HTC Desire C spotted in the wild once again

The HTC Desire C, previously known as Wildfire C or Golf, leaks once again in live pictures.

This time it was spotted on the Orange Romania Facebook page. Someone there apparently decided to take pictures from the Marketings team office and post them on Facebook. The HTC Desire C can be found in two of those pictures.

Enjoy!

HTC Desire C

The Desire C is rumored to feature a 3.5-inch HVGA screen, either a single-core 800MHz or 1GHz processor, a 5 megapixel snapper with a front-facing video-call camera, 512MB RAM, 4 gigs of storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and a microSD slot. It is going to run on the latest Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

With this many leaks, we expect the announcement to happen very soon.

Thank you, Spike, for sending this in!

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Verizon expands its 4G LTE network to 27 more areas

Just a month after its last network expansion, Verizon is ready to bring its fast 4G LTE services to even more areas in the United States.

The expansion commences on May 17 and will include 27 new areas and markets including the Jersey Shore, Sea Bright, Monmouth Beach, Belmar, Point Pleasant, Toms River, Atlantic City and into Cape May County.

Verizon is keen to increase the expansion rate of its LTE network, so if you are not yet in a 4G-covered area, don't despair.

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Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III vs. HTC One X: Alien vs. Predator

Introduction

There's no battle to end all battles in this industry but there's no point either trying to reason with two deadly droids, armed with the latest technology. We have two of the season's hottest smartphones in combat mode and Android supremacy is the prize. The HTC One X and the Samsung Galaxy S III are cast in the same mold and stand at the pinnacle of Android revolution. Two big, scary droids and room for only one.

The two flagships have a lot in common - both run heavily customized ICS on quad-core CPUs and pack huge 720p displays. There's more to these droids though - each tries to squeeze every drop of known technology for a feature set that goes way beyond what vanilla Android has to offer. The HTC One X has the advantage of a market headstart, impressing users with its build and finish, latest Sense UI and the ImageSense technology of its camera.

The delayed launch of the Galaxy S III seems to have let Samsung make sure their flagship can match the functionality of the One X down to the last spec - and even raise the ante.

Here's a quick glance at what each phone has in its favor:

HTC One X over Samsung Galaxy S III

• Impressive polycarbonate unibody
• Brighter IPS LCD2 screen with a full set of subpixels
• Beats Audio
• Already on the market
• Likely a bit cheaper

Samsung Galaxy S III over HTC One X

• Bigger screen - 4.8" over 4.7"
• Higher display contrast and better sunlight legibility
• More storage options - 16/32/64GB + microSD over non-expandable 32GB
• S Voice natural language commands and dictation
• S Beam for easy and fast file transfers
• User-accessible 2100mAh battery over non-removable 1800mAh battery
• 1.9MP front-facing camera with Smart Stay

We've reviewed the HTC One X and did a couple of previews of the Samsung Galaxy S III, so we know both phones fairly well. But it's still hard to pick a definite winner. Both are excellent phones, but there are tradeoffs to be made. For one, the polycarbonate body of the One X looks and feels cooler, but it locks away the battery and precludes memory expansion.

Samsung Galaxy S III HTC One X

Many of the Galaxy S III advantages are software-related (S Voice, Smart stay, etc.) or narrow wins in terms of hardware (screen size, thickness). And it even gets more complicated with things like battery life. Sure, the S III has a bigger battery (2100mAh), but the Exynos chipset lacks the extra power-saving core of Tegra 3.

We have a feeling it's going to be a close call at the end and the subtle differences between these two flagships will endear them to slightly different target audiences. Let's dig into the details and see which one's for you.

Samsung announces WP7.5 Refresh-running I8350 Omnia M

Samsung has just announced the I8350 Omnia M smartphone running on Windows Phone 7.5 Refresh. Oddly, the handset has the same model number as the I8350 Omnia W, but comes with a lower-end specs.

The Omnia M features a 4-inch Super AMOLED WVGA screen, a 1GHz single-core processor, 384MB RAM, 4GB internal storage and a 5MP snapper with VGA video recording plus a VGA video-call camera. The connectivity department highlights include 3G with 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth.

As you can see the Omnia M is a lower class than the Omnia W, that's why it should sell for less than the 220 that the W currently costs.

The Samsung Omnia M rollout will start from Europe and will then continue to other regions. Exact launch dates weren't mentioned, though.

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Sprint LG LS970 to come with quad-core 1.5GHz Krait processor

It seems LG is working on a new flagship for Sprint the LS970 that will probably retail as the Eclipse 4G LTE.

The rumored specs are quite impressive a Snapdragon SoC with a quad-core 1.5GHz Krait processor and Adreno 320 graphics, 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. It should pack a 4.67-inch 1280x768px LCD screen, a 13MP rear and a 1.3MP front camera alongside LTE capabilities.

The Eclipse 4G LTE is supposed to be just 8.6mm thin and weigh 142 grams with its 2100mAh battery, and the SoC is supposed to outscore every ARM Cortex-A9-based quad-core chipsets (Tegra 3, Exynos) out there.

While all this sounds beyond cool, we have to hear something in the way of an official announcement before we can get too excited. LG were the first to officially announce a dual-core smartphone, so we wont be surprised that's the case with a quad-core Krait phone as well.

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LG Optimus 2X ICS update pushed back to Q3

Late last year, LG made some waves as being one of the few manufacturers to publicly release a detailed list regarding updates to the latest Android version. This is a good idea if you want to show your customers that you're serious about future-proofing your smartphones, but is not so good if you can't stick to your schedule, which is what appears to have happened with the Optimus 2X.

LG Mobile Singapore have spilled the beans on Facebook that we won't be seeing the latest Android version on the 2X until Q3 of this year. This means the 2X is joining the ranks of several other Optimus smartphones which were (and hopefully continue to be) also slated for a Q3 update.

Whether this delay also affects the other LG smartphones on the update list remains to be seen. We'll be sure to let you know the moment we hear anything on that front.

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Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD will not hit AT&T's shelves

This is hardly a shocker given the fact that the device in question got unveiled a cool four months ago during CES. AT&T and Samsung have decided to abandon the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD.

Apparently, the launch of the AT&T version of the Samsung Galaxy S II HD LTE did not make any sense, given the announcement of the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S III last week, along with the handset's upcoming availability in the United States.

Curiously enough however, Mr. Bidan did not confirm the launch of the S III on AT&T's network. Instead, he mentioned that the smartphone will be available on "the fastest HSPA+ and LTE networks" in the U.S. this summer.

The good thing is that since AT&T fits the the description, we can more than reasonably expect 4.8" of Super AMOLED goodness to become available in the carrier's orange/white colored boxes in the nearest future.

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HTC Wildfire C live pictures are here, to be called Desire C

We first heard about HTC Golf back in March, thanks to a leaked camera sample. Then we saw a believable enough official render and we heard the phone would be called Wildfire C.

What we got today is the first live pictures of the device. It looks just like in those rendered images, but packs a different paintjob. Also, the image source claims, the smartphone will be called Desire C instead of Wildfire C though it certainly looks more like previous Wildfires than Desires.

HTC Desire C

The Desire/Wildfire C is rumored to feature a 3.5-inch HVGA screen, a single-core 800MHz or 1GHz processor, a 5 megapixel snapper, a front-facing video-call camera, 512MB RAM, 4 gigs of storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and a microSD slot.

The Desire C should be the HTCs most affordable droid running on Ice Cream Sandwich (with Sense UI 4.0 on top). It will probably be announced quite soon, as the release is rumored to come by the end of June.

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Samsung Galaxy Note finally gets the official Ice Cream Sandwich

Now we've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for this update to finally come. We even braved to try a leaked ROM to see how ICS would feel like on the Note. What can we say, even the Cyanogen team managed to produce a custom ICS ROM for the device before the manufacturer.

Never mind, the important thing is that the Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Samsung Galaxy Note is finally seeding to users across the world. So far there is no official statement by Samsung so the roll-out schedule is unclear. As usual with this sort of things, not everybody would get it at the same time, some regions and SIM-free devices will be first.

If you don't get a notification for the update over the air (as some lucky German users), you can also check with your Kies computer software.

As evident on the screenshot, the changelog is not that long, but the bump to the latest and greatest version of Android (ok, it's 4.0.3 so maybe not ultimately the latest) is certainly worth it and brings along a number of positive changes, which are not that easy to fit in a small changelog like this.

However, Samsung are quick to add additional info on their pre-installed premium apps via a short video ad, which was published about a month ago. Enjoy it below:

If you get your hands on an updated device, please let us know the country and your experience with it in the comments section below.

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Sony Xperia ST26i leaks for the first time

Yesterday the Sony LT29i Hayabusa leaked in a blurry shot. Shortly after that the official announcement came.

Today we have another Sony leak for you as the first images of the Sony ST26i surfaced. Obviously its an Xperia smartphone running on Android, but that's about as much as we can tell you about the specs. Unlike the Japan-bound duo unveiled earlier, though, this one keeps the capacitive keys instead of relying on on-screen buttons. Lets hope the ST26i wont be released with Gingerbread as the Xperia S and its smaller siblings.

Sony ST26i

There is one more interesting thing about the Xperia ST26i its the first Sony smartphone to lack the green globe logo since Sony purchased Ericsson's share in the joint venture.

We guess the announcement should happen soon.

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Sony GX and SX LTE droids going to Japan, one has a 13MP camera

Sony Mobile just announced two new LTE-capable Android smartphones for Japan. The Sony Xperia GX is the more interesting part of the duo as it combines the specs of an Xperia ion with a 13MP camera. The Sony Xperia SX is no slouch either - at 95g, Sony claims it to be the lightest LTE-enabled phone.

The Sony Xperia GX is the Sony LT29i Hayabusa that has leaked a few times (including some blurry shots of the device yesterday) and it probably uses Sony's new 13MP sensor.

Sony Xperia GX

The phone is modeled after the Xperia arc, but packs a 4.6" HD Reality display backed by the Mobile BRAVIA Engine, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 16GB of built-in storage and will launch in black and white, with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on board. It also has an HDMI port for FullHD video out.

The Sony Xperia SX uses a smaller, 3.7" Reality display, a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, 8GB of built-in storage and it will also launch in black and white with ICS out of the box. Its hook is that it weighs just 95g. The Xperia SX uses an 8MP camera, probably packing the other new sensor Sony announced at the beginning of this year.

Sony Xperia SX

The GX and the SX boast LTE connectivity that can go up to 72Mbps. They will also come with a Walkman app preloaded, which enables music player features like clear stereo, clear bass, VPT surround sound, manual equalizer and xLOUD.

The Sony Xperia GX and Xperia SX will be available in Japan from the summer, but Sony didnt give a more concrete date. Also, there's nothing on whether the company plans to bring a version of these phones in other parts of the world.

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RIM announces mid-range BlackBerry Curve 9320

A few weeks ago RIM launched the cheap Curve 9220 in India. Today it announced the Curve 9320, which is pretty much the same phone, but with a few additional extras.

The Curve 9320 packs a 2.44 non-touch QVGA display, a four-row QWERTY keyboard, a 3 megapixel snapper with LED flash (in contrast to the 2MP in the Curve 9220), 512MB RAM and 512MB ROM, FM radio and microSD card slot.

The new BlackBerry Curve 9320 offers better connectivity options compared to 9220 in addition to the quad-band GSM and Wi-Fi connectivity, you also get GPS with A-GPS and 3G with HSPA support. The phone runs on the latest BlackBerry OS 7.1, comes pre-loaded with some social clients and has a dedicated BBM hardware key.

The pricing and availability info is yet to come.

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Kyocera shows tough Hydro and QWERTY-packing Rise ICS droids

Kyocera (who you might remember from the dual-screened Echo) has come up with a pair of tough Androids - the Hydro and the Rise. Both are CDMA phones and run Google's latest, Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

The Kyocera Hydro is a standard slab measuring 115 x 62 x 12.8 mm and weighing 120g. It has a 3.5" HVGA IPS LCD screen, a 1GHz processor (Qualcomm MSM8655 Snapdragon chipset) with 512MB of RAM, a 3.2MP camera, a 1,500mAh battery and a 2GB microSD card in the box (plus 2GB of built-in storage).

The Hydro has IP57 protection rating, which means it can survive under a meter of water for up to 30 minutes and withstand water jets.

The Kyocera Rise has pretty much the same specs as the Hydro, though it's slightly thicker at 113.0 x 60.5 x 14.3 mm and 157g of weight. The difference here is that the Rise slides open to reveal a four-row QWERTY keyboard.

It doesn't have the water-resistant rating though.

There's no info on pricing yet or which carries will get the two tough droids, but we know they are expected to go on sale in the second half of this year.

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Is this the Sony LT29i Hayabusa first photo?

Sonys LT29i codenamed Hayabusa just cant wait for its official announcement. Its first leak was back in January - targeted launch and price. Then in April we got some leaked camera shots taken with the Hayabusa.

Today we finally got to see what the smartphone will look like thanks to a blurry cam photo. Its really bad and you can see almost no hardware details, but one thing is sure this is not Sony smartphone we've seen before.

Anyway, the Hayabusa is rumored to be a successor to the Xperia S and pack a 4.55-inch HD screen, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor (probably ST-Ericsson high-end SoC or Krait) and a 13 megapixel camera. The device should run on Android ICS.

According to the first leak, the Hayabusa should launch this July with a price tag of about 500. According to the same roadmap we should expect one more high-end Sony device to launch this year (in September). Judging by its 560 estimated price tag, it might turn out a tablet, though.

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Developer device running Tizen OS gets hands-on treatment

We have been hearing about Tizen for quite a while now but The Handheld Blog has gotten some hands-on time with a developer unit running the OS.

At first glance Tizen looks quite familiar to the TouchWiz implementation on Android but there are enough difference to set the two apart considerably. The apps seem to be placed directly on the homescreen like on iOS instead of a dedicated application drawer on Android.

There is a pull-down notification bar at the top but instead of the notification screen appearing on top of the current screen it just pushes the current screen down. Here you can also see TouchWiz style shortcut buttons for stuff like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Tizen uses a back key that always appears at the bottom right corner of the screen when you are within an app. In fact you get a bar at the bottom that houses all the application related functions that reminds a lot of Nokia Belle. To go to the homescreen, you click on the thin Home button in the top left corner of the screen that's always visible.

All the apps were in their early stages and the developer device didn't even have some apps like the camera. The performance was understandably a bit glitchy but despite this the browser performed very well and as we have seen before posted the best score for any mobile browser out there in HTML5test.

The developer device had a 1024 x 720 resolution display and a physical Home button although the final products can be completely buttonless, except for the usual power and volume buttons.

From the video, we weren't quite impressed and didn't see anything here that we haven't already on Android or Bada. Then again, the OS is still in its early stages but we don't see where Samsung could be going with this.

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Sony Xperia U and Xperia sola available in Hong Kong, Taiwan

Hong Kong and Taiwan are the first to get the Xperia U and Xperia sola, the first two Sony dual-core mid-range droids. The Xperia U got pushed back from the original May 7 launch date in the UK, but whatever the issues that caused it were, they didnt affect launch in the two Asian countries.

In Hong Kong, the Sony Xperia U will set you back HK$2,498 (246, $320), while its price in Taiwan is NT$9,900 (259, $337). That's about as much as the phone is expected to in Europe (204, 260, $338).

The Sony Xperia sola which packs more features (like tracking your fingers at a distance) is pricier - Hong Kong residents can grab it for HK$2,998 (295, $383), while people in Taiwan will have to shell out NT$10,900 (285, $370). Those prices are for the White and Black color versions, with the red one expected to arrive later on.

Taiwan can also look forward to the Sony Xperia P, which should arrive some time in May for NT$13,800 (360, $468). Mid-May is also when Europe (aside from the UK that is) should expect the Xperia P and U to land.

Thanks for the tip, Killing Spree.

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HTC sales bounce up in April, but still can't reach 2011 levels

The HTC sales numbers for April are in and the company might have finally turned the corner. After more than half a year of less than stellar market performance, the company sales are finally on a rise in April.

HTC reported consolidated sales of TWD 31.03 billion ($1.06 billion) for the previous month, which is slightly higher than the TWD30.879 billion ($1.05 billion) the company managed in March. That's the second consecutive month of sales growth and while the rate is pretty slow, it's a clear sign that the company is returning to the profitable ways.

However, HTC is yet to reach its 2011 performance levels. Even though April saw the market release of the One series, the company still didn't manage to match the TWD38.73 billion sales it got in last year's April. We expect the results for May to be better though, as the new hero devices of the Taiwanese company hit worldwide availability.

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HTC and Verizon announce DROID Incredible 4G LTE

Verizon and HTC just unveiled the new DROID Incredible 4G LTE smartphone. The ICS droid is yet another high-end device to join Verizons LTE gang.

The HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE packs a 4-inch qHD S-LCD screen and is built around a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 SoC (most probably MSM8960) with a dual-core 1.2GHz Krait processor and an Adreno 225 GPU.

The specs sheet also includes 1GB of RAM, 8 gigs of internal storage expandable via microSD slot, an 8MP snapper with 1080p video recording and LED flash, a front-facing video-call camera and a 1700mAh battery.

HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE

The connectivity department is as rich as it can get there is 4G LTE, all sorts of Wi-Fi goodies(a/b/g/n support, Direct, Hotspot, DLNA) and the latest Bluetooth 4.0 plus NFC. There is still no word on the FM radio and the international GSM networks support for roaming, but we guess both will be on board too.

Expectedly, the DROID Incredible 4G LTE runs on the latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich skinned with HTCs Sense UI v4.0.

The phone will become available in the next couple of weeks on Verizon, but the pricing is yet to be revealed.

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AT&T HTC One X not part of HTC's bootloader unlocking program

The AT&T version of the very impressive HTC One X will be landing in US tomorrow on May 6. Unfortunately, even before customers can get their hands on the phone, there is a disappointing bit of news waiting for them.

When The Verge reached out to HTC regarding the bootloader on the One X, which, as noticed by MoDaCo, is locked, the company responded by saying that due to some restrictions, the bootloader on the One X will not be unlockable.

As you may know, an unlocked bootloader is necessary for anyone wishing to experiment with custom ROMs on their Android devices. HTC, by default, sells their phones with locked bootloader, however, they they do offer the option for users to unlock the bootloader if they wish to. It is believed that the reason for the locked bootloader on the US version of One X is AT&T, who would understandably not want people to replace their version of the One X ROM with custom ROMs. This, however, goes against the open spirit of Android and is likely to be frowned upon by the developer community.

So are you still looking forward to getting your hands on the AT&T One X? Does an unlocked bootloader matter a lot to you? Let us know in the comments below.

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Motorola RAZR gets Android 4.0.4 ICS update in Greece

According to Motorola's Ice Cream Sandwich software update schedule, the GSM version of the RAZR is bound to get the desired Android update package any moment now. But as it happens, one happy RAZR owner in Greece got the official ICS update earlier than everyone else.

It all happened when the RAZR owner in question had a problem with his device and brought it to Greek carrier Cellcom's customer care center. When he collected it, he got a notification, and his smartphone updated to Android 4.0.4.

When asked if Greece is about to get the over-the-air ICS update, both Motorola and Cellcome responded negatively. Perhaps the guys in the customer care center flashed some of their internal testing ROMs, by mistake. This would suggest that even though the update isn't official just yet, it's already undergoing testing and it should become available soon.

As seen from the screenshot on the left, the firmware version has been named "EMEA" (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) meaning plenty of RAZR owners should be receiving good news soon.

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