Gadget and Tech

LG Optimus LTE II Goes on Sale in South Korea

webradionica — Sun, 20 May 2012 10:04:27 +0000

World’s first Android phone to feature 2GB of RAM, the LG Optimus LTE II has just gone live in South Korea. The smartphone is now available for purchase through all three main carriers.

Although the handset has been made available only in South Korea, LG confirmed the Optimus LTE II will be launched worldwide, but more details on that will be unveiled in the following weeks.

With 2GB of RAM, LG Optimus LTE II offers an optimal multitasking at running large applications. In addition, the smartphone boasts an incredible 4.7-inch True HD IPS capacitive touchscreen display that supports HD (1280 x 720 pixels) resolution and is capable of emitting 550 nits.

The device is powered by a dual core Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon processor clocked at 1.5 GHz, which is complemented by an Adreno 225 graphics processing unit and 2GB of RAM.

Furthermore, the Optimus LTE II embeds 16GB of internal memory, which can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card.

Another strong point of the smartphone is the high-capacity 2,150 mAh Li-Ion battery, which is rated by the manufacturer for up to 250 hours of standby time or up to 10 hours of talk time.

LG also confirmed the Optimus LTE II runs Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system with the new Optimus UI 3.0 on top. The latter offers users a slew of convenient features such as face recognition unlocking, widget size control and easy-to-organize folder management.

It is also worth mentioning the smartphone comes with support for wireless charging, which means it can be recharged by placing it on a wireless battery charging pad.

“The Optimus LTE II is the most powerful smartphone technology currently available in Korea. With a faster LTE network, the barrier for downloading and running very large applications is no longer a significant one for many customers, which is why LG saw a need for more RAM on high-end smartphones,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company.

Motorola MOTOKEY SOCIAL Goes Official in Peru

webradionica — Sun, 20 May 2012 10:04:26 +0000

Motorola’s attempt to a Facebook-oriented phone, the MOTOKEY SOCIAL has just been introduced in Peru. Starting today, customers can purchase the handset through all major carriers in the country.

Also known as Motorola EX 225, the handset features a compact design and a generous QWERTY keyboard, allowing for more comfortable texting.

Moreover, the MOTOKEY SOCIAL comes with a dedicated Facebook key, which provides one click access to the social network application.

Aside from the portrait QWERTY keyboard, the phone sports a decent 2.4-inch QVGA capacitive touchscreen display that support 320 x 240 pixels resolution and 262k colors.

Surprisingly, the handset is less than 10mm thick. It measures 105.5 x 60mm and weighs only 92g (battery included).

Although the MOTOKEY SOCIAL is no smarpthone, the handset comes with five different home screens pre-installed, a slew of interface themes and direct links to Facebook, Twitter and other popular social networking sites.

In addition, users will be able to browse the Internet with the blazing fast Opera Mini browser. Email services are included as well, such as access to corporate Exchange email via OWA (Outlook Web Access).

On the back, Motorola MOTOKEY SOCIAL packs a 3-megapixel camera with video recording. The phone embeds only 50MB of internal memory, which can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card.

In the connectivity front, the MOTOKEY SOCIAL does not disappoint as the device comes packed with Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Hotspot support, Bluetooth stereo functionality, 3.5 mm earphone jack and microUSB port.

Even though the mobile phone is powered by a low-capacity 910 Li-Ion battery, Motorola claims it can provide up to 670 hours of standby time or up to 8 hours of talk time.

“We are committed to launching competitively-priced cellular telephones with the features demanded by consumers who still do not have a smartphone, but need access to e-mail, social network and Wi-Fi hotspot functionality,” said Alexander Zawadzki, Motorola Mobility´s general manager for Peru.

Quickly Organize Your Clustered Folders

webradionica — Sat, 19 May 2012 15:01:29 +0000

Let’s face it. Most of the time, we don’t like doing chores around the house, much less on our computer. We use machines to tidy up our homes or hire other people to do the effort for us. Our computers, though, require another type of attention.

Files can get clustered and, before you know it, you’ll be wasting precious time to find or tidy up the files you’ve gathered in one directory.

In this sense, a large number of applications have been developed to help you organize your files. In spite of its small size, Folder Tidy is quite a powerful and handy application. It automates the process of organizing files into subfolders based on their file type and, if you prefer, on custom rules.

If, for instance, your Desktop is full of random files and folders, Folder Tidy will be able to move them to a specified folder. Within this folder, it will create subfolders that will contain the files (e.g. movies, documents, presentations, etc.) organized using pre-defined filters.

The Looks

There is nothing extraordinary about Folder Tidy’s interface, an UI which gives the impression that it was designed to be as simple as possible.

The GUI consists of the main window, where you are able to select the folders to clean up and the places you want the files to be stored in.

When the tidying up takes place, the output folder will automatically be opened in a Finder window with Folder Tidy’s logo as its background.

The Works

Folder Tidy is quite a straightforward piece of software. As you start the application, you will immediately be able to select which folders you want to clean up and their destination. In the main window, you can select to clean up the Desktop, Downloads or choose a folder of your preference.

Afterwards, you need to select the place where you want the files to be organized. At this point, you are very close to the finish line.

Before you hit the Tidy button, you might want to check out the Preferences window where you are given the choice to rule out several file types (and to can create your own rules as well). Also, you can ignore certain files/folders and toggle the app’s display and clean-up options.

By default, the files/folders you want to clean up will be placed in one of these 15 folders (rules): Applications, Pictures, Movies, Music, PDF, Presentations, Source Code, Spreadsheets, Text, Documents, Disk Images, Web Locations, Text Clippings, Folders and Aliases.

So, if you don’t want files belonging to these categories to be cleaned up, you can deselect them in the Rules tab.

We have already stated that you can create your own rules, which can be done in the Rules tab of the Preferences pane. This feature helps you organize your files even further. You can sort your files by Kind, Last opened date, Last modified date, Created date, Name and File size.

The thing that would bother some users, though, is that you cannot add any other Kind to the existing nine (Applications, Documents, Folders, Pictures, Movies, Music, PDF, Presentations and Text). However, the developers have added new Kinds based on user requests, but for now, you have to settle with just nine.

The next tab of the Preferences pane enables you to ignore the files and/or folders you don’t want to be moved. Anything can be added here. This feature is a big plus, because you might not want to move around files that you have placed somewhere purposefully.

Finally, once you’ve adjusted all settings and clicked on the Tidy button, you will see magic happen. By choice, you can make all windows disappear and see only the output folder and a small notification window.

Sub-folders will automatically be created inside the main output folder and they will be named according to their category. It’s actually fun to watch how a messed up folder gets neatly organized.

In our tests, a folder with 1,600 items was sorted out rather quickly – probably 2 to 4 minutes. Alternatively, if you don’t like the way your files were organized, you can reverse the process. This is a useful feature, since it gives you the chance to go back and set other parameters if need be.

Given the fact that your files will be organized into maximum 9 kinds, you should expect for random but related files to be put together.

Furthermore, when we attempted to clean up a big folder, both the audio and video files were put to the “Movies” sub-folder. This seemed strange, because the audio files should belong to the “Music” folder. We tried with other types of audio files, but, unfortunately, we had the same results.

Another shortcoming of the application is that it doesn’t recognize some types of files. However, given the enormous number of file types out there, this is understandable. Folder Tidy identifies the most relevant files and this should be enough considering its low cost.

The Good

Right now, Folder Tidy may not be the perfect application, but it’s still a very useful one. It does the job fast, it’s reliable (ensures that no file will be lost) and it basically saves you the effort of organizing over-crowded folders.

The Bad

Since Folder Tidy recognizes only nine file types, some might end up in the wrong subfolder and they shouldn’t be mixed with others. Also, several files aren’t recognized and they remain untouched, so you need to deal with them manually.

The Truth

Even if the application classifies files based on nine criteria (the number of Rules you can create is quite flexible, though), it does so very fast. Additionally, it does not harm your files and you can choose to undo the clean-up process. Folder Tidy should be a good choice if you need an affordable tool to help you clean up your clustered folders.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action:

Galaxy S III Gets Rooted Before Hitting Shelves

webradionica — Sat, 19 May 2012 10:01:17 +0000

Galaxy S III, Samsung’s latest flagship device, is set to arrive on shelves in less than two weeks from now, and is expected to become highly popular right from the beginning.

In fact, the device already attracted a lot of people on its side, and the latest reports suggest that over 9 million units have been pre-ordered all around the world so far.

One thing that should make the phone even more appealing than it might have initially seemed is the fact that it can be easily rooted.

It fact, there is one developer who claims to have managed to root the device, using a simple trick. He explains it all in a post on XDA-Developers.

Apparently, Samsung used the standard boot.img format for Galaxy S III, which made the rooting and repackaging much easier than expected.

Moreover, the handset vendor is said to have used the recovery partition as well, thus allowing for recoveries to be flashed separately from the kernel.

The developer did not release the “insecure” kernel, fearing that it might be traced back to leaks, but said that the process is so simple that any user/developer with knowledge in the area will be able to root the device in several minutes when it is released.

He also says that Samsung hid the boot partitions, and that Triangle Away did not work. While no warning triangle was displayed at boot-up when flashing the modified kernel, a custom kernel flash counter was displayed in download mode.

All in all, it seems that Samsung has made it even easier for users to benefit from boot access on its Android handset. Although other vendors don’t take a similar approach in unlocks, Samsung has taken users’ side on this one.

However, it should be noted that the root was achieved on a development firmware and not on the final release, and that Samsung might make some changes in the official software for the device.

RIM Debuts BlackBerry Bold 9900 in Russia

webradionica — Sat, 19 May 2012 10:01:11 +0000

Research In Motion (RIM) has just announced the immediate availability of BlackBerry Bold 9900 smartphone in Russia. Customers can now purchase the handset through RIM authorised carrier partners Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) and Vimpelcom.

Although the Bold 9900 has been launched on the market for quite some time, for whatever reasons RIM decided to delay the release of the smartphone in Russia until today.

The Bold 9900 will be shipped with BlackBerry 7 operating system out of the box, but it will probably receive an OS 7.1 update in the following months.

BlackBerry 7 platform offers users an improved Internet browsing experience thanks to the new BlackBerry browser, which combines enhanced performance of the WebKit browser engine, along with powerful hardware improvements of the Bold 9900.

According to RIM, the Bold 9900 is the first BlackBerry smartphone to be shipped with support for NFC (Near Field Communications) capability, allowing users to make mobile payments, pair accessories or read SmartPoster tags.

Hardware-wise, BlackBerry Bold 9900 is the most powerful smartphone released by RIM. The smartphone is equipped with a 1.2 GHz single core QC 8655 processor, 768MB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory, which can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card.

In addition, the handset sports a decent 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen display that supports 640 x 480 pixels resolution. There’s also a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and HD (720p) video recording.

“We’re excited to launch the BlackBerry Bold 9900 smartphone in Russia together with our partners MTS and Vimpelcom. The Bold 9900 features the new BlackBerry 7 operating system and provides users with an outstanding communications, web browsing and multimedia experience. IT managers will also benefit from the renowned enterprise-grade features of the BlackBerry solution,” said Paul Lucier, Managing Director for Russia at Research In Motion.

Sony to Release Xperia GX in More Markets

webradionica — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:01:26 +0000

Last week, Sony announced the availability of two new mobile phones on the airwaves of wireless carrier NTT DOCOMO in Japan, namely Sony Xperia GX and Sony Xperia SX.

The handset vendor said at the time that these two smartphones were meant exclusively for the Japanese market, but it appears that it might have changed its mind.

As can be seen in the videos embedded below, in addition to the officially unveiled Xperia GX model which sports NTT DOCOMO’s logo on the front, Sony also showcased another variant of the device, without carrier’s branding.

Rumor has it that this might be the international flavor of the smartphone, especially since it featured an English Android 4.0.4 ROM, though no official confirmation on this has emerged.

However, it would not come as a surprise if things indeed proved to be this way, since Sony did similar moves in the past as well.

Chances are that the main hardware specs of the smartphone will remain unchanged from the Japanese flavor, but its software capabilities might be changed a bit.

Sony unveiled the Xperia GX with a 4.6-inch Reality Display powered by Mobile BRAVIA Engine and capable of delivering an HD resolution, as well as with a 1.5GHz dual-core application processor for faster performance.

Moreover, the company packed it with 16GB of internal storage and with 1GB of RAM, while including WiFi, and Bluetooth connectivity inside it, along with GPS receiver and the full set of sensors.

On the back, the Xperia GX sports a 13MP camera with Sony Exmor R for mobile, HD video recording, and Sony technology to take 3D panoramic images.

The smartphone runs under Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system and will hit shelves all dressed up in White or Black.

NTT DOCOMO is expected to launch this handset sometime this summer and the International version might arrive at that time or soon after. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before Sony makes a formal announcement on this.

SaskTel Launches HTC One S “Roughriders Edition”

webradionica — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:01:19 +0000

While TELUS, Bell and other Canadian carriers are offering the standard HTC One S smartphone, SaskTel decided to set itself apart and make a nice surprise to its customers at the same time by launching a special edition of the handset.

The regional carrier has just announced the upcoming availability of the HTC One S Roughriders Edition. This would be the third HTC One device that makes its entrance on the Canadian market, after HTC One X and One V have been released a few weeks ago.

SaskTel’s HTC One S comes with the same hardware configuration as the standard version, but packs several extras that might make it more appealing.

For example, HTC One S Roughrider Edition features a free Rider case for extra protection.

In addition, it comes with pre-loaded content including the official Roughriders mobile app, a Rider Widget, free Rider ringtones and wallpaper, as well as a specially wrapped box with a Riderized graphic and the full Rider schedule.

Obviously, it is powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system integrated with HTC Sense 4.0 UI. It also packs a dual-core processor clocked at 1.5 GHz, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal memory, but no microSD card slot.

The same 8-megapixel camera with ImageSense technology is packed on the backside of the handset, while in the front there’s a secondary VGA camera for video calls.

Unfortunately, SaskTel failed to provide a release date or price tag for the upcoming device, though it did mention it would offer more details soon.

“SaskTel is pleased to offer Saskatchewan Roughrider fans with a tailored HTC One S. The HTC One S is a high-end smartphone with an amazing camera, stunning design and authentic Universal Beats Audio Sound that will allow Rider fans to snap a picture of their favourite Rider player while shooting HD video at the same time,” said Stacey Sandison, SaskTel chief marketing officer.

FILED UNDER:

SaskTel

HTC One S

Android 4.0

HTC One S “Roughriders Edition”

TELUS

Galaxy S III Will Land in Japan with 2GB of RAM

webradionica — Thu, 17 May 2012 10:01:22 +0000

Yesterday, NTT DOCOMO unveiled to the world plans to bring to the market in Japan a wide range of new handsets running under Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, and the newly unveiled Galaxy S III was one of them.

Given the hype around this smartphone’s launch, it did not come as a surprise that the wireless carrier would add it to its lineup.

However, it appears that Galaxy S III will have some treats for its Japanese users, at least this is what a closer look at its specs list at the wireless carrier shows.

For starters, we should note that the mobile phone will include 2GB of RAM when released in the country, which is double the amount announced for the international version.

The high-end smartphone will become the second Android device to pack this amount of RAM, after the arrival of LG’s Optimus LTE II in Korea this week.

This suggests that Galaxy S III will be capable of delivering increased performance capabilities to its users, though it appears that the larger amount of RAM inside the phone might be exclusive to the Japanese market.

Additionally, we should note that the smartphone will hit shelves in the country with a dual-core MSM8960 application processor from Qualcomm, clocked at 1.5GHz.

The chip will provide support for both 3G and LTE networks, something that the International version of the device will lack as well.

When connected to NTT DOCOMO’s Xi (LTE) service, Samsung’s Galaxy S III smartphone will offer data transfer speeds of up to 75MBps, the wireless carrier notes.

The rest of the handset’s specifications remain mostly unchanged from what Samsung announced in early May, including the large 4.8-inch touchscreen display (720 x 1280 pixels HD resolution), the 8MP camera on the back, the 32GB of internal memory, or the MicroSD memory card slot with support for up to 64GB of additional storage space.

Nokia Distributor Expects Windows Phone 8 Devices in Late 2012

webradionica — Thu, 17 May 2012 10:01:16 +0000

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia has been long rumored to plan the release of handsets running under Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone 8 operating system, but nothing has been officially confirmed on the matter for the time being.

However, it appears that the company’s distributors have been already informed on the availability of such devices, and that one of them let that slip.

A European distributor for Nokia told Israeli publication Techit.co.il that the handset vendor is indeed on its way to launch Windows Phone smartphones this year.

The company is in charge with the distribution of Nokia smartphones in Israel, and it reportedly stated that Eurocom Nokia would launch these mobile phones in the country as soon as they become available.

Apparently, Windows Phone 8 will arrive with support for Hebrew, which will make Nokia’s Lumia lineup more appealing in the country.

Here’s a rough translation of the message coming from Eurocom Nokia:

“Eurocom Nokia is expected to launch in the Lumia Nokia devices based on Windows Phone operating system, towards the end of the year, after the released version 8.0 of the operating system that includes full support for Hebrew.”

This is not an official confirmation of the upcoming availability of Windows Phone 8 devices from Nokia, but it does back previous rumors on the matter.

Last month, Nokia Saudi Arabia mentioned in a tweet that Windows Phone 8 will be loaded on Nokia Lumia 900 when the device arrives in the Middle East.

Microsoft is expected to pack expanded functionality in its Windows Phone 8 operating system, along with support for better hardware than before.

Thus, the platform should arrive on shelves on devices packing multi-core processors and higher-resolution touchscreen displays, while also packing microSD memory card slots for expanding the available internal memory.

Microsoft is still mum on what the next version of its mobile OS will bring along, but details on manufacturers set to launch devices running under it have already started to emerge. Nokia and Samsung are almost sure to have such smartphones on shelves before the end of 2012.

Galaxy S III Pre-Orders Available One Day Earlier in London

webradionica — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:05:55 +0000

On May 30th, 2012, South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung will bring to shelves in Europe its latest Android-based flagship device, the Samsung Galaxy S III.

Enthusiasts are eagerly waiting for the smartphone to become available, so that they could get a taste of its quad-core power, and it appears that some of them might be able to enjoy that earlier than expected.

Those who have pre-ordered the device from the Samsung Brand Store at Westfield Stratford City will be the lucky owners of a new Galaxy S III on May 29th, recent reports suggest.

Given the great hype that this Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich-powered smartphone has created, it will not come as a surprise if users jump on it on that day.

Reportedly, the store will open its doors at 6pm on May 29th for those who have pre-ordered the phone to grab it.

“We’ve had an overwhelming response from our retail partners and customers alike since announcing the Galaxy S III on 3 May,” Simon Stanford, vice president, Telecommunications and Networks, Samsung UK and Ireland, reportedly stated.

“So we wanted to delight our customers and reward them for pre-ordering by letting them get their hands on the device a day before anyone else.”

“We believe we have created our best smartphone yet, designed specifically with daily human needs in mind, and we are proud to provide our customers with a truly unique mobile user experience”, he continued.

Moreover, the company will offer its partner distributors the possibility to deliver these pre-ordered handsets on May 29th, starting with 7pm.

However, pre-orders placed online or at other retailers in the country, or after 6pm on May 29th, will not arrive until May 30th or later, Samsung UK also confirmed.

The smartphone will arrive on shelves at major wireless carriers in the country as well, including O2, Three UK, Vodafone or T-Mobile.