Samsung I7500 with OLED touchscreen powered by Android

Anticipated for months, Samsung's first Android phone is finally a (paper) reality after being flushed through the rumor mill just hours ago. Launching "in major European countries from June," the 11.9-mm slim quad-band GSM, tri-band 7.2Mbps HSDPA (900/1700/2100MHz) candybar packs a 3.2-inch, 320 x 480 pixel AMOLED touchscreen, WiFi, GPS, 5 megapixel camera with Power LED, 1,500mAh battery, 8GB of storage (plus MicroSD expansion for up to 32GB more), and a standard 3.5mm heasdset jack. Let's all welcome Samsung to the Android party.

P.S. Although no US announcements have been made, that 1700MHz HSPA frequency could make T-Mobile USA customers very happy.

April 27, 2009, Seoul, Korea - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, today unveiled the I7500, its first Android-powered mobile phone. With a launch of I7500, Samsung became the first company among the global top three mobile phone manufacturers to unveil an Android-powered phone.

"Samsung is among the earliest members of the Open Handset Alliance and has been actively moving forward to introduce the most innovative Android mobile phone," said JK Shin, Executive Vice President and Head of Mobile Communication Division in Samsung Electronics. "With Samsung's accumulated technology leadership in mobile phone industry and our consistent strategy to support every existing operating system, I believe that Samsung provides the better choices and benefits to our consumers" he added.

The Samsung I7500 is a cutting-edge smartphone, featuring a 3.2" AMOLED full touch screen and 7.2Mbps HSDPA and WiFi connectivity, giving users access to Google™ Mobile services and full web browsing at blazing speeds.

The Samsung I7500 offers users access to the full suite of Google services, including Google Search™, Google Maps™, Gmail™, YouTube™, Google Calendar™, and Google Talk™. The integrated GPS receiver enables the comprehensive use of Google Maps features, such as My Location, Google Latitude, Street View, local search and detailed route description. Hundreds of other applications are available in Android Market. For example, the application Wikitude, a mobile travel guide, allows consumers to access details of unknown sights via location-based Wikipedia articles.

Based on Samsung's proven product leadership, Samsung I7500 comes with latest multimedia features. The large and vivid 3.2"AMOLED display ensures the brilliant representation of multimedia content and enjoyable full touch mobile experience. Along with supporting a 5-megapixel camera and various multimedia codec formats, the I7500 also provides a long enough battery life (1500mAh) and generous memory capacity up to 40GB (Internal memory: 8GB, External memory: Up to 32GB) to enjoy all the applications and multimedia content. The phone also boasts its slim and compact design with mere 11.9mm thickness.

The Samsung I7500 will be available in major European countries from June, 2009.

HSDPA 7.2Mbps / HSUPA 5.76Mbps (900 / 1700/ 2100MHz)
EDGE / GPRS (850/ 900/1800/1900)
OS
Android
Display
3.2" HVGA(320x480) AMOLED
Camera
5 MP Camera (Auto Focus), Power LED
Video / Audio
Video: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV
Audio: MP3, AAC, AAC+, e-AAC+, WMA, RA
Value Added
Features
Full Web Browser Google Search, Maps, Gmail,
YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Android Market
Connectivity
Bluetooth® 2.0, USB 2.0, WiFi, MicroUSB, 3.5mm ear jack
Memory
Internal memory: 8GB
External memory: Micro SD (Up to 32GB)
Battery
1500 mAh
Size
115 x 56 x 11.9mm

First Google Android Netbooks spotted

Certainly this can't be it. The first Google Android netbook should definitely be more monumental than this $100-$200 device from SkyTone. Guangzhou, China-based Skytone is famous for making Skype headsets and ultra low cost children's computers. But, as of today, they have on their website, the Alpha-680 Google Android netbook. In Pink, Yellow, Red, Black and White.

While this device is going to be extremely cheap, it does have some redeeming qualities. It looks to have a flip around touch screen and a gaming pad built in. And this thing does have Wifi, Ethernet, 3G, USB Ports and an SD card slot in a $100-ish package.

The specs overall are anemic, like you'd expect for a low-cost Netbook.

This is just a glorified cellphone...without the glory. Its build quality also looks extremely low end. However, with Skytone's Skype heritage, at least it will be able to function as a Skype phone.

I'd like to see a better processor, more RAM and more local storage. I guess the SD card slot is means enough to put in 32GB more Flash storage if desired. And as long as this thing runs a browser over WiFi, it is hard to complain about a $100 device. Worst case scenario, you can give it to a child to play with.

SkyTone isn't the only Android Netbook game in town either, they are just first to announce. Plenty of others are planned, namely Pegatron's Freescale based netbook. There is also the i-Buddie prototyple shown below (although this is based on Intel Atom).

With Windows 7 Netbooks only able to run three applications at a time, Google Android Netbooks are looking pretty good.

Android Girl

Sciphone Dream G2, the cheap Google Android phone

Presenting the Sciphone 'Dream G2' from China. It's here and, at only 750~800RMB ($150 - $165 AU).

The Dream G2 actually sounds like a decent phone - especially for the price. It uses the Google Android UI, packs a 208MHZ ARM9 core processor, a 2.9-inch touch screen, built-in Opera web browser, 2mp camera and FM radio. It even claims to have Wi-Fi.


.. More details as they come to hand.

T-Mobile launching Android home phone

T-Mobile USA will launch a home phone and a tablet PC based on Google's Android platform, according to a report in the New York Times. The carrier will sell the home phone in 2010 and the tablet PC shortly afterward, according to documents the newspaper obtained from one of T-Mobile's partners.

The report was short on details for the home phone, but said the device will plug into a docking station and will be coupled with another device that will synchronize data for the phone while it charges the phone's battery. T-Mobile declined to comment on the specific devices mentioned in the report, but did confirm that it plans to introduce more Android-based devices.

As for the tablet PC, the report said the gadget will have a 7-inch touchscreen and no physical keyboard. Users will be able to do basic computing tasks and manage data on different home devices.

If confirmed, the new products would cement T-Mobile's image as the most Android-friendly carrier in the United States. It already offers HTC's G1, the first phone in North America based on Android, and will, in all likelihood, launch the HTC Magic, HTC's second Android phone. In addition, T-Mobile likely will also offer a Samsung Android-based phone.

Android G1 Phone Users Want Apps More Than iPhone Owners

T-Mobile USA verified this week that G1 Android phone owners downloaded on average more than 40 applications while iPhone users averaged 37.

This may not necessarily be a good thing as it could mean several apps were downloaded then shortly uninstalled or ignored.

Regardless it verifies life in the Android Market as GigaOM provides further G1 stats from Robert Dotson, chief executive of T-Mobile USA, who delivered a keynote speech this week at CTIA in Las Vegas:

• Approximately 1.5 million G1s were ordered since October 2008

• Customers purchasing a G1 from T-Mobile were trading up from a basic handset 50% of the time

• 50% of the G1 customers access Wi-Fi daily

• 80% of G1 owners browse the web at least once a day

• 80% of the people owning a G1 download an Android application at least once a week

• The vast majority of T-Mobile G1 owners use Facebook and YouTube at least once a week

• This all leads to the average G1 T-Mobile customer consuming 50 times the data vs the average voice-centric phone user

So on this FrAppDay Friday here are some new Android apps to increase your data usage:

• Retro Defense is one of the best Android Games with an Awesome UI! Think tower defense game meets retro neon graphics meets Android. Price: Free, $4.99

• Documents To Go offers the ability to View and Edit Microsoft Word & Excel files on your Android phone. Price: Limited Time $19.99 (Regular: $29.99)

• Missed Call is great for notifying you of missed or incoming phone events such as Calls, SMS text, BlueTooth, Calendar and Application services. You can configure the app to notify you based on LED color, Vibration, Sound, etc. Price: Free

• Wuzzle is an Android Word Game that mixes features from popular board games like Boggle and Scrabble in solving word puzzles. The UI is great and offers several playing modes; Open, playing Online and Progressive (the latter offering even more challenge). Price: Free, $1.99

• Sweeter Home is another Android Home or Desktop customization app that offers deeper levels of user customization. Price: Free