Hasta La Gadget!

CES 2013 was a decidedly sleepy show by most accounts, but this year’s IFA is shaping up to be anything but. Devices set for a reveal are still under proverbial lock and key, but chatter, teases and leaks have painted a fairly full picture of what we can expect to see in Germany: smartwatches and wearables, Haswell hardware and phones with 4K shooters. Join us past the break to get up to speed on what Berlin might dish out this week.

Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Home Entertainment, Laptops, Tablets, HD, Mobile, Samsung, Sony, LG

Comments

You may have already read our Sony Xperia Z Ultra hands-on last week, but since then we’ve also been able to spend a tiny bit more time with a pre-production unit (with firmware build 14.1.B.1.277). Instead of going over again how hilariously large this 6.4-inch, pen-friendly phone is, this time we’ll focus on some early benchmark results, camera performance and Sony’s very own UX features.

As you’ll see after the break, many of the benchmark scores aren’t too far off from what we saw on the MDP phone with the same Snapdragon 800 SoC, and the final units should be optimized with higher numbers. While we didn’t manage to get CF-Bench and Quadrant running on the phone, the higher-than-before 3DMark score did cheer us up, meaning either Sony or Qualcomm’s managed to fine tune the latter’s new Adreno 330 GPU.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sony

Comments

There’s nothing more frustrating than watching a product or service get announced, then having to wait an age to try it out. Nintendo hears that, and has announced via Nintendo Direct, that during E3 week, Best Buy will have playable demos of as-yet released Wii U games in 100 stores across the US and Canada. Given that no one was likely expecting any new hardware from the firm, it’s clear the gaming stalwart is looking for other ways to stir-up some interest. There’s no mention of titles, so we’re left to assume they’d be the games announced at the show. Either way, scratch out that week in June to make sure you find out first hand. Scrub right to the end of the video past the break to see the announcement for yourself.

Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo

Comments

Via: Joystiq

Following the likes of Meizu and Xiaomi, another star is born in the Chinese smartphone market. In fact, some may already know the man behind this new Android-based Smartisan OS: Luo Yonghao, a self-taught ex-English teacher (and later becoming the principal of his own English school until last August), as well as the founder of influential blogging platform Bullog.cn (now Bullogger.com) and the chairman of Chinese font studio Redesign. Luo is also a relentless consumer advocate, with his most notable act being his fridge-smashing protest outside Siemens’ Beijing headquarters in November 2011, in order to highlight the company’s refusal to acknowledge their faulty fridge doors (all explained in the “More Coverage” link at the bottom).

Already a bit of a legend in China, the 40-year-old serial entrepreneur announced last April that he had formed Smartisan Co., Ltd. to work on a smartphone OS, and that it would shame all manufacturers with its revolutionary user experience. Having missed the December target that he promised, Luo eventually took the stage in Beijing last week to spend well over three — yes, three — hours going through the thought process behind his Smartisan OS, so bear with us here.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Comments

Via: Engadget Chinese

Source: Smartisan (in development)

Canonical’s preview of a smartphone- and tablet-friendly flavor of Ubuntu has finally arrived for folks willing to flash a Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4 or a Nexus tablet. Shuttleworth and friends stress that the release is intended for developers and enthusiasts — not those eyeing it as a daily driver, mind you — and that it’s not yet kitted out with its complete functionality. As of now, the Ubuntu touch dev preview contains the shell, core applications, WiFi networking, support for front- and rear-facing cameras and Android Developer Bridge tool connectivity. In addition, the operating system allows Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 handsets to connect to a GSM network, make phone calls and send texts. Along with the sneak peak, the Ubuntu SDK has been badged with the alpha moniker since it’s flaunting a host of new features, including the ability to deploy and execute apps straight from the IDE. Ready to download the OS image and development kit? Hit the neighboring source link to get cracking.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile

Comments

Source: Ubuntu