Author: Kat Hannaford

Acer’s keen on racking up lots of firsts for its netbook arm, with this Aspire One 532G having the claim of being the world’s first to use NVIDIA’s Ion 2 graphics technology for 1080p playback.

The 10.1-inch LED-backlit screen will playback videos at 1080p with 7.1-channel audio output. It’ll also be suitable for 3D gaming, Acer claims, though why you’d want to do that on a little netbook is beyond me. A 10-hour battery life, Wi-Fi and the choice of embedded 3G all figure, along with an Intel N450 Pine Trail chip and HDMI video output. On sale in just a month or two, it’ll be available in several colors—blue, red, and silver.

Acer Aspire One 532G: first netbook with dedicated graphics for true
Hi-Def video enjoyment

Playback 1080p on external screen for viewing Hi-Def content with friends and family

The new Acer Aspire One 532G sets the netbook trend in the digital world where Hi-Def viewing online is growing dramatically. Acer presents the world’s first netbook with dedicated next-generation NVIDIA® ION™ graphics acceleration enabling users to enjoy Hi-Def content online as well as playback at 720p; alternatively, connect through HDMI output to a secondary Hi-Def TV/LCD monitor for sharing Hi-Def content with friends at a larger 1080p resolution.

With up to 10 hours* of battery life, integrated Wi-Fi®, 10.1″ Hi-Def LED backlit display and optional 3G, the Aspire One 532G matches outstanding performance with an ultra-compact design, offering all the power you need. Netbook users can now enjoy flawless Hi-Def web content streaming and multiple Internet applications with ease.

Flawless web Hi-Def acceleration† and Hi-Def entertainment
Go beyond simple Internet browsing to experience full high-definition video on sites like YouTube HD, Hulu and Facebook, Aspire One 532G with dedicated graphics accelerates web Hi-Def content streaming effortlessly. Enjoy smooth and flawless 3D computing, mainstream PC gaming, boost the performance of editing and converting videos, face-tagging photos and Hi-Def video playback up to 1080p via HDMI-output to HDTV; and effectively perform everyday Internet browsing, emailing, chats, photo viewing, document editing and such on the Aspire One 532G. All of these are achieved with the new Intel Atom™ N450 platform and next-generation NVIDIA® ION™ GPU with dedicated 512MB memory.

Smart power and Hi-Def performance
The Aspire One 532G makes no compromise on great performance and battery life; it mobilizes online Hi-Def computing, at the same time lowers power consumption for longer-lasting battery. NVIDIA® Optimus™ Technology intelligently, automatically, and seamlessly transitions between the powerful NVIDIA® ION™ GPU, and battery-saving integrated graphics – depending on the needs of the application – delivering great battery life and great performance when you need it.

Care-free mobile companion
Making light work of Internet multi-tasking, the Aspire One 532G needs only a single charge for up to 10 hours* of cable-free power, enabling users to stay connected and get the most on-the-go. The innovative AC adapter is travel friendly, lighter than typical adapters, saves 1/3 charging time and comes with interchangeable AC converters. No matter where you are, you can always have the right plug.

Measuring only 1″ thin and about 1 kg in weight, the Aspire One 532G is available in three contemporary colors – Sapphire Blue, Ruby Red and Pearl Silver. Its compact form, fluid Hi-Def cinema and flawless Hi-Def flash video quality along with great battery life, truly realizes barrier-free communication.

This highly efficient netbook is Energy Star® v5.0 qualified and compliant with RoHS and WEEE EU directives, regulating the use and disposal of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. It also features LED backlight, making it mercury free.

The Aspire One 532G will start shipping at the end of Q1 2010.

After 13 days Nokia had seen 1.4million downloads of its free Ovi Maps. Now, less than a month after giving away the good for free, they’ve seen 3m downloads—with a map being downloaded every second. [TechRadar]

We’ve seen bits and pieces of Qualcomm’s FLO live TV service, curiously even on an iPhone, but at MWC it’ll be showing it off on Snapdragon-powered smartbooks. It enables real-time updates via Twitter while watching live TV.

If you don’t have a Twitter account, or can’t stand the thought of getting updates about footballers while watching a sports match, Qualcomm will also give the viewer info from breaking news services and other e-magazines. FLO TV has heaps of different channels to watch, including ESPN, Comedy Central, MTV, NBC and Nickelodeon. The jargon-filled press release is below, but in the meantime there should be some solid news including product launches with FLO TV coming this week. [Qualcomm via TechRadar]

Image credit: Electricpig

Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), a leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies, products and services, today announced FLO-EV, the next evolution of the FLO™ air interface for new deployments of mobile TV and other advanced broadcast mobile media services. Intended primarily for international markets, FLO-EV builds on the success of FLO technology to enable a rich suite of mobile content and services with greater channel capacity and significant performance improvements. FLO-EV is designed to help wireless operators lower the deployment costs for delivering multimedia content to mobile devices.

Analysts have predicted the global market for mobile media services will surpass $90 billion by 2018. Adoption of mobile media is being driven through a combination of increasing consumer awareness and industry investment. Wireless operators, broadcasters and content providers are all seeking to implement the best technologies to drive new mobile media business models. FLO-EV can help them by substantially lowering the cost of rolling out mobile media services while preserving features critical to the user experience, such as high-quality video, reduced power consumption, rapid channel changing times and increased channel capacity.

“As a technology enabler and leader in the mobile media space, Qualcomm is continually looking to improve the capabilities of FLO technology to deliver more advanced broadcast services to our worldwide customers,” said Neville Meijers, senior vice president and general manager of MediaFLO Technologies. “FLO-EV is the result of our continued innovation and dedication to providing the most compelling and technically advanced offering to both wireless operators and mobile media consumers. By pushing the envelope with our design and development efforts, we are confident of staying at the forefront of the rapidly expanding and dynamic mobile media industry.”

FLO-EV features a variety of technical enhancements to the original FLO Rev. A air interface (TIA-1099), including a 3-5 dB improvement in performance with the same spectral efficiency. This link margin can translate into a 30-50 percent reduction in capital and operating costs to deploy a FLO-EV network. Moreover, the costs savings can be realized without negatively affecting channel change times or increasing power consumption on the mobile device, thereby preserving a high-quality user experience. FLO-EV is well suited for new mobile TV network launches and as an upgrade to existing FLO Rev. A networks. FLO-EV can increase the channel capacity of a FLO Rev. A network by 50 percent or more using the existing transmit sites with no increase in radiated power.

The MediaFLO™ services platform enables the broadcast delivery of high-quality mobile entertainment and information to the mass market. In addition to live mobile TV, the MediaFLO platform supports enhanced mobile broadcast services such as streaming video and audio, clipcasting media, datacasting, interactive applications and targeted advertising – providing a compelling mobile media experience while enabling profitable business models. Invented for mobility and complementary to 3G and Wi-Fi services, the MediaFLO platform is designed to increase capacity and coverage and reduce costs for multimedia content delivery to unlimited mobile devices simultaneously. The MediaFLO platform is based on the FLO™ air interface, an open standard recognized by ETSI, ITU-R and TIA. Additional information is available at www.mediaflo.com.

Nokia and Intel have joined up to marry their Moblin and Maemo platforms, creating the MeeGo spawn which will be seen on devices by the ends of the year. Another operating system?

Moblin is, of course, the open source mobile Linux that’s been seen on phones and netbooks with Intel’s Atom processor. Maemo was seen on Nokia’s N900, and was pretty much heralded as the savior for their phones, especially with the latest version, Maemo 6, expected to debut on some phones this year.

While the jury is out on whether we need another mobile OS, MeeGo “will acelerate industry innovation and time-to-market for a wealth of new internet-based applications and services and exciting user experiences,” according to reps from both Intel and Nokia, at a Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona.

Actual firm information on what MeeGo will look like, do or why the hell there’s a market for it are beyond me, but all shall be revealed soon, I’m sure. [MeeGo via TechRadar]

From the MeeGo site:

MeeGo includes:

* Performance optimizations and features which enable rich computational and graphically oriented applications and connected services development
* No-compromise internet standards support delivering the best web experiences
* Easy to use, flexible and powerful UI/app development environment based on Qt
* Open source project organization managed by the Linux Foundation
* State of the Art Linux stack optimized for the size and capabilities of small footprint platforms and mobile devices, but delivering broad linux software application compatibility

MeeGo currently targets platforms such as netbooks/entry-level desktops, handheld computing and communications devices, in-vehicle infotainment devices, connected TVs, and media phones. All of these platforms have common user requirements in communications, application, and internet services in a portable or small form factor. The MeeGo project will continue to expand platform support as new features are incorporated and new form factors emerge in the market.

Omnifone’s MusicStation music download store—which is pre-loaded on all HP laptops—is also getting an Android launch if you’re looking for another way to download music on your Nexus One. [Business Wire]

As well as the TG02, Toshiba’s brought the K01 slider phone all the way from its Japanese R&D department to Mobile World Congress, showing off a very nice sounding 4.1-inch OLED screen.

It’s a bit thicker than the TG02 at 12.9mm deep, mostly due to the addition of a QWERTY keyboard. A 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, and microSD card slot are all that’s known about the TG02, until we grab some more information (and pics) from Toshiba.

The TG01 had it all on paper—an amazing screen, the first use of the super-fast Snapdragon processor, and a thin build not seen since before Nicole Richie started putting on the pounds. The TG02 will hopefully perform better.

It’s not that the TG01 had anything particularly wrong with it, it just didn’t live up to its specs. Lag weighed it down, as did Windows 6.5—which could be the downfall of the TG02, as it’s not been updated with the later 6.5.3 by the sounds of it. We presume it’ll be available as an OTA update, and perhaps even Windows Phone 7 at a later date, too.

Anyway, the TG02, which we first caught wind of in late January, has a 4.1-inch capacitive display, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, and newly-designed 3D interface. It’s 9.9mm thick, which is only 0.1mm slimmer than the TG01, but is still slinky on the greater scheme of things. One thing I didn’t like about the TG01 was the cheap build, so I hope Toshiba’s at least used some more premium materials for the TG01.

UPDATE: Full specs below.

Details were shed on the open source Symbian^3 platform just a week ago, but at Mobile World Congress the friendly guys at The Symbian Foundation got reckless with details on HDMI support, and both 2D and 3D gaming graphics.

It’ll be “feature complete” within the next month or two, and the first products with the platform will be released in the third quarter. More information is below via the press release, but do check out this spiffy video of the Android-esque multi-screens with widgets, and Cover Flow-like media player. [Business Wire via Nokia Conversations]

The Symbian Foundation today unveiled the Symbian^3 (S^3) platform, the first entirely open source release following the platform’s transition to an open source license on 4 February, 2010, which was the largest of its kind in history.

S^3 is expected to be “feature complete” by the end of Q1 and the release will include: significant usability and interface advances, faster networking, acceleration for 2D and 3D graphics in games and applications, HDMI support (High-Definition Multimedia Interface), music store integration, an improved user interface with easier navigation and multi-touch gesture support, a feature-rich homescreen, and the ability to run even more applications simultaneously.

Members of the Symbian community, including device creators, network operators, hardware technology providers, professional services companies and application developers are already engaged with S^3 and the first devices using the platform are expected to ship as early as Q3 this year.

S^3 introduces major advances, which include:

* HDMI support enables users to plug their phone into a TV and watch a high-definition movie at 1080p quality without a Blu-ray player.
* Music store integration embedded within the radio enables users to identify a song and learn more about it. The addition of a “buy now” button, which links with the user’s chosen music store, makes purchasing easy.
* More efficient memory management due to Writeable Data Paging allows more applications to run in parallel for a faster, more complete and efficient multi-tasking experience, especially on mid-range hardware.
* A new 2D and 3D graphics architecture takes full advantage of the hardware acceleration available to deliver a faster and more responsive user interface. Users, developers and device creators will all benefit greatly from the visual enhancements and smooth transitions that will significantly improve the look-and-feel of their applications and services. Combined with industry-standard OpenGL ES, the new architecture also provides a great platform for high performance games – all without slowing the phone down.
* The industry-leading networking architecture, ready for 4G networks, provides next-generation Internet experiences on today’s devices. Consumers will benefit from the architecture’s ability to seamlessly balance each individual application’s needs regarding factors such as bandwidth, latency and jitter. This improves the consumer’s experience of network-dependent applications and Internet services like VoIP and media content streaming.
* One-click connectivity for all applications greatly simplifies the process of connecting to the Internet, without interrupting the user. New global settings allow the user to configure platform-wide behaviour, for example ensuring the device automatically switches from cellular to WLAN when a free WLAN network is available.
* Usability enhancements across the user interface include the adoption of a direct “single tap” interaction model, making it much easier to complete common tasks on a device. Multi-touch support for gestures such as “pinch-to-zoom” forms the basis of a gesture framework that can be extended and leveraged by the developer community.
* The Homescreen takes a big step forward with support for multiple pages of widgets and a simple flick gesture to move between them. The widget manager makes discovery and download of new widgets simple and support for multiple instances of a native widget means that consumers can monitor multiple weather forecasts, news feeds, social networking accounts or multiple email accounts simultaneously through a common interface.

Lee M. Williams, Executive Director of the Symbian Foundation, said: “S^3 is another huge milestone in the evolution of our platform. Now that it is fully open source, the door is open to individual contributors, device creators and third-party developer companies, as well as other organizations, to create more compelling products and services than ever before. We have enjoyed significant momentum since we completed S^2, with companies including Sun, Nokia, Ixonos, Comarch and Accenture, among others, contributing to S^3. We are now looking to build on this momentum and remain on course to complete S^4 later this year.”

The developer experience has also been greatly improved. The Qt toolkit is pre-integrated into all kits and the runtime in S^3 will run on existing devices back to S60 3.1. The Web Runtime support provided in the platform remains a key part of the developer story, allowing web developers to directly re-use their skills in HTML, CSS, Javascript and AJAX to create Homescreen widgets and standalone applications.

Acer’s updated its Android range of phones with the Liquid e, running Android 2.1 and built using a Qualcomm Snapdragon 768 MHz processor, so isn’t quite as zappy as some others we’ve seen recently.

While we don’t have images of the Liquid e yet (seen above is the previous Liquid model), it has a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen is a WVGA job, the camera is a 5.0-megapixel sensor with autofocus; and there’s Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and HSDPA/HSUPA on the wireless side.

Internally, the ROM is 512MB (with a microSD slot), RAM is 256MB and an accelerometer, light sensor and proximity sensor all feature. Full release and specs below, with pricing and availability not yet known. Acer’s not exactly known for its smartphones, but this Liquid e sounds like quite a step-up from the first Liquid which we saw last year.

Acer is proud to present Liquid e, the new version of the already well known Liquid smartphone.

Acer Liquid e features the latest Android™ 2.1 Operating System (aka Éclair). Building on the processing and graphical capabilities of the Qualcomm™ Snapdragon™ and its high definition screen, Liquid e is the state-of-the-art for multimedia, web browsing, and social media integration. It should thrill both avid users of internet on-the-go and new users eager to experience the rich possibilities offered by this innovative device.

This appealing high definition smartphone is the ideal solution for users demanding the best from their devices and in particular for high-definition video playback or streaming, gaming and browsing smoothly rich-content internet sites.

What’s new on Liquid e with Android Éclair 2.1:
• Home screens – The new version now handles five home screens by default, allowing users to easily install more applications from the rich selection available on the Android Market, as well as shortcuts and widgets;
• Quick Contacts – a feature that lets users easily switch between the address book and the social network applications;
• Live wallpapers to customize your Liquid e on the fly;
• A new keyboard layout with an extended dictionary for predictive input;
• An updated version of the Android browser, supporting HTML5, double-tap zooming, video tagging support and geo-location API support.

With its 3.5″ high-definition capacitive touch screen, Acer Liquid e offers an unparalleled experience when watching pictures or videos, and proposes an abundance of new applications on Android™ Smart Handhelds – games, professional applications and web applets that will enrich the end user experience.

Powered by the powerful Qualcomm™ Snapdragon™ processor, Acer Liquid e provides instant access to web pages, smooth streaming of videos or music, and instant response from popular mail, maps and search applications. The high-speed processing capabilities and high-speed internet access (HSPA) of Snapdragon™ brings to life the Android™ experience: no idle-time, almost instant uploads of web pages and downloads of rich multimedia content. The developer community can now take full advantage of these capabilities to bring to market innovative applications that demand raw computing power and superior handling of 3D graphics.

A follow-up from the Cliq, called the Cliq XT—or Quench, depending on where you live—has been shown off running Android 1.5 (which is a shame when most companies are looking at 2.1 now), and has MOTOBLUR.

Whether that’s for better or worse, I’ll leave up to you to decide—but in the meantime it has support for Adobe Flash Lite, a 3.1-inch 320 x 480 screen and a 5.0-megapixel camera with autofocus and flash. A-GPS with turn-by-turn directions, and Wi-Fi and HSDPA connectivity.

On sale sometime in the next month or two, it’ll be exclusive to T-Mobile in the US, under the name of Cliq XT, but in other parts of the world it’ll be known as the Quench. Hate to say it Moto, but with Android 1.5 you’re not quenching my desire for an Eclair. Full release below. [Motorola]

Today Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) announced QUENCH with MOTOBLUR, Motorola’s Android-powered content delivery service, which organizes messages and synchronizes contacts to keep conversations in constant motion. QUENCH’s sleek touch-screen design, combined with great navigational features such as pinch and zoom and a touch pad, as well as the inclusion of Adobe Flash Lite, make browsing the web on its 3.1″ high-resolution display a breeze. Motorola QUENCH™ will be available beginning in the first quarter of 2010. In the U.S., it will be called CLIQ XT™ and be available next month exclusively through T-Mobile USA. This is the eighth Android-powered device launched by Motorola around the globe.

“As we continue to expand Motorola’s portfolio of Android-powered devices, we remain committed to delivering more of what people want from their handheld devices in easier ways,” said Sanjay Jha, co-CEO of Motorola and CEO of Motorola Mobile Devices and Home business. “QUENCH with MOTOBLUR showcases Motorola’s design heritage by offering a compelling differentiation from the traditional Android experience, giving people an easier way to have more messaging, more Web and more music.”

MOTOBLUR is Motorola’s Android-powered content delivery service created to make phones more personal and socially smart. It is the first solution to sync contacts, posts, messages, photos and much more – from sources such as Facebook®, MySpace, Twitter®, Gmail™, work and personal e-mail and Last.FM – and automatically deliver them to the home screen. Content is fed into easy-to-manage streams allowing you to spend less time managing your life and more time living it.

Messaging is made easier on QUENCH with the combination of MOTOBLUR features, a palm and pocket-friendly design and Swype, a new feature that makes responding to messages and entering text easier than ever. MOTOBLUR keeps happenings, messages, news feeds and more readily available for browsing and responding on the customizable home screen. Contact information, such as email addresses, profile pictures and phone numbers, is automatically synced whenever the details change online, so there’s no need to manually update.

QUENCH delivers a complete Web experience on a full touch-screen device with pinch and zoom capabilities. Navigation is enhanced with a front-facing, centrally-located touch pad, so it’s easier and more intuitive to flick through the Web. Adobe Flash Lite enables rich media content such as banners and videos to be displayed and fully enjoyed on the 3.1″ high-resolution display.

The innovative new connected media player on QUENCH is not only connected to the Internet but your social networks as well. QUENCH connects you to your music with a new style of media player that lets you buy and instantly download music from an MP3 store while integrating third-party apps such as TuneWiki, SoundHound, GoTV, and YouTube™. The music search feature makes finding your songs easy while synchronized lyrics in any language you choose make learning songs easier than before. Share your favorite tracks, discover new ones2, find lyrics, watch videos, and stream FM radio.

QUENCH enables clear calls using dual microphones and noise cancellation technology, while crystal clear pictures are enabled by a 5.0 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash. Finding information online or within the device is made even easier with voice-activated search (English only). Simply say what you are looking for and QUENCH will find contacts, serve up Google™ Web search results based on location, or launch applications. Android Market™ provides fast access to more than 20,000 apps and widgets for limitless customizations and enhancements to QUENCH. Extras such as 3G and Wi-Fi® access, aGPS and stereo Bluetooth®1 make QUENCH a solid Android-powered device.

Finally, MOTOBLUR provides end-users with convenience and peace of mind, as lost devices can be located from a secure personal information portal and even remotely erased if necessary. Then, one user name and password brings back your contacts, messages and connectivity to your previously configured networks and email providers. Plus, with over-the-air updates, Motorola has the ability to improve current features and add new ones to QUENCH, ensuring the overall experience is continually enhanced.

Availability
QUENCH with MOTOBLUR will be available in multiple regions around the globe beginning in Q1 2010. In the U.S., the device will be called CLIQ XT with MOTOBLUR and will be available exclusively through T-Mobile USA beginning next month. For specific regional availability and pricing, contact your local Motorola representative. For more information, product specifications and images of QUENCH, please visit Media Center Fact Sheets. For multimedia assets from Mobile World Congress, visit MWC 2010 Press Kit. Also, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Samsung’s headline act may’ve been the new Wave handset yesterday, but here at Gizmodo we’re equally interested in the guts of these portable talky-phones. Take their two new CMOS sensors for phones, which show the future for Samsung’s new camphones.

The S5K4E2 is a 5.0-megapixel sensor that measures just 1/4 of an inch and has an extended depth of field which will make for sharp photos (supposedly). It’ll also shoot video at 14fps “at full resolution” and uses noise removal technology for clearer, less-noisy pics.

The second sensor, the S5K5CA, is 1/5th of an inch and is only 3.0-megapixels, with the main aim here being able to squeeze into extra small and slim phones. It’ll shoot video in 720p and features a new JPEG rotation feature, which Samsung claims will save time when rotating images, eliminating lag.

Both camera sensors will be seen in phones in just a month or two, though I’m guessing the latter sensor has been used in the Wave, judging by the specs. [Business Wire]

Eee PCs may not be as ubiquitous now as they were a year or two ago, but this T101MT model has popped up in France with its swiveling multitouch display and Windows 7 OS, looking mighty fiiiiine.

That display is a 10.1-inch LED backlit resistive multitouch with 1024 x 600 resolution. Inside is an Intel Atom N450 processor—better known as one of the new Pine Trail chips—and either 1GB or 2GB of DDRR2 RAM. Storage is listed as 160GB or 320GB (both with 500GB of ASUS WebStorage), depending on if you splurge for Windows 7 Starter or Windows 7 Home Premium.

The webcam is 0.3-megapixels, and a built-in mic is included along with three USB ports, one LAN and two audio jacks. A MMC/SD card reader polishes it off, with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Battery life is a purported 6.5 hours, which isn’t that bad but we’ve seen better from other manufacturers. It’ll go on sale in April—at least in Europe—with the price not yet known. It’s a definite step-up from the early days of Eee PCs, so if you’re in need of a dinky little portable machine, this one sounds like a player. [Blogeee via EeePC.it]

The X10 was Sony Ericsson‘s first Android phone and had really decent specs, yet failed to impress us. Dumbing it down and adding a “Mini” and “Mini Pro” tag doesn’t sound too promising.

They’re both on sale in the second quarter of 2010, and run Android 1.6, with a 2.6-inch touchscreen and 5.0-megapixel camera and 600MHz processors. You may be wondering what separates the Mini from the Mini Pro, considering they’re both very similar sounding so far. It’s just the addition of a slide-out QWERTY on the Mini Pro—and some extra colors for the Mini. Greeeeaaat.

Full release:

Today sees the announcement of Xperia™ X10 mini and X10 mini pro, compact versions of Xperia™ X10, which will deliver powerful and application packed mobile phones into the industry. By introducing mobile phones that are both compact and clever, Sony Ericsson is challenging the norm and defining a brand new offering that combines high specification features with a version of Sony Ericsson’s powerful UX platform specifically designed for smaller devices.

Xperia™ X10 mini and X10 mini pro with slide out QWERTY keyboard offer an open and intuitive communication entertainment experience and build on the human curvature design philosophy debuted by the Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10. Combining the Android platform with signature applications and a customisable UX platform, communication truly becomes entertainment with these new mobile phones. To enhance the experience, pick and choose from a multitude of applications at Android Market™ and co-create a mobile phone experience that is entirely unique. Users can go one step further and customise the home screen’s four corners and widgets to access the most needed applications for limitless possibilities.

The two sister mobile phones incorporate the signature application Sony Ericsson Timescape™ which brings all communication together in one place so users can see at a glance text messages, missed calls, and Facebook™ and Twitter updates, without having to open lots of different applications. The interactive music player also uses the “infinite button” to pull together all music content from the music store and YouTube™ – a smart way to search for new tracks from a favourite artist.

“There has been an enormous buzz around Xperia™ X10 so it is really exciting to be already unveiling compact versions of this powerful proposition.” Said Rikko Sakaguchi, EVP and Chief Creation Officer, Sony Ericsson. “With the X10 mini and X10 mini pro we have pushed the boundaries of what is possible with smaller devices and are giving consumers exactly what they want; two high performance mobile phones with a fully customisable user experience platform and a stunning ultra-compact design.”

Xperia™ X10 mini and X10 mini pro
>> Sony Ericsson Timescape™ – brings together all communication in one place
>> Four corner control – applications, calls, web, the consumer decides. Four customisable icons for ultimate control
>> 5 megapixel camera and video – share creations via the web
>> Music player links to music stores and YouTube™ – access the world of music
>> Android platform – with Google™ services and Android Market™
>> QWERTY keyboard – slide and text for quick and easy messaging (Xperia™ X10 mini pro only)

X10 mini and X10 mini pro supports HSPA 900/2100 and EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, HSPA 850/1900/2100 and EDGE 850/900/1800/1900.

The X10 mini will be available in selected markets from Q2 in the colours Pearl White, Black, Pink, Lime, Red and Silver

The X10 mini pro will be available in selected markets from Q2 in the colours Black and Red.

Sony Ericsson is also introducing the Portable Stereo Speakers MS450, to deliver rich on-the-go sound and the Hi-Fi Headset MH810 with remote with superior audio and remote media and call handling.

Log on to The Sony Ericsson Product Blog for more information: http://blogs.sonyericsson.com/products

– ENDS –

Xperia™ X10 mini and X10 mini pro

Camera
5 megapixel camera
Auto focus
Geo tagging
Photo and video light
Sony Ericsson Album application
Video recording

Music
Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
Music player
PlayNow™
TrackID™

Web
Bookmarks
Pan and zoom
WebKit web browser

Communication
Sony Ericsson Timescape™ with…
– Facebook™ status updates, friend’s photo, inbox messages and friend requests
– tweets, replies and direct messages from people you follow on Twitter™
– incoming text and picture messages
– missed calls

Messaging
Email
Instant messaging
Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync®
Picture messaging (MMS)
Predictive text input
Text messaging (SMS)
Design
Auto rotate
Full slide out keyboard (X10 mini pro only)
Picture wallpaper
Touchscreen

Entertainment
Infinite button
Quadrapop game
Sony Ericsson FM radio
Video player
Video streaming

Organiser
Calendar
Flight mode
Phone book with dialer
Sony Ericsson Home with widget
Tasks

Location-based services A-GPS
Google Maps™
Wisepilot™ turn-by-turn navigation* (free trial version)

Connectivity
3.5 mm audio jack
Bluetooth™ technology
Micro USB connector
NeoReader® barcode scanning app
Sony Ericsson Sync
USB mass storage support
USB support
Wi-Fi™

Google™ Services
Android Market™
Gmail™
Google Maps™ with Street View
Google Search Widget
Google Talk™
Google Voice Search™**
YouTube™
** The Google Voice Search service is not available in all markets

Screen
16,777,216 colour TFT touchscreen
2.55 inches
240 x 320 pixels (QVGA)
Scratch-resistant

Accessories
In-Box:
>> Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10 mini/ Xperia™ X10 mini pro with battery
>> Micro USB cable for charging, synchronisation and file transfer
>> Stereo portable handsfree
>> 2GB microSD™ memory card
>> User documentation

Optional:
>> Portable Stereo Speakers MS450
>> Hi-Fi Headset with Remote MH810

Facts 1)2)

Xperia™ X10 mini:

Size: 83 x 50 x 16 mm
Weight: 88 grams

Phone memory: Up to 128MB

Memory card support: SanDisk microSD™, up to 16 GB
Memory card included: 2GB

Operating system: Google™ Android 1.6
Processor: 600 MHz Qualcomm MSM7227

Talk time GSM/GPRS: Up to 4 hours
Standby time: GSM/GPRS: Up to 285hrs

Talk time UMTS: Up to 3.5 hours
Standby time: UMTS: Up to 360 hrs

Xperia™ X10 mini pro:

Size: 90 x 52 x 17 mm
Weight: 120 grams

Phone memory: Up to 128MB

Memory card support: SanDisk microSD™, up to 16 GB
Memory card included: 2GB

Operating system: Google™ Android 1.6
Processor: 600 MHz Qualcomm MSM7227

Talk time GSM/GPRS: Up to 4 hours
Standby time: GSM/GPRS: Up to 285hrs

Talk time UMTS: Up to 3.5 hours
Standby time: UMTS: Up to 360 hrs

Availability and versions
Networks

UMTS HSPA 900/2100
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900

UMTS HSPA 850/1900/2100
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900

Available in selected markets in Q2 2010

Colours
Xperia™ X10 mini:
Black
Pearl White
Lime
Pink
Red
Silver

Xperia™ X10 mini pro:
Black
Red

Mobile World Congress isn’t just about smartphones and dumbphones. Oh no. Samsung’s going to be showing off a 4G netbook, a version of the N510 which we first caught wind of last August.

Samsung’s been showing off 4G demos since 2006, with plans to roll our products in 2010. It’s now the second month into 2010, so the timing is pretty punctual for once. Embedded LTE 4G will give 1Gbps of speed, a none-too-shabby feat

Back to the N510, it’s a ho-hum netbook with an 11.6-inch screen (1366 x 768 res), 512MB of RAM and a 160GB HDD. More details are expected later, so stay tuned.

UPDATE: Make that the N150 netbook, not N150. Its specs include a 1.66GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, a 10.1-inch WSVGA screen and either a 160GB or 250GB HDD, and it’ll be joined by 4G versions of the N210, N220 and NB30. Full release follows.

An extensive line-up of netbook and note PC showcase advanced mobile technology.
February 16th, 2010, Barcelona, Spain- Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading provider of future mobile and IT technology, is demonstrating the world’s first Long Term Evolution (LTE) netbook PC at Mobile World Congress 2010. Samsung’s own in-house designed LTE modem chipset, Kalmia, enabled the development of a small form factor netbook with LTE capability. Following the company’s latest deployment of a commercial LTE dongle, Samsung reasserts its industry-leading position in next generation mobile technology with the largest line-up of devices.
Samsung demonstrates live video streaming via the company’s own LTE network equipment on the Samsung netbook N150.The Samsung netbook N150 is currently available in market with HSPA 3G communications and WiFi access and will become commercially available with LTE according to service schedule and market demand. The inclusion of LTE will deliver high speed, low latency and ubiquitous connectivity to all users who require high-volume data access whenever they want and wherever they are. For the first time, operators preparing for the deployment of next generation networks can deliver high-powered products to showcase network strength and the true benefits to end-users.
With its high-quality design and great value, the Samsung N150 offers users everything they need in a portable netbook. The N150’s 10.1″ anti-reflective LED display gives users fine-tuned images with the sharpest detail and boldest colours, without the inconvenience of mirror effects under bright lights or in sunny weather. This energy-efficient display also works with the N150’s optimized processing performance and Samsung’s proprietary-enhanced battery life solution to deliver exceptional battery performance of up to 8.5 hours*.
Using the integrated Easy Resolution Manager tool, screen resolution can easily be changed if a program or game needs to be viewed in 1024×768. Additional visual enhancements include an integrated Digital LiveCam for video-conferencing or live messaging. An integrated webcam, internal microphone and headphone-out connection also provide an easy and cost-effective way to stay in touch with friends and family using video-conferencing, live messaging or VoIP telephony.
“The N150 is the smart choice to meet all your essential mobile computing needs with style,” said Kyu Uhm, Vice President of Samsung IT Solutions Business.
He continued, “We see increasing demand for data services, regardless of whether the consumer is indoors, outside, or even on the move. With our end-to-end Total Solution from core chipset to a variety of devices, we are providing true value to our customers.”
Samsung has proven its leadership in next generation mobile technology and has a long history of involvement in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Collaboration with groups of telecommunications associations to make a globally applicable 3G and 4G standard is a natural progression for Samsung, who are also introducing the most up-to-date LTE technology at the show.
Samsung’s public demonstration of Long Term Evolution (LTE) included a total solution from infrastructure to mobile devices. In particular, Samsung has developed its own access and core networks, which support multi-vendor interoperability. Besides the world’s first LTE embedded netbook PC, Samsung is also showcasing the dongle type device GT-B3710. Samsung’s LTE solution is fully compliant with the latest 3GPP LTE Rel-8 standard. Initial deployment of the service began in 2009 and active discussion and trial tests will continue in 2010.
Alongside the world’s first demonstration of the LTE netbook N150, Samsung also showcased an extensive line-up of netbook and note PCs at the show including N210, N220 and NB30.
Samsung is exhibiting at Mobile World Congress 2010, stand 8b 169.
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About Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2008 consolidated sales of US$96 billion. Employing approximately 164,600 people in 179 offices across 61 countries, the company consists of seven independently operated business units: Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, Semiconductor and LCD. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

Samsung N150 Specifications

Processor
Intel® ATOM™ Processor N450 (1.66GHz, 667MHz, 512KB)
Operating System
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Basic*
Genuine Windows® 7 Starter*
Genuine Windows® XP Home*
Memory
1 GB (DDR2 / 1 GB x 1)
LCD
10.1″ WSVGA (1024 x 600), non-gloss, LED backlit
HDD
160 GB (5400 rpm S-ATA)*
250 GB (5400 rpm S-ATA)*
Optical Disk Drive
No
Graphics Processor
Intel GMA3150 (Int. Graphic)
Wireless LAN
802.11bg/n
LAN
10/100 LAN
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 2.1 + Enhanced Data Rate*
I / O Ports
– 3-in-1 Card Reader (SD, SDHC, MMC)
– 3 x USB 2.0 (incl. USB Sleep-and-charge)
– 1 x Headphone-out
– 1 x Mic in
– 1 x Integrated Mic
– 1 x VGA Port
– 1 x LAN Port
Multimedia
Digital LiveCam
Battery Life
6 Cell Lithium-ion – up to 8.5 hours*
Speaker
3 W Stereo Speakers (1.5 W x 2)
Dimensions (W x D x H)
264 x 188 x 25.3~34.7 mm
Weight
1.24 kg (incl. 6 cell battery)
Warranty
International warranty*
* based on factory specification, Subject to change. Errors and omissions accepted. Battery life based on Battery Mark test scores that will vary based on configuration. Warranty service availability and response times may vary from country to country and may also be subject to registration requirements in the country of purchase. OS reveals lower HDD capacity than the specification as the difference of the calculation way and recovery partition.

Samsung N210 Specifications

Processor
Intel® ATOM™ Processor N450 (1.66GHz, 667MHz, 512KB)
Operating System
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Basic*
Genuine Windows® 7 Starter*
Genuine Windows® XP Home*
Memory
1 GB (DDR2 / 1 GB x 1)
LCD
10.1″ WSVGA (1024 x 600), non-gloss, LED backlit
HDD
160 GB (5400 rpm S-ATA)*
250 GB (5400 rpm S-ATA)*
Optical Disk Drive
No
Graphics Processor
Intel GMA3150 (Int. Graphic)
Wireless LAN
802.11bg/n
LAN
10/100 LAN
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 2.1 + Enhanced Data Rate*
I / O Ports
– 3-in-1 Card Reader (SD, SDHC, MMC)
– 3 x USB 2.0 (incl. USB Sleep-and-charge)
– 1 x Headphone-out
– 1 x Mic in
– 1 x Integrated Mic
– 1 x VGA Port
– 1 x LAN Port
Multimedia
Digital LiveCam
Battery Life
6 Cell Lithium-ion – up to 12 hours*
Speaker
3 W Stereo Speakers (1.5 W x 2)
Dimensions (W x D x H)
265 x 188.9 x 26.0 ~ 35.6 mm
Weight
1.34 kg (incl. 6 cell battery)
Warranty
International warranty*
* based on factory specification, Subject to change. Errors and omissions accepted. Battery life based on Battery Mark test scores that will vary based on configuration. Warranty service availability and response times may vary from country to country and may also be subject to registration requirements in the country of purchase. OS reveals lower HDD capacity than the specification as the difference of the calculation way and recovery partition.

Samsung N220 Specifications

Processor
Intel® ATOM™ Processor N450 (1.66GHz, 667MHz, 512KB)
Operating System
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Basic*
Genuine Windows® 7 Starter*
Genuine Windows® XP Home*
Memory
1 GB (DDR2 / 1 GB x 1)
LCD
10.1″ WSVGA (1024 x 600), non-gloss, LED backlit
HDD
160 GB (5400 rpm S-ATA)*
250 GB (5400 rpm S-ATA)*
Optical Disk Drive
No
Graphics Processor
Intel GMA3150 (Int. Graphic)
Wireless LAN
802.11bg/n
LAN
10/100 LAN
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 2.1 + Enhanced Data Rate*
I / O Ports
– 3-in-1 Card Reader (SD, SDHC, MMC)
– 3 x USB 2.0 (incl. USB Sleep-and-charge)
– 1 x Headphone-out
– 1 x Mic in
– 1 x Integrated Mic
– 1 x VGA Port
– 1 x LAN Port
Multimedia
Digital LiveCam
Battery Life
6 Cell Lithium-ion – up to 12 hours*
Speaker
3 W Stereo Speakers (1.5 W x 2)
Dimensions (W x D x H)
264 X 188.9 X 25.8~35.4 mm
Weight
1.32 kg (incl. 6 cell battery)
Warranty
International warranty*
* based on factory specification, Subject to change. Errors and omissions accepted. Battery life based on Battery Mark test scores that will vary based on configuration. Warranty service availability and response times may vary from country to country and may also be subject to registration requirements in the country of purchase. OS reveals lower HDD capacity than the specification as the difference of the calculation way and recovery partition.

Samsung NB30 Specifications

Processor
Intel® ATOM™ Processor N450 (1.66GHz, 667MHz, 512KB)
Operating System
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Basic*
Genuine Windows® 7 Starter*
Genuine Windows® XP Home*
Memory
1 GB (DDR2 / 1 GB x 1)
LCD
10.1″ WSVGA (1024 x 600), non-gloss, LED backlit*
10.1″ WSVGA (1024 x 600), Touch screen, LED backlit*
HDD
160 GB (5400 rpm S-ATA)*
250 GB (5400 rpm S-ATA)*
Optical Disk Drive
No
Graphics Processor
Intel GMA3150 (Int. Graphic)
Wireless LAN
802.11bg/n
LAN
10/100 LAN
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 2.1 + Enhanced Data Rate*
I / O Ports
– 3-in-1 Card Reader (SD, SDHC, MMC)
– 3 x USB 2.0 (incl. USB Sleep-and-charge)
– 1 x Headphone-out
– 1 x Mic in
– 1 x Integrated Mic
– 1 x VGA Port
– 1 x LAN Port
Multimedia
Digital LiveCam
Battery Life
6 Cell Lithium-ion – up to 11 hours*
Speaker
3 W Stereo Speakers (1.5 W x 2)
Dimensions (W x D x H)
264 x 188.9 x 27 ~ 39 mm
Weight
1.26 kg (incl. 6 cell battery)
Warranty
International warranty*
* based on factory specification, Subject to change. Errors and omissions accepted. Battery life based on Battery Mark test scores that will vary based on configuration. Warranty service availability and response times may vary from country to country and may also be subject to registration requirements in the country of purchase. OS reveals lower HDD capacity than the specification as the difference of the calculation way and recovery partition.

It was hardly a well-kept secret by any stretch of the imagination, but at MWC Samsung’s Wave S8500 has raised its head. It’s running the new Bada OS, and has one of those 3.3-inch SUPER AMOLED screens we saw before.

The SUPER AMOLED screen is a 3.3-inch capacitive job, with an 800 x 480 resolution—not shabby, to say the least. The larger 3.5-inch display of the iPhone for example has 480 x 320 pixels. Anyway, it’s also the first phone to have Bluetooth 3.0, as rumored yesterday, using the 802.11 protocol for transferring data at around 24Mbps. Speedy-fast, you could say.

A 1Ghz processor and 2GB of storage has been popped into the typical-looking Samsung exterior, along with a 5.0-megapixel camera (with autofocus and flash), capable of shooting video at 720p. Wi-Fi, GPS and HSDPA connectivity round it off.

Going back to the Bada OS, this was first unveiled in November but now we know that it’s compatible with Samsung’s TouchWiz 3.0 interface (a step up from the 2.0 Plus, which was seen on the leaked Monte last week).

It’ll be out in April, and while I’ve never particularly been impressed by a Samsung phone before (far from it, in fact), the Wave does have some interesting specs—like that AMOLED display. Wait and hear our verdict when we get hands-on with it, because as you know…things don’t always turn out like the marketer boasts.

So the preceding tweet from Office for Mac‘s official Twitter account asked for Macworld attendees to swing by the Microsoft booth and say “I love Office for Mac,” but to an uninformed reader, that reads like something else entirely. [ChrisPhin]

Slaves were creating mosaic objects thousands of years BC, but I bet they never dreamed of a bathtub covered in glittering photo-luminescent mosaic tiles. In fact, I bet they never even knew what a bathtub was.

The tiles come from Italy, and while the bath is a custom job, it wouldn’t be too difficult to superglue them to the side of your porcelain tub, so they soak up the light during the day (better have a window in your bathroom then), and then glow in the evening. It does look like it’ll throw a nice blue glow onto your skin, so it’s an EXTRA-MUST for those with a Na’vi fetish. [Lucedentro via Trendir via DVICE]

Bad Valentine is our own special take on the beauty—and awkwardness—of geek love.

Without wishing to compare Microsoft’s Bing Sky to Google Sky, and its Bing Maps with photos and live video to Street View, they do sound pretty bandwagon-jumping-like, especially with Google Maps today adding some new Labs features.

Microsoft’s said to “stay tuned” for release details, but has demoed the live video, which could prove really valuable when going on holiday for example—you can check places out before you bother going. The Streetside Photos feature isn’t exactly revolutionary now that every man and his dog has used Street View, but by using people’s uploaded Flickr photos (geo-tagged, naturally) they’ll be in a higher-res and offer more color and life than Google’s own Street View cars can snap.

The new features were shown off at the TED conference, and then later blogged on Bing’s site:

“This tech preview mines geo-tagged photos from Flickr, and relates them to our Streetside imagery to show images matched to its original spatial context. Why is this cool? You’re now able to see what that club looks like at night (is it really THAT scary?), see if you’re really going to get a good sunset at that B&B you’re looking to book, or check out the crowds on a Saturday morning at Pike Place Market in Seattle or get a view of the same market from decades prior. As more people share imagery, our challenge is to reunite those photos with where they were taken – again, provide context to the data in the ether.”

Bing Sky meanwhile has been created using WolrdWide Telescope from the Microsoft Research division, and will let you:

“be able to walk outside in Streetside mode, look up, and see what’s above – way above – right now where you’re standing. Constellations come to life as you pan – you can even set the time of day so you can see what you’ll see at 9pm – great for exploring with your daughter to get her ready for what she’ll see when the sun goes down.”

It does seem like unfortunate timing for them, when Google’s put its Maps service into the Labs box, adding some new early features like the ability to see high-res aerial pictures of select locations; rotate a map the way you want it to appear, and a ‘where in the world’ game for quizzing yourself on countries (amongst others).

I still think Microsoft’s got a hard game to play if it wants to properly catch up to Google, and while live video is impressive, there’s just too many people out there doing Google Maps mash-ups and developing outside of the Microsoft box. [Bing via Search Engine Land via Blogoscoped]

TechCrunch has run a dubious-sounding piece, quoting sources as saying Amazon’s working on a scheme to give each Amazon Prime user a free Kindle. With an annual membership to Prime costing $79 for extra-fast shipping, they’d be losing $120 from the retail value of the first-gen Kindle.

While I don’t think it’ll be offered to the one-month trial members, it would definitely encourage more Prime sign-ups—and therefore, more Amazon purchases. Still, to give away a free Kindle sounds way too generous, even for Amazon. [TechCrunch]

At first glance, I thought Mathmos has released a new mood light, but that glowing blue image is actually of Saturn, captured by the Hubble telescope. It’s a very rare photo, as both poles and rings are visible.

You actually just make out the Northern Lights-like aurorae on both poles, which is apparently caused by solar wind from the sun mixing up with molecules. Sadly, this is the only chance you’ll get at having Saturn’s aurorae as your desktop wallpaper, as the angle from which they can be viewed at is only possible twice every 30 years, and the Hubble telescope will no longer be used when the next opportunity comes along.

I feel pretty sad about that, but not as sad as I was when reading xkcd’s biography on the life of the Mars Spirit Rover. Let’s not get our space-set emotional battles mixed up, now. [The Guardian]