Cell Phones

Verizon can’t be feeling too hot about being the straggler to the Galaxy S party, but the wait seems to be almost at an end. Best Buy’s just started taking in-store pre-orders for the Fascinate, while the latest internal document leak from VZW indicates a specific September 9 launch for the 4-inch Android handset. That’s when you should be able to snap the Fascinate up along with a prepaid data plan from Big Red, which fits in nicely with earlier unsanctioned disclosures on the matter. Either way, Samsung’s quest to conquer all networks with its Super Gorilla phone will be coming to a victorious end pretty soon.

[Thanks, Brian G.]
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SOURCE:Best Buy, Boy Genius Report

Remeber the Motorola i1? Moto has just added its second rugged(ish) Android handset in the 3.7-inch Gorilla Glass-fronted Defy. It’s dust-, scratch-, impact-, and water-resistant. Matching up to the IP67 durability spec means it’s expected to resist being submersed in up to a meter of water for up to half an hour — making it a pretty awesome option for taking your Android to the beach, 854 x 480 is your screen resolution, backed up by an OMAP 3610 chip running at 800MHz (there had to be some tradeoffs, right?). Android 2.1 is another slight disappointment, we’re not clear on why Froyo had to be left off the table, but at least Motorola has bundled Swype as the default input mechanism. Should be a boon for some, we suppose. The Defy is expected to launch across Europe in Q4 2010.

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Even without yesterday’s premature video promo, you had to know Motorola wouldn’t leave its international audience without a successor to the Milestone, so today — surprise, surprise — we’re being treated to the Milestone 2′s launch. The first thing to be said here is that if you’ve handled a Droid 2, you’ve also handled a Milestone 2 — the new phone follows Moto’s tradition of being a simple rebadge away from the Verizon-friendly Droid naming scheme, which means it retains the same 1GHz OMAP SOC, 512MB of RAM, 5 megapixel camera, 8GB of integrated storage, and Android 2.2 as the default, albeit Motoblured, OS. Also, we got this straight from the Motohorse’s mouth: Motoblur’s not going anywhere, it’s the company’s “Android solution” and is here to stay.

One advantage over the Droid 2 here is the addition of 720p video recording. It’s still the exact same imager as on the back of the first Milestone, but now you can catch moving visuals in HD resolution. Moto were keen to point out the 5-device hotspot capabilities (courtesy of Froyo) on the Milestone 2, but they showed it off using a wired connection since the demo handset’s O2 SIM card wouldn’t permit wireless tethering. Well, that was a grand demonstration of how vulnerable our Android 2.2 goodness will be to the whims of mobile carriers. The Milestone 2′s expected to launch around Europe in Q4, with carrier-dependent pricing as per usual.

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Motorola MILESTONE™ 2 Gives You More for all your Smartphone Needs BASINGSTOKE, September 1, 2010 –– Motorola today introduced MILESTONE™ 2 enhanced with MOTOBLUR™. The Android™ 2.2 device offers more speed, more connectivity, more messaging, more storage, more web with Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1, more multimedia and more personalisation than the original award-winning MILESTONE.

The powerhouse device features a 1Ghz processor, allowing users to sift through their content quickly, even when running multiple applications simultaneously or a number of open web browser pages. Respond to e-mails or texts quickly with an improved and more spacious QWERTY keyboard including larger keys and better tactility for easier typing. MILESTONE 2 also acts as a 3G mobile hotspot1 to connect up to five WiFi® enabled devices, so you turn practically anywhere into a hive of productivity.

“MILESTONE 2 offers more power, more speed, with an improved keyboard, so users can send, access and share information even quicker than before to manage their work and personal life,” said Alain Mutricy, senior vice president, portfolio and device product management, Motorola Mobility. “This introduction not only reaffirms our commitment to innovate on Android but offers consumers the leading edge features they crave including fast web browsing, messaging, application downloads and multimedia.”

MILESTONE 2 also features the latest version of Motorola’s unique solution, MOTOBLUR, which makes it even easier to manage all of your emails, messages and social updates in one easy place with the additions of filtering, resizable widgets, added corporate security and a versatile battery manager.

Further enhancements to the original MILESTONE include 720p HD video capture and playback allowing you to capture life’s moments in crystal clear detail, whilst the Adobe Flash Player 10.1 allows mobile users to experience millions of rich websites the way they were meant to be seen, including rich video and gaming content, and you can share all of your multimedia with DLNA compatible devices. The experience is rounded off with a connected music player delivering lyrics to your songs, additional artist news and information, as well as integrated social applications for sharing and giving recommendations. Users will have plenty of room for their content with up to 8GB internal memory and an 8GB microSD card inbox, expandable to 32GB.

A suite of Google™ mobile applications including Google Search™, Google Maps™, Gmail™ and YouTube™ are also integrated onto the device. Plus you have access to Android Market™ which has more than 70,000 applications.

Smart Accessories

The device ships with an 8GB micro SD card and wired headset, and owners can also download free the Motorola Media Link software that makes transferring your music and other multimedia from computer to phone even easier.

Make the most of Motorola’s MILESTONE 2 at home, in the car or at the office with the optional smart accessories:

The car cradle is ready for the road. Simply drop in your MILESTONE 2 or original MILESTONE and it automatically turns into car mode. This gives one-touch access to your favourite in-car applications, including your handsfree calling contacts, your music, internet radio, podcasts, Google Maps™ with Navigation™ and more. Plug, play, drive and charge your MILESTONE 2 with the rapid in car charger that plugs into your cradle
The multimedia station is a stylish dock for your MILESTONE 2 or original MILESTONE. When docked, your phone automatically changes to desktop mode showing alarm clock and favourite multimedia applications such as a slide show of pictures. Desktop mode can be personalised allowing you to show the applications you want, all whilst charging your device.
Key MILESTONE 2 features include:

1Ghz processor now with 802.11n support
3G mobile hotspot – connect up to five other Wi-Fi devices
Latest version of MOTOBLUR
Adobe Flash Player 10.1
Multi-touch, pinch to zoom, double tap zoom
720p HD video capture and playback
5MP imager with dual LED flash
Up to 40GB of memory
3.5mm audio jack
Enterprise Exchange support
Improved design; more spacious QWERTY keyboard including larger keys and better tactility
DLNA / WiFi / Bluetooth® 2.1 connectivity
Additional functionality and apps include:

Full suite of the Google applications: Google Search, Google Maps with Latitude and Street View, Gmail, YouTube, and Google Talk™
Unified Google and Exchange Contacts
Navigation: GPS, Google Maps, E-Compass Latitude
Email Support: IMAP/POP3, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Corporate Sync, Push Email
Quick Office document viewer
IM Support: Google Talk
Calendar: Exchange, Calendar
Availability

MILESTONE 2 will be available in Europe beginning Q4 2010.

About Motorola
Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications and is focused on advancing the way the world connects. From broadband communications infrastructure, enterprise mobility and public safety solutions to mobile and wireline digital communication devices that provide compelling experiences, Motorola is leading the next wave of innovations that enable people, enterprises and governments to be more connected and more mobile. Motorola (NYSE: MOT) had sales of US $22 billion in 2009. For more information, please visit www.motorola.com.
Media Contacts:

Gemma Priscott
Office: +44 (0) 1256 488 033
Mobile: +44 7970 882 994
gemma.priscott@motorola.com
Motorola, Inc., Home & Networks Mobility
MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered trademarks of Motorola Trademarks Holding LLC. The Bluetooth trademarks are owned by their proprietor and used by Motorola Mobility Inc. under license. Android, Google, Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Android Market, Google Talk are trademarks of Google, Inc. Adobe Flash is a trademark of Adobe Systems Inc. All other trademark and product or service names are the property of their respective owners. © Motorola Mobility Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

1 3G Mobile Hotspot service may incur additional charges. Contact your service provider for details

2 Network and/or SIM card dependent feature, not available in all areas. Airtime, data charges and/or additional charges may apply. Wireless email functionality requires an email account with wireless server capabilities.

3 The unauthorized copying of copyrighted materials is contrary to the provisions of the Copyright Laws of the United States and other countries. This device is intended solely for copying non-copyrighted materials, materials in which you own the copyright, or materials which you are authorized or legally permitted to copy. If you are uncertain about your right to copy any material, please contact your legal advisor.

4 This device supports Bluetooth A2DP, HSP, HFP profiles. In order for Bluetooth devices to communicate with one another, they must utilize the same Bluetooth profile. To determine the profiles supported by other Motorola devices, visit www.motorola.com/bluetoothconnect . For other devices, contact their respective manufacturer.

Certain Bluetooth features including those listed may not be supported by all compatible Bluetooth-enabled devices, and/or the functionality of such features may be limited in certain devices, or by certain wireless carriers. Contact your wireless carrier about feature availability and functionality.

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Good news for UK mobile addicts: HD Voice service has officially made it to the Land of Hope and Glory. Starting today, British customers can pick up a HD Voice-enabled handset — including the Nokia 5230, X6, E5 and Samsung Omnia Pro at launch — from Orange, and start buttering their ears with “crystal clear” phone calls while within the carrier’s 3G coverage. Prior to the launch, we were fortunate enough to try out the new service on a couple of Nokia E5 prototypes, and boy, that was some pretty impressive stuff there — the wider speech bandwidth really added a lot of clarity to the caller’s voice, and additionally, the noisy traffic from the caller’s end was well suppressed at where it’d otherwise crackle over a normal call. Perhaps the easiest way to put it is that this is much like jumping from a bad FM radio broadcast to some sweet CD audio, thus making conversations a lot easier to interpret, even if the recipient is in a noisy environment or has hearing problem (as proven by Orange’s public trial). As always, hearing is believing, so do check out our sample audio clips after the break.

While Orange remains a dominant driving force behind this mobile revolution, the carrier assured us that it expects other companies to pick up this open standard. That said, it’s rather disappointing that current owners of the aforementioned handsets won’t be getitng a software patch for the HD upgrade (we were told that no extra hardware is involved), but we can understand — the manufacturers do need to sell new phones to stay alive in this rapidly changing market. Anyhow, here’s hoping that the forthcoming flagship Android and Windows Phone 7 devices will also get a taste of this crystal clear call quality.

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CRYSTAL CLEAR CALLING AS ORANGE REVOLUTIONISES MOBILE PHONE CALLS IN THE UK WITH THE LAUNCH OF HIGH DEFINITION VOICE

· Orange becomes first operator to launch mobile HD Voice in the UK, signalling the dawn of a new era in mobile communications for customers

· HD Voice reduces background noise and decreases perceived distance between callers by providing crystal clear calls

· HD Voice is available from today nationwide at no extra cost for all Orange customers with an HD voice enabled handset

London, 1st September, 2010: Orange today announced the first major advancement in UK mobile voice calling for 20 years with the launch of mobile High Definition (HD) Voice. Providing crystal clear sound quality for calls, mobile users will see the service set a new consumer benchmark, with today’s move testament to Orange’s continuing focus on innovation.

HD Voice offers a proven improvement in the sound quality of traditional mobile voice calls. The service eliminates the distance between friends, relatives and colleagues to make callers voices sound like they do when communicating face to face. Reducing the background noise, hisses and crackles of normal mobile calls, HD Voice also excels in noisy environments, so whether you’re at a football match or concert, on a building site or next to heavy traffic – HD Voice gives louder, clearer, sharper mobile calls. This will come as a relief for a third (32%) of Brits who blame background noise including road works or noisy chatty friends as the biggest disturbance in conversations*.

Orange HD Voice is available at no extra cost to all Orange mobile customers who take a HD Voice enabled handset. From launch, the Nokia 5230, Nokia X6, Nokia E5 and Samsung Omnia Pro will be HD Voice enabled with further manufactures expected to offer HD handsets in the coming months. All HD Voice enabled handsets will be labelled with the Orange HD Voice logo, helping customers to easily recognise those devices that support the new Orange HD Voice service. HD Voice demonstration units will also be available in Orange shops.

Tom Alexander, Chief Executive of Everything Everywhere, the company which runs Orange UK, said: “Although what we use our mobile handsets for has evolved significantly in the past few years – the way we make mobile calls hasn’t changed a great deal since the 1990s. So we’re proud to be the first telecommunications brand in the UK to change this and offer customers a revolutionary new calling experience. With mobile HD Voice – hearing really is believing”.

HD Voice also opens up new opportunities for better ways of working in business. The arrival of HD Voice is hotly anticipated by the broadcasting industry, which believes that the service could reduce its reliance on expensive ISDN lines and the need to ferry guests to studios for interviews. Other industries that will benefit significantly from HD Voice include those with significant background noise like the construction and manufacturing industries.

For more information on HD Voice from Orange, please visit: www.orange.co.uk/HDVoice.

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Time to get our guessing caps on as HTC has announced it’ll be hosting a little shindig in London in the middle of next month. No advance information is available beyond the smoky teaser image above, leaving the door wide open for speculation. Given the event’s proximity to Windows Phone 7′s launch and the recent spate of leaks, this could easily be the date and place that HTC makes its wares official. Or, on a more tenuous tangent, if you put the smoke and “dreamt up” notes together, you could perhaps surmise that this is going to be the launch for the HTC Vision, which has most recently been referred to as the G1 Blaze. All we know for sure is that we’ll be there when the fog of war is lifted.

P.S. – We’ve enhanced the image to reveal the hint of a handset hidden inside the smoke, you can see it after the break. It looks an awful lot like the back of the Desire HD, but HTC is well known for repeating design themes across its phone portfolio, so let’s not jump to any conclusions just yet.