Hasta La Gadget!

LG revealed Japan’s NTT DoCoMo would be the first carrier to offer its Optimus G (which it’s been proud enough to announce more than once) and now we have an exact date. Pre-orders for the L-01E start tomorrow ahead of it going on sale October 19th, bringing its quad-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon CPU, 4.7-inch True HD IPS LCD, 13MP camera, Android 4.0 packaged with the waterproofing, DMB tuning and FeLiCa wallet support local buyers will expect. While we wait for release details in the US on AT&T and Sprint (or another leak of that supposed LG Nexus phone) you can check out the red and black variants rolling out across the Pacific.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG

NTT DoCoMo opens Japanese pre-orders for the LG Optimus G L-01E tomorrow, sales start October 19th originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Oct 2012 23:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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 October 1st, 2012

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Samsung

Refresh Roundup: week of October 1st, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Oct 2012 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not unusual for a device to be sold under a couple of different names for the purposes of carrier branding, or to distinguish a global GSM model from its US bound LTE sibling. Sony seems to be trying for a record though, with the Xperia T adding a fourth rebranding. The company’s latest flagship is landing on AT&T here in the US as the Xperia TL. At an event today in NYC the carrier broke out the curved 4.6-inch LTE Android device and we took the opportunity to give it yet another chance to impress us, after falling short of “wow” it’s first few times around the block.

Back at IFA 2012, when we first got up close and personal with Sony’s latest flagship, we were left feeling rather unimpressed and things haven’t changed. The fit and finish of the TL just doesn’t live up to the big boy breeches of its high-end ilk. Yes, it feels good in the hand, owed in part to that matte plastic back and subtle arc S-like curve, but the materials feel cheap. Thankfully, that sentiment doesn’t spill over into its performance, as the 1.5GHz dual-core S4 powering the device does an admirable job keeping navigation brisk.

With a 720p HD Reality display powered by the outfit’s Mobile BRAVIA Engine, you’d expect superb readability from the handset, especially in the dim light of this event. Though colors on the panel are bright and viewing angles seem to hold up fairly well, we did take issue with its overall brightness. Even pumped up to max, the screen just seemed a bit too dark for our tastes.

As with all things carrier-branded, this one lands with a host of AT&T apps onboard alongside three of Sony’s own like Media, Album and Walkman. The build of Android on the device is still Ice Cream Sandwich with a light skin, but we were assured an upgrade to Jelly Bean is forthcoming and, given the company’s track record, we’re inclined to believe it. This official Bond Android phone’s targeted for a holiday season release, so sit tight if you want to go all in on this Xperia. Click on past the break for a brief video tour.

Terrence O’Brien contributed to this report.

Continue reading Sony Xperia TL for AT&T hands-on (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sony, AT&T

Sony Xperia TL for AT&T hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 17:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fans of both Android and Slingbox streaming have had a long wait for a significant update to the SlingPlayer app, to put it mildly — the last major upgrade was to introduce Kindle Fire support at the start of the year. Imagine our delight when Sling Media posts a pair of low-key but significant updates for Android phone and tablet users alike. Smartphone owners get the most out of the upgrade with a new electronic program guide, a fresher overall look and better high-quality video for any phone using Android 4.0 and beyond. Tablet users do get a more optimized interface for the Nexus 7, however, and both form factors will let avid placeshifters remind themselves when a much-anticipated show goes live in the future. Neither of the updates is a complete revolution, but we would say they’re coming just in time.

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD, Mobile

SlingPlayer for Android gets a long-awaited update, adds reminders and better Android 4 video quality originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For all the enthusiasm Oregon Scientific put into launching (and naming) its MEEP! tablet, the company has been a bit timid about getting the kid-friendly Android device into the market — we’re just seeing it go on sale eight months after it was first shown to the world. Now that the slate is here, it may be worth the patience from parents. The 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 chip, 512MB of RAM, 800 x 480 screen and 4GB of storage won’t have the adults regretting their Kindle Fire purchases, but the MEEP! does come in a smash-resistant form with remote parental control and an allowance-based store that lets kids ‘buy’ apps with virtual coins. Oregon helps its case through the use of Ice Cream Sandwich, preloaded games like Angry Birds and a raft of accessories for games and music. The $150 asking price is just low enough that we can see a few families starting their youngest technophiles on a MEEP! before graduating them to bigger, badder tablets with less punctuation in the name.

Continue reading Oregon Scientific MEEP! tablet ships for $150, gives kids a safe, exclamation-filled place to play

Filed under: Tablets

Oregon Scientific MEEP! tablet ships for $150, gives kids a safe, exclamation-filled place to play originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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