News

Samsung announces new mobiles with DivX certification

Today at MWC Samsung and DivX Inc. have announced the latest the range of touch phone products to be DivX certified. Among the devices mentioned in the press release below is the Omnia HD (i8910) that we spoke about yesterday and it has been confirmed that the device will be Symbian S60 powered.

The Samsung Omnia HD

DivX, Inc. (NASDAQ:DIVX), a digital media company, and Samsung Electronics Co., LTD, a leading mobile provider, announced today at GSMA Mobile World Congress its newest full touch phone product line with DivX® Mobile certification — Samsung’s Ultra Touch, OMNIA HD, and BEAT DJ. These new cutting-edge DivX Certified® mobile phone devices offer consumers seamless playback of high-quality DivX video on the go and in the living room. DivX technology produces highly compressed video suitable for mobile platforms that require minimal storage for the highest quality experience possible.

“Our customers see mobile devices as an important place to enjoy high-quality video, and adding DivX support ensures that our handsets provide a cutting-edge media experience,” said Younghee Lee, Vice President of Samsung’s Digital Media & Communications business.

Samsung Ultra Touch (S8300) allows consumers to enjoy DivX video on its full touch display with anti-reflection and anti-scratch surface. Other compelling features include an 8-megapixel camera with Dual Power LED, GPS with navigation, TouchWiz UI with Mobile Widget, and Auto Rotation with a 3×4 inch keypad.

Samsung OMNIA HD (i8910) boasts its HD brilliance with 3.7” AMOLED full touch screen. The product enables consumers to play DivX videos from the phone directly on their televisions using the Omnia HD’s TV-Out feature—effectively turning the phone into a powerful portable media player. In addition to DivX video playback, Samsung’s OMNIA HD features generous internal memory (8GB /16GB) with the addition of a 32GB microSD card. Equipped with Symbian S60 5.0, the OMNIA HD offers innovative technology such as an 8-megapixel camera, the fastest network with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, and advanced features such as geo-tagging and widgets.

With support for DivX video, Samsung’s BEAT DJ (M7600) empowers consumers to playback DivX video stored on the phone’s 50MB internal memory or up to 16GB with an external microSD memory card. The BEAT DJ also offers an enhanced music experience including full touch Music Evolution with Spin Wheel Touch and DISC UI—an advanced music play user interface, and BEAT DJ—a DJ’ing music application with music filters, scratching features and DJ mix recording.

“Samsung continues to recognize the value that DivX provides for its customers, and we are pleased to be a key feature in Samsung’s new line of mobile phones,” said Kevin Hell, Chief Executive Officer at DivX, Inc. “The Samsung Ultra Touch, OMNIA HD and BEAT DJ are superior multimedia phones, and now users will be able to watch their favorite videos absolutely anywhere, enjoying the high-quality that DivX video is known for.”

In addition to the three newly DivX Certified mobile phones with Samsung, DivX also announced a new certification profile—DivX Mobile Theater. Now available to DivX IC and OEM licensees, DivX Mobile Theater Profile helps mobile licensees ensure that their phones are certified to support studio requirements for premium DivX video playback, provide true DVD-like quality, and offers an improved user experience.

Products that bear the DivX Certified® logo have undergone a rigorous testing program to ensure a high-quality DivX media experience, including reliable video creation and playback, interoperability with other DivX Certified devices and the visual quality users expect from DivX.

Posted by: Matt

HTC Touch Pro 2 specification

The HTC Touch Pro 2

* HTC TV Out cable needed.

Posted by: Matt

HTC Touch Diamond 2 specification

The HTC Touch Diamond 2

Posted by: Matt

HTC’s MWC press conference

Jonathan from Clove Technology, our eyes and ears at MWC, is sitting in at the HTC press conference at the moment and relaying the news from the event.

• 10:10 – The press conference was due to start at 10:00 GMT but its going to take a little bit longer as people are still arriving.
• 10:13 – WiFi connectivity issues in the conference hall at the moment, what a time to run slow!
• 10:20 – Still not started and now standing room only
• 10:25 – The Touch Pro2 and the Diamond2 now showing on HTC.COM

• 10:30 – Started
• 10:33 – HTC announce the new Touch Pro2 and Diamond2
• 10:36 – HTC’s new Straight Talk technology delivers an integrated email, voice and speakerphone experience. Users can transition seamlessly from email to single or multi-party conference calls and turn any location into a conference room.
• 10:40 – Push INTERNET allows you to set up favourite sites that get auto updated and content delivered as per schedule
• 10:45 – Pro2 to have tilting display and proximity sensor
• 10:50 – lots of waffle
• 10:51 – Both the Touch Pro 2 and Touch Diamond 2 will be available second quarter of 2009!
• 10:55 – HTC Touch Pro 2 Specification

• 10:55 – HTC Touch Diamond 2 specification

• 10:56 – Android will still be part of HTC’s offering going forward.
• 10:58 – It’s all over! 🙂

Press releases due at 10:30 GMT.

Refresh this post regularly as I’ll be updating it with HTC news as we get it!

Posted by: Matt

HTC announce the new Touch Pro 2 and Touch Diamond 2

News directly from MWC:

HTC Corporation, a global designer of mobile phones, today unveiled two new flagship devices, the HTC Touch Diamond2ä and HTC Touch Pro2ä.  Integrating innovative simplicity with unique style and an intuitive interface, the devices balance function, form and cutting-edge technology to personalize the communication and mobile Internet experience.

“The HTC Touch Pro2 and HTC Touch Diamond2 introduce a mobile communication experience that simplifies how we communicate with people in our lives whether through voice, text or email,” said Peter Chou, president and CEO, HTC Corp. “HTC is delivering the latest, cutting-edge sophistication in a broad portfolio of mobile phones that improve how people live, work and communicate.”

HTC TOUCHFLO 3D INTEGRATED WITH WINDOWS MOBILE
The HTC Touch Diamond2 and HTC Touch Pro2 utilize HTC’s latest TouchFLO 3D interface. TouchFLO 3D has been more deeply integrated into a customized version of Windows Mobile 6.1 to deliver more consistency throughout Windows Mobile applications and menus. Focused on making navigation easier and more intuitive, TouchFLO 3D brings important information to the top-level user interface, including quick access to people, messaging, email, photos, music and weather.  As part of this improved Windows Mobile integration the touch focus areas have been enlarged to be more finger-touch friendly.

BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER
With the HTC Touch Diamond2 and HTC Touch Pro2, HTC is introducing a new people-centric communication approach, providing a single contact view that displays the individual conversation history of contacts regardless of whether voice, text or email were used.  This can be viewed from the contact card or the in-call screen during a phone conversation, ensuring the latest communication contact-by-contact is always at hand.

SIMPLIFYING HOW PEOPLE ACCESS THEIR INFORMATION
Continuing its commitment to making the mobile Internet easier and more enjoyable, the HTC Touch Diamond2 and HTC Touch Pro2 introduce HTC’s Push Internet technology.   HTC Push Internet alleviates slow downloading and rendering of Web pages on a mobile phone. Users can preselect their favorite Websites to get immediate access to them when needed.

The HTC Touch Diamond2

HTC TOUCH DIAMOND2
The HTC Touch Diamond2 is the next step in the evolution of the successful HTC Touch Diamond. Crafted to fit perfectly into the hand, the Touch Diamond2 evolves the compact design and iconic style of the original HTC Touch Diamond. It incorporates a larger 3.2-inch high-resolution wide-screen VGA display for a greater viewing area in a design just 13.7mm thick. The phone also includes a new touch sensitive zoom bar for even faster zooming of Web pages, emails, text messages, photos or documents.
Leveraging HTC’s TouchFLO 3D experience combined with a people-centric communication approach and HTC’s new Push Internet technology The Touch Diamond2 offers an advanced touch experience that is optimized for one-hand use.

With fifty-percent better battery life, a five mega-pixel auto focus camera, expandable memory, gravity sensor and an ambient light sensor, the Touch Diamond2 brings the most sophisticated capabilities to a broad consumer audience looking for the professional benefits of a smartphone without sacrificing size, looks or functionality.

The HTC Touch Pro2

HTC TOUCH PRO2
Designed for business professionals, the HTC Touch Pro2 is architected with distinct style and strength while delivering the most powerful productivity experience available on a mobile phone.  Leveraging HTC’s TouchFLO 3D, people-centric communication and Push Internet technology, the Touch Pro2 features a high-resolution 3.6-inch widescreen VGA display for an expanded viewing area and large finger-friendly QWERTY keyboard. With improved battery life, expandable memory, a touch-sensitive zoom bar as well as gravity, proximity and ambient light sensors, the Touch Pro2 is optimized for touch as well as heavy email use.

INTRODUCING HTC STRAIGHT TALK FOR HTC TOUCH PRO2
The new HTC Touch Pro2 leverages voice in a new way to create one of the most sophisticated communication experiences found on a mobile phone.   HTC’s new Straight Talk technology delivers an integrated email, voice and speakerphone experience. Users can transition seamlessly from email to single or multi-party conference calls and turn any location into a conference room.

In addition to the new simplified calling experience, Straight Talk includes an innovative mechanical and acoustic design that features a sophisticated speakerphone experience similar to those found in corporate boardrooms. Straight Talk delivers a high-fidelity voice and sound experience enhanced by asymmetric speakers and advanced noise suppression with full duplex acoustics. When the Touch Pro2 is flipped over it automatically turns into a conference room speakerphone system.

Availability
The HTC Touch Diamond2 will be available to customers across major European and Asian markets in early Q2 2009 with broader global availability coming later in the year.  The Touch Pro2 will be available across major global markets beginning in early summer.

Posted by: Matt

Follow us on Twitter

We’ve started to use Twitter a bit more lately and as MWC is now in full-swing we are expecting quite a lot of press activity today you can follow us on Twitter to get the latest updates as we post them.

Twitter users can simply follow use by going to http://twitter.com/tracyandmatt If you haven’t already got a Twitter account you sign up for free there too! 🙂

Posted by: Matt

Sony Ericsson announce two new handsets

At a press conference at MWC last night Sony Ericsson announces their latest handset, the W995 from the Walkman range and a new handset concept under the name of "Idou" which promises to merge the best of Cyber-shot and Walkman technology in to one fully-featured handset.

Full information can be found in the press releases below:

Sony Ericsson today unveiled the next step in its evolution. The Entertainment Unlimited consumer proposition is the pinnacle of what the company has been working towards since the start of the joint venture in 2001 – the true fusion of communication and entertainment.

Bringing together rich content, unique applications and best in class entertainment experiences, the new consumer proposition is based around three key promises:

1. Uniting best in class entertainment experiences into one offering such as the Walkman™ music experience, the Cyber-shot imaging experience, Java gaming and messaging integrated with services and applications.

2. Broadening entertainment experiences by seamlessly integrating the mobile phone into other devices in the home letting consumers share and enjoy top quality entertainment content through a variety of channels including TV, PC and Hifi systems.

3. Fusing communication with entertainment by removing barriers and offering unlimited sharing opportunities, multiplying the value of people’s entertainment experiences through a host of innovative web applications and Sony Ericsson’s unique Play Now offering.

Sony Ericsson is unveiling the W995 Walkman™ phone at Mobile World Congress offering the most complete communication entertainment package to date. The launch of this phone exemplifies the excellence that Sony Ericsson has achieved in both the music and imaging categories and enables the evolution into Entertainment Unlimited. The company is also showing a mobile phone under the concept name Idou* giving a glimpse of one of a number of projects that will be launched this year under the umbrella of Entertainment Unlimited.

“Entertainment Unlimited lets us reinforce our position as THE communication entertainment brand,” said Lennard Hoornik Head of Global Marketing and Vice President at Sony Ericsson. “Everything that we have done to date has brought us to this point – we created the music phone category in 2005 selling over 100 million Walkman™ phones and we are now ready to unveil the next chapter in the evolution of the company – Entertainment Unlimited – giving consumers unlimited opportunities to share their entertainment experiences.”

Idou encapsulates the future of mobile entertainment in the palm of your hand delivering visual communication like never before.

Capture moments, talk through pictures and share all your experiences like never before with the 12.1 megapixel camera, intuitive touch features and Xenon flash. Tap directly into your favourite videos and tracks with the full-touch media menu and feast your eyes on movies, TV-series and video clips in true 16:9 widescreen format. Based on what will become the Symbian Foundation operating system, thousands of applications are available online letting you install new applications and download exciting content from PlayNow™ to make the Idou truly yours.

Dick Komiyama, President, Sony Ericsson said, "Entertainment Unlimited is at the core of Sony Ericsson’s philosophy, building on the strength of our great entertainment assets such as Walkman and Cyber-shot phones and our unique service and applications integration.  Many of the strategic initiatives we’ve announced in the past year have laid the internal framework to launch this new consumer proposition to the market and Sony Ericsson is now ready to drive the next wave of market development with Entertainment Unlimited."

Keep amused like never before on one powerful video mobile phone; watch news, TV shows or blockbusters in premium video quality or check out the latest videos from YouTube™ using Turbo 3G or Wi-Fi™. Complete with an 8.1megapixel camera and Walkman™ player, with clear audio experience, the W995 Walkman™ is the ultimate mobile phone to keep you entertained when on the bus, lunch break or waiting for a train.

With Media Go™ it’s easy to bring your media with you. This unique Sony application makes its worldwide debut on the W995 Walkman™ and lets you effortlessly and automatically transfer any audio, photos and videos between your phone and computer. You can even find podcasts with exciting content easily from the directory – just two clicks and you’re away, and watch the action in all its glory on the bright clear 2.6” screen.”

“With Media Go™ there’s no need to worry about format, resolution and ‘frame per second’ anymore.” said Alexandre Cardon, Global Marketing Business Manager at Sony Ericsson. “No longer will the video you transferred from your PC to your phone play in low resolution or bad quality. With Media Go™ and the W995 the experience is as good on your phone as it was on your PC.”

“The W995 Walkman™ phone brings together the very best music experiences of any phone, augments this with best in class video and sharing capabilities to offer the most complete communication entertainment package to date.” said Alexandre Cardon. “This powerful mobile phone delivers the best possible video resolution that can fit in your pocket and with enough battery stamina to watch two full length feature films. The W995 also comes complete with the award winning clear audio experience and an 8.1 megapixel camera for the highest quality picture and sound available in a mobile phone.”

More news as we get it.

Posted by: Matt

Samsung Omnia HD at MWC

Our Barcelona correspondent, Jonathan from Clove Technology has barely arrived in Spain, and not even got to the even when he’s already scooped some info.

Looks like Samsung are due to release a fantastic update to their popular Omnia, the Omnia HD. Looks a bit like the Touch HD though doesn’t it? If you are a Windows Mobile fan though, there’s some bad news, the Omnia HD will be a Symbian powered device! 🙁

So we have arrived in the beautiful city of Barcelona, and even before MWC has started there is already indications locally of what is going on. Strolling down La Rambla we couldn’t help but notice this huge advertisement from Samsung:

With a very similar feel to the rumoured Samsung Acme i8910, it seems Samsung have officially branded it the Omnia HD. The specification is still to be confirmed but we should have more information in the next couple of days.

Posted by: Matt

Samsung C6625 Slips Past Us Quietly

Expansys has started accepting pre-orders for the Samsung C6625 even though the South Korean company have yet to officially announce the new Windows Mobile 6.1-powered smartphone.

Samsung C6625

At £249.99 this QWERTY keyboard equipped smartphone will be Triband GSM and have WCDMA and HSDPA connectivity.

Samsung C6625 Specifications:

• 113.6 x 63 x 11.6 mm
• 107.7g
• Battery: Talk Time: 420 mins – Standby Time: 300 hrs – Capacity: 1300 mAh
• 320 x 240 pixels/2.6 inch
• GSM: 900/1800/1900 (Tri-Band)
• WCDMA: 2100 (Single-Band)
• HSDPA (3.6Mbps)
• 2 mega-pixels – 4 x Digital Zoom
• 25fps Video Recording (QVGA)
• Supported formats: MP4, 3GP, H.264 & WMV
• Video Streaming
• Supported formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ & WMA
• FM Stereo Radio (RDS)
• Windows Media Player Sync
• SMS
• MMS (with video)
• E-mail (POP3, SMTP, IMAP4, MS Exchange)
• Instant Messaging (MSN)
• Memory: 100MB (internal) – microSDHC (external)
• Bluetooth (2.0)
• GPRS Class 32
• HSDPA (3.6 Mbits)
• AGPS
• Remote Lock
• Device and memory card encryption
• Remote Wipe

Admittedly not the best looking or best spec phone on the market but the price will definitely grab the attention of some people.

GIGA-BYTE to launch range of new devices in 2009

Mobile World Congress may well be a week away but already manufacturers are sending out press releases and teasers for new products. GIGA-BYTE is one of the companies to start sending out information about their new GSmart products which will be among the first to include the new version of Windows Mobile – WM6.5.

Mobile World Congress is the biggest annual event of mobile industry; it is also the stage for mobile suppliers to showcase their hard works of the year. Every year, GIGA-BYTE Communications (GBC) will attend the tradeshow and introduce something special to the public, such as the world’s first DVB-T PDA phone – t600, and the world’s first 3.5G DVB-T GPS PDA phone – MS808 that introduced by GBC last year. This year, GBC is also well prepared and will introduce several devices under three major categories: Multimedia, Business and Style.

Multimedia – Entertainment and Quality Life

As the high quality camera PDA phone becomes the trend of the market, GBC will introduce two models under the multimedia series that fulfill the market demand, one will be the MS820 which showcased briefly last year, but has more complete view this year; there will also be another new model with higher specifications. Furthermore, continuing the specialty of GBC, multimedia PDA phone with DVB-T and/or DVB-H will still be one of the focuses at GBC booth this year.

Business – Efficiency and Security

On the other hand, GBC will introduce something very different to what they have before, which will be introduced under the Business categories, and are having more functions to ensure the business operation runs smoother and more secure.

Style – Stylish Design and Great Performance

Finally, the device shown on GBC’s MWC invitation card – GSmart S1200 is under the category of Style. S1200 has chic and stylish design with simple round arc shape; supreme slim feature of approximately 1.1cm height. In addition, the device is wrapped by special coated texture to avoid finger prints on the handset. Despite the good design, the device is consisting quality specification. Windows Mobile Professional 6.1 OS (or update to Windows Mobile 6.5); Qualcomm 7200A (528MHz) processor which empowers S1200 with fast and excellent performance and many useful software such as photo view, multimedia center and etc. “Windows phones let customers access the people and information they care about, wherever they are,” said Todd Peters, corporate vice president, Mobile Communications Business, Microsoft Corp. “The new GIGA-BYTE GSmart S1200 and MS820 will help people work more efficiently, surf the Web, and enjoy their favourite movies and music, delivering a truly connected experience.”

Moreover, S1200 will be introduced with new user interface that developed solely by GBC – Smart Zone, which endowed S1200 with fashionable appearance, easy utilization and great performance.

Smart Zone interface: the secret weapon of GBC GSmart phone

Smart Zone user interface is the integrated version of Smart Touch user interface. This new user interface is developed under the concept of ‘Core’- that is, imagine the user is the core of the phone; the efficiency is that all programs are able to be reached within one or two easy steps. Integrating from this concept, Smart Zone is said to be the wisest and most efficient user interface on the present market.

“Since established, GBC has always commits to be ‘the World-Class Brand’, and insists that the perfect quality is the most important base of a sustainable branding.” said Dr. Stanley Jenq, the CEO of GBC. “GSmart is willing to become a code word which combines wisdom, international, vitality and elite. We provide the best products to satisfied consumers’ demands in order to handle business life more efficiency with several of mobile entertainment at anytime, everywhere. High speed network connectivity and endless creativity enable GBC to produce the best and most suitable products that offer users to connect the world without any hassle and delay.” continued by Dr. Jenq.

GBC is always committing to be an active participant in the industry to push the technology integration and fulfills the demands of the market.

Posted by: Matt