Acer may be calling this “100 percent smartphone. 100 percent tablet,” but something just doesn’t add up there. That being said, we have to agree that a 1024×480 screen resolution on a 4.8-inch smartphone is downright drool-worthy. Clocking in at just a smidgen smaller than Dell’s Streak, this here phone (no finalized name has been bestowed quite yet) was just revealed at Acer’s Global press event in New York City. It was only shown briefly, demonstrating an unknown version of Android and the “evolution of Acer UI.” Specs wise, there’s a two megapixel front-facing camera, eight megapixel rear camera (with LED flash), 720p video recording, a six-axis Gyroscope + accelerometer package and LED edge lighting. Per usual, Acer’s keeping a lid on any pricing estimates, but it’ll be shipping out to gape-jawed customers everywhere in April 2011.
Update: We’ve got the full PR after the break, which informs us of the atypical 21:9 aspect ratio in use here as well as its “full metal body.” Curiously enough, it’s also rocking a curved back (is that a trend we spot?), Bluetooth 3.0, 802.11n WiFi, HSDPA support, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and an HDMI output. Delicious, all the way around.
Update 2: Does that elongated form factor seem a wee bit familiar? It should.
We’re guessing that this newfangled SmartPOP feature works a lot like Lenovo’s Constant Connect (or perhaps LG’s own Air Sync?), but either way, the feature set is still fairly innovative. On the surface, LG is today introducing its X170 netbook — a 10.1-incher with an Atom N455 (or N550), 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive and integrated Intel GMA 3150 graphics. But it’s the accompanying SmartPOP feature that’s really worth a second glance; purportedly, the system utilizes Bluetooth 3.0 in order to connect to your LG phone (supported models haven’t been made public thus far) and do all sorts of things. Syncing your files and email is just the beginning — once you’re in, you can send an SMS, view contacts / files and dial a phone number from the comfort of your PC. We’re guessing that future uses will be somewhat more impressive than existing ones, but you’ve got to start somewhere, right? Word on the street has this one going for just under $700 in South Korea, and we’re definitely hoping that mobile there is included for that price.
The first time Nokia’s N8-00 popped up on our radar was way back in early February of this year. On that chilly, misty morning, we learned of a mythical being capable of shooting 12 megapixel stills, recording 720p video, outputting via HDMI, and — most importantly — ushering in the promised Symbian^3 touch revolution. It’s been a long road of leaks, teasers, hands-ons, and previews since then, but at long last, the legend of the N8 has become a purchasable commodity. All the early specs have survived, including the 3.5-inch AMOLED display, but the key question today, as it was at the beginning, relates to that all-new software within: does Symbian^3 succeed in elevating Nokia’s touchscreen experience or does it drag down an otherwise stellar combination of high-end parts? For that verdict and much, much more, join us after the break.
Acer’s UK press team has been atypically loquacious today in disclosing the expected launch window and Android version for its upcoming Liquid Metal handset. We’ve confirmed ourselves that the end of October is the period now circled on Her Majesty’s calendar, though we suspect the rest of Europe, if not the entire world, will be getting to grips with the Froyo-packing smartphone at about that time as well. The unconfirmed specs (gotta keep a little mystery, right?) include the same 800MHz Qualcomm MSM7230 as inside the T-Mobile G2, a 3.6-inch display with 800 x 480 resolution, Bluetooth 3.0 onboard, and the handsome backplate you see above, which seems to have been made out of brushed aluminum. So how do you feel, is there room for yet another contender on your smartphone wishlist?
Samsung’s all about records: firsts, biggests, smallests, thinnests, you get the idea. Indeed, it was just a few weeks ago that the company managed to slip the very first Bluetooth 3.0 certified handset through — but these guys never rest, and it looks like they’re already prepping to follow up that feat by throwing Android into the mix. The Bluetooth SIG is showing certification for an SHW-M120S model that apparently features a 3.3-inch WVGA AMOLED display, 5 megapixel autofocus primary cam plus VGA secondary, WiFi, GPS, HSDPA, and — yes, you guessed it — a Bluetooth Core Version of 3.0, meaning you’ll likely be able to fling files around to your house full of Bluetooth 3.0-capable devices with the greatest of ease. The presence of a T-DMB tuner means this sucker is targeted squarely at the South Korean market, but we’ve no doubt Sammy plans on taking 3.0 global so that it can… you know, have the world’s most Bluetooth 3.0 devices. PuntoCellulare seems to have a pretty good shot of it, and it looks pretty much how you’d expect any self-respecting Samsung smartphone to look in 2010 — in other words, there’s nothing that screams “I can wirelessly transfer data short distances at heretofore-unknown speeds” just by looking at it, and that’s totally fine by us. Rumor is we’ll see this launch “in the next few weeks.”
[Thanks, juanvaldez]
Update: Turns out PuntoCellulare just recycled a shot of the M100S, so we don’t yet know what the M120S will look like; the screen’s a bit smaller on this new model, for one thing, so we should be dealing with a more diminutive shell.
And here we have it: what’s likely to be the world’s first Bluetooth 3.0 phone courtesy of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). According to the filing’s description, the “compact and slim” Samsung GT-S8500 is a touchscreen slate phone with a “high resolution” 3.1-inch OLED sporting a TouchWIZ UI and quad-band GSM/EDGE radios. The advantages of the 3.0 Bluetooth spec approved in April are faster throughput (up to 24Mbps) and more frugal power usage — both welcome advances in modern media-playing handsets. Although it’s not stated we can assume an official launch in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress.
