Samsung's two-faced SCH-W999 Android plays the dual core, dual SIM game

Remember Samsung's second-gen dual-screen Android clamshell we spotted about a month ago? Well, here it is at last: announced in partnership with China Telecom, this SCH-W999 flip phone packs two 3.5-inch 480 x 800 Super AMOLED panels back to back, along with a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8660, Android 2.3 with TouchWiz, HyperSkin back cover (as featured on the Galaxy Nexus for grip plus anti-smear), five megapixel camera, Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi and WAPI (China's not-so-successful take on WiFi, basically).

Like many phones on China Telecom, the W999 comes with dual SIM slots and dual-mode connectivity (GSM and CDMA2000, with the latter offering EV-DO 3G), but with the additional support for penta-band radio for globetrotters. Want to nab one? We're looking at a 2012 launch, though there's no word on prices just yet -- well, just so you know, the predecessor W899 starts from ¥8990 ($1,410), so good luck with your garage sale. We got you some pictures from the China launch event after the break, courtesy of Samsung Mobile.

Source:http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/03/samsungs-two-faced-sch-w999-android-plays-the-dual-core-dual-s/

Meizu to launch first store outside mainland China, opening in Hong Kong this month

That's right, despite its short-lived battle with Apple last year, Meizu has finally decided it is time to make it out of China. Well, out of mainland China at least, as the company has chosen Hong Kong as its launch pad for entering the international market. In fact, back when we visited Meizu in Zhuhai late last year, its marketing director had already expressed interest in opening a flagship store in said city -- more so as a status symbol, if not for profit -- so we weren't really surprised by this news, but we're definitely happy for his gang.

Later this month, visitors of Mongkok will notice a brand new Meizu store pop up somewhere along Sai Yeung Choi Street (yes, that gadget street), where the upcoming dual-core, 4-inch 960 x 640 MXAndroid phone will also be sold starting in early January -- just a tad later than its mainland counterpart. What's more, the Hong Kong version will come with extra features such as Facebook, Google Mobile Services and various Android Market apps that are absent on the original MX. Prices and absolute date to be confirmed later this month, but either way, we have a feeling that we'll be seeing some long linesagain around China, if not Hong Kong.
Source:http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/01/meizu-to-launch-first-store-outside-mainland-china-opening-in-h/

Acer VP: 'We're never gonna give netbooks up, let them down, run around and desert them'

Acer's no stranger to netbooks: it knows the rules and so does vice president Scott Lin, who has said thata full commitment's what he's thinking of. It comes in the wake of Samsung running around and deserting baby-laptops for ultrabooks, but Acer's never gonna say goodbye. Well-off westerners might be obsessed with slates, but emerging markets like China, India and Indonesia prefer the cheaper units. The company's plan is simple -- what it doesn't make in profit on individual units, it'll make back in the sheer volume of units sold. Last quarter Acer sold one point seven million of the things, comfortably ahead of second-placed ASUS and third placed Samsung -- the latter decided it wasn't gonna play the game anymore. 

Source:http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/29/acer-vp-were-never-gonna-give-notebooks-up-let-them-down-ru/

Lenovo unveils the LePad S2007 and LePad S2010, both with Honeycomb and 1.5GHz dual-core chip

Oh no, it isn't just about the 5-inch tabletphone today. Announced at the same event in Beijing just now are a couple of larger tablets from Lenovo: the LePad S2007 and the LePad S2010. Interestingly, the latter 10.1-inch device isn't quite the same as what we saw in our exclusive scoop from two weeks ago: it's 1.5GHz Qualcomm dual-core rather than 1.6GHz NVIDIA quad-core, 1GB RAM instead of 2GB, no funky fingerprint scanner on the back, and it's launching with Android 3.2 instead of Ice Cream Sandwich. But fret not, as we've been informed that its international counterpart -- aka the IdeaTab K2 in our scoop -- will launch with the latest Android OS; so we're just waiting for a release date.
Both of these Honeycomb tablets share many similarities: Qualcomm's dual-core 1.5GHz chip, 1GB RAM, 1,280 x 800 IPS display (pretty nice on a 7-inch form factor, with 216ppi density), eight megapixel main camera, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, dual-mode 3G (China Telecom's EV-DO plus China Unicom's WCDMA) for data plus voice calls, and plans to upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich in the future. Aside from the obvious physical differences, these tablets also come with different battery capacities: the 360g-heavy, 9.7mm-thick S2007 comes with 3,780mAh that can last up to eight hours on WiFi; whereas the 670g-heavy (almost the same as the original WiFi iPad, uh-oh), 9.9mm-thick S2010 has a generous 7,560mAh that can push it to 11 hours. Like the S2005 tabletphone, both tablets will be available in China next month; so for now, stay tuned for some hands-on photos from our folks over at Engadget Chinese.
Update: It turns out that there was a slight misunderstanding regarding the voice call feature -- the Chinese press release meant using Skype-like software to enable this. Pah.
Source:http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/29/lenovo-unveils-the-lepad-s2007-and-lepad-s2010-tablets-both-wit/

Lenovo launches LePad S2005, a 5-inch Gingerbread tabletphone for China

You may recall that last week we had a cheeky peek at Lenovo's upcoming tabletphone, and now our brethren at Engadget Chinese are actually touching one in Beijing! Dubbed the LePad S2005 in China (and to be branded under the IdeaTab series elsewhere), this Android 2.3.5 slate packs a 5-inch 800 x 480 LTPS display with 178-degree viewing angle (but same resolution as the Dell Streak 5's LCD, sadly), a Qualcomm dual-core 1.2GHz chip, 1GB RAM, a five megapixel 1080p imager on the back, a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera and a 1,680mAh battery. In terms of connectivity and expansion we have a micro-USB port, micro-HDMI port and HSPA+ radio (so it's ready for China Unicom's network). All of this is packaged in a 9.95mm-thick body, weighing a total of 198g. Just as thick as the Streak 5 but lighter, even with the slightly larger battery capacity.
There aren't any prices just yet, but given that this device is entering the Chinese market in two days' time, it won't be a long wait for those obsessed with tabletphones (and speaking of which, it's rather odd that Lenovo's marketing this as a tablet rather than a phone). Stay tuned for our hands-on photos.

Source:http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/29/lenovo-launches-ideatab-s2005-aka-lepad-s2005-a-5-inch-ginger/

Motorola XT928 coming to China Telecom next month for 'demanding customers'

Motorola bestowed an early-week treat upon the Chinese market today, with the XT928 -- a nominalRAZR relative and ostensible addition to the Droid X line that we spotted earlier this month. Powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, this Android 2.3 device boasts a 4.5-inch, 1280 x 720 HD display, supports 1080p HD playback and features a 13 megapixel rear-facing camera, along with a 1.3 megapixel shooter up front. The dual-mode, dual-standby handset is also coated in Corning Gorilla Glass to guard against nasty scratches and comes packed with 1GB of RAM. The XT928 will be available in China this December at an unspecified price, though there's no word yet on if or when it'll hit the US. For more details, head past the break for the full PR.

Source:http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/28/motorola-xt928-coming-to-china-telecom-next-month-for-demanding/

China Beats U.S. In Q3, Becomes Largest Smartphone Market By Volume

While smartphone adoption continues to pick up steam here in the U.S., new research from Strategy Analytics shows that China is hungrier for smartphones than we are. For the first time ever, China has pulled ahead of the United States in terms of the number of smartphones shipped.
Those expecting a huge blowout may be a bit disappointed by the results: while 23 million smartphones were shipped in the United States during Q3 2011, China squeeked by with nearly 24 million units sold. With that, China has become the world’s largest smartphone market by volume. Given that China has the most cell phone users in the world, it may not come as a huge shock, but companies looking to break into the mobile space have yet another reason to consider China carefully.
Strategy Analytics also took a look at the manufacturer break down, and for the most part the winners are who you would expect. The two top vendors in the United States are HTC and Apple, who together account for almost half of all smartphones sold in the country during Q3. Meanwhile in China, Nokia and Samsung take the top two spots, with each company accounting for 28.5% and 17.6% of the market respectively.
Nokia in particular had a good quarter in China, as they shipped more units (6.8 million) than anyone else. The big question for Nokia is whether or not that momentum will continue once they complete their transition to Windows Phone. Microsoft has been eyeing the Chinese market for a while now, and their forthcoming Tango version of Windows Phone is reportedly meant to break into China and other emerging markets.
China’s smartphone boom also helps explain why their app downloads have gone through the roof; recent data from Flurry indicates that China is also experiencing a huge uptick in the number of apps downloaded, although the existence of multiple independent app stores certainly doesn’t hurt.
Manufacturer market share is great, but what I’d really like to see is a breakdown of mobile OS usage. Strategy Analytics Director Tom Kang notes that the Chinese smartphone surge is thanks in large part to “the aggressive subsidizing by operators of high-end models like the Apple iPhone, and an emerging wave of low-cost Android models from local Chinese brands such as ZTE.” I would imagine that those low-end Android devices are beginning to supplant the feature phone as the device of choice for first-time users, but Apple’s smartphones enjoys considerable popularity (even if many of them are being used unofficially).
Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/23/china-beats-u-s-in-q3-becomes-largest-smartphone-market-by-volume/

China Beats U.S. In Q3, Becomes Largest Smartphone Market By Volume

While smartphone adoption continues to pick up steam here in the U.S., new research from Strategy Analytics shows that China is hungrier for smartphones than we are. For the first time ever, China has pulled ahead of the United States in terms of the number of smartphones shipped.
Those expecting a huge blowout may be a bit disappointed by the results: while 23 million smartphones were shipped in the United States during Q3 2011, China squeeked by with nearly 24 million units sold. With that, China has become the world’s largest smartphone market by volume. Given that China has the most cell phone users in the world, it may not come as a huge shock, but companies looking to break into the mobile space have yet another reason to consider China carefully.
Strategy Analytics also took a look at the manufacturer break down, and for the most part the winners are who you would expect. The two top vendors in the United States are HTC and Apple, who together account for almost half of all smartphones sold in the country during Q3. Meanwhile in China, Nokia and Samsung take the top two spots, with each company accounting for 28.5% and 17.6% of the market respectively.
Nokia in particular had a good quarter in China, as they shipped more units (6.8 million) than anyone else. The big question for Nokia is whether or not that momentum will continue once they complete their transition to Windows Phone. Microsoft has been eyeing the Chinese market for a while now, and their forthcoming Tango version of Windows Phone is reportedly meant to break into China and other emerging markets.
China’s smartphone boom also helps explain why their app downloads have gone through the roof; recent data from Flurry indicates that China is also experiencing a huge uptick in the number of apps downloaded, although the existence of multiple independent app stores certainly doesn’t hurt.
Manufacturer market share is great, but what I’d really like to see is a breakdown of mobile OS usage. Strategy Analytics Director Tom Kang notes that the Chinese smartphone surge is thanks in large part to “the aggressive subsidizing by operators of high-end models like the Apple iPhone, and an emerging wave of low-cost Android models from local Chinese brands such as ZTE.” I would imagine that those low-end Android devices are beginning to supplant the feature phone as the device of choice for first-time users, but Apple’s smartphones enjoys considerable popularity (even if many of them are being used unofficially).
Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/23/china-beats-u-s-in-q3-becomes-largest-smartphone-market-by-volume/