Lenovo and Intel just unveiled the first Intel CPU smartphone at CES 2012, the Lenovo K800 handset, that’s shown below. We’re dealing here with a phone that will hit China Unicom in Q2, packing Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as the OS of choice. Lenovo K800 also features a 4.5 inch 720p display and rear camera with dual LED flash.



You must also know that Intel announced its partnership with Motorola and Lenovo to deliver smartphones and tablets based on Intel CPU this year. The Lenovo K800 features an Intel Atom Z2640 processor with 1.6GHz frequency, plus a 4.5 inch TFT display I mentioned before and an 8 megapixel camera at the back. Another interesting feat is the support for Intel’s Wi-Di technology, that allows phone users to connect via wireless to external displays.

These screens will show the same content as the one on the handset’s screen. Excited about this new product and the new direction that Intel has taken recently (smartphones/tablets)? Think they’ll make it?

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ViewSonic just took the stage in Las Vegas to announce some fresh CES 2012 products, like the ViewPhone 3 dual SIM phone and the ViewPad 10 inch tablets 10pi and 10e. The handset can be seen below and know that it runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread and it’s meant for a late Q1 debut with a price tag of 9 unlocked.



This dual SIM phone features HSDPA connectivity, WiFi, Bluetooth and a 3.5 inch touchscreen, while Gingerbread runs with the aid of a 800 MHz processor. As far as the tablets are concerned, both are 10 inch units, with the ViewSonic ViewPad 10e running Gingerbread, while the ViewPad 10pi runs both Windows 7 and Gingerbread. More info can be found out here, if you’re into such tablets.

Back to the ViewPhone 3, this model is meant to hit Latin America first and in case you’re wondering, its CPU is the single core ARM Cortex A8 kind. The folks who played with it at the ViewSonic booth mentioned a bit of lag caused by the 800 MHz processor, especially when swiping through homescreen pages and scrolling down applications list.

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If you want a Lumia phone but can’t stand the OS on it (WP7 Mango), there’s always the option of getting a clone, that might just run an OS to your liking, such as Android. Such a device could be seen at CES 2012, courtesy of Rockchip. China-One Z500M is its name and it resembles the Nokia Lumias and the N9 greatly.



The handset goes for 159 euros and it’s available in more than one color, just like the Lumia 800, for example. I have no idea what specs this model has, but I bet there’s a Rockchip CPU inside, since I’ve seen this kind of chipset on many tablets from Asia. What’s funny is that Nokia also has a booth at CES and that it’s not even far from the one of Rockchip. Imagine the scandal if they saw a clone on display here. IT’s also funny that it all happens in the USA, the land that Apples calls home and the place where their cloning paranoia comes.

If I know Chinese cloned phones as well as I do, the Rockchip China-One Z500M comes with a single core processor, 480 x 800 pixel resolution, an older version of Android, a TV antenna, dual SIM slots and maybe a 5MP camera. What do you think of this clone?

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Samsung and T-Mobile have just announced a new fruit of their cooperation: the Galaxy S Blaze 4G handset, that’s shown below. This is a dual smartphone with a Super AMOLED display and 4G Connectivity that we’ve heard rumors about recently.



Sadly, we don’t have that many details on the product, but what we can reveal is that this model comes with a 1.5GHz dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 chipset. There’s also a Super AMOLED display on board and apart from that we have no idea what to expect here. I supposed that WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G connectivity and at least 8GB of internal memory are a given, as well as DLNA, a microSD card slot and most likely a 1,500+ mAh battery.

No idea if this handset will receive Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or when that will happen, but seeing these specs convinced me that the device is compatible with the latest Android. I wonder where this phone fits in the entire Samsung Galaxy lineup… high end tier that’s for sure.

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Micromax A85 Superfone is a device developed in partnership with eyeSight Mobile Technologies and this handset has as unique feature the possibility to control it through simple and intuitive hand motions. eyeSight Mobile Technologies is showing its gesture recognition technology these days in Las Vegas, at the CES 2012 booth it has reserved.



Back to this new handset, the A85 Superfone is an Android unit that can be controlled with hand gestures, that apply to answering calls, scrolling between pages and using eBook apps, a music player and even games. Micromax seems to have a large consumer base in the Asian market, or at least one that it’s easy to access. Their new phone comes with a 1GHz dual core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, Android 2.2 Froyo as the OS and social networking features.

The A85 uses a 3.8 inch capacitive touchscreen and apparently it has a price of around 0, of course unlocked. In case you’re wondering what this technology is about, know that eyeSight Mobile Technologies uses the camera of the phone and advanced real time image processing and machine vision algorithms to interpret the user’s hand motions.

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xpPhone is a name you’ve surely heard before, since this was supposed to be among the first smartphones to bring the desktop Windows experience to the mobile device world, in a smaller diagonal version. Predictably enough the first xpPhone ran Windows XP and now we have a Windows 7 compatible unit, that’s also able to run Windows 8.



xpPhone2 is the newcomer, one that features a 1.6GHz processor of the Intel Atom kind (probably), 2GB of RAM, a 4.3 inch touchscreen and a side sliding QWERTY keyboard. There’s also 112GB of HDD/flash drive on board, as well as GPS, 3G, WiFi and a battery that provides 18.5 hours of talk time. All of these feats were considered impressive enough to be included by the phone’s maker in a table comparison against the iPhone and some of the latest Android smartphones.

We’re welcome into the era of post-smartphone devices, with this being the one to set the trend. The problem here is that this handset is bulky and heavy, that’s a price you have to pay for the processing power and big battery. Also, I have a hard time believing that the Windows 7 experience will be comfortable on a 4.3 inch display, since it wasn’t that good on a 10 inch tablet…

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The latest in LG mobile technology is the Spectrum handset, that’s supposed to come to Verizon on  January 19. This is a LTE phone that was showcased at CES 2012 in Las Vegas this week. Previously the model was leaked as a pretty clear picture, with some specs attached to it. You can still find the device on the CES if you’re in Vegas.



We’re dealing here with a LG 4G LTE handset that features a 1.5GHz dual core processor, 1GB of RAM an 8 megapixel camera and a 4.5 inch 720p True HD IPS screen. The specs aren’t that different from the ones of the LG Nitro HD aka LG Optimus LTE, so you’re not missing anything by not purchasing it. There’s also a 1.3MP front camera and a huge 1830 mAh battery to give you enough juice for LTE and other functions. LG Spectrum runs Gingerbread for the time being, but it’s a certain candidate to receive Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in this quarter.

The price tag of this new phone on Verizon is 9 and the launch date is, as I said, January 19th. Not that anyone has any money left from the Xmas season right now… Well, at least you can sell your older mobile and go with this one. Expect more phones from LG to come at MWC 2012.

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As you may already know, this week Nokia announced the Lumia 900 handset in Las Vegas at CES 2012. We know all these is to know about this phone, aside from the launch date, that was leaked thanks to a recent developer newsletter. Apparently, this Windows Phone model is coming to AT&T in March.



Last I heard inside sources were mentioning the date March 18, as the exact time frame of the debut for this 4.3 inch smartphone. There’s also MWC 2012 coming till then, so we might see some more demos and services specifically created for this model, in order to make the Mango OS experience more appealing. Just a quick reminder of what we’re dealing with here: 1.4GHz processor, support for AT&T LTE, a 4.3 inch AMOLED display, an 8 megapixel camera, front facing cam for video calling and 16GB of storage.

There’s also 512MB of RAM and that beautiful polycarbonate shell that everyone has been raving about since the N9 came out. Rumors say that there’s a multi million dollar marketing campaign behind this phone, that’s meant to take the USA by storm. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what MS and Nokia deliver to us…

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Apple’s hype has passed all limits during this week’s debut of the iPhone 4S in Beijing China. Thousands of people were queued in front of the local Apple Store, trying to get hold of the new handset, or simply buy one for scalpers. Some people had been employed specifically for the task of providing handsets in bulk from this store for the gray market.



The problem is that it all went wrong, once the employees of the store announced that the iPhone 4S sale won’t be going down. People started egging the store and assaulting the employees, so the police had to come in and settle matters. Apple spokesperson Carolyn Wu says that they couldn’t open the store at Sanlitun because of the large crowd and choosing not to launch the device was a precaution measure. No iPhone 4S will be available in the Apple retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai for now.

Authorized resellers, as well as the carrier China Unicom will be free to sell the handset and online orders have already begun with the phone being already listed as sold out in some places. Reuters reports that at least 1,000 of the 2,000 people queuing in front of the store where the violence happened were hired by scalpers, trying to make a profit. Unofficial resellers are making a bundle through such practices, but this may stop if the authorities really investigate who’s actually buying stuff or who’s in it solely for the money.

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You know those pretty Japanese handsets from Fujitsu that only remain available locally? Well, it appears that the same thing might happen to the Nokia Lumia 900, that was recently confirmed to be an AT&T and USA exclusive. In a piece on Mobilissimo.ro we found out that at least in Romania this handset might not be launched since it’s “created specifically for the US market”.



Are we to expect only a rollout in the US and the rest of the world ignored?! That would be a bad move for Nokia and Microsoft and I’m sure they’ll only sell the handset locally for a few months and then move to the global market. Let me remind you that the Lumia 900 was announced this week at CES 2012 in Las Vegas and that it’s basically a larger Lumia 800 with a 4.3 inch display, 8MP camera and 1.4GHz processor, plus Windows Phone Mango as the OS.

We’ve known about the existence of this phone for months now, only as rumors or speculations, but they all came true eventually. It’s rumored that MS, Nokia and AT&T are pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into marketing campaigns for this phone, so it could become the new iPhone in the States. The question is: will it leave the country and hit the other markets or will it be kept tight to homeland (Microsoft) till it’s too late and all other countries lose interest?

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