Mobile phone

Samsung has announced two mid-range smartphones running Android 2.3 Gingerbread mobile operating system. Named as Galaxy Ace 2 and Galaxy Mini 2, the two devices are the upgraded versions of two existing Samsung smartphones - Galaxy Ace and Galaxy Mini respectively. Both Smartphone are expected to be made available globally post March this year. Samsung had some time back come out with the Galaxy Ace GT-S5830 smartphone with single-core 800 MHz mobile processor and a 3.5-inch capacitive touch screen display with Gorilla Glass. Galaxy Act comes with mere 278 MB and 1350 mAh battery. After that Samsung had introduced Galaxy Ace Plus with 3.65-inch touch screen display with 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and 3 GB built-in memory.

Company has launched its successor Galaxy Ace 2 which could be the first affordable dual-core smartphone. The Galaxy Ace 2 will feature 3.8-inch touch screen PLS TFT display which is slightly better LCD quality panel with support for WVGA (480x800) resolution. Internally, it will house a dual-core mobile processor clocked at 800 MHz. The Galaxy Ace 2 has been beefed up with 768 MB memory and has been given modern day features such as Wi-Fi Direct. Samsung will offer its latest version of TouchWiz user interface with Live Panels UX layered on the top of the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system of Galaxy Ace 2. Samsung has also beefed up the battery with 1500 mAh powered one to make the smartphone last longer. The Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 comes with a 5 megapixel camera with auto focus as well as flash at the back. This camera is capable of recording 720p HD video and has a VGA camera in the front for video calls. Samsung has also added Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS that supports both normal set of GPS satellites and also the GLONASS network, which would ensure more accurate location locking.

The second Samsung smartphone, Galaxy Mini 2 comes with a single-core 800 MHz mobile processor inside and features 3.27-inch HVGA touch screen display. This smartphone has higher clock speed bearing processor, more RAM, bigger battery and Bluetooth 3.0 compared to the Galaxy Mini GT-S5570. The Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 has a HVGA 320x480 pixel resolution supporting screen and a 3 megapixel camera with fixed focus at the back that can capture images. Don't expect too much from that camera. Even this smartphone will come with TouchWiz UI and Live Panel UX.

The interesting aspect is that both handsets are beefed up to offer good multi-media experience. For instance both models support lossless audio file format and will feature Samsung's new SoundAlive music streaming feature. Indeed both models will have Samsung Apps Store, Samsung Kies Air, Social Hub and the instant messaging service - ChatON. For some regions, Galaxy Ace 2 and Galaxy Mini 2 configurations will also feature Near Field Communication chip that would help users pair and share content with other NFC enabled devices with just a tap. Samsung has not clarified the pricing of these handsets and is expected to make these available in second half of this year.