ZTE Light: The budget Galaxy Tab
Like the idea of a 7-inch Android tablet that also doubles up as a phone, but put off by the hefty price-tag of the Samsung Galaxy Tab?
Well take a look at the ZTE Lite, because this could be the device for you.
And whilst prices have still yet to be confirmed, the tech on board suggests that we’re looking at an entry level 7-incher, that should be a lot more budget-concious than the SamTab.
The ZTE Lite is an Android 2.1 machine with 512MB of RAM and the same amount of ROM. It has a TFT display with a 800 x 480 resolution.
Connectivity-wise you’re looking at Wi-Fi, GPS and the Lite also supports voice calling on dual band UMTS 2100 MHZ/900 MHZ and internet access on HSUPA network, with a download speed of up to 7.2 Mbps and an upload speed of up to 5.76 Mbps.
It has a 3-megapixel camera, FM Radio, Bluetooth, SD memory card slot, compass and a G-Sensor, and you’ll likely get 10 hours battery life in a machine weighing 403g.
A ZTE statement read: “ZTE has long been committed to bringing innovative and high-quality products to its customers worldwide. With the growing demand of portable and compact devices with mobility features, ZTE Light is surely the next generation tablet PC, with its compact design and wide range of features it is ideal for all entertainment and business needs”.
T-Mobile G2 getting an OTA update to add WiFi calling and tethering?
A few readers tipped us off this morning about an OTA update for T-Mobile’s G2 which reportedly activates Wi-Fi calling. The news came via the XDA-Developers forum, and users there are also reporting that Hotspot capability has also been activated with this update.
The update seems to be pushing out fairly slowly, so this is likely being done as a test run first before the flood gates officially open. If you’re a G2 owner and have received this update, please leave us a comment below and let us know!
[via XDA-Developers]
HTC Trophy SIM-free: Yours for £430
If you liked the look of the HTC Trophy at the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 event, but was miffed to find out that it would be a Vodafone exclusive in the UK, then help could be on hand from Amazon, who is offering up a SIM-free model of the device.
For £429.99, you could nab one of the launch WP7 handsets, with a release date of 8 November penned in for Amazon’s shipment.
Vodafone had confirmed to Pocket-lint that it will be offering the Trophy for free on a 2-year contract with 300 minutes, unlimited text messages, and 500MB for £25 a month.
The HTC Trophy is powered by a 1GHz QSD processor, has 512MB of ROM, 576MB of RAM and 8GB of storage.
Measuring 118.5 x 61.5 x 11.96mm and weighing in at 140g, the Trophy has HSDPA, Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity.
Like the other HTC WP7 launch handsets, it features Dolby Mobile and SRS surround sound along with the WP7-integrated Zune player.
We’ve put in calls to both HTC and Vodafone to see what they say about Amazon offering the Trophy and we’re waiting to hear back.
Motorola’s NVIDIA Tegra2 handset
Motorola has been rumored to be working on a NVIDIA Tegra 2 Android phone and, as with the original Droid, it may be the first phone to ship with the newest Android version, Gingerbread.
Motorola was first to get dibs on Android 2.0 when it launched with the Droid and that tradition may just continue if this rumor turns out to be true. The handset, which we know very little about, may launch before the end of the year, but in all likelihood will be released in early 2011.
What’s more interesting is that there’s a possibility that the handset may not be limited to just Verizon. Possibly debuting at CES this coming January, the handset could launch at multiple carriers, not unlike what Samsung has done with their Galaxy S line. We know how that’s going for Samsung – Pretty damn well.
Supposedly, the hardware has been finalized but Motorola is still working on the software, which makes me a little nervous. Could Motorola be throwing a customized skin on top of the first Gingerbread phone? Moreover, would Google let them?
Since it’s an open source OS, anything is possibly, but I would imagine that Google had some sort of deal with Motorola to ensure that the phone will ship with stock Android so all can see what Gingerbread really offers. In the end, we really have no idea what’s going on with the handset, or the availability of Gingerbread, but let’s hope both are released relatively soon.
If this mystery handset does end up showing its face at CES in January, then maybe a companion device, like a tablet, may rear its head as well. For the moment this is all speculation and as far as Gingerbread goes, if the first handset running the new version of Android is released early next year, then it will have missed the expected announcement which was expected to be sometime this month.
France's SFR announces Palm Pre 2: 1GHz processor, 512MB RAM, webOS 2.0
Considering how tight of a lid Palm and HP have been keeping on details about the next Palm device, we were surprised to see it pop up on the website of French carrier SFR (who recently disappeared the Pre Plus). It’s official: the Palm Pre 2 is coming.
Yeah, you’re interested. Here’s what details SFR dropped:
- 1GHz processor
- 512MB RAM
- Same design as the current Pre series, but with a “flatter screen” (we’re supposing glass) and “more refined design.”
- Update: as arthurthornton notes in the comments – if you look closely that finicky USB door has been removed and replaced with a simple, exposed MicroUSB port. Looking more closely the finish on the edge is matted – so it looks like that crack-prone plastic we’ve been dealing with is a thing of the past.
- Update 2: PreCentral member thomas92 notes via email that SFR also says that webOS 2.0 will bring a faster boot time. We really need to work on our French, it seems.
Additionally, our rusty French translation yielded this until-now unannounced webOS 2.0 feature: push. Specifically, SFR is talking about Facebook push integration (touting it as “the great innovation of 2.0”) with messages, events, wall postings, and chat. We’re not going to read too much into that, as we would hope that Palm would integrate push into more than Facebook. So either SFR is overreaching, or they’re not telling us everything about push and instead are focusing on what customers want to hear about, i.e. Facebook.
Five reasons to switch to Windows Phone 7
It’s easy to ignore the launch of Windows Phone 7. If you never took the time to see what was going on when it was first announced back in March, you’ll be wondering what all the fuss is about. So, for those just joining the party, it no longer looks fiddly, it’s been completely redesigned from the ground up and, best of all, there’s not a stylus in site.
On its own, the lack of plastic pointer should be reason enough to check out Microsoft’s revamped mobile platform but that’s something that other phone systems gave up long ago. Instead here are five things that Windows Phone 7 does better than anything else out there at the moment and why it might be the next kind of handset you choose. Read more 
AIVAnet 