The hit smartphone Galaxy S II has surpassed the 10 million landmark in global sales. It managed to achieve this in just five months of going on sale.


The previous record holder in Samsung's fleet was the Samsung Star S5230, which managed to cross the 10 million mark in six months. The hot selling Galaxy S managed to achieve the same in about seven months. Being significantly more expensive than both, the fact that the Galaxy S II managed to reach the sales figure in a shorter period of time is quite an achievement.

Then again, this is not surprising. The Galaxy S II has struck a chord with the smartphone buyers thanks to its awesome features and performance and people are shoveling their money at Samsung just to get their hands on the best smartphone on the market right now. Now that the phone has started selling in the US as well, the next landmark will probably take even less time.


Source : http://sammyhub.com/2011/09/25/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-global-sales-surpasses-10m-units/

READ MORE - Galaxy S II global sales pass the 10 million mark

Yesterday we got indications that the Samsung Galaxy S II launch will be delayed by as much as a month. But now Samsung stepped up and announced (via Twitter) that the Samsung Galaxy S II flagship will still arrive on time in April to scheduled markets.

Unfortunately, there's no concrete information about which markets will be getting the Galaxy S II first.

The company also said that the device will be "gradually rolled out in each market according to the local launch timetable". It sounds laconic enough. It may mean that the Galaxy S II will hit everywhere, just gradually, not in huge numbers. Or that key European markets will be getting it first. We can only guess.

We're yet to see what's what with the Galaxy S II. As you know it already came in for a preview and we're currently working with it.


source : gsmarena.com

READ MORE - Samsung: The Galaxy S II is still set for April launch

The ranks of cell phone subscribers will swell to five billion people this year thanks to the growth of smartphones in developed nations and mobile services in poor nations, a UN agency said.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) also said the number of mobile broadband subscriptions would exceed one billion this year after reaching 600 million in 2009. “Even during an economic crisis, we have seen no drop in the demand for communications services,” ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Toure said in a statement at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the industry’s biggest trade show. The number of mobile subscribers had reached 4.6 billion people last year. “I am confident that we will continue to see a rapid uptake in mobile cellular services in particular in 2010, with many more people using their phones to access the Internet,” Toure said.

In the developing world, the growth has been driven by the use of phones for mobile banking and health services, the ITU said. “Good examples include sending reminder messages to patient’s phones when they have a medical appointment, or need a pre-natal check-up,” Toure said. “Or using SMS messages to deliver instructions on when and how to take complex medication such as anti-retrovirals or vaccines. Such uses can save millions of dollars and lives. People with no bank accounts but mobile subscriptions are also increasingly able to do financial transactions with their phones in developing countries.”


source : dailytimes

READ MORE - Five billion people to use mobile phones in 2010

Microsoft is going after social communicators with a new class of phone called Kin, which will focus on people who share and communicate through social networks. This is a social phone - that is, deeply integrated with social networks. But this wasn’t much of an announcement, when you consider that the company is still keeping quite a bit to itself, including pricing. So, how big of a deal is this release as part of Microsoft’s overall mobile strategy? Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is wondering if Microsoft even has a strategy. You be the judge.

Also: Five surprising things about Microsoft’s Kin

* 23 minute video walk thru and Q&A about the KIN Windows Phone
* Microsoft KIN: Unboxing and hands-on with the KIN ONE and KIN TWO

Two phones, Kin One and Kin Two, will launch in May on Verizon Wireless. The phones, both sliders, are built off the Windows Phone 7 platform but have been designed with a new user interface built specifically for status updates, sharing pictures and videos, local search and music.

The Kin phones will feature Kin Loop, a home page populated with your friends' status updates. You can also update your status for multiple sites with one touch. This is reminiscent of Motorola's Motoblur service for Android phones.

Over at the Googleplex, the company unveiled a new and improved Google Docs - one that helps to bridge the gap between Google Apps and Microsoft Office by adding standard tools and improving the import/export feature. But it also raises the bar with new collaboration tools, such as chat. The news kicked off the second Google Atmosphere, a daylong event targeted at CIOs to debate - and sell - the idea of cloud computing in the enterprise. Among those speaking: Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf and cloud computing advocate Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com.

It was the headline that no one expected: Opera Mini web browser approved by Apple for the iPhone. After a 20-day review process, Apple approved the first third-party Web browser as an alternative to its own pre-installed Safari browser.

It comes as no surprise to hear that Palm is soliciting bids for the company. The competitive smartphone arena is tough now - and only destined to get tougher. Wall Street, which rallied around Palm on rumors of acquisitions last week, appears to be ready and Palm’s investors are probably right there with them by now. It’s not official yet - but Larry Dignan has already put together a cheat sheet of sorts to examine the best case scenarios.

For all of AT&T’s whining about the iPhone causing the data usage on its network to increase, a report found that Sprint and Verizon - not AT&T - accounted for 63 percent of of the mobile data traffic in the U.S.

Finally, if nothing else, Microsoft’s new phones are easy on the eyes. Take a look at some pics to see for yourself.

READ MORE - Microsoft's Kin Phones

Nokia X3 and Nokia E72 are two mobile phones that belong to two different genres of mobile phones. Where Nokia X3 is an out and out music phone, the E72 is an unbeatable business gadget. So according to priorities users have to make their minds before choosing one between them.

Physical attires of these two gadgets are also different. As the Nokia X3 is a sliding phone and E72 comes with a full functional QWERTY keypad. The screen sizes are some what similar, X3 has a 2.2 inches QVGA screen supporting 262K colors at 240 x 320 pixels resolution. While the E72’s TFT screen is of 2.4 inches supporting 16M colors at 240 x 320 pixels resolution at all.

The camera of Nokia X3 is of 3.2 mega pixel having 4x Digital Zoom, Full Focus, Photo Editor, Capture Mode and many other imaging and video features. While on the contrary, the Nokia E72 is master device to sport a 5 mega pixel camera with Auto Focus, LED Flash, Flash Mode, Capture Mode, Picture Blogging, Video Streaming etc. functionalities. Moreover, the phone is much advanced than the other one as it has a front facing video calling camera.

Although Nokia X3 is a music oriented phone, but the Nokia E72 also carries similar music features too. The music player of X3 supports MP3, WMA, WAV, RA, AAC, M4A etc. files while the other one can play MP3, eAAC+, WMA etc. files. When it comes to video playback, the Nokia E72 supports WMV, RV, MP4, 3GP files and the X3’s video player is capable of playing MPEG4, 3GP & WMV files.

The Nokia E72 is much more superior to the Nokia X3, as the company has given it document editor that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files; GPS navigation system with A-GPS support along with Nokia Maps 3.0 and Digital compass to assist the process – and all of these are absent on the Nokia X3. HTML, X-HTML and Nokia browsers give the E72 users a perfect mobile Internet browsing experience while the X3 possesses an X-HTML browser only. Bluetooth with A2DP, USB, HSCSD, EDGE and GPRS technologies are common in both of them, while as expected E72 is way ahead to carry 3G HSDPA HSUPA and WLAN Wi-Fi as well.



Source : themobileblog.co.uk

READ MORE - Nokia X3 VS Nokia E72

Nokia has confirmed that the Nokia X3 is Comes With Music friendly, like the X6. “Availability within different markets will be announced in due course,” a spokesperson for Nokia told us.

Straight off the factory line after the new Nokia X6 is its little brother, the Nokia X3. It’s no S60 smartphone, but it’s just about the best music dumbphone Nokia’s ever crafted to so read on for the meet and greet.

Like the popular 5310, the Nokia X3 is an S40 desinged for music plabyback. As well as a microSD slot for up to 16 gigs of tunes on the Nokia X3,there’s Bluetooth, a 3.2MP camera, 3.5mm headphone jack and 2.2-inch screen.

READ MORE - Nokia X3 Unveiled

While we’re waiting for new phones like the X10 or the C6 to be announced, Nokia’s busy launching luxury editions of already-available handsets.

The N97 mini Gold Edition is dressed in 18-carat gold and comes with apps like “ELLE 360Fashion”, which should help fashion lovers follow the latest trends and news.

Apart from the external bling layer, everything else about this Gold Edition remains the same, including its 3.2" touchscreen display at 360 x 640 resolution, full QWERTY keyboard, 8GB of internal memory,Wi-Fi, a microSD memory card slot, 3G HSDPA, GPS, Nokia Maps, 3.5mm headset jack, an integrated FM transmitter and a 5MP camera with auto focus and LED flash.



Nokia N97 mini Gold Edition will be available across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. We don’t know when, but we do know the phone’s price: about €625 or $850.

Related Post :
Nokia X6 Unlocked

READ MORE - The N97 Mini Gold Edition : Dressed 18-Carat Gold

first capacitive touch-screen phone, the Nokia X6 is a great upgrade for folks who loved the Nokia 5800 ($359.99). That may make it a smash in merry old England, but here in the U.S., almost nobody loved or even knew about the 5800. So, just like with the Nokia N97 mini ($479.99), the X6 becomes a strange orphan: a phone designed to play to the faithful in a country where there aren't actually any faithful.

Physical Design and Phone Capabilities
In the mobile phone business, we call bar-shaped phones "candy bars," and the X6 is shaped more like a candy-bar than most. It's long and skinny, at 4.37 by 2 by .54 inches and 4.3 ounces, with pick-up and hang-up buttons below the tall, narrow touch screen

I'm not a fan of the X6's skinny, awkward 640-by-360-pixel screen. Almost no content is designed for this aspect ratio. When you play videos formatted for most other devices, they're letterboxed. Reading Web pages feels either too wide and shallow, or too narrow and deep. And entering text is unappealing with the landscape and portrait virtual keyboards, both of which take over the whole screen so you can't see the field you're entering the text into.

The Nokia X6 is an unlocked phone. It connects to AT&T's 3G network or T-Mobile's 2G EDGE network here in the U.S., and to 3G networks abroad; it also supports Wi-Fi. Reception was acceptable, and voice quality through the earpiece was excellent—loud and clear. The speakerphone was also solid and of good volume. The phone's microphone transmits a bit more background noise than I'd like. The X6 made calls using Aliph Jawbone Icon ($99.00) and Plantronics Voyager Pro ($99.99) Bluetooth headsets without a problem. Voice dialing can be activated from a Bluetooth headset, but it had trouble recognizing my commands. Battery life was fine but not great at 5 hours, 29 minutes of talk time over 3G.

Symbian Features
The X6 is a standard Symbian S60 touch screen phone, much like the Nokia N97 mini. That gives it a range of reliable smartphone capabilities, such as a good WebKit Web browser, connections to Microsoft Exchange and most other popular e-mail services, and access to Nokia's Ovi Store for apps. The 434 MHz ARM11 processor is slower than other smartphones' chips, but S60 doesn't have the visual flourishes that would require high-end power anyway.

Other key apps and features on here include Ovi Maps (Free), which accurately identified my location but had trouble finding specific nearby businesses I was looking for, like a local bagel shop. There's also an FM radio, a podcast client, and Microsoft Office document-reading apps for your e-mail attachments.

Symbian S60 wasn't designed for touch screens, and the interface feels grafted-on rather than custom-built. Nokia will only be able to solve this problem later this year, when they upgrade to the new Symbian^3 version. For now I'm willing to cut Symbian a lot more slack on non-touchscreen phones like the formidable Nokia E72 ($359.00).

Multimedia and Conclusions
The X6 is a middling media phone. The phone packs 16GB of internal memory, although it has no memory card slot. You load and sync it using a stubby little MicroUSB cable and your choice of software—either Windows Media Player, Nokia's Ovi Suite, or mass storage drag-and-drop. Files transferred relatively slowly, and sometimes Mass Storage support vanished mid-transfer, requiring a reboot.

The phone has a 3.5mm headset jack, and comes with a decent pair of earbuds with a remote control on the wire. You can also use Bluetooth headphones. But that long, narrow screen means most videos will be either stretched or letterboxed, and while the X6 supports MP4 and WMV video, H.264 is out, so it can't take iPod-formatted files. The music player works decently, though it forces you to manually update its library whenever you want to add songs.

The X6's 5-megapixel, autofocus camera takes sharp, clear pictures, as long as you can hold it still. The persistently low shutter speeds meant I got a lot of blurry shots, especially in low light. The video mode took good-looking 640-by-352 videos at 30 frames per second.

In the U.K., the X6 is available for free with contract. Here in the U.S., it's $455—a fine price for an unlocked smartphone, but not low enough to get over the burden of not being subsidized by a carrier. If I squint, I can see a world where the X6 succeeds. It's a world where people are comfortable using Symbian, where Nokia smartphones are frequently subsidized by wireless carriers, and where the X6 is a classy upgrade to a best-seller. That world is Europe. The X6 is a decent phone, but it's not going to win Americans over to a fresh platform. U.S. touch screen smartphone buyers would be better-served with a Google Nexus One ($179.99-$529.99) or an Apple iPhone 3GS ($199.00-$299.00).

New Nokia X6 vs. Original Nokia X6

The new Nokia X6 will be marketed as the "Nokia X6 16GB". It'll not be a Comes With Music phone, but will offer free Ovi Maps out-of-box like all new Nokia smartphones moving forward. It'll also be available in four colors: All black, all white, white with pink highlights and white with yellow highlights.

The original Nokia X6 will continue to be sold as a Comes With Music phone in selected markets. The Nokia X6 16GB will be available worldwide in Q1 2010. A price has yet to be announced.

Benchmark Test Results
Continuous Talk Time : 5 hours 29 Minutes


NOKIA X6 FULL SPECIFICATION

GENERAL

2G Network – GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network – HSDPA 900 / 2100
Announced – 2009, September
Status – Coming soon. Exp. release 2009, 4Q

SIZE

Dimensions – 111 x 51 x 13.8 mm
Weight – 122 g

DISPLAY

Type – TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size - 360 x 640 pixels, 3.2 inches
Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
Handwriting recognition
Scratch-resistant glass surface

MEMORY

Phonebook – Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Call records Detailed, max 30 days
Internal – 32GB storage, 128 MB RAM
Card slot – No

DATA

GPRS – Class 32
HSCSD- Yes
EDGE – Class 32
3G – HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps
WLAN – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, UPnP technology
Bluetooth – Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
Infrared port – No
USB – Yes, v2.0 microUSB

CAMERA

Primary – 5 MP, 2592×1944 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, Dual LED flash, video light
Features – Geo-tagging
Video – Yes, VGA@30fps
Secondary – Yes, QCIF@15fps

FEATURES

OS – Symbian OS v9.4, Series 60 rel. 5
CPU – ARM 11 434 MHz processor
Messaging – SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
Browser – WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS feeds
Radio – Stereo FM radio with RDS
Games – Spore, D Mix Tour, Asphalt4 + downloadable
Colors – Blue on White, Red on Black
GPS – Yes, with A-GPS support; Ovi Maps 3.0
Java – Yes, MIDP 2.0
WMV/RV/MP4/3GP video player
MP3/WMA/WAV/RA/AAC/M4A music player
TV-out
Voice command/dial
Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
T9
Photo editor

BATTERY

Standard battery, Li-Ion 1320 mAh (BL-5J)
Stand-by – Up to 401 h (2G) / 420 h (3G)
Talk time – Up to 8 h 30 min (2G) / 6 h (3G)
Music play – Up to 35 h

READ MORE - NOKIA X6 (UNLOCKED)

Samsung had a slow start in Android but they are making up for it with some impressive high-tech devices. But the All-star team is certainly not leaving anyone behind and the Galaxy Spica just got its update to the latest Android 2.1. Now it's as ready as ever to hit the competition. And it hits hard.

Devices like the I9000 Galaxy S and the I8520 Beam certainly have the lead but it's down to the foot soldiers to clean up the mess when super AMOLEDs, Snapdragon and WVGA projectors leave the scene.

Speaking of those - you'll know that when it's Samsung and a Galaxy, the middle name is Android. It holds true for the I5700 Galaxy Spica much as it did for the first-born Samsung droid – the I7500 Galaxy.

The Spica goes by the name of Galaxy Lite in some markets, but this has nothing to do with processing power. It packs a faster CPU than the original Galaxy and, as a matter of fact, 800 MHz is better than most droids get.

The phone we’re reviewing is no news really, but Android 2.1 certainly is. Given the OS upgrade, the Samsung I5700 Galaxy Spica is obviously planning to stick around and turn the brightest star in this galaxy. Let’s see what it’s got under the belt.
Key features

* Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
* 3G with HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps
* Android OS v2.1 Eclair, upgraded from v1.5 Cupcake
* 3.2" capacitive touchscreen of HVGA resolution
* 800 MHz CPU
* 3.15 megapixel autofocus camera
* Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and GPS receiver
* Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
* Standard microUSB port for charging and data
* Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP)
* microSD card slot, up to 32GB support
* Standard 3.5mm audio jack
* Great DivX/XviD video player
* Limited smart dialing
* Voice dialing
* Equalizer presets are a first in the Android realm

Main disadvantages

* Inadequate sunlight legibility
* No ambient light and proximity sensors
* Erratic performance under Android 2.1 (noticeable lag in some apps)
* No Live Wallpapers
* No 3D view in the gallery
* No preloaded document viewer
* No multi-touch support
* CIF video recording is below par
* No Flash support for the web browser
* No two-position camera shutter key, slow autofocus
* Average loudspeaker performance

The Samsung I5700 Galaxy Spica normally comes with the Android Cupcake (v1.5) but you can upgrade it to the new Éclair (v2.1). That’s exactly what we did. Anyway, the Spica is still a first-gen droid on the outside: plenty of buttons and an average touchscreen – in both size and resolution.

A thing to definitely note is TouchWIZ. In their first go at Android, Samsung were not too keen perhaps on customization. Under Android 2.1 the Galaxy Spica is a different story. It has the company’s custom touch interface on top of Android and although it’s not a complete overhaul, the first impressions are quite positive.

The rest of the package is standard Android with some of the improvements ver. 2.1 implies. The Spica offers a wide range of connectivity options, including HSDPA support, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. You can transfer files over Bluetooth as well. Another Éclair goodie is not there however – the Spica’s 3.2” capacitive screen does not support multi touch. The Live wallpapers feature is also not present.

Media have always been a Samsung forte and the 3.5mm audio jack and 3MP autofocus camera is the least the Spica can offer to assert this claim. What users will certainly cheer is the DivX/XviD video support right out of the box.

Now, joins us on the next page for the Galaxy Spica unboxing and hardware check up.


(Source : GSM Arena)

READ MORE - Samsung I5700 Galaxy Spica Review

Verizon Report Sends Apple Shares to All-Time High
3/30/2010 12:04 PM

Apple shares have hit another all-time high now that it appears the iPhone could find a new sales outlet through Verizon Wireless.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple plans to release an iPhone this year that would work on the network technology used by Verizon Wireless. For now the phone is available only to subscribers of AT&T.

Apple and Verizon declined to comment.

Apple shares rose as high as $237.48 on Tuesday before retreating to $235.30, up 1.3% on the day. Apple has jumped about 13% this month.

In the past year, Apple shares have more than doubled.

If Apple opens up its wildly popular gadget to other networks, it stands to gain a massive pool of customers who hesitated to switch to the phone because of reservations about AT&T.

Handsets such as Apple's iPhone may also help Verizon Wireless boost its subscriber and revenue growth, a Jefferies & Co. analyst said Tuesday.

In a client note, Jefferies analyst Jonathan Schildkraut reiterated a "Buy" on Verizon Communications, which operates Verizon Wireless in a joint venture with Britain's Vodafone Group.

Schildkraut said if Verizon could bring its cellphone selection in line with the competition with the iPhone or other devices it would free customers up to choose carriers based on network quality.

"We believe (Verizon) Wireless is currently viewed as the network leader," Schildkraut said.

Along with subscriber growth, Schildkraut said "handset parity" could boost Verizon's average revenue per customer, or ARPU, on data plans that provide services such as Web browsing and e-mail.


(source:usa today)

READ MORE - Verizon Report Sends Apple Shares to All-Time High