December 2011 / January 2012 Roundup

31st January 2012

December is the quietest month of the new for new releases, but things start to get busy again with the CES show in Las Vegas in January.

Nokia

The Nokia Lumia 900 is a big screen Windows smartphone, at the moment heading to AT&T in the US only, but it is likely that we'll see a European version (possibly the Lumia 910) next month. Right at the other end of the scale is the inexpensive Nokia X2-02, a dual-SIM device designed for people with different priorities.

Samsung

The Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus is a lower midrange Android phone, the Samsung Galaxy S Advance is an upper midrange Android phone. If you thought you understood Samsung's new naming convention.. well, you probably don't now. A couple of dual-SIM Galaxy devices are the Samsung Galaxy Y DUOS and Galaxy Y Pro DUOS. Also this month we saw indications that Samsung may merge the Bada and Tizen operating systems.

Motorola

The US-only Motorola DROID 4 is a straight upgrade to the old DROID 3, we hope that this handset will herald a new Milestone 4 worldwide. A cut-down version of the DEFY and DEFY+, the Motorola DEFY Mini is more basic but is actually about the same size as the full fat version. And if the DEFY+ isn't tough enough, UK customers can also get the Motorola DEFY+ JCB Edition. If you want a big screen Android device, but you don't want a big ticket price then the upcoming Motorola MOTOLUXE might be the ticket for you.

Sony

2012 saw the old Sony Ericsson name swept away with two new "Sony" branded devices. The Sony Xperia S is a high end smartphone with a striking design, the slightly bigger Sony Xperia ion is heading exclusively to AT&T in the US.

Other manufacturers

The HTC TITAN II adds 4G support and a better camera to the original TITAN. LG take a sideways step with the fashionable PRADA phone by LG 3.0. Chinese manufacturer Huawei announced the incredibly slim Huawei Ascend P1 and P1 S smartphones. Not a smartphone.. but a smart camera, the Polaroid SC1630 combines a real digital camera with an compact Android tablet. Finally, struggling BlackBerry maker RIM changed CEOs to try to reverse its recent slide in sales.

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