Hasta La Gadget!

T-Mobile’s myTouch series is back with a new pair of devices — a slate and a slideout QWERTY, to be precise — and the lucky manufacturer this time around is Huawei, following in the footsteps made by HTC and LG in years past. Of course, we can’t say that this is much of a shocker, considering we’ve seen these midrange handsets go through endless rounds of rumors, FCC certification and even our very own hands-ons when visiting Huawei HQ (where the devices are known more officially as the Ascend G312 and G312 QWERTY). But they’re finally ready for the final production line and will be available August 8th for $50 after a $50 mail-in rebate. The myTouch will come in black and dark red, while the myTouch Q will be offered in black and white.

So what kind of specs can we expect to enjoy (or strongly dislike, depending on your personal preference) on the myTouch and myTouch Q? It’s running Android 2.3 on a special customized UI, for starters, which will be a huge disappointment to many potential buyers. Additionally, both devices will offer a 4-inch WVGA screen, 1,500mAh battery, 4GB of internal storage, microSD expansion, 5MP rear camera capable of taking 720p video, 0.3MP front-facing cam, HSPA+ connectivity and an unspecified 1.4GHz CPU (though we reported earlier that it should be a single-core MSM8255T accompanied by 1GB of RAM). Head below to check out our gallery and hands-on video, and then continue reading after the break to hear our first impressions.

Continue reading T-Mobile myTouch and myTouch Q coming August 8th for $50, we go hands-on

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

T-Mobile myTouch and myTouch Q coming August 8th for $50, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Huawei’s taken to the Taste of Chicago event in Chicago to introduce its fresh pair of myTouch phones to the world, but it also had another gem at its booth: the Huawei M660, also known as the Ascend Q. An upcoming smartphone that’s poised to hit the US in August, the company plans to launch the device on Cricket as a prepaid handset. It’s certainly not high-end, but we weren’t exactly expecting it to take the no-contract carrier by storm in that sense. In fact, spec junkies may be a little disappointed at what they see in the portrait QWERTY phone: a 3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen display, Android 2.3.6, an 800MHz CPU, 1,500mAh battery, microSD storage slot and a 3MP fixed-focus rear camera with no LED flash. The device will also feature Muve Music, a Cricket staple that’s starting to be included on most of its smartphone lineup.

The keyboard, while small, actually closely resembles a BlackBerry Bold — its keys are pretty close together, but each key offers a ridge that gives our fingers a little more travel and makes it easier to type than most other ‘boards its size. The one concern we had with the keyboard was its placement of some of the keys — for instance, there’s a messaging access button on the lower right corner of the device, which we accidentally hit on multiple occasions when we were attempting to hit the much smaller enter key just above it. For a Gingerbread device with an 800MHz CPU, the Ascend Q actually runs pretty smooth, with minimal lag when going in between various tasks. And in our limited time with the device, we were able to do a quick SunSpider test, which yielded a score of 4,800. In terms of the user interface, the Gingerbread UI on the Q is reminiscent to the skin we’ve encountered on previous Huawei phones such as the Honor and Mercury.

Overall, this will likely be a good device for prepaid fans interested in a smaller messaging device. Huawei wasn’t able to give us any mention of pricing yet, but we imagine it will be quite a reasonable cost on Cricket. Check out our hands-on gallery and full video below.

Continue reading Huawei Ascend Q hands-on (video)

Filed under: Cellphones

Huawei Ascend Q hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 19:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today Google has been so kind as bump up their official Google+ app for iPhone (and iPad) that’ll allow people around the world to explore the social network with great ease. This version of Google+ is made for iPhone, but is perfectly suited for the iPad‘s larger display as well. Graphics come through sharp and well-tuned for the most part, with only a few bits and pieces left for a future version to clean up – gray borders around small images, and other such small matters.

This version of Google+ is the first made for iPad AND iPhone and takes on a form not unlike what we saw at Google I/O 2012 when we got our first look at the updated Android mobile version of the environment. We’ve got circles for icons, large and separated blocks for updates and shares, and even access to Hangouts, too! Have a peek first at the newsfeed as it appears on the iPad – for the iPhone you’ve got a similar setup, only with one column instead of two.

Then there’s the Hangouts situation – you certainly can hang out with your friends using your own front facing (or back facing) camera on your iPhone or iPad, but that’s about it. You wont be watching YouTube videos or editing documents from this app in this iteration. It’s also rather plain looking if you’ve got no friends to chat with – awww:

You can share photos to Events, turn on instant upload to instantly upload photos from your iPad or iPhone to Google+ automatically, and check out your Nearby stream to see which contacts of yours are physically near to you – and what they’re doing at the moment. You’ll be able to check this app out right this minute, if you do so please, in the iTunes App Store. It’s there for free, of course, and is up for download starting today.

Google+ released for iPad, we go hands-on is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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There may be a few more years remaining before a forced retirement, but there’s no question that dedicated automotive GPS units are on the way out. Integrated products, apps and the aviation sector will keep companies like Garmin afloat, but now’s as good a time as any to focus on other markets — and where better to slap that global positioning goodness than on our wrists. Watches seems to be a growing focus for the guidance giant, following last month’s GPS-less Garmin Swim introduction. That device has a relatively narrow target (namely, swimmers willing to invest $150 in the sport), but the company is back with a more versatile wearable, complete with an altimeter, barometer, compass, an optional external ANT temperature sensor and Bluetooth connectivity. There’s also a GPS receiver, which can be used not only to calibrate the time and sensors, but also to track a route, direct you towards waypoints and guide you back to your starting point with TracBack.

The Fenix, as the full-featured watch is being called, is expected to retail for $400 when it hits stores at the end of August. Four bills hardly qualifies it for the luxury wristwatch category, but as digital wearables go, that’s certainly approaching the top end. We had an opportunity to try out the device in an office setting (not exactly an ideal environment for a rugged GPS watch, but that’s the best we could do in the middle of NYC), and the Fenix had quite a bit of heft to it — it’ll surely look out of place on smaller wrists, and probably won’t score you any points among fashion-conscious friends. Inner geeks should be appeased, however — the enclosure definitely seems an adequate size for housing all of those instruments. It also functions quite nicely as a watch — in default mode, it displays the time and date in large characters on the backlit LCD, with a nifty ring around the digits to indicate seconds. The Garmin Fenix is on track for a late-August ship date, but you can scroll through the gallery below or dive into the PR after the break to get your fix in the meantime.

Continue reading Garmin unveils Fenix, its first GPS watch for deep-pocketed outdoorsy types (hands-on)

Garmin unveils Fenix, its first GPS watch for deep-pocketed outdoorsy types (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 07:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been generally unimpressed with the latest round of basic point-and-shoots, including those from Samsung’s mid-range Smart series, but we do tend to take heed whenever a manufacturer opts to focus on optics rather than bumping up the megapixel count to boost sticker appeal. Compared to sub-$200 shooters, there’s a fairly limited market for $549 pocketable models — a price point that often prompts would-be owners to dig beyond superficial specs in search of full manual control, solid high-ISO performance, fast focusing and a lens that enables both low-light shooting and shallow depth of field. Samsung’s EX2F appears to fit the bill, offering a 12.4-megapixel 1/1.7-inch CMOS sensor, a top extended ISO setting of 12,800, a 3-inch VGA-res AMOLED display and — the crown jewel — an f/1.4-2.7, 24-79mm lens. That optic delivers an additional one 2/3 stop of sensitivity over the EX2F’s predecessor, the two-year-old TL500. Other advantages include a lighter magnesium alloy body, an NX power pin-enabled hot shoe for adding an external mic or flash, and a new micro-USB trigger cable.

Though the EX2F was noticeably lighter than the 2010 model during our hands-on, it retains much of the TL500’s heft — at least from a size perspective. The camera’s footprint makes it too bulky to slip in a pocket, as we were able to do with the Sony RX100, though the flip-out AMOLED display is certainly a welcome addition. An NX-like smart UI mode enables instant access to key settings, as do the dual control dials, which let you adjust shooting modes (on the right) and capture speed (on the left). There’s also a new in-camera HDR mode which merges two back-to-back shots (one underexposed and the other overexposed) in order to retain additional shadow and highlight detail. The camera was quite responsive during a quick shoot earlier today, powering on, focusing and capturing an image quickly. We’ll need to spend much more time snapping outside of an office environment before passing any formal judgement, but it’s easy to see the appeal of such of device — and the advantage over less-abled point-and-shoots. For now, you can take a closer look in the gallery below, and in our hands-on demonstration after the break.

Continue reading Samsung EX2F point-and-shoot with f/1.4 lens hands-on (video)

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Samsung EX2F point-and-shoot with f/1.4 lens hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 17:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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