Sony announces Walkman Z PMP: 4.3 inches, Tegra 2, Gingerbread and ‘Throw’

We already got some brief hands-on time with this Gingerbread-sporting PMP at IFA, where it went by the name of “Walkman Mobile Entertainment Player.” Now it’s just been announced as the Sony Walkman Z, which rolls off the tongue a whole lot easier. Beneath that 4.3-inch WVGA display lurks a 1GHz Tegra 2, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and a battery rated for 20 hours of music and 5 hours of video. There’s HDMI out as well as Sony’s Throw feature for pushing media wirelessly to a Bravia TV. Pricing remains “open” apparently, but Sony does commit to availability in Japan from December 10th. You’ll get a choice of 16, 32 or 64GB models in either red/black or black/blue, or you can wait for a limited edition white version in early 2012. If you’re planning on sending it our way, Sony, then you should know we’ll be utterly broke by then.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Sony announces Walkman Z PMP: 4.3 inches, Tegra 2, Gingerbread and ‘Throw’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Sep 2011 10:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSony Product Page (Translated), Sony PR (Translated)  | Email this | Comments

Philly newsies to offer Archos Arnova 10 G2 tablet for $99 with subscription bundle

Taking a cue from other publications pushing tablet content, two major Philadelphia newspapers are offering discounted subscriptions bundled with a discounted device to read it on — the Android-based Arnova 10 G2. The Philadelphia Media Network and Arnova will offer the tablet for $99 when purchased with a two-year digital subscription to The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News for $9.99 a month, or $129 for the year. That tally is substantially lower than the HK $1,680 (around $250) mark that the slate alone hit when it launched last month, but it’s not apt to attract too much attention outside of Brotherly Love’s favorite locale. So… which paper’s lined up to play copycat? Check out the more coverage link after the break for some hands-on video with the tablet.

Continue reading Philly newsies to offer Archos Arnova 10 G2 tablet for $99 with subscription bundle

Philly newsies to offer Archos Arnova 10 G2 tablet for $99 with subscription bundle originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Sep 2011 10:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Yahoo  |   | Email this | Comments

Samsung Galaxy Y coming soon to Vodafone UK’s budget lineup

The Samsung Galaxy Y recently appeared on Vodafone’s “Coming Soon” page, where Sammy’s youth-oriented smartphone will look to carve a niche among the UK carrier’s value options. While the handset compares favorably to the current bottom-of-the-line Galaxy Mini (free on all contracts over £13 per month), the low-res QVGA display makes it a timid competitor to better-equipped options such as the Wildfire S and Xperia Mini Pro (both free on all contracts over £20.50 per month). Along with a Gingerbread OS and an 832MHz CPU, you’ll find a 2 megapixel camera and the usual assortment of 802.11n, Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS. Neither pricing nor a release date have been announced, which will certainly determine much of the Galaxy Y’s fate. So, Vodafone, how low can you go?

Samsung Galaxy Y coming soon to Vodafone UK’s budget lineup originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 22:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashPhone, IntoMobile, Unwired View  |  sourceVodafone UK  | Email this | Comments

Intel reveals January 2012 Gingerbread arrival for the Atom E6xx (video)

Intel wants a piece of the smartphone market — bad. The company has made no bones about its attempts to break into that booming space. Despite big talk, however, it hasn’t really given smartphone manufacturers something they can work with. A new promotional video for its pint-sized Atom E6xx series, however, reveals that chipmaker may be taking a step in the right direction, highlighting a January 2012 date for bringing Android 2.3 to the processor. Keep in mind, of course, that this isn’t a smartphone chip that we’re talking about here — the primary applications as outlined by Intel are retail, fitness equipment, digital signage and in-vehicle systems. Still, perhaps it marks a next step in the company’s push toward your mobile devices, or moreover, a shift for Android into more non-mobile things.

Continue reading Intel reveals January 2012 Gingerbread arrival for the Atom E6xx (video)

Intel reveals January 2012 Gingerbread arrival for the Atom E6xx (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Netbook News, Carrypad  |   | Email this | Comments

Cowon D3 firmware hits 3.5, gives your Gingerbread PMP a spit shine

Cowon D3

The Cowon D3, equal parts stunning and frustrating, got at least incrementally better in July when it finally scored a heavily skinned version of Gingerbread. Now, with version 3.55 of the media player’s firmware, the D3 is getting even more streamlined. There’s no huge new features to speak of — and don’t even get your hopes up for market support — but overall the PMP should be more stable and run a bit smoother. Hit up the source link to check out the full list of bug fixes and to download the update now.

[Thanks, Greg]

Cowon D3 firmware hits 3.5, gives your Gingerbread PMP a spit shine originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 08:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceJetAudio  | Email this | Comments

Refresh Roundup: week of September 5, 2011

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. 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 from 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!

Official Android updates

  • Verizon was spitting out new refreshes left and right this week, as we saw Gingerbread begin to roll out as OTA downloads on the Motorola Droid 3, HTC Droid Incredible, and — get this — even the Motorola Droid 2 R2-D2 edition. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
  • Interestingly enough, Android 2.3 for the Droid 2 Global was already getting pushed out, but was pulled just a couple days later after a Microsoft Exchange encryption issue was discovered. We’ve been told the updates will resume “soon.” [via Droid-Life]
  • Finally, Verizon also pushed out one other software upgrade — this time on its 4510L LTE MiFi. (Thanks, Matt)
  • HTC continues to expand its bootloader unlock tool to more phones, region by region. This week the company enabled support for the EVO 3D in Canada and Europe. [via Phandroid]

Unofficial Android updates / custom ROMs / misc hackery

  • The Motorola Droid 3 and Droid X both now have access to an SBF — System Boot File — to act as a safeguard for anyone who manages to brick their phones. [via Droid-Life (1) and (2)]
  • Recently we heard about the Honeycomb ROM for the HTC Flyer getting leaked by MoDaCo, but no screenshots were available at the time. This week, however, someone successfully grabbed a few images to share with the world (shown in the above image). The ROM appears to run on Android 3.2 with HTC Sense 1.1 for tablets as the featured UI. [via AndroidBugle — thanks, Dennis]
  • Let’s talk a little more about leaked Sense ROMs. We’ve already seen Sense 3.5 working on the Desire HD, and now we have another device to add to the list: the EVO 4G. [via XDA]
  • The first kernel for unlocked bootloaders on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is now waiting for your download, so head over to the link for instructions. [via XDA]
  • If you’ve been waiting and hoping for CyanogenMod 7 on your HTC Sensation or EVO 3D so you can shed the Sense UI, that time may be very close at hand. According to a member of the CyanogenMod team, an early alpha build for both devices may be available by the end of this weekend, so keep an eye out. [via Phandroid]

Other platforms

  • Two new unofficial ROMs — one for Windows Phone Mango and another for NoDo –are now available for the Samsung Omnia 7. The Mango ROM improves the device’s radio, camera drivers and motion sensors, in addition to a few other enhancements. [via WPCentral]

Refreshes already covered this week

Refresh Roundup: week of September 5, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Sep 2011 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Sharp Aquos SH8298U 3D smartphone goes under the knife, comes out in China

Same phone, different market — that’s pretty much what we’re looking at above with Sharp’s “new” 3D Aquos SH8298U. We first got our hands-on this device’s twinner — the Aquos SH-12C — back at Computex, with that model sporting the Japan-only 1seg receiver, FeliCa (NFC) and 800MHz / 2100MHz bands. This time out, the OEM’s made some subtle changes to its China entry, reducing the handset’s storage from 8GB to 2GB, and packing it with GSM / WCDMA / HSPA radios. The rest of the spec list remains exactly the same, leaving this skinned Android 2.3 phone with a 4.2-inch qHD stereoscopic 3D display, dual 8 megapixel cameras, 512MB RAM and a 1.4GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon processor. If translated pressers are your idea of fun, go ahead and check out the source.

Sharp Aquos SH8298U 3D smartphone goes under the knife, comes out in China originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Sep 2011 15:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PocketNow, AndroidCommunity  |  sourceSharp (Translated)  | Email this | Comments

LG Marquee caught on candid camera, is this Sprint’s Optimus Black?

Is this a case of smartphone identity crisis, or just a repurposed chassis? Whatever the case may be, LG’s got a Marquee handset ready to shore up Sprint’s future line-up. The leaked shot comes courtesy of a now private video spotted by Android Central, and was taken at a Dallas-based Radio Shack Business Summit. It’s evident from the one Mr. Blurrycam screen cap on display that the phone’s currently running a vanilla build of Gingerbread, and sports a minimalistic design that’s reminiscent of the Optimus Black. We can’t be certain the two are indeed twins, however that leaked roadmap did indicate a stateside October bow for the Optimus Black — this could simply be a rebrand for the Now Network.

LG Marquee caught on candid camera, is this Sprint’s Optimus Black? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Sep 2011 21:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SprintFeed  |  sourceAndroidCentral  | Email this | Comments

Now showing: Netflix 1.4 brings playback to ‘all Android 2.2 and 2.3 devices’

You heard right, film aficionados — Netflix has just updated its Android app in order to bring one major, major change: “expanded support for phones.” Previously, the app only worked on a smattering of smartphones, but as of today, v1.4 brings playback to “all Android 2.2 and 2.3 devices.” Congratulations — your weekend just got a lot better. Hit the source link to get your download on, or just visit the Market for an update if you’re already in the door. So much for those “hardware DRM requirements” we heard about at MWC, huh?

Psst… all is well at Engadget US, but our colleagues in Canada aren’t seeing the update yet.

Update: Seems T-Mobile’s G2x is left out of the “all.” Anyone else having issues with a particular handset?

[Thanks, 3vil and Brett]

Now showing: Netflix 1.4 brings playback to ‘all Android 2.2 and 2.3 devices’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Sep 2011 18:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAndroid Market  | Email this | Comments

LG Univa pictured in the wild, may be the Optimus One’s young Padawan

You, kid, have got what it takes. The LG E510 — also known as the Univa — may be the apprentice of the massively-popular Optimus One, learning the tricks of the trade and mastering the art of winning the hearts of millions across the globe. Norwegian site Mobili nabbed some quality hands-on time with the new device and gave it high marks. The Univa is rumored to feature an 800MHz CPU and Adreno 200 GPU, 512MB of RAM, a 3.5-inch HVGA display, a 1,500mAh battery, and will come with Android 2.3.4 installed. The spec sheet isn’t enough to stand up to the Droid Bionics and Nexus Primes of the world, but it’s certainly capable of holding up the lower end of LG’s Android lineup for the next year, likely picking up right where the aging Optimus One left off. The device still isn’t official, which means this is all pure speculation for now, but undoubtedly the manufacturer has something in mind for this newbie. Check out more pics in the gallery below.

Gallery: LG Univa E510

Continue reading LG Univa pictured in the wild, may be the Optimus One’s young Padawan

LG Univa pictured in the wild, may be the Optimus One’s young Padawan originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 23:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceMobili.no (translated)  | Email this | Comments