Samsung Galaxy III, Skype & InstaCam for Windows Phone, Blackberry Resurrection?

Smartphone Briefs

By Chris Coleman|@PhoneKnack

Reports have surfaced that the latest edition to the Samsung Galaxy family, the Samsung Galaxy III will measure in at a relatively slim size of  7 mm. The Droid RAZR, which is currently one of the thinnest phones on the market measures in at 7.1 mm, so you can imagine how thin we are talking.

The Samsung Galaxy III is rumored to be released this upcoming May and will feature a 8megapixel rear camera and 2megapixel front-facing camera. Look for the device to run on Google’s latest operating system, Android 4.0(Ice Cream Sandwich). Multiple reports have cited that the Galaxy III will sport 2GB of RAM, have a quad core processor, and will also be 4G LTE compatible.

If this news is all true, the Samsung Galaxy III will be a hard phone to beat this year.

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Titan II and Lumia 900 set launch date, Xbox games coming to other platforms? Google Music Updated

Smartphone Briefs

By Chris Coleman|@PhoneKnack

AT&T is hitting the ground running in 2012, opening the year with two Windows Phones. Both the HTC Titan II and the Nokia Lumia 900 are hitting shelves on March 18th. The HTC Titan II can be yours for $199.99 on a new two-year contract. It features a whooping 4.7 inch screen, a 16megapixel camera, 1.5 GHz processor, and will run on AT&T’s LTE(4G) network. The Nokia Lumia 900 on the other hand will be only $99.99 but still gives the Titan II a run for it’s money. The Lumia has a slightly smaller 4.3 inch screen, with a 8megapixel camera on the back, and a 1.4 GHz processor, however, it has a larger battery compared to the Titan II. Like the Titan II, the Lumia is also compatible with AT&T’s LTE(4G) network.

This year is starting off very well for Microsoft and their Windows Phone line, look for them to continue to make a push in the smartphone market throughout the rest of this year

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Temple Run to land on Android, Instagram coming to WP7? Samsung will perform live magic show to highlight RAZR MAXX battery life

Smartphone Briefs

By Chris Coleman|@PhoneKnack

The hit iOS game, Temple Run will be making its way to Android this year, says creator, Imangi Studios. The game developers took to their Facebook page  posting a simple status saying, “On a (Samsung) Galaxy not-so-far away. Temple Run Android coming February 2012. We’re so excited to announce this and appreciate all of our fans’ support across both platforms!” The post has accumulated over 1,000 comments and over 6,000 likes showing that Android users are more then ready for Temple Run to make the jump. Temple Run will be debuting in the Android market in February. Now all we need is for Instagram to reveal a set date to join the Android Market and we will be set for the year.

Bil Simser has been working on an unofficial  Instagram program for Windows Phone, titled Metrogram. If you do not know, Instagram is a popular photo app exclusively for the iOS (iPhone, iPod, iPad, etc) that allows you to take pictures and add filters to them. You can then share them with your Instagram followers as well as upload them to Twitter or Facebook. It is unknown if Instagram will accept the development of the Windows Phone app as Bil Simser’s Metrogram program is an unofficial version of the original Instagram application.

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TECH the HALLS

Electronics gifts don’t have to be budget-busters

by George Heymann

Technology-Headlines

Despite the downturn in the economy, early polling indicates that a majority of consumers — 52 percent — plan to spend the same or more for gifts this holiday season, according to a recent ICM Research report.

Last year, nearly a third of U.S. consumers’ holiday gift-spending budget went to consumer electronics.

I don’t know who the folks are that participated in the ICM poll, but most of my friends and associates have a more conservative budget this holiday season. Keeping in mind that many of us will need to spend less, I wanted to share my picks for hot tech gifts that won’t break the bank or your budget. Happy Holidays!

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Virtual currencies proving popular with gamers

by A. Montaqim

Technology Market

The presence of virtual currencies within games is one of the main reasons behind the popularity and monetization success of in-app purchases, according to new research by Distimo. “Some 35% of the 300 most popular free games in June use some sort of virtual currencies to monetize in the Apple App Store for iPhone,” it said.

Distimo’s report covers the Apple App Store for iPad, Apple App Store for iPhone, Apple Mac App Store, BlackBerry App World, GetJar, Google Android Market, Nokia Ovi Store, Palm App Catalog, and Windows Phone 7 Marketplace in the United States in June 2011.

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Mobile security software will be essential for smartphone users in the near future

by George Heymann

techeadlines@gmail.com

It’s unfortunate but the time is rapidly approaching where installing some type of mobile security software will be essential to the operation of a smartphone. Several well publicized security breaches in the news recently including attacks on Sony, Citibank, Discover have security and malware on the radar for many consumers.

On the mobile side, Google has had to remove dozens of malware applications that were introduced to the Android Market. iOS has been affected to a lesser degree but hasn’t been immune from Malware. Security experts Stonesoft and McAfee are both forecasting that sophisticated malware attacks to iOS will increase as mobile continues to grow and additional attention is focused on popular smartphones.

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Microsoft previews next release of Windows Phone

by John Roberts

Technology Market

Microsoft today previewed the next major release of Windows Phone, code-named “Mango”, through a series of media events around the world. “Mango” will deliver more than 500 new features to push the boundaries of the smartphone experience around communications, apps and the Internet.

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70+ High Quality Wallpapers for Windows Phone 7


by George Heymann

techeadlines@gmail.com

Deviant Art member VanSoaked has put together a collection of 70+ high quality wallpapers that have been scaled and cropped to the exact resolution for WP7 (800×480). Don’t have a Windows Phone? No problem the images can easily be resized using your favorite image editor to work with most phones. Thumbnail preview of the entire collection after the break.

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