Google has announced that all handsets running Android 1.6 will now be able to get?Google Maps Navigation?for free.

The news, which was announced on Monday, opens up the free GPS software beyond the Android 2.0 operating system and currently the only handset available, the?Droid by Motorola.

The new release, which aims to take on services from TomTom, Garmin and Navigon will, as long as you have a data connection, let you route your way around the US using the same Google Maps functionality, however, with a more traditional style GPS experience.

The release also includes the new Layers feature, which lets you overlay geographical information on the map. View My Maps, transit lines, Wikipedia articles about places, and more says Google.

If you have a phone running Android 1.6, you can download an updated version of Google Maps from Android Market to use Navigation today.

Android 1.6 phones in the US currently include the T-Mobile mytouch 3G,?the G1 and the HTC Tattoo, as well as the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. However handsets like the HTC Hero, Droid Eris, Samsung Moment and the Samsung Behold II all run Android 1.5 so won't be getting the new feature.

Google Maps Navigation is in beta and is currently available in the United States.

Some features of Android 2.0 are not available on Android 1.6, for example, the ability to use the "navigate to" voice command as shown in our demo video.

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Tags: Phones Mobile phone apps Android Google Google Maps Navigation GPS Samsung HTC T-Mobile mytouch 3G T-Mobile G1 with Google mobile phone Car And GPS Sony Ericsson Motorola

Google Maps Navigation comes to Android 1.6 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:58:52 +0000

The countdown to?CES 2010, the biggest electronics trade show on the planet, has begun, but what can we expect from the show, and what should we start to get excited about? Here are six areas that are going to dominate the news come January.

Don't forget, Pocket-lint will be bringing you all the news, reviews, comment, photos and video as it happens in the run up to CES and live from Las Vegas for the duration of the show.

You can bookmark our CES coverage at pocket-lint.com/CES2010

Digital Living

Technology has gone mainstream supposedly, so that means the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center will be filled with technology launches that embrace all of us rather than just a select few. In real terms that means everything from gadgets for kids, gadgets for mums and dads that look after kids, and gadgets for the silver surfer. Expect new toys for health, parenting and higher education.

Apple

Don't get too excited,?Apple isn't attending CES, regardless of how many rumours you hear, but that doesn't mean companies that work in the Apple eco-system aren't going to be in Vegas launching new gadgets. With a whole area dedicated to the iPod,?iPhone?and Macs, expect a fair share of iPod speakers, cables to connect to something else in your life and the usual array of cases to protect it all.

eBook readers

If you're planning on getting an ebook reader for Christmas you might want to think again. The ebook market has exploded in the US with Amazon,?Barnes & Noble?and?Sony?all fighting over each other to offer you the digital reader you supposedly need. Plastic Logic has already confirmed that it will be launching a new ebook at CES and there is bound to be other manufacturers like?Spring Design?and iRex offering new models.

3D

Riding on the wave of euphoria that Avatar will no doubt give the industry, consumer electronics manufacturers like?Sony, Toshiba, LG?and?Samsung?will be likely to be pushing?3D TV?hard at CES 2010. IFA 2009 already showed us the concepts, CES will show us the reality. Expect new televisions, announcements from the Blu-ray Disc Association, television makers, graphics card companies like Nvidia and movie companies all trying to get in on the action.

Netbooks

While most people have surely moved on from the popularity of netbooks, CES organisers CEA believe netbooks are going to still be big news at CES 2010. What that means is a barrage of computers that don't do much but let you surf the Web and write the odd document. Of course manufacturers will be trying to tell us otherwise with improved graphics courtesy of Nvidia and ATI. You should also probably expect a barrage of tablet devices with touchscreens allowing you to surf the Web around the home.

Green

With the economy making a comeback, manufacturers can once again turn their eyes to saving the planet. Although the idea of being green for green's sake is still very niche, generally manufacturers will be trying to tell you to ignore the thousands they are spending on lighting their booths and the sheer carbon emissions the show creates, by concentrating instead on how they've made advancements in the glass they use or the boxes your favourite gadgets go into. At least you can sleep at night knowing that we haven't had to chop down any trees to let you read this.

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Tags: Audio Car And GPS Dad Gadgets Gaming Hardware Home And Kitchen Home Cinema Phones Cameras Software Sports Fitness CES2010 ebooks Televisions Netbooks Sony LG Samsung Toshiba Apple iPod iPhone 3DTV Laptops Eco Amazon Barnes and Noble Spring Design

CES 2010: What new gadgets will be announced? originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:00:00 +0000

The Samsung Galaxy i7500's little brother - which we knew was incoming - has finally been made official.

The new handset will launch as the Samsung Galaxy Spica i5700 and offers DivX support, DNSe 2.0, a 3.5mm ear jack and measures in at 13.2mm thick.

Previous reports suggested it boasts the same AMOLED touchscreen, Wi-Fi and Android OS as its predecessor, but storage is down to 1GB and camera is down to 3.2-megapixel, without a flash.

As an Android device, the Galaxy Spica supports the full suite of Google services, including Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube, and Google Talk.

Samsung says the device is already out in Europe - a UK launch is planned but we're waiting to hear on availability.

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Samsung Android Samsung Galaxy Spica i5700

Samsung Galaxy Spica i5700 announced originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:52:32 +0000

The second handset to offer the Vodafone 360 experience, and the H1's little brother the Samsung M1, is now available in the UK.

As many of you will know Vodafone 360 is a new set of internet services for the mobile and PC which gathers all contacts from your phone and social networks in one place.

Available in "iridium black" and "neon rush", the M1 boasts a 3.2-inch touchscreen display, 3.2-megapixel camera, built-in GPS, push email, audio and video playback, up to 10 hours talk time, 1GB memory expandable with microSD card and Bluetooth 2.0.

The Vodafone 360 Samsung M1 is now available for free on 24-month contracts from ?20 per month.

Related links:

• Feature - What exactly is Vodafone 360?

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Vodafone Samsung Vodafone 360 Samsung M1

Vodafone 360 Samsung M1 now available originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:08:25 +0000

Further to reports suggesting it was about to, Samsung has announced it has no plans to ditch the Symbian operating system for its future smartphones.

While it had been reported that Samsung senior VP Don Joo Lee had said the company would be looking to Android, Windows Mobile and its own bada platform from now on, the company has issued a statement to the contrary.

"Samsung is an initial member of Symbian Foundation and continues to cooperate with Symbian Foundation. At the same time, Samsung supports various existing open operating systems including Symbian, Linux, Android, and Windows Mobile. To provide more choices to meet consumers' many different tastes and preferences, we will continue our 'multi-OS' strategy".

An SDK for Samsung's bada platform is due in December, while the first bada phones are due in the first half of 2010.

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Tags: Phones Mobile phone industry Samsung Symbian Samsung bada

Samsung denies ditching Symbian originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:29:40 +0000

An image of what's said to be the first device from Samsung to feature its newly-announced "bada" mobile phone platform has hit the Web.

Coming hours after the bada announcement, and with bada phones not due until the first half of 2010 (the SDK has not yet been released) it's more likely this is a fan mock-up.

The image's online source GSM Helpdesk has not revealed where the image came from but speculates it "might as well be a 'Photoshop case' from a very creative Samsung fanatic".

We will keep you posted with all Samsung bada news as we hear it.

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Tags: Phones Mobile phones Samsung Samsung bada Rumours

First Samsung bada phone revealed originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:06:59 +0000

Samsung is set to ditch the Symbian?OS bringing with it a major blow for the operating system.

According to reports online, Samsung's senior VP Don Joo Lee has confirmed that it will dismiss Symbian from its smartphones.

Phasing out the OS, the phone manufacturer is said to be opting for Windows Mobile and Android moving forward in 2010.

The OS has struggled in recent months to compete with a barrage of new operating systems for mobile phones such as webOS from Palm and Android from Google.

The news comes hot on the heels of an announcement from Samsung of its own open mobile platform - Samsung bada.?With an SDK due to be available in December the first bada-powered mobile phones are expected in the first half of 2010.

UPDATE: Samsung has denied it is to ditch Symbian.

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Tags: Phones Mobile phones Samsung Samsung bada Symbian Symbian Foundation Android

Samsung to ditch Symbian originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:59:42 +0000

The Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 Best Mobile Phone nominations are probably the ones we've all been waiting for. The smartphone industry is ablaze and every year we see more and more impressive handsets as the mobile becomes so much more than simply the telephone it once started out as. They are our pocket computers, our access terminals, our windows on the world and it's time to let us know which ones deserve that extra special praise for their impact in 2009. Which one gets your vote?

Android phones

After a very slow start Android is all the rage right now. Until a matter of months ago, HTC dominated with last year's G1, as well as the Magic - which is likely to be in the running - and the HTC Hero, on which it's very hard not to place a heavy bet for the winner of this award. That said, of late we've seen some really impressive contenders with an awesome come back from Motorola with the QWERTY based DEXT and the pure touch Droid.

Never ones to miss the boat, Samsung brought out the Galaxy i7500 and the imminent arrival of the LG GW620 brings the other Korean giant in on the action as well. The T-Mobile Pulse aka Huwaei's Android effort and the HTCs Eris and Tattoo have also shown that consumers can get a piece of Google's mobile OS at a reasonable price, while the launch of the impressive looking Rachael, or Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, makes Nokia's absence look all the more obvious.

Palm & Apple

The shotgun method is not something you'd associate with these manufacturers' approaches to the mobile phone industry in 2009. Nonetheless, between them they've had arguably the biggest impact of all. We were blown away by the Palm Pre at CES in January with its new OS, slideout QWERTY and beautiful touchscreen - even if we did have to wait the best part of a year for the thing to turn up in the UK - and the Apple iPhone 3GS - once Stevie J and friends had decided how to spell it - did just enough to keep itself on top.

More recently, the Palm Pixi has arrived as the lite version of the Pre and doubtless we'll see more webOS devices in the future. So, will Apple be following suit with an iPhone mini all of its own? One for 2010, perhaps.

BlackBerry

The other mobile cult all of its own is the church of RIM and its beloved BlackBerrys. The company has seen an impressive rise in market share and profits in 2009 with its more consumer facing approach. Handsets like the Curve 8520 and the Bold 9700 have proved as popular as their family heritage would suggest and even the second installment of the BlackBerry Storm seems finally to be going down as its name would have us believe. The only question is whether these recent announcements have left it too late for us all to rave about.

Other QWERTYs

If the OS and the touchscreen have been the biggest mobile trends of late, then the move to QWERTY keyboards has to be the next one down. While they used to be the preserve of RIM and a select few business models, the rise of the smartphone with e-mailing, browsing and IM needs has caused a greater desire for ease and speed of typing on our handsets. Most of the mobile makers have caught onto it and you can now buy the things on PAYG or just cheap contracts with basic phones.

The youth messenger market can now get hold of finger tappers like the LG GW300, the pink Samsung B3310 and Samsung Genio/Corby TXT if you're not man enough for the colour scheme on the other model. Go one step up and there's the slightly more mature LG GW520, the Nokia Surge/6760 and the Nokia E72 - the upgrade to the hugely popular business model of 2008. Last of all, there's the QWERTY to end all QWERTYs with the recent launch in the States of the TwitterPeek handset with the kind of keyboard that'll give your desktop a good run for its money.

Windows Mobile

With Android the rising star of 2009, it's easy to forget that Microsoft launched a new version of its mobile OS as well. Windows Mobile 6.5, or Windows Phone, may not necessarily be the choice of the consumer but the manufacturers can't get enough of it and, to give it its dues, it is getting better. HTC is one of the platform's largest supporters, despite the affiliation with Android, and both the HTC HD2 and the HTC Touch Diamond 2 have turned out to be very impressive implementations of the system.

Both the Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 and Toshiba TG01 have taken the custom UI approach to Windows Phone and come up with a couple of handsets to make the consumer's choice that much harder, while Samsung launched an entire update to the OMNIA family with four whole models, each suited to a particular user.

Until the last few weeks, Acer has been solely focused on the Microsoft mobile OS as well with a mass of interesting, if not entirely refined, set of phones and, of course, the LG GM750 is a quick toe in the water for the Korean company while it makes up its mind which way to jump from its own S-Class interface - indeed if it intends to jump at all.

Nokia

It's not been the best of times for the company that still remains the number one in the mobile phone market. Yes, its presence in the developing world is incredible but the Finnish giant's grip on the West has slipped. With Symbian OS the platform of choice, there's still be some noteworthy releases including the headline N97 and N97 mini as well as the super snapper that is the N86.

The business E range is probably one of the strongest and certainly most interesting sectors beyond that, and we've had the pleasure of upgrades like the E52 and the E72 to enjoy over 2009, as well as the intro of the E55 candybar as well.

The classic series has been as well designed as ever with perhaps the Nokia 6700 classic the pick of the lot. Otherwise its all been about the much debated Comes with Music push and the Xpress Music handsets in the shape of the 5530 and the more premium touchscreen X3 and X6 devices, that could well find themselves doing better than some might think in the overall rankings.

Finally, Nokia wouldn't be Nokia if it wasn't trying something crazy and this year it's been the Nokia 7705 Twist. We'll let you judge that one for yourselves.

LG

With grit like determination to be the number two handset provider in the world, LG has been pushing, showing and innovating its heart out over 2009. While the Cookie continues to be its standout success, the likes of the LG Arena and new versions of both the Chocolate and Viewty in the LG BL40 and Viewty Smart have shown some serious intent, if lacking that final touch of class.

More recently, the LG BL20, or even newer Chocolate, looks to make its Black Label sibling that little bit more affordable along with the launch of the GD510 Pop, but the big design oohs and ahhs were saved for the LG GD900 see through phone and the LG Watchphone. Seen anybody actually wearing one yet?

Samsung

As well as being early on both the Windows Phone and Android markets, Samsung has been on a steep learning curve in all mobile departments throughout 2009. The company has been the first to test out the Vodafone 360 platform with the touchscreen H1 as well as briefly holding the record for the fastest phone in the west with the Samsung Jet.

Having finally perfected the touchscreen, the company has brought out more in the Tocco range for all levels if customer to play with and even gone AMOLED with superb handsets like the HD video shooting Samsung i8910. Beyond that, Samsung was the first to reach the 12-megapixel cameraphone mark with the Samsung Pixon12 and has added a couple of impressive innovations like the Beat DJ for the music obsessive and the solar panelled E1107. Generally a very good year for Samsung.

Sony Ericsson

There was a very long tease for Sony Ericsson fans this year. With the Satio and Aino shown off what seems like decades ago, news of the update to the Xperia back in March and Rachael round the corner since back in the summer, we're all just pleased that they made it in time for the 16th November Pocket-lint awards cut off.

Mercifully, while we were waiting for the big guns we had the pleasure of Maria Sharapova's company in the sale of the Sony Ericsson T707 plus, the eco-friendly Sony Ericsson Naite and the T715 more recently to pick up some native Twitter access. It wasn't a prolific year for the Japanese mobile maker but perhaps its biggest unsung hero was the continuation of the Walkman range with the likes of the Sony Ericsson W995 - one of the most complete mid-range handsets a person could buy. Well worth a shout.

The rest

Naturally, the last 12 months has come with its range insanely expensive luxury designer phones for equally insane people with obscenely insanely large wallets. See the Mobiadio Grand Pioneer, gold Nokia Carbon Arte, Motorola Aura Diamond and Tag Heuer Lamborghini handsets for just four of such examples. We wouldn't presume to deny yourselves and the panel of judges the chance to name any of them mobile phone of the year, but if you'd rather something more sensible, then spare a brief thought for the Land Rover S1 from Sonim and a good hour of pondering whether INQ really has cracked it this time with the INQ mini 3G.

What do you think?

But these are just some of the fantastic choices our readers have had in 2009. What would you like to see held aloft as the winner of Pocket-lint Best Mobile Phone 2009? What have we missed out? Which are your unsung heroes and of those we've already mentioned, which would get your vote? Let us know in the comments below and you can help our panel decide which make the shortlist of nominees to be announced here on Pocket-lint on 16 November. We'll have all out coverage of the Vodafone Pocket-lint awards 2009 right here. Don't miss a minute of it.

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Related links:

• Feature - Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - home cinema device
• Feature - Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - gaming hardware
• Feature - Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - games

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 Pocket-lint Awards Features LG Nokia Android HTC iPhone 3GS Sony Ericsson Samsung

Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - mobile phones originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:49:23 +0000

There are few things over which geeks and gadget lovers unite, but one stonewall certainty is that we all love big TVs. Give us some content and an enormous panel to watch it on and you'll have us transfixed. In fact, there's probably a directly proportional relationship between the size of the screen and the amount of time spent arrested by its charms. So, with the recession hitting just before CES 2009 and the subsequent absence of a new claim to the world's biggest TV at the annual Las Vegas tech binge, it didn't look like a good year for home cinema. Fortunately, we were wrong.

Below you'll find a Pacific Ocean of contenders for this year's most coveted of crowns - the Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 Best Home Cinema Device - but which little devil has stolen your heart? Let us know.

TVs

There's simply no other place to start the bidding than with the panels themselves and, while neither size nor width was particular a factor over 2009, there's been some excellent ground covered in both quality and design. If the economic climate has done one thing for the positive, it's to make technology manufacturers more conscious of green issues. When many consumers see that a TV can save them money on energy, then suddenly the double win of the situation means that the environment can benefit as well.

Sony has been the most overt at capitalising on the situation with the Bravia WE5, which goes so far as to switch itself off when it knows it's not being watched. Others though, like LG with the LH2000 and the Sharp DH77 and LC-32DH57E TVs simply use a blend of light-sensing and component efficiency to get the job done and, in LG's case, manage to get the wattage to almost record lows. Even Loweve is in on the act this year, adding a certain level of style to the proceedings with the Art SL eco range. At least you can counter-balance the initial outlay with some cheaper running costs.

Of course, for many of us, it's all about performance rather than environmental or economic credentials and, where picture quality is paramount these days, people are heading to LED backlight LCD technology. Philips brought out the third in its premium line with the Aurea 3, complete with an Ambilight as well as the pin-point LED dimming. Three more manufacturers joined the fray with the LG LH9000 borderless design, the Toshiba REGZA SV and the Sharp Aquos LX series, while Samsung continued to extended its presence in the field with the Samsung 6000, 7000 and the high-end, high-priced but very highly acclaimed 8000 model too.

Fortunately, the expansion at the top end has meant we can get a better quality picture at more affordable prices with a straight LCD panel. 200Hz frame rates are more or less the standard now, internet connected widget TVs have been all the rage since CES and we've also seen a huge pick up in built-in Freesat support, with LG and Sony Bravia seeing a great deal of value in the no cost satellite platform. Philips has been looking strong with the high end Philips 9000 range, which has included the 20mm 9664, and if slim is the choice for you in straight LCDs then the Sony Bravia ZX1 may only have 100Hz technology but manages to squeeze it all into a 9mm frame - otherwise it's probably the Bravia Z5500 that you'll be after from the Japanese giant.

As always, though, the most exciting area of TVs is in the very new - the cutting edge and the sets of years to come. Sadly, for much of the innovation we see, it either never exists or it's years before we can get our hands on it. Fortunately, 2009 has brought some excellent developments straight to the shelves. The two standouts have got to be the Philips 21:9 Cinema super wide TV - the ultimate set for movie buffs - and right at the other end of the scale, the incredible Sony XEL-1 11-inch OLED TV. Curiously, they're both around the same price but both will blow you away - if for very different reasons.

Projectors

Of course, it's not all about panels. If it's size you're really after then DLP is the more cost effective way to go. While there's plenty of cinema quality light-throwers at cinema industry prices, there's still been a steady trickle of models more suited to the average consumer's budget this year. LG has continued its onslaught on just about every area of tech with a flurry of monitors and projectors at very reasonable prices, Optoma brought in the HD20 1080p unit and BenQ has hedged their bets and covered all your bases with the W600, W100 and W6000 depending on just how flush you're feeling.

If money's no option then another choice for 2009 would have to be the Panasonic PT-AE4000, but the prize for the most interesting take on it all has to go to the Epson EH-DM3 which takes the gaming projector one stage forward to bring you the karaoke version. It needs to be seen to be believed.

AVRs and speakers

Naturally, a quality picture is nothing without quality sound to back it up and 2009 has given us even more choices when it comes to home cinema systems. For the best of Britain, KEF has turned up with both a 5.1 set up and a sound bar of note, whilst further afield there's the likes of Creative, the Klipsch HD Theatre systems and Tefuel Theatre 80, all with some high quality, good value offers. For the ultimate choice, though, Panasonic has come up with 10 home cinema systems including a 7.1 set up and an internet connected system with DVDs, docks and the odd BD player thrown in too.

On the AVR side, it's Onkyo that's been by far the busiest in 2009 with the rather sexy and nearly affordable TX-SR707 and TX-NR807 as the tempters and the totally obscene TX-SR5007, TX-NR3007 and TX-NR1007, with their 9.2 channels its the stuff that dreams are made of. And last, but certainly not least, there has been a rare moment of innovation in this field with the rather novel Q Acoustics Q-TV2s back mounted speakers. A cracking solution for small TVs at a very small price to match.

Blu-ray players

Once we had our system set up, it was content that we were after and with even Toshiba cracking under the pressure this year, 2009 really has been the first time Blu-ray can feel confident that it's going places. The options have ranged from the subtle to the insane. Samsung showed us the incredible wall mounted slim jim that is the Samsung BD-P4600 at the beginning of the year and, since, the likes of the LG HLB54S has added some sound to the form factor as well as just about anything you could need in a piece of home cinema hardware.

Philips went for mass appeal and mass affordability instead with the BDP3000 and even Denon reached down some of the way to give the public a taste of luxury with the DBP-1610 and the ?600 Denon DBP-2010, for those that simply couldn't resist. Sony hasn't been slow to promote the company's very own format with two networked players featuring DLNA and a few tasty features, with the BDP-S760 the pick of the crop, while Pioneer has added a little more class and sophistication at the expense of the Wi-Fi and quite a bit more money.

What seems to be the hallmark of 2009 in AV though is what LG and most notably Panasonic has offered. They may not look like the prettiest things in the world but when you combine a BD-player with twin TV tuners, Freesat and a big old HDD to record onto, you've got integration at its best. Keep 'em peeled for the LG HR400 and probably the pick of the others would be the Panasonic DMR-BS850 with just about all the trimmings you could possibly want - unless you really need Sony's 400 disc MegaChanger, that is.

Media players

There have been a few eyebrows raised on the subject of optical storage and removable media. With video files, streaming and, let's face it, piracy all doing well, there's plenty of manufacturers looking at cheaper, more convenient AV solutions for computer literate users (is anyone not computer literate these days?).

The Emtec Movie Cube P800 combines a removable, portable HDD with a strong media interface, while the recently released WD TV Live from Western Digital has brought an upgrade to a hugely successful almost pocket-sized device. Naturally, the PS3 has plenty about it as a streamer and with the PS3 Slim launched a few months back, it could well be in for a shout of a gong whether in this category or another. Fresh on the scene at an alarmingly reasonable price tag is the Asus O!Play networked storage device and media player, but for something rather more profound the Compro T1000W VideoMate will do just about anything you like for ?200.

Even the simple set top box has got a little more interesting in 2009. We're seeing a lot more with PVR capabilities such as the Humax PVR-9300T with 500GB of space and the Digital Vision GiGo which ditches it all for three USB ports and whatever kind of memory sticks you wish to supply it with. But perhaps most interesting of all are the teeny-tiny PCTV Pico Stick tuners which'll turn your PC into a TV and the Elgato EyeTV Sat which siphons HD satellite programing straight from your dish to your computer, and you can even edit the footage later.

Remote controls

Last of all come possibly the least likely little fellows to receive a Pocket-lint Awards nomination but, then again, you just never know. There are three to consider that not only throw the rule book out the window but take both barrels of a shotgun to it too. The insane looking The Loop remote control promises impressive ergonomics and pin point accuracy, the Philips uWand adds full gesture control to the buttons and the Glide TV Navigator couch mouse looks like bringing Star Trek just that little bit closer. Definitely worth a look at the future, if not your vote.

What do you think?

But these are just some of the fantastic choices our readers have had in 2009. What would you like to see held aloft as the winner of Pocket-lint Best Home Cinema Device 2009? What have we missed out? Which are your unsung heroes and of those we've already mentioned, which would get your vote? Let us know in the comments below and you can help our panel decide which make the shortlist of nominees to be announced here on Pocket-lint on 16 November. We'll have all out coverage of the Vodafone Pocket-lint awards 2009 right here. Don't miss a minute of it.

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Related links:

• Feature - Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - gaming hardware
• Feature - Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - games
• Feature - Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - software, services, apps

Tags: Home Cinema Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 Pocket-lint Awards Features Bravia Samsung LED televisions LCD televisions Projectors BD-Live Blu-ray players Speakers Televisions

Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - home cinema device originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:29:23 +0000

Samsung has announced the launch of its own open mobile platform, "Samsung bada" with an SDK due to be available in December.

Bada will mean developers can create applications for millions of new Samsung mobile phones.

The name bada means ocean in Korean (we're certainly hoping Microsoft is planning a search app for the platform) and was said to be chosen "to convey the limitless variety of potential applications which can be created using the new platform".

Samsung says bada is simple for developers to use - "one of the most developer-friendly environments available".

The first bada-powered mobile is due in the first half of 2010.

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Mobile phone industry Samsung Samsung bada SDK Biz

Samsung announces bada mobile platform originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:55:01 +0000

To get the tech deals up and running this week we have the Samsung ES19 digital camera from Currys, who has seen fit to price the product at ?69.99.

For your 70 notes you get a pretty straightforward specifications list, but one that should be fine for no nonsense every day snapping. Apart from the 12-megapixel sensor you'll get a 2.5-inch LCD to view you pictures on, 3x optical zoom, face detection, digital image stabilisation and a beauty shot feature.?

The high res sensor means that anything you print up to A3 should still look decent and the camera can also shoot 640 x 480 VGA resolution videos at a frame rate of 30fps.

Currys is offering free delivery and is willing to pick up the old product for recycling. This link will take you to the Currys website and we'll have another tech deal for you tomorrow.

Tags: Cameras Compact cameras Samsung Samsung ES19 12 megapixels Currys Daily Tech Deal

Daily Tech Deal: Samsung ES19 digital camera from Currys originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

In the States two new Samsung mobile phones have been announced as due within days to AT&T customers.

The Mythic offers a 3.3-inch full touchscreen and features Samsung's TouchWiz user interface. Boasting one-touch access to the likes of AT&T Mobile TV and social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, the Mythic is angled as a "portable entertainment powerhouse". ?
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Available in red and silver, the Flight is described as a next generation messaging device and boasts a vertical sliding form factor that opens to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard underneath with a touchscreen on top.

The Samsung Mythic goes on sale for $199.99 after a mail-in rebate while the Samsung Flight is available for $99.99 after mail-in rebate.

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Samsung AT and T

Samsung Mythic and Flight launch in the US originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:55:58 +0000

Pizza Hut and Vodafone have announced they are to team up for a new app on the new Vodafone 360 H1 from Samsung.

The Pizza Hut delivery app is due to launch shortly and will see H1 owners able to order a pizza via their mobile - and charge it to their monthly, or PAYG - phone bill.

Vodafone's location-based services means the nearest Pizza Hut delivery store to the customer's location is automatically highlighted.

Orders are capped at ?30, but in a move that means you'll get more for your money, Pizza Hut is offering 20% discount for orders placed via the app.

While in the States Pizza Hut's iPhone app is said to have generated over $1 million in sales, here in the UK, the app may be rolled out to other devices after a trial period.

Tags: Phones Mobile phone apps Pizza hut Vodafone Vodafone 360 Samsung

Vodafone 360 H1 to offer Pizza Hut app originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:26:36 +0000

With laptop innovation moving faster than just about any other area of consumer technology, it seems rather unfair to do a best laptop of the year category. Anything released back in January is comparatively obsolete next to anything from the last few months. The arrival of both Windows 7 and CULV technology in the latter half of the year has distorted matters even more. That said, 2009 started with some memorable moments at CES and a definite clutch of landmark releases that have managed to stay in contention for the Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Award for Best Laptop. Here's a little reminder of some of the highlights for you, and don't forget to tell us just which would get your vote.

Multimedia & Games

The laptop industry has moved into three clear areas of machines over the last 2 years although more recently it's threatened to fragment even further. One of the sectors beginning to divide in 2009 is the multimedia notebooks which, since the rise of the netbook and the slimline PC, now consists of just about anything over 2kg in weight with a 15-inch or more screen size. The point is that whereas once they might have been considered portable, the only moving anyone would do with them now would be short distances within the home. And, as for them being lap-tops, well there's now a select few of them that would crush your thigh bones even if you thought about it.

As a consequence of being housebound, these have predominately become entertainment units fit with powerful graphics cards, Blu-ray players, quad core processors, HDMI ports and, of course, HD quality widescreens. Some of the better examples of the year include the Samsung R720, the Asus F70, the Acer Aspire 7540 & 5542, MSI GX723, HP Pavillion DV8, Packard Bell EasyNote DT85 and the Sony Vaio NW series. That's been pretty much the middle bench of this category.

However, beyond these entertainment machines are the slightly lower spec and more portable professional type traditional laptops in the same vein as the MacBook Pro range which was itself refreshed right from the beginning of the 2009. The addition of a 17-inch model and later the 15-inch and 13-inch upgrades helped to remind us that although their specs may be lower, these are still machines to be reckoned with. Toshiba very much has its own take on the market with the Satellite series as re-released throughout the year, Dell has its Studios with an impressive update to the Studio 15 seen in 2009 and the one that got most tongues wagging was the HP Envy laptops with their Core i7 processors and enormous wedges of RAM available up to a slightly insane 16GB.

At the very other extreme of this category is a growing number of monster machines for gamers. It's a tricky area given that most self-respecting VG-heads will build their own PCs, but there is an ever-growing PC gaming market once more and plenty of consumers who want to buy something tailor made. What 2009 has continued to show here is that even this end of computing is moving away from desktops, which were normally classed as the only machines to offer the necessary power and screen size.

The minimum you'd expect to pay for these mostly 17-inch beasts would be a cool ?1000 like we saw in the Packard Bell iPower GX at the beginning of the awards year and the budget but effective Advent 6555 which has arrived since. However, Dell's Alienware, the Demios X-10 and the Asus G60 were also there in case you really wanted to start splashing the cash on dual GPUs and more lights, bells, whistles and sub-woofered sound hot-rods. Hard to tell how big this niche will get in the future but it's certainly been a feature this year.

Finally, and just to be typically awkward Apple finally brought us a new version of their ?799 entry level machine - the 13-inch unibody white MacBook. 2006 was the last time the company refreshed that model and we were beginning to think they would leave it at that.

Ultra Slim

By far the biggest growth area in laptops has been the thin, slim, ultra-portable, ultra-stylish machines. Consumers have been crying out for something with the portability of a netbook but with the battery and processing capabilities nearer the multimedia muthas as well as larger screen sizes to match - typically between 13 and 15 inches. We'd already seen the beginnings of this with the MacBook Air and the Toshiba Porteges but it was at CES 2009 when the fashion really hit home as MSI released their X-Series of laptops with the X320, which has now matured through the X400 and X600 too. Dell managed to eke out the tease on the style-conscious Adamo for nearly 6 months before more recently blowing us all away with even thinner and more unique Adamo XPS and it's the launch of the Intel CULV platform that's really produced the gold rush we're seeing right now.

Asus were quick to move from the already good looking brushed aluminium UX series to the new low voltage, longer lasting system take on the same design with the near enough Asus UL series. There must have been a secret meeting in a darkened smoky room between the marketing chiefs a few months back because it seems X-series has become synonymous with this laptop form. Samsung's X-series arrived with typical gusto in October after the announcement at IFA and once Sony had decided that the trend was here to stay, they produced an Vaio X-series of the company's very own too. And, just to prove they're not all about stacking them high and selling them cheap, Dell produced a slightly less premium take on the trend with both the Inspiron and Lattitude Z-series. Presumably, there were no Xs left. Finally both Toshiba and Acer, with the Timeline range, went about more portable solutions although in a slightly more sedate and less thin-crazed way.

Interestingly, because of the focus on efficiency and form, what we haven't seen, and perhaps for the first time, is any significant increase in RAM and processor cores - typical signs of raw power. Instead 2009 has given the consumer laptops with a definite purpose. We have more battery power, a lighter load, more power-friendly LED screens, often with SSD internal storage solutions as well. Throw Windows 7 into the mix and there's never been a better time to buy a laptop.

Netbooks

If 2008 was the arrival of the netbook, then 2009 has most certainly represented its peak. According to Samsung, Q4 of 2009, now, is when we should expect to see the largest sale in netbooks worldwide. Simply everyone makes them including Orange, LG, Nokia, BlackBerry and even Hello Kitty. There is some suspicion that the wave will roll back once more with the ultra-slims taking a lot of that market share away, with a solution that most people were probably after in the first place, but it seems there will always be a place for devices like these that simply need to be carried in a smaller space.

That said, there have been one or two standout innovations in the netbook field starting at the very beginning of the year in Las Vegas with the arrival of three very important machines. The first was from the inventor of the netbook, as Asus held aloft the touch and swivel screen Eee PC tablet, the T91. The second was the HP Mini 2140 and its near full size keyboard and, perhaps most famously, was Sony's half admission that netbooks were here to stay with the release of the Vaio P not-netbook. The company has since gone the whole hog with the Vaio W.

It's almost seemed that the manufactures themselves have sensed that the traditional netbook might have been a fad. Most have ditched the early 8.9-inch models with 10-inch machines being the baseline these days, the best of the current crop are the Dell Mini 10v, the Toshiba NB200, the Medion E1312, HP Mini 5101, Asus Eee PC 1008HA, Samsung N510 and the Acer Aspire One D250, many of which now come with 2GB of RAM, near full QWERTYs and better graphics than ever before. There's been a recognition that it's hard to get much done on such small machines so we've seen the addition of the Nvidia ION platform to allow gaming and HD video playback to help bolster the trade too. The other way to go has been the blurring of the very definition of the category by creating a series of 11-inch not-netbooks, which straddle the gap in machine class, and often come with non-Atom processors like the HP Pavillion DM1 and the Packard Bell dot m/u.

Aside these small boosts and the touchscreen capabilities, perhaps the only real innovation has come from Acer who has brought out a version of the D250 that comes with both Android and Windows operating systems installed as well as, of course, the offering of a 3D laptop too. It'll be interesting to see how Google's desktop OS takes off and who'll choose to run netbooks on Windows 7. But, most of all, it'll be interesting to see what's come of the netbook in 2 year's time.

What do you think?

But these are just some of the fantastic choices our readers have had in 2009. What would you like to see held aloft as the winner of Pocket-lint Best Laptop 2009? Who have we missed out? Which are your unsung heroes and of those we've already mentioned, which would get your vote? Let us know in the comments below and you can help our panel decide which make the shortlist of nominees to be announced here on Pocket-lint on 16 November. We'll have all out coverage of the Vodafone Pocket-lint awards 2009 right here. Don't miss a minute of it.

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Related links:

• Feature - Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - digital cameras
• Feature - Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - car gadgets
• Feature - Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - music gadgets

Tags: Hardware Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 Pocket-lint Awards Features Asus Acer Samsung Laptops Netbooks Dell Dell Adamo XPS

Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - laptops originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:10:45 +0000

Samsung has launched its first TV slash DVD combo offering in the UK. The LE22B470 LCD TV is angled as "the perfect solution for stressed parents struggling to decide between a TV and a DVD player for their kids this Christmas".

While there's many folk around the world that would love to have such a pressing problem to worry about, if this kind of issue is troubling you, then note that the LE22B470 is said to be "an ideal space saver".

No spec has been revealed but we do know as well as the built-in DVD player, the 22-inch LCD flat screen TV offers a Freeview tuner. It's said to be available now at the likes of Currys, John Lewis, Comet, Amazon and Play for around ?325, although it's certainly not showing up under a model number search just now.

Tags: Home Cinema Televisions LCD televisions Samsung Samsung LE22B470 DVD TV DVD

Samsung LE22B470 DVD TV combo launches originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:09:37 +0000

Samsung and Handmark, a mobile apps and service company, have announced the launch of a new Global Venture Fund to invest in companies or individuals with "innovative, market-changing game ideas for next generation Samsung mobile phones".

Unlike rival manufacturer's similar schemes, this time round it's just about gaming. The companies say they are "searching for games that best showcase Samsung mobile phones and the advanced features they offer".

The fund is considerable - companies or individuals selected will receive up to $250,000 each to fund the development of winning ideas.

"We know there’s a wealth of great ideas out there waiting to be discovered", said Chris Barnett, senior vice president of global sales and strategic partnerships for Handmark.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone, including big brands, mobile developers or any individual with a unique, creative idea to make it a reality".

To submit a proposal or for more information, visit www.handmark.com/company/samsungfund. The deadline for entries is 20 November, 2009.

Tags: Phones Mobile phone games Samsung Handmark Gaming Software Biz

Samsung and Handmark offer $250k for games for next-gen phones originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:53:08 +0000

We're not all made of money. Some of us might just be after a cheap phone that works - maybe a second handset or perhaps something to buy as a present. Whatever your need, if it's budget you're after then that's exactly what we're bringing you today from Pocket-lint with the very best in PAYG mobile phones for under ?50.

5) Nokia 6300

It may be as old as the hills but the Nokia 6300 is a a mobile with class. Just a 2-inch QVGA screen on it and a 2-megapixel camera for trickery but it will shoot video and support up to 4GB of memory through a microSD card. The best thing about the 6300 though is the plain look and feel of the thing. It's got a lovely metal casing which not only makes it stylish but also gives it a wealth of protection. You can throw the thing on the floor as many times as you like and it's not going to break. It'd be nice if it had a 3.5mm jack or something to really call you to the handset, but you'll find all those additions at the more expensive end of the Classic range. This is the best from Nokia within the budget and just sneaks in at ?49.95.

4) Samsung B3310

Let's not beat around the bush here. There's nothing special about this phone apart from the QWERTY keyboard, but the fact is that you just don't get these things on phones under ?50 anywhere else. The whole handset is designed as a written communicator for SMS, e-mail and even built-in access to Facebook, MySpace and Photobucket. Elsewhere, there's a 2-inch LCD display, FM radio, and a 2-megapixel camera. The downside is that the only colour it comes in is pink. ?49.90.

3) Samsung U600

You have to look for small mercies in the budget phone department. Comparatively speaking the U600 is an imaging handset and otherwise it's its lack of glaring mistakes that raises it above the rest. It's got a 3.2-megapixel camera with flash that will shoot video and a fairly bog standard 2.2-inch QVGA to view your snaps on. That said, get them off the phone and you'll have something worth looking at. There's no 3G - not that you could really use it to much effect on this phone - nor is there a 3.5mm jack, which you could, but it's quad-band, stylish and certainly offers bang for one's buck. ?34.95 and not a hint of regret.

2) Skype Phone S2

Sexy this handset ain't, but beneath the plain Jane exterior lies just about the best budget phone you'll find. It measures in at 103 x 45 x 14mm, has a 2.2-inch QVGA screen, a 1150mAh battery, 50MB of on-board memory backed up by a microSD card slot that supports up to 4GB and both HSDPA speeds of up to 3.6Mbps and a mighty 3.2-megapixel camera. The real selling point of the S2 though is that it gives you free Skype to Skype voice calls and chat forever. As in, life. At no data cost at all. Know enough people on Skype, make a lot of calls overseas and this one will pay for itself in a matter of weeks. ?49.99

1) LG Cookie KP500

5 million consumers world wide can't be wrong, or at least if they are you'll have a very large support network. The Cookie has offered touchscreen technology to the masses with the KP500 and a nice chunky 3-inch display to watch videos on too. At 13.9mm slim, this 89 gram handset has an "intuitive" Active Flash user interface with haptic feedback and comes with a built-in stylus. The UI gives you widget control plus there's also a 3-megapixel camera, a MP3 player, FM radio, calendar, clock and motion sensing games too. What keeps it different to the big boys is that there's no Wi-Fi, no push e-mail, no 3.5mm jack and no GPS. Otherwise, it's about as smart as a feature phone can get. Very good indeed for ?49.90.

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Related links:

• Buy - Skype phone S2
• Buy - Nokia 6300
• Buy - Samsung B3310
• Buy - Samsung U600
• Buy - LG KP500 Cookie

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Samsung 3G Photos Cameraphones PAYG Samsung U600 LG KP500 Cookie Skype Skypephone S2 3 Nokia Samsung B3310 Nokia 6300 Features

Top 5 PAYG phones for under £50 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:24:37 +0000

Early next year, Google is set to launch version 2.0 of its Android mobile operating system, codenamed "Eclair". The platform is confirmed to be appearing on the forthcoming Motorola Droid, but what about other manufacturers?

Samsung is staying tight-lipped about its Android experiments, perhaps following the difficult birth of the Galaxy i7500. HTC, however, buoyed by the success of its Hero handset, has happily confirmed to Gearlog that it has Android 2.0 in-house and it's working on it for future handsets.

What's not entirely clear yet is whether current Android handsets will be able to be upgraded to version 2.0. An Android 2.0 announcement is due imminently, so perhaps some of the questions surrounding the platform will be answered then. We'll keep you posted.

Read

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Operating Systems Android HTC Samsung

HTC working on Android 2.0 handsets originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:11:54 +0000

At IFA this year, Samsung launched its X-series of laptops comprising the 11.6-inch X120, the 14-inch X420 and the 15.6-inch X520. We brought you the specs for all the machines, and grabbed some photos of the X520, but you hadn't seen the X120 and X420 until now.

In case you'd forgotten, the X-Series is Samsung's take on the "thin & light" laptops that every single major manufacturer is currently rolling out thanks to Intel making a marketing push on its ultra-low voltage processors.

Although confusing for consumers to have so many similar laptops around, it's good because they all pack reasonable specs and long battery life, and the competition should help to drive down prices quite a bit in the run-up to Christmas.

The X520 ships with an optical drive in the case, but the X120 and X420 don't - they come with an external one instead, which can be attached via USB. They come with 2GB to 4GB of RAM, integrated GPUs and 160GB to 500GB of hard disk space.

The X120 costs ?500, the X420 is ?600 and the X520 is ?650. They're all packing Windows 7 and therefore available now.

Tags: Hardware Laptops Samsung Laptops Samsung X120 Samsung X420 Samsung X520 Photos

PHOTOS: Samsung X120 and X420 Laptops originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:56:29 +0100

Samsung has announced the launch of the Samsung S2 Portable external hard drive that hits shop shelves today.

In an attempt to make portable storage a little more exciting, Samsung is offering the S2 complete with a "worldwide box office hit".

A digital version of "Angels & Demons", as directed by Ron Howard from the Dan Brown novel, will be pre-loaded onto the storage device, apparently an industry first.

Capacity-wise, the S2 offers 500GB as well as auto back-up, "SecretZone" that encrypts and stores data on a virtual drive and "SafetyKey" password protection.

It's on sale now from Amazon.co.uk for ?75.

Tags: Hardware Storage Samsung Dan Brown Home Cinema

Samsung S2 Portable HDD gets "Angels & Demons" pre-loaded originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:54:51 +0100

Here's a few sneaky shots of the Samsung SCH-B710 which we managed to grab when DDD was showing off its Yabazam 3D content store. It may look like a regular handset and when the flip is closed, it is - but turn the screen sideways and it turns into a 3D display.

At the moment there's very little 3D content available for any platform, let alone mobile phones, but that hasn't stopped this little unit from going into production. It contains a TV tuner, full 3D camera, and and parallax barrier 3D display.

There's no UK operators interested yet - it's only available in Korea - but we're hearing whisperings that 3 and Orange are both taking a close look at the handset. We'll bring you more about this handset when we hear it.

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Samsung 3D Samsung SCH-B710

PHOTOS: Samsung SCH-B710 3D Mobile originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:38:54 +0100

Vodafone has announced its first 360 handset, the Samsung H1, has gone on up on pre-order for delivery on 30 October.

Tailor-made for the operator, the H1 is the first handset which delivers the Vodafone 360 experience, described as "a new set of internet services for the mobile and PC which gathers all of a customer's friends, social networks and online communities, entertainment and personal favourites in one place".

With a 3.5-inch, high def OLED screen, 16GB memory, Wi-Fi, GPS and a 5-megapixel camera, the H1 boasts syncing of all contacts from the phone, Facebook, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, and coming soon - Twitter.

The cheapest option to get the Vodafone 360 H1 is on a ?30 per month, 2-year tariff which means the handset is free. The plan offers 600 anytime minutes and unlimited texts.

Related links:

• Link - Vodafone 360

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Vodafone Samsung Vodafone 360 Samsung H1

Vodafone 360 Samsung H1 goes on pre-order originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:10:06 +0100

We knew this was coming, but Samsung and Blockbuster have now announced the immediate availability of Blockbuster's On Demand digital content for rent or purchase on select Samsung HDTVs and Blu-ray players in the States.

With the Blockbuster service, on demand movie rentals cost from $2.99 to $3.99, while purchases will set US consumers back between $7.99 to $19.99.

With on-screen search and browsing capabilities, as well as full details, ratings, trailers, and other info about each movie directly on the TV, the service is instant with the ability to hit play to begin viewing right away.

Samsung televisions that can get the new service in the States are the Samsung Series 650 and above, LCD/LED and plasma HDTVs and Series 7000 and above.

The service is also available on Samsung BD-P1600, BD-P3600 and BD-P4600 Blu-ray players, as well as select Samsung Blu-ray home theatre systems (HT-BD1250, HT-BD3252, HT-BD7200 and HT-BD8200) via a firmware upgrade.

Tags: Home Cinema Samsung Blockbuster Video on demand

Blockbuster On Demand goes live on select Samsung devices originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:45:43 +0100

Samsung and fashion house Armani have teamed up on a couple of handsets in the past, and are at it again with the launch of the new Giorgio Armani-Samsung smartphone, apparently "the most elegant and functional mobile on the market".

Offering Windows Mobile 6.5, a "unique" two step tilt hinge form factor with both a touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard the new handset gets a 3.5-inch AMOLED display.

"Giorgio Armani himself personally designed this stylish smartphone" says Samsung, but UK fashionistas need not get too excited as it won't be coming to the UK, according to Samsung's press office, despite the official press release on the Armani site saying it is.

Specs include all that you'd expect from a WinMob device - apart from the addition of an Opera 9.5 browser - as well as 7.2Mbps HSDPA, a 5-megapixel camera, media player, FM radio, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, A-GPS and 8GB internal memory expandable via microSD card up to 32GB.

The phone comes in a "distinctive and elegant bronze gold colour", which is said to "coordinate perfectly with Giorgio Armani's suits". We'll keep you posted on a UK launch - just in case.

Read

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Samsung Armani Giorgio Armani Windows Mobile Windows Phone

Giorgio Armani-Samsung smartphone announced originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:49:09 +0100

Sprint has launched yet another Android handset on its network in the US - this time the Samsung Moment.

The new Google OS powered handset will feature a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, come with the usual array of Google mobile services, including Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail and YouTube, as well as thousands of applications available in Android Market of course.

As with the company's range of Omnia handsets?the "Moment" will get a 3.2-inch AMOLED touch-screen. It will be powered by an 800 MHz processor.

Other features include a 3.2 megapixel camera, Stereo Bluetooth, microSD card slot, and 3.5mm headphone jack.

Those keen to get the into the "Moment" (see what we did there) will be able to do so from the 1 November for $179.99. Keeping with previous handsets though, that price will only be achievable after a $50 instant saving and $100 mail-in-rebate.

Read

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Samsung Android Sprint

Sprint Samsung Moment savours Android OS originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:38:26 +0100

With news from Sony Ericsson officially announcing the retail availability of the company's high spec, mulitmedia mobile, autumn double whammy due soon; we thought we'd take a look at the more specialised end of the smartphone market.

While the Aino is all about integration with the PS3, it's the 12-megapixel marriage of the Cyber-Shot and Walkman brands that's got the universal appeal for the cameraphone loving public. However, the SE way of doing things isn't quite everyone's cup of tea, so here are five other great megapixel monsters to look out for that might also tickle your fancy or leave a little more left in your wallet.

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Samsung Pixon12

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Resolution

12 megapixels

Flash

Xenon

Lens

28mm wide-angle

Price

Free from ?35/month

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The Pixon12, or M8910, was the world's first 12-meggy monster and still the equal biggest. It's got a 3.1-inch AMOLED screen with 10,000:1 contrast ratio, a 28mm wide angle lens and can snap a pic every 2 seconds. There's a dedicated "Camera Power Key" for one-touch access to the camera function and a nice Xenon flash too. One of the best features though is the touchscreen controlled auto-focus tracking, where users can select a focus point with the touch of a finger and the AF function will automatically follow the object, while the Smart Auto feature changes the scene and mode based on its object, background and lighting. Other specs for the quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE phone include HSUPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, an FM radio, 720 x 480 video capture at 30fps and up to 16GB memory via MicroSD for storing all your high res snaps.

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LG Louvre

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Resolution

12 megapixels

Flash

Xenon

Lens

Schneider-Kruznach

Price

unavailable

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LG showed off a concept 12-megapixel camera phone called the GC990 Louvre at the Korea Products Exhibition in Warsaw a few months back and although it's not yet on the scene, it's the only other competitor to the Pixon12 and Satio in pure resolution stakes. It has autofocus and touch-focus, the ability to record 720p HD video at 30fps and an ISO up to 3200. There's also automatic geo-tagging and LG claims there'll be zero shutter lag. POIDH. Away from the camera, there's Wi-Fi, TV-Out, GPS, a 3.2-inch touchscreen 16:9 display, an accelerometer, Bluetooth, and support for DivX and Xvid video formats as seemingly standard for LG these days. Sadly, it's only a concept model and there are no official plans to bring it to market. Perhaps LG has decided that the megapixel race is very 2008.

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Sharp Aquos Shot 933SH

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Resolution

10 megapixels

Flash

Xenon

Lens

28mm wide-angle

Price

Japan only

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The 10-megapixel mark hasn't been hugely popular for mobile manufacturers but a certain phone maker which has been very quiet over here has been busy with this stunner in the East. It has a 3.3-inch WVGA display which has a rotating touchscreen that brings incredibly compact camera-esque control to your mobile device. It's packet with picture taking features and scene modes and, as the name suggests, houses some of the LCD technology found in the Sharp AV units. Very nice for watching TV on the go. Yes, they do that out there.

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Nokia N86 8MP

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Resolution

8 megapixels

Flash

dual LEDs

Lens

28mm wide-angle Carl Zeiss Tessar

Price

Free from ?20/month

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Going with the headline "Imaging at its very best..." Nokia has designed the N86 to take the big boys as well as other 8-megapixel offerings. It's got wide-angle Carl Zeiss Tessar optics lens with a mechanical shutter, up to 1/1000 shutter speed and an f-stop range of 2.4-4.8 to suit low light conditions. It also supports geo-tagging capabilities and comes with a 3rd generation dual LED camera flash rather than a Xenon, which Nokia believes to be superior. There's 8GB of internal memory for your snaps for around 4000 images plus A-GPS, a 2.6-inch QVGA 230 x 320 screen, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0. It's also got a scratch-resistant AMOLED display.

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Sony Ericsson W995

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Resolution

8.1 megapixels

Flash

Photo Flash

Lens

standard

Price

Free from ?20/month

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The other option, of course, is just an older, slightly lower spec Sony Ericsson model - the W995. It features Media Go access for all your gaming an entertainment needs and offers a 2.6-inch screen, a built-in stand, built-in stereo speakers, Wi-Fi, 3.5mm headphone jack and all the Walkman features like SensMe and TrackID as well. As for the camera, there's not a lot to get excited about aside AF, face tracking and geo-tagging and the large sensor but then, none of the others on the list come bundled with headphones as well as an 8GB memory stick.

Related links:

• News - Satio, Aino and Yari confirmed

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Sony Ericsson Sony Ericsson W995 Samsung Pixon12 Samsung Nokia Nokia N86 LG LG Louvre Sharp Sharp Aquos Shot 933SH Features

Five mobile phone megapixel monsters originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:19:25 +0100

Back in April, Microsoft declared that Windows Mobile 6.5 would offer "Tellme" functionality via a side button that would let users control their phones with their voice.

Fast forward to now as handsets with the new mobile operating system become available and it seems it's not something manufacturers have jumped on whole-heartedly.

However, the new Samsung Intrepid - that will launch on Sprint in the States - will offer such voice control: "This new interface will allow you to search the Web with Bing by speaking your search query, compose a text message or even dial a contact by simply talking instead of typing".

Hit play now to see a demo, which does not look that much quicker than doing the deed with your fingers, but who are we to judge...

Tags: Phones Samsung Sprint Microsoft Windows Mobile Windows Phone Video Bing

VIDEO: Windows Mobile 6.5 Tellme function demoed street-style originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:31:11 +0100

Microsoft has officially launched Windows 6.5 or Windows Phone to you and me on Tuesday, but what phones can you get with the new operating system and what phone can you upgrade?

If you've already bought a HTC Touch Diamond II, HTC Touch Pro II, HTC Snap S552 or Toshiba TG01 WP, you can upgrade today via the HTC and Toshiba websites bringing you all the new features without having to buy a new handset.

If you want to upgrade your handset, here is the official list from Redmond of what you can get your hands on now and in the near future:

New handsets in the UK

• HTC Touch II from T-Mobile and Carphone Warehouse
• HTC Touch HD II from O2 and Carphone Warehouse
• LG GM750 from Vodafone
• Samsung Omnia II and Samsung Omnia Lite from Carphone Warehouse
• Samsung Omnia Pro - B7730 from Carphone Warehouse on 30 October?
• Sony Ericsson X2 from Vodafone on 30 October?
• Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 from O2 on 30 November

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New handsets in North America

• HTC Pure from AT&T
• HTC Imagio from Verizon Wireless
• Samsung Intrepid from Sprint, available 11 Oct, 2009
• HTC Tilt 2 from AT&T, available in the coming weeks

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In Europe

• MDA Vario V, MDA Compact V and HTC Touch2 and the Samsung Omnia II from Deutsche Telekom in select European markets
• HTC HD2 from Orange, available in the coming weeks in France
• HTC Touch2 from Orange, available in the coming weeks in France, Spain, Switzerland and Romania
• A software update for the HTC Touch Pro2 from Orange, available in the coming weeks in France, U.K. and Romania
• Samsung Omnia II from Orange, available in the coming weeks in Poland, Switzerland and Slovakia and from early December in France
• Samsung Omnia LITE from Orange, available in the coming weeks in France and Spain
• Samsung Omnia PRO B7320 from Orange, available in the coming weeks in France and the U.K.
• Toshiba TG01 W from Orange, available as an update to the TG01 in the coming weeks in France, the U.K., Switzerland and Romania
• LG GM750 and Samsung Omnia II from SFR in France?
• TMN Bluebelt 2 and TMN Silverbelt, made by ZTE Corp., from TMN in Portugal
• Samsung Omnia II and Omnia LITE from TMN in Portugal
• HTC Touch Diamond2 from Vodafone in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, South Africa and Central Europe
• HTC Touch Pro2 from Vodafone in the U.K. and Switzerland
• LG GM750 from Vodafone in Germany, the U.K., Spain and the Netherlands?

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In Latin America

• Samsung Omnia available in the coming weeks from TIM Brasil

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Open market in Europe:

• Samsung Omnia II, Omnia LITE, Omnia PRO B7320, Omnia PRO B7330 and Omnia PRO B7610 available in October

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In Asia

• ZTE X60 from China Unicom
• HTC Touch Diamond2 from Telstra

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Open market in Asia

• Acer beTouch E100, beTouch E101, beTouch E200 and Acer neoTouch
• Garmin-ASUS n?vifone M20 ?
• HTC Snap, HTC Touch Pro2, HTC Touch Diamond2 and HTC Touch2
• LG GM730 and LG GM550
• Samsung Omnia II and Samsung Omnia PRO B7320, Omnia PRO B7330

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Handsets that can be upgraded from 6.1 to 6.5

• HTC Touch Diamond II from T-Mobile and Carphone Warehouse?
• HTC Touch Pro II from Vodafone on 14 October
• HTC Snap S552?
• Toshiba TG01 WP from Orange

Related links:

• Link - HTC

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Microsoft Windows Phone Windows Mobile HTC Samsung LG Orange T-Mobile AT and T Sony Ericsson

Microsoft Windows Phones: What phones are available originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:18:39 +0100

It may not have been quite the upgrade Microsoft had conceived of with the company's initial route map for 2009 but the launch of Windows Phone/Windows Mobile 6.5 today comes with no less ceremony. Naturally, an operating system is all very well and good so, here are some of the first flush of Windows phones to show it off.

HTC Touch2

Samsung Omnia II (i8000)

LG GM750

Toshiba TG01

HTC HD2

Related links:

• Feature - Quick guide to Windows Mobile 6.5 - Windows Phone
• News - HTC HD2 coming this month with Sense UI

Tags: Phones Windows Mobile Windows Phone Operating Systems Mobile phone apps Mobile phones Windows Marketplace Microsoft HTC Samsung TG01 Omnia II Omnia LITE LG HTC HD2 HTC Touch2 Features

Five Windows Mobile 6.5 phones to watch out for originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:05:00 +0100

In the States, AT&T has announced the launch of four new mobiles from Pantech and Samsung that are said to feature full-on web browsers, despite their non-smartphone status.

The Pantech Reveal and Impact launch alongside the Samsung Mythic and Flight and are the first to come preloaded with AT&T's new "richer and faster" Opera-powered HTML mobile browser and att.net service.

The 3G, GPS-enabled Pantech Reveal is described as a "slim and snappy slider that features an open-faced numeric keypad on the front of the phone which slides up to uncover a full keyboard underneath".

The Pantech Impact gets an OLED touchscreen with haptics, as well as a a full physical keyboard and a second display revealed via a sideways flip of the phone.

The touch-only Samsung Mythic offers a 3.3-inch display and the TouchWiz UI, while the Samsung Flight, with a vertical sliding form factor and full keyboard is another touchscreen-equipped handset.

Tags: Phones Mobile phones AT and T Samsung Pantech Opera

AT and T offers four new web browsin' mobiles originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:20:59 +0100

Samsung has announced another Android handset to follow up the Galaxy i7500. It's called the Behold II, and as far as we know for the time being, it'll only be available in the US - carried by T-Mobile US. As well as Android, it'll carry Samsung's TouchWiz UI.

Like the i7500, it has a 3.2-inch AMOLED display and the aforementioned TouchWiz UI allows you to interact with widgets found in a slide-out tray on the left side of the homescreen. You can also access Samsung's "Cube" menu, which gives access to music, photos, videos, the web, YouTube and Amazon MP3.

It also has a 5-megapixel camera, flash, visual voicemail, music player, the capability to pump in 16GB of external storage (presumably from a microSD card), A-GPS and Bluetooth. We would guess that it'll also come with Wi-Fi, but there's no confirmation of that.

The handset is scheduled to launch "later this year", i.e. before Christmas. Pricing and availability, as well as any news of a UK launch for the device, are unknown. We'll keep you posted.

Related links:

• News - Samsung TouchWiz phones to get App Store

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Samsung Android Samsung Behold T-Mobile Google

T-Mobile US to sell Android-equipped Samsung Behold II originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:29:52 +0100

There's nothing wildly spectacular about the looks of the refresh to the Samsung N-series netbooks but then there isn't supposed to be. The tech giant has affordability in mind with the N130 and N140 which are designed to take over from the popular NC10.

On first look, the keyboards are typically small for 10-inch machines but well spaced given what there is to work with but the hinge doesn't allow you to push the screen back very far which could be a problem for taller people. With 1.60GHz Atom CPUs, 1GB RAM and 160GB HDDs, the difference in prices - N130 at ?279 and N140 at ?329 - is purely down to a bigger battery and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR.

If you'd rather a little more finger space and a proper WVGA resolution, then the N510 offers something more comfortable and luxurious with the major additions of an 11.6-inch screen and the backing of the NVIDIA Ion platform for HD playback and even some gaming. It will cost you ?429 but still only runs XP, the same as the others.

The big netbooks push comes at what Samsung believes is the peak time for these devices. Phil Brown, Samsung UK general manager for mobile devices, said:

"We were always led to believe that Q4 of 2009 will be the best time for netbook sales."

It was also confirmed that Samsung will be sticking with Intel for the foreseeable future, despite the AMD Vision launch, and that touchscreen netbooks would "certainly be on the radar" for 2010. It seemed very much a case that the company could quite easily make OLED, 3D, 3G and other such netbooks right now but it's a question of the devices being cheap and marketable enough while the technologies are still relatively young.

Related links:

• News - Samsung N510, N130 N140 netbooks debut at IFA

Tags: Hardware Laptops Netbooks Samsung Samsung N130 Samsung N140 Samsung N510 Nvidia Intel Ion IFA2009

PHOTOS: Samsung N130, N140 and N510 netbooks originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:03:28 +0100

Top consumer electronics companies have revealed they are teaming up to effectively create a mobile, or mini, version of the HDMI port for portable devices and phones.

Nokia, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba have all announced they are working with Silicon Image to form the Mobile High-Definition Interface Working Group.

The group will go on to create an industry standard for an audio/video interface to connect mobile phones or other portable devices directly to high-definition televisions and displays.

The new standard will be based on Silicon Image's "Mobile High-Definition Link" tech and will be offered as an industry standard open to all companies. The aim is for the standard to be easy and cost effective for manufacturers and simple and reliable for consumers.

Silicon Image says "a single-cable with a low pin count interface will be able to support up to 1080p high-definition digital video and HD audio in addition to delivering power to a portable device".

You can be sure it will be a while before anything is finalised, but we will keep you posted.

Tags: Phones Audio Mobile High-Definition Interface Working Group Nokia Samsung Sony Toshiba Silicon Image Cables Biz HDMI

Nokia, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba team up on mobile HDMI originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:27:56 +0100