HTC One X, One S And One V Land In Europe April 2nd

HTC has announced the first few destinations for the new One series of Android-based smartphones: The HTC One X, One S, and One V will be landing in Germany, Austria and Switzerland next week, April 2nd.

The One X will be the line’s toppermost of the poppermost device. Priced at 599 euros for an unlocked, unsubsidized unit, the One X features a 4.7-inch 720p screen, a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, a 1.3MP front-facing cam, and an eight-megapixel snapper at the back.

At 499 euros, the One S is the line’s ‘mid-range’ model, but with a spec that’s still pretty good. This one packs a 4.3-inch screen with a 540 x 960 resolution, a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, aVGA front cam and an eight-megapixel main camera. HTC One X, One S, One V to land in Europe on April 2 htc one v. The One V is the line’s ‘budget’ model, offering a 1GHz single-core processor, 3.7-inch, 480 x 800 screen and a five megapixel camera for 299 euros.

All three phones will arrive preinstalled with Android 4.0 layered with HTC’s Sense 4.0 interface, which introduces HTC ImageSense (a suite of camera and imaging features). All three phones also feature Beats Audio for enhanced sound quality.

HTC’s One line is expected to reach the US soon. The One X will arrive as the HTC Jet on Sprint (probably on April 4th), and AT&T. The One S will be landing on T-Mobile, while the One V is rumored to be headed to Virgin Mobile.

HTC One X, One S, One V ON SALE Early In Germany:

Samsung Adds Extra Blink Security To Android Face Unlock Feature

Samsung has this week increased the security of its Android Face Unlock feature. That keep unwanted guests from accessing your smartphone and data using a photograph. In the past it has been possible for the Face lock feature to be duped into providing access using just a photograph. Google has always acknowledged though that the Face Unlock feature was more of a gimmick rather than a serious biometric security feature.

But Samsung has tried to increase the security of the face Unlock feature by adding an extra measure which requires the owner to now blink in front of the Face Unlock screen to prove they are not a photograph.

So anyone thinking of accessing an Android smartphone using just a photograph will now have to use an animated Gif image to gain access instead. Before you ask, no I haven’t had a chance to check if this will work as yet.

Vodafone UK Releases Android 4.0 Update For HTC Sensation

Earlier this month, HTC already announced their Android 4.0 update plans for smartphones. HTC has also rolled out the Android 4.0 update for the HTC Sensation and Sensation XE owners in Germany and other Nordic countries. However most of the folks living in other countries were still waiting for this update.

Vodafone was the first carrier to sell the powerful HTC Sensation in the UK. Now, Vodafone is the first carrier to roll out the much-awaited Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) update for the HTC Sensation in the UK. The latest update comes with some amazing features such as Beats audio, face unlock, advanced voice and text input, improved email, UI improvements and much more. Vodafone UK sent the following message to the HTC Sensation owners.

This update bumps the HTC Sense to version 3.6. It is advised to backup all you data before updating the device. You should also make sure that your battery is fully charged, before updating the device. If you find something new, please let us know in the comments section below. HTC Sensation owners on Orange and Three UK might have to wait for few days for the Android 4.0 update.

UNLOCK HTC SENSATION 4G - How to Unlock HTC Sensation 4G simcard by Unlock Code:

LG Lucid Lands On Verizon

When you used to look at Android handsets and think they were still a little too expensive. It only seems like a few weeks ago when we were saying how cool it was to have a sub $100 / £100 device and then comes along Verizon with their just announced LG Lucid. Normally when we talk sub 100 we also talk sub par specs however to be fair to Verizon, this one is really worth the $’s.

With a 4 inch Gorilla Glass LCD, a1.2 Ghz Dual Core CPU, 4G LTE Radios and a 5MP camera the Lucid proves that it’s certainly no cheapskate handset. Other specs on board the Android 2.3 device are 1GB RAM, 8GB internal, microSD card slot, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 3.0, DLNA and a 1700mAh battery.

So, essentially If you sign-up for a two-year contract it’s yours for $79.99 after a $50 rebate, however, this being a 4G LTE phone, the required data plan is expensive and will add at least $30 onto the standard tariff.

LG Lucid Headed to Verizon:

RIM Reports $125 Million Loss, Will Focus On Business Customers

RIM,the makers of BlackBerry smartphones and tablets has announced a net loss of $125m for the three months to the 3rd of March 2012, this compares to a profit of $934m for the same period last year. The company revenues have also fallen fro $5.2 billion to $4,2 billion, and shipments of their BlackBerry devices fell 11 percent on the same period last year.

RIM has announced that Jim Balsillie, one of the founders of RIM and the former co-chief executive has resigned from the board, and the company has now said that it will be focusing in enterprise customers in the future. Over the last couple of years RIM has attempted to compete with the likes of Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android smartphones in the consumer market, at which they have been less than successful.

RIM’s CEO Thorsten Heins has said that the company will now focus on its traditional core market of business customers, which has worked well for the company in the past. It will be interesting to see if RIM are able to turn its business around by focusing on the very thing that made it popular in the first place.

For more information:
http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/rim-reports-125-million-loss-will-focus-on-business-customers-30-03-2012/

Blackberry Outages Continue To Affect World:

HTC One X Gets Unboxed

The HTC One X set to go on sale in Europe next week, a device that will be the company’s first big release of 2012. It will also mark the first quad-core release for HTC as the overseas One X is equipped with a Tegra 3 dual-core processor on board. It also runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, making it an extremely attractive device for consumers. Well, today, we have our first unboxing of the device which arrives just ahead of launch and gives us a great look at HTC’s latest and greatest smartphone.

HTC-Hub, a French blog, has managed to get its hands on one before the April 2nd launch date and they gladly take us on a tour of the packaging, the accessories in the box, and the device itself.

Unfortunately, we don’t get a full-blown tour of Android 4.0 and the new HTC Sense 4.0, but we have already shown you a tour of that on the AT&T device.

The international version of the device will be launching with a quad-core processor. However, AT&T’s model will be launching with a Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor on board. That’s because, at the time, the Tegra 3 quad-core chip did not have the proper certification for use with 4G LTE, the network on which the AT&T model will run.

And while the international version has a release date, AT&T has yet to cough up the goods. We’re thinking that we’ll see it in April, especially because T-Mobile is rumored to be getting the One X’s brother, the One S, on April 22nd.

Hands-On With The HTC One X and HTC Sense 4.0:

Sony Xperia Play Gets Official Android 4.0 Beta ROM

Sony has released a beta ROM of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for their Xperia Play smartphone, and you can test out ICS on your Xperia Play before the final version is released. The beta ROM comes with the usual warnings, that you should only download and install the ROM if you are an Android developer.

Upon request we’re today releasing an Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) beta for Xperia PLAY, and we’re really interested in getting your feedback on this beta release. As games are such a crucial part of Xperia PLAY, we would like to know how well this ICS beta for Xperia PLAY works when you’re playing games. You can download the Xperia Play Android 4.0 Beta ROM form the Sony Developers website, and you can also find out more details about the ROM there.

Exclusive: Sony Ericsson Xperia Play (PlayStation Phone) preview:

HTC One S Headed To T-Mobile 22nd Of April

HTC announced a range of new android handsets at MWC last month, one of those is the new HTC One S and it looks like the device is headed to US mobile carrier on the 22nd of April. The HTC One S comes with Android 4.0 and it features a 4.3 inch qHD touchscreen display with a resolution of 540 x 960 pixels, it is powered by a dual core 1.5GHz Qualcomm processor and it comes with the latest version of HTC’s custom user interface, HTC Sense 4.0

The HTC One S is the mid-range device in HTC’s latest One line. It falls in between the X and the V in terms of specs, it features a 4.3″ (540 x 960) AMOLED display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and VGA front facing camera. If the rumored date is true, interested folks should start saving up for the phone.


Other specifications on the HTC One S include a front facing VGA camera for video chat, on the back we have an 8 megapixel camera for photos and video which can record full HD video in 1080p.

T-Mobile HTC One S hands-on at MWC 2012:

T-Mobile Amaze 4G And Sensation 4G To Get Android 4.0 Update Soon

Here’s some great news if your carrier of choice has the color magenta all over it, and you own either an HTC Amaze 4G or an HTC Sensation 4G. Both those phones will be updated to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich at some point in the future. This information doesn’t come via a leak, but it’s officially straight from T-Mobile itself. The carrier has updated its support documents for both the Amaze 4G and the Sensation 4G, and the newly revised documentation clearly mentions ICS updates, as you can see.

Unfortunately though, T-Mobile hasn’t publicized any other details about these updates yet. So we don’t have any indication of when they will become available. However, the support documents should be constantly updated as new information comes out, so we’ll keep an eye on them for you and let you know the instant there’s any news on the matter.

One thing looks pretty clear. HTC’s Sense 4.0 seems limited to smartphones that are shipping with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich right out of the gate. So the HTC One series has this new (and trimmed down) version of Sense. But older devices such as the Amaze 4G and Sensation 4G will probably just get Sense 3.6, which (as its version number suggests) is just an incremental update to the Gingerbread-based Sense 3.5. You can’t have it all apparently, since HTC is desperate to sell some new phones, especially after the rather rough times it faced last year.

HTC Amaze 4G vs. HTC Sensation 4G Review - by Gazelle.com:

LG Optimus Elite For Sprint and Virgin Leaked

Mobile phone carrier Sprint is gearing up for the release of a new appealing Android-based device on its airwaves, namely the LG Optimus Elite, and what appears to be the first press photo with the device has just made an appearance online.

This is Sprint’s flavor of LG’s Optimus Net NFC, and will feature a different design from the original when released in the coming weeks. The smartphone should include an 800MHz application processor inside, along with a 3.2-inch HVGA display, and a five-megapixel camera with flash. The phone will be a mid-level device, though the addition of NFC will offer it some extra value.

Apparently, Sprint’s pre-paid arm Virgin Mobile will also carry the device (though only starting with May), and a photo to prove it is available in the gallery. Rumor has it that Sprint’s version of the device, (codenamed Gelato), will be cheaper. However, Virgin might have it in the $100 range too.

LG TMOBILE G2X 1080P AT NIGHT. PIONEER ELITE VSX-74TXVI:

RIM Says They Are Not Abandoning Consumer BlackBerry Market

Earlier today we head RIM’s latest financial results, where the company had made made a loss of $125m for their last financial quarter, And RIM’s CEO Thorsten Heins said that they would be concentrating on their core market of business customers.

This led to speculation that RIM would be abandoning the consumer market for BlackBerry devices, and now RIM has confirmed that they will continue to develop blackberry devices for consumers. Research in Motion Ltd will instead concentrate on reaching business customers, who are said to value the security of the company's handsets.

RIM has been struggling as Americans are abandoning their BlackBerrys for flashier touch-screen phones such as Apple's iPhone and models that run Google's Android software. Despite the phones' continuing popularity among business users, the firm has had limited success trying to enter consumer markets in recent years.

Blackberry Messenger or BBM For iPhones and Androids - LATEST NEWS:

HTC One X Lands In The UK April 5th

O2 said it will be getting its hands on the HTC One X on 5 April -- which is in line with HTC's "early April" launch timeframe for the One X and the other two One-series devices, the One S and the One V. O2 hasn't yet slapped a price tag on the One X.

The HTC One X is a beast of a phone, with a 4.7-inch display and a quad-core-plus-one multi-core chip which roundly spanks the dual-core competition. It's also fully loaded with the latest and greatest version of Google's Android OS -- the sugary treat that's a real mouthful to say (aka Ice Cream Sandwich).

And if that's not enough, HTC has skinned this behemoth with a new version of its Sense UI -- Sense 4.0 -- which includes a fancy deck-of-cards style Recent Apps menu so you can cathartically flick past tasks off into the cyber abyss.

Also on board the One X is Beat Audio tech, as HTC continues its partnership with Dr Dre & co And sticking proudly out of the One X's backside is an 8-megapixel snapper. HTC reckons it's overhauled its camera tech, with a new image chip, lens and sensor -- so we'll be sure to get snapping when we get the One series devices in for review.

HTC One X hands-on:

Samsung Galaxy Beam Up For Pre-order In The UK

One of the new smartphones that Samsung showed off at this years MWC, was the Samsung Galaxy Beam which comes with built in projector, the device is expected to launch in the UK in July and it is now available to pre-order.

The Samsung Galaxy Beam features a 4 inch display with a resolution of 800 x 400 pixels, a 5 megapixel rear camera for video and photos and a front facing 1.3 megapixel camera for video chat, plus a built in video projector that can project images and video up to 50 inches.

The Samsung Galaxy beam comes with Android 2.3 Gingerbread and it also features 8GB of built in storage, Samsung have said that it will get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich shortly after release.

UK retailer Clover have just put the Galaxy Beam up for pre-order with a price of £454.80 including taxes, although they have also said that this price may change slightly between now and launch.

[GALAXY Beam] First Hands-on Video:

Droid RAZR Gets Droid RAZR MAXX Aftermarket Conversion Kit

If you’re one of those Motorola DROID RAZR owners who felt cheated by Verizon after the DROID RAZR MAXX hit the streets, you’re not alone. However, it looks like there’s a solution for you – in the form of a 3rrd-party modification kit from the folks over at Cellphone Repair Shop. They are offering a DROID RAZR MAXX conversion kit that includes the 3,300mAh battery, adhesive tape, back battery cover, and SIM/SD card door. And if you’re wondering how much it’s going to cost – it’ll be $109.95, but that’s assuming you have the tools to pull off the job (if not it’ll cost you a bit more than that). Just in case you didn’t know, the DROID RAZR and DROID RAZR MAXX are pretty much identical devices except for the phone’s batteries and thickness – so a conversion shouldn’t cost any problems between the devices. The only drawback to this is that you’ll probably be voiding your phone’s warranty. However, it is cheaper than shelling out $649 for brand new DROID RAZR MAXX. Head here if you’re interested in pre-ordering up a kit for yourself.

Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX Hands-On:

Nokia Lumia 610c CDMA Windows Phone Announced For China

Nokia launched its first Windows Phone CDMA handsets in China, now the world’s biggest smartphone market. The Nokia Lumia 800C, a version of the flagship Lumia 800, and the budge Lumia 610C will represent Nokia’s WP portfolio in the world’s most populous country.

The Lumia 800C is made to work on China Telecom’s 3G network, but apart from that there is little difference from the original unibody design and hardware guts. The handset is CDMA-compatible and will be launched in April in Tianyi FlyYoung shops and Nokia’s own stores.

The first 100,000 buyers get to download Fruit Ninja and Plants vs Zombies for free from the Markeplace. The budget Lumia 610C wasn’t given an exact release date, but is still expected to come in Q2 2012. The handset is among the first to lower the bar on Windows Phone and features only 256MB of RAM, a shortcut that allows it to keep a very low price. At the same time, Microsoft has worked with Nokia to ensure the WP experience remains smooth as molasses.

LG Optimus 4X HD To Launch In India In May

The quad-core Tegra3-powered LG Optimus 4X HD smartphone may be debuting as early as May in India, though it’s still unclear when the phone will arrive in the U.S. The LG flagship smartphone features a quad-core processor, 4.7-inch 720p HD display, and a slim profile. The phone is expected to arrive in June in the UK. Other LG smartphones, such as the 5-inch 4:3 aspect ratio Optimus Vu and the Optimus 3D Max will debut shortly after the launch of the Optimus 4X HD. The Optimus 4X HD is one of several new quad-core smartphones that were launched late last month at Mobile World Congress. The device is very similar to the HTC One X, including the screen size, though the One X will shed its quad-core processor in favor of an impressive dual-core Snapdragon S4 CPU from Qualcomm when that smartphone arrives on AT&T. Along with the HTC One X, the LG Optimus 4X HD will be among the first smartphones with a quad-core processor to hit the market. Both phones will utilize NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 CPU. Huawei is also in the race for quad-core supremacy with its own quad-core CPU known as the K3V2 found inside the Ascend D quad smartphone series. Pricing information is not yet available for the India launch of the LG Optimus 4X HD and LG has not made an official announcement regarding availability yet.

LG Optimus 4X HD Hands-On:

Nokia To Launch Two Budget MeeGo Smartphones?

If you’ve never played around with the Nokia N9, the only MeeGo handset on the market, then you’re missing out. It’s one of those handset that geeks everywhere get a little nostalgic about because it MeeGo really was a great operating system. According to an industry insider Nokia is working on 2 new low end MeeGo handsets, and information was recieved directly from Nokia’s Next Billion Group.

Since Nokia’s partnership with Microsoft, the company has essentially been divided into two groups, one focused on Windows Phone and the Next Billion Group who is reponsible for the S40 & Asha lines. The two groups have completely different tasks, the Windows team obviously keeps Microsoft happy and the Next Billion Group is tasked with creating low costs handsets which will likely be the first place that they will access the internet. Even though Windows Phone has the budget Lumia 610, Windows Phone isn’t the capable of being a low cost handset for a few different reasons.

The big question is “Why would Nokia still care about Meego?”

The most obvious reason is that Windows Phone just can’t compete in the low end smartphone game. First there is the operating system which isn’t free, that alone drives up the price. If we take a look at the latest budget Windows phone the Lumia 610, it is a 256mb devices and some features are being disabled because the device just doesn’t have the available RAM.

Let’s keep on looking at Nokia’s other operating system options, there is also their S40 java based devices aka the new Asha line. This line up of handsets haven’t exactly received stellar sales numbers. One of the reasons the line isn’t performing as well is that the touch experience isn’t competitive. When you’re competing on price point it’s often about packing in as many features as possible and if you go up against similarly priced Android handsets there it is really no contest.

Nokia could also use Symbian, expect they can’t, Symbian is now run by Accenture so they don’t have control over the Symbian device roadmaps which is aimed at high end phones. So we’re going to see the same problems here as in Windows Phone 7 and the base cost of fully functioning feature rich handset are going to be too high.

MeeGo is also a lot more adaptable than Windows Phone, its roots are in open source. PhoneNews raises some good points around MeeGo, if we think about where the next billion handsets are coming from they are going to be in areas where solar power charging may be more important than ten-point multitouch. MeeGo can also work with monochrome or e-ink display’s and the Windows Phone platform restrictions would shoot down the innovation that Nokia will need to drop smartphone technology in places where it cannot thrive today.

Meego CE Summer Edition on Nokia N900:


Nokia N9 MeeGo Smartphone - Full Presentation with all Slides:

Samsung Galaxy Note Android 4.0 ICS Update Delayed Until Q2

Samsung were expected to release the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for their Galaxy Note smartphone before the end of March, we had previously heard that the update may be delayed and this has now been confirmed by Samsung. Samsung have announced that the Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Galaxy Note will be released some time in quarter two of 2012, and the update will be released worldwide at the same time.

Samsung also announced that the update will come as part of a ‘Premium Suite’ software package, which will come with exclusive applications which will use the Note’s S-Pen Stylus. The Premium Suite offers new features and applications exclusive to GALAXY Note and its innovative S Pen, which includes S Note, a unique tool that lets you combine your notes or sketches with other digital content, giving you a new way to create your own stories. S Note comes in various ready-to-use templates for a range of tasks including meeting minutes, diary and others.

Unfortunately Samsung did not give a specific date on when the Galaxy Note will get the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update, lets hope it is released earlier in quarter two rather than later.

Samsung Galaxy Note Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) alpha hands-on video:

iRetroPhone Smartphone Dock

iRetroPhone is a versatile docking station and handset that measures 140 x 141 x 70mm and weights 363g. As we can see from the images, the docking station is inspired by a retro telephone, and comes with a tray to dock your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad or other smartphones, while the retro handset allows you to answer your calls in a vintage way, and the free app on App Store gives you a retro dial interface on your iPhone or iPod touch. Moreover, the innovative auto-select function can automatically select between sync and charge mode without any user intervention. Apart from that, the docking station is compatible with over 1500 devices.

iRetroPhone allows you to add a little old school retro feel to your modern state-of-the-art smartphone. Enabling you to sync and make calls when its docked within the iRetroPhone using a 70′s handset to speak into. iRetroPhone is compatible with 1500 devices, says its creatures and the device is capable of charging 3 devices simultaneously.

Using a Auto-Select function enabling the iRetroPhone to automatically choose between Sync & Charge mode without any user intervention.If you own an iPhone the iRetroPhone can be combined with a free iRetroPhone rotary dialler app. Which is also compatible with Apple’s iPad and iPod Touch devices. iRetroPhone is now available to purchase for around $99 and is available in black, white and purple, and compatible with Apple, Android, Blackberry Phones.

iRetroPhone - Retro Phone, Rotary Dial, iPhone Application - [RetroPhone App]:

In App Adverts Found To Drain Smartphone Battery Life

According to a recent report by Abhinav Pathak, a computer scientist at the Purdue University in Indiana, one of the cause of battery drain on smartphones may be down to free applications that have adverts. The team at the university have been testing out free applications that come with adverts and have discovered that around 10 to 30 percent of the energy used by the application was spent powering the applications core functions.

The remaining amount of power spent was actually used to deliver adverts to the application, and a number of different applications were tested on Google’s Android platform. The researchers determined that in some applications up to 75 percent of the actual powered used by the application was used for serving adverts and tracking and uploading user data.

Droid Phone Battery Saving Tips - 8 tricks to reduce battery drain: