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Gadgets Google HTC Market Movement Microsoft Mobile Motorola Nokia Samsung Sony

Android Steals The Show At MWC

The absence of Apple at the Mobile World Congress has definitely given Google’s Android the definite edge over its competitors at the show in Barcelona this year. With the MWC for this year coming to a close today, everyone who’s been at the event has only one thing to say – Android is brilliant. With Nokia disbanding its own phone OS Symbian and partnering with Microsoft for Windows based Nokia phones, they did not have anything to offer this year. Almost every phone, be it the Motorola Xoom or the Samsung Galaxy S or the Sony Xperia Play smartphones or the Samsung’s second generation tablet or LG Slate, everything has been Android. There was Blackberry Playbook that was not running on Android but spoke of including Android apps and HP’s Tablet – TouchBook that did not use Android but WebOS.

So, this MWC belonged to Android completely.

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Gadgets Sony

Sony Shelving PS4 For NGP?

All playstation lovers may not like the sound of this. According to the reports based on a Japanese site, Sony is planning to shelve its plans of a PS4 and invest its time into launching NGP. Sony apparently wants the NGP to overtake the much famous home console and Sony is heavily banking on the NGP to do this. The Next Generation Portable, otherwise PSP 2 was unveiled earlier this month in Tokyo and the prototype definitely looks fabulous. But, why would Sony want to corner its own very successful gaming console for the much lesser PSP. For now, the news is not official from Sony, but I guess we have to be prepared for an official announcement from Sony any time now as the NGP is nearing its release.

So, do you think we are ready to switch from our big screens back on to the handhelds?

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Acer Gadgets Mobile

Acer Iconica Smart Emerges At The MWC

The new smartphone from Acer – Iconica Smart which was previewed back in November has now been officially launched at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This new smartphone from Acer possesses an impressive 4/8″ touchscreen display and the device runs on Google’s Android 2.3 or Gingerbread. Acer has stated that the Iconica Smart would be available from the second quarter of this year, which should be 6 weeks from now.

To complement the wide display with a 1024×480 pixel resolution, is the Dolby Surround Sound Technology. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm 1GHz processor and the Acer user interface 4.0, codenamed Breeze. The phone also comes with Flash Player 10.1 which would also ensure a smooth browsing experience. There is an 8.0 mega pixel camera at the phone’s rear and a 2.0 mega pixel camera on the front.

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Apple Gadgets

Will Apple Want To Incorporate 3G Into Its MacBooks?

We know Apple and Steve Jobs do not believe in customer surveys much. But, Apple had a customer survey on its MacBook Air. The survey apparently had several questions related to 3G connectivity and if it is to be believed, Apple may want to heed the results of the survey this time around. Most customers have suggested that they would want to see Apple build their next MacBook with a built-in 3G motion along with the Wi-Fi. It is believed that Apple may want to go ahead with this new suggestion, but there is nothing clear about this enhancement.

The survery asked user’s questions about how often they connected to the internet using 3G and what type of devices were they using to connect to 3G networks. We know that the New MacBook Pros are due in a couple of weeks, but will they have the 3G option?

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Apple Gadgets intel

New MacBook Pros Due In A Couple Of Weeks

According to believable sources, Apple is planning to bring the new MacBook Pros into the market in a couple of weeks from now, which will mean the second generation MacBook will be out in the first week of March. Apple has already put the units into production and the shipments are getting ready for the first week of March. Apple had initially thought of launching the new MacBooks in the second week of February, but a delay from Intel’s side with regards to the delivery of Sandy Bridge processors eventually delayed Apple’s production and release date too.

Now that the flaw in the processors has been rectified and the production started, one can expect that Apple would want to launch the new McBook Pro on the 1st of march which would be a Wednesday. As we know, Apple likes launching their products on Wednesdays.

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Apple Gadgets iPhone Mobile

Will iPhone 5 Have A Slide-Out Keyboard?

The latest rumor about the iPhone 5 is that Apple is testing a prototype with a keyboard which would apparently slide out. Apple is apparently testing three prototypes, one among which is one with the sliding keyboard. Well, if the rumor which is based on the news from a Taiwanese website were to be true, then Apple could be striking a huge blow at RIM Blackberry. Blackberry users have shown their disinterest in Apple iPhone just for the very fact that Apple lacks a keyboard. Now, if the keyboard were to come along on the iPhone 5, there is every chance that Blackberry would experience a further decline in its market share. The rumor about the prototype which was also tweeted mentions of a hidden keyboard that would slide out when required.

Other improvements in the upcoming iPhone 5 could be a 1GHz processor and better camera (could be 8.1 mega pixel camera) while keeping the rest of the features intact. Let us wait and see.

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Gadgets Samsung

The Official Samsung Galaxy S II Specs

The Samsung Galaxy S II was released at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona a little earlier today. According to reports, the new handset is looking fabulous with impressive hardware like a 1 GHz Samsung dual core processor, 8.1 mega pixel camera, Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen that measures 4.27 inches. Also , the phone is very slim, if not the slimmest.

Other hardware specs of the phone include HSPA connectivity which encourages high speed downloads and browsing experience, bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, Near Field Communication chips, 1GB RAM and a 2.0 mega pixel camera to the front which enables video chatting. Along with the Galaxy S II, Samsung has also released the next generation Galaxy Tab Tablet which runs on Android 3.0 or the Honeycomb.

More smartphones and tablets are also due at the Mobile World Congress in the next two days. We will have to wait and see which one meets the users’ expectations.

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Gadgets Mobile Sony

Sony Xperia Play, Finally Here

After all the rumors and the reports of the inside sources, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play has been officially launched yesterday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The Sony Xperia Play, the first ever smartphone to be certified by Sony Playstation is based on Android 2.3, also known as Gingerbread. Xperia Play comes with the Playstation Suite that would allow users to access Playstation content on the phones. Also, the phone runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz processor.

Other features of the phone include a multi-touch display screen which would slide to reveal the gaming controls that include a touchpad, directional pad and the typical Sony select buttons. The smartphone would enable 3D gaming at 60 fps and 50 new games from 20 publishers are going to be released for the phone along with the older classics.

Both the GSM and CDMA versions would be hitting the markets soon.

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android Blackberry Gadgets Mobile Mobile Internet Motorola RIM Samsung

Adobe Flash Player 10.2 For Android 3.0

Android’s growing popularity is making everyone design products for the OS now. Adobe is planning to do a mobile compatible flash player for Android 3.0 based tablets. Flash Player 10.2 – the mobile version of the flash will be integrated into the hardware allowing it to decode the video which would save the battery power by a fair margin when compared to the software doing the decoding.

Also, Blackberry devices are also expected to get the Flash Player 10.2. At the moment, the version is being tested intensively on the Motorola Xoom, various other netbooks and the Blackberry PlayBook. As of now, this version of the flash is going to be released for the above mentioned devices, while the other devices have some compatibility issues which will be dealt with accordingly.

Adobe has already mentioned that Android users across the world have downloaded the flash version for their devices 20 million times in the six months after the launch.

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Apple Gadgets Gaming Mobile Samsung Sony

Samsung and Sony Ericsson Grace The First Day At the Mobile World Congress

The Mobile World Congress has finally kicked off. On the first day at the MWC in Barcelona, the South Korean giant Samsung and the Japanese giant Sony showcased their range of new smartphones and tablet devices based on Google’s Android OS. While Samsung showcased its Galaxy S smartphone and the next generation Galaxy Tab tablet, Sony Ericsson unveiled its Xperia Play – the playstation induced mobile phone. Sony is also planning to ship the new gaming handsets soon.

The MWC which is going to last two more days is going to see many more mobile products in the next couple of days with the like of RIM, Motorola and HTC eagerly waiting to unleash their products. No doubt, Android is the leading phone OS in the world right now and it is topping every other OS at the moment by some margin. But, Apple’s products are in the waiting and anything can happen.