Motorola getting tougher with Defy+ JCB Edition 3.7-inch Android handset

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  • January 18, 2012 at 5:43 pm

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Motorola Defy+ JCB edition back and front

We really liked the Motorola Defy+ when we reviewed it because it offers some degree of ruggedization without being ugly or unwieldy. It’s also good value for money, with around £240 ($370) (contract free) buying you an Android handset with a 3.7-inch Gorilla Glass LCD 854×480 (265ppi) display, 1GHz single-core TI OMAP3620 SoC, 512MB of RAM, 2GB of built-in storage and a 5-megapixel rear camera.

Motorola hot on the heals of the success of the Defy+ has introduced the Defy+ JCB Edition. Those unfamiliar with JCB, it’s a construction equipment and heavy machinery manufacturer. Compared to the standard Defy+, the JCB edition wraps the device with a visco-elastic protective sleeve for a stronger exterior, which should handle drops and pressure better. Apparently the skin automatically stiffens on impact and remains flexible in normal use. The special edition also includes a number of apps targeted to builders, engineers and DIY enthusiasts. The apps include a theodolite, spirit level, torch and decibel meter.
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Samsung promises full day battery life for 2012 smartphones; hallelujah!

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  • January 17, 2012 at 1:56 pm

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus Android 4.0 battery indicator close-up

We’re glad that Samsung is finally on the same page as us. The Korean giant has committed to improving the battery of its handsets during 2012 and has set a goal that smartphones released during 2012 should last at least a whole day under moderate use — though that can be interpreted in many ways.

Battery life is an issue we’ve covered again and again here at Stuff-Review. The short version is that devices now pack big screens and fast processors which quickly eat up battery, while the opposing trend of making devices super-thin means that the included battery is always too small. It’s sort of sadistic to create devices with big beautiful screens and then force people to keep use to a minimum and brightness down to save on battery.
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Rumor: Samsung Galaxy Note could be heading to Verizon and Sprint as the Galaxy Journal

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  • January 16, 2012 at 3:36 pm

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Samsung Galaxy Note, taking notes

Take this with a grain of salt: an LA industry analyst is claiming that Samsung’s oversized smartphone will be heading to Verizon and Sprint, probably under the name Galaxy Journal. The 5.3-inch stylus-friendly Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone/tablet finally made it to North American shores last week with a big appearance at CES. The device is now confirmed to be released soon on AT&T, though no information was given on availability on other carriers.

The Galaxy Note is currently GSM only, so an initial AT&T release makes sense, but a CDMA/LTE version could be in the works so that the device can be launched on both Verizon and Sprint. Despite being the largest smartphone to date, Samsung had shipped over one million Galaxy Note units last year.

The Galaxy Note has 5.3-inch Super AMOLED 720p HD screen with a dual-core 1.4GHz Samsung Exynos processor powered by a decently sized 2,500mAh battery. The device does indeed challenge anyone’s perception of a phone, it is a really big device weighing 178g (6.3 oz). To convert people to believers, Samsung has included a Wacom-designed pressure sensitive S Pen stylus, an 8-megapixel rear camera, 2-megapixel front and other nice features like GLONASS support.
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Fujitsu planning to enter the US smartphone market with ‘special’ devices

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  • January 16, 2012 at 8:02 am

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Fujitsu Arrows F-07D views

It was about time for major Japanese phone manufacturers to start looking outside their home market. As I’ve mentioned in a previous article, except from Sony, all other Japanese giants have been absent from the world market for some time. In the past, the big stumbling block was software — it was very hard for Japanese companies to design and market handsets specifically for overseas markets, as their existing line of phones catered to the idiosyncrasies of their local market. With the advent of Android however, there was no longer any excuse, as they could finally focus on hardware, something they can do very well, and simply use stock Android on top.

Thing is, Japanese companies are now being more or less forced to expand. While in the past Japan had been a very closed market, other international players are now coming in dynamically and eroding the hold that local companies had. The iPhone specifically has been killing on sales with the Samsung Galaxy S II trailing far behind.
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The Motorola Droid Razr Maxx is a smartphone with staying power, coming January 26

News

  • January 13, 2012 at 7:20 pm

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Motorola Droid Razr Maxx - all views

We like the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx, no, we really like the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx for one specific reason, it comes with an immense 3,300mAh battery and it remains ‘razr’ thin. As we saw when we initially covered the Razr Maxx, the smartphone is pretty much the same as the standard Droid Razr, with a bigger battery.

Thanks to Motorola, we now know that it’s coming on January 26th on Verizon for $299 with a two-year contract. To recap, you get a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED qHD (540 x 960) display, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 8-megapixel rear camera, 1.3-megapixel front camera, 16 GB internal storage with an additional 16 GB microSD card pre-installed, it has Kevlar backing and splash-proof coating. The 3,300mAh battery give the Razr Maxx over 21 hours of talk time, and makes us grin in bliss. The extra battery adds a bit of girth to the device, the original Razr measures 7mm thick, the Razr Maxx is still just 8.9mm.
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Sony Xperia S Android handset gets UK pricing and March 5 release date

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  • January 13, 2012 at 8:22 am

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Sony Xperia S camera landscape

Sony announced its latest Xperia S Android handset at CES this week and we now have UK pricing and availability. The Xperia S (a.k.a. Nozomi) will be released on March 5th in the UK for £468 ($719 and €560) for the 32GB version, at least according to mobile device online retailer Clove.

The Xperia S has a 4.3-inch 1280 x 720 gap-less optically laminated display, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and a impressive 12-megapixel Exmor back-lit sensor rear camera.

It will be sold in both white and black, though initially the white Xperia S will be a Phones4U UK exclusive. The Xperia S includes NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and HDMI, together with GPS and GLONASS navigation support. There is no external microSD card slot — so it would probably mean no mass storage support — and it will ship with Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Sony however promised that it will be updated to Ice Cream Sandwich in the second quarter of the year. Did we mentioned it’s also PlayStation certified.

The iPhone 4S getting a warm reception in China despite freezing temperatures

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  • January 12, 2012 at 4:51 pm

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Beijing Apple Store iPhone 4S launch queues

China is quickly becoming a very important market for Apple. The most populous country in the world has a burgeoning middle-class hungry for technology and of course Apple is carving out a nice piece of the pie for itself. In fact, China contributed to roughly 13.3 percent of Apple’s third-quarter revenue.

Friday 13th of January marks the day when the iPhone 4S goes on sale in 26 new countries, including China. Well as is typical of big Apple product launches, people had already started lining up the night before outside Apple’s two Beijing and three Shanghai stores. Despite the freezing temperatures, hundreds lined-up outside the five official Apple Stores.
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Sony Xperia S, a.k.a. Nozomi, 4.3-inch 720p display 1.5GHz dual-core smartphone announced (video)

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  • January 10, 2012 at 6:10 am

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Sony Xperia S 4.3-inch Android smartphone - black and white

We’ve been hearing about the Sony Ericsson Nozomi smartphone for a while. Well plain Sony now (yeah it’s finally officially dropped Ericsson) officially announced the Xperia S Android smartphone on Monday. We already knew that it was good looking but we now have the full confirmed specs for the device.

The Sony Xperia S has a large 4.3-inch 1280 x 720 gap-less optically laminated display and features a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. The rear camera is a massive 12-megapixel Exmor R back-lit sensor affair and can shoot up to 1080p HD video; the front facing camera is 1.3-megapixels. You get all the typical Wi-Fi, GPS, HDMI ports together with NFC and DLNA support. The Xperia S will come in 16GB and 32GB flavors, though there is no microSD card slot for expandable storage.
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Motorola XT535 could become the newest member in the Defy rugged family; Defy+ successor?

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  • January 8, 2012 at 3:24 am

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Motorola Defy XT535

We’ve reviewed the Motorola Defy+ in detail and we’ve quickly looked at the new smaller Defy Mini (XT320). A new device has just appeared, the Motorola XT535, which seems will take place as the newest brother in the Defy family.

Based on leaked photos the XT535 has a similar back as the Defy+, together with the same sort of watertight back cover locking mechanism and port flaps, which lead us to think this will be another Defy smartphone. A Japanese blog has the dimensions for this device as 115 x 58 x 11.9mm against 107 x 59 x 13.4mm for the Defy+. The new Defy is almost 1cm taller but also thinner. The increased height could be taken up by the new extended bottom bezel, which seems to be housing a speaker, so it could still be a 3.7-inch device like the Defy+ or perhaps house a slightly bigger screen. The XT535 could turn out to be the successor of the successful Defy+.
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Sony Ericsson MT27i Pepper mid-range 3.7-inch Android smartphone gets first leaked images

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  • January 7, 2012 at 1:12 pm

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Sony Ericsson MT27i Pepper leaked image front

We’ve already seen evidence of two new Xperia smartphones by Sony Ericsson, the well documented Sony Ericsson LT26i Xperia Arc HD Nozomi and a yet unnamed large-screened Xperia smartphone with an off-center rear camera and lanyard loop-hole.

XperiaBlog has just unearthed a third new Xperia smartphone, the Sony Ericsson MT27i Pepper. According to the blog, it will be a mid-range device, and a successor to the Xperia Neo. It has taken some design cues from the Nozomi, but will feature a smaller 3.7-inch 480×854 display. The Peper is said to ran on a 1GHz dual-core processor and will have a 5-megapixel rear camera.
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I broke the Galaxy Nexus screen

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  • January 6, 2012 at 12:51 pm

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Galaxy Nexus cracked and chipped screen

This is a quote from our recent review of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus: A large glass front, plastic body, limited ruggedization and slippery sides could spell out disaster without a case.

Well, during the holidays I was juggling one too many things and my naked (sin-case) Galaxy Nexus slipped out of my hand and landed on a hard floor from a height of about two feet. Its back cover and battery went flying off, but since the fall wasn’t too bad I picked it up without thinking that anything seriously bad happened to it. As I went to wipe the screen on my shirt I saw the long crack across it, while a piece of glass had chipped from the bottom corner where the phone had landed.

Obviously manufacturers don’t design average devices to survive drops, that’s why rugged smartphones exist. The Galaxy Nexus has a fortified glass screen, but that’s to protect it from scratches, obviously glass can still shatter, and the bigger the surface the easier it is to crack — though we are hopping the new Gorilla Glass 2 material will be more shatter-proof.

Nevertheless this isn’t the first smartphone I’ve dropped; I’m actually a serial phone-dropper. My long-term Android smartphones have been a Nexus One and an HTC Sensation, both of which have suffered some pretty nasty falls (without a case) and both have so far survived pretty well.
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HTC is still brilliant

EditorialsNews

  • January 6, 2012 at 7:01 am

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HTC logo close-up on the HTC Sensation

So HTC posted its unaudited revenues for Q4 2011, showing a small 2.5 percent fall compared to the same quarter in 2010. The main culprit for this fall was the month of November, with revenues down 19.6 percent.

That’s unusual for HTC, which has been seeing consistent revenue growth for a while. It does however make sense. HTC is big in the Android camp, and at the end of October we saw the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (which we’ve reviewed here) as Google’s launch device for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The Galaxy Nexus in fact started shipping in November.

However, tech blogs love big titles, so today we’ve been seeing posts in the lines of HTC losing its steam or even that this could be the beginning of the end for HTC, all of which are far from the truth. First of all bear in mind that HTC’s whole year 2011 revenues grew by an insane 67%.
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Motorola announces cost conscious Motoluxe and Defy Mini Android smartphones (video)

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  • January 6, 2012 at 4:34 am

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Motorola Motoluxe and Defy Mini

Motorola Mobility has added two new Android smartphones to its lineup, the 4-inch Motoluxe and the 3.2-inch Defy Mini. Both smartphones will run Android 2.3 Gingerbread on launch, though one would hope an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update would soon be on the way. The two smartphones will launch in Greater China, Europe and Latin America this spring.

The Motoluxe has a 4-inch edge-to-edge touchscreen (smaller bezels is one of our wishes for 2012) with a 854×480 resolution. It runs on an 800Mhz processor and 512MB RAM. Other features include an 8-megapixel rear camera, a front-facing VGA camera, 1GB of storage, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi b/g/n, GPS and FM radio. A 1,400 mAh gives up to 6.5 hours of talk time in 2G. The Motoluxe measures 117.7 x 60.5 x 9.85 mm and 123.6g and will come in tasty licorice or white colors.

The Defy Mini, as you might have guessed, is the smaller version of the rugged Motorola Defy+ that we’ve reviewed here. Its smallish 3.2-inch touchscreen display with 480×320 resolution is covered by scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass. It’s also water-resistant and dust proof. You only get a 600Mhz processor with 512MB RAM and 512MB of built-in storage. A rather large 1,650 mAh gives you 10 hours of talk time. The Defy Mini also comes with a 3-megapixel rear camera, VGA front camera, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi b/g/n, GPS and FM radio. It measures 109 x 58.5 x 12.55 mm and 107g.

Videos and press release are after the break.
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