If you know the Samsung Galaxy R handset, then you’ll recognize its design in the just announced Samsung Galaxy M handset, that went official in Korea. The shell remains the same and reminds me more of a Wave series handset thanks to the metallic case, rather than the usual plasticky Galaxy family.



Samsung Galaxy M comes with a 4 inch Super AMOLED display, that replaces the Super Clear LCD screen on the Galaxy R model. Also, the newcomer swaps a dual core Tegra 2 processor for a single core 1 GHz unit and the camera goes down to 3 megapixels instead of 5. The Galaxy M is a Gingerbread handset, one with a waistline that measures a bit under 10mm and also packing a TV tuner, a metallic body and Bluetooth 3.0. The price expected here is around 0 and 3 color versions will be available: Platinum Silver, Blue Black and Lavender Pink.

The specs of this new Galaxy series phone also include 4GB of internal memory and a 1650 mAh battery. I’m really wondering if the price tag of 0 isn’t a bit too much for a single core smartphone, considering the alternatives…

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We’ve had our share of leaks and prototypes reaching the web recently and LG is no exception from the rule, with one of their new Windows Phone units getting pictured below. This is a mere pre-production unit, as proved by those unfinished capacitive buttons below the display. This device certainly looks like a big evolution from the likes of the LG Optimus 7.



There will be a lot of leaks in the following days, as we get closer and closer to CES 2012 and we expect the unveiling of a bunch of new HTC, Samsung, LG and Motorola phones. Last year ended with leaks and rumors concerning the LG Fantasy Windows Phone, but this seems to be a different device, in case you’re wondering. The buttons on the front side confirm we’re dealing with a pre-production unit here, one that sports a pretty large display, maybe even in the 4.3 inch range.

I also noticed that the handset is rather squared, so it’s not the typical LG design, but rather something that makes me think about Sony Ericsson for some reason. There’s a front facing camera on the handset and I wonder whether or not this is a Windows Phone Tango unit that will be announced at CES 2012 or MWC 2012.

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Motorola started the year in full force, by unveiling two new handsets that are both elegant and affordable. These are the Motorola Motoluxe and Motorola Defy Mini and they’re expected to arrive this spring in Europe, China and Latin America.



These are both Android 2.3 Gingerbread handsets, with Motoluxe being a slim touchscreen handset, while the Defy Mini is a dustproof unit that’s also water resistant. It appears that the Motoblur UI was turned into the MotoSwitch interface, that changes the way the user manages his life. There’s a Social Graph feature included, that provides quick access to the most important contacts by making the people you talk to more often have bigger and bigger icons.

Motorola Defy Mini uses a 3.2 inch TFT touchscreen display with 320 x 480 pixel resolution, Gorilla Glass protection, a 600 MH CPU and 512MB of RAM. There’s also a microSD card slot on board and the Gingerbread version here is Android 2.3.6. 3G, WiFi, DLNA, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, a 3.15MP camera with LED flash and a 1,650 mAh battery round up the specs list.



Motorola Motoluxe is a mid-end handset with a 4 inch touchscreen with a 480 x 854 pixel resolution, an 800 MHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 1GB of ROM, a microSD card slot and an Adreno 200 GPU. 3G is also supported, WiFi too, DLNA as well, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS and an 8 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash.

Motoluxe measures 9.9mm and uses a 1,400 mAh battery to juice up the unit.

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LG Spectrum is a handset that has just been confirmed by its maker and it seems that it will be showcased next week, at CES 2012. We’re dealing here with a pretty powerful smartphone, one that’s not so far from the LG Optimus LTE unit unveiled late last year.



This newcomer is said to feature a 4.5 inch True HD IPS display, a dual core 1.5GHz processor of the Qualcomm Snapdragon king and 1GB of RAM. 4GB of internal memory, an 8 megapixel camera and 1.3MP cam upfront fill in the blanks of the specs list. LG Spectrum will come to Verizon, supporting both Bluetooth 3.0 and 4G LTE connectivity via the carrier’s services.

Spectrum only runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread for now, but I’m sure it will get Ice Cream Sandwich in the following months. I’m not sure what battery we’ll see here, so it’s either a 1830 mAh unit, or maybe you want to get the optional 3000 mAh unit, to juice up this LTE device. Expect a Verizon launch on January 19th and a CES showcasing next week.

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Apple’s iPhone 4S is a sought after item all over the world, but in China it has yet to be launched, so it’s coming on January 13, together with a debut in 21 other countries. The locals must not fear the dreaded Friday 13th launch date, so they let the iPhone 4S be launched on that day.



This fifth gen iPhone has been a best seller for the company, both as Steve Jobs’ swan song and as the first dual core handset from Apple and probably the most potent cameraphone out there. The phone will be launched in countries such as Bolivia, the Cayman Islands and Botswana, as well as a couple more locations. Apple didn’t provide exact launch prices for each country, but instead listed the US pricing only, so we have no idea how much money the people who just received the 4S will have to spend.

What’s to remember here is the excitement of Apple when entering the Chinese market with this new iPhone. Customers response is quoted as off the charts, by Apple CEO Tim Cook, who made a statement on this debut this week. This Chinese launch takes the iPhone 4S to a total of 90 countries and counting, making this handset the fastest rollout ever.

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