Mobi Press

A phone with a very unwieldy name, the Porsche Design P'9981 from BlackBerry is a reworking of the BlackBerry Bold 9900, with a very different case design and a few software tweaks along the way.

Underneath, the P'9981 is identical to the 9900, featuring a 2.8" 640 x 480 pixel touchscreen display, a 1.2 GHz processor combined with 768MB of RAM and 8GB of internal flash memory, and a 5 megapixel camera on the back with 720p HD video recording. There's a microSD slot, Bluetooth, 3.5G support, WiFi and GPS, all running the latest BlackBerry 7 operating system.

Most of the changes are external, with a stainless steel case, leather back cover and sculpted QWERTY keyboard that looks very different from a run-of-the-mill BlackBerry. It is slightly larger and heavier than the 9900 on which it is based.. but you can guess that it is a lot more expensive too.

Porsche Design P’9981 Smartphone from BlackBerry There's also a special version of Wikitude pre-installed and the P'9981 has a special PIN number for BBM users to identify it as something special. These are not exactly huge improvements over the standard BlackBerry 7 offerings though.

The Bold 9900 is a powerful device and is certainly a big hit with BlackBerry fans, so the P'9981 has sound underpinnings. Porsche Design have a reputation for making stylish and well engineered products for the discerning few who can afford them. But it seems to us that the elegant design has compromised the handset's ergonomics with a keyboard and navigation pad that seem to be more about style than substance.

We don't know how much the P'9981 will cost, although we suspect that potential customers won't care. The handset should be available through Porsche Design outlets by the end of the year.

At first glance this big, black slabby smartphone looks rather dull, but underneath the Huawei Honor is one of the more interesting Android phones that we've seen for a while.

Huawei Honor This is an Android 2.3.5 device with a 4" 480 x 854 pixel display, an 8 megapixel primary camera with HD video recording, plus a 2 megapixel camera for video calling. There's an FM radio, Bluetooth, a microSD slot, WiFi and 3.5G support plus GPS and all the usual Android features that you would expect.

Inside is a 1.4 GHz single core CPU with 512MB of RAM. While all the features so far are pretty impressive, unusually it is perhaps the battery that makes the Huawei Honor stand out - the 1900 mAh cell is the largest that we have seen in a smartphone, and it helps to address the problems caused by the power-hunger Android OS.

It's certainly a powerful number and the large battery should give it a reasonable battery life, but the generic design isn't going to wow people and Huawei isn't really a brand that people have heard of. Still, it looks like a promising choice for Android fans.

Huawei say that the Honor should be available during Q4 2011 in Asia Pacific countries, Russia and the Middle East. By the end of 2011 there should be more colours available in addition to the rather dull black phone provided at launch. Whether or not it will get a wider release will probably depend on how successful the launch is, but Huawei are pushing hard into Europe as a whole so we would expect to see it in more countries over the winter.

The original Motorola XOOM launched earlier this year, and it gained a reputation as being one of the very best tablets on the market. Even so, XOOM sales never reached anything like the levels of the iPad 2, but Motorola is not deterred and has come out with an even better second generation tablet.

Motorola XOOM 2 and XOOM 2 Media Edition

We have a pair of tablets here, the Motorola XOOM 2 and Motorola XOOM 2 Media Edition. The XOOM 2 is a straight replacement for the original XOOM, and is a powerful 10.1" screen tablet. The XOOM 2 Media Edition has a smaller 8.2" display.

At the time of going to press, Motorola have not confirmed the screen resolutions of the devices, although it looks likely that the XOOM 2's 10.1" panel is probably the same 1280 x 800 pixel resolution as the original. It isn't clear what the resolution of the XOOM 2 Media Edition is, but as it is still an HD panel then it must be at least 720p capable.

Motorola XOOM 2 Both the XOOM 2 and XOOM 2 Media Edition have dual-core 1.2GHz processors, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal flash memory and the latest version of Honeycomb, Android 3.2. On the back of both is a 5 megapixel camera with a secondary 1.3 megapixel camera on the front for video calling. Both tablets feature MotoCast streaming of content from a PC, and the Gorilla Glass coated display can be used with an optional stylus.

The XOOM 2 is slightly more business oriented than its sibling. It comes preloaded with VPN and encryption software and other enterprise offerings. It measures 254 x 174 x 8.8mm and weighs 599 grams, and the battery is quoted as giving up to 10 hours of web usage. The XOOM 2 is also Splash-guard protected against accidental spillages.

Motorola XOOM 2 Media Edition The smaller Motorola XOOM 2 Media Edition appears to have better audio and comes without the enterprise apps preloaded (although you could add some of them later). Although the display is still quite large, the Media Edition is about two thirds of the size and weight of the bigger XOOM 2.

At the moment, only WiFi versions of these tablets have been announced with no indication as to whether we'll see 3G capable ones. There is no indication of price either, but at the moment the base model XOOM retails for about €400 (compared to €480 for the iPad 2), so expect the XOOM 2 to be priced at a similar point. At a guess, the Media Edition will be about €100 cheaper.

In the UK and Ireland, both XOOM 2 handsets will be available from mid-November at Carphone Warehouse, Best Buy, Currys, Dixons and PC World. Availability for other regions has not yet been announced.

LG have had a collaboration with PRADA for several years, and the peculiarly named PRADA phone by LG 3.0 is the latest handset from this combination of brands.

Unlike the previous PRADA phones, the LG PRADA 3 (we will call it that for the sake of simplicity) is a fully featured smartphone with a technical specification than can rival some of the best in its class.

The LG PRADA 3 is an Android 2.3 smartphone with a bright 4.3" 480 x 800 pixel display, an 8 megapixel camera with 1080p HD video capture and a dual-core dual-channel 1GHz CPU with 1GB of RAM.

The high-end technical specifications are combined with a carefully designed handset that is very much in line with PRADA's design philosophy, plus a unique and very understated user interface that looks distinctly different from other Android devices.

At just 8.5mm thick, the PRADA 3 is a very slim device and some clever trickery by the designers actually makes it appear much thinner. The back of the handset has PRADA's Saffiano pattern on it, and the overall design is quite pleasing although fundamentally this is just another black slabby smartphone.

PRADA phone by LG 3.0 Although all Android phones are pretty similar, the 800 nit NOVA display is unique to LG and is similar to the excellent panel found in the LG Optimus Black. Another unique LG feature is the dual-channel architecture that gives a useful performance boost, as found on the LG Optimus 3D. LG have certainly not skimped with the technology on this handset.

Of course, this does everything that every other Android phone can do, so it has 3.5G support, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS built in, plus turn-by-turn navigation and access to thousands of applications from the Android market. Although the PRADA 3 will ship with Android 2.3, an upgrade to Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" is promised soon.

The LG PRADA 3 measures 128 x 69 x 8.5mm and it comes with a large 1540 mAh battery. There is 8GB of internal flash memory plus a microSD slot plus Bluetooth 3.0 and USB 2.0 connectivity.

LG say that the PRADA 3 should be available from early 2012, no guidance was given on price but we would expect this to retail for more than €500 when launched.