Penny Mobiles – Mobile phone news, reviews & information

With WWDC 2011 in full swing, many who were hoping for an iPhone 5 were disappointed. That said, many pundits had long said that Apple would skip a summer launch and instead leave the launch for its September music event which was traditionally used to launch new iPod’s and Apple TV but thanks to the cannibalizing of iPod sales thanks to the iPhone Apple is expected to use the event to launch not only new iPod’s but a new iPhone as well.

That said, there have been many rumors concerning the phones design. At one time it was said that Steve Jobs was playing with three different prototypes, one that included a 4-inch screen and another with a QWERTY keyboard. So needless to say, everyone is wondering how much different will it look from the current iPhone 4. With Samsung, currently Apple’s main competitor experiencing record sales of its Galaxy S device, ibetimes.com is claiming that the Cupertino based company could be taking design cues from Sammy’s hottest new device.

If this tumor is true, it would be ironic seeing that Apple has just finished dragging Samsung into a legal battle claiming the South Korean company not only copied design cues from them but infringed on their patents. Samsung responded with a humorous request asking the court to require Apple to allow it to see the final design of the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 so it would be able to stay clear of possibly copying the devices design. It should be noted that many of Apple’s iPad and iPhone parts are manufactured by Samsung.

What is clear is that if Apple is to successfully compete against Samsung, they will need to come forward with a redesigned product. Granted Apple has the media on its side and there is no doubt that whatever Apple dubs as the iPhone 5 or 4.5 will sell millions of units. But for it to live up to the hype that is being created Apple will need to include some well needed features such as support for NFC, a slimmer design, bigger screen, better camera as well as a dual-core processor.

Many industry pundits and analysts have rumored that the iPhone will indeed include a larger screen, albeit one not as big as the Samsung Galaxy S II and a slimmer design along with the same processor currently running the iPad 2.

But one thing is clear, with Apple filing lawsuits against Samsung, it is clear that Samsung has hit a nerve with the company, and whatever device the company releases next as the next iPhone, it will be aimed squarely at Samsung’s galaxy S II.

Source: Online Social Media

It was just a matter of time. With the growing sophistication of the Android OS now in its v2.2 Froyo iteration, the world’s 2nd largest mobile phone maker Samsung just stepped into the tablet war zone to challenge Apple’s iPad now looming as the undisputed leader in a pack of one. Welcome the challenger – the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Samsung seems to be playing its cards right with a product that straddles the line between the mobile phone and a full tablet device in terms of size. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a hefty 190 x 120.5 x 12 mm and weighing 380g but is just half the size of the iPad. It’s certainly larger than the largest smartphone in the market and you know it is with its 7-inch capacitive touchscreen display with multitouch, Swype, accelerometer and 3-axis sensor. Is it any good? We’ll let you be the judge, read on:

Trumping the iPad

The Samsung Galaxy Tab wins points over the iPad for having a 3.2 megapixel shooter with autofocus, LED flash including a video recording feature with D1 (720 x 480) resolution at 30fps. 3G video calls are also supported with its front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera.

There’s also Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP and MicroUSB v2.0 local data connectivity support. External memory expandability of up to 32GB adds to its internal memory capacity which comes in two flavors of 16GB and 32GB. Lastly, you have a true multitasking OS in the Android v2.2 Froyo as well as Adobe Flash 10.1 support you won’t find in the iPad.

So what other features does it have that is at par with the iPad? It’s a Tri band UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA on 3G and a Quad band GSM on 2G with class 10 GPRS/EDGE. It also has WiFi 802.11 b/g/n for hotspot surfing and a GPS receiver with A-GPS support.

The 4000 mAh Li-ion battery powers up to 7 hours of movie playback and really makes this a superb feature set.

Samsung may not be dominating the Smartphone scene but it is definitely one the manufacturers that offers quality and reliable mobiles. Testament to this is the success of their previous releases such as the Samsung Wave 2 and Samsung Wave 2 Pro which definitely showed Samsung’s capability to take on other more popular brands.

The Samsung Wave 723 is another remarkable Smartphone offering from Samsung that is worth discussing about.

Looking Good!

The overall look of the Samsung Wave 723 is pretty simple and elegant. The design is pretty typical and is similar to other touch screens available in the market today. However, the main difference is the built-in leather flip which is designed to protect the 3.2 inch touch display.

This mobile is compatible with 256k colours which will surely bring anyone’s viewing experience a notch higher.
It measures 109.5 x 53.9 x 11.8 mm which makes it the perfect mobile to carry anywhere as it fits easily in the pocket or any type of bag.

The back of the Samsung Wave 723 reveals a 5MP snapper. It is ideal to use to capture still images or any other time that may require a quick snap. It also has an LED flash to enhance photo quality. Smile detection and auto-focus are some of the available features as well.

Bunch of Features

Aside from the interesting Bada OS, which is designed by Samsung, there are a lot of features present in the Samsung Wave 723 that will surely make this device the apple of the eye for Smartphone enthusiast.

Connectivity wise it is safe to say that the Wave 723 has everything you’d want from a mobile device. It offers HSDPA, EDGE and GPRS. It is definitely what you need to access the internet at a faster speed. It is WiFI ready also and the internal memory is 90MB and can still be expanded up to 16GB with a MicroSD card.

There are plenty of reasons why Samsung and Sony Ericsson should be happy. After all, the past few months has seen the companies release a whole new line of Android devices and of course, the continued growth of market demand for the Google made platform.

Sony Ericsson has been in financial turmoil last year and has taken most of 2010 getting back in the game. But with both feet now planted firmly back on the ground with a strong line up of new devices selling plenty in the past couple of quarters, it is not surprising that the Swedish Japanese joint venture is enjoying it newfound success. Of course, the icing on the cake would have to be the award from EISA which celebrates the XPERIA X10 Mini smart phone.

Obviously, the X10 Mini is not as powerful as the XPERIA X10. In fact, compared to that powerhouse, the device seems very much like a toy. But looking closer at the specs, one realizes that the Mini is far more practical –especially when price is concerned. The phone is much cheaper than the X10 and it is almost as functional. Sure, the processor is slower and the screen is much smaller. But given that the device is far cheaper –then it is a better choice.

Samsung also got a little award as well. While Sony Ericsson got off with the best mobile phone award, Samsung was still able to nab the best smart phone award. The recipient is none other than the Galaxy S with its’ impressive high end specifications. Naturally, the phone’s impressive touch screen display technology which makes use of super AMOLED technology surpasses most screens available –including the retina display on the iPhone 4.

Expect to hear more about these two devices as the EISA awards are certain to bring the spotlight back on them.

According to Steve Jobs, the antenna issue is “a challenge for the whole industry”.

Mobile phone users and many mobile phone makers beg to disagree; after all, this is the first time that a device would actually drop calls if its antenna was held. Even in the early days of 2G/GSM devices, Nokia manufactured plenty of mobile phones with visible antennas that literally jutted out of the phone body. Phones like the old Nokia 5110 would still work properly even if the antenna was being touched by the hand.

And in the many years since then, various phone makers have made countless numbers of mobile devices that have not only made the antenna smaller and non-obtrusive, but also equally, if not more efficient.

Companies like RIM, whose BlackBerry Bold 9700 was named directly by Apple as a device affected by antenna issues. What Jobs might have failed to realize that even if the Bold or any other handset loses a bar of signal from touch, none of these phones would drop a call like the iPhone 4 would.

Jobs also failed to realize that RIM would also speak out.

To sum it up nicely, here is a quick excerpt from RIM’s official statement, “Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation.”

Nokia has also stated they their company emphasizes a lot on testing their products –including the antenna performance, to ensure the usability of their mobile handsets.

The two companies are not the only phone makers to have made their voices heard. Samsung and Motorola have also spoken out as well. Of the three companies that Apple has directly mentioned in the presentation, only HTC (manufacturers of the HTC Wildfire and Desire, among others) has yet to make a comment (and many believe that it will not be long before that).

According to recent news Fujitsu is the newest phone manufacturer to be joining the ranks of HTC, Motorola, LG, Samsung and more in the Android phone community.

So far, the only thing that has been announced is the fact that Fujitsu is indeed working on an Android device, but aside from that, it is not known what kind of handset the Japanese electronics manufacturer will be coming up with. It is however, estimated that the new device will be out by the end of the year. The only speculation that matters right now is whether Fujitsu will device to bring the device over to the UK.

While we are all still guessing on what Fujitsu is planning, the other Android phone makers are already busy working on their own devices.

Korean manufacturer Samsung has recently added several new devices to the Galaxy series of Android phones, but it seems that the Galaxy tab seems missing from the list of devices that will be getting a release date soon.

Not to be outdone, the other Korean phone maker, LG has also confirmed that they are going to be adding a couple of new devices to the Optimus series of handsets (LG’s line of Android phones). In the meanwhile, the existing Optimus handsets are going to be updated.

HTC is already an established name in the smart phone industry –most particularly with the Android OS. With the HTC roadmap already leaked, it comes as to no surprise that the Taiwanese manufacturer is the one with the Android handset that we would be most looking forward to: the HTC Vision. Aside from the already impressive spec sheet, the device also comes with a physical slide out QWERTY keyboard. The other HTC device, the HTC Ace is still an unknown handset (no specs or details) at this point.

We pretty much expect every single major mobile phone released to be marked with a couple of weeks worth of issues and troubles. And while it is expected that the Apple iPhone would not be immune from such problems, the types of issues that the handset is having is definitely something that Apple needs to act upon.

The first problem is more of a production issue. Apparently, there is a mixture or adhesive in the smart phone’s touch screen that has not been applied or dried properly which makes it appear as a giant yellowish tint on the display screen. Users have described the issue as bothersome and annoying and many feel that they have been cheated in their expensive purchase.

For a screen that costs Apple plenty of money to make, one would think that the touch screen would be the one part that they got right.

Speaking of parts, it appears that the iPhone 4’s parts costs have been broken by the iSuppli website in order to give people a clear understanding about what parts make the iPhone tick. The screen is one part, the other is the Samsung developed NAND flash memory. Now this part is so far, proving to be very reliant. Hopefully, no issues with the internal memory and battery ever arise.

In other iPhone related news, it appears that the device is also suffering from reception issues. The antenna has been carelessly designed to be easily interfered with if the phone is held in certain parts. The solution for many has been to place the handset in a case or even use nail polish to provide a protective layer for the antenna. In terms of cost, the parts used for the antenna on the iPhone are pretty cheap. Many expect Apple to come out with a more reliable solution to the antenna trouble by next week.

Despite the fact that most of us are already waiting for the release of the upcoming Windows Phone 7 mobile platform, the fact is that Windows Mobile 6.5 is far from dead. In fact, Microsoft has already stated several months ago that even after the WP7 handsets are released, they will still continue to support and develop for WinMo 6.5.

While it is not confirmed if they will push through with the supposed name change from Windows Mobile to Windows Phone Classic, they are certainly going to keep the OS alive. Despite the announcement that Microsoft Office Mobile 2010 will indeed be available for the new OS, people are still looking to the older WinMo OS for business needs. Simply put, the new WP7 is not simply cutting it for business users –this is actually a very important market for Microsoft (they hold the second largest share of the business market next to BlackBerry, and that is how they managed to survive despite WinMo’s lack of support in the general market).

A recent announcement from Samsung further proves that WinMo 6.5 will still be around for a while, the new Samsung Omnia Pro 4 and Omnia Pro 5 smart phones will be making use of the older Microsoft mobile platform with updated versions of Office Mobile and Communicator Mobile.

As to be expected, the two handsets are very business-like in design, with the BlackBerry form factor (candy bar handsets with portrait physical QWERTY keyboards). The design logic for the keyboards is simple, but they work quite effectively, anyone who has been using a Palm or BlackBerry will feel at ease with these handsets.

It is to be noted that the Omnia Pro 4 actually has better specs than the Omnia Pro 5. The biggest advantage of getting the Pro 5 is the fact that the device is a lot lighter and slimmer than the Pro 4.

When Samsung announced the Bada operating system, many believed that the Korean phone manufacturer would be so focused on their proprietary operating system that they would slow down in the production of smart phones for other mobile platforms. However, it seems that the general assumption was quite wrong and Samsung is making plenty of mobile handsets for the Google Android operating system.

With the launch of the i7500 Galaxy last year, Samsung has begun its series of high end devices that would be making use of the open source mobile platform. The device would later be followed up by the Galaxy Lite (also known as the Galaxy Spica) and now, the series is expanding with many new handsets added to the list.

First to join the ranks is the Samsung i9000 Galaxy S which is basically the Korean manufacturer’s answer to the Nexus One and the HTC Desire This smart phone not only matches the 1GHz CPU and 5 mega pixel camera, but they also bring in their new super AMOLED capacitive touch screen display. According to recent reports, there will be a Samsung Galaxy S Pro smart phone that will be released soon and that the phone will come with a slide out QWERTY keyboard.

Speaking of super AMOLED capacitive touch screen displays, the Galaxy Tape is set to have the largest one around at 7 inches. The Galaxy Tape is considered to be a tablet despite having phone call capabilities. With the Android 2.2 Froyo, a front facing camera and a better resolution display, this is perfect answer to the Apple iPad.

Aside from high end devices, the Galaxy series is also offering more common midrange phones like the Galaxy Apollo which was recently put in a teaser by Orange Mobile UK. The device is the same as the Samsung Galaxy 3 though the two have different number designations. Last on the list is a Corby Galaxy smart phone, the i5500 Galaxy 5.

According to recent reports, there are two new additions to Samsung’s Galaxy series of mobile phones. The first is a mid range handset that is a lot like a super upgraded Corby handset, while the other is a massive tablet device that still keeps mobile phone features.

First off, the i5801 Galaxy Apollo; this new handset has been shown off at the Orange Mobile UK website, though the full details have yet to be confirmed. So far, it has been revealed that the smart phone will come with the new Android 2.1 Éclair open source mobile platform, a 3.15 mega pixel snapper and a decent sized 3.2 inch TFT capacitive touch screen display. Overall, it is very HTC Legend like, though it could use a better 5 mega pixel camera and the super AMOLED touch screen which will be used in the i9000 Galaxy S.

While a release date and CPU details have yet to be revealed, expect to see Orange get a semi exclusive version of this smart phone (or possibly even full exclusivity of the device itself).

Last week, Samsung also showed the tech industry that it has been busy planning for the upcoming tablet wars. With the successful launch of the Apple iPad last May, it is no longer a surprise that other companies want a share of the tablet market, and being armed with Google’s Android OS is certainly a great plan.

The new Galaxy Tab has a 7 inch touch screen display. While it is slightly smaller than the iPad (which has a 9.7 inch screen), the Galaxy Tab has a feature that the iPad can never match, the ability to make calls. This is why the Samsung Galaxy Tab is still considered as a smart phone despite its very tablet-like features.

Korean manufacturer Samsung has yet to confirm when the device would be in production, but many tablet fans are hoping to try out the device very soon.