Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve already gotten our collective mitts on Sony’s Xperia TL, and come November 2nd, you’ll be able to do the same by plunking down $99.99 and inking a two-year contract with AT&T. In case you need a refresher, the LTE handset runs a skinned build of Ice Cream Sandwich, packs a 1.5GHz dual-core S4 processor, 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, NFC and a 4.6-inch 720p display powered by the firm’s Mobile BRAVIA Engine. Since Sony’s smartphone flagship is lucky enough to call itself the official James Bond phone, it’ll come stuffed with behind the scenes footage of the upcoming film Skyfall and Bond-themed ringtones, wallpapers and more. For the full lowdown on the Xperia TL’s arrival on Big Blue, hit the jump for the press release.

Continue reading Sony Xperia TL comes to AT&T on November 2 for $99 with a two-year contract

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sony

Sony Xperia TL comes to AT&T on November 2 for $99 with a two-year contract originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iFixit just finished a teardown of Apple’s new 13-inch retina MacBook Pro, and the findings are a mixed bag of good and bad news for folks who like to fix their own gear. Compared to the 15-inch retina MBP, the smaller model should be marginally easier to tinker with. But it’s still pretty much impossible to repair. More »

How many of us have lost track of the number of USB flash drives in our possession? Considering all the road shows and conventions that we have attended, it is safe to say that having a USB flash drive is no big deal, not unlike in the days when it was first released to the market and 1GB capacity was something to drool over. Now, we have evolved to uniquely designed flash drives, such as the $39.99 Limited Edition Metal Gigantor Thumb Drive.

Sure, you might say that $40 is a wee bit too high to pay for just 8GB of storage space, but I guess most of the money went into the design and material (solid metal here), where Gigantor (otherwise known by others as Tetsujin 28) will grace your pocket (or table, or wherever else you decide to place him). Gigantor’s body is made of pewter, and sports movable arms for you to pose him whenever he is not in use. As a bonus, each purchase will come with a classic episode of Gigantor. Only 150 Limited Edition Metal Gigantor Thumb Drives will be made available, so get them while they are hot!

[ Limited Edition Metal Gigantor Thumb Drive copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

The US military has been working hard to create an aircraft capable of hypersonic flight. It’s hard to wrap your brain around just how fast hypersonic is. The experimental X-51A Waverider is an aircraft designed to reach Mach 6 or 3600 mph.

The military tested the X-51A back in August, and the aircraft failed, plunging into the ocean. In that test flight the aircraft was only able to maintain flight for 15 seconds due to a problem with one of the aircraft control fins. The first test for the X-51A aircraft was in 2010. That flight went according to plan.

The military hasn’t decided exactly when the next test flight for the aircraft will be conducted, but program managers are eyeing next spring or summer. Investigations into the aircraft failure during the test flight in August have pointed to a “random vibration issue.” Program manager Charlie Brink has said that more work is needed to pinpoint the exact cause of the failure.

During the August test flight, the aircraft was able to reach Mach 4.8 but was unable to activate the scramjet engine designed to push the aircraft to six times the speed of sound. Even after the next test flight for the X-51A, even if that flight should happen to fail, the military is still expected to continue research into hypersonic flight.

[via ABC News]

US military plans another hypersonic X-51A Waverider flight next year is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

EE has thrown in with Apple’s new iPad 4th-gen and iPad mini, confirming that it will be offering LTE versions of the two tablets “in the coming weeks.” Sold alongside the Orange and T-Mobile UK versions – which will be limited to HSPA+/DC-HSDPA – the 4G iPads will be tied to data plans from £25.99 per month for your mobile browsing.

EE’s announcement doesn’t come as too great a surprise, since the carrier was the only UK 4G network to be cited as compatible with the new iPad’s on Apple’s own tech pages. What we’re more interested in is pricing, given the carrier found itself in hot water this week after would-be early adopters proved turned-off by EE’s initial price plans.

We can make a few educated guesses as to data bundles from the mobile broadband pricing EE is offering, however. They’re pegged at £15.99 for 2GB per month, £20.99 for 3GB, and finally £25.99 for 5GB, when accessed via a USB modem or mobile hotspot.

Of course, that’s with an 18-month agreement, unlike what are normally rolling month-to-month plans provided for iPad users. Rates will likely be a little higher – or data allowances a little less – than the contract pricing, therefore.

Update: EE’s tablet data plans are here, though the news isn’t great if you – like us – you were hoping for rolling agreements. Instead, there are three 24-month contracts to choose from, priced at £25.99 for 2GB, £30.99 for 3GB, and £35.99 for 5GB; beyond that, £6 gets you another 500MB and £15 gets you another 2GB.

There’s more on the iPad mini in our hands-on from Apple’s event on Tuesday. In the UK, it will go on sale from £369 for the 16GB WiFi + 4G version, with preorders starting from Friday, October 26.

EE confirms LTE iPad mini and iPad 4th-gen headed to UK is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.