Hasta La Gadget!

Not to be outdone by Motorola and Nokia, HTC’s quietly trying to steal some of the competition’s thunder by unexpectedly outing a not-for-sale, fashion-driven variant of the One X and now with the announcement that its 4.3-inch waterproof J handset will be heading to a couple more Asian markets. Of course, let’s not forget the Taiwanese outfit also has something else to show us at an upcoming special event in NYC. But, regardless of what we’ll “see next,” the J’s actually here — well, in Japan — and with eyes set on Hong Kong and Taiwan next, making this the first time that Sense 4-loaded device is headed outside the Land of the Rising Sun.

Just a quick recap: the HTC J comes with a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 MSM8660A, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, qHD PenTile OLED display, eight-megapixel camera and 1,810mAh battery. As for connectivity, you get quad-band GSM, WCDMA 2,100MHz, CDMA2000 800MHz and WiMAX 2.5-2.7GHz (for Japan and Taiwan only) radios, making it a fairly nice all-rounder albeit with limited regional compatibility for each of the faster connections. Oh, and about that waterproofing business: KDDI doesn’t actually list it as a waterproof device, but HTC informed us that while the J meets global standards for waterproofing, it is not marketed as such in Japan due to particular criteria required by said carrier. We shall add more info here if HTC has more to say about this.

At any rate, Hong Kong folks will be able to pick up this waterproof device for HK$4,498 (about $580) unsubsidized, whereas Taiwan will have to wait until the press event next Tuesday for tariff details on Taiwan Mobile. For now, we got you a video of the J going for a swim after the break. You know, just for kicks.

Richard Lai contributed to this report.

Continue reading HTC’s waterproof, WiMAX-capable J handset now available in Hong Kong and Taiwan

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HTC’s waterproof, WiMAX-capable J handset now available in Hong Kong and Taiwan originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 11:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The rumors didn’t lead us astray this time around: T-Mobile’s latest QWERTY device, the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze Q Relay 4G has been officially announced. While we’re still waiting to hear pricing and availability (aside from the usual “coming weeks,” that is), we have confirmation that the 4-inch Super AMOLED device will offer ICS, HSPA+ 42Mbps connectivity and a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S3 processor. Additionally, it has a 5MP rear camera, 1.3MP front-facing cam, 5-row keyboard and it’s been certified for SAFE (Samsung Approved for Enterprise). We’re still wrapping our brains around the name, but fortunately we have some time to do so before the device officially drops onto store shelves.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G announced, arriving at T-Mobile in the coming weeks

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Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G announced, arriving at T-Mobile in the coming weeks originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 00:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like Russia isn’t the only place with an appetite for overly expensive gadgets. Following the original launch last month, two of the four latest Tonino Lamborghini devices have made their way over to Hong Kong. Pictured above is the L2800 tablet which has since been upgraded from Android 2.3 to 4.0.3, but the hardware remains the same: a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm chip, 9.7-inch 1,024 x 768 display, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage and microSD expansion, along with 3G connectivity, two- and five-megapixel cameras front and back, four obviously redundant capacitive buttons, 7,500mAh battery and, sadly, a proprietary dock connector. All of this plus the nicely crafted titanium chassis weigh 850g, and it’ll cost you just HK$13,800 or about US$1,780. Hey, quit moaning — it’s a massive reduction from the US$2,320 price tag in Russia.

Continue reading Tonino Lamborghini L2800 tablet and TL700 phone rumble in Hong Kong, we go hands-on (video)

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Tonino Lamborghini L2800 tablet and TL700 phone rumble in Hong Kong, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve already been alerted to the existence of a Pantech phone by the name of Flex, but we only got teased with the fact that it’s heading to AT&T and will offer LTE connectivity and few (if any) other details. Fortunately, both the manufacturer and carrier are now ready to make the phone official, complete with images, pricing and availability. As you can see, the Flex is the device we leaked last week as the Magnus — and it’s actually much more unique than even the outer design would have us believe. First, the juicy specs: the Flex uses a 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display and will run Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0). It’ll be powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 SoC, and we’ll be able to enjoy 8GB onboard storage, a microSD slot, 2MP front-facing cam and an 8MP rear camera capable of taking 1080p video. Finally, powering the device is an 1,830mAh battery.

The Flex, which weighs 4.6 ounces and will be available beginning September 16th for $50 after a two-year commitment, also has another clever feature: dual Android skins. While the main UI should be standard fare for Pantech devices running ICS, the secondary skin is a simplified system dubbed the “Easy Experience” mode, which has pretty much the same type of feel as Verizon’s Pantech Marauder. According to the press release, the new system is meant to appeal to new smartphone users hoping to ease into the transition from featurephones without too much trouble, though going back and forth between modes shouldn’t be terribly difficult. The announcement doesn’t go into much detail pertaining to what you’ll be able to do in Easy Experience (or exactly what makes it easier, aside from “[prioritizing] apps on the home screen in an easy-to-read format”), so we’ll choose to remain intrigued until we hear more from Pantech or AT&T on how it works. In the meantime, we have a few press shots below showing off the new UI as well as a press release past the break.

Continue reading Pantech Flex coming to AT&T on September 16 for $50, offers ICS and new ‘Easy Experience’ mode

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Pantech Flex coming to AT&T on September 16 for $50, offers ICS and new ‘Easy Experience’ mode originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s bad news for Xperia Ray, Arc and Neo owners on O2’s UK network, as the carrier’s reported it won’t be updating these Sony handsets to Ice Cream Sandwich. O2 claims it has tested three versions of the OS update and decided not to approve it, due to increased hardware requirements resulting in “speed and performance” issues. This is curious, since Sony itself had no problems getting Android 4.0 up and running on the devices — even if it did take a while. If you know your way around a ROM, you probably stopped scoffing Gingerbread a long time ago. However, if you’re yet to tinker and ain’t scared by O2’s “you can’t go back” warnings, an hour or two on some specialist forums should have you sticky in no time (at your own risk, of course).

Update: O2’s been in touch assuring us the decision was not taken lightly, and that although Sony has released ICS for these handsets, they did so with clear disclaimers on performance concerns (see the Sony source below).

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile

O2 UK denies Xperia Ray, Arc and Neo owners Ice Cream Sandwich originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Sep 2012 06:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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