Motorola MOTOSMART comes to UK in July: we go hands-on

Motorola MOTOSMART comes to UK in July, promises cheapaschips Android 23 video

Motorola isn’t letting the Atrix HD hog all the spotlight today. If you’d like your smartphone a little more to-the-point, the MOTOSMART distills just about everything cellular to its fundamentals. It’s as frugal as can be — the tiny full-touch phone packs a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 display, a 3-megapixel rear camera and the same MotoSwitch-layered Android 2.3 we saw half a year ago with the MOTOLUXE. Then again, that essentialism is really the focus, isn’t it? The MOTOSMART will cost just £100 ($155) SIM-free when it hits T-Mobile UK and other parts of Europe by the end of the month, so the barrier to entry is more like a speed bump. Click past the break for the video, some brief impressions, and the source for the hard details in the Italian-only listing that Motorola has so far.

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Motorola MOTOSMART comes to UK in July: we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 03:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

TMobile myTouch and myTouch Q officially announced, we go handson

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.

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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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Claystone Launcher 2.0 for Android makes its debut, we go hands-on (video)

Claystone Launcher 20 for Android makes its debut, we go handson

You’re likely familiar with many of the heavyweights in the Android launcher world such as Apex, GO and Nova, but if you’ve yet to delve into the world of Claystone, you’re really missing out. The free launcher brings centralized access to apps, contacts, Facebook feeds and news, and for those so inclined, Amazon’s app and video stores. Unlike most launchers, which place an emphasis on numerous home screens positioned in a row, Claystone presents all of its content on one screen that you scroll through vertically. Individual sections such as contacts, Facebook posts and news stories are presented as cards that you can flip through. At the very bottom, you’ll find a familiar arrangement of permanent shortcuts to the phone, email, messaging and camera apps.

New to Claystone 2.0 is the tandem launcher, which allows users to quickly switch back and forth between the Claystone environment and another launcher with a single press of the home button. While this may come off as a bit schizophrenic, the tandem launcher is particularly helpful in Claystone’s current state, as it takes an inappropriate amount of time to scroll through the 3 x 3 grid of application icons on the home screen. Unfortunately, users of HTC’s latest smartphones will need to contend with a non-functional settings button, which is an unnecessary eyesore that hogs screen real estate.

There are many features about Claystone 2.0 that we genuinely like, and it’s certainly worth checking out for yourself. Unfortunately, Claystone still feels more akin to a proof-of-concept rather than a fully functional launcher. For example, while we genuinely dig the ability to quickly view news stories, the feeds aren’t customizable. Instead, you’ll find news streams from Google that cover a set list of interests: business, entertainment, science / tech, sports and top stories. Also, while Facebook integration is a nice touch, we’d like to see a similar treatment for Twitter. Finally, if Claystone is to compete head-on with other launchers, it’ll need to integrate content such as weather, calendar events and email messages into the main interface. Given the current card layout, we imagine that each of these elements — and more — could be integrated quite intuitively. In the meantime, be sure to check out our preview after the break.

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Claystone Launcher 2.0 for Android makes its debut, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 20:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Huawei Ascend Q hands-on (video)

Huawei Ascend Q handson video

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.

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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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We go hands-on with the waterproof Sony Xperia go (video)

We go handson with the waterproof Sony Xperia go video

The spiritual successor to last year’s Xperia Active has been given a performance boost. Now packing a dual-core 1GHz processor, Sony hopes it’ll manage to keep up with your surf-heavy lifestyle. At least, that’s the explanation we reckon underpins the Xperia go‘s (or Xperia advance) certified dust and waterproofing. The phone is notch above the Xperia miro and Xperia tipo hardware wise, although the software remains less so, leaning on the increasingly creaky Android Gingerbread. (Sony says it’s coming — but it wont be available on launch.)

Those curved corners and design lines bring it close to the aesthetic of the Xperia S, P and U — although it does lack that pervasive see-through bar. The increased processing power made web browsing a pretty painless affair, while wet finger tracking means you’ll still be able to use the 3.5-inch touchscreen in the British Summer surf. The device will be priced around £250 (around $390) in the UK and is pegged to arrive over the next few months in white, black and yellow — the latter has swiftly become our favorite. Take a visual tour of the yellow option in our gallery and hands-on video right after the break.

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We go hands-on with the waterproof Sony Xperia go (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 14:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google+ released for iPad, we go hands-on

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.

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Google+ released for iPad, we go hands-on is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Sony Xperia miro and Xperia tipo hands-on (video)

Sony Xperia Miro and Xperia Tipo handson video

Sony’s smallest additions to its smartphone roster won’t launch until late August, but that didn’t stop us dabbling with both handsets at Carphone Warehouse’s Christmas (already?) show in London earlier today. The point of interest here is Ice Cream Sandwich, which arrives ready-to-go on both devices. The Xperia tipo will be arriving in Europe in its single SIM guise, with the dual-slot brother launching in Asia. It feels unerringly light in the hands at 3.5 ounces, while the 3.2-inch 480 x 320 TFT screen and 800MHz processor just about suffices for web browsing. There’s a 3.2-megapixel camera on show on the back, with room for microSD storage expansion.

The Xperia miro expands the touchscreen to 3.5 inches, and whacks the camera up to five megapixels, although you won’t find the same Exmor R sensor that impressed on preceding devices. There’s a nice curvature below the Android capacitive button row, although the backing is unfortunately plain on both color options we saw. In sort, both devices aren’t going to wow you with their technical prowess — although they might with their prices. The Xperia tipo is set to arrive in August priced below £100 (less than $155), while the slightly larger Xperia miro will arrive around a month later, priced around £150 ($232). Head on past the break for a video of both handsets in action.

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Sony Xperia miro and Xperia tipo hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 13:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

Garmin unveils Fenix, its first GPS watch for deeppocketed outdoorsy types handson

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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Wacom announces Cintiq 22HD pen display, we go hands-on (video)

Wacom announces Cintiq 22HD pen display, we go handson video

Oh, to sit in a darkened room all day and get paid to do art. No phone calls, no stress, and no technology except for a PC and a brand new $1,999 Wacom Cintiq 22HD tablet display (and maybe also a pair of equally well-engineered Beyerdynamics). Alas, only our Distro magazine crew get to live like that — the rest of the Engadget team must make do with spec sheets and quick hands-on impressions, which are precisely what you’ll find after the break.

Continue reading Wacom announces Cintiq 22HD pen display, we go hands-on (video)

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Wacom announces Cintiq 22HD pen display, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

Samsung EX2F pointandshoot with f14 lens handson video

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)

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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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