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Sharp Aquos SH930W reviewed early in Russia, mates Sharp's 1080p screen with a mid-tier phone
Lest you think HTC has a complete lock on Sharp's supply of extra-dense 5-inch, 1080p screens for the Droid DNA and J Butterfly, Sharp itself is building a phone around the giant LCD. The Aquos Phone SH930W slightly rethinks the internals of HTC's new Android 4.1 flagship to make it more affordable, doubling the non-expandable storage to 32GB but scaling back to a dual-core, 1.5GHz Snapdragon S3 and dropping the currently unsupported LTE. That cost-cutting will be vital, as the SH930W is headed to a more price-sensitive Russia first, in late November -- one of the few (if not only) times that Sharp has tailored a smartphone to a country other than its native Japan. The 22,000-ruble ($694) off-contract price in Russia could undercut mere 720p rivals that often cost 25,000 rubles ($789) or more. It's an odd phone by any account, and Mobile-review was curious enough to snag a pre-release SH930W for an early inspection. While the device under the microscope was running vanilla Android rather than the planned Feel UX and may easily have a fair share of buggy code, initial benchmarks seem to validate fears of a mismatch between the display and an underpowered chip: the S3 is fast enough for common tasks at that resolution, but chokes with playing 1080p video and certain 3D games. Anyone buying the extra-large Aquos Phone will mostly be choosing it for the good battery life, the camera and that killer price, the site says. We'll admit to being slightly disappointed at such a pedestrian fate for Sharp's screen so soon into its lifespan, although we suspect performance-minded Muscovites could get a chance at a much faster HTC Deluxe in the near future.
Sony quietly outs Xperia SL: dual-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3, four hues
That oft-rumored successor to the Sony Xperia S smartphone, the Xperia SL? Sony's now officially listing the 4.3-inch GSM device as "coming soon" on its website, along with full details and specs. As it turns out, the initial leaks were correct -- the SL is a slight refresh of the S, differentiating itself with an additional duo of color choices (silver and pink), a faster dual-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3 CPU and Android Ice Cream Sandwich (up from a 1.5Ghz processor and Gingerbread). Aside from all that, it's the same media-focused phone, loaded with the same 720p display and 12.1-megapixel shooter, that we reviewed in March. We can't say we're overly excited, but you'll find more info from Sony at the source link below if you're interested. [Thanks, Olmar]
Samsung announces GT-B9120 for Android flip phone fans in China
The emergence of Android, and the decline of the flip-phone form factor happened as such, that the two aren't all that well acquainted. Samsung, however, wants to firm-up that relationship, bringing the two together once more. The GT-B9120 is the result. A flip phone with Google's Gingerbread operating system from the Galaxy-maker, headed for the Chinese market. There's dual 3.5-inch 480 x 800 screens, and a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8260 doing the business. A 5-megapixel camera will send photos off to the 16GB internal storage, and HSPA, WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth make up the wireless options. Somewhere someone's dream has just been answered, we just hope that person is in China.
HTC One S shows up in Taiwan with 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3, speed lovers wail
We'd been wondering just where the HTC Ville C would go with its odd mix of a 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3 and the One S' otherwise sleek hardware. Of all places, it's HTC's home turf of Taiwan: although the One S is still branded as the same phone, the usual 28-nanometer, 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 we've come to love has been replaced with a high-frequency version of its ancestor. When grilled about the switch by ePrice, HTC insisted that the new version would "provide consumers [with] the same experience." We're not so sure after having seen lower Nenamark scores, but we suspect many owners will be too happy with the micro arc oxidized body and rapid-fire camera to notice. All the same, charging NT$17,900 ($600) for a less efficient take on the same formula makes us wonder if supply for the 28-nanometer S4 didn't force a swap.
Is the HTC Ville C a cheaper One S?
The Desire C has barely revealed itself as HTC's latest pocket-friendly Android phone, but another device following the same naming convention might also be on the cards. According to BriefMobile, a lower-priced One S variant, currently under the Ville C moniker, will shed the dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 and use a (presumably cheaper) dual-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3 (MSM8260). That's the same processor found in last year's Sensation, although we're skeptical of that clock speed. Otherwise, the leaked specs match the One S on the important stuff, including a 4.3-inch AMOLED display (with the same qHD resolution), an 8-megapixel auto-focus camera alongside HTC's ImageSense chip and 16GB of storage. Yep, like the One S, there's no option to expand storage, but if the price is right (and it does exist), we might be more willing to forgive that particular shortcoming.
Baidu-powered Dell Streak Pro D43 gets hands-on treatment
Dell's dual-cored Streak Pro D43 has arrived in the hands of our colleagues over at Engadget Chinese. In a detailed tour of the first Baidu Yi smartphone, they've unearthed a built-in battery and perused the Super AMOLED Plus qHD display, tempered with Gorilla Glass. The casing is little thick (10.3mm) but by no means a deal-breaker, with a rubberized texture apparently helping to protect the phone if you're a little rough and ready with your devices. The Baidu platform is another Chinese interpretation of Google's feature-set, so you get the likes of email, maps, cloud services and voice input search -- in Mandarin, naturally. If you're intrigued by that Baidu base, scope out the full hands-on (and video walkthrough) over on our Sino sister site.
Dell Streak Pro D43 launched in China, where Yi shall find some Baidu love
Just as rumored and teased earlier this week, yesterday Dell unveiled the world's first Baidu Yi-powered smartphone dubbed Streak Pro D43. We won't bore you with the hardware details again (the D43's identical to its Japanese Android counterpart 101DL), but it's worth noting that this dual-core 1.5GHz, quadband HSPA phone focuses on features and services tailored for Chinese users, including some seemingly basic Mandarin voice control (no pressure on Siri just yet), contacts synchronization, Baidu Chinese input, Yi's own app store and 100GB of free cloud storage that supports multimedia upload and secure file sharing. Essentially, the Yi platform's basically just another Chinese bastardized Android OS sans Google services -- much like Alibaba's Aliyun, China Mobile's Ophone and Lenovo's LeOS; but if you already reside in China and are cool with Baidu's offering, then get a Micro SIM ready and look out for a China Unicom deal soon. %Gallery-142261%
Pantech P4100 tablet wanders through FCC with AT&T LTE
A Pantech tablet dubbed the P4100 just hit the FCC, and it appears to have AT&T LTE radios (Bands 4 and 17) as well as the standard 850 / 1900 WCDMA bands. Interestingly enough, the device also comes with support for LTE Band 5, an 850Mhz band currently used in South Korea. The P4100 has been sighted once before in a listing of Nenamark benchmark results, hinting that it will use a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8260 CPU with Adreno 220 GPU, uses a 1,024 x 720 display and runs on Android 3.2. As always, this never guarantees it'll see the light of day in the US, but having compatible LTE bands on AT&T's network -- not to mention the carrier's friendly relationship with Pantech over the past few years -- definitely gives it a pretty high chance.
Lenovo LePhone K2 to arrive with 4.3-inch IPS display, 1.5GHz dual-core chip
Frankly speaking, the phones that Lenovo have announced so far this week haven't been all that exciting (unless, of course, you're somehow aroused by its 5-inch tabletphone), but it turned out the folks had a little surprise for us: the LePhone K2. What we got here is a 4.3-inch IPS display (resolution of which not yet announced), a powerful dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm MSM8260 chip, 1GB RAM, 1GB ROM and an eight megapixel 1080p camera. Sadly, like the S2 and the S760, this crouching tiger also packs Android 2.3.5 instead of Ice Cream Sandwich, but without a price or a release date, perhaps there's still a small chance that we'll see it eventually launching with the newer OS. Anyhow, that's just our wishful thinking. Chinese hands-on video after the break. %Gallery-140597%
Xiaomi Phone review
Xiaomi Phone to get vanilla Android 2.3.5 next month, Ice Cream Sandwich in January Xiaomi Phone hands-on redux: dual partition system explained (video) Xiaomi Phone with MIUI OS: a $310 Android with 1.5GHz dual-core SoC and other surprises Any seasoned Android enthusiast would have no doubt come across Xiaomi Corporation's MIUI at some point. For those who haven't, here's a quick intro: MIUI is a heavily customizable Android ROM based on the works of CyanogenMod (at least on the driver level, so we've been told), and currently the Chinese startup is officially offering its free software for 12 well-known Android handsets, including the HTC Desire, Samsung Captivate and Motorola Droid. Of course, we'll also have the Xiaomi Phone on the list when it launches in China next month. Using Foxconn's tooling and Inventec's manufacturing resources, the aptly named Xiaomi Phone is the company's first attempt at developing its own hardware, and boy, it's done one helluva job here with the specs: a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8260 SoC (note that this isn't just an overclocked 1.2GHz chip), 1GB RAM, 4GB ROM, eight megapixel camera and the usual wireless bundle including WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS (plus the rare GLONASS). By now you must be thinking: surely there must be a tradeoff somewhere for that tempting price of ¥1,999 ($310)? Read on to find out if this is the case. %Gallery-134691%
Xiaomi Phone with MIUI OS: a $310 Android with 1.5GHz dual-core SoC and other surprises
Xiaomi Phone is a ¥1,999 ($310) flagship Android phone.
T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide review
Not too long ago, things were pretty simple in T-Mobile's Android land. For us (the nerds, geeks, power users, early adopters, and other misbegotten social deviants) there was the G series of phones with plain Android, culminating recently with LG's delightful G2x. If you wanted to buy your mom an Android smartphone, you'd point her at the myTouch series of handsets with custom HTC Sense-based skins, like last winter's myTouch 4G. Life got a bit more complicated with the introduction of LG's Optimus T, Samsung's Galaxy S 4G, and other devices that don't neatly fit into the carrier's grand branding scheme. Well, fear not! T-Mobile and HTC went ahead and refreshed last summer's lovely myTouch 3G Slide with a dash of dual-core tech lifted right from HTC's Sensation flagship and a bespoke 8 megapixel shooter said to be "the most advanced camera of any smartphone". Those are fighting words... so does the myTouch 4G Slide (as it's called) beat the likes of Samsung's Galaxy S II, Sony Ericsson's Xperia Arc, and Nokia's N8 in terms of imaging performance? Is the sliding keyboard as pleasant to use as its predecessor? And most importantly, is this your mom's next phone? Read on for our full review. %Gallery-129747%
Qualcomm Snapdragon roadmap leaks, Krait slithering on the scene soon
We've gotten a few peeks at Qualcomm's next-gen Snapdragon chips, codenamed Krait, but now we've got a proper roadmap, including time frames for release, model numbers, and even details about the memory channels. Glancing at the slide above doesn't reveal anything terribly surprising -- the dual-core 8960 (LTE), 8270 (HSPA), and 8260A (HSPA+) will all be shipping to manufacturers later this quarter, in speeds ranging from 1.5GHz to 1.7GHz and come packing the latest Adreno 225 GPU. In Q3 of next year Qualcomm's 28nm tech will trickle down from the high-end to mid-range phones, just ahead of the launch of those quad-core, 2GHz mobile monsters the company teased back in February. Check out the full PDF presentation at the source for more nitty-gritty details. Update: Qualcomm has asked us to remove the link to the documentation in question. [Thanks, Gadgeteer]
HTC Sensation review
A hotly anticipated smartphone with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a "Super" 4.3-inch screen, and a manufacturer-skinned version of Android 2.3 -- we must be talking about the Samsung Galaxy S II, right? Not on this occasion, squire. Today we're taking a gander at HTC's Sensation, a handset that's just begun shipping in Europe under a short-term Vodafone exclusive and which should be making its way to T-Mobile in the USA early next month. By beating its stablemate the EVO 3D and Moto's Droid X2 to the market, the Sensation becomes the world's first 4.3-inch smartphone with qHD resolution, while also serving as the debut phone for HTC's Watch movie streaming service and Sense 3.0 UI customizations. That leaves us with an abundance of newness to review, so what are we waiting for? %Gallery-124367%
Qualcomm shows off MSM8660's slick video performance on development kit (video)
If you've been closely tracking the development of Qualcomm's 1.5GHz dual-core MSM8660, you would've already seen AnandTech's impressive set of benchmark results back in early April. But of course, it'd be more convincing to actually see this chipset in action, so Qualcomm's latest videos of its Mobile Development Platform should satisfy your curiosity. As demoed after the break, this Snapdragon's Adreno 220 is seen effortlessly handling in-page HTML5 video streaming, Flash video streaming, and 1080p playback. And as a sideshow, Qualcomm even put its current-gen single-core QSD8255 head-to-head with a rival dual-core chipset -- no doubt a Tegra 2 in an LG Optimus 2x -- and easily won the Flash video contest. All of this might lure you into getting the MDP as your next everyday phone, but here's the bad news: this professional kit will cost you a dear $1,350. So unless you're feeling very generous, you'd probably want to wait for the consumer devices to arrive in the summer -- think EVO 3D, Sensation (with GSM-flavored MSM8260, naturally), and TouchPad.
HTC Doubleshot outed as T-Mobile's MyTouch 4G Slide?
When 911Sniper posted the ROM for HTC's Doubleshot, Android enthusiasts began digging for signs of the speculated product name. In the process, a whole slew of specs were outed, and yes, it appears we're looking at none other than T-Mobile's MyTouch 4G Slide. In addition to the dual-core 1.2GHz processor we already reported, the data suggest we'll see a 3.7-inch screen, an 8 megapixel camera (with a lowly VGA shooter up front), and 768MB of RAM. Interestingly, codecs for 3D support were also found in the ROM, and while there's no indication these will make their way into the final build, it sure would add a whole new meaning to "double shot". While the original 3G Slide left us mostly indifferent, what we see here has the potential to be a winner for T-Mobile. Let's just hope they leave the user interface in HTC's capable hands this time around.
HTC Doubleshot appears in XML file, brings dual-core QWERTY handset to your future
When this curious bit of XML crossed our news desk today, we were immediately intrigued by the coyly-named HTC Doubleshot -- an 800 x 480 device that packs Gingerbread into a QWERTY slider. After further digging, it looks like the handset gets its distinction from a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm MSM8260, which immediately elevates it into the realm of superphone. Given the resolution and form factor, look for a screen size of 3.6 to 4 inches. While others have hastily speculated the inclusion of a 6+ megapixel camera, we've noted the widescreen aspect ratio, and suspect we'll see the same 8 megapixel shooter on this device that's found in some of HTC's other phones. Basically, think of it as a sliding Sensation, but with a lower resolution screen. We've taken note of the coffee allusion, and suspect the Doubleshot involves more than one quietly brilliant company from the Seattle area (think magenta). If we're right about the T-Mobile connection, look for an HSPA+ handset that could potentially take life as the MyTouch 4G Slide. Care to join us in the speculation?
HTC Sensation versus the rest of the dual-core world: smartphone spec sheet smackdown
We got to feeling a bit curious about how exactly HTC's latest Android superphone, the Sensation 4G, stacks up against its fellow dual-core competition, so we did what every geek does in such situations, we compiled a chart. Included in this list are the finest and brightest Android handsets from each of the major manufacturers that have gone dual-core so far: the Galaxy S II, the Atrix 4G, the Optimus 2X / G2X, and HTC's own EVO 3D. As it turns out, there are quite a few commonalities among these phones (besides the benchmark-crushing performance). They all boast screens of either 4 or 4.3 inches in size, the minimum amount of RAM among them is 512MB, the smallest battery is 1500mAh, and yes, they all have front-facing video cameras. Basically, it's the future of smartphones, reduced to a stat sheet. As such, it must also come with the warning that specs aren't everything, and user experience will most often depend on the software available on each device and on the preferences of the human holding it. With that proviso fully digested, join us after the break for the data.
Qualcomm's 1.5GHz dual-core MSM8660 destroys the competition in majestic benchmark run
Take the 1GHz Scorpion core residing in Qualcomm's current flagship Snapdragon, the MSM8x55, duplicate it, overclock the resulting pair by 50 percent, and give them improved graphics in the form of Adreno 220. What do you get? A barnburner by the unsexy name of MSM8x60. Yes, the 1.5GHz Mobile Development Platform Qualcomm loosed on the world at CES earlier this year has found itself prostrate on a test bench, where it has produced some of the finest graphical performance scores yet seen on a mobile device. The taxing OpenGL ES 2.0 test you see above shows the new Snapdragon doubling the frame rates churned out by Motorola's mighty Atrix 4G (which admittedly has to work harder thanks to its higher-res display) and completely embarrassing older generation hardware like the EVO 4G. That's a theme carried on throughout AnandTech's benchmarking, which you may explore in full at the source link. If you're wondering when this world-beating dual-core chip will be coming to market, the answer is that it's already inside HTC's imminently upcoming EVO 3D and Pyramid devices, albeit running at a tamer 1.2GHz. Exciting, eh? P.S. - Do take note that the Qualcomm dev platform was plugged into the wall during these tests and was not subject to any power management software that may have otherwise restrained its performance as on the retail chips under test. Moreover, the Egypt benchmark can only run at native resolution, which is what's causing some seemingly aberrant results such as the iPhone 4 (960 x 640) ranking below the iPhone 3GS (480 x 320).
Qualcomm gets official with TouchPad-powering Snapdragon APQ8060 processor
HP already put out the first official word about Qualcomm's new Snapdragon APQ8060 processor yesterday when it revealed that its TouchPad was based on it, but Qualcomm's now also come out and properly announced the new processor itself. That's, of course, a dual-core processor, and comes paired with an Adreno 220 GPU that Qualcomm says helps to deliver "unprecedented processing and 3D graphics performance." What's more, while the TouchPad is the first device to use the processor, it obviously won't be the last, and Qualcomm has now also given us an idea of what sort of capabilities those devices (including smartphones in addition to tablets) might have -- namely, cameras up to 16 megapixels, and the ability to capture and display 1080p stereoscopic 3D video or 8 megapixel stereoscopic still images. Head on past the break for the complete press release.
