Hasta La Gadget!

Huawei isn’t just unboxing whopping Android phones at CES. Oh no. The Chinese mobile maker is flirting with Microsoft by sticking its toe in the Windows Phone 8 waters. The Ascend W1, its first WP8 device, appears to be a distinctly mid-range smartphone that will be jazzed up with an affordable price tag. Huawei said the W1 will be available in China and Russia initially — “from January 2013″ — with Western Europe, the Middle East, U.S., and other “selected countries” to follow.

While the phone’s specs have the ring of a mid-range device, Huawei is describing the handset as an “entry-level smartphone” — and talks about bringing WP8 to a “much broader audience” (it hasn’t confirmed exact pricing yet). In the budget Android space, the company has used a strategy of offering excellent value for money — via devices such as the Huawei Ascend G300 — to carve out a niche for itself, so it’s possible it’s hoping to repeat this trick with Windows Phone 8.

“The addition of the Ascend W1 to our smartphone portfolio gives consumers access to an even wider range of Huawei smartphones,” said Richard Yu, CEO, Huawei Consumer Business Group, in a statement. “At a price that makes sense to consumers, Ascend W1 underscores our commitment to put smartphones within reach of every consumer, no matter who you are or what you want from your phone.”

The Ascend W1 takes advantage of WP8′s support for multicore chips, with a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon S4 chip lurking under those brightly coloured live tiles (along with an Adreno 305 GPU). But Huawei clearly hasn’t received the missive about WP8′s support for higher resolution displays, because the W1 offers exactly the same amount of pixels as WP7 handsets (480 x 800). Still, a lower-resolution LCD pane is one way for Huawei to keep build costs down.

Beyond the as-yet unspecified but apparently affordable price tag, Huawei is making a fair bit of noise about the battery — which is a quite beefy 1,950mAh — which it says is good for 470 hours of standby time, apparently “the longest among all smartphones in its class” (whatever class that is). Elsewhere, the W1 has a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash; and 4GB of on-board memory, expandable to 32GB via a micro SD card slot.

The handset design looks pretty plain in black but Huawei is also offering bright blue and red/pink colour options, plus white — and claims the design was inspired by a “tropical island” (the camera collar is vaguely reminiscent of something volcanic, to my eye). Device thickness is a not-super-slender 10.15mm.

Photos snapped by Chris Velazco, on the ground at CES.

Samsung’s ATIV Odyssey has been a real noodle-scratcher of a device ever since its existence was first hinted at during Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 launch event. Well, consider that particular veil lifted — Samsung had a near-final version of the Odyssey to play with here at Digital Experience in Las Vegas, and I took the secretive little guy for a spin.

But first, the particulars. Under the Odyssey’s glossy plastic hood is a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor as well as 1GB of RAM. To be quite honest, the screen was nothing to write home about (though that’s really nothing for a device of this caliber) — it’s a 4-inch WVGA Super AMOLED panel, the likes of which you’ve seen many times before.

Couple that with 8GB of internal flash storage, a removable 2,100mAh battery, and a microSD card slot and you’ve got all the makings of a half-decent mid-range Windows Phone. Despite touting the device in a release earlier today, Verizon is still keeping mum on pricing and availability, but I wouldn’t expect that to be the case for much longer.

Since Microsoft has very stringent requirements, most of these lower and mid-range Windows Phones run very similarly. That’s hardly a bad thing — it gives Windows Phone a sense of consistency that’s often lacking from other platforms — but it means that there really isn’t much to expound on here. Swiping between through a homescreen full of ever-blinking live tiles was seamless, and it kept up nicely as I darted in and out of apps.

When it comes to design, the Odyssey won’t come as a shock to anyone who’s manhandled any other mid-range Samsung phone in recent years (oh, and that leak from late last year was dead on). It strikes a fine balance between the round, rather bulky body of Nokia’s Lumia 920, but isn’t quite as slim or as nicely tapered as HTC’s Windows Phone 8X. In many ways it’s a typical Samsung device — lightweight and plasticky, but with a surprisingly sturdy feel. Perhaps the most surprising thing about the Odyssey’s physical design is just how small it feels in your hand; it’s only been a year or two since 4-inch smartphones were the pinnacles of product design.

All things considered, the ATIV Odyssey seems like a neat (if somewhat underwhelming) Windows Phone. Verizon may have a winner on its proverbial hands if they price the thing aggressively enough, but it’s not hard to see how a device like this could easily be overshadowed by more able hardware.

Gizmodo es Español reports on some surprising words by Nokia big chief Stephen Elop. Asked about a potential Android phone in Nokia’s near future, Elop said that “anything is possible”: More »

It isn’t exactly a secret that HTC has been in something of a rut lately. The company, which was once the top Android manufacturer as recently as 2010, has fallen hard in recent years, thanks to the increased competition from the likes of Samsung and Apple. HTC is going to try to turn that around in 2013, with CEO Peter Chou telling the Wall Street Journal that he’s optimistic for the year ahead.

“The worst for HTC has probably passed. 2013 will not be too bad,” he said. Reflecting on why HTC lost ground in this fiercely competitive market, Chou said, “Our competitors were too strong and very resourceful, pouring in lots of money into marketing. We haven’t done enough on the marketing front.” Chou admitted that HTC doesn’t have as much money as Samsung or Apple, but said that doesn’t matter as much as offering unique handsets that get consumers excited.

HTC seems to have succeeded in getting consumers excited with one of its latest handsets, the DROID DNA. The company has also put out a couple stellar Windows Phone 8 handsets, so slowly but surely, HTC is working its way back into the public eye. It seems that there are more than a few consumers out there who want to see HTC make a comeback as well, so the better year HTC is hoping for in 2013 might be more than just a pipe dream.

Chou didn’t specifically say how the company is planning to turn things around, but it sure does have its work cut out for it. 2012 was a great year for Samsung, with the company releasing the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note II to critical acclaim and very strong sales. Samsung is going to be a tough one to beat going into 2013, as the oft-rumored Galaxy S IV and Galaxy Note III are said to be launching this year. HTC has been drawing some significant attention with its rumored M7 handset, though, and if it can keep putting out quality Windows Phone 8 handsets, then 2013 might just mark the comeback some have been waiting for.

Indeed, Chou said in the interview that in 2012, the company learned that it needs to act fast and adapt to market changes as quickly as possible. Moving forward, he says the company will be constantly fine-tuning its sales plan to better position itself in the smartphone market. We shall see if all of that work pays off for HTC in the end, so stay tuned.

HTC’s 2013 resolution: be more innovative is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nokia is planning at least one top-tier Windows Phone using an aluminum body rather than the colorful polycarbonate of the existing Lumia range, with the handset – codenamed Catwalk – due sometime this year. Expected to be both thinner and lighter than the Nokia Lumia 920, the Nokia Catwalk will be part of a three device refresh, according to The Verge‘s sources.

Exact hardware specifications are unclear, though the Catwalk is tipped to have similar internal components as the Lumia 920 it will replace. That would suggest a roughly 4.5-inch display and dualcore processor, along with PureView camera technology and 4G LTE for high-speed connectivity.

Although the Lumia 920 was well received in terms of its overall abilities, the handset’s thickness and weight proved surprising in a marketplace of waifish phones. Part of that was down to the decision to integrate wireless charging, and use a clever suspended-lens feature for optical image stabilization, but the end result was a device that felt chunky and heavy in comparison to the iPhone 5 and other high-end devices.

A switch to aluminum – as Nokia has used before, to good result with phones like the N8 and E7 – would help make the flagship more competitive and add to a premium hand-feel. According to the tipster, the Catwalk will arrive with two other new Lumia devices, as a refresh to the company’s Windows Phone range, though no timescale for their release has been given.

Nokia “Catwalk” to replace Lumia 920 with sleek aluminum body is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.