Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus S7500 preview: First look

Introduction

Keen to place a contender in every nook and cranny of the smartphone market, Samsung are bringing the Galaxy Ace Plus on as a substitute for their midrange Galaxy Ace. Boasting a slightly bigger screen and a faster processor, the Galaxy Ace Plus could just be the right stepping stone for those coming from a dumbphone. It should be a relatively inexpensive upgrade of an entry-level droid too.

Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus official shots
Samsung have gone the extra mile with the Galaxy Ace Plus, treating it to Gingerbread 2.3.6 and the latest version of their TouchWiz UI for a more refined experience. There's been a boost to performance too. One thing that Samsung knew they needed to address was the poor video recording on the original Galaxy Ace. VGA @ 30 fps may sound like a waste of a 1GHz processor, but at least it's something, considering the predecessor had to make do with the miserable QVGA @ 15 fps. Here's what else the Galaxy Ace Plus has to offer.

Samsung I9001 Galaxy Ace Plus at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar
• Dimensions: 114.5 x 62.5 x 11.2 mm, 115 g
• Display: 3.65" 16M-color HVGA (320 x 480 pixels) TFT capacitive touchscreen
• CPU: 1 GHz Scorpion processor, Qualcomm S1
• GPU: Adreno 200 GPU
• RAM: 512 MB
• OS: Android 2.3.6 (Gingerbread)
• Memory: 3 GB of inbuilt storage, microSD card slot (up to 32 GB)
• Camera: 5 megapixel auto-focus, face and smile detection; VGA (640 x 480) video recording at 30fps
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, stereo Bluetooth 3.0, standard microUSB port,GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, stereo FM radio with RDS, TV out
• Misc: TouchWiz 4.0 UI, built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor, Swype text input

The Galaxy Ace Plus seems to be covering all its bases as a sensible midrange smartphone. It's not that the original Galaxy Ace has raised the bar too high, but it feels like Samsung fixed most of what needed fixing.

BlackBerry Bold 9790 review: Bold and the budget

Introduction

Oh, look - it's another BlackBerry Bold! But what's the catch? And where is the difference really? Sure it looks a bit smaller than the 9900 but it's the same QWERTY / touchscreen combo. So far, so good.

BlackBerry Bold 9790 official pictures
Now, let's play spot the difference. The Bold 9790 is powered by a different processor and HD video is one of the first things scrapped. To make amends, the phone has what's probably the best BlackBerry still camera to date. Both the screen size and resolution have taken a cut but we haven’t told you the best part yet. The Bold 9790 looks no worse than the Bold 9900 and costs less.
Now, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 is merely the next-in-rank. It doesn't have the premium features of the flagship but it makes sense as a potential replacement of the year-old Bold 9780. What it does is add touchscreen to a classic package, aiming to keep the BlackBerry experience up to date.

Key features:

• BlackBerry OS v7
• Enhanced email and data security with BlackBerry Internet Service
• 2.45" 16M-color TFT touchscreen of 480 x 360px resolution
• QWERTY keyboard
• Quad-band GSM support and quad-band 3G with HSDPA
• Dual-band Wi-Fi b/g/n connectivity
• NFC support
• GPS receiver and BlackBerry maps preloaded, digital compass
• 5 megapixel auto-focus camera, LED flash (surprisingly good camera, too)
• VGA@30fps video recording
• 1GHz processor
• 768MB RAM
• 8GB of inbuilt storage
• Optical trackpad
• microSD card slot (up to 16GB)
• DivX and XviD video playback support
• Office document editor
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Smart dialing
• Compact body and solid build quality

Main disadvantages:

• BlackBerry Internet Service account is a must to enjoy all phone features
• No HD video recording
• No front-facing video-call camera
• No Flash support
• No FM radio
• No haptic feedback
• Super stiff lock button
• Poor audio output quality
• Poor loudspeaker performance
• Wobbly back panel

The 9790 is part of the premium Bold line but comes across as more mindful of budget than your average high-end BlackBerry. It pretty much does the same job as the flagship but charges less and is not without charms of its own.

BlackBerry Bold 9790 live pictures
The Indonesian debut of the BlackBerry Bold 9790 reveals something about RIM's market strategy. It makes sense for the 9790 to stay out of the Bold 9900's way and focus on emerging markets instead. Not that Indonesia is technically one - it's one of RIM's strongholds. On the other hand, the Bold 9790 did need a strong start and a launch at a traditionally loyal market was supposed to give it just that.
Anyway, we're about to see what a smaller and friendlier - though less powerful - version of the flagship can offer. And to whom. Follow us on the next page where the Bold 9790 feels just as good as the 9900, if not better.

Samsung I9103 Galaxy R review: Riding shotgun

Introduction

The Samsung I9103 Galaxy R rode in on the NVIDIA Tegra 2 platform and became the first affordable dual-core smartphone from the South Korean company. With a bright SC-LCD screen and brushed metal back, the Galaxy R is just different enough from the Galaxy S lineup to stand on its own.

Samsung I9103 Galaxy R official photos
Samsung has so many variations of their models that sometimes it's hard to say when one model stops and another begins. Take the Samsung I9103 Galaxy R, positioned somewhere between the Galaxy S II flagship droid and the mid-range Galaxy W.
Not that we're complaining - having more options available is always a good thing and all dual-core droids from Samsung were only top of the line so far (S II and its variations, the Galaxy Nexus and the Galaxy Note phoneblet).
This is where the I9103 Galaxy R steps in in - it offers tangibly better specs than the Galaxy W, while staying a step below the top dogs in specs and price. Here's a summary of what you get with the Galaxy R and some downsides.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support
• 21 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA support
• 4.2" 16M-color SC-LCD capacitive touchscreen of WVGA (480 x 800 pixel) resolution; Scratch-resistant glass
• Android OS v2.3.3 with TouchWiz 4 launcher
• 1 GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU, ULP GeForce GPU, NVIDIA Tegra 2 chipset, 1GB of RAM
• 5 MP autofocus camera with LED flash, face and smile detection
• 720p HD video recording at 30fps
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n support; DLNA and Wi-Fi Direct support
• GPS with A-GPS connectivity; digital compass
• 8GB internal storage, microSD slot
• Accelerometer, gyroscope and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• microUSB port
• Stereo Bluetooth v3.0
• FM radio with RDS
• Great audio quality
• 1.3MP secondary video-call camera
• Document editor
• File manager comes preinstalled

Main disadvantages

• SC-LCD has poor black levels
• Tegra 2 falls slightly behind Exynos in CPU and GPU performance
• No dedicated camera key
• Non-hot-swappable microSD card

Depending on how you look at it, going from the Galaxy W to the Galaxy R means getting a better CPU and GPU, a bigger screen and extra built-in storage, or trading in several of the highlights of the Galaxy S II in exchange for a smaller total at the cash register.
Anyway, if you pull the Galaxy R away from the S II's shadow, you'll notice it stands pretty well on its own. Tegra 2 is at the heart of several popular dual-core droids and quite a few tablets too. And a 4.2" WVGA screen doesn’t sound too bad, even if it is an SC-LCD (we'll how it does in our tests though).
The camera could have been better - 5MP and 720p is nothing to brag about. We have seen some excellent 720p shooters lately though, so we'll postpone our final judgment on the camera for the camera section of this review.

Nokia Asha 300 review: King of ordinary

Introduction

The Nokia Asha 300 may not exactly fit in with today’s standards of newsworthy. With smartphones flexing their muscles at venues like CES, sporting ever-expanding app markets, HD screens and multi-core processors, it’s hard to see how an entry-level offering could produce much of a splash.
If, however, price is a factor, or you simply want a phone that is…well, simple, then the Asha 300 could definitely make some waves in your pool. Part of a new line of phones by Nokia, which feature a revamped S40 interface and 1GHz processor, the Asha 300, and its QWERTY sibling, the Asha 303, aim to cement Nokia's place in a market they have traditionally dominated.

Nokia Asha 300 official pictures
The Touch and Type S40 interface is at once the same yet different from the traditional non-smart UI from Nokia. Combined with an app store and a customizable homescreen, there are definitely elements borrowed from smartphones in an attempt by Nokia to extend the functionality while retaining the simplistic feel of the S40. The faster processor and 128MB of RAM are more than sufficient to run the S40 quickly and without hitches.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• Quad-band 3G with 10Mbps HSDPA and 2Mbps HSUPA
• Asha S40 Touch and Type platform
• 2.4" QVGA 256K-color resistive TFT touchscreen
• 1GHz processor
• 128MB RAM, 256MB ROM
• 5 megapixel fixed-focus camera
• VGA video recording at 30fps
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Bluetooth v2.1 (with A2DP)
• Standard microUSB port (charging enabled)
• USB On-The-Go support
• microSD card slot (32 GB supported)
• 3.5mm audio jack
• Asha exclusive Angry Birds game

Main disadvantages

• No Wi-Fi (as opposed to Asha 303)
• No multitasking
• Fixed-focus camera
• No smart dialing
• No video-call camera
• Non-hot-swappable memory card

The Asha 300 walks that fine precipice between designing a phone that is contemporary, yet aims to appeal mainly to an audience where being contemporary is not as important as being simple and not too expensive.
We’ve all heard the expression “I just want a phone that works, don't care about the extra stuff.” With quad-band 2G and 3G support, the 300 does exactly that – it’s a no-nonsense worker bee of a phone. In fact, with Bluetooth, a 5MP camera, messaging and radio it will do even more should the need arise. The only ding in regards to important cost-cutting features is that it does not have the Wi-Fi support of the Asha 303.

The Asha 300 in-hand
All of this in mind, one of the main disadvantages of not having a smartphone is that you don't get multitasking. Save for being able to play music in the background, the Asha 300 will not be able to run multiple applications simultaneously.
Asha is the new name of Nokia's entry level phone lineup. The Asha 303, which we recently reviewed, succeeds the Nokia C3. The Asha 300 in turn is an obvious descendant of the C3-01. Interestingly, while the QWERTY-enabled Asha 303 upgrades its predecessor in almost every way, the Asha 300 looks and feels like a downgrade. That should make it even more affordable, but let's see what you get relative to what you pay for.
We're about to take a closer look at the exterior, and how it feels to trade stainless steel for plastic.

CES 2012: Sony overview

Introduction

CES 2012 marks the end of Sony Ericsson and the birth of Sony as a leading smartphone maker. The first two Ericsson-free smartphones are the AT&T-bound Xperia ion and the international Xperia S (previously known as Nozomi) and they both look worthy of the occasion.

Sony press conference at CES 2012
The Xperia ion is an AT&T exclusive and the first LTE-capable Xperia smartphone. The Xperia S on the other hand is a well familiar gadget - it leaked countless times before under the codename Nozomi. It's the global version of the Xperia ion and while it is based on the same platform, it looks quite different.
Xperia ion is the bigger of the two gadgets, with a 4.6" HD Reality display (that adds up to about 320ppi), while the Xperia S uses a 4.3-ich display of the same resolution (about 342ppi). Both devices are powered by the Qualcomm MSM8260 Snapdragon - featuring a 1.5GHz dual-core Scorpion processor, Adreno 220 GPU and 1GB RAM.

Sony Xperia ion official images
There is more impressive stuff in the shared DNA - the 12 megapixel Exmor R camera sensor with 1080p video recording as well as the 1.3MP video-call camera with 720p video support. The list continues with 16GB of internal storage, PlayStation certification and Android Gingerbread that should be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich soon after launch.

Sony Xperia S official photos
The Xperia S will launch this March, while the Xperia ion is going to hit AT&T network in Q2 this year. The Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich updates are supposed to come by Q2 2012 as well.