Hasta La Gadget!

Ever since the bootloader of the Galaxy S III for Verizon Wireless was cracked wide open, there’s much less of a clamor for the Developer Edition of the handset from Samsung. That said, the unsubsidized smartphone is now available to purchase — for backorder, anyway — directly from the manufacturer, which gives all owners the ability to easily unlock the phone’s bootloader and thus delight in the world of custom ROMs. As of now, only the Pebble Blue variant is available, but purchasers may choose from the 16GB ($600) or 32GB ($650) versions. We still maintain that Verizon Wireless gave its subscribers a pretty raw deal with the Galaxy S III, as all other carriers left it to the owner’s discretion of whether to unlock their phone’s bootloader. We wouldn’t expect Big Red to change its tune any time soon, but you can take solace knowing that the hacking community and manufacturers have your back.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Samsung Galaxy S III Developer Edition for Verizon Wireless now available to order originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 04:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not uncommon for US carriers to take an international smartphone under their wings, make a few adjustments to hardware and firmware, stamp their fat logos in multiple places and then sell it to the masses. Verizon is no exception: the LG Intuition is its interpretation of the Optimus Vu, a 5-inch phablet we reviewed over the summer. Perhaps calling it an “interpretation” is a bit of an overstatement: aside from a bump in firmware and Big Red’s LTE, it is the Optimus Vu. In fact, going into this review, we had a difficult time believing our experience would be much different than our run-in with the Korean version.

Our first reaction is that this doesn’t bode well for the carrier. If Verizon opted for the Intuition in order to fill a gaping hole in its lineup, we have a hard time understanding why it would choose to greenlight this particular device with the Samsung Galaxy Note II coming within the next two months. The device’s quiet launch is a solid enough indication that the network isn’t planning on throwing a lot marketing dollars behind it, so it feels as though the Intuition’s main reason for existing is to bolster Verizon’s rapidly expanding LTE portfolio. Is there something intriguing about the Intuition ($200 with a two-year commitment) that wasn’t there when we first played with the Vu? Or will we find ourselves in the Twilight Zone, reliving the same moment over and over again? Let’s find out.

Continue reading LG Intuition review: Optimus Deja Vu with a Verizon LTE twist

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

LG Intuition review: Optimus Deja Vu with a Verizon LTE twist originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony’s Xperia T goes by a few names. Depending on which country you’re in, you might pick it up as the Xperia GX, or possibly even the TX. The final review sample that’s been passed our desk, however, is the Xperia T, the European HSPA version, headed to O2’s UK stores in the coming weeks, at which point it will be free on £36 per-month contracts and likely replace the Xperia S as Sony’s Android flagship. In comparison to Sony’s Spring smartphone, there’s a similar 720p display, now stretched out to 4.6 inches, a different 13-megapixel camera, a new 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor and Android ICS — with the promise of Jelly Bean soon after it hits store. The Xperia T also revives a familiar hardware curve and has picked up onscreen Android buttons on its design journey. Design twists and promises of the latest OS aside, has Sony finally built a top-tier phone capable of going toe-to-toe with the smartphone heavyweights? Have a look after the break.

Continue reading Sony Xperia T review: a new 4.6-inch smartphone flagship that isn’t quite new enough

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Sony Xperia T review: a new 4.6-inch smartphone flagship that isn’t quite new enough originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 09:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Okay, it’s not the nicest phone we’ve handled this week (heck, it’s not even the best mid-range phone), but you wouldn’t be reading this site if you didn’t enjoy gawking at new devices, right? Right. So, with that in mind, we offer you the Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE. It went on sale at Sprint last weekend, priced at $100 after a $50 mail-in rebate, but we only just got some hands-on time at a press event happening tonight.

On paper and in person, it’s a forgettable sort of handset: it has a 4-inch (800 x 480) display, 5- and 1.3-megapixel cameras, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of built-in storage and a middling dual-core Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 Lite processor, clocked at 1.2GHz. And, at 12.7mm thick, it’s one of the chunkiest phones we’ve handled in some time. Still, it redeems itself somewhat with the promise of LTE service — once Sprint gets some momentum behind its new 4G network, that is. It also comes with Google Wallet, as well as some features found on the Galaxy S III — things like S Beam and AllShare Play. Curious enough to peek but not compelled enough to buy? You’ve come to the right place. Check out our hands-on photos below and meet us after the break for some quickie impressions.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Victory hands-on: a $100 handset on Sprint with LTE and Android 4.0

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Samsung Galaxy Victory hands-on: a $100 handset on Sprint with LTE and Android 4.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 19:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Huawei Ascend G600 is expected to arrive in Europe sometime this month, but in the meantime, the middle-weight smartphone was recently spotted at the FCC, where it revealed… well, not much. We’re able to determine from the test reports that this is, indeed, the handset bound for Europe, as its UMTS / HSPA (3G) capabilities will be limited to the 2100MHz and 900MHz bands. Meanwhile, here in the States, the phone will be limited to EDGE connectivity. The Bluetooth and WiFi components also received a stamp of approval from the FCC, although the inclusion of these components should be a surprise to none. Beyond its connectivity, the Ascend G600 will combine Android 4.0.4 with a dual-core 1.2GHz CPU, a 4.5-inch qHD display and will sell for €300 ($390) whenever it actually hits store shelves.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Huawei Ascend G600 survives FCC interrogation originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 07:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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