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Jan 16

Lenovo joins Android frenzy with announced Snapdragon powered device named Lephone. The interesting part is that besides being the cool, slick smartphone, one of the options include attachable qwerty keyboard with cover. Besides the usual options (Bluetooth, WiFi) it looks like it lacks a good camera (3MP only). It will be available in China, and we expect more details at MWC, Barcelona.

Lenovo Lephone

Lenovo Lephone    Lenovo Lephone         Lenovo Lephone

More images can be found at Engadget

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Jan 13

We have tested another smartphone. This time, it's all about style and speed. For a full review, go here. Have you tried it / do you own it? What do you think about it?

Acer Liquid Photo 9

Acer Liquid Photo 10

Specifications sheet:

  • Screen: 3.5” TFT-LCD capacitive touchscreen, WVGA resolution (480×800), 65K colors support
  • Processor: Qualcomm QSD (Snapdragon) 8250 768 MHz
  • Memory: 512MB ROM, 256MB RAM, expandable via microSD cards (up to 32GB)
  • Camera: 5MP, Auto Focus
  • GSM: Quad-band GSM support, triband 3G with HSDPA
  • OS: Android 1.6 (Donut)
  • Battery: 1350mAh Li-Ion, up to 5 hours of talk time, up to 400 hours of standby
  • Other: GPS receiver, digital compass, accelerometer, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth + Enhanced Data Rate + A2DP, miniUSB, 3.5mm stereo audio jack
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Jan 13

CES is behind us, and it looks like ASUS was one of the companies generating positive buzz. One of the reasons was definitely the NX90 Bang & Olufsen Notebook.

ASUS NX90 Bang & Olufsen

Made from finest polished aluminium, the casing looks just amazing, providing that hand rest stays cool and for notebook to look cool. Besides looking great, ASUS focused on performance as well. Key difference between this model and other high end notebooks is the sound. By combining ICEpower and Sonic Focus technologies, lucky users will experience perfect sound. Top model will boost Intel Core i7-820QM processor working at 1.73GHz with HM55 chipset. Although NX90 comes with 4GB of preinstalled RAM, it can be expanded to fantastic 12GB! Since this is the ultimate desktop replacement it supports dual hard drives, integrated Blu-Ray combo drive. And to top it all, this super-desktop replacement will be equipped with 18.4" LED display with NVidia GT 335M for power.

ASUS UL80JT

Other fascinating new device was the UL80JT notebook, that finally succeeded in combining power with long lasting battery. With two graphics cards, among which is NVidia GeForce 310, and Intel Core i7 CPU this model can act as a desktop replacement as well as the road-warrior companion. ASUS managed to provide excellent battery life as well by stating UL80JT has 12-hour battery life. Performance is being dynamically switched for the user, so there is no need to choose the mode you work in.

Expect more info on them soon…

Images: ars tehnica and techtree

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Jan 12

There has been a lot of rumors considering the next version of Windows Mobile. WM7 is definately late, as all of us were dissapointed with versions 6.5.x. It feels like Microsoft is loosing it's ground, by letting everyone take a shot at them. With a large consumer base, and tons of available applications, Microsoft still has the advantage among the corporate customers. However, iPhone and Android apps/consumer base is growing very fast.

Windows Mobile

HTC and Samsung have been saving Microsoft in the last years by implementing customized user interfaces that covered obvious flaws and dull screens. Recent models HD2 and Omnia II are prime examples of the recipe this companies had: hide as much as you can and develop your own UI.

At CES Robbie Bach from MS says (on WM7): And when you look at the product, I’m sort of like, I have the luxury of having seen it, to be able to look at it and played with it a little bit, but I’m certainly confident people are going to see it as something that’s differentiated and something that really does move the bar forward, not in an evolutionary way from where we are today, but it’s something that feels, looks, acts and performs completely different.

One major event is finished (CES), two to go: Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and (less likely) Cebit in Hannover. It looks like we'll have more info at MWC, from 15-18. february.

Read the complete story here

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Jan 11

We saw this one coming. Transparent display was presented at CES 2010. In full AMOLED glory combined with 960×540 resolution it has a coolness factor, although we cannot find real world use for it without thinking it trough. It is a pity that the transparency level is fixed to 38%. However display is 10bit, so the colors appear to be realy vibrant. Do we improvise and make a cheap HUD for our car, or can you find a better use for it ?

AMOLED Transparent display

Souce: OhGizmo!

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Jan 11

Samsung has announced the new flagship TV model – C9000. Besides being the ultrathin LED (yes, on the picture below you see the side view as well) it could easily be the TV that outbeats your smartphone with it's remote :)

Samsung LED TV C9000

Coming in late 2010, this ultrathin monster has 3D support as well, and remote is suitable for video streaming from other sources. TV will be able to convert 2D content to 3D. Do you notice the lack of connectors on the sides ? C9000 looks sexy, but impractical :( That's why the stand acts as a wall mount as well – it's not just a stand, it is filled with connectors.

Source: Gizmodo

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Jan 10

Remember Xperia X1 and tragic UI panels made by Sony Ericsson (we saw it on MWC 2008)? Although they did not move much from X1 in terms of specs, and Xperia X2 does not seem like anything special, the guys from SE have realized that there is alternative to WM stock UI right there on the market. We had a review of the great SPB Mobile Shell a while ago and could not agree more that this was the best solution for the X2. Check out the image from the Boy Genius Report's coverage of CES 2010.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X2

But, SE is terribly slow, they waited 2 years to update X1 to X2 and they bring us what ? Same processor, same screen resolution, 4-row keyboard (Touch Pro 2 has 5, with separate number row).

Oh we do expect a lot from X10 with Android platform, but SE needs to move fast and be competitive with the price. Can they do it ?

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Jan 09

The first 1GHz Snapdragon Android phone is here. Nexus One has been the hot topic of all the technology blogs around the world.

Nexus One

Engadget has the full review here. As far as we European users go, Vodafone has announced that in just a few weeks it will have it in it's offer. It appears that HTC outdid itself, making the most powerful Android smartphone on the market. It looks very similar to the Bravo that we announced a while ago, and it looks like HTC will hold it's breath until the Q2 to roll out the Bravo (probably with new version of Sense). Will there be enough Nexus One models in the stock for all the interested customers ? $530 is just great, with the dollar being so down, can we expect a european Bravo to be under 500€ ?

Can and will you wait for the Bravo or try to get the Nexus One ? Shout in the comments and enjoy the following specs:

  • Processor: 1GHz Snapdragon
  • Display: 3.7" AMOLED WVGA (480x800)
  • Memory: 512MB RAM + 512MB ROM + microSD (4GB, expandable to 32MB)
  • Camera: 5MP AF + LED Flash
  • Android 2.1
  • 1400mAh battery

Nexus One specs

Complete specs can be found at the official page.

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Jan 03

We are back from our holidays, and, since this is our first post this year, we wish everybody Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and lots of cool gadgets :-)

For the last few days, we have been testing Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 (who comes up with these kind of names???). It is a splendid little smartphone, and we enjoyed playing with it. You can read our impressions about the device here.

Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 Photo 8

Quick specs for the impatient ;-) :

  • Screen: AMOLED resistive touchscreen, 3.5" WVGA resolution (480×800), 16M colors (65K effective)
  • Processor: Samsung 800MHz with dedicated GFX accelerator
  • Memory: 256MB RAM, 2GB of internal storage, 512MB of user memory, expandable via microSD cards (up to 32GB)
  • Camera: 5MP, Auto Focus, LED flash, face recognition capabilities, panoramic mode, secondary camera lens for video calls
  • GSM: Quad-band GSM support and 3G with HSDPA
  • OS: Windows Mobile 6.5
  • UI: Samsung TouchWiz 2.0
  • Battery: 1500mAh Li-Ion, 3 hours of talk time, 200 hours of standby
  • Other: QUERTY keyboard, FM radio, GPS receiver with A-GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microUSB, DivX player, TV-Out, 3.5mm stereo audio jack, Opera browser, NTSC video recording 720×480@30fps

Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 Screenshot 01

Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 Screenshot 02

Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 Screenshot 03

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Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 Screenshot 08

Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 Screenshot 09

Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 Screenshot 10

Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 Screenshot 11

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