Today Motorola announced the followup to the Defy, the Defy Mini. It’s got the same rugged features of the original, but smaller with less impressive specs. Here’s a quick look at the specs:

• 3.2-inch 480×320 display
• 600MHz processor
• 3MP rear-facing camera
• Front-facing VGA camera
• Gorilla Glass
• Water proof and dust proof
• 1,650mAh battery
• WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1

The device will be available in China and select European and Latin American countries starting in February. Pricing has not been announced, but it should certainly be cheaper than its bigger brother.

Press Release

LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. – Jan. 5, 2012 – This spring, Motorola Mobility, Inc. (NYSE: MMI) is helping you flaunt your individuality by adding two stylish and unique Android™ 2.3 (Gingerbread) powered smartphones to its growing budget-friendly portfolio. MOTOLUXE is a hip, slim touchscreen device and Motorola DEFY MINI is dustproof and water-resistant, making it the ideal “life proof” phone for active users. And they come in different shapes, sizes and colors – so you can choose a phone that best reflects your personality.

No matter what device you choose, Motorola’s MotoSwitch user interface changes the way you manage your life. With MotoSwitch, your smartphone learns who you talk to and which apps you use and keeps all of that information front and center. The Social Graph feature gives you easy and fast access to the people who really matter. It learns who’s most important to you and uses that information to populate the home screen. The more frequently you communicate with someone, the bigger their icon becomes. The Activity Graph gives you quick and easy access to your favorite apps, automatically changing to reflect the apps you use the most. With Music Now you can easily play your favorite music while the Smart Gallery displays your favorite pictures as collections.

With Google Mobile™ services you’ll be able to search for anything with Google Search™, chat with your friends using Google Talk™, or find your way anywhere you want to go with Google Maps™ with navigation.

Strike While the Iron Is Hot

The ultra-vogue, very-slim, MOTOLUXE sets the bar high in terms of style with a 4-inch edge-to- edge touchscreen display. This hip device is perfect for writing emails, surfing the Web and watching movies. And, for the amateur photographers out there, the 8-megapixel autofocus camera with flash lets you shoot like a pro and capture life clearly and fully.

MOTOLUXE also sets itself apart with a lanyard slot that has a lighting effect. So you can see when you’ve missed a call, received a text or have an email waiting for you.

Other cool stuff includes:

Front-facing VGA camera for video chatting with friends and family
Available in licorice or white
1400 mAh battery for up to 6.5 hours of talk time, 19 days of standby time
Strong and Sturdy

Water-resistant, dust-proof and with a scratch resistant Corning® Gorilla® Glass display, Motorola DEFY MINI is the ideal smartphone for active users who need a device as resilient as they are. With a 3.2-inch touchscreen good for emailing, texting and browsing the Web, and a long battery-life, you can keep this phone on and by your side all day long no matter where you go, so you’ll never miss a beat.

But wait… there’s more:

3MP rear-facing camera with flash
Front-facing VGA camera for video chatting with friends and family
Easy access to all your favorite outdoor apps with the “Instrument Dashboard”
1650 mAh battery for up to 10 hours of talk time, 21 days of standby time
You can get your hands on MOTOLUXE and Motorola DEFY MINI at Motorola’s booth (LVCC, Central Hall, Booth NO. 8644) at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show, January 10 – 13, 2012.

Pricing and Availability
Both devices are expected to be available in Greater China, Europe and Latin America starting this spring. MOTOLUXE is already available in China under the name Motorola XT615 and is expected to be available in Greater China, Europe and Latin America starting in February. Motorola DEFY MINI is expected to be available in China under the name Motorola XT320 and in select countries in Europe and Latin America starting in February.
About Motorola Mobility
Motorola Mobility, Inc. (NYSE:MMI) fuses innovative technology with human insights to create experiences that simplify, connect and enrich people’s lives. Our portfolio includes converged mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets; wireless accessories; end-to-end video and data delivery; and management solutions, including set-tops and data-access devices. For more information, visit motorola.com/mobility.

Sure you never think you need two SIM cards, but think of all the possibilities. Many people carry a work and a personal phone, why not have two lines on the same device. Here in the US we don’t think about it, but dual-SIM devices are actually pretty commonplace in Asia and other parts of the world.

Samsung has just introduced a pair of dual-SIM Android phones, the Galaxy Y Duos and Galaxy Y Pro Duos, the latter of which is equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard. Both phones run Android 2.3 with TouchWiz and have a 3MP camera on the back. The touchscreen only version has 3.1 inch QVGA screen and a 1300mAh battery while the Pro version includes a larger 1350mAh battery, front-facing VGA camera, but a smaller 2.6 inch screen as a result of the keyboard inclusion.

Pricing has not been announced, but the first launch will be coming in January in Russia. The Galaxy Y Duos will then roll out to Europe, Africa, CIS, Latin America, Southeast and Southwest Asia, the Middle East, and China. The keyboarded Pro version is headed to Europe, Africa, CIS, Latin America, Southwest Asia, and the Middle East. No plans have been announced to release either device in the US, however both are compatible with AT&T (850/900/1800/1900 MHz bands).

The Samsung/Google media event has been rescheduled to take place on October 19 in Hong Kong, China. The event starts at 10:00 a.m. HKT with doors opening at 9:30 a.m. HKT. The event livestream will be available at YouTube.com/Android at 10 p.m. EST on October 18 for U.S. media who cannot attend the event.

It will be awfully late at night for those of us here on the east coast in the US, but we’ll be right there watching with the rest of you.

If you thought the next generation of mobile processors were a long way off, it might be closer than you think. Sure we’ve seen plenty of charts and graphs of NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 processor (aka Kal-El), but this is a finished product. It’s a 7 inch Honeycomb tablet made by ZTE called the T98. It was recently spotted at the PT/Expo Comm China in Beijing. The processor inside is the quad-core 1.5Ghz NVIDIA Tegra 3 running slightly underclocked at 1.3Ghz per core. The 7 inch screen has a resolution of 1280×800 display, and it’s running Android 3.2 with 1GB RAM, 16GB storage, a 5MP rear camera and 2MP front camera. There’s also 3G connectivity and a 4000mAh battery inside the 11.5mm thick tablet. There’s no word on pricing or availability right now, but we can’t wait to try this out. Judging from all fingerprints on the touchscreen, everyone else was pretty excited about it too.

[via Engadget]

Huawei is starting to step up their game in terms of Android phones. Known for their budget phones on T-Mobile and many other carriers, the Chinese company’s latest device is bringing some desirable features. Known as the Huawei Honor, it has a decently fast processor, runs the latest version of Android and has something all Android users crave, super long battery life. While we can’t confirm it without test, but Huawei claims the 1900mAh battery will last three days, assuming moderate usage. Here’s the full specs list:

• Android Gingerbread 2.3.5 OS
• 1900mAh battery
• 1.4 Ghz processor
• 4.0 inch 16M 16:9 true color FWVGA capacitive touch screen
• 8 megapixels auto focus camera supporting HDR, with 2 megapixels front-facing camera
• 2G Network (operating band) GSM 850/900/1800/1900
• 3G Network (operating band) WCDMA/HSPA+ 900/AWS/2100
• Measures 10.9mm (0.43 inches) at its thinnest point and weighs around 140g (0.3 pounds)
• Support Class 10 GPRS and EDGE
• 3G HSPA+ DL 14.4 Mbps/UL 5.76 Mbps
• WiFi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth V2.1 with A2DP
• 512M RAM + 4G ROM memory with a memory card slot up to 32GB
• Micro USB 2.0 port
• Assisted GPS support
• FM radio
• Dual MIC, compass and gyroscope
• G-sensor, proximity sensor and light sensor
• Exclusive Huawei user-interface with a dynamic weather widget
• 160GB network capacity CloudDrive
• DLNA-certified enables sharing with other DLNA-certified devices

The Honor will be available starting in China, Russia and the Middle East in Q4 of 2011. Initially only available in black, Huawei has said other colors (at least white and purple) will follow, but did not detail other regional availability or pricing.

Full Press Release:

Huawei’s latest smartphone Honor packs a punch with its 16M true color HD display and three-day battery life, the longest in its class
 
Shenzhen, 26 September 2011: Huawei today officially unveiled the Huawei Honor, its latest Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread smartphone that features a 16M 16:9 true color high-definition (HD) 4-inch FWVGA capacitive touch screen. Powered by a 1,900 MAh battery, Honor frees consumers from the inconvenience of searching for an electricity source, allowing them to share and connect for up to three days1 on a single charge – the longest battery life among smartphones in the 4-inch screen range. With a 1.4 GHz processor, an 8-megapixel HDR2-enabled camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, Honor is a powerhouse in a sleek 10.9 mm-thin body and weighs just 140g.
 
“Huawei Honor encapsulates the Huawei brand – it features simple-to-use, advanced technology that allows people to share and connect easily. Honor provides a package of features that elevates the smartphone user experience, including an ultra-long battery life, so critical to the performance of smartphones but yet is often downplayed,” said Victor Xu, chief marketing officer of Huawei Device. “Consumers now have a high-performing smartphone that lets them communicate, connect, entertain and share content for an extended period of time without compromising on looks, technology or style.”
 
Honor comes with an exclusive Huawei user interface which is easier to customize and manage, as well as a dynamic weather widget. Honor also features a Gyroscope which enables a better gaming experience. The smartphone is DLNA-certified which ensures interoperability with other DLNA-certified devices such as digital cameras, game consoles and TVs. This makes it easier for consumers to share their digital photos, music and videos between different DLNA-certified devices. The DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) is a non-profit organization with more than 250 member companies in the mobile, consumer electronics, PC, and service provider industries. According to ABI Research data, as of 2010, more than 440 million DLNA-certified devices have been installed in homes.
 
Honor will be commercially available in “Classic Black” in Asia-Pacific, China, Russia and the Middle East in Q4, 2011. Honor will be released in more colors closer to the Christmas holidays.
 
Technical Specs

Android Gingerbread 2.3.5 OS
1900mAh battery
1.4 Ghz processor
4.0 inch 16M 16:9 true color FWVGA capacitive touch screen
8 megapixels auto focus camera supporting HDR, with 2 megapixels front-facing camera
2G Network (operating band) GSM 850/900/1800/1900
3G Network (operating band) WCDMA/HSPA+ 900/AWS/2100
Measures 10.9mm (0.43 inches) at its thinnest point and weighs around 140g (0.3 pounds)
Support Class 10 GPRS and EDGE
3G HSPA+ DL 14.4 Mbps/UL 5.76 Mbps
WiFi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth V2.1 with A2DP
512M RAM + 4G ROM memory with a memory card slot up to 32GB
Micro USB 2.0 port
 
Additional Features

Assisted GPS support
FM radio
Dual MIC, compass and gyroscope
G-sensor, proximity sensor and light sensor
Exclusive Huawei user-interface with a dynamic weather widget
160GB network capacity CloudDrive
DLNA-certified enables sharing with other DLNA-certified devices
 
Colors and Availability

Classic Black available in China, Russia and the Middle East from Q4 2011 with other colors to follow

ZiiLabs, a subsidiary of Creative Technology, as just announced a brand new Honeycomb table reference design. Their first dip into the Android tablet arena was a pair of cheap models with resistive screens and they didn’t turn any heads. Now they’re back, and hoping to make a splash in a big way. They have just unveiled the Jaguar3 tablet reference design, which is aiming to grab the title of thinnest Honeycomb tablet on the block. The base model with a dual-core 1.5Ghz processor clocks in at just 7.4mm, while the quad-core version is a bit fatter at 8.1mm. Still thinner than the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which is known for its sleek design. The body design is not the only thing impressive, here’s a full rundown of specs:

• Android 3.2 Honeycomb
• 1.5 GHz ZMS 20 dual-core processor / ZMS 40 quad-core processor
• 10.1″ display 1280 x 800 16.7 million colors
• 1 GB LP-DDR2 or DDR3 memory options
• Up to 12 MP rear-facing camera
• 16/32/64 GB of internal storage
• Dual channel WiFi b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
• GPS, accelerometer, compass and gyroscope
• Micro HDMI 1.4 output supporting 1080p and 3D stereo

ZIILABS UNVEILS THE MOST POWERFUL, 3RD GENERATION JAGUAR3 ANDROID TABLET REFERENCE DESIGNS 
Ultra-slim and Ultra-lightweight Android 3.2 10″ Reference Tablets Powered by ZiiLABS StemCell ZMS Processors and Designed by Creative
 

SINGAPORE – 13 September 2011 – ZiiLABS, a pioneering media processor and platforms company (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd), today introduced its JAGUAR3, the most powerful 3rd Generation Android 3.2 tablet series.
 
JAGUAR3 is a series of ultra-slim, ultra-lightweight and stylish 10.1″ tablet reference designs targeted at the OEM markets. With over a decade of designing experience in portable mobile devices, Creative provided the ergonomic and sexy design of this series of JAGUAR3 tablets.
 
JAGUAR3′s superior performance, low power consumption and rich feature set comes from the dual-core 1.5GHz ARM Cortex-A9 based ZMS-20 StemCell Processors. ZMS-20 has another 48 StemCell Processing cores within, which effectively make it into a 50-core processor. These advanced GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) features easily make ZMS-20 the most powerful SoC (system-on-chip) available for tablets today.
 
When OEM customers are ready to ship their JAGUAR3 tablets, they have the option to easily upgrade it to the next generation ZMS-40 SoC chip which sports a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 and 96 StemCell Processors. This 100-core 4th Generation tablet solution will be available to OEMs in the next quarter.
 
The JAGUAR3 tablets can be made so slim and lightweight due to the massive integration of I/O devices and processors within the ZMS-20 and ZMS-40 chips and also the patent-pending power management technologies invented by ZiiLABS. This allows all the components to be compacted into a “granddaughter-board” – a micro-size motherboard measuring only 2.44″ x 4.64″, with performances that can rival most laptops and yet consuming only about 1 watt of power.
 
ZiiLABS has amassed over 25 years of experience in 3D graphics, GPU and SoC designs. Under its previous name of 3DLABS, ZiiLABS was the first to introduce the highly advanced and highly prized 3D graphics chip technologies to the PC market in the early ’90s. Leveraging on these extensive chip design skills, methodologies, patents and technologies, ZiiLABS is now able to bring these phenomenal technologies with outstanding performance to the tablet market at a miniscule fraction of what they used to cost.
 
The JAGUAR3 tablet reference designs are far more than the “Reference Design Kits” used in the chip industry. They are a set of comprehensive and complete ready-to-go, quick-to-market Reference Design Kits – from chip, hardware, OS, firmware, software, to IDs (industrial designs) and mechanical designs. They come in different “flavors” to allow OEM customers a variety of choices – from ID, price, performance, weight, thickness and all the way to outright sexiness. All these choices are offered without the OEM having to bear huge R&D costs, exorbitant NRE charges and agonizing design cycle delays.
 
“The explosive tablet market is pure ruthless in every sense. Even a slight delay in a fast-track 6-month design cycle can be lethal. This is a whole new ballgame where only the fastest can survive,” said Sim Wong Hoo, Chairman and CEO of Creative Technology Ltd. “JAGUAR3 allows OEMs to enter this huge explosive market instantly and economically while reducing the risk significantly. It breaks new ground as the most powerful, the lightest, the slimmest, the most complete and lowest cost Android 3.2 tablet reference designs on the market, enabling OEMs to easily ride the wave of the next generation of Android computing.”
 
“If you look into the future of computing through our JAGUAR3 ‘granddaughter-board’, you will realize that the PCs today will look more and more like mainframe computers of yesteryear. With the performance provided by JAGUAR3, tablets will be the mainstream computing devices of tomorrow.
 
“With the great low cost of our JAGUAR3 reference designs, our partners can manufacture tablets for as low as $100, opening up a world of possibilities in areas such as China’s educational market, where resources can be limited and demand for sophisticated learning tools is high. The low cost tablet for China’s education market is almost captive as it was the Chinese government’s goal since 2007 to provide free textbooks to all school kids in China. Over the past two decades, we have made a huge investment in technology and content in China, where an example can be set for the rest of the world on how a low-cost, high-performance tablet can represent an awe-inspiring learning platform that saves money, saves the environment and enriches the lives of future generations,” added Sim.
 
Dr. Li Hui Qin, President of Creative Knowledge China, who was one of the handful of early pioneers in Chinese computing research said, “Leveraging on our 20 years of experience in Chinese platforms for PCs, we are developing a Chinese platform for Android 3.x and above. This platform will include application suites like eSchoolBag (电子书包) and Digital Briefcase (数字公文包), designed uniquely for China’s education and business markets respectively.”
 
“Over the years, Creative Knowledge has developed many highly acclaimed Chinese software and content. Currently, we are actively working with the Chinese educational authorities, textbook publishers and schools in developing their Digital Textbooks and Digital Interactive Classrooms. We are targeting over 200 million kids that will rush to embrace this exciting new medium. As all textbooks are becoming free under China’s compulsory education system, the authorities will be very motivated to replace them with lower cost tablets. If Creative and ZiiLABS can help to deliver great tablets at low cost, it will profoundly change the fundamentals of the Chinese education system for generations to come,” added Dr Li.
 
“The JAGUAR3 continues our strategy to deliver groundbreaking platforms that enable our partners to differentiate and win market share in the exciting tablet space,” said Hock Leow, President of ZiiLABS. “We are experiencing phenomenal take-up of the platform across a wide range of markets from traditional consumer segments to high-volume verticals in business and education. The educational market in China is just one vertical market that has significant volume potential, and we are excited to unveil the JAGUAR3 as a feature-rich, ready-to-market solution that can be quickly and easily implemented in other markets as well.”
 
With a stylish magnesium case, weighing less than 480g and an ultra-thin 8.1 mm design, the higher end JAGUAR3 solution delivers a vibrant 10.1 inch tablet of 1280 by 800 pixel resolution at 176 pixels per inch, 16.7 million colors, a full viewing angle and a capacitive multi-touch screen experience. At a slightly higher mechanical cost, JAGUAR3 can easily support a super sexy “razor-slim” design of only 7.4 mm. Depending on the battery used, over 10 hours of video playback and web browsing is still possible with such slim designs.
 
The higher end JAGUAR3 also supports:
 
A dual camera system of up to 12 Megapixel for rear facing image capture and HD for front facing
Complementing the standard Android offering, a rich suite of software is added to exploit the massive computing power of the ZMS processor, including:
 
Support for High Dynamic Range images
Easy-to-use 40 Megapixel panoramic photography
ZiiPhoto with intelligent photo browsing and real-time 3D photo effects
Advanced video playback with trick modes (such as rewind play, frame-by-frame advance and reverse)
Dual microphone array for noise-free recording and video conferencing, and
Creative Sound Blaster’s famed X-Fi audio effects
 
The ZMS-20 array of 48 StemCell Processors delivers an unprecedented 1080p High-Profile H.264 and VP8 video playback, immersive OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics, HDMI 1.4 output with mirroring and a fully independent dual-screen display (one for the tablet LCD and a different one for the large external HDMI display), Adobe Flash 10.x acceleration and OpenCL programmability. The ZMS-40 with its 96 StemCell Processors can easily double all these benchmarks and provide flexibility to power and accelerate future Android iterations.
 
Availability and Specifications
 
The ZiiLABS JAGUAR3 Reference Design Kits are expected to sample to select customers in October 2011. Full specifications are available at www.ziilabs.com

Samsung is a bit vague about exactly where the Galaxy R will launch. Saying only that it’s available in Sweden, but coming soon North & Eastern Europe, South East & West Asia, Middle East Asia, and China.

NVIDIA and Samsung Expand GALAXY Smartphones with New GALAXY R Smartphone

World’s Largest Android Smartphone Maker Ships First Tegra-Powered Super Phone

Santa Clara, Calif. ­- Aug. 10, 2011-NVIDIA and Samsung Electronics announced the latest GALAXY smartphone, the GALAXY R, which sports a 4.19-inch screen, features the NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2 mobile super chip and the Android 2.3 (also known as Gingerbread) operating system.

Samsung’s GALAXY smartphones are among the world’s most popular handheld devices.

The GALAXY R gives more consumers the opportunity to enjoy the never-before-seen experiences enabled by Tegra, the world’s first mobile processor with a dual-core CPU. The GALAXY R also features a GeForce™ GPU for fast Web browsing with hardware-accelerated Adobe Flash Player support, full HD video and console-quality gaming.

Using the GALAXY R, consumers can multitask efficiently, surf the Web quickly with fast-loading pages and Flash-based content and enjoy HD movies. They can also access Tegra-optimized games through the Tegra Zone app on Android Market.
“Samsung’s newest super phone shows off Tegra’s multimedia power, and is a great example of what consumers expect from one of the world’s top phone makers,” said Michael Rayfield, general manager of NVIDIA’s mobile business.

The GALAXY R features:

· Tegra 2 super chip
· 4.19″ WVGA Super Clear LCD touchscreen
· Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) operating system
· 720p HD video capture and 1080p Full HD playback (Divx, WMV, MP4, H.264 B/P only)
· Built-in memory of 8GB and support for 32GB Micro SD
· Size: 125.7 x 66.7 x 9.55 mm
· Weight: 131 grams

The GALAXY R is available in Sweden, and is coming to other regions soon, including North & Eastern Europe, South East & West Asia, Middle East Asia, and China.

Today security company Symantec is reporting that some crafty hackers have downloaded the app, then infected it with some malicious code, and are sharing it on unofficial app markets in China.

Symantec has identified suspicious code within a repackaged version of the “Android Market Security Tool”. This package was found on an unregulated third-party Chinese marketplace. This threat seems to be able to send SMS messages if instructed by a command-and-control server located at the following address:

hxxp://www.youlubg.com:81/Coop/request3.php

A couple simple words of advice, first off, you don’t need to download the Android Market Security Tool, ever. Next, just be careful where you’re downloading applications from and make sure to double check those permissions.

[via AndroidGuys]

Yesterday Google confirmed that they had identified and removed the malicious apps within minutes of being notified. Removed both from the Market and from infected phones. Although this specific instance, the malware was only able to obtain IMEI numbers and the version of Android being used, Google is heightening security in the Market to prevent further cases like this.

Although no specific measures were outlined, we’re sure Google is working hard so this doesn’t happen again. At least not on that scale, as there were 20-50 malware applications identified. Google really can’t afford for any more bad press about the Android Market, especially with Android’s explosive growth right now. While the average user won’t be affected, the average user is still scared about privacy and safety issues.

Read more on Google’s Official Mobile Blog.

No, I can’t make this stuff up. The latest cheap Android tablet to come out of China is called the iPoo. I’m not sure if there’s something lost in translation there, or just a horrible joke gone wrong.

With specs like a 7-inch resistive touchscreen and a 600MHz processor it doesn’t look to inspiring. But it does have Android 2.2 preloaded and a front facing camera.

I just wanna know if you can get it in brown.

[GizChina via Ubergizmo]