Mobile Phone News

South Korean archrivals Samsung and LG have both come clean with their second-quarter earnings this week. While there’s still black ink across the board, LG suffered a 33 percent decline in net profit year-over-year, without doubt due in large part to a little bit of bleeding continue in the giant mobile division where they’ve posted a year-over-year loss “due to investment in R&D and expansion of channels in emerging markets for future development.” Samsung, meanwhile, saw a 7.2 percent profit margin in its mobile business and a respectable 22 percent year-over-year improvement in shipments, but it came at the cost of higher price pressures — margins are razor-thin for these guys, and they seem to be getting even smaller. The company ends on a positive note by saying that the Galaxy S series and the Wave should help push it through the third quarter, but considering how these guys flood the low end (read: the part of the market where it’s especially difficult to make a buck) with dozens of devices every year, it seems like it’s plan to take superhuman efficiency to keep shareholders smiling.

LG, Samsung report earnings, phone businesses not in perfect health originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Though Samsung has developed a near-legendary reputation for giving its phones silly names, it turns out that “Intensity II” is surprisingly appropriate in a way: this thing’s got an infrared camera. Or at least the 1.3 megapixel shooter has an infrared mode, which should make it unusually adept at taking pictures of things that people never intended to be captured for posterity. Like its predecessor, the Intensity II has a slide-out landscape QWERTY keyboard paired with a numeric keypad in front; you’ve got a 2.2-inch QVGA screen and microSD expansion up to 32GB, perfect for those thousands of night shots you’ll without doubt be taking. It’s available today for $49.99 on contract after rebate in your choice of silver or blue.

Continue reading Samsung Intensity II descends on Verizon

If you think this dynamic duo is running Android, well… think again! Turns out Moto apparently isn’t abandoning its Google-free low end just yet, with Celular Cafe — a site that has developed Truly a track record for leaking South American Motorolas — showing a pair of new models that have all the smartphone looks without guts to match. The EX112 (pictured right) is actually available in two variants, with the second — the EX115 — featuring dual SIM capability; it’s got a 3 megapixel cam, quadband GSM, full QWERTY (obviously), and apparently not much else. The EX245 on the right is arguably the more engaging attention of the bunch, stepping up to a full touchscreen while carrying over the same camera; what’s particularly notable, though, is that it seems to be gunning for an Android-like UI with a widget-based home screen and a status bar that looks suspiciously similar to a diversity of Motos with higher-end aspirations. No word on pricing, availability, or distribution, but we imagine these will be kept solidly out of the North American market.

Motorola’s EX112, EX115, and EX245 exposed enroute to Brazil originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.