At the Galaxy Note launch event yesterday, Samsung spilled some details about the release of Galaxy Nexus, the first Ice Cream Sandwich phone. During the Q&A session, Samsung India’s Ranjit Yadav said that the Galaxy Nexus’s “tentative launch will be this year and not next.”

Galaxy Nexus runs Android 4.0 OS and comes with a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display (1280×720) and features HSPA+ or 4G LTE connectivity, a 5MP camera with full HD video recording support, 1.3MP front-facing camera, dual-band (2.4GHz/5GHz) Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, full HD playback support, 16 or 32GB internal memory, NFC and 1750mAh battery.
[SH]

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Samsung’s first Android tablet, which was also THE first tablet ever from a big brand, did not succeed as well as Google and Samsung would have wanted, but that is understandable seeing as Apple’s iPad sells only because of the great marketing and amazing fans – it was the first tablet to be released, so everyone is going with it. Of course, it wouldn’t be the most popular device if it didn’t have a good OS and a lot of advantages, and iOS certainly has those factors.

But the Android tablets market is still pretty successful and it’s growing every day. There are now almost a dozen different tablets from reputable companies (and about two dozen models from unknown Chinese factories ), and with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on the way, things look better than ever for them.

Samsung has released several new tablets already, all of which look like winners, especially the Galaxy Tab 7.7 with it’s gorgeous Super AMOLED Plus display, but there’s only niche that they seemingly forgot about – the compact 7 inch tablets niche. And now, after more than a year after the release of the Galaxy Tab, they finally released its 7 inch successor – the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus.

The new tablet looks and feels pretty good, with a nice 7 inch PLS LCD on the front with the usual 1024×600 pixels resolution (too bad it’s not Super AMOLED, but PLS looks a lot better than IPS), and a brushed aluminum back that looks like it can take a beating (the metal frame only reinforces the feeling). There are no hardware navigation buttons on the outside, as the tablet now runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb instead of older versions (the Galaxy Tab never got the upgrade, by the way), and an update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is highly likely, though I don’t know the criteria for the upgrade anymore – the G2X won’t be updated, for example (but XDA developers and modders will take care of that, for sure).

The housing has grown just a bit longer and wider, but only by 2mm, while the thickness went down for the same 2mm – in the end, it makes the tablet feel better in your hand and look better on a desk. On the inside, you’ll find the same 4000 mAh Li-Pol battery that should last even more than on the previous model, thanks to the new power saving features of the processor.

The processor, by the way, is Samsung’s new dual core Exynos, running at 1.2 GHz per core and aided by a full gigabyte of RAM – more than enough to run all your apps with ease, at the same time. There are 32 GB of internal memory AND a micro SD card slot that officially supports 64 GB micro SDXC cards – it seems Samsung got the memo about the ever increasing need for space on mobile devices, and especially tablets.

Among other hardware specs you’ve got your usual Wifi, Bluetooth, GPS combo, as well as HSPA+ support (up to 21 Mbps download), a 3 megapixels camera on the back with support for 720p HD video recording (the megapixel count isn’t everything, by the way, and the quality should be comparable to older 5 megapixels cameras) and a 2 megapixels camera on the front for video calls and other stuff.

Android 3.0 Honeycomb will come pre-installed, as always with Samsung’s own Touch Wiz 4.0 interface, which looks pretty nice. There are enough apps for the new tablet API on the Android market to satisfy nearly everyone now, so you won’t be missing your older Android or iPad apps if you’re switching to the new tablet.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is a great successor to the first Galaxy Tab, and it brings just enough new features to the table to be desirable. The price will be lower than the Galaxy Tab 7.7 and 8.9, which is understandable and makes the 7.0 Plus a perfect choice for an inexpensive tablet for any purpose (even for enterprise users when the Ice Cream Sandwich update is released).
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The beauty of Android that is an open source platform allowing manufacturers to install the software on pretty much whatever device they like. From this we’ve gotten a wide ranger of different high-powered smartphones along with many that are more friendly to those on a budget.

If you fall into the second category and are on the market for a cheap Android powered phone listen up. T-Mobile has just made it known that they will be bringing both the myTouch and myTouch Q to market on November 2nd. Both smartphones come complete with a 1GHz single-core Qualcomm processor, 5 megapixel rear facing camera, front facing camera and 4G connectivity with the carrier’s HSPA+ network. They both come pre-installed with Google’s Android ‘Gingerbread’ 2.3.4.

Best of all, both devices will be available at just $79.99 with 2-year contract. However, if you’re one who is partial to texting you may want to go with the Q as while it features only a 3.5-inch display (as opposed to the myTouch’s 3.8-inch display, it also feature a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
[MW]

AT&T has officially announced that it would launch three new BlackBerry smartphones this month (all of which were expected to hit the carrier’s shelves anyway): the BlackBerry Bold 9900, BlackBerry Torch 9860, and BlackBerry Curve 9360.

Both the Bold 9900 (pictured below) and Torch 9860 will be released by AT&T on November 6, coming with 4G (HSPA+) support, and running the latest BlackBerry 7 OS. The 9900 will cost $199.99 on contract, while the 9860 – AT&T’s first full-touch BlackBerry – is going to be available for $99.99 (also on contract).

As for the Curve 9360, this won’t support AT&T’s HSPA+ network. It’s going to cost only $29.99 on contract starting November 20.

All in all, November 6 is going to be a big day for AT&T, as it will launch the two BlackBerries mentioned above, two new Windows Phone Mango handsets (Samsung Focus S and Samsung Focus Flash), and its first two LTE smartphones: the Android-based Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket and the HTC Vivid.

Given not only the popularity of Android, but also the promise of faster data speeds (LTE is true 4G compared to HSPA+), I’m pretty sure the Galaxy S II Skyrocket and the HTC Vivid will steal the show that day.
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C-Spire is ready to release the iPhone 4S on November 11, 2011 via its online store. The network carrier will offer the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB versions of the iPhone 4S, as well as an 8GB version of iPhone 4. Pricing starts at $99 on-contract for the 8GB iPhone 4, and going up to $399 for the 64GB iPhone 4S.
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Samsung today announced its huge Android smartphone / tablet combo for the Indian market. The 5.3-inch Galaxy Note will grace the Indian markets soon that will allow consumers to draw sketches, take handwritten notes and more with the included S Pen stylus input and apps like S-Memo and S-Planner.

The 178g device is also equipped with a 5.3-inch Super AMOLED HD display (1280×800), making it one of the very few smartphones to sport an HD display and comes with Android 2.3 OS, 1.4GHz dual-core processor, 21Mbps HSPA+, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, 16GB internal memory, 8MP camera with full HD video recording support, front-facing 2MP camera and microSD card slot.

Galaxy Note should be available within the next couple of weeks for a price of Rs. 34,990.
[SH]

The HTC Rezound aka Vigor, whose launch on Verizon’s LTE network seems imminent, has been handled on video now, after numerous pictorial leaks already.

It should be the first HTC handset with 4.3″ HD display, with the astonishing 720×1280 pixels, allowing you to thumb your nose at those poor schmucks with “only” qHD resolution. LG Optimus LTE is the only one we know to sport such a display, so it might be precisely what HTC is using as well, meaning a traditional RGB matrix arrangement might have been used to achieve the high-res screen, unlike on the HD Super AMOLED displays.

The rest of the rumored specs are more typical for a high-end HTC Android handset – 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM (an upgrade from the usual 768MB), 8MP camera, and 16GB of internal memory. We don’t have those red highlights in the earspeaker grill, the capacitive buttons and the camera ring like on the Sensation XE, but the Rezound is also a Beats Audio device, as you can see in the video below. It will be interesting to know if the HTC Rezound will have the new camera module found in the HTC Vivid for AT&T, which would allow for 1080p HD video capture with 60fps instead of 30fps.

If it is, Verizon will take the cake with the best Android phones for this holiday season, when we pair the wider coverage of its LTE network with phones like the Android ICS poster child Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the thin Motorola DROID RAZR, and the HTC Rezound with its HD LCD display. We don’t know why there was a red patterned back cover in some of the leaked photos, which seemed an acquired taste, but thankfully we are not seeing it in the video below, although HTC apparently did paint the internal chassis frame and the battery in red as well.
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Acme TB01 Android Tablet is available at Amazon UK. Acme TB01 Android Tablet is a 7-inch tablet with 800 x 480pixels display. The tablet packs a 1GHz Samsung S5PV210 ARM Cortex-A8 single-core processor, 512MB of RAM and a 4GB of internal storage. For storage expansion there is a MicroSD card slot. Acme TB01 arrive with Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS. Offered with 179.49 GBP price tag, Acme TB01 also comes with a USB 2.0 port, a VGA front camera, a mini HDMIport and a 2,000mAh battery.
[LAM]

The update to Android 3.2 Honeycomb for Motorola Xoom tablets sold outside the US has been a very long time coming. It was first supposed to go live in September (although even that would have been more than a month later than when the update became available in the US), then it got pushed to ‘before the end of October’.

Motorola made that last deadline, but only just. The Android 3.2 update for Wi-Fi-only Xooms sold in some European countries has started rolling out last night. As usual, if you have a 3G-enabled tablet, you get to wait more. The countries in which the update is currently on its way to Xoom owners are Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

The update will take your tablet’s software version to 6.6.23. It also comes with a few new features, such as faster screen rotation, better docking support, a full version of QuickOffice preinstalled for all your Microsoft Office needs on the go, a new printing app which lets you print from your Xoom via Wi-Fi, enhanced VPN support, additional languages and keyboard layouts, and remote management software. More details can be found in this PDF provided by Motorola.

The update is over-the-air, so your Xoom should just notify you when it’s available. Make sure you have at least 50% of the battery left before updating. If you’re impatient, you can manually check for the update by going to Settings > About tablet > System updates.
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T-Mobile has started selling the HTC Radar 4G for $99.99 after rebates when you sign up to a new two year contract. Powered by the Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 Mango OS, the smartphone features a 3.8-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, a 1GHz processor, a 512MB of RAM, an 8GB of storage space and a front-facing VGA camera for video calls. The HTC Radar 4G also offers a 5-megapixel digital camera with a LED flash and a BSI sensor. Other specs include 3G, GPRS, EDGE, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 and a 1520mAh battery.
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