Not only is the Saygus Vphone V1 the first device to be offered under Verizon Wireless’ Open Development initiative, it’s the first smart phone to be released on a U.S. carrier to offer two-way video conferencing. It will let callers see each other while they talk, as well as allow them to show others what they see around them in real time. Saygus’ proprietary video technology allows two Vphones to stream a video chat conversation over 3G networks at acceptable quality, but the performance isn’t as good when used with other devices, a company spokesperson said.

Packed with Google’s Android operating system, a fast 624-MHz Marvell PXA 310 processor, a 5-megapixel camera, GPS, Wi-Fi, a full QWERTY keyboard, and enough battery life for four hours of video chats, this phone could change the way we communicate. But can this device, which has an early 2010 release date, compete with such cheaper, subsidized devices as the Motorola Droid?

Despite analyst predictions that it won’t be subsidized, Saygus’ CEO hopes that resellers will subsidize the Vphone where it’s distributed and that it will be priced competitively with existing smart phones. Saygus also has plans to license its technology to other manufacturers so its two-way video calling service will be available across multiple types of handsets.

Read the full story on Laptop Magazine

Android · Global Positioning System · Google · Motorola · Saygus Vphone V1 · Verizon Wireless · Videoconferencing · Wi-Fi

Saygus V1
The first mobile to offer low bandwidth two-way video calling on existing 2.5G Networks, the Saygus V Phone is a qwerty slider phone running the Android OS.

Source: Talk Talk

2.5G · Add new tag · Android · Business and Economy · Google · Handhelds · Mobile · Telecommunications · Videophone

It’s not easy to find an Android phone that hasn’t been churned out by the HTC factory. The Saygus Vphone is a smartphone from a Utah-based company that promises a nifty handset with one unique feature: the ability to make two-way video calls even on an EDGE network.

“We have designed our own proprietary video calling software that’s optimized so you can get three to four hours of video calling capability on extremely low bandwidths,” says Chad Sayers, founder and CEO of Saygus.

Video conferencing is still a novelty in smartphones. It can guzzle bandwidth and carriers have been hesitant to support the applications. Saygus says its video calling software can change that. It won’t bog down the network and can run 18-22 frames a second on Edge network and up to 30 frames a second on 3G. Saygus estimates that 5GB of bandwidth can support 10,000 minutes of video conferencing on the phone.

Saygus also hopes to partner with Skype to bring Skype video calling to the phone.

Read More on Wired

3G · Add new tag · Android · Business · Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution · HTC Corporation · Skype · Smartphone · Videoconferencing

The chunky VPhone (also known as the V1) will be the only two-way video-calling phone in the U.S., if it makes it to market. It will be the first consumer phone certified through Verizon’s Open Development Initiative, which up until now busied itself approving devices like house-arrest ankle bracelets and wireless electricity meters. And it’ll be the only Verizon Android phone so far not to use the “Droid” name.

Saygus sees the phone as a way to show off their video-calling software, which can transmit 352×288 video at 24-30 frames per second over a 48-kilobit stream, Sayers said. It’s efficient enough that video calling will cost much less than it does on AT&T, where prices start at 25 cents per minute. Saygus has been working on their software for a dozen years, but never found a buyer, so they decided to strike out on their own and make the ultimate video phone.

Video calling isn’t the VPhone’s only new trick. The phone will act as a Wi-Fi access point like Novatel’s MiFi, connecting up to eight PCs to the Internet at one time. Those PC users better watch out, though, as the VPhone’s service plans are likely to have the same 5GB per month data limit that you see on all Verizon plans. That’s enough for tons of video calling, considering Saygus’ extremely efficient compression, but tethering may strain your plan’s limits.

The phones will obviously call each other, but Riker said they’re also working on making them compatible with SIP/H.263 video-calling systems and desktop PC applications. They’d like to work with Skype, he said, but Skype has to allow them. International calling to foreign networks like 3, which already support video chat on mobile phones, is further out on the horizon.

Using ODI makes the VPhone’s path to market a bit weird. ODI devices don’t use Verizon’s stock service plans. Instead, Saygus wants to make deals with big-box retailers, who will offer their own service plans that use Verizon’s network and mirror Verizon’s own prices. They’re still working out who would provide product and tech support for these plans, Riker said.

The phone may also appear on other carriers in the future, Sayers said.

Under the Hood

The VPhone was built for Saygus by a nameless Chinese device manufacturer, and it feels like it. It’s chunky at 4.6 by 2.3 by 0.8 inches (HWD) and inelegant, but packed with features. The phone is thicker, but lighter than the Motorola Droid, and entirely wrapped in cheap-feeling black plastic. The 800×480 screen is sharp, and the keyboard is nicely well-spaced and much clickier than the flat, limp Motorola Droid keyboard.

The phone was a very early unit, so I couldn’t say much about performance or test the video-calling capabilities. But I got a general sense that this was a highly capable, although somewhat bulbous phone.

The VPhone runs Android 1.6, though Riker said they’re going to try to put 2.0 in there if the timing is right. They’ve tweaked 1.6 with some open-source extensions that seems to be borrowed from HTC, altering the home screen style and allowing for unlimited, expandable home screens. They’re still negotiating with Google about getting the Google apps onto the phone. Multi-touch support will come with the Android 2.0 upgrade, Riker said.

Under the hood, there’s a 624 Mhz Marvell PXA312 processor. We’ve seen that before on Verizon’s Samsung Omnia, but it has never appeared in an Android phone. That’s roughly equivalent to an ARM11 processor, so it may not be as fast as a Motorola Droid’s Cortex-A8 processor.

The phone has a 5-megapixel camera on the back and a VGA camera on the front. Both cameras can record 640×480 video at 30 frames per second. Bluetooth, GPS, and an FM radio are also on board, according to the phone’s spec sheet. The phone will get 3-4 hours of video calling and 6-7 hours of talk time on its chunky 1500 mAh battery, Sayers said.

I’ve seen a lot of small, new cell-phone companies say they’re going to crack the U.S. market, and they rarely do. Heck, even Nokia has trouble finding room in our closed, clubby, carrier-run world. Sayers said they have a former LG sales manager, Ash Darwish, helping them negotiate the rapids and shoals. That puts them ahead of companies such as Logic Wireless and Zer01, which don’t have mobile insiders playing major roles.

It’s unclear how much the VPhone will cost. Verizon has previously said they won’t subsidize ODI phones, but Sayers said they’re working on figuring out some sort of subsidy arrangement whether it’s through Verizon or their retailers. The VPhone is slated to come out early next year.

[Source: PC Mag]

Android · Business · House arrest · Saygus · Services · Telecommunications · United States · Verizon Communications · Vphone · Wireless

Verizon V1 VPhone

Utah-based Saygus recently unveiled its flagship Android smartphone product – the VPhone – at CES Innovations in New York and took home the “Best of Innovations” blue ribbon in the wireless handsets category. Channel Insider has the under the covers of one of Google’s new Android phones.

Android · Consumer Electronics Show · Google · New York · New York City · Search Engines · Searching · Smartphone

Saygus, Inc. announced on Monday its Android-powered mobile phone, called the Saygus VPhone, coming to the market with two-way video calling capability. The handset has been unveiled at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Innovations 2010 Design and Engineering Awards in New York November 10, where it won the “Best of Innovations” in the “Wireless Handsets” category award.

According to the company, the new device is expected to become available for purchase via mobile phone carrier Verizon Wireless, through the Open Development Initiative (ODI). The handset comes to the market with two cameras, a 5-megapixel one on the back, with auto focus and flash, and a VGA one on the front, which can be used for video calling. Moreover, the new handset also comes with a wide range of popular features, including Wi-Fi, USB, and Bluetooth tethering, which can offer users the possibility to connect up to 8 devices to it as to an access point.

Read the full story at Softpedia

Android · Bluetooth · Mobile phone · Tethering · Universal Serial Bus · Video Graphics Array · Wi-Fi · Wireless access point

If you follow smartphones you’ve probably seen a pretty cool phone appear out of nowhere recently, the V1, from a company you’ve probably never heard of, Saygus. The V1 is an Android-based phone that closely resembles Verizon’s Droid. It looks impressive, and when you throw in its video conferencing capabilities, seems almost too good to be true. Maybe it is. I found it unusual that such a sophisticated-looking phone could be made by such an unknown company like Saygus, so I set off to discover everything I could about the firm. What I found left me with more questions than answers.

I’m pretty plugged into the smartphone scene, so I was eager to find out where Saygus came from and what sort of smartphone-making expertise it was bringing to the table. The rumor that the V1 would come out of Verizon’s Open Development initiative, in particular, really piqued my curiosity. But while I was unable to come up with much information about the company (there’s not a lot available), what I did find struck me as bizarre.

Saygus, according to its web site, is based in South Jordan, Utah; it was founded by CEO Chad Sayers. It bills itself as an “innovative leader in the communications industry specializing in the design, development, beta testing and market implementation of the world‘s first live wireless two-way video conferencing PCDA (Personal Communications Data Assistant).”

Saygus is set to release in the “fourth quarter of this year” the V1 — “the world’s first two-way live video conferencing PCDA.” The picture of the V1 (above) depicts the phone that is appearing all over the web as the new Android phone to possibly be carried by Verizon.

Read the rest of the story at jkontherun

Android · Business · Company · Smartphone · V1 · Verizon · Videoconferencing · Wireless

At a pre-CES show in Manhattan last night, handset manufacturer unveiled their first Android handset, the Saygus VPhone. The handset will be available to Verizon Wireless customers but being an Open Development Initiative handset, the device wont be supported by Verizon. Instead, handset support will be supplied by Saygus themselves.

According to Saygus executives, the handset will ship with Android 1.6 but will be updated to Android 2.0 at some point in the near future.

The VPhone will feature a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 3.5-inch (800 x 480px) high resolution capacitive touch display, 5 mega-pixel camera (with flash), and support for supports EVDO Rev. A, Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR connectivity.

The handset also includes an accelerometer, digital compass and microSD card support up to 32GB.

[Source: Talk Android]

Android · Bluetooth · Evolution-Data Optimized · Global Positioning System · Manhattan · MicroSD · Verizon Wireless · Wi-Fi