One of the best things about Android devices is that they come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, and what you see above is one of the two landline based DECT cordless Android powered phones from Motorola. The question is, what’s the point?  Everyone has cell phones these days and we’re not sure where the market is for something like this.

Regardless, the two devices are named the HS1101 and MBP2000PU, they run Ice Cream Sandwich OS and feature a 3.2 inch LCD display with a resolution of 400 x 240.  The Wi-Fi-equipped handsets are virtually identical, differing only in color – while one is silver and white, the other one is glossy black. The phones are also coming with a front-facing cam with video capture, stereo 1.5-watt speakers, microSD storage, micro-USB and a standard headphone port. You will be able to download apps, while a few like Aldiko E-book Reader and a Digital Answer Machine come preloaded.  Ok, so maybe they will be good for video calls over Wi-Fi. But we have to admit, when it comes to the design, the devices do not look that pretty. They certainly appear to have the qualities to be smart home phones. Those who haven’t yet abandoned their landlines can check the devices out, and since they have just passed through the FCC, we are expecting both models to arrive sometime soon.

Just to let you know, Archos also has a home phone that run Android, but it is running the now ancient Froyo.

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It may not be coming jam-packed with features as the new iPad which becomes available today for the cost of an arm and leg, and it may not be as thin as the teased stainless steel Archos slate, but it certainly is unbeatable when it comes to its price tag. The ridiculously cheap Aakash 2 tablet, which is the successor to the $35 Aakash tablet designed for the students in India, will be launched in the country in the coming month with a price tag of just $40.

Yes, you heard that right, the device will cost only that much. And although it can never be placed alongside all the high-end tablets out there, it features some better components when compared to its predecessor and is expected to come with improved performance (and don’t forget the $40 price).

The new Aakash will come equipped with a 700MHz Cortex A8 processor, a 3200 mAh battery (promises 3 hours of use), 512 MB of RAM and a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen display (replaces the resistive one). That may not look too great, but the previous Aakash lasts just around 2 hours and its performance was not that awesome either.

Although some are saying that the device will run Android 2.2 Froyo, it might arrive with Gingerbread on board. In case you are new to the OS, ICS is never going to arrive. And support for Android Market, now called the Google Play Store, is also a possibility.

The Indian government wants to see a tablet in the hands of every student in the country within the next five to six years. That’s a mighty big task in a country which is home to over 1.2 billion people. Makers DataWind have promised to bring out 100,000 units, although that’s not going to be nearly enough.

[ source ]

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Aside from swapping out the name, NEC doesn’t appear to have changed very much with this since we saw it in January. There are two seven-inch 800×600 displays, but they are sadly both of the resistive touchscreen variety. I guess you need the precision of a stylus to write certain Japanese characters, but capacitive really should be expected in this day and age.

The other big downer? There’s absolutely no mention of any Honeycomb action for this poor tablet, getting stuck with a stretched out version of Android 2.2 Froyo. It also doesn’t help that there’s only 384MB of RAM and a mere five hours of battery life. A Cortex A8 processor runs the show, but they’re not talking about clock speeds.

I don’t mind the idea of a tablet with two touchscreens, since it’s almost like a netbook without a physical keyboard, but the NEC LifeTouch W isn’t really the way to go about doing it. Look at the size of those bezels too! In any case, it’s set to ship to Japanese retailers next month.

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“256-bit AES data encryption and controls which will allow IT administrators to remotely control the phone i.e. lock/data wipe in case it gets stolen or lost.”

You get Froyo, a 3.1-inch HVGA display, that QWERTY keyboard you’ve come to love, corporate mail, world mode for international roaming, 3G hotspot, 5MP camera, Bluetooth 2.1, and access to Android Market of course. Look for the XPRT to hit the usual channels on June 5 for $129.99 on an eligible two-year contract.

Tapping into the bread and butter of Nextel, we have the Motorola Titanium. It’s the first Nextel Direct Connect smartphone with Android 2.1. Going beyond the PTT function, the Motorola i1 successor gets a 3.1-inch touchscreen, military grade toughness, QWERTY keyboard, corporate mail, 5MP cam, GPS, and stereo Bluetooth.   They’re not as sexy or svelte as the consumer-targeted smartphones, but these are more suitable for guys working in the field.  No word on Titanium availability just yet.

The post Motorola XPRT Smartphone is the Android Blackberry appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Apple has the iPhone and the iPod touch. Samsung tried that with the Galaxy Player and now it’s updating the line with a couple new phone-less multimedia devices. The Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 4.0 and Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 are exactly what you think they are.

They’re basically the Galaxy S smartphone, but without the phone part of the equation. They both run on Android 2.2 Froyo and come powered by a 1GHz processor. As their names imply, the WiFi 4.0 has a 4-inch WVGA Super Clear LCD, while the WiFi 5.0 has a 5-inch WVGA TFT LCD. Sorry, no AMOLED action here.

The rest of the specs include a 3.2MP camera, VGA front cam, stereo FM radio, GPS, microSD expansion, accelerometer, digital compass. The Galaxy S WiFi 4.0 has a smaller 1200mAh battery, while the 5.0 goes much bigger with its 2500mAh battery.

There isn’t too much that’s terribly exciting here, but they could make for useful Android handhelds if you’re not so inclined to get the phone and 3G part of the equation. Expect the 4.0 to hit Russia and 5.0 to hit Switzerland first, with the rest of the world slowly following in the coming months.

The post Forget the Phone with Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 4.0 and 5.0 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

That’s right. It’s all official and kosher now. The newest update pushes a real build of Android 2.2 Froyo to the device, effectively rendering it into a real tablet. There are some limitations — like only getting apps that B&N gives the thumbs up — but you are getting apps.

B&N will approve apps that are “suitable” for the Nook Color’s “reading-centric existence” and its 7-inch screen. Games like Angry Birds and Yoo Ninja probably work, as do “reading” related apps like Pulse News and Epicurious. For now, there are about 125 apps ready to go on the Nook Color.

Along with the official introduction of apps, the update also brings a better web browser (with Flash support), email and calendar programs, page-turning animations, and so on.

No, the Nook Color won’t exactly hold its own against something like a Motorola Xoom, but it costs less than half as much and can easily handle more than half the workload. At $250 with all kinds of official support, that’s tough to beat.

[B&N]

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When the iPhone arrived on the scene it quickly rose to dominate the smartphone world. Then, Android came along and it has steadily increased its market share until it was king of the hill. In much the same way, the iPad is currently dominating the tablet world, but Android tablets are rising to the forefront too. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a prime example of that.

The Samsung Galaxy S line of smartphones (along with its successors) has reached quite the audience and Samsung wants to do the same with its tablet. Is the Galaxy Tab up to the task? Let’s have a look.

Features and Specs

The Galaxy Tab being featured in this review is the 3G model, very similar to the upcoming WiFi-only version, except of course this model uses the “Rocket Internet” from Rogers for up to 7.2Mbps 3.5G connectivity.

Running through the rest of the spec sheet we find Android 2.2 Froyo, a 7-inch 1024×600 WSVGA TFT touchscreen, integrated WiFi and GPS, 3.0MP rear camera, 1.3MP front camera, 16GB internal memory, microSD expansion, and your choice of either a black or white back.

The picture quality is about what you’d expect from a device like this, falling just short of par when compared to some of the more modern smartphones with their 5MP or even 8MP cameras. Resolution isn’t everything, of course, and the camera was able to reduce some noise under lower light conditions by smoothing the image; this results in a loss of detail, but a smoother photo overall.

First Impressions and Build Quality

Just like the first generation iPad, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is a little thicker and heavier than you might expect. It measures 190.1 x 120.4 x 11.98mm and tips the scales at 375 grams. The thickness isn’t a big deal (thinner isn’t always better), but I would have liked it if the Galaxy Tab joined up with Jenny Craig for a little while.

Build quality is very solid, despite having “just” a plastic back. You never get the sense that this product is particularly fragile and I personally find the seven-inch size to be perfectly suitable for a tablet. In fact, I had no trouble fitting it into the side pocket in my cargo pants. It would have been nice if the bezel wasn’t quite so thick though; much like the Captivate.

Navigating the User Interface

I wouldn’t say that Android 2.2 Froyo is bad. I wouldn’t even say that Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface is bad either. They both do the job just fine on smartphones, complete with live wallpapers, home screen widgets, and multiple home screens. The trouble is that Froyo is for phones, not tablets.

When you scroll your way around this tablet you really feel like you just got the Hummer of smartphones. It doesn’t feel particularly like a “tablet” experience as much as it does like a “big phone” experience. This is a common observation and it is certainly something worth thinking about.

Samsung thinks so too. That’s why the next Galaxy Tab will get Android 3.0 Honeycomb instead. That will be optimized for tablet use, making better use of the bigger screen.

Daily Performance and Battery Life

The good thing about Android 2.2 and TouchWiz is that there is a built in task manager, this means no messing around with one of those third party “app killer” apps. And you need this task manager, because it seems like the Galaxy Tab can’t keep up under a heavier load.

Running one or two apps at a time (in true multitasking fashion) doesn’t seem to be too much trouble unless one of these requires a little more processing power. While playing Angry Birds Rio I experienced some significant lag and stuttering at times. I believe this might have been due to a couple of apps that were running in the background, and the issue is just exacerbated by Angry Birds stages that were a little more complex.

The touchscreen, while responsive, has two issues worth mentioning. First, it seems to be a really bad fingerprint magnet. An oleophobic coating would have been useful in this regard… or you can help it out by adding a screen protector. Second, there can be a fair bit of glare under certain lighting conditions, not only reducing your viewing angles but also making the display less than useful at times.

In general, day-to-day performance can hold up, so long as you are aware of these kinds of limitations. Outside of the more complex games, I rarely experienced much (noticeable) lag. Network speeds are respectable too. While I wasn’t able to achieve the theoretical maximum of 7.2Mbps, I was able to get 3.3Mbps down and 3.2Mbps up through the Rogers HSPA network in Vancouver.

Battery life is reasonably respectable for a tablet too. Depending on how you use it, you should be able to get a solid day or more on a single charge. Naturally, if you’re playing games for hours on end, that’ll cut your time short. They claim up to nine hours of battery for music playback, for instance.

Bottom Line

The good news is that you can get the current Samsung Galaxy Tab for $200 on contract through Rogers. In the US, you have your choice at any of the carriers with packages starting at $200.  The bad news is the outright price is a cool $624.99, which is only $25 cheaper than the equivalent iPad 2 (16GB Wi-Fi + 3G). Bear in mind that the latter appears to offer better performance, more apps, and more of a “newness” factor.

The current Galaxy Tab isn’t a bad device by any stretch, but it could do a lot better. If you’re in the market for something like this and you can wait it out, I’d rather save a few hundred dollars and get the WiFi-only Galaxy Tab; or wait until the Honeycomb-loaded version hits the shelves. The “stuttering” performance at times and the non-tablet optimized UI hurt this product’s chances against the Cupertino juggernaut.

That said, I have faith that Android tablets will eventually usurp the iPad. It’ll just take time and the current Galaxy Tab isn’t the one that’s going to do it.

The post Samsung Galaxy Tab Android 2.2 Tablet Review appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Early last month, we caught the official word about the Kyocera Echo. It’s kind of like a Nintendo DS, except both displays are touchscreens and it just so happens to be an Android smartphone to boot. Now, you can preorder the device.

Sprint is now accepting pre-orders on the double-screened wonder and you should expect to have it in your hands on or around April 17. They’re calling for a cool two hundred bucks on a two-year contract, after you deal with that pesky $100 mail-in rebate too.

Given the push toward slim and sleek devices, I’m not convinced that people will want a double-screener like the Kyocera Echo, but the bigger (combined) real estate (4.7-inches) could help bridge the gap between smartphone and tablet. Too bad there’s no 4G and no Gingerbread for this, but at least you get some Snapdragon action.

[Read]

The post Preorders Start for Dual-Screen Kyocera Echo Android Smartphone from Sprint appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

That’s for a good number of you, anyway. If you happen to be rocking something with Android 2.2 Froyo, Android 2.3 Gingerbread, or Android 3.0 Honeycomb, you can go on over to Android Market and download Adobe Flash 10.2. Dual core smatphones get increased performance and the tablets are supposed to get better battery life as a result. Some reviews are coming in stating that 10.2 will “play videos smoother.”

While having two cores in your processor probably helps (though not always, as evidenced by the stellar performance of the mere 800MHz unit on the T-Mobile G2), a single core Android device should handle Flash 10.2 too… it just might not fare as well. Engadget found a 480p YouTube clip to be “fairly jerky” on the Droid 2, but it was “perfectly smooth” on the Xoom.

With hardware acceleration around the corner, dual core pads should even support 720p video playback at a “really smooth, enjoyable level.” Given these advances, would you choose a Xoom over an iPad? They do cost the same after all.

[Android Market]

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You have a lot of choices when it comes to Android smartphones. There are some very appealing devices from the likes of Motorola, HTC, and Samsung, for example. Over at Rogers Wireless, they’ve recently released the Acer Liquid MT. As you can imagine, this is the follow-up to the Acer Liquid E.

The newer model has pretty much the same form factor with rounded edges at the top and the bottom. As the name implies, they’ve also added in a significant dose of metal to replace the plastic of old. The four main Android “buttons” below the screen are capacitive and the touchscreen itself is marginally larger at 3.6 inches.

Quick Spec Sheet Check

As a speedy rundown of what else you can expect, the Acer Liquid MT ships with Android 2.2 Froyo, does the HSPA 14.4Mbps thing, and has integrated WiFi-N and GPS. Other highlights include the 5.0 megapixel camera (no front camera), 512MB internal memory, microSD expansion, and the special Acer UI.

A clever inclusion is at the very top of the phone where you find the 3.5mm headphone jack. It may look like any other piece of chrome, but hidden beneath that are three little icons: battery, message, and missed call. This way, you can see if you need to respond to an email or plug into the wall without having to unlock the phone.

A Phone in the Hand Beats Two in the…

In terms of first impressions, the Acer Liquid MT is quite the hefty beast. By going with more of a metal finish and choice of materials, this smartphone is decidedly heavier than its plastic-clad counterparts. It just feels heavy and bulky in the hands, which isn’t helped by the sizable bezel around the sub-4.0 inch screen.

If you’ve ever held the BlackBerry Torch 9800 in your hands, then you’ll have a pretty good sense of how the Liquid MT feels. It’s heavy and it’s substantial, which may or may not be to your liking. I much preferred the thinner and lighter weight feel of the Samsung Galaxy S Captivate over this phone.

A Word on the Interface

I’ve had a shot at a few of the different manufacturer-specific skins for Android. HTC does the Sense thing, Motorola has MOTOBLUR, and so on. The Acer UI is no exception, but I’m not really sure it’s my cup of tea.

For instance, I’ve grown accustomed to holding down the “home” button in order to bring up some of my most recently used apps. That isn’t how this works. When you hold “home” on the Liquid MT, the Acer UI pops up with your missed calls, local weather and so on. Instead, you get back to the home screen, swipe to the side, and see the history of your activity. I suppose this achieves the same thing, but I prefer the “hold the home button” approach.

The app arrangement, on the other hand, is reasonable. You have two lines of four icons each that are “docked” to the bottom of the home screen. When you swipe up to see the rest of your apps, these eight icons remain “locked” at the top. The rest of your apps are then arranged on pages, not unlike iOS.

General Performance

Even though it’s not quite a gigahertz processor, the 800MHz Scorpion processor and Adreno 205 GPU are able to hold their own for most of the daily activities that you’d have on this phone. Angry Birds was smooth, YouTube playback wasn’t a concern, and everything ran quite smoothly.

It’s not really enough to make this phone stand out from the rest of the Android-fueled crowd, but it’s holding its own too.

Using the 5.0 Megapixel Camera

No one should really expect a camera phone to be as good as a real phone, but there are lots of smartphones that are really starting to challenge that assumption. The iPhone 4 is one example. The Nokia N8 is another. Unfortunately, the Acer Liquid MT does not fall into this realm.

As you can see from my sample photo, there is very significant noise throughout. You pick up on some details, to be sure, but that grainy noise just isn’t acceptable. Here is another sample. To make matters worse, the camera won’t even work if you don’t have a microSD card inserted. It comes with a 2GB card, but be prepared to buy your own higher capacity storage.

Conclusion

The Acer Liquid MT has some interesting things going for it. The curved screen is an interesting approach and I like the “hidden” notification lights at the top. Performance is reasonable and it’s among the cheaper Android smartphones when you buy into a contract with Rogers. Having Froyo out of the box isn’t bad either, considering that only the Nexus S is currently shipping with Gingerbread.

On the flip side, there are more than a few downsides to this phone. I’m not a fan of the extra weight and thickness, for instance, nor do I like the heavy noise exhibited by the 5.0-megapixel camera. This is going to be a personal preference thing, but I’ll still take HTC Sense UI (or vanilla Android) over the Acer UI. It’s also a pain that not only do you have to remove the battery cover, but the battery itself to replace the microSD card… which is necessary for taking photos.

It’s too bad that Rogers doesn’t have a newer HTC Android smartphone (yet), but you’re better off going with the Captivate from Samsung if that’s how you swing. This Acer just isn’t as good, but I guess that is reflected in its relatively lower price.

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