LG Optimus 2X Launched !

Amidst several leaks and previews, not much was left unknown of the LG Optimus 2X. The phone was officially shown off yesterday at CES during the Nvidia keynote. The phone was referred to as a 'superphone' due to the presence of the Tegra 2 chipset. The chipset enables the Optimus 2X to encode and decode 1080p video. Being a dual core chipset , it essentially gives smartphone users almost 2Ghz worth of performance ie 1Ghz on each core.



The Optimus 2X comes with a WVGA 4" display which is said to be exceptionally bright. The 8MP camera is capable of capturing 1080p video which can then be played back on your HDTV via the included HDMI port. Internal memory is 8GB and is further expandable by another 32GB via the memory card slot. The operating on the system is Android 2.2 ie Froyo with an LG designed UI layer in top. The LG Optimus 2X will be available in Korea within a few weeks with a global launch planned soon after.

[Via]

Android Tips and Tricks !

Here at Infectech we all like to use shortcuts and handy tips which improve our mobile experience and generally improve usability. With the new Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS out, there were bound to be certain improvements in the usability along with new tricks to use. The official Google blog has simplified the process of finding those by quoting some of the better ones !

Tips

• Visual cue for scrolling: When you are in a scrollable list (like your Gmail inbox) and you reach the end of the list it shows an orange hue—a visual cue that you can’t scroll anymore.

• Notification bar icons (Wi-Fi, network coverage bars, etc.): Turn green when you have an uninhibited connection to Google, white when you don't. Hint: if you're in a hotel or airport using Wi-Fi, the bars won't turn green until you launch the browser and get past the captive portal.

• Voice actions: Tell your phone what to do by pressing the microphone icon next to the search box on the home screen, or long press the magnifying glass. You can tell it to send an email or text message (“send text to mom, see you for pizza at 7”), call someone ("call mom"), navigate somewhere (“navigate to pizza”), or listen to music ("listen to Mamma Mia").

• Find things you’ve downloaded from your browser: Your downloads are now neatly collected in a Downloads manager, which you can find in the apps drawer.

• Turn a Gallery stack into a slideshow: In Gallery, when you are looking at a stack of photos, put two fingers on the stack and spread them. The stack spreads out and the pictures flow from one finger to the other, a moving slideshow that lets you see all of the photos.

• Walk, don’t drive: Once you’ve gotten directions within Google Maps, click on the walking person icon to get walking directions.

• Easy text copy/paste from a webpage: To copy/paste from a webpage, long press some text, drag the handles around to select the text you want to copy, and press somewhere in the highlighted region. To paste, simply long press a text entry box and select paste. Gmail is a bit different: you need to go to Menu > More > Select Text.

• Turn your phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot: Go to Settings > Wireless & Networks > Tethering & Portable Hotspot. (You may have to pay extra for this feature.)

• Look at Maps in 3D: With the latest release of Google Maps, you can now look at 3D maps. Tilt the map by sliding two fingers vertically up/down the screen, and rotate it by placing two fingers on the map and sliding in a circular motion, e.g., from 12 and 6 o’clock to 3 and 9.

• Cool shutdown effect: When you put the phone to sleep, you’ll see an animation that resembles an old cathode tube TV turning off.

Keyboard tricks

• Shift+Key to capitalize a word: In Gingerbread (and supported hardware), you can Shift+Key to capitalize a letter instead of going to a separate all caps keyboard.

• Auto-complete: The space bar lights up when auto-complete can finish a word.

• Quick replace: Tap on any previously typed word, then tap on a suggestion to automatically replace it with the suggested word.

• Easy access to special characters (like numbers, punctuation): Press and hold any key to go to the special character keyboard. You can also press and hold the "," key for an extensive punctuation keyboard.

Applications

• Angry Birds: Popular game that lets you knock down blocks by slingshotting birds.

• Astro: Awesome file explorer app. Browse and access the directories on your phone, and take full advantage of its capabilities. Great if you’re a power user.

• Chrome to Phone: This one is really useful for Chrome users. You can send anything you browse on your computer to your phone. So if you are heading out to a restaurant or party and look up directions on your computer, just click the “send to phone” button (requires Chrome to Phone extension) and that exact page will open on your phone. Same with virtually any webpage.

• Flash: Install from Android Market to watch Flash videos embedded throughout the web. Runs even better on Gingerbread.

• Fruit Ninja: A juicy action game that tests your ability to smash flying fruit. A fun time-killer on the bus or train.

• FXCamera: Popular photo sharing app with slick effects and filters.

• Google Maps: Use your device as a GPS navigation system with free turn-by-turn voice guidance, and take advantage of other Google Maps features like Street View, Latitude and Places.

• Instant Heart Rate: Measure your heart rate using your camera.

• Phoneanlyzr: Track your phone usage: who you text most, call most, average call length distribution, etc.

• RemoteDroid: Control your computer from your phone. Gives you a mobile wireless mouse and keyboard. Great if you’re using your computer for music or movies.

• Shazam: Identifies virtually any song you are listening to.

• SoundHound: Record a snippet of a song and get it identified instantly. You can even hum (if you can carry a tune!).

• Tango: A free, high-quality video call app that works on both 3G and Wi-Fi. If your device has a front facing camera (e.g., Nexus S), you will love this app.

• YouTube: New UI. Plus, portrait-mode player, and view comments and drop-down box video information 

[Via - Google]

HTC Knight Leaked

New images of the HTC Knight have now leaked on the internet. Showing off the front of the device , it is clear that it comes with a side sliding QWERTY keyboard. There is a possibility hence that it will be called the HTC Shift 4G. The device highly resembles the Evo 4G. The screen is 3.7" wide and comes with the standard 800 x 480 WVGA resolution. The latest version of the HTC Sense UI will work on top of Android. The smartphone which is making its way to Sprint also has a camera with an LED flash.

The HTC Knight will be the ninth Android device to hit Sprint. Official announcement dates have been pegged at 6th January 2011. The phone is rumored to come with Android Gingerbread ie Android 2.3 which has very similar hardware requirements to Froyo. An interesting thing is that all the leaked photos have shown the phone encased in a form of protective housing.

Nexus S Images Leaked Via XDA Developers

The first close up images of the Google Nexus One successor have finally been leaked by the members of the XDA Developer Forums. The Nexus S as it is known is the next generation super smartphone by Google. Internal specifications are still sketchy but rumors peg it at a 1.2 Ghz Dual Core processor which would make this the fastest Android phone to date. The camera is said to be capable of capturing 720p video. It will be the first phone to be powered by the upcoming Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. The smartphone is being manufactured by Samsung and is said to include the next version of its Super AMOLED display technology. The design highly resembles Samsung's own flagship Galaxy S smartphone. We have also heard rumors of the Nexus S packing in a curved glass display which is evidently designed to ease one handed usage.

From our post on PhoneReport.info

Gingerbread Coming In A Few Weeks ?

Now that word has come out of the Gingerbread cookies being baked at the Google HQ , i think it is time for the next iteration of the Android OS to reach the customers hands. Google CEO Eric Schmidt has stated in response to queries that the update will be coming in the next few weeks. What this means is that there can be Gingerbread equipped devices in the market just in time for the Christmas holiday season.