Samsung announces Galaxy Note: HD 5.3-inch Super AMOLED screen and built-in stylus

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  • September 1, 2011 at 3:19 pm

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Samsung Galaxy Note: HD 5.3-inch Super AMOLED smartphone with stylus

Samsung has just announced a new Android device, the 5.3-inch Galaxy Note, which challenges our perceptions of what is a phone. This is the first smart phone to go past the 5-inch barrier, the Dell Steak featured a 5-inch screen but it has now been discontinued. The Galaxy Note however doesn’t feature just any type of screen but a surely gorgeous 1280×800 (that’s 285ppi) Super AMOLED (not Plus) screen together with a stowaway pressure sensitive stylus, named S Pen, which can be used for drawing and note taking. In fact Samsung will include a number of applications which will take advantage of the S Pen while also releasing an SDK for third-party developers.

The phone will need a lot of power to drive that kind of resolution, and that will be brought by an unidentified Samsung dual-core 1.4GHz processor powered by a large 2,500mAh battery. Despite the size, the phone will weigh 178g (6.3 oz) and measure 9.65mm (0.38 inches) thick.

The Galaxy Note will run Android 2.3 together with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI. Front and back cameras of-course with 2 and 8-megapixels resolution each, with the rear camera able to shoot 1080p video. The Note will support HSPA+ but we are hearing it will also be LTE-capable. We know that everyone will say its too big for a phone, but we like, no, we really like big screened phones, and we’d love to get this baby into our hands; hopefully we won’t look too silly talking to a big piece of slab.

Video after the break.
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HTC Eternity and HTC Omega Windows Phone 7.5 Mango specs leaked

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  • September 1, 2011 at 3:58 am

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HTC Eternity and HTC Omega with WP7 Mango
You may be aware that the IFA trade show is taking place in Berlin right now, and HTC has an event going on today. Well detailed specs of two new Windows Phone 7.5 Mango phones have leaked which are certain to make their presence fully know soon.

First is the HTC Eternity on the right, with a 4.7-inch WVGA Super LCD screen and single-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon processor. The phone has an 8-megapixel back and 1.3-megapixel front-facing cameras, dual LED flash and 720p movie mode. The handset has ample 16GB internal storage and a 1,650mAh battery.

The smaller 3.8-inch HTC Omega will run on the same 1.5GHz processor with 512MB of RAM and support for 14.2Mbps HSDPA networks.
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HTC Sensation Special Edition with bigger battery, 1.5GHz clock-rate and Beats by Dr. Dre

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  • August 31, 2011 at 4:19 pm

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HTC Sensation music app

HTC is getting ready to release a special edition of its Sensation smartphone. The new version of the HTC Sensation will come with a set of Beats by Dr. Dre earphones and feature technology that will supposedly work with the headset to optimize sound quality. HTC had announced its partnership with Beats Electronics earlier this month and this will be the fruits of their labor.

The bigger news, in our opinion, is that the HTC Sensation Special Edition will run the Snapdragon Qualcomm 8260 dual-core processor at a higher clock-rate of 1.5GHz (instead of 1.2GHz). While the biggest relief for all will be the higher capacity 1,730mAh battery up from 1,520mAh. The Sensation definitely needed a boost in terms of battery life and users have been resorting to third-party OEM batteries claiming to offer higher capacity. Hopefully the new battery will be available to all HTC Sensation owners, not just for the Special Edition, although you already know many ways of keeping you phone charged on the go.
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Samsung spills the beans on Sprint’s 4.52-inch Super AMOLED Plus Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch

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  • August 30, 2011 at 1:35 pm

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Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch on Sprint – applications

Guess what happens when you wander around online training manuals just before an evening of new product announcements. Well, you stumble on one of these new and still announced products. A tipster has sent us screen shots and detailed product specs of a very juicy new handset heading over to Sprint, the Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch.

Samsung is not toying around with Epic 4G Touch. The new smartphone has huge 4.52-inch Super AMOLED Plus Gorilla Glass screen while staying super-thin at 9.59mm and weighing 4.09 oz. The Epic 4G Touch runs a dual-core 1.2GHz Samsung Exnyos C210 processor — same as the original SGSII — and will run Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

The phone will run on Sprint’s 4G WiMAX network and have an 8.0-megapixel rear-facing and 2.0-megapixel front-facing cameras. Samsung is loading the phone with its Media and Social Hubs.

More images and full details after the break.
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Sense 3.5 UI demoed on video running on HTC Bliss, or not, still

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  • August 29, 2011 at 3:23 pm

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Sense 3.5 UI running on HTC Bliss

We first caught glimpse of screenshots of HTC’s update to its Sense UI, version 3.5, claimed to be running on an HTC Bliss. Well what’s next; a video of course, displaying a set of well manicured hands showing you around the new user interface. We still remain very skeptical however whether this is indeed Sense 3.5, as this seems a step back from the more comprehensive, better polished and less cluttered 3.0 we know and love. If it was our guess we’d still say that this looks more like an HTC Bliss or Asia specific skin rather than the new UI.

In any case, you can judge for yourselves, video is just after the break after all.
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Samsung announces Galaxy S II LTE 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus phone and Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE for IFA, Berlin

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  • August 29, 2011 at 6:37 am

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Samsung Galaxy S II LTE and Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE

Samsung has just announced LTE versions of the Galaxy S II smartphone and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 ahead of its event at IFA, Berlin. LTE techonology allows devices, connected to a 4G network, theoretical download and upload speeds up to 100Mbps and 50Mbps respectively; much faster than HSPA+ connections.

However the two devices didn’t just gain a new radio with svelte connectivity, both have also received a much welcomed speed bump, with a new 1.5GHz dual-core processor. The Galaxy S II LTE will also receive one of those fancy 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus screens, hopefully it won’t be too much strain for the 1850mAh capacity battery. Everything else remains pretty much the same, with the phone running Android Gingerbread and offering NFC, Bluetooth 3.0 and Wi-Fi a/b/g/n connectivity.

Besides the processor bump, the Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE maintains its 8.6mm thickness, weighing 455g (15.7 oz), with its 8.9-inch screen offering a 1280 x 800 resolution and will be running Android 3.2 Honeycomb. Gallery after the break.
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Sprint advises employees not to discuss the iPhone 5

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  • August 29, 2011 at 5:53 am

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Sprint notice to employees about upcoming iPhone 5

The first rule of selling the iPhone 5, is not to discuss selling the iPhone 5. Sprint has advised its dealers not to discuss potential future availability of Apple’s next iPhone on Sprint. This has come following a WSJ publication stating that Sprint would be getting the iPhone 5 in mid-October. AT&T and Verizon will also begin offering the iPhone 5 in mid-October and Sprint is said to begin carrying the iPhone 4 as well, starting from that time.

Verizon began selling the iPhone in February this year and Apple loving Sprint customers have been getting mixed signals as to if and when Sprint will begin offering the iPhone. The recent internal memo to employees doesn’t give much information except that employees shouldn’t discuss any iPhone availability on Sprint but can acknowledge seeing the news reports. However the memo also doesn’t instruct employees to deny any of rumors; is non-denial a confirmation? Well October is not far off
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Droid Bionic coming on September 8th

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  • August 28, 2011 at 6:00 am

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Motorola Droid Bionic coming September 8th

One of the most anticipated smartphones on Verizon this year, the Motorola Droid Bionic, has just been confirmed to be released on September 8th courtesy of an official tweet.

The Bionic will be released on Verizon’s 4G LTE network (that means fast 5-12 Mbps download speeds). The phone has a dual-core 1Ghz TI OMAP 4430 processor, a 4.3-inch qHD screen (960 x 540), 8MP back and VGA front facing cameras and 14GB of internal storage.

More pictures after the break.

UPDATE: Verizon has come out saying that the @DroidBionic twitter account is not theirs, though it doesn’t officially refute or confirm rumors on release timing. The Bionic saga continues.
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HTC Sense 3.5 gets previewed on the HTC Bliss, or not

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  • August 26, 2011 at 4:40 pm

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HTC Sense 3.5 on HTC Bliss

The story goes like this, XDA.cn got it’s hands on the new HTC Bliss which apparently runs an updated version of HTC’s UI, Sense 3.5 beta, and they have taken a number of screenshots showing it off. We love the usability of the unlock ring in Sense 3.0 — which gives you the option of quickly launching four apps of your choice — and it seems logical that Sense 3.5 would build on top of that. Some work has been done in refining and polishing icons and widgets, the weather widget seems to now cover the whole screen.
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Samsung teases something big for 1st September 2011 at IFA Berlin, could it be the Nexus Prime?

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  • August 18, 2011 at 2:48 pm

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Samsung Mobile Unpacked teaser for IFA Berlin 2011

We broke the news this morning about Samsung’s upcoming Super AMOLED Plus sporting smartphones. So what do we get now, a teaser video that ‘something big is coming’ at the Samsung Unpacked event at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin on September 1, 2011.

So what does a bunch of young hipsters have in their hands while treading the streets of old Europe? A ball of light? From the video, which you can find after the break, we can safely deduct that ‘something big’ will be a new smartphone. Could this be the announcement of the much rumored and awaited Nexus Prime, the first smartphone to run Android Ice Cream Sandwich on a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and a 4.65-inch 1280×720 Super AMOLED screen. Color us excited!
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Samsung Super AMOLED HD screens could be coming to smartphones and tablets this fall

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  • August 18, 2011 at 5:09 am

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Samsung Super AMOLED

So far Samsung hadn’t been able to pack pixels densely enough to create high definition AMOLED displays for mobile phones. By high definition (HD), we mean any display with a resolution higher than 1280×720 (720p). OLED-Info is now claiming that Samsung has been able to break the existing pixel density barrier.

The new technology will enable Samsung to create high-def AMOLED screens, named Super AMOLED HD, while the new fabrication process is said to also be cheaper than LCD screens, so expect quite a lot of devices to be packing these screens in the future. Compared to LCDs, AMOLED screens offer better viewing angles and better black levels. The new displays will use PenTile Matrix technology, that some argue does not offer the full resolution claimed, as each pixel is not made up of three (red, green, and blue) subpixels
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HTC Holiday and HTC Ruby leaked for your viewing pleasure

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  • August 16, 2011 at 4:12 pm

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HTC Ruby and HTC Holiday leaked

We’re guessing people over at HTC never have any holidays, since the Taiwanese manufacturer keeps on churning new smartphones. The latest devices to have found their way out on ‘the Internets’ are the 4.5-inch HTC Holiday — fitting name — behemoth and the 1.5GHz dual-core Ruby. We have juicy details and pictures of the two handsets waiting for you after the break.
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HTC Sensation getting 2.3.4 update in Europe

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  • August 13, 2011 at 9:52 am

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HTC Sensation in hand

HTC Sensation owners in Europe are slowly getting an over-the-air (OTA) update to Android 2.3.4. The update is being rolled out to different countries in stages, so don’t worry if you haven’t yet received a notification for the update — though it might help going to ‘Settings > About Phone > Software updates’ and pressing ‘Check Now’. Mind you the update is for unbranded, i.e. not carrier specific, handsets. Branded handset owners might have to wait a bit longer for the update to be rolled out by their carriers; we will post a guide on how-to change your carrier ID so that you can get the update now.
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Nokia Sea Ray Windows Phone 7 smartphone strutting its stuff on video

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  • July 19, 2011 at 3:38 pm

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Nokia Sea Ray Windows Phone 7 smartphone

The first Windows Phone 7 smartphone to come from Nokia, code-named ‘Sea Ray’, was first showcased last month in a leaked internal video from Nokia CEO Stephen Elop. Today, a new video has surfaced, demonstrating the curvy phone in its 360-degree glory.

The Sea Ray sports a design similar to the Nokia N9, which was announced in June this year. Elop had revealed that the smartphone would have a Gorilla Glass curved display and a ‘pillow-shaped’ design.
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