Oppo Ulike 2 comes with a 5 MP front camera to replace the mirror for ladies’ makeup on the go

The Oppo Ulike 2 (model number U705T) isn’t your run of the mill device that got a new paint job and a few ‘girly’ gimmicks and has thus been rebadged as a full-on ‘women’s phone’, such as the HTC Rhyme or upcoming Samsung La Fleur handsets. No, this is something a little bit more thought through. And it’s been inspired by a Chanel lipstick, apparently.

That, of course, doesn’t mean that it will be the first ever women-focused smartphone to actually be successful, mind you. But it may have a bigger chance at that than its predecessors from the competition.

The Oppo Ulike 2 has a 5 MP front-facing camera. That fact alone is rather intriguing, since this is the first smartphone in the world to come with such high-res optics in its secondary snapper. In fact, most if not all of today’s top of the line flagship devices don’t go much above 2 MP for their front-facing shooter, so the Ulike 2 is ahead by a wide margin.

That camera is in there for two reasons. First, to enable the women who’ll buy the device to use it as a mirror, when need arises for a quick make-up session or do-over on the go. Using the front-facing camera’s preview mode, and watching the resulting image on the big, 4.5-inch touchscreen, will probably replace a pocket/purse mirror without any trouble. The 5 MP unit should make the images look crisp enough for spotting even the most minute details.

Furthermore, the front-facing camera is perfect for self-portraits, Oppo claims. The camera app comes with five different ‘effects’ that can be applied, in real-time, to the viewfinder, among them being “dermabrasion, whitening, face-lift, eye enhancement” – so that self-portrait will turn out just perfect. The company also claims that its new camera app is faster than third party offerings which come with filters too.

Of course, video calls also benefit from the good front-facing camera, but that’s probably not going to be the main selling point here (who does video calls on mobile anyway?).

The Oppo Ulike 2 will be incredibly compact for a smartphone bearing a 4.5-inch touchscreen, thanks in no small part to its ridiculously small screen bezel – just 2.2 mm. This will help with one-handed operation, which is essential for the ‘mirror’ use case to actually work in practice. The phone’s dimensions are 127×63.7×8.95 mm.

Oppo has confirmed to Chinese media that it is working on this device. It hasn’t announced all its specs, but the rumors making rounds in China speak about a 4.5-inch 540×960 touchscreen, an 8 MP rear camera, a yet-unknown dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of built-in storage space, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. We’ll keep you posted.

Via IT168

HTC One X, One S And One V Land In Europe April 2nd

HTC announced a new range of smartphones under the ‘One’ name at this years MWC last month, and now the three device will go on sale in Europe next week.

According to the guys over at The Unwired, HTC have confirmed that The HTC One X, HTC One S and the HTC One V will go on sale in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on the 2nd of April.

It looks like we now have some pricing for Europe on the three devices, the HTC One X will be 599 Euros, the HTC One S 499 Euros and the HTC One V will be 299 Euros.

We don’t as yet have any other information on when the devices will launch in the UK and the US, as soon as we get some more information we will let you guys know.

Source Engadget

Instagram Will Be Out In Android Phones Really Soon

A few weeks ago, Instagram CEO Kevin Stystrom promised that Instragram woul be available for Androids really soon. Now it looks like its getting closer.

Instagram has just posted an official sign up sheet for Android users who want the app on their phones. Just click over http://instagr.am/android/ and enter your email address. The Instagram team will notify you whenever its ready.

Instagram is a photo sharing app that debuted in iPhones. It has a lots of filters to spruce up your photos before sharing to the Instagram network, Twitter and Facebook.

Stystrom said that the Android version will have more features when it is released. Instagram has 27 million subscribers and tapping the Android market will help the numbers grow.

Source: Engadget

Optimus LTE Tag launched in Korea

LG just couldn’t wait for Mobile World Congress to get underway on the 27th before showing off its new Optimus Vu handset. These new pics offer a much clearer look at its 4×3 aspect ratio, 1024×768 res, stylus-friendly 5-inch IPS LCD display, while the official specs confirm rumors it would pack a 1.5GHz dual core CPU, 8MP camera, LTE, 2080mAh battery and Android 2.3 in a slim 8.5mm thick frame. An upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich is promised within three months of its launch, currently scheduled for March on Korean carriers SK Telecom and LG+. For example, users can walk into an office and swipe a tag to put their phone in silent mode and activate WiFi. Using a tag on the car dashboard could be programmed to turn on Bluetooth, GPS and raise the volume.

The phone will go on sale in Korea late February for 800,000 Korean Won ($710).

Source : engadget

Absinthe A5 Jailbreaker for iPhone 4S / iPad 2 now available for Windows

When the Absinthe A5 untethered jailbreak solution hit yesterday it opened Apple’s iPhone 4S and iPad 2 for more creative uses by their owners — as long as they were on OS X. Now the team has returned with a version of the tool built for Windows users who enjoy iLife mixing and matching. All the usual restrictions, warnings and directives apply, but you know what you’re here for — hit the source link below to download a ZIP file straight from greenpois0n’s servers and get going, or check the other links for more information on the exact steps to follow.

[engadget]

Motorola Defy+ JCB Edition Android Smartphone Announced

Motorola has launched a new version of their Defy+ smartphone, the Motorola Defy+ JCB edition, and as the name suggest Motorola has teamed up JCB to make a more rugged version of the smartphone.

The Motorola Def+ JCB edition shares many of the features of the original handset, although this new version now comes with a rugged casing and it is also waterproof , dust proof and shock like the previous model.

This new Defy+ JCB edition Android smartphone also comes with a range of JCB applications pre-loaded which are designed for construction workers and DIY enthusiasts with functions like a spirit level, theodolite, decibel meter and recorder, torch, unit converter, calculator and DIY store locator.

Hardware wise the Motorola Defy+ JCB edition features a 3.7 inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels, the screen is covered in Gorilla Glass.

Processing is provided by a single core 1GHz processor and it also features a 5 megapixel camera with an LED flash and auto-focus, there is 2GB of built in storage, plus a microSD card slot.

The Motorola Defy+ JCB edition will be available in the UK shortly, it is expected to retail for around £260, and it doesnt look like it is headed to the US, there are no details on whether or not it will be available in the rest of Europe.

Source Engadget

Wilson Electronics Releases Sleek 4G-V 4G Mobile Signal Booster

Wilson Electronics has proudly introduced the Sleek 4G-V, which is claimed to be the world’s first 4G mobile signal booster. Designed for use in a vehicle, this signal booster will amplify LTE, 3G and 2G cellular signals on 700 MHz, 800 MHz and 1900 MHz frequency bands, allowing users to enjoy a strong, reliable cellular signal. Measuring 2.5-inch x 4.5-inch x 2.5-inch and weighing at only 85 grams, the Sleek 4G-V will be released in the second quarter of 2012 for an MSRP of $149.95.

Via - techfresh

LG Prada 3.0 Press Shots Leak Ahead of Announcement

LG’s set to announce some new goods today and among those goods is the LG Prada 3.0. The stylish phone not only brings good looks and curvatures, but it also brings a lot of power for which to run Android.

The LG Prada 3.0 features a 4.3 inch TFT LCD display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixel and Gorilla Glass, processing is provided by a dual core 1GHz OMAP 4430 processor and it also features 8GB of built in storage plus a microSD card slot.

Other specifications on the LG Prada 3.0 include an 8 megapixel camera which can record full HD video in 1080p at 30 frames per second, plus NFC, Bluetooth 3.0, HSPA+ and 802.11n WiFi.

We’ll be on the lookout for its official announcement later on today.

Source :[Engadget]

Samsung SCH-W999: for people who like pairs

Samsung has recently announced the launch of a very interesting Android phone in China, the SCH-W999. Designed for folks who love things that come in pairs, this phone features dual 3.5″ Super AMOLED (480 x 800) displays, dual SIM slots, dual-mode connectivity (GSM and CDMA2000), and a Qualcomm MSM8660 1.2GHz dual-core processor (okay, the last one isn’t really a pair). What are missing would be dual cameras and perhaps, dual-boot capabilities (now we’re getting ahead of ourselves).

Instead, the SCH-W999 features regular keypad, a five-megapixel rear camera, Android 2.3 with TouchWiz, a HyperSkin back cover (like the Galaxy Nexus), Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi, WAPI, and GPS. No word on pricing or if the phone will reach our shores, but a device like this could probably help some folks make the transition from feature to smartphone. But with dual super AMOLED screens and a dual-core processor, don’t expect this phone to come cheap.

[Samsung]

ITG xpPhone 2 running on Windows 8 to be released in 2012

If you’ve never heard of ITG and their xpPhone before we don’t blame you. The device was launched last year in November and failed to create any waves, but it looks like they have not given up and will be launching the successor to the xpPhone – the rather uninspired xpPhone 2!

In terms of hardware specs, the xpPhone 2 appears to be more like a netbook packed into a smartphone form factor, and will feature a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor, 2GB of RAM, 112GB of SSD storage, a 4.3” display and is said to be compatible with both Windows 7 and Windows 8. It also claims to be capable of handling up to 18.5 hours worth of talk time on a single charge.

ITG claims that they favor Windows over more mobile platforms, such as Android, iOS, Windows Phone, MeeGo, etc simply because a greater range of software is available, although with both the iTunes App Store and Android Market brimming with all sorts of apps, perhaps ITG is going with a more enterprise crowd with their xpPhone 2. No word on pricing but the handset is expected to be made available in January of 2012.

Via - engadget