Today Sony Ericsson presented their latest Greenheart tree-hugging phones - the aptly named Elm and Hazel. Those two are no slackers in functionality as they come with Wi-Fi, GPS and pioneer social networking integration via homescreen widgets. They also pack some innovative sound enhancing technologies such as Noise Shield, Clear Voice and Intelligent Volume Adaptation.

Both the Elm and the Hazel have splash-resistant, curved designs meant to fit better in the palm of your hand.

Sony Ericsson Hazel

The Sony Ericsson Elm and Hazel pack 5 megapixel auto focus cameras, Wi-Fi connectivity and GPS receivers complete with the preinstalled Google Maps and Wisepilot mapping applications.

The Sony Ericsson Hazel has a thickness of 16 mm and a weight of 160 g. It packs a 2.6-inch 16M color QVGA display.

The Sony Ericsson Elm has a thickness of 14 mm and a weight of 90 grams. The Elm screen however is only 2.2 inches with 262K color support and QVGA resolution.

Sony Ericsson Elm

Again, both the Elm and Hazel have quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support and dual-band HSPA (2100/900). Interestingly the devices are also HD Voice ready thanks to the AMR-WB audio codec.

Sony Ericsson *feature* phones are also obviously getting in on the game of social networking. The company is introducing a new homescreen widget system. It would allow direct integration with services such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.

Another first from Sony Ericsson is the online backup of personal information at sonyericsson.com. There are no further details about the service mentioned, but we guess you'd be able to recover all your info if your phone gets stolen.

Both the Elm and the Haze have rich multimedia features including support for SensMe, TrackID, and MegaBass. Screen auto rotation is also available thanks to the built-in accelerometer.

Interestingly, Sony Ericsson mention a microUSB charger in the retail packages of both phones, which would make them the second and third phones by the manufacturer to feature that port after the XPERIA X10. Unfortunately, it's clearly visible from the shots that the Hazel and Elm both have proprietary FastPorts on their sides.

The Sony Ericsson Elm will be available in Metal Black and Pearly Rose from Q1 2010. The Sony Ericsson Hazel will be available in Superior Black and Passionate Rouge from Q2 2010.

Tags: Samsung, Android, Touch UI

Samsung I5700 Galaxy Spica, or Galaxy Lite, if you prefer, is official as it gets. Not only is the I5700 the fastest gun in the Android crowd with its 800MHz CPU, but it's also cheaper than the original Samsung Galaxy.
But let's start from the basics - the Samsung I5700 Galaxy Spica has been sitting in our rumor mill section for a while now and it seemed to be the baby brother of I7500 Galaxy, which we reviewed just recently. The "Galaxy Lite" certainly seemed to suggest it.
The CPU is interesting because the original Galaxy ran the 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7200A processor. But with 800MHz the Spica beats even the Acer Liquid, which until now held the crown for speediest CPU in the Android world - a 768MHz Snapdragon. Liquid still has a lead in RAM - 256MB - versus the 128 of both Galaxy phones.

Samsung I5700 Galaxy Spica (aka Galaxy Lite) is official

The rest of the features are very close to those of I7500 Galaxy, save for the lack of internal memory and the camera. Galaxy Spica comes with a 3.2MP camera and support for microSD cards up to 32GB instead. The display is the same size at 3.2" (though the press release is mum about whether it's AMOLED and capacitive or not) as is the battery of 1,500mAh. The I5700 is a "Google experience" phone, so it's connected to Google's services.
The Samsung I5700 Galaxy Spica will be available in Russia in November for 1,4000 rubles (320 euro or 480 dollars). There's no word on availability in other locations but it shouldn't be long now.

Tags: Motorola, Touch UI, Android, Rumors

Motorola obviously are expanding their Android portfolio in all directions with China being one of them. The leaked images of a prototype called Zeppelin show a full touch phone with a 5 megapixel camera and dual mode dual SIM networking.

The new Motorola Zeppelin appeared on a Chinese (what else) website and show some intriguing features. The Zeppelin is supposed to have a 3.1-inch touchscreen with 480 x 320 pixel resolution, 5 megapixel snapper with LED flash, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, HSPA capabilities, FM radio and HDMI output.

Motorola Zeppelin

If the specs sheet looks pretty standard to you, except for the HDMI part, of course, you may reconsider when you learn that Motorola Zeppelin will pack two SIM slots - one for the GSM and another for the CDMA network (if SIMs what they're using anyway).

The rumor points to Q1 2010 as expected release date, but the Zeppelin is expected to hit only China. Sorry folks!

Today Acer officially announced the Android-running Liquid full touchscreen handset. Rumors about the handset have been swarming online for several months but it's only now that it gets a proper announcement and we can safely say it's the most powerful Android handset to date (if we don't count the rumored XPERIA X3, of course).

Strangely enough Acer didn't show any photo of the device itself but as far as the specs go, there's no stopping it from becoming one of the hottest names of the season.

Acer Liquid packs a 1GHz Qualcomm 8250 Snapdragon CPU, identical to the ones found in HTC HD2, Toshiba TG01 and its cousin Acer neoTouch S200 (pictured on the left). The handset will run on Android OS ver. 1.6 (codenamed Donut) and will have an Acer home brew UI preinstalled.

The Liquid will pack the first 3.5" WVGA display in the Android world. It will use the capacitive technology as its siblings but the size and resolution advantage turn it into a real winner - at least on paper.

The other highlight features of the Acer Liquid include quad-band GSM support, HSPDA 7.2Mbps, HSUPA, Wi-Fi, and GPS. Despite not being mentioned in the press release, we can also expect a 5 MP camera, stereo FM radio, microSD card slot as well as Bluetooth and USB connectivity.

We are yet to see any information about the availability and the pricing of the Acer Liquid. Oh yeah, a photo or two wouldn't be too bad either.

Source

So that's that with the development of Nokia Ovi Suite 2.0. The application has now officially graduated from Beta status and its version 2.0.0.10 release is already being distributed to current beta users as we speak.

In the words of Nokia BetaLabs developers, the new Nokia Ovi Suite 2.0 is now "the one and only Nokia desktop application" phasing out the use of the various separately available desktop apps by Nokia such as Nokia PC Suite, Nokia Nseries PC Suite, Nokia Ovi Suite, Nokia Software Updater, Nokia Map Loader, Nokia Music, Nokia Lifeblog, Nokia Photos, Nokia Device Status, and Nokia PC Suite Enterprise Edition.

The existing Ovi Suite 2.0 beta users can get the release through the Web update, while the rest can find it at the Nokia website. The Ovi Suite will also be making its way into product CD/DVDs in Nokia handsets retail packages.

According to the Finish company the final version of the Ovi Studio has made the best use of the massive feedback it has received from the beta testers. The issues should all be solved and the app should be much more stable (and hopefully even more useful) now.

Currently Nokia Ovi Suite 2.0 supports exactly 142 different device models from Nokia (the number grows beyond 200, if you count in all different variants). You can download it by following this direct link (Windows OS, around 88MB).

If it still isn't exactly what you need, don't worry - Nokia are already working on the next version with the next Beta coming up in a few months.

Source

More details about Samsung I5700 Spica, previously known as Galaxy Lite, leaked online today. The Android-powered smartphone should be announced next month with a price of 350 euro, which is quite higher than what we would consider a budget smartphone price.

As we informed you before, the official name of the Samsung I5700 Galaxy Lite is going to be Spica. It will sport a capacitive touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera, all-round connectivity package (HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth) and a microSD card slot. The CPU is expected to be the same 800 MHz one as in the Omnia II, a lot faster than the original 528 MHz Galaxy processor.

The Spica will run on Android 1.5, but it won't have any UI modifications TouchWiz-style.
The Samsung Spica is rumored to cost 350 euro and should become available some time in November. There is no official announcement and information yet.

Source

Introduction
A while back Nokia released the 6600 pair - the slide and the fold - which we fell for, big time. The seemingly more popular sibling got an update and the 6600i slide will keep on cashing in. Slightly revamped, it brings a beefier camera and a new paintjob to boot.

Looks have changed just a bit and we honestly think they did it right. The consciously minimalist design of the original didn't leave much room for frills anyway. Alright, the 6600i slide is a no-frills package overall, but don't go saying we didn't warn you. It's enjoyable and addictive.




Key features:
-Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support, dual-band UMTS
-2.2" 16M-color QVGA display
-5 megapixel camera, autofocus and LED flash
-VGA video recording at 15fps
-S40 user interface, 5th edition
-Bluetooth (with A2DP)
-Stereo FM radio with RDS
-microSD card slot (up to 16 GB), 1GB included
-Ovi Maps for S40 come preinstalled
-Ovi Contacts, Share on Ovi, YouTube, MySpace and Facebook applications preinstalled
-Really compact and extra smooth metal body
-Sweet oval shapes and neat slider design
-Accelerometer for tap-for-time and tap-to-mute

Main disadvantages:
-No HSDPA
-Display brightness is quite low
-Poor browser and no Opera Mini preinstalled
-Memory card slot under the battery, no hot-swap
-No dedicated shutter key
-Below par camera quality
-No 3.5 mm audio jack or a two-piece headset in the box
-No smart dialing
-No multi-tasking, especially uncomfortable in Ovi Contacts and the social networking
applications
-No office document viewer
-Loudspeaker loudness is only marginally improved

No need to tell you, the "i" in any Nokia model designation is there to save face. It's like Nokia saying: here's a phone that sells big, so be our guest - keep on buying it. It's more of a relaunch than an update. And we're not pointing fingers here - if you have a massive seller the first thing on your mind would be to keep it rolling.

Just remember the 6300 - it did wonders for the Finns, so the 6300i followed in due course. Yes, it added Wi-Fi to its predecessor's feature set but that can really be seen as an exception and was meant for select markets only. And by the way, Nokia might have a point. The 3G-enabled 6600 slide can do without WLAN and a better camera will perhaps serve its market better.

Anyway, "i" models are incremental updates - they build on the previous device rather than turn it into something completely new. In that sense, the last people to be viewed as potential customers are current 6600 slide owners. If we were to upgrade from Nokia 6600 slide, we'd probably be considering Symbian - or maybe an all-in-one feature phone like the 6260 slide.
Accordingly, the real job of the 6600i slide is to pick up the customers the original missed and serve the Nokia midrange more in keeping with the time.