Lenovo LePhone K2 & S760 Android smartphones unveiled

Yesterday, Lenovo announced five new droid devices, but the only smartphone among them was hardly inspiring. Now though, the Chinese company unveiled two more LePhone droids, the S760 and the K2, and things are starting to get somewhat more exciting.

The Lenovo LePhone S760 is a relatively compact device featuring a 3.7" AMOLED screen, a 5MP main camera and a 1.3MP front-facing snapper. The RAM on this one is 512MB and there's a single-core Scorpion CPU to do the math.

The Lenovo LePhone K2, on the other hand, is a real beast, coming with a powerful dual-core 1.5GHz Scorpion CPU, mounted on a Qualcomm MSM8260 chipset and sporting 1GB of RAM. The Android 2.3.5 Gingebread smartphone is built around a 4.3" IPS LCD that should offer great viewing angles. The K2 also features an 8 megapixel camera and 1080p video recording.

There's no saying on when either of the phones will start shipping or how much it will cost, but we hope we'll get updated on that soon enough.

Motorola MT917 for China Mobile - 720p display, 13 MP, Kevlar, more

Motorola has announced the MT917 Android smartphone, which will be an TD-SCDMA exclusive for China Mobile. The phone's highlights are a 1280 x 720 4.5-incher (~330 ppi), a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, 1 gig of RAM, 13 MP camera (capable of 1080p video capture) on the back, and speaking of which, the back is made of Kevlar just like on the RAZR.

The phone is due to launch mid-December on China Mobile's network and there's no word on global availability just yet.

The phone is among the slimmest around with a 8.5 mm profile (not quite as slim as the RAZR, though) and will offer a scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass display, Kevlar fiber back, zinc frame and splash resistant coating on the inside and out. It will come with Android 2.3 Gingerbread but hopefully will offer ICS some time post-launch.

We'll be eagerly awaiting a global GSM variant of the MT917, that will enter the elite among 720p-bearing phones and, hopefully, have a non-cyborg name to go along with it too.

LG announces Android 4.0 ICS upgrade plans

LG might be slow on the actual upgrades, but at least it’ on time with the announcements. While most of the latest Optimus siblings are getting their first Gingerbread bite just now, LG announces they are all going to taste Ice Cream Sandwich too.

The lucky devices are LG Optimus 3D, Optimus 2X, Optimus Black and Optimus LTE. The upgrade roadmap will be announced in December on the official LG Facebook page.

LG also promises it is exploring its options for bringing the Android 4.0 to some older Optimus smartphones too. So there is a tiny chance the Optimus One and Optimus Chic might get some Ice Cream Sandwich treatment as well.

Samsung GT-S7500 leaks in live pictures, is Galaxy S mini version

Here we go again with yet another mid-range phone from Samsung. This time it's the GT-S7500 which has leaked in two live photos showing us how the droid will look like.

And from what we are seeing it's not that much different from the other phones in Samsung's mid-range line-up. Although the photos aren't as detailed as we'd like them to be, it's clearly visible that the phone is like a pigmy Galaxy S with the shiny plastic outline and Samsung's usual big home button with two capacitive ones on each of its sides.

Keeping true to it's purpose of being somewhat an affordable device, it is highly likely to run Android 2.3 Gingerbread. And with that come a bunch of features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, microSD slot (we hope) and more. Rumors are this fella will sport a 5MP camera with LED flash on the back.

Other key features such as display and resolution, battery and measurements are still unknown, but we bet this phone won't stay in the shadows for long. Stay tuned.

Nokia promises two battery-related updates for the Lumia 800 in the next two months

Ever since the Nokia Lumia 800 went on sale, there were sporadic reports that the smartphone battery life is less than stellar. Nokia obviously did some investigation on the matter and they found that the poor battery life wasn’t caused by software glitches, but rather by the user behavior.

So the Finns will be releasing a couple of updates over the next couple of months, which should improve the battery performance as a whole. The first update will come in December and will focus on the power efficiency of the device, while the second will come in January 2012 and will tweak the charging of the 1450 mAh battery.

According to Nokia, both of those are planned updates and will be made available through Zune. Given that software updates normally take much longer than a few weeks to prepare we are inclined to believe that.

Nokia Lumia 800 sales going way better than previously reported

The other day we told you about the Pacific Crest analyst James Faucette prediction that Nokia WP devices will have a dismal quarter and will hardly sell the targeted quarter million units. Now we've got some sites closer to Nokia saying that the report was basically full of it and the demand for the Lumia 800 is quite high.

And here come some facts to back up those claims. The Nokia Lumia 800 is the second most-popular smartphone in the Vodafone UK website, just behind the black iPhone 4S. What's more the cyan version of the WP smartphone comes in third and that one is still on pre-order.

The online store of the Netherlands carrier KPN tells a similar story, with the Nokia Lumia 800 the second best-selling smartphone there. Some other Dutch stores also list the Lumia 800 as sold out, though we are not sure if that's due to high interest or low supply.

We also got word that many Orange stores in UK are out of Nokia Lumia 800 units to sell.

We'll only know for sure when the Q4 numbers came in, but for now it seems there's more truth to the Nokia reports that they are having the best first week of sales so far, than to that Pacific Crest analysis.

Adobe Flash player doesn't work on Android 4.0, update on the way

You might have heard that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the bringer of Android Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), doesn’t support Flash. It's not a hardware issue limited to the that model, the problem lies with the software - Flash doesn’t support ICS. Yet.

Adobe is expected to release an update by the end of the year that will add support for Ice Cream Sandwich to Android's Flash player. But pay attention at how Adobe worded its statement:
Adobe will release one more version of the Flash Player for mobile browsing, which will provide support for Android 4.0, and one more release of the Flash Linux Porting Kit - both expected to be released before the end of this year.

So, the next major Android version isn't getting official Flash support. Which coincides with Adobe's updated strategy for mobile devices that calls for HTML5 to replace Flash.

That doesn’t exclude the possibility of Flash on Android altogether - we've seen third party players like HTC's plugin - but the end is nigh. RIM for one has officially stated that they will continue development of the plug-in for their PlayBook tablet (and presumably phones running the upcoming new OS). Others who have licensed the source code can do the same.

Note that this is only for the Flash plug-in for browsers. Devs will still be able to use Adobe's technologies to create apps and games for mobile devices through Adobe AIR. That will go on with a focus on console-like gaming (thanks to the recently added 3D support). Flash for the desktop will also see continued development.

Nokia Lumia, Apple iPhone 4S and Motorola RAZR arrive in India

Smartphone enthusiasts in India are in for one hell of a time, as three of the most anticipated smartphone from the top three platforms have landed on the shores of the sub-continent.

First up is the Nokia Lumia series, which was launched in India today with a grand event. Considering the fact that India is a key market for Nokia and that the phones went up on their India website shortly after the event in London, it's no surprise that the Lumia phones arrived in India so soon.

The Nokia Lumia 800 is priced at 29,000 INR ($577) and the Lumia 710 is priced at 19,000 INR ($378). With that price the Nokia 800 will become the most expensive Windows Phone 7 smartphone in the country and will be competing with Android smartphones such as the Galaxy S II and HTC Sensation, which are priced similarly. The Lumia 701, on the other hand, will compete against the recently launched Samsung Omnia W and the HTC Radar.

The Apple iPhone 4S will also shortly be making an appearance in India. Although Apple hasn't officially announced it yet, Indian mobile phone carrier Aircel has announced on their website that they will be launching the phone on November 25 and that the phone will be available for pre-order starting November 18. There are also rumors that Airtel will be joining Aircel in selling the 4S. Currently, the same two carriers are selling the locked version of iPhone 4 in India. No information regarding the price is available at the moment.

Lastly, we have the Motorola RAZR XT910 that was slated for launch in India sometime by the end of the year but surprised everyone when it suddenly appeared in stock on an online retailer's website. The phone is currently priced at 33,990 ($676), which is a fair bit more than the Galaxy S II that currently costs about Rs. 28,500 INR (567) from the same retailer and closer to that of the Galaxy Note, which was recently launched in India for 34,990 INR ($696).

With the launch of these new phones and with the Galaxy Nexus launching shortly, smartphone buyers in India are going to have a hard time deciding which device to spend their money on.

Nokia Maps for WP7 hacked to work on all WP7 phones

“Exclusive” is really a word that the XDA community really can’t stand. That’s why it’s no surprise that the Nokia-developed Maps application that was supposed to bring extra value to the WP smartphones of the Finns is already freed and made available to anyone with an unlocked (as in dev-unlocked not as in SIM-free) WP device.

Some helpful members of the hacking community got their hands on the Nokia Maps XAP file and they were kind enough to share it with everyone. The XAP file is all that you need to install Nokia Maps on your non-Nokia WP smartphone, so the app exclusivity seal is really broken.

Of course, Nokia said that their Maps app will eventually be making its way to other WP devices, but they probably didn’t expect it to happen before the Lumia duo is even out. Plus, the other key Nokia app, the Nokia Drive voice-guided navigation software, also got hacked out of its Lumia safety a few days ago, so the Finns might not be enjoying as much market comfort as they hoped when the Lumia 800 launches.

If you are interested in getting the Nokia Maps and testing it on your WP smartphone follow the source link to obtain the XAP file.

Unlocked Nokia 800 Lumia delayed to 2012?

The Nokia 800 Lumia is hitting the UK shelves next week, but we have some bad news to those of you that aren't into signing long-term deals. We just heard that the SIM-free version of the WP smartphone might be delayed until January 2012.

The reports are coming from Clove UK and there's no official confirmation yet, so take them with a pinch of salt for now. Still, the online retail has a good record with those things.

It's yet unclear if the delay applies to the UK only or if it will be a global thing. We guess it won't be too dramatic in the UK, where all major carrier will be offering the Nokia Lumia 800 anyway, but it might turn out to be quite a big issue elsewhere.

Also there's no confirmation of the fate of the other Nokia WP smartphone - the Lumia 710. That one should become available this month as well, but we are yet to see if it will only be sold on a contract.

Samsung launches a pink Galaxy S II in South Korea

If you've wanted to surprise your geeky girlfriend with a Galaxy S II, you were limited to only black or white colors, which are not exactly girly enough. Apparently, Samsung has felt your pain and they've launched a pink Galaxy S II.

The new pink color will not only attract the gals, but will also allow Samsung to sell more units of their Android flagship. Currently, Sammy has sold more than 4 million units in South Korea, 850,000 of which are in white.

Just in time for the holidays, the pink Galaxy S II will be available in South Korea at first, but might as well hit other markets. And why shouldn't it? It looks as girly as a pink pony and lasses will be all over it.

Nokia Lumia 800 to hit the UK on November 16

The first Nokia Luma 800 shipments were leaving the factories last week, but it's only now that we learn the actual date of its arrival. The Finns announced that UK residents will get the chance to buy the Lumia 800 on November 16.

Previously, the company set the price of the Lumia 800 at €420, which should translate to about £430 after the UK taxes are added. It may seem pricey, but you shouldn’t forget that this fella comes with free lifetime voice-guided navigation, a gorgeous AMOLED screen and that oh-so-sleek non-colored plastic unibody.

You are welcome to check out Nokia World 2011 live coverage for live photos, camera samples and benchmarks of the Nokia 800 Lumia. After that, feel free to drop us a line in the comments section and say if you consider getting one.

iPhone 4S to storm 15 new countries, come November 11

As promised, Apple is expanding the iPhone 4S availability. Their latest and greatest was released on October 14 in seven countries, followed by 22 new countries on October 28.

Currently, the iPhone 4S is already available in USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The iPhone 4S gang is now being expanded throughout Hong Kong, South Korea, Bulgaria, Albania, Armenia, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Malta, Montenegro, New Zealand, Panama, Poland, Portugal and Romania. The official launch in these countries will be on November 11, while the pre-order campaign will start on November 4 (not available in Albania, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malta, Montenegro and Panama).

According to Apple the iPhone 4S will become available in more than 70 countries until the end of 2011, which means at least 26 more countries are going to start offering it via official channels.

Nokia kills the Nokia 600, no need to call the CSI team

Remember that there was a third Symbian Belle smartphone that was announced along with the Nokia 700 and 701? If you do, Nokia might have to kill you as the company has obviously pulled the plug on the Nokia 600 and is determined to pretending that it never happened.

Nokia 600 was announced in August and was expected to hit the shelves before Q3 ended, but that obviously never happened. We got no official comment from Nokia about the delay and now it appears that the phone has been cancelled.

All pages dedicated to the Belle-running Nokia 600 are now gone from the Nokia servers and even the Nokia developer website has no mention of it. Videos, featuring the Nokia 600 have been removed from the Nokia YouTube channels and if we hadn't actually seen the announcement we'd really be inclined to believe that the phone never existed.

We can't figure out what happened in the past two months that lead to the cancellation of a smartphone that was just weeks away from actually hitting the shelves, but seeing how Nokia handles things we'll probably never know.

It could be that there were some issues with its mass production or that the Finns want to focus more of your attention to their WP-running Lumia smartphones. Either way, if you had your sight set on the Nokia 600 you'll need to move along and find another device that suits your needs.

Thanks to Dion Guillaume for sending this in!