Hasta La Gadget!

This is HP’s new Touch-to-Pair-Mouse. For just $40, HP will sell you this chunk of NFC-enabled peripheral, which can be paired with devices with the lightest tap. Sounds great, right? Apart from, who the hell has NFC on their computer? More »

Cumbersome name; classy hardware. The Windows Phone 8X by HTC owes its awkward nomenclature to a deal that might prove HTC’s salvation and Nokia’s frustration: the company has inked an agreement with Microsoft to make the 8X the “signature handset” of Windows Phone 8, after apparently convincing the software firm that the new flagship suitably “embodied” the OS’ spirit. We caught up with HTC to spend some time with the 8X and to see if we’d end up similarly charmed.

HTC is particularly proud of the design language of its new Windows Phone 8 line-up, based – so the company’s designers say – on the squared-off Live Tiles of the OS’ homescreen, only plumped up and crafted in polycarbonate. Whether or not that convinces you is beside the point; in the hand, the 8X is a solid and tactile shape, legions apart from the bland and bloated lumps that were HTC’s first Windows Phone 7 devices.

The matte-finish plastic – which will be available in blue, black, yellow, and red, though the red won’t be making it to the EMEA – is easily gripped and the curved edges are comfortable to hold. It doesn’t make for a bulky phone, either, though the 8X is arguably reminiscent of Nokia’s own polycarbonate smartphone range, perhaps more in the way the Gorilla glass smoothly meets the bezel.

Whatever the inspiration, it’s a solid and nicely weighted phone. HTC – or more accurately Microsoft – isn’t allowing anybody to dig any further than the Windows Phone 8 homescreen, but that’s enough to give a glowing impression of the 4.3-inch Super LCD II display. At 720p HD resolution it’s crisp, and the viewing angles are great, aided not least by the optical lamination construction of the display stack itself.

Windows Phone 8X by HTC hands-on:

Colors are vivid and blacks (which make up so much of Windows Phone’s UI color scheme) are suitably inky. A bright lockscreen image was the closest we could get to a decent test, which the 8X handled with aplomb. HTC will theme the UI colors according to the handset’s own hue, though that will be user-adjustable if you’d rather have contrast.

HTC’s specifications certainly don’t single the 8X out as the weak cousin of an Android device. Hardware we’re familiar with from the One X make an appearance in a new Windows Phone guise, with NFC, LTE (for North American models, at least; Europe will have to make do with HSPA+/DC-HSDPA for the moment), a 1.5GHz dualcore Snapdragon S4 chipset, and 1GB of RAM. The decision to bypass expandable storage and instead settle on 16GB of fixed internal memory is unpleasantly reminiscent of Microsoft’s initial limitations on Windows Phone, however, and while we understand HTC was loathe to mar the 8X’s sleek lines, it’s hardly a capacious phone for the sort of power user it’s targeted at.

Happily the camera promises to redeem the 8X somewhat, taking a step ahead of what the One X already offers. The main, 8-megapixel backside-illuminated shooter is paired with an f/2.0 lens and HTC’s own Image Chip processing, while the front camera is an impressively pixel-packing 2.1-megapixel BSI CMOS which can also shoot 1080p Full HD video. HTC is particularly proud of its front lens, too, an 88-degree wide-angle example that can fit four people into a vanity shot.

That, along with the Beats Audio tuning that throws not one but two amplifiers at the 8X – one for the boosted headphone jack, the other for the integrated speaker – will have to wait to prove its worth until review samples arrive. If anything, though, HTC has convincingly done its part: delivered an admirable house for Windows Phone 8 to live in. Whether the smartphone – and its 8S sibling – sinks or swims in the marketplace depends on just how good Microsoft’s platform proves to be, and how much heft the software giant puts behind its marketing. At least as the “signature handset” of Windows Phone, the 8X promises to reap the main rewards of the hype machine.

Windows Phone 8X by HTC Hands-on is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

When it comes to LG’s latest flagship, it appears there can be no shortage of official announcements. So, while the news from overseas may not be quite so fresh, there’s certainly nothing stale about the Optimus G. Today the company held a second celebration in honor of its powerhouse — the first to pack Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 Pro: a quad-core SoC clocked at 1.5GHz. Buffered by a heaping 2GB RAM and an Adreno 320 GPU this absolutely beastly device is officially coming to American shores in the fourth quarter of this year. The 4.7-inch phone may ship with some slightly different specs, depending on carrier, but they’ll still find a home for the 1280 x 768 True HD, in-cell, IPS display. There’s no specifics about carriers or pricing as yet, but we’ll let you know when we do.

Update: Hit the break for LG’s Optimus G PR video.

Continue reading LG Optimus G and its quad-core 1.5GHz S4 Pro coming to US shores in Q4 (update: video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

LG Optimus G and its quad-core 1.5GHz S4 Pro coming to US shores in Q4 (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 08:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yesterday LG announced a new compact photo printer in Korea that will let you print any photo taken from a smartphone, tablet or even a PC thanks to its NFC, Bluetooth or USB support. To make things easier for everyone, this printer comes with a dedicated Android App that will let you tweak your photo with a set of dedicated filter, QR Codes and messages. This new printer is set to be available soon in Korea in Orange white or silver and will be sold at around %170.

If you were waiting for the LG Optimus G to be revealed with not just what was rumored, but features not yet heard of on the tech circuit, you’re in luck! Today is the day that the LG Optimus G is appearing with 4G LTE connectivity, a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor at 1.5GHz, and a brand new set of user interface features as well. This device also brings on a lovely new physical back made with Crystal Reflection, this bringing on a luxurious look and feel and displaying different patterns depending on your viewing angle and lighting.

This brand new smartphone works with a 4.7-inch WXGA True HD IPS+ display at 1280 x 768 pixel resolution with a 15:9 aspect ratio. Inside you’ll find 2GB DDR RAM, internal memory at 32GB, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich running the whole beast. The back of this device has a 13 megapixel camera on its back and a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front, and inside you’ve also got Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, USB2.0 HS, A-GPS, MHL, DLNA, and NFC wireless connectivity abilities.

This device works with a 2,100 mAh battery and is 131.9 x 68.9 x 8.45mm in size, 145g in weight. The display works with Zerogap Touch and True HD IPS+ Display from LG Innotek and LG Display, this bringing on a picture that’s right up there as close to the surface of the glass as you’ve ever seen it. On the back is a unique panel made with LG’s own patented Crystal Reflection process, this bringing on an intricate polarized pattern under its surface. With this physical build you’ve got a three-dimensional illusion that is, as LG notes, “exquisitely reminiscent of a jewel.”

Inside you’ve got a collection of features that also recently appears on the LG Intuition (see our full review here) in both the camera and the user interface. You’ve got Time Catch Shot allowing you to choose whichever shot you like best out of a series, Cheese Shutter activated by you saying the word “cheese” out loud, Smart Shutter with automatic adjustment of shutter speed based on movement, and Low Light Shot Noise Reduction as well. And of course the camera on the back of this device is massive at 13 megapixels – we’ll see how fabulous it is when we get our hands on it soon!

This device will also be working with Cross-Tasking, a new term from LG that covers all the different ways in which the LG Optimus G will be able to work with multiple complex tasks at once with no compromise on one another’s ability to work at top quality. This environment currently supports the following abilities:

· QSlide Function shows two different screens simultaneously on one display. As it doesn’t show a part of the screen but the entire screen of both functions, the user can complete two tasks concurrently – such as sending a text message or searching the web while watching a video;

· Live Zooming enhances the video-watching experience as users can zoom in up to five times while the video is being streamed for a close-up of one’s child while watching a recorded video from a school recital;

· Dual Screen Dual Play not only allows mirroring between the smartphone and a TV, it also has the ability to display different content on each screen wirelessly. For example, a slide presentation can be displayed on the TV while the Optimus G shows the accompanying speaking notes;

· QuickMemo allows users to write, draw, or jot a memo with their finger directly on the captured screen for sharing instantly with others as an attachment or a URL. The QuickMemo can also be used as an overlay feature – like jotting down a number using the QuickMemo and directly dialing the number while the number is on the top layer;

· Screen Zooming allows for the zooming in and out of lists in music player, email, text messages and photo gallery. It also offers the ability to change the font size and screen layout;

· Application Link launches preset applications (Email, calendar, weather, etc) when the alarm is turned off – making your preparation time in the morning go a little faster with all the information prepared on your screen;

· Icon Personalizer allows users the ability to customize icons by editing size and adding images so the most frequently used apps can be most easily accessible.

As Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG notes, “The Optimus G is a groundbreaking premium device not only in the history of LG but also in the smartphone industry – With the Optimus G, users will be able to experience unsurpassed UX features that will allow them to perform tasks that really enhance their daily lives.”

This device will be appearing in stores soon – starting in Korea next week with an October release in “key global markets” – the USA we hope! Stick around our LG tag portal for more as the Optimus G gets closer and closer!

LG Optimus G official with S4 Pro and “groundbreaking” features is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.