SmartPhones

Acer has released a few more details about its next two smartphones. Until now known solely as makers of computers, this February at the Mobile World Congress Acer unveiled its first line of smartphones which it calls its Tempo line.

The DX900 supports both 2G and 3G connections. Acer calls the it the first dual-standby and dual-SIM smartphone the world has ever seen. It's an HSDPA Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone with a 2.8" display screen. Looking at the list of countries in which the device has been released it seems the only place that doesn't have it is the U.S.

Coming soon to Asian and European stores will be the Acer X960. It's also a Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone, but it has a keyboard where the DX900 does not. The X960 also sports a better digital camera (though only slightly better), with 3.2 megapixels to the DX900's 3.0.

Also in the works is an Acer smartphone that runs on the Google Android OS.

Don't hold your breath for any Acer smartphones - Tempo, Google, or otherwise - to come your way if you live in the United States though. Apparently Acer smartphones won't be coming to America until 2010.

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: Acer, DX900, Google Android, Mobile World Congress, Tempo, Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile 6.1, X960

At Barcelona's recent Mobile World Congress, Verizon has just announced the upcoming release of the second generation of its version of the HTC Touch Diamond, to be better known as the HTC Touch Diamond 2.

The HTC Touch Diamond 2 now has a 3.2" widescreen VGA display screen with 480×800 pixel resolution and a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus. The new device will also be sporting the latest version of the HTC TouchFLO 3D interface, customized for ultimate compatibility with the Windows Mobile 6.1 OS (not to mention large and clumsy fingers and thumbs).

The HTC Touch Diamond2 will be released sometime in the second quarter of this year (that's sometime between now and the end of June). The new Verizon version of the HTC Touch Diamond will cost around $299, about $50 more than the Sprint version cost when it was originally released last September 2008, and about $100 more than the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond2 costs today.

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: Barcelona, HTC, HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Touch Dimaond 2, Mobile World Congress, Sprint, TouchFLO, verizon, VGA, Windows Mobile 6.1

Last week was the 2009 GSMA Mobile World Congress, and here's the lowdown on its high points:

HTC Magic: The second Google Android powered smartphone from HTC and the first from Vodafone, the Magic is smaller than the inaugural Google Phone, the HTC T-Mobile G1 and will first be distributed into hands overseas (U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain). Downsides? It doesn't have a physical keyboard, nor does the touchscreen keyboard operate in landscape mode.

Also unveiled from HTC, the HTC Touch Diamond2, HTC Touch Pro2, and the T-Mobile G2.

Acer M900: The business set will like this latest Windows Mobile smartphone, with its large 3.8" touchscreen, vast messaging capabilities, and--get this!--fingerprint scanner for cutting-edge security.

LG Arena: It was only a matter of time before we saw a 3D interface, and here it is, looking like the onscreen Rubiks Cube of menus.

Nokia E55: With its own take-off of the BlackBerry Sure-Type keypad.

A common thread for a lot of the devices unveiled this year is the built-in 5-megapixel camera--though the ones in the new Nokia N86 and Samsung Omnia HD sport 8 megapixels, and the Sony Ericsson Idou, with its enhanced touchscreen, has 12.1 and a sliding lens cover. So there!

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: Acer, Acer M900, Android, Blackberry, Google Android, Google Phone, GSMA, HTC, HTC Magic, LG, LG Arena, Mobile World Congress, Nokia, Nokia E55, Nokia N86, Samsung, Samsung Omnia HD, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson Idou, Sure Type, T-Mobile, T-Mobile G1, T-Mobile G2, Touch Diamond2, Touch Pro2, Vodafone

The first smartphone company to use the inaugural Google Android mobile operating system was HTC with their T-Mobile G1 which was released to predictably mixed reviews. Well, it's time for the G1's first (of imminently many) competitor to make its introduction, and it will come to us courtesy of Samsung.

It will be a touchscreen smartphone similar in many ways to both the Samsung Instinct and Samsung Omnia.

With an anticipated release date of June 2009, the company has announced that it's amping up production of the as-of-yet unnamed Samsung Google Phone in order to stay competitive. Whatever it'll be called, it'll be available on both T-Mobile and Sprint networks.

Chances are high that the Samsung Google Phone will be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain next month.

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: Android, Barcelona, Google, HTC G1, Instinct, Mobile World Congress, Omnia, Samsung, Spain, T-Mobile

This week Barcelona, Spain hosted the 2008 GSMA Mobile World Congress. One of the highlights of the international conference, as always, was the unveiling of several new smartphones, among the top contenders for leading spots in this year's marketplace, the following:

• the HTC P3470 - a GSM mobile phone running Windows Mobile 6 with the TomTom Navigator 6 built in;
• the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 - a touch screen smartphone with 100 adjustable panels poised to become the iPhone biggest competitor this year;

Also announced was the first mobile phone processor from Nvidia, world leading maker of visual computing, graphics processor technologies. The new technology, dubbed APX 2500, is - as you might expect - designed for handheld devices with multimedia capabilities.

Stay tuned here throughout the year for reviews of the above-mentioned products and many more of the latest and greatest new releases debuted at the event.

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: 2008 Mobile World Congress, apple, APX 2500, Barcelona, GSM, HTC, HTC P3470, iphone, Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress 2008, Nvidia, Nvidia APX 2500, Sony, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, Spain, Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile 6, Xperia X1