Hasta La Gadget!

Just a couple days short of its latest deadline, the HTC Rezound now appears to be ready to be knighted with Ice Cream Sandwich via an OTA update. Verizon has taken to its official site to publish upgrade instructions and benefits, indicating that the rollout has begun. Once your install is complete, you should find yourself gazing at Sense 3.6 and its many associated features. These types of refreshes usually take a couple weeks to reach its entire consumer base, so don’t fret if your particular device doesn’t ping you with a notification while you’re jamming to your Beats today.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

HTC Rezound finally ready to receive Android 4.0 update originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 12:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Android Police  |  Verizon  | Email this | Comments

If it feels like yesterday you read our in-depth review of the dual-core Meizu MX, you’re not too far from the truth. In reality, it’s been just over seven months and we’ve already moved onto the smartphone’s quad-core sequel, aptly named the Meizu MX 4-core. Not only is it easy to confuse the two phones by name, but good luck trying to tell which one is which. Indeed, the two handsets are quite similar both inside and out, with the exception of some improvements in a couple rows on the ‘ol spec sheet.

The biggest surprise isn’t necessarily the speed with which the company cranked out a second MX, and it’s not even the reasonable price (HK$3,099, or US$400, or the 32GB version, and HK$4,099 / US$530 for the 64GB). Nope, it’s seeing Meizu, a manufacturer known for its copycat products, evolving into a relevant player beyond its native China. So how does this latest effort stack up? Read on to find out.

Continue reading Meizu MX 4-core review

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Software

Meizu MX 4-core review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

It’s official: we can finally add Sprint’s three-dimensional EVO to that endeavoring list of slabs running Ice Cream Sandwich. According to multiple tipsters, and promptly confirmed by The Now Network’s legitimate support page, Google’s ICS assortment is now being delivered OTA — a wee bit earlier than expected, no less — to the now-discontinued HTC EVO 3D. As we could imagine, the tasty software update brings previously known features to the 4.3-inch device, including folders, improved browser, resizable widgets and the crowd-pleasing Face Unlock method. Needless to say, Sprint certainly took its sweet time to dish out the long-awaited 4.0 nuggets — but better late than never, right?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

Sprint starts rolling out Ice Cream Sandwich update to HTC EVO 3D originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jul 2012 10:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Sprint  | Email this | Comments

A research consultant has revealed to Ars Technica that he can force NFC-equipped Android and Nokia phones to run malicious code in several ways — but only with specific devices and constraints. The first violation used the near-field Google Beam function, but only affected certain NFC phones running ICS or Jelly Bean. This could allow an evildoer to send a malicious website to an unsuspecting victim to possibly compromise their data. The next exploit was limited to a Gingerbread-equipped Google Nexus S, since later Android releases patched the bugs necessary for the hack. It allowed a so-called tag to access the NFC functions in the OS, and with a little more legwork could offer up access to more malicious programs. The final invasion was made on the Meego-powered Nokia N9, which the expert controlled by Bluetooth, using NFC — as long as the dupe overrode the defaults and enabled that function. If so, a hacker could dial out from the phone, send messages or upload and download files, depending on which security settings were enabled. Fortunately, exact hardware and software combinations aside, nefarious types would still have to be within an inch or two of your phone to enable their NFC box of tricks. Take a look at the source for the full interview.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Security expert shows that Android and Nokia NFC can be hacked — under certain conditions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 15:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Ars Technica  | Email this | Comments

As mentioned earlier, we’ve just gotten our hands on Qualcomm’s latest development platform to see how its first quad core chipset fares. And boy, that APQ8064 really doesn’t disappoint, but it should be no surprise — we’ve already seen how the top dual core S4 chipsets already beat their quad core competitors in certain aspects, so it’s only natural for the quad core S4 Pro to annihilate them. As you can see in our chart after the break, the APQ8064-based MDP easily beat the Tegra 3-based One X and Nexus 7, as well as the Exynos 4412-based Galaxy S III. And partly thanks to the Adreno 320 graphics core, the MDP even scored an astonishing 132fps in our GLBenchmark test, while the quad core Galaxy S III with Mali-400 graphics came second with 99fps, with the remaining devices lingering around 60fps only.

Obviously, the question remains how big of a trade-off there is on battery life in exchange for those two extra cores and the more powerful graphics chip. That said, we have a feeling that Snapdragon’s Krait architecture and asynchronously clocked cores will again prove that Tegra 3’s 4-PLUS-1 design isn’t the best solution for battery efficiency — as many of you might already know. We shall see when APQ8064-based products become available later this year. For now, take a gander at our numbers and photos.

Update: Hit the break for our hands-on video with the MDP. Also, we had a chance play with the 13-megapixel autofocus camera in the worst possible lighting conditions, and it acquitted itself rather well considering the circumstances. Check out the sample gallery below.

Myriam Joire contributed to this mind-blowing hands-on.

Continue reading Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro (APQ8064) MDP benchmarks blow away the competition (update: video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs

Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro (APQ8064) MDP benchmarks blow away the competition (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 18:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments