TheSamsung Galaxy S IIis THE smartphone of the moment with its speedy operation, slim form factor and its gorgeous Super AMOLED Plus screen that granted it a maximum of 5 out of 5 in our review. THe smartphone is definitely expected to hit the US soon as the Galaxy Attain, Within and Function and it will also show up in Canada. We never doubted it would since the original Galaxy S was present on Bell, Rogers and Telus. According to the Canadian Samsung website, the Galaxy S II is "coming soon" but how soon and where is yet unknown. Our hunch is that the same carriers mentioned above that had the Galaxy S in their line-up are the ideal candidates for the follow-up too. It all depends on the order they'll get it in.
Bing has updated its mobile search page, the one you access fromhttp://m.bing.comwith a couple of new features that are more social oriented than before, bringing Facebook sharing, News, Maps/List Split View, and Search History /Trending Topics. Facebook sharing is pretty straightforward: you can share images, local business details, and, applications (this one only works iPhones). If you're into News, there's a carousel to help you flip through the headlines. The News feature is US-only and brings you news from categories like U.S, World, Local (state), Entertainment, Science/Technology, Business Politics, Sports, and Health. A new single view lets you see both the map as well as directions, businesses or whatever you've searched for, including transit and walking directions. For you search needs you will be glad to find out that there's a search history feature so you no longer input your searches. Trending topics is also US-only and brings you a list of what's hot and what people are searching for. The new features are available for devices with HTML5 capable browsers including iPhone, Android and BlackBerry smartphones (no Windows Phone 7 yet but IE9 with HTML 5 is coming with Mango).
Apple introducediMessageas part of the 200 features ofiOS 5to arrive this autumn and it is somewhat in the vein ofRIM's BlackBerryMessenger. It appears that Google is reportedly working on its own messaging application. According to a person allegedly close to the fire Google is hard at work on its new, very own,messagingapplication, as a response to RIM's BBM and Apple's upcoming iMessage. There are no further details and this is to be filed under "R" at the moment but Google is currently lacking a unified offering that would allow for text, multimedia and location sharing, groups and so on -- probably a revamped Google Talk client? With RIM already having its very popular BlackBerry Messenger, Apple introducing the iMessage, Microsoft adding chat capabilities to Mango, Google is a bit left out of the all-in-one communication and sharing service. However, carriers are frowning upon such services that offer communication via the Internet as it would contribute to the death oftext messaging-- with more than 1 trillion texts being pushed back and forth in the second half of last year, according to CTIA. Source:The Wall Street Journal
Sprintand Motorolaannounced the Motorola Photon 4G yesterdayand there were some initial hopes for an unlocked bootloader according to reports based on a reps unofficial statement. Unfortunately that is not the case. Reaching out directly to Motorola with a question regarding the Photon 4G bootloader, Droid-life got the following, this time official statement: "Motorolahas recognized the passion around this topic in our communities. As we’ve previously communicated, it isour intention to include the unlockable/relockable bootloader in software releases starting in late 2011, where operator and channel partners will allow it. However, this feature is not included in the software found on PHOTON 4G." Getting back for more exact details, the answer was that "it will not contain the unlockable/relockable feature; additional details beyond that will be available when the product comes to market". The Photon 4G has a 4.3-inch qHD display, dual-core Tegra 2 processor, 1GB of RAM and it will not have an unlockable/relockable bootloader but fingers crossed the security won't be a strict one and that it will eventually be bypassed.
This afternoon in New York City, Sprint and Motorola's press event has revealed the Photon 4G,just as we were expecting, along with the Motorola Triumph on Virgin Mobile pre-paid. Available Photon 4G specsmatch what was earlier leaked: the Android is very Atrix-like, with a qHD display, dual-core Tegra 2, and a gigabyte of RAM; the most obvious difference between the smartphones is the Photon 4G's screen measures in at 4.3 inches, over the Atrix's 4.0. Like the Atrixand the re-tooled Bionic, the Photon 4G will support Motorola's laptop dock. In addition to working on Sprint's CDMA andWiMAXfrequencies, the Gingerbread-running Photon 4G will include a GSM modem for international support. Motorola's Triumph has a 4.1-inch 800x480 WVGA screen, and though not a contender for thinnest smartphone, is respectably slender at a hair over a centimeter thick. The Triumph will come with 512MB of RAM and runs a MSM8655Snapdragon, presumably at 1GHz. The smartphone has a rear five-megapixel camera for some 720p video recording, and does HDMI-out. This marks the first time a Motorola phone has debuted on Virgin Mobile, a bit of a coup for the carrier. Unlike the Photon, the Triumph will only haveAndroid2.2 when it ships. Both the Photon 4G and Triumph will become available this summer. There's no word on pricing or an exact date for either just yet; stay tuned!
