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Nokia Exec Leaves After 21 Years To Start ‘Vision+’ Fund, Promptly Partners With Nokia

Posted: 31 Aug 2011 01:32 AM PDT

tero_5

Nokia this morning announced that Tero Ojanperä, former CTO and currently Executive Vice President and a member of the company’s ‘Leadership Team’, is leaving the flailing phone manufacturer at the end of this month, after serving Nokia for 21 years.

He will take on a new role as managing partner of a new investment fund called Vision+. Amusingly, Vision+ has already formed a deep partnership with Ojanperä’s former employer.

Vision+ is an investment fund, run independently but with Nokia as an ‘anchor investor’, that will back product development projects, specifically targeting app and games development for Nokia’s ecosystem and even more specifically the Windows Phone platform.

The fund aims to expand into other areas, including cleantech, in the future.

On a sidenote: BT actually sells a digital TV recorder product called the Vision+ box – obviously not related.


Company:
NOKIA
Website:
http://nokia.com
IPO:
31/12/1960, NYSE:NOK

Nokia is a Finnish multinational communications corporation. It is primarily engaged in the manufacturing of mobile devices and in converging Internet and communications industries. They make a wide range...

Learn more


Hands-On: Samsung’s Galaxy S II For AT&T, T-Mobile, And Sprint

Posted: 30 Aug 2011 05:12 PM PDT

Sprint Epic 4G Touch

Since February, we’ve been waiting for our turn with the Galaxy S II. With the handset floating around Europe and Asia, it’s been hard to remain patient. But today is the day: the U.S. versions of the Samsung Galaxy S II are here and we’re ready to get up close and personal at Samsung’s media event in NYC.

Just how different are the U.S. versions from the international? Has resolution been forfeited for size on that Super AMOLED Plus display? Does it feel as good as it looks? What about that new and improved TouchWiz UI? Is it actually any better? No worries. We’re here to answer all those questions and more.

Sprint’s Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch:

Aside from that awfully exhaustive name, this thing makes me giddy. I’m still a bit torn between this and AT&T’s GSII, but in terms of design, the GSII Epic 4G Touch is quite the looker. The straight edges and rounded corners (opposed to the entirely rounded out T-Mo iteration) look and feel sharp. It also reminds me of another popular phone you might have heard of, the iPhone 4.

Here’s the issue: Sprint’s iteration, along with T-Mo’s, has a 4.52-inch Super AMOLED Plus display. It sounds awfully clunky at that size, but it’s actually really wonderful. The problem is that both Sprint’s 4.52-inch display and AT&T’s 4.3-inch display tout 800 x 480 pixels of resolution, which means that AT&T’s display comes off looking super rich and smooth while Sprint’s is a bit pixelated in comparison.

In the hand, the Epic 4G Touch isn’t as attractive as it is on the eyes. It feels a bit… cheap – almost like it’s too light for how big it is. I know light is supposed to be a good thing, but something about the weight here felt off.

I guess that’s your call, but for me it was lacking that nice, solid feel.

AT&T’s Galaxy S II:

I hate to play favorites, but AT&T’s version takes the cake. Why? Because a bigger screen doesn’t always mean a better screen. Like I said earlier, since AT&T has remained true to the 4.3-inch screen on the Galaxy S II, the 800 x 480 resolution on this puppy is absolutely gorgeous.

You’d think the variation would be rather minimal between models, but it becomes blatant when shooting pictures and video. The added pixel density makes a difference, especially when the phones are side-by-side.

We’re usually not too fond of these custom UIs the manufacturers love to slap on their Android devices, but the new and improved TouchWiz isn’t all that bad. It’s notably faster, and bit cleaner than the previous versions we’ve seen. It’s certainly not our favorite feature of the phone, but at least Samsung is improving in the UI department.

Though it’s a hair smaller, the AT&T variant design is more angular than T-Mobile’s. In fact, it is nearly identical to the international Galaxy S II — which is completely okay with us. I mean, that model did sell 3 million in its first 55 days on the market. If it ain’t broke, right?

T-Mobile Galaxy S II:

Once known as the Hercules, T-Mo’s GSII is still somewhat shrouded in mystery. They kept this one hidden behind glass, so we didn’t actually get touchy-feely with it. However, I can honestly say this isn’t my favorite form factor for the S II; those curves and that 4.5-inch screen size make it somewhat of a hybrid between the Infuse and the Nexus S, and it just seems less sleek than the other two variants.

The screen is nice, but again, has the same pixelated resolution as the Sprint Epic 4G Touch. Since Samsung wouldn’t let pink’s version out of the box, it’s hard to say whether or not it’ll have that “too light” feel like Sprint’s. Either way, this will certainly be one of the best-sellers at T-Mo.

Interested in the full specs run down? Check out our early-bird coverage of the official announcements.



Help Us Celebrate TC Gadgets And Mobile At Our First San Francisco Meet-Up On 9/15

Posted: 30 Aug 2011 04:36 PM PDT

tc-meetup2011-09-lg

San Franciscans, start your thrusters. On September 15 at 6:30pm TechCrunch Mobile and Gadgets will host our first meet-up at Roe @ 651 Howard St. in sunny SF. Sponsored by Samsung, this meet-up will be the first chance for our readers to get ahold of some of Samsung’s latest products including the just-announced Galaxy S II. It is an event not to be missed.

We’ll have some finger food, a little dancing, maybe some networking and (sadly, as this is an approximately all ages show) a cash bar an open bar. We invite you to meet the entire TCG/M team and chill with some of Samsung’s newest gear and the chance to win a new Samsung Infuse 4G.

Specs:
Date: Thursday, 9/15/11
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Location: Roe

To RSVP pop over to this Eventbrite link and sign up. We’ll be releasing six hundred tickets over the next two weeks so there will be plenty of chances to sign up.

Special thanks to Samsung for the sponsorship and we hope to see you in SF on September 15.

Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC, a Dallas-based subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., researches, develops and markets wireless handsets, wireless infrastructure and other telecommunications products throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.



Samsung Officially Announces The Galaxy S II For T-Mobile, Sprint, And AT&T

Posted: 30 Aug 2011 03:05 PM PDT

Sprint Epic Touch

It’s coming! It’s finally coming!

After months of gallivanting around the world with launches everywhere from South Korea to Canada since May (plus a one day delay thanks to Hurricane Irene) Samsung’s Galaxy S II Android superphone is finally heading to the US.

As expected, Samsung used their press gathering in New York today to announce aesthetically unique Galaxy S II variants for three major US carriers: T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T. Verizon, meanwhile, is holding out for something else.

News of these devices is coming in as we speak, and this post will be updated as the information is made available.

Sprint

First off the block with an announcement was Sprint, who confirmed the prior leaks that their variant would be dubbed the oh-so-wordy “Samsung Galaxy S II Epic Touch 4G”. Sprint’s device will ship on September 16th (they claim they’ll be the first to launch it), at $199.99 on a 2 year contract.

Sprint’s Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch Specs:

  • Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) with Samsung’s UI overhaul, TouchWiz 4.0
  • 4.52″ Super AMOLED Plus display
  • 1.2 Ghz dual-core CPU (Samsung Exynos)
  • WiMax 4G
  • 8 Megapixel rear camera with LED Flash
  • 2 Megapixel front camera
  • 1080p video recording
  • Preloaded apps: Nova 2 HD, Swype, Polaris Office
  • Bluetooth 3.0
  • Sprint ID
  • 802.11b/g/n WiFi
  • WiFi Hotspot for up to 8 devices

AT&T

AT&T simply says their variant will launch “in the coming weeks”, but have released the specs below. Interestingly, the 4.3″ display on AT&T’s variant is smaller than the 4.52 incher found on both Sprint and T-Mobile, but AT&T’s model is also the slimmest of the lot (at 8.89mm)

AT&T Galaxy S II Specs:
AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II Specifications

  • Support for AT&T’s not-quite-4G HSPA+ network
  • Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) with Samsung’s UI overhaul, TouchWiz 4.0
  • Screen: 4.3" Super AMOLED Plus
  • 1.2 Ghz dual-core CPU (Samsung Exynos)
  • 8 Megapixel rear camera with LED Flash
  • 2 Megapixel front camera
  • 1080p video recording
  • HDMI Out: HDMI via HDTV Smart Adapter with HDCP
  • Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0
  • Battery: 1650mAh
  • Sensor: Motion UX, 6-axis gyroscope, proximity, light, noise (Audience A2220)

T-Mobile

T-Mobile has just issued their press release — so far, they’re simply calling it the “T-Mobile Galaxy S II” rather than its previous “Hercules” codename or any other fancy title. No specs besides a 4.52″ inch screen have thus far been mentioned, though it’s almost certainly nearly identical to Sprint/AT&T’s model’s (save for obvious differences, like no WiMax or Sprint ID)


Company:
SPRINT NEXTEL
Website:
Launch Date:
1999
IPO:
NYSE:S

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing,...

Learn more

Company:
AT&T
IPO:
26/11/1999, NYSE:T

AT&T is the largest provider of both local and long distance telephone services, and DSL Internet access in the United States and the second largest wireless service provider in...

Learn more

Company:
T-MOBILE
IPO:
DT

T-Mobile is a mobile telephone operator headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom. T-Mobile has 101 million subscribers making it the worlds sixth largest mobile...

Learn more


Kno’s Textbooks Is Top Back-To-School iPad App With One Download Every 8 Seconds

Posted: 30 Aug 2011 02:41 PM PDT

Kno downloads map

As students start going back to college, they are downloading Kno’s new Textbooks app for the iPad in droves. It is currently the No. 1 iPad education app, No. 2 grossing iPad app overall, and a top-25 free app (more popular than even the Kindle iPad app). The app is being downloaded once every 8 seconds. The map above depicts downloads over the past 24 hours.

The app itself is free, but then Kno sells digital college textbooks as in-app purchases. Know currently offers more than 100,000 textbooks, which can be annotated, highlighted, and also be read on the Web or Facebook. After abandoning its own oversized textbook tablet, Kno released its digital textbook reader and store on the iPad last June. In recent weeks, Kno added a bunch of new features such as automated quizes, an activity stream of notes, integration with Khan Academy videos online, and 3D models of molecules generated on the fly.

The colleges with the most Kno students so far are ASU and the University of Arizona, Harvard, and UT Austin.

The early numbers suggest a strong start for Kno this semester, it’s first real availability among students. The appeal of downloading textbooks to your iPad instead of lugging around paper copies in your backpack is obvious. It doesn’t cost anything to download the app, and paying for one or two textbooks to try it out is fairly low risk for most students. Kno’s real test, however, will come later in the semester when early users decide whether to download more Kno textbooks or head back the the campus bookstore.

Below are a couple demo videos showing off Kno’s latest features:



Company:
KNO
Website:
http://kno.com/
Launch Date:
5/2009
Funding:
$89M

Kno has developed a digital learning environment for students to read textbooks, take notes, and share materials with friends and teachers. Students can access through multiple platforms and purpose-built...

Learn more


Nokia Needs Help Choosing A Name For Its Windows Phone 7 Handsets… Go!

Posted: 30 Aug 2011 11:09 AM PDT

chansearrington

More often than we’d like, phones are announced with absolutely horrifying names. Acer’s beTouch, the Casio G’zOne Commando, and the HTC ChaCha all fall hard into that category.

They leave you wondering what went down in the conference room where that name was born, and what could have possibly been going on in the minds of the people who approved them. But honestly, it’s much harder than you think to find a phone with a well-suited, nice-sounding, non-awkward name. Which is why Nokia is leaving it up to us.

When it comes to Nokia’s Windows Phone 7-powered handsets in the U.S., apparently we’re calling the shots as far as names are concerned. The company has posted a poll with over 20 different name options, along with the ability to make your own suggestion. So far the Nokia “Elite”, “Fusion”, “Metro”, and “Genesis” are ahead, with “Phoenix” taking the lead.

In my humble opinion, Phoenix is fitting symbolically but a Genesis is really what Nokia desperately needs. The company has struggled through its attempted transition to MeeGo — a dream that died mere moments after it came into existence. And Nokia continues to lose market share as we wait for Windows Phone 7 to turn things around.

The good news is that Windows-powered Nokia is coming. The fact that U.S. head of development marketing Chanse Arrington put up a poll is only further proof of that. We just hope that the Nokia Phoenix, or Genesis, or Fusion, or whatever… gets here sooner rather than later.


Company:
NOKIA
Website:
http://nokia.com
IPO:
31/12/1960, NYSE:NOK

Nokia is a Finnish multinational communications corporation. It is primarily engaged in the manufacturing of mobile devices and in converging Internet and communications industries. They make a wide range...

Learn more


Android And Apple Now Command Nearly 70 Percent Of U.S. Smartphone Market Share

Posted: 30 Aug 2011 10:25 AM PDT

smartphone market share july 11

Android and Apple together now account for nearly 70 percent of smartphone subscribers in the U.S., according to new estimates for July put out today by comScore. Android phones command nearly 42 percent market share, while Apple’s iPhone grew slightly to capture 27 percent. Android is growing faster, up 5.4 percent from April and up 1.7 percent from June, whereas Apple’s share is up 1 percent for the three-month period and 0.4 percent fro the previous month.

The two smartphone powers keep taking share from RIM’s Blackberry, Microsoft, and Symbian. Blackberry took the biggest hit, down 4 points since April, 2011 to 21.7 percent. Microsoft’s mobile OS share is down 1 percent to 5.7 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers. And Symbian is barely hanging onto 1.9 percent share in the U.S.

In terms of how people are using their smartphones, text messaging still tops the activities with 70 percent of subscribers stating that they use their phones to text. Browsing and downloading apps come in next with about 41 percent of users doing those activities, which kind of makes you wonder what the other 60 percent are doing with their smartphones. People, these are like computers. Please use them accordingly. That means open those browsers and download some apps! Otherwise, get a flip phone.

Top Smartphone Platforms
3 Month Avg. Ending Jul. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Apr. 2011
Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens
Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
Apr-11 Jul-11 Point Change
Total Smartphone Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
Google 36.4% 41.8% 5.4
Apple 26.0% 27.0% 1.0
RIM 25.7% 21.7% -4.0
Microsoft 6.7% 5.7% -1.0
Symbian 2.3% 1.9% -0.4

Product:
ANDROID
Company
Google

Android is a software platform for mobile devices based on the Linux operating system and developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance. It allows developers to write managed...

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Product:
IOS
Company
Apple

iOS is Apple’s operating system for their mobile devices. It debuted in 2007 with the release of the first iPhone, but has since been extended for use with the...

Learn more

Company:
COMSCORE
IPO:
3/4/2007, SCOR

“comScore is a global Internet information provider to which leading companies turn for consumer behavior insight that drives successful marketing, sales and trading strategies. comScore's experienced analysts work closely with...

Learn more


Video: Motorola Unveils Pro+ Smartphone Geared Toward The Enterprise

Posted: 30 Aug 2011 09:55 AM PDT

pro+

If you’re looking for a solid Android handset with a physical QWERTY keyboard, Motorola has a few nice offerings on the table. The Fire, the Droid Pro, and the XPRT all have their strengths, and another QWERTY keyboard-equipped smartphone will soon join the ranks. Today, Motorola announced the Motorola Pro+, an Android device catered toward the enterprise.

As far as specs go, this one seems geared toward the heavy messenger and probably isn’t a good fit for someone who does any amount of gaming or video playback. Its 3.1-inch display will be great for basic use with a solid 480×640 pixels of resolution, but in terms of size it just won’t cut it on the gaming/video front. However, the Pro+ display comes equipped with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass, so you can rest assured if you drop it a few times at least the screen will remain in tact. The phone touts a 1GHz processor and runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Other specs include a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and autofocus, along with 4GB of internal storage and 512MB of RAM. If that’s not enough space, microSD card support is included for up to 32GB of extra storage. Unfortunately, it looks like MotoBlur will also be along for the ride, which means you’ll get more social networking than you can likely handle. But hey, some people like that.

In terms of carrier support, AT&T and T-Mobile should be getting their own versions of the device (though we’re still awaiting those announcements), while Motorola claims that the Pro+ will also be available in Europe and Asia in October. If any of this sounds interesting, jump past the break to check out Motorola’s introductory video.



Epson Brings Its iPrint App To Android

Posted: 30 Aug 2011 07:59 AM PDT

epsoniprint

Though the digital world seems to be swallowing print alive, there are still some documents that you just want to hold in your hand. But with the speed and ease at which we share information these days, it’s hard for printing to keep up as far as convenience goes. Epson’s tried to find a way to make printing as quick and painless as possible with its iPrint app, which has today extended to the Android platform.

iPrint lets you automatically print to any wireless all-in-one Epson printer, whether it be photos, documents, or web pages. It also works in reverse: You can scan and save to your device from the printer, or send documents in an email. Plus, the app supports Box.net, Dropbox, and Evernote.

Epson’s iPrint brings most of the functionality of the phone right into the app. For example, Epson put a built-in browser into iPrint so that you don’t have to switch back and forth from your phone browser to the app when you want to print a web page. However, that will only be a time-saver if you use iPrint as your default browser (read: probably not going to happen). Still, it’s a smart move if you know the page you want to print, and will certainly make things easier.

The app lets you do just about anything you could do if you were standing in front of your printer: check status and ink levels, choose paper size and type, configure the number of copies and page range, etc. Plus, there are a handful of advanced features if your printing job happens to be a bit more complicated usual. Users can choose and print multiple photos from their device, choose to print with or without borders, switch between color and black and white, and you can even buy ink or other printing supplies straight from the app.

The app is available now as a free download from both the Android Market and the Apple App Store.


Company:
EPSON AMERICA
Launch Date:
1975

Epson America, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells image capture and image output products for consumer, business, photography, and graphic arts markets. It provides ink jet printers, compact photo printers,...

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Onavo – The Must-Have Data Shrinking iOS App – Comes To Android

Posted: 30 Aug 2011 07:50 AM PDT

Onavo

It’s one thing to hear praise for an app from geeks, it’s another when you hear it from ‘normal folks’. Onavo falls in this category.

The free data-shrinking app which we’ve praised in the past runs quietly in the background and dramatically reduces data consumption. I myself keep it running all the time, and on a recent trip abroad to San Francisco it helped me save in the neighborhood of 75% of my potential data consumption. Seeing as I was running on a roaming plan, this meant I could email, tweet, and use mapping apps with far greater freedom.

Today, Onavo is announcing it’s first venture into the Android waters. Now before you get all excited, Onavo for Android is actually a ‘Lite’ version. It’s not data-shrinking ready quite yet, but it does however give users impressive visibility and control over app data consumption on Android devices.

I sat down with Guy Rosen, CEO, who explained that unlike with iOS, it’s pretty much a wild-west in terms of app data consumption on Android. It seems that apps can launch in the background and run tasks, such as updating, on their own accord, without having being launched by the user.

With Onavo Lite, Android users are alerted when an app suddenly consumes data at a disproportionate rate, or at improper timing, for example when traveling. Onavo makes it easy to block particular apps from running on 3G, or disable 3G completely at certain data consumption caps.

A really neat feature, taken from Soluto’s play book, is advanced warning on data-hogs. This is a crowd-sourced feature that provides users information about the data consumption characteristics of an app, as soon as it’s installed.

Just like for iOS predecessor, Onavo Lite is free and can be downloaded here.

Company:
ONAVO
Funding:
$3M

Onavo empowers smartphone and tablet users to regain control of their mobile data usage, by providing a service that makes mobile data consumption efficient, transparent and manageable. Onavo's app saves...

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Social Contacts App Twezr Shuts Down, Company Pivots To Photo-Sharing

Posted: 30 Aug 2011 07:11 AM PDT

spotpixicon

So long, Twezr, it’s been fun. The mobile social contacts application Twezr is being shut down after having a fairly well-received launch back in November 2010. The app, for those unaware, was based on a great idea: it was a social address book. It aggregated all the activity from your phone’s contacts (e.g., phone calls, SMS’s, voicemails) alongside their social networking activity (e.g., Facebook and Twitter updates)

Now the company is removing its app from the iTunes App Store and working to build a new location-based photo sharing app called Spotpix instead.

Says the company, Spotpix “has a great potential to solve some real world problems.” That’s probably a bit much, considering that the app seems to just involve geo-tagging photos so you can remember the places you’ve been. Yep, never seen that before.

Sadly, Twezr was actually the more promising of the two concepts. By combining a contact’s phone-based activity alongside social updates, it could function as sort of a social CRM for everyday users.

So what went wrong? Well, for starters, at launch, the app didn’t use OAuth standards to gain access to your social services, and actually asked users for their Gmail, Facebook and Twitter passwords. That’s a big no-no. Also, from personal experience, the app struggled to load large address books. It crashed, too.

Maybe solving the real, ”real world problem” of building the next great social address book (I’ve yet to find an app that really shines here, although Friends came close), was too much for a small team. Photo-sharing may be more Twezr’s speed.

Here’s the letter Twezer emailed its users:

Dear Twezr User, 

Over the past few months we’ve been developing Spotpix, a very interesting location based photo sharing app. Spotpix has a great potential to solve some real world problems. As we’re a small startup with limited resources, we’ve decided to focus on Spotpix and withdraw Twezr from the app store and shut down Twezr service over the next few days. We regret the inconvenience. We hope you’ll find another personal organizer app that closely matches your needs to replace Twezr or switch back to the native apps. 

We hope you’ll try out Spotpix when we launch. You can sign up for early access (http://spotpix.me) and also follow Spotpix on Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/spotpixapp) to stay tuned. 

Sincerely, 

Team Twezr 


Company:
TWEZR
Website:
http://twezr.com

Twezr is a personal organizer – the best way to stay in sync with close friends and co-workers. Twezr organizes all the contacts and all the content they've shared...

Learn more


HTML5 Mobile App Framework PhoneGap Adds Facebook Connect Plugin

Posted: 30 Aug 2011 06:39 AM PDT

PhoneGapLogo

Nitobi, creators of the HTML5-based mobile app framework PhoneGap, have today launched the PhoneGap Facebook Connect plugin. The addition of the plugin means that developers building apps using Web technologies like HTML and JavaScript can now simplify the log in process for their apps by allowing users to login with their Facebook credentials.

To enable third parties the ability to integrate the Facebook Connect technology, Facebook provides a JavaScript software development kit (SDK) to developers.

However, Nitobi says that using the Facebook SDK was a challenge because it requires the use of the OAuth 2.0 standard, an open standard for authorization. This sign on process doesn’t always translate gracefully for the PhoneGap developers’ apps, the company found. Typically, a login box pops up on the user’s screen because their Facebook username and password credentials aren’t likely stored on the device.

“We got working on a Facebook plugin because we're user experience advocates," Dave Johnson, CTO at Nitobi Inc. says. "The OAuth authentication workflow for a mobile app isn't ideal so we created the PhoneGap Facebook Connect plugin as a way to streamline that process and improve the experience for the end user."

The new plugin uses the same API (application programming interface) as Facebook’s own SDK, but instead of replicating the same workflow you would see on the Web using a desktop browser, it works with the native Facebook application installed on users’ own devices. The end result is a less cumbersome log in process for an app’s end users.

The plugin is now available for download from Gitub here.

Nitobi, which is now seeing over 40,000 PhoneGap downloads per month, says it expects this new plugin to be popular.


Product:
PHONEGAP

PhoneGap is a developer package by Nitobi Software that enables developers to create mobile web applications.

Learn more

Company:
NITOBI SOFTWARE

Nitobi Software creates rich web applications and developer toolkits in Ajax and Javascript.

Learn more


Motorola’s Rugged DEFY+ Is UK-Bound, Landing In September

Posted: 30 Aug 2011 06:36 AM PDT

DEFY_PLUS_Gray_Front_Home1_EMEA

Motorola‘s super-sturdy DEFY+ handset was officially revealed in a press release only a few weeks ago, but a recent announcement confirms that the device will make its UK debut early this fall.

Forgot what the DEFY+ was capable of? Here’s a quick recap: the rugged Android handset packs a 1 GHz processor (a 20% improvement in speed over the proc found in the original DEFY), a 3.7-inch touchscreen display that’s covered by a plate of Corning’s Gorilla Glass, and a water-resistant, dust proof body. A 5 megapixel camera peeks out of the back, and the device comes with 2 GB of onboard storage and a 2 GB MicroSD card.

The DEFY+ runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and comes preloaded with apps like CardioTrainer for your outdoorsy types and the Zinio magazine reader. An interesting mix, yes, but one that aptly shows that the beefy device is equal parts work and play.

In typical Motorola fashion, you won’t find the stock Gingerbread interface here: Motorola’s chosen to cover it all with a big helping of MOTOBLUR. It has a tendency to rub people the wrong way because of how it attempts to shoehorn as much social networking content onto a homescreen as possible, but someone out there must enjoy it because it just won’t die.

Motorola’s announcement was unfortunately light on specifics: they’ve remained mum on pricing or carrier compatibility, but the DEFY+ is being prepped for a September release.



Samsung Introduces A Trio Of Bada-Powered Wave Smartphones

Posted: 30 Aug 2011 06:35 AM PDT

Wave-3-Product

Today is a big day for Samsung. If you haven't heard, the phone maker is unveiling the U.S. variants of its flagship handset, the Galaxy S II, tonight in New York (and you can bet we’ll be in attendance). But if that weren't enough, Samsung also announced three new Bada-powered smartphones today, and each brings something special to the table.

The star of the bunch would be Samsung's Wave 3, which has pretty respectable specs although it can't really compare with the beastly Galaxy S II (that I can't stop talking about). All three come with Samsung's new BBM-style cross-platform messaging service, ChatOn, and we're even seeing some NFC action.

The Wave 3 is meant to be the Bada flagship, which is probably why we've already heard some details about it. Meanwhile the Wave M, albeit a mid-range device, comes in as a close second with support for NFC. Rounding out the trio, the Wave Y is an entry-level smartphone with somewhat limited specs, but we're expecting a pretty attractive price tag on the little guy.

Here's a quick specs run-down:

Samsung Wave 3:

  • Bada 2.0
  • 4-inch Super AMOLED display
  • 1.4 GHz processor
  • 9.9mm brushed-metal build
  • Social Hub, Music Hub, and ChatOn
  • 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash
  • VGA front-facing camera for video chat

Samsung Wave M:

  • Bada 2.0
  • 3.65 HVGA 320×480 display
  • 832 MHz processor
  • NFC capabilities
  • Social Hub and ChatOn
  • 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash
  • VGA front-facing camera for video chat

Samsung Wave Y:

  • Bada 2.0
  • 3.2-inch HVGA 320×480 display
  • ChatOn
  • 2-megapixel rear camera with LED flash

While the Wave 3 and Wave M can certainly hold their own, these probably aren’t a great fit for a smartphone junkie. Bada is a rather smart OS, and we will definitely give credit where credit is due. But Android and iOS have some hardware out there that you just can’t beat.

On the other hand, these handsets will get the job done and probably at a pretty reasonable price. Obviously, it all depends on what you’re looking for. With the GSII announcement tonight and these Wave handsets on the way, you’ll have plenty to choose from.