Mighty Gadget Blog: The latest technology news & reviews in the UK

I’ve currently got the LG GW620 to review for the next couple of weeks(watch this space for the review) and it’s the first time I’ve proper got to grips with an Android phone. I LOVE ANDROID. So after getting the info on this Motorola home phone with Android, i had to have a nosy.

Although the landline phone probably doesn’t get used as much as it used to(mine never gets used) anybody buying this phone will surely use it. This is a Binatone made phone stamped with Motorola to give it more recognition, uses DECT 6.0(standard cordless phone connection) and uses Wi-Fi for the software. Unfortunately one of the main reasons i love Android is the third party apps MArket which sadly isn’t available on this phone, but it’s still great for web browsing and emailing.

Now being a “home” phone, most people have a computer at home or a mobile capable of what this can do so really it will only attract those with a lust for gadgetry and what a landline phone better than your neighbours, or those with old mobiles and ancient computers who want basic net capabilities etc.

No pricing yet but its due out in the latter part of Summer

We spoke here a just over a month ago about Philips latest entry into affordable PMP territory to rival the iPod Nano with the GoGear Muse. Now we have their answer to the iPod Touch, the GoGear Connect, an Android powered PMP.

Although only a prototype has been shown the specs speak for themselves for what could be a great little number if you’re looking to avoid the Apple’s dominant hardware. Sporting a 320x480 capacitive touchscreen, Philips have said it will be running Android 2.1. Other gubbins include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, micro-SD slot and GPS. It will also have a camera on the rear side of the PMP but no details yet as to what MP it will be. The Connect will be available in 8, 16, 32 and 64GB storage sizes.

Although it’s prototype seems to be on show now, it isn’t believed to be launched until IFA in September by which time its competitors, ie Apple may already have new hardware out and available by then.

HTC MANIA OR WHAT??? Now this is the icing on the cake for HTC at Mobile World Congress, not only with the Desire and HD mini have we seen the potential of two great new mobiles but then they saved the best till last with this bad boy.

Like Apple’s MacBook Pro these smartphones are made from a single block of Aluminium set with black plastic making them look the dog’ danglies. Rocking a similar shape to last years Hero phone, the bottom of which protruded like Jimmy Hill’s chin, has been made a little less obvious and has been given a new optical trackball for extra responsive use.

Housed within the lovely metal is the usual gubbins of 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth running the latest Android: Eclair 2.1 OS and HTC’s own “Sense” UI. It also sports a 5MP camera with a flash so you can view decent quality pics on its AMOLED screen.

What puts this one above the other two is the raw speed that the phone can function thanks to the UI. Multitouch is available allowing the user to flick quickly between the Android screens and packs full of features for quick and easy social networking use. Again due in April this could be one to watch!

HTC were busy yesterday in Barcelona showing that the new boys in town mean business with a bunch of great phones will be hitting our shelves in the coming months which will make you think twice about getting an iPhone or Nokia.

The Nexus One appeared to be the next best thing but didn’t seem to live up to the task with reported faults and poor reviews, however HTC have come up with the Desire. Now basically it looks like a Nexus but HTC have said its got a “different construction” basically I think that means they’ve ironed out the problems.

Running Android 2.1 with a 3.7” OLED screen being run with Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon it has also been given HTC’s new optical trackpad. The main difference however is the UI. Flash Lite 4 software, a little menu that pops up in it’s browser allowing cut/copy/paste/translate and wiki text to mention a few tweaks. This phone will be available on Vodafone(who announced shortly after the release of the phone it will be carrying the three HTC phones we will talk about today) around the April/May time.

Obviously Samsung are straight out the blocks with the future of their phones in Barcelona. After the Wave S8500 comes the I8520 “Beam” phone.

Again we’ll see the new Super AMOLED this time at 3.7” of super sharp colourful greatness. However what differs this from the Wave is the “I” part of the model number. This means it’s OS will be Android. Packing a 5MP camera which shoots 720p video, 3G a-GPS and N-Standard WiFi.

What really makes this phone special though is sat right at the top of the phone……… A pico-projector! This allows you to show your videos and photos onto a white wall.It might well attract a business clientele is the ability to open MS Powerpoint documents and project them onto a wall, helping out in those board meetings and conferences. Now it won’t project HD video but you can hook it up to your HD telly and watch your captured movies.

Price and date are still TBC………

The Galaxy 2 is an up and coming phone from Samsung to battle against Google’s Nexus One for the top Android phone.

Like the Nexus One this baby is powered by the 1GHz Snapdragon and will deliver the goods through a 3.7” AMOLED screen and then alongside this will pack a pretty modest 5MP camera, a whopping 32GB of storage space and will all be run with Android 2.1 . This could be seen as a bit of a breakthrough with Android phones as up to now they generally sport the microSD memory expansion rather than hard storage.

Like most Samsung phones it’s easy on the eye not too fancy. One downer is the headphone jack on the side of the phone but unless you’re using it as an mp3 player or your bus faring “boom-box” this won’t pose too much of a problem.

The phone is due in Q2 and no doubt we’ll get more info probably at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in 2 weeks.

“Given the exceptional response to DEXT and Milestone to date, we look forward to adding Backflip to our smartphone range in EMEA…We will be making further announcements on availability and pricing of Backflip in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia beginning in Q1 2010,”

The above is a quote from Motorola about the Backflip phone it showed at CES heading our way to European shores in the next few months. The phone itself isn’t much different from Motorola’s other smartphone the DEXT(Wi–Fi, HSDPA, 3MP Camera, MotoBlur UI) The Backflip again is powered by Android and shows it on a 3.1” screen. However what sets this apart is that the QWERTY keyboard flips out a bit like the N97’s(which was the best part of the Nokia).

Just the rough date of Q1 and no pricing details expect it soon and I can’t really see it being too expensive in comparision to the other better equipped “droid” phones but a reasonable looker none the less.

Google’s “Nexus One” phone has been stirring up plenty of interest in the past few weeks, not only as Google’s next big phone after the slightly disappointing one that was on T-Mobile not so long back (apparently this is the phone that should’ve been) and the apparent lack of originality in the name(according to the Philip K. Dick family estate saying they stole it from the author’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? AKA Blade Runner). However all this aside a little birdie(a Voda spokesman to Engadget) let slip that the release will be “imminent” and should be shipping “within weeks”

The UK will be the first country in Europe to receive the Nexus One with the rest of Europe having to wait till later in the year.

The Nexus One is a collaboration between HTC and Google and from what we’ve seen it looks nice and on paper looks………nice!!! Powered by Snapdragon, OLED touchscreen, 5MP camera, Android 2.1 OS(animated wallpapers, lovely window transitions……..nice!) This could really be the next best rival to the iPhone. Hopefully when we get the full officialness we can let you all know the exact prices and dates!!