Samsung's Android-powered S-Pad tablet with 7-inch Super AMOLED in August?

Know what's hot like 2001? Tablet computers. Just like that a product category has been reborn and proven viable as a money making machine. Now the scramble is on to fill the void by companies big and small. Samsung, a big name in the UMPC debacle (that's the Q1 to the right) with its own confirmed tablet ambitions, looks prepped to deliver product this summer if Korean pub Etnews is to be believed. First up, the OS: Android. Samsung's so-called "S-Pad" (the tentative name spawned under its S-Project initiative) will display Google's smartphone OS on a supposed 7-inch Super AMOLED display with WiFi and 3G data connectivity -- the latter supplied by SK Telecom who will supposedly help distribute the device. It'll also bring an iPad-esque USB dock and content from Kyobo books (Korea's largest bookstore) and Samsung's own Samsung Apps application store. If true, we should expect to see Samsung's S-Pad launch in August. While no price has been given you can expect the cost to be exorbitant thanks to that extra large Super AMOLED display unless SK Telecom can push it down through ample subsidies.

Source

Read more »

Samsung's Super AMOLED-packin' Wave S8500 priced in Germany: €429

Samsung's world-beater -- you know, that Wave S8500 that debuted back at Mobile World Congress -- was revealed without one of the most vital statistics, but that's being remedied today courtesy of a product listing over at Amazon's German portal. The Bada-equipped device, complete with a Super AMOLED display that's supposedly viewable in broad daylight, has found a €429 MSRP across the pond, which equates to around $579 using today's highly volatile exchange rates. Granted, that's a contract-free (read: unsubsidized) price, but we're still going to hold out for a late-night session with the new OS before pinging our importer. Plus, those funky European AC adapters do nothing at all for us. Sorry.

Update: Looks like some other German outlets have it priced even lower. Huzzah!

Source

Read more »

Bad news: HTC says the Nexus One doesn't 'go in pockets'

One of the biggest mysteries in the blogosphere right now is probably Crave's Nexus One, which somehow developed a cracked screen while simply charging on the desk (sounds familiar, right?). Not even HTC could unearth the cause from its forensic inspection, but it didn't rule out the possibility of a small crack growing over time due to, for example, "getting knocked around by keys" and repetitive squeezes in tight pockets. That's fine, but saying "people sometimes forget that they don't go in pockets" is surely stretching a bit, no? What happened to the awesomeness in the compression test and bend test that we once witnessed? More importantly, has anyone here had the same baffling screen problem and been charged £180 ($273) for the repair? If so, do share your pain with us -- we've got a shoulder for you.

Source

Read more »

The Qisda QCM-330 is gorgeous, headed for Vodafone, and quite possibly Android-powered

When it comes to bar-shaped smartphones, it takes a good amount of effort to design something visually appealing. There’s really only so much you can do with a flat slab – and whatever can be done likely already has.
With that said, there’s just something about this handset, the Qisda QCM-330. I’m not sure what that “something” is, but I like it.
The QCM-330 has emerged as one of the winners of an iF mobile design contest, though the awards won’t be passed out officially until CeBit in March. Congratulations and all that to the design team for snatchin’ up a trophy, but we’re far more interested in the handset itself.
Check out the beast of a display on the front; not only does it measure in at a massive 4 inches, but they’ve also purportedly managed to crank the resolution on that thing all the way up to 1280×1024 (though, with a widescreen like that, it’s more likely to be running at 1280×720). That’s a considerably higher resolution than we’ve ever seen on a smartphone, as far as I know. The recognizable home key on the bottom right gives us high hopes that this thing is rocking Android, though they’ve yet to confirm as much.
What has been confirmed, however, is the WiFi, HSDPA, 3 megapixel camera, and accelerometer packed inside. The only thing we don’t like about this handset? There’s no indication thus far that it’ll be heading stateside.
If you’re a Russian reader, the guys over at MobileReview have the scoop on a handful of other (considerably less exciting) design contest – but if you’re English-only, Unwired View has a pretty exhaustive write-up in your tongue.


-- Post From My iPhone

Read more »

HTC announces the Nexus One’s slightly cooler twin, the Desire

What’s in a name? Would a Nexus One by any other name still be as sweet? Yep. In fact, it might just be a bit sweeter.
Though it lacks almost any indication as such, Google’s Nexus One is actually made by HTC. HTC reserved the rights to the hardware design, and today they’re making good use of that decision with the announcement of the HTC Desire. It’s essentially the Nexus One reflavored to HTC’s liking.
After the Nexus One launched, a good number of gadget geeks went clamoring to HTC in hopes that they (or Google) would release a compatible port of the custom user interface overhaul that can be found on nearly any recent HTC-made Android handset. Alas, it’s not going to happen – the Nexus One is Google’s phone, and thus will always be 100% vanilla Android, just as Google intended.
The HTC Desire, however, is a different story. Sure, it may look almost identical to the Nexus One – and sure, it might be an almost spec-for-spec match. But the Desire is HTC’s phone, and thus, it runs Sense. Its got everything you might expect from a Sense-enabled handset, from multi-touch all around the OS to Flash in the browser.
Like the Nexus One, the Desire runs Android 2.1 on top of a palm-meltingly fast 1 Ghz CPU. Its got the same (stunning) 3.7″ AMOLED touchscreen, and the same 5 megapixel camera. The only real physical change is the jump from a standard trackball to an optical trackpad, just as we saw with the also-just-announced HTC Legend.
While HTC’s not sharing any details on when us folks in the US can get our mitts on it, Europe and Asia should see it hit by sometime in April.


-- Post From My iPhone

Read more »

T-Mobile gives an HTC HD2 reminder, now with more fun!

As promised, T-Mobile announced new features for the HD2 at Mobile World Congress today and I’ve gotta say, it isn’t all that thrilling.
If you’ve ever held the HD2 in your hands as I have (jealous much?), you’ll notice that the screen is unusually huge and vivid. The 4.3-inch WVGA display is perfect for games and movies. Coupled with Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor, this phone has a lot of multimedia potential. So that’s exactly what T-Mobile is doing — pumping up the media and fun.
The HD2 will come with Blockbuster On Demand so you can download videos wherever you are, and you’ll also be able to view that content on your TV, Blu-ray player and PC with Blockbuster software. To get the ball rolling, the HD2 will come pre-loaded with “Transformers” and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” right on the 16GB memory card.
Goodies thrown into the package are MobiTV, free Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi for up to six months, and Barnes & Noble’s e-Reader app. Did I say this device wasn’t that thrilling? I take that back. The only reason not to get one of these bad boys is if you have a serious aversion to Windows Mobile, especially with Windows Phone 7 coming later this year. Otherwise, if you find yourself drooling over this phone’s features, you’ll be waiting in anticipation until an official release date is announced.

-- Post From My iPhone

Read more »

Zune HD Ipod touch contender

Now that we've got that out of the way, let us move on with just exactly what the Zune HD brings to the PMP battle, and what you should expect from it.

The Zune HD is the next-gen, touch-screen update to the Zune series of players, and takes full support of the brand new Zune 4.0 software. Microsoft started the Zune brand with the hopes of making it a multimedia stamp that crosses through all of their platforms, from audio, video, to games and devices. The Zune HD is the first device from them to really include full support towards that goal.

First step, full HD tv and movies, with 1080p downloads for your PC and Xbox 360, and a 720p version for your Zune HD. While the device itself does not display in HD, because that screen just ain't big enough for that, it does output to 720p to your TV or monitor with the appropriate accessories.

With a very vibrant OLED screen, the most vibrant I've seen on any handheld device yet the picture is very bright, high contrast, and totally sharp. While this screen does tend to get very dirty and smeared with lots of finger pressing and touching, it is easy to manage and wipe off. It is also very responsive, though does take about as much to get used to typing on in the web browser or other search engines the device uses.

The WiFi performs quite well, as does the direct marketplace downloading when the Zune HD is connected directly into an on-line PC while not in the Zune 4.0 software. Yes, you can download to your player and buy apps, music, etc. while not in the actual Zune 4.0 software, all straight from the player's screens. Very nice and handy to use while at work and just want to get stuff and set it to download while you're busy.

Ok, so now back to what you really want to hear about. No, I'm not talking about the really intuitive Quickplay and Smart DJ that have been introduced in 4.0. Nor am I talking about the HD Radio channels, which offer quite an expanded alternative to the regular FM dial. Also, I know you don't care that much about how small this thing is, while still giving you a great screen to display and use. You want to hear about the games.

Zune games for the HD are in their infancy, with really only a handful of them freely available. Though we do know that Project Gotham Racing: Ferrari Edition, Vans Sk8: Pool Service, and Audiosurf Tilt will all be coming to the platform, you can get Hexic, Sudoku, Chess, and the generically titled, yet full featured, Space Battle 2. These free games all have sharp colors, but utilize 2D graphical space that doesn't showcase the 3D graphics we will be expecting from the Nvidia Tegra chip set it comes with. Some of the games are also multi-player, using the Zune HD's WiFi capabilities to bring you the multiplayer gaming joy that even the Wii has had trouble handling.

All in all, the Zune HD packs a lot of power in a very tiny and pretty package. While the price may seem a bit off now, thanks to the video and radio inclusions of the new iPod Nano series, the plus of the Zune Pass and ever expanding Zune Marketplace and future compatibility with the 360 make it quite a tempting offer. If you don't want an iPhone thanks to AT&T, and you are terrified of buying iTunes merchandise, only to lose all of it if your computer dies, then you really have no argument against the Zune. If you're still not sold on the device because of the 16G and 32G sizes not being enough for you, then you'll probably only have to hold out a short while before those sizes are expanded. Beyond that, with the capability of managing your library so easily with the device, you can add and remove albums and songs without having to worry, making space and size not that much of an issue.

Oh, and expect more games!


-- Post From My iPhone

Read more »