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General Mobile shows off three new Android phones

Taylor Wimberly — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 05:40:38 +0000

General Mobile (makers of the first dual-sim Android phone) showed off a trio of new handset designs they are working on. Engadget caught up with the company at Mobile World Congress and snapped pictures of the Cosmos, Cosmos 2, and Touch Stone.

The Cosmos we have seen before and it is a fairly entry-level Android phone. It features a 624Mhz Marvell PXA935 CPU, 256 MB ROM / 128 MB RAM, and 3.2 inch display. Specs of the Cosmos 2 are unavailable, but the design of the phone has received a slick looking makeover.

Aiming for the high-end is the General Mobile Touch Stone. This phone looks quite similar to the HTC HD2 and features the same size 4.3-inch capacitive WVGA display. Engadget reports it will also feature a Marvell PXA935 core, but they might have confused some of the specs with the Cosmos.

From what we were previously told, all of General Mobile’s Android phones will feature the company’s alternative app market called StoreOid. Each of the devices should also ship with Android 2.0+. I’m not sure how a phone with only 128 MB of RAM could support Android 2.0, but I’m just reported the info provided by General Mobile.

Do you guys like the designs?

General Mobile Cosmos Android phone unveiled

Taylor Wimberly — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:34:19 +0000

Last month we brought you the specs of General Mobile’s second Android phone and now we have the name and first photos of the device. The Cosmos will be General Mobile’s first phone to run Android 2.0 and features improved specs over the DSTL1. We are a little worried how Android 2.0 will perform with only 128 MB of RAM (Droid has 256 MB, Nexus One has 512 MB), but I do like the styling of the phone.

The launch date of the Cosmos remains unknown. General Mobile is also working on their own Android app store which is likely to coincide with the release of their new phone.

The Cosmos specs are:

Marvell PXA935 624Mhz CPU (Tavor P65)
HSDPA/WCDMA/EDGE/GPRS/GSM for up to 3.6Mbps downloads
Android OS 2.0 Eclair
Built-in General Mobile Android app store
New 3D animated UIs
5.0 MP AF SONY sensor camera (same as in the DSTL1)
3.2-inch HVGA (320 x 480 pixel) capacitive multi-touch screen
Bluetooth 2.0
WiFi 802.11b/g
256MB NAND + 128MB DDR, microSD cards up to 16GB
Trackball controller
GPS and electronic compass
FM radio
1500mAh battery

Hit up the source for a few more pics of the device.

General Mobile Storeoid: Yes, another Android app store

Taylor Wimberly — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:24:21 +0000

Not to be outdone by Motorola and Sony Ericsson, General Mobile has decided to offer another alternative to the Android Market. The unique handset maker has already released the dual-sim DSTL1 (pictured above) and is planning a new Android 2.0 phone for 2010.

The app store will be called Storeoid and it will be featured on all their upcoming Android devices. Storeoid is still under development, but we were lucky enough to receive an early preview and have a gallery of screens below. A list of features was not provided, but it appears to duplicate many similar attributes of the Android Market.

General Mobile would like to point out that the apps shown in the photos are just examples for development purposes and don’t necessarily show apps that will actually be available in Storeoid.

General Mobile planning 2nd Android phone

Taylor Wimberly — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:13:34 +0000

General Mobile is a unique handset maker. They were the first brand that produced Dual Sim technology support Android devices in the world. Their first phone was the DSTL1 (pictured above) and they are already hard at work on another Android device.

Later this month we hope to share design details (including pictures), but we have some specs to hold you over till then.

Marvell PXA935 624Mhz CPU (Tavor P65)
HSDPA/WCDMA/EDGE/GPRS/GSM for up to 3.6Mbps downloads
Android OS 2.0 Eclair
Built-in General Mobile Android app store
New 3D animated UIs
5.0 MP AF SONY sensor camera (same as in the DSTL1)
3.2-inch HVGA (320 x 480 pixel) capacitive multi-touch screen
Bluetooth 2.0
WiFi 802.11b/g
256MB NAND + 128MB DDR, microSD cards up to 16GB
Trackball controller
GPS and electronic compass
FM radio
1500mAh battery

You can find the detailed information about their products from the General Mobile website.

General Mobile DSTL1 Android phone captured on video

Taylor Wimberly — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:51:03 +0000

Android Authority has got their hands on the General Mobile DSTL1 and posted an unboxing video. This Android phone is unlike any other because it supports two sim cards and uses a stylus. The DSTL1 also features a Marvell CPU, a first for Android.

The highlights of the DSTL1 specs:

Technology: Double SIM, Android™ 1.5 Cupcake
Platform: Marvell™ PXA 310 (624MHz)+NXP 5209
Memory: 4GB memory (16GB T-flash card support), 256MB flash + 128MB SDRAM
Screen: 3.0″ SHARP® Brand Touchscreen Display/ 240 x 400 pixels
WiFi: 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth: BT 2.0 + A2DP
FM radio
Dimensions: 112 x 54 x 16mm
Camera: 5MP Auto Focus with Flash SONY® Brand Camera Sensor
Battery: 1200 mAh

I’m a little worried about the 128 MB of memory, which is the lowest yet for an Android phone. The Marvell CPU is clocked at 624 MHz (which sounds impressive), but we have no idea how it stacks up with the Qualcomm chipsets we are used to seeing on Android.

Watch the video as Michael Oryl walks us through this unique device.

For more info see the official General Mobile site.