Mobile Phone Blog:

Samsung is planning to raise the bar for smartphones by bringing out a 2GHz handset.

Two years have passed since the first 1GHz smartphone was introduced to the market, and now Samsung has decided that it will bring out a 2GHz dual-core powered phone by 2012.

The company has claimed it is going to narrow the gap between the smartphone and a desktop PC when it comes to data processing power as confirmed by a Samsung official, who said: “We are planning to release a 2GHz dual core CPU-equipped smartphone – this product will have the data processing capacities of a regular PC.”

O2 is almost ready to release the PlayStation phone, just weeks after the rest of the world got hold of it!

O2, who will exclusively offer a white edition of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, decided not to sell it alongside the other networks on release day, following the discovery of several bugs while testing.

However, a recent update on the company’s blog has revealed they are nearly ready to release the legendary handset.

Stuart Hibberd, the head of O2’s testing team, commented: “… after a period of intense testing, we’d found bugs with the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY that meant we couldn’t launch the phone on April 1st as we originally planned.”

“Since then we’ve received new software from Sony Ericsson which we’ve been testing here and, I’m happy to report, it has fixed a lot of the bugs.”

So it’s coming, and soon!

Hailed as a ‘superphone’ and dubbed set to provide a ‘new multimedia high for smartphones’, the new HTC Sensation is certainly causing a… well, a sensation!

Officially revealed today at an HTC press event, the handset looks fantastic – sleek and sexy yet practical, and boasts features which will put the previously much-acclaimed Desire HD and Wildfire, to shame.

The new customer-focused HTC Sense experience claims to put power in the user’s hands by making their smartphone work in a more simple and natural way.

A 4.3-inch qHD display delivers high-resolution widescreen viewing whilst at the heart of the handset beats a powerful, 1.2-gigahertz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, to enhance graphics and speed, and making multi-tasking on your device a pleasure instead of a chore.

The handset’s 8 megapixel camera doesn’t just shoot gorgeous photos but, with the new instant capture feature, allows users to snap beautiful images without missing a single moment. It also shoots full HD video in 1080p resolution, with full stereo sound, at up to 30 frames a second, giving a smooth video experience.

Exciting news for smartphone lovers from Samsung.

The Galaxy S II, Samsung’s much-anticipated Android handset, will be available in the UK on 1 May.

The handset, tipped to be a superphone rather than simply a smartphone, will emulate its predecessor, the Galaxy S, by being made available across all major networks and retailers.

Recent reports from Samsung promise fans a 1.2GHz dual-core processor amongst other fantastic and much-improved features.

The Motorola Atrix is to be exclusive to the Everything Everywhere network when it launches in the UK.

The handset, co-developed by Orange and Motorola, will be available exclusively on the Orange and T-Mobile networks which merged together last year to make Everything Everywhere.

The 11 inch, 1GHz dual-core Android smartphone is expected to upgrade to Gingerbread, the latest version of the Android OS, after its release.

Although a UK release date has not yet been confirmed the device is already available in the US.

HTC, the Taiwanese manufacturer, has overtaken Finnish firm Nokia to become the third most valuable maker of mobile phones.

The company, which produces high-end touchscreen-based smartphones, has been valued at $33.8bn after the close of trading in Asia on Thursday.

The growth of HTC highlights the decline in value of Nokia which has failed to innovate in the new smartphone market and has recently forged a partnership with Microsoft in the hope that Windows Phone 7 might reignite the company’s dwindling sales. Nokia was valued at $33.4bn on Wednesday at the close of prices.

HTC shares are now a third higher than they were at the start of the year, while Nokia’s shares have fallen by a fifth over the same period.

Although Nokia remains the world’s biggest producer of mobile devices by volume, with a 28.9 per cent global market share at the end of last year, according to Gartner, the company cannot compete with smartphone rivals such as the Apple iPhone and the Android-based devices which HTC have become synonymous with.

A great new HTC handset is set for launch in the UK.

Previously codenamed the HTC Pyramid, the new HTC ‘Sensation’ is yet-to-be officially launched, but it is expected that it might be the subject of an HTC press event next week.

There’s been a few leaks and photos appearing on the internet regarding the new handset and all we know is that a high-end dual-core processor and a 4.3 inch screen could certainly be on the cards.

Not only this, but it is thought to be less of a smartphone… and more of a ‘superphone’ – a definite step-up from the recent HTC ‘S’ series, and possibly with a price-tag to match.

Despite all the buzz it’s causing, there is no definitive release date in the UK for the HTC Sensation, but it should be hitting the Atlantic at some point in May… so surely, we can’t be that far behind… can we?!

A flashy white Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY emerged just moments after the standard black version was announced.

The white edition will be exclusive to 02 in the UK. The network posted on Twitter the news “Great news: not only will we be selling Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, we’ll have an exclusive white version”.

There are no changes in the specifications and is expected to hit shelves the same day as the black version.

Since Apple mentioned a white iPhone oh so many moons ago, it seems that every manufacturer has been chomping at the bit to get a white handset out beforehand! And in most cases, they are succeeding. Rather than being the amazing all-singing all-dancing spectacle that was expected, the elusive white iPhone 4 may simply end up being ‘just another white handset.’

The Google/Samsung Nexus S handset is the latest to announce a white version as well as a black one, and images of the new device show a bright shade of white on the back with a disappointingly black frontage. Still, it’s one in the bag before Apple got the chance!

The white Nexus S will have all the same great features as the black model, including a 1GHZ Cortex A8 processor, a 4 inch touchscreen and a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus.

Details of the new BlackBerry Dakota have been spotted online…

Taking inspiration from the Bold range, the Dakota is a slender handset which boasts tethering, so it can be used as a 3G mobile broadband hotspot, and a five megapixel camera with HD video-recording and image stabilization technology.

There is also a full physical QWERTY keyboard and a trackpad, which BlackBerry are renowned for, a microUSB port and a 2.8 inch VGA capacitive touchscreen.

If it all sounds too good to be true then take heed from the fact that the handset release date is currently delayed due to battery issues!