BlackBerry 10 L Series phone leaked again, still weeks away from launch

Research in Motion's touchscreen BlackBerry 10 handset, the L Series, has been leaked again, this time showing it compared to a BlackBerry Bold 9700. RIM will officially announce BlackBerry 10 and its hardware on January 30 next year.

The L Series BlackBerry 10 phone has been leaked again, this time appearing in CrackBerry.com’s forums, where a handful of pictures showed the phone up close, as well as being compared to a BlackBerry Bold 9700.

Research in Motion’s L Series handset is one of two phones on which it will launch the BlackBerry 10 operating system next year, where it will be joined by the more traditional QWERTY keyboard-equipped N Series.

In the snaps, the L Series — marked as an evaluation unit — looks the same as it did back in September, when both it and the N Series phone last appeared. The long, black chassis remains, while the front has the slight look of Sony’s Xperia range to it, thanks to the edgeless screen. Sitting next to the Bold, it also looks quite long.

The source of the leak hasn’t provided any more information on the specification, but if previous rumors are correct, that’s a 4.2-inch screen with a 1280 x 768 pixel resolution, and a dual-core processor should be hiding inside.

RIM has already announced when the L Series will be made official, as it will be holding an ambitious, global launch event for BlackBerry 10 on January 30 next year, where both phones and the new software will finally make their public debut.

There were concerns RIM would miss the first quarter release date, which it has continually stood by, but according to the company’s COO Kristian Tear, BB10 handsets will on sale within 30 days of that event. This means it’ll make its self-imposed deadline, but only by a whisker.

Despite the fact the OS is still a bit of a mystery, and there are several months to go until we get to try it out, the company’s stock has been performing well; perhaps assisted by BlackBerry 10 gaining government security clearance and RIM drip-feeding us details on new, interesting features such as BBM Voice.

Will the L Series be enough to tempt iOS, Android and even Windows Phone fans away and into RIM’s waiting arms? We’ll find out next year.

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Galaxy Note 2 rumored for European release in next two weeks

When Samsung announced the Galaxy Note 2 back at IFA, an early October launch was hinted at by the company's booth staff, and today the latest round of rumors suggests it could arrive in some parts of Europe even sooner. SamMobile, which has a fairly good track record when it comes to obtaining insider info from the Korean manufacturer, reports that Germany and Italy will get the Note 2 on Sept. 27 and 28 respectively, while most European countries will have to wait until Oct. 1 or 2.

The purported list of release dates is as follows --

France - October 1-2Germany - September 27Italy - September 28Netherlands - October 1-2United Kingdom - October 1-2

So, some possible good news for Germans and Italians, and if the rest of the dates are accurate, most of Western Europe will have its hands on the 5.5-inch device within a couple of weeks. As always, remember to take unconfirmed dates like this with a pinch of salt, but we're certainly crossing our fingers for an earier than expected Note 2 release.

Source SamMobile

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Sony Xperia U ICS update expected in 'next few weeks'

Sony might be preparing to launch a whole new range of smartphones, but it hasn't forgotten about its early 2012 line-up, some of which remains on the rapidly aging Android 2.3 Gingerbread. One such device is the company's leading budget offering, Xperia U, which we reviewed earlier in the year, and which has long been promised an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich. Now it appears Xperia U owners won't have too long left to wait for their Android 4.0 update, as Sony has revealed that the new software will be available in a few weeks time. Here's what the company posted in a post-IFA Q&A on its official blog --

"The ICS rollout for Xperia U will kick-off within the next few weeks and rollout gradually – more information to follow soon!"

That's far from specific, but at least it's a rough timeframe to work with. Now, how about some Jelly Bean updates?

Source: Sony Mobile, via: XperiaBlog

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This week's sidebar poll: Are you interested in a dedicated camera running Android?

Android is a Linux OS -- just like countless other Linux OSs you use without knowing it every day with "not-smart" consumer electronic devices. Because it's easily scalable and simple to modify, Android is a no-brainer way to make these not-so-smart devices a little smarter and add a network-aware user interface to them. This means televisions, Blu-ray players, stereos, and cameras.

Samsung is going about it in a big way with their Galaxy Camera, which looks to be a pretty impressive personal media player with a quality point and shoot camera attached. Nikon is also at the bat, but they look to have built a point and shoot camera first, then added the Android operating system to it rather than build the camera around the OS. There's good to be said about either method, and as always it means a choice for you and me. We love choices.

But are you interested? Is there going to be a market for this type of camera? That's where the poll comes into play. You'll find our polls in the sidebar now, where they won't get lost in the onslaught of Android news and end up buried before you get time to vote. We'll let them run about a week, then come back with the results when we post a new one.

Speaking of results, last week's poll was "Has the patent-infringement lawsuit changed your view of Samsung"? Here's your results --

I'm a bigger fan than before (51.05%; 1428 votes)Nope. It's still the same (41.51%; 1161 votes)I now think less of Samsung (3.79%; 106 votes)Didn't like Samsung before, don't like 'em now (3.65%; 102 votes)

Clearly, most people aren't too affected by the verdict. Be sure vote in this week's poll, which you can find after the break or in the sidebar to the right.

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