Samsung unveils dual-sim Galaxy Ace Duos with GSM radios

The world-wide edition of the Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos is now official.

It's been a while since we saw the dual-mode version of the phone get announced for India. Now we finally have the two-SIM-slot variety intended for for international GSM markets.

international Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos

Specs-wise, the Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos is no surprise. There's a 3.5 HVGA (320x480px) LCD screen, 5MP camera with VGA video recording, 832MHz processor, 512MB RAM and Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The user-available on-board storage space is supposedly 3GB, but there's a microSD slot as well. The battery on this one is mere 1,300 mAh unlike the one on the CDMA variety, which is 1650 mAh. But hey, perhaps CDMA networks strain battery consumption harder.

The good news are that at 11.5mm thickness, the new dual SIM variety of the Galaxy Ace Duos is as slim as the original Galaxy Ace and it's less than 10g heavier.

The smartphone comes with Samsungs proprietary Dual SIM always on feature, which automatically forwards calls from SIM 2 to the SIM 1 when when the user is talking on SIM 1, meaning there are no calls missed calls.

The Galaxy Ace Duos will launch first in Russia this June but it will later roll out to the rest of Europe, CIS, Latin America, Southeast and Southwest Asia, Middle East, Africa, and China.

The GSM+CDMA version costs $340 in India, so we should probably expect similar pricing with the worldwide edition as well.

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Samsung Galaxy S III vs. Galaxy S II: Intergalactic

Introduction

With the dust still settling from one of the most exciting smartphone battles the industry has seen, and clouds of stardust swirling around a complete review, it's time to step back and take a sober look at two great phones. Two glorious chapters in Android history, two milestones on Samsung's rise to the top.

Keeping a cool head about gadgets like these two isn't the easiest of things but one has to be calm and rational in matters of upgrade and, ultimately, money. To get the obvious out of the way, the Samsung Galaxy S III boasts a massive HD screen and double the CPU cores of its predecessor. It's as simple as that - and more than enough for most people. What we're trying to do here is look closer at the differences between the two generations and find out what the upgrade costs and what it's worth.

The Samsung Galaxy S III is clearly the better equipped phone - it bests the S II on practically every count - but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the right Galaxy S for you.

Here's a quick list we threw together to help you get an idea of what Samsung improved on with the S III, but also why an S II might still be a smart buy.

Why the Galaxy S III is better

• Bigger, 720p screen
• Not slimmer, but the thickness is much more uniform
• Quad-core processor, faster graphics
• S Beam, S Voice, Smart stay, smart alarm, 50GB Dropbox and so on
• Better battery backup
• Snapping photos while recording FullHD video
• GLONASS support
• Bluetooth 4.0 LE
• 64GB storage option (comes with a price premium)

Why the Galaxy S II is still good enough

• Cheaper to buy new, plenty of second-hand deals too
• Smaller, lighter device
• SuperAMOLED Plus screen (has a full set of subpixels)
• Equally good camera with 8MP stills, 1080p video
• Same amount of RAM - 1GB
• Regular SIM slot

Of all the reasons listed, price is perhaps the biggest ace up the Galaxy S II's sleeve. Yes, it's gotten old, but it remains a very solid device, albeit in an upper-midrange position. Then there's the vibrant developer community around the S II, which might give it Android 5.0 Jellybean, even if Samsung decide not to do that officially.

Samsung Galaxy S II and Galaxy S III cohabitating in our office

On the other hand, if you are after the crme de la crme in the Android world, the list is pretty short and the SGS III is on it. Samsung have also treated the Galaxy S III as a droid royalty the smartphone is getting plenty of fancy accessories (wireless charging, AllShare Cast, the Pebble), fancy software (S Voice, etc.) and it's practically a lock for a Jellybean update.

To get the full picture, we'll need to look at hardware and software, performance and camera. The next page kicks things off with a look at the hardware and the screen.

Sony quietly removes Xperia PLAY from ICS update list

Xperia PLAY users waiting for the Android 4.0 update, we have some bad news for you. It seems that Sony won't be updating the ill-fated device to the latest version of Android.

Back in December last year when Sony (then Sony Ericsson) released the Android 4.0 update roadmap, the Xperia PLAY was part of the list of devices mentioned. However, the latest list put up on the Sony Mobile website does not mention the Xperia PLAY anywhere. Instead we can only see the following handsets.

We have always been disappointed with the way Sony Ericsson handled the Xperia PLAY. The phone definitely had great potential but was marred by mediocre specs and performance and now it won't even be getting the Android 4.0 update. Hopefully Sony will some day launch a true PlayStation phone, the kind that the world has been waiting for a long time.

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Untethered GreenPois0n Absinthe jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 now out

Even though we were anticipating a new jailbreak tool sooner or later, the unveiling came as a surprise today from the developer known as Pod2g. The Absinthe 2.0 was announced on-stage at the Hack in the Box 2012 in Amsterdam in a one more thing fashion.

The GreenPois0n Absinthe tool is rather easy to use as you'll notice in the tutorial in the source link at the bottom of this news post.

Supported devices include all A4 and A5 iOS devices (iPads, iPhones and iPod Touches). The only exception is the latest iPad 2, which has a 32nm A5 CPU. Support for that will be added later.

Get it HERE along with a tutorial how to use it. Update: Currently the download link is down and we are yet to find mirrors.

And don't forget, if you try it, let us know how it went.

Via | Source

Nokia confirms that Carla update for Symbian is not cancelled

A couple of days ago we ran a story that stated the Carla update for Nokia Belle has been cancelled. However, we have now been contacted by Nokia regarding this matter, stating that this is not the case at all.

What we know as Carla was essentially the codename for Belle Feature Pack 1. According to the Nokia employee who spoke to us, the Carla update, or Belle FP1 as it will be known as, is not cancelled and will start rolling out shortly. The first phone to run on this update will be the upcoming Nokia 808 PureView and soon some of the existing Nokia devices, which includes the Nokia 700, 701 and 603, will be updated to Belle FP1. Older phones such as the N8 and the E7 won't be getting this update, but there is something else called the Nokia Belle Refresh being planned for them.

The Belle FP1 update is supposed to bring features such as new set of widgets, improved browser with HTML5 support, Dolby Headphone, new version of Nokia Maps, improved notification bar and multitasking view, and the Microsoft Apps. The update will also increase the clock speed on the Nokia 700 and 701 from 1GHz to 1.3GHz.

You can find out more about the Belle FP1 update here.

Apple-Samsung court meeting fails to get an agreement

In an unsurprising turn of events, the meeting between the CEOs of Apple and Samsung at the request of the court failed to achieve its desired purpose, as the two companies couldn't come to an agreement.

The meeting was attended by Apple's CEO Tim Cook and Samsung's CEO Choi Gee-sung and head of the mobile division, Shin Jong-kyun and lasted for nine hours on Monday and seven hours on Tuesday. It was presided by Judge Joseph C. Spero and took place at the request of U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh last month.

Apple is currently suing Samsung for copying their designs and to get Samsung's products off the market whereas Samsung is suing Apple for using their wireless technology patents and asking Apple to pay royalties. This meeting was held in the hopes of the two companies forming an agreement but that did not happen.

We hope you haven't got tired of these court battles because they aren't going to stop any time soon.

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Nokia confirms working on multiple PureView phones

Love what Nokia has done with the camera on the 808 PureView? Well, then there is a lot more where that came from. Nokia's Head of Product Marketing, Vesa Jutila confirmed to Engadget that a lot more of such devices are in the pipeline.

These upcoming phones will have high resolution sensors, quality Carl Zeiss optics and the PureView wizardry but in a slimmer form-factor. Obviously then the phones won't have the same 41 megapixel resolution because you can't have the best of both worlds, yet.

Unfortunately, he did not say anything about a PureView Lumia phone but we wouldn't be surprised if some of these phones that Jutila mentioned are running Windows Phone.

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LG LS860 "Cayenne" emerges in a blurry shot

Here's another proof that the hardware QWERTY droids are not completely on the way out, folks. LG LS860 has leaked in a blurry shot. The device, which is internally known as "Cayenne", is bound to hit Sprint Wireless's LTE network later this year.

Some specs of the LG LS860 have been revealed as well. They include a dual-core CPU and Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 chipset, 4-inch WVGA IPS screen, LTE connectivity, Android ICS, and, of course, a slide-out QWERTY with five rows.

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HTC releases its Android 4.0 update roadmap

HTC has released a list of phones that they will be updating to Android 4.0 this year. Along with the names of the phones, they also mention the time period during which you can expect the update to arrive for the respective handsets.

From the list, the only phones that have already received the update or are in the process of receiving it are the four Sensation handsets and the HTC Vivid. Other noteworthy phones in the list includes the EVO 3D and Rezound, which will get the update by June-July and the Thunderbolt, which will get the update by July-August.

It's also nice to see older phones like the Desire S and the Incredible S on the list as well, with both getting the update by June-July. What's even more surprising is the presence of the Desire HD in the list, a phone that launched back in 2010 that will soon be rocking the latest version of Android. Kudos to HTC for that.

All handsets that get Android 4.0 will also be upgraded to Sense 3.6.

HTC has also mentioned which devices won't be updated to ICS. This includes phones like the ChaCha, Salsa, Wildfire S and Explorer. It also includes HTC's tablets, namely the Flyer, EVO View 4G and the Jetstream. HTC has clarified that despite not getting the next version of Android, these devices will continue to receive software updates and support.

For the full list of handsets, click on the source link below.

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Nokia drops support for Skype app on the Lumia 610

Nokia has announced that it is dropping support for the Skype app for Windows Phone on their recently announced Lumia 610. The reason for this, according to them, is the below par user experience of using the app on this particular device.

The following is the full explanation from Nokia regarding the matter:

Nokia values the user experience provided by its products and services. Therefore, although the Skype Windows Phone version is workable on Nokia Lumia 610, after in-depth testing, we found that the user experience is not up to par with Nokia and Skypes expectation and decided not recommending users using Skype on Nokia Lumia 610. In the future, users of Nokia Lumia 610 would no longer be able to download Skype Windows Phone version from Window Phone Marketplace. However, Skype Windows Phone version would still be available for other users.

The reason for the poor experience is likely to be the 800MHz processor and the 256MB of RAM on the Lumia 610, whereas every other Windows Phone currently available has 1GHz processor and 512MB of RAM. We find this a bit strange, due to Nokia's close relationship to Microsoft and with Microsoft actually owning Skype now, as to how they didn't manage to iron the issues out and make the app work properly on the Lumia 610.

This also makes us worry about how current apps will work when even more Windows Phones with slower processors and lower memory start rolling out later this year with the Tango update. If people who own Skype have been unable to optimize it properly for the lesser hardware, we wonder if third party developers will be able to do it.

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New OmniVision camera sensor shoots 16MP stills, 4K video

If you haven't heard of OmniVision, you should know make some pretty good camera sensors (the one in the iPhone 4, for example). Today they outed the OV16820, a 16MP sensor intended for use in digital cameras and the high-end smartphones

The sensor measures 1/2.3" and uses OmniVision's OmniBSI-2 technology with 1.34 micro pixel pitch. It's capable of outputting 16MP (4608 x 3456) photos at 30fps in burst mode and 4K2K (3840 x 2160, four times the resolution of 1080p) video at 60fps.

The new OmniVision sensor also supports on-chip pixel binning (2x2 and 3x3) and resampling. Pixel binning is a popular way to improve quality when the needed resolution is lower than the sensor resolution (so, it will work for 1080p and 720p, videos but not 4K2K).

All this sounds pretty awesome - burst shot mode is becoming more important (as the HTC One phones and Samsung Galaxy S III will tell you) - and 16MP cameraphones are already on the market (HTC Titan II).

As for the 4K2K video, it's a nice dream but we don't think we'll see it in a phone soon - processing four times as many pixels as FullHD (especially at 60fps) is too much burden even for the current smartphone chipsets.

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Galaxy S III AT&T and T-Mobile US versions confirmed

Bluetooth SIG approval pages have confirmed the existence and model numbers of the AT&T and T-Mobile US versions of the Samsung Galaxy S III.

The AT&T model number is SGH-I747 and should be based on the Snapdragon S4 chipset with a dual-core Krait CPU instead of the Cortex-A9 found on the international version. The reason for the switch is once again the lack of native LTE support on the Exynos 4 Quad.

Samsung Galaxy S III US-bound models

The T-Mobile-bound Galaxy S III version will be called SGH-T999, but its unclear what chipset will reside inside its body.

Never mind the photos, both devices will look different from the international version for sure and will will almost certainly replace the one-regular-and-two touch-buttons combo with four capacitive keys. There's also a good chance that one (or even both) of them will have 2GB RAM as the Japanese version.

The US release of the Galaxy S III is coming next month, so we should know more about the two devices soon.

Source 1 | Source 2 | Via

iPhone with 3.9-inch 640 x 1136 pixel display in testing

Two iPhones are reportedly currently in testing over at Apple - codenamed N41AP (or 5,1) and N42AP (5,2). They are enclosed in generic cases to hide the design and offer larger displays with a higher resolution.

The exact specs of the new display are 3.95" diagonal and 640 x 1136 pixel resolution. Those numbers suggest a pixel density of around 330 ppi, which is nearly identical to the 329 ppi on the iPhone 4 and 4S, so the "Retina" moniker will remain intact. The hypothesis is that the screen will still measure 4.93 cm in width but at 8.76 cm it will be notably taller than the one on current-gen iPhone.

If this information turns out true it will mean that the next iPhone will sport an aspect ratio of 16:9 and not the current 3:2 one. The bigger display would also require the upcoming iOS 6 to be optimized to fit more content on the bigger screen. Supposedly Apple is currently testing a custom build of iOS 6 with a fifth row of icons above the docked ones.

Finally, reports are coming in that the next-gen iPhone will retain the home button (but perhaps it will be reduced in size) and utilize a smaller dock connector. We'll have to wait and see what the iPhone 5 (or the new iPhone, sigh) will actually be, but one thing is certain - with the huge screens fitted on the latest Android flagships many iPhone users are rightfully starting to feel a little jealous and it's about time Apple did something about it.

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Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 now on sale in the UK and Germany

The Samsung Galaxy Ace 2, a budget dual-core droid, has gone on sale in the UK and in Germany. Besides the dual-core processor, the Ace 2 also brings a bigger, better screen, more RAM and built-in storage over its predecessor. You can check out our preview for more info.

Anyway, in the UK the Galaxy Ace 2 can be had from Carphone Warehouse on contract (18 and 24 month contracts are available) on Vodafone, Orange, O2 and Talkmobile. The price starts at free with 20 a month (for 24 months) or 36 a month (for 12 months). Phones4U also has several on-contract deals.

If you don't want a new contract, Amazon UK will set you up with a new SIM-free Galaxy Ace 2 for 215.

In Germany, the phone (with NFC) is available for 0,01 with a contract or 264 off contract from Guenstiger. Amazon Germany carries it for 284 with NFC and 320 without (a spot of weird pricing here on Amazon's part).

If you find the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 in other stores, leave a link in the comments - the other readers will appreciate it.

A hat tip to payntrix for sending this in!

China approves Google and Motorola Mobility merger

Three months following US and EU approval, China has given Google's Motorola acquisition the green light.

Now that all of the regulatory red tape has been removed, Google say that the deal will be finalized on their end by early next week. Such a quick timeframe indicates that this was indeed the last barrier that Google needed to overcome in order to finalize things, having already received joint approval from the European Union and US Department of Justice back in February.

The $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility is said to give Google access to close to 17,000 mobile patents, which should give them ample ammunition in the legal battles they are currently embroiled in with Apple.

One condition that China stipulated in its approval was for Google to guarantee free access to the Android operating system for at least the next five years, although we hardly see them charging for it anytime in the near future.

Source | Via

Sony Xperia P, U and sola availability extends to Europe, US

The availability of three of Sony's latest Xperia phones has widened to include Europe, it is getting a foothold in the States too and various other countries as well. The Sony Xperia U and P have been available in Hong Kong and Taiwan for a while now, but they've finally traveled west.

Here's a list of e-tailers that offer the Xperia U, Xperia P and Xperia sola that we've found so far. The list isn't complete, so drop us a line in the comments if you find more.

Samsung Galaxy S II now shipping with Android 4.0 ICS

If you intend to buy a Galaxy S II, there is some good news for you. It seems Samsung is shipping all new Galaxy S II units with pre-installed Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

We've only received confirmation from the Indian market, but we guess other areas are getting the same treatment.

The ICS update for the Galaxy S II has been around for a while but lots of people will appreciate the fact that Samsung spared them the effort of upgrading.

If you insist on getting an ICS-bundled Galaxy S II, look out for units imported in April 2012 or later. In case you get an older device after all, dont worry the update is delivered OTA, so you'll only need a Wi-Fi network to apply it.

Thanks to Amberdeep Singh for sending this in!

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First sample photos from the Sony Xperia GX appear

The first camera samples from the 13MP camera of the Sony Xperia GX are out (through unofficial means, but still). The shots themselves are taken with an pre-release unit and indoors under not-so-good lighting, so it's too early to be talking image quality, but this leak still holds some very interesting details.

First off, the photos were taken at the DoCoMo Smartphone Lounge where a demo unit of the Xperia GX was available. The shots have 4128 x 3096 resolution, which falls short of 13 million pixels. The EXIF data reports an F/2.4 aperture and 4mm focal length.

Leaked sample shots from the Sony Xperia GX

The device's model is listed as "SO-04D" - matching the model number of NTT DoCoMo's device - but the person who took the shots claims the device on display was actually the rumored international version of the Xperia GX (the one with the Xperia logo above the screen).

Sony is still mum on whether the GX (and the SX too) will see an international launch. And it's odd that the international version would be displayed at the DoCoMo lounge. So, it goes without saying that a non-Japanese Xperia GX is still only a rumor.

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