Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus gets priced at Rs.16,275

The successor to the original Ace, the Ace Plus was announced amidst much fanfare last month. Now, we’ve got a price tag on this upcoming Android smartphone. Online store seller, Flipkart has priced the Galaxy Ace Plus at a cool Rs.16,275. As a reminder, the Galaxy Ace Plus is powered by a 1 GHz processor, runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, has 3GB user memory and 512 MB of RAM.

The Galaxy Ace Plus

Here are the rest of the specifications of the Galaxy Ace Plus:

• 3.65-inch HVGA TFT Touchscreen with a 320 x 480 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi b/g/n
• GPS with A-GPS support
• Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 5 Megapixel camera with LED flash, WVGA video recording @ 30fps
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Memory expandable up to 32 GB via microSD card
• 3.5 mm handsfree socket

So, that makes us wonder about a few things. A bigger screen, than the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman, but no 720p recording. A smaller price tag, than the Sony Ericsson Neo V, which has a much better pixel resolution as well along with 720p recording. Competitively priced? We don’t really think so. Considering, we have quad-core phones coming soon now and prices of existing phones are dropping, as well; the Galaxy Ace Plus doesn’t have a lot to offer besides a bump in processor speed and a slightly larger screen. The screen resolution definitely leaves a lot to be desired.

This also brings to light the similarly absurdly priced Galaxy Ace Duos. On a comparative note, obviously the Galaxy Ace Plus seems like a better option, but the Duos is a CDMA only phone. The Galaxy Ace was a popular phone, it was well priced and at that moment, there weren't many options in the same budget. But, the Galaxy Ace Plus has a lot of competition now – not only in Android phones, but also in WP phones, like the Nokia Lumia 710, which is similarly spec’d. What do you guys think about the Galaxy Ace Plus at this price point? Does it make for a worthy buy? Let us know in the comments section below.

Sony announces 1GHz dual-core smartphone, the Xperia Sola

Sony Mobile Communications has announced its new Android-powered smartphone, the Xperia Sola as the latest addition to its portfolio of Xperia smartphones. The NFC-enabled Xperia Sola comes equipped with Xperia SmartTags, allowing consumers to change their smartphone’s settings and applications by simply hitting tags. Xperia Sola will be available to consumers globally in black, white and red in the second quarter of 2012. 

Along with the Sola making its smartphone debut exclusively, is Sony’s floating touch UI that lets consumers navigate the web by hovering their finger above the screen, so it acts like a moving curser, without actually having to touch the screen.  Once the desired link is found, it can be highlighted and a simple tap will load the page.  According to the company, floating touch will evolve with better user functionality and applications through software updates and engagement with developers.

Interesting!

Calum MacDougall, Head of Xperia Marketing for Sony Mobile Communications, commented “Xperia sola comes with the power of Sony and a sense of magic with floating touch, giving consumers a fun new way to browse the web and latest technology to show off. With Xperia SmartTags out of the box and access to the latest content through Sony Entertainment Network, Xperia sola is perfect for consumers looking for ease of use and the best in entertainment in a smart and innovative smartphone.”

The Xperia sola is NFC-enabled and comes with two NFC Xperia SmartTags in the box as standard to simplify consumers’ everyday smartphone experiences. By touching an NFC Android smartphone on a SmartTag, a pre-configured profile in the smartphone will launch. The two SmartTags included with Xperia Sola can be personalized with up to 10 commands. The out of the box tag is ready for the living room to turn on Wi-Fi and launch Google news and weather apps, and the other one for the bedroom, which turns on the alarm and switches to silent mode. The Xperia Sola supports NFC pairing, allowing consumers to connect with other NFC-enabled smartphones, applications and services by tapping their smartphones together. 

Now for the specs part, here’s what the Sola comes with: 

• 3.7-inch Reality display with a 854 x 480 pixel resolution
• 1GHz dual core processor
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread (upgrade to ICS in Summer 2012)
• 8GB internal storage
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi
• GPS with A-GPS support, NFC
• Bluetooth with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, 720p video recording
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Memory expandable up to 32 GB via microSD card
• 3.5 mm handsfree socket
• 1320 mAh Lithium - ion battery

Pricing and availability for the Indian sub-region hasn’t been disclosed as of now, but what do you think should the Sola be priced at? Let us know in the comments section below.

Lenovo IdeaTab S2109 teased by FCC, launching with 9.7-inch display this month

Lenovo's been hard at work with various Android phones and tablets so far this year, and here's yet another one that's just popped up in FCC's database. Dubbed the IdeaTab S2109 (or S2109A-F, to be specific), we're told by a reliable source that 'tis an Ice Cream Sandwich tablet assembled by Foxconn, and it'll come with a 9.7-inch, 4:3 IPS display (supplied by Chi Mei), a TI OMAP chip and four powerful SRS-ready speakers as featured on the beefy K2010. The above diagram suggests said slate has a microSD slot accessible from the outside, and if you take a closer look at the product label, you'll see that the device requires a whooping 2.5A input at 5V, which means it'll come with a 12.5W adapter -- a lot higher than many tablets' maximum consumption at 10W (including the new iPad) or below. Here's hoping that this is an indication for a faster charge time.

As for availability, we heard that this S2109 will launch at some point this month, though our shy friend didn't specify which market it'll debut in -- the FCC document lists Germany, Canada, US, India, Russia, Turkmenistan, Mexico, Chile, Japan and China. If Android on a 4:3 screen sounds like your cup of tea then stay tuned for more news.

Apple simplifies its ITC suit against Samsung: drops one patent and several claims from two more

While there's been plenty of legal wrangling between Apple and Samsung in Federal courtrooms lately, it's been awhile since we've had news from the parties' parallel proceedings occurring in the ITC. No longer. Last week, Apple received a favorable outcome when the ITC issued its claim construction order, siding with Apple's interpretations of two patents -- for those who aren't familiar, claim construction is the process by which the judge determines the meaning of specific terms in the claims, and it often has great influence on findings of infringement (or non-infringement). The judge found in favor of Samsung regarding one patent in his claim construction order, however, and now Apple has dropped that patent from the proceedings, along with claims from two of its other patents as well. This latest legal maneuvering by Cupertino is pretty standard fare, as paring down the legal issues is something all courts encourage to make the adjudication process more efficient, and Apple is simply distilling its case down to its strongest arguments. Now that the claim construction's complete, next on the docket is the ITC's evidentiary hearing (read: trial) starting May 31st, and afterwards we'll finally get the ITC's decision. Stay tuned.

Firefox 11 available for download now, ahead of official release

The highly popular Firefox browser has reached its next milestone, version 11. Now, the browser isn’t going to be officially out till Mozilla says it is, but going by the history, Mozilla dumps the final release on the FTP a day or two before the official release date. The latest version 11 binaries are now available for download, but if you prefer to use the auto-update on the browser, you’ll have to wait a little longer before that happens. The official release date for Firefox 11 is set as the 13th of March, 2012. The last major stable release was Firefox 10 back in late January. Eversince the rapid release cycle was adopted, Mozilla has been releasing Firefox updates in quick succession, but it also means that only few changes are made, but these are distinct ones.

Now with more synchronization features for Chrome

Firefox 11 brings a few major changes. One of the new features is the ability to import settings from Google’s Chrome browser. Those Firefox fans who moved to Chrome and want to move back to Firefox, should have things easier now. Another great feature, if you’re used to Firefox on different PCs is the ability to synchronize add-ons. This saves users the trouble of having to install the same add-on different PCs. There are optimizations made to the user interface and support for a protocol SPDY, which is said to offer faster page loading times. There are, of course a ton of bug fixes as well as some tools for developers, including an interesting one called the Page Inspector 3D, which allows users using WebGL hardware to view a web page closely in 3D. 

The Mozilla FTP server finally has the release builds of Firefox 11 for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Neowin has the download links for all the variants. When Firefox 11 is released, Firefox 12, which is expected to be released on the 24th of April, a little more than a month from now will switch to the beta channel and Firefox 13 to the Aurora channel.

Nokia to shut down mobile money business

Nokia’s mobile money was launched in 2010 through a partnership with YES Bank and it later signed up with Union Bank to offer other payment services. In December, last year, Nokia also announced the pan-India launch of its independent Nokia Money service that was brought to the Indian market about two years back. According to a report by The Hindu, the Finnish firm is now all set to exit this mobile money business, which is said to be a global strategy to move out of non-core areas. In India, mobile money has been slowly being accepted, although not a wide scale. Recent development in this space has been the launch of Airtel Money, which has flashed some TV commercials to further push the availability and presence of mobile wallet services.

Nokia to shut mobile payments

The service was also put forth independently under the Nokia Money brand with 2 lakh subscribers while overall it has 1.2 million subscribers considering all three platforms. Based on Obopay's mobile payment platform, it is also launched in other countries.

Obviously, subscribers relying on Nokia Money services will have to opt for other money transfer means. Apparently, Nokia will still continue the service for about 2-3 months, allowing its subscribers to use the money they’ve deposited. By shutting this service, Nokia will also refund subscribers’ registration fees and surrender the licence it has acquired for this service. Apparently, subscribers of Yes Bank and Union may not be affected as the banks will take over the platform. Nokia has about 100 employees working directly for the mobile money business.  Reportedly, Nokia chose not to comment on the matter but one of its partners confirmed the development.

We’ve seen other players in the mobile money space such as Airtel, HDFC, MasterCard and Visa. Nokia which has almost bounced back with its mobile phone segment, if we may say so, probably decides on concentrating on core segments further.

Sony Pepper press shot leaked

Sony’s upcoming smartphone, the MT27i Pepper has been leaked in what looks like an official press image. We had seen the device earlier in leaked images, but now the blurry shots have been replaced by something more visually appealing. As reported by GSMArena, the image has been leaked on a Japanese site by the name, ameblo. What’s also interesting to note is that the Sony Ericsson logo has been replaced by just ‘Sony’, which means that this device is definitely from the future and is going to be unveiled pretty soon. As can be seen in the image below, a few Xperia NFC tags have been placed next to the phone, giving a clear indication that the smartphone will come with an embedded NFC chip. 

Looking good!

Here’s what the rest of the rumoured spec sheet for the Sony MT27i Pepper looks like:

• 3.7-inch display with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels 
• 1GHz dual-core processor with a NovaThor U8500 chipset
• 5MP rear camera
• 720p HD video recording capabilities
• NFC support

From the looks of it, the Pepper looks quite an interesting device. In case you have forgotten, Sony also has the Xperia P and U devices that we’ve already gotten an approximate pricing for. The Pepper looks quite similar in terms of design to these devices, so we’re definitely looking at the right device. The black front and white back looks pretty impressive, but what we have doubts about is the amount of bezel you can see at the bottom. Firstly, the Xperia tag takes up some estate space and then the capacitive buttons take quite a bit of space on the phone itself. So, while it may look pretty long and sleek and all, you’re compromising slightly on the screen size. 

While it’s difficult to decode what’s written, along with the device in Japanese, we can be pretty sure that the Sony Pepper is one device that might be unwrapped in the coming weeks. Till then, what do you guys think about the device - at what price would the Sony Pepper be a decent buy? Let us know in the comments section below.