Gadget Venue

BGR along with others managed to get hold of a Samsung Protoype Windows Phone 7 device to test for a week. The hardware it’s self will never be launched although the preview is for the software that will be running on it, Windows Phone 7 from Microsoft [MSFT].

The preview covers hardware briefly although it doesn’t cover the specific Samsung handset used due to it never being launched. The requirements though were mentioned which includes a 1GHz CPU, 3.7 inch 4 point capacitive multi-touch display, 5 megapixel camera, 3 hardware buttons, dedicated graphics chip and memory built in with no removable storage allowed. Microsoft are being strict on the requirements to ensure that the Windows Phone 7 experience is good on any approved device that runs it. [Read more…]

RIM [RIMM] has responded to the iPhone 4 press conference that was held on Friday. The statement made was released by the co-CEO’s of the company who felt Apple [AAPL] had mislead customers by indicating the BlackBerry Bold 9700 had the same antenna problems that the iPhone 4 has.

The full statement is found below… [Read more…]

Apple [AAPL] held a press conference on Friday to discuss the iPhone 4 antenna problems that have been all over the internet since the launch last month. In the presentation Apple compared the iPhone 4 antenna to the likes of RIM [RIMM], HTC [TPE:2498] and Microsoft [MSFT] along with video demonstrations on how holding a smartphone from each of the above companies caused the signal to drop.

HTC hasn’t responded officially to the comments but did let the tech site Pocket-Lint know that the Droid Eris that was featured in the Apple presentation had a far lower return rate than the iPhone 4.

“Approximately .016% of customers,” Eric Lin, the company’s global PR and online community manager exclusively revealed to us before adding that “we have had very few complaints about signal or antenna problems on the Eris.”

[Read more…]

Mixed in with the iPhone 4 antenna details today at the Apple [AAPL] press conference was some information relating to the launch date of the iPhone 4 in 17 more countries.

The next launch date is July 30 where 17 more countries will be able to get their hands on the iPhone 4. These countries include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. [Read more…]

Apple [AAPL] held a press conference today to explain the problems of the iPhone 4 specifically relating to the antenna. The company has been running tests and comparisons for the last 22 days to get to the bottom of what’s actually happening. A few numbers were shown which included that the iPhone 4 drops slightly more calls than the iPhone 3GS (ie, less than 1 more call per 100) and that all smartphones have problems when holding them. When speaking about those who have called AppleCare the numbers were just 0.55% of iPhone 4 owners with AppleCare service. Returns wise the company has seen just 1.7% of iPhone 4’s returned which is lower than the 6% of the 3GS.

So what is Apple going to do about it? As the title suggests, Apple will be giving a free case to anybody who buys an iPhone 4 right up to September 30 where they will re-evaluate where they are at.

The problem here is that Apple can’t make enough bumper cases, so instead they will be offering the bumper case for free or another case if the bumper is not available. Starting late next week you’ll be able to visit the Apple store, choose which case you want and have it shipped to you. [Read more…]

We are just a few hours away from a special Apple [AAPL] press event where it is believed the iPhone 4 antenna issues will be discussed. At least that’s what we are hoping for as Apple needs to do something to be a little more open about what’s going on.

While you are waiting for the next few hours for the press event to start, check out the video below that sums up the problems in a song. It also gives you guidance on what you can do if you are suffering with signal loss. Enjoy! [Read more…]

Reports are showing today that the Motorola DROID could be killed off. The information comes from a capture of an end-of-life document over at Verizon.

If the leaked document (pictured below) is correct then we could soon see the DROID sales come to a halt and support eventually be ceased.

The DROID was a big hit when launched last year, but since then a number of big Android phones have been launched which makes the DROID look a tad old now. The DROID 2 has been rumoured to be coming out soon and the DROID X launched just yesterday which are all worthy replacements for the original DROID. [Read more…]

Microsoft [MSFT] is launching a new application for Android devices. The new Bing application will be able to do most of what the web application can do in that you can search images, maps, news, shopping or regular results from within the Bing App.

Bing is trailing behind Google by quite a lot in terms of market share. By pushing the Bing App out there on to a popular platform, it should give them a little boost although we suspect it wont go fixing any problems any time soon.

Part of the new Bing Android app will be based around mapping where location based search will play a big role. Search for a Zoo for example and it will load up the closest Zoo to you and show you where it is on the map along with contact details and other information. [Read more…]

Samsung is pushing the Galaxy S class of phones a lot. So far over 1 million of them have been sold globally. Samsung say that they will reach 10 million units which is some achievement.

When Samsung refer to the Galaxy S we assume they include all models such as the Samsung Captivate, Vibrant and the others that carriers sell in the US which all are classed as Galaxy S class phones.

The phone it’s self scored high in our Samsung Galaxy S review. It has a large 4 inch WVGA screen that uses Samsung’s Super AMOLED touchscreen that is very vibrant. [Read more…]