Kempler & Strauss W launched world’s smallest watch with an integrated phone. It’s very affordable at only $199. It is referred to as the W Watch phone, has a touchscreen display, microSD support, camera (including video capture) and MP3/Video playback, support and quad-band GSM. Its impressive Bluetooth makes voice calling a lot easier, and includes a Bluetooth headset called the Kempler & Strauss Communicator, within the $200 recommended retail price.
We have some news to give you now regarding the release of the BlackBerry Storm 2 on Verizon. The BlackBerry Storm has been for sale for almost a year. RIM reworked the mechanics of their touch screen and built up a new(er) operating system for Storm 2.
BlackBerry Storm 2 will arrive for Verizon sometime in late October. According to our insiders, you can expect to see it show up just after October 25th. No pricing has been set for it yet, but it is now confirmed to arrive in that time frame. If you hear something different, let us know!
Samsung announces the world’s first (what else?) phone, model SCH-W880, with a 12 megapixel camera.
The phone operates on WCDMA (2100 MHz), GSM(900), DCS(1800 ) and PCS(1900) roaming. The camera has 3x optical zoom, LED flash and touch autofocus. Video capture at 720p HD video at 30fps.
We’ve been hearing that Acer’s Android-based A1 smartphone would be hitting the stores this month, and online retailer Expansys is now offering the Android powered Acer A1 for pre-order (in Germany and France).
Expansys lists the specs of the A1 as including a 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen display, a sharp 800×480 (WVGA) resolution, 850/1900/2100MHz UMTS/HSPA connectivity (would work on AT&T), quad-band GSM/EDGE 7.2Mbps HSPA support, and built-in GPS, Bluetooth, and WiFi.
There’s no release date or information for the US but the pre-order price is 390 Euros (about $570).
We don’t usually post many rumors, but this is big, literally. The unannounced HTC Leo smartphone will have a 4.3 inch display showing 800×480 or 384,000 pixels, thus making it exactly 150% larger than diminutive Apple iPhone.
The Leo also has a faster cpu, the Qualcomm 8250B at 1GHz, a larger camera at 5 megapixels and is physically larger also, but only by a bit. There’s also a capacitive touch screen display, just like on the iPhone, despite running Windows Mobile 6.5.
…it’s a PC in your pocket! However, with a 1Ghz cpu driving 384K backlit pixels, a GPS chip, 3G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and multitasked Android background apps in a smallish 89,177 mm3 package, you might be looking at either short battery life or overheating or both…just sayin’.
Here’s the first official shot of the 9700 (codenamed Onyx), T-Mobile’s first 3G BlackBerry.
The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is the successor of the well known BlackBerry Bold.
For starters, the BlackBerry Bold 9700 rocks the same optical track pad seen on the BlackBerry Curve 8520. That means slipping from menu to menu is easier than ever but apparently RIM’s preloading it with the Amazon MP3 store, so that’s slightly interesting. T-Mobile says 9700 will support UMA Wi-Fi calling, visual voicemail, and corporate email. They also confirmed that it will have TeleNav GPS Navigator and Amazon MP3 store pre-installed. From what we can tell, it’s due in early November, but pricing is still unclear – we hope that RIM and T-Mobile have saved the best surprise for last.
Yesterday Motorola announced its first Android-powered phone, the CLIQ. CLIQ has the many of the usual smartphone features, including a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 3.1 inch 320×480 187 PPI capacitive touch-screen display, 5 megapixel camera with video recording and playback, A-GPS and 3G capability. Cliq runs on Android 1.5 (Cupcake), a well-regarded verion of Android. Specs are here.
The Cliq’s main claim to fame however is Motoblur, which the company says integrates and syncs various social feeds including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Gmail, e-mail and Photobucket and Picasa into one customizable home screen. Motorola describes the Cliq as “the First Phone with Social Skills”, thanks to this silo-breaking feature. On an iPhone, for example, one would be required to access each of those apps individually.
Here is Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha introducing the Cliq at a recent conference…
LG’s first Andoid phone is called Etna, apparently after the famous volcano. While specs are somewhat skimpy and there’s no official announcement, here’s what we do know…
The LG Chocolate BL20 brings back all the famous features of the classical Chocolate line with its new Black Label series slider, touch sensitive buttons and striking red numeric keypad. But it’s much different than LG Chocolate BL40. The BL20 is missing some features of the BL40, such as the accelerometer and a full touch screen. We believe the BL20 serves as a cheaper and smaller alternative to the BL40. On the other hand, the BL40 has an impressive software and interface, 21:9 touch screen, 5 MP camera, high-definition “Real VGA” 4 inch LCD that supports a 800×345 pixel resolution, 5 hrs of talk time with a 3G network or 6hrs with a 2G network, video recording and fast email. The BL40 comes with 1.1GB of memory and supports up to 32GB of add on memory with the aid of SDHC cards. According to an LG press release, people in Europe will see the BL40 mid-September while other markets will be covered in the following month.
The LG Chocolate BL20 continues the legacy of Chocolate series. Its release date and price are not yet clear. The BL20’s specifications are listed below.
