Facing Apple’s iOS and App Store successful assistance in helping iPhone and iPad to gain shares in the smartphone, tablet PC and even PC market, while Google has also been working aggressively on developing operating systems and establishing its own supply chain alliance, Microsoft plans to copy its branding strategy from product lines such as Xbox 360, Zune, Kin smartphone and TV, to compete in the tablet PC segment.

Microsoft which has been known for it’s success in PC-related markets also own self-branded products like Xbox 360, Zune media player, Kin smartphone and own-brand TVs. However, among those products, Xbox 360 is probably the only one that has achieved success.

Well, it’s really interesting to see what Microsoft can do to compete with Apple and Google in tablets market especially the hardware design and the OS it self. Is it going to adopt it’s Windows Phone 7 UI design similar to Google does with Android, or it’s going to be completely new things.

In the last few days there has been rumor about two new upcoming qHD handsets from HTC. One of them which codenamed HTC Kingdom was believed to be the EVO 3D headed for Sprint this summer. However the latest info finally revealed that it’s completely a new device distinct from EVO 3D. It’s a bit confusing, isn’t it?

Look at the pictures above. The rumored HTC Kingdom is on the left, while the EVO 3D which codenamed “Shooter” is on the right. Those two handsets are somewhat similar except the fact that the EVO 3D comes with better specs with a more advanced processor, bigger display, and more RAM. And look at the chart below, there’s no mention about 3D capture and playback capabilities on the HTC Kingdom. So, are you still anxious of this phone or disapointed?

[via: PocketNow]

The HTC Rider basically features the Qualcomm MSM8660 platform powered by the dual Scorpion 1.2GHz processor and the Adreno 220 GPU with 1GB of RAM. Surely this will make the phone to become one of the highest performing smartphone to date. The dual core aSMP also enable the phone to run each CPU at a different clock speed which means highly efficient in term of power usage, good for handling apps and games too. The Display screen will use 4.3-inch qHD (960×540) resolution and fully 3D capable. Going to the camera, it has 8MP rear camera with dual more 2D/3D support and also capable for full-HD 1080p video recording and playback. While the front camera will be 1.3MP in 2D.

Talking about the connectivity, the HTC Rider has a CDMA chipset support for 1700/1900/2100/AWS Networks. It also has Wi-Fi 802.11/b/g/n, WiMax, and Bluetooth 3.0 support. Additionally, the phone also has gyroscope support. Last but not least, the device named called HTC X515E which is possibly the release name on Korea Telecom

[via: PocketNow]

The famed Russian blogger Eldar Murtazin recently shared a tidbit saying that Nokia has finalized their Nokia Phones/Tablet Strategy for 2012-2013. There are couple of new devices on the list including 5-7 mid-to-high end Symbian^3 devices in 2012, Maemo 6, Windows Phone devices and Win8 tablet in 2012. Moreover, Nokia also has set a target to grab 21% of smartphone market share worldwide in 2011 and 27% of whole market share.

According to the source, more tablets from Nokia will also come in 2013 running Windows 8. However, there’s also one Maemo 6 handset expected to be released this year with the platform name described as “dead horse”. Nokia only expecting 92,000 units for this handset.

Nokia is also looking at high-end devices which are likely to be the Windows Phone, while the low and mid-tiers will come with S30, S40 Lite, S40 and S60 in the sub-€250 ($372) segment.

The most interesting thing is probably, Murtazin suggests that if the Microsoft-Nokia strategy fails within two years, Nokia plans to bring Anssi Vanjoki back on as CEO in 2013 and adopt Android for their second mobile platform.

We’re not sure where this info came from how accurate this info is. But looking at the device list, it seems to be realistic but not for the target i think.

[via: Mobile-review Forum]

Two new HTC’s qHD phones recently leaked in blurry images posted by folks at 911Sniper. The left one is HTC Kingdom and the right one is HTC Rider. Not much to tell from the image. But reportedly, both phones run Android and appear to have 4.3-inch 960 x 540 qHD displays. And the circles around the main icons on the Rider remind us of an EVO device.

That’s all we got at the moment and surely there will be more info including specs and more images coming soon.

[via: Engadget source: Kingdom, Rider]

An OEM part retailer named Global Redirects Parts recently posted some pictures which were claimed as the next Motorola Android phones Motorola Droid 3. The site also posted a clear comparison between this new handset with the previous two Droid and Droid 2 which makes this seems to be true.

The first thing that changed on the new Droid is the display size which is now 4.0 inch compared to 3.7-inch both on the previous two Droid. Moreover, the resolution is also now better which changed from 480 x 540 to 540 x 960.

The next thing is, now the Droid 3 has front facing camera. However, this front facing camera will be only between 0.3MP and 1.5MP like in iPad and Samsung T959V, not a good one i supposed.

The last interesting thing is probably the change of navigation buttons which is more like the first Droid. Well, it’s strange that this Droid 3 is already available in OEM. If that’s true, seems like it will not take long time for this phone to hit the market.

[via: Global Direct Parts]

The 64GB iPhone 4 prototype we posted yesterday has just got more detail photos and more importantly video. So for those of you who has doubt about the authenticity of this device, these facts probably could explain better. However, this ‘engineered prototype’ device, as what the source called it, is not for sale in grey markets of Hong Kong like we reported. Instead, the owner of this iPhone said that he got it from a source who has a small quantity of these prototypes.

Folks at MIC Gadget also found this iPhone prototype is somehow very similar to the lost iPhone 4 prototype bought by Gizmodo last year. It includes the ‘XXGB’ marking on the back cover of the iPhone, lack of plus (+) and minus (-) symbols on the volume buttons and no silver ring around the lens of the camera. Doesn’t explain anything though but the fact that it’s a prototype unit.

Another info you probably want to know is that this iPhone running iOS 4.1 and not SIM-locked. What else do you expect? Check out the video below to see how real it is.

Well, no one can confirm what kind of device is this prototype. Many people i’m sure expect that this would become one of the product update that Apple will offer this year. Remember when Apple introduced the iPhone 3GS which was physically very similar to the iPhone 3G? So, it could also happen to the iPhone 4 but now with more storage capacity. And if that happens, it means there would probably no iPhone 5 this year. Instead, Apple would probably add something like ‘iPhone 4S’, just speculating.

[via: MIC Gadget]

If you look at the picture, it’s clearly written that this iPhone 4 prototypes have ‘XXGB’ code which is similar to the lost iPhone 4 prototype bought by Gizmodo last year. According to some sources, ‘XX’ marking generally represents Apple’s prototype devices. And also you can see from the ‘Device Info’ that it’s absolutely a iPhone 4 64GB model with model number of 995-6049LL.

Now people started speculating that this is probably prepared for the iPhone 5. If so, that means we can expect to see iPhone 5 this Summer with dual-core Apple A5 processor, aluminum back casing (as been rumored recently), 64GB Storage and possibly iOS 5. But the question is how Apple maintain the same price scheme for this kind of device considering that flash memory (the one that’s used by iPhone) is one of the most expensive component in today’s smartphones?

[Source: Unwire.hk via: MIC Gadget]

This aluminum back casing is actually used by first iPhone, so it’s kind of strange that brand like Apple going back to an old design after making a really big changes on one of it’s product. However, considering many aspects including the issues with white paint and scratches on rear glass surface and weight of glass, that would be make sense.

From the translation,

Decision to design similar to iPod touch instead of using glass is supposed that Apple seems to stop problems which are told widely damages from scratching, difficulties of painting white and weight of glass.

Another thing is, the current external antenna on iPhone 4 will also likely to be redesigned on iPhone 5. As we all know, this antenna was said to be the one that caused signal problem on the iPhone 4 few months ago. Well, we’ll see what Apple will offer on the iPhone 5 this Summer including the possibility of using the new Apple A5 processor.

[via: Macrumors]

During the weekend, there was a rumor spread out showing pictures of Sony Ericsson Windows Phone 7 prototype. Those pictures popped up on a Chinese site and soon become a hot news among gadget blogs and websites. From our eyes, it doesn’t seem to be a Photoshop works or even if so, it must be very difficult to make such kind of mocked up pictures. So, we would say these pictures are likely taken from a real handset which intended for testing purpose.

As you can see on the pictures, it basically features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard similar to LG Quantum and HTC 7 Pro. Unfortunately, there’s no additional info regarding specs, etc. At the bottom of the handset, it’s clearly labelled as a prototype not for sale. And according to some sources, this handset could be the prototype handset during the early development of Windows Phone 7 over a year ago when Sony Ericsson was announced as a key launch partner. It also can be seen by looking at those old tiles on the Windows Phone 7 UI.

Well, despite all these things are true or not, it’s not impossible though that Sony Ericsson could come out with Windows Phone 7 handsets in the future especially after Nokia decided to join forces with Microsoft. And if it happens and looking at the latest Sony Ericsson’s release in it’s Android line up, we probably could expect to see a Sony Ericsson Windows Phone 7 handset with at least 1GHz processor, 512MB RAM, a display over 3.5-inch, 8 megapixel camera, HD video recording and of course the Mobile BRAVIA and Sony Exmor R technology in place.

[via: Lizhecome]