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]

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Motorola brings a new life to the RAZR line, introducing the DROID RAZR ultra slim Android smartphone. The new RAZR features a lightweight and slim form factor, boasting a gorgeous sculpted glass face, diamond-cut aluminum accents. According to Motorola, every part of DROID RAZR is protected by a splash-guard coating – even the electrical boards inside. The phone measures just 7.1mm and weighs 127g.

The Motorola DROID RAZR is powered a a dual-core 1.2GHz processor with 1GB of RAM and 16GB ROM. There is also a 16GB microSD card preinstalled. The phone comes with a 4.3-inch 540×960 Super AMOLED Advanced touchscreen with KEVLAR fiber and Corning Gorilla Glass to help the screen stand up to scratches and scrapes; a 8 Megapixel camera with LED flash, a 1.3 Megapixel front camera as well as Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi 802.11b/g/n connectivity. In addition to GPS/aGPS, the RAZR supports also GLONASS.

The ultra slim Android phone offers also support for DLNA and HDMI output. Its 1780mAh battery provides up to 12.5 hours of talk time. The DROID RAZR runs Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread OS. While the DROID RAZR supports CDMA800,CDMA1900,LTE B13 700 networks, Motorola will also release the new RAZR in Europe and Asia market, supporting quad0band GSM/EDGE and quad-band WCDMA/HSDPA networks.
[ITN]

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Recently, Android devices is getting more popular in India. HCL, India’s leading computer hardware manufacturer has just announced another Android tablet dubbed as the HCL ME X1. Though the HCL ME X1 isn’t the first Android tablet from HCL but this surely looks more promising than the previous generation as its priced sweetly for the features it comes along.

The Android Tablet comes with a 7 “ capacitive touch Screen with 480*800 pixels-a decent screen and resolution, a 1 GHz Cortex Processor and 512 MB of RAM, 2 MP camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI out, a 3500 mAh battery, a 4 GB inbuilt storage and supports up to 32 GB more via MicroSD card, and also Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread.  Unfortunately, The HCL ME X1 tablet doesn’t come with the Android market place but don’t worry because it has a customized app market called as the ME App store which has over 10,000 apps.

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HP TouchSmart 520PC All-In-One Desktop PC

HP have announced another machine from their All-In-One TouchSmart Series, it is the TouchSmart 520PC. This new PC comes with a 23-inch Touchscreen display with a 1920×1080 Full HD resolution, it packs the power of a 3.10GHz Intel Core i3-2100 pocessor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM and up to 500GB of Hard Drive Storage. Other than a really good processor for better multitasking, the TouchSmart 520PC runs the Windows 7 Home Premium OS, there is a DVD Super Multi Drive plus it comes built to order with a price tag of approximately $910 per unit. [TH]

Apple has just announced that it has managed to sell more than 4 million iPhone 4S units in the first three days of its availability. The iPhone 4S went on sale on Friday, October 14, in seven countries (the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the UK).

As a comparison, the iPhone 4 managed just 1.7 million sales in its first weekend, but there’s a caveat to take into account when comparing numbers. The iPhone 4 was initially available in just five countries (the US, the UK, France, Germany and Japan). On top of those, the iPhone 4S was also sold in Australia and Canada, and that may influence the numbers a bit.

But anyway, this is probably Apple’s biggest ever product launch, and it’s pretty clear that the iPhone 4S has sold more than the iPhone 4 in its first weekend. Exactly by how much is hard to tell at the moment considering the territorial availability issues described above.

This is a great start for Apple’s newest iPhone, and it goes to show that people have been anxiously awaiting something new from Apple. Perhaps delaying the launch by a few months was just a strategy to get even more people to go for an iPhone 4S. We’ll never know.

Apple has also let us know that 25 million people are already using iOS 5, the company’s newest mobile operating system version which was also launched last week. In rough numbers, that means that about 21 million people have already updated to this version of the OS. Apple also boasts that 20 million people have signed up for iCloud, its new services offering.
[UWV]

That wonderful smartphone, HTC Hero S, which just released for US Cellular, will also support the Sprint network, very soon. Though a fairly recent release, the Hero S has now become the current craze among smartphone lovers, especially among diehard HTC fans.

Apparently, the FCC has already nodded its approval for the Sprint Hero S. The hardware for the new version of the Hero S smartphone will support Sprint’s particular network type, which includes WiMAX and CDMA in the older iDEN band.

The FCC has therefore approved two distinct variants of the Hero S smartphone. The one for US Cellular has been described in FCC’s official documents as having the WiMAX “operation disabled by software change only”. The Sprint version of the Hero S, obviously, is WiMAX enabled.

As many of you may already know, the original HTC Hero was Sprint’s very first Android smartphone. The new Hero S includes interesting upgrades to the previous model. Features include a 1.2GHz Snapdragon S2 processor, qHD display, GSM/WCDMA networks supporting global roaming, front-facing camera and more.

Right now, no official statement has been made either by Sprint or HTC on this issue. But we sure do expect action soon.

[NG]

Now that some of the BlackBerry devices feature larger displays, they are subjected to the same amount of battery drain that most smartphones face today. We all know there is a price to pay for larger, full-colored displays. Well, the folks over at the official BlackBerry blog have decided to write a primer to help those of you who want to squeeze in an extra few hours of battery life from your BlackBerry phones.

It appears that apps left open (even when they’re not in use) can affect the battery life of BlackBerry devices, so close any apps that you aren’t using. Another tip (which works on all smartphones) is to turn off connections that aren’t in use. Turn off WiFi when you’re not in range or not planning to use it, the same thing goes for Bluetooth and 3G. However, if you’re in a location with weak 3G coverage but you have WiFi available, turn on WiFi instead.

Other tips include using a holster, enabling auto on/off, and changing the brightness of the display’s backlight. While all these tips should be second nature for regular smartphone users, I learnt something new – using a cotton swab or dry cloth to clean the metal contacts of the battery and the phone every few months should help as well. Anyone has tips to share about extending battery life (be it for BlackBerry or any other phone) drop a comment below. Be sure to check out our Android battery life guide as well.
[SP]

We just got done telling you that Android Honeycomb tablet sales numbers may be in the disappointingly low range of 3.4 million. This is quite the small number when compared to Apple’s iPad which has remained the dominant tablet on the market ever since being released. But, if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know that Amazon recently came forth to announce a tablet of their own dubbed the Kindle Fire.

While this tablet technically runs Google’s Android the untrained eye would not be able to tell such a phenomenon due to it being so heavily modified. However, if recent analysts are to be believed, the Kindle Fire may quickly become the best-selling Android powered tablet on the market. In fact, these analysts suggest that the Kindle Fire may sell as many as 5 million units in Q4 alone. If true (or even remotely true) this means that in a single quarter there would be more Kindle Fires on the market than Android Honeycomb powered tablets altogether.

This doesn’t seem like too much of a far-fetched claim considering the Kindle Fire will be priced at just $199.99 brand new while featuring decent specs including a dual-core processor.
[MW]

LG announced the Optimus Net back in July, and since then we’ve seen one version of it being headed to T-Mobile in the USA. Yet up until now there was no word about this device ever making it to Canada.

But now we know that it will do just that, and very soon. MobileSyrup has found out that Bell is set to release the LG Optimus Net on October 27. Virgin Mobile may also get the Android-powered smartphone on the same day, but that isn’t confirmed yet.

As for pricing, unfortunately we have nothing to tell you about how much the Optimus Net will cost when paired with a long-term contract. However, without a contract it’s expected to cost $249.95, so it can’t be too expensive with a contract anyway.

The LG Optimus Net is an entry level smartphone (although there are lower-end models, so technically it’s sitting somewhere in the lower midrange of the market), and will probably make a great device for those that want to know what all this smartphone craze is about, but don’t want to spend an arm and a leg to find out.
[UWV]

While the US and some parts of Europe are already enjoying their iPhone 4S’, which they have stayed up to pre-order on the 7th of October, it appears that those living in Australia are facing some issues regarding delays of their iPhone 4S’. According to Chris Rawson of TUAW, despite pre-ordering the handset on the day of the pre-order itself, the device has yet to make its way to customers’ hands.

The status has been reported to be stuck in “Preparing for Shipment” (as pictured above), and after contacting Apple and speaking to a service representative, he was informed that shipment of the iPhone 4S has been delayed by an additional one to two weeks, and that Australians who pre-ordered the handset on the 7th of October will have to wait at least until the 21st of October to receive it.

While we can’t say for sure what caused this delay, and if Apple retail stores in Australia have been affected, but we’re guessing that Apple did not predict that the iPhone 4S would be such a hit, and possibly did not foresee the 1 million pre-orders on the first day itself, which was 400,000 more than the iPhone 4 which saw 600,000 pre-orders on the first day.