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Anticipated for months, Samsung’s first Google Android device, named the Samsung I7500, has been officially launched on Monday. With the launch of its newest mobile device, Samsung became the first company among the global top three mobile phone manufacturers to unveil an Android-powered phone.
“Samsung is among the earliest members of the Open Handset Alliance and has been actively moving forward to introduce the most innovative Android mobile phone,” said JK Shin, Executive Vice President and Head of Mobile Communication Division in Samsung Electronics. “With Samsung’s accumulated technology leadership in mobile phone industry and our consistent strategy to support every existing operating system, I believe that Samsung provides the better choices and benefits to our consumers” he added.

The handset is more similar in design to the HTC Magic, rather than the T-Mobile G1, in that it features a candy bar-style form factor and doesn’t include a physical keyboard. The Samsung I7500 measures 4.5 inches tall by 2.2 inches wide by 0.4 inch thick (a slim 11.9mm waistline).
Samsung I7500 is a cutting-edge smartphone, equipped with a 3.2-inch 320 x 480 pixel AMOLED screen of HVGA resolution. The device runs on the latest 1.5 version of the Andorid OS and is equipped with a 5 megapixel autofocus camera, 1,500mAh battery, 8GB of internal memory, and microSD expansion slot (supports up to 32GB). The phone also offers all the connectivity features one might expect in a 2009 flagship phone: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Of course, as an Android device, the I7500 supports Google’s various services, such as Google Search, YouTube, Google Talk, Gmail, Google Calendar and more. The integrated GPS receiver enables the comprehensive use of Google Maps features, such as My Location, Google Latitude, Street View, and detailed route description. Hundreds of other applications are available in Android Market. For example, the application Wikitude, a mobile travel guide, allows consumers to access details of unknown sights via location-based Wikipedia articles.
The Samsung i7500 will become available in the major European countries from June. Unfortunately, plans for a U.S. release are still unclear. There is, however, potentially good news for those in the States. The Samsung I7500 is a tri-band HSDPA and HSUPA device, supporting the 900/1700/2100MHz bands, which makes it compatible with the T-Mobile’s 3G network.
The price isn’t yet officially announced. Rumor has it that it will be in the region of 300 euro before taxes and subsides.
In other Android news, it looks like G1 owners in Germany will be the first to get the Android 1.5 software update. And, according to the info posted on androidguys.com, the update will be available in May, bringing such enhancements as video recording, stereo Bluetooth, an onscreen keyboard, and more.

Some rumors of HTC’s Android Hero phone surfaced in the middle of February this year when HTC’s supposed 2009 line-up was revealed on ppcgeeks.com. There hasn’t been any piece of information revealed about it since but it looks like it has been spotted online. CodeAndroid appears to have nabbed the first in-the-wild shots of the very phone, and it’s got every bit as much “chin” in real life as it did in those fuchsia renders.
The phone looks set to feature some interesting developments, with five hardware buttons lined below its full touchscreen and the inclusion of a much needed 3.5mm headphone jack.
HTC has not yet divulged the hardware specs for its most recently leaked smartphone, but expect more news to follow in the coming weeks.

That could be good or bad news depending on just how strongly you feel about the G1’s unforgettable cosmetics. The trackball is certainly gone, so unless there’s some wild touch-sensitive area below the screen, it seems like the touchscreen might be the only way to navigate.
However, it has been officially announced that the Hero will be picked up by Orange. Orange France has already released the G1 as the HTC Dream (they couldn’t use the G1 branding as T-Mobile has exclusive rights to that) and now, according to Mobinaute, they will be following that up with the HTC Hero Android. Orange is definitely on a mission here and is keen to capitalise on what they see as the revenue potential of the Android Market.
Even more interesting, although this could be speculation, is that by the end of this year, Orange, in addition to HTC, plans to have Android phones from Motorola, LG, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. That last one especially comes as a welcome surprise as Sony Ericsson, although a member of the Open Handset Alliance, seems to have been very quiet on the Android front this year. So, as you can see the competition will be very tight for HTC Hero Android. How this phone ultimately stacks up against its rivals when it hits the market later this year remains to be seen.

MWC 2009 was not all about high tech mobile devices, like the Toshiba TG01 or Sony Ericsson Idou, but also innovative handsets destined to niche markets, like the segment of elderly folks. Doro, specialist in phones designed for use by the elderly and those with disabilities, has released four new handsets in its PhoneEasy range, the 334gsm, 338gsm, 342gsm and 345gsm. Although the names may not be catchy, the concept is- they’re phones designed to be accessible to those that might have trouble with phones from other manufacturers. A particular focus is put on the senior market, and the design is set to match.

As you might imagine, these new Doro phones aren’t going to be challenging Nokia or Sony Ericsson in terms of their feature sets, but they do all include an FM radio and integrated torch. Perhaps more interesting, considering the intended demographic, is that all of them feature upgraded compatibility with hearing aids.
This doesn’t mean they come with Vera Lynn ringtones and a holder for knitting needles, but rather that the buttons are larger than usual and the high-contrast colour schemes are designed for maximum visibility. Doro’s new handsets support Bluetooth and come with high volume and a necklace cord, so it can stay with its user anytime, anywhere.
Doro still stresses that the range is intended to populated with ‘good looking’ phones, and the choice between candy bar and clamshell designs, thanks to the flip-phone 410gsm which will be available in June, does show a certain consideration for aesthetics.

The Doro PhoneEasy 338 follows on from the success of the Doro Handle Easy 328 and has been improved to make it even easier to use. It has a white on black screen with large text and fonts, ideal for people with limited dexterity; the Doro phone easy has 3 big preset buttons A B C which can be programmed to call three numbers.
The Doro PhoneEasy 342 gsm follows on from the success of the Doro Handle Easy 330gsm and has been improved to make it even easier to use.
It has a full colour large bright clear screen with large text and fonts, ideal for visually impaired, the Doro phone easy 342 has direct access to the menu from the large central rubber button, the Doro Phone Easy 342 has an emergency alarm button on the rear. The 345gsm comes with a 300 memory phone book and can send and receive SMS text messages.
These new phones are available online from Parkway Telecom and RNIB, or from select high street shops, and are priced between £100 and £130 SIM free. The upcoming clamshell 410gsm and Handleplus 334gsm, which is designed for those with more severe care needs, will be out in June.

There have been rumors about a possible PSP from Sony Ericsson since 2006 and now, the media is still hoping to see a possible PlayStation phone in the near future.
President of Sony Ericsson, Hideki Komiyama, has revealed a keen interest in converging two of the company’s most lucrative market areas, telecommunications and gaming, to produce a possible PlayStation mobile handset. Although Mr. Komiyama has stated that it ‘could happen’, the chances are arguably increased due to Sony Ericsson losing major ground to Apple, after failing to produce a smartphone rival to the iPhone.
Despite its recent struggles in the smartphone market, Sony Ericsson has proved it has an ability to surprise and conquer, particularly in the department of convergence, as both their branded Walkman and Cybershot ranges have been major successes.
Other interesting facts that have come out of Mr. Komiyama’s statements are that Sony Ericsson plan to begin selling two new smart phones by the end of this year, with a third coming along in 2010. It appears that these smart phones may end up using third party operating systems such as Nokia’s Symbian, Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile.
Sony Ericsson was reported to have pitched a PSP phone to Sony a few months ago but was denied, while the recent Sony restructuring put former PlayStation boss Kaz Hirai in charge of “new mobile products”, another indicator of a PSP phone.
Moreover, it appears that not all is pink and shinny in joint venture Sony Ericsson, with the two camps now apparently turning on each other. A new report alleges that Sony is planning to buy out Ericsson’s share in the merged mobile phone maker, possibly because Sony wants to release a PSP phone by itself.
The future for Sony Ericsson may not be as bleak as originally thought, as it is due to release the Idou phone, a 12-megapixel camera smartphone set for release in Q4, which could prove to be the first real contender for the iPhone’s crown. So, could the so much awaited PSP2 actually be the PSP phone? Is it going to take on N-Gage? Will it batter the iPhone? Maybe, after all, the PSP will no longer be a pipe dream. It’s a long way off yet, if it actually happens at all, but a PSP phone could really be something to rival the iPhone in the years to come.

The Sony Ericsson S302 is a member of the new stylish S range designed by Sony Ericsson and it is known as the Snapshot range. This attractive handset is a snapshot focus mobile phone which allows the user to capture a quick snap when the user is on the go. The S302 is available in two color options which include a cool thunder grey colored casing and an eye catching crystal blue colored casing. Keypad buttons have also been equipped with jazzy looking blue backlighting, so if anything, you will definitely get noticed in the dark. Similarly to the Sony Ericsson T707, the back cover is rugged that makes the phone less prone to sliding out of your hand, but looks totally out of place alongside of the glossy, upbeat front side.

The Sony Ericsson S302 is a slim and compact solid bar designed handset which is only 11mm in depth and thus allowing the user to slip the handset in his pocket with ease.
The phone sports a 2-inch 176×220 pixel resolution display that is fairly standard on budget phones. It delivers 262k colors and things are easy to read even in direct sunlight, but colors are not saturated enough and images look rather worn out, even in artificial light.
Though the Sony Ericsson S302 is mainly a camera phone, but Sony Ericsson only loaded this with a 2 mega pixel sensor. Besides, in order to make the Sony Ericsson S302 more affordable, Sony took away the high end features found on the Sony Ericsson C905 such as face detection and image stabilization but the S302 has the photo fix and photo light functions. Those who’re looking for something much more than 2 megapixels, you should try taking a look at the Sony Ericsson K850i or the Sony Ericsson K770i. However, the Sony Ericsson S302 supports picture blogging which allows you to take a snap and instantly send the picture to a blog site for others to view. The two megapixel camera can also record video clips which allows you to enjoy capturing moving footage as well as still photo images.

The S302 has 20MB internal memory expandable with a memory stick micro. You can extend their phones memory to suit your storage requirements as the S302 supports Micro™ M2™ memory cards which are easily fitted into the memory slot provided.
The handset works on a quad band network which covers GSM networks 850, 900, 1800 and 1900. You can enjoy worldwide roaming but the network connectivity is fully dependant on the network service provider. The Sony Ericsson S302 comes with a rechargeable battery complete with power adapter and when fully charged the handset will provide you with up to three hundred hours of standby battery time or approximately seven hours of GSM talk time. You can enjoy high speed data transfer rates as the S302 supports GPRS & EDGE technology. You can transfer files to and from your mobile phone using either a Bluetooth® wireless connection or a cabled USB connection between the Sony Ericsson S302 and another compatible devices such as your PC, laptop or printer. A WAP Web browser allows you to access the Web for online stores and online services which provides a mobile Web experience for all of you to enjoy.
Furthermore, the phone comes with an emails service and supports both text messaging and a multimedia picture messaging service which allows you to communicate just the way you want to. A built in media player allows you to enjoy music on the move complete with easy to use and useful music features. A Mega Bass™ music feature allows you to experience high quality bass sound from their mobile phone when playing your favorite music. A PlayNow™ feature allows you to download new ringing tines quickly in only three clicks of a button.
The Sony Ericsson S302 supports MP3, ACC & polyphonic ringing tones. A TrackID™ music recognition feature allows you to find out the name of a song, name of the artist and the name of the album the song are from by recording a few seconds worth of the song & the TrackID™ will find out all the information within seconds.

Sony Ericsson S302 Demo Video

source Phonearena.com; Cellphone-reviews.co.uk;

Nokia announced their latest smartphone handset, running as usually on the S60 OS. Providing decent mid-range functionality, the Nokia 6730 classic will be an exclusive offering for Vodafone customers around the world.
Mobile internet, Vodafone Music Client and personal and business email access along with mobile navigation capabilities are all included in the Nokia 6730 classic. The device utilises S60 software which means customers can easily download their choice of additional applications from the web.
The most notable features of the phone are its Symbian S60 3rd edition UI and the built-in GPS with A-GPS support. There is also a 3.2 megapixel autofocus snapper onboard as well as FM radio, Bluetooth and USB. A microSD card slot takes care of extending the 48 MB of internal memory.
The quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE Nokia 6730 classic comes with a 2.2″ 16M color display of QVGA resolution. The high-speed network connectivity is also taken care of with dual-band UMTS with both HSDPA and HSUPA support onboard. Unfrotunately, Wi-Fi is not available.
Peter Becker-Pennrich, Director of Terminals Marketing at Vodafone says: “The Nokia 6730 is a great all-round handset - just as perfect for mobile internet users as for music fans who want to take their tracks with them. This product follows a successful line-up of Vodafone exclusive devices from Nokia and is another great example of our collaboration.”
With the Nokia 6730 classic, getting lost and being out of touch with your friends could be a thing of the past thanks to the mobile navigation capabilities on the handset. The services offer accurate turn by turn instructions helping both drivers and pedestrians to find their way. It also provides access to comprehensive point of interest databases and both white and yellow pages information making it easy for the user to find their destination, whether that is an address, a company or even a person.
“‘Feature packed’ describes Nokia 6730 classic really well. With its iconic design - available in sleek black or white - the device is a perfect upgrade for Nokia 6500c or 6300 users or anyone seeking an elegant device, optimized for mobile internet and navigation. What’s more, this mobile comes with industry-leading power-saving features and accessories” says Gustavo Eichelmann, Head of Vodafone Global Account Team, Nokia.

Nokia 6730 classic presentation video

Rest of the specifications Nokia 6730 classic:
Platform: S60
Network: GSM / EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, WCDMA / HSDPA / HSUPA 900/2100 MHz
Memory: built in 48 MB, slot for microSD card (up to 16 GB)
Display: 2.2-inch diagonal, 240×320 pixels, up to 16M colors
Communications: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0
3.2 MP camera
FM-radio
MP3 player
2.5 mm jack for headphones
Support for A-GPS
Battery: 1050 mAh
When you call: up to 10 hours in the GSM, up to 4 hours in WCDMA networks
Standby: 500 hours in GSM and WCDMA
Dimensions: 112×46×12.6 mm
Weight: 83 grams

Available in white and black, Nokia 6730 will start shipping across Vodafone world-wide starting from June. Its retail price however is yet to be disclosed.

Samsung wants to be the number one mobile manufacturer, and recent successes show it’s having a pretty good go. The guys at Samsung have wowed everyone with an impressive leap forward in technology. The Samsung i8910HD (originally known as the Omnia HD) is one heck of a phone. It’s the first mobile to feature a high-definition camcorder (hence it’s name) and it has the world’s largest OLED display - 3.7 inches across. It’s a Symbian smartphone with an 8 megapixel camera, touchscreen UI, WiFi and A-GPS.

Features of the Samsung i8910 HD include:
- 8 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom, autofocus and power LED flash
- HD video camera with power LED video light, DivX playback
- 3G video calling with secondary VGA camera
- Display: AMOLED, 16 million colours, 640 x 360 pixels (3.7 inches)
- MP3 player (MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA formats), stereo speakers & DNSe 2.0
- Stereo FM radio RDS
- MP3 ringtones
- Speakerphone
- GPS satellite navigation
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, email (POP3 / SMTP / IMAP4), instant messaging
- Document viewer
- Java games (Java MIDP 2.0)
- Personal organiser functions
- Offline mode
- Memory: 8/16 Gbytes plus microSD memory card slot (up to 32 GB)
- Internet: HTML web browser, WAP 2.0, GPRS Class 12, EDGE, 3G HSDPA (7.2 Mbps), HSUPA (5.76 Mbps)
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, WiFi, 3.5mm audio jack
- Quadband GSM plus triband 3G HSDPA/HSUPA
- Size: 123 x 58 x 12.9 mm
- Weight: 144g
- Talktime: up to 13.5 hours
- Battery standby: 600 hours

This phone has the biggest and best of everything. And it certainly is big. It’s not fair to call it a brick, as it’s rather slim - just 12.9mm - but it’s about the same size and weight as the iPhone 3G. But as millions of iPhone owners have proved, that’s not a problem, and in fact the i8910 HD is narrower than the iPhone and hence fits in the palm rather better. The phone’s front face is filled with the enormous screen, plus three conventional buttons below (call, end and home.)

The screen is simply to die for. OLED is a new technology that offers greater colour definition and more brightness than a conventional TFT screen. This makes a real difference when using the phone outdoors, especially when the user interface is touchscreen-driven. The screen on the i8910 HD is the biggest OLED screen ever to appear on a mobile and has a very high resolution too (640 x 360 pixels, 3.7 inches diagonal.)
But Samsung have played safe by using a tried and tested user interface - the TouchWiz UI will be familiar to users of previous Samsung phones such as the Omnia. TouchWiz uses intuitive touch controls, e.g. tap, sweep, drag and drop operations as well as an on-screen qwerty keyboard with tactile feedback. The feel of the phone in the hand is one of quality, thanks to the use of metal, glossy black plastic and hardened glass.
Making full use of being a member of the Open Symbian Foundation, Samsung once again is rocking the Symbian S60 OS, such as that seen on the previous INNOV8 / i8510. However, this one has been updated to include the 5th edition release, very similar to that seen on the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and Nokia N97.
For still photography the i8910 HD uses an 8 megapixel camera with autofocus, 4x digital zoom and LED flash. The camera is equipped with advanced functions such as face detection, smile shot, blink shot and panorama shot. The video camera is a worldbeater, in terms of resolution. It can record in HD format, which means 1280 x 720 pixels (0.9 megapixels.) At this resolution, the frame rate drops to 24 frames per second, so you might actually prefer to shoot in a lower resolution and use a higher frame rate. There’s no HDMI cable socket, but you can use the WiFi connection to send video directly to a DLNA-compatible TV or PS3/XBOX 360.

Web browsing on the i8910 is an excellent experience. The phone is very generously equipped with memory, which is just as well considering the power of the device. It’s available with either 8GB or 16GB of flash memory, with a microSD card slot that will accept cards up to a massive 32GB, giving a potential maximum memory of 48GB. There’s also plenty of internal RAM available to the operating system for playing videos, etc. The device also uses a new type of superfast chipset, and these two factors mean that the phone is fast to react, even when running applications quite intensively.
The i8910 HD also comes with a built-in GPS receiver, which can be used for geo-tagging of photos and for mapping. When used with the map application, the device also displays a digital compass.
Quickoffice (word processing, spreadsheets and presentations) is also on board, which should come in handy for viewing documents on the move. While it’s no laptop, the big screen certainly makes document activity a bit less of an eye strainer. There’s also an Adobe PDF reader, a dictionary, calendar, conversion tool, and note pad, as well as a compass and the usual suspects such as a calculator, FM radio and 3D games.

One final innovation: support for the new HSUPA technology. HSUPA is a relative of HSDPA and enables fast uploads - 10 or more times faster than 3G - in addition to fast downloads.
The battery life of this phone is quoted as a ludicrously high 600 hours on standby. Whilst the 1500mAH battery is definitely a powerful one, no normal user is going to get anything like 600 hours use out of one charge.

Samsung i8910 HD Demo Video

source www.techradar.com; www.itpro.co.uk