Toshiba wants to kill the desktop PC with two new laptops, one of which has Intel Core i7 CPU and 18.4″ screen

Helping to seal the fate of desktop computers Toshiba announced two new laptops that feature Intel’s entire Core i range – from the “lowly” Intel Core i3 through the i5 to the i7. Meet the Toshiba Tecra A11 and the Toshiba Qosmio X500.

The Toshiba Tecra A11 (not Tegra) has a 15.6” screen, which leaves enough room for a 10-key NumPad on the keyboard. The Tecra A11 has four options for the CPU, all of them dual-cores:

• Core i3-330M (2.13GHz, 3MB L3 cache)
• Core i5-430M (2.26GHz, 2.53GHz Turbo Boost, 3MB L3 cache)
• Core i5-520M (2.40GHz, 2.93GHz Turbo Boost, 3MB L3 cache)
• Core i7-620M (2.66GHz, 3.33GHz Turbo Boost, 4MB L3 cache)

The last two come with a NVIDIA NVS 2100M video. The prices are respectively 879, 999, 1 999 and 1 349 US dollars. Here are the more detailed specs.

Toshiba Tecra A11

Should 15.6” inches prove too little for you the Toshiba Qosmio X500 has a monstrous 18.4” screen with FullHD resolution. At the heart of this laptop that challenges the notion that laptops are portable, lies either a Core i5-430M or a Core i7-720QM. The Intel Core i7-720QM is a quad-core CPU that runs at 1.6GHz with max Turbo Boost frequency of 2.8GHz. It also packs 6MB of L3 cache.

Toshiba Qosmio X500

For the video, you can choose between NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M and GTS 360M. The price ranges from 1 199 to 1 899 US dollars. The more money gets you goodies like a 64GB SSD, a Blu-ray drive and up to 6GB of RAM. More details can be found here.

These specs will make a lot of desktop computers sweat – and with a screen size of 18.4” the Toshiba Qosmio X500 can replace your current desktop PC, monitor and all. And because you don’t have to deal with a lot of cables, it’s marginally more portable too.

Sony TX5 waterproof digital compact leaks, looks like a million bucks

Waterproof digital cameras have always been great fun to use – you don’t have to worry about damaging them so much and you can focus on taking photos instead. Unluckily most of them are so ugly that you’d rather not be seen carrying them in public.

Luckily here comes Sony to the rescue with its TX5 Cyber-shot waterproof compact. It is not officially announced yet but the leaked press materials are of pretty high quality so it shouldn’t take too long to appear.

Rumor has it that the Sony TX5 camera will pack a 10 MP Exmor sensor and we can clearly make out the 4x Zeiss branding on the lens housing. It is yet unclear whether it will be a 35-140mm lens like the TX1 or a 25-100mm like on the TX7.

In any case the Sony TX5 is expected to be controlled through the 3.5” touchscreen display. The resistive technology that Sony uses for their compact cameras so far should be doing fine underwater.

The Sony TX5 will hit the European market in maroon, silver, black, pink and white colors, but there is no info on the potential color versions in the USA. The price is guessed to be about 300 US dollars, which seems about right given Sony’s past record.

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Nikon D3S crushes the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV and 5D Mark II with a remarkable high-ISO performance

In yet another shootout the Nikon D3S proved that there’s no better DSLR as far as high-ISO performance is concerned. Tested against the closest to direct competitor that it will ever have, the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV and the last full-frame camera that Canon released, the EOS 5D mark II, the Nikon D3S left no one wondering who is the real Lord of the Darkness.

What's interesting to note is that despite being more than a year old and considerably cheaper, the full-frame Canon 5D mark II still performs better than the APS-H 1D Mark IV at both higher and lower ISO. Of course it’s actually making the photo that matters to 1D Mark IV potential owners and things like sturdy weather-sealed body, continues rate shooting speed and focus accuracy are enough to justify its price tag.

ISO 1600 • ISO 6400 • ISO 25600 (from left to right: Nikon D3S, Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 5D Mark II)

ISO 1600 • ISO 6400 • ISO 25600 (from left to right: Nikon D3S, Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 5D Mark II)

Back to the original topic I have to say that the Nikon D3S once again shows that its photos, shot at ISO lower than 51200 are perfectly usable for virtually anything. It gets a little messy at ISO 51200 but if you don't pixel-peek or make too large prints it's still pretty fine. ISO 102400 is of pretty limited use of course, but it isn't much worse than what the 1D mark IV has at ISO 25600. So that's almost a good two stop advantage in favor of the Nikon, which is light years ahead (in photography terms at least).

ISO 51200 • ISO 102400 (left: Nikon D3S, right: Canon 1D mark IV)

ISO 51200 • ISO 102400 (left: Nikon D3S, right: Canon 1D mark IV)

On the other hand the far better video recording of the Canon 1D Mark IV and the higher pixel count will be more than enough to earn it quite a lot of customers. The reporter’s camera segment was dominated by Canon a few years ago and people (usually) stay where their lenses are in this business so the 1D is safe for now. But maybe, just maybe, the next time Canon announce a sensor with insanely high ISO settings they should also deliver a performance that can justify its existence.

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Another photo of HTC Bravo in the wild, this time from Poland

The Nexus One is already out in the open market, but its HTC cousin - the HTC Bravo - is still very much a rumor. Yet another photo popped up and this might be the best one yet - you can get another look at what has changed between the HTC Bravo and the Nexus One.

The HTC Bravo matches pretty much all of the specs of the Nexus One, but there are exceptions - the trackball has been replaced by an optical trackpad and the phone's Android OS 2.0 (or possibly 2.1) is dressed in the pretty, multi-touch enabled Sense UI clothes.

The HTC Bravo also sports a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, a 3.7" AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with WVGA resolution (480 x 800), a 5MP camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, HSDPA and HSUPA all crammed into a shell only 11.7mm thick. The RAM was originally listed as 256MB, then we heard 320MB, but in the end it might turn up to be even more - the Nexus One has 512MB RAM.

A week ago there was a rumor that the HTC Bravo will be available at T-Mobile UK by the end of January, free on a 35 pounds a month contract. But the end of January is approaching fast and there's still no official word from T-Mobile. A different rumor says that the HTC Bravo will be in Europe in March, but again there's no confirmation.

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Nokia X6 and LG GD510 Pop go pink for Valentine's Day

Okay class, pick up your painting palettes and your coloring books - we're going to paint your favorite mobile phone in a new color. Let's start with the Nokia X6, then the LG GD510 Pop. Since Valentine’s Day is coming, let’s make both phones pink. Much better.

Ok, now serious. You might have heard rumors of a Nokia X6 without Comes With Music and that it will have 16GB internal storage instead of 32GB. More information has surfaced that supports that rumor and adds a few details.

It will be available in new colors - Pink on White as well as Black on Black - to go with the Red on Black and Blue on Black currently available for the 32GB version of the Nokia X6. According to Eldar Murtazin the 16GB version will be 100 euro cheaper than the 32GB version but you will be losing the WH-500 headphones in addition to the Comes With Music subscription.

The expected release date for the 16GB Nokia X6 is somewhere in the second half of February.

Update: The 16GB version of the Nokia X6 is official. It’s confirmed that it doesn’t have Comes With Music and it will be available in all black, all white, Pink on White and Yellow on White. The Nokia X6 16GB will come with the new Ovi Maps with free voice-guided drive and walk navigation and Michelin and Lonely Planet guides.

Official Nokia X6 16GB photos

The Nokia X6 16GB will be available this quarter. Instead with the WH-500 headphones the X6 16GB will come with a pair of the much cheaper WH-701. There’s still no word on the price though.

The LG GD510 Pop is also going chameleon with a few new colors. Some of those colors we've seen before but there are a few new ones too. Here's the lineup of the five available color versions:

Yep, there's a pink LG GD510 Pop but LG didn't give a specific date for when the new colors will be available. There's still time to Valentine's Day but not much, allowing for delivery.

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Motorola MOTOSPLIT has split QWERTY, runs Android

Motorola has recently acquired a taste for weird form factors - you've already seen the Motorola BACKFLIP, now get ready to meet the Motorola MOTOSPLIT. It runs on Android OS and strongly resembles the Nokia 6800 and the series of similarly shaped Nokia handsets culminating in the Nokia E70.

We only have a render to go on, but the Motorola MOTOSPLIT seems to revive the split QWERTY form factor but with a twist. The split QWERTY form factor is no stranger to the mobile world (there was the Nokia 5510 too, which was a split QWERTY bar) but never really become mass market.

The "photo", if we can even call it that, seems to be of projected image of a rendered Motorola MOTOSPLIT but our guess is that the two halves of the QWERTY keyboard don't flip but slide open. The MOTOSPLIT name seems to support that theory too.

If you haven't guessed from the photo already, the Motorola MOTOSPLIT runs Android. The CPU is a 1GHz Snapdragon, which is becoming quite popular in Android handsets these days but is a first for Motorola. Anyway the company has certainly set its mind on establishing itself as a big player in the Android world, they might even be the ones to make the Nexus Two.

The Motorola MOTOSPLIT is expected to arrive at AT&T's doorstep in the third quarter of this year.

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T-Mobile USA gets HTC HD2 with 576 MB RAM

It must have been annoying for the T-Mobile USA subscribers to have to wait three months longer than everybody else to get the HTC HD2. Well it seems their patience will be rewarded with an upgraded version of the device packing 576MB RAM and 1GB ROM. This definitely looks like a good spot for landing Windows Mobile 7 when it eventually becomes available.

And the good news doesn't end there. The T-Mobile USA will receive a 16GB microSD cards in their HTC HD2 retail boxes, instead of the 2GB available in the European/Asia packages.

The rest of the HD2 specs remain intact, but it doesn't change the fact T-Mobile will offer the most powerful HTC HD2 ever made. The rumored requirements for Windows Mobile 7 include 1GB ROM, so it might turn out that the T-Mobile's units will be the only ones to get the OS upgrade when available.

HTC USA

HTC HD2 gets optional extended battery and kickstand

If the battery life was your only concern about the omnipresent HTC HD2 we have some great news coming your way. HTC has just come up with an extended battery that packs twice the juice of the original one. And to make things even sweeter it throws in a kickstand as well, which should be a major boost to the video watching experience.

The bad (though perfectly expected) news is that those come with a replacement battery cover that adds a few millimeters to the HTC HD2 waistline. This however shouldn’t be too much of a concern, since the device is only 11mm thick with its original casing and even with the saucier battery it will still remain among the slimmest smartphones available on the market.

Our dedicated battery test indicated that the HTC HD2 in-box battery performance was pretty decent indeed so we guess the extended one should be able to take you through a day even if you don’t let it rest for a second. Just think about it – 9 hours of video playback sounds almost insane, considering the 1GHz CPU and the 4.3” WVGA screen.

The HTC HD2 extended battery will be available starting next month for 60 euro (85 US dollars). If you are still interested, you can preorder yours fClove UK.

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The Kurara goes official as Sony Ericsson Vivaz

The second full-touch Sony Ericsson handset running on the Symbian platform has just been officially announced. The previously rumored as Kurara handset will be known as Sony Ericsson Vivaz from now on.

Just as expected the Sony Ericsson Vivaz runs on the Symbian S60 platform and packs an 8 megapixel autofocus camera capable of recording 720p video. The 3.2" display sports a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels and is capable of showing up to 16M colors. The CPU inside the human curvature-inspired body clocks at 720 MHz.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz

Sony Ericsson Vivaz has an excellent set of connectivity options - USB (they used a standard microUSB jack this time), Wi-Fi, GPS, quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and 3G with HSDPA. The music fans will appreciate the 3.5mm audio jack, the FM radio and the built-in microSD card slot that allows expanding the 75MB of internal memory. There will be an 8GB microSD card slot included in the retail package so you can start capturing those magnificent 720p videos right away.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz lifestyle photos

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz should become available before the end of the first quarter for an yet unknown price.

Here go a short promo video of the Sony Ericsson Vivaz and a video overview of the handset for you to enjoy.

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T-Mobile UK gets a lot of touch phones - Bravo, X10, Vivaz, Spica

T-Mobile is getting a ton of touch-enabled handsets, the majority of which run Android. So, here's the list - HTC Bravo, Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 and Vivaz (Kurara), also Samsung i5700 Galaxy Spica and finally, the BlackBerry Storm2.

Let's break it down - the HTC Bravo is headed to T-Mobile UK and should be available by the end of January. The Bravo is like an un-Googled Nexus One, but with some extra goodies. The HTC Bravo swaps the old-fashioned trackball for an optical trackpad and will run multi-touch enabled Sense UI. The Bravo would be free on a 35 pound per month tariff (40 euro).

A better look at the keys of HTC Bravo • An older photo of the Bravo (photo by ai.rs Blog)

The much-awaited Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 and Sony Ericsson Vivaz (formerly Kurara) will hit the stores in March in a double offensive. If you missed it, the Sony Ericsson Viva is Sony Ericsson's 720p video recording, Symbian running monster. It's got an 8MP camera and a powerful Cortex A8 running at 720MHz. The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 is the manufacturer's first Android - it too has an 8MP camera (only WVGA@30fps video though) and has an equally impressive 1GHz Snapdragon CPU. Oh, and a 4" capacitive touchscreen with 480x854 pixels resolution.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 • Sony Ericsson Vivaz (Kurara)

The Samsung i5700 Galaxy Spica is already available on the T-Mobile UK site, under the name i5700 Galaxy Portal. It's available for 70 pounds on an 18-month contract, 13 pounds monthly charge, or for free for 18 pounds a month (again, an 18-month contract). The Samsung i5700 Galaxy Portal and the Samsung I7500 Galaxy should be getting the Android 2.0 upgrade in February.

Samsung i5700 Galaxy Spica (Galaxy Protal) • BlackBerry Storm2 • LG InTouch Max (GW620)

Finishing off the touch lineup is the BlackBerry Storm2 coming to T-Mobile UK in February for free on a 35 pounds/month contract. Also, as we reported earlier the LG GW620, or as the Brits call it LG InTouch Max, is available for T-Mobile UK as well. There was talk that it will come out on February 4th, but it seems it's already available.

Source: Omio Mobile News, SamsungFirmware

Really cheap Gigabyte Android phone leaks

When it comes to smartphones on the cheap, Symbian is the most common OS with the occasional Windows Mobile sneaking in. Rumor has it that Gigabyte will try to wedge Android in there too with one of the cheapest Android devices yet.

The cheapest Android right now is the HTC Tattoo for 210 euro (300 US dollars). The Android-running Gigabyte GSmart will be priced at less than 9000 rubles for the Russian market, which works out to less than 210 euro.

The rumored Android-running Gigabyte GSmart

Coincidentally, the specs of the HTC Tattoo and the Gigabyte GSmart are almost identical as well - 528MHz CPU, 256MB RAM/512MB ROM, 2.8" QVGA screen, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, microSD and 3.5mm audio jack.

The Tattoo however has the upper hand - the Gigabyte GSmart Android phone reportedly only has two-band GSM/EDGE, versus the Tattoo's quad-band GSM/EDGE and two-band 3G with 7.2Mbps HSDPA. It also has a 3MP auto-focus camera, while the camera on the new Gigabyte GSmart is just 2MP with auto-focus. Both phones run Android v1.6, but while the Tattoo has HTC's Sense UI, the Android on the GSmart looks vanilla.

The physical dimensions for the Gigabyte's first Android phone are 103 x 54 x 13.4 mm and it's powered by a 1500mAh battery.

The Gigabyte GSmart with Android is expected to come out in February. The price is said to be lower than 210 euro, but if it's not much lower, than the GSmart faces a tough competition from the Tattoo (and upcoming HTC's) - HTC is well established in the Android world.

Source (site in Russian)

Windows Mobile 6.6 coming in February, 7.0 to be delayed again?

Microsoft plans to launch the 6.6 update for their Windows Mobile OS next month bringing capacitive touchscreen support, among other performance optimizations and bug fixes.

The official announcement of the new version will most probably take place at the MWC 2010 in February in Barcelona.

I have to admit the Windows Mobile 6.5 did well into the smartphone sector and the capacitive-display-packing HTC HD2 was a huge success. So bringing native capacitive touchscreen support is definitely the next logical step.

Despite the fact Windows Mobile 7 is cooking in the Microsoft labs, it seems they won’t give up the 6.5 version and will continue to improve it. The bad news is that this extra work on the 6.6 version may result in delaying WinMo 7 for the early 2011, instead of releasing it in 2010.

I am still hoping that this rumor is wrong and the actual Microsoft event in Barcelona will be the unveiling of Windows Mobile 7. After all Microsoft were pretty clear that even WinMo 6.5 wasn’t a part of their plan, so why bother with another minor update?

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Samsung Corby Folder shows up, CDMA and Korea only for now

The Samsung Corby line is growing by the minute – yet another one poped out, although unofficially. It brings a new form factor as well – meet the Samsung W930 a.k.a. Samsung Corby Folder.

The Samsung Corby Folder, as the name implies, is a clamshell, unlike all the other phones in the Corby line. The phone features a 2.6” QVGA display on the inside (there’s no secondary display), a 3MP camera plus a secondary video call camera and a microSD card slot.

The Folder also packs a DMB TV receiver, the portable digital television standard used in South Korea. Yep, Korea – for now the Samsung Corby Folder is CDMA-only and will not be available to the rest of the world. It’s possible that we’ll see a worldwide GSM version too, though not just yet.

The Samsung Corby Folder has three different model numbers – possibly one for each South Korean operator

The Samsung Corby Folder will be available in a variety of colors – it’s a Corby after all. I don’t know when it’s coming out or how much it will cost (though if I have to guess, I’d say – not much).

Source: Cetizen, SamsungHub

The rumored Motorola Shadow becomes Google Nexus Two?

Only a few weeks back we heard for the first time of Motorola Shadow. Now rumor has it that it will actually become Google's next Android based device, namely the Nexus Two. That aside, we have something more to share with you: a couple of images revealing Shadow's design, QWERTY keyboard and huge touchscreen display.

There are some pretty interesting things a man could learn over at the Mobile01. That is where the Shadow image and information were leaked. Reportedly, the Motorola Shadow will be only 9mm (we suspect that this is actually a typo, considering the QWERTY keyboard) thin and will feature a huge 4.3" touchscreen of 850 x 484 pixels (or more probably 854 x 480 pixels), HDMI port and will pack an 8-megapixel snapper capable of 1080p video recording.

Motorola Shadow

Now, a glance at the new images reveals that the Motorola Shadow (or should we say Google Nexus Two) will also have a side-slide QWERTY-keyboard and an enormous wrist strap eyelet. Unlike the all-black MILESTONE/DROID, the Shadow will apparently come with a black front, white keyboard and some red accents.

More images of the rumored Motorola Shadow

It is still unknown if the Shadow/Nexus Two will run the Android OS v2.1 or a newer version, maybe the rumored Froyo (comes from "frozen yogurt").

And while we're at it, there is one more Android based Motorola device that leaked these days. Of course, we mean the Ruth (a.k.a. Motorola MB511) which specs have been spotted in company's own user agent profile database.

Nothing thrilling in the Motorola Ruth specs

Unfortunately, there's nothing thrilling to see: the Ruth will be a GSM/WCDMA with a Qualcomm MSM 7200A 528 MHz processor and MOTOBLUR-ed Android OS v1.5 aboard. The low resolution screen (of only 240 x 320 pixels) along with the other specs suggests that the phone will be competing with affordable devices such as the HTC Tattoo.

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New Symbian^4 concept screenshots surface up

Three Symbian^4 UI mockups found their way to the surface. As compared to previous leaks, now there are semi-transparent menu overlays and richer variety of sample homescreen widget. But the pictures show only a small part, the Concept Proposal document offers a lot more suggestions though.

We already showed you what the upcoming editions of Symbian OS will look like - at least the video player and gallery part. Back then we were promised simplified UI, 3x boost on the performance and multi-touch gestures support.

The new shots today bring only subtle changes to the table. The semi-transparent menu bar overlay is the most notable change we can see. Next are the nicely designed clock and to-do widgets, and that's all you can conclude from these new images.

The concept sshots

The User Interface Concept Proposal found alongside the UI design mockups include renewed layouts, non-standard shaped homescreen widgets with free movement and placement, improved task-switcher, redesigned Settings and Power menus.

The renewed layouts concerns the titlebar region, which may contain three interactive elements - universal signal and battery indicators, app title menu with drop-down element for more options and a back button. The titlebar and the bottom menu bar can be set to auto-hide on a predefined interval.

The Symbian^2 and ^3 are expected in Q1 and Q4 this year, while the Symbian^4 shown here is scheduled for the early 2011.

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