Hasta La Gadget!

Let’s face it: no rugged phone is going to get more attention today than the Galaxy S4 Active. Just the same, NEC is showing off the Terrain, its first handset for the US market since 2005. The phone, which is hitting AT&T for $99 with a two-year agreement, is mainly aimed at the enterprise (read: field technicians and other mobile workers). Since it’s unlikely to reach mainstream consumers, we won’t be running a full-on review, but we did take the opportunity to get hands-on. As you’d expect of a device that can be immersed in water up to 30 minutes, this thing’s coated in rubber, with a sealed USB port and a secure (but removable) battery cover. It’s a bit chunky for a phone, to be sure, but at 6.06 ounces it’s still eminently portable. In fact, the rounded edges and soft finish make it more comfortable to hold than some of the more minimal handsets we’ve seen recently.

Other than that, you’ll be pleased to find an unskinned version of Android, though it’s 4.0 and not a newer build like 4.2. The capacitive screen responds well to taps and swipes, though the 640 x 480 resolution isn’t going to knock anyone’e socks off — and neither will the washed-out colors. Performance-wise, the dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 8960 processor means transitions happen quickly, and there isn’t any tiling in the Chrome browser. We also got on well with the QWERTY keyboard, though the buttons are packed in quite tightly. And that’s a good thing: it’s slim pickings for anyone who wants a portrait QWERTY Android phone. Finishing up our tour, you’ll find a microSD slot (to support the 8GB of built-in storage), dedicated speaker and push-to-talk buttons and dual 5MP / 0.3MP cameras, with an NFC radio under the hood. It’ll be available tomorrow on AT&T’s LTE network, through the carrier’s business channel, specifically. Check out the hands-on photos below — we even got a requisite shot of it in a fish tank.

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

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Just as the carrier brings the Samsung Galaxy S 4 Active to the scene for waterproof/dustproof everyday use, so too does the manufacturer NEC claim their place in the segment with the “Terrain”. This device works with Android and 4G LTE to bring AT&T Enhanced Push-to-Talk technology to the business user. In other words –

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NEC has unveiled another one of its upcoming dual-band WiFi router, the Aterm WF800HP. Corresponding to the ‘Draft 11ac’ (the new standard for wireless LAN IEEE802.11ac), the Aterm WF800HP comes with one Internet LAN port, three LAN ports and supports for dual-band WiFi access point (2.4GHz – 300Mbps and 5GHz – 433Mbps). The Aterm WF800HP will begin shipping from June 20th for 9,500 Yen (about $96). [NEC]

NEC has also dropped their newest slim desktop PC, the VL750/MS. As part of the VALUESTAR L series, the system features a 3.40GHz fourth generation core processor (onboard memory), an 8GB DDR3 RAM, a 3TB hard drive, a BDXL drive, an SD card slot and runs on Windows 8 64-bit OS with Office Home and Business 2013. The VL750/MS sells for 215,000 Yen (about $2,105) and comes with a 23-inch 1920 x 1080 IPS Full HD LED-backlight display (w/ 2x 2W built-in speakers). [NEC]

NEC’s just broken some new ground with the Medias X, the world’s first liquid-cooled smartphone that was launched as part of DoCoMo’s summer lineup. Rather than aiming it at the propeller-heads usually associated with that tech, though, NEC and DoCoMo are marketing it toward women in the same patronizing manner as the infamous HTC Rhyme and Fujitsu Arows Kiss F-03D. But back to the handset itself: cooling for the quad-core Snapdragon 600 CPU works via a liquid-charged tube from the processor to a graphite “radiator” along the system board that disperses heat. We’re not exactly sure why the phone needs it, though, as the rest of the specs don’t exactly scream overheating: Android 4.2, a 4.7-inch 720p display, LTE and a 13.1-megapixel Exmor RS camera. Though NEC claims the phone runs much cooler than a standard model (see the graphic after the break), we haven’t heard too many complaints about hot phones lately — but perhaps we’re hanging with the wrong crowd.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Via: The Verge

Source: NEC