Samsung Galaxy Xcover

   Samsung has announced in Germany on Tuesday the new Galaxy Xcover water resistant smartphone for people with an active life style. This device is well prepared against any harmful environmental threats. Most important technical specifications are:

-- DISPLAY: 3.65-inch capacitive touch WVGA 480 x 800 pixels screen, 16M colors.
-- CPU:  no details so far.

-- STORAGE:  no details so far, microSD card slot up to 32GB.

-- CAMERA:  Primary - 3.2 MP camera, LED flash.

-- CONNECTIVITY:  3G HSPA+, HSUPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, micro-USB port v 2.0, 3.5 mm headphone jack, A-GPS.

-- SENSORS:  Accelerometer, Proximity, Gyroscope.

-- BATTERY:  no details for now.

-- MULTIMEDIA:  Touch sensitive controls.

-- OS:  Android 2.3 Gingerbread, TouchWiz UI, Adobe Flash support.

-- APPLICATIONS:  Google Apps, social networking.

   There are not any other details mentioned in the official announcement. The phone is resistant to dirt and dust and can stay in one meter depth in water up to half an hour. This is a main competitor for Motorola Defy and Sony Ericsson Xperia Active which are also made for extreme environments. The Galaxy Xcover should be available this fall in Germany for start.

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Samsung Galaxy R

   Samsung has officially announced today the new Galaxy R smartphone which has a lightweight, slim and sleek metallic design. I am somehow confused as this model has a S-LCD screen and not the highly promoted super-AMOLED Plus display integrated in Galaxy S. The other most important technical details are:

-- DISPLAY: 4.19-inch Super Clear LCD capacitive touch WVGA 480 x 800 pixels screen, 16M colors.
-- CPU:  Dual-core nVidia Tegra 2 1GHz processor.
-- GPU:  nVidia GeForce

-- STORAGE:  8GB for internal, microSD card slot up to 32GB.

-- CAMERA:  Primary - 5MP camera for HD video recording (up to 720p, MPEG-4/H.264).

Secondary - 1.3MP video chat, video calling.

-- CONNECTIVITY:  3G HSPA+, HSUPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, micro-USB port v 2.0, 3.5 mm headphone jack, A-GPS.

-- SENSORS:  Accelerometer, Proximity, Gyroscope, Light, Digital Compass.

-- BATTERY:  Li-Po 1650 mAh

-- MULTIMEDIA:  Touch sensitive controls.

-- OS:  Android 2.3 Gingerbread, Adobe Flash support.

-- APPLICATIONS:  Google Apps, social networking, Social Hub, Readers Hub, Music Hub, Game Hub, Samsung Kies 2.0, Samsung Kies Air, Voice Solution, Find My Mobile.

   The same as Galaxy S this device has a powerful battery but we know is not enough for big touch screen phones. I like that has a metallic body and it appears that new Samsung Hub interface has some 3D effects. This is about all regarding the Galaxy R - should be available this fall.

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Blackberry Torch 9810 and Torch 9850

   Blackberry has announced recently their latest two new products together with the Bold 9900 which I mentioned here. Now the Torch 9810 which is the slide-out QWERTY keyboard model and the Torch 9850 which is the 3.7 inches touch screen device have the same technical specifications with the 9900 Bold in terms of RAM memory, CPU, connection capabilities and others. I do not really like the Blackberry OS as it takes forever to setup a business email account and with lots of passwords. However their design is elegant, sober and stylish in the same time - and I find that great. I believe the 9850 looks great and is a competitor for iPhone, HTC, Samsung, LG devices.
   These models are expected to be released in September.

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