Dual SIMs, Physical Keyboard and The Galaxy Note II Coming Your Way Soon

04 Sep Dual SIMs, Physical Keyboard and The Galaxy Note II Coming Your Way Soon

While most of the tech world is centred on the (rumoured) upcoming release of the iPhone 5, other smartphone makers have been releasing or are planning to release exciting new products under the radar.

So what can you expect from the world of smartphones for the rest of 2012? Check out below!

 

Samsung Galaxy Note II

Hoping to continue the hype and popularity generated by its predecessor, Samsung have announced the next iteration of their ‘phablet’.

The Galaxy Note II, while not bringing anything radically new to the table, does offer various improvements on the original Galaxy Note which make it bigger and arguably better.

The Galaxy Note II boasts a 5.55 inch HD  Super AMOLED screen (1280 X 720 pixels) compared to the 5.3 inch super AMOLED Galaxy Note (800 x 1280 pixels), and a larger (almost 25% larger) 3100mAh battery compared with the original Galaxy Note’s 2500 mAh battery.

The Galaxy Note II is also faster than the original, with a 1.6GHz quad-core Samsung Exynos processor, 2GB of RAM and the latest version of the Android OS, 4.1 Jelly Bean. In comparison, the Galaxy Note has a dual-core 1.4 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 with 1GB of RAM.

While the 8MP rear-facing camera and 2MP front-facing camera are rather run of the mill for smartphones these days, if the camera functions as well as the S3, this definitely won’t be a deal breaker.

The Galaxy Note 2 also offers a host of new S Pen tricks, many of which have made an appearance in the recently released Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet. The S Pen will create a virtual pointer/ cursor on the screen, while hovering over items such as photos and videos will open windows to see more details or even begin playback. All without touching the screen.

Borrowing from the Galaxy Note 10.1, is the emphasis on multitasking. The Galaxy Note II allows you to watch videos while running apps on the phone, as well as enabling the screen to be dragged around. The Galaxy Note II also sports a completely new multitasking feature called Popup Note, which enables you to take notes while browsing through other apps.

Maybe more for bloggers, the Galaxy Note 2 offers a pretty cool feature called Screen Record. This functions like screen capture software for desktop PCs, in that it records everything that happens on the screen, including stereo audio and pen markings. This will then be saved as a video file.

While Samsung have confirmed that the Galaxy Note II will be available in Europe, Asia and the Middle East by October and in the US by the end of 2012, there is currently no news about an Australian release:

 

Dual SIM phones

If you have ever wished that your phone could switch between carriers (and thus numbers), you won’t have to wish anymore. Both Acer and Samsung have brought out dual SIM phones, which enables the user to store two SIM cards from different carriers in the phone. This could be very useful for those who have separate personal and work numbers, by eliminating the need to carry two phones. As stated by Samsung in a blog post announcing the phone:

Acer Liquid Gallant Duo

Specifications

[list style=”list1″ color=”green”]

• 4.3inch display
• 5MP rear-facing camera
• 1GHz processor
• 1GB RAM
• 4GB of internal storage memory which is further expandable to 32GB via microSD cards.
• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

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Samsung Galaxy Duos

While essentially a watered down version of the Galaxy S3 to suit small budgets, the ability of the Galaxy Duos to support two SIMs is certainly a huge drawcard for busy professionals.

Specifications

[list style=”list1″ color=”green”]

• 4inch display
• 5MP rear-facing camera
• 1GHz processor
• 1GB RAM
• 4GB of internal storage memory which is further expandable to 32GB via microSD cards.
• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

[/list]

Tired of Touch Screen Troubles?

If you don’t mind forgoing a slim, lightweight phone for the tactile joy of a physical keyboard, the Photon Q from Motorola may be the phone for you.

In an attempt to appeal to those who love their Blackberry for the physical keyboard but long for the Android experience, Motorola has developed the Photon Q as a much needed update to the Droid 4, which while offering a physical keyboard lacked in every other way.

While heavier and thicker than other smartphones currently in the market, the Photon Q brings the physical keyboard into the smartphone age in a big way, with a LED backlit keyboard similar to the Droid 4, plus “edge lighting” for a PC like experience with a built in fold out stand.

Specifications

[list style=”list1″ color=”green”]

• 4.3inch display (540 X 960 resolution)
• 8MP rear-facing camera (1080p HD video capture)
• 1.3MP HD front-facing “Web Cam” (720p HD video capture support)
• 1.5GHz dual core Snapdragon S4 processor
• 1GB RAM
• 8GB of internal storage memory which is further expandable to 32GB via microSD cards.
• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

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HTC Endeavour C2

 

It seems as though HTC is gearing up to release a successor for the HTC One X.

Codenamed HTC Endeavour C2 (the HTC One X was codenamed HTC Endeavour), according to stuff.tv, the Endeavour C2 will feature a 1.7GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, improved battery life, a new colour and bundled UrBeats earphones.

It appears as though the design of the Endeavour C2 will not be radically different to the One X, as reportedly the Endeavour C2 is compatible with the One X’s accessories.

The Endeavour C2 will also feature ClearVoice to improve call quality. Whether it will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sanwich or 4.1 Jelly Bean is still up in the air as well as a release date for Australia.