Archive for February, 2012
Lava announces Intel Medfield-powered Xolo X900 Android smartphone for India
Feb 28th
Lava, a player in the Indian budget smartphone market, unveiled the Xolo X900, the first handset powered by Intel’s Medfield x86 chipset (formerly codenamed Penwell). The Xolo runs Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread on top of a 1.6 GHz single-core Intel Atom Z2460 (Medfield) chip. Screen size is 4″, with 1024×600 resolution, 8-megapixel rear camera with flash, VGA front-facing camera, NFC support, HDMI output, and a 1640 mAh battery.
The phone is based on Intel’s Medfield reference design, which UK carrier Orange is also using for its upcoming phone, codenamed Santa Clara.
Pricing is unknown as of yet, but Lava says the Xolo X900 should hit the market — only in India — in April.
Hands-on videos with the X900 after the break.
HTC announces One X: quad-core Tegra 3, 4.7″ HD SLCD, Android 4.0
Feb 27th
HTC One X
HTC just announced its new One X superphone at the Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona. The Android-powered handset features HTC’s first quad-core processor, a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 running at 1.5 GHz. Other specs include a 4.7″ Super LCD screen with 1280×720 HD resolution, 32 GB storage, 1 GB RAM, an 8-megapixel camera with f/2.0 lens, Bluetooth 4.0, dual-band 802.11n Wifi, NFC, DLNA, HDMI via MHL (over the MicroUSB port), Beats Audio, and a 1800 mAh battery.
The One X’s camera seems to have been a focus area for HTC, which included HDR and the ability to take pictures while recording video (pretty cool). The phone is 9.27 mm thick, weighs in at 130 grams, and will ship with Android 4.0 running HTC’s Sense 4 interface on top.
In the US, AT&T gets its own version, the One XL, with an LTE radio built in. Since Tegra 3 doesn’t seem to play well with current LTE chipsets, the One XL swaps out Nvidia’s quad-core chip for a 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 from Qualcomm. With half the cores as Tegra 3, S4 may appear to be a step down in processing power, but reviews suggest Qualcomm’s Krait architecture may very well match or beat Tegra for mildly threaded apps (i.e. almost everything you can do on a phone except multitasking of several heavy apps).
One X is the hero phone of HTC’s new One line, which also includes the One S (a thin, dual-core phone slotting under the X) and the One V (the entry-level model).
HTC One lineup: S, X, and V
The HTC One S features a svelte aluminum body, just 7.9 mm thick. It features the same dual-core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 processor from Snapdragon, alongside the 8 MP camera, 1 GB RAM, Bluetooth 4, Wifi, DLNA, and HDMI. However, the screen drops to a 4.3″ QHD (960 x 540) Super AMOLED (with PenTile), internal storage is down to 16 GB, and the battery is 1650 mAh. In the US, the One S will be offered by T-Mobile.
The final member of the family, One V, resurrects the HTC Legend’s design from 2010 for an entry/mid-level Android offering. The phone features a 1 GHz single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S2, 3.7″ WVGA screen, 4GB of internal storage, 512 MB RAM, 5 MP camera (with f/2.0 aperture, 720p video recording), 115 gram weight, and a 1500mAh battery.
Windows Mobile 6.1 now running as app on Windows Phone 7
Feb 19th
A YouTube video posted by the Dark Force Team (DFT), a well-known smartphone hacking group, shows Windows Mobile 6.1 running within WML — some sort of emulator — on an HTC Windows Phone 7.5 handset. The old OS shows up just like an app, so you can use Windows Phone 7′s task switcher to switch away from it and instantly resume later. The emulator features on-screen buttons that simulate hardware buttons for Windows Mobile.
Despite WML being at an early stage of development, with no technical details provided, Windows Mobile seems to perform quite well in it — even games and full-screen movie playback work seamlessly. If DFT can give the emulator full functionality (like networking support), it could become very useful for anyone who wants to use legacy Windows Mobile apps — or just wants a stroll down memory lane.
No word on when WML will be available to download, but DFT says a version that includes the more touch-friendly Windows Mobile 6.5 is in the works.
Video after the break.
Microsoft unveils new Windows 8 logo
Feb 18th
Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 operating system is shaping up to be one of the most significant updates in the company’s history, featuring a new Windows Phone-inspired Metro tile interface, support for ARM processors (so the same OS will run everything from a tablet or netbook to a workstation), and much more. Now the winds of change have reached the Windows logo as well. A new post on the Windows team blog explains that Microsoft turned for advice to design agency Pentagram, which asked a simple but pointed question: ”your name is Windows. Why are you a flag?”
The design process resulted in a four-paned window that looks a bit more in line with the Metro design language. That said, both Metro and “Swiss design,” which the post cites as inspiration, are about flat, 2D surfaces, and this logo has a tilt. Windows Phone tiles do rotate when loading, but the 3D effect is only during animation– it’s all flat once loaded. In any case, Microsoft says the new logo will change colors to match the user’s desktop.
Windows logos through history
See the Windows team blog post for the full design story.
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