Android 2.1 “Eclair” for the Motorola DROID was supposed to be on the verge of release a couple of days ago and some were even saying it was supposed to be out today. But, as it turns out, after all that anticipation, the latest leak from Verizon says the OTA firmware update has been delayed. A page from Verizon’s internal systems reads like this : “The OTA software update for the DROID by Motorola is TBD. A new date will be communicated as soon as possible”.
According to an unnamed source, the Spring Design Alex e-reader which was supposed to be release in early March 2010, is now all set to start shipping on March 16. Initaly the device was also rumored to be releasing on Feburary 22nd. It is not known what is the reason behind the delay.
A lot of new devices are coming out at the MWC and it seems like “mini” versions of existing devices are a rage among the mobile device manufacturers. HTC announced the new HTC HD2 Mini, a scaled down version of the HTC HD2. It comes with a 3.2 inch HVGA capacitive touchscreen and in a rather cool-looking package. In short, it is a more compact, cheaper version of the HD2.
More details below the cut.
Symbian^3, Nokia’s new smartphone operating system, debuted today at the Mobile World Congress today. And guess what? Its open source which makes it free to download and use anywhere. This new version of Symbian packs some nice new features that should help it regain some of the marketshare that it recently lost to competing platforms like Android and iPhone. The new OS will be feature complete by Q1 2010 and should offer many improvements over the previous version. The flagship Symbian^3 handset, the Nokia N8-00 is expected to arrive this coming summer.
More details below the cut.
How much did we wait for the Mobile World Congress 2010 is unexplainable but, the fact that the day has arrived is soothing enough and now even when the surge has begun, we still have a leak lined-up for you-Windows Mobile 7. The Microsoft OS specifically developed for cellphones is slated to go public anytime at the event and courtesy of the scoop, we know that the interface will feature Xbox Live integration.
Ever since the iPhone came out, rumors have been rife about Microsoft entering the scene with a phone based on their Zune series of personal media players. That was a long time ago and now fresh rumors are circulating that the Zune Phone may in fact be coming this month!
Asus seems all set to enter the ebook reader market this year with a bang. Yesterday they announced their 6-inch color touchscreen ebook reader, the DR-570, going on sale later this year. Now some details are out about a second such device from Asus, dubbed as the DR-950 which should be coming much sooner. It features a much less colorful but still functional greyscale display but still having some cool features as detailed below.
Last week, there came out news about Google’s own Android smartphone, the Google Nexus One. It kicked up a lot of buzz well as comments varying from “Its just another G1/Droid” to saying that it will “break the mobile industry model“. Google had handed out a few test pieces to its employees for testing over the holidays. Some pics of these had leaked out leading to the big coverage. Now a few more, better pictures have come out along with more info on the 3G connectivity in the phone.
The pic above is courtesy of BoyGeniusReport, and really shows off the high resolution display. More pics and details follow.
A few days ago, Nokia had promised a new Symbian user experience by next year. A few screenshots and sneakpeeks of the upcoming 2010 updates to Nokia’s Symbian Operating System has now been released.
Nokia has put out a webcast full of concept renders of the upcoming OS update, which will apparently feature a lot of UI updates. In fact, some of the screenshots do oddly remind me of iPhone for some reason. And Nokia seems to be abandoning their unofficial resistive touchscreen only policy and should be leaning towards larger capacitive displays in their future devices ( like their new Nokia X6 ).
Barnes and Noble has been known to be working on an ebook reader to compete with Amazon’s Kindle ever since it came out. Some details about this device has been leaked and it is supposed to go on sale next Tuesday.
Similar to Spring Design’s Alex reader which was announced yesterday, the Barnes and Noble ‘Nook’ will have two screens. A monochrome e-ink display for showing the text and a multi-touch color iPhone-like LCD below it which also acts as a keyboard. The Nook will run on Google’s versatile Android operating system, which incidentally also powers the Spring Design “Alex”
