News

Lenovo’s LePhone revealed

Lenovo showed off it’s Android smartphone – the LePhone – last week at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas.

The Lenovo LePhone

It has the same processor as the Nexus One (Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor) but is running version 1.6 of Android rather than 2.1.

Here are some of the specs of the phone:

• 3.7-inch 480×800 pixel touchscreen
• 3-megapixel camera
• WCDMA radio
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
• GPS
• Front-facing VGA camera
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• 1GHz Snapdragon processor
• 8GB of storage
• Android 1.6 OS

The Lenovo LePhone

You can just see but the picture above that the phone can be used in two different ways – as a stand-alone touchscreen phone, or it can be clipped into the cradle to utilise the bizarre looking keyboard!

The Lenovo LePhone

For the moment its release will be restricted to China (some time in this first quarter of 2010) and there is no word about whether or not it will appear in the UK.

Posted by: Emma

Android 2.1 coming to Motorola DEXT/CLIQ

Looks like good news for all of you Motorola Dext or Cliq owners out there, Android 2.1 is set to be coming to your device in the near future.

In a tweet from MotoMobile, the official twitter account of Motorola in Chicago, they announced that:

Its official: Moto CLIQT users can look forward to an update to Android 2.0 in the future. Timing to be announced closer to availability.

Followed by a correction:

Apologies for the confusion, everyone. Our CLIQ users can look forward to an update to Android 2.1.

We’re just waiting to see how long before we get to see Android 2.1 on the Droid/Milestone, I figure it wont be long though. Keep an eye on the MotoMobile twitter account as they seem to tweet frequently with updates!

Posted by: Matt

Nokia N900 Software Update

Those of you that are lucky enough to have the Nokia N900 can now get a software update, as from today.

Nokia N900

The over the air update, that can be found here, will allow users to download from Nokia Ovi Store much like on their Symbian handsets. I have not tested it out yet but its on the cards for tonight.

If you have not seen our Nokia N900 review or demo video please do so. Its quite a nice bit of kit.

Posted by: James

HTC HD2 now available on two more UK carriers

If you are after a HTC HD2 you now have two more choices of carriers!

HTC HD2

Although O2 first announced the HTC HD2 back in November its been a wee bit hard to get from them online. Now you can!

O2

The 2nd carrier, is one we don’t hear much about too often, Virgin Mobile.

Virgin Mobile

There are a fine selection of tariffs on Virgin Mobile ranging from 12-24 months and the prices are not bad.

If you still have not seen our HTC HD2 unboxing video I think you should!

Posted by: James

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A new version of Windows Mobile

A couple of sites have now shown footage of what Windows Mobile version 6.5.3 will look like. I found some nice images on engadget.

WinMo 6.5.3 on the Toshiba TG01

As you will see from the picture above, the main feature that has been introduced is that the action keys have now been moved to the bottom of the screen. This makes a lot of sense as your thumb is obviously nearer the bottom than the top. Another new feature is a shortcut bar which is accessed in a similar way to the notification bar on the Android devices, by swiping the top of the screen down.  They have also made some rather nice changes to the way the onscreen keyboard works. You can view a demo video I stumbled across on electricpig.

WinMo 6.5.3 Keyboard

None of these changes are revolutionary and I can only imagine they are trying to get us a bit more used to the way Windows Mobile 7 may look and feel?

Will we get an insight into WinMo 7 at Mobile World Congress? I do hope so as I will be there reporting on any announcements and checking out new devices.

Posted by: James

HTC HD2 Stylus coming very soon

Clove have just let us know that the HTC HD2 ST C400 Capacitive Stylus will be in stock next week for the first time. If you miss having a stylus on the HD2 then this is your solution. It will also work on the HTC Hero.

HTC HD2 ST C400 Capacitive Stylus

If you have an HTC HD2 keep an eye on their site, although I’m sure they will let us know when the stock arrives. While your there you may want to have a look at the rest of the HTC HD2 accessories they have, such as spare batteries, cases and car charges. Treat yourself!

Posted by: James

Will Google be sued over Nexus One?

According to several sources the family of Philip Dick, deceased author of the book Do Android’s Dream of Electric Sheep upon which the Blade Runner film was based, are set to sue Google for using the Nexus name. The family claim that this is an infringement of Mr. Dick’s intellectual property rights.

HTC’s CEO Peter Chou shows of the Nexus One

Isa Dick Hackett, Dick’s daughter, claims the names are lifted straight from her father’s science fiction novel Do Android’s Dream of Electric Sheep?

“Google takes first and then deals with the fallout later,” she said. “In my mind, there is a very obvious connection to my father’s novel. People don’t get it. It’s the principle of it. It would be nice to have a dialogue. We are open to it. That’s a way to start.”

Google’s response to the claim is that the name has nothing to do with Dick’s work, and that it was simply using the word in its original sense – as a place where things converge.

Love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this one over on the forum!

Posted by: Matt

Motorola announce the BACKFLIP

Motorola are officially back. After the recent Android success with the Dext/Cliq and the Droid/Milestone Motorola have announced yet another Android device, the BACKFLIP.

Motorola BACKFLIP

The BACKFLIP is a full QWERTY device running Android 1.5 with MotoBlur as an added bonus.

Motorola BACKFLIP from the front

Motorola BACKFLIP

The specs on this one are reasonable. It has a HVGA 3.1 inch screen, 528MHz CPU and 256MB of Ram. Onboard storage will be 2Gb and it will take a MicroSD card for expandable storage. Topped of with a 3.5mm headset jack, a 5MP camera, Wi-Fi, GPS and 3G this handset looks like it will continue to increase Motorola’s market share in the mobile industry.

The BACKFLIP also has a touch sensitive panel on the back of the screen to allow for scrolling through web pages. This new feature has been named BACKTRACK.

I can certainly see where Motorola got the idea for the name on this one. Its quite apt.

Posted by: James

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HTC Smart Specification

We mentioned earlier about the HTC Smart announcement. Well now we have the full spec:

HTC Smart

• Processor Speed: 300 MHz
• Operating System: Brew^® Mobile Platform
• Memory: ROM: 256 MB, RAM: 256 MB
• 104 x 55 x 12.8 mm ( 4.09 x 2.17 x 0.50 inches)
• 108 grams ( 3.81 ounces) with battery
• 2.8-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with QVGA resolution
• HSDPA/WCDMA: Europe/Asia:2100 MHz, Up to 384 kbps up-link and 3.6 Mbps down-link speeds
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets
• HTC ExtUSBT (11-pin mini-USB 2.0)
• 3.5 mm stereo audio jack
• 3.0 megapixel colour camera with fixed focus and flashlight
• Audio supported formats: aac, .amr, .qcp, .mid, .m4a, .mp3, .wma, .wav
• Video supported formats: mp4, .3gp, .3g2, .m4v
• Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery: Capacity: 1100 mAh
• Talk time: Up to 370 minutes for WCDMA, Up to 450 minutes for GSM
• Standby time: Up to 600 hours for WCDMA, Up to 450 hours for GSM
• microSD memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
• AC Adapter

devicewire.com already have the HTC Smart on their site and you can register your interest now and they will notify you when the Smart is ready for pre-order. Nice one devicewire.

Posted by: James

No Xperia X2 in the UK

Despite the UK launch party and press events (which we attended) we’ve now heard that the Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 will NOT be sold through official channels in the UK. We already know that Vodafone have decided to drop the X2 as the delays in launching the device meant that it no longer fit in with their current or planned portfolio. I read that as meaning that it clashes with their iPhone launch!

So the official response from Sony Ericsson is:

Sony Ericsson can confirm that the X2 will not be released by Vodafone in the UK. The delivery date of the product has slipped due to extended testing and the product, which was exclusive to Vodafone in the UK, no longer fits within their planned portfolio. The handset is available in other Sony Ericsson markets however. Sony Ericsson is disappointed not to make this phone available to consumers in the UK but in 2010 the company will be offering a number of innovative, stand-out products in the market.

I know that the X2 was not our favourite handset when it came to the review but I still think it’s a bit of a shame as quite a number of you were patiently waiting for this handset!

Posted by: Matt