BBM will Be Launched on Android and IOS

Earlier last month BlackBerry they will be bringing its highly popular BlackBerry Messenger (a.k.a. BBM) to Android and iOS, but it turns out the Canadians are aiming higher – they want BBM to be available out of box.

"There is interest from other handset makers" says BlackBerry COO Kristian Tear, but he didn’t say which ones. Apple is certainly not one of them (it has a competing service, iMessage), Android manufacturers will be easier to convince (except maybe Samsung, which has ChatOn).

While BBM has been falling out of popularity recently, it's still used by 51 million users for an average of 90 minutes a day. The monthly user count is only a little higher – 60 million – which means that most people who have BBM use it heavily.

Android and iOS users won't get the full BlackBerry Messenger experience, not at first anyway. There will be chats (including multi-user chats), Groups and voice notes. Voice and video calls, channels plus screen sharing are expected to be added later on.

By the way, the Android and iOS apps should land in their respective app stores on 27th June

Source : 

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Motorola DRoiD 4

The slide-out QWERTY sporting Motorola Droid 4 is one of the fastest product sequels I’ve seen in quite some time. The Android smartphone hit the shelves at Verizon Wireless only six months after its predecessor, Motorola Droid 3 arrived, thus making me curious about the changes it has brought with it.

Speaking about changes in the newcomer, they are actually quite a few. The Droid 4 has seen a healthy bump in its CPU speed and RAM memory, compared to the third installment in the lineup. The handset also features LTE connectivity on board, along with revised exterior design and Android UI. The latter bring it right in line with the Droid RAZR lineup.

As you probably know, Motorola Droid 4 is a LTE/CDMA device, which is why you won’t find it in the usual review section of GSMArena.com. As the only dual-core and LTE featuring, hardware QWERTY handset currently on sale in the United States, the Droid 4 deserves plenty of attention. So go ahead and enjoy this short version of our trademark reviews. As always, I’ll get things cracking by taking a look at the smartphone’s key features.

Key features (at a glance)

• Dual-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9 CPU; PowerVR SGX540 GPU; TI OMAP 4430 chipset
• 4″ TFT capacitive touchscreen with qHD (540 x 960 pixels) resolution; 275 ppi pixel density
• 1GB RAM; 16GB built-in storage; microSD card slot
• 8MP autofocus camera with LED flash, 1080p video recording, 1.3MP front-facing unit
• Superb LTE network connectivity
• Possibly the best slide-out QWERTY keyboard in the business
• Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread with Motorola’s proprietary UI; ICS update planned
• Solid build quality and pocket friendly measures

The list get completed with the usual full connectivity set and Motorola’s exclusive software tricks. A closer look at the above highlights will tell you that, in more than one way, the Motorola Droid 4 is actually a Droid RAZR with a QWERTY keyboard – not a bad thing as I came to like both versions of the RAZR.

Below are some of the Droid 4′s features, which I did not fancy that much.

Main disadvantages

• The 4″ TFT display features older PenTile technology and has poor contrast and viewing angles
• The non user replaceable 1785mAh battery offers less than a solid performance
• No dedicated camera button
• The device comes with absurd amount of preinstalled, non-removable proprietary Verizon apps

Believe it or not, the Motorola Droid 4 is currently the only dual-core and LTE packing, Android smartphone with a hardware QWERTY on sale in the United States. This means that the Moto has practically no competition to face. Regarding this one – I am sure that neither Motorola, nor Verizon Wireless have anything against such state of affairs.

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Samsung Galaxy With Projector

The MWC 2012 is just about to start and Samsung already has already announced a new phone. The first of what we believe is a long list of phones to come is the Galaxy Beam, whose pièce de résistance is a built-in projector. The projector uses a 15 lumens lamp that is capable of projecting a 50-inch wide high-definition image, although Samsung does not mention the actual resolution.

Other than that, the Galaxy Beam has a 4-inch WVGA (800 x 480) display, 1GHz dual-core processor, 5 megapixel rear camera, 1.3 megapixel front camera, 720p video recording, 8GB internal memory with microSD card slot, 2,000mAh battery and Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

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Xperia Arc S

Introduction

Raise your hand everybody who at any point these past few months wanted an Xperia arc. Whoa, not bad. Hardly a surprise though. Who wouldn't want it? The Xperia arc is pure class, a daring display of skill and style.

Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S official photos
Now, you might just want to keep those hands up. Cause the Xperia arc keeps on coming. Nothing wrong with Sony Ericsson wanting you to continue to want their top droid. They had more than one way to go about it. Obviously, a price drop wasn't one of them. A facelift? Maybe, if it were any other phone. It's the Xperia arc though and we need to show some respect.

Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S official photos
So, seven months later, Sony Ericsson proceed with the upgrade. An overclocked processor, the latest Android release and some new paint jobs - this is not an upgrade that makes the original obsolete. It's an upgrade nonetheless and we'll treat it as one until proven otherwise.
Let’s take a look at an already familiar feature set, shall we?

Key features

• Quad-band GSM /GPRS/EDGE support
• 3G with 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• 4.2" 16M-color capacitive LED-backlit LCD touchscreen of FWVGA resolution (480 x 854 pixels) with Sony Mobile BRAVIA engine
• Android OS v2.3.4 Gingerbread
• 1.4 GHz Scorpion CPU, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 chipset
• 512 MB RAM
• 8 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and geotagging, 3D Sweep Panorama
• 720p video recording @ 30fps with continuous autofocus and stereo sound
• Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
• GPS with A-GPS
• microSD slot up to 32GB (8GB card included)
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
• Voice dialing
• Adobe Flash 11 support
• Deep Facebook integration
• microHDMI port
• Ultra slim (8.7mm at its thinnest point)

Main disadvantages

• The competition has dual-core CPUs and better GPUs
• Display has poor viewing angles
• No front-facing camera
• No smart dialing
• Non hot-swappable microSD card slot
• Shutter key isn’t particularly comfortable

Looking at the specs, the question forces itself on us. Was this necessary? If you already own the Xperia arc, the answer is clearly no. But the Xperia arc S is not for people like you anyway. It isn't its goal to send the company's flagship into retirement. Nor was it forced upon the company by the circumstances. Like the Xperia neo V had to fill in for the original Xperia neo, because of the 8 megapixel sensor shortage after the devastating Japan earthquake.
The Xperia arc S has more to do with publicity rather than adding value. Sony Ericsson are right to want their flagship back into the spotlight. That's what the new version does. Never mind that the familiar deal-breakers are still here.

Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S live pictures
To be fair though, the Xperia arc S comes with Android 2.3.4 out of the box, which the previous Xperia phones released in 2011, will be getting later on. The 2.3.4 update brings some good new stuff:

• Sony 3D sweep panos: panorama shots that can be rendered on compatible 3D TVs
• Screen capture - grab a screenshot anywhere on your Xperia
• Enhanced Facebook integration
• Swipe text input - works just like the popular Swype, but it's T9 Trace
• USB on-the-go functionality (requires Sony Ericsson LiveDock)

Google Talk with Video Chat is part of the package too but you won't be able to enjoy it on the Xperia arc S, which doesn't have a front-mounted camera.
Anyway, comparison is not the point. The Xperia arc S is not supposed to better the original Xperia arc. It's not improvement that Sony Ericsson were after, it's repetition. It's been a while since they last had a winner like the Xperia arc. When you do, you want people to know about it.
Well, there'll be plenty of repetition in our review but we can't help it. But still, we guess you're as eager as we are to know how much faster and better the Xperia arc S actually is. Follow us on the next page where the action starts.

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ZTE announces two Android 4.0 Smartphone

ZTE announces two Android 4.0 smartphones before MWC

It seems ZTE just couldn't wait for MWC (which will begin next week) to announce two of its upcoming Android smartphone. Both of these new phones will be running on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box.

The first one is the PF200, which will be a high-end model. It has a 4.3-inch display with 960 x 540 resolution, 1.2GHz processor (likely to be dual-core), 8 megapixel rear camera with a 1080p front facing video camera, LTE, DLNA, MHL and NFC connectivity.

The second one is the N910, which should be a mid-range model and will work on CDMA networks. It will have a 800 x 480 resolution display of unknown size, 1.5GHz processor (likely to be single-core), 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, 1080p front facing video camera, LTE, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and DLNA connectivity.

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