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Russia posts

Sluggish iPhone sales could lead to stiff fines for Russian operators

by Darren Murph, posted May 22nd 2009 @ 2:01PM

See folks, this is the kind of mess you end up with after you gleefully do a deal with the devil. According to a roundup of reports over at Unwired View, three of Russia's major mobile operators could be looking at massive (we're talking hundreds of millions of bucks) fines if they can't sell through their iPhone allotments, and unless a significant market shift happens within the next few months, that situation seems remarkably unlikely. We're told that Vimpelcom pledged to sell 1.5 million iPhones within two years, while Megafon committed to 1 million and MTS the same. Today, just 900,000 iPhones have been imported to Russia, with over half entering the country via grey market channels; we'll let you figure out the math there, but it ain't pretty for Russia's carriers. Of course, we're not shocked in the least -- after getting burnt by a bootable-but-not-usable iPhone over there, are you seriously going to give Apple another chance to win you over?

[Thanks, Staska]

Samsung's Android-powered I7500 caught in smudgy Russian wilds

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 27th 2009 @ 10:17AM

Frankly, if we were forced to choose between smudgy and blurry, we'd take the former each day of the week. Russia's own Mobile-Review has somehow already managed to wrap its paws around one of the newly released Android-based I7500s, and while it's not really a drastic departure from Sammy's other smartphones of late, it's still worth a peek if you're suddenly in the market for one. Check the read link for the goods.

[Via ForoAndroid]

HTC Touch Pro2 gets thoroughly handled overseas

by Ross Miller, posted Apr 24th 2009 @ 1:24AM

While we still don't have an official release date for HTC's Touch Pro2 here in the states, the folks at Russian site Mobile-Review have managed to get some extensive hands-on time with the unit. Props go to the quality of the voice calls and especially the QWERTY keyboard, noted via the machine translation as one of the most user-friendly in modern mobile devices. The same is not said here, however, for the plastic casing and steep pricing. They also don't really touch on TouchFlo 3D 2.0.XX -- that's apparently coming later in another article -- but hit up the read link for a plethora of pictures and a video of the updated UI in action.

[Via WMPoweruser]

Continue reading HTC Touch Pro2 gets thoroughly handled overseas

Samsung's dual-SIM B5702, now mega-official

by Chris Ziegler, posted Apr 8th 2009 @ 2:16PM

Dual SIM support still isn't a big deal in most of Europe and North America, but in Russia -- where the new B5702 is launching, among other places, in May -- having two lines at your immediate disposal seems to be a headlining feature. The leaked B5702 is now fully official, offering a 3 megapixel camera, quadband EDGE, QVGA display, FM radio with RDS, built-in document viewer including Office and PDF (kinda unique for a dumbphone), and microSD expansion up to 8GB. Unlike some dual-SIM devices, the B5702 utilizes both cards simultaneously; two LEDs indicate which line is being used by incoming calls, and a button on the side allows users to hot-swap active lines without restarting the phone. Just don't mix up "Boss" and "Sweetie" on the speed dials, alright?

Samsung milks F480 a little longer with Rockstar and La Fleur models

by Darren Murph, posted Feb 5th 2009 @ 4:41PM

Seriously Samsung -- you should know what happens when a company settles for churning out modified versions of the same thing for too long. If not, just ping whomever is left at Motorola's mobile division. Bad slams aside, the longstanding F480 is seeing yet another makeover (two, in fact), with the P!nk-inspired Rockstar version destined for Germany and the flora-inspired (and currently unpriced) La Fleur slated for a Russian release. As expected, nothing too great is changing except for the externals, though the Rockstar model does come loaded with P!nk tracks and a 1GB memory card. Oh, and considering the quoted €499 ($640) asking price for the Rockstar, we'd say P!nk better be seeing some serious royalties.

Sony Ericsson's F305 gets mauled by Hello Kitty

by Darren Murph, posted Jan 27th 2009 @ 8:16AM

It's actually tough to tell whether or not this Hello Kitty "inspired" handset is real or fake, but at least Mobile-Review is claiming that the HK-adorned F305 will go on sale in Russia this March. From what we can gather, this is a rather standard F305 outside of the flamboyant exterior, boasting a two megapixel camera, M2 card slot, Motion Gaming and a ringer that only knows how to meow. We've no clue how costly this little beauty will be, but you can go ahead and bank on the fact that you'll be buying one for the Cosmo Girl in your life.

[Via eldarmurtazin, thanks c88lman]

Samsung's Ego S9402 launching for way too much in Russia

by Darren Murph, posted Jan 17th 2009 @ 10:08PM

Man, it's crazy to see what flies as a "luxury phone" these days. The altogether vanilla looking Ego S9402 fittingly feels pretty darn good about itself, and while twin SIM card slots, a Bang & Olufsen sound processor and a 2-inch QVGA AMOLED display are nice inclusions, we're still wondering what we've missed that would justify the 48,990 rubles ($1,543) price tag. Who knows, maybe it's the 5 megapixel camera, metallic casing or the Russian exclusivity. Yeah, definitely the latter.

[Via UnwiredView]

Cuban Wallpaper Crisis threatens Nokia handsets, America

by Chris Ziegler, posted Dec 30th 2008 @ 2:20PM

Personally, we're always excited to get free multimedia packs loaded on our phones -- wallpapers and ringtones don't come cheap, after all. We draw the line at multimedia packs of Cold War-era dictators, though, which is why Nokia's pretty fired up that some of its sets are being sold at retail in Russia preloaded with exciting Stalin-themed memorabilia. Apparently -- and we believe them -- Nokia has nothing to do with the unexpected bonus, saying that "even if Nokia was on the brink of ruin and release phones or panel with a portrait of Stalin was the only chance to save our business, Nokia [would not do] that." Admittedly, we're pretty curious to learn more about the doomsday scenario they're referring to where companies can only survive by Stalin-branding their products -- but for now, Nokia's recommending ~~comrades~~ shoppers steer clear of the "special edition" devices since they're clearly not factory sealed.

[Via textually.org]

Philips' Xenium X710 swallows 1900mAh battery whole

by Chris Ziegler, posted Dec 29th 2008 @ 1:59PM

If there's one thing Philips' Xenium line is really good at, it's ridiculously long claimed talk and standby times; and if there's one thing it's really bad at, it's 3G. Personally, we'd rather recharge an HSPA phone once a day than an EDGE phone once a week, but for those who don't share our love of high-speed data -- particularly those in Russia -- we give you the Xenium X710, complete with dual SIM slots and a respectable 3 megapixels of autofocus power. It's got Bluetooth, an integrated FM radio, and microSD expansion, too, not to mention an unabashedly clean, simple look that does a pretty good job projecting its low-end aspirations.

[Via Unwired View]

MOTOJEWEL gets unboxed -- in Russia

by Jacob Schulman, posted Dec 25th 2008 @ 3:02PM

Now that you've already gone and unboxed all of your latest acquisitions, what better to make you feel neglected and uncared for than watching an unboxing of Motorola's latest CAPS LOCK-loving clamshell -- the MOTOJEWEL. Mobile-review got their hands on one of these glossy devices and managed to take it for a spin. The reviewer praised the keyboard and external screen, and found the "Midnight Quartz" (read: purple) housing to be a nice touch. We'll let our translation tools handle the bottom line for us -- "If you like, you can even buy, I do not mind." Hit the read link for even more pics of the unboxing or to read the whole review. Go ahead, we do not mind.

[Via iTech News Net]

Russian HTC MAX 4G reviewed by non-Russian reviewer

by Tim Stevens, posted Dec 4th 2008 @ 3:42AM

Been pining for more information on HTC's chunky GSM / WiMAX handset, the HTC MAX 4G? Read on, comrade, because you've come to the right place: "friendly Malaysian guy" and blogger nextimelah has imported one and given a full review of the phone -- well, as full as you can get when you can't read Cyrillic. You see, the phone is still only available at Russian provider Yota and, while you might think a phone like this would offer an English mode, the language is apparently integrated into the device's ROM. So beware, potential importers. Short of the massive language barrier the phone gets high marks, described as being effectively a Diamond with a bigger, better screen -- which may or may not work for you depending on the size of your pockets. The ability to call fellow Yota subscribers via VoIP directly from the phone is intriguing, but sadly it only works when you're on Yota's WiMAX network -- not anybody else's -- again making this one less than import friendly.

[Via wmpoweruser.com]

Russia's RoverPC unleashes the G7

by Laura June, posted Dec 2nd 2008 @ 3:40PM

We're not trying to be superficial or anything, but Russian company RoverPC's newest model, the 3G, quadband GSM, and WiFi-enabled G7 is kind of a looker -- somewhat in the vein of previous devices we've seen from the company. Spec-wise, it's carrying a 624MHz CPU, 128 MB RAM, with mini USB and microSD slots, and a 3-megapixel camera, plus it's got GPS and an accelerometer (we love those). The Windows Mobile 6.1 handset is going to be available in Russia sometime this month, for about $616.

[Via Navigadge t]

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic launch dubbed 'stunning success;' 120 Russians can't be wrong

by Tim Stevens, posted Nov 28th 2008 @ 9:31AM

We love covering the antics of gadget-crazed buyers on launch day as much as anyone, whether it be die-hard gamers waiting for a PS3 or international fanatics clamoring for Apple's latest. Sometimes, though, these big launch sellouts feel a bit... contrived. Such is the case with Nokia's 5800 XpressMusic, dropped first in Russia on Wednesday ahead of its worldwide release yesterday. An internal memo (conveniently posted onto the Mobile-Review forums by a Nokia employee) talks up the usual release day shenanigans: buyers camping for days, bribery attempts for spots in line, inventory disappearing in minutes, and an inevitable prediction that this thing will be bigger than the iPhone. However, while the memo liberally quotes from the LiveJournal musings of Mobile-Review editor Eldar Murtazin, it skips over one choice bit of information he provided: a measly 120 phones were available at this "flagship" location in Moscow.

[Thanks, pops]

Video: HTC MAX 4G is touched, talked about (in Russian)

by Laura June, posted Nov 15th 2008 @ 9:55AM

Remember just a few days back when the HTC MAX 4G AKA the world's very first GSM / WiMAX handset was announced? Well, some pretty sweet footage of the device -- which boasts 8GB of flash memory, GPS, WiFi, triband EDGE and WIMAX support -- has surfaced, and we have to say it doesn't look too shabby. The video's in Russian -- because you can only get the phone on Scartel's Yota network in... you guessed it, Russia, but from the sounds of it, the demonstrator is stoked. Check it out after the break.

[Via wmpoweruser]

Continue reading Video: HTC MAX 4G is touched, talked about (in Russian)

HTC MAX 4G officially announced, world's first GSM / WiMAX phone

by Chris Ziegler, posted Nov 12th 2008 @ 12:57PM

Hey Sprint, you listening? Granted, GSM doesn't do Sprint a whole lot of good in the States, but swapping a CDMA radio into HTC's first WiMAX effort here would make for a downright mighty response to the Touch HD. The previously-seen T8920 has turned out to be the MAX 4G, an 800 x 480 monster with 8GB of Flash on board, two cameras, an FM radio, GPS, WiFi, triband EDGE, and -- most importantly -- WiMAX support, making it the first GSM / WiMAX handset anywhere in the world. It'll be launching on Scartel's Yota network in Russia, and if you have friends cool enough to have a MAX 4G of their own, calls between the two of y'all will automatically be routed over the WiMAX airwaves using VoIP. A launch date hasn't been announced, but unless you're in Russia, there's probably not much point in even bothering to lust after this one.