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Sony Ericsson Aino and Satio hitting the UK on October 7

by Vladislav Savov posted Sep 8th 2009 @ 5:21AM

It's not like we didn't know this already, but Sony Ericsson has now officially confirmed an October UK release for its latest pair of handsets. The half-Swedish, half-Welsh mobile empire has set the seventh day of the tenth month of whatever year this is as the date for a nice little corporate get-together and unveiling of whatever little details haven't been seen or pored over by now. The Aino slider hopes to capture fans with its slender looks and PS3 Remote Play skills, while the Satio (formerly known as the Idou, pictured) works the multimedia phone crowd with a 12.1 megapixel cam and a 3.5-inch 16:9 display. The latter was recently handled by Engadget Spanish, who found it underwhelming and somewhat sluggish -- but rest assured, we'll be getting a lot more fingerprints on these touchscreen devices in the coming weeks.

Gallery: Sony Ericsson Satio hands-on

Continue reading Sony Ericsson Aino and Satio hitting the UK on October 7

LG Etna Android phone sneaks onto the scene at IFA

by Nilay Patel posted Sep 7th 2009 @ 1:34PM

Well, well, looks like LG's got more in its Android bag than just that GW880 for China Mobile. Vodafone was casually displaying the Android-based Etna at its IFA booth, and while we don't know too much about the QWERTY slider, we do have some basic specs -- you're looking at 3-inch touchscreen, a five megapixel camera, and what looks like a pretty stock Android install. No word on price or release date, but LG is supposedly launching three Android sets this year, so we're hoping we'll find out more real soon.

Update: LG tells us that the Etna will be available in Germany "before Christmas."

[Via MobileTechWorld; thanks Whois]

Nokia X6 video hands-on: proof that capacitive touchscreens are better

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 5th 2009 @ 9:54AM

While Nokia wouldn't invite us to Nokia World this year, we were fortunate enough to discover a pair of its new X6 handsets on the IFA floor here in Berlin. On hand were two engineering prototypes, one of which was peeling away from its plastic shell while the other seemed less responsive to our finger-taps. Still, it's clear that the capacitive touchscreen is far more responsive to human touch than the resistive screens found on its N97, or the 5800 XpressMusic especially. This was made abundantly clear when using the on-screen keyboard although some of our swiping gestures were inexplicably ignored in other elements of the interface. But given the choice of the screen being awesome or super-awesome (remember, we're comparing it to Nokia's resistive touchscreen legacy), we'll have to settle on the former for now. Of course, underneath you've still got S60 5th, for better or worse, pumping away inside a chubby little candybar -- no screen tech can change that. See the action in the video after the break then jump into the gallery to see it sized up with a few of its S60 cousins five times removed.

Gallery: Nokia X6 video hands-on: proof that capacitive touchscreens are better

Continue reading Nokia X6 video hands-on: proof that capacitive touchscreens are better

T-Mobile Pulse runs Android, headed for Europe

by Paul Miller posted Sep 3rd 2009 @ 10:33AM

Not that our Stateside T-Mobile needs much help scoring Android handsets, but this phone looks strictly reserved for our European brethren. The T-Mobile Pulse is actually Huawei's U8220, which looks a little drab compared to its U8230 sibling, and works in what seems to be standard smartphone specs these days: 3.2 megapixel camera, 3.5-inch 320 x 480 screen, HSDPA, Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS. The 2GB SD card and mere 3.5 hours of talk time leave a bit to be desired, and the 13.5mm thickness is almost as beastly as Nokia's latest, but we're sure the Pulse means well. No word on a straight price, but in Germany with a two year agreement prices start at 5 Euro a month.

[Via Engadget German]

Samsung intros twelve (yes, twelve) phones at IFA

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 31st 2008 @ 12:01PM

IFA typically isn't considered the strongest show in the mobile world, which Samsung apparently saw as an opportunity to grab just a little more spotlight than it'd normally have. Okay, maybe "a little more spotlight" is an understatement, seeing how it trotted out no fewer than a dozen handsets at the show -- and granted, none of them are groundbreaking taken alone, but the collective ends up making for a mighty showing. Highlights include the S7330 slider, featuring a Soul-like display in the d-pad; the rumored D980 DUOS which adds an extra SIM slot to the F480's design language; the music-centric M3510 Beat; and this here beast of a phone, the B2700, looking like it's more than ready to take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. Overall, we would've liked to have seen a little more high-end fare in the mix, but we'll take it.

The HTC S740 gets handled

by Nilay Patel posted Aug 29th 2008 @ 1:24PM

HTC is keeping the S740 under wraps at IFA, but the crafty folks at newmobile managed to score some time with the new QWERTY slider, and it looks pretty decent. Thinner than the Touch Pro, the keyboard is basically the same, with the same sort of stealth-look backplate as the Diamond. No motion sensor, so the display only rotates when the slide is open, but that's really all we know -- the unit wasn't running a production-ready version of Windows Mobile, so impressions are a little up in the air. Hit the read link for more shots.

[Via Coolsmartphone]

Garmin's Nuvifone teases its way through another trade show

by Paul Miller posted Aug 27th 2008 @ 2:50PM

Oh, Nuvifone, how you disappoint us. Over here at IFA we just managed to get a Garmin rep to whip out his Nuvifone prototype for a quick look, but sadly, almost a year after the device was first announced, there really wasn't anything new to see. We still aren't allowed to take video of the interface, or really see much of the phone other than the home screen, and when the rep tried to show us how the Nuvifone kicks the iPhone's ass in navigation, the Nuvi promptly crashed -- so at least those two have that in common. Not that we should be surprised, Garmin mentioned last month that the phone had been delayed into 2009, but we're quickly running out of patience, as well as any scrap of remaining hope for this thing to actually matter when it does arrive. Peep the gallery for a little bit of iPhone 3G versus action.

Gallery: Garmin's Nuvifone teases its way through another trade show

Sharp's WS011SH Windows Mobile superphone in the wild

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 10th 2007 @ 3:01AM

Sometimes -- all too often, in fact -- devices simply don't live up to their carefully selected and prepared press shots, but yeah, we're pretty sure that's not the case here. LetsGoMobile recently had a peep at Sharp's lovely WS011SH Advanced/W-ZERO3 [es] on the floor of IFA, and seriously, it seems to look every bit as good in the wild (if not better) than it did in Sharp's own materials. With a 3-inch WVGA (yes, wide VGA) touchscreen serving up Windows Mobile 6, you can sorta think of it as an HTC Vox on performance-enhancing drugs -- the only difference being that we stand zero chance of ever seeing this 'round here on account of the PHS radio designed for Willcom service in Japan. Tragedy, ain't it?

[Thanks, David]

Samsung F330 music slider gets official

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 3rd 2007 @ 4:50AM

Though any shot it had at basking in the spotlight was stolen by the B&O Serene II that we happened to peep at the same time, Samsung's F330 looked to be shaping up into a fine device in its own right -- and now that the phone's specs are official at IFA, we're gonna go ahead and stand by that statement. The SGH-F330 is a music-centric slider (notice the prominently placed track controls) with 1GB of onboard storage, microSD expansion, and an FM radio. Naturally, you get stereo Bluetooth to pump the melodies up to your ears, primary and front-facing cams, and 3.6Mbps HSDPA. No word on a release date or carrier, but outside of Europe, we're going to venture that the odds are slim.

Hands-on with the LG KU990

by Joshua Topolsky posted Aug 31st 2007 @ 8:59AM

We wanted to get down and dirty with LG's other touchscreen phone -- the KU990 (AKA the Viewty) -- a 5.1-megapixel cameraphone that also does Flash, but the company's staff would barely even let us get close. It's true: the German showgirls and Japanese press handlers were less than forthcoming with the goods, but after a round of strong drinks and some serious sweet talking, we got to demo some of the phone's functions -- though there appeared to be a lot more lurking beneath the surface. Check the gallery for some "hands-on" action, and feel free to write letters suggesting LG's people to lighten up.

Gallery: Hands-on with the LG KU990

Hands-on with Samsung's SGH-i620 WM6 slider

by Paul Miller posted Aug 31st 2007 @ 7:46AM

It might look a little squat at first glance, but slide her open and the SGH-i620 is ready for business. We had some tactile problems with the touch-sensitive buttons up top, but the scroll wheel is like butter. Like most keyboards, we need some more time with it to give it a fair rating, but at first touch it's certainly passable. The screen seems awkwardly tiny compared to most recent smartphones, but it's certainly sharp and bright. In all the phone is a pleasure to hold and quite small enough to pocket, but we're not quite sure how much we could get done with it -- other than the usual photo snapping that Samsung phones are known for.

Gallery: Hands-on with Samsung's SGH-i620 WM6 slider

Orange, O2, and T-Mobile agree to iPhone revenue deals

by Darren Murph posted Aug 21st 2007 @ 4:59PM

Merely days after we caught wind of Apple's rumored discussions with Vodafone, three other European carriers became the ones to reportedly agree to Apple's terms. According to FinancialTimes, "Apple has succeeded in committing European mobile phone operators that want exclusively to sell its new iPhone to share parts of their revenues with the technology group." The contract, which was signed by T-Mobile Germany, Orange, and O2, "requires that the operators hand over to Apple ten-percent of the revenues made from calls and data transfers by customers over iPhones" -- the same chunk required of those wanting to slap that Made for iPod logo on their accessories. Unfortunately, there's no word just yet on pricing, a launch timeframe, or any other lingering deals with overseas carriers, but we could very well hear more from all sides during IFA.

[Via The Boy Genius Report]