its three recently announced WP7 Omnia devices in favor of the Galaxy lineup.
With Samsung joining HTC as a Microsoft licensee, Android will certainly continue to bring more money to the software giant than its own Windows Phone. Time will tell if Nokia joining the game will change that.
Seeing how things panned out with HTC and Samsung, we should probably also expect Motorola to follow suit. The American manufacturer is currently being sued by Microsoft and we are starting to suspect that it will end with a similar agreement.
Nokia may have announced that the N9 will be the last of the MeeGo phones from them but just in case you were planning to buy it rest assured you won't be left out in the cold.
Nokia's Product Planning Director Janne Heikkinen said on Nokia's blog that the N9 will be getting continued software support. This means regular software updates for the OS.
The first update will be released soon after the device starts selling based on the feedback from users and operators and more updates will be released along the way.
He also mentioned that the UI innovations done in the N9 will be carried over to Nokia's other products as well.
As for third-party app support, the N9 already has popular apps like Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Skype, Picasa, Flickr and Mail for Exchange built-in along with popular games such as Angry Birds and you can expect more apps on the Ovi Store soon.
