While getting their hands dirty with the ASUS PadFone 2, our guys over at Engadget Chinese also had the chance to compare it with the OG PadFone, and they came back with a generous batch of side-by-side shots. Here you can see how the phone itself is almost just a scaled-up copy of its predecessor, while the new PadFone Station slate loses some body fat by shedding the original docking bay cover, and we’re certain that the battery has become denser and lighter as well to achieve this amazing diet — we’re talking about losing just over 200g here! Also apparent is the new 13-pin dock connector (MHL plus concurrent data, display and power) at the bottom of both the phone and the tablet. For the rest, we shall let your eyes do the work in the gallery below. Enjoy!
Today’s no doubt a big day for ASUS: while chairman Jonney Shih is gearing up to introduce the PadFone 2 in Milan later today, we just saw CEO Jerry Shen wowing the crowd with the same phone-in-tablet combo back in Taipei. Just as the recent leaks have shown, ASUS’ surprisingly quick follow-up to the original PadFone is simply bigger and better in many ways, notably with a screen upgrade to 4.7-inch 720p Super IPS+ panel (with up to 550nits brightness thanks to Sharp’s IGZO technology), Qualcomm’s awesome quad-core APQ8064 SoC instead of its dual-core sibling, 13-megapixel f/2.4 BSI sensor from Sony, 1.2-megapixel front camera, and a much slimmer PadFone Station slate — partly because it no longer features a docking bay cover! New owners will be greeted by Android Ice Cream Sandwich, but ASUS promises a Jelly Bean upgrade soon. There’s much more than meets the eyes so read on to find out more.
Following in AT&T’s wake, Sprint has chosen to provide the world with the launch details for the LG Optimus G. Brace yourselves, folks, because the smartphone that wields a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro and a 13-megapixel camera will arrive at the Now Network on November 11th for $200. Naturally, this is certainly one to get excited about, as the phone also boasts a 4.7-inch HD (1,280 x 720) IPS LCD display, 32GB of internal storage and a beefy 2,100mAh battery. While the phone will ship with Ice Cream Sandwich, LG has already promised to deliver Jelly Bean in short order. Those looking to score a place at the front of the line may pre-order the smartphone on Sprint’s website come November 1st. If you happened to miss our recent hands-on with the Optimus G for Sprint, now would be a good time to get acquainted with the device as you count away the time until Veterans Day.
It’s time to take a peek at the LG Optimus G as it runs on AT&T’s 4G LTE network and busts out with the majorly powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor on a set of three lovely games. The first game we’re taking a peek at is Wild Blood, a hack-and-slash monster-slaying 3rd-person adventure from Gameloft. Gameloft also presents the second game we’re having a peek at, that being Asphalt 7, a racing game with lots and lots of drifting. Then it’s time for a glu-developed game by the name of Indestructible – one car destroys another with chain guns, missiles, and many, many bombs.
With Wild Blood you’ll see the Snapdragon S4 Pro working to keep you on the run between cut-scenes and actual massacring of monsters in no time at all – you’ve got lovely special moves and bashing on your side as well. This game takes a bit of time to load when you first fire it up, otherwise there’s nothing to complain about in the least here on the LG Optimus G. Expect to be waiting a bit longer on devices with only a single core, and for multi-core devices you’ll still want to make sure you’re not pushing any other tasks at the same time – here with the S4 Pro we’ve got no concerns.
Next have a peek at Asphalt 7, a game that if you’re not used to dragging your tail end whilst racing you’ll have a difficult time not crashing into walls with. When you’re playing this game outside an optimized-for-gaming environment, you’ve got definite lag in graphics. Inside the LG Optimus G, everything is smooth as butter.
Finally there’s the many-independent-minds game that is Indestructible. Here we’ve got a Twisted Metal vibe going on with more little vehicles than you’re going to be able to handle. With so many bots coming at you with minds all their own, it’s only your ultra-powerful processor that’s keeping everything working so smoothly.
Stay tuned for more LG Optimus G action as we complete our review this week – the device goes on pre-order for $199 starting tomorrow with AT&T. Will you be picking one up right out of the gate? If you’ve got one whole heck of a lot of questions, be sure to let us know what you need to know in the comments section below! We’ll do our best to answer all queries!
With the Huawei Ascend D1 quad XL, the team brings us what at first appears to be a powerhouse of a smartphone with a giant battery to boot. As it turns out, the processor doesn’t take down its competitors in Samsung, Qualcomm, or NVIDIA, but certainly does nice enough to keep up with them in many ways. You’re certainly able to play high-powered games, videos play smoothly even at their highest of definitions, and the whole smartphone is easily Huawei‘s most powerful to date. The lack of uniqueness in the build of the device, on the other hand, should remind you of Huawei’s competitors’ devices from this past year – it’s put us on guard right out of the box, but ends up proving to be far less important than the end product, which is great.
Hardware
This machine is the largest of the several slightly different iterations of the Huawei Ascend D – here with a quad-core processor running at 1.2GHz, an extended battery, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. We got to experience the Huawei Ascend D Quad at MWC 2012 right after it was first introduced, as well. The biggest differences in the hardware are in the weight and the thickness of the device, of course, with this XL version bringing in the slightly fatter of the two beasts. It being rather light and tall either way makes this a comfortable one-hand smartphone.
You’ve got a 129 x 64 x 10.9 mm device at 150 grams, it utilizing a 4.5-inch IPS+ LCD display with 720 x 1280 pixels across it – that’s 326 PPI, matching the iPhone 5. Of course with this device you also get the extra half an inch of screen real-estate as well, to it’s not absolutely perfect for one-handed use if you’re a petite person, but for most large-handed users, it’s perfect. You’ve got a couple of options for connecting to a larger display with this smartphone as well, including both DLNA and MHL – the latter being HDMI with the proper adapter via the microUSB port at the side of the phone.
This device and its release partner, the Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD both have DOLBY enhanced sound, here with Dolby Mobile 3.0 Plus sound enhancement. This means that the device sounds good even when it’s blasting – and it does live up to that claim. You can certainly trust this smartphone to be your good MP3-playing partner through your standard headphones, without a doubt.
You’ve also got 8GB internal storage, 1GB of RAM, and a microSD card slot that’ll allow you an additional 32GB of storage if you pop your own card in. You’ve also got an 8 megapixel camera on the back as well as a 1.3 megapixel shooter on the front made for video chat. The back-facing camera is quite impressive, making us think twice about how Huawei is handling their image processing with this new quad-core architecture. They appear to have done something quite right.
This device’s overall feel is that of a refined smartphone made by a company that knows what they’re doing in the top-tier business. While we’ve not seen this impressive an offering from Huawei yet on a USA-based carrier, we’re quite encouraged by what’s been delivered here with the Ascend D quad XL.
Software
The basic navigation between home screens and switching back and forth between apps can get a little bit laggy at times – but if you’re switching from a single-core phone, you’ll never notice it. Compared to the Samsung Galaxy S III, this device is lacking quite a bit in the refined user interface department – the same being true of the HTC One X. On the other hand, Huawei does offer up a couple different views for you right out of the box, one of them being standard, the other being their own “3D Home” view.
With the 3D version of Huawei’s look at Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, you’ll see a lovely widget with your clock and weather information, some interesting switching between home screens, and a slightly odd feeling to it all. It reminds one of homescreens from SPB Shell 3D – also appearing on some ViewSonic devices we saw earlier this year at MWC 2012 (in a different iteration, of course). Sadly it would appear that this view doesn’t run as swiftly as standard Android does, so we ended up opting out more than in on the whole.
Otherwise we’ve got a fairly basic view of Android here from Huawei, and for that we’re thankful. They’ve offered up a security app that’ll protect anything you need on the device, bringing with it a lock for the homescreen (in addition to your standard Android lock), one for apps, and another one on top of all that as well. This device’s drivers support DOLBY sound and it does sound rather nice blasting out of its single main speaker on the back – of course as always, we’re looking to get that big beast set up on the front, where all speakers should be, in the end.
Have a peek at some benchmarks below and make your own judgements on how lovely the device functions based on real-world flipping around. Also note that we do have a test device, this meaning that we might not have absolutely final software when it comes down to it. This is a final bit of hardware, on the other hand, so trust it!
Camera
Now that the camera has finally been placed front and center in the quality of smartphones all around the world, Huawei had to make a big jump in effort here in this machine’s main shooter. They’ve done a rather nice job, as it were, with 8 megapixels working to a rather high potential and 1080p video not looking half bad either. This is Huawei’s nicest camera execution, for certain.
Battery and Connectivity
Because we’re not inside the main arena where carriers will be working with this device, we’re not going to be doing any speed tests as such. We can certainly say that it’s connected to wi-fi networks like a champ, running just as fast as any other smartphone or tablet we’ve ever seen come through from anywhere on the planet. Connecting to data using an AT&T SIM card had similar results, reaching OK data speeds never getting quicker than our fastest 3G speeds.
As for the battery – we were certainly expecting a lot from the processor since the increase in battery size is not that giant an issue anymore here in the “future” 2012. WIth processors like the Snapdragon S4 and the NVIDIA Tegra 3 making it clear that battery life can and will be dictated by how well the device’s SoC is managing power needs, Huawei had to step up their game here with their own quad-core chip. As it turns out, they’ve done pretty well. Notice that we still get hammered when the display is on full brightness, but that standby is fairly good and regular daily action doesn’t smash the life out of it as is often the case with lesser phones.
Wrap-up
This device is Huawei’s finest execution of a smartphone yet, and it paves the way for the company to continue delivering lovely Android-toting amalgamations in the future. With Huawei being able to successfully create a beast such as this, we’re encouraged at the company aiming at the USA for releases on US-based carriers for the near future with heroes of their own. If Huawei is able to deliver hero smartphones and tablets up to the quality we’re seeing here with their own brand attached – rather than hidden as it has been for their last several USA-based releases – they’ll have a real shot at expanding in North America.
Be sure to let us know if you’ve got any additional questions about the Huawei Ascend D1 quad XL in a comment below and stay tuned as we continue to check Huawei’s offerings in the future! Also have a peek at the timeline below to see our history with this device family specifically.
This week we’re having a peek at not one, but two Huawei Android devices with quad-core processors that are set to blast away the competition – or so it would seem. This is the Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD quad-core tablet with a 10.1-inch display that’s high definition to the max – 1920 x 1200 pixels with a 16:10 aspect ratio on a chassis that just 8.8mm thin. The device is ever so slightly heavy at 580g, but the innards here make up for whatever’s lost in heft.
On the back of this device you’ve got an 8 megapixel shooter with dual-LED flash and autofocus while the front works with a 1.3 megapixel camera for video chat. You’ve got double channel speakers with Dolby Surround Sound that Huawei promises will blow your face off – and what do you know, it’s a surprisingly powerful set of speakers. With a display and speakers combo like this, we’ll certainly be working with Google Movies to make it a lovely night in with popcorn to boot.
This tablet works with a quad-core processor made by Huawei itself, here with 1.5Ghz on its CPU clock rather than 1.2GHz as it was on the smartphone. This device works with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich right out of the box, and measures in at 257.4 × 175.9 width and height. Have a peek at a couple of benchmarks in the gallery below to get an idea of where this tablet stands in the world of Android competitors.
You can get this device in 8, 16, and 32GB internal memory iterations, and you’ve got 2GB of RAM no matter what you choose. We’re working with Bluetooth 3.0 here and have GPS, an Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor, compass, vibration feedback, and a massive 6600mAh batter to keep the device powered all night and day. You’ve got a 3.5mm headphone jack as well and built-in MIC for sound recording.
In some areas of the world you’ll be able to use this device with 4G LTE – we’ll have to wait and see how this adds up as this tablet hits the market soon. Meanwhile we’re going to be giving the Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD a full review right here on SlashGear – let us know if you’ve got any questions as we make this happen, and we’ll do our best to work with everything you need to know!
Today Sony outs in the US its latest Vaio line-up and introduces some already well known devices including the stunning Vaio Duo, and the Vaio Tap 20 alongside the new Vaio T Series, E Series and S Series T Series The top-selling stylish T Series Ultrabook made with an ultra-smooth brushed aluminum shell now comes with a touch display on the new T13 Ultrabook to allow consumers to experience Windows 8-based touch in a clamshell form factor with optional touchscreen. Sony is also introducing …
This week we’re getting our hands on the Huawei Ascend D quad XL, a quad-core smartphone made to bring the brand up to speed with the rest of the hardcore top-tier smart device universe in more ways than one. This device will be spreading across the market in China rather soon with its 4.5-inch IPS+ LCD touchscreen with a massive 720 x 1280 pixel resolution – that’s 326ppi, for those of you keeping track. In this initial look we’ll do a basic flipping back and forth on the displays and a show of the hardware as it stands here right before the big drop.
This device has 8GB of ROM, 1GB of RAM, and connects to your computer or a wall charger with a standard microUSB plug. You’ve got an 8 megapixel camera on the back capable of 1080p video, there’s a secondary camera on the front working at 1.3 megapixels capable of 720p video, and inside you’ve got Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich right out of the box. The biggest reason this device should raise your radar is the processor, of course, it being a quad-core beast from Huawei itself coming in at 1.2GHz.
This quad-core processor appears very much to be doing quite well for itself in our initial benchmark tests, busting up Quadrant Standard with a CPU score of 11373, this just a bit less than the HTC One X and the Transformer Prime. The I/O, on the other hand, is a massive 6494, well outperforming both devices. Of course these tests don’t count for everything, and we’ll be letting our own hands-on everyday use decide what’s best for the average consumer.
It’s important to note that we’re working with a Sample Unit, this meaning that it’s possible that the final product won’t be exactly the same as we’re seeing here. The specifications will likely be pretty much the same, but processor clock speeds, Android version, and firmware builds may be different – we shall see. Also of note is the fact that this device carries a 2600 mAh battery rather than a 1800 mAh, as the original (non-XL) version of the device did.
This device is also relatively heavy, carrying with it a variety of technologies that Huawei appears to have not concentrated on in the weight department. We’ll also see if this trade-off is worth it in our full review, coming up sooner than later! Let us know if you’ve got any questions in comments below for that post as well!
We’ve had our first look at the beta version of the first person shooter version of SHADOWGUN: DEADZONE, out in beta form on the Google Play app store for Tegra 3 devices exclusively. This game is the multiplayer version of the benchmark-quality shooting game SHADOWGUN that’s been optimized for NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 quad-core processor on the market for some months – now you’ll be able to take your Transformer Prime to the web to shoot em up in real-time! This game is absolutely free – for now – and is available for download right this minute.
This game has a bevy of options including four playable characters, two game modes, and two full maps. These options will expand once the full version of the game is released, but for now it’s time to practice your death skills in a limited fashion. The beta test includes a soldier, mutant, assassin, and a dancer – we’ll leave that last one to you to see for yourself. The two game modes available here at the start are DeathMatch and Zone Control, with the first being a shoot-die-regenerate model with a clock and lots of red.
This release is made specifically for you beta testers out there to try out for free and give lots of feedback to NVIDIA and the creators of the game, Madfinger. With your massive amount of destructive tools on-hand and a perfectly playable iteration out right this second, you’ll have to stop yourself every once in a while and write down your thoughts – you’ll get lost in the destruction if you don’t.
* Weapons – Bandit (SMG), Vega (Attack Rifle), Big Boy (Machinegun), Spate (Plasma Rifle), Mace (Shotgun), Osog (Sniper), Sh*tStorm (Rocket Launcher) * Gadgets (Sprint, Medi Kit, Ammo Kit, Flash Bang, EMP Grenade, Frag Grenade, Sentry Gun, Mine)
Your feedback can be sent in-game with the Feedback button – make it so! This game will be out in full rather soon, so you’d better get your practice time in right this minute. You can find yours truly in the game at username “Burnsy” – let’s have a round or two! You can download the game now – again, for free – on the [Google Play app store]. Go for it!
While Google and LG have kept quiet on the subject of any prospective Nexus phone, the leaky ship that is the LG E960 “Mako” popped another hole today as Belarusian site Onliner.by has apparently gotten its hands on a prototype unit. According to the site the specs match many of the previous leaks saying it’s similar to the Optimus G, rocking a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, 1280×768 4.7-inch display and 2GB of RAM, but only 8GB of storage built-in and an 8MP camera. It’s running the just-released Android 4.1.2 for now, so unfortunately there’s no hint of any potential Android 4.2 features. Hit the source link to check out a few more quality snaps of the “with Google” handset, but at this rate we’ll probably have more details any minute now.
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