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Feb

Confirmed: Sony Ericsson Announcing Xperia Play On February 13th, Gingerbread Included

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Gingerbread 2.3, News, Sony Ericsson, Xperia Play (Zeus, PlayStation Phone)

There's been no shortage of leaks involving the Xperia Play, but Sony Ericsson hasn't said a single word on the matter... until now, that is. A new event was just posted on the company's Facebook page, and guess what it's related to:

That's right - expect an official announcement of the Xperia Play on February 13 (the day Mobile World Congress kicks off) at 1:00 p.m. EST / 10:00 a.m. PST. Can't wait? Check out the (now official) commercial for the device - not only is it super creepy; its description confirms that the phone will ship with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).

Feb

Mysterious HTC Desire 2 Pops Up in Vodafone Inventory System, Is It The Pyramid?

Posted by David Ruddock in HTC, News, Vodafone

A German HTC fan blog by the name HTC Inside published a shot from Vodafone's internal inventory system last night, revealing the existence of an HTC phone by the name "Desire 2". Phandroid pointed out that this may be a European version of the upcoming and equally mysterious dual-core Pyramid, and I'd say that's not too farfetched a theory.

We'll probably find out what this thing is at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (which starts on the 14th), so the mystery shouldn't last a whole lot longer.

HTC Inside via Phandroid

Jan

Samsung Releases Figures For 2010: Over 10 Million Galaxy S Phones Sold, Tab Sales Mysteriously Absent

Posted by David Ruddock in Galaxy Tab, News, Samsung

Early this morning (or late last night if you want to get technical), Samsung made its quarterly earnings call, and the company's mobile division is doing quite well - profits are up 38%, thanks in large part to the Galaxy S line of phones.

Samsung managed to sell over 10 million Galaxy S handsets in 2010, comprising roughly a third of all the manufacturer's smartphone sales. Given the Galaxy S's global launch along with its premium hardware and fair pricing, it's no surprise that device has been a big hit. But what about the Galaxy Tab?

Since its release, the smallish tablet has received mixed reviews (though our own Aaron Gingrich thoroughly enjoyed it), and given its treatment by some of the major tech blogs, "mixed" is putting it politely:

This thing is just a mess.

Jan

Leaked Samsung MWC Schedule Shows Galaxy S 2, Tab 2 Presentations Planned

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, News, Samsung

It looks like a bit of an oopsie has resulted in Samsung's official Mobile World Congress (MWC) schedule leaking out. The details of the slip aren't available and aren't especially important, because this looks and sounds legitimate - especially since it (sort of) reinforces rumblings we've heard before.

Surprisingly, we have absolutely no idea what kind of hardware to expect. What I do know, though, is that if The S 2 ends up being this... boy, will my face ever be red. But hey - I still feel fairly safe in saying it won't be. (I hope.)

[Source: Electronista via Mobile Crunch]

Jan

T-Mobile To Launch A Massive Pre-MWC Sale On February 11th - 12th

Posted by Josh Cooter in Deals, News, T-Mobile

T-Mobile is planning a huge sale on February 11th and 12th to kick off the new year, TmoNews learned today. According to a memo sent to T-Mo retail stores, "it is expected to be similar to the first half of the Father's day promotion," which reportedly reeled in over 100,000 new customer contracts last year.

Little else can be confirmed about the sale until more information is provided on February 8th, but we can be sure that it will be a knockout because each store is being told to "max out as many employees as possible for the first half of the day."

Curiously, the big sale goes live 2 days before MWC, where we expect to see a flood of mobile related announcements and product launches - clearly, T-Mobile is having the fire sale before it's too late.

Jan

Samsung's Budget-Minded Galaxy Mini Revealed, Has Froyo - Cue Angry Mob

Posted by David Ruddock in Galaxy Mini (Tass), Galaxy Q, News

We won't lie - it's a slow news day in the world of Android. And with all the bad press Samsung's been getting today over an alleged filing of a class-action suit regarding the Froyo update on US Galaxy S phones, we're going to stay on the lighter side of things (for now).

Meet the Samsung Galaxy Mini. Isn't it adorable? Unfortunately, its diminutive size comes with an equally diminutive feature list:

240x320 screen (presumably less than or about 3" in size)
Android 2.2.1
Bluetooth 3.0
Device measures 4.3" x 2.4" approximately
microSD slot
TouchWiz UI

I can't imagine there's a Hummingbird buzzing inside this little guy, so it'll be interesting to see if the TouchWiz UI overlay makes the phone unbearably slow.

Dec

[Rumor] Samsung To Reveal Galaxy S2 (And Maybe Tab 2) At CES. Or Is It MWC?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, News, Samsung

Oh, internet... we have such a love/hate relationship, don't we? Those of you who follow regularly know that I'm generally pretty skeptical of rumors and speculation - although I'm really not a contrarian by heart. This time around we have two similar, but fundamentally different, rumors floating around.

Both involve Samsung and the successor to the Galaxy S (which the internet has dubbed... wait for it... the Galaxy S2). And while there's little doubt there will be a successor, that's about the only common thread to the rumors. One version (Korea Times) says it will debut at CES alongside the Galaxy Tab 2.