It was a fine day in October and everything was humming along as usual. Then, a leak happened.

In October this year, an internal roadmap was leaked which showed Motorola’s plans for the next two quarters. It had the Sholes on it and the Motus too. Thus far, that leak has turned out to be quite accurate. [read]

And then, a day came early this month when a new Motorola phone hit the FCC. Of course, it made its way to the blog world like all other big findings before it. It is a triband HSPA device and it carries the name Motus. As we all know by now, the Droid was already already looming over us at that point. [read]

Then yesterday, we had the first leaked photo. So lets take a close look at it. It is a typical candybar smartphone with a slide-out full QWERTY keypad. The keys look flatter than even the Droid’s keys if anything. It reminds of the chemically etched keypads of the RAZR days. They used to be pretty flat out too. The picture is quite hazy, so there isn’t much more to talk about, except that it somehow looks pretty thin. [read]

And just a while ago, we had more news of this. The details have been leaked and it is apparently heading for AT&T. It is triband alright – 850/1900/2100MHz, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, 3.1” capacitive touchscreen display with 480×320 resolution. There’s also an expansion slot supporting microSD cards and a Qualcomm CPU clocked at 528MHz. And this is an Android phone. Motorola is on a roll here. I wonder what the Zeppelin is going to be like.

it also has been named as the Backflip, probably. There has been a tip off that the phone includes features such as a reverse flip keypad and rear directional touch pad. With all this ‘rear’ I wonder what it will look like in person. [read]

Still, I think Motorola has gotten stuck in a rinse-repeat routine. They are constantly bringing out phones that are not really all that different from each other. Some are just better made with better features (like the Droid) and some are simply stripped down versions of those better ones. The overall design concept remains the same – put in candybar form factor, add slideout keypad, use Android OS, decide on how expensive it will be, done. Droid, Cliq, Dext and now Motus/Backflip.

The HTC Dragon AKA HTC Passion, is going to be the toast of the Android community if it really has everything that it seems to have. Even though details have been scanty, imaginations speculations have been running pretty wild after the screenshots and live shots were revealed.

Now, Techcrunch claims that the phone has been on the prowl at Android headquarters for quite some time now and top Android people are already using it. It has been undergoing a lot of testing and it is likely that a release is imminent.

It is said to be a lot slimmer than either the Droid or the iPhone. Of course, it won’t have a keyboard so being slimmer than the Droid is nothing to talk about. But the 1GHz Snapdragon processor is. It will blaze through everything that the OS has to offer and will certainly help you with multi-tasking. HTC has recently shown with the HD2 that they are really good at making phones. If they can make Windows Mobile into that good a phone, they should logically be able to make a killer Android phone.

So Techcrunch is of the opinion that this is the next super phone that will carry Android and we agree. If Google is taking a personal interest in it, it has to be something special. I don’t think the top Android players carry and test every Android phone that comes out.

I am referring to the fact that it is carrying an ARM Cortex A8 chip inside or so the rumor mills say. That chip is supported with a hefty Dose of RAM – whole 256MB of it. Then there is the PowerVR graphics processor – Kurara has one inside it.

All of this has been made possible by the machinations of one Mr. Eldar Murtazin, the one who runs the Mobile Review website. He promises greater details will follow soon. But his overall impression of the Symbian 80 OS on the Kurara is that it is extremely fast.

Well, if you intend to run a slightly older OS on a comparatively newer processor, you are likely to get good results.

Kurara was previously taken to be the little brother of the Sony Ericsson Aino, having a smaller camera size and over all slower components. But now it looks like the Kurara is poised to take over the higher end of the mid range section. If the UI is palatable and the phone runs without problems, a lot of people will snap it up as a budget phone because logically it shouldn’t be as expensive as the Aino or the XPERIA phones. Over all it is likely to be closer to traditional phones than the modern smartphones even though Symbian has third party apps and this is a full touchscreen phone. Whatever happens, we will be watching you Kurara. [read]

Currently, the only comparable stores are owned by Amazon and Barnes and Noble. But they are not nearly comprehensive enough to buoy up the industry. If Apple has its way, we will have everything from newspapers and periodicals to graphic novels and literary criticism available on the iTunes store. Okay, so that last one might take time to arrive on iTunes but the buzz created by Apple’s (not so) covert activities point towards such things happening.

Steve’s Comment

Right after the rock n’ roll event, Steve Jobs was interviewed by David Pogue where Steve was asked directly about eBook-readers. What Steve said in response was interpreted as him saying a flat no. That is what it seemed like after Pogue re-wrote the interview.

But then techcrunch dug up the cached version of the transcription that Pogue had originally posted before the re-write. And as they rightly point out – Steve is not saying that Apple will not partake in the eBook market.

Instead, he is actually saying that Apple is not interested in making a dedicated device like the Kindle and that general purpose devices will ultimately be the norm in  the future. That is a nice way of saying “We are making a general purpose device that will own all such dumb devices (like iPhone owns other smartphones).” [read]

iTunes Gets Tyrese Gibson’s Mayhem

This small event set off a big round of speculations in the tech world. Tyerese Gibson’s Mayhem became available on iTunes for $1.99 in the iTunes LP rich media format.

The speculation was that this was just a test. The tools created by Apple for this job are likely to become the base for the tools that will be given to other such authors to ready their material for the iTunes stores. Logically, the iTunes LP/Extras format is the prefect medium for this kind of content. But Apple is might even tweak it further before it is deemed fit for most of what print media has to offer. [read]

Rumors Of NYT And Others Meeting With Apple

After the iPod haze lifted, there was the Gizmodo article on Apple’s activities with the top rung of the publishing industry. This included editors, owners and others who were apparently being briefed about a new device. Word was that they were also having extensive meetings regarding selling their content on this new device/platform. [read]

NYT Editor Slips Apple Slate

This is a more recent slip leak where the venerable Bill Keller, executive editor of New York Times, slipped the words Apple Slate during an internal meeting with the newspaper’s digital team. The video was never meant to be seen by the public but this was too tantalizing to be kept under wraps I suppose. He mentioned the device as impending and probably gave the closest thing to an official confirmation of the existence of the Apple Tablet.

Apple Rumors Around Australian Media Companies

And here’s the latest bit of relevant rumor. A newspaper in Australia reports that Apple has contacted various media companies in the country about a new device. It wants to know if the companies would be interested in selling their content on this new device. The new device is portable (duh) and is described as being too big for the pocket but small enough for a handbag.

None of the companies have commented on this and if they know what’s good for them, none of them will till the embargo is lifted. [read]

The Sheer Logic And History Of It All

Both Apple and Microsoft had envisioned a future where tablets rule the world. Bill Gates had famously said that people will go back to the pen very soon. Well, that did not happen but we did see both companies trying.

Apple had their Newton pad and Microsoft had ideas. Nothing really worked out. The ideas were too far beyond the capabilities of consumer tech at that point.

Now however, in the post-iPhone world, the idea of owning and using a tablet is completely plausible and it is possible too. Along with that, the eBook market is really heating up. Judging by the sheer number of new and under-development eBook readers we have seen recently, it is obvious that everyone sees opportunity here.

Apple has never really been the type to jump in medias res. Instead, the company has tirelessly developed and tested out products to make them perfect in every possible way and then released it. Of course, nothing will ever be perfect but the first iPhone did blow everyone away. A few product cycles down, the iPhone 3GS is the hottest thing around.

So my guess is that when Apple releases their tablet/slate early next year (and we are pretty sure they will), it will be another game changing device. If you are still skeptical, see me after the launch.

So you know, the fact that we are almost completely skipping the X2 in our minds is probably a really good thing. We get to ignore the flashy, not-so-useful phone and get to something that will be as powerful as the HD2 (Snapdragon FTW) and will be running a mobile OS that is leagues ahead of the Windows Mobile OS that is found on the XPERIA X2.

Yes, I am talking about the XPERIA X3/Rachael/X10 – basically the next full touchscreen phone in the XPERIA line by Sony Ericsson. It is rumored to be powered by the industry’s current favorite powerhouse – the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. And SE has itself declared that the next XPERIA may not be running Windows Mobile. In corporate speak, that is almost like saying “well, we don’t want to raise your expectations but we too are tired of Windows Mobile.”

There was this leak early in July this year that raised the issue and called our attention to this mysterious SE phone that didn’t look like any of the current phones. Not fully anyway. Those who leaked it said that the internal code name is Rachael. The photos showed a sleek phone with a minimalist face – a dead giveaway that the entire focus is on the touchscreen even if they don’t show you the side. [read]

There was that leaked live image too. That was pretty interesting. That showed us that the phone is further in the development cycle than we thought it was. [read]

So far, we know very little about the device but we do have some pictures as you can see. These were leaked thanks to a prematurely posted expansys product page. That is also the source from which we get the specifications of the phone. Here’s what we know so far: -

Display – 4”, touchscreen, capacitive, WVGA (800×480)

Camera – 8 megapixel, autofocus, LED flash, image stabilizers, smile and face detection

Networks – Quadband GSM/EDGE/GPRS, HSPA/HSUPA (900/2100 MHz)

Connectivity – Bluetooth 2.1, WiFi b/g, aGPS

OS – Android (probably 2.0/Eclair), Custom UI

Processor – Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz

Colors – Full black exterior and full white exterior (from the photos)

[read]

Okay, so may be we know a bit too much for something that has not been made official yet.

The expansys page was obviously taken down after that. And then we had the UI demoed for us. The UI definitely looks like a custom job and it does look like it is Android. The focus of the UI is mainly online communication and networking, which are major parts of what we do with our phones these days. The other major part is talking to a person over the cellular network, that obsolete thing that we still do. [read]

Initial reports pegged it at January 2010 but that was probably an estimate because now we have this suspicious looking product launch page that has the mysterious stylized infinity symbol and talks about something magical. This was announced just a day back and the Internet is buzzing with it. [read]

The infinity symbol is (believed to be) associated with the custom in-house UI that we saw in the video earlier. And hence, we all think that this upcoming event is going to be the official launch of Rachael/X3/X10. In the meantime, we have another leak and this is purported to be the brochure of the device. It does feature the Snapdragon but then anyone can print something out and take a grainy video of it. So take these things with a nice helping of salt. [read]

Update: Sony has posted a teaser video for the November 3 event. Check it out.

Currently, it is pretty evident from all the pictures and rumors that the Droid is heading for the Verizon Wireless (and may be other places too). The real question is when does it get here. Logic would suggest that making a grand entry before the imminent holiday season is the best way to go. And indeed, it looks like that is exactly what will happen.

MobileCrunch has posted a conversation where an official from VZW reveals that the Sholes is coming soon. The conversation took place on twitter of all places! I mean I can see a non-descript meeting at an undisclosed public place and the usual “this conversation never took place” deal. But twitter? Seriously?

Anyway, there have been a lot of rumors around this device and a quite a few spy shots have been posted on the Internet. What is interesting to note is that there is no consistent source for this, except for may be the Boy Genius Report blog. They have been putting up a lot of Sholes/Droid spy shots and screenshots lately. But other than them, you have such varied places as motofan , Engadget Mobile, Mobile Crunch and there was also the Verizon Google announcement where the CEO’s of the two company held out unannounced phones and did not say a thing about them. Pretty much everyone caught that one.

About the specs, we know very little. From what the rumor mill has churned out, it seems like the phone will be powered by an ARM Cortex A8 chip and there are some who think it will be the Qualcomm Snapdragon. If it indeed is the Snapdragon, then we are likely to see a pretty snappy Android phone. The kind that we are yet to experience. This article from Anand of AnandTech explains why the Android phones have been sluggish and why it is about to change as of 1.6 (Donut).

All in all, it is quite likely that this Android phone will blow your socks off with its speed and performance. And that is not the only thing that is pulling people to this new offering from Motorola. This is going to be a ‘Google Experience’ phone. That means this phone is not going to have any bit of that MOTOBLUR UI that has hurt the CLIQ more than it has helped it. The Droid will instead have the pristine elegance that Google intended for the Android.

Looking at the screen shot from BGR that shows the official name of the phone, there seems to be scope for another speculation that is tied in with the device. It shows the firmware version as 2.0. That means it is already running Android 2.0 AKA Éclair, right? I would like to remind you folks that a giant foam Éclair was delivered to the Google lawn only recently.

So if the Droid is around the corner and it is running the Éclair release and the said Éclair was already delivered to Google HQ, does that mean 2.0 for the rest of us isn’t very far away? We’ll see. Meanwhile, enjoy this video of the Droid booting, complete with robot voice.