Vodafone unveils eight new own-brand mobiles
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Eight new own-brand mobile phones have been launched by Vodafone and it has also unveiled its first Android device. Vodafone 845 running on the Android 2.1 Eclair software will be launched in 12 Vodafone markets, including the UK.
Some of the features of Vodafone 845 are 2.8-inch touch screen, Wi-Fi connectivity and 3 megapixel camera and comes pre-loaded with Vodafone 360 services. A slim 2.5G entry-level full qwerty keyboard device for optimised internet browsing with Opera Mini, e-mail and SMS chat has also been introduced by the telco for the customers in the emerging markets under the brand name Vodafone 546.
For low-end, touch-screen market, Vodafone 543 and Vodafone 547 has been introduced. 2 .4-inch screen, the Opera Mini browser and Vodafone’s pre-pay balance indicator for an on-screen display of how much credit is available to use. Vodafone 350 and 345 are the two other variants of a low-cost handset. The Vodafone 247 offers similar features as that of Vodafone 547 plus a colour display and includes a solar panel for recharging.
Verizon launches Samsung Reality (USA)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Verizon Wireless has finally launched its handset, Samsung Reality loaded with Samsung’s TouchWiz interface for personalization and widgets, available at the rate of $79.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.
The three-inch touchscreen, full horizontal slide-out QWERTY keyboard gadget has several other features like real 3.2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, corporate email sync, VZ Navigator and widgets. Photos can also be edited and animated. It can be setup with one-touch widgets for favorite websites on the phone’s full HTML web browser.
Customers can avail the facility of rebate by using debit cards wherein they can use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.
Verizon cuts the prices of Palm Pre & Pixi Plus (USA)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The prices of Palm’s Pre Plus and Pixi Plus smart phones has been cut by Verizon Wireless and the operator is also offering access to a Wi-Fi service that lets the phones deliver Internet access to other kinds of devices such as Apple’s iPad.
Touch screens and standard QWERTY keyboards are the common features of the two phones which are black in color. The keyboard of Pixi Plus is built into its face while that of Pre Plus slides out from the bottom.
Strong demand of Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry has highly affected the sale of Palm Inc. and the price cut along with providing various applications are considered some of the good options to help the company snag bargain-hunting shoppers.
According to Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney, Verizon is selling Palm’s Pre Plus for $50, down from $150. The Pixi Plus now goes for $30, down from $80. Both require two-year contracts.
Limited but free service has also been offered by Verizon that lets up to five devices connect to Verizon’s wireless network through the phones, which act as a Wi-Fi hotspot.
Samsung gravity to come to Fido on March 16
The Samsung Gravity is expected to come to Fido on March 16 this year. Priced at a measly $25 on a 2-year contract, the official date of the launch has not been disclosed as yet. However the off-contract price tag can vary later. As Rogers originally launched the Gravity on their main network just over a year ago, the move to Fido would be sensible for it.
Most of the time big daddy Rogers will pass select devices down to his dog ‘Fido’ to make an end-of-life run at a discounted price. The few prominent features of the phone include 1.3mp camera with Bluetooth, Bluetooth, QWERTY keyboard and build-in MP3 player.
Motorola brings Android to AT&T
With Motorola BACKFLIP hitting the market, AT&T breaks its record and plunges into the market with its first Android device. The highlight of the model as the name indicates is a MOTOBLUR skin with a full QWERTY keyboard.
The Motorola BACKFLIP is indeed a standard Android phone with a QWERTY keyboard on its back. Its features include 528MHz CPU, HVGA touchscreen, 256MB RAM, 512MB ROM and a 5MP camera. The phone has a connectivity of 7.2Mbps HSDPA (and quad-band GSM/EDGE of course), WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS.
This is just an example. AT&T is all set to get other Android devices beside the Motorola BLUR. The next to emerge is a Dell Phone, probably the Dell Mini 3iX and HTC phones(s).
The Motorola BACKFLIP is priced at 349 US dollars with no contract or 99 dollars after a 100 dollar mail-in rebate on a 2-year 30 dollar a month contract.
Four ZTE Android smartphones to be launched
ZTE is all set to change its low-cost handset maker image and enter into the business of higher smartphone market. Android-powered smartphones will supposedly be the next big target of this Chinese company. However, the latest venture to find its way to the market is 4ZTE phones. These phones are expected to circulate even outside China.
ZTE Smooth, the Palm Pre like device has features like Android 1.6, 2.8-inch QVGA display, QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, FM radio, and 3g (UMTS) connectivity. ZTE Blade is another high-end device and has features like Bluetooth, Android 1.6, WiFi, FM radio, GSM/UMTS connectivity and 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen.
ZTE Racer another Android 1.6 phone will have 3G, WiFi, GPS, and 2.-inch QVGA while ZTE Mercury, which is a look-alike of HTC Hero comes with 3.2-inch HVGA display, GPS and EDGE data.
The only problem these Android phones are expected to come across is the distribution otherwise ZTE is super committed to Android. The ZTE Smartphones will soon be popping on every comer of Europe and US.
Kyocera Mako S4000 offered at $99.95 Page Plus Cellular
Page Plus Cellular, a prepaid cell phone service provider has added the Kyocera Mako S4000 to its offering. The current rate of the product is $99.95, sans any contracts signed.
The Clamshell shaped phone is not expected to impress many with its low set of features including, Bluetooth, VGA camera, WAPbrowser etc. It is targeted towards the first time phone buyers who do not require many features in their smartphone.
According to Page Plus, the company is all set to launch its own brand QWERTY keyboard handset within two months. The carrier at the same time reminded also that they are already offering one QWERTY device- LGenV.
Nokia’s smallest messaging device – Nokia E55 launched in the UK
The featherweight Nokia E55, the newest in the E-series range, is the smallest Nokia messaging device at just 9.9mm wide and is ultra-light weight.
The device sports a fast three-step email set up, a predictive engine that will suggest word completions, error completions and automatically learns new words in addition to a compact QWERTY keyboard.
It supports 3G, HSDPA/HSUPA and WLAN and can access PC files remotely.
The E55 also boasts full access to email, calendar and contacts through direct access to Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes. It also sports noise cancellation.
T- Mobile reveals UK 3.5 G phone first
T-Mobile is claiming to be the first operator to get an HSDPA – that’s 3.5G – phone out the door and into business users’ hands.The MDA Vario II runs on Windows Mobile 5.0 and comes with Redmond’s push email. It boasts support for Microsoft Office apps such as Excel, PowerPoint and Word.Thanks to its 3.5G connectivity the device can theoretically achieve download speeds of around 1.8Mbps but most users will experience less than that.On the hardware side, the device sports a Qwerty keyboard and a large screen to support unrestricted web browsing.The device is made by Windows OEM shop, HTC.
The Vario II is, unsurprisingly, the second iteration of the smart phone. The first, known by the brand name Wizard, was also sold by O2 and Orange as own-brand devices.The device will cost £299 and under, depending on contract.
Source- http://networks.silicon.com
Technorati : 3.5G, HSPDA, O2, Orange, T-Mobile
Ice Rocket : 3.5G, HSPDA, O2, Orange, T-Mobile
