The choice of Android Gingerbread handsets just grew by one, courtesy of the Sony Ericsson MT15i and Russia’s premier mobile reviewer, Eldar Murtazin, who has put it through his rigorous preview cycle. The typically curmudgeonly gent was pleasantly surprised by SE’s latest (and entirely unofficial) handset, claiming that the company “has developed and is about to launch truly cutting edge devices and … has almost nothing to fear in the hardware department as well.” He has praise for the above-average front-facing cam, the endurance offered by the 1500mAh battery, and the 854 x 480 res on the Reality Display — though he does warn that Sony’s Bravia Engine is only used when consuming multimedia and therefore has limited impact on improving output quality.

Internally, you’re looking at 512MB of RAM and a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM7630 with Adreno 205 graphics, all of which resulted in perfectly smooth, lag-free operation. In spite of its many pluses, Eldar describes the MT15i as a phone targeting the mid-range, which invites all sorts of delicious pricing speculation, though we’re not entirely sure we agree with his postulation that this handset will be called the Vivaz 2. The Xperia branding up front and the replacement of Symbian with Android would collectively suggest it’ll bear an altogether new name when it’s unveiled — which we’ll go ahead and presume is going to happen at MWC next month.

Sony Ericsson MT15i / Vivaz 2 ensnared by Eldar Murtazin, given glowing preview originally appeared on Mobile Phone Street on Thu, 20 Jan 2011 02:31:00 EST. .

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by niallkennedy

Motorola MILESTONE XT720 GSM Quadband Unlocked Cell Phone with 8MP Camera and gps navigation–International Version with Warranty (Blue/Silver)

• Android 2.1
• Touchscreen
• 8mp camera
• Gps
• Wifi

The Motorola MILESTONE XT720 features an 8MP camera with Xenon flash and geo-tagging, high-definition experience and enhanced media and mobile internet capabilities, all packaged in a slim design and Android 2.1 software.

List Price: $ 499.00

Price: $ 349.00

Do you recognize this handset? Neither do we, and that’s kind of the point. We’re looking at a never-before seen Sony Ericsson smartphone running Android — neither the Anzu / X12 nor the PlayStation Phone — and if we’re not terribly mistaken, that’s the company’s translucent Timescape UI on top. Oh, and it seems to be attached to Vodafone Germany, for whatever that’s worth. What’s more, the picture itself only tells half the story, as the other half is where it came from — a Picasa account filled to the brim with 8 megapixel test shots from a pair of camera phones. It’s hard to say whether either the Sony Ericsson “LT15i” or the “MT15i” are the device we’re actually looking at here, but the brethren have now fired off over 150 images testing out these camera modules. Rumor has it that both are running Gingerbread and that this one’s internal codename is “Hallon,” but honestly we’re more interested in that huge camera module on the front. HD video chat, perhaps? Find a full-frontal picture after the break, and plenty more at our source links.

[Thanks, Brenton]

Continue reading Sony Ericsson mystery handset leaks out, provides juicy rumor material

Sony Ericsson mystery handset leaks out, provides juicy rumor material originally appeared on Mobile Phone Street on Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:51:00 EST. .

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by Shekhar_Sahu

Is there an android app that changes the appearance of an incoming call? I have the samsung intercept, and I don’t like the way an incoming call looks. Its too plain and when I assign an personal caller ID to a contact, the picture is too small.
By the way, I don’t get the little AndroidBot that usually pops up on android devices. Its the outline of a person and its gray.

HTC A8181 Desire Unlocked Quad-Band GSM Phone with Android OS, HTC Sense UI, 5 MP Camera, Wi-Fi and gps navigation–International Version with Warranty (Brown)

• This unlocked cell phone is compatible with GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile. Not all carrier features may be supported.
• Quad-Band Unlocked GSM cell phone compatible with 850/900/1800/1900 GSM and 900/2100 3G frequencies plus GPRS/EDGE capabilities
• Camera: 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, LED flash; Display: 3.7 inches, 480 x 800 pixels; Multi-touch input method
• Platform: Android OS, v2.1 (Eclair); CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250 1 GHz processor; Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Up to 6 hours of talk time, up to 340 hours of standby time.

HTC Desire delivers intense brilliance, sharp contrast, and true colors on the expansive 3.7-inch AMOLED display. The 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor makes the phone incredibly responsive as you multitask from app to app without skipping a beat, while the instinctive HTC Sense experience lets you wield the power of the HTC Desire with the greatest of ease. With the HTC Desire, it?s all about your information, your entertainment, your multimedia, your way. A multitude of HTC Sense widgets mak

List Price: $ 619.99

Price: $ 479.00

We can’t get enough of Sony Ericsson’s PlayStation Phone (also known as Zeus Z1), and we’re guessing neither can you. We were just sent a new video of the device in action, only now it’s running Qualcomm’s Neocore benchmark app. As you can see, the device managed 24.4 frames per second on average. That doesn’t seem like much — our Nexus S, for example, just pulled off 55.6fps — but bear in mind, this isn’t the final software (or hardware probably), so there’s no conclusions at all to draw from this benchmark right now. Just think of it as another nice view of the phone as we inch closer to a finish line we still can’t make out over the horizon. Sorry, no slide-out gamepad, but you saw that last week — don’t be greedy. Video after the break.

Continue reading Exclusive: PlayStation Phone ‘Zeus Z1′ prototype benchmarked on video

Exclusive: PlayStation Phone ‘Zeus Z1′ prototype benchmarked on video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 14:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android 2.3 definitely supports game controls, may (or may not) be PlayStation-related originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Dec 2010 19:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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And finally, here it is! Android 2.3 — perhaps better known as Gingerbread — is now official, bringing a host of tweaks that should get the Android faithful pretty stoked. Most notably, the new build is being called out as significantly better for game development, tying in nicely with all these Sony Ericsson rumors we’ve been hearing as of late. Also on deck is tightly-integrated VoIP support, video calling support via a front camera, better cut-and-paste, NFC integration, gyroscope support for more accurate orientation data, an improved download manager, a redesigned keyboard with multitouch support, and an integrated task manager. Follow the break for the platform’s introductory video.

Continue reading Android 2.3 SDK revealed, Gingerbread improvements called out

Android 2.3 SDK revealed, Gingerbread improvements called out originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Dec 2010 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like the Motorola i1 Android set (not pictured above) will stand as the highest-end Nextel phone ever — Sprint just announced that it’s phasing out the iDEN network sometime in 2013 as it begins a new four to five billion dollar network enhancement project called “Network Vision.” We’ve expected this for a while — the Sprint / Nextel merger has been beset by subscriber losses and rumors of a breakup for years now — but this is the first time we’ve gotten a date. Sprint’s rolling out push-to-talk on its own network to support its 10.6 million Nextel customers, but we don’t have a schedule for that yet. Sprint’s also announcing vendors for Network Vision: Alcatel-Lucent, Samsung, and Ericsson will each handle a region and be tasked with expanding and fortifying Sprint’s existing 1900MHz 3G network while buying 800MHz, 1900MHz, and 2.5GHz spectrum for future use. Interestingly, Sprint’s definitely hedging its WiMAX bets a little — it can upgrade its new gear to LTE with swapping in a baseband card and issuing a software patch, which certainly gives the company some 4G flexibility should Clearwire not pull things together. We’ll see what happens — the underdog’s making some moves.

Sprint phasing out Nextel’s iDEN network, selects vendors for $5b network upgrade project originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Dec 2010 13:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At this point, does it really surprise anyone that a new phone is leaking by way of a photo sharing site? We totally understand the conundrum: when you’re logged into a phone that you’re testing and you’re taking pictures, it’s so easy to upload ‘em. And hey, you need to test the sharing functionality at some point anyway, right? At any rate, we love it, so we’re not going to complain that a few photos with Sony Ericsson Zeus clearly called out in the EXIF data have started showing up on Picasa. The four appropriately-labeled pictures all clock in at 5 megapixels, so we hope you weren’t expecting an N8-beating resolution here… but then again, when you’re heads-down in PlayStation-branded games for hours on end, do you really have time to be taking decent pictures anyway?

Sony Ericsson’s Zeus Z1 PlayStation phone contributes sample shots to Picasa originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 21:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s quite fitting for a device that’s purportedly codenamed Zeus to make its first video appearance somewhere in the wilds of Greece. What we have here is the apparent full motion debut of Sony Ericsson’s big crossover device, the PlayStation Phone, one half portable gaming console, one half Android smartphone. Unfortunately, we never see it flexing out its slider to reveal that delicious control pad, but judging from its curves and little design details, it does indeed look to be the real deal. Techblog.gr reports that it’s dubbed the Sony Ericsson Z1 and comes with Gingerbread on board — something that meshes well with earlier indications that some Zeus devices in the wild are already running Android 2.3 (and above) — while the screen is a 4-inch panel that apparently offers great touchscreen responsiveness. See the mythical creature for yourself after the break.

Continue reading PlayStation Phone espied in Greece, said to have Gingerbread and 4-inch screen (video)

PlayStation Phone espied in Greece, said to have Gingerbread and 4-inch screen (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 06:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC job listing hints at an E Ink / 3D-filled future, new North Carolina facility originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 01:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s an extra bonus for those of you who snapped up an unlocked Xperia X8 on a frosty Friday morn — Sony Ericsson is starting to push Android 2.1 to the handset right now. Thirty-two tasty batches of Eclair are already in the oven, and you can easily check to see if you’re a likely candidate for upgrade by scanning the back of your phone. If your eight-digit “SI-number” (e.g. 1242-4859) matches any of those on the list at our source link, your 720p video recording mode, enhanced social networking integration and five homescreens are on the way. Just don’t necessarily expect to see them anytime soon on AT&T.

Android 2.1 rolling out to Sony Ericcson Xperia X8, depending on product code originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Nov 2010 13:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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