Hasta La Gadget!

If the LG Optimus Vu’s insistence on running Gingerbread was the sole factor keeping you from its 5-inch HD-IPS display and its goofy 4:3 aspect ratio, your prayers may have been answered. According to a leaked gallery of images at Android Police, the oversized slab’s rumored Verizon variant will be running Android 4.0.4. The images don’t reveal much else –save for big red’s standard logo, prominently stamped above the device’s face — but that’s one less negative you can count from our review. Check out a second shot after the break, or the full gallery at the source below.

Continue reading Verizon LG Optimus Vu apprehended by Android Police, confesses to Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade

Verizon LG Optimus Vu apprehended by Android Police, confesses to Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 20:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tech companies are no strangers to the game of follow the leader — industry imitation is, after all, the sincerest sign of a successful product. In the case of the Galaxy Note, Samsung’s phablet wonder has been enjoying some unexpected popularity in markets abroad and even here in the US. But the company’s ownership of that once-niche category is about to be contested by a surge of copycats, spearheaded by the stylus-toting LG Optimus Vu ($866 unlocked). It should go without saying: this 5-inch not-a-smartphone, not-yet-a-tablet has a steep climb ahead if it wants to oust or even claim equal billing with its successful opponent.

Of course, the Vu isn’t launching an attack on all fronts yet as, right now it’s a Korea-only affair running Android Gingerbread. (It redeems itself somewhat with an LTE radio.) Though the competition is welcome, the duel is not an even one, given the Vu’s unusual mix of internals: a 1,024 x 768 HD-IPS LCD display, dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor, 32GB of non-expandable storage, an ample 2,080mAh battery and a region-specific T-DMB TV tuner. But could that be enough to dethrone the current category king, or at least present a viable alternative? Join us after the break as we crack this rectangular nut and winnow out the marketing noise.

Continue reading LG Optimus Vu review: a 5-inch, pen-enabled phone to take on the Galaxy Note

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

LG Optimus Vu review: a 5-inch, pen-enabled phone to take on the Galaxy Note originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s almost become a truism that internet connections from the Asia-Pacific region to the rest of the world can be slow and lag-ridden, but that assumption is about to be knocked flat if Facebook and others in a Time Dotcom-led consortium have their way. The alliance is investing a combined $450 million into the Asia Pacific Gateway, a 6,214-mile undersea cable that will run between Japan, Malaysia and South Korea. The fiber optic pipe will not only help reduce the need to route large volumes of traffic through Singapore but, in many cases, send much of that traffic straight to American shores — a big help when Facebook and much of the web industry still hosts most of its content on the Eastern side of the ocean. Although faster speeds won’t be in place until the summer of 2014, by which point the more direct connections might be absolutely necessary, it still gives hope to those of us who want to poke friends and upload photos in record time.

Facebook and others invest in 6,214-mile Asia-Pacific undersea internet cable, friend request lag to plummet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 21:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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According to our good friends over Engadget, the Motorola XT626 has been spot over at the FCC in the USA, however, today, the Motoroal announced that this new phone will be first made available in Korea and will be available via KT Powertel.
Despite being freshly announced, the XT626 is far from being the most exciting Android Phone that we had the chance to see and don’t expect much since this new Moto will only be powered by Android 2.3 and come with a 8Mpix Camera with Digital Zoom and LED …

The 4.5-inch Vega LTE is not eight months old and the 4.8-inch Vega Racer 2 is still properly wet behind the years. But, the flow of progress abides by no calendars, so welcome the Pantech Vega S5 to the world. It steps up to a full 5-inch IPS LCD with a 720p resolution in a phone that, thanks to a “zero bezel” design, actually has a smaller footprint than the Samsung Galaxy S III. There’s a whopping 13 megapixel shooter in there with zero lag, a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 16GB of internal storage and a 2,100 mAh battery that’s said to deliver 11 hours of talk time. If that sounds like a good combination indeed it could be, but don’t spend too much pining — this handset is destined only for Korean shores.

Pantech Vega S5 does Android 4.0 on a 5-inch LCD, facemask not included originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 07:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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