Willcom WX03A – The World's Smallest And Lightest PHS Cell Phone

Willcom Japan has unveiled the WX03A, which is known as the world's smallest and lightest PHS cell phone. Measuring at only 32mm x 70mm x 10.5mm and weighing at 40 grams, the handset features a 1-inch OLED display and a microUSB port. Its battery offers up to 300-hour of standby time or up to 2-hour of talk time. Willcom will release the WX03A in the Japanese market later this year. No word on pricing at this time. [TechCrunch]

Motorola Electrify Available At Midnight Through US Cellular

You’ve heard of big game titles like Gears of War 3 and Dead Island getting midnight launches — why not smartphones? I guess US Cellular was thinking the same thing with the midnight release of their first dual-core smartphone, the Motorola Electrify Cheesy name aside, the Electrify is essentially the US Cellular branded Motorola Photon 3G (see what I did there?) we saw released a few months back on Sprint.

Specs remain largely the same featuring a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, 1GB of RAM, 4.3-inch qHD Pentile display, 8MP rear/1.3MP front facing camera, 16GB of onboard storage and compatibility with all those exclusive Tegra Zone games.

The Electrify will be available at midnight tonight via US Cellular’s website for $200 after mail-in-rebate. There will be a very limited amount of in-store quantities come tomorrow, just make sure to call first. The official full launch for stores will hit on September 26th. Oh- and current Brief Plans who are eligible for an upgrade can also purchase the Electrify for $200 without signing into a contract.
source:Android Phone

HTC Raider 4G with LTE announced in Korea

HTC Raider 4G (or HTC Holiday as it was known previously) has leaked numerous times before, but now we finally got official information about it. The Korean version of the LTE-packing smartphone was just unveiled.

HTC Raider 4G packs a 4.5-inch qHD IPS display and is based on the same platform as the recently announced Sensation XE - Qualcomm MSM8660 Snapdragon (but for the GSM radio, which has been replaced by CDMA). So there is a 1.5GHz dual-core Scorpion processor inside, Adreno 220 graphics and 1GB RAM. It also has 16GB internal storage expandable via a microSD card slot.

HTC Raider 4G has an 8 megapixel camera with 28mm wide-angle F/2.2 lens and dual-LED flash that can record 1080p video. There's also a 1.3MP front-facing snapper. It is LTE capable among the usual connectivity package - Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth.

Just as expceted, the HTC Raider 4G runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and has the latest HTC Sense 3.5 UI on top of it.

There is no info on pricing or availability yet. There is also nothing on the expected GSM version which has previously been rumored to hit AT&T.

Source | Via

Samsung Epic 4G Touch Review

After a very long wait, the Samsung Galaxy S II has finally made its way to America. Sprint was the first carrier to bring it out with their Samsung Epic 4G Touch and we’ve had a bit of time to get down and dirty with it. Will this phone be worth your pennies after all this time or should you hold off until something more “recent” makes its way here?

The Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch features much of the same “plasticky” build that its international counterparts and even its predecessors do. The plastic doesn’t feel cheap or rickety, though. It’s a huge part of not only the device’s enticing looks, but also the way it feels and works.

The device is only .38 inches thin and weights just 4.6 ounces, but even though it’s slightly more chunkier than the original you won’t be able to tell the difference. Without holding the original, you’ll just think to yourself “this phone is extremely thin and light” because the reality is it’s one of the thinnest phones of its kind on the market.

There was much concern for the device’s 4.52 inch display in terms of comfort in holding it. I don’t know if it’s just my big, grotesque hands but I didn’t have any more trouble holding this than any other device. Speaking to other writers who have the device and considerably smaller hands, they’ve mentioned that holding it for them wasn’t a huge issue, though two-handed use may be warranted for certain applications.

The back side of the device features a hard mesh battery door sitting around the 8 megapixel 1080p camera sensor with flash sitting up top. The battery door is extremely thin and can be taken off with the slightest of tugs. The back cover gives it a far more premium feel than any of the original Galaxy S’ back covers did and the new material makes it a tad more grippy to prevent dropping it.

Exynos Inside the device we have that illustrious 1.2GHz dual-core Exynos processor made by Samsung. I’m not sure what it is about Samsung and being able to transform these ARM-based processors into speed demons, but the Exynos is probably the most powerful processor I’ve used inside of a device.

Exynos makes TouchWiz and Android feel like hardware-accelerated iOS and Windows Phone 7 devices. In fact, a good reason for that is due to the fact that Samsung indeed transformed TouchWiz with hardware acceleration built-in. It combines with Exynos to make the device extremely fast.

Have you ever seen those commercials for touchscreen phones where it looks like the phone is doing what you tell it to do almost before you tell it to do it? Yea, that’s kind of what this feels like. Most of the time it felt like I couldn’t even get my finger fully off of the display before it had loaded up whatever application I pressed. I tried so hard to get this thing to slow up and I absolutely couldn’t.

I’m not sure why it’s so hard for other OEMs or Google themselves to get true hardware acceleration going, but Samsung has shown with the Galaxy S II line of phones that it’s very possible and that it makes for the smoothest Android experience you’ll ever find. I should note that Google is said to be bringing native hardware acceleration with Ice Cream Sandwich, but that’s another story for another day.

Internals One thing I was a bit disappointed in was the lack of NFC radios. I figured Samsung would put them in considering Google’s desire to get that going here in the US. I expected it even more-so due to the fact that Sprint will be a major partner of Google’s in Google Wallet. We’re sure they would’ve loved NFC in this model, but for whatever reason it didn’t make it. We’ll have to dig a bit to see whose decision it was to exclude it and why.

To top off the insides we have 1GB of RAM alongside 16GB of internal storage, but only ~12GBs are usable. Storage can be expanded via a MicroSD card slot up to 32GB. As the name suggests, we also have 4G radios inside alongside 3G radios. As I am not in a 4G area coverage, I was unable to test its performance.

Battery Life

While my battery tests are never scientific, I believe using the phone how you normally would and measuring a phone’s battery that way is worth way more. I do a lot of emailing, texting, Tweeting and Facebooking (and now Google+ing) on my phone.

I like to watch YouTube videos from time to time and my favorite time to browse the web is at night, in my bed and without a hot laptop sitting next to me – I can lose track of time and the next thing you know a couple of hours will pass. I don’t place or accept calls very often and I don’t play games for more than five minutes.

With that said, my idea of heavy usage will net me anywhere between 14-16 hours in this phone on a full charge (heavy usage being everything I mentioned above and maybe a bit more). Some might experience much less, but it all depends on how you use your phone.

To give you an idea of how the phone performs on standby, I let the phone sit for an entire day (24 hours, went to sleep, woke up and there was still a tad bit of juice left. All in all I was able squeeze 30 hours of the phone with stuff constantly syncing in the background and without strong cellular signal.

With less services syncing and a strong signal or with airplane mode enabled, you should easily be able to stretch that further. Needless to say, the battery should make you plenty happy if your phone is not constantly awake and if you don’t mind charging it every night. Also worthy of nothing is that if you have the original Epic 4G’s battery it will fit perfectly inside the Epic 4G Touch. It’s not as big in terms of capacity but it should make to be a nice spare.

Display Samsung’s included a 4.52 inch Super AMOLED Plus display (the original’s was 4.3 inches). The size might be off-putting to some, but the phone still fits very nicely in my hand. Maybe that’s because my hands are grotesquely large, but other friends I’ve spoken with who have much smaller hands say they had no problem holding the phone and in most cases operating it with one hand.

At first I was a bit disappointed by the display’s WVGA resolution, but I have gotten used to it over time. Super AMOLED Plus is great and makes me forget about the resolution. Not only does it help in color accuracy, contrast and brightness, but also in clarity. The display provides prime viewing angles and performs extremely well in direct sunlight. On top of that, it’s extremely responsive, but that’s to be expected from a Samsung Display.

TouchWiz TouchWiz 4 is greatly improved over previous versions. It doesn’t really feel clunky or bloated (not that TouchWiz 3 necessarily did). Great new features, widgets and applications make debuts and get makeovers for this version of Samsung’s oft-criticized but solid user interface. Eye candy has been stepped up a great deal with a “leap” like pinch-to-expand feature, a new method of scrolling through and placing application icons, shortcuts and widgets on your home screen and an app drawer that now features pages and folders support.

As we mentioned above, TouchWiz runs extremely fast and it’s because Samsung has hardware acceleration built-in. While TouchWiz 3.0 wasn’t by all means slow (beneath the power of the Hummingbird processor, anyway), TouchWiz 4 takes advantage of the Exynos processor beautifully.

Samsung’s added new motion controls and they are more than just novelty – they can be useful in most instances. The browser has a feature that lets you hold the display with two fingers and move the device back and forth to zoom and in out. For some people this will be highly desirable over pinch-to-zoom. You can also do the same in the default gallery app to zoom in and out on pictures

On the home screen while holding an app or widget to place, you can pan left and right simply by tilting the device left or right. This is loads better than trying to get the app to the edge of the display in order to trigger a page turn.

Another motion-based feature is double tap to activate voice actions. This could be a bit useless for those who prefer to just hold the search button, but if you’re driving you can activate the Voice Talk app and your phone will listen for a “Hi Galaxy” command. From there, you can simply speak your instructions to it (“Text ‘Mother’ Message ‘I’m coming to see you’”, for instance.) Finally, turning your phone over will silence a call while ringing. Simple, but convenient.

The app drawer has been given a nice bit of polish, as well. You can still organize apps alphabetically or by downloaded vs preinstalled, and you’re now given the option to add folders and pages. This is useful if you like organizing apps of the same kind into one folder or pages. Another use case would be to get those apps you don’t use all in one folder and put that folder on a separate page so they’re out of the way. (Thumps up for hiding bloatware, anyone?)

The ability to change dock icons is back and it’s performed simply by hitting the edit button while in the app tray and dragging an app onto the three leftmost spots. The app launcher icon can not be removed. Flexibility is always king and we’re glad Samsung has given us more freedom in how to display our apps.

Samsung’s brought resizable widgets into the fold. The only ones we get to resize are AP, Accuweather and Mail. Resizing is great if there’s a certain way you’d like to set up your home screen, and for the Accuweather widget you can show as little or as much information as you want as you go smaller or bigger. Power controls are still embedded at the top of the notifications pane when you pull it down so you can toggle settings on and off with ease.

For keyboards, we’ve got Swype and Samsung’s standard keyboard. Nothing is really new there. Last but not least, installing apps is easy for those who don’t like to navigate to the Android market or venture into settings. Simply open up the app drawer, tap Menu, press Edit and press the minus button on the upper right of the icon. Unfortunately this does not work in list view.

Apps All the usual Sprint apps are here, including a N.O.V.A. 2 HD demo, but you can remove all but Sprint Zone, Sprint Hotspot, Sprint Mobile Wallet, Sprint ID and Voicemail. Bloatware, but not nearly as much as other carriers (and being able to group apps into folders or pages can help you hide the things you really don’t want to get in the way).

As for preinstalled apps, we have a nice mix of apps from both Samsung and Sprint. Along side the usual Google apps and stuff like the calendar, clock and calculator apps, Polaris, Media Hub, Social Hub, Task Manager and a task app all return for the party. New (to us) are a voice recorder, Vlingo for voice actions (it’s branded Voice Command here), Photo Editor and a Video Editor (more on these two later).

TouchWiz 4 is great, but to be quite frank, I was more impressed that there were little to no glitches, than anything. I would have taken TouchWiz 3 with considerably less issues so this is especially satisfying. I got no random reboots, apps don’t open inadvertently, software reads the sensors fine – everything just works great. And that’s one of the biggest things phone manufacturers strive to provide – phones that “just work” for their consumers. Samsung’s finally achieved that here.

Samsung’s always been considered at the top of the totem pole when it comes to camera sensors and the Galaxy S II is no exception (and undoubtedly a step up from before). This one has an 8 megapixel sensor with 1080p video recording along with a 2 megapixel front-facing camera, not to mention a quality sensor.

Still photo performance is outstanding, especially in well-lit and natural lighting conditions. The sensor picks up color and white balance accurately, and a lot of that is thanks to the software. Shutter speed is quite fast even with autofocus doing its thing.

That lone LED flash on the back is extremely bright. It’s enough to light up a pitch black room. In fact, it might be a bit too bright – your subject will be washed out if you’re too close, and if your subject happens to be a human you might inadvertently blind them. Still, we’re just glad there’s an LED light considering most

The software will equip you with tons of settings for ISO, resolution, white balance, shooting modes, focus modes, special effects, scene modes, exposure values, blink detection, image quality, photo contrast and more. That sound like enough for you? Lowlight performance is great and is helped along by the phone’s super bright LED flash. Can take pictures in pitch dark and they come out looking great.

Video performance is nothing to sneeze at either. 1080p recording won’t rival mid-range or high-end camcorders, but for a phone it’s as good as it gets. You get an excellent amount of detail when shooting.

The camera beautifully adjusts to light on the fly so your footage won’t be washed out when pointing it toward the sun or bright lit areas. Flash works in video recording, but you need to turn it on before starting. Unfortunately, you can’t zoom in 1080p during recording, but you can zoom in 720p.

Another thing to note is that this thing will certainly pick up a great deal of sound. You need not look any further than my sample footage to see how well the microphone captures my voice. You should be able to pick up the voices and sounds of your subjects with ease. Take a look at some photo and video samples below (click to enlarge the panoramic photo, video is 720p sample).

Media Hub returns to allow you to rent and download movies and TV shows. No comparable service for music exists, unfortunately, but Sprint has included their own Sprint Music Plus service that allows users to download songs and ringtones and bill them straight to their monthly bills.

If you want to watch those movies and TV shows on your television, you can. That USB port isn’t just any old USB port. It’s an MHL-compliant USB port. We’ve covered MHL in the past and it provides data sync, charging and HDMI functionality all through the same port. You do need to get an MHL-compliant and compatible cable to go with it, but those shouldn’t be too hard to find. Unfortunately, I was unable to test the device’s HDMI functionality as I do not have a compatible HDTV.

The photo and video editors aren’t professional grade, naturally, but they can be a great, quick tool for those who need to whip up something. Photo editor won’t be good for much other than cropping and tweaking color while the video editor gives you the ability to split and trim clips as well as create transitions and use themes (some themes come with background music but you can also add your own). Editing was easy and fun, but certainly not as powerful as Google’s Honeycomb app or Apple’s app.

Gaming on the device was superb as you’d expect from this processor. I tried several 3D games and none of them could bog the Exynos processor down. As of now, technologically there is nothing holding you back from playing whatever you want in the Android market (aside from games exclusive to certain devices, of course).

The speaker on the device is as usable as it was on the Epic 4G. Maybe it’s because I’m coming from the too-quiet EVO 3D, but sound was crisp, accurate, loud and clear. It’ll be great for watching videos and listening to music without headphones as well as taking a call on speakerphone.

Just as with playing music on the Samsung Galaxy S, you’ll get music controls in the notification bar for skipping, forwarding and pausing music. What’s new this time around, though, are controls on the lockscreen – I think I’m truly in love.

A Major USB Annoyance

Trying to transfer my sample photos and images for this device for my review, I discovered that I could not easily access my phone’s microSD card on a Mac. My files come up just fine on a Windows 7 machine, but for my Macbook I had to go through some pretty annoying steps.

It didn’t take more than 30 seconds, but it was still disappointing. I had to venture to Settings > Wireless and Networks > USB Utilities. I then had to make sure my USB was unplugged. Next, you press the button to turn on USB storage and it asks you to plug your phone back up.

Finally, the familiar USB storage screen comes up that asks you if you want to turn on USB storage. Turn it on and bingo. Like I said, it doesn’t take long but I really shouldn’t have to go through all of that just to access my phone via my USB cable. We’re hoping Samsung, Sprint or whose ever idea that was will eventually streamline all of that in the future like they were able to on the original Galaxy S.

Samsung has done perhaps the best job with Android’s default web browser we’ve ever seen. The UI remains largely the same, but it’s the performance enhancements and new features that get us excited. Holding two fingers and moving the phone back and forth is an alternative to pinch to zoom and it works really well. So well, in fact, that we’d think it’s “magic” (sorry, Steve).

Even if you pinch to zoom, the webpage will flow very smoothly and text wraps quickly to your screen (you have to turn the option on). You do get a bit of checker boarding when scrolling up and down the page really fast, but it’s nothing that will break the experience. Flash playback is excellent and lag free, even with HD video playing on Youtube. Again, this is most probably thanks to the processor inside.

I only ran a couple of benchmarks – Quadrant and Linpack – but I didn’t need a whole lot of benchmarks to let me know that this phone is stupidly fast. For Quadrant, I consistently saw scores right around 3,150 – none of my other tests came lower. The one time I was able to break 3,100 I was able to garner a score of 3,400+.

I can’t imagine how much faster this thing will be overclocked but I can’t imagine many other phone can catch it. To compare, my HTC EVO 3D overclocked to 1.5GHz saw Quadrant scores in the 2,100s.

As for Linpack, I naturally ran the multi-thread benchmark right away. Scores were consistent around mid-high 80s. The highest result I was able to pull up was 91 while the lowest was about 72. Averaging it all out netted an 85. As for the single-thread tests, Linpack scores were consistent around 55.

For my taste (I’m certainly not an audiophile), call quality and clarity was exceptional. The only problems I ran into are with signal strength as I live in a notoriously bad area for Sprint.

Even with 1 or 2 bars, I’ve experienced no dropped calls (and I’ve made a bunch of them) which says a lot about Samsung’s attenuation. It’s said plastic helps that out more than it does metal, and I’d be inclined to agree as my EVO 3D does tend to drop a few calls when signal strength is dangerously low and my hand is covering the phone. (And yes, it’s sad that the phone stuff is in the odds and ends section. Says a lot about how far phones have come, yea?)

Just a quick tip: if you’re the type of person who doesn’t like everyone in your business, you’re going to need to turn the in-call volume down. The phone’s earpiece delivers very loud sound (but as with the external speaker, it isn’t overkill and the ability to turn the volume down will make this a non-issue).

Other radios such as WiFi, Bluetooth, and yes, even GPS, work great. With the latter, I’m able to get a lock within less than 10 seconds inside of my house with an average accuracy of 40 meters. Needless to say, we’re extremely relieved considering the original Galaxy S GPS debacle.

I should note that droves of owners are complaining about WiFi signal strength. I’ve seen this “low strength” in my testing but this does not appear to have any impact whatsoever in data speeds.

I’ve done countless speed tests and am able to hit my maximum bandwidth on both upload and download speeds. Long story short, just because the WiFi indicator says it has 1 bar doesn’t mean the signal is weak and doesn’t mean the radios are bad. Yes, it’s annoying, but we’re sure Samsung can address this with a fix.

The Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch is, without a doubt, one of the best smartphones in the United States. Yes, even after all this time, it outdoes most of the competition. Other dual core devices exist and are great in their own light (Motorola has a nice line of dual-core devices out and HTC has a couple), but I can say, without hesitance, that none of them stack up to the Galaxy S II, performance wise. It also bests competition in areas such as its 4.5 inch Super AMOLED Plus display (despite only having WVGA resolution) and its 1080p HD 8 megapixel camera.

Much has been said about Samsung and their software updates, but they are very consistent and fast with updates outside the US and there’s hope yet that carriers in the US will work with Samsung to deliver them faster.

For the time being, Android 2.3.4 is going to be good enough for the majority of users as it’s the latest major Android revision for handsets available. TouchWiz 4 also isn’t bad at all. In fact, the changes Samsung’s made almost puts their UI on par with HTC Sense in terms of usability and depth (HTC Sense gets the edge in widgets).

This phone was delivered with virtually no bugs. I know there’s never such a thing as perfect software, but I have not seen one major or even minor noticeable flaw. To me, this is most important in considering sticking with a phone for two years (give or take a few months).

All in all, this is the phone to get right now, as are any of the other variants if you aren’t with Sprint (sorry Verizon customers). Even if you weren’t looking at this phone, I strongly advise you to try it out before writing it off. For $200 and a choice between 1 of 3 dual-core phones, the Samsung Galaxy S II is more than just a safe choice – it’s a choice that just makes a ton of sense.
source:Android Phone

Android 2.3.7 update brings Google Wallet to Nexus S 4G

The Google Wallet service has finally started rolling out to users of the Nexus S 4G on Sprint's network. However, before you start using it, you will need to update your phone to the latest firmware.

Google has dropped the Android 2.3.7 update, which upgrades your phone's firmware from GRJ90 to GWK74. You may get the notification asking you to update or you can go to Settings > About phone > System updates to see if you have got any update waiting for you.

Do note that this update is only available to Nexus S 4G users as the Google Wallet service is available exclusively on Sprint. International users of the Nexus S may find themselves stuck on the same old version 2.3.4 for now.

Source

Windows Phone 7.5 Mango updates coming in “the next week or two”

Although it won't arrive this week, as previously rumored, Windows Phone 7.5 Mango is really close to becoming available to older WP handsets.

Microsoft has announced via the official Windows Phone blog that Mango updates are expected “to start rolling it out in the next week or two.” That's certainly good news for those currently owning a Windows Phone 7 device. All WP7 handsets will get the update, with no exception, although the exact timing will depend on manufacturers and carriers.
source:Unwired View

Samsung Epic 4G Touch Gets Torn Down, Looks Beautiful on Inside, Too

iFixIt’s back for a teardown of the next big phone to launch in America – the Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch. Aside from the usual assortment of radios, displays and processors inside, they scored it on how easy it is to repair (the name of the site is “iFixIt”, afterall). It gained a 7x10 with 10 being “easiest”.  Looks like a broken device won’t be too much trouble to take care of, though they note costs may be higher because of the way certain components are connected (some share the same ribbon). Take a look at the full teardown over at their site. While we won’t be giving this thing as deep a tissue massage as iFixIt has, our review will be out very shortly nonetheless!
source:Android Phone

Verizon Wireless To Launch HTC Rhyme On September 29th

Verizon Wireless is gearing up to launch HTC's latest Android smartphone on their network. Called the HTC Rhyme, the handset will become available from September 29th for $199 on contract. So here are the specs: a 3.7-inch WVGA display, a 1GHz single-core processor, HTC's Sense UI 3.5, a 5MP autofocus camera with LED flash, HTC Watch, GPS, WiFi and Android Gingerbread OS. [Unwiredview]

Samsung S8600 Wave 3 coming up in October

Good news, Bada fans. The new flagship of the Samsung's proprietary platform is just around the corner, with Samsung representatives confirming that the Wave 3 will be released in October. Previously all we knew is that the smartphone is coming in Q4 of this year, so October is the best we could have hoped for.

The announcement came at the Bada developer day in India, but it will be Europe that will be getting the Samsung S8600 Wave 3 first, according to the source. India itself will be receiving it in November, while US availability is still remaining a mystery.

So those of you that would love to get a taste of Bada 2.0 on 4 inches of Super AMOLED gorgeousness might want to start saving now. If you are among the fence-sitters you would do well to check out our preview - it should be able to answer most of your Wave 3-related questions.

Source

Samsung Galaxy Note coming to UK in November

The giant smartphone/tiny tablet that is the Samsung Galaxy Note just got an unofficial launch date. Clove, an online retailer in the UK, hinted at a late November launch for this hybrid device.

Clove mentioned on their blog that the first stock for the Galaxy Note will arrive in late November, which is probably when you can get your hands on it as well, provided you are in the UK. They also mentioned an approximate price of £500 ($773) + VAT for the Galaxy Note.

Even if you are not in the UK, you will probably get the Galaxy Note around the same time. Except if you're in the US. Looking at how long it took for the Galaxy S II to get there, we're not sure if you'll be getting it at the same time as the rest of the world.

Source

HTC Rhyme to hit the UK on October 17 (via O2). Or maybe on October 8

Announced earlier today by HTC in New York, the new HTC Rhyme Android Gingerbread smartphone will become available in the US first (via Verizon Wireless), and only then in Europe and other parts of the world.

In the UK, O2 will be “the only network” to offer the Rhyme.

According to this tweet (via EuroDroid) O2 will launch the smartphone on October 17. Reportedly, O2′s Rhyme will have the same color as the Verizon version, namely purple – although the handset also has a sliver/blue and a mocha edition.

While you'll need to wait for October 17 to get the HTC Rhyme from O2, you may be able to buy it unlocked earlier. Apparently, Clove will sell the smartphone starting October 8. The British retailer didn't say how much the Rhyme is going to cost.
source:Unwired View

Rogers to launch the QWERTY-packing Samsung Galaxy S Glide soon

If you thought that the Samsung Galaxy S II all but obsoleted any future trace of the Galaxy S name (without the “II”) from the market, think again. In Canada, Rogers is getting ready to launch (what else?) a new Android-powered smartphone called, wait for it, the Samsung Galaxy S Glide.

Galaxy S branding aside (people really must like that “S”), the ‘Glide' in that name isn't there by accident. See, this will be the first Galaxy S since Sprint's Epic 4G to sport a side-sliding full physical QWERTY keyboard.

The Samsung Galaxy S Glide will come with a 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen, a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor (possibly the same unit that's in the Galaxy S II), an 8 MP rear camera, a secondary front-facing camera, and it will run Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Unfortunately no solid details on either pricing or the release date have been uncovered yet, but the Galaxy S Glide will be on the market in time for the holiday shopping season.

So if you were looking at the Galaxy S II for its specs but wanted a physical QWERTY too, soon you'll have something to actually consider buying. At least if you're a Rogers fan.
source:Unwired View

Verizon HTC Droid Incredible 2 gets updated to Android 2.3.4 too

Oh, this must be Android 2.3.4 update day. Here we have the third phone to be updated to Android 2.3.4 today. Following in the footsteps of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo, and the HTC Sensation sold by O2 in the UK, Verizon's HTC Droid Incredible 2 is now ready to run the latest non-Nexus Android version for phones after having received its first taste of Gingerbread about two months ago.

The update comes in at a cool 32 MB, and is of the over-the-air variety. So you should receive a notification when it's available for your particular device. If you're the impatient type, you can of course always manually check for updates through the Settings menu.

The update is still listed by Verizon as ‘Coming Soon', but Android Central says it's out. And even if it isn't, at this point it's probably well on its way, so you'll only need to be patient for a little while longer.

As for what it brings, conspicuously absent is something you may have been expecting: Google Chat video support. As for what is actually in, it all sounds like one minor bug fix here, and one there. Email sync reliability has been improved, the Visual Voice Mail app has been improved, you can now dial the “+1″ prefix when roaming in CDMA networks, you also get an option to set Data roaming for ‘all trips' or ‘individual trips', and there were also some improvements to sending and receiving messages while roaming.
source:Unwired View

Samsung Wave 3 S8600 Bada-Powered Phone To Be Release In India On October

As reported by SammyHub, Samsung has confirmed that they will launch the Wave 3 Bada-powered smartphone in India from this October at an unspecific price. The Samsung Wave 3 is powered by 1.4GHz single-core processor, along with , 1500mAh battery, 3GB of internal memory and MicroSD card slot for expansion (support up to 32GB). As an additional features include a 4″ Super AMOLED display, VGA front-facing camera, a 5MP camera with 720p HD video recording capability, WiFi, WiFi Direct, Bluetooth, as well as GPS. The Samsung Wave 3 running Bada 2.0 OS. [ SammyHub ]

Samsung Illusion For Verizon Is Revealed Via Flickr

Samsung let the cat out the bag today when they posted an image of their upcoming Illusion handset coming soon to Verizon Wireless. The image of the device was posted on their Flickr account along with some information confirming the model number (SCH-I110) and showing off their “green” award for the Illusion. Although no other specs were revealed for the Samsung Illusion we can expect this to be a 3G only device (judging by the pic) and rumored specs are placing it with a budget friendly 800MHz processor, 3MP camera and more than likely featuring a 480×320 display. Oh yeah — and it’s “green.”
 source:Android Phone

Sprint Epic 4G Touch available today

The that Android fans have all been waiting for is finally here - the arrival of the first Samsung Galaxy  S2 phone in the US, the Epic 4G Touch is now available for you to get your hands on. Released a few months ago in other parts of the world, folks in the US can finally enjoy dual-core, Super AMOLED Plus goodness, with WiMAX and unlimited data too. The Epic 4G Touch packs a larger display compared to the other Galaxy S2 phones - it will have a 4.52″ WVGA Super AMOLED Plus display as opposed to the 4.3″ screen found on the regular/AT&T Galaxy S2 (T-Mobile's variant will have a 4.5″ screen too).

Other specs (besides the WiMAX radio) remain the same - 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 8-megapixel rear camera (1080p HD video capable), 2-megapixel front facing camera, Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, microSD card slot (up to 32GB), GPS, Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread, and a 1800mAh battery. The Epic 4G Touch can be yours for $199.99 with a 2-year contract on Sprint. Anybody plans to pick up the phone today? Don't forget to check out our review of the Samsung Galaxy S2 (AT&T).
source:Ubergizmo

HTC ChaCha in China drops Facebook for QQ

For those unfamiliar with the HTC ChaCha, it is an Android handset that is reminiscent of the Blackberry's design, featuring a QWERTY keyboard and more importantly – Facebook integration. It is the first HTC handset that has been touted as a "Facebook phone" which seems to be targeted at those who can't get themselves off the social networking website.

Now if you're living in China and you've been meaning to get your hands on the device hoping to get on Facebook, you may be out of luck. Facebook along with Google (and several other websites) have been blocked by China, and it doesn't look like things are going to change with the HTC ChaCha either. Instead of Facebook, it appears that the China version of the HTC ChaCha will be integrated with QQ instead, which is the country's most popular instant messaging platform with about 700 million users.

As you can see in the photo above, even the Facebook button has been removed and replaced with QQ's logo. Other than that change, the phone remains pretty much the same as the Facebook version, sporting an 800MHz processor, a 2.6" HVGA touch screen display, a QWERTY keyboard and Android's Gingerbread 2.3.
source:Ubergizmo

Motorola DROID Bionic Bootstrap (Beta, We Think) Now Available

As promised, cvpcs has released the Bootstrap application for the Motorola DROID BIONIC that’ll get you the custom recovery you’re looking forward. Considering how recently this device came out we’re not sure it’ll be of much use to typical users right now, but developers are encouraged to download it so they can begin on their own ROMs and other such things. It’s a simple .APK file and works just like the DROID X and DROID 2′s bootstrap apps. It should be noted that this is for the DROIDN Bionic only – trying to use this on a DROID 3 will supposedly wipe your data even if the two devices are very similar. Check out the notes from cvpcs below and hit this link up for the download. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
source:Android Phone

Unlocked Nokia E7 now just $404 at Amazon

The Nokia E7, arguably the company's last Symbian flagship device, has been available in the US since April, although how well it has sold so far is anyone's guess. Ours is that whoever buys one of these in the States is either a die-hard Symbian fan, only buys stuff based on looks, or simply likes to collect novelties.

That said, if you are interested in picking up an unlocked Nokia E7 in the US, listen up. Amazon has just made the device significantly cheaper than it was before. In fact, the E7 launched in the US having a recommended price of $679 and has been sold by Amazon for $649 so far.

Not anymore though. The Nokia E7 can now be yours if you agree to shell out just $404 for the silver version, or (strangely) $404.99 for the blue one. They're both in stock at Amazon, and sold by the retailer itself. Free shipping is also thrown in.
 source:Unwired View

Sprint Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch now available to order online

After a long, long wait Sprint's very own version of the highly successful Samsung Galaxy S II is now available to order online from the carrier's website. The Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch (it does sometimes seem that there's a ‘longest and most convoluted name ever' contest going on between carriers without our knowledge) can be yours if you agree to part with $199.99 of your hard earned cash.

Oh, and you also obviously need to sign a new two-year service agreement with Sprint, but you probably already knew that. So if you want to be among the first people in the USA to get their Epic 4G Touches, head over to Sprint and place your order.

But if you would like to save a cool $50 with your purchase and don't mind possibly having to wait a bit longer, read on. Both Wirefly and Walmart now offer the Epic 4G Touch for just $149.99 with the same new two-year Sprint contract. However, it's unclear when these retailers will start shipping the devices. Wirefly did previously say that will happen today, so perhaps it's best to try your luck over there.
source:Unwired View

HTC Vigor/DROID Incredible HD press shot leaked

HTC's upcoming super HD resolution phone, the HTC Vigor (rumored to be renamed DROID Incredible HD) has finally been revealed in leaked press shots, and lo and behold - it looks like just another HTC phone. Not that we were expecting anything radically different, but I think it's about time HTC tries something different with its phone designs - what do you think?

With the press shots of the HTC Vigor/DROID Incredible HD ready at this point in time, there's a possibility that we'll be seeing it at the HTC announcement on the 20th. And if the “leaked specs” for the phone turn out to be the real deal, we sure can't wait for it to be officially announced. Keep those fingers crossed.
source:Ubergizmo

Motorola Admiral looks ship shape, headed for Sprint in the US

We caught wind of the Motorola Admiral early last month among a group of handsets all headed for US carrier Sprint. Beyond the name this device was effectively an unknown, with no spy shots or spec leaks that we could readily find available.

The device in question has now made its first notable appearance on the interwebs so let's take a look at what it has to offer.

So a the Admiral looks to be a smart, capable, candy bar QWERTY droid, built to withstand the (note: 810G means military spec) bruises and bumps from the environments it may well find itself in as it takes its position in the launch lineup for Sprint's upcoming Direct Connect service alongside the Kyocera DuraMax and DuraCore to name but two other devices.

The Direct Connect service is looking to replace the current push-to-talk service loyal users currently reside on, by offering them up to three times the usable coverage area across the CDMA waves, and Sprint aims to expand their PTT capabilities internationally from early next year.

So does the Admiral rank highly for you, let us know in the comments.

Source 1 | Via | Source 2

TripIt for Windows Phone launched

TripIt for the iPad launched a few months ago, and the useful planning app has finally made its way over to the Windows Phone platform today. In case you're unfamiliar with TripIt, it is an app that allows users to enjoy their holidays - by helping them to get the planning process out of the way as soon as possible. TripIt stores your flight details, dates, hotel numbers, directions, maps, and basically everything you need to know for your trip at your fingertips.

In addition to storing the details, TripIt can also be used to share details with other users. This means that travelling in a large group isn't going to be a problem anymore - within a few taps, everyone on the trip can have a copy of the itinerary, maps, contact numbers etc so nobody will forget to inform anybody and nobody will be left out. Definitely sounds like a useful app to have in such situations. TripIt for Windows Phone is free and is available now from the Windows Marketplace.
source:Ubergizmo

Nokia 700 and 701 to hit stores soon

Nokia 700 and 701 handsets running Symbian Belle will be available in stores any day now, company  Tweeted today . This happens only a month after the devices were formally introduced, which is surprisingly prompt for Nokia. Looks like the Finnish company will deliver according to plan, as the devices, including a still unreleased Nokia 600, were lined up for a Q3 release.

Nokia 700 comes with 3.2″ 640x360px ClearBlack AMOLED  display, 5 megapixel camera and 2GB of internal storage. Nokia 701 has 3.5″  640×360 IPS LCD, 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash, 8GB of built in memory and microSD card slot.  Both handsets are equipped with 1GHz ARM 11 CPU, NFC chip, GPS, Wi-Fi , compass, accelerometer and al other stuff modern smartphone should have.

The 700 is available for preorder in the UK for prices ranging from 259 to 279 pounds , while the 701 will probably be a tad more expensive, considering the better specs .
 source:Unwired View

Clearwire announces deal with China Mobile to accelerate TD-LTE deployment

The world's largest mobile operator and the heretofore scrappy WiMAX provider have linked arms to accelerate the rollout and adoption of time-division LTE (TD-LTE) across China. While there's little chatter about an infrastructure build-up itself, China Mobile and Clearwire have established an agreement "to cultivate a robust device ecosystem that supports multi-mode, multi-band devices with minimum component complexity and cost," with particular emphasis on the common 2.5GHz spectrum. More specifically, the collaboration will work to build up a high volume of TD-LTE chipsets and devices for commercial availability in 2012. If Sprint were to purchase (or make a significant investment in) Clearwire, this deal could be especially important, but for the time being, the company is finding some independence from the uncomfortable love triangle that's brewing between itself, Sprint and LightSquared. While there's no telling what sort announcement will come on October 7th, it's nice to see Clearwire secure an international lover that's willing to commit to a shared LTE vision. You'll find the full PR after the break.
source:Engadget

Samsung Wave 3 to be released in October

Samsung's next generation bada phone, the Samsung Wave 3, wasn't given a release date when it was announced together with the Wave M and Wave Y phones last month. But today at the bada developer day in India, a Samsung executive confirmed a release date for the Wave 3. The Samsung Wave 3 will be released in Europe sometime next month. No word on a US release date, but seeing how the previous Wave phones never made it to our shores, it's highly unlikely we'll see the Wave 3 - but there's always a first for everything.

The Samsung Wave 3 packs some decent specs - no dual-core processor, but it will have a 1.4GHz Samsung Exynos SoC, a 4″ Super AMOLED display, a 5-megapixel camera (capable of 720p HD video recording), WiFi, WiFi Direct, Bluetooth, GPS, 3GB of built in memory, a microSD card slot (supports up to 32GB) and a 1500mAh battery. And of course, the phone will be running the latest version of bada - bada 2.0. Anyone planning to pick up this phone when it goes on sale?

Upcoming Samsung Wave 3

Samsung is ready to release the next generation bada phone, the Samsung Wave 3. Powered by the bada 2.0 OS, the new Samsung Wave 3 comes jam packed with a powerful 1.4GHz Samsung Exynos SoC, a large 4-inch Super AMOLED display, a 5-megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording capabilities, and a 1500mAh battery. The phone offers a 3GB of internal storage, which is upgradeable via a microSD card slot(up to 32GB). Other specs include WiFi, WiFi Direct, Bluetooth, and GPS. The company will launch the Wave 3 in October 2011. [SammyHub]