Consumer Electronics Show 2012 proved to be the biggest platform for promotion of Android and Android-based devices. It was a power show for the existing players in the Android smartphone market and a number of new entrants gave a signal of the next big things coming from their camps. The market of smartphones is going to be even bigger in 2012. CES gave a glimpse of innovations and trends in the smartphone segment.
Take a look at top 10 smartphones showcased at the event.
Huawei unveiled its latest smartphone, which is also being touted as the world's slimmest Android smartphone. The Huawei Ascend P1 S is just 6.68 mm thick and has a 10.9-cm (4.3-inch) super AMOLED touchscreen. The screen of the phone has a Gorilla Glass panel on the front but not the Gorilla Glass 2, which was revealed earlier this week. The device is powered by a dual-core TI OMAP 4460 Cortext-A9 CPU at 1.5 GHz. The phone runs the latest Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. The handset is available in metallic black, ceramic white and cherry-blossom pink. The second model of the phone Huawei Ascend P2 has the same functionality but has a slightly thicker frame at 7.69 mm. It is expected that the models will officially hit the market in the second quarter of 2012.
Lenovo unveiled its new Android-based smartphone S2 at the Consumer Electronics Show 2012. The firm has not yet announced the pricing or the availability of the phone. However, it will be made available in China soon. The Lenovo S2 has 9.7-cm (3.8-inch) touchscreen and runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. The smartphone is powered by dual core 1.4 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 mobile processor and has rounded top and bottom edges. With its new offering, Lenovo also gives the options to its users to get different configurations even for the smartphone. The device will be available in an 8 GB version with 512 MB RAM and a 16 GB version with 1 GB RAM, just like laptops.
This device is likely to make a mark of its own because it is incredibly responsive to touch. It features an 8-megapixel camera capable of 1080p video capture. It includes a 1830mAh battery, microSD slot loaded with a 16GB card to complement the 4GB of internal storage. This Android smartphone runs on a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S3 processor that's bolstered by 1GB of RAM.
The LG Viper is amongst the first LTE phones from Sprint. The device sports a candy bar design with a trim profile and rectangular shape. It features Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), a 1.2 dual-core GHz processor, a 5-megapixel camera around back, a second front-facing camera, and support for NFC Google Wallet.
- Motorla DROID 4 On Verizon
Motorola has unveiled the fourth
generation of its Droid Android smartphone. It is a 4G LTE device
that sports a 10.2-cm (4-inch) qHD display. This new offering from
Motorola resembles the Droid RAZR, with the only exception being the
presence of a full QWERTY keyboard. It is worth mentioning here that
the Droid RAZR was unveiled by the company in November, but its hype
was completely overshadowed by Samsung's Galaxy Nexus that includes
Android Ice Cream Sandwich. With Droid 4, the company aims to target
the Android phone fans who always wished for a physical keyboard. The
smartphone is 1.3-cm (0.5-inches) thick and comes with a dual-core
1.2-GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel camera, 16GB of
internal storage and 4G LTE.
Motorola's Defy Mini packs a 8.1-cm (3.2-inch) 480 x 320 display, 600MHz processor and a mere 3-megapixel camera an comes wrapped in a ruggedised casing with Gorilla Glass fascia. It is a smaller device with 109 x 58.5 x 12.55 mm dimensions and weighs 107g, but accommodates a larger 1650 mAh battery along with Bluetooth 2.1, WiFi b/g/n (with WiFi Direct support) and an FM radio. It too has a VGA front-facing camera, dual-band HSDPA and quadband EDGE. The smartphone runs on Android 2.3 operating system(OS).
Sony's new handset will run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and is expected to receive the Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) update by the second half of 2012. The specs of the device include a 10.9-cm (4.3-inch) HD display with a resolution of 1280 x 720, 1.5GHz dual-core processor with a MSM8260 chipset, 12 megapixel camera with Sony Exmor R sensor and 1080p video recording capabilities, 32GB internal memory. The smartphone weighs 144g.
Here is another offering from Viewsonic for CES visitors this year. The new Viewphone 3 is an Android 2.3-powered smartphone, which offers dual-SIM capability at low price point of $279 unlocked. This 8.9-cm (3.5-inch) device comes with an 800 MHz single-core ARM Cortex A8 processor. There's also an HSDPA connectivity along with WiFi and Bluetooth. The dual SIM feature can be used to keep business separate from personal calls. A recent ad for the device suggests one SIM card for business calls and one for personal to allow for more "personal freedom and privacy." It is expected to hit the Latin American market later this quarter, and it will be the first Viewsonic phone there.
Lenovo has introduced the new K800, an Android powered smartphone, which is the first device to get Intel's Medfield SoC chip. The Android Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone runs on Intel's Atom Z2460 and comes with Lenovo's LeOS customised skin. The Lenovo K800 comes with an 8mp shooter at the back with dual LED flash, a front camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS and WiDi (Wireless Display).
According to Fujitsu and partner Toshiba, the ARROWS is the thinnest smartphone that measures a mere 6.7mm thick. The other specs of the device include a 10.2-cm (4-inch) touchscreen display with WVGA (800 x 480 pixel) resolution, 1GB of built-in storage teamed up with a single-core Qualcomm 1.4GHz processor, and a 1400mAh battery.Tha smartphone runs on Android OS.
