Hasta La Gadget!

It feels like just yesterday that we were getting acquainted with the back-to-basics ways of HTC’s Sense 4.0. Well-known HTC phone modder Football doesn’t want us to get comfy: he claims to have both obtained a leaked version of Sense 4.1’s ROM Upgrade Utility (RUU) and folded it into the 2.2 update to his Maximus firmware for the international One X. While it’s no Jelly Bean, the Maximus-tuned version of HTC’s Android 4.0 flavor appears to give Sense a shot in the arm, taking care of lag in the launcher and live wallpapers in addition to delivering a healthy overall speed boost. That 0.1 numbering gives a good indication of just how light the visible feature set might be, though — other than an existing update to substitute the virtual menu button for a long-press of the home key, the interface changes are mostly limited to dedicated buttons for switching browser tabs and between different cameras. It’s no surprise that HTC hasn’t said a word about its own plans; rumors of new One devices, however, can’t help but fuel suspicions that Sense 4.1 is just around the bend.

Filed under: Cellphones

HTC Sense 4.1 reportedly leaked with custom ROM, One X owners taste the future originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Aug 2012 10:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM’s current CEO Thorsten Heins has been very candid about his company’s plans and past, but he has usually given the impression that the company wouldn’t even consider deviating from its one true vision of a BlackBerry OS future. Although BlackBerry 10 is very much the center of RIM’s universe today, Heins has revealed to The Telegraph that his firm’s eyes did stray briefly — at one point, it “seriously” investigated Android as a platform. The company ended up backing away after deciding a “me-too” strategy didn’t fit the productivity-obsessed BlackBerry crowd, the executive says. RIM decided, like Nokia, that it couldn’t differentiate enough in Google’s ecosystem. There’s still some time to go before we learn whether or not the gamble on the in-house OS pays off. If Heins’ comments still leave you dreaming of what might have been, though, don’t worry: at least a few companies are providing their own visions in a slightly more tangible form.

Filed under: Cellphones

RIM chief: we looked ‘seriously’ at Android, didn’t want to join the herd originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Aug 2012 12:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Direct Merchandise Marketing might not have the most alluring name as a tablet maker, but it still raised a few eyebrows with its Matrix One in June: it hoped to crack the $100 barrier while still producing a device you’d still be proud to take home to Mother. The 7-inch slate is going on sale ever so slightly past its late July target, but with a surprise price drop to $90 — more or less, considering that shipping costs a minimum $10. Whether or not that extra Hamilton bill’s difference is an illusion, you’re still getting a surprisingly competent device for the money, with a 1.5GHz ARM Cortex-A8 chip, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of built-in storage moving Android 4.0 along at a decent clip. The 2-megapixel front camera, full-size USB and HDMI also help reinforce that it’s more than just a no-frills slab. Having said this, we’d be brave enough to crack the triple-digit barrier and spring for the considerably more future-proof $130 edition with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of space. The feature gap is still wide enough that Nexus 7 owners won’t experience buyer’s remorse; at this price, however, it’s not hard to imagine handing out Matrix Ones to family members like so much candy.

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Matrix One tablet goes on sale for an even more frugal $90 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 23:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ting has drawn a lot of attention among MVNOs for its unique mix-and-match approach to contract-free plans, but it’s had to contend with some rather middling phones inherited from its network partner Sprint. That gap in high-end phones will narrow before the summer’s up: Ting plans to carry the Galaxy S III within three to six weeks, becoming the first virtual carrier in the US to tout Samsung’s flagship. Its version is identical to the Sprint model and will even cost $20 less when you skip Sprint’s two-year term, at $529 for a 16GB edition and $579 for its 32GB cousin. If that doesn’t satisfy the appetite, Ting is also giving a peek at its menu for the months ahead. Along with adopting LTE this year to make that Galaxy S III hum, the carrier expects to bring in a more moderately-priced LTE phone, a hotspot, an accessible phone and a budget slider. We wouldn’t base any carrier switches around an iPhone or Windows Phone option, though. There’s only “some progress” coaxing a deal out of Apple, and a Windows Phone is most likely to wait until the first quarter of 2013.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Ting becomes first US MVNO to hop the Galaxy S III bandwagon, outlines its device roadmap originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 19:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Parents who’ve already purchased Archos’ 7-inch Child Pad may be feeling somewhat miffed, as its screen’s been upgraded from resistive to capacitive just two months after launch. There’s no such thing as free multi-touch, so you’ll have to fork out another ten bucks on top of the original asking price for the new version of the ICS slate, bringing the total to a cent under $140. Other internals are identical, so customers can still expect a 1GHz ARM processor, 1GB of RAM and 4GB of expandable storage, with some exclusive chipmunk-based content to boot. Just remember to let the kids have a go once in a while.

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Archos Child Pad gets capacitive screen upgrade, minor price hike to $140 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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