Mobile Phone Reviews

The App craze is sweeping the globe and the Mobile World Congress 2010 is no exception.  According to the hosts of the event, GSMA, Google and Motorola will each hold application developer conferences within App Planet, bringing the total number of ADCs to six. The GSMA also announced that it is partnering with Berkeley Mobile International Collaborative to launch the global “University Mobile Challenge”, a competition designed to spur mobile application development and innovation at the university level. Additionally, the International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA) announced finalists for the 6th edition of the gaming awards and will name the eight award winners at the IMGA ceremony on Monday, 15 February at App Planet.

The full schedule of App Planet ADCs is:

For more details on MWC 2010 or App Planet head on over to GSMWorld’s website here: http://www.gsmworld.com/newsroom/press-releases/2010/4597.htm

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The results are in for Q4 2009 and Motorola’s Mobile Device segment is still bleeding into the red.  Sales for Q4 2009 were $1.8 billion, down 22 percent compared to the same quarter in 2008. For the full year 2009, sales were $7.1 billion, compared to $12.1 billion in 2008, and the segment incurred a GAAP operating loss of $1.1 billion, compared to an operating loss of $2.2 billion in 2008. During the quarter, the Company shipped 12 million handsets and estimates its share of the global handset market was 3.7 percent.

On the plus side the Motorola Droid/MILESTONE was named Time Magazine’s “Best new gadget of 2009″ and the CLIQ/DEXT didn’t fair too bad either.  2010 will be the true test for Motorola – launching the BACKFLIP in the US and the MT710, XT800 and MOTOROI in China and possibly other countries.  We are big fans of the Motorola Droid and the RAZR will always have a place in our heart so let’s hope Motorola pulls out the big guns in 2010.

[via Motorola]

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Yesterday we confirmed the February release of the Motorola MOTOROI smartphone in Korea on SK Telecom.  At the press event, Rick Wolochatiuk, head of Moto Korea confirmed the MOTOROI would be launched in other markets around the world.  At the top of this short list was the United States which will launch the MOTOROI in March of this year.  With a 3.7-inch WVGA (480 x 854) resolution touchscreen, 8-megapixel Zenon flash with 720p HD video recording, HDMI video output, 3.5mm headphone jack, 8GB of internal storage plus microSD support up to 32GB,  1420 mAh battery, and multitouch support (pinch to zoom) what’s not to love about the MOTOROI? To put this into perspective, MOTOROI is the Motorola Droid with a better camera, HDMI output, multitouch, 8GB of internal memory and 5 input methods instead of the slide-out keyboard (3X4 keypad, full QWERTY, half QWERTY, hand writing and writing pad).  Now the big question is which carrier(s) will land the MOTOROI, any ideas?

[via Engadget]

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MOTO XT800 ZHISHANG is the first true dual stand-by mode, Android-powered, WAPI/ WIFI 3G super-premium smartphone.  The device is geared towards business-minded professionals thanks to full support for viewing and editing documents in World, Excel, Powerpoint and PDF formats.  Business options do not stop with document support, the XT800 features a convenient A4 paper optical-character recognition software combined with translation features. The XT800 ZHISHANG is also no slouch when it comes to multimedia capabilities thanks to a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and built-in 720P HDMI output for your Television or Monitor. With a 3.7-inch touchscreen, built-in GPS satellite navigation and dual mode GSM/CDMA with EVDO Rev A support, the XT800 ZHISHANG is one of the most versatile Android smartphones to date. Here’s a full breakdown of the specs for the XT800:

No pricing or release date information is available at this time. For more information on the MOTO XT800 ZHISHANG please visit Motorola’s website: http://mediacenter.motorola.com/content/detail.aspx?ReleaseID=12312&NewsAreaID=22

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The MOTO MT710 ZHILING is a 3G Android-powered smartphone coming to China Mobile. What makes the MOTO MT710 ZHILING different that other Android devices is that it runs OPhone powered by Android 1.5, China Mobile’s twist on the Android platform. This 3G device features a large 3.7″ full touchscreen running at FWVGA resolution (480 x 854px), 3G video telephone conferencing, CMMB-based Enhanced Mobile TV, TD-SCDMA connectivity, WAPI/WIFI, a 5.0-megapixel camera with autofocus and dual LED flash, a 4GB microSD card with support for 32GB cards, aGPS and sGPS with internal antenna, 3.5mm headphone jack and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR support.

One of the real unique features to running OPhone powered by Android 1.5 is that there is an OPhone SDK for building applications for the MT710 ZHILING The OPhone SDK is based on the most advanced version of the OPhone platform, but if you want the conventional Android apps you can still access all your programs and widgets from the Mobile Market. No pricing or release date information has been released yet, but we’ll be sure to pass on that news as soon as it is made available.

[via Motorola]

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Big news Korea, today Motorola announced the MOTOROI, the first Android-based phone with SK Telecom.  The MOTOROI runs on Android 2.0 with Motorola’s 5 home screens, it weights 140grams measures 115.95 x 60.9 x 10.9mm, features a 3.7-inch WVGA (480 x 854) resolution touchscreen, 8-megapixel Zenon flash with 720p HD video recording, HDMI video output, Terrestrial DMB, 3.5mm headphone jack, 8GB of internal storage plus microSD support up to 32GB, 1420 mAh battery, WCDMA 2100 and GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz, and multitouch support (pinch to zoom).  Basically the MOTOROI is the Motorola Milestone/Droid with a better camera, HDMI output, T-DMB, 8GB of internal memory and 5 input methods instead of the slide-out keyboard (3X4 keypad, full QWERTY, half QWERTY, hand writing and writing pad) .  The MOTOROI will be released on SK Telecom throughout Korea beginning in early February.

[View with PicLens]

For those spec freaks out there who want to find out more about the MOTOROI, please visit the Motorola website: http://www.motorola.com/kr/consumer.

[Update: 1/19/10] The MOTOROI will be launching in other markets around the world according to Rick Wolochatiuk, head of Motorola’s Korea division.  The US is confirmed for a March release and other countries are set to follow.

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Just before the New Year an image of the Motorola Shadow leaked across the web.  Today, rumors began circulating that this device could be the follow up to the Google Nexus One- the Nexus Two.  The folks over at Mobile01 have release two renderings of the Motorola Shadow, a device which looks very much like the current Motorola Droid but with a slightly different keyboard and a wrist strap.  The idea that the Motorola Shadow could the Nexus Two confirms reports that Google will be launching a series of Android smartphones, the second of which would be an enterprise device with keyboard. The rumored features of Motorola Shadow / Google Nexus Two include a 4.3 inch WVGA touchscreen display, HMDI port, and an 8MP camera with HD video recording.  Of course all of this information is subject to change, but if the rumors prove true we’d love to see a more powerful Motorola Droid/Milestone and are more than ready to line up for a pre-order.

[via Mobile01]

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Just hours after releasing the Sprint 2010 Device Roadmap, Sprint has formally announced the Motorola Brute i680.  The device is avaiable immediately through all Sprint sales channels (web, retail, business) for $119.99 on a 2-year service agreement.  This rugged clamshell is meant for extreme conditions and features a 2.0-megapixel camera with flash, internal and external displays, GPS, large battery for extended talk times and stereo Bluetooth.  It is worth noting that the Brute i680 meets Military Specification 810F for dush, shock, vibration, low temperature, high tempreature, low pressure, solar radiation, salt fog, humidity and blowing rain.  Enough with the quick facts let’s get right into the full list of features and specifications:

What are they saying about the Motorola Brute i680:

“Nextel Direct Connect from Sprint is an invaluable tool for public safety,” said Fire Chief Charles Werner, Charlottesville (Va.), Fire Department. “During an emergency, we depend on rugged devices, like Motorola Brute, that can withstand extreme conditions, and offer instant communications; this combination is the cornerstone of effectively managing a crisis. Individuals who work in various harsh environments, such as construction and manufacturing, will find the durability of the device to be critical as well.”

[via Sprint / Nextel]

Rise and shine it’s time for The Morning Mobile Minute and today we have some CES 2010 news from Opera, Motorola, Sprint and Palm.  Opera will unveil two new Software Development Kits (SDKs), the Opera Devices 10.15 SDK for Linux and Windows CE (WinCE) platforms, as well as the company’s new standalone browser, Opera Devices 10 for WinCE (beta).  The bottom line is that Opera for TV is coming in the not too distant future:

“The TV industry’s evolution and innovation has created a demand for toolkits that can handle next generation IPTV and hybrid broadcast/broadband services on any TV screen. Opera Devices SDK for Linux is just the comprehensive client to help customers harness the power of Web technology.”

Motorola announced it is demonstrating wireless HD video streaming over a Verizon Wireless pre-commercial LTE network with its own 4G LTE mobile platform.  During a CES demonstration, Verizon confirmed that it plans to roll out LTE across it’s network in 2010 for high-quality, high-definition web experiences.

“The capabilities we are able to deliver by joining forces with Verizon Wireless are extraordinary. We’ve been astonished at the transformation we see with mobile content delivery,” said Gary Koerper, vice president of Engine Systems for Motorola Mobile Devices. “The web has quickly become hyper-visual and we are at the forefront of technology to ensure a mobile web experience with no compromise.”

Sprint released some additional information on the upcoming LG Lotus Elite and LG Rumor Touch with their usual Fact Sheets.  Yesterday when we broke the news that both devices would be landing on Sprint’s network along with their 3G/4G Hotspot device we didn’t have every detail on the devices.  So here’s the LG Lotus Elite Spec Sheet and LG Rumor Touch Spec Sheet to fill that void.

Last in the morning is the official Press Release from Verizon Wireless confirming the Palm Pre and Palm Pixi Plus editions.  After we broke the specs on both devices yesterday we still hadn’t received the official confirmation, but today all is well.  You can see the Palm Press Release here or the Verizon Press Release here.

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