Hasta La Gadget!

Though some of us have elected to make our smartphones our main phones, many still have a home phone line, and for those users, Panasonic has developed a cordless offering that brings Android to the landline. The KX-PRX120 looks like a slightly dated, thick smartphone, but functions as a standard cordless home phone, providing a touchscreen display and front-facing camera, among other features.

The cordless phone features a 3.5-inch TFT display with an HVGA resolution and support for multi-touch. As with a smartphone, the digital phone offers various connectivity options: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS. The battery is a 1450mAh offering, though Panasonic doesn’t specify how long of a battery life this provides.

There’s no mention the internal storage in the handset, but users can save data and files on a microSD card via a storage slot. One nice benefit of the handset is a front-facing camera (0.3-megapixel), which allows users to use Skype or similar apps and hold a video conversation. Charging is achieved using a standard micro USD cable.

While Panasonic doesn’t specify in its announcement whether the user will have access to the Google Play store, the icon is plainly visible in the image above, so we’ll take that as confirmation. There’s an answering machine functionality that allows for up to 40 minutes of audio storage, and a feature for blocking both incoming and outgoing calls that are unwanted.

There’s a Caller ID feature, optional Key Finder, and the ability to register up to 6 handsets in total. Unfortunately, Panasonic didn’t specify when the KX-PRX120 will hit shelves, nor how much consumers can expect to pay for it, but we’ll keep you updated when more information is announced.

SOURCE: Panasonic

Panasonic KX-PRX120 cordless home phone runs Android Ice Cream Sandwich is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Earlier this year a device code-named DA220HQL was introduced to the world – silently – this being the same device appearing along technology newslines being reported as brand new, and coming soon with Haswell inside. What’s actually happened here is a bit of a mistaken identity – the device in question is, indeed, already on the market – and it comes with a dual-core Texas Instruments processor inside.

This machine is what Acer calls a “Smart Display”, working with a kickstand in the back, a full touch display, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich inside. This machine works with the dual-core TI OMAP 4430 inside and is available in Europe right now for right around $450 USD, depending on where you’re picking it up from. Resellers, according to CNET, had as recently as earlier today been listing the device as coming with a next-generation Intel Haswell processor under the hood.

While the device won’t be busting up the next-generation charts with that particular bit of Intel technology, it will be continuing its odd placement in the market with a 21.5-inch multi-touch display at 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution – across that much display space, it’s not exactly as sharp as some of the top smartphones on the market, but is more than enough to get you through the day as a media center.

Inside is 1GB of RAM, 8GB internal storage, microHDMI out, microUSB (one of them), and included in the box you’ll get both a wireless keyboard and a wireless mouse. This system is very similar to what appeared at the ViewSonic stand earlier this year at CES 2013. ViewSonic showed off their own “Smart Display” by the name of VSD240 – basically the same concept, but ringing in at a slightly more hefty $675 USD (MSRP). While that system did boast an NVIDIA Tegra processor, the style sticks with Acer.

These systems show the continued experimentation being done with Android as its versatility expands. Android notebooks like the HP SlateBook X2 have popped up alongside cross-breeds like this – and Android is inside Google Glass, too, mind you. Expect this trend to keep tapping.

PSA: Acer’s Android all-in-one won’t roll with Haswell is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Facebook Home for Android was launched to much fanfare, though it hasn’t received the best of reviews so far. Regardless of the fact that it was downloaded half a million times in the first week alone, its popularity on Google Play Store has reportedly dipped, with most of the downloaders leaving a one-star review. That hasn’t stopped Google from praising Home, first it was Eric Schmidt who said that Facebook Home is a testament to the openness of Android. Now Android Design Head, Matias Durate, is singing its praises.

He says that Facebook Home shows an “incredible amount of polish” and that it has a superb attention to design detail. Durate says that Home does a pretty good job of expressing the Facebook experience, though there’s a lot of Google design experience with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in it as well. He also added that it does not bother him that Facebook Home takes over Android’s homescreen, as the platform’s openness allows that. Since Home does not alter the underlying core Android OS in any way, it isn’t exactly squatting on Google’s own user experience innovations. Users can choose whether or not they want to use the stock Android homescreen on their devices.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Synrgic Uno Announced, Verizon Cloud Backup Service Arrives On Android, With iOS In Its Sights,

In a bid to take on the top contenders in the smartphone market this season in the USA, Pantech will be bringing a device by the name of Perception, complete with 3D gesture sensing technology onboard. The Samsung GALAXY S 4 will be in the hands of users by the end of the month on several carriers (and Verizon before Summer begins), it being issued with a technology that allows users to “hover” over their display to activate several features. Pantech’s bid for the 3D sensor trend is being delivered this month with what they call “Motion Sense.”

This Motion Sense technology will be appearing on the Verizon-exclusive smartphone Pantech Perception, this device also including several specifications that push it to the top tier smartphone category. The Pantech Perception includes a 4.8-inch touchscreen with HD Super AMOLED technology, its back features an 8 megapixel camera, and its front uses a 2 megapixel camera. Pantech will be delivering this device with a 16GB bit of internal storage as well.

The 3D sensor technology Motion Sense will allow users to wave their hand over the phone without touching it to activate several features. When the Pantech Perception rings for a phone call, the user will be able to wave their hand over the face (without touching it) to answer said call. Users will also be able to scroll through songs in the smartphone’s basic music app, look through photos, or move through contacts with this new technology.

The Pantech Perception will not be delivered with the most recent version of Google’s mobile operating system Android Jelly Bean. Instead the Perception will be delivered with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with a guarantee from Verizon that it will be upgraded to Jelly Bean “soon”. So says Verizon Wireless representative Albert Aydin along with a note on how this device will be sold for 99 dollars and 99 cents just so long as users agree to 2-year mobile contract and send in a 50 dollar mail-in rebate.

This effort will be appearing in the USA this month, starting no earlier than the 25th day of the month. Have a peek at SlashGear’s Pantech tag portal for more information on what this manufacturer is doing to come in full force to the North American mobile device market with smartphones galore.

Pantech brings 3D gesture control to Verizon in newest smartphone effort is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Android users, take note: Google Keep — a long-overdue app for creating lists and reminders — is ready to help you organize your life.