Nokia Lumia 900 to hit AT&T on April 8, promo videos today

An employee at an AT&T store in California revealed the Lumia 900 release date – April 8. There is still no official confirmation on this, but some previous rumors also suggested the second week of April as the release time frame.

The rumored price of the Lumia 900 is attractive at $99 (with a two-year contract, of course) and you might get a $25 gift card to use in the Marketplace as well.

Nokia and Microsoft are preparing a huge marketing (digital and TV) campaign for the Lumia 900, so it seems with the Lumia series failure is not an option for neither the companies.

Nokia has also uploaded a few new promo videos of the Lumia 900 too. Enjoy!

Source • Source 2

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Sony Xperia S granted access to the PlayStation store

The Sony Xperia S is a fully PlayStation certified device, though at launch it lacked access to the PlayStation Store – not any more though. Sony just opened the doors and let the Xperia S and Xperia Acro HD (the Japanese version of the S), but the others of the NXT lineup will have to wait.

There should be a placeholder app called “Let’s start PS Store” available on your phone, which will download the needed apps. Before you launch it, make sure to enable installation from unknown sources.

The placeholder app will download two new apps to your Xperia S (or Acro HD) – PlayStation Store, where you get games, and the PS Pocket, which serves as a launcher for games.

After that’s done, head over to the Store and check out the 14 PS1 titles available. Note that they’ll run you £3.99.

The rest of the NXT line, including the Sony Xperia ion, will get the same access as the Xperia S later on this year.

Source | Via

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WP Tango official name is Windows Phone 7.5 Refresh

According Stefania Duico, the lead of Windows Phone Italy, the Windows Phone Tango update will be officially called 7.5 Refresh. As you probably know, currently WP Mango is called just 7.5.

Adding the Refresh moniker and not changing the OS version actually makes sense, because this update major role is to lower the Windows Phone specs so less-capable devices could run it (without multi-tasking, live tiles, etc.).

The update will become available for every WP-based smartphone out there later this year. The next major release is Apollo a.k.a. Windows Phone 8. It will probably launch in Q3 this year.

Source | Via

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Purple and black colored variants of HTC One V spotted

Those who were thinking of going for the HTC One V but were put off by the boring shade of brown can now heave a sigh of relief because the phone has been spotted in two additional colors.

According to the pictures from Blog of Mobile, there also exist a black and purple colored variants of the HTC One V. The black one even seems to have a brushed metal finish to it, unlike the smooth finish on the brown and the purple variants.

Whether these two colors will be available everywhere the One V is sold or if they will be limited to a specific market is not known. Hopefully, HTC will make these available everywhere, and add some more options in future too.

Source

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New Movies in Theaters this Week (March 14, 2012)

1. 21 Jump Street

Synopsis: An undercover police unit consisting of young looking officers infiltrate high schools to control youth crime.

2. Casa de Mi Padre

Synopsis: Armando Alvarez (Will Ferrell) has lived and worked on his father’s ranch in Mexico his entire life. As the ranch faces financial strains, Armando’s younger brother Raul (Diego Luna) shows up with his new fiancee, Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez) and pledges to settle all his father’s debts. It seems that Raul’s success as an international businessman means the ranch’s troubles are over, but when Armando falls for Sonia, and Raul’s business dealings turn out to be less than legit, the Alvarez family finds themselves in a full-out war with Mexico‘s most feared drug lord, the mighty Onza (Gael Garcia Bernal).

3. Seeking Justice

Synopsis: A happily married family man’s quiet life is turned upside-down when his wife is brutally attacked one night while leaving work. The husband unwittingly pulls himself into a dangerous underground vigilante operation after agreeing to an intriguing offer for a stranger to exact vengeance on his wife’s attacker. While continuing to protect his wife from the truth, he quickly discovers that his quest for justice could lead to frightening and deadly consequences.

4. Detachment

Synopsis: The tragic modern state of the human condition is explored through the eyes of students and teachers at a failing high school.

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Deluxe Limited Edition HTC One X comes with Beats headphones

HTC has made up a special offer for their domestic market in Taiwan bundling their newest quad-core One X smartphone with Beats Solo headphones.

Unfortunately, HTC is mum on any probability of releasing the special bundle globally or in other markets besides the Taiwanese one. The package’s pre-order price is a shy below 25,000 TWD or $840. This works out as a great deal considering a standard HTC One X costs around $780 and Beats sell their Solo headphones for $180.

Pre-orders for the Deluxe Limited Edition start on March 20, so you still have some time to break the piggy bank and check your pockets for some change.

Via

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Tag Heuer announces Racer luxury smartphone

If you are the sort of person who likes to have carbon fiber on your phone and have the bank balance that can support such needs then your options just increased by one. Famous watch maker Tag Heuer has just announced their new Tag Heuer Racer luxury smartphone.

Most of its salient features can be seen right on the outside, where it makes generous use of carbon fiber and also titanium for its construction. The rest of the body is made of rubber, which makes it shock-proof.

On the inside, the Tag Heuer Racer has a “high speed processor” and “latest Android software” with a new customizable 3D interface. Unfortunately, that’s the extent of the phone’s description, with no other features and specifications revealed at this time.

The phone will go on sale in July for an eye-watering €2,800 (US$ 3,687) and will be available through TAG Heuer boutiques, luxury mobile boutiques and selected watch and jewelry retailers. You can check it out in the video below.

Source

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Dell Latitude E6420 ATG Rugged Laptop

When it comes to computing devices used in different working environments, tough features are usually required. Laptops now need to have that added rugged features in order to be an ideal computing device in a working environment that is not necessarily that of a conventional office. There are now laptops like the new Dell Latitude E6420 ATG that will be the ideal laptop for a rugged and tougher than normal working environment.

The Dell Latitude E6420 ATG is a rugged laptop that’s built for environments that can be considered as more than just a conventional workplace.  It is built and designed to have that added toughness with its armored casing made out of MIL-STD 810G tested Tri-Metal and with powder coated magnesium alloy base. It also comes with a spill resistant keyboard and protective covers for its ports.

The Dell Latitude E6420 ATG Rugged Laptop also comes with an Intel Core i5 or i7 quad core processor, up to 8GB DDR3 SDRAM, Intel HD Graphics 3000 NVIDIA NVS 4200M video card and a 14.0 HD LED display with a touchscreen display option. It also comes with up to 750GB hard drive and other features that has become more of a standard for laptops in its category. The Dell Latitude E6420 ATG Rugged Laptop is slated for shipping to interested customers by the last week of March. Price starts at US$2454, depending on the different configurations available.

Image Source: Dell

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Samsung Galaxy S II ICS update to hit UK next week

Some lucky fellas have been enjoying the official Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update on their Galaxy S II units since this morning, but those based in the UK will have to wait another week.

Poland, Hungary, Sweden and Korea are the markets in the first wave of the update roll-out, with UK (among others) to follow shortly. The exact quote that Pocket-lint.com managed to get from Samsung is that the update will start seeding in Britain in the week commencing March 19, which is exactly 6 days from now.

And with the Galaxy S II update already rolling out, the Samsung R&D center is already shifting its attention towards the Galaxy Note, Galaxy S II LTE and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1 duo. Those should be the next devices in the company’s lineup to get official Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich updates.

Finally, Samsung confirmed that it will be delivering Android 2.3 Gingerbread Value Pack updates for the original Galaxy S, the Galaxy Tab 7″, the Galaxy S Plus, the Galaxy W and the Galaxy from the end of March. The update will be bringing Face Unlock and other ICS features to the smart devices that won’t be getting to taste Android ICS officially.

Via

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Sony Xperia sola touchscreen does gloves too, video proves

Sony has obviously put quite a lot of effort in the design of the Xperia sola touchscreen. The smartphone may only be a mid-range offering, but it’s shaping up to be one of the most interesting devices we have seen recently.

It turns out that the floating touch technology that allows the Sony Xperia sola to detect your finger hovering over the screen isn’t the only trick it holds up its sleeve. It turns out that the Xperia sola screen is also geared to detect touches through non-conductive fabric, which suggests that it will work with gloves.

The proof came from the following hands-on video that the guys from AndroidNext.de created at the Droidcon event in Berlin.

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Samsung Galaxy Pocket Smartphone

Smartphones are now available in different shapes and sizes. In fact some has grown a bit bigger and larger than usual. There are some people that still long for a smartphone that they can place comfortably in their pockets. This is what the new Samsung Galaxy Pocket is designed for.

The Samsung Galaxy Pocket is a new Android smartphone that caters to those who still want to have their mobile phone always handy in their pants pockets. This mobile phone is only 11.98mm thin and weighs 97 grams. It also comes with a 2.8 inch touchscreen display that features the convenient TouchWiz user interface for smoother navigation. It comes with a 3GB user memory with an SD card slot for an additional 32GB storage space as well as WiFi and HSDPA 3.6 connectivity for faster Web browsing. The Samsung Galaxy Pocket is set to first arrive in UK shores sometime this year and possibly to other countries as well. No pricing details have yet been provided.

Image Source: Samsung

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iPhone Now Top-Selling Smartphone in Japan

Japanese consumers have been known to be very loyal to its own local brands when it comes to electronics, but an international company has succeeded in taking a crack in this very difficult market.

A report from IDC Japan declared that the iPhone is the top-selling handset of any kind in Japan. The launch of iPhone 4S soared the Cupertino-based company into a 26.6-percent market share of all cellphone shipments in Japan last fall. Yes, the iPhone has even outsold clamshell feature phones that have been a staple in Japan despite the early rise of the iPhone and Android.

The Fujitsu–Toshiba alliance is at second place with 18.3 percent, bolstered by the launch of its Arrows smartphones. The pie chart is then shared by Sharp (15.7 percent), Kyocera (9.8), and Panasonic (8.8).

On the full 2011 stats, meanwhile, Sharp remained the dominant smartphone brand with 20.1 percent, followed by Fujitsu-Toshiba at 18.8 percent. Apple is at third with 14.2 percent, eclipsing Panasonic (10) Kyocera (9.7).

This milestone is a significant success to the iPhone even without having to inject Japanese-specific features like 1Seg TV tuning, FeliCa NFC payments, and the wireless battery charging.

Source: The Mainichi Daily News, via Electronista

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Sony MT27i Pepper shows up in a press shot

We’ve seen this one in blurry shots back in January, sporting a Sony Ericsson logo. Today, the Sony MT27i Pepper emerged in a press shot, proudly wearing a Sony logo, with Xperia Smart Tags by its side

As you have probably guessed already, the Smart Tags clearly suggest that the device will sport NFC connectivity when launched. The rest of the rumored specs include a 1GHz dual-core CPU and NovaThor U8500 chipset, 3.7″ screen with resolution of 480×854 pixels, and 5MP snapper.

Given the nature of the leaked image, we can reasonably expect that the Sony MT27i Pepper will get officially unveiled sooner, rather than later. Naturally, we will keep you posted on any new findings, related to the device.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Source (in Japanese)

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O2 UK publish their initial 2012 device lineup

MWC gave us a lot to look forward to, with a new family of HTC devices alongside the first range of smartphones brandishing the Sony name and now these delights are making their way to carriers across the globe.

O2 UK recently updated their website’s ‘Coming Soon’ section to include the likes of HTC’s One X, S and V, the two new smaller Sony NXT series phones, the Xperia P and the Xperia U, the Samsung Galaxy S Advance and two members of Nokia’s Symbian running Asha phones, the 201 and 302.

All of these devices are currently slated for an April launch so consumers don’t have long to wait to get their hands on some of the hottest handsets in 2012, but for those of you who simply can’t hang on that long, Sony have already unleashed their latest flagship device, the Xperia S, offering a refined Android experience designed to act as the new face of Sony Mobile Communications.

Source | Via

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Samsung Rugby Smart: Tough INC.

The Samsung Rugby Smart for AT&T is bound to bring a massive dash of toughness to the Korean giant’s Android ranks. Compliant with MIL-STD-810f military grade standard, the handset will also enable Samsung to compete in yet another smartphone segment of the already saturated U.S. market.

While it is no secret that Samsung’s smartphone lineup in the United States is difficult to keep track of due to its sheer size, a rugged device had been a notable omission until the arrival of the subject of today’s feature.

Despite being a newcomer to the U.S. market, the Samsung Rugby Smart is hardly a revolution in terms of design or specifications. What Samsung have done essentially, is put the single-core, 1.4GHz Scorpion CPU and Snapdragon chipset of the Galaxy W into the casing of the Galaxy Xcover. Add a 3.7″ Super AMOLED screen to the mix and there goes the Samsung Rugby Smart for AT&T. Here is the full list of key features for you.

Key Features

• Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support
• 14.4 Mbps HSDPA; 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• MIL-STD-810f ruggedness standard compliant
• 1.4GHz Snapdragon CPU; Adreno 205 GPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset; 512MB RAM
• 4GB storage, microSD card support (up to 32GB)
• 3.7″ Super AMOLED display with WVGA (800 x 480) resolution; 252ppi pixel density
• 5 megapixel auto-focus camera; HD (720p) video recording at 30fps, LED flash
• Front-facing VGA camera for video calls
• Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread with TouchWiz 4.0 launcher
• Rich video format support out of the box
• Wi-Fi b/g/n; Hot-spot and DLNA connectivity
• Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP
• GPS with A-GPS; Digital compass
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• DivX/XviD/X264 video support
• Office document viewer/editor
• Web browser with Adobe Flash 11 support

Main disadvantages

• Not exactly a looker
• Hardware is not exactly at the cutting edge
• No dedicated camera button

As you can notice at its key features above, the Samsung Rugby Smart is not exactly at the cutting edge of the Android realm today. The smartphone surely is not a looker either. Instead, the handset is here to offer its potential users solid functionality, without compromising on toughness.

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