We really liked the HTC One X, and from our brief encounter with the One X+ tonight, we’re going to like it even more. On the outside, it looks essentially the same—same gorgeous screen, same solid build—but its insides are nicely ramped up. More »
You can’t blame us for having a bit of a soft spot for rugged devices. There’s something comforting about knowing you can drop or drown your phone and it wont be any worse for wear. That’s the reason we keep coming back to the Rugby series. Its specs dont impress and its certainly not a looker, but its sturdy masculine design kinda gets our blood pumping. So, we just had to stop by Samsung’s table at tonight’s AT&T event and spend some time with the Galaxy Rugby Pro, an updated version of the Rugby Smart we reviewed earlier this year. The basic design is the same — it’s a chunky slab of thick, ribbed, soft-touch plastic and rubber, with a sizable chrome screw holding the backplate in place. The textured rubber buttons up front have been reduced from four to three, in keeping with the updated user experience of Ice Cream Sandwich. Oh, did we mention it ditches Gingerbread for some delicious Android 4.0.4 goodness — a most welcome upgrade from the Smart. It’s not exactly smooth sailing on the 1.5GHz CPU, but the lag never got unbearable in our brief hands on time.
Perhaps the biggest knock against the device though, is the rather lackluster 4-inch WVGA screen. It’s a Super AMOLED panel, which means top-notch contrast, but colors were definitely off and a little washed out looking. It does however mean it should be perfectly viewable in direct sunlight — a major concern for devices such as this. The paltry 768GB of RAM and 8GB of storage aren’t really anything to write home about, but at least there’s a microSD slot under the battery. Along the left edge of the device is the volume rocker and a customizable key that can be used to turn on the torch or launch the camera or any number of other tasks, while the right side is home to the power / lock button. The micro-USB port is on the bottom under a tiny plastic door while the headphone jack is similarly protected at the top of the device. We can’t say we’re expecting much from the 5MP camera, but the extremely dark conditions at the AT&T event ensured that we couldn’t get anything usable out of it. For more check out the video after the break.
Gallery: Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro
Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro for AT&T hands-on
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, AT&T
Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro for AT&T hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 19:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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LG wanted to build a super-phone. Good idea. So LG crammed it with the nastiest specs we’ve seen on a mobile device. We were excited. We got to play with it today… and they covered that beauty in one of the ugliest skins we’ve seen. C’mon, guys! More »
We knew we were going to get to spy some sleek new devices from AT&T today, but the company sprung a bit of a surprise on us at the last moment by announcing that it would also have a few Windows 8 tabs on hand running on its “blazingly fast” LTE network. The Samsung ATIV SmartPC, which has also gone under the name Series 5 Slate in a few other circles. The 1.5GHz Clover Trail chip inside hummed along in our brief hands on, chewing through the gorgeous don’t-call-it-metro UI with relative ease and loading a few apps and webpages with nary a pause. With 64GB of storage on board there should be plenty of room for basic productivity apps and a view movies. Though, if you’re a serious MP3 hoarder, we wouldn’t expect to carry your whole music collection with you.
Gallery: Samsung ATIV SmartPC hands-on
Continue reading Samsung ATIV SmartPC for AT&T hands-on (update: video)
Filed under: Tablets, Samsung, AT&T
Samsung ATIV SmartPC for AT&T hands-on (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 18:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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AT&T’s still keeping us in the dark about a hard date for the Galaxy Note II’s release, but at least we know it’s real and on the way. Confirmed to ship sometime this holiday season, this variant of Samsung’s phablet refresh sports a 5.5-inch 1,280 x 720 HD Super AMOLED display, 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos processor, 8-megapixel rear camera capable of 1080p video capture, beefy 3,100mAh battery and, of course, a refined S-Pen. It’s nigh unchanged from both the global and Sprint models we’d gotten hands-on with previously; a trend the OEM sparked off with the release of the GS III earlier this year. And in a move that augurs well for those of you averse to branding, there’s no superfluous carrier logo blemishing its smooth white back.
If you thought the original Note was big and unwieldy, prepare to stretch your thumb even further up the display. Samsung added 0.2-inches to this update, while incorporating elements of its “famed” inspired by nature design that conspire to lend this handset a reassuring in-hand fit. On the lower right-hand side, you’ll find a convenient slot for the S-Pen which, when removed, triggers an action menu that can be customized to launch selected apps. A large physical home button rests just below the expansive 16:9 screen and is flanked by capacitive buttons for menu and back, while the front-facing camera resides up above and hardware keys for volume and power are placed on the left and right edges, respectively.
On the software front, you’re still looking at a TouchWizzed version of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, as well as some carrier-specific apps that come pre-loaded, like My AT&T, CodeScanner, FamilyMap, Navigator and Ready2Go. As you might expect from its quad-core Exynos, performance was smooth… almost buttery smooth, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention a slight hesitancy between pulling out the S-Pen and the launch of that Smart Actions menu. Bear in mind, this is a pre-production model, so most of those kinks should be worked out by the time it launches this holiday season. Check out the video after the break.
Gallery: Samsung Galaxy Note II for AT&T
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Samsung, AT&T
Samsung Galaxy Note II for AT&T hands-on: an S-Pen phablet with 4G LTE (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 17:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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What do you get when you raid HTC’s parts bin and combine the camera from the One V, the screen resolution from the One S and the design language from the One X? Say hello to HTC’s One VX for AT&T, a stylish mid-range smartphone running Ice Cream Sandwich and Sense 4. It features a 4.5-inch qHD Super LCD 2 display with Gorilla Glass 2, Qualcomm 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor (MSM8930) with GSM/EDGE/UMTS/HSPA+/LTE radio, 1GB DDR2 RAM, 8GB of on-board storage and a five megapixel f/2.0 autofocus BSI camera with flash and 1080p video recording.
The front glass incorporates the earpiece, AT&T logo and VGA shooter up top along with the usual capacitive buttons (back, home and recent apps / menu) below the display. A silver plastic rim traces the sides of the handset — it’s a simple and familiar layout, with the power / lock key, headphone jack and secondary mic on top, micro-USB port and primary mic at the bottom, and the volume rocker on the right edge. Pop the white plastic back cover and you’ll find micro-SIM and microSD card slots, a non-removable 1810mAh battery and the NFC antenna.
Unfortunately, we were given a non-functional dummy unit to play with so we can’t comment on things like screen quality or subjective performance. We can tell you that the phone is light, thin and feels good in the hand — it slots somewhere between the One S and the One X in terms of size, and looks nice despite being made of cheaper materials than its stablemates. AT&T and HTC are still mum on availability but we were told to expect aggressive, budget-friendly pricing. Want to see more? Take a look at our gallery below and our hands-on video after the break.
Update: we expect to see a working One VX at today’s AT&T announcement so stay tuned for more impressions.
Gallery: HTC One VX for AT&T hands-on
Continue reading HTC One VX for AT&T hands-on: mid-range style on a budget (video)
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC, AT&T
HTC One VX for AT&T hands-on: mid-range style on a budget (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 17:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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What do you do if you’ve been selling what’s arguably the best superphone on the US market and the competition is heating up? Make it better, of course, and that’s exactly what HTC’s done with the One X+ for AT&T. This is the same improved handset we recently played with in the UK, but unlike AT&T’s One X — which dropped the global model’s quad-core Tegra 3 with 32GB of storage in favor of a dual-core Snapdragon S4 with only 16GB of flash for the sake of LTE — AT&T’s One X+ gives you the best of both worlds: NVIDIA’s 1.7GHz quad-core Tegra 3 AP37 SoC combined with Qualcomm’s MDM9215m GSM/EDGE/UMTS/HSPA+/LTE radio plus 32 or 64GB of built-in storage.
Gone are the white and grey hues — you can have your One X+ any color you want as long as it’s flat black. Whereas the UK version of HTC’s new flagship incorporates red accents around the camera and in the Beats logo, the US model is completely black. The rest of the specs match the global version — you’ll find the same gorgeous 4.7-inch 720p Super LCD 2 display with Gorilla Glass 2, same impressive eight megapixel f/2.0 autofocus BSI rear camera with flash, same 1GB of DDR2 RAM, along with the updated 2100mAh sealed battery and 1.6MP BSI front-facing shooter capable of 720p video. Jelly Bean and Sense 4+ are on the menu as well, with snappier-than-ever performance.
Put AT&T’s One X and One X+ side-by-side, and other than the color difference you’d be hard-pressed to tell them apart. The carrier’s logo is slightly different, but that’s about it — even the docking pins in the back line up perfectly. Other improvements common with the global model include Amplified Sound for clearer sound from the speaker, Sightseeing mode which lets the power button launch the camera and Auto Portrait mode which helps you take better self-portraits. There’s still no word on pricing or availability but we invite you to feast your eyes on the gallery below and hit the break for our hands-on video.
Gallery: HTC One X+ for AT&T hands-on
Continue reading HTC One X+ for AT&T hands-on: Tegra 3, LTE and Jelly Bean together at last (video)
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC, AT&T
HTC One X+ for AT&T hands-on: Tegra 3, LTE and Jelly Bean together at last (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 17:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Surprise, surprise — well, not really. Nokia’s Lumia 920 and 820 will be making a splash stateside on AT&T’s lineup with the former as an exclusive. Like most of the carrier’s other announcements as of late, there’s no concrete ship date set for the devices outside of a November bow. As a refresher, the Lumia 920 is the undoubted Windows Phone 8 flagship here, bearing a 4.5-inch Pure Motion HD+ 1,280 x 768 display, 1.5GHz dual-core S4 CPU, 8-megapixel PureView camera with OIS and a 2,000mAH battery. While the line’s mid-ranger, the 820, reps the same chipset as it elder sibling, a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 ClearBlack OLED display and 8-megapixel Carl Zeiss camera. Both are set to launch with LTE radios in tow, with the 920 available in red, white, black, yellow and cyan and the 820 in a lone black hue. Stay tuned for official word on pricing and release. In the meantime, check out the PR below.
Continue reading Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 land stateside on AT&T’s 4G LTE network this November
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Nokia, AT&T
Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 land stateside on AT&T’s 4G LTE network this November originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 09:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Huawei hinted last week that the Ascend P1 LTE would travel beyond British shores; it just didn’t say where. Based on a new FCC filing, North America is sounding like a good (if very broad) destination. The regulator has cleared a version of the Android 4.0 hardware packing AT&T-friendly 700MHz LTE frequencies as well as AWS support that could suit it to Canadian LTE providers and future T-Mobile deployments. We’ve likewise noticed AWS-based 3G join the usual 850MHz and 1,900MHz approvals for North American HSPA providers. With such broad coverage, it’s difficult to narrow down just the exact carriers that could embrace the Ascend P1 LTE if it launches on this side of the Atlantic. Whatever the choices, it’s clear that Huawei is hedging its bets.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, AT&T, T-Mobile
Huawei Ascend P1 LTE takes a tour through the FCC with AT&T-capable 4G and beyond originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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UK 4G carrier EE will be open for business on October 30, 2012, the network has confirmed, the first time the 4G technology will be commercially available in the country. In addition to LTE, EE will be offering fiber broadband connections to homes and businesses.
Pricing for the new service is still yet to be confirmed, though EE has told us that it intends its 4G to have “mass market” appeal and be priced to suit that aim. Our guess would be a step up from the current data plans offered by Orange and T-Mobile UK – which will continue to offer 3G tariffs under their own brands.
“This is a significant milestone for the United Kingdom, and for the people and businesses of our country who will now be able to enjoy the huge advantages of superfast 4G technology for the first time” EE CEO Olaf Swantee said in a statement about today’s news. “We are very proud to be pioneering, innovating and leading our industry in launching 4G for our nation through our new EE brand.”
The launch will receive a cooler welcome from rival carriers O2, Vodafone, and Three, who have protested loudly at EE being allowed to launch LTE months in advance of their own services going live. That’s something EE takes issue with, however, arguing that its UK competitors could have prioritized their own 4G service with existing spectrum had they planned sufficiently ahead.
The first EE-compatible smartphones went up for sale today, through Orange and T-Mobile; buyers will be able to switch over to an EE contract from the 30th. As for what sort of speeds you’ll get with EE, check out our full LTE benchmarks.
EE 4G opens for business October 30 is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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