HP Pre 3 may get a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor (at least in the UK)

The HP Pre 3 was announced all the way back in February, yet unlike the HP TouchPad and the HP Veer that were also announced at the same time, HP's flagship smartphone still isn't available anywhere. In the UK, we heard that it would launch on July 8, but that obviously hasn't happened and there were rumors of a delay until the end of this month.

Now we know what the cause of that delay may be. It turns out that an important spec has now changed, at least according to HP's own product listing for the Pre 3 in the UK. Whereas when it was announced it was said to ship with a single-core 1.4 GHz processor, HP now lists the Pre 3 as having a dual-core 1.2 GHz CPU. You can see for yourself over on this page. Here's the relevant screencap:

A processor speed boost is nothing new for HP's webOS lineup of course, since a few days ago it announced the TouchPad 4G for AT&T which will come with a processor that has 300 MHz more than the ‘vanilla' TouchPad sold elsewhere.

This may just be a mistake made by HP's UK staff. After all, we've seen something like that happen at Sprint yesterday. If it is real though, it's unclear whether the processor change will only happen for the UK, for a number of select markets, or if it's going to be a worldwide affair. Though we will let you know as soon as we find out.
source: Unwired View

HTC Status Checks-In to Best Buy Mobile

Shipments of the HTC Status have just arrived at Best Buy Mobile stores, though the phone won’t officially go on sale for another two days. We’ve already had it in-hand for a few days and provided our initial impressions, but the verdict is out on whether or not the Status is the new mayor of budget-friendly messaging smartphones. Wrong social network pun? Yeah, I know. But we’ll have an answer either way when we publish our full review of the handset. Look out for that next week.
source: Android Phone

Telus LG Optimus Black Skype Edition now available, $49.99 with three-year contract

Last month we heard that Telus was getting ready to launch the LG Optimus Black, with an interesting Skype-filled twist. Then towards the end of June Future Shop even started taking pre-orders for the device. Yet there was never an officially announced release date to speak of.

Well, announced or not, that date is today. Telus now lets you buy the LG Optimus Black complete with its Skype integration. The prices are as follows: $49.99 on three-year, $299.99 on two-year, $349.99 on one-year, and $399.99 without a contract.

Telus' Skype integration allows you to charge Skype credit directly to your Telus account, which is not something we see carriers do very often (or ever).

The device comes with an 8 GB microSD card preinstalled and $2 of Skype credit. The LG Optimus Black is just 9.2mm thin and has a 4-inch 480×800 capacitive touchscreen, a 5 MP main camera and a 2 MP front-facing secondary camera, Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth, GPS, and all the usual smartphone features. It runs Android 2.2 Froyo.
source: Unwired View

Apps of the Day: SPB Brain Evolution, Zinio, and More

What time is it? It's time for Apps of the Day. We once again dove headfirst into the Android Market and came out on the other side with some of its latest and greatest apps. Today we train our brains, read up on back issues of a wide selection of Magazines offered through Zinio, and once again sync our SMS messages with our tablets. Read on for more.

SPB Brain Evolution – Didn't train your brain well enough with other brain training games? If you're still stuck with “Schoolchild” as your Brain Evolution status, you'll be glad to know that you have another suite of compelling games to test your intelligence level. Sudoku, memory games, mathematics – it's all here. You'll unlock more games as you perfect the others. Play two games per day minimum for a better chance at increasing your intelligence level. If you've been out of the school loop for a while and need to jog your brain, download the free version now. [Market]

Zinio - It wasn't that long ago – less than a month, in fact – that Zinio for Honeycomb tablets made its way to market. Aside from offering a boatload of magazines from a boatload of publishers, one interesting feature was its hardware acceleration. While those features, by nature, aren't available in the handset version that's just come out, we're glad that a handset version is available. For free, in fact. But the app is driven by you buying subscriptions, of course, so if you're a fan of reading your magazines digitally Zinio is a sure bet. Go ahead and find it in the Android market. [Market]

DesktopSMS - Another option for gaining access to texts on your Android tablet or desktop PC, DesktopSMS from ClockworkMod cleverly intercepts messages and forwards them to your Gtalk or Gmail. Reply to the message and the opposite occurs, pushing a message to your phone and sending it as an SMS. An elegant solution, to say the least. The app is still in beta, so bugs are to be expected, but definitely worth checking out. [Market]
source: Android Phone

HTC Guilty of Infringing on Two of Apple's Patents in ITC Ruling

While the attention in recent weeks has mostly been focused on Apple’s suit against Samsung, the International Trade Commission has been overseeing a separate patent infringement case involving HTC. The ITC has just handed down their ruling, and of the ten patents in question HTC was found guilty of infringing upon two. Two out of ten might not seem so bad, but it’s enough to give Apple power to block the future sale of new HTC devices in the US. That outcome, however, is unlikely. HTC will pay the piper a sum that will probably remain undisclosed, and business will continue as usual.
source: Android Phone

The world's first Windows Phone Mango handset could be the Fujitsu IS12T

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The world's first Windows Phone Mango handset could be the Fujitsu IS12T
The world's first Windows Phone Mango handset could be the Fujitsu IS12T
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Remember the Fujitsu Windows Phone Mango handset that Microsoft showcased a few days ago, alongside new devices from Samsung, Acer and ZTE? It turns out that this may become the world's first available Mango smartphone.

If Nikkei and Nanapho (both being Japanese websites) are correct in their claims, the handset, currently called Fujitsu IS12T / TSI12, should be released in Japan in August, via KDDI au - the country's second largest mobile carrier.

The handset has already appeared at the FCC and the Bluetooth SIG, so if Microsoft manages to finish polishing up the new mobile OS, we may indeed see the IS12T hitting the Japanese market sometime next month.

According to Microsoft, the Fujitsu Mango device (seen bellow) is waterproof, and has "great capabilities in terms of the camera" – I assumed this might mean a 12MP camera, since Fujitsu has made 12MP camera phones before. The Japanese sources mentioned above say that the IS12T features a 3.7 inch display, but unfortunately that's all we know for now.

Of course, August does seem a bit early for the world's first Windows Phone Mango to arrive (even if only in Japan), especially since Microsoft repeatedly stated that the new platform would be released "this fall". Moreover, Steve Ballmer recently said that Mango devices would be out "this Christmas." But maybe he was talking about when Mango phones are coming to the US? Who knows… We'll probably find out more on this soon, so stick around.
source: Unwired View

LG Optimus 3D Android 2.3 Gingerbread update will be available in the UK in October

If you're thinking of buying an LG Optimus 3D, but saw that it runs Android 2.2 Froyo and want to know when to expect an update to the latest version of Google's mobile operating system, here's some bad news.

LG has told The Inquirer that the Optimus 3D will be updated to Android 2.3 Gingerbread in October, at least in the UK. That's going to be ten months after Gingerbread was announced. It may also be very close to when Google will officially unveil the next version of Android, called Ice Cream Sandwich. Which means that Optimus 3D owners will only have a very short window of time in which their devices will be up to date, after which it's back to the waiting game. And who knows if LG will update the Optimus 3D to Ice Cream Sandwich? You're probably not going to find that out this year.

Oh, and the above is only valid for the UK. Other countries may get the Gingerbread update long after it starts rolling out in the UK.

So if you're into this whole 3D thing and also like your Android versions to be as up-to-date as possible, perhaps you should look at HTC's Evo 3D, since that will at least ship with Gingerbread preinstalled.

Apparently the Gingerbread software update for the Optimus 3D will do more than just get you the newest bits from Google though. LG is planning on making 2D to 3D conversion possible on the fly for applications and games, so you'll be able to play Angry Birds in 3D. The only requirement for that to work is that the app or game has to be based on OpenGL. Currently, the Optimus 3D offers 3D upscaling for pictures and videos, even having a depth control so you can customize the ‘amount' of the third dimension that you see.

Asked why it didn't launch the Optimus 3D with Gingerbread on board, LG basically said that it chose to ship. That tells us that work was started on the phone with Froyo, and then LG would have needed to port over Gingerbread. Which it decided not to do before launching the phone, in order to be the first on the market with a glasses-free 3D display.
source: Unwired View

Smartphones will soon be able to smell

While smartphones can pretty much do anything right now, there's one thing it can't do: smell. But according to some researchers, that may end pretty soon. Luc Van den hove, president of nanoelectronics research firm IMEC recently stated that we've reached a point where we can now build smell sensors small enough to be implemented into smartphones.

Now why would anybody want smell sensors in our phones? Well, these smell-capable phones can be used to check blood alcohol levels so folks can avert the risk of picking up a DUI ticket when deciding to call a cab or to drive home after a party. Other uses include the detection of gases in the air (both safe and dangerous) for health concerns. By a stretch of the imagination, you can imagine these phones being used to tell if food was fresh or not - especially for people with impaired smelling senses.

The technology should be arriving on our smartphones in three to five years time, but until then we'll have to rely on our own noses. What do you think of smell sensors on phones? What uses can you think of for them?
source: Ubergizmo

HTC guilty of patent infringement according to the ITC

Uh oh, it looks like HTC might be in trouble this time around. After managing to evade Apple's lawsuits earlier this year, the Taiwanese OEM was thrown another complaint from the fruity company earlier this week. And according to the US International Trade Commission (ITC) today - HTC has violated two of Apple's patents.

In case you haven't been up to speed, Apple recently sued HTC for allegedly infringing on a number of patents they own. Because of this infringement, Apple has filed to block the sales of HTC devices (that violate the patent laws) in the US. HTC has appealed to the decision of the ITC but it wasn't mentioned what they'll be doing to fight back against Apple.

If their appeal isn't successful, most likely they'll have to come to a settlement with Apple, which will probably involve a lot of money - unless they choose to not sell their devices in the US anymore, which is unlikely but possible. But if Apple wins this case against HTC, it will give the Cupertino company a lot of leverage to use against other Android device manufacturers selling devices in the country. Let's see how this plays out.
source: Ubergizmo

Samsung Within for Sprint gets spotted in the wild

There is hardly any doubt that the Samsung Galaxy S2 is the king of droids so far this year. Logically, its official arrival in United States is highly anticipated. It looks however, that the wait might soon be over for the folks across the Atlantic. The Sprint Wireless version of the device, dubbed Samsung Within just got caught in a couple of blurry shots.

As you can see from the picture, the device is slightly curvier than the Galaxy S2 which we have come to know so well. The textured back however, appears to remain the same like its rest of the world sibling.

There is no information on a release date or specs, save for the fact that the device will come with Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread out of the box.

All in all, it appears that the Sprint branded HTC EVO 3D, which we previewed for you a couple of days ago, is bound to get some Super AMOLED Plus competition from within its own ranks very soon.
source: GSM Arena