There’s also a microSD card slot, WiFi b/g and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, along with a rear 5-megapixel camera. GPS, stereo speakers, a headphones socket and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera round out the main specs, along with a 4,000 mAh Li-Ion battery.

On the software side, Swype comes preloaded along with various sports apps, together with the usual suite of Google software.

The ZTE Optik will go on sale this coming Sunday, February 5 2012, priced at either $99.99 with a new, two-year agreement, or $349.99 upfront. Data plans will be $19.99 for 1GB of data, $34.99 for 3GB of data, $49.99 for 6GB of data and $79.99 for 12GB of data, with tethering a $29.99 per month add-on.

[via Android Community]

Featured: Don’t miss our review of LG’s newest Verizon 4G LTE phone, the Spectrum. Also, if you’re into cool automotive technology, you have to check out our hands-on report of Mercedez-Benz’s tricked-out new mbrace2 platform. It’s pretty dope. And if that isn’t enough Mercedez-Benz goodness for you, we also took a ride with an interior concept that is pretty mind-boggling.

Gaming: The PlayStation Vita launch is less than a month away and today we learned details about what bundled goodies to expect when the anticipated device finally goes on sale. Check out the details right here. Our Chris Burns also took a look at how Steam’s emerging mobile platform might capture a whole new audience.

Other Stuff: For all you science nerds, here’s an interesting piece – NEOShield international asteroid threat-reduction group forming now. We also found a scoop on a mysterious ZTE tablet that was outed by the FCC. If iPad news is more your style, check out this: Blue Spark Digital condenser microphone for iPad revealed and detailed.

It’s been a busy day, but we’ll be back on Monday night for another roundup of the best stories of the day right here on Slashgear.

The first camera will sit on the back and will be 3.2 megapixels strong, the second will be front-facing and 0.3 megapixels for video chat, and the whole tablet is 12.6mm thin. Now if you’re a fan of ZTE and have no desire to work with Ice Cream Sandwich, this may well be the tablet for you. The price including VAT from Clove will be £234.99, that equalling in at a bit over $300 USD for the USA, and it’ll be out near the tail end of February.

What I’m a bit confused about here is who this will be marketed to now that there are so very many tablets out there with comparable prices and equal to or better specifications behind them? On the other hand again, this tablet far outdoes many of the “crap tabs” we saw at CES 2012 that weren’t even worth covering at all. It’s good to know that there are non-top companies out there focusing on the final product still without only going for the newest OS – that spells disaster for many, but not for ZTE.

[via Clove]

ZTE’s Tania smartphone will hit the UK next month and the smartphone will run Windows Phone and will sell for about 270 euros there. That $27 per device is a lot of money, but it seems that smartphone maker is getting quite a bit for its money too. According to IntoMobile, that $27 licensing fee gets ZTE a list of the exact specs it needs to make a working smartphone running the OS.

It also gets the smartphone maker the operating system and all the drivers needed. It’s sort of like a plug and play way to build a smartphone. Going with Android, on the other hand, would still require royalties be paid to Microsoft and then the company would need to do the legwork and choose their own specs for the device to operate. The tip on the cost of licensing Windows Phone comes from the ZTE UK Portfolio Manager Santiago Sierra. He said that ZTE pays Microsoft between £15 to £20, with the average amount converted to USD working out to $27.02.

[via IntoMobile]

Retailer Clove, for instance, has the Tania listed as expected in-stock from the week commencing February 13. ZTE would only tell us that the 1GHz single-core smartphone should arrive with carriers before the end of March, however.

Despite being built to a budget, the Tania’s spec sheet holds up well in comparison to its rivals. The handset has 512MB of RAM and a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, though no front-facing camera and a mere 4GB of integrated storage. There’s 14.4Mbps HSDPA along with WiFi b/g/n and the usual bevy of sensors.

Our biggest complaint is the display, with ZTE’s choice of WVGA panel suffering from noticeably poor viewing angles. More details on that in our full preview of the Tania.

Hardware

We can’t say ZTE’s styling has exactly blown us away. In fact, the Tania proved instantly reminiscent of another game-changer: 2008′s Touch HD by HTC. Comparisons of its new Windows Phone to an aging Windows Mobile device probably isn’t what ZTE had in mind, but the soft-touch but plain plastic back cover, along with the squared-off fascia suggest the company may have some way to go before its design chops match up to those of Apple, Samsung and others.

Still, it’s functional, and the 128.6 x 67.8 x 10.7 mm body feels sturdy in the hand. Inside there’s a 1GHz single-core Qualcomm MSM8255 processor paired with 512MB of RAM, triband GSM/EDGE and dualband UMTS/HSDPA 14.4Mbps connectivity, along with WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1. A-GPS, a digital compass, accelerometer, ambient light sensor and a proximity sensor are pretty much par for the course, however there’s only a mere 4GB of storage – just 2.51GB was showing up as user-accessible on our unit – and, since you don’t get a microSD card slot, there’s no way to add to it.

HTC Tania Preview:

Unfortunately, the 4.3-inch WVGA display is a let-down. We won’t knock ZTE for the resolution, since that’s a Windows Phone limit at the moment, but the panel itself is unimpressive in comparison to even regular LCDs, never mind AMOLED-based options as used by Samsung and Nokia. Viewing angles are shallow, and there’s noticeable bleed from the backlighting along the bottom edge. Even viewed dead-on, colors are more muted than we’d like to see. We can understand ZTE looking for the cheapest possible hardware for a budget device, but unless you’ve not used a smartphone for several years, you’ll probably be disappointed with the Tania’s panel.

Software

ZTE hasn’t finalized its Tania firmware yet, and so we didn’t look into benchmarking or rigorously testing the software side of the smartphone. Windows Phone 7.5 Mango is onboard, though no sign of any custom apps or pre-loads by ZTE itself.

As a starter smartphone platform, the sort ZTE’s target audience is likely looking for, Windows Phone has its obvious strengths. The “Live Tile” Start screen is simple but – if you set it up right – can be effective, and the integration with Xbox LIVE and Office is useful if you have the write kit and apps at home.

ZTE’s biggest challenge – and the biggest challenge it will present – is probably Nokia, which harbors its own plans to tackle the entry-level segment, though the Finns do have their exclusive Nokia Music and Nokia Drive apps, among others, to distinguish them from the crowd. In contrast, ZTE’s bundled services are conspicuous by their absence.

Camera

5-megapixels is fast being left behind at the top-end of the smartphone segment, but is still admirable at the entry-level, especially when many budget Android phones offer a mere 3.2-megapixels. Of course, there’s more to good photographs than how many pixels you have, and the Tania does a reasonable job all-round.

Given enough natural light, shots are clear and exposure is reasonable, though colors are muted. In low-light conditions, mind, that restraint dips into murkiness, with grain beginning to show. The LED flash is, like most examples of its ilk, only really effective in a narrow sweet-spot neither too close nor too distant from the phone.

Phone and Battery

The Tania comes equipped with a 1,400 mAh battery, which ZTE reckon is good for 200 hours of standby or four hours of talktime. Those estimates are on the low end for a modern device. Without final firmware we didn’t do any prolonged testing, though the phone did manage to run through the day with default settings on email sync and social network integration.

Audio quality was average, though the speakerphone proved sufficiently loud for a hands-free call across a decent-sized table.

Wrap-Up

Offered, say, the ZTE Tania or Nokia’s Lumia 800, and we’d have the Lumia in a flash. Still, even with Nokia and carriers’ best efforts, the Lumia 800 still isn’t a “bargain” Windows Phone. That’s where ZTE – and its experience crafting genuinely cheap devices – steps in.

ZTE is yet to confirm pricing, but we’re hearing whispers of – in the UK at least – a free handset on a roughly £10-15 per month contract ($15-$23). That’s potentially half the monthly cost of other Windows Phones in the UK; meanwhile unlocked and SIM-free versions are already being listed for £250 ($384) including tax. Mighty competitive, and while the Tania’s display may fall well short of the quality we’ve seen on Nokia and Samsung Windows Phones, pushing Microsoft’s platform further down the price range is a much-needed move.

Hardware

This isn’t your regular router: at 93 x 70 x 25 mm it’s a palm-sized glossy black plastic box sitting on four grippy rubber feet. Bigger than a regular mobile hotspot, but the upshot is connectivity: as well as sharing out your USB modem’s connection with up to five WiFi devices, it has a pair of 10/100 ethernet ports on the back for wired devices too. That’s useful if you’re trying to share your connection in a WiFi-saturated environment, where wireless links can often become unstable.

On top is a rotating USB port for your modem, as well as four indicator LEDs for power, WLAN, PPP and WPS status. The back offers two buttons – WPS for easy connections with Windows-based computers, along with power – the two ethernet ports, each with activity LEDs, and a DC power input.

Unfortunately there’s no internal battery for true portable use, so you’ll have to find space in your bag for the included AC adapter. That’s frustratingly bulkier than the Hub itself; ZTE really needs to learn a lesson from the ultra-compact wall warts supplied with recent handsets from Nokia, HTC and Apple.

Software

Unlike USB modems, which generally require an app be installed on your laptop, it’s possible to use the WiFi Hub without any software bother whatsoever. Once your modem is in place and the connection has stabilized, it’s a simple matter of searching for the preset SSID on your tablet/laptop/phone/console and punching in the PIN, both of which are printed on the bottom of the Hub itself. Wired connections are even easier: just plug in your ethernet cable.

ZTE ships the Hub preconfigured to use WEP security, the weakest option but the one with the broadest compatibility. Most users will want to step up to WPA or, preferably, WPA2, (though a fully open WiFi connection is also possible) and that requires logging into the browser-based settings page. That’s found at 192.168.1.1 and logging in with the default username and password (which can be easily changed).

There’s actually a fair range of options available, if you’re of the tinkering mindset. The basics – SSID and security – can be altered, as well as the APN settings for the USB modem, DHCP settings for automatically assigning IP addresses, MAC and IP filtering, URL filtering to limit which sites can be connected to, and port forwarding. There’s also a firewall, with optional DMZ bypass.

Obviously it’s up to the user how deeply they dig through the settings; it’s possible to treat the WiFi Hub as plug-and-play, or get pretty granular with your control.

Performance

We saw no difference in download speeds from Three’s normal performance when using the WiFi Hub, though being able to position the modem near a window meant we could hunt down the best signal at any one time. WiFi range proved sufficient to cover our (admittedly bijou) London flat, with two solid wood doors in-between, with maximum strength showing in OS X.

Unfortunately, our attempts to get the WiFi Hub working with USB modems from other providers than Three failed, even when the modem was unlocked. The settings page refused to recognize that a modem was plugged in, and no connection was automatically made. Three tells us that other operators’ modems should work, but obviously won’t help you out if – like us – you can’t get the Hub to recognize them. It would also be useful if you could plug a wired WAN connection, such as in a hotel room, into one of the ethernet ports, and share it with the Hub.

Wrap-Up

There’s no denying the Three WiFi Hub works, nor that it’s useful. The wireless connection is solid, and the two ethernet ports are a particular bonus over regular mobile hotspots. Ease of use – with a Three USB modem – is another strength, though we wish ZTE had opted for better security with WPA2 by default.

Unfortunately the absence of a battery – even to just power wireless use – significantly limits the usefulness of the WiFi Hub when on the move. Forget dropping it onto the table at your nearest coffee shop or in an airport lounge and getting online in seconds: you need to make sure there’s a power point nearby. For hotel rooms or spur-of-the-moment meeting room connections that shouldn’t be too great a drawback, however.

That power limitation, compounded by the unnecessarily chunky AC adapter, are our main criticisms of the Three WiFi Hub. Those with modems from other providers should also be wary, as compatibility isn’t assured and you’re on your own to figure out any problems. Still, at £39.99, if you’re a Three data modem user who blanches at hotel and conference wireless fees and has enough bag space for the power adapter, the WiFi Hub makes an inexpensive way to get multiple people online.

In an interview in Hong Kong with the Wall Street Journal, ZTE’s North American president, Lixin Cheng, revealed that the handset maker is planning to offer a high-end smartphone compatible with 4G LTE networks that would arrive sometime near the middle of next year. Cheng believes that the US will be the largest market for ZTE’s handsets by 2015.

The high-end ZTE smartphone is expected to have features similar to the iPhone but priced slightly below it. Despite being much lesser known, ZTE has been seeing significant growth, having grown to a 5 percent share of global cellphone shipments in Q3 of this year. It’s cellphone shipments (including both smartphone and feature phones) surpasses that of Apple and ranks fourth in the world.

Much like HTC, ZTE has been making private label devices for other companies and carriers and will be stepping out with its own brand in the US for the first time when its high-end smartphone launches next year. The company also makes mobile hotspots and USB wireless dongles for carriers like T-Mobile and Verizon. It is still in talks with the carriers regarding the new high-end device, which will run either Google’s Android or Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 mobile operating systems.

[via LA Times]

The OS for the tablet is Android 3.2 and the 7-inch screen has a resolution of 1280 x 800. RAM is 1GB and storage is 16GB. The tablet has a rear camera with 5MP resolution and a front camera that has 2MP resolution. The battery is rated at 4,000 mAh. The tablet is 11.5mm thick and coupled with the 7-inch screen it will be easy to lug around with you on the go.

The tablet will support wireless connectivity with GSM900/1800 and China Mobile TD1900/2010 support. There is no word on the launch of the tablet, but it will hit Hong Kong and Taiwan first. The tablet also supports 1080p video output. What do you think about this tablet?

[via Engadget China]

The FCC filing shows the backside of the tablet sporting a Google logo and support for both WiFi and 3G connectivity. It’s apparent from the diagram that the tablet will have a textured backside and rear-facing camera, but other than that, details on the tablet are scant. We can only assume that it’s going to be similar to the Vodafone offerings but reworked for the US.

The previously unveiled Vodafone Smart Tab 7 and 10 are 7-inch and 10-inch tablets both expected to feature 1280 x 800 pixel resolution screens. They will be powered by Qualcomm’s dual-core 1.2GHz processor, running Android Honeycomb, and to be available in 16GB or 32GB models, expandable with a memory card slot. Pricing and launch dates have not been announced yet.

[via Engadget]

Interestingly, Kerris later suggested that HP would “increase our investment in Enyo,” the webOS development framework, further indication that the company has no intention of selling the platform. Instead, it seems licensing is the strategy of choice; as HP execs said on the financial call yesterday, the company needed to stop “trying to force non-competitive products into the market.”

Samsung is an obvious option, especially given the state of play in the Android ecosystem after Google announced it was acquiring Motorola. Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee reportedly told a hurriedly-called meeting of company execs that they “must pay attention to the fact that IT power is moving away from hardware companies such as Samsung to software companies”; spokespeople denied there were any immediate purchase plans of software firms, but Kun-hee’s specific mention that Samsung would “more actively seek mergers and acquisitions” might imply an openness to working with HP on webOS devices.

Both of Samsung’s main existing platforms, Windows Phone and Android, now have strong ties to hardware partners (Nokia and Motorola, respectively) and while the Samsung-led bada has made surprising advances in terms of market share, it still lacks mindshare. Back in March, insiders suggested that Samsung was eyeing HP’s PC business, something the company now says it intends to spin-off.

HTC is another strong contender, in a similar position to Samsung with regards its two key platforms, but without a homegrown bada-equivalent to fall back on. Instead, HTC has been busy snapping up and investing in cloud service, consumer audio, game streaming and other companies, feathering its Sense portfolio as a way of better differentiating its devices. Sense, as we’ve said before, is in effect one big user lock-in attempt: once you’ve had a taste of online sync, remote tracking, offline maps, various cloud services and homegrown HTC apps, so the proposition goes, would you really want to lose all that when you upgrade your Android device by jumping to a different manufacturer?

Sense’s distinctive appearance could certainly sit on top of webOS as much as it does Android. The company’s “helicopter” overview of the multiple homescreen panes already looks a little like webOS cards, in fact. HTC has a preference for deep modification – look, for instance, at what it was doing with Windows Mobile on devices like the HD2, before Microsoft clamped down on UI alterations in Windows Phone – and may well be tempted by a company willing to throw wide open the development doors if it helps make some return on a $1.2bn investment.

Let’s not forget, though, that ex-Palm CEO, ex-HP webOS lead and current senior vice president for product innovation for the personal systems group, Jon Rubenstein, also sits on Amazon’s board. The retailer is tipped to be readying a set of Android tablets with a release before the holiday season; could it switch to webOS instead? Amazon’s commitment to the platform has been present from the start, with the original Pre launching with the Amazon MP3 Store app preloaded and, most recently, a version of Kindle for TouchPad being released.

On the flip-side, though, Amazon has invested no small amount of engineering time and marketing into Android, with the Amazon Appstore for Android already gaining download market-share thanks to daily free app promotions, though it’s always been the retailer’s intention to make the download service cross-platform. If middling developer adoption has been a significant thorn in webOS’ side, the huge consumer reach Amazon represents might be a deciding factor in which platforms coders choose to support.

Then there are the outliers. RIM is struggling with its BlackBerry 7 OS, with dwindling market share and only the promise of QNX-based smartphones in 2012 to buoy investors’ mood. Although reasonably praised by reviewers on the BlackBerry PlayBook, however, QNX is yet to find significant market adoption. webOS – which we’ve already seen works well on smaller-display devices like the Veer - would fit neatly into the compact touchscreens on QWERTY candybars like the Bold 9900/9930.

Huawei and ZTE could also be contenders, both Chinese firms with little brand-recognition but – like HTC before them – strong ambitions to take on high-profile rivals. ZTE has already shown itself capable of rivaling Apple and others on mobile devices overall; the name cachet of being connected with an established firm like HP, as well as the differentiating factor of webOS, could be enough for either company to break out of their current niche. Lenovo’s acquisition of IBM’s computing business and subsequent escalation is a good example of how little-known players can – with a healthy bank balance behind them – quickly grow to be a mainstay of the market.

Of course, there are other low-profile companies who might like to do the same, and Huawei and ZTE are merely two of them. HP’s decision to take a step back from the hardware side of webOS is probably a sensible one – a key criticism in our review of the TouchPad was the unconvincing design and construction, which overshadowed the software’s promise – though how the company has handled it is unlikely to leave existing users and developers with much positive to say. Still, webOS isn’t dead yet, and if this surprising month in tech has taught us anything it’s that nothing – however outlandish – is necessarily off the table.

For a comprehensive summary of HP’s webOS and computing decisions over the past few days, check out our full run-down of the news.

According to Pocket-lint, multiple trusted sources have confirmed that the Mango update will be rolled out right at the beginning of next month. A major factor for such an early release is so that it can coincide with IFA, which is the largest consumer electronics show in Europe. The event will take place from September 2-7 in Berlin, where Windows Phone 7 manufacturers such as Samsung, Acer, ZTE, and LG will be able to unveil their new Mango devices.

However, Nokia’s first Windows Phone 7 handsets will not be among this early batch. Instead, its Mango devices are expected to debut at the Nokia World event in October. The first of its offerings has already been leaked as a device codenamed “Sea Ray” that looks very similar to the N9 MeeGo handset.

The Mango update was released to manufacturing back in mid-July with a timeline for Mango developers to submit apps for approval starting late August. To get an idea of what to expect with the update, make sure to check out our full technical preview.

[via Pocket-lint]

That’s based on Apple shipping 20.3m iPhone units in Q2, and Samsung shipping 19.2m smartphone units. Strategy Analytics had previously suggested that Samsung could beat Apple to the top spot, but it seems the Korean company’s performance wasn’t quite sufficient to do so. Still, year on year Samsung has shown the bigger increase: from 5-percent in Q2 2010, versus Apple’s 13.5-percent in the same period.

The analysts put that down in no small part to high demand for the Galaxy S II which, Samsung announced earlier this week, had sold 5m units worldwide and set a new sales record for the company. Still, that’s just a quarter of Samsung’s overall smartphone sales, suggesting the Galaxy line as a whole is performing well in the market.

The same can’t be said for Nokia, unfortunately, with the company’s dire Q2 financial results - including a €487m loss – doing little to reassure investors. The company sold 16.7m units in the quarter; as Strategy Analytics put it, “the industry awaits Nokia’s pending transition to Windows Phone 7.”

In the mobile market overall, IDC says Nokia still holds the number one position with 24.2-percent of the market (where smartphones and regular phones are counted), but second place Samsung is narrowing the gap with double-digit growth pushing it to 19.2-percent share. Apple is in fourth place, with 5.6-percent, behind LG, at 6.8-percent; that positioning looks unlikely to remain the same for much longer, however, with LG’s share dwindling 18.9-percent year-on-year, while Apple’s has grown a whopping 141.8-percent in the same period. ZTE holds fifth place, with healthy 36-percent year-on-year growth bringing it to 4.5-percent market share.

IDC expects strong Q3 2011 launches to particularly help the smartphone market grow, especially if Apple can leverage a lower-cost model that will appeal in developing economies. Previous rumors have suggested the Cupertino company is readying just that, with a lower-cost iPhone 4S using plastic instead of glass to help save on the bill of materials.

Nokia isn’t the only firm named in that suit; InterDigital is also going after Huawei and STE as well. According to InterDigital, all three of those companies are using unfair trade practices by importing certain 3G devices like mobile phones and hotspots as well as tablets and computers that infringe on patents that InterDigital holds in the US. The patent companies were field with the ITC.

InterDigital also filed a separate complaint in federal court alleging that all three of the firms infringe on the same patents with their devices. The specific patents the case is about aren’t mentioned. I am about as tired of hearing about patent suits as I am hackers.

[via WSJ]

Chinese analysts have pointed to the relatively closeness of MeeGo’s system kernel and that of Android, suggesting that both hardware and apps could be reasonably straightforward to migrate. MeeGo’s under-the-radar legal situation, and backer Intel’s extreme willingness to find new partners – now that Nokia has all but abandoned MeeGo in favor of Windows Phone – could make the platform a safer bet for spooked Android OEMs. Interestingly, rumors have already surfaced earlier in the year regarding the possibility of a ZTE handset powered by Intel processors.

However, just as Nokia has left the N9 to helm its fledgling MeeGo effort, more manufacturers are expected to look to Windows Phone. Although Microsoft charges a roughly $15-per-device licensing fee for Windows Phone 7, versus Google’s free distribution of Android, there are suggestions that should Apple, Oracle and others win their patent cases then $15-20 royalty fees may become commonplace for Android phones and tablets. HTC is already believed to pay Microsoft roughly $5 per Android device in licensing, while Samsung is supposedly being chased for up to $15 per Android device.

Of course, whether Apple would agree to licensing its technologies remains a sleeping-dragon issue. HTC has already announced that it has “alternate solutions” to the systems Apple alleges are infringed, perhaps in unspoken admission of the fact that the Cupertino company is likely more interested in squashing and hamstringing its rivals than it is in clawing license fees from them. Forcing Google back to the drawing board to identify and replace elements of Android found to overstep into iOS IP would certainly sap some of the platform’s current momentum.

[via] DigiTimes]

Apple:
Apple’s New MacBook Airs To Launch Late Next Week
Apple’s Revamped LED Cinema Displays With Thunderbolt Coming Soon
Apple iOS 4.3.4 Released, PDF Vulnerability Fixed
ITC Finds HTC Infringes On Two Apple Patents

Google:
Android patent situation not critical insists Google CEO
Google+ Has Over 10 Million Users, 1 Billion Items Shared Per Day, Says CEO Larry Page
Google Activates 550,000 Android Devices Daily, Reaches 250,000 Android Market Apps
Google+ Corporate Accounts Testing To Launch Next Week
Google Games discovered in Google+ code
Android Market Files Hint At Google Music Store

Spotify:
Spotify US goes live
SlashGear 101: What is Spotify?
SlashGear Free Spotify Invite Giveaway

Microsoft:
Microsoft Reveals New Windows Phone 7 Mango Handsets From Samsung, Acer, And More
Fujitsu Windows Phone could be tweaked 12MP Android handset
Microsoft To Ship Windows Phone Mango Devices By September?

Netflix:
Netflix Announces Price Hike, Splits DVD And Streaming Plans
Is this the chance Netflix rivals have been waiting for?
Netflix lands on Nintendo 3DS today
Blockbuster Attempts Neftlix Customer Thievery in Wake of Price Hikes

Reviews:
Android Market 3.0.26 Hands-On and Review
Spotify Premium Mobile App and Service Review [USA]
Swiftkey X Review for Android Handsets
SwiftKey Tablet X Review
T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide Review
iRiver Story HD Review

ZTE’s involvement as a new Windows Phone OEM – alongside manufacturers Acer and Fujitsu, Microsoft announced this week – is expected to see handset prices driven down. The company is known for its budget-priced smartphones, usually sold as rebadged devices carrying carrier branding.

Throwing Huawei into the mixture would likely accelerate that process, though Nokia’s presence as Microsoft’s most significant partner should also have a considerable affect on Windows Phone’s presence in more emerging markets. A gradual loosening of minimum specifications will assist in that; Microsoft’s first batch of Windows Phone 7 handsets were held to a strict hardware pattern, something which not only cut down on individuality but meant prices were reasonably high.

As for what that new software will get you, there’ll be threaded messaging that pulls in not only linked email conversations but SMS and Windows Live Messenger in the same thread, Groups – which can be linked to Live Tiles on the homescreen – and Twitter and LinkedIn support baked in at the OS level. Facial-recognition software will be used to streamline identifying people in photos for easier tagging on social networks like Facebook.

There’s also native speech-to-text and, conversely, text-to-speech, along with inclusion of apps in search results for individual Hubs. The Live Tiles themselves will be “more dynamic” and show more information, and there’s multitasking support (which we’re guessing will be further detailed at the event itself). The updated Internet Explorer 9 will have access to the phone, location and camera, as well as apps, to better tie in web-based content with local content. It’ll also get HTML5 and hardware-acceleration support.

There’s plenty more to be found in the press release below, and of course SlashGear is at the Microsoft event this morning to bring back all the details.

[via WMPowerUser]

Press Release (translated):

Microsoft announces a new version of Windows Phone, Mango

‘Mango’ brings an intelligent and simplified approach to communication, and Internet Applications

Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Microsoft announced today the new version for Windows Phone called Mango that will bring over 500 new features that exceed the user experience of smartphones, communication, and Internet applications. The new version will be freely available to all terminals with Windows Phone and can be downloaded at the beginning of this summer. More details about scheduling updates for the terminal will be announced closer to launch. Also, Windows Phone will be available for new terminals, new partners from the manufacturers.

Andy Lees, President Mobile Communications Business, Microsoft Corp., “seven months ago, we kicked off this mission: to make smart phones smarter and easier to use by users. With Mango, Windows Phone is a big step forward in redefining the way users communicate, use applications and surf the Internet, so with half the effort now to get double results. ”

Communication: connecting and sharing information is easier

Interaction with the smartphone can be complicated by a multitude of applications and accounts disconnected people trying to keep up with all the ways that communicate – from telephones, messages, emails, status updates, tweets, check ins, by tagging and posting photos. To help users cope with the complexity created, update Mango organizes information around a person or group that interacts with and not around application use.

• Threads. You can toggle between messages, chat up, and Windows Live Messenger, all in the same conversation

• Groups. Contact groups Tiles custom Live turns to see the latest statuses and quickly send a message to an email or instant message to the entire group, directly from the Start screen

• Better integration with social networks. Twitter and LinkedIn contacts are integrated into the card and can include up Mango check-in, also have available one nine facial detection software that makes it easy tagging your photos or posting them on the Internet

• Linked inbox. More email accounts in a secure inbox, conversations are organized so you can view the most recent mail

• Hands-free messaging. Built-in speech-to-text and text-to-speech, which allows writing messages and chat hands-free

A more intelligent applications

Windows Phone will change the way users look applications. Today, their usefulness is measured taking into account what can be done with the application, but its promise lies in how it can be integrated directly into the center of the experience with the phone. Besides that you can receive notifications and updates of applications directly on the home screen, Mango will add applications to the search results in Windows Phone Hubs. As a result, a useful application will be available where needed.

• Connect App. By connecting and integrating applications on their search results in Windows Phone Hubs, including Music and Videos and Pictures, applications are visible when and where needed.

• Live Tile’s improved. You can get updated information without requiring applications to be open. Live Tiles are now more dynamic and can store more information.

• Multitasking. Applications can be rotated quickly and at the same time, others may run in the background, while retaining the performance and battery duration

Surfing the Internet beyond the browser

In addition to the inclusion of Internet Explorer, the update will connect the power of the internet Mango to the unique capabilities of the phone, and identify the location, camera and access to applications, to present a new way of browsing the Internet, which is now easier use and more relevant.

• Internet Explorer 9. The power of a PC browser-based IE9 support for HTML5 and support for hardware acceleration

• Recognize local (Local Scout). Providing local results and recommendations for nearby restaurants, shops and suggested activities, present in a user-friendly guide

• Bing Windows Phone. More ways to search the Internet, including Bing Vision, Voice and Music Search, so that decision making is easier

• Quick Cards (Quick Cards). When searching for a product, movie, event or place we provide a summary and relevant applications

Strengthening Ecosystem

Phone Windows ecosystem has increased steadily since the launch of Windows Phone 7 in October last year, with more than 17,000 applications available on the Marketplace, and Windows Terminal Phone available from a number of international partners and Microsoft, Nokia recently announced partnership . Mango will further expand Windows Phone ecosystem through partnerships with Acer, Fujitsu Ltd. and ZTE Corp.. Which were committed to produce devices with Windows Phone sites for various global markets until the end of this year. Moreover, a Beta version of Windows Phone free tools for developers, which will be used to create the next generation of applications and games Mango, will be posted on a public Microsoft site within 24 hours.

More about Mango for developers and a download link are available at: http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/wpdev/archive/2011/05/24/developer-news-beta-mango-tools-available- today.aspx

That first place is looking ever more tenuous, however, according to IDC’s figures. Nokia’s market share is down from 34.7-percent a year ago to 29.2-percent in Q1 2011, with shipment volumes climbing by less than one million units to 108.5m. Samsung too dropped share, down from 20.7-percent to 18.8-percent, as did LG, down from 8.7-percent to 6.6-percent. Only LG, however, actually saw a reduction in volumes shipped, sliding from 27.1m in Q1 2010 to 24.5m in Q1 2011.

That’s the third quarter that LG has seen declining shipments, with IDC suggesting that the company’s smartphones have not yet been able to offset their dwindling featurephone sales. Apple’s growth was helped in no small part by the CDMA iPhone 4 on Verizon.

Press Release:

Worldwide Mobile Phone Market Grew Nearly 20% in the First Quarter; Smartphones and Vendors Outside the Top 5 Keys to Growth, According to IDC

28 Apr 2011
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. April 28, 2011 – The worldwide mobile phone market grew 19.8% year over year in the first quarter of 2011 (1Q11) fueled by high smartphone growth, especially in emerging markets, and gains made by market challengers. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 371.8 million units in 1Q11 compared to 310.5 million units in the first quarter of 2010.

Smartphone growth worldwide, particularly in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), Middle East and Africa (MEA), and Latin America, helped lift the overall market to a new first-quarter high. Increasingly, mobile phone makers and carriers are making smartphones affordable to a wider variety of people, which has helped drive the market to new heights. Smartphone-specific vendors, such as HTC, continue to grow sales at a steady clip as a result of this trend.

“Several notable vendors, including feature phone makers, outpaced the overall market, which contributed to share losses of some top suppliers,” said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. “The growth of companies outside the top 5 vendors – vendors in the ‘Others’ category, such as Micromax, TCL-Alcatel, Huawei, and Research In Motion – shows that the overall market is still very much ripe for share gains.”

“At the same time, feature phones have represented the majority of mobile phone shipments, but still are under tremendous pressure from smartphones,” adds Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Phone Technology and Trends team. “Even popular quick-messaging devices (phones with a QWERTY keyboard), once a bright spot within the feature phone market, appear to be losing steam as smartphones gain popularity. Still, IDC does not expect feature phones to disappear quickly as there is still strong demand across the globe.”

Market Outlook

Nonetheless, IDC expects almost all of the worldwide mobile phone market’s growth to be driven by smartphones throughout the forecast, which goes to 2015. “Increasingly smartphones will drive market growth. This means feature phone makers will either need to become smartphone dependent or consolidate that part of the market,” noted Restivo.

Regional Analysis

The Asia/Pacific market grew thanks in part to strong mobile phone shipments to Greater China despite the seasonally slow quarter. Smartphone shipment growth was exceptional despite some key product launch delays. In Japan, the market underperformed IDC’s forecast due to the impact of the earthquake and tsunami. Japan’s largest mobile operators ordered fewer phones than expected in March.
In Western Europe, Android-based phones and iPhones helped grow the market in the seasonally slow quarter. New devices from HTC, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson sold well in most countries in the high-end tiers. Alcatel, Huawei, and ZTE Android devices helped drive mid-tier segment sales volume. Meanwhile, feature phone shipments receded as more smartphones hit the market. The CEMA markets performed well on a year-over-year basis despite civil unrest in some Gulf countries, such as Egypt, where sales were negatively impacted by the turbulence. Nokia and Research In Motion performed well in the regions overall.
In the United States last quarter, Apple’s iPhone and the LTE-enabled HTC Thunderbolt were two smartphones introduced at Verizon Wireless that helped keep the category front and center of the overall mobile phone market. Feature phones, including once popular quick messaging devices, continued to lose ground. Similarly, in Canada, the market grew thanks to smartphones. BlackBerry, iPhone, and Android devices were best sellers.
The Latin America market growth continued last quarter as the gap between smartphones and feature phones narrowed. Smartphone shipments were aided by carriers, who are moving customers to 3G networks while vendors shipped more touchscreen and QWERTY models. New Android and Windows Phone devices were launched too, which helped drive smartphone growth. The average selling prices also declined in the region, thanks to aggressive expansion by Chinese vendors.
Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors

Nokia laid out its transformation strategy during the quarter, one that will embrace Windows Phone as its primary smartphone operating system, introduce further enhancements to its mobile phones, and invest in future disruptions to the mobile phone market. Until that strategy is fully realized, the company will rely on its current platforms to compete in the market. Its Symbian-powered smartphones continued to find a warm reception, and the company introduced the E6 and X7, both running on the new Symbian Anna software. In mobile phones, Nokia ramped up shipments of its C3 and X201 from last year and announced a dual-SIM phone with the C2. What remains to be seen is how quickly Nokia will introduce new phones as competition intensifies.

Samsung having posted a record Q1 shipment volume, further closed the gap against market leader Nokia and extended its lead ahead of third place vendor LG Electronics. Although feature phones comprised the majority of its shipments, smartphones represented a greater share from a year ago, nearly a fifth of its total volumes. Samsung appears well poised to reach its goal of 50 million smartphones shipped this year, as new models, including the Galaxy S II, 4G smartphones, and more mass-market smartphones are expected to reach the market later on.

LG unit shipments declined on a year-over-year basis for the third straight quarter. The phone shipment drop off was most noticeable in Europe and the CIS countries where shipments on a combined basis declined. The company hopes to deliver a better second quarter performance with the introduction of products such as the Revolution, which will run on the LTE network of Verizon Wireless, and the Big. The question for LG will be whether feature phone declines in emerging and other markets can be offset by smartphone gains in future.

Apple maintained its number 4 spot on IDC’s Top 5 list thanks to a record quarter for unit shipments. The company posted the highest growth rate of the worldwide leaders. Apple’s results were buoyed by strong sales on Verizon Wireless and additional carrier deals; the company is now on 186 carriers operating in 90 countries. The iPhone once again sold particularly well in developed economic regions of the world, such as North America and Western Europe.

ZTE held on to the number 5 slot in the rankings thanks to strong year-over-year growth in countries and regions where it does particularly well, such as China and Latin America. ZTE primarily sells low-cost feature phones but the company is making a concerted effort to ship more smartphones, which are based on the Android operating system, this year. The company has said it will try to create brand awareness and sell more devices in developed markets, such as the U.S., this year.

ZTE is demanding that Huawei stop its infringement, pay compensation and “takes up the legal responsibilities” involved, which we’re presuming means paying for all the lawyers currently rubbing their hands together with glee. It seems this is only the first in a number of suits, too; ZTE says there will be “a series of legal actions taken globally to protect ZTE’s rights on intellectual properties.”

As has become the usual, we’re expecting this will all end up with cross-licensing agreements of just the sort that Huawei said yesterday that it had demanded from ZTE.

Press Release:

ZTE Files Lawsuit Against Huawei Technologies for Patent Infringement

29 April 2011, Shenzhen, China — ZTE Corporation (ZTE) today filed a lawsuit against Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. for patent infringement over its fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution, or LTE, cellular wireless technologies in China.

In the lawsuit, ZTE requests that Huawei stops its violation, pays compensation to ZTE and takes up the legal responsibilities caused by the infringement. There will also be a series of legal actions taken globally to protect ZTE’s rights on intellectual properties, ensuring its legitimate rights and interests will not be compromised.

ZTE believes the rapid and orderly development of the global telecom industry with innovation is closely related to ZTE’s active involvement and collaboration with many other telecommunication corporations around the world.

ZTE also works with international standard organizations including ITU, 3GPP and 3GPP2 to build unified and interoperable communications networks. ZTE is in a leading position and has made significant contributions to the international standard organizations.

Meanwhile, ZTE has been strengthening its patent technologies in 2G, 3G and 4G. ZTE’s strength in intellectual property rights — particularly in 3G and 4G technologies — and high-quality patented global deployments, are demonstrated by its technological competitive advantages and market development. In Q1 2011, the number of ZTE’s applications for PCT patents ranked first in the world.

ZTE believes that patent competition should not be a source of competition between companies. ZTE respects the intellectual property rights of other companies, but it will not stop protecting its own intellectual property rights.

According to Huawei’s chief legal officer, Dr. Song Liuping, the company has issued several cease & desist letters, which ZTE ignored. Nonetheless, it would prefer to license the technology rather than drag it through the courts. “Our objective is to stop the illegal use of Huawei’s intellectual property” Liuping suggests, “and resolve this dispute through negotiation so that our technology is used in a lawful manner.”

Both companies have been ascending stars in the mobile device industry, providing low-cost data cards, USB modems, mobile hotspots and cellphones and smartphones to carriers and other manufacturers for rebranding. ZTE pushed Apple from its position in the top five global phone rankings in Q4 2010.

In response to Huawei’s suits, ZTE has given us the following statement:

“ZTE Corporation is astonished that Huawei Technologies has taken these legal actions. As a company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, ZTE respects and adheres to international intellectual property laws and regulations without reservation, and absolutely rejects that there has been any patent and trademark infringement. ZTE is always willing to negotiate on issues in good faith, but will definitely take vigorous legal action in situations like this to protect its interests and those of its customers worldwide.”

Press Release:

Huawei Moves to Protect its Patent and Trademarks with Legal Action in Europe

[Shenzhen, 28 April 2011] Huawei today filed lawsuits in Germany, France, and Hungary against ZTE Corporation (ZTE) for patent and trade mark infringement. The lawsuits were filed on the basis that ZTE is infringing a series of Huawei’s patents relating to data card and LTE (Long Term Evolution) technologies and illegally used a Huawei-registered trademark on some of its data card products.

Huawei’s Chief Legal Officer, Dr. Song Liuping said, “Huawei was compelled to initiate this action in order to protect our innovations and registered intellectual property in Europe. Our objective is to stop the illegal use of Huawei’s intellectual property and resolve this dispute through negotiation so that our technology is used in a lawful manner.”

These lawsuits were commenced after ZTE failed to respond to cease and desist letters requiring the company to stop carrying out the infringing acts that are the basis for these proceedings. Huawei had also actively invited ZTE on numerous occasions to enter into cross-patent licensing negotiations but was equally unsuccessful. As Huawei has neither received any substantive response nor a commitment from ZTE to stop its infringements, the company has had no alternative but to use legal means to protect its legal interests by requesting that the courts prohibit ZTE’s continued infringements of Huawei’s trade mark and patent rights.

Huawei has great respect for the rights of intellectual property holders and is equally committed to the protection of its own innovations and intellectual property. The company has signed a series of cross-license agreements with major telecoms vendors and other intellectual property rights holders. In 2010, Huawei paid US$222 million in patent licensing fees to obtain the legal right to use patents and technologies of other leading companies in the industry. Huawei also invests a considerable portion of its annual revenues in research and development. Its R&D expenditure in 2010 alone was RMB 16.556 billion (USD 2.5 billion).

“Intellectual property is among Huawei’s most valuable assets. That is why we feel a responsibility to our customers and to our shareholders to do everything possible to protect these assets in any legal jurisdiction worldwide. Where violations are taking place, we will do whatever is required to ensure that the use of Huawei’s intellectual property by any company is based on internationally accepted protocols and practices,” Dr. Song said.

Intel has been trying to break into the smartphone industry without much success, lagging far behind rivals, and still too dependent than they’d prefer on the personal computer market. Currently there are no phones on sale that use Intel processors. The surprise move of Nokia jumping ship from Intel to Microsoft back in February also didn’t help in the company’s efforts to make headway into smartphones.

When asked about working with ZTE, a spokeswoman for Intel Claudine Mangano declined to comment. “In terms of the overall market, we recognize that we have some work to do, but we’re patient and we’re committed to the business,” Mangano said. “We have the right elements to be successful. We are working on a number of engagements, but are not ready to talk about them.”

[via Bloomberg]

The company not only produces low-cost handsets for developing markets – increasingly an area of Microsoft’s focus with its new partners Nokia – but OEM devices rebadged by carriers. Several of ZTE’s Android smartphones have proved budget best-sellers, and the company brought several new models along to MWC 2011 last month.

“We have active R&D plans on the whole Windows Phone 7 platform product” Wu Sa, ZTE UK director of mobile device operations confirmed, but went on to say that “wether we expedite that process will be driven by the market demand. … The usability of this platform in terms of its user-friendliness and the networks in terms of bringing the product to the market”. The company apparently hopes to establish its own brand in the same manner that HTC did in recent years.

It’s well put together, too, and the display – though one big, glossy, fingerprint magnet – is bright and with decent viewing angles. Three hardware buttons are under the display, for home, back and menu, while the UI itself is pure Gingerbread with no unnecessary modifications. Unfortunately it seems ZTE’s build isn’t quite up to release status yet; we saw several force-close messages in our time with the device.

As always, though, pricing will win the day here, and the Skate 4.3′s success will depend on how good a deal ZTE can cut with the carriers. Still, with the Orange San Francisco – rated as one of the best low-cost Android devices around – aka the ZTE Blaze finding favor, there’s every possibility that a rebranded ZTE Skate 4.3 could be taking on more expensive Android rivals sometime soon.

Overall, IDC reckons the global mobile phone market grew 17.9-percent in the last quarter of 2010, exceeding 401m units of shipped devices. Altogether that makes 1.39bn shipments in 2010 as a whole, an 18.5-percent increase over 2009. ZTE’s success – the first time in IDC’s rankings that the company has broken into the top five – is put down to its low-cost portfolio of feature phones and smartphones, increasingly popular as developing users upgrade to affordable data-capable devices.

Samsung’s success echoes the company’s financial results, published earlier today, in which the company announced over 80m devices sold in Q4 2010. IDC’s smartphone-specific research is due to be published next week.

Press Release:

Mobile Phone Market Grows 17.9% in Fourth Quarter, According to IDC

27 Jan 2011

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. Jan. 27, 2010 – The worldwide mobile phone market grew 17.9% in the fourth quarter of 2010 (4Q10), a new quarterly high driven by smartphones. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 401.4 million units in 4Q10 compared to 340.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2009. Vendors shipped a total of 1.39 billion units on a cumulative worldwide basis in 2010, up 18.5% from the 1.17 billion units shipped in 2009.

The strong quarterly and annual growth comes after a weak 2009, which saw the market decline by 1.6%. A stronger economy and a wider array of increasingly affordable smartphones helped lift the market to its highest annual growth rate since 2006 when it grew 22.6%.

“The mobile phone market has the wind behind its sails,” said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. “Mobile phone users are eager to swap out older devices for ones that handle data as well as voice, which is driving growth and replacement cycles.”

It’s not just smartphone-focused suppliers that capitalized on the mobile phone market’s renewed growth last year. ZTE, a company that sells primarily lower-cost feature phones in emerging markets, moved into the number 4 position worldwide in 4Q10. It is the first quarter the Chinese handset maker finished among IDC’s Top 5 vendors.

“Change-up among the number four and five vendors could be a regular occurrence this year,” added Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. “Motorola, Research In Motion, and Sony Ericsson, all vendors with a tight focus on the fast-growing smartphone market who had ranked among the top five worldwide vendors during 2010 are well within striking distance to move back into the top five list.”

Market Outlook

IDC believes the worldwide mobile phone market will be driven largely by smartphone growth through the end of 2014. “Feature phone users looking to do more with their devices will flock to smartphones in the years to come,” noted Restivo. “This trend will help drive smartphone sub-market to grow 43.7% year over year in 2011.”

Regional Analysis

The Asia/Pacific mobile phone landscape was driven by low-cost and high-end devices in 4Q10. Domestic brands in India like G-Five, Micromax, and Karbonn grew with aggressive advertising and branding activities for entry-level phones, while ZTE and Huawei worked closely with carriers to push low-cost Android smartphones in China. High-end smartphones, however, were equally well-received, resulting in higher shipments from Apple, Samsung, and HTC in 4Q10. Korea had the biggest smartphone appetite accounting for two-thirds of phones shipped in 4Q10, up from one-eighth a year ago.

In Western Europe, carrier smartphone promotions motivated more users to scrap their feature phones, resulting in strong smartphone sales. The iPhone 4, HTC Desire, Nokia N8, Samsung Galaxy S, and Blackberry 8520, which were among the region’s top sellers, contributed to the overall market’s growth. Consequently, the feature phones experienced their sharpest decline ever. In CEMA, quarterly volumes breached the 70 million unit threshold for the first time, marked by an influx of Chinese and unbranded handsets. Meanwhile, smartphones experienced brisk growth due to falling prices and more Android-powered devices.

The United States mobile phone market closed out the year with more vendors becoming more active in this space. Market leaders RIM and Apple maintained a healthy lead, while newcomers Dell, Huawei, Kyocera, and Sanyo launched their first smartphones to the U.S. market. In addition, 4G took another step forward with the commercial launch of Verizon Wireless’ LTE network. Similarly, in Canada, the focus was on smartphones. Android-powered devices from multiple players, along with incumbent vendors RIM and Apple, pushed shipment volumes to a new record level.

In Latin America, sustained user interest in smartphones drove the market, resulting in strong results for Nokia, RIM, and Samsung as well as relative newcomer Huawei. Smartphones, as well as QWERTY-enabled feature phones, helped boost social networking and messaging, two fast-growing trends in the market. Finally, Alcatel and ZTE once again thrived in the inexpensive entry-level device market.

Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors

Nokia overall unit volume slipped 2.4% in the fourth quarter, which the vendor attributed to the “intense competitive” environment and component shortages. The result was lower feature phone shipments. The company did, however, grow smartphone volume by 38% compared to the same prior-year quarter. Nokia launched the C7 and the C6-01 touchscreen smartphones as well as the C3 combination touchscreen & QWERTY device in the fourth quarter. Still, smartphone ASPs dropped 16% on a year-over-year basis.

Samsung reached a new milestone in 4Q10, pushing through the 80 million unit threshold for the first time in the company’s history and improving its profit margins for the second straight quarter. Driving shipment volumes was the continued success of its Galaxy S smartphones, of which the company sold nearly ten million units worldwide for the year. Similarly, Samsung’s mass-market and touch-screen phones earned a strong following in emerging markets.

LG crossed the 30 million unit mark for the quarter, due in part to the success of Optimus One smartphone sales across multiple regions. LG’s smartphone strategy is paying off; the company sold more than a million units in the first month of availability, and newer versions (Optimus 2X, Optimus Black) are expected later this year. Meanwhile, LG’s feature phones comprised the majority of shipments, but an aging portfolio and lower prices within emerging markets left the company vulnerable to the competition.

ZTE finished the quarter in the number four position with shipments steadily spreading from its home country of China to developing regions such as Africa and Latin America. ZTE has also recently made inroads in developed markets such as Western Europe and the U.S. as well as Japan. While most of its shipments have historically concentrated on entry-level and mid-range devices, some of its recent success is directly attributable to its rapidly expanding smartphone line, such as the Android-based Blade and Racer devices. Meanwhile, its S- and C-series entry-level feature phones provided additional competition within emerging markets.

Apple The iPhone maker slipped to the number 5 position despite a record quarter for unit shipments and the departure soon thereafter of CEO Steve Jobs on medical leave. It was the company’s second straight quarter on IDC’s Top 5 list. The iPhone sold particularly well in developed regions of the world, such as North America and Western Europe. Apple, which said it could have sold more iPhones last quarter had it been able to make more, is set to introduce the touchscreen device on Verizon next month.

Right from the start, the Double has an eye-catching design. Especially with that lime green middle hinge. And then you notice the solar cells that stretch across the length of the device. That hinge, with its green tint, is a 360-degree hinge, which will allow the device to flip back and forth. And thanks to the solar cells on the face, there’s a good chance that you won’t actually run out of power throughout the day — as long as the sun’s up, and feeding your phone the energy that it needs.

Other features include a 3.2-inch LCD display, with touch controls. There’s a transparent display that’s been thrown in too, so that when you get notifications, that’s how they’re displayed. Just like the self-sterilizing door handle that also won a Red Dot Concept Design award, the Double smartphone from ZTE Corporation is a design we’d love to see actually make it into the real world.

[via Yanko Design]

The MiFi was first announced back in late 2008, as an easy way to share a single 3G data connection with up to five WiFi clients. It went on to inspire a number of rival devices, including 4G variants. Most recently, AT&T announced a version of Novatel’s unit that went on sale last month.

Press Release:

Novatel Wireless Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Franklin Wireless and ZTE

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 10, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Novatel Wireless, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVTL), a provider of wireless broadband access solutions, today announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Franklin Wireless Corp., ZTE Corp. and ZTE(USA), Inc. for infringing on five Novatel Wireless’ patents related to key architecture and functionality of the MiFi® family of Intelligent Mobile Hotspots. The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.

“Novatel Wireless invented the MiFi Intelligent Mobile Hotspot and with that created a whole new product category in the wireless ecosystem,” said Peter Leparulo, Chairman and CEO of Novatel Wireless. “We’re confident that we will continue to lead the market, but competitors need to rely on their own inventions rather than infringe on ours,” Leparulo continued.

Novatel Wireless holds numerous U.S. and international key patents and patent applications around elements of the MiFi Mobile Intelligent Hotspot family of products, a new product category invented by Novatel Wireless.

Since its introduction, Novatel Wireless’ MiFi branded products have commercially launched with 25 operators worldwide and have received almost every major industry accolade for innovation.

Video demo after the cut

Despite the compact chassis – just 4.7 x 3.3 x 0.5 inches – the V7 packs in GPS, 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth, along with an SD card slot and microUSB port.  There’s also a 3.2-megapixel camera and a 3.5mm headphone socket.

Unfortunately there’s no sign of a price or a release date, which is disappointing as this actually looks quite decent.

Neither HTC nor Lenovo would comment on the record, and Palm are yet to respond.  While an HTC acquisition was a popular possibility among the tech community – the company have been responsible for some of the more alluring smartphones of recent months – some analysts say they were right to be wary.  ”It’s a good thing that HTC is dropping it because Palm has been losing money for a while now,” said Macquarie Securities analyst Lu Chialin, ”and when you look at the two companies, they share such a similar profile.”

Both Huawei and ZTE had also been tipped as potentially considering a Palm acquisition, but were later discounted.  A Huawei source apparently claimed that talks with Palm “had stalled”, while ZTE “had not been approached for a deal.”  Meanwhile Palm are pushing ahead with their own webOS roadmap, telling SlashGear earlier in the month that they would consider a licensing deal for the innovative platform.

Dell is a third name mentioned in among the potential suitors, though the company’s spokespersons – like those of Lenovo and HTC – have declined to comment.  There’s talk that more likely possibilities include Huawei and ZTE, both lesser known telecoms hardware firms but who would be able to use webOS to better differentiate their handsets.

Palm themselves are saying nothing, but it’s perhaps telling that their stock has seen its most significant surge of recent months coincide with rumors of a sale.  Analysts expect the beleaguered company to spend around $80m per quarter for at least the next 15 months, if they continue to go it alone.  We’ve always maintained that webOS is a great platform just searching for the hardware it deserves, so if one of those companies – and we admit, we’re looking at HTC here – can step up and deliver that, we think there’s life in the OS yet.

As of now, the system is only compatible with Windows systems, and has a USB 2.0 connector that swivels out when needed, and can be hidden away when not in use.  To help users connect easily, it comes with VZAccess Manager software, which also allows for automatic installation of the device on the system.  Unfortunately, customers will need to activate global network access on their Verizon wireless service, before they will be able to use the mobile broadband around the world.

The AD3700 is scheduled to reach stores on August 14th, and cost $80 after a $50 mail-in rebate.  The rebate will come in a rebate debit card, which is usual for the wireless carriers.  You’ll need to tether yourself to a new two-year contract to  get this deal, but if you plan on going around the world and you’re under the Big Red’s checkmark, this might be the best way to do that.

[Thanks, David]

As with other XOHM hardware, the TU25 is capable of average downlink speeds of 2-4 Mbps and uplink rates of 1-2 Mbps.  The TU25 measures 85 x 35 x 14.4mm and weighs 57g.

No word on pricing or availability as yet, and Sprint is being equally coy with their XOHM data pricing details.  SlashGear is in Baltimore for the official XOHM launch today, so we’ll let you know figures as soon as we hear them.

Press Release:

ZTE Achieves XOHM Certification for WiMAX Modem

Only USB Modem Available for Launch of XOHM’s Commercial WiMAX Service in Baltimore

ZTE USA, a subsidiary of ZTE Corporation, a leading global telecommunications equipment and network solutions provider, today announced that Sprint’s XOHMTM WiMAX business unit has certified its TU25 USB modem after extensive evaluation in the XOHM Herndon, Va. lab environment. The USB modem is the first certified for use with XOHM’s Mobile WiMAX service, the company’s next-generation broadband service now commercially available in Baltimore and planned elsewhere.

WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a wireless internet technology designed to provide broadband connections over large areas – even in challenging city environments. ZTE’s TU25 USB Modem provides XOHM’s subscribers with reliable, high speed broadband wireless connection for laptops and desktop computers with a USB port.

XOHM’s certification of the ZTE TU25 USB Modem signifies the product’s interoperability with other elements of the WiMAX network including back-office provisioning and customer relationship management systems and infrastructure. In addition to the XOHM certification, ZTE’s modem has also achieved Microsoft’s WQHL certification, USB Forum certification and FCC certification, marking it ready for commercial usage.

“With our newly achieved certification, consumers and enterprises everywhere are one step closer to realizing the promise of WiMAX technology which we see as the next-generation of broadband wireless access,” said Dr. George Sun, CEO, ZTE USA. “The certification of our USB modem proves that XOHM has chosen a high quality and reliable product that is a key component of the Baltimore launch, as well as future service roll-outs. We are proud to be working hand-in-hand with XOHM and its other vendor partners to help pioneer WiMAX in the United States.”

XOHM launched its first commercial service in the Baltimore area on September 29th. ZTE’s USB modem is the only USB modem presently certified for use. ZTE worked closely with XOHM to complete the testing and certification in the XOHM ND-ADE lab.

“We know that part of our commercial success relies on our ability to offer our subscribers technologically advanced equipment that will enable them to seamlessly harness the power of our WiMAX service,” said Bin Shen, VP Product Management and Partnership Development for XOHM. “After putting ZTE’s USB modem through rigorous testing, we are confident to offer our customers this product as part of their service equipment. We look forward to working with ZTE as we launch other cities later this year and next.”