Acer Liquid Gallant Duo up for pre-order on Expansys, SIM-swappers silently applaud

Acer Liquid Gallant Duo up for preorder on Expansys, SIMswappers silently applaud

Acer’s line of Liquid handsets aren’t really chart toppers on any Android fan’s most wanted list, nor should they be. But for the budget-conscious globetrotter, there’s a strong case to be made for its awkwardly named Gallant Duo’s serviceable specs, dual SIM support and affordable £149 ($230) off contract price tag. The 4.3-incher, available now for pre-order on Expansys, packs a qHD display, single-core 1GHz MTK 6575 processor, 4GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD), a 5-megapixel rear camera and 1,500mAh battery into an unassuming chassis. Sure, this slightly above average handset won’t garner the envy of the quad-core crowd, but it’ll at least let you sit confidently at the ICS table. Check out the source below to reserve your claim for this under the radar offering.

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Acer Liquid Gallant Duo up for pre-order on Expansys, SIM-swappers silently applaud originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 20:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Atrix HD review

Motorola Atrix HD review

When it comes to storied products, the Motorola Atrix has already mushroomed into one prolific line of devices, even in its short, 18-month life. It began as the Atrix 4G, entering the market with a splashy press conference at CES 2011, earning our respect as a game-changer, with its fingerprint sensor and innovative Webtop system. Less than a year later we were treated to the sequel, which offered some incremental improvements in specs and design, but failed to dazzle techies the way the original did.

Enter the third installment of the Atrix saga: the Atrix HD. True to its name, Motorola’s latest device is the company’s first US-bound smartphone to take advantage of a 720p display. It’s also the outfit’s first handset to ship with Ice Cream Sandwich already installed, and it sweetens the pot with other goodies such as LTE and an 8-megapixel rear camera. The spec sheet looks promising, and at $99 with a two-year agreement, so does the price. So is it worth your hard-earned Benjamin and two more years with AT&T? Let’s find out.

Continue reading Motorola Atrix HD review

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Motorola Atrix HD review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Refresh Roundup: week of July 9th, 2012

Refresh Roundup week of July 9th, 2012

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of July 9th, 2012

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Refresh Roundup: week of July 9th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Jul 2012 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Atrix HD now on sale at AT&T: $100 on contract for LTE, 720p and ICS

Motorola Atrix HD now on sale at AT&T $100 on contract for LTE, 720p and ICS

Well, lookie here. It didn’t take long for Motorola’s latest Atrix variant to go from unveiled to launched, as the Atrix HD is now on sale at AT&T for a wallet-pleasing $99.99 on contract. Sign the dotted line for two years, and you’ll be getting a 4.5-inch Android superphone, complete with Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0), a true 720p display, Kevlar-infused backing, a “splash resistant” casing and an LTE radio. Those who indulge quickly are set to grab a gratis Vehicle Dock for “a limited time,” and you’ll also enjoy the first Moto handset to bring the outfit’s Circle Widget to the homescreen — which is engineered to take owners directly to their AT&T account info, displaying data usage, battery status and more. The phone’s listed right now in AT&T’s smartphone section in Titanium and Modern White, but the link to buy it seems deactivated for the moment. Still, it’s all square to go on sale today, so keep a close eye on the source link if you’re dead-set on an upgrade.

Psst… you can learn more about the Atrix lineage through our original Atrix 4G and Atrix 2 reviews.

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Motorola Atrix HD now on sale at AT&T: $100 on contract for LTE, 720p and ICS originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Jul 2012 11:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mobile Miscellany: week of July 9th, 2012

Mobile Miscellany week of July 9th, 2012

Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you’re like us and really want to know what’s going on, then you’ve come to the right place. This past week, Motorola debuted the RAZR V in Canada and the Sony Xperia Ion was spotted at Rogers — curiously, the phone has yet to be formally announced for the carrier. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the “best of the rest” for this week of July 9th, 2012.

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Mobile Miscellany: week of July 9th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Jul 2012 20:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS Transformer Prime TF700T showing ‘in stock’ at Office Depot, days before scheduled US release

ASUS Transformer Prime TF700T showing 'in stock' at Office Depot, days before scheduled US release

July 16th? Why wait? A full three days prior to the previously scheduled US release date, ASUS’ Transformer Prime TF700T is showing as “in stock” right now from Office Depot. For those who’ve managed to forget about it’s amenities since its original unveiling some six months ago, this one’s packing a 10.1-inch (1,920 x 1,200) display, Android 4.0, Bluetooth 3.0, 802.11b/g/n, 32GB of internal storage and NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 keeping the gears turning. As expected, $499.99 is the asking price, with an estimated delivery of “Just as soon as shipping partners get back to work next week.” Oh, and scalpers — it’s limit two per customer. Just a heads-up.

[Thanks, Tony]

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ASUS Transformer Prime TF700T showing ‘in stock’ at Office Depot, days before scheduled US release originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 20:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Simmtronics’ $81 XPad debuts, winning the race to the bottom

Simmtronics' $81 XPad debuts, winning the race to the bottom

The marketplace is flooded with cheap tablets at this point. Some of them quite impressive, others are likely to make your tear your hair out. We think its safe to say that Simmtronics XPad will fall firmly in the latter category but, being a high-end pixel-pushing machine isn’t the point. The XPad is a highly customizable Android slate designed to be as affordable as possible. The Indian company took the wraps off the product line in Dubai this week, revealing a 7-inch A8-powered machine that puts Ice Cream Sandwich in the palm of your hand for only AED299, or about $81. The company even claimed it could push prices down to about $40, which would make it even more affordable than the elusive Aakash. The race to the bottom isn’t over just yet, but it seems like Simmtronics is now the company to beat.

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Simmtronics’ $81 XPad debuts, winning the race to the bottom originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 17:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic Eluga Power earns nod of approval at FCC

Panasonic Eluga Power earns nod of approval at FCC

Thanks to recent certification from the FCC, the Panasonic Eluga Power has just earned its figurative passport for travel within the United States. We first met the 5-inch behemoth back at Mobile World Congress, which packs a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 and Android 4.0. At the time, it was thought that the smartphone only supported quadband GSM and 2100/900MHz UMTS connectivity. The story has changed a bit, as FCC documents reveal additional 3G support for the 850MHz spectrum. While the Eluga Power’s usefulness here in North America is still rather limited, those who’d hoped to import one can now do so with a solid pat on the back from the FCC.

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Panasonic Eluga Power earns nod of approval at FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 03:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint Epic 4G Touch (Update: but not US Cellular Galaxy S II) ICS update is official, start rolling out today

Just as the leak last night indicated, Samsung is finally ready to deliver Ice Cream Sandwich to Sprint’s Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch. Samsung also announced today that US Cellular’s similar but WiMAX-less SCH-R760 Galaxy S II is getting the same (Update: an entirely different) FF18 update as well. The changelogs are available at the source links below, interestingly Android Beam is mentioned since these devices lack NFC, it’s hard to see how that could be on the list. US Cellular users can download and install the update right now using a SimpleDL tool on a Windows PC, however unfortunately there’s no support for any other operating systems at this time. On Sprint the update is coming out OTA and will slowly arrive on devices over the next few days, but if you’re impatient then we’d keep an eye on the thread at XDA Developers for reports on how well it works as well as some sideloaded workarounds.

Update: So sorry for US Cellular folks, it appears your wait will continue. While sharing a tag, the update for your phone resolves an issue with getting GPS lock… and that’s it. There’s always CyanogenMod or AOKP, right? Also, while we’re at it, check out the updated ZDA Developers link to download ICS for the Epic 4G Touch directly, plus a quick how-to install video (embedded after the break.) [Thanks @jbro456]

Continue reading Sprint Epic 4G Touch (Update: but not US Cellular Galaxy S II) ICS update is official, start rolling out today

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Sprint Epic 4G Touch (Update: but not US Cellular Galaxy S II) ICS update is official, start rolling out today originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 16:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Vertex pops up in benchmarks, might bring a slice of One X muscle to tablets

HTC Vertex pops up in benchmarks, might bring a slice of One X to tablets

HTC has been stoking the fires of anticipation for its return to tablets, and that small flame is quickly turning into a full conflagration. A slab nicknamed the Vertex has surfaced in benchmarks with a 1.3GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 and a 1,280 x 752 usable resolution that’s noticeably wider than the similarly Tegra 3-equipped One X’s 720p display. Other than Android 4.0 (and a probably Sense 4.0), however, there’s scant else to go on. The last murmurs of a Vertex from the fall had it carrying a rear 2-megapixel camera and a front 1.3-megapixel shooter, but it’s been long enough now that we wouldn’t count on that still being true — or that the new benchmarks necessarily reflect what we might get. Let’s just hope that the resulting device is more competitive than the pricey Jetstream.

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HTC Vertex pops up in benchmarks, might bring a slice of One X muscle to tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 13:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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