We and everyone else that has managed to get some hands on time with the Motorola DROID came to the same two conclusions — it’s a damn good smartphone, but its camera couldn’t focus for beans. Overnight, however, our tips line was literally flooded with reports that the DROID’s autofocus camera was finally doing its job and, well, automatically focusing. First reporters were humorously utterly convinced that their wiping off the anti-glare coating on the lens was responsible for the improvements, but as more and more people starting chiming in it became increasingly apparent that someone, somewhere was hard at work behind the scenes pushing out a silent update ahead of the oft-discussed OTA update due out on December 11th. Such a silent update is a bit of an odd move, but to be perfectly honest, it could go either way. We’re not convinced it improved our camera performance as we never had an issue focusing. Our issue was even though the boxes went green to signal a “lock” our pictures still came out blurry. But we’re curious; how many of our readers with a DROID have experienced a tremendous improvement in camera performance?

Thanks to everyone that sent this in!

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It’s always a lot of fun for us — and hopefully for you, the readers — any time we can run wild with pictures, news, and even reviews of an unannounced handset. Today, however, RIM spoiled our fun and formally announced the BlackBerry Bold 9700. Things like carriers, release dates and pricing have been withheld for the time being, but RIM has made a statement saying that we should all expect to see the BlackBerry 9700 go on sale “around the world beginning in November.” Spec wise, nothing has changed since our pre-release review, but just in case some of you forgot or weren’t paying a whole lot of attention, here’s a quick refresher on the critical specs:

• BlackBerry OS 5.0
• 624MHz CPU
• 256MB flash memory and support for microSD cards up to 32GB
• Quad-band UMTS/HSDPA (800/850/1900/2100 MHz) or tri-band UMTS/HSDPA (900/1700/2100 MHz)
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g with UMA support (carrier dependent)
• A-GPS
• 2.44″ HVGA+ display
• 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash
• Optical trackpad
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP/AVCRP
• 1500 mAh battery
• 6 hours of talk time and 17 days of standby (3G)
• 109mm x 60mm x 14.1mm, 122g

In short, this is the BlackBerry device of your dreams. We’re expecting pretty much every single major GSM carrier on the planet to pick up the 9700 sooner or later, so we’ll be sure to keep the updates coming. As always, high res pics and a few other odds and ends are available after the jump.

UPDATE: AT&T, Rogers and T-Mobile have announced they will be carrying the Bold 9700 in the weeks ahead. AT&T and T-Mobile’s 9700 will go for $199.99 after a $100 MIR on 2-year deals while Rogers will be asking for $299.99 on a 3-year contract with a monthly minimum voice and data plan of $45. Bell and TELUS have yet to come forward with pricing but have confirmed they will be carrying the device.

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While it might not be intended to be so, it’s generally an exceptional event if a given phone isn’t sold before its launch date by various carrier outlets. Case in point: the HTC Pure. We know over the past few days some AT&T locations begun receiving stock of the customized Touch Diamond2, but now word is that some of those locations are selling the Pure ahead of what is assumed to be its official release date of Tuesday. Overall, the Pure doesn’t appear to be packed with any surprises other than the disappointingly non-existent 3.5mm headphone jack. As we exclusively told you, the Pure is indeed going for $149.99 on a 2-year after a $100 MIR meaning that a lot of WinMo junkies are going to have a touch decision between the more affordable Pure and the better spec’d Imagio.

Thanks to everyone that sent this in!

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Although not a soul alive is shocked by the news, today Verizon Wireless announced it will be releasing the HTC Imagio — its first Windows Mobile 6.5 device — online starting October 6th. The Imagio, known to most by its codename Whitestone, will feature the following key specs: 3.6″ WVGA touchscreen display (resistive, of course), 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, Wi-Fi, EV-DO Rev. A, quad-band EDGE and 2100MHz UMTS/HSDPA for international roaming. Being a WinMo device from HTC, TouchFLO 3D is naturally included while Verizon will be chipping in MediaFLO support for those who are willing to part with an extra $15 per month. So what will the Imagio cost come its big day? $199.99 on a 2-year deal after a $100 MIR which isn’t all that shabby, all things considered.

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Despite it being another sleepy Sunday, yesterday Samsung decided it was good timeto announce four new entry-level handsets that it hopes will prove popular with the average consumer. Starting off with the S6700 that Samsung has previously shown off at various trade shows, we find a dual-band HSDPA slider with a 2.4-inch QVGA display, 3 megapixel camera with auto-focus and dual-LED flash, GPS and 120MB of internal memory plus microSDHC support. Next up we have the C5510 with its basic 2 megapixel shooter, smaller 2.2-inch QVGA display and microSDHC support. Taking a more music-centric approach is the M2510, which has dedicated music keys, a 3.5mm headphone jack, DNSe audio enhancement, FM radio tuner with RDS and a 1.3 megapixel camera. Finally we have the M2310, the only clam shell device in the bunch and easily the most underwhelming handset we’ve seen in quite some time. It has a VGA camera, 9MB of internal memory, 8GB microSD support and quad-band EDGE connectivity. Pricing and availability for the S6700, C5510, M2510 and M2310 have yet to be announced.

[Via GSM Arena]

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Right on cue, HTC has announced its latest Android device in the Hero. With many of the Hero’s specs being the same as the Magic, the handset does manage to beat out the Magic with its 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus, 3.5mm headphone jack (finally!!!), improved battery life and Adobe Flash support. But what makes the Hero really exciting is the fresh new GUI overlay. Much like with TouchFLO 3D for Windows Mobile, the new HTC Sense UI gives Android a much needed injection of style and functionality by allowing users to keep the content that matter to them — such as weather, contacts, photos, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and bookmarks — at their fingertips.

Another feature found within Sense is Scenes, which essentially allows users to switch from “work to weekend mode” (think of it as Modes on Nokia’s Eseries but sexier) and also helps organize emails, texts, photos, Facebook updates, call logs and more per contract entry much like Palm’s webOS. The Hero’s dedicated Search button features Spotlight-like search, meaning finding the contact, email, app, Tweet and more you’re looking for couldn’t be more simple. One last thing — the Hero is coated in Teflon that not only feels soft to the touch and thus easier to grip, but also protects the devices paint job from your greasy hands.

The Hero will be available next month in Europe with Asian availability coming in the later summer months (Orange UK has already announced it will be carrying the Hero in graphite for as low as £0 on contract this July). As for North Americans, well, we’re just going to have to wait for a little while longer. Hit the jump for the complete specs, some pics and a video.

• Android with HTC Sense
• 112mm x 56.2mm x 14.35mm, 135g
• Qualcomm MSM7200A 528MHz processor
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, dual-band 7.2Mbps HSPA/WCDMA
• 512 ROM / 288 RAM
• 3.2″ HVGA capacitive touchscreen
• 5.0 megapixel camera with auto-focus
• Gravity sensor
• Digital compass
• WiFi 802.11b/g
• GPS
• Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR + A2DP
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• microSD
• 1350 mAh battery
• 420 minutes talktime / 750 hours standby (WCDMA)

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If you’re a Nokia fan who lives in Canada and just so happens to have $199.99 burning a hole in your pocket, it might interest you to know Rogers has released the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. Available nation-wide as of today, the 5800 XpressMusic is a multimedia-centric S60 5th Edition smartphone with specs that include a 3.2-inch 640×360 resistive touchscreen display, 3.2 megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens, auto-focus and dual-LED flash, 3.6Mbps HSDPA connectivity, Wi-Fi and aGPS. An 8GB microSD card also comes in the box to help pique your interest, though after playing around with one ourselves we’re not exactly convinced many Canadians are going to be picking up this device considering how many other awesome options there are in the same price range.

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While Samsung might think that its two new Omnia Pro’s are the hottest new Windows Mobile devices on the planet, LG is confident that its done Samsung one better with the Aigen LG-GM730. Having layered its S-Class 3D UI on top of Windows Mobile 6.1 for a more visually appealing and user friendly user experience, the dual-band 7.2Mbps HSDPA Aigen also features a 3-inch WQVGA touchscreen display, Wi-Fi, aGPS, FM radio tuner and a 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus all in a body that is 11.9mm thick. As for color options, the Aigen is available with black, pink and lime chrome trim. LG says that the Aigen is available now in Korea, but bizarrely pricing has not been made public. Go figure.

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Think your $99 Nokia E71x from AT&T is all that? It might very well be, but you might just change your tune and turn green with envy as Nokia’s Conversations blog has just posted a video of its successor, the E72, to YouTube and it looks to be quite a nice update. A 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash, optical trackpad, 3.5mm headphone jack and S60 FP2 are all we know about the device at this point in time, though we’re sure there’s plenty more to come in the near future. The video has since been removed from YouTube, so hit the jump for a couple of up close and personal screen caps.

Thanks, David!

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Right on cue according to our scoop, Verizon launched two new devices today in the Motorola Rival A455 and the Casio EXILIM C721. The Rival is a pretty standard messaging device that has a full QWERTY keypad, a 2 megapixel and a 2-year contract price of $99 after a $50 MIR. Have at it, tweens. The EXILIM on the other hand, which goes for $279.99 after rebates on a 2-year deal, features a 2.3-inch pivoting QVGA display, 5.1 megapixel camera with auto-focus, flash and 3x optical zoom, GPS and all of the standard Verizon apps that you would expect. Oh, and it also meets Military Specifications 810F standards making is dust and water resistant. So what say you, people — do either of these devices strike your fancy or are you waiting for something bigger and better to come along?

Read (Moto Rival in silver; purple also available)
Read (Casio EXILIM C721)

We all know that Bell is prepping to launch the BlackBerry Tour 9630 sometime in the near future, and now for the first time a document detailing the full specs of the hotly anticipated smartphone has leaked out. While the majority of the specs have been known for quite some time, there are a still few things that can be learned from the document. So take a peek because this is the real deal, people:

Size (L x W x D): 112 x 62 x 14.2 mm
Weight: 130 grams
Memory: 256 MB internal Flash memory
Expandable Memory: microSD located under the battery door cover
Battery: 1400 mAh removable/rechargeable cryptographic lithium cell
Battery Life: TBD
Keyboard: 35 key backlit QWERTY
Display: High resolution HVGA 480×360 pixel
Camera: 3.2 MP camera, flash auto focus
GPS: Assisted, autonomous and simultaneous GPS enabled with preloaded BlackBerry Application for e911 capabilities
Media Player: Video format support MPEG4; Audio format support MP3, AAC AAC+ etc
Bluetooth: Bluetooth V2.0; mono/stereo headset, hands-free, PBAP
Headset: 3.5mm stereo headset capable
USB Port: Enables charging and high-spead data synchronization via USB “A” to micro USB “B” cable
Network Support:
Quad-band 850/900/1800/1900MHz
GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks
Single-band: 2100 MHz
UMTS/HSPA networks
Dual-Band: 800/1900 MHz
CDMA/EVDO Rev A networks

Excited? Well you should be (remember how much we love it?), especially with a mid-July launch on the Bell network in the works. Now hit the jump to check out the rest of the document.

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Vodafone and HTC came together today to announce the HTC Magic, the latest Android handset we named and outed yesterday. As the world’s first touchscreen-only Android phone, the Magic isn’t that much of an improvement over the G1 though it does have a nicer look to it and some spec improvements behind it. Details as to when the Magic will launch are hazy at best but the Vodafone UK website states it will be “Arriving in April.” Being a Vodafone exclusive, customers in the UK, Spain, France and Germany will be the first in line to get the Magic while Italian mobile aficionados will be able to purchase the Magic as a non-exclusive. After that it’s anyone’s guess as to where else thing thing will show up, be it under the Vodafone name or otherwise. Here’s to hoping it makes its way to this side of the world as soon as possible. Now to the specs:

• Android OS
• Quad-band EDGE / dual-band 7.2Mbps HSDPA (900/2100 MHz)
• 512MHz Qualcomm® MSM7201a
• 512MB ROM / 192MB RAM
• 3.2″ HVGA touchscreen display (though the presser and Voda say QVGA, Android does not play nice with QVGA displays)
• Virtual QWERTY keypad, trackball
• 3.2 megapixel camear w/ AF (no flash)
• WiFi 802.11 b/g
• GPS
• Bluetooth 2.0
• microSD
• 1340 mAh battery
• Talktime: 400 min 3G / 450 min GSM
• Standby: 660 hours 3G / 420 hours GSM
• 113mm x 55mm x 13.65mm, 118.5g
• Available in black and/or white depending on market

Not bad and not great, but we’re happy the Magic is a bit more refined compared to the banana-faced G1. Some of the basics however, such as a 3.5mm audio jack and an LED flash are unfortunately still MIA. Why HTC, why?

Jeté the jump for the full press release.

Vodafone and HTC unveil Android-powered HTC Magic

BARCELONA — Feb 17, 2009 — Vodafone and HTC Corporation today announced the HTC Magic smartphone, Vodafone’s first Android-powered mobile, which will be available in the spring.

The stylish new handset is exclusive to Vodafone in the UK, Spain, Germany and France (SFR) and available on a non-exclusive basis in Italy. Customers can ensure that they are the first to receive information about the HTC Magic’s availability, pricing and pre-ordering by registering their interest via their local Vodafone website from today.

The introduction of the HTC Magic is the result of a successful relationship between Vodafone and HTC, and Vodafone’s joining, late last year, of the Open Handset Alliance.

A tablet-style device, with a sleek design and unprecedented compactness for a smartphone featuring the Android platform, the HTC Magic enables a superior mobile internet experience, providing broad flexibility for personalisation via the application-rich Android Market. Available in white in the UK, Spain and France, black in Germany and in both colours in Italy, the HTC Magic will be for sale in several other Vodafone markets over the next few months.

“Delivering an unbeatable mobile internet experience for our customers is a priority for Vodafone, so we are very excited to be introducing our first Android-powered smartphone in the spring,” says Patrick Chomet, Global Director of Terminals, Vodafone Group. “Following our joining of the Open Handset Alliance, we have worked very closely with HTC to bring this cool new phone to the market. Our customers want to access a wide range of the most attractive mobile devices to help them make the most of their time – the HTC Magic helps meet that need.”

“The HTC Magic embodies the compact style and sophistication for which HTC has come to be known, with the powerful and intuitive internet experience for which the Android platform was designed,” says Peter Chou, president and CEO, HTC Corporation. “We are proud of our partnership with Vodafone and excited about making the Android-powered HTC Magic available to Vodafone customers in Europe.”

“The announcement of the HTC Magic is an important step for Android and the Open Handset Alliance,” says Andy Rubin, Senior Director of Mobile Platforms at Google. “With it, Vodafone is opening up the mobile web for consumers across Europe and giving more third-party developers a platform on which they can build the next wave of killer applications.”

Available from free on various price plans, the HTC Magic has a 3.2” QVGA touch screen display and features a trackball and navigational buttons for quick, easy access. The HTC Magic includes a variety of email options such as Google Mail™, POP3 and IMAP as well as Google Talk™ for instant messaging.

The HTC Magic has a variety of powerful mobile internet capabilities beginning with an Android-optimised Webkit browser. It also features the popular Google™ applications, Google Maps™ and Google Search™ as well as favourites like YouTube™. In addition, Android Market allows for quick and easy downloading of games and applications utilising Vodafone’s fast and reliable network.

Full details of availability and pricing will be available in the future in local Vodafone markets.

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LG has announced its first ever dual-SIM device. Featuring a 3″ WQVGA display and a 5 megapixel camera, the tri-band KS660 is being touted as a great business tool as it allows users to have access to both their business and personal lines with the same device – no battery pulling or fumbling with SIMs required. The major drawbacks to this phone are that it lacks both 3G and WiFi. Also, if you’re a stylus hater don’t even think about the KS660 because it has one tucked away on the right-hand side.

• 105mm × 55mm × 14.9mm, 115g
• Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (900/1800/1900 MHz)
• 3″ WQVGA (240×400) TFT touch-screen display w/ feedback
• 5 megapixel camera w/ autofocus, flash, and video recording (720×480)
• 50MB in-built memory
• microSDHC
• accelerometer

Not expected to be released for North America or Western Europe, the KS600 should drop in China, Russia and a few other Russian satellite states in Q1 2009.

[Via engadget mobile]

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Regardless of what you think of pure touchscreen devices, most can agree that the addition of a touchscreen is a welcome addition to nearly any phone out there due to its convenience. With that in mind, information on a new device from Nokia has emerged out of China that may excite a few people. Named the 6208 Classic, the device apparently runs on a version of the S40 platform that has been altered to accommodate the physical limitations of a touchscreen without adversely affecting the physical alphanumeric keypad. With that said, it’s a shame this phone is nowhere close to being a looker but we still want to check it out. As for the specs, here’s what has been reported so far:

• 109.8mm x 49.3mm x 14.7mm, 120.ig
• Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800/1900
• 2.4″, 240 x 320 TFT touchscreen display, 16-million colors
• 3.2 megapixel camera w/ autofocus, 4x digital zoom and flash
  
• 13MB of internal memory
  
• microSDHC support

We’re not willing to bet that the 6208 Classic will be officially sold outside of China, but hopefully some more capable devices with similar input methods get released in this part of the world in the near future.

Thanks, Dani!

[Via Unwired View]

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There hasn’t been much doubt about Motorola’s MOTOZINE ZN5 hitting T-Mobile, but official confirmations are always a nice thing, no? Starting today, at select T-Mobile corporate locations and online, you’ll be able to pickup a Motorola ZN5 for yourself. A 5 megapixel camera phone is going to seriously hurt those pocket though, right? Normally we’d say yes, but T-Mobile looks to have subsidized the crap out of this thing (or Motorola’s just happy they have a carrier who’s willing to take their goods) as it’s going for only $99 on a 2-year agreement. Not bad at all we say. Here’s a quick spec refresher for you:

• 5 megapixel auto-focus Kodak camera with Xenon flash
• Wi-Fi
• Quad-band GSM/EDGE
• 350MB of internal memory, microSD expandable up to 4GB
• 3.5mm headset jack
• FM Radio
• TV-Out
• Stereo Bluetooth
• Built-in Kodak EasyShare software for instant Wi-Fi uploading to the web

We’ve given Moto their fair share of public beatings in the past, but we’re actually pretty impressed with the price-point here. We think this thing is going to fly off the shelves. What say you?

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