Hasta La Gadget!

What secret could this Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 hold? Check out the little LTE logo hiding out on the back of the device. Yep, T-Mobile’s aggressively magenta-ed out IFA booth was showcasing this beauty, as a way of showing off the European carrier’s blazing LTE speeds. Hardware, it seems, was incidental to the company’s demos — but boy howdy do we care.

The T-Mobile reps didn’t offer up much in the way of information on that front (in fact, they mostly tried to move us along to the next LTE-capable device for more speed demos), but the company’s paperwork highlights the device’s 32GB capacity, 1.5GHz dual-core processor and Android 3.2 operating system. The hardware itself should prove quite familiar to anyone who’s ever spent time with a Galaxy Tab — same brilliant glossy screen, same smooth plastic back.

Not much is available, so far as pricing and availability, though the T-Mobile representative that we spoke with believes the thing will be hitting the network in Q4.

Update: AndroidOS.in is reporting that the Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE will hit German airwaves in December.

[Thanks, TMO_lover]

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 8.9 goes LTE for T-Mobile at IFA originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung took IFA by storm yesterday with its now-legendary “S Pen” (that Galaxy Note comes bundled), so it’s only fair that LG gets its chance in the spotlight with a pen of its own. The company’s Pentouch comes with a plasma TV in tow, and lets you do super-slick stuff to your productivity suite — you can mark up Word docs, handwrite URLs in the browser, highlight elements in your PowerPoint presentations, or even flick one of those little red balls of fluff in Angry Birds. $2,199 will net you a 3D-enabled 60-inch LG PZ850 with Pentouch TV — a non-3D model is available for $1,699, and there’s a 50-inch version as well, priced at a mere $1,099.

You’ll need to collect quite a few ingredients before you can get cookin’ here, including the TV, the pair of included pens, and a computer to pump content to your TV. If you’re planning to use the display with kids, a printer might be a good idea as well, so your little ones will have a platform to preserve all those on-screen sketched masterpieces (this thing puts coloring books to shame). Everything seemed to work as described (note: this isn’t a touchscreen, so you’ll need to use the pen), though the software did hiccup once while attempting to hand-write the Engadget URL. We see this being more of a hit for enterprise use, since there isn’t really any need to mark up photos or tap the screen to launch apps in your living room. Still thinking about taking the plunge? Jump past the break for a video walkthrough (yes, and yet another clip of Angry Birds).

Continue reading LG PZ850 Pentouch Plasma TV hands-on (video)

LG PZ850 Pentouch Plasma TV hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Nokia 500 wasn’t the only fresh handset that popped up at the Vodafone booth here at IFA, this morning. We also managed to sneak in some time with the Optimus Sol. The device is reasonably slick for what the company appears to be framing as a relatively low-end phone. At its center is a bright, glossy 3.8-inch Super Amoled display.

The Sol runs Android 2.3 with a single-core 1GHz processor — which the company points out should be fine for those not doing heavy duty work on the thing. It certainly handled what we could throw at it during our hands-on time. The handset is thin and is reasonably light, compared to the Optimus 2x, which aside from the large four-inch display, looks fairly similar. It should be coming very soon — some time later this month, most likely, for Vodafone users here in Germany. According to an LG representative, it should run roughly €300 off-contract.

Filed under: Cellphones

LG Optimus Sol hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung’s Galaxy S II still reigns supreme in the eyes of many smartphone aficionados, but it’s now joined by a healthy collection of lesser Galaxy devices, including (in alphabetical order) the Wave M (Magical), M Pro, R (Royal), W (Wonder), Xcover, and Wave Y (Young) — all announced last month, but presented for the first time as a mismatched family here at IFA. There’s the wise, conservative elder (R), the speedy head of household (W), the rowdy, rugged, dirt-bike-sporting teenager (Xcover), the mid-twenties QWERTY typing champion (M Pro), and the slightly rebellious, underpowered preteen (Wave Y) following in its older sibling’s footsteps (M).

BlackBerry owners looking to make the switch to Gingerbread may find the M Pro most appealing, with its 2.7-inch HVGA touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera, and QWERTY keyboard. The Royal steps things up with a 1GHz dual-core processor, 4.2-inch “Super Clear” LCD, Gingerbread, HSPA+, and a 5 megapixel camera. The Wonder includes those last three features as well, but swaps in a 3.7-inch WVGA display and 1.4GHz processor. And the dustproof and water resistant Xcover sports a 3.65-inch HVGA LCD, 800MHz processor, and 3 megapixel camera.

With its small footprint, 3.2-inch HVGA LCD, 2 megapixel camera and relatively sluggish 832MHz processor, the Wave Young is probably enough to satisfy your pre-teen, but anyone on to their second or third smartphone will almost certainly be underwhelmed. It’s running Samsung’s new Bada 2.0 OS, like its Magical Pro sibling, which includes the same processor but jumps to a 3.65-inch HVGA display and 5 megapixel sensor. Both include Samsung’s new ChatON IM service as well. All in all, it’s not the speediest family in town — and there’s no US visa on order for a future trip to the states — but not everyone needs the top of the line, so skip on past the break and through the front door to meet the latest Sam fam.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy R, Wave M, M Pro, W, Xcover, and Wave Y hands-on (video)

Samsung Galaxy R, Wave M, M Pro, W, Xcover, and Wave Y hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you liked the look of Dell’s inch-thin XPS 15z but are of the mind that a 15-incher isn’t quite portable enough, listen up: here at its IFA press conference, the company just teased a 14-inch version — the XPS 14z, natch — which will be available “later this year.” From the looks of it, it has the same industrial design as its big brother (and, some might say, a generations-old MacBook Pro), which, depending on your point of view, is either a good or a bad thing.

Dell teases XPS 14z, says it will be available ‘later this year’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 03:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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