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Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 starts shipping its outdated self around the world
We're not going to make any apologies. So long as Sony Ericsson continues to pretend like Android 2.x doesn't exist and keeps kicking out new devices running Android 1.6, we'll keep docking it points like the meanest of Russian judges. The 3-inch X8 is set to be Sony Ericsson's most affordable Android handset -- we were told it'll cost south of $300 unlocked -- to date, but then you get your money's worth with a 600MHz processing core and a 3.2 megapixel fixed focus camera. Oh, even better news is that the X8 will get updated to Android 2.1 "a little later" than SE's X10 line. If you want to avoid all this Android upgrade drama (and save a few more pennies), Sony Ericsson is also starting to ship out its no-frills Cedar candybar as well -- perfect if you just want your phone to act like a phone and little more.
Sony Ericsson's Cedar, Yendo are official: candybar and an Android-free X10 mini clone
If the phone on the left looks familiar, it should -- it looks a heck of a lot like the Android-powered X10 mini, sharing the 2.6-inch touchscreen and some of its UI cues -- but alas, this bad boy isn't running Android. Instead, Sony Ericsson is branding this fairly low-end dumbphone as the rumored Yendo with Walkman branding, a 2 megapixel cam, and FM radio; interestingly, it lacks 3G, instead offering one of two dual-band GSM / EDGE choices in ten colors. On the right, you've got the Cedar, bringing back what's quickly become a dying form factor as of late -- the simple candybar -- with a 2 megapixel cam and VGA video capture at 30fps, 3G, a 2.2-inch display, and 3.5mm headphone jack available either in black with silver accents or red accents. Both will be available in the third quarter, though the Yendo has been slapped with the "selected markets" label, so we suspect it'll be the harder to find of the two.
Sony Ericsson's Cedar and Yendo phones leaked, vying for your attention
Oopsie! Looks like Sony Ericsson's become as leaky as BP's oil rig these days, although we can't say we're all that stirred up by this particular exposé. On the left we have the Cedar, which is much like its hippie GreenHeart cousin Naite but with a touch of SE's "human curvature" sculpting on the back. So yes, still a dumbphone. As for the little Yendo on the right, we won't blame you if you mistook it as the similarly-shaped X10 Mini -- even the UI looks strikingly alike, plus both are littered with similarly vast ranges of back cover options to suit your retinal taste. That said, there's been no mention on whether this Walkman phone also runs on Android, so until SE gives us a clue, we'll be looking elsewhere for the time being. Head over to the source links for more pics. [Thanks, scotsboyuk]
ATI Radeon HD 5450 focuses on multimedia features, neglects gaming
It's rare to see a rumor -- hell, even a roadmap -- pinpoint the timing of new releases quite so accurately, but our earlier report of ATI refreshing the middle and lower parts of its lineup turned out to be bang on. Following in the footsteps of the HD 5670, we have the Radeon HD 5450, which drags the entry price for DirectX 11 and Eyefinity multi-monitor support all the way down to $50. Course, the processing power inside isn't going to be on par with its elder siblings, but that also means the 5450 will run cool enough to be offered with half-height, passive cooling solutions as seen above. ATI's focus here is on media PCs, with a DisplayPort, um... port, alongside HDMI 1.3a, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio bitstreaming support. For the money, you really can't argue with all this extra multimedia juice, but if you must have benchmarks to sate your soul, check out the early reviews below -- they're full of bar charts and performance comparisons, don't you know.
NVIDIA Fermi pushed back to March, ATI prepping midrange refresh for early Q1?
Considering the present date, it's no longer a mystery that Fermi won't be seeing the glaring lights of store shelves this year, but now DigiTimes reports that the delay might be even longer than feared. Sources from within board manufacturers have been informed by NVIDIA that the launch of the 40nm GPU will be pushed back to March 2010. Though NVIDIA's flagship DirectX 11 card has yet to get out of the starting blocks, ATI -- already the proud papa of a litter of DX 11 parts -- is said to be preparing a renewed onslaught on the mainstream market with two new releases slated for late January or early February. The HD 5670 (Redwood) and HD 5450 (Cedar) will slot in alongside the unannounced HD 5570 and HD 5350 to flesh out the lower and middle portions of ATI's Evergreen refresh. So that's one whole family of DirectX 11 parts from ATI, and one long wait from NVIDIA.
AMD's 40nm DirectX 11-based Evergreen GPUs could be ready for bloom by late September
Looks like AMD's heading off trail with its upcoming 40nm DirectX 11-based Evergreen series processors. The Inquirer's dug up some details, and while clock speeds are still unknown, the codenames for the lineup include Cypress at the top of the pile, followed by Redwood, then Juniper and Cedar for the mainstream crowd, and finally Hemlock for the lower end. The series could reportedly be ready by late September, which gives a month of breathing room before DX11-supporting Windows 7 hits the scene. Could this give AMD its much-desired lead over NVIDIA? Hard to say, but things should get mighty interesting between now and late October.
HTC Touch Pro2 brandishes Verizon logo, poses for camera with Cedar
Not that it wasn't without warning, but we've now got some pretty definitive picture proof that HTC 's Touch Pro2 is set to bask in Verizon's CDMA goodness -- we guess your Sprint friends won't be having all the fun, after all. Also caught on camera here is the HTC Cedar, a CDMA version of the HTC Maple / Snap. It's got a slightly different button layout just under the screen than the Sprint version we recently saw, which itself is different from its initial unveiling. According to 474RPR, who leaked these pics, this one's bound for Alltel's network, which while we don't see any proof from the image, we could totally buy that. Of course, none of these pics give a release date of any sort, so hang tight while we all anxiously wait in unison. [Via wmpoweruser]
HTC Snap snapped with larger battery, Sprint insignia, June 7th launch date?
Looks like HTC's giving Sprint its own version of the Snap, albeit with some slight modifications compared to the T-Mobile variant. According to the snapshots from PPCGeeks, all specs are pretty much identical except for a 1500mAH battery in place of the 800mAH, a revived Inner Circle, and a potentially nonexistent WiFi component. It also looks like the middle unit has been changed to a more traditional d-pad configuration. The forum poster who uploaded the pics claims it'll launch for a hair under $150 on June 7th, which would be rather odd should another high-profile release date rumor pan out. [Via WMPoweruser]
Second version of HTC Cedar graces FCC with its presence
Remember how the portrait QWERTY Cedar garnered FCC approval a little while back? Yeah, well, forget that ever happened. Actually, don't -- it's a totally valid approval -- but that was the Cedar "200," and now we're seeing a Cedar "100" come rolling through. It's really common for HTC to create multiple versions of the same basic device using the same codename, differentiating them only with different three-digit numbers on the tail end, and that appears to be the case here; both versions of the Cedar are CDMA, so we could be looking at models for Sprint and Verizon, for example. Kinda puts the damper on the "why doesn't [insert carrier here] get any good phones?" complaint for just a moment, doesn't it?
HTC Cedar portrait-style WinMo smartphone for CDMA hits FCC
Look out, Palm -- you've got what's apt to be a formidable opponent creeping right up on your next big thing. A frustratingly vague FCC filing has just appeared, which details (if you can even call it that) an elusive new HTC CEDA200 smartphone that's apparently portrait-styled, Windows Mobile-powered and ready to rock on a (gasp!) CDMA network. The filing clearly asks the dear ole FCC to hold photos until July 30th, which lines right up with that Q2 launch date we've heard about for a so-called HTC Cedar (or Willow). Obviously, it's too early to tell just yet if this is that very phone, but either way, you can count on something good from HTC crossing the CDMA airwaves in the not-too-terribly-distant future.
Sprint's 2009 roadmap comes to light, packed with goodies
There aren't terribly many surprises in the latest roadmap docs leaked out of Sprint, but there are a couple -- and we finally have some target launch windows around a few of the more anticipates devices we've been expecting this year. Perhaps least surprisingly, the Palm P100 -- that's the Pre for you lay folk -- is still on track for the second quarter of the year, which could mean anything between April and June. Staying in the landscape QWERTY smartphone realm, we'll see the HTC Cedar (or Willow, depending on which slide you're looking at) and a new Samsung Ace -- creatively named the Ace II -- in the second and third quarters, respectively. The landscape HTC Rhodium will likely replace the Touch Pro in the third quarter, and the hotly (and we do mean hotly) anticipated BlackBerry Niagara will be hitting in the same three-month period.Things are getting interesting down in the dumbphone realm, too, with both the Instinct Mini and a true Instinct successor -- the Dash with an HVGA display -- in the pipe. The Sanyo 2700, dual-slide Samsung Cello, and the Samsung Chianti (which looks suspiciously like a Propel) will all follow the Rumor 2 down the text-centric path, and a handful of new ultra-basic devices will fill in the bottom of the range. For data, Sprint will be launching Novatel's totally awesome MiFi portable hotspot, which warms our hearts. What doesn't warm our hearts is the utter void of Android devices here -- but we can hold out hope, and as always, all of this is subject to change. Stay tuned![Via Boy Genius Report]
Mysterious HTC XV6175 slinks towards Verizon Wireless
So, what's this we have here? Over at the always-telling Global Certification Forum, we've stumbled upon a new HTC handset that's obviously headed for Verizon Wireless airwaves. The XV6175 namesake gives it away, but the smattering of GSM bands draws us to conclude that we're looking at a CDMA / GSM worldphone. So yeah, if you're one that thrives on speculation, why not take a peek at HTC's rumored 2009 lineup and try to put two and two together? Godspeed.[Via WMPowerUser]
HTC's rumored 2009 lineup gets fleshed out with specs, dates
Remember HTC's huge lineup leak from earlier this year? Apparently somebody has trickled a few more details about the sets out, as we get a better look at the when, the where, and the all-important how much. Of course, we have to preface the info on the following six sets with the fact that we've no way to know the absolute truth or if we'll see them land as things have a way of changing. So until you hear it from HTC, consider the following leak a thing of dreams. First up, the Firestone, a 3G set that replaces the Touch HD with a 3.6-inch WVGA display, an 8 megapixel -- HTC's first -- camera, runs Windows Mobile 6.5, and is slated to appear in August this year. Next, a slate-style set called Whitestone with the same display as the Firestone, a 5 megapixel camera, Windows Mobile 6.1, and is apparently a dual-mode GSM / EV-DO number due to launch with Verizon in the September timeframe. The Thoth -- Athena's replacement -- is also present with a 4.8-inch display, a 5 megapixel shooter, the Qualcomm 8250 CPU at 1GHz, and will also run Microsoft's newest Windows Mobile 6.5 when it lands in September. HTC's Twin is another dual-band candybar set with a 3.2-inch VGA interface (no date), the HTC Maple is an HTC Cavalier successor with a 2.4-inch screen, 2 megapixel camera, Windows Mobile 6.1 device that appears in May. Last up, the HTC Cedar, which was originally touted as debuting on Verizon in June and has potentially been canceled. OK, that potentially sorts Windows Mobile for the year with HTC, so now lets get some details on Android sets, mkay HTC?[Via WMPoweruser]
HTC Cedar's Bluetooth certification might confirm leaked lineup
We hadn't had much doubt that HTC's leaked 2009 wares were real as it was -- especially considering that we've seen the Android-powered Sapphire doing its thing in the wild -- but these are the kinds of deals where we like just as much confirmation as we can possibly get, you know? To that end, the good ol' Bluetooth SIG is hooking us up with certification information for an HTC Cedar, which just happens to one of the many, many devices in that leak. The Cedar itself is probably one of the least interesting phones in the group, an unassuming portrait QWERTY piece -- but more importantly, it proves that "Cedar" is a valid codename in HTC's current vernacular, so we can count on seeing other models in that bunch like the Tungsten, Whitestone, and Thoth as well.[Via wmpoweruser.com]