This doesn’t appear to be the HTC Ville that has been leaked multiple times, as Android Modaco reports that the HTC Endeavour will pack a massive 4.7-inch screen with a 720p HD resolution, will run Android Ice Cream Sandwich presumably with Ice Cream Sandwich and it will have an 8-megapixel camera with all the other goodies you’d expect from a high-end smartphone.

What’s really interesting about this rumor is that it suggests the HTC Endeavour will be powered by the quad-core Tegra 3 chip from NVIDIA. This is interesting because Qualcomm is an investor in HTC, has been used nearly exclusively and it has quad-core processors of its own coming out soon. NVIDIA has been indicating that we’ll see multiple quad-core Tegra 3 smartphones at MWC, so perhaps HTC will be one of those providers.

This shift to NVIDIA may not be part of a larger trend for HTC but the company has been struggling with its sales and design, so it’s retooling its strategy to focus on fewer but better devices. In my previous conversations with HTC, it said that its relationship with Qualcomm does not preclude it from using other vendors’ chipsets and that the company is very comfortable being on the bleeding edge of technology.

It’s still just a rumor right now but MWC is coming faster than you think, so we’ll know a lot more in the next few days.

[Via Android Modaco, image credit]

This successor to the Samsung Galaxy Mini S5570 has some subtle changes like a bigger 3.3-inch screen with higher resolution (HVGA), a faster 800MHz processor and 3GB of built-in storage. The mini 2 will also run some version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Other noteworthy specs of the mini 2 include a 3 megapixel camera and 7.2Mbps HSDPA connectivity, again, these are upgrades from the original. If you’re into the whole rounded corners look, and happen to love the design of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S then you’d like this offering. As a low-end device, the Mini should satisfy most users who want a decent Android device at an affordable cost. Looking at the picture and reading the specs, I didn’t catch any signs of a front-facing camera – this most definitely can turn potential buyers off.

Honestly, I don’t think the Galaxy Mini 2 is better than the Samsung Exhibit II 4G, which is another low-end handset that came out a while ago. That said, there’s no word as to what day the Mini 2 will launch, but the picture suggests we can look forward to a debut at MWC.

[via GSMArena]

According to Murtazin’s tweet, Galaxy S II users can expect to see the rollout of Ice Cream Sandwich on March 1st through Samsung Kies. This would definitely be quite a treat for users but we’re going to assume that if the update is available on March 1st, it will likely be limited to the international GSM version only. It looks like Samsung has learned its lesson from previous mistakes when it comes to updating its handsets in a timely fashion but we would seriously be floored if the update was available to US Galaxy S II owners on March 1st as well.

Expect all of that Ice Cream Sandwich look and feel to be mostly concealed by Samsung custom user interface, TouchWiz. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you like the custom UI, which isn’t the worst we’ve ever seen but you’ll be a bit disappointed if you’re expecting Android 4.0 to shine through a lot. We do know that Google is attempting to make certain elements of the operating system consistent from device to device, but this is limited to certain applications and menus for the time being.

If we can’t get the Galaxy S III during Mobile World Congress, then maybe Android 4.0 for the Galaxy S II will hold some over until the time comes. Either way, we’re just glad to see Ice Cream Sandwich going to a handset that’s not a part of the Nexus line officially.

We’ll be in Barcelona during March 1st, so there may be a chance that we get to see some Ice Cream Sandwiched Galaxy S II devices floating around in that time. Stay tuned!

[Via: TechCrunch, Twitter]

Drive will offer users some cool features out the gate, like the ability to store photos, documents and videos on Google’s servers so that they could be accessible from any Web-connected device, according to the Wall Street Journal. People will be able to record a video on an Android phone and then have it uploaded automatically to Picasa through a service called Instant Upload. Bad-ass, right? The new cloud service will offer competitive prices compared to rivals Dropbox and Box.net.

This is something Google can excel in because the company is well-seasoned when it has to do with running cloud services. Just think, products like GMail and GDocs work almost flawlessly in the cloud. In fact, you can argue that no one does cloud better than Google at this point. It also is in control of Android, so think about how deep it could integrate a cloud service into that platform.

If this rumor turns out to be true, then we should see GDrive in the coming weeks or months. I for one, hope this comes soon because it goes perfectly with my favorite Google services.

Additional reading: Cloud comparisons: Google vs. Apple vs. Microsoft

[via WSJ]

Now before anyone gets upset about this, note that we don’t have any information about what kind of cores Apple is using. We can easily imagine Apple wanting to go with ARM’s Cortex A15 processor, which clock for clock is 40% faster faster than the ARM Cortex A9 inside the iPad 2. In other words, two 1 GHz Cortex A15 chips should deliver the same amount of compute power as two 1.4 GHz Cortex A9 chips. Assuming the Apple A6 chip is built on a new 28 nanometer process, Apple could easily clock those Cortex A15 processors to 2 GHz, which would be the equivalent of a pair of Cortex A9 chips running at 2.8 GHz. Translation? Ludicrous speed.

At the end of the day though there’s no need to get too hung up on specs. People who buy the iPad don’t care about what makes the iPad tick, they care about the apps that they’ll be poking and prodding at for hours on end.

This Nokia 801 leak doesn’t jive with the rumors we’ve been hearing. Yesterday we reported that Nokia would release just one more Symbian smartphone before throwing the platform into the trash. Said smartphone would be the successor to the Nokia N8, the company’s flagship cameraphone. In mid December 2011 an image (above) from a product manual of an unreleased Symbian smartphone called the Nokia 803 hit the internets. It looks absolutely nothing like the Nokia 801. In fact, it looks more like the N8 than anything else, which makes a ton of sense.

Anyway, we’ll find out if the 801 is real or not at MWC later this month.

Update: Mark Guim from The Nokia Blog also covered this story, and he points out that the Nokia Lumia 710 running Windows Phone is basically an exact copy of the Nokia 603 running Symbian Belle. That’s a good point, but still, we’d rather not see Nokia put Symbian on a device that’s already been used to run two other operating systems.

With the prospects of a quad-core Galaxy S III, the expectations for the handset are already pretty high. We can also expect something similar to the Galaxy Nexus’ display, which is a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED  HD panel. Now we’re hearing that Samsung’s next flagship phone may come in at a ridiculously thin 7mm thick. While it’s impressive to say the least, this is something I’m not looking forward to.

Like the Motorola Droid RAZR, the Galaxy S III may be stunningly thin in its own right but that doesn’t necessarily translate well in all areas. Holding the Droid RAZR is uncomfortable and the device just doesn’t fit in the hand in the natural way we’re used to. When Marin reviewed the RAZR, he begged the question, “Is being thin enough?” and now the question seems to be “When is thin too thin?”

We get that every company wants to be the thinnest, lightest, fastest, and all of that jazz but at some point they need to step back. Does anyone care if their phone is 7mm thick? Not this guy. I know I’m just one person and most of the other specifications within the handset may be enough to overlook the anorexic profile of the Galaxy S III but at the same time, everything is still a rumor until proven otherwise.

Also rumored is that the handset could land on shelves sometime in May, which sounds about right for a European launch. Like the original and Galaxy S II, the US will have to wait a while before the Galaxy S III graces its shores.

[Via: BGR]

It’s hard to tell at the moment, however we know the Korean giant has released few “Plus” devices in the past, including the Galaxy S Plus and Galaxy Ace Plus. Whether they’ll take the same turn with the Galaxy S II is hard to tell. Personally, I want a smartphone with a 720p screen like the LG Optimus LTE, HTC Rezound or Galaxy Nexus have, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who’ll keep waiting for the real deal. Or grab the Galaxy Nexus instead.

[Via: PocketNow]

For their sake, hopefully the iPhone hype will cool down a bit by then. According to a report from DigiTimes, vendors from around the globe including Samsung, HTC, Nokia, and LG have pushed their finest new devices further into the year to avoid being slammed with the iPhone effect — that is, millions of people buying Apple handsets while other phone makers struggle to gain any spotlight and therefore any sales.

These four manufacturers all plan to unveil their new devices for 2012 at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, taking place February 27th to March 1st. Though that is within the first quarter, the companies aren’t expected to start shipping any new devices until later in the year.

I wouldn’t doubt that popular Android and Windows Phone vendors are scared of Apple — they should be. Apple reported it sold 37 million iPhones last quarter and brought in $46 billion in revenue. There’s plenty of reasons to fear a company that sells 37 million of any gadget within three months.

[via DigiTimes]

The phone marked as GT-I9300 certainly smells like the next phone in the series, considering the I9000 marks the original Galaxy S, I9100 is the Galaxy S II, and I9250 – Galaxy Nexus. See where this pattern goes and why we believe the I9300 is the Galaxy S III?

Now just because some device got its place at Sammy’s website doesn’t necessarily mean it will be launched shortly. That, however, can’t kill our wish to see the next iteration of the Galaxy S in Barcelona. On the other hand, the Korean company must be extra careful with the Galaxy S III launch as it definitely hopes to repeat the success it had with the first two smartphones in the series. We’ll see…

[Via: PocketNow]

Specs wise, we’re talking about a device that’s almost identical to what Sprint will be launching, with its specs that include a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 7-inch 1280×800 pixels touchscreen, 4,000 mAh battery, dual camera, LTE and Wi-Fi connectivity; while Android 3.2 Honeycomb is running the show (most likely upgradable to Ice Cream Sandwich).

Unfortunately we don’t know the exact date when Verizon will start selling the V66 nor how much it will cost. However, you can bet we’ll keep our eyes wide open and let you know as soon as we spot something new on that front. If I had to guess, the Big Red carrier will sell it for no more than $100 on a “standard” two-year contract, while third party retailers like Amazon, Wirefly and Walmart will slash the price to free within weeks after the launch. We’ll see…

[Via: Unwired View]