Tag Archives: mae2013

Huawei Ascend W2 shows up prematurely, packs color-matching backlit soft keys (hands-on)

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Huawei Ascend W2 shows up prematurely, packs colormatching backlit soft keys handson

After the official product shot leaked in late May, we knew it wouldn't be long before Huawei's Ascend W2 makes an official appearance. Well, today's the day, but as the company's second-ever Windows Phone device, the W2's appearance at Mobile Asia Expo was surprisingly low key. According to the spec sheet at Huawei's booth, this affordable phone comes with a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 display (looked like IPS to us) and a 1.4GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8230 SoC (same as the W1 but faster) with 512MB RAM. There's 8GB of built-in storage along with microSD expansion -- the slot is located next to the removable 1,700mAh battery plus full-size SIM slot, all underneath the red or yellow back cover.

Even though Huawei doesn't hide the fact that the W2 is a low-cost device, it's actually not too shabby. Most notably, the three usual soft keys are color backlit and will match your desired theme in Windows Phone 8. As a bonus, the touchscreen has a glove mode -- as featured on several other more recent Huawei phones -- for the cold winter days. There's still no price or date announced just yet, but since this particular model packs a TD-SCDMA radio for China Mobile, folks outside China will have to wait for the WCDMA variant. For now, we have a hands-on video for you after the break.

Gallery: Huawei Ascend W2 shows up prematurely, packs color-matching backlit soft keys (hands-on)

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Sony’s SBH52 Smart Bluetooth clip acts as your secondary handset

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Sony's SBH52 Smart Bluetooth clip acts as your secondary handset

HTC may have its Mini Bluetooth handset, but Sony thinks such implementation works best as a big clip without the numeric pad. Dubbed the SBH52, this splashproof device comes with FM radio, a headphone jack plus a small OLED display to show caller ID and text messages, so in a way it's similar to its predecessors. What's new is that you now get NFC as well as an earpiece -- the latter lets you use the clip as a mini phone. Expect to see this on the shelves in Q3 this year.

Gallery: Sony's SBH52 Smart Bluetooth clip acts as your secondary handset

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Sony Xperia Z Ultra: hands-on with a 6.4-inch Android phone (update: video)

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Sony Xperia Z Ultra handson with a 64inch Android phone update video

Sony's been explaining the design story behind its new Xperia range at a UK briefing, how it's trying to balance both the dematerialization of tech (touchscreens, gesture interfaces) and a design that's both desirable and beautiful -- and Sony's certainly got the latter down on its new smartphone. The Xperia Z Ultra follows the lines of the rest of the Z series. It has the same "OmniBalance" plane, uniform screen surface, but this time it measures in at 6.4 inches across, but still running at 1080p resolution. Yep, it does feel substantially bigger than the original Xperia Z -- check out our comparison gallery, the new Ultra model dwarfs it. You're looking at a screen width almost identical to a passport and that 6.5mm profile meant we could cram it into our trouser pockets without an issue. It's certainly a bigger device than the likes of LG's Optimus G Pro or Samsung's Galaxy Note II and you're going to have to test it out for yourself to see if you'd be willing to talk into this Xperia like phone -- it's definitely going to catch the eye.

There's also Qualcomm's notable Snapdragon 800 powering the device on a relatively large 3,000mAh battery, while Sony's simplified the design dropping a few of those much-maligned protective flaps, at least on the headphone socket. There are more impressions and a hands-on video after the break!

Gallery: Sony Xperia Z Ultra hands-on

Gallery: Sony Xperia Z Ultra vs. Xperia Z... fight!

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Sony Xperia C S39h is company’s first MediaTek device, does the dual-SIM trick

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Sony Xperia C S39h is company's first MediaTek device, does the dualSIM trick

There's no denying that MediaTek is becoming mainstream these days, to the point that even Sony finally decided to join the party. The manufacturer's first attempt in this space is the Xperia C (S39h), a 5-inch qHD phone with dual-SIM capability (WCDMA and GSM) destined for China Unicom, and it'll come in either black, white or purple. Like many flagship devices from Chinese brands these days, the handset packs a quad-core MediaTek MT6589 SoC, along with an 8-megapixel camera -- Exmor R, specifically -- with voice shutter function. On top of the hardware, users in China will also have access to 3 million tracks from local music content provider Duomi. There's no price or date just yet, so we'll be keeping an eye out for further announcements.

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