Hasta La Gadget!

If you shelled out 600 clams for an unlocked Nexus S, buyer’s remorse starts now: the subsidized AT&T version is out today. Available exclusively from Best Buy (and exclusively in black), the AT&T Nexus S will set you back only a paltry $99 with a two-year contract. Is the loss of color choice (and that whole “SIM-locked to AT&T” thing) worth the savings? We’ll leave that up to you and your (Google) wallet.

AT&T Google Nexus S on sale today, exclusive to Best Buy originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Jul 2011 13:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What we have here, is a decidedly low-end Android tablet from the folks at MSI (possibly a member of the Enjoy family) flying through the FCC as fast as its single-core 1GHz Cortex A8 CPU and 512MB of RAM will carry it. Inside you’ll find Bluetooth and WiFi antennas, as well as enough room for a full-sized SD card, though oddly the user manual says this model (listed as MS-N0Y1) only supports sizes up to 8GB. Up front you’ll find a camera for video chatting, the requisite buttons for navigating the customized version of Gingerbread, and a 10-inch screen sporting a rather uninspiring 800×480 resolution. There’s a second camera around back, as well as the all important FCC tag. Check out the gallery below and hit up the source for the aforementioned user manual and a special treat — schematics for those Android pushing internals.

MSI tablet moseys on through the FCC, exposes its inner secrets originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 Jul 2011 16:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How would you feel about a little Android 2.3.5 (!) action on that Nexus S 4G of yours? What about some WiMAX performance improvements? You should be getting all that plus WiFi connectivity and speakerphone quality tweaks, along with TTY support on Monday July 25th, which is when Sprint is expected to begin rolling out an OTA update for Samsung’s pure Gingerbread handset. We were given an exclusive first look at the new software, and while it’s still being finalized, we tested it side-by-side with the original, and our results show a welcome increase in 4G speeds across the board. As you may remember, we observed repeatable WiMAX performance issues with the old software, so this update is excellent news indeed. The amount of improvement will likely depend on your locale, but even in signal-challenged San Francisco and New York we noticed the difference right away — so kudos to Google, Samsung, and Sprint for addressing this. We also experienced performance in-line with our Epic 4G — the benchmark device used for our initial testing with the previous firmware version. Take a look at our gallery below, and peek at our hands-on video after the break.

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

Continue reading Sprint readies Nexus S 4G update with improved WiMAX performance, we go hands-on (video)

Sprint readies Nexus S 4G update with improved WiMAX performance, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The third installment of a trilogy is typically the most satisfying. The Empire Falls, Frodo destroys the ring, Cinderella goes back in time. (Okay, that’s a stretch.) Our protagonist in this tale is the Droid 3, which bears an uncanny resemblance to its dad and granddad— but Verizon’s added a few new components and made some minor design tweaks in attempt to improve the overall experience.

Are these adjustments enough to save the series? The original Droid launched with much fanfare, a device that steered Motorola back onto the path of success from its post-RAZR Hades. It had a refreshing gold-laden design that oozed elegance, top-of-the-line specs for its time, and was the pioneer that helped usher Google’s mobile OS into a new era. Each new iteration has received less attention than the one before, however, and the Droid 3 experienced such a quiet launch that we blinked and almost missed it. No matter, though — as long as the phone can speak for itself, it doesn’t need the confetti to accompany it. But is the third time another charm for the Droid? Or will it be buried by other heavyweights like the Droid Bionic or Samsung Galaxy S II Function? Join us after the break to find out.

Continue reading Motorola Droid 3 review

Motorola Droid 3 review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Olivetti’s no carioca. It’s a bonafide Italiano electronics company, but that didn’t stop its latest round of tablets from making an appearance south of the equator. Shown off at the 2011 Eletrolarshow in Brazil, the 10-inch Olipad 110 made its second video appearance to strut its sleek NVIDIA Tegra 2-processing, Honeycomb-operating stuff. The successor to the Olipad throne also brought its little brother, the Olipad 70, to the party — rocking a 7-inch capacitive display, Android 2.3 Gingerbread, WiFi and Bluetooth. Sadly, our penchant for bossa nova does not extend to Portuguese language fluency, so you’re on your own after the break.

Continue reading Olivetti’s Olipad 110 and 70 tablets stop by Brazil, say ciao (video)

Olivetti’s Olipad 110 and 70 tablets stop by Brazil, say ciao (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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