Hasta La Gadget!

Fans of rugged Android phones, rejoice: you only have to wait until this Sunday to get the Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro on AT&T. The carrier just announced that it’ll be making its way into stores on October 21st and will run you a whole $100 on a two-year commitment. It isn’t going to be the stellar top-end device many power users crave, as it features a 4-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display, 5MP rear-facing camera with 720p video recording, 8GB onboard storage, ICS, LTE, Enhanced Push-to-Talk, 810g military-spec certification and EAS corporate email support. It’s a definite upgrade from the Smart, no doubt, but we’re still pining for the day that rugged phones can have the best components and bounce off a concrete floor without incident.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, AT&T

Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro available on AT&T October 21st for $100 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 12:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When we first laid eyes on the MG, it was an ambitious effort that hoped to bring Android 4.0-powered gaming to the casual masses through the hit-and-miss world of crowd funding. Though its Kickstarter efforts were a bust, its creators have managed to get this project off of the ground and are now accepting discounted pre-orders at $150 until November 4th — after that, the price will climb to a full $170. All pre-orders are expected to ship during the second week of November. As a refresher, the MG features a 4-inch WVGA display, a 1GHz Cortex A5 processor, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage and an 8GB microSD card. It’ll also accommodate up to 64GB cards, should you ever hit a wall. Sporting a design that’s reminiscent of the Tapwave Zodiac, the MG will ship pre-loaded with several “freemium” titles and will have access to Google Play’s massive library of games. So, if you’re looking to wean your younger sibling off of your high-end smartphone, the MG could be the stocking stuffer that gets the job done this holiday season.

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

MG Android gaming handheld now available to pre-order for $150, ships early November originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 08:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We were at the LG Optimus G launch in Korea  on September 17*, where we were able to briefly play with it. The Optimus G is the first smartphone to launch with the Quad-Core SnapDragon S4 Pro processor, so it is supposed to offer state-of-the-art performance. From what we have seen with the pre-production unit in Korea, it was fast indeed.

It looks like LG is back in the game of high-end smartphones with this well crafted unit that is truly a great competitor for the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy S3. The elegant chassis sports a Quad-Core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor 2GB RAM (vs 1GB for both the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S3), a 4.7-inch True HD IPS Plus display (1280 x 768 pixels),  a 13 MP camera or 8 MP depending on regions (the international unit we have here has the 13 MP shooter) and 32GB of internal storage.

Google seems to have acknowledged the Optimus G as a top device since, according to the recent rumors, the search giant’s upcoming Google Nexus 4 smartphone might have been designed by LG. This would be the first time that LG will manufacture a Google phone.

With a 2-year contract, the Sprint LG Optimus G will retail for $199.99, which is in line with most high-end smartphone launches, with a few exceptions.  AT&T has just announced  that the handset will be available on 2^ndof November and will be priced at $199.99.

Although performance looks good on the paper and as perceived on the pre-production unit, we need to look into this in detail and answer the question: “How good is it?”. Our goal here is to provide you with our best shot at answering this. In this review, we hope to give you a realistic feel on how it is to use the LG Optimus G  in the real world. Ready?

(more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: LG Optimus G more details – preview with videos, New LG P930 device hinted in an XML file could be a smartphone,

Well look at this! Our lucky buddies over at Engadget Chinese managed to get an early hands-on with the brand-spanking new PadFone 2 from ASUS. As we mentioned earlier, the bulkiness of the original model is totally gone and we’re still blown away by the combo’s new weight. But first, the phone: in our hands, it really just feels like an enlarged version of the original PadFone, especially with the ripple pattern on the back, as well as the plastic chin at the bottom along with the slightly tapered aluminum bezel. We do love the new and larger Super IPS+ screen, which is much sharper than the old PenTile Super AMOLED display, and it no doubt has better outdoor performance as well. Additionally, the Android soft keys are no longer virtual — you can access them below the screen at any time, and we dig that.

While docking the phone into or pulling it out of the PadFone Station is hardly a challenge, there’s some sort of magic that keeps the phone tucked into the bay no matter how hard our pals shook the tablet upside down (please don’t try this at home) — the geared rubber grip along the two sides of the bay are somehow responsible for this. The back of the PadFone Station has a rubbery texture that’s essentially identical to its predecessor’s, making it just as comfortable to hold, but only time will tell how durable the coating is. Software-wise it’s just as snappy on the tablet as it is on the phone, and we noticed the switch between phone mode and tablet mode is now a tad quicker as well. It’ll probably be easier to see once we have our English hands-on video, so stay tuned.

Update: We’ve finally managed to upload our hands-on video — it’s right after the break. Watch how we kept shaking the PadFone Station upside down and the phone still stayed inside its bay (again, don’t do this at home, kids!). Also, we have a demo of the phone’s Instant Dictionary feature. It’s very handy.

Update 2: We’ve just been informed that the magical grip mechanism in the docking bay took over two years to develop. Nice one, ASUS!

Continue reading ASUS PadFone 2 hands-on in Taipei (updated with video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, ASUS

ASUS PadFone 2 hands-on in Taipei (updated with video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 04:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today’s no doubt a big day for ASUS: while chairman Jonney Shih is gearing up to introduce the PadFone 2 in Milan later today, we just saw CEO Jerry Shen wowing the crowd with the same phone-in-tablet combo back in Taipei. Just as the recent leaks have shown, ASUS’ surprisingly quick follow-up to the original PadFone is simply bigger and better in many ways, notably with a screen upgrade to 4.7-inch 720p Super IPS+ panel (with up to 550nits brightness thanks to Sharp’s IGZO technology), Qualcomm’s awesome quad-core APQ8064 SoC instead of its dual-core sibling, 13-megapixel f/2.4 BSI sensor from Sony, 1.2-megapixel front camera, and a much slimmer PadFone Station slate — partly because it no longer features a docking bay cover! New owners will be greeted by Android Ice Cream Sandwich, but ASUS promises a Jelly Bean upgrade soon. There’s much more than meets the eyes so read on to find out more.

Continue reading ASUS PadFone 2 unveiled in Taiwan, boasts quad-core CPU, LTE, NFC and lighter tablet (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, ASUS

ASUS PadFone 2 unveiled in Taiwan, boasts quad-core CPU, LTE, NFC and lighter tablet (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 01:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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