About a few months back, Samsung India had announced a dual-SIM variant of Galaxy Ace known as Galaxy Ace DUOS with GSM and CDMA network support. Now bearing the same name, Samsung has announced a global version that supports GSM networks only. The phone supports 7.2Mbps HSDPA suppor and comes with ‘Dual SIM always on’ feature. It basically allows users to use both the SIMs with calls from SIM 2 being forwarded automatically to the active SIM 1 in case of an incoming call on SIM 2.

As for other features, it runs Android 2.3 OS and comes with an 832MHz single-core processor, 512MB RAM, 3.5-inch HVGA display, 5MP camera, 3GB internal memory, microSD card slot, A-GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ChatON messaging support and 1300mAh battery.

Samsung hasn’t revealed the price but will launch the phone next month in Russia followed by other regions.

Nvidia today confirmed that their Icera modem chipset has earned a validation on AT&T’s LTE network. This is good news for AT&T smartphone and tablet users as there’s a high possibility as Nvidia will integrate the Icera chipset with its Tegra 3 to deliver an all-round performance.

The chipset that got certified is the Icera 410 LTE which implements 4G LTE in a software defined radio baseband processor and supports HSPA+, 3G and 2G connectivity.

Press Release

Bharti Airtel has announced that they’ve picked up a 49 percent stake in Qualcomm AP’s India entities that hold the BWA licenses. The deal means good news for Airtel consumers as the operator will soon launch its 4G LTE service in Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala, expanding its LTE service to a total of 8 regions, including Kolkata, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra.

As for Qualcomm, they’ll provide technical assistance to Bharti with respect to network architecture and optimization, infrastructure and device testing.

Seagate has announced to buy a controlling stake in LaCie for $186 million. Seagate will buy a 64.5% stake in the company and subject to government approval, will start an all-cash simplified tender offer to acquire the remaining outstanding shares.

Seagate says the transaction will allow them to combine LaCie’s premium branded offerings with their mainstream products.

Philippe Spruch, chairman and CEO of LaCie will join Seagate and will lead the consumer storage products division.

Samsung’s first tablet to run Android 4.0 out-of-the-box has been launched in India. Pegged at Rs. 23,250, the Galaxy Tab 2 310 aka Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 brings the ICS experience in one of the most affordable package. The tablet features 3G support with voice calling and comes with a 7-inch WSVGA (1024×600) display, 3MP rear-facing camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, 8GB internal memory, microSD card slot and 4000mAh battery.

Samsung also pre-loads the Galaxy Tab with their own services like Game Hub, Readers Hub, ChatON, S Suggest app recommendation engine, Allshare, Kies air.

Consumers purchasing the tablet will also be eligible for 3GB of free data from Tata Docomo for a period of three months.

After South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia, India is the latest Asian country to receive the Premium Suite upgrade. Galaxy Note users in India should receive an OTA notification on their device or can connect to Kies to update the device.

The Premium Suite will upgrade the phablet to Android 4.0.3 and will bring in S Pen optimized apps like S Note and My Story. Take a look at the video below to check out the Premium Suite upgrade.

[Via Sammy Hub]

Nvidia has revealed that they’re working on a platform that will allow tablet makers to develop and sell powerful quad-core tablets at an affordable price. It’s the Nvidia Kai platform that will bring ICS-running quad-core tablets at a price tag of $199.

While it won’t exactly be Tegra 3, VP Rob Csonger says Kai uses “a lot of the secret sauce that’s inside Tegra 3 to allow you to develop a tablet at a much lower cost.” Furthermore, the cost of the components used in the tablet will also help lower the price of the final product.

There’s no ETA as to when can we expect but we wouldn’t be surprised to see it in the coming months.

[Via The Verge]

It has taken good nine months but it is finally official – Motorola Mobility is now a part of Google Inc. Google is yet to reveal the future plans but has confirmed that Sanjay Jha will step down as CEO and Dennis Woodside will take his place instead.

Back in August, Google bought the Motorola spin-off for $12.5 billion or $40 per share. Google is expected to run Motorola as a separate unit.

[Via Google]

LG has been slowly and steadily expanding its Android smartphone lineup and the latest offering in the Indian market is the mid-range Optimus Sol (E730), which we tried it out to see if its worth the asking price.

Design:

The first thing to notice when you pick up Optimus Sol is how slim it is. The phone’s width is just 9.8mm and the fact that it has a compact design, makes it easy to hold in one hand. The front is occupied with a huge 3.8-inch display along with earpiece and a camera on the top and touch-sensitive menu, home and back buttons at the bottom. The lock/power key is placed on the top of phone along with the microUSB port and 3.5mm audio jack, volume buttons on the left and loudspeaker and main 5MP camera unit at the back.

One gripe on the design front is the choice of a glossy back. The glossy plastic makes it highly susceptible to scratches.

Display:

Optimus Sol comes with a 3.8-inch Ultra AMOLED display supporting WVGA (800×480) display. LG says their choice of AMOLED panel is better than the regular AMOLED panels and we tend to agree. The colors look vibrant with deep blacks and great viewing angle, even in direct sunlight.

Performance:

The phone runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread OS) and just like every other manufacturer, LG too, has their own user interface overlaid on the stock UI. We wouldn’t say the UI as revolutionary but is definitely smooth and simpler to use. Users can add up to 7 home screens, add widgets and features an improved app drawer with a revamped notification bar that comes with few shortcuts. The browser has also got a revamped tabbed browsing interface.

LG also pre-loads the phone with some of their own apps like RemoteCall assistance, LG Smart World app store, SmartShare to share and stream content via DLNA etc.

The phone boasts a 1GHz processor and 512MB of RAM which seems more than adequate for most operations.

LG’s promised release of Android 4.0 later this year will also help the phone to further improve the performance.

Multimedia:

Optimus Sol features a 5MP rear-facing camera that takes decent pictures. However, the camera fared badly in low light situation as there is no flash. Users can shoot images in various shooting modes or adjust various other settings. As for the video, it is able to record videos in up to 720p HD resolution.

Multimedia playback is fairly satisfactory with the default video player capable of playing 720p mp4, DivX files without any conversion. Optimus Sol supports MP3, wav, AAC and WMA formats on the audio front that produces a good quality playback on the loudspeaker and headset.

Battery:
Optimus Sol sports a 1500mAh battery and with a moderate usage of calls, music and video, we managed to get about a day’s usage, which is decent going by today’s smartphone standards.

Conclusion:
LG has some work to do when it comes to high-end offerings but in case of Optimus Sol, it sits nicely in the mid-range segment. Priced at Rs. 17,000, the phone is Rs. 1,000 cheaper than its closest competitor – Sony Xperia neo V and the fact that it is bound to get an Android 4.0, makes the LG device more lucrative.

Rating:
Pros: Sleek, Good Performance, Price
Cons: No camera flash

Samsung has started taking pre-orders of its 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2 in India. One of the most affordable Galaxy Tabs, the Galaxy Tab 2 310 can be booked by interested consumers for Rs. 23,250, which is bundled with a free Tab stand worth Rs. 1000. Interestingly, the same tablet is now up for sale from retailers in Mumbai at a discounted price of Rs. 19,500.

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 2 is the first tablet in its range to run Android 4.0 out-of-the-box and features 7-inch WSVGA display (1024×600), 3G support, 1GHz dual-core processor, Wi-Fi, 3MP rear-facing camera, front-facing VGA camera, GPS, 8GB internal memory, microSD card slot and 4,000mAh battery.

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[Via Sammy Hub]