Fone Arena

The international version of Samsung Galaxy S comes with a front facing camera in it, but the US variants of Galaxy S are missing the front facing camera, only EPIC 4G comes with a front facing camera, but Captivate, Vibrant, and Fascinate is missing it, which is a bad news for the Galaxy S lovers in USA. But a modder over at XDA-developers forum known as Siirial is very brave and smart, so he decided to put a FFC camera into his Samsung Vibrant, and he did it. Siirial is saying that the camera can be installed in any Galaxy S model, because they all comes with the same board. So folks, all you need is some tools, a denatured alcohol, front-facing camera which is only for $16.49, ROM, and the camera data file. If you are a little nervous, and it’s hard for you to torn down your phone, then watch this video which will help you a lot. Folks, head over to xda-developer forum by following this link, and you will be able to read the full instructions. Happy Modding !

via TalkAndroid

Install a front-facing camera in your Samsung Galaxy S ©, .

• T-Mobile launches the Samsung Vibrant
• Bell launches the Samsung Vibrant
• Samsung Galaxy S facing reception issues?
• Samsung Galaxy Q specs leaked
• The overview of Samsung Galaxy S family [Video]

I recently had a couple of hands-on with Nokia’s new E-series Symbian^3 powered E7 device at Nokia World 2010. The E7 devices on display were pre-production unit running on none-release firmware.

The E7 has the same design language as the N8. The anodised and sleek metal body feels great in my palms, and despite being physically larger than the N8, it wasn’t uncomfortable to hold. It has a feel and look like a premium device, and it should. It will be available in the same colour schemes as the N8 as well.

The front is dominated by a large 4″ OLED screen that a Nokia rep on the floor confirmed as a CBD (clear black display) type. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen, but the screen is colourful and had excellent contrast and black levels. Despite having a resolution of 640×360 (lower than high end Android devices and iPhone 4), the display looks sharp.

Powering the Nokia N8 is Symbian^3. As far as I know Symbian^4 will not be made available on this device, so take that into consideration when considering the E7. The firmware on this isn’t optimised yet as the few E7 I was playing with kept stalling and crashing. Nokia insisted that it was running on a beta firmware and by the time it ships it should work as good quick and stable as the N8.

As the E7 shares the same DNA as the N8, it also has plenty of the same features. It has a HDMI-out port capable of outputting 720p videos, 3.5mm headphone jack, Wireless LAN, Bluetooth and GPS receiver. The camera is a 8MP EDoF type. I am not particularly fond of EDoF (a type of fixed focus) , but a Nokia engineer has assured me that with tweaks, the E7 is capable of taking great pictures.

The QWERTY keyboard on this is a massive leap of improvement over the N97′s and N97 Mini’s, but is no match for any of the Communicator’s keyboard. I suspect Nokia’s desire to market this as a successor to the Communicator is more to do with not wanting to market it as a successor to the much maligned N97 than anything.

Like the N97′s keypad, the E7′s keypad slides up and is tilted a little forward. The four row keypad is a welcomed improvement over the N97′s three row keypad. A five row keypad would have been better but I can’t see any physical space for an extra numerical row. At least it has a proper space bar. I have my reservations on the key travel and having played with the HTC Desire Z, Nokia need to improve the tactile feedback of the E7′s keyboard.

People know me as more of a E-series guy, but I am not entirely convinced by the E7. There is little doubt that this phone would be a great hit, but hopefully Nokia can prove me wrong when the E7 ships in Q1 2011.

Nokia E7 First Impressions ©, .

• The Nokia N97 QWERTY Keyboard
• Nokia Launches E7 , C7 and C6-01 Symbian Smartphones at Nokia World 2010
• Pics, Pics and more Pics: Nokia E7, C7, C6-01 and C3 Touch and Type!
• Symbian.org Website gets a new design right in time for SEE2009
• Nokia E72 Review Part 1 – Hardware

Panasonic is all set to announce it’s first Lumix smartphone at CEATEC 2010. The launch date is shown as 5th October 2010.The phone will be mainly a camera oriented device offering a 13 megapixel shooter. The phone will be cometing against the like of Nokia N8 and Altek Leo -14MP smartphone.

The phone is said to have Panasonic VenusEngine and Jump Technology. It will have a CMOS sensor.

The phone will also have a 3.3″ touchscreen LCD with VGA resolution. The phone has a clamshell form-factor. The dimensions are 116*52*17.7mm and weighs in at 146 grams.

With that much thickness, it looks like Panasonic has put in a very nice and serious imaging device. Reducing the thickness would have allowed less room for a good camera unit.

HD recording is also on the list. Lets wait and see what Panasonic have in store for us.

via Panasonic

Panasonic Set to Announce 13MP Lumix Phone ©, .

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HTC Desire HD is the latest addition to the HTC’s line of Android powered phones, and it’s the one phone a lot of Android lovers are looking forward to. Recently, we told you that T-Mobile UK will bring the HTC Desire HD to UK soon, and already several UK retailers are taking pre-orders for it. A few days ago, we show you the pricing of HTC Desire HD for Vodafone UK, and the pricing let us know that the Desire HD is coming to Vodafone UK. And now as you can see in the image above, which is showing that the Vodafone HTC Desire HD is around the corner, and it will be free on selected plans, and usually the selected plans are always expensive if you are getting the phone for free. Vodafone is also bringing the HTC Desire HD to Australia. So anyone looking forward to the Android monster or do you love your iPhone 4? Tell Us !

via UV

Vodafone UK launching HTC Desire HD soon ©, .

• HTC Desire HD coming to Australia via Vodafone and Three
• Pricing leaked for Vodafone HTC Desire HD
• T-Mobile G2 coming to Best Buy on October 10th?
• Vodafone UK: Android 2.2 for HTC Desire is coming out in 7-10 days
• Vodafone UK releases the Vodafone 945

Our friends over at Android Central managed to get their hands on the HTC Merge, which is an upcoming smartphone and will be available on Verizon Wireless in few months. Android Central spent a long time with the HTC Merge, and they are saying that there is a lot of potential in the HTC Merge. I personally like HTC, and HTC really make some good phones, and there are a lot of examples out there. HTC Merge is going to be the first (or may be second?) global phone on Verizon, and may be HTC Merge will come with LTE, but it’s not confirm at the moment. Android Central also benchmarked the HTC Merge, and the Merge is showing some awesome results which is blowing Nexus One out of the water. Head over to Android Central to read the full review, and watch the Benchmark video after the break:

A little review of HTC Merge ©, .

• HTC Desire HD ROM already ported to HD2, mindblowing benchmark results !
• HTC Merge user guide leaked, not a part of Droid Family
• HTC Merge showing up in Verizon inventory, new Android smartphone?
• Official tour of HTC Desire HD and new Sense UI
• Verizon confirms the Droid X display issue

HTC Merge/Lexicon is coming close to its launch everyday, and everyday we hear something new about it. Our friends over at Droid-Life got their hands on a user guide of the HTC Merge, which is giving us some new information about the Merge. The Merge is using Bing Search and Bing Maps, which is somehow a bad news for Google lovers (but don’t worry, there are apps), and the HTC Merge is not a part of Droid Family, just like the Samsung Fascinate. As we already know that the Merge is running the new Sense UI, it will also come with Android 2.2 and it’s a global phone. Head over to Droid Life if you want to read the whole manual. So anyone dropping the HTC Merge because of Bing, or do you love Bing?

HTC Merge user guide leaked, not a part of Droid Family ©, .

• A little review of HTC Merge
• Verizon Summer catalog leaked, confirms Droid 2!
• Microsoft cooking Bing client for Android?
• HTC Slider phone leaked again, endless beauty
• Droid 2 running Froyo

Google removed the Nexus One from the Google/phone site a few months ago, but that doesn’t mean the Nexus One is dead. It’s still in USA as a developer phone, and you can get it from Google if you are a developer,  and Vodafone UK and KT Korea is still offering the Nexus One. Mobilicity Canada is bringing the Nexus One back to life by launching it in Canada, along with Blackberry Curve 3G. Mobilicity is launching the Nexus One as their first Android device, and it will go for CAD$549.99 without contract. If you are interested in contract, then you can get it for $45/month with unlimited voice and data plan, but if you want unlimited global text, unlimited talk and unlimited North American long-distance, then you can get it for $65/month. Mobilicity is offering some good prices on plans. Nexus One is currently out of stock, but it will be back in stock soon. Mobilicity is also bringing the Curve 3G, which is also a successful phone. You can get the Blackberry Curve 3G for just CAD$299.99, no contract required, that’s a cool price for an unlocked phone. So who’s looking forward to the new phones at Mobilicity?

via UV

Mobilicity Canada launches the Nexus One and Blackberry Curve 3G ©, .

• Google Nexus One available for developers once again !
• Nexus One nearing it’s end , buy it soon if you want one
• Nexus One Priced At $180 With T-mobile And $530 For Unlocked Version
• AT&T announces the Blackberry Curve 3G and Pearl 3G
• Google Nexus One Now Available for Pre-Order on Vodafone UK