Froyo-running Acer beTouch E140 on the way, priced at 199 euro

Yet another rumored Acer device has just surfaced on an Italian website. We can welcome, unofficially, the Froyo-serving Acer beTouch E140, which is said to show up soon and to be quite affordable.

Acer beTouch E140
Word is the upcoming Acer beTouch E140 is based on the Android 2.2 a.k.a. Froyo and should arrive at the stores on time for Christmas. It is expected to feature a 2.8" QVGA display, a 600MHz processor and multiple connectivity options including support for HSPA, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
By the way, rumor is the inexpensive thing will also pack an infrared port but we guess it's a mistake. Also on board there will be a 3.2MP flash-less camera as well as an FM radio.
The Acer beTouch E140 should start selling soon for 199 euro.

HTC Desire Z and Nokia C7 now available at Vodafone UK

The highly popular QWERTY-fied HTC Desire Z and the 8MP fixed-focus Nokia C7 cameraphone have just arrived at the Vodafone stores across the UK. Both can be had for free, of course, only after signing a contract with the carrier.


The HTC Desire Z is among the still few droids out there to serve Froyo. But what helps it to really stand out from the crowd of Android-driven devices is its QWERTY keyboard. By the way, the messenger is named after the unusual Z hinge of the side-slide keyboard.
The Desire Z, which we reviewed a short while back, is also equipped with a nice (though not AMOLED-nice) 3.7” S-LCD capacitive touchscreen, a good enough 800MHz processor, 512MB RAM and a 5 megapixel autofocus camera capable of shooting 720p HD videos.
If you go for a 25GBP/month 2-year contract with Vodafone UK, you get the HTC Desire Z for 199GBP. And if you can afford to pay 10GBP more a month and sign a 35GBP/month 2-year subscription, Vodafone gives you the smartphone for free.
If that sounds a bit too much to you, you could check out the Nokia C7, which has just made it to Vodafone UK and is more affordable – it comes for free with a new 25GBP/month 2-year agreement or for 99GBP with a 20GBP/month 2-year contract.
The C7 runs the still fresh Symbian^3 and is among the first Nokia handsets featuring an AMOLED capacitive touchscreen (a good one by the way). It packs diverse connectivity options and its fixed-focus snapper can take 8MP stills and 720p HD videos.

Sony Ericsson feeds Eclair to XPERIA X8, it grows new features

XPERIA junior - the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X8 - has joined the X10 party and getting the Android 2.1 Eclair update. Just like the X10 minis, there are some additional improvements to the X8 software.

The Eclair update for Sony Ericsson XPERIA X8 is rolling out (image source)

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X8 uses pretty much the same software package as the XPERIA X10 and X10 mini, so when they get updated, the update for X8 is close behind (and bringing the same improvements).
Here’s a reminder of what those extras are:

• Improved Bluetooth functionality with support for sending and receiving pictures, contacts and more
• New back up and restore application, with extended content back up
• Automatic synchronization of your contact pictures between Facebook and your phone book
• Improved ways of handling pictures, audio, text and numbers in your messages
• Improved web browser

The update is happening gradually - to see if the update for your Sony Ericsson XPERIA X8 is out, check it SI-number (found on the back of the phone) and look it up in the list on the Sony Ericsson Product Blog page.

Quad-speaker Nokia X7-00 leaks on video, runs on Symbian^3

Nokia X7-00 is the next device to join the Symbian^3 gang. A leaked video shows a touch-based device with four speakers and similar hardware and software like the C7.
The video shows only few details about the handset itself but we've also got some closeup shots further down.
Additional information can be unearthed from the Czech forum, which is the source behind the leak. It seems that the Nokia X7-00 processor, graphics and RAM is the same as those of N8.
As you can see Nokia X7-00 also has the similar measurements and screen size, but again the camera department is less than stellar - a fixed-focus 8 megapixel camera plus a dual-LED flash. It's unclear whether the screen will be a ClearBlack AMOLED or the AMOLED used in C7.

Nokia X7-00
Anyway, the most interesting thing about the X7-00 is the four speakers it's got one in each corner. We are sure lots of music geeks will appreciate this.

Nokia running a viral mystery game with a Tron Legacy flavor

Nokia N8 and the upcoming movie Tron Legaxy certainly have a thing going on as a Tron theme has taken over the company's official blog, Facebook, Twitter channel.
The Facebook fanpage has a new profile picture showing the logo of a company called Encom, the company that the character of Jeff Bridges works for in the original movie from 1982.
Next up it's Nokia's Twitter channel, which features some strange tweets in binary and shortly after that a message from Nokia staff claiming they're trying their best to take back the control of the Nokia blog from Encom mainframe.

When you get to the Nokia Nseries blog you can really tell they've got all hands on deck to run a viral ad campaign including their latest Nokia N8 and the upcoming movie Tron Legacy.
The blog looks like it's been hacked and you need to enter a code to unlock some secret content. Now we're not going to ruin it for you, but there's more than one riddles to solve. We got through the first one. If you need tips, check out the HELP links leading to Facebook and Twitter.

Nokia E7 might be delayed until January 2011, costs 700 euro?

Two weeks ago Nokia has reported the QWERTY slider E7 will launch in December. But a popular online retailer lists the E7 for January 2011 availability on a quite hefty price.
Despite Nokia's Twitter announcement, Expansys is listing the E7 on pre-order for 585 pounds (695 euro) and 10 January as a release date.

There is no other official statement from Nokia, so December still might be the launch month. But it could also happen the same way N8 did - the pre-orders were shipped the last day of the month and arrived within the first days of the following.
The price is our biggest concern. According to Nokia, the official price is 500 euro before taxes and that 700 euro seems quite steep to us. Let's hope the things will get to normal when we get closer to the release date.

The PlayStation phone won't run PSP games, still looks cool

The latest rumors about the Sony Ericsson PlayStation Phone is that it won't play PSP games and won't sale under the PlayStation logo. The Android 2.3 running gaming device will be part of the high-end XPERIA family instead.
Yesterday we already reported that the Sony Ericsson PlayStation phone will be unveiled on the 9 December.
But what's so special about this phone then besides the gaming controls and the rumored specs we already covered? Sony Ericsson is said to be preparing a whole line of exclusive games developed by some of the best Sony partners.

Sony Ericsson PlayStation phone
The game distribution will be via separate service or a dedicated section in the Android Market. Whatever Sony Ericsson chooses, the games will be exclusive and compatible only with that particular phone. The average game price is rumored to be sub-10 US dollars.
The tipster who brought all this info says the phone is nowhere near ready, perhaps the launch will take place at the MWC 2011 upcoming February. The tipster also reports Sony Ericsson targets a 500 US dollars retail price with 5 games included.
So it might turn that this rumored PlayStation phone won't be branded as PlayStation, but the gaming factor remains. It will run on the latest Android too, but if it's the PlayStation heritage that warms your heart you can always install the unofficial PlayStation 1 emulator PSX4Droid and play some classics.