As Marketplace grows larger it can become increasingly difficult to find the cream of the crop, the best of the best apps.
Electric Pig has decided to save you the trouble of trawling through 65,000 apps by doing it themselves, and have come up with a list which they call the Best Windows Phone Apps of all time: Top 100.
The list contains some established favourites, such as Plants vs Zombies, but I think miss out on some pretty well known good apps, such as 4th and Mayor and Cocktail flow, amongst others.
Just in time for Mobile World Congress, Acer has revealed two new Ice Cream Sandwich-powered smartphones — the Liquid Glow and Acer’s new flagship phone, the CloudMobile. Feeling bilingual? Check out the video below (in Italian) of the CloudMobile in action.
The Liquid Glow runs Ice Cream Sandwich and is powered by a 1-GHz Qualcomm 7227A processor and 512MB of RAM, with 1GB of storage capacity. The phone features a 3.7-inch 800 x 400 WVGA display. Its 5-megapixel camera uses an LED flash and supports panoramic image capture and a touch focus. Owners can expect NFC support in the form of Android Beam, a file sharing app native to Ice Cream Sandwich. The Acer Liquid Glow measures 4.6 x 2.3 x 0.45 inches and weights 4.4 ounces, and will be available in Sakura Pink, Alpine White and Cat’s-eye black.
Fewer details are available about the CloudMobile, which has been described as Acer’s flagship smartphone. The CloudMobile apparently runs on Android 4.0, and boasts a 4.3-inch 1280 x 720 display, Dolby Mobile audio, and a svelte chassis less than 10 millimeters thick. According to Acer, the CloudMobile is the first phone to utilize Acer’s proprietary AcerCloud technology, which allows for “seamless document management.” Engadget writes that the CloudMobile ispowered by a 1.5-GHz dual-core processor (the manufacturer wasn’t specified).
Acer demonstrated the CloudMobile at a press event in Milan, Italy. The folks at Cellular Magazine attended the event and shot a hands-on video with the device. Fair warning: The video is in Italian.
According to a tip received by MobileSyrup, Rogers customers will soon be seeing the SE Xperia Arc S on the shelves. The Arc S is a slight bump from the current Xperia Arc that Rogers now offers with it's 1.4 GHz Qualcomm processor, and it's pretty likely that this will be the last Sony Ericsson branded device to hit North America now that Sony is sole owner of the name and franchisee. The Arc S is a lovely handset, and with Sony releasing a beta version of Ice Cream Sandwich already, it's going to be a fun one to play with.
While it's always just a rumor until Rogers says differently, expect to see the Arc S next week with a possible price point of $30 (CAD) on a 3-year contract, or $475 (CAD) outright.
LG on Thursday unveiled its first quad-core smartphone, the Optimus 4X HD. The handset features a 1.5GHz Tegra 3 processor with a 4.7-inch True HD IPS display and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The Optimus 4X HD will also come equipped with 16GB of internal storage, 1GB of RAM, a 2,150 mAh battery, an 8-megapixel rear camera a and 1.3-megapixel front facing camera. “LG introduced the world’s first Dual-Core smartphone exactly one year ago and today we’re announcing the next milestone,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Mobile. “But speed in itself isn’t what makes LG Optimus 4X HD unique, it’s the benefit we’re bringing to customers with the HD multimedia experience in a mobile form factor.” Even with a quad-core processor, the phone is expected have impressive battery life thanks to NVIDIA’s ”4-PLUS-1″ design, which uses a fifth “companion core” for low processing activities and allows the phone to save battery life. The Optimus 4X HD will make its debut at next week’s Mobile World Congress. Read on for LG’s press release.
LG’S QUAD-CORE SMARTPHONE MAKES DEBUT AT 2012 MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS LG Optimus 4X HD Takes Desktop Performance to the Mobile Space SEOUL, Feb. 23, 2012 – LG today unveiled its first Quad-Core processor smartphone, LG Optimus 4X HD. Combining NVIDIA’s latest 1.5GHz Tegra 3 with True HD IPS display, the LG Optimus 4X HD delivers PC-like performance in the palm of one’s hand. “LG introduced the world’s first Dual-Core smartphone exactly one year ago and today we’re announcing the next milestone,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Mobile Communications Company. “But speed in itself isn’t what makes LG Optimus 4X HD unique, it’s the benefit we’re bringing to customers with the HD multimedia experience in a mobile form factor.” The NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor is the world`s only 4-PLUS-1™ Quad-Core mobile processor designed for high-level multimedia performance but utilizes a fifth battery-saver core to handle less demanding tasks such as active standby and music playback. When running at full speed, the 12-core graphics processing unit (GPU) in Tegra 3 delivers a visually rich experience and console-quality game playability. Equipped with the True HD IPS display, the Optimus 4X HD guarantees the finest viewing experience with high resolution, clarity and no color or shape distortion. The Optimus 4X HD includes 16 GB internal memory and runs on the latest version of Android OS, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Besides the smooth and fast performance, the Optimus 4X HD boasts a 8-megapixel BSI (Backside Illumination) Sensor camera with LED flash and advanced multimedia features to enrich the overall multimedia experience. And LG designers made sure that looks didn’t take a back seat to performance. The 8.9mm slim and sleek smartphone features a “prism-edged” design with enhanced materials and finish. Additional information on the revolutionary new Optimus 4X HD will be available at LG Stand (Hall 8) at MWC 2012 from February 27 to March 1. Key Specifications: o Chipset: 1.5GHz Quad-Core processor (NVIDIA Tegra 3) o Display: 4.7-inch (1280 x 720) True HD IPS o Memory: 16GB eMMC and 1GB LP DDR2 o Camera: 8.0MP BSI Sensor (Rear) and 1.3MP (Front) o OS: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
We've known now for quite some time that it was coming but for all you Droid X owners out there, the v4.5.621.MB810 update is now rolling out to the masses. As noted in the change log, this release covers a lot of bug fixes:
Prevents lockups or resets after the Over the Air (OTA) update.
OTA update notice screen displays the correct estimated update time.
Improved browser security with the Google Security Patch from Android 2.3.6.
Fixed issue where the device may power ON without user interaction.
Resolved possible device resets while playing music.
Adjusted camera settings will be saved, even after the device is powered down.
Reduced Out of Memory errors.
WAV files can be played from Visual Voice Mail.
Device is enabled with the Wireless Alerting System.
Improved stability of Music Player reduces resets.
Shortcuts to applications remain on the device even after applications are moved to the SD card.
Improved connectivity with 3G Mobile Hotspot data connectivity.
Addressed error that replicated thumbnails in message threads.
Corrected errors where Yahoo! mail notifications were not displayed properly.
Reduced duplicate message errors.
Improved ability to access and receive Gmail when the Mobile Hotspot is turned on.
Sorted contact groups.
Device recognizes Multimedia ringtones after purchase.
Button background lighting turns off while in the desktop cradle.
It's not Ice Cream Sandwich sadly but it's a massive update either way. Go ahead and check for software updates, it should be there. If not, sit tight it will be along shortly and don't forget to drop by the Android Central Droid X forums and let us know how it's working out for you when you get it.
Not wanting to feel left out in the flurry of pre-MWC announcements, Motorola has revealed the availability of the international (GSM) RAZR in white in the UK, starting at Phones4U next Thursday, Mar. 1. As you might've guessed, it's the same Motorola RAZR that's been available in the UK since late November, with a funky white trim. Phones4U appears to have scored brief timed exclusivity period with the white RAZR, so it's likely you'll need to pony up for a 1-2 year contract if you want one right away. But if you do manage to snag one between launch day and Mar. 25, you'll be entered into a draw to win tickets for the Snowbombing festival this April in Austria. Phones4U's pre-order page shows the white RAZR as available for free on a number of contracts with O2, Orange and Vodafone. The best deal seems to be a £21.50 per month package with O2, offering 200 minutes, 3000 texts and 500MB, though Orange has triple the minutes and double the data allowance for £28.50 per month.
Here is a 4 minute video comparing the Nokia Lumia 800 and the Nokia Lumia 710. There was a similar video last week but now this one is in English. Even on video the CBD AMOLED makes quite a difference (and the 710 is quite a decent CBD LCD). The 800′s screen where the parts are black just melts in with the phone. It’s difficult to say where the screen begins.
