7th-gen iPod nano Hands-on

Apple’s mid-range iPod, the iPod nano, has gone through the most varied evolutionary changes of all the Cupertino media devices. In its 7th-generation, its settled on a combination of the previous model’s touch and earlier versions’ bigger screens, throwing in some slick anodized aluminum and highly polished usability too. Read on for our first impressions!

It’s already shaping up to be our favorite iteration: the short, squat body nestles easily into the palm of the hand, and the touchscreen graphics – though not iOS – are oversized and easy to press with a thumb. We can imagine the nano remaining popular with joggers for that reason, while the integrated Nike+ and pedometer certainly won’t hurt there.

Apple isn’t talking internal specifications, so the exact processor is unclear, but it didn’t struggle with the pared-back interface. You don’t get web browsing or ebook reading, but the touchscreen is bright and the multitouch works with no issues. The Lightning connector and Bluetooth should mean getting media onto the player – and enjoying it off it – are equally problem-free.

The colors remain as eye-catching as ever, and tiny form-factor – while still larger than the clipped version before it – is altogether more useful for those who want to enjoy video. Look for it to drop in October, priced at $149 for the single 16GB option.

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7th-gen iPod nano Hands-on is written by Vincent Nguyen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


5th-gen iPod touch Hands-on

In its fifth generation, the iPod touch gets even closer to the iPhone, while still carving out its own multimedia niche. Borrowing the new 4-inch Retina display but slotting it into a mere 88g, 6.1mm thick chassis, it’s clear that doing away with the cellular radio has (among other disparities) made for an altogether more comprehensive and capable device. Certainly not one to fall into the iPhone 5′s shadow; read on for our first impressions!

It’s hard to believe how thin Apple can make the iPod touch without also making it feel fragile, but the new matte-finish aluminum casing – in a welcome range of colors now – actually comes across as tougher than ever before. The display is as crisp, bright, and generally beautiful as on the iPhone 5, but if anything its widescreen dimensions are exaggerated and emphasized by the narrow iPod body.

Inside, the Apple A5 chipset is a welcome addition, and now the iPod touch no longer feels like a slumbering compromise. Siri acts as we’ve already seen it, piping up when you double-tap the home button, though you’ll need a WiFi connection because cellular data is reserved for the iPhone. Menus whip through and features like the newly-supported iMovie and iPhoto load with no delay; we were soon shifting around video clips and editing stills, just as we were used to doing on the iPhone 4S.

Those new apps work with the 5-megapixel camera, of course, another new addition. Apple hasn’t stinted on specs there, despite the lower resolution than in recent iPhones, and you get f/2.4, an LED flash, and sapphire crystal protection. The camera strap – which comes bundled, and color-matches the iPod touch itself – seems like a gimmick at first, but a few minutes play with the Panorama mode and you realize that, just as gamers replaced their PSP’s and DSi’s with a 4th-gen iPod touch, photographers are going to increasingly dump their point-and-shoots for the 5th-gen version.

Of course, the 5th-gen touch won’t go into battle alone: Apple will offer the existing, 4th-gen model alongside it still, satisfying a lower price point. But the extra features you get from the new version are, we already believe, definitely worth the extra money.

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5th-gen iPod touch Hands-on is written by Vincent Nguyen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


New iPod Touch confirmed with 4-inch Retina Display, dual-core A5 processor

Apple had a few hardware surprises up their sleeves today and one of those is the all new iPod Touch. Yup, Apple just announced another iPod which you can call the 5th generation iPod, or the new iPod Touch. The new and improved model is receiving plenty of love the iPhone 5 did with the same 4-inch Retina Display and brushed aluminum design. More details after the break.

Gone is the chrome finish that will get scratched up within days, and instead the all new iPod has a brushed aluminum finish just like the iPhone 5. Then they’ve added the same impressive 4-inch HD Retina display for stunning visuals while you enjoy all of the latest games. Here’s the rundown:

The brand new iPod Touch is looking rather impressive dressed in white. They’re rocking out to some Foo Fighters and we’re loving the new camera. This is the thinnest iPod Touch yet being just 6.1mm thick. It’s also the lightest weighing 88 grams while still managing to get improved in all areas. We have the larger 4-inch Retina 326 ppi display, dual-core A5 processor, and of course the camera. The new iPod Touch’s 5 megapixel camera (with flash) has tons of improvements, is 25% thinner, and will have most of the features like panoramic mode and dynamic low light modes just like the iPhone 5. Oh and the new Touch’s camera can now shoot full 1080p HD video. Then the 720p Facetime front shooter is clearly present.

Apple managed to fit all of this into a super sleek iPod Touch while still boosting battery life. You can expect over 40 hours of music and 8 hours of continuous video. Those might not be amazing results but with all the boosts this device received, we’ll welcome those usage results. Whoa! The new iPod Touch has Siri but more on that is coming shortly. Enjoy all the pictures below and continue on with us at live.slashgear.com

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New iPod Touch confirmed with 4-inch Retina Display, dual-core A5 processor is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


iPod nano refreshed with Lightning connector

Amid the furious excitement that surrounded the iPhone 5 this week, Apple also introduced a brand new iPod nano. This refreshed device has an entirely new form factor looking more like an iPhone than it has an original iPod in previous iterations. Here you’ve got the “thinnest iPod nano we’ve ever created”, Apple says, with a 38% thinner body at 5.4mm. This device has a giant hardware button on the left that’s able to play, pause, forward, back, and adjust volume, and comes with a home button just like the iPhone.

The display is 2.5-inches large on this device and is a touchscreen as well. It comes in 7 different colors and appears very much to be working with a user interface all its own – iOS, sort of, but a bit more tuned to this size. This device comes with an FM tuner integrated as well as “live pause” so you can listen to your favorite show over and over again.

Video is also coming back to the iPod nano with “widescreen video” ready for action right out of the box. This means that videos you purchase from the iTunes Store will be using “every single pixel”. This device comes with the “The longest battery life we’ve ever had in a nano” and works with the new Lightning connector introduced this week as well – and Bluetooth to boot!

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This news came aside numbers that showed the iPod lineup to have sold 350 million units since the beginning, with the entire iPod lineup still being a set of devices that Apple loves and cherishes – so to speak. Stay tuned to our Apple portal for more information on the devices and services we’ve seen introduced at the big Apple event this week!


iPod nano refreshed with Lightning connector is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


iPhone 5 revealed as ‘world’s thinnest smartphone’

The iPhone 5 has officially arrived folks, and Apple is making some pretty big promises about it. The first is that it’s the “world’s thinnest smartphone.” In his announcement, Phil Schiller revealed that the iPhone 5 is 7.6mm thick, which is an 18% decrease in thickness over the iPhone 4S.


The iPhone 5 is pretty light too, weighing in at only 112 grams – that’s 20% lighter than the iPhone 4S. The iPhone 5 is the same width as the iPhone 4S is, but it’s a good amount taller. That change was made to accommodate the new screen, which measures in at 4-inches. That’s a pretty significant upgrade, considering that iPhone screens of the past have come in at 3.5-inches.

Of course, the iPhone 5 also features Retina Display, which will undoubtedly be a big selling point for the brand new device. All in all, Apple promises a new iPhone that feels great in your hand, and with those specifications, we don’t doubt that it will. Be sure to hit up our liveblog of Apple’s event for second-by-second updates, and check out our Apple portal for more in-depth coverage of the event!


iPhone 5 revealed as ‘world’s thinnest smartphone’ is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


Apple confirms iPhone 5 4G LTE carriers

It’s finally here, the iPhone 5! That isn’t all either as 4G LTE has officially been confirmed for the all new iPhone 5, as if we weren’t already expecting it. Apple has unveiled that their new flagship smartphone will indeed be powered by 4G LTE on multiple carriers here in the US, as well as many others across Canada and more. Check out the details below.

4G LTE for the US will include Verizon, AT&T, and of course Sprint, with T-Mobile no where to be seen. Canada will include folks from Rogers, Telus, Bell, Fido, and Virgin Mobile. They are going fast here guys so stay with us. For Asia we can expect KDDI, KT, SmartTone and more. Then of course for Europe we’ll get EE which made tons of announcements yesterday (just in time) as well as DT. We’ll continue to update with addition details as they are made available.

Obviously we’ll have tons of additional details once things slow down here in Appleland but they’ve touted 8 hours of 4G LTE web browsing in terms of battery life. Sounds great right? More details can be found in the images below. Continue our coverage at live.slashgear.com

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Apple confirms iPhone 5 4G LTE carriers is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


iPhone 5 officially announced

On Stage Apple has just confirmed what we all already knew, and that is the iPhone 5. We are jumping right into the excitement here in San Francisco. Apple has just dropped the huge iPhone 5 lettering up on the screen and the crowd let out with a cheer and we’ll have all the additional details coming up shortly.

The all new iPhone 5 will be made entirely of aluminum and glass, and that is it. Well that and magic of course. Apple has just started talking about screen size, resolution, and the fact that this is the worlds thinnest smartphone. Again you’ll want to stay tuned right here to our live.slashgear.com for live blog coverage.

We are expecting to learn tons about the new iPhone 5, iOS 6, wallet and NFC integration and of course 4G LTE so stay tuned for all the juicy details coming hop shortly.


iPhone 5 officially announced is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


iPhone 5 event liveblog starts in 1hr here on SlashGear!

The Apple Store is down, our liveblog is up, and the Apple event that’ll almost certainly be bringing on the iPhone 5 is less than an hour away! We’ve got several portals for you to jump in on the big Apple action for everything from software to various bits of hardware, starting with our liveblog portal at http://live.slashgear.com/. Next you’ll want to jump straight into our Apple portal for big news stories right as they’re announced straight from Apple!

If you’re so hungry for information that you’re going to burst right this second, you’re not alone! Have a peek at our pre-event round-ups of both hardware and software to keep your mouth from cracking apart with teeth grinding. In the Software rundown we’ve got all the information you can handle on iOS 6, the mobile operating system that the iPhone 5 will be running right out of the gate. For the Hardware wrap-up you’ll be seeing everything from the iPhone 5 to the iPod touch to the iPad mini – that more than likely being a device we’ll see later this year.

Stay tuned to our iOS 6 tag portal if you’re interested specifically in the software aspects throughout the day, and hit the iPhone 5 tag portal if you’re only interested in that device. We’ve got photos coming in as they’re taken in the live portal and we’re ready to stay on the case as it cracks all day long!

Starting times by region:
08:00AM – Hawaii
10:00AM – Pacific
11:00AM – Mountain
12:00PM NOON – Central
01:00PM – Eastern
02:00PM – São Paulo
06:00PM – London
07:00PM – Paris
09:00PM – Moscow
02:00AM – Tokyo (September 13th)
03:00AM – Australia (September 13th)

Check the short timeline below for additional last-minute leaks as well – and keep your scorecards handy!


iPhone 5 event liveblog starts in 1hr here on SlashGear! is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


LG Intuition Hands-on

It’s time to take another look at the LG version of the in-between segment of smart mobile devices sometimes known as the “phablet” here in the Verizon-carried LG Intuition. We’ve got our hands on one of these lovely devices today after a short intro by LG in New York City where they’ve been so kind as to host us and a collection of other publications with the idea being that you’re assured the full LG story. The full LG story here is a play-by-play of the abilities and intents of this device as LG wants you to be aware – we’ll let you know this as well as the rest in a full review – for now, let’s have a hands-on look at the device here in its final form.

What you’ve got here is a rather boxy look at the smart device that, though it’s not the most elegant smart gadget on the planet, it certainly does appear and feel unique here in 2012. LG’s recent efforts have been in devices that have rounded corners and odd shapes – like the LG Lucid with its smooth back and tiny size. There’s also the LG Nitro HD with one of the most high-definition display-having devices on the planet at this very moment and a rubbery grip back. What we’ve got here with the Intuition, on the other hand, is a beast with a pen – a “Rubberdium” pen – and another rubbery grip back so you can hold tight!

The LG Intuition is currently the largest display-having smart device on Verizon that’s not considered a tablet, with the 7-inch Galaxy Tab line from Samsung being next up with a vibe that’s decidedly tablet-like. With the LG Intuition you’ve got a working machine rather than a play machine – tablets being mostly for play, no matter what anyone tells you. On Verizon this device has no parallel – on the greater smart device market, you’ve got the Galaxy Note and soon the Galaxy Note II, also both from Samsung. Until the Galaxy Note II (or Galaxy Note 2, however you want to type it) reaches Verizon – and it very well may, given the unconfirmed news from earlier today – this LG device has no competitor on Verizon’s 4G LTE network.

You’ve got ultra-fast data speed, a massive display, and a beast of a motor under the hood. LG has chosen the Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 dual-core processor to run this device, and it’s looking and feeling really nice here in our first few hours in general work and play mode. This isn’t the newest Snapdragon processor line – that’s the S4 – but it’s still lively – we’ll see if it continues to keep up in our full review.

Have a peek here at benchmark scores from the device right out of the box. Note also that there’s really no device that this can be compared to fairly with its display being the unique size that it is. It’s also always a good time to note that benchmark tests such as those used here on Android only really truly compare devices with one software build against the same devices with different software builds – or in some cases, the same devices with different processors.

Next have a peek at a few Speed Test scores from right here in New York City, and note that we’ve found almost exactly the same scores from downtown Brooklyn to JFK Airport back to LaGuardia over the past few weeks with several different Verizon 4G LTE devices. Have a peek at our review of the Motorola DROID RAZR M to see additional speed tests with Verizon in the Twin Cities in Minnesota as well as NYC and stay tuned to see if this LG device has the same results – our guess is that they’ll be essentially the same.

STAY TUNED FOR SPEED TESTS FROM AROUND NYC TODAY!

We’ll be doing a more extensive review of this device later this week – this week is also being run over by an Apple press event in which they’ll likely release the iPhone 5, this meaning there will be a LOT of news coming down from Apple. To make sure you’re able to see the LG Intuition in full before it’s inevitably pummeled down off the front page no matter when it’s posted, stick to our LG tag portal.

Meanwhile have a peek at the timeline below to see additional hands-on and feature posts on this device (and its international edition) and get pumped up about its final release!

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LG Intuition Hands-on is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


SlashGear’s Beach Buggy Blitz Tegra 3 Tablet Giveaway

The developers at Vector Unit have released a new game by the name of Beach Buggy Blitz, and to celebrate said release in the TegraZone, NVIDIA and SlashGear are teaming up to bring you a set of THREE Tegra 3 quad-core processor-toting tablets. You’ll have the opportunity to get your hands on a Transformer Prime TF201 tablet/keyboard dock combo or one of two Google Nexus 7 tablets! With these lovely beasts you’ll be able to rock out on Beach Buggy Blitz all night long!

We had a bit of a hands-on look at the game just yesterday that you can witness by heading to the post entitled Vector Unit brings Beach Buggy Blitz to TegraZone and hands-on. Once you’ve experienced the excellence, head to the TegraZone and download the game absolutely free! Or if you’re currently without a device that works with an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, you’ve got another option.


We had a lot of fun with the last tablet giveaway working with our NVIDIA Tegra Hub – so much fun that we’ve decided to do it again, right here and now! You’ve got the chance to win one of three Tegra-toting tablets (listed above and below) – all you’ve got to do is follow these simple steps!

Rules:

1. Head to [this Facebook post] and if you haven’t already, “like” our Facebook page at [facebook.com/slashgear].

2. Select your favorite Tegra-toting device or NVIDIA TegraZone game from our ever-expanding [Tegra Hub] and comment on the Facebook post with a link (from the hub) along with some select words on why you love it so much – or why you want it so much, if you wish!

3. Sit back and wait for the end of the contest, and hope you get picked!

This giveaway starts on Friday, September 7th, 2012 and runs until Friday, Sept. 14th at midnight. We’ll pick a collection of our favorite entries and from that set we’ll choose three winners at random – we’ll announce the winners on Monday, September 17th on Facebook and right here in this original giveaway post!

Competition is open to residents of the US only, over the age of 18. One entry per person. Family members of NVIDIA, ASUS, Google, Vector Unit, and SlashGear/Android Community are not permitted to enter. Competition entries are only accepted via the specified Android Community forum post; entries left in the comments section of this or any other post will not be recognized.

The winners will be contacted by an Android Community/SlashGear staff member ON FACEBOOK upon being selected and will be expected to respond to that staff member; they will be expected to respond within 24 hours else their prize may be forfeit and another winner selected.

Editors decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Winners agree that their name and details of their entry may be used for promotional purposes by, but not limited to Android Community, SlashGear, NVIDIA, and Vector Unit.

Prizes consist of two 16GB Google Nexus 7 tablets and a Transformer TF201 Prime tablet and keyboard combo. There are no other alternative for prize winners unless this prizes become unavailable, in which case Android Community reserves the right to substitute another prize of equal or greater value. Giveaway provided by SlashGear/Android Community. Prizes provided by NVIDIA and Vector Unit. Any questions regarding this giveaway should be directed to giveaway [AT] slashgear.com.


SlashGear’s Beach Buggy Blitz Tegra 3 Tablet Giveaway is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.