Fast forward a few months and the next phone which has been making a lot of headlines is Sony’s new device, and its first away from Ericsson. On initial inspection, the Xperia S looks gorgeous, and with its UK release fast approaching, we decided to compare both spec sheets to try and figure out which device has the edge, on paper.

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Screen and display

Both the Xperia S and Nexus are big devices, with the Nexus measuring in at a monstrous 4.65 inches. The Xperia S isn’t too far behind, measuring in at 4.30 inches. There’s an ongoing debate on whether we really need 4 inch screens on our phones, but there’s no denying the quality that these sort of phones bring.

Phones such as the RAZR, Sensation XL and even the enormous Galaxy Note all sport screens over 4 inches, and every one of them looks superb, so in that sense, maybe bigger is better. Display wise, both phones utilise a 720 x 1280 resolution, which should make everything look crisp and clear.

Camera and video

We were slightly letdown by the 5-megapixel camera on the Galaxy Nexus, images tended to be slightly grainy and colours were quite muted. To be perfectly honest, there hasn’t been many camera we’ve been overly impressed with on Android devices, although the news about the camera on the Xperia S is very exciting indeed.

Having more megapixels doesn’t necessarily mean better images, but with 12-megapixels and 1080p video recording, we can’t help but smile. There has been a few shots taken from the Xperia S floating about on a few sites, and we urge you to go take a look as they look brilliant!

Processor and power

Thankfully, both phones have plenty of juice under their belt, but which one is packing more? The Samsung Galaxy Nexus clocks in with a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, which is by far from slow, and our experiences with the device have shown it to be extremely nippy. Sony’s new device, however, seems to have got a bit further, packing in a mighty dual-core 1.5GHz processor, which should satisfy even the most power hungry apps.

Gingerbread vs Ice Cream Sandwich

One of the biggest talking points on both devices is regarding which version of the Android OS they’re running. The Nexus was famous for being the first device to utilise Android’s latest update, Ice Cream Sandwich, which promised, and delivered a lot.

The same can’t be said for Sony’s Xperia S, with the new device being shipped with Android’s 2.3 (Gingerbread) update. We’ve got no quarms with the Gingerbread, and it has been a great servant to the majority of the phones we’ve looked at in recent times, but even with the promised 4.0 update happening later this year, we’re disappointed.

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On paper, both devices are brilliant, and really showcase what the Android OS is capable of. There’s a lot of similarities between the devices, but with the details we’ve been given, the Xperia S currently looks like it’ll be setting the standard for the rest of the Android phones to follow in 2012. We can’t wait to get our hands on it, and write an updated comparison between the devices at a later date.

There will be a standard 10.1-inch display on offer here, although details on the actual resolution are yet to be unveiled.

Based on the few details we currently have, we aren’t too keen on the weighty nature of the tablet, coming in at a flabby 702g. There’s a 2-megapixel camera on the front, but no snapper on the back.

Customers will have the choice of having 8GB or 16GB of storage, and the tablet itself will be made available in red or gray.

Under its shell, it’s packing 1GB of RAM and an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor. Oh, and before you ask, yes, Ice Cream Sandwich is on board.

Price and other specs have been kept close under raps, so far. We’re looking forward to seeing what Acer adds to the ever-increasing tablet market, and hope they start 2012 with a bang!

The Motorola Xoom got a mixed bunch of reviews when it first hit our shelves. Users weren’t too happy with some of the feature on-board, and it did feel quite behind against other tablets that were around at the same time. Motorola are aiming to make amends for this by rolling out two new Xoom’s before the end of the year; the Motorola Xoom 2, and the Xoom 2 Media

Edition. For the purpose of this post, we’re going to focus on the Motorola Xoom 2 and give you the lowdown of what to expect from in the next throw of the dice from Motorola.

Size, design and display

The original Xoom was a bulky device, weighing in at a flabby 708g. It seems Motorola have taken note of this and the Xoom 2 will weigh in at a trimmed 599g. It still isn’t as light as

we would’ve liked, but it is a definite improvement over the original. In terms of dimensions, you’ll be looking at 253.9 x 173.6 x 8.8 mm, which makes it slightly thinner than the original Xoom, but w

ill be similar in most other areas. The classic black bezel will make an appearance, as well as some curved edges, which should make it comfortable to hold. Not much has changed, in terms of the display, with the same 10.1″ display being used, as it was in the original Xoom 2. When we first looked at the Xoom, we were pretty impressed, so there wasn’t any reason to change something that wasn’t broken, right?

Processor and software

Under the bonnet there has been a definite improvement, with the Motorola Xoom 2 sporting a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a whole .2GHz, more than the original Xoom. The usual

Google apps will come pre-installed on the tablet, so time to reacquainted with Gmail once again. So will the Motorola Xoom 2 be running Ice Cream Sandwich? Well, no. In fact it will be running Honeycomb 3.2, which is a little bit disappointing.

And the rest..

The Motorola Xoom 2 will come with a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, as well as a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera. Battery life seems to be another aspect of the Motorola Xoom 2 which has been carefully considered, with an impressive 11 hours of battery life being quoted by Motorola. Although, we won’t know for sure until we get hands-on with the tablet. With regards to price, we’re expecting to be able to get our hands on a Xoom 2 from anywhere between £349 to £399.

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So are we excited? Well, kind of. The Motorola Xoom was a disappointment in a lot of areas, but it did have a few plus points. It does seem that Motorola have listened to some of the criticism that the original tablet got, and will have hopefully rectified the problems by the time this arrives on our shores before the end of the year.

If you managed to watch the Nokia keynote a few hours ago, you may have noticed the unveiling of the new Lumia 800 device. Although the Lumia 800 looks near identical to that of its N9 compatriot, there have definitely been some changes on the inside of the device. But which one deserves your hard-earned cash? Is the Lumia 800 worth an upgrade if you own a N9 already?

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The display

One of the more surprising aspects regarding the announcement of the Nokia Lumia 800. The internet has been swamped with rumours speculating that Nokia would be unveiling a 4″ screen, sadly this hasn’t come to fruition. The Lumia 800 sports a 3.7 inch AMOLED display and 800 x 480 resolution, a slightly smaller size than the 3.9 inch screen on the Nokia N9. It does seem a slightly strange m

ove for Nokia to do this, but we will reserve judgement until we get our hands on the device. One reason that Nokia may have made the screen slightly smaller could be to help the Windows Phone OS (Mango 7.5

) run better? Perhaps.

The processor

The Nokia N9 wasn’t sluggish in the slightest, and under its bonnet was a 1GHz Texas Instrument processor which dealt with most tasks easily enough. Although we were impressed with the processor at the time, with dual-core processors becoming more common in phones, 1GHz does seem to pretty dated now. We wasn’t expecting to see a massive improvement to the processor in the Lumia 800, but a tidy 1.4GHz Qualcomm processor has been packed into the device, which should be swift enough to handle what the phone has to offer.

The camera

Not much has changed in this area of the phone, with the the Lumia 800 sporting the same 8-megapixel dual-LED flash camera that appeared on the N9. However, the VGA front facing camera on the N9 doesn’t feature on the new device.

The weight and thickness

The Lumia 800 might seem to be a little flabby to some people, weighing in at 142g, a mere 7g more than the N9. With regards to thickness, both devices are a subtle 12.1mm in size.

The battery life

The one area which has seen a decent improvement is the battery life of the new Lumia 800. The N9 boasted up to 11 hours of talk time, not too shabby when you compare it to other lea

ding phones, but the Lumia 800 has been quoted of being able to handle 13 hours of talk time before you’ll be needing the charger.

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From the specifications and details that have been released, it seems Nokia’s new device will be a small step in the right direction. Although there isn’t any major changes, it will be intriguing to see how the Mango OS looks on the new Lumia 800. Look out for our hands on with the new device soon enough.

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1. 14.5 hours of battery life

Yes you heard right, 14.5 hours of battery life. It hasn’t been mentioned if this will be available without the need of the keyboard dock, but we reckon that 14.5 hours will online be achievable when the tablet is connected to the keyboard. Either way, it boasts a substantial increase in the battery life compared to most other tablets, and a good upgrade over the original Asus Eee Pad Transformer.

2. It’s only 8.3mm thick

There are some seriously chunky tablets on the market today, so it’ll be a nice change to get our hands on a slimline tablet. We are expecting the keyboard to add a few more millimetres on top of that, but with the original Transformer measuring in at 11.3mm thick without the attached keyboard, the Transformer Prime is a definite step in the right direction.

3. It will be shipped with a quad-core NVIDIA chip

Probably the thing we are most excited about with the few details that have been released so far, is the fact that we will see a quad-core chip inside the new Transformer Prime. The new chip should set a whole new standard of tablet usability, and we’re expecting/hoping it will set a whole new benchmark for other tablets to compare to.

4. It WILL get Ice Cream Sandwich (eventually)

Although there hasn’t been a confirmed date, it has been confirmed that the Transformer Prime will be getting an update to Android 4.0. The unit itself will be shipped Android 3.0, which should pass the time nicely.

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At the moment, details are pretty scarce on what else is in store for the Transformer Prime. An official unveiling is set to take place on November 9th, so we will be able to get a more clear idea of what to expect then.

Lets face it, neither phone is going to win any ‘compact phone of the year’ awards, as both of them are behemoth devices. The Samsung Galaxy S2 measures in at 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.49 mm, it isn’t a small device, but it isn’t too big either. Now if we compare that to the whopping dimensions of the Galaxy Nexus, 135.5 x 67.94 x 8.94 mm, it seems that Samsung have gone bigger in all areas. We do worry that the size may be a bit too big for the smaller handed among us, but bigger smartphones = better smartphone, right? The jury is still out on that one. The same can be said for the weight of both devices as well, the S2 weighs in at a flabby 116g while the Nexus breaks the scales at 135g, time to flex those muscles ladies and gentlemen.

The screen

We’ve had great experiences with the screens that Samsung have equipped to their phones, and these two are no exception. The Galaxy S2 boasted a Super AMOLED Plus screen, on a lovingly big 4.2″ display. We loved it, colours look vibrant and clear, and having a 4″ screen just feels right. The Galaxy Nexus has gone all out to improve upon that, and we’re going to see a HD Super AMOLED screen with a gigantic 4.65″ display, our mouths water at the sheer thought of it. Like we said previously, we’ve had a terrific experience with the screen on the Galaxy S2, and we hope that this carries over to the new Nexus.

The camera

The battle still rages on if we really need a 10 or 12 megapixel camera on a phone, and does a bigger number mean a better quality of picture? Well, not necessarily. The new Nexus sports an acceptable 5 megapixel rear-facing camera with a 1.3 megapixel front-facing one as well. It seems the general consensus for the news of the 5 megapixel camera has been disappointing, and we’ve seen many comments regarding the fact they feel this is a step back for Samsung. It won’t be until we get to really try out the camera, that we can give a definitive answer. What we can say, however, is that the camera on the Galaxy S2 took some quality photos. At 8 megapixel, Samsung really pushed the boat out, camera wise, and on the whole, it worked superbly well.

The OS

Our final category had to be the OS on both phones. The Samsung Galaxy S2 utlilised Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), and did a really good job with it as well. When we gave the OS a whirl on the S2 it was faultless, literally faultless. Without doubt, Gingerbread has been the most success Android OS update yet, and it’s a superb version which can be built upon. The Galaxy Nexus will be the first handset to sport the recently announced Android 4.0. From the pictures and videos we’ve seen, and from the several articles we’ve read, it *should* be the best update yet. A revamped UI and plenty of new features, make it something we can’t wait to get our teeth in to.

Overall

It’s really hard to pick an overall winner, when you compare the specs of both of these phones. We love the S2, love, love, love it. It’s a superb device, and it has really set the standard for Samsung devices in the future. From what we’ve seen of the Galaxy Nexus so far, it could really be a brilliant update to the S2, and perhaps, just perhaps, one of the greatest phones ever? Maybe.

HTC has launched two new Android smartphones. The Desire Z is the company’s first Android-powered Qwerty device since the very first Android phone, the G1. The Desire HD is worldwide version of the Evo that has proven so popular in the US, albeit lacking the 4G connectivity of that device. It’s also not dissimilar in appearance to the HD2. Both phones will be available mid-October, from free on a £35 per month contract.

The Desire Z and HD represent incremental updates over what has gone before. Although both are undoubtedly appealing they are very much in line with a 2010 spec device rather than pointing the way towards what we can expect to see in 2011.

This is most notable in the screen. Due to the AMOLED shortages the screens used here are sLCD, which is clearly inferior in our eyes to the AMOLED display used in the Desire, both in terms of contrast and viewing angle. At a time when Apple, Nokia and Samsung have been impressing with their screen technology this is a disappointment.

Likewise the camera. It has been bumped up to 8 megapixels on both devices, but while HTC was keen to emphasise the number of effects you could apply to a photo there was no suggestion that the actual photos would be of a higher quality in the first place. The HD in particular could easily be dismissed as another Desire/Galaxy S clone; although the Z certainly does fill a niche and should prove a popular handset.

Where both devices score, however, is in the software. Both sport Android 2.2 with HTC’s new Sense software installed. This features an array of nifty tricks including a new navigation app that pre-caches maps so you can continue to use it even when you have no network coverage. The social networking integration goes deeper than ever before, along with significantly improved messaging functions.

HTC has said that it is still assessing which of its existing products will get the new Sense, if any. Android 2.2 will be a prerequisite for it. In addition HTC will be launching the new htcsense.com service that offer, amongst other things a complete backup and remote wipe functionality.

In spite is the lack of any revolutionary hardware features our early impressions were very positive. Though the screens seemed a tad disappointing the design build quality on both was outstanding.

This was especially true of the Desire Z, with its unusual hinged keyboard, partly reminiscent of the Nokia N97. Although keyboard does not feature a dedicated row for the number keys it does feel roomy and easy to use. The HD is the real looker of the two – it doesn’t offer a huge amount over the original Desire, but the extra screen space will prove appealing.

HTC will be ramping up its marketing efforts: its campaign will have a 40% larger budget than that for the Desire.

The Desire HD will be available on all networks apart from O2 in the UK, as well as Sim-free. The Desire Z will initially be available through Vodafone.

HTC Desire Z specs
HTC Desire HD specs

Sony Ericsson has unveiled its latest smartphone, Aspen, a touchscreen device with thumb keyboard, that also gives us our first official sighting of Windows Mobile 6.5.3. It’s what last year’s Windows Mobile 6.5 should have been, finally bringing finger friendly controls to the entire UI.

Further details about the Aspen from the press release:

February 2, London, UK – Today sees the announcement of Sony Ericsson Aspen™, the business mobile phone with green credentials at its core. The newest edition to the successful Sony Ericsson GreenHeart™ portfolio, Sony Ericsson Aspen™, allows easy multi-tasking combining the touch experience and a real QWERTY keyboard. Organise and adapt panels to change during the day and use Slide View for quick access to common features.

With Sony Ericsson Aspen™, view and edit office files easily and comfortably with one touch operation, or just access the internet in one click. The QWERTY keyboard is made for fast and easy typing. Simple email set up allows for a maximized messaging experience on the go. Secure the phone’s contents through the Microsoft MyPhone service, which remotely erases phone data when the handset is lost or stolen.

“Sony Ericsson Aspen™ is the business phone with a conscience, perfect for any consumer or company who want to make a green choice in their daily work life.” Said Quentin Cordier, Global Marketing Manager, Sony Ericsson. “An affordable GreenHeart™ phone with the latest version of Windows Phone, the Sony Ericsson Aspen™ has a rich user interface and powerful productivity tools. But it’s not all about work, stay in touch with the fun parts of life with Media Browser and PlayNow ™, with simple access to social networks and quick and easy access to media files. Find the fun with a-GPS, Google Maps™ and snap pictures with the 3.2megapixel camera.”

Sony Ericsson Aspen™
·         Modern office at your fingertips – latest version of Windows Phone
·         Easy multi-tasking – Sony Ericsson Slide View and customisable panels
·         Maximised message experience – QWERTY keyboard and finger friendly touch experience
·         GreenHeart™ – for a greener choice
·         Stay in touch with the fun parts of life – access fun applications at PlayNow™ such as games and new music
·         Media browser – access music, photos and videos
·         Social network tool (Windows Live™ Messenger, Facebook™)
·         Human curvature design – fits into the palm of the hand

Sony Ericsson Aspen™ supports HSPA 900/2100 and EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, HSPA 850/900/2100 and EDGE 850/900/1800/1900.

Sony Ericsson Aspen™ will be available in selected markets from Q2 in the colours Iconic Black and White Silver.

Looking not unlike Nokia’s E70 is the Motorola Motosplit, pictured in suitably blurry form on Engadget.

It features a Qwerty keyboard split into two halves either side of the screen – and if our experiences with the E70 are anything to go by it will be a love-it-or-hate-it kind of device (with us tending towards the latter). According to Engadget it will be another Snapdragon-toting Android phone and is set for a Q3 launch on AT&T in the US.

Via – Engadget

Just a couple of days to go until the most hyped gadget of the decade is finally unveiled, and we still don’t know what Apple has got planned with its ‘tablet’ device.

iCreate Magazine is doing its best to keep on top of the speculation, with gossip from around the web, plus added insight from its own sources. Click here to find out the latest.