.JPG)
We told you yesterday about the Price and the Launch date of the Optimus 3D in the UK and now the shipping date has been pushed back to June
The price has been lowered to 410 pounds /667 USD before tax. We wish the handset ships with Android 2.3 rather than FroYo. LG announced earlier today that the Optimus 2X is launching in Europe this month
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Here is the FoneArena Dell Streak Review � Dell's first phone to hit markets worldwide including India. It was launched first on O2 UK and later on AT&T USA. It was released in India last year and has got an update to Android 2.2 recently. How does the Streak deliver find out below.
The Streak is the first Android tablet-phone from Dell. Featuring, a 1GHz processor and 16GB (Micro SD) storage and a generous 512MB of RAM along with 2GB of internal memory. Equipped with a 5? gorilla glass equipped TFT capacitive touchscreen and a 5MP camera with dual LED flash. In today's times, that's pretty much 'standard' to have, but it's only until you've got one in your hand, does it hit you how much a slim design like the Dell Streak is packing!
The Dell Streak is quite literally in a unique place by itself. The HTC HD series and the other 4? plus devices just don't come close enough. So if you have a Samsung Galaxy S or even a Nexus1 and think your phone is big, you ain't seen the Dell Streak.
Over the course of the review we take a look at the Dell Streak and give you the lowdown on whether the Dell Streak is any good.
Highlights:
The Dell Streak is running the latest version of Android � Froyo. Apart from that the 5? screen is actually a benefit and really allows you to view better and do a lot more.
The slim profile allows it be very mobile.
These factors will hold key to the success or the sale of the Dell Streak.
Hardware:
The Dell Streak as we've said is BIG. Designed to be a very sleek device, (152.9 mm wide x 79.1 mm tall x 9.98 mm thin) with the distinctive Dell design elements � the curves and the chrome 'Dell' logo behind. It's a very clean design with a small slit on top front for the ear piece, alongside are the sensors and the front facing camera. A large 5? gorilla glass covered screen and then you have three touch sensitive buttons (backlit, thankfully) that are typical of Android devices.
The right side of the tabletphone houses the 3.5mm audio jack, the volume controller, power key and the camera key. The left side houses a 'custom' 20pin docking slot. Clearly gunning for the iPhone we feel!
To the back we have the 5MP camera with two small but powerful LEDs. We're glad Dell thought of putting these in it, considering that no other manufacturer is keen on adding that to their devices.
Just next to the battery cover you have a huge grill, ala Motorola that houses a large speaker.
At 220gms, its overweight, but that is because one chooses to define it within the parameters of a cellular phone. Think tabletphone and that's not what you'll feel.
On this front, the Streak does a good job in this department. It's clearly got a good balanced design. However, we aren't fans of that docking pin, it makes it that much difficult to charge with other chargers or mats. Hopefully Dell sees this as a problem and fixes it. In a time when everybody is converging onto the Micro USB format, it's not good to promote another individual format.
Thoughts on the Device:
The Dell Streak is a tabletphone, and one of the first one that successfully bridges the gap between a tablet and a phone. Considering I've had the chance to play with it in both its iterations (Donut and Froyo) there are quite a few changes in store. The older taskbar which was divided is now a single grey bar which is synonymous with the newer Androids. The home screen UI has also undergone a sea change, and the new UI is quite good, future iterations should make this a formidable layer on par with the SenseUI.
The keyboard also undergoes a change and gone is the number pad layout that existed on the earlier Donut version of the Streak. I do miss it and wish that would have been present. The new keyboard is pretty good though, with Swype, it's a breeze actually.
The camera on the Streak has seen an improvement. Looks like Froyo has improved the algo for 5MP+ devices.
If it's an Android, it's not necessary to talk about how the email experience is…Non-Gmail ids feel at home on this device as much as the Gmail ids. However, since this is a Google OS, Gmail sees increasingly better connectivity.
User Interface:
The Froyo update has boosted the visual appeal of the OS and makes the Streak a viable choice as a high end device. Dell has done a rather good job in its first attempt at creating a home screen layer.
I'd say it's pretty much on par with the last generation of the SenseUI, which according to me is quite good and puts them in the unique spot of taking HTC head on.
The interface on the Dell otherwise is pretty much what Android ships with.
The home screen layer has a screen each for the recent apps, the web with small windows for each of the many bookmarks you want access to. There is a Facebook application too which for some reason seemed to be behaving rather independently of the Facebook application, it's a little hard to explain, Dell seems to have given them semi-independent profiles.
There is a home screen for music application and it seems to list all of the music as tiles on the widget, the large size of the screen helps in the tiles being legible.
The recent apps widget is perhaps the best as it lists all the recently used apps by you and also shows the weather in your city/area. You can change the frequency of the updates on weather and even ask it to fetch it based on your GPS location. The weather updates show on the left side of the widget and are animated enough from the point of view of a widget, but it has a lot of distance to travel before it can be compared to the SenseUI.
Accessing any of the screens is easy, simply flicking your finger at the bottom of the screen will show all the homescreens and then all you need to do is run your finger through until you reach the homescreen of your choice.
Three almost transparent 'buttons' are always present on the screen, these are the menu, call and browser buttons.
The new OS brings quite a few improvements, 2.2 is much smoother than 1.6 and results in a more responsive phone overall. Gone is the distinction of the apps downloaded and already on the phone. One can also install some of the apps on the memory card, which should help a lot of users when they start running out of phone memory. Our phone came with quite a few third party apps like the Kindle app for Android and a few more. Though I did install a few third party apps that are absolutely necessary for the Android OS. We'll be talking in greater details on those apps in later article.
Telephony:
Let's face it the Dell Streak is a phone first and then a mini tablet. The Streak does a good job at this aspect and we had no voice clarity issues with the phone. Though the phone would heat up when used for long conversations.
We used the Streak solely on a 3G connection. With previous experience of how the tabletphone handles EDGE and GPRS, we thought of testing the device with a 3G connection. Rest assured on a GPRS/EDGE connection you will get decent speeds allowing you to keep your device in sync and do a bit of browsing here and there, but do not expect fireworks.
Now if you have a 3G plan, well this is one good phone. Android devices by nature are data sippers or gulpers depending upon what and how you program it. Since we have a unlimited connection we set it to gulp. The device performed quite well, streaming videos, downloading content and syncing mail and updating that Facebook page and the twitter timeline at the same time. The videos buffered rarely and the quality was quite good. We even managed to watch the entire Transformers Armada series on the phone.
GPS connectivity when switched on was a battery drainer as individual apps cannot have the GPS usage switched off thereby making it inefficient. GPS locks were quick, assisted with the help of 3G fix on the location and then the actual fix.
Connectivity:
On the connectivity front, the Streak packs a WiFi chip along with Bluetooth. The device worked pretty well on WiFi, connecting quickly and streaming videos, songs and even the regular things of downloading mails, etc. Bluetooth on the device was good, but I guess Android is a bit of a BlackBerry in this regard, even though it has a simple approach to using the Bluetooth, a little too much security for our tastes.
As we've already mentioned in the beginning of the review the memory details of the device, it's best to not state it again here.
Browsing:
Internet browsing on the Dell Streak is quite nice. Chrome does a good job and with a WiFi or a 3G connection it becomes that much more enjoyable. We had no problems opening PC version sites on the device. Pinch and Zoom made it even easier to navigate and read things more clearly. Embedded videos et al, played well from within the browser. The browser within Android is quite good when it comes to surfing and with the addition of Opera as an alternative, Android seems potent enough to be used for internet browser centric devices.
The Dell Streak does not disappoint in this department.
Messaging:
SMSing on the device is pretty simple and is just like one would find on any Android device. Typing however is a breeze thanks to Swype and the large screen. You are ensured of a good experience.
Emailing is another business altogether different thing. With Gmail integration, the device is pretty good, and regular Gmail users will love the user experience and the ease at which they can do things on the go with their Streak. Power users however are most likely to frown at the absence of certain things. Emailing wise the Streak is quite a good device and makes for a perfect companion for reading those HTML rich pages in the mail and more.
Multimedia:
The multimedia aspect of the device is one area that I bet you are itching to know. After all, it is an important area for any device.
The camera on the Dell Streak is a 5MP camera with a dual LED flash system. We've been lucky enough to play with the Streak before the Froyo update and after it, and it's safe to say that the camera algorithms have improved quite a bit. The noise in images in low light has reduced. The colour bleeding has reduced. The ability of the camera to take in natural light is much better than what it was a few months ago. So you see the Froyo update made this tabletphone quite attractive a device for clicking photos and doing some amount of video too. With the Froyo update, 720p recording is now possible and suddenly it's a whole new world out there that you can capture, though with that size, you are likely to scare and elicit giggles from people.
The Dell Streak maybe good at doing images and videos, but remember it's not an imaging device so don't expect the moon.
The music player on the Streak is the same that you find on Android devices so nothing new here. We absolutely hate the fact that there are no equalizer settings and the only thing one can do is play, pause, shuffle and increase or decrease the volume. For a 'smartphone' that sure is a dumb thing to do. Even S40 phones costing 3-4K have equalizer settings and the absence of one is simply not acceptable.
The output of music is good but an equalizer would have made listening a joy rather than a feature. It seems life Google put a music player as a last minute add in and now have forgotten about it.
In terms of video playback, it's quite handicapped, because DivX support isn't there on the device. A phone at this price needs to have support for this format. If a 12k or less LG GT540 can have it with Donut, there's no reason why a 30K phone cannot have it. Very poor of Dell to not incorporate this feature.
Apps:
Being based on the Android platform, there isn't a dearth of apps available for the device. The device by itself comes with quite a few extras which is a good thing because it saves you the hassle of installing it and finding it. Kindle app, for example is a good app to come with the phone. Though the real fun of apps is in finding it within the app market. We ran quite a few apps on the phone and we'd recommend them to you in case you want some of the features offered by it. Here's a small list with what the app is about.
1. Hit it! � by Ollo
Simply hit the bubbles on the screen, its simple addictive and fast. It's also a study of how people interact with their screens. When you are absolutely bored and just want to kill time, this is what you should try. It's quite a small download.
2. Uninstaller � by Rhythm Software
Fastest and simplest uninstall tool on Android. It does exactly what it says and promises. We found it to be trés useful and simple to use.
3. Battery Solo Widget � by Pedro Maicas
A simple widget that tells the amount of power left in the battery and the temperature of the battery. It is a very simple and sure is a better way to know the amount of juice in your phone. A definite must have.
4. ES File Explorer � by EStrongs Inc.
A free app that has a file manager, app manager, task-killer; all rolled into one. �It's all in one solution that works like a charm. We found it to be extremely useful and almost akin to a mini swiss knife.
5. Ringdroid � by Ringdroid Team
Cut mp3 and other media files into ringtones… Doesn't get simpler than that. A must have if you like to play around with ringtones and want something totally unique.
6. SystemPanelLite Task Manager � by NextApp, Inc.
Apart from being a task manager, it is also a system monitoring app. The app gives you the data you need for your device. Data speed, RAM, processor usage, space left on each of the drives… the works. It's the kind of stuff you know you need for your Streak.
Conclusion:
The Dell Streak comes across as a competent device with just one problem, battery. The battery we feel is too small for a device like the Streak, it needs a minimum of 1800mAh. On a 3G connection the phone was able to give us a good 4-5 hours of usage, before dying out. On a 2G network with EDGE working in the background expect it to last half a day or 12 hours. If you were to tweak the setting even more in terms of syncing, this figure can go up by another few hours. One thing is certain, you will need a charging point and the data cable at hand frequently.
A device this size has little competition, but with the Galaxy Tab being present along with numerous 1GHz processor phones, you know that this is competing with some of the best phones in the market today. The Google Nexus 1, Nexus S, The Galaxy S, The HTC Desire, the Motorola Droid2 are just some of the names one can pick.
Bottom line, it's in a highly competitive area of the market. With the dimensions and a strong brand name, the Dell Streak is sure to find buyers across the world. But it is important to let you know a couple of things that hold the device back we feel �
1.������ Battery life
2.������ The dedicated 30pin connector which also doubles up for a HDMI out, through a compatible accessory.
These two things make the Dell Streak a bit unique in a not so nice way. Charging through a random Micro USB cable/wall charger is not possible. The battery drains out quickly.
On the plus side you get a huge screen that you can actually make use of, Android 2.2 Froyo, good build quality, and most importantly sleek looks. The device is deceptively big; capable of fitting in your trouser pockets without looking odd (of course, you aren't expected to be wearing those tight fitting trousers). We also must state that their own home screen layer is another plus point.
The device overall is good and for Dell it works just great because not only will it be taken seriously in the mobile phone industry, it also has an OS that it can count on to deliver other variations of the Streak.
We would however expect that Dell will move to more up to date hardware and improve the battery life of it's devices.
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General Info and overview:
The Streak is the first Android tablet-phone from Dell. Featuring, a 1GHz processor and 16GB (Micro SD) storage and a generous 512MB of RAM along with 2GB of internal memory.
Equipped with a 5? gorilla glass equipped TFT capacitive touchscreen and a 5MP camera with dual LED flash.
In today's times, that's pretty much 'standard' to have, but it's only until you've got one in your hand, does it hit you how much a slim design like the Dell Streak is packing!
The Dell Streak is quite literally in a unique place by itself. The HTC HD series and the other 4? plus devices just don't come close enough. So if you have a Samsung Galaxy S or even a Nexus1 and think your phone is big, you ain't seen the Dell Streak.
Over the course of the review we take a look at the Dell Streak and give you the lowdown on whether the Dell Streak is any good.
Highlights:
The Dell Streak is running the latest version of Android � Froyo. Apart from that the 5? screen is actually a benefit and really allows you to view better and do a lot more.
The slim profile allows it be very mobile.
These factors will hold key to the success or the sale of the Dell Streak.
Hardware:
The Dell Streak as we've said is BIG. Designed to be a very sleek device, (152.9 mm wide x 79.1 mm tall x 9.98 mm thin) with the distinctive Dell design elements � the curves and the chrome 'Dell' logo behind. It's a very clean design with a small slit on top front for the ear piece, alongside are the sensors and the front facing camera. A large 5? gorilla glass covered screen and then you have three touch sensitive buttons (backlit, thankfully) that are typical of Android devices.
The right side of the tabletphone houses the 3.5mm audio jack, the volume controller, power key and the camera key. The left side houses a 'custom' 20pin docking slot. Clearly gunning for the iPhone we feel!
To the back we have the 5MP camera with two small but powerful LEDs. We're glad Dell thought of putting these in it, considering that no other manufacturer is keen on adding that to their devices.
Just next to the battery cover you have a huge grill, ala Motorola that houses a large speaker.
At 220gms, its overweight, but that is because one chooses to define it within the parameters of a cellular phone. Think tabletphone and that's not what you'll feel.
On this front, the Streak does a good job in this department. It's clearly got a good balanced design. However, we aren't fans of that docking pin, it makes it that much difficult to charge with other chargers or mats. Hopefully Dell sees this as a problem and fixes it. In a time when everybody is converging onto the Micro USB format, it's not good to promote another individual format.
Thoughts on the Device:
The Dell Streak is a tabletphone, and one of the first one that successfully bridges the gap between a tablet and a phone. Considering I've had the chance to play with it in both its iterations (Donut and Froyo) there are quite a few changes in store. The older taskbar which was divided is now a single grey bar which is synonymous with the newer Androids. The home screen UI has also undergone a sea change, and the new UI is quite good, future iterations should make this a formidable layer on par with the SenseUI.
The keyboard also undergoes a change and gone is the number pad layout that existed on the earlier Donut version of the Streak. I do miss it and wish that would have been present. The new keyboard is pretty good though, with Swype, it's a breeze actually.
The camera on the Streak has seen an improvement. Looks like Froyo has improved the alogarithms for 5MP+ devices.
If it's an Android, it's not necessary to talk about how the email experience is…Non-Gmail ids feel at home on this device as much as the Gmail ids. However, since this is a Google OS, Gmail sees increasingly better connectivity.
User Interface:
The Froyo update has boosted the visual appeal of the OS and makes the Streak a viable choice as a high end device. Dell has done a rather good job in its first attempt at creating a home screen layer.
I'd say it's pretty much on par with the last generation of the SenseUI, which according to me is quite good and puts them in the unique spot of taking HTC head on.
The interface on the Dell otherwise is pretty much what Android ships with.
The home screen layer has a screen each for the recent apps, the web with small windows for each of the many bookmarks you want access to. There is a Facebook application too which for some reason seemed to be behaving rather independently of the Facebook application, it's a little hard to explain, Dell seems to have given them semi-independent profiles.
There is a home screen for music application and it seems to list all of the music as tiles on the widget, the large size of the screen helps in the tiles being legible.
The recent apps widget is perhaps the best as it lists all the recently used apps by you and also shows the weather in your city/area. You can change the frequency of the updates on weather and even ask it to fetch it based on your GPS location. The weather updates show on the left side of the widget and are animated enough from the point of view of a widget, but it has a lot of distance to travel before it can be compared to the SenseUI.
Accessing any of the screens is easy, simply flicking your finger at the bottom of the screen will show all the homescreens and then all you need to do is run your finger through until you reach the homescreen of your choice.
Three almost transparent 'buttons' are always present on the screen, these are the menu, call and browser buttons.
The new OS brings quite a few improvements, 2.2 is much smoother than 1.6 and results in a more responsive phone overall. Gone is the distinction of the apps downloaded and already on the phone. One can also install some of the apps on the memory card, which should help a lot of users when they start running out of phone memory. Our phone came with quite a few third party apps like the Kindle app for Android and a few more. Though I did install a few third party apps that are absolutely necessary for the Android OS. We'll be talking in greater details on those apps in later article.
Telephony:
Let's face it the Dell Streak is a phone first and then a mini tablet. The Streak does a good job at this aspect and we had no voice clarity issues with the phone. Though the phone would heat up when used for long conversations.
We used the Streak solely on a 3G connection. With previous experience of how the tabletphone handles EDGE and GPRS, we thought of testing the device with a 3G connection. Rest assured on a GPRS/EDGE connection you will get decent speeds allowing you to keep your device in sync and do a bit of browsing here and there, but do not expect fireworks.
Now if you have a 3G plan, well this is one good phone. Android devices by nature are data sippers or gulpers depending upon what and how you program it. Since we have a unlimited connection we set it to gulp. The device performed quite well, streaming videos, downloading content and syncing mail and updating that Facebook page and the twitter timeline at the same time. The videos buffered rarely and the quality was quite good. We even managed to watch the entire Transformers Armada series on the phone.
GPS connectivity when switched on was a battery drainer as individual apps cannot have the GPS usage switched off thereby making it inefficient. GPS locks were quick, assisted with the help of 3G fix on the location and then the actual fix.
Connectivity:
On the connectivity front, the Streak packs a WiFi chip along with Bluetooth. The device worked pretty well on WiFi, connecting quickly and streaming videos, songs and even the regular things of downloading mails, etc. Bluetooth on the device was good, but I guess Android is a bit of a BlackBerry in this regard, even though it has a simple approach to using the Bluetooth, a little too much security for our tastes.
As we've already mentioned in the beginning of the review the memory details of the device, it's best to not state it again here.
Browsing:
Internet browsing on the Dell Streak is quite nice. Chrome does a good job and with a WiFi or a 3G connection it becomes that much more enjoyable. We had no problems opening PC version sites on the device. Pinch and Zoom made it even easier to navigate and read things more clearly. Embedded videos et al, played well from within the browser. The browser within Android is quite good when it comes to surfing and with the addition of Opera as an alternative, Android seems potent enough to be used for internet browser centric devices.
The Dell Streak does not disappoint in this department.
Messaging:
SMSing on the device is pretty simple and is just like one would find on any Android device. Typing however is a breeze thanks to Swype and the large screen. You are ensured of a good experience.
Emailing is another business altogether different thing. With Gmail integration, the device is pretty good, and regular Gmail users will love the user experience and the ease at which they can do things on the go with their Streak. Power users however are most likely to frown at the absence of certain things. Emailing wise the Streak is quite a good device and makes for a perfect companion for reading those HTML rich pages in the mail and more.
Multimedia:
The multimedia aspect of the device is one area that I bet you are itching to know. After all, it is an important area for any device.
The camera on the Dell Streak is a 5MP camera with a dual LED flash system. We've been lucky enough to play with the Streak before the Froyo update and after it, and it's safe to say that the camera alogarithms have improved quite a bit. The noise in images in low light has reduced. The colour bleeding has reduced. The ability of the camera to take in natural light is much better than what it was a few months ago. So you see the Froyo update made this tabletphone quite attractive a device for clicking photos and doing some amount of video too. With the Froyo update, 720p recording is now possible and suddenly it's a whole new world out there that you can capture, though with that size, you are likely to scare and elicit giggles from people.
The Dell Streak maybe good at doing images and videos, but remember it's not an imaging device so don't expect the moon.
The music player on the Streak is the same that you find on Android devices so nothing new here. We absolutely hate the fact that there are no equalizer settings and the only thing one can do is play, pause, shuffle and increase or decrease the volume. For a 'smartphone' that sure is a dumb thing to do. Even S40 phones costing 3-4K have equalizer settings and the absence of one is simply not acceptable.
The output of music is good but an equalizer would have made listening a joy rather than a feature. It seems life Google put a music player as a last minute add in and now have forgotten about it.
In terms of video playback, it's quite handicapped, because DivX support isn't there on the device. A phone at this price needs to have support for this format. If a 12k or less LG GT540 can have it with Donut, there's no reason why a 30K phone cannot have it. Very poor of Dell to not incorporate this feature.
Apps:
Being based on the Android platform, there isn't a dearth of apps available for the device. The device by itself comes with quite a few extras which is a good thing because it saves you the hassle of installing it and finding it. Kindle app, for example is a good app to come with the phone. Though the real fun of apps is in finding it within the app market. We ran quite a few apps on the phone and we'd recommend them to you in case you want some of the features offered by it. Here's a small list with what the app is about.
1. Hit it! � by Ollo
Simply hit the bubbles on the screen, its simple addictive and fast. It's also a study of how people interact with their screens. When you are absolutely bored and just want to kill time, this is what you should try. It's quite a small download.
2. Uninstaller � by Rhythm Software
Fastest and simplest uninstall tool on Android. It does exactly what it says and promises. We found it to be trés useful and simple to use.
3. Battery Solo Widget � by Pedro Maicas
A simple widget that tells the amount of power left in the battery and the temperature of the battery. It is a very simple and sure is a better way to know the amount of juice in your phone. A definite must have.
4. ES File Explorer � by EStrongs Inc.
A free app that has a file manager, app manager, task-killer; all rolled into one. It's all in one solution that works like a charm. We found it to be extremely useful and almost akin to a mini swiss knife.
5. Ringdroid � by Ringdroid Team
Cut mp3 and other media files into ringtones… Doesn't get simpler than that. A must have if you like to play around with ringtones and want something totally unique.
6. SystemPanelLite Task Manager � by NextApp, Inc.
Apart from being a task manager, it is also a system monitoring app. The app gives you the data you need for your device. Data speed, RAM, processor usage, space left on each of the drives… the works. It's the kind of stuff you know you need for your Streak.
Conclusion:
The Dell Streak comes across as a competent device with just one problem, battery. The battery we feel is too small for a device like the Streak, it needs a minimum of 1800mAh. On a 3G connection the phone was able to give us a good 4-5 hours of usage, before dying out. On a 2G network with EDGE working in the background expect it to last half a day or 12 hours. If you were to tweak the setting even more in terms of syncing, this figure can go up by another few hours. One thing is certain, you will need a charging point and the data cable at hand frequently.
A device this size has little competition, but with the Galaxy Tab being present along with numerous 1GHz processor phones, you know that this is competing with some of the best phones in the market today. The Google Nexus 1, Nexus S, The Galaxy S, The HTC Desire, the Motorola Droid2 are just some of the names one can pick.
Bottom line, it's in a highly competitive area of the market. With the dimensions and a strong brand name, the Dell Streak is sure to find buyers across the world. But it is important to let you know a couple of things that hold the device back we feel �
1. Battery life
2. The dedicated 30pin connector which also doubles up for a HDMI out, through a compatible accessory.
These two things make the Dell Streak a bit unique in a not so nice way. Charging through a random Micro USB cable/wall charger is not possible. The battery drains out quickly.
On the plus side you get a huge screen that you can actually make use of, Android 2.2 Froyo, good build quality, and most importantly sleek looks. The device is deceptively big; capable of fitting in your trouser pockets without looking odd (of course, you aren't expected to be wearing those tight fitting trousers). We also must state that their own home screen layer is another plus point.
The device overall is good and for Dell it works just great because not only will it be taken seriously in the mobile phone industry, it also has an OS that it can count on to deliver other variations of the Streak.
We would however expect that Dell will move to more up to date hardware and improve the battery life of it's devices.
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LG today announced that it is launching the world's first dual core phone the Optimus 2X in key european markets this month. It will launch with Android 2.2 FroYo initially and get an upgrade to Android 2.3 Gingerbread in the future. So our friends in Europe , are you going to get yourself a Optimus 2X ?
The device went for pre-order in UK sometime back for around 499 pounds and we told you that the phone might be called the Optimus Speed in Germany
Check out our Exclusive Review of the LG Optimus 2X
Press Release
WORLD'S FIRST DUAL-CORE SMARTPHONE COMES TO EUROPE
LG Optimus 2X to Launch in Key European Markets This MonthSEOUL, Mar. 1, 2010 � LG Electronics (LG) marks another milestone with the international launch of the world's first dual-core smartphone, the LG Optimus 2X, in key European markets. The Optimus 2X, which launched in Korea in January, will be rolled-out in Europe this month.
High-Speed, High-Tech Dual-Core Experience
Powered by the NVIDIA Tegra™ 2 mobile dual-core CPU, the LG Optimus 2X offers clear performance improvements in web browsing and gaming over single-core smartphones running at the same clock speed. Users get all the advantages of seamless multitasking between applications and instantaneous touch response, along with vivid graphics and console-like gaming experience."The LG Optimus 2X's enhanced speed, advanced graphics and high-end features such as HDMI mirroring are the kind of high-end features that appeal to European consumers," said Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Mobile Communications Company. "With the Optimus 2X, we're setting the tone for what will be a huge year for LG's smartphones in Europe and worldwide."
Full HD Entertainment Package
The LG Optimus 2X offers a Full HD multimedia experience with 1080p video recording and playback. Optimized for connectivity and file sharing, the device features HDMI mirroring, which allows content on the phone to be easily viewed on larger TVs or PC monitors with a single cable. And with its gyro sensor, HDMI mirroring lets users play motion-sensitive games on larger screens that rival the quality of today's game consoles."The LG Optimus 2X with the Tegra 2 mobile super chip is ushering in a new era of mobile computing," said Michael Rayfield, general manager of NVIDIA's mobile business. "We're proud of partnering with LG, one of the world's leading mobile brands, to create a device that consumers look to as their computer first and phone second."
The first mobile device to feature 7.1 multi-channel virtual surround sound, the LG Optimus 2X provides the closest thing to theater-quality entertainment on a mobile device. Furthermore, file-sharing is made even easier with DLNA connectivity, which lets users transfer stored content to and from compatible digital devices.
Key Features of LG Optimus 2X
- NVIDIA Tegra 2 Processor with 1GHz Dual-core Processor
- 1080p MPEG-4/H.264 Recording and Playback
- HDMI mirroring
- 4-inch WVGA screen
- 8-megapixel rear camera / 1.3-megapixel front camera
- 7.1 multi-channel virtual surround sound
- 8GB memory
- microSD memory expandability (up to 32GB)
- Micro-USB connectivity
- 1,500 mAh battery
- Supports Adobe Flash Player 10.1
The LG Optimus 2X will be released initially with Android 2.2 (Froyo) and will be upgradeable to 2.3 Gingerbread. The upgrade schedule will be announced in local markets in the near future.
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Remember this time last year? We were heaping dump trucks full of praise on Superbrothers' Sword & Sworcery EP both in our initial hands-on, then again a few days later as we further reflected on just how impressive the whole experience was. Since then, our forums have been going wild with speculation, especially as Superbrothers' kept slowly releasing details and commenting on possible release dates.
So what's been taking so long? Well, now that the game is officially nearing release, Superbrothers' were willing to open up on just what it is that they've been up to. Here's the terrible secret of Sword & Sworcery: What we saw back at GDC 2010 was basically a polished prototype, what we played was quite literally all there was that was completed at the time. While you could shake your fist at the sky and damn Superbrothers for hoodwinking you, you could realize the entirely too clever thing this has allowed them to do.
So many games that we preview are either completed or very close to it. From a developer's perspective, all you can really do then is listen to feedback and try to mitigate what people don't like or criticize either in future updates or last minute changes before the game is released. Getting the world excited for Sword & Sworcery when it was just an incredibly intriguing prototype has more or less flipped this process completely around.
The vague previews and trailers have resulted in a hurricane of comments as people post what they hope the game will be. Superbrothers has been following this discussion like a hawk, and through the year that the game has been in development, seemingly implementing things from the various "wish lists" people have had. They also admitted throughout the conversation we had that there were several times in the development process where they debated releasing what they had, but decided to continue development until the game was at (or as close as humanly possible) to 100% in their eyes.
Superbrothers' weren't willing to let me shoot any video of the game yet, but the good news is that next week we'll have a full hands-on of the final version of Sword & Sworcery. Until then, what I can say is that I'm blown away by how much better the game looks since our last glimpse at E3 last year. They've added tons of lighting effects, and if you're crazy about parallax scrolling, you're going to be in heaven. The art of Sword & Sworcery now still is blatantly minimalist pixels, but the crazy amount of parallax layers in the game gives it a fantastic looking almost-3D effect.
I've likely said too much already, but please stay tuned for our preview next week. I absolutely cannot wait to play the final version of the game in its entirety and see whether or not this backwards development cycle worked for Superbrothers.
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Earlier today Sega announced that a port of last year's console title Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing would be coming to iOS. Today I was able to stop by a hands-on event for the game and spend some time with an early pre-alpha build, and so far it's shaping up nicely. If you're unfamiliar with Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, it's similar to Mario Kart but with a selection of Sega characters. It's a fast-paced racing game with special weapons you can use to slow down your enemies and powerups that help you gain an advantage in the race.
Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing will feature 10 playable characters including the expected stable of Sonic-related characters like Sonic, Dr. Robotnik, and Tails; and some more obscure characters like Ryo Hazuki from Shenmue, Beat from Jet Set Radio, and B.D. Joe from Crazy Taxi. There will be 12 tracks to race on over a single-player Grand Prix or Challenge mode, and local multiplayer with 1v1 over Bluetooth or 2-4 players over local WiFi. There isn't currently any online racing functionality, but the developers have stated that it's always a possibility in a future version.
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing played very well despite still being in an early state. The tilting to turn was very responsive and fun to use, and I usually dislike tilt-to-steer options in racing games. There are plenty of boosts and weapon pickups scattered throughout each track, so there's always some sort of carnage going down. One nice aspect to the game is how you earn points with each race which will go to unlocking each of the characters and tracks in the game, lending a nice goal-oriented progression to playing. The game is also quite colorful, and although it isn't heavily detailed the game moves so fast that it's hard to notice.
Here's some video of me playing through one race using B.D. Joe from Crazy Taxi:
Sega pegs the release of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing for Spring, and there is definitely some additional polishing that needs to be done before then. The frame rate stuttered a tiny bit and many of the sound effects and some music aren't present at this time, as you can tell from the above video. Still, it's shaping up fairly nicely and I'm definitely looking forward to the release. You can check out a discussion for Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing in our forums, and we'll have more from the game as its Spring release date approaches.
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Firemint just announced their first brand new title since the launch of Real Racing and Flight Control.
Play as Agent Squeek, the dashing and debonair undercover mouse. Outsmart ferocious felines and crack fiendish challenges! Sneak, sprint and strategize in your quest to save every precious piece of missing cheese.
Firemint is an Australian game company that has seen a massive amount of success for the iOS platform. They made headlines early in the life of the App Store with their ambitious Real Racing title. But even before Real Racing ever launched, they saw the surprise success of Flight Control which kicked of the entire "line drawing" genre for iOS.
We know there's been a lot of pressure to see what their next original game would be, given the success of their previous titles. We'll have some hands on time with Agent Squeek later this week at GDC 2011. In the meanwhile, they've set up a Facebook Page for the upcoming game.
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Earlier, we had brought to you news that Apple was working on a smaller version of the iPhone or a mini iPhone if you would like to call it that way.
Now Apple's COO Tim Cook has hinted that Apple is making a cheaper iPhone by saying that he wants Apple to be for everyone and not just for the rich in an interview with Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi.
He said that they are aiming to conquer the prepaid market especially in markets like China and that pricing is a big factor in the prepaid market.
So now we know that Apple is working on another iPhone model which would be cheaper. But we are still not sure whether it will be a smaller iPhone or just a cheaper model with lower specifications.
via Business Insider
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Gameloft just announced that they have made a long term, multi-platform licensing agreement with Epic Games, Inc for the Unreal Engine 3. Julien Fourniais, Vice President of Production at Gameloft had this to say:
"Gameloft is very pleased to partner with Epic, especially with their ability to stay ahead of the curve and continually place the best game engine technology in developers' hands at any given point in time. Using Unreal Engine 3 allows us to push game visuals with remarkable lighting and high-fidelity environments. We are confident that players will enjoy the games powered by Unreal Engine 3."
Ever since Epic Games first revealed the Unreal Engine 3 for iOS, we've been excited to see what developers might come up with. Uptake, however, has been slow possibly due to licensing fees.
Gameloft's been no slouch from a game engine perspective as is. Gameloft is planning to release four new games with the Unreal Engine 3, two in 2011 and two in 2012.
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SamFirmware has released what they claim to be a leaked Android 2.3.2 Firmware for the Samsung Galaxy S. The build number of the firmware is I9000XWJV1
Proceed at your own risk to the download link below to grab the file while it lasts. There are no user reports right now about the authenticity of the update but considering the past track record of the folks , this should be working build.
We won't recommend updating if your Galaxy S is your main phone and you care a lot about warranty 
via @SamFirmware | Download
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We already brought to you the news last month that Samsung was going to launch an 8.9? tablet in March. Well now we have just received a confirmation and the event will be held on March 22nd.
The teaser from Samsung indicates the announcement of a tablet on March 22nd in Orlando, Florida USA at a Samsung Mobile Unpacked event which coincides with the dates for CTIA Wireless.
The numbers in the teaser 78910 clearly indicate the different screen sizes of Samsung's tablets. They already have the 7? Galaxy Tab and the 10.1? Tab which was announced at MWC 2011 in Barcelona.
Now they have the 8.9? Tab set to be announced. We might also see a refresh of the original 7? Tab because Samsung say that they have got surprises lined up for us. Yes the word is in plural.
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The golden gate bridge is in sight, the aroma of Moons Over My Hammy fills the air, and an army of people wearing name tags are wandering about town. This can only mean one thing! Well, I suppose it could mean many things but in our case it's the kick-off of GDC in beautiful San Francisco, California. First held in 1988, GDC seems to have grown exponentially and has changed with market trends over the years. With the advent of the App Store, the conference has substantially shifted gears to be surprisingly iOS-centric, filled with developers from all over the world anxious to sit in on iOS talks and meet fellow iOS game makers.
But what does this mean to you, faithful TouchArcade reader? It just so happens that all of these developers absolutely love meeting with people like us to show off their up and coming games, share ideas, and otherwise just spill their guts on what they've been up to and what they plan on doing in the future. Looking back at our GDC 2009 and GDC 2010 coverage, we saw tons of cool games. Judging by our meeting schedule, which couldn't possibly be more insane, we're going to have even more cool stuff to write about this year. (Particularly so as Apple seems intent on crashing the event by unveiling the iPad 2 this Wednesday barely a block away from where GDC is taking place.)
If you're a developer, we look forward to meeting with you. If you don't have an appointment with us yet, it's not too late, but we'll likely need to get creative with when and where we meet. Send me an IM via AOL Instant Messenger. My screen name is ioburn [Status: 
]. If you don't have an AIM account, signing up is easy and only takes a second. Alternatively, AIM even connected to Facebook and Google Talk, if you would rather use that. Of course you can also email at tips@toucharcade.com, it just won't be anywhere near as fast. (Be sure to put "GDC 2011" somewhere in the subject for email filters.)
Also, don't forget about our party on Wednesday night at Bin 55 in the lobby of the Marriott. We're going to kick things off at 8:00 PM and go until they kick us out, which should be sometime between 11:00 PM and midnight. Find someone from TouchArcade and we'll trade you your business card for a fancy schmancy TouchArcade tyvek bracelet for free drinks. (If you don't have a business card, a GDC pass will suffice.)
Likely the best way to track us down and follow what we're doing at GDC will be via Twitter. Here's our array of Twitter accounts:
Let's get this conference kickin'!
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Earlier this month, HTC announced the Incredible S smartphone at the Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona. This handset is the successor of the popular HTC Incredible smartphone. Recently we posted that, HTC Incredible S is up for pre-order in the UK. And now, within 2 weeks, the powerful Incredible S is available for purchase in the UK. This handset currently runs on the Android 2.2 (FroYo) OS, but it will be later updated to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) in the spring.
HTC Incredible S comes with a 4 inch touchscreen display, 480x 800 pixels resolution, 1 GHz processor, Android 2.2 (FroYo) OS, HTC Sense, 8 megapixel camera with auto focus and dual LED flash, HD (720p) video recording, 1.3 megapixel front camera, Bluetooth 2.1 with FTP/OPP, Wi-Fi connectivity, micro-USB, GPS, 1.1 GB internal storage, 768 MB RAM, microSD card slot, up to 580 mins talktime, up to 370 hours stand-by time and a 1450 mAh battery.
The Carphone Warehouse and Mobiles.co.uk are currently selling the powerful Incredible S in the UK. Incredible S is currently available on the airwaves of Vodafone and O2. This handset comes with a price tag of �499.95 (approx. $810) SIM-free. You can also get this handset with a two years contract from free to �319.99 (approx. $520).
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ZTE Light Tab is a new Android tablet which was announced today by the Chinese company ZTE Corporation.
The device, which will run on Android 2.1 will have 7? TFT touchscreen display with a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels, 3G, 512 MB RAM and, according to the manufacturer's statements, a range of up to 10 hours with its 3400mAh battery.
The ZTE Light Tab weighs about 403 grams and will have a slot for SD memory cards for games fans, its expandable up to 32GB. The tablet will also boast a 3MP camera, bluetooth, GPS and a 3.5 mm stereo headset.
With the help of Android platform business user will be able to enjoy their relevant apps. This awesome gadget has even GPS navigation that can be used to guide you through the road.
The ZTE Light Tab will be released in Japan with a pricetag of about $487.
[via Techfresh]
3:52 AM
One of the surprise hits from last year was Game Dev Story [$3.99/Lite] from Kairosoft. This quirky simulation game allowed you to create your own game development company and release a series of titles across multiple platforms. Game Dev Story was littered with all kinds of references to the real history of video games, making it especially appealing to long time gamers like myself. We loved the game when we reviewed it last October, and Game Dev Story went on to suck countless hours from iOS gamers ever since.
Coming off the huge success of Game Dev Story, Kairosoft has talked about their plans to bring a sequel to iOS in the distant future. Then earlier this year, they launched an interesting looking title called The Game Dealer in the Japanese App Store. Similar to Game Dev Story, The Game Dealer has you heading up a brick and mortar video game store and dealing with all the simulation elements that go along with it.
We speculated that The Game Dealer would be the next to get a localized US release, but earlier today we were surprised to see that Kairosoft's US follow-up to Game Dev Story is instead a game called Hot Springs Story [$3.99]. In Hot Springs Story, you (unsurprisingly) manage a Japanese hot springs inn, building it out to your liking and attracting customers to patronize your establishment. AppBank has a gameplay video of the Japanese version of Hot Springs Story to give you an idea of what it plays like:
Hot Springs Story has been available in the Japanese App Store since December, and seeing as how it was their follow-up release to Game Dev Story in Japan I still think we'll end up seeing The Game Dealer localized as well in due time. For now, though, you'll be able to live out your fantasy of running a relaxing hot springs resort, just as you've always dreamed… right? Early impressions in our forums are positive, noting that the interface and mechanics are nearly identical to Game Dev Story but with a few welcome enhancements like zooming and landscape display.
The gameplay appears to be just as engaging as well, and chances are if you liked Game Dev Story then you'll get similar enjoyment out of Hot Springs Story. Just don't start playing too close to your bed time if you value sleep. We'll have more on Hot Springs Story once we're able to break away from our GDC shenanigans long enough to engulf ourselves in the world of hot springs management, but you can grab the game right now for an introductory sale price of $3.99.
<!-- PHP 5.x -->Since Sony updated its PlayStation firmware to v3.56, the hacking community has been having all sorts of problems with Sony, now hackers have found a way to switch back to the older firmware.
The latest firmware v3.55 on the PlayStation 3 was hacked in no time since its release, but Sony isn't taking kindly to jailbreakers and hackers anymore, and since Sony can change the latest firmware remotely at any time, hackers have decided to switch back to the older version of firmware.
Thanks to the Rebug Team, PlayStation 3 v3.56 version spoofer has been released in order to prevent your PS3 from automatically updating to the latest firmware. In addition, this program can even restore the firmware to the version 3.55 if needed. According to the author, PSN access isn't allowed yet, so you probably shouldn't try to access it, although there might be a way soon.
As we're sure you've been aware, Sony doesn't take lightly to hackers anymore, so if you're planning to hack your PS3, remember you're doing that at your own risk.
[via Redmond Pie]
3:22 AM
The TouchArcade staff has been busy traveling and preparing for what is sure to be a busy week at GDC, but this little bit of news is definitely worth a mention as it's sure to get some of our non-iPad owning readers excited. On Friday, 2D Boy officially announced on their blog (again) that World of Goo will be coming to the iPhone and iPod touch. You may remember that World of Goo was originally announced for the iPhone back in late 2009. That version never materialized, however, and after more than a year of wondering what may come of World of Goo for iOS the game finally did release for the iPad last December.
After seeing an incredible amount of success with the iPad version of World of Goo, 2D Boy has gone back to work at getting the game primed and ready for a smaller screen debut. Speaking of smaller screens, 2D Boy promises that the World of Goo works really well despite having less screen real estate, but they have implemented a pinch-to-zoom feature to make sure that the gameplay is as accessible as it can be.
We gave the iPad version of World of Goo 5 stars in our review and even picked it as our iPad Game of the Year for 2010. The touch screen ended up feeling more natural to the gameplay than any previous version of the game, and I'd imagine that it should translate very well to the iPhone and iPod touch too. 2D Boy gives a very non-comittal response of "hopefully sometime in March" in regards to a release date, but we'll definitely be keeping our eyes on its development and bring you more information on World of Goo for iPhone in the near future.
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