BlackBerry Bold 9780 Review

BlackBerry Bold 9780 smartphone is the newest addition to the BlackBerry Bold series of smartphones. Featuring a premium and iconic design with an incredibly easy-to-use keyboard and optical trackpad, the BlackBerry Bold 9780 is elegantly styled and packed with advanced communications and multimedia features. It is also the first BlackBerry Bold smartphone to come with the new BlackBerry 6 operating system.

BlackBerry Bold 9780 AT&T
�We are very excited to introduce the BlackBerry Bold 9780 featuring the new BlackBerry 6 operating system,� said Carlo Chiarello, Vice President, Product Management at Research In Motion. �This new model builds on the highly refined mobile experience that BlackBerry Bold users already know and love and delivers a wide range of enhancements including a rich new user interface, a fast and powerful WebKit-based browser, broadly improved communications and multimedia capabilities, an incredibly useful Universal Search feature and a high quality 5MP camera.�


BlackBerry Bold 9780 Specs
The BlackBerry Bold 9780 is a compact and stylish smartphone that offers a compelling blend of features, performance and design. It supports 3G networks around the world, includes Wi-Fi with support for carrier supported Wi-Fi calling (UMA where available) and GPS for location-based applications and geo-tagging. It comes with a 5 MP camera with a full complement of high-end features including continuous auto focus, scene modes, image stabilization, flash and video recording. The BlackBerry Bold 9780 also includes 512 MB Flash memory and an expandable memory card slot that supports up to 32 GB of additional storage.

BlackBerry 6 is a new operating system that retains the familiar and trusted features that distinguish the BlackBerry brand while delivering a fresh, approachable and engaging experience that�s powerful and easy to use. It integrates a new and rich WebKit-based browser that renders HTML web pages quickly and beautifully for a great browsing experience. The browser offers fluid navigation using the handset�s optical trackpad, includes tabs for accessing multiple sites simultaneously and provides a zoom feature that can intelligently auto-wrap text in a column while maintaining the placement of a page�s key elements for easier viewing.

Additional features of BlackBerry 6 include expanded messaging capabilities with intuitive features to simplify the management of social networking and RSS feeds (Social Feeds), and integrated access to BBM (BlackBerry Messenger), Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and various instant messaging applications on the BlackBerry Bold 9780 smartphone. Its enhanced multimedia experience rivals the best in the industry and includes a dedicated YouTube app. It also features redesigned Music and Pictures applications and a new universal search feature that allows users to more effectively search for content on the smartphone as well as extend their search to the Internet or to discover applications on BlackBerry App World.

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Compact Froyo-powered Acer beTouch E140 officially unveiled

The affordable Acer beTouch E140 first popped up a couple of weeks back but this time it's not yet another rumor involving its name that caught our attention but Acer itself who has just officially it.

As expected, the Acer beTouch E140 runs Android 2.2 a.k.a. Froyo (which isn't the latest Android version anymore) and comes in a tiny little plastic shell with a 2.8" resistive touchscreen of OVGA resolution on the front and a 3.2MP camera (it's not clear yet if it packs autofocus but there is no flash for sure).

The 200-euro smartphone also touts diverse connectivity options (including support for HSPA, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth), sports an inbuilt GPS receiver and is powered by a 600MHz processor.

Sadly, Acer didn't say a thing about the E140 availabity.

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LG Optimus One will get updated to Gingerbread after all

Either someone made a mistake in that Facebook post or it was the public outcry, but the LG Optimus One P500 will be allowed to enter the Gingerbread house after all. The whole 1GHz processor speed requirement turned out to be a mistake.

Another day, another LG Optimus One news. Just a couple of days a go bad news came by way of the LG Mobile USA Facebook page - no Android 2.3 Gingerbread for the LG Optimus One, citing a "1GHz minimum" requirement by the new OS. It was quickly rebutted on Twitter by a member of the Android team and LG admitted the announcement was premature and said they are waiting on an official compatibility document.


Now, LG has issued an official Public Notice apologizing for the confusion and have confirmed that they will upgrade the LG Optimus One P500 to Gingerbread. They didn't give any specific target date for when this will happen but current and future Optimus One owners (including all its carrier-specific variations) can breathe a sigh of relief.

Presumably, the update will be available for the LG Optimus Chic E720, which has the same specs as the Optimus One (the ones that matter anyway).

Anyway, whatever caused the "misunderstanding" has been resolved, and the Optimus One has become an even better bargain than before.

source : gsmarena.com

Motorola Defy

When it announced the Milestone 2, Motorola also unveiled the Defy, a rugged handset based on the Google Android operating system (OS). This smartphone has already started rolling out in Europe and Australia, and should be making its way to Asia soon. We take a look at what sets it apart.


Upside
If you haven't already guessed from the name, this smartphone is supposed to be tough. For one, it comes with the famed Gorilla Glass from Corning, which is more resistant to breaks and scratches than regular glass. All its ports are covered and sealed to prevent water and dust from entering.


Unlike other rugged phones, the Defy isn't bulky at all. It weighs 118g and measures 107 x 59 x 13.4mm. This is comparable to other full-touchscreen smartphones that come with large 3.7-inch screens.

Under the hood, this handset is also fully featured with connectivity options that range from HSDPA to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and A-GPS for satellite navigation. The 5-megapixel camera has autofocus and an LED for lighting up dark subjects.

The processor found in the Defy is an 800MHz Texas Instruments chip. This may not be the fastest available processor in the market, but coupled with the 512MB RAM, it should allow the handset to be sufficiently responsive.

Downside
The Motorola Defy comes with Android 2.1 (Eclair). Though this gives the user almost all the latest features one would need in a modern smartphone, the absence of the latest version, Android 2.2 (Froyo), is disappointing.

Some of the enhancements in Froyo include Adobe Flash integration in the browser, better Microsoft Exchange support and, most importantly, improved optimization of the processor that allows up to five times better CPU performance.

Outlook
There are still very few smartphones designed to take on the elements, and the Defy will appeal to those who work in harsh environments. We expect it to be a hit with those who need its rugged features. We are expecting the company to make an announcement for Asia very soon.

Source : asia.cnet.com

LG Optimus Chic (E720)

When LG officially released information about the Optimus One (P500), it also gave details on a slightly higher-end smartphone called the Optimus Chic (E720). When we say slightly, we do mean it--this model has the same 600MHz processor and 3.2-inch HVGA screen as the budget P500. However, it does have a few extra features. Let's see what they are.


Upside
The Optimus Chic is meant to be a stylish alternative to the Optimus One. It has a clean front facade and is quite compact at 112.5 x 57.9 x 12.9mm.


While the P500 has a 3-megapixel camera, the Chic comes with a 5-megapixel version. Aside from taking higher-resolution images, it can also shoot VGA videos at 30fps, which will result in smoother motion compared with the Optimus One's maximum of 18fps.

According to the official LG UK product blog, the E720 will come with a feature that allows users "to control the device from their PCs". No other details are given, but this is possibly similar to what HTC has done with its HTCSense.com service, which lets a user perform tasks such as locking his phone or pushing apps to the device from a Web browser.

Downside
Even though the use of touch-sensitive shortcuts gives the E720 an uncluttered design, their location below the screen can be potentially cumbersome. We've mentioned this in a few different reviews: Physical buttons are better because the chances of hitting one accidentally when playing games is lower.

Despite being slightly heavier than the P500, the E720 has a smaller battery. Its capacity is 1,250mAh, less than the Optimus One's 1,500mAh cell. With the same screen and processor, this could potentially mean a shorter battery life.

Outlook
The Optimus Chic is not available yet, but is supposed to be in before the end of the year. We don't see it so much as a higher-end P500 because the differences are quite minute, but more as an alternative design. The price has not been announced, but given its feature set it shouldn't go for very much more than the Optimus One, which costs S$428 before operator subsidies.

Source : asia.cnet.com

Froyo-powered Huawei Ideos X5 and Ideos X6 announced

The world leading networking equipment supplier Huawei has just announced a couple of new Android smartphones. Both Huwaei Ideos X5 and Ideos X6 are running on the Froyo edition of the Google OS, but rumor has it that they might see a Gingerbread update soon.

The Huawei Ideos X6 comes with a 4.1-inch capacitive LCD touchscreen of WVGA resolution. The smartphone is powered by a 1 GHz CPU and packs excellent all round connectivity. Wi-Fi b/g/n, GPS and 3G with HSPA up to 14.4Mbps are all supported and there's also an HDMI port on board.

The 5 megapixel snapper of the Huwei Ideos X6 is capable of recording HD videos. The list of highlights is completed by Dolby mobile surround sound.


The other new announcement, Huawei Ideos X5 is slightly more compact, coming with a 3.8 display. It also offers HSPA-supporting radios as well as Wi-Fi b/g/n and A-GPS. The Ideos X5 5 megapixel camera is accompanied by a LED flash.

Unfortunately there's still no information regarding the availability or pricing of either of the new Huawei smartphones.

Source : gsmarena.com

Google Nexus S up for pre-order in the UK, will set you back �550

Brits can now pre-order the sophomore Google smartphone - the Google Nexus S. It will be the first ever phone to run Android 2.3 Gingerbread and Google has its eye on the future with this one with NFC built-in and a unique curved display.

The Google Nexus S starts off with an excellent technology base (the Samsung Galaxy S) and builds on top of that - the specs sound great on paper and it got positive nods in early previews.

But all that gadget power is sure heavy on the wallet - UK�s Carphone Warehouse offers a SIM-free Nexus S for �550 (�657, $870). Of course, you have the option to get it for free on a two-year contract for �35-a-month.


The Google Nexus S should ship by the end of December (the initial estimate was December 20) and it's available for all major UK operators with plenty of plans to choose from. The only little perk is that it's exclusively sold by Carphone Warehouse.

Still, the price seems a bit steep - as a comparison the Samsung Galaxy S costs �415 SIM-free and is very close feature-wise to the Nexus S. Samsung is still undecided on whether the Galaxy S will get a Gingerbread update but at least it has a proper microSD card slot and HD video recording, which the Nexus S strangely lacks.

Source : gsmarena.com