Category: Smartphones

LG Spectrum, 4.5″ HD IPS display, 1.5Ghz Qualcomm MSM8660 LTE

Posted by – January 11, 2012

LG launches their new high-end 4.5″ 1280×720 resolution smartphone with the 1.5Ghz Dual-core Qualcomm MSM8660 processor on the Verizon LTE network. If you’re ready to signup for a 2-year contract on Verizon, this may be a fun choice for a smartphone device.

Huawei Ascend P1 and P1 S, OMAP4460 1.5Ghz with 4.3″ Super AMOLED Plus screen

Posted by – January 10, 2012

This may be the thinnest high-end Smartphone in the world, it may also be priced very competitively if Huawei aims at making this phone price competitive. I’m guessing it might be sold between $300 and $400 unlocked. It’s being released in Europe, Asia and the US for the GSM HSPA+ networks, unlocked and on contract. This is basically the Galaxy S2 screen in a device with more than the Galaxy Nexus performance. MHL connector, SIM card slot on top, MicroSD card slot. And an amazing 6-7mm thickness, it’s pretty awesome.

ST Ericsson U8500 runs Ice Cream Sandwich

Posted by – January 9, 2012

ST Ericsson is showing this development platform for their U8500 ARM Cortex-A9 processor running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Toze Labs TvShow Time iPhone app

Posted by – December 12, 2011

They are providing some recommendations system for TV shows.

Windows Phone 7.5 at LeWeb 2011

Posted by – December 8, 2011

Microsoft is presenting the Windows Phone series, now made by Nokia, HTC and Samsung. They are doing a big marketing push in Europe, I don’t know how many they are selling.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus presented by Ulrich Rozier of Frandroid.com

Posted by – December 7, 2011

Here at the Renault Atelier on the Champs Elysee in Paris, Ulrich Rozier of Frandroid.com presents his awesome phone, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the Ice Cream Sandwich reference device, for sure the best phone in the world.

Archos Smart Home Phone

Posted by – December 6, 2011

This is perhaps the coolest landline dect phone, because it runs Android, supports not only landline calling functionality, it can integrate with Skype, SIP, Google Voice and more over the WiFi at home and each set costs $149, you can have up to 5 of them running on the same dect network in your home.

Kyocera DIGNO ISW11K released on KDDI in Japan

Posted by – November 27, 2011

KDDI, Japan’s second largest carrier is launching Kyocera’s first major Android WiMax smartphone for the Japanese market, the DIGNO ISW11K.

Here are the specs:

  • Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbred)
  • Dual Core Qualcomm MSM8655T 1.4GHz CPU
  • 1GB RAM
  • 4GB ROM
  • Size: 128 × 65 × 8.7mm
  • Weight: 130g
  • 4 inche (800 × 480 WVGA) LCD
  • 8.08MP Rear Facing Camera with LED flash
  • 0.32MP Front Facing Camera
  • CDMA2000 (800/2100MHz)
  • GSM (900/1800/1900MHz)
  • Radios: WiMAX, MC-Rev.A, GPRS
  • microSD
  • microUSB
  • 3.5mm audio jack
  • 1220mAh Li-Ion Battery
  • Colours: Graphite Black, Olive Green, Pink Blossom
  • Waterproof (IPX5/IPX7)
  • Source: au.kddi.com
    via: landofdroid.com

    Samsung roadmap guesses

    Posted by – November 24, 2011

    Here is my speculation for some of the upcoming high-end Samsung Android phones based on the recently rumored new Samsung Exynos 4412 Quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 at 1.5Ghz, and based on looking at the Texas Instruments OMAP4 roadmap and thinking the faster OMAP4 processors are fully backwards compatible requiring little design and software changes for Samsung to upgrade:

    – Galaxy Nexus 1.2Ghz OMAP4460 dual-core SGX540 308Mhz 45nm launching before Christmas
    – Galaxy Nexus 1.5Ghz OMAP4460 dual-core SGX540 384Mhz 45nm around January/February
    – Galaxy Nexus 1.8Ghz OMAP4470 dual-core SGX544 384Mhz 45nm around March/April
    – Andromeda (Galaxy S3) 1.5Ghz Exynos 4412 quad-core Mali-T604 32nm around May/June/July
    – Hydra (Galaxy Nexus 2) 2Ghz OMAP5 ARM Cortex-A15 SGX6 28nm around September
    – Quasar (Galaxy S4) 2Ghz Exynos 5 ARM Cortex-A15 Mali-T658 28nm around November

    I’m using the names Andromeda, Hydra and Quasar because I think Samsung may at some point stop using the Galaxy name in every new phone.

    Samsung will likely also continue to release high-end phones using the best that Qualcomm and Nvidia can come with. Thus expect some Qualcomm Krait and Nvidia Tegra3 in some new Samsung phones also. The reason being Samsung is so big they need to use all the major processors in their phone designs, thus spreading their reach further over the market.

    What do you think Samsung is going to release?

    NewGadgets.de: Samsung Galaxy Nexus Hands-On

    Posted by – November 15, 2011

    This is obviously the best phone ever released. I’ll try to get it soon so that I can test Ice Cream Sandwich and film my own video-reviews. Until then, check it out here:

    Source: newgadgets.de

    List of my ARM Powered devices used for video-blogging:


    Andy Frame is interviewing me on ARM’s official YouTube Channel about my ARM Powered devices used for video-blogging and live video streaming from consumer electronics trade-shows.

    List of devices featured in this video:

    – Headmounted Display: Kopin Golden-i, OMAP3530 based, provides SVGA screen at eye-level for real-time monitoring of an IRC chat for asking better questions
    – Headmounted Logitech c910 Webcam connected to the ARM Powered One Laptop Per Child XO-1.75, Marvell Armada 618 based, live-streaming the webcam video feed to http://ustream.tv (an optimal Headmounted computer, maybe Motorola’s next version, can include the webcam and Android based software to live-stream the video to any live video streaming service built-in)
    Archos 101 G9, OMAP4430/OMAP4460 1Ghz to 1.5Ghz tablet, similar specs as in the Galaxy Nexus but in a 10.1″ tablet form factor. Starts $269 unlocked no contract for 8″. This is probably my favorite high-end tablet at the moment. I’ll post my full video-review of the Archos 101 G9 in the next few days.
    Archos 70 Internet Tablet, OMAP3630 1Ghz single core, released about 13 months ago. I use this tablet every day as 7″ tablets fit in any jacket pocket. Thus I mostly use this for checking emails, web browsing, watching video, playing games, using apps when I am outside. I am looking forward to upgrade this to a dual-core 7″ tablet.
    – My $87 FG8 Android Smartphone, it’s my main smartphone for the past 7 months since I found it in Shenzhen China. It supports Dual-SIM cards (so I can use my home and foreign SIM numbers at the same time, or use voice SIM and data SIM at the same time), has a decent 3.5″ capacitive touch screen, uses the wildly popular in China Mediatek MTK6516 ARM9 processor. I’m looking forward upgrading this to a Galaxy Nexus (because I am eager to try Ice Cream Sandwich) or to a newer faster 3G-capable sub-$100 Android phone.
    – ZTE MF61 T-Mobile USA 4G HSPA+ Hotspot, $50 for 3GB/month pre-paid, $141 for the device, no contract.

    MHL Consortium shows some of the latest MHL features

    Posted by – October 30, 2011

    There are now 2 HDTVs that are MHL compliant, the Toshiba WL800A and the Samsung UN46D7000 now also got a firmware update that ads MHL support. Possibly that all new HDTVs will include this functionality. It allows for charging MHL compliant phones and tablets and to remote control them with the TV remote through one simple cable and one Micro-USB connector. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich might add new MHL features to the UI, otherwise the MHL Consortium is trying to convince app developers and smart phone makers to design the apps and the OS to take advantage of the 1920×1080 resolution of the HDTV when using the HDMI output, to provide higher resolution user interfaces, higher resolution games, the ARM Processors and GPU in those phones and tablets are now getting powerful enough to output full 1080p UIs, videos and graphics, it’s time for the industry to take advantage of that! One pocketable phone can now combine the features of Android, Chrome OS and Google TV, it’s now a phone, a desktop, a set-top-box and a home console all in one!

    Latest news from Texas Instruments at ARM TechCon 2011


    The OMAP5 ARM Cortex-A15 processor is taped out, they are about to show impressive samples soon, they will then be tweaking and optimizing it before release in commercial products within about a year. OMAP4 is being launched in the Motorola Razr and in the Samsung Galaxy Nexus phones, each more awesome than the other. Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 works awesomely on OMAP4, Honeycomb 3.2 tablets like the Archos 101 G9 are being released now, TI is also looking forward to power products such as Laptops that run Chrome OS, Ubuntu and Windows 8.

    Metaio Augmented Reality showcase

    Posted by – October 27, 2011

    Here’s a pretty cool looking augmented reality application, he points the smartphone at a city built with paper, and the phone displays some augmented reality overlay on top.

    Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich runs on Texas Instruments OMAP4460

    Posted by – October 19, 2011

    The new awesome Samsung Galaxy Nexus was just unveiled in Hong Kong. It has an amazing 1280×720 4.65″ HD Super AMOLED screen, LTE/HSDPA+ and runs on the new Texas Instruments OMAP4460 1.2Ghz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor. This is what TI’s Vice President of OMAP platform business unit Remi El-Ouazzane has to say about this:

    Today is a great day for our collaboration with Google…The long-awaited Android 4.0 release is finally being revealed with the OMAP4460 processor powering the absolutely gorgeous Samsung Galaxy Nexus device. I am so excited about this launch. What I may be the most excited by is not only the ability to converge to one Android release for both smartphones and tablets, but to be able to pack that level of performance across graphics or video on an HD screen and within the power envelope of a smartphone device…This is where our OMAP smart multicore architecture makes a huge difference. At the end of the day, brute force (number of cores, for instance) does not rival sophistication.

    and a further statement from TI:

    Today, TI proudly revealed a major OMAP platform milestone: yes, the highly-anticipated Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” release runs on the OMAP4460 processor. This advancement is an exceptional demonstration of what OMAP processors uniquely do, and what separates them from competitors in the mobile processing world: the ability to provide hardware-integrated security, distinctive and advanced imaging features, enhanced memory and more, all on a smart multicore architecture.

    Here are some of my impressions and expectations for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich:

    – This means Samsung can maybe “easily” update processor speed to 1.5Ghz and maybe also later to the OMAP4470 1.8Ghz when those faster OMAP4 processors become available.

    – I don’t know how fast Samsung can manufacture these screens and how much it costs them, my guess is this screen is the most expensive Super AMOLED yet, and I guess that Super AMOLED is already quite a bit more expensive than LCD and I wonder if Samsung is able to manufacture enough of these screens to not create major shortages for the availability of this Galaxy Nexus worldwide for the months to come. If there is one phone worth queuing up for if you want to be sure to get one in the first weeks/months at release, this may be it.

    – They haven’t yet shown what happens when you connect to HDTV output, I wonder if the “pins” on the side provide HDMI and data output/input or/and if an MHL connector takes care of this like on the Samsung Galaxy S2. I expect the full Motorola Atrix type Laptop Dock, Desktop Dock, Multimedia Dock, all those features are likely part of Android 4.0, which is why I think Ice Cream Sandwich means the merger of Android with Chrome OS and Google TV.

    – Samsung Galaxy Nexus is likely going to be expensive. This is not news though for high-end smartphones, those are all ridiculously expensive today. But that’s just how things are, and they are able to sell tens of millions at those expensive prices. Consider that you are paying $2000 to $3000 for this phone with a 2 year contract. Considering the possibility that Samsung may not be able to manufacture enough of those 720p HD Super AMOLED screens, they may even purposefully increase the price even further at launch.

    Huawei Honor 4″ smartphone, 1.4Ghz Single Core, Gingerbread

    Posted by – September 26, 2011

    Huawei announces yet another value Android phone. It’s got a 4″ 854×480 capacitive LCD touch screen, a 1.4Ghz Scorpion MSM8255 Snapdragon Single Core processor, 8 Megapixel (with HDR feature), 720p video record, Adreno 205 graphics, 512MB RAM, HSPA+ 14.4Mbit/5.76Mbit, 1900mAh battery, gyroscope, 4GB ROM and MicroSD slot. If they decide to sell this for $199 unlocked (pricing is not yet officially confirmed because the pricing can be a choice by the carriers), this could become one of the worlds most popular smartphones in the coming months.

    Samsung Galaxy R

    Posted by – September 24, 2011

    Tegra2 and a 4.2″ Super Clear LCD capacitive touch screen, this smartphone is similar to the Samsung Galaxy S2 but it just has a cheaper processor and screen, so I think it is likely this phone will be about $100 cheaper. But that is to be confirmed.

    Super Clear LCD vs Super AMOLED Plus

    Posted by – September 5, 2011

    You can see in this video that the Super Clear LCD is brighter than the Super AMOLED plus. While Super AMOLED has real black, for the rest, is the Super Clear LCD better? It might be Samsung is now making this Super Clear LCD Tegra2 version of the Galaxy S2 in Galaxy R to either both slightly lower the price and perhaps also to satisfy the demand as they might not be able to manufacture them fast enough.

    Samsung Galaxy Note, Testing out System Info (searching for CPU info)

    Posted by – September 5, 2011

    I tried to install the System Info apk on the Samsung Galaxy Note to try to learn more about the hardware used, especially that 1.4Ghz dual-core processor is interesting.

    Huawei Vision, 3.7″ Android Smartphone

    Posted by – September 5, 2011

    Nice looking medium range Android Smartphone from Huawei, it may get released for around 250€ to 300€.