Three New Windows Phone ‘Mango” Apps from HTC!

With the Windows Phone 7.5 about to officially be released, and that's an any time now sort of thing. Tentative dates like September 15 where thrown around, but there are some omens that that date may be a little firmer than first thought. HTC is known for it's skinning of devices with it's own front end, HTC Sense, which as a combined suite of applications allows user access to many apps from the home screen. Email, Twitter [HTC Peep] Footprints [location sharing] etc, and it's one of the things that defines HTC devices. HTC while being the most invested OEM, producing five out of ten first generation Windows Phones, it was not allowed the same sort of skinning privilege with the OS. HTC's way around this was to produce complimentary applications for Windows Phone, 14 in all to date, it was a way to get some of the Sense styling's onto the OS. Connection setup, Calculator, Compass, You Tube and the list goes on. HTC have maintained their commitment to the Windows Phone ecosystem, and in anticipation of Mango have updated their attentive phone application and introduced two new apps, HTC Locations, which is the WP footprints equivalent and Connected Media, a DLNA app to let you stream media to your phone.

  Locations is a real basic thing, geo tagging, take a photo add it and tell people that's where you are. Connected Media, is what it says, connect to a server and stream music, video and pictures to your phone. of course you need a DLNA enabled device and a wireless network connection. I get thrown out of the app as soon as I start it on the HD7.

Both apps adhere to the Metro design sensibility, and carry on a familiar HTC look for Windows Phone applications. Neither app is easily found in the Marketplace as yet, they are hidden, awaiting the "Mango update". If you are on Mango on an HTC device and want to give either app a try, you can download "Locations" Here, and "Connected Media" Here.

You can see the general look and feel, from HTC is carried over, I did a video of the HTC HUB early on in my pre Nodo look at Windows Phone.

HTC have been able to keep continuity with their apps, and considering their OEM knowledge, has kept the apps light and free. Most exciting is the ability for HTC in "Mango" to deeply integrate it's apps at a native, system level. Attentive Phone from HTC, is a really simple app, that allows some automation of actions via phone gestures,

HTC now have the ability to include simple apps like Attentive Phone into the OS, so rather than being in your apps list, it now appears in the settings menu, under system, not applications. It may seem a small thing, but it really shows the trust and strength of partnership of the OS maker and the OEM.

I expect to see more of this crossover happening as second generation Windows Phones hit the Market, OEM's that are in for the long haul are now starting to find a few Easter eggs.

Samsung Nexus Prime specs leak?

Samsung's Galaxy S II might be the South Korean conglomerate's latest triumph in the world of Android-powered smartphones, but it is just a pause before they roll out the next big thing, of course. Google's own smartphones (which has been outsourced to others to manufacture) have always been pretty high end to begin with, and one good thing about those is this – you get the latest operating system version always. Well, the rumored upcoming Google phone is the Samsung Nexus Prime, where it might also be known as the GT-I9250 if you are a sucker for model numbers.

It seems that Samsung's website has posted a blank support page for the GT-I9250, and nothing of note has been uploaded save for a couple of red herrings, including a random FAQ as well as How-to entries which have nothing to do with the GT-I9250 at all. Perhaps this is a placeholder at the moment, but how come they didn't put in more effort to make it more GT-I9250-centric?

There are other rumors swirling around Google's upcoming flagship handset, and that includes an upgrade in its display to touch 4.65″ in size, not to mention a jaw-dropping 1,280x720 HD resolution count. It is also said to come with a curved display alongside a rather svelte 8.8mm in thickness. What do you think – is it the real deal or not?

eMobile Smart Bar Android Smartphone

eMobile has introduced the Smart Bar Android smartphone for the Japanese market. Powered by the Google Android Gingerbread 2.3 operating system, the handset offers an 800MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 SoC, a 512MB of RAM, a 3-inch WVGA display, and a 5MP rear-facing camera with AutoFocus. Other specs include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, IrDA, 3G and GSM. Sadly, there is no info on pricing so far. [Akihabara]

Netflix Support all Android 2.2 and 2.3 Devices

Though unofficial methods have existed to get Netflix on nearly any Android device you desire, the app has officially been updated to support all Android 2.2 and Android 2.3 devices. It took the streaming movie service some time to reach this point, slowly growing the number of supported handset from a handful of phones at the apps initial release, slowly adding more. Tablet support may still be spotty, but just like smartphones there has been little keeping the developer crowd from finding ways to stream your favorite flicks right to your Honeycomb device.

Android Market Link: Netflix

Vodafone Launch Samsung Galaxy Y S5360

A new Android smartphone from Samsung is about to be launched by Vodafone UK. Known as the Samsung Galaxy Y S5360, this entry-level smartphone sports a 3.0-inch QVGA touchscreen display, an 832MHz processor, a microSD card slot, a 2.0-megapixel camera, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, HSDPA and runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS with TouchWiz UI. Unfortunately, there's no word on pricing yet. [Vodafone UK]

Sharp SH8298U 3D Android phone announced

Sharp has announced a new 3D Android smartphone in Japan, the Aquos SH8298U. This is the same phone whose images were posted a couple of months back on the FCC website.

The specifications of this phone are mostly identical to what we reported earlier; a 4.2-inch, qHD resolution, stereoscopic 3D display, Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with single-core 1.4GHz CPU and Adreno 205 GPU, 512MB RAM, 2GB internal memory, dual 8 megapixel cameras on the back for recording in 3D with a single LED flash, 1240mAh battery and Android 2.3.4. The model launching in Japan has GSM radio instead of the CDMA version that we saw earlier in FCC images.

The phone is currently limited to Japan's SoftBank network but we hope to see this gorgeous device in other parts of the world as well.

Source

Sharp Aquos SH8298U 3D Android Smartphone

Sharp will release the Aquos SH8298U glasses-free 3D smartphone in Japan via SoftBank. Powered by the Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the smartphone features a fast 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 processor with an Adreno 205 GPU, a 4.2-inch qHD glasses-free 3D display, a 512MB RAM, a 2GB of storage space, and a couple of 8-megapixel main camera at the back for 3D videos and photos. The SoftBank Sharp Aquos SH8298U will be available in red or white model. Pricing info is still unknown. [Pocketnow]