Besides what we knew before, we can now tell the Xperia X1 will have a Qualcomm 7200A CPU running at 528 MHz, 128MB RAM and a nice 'n' juicy, 1500 mAh battery. Sure, we were not overwhelmed with our first gimped hands-on, but on paper it looks like this sure is one beast. The 528 MHz processor has us excited, but with it being Windows Mobile, we'll be surprised if the onboard RAM doesn't prove itself to be insufficient for heavy multitasking. [Terminal.hu via adonis demon via BGR]

Since we posted very quickly on the two biggest stories of the show, the Xperia and Android hands ons, you'd figure we were organized. No. We booked hotels late, and apparently, Barcelona doesn't have too many of these accommodations relative to the size of Mobile World Congress. Rooms were going for 1000 Euros by the time we went hunting, so we ended up with a room in a place about 45 minutes outside of the city. At least in theory.

Our cabbie just wouldn't shut up. Later, Jesús told me he wouldn't stop bitching about his wife divorcing him. But while we were driving, all I could notice was that he was talking a lot more than he should have been, especially venturing outside of the city without a GPS or map. He overshot our exit by 30 minutes. And because it was getting late and he was sleepy, he insisted on turning the A/C off. It was freezing, and winding through the mountain roads, in the fog, exhausted and cold, I got motion sick or food poisoning set in. I puked a river at some random junction.

When we got to the hotel, turns out it was a quaint little monastery. To my American eyes, used to strip malls and 100 year buildings at the oldest, the place just looked incredibly similar to the scenery in Resident Evil 4. (The best zombie games of all time. Fact.)

At this point, I was so sick and exhausted that I swore I kept seeing things moving in the dark corner of the room and got an hour of sleep. It sucked.

In other news, Nigel from Red Ferret hit 10k posts. And Adam Frucci is Geek Sugar's "Geek we love". Fine achievements on both their parts.

See you Stateside, hopefully with some Airtight package of Spanish Ham smuggled into my suitcase. Shhh!

That second chocopad screen sits just below the upper 2-inch LCD. The KF600 uses it to contextualize menus, just like the Samsung Soul and its OLED soulpad. Unlike the Soul, this phone sucks. Don't be distracted by the eye candy in the video, but note how ineffective Jesús's presses are.

*Cellmakers have told me that marketing directly equals sales for handsets, and carriers choose phones partially on ad budgets.

P.S. Don't confuse this phone with the KT610, a symbian powered phone we saw at this same show.

Seoul, Feb 11 (Korea Newswire)— LG Electronics, a worldwide technology and design leader in mobile communications, today announced the European launch of its 2008 iF product design award winning LG KF600, a new mobile phone that is as feature rich and easy to use as it is stylish, thanks to its unique InteractPad¢â.

The InteractPad¢â replaces physical navigation keys with context-specific virtual keys that change to fit the task at hand. This new interface comes in response to the need for a simple way to navigate through the multitudinous features on today¡¯s mobile phones.

The LG KF600¡¯s InteractPad¢â and its virtual menu keys show the exact keys a user needs to complete the task at hand eliminating distractions. This is far more flexible than standard hardware keys and eliminates the need to memorize exactly which key performs what function. These virtual keys are also larger and better spaced than physical keys, improving accuracy.

The InteractPad¢â is an ideal interface for controlling multimedia features like the LG KF600¡¯s digital audio player, camera and video camera. Because its controls are not tied to physical buttons, each of these functions has a custom interface that makes it incredibly intuitive to use.

To make it easier to use, the InteractPad¢â is equipped with multi-sensorial feedback that provides users with audio, visual and tactile cues. When a virtual button is pressed it becomes larger and the phone vibrates just slightly and makes a clicking sound. This feedback is not only designed to make these virtual buttons seem more like real ones, it also makes the phone more comfortable to use and improves accuracy.

gives the phone a different character that can act as an extension of its owner¡¯s personality. These themes, many of which were inspired by the work of famed artist Keith Haring, affect all aspects of the LG KF600¡¯s interface including the InteractPad¢â. When users choose a theme, all the layouts of each application will be reflected in menu, icons as well as wallpaper under the integrated theme.

The LG KF600 is far more advanced than other slide phones and unlike any other phone available because of its unique interface and feed-forward tactile navigation made possible by the InteractPad¢â.

Dr. Skott Ahn, CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company said, ¡°The LG KF600 and the InteractPad¢â reflect LG¡¯s commitment to making its handsets easier to use through improved user interface technology. Usability is truly at the centre of this handset¡¯s design and it represents LG¡¯s latest achievement in making phones that connect with their users. This handset offers a mere glimpse into a newly emerging trend in the mobile market. LG is researching and developing new ways to improve usability and will continue focus on features that add practical benefits for users.¡±

The LG KF600¡¯s powerful multimedia features include a 3 mega-pixel camera, MP3 player, video recording, FM radio, Bluetooth and more. Its ergonomic trapezoidal shape is the ideal complement to the phone¡¯s sleek, glossy finish.

The LG KF600 will be available for purchase starting from January and will be introduced at World Mobile Congress 2008 in Barcelona, Spain in February.

1) Main Features
¡ÜInteractPad¢â Unique interactive touch-based virtual navigation keypad that interacts with upper display and with the user
¡ÜDynamic graphic interface themes Eight integrated graphic themes that are reflected in all menu, icons, wallpaper and other comprehensive interface features
¡ÜMultimedia Features Music player with FM Radio, 3 Mega pixel camera & camcorder, and touch-control games

2) Basic Specifications

RF band: EDGE 900/ 1800/ 1900
Dimensions: 101.2mm (L) x 50.7mm (W) x 14.1mm (D)
Upper display: 320 x 240 pixels, 2.00¡È, 262K color TFT
Lower pad (InteractPad¢â): 240 x 176 pixels, 1.5¡È, 262K color TFT
Weight: 107g
Standard battery: Li-Ion 800 mAh
Standby Time, Max (hrs): 300 hrs
Talk Time (hrs): 3 hrs
Color choices: Pastel pink, shiny pink, wine red and titan

Media Contact : LG Electronics Global PR, Corporate Communications
media contact: Judy Pae at lgpr@lge.com, phone: 82-2-3777-7144

Seoul, Feb 11 (Korea Newswire)— LG Electronics, a worldwide technology and design leader in mobile communications, today announced the launch of its LG-KF700, a new multimedia phone that combines three input methods to create an amazingly intuitive user interface and provides instant access to features.

The world¡¯s first phone with three separate input methods, the LG-KF700 integrates a 3-inch touchscreen, alpha-numeric keypad and Shortcut Dial. Each of these input methods is assigned to the tasks at which it is most efficient, making LG¡¯s highly intuitive interface possible. With its user-optimized navigation, all of the phone¡¯s functions and features are instantly accessible.

¡°Our consumers told us that they wanted a phone that had plenty of multimedia features, but doesn¡¯t take a long time fiddling with menus to figure out. We created the LG-KF700 based their insight,¡± said Dr. Skott Ahn, CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. ¡°Internal research showed that a phone¡¯s multimedia features often lay dormant if they are hard to access. On many phones these features are hidden deep in menus, requiring too much time and effort to find them. The LG-KF700 eliminates these endless menus with its intuitive interface and multiple input methods.¡±

LG has already established itself as a leader in phones with touch technology, and the LG-KF700¡¯s 3-inch full touchscreen provides easy access to features and its wide aspect ratio makes it perfect for watching movies or browsing the internet. From the phone¡¯s main screen users can flip through several handy widgets, including a calendar, scheduler, and memo pad, with the swipe of a finger. The large touchscreen also means that the phone can provide an adaptable on-screen interface, rather than tying users to a fixed, preset button layout.

The Shortcut Dial on the back of the phone quickly scrolls through six user-selected features by controlling a virtual dial on screen, rather than wasting time digging through menus. This can be done at any time, from any application, not just when the phone is idle. The Shortcut Dial can also be used to scroll through web pages or e-mails, adjust volume and perform other functions for which a wheel is naturally best.

Most of the new touchscreen phones currently available eliminate some formerly universal features like the alpha-numeric keypad. LG consumers said that consumers still wanted this particular feature, not only for its familiarity, but also because it simplifies the process of making phone calls and is excellent for typing text messages. For this reason, LG incorporated a slide-down alpha-numeric keypad into the LG-KF700.

Used together, the LG-KF700¡¯s input methods become even more powerful and efficient. When browsing the internet on the wide touchscreen, the shortcut dial zooms in and out on websites. When sending text messages, the alpha-numeric keypad provides all of the letters, while frequently used symbols are readily available on the touchscreen. These symbols change based on users text messaging habits.

One of the LG-KF700¡¯s powerful multimedia features is a full featured Web browser that provides full access to Google Search, Blogs, Gmail, Maps and Youtube. Support for HSDPA 3G networks* makes web browsing extremely fast and makes other features like video telephony possible. Other features include an MP3 player, MPEG4 video player, 3.0 megapixel camera, Bluetooth connectivity and more. All of these multimedia features are packed into a slim and stylish package with a clean, minimalist look.

LG will introduce the LG-KF700 at the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2008 on February 11 in Barcelona, Spain during its press conference. The phone will be available in Europe in mid March and will become available in other markets in the months following.

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The phone has a slightly smaller 2.8 screen at 240 x 320, it has quad band, 3G (but not the US flavors), haptic feedback on the touchscreen and a 5MP camera. It also has a limited set of widgets for the front page, including a birthday reminder, world times and that's pretty much it. (It's not open source, so you can't add to it, or write your own, either.) The phone's touchscreen supports swipes through menus, but in the opposite fashion you're used to on the iPhone. (Swiping down moves the cursor down, not up, as you can see in the video.)

Note: The back of the phone has a new designer texture that we like a lot more than the now generic velvechron grip coating you see on a lot of handsets. We didn't get to play N-Gage on this phone to test out the gaming-specific button backlights (another upgrade from the N95) but we'll have some video of that next. I would not recommend it as an upgrade for existing N95 owners, but those interested should be reminded that the DVB and the non-US frequency 3G won't help you much.

Android is Dead

In the media player, you get FF/RW and play/pause controls; in the calculator, you get plus, minus, subtract and divide buttons. The soul patch (my name) even vibrates when you click it, thanks to the same Immersion tech found in Playstation and Wii rumble controllers. Congrats to Samsung in making a touch UI that overcomes some of the shortcomings of touchscreen controls in a nice looking package.

The working prototype here is very rough. It's missing animations between picture swipes and lacks truly natural menu swiping. It also doesn't support multitouch here, but that's a matter of hardware—and this is early software, so we should be not too harsh on Symbian for updating their great OS to keep up with the Joneses. But we can conclude one thing from this demo: Despite doing a good job of building a touch UI on S60 without alienating current users, Symbian is far behind Apple in UI development, by months, if not years.

An ugly giganfatastic beast made of multiple boards right out of a Terry Gilliam movie set. It was faster and had wireless connectivity, something that the ARM model didn't had enabled. And obviously, it was untouchable and development oriented.

As you can see, while the Android platform is solid enough for development and testing, it seems we are far away from seeing actual products getting into the market. ARM told us that everything is still pretty much up in the air at this point, and the actual physical cellphone specification is still coming from the Open Handset Alliance.

We will update this post with more Android prototypes hands-on and impressions.

Basically, this speck of silicon wonderment chills in between the mic and the cell's circuitry, where it maps sound as a 3-D matrix, scraping away up to 25 decibels of garbage, leaving just your deep baritones or whiny squeal. Besides letting your singing voice come through the way it was meant to be heard, dumping the excess baggage saves bandwidth, giving stingy-ass network providers a reason to push for this thing as well. [NYT]

Nokia N96: The one to watch Most advanced multimedia computer optimized for entertainment Mobile World Congress 2008, Barcelona, Spain/Espoo, Finland - Nokia today unveiled the Nokia N96, a multimedia computer truly optimized for video and TV. With a large 2.8" screen, 16 gigabytes of internal memory and support for high-quality videos in a wide range of formats, the dual-slide Nokia N96 represents an exciting new chapter in mobile media. The Nokia N96 multimedia computer is expected to begin shipping in the third quarter of 2008 with an estimated sales price of approximately 550 euros, before subsidies or taxes. "In 2007, the Nokia N95 became an icon of convergence of Internet and mobility. With over 7 million units sold to date, the N95 has changed the way people use their mobile device. The Nokia N96 we introduced today builds on the success of N95, further enhancing the experience," says Jonas Geust, who oversees Nokia's Explore category. "Through the power of the Internet, video and TV are becoming even more prevalent in people's lives. With its large, bright screen, and a range of high-speed connectivity options and the enhanced Nokia Video Center, the new Nokia N96 is a personal window to entertainment." Accessing internet videos is quick and simple. The Nokia N96 supports common video formats including MPEG-4, Windows Media Video and Flash Video, making favorite videos easy to view. Transferring and accessing videos is even faster with the high-speed USB 2.0 connection and WLAN and HSDPA support. In select markets, the integrated DVB-H receiver offers live broadcast TV with an automatically updating program guide. The massive memory can store up to 40 hours of video content. The storage capacity of the Nokia N96 can even be further expanded with an optional microSD card, such as the new Nokia 8GB microSDHC Card MU-43 which increases the available memory of the Nokia N96 to a total of 24 GB. For added convenience, the Nokia N96 features a 'kickstand' on the back cover that allows for hands-free viewing. The Nokia Video Center offers one place to discover and access a variety of mobile content ranging from movie trailers and comedy to news from world-leading content brands such as YouTube, Reuters, and Sony Pictures. The catalogue of internet video feeds is continually expanded with more regional and country specific content. For a superb music experience, the Nokia N96 features media keys, a 3.5 mm headphone connector and built-in 3D stereo speakers. The Nokia Maps application offers richer maps with urban details and satellite views and has upgrade options such as City Guides, turn-by-turn pedestrian mode and voice-guided car navigation. The Nokia N96 boasts a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, flash and video light. It allows DVD-like quality video capture at 30 frames per second. Further, with the integrated A-GPS, consumers can now 'geotag' their pictures with location data and share them with their online communities. The Nokia N96 naturally supports the Ovi family of Nokia internet services, including maps, music, media sharing and more. Nokia Nseries is a range of high performance multimedia computers that delivers unparalleled mobile multimedia experiences by combining the latest technologies with stylish design and ease of use. With Nokia Nseries products, consumers can use a single device to enjoy entertainment, access information and to capture and share pictures and videos, on the go at any time. www.nseries.com

110 x 45 x 15 mm
GSM 900/1800 and GSM 850/1900
Weight 80g
Up to approximately 590 minutes of talk time and 465 hours of standby time
128x128 65K CSTN display screen for an enhanced viewing experience
Clear communication even in noisy environments with CrystalTalk technology
One key access to SMS
500 internal phonebook and 750 SMS inbox storage for messages and phone numbers
Built-in FM radio with stereo support and enhanced FM radio user interface
Messaging via SMS and iTAP™ predictive text entry
Access to 40 downloadable iMelody ringtones
USB 1.1 for charging
Office-quality speakerphone
Rich applications such as 3 pre-loaded games, currency converter and calendar
Sleek licorice and sterling blue candy bar form factor
Chrome navigation wheel
Features 7 African languages for all menu content
Hinglish predictive text for writing combined Hindi and English text messages
70 KB on-board user memory

114 x 43 x 14mm
GSM 900/1800 and GSM 850/1900
Weight 85g
590 minutes of talk time
465 hours of standby time
Large B&W 128x128 display screen provides enhanced viewing experience
CrystalTalk technology
Built-in FM radio with stereo support and enhanced FM radio user interface
200 internal phonebook and 60 SMS inbox storage
iTAP™ predictive text entry for messaging
Optimized ringtones and access to 10 downloadable iMelody ringtones
Office-quality speakerphone
3 pre-loaded games, currency converter and calendar
Chrome navigation
modified ribbed key design
7 African languages on all menu content
Hinglish predictive text for writing combined Hindi and English text messages
20 KB on-board user memory
USB 1.1 for charging

[Motorola]

The X7150 also has updated HTC VueFLO, so that it detects the device's orientation and rotates the screen. The rest of the hardware remains the same as the earlier Advantage: Marvell PXA270 624MHz and Qualcomm MSM 6275 processors, 5-inch VGA screen with 3-megapixel camera, 128MB of RAM and tri-band HSDPA. Looks like the new battery has about 5 percent less capacity, but we guess that the flash drive should make up for that difference. [ZDnet]

While the Shift also has GSM/GPRS/EDGE/HSDPA network support, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, it looks like if you buy it from Orange in the UK, you'll only be able to get a data plan with it. [Slashgear]