Video: Too sexy for your phone?

We like Krusell cases, even if they are a little on the pricey side they are still a step up from a run-of-the-mill case. One of their recent TV ads has been banned for being a bit over-the-top. Never mind. Here it is..

Video: PRADA phone by LG 3.0

LG have had a pretty bad year in terms of sales, and their flagship Optimus 2X and Optimus 3D handsets haven't really been a success, with a range of filler devices that just don't quite seem as good as their Samsung rivals. This PRADA device looks pretty good from a technical specification, but in order to differentiate it from the competition this device is produced in collaboration with PRADA. It's still black and slabby, but at least it is black, slabby and stylish.

Video: Motorola XT928 and MT917

The Motorola XT928 and MT917 feature large 4.5" 1280 x 720 pixel displays and have a 13 megapixel camera on the back. Inside is a dual-core 1.2GHz CPU with 1GB of RAM. Nice.. but you'll have to live in China to get one of these. I think I might give them a miss then..

Video: T-Mobile Vivacity

This isn't the first Android device to come in at less than £100 for prepay customers in the UK, but it's certainly the best. With a smallish WVGA display and a five megapixel shooter on the back plus video calling, all running Android 2.3, this is certainly a good choice for a first smartphone.

Flash is dead

Adobe's Flash is dead.. at least on mobile devices.

Flash has been around almost as long as the World Wide Web.. the first version shipped in 1996, and since then it has become the most widely used web plugin for Windows and Mac computers.

In the mobile market, Flash support has been patchy, but one of the key selling features of recent Android releases over the iPhone has been that Android supports Flash and the iPhone does not.

Adobe are shifting resources from Flash to the more widely support HTML5 platform. This will allow Flash-style graphics, but as a standard browser component instead of a plugin.

This is good and bad news for smartphone customers. Flash has always posed a security risk for the devices it is installed on because - bluntly - Adobe software is crap. But there's still a lot of life in this platform, and HTML5 is not widely supported yet.

It's a little sad to hear the death knell for this long established package.. but then critics would say that it is about time.

Adobe's official statement is here.

Video: Panasonic Toughpad A1 and Toughpad B1

Most tablets are fragile things, not so the Panasonic Toughpad which as the name suggests is pretty tough. Based in part of the Toughbook range of laptops, the Toughpad looks like it should stand some abuse.. although it will never be as tough as a Toughbook simply because the screen is always exposed (the Toughbook is a laptop, so it folds up).

The annoying thing is just how long we will have to wait for the 7" version of this. Panasonic are quoting "fall 2012".. that's nearly a whole year! Apple can go from product announcement to shipping in just a few days, so surely Panasonic could do better than this.

Still, if you want to use tablets anywhere other than the home or office, something like this will probably have great appeal.

Video: Motorola XOOM 2 / XOOM 2 Media Edition

A replacement for the well-regard XOOM plus a mini version that's a bit lighter. If you're in the market for an Android tablet, then either the XOOM 2 or the new Sony tablet are probably the best of the bunch. But Android tablets sell in pretty low quantities anyway.

This isn't the only Moto big-screen offering, they have a couple of LapDock devices for use with mobile phones that turn your Motorola smartphone into a netbook-like device, in addition to the two tablets here.

Video: Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Samsung Galaxy Nexus

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus world's first Android 4.0 phone, and in typical Samsung fashion it is a powerful but quite dull device to look at.

It's a bit smaller than the Galaxy Note, quite a lot bigger than the Galaxy S II and has an HD resolution display that you would normally expect to see on tablet.

Like yesterday's Motorola RAZR, the Galaxy Nexus is pitched at about the same sort of price level as the iPhone 4S. Both Androids have a better spec on paper, but Apple iOS 5 has some hard-to-beat features and frankly looks nicer.

Anyway, this is a dual-core beastie with 1GB of RAM and HSPA+ or LTE support depending on market. Android 4.0 is an unknown quantity at the moment, but it does include cool features such as unlocking by facial recognition.

The Galaxy Nexus (and the rival RAZR) should both be in the shops from next month.

Via [1] [2]

Video: Motorola RAZR and DROID RAZR

Remember the RAZR V3? It was a heap of crap although it looked fabulous. Hopefully its namesake will be a lot better.. it's sort of an ATRIX 2 with better software, a faster processor and a thin, Kevlar coated and water resistant body. And it's heading to Europe, but it looks to be REALLY expensive. Enjoy!

Motorola DROID RAZR

Apparently due to be announced tomorrow, the folks at DROID LIFE have managed to get their hands on a picture of the new DROID RAZR. While it's not as sexy as the new white iPhone 4S (yes, we have seen one, yes it is nice), the DROID RAZR at least manages to look different from the competition.

[Via]

Video: Motorola ATRIX 2

What's going on with Moto? The Milestone 3 seems to be launching everywhere but Europe, and now the same is the case for the ATRIX 2. The question is.. are Moto pulling out of Europe completely?

Video: HTC Sensation XL

Another HTC phone that sounds like a condom, the HTC Sensation XL is basically a scaled-up version of the HTC Sensation XE. It looks nice, but this month is looking like it might be one of profound changes in the industry. Looking at rivals, the iPhone 4S may be disappointing when it comes to hardware, but the new iOS 5 is looking much more polished than Android 2.3. Samsung allegedly have a Nexus handset running the new unified Android 4.0 platform being announced next week, and Nokia should announce its Windows Phone 7.5 handsets by the end of the month.

I feel that we are on the point of a generational change here. Although the XL is almost certainly going to be a good handset, in a few months time it could well be looking like a dinosaur.

Video: Amazon Kindle Fire

We hear a lot about "iPad killers".. but at the last glance, the iPad was still going strong. The Amazon Kindle Fire isn't an iPad killer either, but it could be the first serious competition that Apple have.

The hardware isn't very exciting - it's some sort of 7" Android tablet, the software is more interesting with a custom front end and a new browser called Amazon Silk that works together with Amazon's cloud service to make browsing much quicker. The key thing is that you can download content directly from the Kindle store with the minimum of fuss, much in the same say that iTunes works on the iPad.

It's a lot, lot cheaper than the iPad or indeed any other big name tablet. Amazon are probably taking a loss on each unit in order to get customers hooked into the Kindle store. No doubt modders will be looking at a way of unshackling it.

The Kindle Fire will be out before thanksgiving in the US, sometime next year for the rest of Europe. At those prices it looks like a steal.

Video: Motorola Milestone 3

I hate on-screen keyboards and would much sooner have a real keyboard instead for anything other than a few words. Motorola's Milestone and Milestone 2 were two handsets that had a large QWERTY keyboard, and yet in Europe they didn't sell very well.

Motorola are probably guessing that Androids with keyboards aren't popular, but I suspect that the truth is that most customers don't even know about them. The original Milestone didn't sell very well.. but then hardly any carriers picked it up and marketing was minimal. Remember that Motorola had vanished as far as most carriers were concerned, so the Motorola brand wasn't exactly going to sell itself. The Milestone 2 suffered a similar fate, but now Motorola is beginning to pick up again in Europe on the back of the ATRIX and DEFY, so perhaps it would be the time to launch the Milestone 3?

At the moment, the Milestone 3 seems to be definitely NOT coming to Europe, and that's a shame. There's nothing worth having in the full-QWERTY Android range at the moment. Perhaps HTC or Samsung will see that there's a gap in the market for an up-to-date QWERTY Android?

Video: HTC Rhyme

There seems to be a bit of an argument as to whether or not this is a "girlie" phone. Well, obviously the flashing charm works better poking out of a handbag than your trousers, but we think that this is a stylish number which would suit those who can carry it off. Not every bloke looks good in an Italian suit or Alfa Romeo. If you're into monster trucks then you could always get a Motorola DEFY+..

Video: HTC Sensation XE

There have been a few occasions recently where manufacturers have given a mid-life upgrade to their handset. In the case of the already powerful HTC Sensation XE, HTC have possibly made the most powerful smartphone on the market (it's either that or the Samsung Galaxy II LTE). It's due out later this month, although it won't be cheap..

BBC: Samsung's Galaxy tablet computer pulled from show

It looks like Apple just won't stop with their vendetta against Samsung, this time forcing the Korean company to withdraw the newly announced Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 from the IFA show in Berlin, according to the BBC.

Tablets have been around for years of course, long before the iPad ever came along. Sadly, Apple's lawyers seem to have the ears of the German judiciary on this.

[Via]

Video: Samsung Galaxy R

The Samsung Galaxy R is an elusive high-end smartphone positioned just below the Galaxy S II. And apparently you can buy it now. But where? So far it seems to be Russia and some Nordic countries, but speculation (and really it is just that) is that the Galaxy R might get a wider audience because of Apple's legal battles over the Galaxy S II.

Samsung Galaxy Note.. Galaxy BEAST more like.

Screen sizes are definitely creeping up on phones, and it's not uncommon to see panels of 4" or more. Well, the people who designed the Samsung Galaxy Note obviously thought that this still wasn't enough, so have stuck a massive 5.3" panel on this particular Android device and have combined it the with seriously grunty dual-core underpinnings.

To be blunt - this is a beast of a phone. It's about 50% bigger than the Galaxy S II, itself a big phone. Samsung say that the Note will easily fit in a pocket.. I suspect that must have damned big pockets in South Korea.

One other odd feature is the stylus. We haven't seen one of those in a phone for a long time, we're not convinced that it will actually be that useful, but perhaps in a smaller device it might be.

We don't know when it will be available, and it's likely to be restricted to Europe and Asia only when it does come. And it is likely to be very, very expensive..

Via [1] [2]

Tablets, tablet, tablets

It's the big IFA show in Berlin this week. IFA is normally pretty quiet when it comes to new smartphones and tablets, but this week has been mental with more devices than you can safely shake a stick at. Here's a look at just some of the tablets being touted at IFA.

Sony Tablet P and Tablet S
There's just one brand that I can think of that rivals Apple in the gadget market, and that is Sony. So naturally when Sony announced it was making Android tablets then it stirred some interest.. but I don't think anybody would have predicted the two concepts they showed in April which included a tablet with a hinge down it.

Well the Sony Tablet P and Tablet S really are coming, and they look just like the concepts that Sony showed earlier in the year. The Tablet P looks mental with the hinge down the middle.. but the Nintendo DS is a similar idea. The Tablet S looks like a normal tablet from the front, but it's actually a sort of wedge shape to make it easier to hold and use when on a table. There's some real innovation in these devices that we haven't seen before. They're quite expensive though, around the same price as the iPad.. but then Sony is one brand that people are prepared to pay a premium for.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7
Cast your mind back a year to the launch of the original "iPad killing" Galaxy Tab. Samsung got masses of press for the release of this device, and although the hardware was quite nice it really felt just like an oversized smartphone and not a tablet.. plus it was very expensive. The original Tab desperately needed Android 3, and here it is in the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 which looks like a very nice bit of kit indeed, if Samsung can price it sensibly that is.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE
Does Samsung really need a tablet mid-way between their 10 inch and 7 inch ones? They seem to think so, but the expensive Galaxy Tab 8.9 hasn't appealed to customers much and sales have been very low compared to other tablets.

However, the LTE version adds 4G and gives a significant speed boost, making this a very powerful tablet, and crucially one that isn't covered by (yet) by Apple's many lawsuits against Samsung. You don't need LTE to use it, it will work just fine with normal 3G networks as well.

Toshiba AT200
Toshiba recently pulled out of the mobile phone industry completely, but they are a leading manufacturer of laptops so it seems sensible that they are still fighting it out for a slice of the tablet market.

The Toshiba AT200 is relatively thin and light, and it comes with the reassurance of the Toshiba name on the back. Whether or not Tosh can use their prominent position in the laptop market to see tablets is questionable though.

Via [1] [2] [3] [4]

New. Not improved. Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V.

Here's a mystery.. namely the Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V. It's not often that a hardware manufacturer revises a product and makes it less good, but for some reason SE have taken the 8 megapixel camera out of the Xperia Neo and replaced it with a 5 megapixel sensor in the Neo V.

Apparently, Sony hinted that they might be supplying 8 megapixel sensors to Apple for the next generation iPhone, and it is well known that the earthquake and tsunami in Japan has been causing problems with certain areas of the supply chain.

From the point of view of Sony Ericsson's customers, it really doesn't make much difference, because camera phone picture quality is constrained by more things than the pixel count, and besides the updated camera software in the Neo V probably compensates for it.

But - and this really is speculation - if Sony are switching components from their subsidiary to another project then it indicates that there must be some serious supply problems indeed. Apple always have a massive amount of iPhone handsets in their inventory when they launch a new product, so it remains a tantalizing possibility..

Samsung Galaxy S, Galaxy S II and Galaxy Ace banned in Europe

Apple have successfully blocked sales of the Samsung Galaxy S, Galaxy S II and Galaxy Ace in Europe, according to the BBC.

Apple had attempted to block sales of the Galaxy Tab tablet in Europe too, following a similar ban in Germany.

Although the Netherlands court does not have the authority to block sales of the devices Europe-wide, it can effectively shut down distribution through Samsung's European distribution centre in Breda. It is possible for Samsung to change distribution channels to get round the ban, but that will take some time and add to the cost.

Apple's intention seems to be to shut down all of Samsung's sales for all smartphones and tablets in Europe. It's not as if Apple are struggling.. they have the tablet market to themselves and a very robust share of the smartphone market, but Apple's attempts to ban black slabby touchscreen phones in general is stupid.

The bitter irony of this matter is that Samsung are an extremely important supplier to Apple in processor and display components. What a crappy way to treat your business partners..

Florian Mueller has more analysis here.

Via [1] [2]

Video: Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman

The Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman has a clumsy name, but remember that this is the company that brought us the six word Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro so it is at least a slight improvement. Very much NOT a "me too" Android phone, Sony Ericsson look to have put some real effort into the Live with Walkman's media capabilties and it has probably earned the "Walkman" badge, unlike previous Sony Ericsson models that squandered it.

Not a particularly high-end device, but we suspect that Sony Ericsson may be looking for a slightly higher price tag because of the "Walkman" branding boost. And it looks great in white too..

Video: LG Optimus Sol

The LG Optimus Sol is designed to be more usable out of doors with an "Ultra AMOLED" display.. although perhaps in the UK it should be the LG Optimus Pluvia given the amount of rain we have been having!

It does seem that LG might be missing a trick here though. Combine the Ultra AMOLED display with a rugged housing like the Motorola DEFY and this could be a much more interesting device..

Video: Motorola FIRE XT / SPICE XT / XT531

Ho-hum, the Motorola FIRE XT (in Europe) SPICE XT (in Latin America) or XT531 (in Asia) isn't the world's most powerful Android phone by a long shot. Something like this will sell an price which is.. errr... ummm... well, don't you just hate it when manufacturers don't even give you a vague retail price?

Video: TAG Heuer LINK

Another look at the phenomenally expensive but rather nice Android phone..

Video: LG Optimus Net and LG Optimus Pro

Not everybody want a super-duper high-end Android phone.. but it's hard to see exactly what is appealing about these two new LG offerings apart from (hopefully) price..

LG Optimus Net

LG Optimus Pro

Video: Motorola FIRE

The Motorola FIRE.. or is it the Motorola SPICE Key.. or the Motorola XT316. Well, actually all of them.

To be honest, it's not a really sexy phone as it is basically a low-end Android with a QWERTY keyboard, looking to take some sales away from the BlackBerry Curve line. However, BlackBerry sales are ripe for the picking as RIM are showing signs of imploding.. and just perhaps Motorola can eat into RIM's market share?

Video: Motorola DROID 3

Really Moto's worst-kept secret for a while, the Motorola DROID 3 is a sort of improved ATRIX with a slide-out QWERTY. Apparently you can order it online from Verizon Wireless in the US right now, but if you're not in the US (or not on Verizon) then you will probably be waiting for the Milestone 3 variant. Of note is that the DROID 3 also supports GSM/UMTS when used with a SIM card. It might just be that the new DROID and Milestone handsets might be identical this time..

Video: Tag Heuer Link

€4700 for an Android phone? Well, yes.. this is the Tag Heuer Link which is encrusted with.. stuff. Out next month at selected Tag Heuer outlets.

Video: HTC EVO 3D Europe

If 3D floats your boat, then the 3D version of the HTC Sensation, the HTC EVO 3D is heading to Europe from next month. In the US, the EVO 3D has been out for just a few days so it is hard to say if it's actually any good or not..

Video: Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray and Xperia Active

A pair of Android from Sony Ericsson. First up is the Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray which is basically a shrunken version of the Xperia Arc. The screen is just 3.3" but packs 480 x 854 pixels, just like the Arc, inside the same 1GHz processor powers the thing. I guess you probably need good eyesight to use this one!

Next up is the Sony Ericsson Xperia Active. This seems to be pretty much the same hardware platform as the new Xperia Mini, with a smallish 3" display. The active is designed for outdoors use and is waterproof, while still looking like a very decent device underneath. A 1GHz processor in this is probably overkill, but you can never have too much power can you?

Nokia N9: if only it ran Android

If only this ran Android.. although it's probably just a matter of time until someone ports it!

Video: Motorola XT883

A bit of an odd way to announce a major handset, but a couple of days ago Moto launched the XT833 on China's third largest mobile phone network, China Telecom. So far, so meh.. but the XT833 is actually the DROID 3  or Milestone 3, so a pretty major announcment.

Think of it as an ATRIX with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a better camera and more up-to-date OS and you get the picture. Probably due out some time after the summer.

Video: Sony Tablet teaser

A little teaser from Sony on their upcoming tablet...

Wait.. what? Mystery dual-screen LG spotted

Possibly the oddest Android phone to date, this mystery dual-screen LG device was spotted by Pocket Lint.

It's a Milestone-esque slider, but slap bang in the middle of the keyboard is a a secondary touchscreen.

This is either genius or madness, but Kudos to LG for giving something like this a ago!

[Via]

Video: Panasonic Toughbook tablet

Now, I kind of want one of these because frankly Toughbooks are pretty cool and as close to indestructible as you can get. But I have a horrible feeling that this thing is going to be monstrously expensive!

Video: Sharp Aquos something or other

An Android clamshell? Yup, this upcoming Sharp phone on the Japanese Softbank network is a bit unexpected, but clamshells are big business in Japan so it fits in well with the market.

As for the name.. well, the original press releases are mostly in Japanese so it's some sort of combination of the words "Sharp", "Aquos", "Phone", "Hybrid", "The".. or you could simply call it the Softbank 007SH as Japanese carriers tend to rename the phone when they sell it anyway.

Oh yes.. it has a 16 megapixel camera, it's waterproof and runs Android 2.3. Nice.

Infographic: Evolution of the Tablet Computer

Click to enlarge!

[Via]

More Motorola DROID 3 / Milestone 3 rumours

The original Motorola DROID (or Milestone depending on where you live) was a landmark Android device (a milestone even!) which left the competition struggling to catch up.. which of course they did.

Things move pretty quickly, and the DROID 2 / Milestone 2 came back with a faster processor and better keyboard, but things are moving pretty quickly and the DROID 2 stands out as being about the only high-end Moto device without a dual-core CPU.

The latest rumours indicate that the DROID 3 / Milestone 3 will have a new type of dual-core CPU plus an nHD display and Android 2.3 plus a very usable keyboard with a row of number keys.

It looks good, but when will it be announced? Well, there was only ten months between the announcement of the DROID and DROID 2, so it could be in the works very soon..

[Via]

"20 Great Apps You Can’t Get On An iPhone"

An interesting list from the folks over at androidtabletfanatic.com although strangely it lacks Google Translate for Animals. The top ten things to goad iPhone owners about are:

1. Google Sky Map
2. Google Maps Navigation
3. Ringdroid
4. Adobe Flash Player 10.1
5. Dolphin Browser
6. Barcode Scanner
7. Lookout Mobile Security
8. Root Explorer (File Manager)
9. Tasker
10. Beautiful Widgets

Other mentioned apps include Swype and Robodefense.

[Via]

Video: Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini and Xperia Mini Pro

No, not the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini and Mini Pro, this is the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini and Mini Pro.. not confusing at all. These two follow up from the original X10 Minis.. which weren't mini versions of the Xperia X10 anyway. They're a bit bigger, but have a much larger display and some significant poke under the hood, roughly the same as the HTC Desire but with less work to do on driving the display. They look pretty good, and should be out in Q3.

Moto has quad core Androids in the works

Here are some fairly detailed rumours of a couple of quad core.. yes.. four core devices possibly coming out early next year. The Motorola Bullet and Jet seem to be the inevitable next step up from the current high-end dual core devices that we're seeing. If Moto can get these out ahead of the competition then they will certainly have stolen a march on them.

Personally.. I'm waiting for the rumoured dual core Motorola Milestone 3...

[Via]

Sony Tablets add style, drop Ericsson

The problem with Sony Ericsson.. well, one of the many problems with Sony Ericsson is that it's a pure play mobile phone manufacturer at a time when other manufacturers (apart from Nokia) are branching out into tablets.

Given that Sony Ericsson's profit margins are wafer thin, scraping an €11m profit on a €1.1bn turnover, you'd think that a high-margin tablet might be something to give the Japanese / Swedish JV a bit of a boost. However, Sony seem to have gone it alone with the rather dully named "Sony Tablet S1" and "Sony Tablet S2".

Dull though the name may be (and there's a very good chance that it will change when it comes to market), these two gizmos are pretty interesting. The show stealer is the S2 which has dual 5.5" screens with a hinge in the middle.. yup, it's a foldable tablet, although whether or not it will actually sell is a different matter. The S1 looks more conventional from the front, but when you look at the back you can see that there's an unusual design that has shifted the weight to the top of the unit which apparently makes it easier to handle.

There's loads of multimedia support on top of the Android 3.0 OS, especially when it comes to integration with DLNA and Sony's online services (when they're not being hacked), and perhaps Sony are one of the few manufacturers that might be able to grow an ecosystem similar to Apple's.

These are a long way off yet, Sony say that they will launch in the Autumn, and all the specifications and even the names are subject to change. By that time we might be seeing Android 3.1, and of course Sony haven't even answered basic questions to do with hardware specifications. But they certainly look interesting, and if you're already a Sony fan then they'll probably be on the "must have" list for Christmas 2011.

[Via]

Video: Sony Tablet S1 and S2 Preview

Video: HTC Sensation

A dual-core 1.2GHz processor, a 4.3" 540 x 960 pixel display, an 8 megapixel camera with 1080p video recording.. is the HTC Sensation the best Android phone to date? Well.. almost, but bear in mind that it's just a 2D version of the EVO 3D. And it isn't likely to be cheap either!

GENESIS Tablet

Introducing.. the GENESIS tablet, by those folks at GSM Arena. Yes, I do know what day it is.

Probably the first tablet to be designed by the writers at a tech site, the GENESIS has some novel features that make it stand apart from the crowd.

Video: HTC EVO 3D

Handheld 3D is all the rage with a 3D Android phone from LG already announced, a new Nintendo 3DS gaming device and probably a lot more products to come before the end of the year.

The HTC EVO 3D is heading to the US Sprint network in a CDMA / EVDO / LTE form, but there are strong indications that there's a GSM / UMTS / HSPA version in the works too, although it will almost definitely have a different name.

Think of this as a dual-core Desire HD with a 3D QHD display and 3D camera on the back, and you'll get an idea of what the device is like.. actually, take out the 3D and this would still be a very nice Android device!

There's no word on when this might end up in Europe, but HTC will almost definitely want to use the 3D technology that they have developed here in another handset very soon.

Video: Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 10.1 Revised

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 was only announced last month, and although it's a powerful device the new iPad 2 made it look rather frumpy. So, Samsung went away and made it quite a lot thinner (although with a slightly larger footprint) while keeping the same spec.. and alongside it they have launched the slightly smaller (but still just as powerful) Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9.

Perhaps Samsung will also replace the original Galaxy Tab with a Galaxy Tab 7.0 later this year?

Video: T-Mobile Sidekick 4G

The T-Mobile Sidekick 4G (aka the Samsung SGH-T839) looks very much like a classic Sidekick, but this is all Android. The screen is a bit on the small side (just 3.5") but the keyboard looks brilliant. Hopefully either T-Mobile or Samsung will sell this outside of the T-Mobile USA network.

Sony Ericsson Android Tablet spotted..

There are only two major handset manufacturers who haven't yet announced a full-blown tablet device, Nokia and Sony Ericsson. Nokia.. well, its MeeGo project just imploded and we could be waiting a long, long time for them to sort themselves out. But Sony Ericsson have been busy of late (with things like the Xperia Play), so they are almost definitely working on something big.

The sharp-eyed folks at nieuwemobiel.nl spotted this tablet (presumably at MWC) that does genuinely seem to be a Sony Ericsson device. That's the good news.. the bad news is that it looks like an engineering prototype of the TD-LTE network in China, which might explains the retro look.

There are a whole lot of rumours about what Sony Ericsson might come up with. Sony have apparently been very heavily involved in its design, so we're expecting something more than a dull black slabby thing..

[Via]

Video: Samsung Galaxy S WiFi

A smartphone minus the phone.. and hopefully minus a wedge of cash too.

Video: LG Optimus Pad

It took a while for LG to get into the tablet fight, but this Optimus Pad looks pretty good. But do we really need a 3D camera on the back??

Video: HTC Wildfire S

Lots of announcements from HTC today.. and they are all Android.

Video: Samsung Galaxy S II

Shouldn't it be "Samsung Galaxy T"? Still, a major upgrade and a worthy successor to the impressive Galaxy S I.

Video: HTC Desire S

I like the Desire, but this just looks like a mid-life kicker..

Video: Samsung Galaxy Tab

The original Galaxy Tab was so-so, and it was certainly no iPad. This one is bigger and better and is certainly a contender for the best tablet out there.

Video: Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

Sony Ericsson are BORING. Well, they were boring but now they went a did this mad and brilliant mash up of PlayStation and Android phone. I'd love it even more if I ever had time to play games..

Video: HTC Optimus 3D

Now..I know that I don't need this. But I still want it.. and no doubt I will use the 3D features about once. Still, under the hood this is possibly the most powerful Android smartphone about.

Video: HTC Flyer

It looks great.. but seriously, Android 2? Single core? No doubt it's a lot of fun to use.. but for the money they are likely to charge, perhaps something better would be nice.

Video: INQ Cloud Touch

Facebook? Not my cup of tea, but if it is then this looks very promising..

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play to be announced soon

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play has been pretty widely leaked for some time now, but now it's "almost official" with a full announcement coming on Sunday just prior to the big Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona.

Basically, the hardware is a standard Android slider that replaces the QWERTY keyboard with some Playstation style gaming buttons. We don't know the exact spec of the handset, but we'd guess that it has at least a 1GHz processor and something like an 852 x 480 pixel display (it's hard to be sure from the only official photo we have).

The software is a different matter, Sony have already given a commitment to mobile gaming so expect some cool additions here. Also, we suspect that to get the best out the Xperia Play then games will need to be adapted to use the controls. It will be much easier to play certain games this way though as a standard Android handset really only has the touchscreen and accelerometer which makes some genres frustrating.

We'll know the the full score in a few days, hopefully including information about the launch date.

[Via]

Android beats Symbian to #1 spot

Figures from Canalys indicate that Android shipments exceeded Symbian shipments globally during the last quarter of 2010 to take the number one spot in the smartphone market.

They say that Android shipments were up by 615.1% since Q4 2009 to 33.3 million units in Q4 2010, taking the lead from Nokia/Symbian on 31.0%, Apple on 16.2% and RIM on 14.6%. Unit sales across all platforms were significantly up except for Microsoft that dropped from 3.9 million units to 3.1 million units.

You might be surprised at the level of sales Nokia still makes - remember though that a lot of midrange Nokias are technically smartphones even though they may not be used as such, and Nokia also makes significant sales in China.

Also remember that these 33.3 million Android units are split between different manufacturers, although HTC and Samsung account for about 45% of Android shipments between them.

On paper, Nokia's position still looks pretty good.. but in practice they are suffering in key markets, especially North America where volume and share have dropped significantly. We expect Nokia to stage a fightback starting next month at MWC with a new MeeGo based tablet that should be very competitive against high-end Android.. and perhaps even the possibility that Nokia might start manufacturing Android or Windows Phone 7 based devices.. who knows?

[Via]

Video: LG Optimus Me

I guess there must be a spec somewhere for an "entry level" Android phone.. and this might well be it. Still, it brings smartphone capabilities to the feature phone price range which can't be bad.

The Sidekick is back.. running Android!

TmoNews has some spy shots of what appears to be a new 4G T-Mobile Sidekick device, built by Samsung and running Android 2.2.

The original T-Mobile Sidekick line has been dead for a while - they were proprietary devices developed by a company that got taken over by Microsoft. The result was one of the biggest disasters in recent tech history, a cock-up so great that it effectively killed off the line.

An Android-based Sidekick seems like a great idea, although it has to be more than just an Android phone with a QWERTY keyboard - the appeal of the original Sidekick was the ease of use especially with messaging, something that T-Mobile will have to replicate.

There's no word on availability, but these pictures show a pretty well rounded piece of hardware, so perhaps an official announcement will come at MWC next month.

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Samsung Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Fit, Galaxy Gio and Galaxy Mini

Four cheap(ish) Android phones from Samsung all with broadly similar specifications..

Video: Motorola ATRIX

Moto just raised the stakes with the new ATRIX - dual core, shedloads of RAM and a large "quarter HD" display that beats almost all the Android competition.

Video: Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc

A huge improvement over the old XPERIA X10, the Xperia Arc comes with a large display and it looks great too.. but for a top-of-the range phone it lacks a dual core processor which is a shame.

LG Optimus Black

A new year, and LG have come up with a completely new display technology called NOVA that promises a brighter, clearer display and lower power consumption at the same time. Shame that the phone itself seems a little dull.