Cell and Smart Phones Reviews

From Russia with love: additional images of the Motorola Sholes Tablet XT701 emerge

mavilonus@gmail.com (Mauricio) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:39:00 +0000

From Russia with love: additional images of the Motorola Sholes Tablet XT701 emerge

Straight out of Russia are some new images of the Motorola XT701. These renderings are reportedly from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the PRC, China’s version of the FCC. Also, the device has reportedly received certification and is expected to arrive in China and possibly Russia in early 2010. The handset will reportedly ship with Android 2.1 and will include an HDMI port, 720P video recording/playback and an FM radio. Once again we see the curious bump on the side of the handset and and a prominent camera with Xenon flash. Although the back of the phone in these renderings clearly states 8MP, previous spy shots have indicated that the camera is 5MP, which leaves us wondering which information is correct, or if there’s just two variants. Will the real Motorola XT701 please stand up? Hit the jump for one additional image.

(Via The Boy Genius Report.)

Samsung Stunt for MetroPCS performs surprisingly few stunts

mavilonus@gmail.com (Mauricio) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:39:00 +0000

Samsung Stunt for MetroPCS performs surprisingly few stunts

MetroPCS' bread and butter rests in the low- to mid-end of the handset spectrum since it offers its devices on a pricey contract-free basis, so it shouldn't come as any surprise that the freshly-announced Stunt from Samsung doesn't mess with the time-tested formula. The candybar trudges along with a 160 x 128 display, Bluetooth, AWS CDMA (like all MetroPCS handsets these days), and a shell utterly devoid of meaningful industrial design -- that's it. No more, no less. And sometimes, simplicity is a beautiful thing, right? It's not showing up on the carrier's site just yet, but the Stunt should be available today.

(Via Engadget Mobile.)

Google's Nexus One lacks multitouch

mavilonus@gmail.com (Mauricio) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:39:00 +0000

Google's Nexus One lacks multitouch

Our buddy Tnkgrl just had a sit down with Google and HTC's lovedroid, the Nexus One. She 'wasn't allowed' to take pictures or video but she came away with plenty of detail. The biggest point of clarification might not be what's included in the handset, but what's missing: multitouch. She confirms, 'no multitouch support in the browser or in Google Maps,' just like Verizon's Droid (but available on its European Milestone brother). The unit she tested included a 4GB microSD card, 1400mAh battery, worked on T-Mobile's 3G only (AT&T is limited to EDGE data), and was 'super snappy! Faster than the Droid.' She also noted 'gold contacts' along the bottom edge presumably for a docking port thus jibing with whispers of a Nexus One Car Dock accessory. Now hit the read link for all the details if you still have the strength.

(Via Engadget Mobile.)

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 catches FCC on a good day

mavilonus@gmail.com (Mauricio) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:39:00 +0000

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 catches FCC on a good day

Oh, to live the life of an FCC certification lab employee: setting up test benches, writing reports, playing with devices that won't be released for months or years. Instead, we're stuck enjoying their fun vicariously at an arm's length through a little portal we know as the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, where gems like the X10 occasionally pop up complete with pretty in-the-wild pictures, teardowns, and user manuals. What we're looking at here are test results for EDGE 850 / 1900 plus WCDMA Band IV (that'd be T-Mobile's and WIND's spectrum, by the bye), WiFi, and Bluetooth, so even if T-Mobile ultimately chooses not to offer it on contract, you should be able to score it one way or another N900-style. The user's manual is basically just 40 pages of good stuff plus a bunch of conformity statement mumbo jumbo, but it's still a good read -- so if you think this might be your phone of choice come 2010, have a look.

(Via Engadget Mobile.)

Motorola Backflip Pictured

mavilonus@gmail.com (Mauricio) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:36:00 +0000

Motorola Backflip Pictured

Regardless of whether it’s going to be called the Motorola Enzo or Backflip, it’s certainly a phone with an interesting form factor. It might not be obvious from the picture, but the name ‘Backflip’ is quite apt for this phone, as its display actually flips backwards to close the phone, so the keyboard is always exposed. Another interesting feature is that there is a touchpad on the back of the phone when open, and you can use it to easily scroll through web pages. While there obviously aren’t any official specs just, the rumored specs include:

Android 1.5

MotoBLUR

Wi-Fi

Bluetooth

5-megapixel camera with flash

3.1-inch 320 x 480 display

512MB ROM and 256MB RAM

(Via UberGizmo, the Gadgets News Blog.)

OPPO Android Multitouch Phone Coming 2010

mavilonus@gmail.com (Mauricio) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:33:00 +0000

OPPO Android Multitouch Phone Coming 2010

An Android smartphone from a PMP maker? Why are we not surprised with what OPPO has just announced… They are on the verge of releasing an Android-based smartphone. The entertainment-oriented smartphone is slated for a 2010 release. Specs will make any gadget fan drool: 3.5-inch WVGA (800 x 480) capacitive and multitouch screen, WiFi, QWERTY keyboard and indicator lights on the side that tells you the weather, humidity and date and probably a price tag that will make the Meizu M8 cry like a madman. Is that a big camera at the back? I wonder if OPPO is going to jump on the OPhone or the UPhone bandwagon. OPPhone doesn’t sound bad either.

Motorola's shiny XT800 shows off its Android

mavilonus@gmail.com (Mauricio) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:11:00 +0000

Motorola's shiny XT800 shows off its Android

Could this end up being the prettiest Android device to date? We don't want to call it before we have it in our own two hands, but China Telecom's likely entrant from Motorola -- the XT800 -- is looking better than ever in these live action shots unearthed by Chinese site tgbus. What's interesting here is that Moto's reusing the font first seen on the Droid's dock standby screen for a new home screen date / time widget, but the old-school Power Control widget below it has us believing that we're looking at an older Android 2.0 build (or heck, who knows, 1.5 or 1.6). It'll apparently have a 3.7-inch WVGA display with 720p playback and, as we've mentioned before, an HDMI-out for some serious multimedia street cred. It's still unclear whether this is being thrown around internally as the Titanium, Zeppelin, or something else entirely, but whatever -- Verizon, Sprint, bring it on over, alright?

(Via Engadget Mobile.)

Motorola Zeppelin XT800 coming to China Telecom on December 25th

mavilonus@gmail.com (Mauricio) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:51:00 +0000

Motorola Zeppelin XT800 coming to China Telecom on December 25th

Following in the footsteps of the Motorola Zhiling, here’s another Motorola-made Android handset that will be debuting in China this month, the Motorola Zeppelin XT800. It will, however, be released by China Telecom this time around and not China Mobile. The Zeppelin runs on an ARM Cortex A8 processor and comes with a 5-megapixel AF camera with LED flash, 720p video capture, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, HDMI out, 3.5mm jack, microSD card slot, and GSM and CDMA connectivity. No price just yet, but it will reportedly become available on Christmas day, December 25th in China.

For those in the US feeling a bit envious, here’s a little consolation. Rumor has it that the Zeppelin could be one and the same as the Motorola Titanium which was recently approved by the FCC. There’s no concrete evidence available right now to back this up and link the two Android phones, but this is a glimmer of hope and something you should definitely watch out for especially if you like what the Motorola Zeppelin has to offer.

[via phandroid, picture courtesy of mobile-review]

Magic Voice A9 TV Phone, w/ Dual Mics and Receivers

mavilonus@gmail.com (Mauricio) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:51:00 +0000

Magic Voice A9 TV Phone, w/ Dual Mics and Receivers

Do you feel the need to have two receivers, one on each side of your phone’s screen? Well, we have the Magic Voice A9 phone for you. With dual receivers and dual mics, there’s really nothing quite the A9. The rest of the specs are not bad either: 3-inch touchscreen, dual SIM, MP3 and MP4 playback, FM radio with recording and an analog TV. It’s unbelievable that all of this will only set you back $129.99.

I wonder what the makers of the Magic Voice A9 were thinking when they decided to put flanking mics and receivers on their phone. Full specs after the break.

[via chinagrabber]

Acer Liquid A1 unboxed, video style

mavilonus@gmail.com (Mauricio) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:47:00 +0000

Acer Liquid A1 unboxed, video style

The Acer Liquid A1 just started shipping in the UK, and right on cue we've got a video unboxing. Turns out the box housing the 1GHz Snapdragon-powered Android set is fairly interesting itself, with a magnetic hinged design that opens to reveal the charger, manuals, and bundled 2GB SanDisk microSD card and SD adapter. As for the phone, don't hold out for an Android 2.0 surprise -- it's running Android 1.6 with Acer's custom Spinlets UI skin on top, which equals a frowny-face from us. Hopefully Acer manages to update things if this guy ever comes to the States, but for now we'll just let you head past the break and check the video for yourselves -- we're sorry about the terrible Owl City soundtrack, but we had nothing to do with it.

Continue reading Acer Liquid A1 unboxed, video style

(Via Engadget Mobile.)

Nokia 6700 Classic Gold Edition is expensive, gold plated