If you thought you’d seen it all in Nokia’s Vision of 2015 video, book a flight to Tokyo and stop by Fujitsu’s offices there. They haven’t seen to have got the memo that modular, wirelessly-connected mobile phones with integrated pico-projectors are meant to be the stuff of futurology, not fact, and as such have produced a working version of their F-04B cellphone. Akihabara have been for a play, and claim it’s a brilliant multifunctional device.
Remember the Saygus VPhone V1, the mysterious Android smartphone that was spotted clearing the FCC earlier this week? The company have followed up the less-than-perfect FCC shots with some glamour photos of their own, and while opinion on the V1’s looks is split – one Android Community comment suggested it “looks like a VCR” – we’re still interested to see the fruits of what looks likely to be the first Verizon Open Development device.
Remember the LG GW620, the QWERTY slider Android smartphone that rocked up with its own mini-site last week? The handset has now made its way to Canada for a debut as the Rogers Wireless LG Eve, promising a Social Network Services (SNS) Manager that pulls together Twitter, Facebook and Bebo updates, a 5-megapixel autofocus camera and – stealing a jump on the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 – automatic face recognition tying images into contacts entries.
If you can predict a device’s success by site stats then we’d say the Verizon DROID by Motorola is going to be a hit. A week after launch and the DROID is still topping the charts for reader interest, and you’ve been peppering us with questions and comments about the Android 2.0 device. Set to hit shelves this coming Friday, the Verizon DROID is already being heralded as the device that will change Motorola’s fortunes; is that hyperbole, or is the DROID really that good? We’ve been putting the smartphone through its paces, so read on for the full SlashGear review.
Having heard over the weekend that the GSM version of the Motorola DROID – the Motorola MILESTONE – would be landing in Europe later this month on carrier O2, Mobile-Review’s always-on-the-inside Eldar Murtazin has pushed out a video of the handset in action. As well as swapping the CDMA of the Verizon DROID by Motorola for GSM/UMTS, the new MILESTONE also gains multitouch support in Android 2.0.
Video demo of multitouch Motorola MILESTONE after the cut
Samsung caught our Android attention with their Galaxy, a slender smartphone with a gorgeous AMOLED touchscreen, and now they’re back with the keyboard-toting follow-up. The Samsung Moment on Sprint is a phone with a few firsts of its own – the first QWERTY Android device to offer an AMOLED display, the first to have an 800MHz processor – but it seems the company stopped their innovation before reaching the software: unlike other Android handsets we’re seeing, there’s no reworked UI and no expansive social network integration. Can a well-turned spec sheet make up for it? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
Recently I asked, if a DROID could take on the Death Star? Now, Motorola and Verizon, along with some help from Google launched DROID. I’ve spent the day with a device and here’s what I think so far. First, Verizon was clear that DROID is going to be a family of devices running Android, Motorola’s device will be the only one called DROID, others will be known as the DROID-XXX. DROID is the first Android 2.0 device and the Google branding points to the fact that this is stock Android. And I do mean stock Android: there are zero Verizon services on this device (with the exception of a non-branded visual voicemail app). No VCast. No nothing. One wonders if Verizon were willing to go to this length a few years ago, would the iPhone have landed on Verizon? Android 2.0 is a great update and finally is starting to feel complete. Compared to V1 Android running HTC Sense, it’s a mixed bag. HTC’s UI is lightyears ahead of stock Android in my opinion but the DROID performs so much better than any Android V1 phone I’ve used and is nearly feature complete that it’s hard to recommend a V1x device at this point.
It’s not the first time we’ve played with the Samsung Moment, but today we’ve had the chance to take Sprint’s newest smartphone away and unbox it. The Moment is the carrier’s second Android handset (after the non-QWERTY HTC Hero), packing a slide-out keyboard, 3.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen and both EVDO Rev.A and WiFi b/g. Check out our hands-on gallery, unboxing video and some first-impressions of the Samsung Moment after the cut.
We’ve mentioned the HTC Dragon a few times over the past week or so, with the rumored 1GHz Snapdragon-based Android smartphone – aka the Android HD2 – seemingly promising to answer any complaints users had about HTC smartphone performance. However, we’ve been yet to actually see the device in action; that may have changed today, with The Unlockr being sent some live photos of a mysterious, unnamed Android handset that could very well be the HTC Dragon.
As Motorola have found over the past couple of years, it’s taking an increasing amount to get geeks and gadget lovers to stand up and pay attention to a new cellphone. Right now, one sure-fire way of doing that is by launching an Android device, and so that’s what the ailing mobile giant has done in the shape of the Motorola CLIQ (aka the DEXT outside of the US). Not only does the CLIQ promise to make a splash among Android handsets, it also marks the debut of Motorola’s attempt to corral social networking into a mobile device. In our review we’ll not only be looking at the CLIQ hardware, as Motorola’s first-generation Android smartphone, but at MOTOBLUR and its potential beyond the CLIQ. Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
SlashGear Japan
