Archive for October, 2008

Rumour – GT-C6620 is the name of Samsung’s next Windows Mobile smartphone

According to the winowsmobileitaly team Samsung are about to release a brand new Windows Mobile based device.

Image from FCC Site

As many of you may remember, a few days ago we were the first in the world to disclose the existence of a new Windows Mobile smartphone manufactured by Samsung. Unfortunately, we are not able to publish any pictures yet, but here are some new details about it that we have been told about by our confidential and exclusive source.

The new smartphone is named the Samsung GT-C6620 and, as the name clearly indicates, it will be the first smartphone to sport Samsung’s new coding for naming its products. Below you can read further information about this smartphone, once more published by us as world exclusive.

The Samsung GT-C6620 is a Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard based phone and therefore it lacks a touchscreen but nevertheless it sports a built-in QWERTY thumb keyboard, a similar form factor to the Samsung i600 Mail’n’Call although it is not to be a real follower of the successful SGH-i600, so that it wouldn’t be correct to dub it a new Samsung Black*ack.
Samsung’s new smartphone also sports a 2 Megapixel camera, a microSD expansion slot, Bluetooth connectivity (but it’s lacking Wi-Fi support) and a special user interface which is completely customized especially for the mobile operator which will be offering it and its Value Added Services.

Among the other remarkable specifications of the GT-C6620, which has just been approved by FCC – Federal Communications Commission, a two-tone casing (in white matched with another high color), confirming once more thatit was designed with the younger generation in mind (yet another remarkable milestone in the WinMo history), UMTS/HSDPA 3G/3.5G connectivity and full support for 3G video calling thanks to the in-built front camera.

According to our source the Samsung GT-C6620 will probably be launched in Italy before the end of 2008 as an exclusive by the new MVNO – Mobile Virtual Network Operator MTV Mobile (powered by TIM – Telecom Italia Mobile) at a price lower than € 200. Unfortunately official images of the C6620 are still lacking but below you can see the back casing’s profile, taken from the FCC documents.

Unfortunately the team were unable to break down the FCC document but with a little PDF knowledge I have been able to do this and show you it in it’s full glory.

Images from FCC Site broken down

Now all I need is for someone to read the lingo on the page and tell us all what it means.

Posted by: John

[source]

Google Earth now on iPhone

Continuing in their quest for World Domination, Google have now made Google Earth icompatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch.

In the words of the girls over at shinyshiny.tv…..

Having Google Earth on your iPhone means that you’ll now be able to… Well, I guess you could… Nope. I’ve never really found a use for it apart from trying to find my house on my street, and that’s only amusing for so long.

If you’ve got an iPhone you can connect via 3G as well as WiFi, and there’s special gyroscopic functionality, such as the ability tilt to adjust your view.

Apple App Store

So Google now seem to have their hands in virtually every O/S possible although I’m sure I will stand corrected on this comment.

Posted by: John

[source]

LG Cookie going direct to Carphone Warehouse

LG Are said to be shipping out their KP-500 (Cookie) this week to the Carphone Warehouse. The Cookie, LG’s budget touch screen handset, aims to bring touch screen technology to the mid-range market for the first time. It will be available on £25 per month contracts from November, and on prepay for around £159.95 which should be dropped in time for the Christmas market.

LG Cookie

“The LG Cookie was developed to reflect the desire of many consumers who want to own a full touch screen phone without having to pay a premium price” said LG Mobile head of marketing Jeremy Newing.

“LG has stepped up to meet the demand of today’s ‘Touch Generation’ as more and more consumers look to experience the pleasure of using touch screen phones. With the introduction of the LG Cookie we are continuing to build on our range of feature-rich yet affordable handsets.”

LG understands that a lot of you want to be a part of the touch screen generation but can’t or don’t necessarily want to fork out the big bucks for one either. This is where the Cookie steps in. It offers a decent range of features including an intuitive active flash user interface which will use haptic feedback when touched and:

• GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
• Dimensions: 106.5 x 55.4 x 11.9 mm
• Weight: 89 g
• 3 inch TFT touch screen, 256K colours 240 x 400 pixels
• Flash UI
• Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
• Handwriting recognition
• Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3
• Vibration
• microSD (TransFlash), up to 8GB
    48 MB internal memory
• GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 – 48 kbps
• EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps
• Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP
• USB v2.0
• SMS, EMS, MMS, Email
• WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML
• Games 4 + downloadable
• Colours: Black, Vandyke brown, Anodizing silver, Elegant gold
• Camera: 3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels, video (QVGA@12fps)
• FM radio with RDS
• Java MIDP 2.0
• MP3/WMA/AAC player
• MPEG4/3gp video player
• Organiser
• Document viewer (DOC, XLS, PDF)
• Voice memo
• Built-in handsfree
• T9 predictive text
• Standard battery, Li-Ion 900 mAh
• Stand-by: Up to 350 h
• Talk time: Up to 3 h 30 min

Posted by: John

[Various Sources]

Dual SIM Samsung S9402 DuoS leak?

According to the guys over at GSM Arena and mobilmania.cz the Samsung S9402 DuoS could be coming soon.

Samsung S9402 DuoS

Photos of the first dual SIM-enabled luxurious handset leaked online. The hand-crafted Samsung S9402 Duos relies on exquisite materials and great build-quality to impress potential buyers. The rhodium-plated body is resistant to almost any kind of mechanical damage and disruption and is among the most expensive precious metals.

In addition to the attractive looks and quirky name the Samsung S9402 will have a 262K color OLED display and a 5 megapixel autofocus camera. The network data transfers will have to go through GPRS or EDGE on both SIM cards since the new Duos has no support for 3G networks.

The internal memory of Samsung S9402 Duos is 1GB and can be expanded further through the microSD card slot. The list of features of the handsets is completed by USB and Bluetooth (v 2.0).

The new Duos handset will first hit the shelves in Russia but neither the exact date nor the price is yet known. However, rumor has it that it will directly compete with Nokia Arte phones and Motorola Aura, so you might expect a price tag of about 1000 euro.

Normally we see Dual Sim handsets sitting in the Asian market but could this be a first for the EMEA markets?  The phone itself will be a luxury candybar phone which is made from premium materials including hardened scratch resistant display glass and a metal frame covered with rhodium. Audio quality is not compromised as well, featuring a Bang & Olufsen/ICEPower amplifier with the following specifications :-

• Triband GSM (900/1800/1900 Mhz), GPRS/EDGE connectivity on 1st SIM card
• Dual band (900/1800 Mhz), GPRS/EDGE connectivity on 2nd SIM card
• 2inch 262K color QVGA AMOLED display
• 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash
• Image stabilization and smile detector
• Integrated FM Radio with RDS
• 1GB internal memory
• microSDHC memory card slot (up to 8 GB)
• Bluetooth 2.0 and USB connectivity
• FM Radio with RDS
• 960 mAh battery
• Dimensions: 115 x 48 x 16 mm
• Weight: 140 g

I can’t be 100% sure on whether this is real or not for the time being given that there are no manufacturer labels (branding) shown anywhere on the handset. The one thing I can be 100% on is the fact that it won’t be cheap to buy given that it’s designed to compete with the Motorola Aura and the Nokia Arte handsets.

Posted by: John

[Various Sources]

HTC Touch HD – Orange exclusive leaked document!

For those of you that doubted what we were saying about the HTC Touch HD being an Orange exclusive in the UK please have a look at the leaked press release below!

HTC TOUCH HD EXCULSIVE ON ORANGE IN THE UK

Orange today announced that the HTC Touch HD handset will be available in the UK from early November, exclusively on the Orange network. The Touch HD is a premium multimedia enhanced mobile handset, designed with a focus on entertainment that is set transform how people experience multimedia on the move.

Its extensive 3.8 inch, high resolution, widescreen WVGA touchscreen offers users stunning clarity and vibrant colours, providing an unrivalled experience when watching movies or using Orange’s mobile TV service, browsing the internet on Orange’s high speed data network (3G+) or even scanning through photos taken with its 5 megapixel auto focus camera. The Touch HD also renders websites quickly and in full-page width, providing a browsing experience closer to that using fixed line broadband and allowing users to navigate more easily.

What’s more, the stylish new device features HTC’s beautiful TouchFLO 3D user interface to provide quick and intuitive access to the people, messages and content that are most important, and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack has been incorporated, allowing customers to use high-performance headphones with the device for the best possible sound quality.

Speaking on the announcement, Francois Mahieu, Director of Devices, Orange UK said: “"We are very pleased to launch this state of the art mobile internet device exclusively on the Orange network. It is a great phone but also a wonderful multimedia handset which paves the way to even more innovations from Orange next year in the mobile internet space. The HTC Touch HD on Orange will be the must have device this Christmas for the person that wants it all".

The HTC Touch HD is exclusive on the Orange UK network until 2009 from £79.99 on an 18 month, £40 per month contact *Package includes inclusive option of anytime mobile internet browsing (subject to 250Mb per month).

The phone is available from Orange via Orange stores, Orange Telesales (0800 079 2000) and Orange’s online shop http://www.orange.co.uk

Key Touch HDTM product specifications:

· Size: 115 x 62.8 x 12 mm

· Weight: 146.4 grams/5.164 oz with battery

· Connectivity: Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHzWCDMA / HSPA: 900/2100MHz.

· Software/Operating system: HTC TouchFLO 3D with Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional

· Display: 3.8 inch Wide Screen VGA screen (480 x 800 WVGA)

· Camera: 5.0 megapixel with auto focus – Second Camera: VGA

· Internal memory: 512 MB flash; 288 MB RAM

· Memory card: microSD™ memory card (SDHC™ capable)

· WLAN: 802.11b/g

· Bluetooth®: 2.0 with EDR

· GPS: GPS/AGPS

· Interface: HTC ExtUSB™ (mini-USB and audio jack in one; USB 2.0 High-Speed)

· Battery: 1350 mAh

· Talk time: WCDMA: Up to 390 minutes*** / GSM: Up to 310 minutes***        

· Standby time: WCDMA: Up to 450 hours*** / GSM: Up to 390 hours***

· Chipset: Qualcomm® MSM7201a™ 528 MHz

Cant wait to get my hands on one! I suspect that you’ll still be able to get the Touch HD SIM-Free from your favourite reseller but not on contract from anyone but Orange!

Posted by: Matt