HTC Legend will be available in the UK exclusively via Vodafone, that’s not willing to share HTC Hero’s successor with other local carriers. Meanwhile, as we’ve informed you here, the device is already sold in Eastern Europe, Romania through local retailers for almost $600. We bet that you can get a much better price in the UK, specially due to contracts.

Reasons to buy this smartphone? Sleek unibody design, a bright AMOLED display, brushed metal finish, Android 2.1, Sense UI, tons of memory, all the connectivity and sensors you can imagine and much more.

[via phandroid]

After briefly checking out prototypes of the ASUS and LG Windows Phone 7 Series devices, it’s time for Samsung to show such a smartphone. This happened during MIX10, courtesy of Microsoft, also unveiling its Windows Phone Marketplace and extra info concerning the new mobile platform.

The Samsung WP 7 handset looks pretty neat and reminds us of an Omnia HD i8910, at least design-wise. Reportedly, the newcomer sports a bright display and a great camera. We expect a Super AMOLED screen to be on board, plus a camera to match the performance of the Omnia HD, so 8 megapixels, autofocus and HD recording should be a go.

Word has it that the Samsung Windows Phone 7 Series device will hit the market before the year end, but till then you can check out a video showing all three handset running the new Microsoft platform, after the break:

[via Unwired View]

The Windows Phone 7 apps are already getting the hype of their life, even if the WP Marketplace isn’t even launched yet, so the App Store should start feeling a little competition about now. We’ve recently learned that a bunch of Microsoft employees working on Windows Phone 7 are leaving the team and starting companies that make apps FOR the platform.

Leading the new wave of departures is Microsoft Program Manager Mel Sampat, one of the people responsible with the Windows Mobile blog and the Calendar interface in WP 7. He left MS and founded mist labs, a company that will help big firms port their iPhone apps over to Windows Phone 7, while also making a couple of new software as well.

It’s also likely that mist labs will make apps for other platforms, too. Mel Sampat is accompanied by 6 more former Microsoft employees, who want a piece of the upcoming profit pie. How much time do you think it’ll take for the Windows Phone Marketplace to reach the level of the Apple App Store?

[via mobilecrunch]

We all know that webOS is quite a neat platform to play with on your Palm handset, but their advertising is poor to say the least. Now, Palm changed direction, as far as promotion is concerned, moving on from the creepiness of the first ad with the almost witch-like lady to something more active and “fly”:

There’s also a new slogan for webOS devices: “Life moves fast. Don’t miss a thing”. As you can see, the ad focuses on notification and contact management, so the slogan fits the spots perfectly.

Also, we have to mention that the commercial is not bad at all, but still it’s far from Apple’s way of doing things, or Nokia’s brilliant approach.

[via mobilecrunch]

As you might already know, Microsoft’s MIX10 event has kicked off and this was the perfect occasion for the Redmond giant to unveil its brand new Windows Phone Marketplace for Windows Phone 7 Series. The app store is set to debut together with the new platform and the phones that run it.

WP Marketplace offers support for credit card purchase, operator billings and even includes ad supported content, something Google and Apple are very familiar with. A try-before-you-buy scheme is also scheduled to be applied to this service, a bit similar to the one in Android Market.

The new Marketplace looks very neat and resembles the new mobile OS a great deal, providing a panoramic view and allowing the user to browse categories and titles with ease. Featured items are also easily viewable, as well as ratings, reviews, screenshots and pricing. Frequently used items are also kept close to the user thanks to the intuitive UI.

More details can be found in Engadget’s piece over here.

[via engadget]

Android is expected to increase in popularity so not only we’ll be seeing tons of handsets and even netbooks launched with it as their default OS, but also the platform is getting ported to WM phones. Among those there’s the HTC Touch Pro2, recently a member of the “gang” of Windows Mobile devices that received an Android port.

We have to mention from the get go that this port made the GPS and Bluetooth unable to function on HTC Touch Pro2 running Android, but everything else is in its place, stuff like the accelerometer, WiFi, data connectivity, Android browser and much more. The video you can see below shows the web browsing experience with the Android browser on Touch Pro2, but also how an app based on the accelerometer runs on the device.

The app is Urban Spoon, in case you know it and we have to mention that the browser on this platform supports landscape viewing, while the Home screen moves great, totally lag-free. Shortcuts can be created, widgets can be moved and bookmarks can be made. Apps can be downloaded and installed via Android Market, so this port will make you forget about using Windows Mobile on this HTC too soon.

[via dailymobile]

Romanian site Mobilissimo.ro managed to uncover that the HTC Hero follow-up, HTC Legend is already selling in Eastern Europe, Romania to be more precise. Apparently this is no legend (see what we did here?), since the device is already in the portofolio of some local retailers, going for EUR 340 plus taxes.

Add a bunch of extra fees to this initial price, convert it and you’ll get around $575, which is quite a lot for a smartphone that’s not as good as the long awaited HTC Desire. We’ve previously heard that this handset was coming earlier than estimated (April), but hitting the Eastern side of Europe this early is unexpected.

What do you get for the price that equals a well-specced iPad? Well, HTC Legend packs a 3.2 inch AMOLED capacitive touch display, 384MB RAM, 512MB ROM, HSDPA 7.2 Mbps connectivity, WiFi, the Sense interface, an optical trackball and Android 2.1.

Beneath the case there’s a 600 Mhz Qualcomm MSM 7227 CPU and the device also incorporates a 5 megapixel camera wit autofocus, LED flash and geotagging. When will this product hit the rest of Europe and the US, too?

[via Mobilissimo.ro]

South Korean handset maker Pantech recently introduced a handset dubbed Webholic and also known as Pantech IM-U570K. The device will be available via local carrier KT and it comes with a widescreen touch display and a digital TV tuner with T-DMB support.

On board of the handset you’ll find Bluetooth support, WLAN, WCDMA and GSM connectivity and a 3 megapixel camera, plus a microSD card slot and VoIP support.

[via mobile review]

Samsung has just confirmed the existence and approaching launch of its 3D phone, complete with an AMOLED touch display. We’re guessing that the device will be announced at CTIA and we know that its screen will support 3D stereoscopic images.

Samsung is also supposed to announce a rugged clamshell handset, a version of the Rugby model sold on AT&T right now. Both phones are shown on one of Samsung’s new sites, which is pretty much a confirmation.

They’re accompanied by the Blue Earth and AMOLED Beam models, plus you should know that the company has uploaded videos of the handsets, showing their features in a pretty funny way. Don’t fret if the vids are in Korean, since they’re pretty clear:

[via samsunghub]

Samsung and AT&T have just announced two new handsets, coming to the carrier’s portofolio soon. We’re talking about Samsung Sunburst (to the right in the image below) and the Strive model (left). The first is also known as SGH-A697 and it’s a full touchscreen handset, while Strive is dubbed SGH-A687 and uses a vertical sliding QWERTY keyboard.

Both will hit AT&T stores on March 21st. Samsung Sunburst is sleek and features a “futuristic black and chrome design”, plus we learn that the device packs a 3 inch resistive touch display, a 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0 and preloaded AT&T services. Smart Unlock is also on board, as well as a HTML browser with finger zoom and social networking.

Strive is some sort of successor to the Propel models and we learn that it’ll be available in two colors: black/silver and purple/charcoal. It comes with a 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0, e-mail and AT&T services. Sunburst goes for $39.99 with a 2 year contract and $50 mail in rebate, while Strive goes for $19.99, also with a 2 year contract.

[via samsunghub]