Orange have taken smartphones under the £100 mark this week with a new Android phone costing only £99 with no contract. Their own-branded San Francisco handset is on pay as you go and packs decent mid-range features. But the killer of course is the price. Orange say they’re bringing apps to the masses.

Here are some main features on this phone:
· Talk Time: 4 hours
· Standby Time: 9 days
· Weight: 130g
· Dimensions: 116 x 56.5 x 11.8
· Camera Features: 3 megapixel
· Connectivity: WiFi / Bluetooth / USB / SatNav
· Music: MP3 / FM Radio
· Network Band: Tri band
· Video: Messaging
· Memory: 150 MB internal / Up to 32gb Micro SD Card
· Email: POP3 / IMAP4
· Data Speed: 3G +
· Operating System: Android
· Version: Eclair v2.1
· Other: Orange WiFi, Your Account
· Applications and Features: Orange Maps, Orange Messenger by Windows Live, Orange App Store, Email, Orange Wednesdays

As for the name “San Francisco”, I’ve really got nothing to say. But just wondering, when will there be a phone called London? soon I hope, though maybe it doesn’t have quite the same connotations.

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The Thunder, a hard-cornered new Android smartphone from Dell has just emerged from the rumour cloud and proved that it is a real phone in a video preview on Engadget.

Dell is best known for its affordable PCs, but it is flexing its muscles in the tablet and smartphone markets. The Dell Streak, a tablet computer powered by Android went on sale in the States earlier, the Dell Lightening will be a Windows 7 phone, and the Dell Thunder mooted for Quarter 4 will be a top-specced Android smartphone.

Dell has already promised us the Aero, a mid-range Android phone out in the States shortly. With a 2 megapixel camera and only a 624 MHz processor it’s not a game-changer.

The Thunder promises to be a stronger contender in the top end of the market: with a 4.1-inch OLED display, an 8-megapixel camera and 720p video capture, all built over Android.

From the video the Thunder has hard horizontal lines, sharp corners and the screen looks huge. With the dell logo on the back it does feel more like a mini computer than your average handset. It may not be the sexiest one out there, but design-wise it cements the Android preference for macho, hard shapes.

Well let’s just wait to see more details on this new Dell Thunder, hopefully it’ll be really fun.

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Google’s Nexus One is cementing its status as a desirable phone: luxury case-makers are already rushing to case its slender slightly curvy body in plush materials. And the 3G network doesn’t even work on it yet. Well not one the one I saw last week.

Waterfield designs have coated it in suede leather in what they describe as a smart-looking and snug jacket. They’re also donating some of the proceeds to Haiti. Though it’s not luxe perhaps the coolest case of all is the little Android robot one that comes with it. Everyone loves that cute little robot, anything with that little robot on it just shows you’re really in with the whole Android chic.

The case chic has really come to the Google Nexus One now, here’re also some full marks to Gelaskins for creating some beautiful manga-inspired case designs for the Nexus, they’re really lovely.

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HTC and Verizon Wireless today announced their new Android phone called – DROID Incredible. This latest Android device will be available through Verizon Wireless starting April 29 and boasts of a topographic design made possible with craftmanship and precision (Well, that’s really something).

The New DROID Incredible also boasts of HTC’s latest Sense technology, a 7-panel home screen with interactive widgets, seamless integration with Exchange ActiveSync, access to Flickr and of course to the Android Market. What makes the DROID Incredible quite interesting is the fact that it will be loaded with Qualcomm’s 1GHz superfast Snapdragon processor – a first for Verizon Wireless phones. In addition, the DROID Incredible also happens to have an 8 megapixel camera, again another first among Verizon’s stable of smartphones.

Another great features to expect from the DROID Incredible are Verizon Wireless’ own mobile apps – NFL Mobile and Skype Mobile.

Other key features and specs of the DROID Incredible include – 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED capacitive touch screen, optical joystick, dedicated keys for home, menu, back and search functions, proximity sensor, light sensor, digital compass, integrated GPS, Wi-Fi, and 3.5 mm jack.

The DROID Incredible will be available for pre-order starting April 19 on Verizon Wireless website. It will arrive on Verizon brick and mortar shops on April 29. Price tag is at $199.99 with two-year service agreement.

So many ‘first marks’ and so many wonderful features, I’m really looking forward to this Droid Incredible! How about you? This is a more beautiful and powerful version of MOTO Droid that will probably serve you incredibly!

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The CTIA 2010 kicked off weeks before in Las Vegas and this early Motorola is announcing its latest Android phone with a rather unusual look and features. The Motorola i1 is the first iDEN device that carries the features of most smartphones today thanks to the Android OS running on it. Some of these smartphone features include – a 3.1 inch touch screen, Wi-Fi, optimized browsing experience, Opera Mini 5 browser, access to thousands of Android apps from the Android Marketplace and of course push-to-talk feature. Motorola is releasing the i1 ruggedized phone to Sprint anytime this summer.

The Motorola i1 boasts of a solid body construction that passed military specs for protecting against dust, shock, vibration and blowing rain. It was designed for users who sport a rugged lifestyle and working environment. The phone automatically syncs and integrates with office and personal information including your emails, calendar appointments and contacts. It also syncs with Microsoft Document Viewer and corporate synch for Word or Powerpoint files.

The phone also features both Android standard virtual keyboard and Swype virtual keyboards offering you a easy time when composing messages. It’s high 5 megapixel camera has flash, geo-tagging and panoramic features – providing your with crips photos and clear displays perfectly suited for its vibrant 3.1-inch HVGA screen. The phone also comes with a microSD card and the latest Opera Mini 5 browser that provide quick internet browsing on Nextel Network and Wi-Fi. Plus, the phone is Flash 8-enabled as well, thanks to the Android browser.

The Motorola i1 is slated for release this summer under various Sprint data plans including the Sprint Everything Data 450 plan with Any Mobile, AnytimeSM for only $69.99 per month, and the Sprint Business Advantage Messaging and Data PlanSM starting at $59.99 per month.

Well, how do you think of this smartphone? Cute look, nice features, I think this is a smartphone I really want to get my hands on when this summer comes!

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Fortune just quoted Oppenheimer’s Yair Reiner, who thinks Apple’s patent infringement suit against Google Android and Microsoft Windows Phone manufacturer HTC was a warning shot meant to disrupt competitors’ roadmaps: ”Starting in January, Apple launched a series of C-Level discussions with tier-1 handset makers to underscore its growing displeasure at seeing its iPhone-related IP [intellectual property] infringed. The lawsuit filed against HTC thus appears to be Apple’s way of putting a public, lawyered-up exclamation point on a series of blunt conversations that have been occurring behind closed doors.

Our checks also suggest that these warning shots are meaningfully disrupting the development roadmaps for would-be iPhone killers. Rival software and hardware teams are going back to the drawing board to look for work-arounds. Lawyers are redoubling efforts to gauge potential defensive and offensive responses. And strategy teams are working to chart OS strategies that are better hedged.”

And will they make it? Let’s just see what have already changed: “Top-tier handset makers continued to avoid implementing multi-touch, but Apple could safely assume that they were hanging back to gauge Apple’s response to Motorola and HTC. If there wasn’t one, the OEMs would likely read the silence as a green light, especially after Google also moved to enable multi-touch on its Nexus One phone.

It was likely in order to counter that perception that Apple began reaching out to handset OEMs in January and explaining in no uncertain terms that it was now ready to do battle–and not just on multi-touch. It was ready to press its case along a number of axes that had made the iPhone experience unique, from the interpretation of touch gestures, to object-oriented OS design, to the nuts and bolts of how hardware elements were built and configured.”

By now, he believes it’s working, and might end up driving people away from Android and… towards Windows Phone. Yeah, nice, but there’s something I have to say: Windows and Microsoft may in the end be more of a difficult opponent than Google and Android. So is this lawsuit really important, or is this the right thing to do for Apple?

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“strikingly absent among those 18 (Mobile Gaming) panels are any that deal with game development specifically for the iPhone. And why? Because for the first time, the GDC advisory board decided that Apple’s smartphone is an important enough platform to warrant its own summit. And it filled quickly.”

Simon Jeffrey, vice president of social applications for leading iPhone game developer Ngmoco says: “The iPhone is now recognized as a leading platform that’s independent from the mobile. People are specifically naming the iPhone as a threat to their businesses. Nintendo said the iPhone is taking customers away from (its popular) DS handhelds.”

So iPhone is no longer just “Mobile”, it’s big enough to be own gaming platform now! The cost of entry is lower than Microsoft or Nintendo, and it’s getting more and more popular while still maintaining its cool factor. While Android and Windows Phone 7 Series will bring the competition (and perhaps Palm as well), right now the iPhone is riding high on its head start.

Whatever, I’m just really happy to see the big change of iPhone gaming, and we’ll be much more happier to see more and more fabulous games coming to iPhone, which I believe will not be long!

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In case you don’t already know, SmrtGuard, is a BES for BIS application so to speak, is known for its “Find my BlackBerry” functionality along with Remote Data Wipe and OTA Data Backup / Restore features. For the safety of phone-using and of your datas, it’s definitely one of those must-have apps for BlackBerry BIS customers, however it has always been a must-have app with a price. But wait, there’s good news: the folks at SmrtGuard have now rolled out the SmrtGuard-Free version so it’s now an app we all can now afford.

For the whopping price of $0.00, you get all of these features FREE for LIFE:1.Find my BlackBerry; 2.Remote Data Wipe; 3.Remote Listen (Remote Call Fwd) – Yes, you can remote call fwd your BlackBerry to another number in case you left it at home! 4.Add a Loved-one as a tracker (have your loved one get SmrtGuard, and add yourself so you can track each other). Well, the Valentine’s Day gift of trust 5.Personal Guardian and SIMCard Guardian;

Did I ever mention that all of these are FOR FREE?! Yes, and you also get their secure data back-up and migration (in case you are switching from Android to BlackBerry or vice versa) features for 30 Days, which comes standard in their premium version of SmrtGuard Pro. This is really one of those apps I really think every BlackBerry user should have installed and get running, so be sure to spread the word. It is very cool and useful to every BB user, and it free! So then again, never hurt to try!

To get SmrtGuard-Free, just follow the link below and enter your email address to be sent the link.

Learn More / Download SmrtGuard-Free for BlackBerry Smartphones for FREE >>

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Bump is a quick and easy way to connect two phones by simply bumping them together. Exchange your phone number, photos, or compare friends with just a bump. It is a tool that has clearly been devised with the intention to let you save time, Bump will let any person share data by simply placing his mobile next to another that also has the pertinent application installed. Hence the name of the app, and the site’s tagline: “Bump makes connecting as simple as bumping two phones together”. The data that can be shared like this is virtually limitless, as you can distribute not only video and images in such a fashion but also use the app to compare and corroborate information such as phone numbers, email addresses and so on. As an application, both those who have an iPhone and a Blackberry or Android phone can give it a try. The download links are prominently displayed on the main page, and it is important to stress that the application is procurable at no cost whatsoever.

Get it and start bumping and sharing, start making great joys flying in the air!

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The LePhone is Android-based with a complete facelift and hardly any of the original OS sticking out. I wonder they intended it to be, but it seems like a sort of interesting mix of webOS, iPhone, and Android features. I quite liked it. In shape it’s quite pleasing, a little big, but with a good heft and solid feel. The screen is a gorgeous 3.7″ 800×480 OLED one. It’s got volume buttons on the left side, there, and a reprogrammable button on the right. It’s got a Pre-like dark area at the bottom that’s also touch-sensitive, and works as either a home button or for simple swiping gestures. It’s got the usual fixins: GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and all that, and it’s running on a Snapdragon processor, though I couldn’t seem to suss out the RAM or internal storage. We’ll hear more about that soon.

The OS is Android, and should be 2.0 at launch, though they declined to say when that might be. It’s completely skinned, though — Lenovo has it equipped with a sort of dual mode home screen, with one (the flower) being a contact jump-off point: you scroll through your contacts and then can pick a petal to message, call, or whatever. It’ll work if you can choose which contacts are included in that scrolling list, but if you have a couple hundred it’ll get confusing mighty fast. The other home screen is a series of widgets, they call it Widget Space, with stuff like weather, stocks, latest emails, that sort of thing. There’s also media playback and all that — there was a little screen for selecting streaming TV channels or what appeared to be some pre-prepared content, movie trailers and such. The apps “drawer” is now a series of pages, like iPhone apps. It’s a proven technique, though of course slightly derivative. There’s a connector on the left side with a cover that attaches magnetically. It lets the Lephone connect to what is envisioned as a series of peripherals. And also a keyboard. Although the key layout is tweaked in a slightly weird way. But it worked normally and actually closed up to form a large clamshell you could carry around.

The device will probably be released in China first, then expand to the US, and this couldn’t be soon, still I was impressed by the phone and the complete little ecosystem they had going. I love some Lenovo, and it looks like they know what they’re doing. So how do you feel about this? Among all these SmartPhone storms would you pick this one for the near future of your life? Tell me!

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