Hasta La Gadget!

Photos have emerged of the Nokia Lumia 822, which is the yet-to-be-released Verizon version of the Nokia Lumia 820. The Nokia Lumia 822 is a Windows Phone 8 smartphone, and is joined in the Lumia family by the 920 and 810 models. Little is known about this phone, but the pictures show that it is a sleek handset with an interesting matte-type finish on the back.

The Nokia 822 will, presumably, have the same specifications as the Nokia Lumia 820, considering the only difference between the two is the 822′s exclusivity to Verizon and slight differences in the way the device is shaped. The mobile gadget is mid-range all around, with a 4.3 inch WVGA display, and a front camera and 8MP rear camera. The Lumia 820 is an LTE device, so it’s safe to assume that the Lumia 822 will support Verizon’s 4G LTE.

Nokia’s push of the Lumia models across multiple US carriers puts it in a precarious – and potentially lucrative – position. With the right marketing, the Lumia models could give the company a large sales jump. Due to the newness of Windows Phone 8, however, and Nokia’s “meh” status at the moment, without the right marketing hook, consumers may hesitate to take the jump, causing the entire endeavor to flounder.

There’s no word yet on when the Nokia Lumia 822 will be available from Verizon, or what its price will be. Because the phone is mid-range, with moderate specs, its probably safe to assume that the price will be lowish. Rumor says this handset will be released sometime around the HTC 8X‘s launch.

[via WM Power User]

Verizon Nokia Lumia 822 appears in leaked photos is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nissan is reportedly considering a budget version of the Leaf electric car, with hopes that a low-spec model could light a fire under dreary US sales. The new addition to the range, set to go on sale in the US in February 2013 according to Automotive News, would lack more expensive features like LED highlights and integrated navigation, as well as see changes under the metal.

Those changes would include the relocation of some of the components used, along with cheaper versions of them. Nissan will apparently be asking its suppliers to cut their costs, though it’s unclear whether new parts or simply cheaper versions of existing parts will be introduced.

Nissan’s existing model spec levels, the SV and SL, will continue to be offered in the 2013 model year, and there’s no word on whether their current pricing – $36,050 and $38,100 respectively – will be carried over. Similarly, pricing for the cheaper entry-level car is also unknown.

Costs will also be pared back  by shifting production, with US cars now being manufactured in Nissan’s Tennessee plant; until recently, the Leaf has been produced in Japan and shipped to the US.

A combination of pricing and uncertainty among consumers around electric cars has added up to mediocre sales. Nissan aimed to sell 20,000 Leaf cars in 2012, but has so far sold just 5,212. Sales in 2011 were just 9,674.

[via Motortrend]

Cheap 2013 Nissan Leaf rumored: Cut-spec to drive EV sales is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Images and specifications of Samsung’s new Galaxy S III Mini, expected to be officially unveiled in Germany tomorrow, have leaked, and it’s not quite the powerhouse we had hoped for. According to MobileGeeks, the 4-inch S3 Mini (GT-I8190) will have a WVGA 800 x 480 Super AMOLED display and a 1.GHz dualcore STE U8420 processor, with a 5-megapixel camera on the back. OS is Android 4.1 Jelly Bean complete with Samsung’s own TouchWiz.

Inside, there’s said to be 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, along with a microSD slot compatible with up to 32GB cards. Connectivity includes WiFi a/b/g/n (2.4GHz/5GHz), Bluetooth 4.0, and microUSB, along with triband HSPA (900/1900/2100) and quadband GSM/EDGE.

Other tidbits include NFC for mobile payments and Android Beam, a 3.5mm headset, a 1,500 mAh battery, VGA-resolution front facing camera, and – going by the leaked images – a change to the touch-button design, with simple illuminated lines rather than full graphics as on the Galaxy S III. The whole handset is tipped to measure in at 121.55 x 62.95 x 9.85 mm, making it considerably smaller than the Samsung flagship.

According to the German site – which admits that some of the specs may not be 100-percent accurate, based on collating evidence from a number of sources – the phone will go on sale at €399 ($513) unlocked and SIM-free. It’s certainly not quite the flagship-but-smaller device we had hoped for, but it ticks more of the boxes than most 4-inch models around.

We’ll know more tomorrow, when Samsung officially launches the new Mini in Germany.

[Thanks Sascha!]

Samsung Galaxy S III Mini details leak is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

An interesting new set-top box from Boxee has leaked today called the Boxee TV. According to the source who leaked the photographs, the set top box combines an over the air HDTV antenna and DVR functionality allowing users to record programs using free HD broadcasts in the area. The device is also tipped to feature support for web apps.

The set-top box is manufactured by D-Link for Boxee and looks more like a traditional set-top box than some of the company’s previous devices. Previously, Boxee offered the ability to view live TV by connecting a separately available external tuner to their existing products. The new Boxee TV supposedly has that TV tuner built right in.

It appears that the set-top box is available to beta testers right now, and one of those testers snapped some pictures and leaked them. The tipster notes that documentation included implies that you can watch the content recorded on the box on multiple devices. Presumably, that means using the Boxee smartphone app allows users to watch recorded programs on the go.

Other features of the new set-top box include the ability to stream full HD video within the home across a network. Interestingly, rather than the double sided remote control Boxee currently uses that has a keyboard on one side; the Boxee TV apparently uses a traditional single sided remote offering no keyboard control. Reports indicate that it may be a while before this device turns up for your average consumer to purchase, apparently the software the device runs is unstable and crashes frequently with updates promised from Boxee.

[via The Verge]

Leaked Boxee TV gets integrated HDTV antenna and DVR is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Ever since we saw a 32GB version of the Nexus 7 show up in a warehouse inventory system listing last week, speculation of a 32GB model has kept on rising. Today, a Japanese resident who bought a 16GB Nexus 7 from the Google Play store said he actually received a model that had 32GB of built-in storage instead.

The lucky 32GB Nexus 7 owner says that all the packaging mentions the tablet as only having 16GB, but when going into the settings to see how much room he has, it says 26.62GB of free space. We’re not sure how the screw-up happened on Google‘s or Asus‘ end, but we’re guessing someone accidentally grabbed a 32GB model that happened to be within arm reach when packing up stacks of 16GB models.

Then again, we’re obviously not really sure what happened. All we know is that a 32GB model is possibly completely manufactured already, and might just be waiting for the green light to get announced and released. However, it’s also completely possible that these photos could have been cleverly doctored to fool us.

Still, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if Google and Asus were working on a 32GB Nexus 7, considering that its competitors have released 32GB version of their tablets, the Kindle Fire HD and the NOOK HD released by Amazon and Barnes & Noble, respectively. We can’t find a reason that Google wouldn’t release their own 32GB variant, so we’re remaining optimistic in the mean time.

[via Android Community]

Nexus 7 32GB model accidentally shipped to Japanese customer is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.