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.

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 India has started taking pre-bookings for its upcoming Galaxy S III phone. The start of the pre-booking is interesting because Samsung hasn’t revealed the exact price but is asking interested consumers to pay Rs. 2,000 in advance for a coupon that expires 15 days from the launch of the device and is non-refundable.

However, if you’re genuinely interested, you can head to the link below to pre-book it in the color of your choice. Consumers pre-booking the phone will also get an assured gift, which is a Bluetooth headset.

Samsung’s Galaxy S III comes with a quad-core 1.4GHz processor, 4.8-inch 720p HD display, 8MP camera, 1.9MP front-facing camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, up to 64GB microSD card slot, 2100mAh battery and software features like S-Voice, Smart Alert, Direct Call etc.

Product Page

[Via Sammy Hub]

Almost all Android manufacturers have some kind of user interface customization that allows them to differentiate it from the competition and LG today, has announced the Optimus UI 3.0 that promises to enhance the user experience of Ice Cream Sandwich-based phones.

The first recipients of the new user interface will be Optimus LTE II and Optimus 4X HD and will bring in features like Quick Memo, ability to unlock the phone by dragging anywhere on the screen, improved app navigation, new Pattern Unlock that will unlock directly to an app (for instance, camera), voice-activated camera shutter, best photo, icon customizer and an improved Download category.

Nokia unwrapped two devices today in a bid to connect the “next billion to the Internet.” Its the Nokia 110 (above) and Nokia 112 (below) that are spec’d similarly but differ on the design front and talk time. Both phones support dual-SIM functionality with Easy Swap technology that allows switching of SIM cards without having to open the phone, features 40 games from EA and comes with Nokia Browser that compresses data and reduces data consumption by 90 percent. The Nokia 112 also comes pre-loaded with eBuddy instant messenger app.

Both phones have a 1.8-inch 128×160 pixel display, FM Radio, improved VGA camera, 3.5mm headphone jack, Bluetooth and microSD card slot supporting up to 32GB. Nokia 110 will offer a talk time of 10.5 hours whereas Nokia 112 boasts a talk time for up to 14 hours.

Nokia epxects to ship Nokia 110 in this quarter for 35 euros while Nokia 112 will arrive in next quarter for 38 euros.

Press Release

Well that didn’t take long. After the leak yesterday, HTC has decided to come clean on the Desire C. It will be HTC’s first low-priced handset to boast Beats Audio integration. Running Android 4.0, HTC Desire C will offer a vastly improved audio performance mainly due to the combination of Beats Audio and the underlying hardware.

Clad in a metal frame, the Desire C features a 3.5-inch HVGA display, 5MP camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and an unspecified “powerful battery.”

Orange UK has confirmed to bring the device to their network in early June for free on a 2-year contract or 170GBP on prepaid.

LG has confirmed that its first quad-core device will be available in Europe from next month with countries like Germany, Sweden, UK, Italy, Poland being the first recipients. The Tegra 3-toting Optimus 4X HD is the first from LG that will pit against its arch rival’s Galaxy S III and HTC’s One X.

Optimus 4X HD boasts some meaty features like 4.7-inches True HD IPS display (1280×720), Android 4.0 OS, 8MP camera, DLNA, Wi-Fi and 2150mAh battery.

LG will expand the availability to Asia, CIS and Latin American regions as well.

While most Android manufacturers have turned down the possibility of integrating Android 4.0 in lower-spec’d devices, HTC is making an exception in the Desire C. Desire C’s specs maybe mediocre by today’s range of smartphones but the fact it will run the latest version of Ice Cream Sandwich OS will make it a lucrative buy.

The specs leaked by Vodafone Portugal includes a 600MHz processor, 3.5-inch HVGA display (320×480) display, HSDPA, 4GB internal memory, 5MP camera, GPS, Wi-Fi etc.

While we don’t have any details regarding the availability, GSMArena expects the device to be priced at under 200 euros.

Samsung has announced a new Windows Phone that will take the lower-end of the WP market. The Omnia M one ups the Omnia W in the display department but is low on other aspects. The phone comes with 1GHz of processing power and 384MB of RAM that is able to run the latest windows Phone 7.5 OS.

As for the other features, the 119g phone boasts a 5MP autofocus camera with front-facing VGA cam for video calls, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, A-GPS, 4GB internal storage, 1500mAh battery and host of services like Samsung Family Story that allows sharing multimedia content with family members, People Hub, ChatON messaging service, AllShare, 25GB storage with Windows Live SkyDrive, Xbox Live.

Samsung hasn’t revealed the price but it will arrive soon in Europe followed by other regions.

Samsung promised to release the Ice Cream Sandwich OS update to Galaxy Note users and they’ve fulfilled it – at least partially – by releasing it in the European region. Users in Germany have started receiving OTA firmware update notification that asks to upgrade the OS to Android 4.0. In addition to the OS version bump, Galaxy Note users will also get Premium Suite apps that are optimized for S Pen input.

The 320MB update is available over-the-air and also on Samsung’s Kies software.

[Via Sammy Hub]