Running on a version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the Lenovo K800 seems to be headed for the Chinese market originally, as it touted an all Chinese menu until someone changed it to English, giving us hope that it might also see the light of day in Europe, North America and the rest of the world. Similar to the Intel reference model that was being demostrated at CES, the Lenovo K800 will run on an 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2460 processor with 512KB of L2 cache and 512MB RAM, accompanied by a PowerVR SGX 540 GPU clocked at around 400MHz, dual-channel LPDDR2 memory and a 1,900mAH battery. Rewind the clock by a few years, and this is truly an engineering miracle. Other hardware specifications include a 4.5″ at 1280×720 (720p HD) resolution and an 8-megapixel camera at the back.

The 8-megapixel camera on the back also promises to deliver superb quality pictures and 720p video footage. The Lenovo S2 runs on a 1.4GHz single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 platform and is expected to arrive in two versions: one with 512MB of RAM and 8 gigs of internal storage, and another one with a gig of RAM and 16GB of storage.

On the software side, the skin you see allows you to pin app shortcuts to the homescreen and it will also sync your photos to the cloud, but at its core the experience remains Gingerbread-flavored. What interests us more is whether and when the device will get updated to Ice Cream Sandwich and Lenovo hasn’t said anything about that.

The Lenovo S2 will go on sale in China immediately, but we’re yet to heard a definite release date and pricing for other markets.

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Available in either anodized aluminum or solid brass with gold plating (take a guess which is costlier), the sapphire crystal-backed duo comes unlocked with quad-band GSM, and tri-band UMTS / HSDPA radios, so you can stay connected aboard that yacht in St. Tropez.

Source: Engadget

Games Hub will also feature new game add-ons. For example, in the game “Beards & Beaks,” users will be able to purchase additional in-game add-ons using Microsoft Points. Microsoft will also provide deeper parental controls and will offer a new “Fast Async” technology that will improve turn-by-turn and multiplayer games. Read on for a link to Microsoft’s official Windows Team Blog where the company has also listed the next 14 Xbox LIVE titles that will be available for Windows Phone devices.

Apple’s new notification system works thusly: when a new event triggers a notification, one of three things happens. On the lock screen, a notification will appear with an icon representing the associated application positioned to the far left of the notification. The user can either ignore the notification, or slide the icon all the way to the right side of the screen to open the appropriate app. Or, if the device is in use, a banner will display across the top of the display containing the notification. The user can either ignore it or tap it to open the appropriate app. Finally, the old notification UI may be used, causing a pop-up to display at the center of the screen until it is dismissed.

Apple also introduced the iOS Notification Center, a pull-down aggregate of all notifications that is clearly “inspired” by Android. It is an obvious refinement of Google’s notification pane though, and it also allows users to customize the number of notifications each app will display in the Notification Center. It even supports widgets and third-party developers can build their own.

The iOS 5 notification system is, without question, leaps and bounds better than the old iOS notification system. Let’s face it, though — as horrible as iOS notifications have been until now, anything would be better. The system still has plenty of room for improvement however, and unlike Apple’s cut, copy and paste implementation, iOS 5 notifications are not class-leading. Instead, the two-year-old notification UI found in webOS is still iOS’ superior.

WebOS removes the additional layer of complication introduced by the Notification Center, and Android’s notification pane before it. Notifications are represented by a single row of small icons at the bottom of the display. To view a notification after it has been displayed and minimized, the user simply taps the icon. The message then reappears and the user can either open the relevant app by tapping the notification, or dismiss it by swiping the message off the screen to the left or right. The system is incredibly simple, extremely logical and, to quote one Steven P. Jobs, “it just works.”

Another uncharacteristic oversight is Apple’s placement of the notification banner at the top of the display. While the mechanism is infinitely better than then old disruptive notifications, it’s nowhere near as smart as webOS. When a notification pops up at the bottom of a webOS phone, it acts just like an iOS 5 notification and covers part of the UI. Then, however, it is reduced to an icon that pushes the entire UI up and out of the way. This means even though the notification is occupying screen real estate, the user can continue to perform each and every function he or she could if the notification was not on the screen. It also means the notification is still easily accessible from any screen, whenever the user chooses to interact with it; there is no need for a separate drop-down pane to collect notifications.

In iOS 5, the notification banner hangs over the top of the display, obscuring the status bar and the area beneath it. Unfortunately, the area beneath the status bar is where the iOS UI places buttons that control key functions. So, for example, notifications cover most of the send button in the email app or most of the back button in messaging apps or Twitter apps. If a user tries to sneak a tap on those buttons, it is highly likely he or she will instead tap the notification by accident and leave the current app. This, some might argue, is even worse and more disruptive than a pop-up that needs to be dismissed, as seen with the old iOS notifications.

If the user does not immediately interact with the notification, it disappears into the Notification Center. For active smartphone users, this seemingly great notification hub can often become a cluttered mess until various notifications are acted on or dismissed. Apple does give users the ability to customize the number of notifications each app can display in the Notification Center, which is much appreciated, but it is still nowhere near as elegant as a single row of icons that is always visible and easy to interact with. This is what webOS affords.

There are certain areas where Apple’s system does make advancements in the space, such as the ability to customize notification behavior for individual applications. I also very much like that I can open a new message or relevant app without unlocking the device by interacting with a notification on the lock screen. Uncharacteristically, however, the behavior Apple chose for this interaction is contradictory. Elsewhere in the UI, swiping from side to side on a message gives the user the option to delete that message. On the lock screen, that same swipe gesture opens the relevant app, where logic might dictate that a swipe should dismiss notifications that are not of interest.

I really expected more from Apple. And so much more is possible.

Why can’t I dismiss a notification that appears at the top of the screen? Why can’t I dismiss individual notifications on the lock screen? Why can’t multiple notifications appear at once at the top of the screen with a better UI? Why can’t I mark a new email as read simply by interacting with a notification? Why can’t developers have access to APIs that give their users the capability to perform unique interactions with notifications that perform custom functions? All this and more might be coming down the road, but Apple has had far too long and has innovated in far too many other areas for the company to simply catch up in this crucial area of the UX.

I expected innovation.

Sharp has built plenty of Sidekicks before, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see it get in on the Android game and re-enter the U.S. market. We just hope it has more beefy hardware muscle to make any future offerings even more compelling than the already solid Sidekick 4G.

The F-07C can be booted as a tablet running Windows 7 or as a smartphone running the Symbian operating system. It packs a 4″ (600 x 1024) display, a 1.2GHz ATOM CPU, a 5megapixel rear camera, a 0.32megapixel front facing camera, 1GB of RAM, a 32GB SSD for internal storage, WiFi, and Bluetooth.

No word on battery life, which should be the main question since it is running a pretty powerful processor and Windows 7 after all but it’s no surprise if it won’t get you through the day without the aid of a charger. But it’s good to know that with the usage of a dock, the phone can be turned into a mini computer, with HDMI, USB and Ethernet ports.

With smartphones being able to do most of the important functions of a desktop computer while on the go, it doesn’t make sense to have a dual-operating system phone – but it’s good to know that such an option exists if we ever need one.

The Veer (now Veer 4G for AT&T) was originally announced back in February and is a new design for webOS devices. It has a very small form-factor, taking up the approximate area of a credit card. It offers a sliding portrait keyboard below a 2.57-inch, 400 x 320 pixel touchscreen. Eight gigabytes of storage is built-in, though, like other webOS phones, it does not have a microSD slot for expansion.

Despite its diminutive size, HP promises that the Veer provides a full smartphone experience. An 800MHz processor powers the device and it has the latest version of the webOS operating system.

Customers will be able to purchase the Veer 4G in white or black from AT&T on May 15. It will cost $99.99 after rebate with a new two-year agreement.

The G’zOne Commando has all the rugged qualities one would expect from G’zOne device, meeting military spec standards for immersion, rain, shock and dust resistance, vibration, salt fog, humidity, solar radiation, altitude, and low and high temperature storage. The Commando has a 5 megapixel camera complete with autofocus and an LED flash. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS capabilities round out the spec sheet.

The Commando runs Android 2.2 Froyo as its base operating system. On top of that, it has custom software called G’zGEAR that is designed to appeal to the outdoors lifestyle set. An enhanced compass, pedometer, adventure training module, trip recorder, tide monitor, thermometer, sun and moon dial, and star gazing app are included with the G’zGEAR package.

The G’zOne Commando will be available from Verizon Wireless on April 28 for $199.99 with a new two-year agreement.

Here are the main features of the device

* Feather Touch Technology with Capacitive Touch Screen 240 X 320 pixel resolution
* 3.2 MP Camera to turn Moments into Memories
* Pinch to Zoom in and Zoom Out
* Customizable widgets
* Handwriting Recognition
* MP3/MP4
* Applications – Snaptu, Opera Mini Browser, Facebook, Nimbuzz

The phone evidently supports multi touch functionality and can pinch-zoom into pics. The screen resolution is QVGA . A 3.2MP camera rounds up the multimedia aspect of the phone. Mp3 and MP4 playback is also supported. The Zen Flikk M45 will be available for Rs 5000.