HARDWARE

• 1GHz Snapdragon processor (QSD 8650 Android)
• Dimensions: 115.0 x 56.5 x 17.2mm, Weight: 193g (6.8 oz.)
• Main display: Dual 3.5-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreens (800 x 480 pixels or 4.7 inches diagonally and
  800 x 960 pixels when opened)
• Removable 1370mAh battery; includes spare battery (1370 mAh) with portable charger that can also tether to the phone as an external power supply
• Memory: 1GB/512MB; 8GB microSD™ included
• 5MP camera with flash, autofocus and 2x digital zoom and 720p HD camcorder

SOFTWARE & CONNECTIVITY

• Android 2.2 with access to more than 100,000 apps
• Wi-Fi hotspot capability (supports up to 5 devices)*
• VueQue™, a pre-loaded app that lets users watch a YouTube™ video in one display, while browsing, queuing and buffering additional YouTube videos on the other
• GoogleTM mobile services including Google SearchTM, Google MapsTM, Google TalkTM instant message, GmailTM, YouTubeTM, and synchronization with Google CalendarTM
• Full HTML Web browser with Google search, optimized for dual-screen experience
• Sprint Zone™ one-stop wireless account access, phone tips, news and more
• Access to Telenav GPS Navigator and Sprint TV & Movies®
• Corporate (MS Exchange ActiveSync) and personal (POP & IMAP) email access
• Messaging – personal and business email, Google TalkTM instant message and text messaging
• Network – 3G data speeds (EVDO Rev A) – peak download speeds of 3.1 Mbps; peak upload speeds of 1.8 Mbps; average download speeds 600 kbps – 1.4 Mbps
• Wi-Fi: (802.11 b/g)

ENTERTAINMENT

• High-quality video streaming and downloads at 3G speeds
• Media player with 3.5mm stereo headset jack
• Stereo Bluetooth® 2.1 + EDR
• Digital compass, accelerometer, proximity sensor, light sensor, GPS
• Expandable memory: 8GB microSD card included; supports cards up to 32G

Find more details at Kyocera Echo website.

This statistic is matched with what IDC released last week. But this could be a big success and threats at the same time for Apple. Eventhough it has ousted RIM who holds 24.2% share, but in fact the true rising star is the Android. As you can see from the table, during the third quarter, there were 9.1 million Android handsets shipped which is almost double the Apple’s 5.5 million units.

Read what Canalys says,

Once again this quarter, it was devices running the Android platform that proved the greatest driver of growth in the worldwide market, up 1,309% year-on-year from 1.4 million in Q3 2009 to more than 20.0 million units in Q3 2010, forming a quarter of the market share. ‘With Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Sony Ericsson all delivering large numbers of Android devices, and with focused efforts from many other vendors, such as LG, Huawei and Acer, yielding promising volumes, the platform continues to gather momentum in markets around the world,’ said Canalys Senior Analyst Pete Cunningham. ‘Android has been well received by the market and in some geographies it is becoming a sought-after consumer brand.

Seems like the real smartphone battle now is between Apple it self and the Android warriors, really bored isn’t it? Hopefully the other players including the Windows Phone 7, webOS and BlackBerry can do something to join the battle. What about Nokia? Let’s just leave them out now as they’re still struggling with their platforms integration.

Looks like i missed the announcement of the 14 megapixel camera phone Altek Leo although i have posted about it here before. It’s the Taiwan based company Altek Corporation who recently announced their newest smartphone Altek Leo at CommunicAsia (CMMA) 2001 in Singapore. The phone is based on Google Android 2.1 (Eclair).

In addition to the 14 megapixel camera which could be the main selling point of this phone, the Altek Leo camera with on-board xenon flash and AF assist lamp also supports high definition video recording in 720 (1280 x720) and 30FPS formats. The video uses H.264 compression to retain the highest quality images for playback. The phone is also features the Altek’s latest self-designed image processor, the Sunny 9 which reduces image noise, supports high-precision lens focusing, adjust exposure and optimizes white balance automatically. For the best image viewing experience on the phone, the Altek Leo also equipped with 3.2-inches TFT with 480×800 (WVGA) resolution and 16.7 million colors and packed with many “smart” photo functions.

The Altek Leo supports HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA 5.76 Mbps network and Wi-Fi 802.11n wireless. The Altek Leo’s specs is so impressive so far. However from the Press Release there’s no info about the availability of the phone yet but according to the short hands-on video of the Altek Leo below, the phone will be available in Asia from A4, starting with China, Hongkong and Taiwan. The Altek Leo will be offered with an estimated retail price of US$499.

We have a very little info. It’s said to be a QWERTY keyboard slider phone, sized of a Storm with a full touchscreen. Another info about the phone is that the ON/OFF and SEND/CANCEL buttons are now on the screen. Besides, the keyboard here will come underneath the bottom of the phone.

The phone is also rumored as the Storm 3 or maybe the completely new device. So let’s wait for more info in the next few weeks.

[via: thecoolguyreport]

Looking at the pictures of the phone  it really looks like an iPhone both physically and also the user menu icon layout. The Mini 3i has a 3.5 inch touchscreen with 360×640 resolution or a bit lower than iPhone: 3.5 inch screen with 320×480 resolution. However compared to Palm Pre, the phone has a larger screen. Besides it has a 3.2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, a 950mAh battery, a mini USB port and a microSD expansion slot.

I read some websites wrote a bad impression about the phone. Even it’s said that Dell unable to find a carrier in the US for the device so that’s why it comes to China. But i strongly believe that Dell have a big plan for the future like what they have done with the PC. This could be a great start since according to the rumor we reported few weeks ago, there’s not just one but several. Dell is not a small company and it has power to give surprise to other players like iPhone, HTC and Palm.

[via: mobile163]

It’s the Dell’s Chinese market smartphone code-named Benzine which will have the specification below:

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE class 12
• Size: 68.6cc
• 103g grams weight
• Dimensions: 58 x 122 x 11.7mm
• Display: 3.5″ nHD 640×360 LCD, 18-bit, 262K colors
• OTA capable
• Microsoft Exchange support
• Google, AIM, Yahoo and MSN IM support
• 3 megapixel auto-focus, flash, 8x digital zoom camera with 30fps video shooting mode, built in photo editor
• USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• A-GPS
• On-screen QWERTY keyboard, hardwriting recognition, multi touch UI
• MicroSD slot

However, unlike what had been told by TechCrunch, the phone is set to be released in August 31. So stay tuned!

As you probably know that Microsoft already makes a version of Office Mobile for Windows Mobile devices. But for Nokia smartphones, there are already other players like DataViz and QuickOffice. According to the source, the agreement will start by optimizing access to e-mail and other personal information with Exchange ActiveSync and followed by the Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile next year and other Office applications and related software and services in the future including the following:

• The ability to view, edit, create and share Office documents on more devices in more places with mobile-optimized versions of Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft OneNote
• Enterprise instant messaging and presence, and optimized conferencing and collaboration experience with Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile
• Mobile access to intranet and extranet portals built on Microsoft SharePoint Server
• Enterprise device management with Microsoft System Center

In another source, Microsoft’s Mac unit is reported to schedule mysterious news conference in August 13 which is rumored to talk about the plan from Microsoft to release the Office Mobile for iPhone. However it’s not clear yet since that’s all the info available at the moment. We’ll keep you updated.

In this report we can also see that the Android OS share now getting close to RIM BlackBerry. In the worldwide share the RIM BlackBerry didn’t change and stay at 7% while for the US Market only, it’s grew to 14% from 13% at the previous month. It’s interesting to see how Android can surpass the RIM BlackBerry in the next couple of months.

For Manufacturers and Operators, HTC has been a great success to T-Mobile USA in the last couple of months including the last released myTouch 3G. Verizon Wireless USA still rely on the RIM BlackBery while Apple iPhone is still the largest for AT&T Wireless.

To get the full report, head over to the AdMob Mobile Metrics site.

The MID it self which also will be based on Android OS is designed to be the competitor for the Apple iPod Touch. It’s reportedly similar to the iPhone but without cellphone capabilities. Dell may begin selling the device later this year. However the plan could be delayed or scrapped entirely.