Android has been a success story that has turned around two of the industry’s former powerhouses – Motorola and Sony Ericsson. For others, such as Samsung and HTC, it has presented a great opportunity to expand their market share, and prosper.

HTC released its results for the quarter ending in September, and they beat the analysts forecasts, even though the summer months are usually the slowest time of the year for such purchases. The Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer earned $360 million from its phone business, mostly due to high-margin Android handsets. This is almost double what the company made in Q3 of 2009, and is derived from $2.45 billion of revenues.

This pegs the net profit margin at around 7%, which is not high, if we compare to the money Apple is making off of each iPhone 4, but still more than what most everyone else is making. Considering the broad phone portfolio of HTC, which was found just 13 years ago, it is a commendable achievement, and we are curious how Windows Phone 7 will treat HTC’s bottomline further down the road.
source: Reuters

Continuing their rapid ascent to the top of the ladder, Samsung announced today that they plan on bringing both the Samsung Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab to the Japanese market.

Naturally, this bodes well for the internationally successful Android powered smartphone since it’s very well on its way to being one of the world’s most popular handset. At the same time, Samsung’s presence in the Japanese market will be strengthened with the addition of these two devices.

NTT DoCoMo is planning to release the Samsung Galaxy S some time towards the end of this month, while the Galaxy Tab will thankfully be ready in time for late November as opposed to the previous rumored time frame of March. However, pricing for either of the two devices have yet to become publicly known.

Japanese consumers will be happy to know that the Galaxy S will be equipped out of the box with Android 2.2 so they can instantly absorb all of the fine offerings it has to offer. Hardware wise, nothing has really changed since they both pack the assortment of internals that we’ve been accustomed to seeing.
via Samsung Hub

Samsung Galaxy Tab	Samsung Galaxy S

Regretfully, all our fears about the Samsung Galaxy Tab might be coming true after O2 Germany recently became one of the first carriers to announce pricing on the highly anticipated Android powered tablet. Previously, we reported on how retail insiders hinted to an exorbitant price for a SIM-free and no-contract required Galaxy Tab, but now the realization that this thing is going to be costly no matter what is starting to hit everyone.

O2 Germany is planning to sell the Tab for €759 ($1,047) and for right now, looks to be fetched through their My Handy payment plan which essentially cuts up the price of the Tab over the course of a 24 month period – and that doesn’t include service. Initially, they require a €99 deposit which would then tie customers into 24 monthly payments of €27.50 each.

It’s almost unfathomable to even think that this thing will be priced higher than the Apple iPad, so it’s hard to say if Samsung has any control at this point with pricing. Now that we’re getting a small taste of what to expect, it’ll be interesting to see if other mobile carriers around the world adopt a similar pricing for their specific version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab. So now that O2 Germany spilled the beans regarding it, does it make you want to buy one still?
source: O2 Germany via SlashGear

Not too long ago, we reported on how the HTC Desire HD was spotted in a Vodafone Catalog, but now it looks as though it’s being officially confirmed by Vodafone UK.

Customers can now get a piece of the upcoming high-end Android powered smartphone thanks to pre-orders that are being made available right now. This Froyo filled device can be purchased for free with a new 2-year agreement and service that run from at least £35 ($55) per month. Getting down and dirty with an actual release date, the mobile operator says to expect it to ship out on October 14th – which is only a week away. That’s not too shabby since European customers have been eying the HTC EVO 4G in the US for quite some time now.

So fittingly, they’ll be able to absorb and experience all of the wonders that the HTC Desire HD will bring to the table when it’s finally out to customers.
source: Vodafone UK via Unwired View

When a company puts in a product outstanding features that have been dormant for years in its R&D labs, and backs it up with a simultaneous launch in 110 countries, it should expect to reap some rewards, right?

And this is exactly what is happening to Samsung with the Galaxy S. Backed up by an extensive marketing campaign on all fronts, the Super AMOLED, 1GHz Hummingbird Android handset has earned some street cred today.

Samsung said that it has sold more than five million units worldwide, two of which in the US, and a million in Korea. Coupled with the successful sales of the bada flagship Samsung Wave, these will surely result in a nice addition to Samsung’s bottom line in the Q4 financial report. Moreover, the Galaxy S will be entering the Japanese market  later this month, with the Galaxy Tab coming there in November.

You research, innovate, come up with a product to wow consumers, and back it up with extensive marketing campaign to reap the benefits – nothing wrong with old school economics.
via UnwiredView

What’s a company to do these days if it wants to make a difference in the cut-throat Android tablet world? Why, wait for an actual tablet Android OS, of course.

This is exactly the way LG intends to go with its plans for a slate running Google’s mobile OS. A company official has leaked some info that LG is shelving the Froyo tablet project, and will jump on the bandwagon when the next, tablet-optimised, version of Android is ready.

Codenamed Gingerbread, it is supposed to focus on the Android UI experience, and is expected to be finished some day around the end of this year, ready for appearance in tablets in Q1 of 2011. Smart move, LG, especially if you want your tablet to be more productive than Apple’s iPad.
source: Reuters

Sure there are going to be a couple of new Android offerings being rolled out across Europe in the not too far off distant future, but the notion of Windows Phone 7 being right around the corner might make you want to outweigh all your options. But for those who are content with the existing crop of handsets offered from HTC, they’ll be happy to know that two of their popular Android powered smartphones are receiving fresh paint jobs.

We all know that a white version of the HTC Desire is already being made available via pre-orders, but the Taiwan based company officially announced it – along with a phantom black version of the HTC Legend. There’s no arguing that the Legend’s design is intricate enough to make it stand atop of ladder, but the addition of a phantom black color scheme for it just might make people consider gobbling up the popular handset. If that doesn’t scream high-end for you, then the brilliant white HTC Desire might be a bit more fitting since it’ll be some packing some heat under its hood to still compete with the best out there.

As for availability, these two devices should become ready in time some time this month across various markets in Europe.
via Engadget

Who said that WiMAX has no future? At the CEATEC show in Japan, Samsung will present a demo of WiMAX 2, theoretically capable of speeds up to 330 Mbits. So, fret not, HTC EVO 4G and Samsung Epic 4G owners, your WiMAX network is not going away. The second generation is said to be compatible with the current WiMAX standard, thus the existing base stations can be upgraded to the new speeds with additional equipment.

Together with UQ Communications, Samsung is planning to demonstrate full HD-3D video streaming – you know, the kind that your phone will be capable of at the end of next year. It is also gracing 4 large size displays with 16 HD videos in total, over the airwaves, to show you what the technology is capable of. Now that’s what we call 4G – hopefully when the time comes for commercial deployment in the end of next year, the data plans will be cheaper, or we – richer.
source: SamsungHub

Ever wondered how Android will look like on the iPhone 4’s Retina Display? Fret not, Sharp has got you covered. More and more Japanese cell phones are getting smartphone operating systems, and the Sharp IS03, slated for the Japanese carrier KDDI, is the next in this trend. The Fujitsu F-06B from the summer’s lineup of DoCoMo, for example, runs Symbian, has a 13MP camera that does 1080p full HD video, and is waterproof.

Running Android 2.1 (with Froyo later on) is one thing, but combining it with 3.5″ 640×960 pixels screen, which Apple popularized as Retina Display, due to the insane resolution, adds more fuel to the fire. Sharp is one of the top screen companies, so it probably didn’t cost the guys much to come up with such resolution on its own technology for wider viewing angles. It also sports a second display for the capacitive Android buttons, which can actually show time and notifications, without the main one being active.

To top it all off, Sharp wants you to have fun with a 9MP camera, which, from the looks of it (Full HD option  in the camera interface), records 1080p full HD video. The IS03 also sports the usual goodies Japan places in its cell phones – 1seg TV tuner, pedometer, and FeliCa chips for contactless mobile payments. The Sharp IS03 goes on sale in November, and supports CDMA 1x EV-DO Rev.A (KDDI calls it CDMA 1X WIN). The handset is offered in black, orange and white, and there is a nice video presentation of it below.

source: MobileWatch

T-Mobile officially put a page up for its upcoming second HSPA+ handset. The T-Mobile myTouch will be an HTC-designed Android 2.2 phone with a 3.8″ WVGA screen, powered by the next generation 1GHz Snapdragon chipset – MSM8225. Since the chipset is the most powerful Snapdragon on a phone currently, it is worth noting that the manufacturing process is 45nm, which makes for blazing speeds on comparable battery life.

The benchmark Quadrant scores of this same chip in the HTC Desire HD is 1974, which is very quick, partly due to the capable Adreno 205 GPU. Not Galaxy S-after-the-XDA-fix fast, but faster than stock Galaxy S with Android 2.1, and impressive nonetheless. Given the fact it is running Froyo, and we’ve reviewed Android 2.2 running perfectly smooth on the 600MHz chipset of the Samsung i5510, we don’t expect any hiccups in the interface. T-Mobile myTouch is quoted for 6hrs of talk time.

The handset comes with a 5MP camera with LED flash, and features Video Chat through the front-facing camera, working both via Wi-Fi, or via T-Mobile’s 3G/HSPA+ network. Real-time HD video share or broadcast is also made easy with the touch of a virtual button. The phone features probably the best voice recognition software currently – Dragon Dictation from Nuance – for dictating text messages, calling or accessing the web with the touch of an exclusive physical Genius button. Of course, you can always use Swype for typing, as it comes standard on the phone as well. The phone will ship with a few HD games out of the box – Rock Band, Asphalt 5, and Monopoly, which makes it an even more compelling package.

The T-Mobile myTouch will be available for the holidays – rumors are for beginning of next month, and will be offered in four colors – white, black, plum and red – with an 8GB microSD card included in the retail package.

In the same press release, T-Mobile announced the expansion of its HSPA+ network to more cities, so now you can grab your T-Mobile G2 or myTouch, and enjoy up to 14.4 Mbps speeds also in:

Biloxi and Gulfport, Miss.; Denver, Colo.; Huntsville, Ala.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Norfolk, Va.; Omaha, Neb.; Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland and Sacramento, Calif.; and West Palm Beach, Fla.

Very exciting handset, and we can’t wait to get our hands on a review unit for testing those HD video share and Video Chat features, as well as the voice recognition software behavior on the new Snapdragon. Which one would you get if you are on T-Mobile – the QWERTY G2, or the myTouch?

T-Mobile myTouch Specifications
T-Mobile G2 Specifications

source: T-Mobile