Concept devices are great. They allow companies and individuals to stretch their legs and think, “What if?,” instead of “What’s practical?”. So what’s even better than a concept device? When it becomes a reality, of course.

The Compufon, from Kosmaz Technologies, is just such a device. A mere concept as far as we knew, Kosmaz has announced that the Compufon Android device will be available as soon as Q4 2011. Pricing has yet to be determined.

The components of the Compufon are unspecified, but Kosmaz says that they will use “next generation CPU/GP’s for mobile phones”, so we assume that the processor will be a dual-core of some kind. They do say that the Compufon will run on Android 3.0 Honeycomb.

And Honeycomb will be necessary, as the Compufon is a convergent smartphone, tablet, and laptop all in one. The smartphone docks with a 10.6-inch tablet dock with stereo speakers, included Bluetooth headphones, and an auxiliary battery extending life by 10 hours. And the tablet weighs less than 1.5 pounds.

The included case contains a full Bluetooth keyboard. The tablet can then flip around within the case, giving you the laptop experience. And this is why laptop OEMs are squirming. Because smartphones like this could easily replace most people’s primary computers. Considering most people only use their home computers for email and browsing anyway, all-in-ones like the Compufon and the Motorola Atrix 4G are much more appealing solutions than three separate devices (smartphone, tablet, PC).

source: Kosmaz via Android Community

Continuing to show their commitment to be one of the most eco-friendly carriers in the country, Sprint is finally moving out of their comfort zone of mostly catering to the feature phone side, and instead, they’re making the move into the smartphone realm.  Today, we got the chance of checking out their latest green-friendly device, the Samsung Replenish, which should appeal to business savvy users out there thanks to its portrait style QWERTY form factor and flare for Android 2.2 Froyo.

Striking at the heart of RIM’s BlackBerry line of devices, the Samsung Replenish will quickly get some comparisons, but it’s notably longer than the usual BlackBerry. Constructed out of plastic with some chrome accents, it naturally makes the device light weight; however, it doesn’t quite embody the solid construction that’s evident with most of RIM’s upper end devices. Nonetheless, we like the feel of the buttons on the keyboard, though somewhat tiny, it definitely has a decent tactile response when pressed…

Read the whole story at PhoneArena.com!

The New York Post on Wednesday passed along some research from analytical firm ITG that places the HTC ThunderBolt ahead of the Apple iPhone 4 as the number one handset at Verizon. The ThunderBolt is the first handset to run on Big Red’s LTE pipeline while the iPhone still runs on 3G. The Post, saying that smartphone buyers are drawn to LTE because it is something new, quotes ITG as saying that since late March, the ThunderBolt, “surpassed the iPhone as the top-selling phone at Verizon.”

ITG says that Verizon’s sales of Apple’s touchscreen phone should come in at 2 million units for the first quarter. The handset did not go on sale at the carrier until February 10th, about 5 weeks after the start of the quarter.

This research dovetails with a couple of other reports. As we had already reported, BTIG did a survey among Verizon reps that showed that in many Verizon stores the HTC device was outselling the iPhone 4. SocialNuggets, a firm that uses the web to determine sentiment, says that in the latest reading of its smartphone index, the HTC ThunderBolt moved to the top spot, up from number 8. The Apple iPhone, on the other hand, dropped to number 10 from number 6.

The next LTE enabled handset for Verizon customers is expected to be the Samsung Droid Charge which could be launched possibly by the end of this month.

source: NYPost via BGR

Creative Hungarian reviewers of the LG Optimus 2X have decided to enlarge with a microscope sections of the IPS-LCD and Super AMOLED displays on the Optimus 2X and Samsung Galaxy S, respectively, clearly showing the disadvantages of the PenTile matrix arrangement in the Super AMOLED technology.

A guy named Székely Zoltán has then created one awesome Flash-based interactive tool, which visualizes how the screens look like under eleven times microscopic enlargement for the review, and was reposted on GSM Arena, from where we are embedding.

Since we pitted the other day the Super AMOLED Plus screen on a Samsung Galaxy S II prototype, against the IPS-LCD of the iPhone 4, and the Super AMOLED on the Galaxy S, we decided that this great tool can demonstrate perfectly why some picky users scoff at the use of the PenTile matrix. It uses less subpixels per pixel to create an image, arranging them in a creative geometric pattern, inspired by the human retina, and the company that invented it was acquired by Samsung in 2008.

Click on the Galaxy S or another phone to compare it, and then on the Android market icon with the flashing circle for a nice demonstration of the above-mentioned phenomenon:

This brilliant interactive tool of Mr Székely comes extremely handy in visualizing the disadvantages of the PenTile arrangement. It is clearly seen that when you start zooming into the individual pixels, the number of subpixels on the Galaxy S screen is way less than the number of subpixels that build the IPS-LCD display on the LG Optimus 2X, which uses a normal RGB matrix, despite that both are the same size and resolution.

The tool allows you to compare IPS-LCD with the other LCD variants, like Super LCD, too, for a better understanding of the technology behind them. LG’s phone is used for a reference point here, since the tool is embedded into its own review on the Hungarian site for illustration purposes.

We wanted to show you how the PenTile matrix arrangement in the Super AMOLED displays effectively lowers the perceived resolution, making text and other details appear less distinct on the Galaxy S, then on the Galaxy S II, despite that they are of the same official 480×800 pixels resolution. The thing is that with the Super AMOLED Plus technology Samsung reverts back to the normal RGB matrix arrangement, which uses more subpixels per pixel, thus improving the quality of the perceived detail.

In fact, Sammy said that the Super AMOLED Plus display on the Samsung Galaxy S II has 50% higher subpixel count than the display on the Galaxy S, and that’s precisely because Samsung ditched the easier to produce PenTile matrix, and used a normal RGB arrangement for the Galaxy S II, which it calls Real-Stripe matrix.

For more information about the various technologies behind today’s smartphone screens, you can read our in-depth article here.

source: PDAFanClub (translated) via GSMArena

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LG Optimus 2X and Samsung Galaxy S screens put under a microscope, interactive tool visualizes why the PenTile matrix is bad for you

Posted: 10 hours ago

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Creative Hungarian reviewers of the LG Optimus 2X have decided to enlarge with a microscope sections of the IPS-LCD and Super AMOLED displays on the Optimus 2X and Samsung Galaxy S, respectively, clearly showing the disadvantages of the PenTile matrix arrangement in the Super AMOLED technology.

A guy named Székely Zoltán has then created one awesome Flash-based interactive tool, which visualizes how the screens look like under eleven times microscopic enlargement for the review, and was reposted on GSM Arena, from where we are embedding.

Since we pitted the other day the Super AMOLED Plus screen on a Samsung Galaxy S II prototype, against the IPS-LCD of the iPhone 4, and the Super AMOLED on the Galaxy S, we decided that this great tool can demonstrate perfectly why some picky users scoff at the use of the PenTile matrix. It uses less subpixels per pixel to create an image, arranging them in a creative geometric pattern, inspired by the human retina, and the company that invented it was acquired by Samsung in 2008.

Click on the Galaxy S or another phone to compare it, and then on the Android market icon with the flashing circle for a nice demonstration of the above-mentioned phenomenon:

This brilliant interactive tool of Mr Székely comes extremely handy in visualizing the disadvantages of the PenTile arrangement. It is clearly seen that when you start zooming into the individual pixels, the number of subpixels on the Galaxy S screen is way less than the number of subpixels that build the IPS-LCD display on the LG Optimus 2X, which uses a normal RGB matrix, despite that both are the same size and resolution.

The tool allows you to compare IPS-LCD with the other LCD variants, like Super LCD, too, for a better understanding of the technology behind them. LG’s phone is used for a reference point here, since the tool is embedded into its own review on the Hungarian site for illustration purposes.

We wanted to show you how the PenTile matrix arrangement in the Super AMOLED displays effectively lowers the perceived resolution, making text and other details appear less distinct on the Galaxy S, then on the Galaxy S II, despite that they are of the same official 480×800 pixels resolution. The thing is that with the Super AMOLED Plus technology Samsung reverts back to the normal RGB matrix arrangement, which uses more subpixels per pixel, thus improving the quality of the perceived detail.

In fact, Sammy said that the Super AMOLED Plus display on the Samsung Galaxy S II has 50% higher subpixel count than the display on the Galaxy S, and that’s precisely because Samsung ditched the easier to produce PenTile matrix, and used a normal RGB arrangement for the Galaxy S II, which it calls Real-Stripe matrix.

For more information about the various technologies behind today’s smartphone screens, you can read our in-depth article here.

source: PDAFanClub (translated) via GSMArena

The tiny successor to the even tinier Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro (there we said it) – the Xperia SK17i Mango – has leaked for the nth time today. This time the Gingerbread-laden handset appears in better quality photos, and is sized next to all of its keyboarded Android brethren in the Sony Ericsson stable, including the Xperia pro.

The phone extends the miniature 2.55″ display of the Xperia Mini Pro to 3″, with 320×480 pixels of resolution, and is most likely powered by the same 1GHz Snapdragon chipset that is in most SE Android phones this year.

It’s got a 5MP camera, which does HD video, but the sensor is most likely the one from the Xperia Play, rather than an Exmor R one, which comes in at least an 8MP package; the Xperia Play takes pretty good photos, though, so no biggie.

Read the whole story at PhoneArena.com!

After what must seem like forever, owners of the Samsung Fascinate will finally get an OTA update tomorrow for Android 2.2. Starting Thursday, Fascinate owners can head over to Settings>About Phone >System Updates and they will be a click away from receiving Froyo OTA.

Besides enabling the device to show Flash video and animation, Android 2.2 also allows some apps to be stored on a microSD card. The upgrade will also allow for faster browsing on sites using JavaScript, correct upper and lower case letters on sentences typed using Swype, gives you the choice to have your apps automatically upgraded, and preloads VCAST apps and Samsung Media hub on your device among other improvements. For a look at the changelist, click on the sourcelink.

As we reported, the Android 2.2 upgrade was expected to reach Fascinate owners back on February 22nd, and even then it was considered long overdue. But if everything goes as planned tomorrow, all of that will be long forgotten by happy Samsung Fascinate owners.

source: Verizon via BGR

If all goes as planned, Samsung Fascinate owners will finally get the Android 2.2 upgrade on Thursday

The latest commercial for the Samsung Galaxy S II shows off a feature called “Voice Talk” that will allow users to send a text without using their hands. The ad highlights how handy this feature could be if you are caught in the Antartica or in Green Bay during the NFL playoffs, and you need to pass along the word to your buddy Nanuk that you are stranded.

Before the Samsung Galaxy S II, you would have to struggle with numb, useless fingers. But the handset allows you to open the text application, dictate the message, and send it all by using your voice.

As we have reported, the device is set to launch in the U.K. on May 1st. While at the current time there is no word on a U.S. release for the Samsung Galaxy S II, it is expected that the Korean based manufacturer will not leave the States out in the uh…cold.

source: AndroidCentral

Remember that pesky security hole that was found in the Skype application for Android devices? Well, that vulnerability is a thing of the past now after an official update to Skype for Android took care of it, hopefully once and for all. However, there seems to be a significant bonus that comes along with the security fix.

Call it a way of saying “We’re sorry!” if you will, but the update enables all Skype users to make calls from their Android-powered smartphones over 3G networks. Until now, the feature was only a privilege that some Verizon subscribers could brag about, and needless to say, this discrimination was criticized by Skype users nationwide. With 3G calls now enabled for everybody, the service ought to make up for any loss in popularity that the security flaw may have caused.

If you are not a part of the big Skype family, feel free to give it a try. Calls between Skype users are free of charge, and paid services like international calls or text messaging come at pretty affordable rates.

source: Skype (Android Market)

The Gingerbread update for the Motorola DROID X has been live for about a week now, but the improvements that it brings seem to be anything but solely superficial. According to the feedback that we just got from a fellow tipster, the phone now shows a significant boost in performance in comparison to the time when it was running an older Android version.

The numbers simply speak for themselves. As you can see in the screenshot below, the DROID X scored up to 1918 points on Quadrant and further benchmarks reportedly kept delivering results above the 1800 mark. Such milestones would have been pretty much unreachable prior to the Gingerbread update, when the handset was getting a bit over 1000.

Anybody who thinks their DROID X can beat this? Comments and tips from you, dear readers, are more than welcome!

Thanks, Sniggly!

We already know that the Sony Ericsson Xperia arc is to debut in Canada in only a week’s time, but news about the smartphone’s U.S. launch has been pretty scarce. Luckily, a hint regarding its arrival emerged from the official Sony Ericsson Product Blog and suggests we may have to wait patiently until later this summer.

Here is what Rikard Skogberg, one of the official SE bloggers, shared with his readers when asked about details around the arc’s landing in the U.S.:

I just got something from my US colleagues and the current plan is to have an “a”-variant available at retailers this summer. This version will be optimized for use in the US (GSM/UMTS). I’ll keep you posted as I get more details.

So there you go, a clue from a reliable source that the Xperia arc is already on its way. Unfortunately, “this summer” does not sound as good as a concrete release date would have, but it will have to do until we receive an official announcement from Sony Ericsson itself. If the smartphone does indeed come to the U.S. sporting a GSM radio, AT&T and/or T-Mobile will most probably be the carriers that will offer it. Stay tuned as we will be keeping an eye out for updates. In the meantime, how about checking out this extraordinary Xperia arc commercial?

source: Sony Ericsson Product Blog via SlashPhone