The phones of CES 2012

The Titan II is going to be the first LTE Windows Phone available in the USA. It sports a gigantic 16-megapixel camera with 720p video, dual LED flash, a 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor, and a huge 4.7-inch WVGA display (the largest of any Windows Phone). In addition to the high-resolution sensor — to put this in comparison, Nikon's flagship D4 shoots 16.2-megapixel photos — the phone also features a number of other features aimed at photographers, such as panorama and burst modes, and image stabilization, although it's not clear if this will be the optical or digital variety.

Fujitsu distributed a flyer at CES teasing a quad-core Tegra 3 Android phone with a 12-GPU graphics accellerator running Ice Cream Sandwich. Quad-core tablets are only just starting to show up, so having that kind of power in a phone should make for decreased battery life because there's less room for a big power cell all your friends jealous. We'll get a look at Fujitsu's high performance phone as well as its water resistant gadgets soon.

Remember the Asus Padfone, that tablet with the Android 4.0 smartphone that docks inside? We just got our hands on the latest prototype at CES 2012, and here's what it looks like up close. Both the hardware and software are pretty rough around the edges — and the prototypes are a little hollow right now — but that's definitely Android 4.0 under the hood, and we spotted that Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 chip in the settings screen before we were politely asked to put the device down. We're hoping to see a more final version next month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Update: Turns out there's another reason Asus didn't really want us to touch: the company says the physical design of the Padfone will change, smoothing out some of the curves, before the device debuts at Mobile World Congress next month.

You'll be able to purchase the Pantech Burst alongside the Element tablet (which was also announced today) for $249.99 if you buy a contract for both devices. Clearly, AT&T is looking to lower the price of entry and get more people on its expanding LTE network. We think $50 is certainly a reasonable price for access to LTE, though don't forget you'll be saddled with that two-year contract. We should have more details on both phones soon, and we'll be getting some hands-on impressions after AT&T's event finishes up.

Sprint has just announced its LTE launch strategy today: along with the Galaxy Nexus, Sprint will also carry the LG Viper and Sierra Wireless Tri-Network Hotspot. The Viper unfortunately runs Android 2.3 device with LTE, a 4-inch screen, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, and two cameras. Just like the Galaxy Nexus, the Viper will work with Google Wallet. It's also an eco-friendly device, with a casing made of 35 percent recycled plastics. As for the Sierra Wireless Tri-Network Hotspot, it runs on Sprint's 3G, WiMax, and LTE networks, supports up to 8 simultaneous connections, and includes a microSD slot for sharing files. These devices are all part of the 15 total LTE devices Sprint plans to launch in 2012. There's no word on when these devices will launch, but we expect it'll be along with the LTE network launch later this year.

AT&T has just announced the Skyrocket HD at its Developers Summit. Technically it's called the Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD, and it's one of AT&T's first LTE devices. It's got a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, removable battery, AMOLED display, and an enclosure described by AT&T chief Ralph De La Vegas as being "razor thin." There aren't any other announced specs, but official press images reveal an 8 megapixel rear camera and a front-facing companion of unknown resolution.

Speaking of "enormous," does the Galaxy Note fit in a pocket? It can — but considering that it comically dwarfs an already large 4.65-inch Galaxy Nexus sitting next to it, we'd recommend testing it with each and every pocket you'd ever carry it in before committing. Samsung hasn't given guidance on when we'll see the device on AT&T shelves, but when it comes, it'll be available both in "carbon blue" and "ceramic white."

LG's True HD IPS display is making its way to Verizon, to do battle with the Galaxy Nexus. The 4.5-inch Spectrum was just introduced at LG's CES 2012 press event, where its 720p resolution, 326ppi pixel density, and 1.5GHz dual-core processor got their chance to shine. Having spent some time playing with it, we can say the display is every bit as delightful as LG claims it is, with the company offering us a handheld microscope to take a close look at the RGB stripe subpixel arrangement — any chance to poke holes in Samsung's armor, eh?

Regrettably, the Spectrum will ship (on January 19th for $199.99) with just Android 2.3 on board, whereas we'd really like to see phone makers move to Android 4.0 full time from here on out. As powerful as the Spectrum may be, we still came across a few stumbles in performance, particularly when using the pinch-to-zoom gesture to bring in an overview of all seven homescreens. That's not exactly awesome, and neither is LG's Android skin.

The SpareOne is a simple phone from Xpal Power that'll hold a charge for up to 15 years unused, and should give you 10 hours of talk time all from a single AA cell. The phone is designed for use in emergency and travel situations — it features a flashlight, and transmits location data along with caller ID. Not to miss a chance for cross-promotion, Xpal Power is recommending its own Energizer Ultimate batteries, and one is included with the phone. The phone goes on sale nationwide for $49.99 this quarter.

Huawei's making a concerted effort to break out of the cheap smartphone market today: that Huawei Ascend P1 S we told you about this morning is a slim, sexy Android 4.0 dual-core machine. We wouldn't say it's meaningfully thinner than the thinnest handsets we've tried, regardless of the veracity of Huawei's "world's thinnest" claim, but as far as we can see the 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display is as bright and beautiful as you'd expect (though there's a good bit of bezel), Android 4.0 felt fairly speedy and the handset played back smooth 720p (locally stored) video on the dual-core TI OMAP processor. The plastic construction is light and solid, not unlike Samsung's Galaxy S II line-up. It looks like Huawei's got a number of colored shells on hand, with white, red and yellow cases all in attendance. Interestingly enough, Huawei's got a custom Android skin on here, though it wasn't on by default: if you pick "Switch to 3D Home" from the stock homescreen settings page, you can see what it looks like. Oh, and despite running Android 4.0, there's a set of capacitive Back, Home and Menu keys! More pictures in the gallery below.

Huawei says the P1 S and its slightly chubbier brother the P1 will arrive in North America, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region in April.

The LG Spectrum, which was leaked fairly comprehensively last week, now has an official launch date of January 19. The photos below are our first images of the 4.5-inch Verizon LTE phone, which LG has confirmed will have a 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage and an IPS Gorilla Glass screen with True HD. The front-facing camera is 1.3-megapixel, with an 8-megapixel rear-facing one capable of recording in 1080p HD. As rumored, it's going to be shipping with Android 2.3, but will upgradeable to 4.0 in the first half of 2012. We've also got a little more information on the ESPN ScoreCenter app, which comes pre-loaded on the Spectrum and will offer 720p video playback, a first for ESPN. The phone will cost $199.99 with a two-year contract.

At CES in Las Vegas, Huawei will show the Ascend P1 S, which looks like the world's thinnest smartphone at .26-inches (6.68mm) as far as we know — the Droid RAZR measures .28-inches. It has a dual-core 1.5 GHz TI OMAP 4460 CPU running Android 4.0, 1GB of RAM, and a SGX540 graphics processor (same as the Galaxy Nexus) stuffed under a 4.3-inch qHD 960 x 540 Super AMOLED touchscreen protected by Gorilla Glass. That screen could be a weak point with its Pentile pixel pattern. On the front is a 1.3-megapixel camera to complement the 8-megapixel shooter in the rear, and both shoot HD video at 720p and 1080p respectively. With pentaband support and the obligatory Wi-Fi and bluetooth 3.0, the P1 S should meet all your wireless needs. Huawei is also announcing the Ascend P1, a 7.69mm phone whose only difference from the 'S' is a bigger battery at 1800mAh over its thinner sibling's 1670mAh. No price has been set, but both phones should be available in Q2 of 2012.

Update: hands-on

Lenovo's S2 Android smartphone isn't necessarily going to set the world on fire, as it's based on Android 2.3. However Lenovo says it has a secure kernel for enterprise use. It also has a very heavy skin that reminds us a lot of webOS — including a gesture area and card views. The gesture area works by swiping to the right in order to drop into a multitasking card view, where you can close apps by tapping a big red "x" button. There's a back gesture as well, which operates just like Android's traditional back gesture.

The S2 should be available now in China for around $400 US, according to what Lenovo told us here at CES.