HTC has announced several new smartphones today. The first two are the HTC ChaCha and the HTC Salsa.

HTC has designed this pair of smartphones to function as “Facebook phones” in that the HTC Sense UI designed for these devices, heavily integrates Facebook connectivity.

Both phones feature a dedicated Facebook button allowing one-touch access to the social network. The Sense UI also integrates Facebook through out the functions of both smartphones. [Read more…]

As you may have noticed, there’s a lot of smartphone announcements being made today. This is due to Mobile World Congress running this week.

The next device to be announced is the Samsung Galaxy S II. This particular smartphone has been rumored ever since the original Galaxy S launched last year. The main question is: How does it improve on the original model? [Read more…]

After months of waiting, Sony Ericsson has announced the PlayStation Phone. The device is called the Xperia Play and as already mentioned since the beginning of the rumors, the device runs the Android operating system.

Features include a 4 inch multi-touch screen, it also has a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and an embedded Adreno GPU that allows for up to 60 frames per second when using 3D graphics.

The Android OS running on the device will be the latest 2.3 Gingerbread and this particular device is labeled as the first official PlayStation Certified device which could indicate another model will be coming soon. [Read more…]

You will probably be aware of Nokia announcing today that it is partnering with Microsoft to bring Windows Phone 7 to Nokia smartphones. The full announcement is now available online showing both Stephen Elop of Nokia and Steve Ballmer of Microsoft who were in London earlier today.

The 12:27 minute video can be found below: [Read more…]

The Samsung Galaxy S2 – i9100, is expected to launch next week at MWC. The specs of this particular smartphone have been leaked online and show that it runs a 1.2GHz Samsung Orion processor and has a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED Plus screen, also by Samsung from what we understand.

The device, possibly pictured below, will have NFC communications built in. It will run Google Android 2.3 when it launches and we assume this will be updated to the even newer Android 2.3.3 that boosts the NFC capabilities even further. [Read more…]

iPhone and iPad launches are known for their huge queues. I’ve experienced it myself once, not again mind you.

What normally happens is that you get there early in the morning, sometimes a week before in the case of some people, and stand around and wait while a queue slowly moves.

Yesterday saw the launch of the Verizon iPhone 4 and Apple was prepared with all the staff as expected. Lots of clapping and lots of organisation in the mall to make sure everybody queues in the right place to prevent risks in case of fire etc… However, this one went a little different than usual: [Read more…]

Reports today indicate that Apple [AAPL], is working on a new form factor for the iPhone which could be described as being the iPhone nano.

The iPhone nano is expected to be 1/3 smaller than the regular sized iPhone and will be made from older parts. Due to the older parts being used, it is rumored to have a price tag of just $200 off contract. That makes it the same price as the regular iPhone 4 16GB on contract.

The old parts referenced are believed to include some from the iPhone 4 and older models. [Read more…]

Google has announced the launch of Android 2.3.3. Android 2.3.3 is a small feature release that extends Android 2.3 Gingerbread to give it some new NFC capabilities.

NFC (near field communications) was included in the Android 2.3 update. What the 2.3.3 gets is the following extras:

* A comprehensive NFC reader/writer API that lets apps read and write to almost any standard NFC tag in use today.
* Advanced Intent dispatching that gives apps more control over how/when they are launched when an NFC tag comes into range.
* Some limited support for peer-to-peer connection with other NFC devices.

[Read more…]

HP announced the HP Veer along side the HP Pre 3 and the HP TouchPad last night. The HP Veer is the smallest device announced and comes with a 2.6 inch screen that has a resolution of 320 x 500.

On the back is a 5 megapixel camera. Other features include Wireless and Bluetooth for connectivity. For storage, it has an 8GB capacity (6.5GB available space). The small smartphone is compatible with the HP Touchstone charger. It also has GPS built in. [Read more…]

HP made a number of announcements last night. The next of those after the HP TouchPad is the HP Pre 3. The HP Pre 3 is a follow on from the Palm Pre 2 with the new HP branding.

The HP Pre 3 has a slide down QWERTY keyboard and uses the same form factor as previous versions when under the Palm brand. It has a 3.6 inch screen that is capable of showing 800 x 480 pixels. This is a step up in terms of resolution from the previous versions.

On the back, a 5 megapixel camera can be found. There’s a camera on the front as well allowing video calls to be made between other Pre users as well as TouchPad users. [Read more…]