Dell Mini 3i is the maker's first Android O.S. powered mobile into the cellular phone segment

Another big name in the computer industry is dipping their toes in the mobile phone market - Dell unveiled the Dell Mini 3i at an event on which China Mobile presented their online mobile store.

The spec sheet of the Dell Mini 3i is a bit self-contradicting. First off, it runs the China Mobile developed OMS - Open Mobile System, which is based on Android with TD-SCDMA phones in mind (TD-SCDMA is China's own 3G brew). The Mini 3i isn't 3G capable, just 2G GSM and doesn't count on Wi-Fi or WAPI - Chinese equivalent of Wi-Fi (those Chinese sure like homegrown solutions). Bluetooth is the only local wireless connectivity method.

Live shots of the Dell Mini 3i

China Mobile launched an online store offering media, games and apps, which makes the lack of any sort of fast connection to the Interned a real downer. The store will cater a list of manufacturers including Nokia, Samsung and LG - plus apparently Dell. You can find the store at www.mmarket.com (it didn't work for us but it may be a regional sort of thing).

The screen of the Dell Mini 3i is 3.5" capacitive touchscreen with 360 x 640 pixels resolution. This resolution is a first for Android (OK, technically this isn't pure Android but still).

While the touchscreen nature of the device sets the tone for the design, there's something interesting about the front of the Mini - no keys. Vanilla Android is usable without the keys, but just barely, so the OMS interface will probably be very different - reportedly, it's inspired by the iPhone (rather unsurprisingly). An ambient light sensor adjusts the backlight automatically.

Some more shots of the Dell Mini 3i

The camera on the Mini 3i is a 3-megapixel one with LED flash. There's a microSD card slot for storage. If OMS is anything like Android, it'll have a really tough time doing almost anything without a card so the slot is pretty much a necessity.

A miniUSB port handles PC connectivity but whether it will be able to charge the phone is still not known.

The specs so far read as rather low-end, save for the screen, so the built-in GPS comes as a pleasant surprise, and one of the Mini 3i's saving graces.

It's hard to tell if we'll ever see the Dell Mini 3i outside China, the launch date is not know either. Perhaps it depends on how well it performs, but more likely, it will stay China-only and Dell's next attempts will be the ones that manage to get across the Great Wall (if any).

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O2 will offer the GSM Pre in UK

Good news for all Palm fans that have been dearly waiting for a GSM reincarnation of the new Web OS. The Palm Eos is now almost official, while it's finally clear the GSM-spec Palm Pre will hit UK via O2.

This certainly isn't the first time that we hear about the Palm Eos but now things have gotten quite more official as some marketing slides leaked off AT&T.

The leaked AT&T documentation confirmed the Palm Eos and gave us some pretty detailed specs as well. The Palm Eos is strikingly thin with its 10.6mm thickness and the good thing is that the slimness doesn't come at the expense of the high-end features.

The Palm Eos supports quad-band GSM/EDGE with dual-band HSDPA connectivity, Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP support, microUSB v2.0 and GPS with A-GPS feature. The phone has a 2.63" 16M color capacitive touchscreen display of 320x400 pixels resolution. The 2 MP camera with flash and video recording and the 4GB built-in memory completes the rest of the noteworthy spec.

The Palm Eos will be released in the second half of 2009 at an estimated price of 350 US dollars (250 EUR).

While we are waiting to see the official release of the Pam Eos, the first information regarding the availability of the GSM version of the Palm Pre have just surfaced as well.

According to the Guardian, O2 have secured the exclusive Pre deal for the UK, but pricing and exact release schedule are still unknown.

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LG GC900 Viewty 2 turns official the Smart way, no xenon though

LG Viewty Smart (known as Viewty 2) is now official and very similar to the current LG flagman - the Arena. S-Class UI, 8 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS awaits you in the 12mm only thin body.

The popular LG Viewty has finally jumped into the next generation with its successor. Previously known as simply LG Viewty 2, the device is now cunningly called LG Viewty Smart.

The new LG Viewty Smart packs a 3-inch capacitive touch-display with WVGA resolution, an 8 megapixel camera with LED flash and D1 video recording, accelerometer, 3G support, Wi-Fi and GPS. It runs on the new S-Class 3D user interface and most probably will have the multi-touch functions. Dolby Mobile technology along with the DivX/XviD support is also on board.

LG Viewty Smart

It's business as usual for LG, which showcased the LG Viewty Smart behind glass at the MWC 2009, but didn't really bother to reveal any more details about it. Instead they focused on the LG Arena.

As you can see the similarity to the LG Arena is quite obvious except for the better camera with Schneider-Kreuznach optics and the lack of huge storage. Unfortunately the rumored xenon flash is not present, instead the Viewty Smart has a LED one.

The 8 megapixel camera lacks a xenon flash

Just like the KM900 Arena, the GC900 Viewty Smart is only 12mm thin but its weight is even less - 90 grams.

The LG Viewty Smart practically leaked on the German LG blog but the information about it was quickly removed with a promise of publishing it officially soon. We guess it's going to be soon, as according to the leaked Orange UK release schedule it's due for market availability in June.

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Nokia 5800 XpressMusic in silver and we've got the pics to prove it

The original announcement of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic promised three color versions: Red, Blue and Black. Up until now only the red and blue ones have been available, but the grey-striped one will finally hit the shelves as well and here are the live shots to prove it.

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Black official photo

Call it Black, call it Black/Silver, or call it Grey if you prefer. Whatever it is, the main thing about the new color of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is that it looks much more serious now. The red and blue stripes of the well-known versions are now silverish.

Except for the more decent look of the Black/Silver Nokia 5800 XpressMusic behind the new clothes there's still the well known all-in-one multimedia monster.

And here are some live photos

There's the 3.2" touchscreen, the Wi-Fi support, the built-in GPS receiver, the great music player, the powerful stereo speakers and all the other goodies that turned Nokia 5800 XpressMusic into one of the most anticipated and desired handsets announced lately.

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Samsung S8000 leaked again - this time it speaks Androidish

The yet unannounced Samsung S8000 specs seem quite the thing, especially having in mind the handset is rumored as the first Android phone by Samsung. As you may guess, it features a high-res display, full suite connectivity and sports Samsung's new 3D interface.

As we already informed you before, the Samsung S8000 is one of the upcoming full touch phones by the South Korean manufacturer. However, until now we knew for sure only one feature - the 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash.

The Russian retailer Euroset.ru however already posted the S8000 up for preorder along with a few juicy specs details, but shortly after that it was removed from their catalog. Anyway we managed to retrieve the full specs sheet, which of course is not official yet, but seems quite close.

The Samsung S8000 sports a 3.1-inch AMOLED touch display with WVGA resolution and 16 million colors, the 5 megapixel snapper with flash, FM radio with RDS, 2GB internal memory expandable via microSD slot and 3.5mm audio jack. The rich connectivity options include 3G support, Wi-Fi, GPS with A-GPS, Bluetooth 2.1 and USB. Finally its body is only 12mm thin.

Surprisingly, the Samsung S8000 will be running on the Android OS and the new Cube-like button hints of some new 3D graphical user interface changes. The video player will support both DivX and XviD formats.

Back to the online store affair, the Samsung S8000 was posted by Euroset.ru at a pre-order price of approx. 470 euro, but at this stage there is no official word or announcement on this handset

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Multi-touch coming to for Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, sort of

Yes, you read it right. A developer created a simple game introducing the multi-touch implementation. The application itself reminds the popular Guitar Hero console games, but its breakthrough may established a whole new path in the mobile software.

Jamie Fuller, a UK programmer, successfully created the first multi-touch application for Symbian S60 5th edition or Nokia 5800 XpressMusic in particular. The app it's still at it's alpha stage, but you can easily get the idea.

The real news today is that the multi-touch game called Space Dancer is now available as a free download from Jamie Fuller's website. The basic game reminds of the popular console series Guitar Hero, where your objective is to touch the correct music notes flying on screen in accordance to the currently playing music track.

Up until not long ago it was considered impossible running multi-touch apps on resistive touchscreen displays but there are some companies such as Stantum, for instance, that are already working successfully on the task.

Now we see the same feat managed by a third-party developer using only software methods - and best of all, running on a popular handset. The exciting opportunities are overwhelming.

If we've got you interested, you can watch the short video demo below showing the application in its early stages almost two months ago.

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Nokia 5530 XpressMusic rumored as Nokia's third full touch phone

As rumors have it, Nokia seem to have another full touch phone in store for us - one that's even cheaper than Nokia 5800. The unannounced Nokia 5530 XpressMusic is said to be due for September and will be more compact and won't have a GPS receiver.

A "reliable source" to Daily Mobile claims that the upcoming 5530 XpressMusic is another touch-based device form Nokia. The rumored specs include a 2.9-inch touch display, Wi-Fi, FM radio, 3.2 megapixel snapper, 3.5mm audio jack and 150MB internal storage expandable via microSD slot.

As you can see there is much similarity with the 5800 XpressMusic, but the screen is smaller. There is also no info on GPS or 3G support, but the OS remains Symbian S60 5th Edition.

It seems the 5530 XpressMusic is a smaller sibling of 5800 and hopefully it will be cheaper due to the smaller screen size and missing GPS receiver.

According to the source the phone will be introduced in September this year.

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Orange UK to heat up the summer with the new LG GC900 Viewty 2

ou’ve already seen the LG GC900 in our MWC 2009 coverage hung behind glass without a word on specs details. Dubbed as LG Viewty 2, this 8 megapixel fella is obviously set to arrive in Orange UK network some time in Q2 2009.

According to some leaked information (a sneak peak of Orange UK release schedule) the LG GC900 or otherwise known as LG Viewty 2 is planned to hit the shelves in June this year. We guess that means an official announcement is due quite soon.

The LG GC900 packs an 8 megapixel camera with autofocus and face tracking and a 3" WVGA touchscreen display. The S-Class Touch UI will also be aboard along with DivX/Xvid support as well as the Dolby Mobile technology.

LG GC900 shot at the MWC 2009

According to a leaked specs list the LG Viewty II is expected to have a xenon flash (although one is not found on the unit at the MWC 2009), Wi-Fi and HSDPA support and GPS.

Sounds much like the Renoir, doesn't it? With the slight difference that the KC910 Renoir lacks the heavily promoted S-Class Touch UI and the practically endless 32 GB in-built memory the GC900 is rumored to come with.

LG GC900 specs sheet leaked not long ago

By the way, Samsung Omnia HD is also due in June along with the highly anticipated iPhone 2009, Nokia N97 and Sony Ericsson W995. Yep, this summer is about to be hotter than ever.

And while you're waiting for more details to pop up, take a look at our LG Arena preview for a complete scoop of the new S-class interface by LG.

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Samsung Omnia HD will still be called that way in most countries

We were contacted by Samsung with a clarification on a matter that spread like wildfire online yesterday - the naming for the upcoming Omnia HD. Yesterday's rumor had it that Samsung will be ditching the Omnia moniker for the more plain i8910 HD.

With the launch of Samsung i8910 Omnia HD just behind the corner, it has obviously turned out that there are commercial issues with selling the device under the originally announced name - Samsung Omnia HD - but only in some countries.

As a result Samsung have allowed the local marketing teams in the affected countries (undisclosed yet) to adopt the slightly abridged marketing name of Samsung i8910 HD.

Again unlike what yesterday's rumor stated, Samsung confirmed they will continue using the Omnia name for both their business and infortainment high-end product lines - no matter the choice of OS - WinMo or Symbian.

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iPhone OS 3.0 hides a promise of video recording on iPhone 2009

The iPhone inabilities have been a matter of discussion at least as much as its virtues. Unfortunately, video recording (or better yet the lack of it) has often been a subject of criticism. But that will surely become a thing of the past since the developer's beta of iPhone OS 3.0 is supposedly sprinkled with clues that video recording will definitely be coming to the upcoming iPhone 2009.

It's this time of the year again, and with Apple's next announcement in June nearing, not a day goes by without some new iPhone rumors surfacing. Rumors are always to be taken with a pinch of salt, but this one seems as solid as a rock.

The iPhone 2009 is rumored to have a better 3.2 megapixel camera in store for us but no matter the megapixel count, it will almost certainly support video recording as the following camera screenshot reveals. Video recording has never been a part of the originally announced iPhone OS 3.0 new features, so it's highly possible that iPhone 2G and 3G will most probably be left out in the cold.

Screenshot of the updated camera application by MacRumors.com

Boy Genius Report have also gotten their hands on quite a few screenshots of the developer's beta OS, and one of their shots confirms video recording as well.

There are other yet undocumented 3.0 features as well - voice dialing (or perhaps even full-on voice commands), a digital compass (the most reasonable translation of "magnetometer"), as well as some changes to the UI, including an accessibility menu and OpenGL ES getting bumped to version 2.0 (it's the 3D library used by the iPhone SDK).

iPhone OS 3.0 Beta screenshots from Boy Genius Report

Unfortunately, there's no info on the captured video specs. Thanks to some unofficial third-party applications, the iPhones have already been able to record video in CIF resolution at 15-20fps. We really hope that the iPhone 2009 will do better than that.

We've already covered the most notable new features of the iPhone OS 3.0 version and only time will tell if these newfound capabilities will remain in rumor-land or they will make it to the new iPhone 2009 along with (hopefully) the old ones.

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Huawei's Android smartphone is the future T-Mobile G3

t's true. The Android powered Huawei phone, which was mysteriously shown during the MWC 2009, turns out to be the next T-Mobile G3. Full pack connectivity, smallish design and 5 megapixel camera are some of the key features in its spec list.

Huawei indeed presented their smartphone at the MWC 2009, but only behind glass and its was more of a design dummy than anything else. There were no official presentations or a full specs sheet.

As far as rumors have it, however, the mysterious smartphone will be marketed and sold as T-Mobile G3.

The T-Mobile G3

The smartphone sports a huge capacitive touchscreen, a 5 megapixel camera, 3G networks support, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, 3.5mm audio jack and of course it will run on the latest Android. There will be no physical keyboard.

The T-Mobile G3 is expected to be released some time in Q3 2009. No word on pricing or more detailed specs yet.

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AT&T gets heavy on messaging with 6 new QWERTY handsets

Samsung announced 6 new entries to its mobile phones portfolio today. The emphasis is quite obviously on texting with all 6 of their new offerings featuring full QWERTY keyboard. The leader of the pack is Nokia E71x, followed by three Samsung handsets - Propel Pro, Impression and Magnet and two LG devices - Neon and Xenon.The Nokia E71x isn't really any different from its European sibling, save for the new paintjob. The bar is the slimmest smartphone to date and sports a 2.36" 16M color QVGA display.

Nokia E71x

Nokia E71x

It will also feature a GPS receiver a 3 megapixel auto focus camera and of course - HSDPA and Wi-Fi connectivity. A built-in microSD card slot will allow expanding the internal memory with up to 16GB worth of additional storage.

The Nokia E71x will be available in the following weeks across AT&T stores for 150 US dollars on a 2 year contract.

Samsung Propel Pro

The Samsung Propel Pro comes as a direct successor of the Samsung A767 Propel, extending its functionality quite extensively. Running on the Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard it packs Wi-Fi, GPS and a 2.55" square display with a resolution of 320 x 320 pixels.

Samsung Propel Pro

The Samsung Propel Pro has a 528 MHz CPU and 128 MB of RAM. Its other important features include 3G with HSDPA support, microSD card slot, Bluetooth, USB and a 3 megapixel autofocus camera.

You can find the Propel Pro in the AT&T stores starting from April 14. In order to walk out with it you will have to part with 150 US dollars and sign a two-year contract.

Samsung Impression

Next in line is the side-slider Samsung Impression. Its highlight feature is the 3.2" AMOLED touchscreen of WQVGA resolution, which according to AT&T is a first for the US. In addition to it the handset comes with quad-band GSM and dual-band UMTS with HSDPA support.

Samsung Impression

The other key features of Samsung Impression are Bluetooth with A2DP, microSD card slot and a 3 megapixel camera with video recording capabilities.

The Samsung Impression will be available from April 7 for 200 US dollars on a two-year contract.

Samsung Magnet

The Samsung Magnet is a simple offering, targeted at the younger audience. Sporting great messaging capabilities thanks to the full QWERTY keyboard it will be the most affordable of the bunch. However AT&T haven't yet published the full specifications of the device so all we can tell you is that it will be an entry-level offering.

Samsung Magnet

The Samsung Magnet will hit the shelves in the coming weeks.

LG Neon

LG Neon is an exact replica of the LG KS360, which we reviewed not too long ago. It is a mid-ranger that catches the eye with bold colors and quirky controls. Its main features include a 2.4" display, a 2 megapixel snapper and Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support.

LG Neon

FM radio is also onboard and so are stereo Bluetooth, microSD card slot and FM radio.

The Neon will be available quite shortly for 100 US dollars on a two-year contract.

LG Xenon

The LG Xenon comes with haptic feedback for improving the touchscreen experience. The quad-band GSM and dual-band UMTS (with HSDPA support) handset sports a 2.8" 65K color WQVGA display.

LG Xenon

Its other features include 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, USB and a microSD card slot.

The LG Xenon will be available shortly across AT&T stores but its pricing still remains to be disclosed.

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Nokia 5800 XpressMusic gets new firmware update

Today Nokia released new firmware update for the 5800 XpressMusic. Being quite a major release it brings improvements in a number of areas. According to Nokia it should improve the performance and the user interface as well as add some new applications.

The new firmware version brings in the Mobile Dictionary and Application Update Apps to the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. The first one offers you voice playback and text-to-speech, supporting 38 languages.

As the name suggests Application Update manages the new updates for your installed apps, making them easy to keep up to date.

The 5800 XpressMusic new firmware revision also brings two new camera features. The first is the burst mode, which allows the primary camera to take multiple photos with a single key press. The second is enabling the secondary camera to take photos. Up until now it could only be used for video-calling.

As usually lots of bug-fixes and performance improvements complete the change log. According to Nokia the 5800 XpressMusic handsets that get the new firmware should have faster user interface and greater download speeds.

Considering the enormous popularity of the 5800 XpressMusic it's hardly surprising that Nokia are rushing to fix all those irritating bugs that plague its first S60 full touch handset. Despite some hardware issues it had recently, the handset is selling in volumes, making it quite likely that this is not the last firmware update it will see.

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LG GD900 Crystal S-Class UI and multi-touch support confirmed

Today LG unveiled some more details about the LG GD900 Crystal. The unique transparent keypad doubles as a touchpad and the handset will also support multi-touch. It also become clear that the keypad is made of glass, rather than plastic.

The LG GD900 Crystal will run the LG's S-Class UI with a lot of touch related goodies. The handset will feature multi-touch input as well as gesture support. This means that features like the two-finger zoom we saw on the Arena will be available for the Crystal users too.

There will also be some new staff on the LG Crystal. For example writing an 'M' would launch the MP3 player and drawing a circle controls the volume.

LG GD900: see-through keypad

We are also more than pleased to know that the GD900 will have haptic feedback. The LG GD900 also has handwriting recognition, which isn't too frequent on phones with capacitive screens.

Some improvement is done in the web browsing department too. The GD900 will offer 'mouse mode' for a more convenient browsing experience. This means that you will be able to control a virtual mouse with your touch keypad, much like you would do on a laptop.

The LG GD900 Crystal will hit the European and Asian shelves in May but its pricing is yet unknown.

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Slim Samsung B7300 pops up, runs WinMo 6.1

The sleek Samsung B7300 is the latest leak concerning a Samsung handset. This time around it's a Windows Mobile phone, which however has inherited the looks of the Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH, which will obviously be their 2009 styling.

Samsung B7300 leak photos

From what we see of the images, the Samsung B7300 will have a large display and apart from the standard WinMo interface will also implement the latest TouchWiz UI, which allows for a nice customization of the homescreen.

Samsung B7300 leak photos

Besides the 3 megapixel auto focus camera, Samsung B7300 clearly sports a microUSB slot and a microSD card slot.

Currently we don't know whether Samsung B7300 will be released for the European market.

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