Here we are once again, with a round up of all that is hot in tech in the past few days. A lot has been happening as usual with the year end approaching. The anticipation for the new year is building with so many different companies readying their devices for launches through the first two quarters of 2010. Of course, not all of them are talking about it but the leaks do that work for them, whether they like it or not. So get over to the other side and get updated.

Nvidia ION 2 Confirmed, Not A Figment Of Tech Imagination

NVIDIA has fially confirmed that the ION 2 exists, only they call it the “next generation ION”. They confirmed its existence to Fudzilla a few days back during a conference call.

NVIDIA’s original plan had apparently been to start selling ION 2 by the end of this year. But with the original ION still pretty fresh on the market, manufacturers requested the company to hold off releasing the new version till they have recouped their own investments. So even the CES 2010 date (that was rumored earlier) has been delayed and the new date is some time around Q2 2010. However, CES 2010 will not be completely ION-free. It will have a few devices to showcase the ION’s power.

The new ION will have more than 5 hours of battery life and 5-10 times faster graphics performance as compared to what’s available from Intel’s Pinetrail — according to the company. [read]

Asus’ Latest Netbooks With Pinetrail Go Official

click for larger image

The Asus Eee PC 1005P and the 1005PE netbooks were leaked quite some time back as the first Asus netbooks to be powered by the Pinetrail platform. Of course, it is not like they were not going to make netbooks with Intel’s new chips. The netbooks have now gotten official shots and you can ogle them as much as you want.

They are both 10.1inch netbooks and come with the new Atom N450 processor from Intel and GMA 3150 graphics. The 1005P comes with 160GB storage and the 1005PE comes with 250GB storage. They both come with WiFi b/g and a 6-cell lithium-ion battery. RAM is standard netbook fare at 1GB. The 1005P costs about $395 and the 1005PE costs about $439. [read]

New Phones from Palm, Motorola and LG Leaked

It seems like Verizon is expecting a whole new roster of phones some time pretty soon. If everything about this is true, then the carrier will receive one new phone for each of three major mobile OS’ — WebOS, Android and Windows. Of course, I won’t blame you if you are only interested in the Android device because frankly, I do not see the WebOS or Windows making a splash right now.

Palm will apparently be releasing a new model called the Palm Pre Plus. It could possibly have some extra features that will differentiate it from the original Palm Pre but why Palm would want to cannibalize its own sales and upset a partner in the process, I don’t know.

Then there is the Motorola Devour A555. They are certainly keeping the ‘scary’ feel of their phones alive. It is is supposed to be the “little brother” of the Droid and is also believe to be the Calgary. It also has the MOTOBLUR interface to top off the insult (of being a limited, wannabe DROID phone). So it is basically a phone that no one will want.

The LG VS750 is a Windows Mobile phone (WinMo 6.5). This is Verizon’s first LG phone. It will apparently support both GSM and CDMA networks and hence be a world phone. I can see this being pushed at business users. [read]

Google’s Nexus One Is Now Confirmed, About Time Too

Because the leaks made it pretty certain that the Google Nexus One phone was anything but a figment of Arrington’s imagination. There have been a lot of hands on pics and some videos (which are no longer available) that show the phone in action. So if you are planning to buy a super phone, hold on for a bit longer.

New reports have claimed that the phone only support’s T-Mobile’s 3G and hence you will be limited to EDGE on AT&T’s network. At least this way you will get more coverage on AT&T!

Nexus One still is an unlocked phone but I guess the US 3G spectrums are just too haywire for one phone to support all networks. [read]

DoCoMo Prepares For LTE

Whilst the rest of the world is still struggling with 3G connectivity, DoCoMo has started its operations to start LTE service by this time next year. They are currently in the process of upgrading and changing their base stations to support the new service.

LTE stands for Long Term Evolution and it is the new standard that is basically 3G on steroids. It is ‘technically’ not 4G but it gives speeds that are unimaginable on current 3G services. [read]

Nook Updates to 1.1, Nothing Ground Breaking

We’ve all been talking about the Nook having a lot of potential in the right hands and have been expecting the update to fix issues. Well, the update is here and users have not reported anything significant so far. Even if it is all under the hood, they should’ve at least fixed the bugs that had been uncovered earlier. There have been no reports of such things happening, although there are scattered reports of better performance. If you have a Nook and have updated it, we would love to hear from you. Tell us about your experience, what do you think? [read]

XPERIA X10 On  the FCC, Again

Sony Ericsson’s latest and greatest phone — the XPERIA X10 (also their fist ever Android phone) — has appeared on the FCC again. Only this time, the phone has 3G bands that match those used by AT&T. So it looks like another great phone is about to go into the clutches of AT&T. Although Sony Ericsson unveiled the phone (in order to put down the wild speculations probably) some time back, they are still unclear about the exact dates. Their time frame has been early 2010 but whether or not they will make it is a big question. Also, the FCC unit had no brading on it and that has started another round speculations, which I won’t join, yet. [read]

The Android has begun its world domination. Either that or it has hit the perfect combination between everything and every manufacturer is currently looking to make a good deal out of it. After all, if you give hardware makers a great piece of software for free, you are sure to hit the right spot in businessmen.

Get over to the other side and get in on the latest in the Android.

Huawei $200 Android Phone

It looks like Huawei has officially jumped into the Android multiplicity bandwagon. What I mean is that they are officially making more Android phone. After making one for T-Mobile, they are now apparently making a $200 Android phone. This phone is currently being aimed at the Spanish market but then it might not take too long a time to make its way to the US and the rest of the Europe.

The Huawei set is currently suspected to be heading for Spanish carrier Teléophonica. However, Movistar has been named as a contender as well. The manufacturer has confirmed that phone exists and it will be launched mid-December to ensure that everything is set up for sale before the year ends.

With so many players entering the field, things are going to become tougher for those who are not very well known in the market. This is especially true for those companie who have been in the background up until now. HTC has made a successful transition from faceless OEM to a known face in the market. So we will see if Huawei can do the same. Read more about it at gHacks.net.

The gPhone Strikes Again

London Times ran a story some days back where Ashok Kumar (Northeast Securities), speculates on the Google phone. Yes, it appanrently does exist but there is more to it than that.

According to Ashok, this is going to be one of the most advanced smartphones till date. The processor is apparently going to be twice as fast as the Apple iPhone, which puts it squarely into the Snapdragon category. He sort of says it anyway when he mentions that the phone is likely being built by HTC and will use a chip from Qualcomm. Snapdragon is Qualcomm’s current superstar mobile processor that clocks at 1GHz. Yes, it is verry nice.

However, the manufacturer claim clashes with Techcrunch’s claim, where Arrington is positive about it NOT being HTC and it being some Korean company. We shall see who’s right pretty soon because this thing seems like it is fit to burst forth any moment now.

NO, you are not going to get it for Christmas. So go get the iPhone or the Droid and quench your smartphone thirst. [read]

Comangi WebStation MID

Here’s yet another Android running MID for you to enjoy reading about. That’s because no one is sure about how good or terrible the thing will be. This is from a company called Comangi and it is called the WebStation.

It has a 7inch screen and is said to have a screen resolution of 800×480. This is of course the current sweet spot for such devices. The touchscreen will be made out of glass, which is not necessarily a good thing. Connectivity-wise it looks like a smartphone minus the phone. It has Bluetooth 2.0, GPS, MicroSD card slot, a 2MP front facing camera and also a 3MP webcam. The bad part? It runs Android 1.5. Of couse, nothing but phones can run the standard Android install and Android 2.0 is far too new for these products that have been in the making for quite some time now.

The product was currently up for early registration at the company website. People got a kind of coupon code that you will be able to exchange when it comes out. Sadly, the promotion expired on the 26^th.

The product looks like it is all set to launch within the promised time-frame of mid-December. The product does look increasingly good on paper. So we just have to wait to see if it is really worth the excitement.

Comangi has also launched a beta marketplace for their product, because it will obviously not support the apps found at the Android Marketplace. [read]

LG’s Third Android Phone Found Lurking On The Internet

Some Android afficionados have found an interesting piece of code hanging around on the Internet. It seems like the first LG Android phone ever leaked still exists somewhere deep within LG labs where it is getting ready to be set loose on the world.

Not that there’s much to set loose. This phone seems like the smaller version the other two Android phones that LG has released so far. Yes, LG has just released a second Android phone. It is called the GW880 or Amundsen and it is currently flying towards China where it will be part of China Mobile’s OPhone line up.

The rumored phone is called the GT540 and it is neither like the EVE nor like the Amundsen in anyway. It is running Android 1.5, has a 3inch screen with low 320×480 resolution. The phone was discovered through a User Agen Profile that this phone has been broadcasting. [read]

Shenzhen Preparing Multiple Android Phones For 2010 Onslaught

According to a ce.cn report, dug up by Shanzhai.com, multiple companies in the Shenzhen region in China are preparing for a complete onslaught of Android phones come next year.

They have apparently been preparing quietly while the rest of the world goes crazy over one Android super phone after another. In their bid to succeed, they have been hiring Android experts from big companies like Samsung. Looks like they are pretty serious about this entire thing. Hopefully, their Android phones will be better than the clones that they have been producing so far. [read]

China Mobile Starts Selling Dell Smartphone

Dell has finally taken the leap with their first smartphone. The Dell Mini 3i Android phone has started selling in China through China Mobile, the same company who are selling the latest LG Android smarpthone the Amundsen. With rival China Unicom selling the iPhone, we will have to see who receives the most love from the people of China.

The holidays are almost here and so are the holiday lineups for most companies. There’s last minute rush everywhere and the manufacturers are no different. They are trying their best to bring out whatever latest and greatest stuff they possibly can before the holidays hit. So we are currently seeing a deluge of new phones. Click over to the other side to read more.

LG Amundsen GW880 LG OPhone

LG has just confirmed the existence of a new Android phone and if the rumors are correct this is actually the third Android phone so far. After the GW620 AKA EVE, we had the rumors of another phone called the GT540. Now we have an official release from LG Korea that puts a new Android phone – the GW880 – into the hands of the carrier China Mobile. This will be the company’s first Android phone and will belong to their OPhone brand.

Does anyone know the total Android count so far? I stopped counting when the Droid was followed by an absolute deluge of Android phones and other devices.

The GW880 is named Amundsen after the famous explorer. [read]

HTC HD2 Capacitive Stylus And Extended Battery Planned

HTC has announced that it is in the process of making two new accessories for the HD2. After their car kit dock, they will apparently be making a capacitive stylus for the device and an extensive battery.

The stylus will be a special one that will use HTC’s recently patent technology. More details are not available. We are likely to see it early on next year, which is not all that long now. The extended battery thankfully should not take that long. [read]

Samsung Galaxy Goes To Bell

Bell, Canada, is about to get its first Android phone in the shape of the Samsung Galaxy. The 3.2” AMOLED screen toting Android phone is being advertised alongside Omnia2 and the Impact. [read]

T-Mobile Now (Also) Offers HTC HD2 For Free

After O2, it is now T-Mobile’s turn to offer the HTC HD2 for free. The HTC HD2 has just gone on sale at T-Mobile stores and is available for free to anyone who wants to enter a contract with T-Mobile. As long as you are willing to pay £35 per month, the HD2 can be yours for free.

The upside to is the fact that T-Mobiles rates are distinctly lower than those of O2’s. This is of course happening in the UK and it is unlikely to come over to anywhere else. [read]

World’s Most Expensive Mobile Phone Is An iPhone

Guess what? There’s a phone on our little planet that costs $1.95 million! Now that is out of this world! This phone currently holds the world record for being the most expensive on the planet.

It is made out of 271 grams of solid 22carat gold and is laden with 68carats of flawless diamonds. There is also a piece of a large, single piece diamond on the face that is extremely rare.

Best of all? It is an iPhone 3GS and it is called the iPhone 3GS Supreme. It has been made for an anonymous Australian goldmine tycoon. [read]

Palm’s Cloud Backup Service Fails Pre Users

Looks like Palm has spectacularly failed its users. After the whole Sidekick brouhaha with Microsoft, here’s another tale of dark clouds minus the silver lining (for now). Several Palm Pre customers have not been able to access backup data on Palm’s cloud backup service after they reset their handsets.

As a result, a lot of Pre users are unable retrieve things like memos and phone numbers, [read]

Spotify Brings App To Symbian, Shows Off

The popular free music streaming service, Spotify, has brought their mobile app to the Symbian platform recently. This move enables them to spread their reach even further than their iPhone and Android apps took them. This time, they have released a demo video that shows off all the possibilities of the new Symbian app.

Spotify intends to completely change the way the music industry works and so far it has seen steady growth. The service allows users to legally listen to music for free by offsetting the costs involved with advertising revenue.

Motorola Milestone To Drop In Before Christmas

Looks like the  Milestone from Motorola might be dropping in before the holidays full y hit. Multiple online stores in Europe have the Milestone on display for pre-order. All of them have the same launch date listed with the product listing – 7^th December.

For those who don’t know, Milestone is what the Droid Android phone is called in the Europe. The only difference between the two is that multitouch is enabled on the Milestone whilst it is disabled on the Droid.

Looks like more and more sellers are starting to sell the purported iPhone-killer from Motorola. It won’t hurt the iPhone any but it most definitely will every other smartphone in the category, including other Android phones. [read]

iPhone Worm Author Gets A (Real) Job

How’s this for a piece of news? The coder who created the rick-rolling iPhone worm has actually landed himself a job as a developer at a company called Mogeneration. The man behind the iPhone worm is a 21year old from Australia. [read]

Nokia’s X6 Starts Shipping

The wait is finally over for Nokia’s epic touchscreen phone – the X6. It is now shipping in the UK and Finland.The ‘Comes With Music’ phone has a lot riding on it but it remains to be seen whether it can match up to similar phones running Android.

UStreams’ Viewer App Appears In Android Market

UStream has just made its second Android app available. This one’s called UStream Viewer and it is available for free. This app allows you to view any UStream videocast from your phone. That means no restrictions of any kind. As long as you have WiFi or 3G to rely on, you are good to go.

The other one is the Broadcast, which lets you broadcast video to the web from your phone. Which means live, on the spot reporting no matter where you are. [read]

For the past few months LG has been trying to revamp its entire lineup of mobile phones including the high end Touch screen phones. It does not want to lag behind the rival companies in the Touch Screen race that has set a new trend in the market. Recently LG launched two models to augment its popular Chocolate series. The VX8500 model of Chocolate made its debut three years back. The LG Touch is the fourth incarnation in this series.

In fact, LG has launched two Chocolate branded phones with Touch screens. The BL40 is not yet available in USA and it is more feature rich of the duo. The US users can opt for the Chocolate Touch VX8575, as of now. However, the VX8575 released by Verizon is a capable multimedia phone that offers the buyers good value for money. Like its predecessors, the Touch VX 8575 offers superior music features including Dolby Mobile equalizer, a virtual drum kit and FM radio. The design is not cutting edge, though. It has some amount of similarity to the design of LG Dare and Vu. Its back is adorned with attractive geometric shapes.

Due to its 262k color support, the Touch VX8575 produces vivid and natural colors on its 3 inch display. Its touch screen is easy to use and the responsiveness is amazing for a mid range phone. The haptics vibration of the set is complemented by the inclusion of a touch calibration utility. Like many high end phones, the Chocolate features an accelerator that rotates the display as the user rotates the phone itself. In text messaging mode, the phone offers a virtual keypad that is pretty intuitive and responsive. LG has included a 3.5 mm jack in the phone so that the users can plug in the headphone of their choice.

The music player of the phone sounds great owing to the superior Dolby Mobile Equalizer. It has a total of 5 presets and the users can set their own preset as well. The FM radio requires a wired headset to be plugged in like most of the music phones. On the imaging front the new Chocolate Touch is equipped with a 3.2 MP camera. The camera captures decent quality images. However, the omission of a flash is surprising as the entry level camera phones have it nowadays. The captured images look quite sharp and the colors are reproduced nicely.

The new Chocolate Touch delivers impressive call quality in various environments. Its speakerphone can be used in noisy areas without any hassle. The Verizon EV DO network makes web browsing or downloading on the phone a pleasant experience. The web pages load quickly in the Chocolate Touch including the media heavy sites and downloads are less time consuming. Its battery life is good though not the best in its class. Overall this phone will cater to the users who are looking for a decent Touchscreen phone that can perform fast web browsing and offer rich multimedia experience.

If there’s one gadget that we all carry, it has to be the cell phone. We all need them, love them and have our favorites amongst them. But they come and go so very fast that it is hard for the consumer to keep track of what’s going on. So Otaku Gadgets helps you by supplying you all the important phone stuff, every Thursday.

Sony Ericsson:

XPERIA X10 Official, Coming In Early 2010

If you are in the market for a smartphone that does everything, then you really should wait. Because just when you thought it was a toss up between the Droid and the iPhone – out comes the X10. The latest device on Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA line is a Snapdragon powered, Android 1.6 running, 4inch touchscreen toting beast that craves for your attention. Read previews here and here.

Kurara Spied On, Looks Like Stripped Down Satio

Here we have a new leaked phone from SE called Kurara. Word on the street is that this is the basic version of the tricked out Satio. It apparently has a 3.5inch AMOLED touchscreen, 8.1megapixel camera and runs on Symbian S60 5^th Generation OS. And it has been leaked twice already. [read]

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Nokia:

Nokia N900 Gets Monthly Pricing In The UK

As the n900 inches towards its release date (16^th November), the UK has finally gotten some pricing details on the device. If you are getting it from Orange on a 24-month contract, you can get it for as low as £20 per month. For more details, go here.

New Nokia Snapdragon Phone For AT&T [?]

Nokia may be the biggest mobile handset manufacturer in the world but they mean nothing to the US market. The Finnish giant is apparently looking to change all that with a new smartphone for partner-in-crime AT&T. Giving AT&T another good phone might be a crime for some customers though.

The only detail available on the device is that it will be powered by the Snapdragon processor and that it will be a smartphone. The Snapdragon rules out N900 and it is almost near release, not under development. [read]

For a list of high profile phones that run the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, go here.

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HTC:

Eris, The $100 Android Phone

Verizon Wireless is slowly making good on its promise of offering three Android phones. HTC has introduced a cheap Android phone – the Eris on VZW and it costs only $100. It has a 3.2” multitouch display, WiFi, GPS and a 5.1megapixel camera built into it. [read]

HTC Dragon Is Also HTC Passion [?]

The phone that has been touted as the Android version of the HD2 – the HTC Dragon, is apparently headed for Verizon with the name HTC Passion. But didn’t we see the Dragon on the OS screenshots? Well, the one who leaked the phone is now saying that the Passion is the CDMA version of Dragon GSM phone. [read]

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Apple:

iPhone China Sales Disappoint

Apple finally went through with launching the iPhone in China last week. The company had to go overcome a lot of hurdles and challenges in order to get this done. The result? The iPhone has been doing very poorly in the world’s largest market. The first week has seen only 5000 iPhones selling. Plus it seems like people really can’t afford the thing. [read]

RFID Being Added To the iPhone [?]

Apple has apparently been testing out a next-gen iPhone with a RFID Chip built into it. Exactly how Apple will choose to use it (if it does at all) is still unclear. Apple may put it to multiple usage – shop at (Apple) stores with your iPhone, create better iPhone finder, replace your credit card, etc. Whatever Apple does with the RFID, it is bound to be pretty ground breaking. [read]

CNET UK Hates On Apple

CNET UK has awarded the iPhone the Worst Phone Ever award. Why the effort all of a sudden? Well, they point out that the iPhone, for all that it can do, does not work properly as a basic phone.

I will add here that this also makes for an amazing title that will attract eyeballs, lots of ‘em.

App Store Has 100,000 Apps (GASP!)

‘Tis true folks — the app store has hit 100,000 apps and has gone beyond it. Now you have even more reason to hate the time that you will be wasting sifting through them. Plus new developers have even more competition. However, Apple does try to make it worth everyone’s while, so we will continue to love the iPhone. [read]

iPhone Perceived As Strong Down Under

A new survey in Australia has shown that the country perceives the iPhone as a stronger brand than its competitors like Nokia and Sony Ericsson. [read]]

Blacksn0w arrives, cracks iPhone OS 3.1.2, Apple No Like

The BlackSn0w unlock for the latest crop of iPhones has finally arrived. It comes from the same man who made purplera1n and blackra1n some time back. Blacksn02 has been released as a separate app on the Cydia app store. Thus far, Apple has failed to keep hackers away from the iPhone. [read]

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LG:

Chocolate Touch Is One Ugly Chocolate

The follow up the to stylish LG Chocolate, the Chocolate Touch disappoints with its looks and feel. So much so that I am reaching for a Hershey’s dark right now. To punish yourself with it, you have to go to Verizon [read]

EVE AKA GW620 Debuts On Roger Wireless (Canada)

Remember LG’s first Android phone, the EVE (GW620)? Well, it has finally shown up in its full glory on Canada’s Roger Wireless. [read]

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Saygus VPhone V1, Averizon’s 3^rd Android [?]

The Saygus VPhone V1 has cleared the FCC but now what? Could it be the rumored Open Development phone that Verizon’s supposed to get as its third Android phone? We know Verizon would not have two superstars on the team, so this might occupy the mid-range on the Android Trio. [read]

Droid Tethers At $30/Month (Extra)

Well, if there’s one thing that the iPhone does not do (yet) and the Droid does – it is the tethering option that has just been found out. You can have it by paying for $30 extra per month but you will have to wait till next year to get it. But AT&T might make good on its promise by then. Or they might not. [read]

AT&T Starts Selling Samsung Mythic And Flight

The Samsung Mythic and Flight phones, that were announced last month, are now available on AT&T. They both have touchscreens and the Flight has a QWERTY keypad. The Mythic supports AT&T Mobile TV, which incidentally drops to $9.99/month this month. Other than that, they are your usual fare. [read]

David Pogue Coins ‘App Phone’

David Pogue has been thinking out loud and he thinks that the term ‘smartphone’ has had its day. Phones like the iPhone and the Droid need a new name. He coins the term ‘app phone’. [read]

It was merely two years back that LG created a stir in the high end cellphone market with its stunning 5 MP camera phone named Viewty. It was dubbed as a serious contender to models like Nokia’s N95 and Sony Ericsson’s K850i etc. The phone had impressive features indeed. It was the only phone that boasted of 120fps video recording in DivX format. Its Schneider-Kreuznach Lens and touchscreen interface earned it instant popularity among gadget freaks. Two years in the line, LG has introduced a successor to the original Viewty with revved up camera and loads of feature. The move seems reasonable when one takes into consideration the huge number of 5MP phones flooding the market in the recent times. In fact, the number of 8MP camera phones are also increasing.

The Viewty KU 990 had a 5 megapixel camera while the successor named GC 900 has got a 8 Megapixel one. While professional photographers would say that megapixel count is not the only factor responsible for shooting great photographs it is one of the USPs of Viewty Smart. However, it would be wrong to think that the Viewty Smart is a revision of the earlier model with added Mega pixels. On the contrary, The Smart includes a number of new features that are not seen in many of the high end cellphones from rival brands.

Those who want to flaunt their latest gadgets at parties and get together events will love the Viewty Smart. It has a sleek and elegant finish and can be easily pocketed. At only 2.8 cm it is actually thinner than its predecessor. Its large 3 inch screen with 16 million colors and WVGA resolution is a joy to use and the screen doubles up as the viewfinder while recording video or clicking images. The Smart omits the standard call and end buttons but makes use of the touchscreen for the purpose. A single hardware button is used for rejecting calls and menu navigation.

After the Arena KM900, the Viewty is the second phone to feature the formidable S- Class 3D interface. It is simply gorgeous and quite responsive. Like most of the high end cellphones, The Viewty smart boasts of Wi-Fi and 3G support. The performance of the camera in Viewty Smart is impressive if not the best in its class. While it features a camera with more pixel count than its predecessor, it lacks the Xenon flash. However, the camera used in the Smart has several useful features like red eye reduction, exposure control, smile detection etc. The most useful feature is its Intelligent shot that adjusts the camera settings according to the environment.

While it can record video at 720×480 resolution LG still uses the near obsolete 3GP file format. This is a department where the Viewty Smart will face competition from rivals like Samsung and Sony Ericsson. Apart from the camera, the Viewty smart noses ahead of its predecessor in the features departments. The Viewty Smart supports additional audio and video formats and features latest Bluetooth 2.1. It also has larger internal storage capacity than its predecessor. Hence, The cellphone users who want cutting edge features in a decent camera phone are likely to opt for the Smart over the original Viewty. But when it comes to pure camera performance both the phones deliver at par. For more information regarding the device click here

For touchscreen phone aficionados here’s a new one from the South Korean consumer electronic behemoth LG, GD510. The GD510 is scheduled for launch in the European market in October. It is evident that this one is a simple touchscreen phone manufactured primarily with ‘ease-of-use’ as one of the prime factors during its ideation, design and production stages.

The company has consciously cut down on features which it thinks are not so useful from a user’s perspective. The screen is a broad 3 inch one which pans over almost the full front section of the GD510. For those who like to take pictures and capture the various moments of life, there is a 3 megapixel camera. Those who are fond of carrying their music collection and watching videos, there is ample internal memory in the phone; 8GB to be precise. On the flip side users would have surely liked to have the option of increasing memory through microSD cards, which is unavailable. The built-in browser is nothing much to write about and the GD510 is EDGE and GPRS enabled. Strangely enough this phone misses out on Wi-Fi or 3G capability. With 3G becoming popular world over and fast growing mobile phone markets like India being on the verge of a 3G revolution, it is however not clear how prudent a decision it is on LG’s part, not to include these features in the phone. One of the most interesting features in this phone is the availability of solar panel which fits in the place of the battery cover at the back. Users can charge their phone batteries through this if need be.

Prior to this LG, which has been lagging behind NOKIA for quite a while, had tasted much success with its previous touchscreen phone the LG Cookie. Only time would tell though, whether the LG GD510 is as successful as the GD510 or not.

That is what the LG Chocolate BL40 makes me think of. The phone is really long for a handheld device, yes, but if you look at it properly, it is also a stunningly beautiful phone. If there is one thing LG has gotten right over all these years, it is design aesthetics. Sure their phones don’t do much when compared to other phones that have third-party support, but they look pretty good. Also, some of them are better than the usual LG offering. Take the Viewty for example – it snaps really great pictures. But does it have a great UI? I don’t think so. It just gets the job done. So what’s it like on the BL40? Get to the other side to find out.

Build and Design

The phone has a solid build and looks great too. It doesn’t feel like it will break under heavy use. The design is also very minimalistic, which is something I really like. There was always the fear that this new Black Label phone would turn out to be just another gimmick phone that is all form factor and no usability.

But the phone is actually extremely well-designed. There are very few buttons on the surface and they are all well placed, making the phone even more ergonomic in your hand. The phone is on the large side and it will feel heavier than the other phones at 129g but at no point will it feel like it’s concentrated somewhere. The phone is quite well balanced and feels just right.

The black glossy finish with the red finish on the top and bottom combine to give this phone a very classy look. The screen is very well protected and it works to make the user even more comfortable with the phone. So over all, it is very comfortable to hold and use while also being a great looking device that will turn heads. This form factor is actually one of the most original designs in phones that we have seen in recent times. Along with the iPhone, it is one of the few phones in the market that has come out without having to copy from anyone else.

Screen

The BL40 has a gorgeous 4inch (!) screen and it is definitely one of the selling points of the phone. The 21:9 aspect ratio is one part of it but the major part is the AMOLED display. Now don’t get too excited, it reflects far too much light to be useful under direct sunlight but the screen is plenty bright to make for a great video-watching experience. The widescreen display actually serves to make the video experience pretty cinematic. The WVGA resolution just makes it more worth your while. This is one aspect of the phone that you simply cannot complain about. It surely is one of the best in its class. In fact, I would say that the display on this phone beats the iPhone any day because it is AMOLED.

Can it beat the iPhone’s functionality though? Not really.

UI & OS

The Chocolate Touch brings LG’s S Class OS which is far too cluttered for my taste. Sure, I suppose you get used to it after a while but the lack of third party love is always a huge caveat for a new age smartphone. The extra wide screen actually makes the browser work better but we’d much rather see an Opera Mini in its place. The gesture control is a good touch and the cut/copy/paste features are also pretty intuitive. But over all the OS can barely compete with the likes of the WebOS, the iPhone OS or even Maemo.

The homescreen is littered with icons that look pretty much the same. So you have to be careful about what you tap on. This is one of those small things that matter a lot when you are designing an OS for a handheld device. It’s not like you cannot get used to it but it could’ve been so much better than this.

Camera

The camera is another strong point of the phone. It has auto-focus, a 5-megapixel sensor and LG couples it with Schneider-Kreuznach optics. The LED flash is pretty good and there’s also a plethora of settings that you would want while shooting your stills. Reminds me of the Viewty in some ways, with all its camera controls. But these are controls that you can expect on any LG smartphone.

It lets you shoot video as well but is limited to a VGA resolution.

Features

The buttons are all pretty well placed as I mentioned earlier. There are volume controls, a camera button, a switch that works as on/off/lock on the top and a microUSB port too. The microUSB serves for data transfer as well as for charging, which means you are not required to carry a special charger for this and can just plug it into any USB anywhere.

There is also another great feature on the BL40 – a 3.5mm headphone out. This is one of those little things that can really turn things around for a phone’s. This one might just tip the scales for some of you out there. The freedom to use any headphone you like is not to be discounted.

The video player supports Xvid, DivX and MPEG. An optional TV out lets you feed the video in to TV. There is an FM transmitter so you can turn up the music on you car or home stereo system. The audio quality is satisfactory for a phone.

There is onboard GPS, quad-band support, full HSDPA and WiFi support and also Bluetooth with A2DP.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a phone that pleases you with great a screen, design and construction and if you are willing to overlook a sloppy OS – this is the phone for you. It looks stunning, works beautifully and if the OS was better (read useful), I might’ve started recommending this above a lot of other phones.

As the holidays inch nearer and nearer, rest assured that the manufacturers are losing their sleep and their minds in order to bring out the latest and greatest gadgets right before people start hitting the buy button.

With multiple companies announcing release dates this October, there are just way too many gadgets to cover around this time of the year. So I am basically going to spare you the torture and give you these digest posts so that you keep up with them without having to go through dozens of PRs each and every single day. Jump over to the other side to see today’s highlights.

HP Envy 13 & 15

If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then HP has just paid Apple a huge compliment. So far, only those rogue Chinese companies have blatantly ripped off Apple’s designs and the more mainstream companies have been content with just copying certain parts.

Now HP has decided to completely copy the aesthetics of the MacBook Pro line in the two latest Envy notebooks – Envy 13 and Envy 15. The flat style keyboard, the aluminum surface and even the button-less glass touchpad with gestures – they have all been integrated into the two new HP portables.

The Envy 13 though is more of a MacBook Air copy in its dimensions and weight. The MacBook Air is 0.74 inch whilst the Envy 13 is 0.8 inch. The Envy 13 weighs 3.74 pounds and the MacBook Air weighs 3 pounds.

The screens on the new Envy notebooks are very bright thanks to what HP calls the Radiance technology and they have the same edge-to-edge glass coating and black bezel as the latest MacBooks.

The Envy 13 is a 13inch notebook that runs on a low power Core 2 Duo and has a battery life of 7 hours. HP has an add-on battery pack that attaches magnetically and increases the life to 18 hours. The Envy 15 is the powerhouse of the two and carries a Core i7 processor that packs quite a punch along with ATI Radeon HD 4830 graphics and support for up to 16GB of RAM. Even with all that performance the Envy manages to stay around the 1inch mark in thinness, making for a very impressive notebook.

They are coming to the US on the 18^th of October.

Asus Eee Keyboard

This is another new portable form factor from Asus. It is something that I would like to call the Netkeyboard, which is essentially made for those people who want to take their system with them and plug into available displays whenever possible. What started out as leaked photos, has now culminated into a full announcement with Asus announcing a release date of sometime this October.

The Asus Eee keyboard is actually a full netbook stuffed into a keyboard. Okay so the keyboard is a bit larger than your average keyboard. There is also the small matter of the touchscreen on the keyboard. This device will probably ditch Windows altogether and go for Moblin, a Linux based mobile phone OS. I will leave it to you to imagine the performance of a mobile OS running on a netbook configuration (hint: really fast). There is more – it has all the standard netbook ports, so you won’t miss out plugging your USB drive in when you type on a disembodied keyboard while sitting on a park bench.

LG GW620 Android Phone

The GW620 has been announced as LG’s first ever Android phone. Even though the company announced that it will make several Windows Mobile phones just the other day, this announcement is far more exciting for obvious reasons.

The phone itself is going to be the usual fare, as it seems from the specs. It will feature a 3inch full touchscreen and a slide out QWERTY keypad. The GW620’s Android OS will definitely be a far cry from what the company has been using in its phones all this time. In other words, Android’s usability and depth will finally give good looking LG phones some semblance of proper functionality.

It is slated to be available later this year in ‘select European markets’.

New TomTom XXL 530S, 540S

Two new TomTom XXL line portable navigation devices (PND) have been released that have über large 5inch screens. The 530S and the 540S are both similar the older XXL devices with the due exception of the larger screen. While both have essentially the same hardware, the 540S is more expensive because it has extra features like Advanced Lane Guidance, seven million preloaded points of interest, preloaded maps of Mexico etc. So if you travel a lot and need every bit of info that you can get, you’re better off with the 540S.

They will arrive in the US this October. The 530S will be priced at $279 and the 540S will be priced at $299 post launch.

Nokia Erdos

Nokia has been at it again with their 8800 line of expensive designer phones. This one is called the Erdos. It is really, really shiny and is carved out of a single piece of solid stainless steel. Yes, it reminds me of Apple’s Unibody chassis too.

The screen is a 2.4-inch, 320×240 pixels OLED display and is actually hidden behind a mirror-finished glass so that it only becomes visible when the screen is turned on. No you cannot have a full HTML browser on it. No, you cannot use it under direct sunlight. But that is okay because its target audience does not see much of direct sunlight in any case.

It has 3G/HSPA,WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss lens with dual LED flash and also video recording. The phone runs the tried and tested Symbian S60 OS, which is starting to feel slightly dated now. Details are a bit sketchy at the moment but it looks like it will be a while before it is out. Pre-holiday season is still a possibility though.

With the 3^rd quarter of the year drawing to a close, the main gadget makers have been upping the ante it seems. They are releasing, previewing and announcing products right and left. Of the many previews and announcements that have been thus happening of late, these two gadgets really grab the attention for similar yet very different reasons. One’s extra wide and other’s extra thin.

That ‘one’ is a pimped out laptop featuring a chassis whose exterior is made out of carbon fiber. You know that really tough material that gets used in cars and vehicles a lot? Well, it is super light and super strong, to they decided to build a laptop out of it. It is almost half-an-inch thick measuring 0.55inch at the thickest. You can try and imagine how thin the screen is or you can take a peek on the other side for pictures and a video.

And that ‘other’ is a touchscreen mobile phone with one single distinguishing feature – its stretched beyond any mobile phone you have ever seen before. Guaranteed. This phone achieves a 21:9 aspect ratio through what can only be called a very interesting new form factor! Anyway, don’t just sit there. Join me on the other side and marvel at what surely is the first stretch limo of the mobile world.

Sony has been trying to capture the high-end market for quite some time now. In a press conference at IFA ‘09, the company revealed a portable computing device called the Vaio X Series. It is a 0.55-inch thick, 11-inch portable with a carbon fiber exterior and what looks like an integrated battery. Carbon fiber is extremely strong and durable even when it is thin and it has helped Sony shave the extra inches off your typical notebook to create this slim and trim beauty. It also cuts the weight down to 1.5 pounds, with battery at that.

Feature wise however, it will probably be more like a netbook than a notebook because of the rumors that it will carry an Atom CPU (hopefully the new Pineview CPU if it is indeed Atom). There is also the new Intel ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) CPU to consider and it might actually be it because it is aimed at thin portables like this one.

In any case, it’s not like anyone knows anything about it because Sony has not said a word about what’s on the inside of this zero-size notebook/netbook. There has been a demonstration, there are videos, there are of course pictures and that’s about it. Sony did talk about super-long battery life. So whatever it is, it has to be something pretty low-powered. One thing’s for sure though, Sony will be wooing a lot of people who wanted to own the MacBook Air but couldn’t afford it. Think about it. This is pretty thin, has Sony’s aesthetics and is probably going to be priced much lower than the Air simply because it is not Apple and also because it sounds like it will be low on both kinds of power.

If the Vaio X Series is launched sometime later this year, it will probably come preloaded with Windows 7. That might be a good thing because Windows 7 has escaped being another although a lot of people are still not convinced and for good reasons too. With Microsoft eyeing the low-powered netbook segment, Windows 7 just might satisfy people to the point where they finally stop wanting to downgrade to XP on their Netbook.

LG in the mean time has been hard at work taking mobile phones by the ear and yanking them till they become more stretched versions of themselves. As you can see from the images, this phones is way too long to be nornal. Even a long flip-phone will fall short in measure. To give you an idea of how long they are – the press released says that the screen actually has a 21:9 aspect ratio. Go back and remind yourself – your precious widescreen anything is only 16:9 and will be eaten for breakfast by this new stretch limo of a mobile phone from LG.It looks good in the pretty pictures, no doubt about that. But it does not look half as good when you see one in real life. That’s because you have surely underestimated how long it actually is. Watch the video below to clear things up. Now this is freaky! Almost surreal even.

Just like Sony, LG is not saying anything about this extra-wide-phone  except what they say in a longish press release, which is not much. This phone is part of the Black Label series and the press release names it as the new Chocolate or the LG-BL40. LG calls the new form factor a “bold new shape” and adds that “the new Chocolate is essentially reinventing the way consumers view and use mobile phones”. That’s quite ambitious to say the least. The BL40 has a 4-inch­ wide screen, which is supposed to open up a whole new dimension of “on-the-go” computing to us consumers.

The screen resolution is supposed to be HD and from the looks of the video it does seem like the display is pretty sharp. The UI is definitely nothing to die for and has nothing on the iPhone or the Palm Pre. It uses LG’s much-hyped S-Class UI, which is just okay.  I am not a big fan of gimmicky 3D interfaces. The just take up precious performance that could’ve been used somewhere else.

Other than going on and on about the super-sexy/awesome-ness of the BL40 and its 4-inch wide HD LCD touchscreen, the press release does not say anything more about the features. I guess they have to hype it up because they know it runs a very real risk of tanking at the market. However, the sheer novelty and the gimmicky design and interface may generate some sales.

I really cannot see why people would want to go for a phone like that. Sure I will have more width to view web pages but is that really all that important to me? I’d rather have more functionality and the support of almost 70,000 apps or the Web OS or the Android, thank you very much.

The Vaio Series X is another story though. I can almost imagine touching its reed thin screen and placing the carbon fiber body on my lap and… I mean I think it is really nice and all.