Faebook's Mark Zuckerberg made a recorded video appearance this morning at HTC's press conference and reiterated a point that needs to be reiterated yet again.
There is no single "Facebook phone."
Instead, he said, there will be "dozens" of Android phones that have a deeper integration with Facebook, including the recently announced HTC Salsa and ChaCha, and other phones like the INQ Cloud Touch.
So, no, there's no single Facebook phone. And nor should there be.
Motorola Mobility announced this morning that the Motorola Xoom will be coming to Europe with 3G and WiFi-only options and will be available at the beginning of Q2.
The European Xoom will sport the same specs without Verizon branding of course; we haven't heard specific details of a WiFi-only Xoom yet for the US.
No word on price, which will likely be figured out after it's initial release in the US. Full press release after the break.
BARCELONA - Mobile World Congress 2011 – Feb. 14, 2011 - Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MMI) today announced Motorola XOOM™ 3G/WiFi®-enabled version as well as a WiFi-only version will be available in Europe beginning in Q2 2011. Motorola XOOM runs on Google’s Android™ 3.0 Honeycomb – the only Android operating system designed specifically for tablets – and was named “Best of Show” by CNET at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The tablet will be demonstrated at Mobile World Congress this week at the Motorola booth in Hall 8, Booth No. 8A51.
“Motorola XOOM re-defines what the tablet experience should be. Designed from the ground up with the consumer in mind, it provides more ways to have fun, connect with friends and stay productive while on the go,” said Alain Mutricy, senior vice president of Portfolio and Device Product Management, Motorola Mobility. “Whether surfing the Web, watching the latest hit movie, or video-chatting with friends, Motorola XOOM will delight consumers with its ease of use, speed and vivid graphics, as well as its Motorola Smart Accessories.”
In today’s fast-paced mobile device market, Motorola XOOM isn’t the next generation tablet; it’s the one after that. Thanks to its dual cameras, true multi-tasking functionality, latest Google Mobile innovations, 1GHz dual-core processor and 10.1-inch (25.65 cm) widescreen HD display, the Motorola XOOM provides users with diverse content-consumption capabilities.
Motorola XOOM Features
Motorola XOOM delivers a new type of mobile computing experience, including: a widescreen HD display with 1280x800 resolution to support HD video and with HDMI out; a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera for 720p video capture and 2-megapixel front-facing camera for video chats; and a built-in gyroscope, barometer, e-compass, accelerometer and adaptive lighting.
A dual-core processor with each core running at 1GHz offers an optimal experience for Android 3.0 Honeycomb. The Honeycomb user experience improves on Android favorites such as widgets, multi-tasking, browsing, notifications and customization, and also features the latest Google Mobile innovations such as Google Maps 5.0 with 3D interaction. Video and other rich web content plays seamlessly with Adobe® Flash® Player.
Motorola XOOM supports up to 10 hours of video playback, and charges in half the time of competitive tablets on the market.
Motorola Smart Accessories
A Standard Dock for watching video content or listening to music through external speakers as the device charges
A Speaker HD Dock for sending HD content directly to a TV or clearly listening to music through two built-in speakers – eliminating the need to attach external speakers
A custom keyboard with Bluetooth® wireless technology and special Android shortcut keys
Please visit the Motorola MWC 2011 press kit for additional information www.motorola.com/mediacenter/mwc2011
About Motorola Mobility
Motorola Mobility, Inc. (NYSE:MMI) fuses innovative technology with human insights to create experiences that simplify, connect and enrich people's lives. Our portfolio includes converged mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets; wireless accessories; end-to-end video and data delivery; and management solutions, including set-tops and data-access devices. For more information, visit motorola.com/mobility.
We're still sitting in on the LG live blog from Mobile World Congress but we had to just take a quick second and show you all the Quadrant scores from the LG Optimus 3D. As you all can see above, the Optimus 3D can easily hit 2958 without any modifications at all. Dual Core, Dual Channels, Dual Memory is what Euro marketing director Daniel Hernandez was making clear to everyone. The LG Optimus 3D is packing that and more. Sit tight as we gather up the rest of the information for you all.
LG unveiled their newest flagship device this morning at MWC, the Optimus 3D. The Optimus 3D features the world's first dual-core, dual-channel and dual-memory architecture.
It features two 5MP rear cameras for 3D recording, which are powered by a dual-core 1GHz TI OMAP 4 processor.The screen is a 4.3-inch, WVGA display that also features the world's first stereoscopic scree, which means glasses free 3D.
Other specs include 8GB memory, a 1500 mAh battery and DLNA/HDMI support. Full press release after the break.
LG OPTIMUS 3D USHERS IN A NEW ERA FOR SMARTPHONES
Breakthrough smartphone brings together high performance with full 3D experience
Barcelona, Feb. 14, 2011 – LG Electronics (LG) today officially unveiled the eagerly-awaited LG Optimus 3D, the high-performance smartphone offering the world’s first full 3D experience, at Mobile World Congress 2011.
The LG Optimus 3D introduces a number of innovative “first” technologies, including the world’s first dual-core, dual-channel and dual-memory architecture as well as the first 3D platform allowing for recording, viewing and sharing of 3D content.
Superb Performance with Unique “Tri-Dual” Configuration
The LG Optimus 3D is a showcase of superior speed and power made possible with LG’s unique “tri-dual” configuration -- dual-core, dual-channel and dual-memory. This configuration enables users to enjoy significantly improved performance and run-time compared to smartphones offering 1GHz dual-core processors.
Unlike other single-channel, single-memory dual-core smartphones, the LG Optimus 3D offers significant performance benefits as a result of the simultaneous -- and thus faster -- transfer of data between the dual-core and dual-memory. Users can browse web pages, multitask between programs, play games at a higher frame rate and enjoy movies more smoothly and longer than ever before.
“Backed by a combination of superb performance and full 3D, we’re excited about the prospects of the LG Optimus 3D taking the smartphone experience to a much higher level,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Mobile Communications Company. “We’ve incorporated every feature for the power user and we think they’ll be pleased with what they see.”
World’s First Full 3D Experience: 3D Recording-Viewing-Sharing
The LG Optimus 3D’s dual 5MP lens camera allows users to capture and record their best moments as images and videos in 3D anytime, anywhere. The LG Optimus 3D’s 4.3-inch WVGA display faithfully recreates the 3D experience without the use of glasses. The display provides bright and flicker-free images allowing users to view 2D (up to 1080p) and 3D (up to 720p) multimedia content. And users can navigate through the device’s 3D interface with the click of LG’s unique 3D Hot Key which presents five 3D-dedicated UIs, including Gallery, Camera, Game&Apps, YouTube 3D and 3D Guide.
Captured 3D content is easily shared via an HDMI 1.4 connection to 3D TVs and monitors and also is compatible with DLNA Certified(TM) products. What’s more, users can easily upload and stream 3D content and share each other’s creations on YouTube’s dedicated 3D channel (youtube.com/3D).
The LG Optimus 3D will be rolled-out globally starting with Europe early in the second quarter. The phone will initially be released with Android 2.2 (Froyo) and will be upgradeable to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). The upgrade schedule will be announced in local markets in due course.
Key Specifications:
1GHz Dual-Core Dual-Channel processor (Texas Instruments OMAP4)
4.3-inch 3D WVGA screen
8GB memory and 4Gb LP DDR2
1,500 mAh battery
5MP dual-lens camera
2D: 1080p MPEG-4/H.264 recording and playback
3D: 720p H.264 SEI recording and playback
HSPA+, DLNA/HDMI 1.4
H.264, H.263, DivX, MKV, WMV-9, ASF, AVI, 3GP, MP4
A new Foursquare update is now available in the Android Market and rather then it being just a small a small change, it is one that Foursquare is quite happy about. During his mini keynote today at Mobile World Congress CEO and co-founder of Foursquare, Dennis Crowley announced that Foursquare would now be able to support a broader audience by including French, German, Italian, Spanish & Japanese languages within Foursquare. Other then downloading the now available update, users don't have to do anything else to see the changes. Foursquare will auto-detect your devices default language and display that within. Download can be found after the break. Also, check out the new notification system in this release. [Foursquare]
If you've been making use of a smartphone long before they were even called smartphones then the name Kinoma should be rather familiar to you. If not, now is a great time to get to know them and what they offer. Made popular on Palm OS, Symbian and Windows Mobile, Kinoma Play is now making its way to Android with their newly announced beta media player and platform services.
Having recently been acquired by Marvell, Kinoma is hard at work. Aside from the Android Beta they also have a new SDK coming for developers and OEM's that allows them to integrate Kinoma into their content and services. The full press release is available after the break but if you're wanting to get in on the Android Beta you'll have to head on over to the Kinoma website for the full details. You can also check out their announcement post in our forums. [Kinoma]
Marvell Introduces Kinoma - Revolutionary Open Software Platform to Unify Applications
Simple, elegant, intuitive and lightening fast user experience will debut at Mobile World Congress
Barcelona, Spain (Feb 14, 2011) Marvell (Nasdaq: MRVL), a worldwide leader in integrated silicon solutions, today announced Kinoma®, a software platform that will dramatically transform the way consumers interact with the devices that fuel their digital lives. Kinoma is a new foundation for creating and delivering fast, simple user experiences for an unprecedented range of devices. Through its recent acquisition of Kinoma Inc., a visionary creator of mobile media software, Marvell now offers an experience and solution that is fully integrated from silicon to applications, creating new opportunities for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and manufacturers while freeing developers from traditional restraints.
"We are living in an exciting world of proliferating electronic devices. They are becoming a key part of our lives. More than ever consumers demand great ease-of-use and seamless connectivity across all these devices," said Weili Dai, Marvell's Co-Founder. "I am very excited to bring the talented Kinoma team to Marvell – it is our mission to coherently integrate our industry-leading hardware solutions with beautiful software experiences to enable the entire ecosystem to address this emerging demand. The addition of Kinoma – a simple, intuitive, easy to use software experience optimized for Marvell's total silicon solutions – provides a unified look and feel across an array of products from handheld devices to smart appliances and smart furnishings. It gives designers and developers the freedom to dream up more innovative, personalized, and intelligent products and applications that I believe will change the world by making consumers' lives easier and more convenient. That's our passion."
The newest version of Kinoma Play is the first product built on Kinoma. Featuring an elegant, touch-friendly design coupled with lightning fast speed, Kinoma Play shows how Kinoma delivers a seamlessly integrated user experience. Combining 40 applications, ranging from social networking to digital media to location to search, Kinoma Play offers consumers a simple, consistent user experience for work and play.
To encourage broad industry adoption, Marvell will offer Kinoma under an open source license. Developers will be able to adapt Kinoma for any device they can imagine. Marvell will also provide two software development kits (SDKs). The first SDK is for application developers to fully integrate their content and services into Kinoma powered devices. The second SDK is for OEMs and manufacturers to port and customize Kinoma for their products.
"As digital devices have become more powerful, creating the software to power them has become increasingly difficult," said Peter Hoddie, vice president of the Kinoma Platform at Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. "Kinoma makes it easier for developers to bring their ideas to life. Kinoma lets developers focus on creating great applications with thoughtfully refined user experiences that taps into the full power of the underlying hardware. We want to make life better for developers, so they can craft the products that make life better for our users."
"Kinoma delivers on the promise so many companies are chasing – a thoughtfully designed, beautiful user interface that enhances user experience," said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies. "The capabilities of this platform are crucial for creating a new class of connected devices with a simple, consistent user experience and access to the content they need, no matter where they are."
Marvell will demonstrate the newest version of Kinoma Play in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress (Courtyard CY15). For those unable to see Kinoma Play in person, a video showing the speed, elegance, and simplicity of Kinoma Play is available on the Marvell web site.
Marvell will announce further information on developing with Kinoma and licensing in the coming weeks.
About Marvell
Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL) is a world leader in the development of storage, communications and consumer silicon solutions. Marvell's diverse product portfolio includes switching, transceiver, communications controller, wireless and storage solutions that power the entire communications infrastructure, including enterprise, metro, home and storage networking. As used in this release, the term "Marvell" refers to Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries. For more information, visit Marvell.com.
Marvell, the M logo and Kinoma are registered trademarks of Marvell and/or its affiliates. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
News, theories, and phones supposedly running Android 2.4 have been kicking around for a while now, and we're seeing it mentioned again today from HTC. Word is that 2.4 is still Gingerbread, and we assume that it's the version with backwards support of some Honeycomb features for phones. We're live at HTC press event now, and hopefully we'll hear some more details. We'll keep you updated.
Huawei has officially announced two new Android devices -- the IDEOS X3 smartphone and the IDEOS S7 Slim tablet. Neither device was a big secret, but Huawei held their press conference at MWC today and made them both official.
The IDEOS X3 is an entry level phone, with a 3.2 inch HVGA display, a 3.2 MP camera, running Android 2.3. It's also touted as the thinnest 3.2 inch device on the market, but no dimensions were given. Expect the device in the spring of 2011, with an initial launch on Softbank Mobile in Japan.
The IDEOS S7 Slim is a 7 inch tablet with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution, running Froyo. Not much is known and full specs haven't been released, but when we saw it at IFA 2010 (see our hands on) we saw 256 MB of RAM and a Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU.
We'll reserve any judgment without some more hands-on time, but these both look like devices geared towards the budget minded consumer. And that's never a bad thing. The full press release, and a picture of the IDEOS S7 Slim is after the break.
Huawei Reveals Expanded Suite of Smart Devices
at 2011 Mobile World Congress
Huawei IDEOS™ X3Smartphone – Sleek, stylish design, the thinnest device in the 3.2-inch screen range on the market with latest intuitive Android 2.3 interface
Huawei IDEOS™ S7Slim next-generation tablet now more streamlined for easier portability
Huawei HiLink for automatic, hassle-free Internet connection anywhere, anytime
Huawei Mobile WiFi Smart Pro wireless modem with intelligent routing
Spain, Barcelona, 15 February 2011: Huawei, a leader in providing next-generation telecommunications network solutions for operators around the world, introduced its latest Android Gingerbread smartphone, the Huawei IDEOS™ X3, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on 15th February. The ultra-stylish Huawei IDEOS X3 blends sleek hardware with high-performing software to help users more effectively manage their communication and social networking activities.
At the same event, Huawei also launched the Huawei HiLink, a plug-and-link data card which connects users to high-speed Internet on-the-go, the Huawei Mobile WiFi Smart Pro wireless modem, an intelligent device which automatically selects the best high-speed Internet connection available, as well as the Huawei IDEOS™ S7 Slim, a next-generation 7-inch capacitive touchscreen tablet offering a blend of style and portability.
“The IDEOS range and our latest mobile broadband solutions are intuitive, simple to use products that offer users an enhanced mobile experience integrated seamlessly across different wireless technologies,” said Mr. Victor Xu, chief marketing officer of Huawei Device. “As we move into 2011, Huawei will continue to lead the drive to provide consumers with smart mobile connectivity at the right price.”
The Huawei IDEOS™ X3 smartphone: intuitive, power-efficient, ultra-stylish
The Huawei IDEOS X3, featuring an ultra-slim exterior, is a high-performing smartphone that boasts a 3.2-inch capacitive HVGA touchscreen, a 3.2 megapixel camera and the Huawei Handset Over-the-Air and Online Upgrade (HOTA) solution for Android, which provides users easy and timely OS upgrades. It is the thinnest device in the 3.2 inch screen range on the market. The smartphone runs on the latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread platform, which features a refined user interface that makes the smartphone easy to navigate, more intuitive and more power-efficient.
The Huawei IDEOS X3 also comes standard with applications that allow users to easily manage information and seamlessly sync their various social communication channels.
Product availability:
·The Huawei IDEOS™ X3 will be available in Japan via SOFTBANK MOBILE Corp. from Spring 2011
·The Huawei IDEOS™ S7 Slim will be available in April 2011.
·The Huawei HiLink will be available in Europe in Q2 2011.
·The Huawei Mobile WiFi Smartpro will be available in Q2 2011.
About Huawei
Huawei is a leading telecoms solutions provider serving 45 of the world’s top 50 telecom operators. Huawei’s products and solutions have been deployed in over 100 countries and support the communications needs of one third of the world’s population. The company is committed to providing innovative and customized products, services and solutions to create long-term value and growth potential for its customers.
For more information, visit Huawei online: www.huawei.com.
Think back to our original HTC Wildfire review. Nice little -- very little -- mid-level Android phone, plagued by a low-resolution screen.
No more. With the announcement of the HTC Wildfire S, you basically have the same phone with its 3.2-inch screen, 600MHz processor and 512MB of ROM/RAM and slap newer software and a better screen onto it. You now have a 320x480 screen resolution -- the bare minimum for any size screen.
Otherwise, it's a nice little entry level smartphone. Check out our hands-on video and pics after the break.
Cincinnati Bell now offers the Samsung Galaxy S, which is a fantastic offering from the regional carrier. If you're on Cincinnati Bell and want the Galaxy S, you can get it for $279 with a 2-year contract or $399 no-contract.
One other interesting note is that the device is shipping with Android 2.2 (Froyo), which most of the main carriers can't claim. This remains a great option for someone looking for a solid Android device that doesn't have many carrier modifications. [Cincinnati Bell] Thanks Josh!
Another Acer tablet on show here at Mobile World Congress was the Acer Iconia A500 – the 10 inch version of the A100, essentially. This one’s a bit different: inputs and slots and all those gizmos have been moved around a bit, and it’s bigger obviously.
It also has no capacitive buttons, but in its Android 2.3 form, you can bring up Android’s controls to navigate through the OS. We’re told Android 3.0 will be ready in time for launch. This also looks an awful lot like that Verizon prototype we saw earlier, but I’m not confirming that.
It has NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 processor, as you’d surely expect, and an HD resolution to feed all of your favorite content to you in full HD. HDMI-out is present just as in the A100, and the A500 has an extra USB port – it’s standard in size.
It also has a front-facing camera and a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera. Speaker grills sit at the bottom of the device on the back. All of its components are housed inside of an aluminum unibody structure, so it looks and feels great all around.
Once this thing is fully ready for launch and has the software acer intends for it to have, it’ll be just as hot of an item as the XOOM, Galaxy Tab 2, and the LG Optimus Pad are. Be on the lookout for it sometime this quarter or next. Video is above.
We got a few minutes to tour a couple brand new products from NEC that are destined to hit the shores of Japan for too long. The first Android tablet you see demoed has dual-screens with special multi-tasking features built-in while the second device is essentially an Android netbook/laptop. The latter will be out this week while the former is coming in the next couple months – both in Japan.
NEC hopes to gain popularity with these tablets and offer them in Europe and the United States, but I have to question that possibility. After seeing the XOOM, Optimus Pad, and Galaxy S2, I simply dont see the point in buying any type of Android Tablet that is running 2.X.
Android 3.0 is optimized for tablets and you can tell – most of the Android 2.X tablets are buggy, glitchy, underpowered, and the next generation is already arriving. Manufacturers would be smart to shelve any tablets they’ve got running Android 2.X and immediately begin working on launching products with Android 3.0 if they want to seriously compete.
And of course, the idea is to get AHEAD of the curve, so perhaps focusing on Android 3.0 isn’t enough. Maybe they should be working on Android 3.X and beyond… and in that case it’s a matter of getting enough access.
The United States might be the land of the free, but we’ve yet to earn freedom for many of the smartphones and Android phones in Asia and Europe that we would otherwise Desire (see what I did there?). It only takes a few specs to quickly put the Toshiba Regza near the top of that list:
The Regza only runs Android 2.1 but with a 12MP camera, NFC chip, and waterproof conditioning it immediately seems like a pretty sweet phone. In my limited time toying with the Regza I was pleasantly surprised. I’m still dying for the day that we get an Android phone with optical zoom, but the pictures on the Regza – at least in the viewfinder – looked quite gorgeous. I tried to share/E-mail them to myself but they have yet to come through… if they do, we’ll be sure to post them here.
A quick look at some of the specs:
Android 2.1
12MP camera (plus a front facing camera)
Waterproof
4-inch screen
854 x 480 pixel resolution
14.7mm thick
149 grams
Near Field Communications equipped
Now Toshiba needs to bring their Android Phones to the American market (please). I’ve owned two Toshiba laptops and have loved them both. Actually, this very post is being written lovingly from a Toshiba laptop.
If the Toshiba Regza was available in your area, would it make your short list of Android Phones to consider buying?
HTC’s just announced the HTC Flyer at their press event here in Barcelona. Due to limited space we weren’t able to get in on the unveiling ourselves, but we hear it has a 1.5 GHz processor, is 7 inches large, and runs Android 2.4 – no Honeycomb here, guys.
A new tablet version of Sense dons this thing, and from the images we’ve seen so far, it doesn’t look too bad. More specs include 1GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, 1280×600 resolution, and comes with a capacitive stylus. In short, this thing has just about everything.
It has a 5 megapixel camera on the back and a front-facing VGA camera on the front, a 4,000 mAh battery, and an aluminum unibody casing. We’ll be on the show floor looking for this thing and we can’t wait to get our hands on it so we can deliver some good, tablet-y video to you. The device will be shipping Q2 of this year.
I’ll be honest: I was obsessively pessimistic about the concept of a “Facebook Phone”. Not only does it seems trendy in the most anti-cool way possible, but what’s the point in a hardware button to launch Facebook? It turns out the Facebook buttons does more than just launch Facebook:
Whenever the button lights up, you’re able to share the content currently on your screen to Facebook. Simple, easy, and much more purposeful than a button that launches Facebook. While I use Facebook, I’m not a compulsive Facebooker, so the feature falls flat on a personal note. But on a general note, my obsessively pessimistic attitude has turned around and I can definitely see the market for HTC’s two Facebook phones: the HTC Salsa and HTC ChaCha.
They’re not incredibly powerful phones, but then, being powerful wasn’t the point. Android is powerful enough and the ChaCha and Salsa are lucky to be running 2.3. While the ChaCha has a portrait QWERTY for the text and type happy teen, the Salsa is a mid-range touchscreen only device.
Again, I wouldn’t use this myself, but there is a huge potential for this proposition and I’m sure you can think of a handful of people in your life who would use this. The main hurdle is cool factor. Or anti-cool factor. Will it be embraced or will it fall flat? I guess the target market will make that ultimate decision.Either way, I’d be curios to know the behind the scenes deals that went down to get this done. It’s clear that the purpose of the Facebook button is to encourage use and sharing with people posting more regularly. Initially I thought the purpose was to help you consume content by telling you when you had new messages, news statuses, friends birthdays and so on. This is much, much different.
But how often do you share stuff on Facebook? I only share things a couple times a week at most, sometimes going weeks at a time without making a peep. I guess that’s the purpose, to encourage a more intimate experience. To make it second nature to snap a pic and post it to Facebook immediately. To constantly remind you, “HEY, SHARE ME!”
But in my opinion, if Facebook continues down too far down this path the danger is they’re just becoming more like Twitter. Part of the reason I like Facebook, and mostly disregard Twitter, is people only post things when they actually have something worthwhile to say. I don’t think my friends are the type to buy a Facebook phone in the first place, but if my statuses/wall start to fill up with comments like “Eating Cereal” and “Look I found a penny!” with accompanying pictures… God help me, I’m gone.
Here is another item for this HTC-filled news day. The product pages over at the main HTC site have been updated to include plenty of images and specs for the newly launched lineups of handsets. Now you can obsessively compare apples to apples and see how and where the Incredible S, Desire S, and Wildfire S have improved. The HTC Flyer tablet and Facebook-enabled ChaCha and Salsa are up too.
Speaking of that little ‘S’ thing…what’s up with that? We asked an HTC rep and he told us you could think of it as meaning “Superior,” you know, better than the first. We think it comes just a bit too close to the ‘S’ Samsung has been tacking onto their high-end line of Galaxy devices. But I digress.
Here are the new product pages:
The HTC Wildfire was a low-end Android and a pretty successful device in its own right. The HTC Wildfire S continues the concept, but this should put Android into the hands of even more masses. Imagine a small version of the Nexus One mashed together with improved HTC Wildfire specs and you’ve got yourself the HTC Wildfire S.
One great thing about the Wildfire is that it’s running Android 2.3 which is (as of now) the most current version of the OS. You get the full Android/smartphone experience with the Wildfire S, just without the high-end luxuries and specs of a superphone. In terms of capabilities, anyone going from a feature phone or dumb phone to the Wildfire will still be blown away. I mean, it’s still Android in all its glory.
Also note the Wildfire has a 3.2-inch screen and fits in an extremely slender frame. This has two polarizing qualities:
It’s the definition of pocketable. Nobody switching from a dumb or feature phone will complain about the size or portability.
Small screen = small keyboard. Typing on the software keyboard is cramped.
Pricing and availability for the Wildfire S haven’t been named, but the clear purpose is entry-level affordability, and with the looks of a miniature Nexus One I’m rather liking the total package. That is, if you’re an introductory Android/Smartphone user. If that’s the case, won’t be bothered by the underwhelming Wildfire Specs and instead will seek more info!
The Sony Ericsson LiveView is already available in several regions, but without a US release I had not seen the nifty little accessory in the flesh…or plastic, rather. When I stumbled upon it at Sony Ericsson’s booth at MWC I couldn’t pass up the chance to check it out. Good news was learned, too. The LiveView is a mere few weeks away from a US and Canadian release.
Initially believing the LiveView only worked with Sony Ericsson devices, speaking to the head of application outreach at SE I learned the platform is completely open both to developers and users of handsets from other manufacturers. You need only to install a LiveView bridge app and the LiveWare software that allows you to narrow down Android Market results to LiveView-compatible services. They download on your phone and install to the device over the air.
But the idea of the LiveView is what makes it so compelling. A sports bundle that includes a running app download from the market and some accessories to mount your gear while in motion highlights just one of the areas where the LiveView becomes extremely useful. Your phone takes care of all the monitoring of distance, time, and calories burned while the LiveView’s mini display presents the information in an easy manner. Just glance at your wrist with no need to manage your phone while running.
Of course, you could always use it as a smart watch to display time, recent texts and emails, and countless other applications for just about anything you could think. So it looks a little dorky…but SE promises us their working on that too. A new version will be a bit sleeker than the current chunky plastic. The LiveView retails for about 70 euro; stay tuned for a full review in the near future.
It’s no wonder HTC is plastering the Desire name on just about anything that comes close to fitting the bill. The original was wildly successful throughout Europe and the Desire HD and Desire Z further brought honor to the name. But the true successor to the one that started all was announced today, and though it doesn’t improve by leaps and bounds its changes are all the better.
It keeps the 3.7-inch display and 1GHz Snapdragon with additional RAM. The Desire S gets 768MB. The phone has Android Gingerbread, but an HTC Sense UI leaves little noticeable change from previous devices using the UI. You get just about the same experience with some additional tweaks.
There is no complaining on the performance of the device, but would have liked to seen the second edition of such a tent-pole handset given phone of the year honors get specced out in the same fashion as other recently announced handsets from LG and Samsung. A dual-core processor would have been lovely, especially considering this handset should be running the optimized Android 2.4 build of Gingerbread (the one we tested had 2.3.3).
Sitting next to the new Incredible S, we’d probably take the latter for its larger screen size, but the Desire S will not doubt be another favorite. They both should land during Q2 of this year.
It seems that with each new version of Android, HTC adds more to their custom layer, HTC Sense. The same was true for several new Android 2.3 phones HTC announced today which include the Incredible S, Desire S, and the Wildfire S. I figured it was worth taking another look at Sense to see what surprises awaited me.
One thing I loved was that HTC put settings togglers inside the notification pain. Before, you just had your recently used apps and your list of notifications, if any. Now, you can flip between notifications and settings by hitting the tabs on the bottom. This does away with the need to add those toggle widgets to your home-screen.
It’s 10 times better than any homescreen widget method considering you can access them anywhere at anytime. HTC still inludes the toggle widgets for those who may still want them. (But why would they?)
They also made some changes to the app drawer. Firstly, it’s no longer a kinetic scrolling mechanism. You still scroll vertically, but you go section by section. It’s a change that many OEMs have decided to implement for their custom overlays, and it isn’t bad.
Also new are a couple of sorting options: you can look at your most frequently used applications, your market applications, or just all of them. Not totally flexible, but options are options, and you didn’t have this one before.
A few of the widgets have gotten a bit more polish, too. I didn’t check all of them out, but one notable change is to the clock widget – It’ll now pull in the latest Facebook status update if you have set an account up on your phone. I failed to see the point, though, as you can’t scroll through a list of statuses and touching the status doesn’t open Facebook, it just opens more weather and clock options. HTC says this new version of Sense isn’t final, however, so that may change.
That’s about it as far as anything new goes. Would have liked to be able to try out a lot more stuff, but it’s hard to do anything on a phone with no internet connection. We’re sure phones with this version of Sense will be popping up soon enough, and you can bet we’ll go even deeper when they do.
PS: No, I didn’t see that big “REMOVE” button when trying to delete the calendar widget
Since I’ve played with the Motorola XOOM, LG Optimus Pad, and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, I’ve quickly become an Android Tablet snob. And by that, I mean anything less than Android 3.0 just doesn’t seem worthwhile. Today HTC announced their first Android Tablet, the HTC Flyer, and I wasn’t impressed.
HTC has been an Android powerhouse, not only competing with other manufacturers but often setting the bar and blazing the trail. In terms of Android Tablets, Motorola, Samsung and LG have left HTC in the dust. Their hardware isn’t necessarily better… it’s just, Android 2.X on a tablet now seems forced and unnatural after you’ve experienced Honeycomb.
Although I prefer 10-inch tabs, the HTC Flyer hardware is actually pretty good. Some of the key specs include:
7-inch screen
1024 by 600 pixel resolution
Half an inch thick
14.8 ounces
1.5GHz processor
1GB RAM
5MP camera
1.3MP front facing camera
3.5mm headset jack
4000 mAh battery
It isn’t the hardware that falls flat, on the contrary, HTC is one of the most solid manufacturers out there and all of their MWC announcement are solid on the hardware side. But the software. It was noticeably laggy, slow and just didn’t feel right.
The Flyer also comes with a Stylus and a “Scribe” button which only works when touched with the actual pen/stylus itself. HTC has baked a bunch of features into Android for use with the stylus, allowing you to draw pretty much anywhere, save and share pics, sync them with Evernote, along with a bunch of other functionality.
Even with HTC Sense optimized for tablets and these unique features, the HTC Flyer falls flat. I can’t see it performing too well in terms of sales either: why would you buy the Flyer when you could buy the XOOM, Optimus Pad, or Galaxy Tab 10.1?
At CES and other events the most prevalent Android product has been crappy Android tablets. Anyone and everyone was slapping Android on a big screen and calling it a day. By no means would I classify the HTC Flyer as “crappy”, but I’ve come to expect cutting edge products from HTC and this particular device just seems a generation too old.
It’s a shame, too, because there isn’t even an Android 3.0 Tablet available for sale yet and it’s already making predecessors obsolete. Before the HTC Flyer launches it already seems old. I’d suggest HTC either wait to release and ship it with an upgrade or cut their losses and shelve altogether.
BlackBerry may be the go-to enterprise smartphone platform, but Samsung is positioning its newly unveiled Galaxy S II as new contenders for the crown. To get there, Samsung's working with Sybase to bring far more advanced security to the handsets than stock Android offers, including control of individual applications and ports and also allowing for remote administration -- including admin-pushed app updates. Samsung also talked up the phone's Exchange compatibility and, with help from Cisco, the phone offers WebEx compatibility, VPN support, and VOIP calling. Know what this means? Your next corporate phone just got a lot more interesting.
Sybase Ensures Android Enterprise-Readiness With Breakthrough Security on Samsung Mobile Devices
Industry leading Sybase Afaria Transforms the Enterprise with Advanced Security for Samsung Galaxy S and Galaxy S II Android Platforms
BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- GSMA MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS -- Sybase, Inc., an SAP® company (NYSE: SAP) and industry leader in enterprise and mobile software, today announced its expanded partnership with Samsung to deliver its Sybase Afaria® Advanced Enterprise Security (AES) for Android, providing breakthrough security and application management for Samsung's popular Galaxy S and Galaxy S II devices. Sybase Afaria is the industry's most powerful and flexible mobile device management and security solution for the enterprise.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101203/MM12180LOGO )
"The partnership with Sybase enables our enterprise customers to confidently embrace Samsung Android devices," said Jongshin Kim, vice president of Enterprise Solution Group, Samsung Electronics. "Sybase provides a comprehensive solution that helps Samsung Galaxy S and Galaxy S II set a new security standard within the Android ecosystem. With the widespread adoption of both personally-owned and corporate-owned Samsung devices, our enterprise customers can now enjoy the benefits of Samsung's compelling Galaxy S devices in the most secure and consistent manner."
"Enterprises are diversifying their installed base of smart phones as users demand the latest devices to complement existing company supported platforms," says Jack Gold, President of J.Gold Associates. "The surging popularity of Android devices, like the latest Samsung Galaxy phones, leaves companies with a dilemma – how to give users choice while maintaining a secure corporate environment. Products with extensive device support like Sybase Afaria significantly advance the off-the-shelf device capabilities of Android, iPhone, iPad, etc., making them enterprise-class through protection and manageability enhancements that safeguard corporate assets and minimize total cost of ownership."
Together, Sybase and Samsung are setting out to transform entire organizations through enterprise mobility solutions that bring unprecedented levels of productivity and security without the complexity, allowing enterprises for the first time to extend best practices and polices to Android devices.
"As more employees are empowered with mobile access to enterprise systems, applications and data through their device of choice, the requirement for IT to support the widening array of device types can be extremely complex and unwieldy," said Willie Jow, Vice President Enterprise Mobility, Sybase. "The combination of Samsung's leading devices and Sybase's best-in-class mobile device management and security solution now bring Android to the level enterprises require for full-scale deployments."
Sybase Afaria Advanced Enterprise Security empowers enterprise IT with the most comprehensive device management capabilities on Samsung Android devices (Android version 2.3 or later), including:
Security management – enforce device encryption, remote lock/wipe, strong password security, and corporate sandbox management
Application management – deliver and control the applications that run on Samsung Android devices
Configuration management - provide control over various ports (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, camera, microphone), roaming, and more
Exchange Client Configuration – configure native email client
Over-the-air (OTA) deployments – reduce the complexity of managing devices by automating OTA deployments, configuration and application management without the need for user intervention
In Related News
Samsung announced its enterprise mobility solutions for its mobile devices. Please see press releases at www.samsungunpacked.com/press. Also, Sybase announced expanded Android support, including full control of enterprise email and powerful and secure mobile data management. Please see press releases at www.sybase.com/press.
Availability
Sybase Afaria Advanced Enterprise Security (AES) for Samsung will be available in the first half of 2011. For more information, please visit: www.sybase.com/afaria/samsung.
The joint solution will be demonstrated this week at the Samsung booth, Hall 8, Stand No 8B169 at the 2011 GSMA Mobile World Congress, taking place in Barcelona, Spain from February 14-17.
Additional resources:
IDC: (i) – Sybase recognized as the leader in mobile device management enterprise software for the ninth consecutive year.
Register for free webcast: "Managing and Securing Android with Sybase Afaria," where Sybase technical experts will discuss the enhancements in Afaria specifically for Android smartphones and Tablets.
To view the results of a survey gauging consumer opinion of Android tablets, click here.
About Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2008 consolidated sales of US$96 billion. Employing approximately 164,600 people in 179 offices across 61 countries, the company consists of two business units: Digital Media & Communications and Device Solutions. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit http://www.samsung.com.
About Sybase
Sybase, an SAP company, is an industry leader in delivering enterprise and mobile software to manage, analyze and mobilize information. We are recognized globally as a performance leader, proven in the most data-intensive industries and across all major systems, networks and devices. Our information management, analytics and enterprise mobility solutions have powered the world's most mission-critical systems in financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing and government. For more information, visit http://www.sybase.com. Read Sybase blogs: http://blogs.sybase.com.
Sybase and Afaria are registered trademarks of Sybase, Inc. All other company and product names mentioned may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
Forward-looking Statement
Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
(i) Source: IDC, Worldwide Mobile Device Management Enterprise 2010-2014 Forecast 2009 Vendor Shares Report, Doc # 224437, August 2010.
What happened when Samsung's phone division gobbled up the media player team? We're pretty sure you're looking at it right now -- the YP-MB2 / Galaxy Player 50 is now formally known as the Galaxy S WiFi 4.0, and it's big bad brother the Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 is pictured immediately above. While we can't actually tell you much about the SIM-less smartphone other than hazard guesses at front-facing camera, HDMI port, microSD card slot and (given naming conventions) a 5-inch screen, we can tell you that the 4.0-inch version of the device is now sporting Samsung's Super Clear LCD. We're expecting the company to unveil these any hour now in Barcelona, so keep your eyes peeled for further coverage at MWC.
You do realize that Mobile World Congress is underway in Barcelona, right? To celebrate, Motorola just announced a Eurofied Droid Pro under the more succinct Motorola Pro moniker. The portrait QWERTY candybar features Android 2.2 running on a 1GHz processor and 3.1-inch HGVA touchscreen display. But this pup's all business with the ability to remote wipe the device and SD card and integrated VPN, Quickoffice, and complex password support. See it in action after the break.
Yikes. We just finished getting our fingerprints all over LG's Optimus Pad (aka the G-Slate), and now we're thinking we should have been wearing white gloves while doing so. The tablet is coming in March to the US, but we didn't know a price. Now we do -- in Germany, at least, and get ready to wince: €999. That's about $1,350 if you do a straight conversion, out-classing even the Xoom's eye-wateringly high $1,199 pre-order price, which we're still holding out hope is a misprint. Maybe the golden goo in Honeycomb really is gold.
Update: Roland wrote in to remind us that German prices include a 19 percent VAT, which would drop this price down to a mere $1,075 if you're into the conversion game. Well within pocket change territory.
OK, before y'all haters state the obvious in the comments below, there's actually something noteworthy about this familiar-looking Chinese slate. What we have here is the SmartQ Ten (or T10, as referenced above), a forthcoming Froyo tablet that'll feature a juicy Cortex-A9 chip plus a Mali 400 GPU, as well as 512MB RAM and a 9.7-inch 1024 x 768 IPS display. This wouldn't be the first Android device to get the IPS goodness, though, as its predecessor R10 -- launched with Android 2.1 and a 720MHz processor back in December -- also has the same LCD panel within a seemingly identical form factor. In fact, we stumbled upon an R10 earlier today, and the prettiness of the screen did surprise us.
But what really sells the Ten is its piezoelectric touchscreen, which supports multitouch input even with non-conductive objects like the old school styli. This means said tablet can achieve light transmittance similar to its capacitive touchscreen counterparts but using cheaper parts, as well as having point-input precision similar to those with resistive touchscreens but with better screen clarity. Alas, no date or price has been announced for the Ten just yet, nor do we know if it'll get Honeycomb in the future, but price it right and it might still get some love.
Prices and release dates for the HTC Merge and Droid Bionic are still eluding us at the moment, but we have at least found a place where you can load up with add-ons. Best Buy's mobile accessories site is listing both phones, complete with pictures, and while there's no information provided about the handsets themselves, this certainly would seem to point to a release in the very near future. Oh, and if you had any doubts these handsets would be compatible with the many and myriad Bluetooth headsets on offer at BBY, you need worry no more.
We've just swooped our way through the Fulton Innovation stand here at MWC and found, sat next to the familiar light-up cereal box, a peculiar version of the Verizon LTE network-riding LG Revolution. Thicker than its CES-announced counterpart (by only 1.5mm, if the Fulton reps are to be believed), this Revolution features a Qi wireless charging-compatible back, which happens to go very nicely with a Verizon-branded inductive charging station. You can scope those out in the gallery below. We're told the back cover that makes this possible will be available as an accessory in the next 30 to 60 days, but the excitement for us was in hearing that Samsung also has an unannounced handset that will feature a similar add-on, which will be landing in the same timespan. While at the stand, we were also shown the back cover of an HTC Thunderbolt -- we weren't told the Thunderbolt will be making like the Revolution and getting its own chunky wireless charging adapter, but don't be surprised if it does.
Details about Sony's next-gen portable Playstation, the NGP, have been scarce since we spoke with SCEA President-CEO Jack Tretton about the new device. However, in an interview in the forthcoming issue of Edge, Shuhei Yoshida --who happens to be president of SCEA Worldwide Studios -- revealed a few more tidbits about Sony's NGP strategy (alas, still no official price). Apparently, the PSP will stick around even after NGP's release because of high demand for the older handheld, not to mention a lower price. For those of you concerned about a dearth of titles upon the NGP's debut -- a la the PS3 -- fear not, as Yoshida stated that porting PS3 games was a goal from the very beginning and the process will be simple (relatively speaking, of course). Combine that with a push to make the NGP's development environment "as easy as possible," and we'll hopefully see plenty of available titles upon the device's release. Oh yeah, Yoshida-san also said that NGP is just the console's codename, and the real name will be announced later this year -- PSP2 just rolls off the tongue, now doesn't it?
We've seen INQ's new Cloud Touch and heard about its QWERTY-packing sibling, the Cloud Q. Mobile World Congress has kindly given us the venue to switch heard for almost fondled. Yes, sadly our tour was eyes only as this set was carefully ensconced in glass, connected to cables, and generally unavailable to really touch. Of course, this is MWC and we're pretty certain we'll manage to wrangle one of our own -- but until then know that the same specs apply to both new devices. We were also told that while the devices above are the real deal, final hardware will feature a slightly tweaked keyboard. So until we get an opportunity to really check it out, feast your eyes on the pics and vids that follow.
