AT&T announced the launch of Samsung Galaxy Appeal, the first smartphone offered with the carrier’s pre-paid GoPhone service. The Appeal is a side-slider QWERTY smartphone running Android 2.3 Gingerbread. As an entry-level device, it is boosted by a Qualcomm MSM7225A 800MHz processor, 512MB RAM. According to Samsung, the handset’s plastic parts are made of 80-percent recycled material and it ships with reduced packaging material, cutting back on paper usage.

Along with the waterproof Hydro, Kyocera also brings the Rise C5155 to the CTIA Wireless 2012, which is a smartphone with slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Except for the keyboard and form factor, the Rise is almost identical to the Hydro, though it is not waterproof. It sports the same Qualcomm MSM8655 SnapDragon 1GHz processor and also gets 512MB RAM and 2GB ROM.

Virgin Mobile, Sprint’s prepaid brand, launches the new Alcatel One Touch Venture entry-level Android smartphone. The handset has a similar design as Motorola’s Droid Pro, featuring a bar-type form factor with QWERTY keyboard. It is boosted by a 600MHz processor with 512MB RAM and runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS.

Samsung is launching in India three new dual-SIM Android smartphones, including the Galaxy Ace DUOS, Galaxy Y DUOS and Galaxy Y Pro DUOS. All three devices are powered by 823MHz processor and run Android 2.3 OS. Samsung will also bring the Champ Deluxe DUOS and the Star 3 DUOS to India.

Verizon has released the Motorola DROID 4, which is the thinnest 4G QWERTY smartphone. Introduced at the CES 2012, the DROID 4 is a 4G LTE mobile phone running Android 2.3.5 operating system. It is available from Verizon Wireless for $199.99 with a new 2-year contract.

Verizon and Motorola are launching another DROID smartphone, the Motorola DROID 4, which is the thinnest and most powerful 4G LTE QWERTY smartphone. Like its predecessors (DROID, DROID 2, DROID 3), Motorola’s new Android device packs a QWERTY keyboard in a slim body. The DROID 4 adds support for Verizon’s 4G LTE mobile network for high-speed data.

 
Samsung announced two new dual-SIM Android mobile phones, the GALAXY Y DUOS and the GALAXY Y Pro DUOS with QWERTY keyboard. Both phones are powered by 832MHz processor and runs Android 2.3 OS with TocuhWiz UI. They have two SIM card slots allowing two separate phone numbers and a simultaneous use of data on the same device.

Sprint is launching a new Android smartphone, the Express, a rebadged Huawei Boulder. The new Express is a bar-type Android phone with full QWERTY keyboard. Running Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, the phone comes with Sprint ID customizable user interface.

T-Mobile announced the LG DoublePlay, an Android smartphone with a special design featuring a split QWERTY keyboard and two capacitive touchscreens. The new phone comes with a 3.5-inch main display and a 2-inch seconday display that sits in between the QWERTY keyboard. It runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS.

Motorola and Sprint introduce the ADMIRAL, the first Android smartphone with Sprint Direct Connect. The ADMIRAL is a bar-type device with QWERTY keyboard for easy text input. It is powered by 1.2GHz processor and runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS. It use the Sprint 3G (EVDO Rev. A) network to provide the gold-standard push-to-talk capabilities of Sprint Direct Connect.