Motorola Atrix to launch exclusively with Orange UK in early May

Just in time to duel with the Samsung Galaxy S II, Motorola's Atrix is crossing the Atlantic for an early May release in Orange livery. UK carrier Orange has proudly announced it'll be the "exclusive launch partner" for the Atrix in the UK, offering the dual-core handset for free on two-year contracts costing £35 per month or more. A Work and Play Kit that includes the phone's Multimedia Dock will be made available at a reduced £50 price to new customers buying the phone, or for free to existing Orange subscribers upgrading to the Atrix during May. Business customers on some of the more overpriced fully featured tariffs will also get the chance to snap up the Lapdock for free. Jump past the break for Orange's fulll press release or hit the source link to register your interest now.

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Samsung refutes talk of Galaxy S II delays, promises April launch in at least some places

So yesterday we learned that Samsung's planning to speed up the dual-core Exynos processor inside its Galaxy S II to 1.2GHz, but there was also word that the handset may suffer a setback in terms of release date. Today, the company has tweeted out a two-part notice assuring us that that will not be the case and things are proceeding "as planned." April will see the first retail appearance of the 8.5mm-thick Android phone, though Samsung does advise that "it will be gradually rolled out in each market according to the local launch timetable." That sounds to us like whatever April availability we get will be in the highest priority markets and / or limited in quantity, but we'll take whatever we can get.

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Gingerbread update for Samsung Galaxy S to start rolling out in mid-April

Official word from Samsung's Finnish site informs us that local owners of its Galaxy S smartphone will be receiving their Gingerbread fix around the middle of this month. Less direct, but still pretty reliable, confirmation of this comes from UK carrier Three, who promises the same OS version will be arriving to its users of the handset "in a couple of weeks." Considering an Android 2.3.2 build for the Galaxy S already leaked out way back in February, few should be surprised at the timing of this release, but prior experience still urges us to be wary when it comes to Samsung and its software update schedules.

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Samsung Galaxy Neo announced, headed to Korea

Samsung just announced another member of the Galaxy Android-running lineup. The Galaxy Neo will be a Korea-only smartphone that belongs to the upper midrange segment.

The Samsung Galaxy Neo exterior is identical to the Galaxy Ace, but for the back panel, which is reminiscent of its larger Galaxy Tab sibling.

The feature set however has been altered, with the most notable changes being the screen resolution upgrade to WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) and the introduction of T-DMB support. Bluetooth has also been promoted to version 3.0. The camera however has been downgraded to 3 megapixel resolution and has lost its autofocus capabilities.

The Galaxy Neo features an 800MHz processor and 512MB of RAM and runs on Android 2.2 Froyo. The highlights list continues with Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) support, a 3.5mm audio jack and a 1,500 mAh battery.

Judging by those specs the Samsung Galaxy Neo should fit somewhere between the I9001 Galaxy Galaxy S Plus and the Galaxy Ace.

The Samsung Galaxy Neo is a CDMA version so it won't work on any GSM networks.

So far there's no information about pricing or possible release of a global version of the Galaxy Neo.

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Samsung Galaxy S getting a 1.4GHz '2011 edition' next month (update: confirmed)

You didn't think Samsung was going to leave the classic Galaxy S handset in the past, did you? Dmitriy Ryabinin of hi-tech.mail.ru has tracked down the above comparison sheet showing off a new variant of the 4-inch Android phone, this time packing a 1.4GHz Qualcomm MSM8255T chip and a 14.4Mbps HSPA+ radio. Other than those upgrades and a 1650mAh battery, it's a faithful reproduction of last year's original and should be arriving in Russia around the end of April for a price of just under 24,000 rubles ($846). What gives us faith in this apparent leak is our earlier sighting of a 3.7-inch Galaxy S2 "Mini" device from Samsung, which also clocks in at a mighty 1.4GHz. Coincidence? We doubt it.

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