Hasta La Gadget!

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but a very popular handset maker will be introducing smartphones that incorporate the latest wireless technology at some point in the upcoming year. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Now let’s add the key words: HTC, LTE, and 2011. Here’s CEO Peter Chou from a recent Mobile World Live video interview:

Q: When does HTC plan to launch an LTE device, and which markets do you think will be the early adopters of that device?

A: We are working on LTE device for next year, 2011, we think the US mobile operator will be taking some leading and pushing the LTE 4G in the US market, but however, we are seeing the rest of world will be deploying LTE network elsewhere in 2011. Could be second half of 2011.

Our money’s on the Mecha / Incredible HD for the US, along with probably a dozen other phones of various sizes and form factors. And we don’t really know the details of its global plans. But hey, it happens — call us when Chou spills the beans on 5G technology and holographic displays.

HTC’s Peter Chou says LTE handsets are coming next year, and the world keeps on spinning originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So what if the Libretto exited the common consciousness almost as quickly as it entered it while the Folio 100 was bad enough to get its major UK retailer to discontinue it? Toshiba promised it’d have a family of tablets for us by the end of 2011’s first quarter and the plan apparently hasn’t changed. DigiTimes is reporting today that three new Toshiba slates are set for their debut at CES in a month’s time, two of them equipped with 10.1-inch screens and a third sized at 11.6 inches. Microsoft’s Windows 7 and Google’s Chrome OS and Android will each be responsible for providing the operating environment on one of these new tablets, indicating that Toshiba — much like the rest of the world — has yet to make up its mind about what the best tablet OS out there is. We should know more in just a few short weeks.

Toshiba planning trio of tablets for CES: one each for Android, Chrome OS and Windows 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 08:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Content providers might be banning Google TV left, right, and center, but hardware partners don’t seem to be losing any enthusiasm. After Samsung openly admitted to contemplating a HDTV with Google TV hardware and software built right in, Toshiba and Vizio are now said to have firm plans to introduce such new products at January’s CES 2011. While neither manufacturer would be drawn into confirming this latest bit of insider info, Toshiba’s American GM, Jeff Barney, is quoted as saying, “Google certainly is a key partner for us on the PC side and will likely be key for us on the TV side as well.” How else could Google function as a key TV partner than with its web-connected TV experience?

Toshiba and Vizio expected to join Google TV bandwagon in January originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Nov 2010 05:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It might be all Japanese to you now, but Sharp’s autostereoscopic 3D is coming to a smartphone near you next year. The tech will debut next month on the Softbank-bound Galapagos 003SH and 005SH Android handsets, but now Sharp has confirmed its intention to also bring it Stateside as well as to two of the world’s most populous nations in China and India. It’s not yet exactly clear what handsets those markets will be getting, but if you’re looking for further signs of Sharp’s expanding international ambition, the company’s reported to also be contemplating extending its e-reading tablet platform out to the US and China. Taken alongside Panasonic’s recently announced plans to start selling Android smartphones globally in 2012, this does suggest we might soon be watching a neat little resurgence from our buddies from the land of the rising sun.

Sharp plans 3D smartphones for US, China and India in 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 03:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you happen to be enthusiastic about Lenovo, tablets, and your American residency, look away now. Lenovo still plans to ship the Android-based LePad in China some time soonish, but its US roadmap can pretty much be summed up as “wait and see.” The company’s COO Rory Read has been cited as saying there are no plans to release a slate for the US market until at least Android’s Honeycomb version comes out, agreeing with Google on the point that Froyo is not “the right base to have a fully functioning pad.” Lest you think Windows 7 will fill the void until whenever in 2011 that Android tablet does arrive, Lenovo’s director of new technology, Howard Locker, sets you straight: “Windows 7 is based on the same paradigm as 1985 — it’s really an interface that’s optimized for a mouse and keyboard,” and the Thinking machine team doesn’t intend to build a slate around it. And if you were thinking of maybe picking up a LePhone as a consolation prize, tough luck, that won’t be arriving in the US for at least another two years (which in smartphone terms is basically “never”), although it’s good to know that it’s now got 13 percent of the smartphone market in China. You know, in case you own stock in LeCompany.

Lenovo says no Android tablet in US until Honeycomb; no Windows 7 tablet, period originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 05:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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