GSM Dome - Mobile Phone News

iPhone 5 to Feature a 3.95 inch Touchscreen?
NTT DoCoMo Unveils 19 New Devices, All Running Android 4.0, Eluga Tablet Included
Nokia 808 PureView, The Result of 5 Years of Hard Work (Video)
Samsung Galaxy Note Gets Premium Suite Android 4.0 Update in South Korea (Video)
Apple World’s Top Brand, According to Annual BrandZ Study
Samsung Denies Galaxy S III is “Designed By Lawyers”

iPhone 5 to Feature a 3.95 inch Touchscreen?

Posted: 22 May 2012 03:22 PM PDT

The iPad Mini isn’t the only device with a strange diagonal coming from Cupertino, since Apple is now rumored to be preparing a 3.95 inch iPhone. This is also supposed to be a widescreen device, so the general format of the handset will be kept, but the length will be tweaked a bit.

Obviously you should take all rumors about The New iPhone with a grain of salt, but with WWDC 2012 so close, every info becomes more interesting every day. Last I heard, sources like Reuters, Bloomberg and WSJ were pretty sure that the next iPhone will be a 4+ inch affair. Also, it appears Steve Jobs himself was working on this new handset, focusing less on the iPhone 4S before passing away and more on the next gen handset. Recent reports say that Apple is actually testing two iPhone prototypes with the codenames iPhone 5,1 and iPhone 5,2, with these codes referring to both colors and storage options.

With the widescreen display and the assumption it’s still a Retina screen, the resolution should be 640 x 1136 pixels, allowing to add an extra row of icons, reaching a total of 20 plus the 4 in the dock. The problem is that the pixel aspect ratio will be 1.77 instead of 1.5 as it was before and this requires a change applied to all of the apps in the App Store. Will Apple go for it?

NTT DoCoMo Unveils 19 New Devices, All Running Android 4.0, Eluga Tablet Included

Posted: 22 May 2012 10:30 AM PDT

If you live in Japan and you’re looking for a phone for your kid, or a nifty tablet or maybe a hardcore smartphone, local carrier NTT DoCoMo has a device for you. They’ve just unveiled no less than 19 new devices, that constitute their summer lineup for 2012, launching in June or after that month. The lineup includes 16 smartphones, a tablet and a phone for children, plus a mobile WiFi router. They cover a wide range of specifications as shown below.

This is of great interest to us, since the devices shown here may end up on European or US shelves in the future, in one form or the other. One of the handsets that stands out is the Raku Raku Phone, that offers a touchscreen experience similar to the sensation of pressing real keys. You may be wondering what these models have in common… Well, they all run Android 4.0 and they’re divided into the following series: the With Series, Next Series, DoCoMo tablet, Raku Raku and others.

The Next series includes 8 models, while the With has 3 models and all of them are compatible with DoCoMo’s Xi LTE service for fast web access. There’s also a new service compatible with most of these phones: Anshin Scan, that features an alarm system warning users about fraudulent websites for extra safe browsing and also gives them virus scans. In the With series we have the following models: F-09D Anteprima, Aquos Phone st SH-07D, Optimus it L-05D and Medias X N-07D. All of them are waterproof and some of them are dustproof.

Aside from these 3 units, also in the With series are the following units: Eluga V P-06D, Arrows Me F-11D and Xperia SX SO-05D. The latter two are coming in August apparently and are not dustproof. For those of you wondering where you’ve heard these names before, know that Eluga models are made by Panasonic, Arrows are made by Fujitsu and Xperia by Sony, while Sharp makes Aquos phones and LG makes the Optimus. NEC creates the Medias phones, famed for being so slim. Optimus it L-05D and Medias X N-07D share a dual core 1.5 GHz processor, while the F-09D Anteprima and Aquos phone SH-07D have a 1.4 GHz CPU and 1GHz processor respectively. All these models have 8 megapixel cameras (ranging a bit between 8MP, 8.1MP and 8.2MP) and all aside the Aquos have front cameras.

Meanwhile the Eluga V P-06D has a 1.5 GHz dual core processor of the OMAP kind, while the Xperia SK gets a similar CPU, but a Qualcomm one and Arrows Me F-11D is happy with a 1 GHz ticker. Both the last models share a 3.7 inch screen, but with a higher resolution on the Xperia unit. F-09D Anteprima is a 3.7 inch phone with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution, while the Aquos phone st SH-07D has a 3.4 inch screen with a 480 x 854 pixel resolution and the Optimus it L-05D supports a 480 x 800 pixel resolution on a 4 inch display. Medias X N-07D has a 4.3 inch 720p screen (TFT LCD), while the Eluga V relies on a 4.6 inch screen with the same resolution.

The Next series includes some models that you’ve heard of, such as the Samsung Galaxy S III, Xperia GX, Optimus Vu and Eluga Power. Other devices included here are the Aquos Phone Zeta, Arrows X, Regza phone T-02D and Aquos Phone SH-10D. In case you’re wondering the Regza unit is made by Toshiba and will be available in July or August with a 1.5 GHz dual core CPU and 4.3 inch display, plus 13.1 megapixel camera. Aquos Phone Zeta has a 1.5 GHz dual core CPU, just like the Xperia GX and they also share a 720p resolution on a 4.7 and 4.6 inch screen respectively. The first one has a 12MP camera, while the second adopts a 13MP one.

The Arrows X unit adopts a 13MP shooter, 4.6 inch display and Tegra 3 quad core CPU. Eluga Power is a dual core 1.5 GHz affair with 5 inch 720p screen and 8MP camera, while the Aquos Phone SH-10D uses a similar CPU, has the same resolution, but on a 4.5 inch display and a 12 megapixel camera. The DocoMo Eluga tablet launches in August and will come with waterproof and dustproof certification, Android 4.0, an OMAP 1.2 GHz dual core CPU and 10.1 inch 1280 x 800 pixel display. It has no main camera, instead having a front 1.3MP shooter and WiFi as last feature to mention.

The Raku Raku phone has NFC, a MSM8255 1.4GHz processor, a 4 inch 480 x 800 pixel WVGA TFT LCD screen and an 8 megapixel camera. Finally, the Kids Phone will come in July or August with a 2 inch 240 x 320 pixel display, based on TFT LCD technology. It’s also resilient against dust and water. Know that the Raku Raku unit is targeted at seniors and that the Galaxy S III is also ready to come to the market, with FeliCa NFC chip on board. If the name Anteprima is unknown to you, know that it’s a fashion brand famous in Japan, so that’s why there’s a phone with that branding.

Is there any particular model you’d like to see in the Western countries some day?

Nokia 808 PureView, The Result of 5 Years of Hard Work (Video)

Posted: 22 May 2012 05:31 AM PDT

Nokia’s 41 megapixel cameraphone, the 808 PureView has been the talk of the town for a while now, especially with it shipping later this month in quite a bunch of countries. However, because of the price tag of above 600 euros many carriers and retailers are reluctant to offer this model to their customers. But leaving that aside, we’re here to show you how much hard work was put into this model.

This may just be the Symbian swan song and it deserves respect for going out with a band. The Finnish phone maker had no less than 400 people on the PureView project and 5 years to get it to completion. The result was a cameraphone with a 41 megapixel camera sensor and that true pixel technology. The original idea of this phone came in a bar in Japan and now it has reached commercial availability. For those of you worried that the 808 PureView won’t get traction, big sales and many available units, this is merely the beginning and we’ll see similar technology on future Windows Phone Nokia units.

The obvious disadvantages of this model are the design (18mm thick, basically two iPhones on top of each other), the price and the OS, the antique Symbian. One can only hope that Nokia may one day license the PureView technology to other makers, that may include it in prettier shells…

Samsung Galaxy Note Gets Premium Suite Android 4.0 Update in South Korea (Video)

Posted: 22 May 2012 04:50 AM PDT

After receiving Android 4.0 ICS updates in Europe, Samsung confirmed the release of the Android 4.0 upgrade pack for the Galaxy Note in South Korea as well. The pack includes the Premium Suite apps that Samsung has been talking about for so long. The Galaxy Note Premium Suite upgrade is available on Kies right now.

While Android 4.0 brings the expected Face Unlock, Android Beam, new UI, new icons, new multitasking system and other improvements, the premium suite is the one we’ll discuss in the following sentences. These are exclusive S Pen applications and multimedia enhancements bundled with Android 4.0. One of the apps is S Note, that allows one to combine notes, sketches, digital content and provides some nifty templates for various tasks. These include meeting minutes, diary and more.

S Note also comes with Shape Match and Formula Match, applications that correct and digitize geometric shapes and solve math problems and formulas even when drawn by hand with the aid of the S Pen. You can even draw tables and grids, that easily become digitized. Premium Suite finally includes My Story, an S Pen based application that helps created personalized digital cards for close ones, including video, photos, text, voice and more. Details in the video below:

Apple World’s Top Brand, According to Annual BrandZ Study

Posted: 22 May 2012 03:23 AM PDT

During the last year, Apple managed to maintain its superiority in the tablet and smartphone field, in spite of losing its charismatic CEO, Steve Jobs. Not only that, but they also amassed a huge fortune in the process, that lead them to become the world’s most valuable company and the world’s top brand, according to a recent study.

The annual BrandZ study conducted by market research agency Millward Brown is based on the market capitalization of a company, the price of a company’s stock multiplied by the numbers of shares outstanding and the loyalty that the brand inspires. Apple increased its market value by 19% during the last year and reached a total of $183 billion, while the loyalty doesn’t even need to be described, since we all know how fanatic Apple lovers can be. Meanwhile, Facebook is placed 19th in this survey and reached a market cap of $33.2% with a 74% growth in the last year.

The top brands also included IBM in second place, Google on third and MacDonald’s on a surprising fourth, followed by Microsoft and Coca Cola. Marlboro made it to seventh place, in spite of anti smoking campaigns. Nick Cooper, managing director of Millward Brown Optimor says that in order to catch up with Apple, they should have some kind of hurdle to go through and the company that gets them should go on a sprint.

Samsung Denies Galaxy S III is “Designed By Lawyers”

Posted: 22 May 2012 02:25 AM PDT

Over the past weeks, there have been many theories saying that Samsung Galaxy S III’s design, that disappointed quite a few people is in fact created by lawyers, trying to avoid getting into another lawsuit with Apple. Now, Samsung design VP Chang Dong-hoon answered these claims during the 2012 Seoul Digital Forum.

The official said yesterday that the design of Samsung smartphones has not changed because of Apple’s suits. Their design direction is actually part of a 5 year plan, apparently and not a sudden change. Chang Dong-hoon told publications that Samsung has emerged as market leader in design and that the curved shape of the new Galaxy S model is the result of hundreds of concepts and tries of new formats. Well, it’s still a big slab of plastic/polycarbonate that may seem a bit too rounded for the average technology fan.

The funniest thing in the world would be seeing the iPhone 5 getting rounded too and Samsung suing Apple for that… it would be hilarious! Anyway, I don’t think that would be the case, since Apple is more of a rectangular smartphone kind of company. What do you think about the Galaxy S III design?

Mobile Updates

23 May 2012

GSM Dome - Mobile Phone News

GSM Dome - Mobile Phone News

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