Sony Ericsson announce Live Walkman Android smartphone

Sony Ericsson today announced another model in the Walkman series. The Live Walkman is an Android 2.3 Gingerbread model with a 3.2 inch touch display and 1GHz processor

Sony Ericsson Live Walkman is the second Walkman model running on the Android OS. It is a mid-range model with a 5 megapixel camera, 3.2 inch display and 320 x 480 pixel resolution with with Wi-Fi, aGPS, DLNA and HSPA network support. So why does it deserve the Walkman brand name? It has a collection of music services which do not exist in other Sony Ericsson models.

• Infinite button - Click to enable instant access to content about the favourite artist, such as music videos, artist information and lyrics search
• Qriocity music and video content service from Sony - Where consumers can access songs from all major labels and watch thousands of movies from a major studios. Only Sony Ericsson Android smartphones provide consumers with unique access to the entertainment services from Sony.
• Sony xLOUD technology - Enhanced audio output of the built in speakers at high levels
• TrackID - Music identification service

All Sony Ericsson Walkman phones have a Walkman player application. We are not sure if the Walkman app found in the Live Walkman model is something beyond the generic Android but with a tiny Sony Ericsson twist such as Equalizer and Walkman brand.
Live Walkman has a deep Facebook integration like many other new Sony Ericsson smartphones. Most media content such as picture gallery, music, contact and calendar details can be shared and synced with Facebook.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia adds the four-corner Home screen navigation for easy navigation to commonly used tasks.

Sony Ericsson Live Walkman highlights

• Size: 106 x 56.5 x 14.2 mm
• 115 gram
• Networks:
  • GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, UMTS/HSPA 850/1900/2100
  • GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, UMTS/HSPA 900/2100
• 3.2 inch touch display, 320 x 480 pixel resolution, 16.7 million colours, scratch-resistant, capacitive multi-touch
• 5 megapixel camera, 8 digital zoom, auto focus, face detection, secondary front facing VGA 640x480 pixel resolution camera. LED light, geo tagging
• 720p HD video capture with image stabilizer
• Wi-Fi with DLNA
• Bluetooth
• aGPS
• FM Radio
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Micro USB support and USB tethering
• Talktime: 14 hours 15 minutes
• Standby time: 600 hours
• Music listening time: 17 hours 30 minutes
• Battery: 1200 mAh

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LG announces two new Android smartphones

LG Electronics has announced two new smartphones running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Both the LG Optimus Pro with full QWERTY keyboard and the Optimus Net are mid-range models

Last week, LG announced two new Android smartphones for the masses. Both models has a 800 MHz processor and they are running version 2.3 Gingerbred which is the latest version of Android operating system.
LG Optimus Pro has a 2.6 inch display and a full QWERTY keyboard below. In addition to the usual Android keys and the QWERTY keyboard, it also has dedicated keys for email and scheduler. Most manufacures now use the Pro name on models for QWERTY and business models and so does LG.
The Optimus Net will have some features available to specific markets. Some carriers will offer the Optimus Net with Near Field Communication (NFC) for mobile payments while North American carriers will include a QWERTY keyboard. Brazil, China, Asia and the CIS region will have a model that's dual-SIM compatible.
Both phone models will be for sale this summer.
LG Optimus Pro highlights

• Size: 119.5 x 59.7 x 12.9 mm
• Weight: 129 gram
• Full QWERTY keyboard
• 2.8 inch display, 240 x 320 pixel resolution. TFT, Capacitive touch
• Networks: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSPA 900/2100
• 256 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM, 150 MB user memory. Expandable up to 32 GB with microSD card. 2 GB card included
• 3 megapixel camera, fixed focus. VGA video recording
• Bluetooth 3.0
• USB connectivity
• Wi-Fi
• DLNA
• aGPS
• FM Radio
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• 1500 mAh battery
• 800 MHz ARM11 processor

LG Optimus Net hightlights

• Size: 113.5 x 59 x 12.1 mm
• Weight: 122 gram
• 3.2 inch display, 320 x 480 pixel resolution, TFT capacitive touch
• Networks: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSPA 900/1700/1800/2100
• 512 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM, 150 MB user storage. Expandable up to 32 GB with microSD card. 2 GB card included
• 3 megapixel camera, autofocus. VGA video recording
• Bluetooth 3.0
• USB connectivity
• Wi-Fi
• DLNA
• aGPS
• FM Radio
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system with Optimus UI 2.0
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• 1500 mAh
• 800 MHz ARM11 processor
• Market specific features:
  • NFC for Europe
  • QWERTY for North America
  • Dual-SIM for Brazil, China, Asia and the CIS region

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Motorola announces Droid 3

Another Droid has seen the light. No reason to change the Droid name when Droid has established itself as one of the most feature packed Android smartphone model. 

 

Compared to the Droid 2, Droid 3 has got a larger 4 inch display with higher resolution, increased the camera resolution from 5 to 8 megapixel and it has a dual core 1GHz processor. The look and feel seems to be very similar to the Droid 2.
The Droid 3 is available on Verizon in the US. As with the Droid 2, a global model might be released later.
Motorola Droid 3 highlights

• Size: 123.3 x 64.1 x 12.9 mm
• Weight: 184 gram
• 4 inch touch screen display, 540 x 960 pixel resolution, 16 million colours, Corning Gorilla Glass
• Dual core 1 GHz processor
• 8 megapixel camera
• 1080p video recording
• Full QWERTY keyboard (worlds thinnest QWERTY model)
• Networks: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, CDMA 800/1900, WCDMA 850/1900/2100, HSPA 10.2 Mbps, CDMA EV-DO Release A
• aGPS
• Memory: 16 GB storage. Expandable with microSD card up to 32 GB. 48 GB in total
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread
• WiFi, DLNA
• Bluetooth 2.1
• HDMI (HDMI cable not included)
• Battery: 1540 mAh
• Standby time: 300 hours
• Talk time: 550 minutes
• Sensors: Accelerometer, Proximity, ambient light and eCompass

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Sharp announces 16 megapixel Android smartphone Aquos 007SH

Sharp this week announced the worlds first Android smartphone with clamshell form factor

The Sharp AQUOS SoftBank 007SH is for customers of the Japanese network operator SoftBank. It is the fist clamshell model running Android having a regular number key dial pad. Strangely enough, Sharp did not equip the phone with a QWERTY keypad. We are not very familiar with Japanese testing preferences but they might prefer having a virtual keyboard with full set of Japanese characters instead of the Latin alphabet on a hardware keys. 

Apart from the unusual clamshell form factor on an Android smartphone, AQUOS 007SH has an impressive 16.1 megapixel camera, 720p HD video recording. It is running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. It also has a uncommon display size of 3.4 inch.
While normal 3D recording is done using two lenses capturing two different images at the same time, Sharp AQUOS SoftBank 007SH can capture 3D images using one single lens. The phone are capturing images in a sequence and register and calculates the camera movement before merging two of those images into one 3D stereoscopic image.

The 007SH is a though smart phone. It has earned a IPX5 and IPX7 IP code which means it is waterproof and can be put under one meter of water for 30 minutes.
AQUOS 007SH highlights

• 140 gram
• 113 x 51.8 x 19.3 mm 
• 3.4 inch touch display, 480 x 854 pixel resolution. Sharp ASV LCD
• 16.1 megapixel camera with 3D image capture using Morpho Slide 3D technology
• 720p HD video capture
• Wi-Fi
• HDMI out
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread

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Android 2.3 Gingerbread upgrade available to Samsung Galaxy devices

Samsung today announced the upcoming release of an Android 2.3 Gingerbread upgrade for Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Ace/Gio/Fit/mini

The Android OS upgrade will be made available through Samsung Kies device management software and the roll out will start in the UK and Nordic countries from mid-May. It will gradually roll out to other European countries in Europe, North America, Southeast Asia the Middle East Asia, Africa and rest of the world according to the regional plan.
The upgrade from Android 2.2 Froyo to version 2.3 improves user experience, speeds up some applications and adds editing capabilities. Better battery and application management will improve talk time and stand by time.
The devices receiving the upgrade are Samsung Galaxy s, Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Ace / Gio / Fit and Galaxy mini

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Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc review

We are finally done with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc review. Read our impression of this 4.2 inch Android smartphone here

We have spent weeks on this review to get everything right. The focus is on the new Mobile BRAVIA Engine and the Exmor R CMOS sensor of course.
Finally a mobile phone with good low light capabilities. We are not fond of flash assisted photos so the Xperia Arc should be everything we want. The camera capabilites are good, but there are a few things we would like to have changed.
Android is out with the new 2.3 Gingerbread. Xperia Arc is one of the first models with this OS version. But Sony Ericsson has added some extra features to the generic Android. TimeScape, customizable home screens and more.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc is also one of the first phones with support for ANT+. Don't know what ANT+ is?

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