Phonedig

A few days ago we posted some tantalizing details on the upcoming and very promising Motorola Droid. Well, it seems Motorola accidentally published a Droid website a week early containing some very juicy bits of information. Here we have the full specs of the Motorola Droid and they look fairly impressive:

• CDMA 1X 800/1900, EVDO rev. A connectivity
• 550 MHz CPU
  
• Android 2.0 (Eclair) OS
• 3.7″ WVGA (480 x 854 pixels); 16:9 widescreen; PPI 267 touchscreen display
• 5mpx camera with 4x digital zoom, autofocus, image stabilization, dual LED flash and up to 24 fps; D1 (720×480) resolution video capture
• full QWERTY side slide keyboard
  
• Accelerometer, aGPS and sGPS support, proximity and ambient light sensors
• Wi-Fi b/g, Stereo Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR, USB 2.0 high speed with micro USB connector, 3.5 mm headset jack
  
• 16 GB microSD pre-installed; supports up to 32 GB microSD expandable
• Webkit HTML5 support, Flash 10 (available 2010)
• 1400 mAh Li Ion battery with up to 270 hrs. standby and 385 mins talk time
• Dimensions: 2.4 x 4.6 x .5 in.; 60.00 x 115.80 x 13.70 mm
• Weight: 6 oz.; 169 g

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RIM announced their latest and greatest, the BlackBerry Bold 9700. Touted as an upgrade to the much revered Bold, the new phone features a sleek new design, optical trackpad, OS 5.0, improved battery life, and a smaller footprint. Check out the specs:

• Quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM connectivity
• 2100/1900/850/800 MHz or 2100/1700/900 UMTS/HSDPA connectivity
• 2.44 inch light-sensing display with 480 x 360 pixels
• Highly tactile QWERTY keyboard
• Wi-Fi with UMA (where available)
• GPS with Telenav maps
• Bluetooth 2.1
• 3.5mm headset jack
• Access to BlackBerry App World
• 3.2 MP autofocus camera with variable zoom, flash and video recording
• 624MHz processor
• 256 MB of Flash memory
• 2GB memory card in the box
• 4.29 x 2.36 x 0.56 inches (109 x 60 x 14.1 mm)
• 4.3 oz (122 grams)
• 1500 mAh battery

The Bold 9700 will be available from AT&T ($199.99 after contract), T-Mobile, and Rogers sometime in November.

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Marvell announced the launch of their Armada 100, 500, 600, and 1000 series processors, supporting Adobe Flash and Blu-ray technologies. The Armada processor ramps up to 1.2GHz CPU speeds and utilizes ultra low power design. Of particular note is the 600 series which is designed for smartphones and mobile devices.

According to Ms. Weili Dai, Marvell’s Co-founder and Vice President and General Manager of the Company’s Consumer and Computing Business Unit and owner of the longest company title in existence:

“The ARMADA family delivers to mobile devices what skeptics once doubted could be done: fast, PC-caliber processing, full Internet experience, rich media including HD quality video and 3D graphics — all in lightweight form factors with long battery life. There will always be a place for PCs, but the future of mobile computing — for smartbooks, e-readers, smart tablets and more — will by necessity get its DNA from smartphones, not PCs. Marvell’s world-leading technology portfolio allows us to provide a complete platform solution not only for mobile computing, but also smartphones, gaming, printers, personal and home entertainment, and emerging consumer markets.”

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The folks over at BGR got their hands on the new Motorola Droid and, boy, does it looks killer, as in almost iPhone killer. Looks like Motorola is back on track with a full QWERTY slider phone that’s amazingly only slightly thicker than an iPhone 3GS. Ultra-slick design, solid construction, huge screen, fast processor, and Android 2.0 to boot? What’s not to like. Check it out:

• It’s running Android 2.0. Duh.
• It’s thin. Just slightly thicker than an iPhone 3GS and the thinnest QWERTY-slider we’ve ever seen.
• It is the fastest Android device we’ve ever used. (It’s running a TI OMAP3430 processor)
• The feel of the device is very reminiscent of the OQO 02 model computer. Just smaller. It’s metal with a non-spring-assisted slide, very sturdy, and half soft-touch plastic.
• Awesome capacitive display. Plus it’s huge. Easily the best screen we’ve ever seen on an Android handset, and an amazing screen overall.
• The QWERTY keyboard is actually pretty usable and has a soft-touch rubberized finish. We’ve been told the keyboard design isn’t final on this unit, thus the two no-shows.
• Have we mentioned this phone flies? It’s the Android device to beat, and easily the most impressive. From what we’ve been told, Google had a direct hand in the Motorola Droid. Something to the point of almost dictating every move Motorola made when designing and making the phone. Interesting, huh?
• There’s a desktop cradle/charger that will ship with the Motorola Droid that we’ve been playing around with. It turns your Droid into a “multimedia station” and displays local weather, the time, etc.
• No one wants to listen, but it makes the CLIQ looks like a child’s toy (partly because it is, and partly because the Droid, even in its non-final form, is the most impressive phone we’ve used since the iPhone. It’s positively amazing).

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Not sure how they did it but BGR got their hands on an Android 2.0 build and it’s looking sweet indeed. Judging by the screenshots and info, the new Android is looking to be a significant upgrade. Check out the features:

• Native Exchange support
• Native Facebook support (syncs contacts)
• Browser improvements (specifically performance and double tap to zoom in/out)
• New Map application (Layers support)
• Unified email inbox
• New UI
• Built-in haptic feedback
• Option for text to speech
• Many more phone customization options

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Millions of mobile users let out a collective sigh of relief with T-Mobile’s announcement of data being restored on most Sidekick devices. Users should see a gradual restoration of data starting with their phone contacts followed by calendar, notes, tasks, and photos.

After all this headache it makes you think twice about computing in the cloud, eh?

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It’s now official, Vodafone and RIM announced the BlackBerry Storm 2. The new phone improves upon the first with refinements such as:

• An enhanced SurePress Technology
• Overall device performance
• Javascript on by default
• WiFi 802.11 b/g
• 256MB flash memory (vs. 128MB on Storm 1)
• 2GB onboard memory (Storm 1 has 1GB)
• Sleeker design
• Integrated touch navigation keys
• BlackBerry OS 5.0
• Faster web browsing

No specific release date but Vodafone UK customers can get it free from £35 per month on a 24 month contract. Hmm, not sure if I’d want to be tied to a phone for 2 years even if it was free.

Update: You can now pre-order the Storm 2 on Vodafone’s site.

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Samsung announced their Blue Earth device, an eco-friendly smartphone powered by the sun. This fully touchscreen phone is expected to be available in Sweden by the end of this month, followed by France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Portugal, and other European/Asian countries.

So one would expect a solar-powered smartphone to skimp on features, yes? Well, it sure doesn’t look like it based on these specs:

• Quad-band GSM/HSDPA connectivity
• 3.0 inch WQVGA capacitive touchscreen
• 3.2 megapixel camera
• MicroSD slot
• Stereo FM radio
• Bluetooth with A2DP

What sets Blue Earth apart from other phones is that the back panel is lined with solar cells that charge the phone in direct sunlight. Not only that, the device’s casing is made from recycled plastic, is packed with recycled paper, is able to go into an “eco-mode” power conservation mode, and is bundled with a 5 star energy efficient charger. Now that’s what I call green…err…Blue.

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Looks like it’s official with AT&T’s announcement, the up to now black BlackBerry Bold will be making an appearance in a ghostly white skin. At first I thought it a bit strange but it’s definitely growing on me.

Expect an October 18 release for $199 after 2 year contract.

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The Motorola Debut i856 is now available on the Sprint network as part of their Nextel Direct Connect line of devices. It may not be the “glitziest” of phones but it’s the first slider phone to offer push-to-talk service. Features include:

• 176×220 pixel TFT display
• Direct Connect button with backlight
• GPS
• 3.5mm headset jack
• Stereo Bluetooth
• Threaded messaging/MMS
• 1.3 megapixel camera
• MicroSD slot for up to 8GB of extra storage

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