Lets Find out Which is the best? There are many phones around the world which run on Android. But there are only some which are
Read more: http://www.goandroid.co.in/#ixzz1td0E6eCQ
With the launch of the much awaited Android 4.0 Ice cream sandwich operating environment for smartphones, the top mobile companies are cashing in on its hype by releasing their phones in the beaming market.
We have a very busy schedule over the next week and won’t have time to get to every bit of news that comes out of the feed. We’ll try and bring to you the more interesting stories we’ve spotted throughout the day, and even throughout the week, but our main focus this week will be hitting the show floor at Mobile World Congress and attending all of these exciting press briefings going on. We anticipate returning to our normal style of news coverage on Monday. So without further ado…
The Motorola Atrix 4G is now available for pre-order from AT&T. $199.99 on a two year contract will get you the phone, and an extra $300 will get you that laptop dock, but you’ll have to sign a mobile hotspot service agreement if you go that route. The Laptop dock alone costs $500. Check out this humorous advertisement for the phone that made me laugh out loud.
Well before its release, the HTC Thunderbolthas been rooted. Most of you won’t have the opportunity to actually apply this until the end of the month, but keep it in your bookmarks anyway in anticipation.
The public transportation system in India will now keep you entertained while you’re riding with tablets installed into the back of seats. It’s not something you’ll want to check your bank account or Facebook with, but could prove to be a real time waster.
Finally, the INQ Touch Cloud will be available starting in April, per Carphone Warehouse.
That’s it for now. We’re sure more will pop up throughout the day, so bear with us as we look to bring you the latest from Barcelona!
We’re about to attend the LG press conference at Mobile World Congress 2011 and most of LG’s cats are out of the bag. This morning they’ve already showed off the LG Optimus 3D and Optimus Pad at their booth and the Android area, and the Optimus Black and Optimus 2X were already known entities. What’s left to discuss at their press conference? In a press release just issued, LG announced they’ll be the first to demo VoLTE (Voice Over LTE) using the LG Revolution We’re pretty excited for the technology, but I can’t say it’s the most sexy thing to show off at the event. Personally, I’m looking forward to hearing every detail of the Optimus 3D including content offerings, 3D games and apps, and more. Check out the press release below, and we’re currently processing our Optimus 3D hands-on footage so stay tuned for that!
LG UNVEILS REVOLUTIONARY LTE VOICE/VIDEO CALLING Higher Quality Voice Over LTE Technology to be Unveiled for First Time at MWC Barcelona, Feb. 14, 2011 - LG Electronics (LG) is aiming to up the mobile market ante with the world’s first demonstration of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Video call over LTE at this year’s Mobile World Congress on the LG Revolution(TM), the first 4G LTE smartphone from LG. Emerging from the GSMA initiative to create a global standard for delivering voice and messaging services over LTE, the "One Voice" protocol is expected to be widely adopted by mobile makers in the future with LG at the forefront of introducing the new technology to consumers. "By showcasing the power of LTE, we hope consumers will better understand how fast mobile technology can be and help drive the industry closer toward this exciting reali-ty," said Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "Having been involved with Verizon in the joint development of the VL600 LTE modem in 2010, LG is well positioned to continue to lead the development of LTE technology." Visitors to Mobile World Congress 2011 will be able to experience the faster and seam-less high-quality voice and video calling via LTE at the LG booth (#8B178 in Hall 8, Fira de Barcelona). Superseding both 3G and Wi-Fi speeds, LG’s LTE technology will ultimately change the way people make calls by utilizing established network carriers to provide HD voice quality through AMR (Adaptive Multi-Rate) wideband technology, while allowing users to maintain their existing phone numbers. Unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month, the LG Revolution(TM) running Android 2.2 features a large 4.3-inch screen and complete support for streaming, playing and recording HD video. The phone will be available in the U.S. in the first half of the year.
Huawei has a press event tonight at 5pm (Barcelona time) but they’ve given us a sneak peak of what they’ll be offering up and it includes 2 Androids: the Huawei IDEOS X3 and the Huawei IDEOS S7 Slim. They’ll also have their HiLink and Wi-Fi Smart Pro modems on display, but we’re most interested in their handsets. Although we’ve alreadyseen these to some degree, Huawei made it official and I suppose at the press event it’ll get even more official if that’s at all possible. The X3 has a 3.2-inch screen, runs Android 2.3 and is super slim while the S7 Slim is an Android Tablet with 3G and Wi-Fi at only 12.5 mm thick. I’m not sure if it runs Android 3.0, but if it doesn’t, it’ll probably seen an early death since we’ve finally got some rock solid Honeycomb Tablets including the XOOM, Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Optimus Pad. Here’s what Huawei sent me directly:
Huawei Announces Smart Devices at Mobile World Congress 2011 Spain, Barcelona, 14 February 2011: Huawei, a leader in providing next-generation telecommunications network solutions for operators around the world, will be launching four new devices at Mobile World Congress 2011. The products being launched and showcased are:
Huawei IDEOS™ X3: the slimmest 3.2 inch-screen smartphone powered with Android Gingerbread
Huawei IDEOS™ S7 Slim: a next-generation 7-inch capacitive touch-screen tablet offering a blend of style and portability, with 12.5 thickness supporting both 3G and wifi
Huawei HiLink: Plug&Link data card for on-the-go high speed Internet, ready for use in 15 seconds.
Huawei Mobile WiFi Smart Pro: Intelligent high speed wireless modem, supports connections for up to five concurrent users or devices, easy file sharing, and media compatibility across various operating systems
Full information and news about the devices will be available during the show after the official launch press conference on Tuesday 15th February.
Google’s newest Android creation is not a 4-dimensional map or a death ray – it’s much more light-hearted and is aimed at the versatile and passionate Android community. Absolutely quietly and without any fanfare, Google in collaboration with Larva Labs today launched a new Android application called Androidify. Androidify allows you to create a completely custom Android avatar and then save it as a picture, set as a contact photo, share on twitter or via email, and do pretty much anything else you want with the new mini-you. You can stretch the legs, hands, body, and head to any size, then dress your future best friend into pants, hats, shirts, shoes, etc of your choice, give it a new do, change the skin and hair color, and then save it into your collection. Here is what I came up with on my first 2 tries:
Those who don’t feel like fiddling with the settings and just want to get a quick start will find the Randomize button very useful. A single press, and you have a brand new, completely random avatar to start customizing. In fact, this button is kind of addicting – once you start pressing it, it’s hard to stop. Here are some pictures of the creation process as well as more randomness I came up with:
Official video from Google as well as the download links are below:
Download Androidify
Download Androidify
So, what can you come up with? Show us your creations in the comments.
While the original Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 was geared toward music lovers and social networking buffs – and while the Xperia X10 Mini Pro looked to bring the first keyboard to the Android-based branch of the Xperia family – the Xperia Pro seems more like a device for business professionals than anything. The first thing I was interested in was the keyboard. It’s great, in my opinion. Keys are well-spaced, the buttons are raised just high enough to feel good moving across them with your finger, and feedback is just as thrilling. I could’ve done with a number row and a few navigational keys, but that’s layout stuff that’ll differ from phone to phone. They introduced a feature called “Smart Keyboard” where exposing the QWERTY keyboard presents you with a list of options depending on which app you’re in. In email, for instance, it’ll ask you if you want to reply, reply all, or forward an email in a context menu. Text messages are handled quite similarly. It’s context sensitive and while I’m not exactly sure how often the menu comes up and in what situation, it’s still a cool feature. I just hope users will be able to turn it off as it seems like something that could unintentionally annoy you. Another unique addition to this phone software-wise was the split pane view in the email application. When looking at an email in landscape mode, you’ll get a list of items on the right, and clicking on one will bring the email up on the left. You are even able to resize the separator, something I’ve never seen done before.
I was a bit disappointed that it doesn’t have the Exmor camera sensor that Sony introduced with the Xperia Arc – that thing takes amazing photos in any lighting conditions. The Pro’s camera wasn’t bad, though, it just wasn’t as good as the best on the market. Other than that, it’s your ordinary next-gen Xperia phone – it has Android 2.3 with Sony Ericsson’s custom user interface on top, an HDMI port, a front-facing camera, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor with the Adreno 205 GPU, and Sony’s Bravia Engine to make that 3.7 inch FWVGA display look beautiful while displaying photos and playing back video. Take a look at the video tour above for a better idea.
Today is the day Sony Ericsson revels the Xperia PLAY, aka the PlayStation phone. This phone has been leaked more times than an ol’ squeaky row oarboat. With final push into the pool. Xperia PLAY is off and running. Combining PlayStation playability together with the latest in Android tech, Xperia PLAY is making a definite shot for the slam dunk. Inside this device you’ll find not ultra-fast graphics and completely dedicated game controls, a functionality you’ll find nowhere else, but a set of exclusive downloads available via the Android Marketplace to your Xperia Play today!
What Sony Ericsson has done here is to take its most successful phones, whip them all into a barrel, throw in a PlayStation controller, and tah-dah! There’s the new baby. This little baby will be rocking Qualcomm’s optimized Snapdragon processor with a 1GHz CPU and embedded Adreno GPU graphics processor that brings you the smoothest experience ever, gaming or calling. Xperia PLAY will come with Android 2.4 (Gingerbread) out of the box, and is the first PlayStation certified device of its kind. Andy Rubin, Vice President of Engineering at Google has taken the opportunity to say some choice words on the situation with the following: “XperiaTM PLAY and PlayStation Certified gaming are great examples of the kind of innovation that’s possible in the open Android ecosystem,” – more than likely thinking more about the release date for the device, which is no sooner than March 2011. Also there’s a whole load of new videos surrounding this event, those including an interview with Jonas Berg, one with Luca Pagano, and Xavier Costa. There’s also Aaron Duke to show you some Product manager action. Check them all out here:
Have a look below for full details on the handset:
The XPERIA Play has been one of the most talked about rumored devices on the internet for quite some time now. Well, Sony Ericsson has finally shed some official light on the heavily anticipated Android Playstation phone.
At Sony’s press conference in Barcelona, it was announced that the XPERIA Play will start shipping in March and Verizon Wireless will be getting the device.
Here’s are some specs on the XPERIA Play:
Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
Playstation Certified
4″ multitouch screen
1GHz processor
Adreno GPU graphics processor
5 megapixel camera
Hit the break for the full press release as well as a new promotional video for the XPERIA Play! February 13, 2011, Barcelona, Spain – Sony Ericsson today announced the game changing XperiaTM PLAY, the latest phone in its XperiaTM range of Android based smartphones. XperiaTM PLAY delivers the smartphone functionality that the most serious power users could need, teamed with the immersive gaming experience that any gamer would want. In portrait mode, the Android smartphone offers all the benefits that users have come to expect from Sony Ericsson’s existing range of XperiaTM smartphones with best-in-class entertainment experiences, a great 5 megapixel camera, a brilliant 4” multi-touch screen and great social networking features. However, slide out the gaming control and users enter a new world of immersive mobile gaming. The slide out game pad reveals a digital D pad, two analogue touch pads, two shoulder buttons and the four PlayStation icons: circle, cross, square and triangle. Qualcomm’s optimized Snapdragon processor with a 1Ghz CPU and embedded Adreno GPU graphics processor deliver silky smooth 60fps play-back 3D mobile gaming and Web browsing with minimal power consumption so Xperia PLAY users can enjoy long hours of battery life and game time. Rikko Sakaguchi, Executive Vice President and Chief Creation Officer at Sony Ericsson commented: “Today is a very proud moment for Sony Ericsson as we bring something truly revolutionary to the market. Living up to our vision of Communication Entertainment, Xperia PLAY will forever change the way people think about smartphones and mobile gaming. XperiaTM PLAY will run on Gingerbread (version 2.3), the latest version of Google’s AndroidTM platform. The XperiaTMPLAY will also be the first PlayStation Certified device. This means it will have access to PlayStation® game content provided through the PlayStation® Suite initiative, currently under development by Sony Computer Entertainment and due to launch later this calendar year. Kazuo Hirai, President of Networked Products and Services Group at Sony Corporation said: “I am delighted to see Xperia PLAY as the first PlayStation Certified smartphone to hit the market. Xperia PLAY provides a unique consumer offering and is yet another example of great products and services coming to market that leverage Sony’s strong assets.” Sony Ericsson has partnered with key publishers in the gaming industry to deliver a rich, vibrant ecosystem at launch and post launch with many leading new titles available via the AndroidTM Marketplace. Leading franchises coming to Xperia™ PLAY includes EA’s Need For Speed, Sims 3 and a world-first multiplayer version of FIFA 10 for mobile. GLU Mobile/Activision will be bringing Guitar Hero while Gameloft’s titles include Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell. Sony Ericsson is also partnering with Unity Technologies, using its award-winning development platform, to ensure a continuous flow of high quality 3D game titles. Mr Sakaguchi continued: “The launch of Xperia PLAY could not have been possible without the close collaboration of both Google and Sony Computer Entertainment. The commitment of so many industry leading game publishers further demonstrates that Xperia PLAY will deliver on the long-held expectations from consumers the world over.” XperiaTM PLAY and PlayStation Certified gaming are great examples of the kind of innovation that’s possible in the open Android ecosystem,” said Andy Rubin, Vice President of Engineering at Google. A pre-loaded application will enable users to easily discover and download titles that have been optimised for game play on Xperia PLAY, access recently played games and see information about the games they have downloaded. Sony Ericsson Xperia™ PLAY will be available globally in selected markets from March 2011 What do our content partners say? Electronic Arts, Travis Boatman, VP of Worldwide Studios for EA Mobile: “EA collaborated closely with Sony Ericsson to bring exciting versions our best-selling consumer favourites such as The Sims™ 3 and EA SPORTS™ FIFA 10 to the Xperia PLAY. The device’s dedicated gaming keypad gives FIFA players what matters most in a footy game — ultimate ball control, quick player selection on the pitch, effortless passes and more. The Xperia PLAYS’s unique gamepad also delivers robust control in The Sims 3 bringing a whole new life simulation experience to fans of the franchise. We look forward to watching consumers interact with our great games in new ways through the Xperia PLAY.” Gameloft, Michel Guillemot, President: “We are pleased to partner with Sony Ericsson to offer a catalogue of 10 of our best-selling games at launch of the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY,” said Michel Guillemot, President of Gameloft. “My vision since the creation of Gameloft was to turn video games into a true mass market form of entertainment. This vision is realized with the launch of Xperia PLAY, which combines a perfect smartphone for daily use as well as a real game controller to provide the best gaming experience ever seen on a mobile phone. Gameloft will support the launch with more than 20 titles over the next 6 months that will take full advantage of the power of this device.” Glu Mobile, Niccolo de Masi, CEO: “Glu’s strategic relationship with Sony Ericsson aligns us with a leading innovator in mobile and gaming. We look forward to accelerating our momentum in social mobile gaming with compelling offerings on Sony Ericsson’s newest mobile devices.” Content partners at launch include: Sony Computer Entertainment Digital Chocolate Digital Legends Electronic Arts Fishlabs Gamehouse Gameloft Glu Mobile Handy Games Namco Bandai Networks Polarbit PopCap Trendy Entertainment Unity Tecnologies For further information, images and videos visit www.sonyericsson.com/mwcnews
You’ve probably all heard about the partnership announced by Nokia and Microsoft earlier this week, and maybe even all the hysteria over at Nokia dumping MeeGo and Symbian for WP7. ‘Desperate times call for desperate measures’, should have been the title of Nokia’s event at MWC earlier today, because this is definitely the time for Nokia to do or die. That being said, Stephen Elop making the statement “first priority is beating Android” is pretty gutsy considering how much market they’ve already lost to Android over 2010 as we reported here. Thing is though, how exactly does Stephen Elop plan on taking down Android? I don’t see Windows Phone 7 showing numbers that even remotely suggest that OS gaining ground on Android, not even close. With Nokia losing ground constantly, and partnering with a weak selling mobile OS like WP7, i don’t know…2 wrongs don’t make a right…do they?
More exciting news has been announced from the Samsung camp. Samsung has officially announced the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, a bigger and more powerful successor to the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
You’re probably wondering about that somewhat peculiar name for the device. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 gets its name from the 10.1″ screen, which is significantly bigger than the screen of the original Galaxy Tab.
Like the other upcoming Android tablets, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be running Honeycomb, Android’s highly anticipated tablet OS. The tablet will also boast a dual-core Tegra 2 chip as well as a front-facing 2 megapixel camera and an 8 megapixel camera on the back. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 will have 16GB and 32GB versions.
Presser after the break!
Samsung expands the Samsung GALAXY Tab range with a 10.1″ Entertainment Powerhouse Global launch of Samsung’s first Honeycomb-based, Dual Core smart media device BARCELONA, February 13, 2011 – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a provider of smart media devices and the global leader in Android™ tablets, in partnership with Vodafone Group, today announced the Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 (Model: P7100), a powerful Dual-Core Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) Smart Media Device, designed to deliver the ultimate mobile entertainment experience.
“As a leader in the Android-powered tablet market, Samsung is committed to providing a variety of feature-rich, always-on devices” said DJ Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Sales & Marketing. He continued, “The Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 is a valuable addition to our expanding portfolio of smart media devices. Sporting a large 10.1 screen and dual surround-sound speakers, it enables users to enjoy multimedia to the maximum extent without having to compromise mobility. Patrick Chomet, Vodafone’s Group Director of Terminals, said: “Vodafone customers in over 20 markets around the world will be the first to get the GALAXY Tab 10.1 when it goes on sale this spring. Samsung have produced a stylish, market-leading implementation of the new Android 3.0 platform which will be the first Honeycomb device to arrive in many of those markets. Vodafone’s competitive data tariffs and reliable, high-speed networks make using the GALAXY Tab 10.1 a great experience.” “Samsung continues to develop innovative products that contribute to the continued growth of the Android ecosystem,” said Andy Rubin, Vice President of Engineering at Google. As the tablet market experiences unprecedented interest, Samsung and Vodafone have partnered to cater to customer demand and offer them the perfect way to enjoy the huge variety of opportunities the Android platform provides. Whether playing games, reading eBooks or updating your Facebook status, the lightweight, ultra-slim Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 is the ultimate entertainer and builds on the industry-wide success of the two million-selling Samsung GALAXY Tab. The Ultimate Entertainment Experience A 10.1″ (WXGA TFT LCD) display with crystal clear resolution (1280 x 800) makes the Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 an unrivalled device for experiencing the hundreds of thousands of games and applications available from Android Market™. To compliment the amazing visual quality of the device, the GALAXY Tab 10.1 includes dual surround-sound speakers to immerse you even more fully. The device also includes an 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with Auto Focus and a 2 megapixel front-facing camera which lets users capture experiences with the best-in-market full HD record and play as well as easily share them. With the Android browser and Flash 10.1, the Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 is the perfect tool for consuming the world of the internet content wherever you are. Performance and Speed Combined with the latest version of Android’s tablet-optimized operating system, Honeycomb, Samsung has created a device that is powerful and lightning fast. The Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 includes a 1GHz Dual Core application processor, giving you the kind of fast and powerful multimedia and web browsing experience. Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1’s Dual Core processor, low power DDR2 memory and 6860mAh battery, make it perfect for task management in an energy efficient way. Maximized Portability At just 599g in weight and mere 10.9mm- slimness, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is lighter, slimmer and more portable, meaning users are free to enjoy its many features while on the move. With the need to remain constantly connected, Samsung has also included super-fast HSPA+ 21Mbps, Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity to support rapid mobile download speeds and reduce data transfer times. The Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 will be exhibited at Mobile World Congress 2011 at Hall #8. For multimedia content and more detailed information, please visit www.samsungunpacked.com/press.
5:27 PM
Simranpal SIngh
We’re about to attend the LG press conference at Mobile World Congress 2011 and most of LG’s cats are out of the bag. This morning they’ve already showed off the LG Optimus 3D and Optimus Pad at their booth and the Android area, and the Optimus Black and Optimus 2X were already known entities. What’s left to discuss at their press conference?
Have a look below for full details on the handset:
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