Every Android phone has a standard set of buttons at the bottom. They may be physical — with parts that move — or they may be capacitive, reacting to your touch. The order may change, but the functions are the same. You’ll find: Home: Retu…
LG is slated to release three new Android phones in the near future but sadly, none of them are currently coming to the US. The first two, the LU2300 and the SU950/KU9500, are very interesting. The LU2300 (pictured above) is the device we once guessed was the awesome Aloha in the US. It packs the increasingly common 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a physical QWERTY-keyboard, 3.5-inch AMOLED 800×480 screen, and a 5-megapixel camera. The SU2300 is said to share the same internals sans the physical keyboard. Those are top notch specs and we can’t help but be jealous of South Korean Android users who will receive both devices in June (we’re also jealous of their commercials!).
The UK is also getting some love in the form of the LG Optimus, formerly known as the LG GT540. We saw this device back in CES and felt it was a good mid-range device. Specs are unclear but don’t expect much, the LG Optimus is available starting May 1st in the UK.
See more pictures of the LG Android devices after the jump! [via unwired view]
Could that weird Motorola Android device we saw last week actually be the Motorola MT820 pictured above? The button arrangement is different but the transparent flip screen, camera placement, and general shape is very familiar. If they’re not the same phone (one being prototype, other being final), they at least have to be part of the same family right?
The MT820 certainly looks a lot better than what we previously saw but that could be the higher resolution shots talking. We’re still unsure about the whole ‘flip’ form factor but rumors are suggesting that the extra screen allows the MT820 to display 3D images. The MT820 is headed to China’s TD-SCDMA network, which means we’ll likely never see the phone. Not like we were dying for it in this first place, the form factor is still too weird and 3D is currently more a gimmicky feature than anything. What do you guys think? Do we want 3D on our phones yet? Ever?
Hit the link to see more pictures of the MT820 [slashphone]
Though the above picture of a Motorola Android device looks innocent enough, don’t be fooled–it’s a flip phone. And yes, leave it to Motorola to cook up some interesting form factors for Android. After introducing the Backflip, it looks like Motorola has a flip Android phone in the works. But the Motorola Android flip phone isn’t the size of your typical flip phone, which could’ve be neat, it’s smartphone sized, which just maks the thing unwieldy. We’re not even sure if the ‘flip’ portion of the phone offers any functionality other than protecting the screen.
The phone is reported to be an engineering prototype and of course looks to run the Motorola favorite, Motoblur. Specs are hard to come by, but we’re sure more will be revealed soon. Either way, if Motorola keeps throwing things against the wall, we’re sure something will stick, right? Does a flip phone running Android interest you guys?
Hit the jump to see more pictures of the Motorola Flip Android phone. [it168 via engadget]
We just reported on the LG Aloha and now we have some speculative pictures that point this South Korean LG LU2300 Android device (pictured above) as the actual Aloha. Remember, the Aloha is purported to be the next great Android device with one new wrinkle: it has a full QWERTY keyboard.
A QWERTY keyboard is found on the LU2300 along with a 800×480 screen and Android 2.1, both which are expected to be on the Aloha. The other ‘new’ specs of the LU2300–Snapdragon, AMOLED 3.5-inch screen, and optical trackpad–seem to fit in with the Aloha’s "high end" nature, so if you connect the dots and take a leap of faith the LU2300 just might be the LG Aloha. We definitely wouldn’t be mad if it was. What do you guys think? [via androidcommunity]
Ho ho! Look what we have here! According to mobileSyrup, the Xperia X10 (yes, the phone that was supposed to launch last year) is supposed to hit Rogers in Canada in two weeks’ time. As the rumor goes, the launch date is set between April 7 and April 14, and the Xperia X10 will run for $149.99 with new 3-year contract (that’s standard in Canada) and $549.99 sans contract. A pretty good deal considering what the price was originally rumored to be. But don’t you Canadians get excited yet, because when it comes to the Xperia X10 we have to always, always consider Sony Ericsson’s flakiness. Be prepared for disappointment while hoping for the best.
So for reasons that currently escape us, Samsung has decided to release a commercial showcasing the Samsung Behold II–yep, that middling Android 1.5, TouchWiz UI running phone that never picked up much steam when it was released way back in November. The commercial is a nice spot, we think the stylizing is done rather nicely, but why devote new advertising space to a phone that clearly needs an update? And why so long after release? This would have been more effective if the ad onslaught started in Thanksgiving. And if Samsung wanted to wait this long, they should have waited until Android 2.1 was running on the Behold II to re-introduce it.
Otherwise, timing and TouchWiz UI issues aside, the spot is pretty cool, huh? Check out the full commercial after the break!
[via androidandme]
After spending some time with the Palm Pre in the Smartphone Round Robin, we became quite smitten with the form factor. The vertical slider is rather unique in the smartphone industry and it’s surprising that out of all the Android form factors available, no one has put out a Pre-like device. Well, no more. Say hello to the ZTE Smooth which is as close to a rip off design of the Palm Pre as possible, except it doesn’t manage to capture any of that Pre magic.
The ZTE Smooth is a lower end Android phone–runs Android 1.6 on a 2.8-inch QVGA screen and comes with your typical slew of connectivity options, it’s expected to release in August (assumedly in China) but will probably never hit stateside. We still think a Pre-styled device is worth exploring but we’d rather have HTC or Motorola try to tackle it than ZTE. Nice try though.
It looks like Sprint is planning on launching their first WiMAX equipped phone by this summer. Speaking with Forbes, Sprint said that they’re launching a WiMAX device in the first half of this year. Remember, WiMAX is 4G and Sprint’s WiMAX network has been rolling out for some time now. A device to take advantage of Sprint’s WiMAX network was bound to be released, this new timeframe is just a few months earlier than expected.
But what device could it be? Forbes cites the HTC Supersonic, which we’ve seen multiple times at Android Central in renders and product roadmaps and it would make a lot of sense. HTC has a good relationship with Sprint (it was the first carrier of the HTC Hero) and typically dabbles in top-of-the-line technology (Snapdragon, HD2) and plus, the name Supersonic could not be more fitting.
We’ll likely find out more in the near future but in the mean time, just know that 4G is coming and an Android device being the first to use all that speed is a very real possibility.
[via engadget]
According to Sydsvenskan.se, Sony Ericsson turned down the opportunity to build the Nexus One. We knew that Sony Ericsson didn’t want to sell their phones through google.com/phone, but to turn down the opportunity to build the premier Android phone? Yep, that’s how it went down according to SE CEO Bert Nordberg.
We guess we can kind of, sort of understand why Sony Ericsson didn’t want to build the Nexus One, especially if their end goal is to push their own UI over Android. If they want a consistent model for their phone lineup, building one for Google wouldn’t have fulfilled that. But even with that explanation, it’s very shortsighted to not want to partner up with Google for Google’s Android on Google’s phone. The Nexus One clearly has a leg up on the competition (it runs Android 2.1), who wouldn’t want to make that phone now?
We’re actually more surprised that Google asked Sony Ericsson in the first place. HTC had been such a wonderful partner for Google and Android and was fully capable of building a stellar device (as proven by the actual Nexus One itself), that it’s almost shocking that Google would approach another phone manufacturer. To us, HTC exemplifies what we want in a handset. It was a no brainer for HTC to build the Nexus One and we’re happy it ended up that way.
And maybe Sony Ericsson could build a device as awesome as HTC built the Nexus One, but then it probably wouldn’t be available until April. What do you guys think about Sony Ericsson turning down Google?
[via engadget]