Japan’s NTT DOCOMO announces 11 new Android devices; includes Optimus G Pro, Ascend D2, Xperia Z & Xperia Tablet Z

Posted Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013 at 9:02 am by Antonio Wells Comments

NTT DOCOMO, Japan’s predominant mobile phone operator, announced their 2013 spring lineup of devices which include 11 new Android devices (including 9 phones and 2 tablets) set to launch beginning on January 25. Some devices will be the first with large full HD displays on the network, running Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), with battery capacities, and compatible with DOCOMO’s Xi LTE (max. downlink of 112.5 Mbps in some areas). Below is a list of phones and tablets with projected release dates.

docomo WITH series launching January 25 and late February:

AQUOS PHONE EX – 4.5-inch 720p screen, 1.5 GHz Quad Core, 13.1-megapixel rear & 1.2-megapixel front cameras, Wi-Fi HotSpot up to 10 devices,  LTE, NFC, made by Sharp.MEDIAS X - 4.7-inch 720p screen, 1.5 GHz Quad Core, 13.1-megapixel rear & 1.3-megapixel front cameras, Wi-Fi HotSpot up to 10 devices,  LTE, NFC, made by Casio.

docomo NEXT series launching January 30 through mid April:

ELUGA X - 5-inch 1080p screen, 1.5 GHz Quad Core, 13.2-megapixel rear & 1.3-megapixel front cameras, Wi-Fi HotSpot up to 10 devices,  LTE, NFC, made by Panasonic.Xperia Z - 5-inch 1080p screen, 1.5 GHz Quad Core, 13.1-megapixel rear & 2.2-megapixel front cameras, Wi-Fi HotSpot up to 10 devices,  LTE, NFC, made by Sony.ARROWS X - 5-inch 1080p screen, 1.7 GHz Quad Core, 16.3-megapixel rear & 1.3-megapixel front cameras, Wi-Fi HotSpot up to 8 devices,  LTE, NFC, made by Fujitsu.Ascend D2 - 4.7-inch 720p screen, 1.5 GHz Quad Core, 13.1-megapixel rear & 1.0-megapixel front cameras, Wi-Fi HotSpot up to 8 devices,  LTE, NFC, made by Huawei.Optimus G Pro - 5-inch 1080p screen, 1.7 GHz Quad Core, 13.2-megapixel rear & 2.4-megapixel front cameras, Wi-Fi HotSpot up to 8 devices,  LTE, NFC, made by LG.MEDIAS W - 4.3-inch screen, 1.5 GHz Dual Core, 8.1-megapixel rear camera, Wi-Fi HotSpot up to 10 devices,  LTE, made by Casio.

Tablets launching mid to late March:

Xperia Tablet Z - 10.1-inch full HD+ screen, 1.5 GHz Quad Core, 8.1-megapixel rear & 2.2-megapixel front cameras, Wi-Fi HotSpot up to 10 devices,  LTE, NFC, made by Sony.dtab - 10.1-inch 720p screen, 1.2 GHz Quad Core, 13.1-megapixel rear & 2.2-megapixel front cameras, Wi-Fi HotSpot up to 10 devices, made by Huawei.Preteen phone launching tentatively late February:Smartphone for Juniors - 4.1-inch screen, Android 4.0, 1.5 GHz Dual Core, 12.1-megapixel rear & VGA front cameras, LTE, NFC, made by Sharp.Source: NTT Docomo, PDF via Android Central

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6 Best Video Calling Android Apps

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Posted Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013 at 12:40 pm by Antonio Wells Comments

Today’s top list are the 6 Best Video Calling Android Apps. These apps allow you to video call someone for free using your phone’s front (or rear-facing) camera. A few apps even allow you to video call your Facebook friends. Update: we’re listing only third party non-Google apps. Click the icons for more in-depth reviews & comparisons or go directly to download from Google Play!

Shop our Android App Store!

Tango Text, Voice, Video Calls Free Tango Voice & Video Calls offers Free Voice and Video Calls! Now you can leave your friends video messages when they don’t pick up your call! To send a video message without calling, long press on your friends name and follow the prompts. Watch your video messages by tapping the Messages tab in Tango. Price: Free Share Android App Review ooVoo Video Call Free With ooVoo you can make FREE Video Calls, FREE Voice Calls, and send FREE Instant Messages. Use ooVoo to easily find and video call with all your Facebook Friends. ooVoo keeps you connected with your friends and family with the best HD quality video calls. Share Android App Review fring launches free group video calling for mobile platforms Free fring launched a mobile group video call platform for iPhone & Android devices. According to the company, four fring friends can share a simultaneous video call, for free, over Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G. In addition, it enables users to make free 2 way video calls, voice calls and chat with friends on Android, iPhone/iPod touch and Nokia Smartphones. You can download the app using convenient tools above and below… Share Android App Review Seen: Video calls for Facebook Free Want to video call your Facebook friends? The OpenMarket Seen application lets you make high quality video and voice calls over Wi-Fi or 3G to your Facebook friends and groups. Better yet, these calls are FREE worldwide (mobile operator permitting and data rates may apply). Share Android App Review Video Calling Free !!!!!!!!Video Calling!!!!!!!! Make free video calls, and call phones to all your Facebook friends. First time need to login with Facebook and enjoy with unlimited video call whether Your friends on an Android, iPhone, Mac or PC, as well as IMs, no matter where they are. Just enjoy!! Share Android App Review

Though we only wanted to list non-Google third-party apps, here’s a few honorable mentions from Google: Talk (default Android app already available on devices therefore not available in Google Play) and Google+.

Tags: 5 Best, Android App Recommendations, Android Apps, Best Video Calling Android Apps, ooVoo, Seen Video calls for Facebook, Skype, Tango, Tango Video Calls, Top 5, Video Calling, Video Chat

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Xperia Tablet Z – Sony’s 10 inch Android powered tablet

Posted Monday, January 21st, 2013 at 11:30 am by Antonio Wells Comments

Xperia Tablet Z was recently announced for the Japanese market this Spring. The ten inch tablet runs on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), with 1.5GHz quad-core processor, the display’s resolution is WUXGA (1920 x 1200) powered by Sony’s Mobile Bravia Engine 2, has an 8.1-megapixel rear-facing camera (which automatically recognizes the scene in a dark place or even when the backlight automatically adjust to the optimal settings for “Auto Low Premium”), it’s 6.9mm thin, comes in black & white and is LTE capable.

Check out the phones in Sony’s premium Z line; Xperia Z & Xperia ZL.

Xperia Tablet Z Xperia Tablet Z Back

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Android sales rule through the holiday period with a couple notable exceptions

New sales figures for smartphones during the holiday period, defined as the twelve weeks ending December 23, 2012, show Android continued to perform well in most markets. Research firm Kantar Worldpanel Comtech numbers reveal Android continued to maintain a stronghold in markets like Britain, Germany, France, Australia, much of Europe, and the urban Chinese market. Market share ranged from 50 percent up to as high as 86 percent in Spain. The exceptions to Android’s dominance were in the U.S. and Japanese markets.

In the U.S. market, Android’s share decreased slightly to 44.2 percent and in Japan Android claimed just 31.9 percent. The other big player, iOS from Apple, claimed more than 50 percent in each of those markets. Dominic Sunnebo with Kantar Worldpanel ComTech says Android’s rate of growth slowed down during 2012, perhaps as a function of the law of diminishing returns among first time smartphone buyers.

The new sales figures show RIM and Microsoft are still pulling up the bottom of the charts, though Windows phones seem to be making some inroads in European markets. For instance, Windows Phone claimed 13.9 percent of the Italian market up from 2.8 percent the prior year. In another interesting bit of data found in the sales figures, the BlackBerry 9320 was the most popular handset given as a gift during December. The Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 grabbed the number two spot in that category and the iPhone 4S claimed third spot.

source: PC World

» See more articles by Jeff Causey

Categorized as Android News, Android Phones

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LG Optimus G Pro officially announced for Japan

NTT DoCoMo announced a bunch of phones and tablets for their spring lineup and the LG Optimus G Pro was one of them. We already knew most of the goods on it, but the specs are now official: 5-inch 1080p display, a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, 13MP rear camera, 3,000mAh battery, and LTE. It will be available in April. No official word from LG so we have no idea when or if it will be available in other parts of the world.

source: NTT DoCoMo
via: engadget

» See more articles by Robert Nazarian

Categorized as Android Carriers, Android Manufacturers, Android News, Android Phones

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Sony Xperia Tablet Z announced for NTT DoCoMo

The rumors that the Sony Xperia Tablet Z would get announced by NTT DoCoMo came true today. The tab was already announced by Sony so no major surprises on the specs: a 10.1-inch 1080p (1920 x 1200) display, a Qualcomm 1.5GHz quad-core APQ8064 processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, microSD, an 8.1MP Exmor R camera, 6,000mAh battery, NFC, LTE, and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Just like the Xperia Z and Xperia ZL, it will be waterproof and dustproof. It’s only 6.9mm thick and weighs in at 495 grams, which makes it the world’s thinnest and lightest 10-inch tablet. It will be available in Japan in mid March, but no word on pricing. The big question is if Sony will actually sell any of them?

sources: NTT DoCoMo, Sony Mobile

» See more articles by Robert Nazarian

Categorized as Android Carriers, Android Manufacturers, Android News, Android Tablets

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