A small company might make a big noise in the Android market: the Saygus Vphone will be a high-end smartphone with a large touchscreen, sliding keyboard, and a video-conferencing camera.
In many ways, this upcoming smartphone will resemble both the Motorola Droid and the Nokia N900. It have a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen with a WVGA (800 x 480) resolution. This will slide aside to reveal a 4-row QWERTY keyboard.
The Saygus Vphone is scheduled for release early next year. It will be an option for Verizon users, but not one offered by this carrier. This phone will be part of a program that lets third-party phone makers sell models directly to the public that have been certified for use on Verizon’s network. Customers will then be responsible for getting service separately.

Pricing has not yet been announced.

Read the full review on Bright Hand

Android, Motorola Droid, Nokia N900, QWERTY, Saygus VPhone, Smartphone, Verizon, Videoconferencing

Skype and Verizon are teaming up to create a phone together — a device aimed towards video chat and Skype related communication. This type of heavy integration with Skype is a bold and interesting move from Verizon.

Here is the updated Saygus VPhone spec:

• Processor: Marvell PXA 310 800 MHz
• Operating System: Android
• Memory: 512 MB ROM, 256 MB SDRAM, SDHC memory card to 16 GB
• Dimensions: 116.5 59.5 x 20.3 mm
• Screen: 3.5-inch capacitive with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels
• Network: CDMA2000 EV-DO REV A
• Communication capabilities: WiFi 802.11b / g and Bluetooth v2.0 + EDR with A2DP
• Camera: 5 megapixel main camera with autofocus and flash
• Front camera: VGA-camera with built-in microphone
• Supported audio formats: MP3, MIDI, AAC, AAC +, AMR-NB, AMR-WB
• Supported video formats: MPEG2, MPEG4, H.263, H.264
• Battery: Li-Po 1500 mAh
• Hours Talk Time: Up to 7 hours
• Hours of standby time: up to 250 hours
• Hours videoconference: up to 4 hours
• GPS-module: with A-GPS E911
• Accelerometer
• Digital Compass
• USB: USB 2.0 OTG / USB Mass Storage
• FM-radio
• Other possibilities: Document viewer, file manager, web browser, calculator, Email, Instant Messenger, Recorder / Voice Notes, Alarm clock, Calendar

Source: Android Authority

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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

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Huffington Post review from CES of the V1:

It’s the first mobile phone in the U.S. market that allows low-bandwith, 2-way video calls. A “Best of Innovations” winner, 3G is not required. At the moment, this videoconferencing only works in the United States, though the company is working on certification worldwide.

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vPhone: The vPhone is a new promising gadget of 2010. The main reason this has made the top of the list is its ability to allow you to perform video calls from your cell phone. The Video Phone (vPhone) is being developed by Saygus a small firm that specializes in video-calling software. Verizon will be the first to carry a two-way video-conferencing phone complete with a large touch screen, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and a 3D accelerometer. This phone is meant to compete directly with the iPhone and to out-perform Droid (Droid is the current device Verizon is using for this market). The vPhone is set to be the first mobile device approved through Verizon’s Open Development initiative, a program designed to allow developers to build technologies to operate on the Verizon network. The vPhone from Saygus will not be available in stores but only through the Utah based company Saygus.

Source: jamesstjohn.net

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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

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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