Samsung’s Watch Phone, the S9110, Gets Official
The thinnest wristwatch phone in the world

Samsung S9110 gets officially unveiled as the company’s watch phone

South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung has announced today the launch of its first watch phone, the S9110. Proving to be the thinnest wristwatch handset in the world, the new device comes to the market with a full-touch display, but it seems that its feature list is a quite long, considering the form factor.

The new Samsung S9110 was spotted on the Web only yesterday, when it was reported to have received Bluetooth SIG approval. As stated in our previous story, the phone proves to be a luxurious device. Moreover, it comes to the market in direct competition with the LG GD910, another watch phone developed by a South Korean company.

When compared to the LG device, the Samsung S9110 shows a slimmer body, at only 11.98mm (2mm slimmer than LG’s GD910). In addition, the new handset also features a larger touchscreen display, measuring 1.76 inches, as well as Bluetooth connectivity and speech recognition capabilities, the same as its competitor.

On the other hand, it lacks some of the features present with the LG GD910, including the 3G connectivity support, which means that this little guy won’t make video calls. Even so, it sports Outlook sync capabilities, as well as a built-in speakerphone, which might prove useful in case you are not fond of the Bluetooth headsets that can work with it.

Other details on the device include the fact that it has been crafted from stainless steel, it comes with a scratch-resistant glass that is meant to protect its display, and it features a leather strap. The looks of the S9110 are rather stylish, and it should appeal to a lot of users out there, although the slimmer body came at the expense of 3G functionality.

The new Samsung S9110 is expected to become available for purchase in France starting this month, while its price tag has been set at 450 Euros. Considering the fact that the LG GD910 costs three times as much, it will be interesting to see how the two will go along on the market.

Live Photo of Motorola Morrison Available
Spotted in black and blue

Morrison available in live photo

One of the Android handsets that should become available for purchase via wireless carrier T-Mobile is the Motorola Morrison, spotted a while back in the operator’s roadmap. Unlike other leaked images with the device, the pictures that have surfaced now on the Web show a running handset, and we can also have a look at the Android build it should come to the market with.

The handset looks the same as already reported and seems to be quite attractive, a little too attractive for some apparently, as it might resemble the already widely known Apple iPhone, as 9to5mac suggests. One way or another, the device will line up beside the three existing HTC Android devices and the Samsung Galaxy for the high-end segment of the mobile phone market.

Unlike the previously spotted Morrison, the new model comes in black, and some more details on what it will include have emerged. Thus, the buttons that are placed at the bottom of the screen are visible now, two of which are back and home, while the third one seems to have multiple functionalities, including call / menu / action.

Unfortunately, it seems that no further details on the device are available at the moment, other than the fact that it will come in two different color versions. Hopefully, other variants will also be included in the company’s offering, and Morrison will indeed have the capability to attract a wide range of users on its side.

As the first Motorola Android-based mobile phone should land on the market sometime in the holiday time frame, more information on it will become available at that time, and we’ll also be able to report on its price tag, as well as on the markets it will become available in. Take a look at the live photo with Morrison that phandroid brought to the Web and stay tuned for more updates.

Nokia Shows 6760 Slide, the Nokia Surge Rebranded
Packs the same specs and the same connectivity options

Nokia 6760 slide is the non-US variant of Nokia Surge

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia has unveiled today a new handset that sports a sliding form factor, the Nokia 6760 slide, which has been enhanced for messaging and social networking activities, it appears. The new mobile phone comes with a sliding full-QWERTY keypad, and seems to be the non-US version of the Nokia Surge, a handset that went live on AT&T only two days ago.

The new Nokia 6760 slide comes to the market with fast and easy access to sites like Facebook, MySpace or Twitter, proving to be a great option for mobile phone users who like being connected while on the go. The device will offer them support for email accounts from Ovi Mail, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and Windows Live Hotmail, as well as to a variety of other email providers.

Those who already encountered the specs of Nokia Surge will find out that the 6760 slide includes them all, apart from a few different hardware capabilities, such as the 3.2-megapixel photo snapper. Other specs include a 2.4-inch display that boasts a 320 x 240 pixel resolution, S60 3.2, GPS receiver, a 1500 mAh battery and attractive connectivity options.

The messaging and email capabilities of the phone are its main selling points. Users will learn that the process of setting up an existing email on the handset is a rather simple one, as they will only need to provide the email address and the password. In addition, the Nokia 6760 slide also features push email capabilities through the Nokia Messaging service.

Besides attractive messaging features, the new mobile phone also comes with an A-GPS module and with 3D landmarks and terrain maps. All the multimedia features that a device can offer are present with this device, including tweeting, emailing, IM, online sharing, browsing the web or listening to music, all of which can be made at the same time.

According to the mobile phone maker, the new Nokia 6760 slide is expected to become available for purchase during the third quarter of the ongoing year at the suggested price of EUR 199 before subsidies and taxes.

Nokia to Prep New ‘Cseries’ Devices
Has already applied for the Cseries trade mark in Finland

Nokia to plan new Cseries handsets, besides the currently existing Nseries and Eseries

Finnish Mobile phone maker Nokia is reportedly getting ready to come to the market with a new family of devices, which should come under the name of Cseries. According to the news, the company has already applied for the Cseries trade mark in Finland, which means that we should soon see another lineup coming along with the already known Nseries and Eseries mobile phones from it.

For the time being, unfortunately, there are no details on what devices the company might plan to include in the new series, though some speculations have already surfaced into the wild. The most possible scenario includes the appearance of new MIDs and netbooks from Espoo, and these devices should be included in the new series. Basically, the C from the name would stand for “Computer,” and this, along with the recent partnership that Nokia and Intel announced, suggests exactly that.

The already existing Eseries and Nseries from the company, as many of you might already know, mainly include business-oriented handsets, for the former, and high-end, media-packed smartphones (along with the N770, N800, and N810 tablets), for the latter. At the same time, handsets that do not fit in any of these categories come with a four-digit number.

According to the Finnish blog Puhelinvertailu, Nokia’s mobile phones are divided into four categories, namely Connect, Live, Achieve and Explore, while the Cseries might include the Connect and Live-categories, most likely only the Connect devices. At the same time, the blog also admits that there might be a range of totally different devices that the company intends to come to the market with in the near future.

The one thing that seems to be certain at the moment is that the upcoming Cseries family will include devices in the “mobile phones, smartphones, accessories and spare parts of mobile phones” category. Hopefully, the company won’t let us wait too long before unveiling more details on its plans for the mobile phone market, so stay tuned to learn more on this.

Nokia Xseries Trademarks Unveiled
Along with Nokia Money service and Eseries devices

Nokia Xseries trademark unveiled

Only yesterday we learned that Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia was on its way to come to the market with a new family of devices, the Cseries, and now more news reports on the company’s lineup are surfacing, pointing towards a possible Xseries as well. The new family of devices was discovered on The Office of Harmonization for the Internal Market website (OAMI), along with details on other devices and services that the Espoo-based company would plan to come to the market with.

There is no info on what the new Xseries might include in terms of devices, nor on whether the mobile phone maker will indeed come to the market with handsets that will feature the ‘X’ or ‘C’ letters in their names. It wouldn’t be the first time when a company trademarks a name without ever using it, but we certainly hope for the best.

In addition to the new Xseries lineup, IntoMobile also says that some more details on the company’s services and Eseries devices have been unveiled on OAMI’s site. It seems that there are some more Eseries handsets that should surface, such as the E82 (the phone maker filed for trademark of Nokia E53, E54, E56, E57, E58, E59, E64, E67, E68, E69, E74, E76, E77, E78, E79, E81, E83, E84, E86, E87, E88, E89, E91, E92, E93, E94, E95, E97, E98, E99 on September 20, 2006, and of Nokia E73, E80, E85, E96 on June 19, 2006).

Another interesting tidbit of info is that the Finnish company is preparing a new service, called Nokia Money, for which it filed for trademark on July 16, 2009. The service has the following description: “Computer software to enable mobile telephones to transfer money from one bank account to another bank account. […] Financial transaction services, namely, providing secure commercial transactions and payment options using a mobile device at a point of sale.” As Nokia already announced a series of investments in Obopay, a mobile payment-focused company, this shouldn’t come as too big a surprise.

Another Nokia trademark discovered by IntoMobile on the OAMI site is Booklet, which might be the name of the company’s netbooks or smartbooks that have already been rumored. The filing, made on June 20, 2009, says “Computers, laptops, smart phones; accessories for computers, laptops and smart phones,” which means that a move in this area might be imminent. Hopefully, these trademarks will indeed become reality in the near future, since we must admit that Nokia already managed to stir our enthusiasm. Stick around to learn more on this matter.

Nokia Updates E71, E66 and E51
With performance improvements, bug fixes

Nokia releases firmware updates for E71, E66 and E51

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia seems to be on an update spree lately, as more and more new firmware versions for its devices have been released into the wild. This time around, we learn that the company has come up with software updates for E71 and E66, which are now at version 300.21.012, as well as for E51, which sees v400.34.011 firmware.

According to All About Symbian, both E71 and E66 were previously at version 210.xx.xxx, and the new software available for them comes as a major firmware update. Some of the goodies that have been included in the new release are updates to Mail for Exchange software and email wizard, along with Internet Radio and social networking bookmark widgets.

At the same time, it seems that the overall performance levels of the handsets have been improved too, and there might be a series of bug fixes coming along with the software as well. Users who own an E71 or an E66 should also know that Mail for Exchange available with the update is now at version 2.09, and that Nokia Messaging 5.1 has been included in the new firmware too.

As for the Nokia E51, the new firmware version 400.34.011 available for the device comes with “improvements and increased stability in Mail for Exchange and SMS reception.” At the same time, the update also includes enhancements for VoIP and WLAN, as well as “robustness improvements” for the Home key. These are nothing more than bug fixes, All About Symbian says, yet it is good that the company is set to release software updates for its devices.

All these are available via Nokia Software Update. One more thing that should be noted here is that users will have to back up their data before proceeding with the installation, for these devices do not come with (UDP) User Data Preservation, and the update process will erase all their files.

Samsung Omnia II to Come with WM 6.5 in September
Launched in Austria via A1

Samsung Omnia II is expected to come in September with Windows Mobile 6.5

It seems that Windows Mobile enthusiasts won’t have too long to wait until the first mobile phones running under the upcoming Windows Mobile 6.5 iteration of Microsoft’s operating system will become available on the market. September seems to be the lucky month for some, especially for mobile phone users who live in Austria.

According to a recent post on Microsoft Austria, users in the country will be able to enjoy the first Windows Mobile 6.5-powered mobile phone in September this year, and the device will be none other than the Samsung Omnia II. At the same time, the post also points towards A1 as the carrier to have the handset, thus also the first in the country to offer WM 6.5 on a smartphone.

The device is being launched in a partnership between Austria Microsoft, mobilkom austria and Samsung, and, according to Dr. Reinhard Zuba, head of marketing at mobilkom austria, it should be able to offer customers an enhanced mobile experience, coupled with powerful Internet capabilities. “The mobile world and the PC world will no longer be separated from each other,” Dr. Reinhard Zuba added.

Samsung Omnia II, as many of you should already be aware of, was officially introduced on the market only about two weeks ago, along with another Omnia device from the South-Korean phone maker, the Omnia LITE. At launch, the handset was touted as running under Windows Mobile 6.1 OS, though the company announced that an upgrade to WM 6.5 would be on its way as well.

The specification list of the phone shows a 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED touchscreen display, which, the maker says, comes with Advanced R Touch (Resistive Touch) that “enables faster, more accurate touch response,” TouchWiz 2.0 UI, HSUPA 5.76Mbps, HSDPA 7.2Mbps and Wi-Fi connectivity, video recording capabilities, as well as impressive storage space, up to 48GB.

Nokia N97 Sees Firmware Update 11.0.021
Includes stability improvements and bug fixes

Nokia N97 sees new firmware, 11.0.021

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia was expected to come to display a new firmware update for its high-end smartphone Nokia N97, and it seems that the company hasn’t let us down. The new firmware version for the device, namely 11.0.021, is here and it brings along an entire series of bug fixes, as well as important enhancements.

When it comes to the improvements that the new software solution delivers to the Nokia N97, the Nokia Software Updater team says that these are aimed at the software stability, including the handset’s email, imaging, USB detection, widget stability and display transitions. In addition to that, the firmware also comes with an Ovi store client, and it seems that it will be followed by a series of other updates in the not too distant future.

The changelog for the firmware update 11.0.021 shows that it fixes the USB detection error, when the PC does not detect the Nokia N97 or the USB charging connection is not detected, while also including fixes to the home screen online/offline widget crashes, to the “Alphabetical and Number input are mixed in facebook until end key is pressed” issue, and to the stability of the widgets in browser.

There are also a series of widget UI improvements included in the new software, such as the new facebook widget that fixes a problem of Home Screen background visible on soft-key area. The “Messaging/calendar entry lost” issue has seen a partial fix, while the mail for exchange calendar entry synchronization error has been fixed entirely, it seems.

The firmware 11.0.021 also comes with a series of UI transition error fixes (Portrait to/from landscape transition), including UI transition (Slowness and bad effects), Slow Touch UI response, Picture of the device lock appears half of the screen when transitioning the UI sometimes, Landscape: in some cases the soft buttons on touch (right hand) show the Home Screen in the background (install maps.google.com).

The Photos thumbnail performance and stability improvements included in the firmware are:

- Device performance deteriorates when lots of content in the device – especially photos
- Partial fix no display backlight illumination when unlocking lock-key – CAP Genius reported already
- New version of Accueweather to improve the “Connection error” situation
- Device reset when browsing with high speed packet access (for Malaysia)
- “Browser soft key UI doesn’t work after putting Chinese character with qwerty keyboard”
- Java fixes (TCK, Pre-install app disappearing, *#7370#*)
- Operator fixes (CMCC, Hutchson and Telefonica, Vodafone)
- Ovi store client now embedded in the core image

It seems that firmware update 11.0.021 for Nokia N97 is available in most markets where the device can be purchased, and it should come over-the-air. Those who are unable to retrieve it this way should go to the Nokia Software Updater and download it. Just keep in mind to back up your data before proceeding with the update process, just in case.

10 Million Star S5230 This Year, Samsung Says
Intros Samsung Jet in Korea

Samsung Star S5230

South-Korean mobile phone maker Samsung, the second handset vendor in the world, stated recently that it expects its newly launched Samsung Star S5230 device to be sold in more than 10 million units during the ongoing year. This might be a simple task for the company in the end, as the Chinese daily Commercial Times reports that the phone already sells in more than 1 million units a month.

The Samsung Star S5230 comes to the market with touchscreen capabilities, and with good looks, though it is only a 2.5G device, and a rather cheap one. Even so, it seems that this phone is the one that will gain the best selling position in the company’s lineup for the ongoing year, leaving behind high-end devices like the Omnia HD i8910, the upcoming 12MP behemoth Pixon12, or the new Samsung Jet.

Touchscreen mobile phones have seen a lot of traction on the market lately, and it seems that the financial turmoil has determined consumers to look at more affordable such devices than before. The Samsung Star S5230, a handset launched not too long ago on the market, meets all the criteria and should turn into a winner shortly.

Samsung Jet
Enlarge picture
As for the newly released “Smarter than smartphone” Samsung Jet, we learn that the mobile phone maker has released it on the market in its native country as well. The high-end handheld will come to the shelves in Korea in three versions, Samsung W850, Samsung W8500 and Samsung W8550, which are about the same thing, only that they have been named differently in accordance with the operator that will carry them to the market.

The specs of the three models are similar to those of the original Jet, including a 3.5-inch WVGA AMOLED display (the Jet comes only with a 3.1-inch screen), DMB support, the TouchWiz 2.0 UI, GPS receiver, Bluetooth connectivity, and a 5-megapixel photo snapper. The price of the phone in Korea has been set at 800,000 KRW (about $630).

Toshiba TG01 Available in Japan as T-01A
Based on Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon chipset

Toshiba-Docomo T-01A, the Japanese TG01

The Windows Mobile-powered smartphone Toshiba TG01, a handset that made it to the headlines due to the presence of Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon chip in its hardware specifications, is now available for purchase in Japan, where it goes by the name of T-01A. Due to the fact that the handheld went live in the country on the airwaves of Docomo, its full name has been changed to Toshiba-Docomo T-01A, and can be spotted on Microsoft’s Japanese Web site as well.

The Toshiba-Docomo T-01A is the first mobile phone in the world to come to the shelves with the Snapdragon chip, and Qualcomm has already confirmed this state of facts. The chip comes with an ARM design and is able to run at 1GHz, a great speed enhancement compared to typical ARM architecture chips that can be spotted in mobile phones (iPhone 3G S included), and which are clocked at around 600MHz.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon chip is reported to be able to offer support for high-definition (720p) video decode, as well as for 3D graphics (up to 22M triangles/sec) and XGA display support. At the same time, the silicon should also support mobile broadcast TV and 12-megapixel photo snappers. Moreover, it seems that the company does not plan to stop at only 1GHz with the Snapdragon, but it also demonstrated a notebook running a 1.3GHz Snapdragon processor and intends to push the silicon to 1.5GHz as well.

The new smartphone comes to the Japanese market with Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system, is only 9.9mm thick and sports a 4.1-inch WVGA resistive touch screen display able to boast a 800 x 480 pixel resolution and support for 384k colors. In addition, the device also includes support for 3G HSPA, Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS receiver and assisted-GPS.

Toshiba TG01

The currently available Snapdragon is codenamed QSD8250, yet the company also plans a future Qualcomm QSD8672, which should come as a dual-core Snapdragon. The chip should include support for HSPA+, up to 28Mbps download speeds, 1080p high-definition video, Wi-Fi connectivity, mobile TV, and GPS receiver.

For the time being, mobile phone users will have to go with the already available Toshiba-Docomo T-01A and its 1GHz Snapdragon processor. Having been launched in Japan, the handset is also expected to hit the European market during the summer. No details on the price tag of the device have been unveiled for the moment.