Targus to release new WiFi PAN-equipped Laser Mouse this September, flips Bluetooth the bird

Back in 2008, Ozmo Devices paired up with Intel to get its WiFi PAN (WiFi Personal Area Network) techinto low-power devices. Fast-forward to a few years later, tack on a new partnership with Targus and get ready for the first of those Bluetooth-less peripherals to hit the market. The company's new accessory teammate is planning to rollout a line of WiFi Laser mice that incorporate the OZMO2000 chip, with the first mouse to hit sometime this September. The unreleased AMW58US model will connect directly to your computer's WiFi receiver and packs a four-way scroll wheel, laser sensor and compatibility for Windows 7 -- batteries included. There's no pre-order page available at the moment, so you'll just have to sit tight and wait it out. Official PR awaits you after the break.

TAKEN FROM ENGADGET

Nokia 700 preview

Introduction

Good stuff coming from Nokia lately but there’s always room for more. We like to be surprised and the Nokia 700 does just that. Instead of quietly falling in line behind the obvious leader, the 1GHz Symbian Belle powered Nokia 701, the Nokia 700 puts on its best suit and goes it alone. A cute little smartphone ready for big things.

Just don’t let the size fool you. The slim Nokia 700 is no lesser smartphone than the Nokia 701 that we recently enjoyed in a preview. With a 1GHz processor and Symbian Belle, it’s got both its media and communication bases covered.

    
Nokia 700

You need to hold the Nokia 700 in your hand to appreciate how small it really is. It looks like a toy compared to, say, the Galaxy S II all the while packing some of the best Nokia has to offer. The revamped Symbian Belle shows its friendlier side on a 3.2” ClearBlack AMOLED touchscreen. NFC pairing is the icing on the cake in the connectivity department featuring quad-band GSM and penta-band 3G support.

Nokia 700 at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 14.4 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar
• Dimensions: 110 x 50.7 x 9.7 mm, 50 cc; 96 g
• Display: 3.2-inch 16M-color nHD (360 x 640 pixels; ~229 ppi pixel density) AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, Nokia ClearBlack technology
• Memory: 2 GB storage memory, hot-swappable microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
• OS: Symbian Belle OS
• CPU: 1GHz processor
• Camera: 5 megapixel fixed focus camera with 720p@30fps video recording, geotagging
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, stereo Bluetooth v3.0, microUSB port, 3.5mm audio jack, GPS receiver with A-GPS, NFC
• Misc: Accelerometer, proximity sensor, Stereo FM radio with RDS, Flash lite 4.0
• Battery: 1080 mAh Li-Ion battery.

In terms of continuity, the Nokia 700 will be replacing the C6-01. There is one important thing to note here though. While the Nokia 701 copies the design of its predecessor, the C7, the Nokia 700 is a complete makeover. It’s not an entirely new and original design: the Nokia 700 has a dash of X3-02 in it.

 
Nokia 700 held in hand

We’ll go ahead and say it: the Nokia 700 is a looker of a phone. Super slim and sexy, it's got what it takes to be a crowd pleaser. There’s a lot for it to prove and this preview is but a glimpse of what the Nokia 700 has to offer. Let’s not keep it waiting.

READ FULL REVIEW AT GSM ARENA

Apple iPhone 5 to go on sale on October 15th, Orange confirms

We can imagine Apple won't be particularly happy about that, but the CEO of Orange might have just spilled the beans on the availability of the iPhone 5. He said that if he believes what he hears, the next iPhone will be out by 15th October on his network.

Since CEOs of major carriers like Orange rarely get their information from anywhere else, but the manufacturer itself, this one seems rather trust-worthy. Stephane Richard also went on to say that they will be special packages on offer for the iPhone 5, but that's hardly a surprise, considering the importance of the smartphone to carriers.

Earlier today, we also heard an interesting rumor about the availability of the iPhone 5 in the UK. This information, however, comes from O2's customer service center so it's a bit harder to believe. And there's little sense in Apple releasing the smartphone in France, before they bring it to UK, so it's unlikely that both of those are true at the same time.

So, if the iPhone 5 is to come in the middle of next month we should be looking for its announcement event to be scheduled for the end of September. That nicely coincides with the rumor that iOS 5 will be getting its Gold Master release on September 23th.

Yeah, the waiting is killing us too, but at least we know its end is finally nearing.

Source

TAKEN FROM GSM ARENA

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 preview

Introduction

Last year’s IFA is where the tale of Samsung and tablets started and now the company is ready to open a new chapter and it’s one we couldn’t be more excited about. The SuperAMOLED screens were one of the best things to ever happen to the smartphone industry and now they have landed on slates as well. Meet the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7.

  
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 official photos

As its name suggests, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 has 7.7-inches of SuperAMOLED Plus gorgeousness. The tablet is a living proof that the mobile industry has been progressing at an amazingly rapid rate. A single year is all it took for Samsung to more than double the processing power and get a vastly superior display technology on board, while at the same time reducing the thickness by a third.

Just check out the compelling specs sheet that the Galaxy Tab 7.7 has:

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 at a glance

• Form factor: Tablet
• Dimension: 196.7x 133 x 7.89 mm
• Weight: 335g
• Display: 16M colors 7.7” Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touchscreen of WXGA resolution (1280 x 800 pixels)
• OS: Android 3.2 Honeycomb, TouchWiz UI
• Chipset: 1.4 GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU, Mali-400MP GPU, 1GB of RAM, Exynos chipset
• Camera: 3.2 MP autofocus camera with 720p video recording; LED flash; 2 MP front-facing camera
• Memory: 16/32/64 GB internal memory, expandable through a microSD card slot
• Connectivity: quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and quad-band (850/900/1900/2100 MHz) UMTS with 21 Mbps HSDPA and HSUPA 5.76 Mbps support, dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Assisted GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, 30-pin connector
• Battery: 5,100mAh (Up to 10 hours of video playback)
• Misc: Gyro sensor, accelerometer sensor for automatic UI rotation, ambient light sensor, Adobe Flash Player 10.3 support, DivX/XviD support, TV-out (through an adapter)

So not only are we getting a Super AMOLED Plus instead of a regular LCD, we are also treated to a larger screen and higher resolution in a body that hasn’t growtn noticeably. Plus, there’s the latest version of the tablet-friendly Android on board, instead of Gingerbread and the oversized-phone experience that it provides.

  
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 at ours

All this really shows that Samsung is a quick learner. In the increasingly crowded tablet market you can’t achieve great things by being as good as the rest – you need to stand out. And what could possibly stand out more than a combination of the most powerful mobile chipset, an impressive screen, an ultra-slim waistline and a thin bezel?

Luckily, we were able to get a pre-production Galaxy Tab 7.7 and we went for a short hands-on preview to get you started. By now you should have felt how enthusiastic we feel about the Galaxy Tab 7.7, so we better not waste any more time. The hardware inspection comes after the break.

READ FULL REVIEW AT GSMARENA

Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II review

Introduction

It looks like the point where it all ends. A galaxy outgrowing its own limits. An explosion of energy and speed. An overdose of smartphone power. A phone that makes you love the smell of Android in the morning.

  
Samsung Galaxy S II official photos

The likes of Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II make it easy to get carried away. But wait a minute. There’s nothing quite like the Galaxy II. The brightest stars on the smartphone scene have graced our homepage, but this one is trying to eclipse them all. The Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II is in no mood to share – the spoils or the spotlight.

   
Samsung Galaxy S II official photos

With a spec sheet like that, it’s a beast of a droid. Even in today’s viciously competitive market, the Galaxy S II has so many firsts to be proud of. Samsung’s very own Exynos chipset, the unmatched Super AMOLED Plus screen and the ultra-slim body only begin to tell the story.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM and quad-band 3G support
• 21 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA support
• 4.3" 16M-color Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touchscreen of WVGA (480 x 800 pixel) resolution
• Android OS v2.3.3 with TouchWiz 4 launcher
• 1.2 GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU, Mali-400MP GPU, Exynos chipset, 1GB of RAM
• 8 MP wide-angle lens autofocus camera with LED flash, face, smile and blink detection
• 1080p HD video recording at 30fps
• Dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g and n support
• GPS with A-GPS connectivity; Digital compass
• 16/32GB internal storage, microSD slot
• Accelerometer, gyroscope and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Charging MHL microUSB port with USB host and TV-out (1080p) support
• Stereo Bluetooth v3.0
• FM radio with RDS
• Great audio quality
• Extremely slim waistline at only 8.5mm and low weight (116g)
• 2MP secondary video-call camera
• Full Flash support and GPU-acceleration for the web browser permit 1080p flash video playback
• NFC support (optional, not without a software update)
• Document editor
• File manager comes preinstalled
• The richest video format support we have seen

Main disadvantages

• All-plastic body
• No dedicated camera key
• Super slim body has poor grip when taking pictures
• Non-hot-swappable microSD card

With manufacturers busy making facelifts and sequels to get our hard-earned cash, we are often wondering if an upgrade is worth it. Well this time, it takes but a glance at the specs to tell that the answer is yes.

You’ve got a problem with the PenTile matrix of the original Galaxy S – the Galaxy S II is here to fix that. Or was it the laggy RFS file system bothering you? Well, be our gest and enjoy it the EXT4 way. The GPS issues or the lack of flash for the camera too much for you to handle – they’ve got it all fixed here.

  
The Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II at ours

But fixes are just the beginning and they come to show that Samsung has listened to the customers. The key selling points of the Galaxy S II will most certainly be the impressive 1080p video recording, better still photos and, probably most important of all, the new Exynos chipset that powers the whole thing.

You get an extra core, higher clock speed and the new Mali-400 GPU that’s supposed to blow everything we know out of the water. Not to mention the sweet gig of RAM to make sure that multitasking is a walk in the park for the Galaxy S II.

Update, 28.07.11: We've added an overview of Samsung Dive.

As long as everything works as promised, there’s no doubt users will be delighted with this one. But let’s find out – the Samsung Galaxy S II is back after the break for a proper hardware inspection.

READ FULL REVIEW AT GSM ARENA

Sonim XP3300 Force officially pronounced toughest phone ever

The manufacturer of super tough cell phones Sonim just got another record under its belt. The company's XP3300 Force has just entered the Guinness book of records after surviving a free fall from over 25 meters.

The exact height from which the Sonim XP3300 Force was dropped was 25.29 meters (82 ft 11.67 in) and the surface it hit was concrete so it really is some achievement. Of course, just dropping your phone from such height isn't enough to book you a place in the Guiness book - it needs to go through the whole thing without sustaining operational damage.

And just to put things into perspective - the previous record-holder in this category was held by the JCB tough phone (again, Sonim-made), which reached just 3.25 meters. Talk about progress here.

You can check out the incredible stunt, performed by the Sonim XP3300 Force for yourselves in the following video.

Source | Via

TAKEN FROM GSM ARENA