Mobile World Congress 2010 round up!

February 23, 2010 at 11:17 am by Dan | In Coming Soon Handsets, MWC, Mobile News, New Mobile Phones

The dust is finally starting to settle after the busiest week in the mobile phone industries calendar. Yes, yet another Mobile World Congress expo is now behind us and, with everyone now looking at the year ahead and looking forward to the releases that were first unveiled at MWC, we thought we’d round up this years event and take you through the highlights. Read on for our take on the number one mobile phone event in the world.

The star of the show was undoubtedly the HTC Desire, the phone we first met as the Bravo. On first inspection, save for some subtle differences, the Desire appeared to be a very similar proposition to the HTC manufactured Google Nexus One. However, after a closer look, those subtle differences all add up making for a radically different device. The design of the phone is a marked improvement on the Nexus One with physical keys and an optical track pad replacing touch sensitive keys and a track ball making for a more responsive means of navigation. The touchscreen, a 3.7 inch AMOLED monster, looks amazing but is even better to use. Make no mistake, the iPhone’s days as the number one touchscreen are numbered.

Unquestionably a stunning phone on the outside, the Desire follows a similar trend on the inside with the latest iteration of Google’s Android operating system, v2.1 or Éclair, paired up with HTC’s Sense user interface, the highlight of which is the excellent new Friend Stream feature which pulls in updates from friends on social networking sites. The Desire also has the processing muscle to ensure apps, menus and web pages loaded quickly and smoothly thanks to the 1GHz processor on board. Expected in late March, HTC easily unveiled an early contender for phone of the year at this years MWC.

Just pipped to the top spot by the desire was the Samsung Wave, the first phone to run Samsung’s Bada OS. Whilst the new operating system was a big talking point, it was the display that really captured all the headlines. Utilising new Super-AMOLED technology, the Wave’s touchscreen is undoubtedly the best we’ve ever seen. Colours are bright and vivid, images are crisp and everything seems to leap off the screen. Having set the trend with AMOLED displays, Samsung have once again raised the bar with the new Super-AMOLED technology and it’s now up to their rivals to catch up. At a compact (compared to the Desire’s of this world) 3.3 inches, thankfully the Wave employs capacitive technology with multi-touch for an ultra responsive touchscreen experience.

Sony Ericsson took MWC as the opportunity to introduce the world to their new Mini range of Xperia handsets, the X10 Mini and Mini Pro, as well as a QWERTY version of the HD shooting Vivaz (the Vivaz Pro) and a public outing for the original Vivaz and Xperia X10. An impressive line up and, from our brief play test at least, no notable bugs, slow down or software issues. Promising when we consider that these devices are still some way off the finished article. Here’s hoping Sony Ericsson are back on track and can have a successful year, headlined by the exciting Xperia X10.

Microsoft had a strong offering at this years Mobile World Congress despite not having any actual devices on show (so sadly, still no Zune phone). The software giant finally announced the long awaited update to its much maligned Windows Mobile operating system, going under the official title of Windows Phone 7 Series, and the transformation was quite remarkable. The operating system is unrecognisable from previous offerings with multiple home screens now on offer, customisable with what MS refer to as tiles, interactive shortcuts that can be used to access on-phone and online content, and not a start menu in site! Drawing inspiration from Microsoft’s other products, the new Windows Phone OS will boast Xbox Live compatibility with the ability to play games across different phones and even against Xbox 360’s whilst retaining achievements and updating gamer scores. Similarly, the multimedia side of 7 Series will be skinned in a similar style to the Zune which promises an extremely user friendly experience. In short, the future looks positively exciting for Windows Phone 7 Series.

In a similar move to Microsoft, Nokia had no new phones on display at this years MWC and very little presence at the event, some what disappointing for the worlds number one mobile phone manufacturer. Nokia did however make an announcement that could pave the way for a slew of exciting new releases in the coming months and years. The announcement we’re referring to is of course, Nokia’s partnership with Intel resulting in an all new open source operating system based on the Linux platform. The collaboration sees Nokia’s Maemo operating system combined with Intel’s Moblin OS resulting in MeeGo. Promising to bring the best parts of both worlds, the OS should thrive thanks to the support from these two giants in their field. Most exciting of all, MeeGo is not just restricted to mobile phones, with netbooks and other devices all supported.

True to form, Apple were also conspicuously absent from the years event, meaning we must wait a little longer to get our hands on the upcoming iPad and longer still to see what the Cupertino outfit have planned for their next iPhone offering. What we do know is that with strong offerings from Android, Samsung and the reinvigorated Windows Phone 7 Series all on the horizon, Apple certainly have their work cut out for them, now more than ever.

So, yet another Mobile World Congress has been and gone. Billed as the premier mobile phone exhibition, the likes of HTC, Samsung and Microsoft all ensured the event lived up to expectations. The onus is now on Nokia, Apple and co. to show the world how they plan to compete with the exciting new releases that debuted at MWC 2010.

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Sony Ericsson at MWC!

February 22, 2010 at 9:52 am by Dan | In Coming Soon Handsets, MWC, Mobile News, New Mobile Phones

Despite being under the kosh, financially speaking, Sony Ericsson were out in force at last weeks Mobile World Congress, showing off four new models along with one Old favourite. The recently unveiled Xperia X10 Mini, X10 Mini Pro, Vivaz and Vivaz Pro sit alongside Sony Ericsson’s next big (and we mean that in every sense of the word) launch; the Xperia X10. On to that in a moment but first the new additions.

The Vivaz Pro is almost a carbon copy of the standard version (which we’ve managed to take a look at previously) save for two notable differences; the inclusion of a full slide out QWERTY keyboard and downgrading the camera from 8 to 5 Megapixels. HD video capture is still present though along with the added extras such as continuous autofocus and easy uploads to your favourite sharing sites such as YouTube. The addition of a QWERTY keyboard to a Symbian touchscreen device puts the Vivaz Pro in direct competition with the Nokia N97 Mini but the extra multimedia capabilities should edge the Sony Ericsson phone ever so slightly ahead.

The design of the phone is nice with a good in-hand feel thanks to Sony Ericsson’s new Human Curvature ethos (curves to match the human form). Better still, the slide mechanism feels reassuringly robust whilst the keyboard itself is comprised of good sized keys that offer good feedback. On to the software and for better or worse, the Vivaz Pro follows its QWERTY-less sibling in running Symbian. Sony Ericsson have made navigation to key areas of the phone more user friendly with the addition of tabs to the home screen, as seen first in the Satio. Let’s hope Sony Ericsson can avoid the software fiasco that blighted the Satio’s launch when the Vivaz and Vivaz Pro launch next month.

On to the first of three upcoming Android phones now and the Xperia X10 Mini. First things first, Sony Ericsson certainly aren’t kidding with that name, the X10 Mini is absolutely tiny and when held next to the full fat Xperia X10 looks even more so. Sony Ericsson are keen to promote the one handed usability of the X10 Mini and accordingly each corner of the touchscreen houses a customisable shortcut. Easy to set up (this does run Android remember), this makes navigation to key areas of the phone that much simpler. On to the subject of Android. The X10 Mini runs version 1.6 of Google’s OS and while you’re hardly going to be running SatNav on the diddy screen, the Sony Ericsson rep pointed out that the 2.55 inch display met Android’s minimum requirements and so should run pretty much all of the apps available in the Android Market app store.

With a range of colourful customisable covers, the one word that describes the X10 Mini is definitely cute. Sony Ericsson are clearly after the youth market with the Xperia X10 Mini and you wouldn’t bet against it being a huge success (once you’ve had a play and fallen for its charms of course). Our only complaint was the difficulty with messaging. Understandably, a 2.55 inch display is hardly big enough for a QWERTY keyboard so the X10 Mini makes do with an alpha numeric keyboard which does slow down text input. But before you text addicts moan, Sony Ericsson have an ace up their sleeve. If you’re only happy when your tweeting, pinging friends with instant messages or chatting on Facebook, Sony Ericsson has an X10 Mini for you; the X10 Mini Pro. It does exactly what its stable mate does but packs in a slide out QWERTY keyboard too! Perfect.

Now onto the device we’ve been waiting for for what seems like an eternity; the Xperia X10. Well, the device is slated for launch some time next month and from our briefest of hands on, Sony Ericsson definitely seem to be headed in the right direction. Concerns of unstable software and unresponsive menus can be put down to early samples because the device we played with was sharp enough to be the finished article. The 4.0 inch touchscreen not only looks great but is equally impressive to use and despite the full bodied design, the X10 never felt too big. The design itself is also a master stroke; this is a phone you’ll want to get out and show off. We won’t go into too much detail concerning specs because chances are you already know what the X10 is all about. All that we need now is for Sony Ericsson to actually launch the device to an increasingly impatient fan base. Click here to register for updates for the X10 and keep an eye on the blog and we’ll be sure to let you know as soon as it’s available to order.

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Hands on with the HTC Desire at MWC!

February 19, 2010 at 12:23 pm by Dan | In Coming Soon Handsets, MWC, Mobile News, New Mobile Phones

With the HTC Bravo popping up over the internet countless times over the past few months, we were chomping at the bit get our hands on HTC’s next big Android release. Officially unveiled at Mobile World Congress as the HTC Desire, our prayers were answered as we made a b-line for the HTC stand to get a hands-on play test with the phone formerly known as the Bravo.

We had the privilege of a practice run for our Desire encounter a few weeks ago when we had some time with the Google Nexus One. The Nexus One, manufactured by HTC, sports similar design cues and near enough as makes no difference dimensions so, from the outside we weren’t expecting to be blown away. Despite this, our first impressions on picking up the Desire is how much more, err, desirable it is over the Google branded phone. The Desire looks and feels more mature than the rougher-round-the-edges Nexus One. Comprised of a matte plastic finish and brushed metal casing that surrounds the display, the darker colours used are more fitting for the device (in my opinion at least) and the smooth curved edges make for a smartphone that sits comfortably in your hand. The re-placement of the shortcut keys to the main frame gives the touchscreen an uninterrupted dominance whilst the switch to physical keys and an optical trackpad (over touch sensitive keys and a trackball on the Nexus) will be purely down to preference.

The touchscreen on the Desire is a 3.7 inch AMOLED display that, first and foremost, looks stunning. The use of AMOLED technology really shines through and, despite my best efforts at capturing on camera, really needs to be seen in the flesh. The bright vivid icons leap of the screen and reading text in messages/ emails/ web pages etc. is a doddle. Obviously we were restricted to use in doors so no word on how the display fares out in direct sunlight, something AMOLED display are often criticised for, but here and now the Desire looks stunning from every angle. On to actually using the touchscreen and as expected the Desire employs a capacitive unit which unlike the Nexus One (at launch at least) supports multi-touch in the web browser, maps and photo gallery (as well as some apps to boot). Pinch to zoom is a great addition but one that, in every day use, you’ll probably end up using quite sparingly what with the double tap to fit to screen in the web browser. The important aspect is of course the general navigation and please don’t read this as an over statement; the touchscreen on the Desire is fantastic.

The home screen is your first encounter with the touchscreen; using it so swipe between one of the seven customisable home screens is ultra responsive and switches effortlessly. The smooth transition is thanks in part to the 1GHz processor on board but the touchscreen itself deserves the lion’s share of the praise. It’s a similar story when opening up the main menu; scrolling through icons is so slick it’s arguably a smoother and therefore more enjoyable experience than the iPhone. In short, the touchscreen on the Desire is easily the best Android has to offer, both in the looks department and usability and from my brief play test, better than the iPhone 3GS, the phone that’s widely regarded as the best touchscreen phone.

On to Android and the desire, like its stable mate, runs version 2.1 of the operating system. However, as this is an HTC device rather than a Google experience phone, we’re treated to Sense UI. This sits on top of Android so, rather than the 5 home screens of the Nexus One, we’re treated to 7. The first is a shortcut hub with all your favourite apps, local time and weather though these can all be customised with a long press on the home screen. From here the Sense user interface takes over. It’s pretty much a carbon copy of the experience found on the HTC Hero with the addition of a few tweaks, the best of the bunch being Friend Stream which brings in the latest Tweets and status updates from friends. From here you can search for friends and also post comments of your own without having to launch a dedicated Facebook or Twitter app. The powerful 1GHz processor keeps the Desire ticking along at an impressive speed and, despite the HTC rep stressing that this wasn’t the finished code, we experienced no instance of lag or slow down. Everything we asked the phone to do was actioned almost instantly and the addition of Sense UI has done nothing to hamper the Desire’s performance.

With a rather large queue building behind us, our time with the Desire was drawing to a close but we just found time to fire up the web browser and have a poke around at life online with the Desire. The web browser loaded pages nice and quickly and the aforementioned pinch-to-zoom is a nice addition though for text heavy pages you’ll be better off double tapping so that the text fits the screen. The other welcome addition in this latest incarnation of Android is that the Desire was able to load Flash content meaning we were able to watch an embedded video, in the browser, without having to open any sort of separate video player. For most people, you won’t realise what a big miss Flash is until you stumble across a site that uses it so the fact that the Desire is Flash ready out of the box is a big coup for HTC.

Before we arrived at MWC, the Bravo was easily top of our list of phones we simply had to check out. And, apart from getting used to the name (I must admit I wasn’t sold on Desire but it’s definitely grown on me), we were instantly won over. The Desire is, hands down, the most exciting Android launch since the G1 first surfaced way back when. A much more polished device than the Nexus One, HTC’s Quietly Brilliant ethos means you’re bound to still be finding new and exciting little features long after you’ve first picked up the Desire. Slated for an early April launch, the HTC Desire has become the one to watch for 2010. Click here to register for updates and head on over to the official site to check out press photos of the Desire. Be sure to keep an eye on the blog as we hope to track down a Desire in the coming weeks to give it a full on review.

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Hands on with the Samsung Monte at MWC!

February 19, 2010 at 10:21 am by Dan | In Coming Soon Handsets, MWC, New Mobile Phones

Amidst the fanfare of the official unveiling of Samsung’s first Bada phone, the gorgeous Samsung Wave, it was perhaps easy to forget that the Korean manufacturer had several other products making their first official outing at this years Mobile World Congress. So, we managed to wade through the countless Wave exhibits and stumble across the Samsung S5620 Monte. We managed to grab some hands-on time with the Monte, the new entrant to Samsung’s middle tier feature phones.

Coming from the Wave, the Samsung Monte is considerably more compact with a 3.0 inch capacitive touchscreen display. The Monte fits snugly into the hand and sports a nice curved design which puts both the physical buttons and the touchscreen within reach of your thumb making one-handed operation possible, something that can be said for larger touchscreen phones. The display itself is sharp and bright, though we can’t help but feel somewhat underwhelmed after staring at the incredible Super-AMOLED display on the Wave. Still, using the touchscreen was an enjoyable experience; we weren’t able to test the web browser so can’t confirm whether multi-touch will be enabled at this time but general navigation through menus and applications was very smooth and responsive.

The Monte runs Samsung’s proprietary TouchWiz user interface and this incarnation is very similar to any touchscreen Samsung we’ve used in the past year or so. You get three home screens that you can cycle through by swiping from left to right. The home screens themselves can be populated with interactive widgets and at the bottom sits three ever present icons that call up the main menu, phone book and keypad for dialling. Once in the main menu the Monte features three pages of icons which are navigated with the same sweeping style as the home screens. There really is no surprises here but then, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it as they say.

In terms of apps, you’re limited to Java applications but for what it’s worth, we tried out one of the pre-loaded games which loaded quickly, ran smoothly and proved quite enjoyable. As for features elsewhere, the camera interface proved a carbon copy of Samsung’s previous offerings such as the Tocco Lite. We weren’t able to test the picture quality, there’s only so much you can capture with a phone tethered to a wall, but with a 3.15 Megapixel camera on board, expect the Monte to prove satisfactory rather than revolutionary. At this point we we’re struggling to see where the Monte was expected to fit in Samsung’s line up.

Then, glancing down at the spec list we’re reminded that the Monte boasts both HSDPA and Wi-Fi connectivity and it starts to make sense. The stylish design, compact body and competitive price point will make this a worthy upgrade to those using the Samsung Tocco Lite or LG Cookie. Expected to launch next month, click here to register for updates and keep an eye on the blog for more information.

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Nvidia show off Tegra processor at MWC!

February 18, 2010 at 12:08 pm by Dan | In MWC, Mobile News

Graphics processor specialists Nvidia are out in force at this years Mobile World Congress showing off the power of their Tegra mobile web processor. The main focal point of the Nvidia stand was a small Compal (a Taiwanese manufacturer that handle manufacturing duties for the likes of Dell, Acer and Toshiba) concept tablet that, thanks to the raw power of the Tegra chip tucked inside, was able to play full 1080p HD video. An impressive feat in itself but not only that, the tablet was also able to use TV-out to play the video on a stunning 60 inch high-definition screen.

The video playback was flawless, so much so that it was easy to forget that this was all made possible by the small tablet device sitting pretty in the corner. Where this gets interesting for the mobile phone industry is that the Tegra chip is compact enough to fit in pretty much any mobile phone and is currently powering Microsoft’s Zune HD personal media player (so perhaps more than just a small coincidence that the Nvidia and Microsoft booths were sat side by side). Could we see a Tegra powered Windows Phone 7 Series released towards the end of the year? Well, we certainly wouldn’t bet against it.

Locked away in a display cabinet, Nvidia also had an array of tablet devices, both concepts and future releases, as well as Netbooks and the aforementioned Zune HD all utilising the Tegra chip to get the most out of multimedia and the web on the move. With smartphone market share expected to continue growing into 2010 and beyond, the Tegra mobile web processor looks to have what it takes to power the next generation of smartphones.

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Dolby at MWC 2010!

February 18, 2010 at 11:32 am by Dan | In MWC

More from this years Mobile World Congress at this time we’re over at the Dolby Mobile stand. Dolby, the people who bring ear splitting audio quality to cinemas across the globe have been plugging away at mobile phone technology for some time now in association with LG so it came as little surprise to see several LG devices on display including the upcoming GD880 Mini and the LG Arena and BL40 Chocolate.

At this point, I must confess that in the past I have dismissed the collaboration between Dolby and LG as a little on the frivolous side, after all, how good can audio on a mobile phone really get? Well, consider me converted. Perhaps it was the high quality headphones or maybe the choice of Avatar (albeit only a trailer) to demonstrate the latest versions of Dolby Mobile technology, either way, the sound quality was simply stunning.

The trailer, which looked great on the widescreen BL40, demonstrated excellent surround sound, with explosions jumping from one headphone to the next to provide an utterly immersive audio and visual experience. And considering the trailer was only a couple of minutes, I found myself so drawn in that I was disappointed when it ended and so decided to have another playtest. With LG and Dolby achieving staggering results in mobile audio quality, expect the partnership to continue and improve the way we enjoy content on our mobile phones.

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Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series booth at MWC

February 17, 2010 at 1:28 pm by Dan | In MWC, Mobile News

Microsoft has, as expected, officially unveiled Windows Mobile 7 and pencilled in a Holidays 2010 (Christmas to me and you) launch date. Officially called Windows Phone 7 Series, the new operating system plans to offer to offer a radically new user interface and a focus on incorporating some of their other key brands. So, whilst the software giant didn’t have any phones on show (meaning no Zune phone yet), we can expect the Zune, MS’ answer to the iPod Touch, interface to act as the main multimedia hub for music and movies. We’re still waiting for the Zune over here in Europe but from what we’ve seen of it, the user interface looks incredibly quick. If this can be mirrored on the new Windows Phones, WM users are in for a treat.

Following in the Zune’s footsteps, the new range of Windows Phones will also include Xbox Live support called the Games Hub with access to dedicated games, online content and all the social sides of the Xbox Live community such as leader boards and gamer score cards. In the future, MS hope that gamers will be able to play cross platform i.e using a phone against an Xbox 360 in a future version of Forza Motorsport but for now all they could show us was playing simple community games such as cards and puzzlers. Still impressive to think that you could play your mates on your phone while they’re sate at home on their Xbox 360. The main interface of the OS has also been given a huge overhaul with a home screen with multiple pages and tiles acting as shortcuts. It looks incredibly snazzy but we’ll reserve judgment till we’ve seen a device running the OS.

Microsoft are keen to extend the Hub theme across multiple areas of the Windows Phone experience and so we also get a People Hub and Photo Hub. People Hub is a jazzed up version of your contacts list which pulls in live updates from Facebook and Outlook (including profile pictures and status updates), aggregates multiple forms of contact and, best of all, lets you post replies to Facebook comments from the contacts list, without having to launch a web page or Facebook app. Similarly, Photo Hub is your photo gallery letting you not only view on the phone but also tag, upload and more.

This new level of usability has come at a cost as Microsoft do appear to be closing down some areas of customisation so features such as HTC’s TouchFlo 3D interface will not be an option on future releases. Regardless, HTC have committed themselves to the platform and promise to launch at least one Windows Phone before the year is out. Keep your eyes on the blog for more info as and when we get it.

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NTT Docomo working on eye controlled headphones!

February 17, 2010 at 1:18 pm by Dan | In Just For Fun, MWC

Trust NTT Docomo to come up with the most futuristic (and more than a little bit wacky) piece of tech at this year’s Mobile World Congress. Yes, the company that brought lucky Japanese consumers the chocolate phone (not the LG Chocolate but a phone actually styled as a bar of chocolate, complete with wrapper!) are at it again. So what are they up to this time? Bluetooth headsets styled as a chicken nugget? Perhaps they’ve gone the whole hog and made a phone out of real chocolate? Well, no, the Japanese manufacturer have developed hands-free ear phones that are controlled with your eyes.

Before you wince, there’s no physical contraption connected to your eyes, the tech is all based on the movement of your eyes. Once plugged into your ears, actions such as moving your eyes to the right then left to play, twice right to skip forward and left to stop are all picked up by the headphones and in turn the device they’re plugged into. So, despite looking rather shifty on the tube, you can enjoy true hands free music on the move.

The ear phones use electrodes to pick up on movement of the eyeball. The eyes have electric potential which changes from positive to negative depending on the movement of the eyes. So, the earphones pick up on these changes in signal and attribute specific actions based on the movement. So put simply, looking to the right then left generates a simple electric impulse which is picked up by the headphones and converted into a specific action, in this case playing a music track.

No word on pricing or availability but it would be optimistic to expect this kind of technology to find its way to these shores any time soon. Still, it shows what’s possible and hints at what kind of tech we can expect in the not too distant future. Now, if only someone could develop some ear free headphones, we can listen to music completely inconspicuously.

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HTC at MWC

February 17, 2010 at 10:51 am by Dan | In Coming Soon Handsets, MWC, Mobile News, New Mobile Phones

We’ve just been over to the HTC stand at this years Mobile World Congress to get hands on with a slew of new handsets that the Taiwanese manufacturer will be launching this year. First up the Bravo, or as HTC are now calling it, the Desire. Well, whilst the choice of name caught many by surprise, the moniker is an apt one as the phone looks to be every bit as desirable as the name suggests. It would seem as though the countless leaks were accurate as the Desire is HTC’s in house version of the Google Nexus One. What this means is that we can look forward to a sumptuous 3.7 inch AMOLED display, Android 2.1, the optical trackpad which replaces the Nexus One’s trackball, 5.0 Megapixel camera with video capture and all powered by the lightening quick 1GHz Snapdragon processor tucked inside.

Side by side, the Desire is easily better looking than the Nexus One, opting for a darker shell that looks more mature compared to Google’s device which has more of a “work in progress” looked about it. This polished look is continued on the inside with the HTC Desire running HTC Sense effortlessly, letting you flick between 7 different home screens, message friends using multiple channels from one centralised hub and even updating your contacts with Facebook status updates and profile pics. HTC’s new motto is quietly brilliant but with the Desire, they’ve definitely turned up the volume.

Next up is the Legend, which keeps its rumoured name and acts as the successor to the popular Hero. The focal point of the Legend is the design with the phone made from a one-piece machined aluminium housing (the first phone to feature a one piece design). Thankfully, HTC have added some considerable substance to this style with a 600MHz processor powering Android version 2.1 (or Éclair), a 5.0 Megapixel camera, HSDPA, Wi-Fi etc. Etc. The real draw here though is definitely the design; the Legend is easily the prettiest phone yet to run Google’s Android OS.

Lastly, and this one came as a bit of a surprise, was the HD Mini, little brother to HD2. Following in its siblings footsteps, the HD Mini is a Windows Mobile phone running version 6.5 of Microsoft’s OS. Other noteworthy specs include a 3.2 inch touchscreen display, HTC Sense UI, a 5 Megapixel camera and more all tucked into a nice compact 11.7mm thick design that weighs in at just 110g. No word on pricing for any of the newly announced handsets from HTC but all three are in line for a March/ April launch. Keep an eye on the blog for more information as and when we get it.

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Hands on with the Samsung Wave at MWC!

February 16, 2010 at 5:45 pm by Dan | In Coming Soon Handsets, MWC, Mobile News, New Mobile Phones

We’ve already seen all the glossy press photos and read all the about the world beating features but today, we finally got hands on with the Samsung Wave. And, whilst the Samsung rep was all too keen to point out that this particular model was far from the finished article, we left the Samsung booth mightily impressed. Samsung could well have the next big hit on their hands.

Fists things first; the display. Make no mistake, the 3.3 inch touchscreen on the Wave is simply a different class, blowing the current generation of phones out of the water. Samsung were the first to make the move to AMOLED technology and now their competitors are catching on and going all AMOLED themselves. Problem is, Samsung have gone and upped the ante with this new Super AMOLED technology that looks simply stunning from any and all angles. And because it’s LED, it’s ultra thin and energy efficient to boot.

Okay, so the touchscreen looks fantastic, but what’s it like to use? In a word; awesome. Menus stick to your finger like glue and flicking through the photo gallery (which has been given some nice new graphical tweaks) is a joy to behold. The phone kept up with all commands, not falling over once, so the fact that this isn’t even the finished article should make for scary reading for Sammy’s competitors. As for Bada itself, it plays out like a smartphone version of Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface. The phone has multiple home screens which can be populated with various widgets, shortcuts and apps allowing for different home screens to be set up to meet different needs.

Samsung were also keen to push the Samsung Hub aspect which, similar to MotoBlur and Sense UI, aggregates all your social networking feeds, provides multiple ways to contact friends, updates profile pictures and status updates from Facebook and much more. We didn’t get a chance to have a dig around in the Samsung Hub side of the Wave but if Samsung can match the level of quality shown of in one of their promotional videos, it could prove another powerful addition to the Wave’s armoury.

Finally, we come on to apps. The app store wasn’t available on the device but we did get to take Need For Speed Shift for a spin. The game is set to be a launch title from the app store and again, despite being a work in progress, looked very impressive. The graphical power and excellent frame rate where matched by equally impressive gameplay. The accelerometer took the place of a steering wheel and proved incredibly responsive. Graphics were easily on a par with anything the iPhone or even Sony’s PSP has to offer with multiple cars on screen at once and even the ability to switch to an in car view. If Need For Speed is the shape of things to come, Bada could become a powerful force in the smartphone market.

And that was it, with an angry mob forming behind us, we were forced to cut our playtest short, but first impressions where overwhelmingly positive. The killer app, so to speak, is that stunning display but look beyond this and the Wave has so much more to offer. Click here to register for updates for the Samsung Wave and keep an eye on the blog for more information as and when we get it.

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