Motorola Defy+ hands-on

The Motorola Defy+ is an upgraded edition of last year’s tough phone, keeping it fresh by boosting the processor to 1GHz and landing with a newer version of Android, now 2.3. We caught up with the new phone at a recent showcase for Carphone Warehouse.
We knew that the exterior of the phone was going to be very much the same as before, but we didn’t know that Motorola had been tweaking their user interface.
Motoblur has attracted some criticism, some of which you can read in our review of the original Motorola Defy if you are interested.

The same is true of this latest iteration of device from the Google-owned company. In literal terms Motorola has lightened things like the Contacts, swapping the black background for white: it now looks less oppressive and seems easier to read than previously.?
But it isn’t just about changing the wallpaper, they’ve also added in innovative extras. In your Contacts you can easily make groups, in the apps menu you can group apps and get an icon to take you directly to Android Market. Simple things, but could be very popular as they are so easy to use.
On the homepage too, the slightly clunky fixed shortcuts at the bottom of the page (formerly calling, apps menu and contacts) are now customisable, with the demo unit we saw offering calling, camera, Kindle and the apps menu. It isn’t unique, but it’s certainly welcome.?

There are new widgets, or more refined widgets, although we didn’t have the chance to explore all of these. A Moto Agent did tell us, however, that the updated user interface would soon be rolling out to the Motorola Atrix too.
Elsewhere the colour scheme has changed slightly for the body of the phone, although we couldn’t tell the difference ourselves. It is still a solid-feeling phone in the hand, with IP67 certification, Gorilla Glass to resist scratches and port covers to keep it clean.
The 3.7-inch display is nice and vibrant and the added power from the new processor is welcomed, although we didn’t really have the chance to put it through its paces in our brief play.
All in all, the Motorola Defy+ looks like a reasonable upgrade to the original handset. The added power will help keep up with modern demands and we still like the chunky looks.
                   

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AT&T to Launch 4G LTE Network September 18

Speaking at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Entertainment, and Communications conference, AT&T CFO John Stephens announced the launch of AT&T’s next-gen 4G LTE network for September 18th. AT&T will be bringing its first true 4G experiment to five markets — Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonia — with a total of 15 switched on by the end of the year. The launch of the new network will breath new life into AT&T’s current lineup of LTE data sticks and hotspots, as well as their first LTE device, the HTC Jetstream tablet.
[via FierceWireless]

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HTC Sensation and Sensation XE to hit UK October 1 in white color

The HTC Sensation and Sensation XE smartphones have so far been offered in black only. Geeks like to have a choice when they are buying a new smartphone so HTC has a white version of both the original HTC Sensation and the Sensation XE coming in a few weeks. The new color devices are pegged for launch on October 1 according to UK phone seller Phones4u.

That Sensation XE smartphone has only surfaced this week and looks to be a very nice device indeed. The Beats Audio tech and the included Beats headphones will make it a superior music phone. The XE also has a faster 1.5GHz processor compared to the 1.2GHz part in the original Sensation. HTC also has some new Windows Phones coming as well.
According to Phones4u, the Sensation XE in black or white will be free on £36 or more 2-year agreements. The normal white Sensation will be free on plans at £31 monthly or higher. If you don’t want a contract that Sensation XE will cost you a much heavier price at £489.95 according to retailer MobileFun and the date it lands is listed as October 7.
[via SlashGear]

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 hits pre-order in US from $470

Samsung went official with the Galaxy Tab 8.9 Android tablet not long ago. The tablet hasn’t been out of the closet for long at all and its up for pre-order now. Laptoping is reporting that the tablet has now gone on pre-order in the US and will slot between the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Tab 7.7 in the line. The 8.9-inch screen of the new tablet has a resolution of 1280 x 800.

The WiFi only version of the Tab 8.9 has landed at Best Buy for pre-order in two versions with one packing 32GB of storage and the other offering 16GB of storage. The tablet will come later in LTE versions. Both versions of the tablet have 1GB of RAM under the hood. Other features of the tablets include a 3MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, a USB port, Bluetooth, and both are gray.
We had heard before that the processor is a 1.0GHz dual-core unit. The GT-P7310MAVXAR with 32GB of storage pre-orders at Best Buy for $569.99. The 16GB GT-P7310MAYXAR pre-order will set you back $469.99. The tablets are expected to land in late September.
[via Laptoping]

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HTC Vigor Press Image Revealed

The much rumored HTC Vigor has finally popped its head out again for everyone to get a quick look. With no surprise here it looks a bit similar to most of the recent HTC offerings, although that isn’t a bad thing as they have stellar build quality. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this 1.5 Ghz dual-core powered LTE rocking phone either. More details after the break.


A few weeks back the first HTC Vigor images leaked showing us a glimpse of the backside of the phone. I feel it looks just like the DROID Incredible, and now the front has the same shape and design too with this new press photo. Latest rumors and this leaked roadmap claims the Vigor will be the Thunderbolt 2, or will at least replace the Thunderbolt. I have a feeling those rumors will be untrue and instead this will be a DROID Incredible HD or Incredible LTE.
As for specs, we have what is rumored to be a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, a huge 4.5″ HD 1280×720 resolution display. Pair that with an 8MP camera on the rear, 2MP front for video and some Beats Audio integration things are sounding quite nice. We don’t see the Beats Audio logo but that doesn’t rule it out either.
Hopefully more details on this phone drop soon, it recently cleared the FCC and we might even see it at the upcoming HTC Media Event on September 20th.
[via Pocket Now]

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Samsung invests $70 million to triple mobile production in India

Samsung India announced on Thursday that it had invested ₹ 315 crore ($70 million) in its mobile phone manufacturing plant in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India to triple its output, as reported by Indian Express.
J.S. Shin, Samsung’s President and CEO for the south-west Asia region, remarked that India was one of the top three mobile markets for the company and that it was “working on consistently strengthening our presence in the country through a very innovative mobile portfolio, as well as enhance manufacturing, operations, research and development”.
Its factory in Noida, which had so far been producing 12 million handsets a year, will now be pushing out 36 million of them every year. The company has also bumped the number of workers employed there from 2,500 to 4,000.
Trailing only behind Nokia, Samsung is the second-largest cellphone manufacturer in India by unit sales, and it looks like it’s going to keep holding onto that position for the foreseeable future.
[Image courtesy of Benis Arapovic / Shutterstock.com.]

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Samsung Windows 8 preview tablet hands-on

With no Windows 8 PCs ready, how could Microsoft get developers building the touch-first Metro apps that the new Windows 8 experience needs to shine on tablets? By taking one of the most compelling Windows 7 PCs and tearing the keyboard off.
Actually, Samsung was already working on the Series 7 Slate PC which it announced at IFA, and the Windows Developer Preview slate distributed to developers attending the Microsoft BUILD conference this week is based on that, but both clearly show the heritage of the Series 9 ultraportable. The Windows 8 model has the same brushed black aluminium alloy back with the same subtle curves towards the edges, and while it doesn’t have the sweeping curves of the Series 9 there’s an echo of them where the rounded black edge bridges the smooth glass surface and the metal back.
Samsung’s usual reflective bezel surrounds the superb 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 Super PLS screen, which is slightly glossy but not so much that reflections are a problem. The bezel is smooth so you can swipe in from the edges of the screen for the four standard Windows 8 gestures for switching apps, opening the “charm” bar and bring up tools in apps as you swipe from the left, right and top or bottom respectively.

Inside is a 1.6GHz Sandy Bridge Core i5 2467M with 4GB of memory and 64GB SSD; a typical ultraportable spec that’s far better than the average Oak Trail Atom tablets we’ve seen lately. A range of sensors are tucked away inside the tablet for developers to work with, including NFC.
Like the Series 9, you only get the essential ports and they’re mostly miniature versions; microSD and micro HDMI instead of full size, just one USB port and a combined headphone and microphone port. On the other hand you do get a rotation lock button next to the power button, physical volume keys and the Windows button on the front bezel. There’s also a SIM slot for mobile broadband, dual microphones and both front and rear-facing cameras plus a dock connector for the compact dock. The dock has full-size VGA, gigabit Ethernet, another USB port and a headphone socket; it also holds the screen at the perfect angle for watching or touching. The same tiny speakers as the Series 9 are tucked away in opposite corners, which gives good stereo separation and the sound is still surprisingly rich and full for such a thin device.
The Bluetooth keyboard is also very similar to the Series 9, with the same isolated Chiclet-style keys, the same extra-high spacebar and the same comfortable positive action.
We can just about forgive Samsung for not making room to store the Wacom pen in the body of the tablet, because it’s actually thicker than the body of the slate and unlike most Windows 7 tablet PCs, you only need the pen for handwriting. As it’s a combination of active digitiser and touchscreen, drawing or writing with the pen produces a nice smooth, continuous line of digital “ink” as the hard tip of the pen slides smoothly over the screen and it doesn’t matter if you lean your hand on the screen as you write because it doesn’t draw on the screen while the pen is there. That’s a big improvement over trying to hold your hand clear of the screen as you write or draw on a capacitive-only screen like the iPad (and the lines are rarely as smooth as this on a capacitive screen if you’re trying to scribble down notes in a hurry). ?

The touchscreen is obviously perfect for the Metro interface of the Start screen and the supplied apps, and touch is fluid and responsive whether you’re finger painting with Paintplay, tinkling the ivories in the multitouch piano app, swiping your way through fun games like Zero Gravity and Labyrinth, or typing on the multitouch on-screen keyboard. The Windows 8 developer preview comes with both the programming tools for developers to write their own apps and a set of sample apps coded up by 17 interns who worked at Microsoft this summer (they wrote them all in an impressive 10 weeks). There are the obligatory Facebook and Twitter apps, Socialite and Tweet@rama, an RSS newsreader that shows off the chromeless, clean look that’s as much part of Metro as the colourful tiles. The stock ticker and weather gadgets have the usual features but they’re surprisingly beautiful - especially the video backgrounds of pounding rain or the fading moon that illustrate the weather.
There are platform games and pipe games and word puzzles, apps for typing into sticky notes or jotting down handwritten notes, a flash card drill and a Memories app that lays out photos like an album. There’s also a link to the upcoming Windows app Store and an app with the schedule for the BUILD conference that shows off features like zooming out to see not just a smaller view but a higher level of abstraction - going from session names to time slots, for example. The Pictstream app retrieves popular photos from Flickr but it’s mainly there to demonstrate that when you search in Windows 8 you can send your search to your Web search tool or any other app that tells the system it’s searchable - so you can type in a search and use Pictstream to run it on Flickr.
The touchscreen also does a surprisingly good job of letting you touch your way through the icons, buttons, ribbon tools, menus and links of the desktop Windows interface that you can still bring up in Windows 8. Windows is calculating not just where your finger is on screen but what you’re most likely to be trying to touch so when you tap to close a window, it closes rather than maximising because you didn’t get the exact spot - and the high touch resolution of the screen helps. Plus it’s so bright and clear that you don’t have the issue with some older touchscreens where the digitiser layer makes the screen dim or grainy. This is a vast improvement on the Ntrig combination screen in the Fujistu Stylistic Q550, for example.

When Windows 8 comes out, it will run on all-in-one PCs and gaming rigs and desktops and laptops as well as tablets, but it’s tablets like the iPad and various Android Honeycomb models that are capturing the imagination and giving Microsoft the competition that Mac and Linux have never really delivered. The temptation is to compare the developer preview tablet to the iPad - or to Samsung’s Galaxy Tab - but it’s really a very different beast. The design and style are completely different, echoing Samsung’s Windows PCs and you’d hardly know it came from the same company as the Tab if it wasn’t for the custom dock port.
And with a Core i5 rather than an ARM chip, the 3 to 4 hours of battery life and 909g weight compare to ultraportables and Windows slates like the Asus Eee Slate P121. When ARM Windows tablets do come along they’ll be thinner, lighter, have longer battery life - and they'll run all the Metro apps Microsoft is hoping the BUILD developers will start work on, inspired by their Windows 8 slates. That’s going to be critical because Windows 8 ARM tablets will only run Metro apps, so this developer preview slate isn’t a look into the future. This is the kind of thin, light and powerful tablet that all Windows Tablet PCs should have been, with a tempting glance into the future. If Microsoft can square the circle of combining the rich desktop PC apps that have sold 450 million copies of Windows 7 with the touch-first, Windows Phone-style Metro apps that will win over tablet users, the Samsung slate is the kind of machine that will do it. On the other hand, the Windows 7 versions of this tablet will cost you around ?1,000 - so it ought to be desirable.??

           

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Samsung launches its own “premium” apps channel

Samsung is today launching what it calls a “Premium Apps Store for Android” in the UK, offering already quite bewildered Android users yet another way to select and buy their paid mobile apps.
In future the Samsung app library will offer network billing, but at the moment you’ll be needing to pay via credit card. Just like the Android Market.

Presumably users of Samsung’s pre-existing Samsung Apps app (above) now see a “Premium” channel full of paid options, but we’re a bit sketchy on how it actually works. Here’s the vague press release if you think you need a new way to buy Zenonia:

SAMSUNG LAUNCHES PREMIUM APPS STORE IN THE UK
Premium Samsung Apps Store for Android devices available from today
London, UK – September 15 2011 – Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd. today announced the launch of a new Premium Samsung Apps Store for Android. The UK is one of the first countries to introduce premium Android applications through Samsung Apps for Android devices, giving British customers first access to a variety of premium applications and games.

The Samsung Apps Store for Android offers a raft of premium mobile apps that can be purchased in addition to the current Samsung free apps download option. Among the premium apps available, favourites include Zenonia (the real time combat and exploration quest), The Sims 3 HD, Need for Speed Shift HD and 9mm. With no sign up process required, Samsung’s new Premium Apps Store is an easy way for Android customers to access and purchase the latest high quality apps for their mobile devices.
The current payment method is simply through credit card billing, however in the near future the purchased premium app will simply be added to the customer’s phone bill or deducted from a SIM card balance, making it even easier to get hold of the latest must-have apps in just two clicks.
Simon Stanford, Managing Director, Mobile, Samsung UK and Ireland said: “Anyone that signs up to Samsung Apps Store for Android today, will find a multitude of free and premium apps already available. In the spirit of providing Android users with the best possible mobile experience, it is our intention to continue to develop this premium service to ensure our customers have access to all the latest great content on Android.”
Premium apps are available from the Samsung Apps Store for Android www.samsungapps.com from today. Application prices vary amongst apps and will be clearly stated on the website.

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HTC Rhyme, the official name for the HTC Bliss

The HTC Bliss, which is quite possibly the most-leaked mobile phone of all time, has a new name – the HTC Rhyme. That’s apparently what HTC will be calling its interesting new mid-range Android phone, which will arrive running the all-new HTC Sense 3.5 user interface skin.
It looks like a nice little thing.

As the phone makers race to make bigger and bigger devices, we can’t help but hope the Rhyme offers great performance in a modest body. That’s all we really need.
Link via TV.

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