Panasonic to launch new Android smartphones in Europe
Panasonic have officially announced that they will start selling Android smartphones from March 2012 with their first global model coming with some impressive specs to boot.
While it’s not known what the final product will look like Panasonic have unveiled some screenshots of what they’re calling their Global Model concept, a rough design that will form the basis of the models we can expect to see.
What is known however is that the phone will sport a 4.3 OLED qHD screen, it’ll also feature a super-slim D-shaped design which is definitely in keeping with the current trends as demonstrated by the slinky Samsung Galaxy S2.
That super-slim design will also be dustproof and waterproof making it certainly more ‘life-proof’, finally it’s confirmed that it’ll be running Android and while Panasonic haven’t confirmed which OS it’s an almost dead-cert that it’ll be Ice Cream Sandwich.
No word on hardware yet but this could certainly be something that’ll be making an appearance at Mobile World Congress 2012. What do you think, can Panasonic compete with the likes of Samsung and Apple?
via Panasonic to launch new Android smartphones in Europe | T3.
Panasonic says it will start selling Android-based smartphones in Japan next year, overseas in 2012
Panasonic may not be new to cellphones, but it has sat out of the smartphone explosion of recent years — an oversight that it’s now apparently looking to correct. Speaking at a news conference today, the head of Panasonic’s mobile division, Osamu Waki, said flatly that the compmany “misjudged the speed at which smartphones would be taken up in the Japanese market,” and that “with the rapid shift to Android, we want to catch up quickly.” Exact details on how it plans to catch up are expectedly still a bit light, but Panasonic’s phones will indeed be based on Android, and it apparently hopes to differentiate them by emphasizing their networking capabilities with other Panasonic products. As for when the first ones will roll out, Panasonic plans to kick off sales in Japan sometime next year, with overseas markets set to follow in 2012.
Thales, Panasonic demo Android-based in-flight entertainment systems
Never heard of Thales? Consider yourself schooled. Thales has been kicking the tires in the in-flight entertainment market for over a decade now, but there’s no question that its latest innovation is the one that could take it the next level. Shown recently in Long Beach, the Touch Passenger Media Unit (TouchPMU) is one of the most intriguing uses of Android yet. The idea here is to use the 3.8-inch handset / controller in order to both view content and control what’s happening on one’s headrest television. The control itself is powered by an ARM Cortex processor and sports a capacitive touchpanel (800 x 480 resolution), support for Flash and 3D graphics. There’s no telling when this stuff will actually be available on commercial flights (or when legacy airlines will ditch their World War II-era fleet), but it’s safe to say that we’re eager and ready for the future. Oh, and just in case anyone at Thales felt like resting on their laurels, it seems that Panasonic also has an Android-based.
AIVAnet 