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Samsung is planning to launch a new phone in Korea that will enable a clear, well-lit video calls when the users initiates it in a dark environment. The exact functioning is still a mystery but the infrared rays are said to play the important role in the darkness.

The slider phone will come on SK Telecom and features a 2.8-inch AMOLED screen, DMB, 3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, music player, e-dictionary, PictBridge and flashlight.

UPDATE: It will sell for Rs. 1,99,900. Ouch.

First seen in August last year, Sony has brought its thin wonder to India. The 40-inch Bravia ZX1 LCD TVs’ (KLV-40ZX550A) thickest part measures 9.9mm and weighs 15kg. The TV’s picture quality is enhanced by Bravia Engine2 which supports full HD (1920×1080) resolution, Edge LED, 100MHz Motionflow and Image Blur reduction.

There are other features like Live Color creation, 24p Cinema, XMB (Xross Media Bar), Bravia Theatre Sync and Wireless HD. Wireless HD allows the TV to receive the content via the supplied HD media receiver. The wires and cables are connected to the media receiver and the TV wirelessly communicates with the receiver to display images.

Engadget Chinese got their mitts on a picture as well as some info on the unannounced MSI U200. The U200 that sits in between a netbook and notebook is expected to be announced tomorrow.

The specs include a 12-inch screen with 1366×768 pixel LED backlit display, CULV based processor, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, GMA 4500M handling graphics and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n. It weighs 1.4kgs and comes with a 3-cell battery.

It will sell for around $700.

Acer’s DX900 and X960 have hit the retail shelves in many countries across Europe, Middle East and Asia. Both the phones are not a looker but they manage to compete with other WinMo offerings. DX900 is touted as the world’s first dual-SIM smartphone that supports 3G and 2G connections. It also features a 2.8-inch VGA touchscreen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, 3 megapixel camera, microSD card slot and gravity/light sensors.

X960 is similar to DX900 but takes away the dual-SIM advantage and adds camera functionality with a 3.2 megapixel sensor and flashlight.

Come May 17 and Americans will be able to jump in the netbook phenomena at a pocket friendly price. Verizon Wireless will be offering 3G enabled HP Mini 1151NR netbook for as little as $199.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a 2 year mobile broadband plan. The local plans start from $39.99 that gives 250MB of free data transfer or a $59.99 plan with 5GB data transfer. Globetrotters can go for GlobalAccess plans that comes at a price of $129.99 or on pay-per-use model.

The netbook specs include – 10.1-inch screen (1024×576), 1.6GHz N270 processor, 1GB RAM, 80GB HDD, Windows XP OS, Qualcomm Gobi chipset, EV-DO Rev. A, webcam, USB and VGA-out ports and a card reader.

Toshiba in Japan have introduced dynabook SS RX2 notebook that integrates a 512GB SSD. Apart from being the world’s first notebook to ship with a humongous SSD storage, the 12.1-inch notebook is also decently spec’ed. It is powered by a Core 2 Duo SU9400 processor, 3GB RAM and features Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, various I/O ports and a 12 hour battery life.

The laptop comes in two variants, one with preloaded MS Office Suite and the other one without. Pricing starts from a hefty 398,000 Yen ($4172).

Samsung will be bringing a new phone to the Russian market that specifically targets old age users. The C3060R boasts a simple menu, large fonts, large keys and SOS call function. The SOS function can be activated by pressing the red button placed on the side of the phone which reveals five different numbers that can be called during an emergency.

C3060R has a 2.2-inch screen, 1.3MP camera, FM Radio and a WAP browser. It will reach the retail market in June at a price of 6,000 rubles (US$187).

Note: This post has been republished from Samsung Hub. For more Samsung news, head over to Samsung Hub.

A forecaster ringed us today to tell that most of the future gadgets will run on Android. And heck, his prophecy is already turning true! After being ported to netbooks, Android is now integrated on a digital photo frame. Fujitsu and Macnica jointly developed this frame and are currently exhibiting at 12th Embedded Systems Expo (ESEC2009). The frame in its original sense is showing a software for home network based on Android and is also known as Software Platform for Home Network Digital Photo Frame.

The commercialization of the platform or even the gadget is not in sight but the duo successfully managed to showcase a slideshow on a DLNA network. The digital frame was powered by an ARM based Marvell PXA310 chip.

Samsung today introduced its N Series mini-notebooks (netbooks) and R Series notebooks in India. The N Series includes N110, N120, N310 and NC20 netbooks. First is a 10.1-incher N110 that promises to give up to 9.5 hours of run time with its 6-cell battery. It has an Atom N270 processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD and a 93 percent sized keyboard. It will go Rs. 25252.

N120 improves on few things and brings in a full 12-inch notebook sized keyboard to a 10.1-inch netbook. It also has SRS 2.1 speakers with a dedicated sub-woofer and an extra ordinary 10.5 hours of battery life. It is priced at Rs. 26, 327.

N310 caters to the fashion conscious crowd with its pebble shaped design styled by renowned designer Naoto Fukasawa . The netbook is lightest in its class and has a frameless screen and ergonomic design. There’s no word on the price but it will hit the retail shelves next month.

NC20 is different from the rest of the lot as it has a different processor and ups the screen size. The 12.1-inch netbook has a VIA Nano processor onboard along with a gig of RAM and 160GB hard disk storage. It costs Rs. 30,089.

Moving onto the laptops, Samsung outed R522, R518, and R470 models. The 15.6-inch R522 comes in two variants and offers a screen supporting a 16:9 aspect ratio, water resistant keyboard, HDMI and separate USB/eSATA combo port. The notebook pricing starts from Rs. 37,399. R518 is very similar to R522, specs-wise and it starts from Rs. 33,637.

Finally, the R470 is pegged at Rs. 48,364 and sports a 14-inch display, Nvidia GeForce 105M GPU, spill resistant keyboard, HDMI, eSATA and an active USB port that charges USB powered gadgets even when the laptop is turned off.

Legitimate Mac owners are obviously elated with yesterday’s 10.5.7 update but there are other bunch of people who feel the same. Yup, it’s the hackintosh users who run Mac OS on netbooks. Apparently, the new update is being blessed by users as they are reporting an improvement in netbook’s battery life. One user’s netbook battery life seems to have gained 33 percent, more from 3.45hrs to over 5 hours on his 6-cell 4400mAh battery. Another user also reported an extra hour of battery life from the previous 3.30hrs gig.

The topic isn’t populated with replies, so its difficult to confirm this. However, you can give it a try if you use a hackintoshed netbook. Do let us know if you get lucky like these chaps.

Uh oh, the battery hazard monster is back to haunt notebook users. HP has now announced to take back 70,000 notebook batteries that can potentially pose a fire or burn hazard. The lithium-ion batteries came with HP and Compaq laptops or were sold separately from August 2007 till March 2008. The problem seems to be limited to US HP notebook buyers only so there’s not much to worry unless you’ve have got a HP/Compaq laptop from US itself.

The guy who seems to have leaked the Onyx photos is back again with the pictures of Blackberry’s second touchscreen device, the Storm 2. There are no hardware details but the successor looks thinner, has a 3.2 megapixel camera and possibly runs a new touchscreen tech.

Samsung has announced the third phone from Windows Mobile’s highest selling BlackJack franchise. Jack or technically called as i637 is an AT&T exclusive and will take advantage of its 3G capability. The smartphone runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 but Samsung has given the freedom to upgrade it to WinMo 6.5 whenever it comes out.

Other features include 256MB RAM, 3.2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, aGPS with AT&T Navigator, Bluetooth, Windows Media Player 10 and microSD external storage supporting up to 16GB.

The phone will arrive nationwide on May 19 for $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and a 2 year agreement.

Asus has done the honors of unveiling 1005HA in France today. Taking design cues from 1008HA Seashell, they have introduced 1005HA-M and 1005HA-H netbooks. The 1005HA-M is another 10.1-inch netbook that has a 1024×600 resolution LED backlit display. It is powered by a 1.6GHz N270 processor and integrates 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, 1.3MP webcam, Wi-Fi, card reader and USB 2.0 ports. Unlike Eee PC 1008HA, this one boasts a 6-cell removable battery that promised to give a runtime of around 8 hours.

1005HA-H on the other hand, ups the processor, battery life and gives some screen treatment. It brings in a 1.66GHz N280 CPU, ColorShine Glare-type for better color saturation and reduction in glare and a battery pushing the total runtime over 10 hours. Rest of the features are same as 1005HA-M.

The 1005HA-M is priced at 299 euros or just over $400 while 1005HA-H goes for 349 euros ($473).