Hasta La Gadget!

Apple has a tradition of timing FCC filings for new wireless mobile devices so that they appear just as soon as they’ve been announced, and it’s not about to let up now. We’ve got a trifecta of approvals on the way for 2012 that start with the iPhone 5. What’s hard to miss is the absurd number of cellular bands at work: as Apple had to make separate iPhone 5 models to cover every LTE carrier it supports, on top of the usual alphabet soups for CDMA and GSM, the filing combining the two devices is one of the largest we’ve seen to date. The addition of 5GHz WiFi support only compounds the situation.

A pair of iPods also made their appearances today, and they’ve been given the regulatory once-over as well. The iPod touch has the 5GHz WiFi band included and isn’t special by itself, but the new iPod nano is noteworthy simply for showing up at all — the inclusion of Bluetooth means a spin past the testing facility in addition to some wireless audio. We’re still digging to see if the iPhone or new iPods have any surprises, although you can have a first-hand look through the source links.

Brad Molen contributed to this report.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio/Video, Mobile

iPhone 5, updated iPod touch and iPod nano models reach the FCC right on cue originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 17:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile USA has snatched up a new Samsung Android phone, and while they’re ten-a-penny these days, the fact that the Galaxy S Relay 4G has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard does differentiate it a little. Fronted by a 4-inch Super AMOLED display and running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 processor, the Galaxy S Relay 4G also supports T-Mobile’s HSPA+ 42Mbps network.

It’s also the latest SAFE-certified Samsung, the company’s scheme to push enterprise-ready devices with features like 256-bit AES encryption, extra Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support, and boosted VPN abilities. There’s WiFi Calling and mobile hotspot for up to five WiFi-tethered devices, too.

On the back, there’s a 5-megapixel camera for stills and HD video recording, and Samsung preloads its Mobile TV app for streaming entertainment. As the specs might suggest, this isn’t the shiniest, most powerful device we’ve seen from Samsung of late, though the physical ‘board may well distinguish it to those who still aren’t up to speed with touchscreen QWERTY.

The Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G will hit T-Mobile “in the coming weeks,” though the company is yet to confirm pricing for the smartphone.

T-Mobile Galaxy S Relay 4G balances tepid specs with handy keyboard is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nokia has confirmed availability for the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820, the company’s new Windows Phone 8 handsets, which will hit markets across the world later in 2012. The two devices will be offered in both pentaband HSPA+ and LTE variants, Nokia has said, though not specified any individual carriers it will be working with.

There’ll also be multiple color options. The Lumia 920 will be offered in yellow, red, grey, white, and black, while the Nokia Lumia 820 will come in red, yellow, grey, cyan, purple, white, and black. The latter will also be offered with various shells, some of which will work with the wireless charging system.

The absence of a specific launch date, or indeed pricing, will leave consumers and the market unimpressed. Nokia needed to come out strong with both devices, and while the hardware of the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 are capable enough – particularly the special PureView technology on the Lumia 920 – it’s difficult to muster too much excitement when you don’t know how much it is.

Nokia: Lumia 920 and 820 coming with LTE and HSPA+ “later in year” is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD has made a somewhat circuitous journey across our eyes, through our hands and past the FCC’s screwguns. Finally we know when you can get one, as they go on sale starting in September. The devices are already available in China, and will be rolled out to Europe next month with the rest of the world “to follow,” according to Huawei. Its specs have changed since we last saw it, as it’ll now feature a quad-core 1.4GHz Cortex-A9 processor instead of the K3 Balong CPU we saw earlier. Everything else stays the same: Android 4.0, a 10.1-inch, 1,920 x 1,200 IPS display, an 8-megapixel rear camera that captures 1080P video, and 150Mbps LTE compatibility. We’ve already expressed our ardor about its gorgeous screen, great aluminum body and decent performance — if you feel the same, check the PR to see when it’s coming to your neck of the woods.

Continue reading Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD hitting stores starting in September with new specs in tow

Filed under: Laptops, Tablets

Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD hitting stores starting in September with new specs in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 06:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whenever we see a smartphone optimized for China Mobile’s TD-SCDMA 3G, it usually represents one of two things: it’s either a China-specific variant of a phone we already know, or it’s a local-only model that’s unlikely to ever travel abroad. Marvell has just unveiled a new mobile processor platform that could allow for a lot more globetrotting with those basic designs. The PXA988 is limited to China Mobile’s technology for data, but its PXA986 doppelganger can fit the same slot to offer regular HSPA+ 3G without forcing phone makers back to the drawing board. Both run on a dual-core, 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 at their heart — nothing exciting in mid-2012, although they’re well-enough equipped to capture 1080p video and tout extras like NFC. Only test samples exist today, but there’s a chance we’ll soon see phone designs that are just as much at home in Berlin as they are in Beijing.

Continue reading Marvell PXA988, PXA986 chips support 3G for China, the world without reinventing the wheel (or phone)

Filed under: Cellphones

Marvell PXA988, PXA986 chips support 3G for China, the world without reinventing the wheel (or phone) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 14:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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