Hasta La Gadget!

Welcome to Thursday evening folks – just one more day until the weekend is officially here. iOS 6 has been out for a little more than a day now, and while there are a lot of new features to get excited about, Apple’s new Maps app seems to be spoiling the party. Many are bummed that Apple Maps doesn’t feature public transportation routes like Google Maps, and a group of developers set out to solve that problem with a new hack. Meanwhile, Nokia took a few shots at Apple Maps today, and we found out that iOS 6 landed on 15% of all Apple devices within the first 24 hours of release.

Ever wonder how much Americans have spent on iPhone repairs? Wonder no longer, because SquareTrade says that we’ve $5.9 billion on repairs since 2007. Samsung once again reiterated its intentions of taking Apple to court over the iPhone 5, while HP announced a range of new ultra-light notebooks today. HP didn’t stop there though, as it also revealed a brand new ENVY desktop, which we have to say looks pretty sleek. Verizon talked about how good its Share Everything plans are during an investors conference today, and the ASUS Padfone 2 might be getting a reveal next month.

Prices for the freshly-revealed HTC 8X and 8S were announced today, and Chinese manufacturer Cube has a new tablet incoming that sports a display similar to Apple’s Retina display. Qualcomm was seen touting its Snapdragon S2 processor today for some reason, and SkullCandy revealed a trio of new gaming headsets. Speaking of gaming, we heard rumors that Half-Life 3 will have open world elements, and were amazed by a new multiplayer trailer for an upcoming game called Cube World. Amazon’s Kindle eReaders and tablets have been banished from the shelves of Walmart, and the all-new ZTE Anthem will soon be heading to MetroPCS complete with 4G LTE capabilities.

Android users were given The Bard’s Tale and Fort Courage today, while the US Senate claimed that Microsoft avoided paying $6.5 billion in taxes over the last three years. Facebook Messenger got an update on Android today, as did the regular Facebook app, and Sony told us why we didn’t see a price cut on existing PS3 models when the company revealed its brand new super-slim console. Microsoft can officially claim another victory over Motorola in Germany, and finally tonight, we have a hands-on with the excellent 10Terra Nexus 7 Bamboo case, which is looking to get funded on Kickstarter right this minute!

That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up. Enjoy the rest of your night, and join us back here tomorrow as we wrap-up Friday’s news and ring in the weekend!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: September 20, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It might have over-keenly popped up online just a few weeks ago, but now ZTE’s given the Blade III the official nod. As suspected, it bears a 4-inch 800 x 480 display, runs on a 1GHz Qualcomm chip, and offers Android 4.0 with 512MB of RAM to play with. The internal memory is confirmed as 4GB, with the OS taking up some of that, but there is (thankfully) the option to expand up to 32GB via SD, and that 5-megapixel shooter to use for filling it up. The HSPA phone will be getting a Nordic debut (much the same as its Nordic leak) with the black version landing in Sweden for 1,499 SEK (about $228) in October, but is available in white this month in Finland. Other “key markets” in Europe can look forward to seeing the Blade III sometime later this year.

Continue reading ZTE confirms Blade III Android 4.0 smartphone, makes Nordic debut with two color options

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

ZTE confirms Blade III Android 4.0 smartphone, makes Nordic debut with two color options originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 06:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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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LG has just officially announced their all new Optimus G superphone in Korea complete with a brand new 4.7-inch TrueHD IPS+ display and a powerful quad-core processor that is the first of its kind. The first thing that came to our mind was how the Galaxy S III, HTC One X, and others will fair against this new beast so lets break it down.

Since the LG Optimus G is the newest to join the pack lets take a loot at its specs first. LG’s calling this smartphone their new flagship device full of “groundbreaking features.” They’ve improved their display technology that brings the TrueHD IPS+ 1280 x 768 resolution 4.7-inch display closer to the glass for an in your face vivid and colorful experience, and added Qualcomm’s latest and greatest 1.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro for absolute power. This is the first device powered by Qualcomm’s new S4 Pro “krait” processor and we have high hopes for it considering how well it performed on the developer tablet.

LG’s tossed in 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, and a massive 13 megapixel camera on the rear for what they’re claiming will be the best smartphone camera in the world. Just reading off that initial spec list this smartphone is clearly near the top spot. On the back is a unique battery cover with LG’s own patented Crystal Reflection process, which gives a 3D illusion that makes it a beauty to hold — according to LG. This covers the 2,100 mAh battery under the hood that will be powering Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

So how does this fair against the competition? Pretty darn good. Nothing can compete with this except for the Samsung Galaxy S III and maybe, just maybe the HTC One X. The original dual-core S4 processor held its own against the Tegra 3-touting HTC One X and it’s 4.7-inch SLCD display — so it’s safe to say this quad-core version should outpace the One X in all areas. Add in the thinner design, larger battery, and better camera on the Optimus G there really isn’t a need for discussion.

So that leaves us with the Galaxy S III, the current flagship and talk of the Android atmosphere — if you don’t count the Galaxy Note II. This is where things get a little interesting because the Galaxy S III competes with or beats the Optimus G in all hardware areas except the camera. Samsung’s flagship phone rocks their own in-house Exynos 4 Quad 1.4 GHz processor that performs extremely well, while their US Galaxy S III is powered by Qualcomm’s 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4. The Optimus G has that same Snapdragon S4 only its been doubled and is the quad-core Pro version. This makes for truly a one-of-a-kind smartphone with unparalleled power.

The Galaxy S III has a slightly larger 4.8-inch (1280x720p) resolution display while LG’s is 4.7-inches and offers a slightly higher pixel density coming in at 1280×768. Samsung’s AMOLED tech has always looked great but so does LG’s IPS+ displays with stunning viewing angles and deep, rich colors. It’s tough to really say what is best or will continue to be the best at the moment especially with Samsung already having a clear lead in the market with 20 million sales strong. Until we get more time with the all new LG Optimus G we’ll have to leave it to you guys to decide and debate.

Do you own the Galaxy S III or HTC One X, or have you been waiting for the next level of smartphones to arrive — like the LG Optimus G?

LG Optimus G vs the quad-core competition is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’re in Seoul for the launch of LG’s latest flagship smartphone, the Optimus G, and we finally managed to spend a few minutes with a demo unit. This is a powerhouse — the first handset built around Qualcomm’s 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro. It features LTE, a 4.7-inch 1280×768 True HD IPS PLUS display, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of built-in storage, a 13-megapixel autofocus camera, a sealed 2100mAh battery, and NFC.

We like the simple and elegant design, which is reminiscent of LG’s Chocolate and Prada models — it’s thin (8.45mm / 0.33 inches) and reasonably light for its size (145g / 5.11oz). The front sports a glass surface with three capacitive buttons and the back showcases the company’s Crystal Reflection process — an attractive patterned glass-like finish that’s a bit of a fingerprint magnet. Materials and build quality are excellent (better than the Galaxy S III) and the Optimus G feels pleasant in hand.

You’ll find a volume rocker and micro-SIM slot on the left edge and the power / lock key on the right. There’s a notification light next to the 1.3MP front-facing camera. A standard headphone jack sits on the top side, with the micro-USB / MHL connector on the bottom. The speaker and main camera are in the back, pretty much where you’d expect them. While the display is definitely high quality, it’s not mind blowing (the One X screen still looks better) — we expected better viewing angles from LG’s True HD IPS PLUS and Zerogap Touch technologies.

Sadly, we didn’t spend much time using the software, but the Optimus G runs Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) with a skin similar to what we saw on the Optimus 4X HD and performance is definitely impressive. We’ll get more seat time with LG’s flagship over the next few days, so stay tuned for more impressions. In the meantime, enjoy our gallery below and our hands-on video after the break.

Update: We’ve added pictures of the white model and screenshots to the gallery.

Continue reading LG Optimus G: hands-on with Korea’s latest powerhouse (video) (updated)

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

LG Optimus G: hands-on with Korea’s latest powerhouse (video) (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 22:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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