HTC Wildfire S

Other than that, it's same old same old. Which rings true for the HTC Wildfire S too. The phone is actually more related to the Aria with a 3.2" HVGA display, but HTC are keen to make a point that it's their smallest smartphone yet (that means shorter than the original Wildfire and the Aria/Gratia).

The HTC Wildfire S is 101.3mm tall, 59.4mm wide and 12.4mm deep (the Aria measures 103.8 x 57.7 x 11.7mm). Anyway, the phone runs a Sensed Android (should be ver 2.3 Gingerbread again) on a 600MHz CPU with 512MB RAM. It has a 5MP camera with LED flash and a microSD card slot.

 Source from http://www.gsmarena.com/

HTC Desire S

The HTC Desire S has an aluminum unibody (just like the Legend). With a 3.7" WVGA screen, the handset is powered by a 1Ghz Qualcomm chipset - so it's got a single-core CPU with 768MB RAM and Adreno graphics. It should ship with Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

The Desire S camera is a 5MP snapper with 720p video capture, coupled with a VGA camera up front. There's been a minor reduction in the overall size of the HTC Desire S - 115 x 59.8 x 11.63mm and 130 grams. Wi-Fi 802.11n support has been added and data speeds have increased to 14.4Mbps downlink and 5.76Mbps uplink.  

Source from http://www.gsmarena.com/

HTC Incredible S

HTC just announced the Incredible S, Desire S and the Wildfire S. The letter S tacked on the back of their model names do little to justify the new release. The three phones are not exactly full of new features.

The leader of the pack, the HTC Incredible S, is not the Desire HD2 from the early leak. It's actually pretty similar to the Droid Incredible. The phone measures 120 x 64 x 11.7 mm, weighing 135.5 grams with recognizable Incredible styling.

The major difference is the screen - a 4.0" WVGA Super LCD, a first for HTC. It also has one pretty unique feature - the icons of the capacitive keys rotate with the screen. There's no Bluetooth 3.0 or HDMI, just BT2.1, Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA.

Source from http://www.gsmarena.com/

Android 3.0 Honeycomb For Tablet

Well we’re starting to get in depth details on the new Android 3.0 for tablets, and it looks promising. Optimization for the larger screen area and added base functionality look like the main things here.

They’re going for a PC like interface with an “ActionBar” in lieu of a “taskbar” or dock. This of course houses the most used functions that you’ll have. This ActionBar is also used for application management, so it looks like you can flip through apps like tabs on a browser. 

From what we can see (unless you download the SDK and play with it yourself) the bar has an app folder, and a large section available for application tabs, a search bar (using Google I assume), and buttons for menus and settings. I also see two arrowed Android Share button up there so it looks like they’re streamlining social updates; definitely a useful little change what with those two cameras the Xoom will be rocking. On the bottom there’s a clock and navigation arrows. I also see a clock VERY reminiscent of the Arcs clock from Rainmeter. Maybe we’ll get to modify our home page with all those awesome custom Rainmeter skins and widgets like we can on PCs. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one. And of course all these buttons will most likely be able to be moved or removed as you see fit, to keep in line with Android’s high level of customization. Speaking of customization, I wonder if we’ll be able to cruise the Android system files through the tablets themselves and modify them as we please like in Windows, or if we will have to do it through a computer. We’ll have to wait and see on that one.

Another new feature, the Fragment system, makes it easier for developers to create multi panel apps and add some neat little upgrades. It allows interface options, like buttons or links, to be displayed in one panel while information and excerpts are on the other. The demo version is set up to switch to just the list if you flip it to portrait orientation which is a nice change from hoping your web page or app will all fit onto your screen without you having to flip it to make it align correctly. More for the developers is the FragmentManager, which manipulates and keeps track of the various fragments that you interact with during use. It automatically animates fragment switching and keeps a history of what you’ve looked at, so you’ll be able to use the back button in your apps, just like in a browser. There’s also a widget that graphically displays your location in the stack of fragments so you can easily navigate back and forth between fragments (or pages). This could be extremely useful for quick reference when writing or doing some kind of research. We all know proper scientists will be using Android tablets.

All in all, Android 3.0 is looking to be very exciting and the Xoom looks more and more enticing every day. Expect to see me in the midnight release line, if there is one. Yes indeed, Sweet dreams are made of this.

Source from http://www.andro-phones.com/

Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830

Without any fanfare Samsung made the Android-running S5830 Galaxy Ace official. The full-touch mid-range smartphone popped up on the Indonesian web page of the company, confirming all rumors we heard so far.

The Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 packs a 3.5" capacitive touchscreen display of HVGA resolution. There's an 800 MHz CPU ticking under the hood and a 5 megapixel camera at the back of the Android 2.2 Froyo device.

As expected from even mid-range smartphones nowadays, the Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 offers all kinds of data transfer options. You get Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi b/g/n, dual-band (900/2100 MHz) 3G with 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE. microUSB and 3.5mm jacks as well as a GPS receiver are also on board.

Acer Iconia Smart

The Acer Iconia Smart is part tablet, part phone, all droid. The tablet/phone has an extra-wide screen with aspirations of portable multimedia perfection. Also, the Acer Liquid Metal changed its name but not its specs.
The Acer Iconia Smart features a 21:9 widescreen display, 4.8" big with 1024x480 pixels resolution - now that's downright impressive. Dolby surround sound technology enhances viewing movies even further.

The Iconia Smart runs Android 2.3.2 Gingerbread covered with the latest Acer UI version 4.0, also called "Breeze". The whole thing is powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon chipset, which has enough power to drive Flash 10.1 in the web browser.
There are two cameras - an 8MP main camera with LED flash and 720p video recording and a secondary 1.3MP camera for video calling.
The Acer Iconia Smart has a unibody metal casing and it will be available in Silver. A gyroscope and an accelerometer will enable high-precision motion-controlled gaming.
The Acer Liquid Metal showed up at Acer's booths under a new name - the Acer Liquid mt. Nothing else has changed, just the name.

First Dual Screen Smartphone

 

This here is the first dual screen smartphone. And it’s running Android. I feel cooler just for having a phone that runs the same operating system as that thing. When I first saw it, I thought it was a new Nintendo DS design. The Droid was lauded for having the slide out keyboard, well the Echo has a slide out second screen. In the closed position it’s just like a standard touchscreen smartphone and can make calls and surf the web and such, but the awesome thing here is that you can slide the top back and make a single big touchscreen, with a slight split since they are two separate screens. It can function as one contiguous screen, displaying large images or videos or interwebs, oooooor you can use some of it’s highly modified apps to use the two screens separately. Like have the web browser in the top window and the mail app in the bottom window. And if you don’t like the idea of having one large area (maybe you’re not a tablet fan) that odd looking hinge on the back also lets it lock into a bent laptop style position. That would be amazing for typing an email or writing an article on the bottom screen while looking at your source content on the upright screen

Anyway, both of the screens are 3.5 inch WVGA, Hi Res, as if any phone these days isn’t. When they activate their wonder twin powers to work together, they take the form of a tablet screen 4.7 inches diagonally. I really wish these companies would give us the length and width of a screen along with the diagonal. A² + B² = 4.7. Great. In any case, it also includes the Wi-Fi hotspot utility for linking up to 5 other devices to the internet, a 5MP camera, the 1GHz Snapdragon processor, and a small 1 jigabyte of built in memory but an included 8 gig microSD card. The slot can also support up to 32 gigs of microSD card as usual.

Source from http://theandroidblog.com/

iPad 2 vs Motorola Xoom vs BlackBerry Playbook vs Dell Streak 7

Back in 2010, there was just the Apple iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab in the shops, tablet-wise. We’d seen the BlackBerry Playbook and were patiently waiting for a UK release date.

Now there’s the Motorola Xoom and the Dell Streak 7, both confirmed for the UK, and both of which run on Android. Toshiba and Panasonic are working on some yet-to-be named Android tabs as well.

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again; if 2010 was the Year of Android Phones, then 2011 is going to be the Year of Android Tablets.

Though absent from CES, the follow up to the iPad made its presence felt. Given the prevalence of tablets that are coming with a dual-camera set up, we’re going out on a limb here and guessing that the iPad 2 will feature this too. We think given the competition its up against, the iPad 2 is going to have to be something special. So, without further ado, here's how we reckon the first round of the 2011 Tablet Wars is going to go down.

iPad 2

With Facetime on the iPhone 4 , Apple managed to convince everyone that video calling was cool and useful. For this reason we’d be very surprised if the iPad 2 didn’t roll with a couple of cameras to facilitate this. We imagine that the main camera will at least match that of the iPhone; i.e. 5-megapixels, HDR mode, records HD video etc. We think that the secondary camera would be at least 2-megapixels, a la the competition. Or, they might go one better and a have a front-facing camera that’s of equal power to the main one.

Everything else that’s being said about the iPad 2 at the moment is of course straight out of Rumourville. From its internal memory, mooted to be 128GB, to the date of its announcement/release, which some people are saying is the 1st of February

Motorola Xoom

Having seen the Motorola Xoom in action we can safely say that the iPad 2 is going to have to be something special to beat this. The Motorola Xoom looks fantastic, both outside and in. It's got a beautiful reflective finish, and no physical or exterior keys, as everything is done on the 10.1-inch touchscreen. Android 3.0, as we all know, is the first OS from Google to be tailored specifically for tabs. It is hands down the nicest we’ve seen Android looking on any device so far. The Xoom plays 1080p HD video effortlessly, features two cameras (5-megapixels w/ flash on the back, 2-megapixels on the front) and has a whopping 32GB of internal memory. Scared, iPad 2? You should be.

BlackBerry Playbook

Like the Motorola Xoom, the BlackBerry  Playbook features a 1Ghz dual-core processor, and is a capable multitasker. We’ve seen it running games while keeping the browser open while powering through high definition videos. We particularly like the look of the browser and how Facebook is integrated. The Playbook’s got a 7-inch screen as opposed to those of the Xoom and (we guess) the iPad 2. We have to disagree with Steve Job's comment about 7-inches not being enough. In our review of the Galaxy Tab (which also has a 7-inch screen) we found this to be just about fine, size-wise. Having not had much real hands-on time with the Playbook or RIM’s Tablet OS, it’s hard to say how it’ll compare against iOS 4, Android 3.0 or even Android 2.2. Our money’s on it being a bit more suited to tablets than Froyo though.

Dell Streak 7

The Dell Streak 7 might not boast the visual loveliness or the tablet optimisation of Android 3.0 as runs on 2.2/Froyo (with a 2.3 Gingerbread upgrade to follow). And, it doesn’t boast the same screen size of the Motorola Xoom (7-inches opposed to 10). But it’s packing a Tegra 2 processor, meaning it’ll be able to handle high-end titles like Dungeon Defender: First Wave no problem. The smaller size might make it more of a hit with gamers, as it's going to be more portable than a 10-inch tab. The Dell Streak 7 is set to come in 16GB and 32GB flavours. Presumably the 16GB edition will be a bit easier on the wallet, compared to something that’s got a bigger screen and only available in a 32GB size.

Source from http://www.digitaltrends.com/

LG Optimus Pad with Android 3.0 Honeycomb

LG Optimus Pad runs on Android 3.0 Honeycomb and packs a 8.9-inch 3D display, 32GB internal storage and two cameras (5 megapixel and a smaller 2 megapixel one) that combined can capture 3D stereoscopic 1080p video recordings. There’s a Single LED flash and all-round connectivity package. Unfortunately, to watch 3D content on the G-Slate you’ll need to use 3D glasses. A pair of the glasses will be provided with the device.

Samsung I9003 Galaxy SL-Super Clear LCD screen

The Samsung I9003 Galaxy SL has a 4" WVGA Super Clear LCD display instead of a SuperAMOLED unit (hopefully, the new name will prevent confusion).
Anyway, the I9003 Galaxy SL will come with Android 2.2 Froyo out of the box and the innards are very, very similar to the I9000 - except the CPU, which is a 1GHz TI OMAP 3630 instead of a Hummingbird CPU. Oh, and the internal memory is 16GB, there's no 8GB version. We can also report that the user available RAM has gone some 138MB up from the original Galaxy S.

Motorola XOOM tablet running Android 3.0 Honeycomb

Today Motorola and Verizon Wireless officially unveiled the first Android 3.0 Honeycomb powered tablet computer, the Motorola XOOM. The XOOM features a 10.1 inch display with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution and supports 3G and Wi-Fi data connections from the start, and will support Verizon's 4G LTE based network after an update that is expected in the second quarter of this year.

The XOOM features a dual-core 1GHz processor for up to 2GHz of processing power and is powerful enough to play 1080p HD video content on the built-in display or on an external TV using the built-in HDMI support. The XOOM's web browser supports Adobe Flash for a fully featured web browsing experiences, and photographers and chatty folk alike will approve of the XOOM's dual cameras. The main 5 megapixel camera can be used for stills and 720p HD video recording, and the forward facing 2 megapixel camera is perfect for video chats.

In addition to the new features offered by Android 3.0, such as split-screen apps, a new virtual keyboard, and Google Talk video chatting, the Motorola XOOM also can act as a mobile hotspot on Verizon's network, allowing other Wi-Fi devices to make use of the XOOM's connectivity.

The Motorola XOOM is expected to be available for purchase later in the first quarter of 2011

Motorola Atrix with full HD 1080p video

The already eagerly awaited Motorola Atrix is making headlines again this time making a hint of 1080p video capture. Having a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 CPU roaring inside, it should come as no surprise that this monster droid would offer Full HD recording much like the Optimus 2X, for instance.

The device is set to initially come with 720p video recording and 1080p playback via it's HDMI port but a vigilant read spotted a remark in the manufacturer's specs that promises 1080p video recording via a post-launch software update.

So far information on the update concerns only the AT&T version, the Atrix 4G.

It's some great news for the fans waitig eagerly for the official launch of the Atrix, especially now that the Tegra-loving LG Optimus 2X is already flaunting it's fullHD capturing capabilities.
Since the 1080p video capture will probably be a major selling point of the Atrix 4G, we really hope Motorola doesn't take long with the update as it did with the updates of most of its other GSM Android smartphones.

Source from http://www.talkandroid.com/

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play

Sony Ericsson has finally made the XPERIA Play official through a creepy Super Bowl commercial. The presentation is still scheduled for 13 February, but now you finally know what to expect then.
We've already lost count of the XPERIA Play leaks, pictures, videos, previews, benchmarks, etc. Sony Ericsson did the right thing teasing with the Super Bowl ad and making the XPERIA Play somewhat official. Really, it was about time.

Android VS IPhone VS Symbian VS Blackberry VS Windows Mobile 7

Android

• open platform Android
• can compile custom firmwares - good for hackers and other
• good framework, extended on each new firmware
• supports multitasking  
• nice IDE - Eclipse, NetBeans
• development SDK is free  
• easy to debug, can send logs to developers
• programming language is Java but bridges from other languages exist (C# .net - Mono, etc)
• Java is a high level language that appeared in 1995. Android supports Java 1.5 and translates the byte code to its own custom Dalvik byte code optimized for mobile devices.
• for the hardcore programmers, Android offers the possibility of programming in C using the native dev kit NDK
• can run script languages like LUA, Perl, Python, etc
• can install third party applications from sdcard, random sites - not locked to a specific market
• applications can hook and override everything - email interface, SMS sending, custom keyboards, etc
• supports widgets
• can publish applications on the Android market instantly - initial one time registration fee is 25E
• user has access to the sdcard and can use it as a USB disk
• Support Adobe Flash 10.1  

iPhone

• closed platform
• no multitasking except for some Apple applications. multitasking is probably going to be introduced in the next vertion of the iPhone, the iPhone 4
• development kit costs ~90E
• programming language is Objective C - but bridges exist from Java, C#, etc
• Objective C appeared in 1986
• next version of iPhone is supposed to only allow Objective C code, this means the bridges are out and you must program in Objective C if you want to create an iPhone application
• applications are not allowed to duplicate the iPhone functionality - ie no custom email interface, etc
• does not support widgets - unless the phone is jail broken
• user does not have access to the sdcard - user can only do synchronization via internet or LAN  
• third party applications can only be installed from the Apple store. For testing the applications, developers can use Ad Hoc publishing   
• publishing on the store is a very lengthy and tiresome process. Apple has many and bizarre rules. Many applications were rejected for strange reasons.
• no Adobe Flash support 

Symbian

• opened Symbian and says the future will be QT and WRT - they will cut support to any other environment including J2ME
• QT is a framework that adds a layer of abstraction over gui, network, gps, etc.
• QT is cross platform and cross programming language - C++, C#, Java, etc. the licenses are GPL and LGPL.
• QT runs on Maemo, MeeGo, BlackBerry, Symbian, Android, iPhone, Windows Mobile, desktop PC, consumer electronics, car entertainment, etc
• WRT - web runtime - a cool feature that allows users to write applications in HTML, JS and CS. You build the app like a normal web page, and you interact with the phone platform/hardware using the WRT bridge.
  No need to learn any other technology. Just HTML, JS and CS. Very important: JS can call native code, but also the other way around. It seems you can call WRT JS with native code.
• supports widgets
• supports Adobe Flash Lite  

BlackBerry

• as it is now, the programming environment is Java native and J2ME - not worth mentioning since they will probably be extinct pretty soon
• Support Adobe Flash 10.1 support.
• we expect a new OS so we will just have to sit patiently and see what's going to happen

 

Windows Mobile 7 

• closed platform 
• MS breaks compatibility with WM 6.5
• programming environment is Silverlight and XNA
• no native programming ie no hooking and overriding keyboard, etc - they removed PInvoke   
• nice IDE - Visual Studio 2010
• does not support multitasking for third party applications
• third party applications can only be installed from the MS marketplace
• no Adobe Flash support  

Notes

Android phones seem to be cheaper than the iPhone. Also the hardware is in some cases double than what the iPhone has.

For those coming from a Microsoft/Borland/Java background, Objective C will probably look like a very big step back - to say it as politically correct as possible.

Nokia says they will release the new phones end of this year and at a "lower price than ever". The Nokia phones are iPhone and Android clones - they can do what those two beasts can do, but nothing more. It seems they don't bring anything new to the table.

The available MS demos for WM7 are, to say the least, pathetic. It is a very non user friendly phone. Brings lots of changes (many not good) and totally breaks the look and feel the WM6.x owners were used to. Breaking software compatibility with WM6.x instantly puts many companies out of business.

The iPhone market seems to slowly but steadily go down. Some influence is the nice and cheap Android phone. Another reason for the iPhone sales dropping is that people are trying to get away from the whole iPhone = snob social stigmata.

In general, people tend to stick to their preferred phone manufacturer. Nokia fans are very excited about the new phones. Android users don't have anything better to switch to. BlackBerry users will never switch to other phones because of the great (subjectively speaking) physical keyboard.

The question is: what's going to happen to the iPhone and the WM7? I think the waters are too blurry at this time, so we'll patiently wait and see what happens. 

Iphone Versus Android	Iphone	Android
Ease of Use	YES
Openness		YES
Battery Life	YES
Multitasking	YES	YES
Software Keyboard	YES
System-Wide Search	YES	YES
Notification System		YES
Voice-to-Text		YES
Syncing		YES
Non-Google Syncing	YES
Tethering		YES
Release/Update Consistency	YES
Customizable		YES
Apps	YES	YES
Web Browsing	YES	YES
Gaming	YES
Music Player	YES
Free Tum-by-Turn Navigation		YES
Google Apps Integration		YES
Google Voice		YES