AT&T announces HTC Vivid and Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket LTE phones, coming on November 6

AT&T has announced their first LTE phone lineup with HTC Vivid and Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket that would be available from November 6. These smartphones uses both the LTE and HSPA+ 4G for a consistently fast connection in and out of LTE areas. The HTC Vivid has dual core 1.2 GHz processor 4.5-inch qHD display and the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket is powered by 1.5 GHz dual core processor and has 4.5-inch SuperAMOLED Plus display. Both these phones run on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).

The HTC Vivid has an 8MP camera with f2.2 28mm wide angle lens for low light photos and 1080p HD video recording at 60 FPS, 16 GB internal memory that is expandable up to 32GB with MicroSD.

The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket comes with an 8MP rear-facing camera with LED flash and 1080p HD video recording and a 2MP front-facing camera, 16 GB internal memory that is expandable up to 32GB with MicroSD.

There are LTE plans include, DataPlus that provides 200 MB of data for just $15 per month with extra 200 MB of data usage at  another  $15. The DataPro provides 2 GB of data for $25 per month with an additional 1 GB of data at $10.

The HTC Vivid and the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket would available from AT&T company-owned retail stores and online Nov. 6 for $199.99 and $249.99 respectively with a 2 year commitment.

Opera Mini 6.5 now available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Symbian S60 and Java Phones

Opera has launched their latest Opera Mini 6.5 with Data Usage view and bookmark import is now available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Symbian S60 and Java Phones. The Opera Mobile 11.5 browser is now also available on Symbian S60. The Data Usage view keeps count of how much data you are spending and saving in total, or for a specific time frame. It is said to save 90% of data cost. The Opera Mini and Mobile for Android was launched last month.

The data tracker is located under the “Help” menu that gets you total usage and also temporary usage. You also add bookmarks or new Speed Dial shortcuts for easy access to your most used website in the new version. The cost-saving compression is always turned on in the Opera Mini and you can turn off this feature in the Opera Mobile.

Download Opera Mini 6.5 for iPhone from the Apple iTunes Store. Download the app for BlackBerry, Symbian S60 and Java Phones just by heading to m.opera.com from your device.

Limited Edition Porsche Design P’9981 BlackBerry Unveiled

RIM and Porsche took off the wraps from the P’9981 today. The phone is  a limited edition Blackberry OS7 based smartphone to be sold only at select Porsche dealerships.

What sets apart the phone ? The forged stainless steel frame, hand-wrapped leather back cover, sculpted QWERTY keyboard, and “crystal clear touch display.” It will ship with an exclusive Porsche Design UI and a bespoke Wikitude World Browser augmented reality app experience and also premium Blackberry PINs. The spec sheet includes a 1.2Ghz processor , NFC capabilities , microSD card , 8GB of onboard space and HD video recording. The phone is expected to sell for around $2000.

Motorola Droid 4 spotted in the wild

Droid-Life have got their hands on a photograph of a handset said to be the Motorola Droid 4. The Android based smartphone comes with a slide out 5 row QWERTY keyboard. The design is highly inspired by the recently launched Droid RAZR.

The phone is running Android Gingerbread 2.3.5 but should hopefully get an update to Ice Cream Sandwich soon after launch. Tentative specs include 4″ screen , HD 1080p video recording. A front facing camera is present but the Droid has lost its removable battery. The phone is said to support LTE connectivity alongside Webtop functionality. The phone should be announced in time for Christmas.

[Via - Droid Life]

Nokia Kinetic concept phone with flexible display hands-on

Nokia is demoing a concept phone with flexible display at Nokia World 2011 in London. The Nokia Kinetic by Nokia Research division works by bending and twisting the device in each corner in order to register input.

The Nokia Kinetic is a landscape device with two working applications, Music and Pictures, no doubt created as proof of concepts. For example bending in the device towards you will open the application.

Below is a video demo of the Nokia Kinetic and how it works. There are currently no plans to bring this screen technology to the market but this is merely a sneak into what Nokia has in store for us.

iOS developers noted to make more profit from app sales than Google makes from its mobile business

Adhering to Google’s third-quarter earnings report in the previous week, David Barnard, founder of App Cubby, established an intriguing observation on his company’s blog, Google declared a run rate of $2.5 billion for its cellular ad revenue based on third-quarter earnings, up from $1 billion a year previously.

While that feat is extraordinary, Barnard stated that Apple paid developers about $500 million between July 7th and October 4th for a run rate of $2 billion. Adding to that the money third-party ad networks like Milennial Media and Admob pay out to iOS developers over the course of a year, and “the iOS developer run rate is likely higher, maybe even significantly higher, than Google’s mobile run rate.” This means that developers who figure and retail their apps for Apple’s iOS platform will, on a whole, make lots more money over the next year than Google will earn from its complete mobile business.

Source: BGR

Co-founder of SIRI, Kittlaus departs from Apple

As per a new report that has come in, claims have been made that Dag Kittlaus (co-founder of Siri), who was in charge of overseeing Apple’s augmentation of the service, has departed from the Cupertino, Calif.-based company as the iPhone 4S is in the market and ready for sale.

Siri – is a personal assistant application for iOS, was founded in 2007 by Dag Kittlaus (CEO), Adam Cheyer (VP Engineering), and Tom Gruber (CTO/VP Design), mutually with Norman Winarsky from SRI International‘s venture group. It has been insinuated that Apple amassed Siri for a whopping $121 million. Albeit the Siri team at Apple has departed with a talented leader, other executives that played a vital role in the progress of the app will still be at Apple.

As per All Things Digital, Kittlaus departed from Apple, right after the iPhone 4S was released previously this month. The reason that is given is that Kittlaus wants to spend more time with his family in Chicago and to set up newer ideas, reported by AllThingsDigital.

The crux of the Apple’s iPhone 4S, Siri aids users in sending e-mails, placing calls; search the Web, to give out voice instructions to the iPhone, which are then processed by the service.

Source: AllthingsD