Hasta La Gadget!

This week the HTC One has leaked once again, this time in a lovely black iteration complete with price points on three of the top four major carriers in the United States. This bodes well for the manufacturer as their launch with the HTC One X and HTC One S from a bit less than a year ago ended up not doing as well as they’d expected, largely due to carrier exclusives – rather than the wide release we’re seeing here, that is. Will this be HTC’s return to prominence with a single smartphone to rule them all?

With the HTC One it would appear that we’re going to see two different colors right out of the gate, including the white/silver version we saw earlier this week and the black we’re seeing today. This black version has been leaked courtesy of Unwired View’s @evleaks, the same source as the white/silver version. One point you really should be noting here is that this device works with a wholly unique two-button setup – not seen on any Android smartphone in the past.

This device is being tipped as coming to AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint all at once, each of them coming together some time in early March. Verizon has been tipped to be getting this device in a slightly different configuration on the 22nd of March as well, perhaps as a refresh of the DROID DNA. The release price for the HTC One has been tipped as $199 USD for a 32GB internal storage version and $299 USD for a 64GB version, both versions being priced the same on each of the three carriers besides Verizon.

The specifications for this device remain quite standard through the leaked ranks, those being a 4.7-inch full HD display with a quad-core 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor under the hood. This device is also tipped to be coming with enhanced photography, videography, and audio support as well. Stay tuned to SlashGear for more information as we head to the big HTC event next week in NYC – we’ll be there with bells on!

[via Android Community]

HTC One leaks in black with carrier pricing is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The LG Optimus G was ushered in with a bang last year, bringing on the first look we’d had at the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor – and here in 2013 it’s looking like the face of the device is about to get a whole lot larger. With the original Optimus G having a very likely large amount of sales cannibalized by the Google Nexus 4, it’s no wonder that LG is likely thinking about bringing not one, but two new models to the market here in the first half of the year. The first reveal was the LG Optimus G Pro with a lovely 5-inch display – now it’s time to get even larger.

This LG Optimus Pro+ device (as it’s temporarily being code-named here) will be appearing in China with a fabulous 5.5-inch HD display with IPS LCD technology running at a monstrous 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. With 2GB of RAM under the hood, this Optimus G Pro+ would be bringing the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor once again, this time clocked at 1.7GHz per core with all the best connectivity to back it all up.

Also inside you’ll find 32GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot capable of holding 32GB cards (with the possibility of 64GB cards before this device hits the market), and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean right out of the box. This device will also be appearing with a 13 megapixel camera on the back, 2.1 megapixel camera on the front, and a 3140 mAh battery inside.

Of course this device will be working with NFC as well as Bluetooth 4.0 and will be revealed soon. While it’s not officially been announced by LG, we’re expecting to see this model at Mobile World Congress 2013. Catch us there in Barcelona later this month in our fabulous MWC 2013 tag portal!

[via PhoneArena; via Android Community]

LG Optimus G Pro+ spotted with extra massive display is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week the folks at Qualcomm have announced that their one and only developer conference Uplinq 2013 will this year be held between September 3rd and 5th, chock-full of mobile application and developer strategy goodness from start to finish. This event will once again be working with technical sessions, chats, demonstrations, and networking opportunities in massive amounts – and SlashGear will be there to cover the whole gamut! While registration isn’t quite open yet, it will be extremely soon for those interested in jumping in on the future of mobile computing from the Qualcomm side of the universe.

Uplinq is as Qualcomm claims it, “the wireless industry’s only cross-platform developer’s conference”, and it’s now been expanded to three full days. This set of events will be featuring here in 2013 a series of professionals from all angles – developers, manufacturers, operators, and technology providers alike. This set of events will show a cross-platform look at the wireless industry from not just a series of perspectives, but the specific perspectives you’ll find valuable to your business.

Qualcomm’s Uplinq series of events is made for “all members of the value chain”, as senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Qualcomm Anand Chandrasekher makes clear, and “Feedback from last year’s attendees has us adding more technical sessions and further enhancing the business development programs we will be offering at Uplinq 2013.” It’s basically going to be one big technology high-five for everyone who’s responsible for creating, delivering, or supporting the industry from top to bottom!

Have a peek at our Uplinq collection to see what we’ve seen in the past from Qualcomm’s premiere developer conference. This event has shown us everything from the tiniest in-device speaker amplifications to the largest previews of Qualcomm technologies for the future. Camera demonstrations with sword fighters, device previews from top manufacturers, and up close and personal action in the Snapdragon environment – hot stuff!

Qualcomm’s Uplinq 2013 set for September with maximum developer potential is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This afternoon we’ve gotten our hands on the Samsung ATIV Odyssey for the first time off the showroom floor, and this Windows Phone 8 combination with Samsung hardware prowess is looking like a winner right out of the box. This machine is going to be available to you starting today from Verizon complete with 4G LTE and a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core 1.5GHz processor under a lovely 4-inch WVGA display. Will this new Samsung hero for the Windows Phone 8 universe be enough to take out the Nokia Lumia 822 and HTC Windows Phone 8X competition?

This machine is smooth to the touch, has a hard plastic back and sides, and makes little effort to differentiate itself (on the outside) from the Samsung Focus 1 and 2 as far as basic aesthetics go. When it comes to the actual largeness of the display, the brightness, the color, and the innards of this device as well, you’ll find that the ATIV Odyssey is a whole new show. In addition to working with a microSD card slot with the ability to hold 64GB cards, you’ll find this device more than ready to move forward with Microsoft’s newest mobile operating system as well.

With a 2,100 mAh battery under the back panel of this machine we’re expecting some rather excellent up-time across the day. We’ve also got a 5 megapixel camera on the back, a 1.2 megapixel camera on the front, and Qualcomm’s support for image processing inside that Snapdragon – so we’re expecting some lovely photo and video results in the very near future. This machine comes with 1GB of RAM to handle the most powerful apps available for Windows Phone today, and the full package seems to be, at the moment, a rather solid package for the Microsoft-loving masses.

The gallery you’re having a peek at here includes a small set of photos taken with the camera on this phone. Note that the photos taken of the biker are taken through a window, so they are a bit more hazy than they would be had they been taking without said window outside. We’ll have more photos and demo video in the final review, coming up soon!

Have a peek at the hands-on photos above and below and let us know if you plan on picking this device up today at Verizon. This beast will be available to you starting on January 24th, 2013 for $49.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a sign-up with an agreement for two years of service with Verizon. Stick around for our full review of this device coming up soon!

Samsung ATIV Odyssey Hands-on and Unboxing is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

To be completely honest, the YotaPhone is one of devices I’ve been most looking forward to seeing during Slashgear’s stay here at CES 2013. The device was announced last year and was immediately turning heads with its dual-screen setup. Dual-screen phones are nothing new, but the folks at Yota have put their own little spin on the dual-screen setup: instead of offering two LCD screens, the YotaPhone sports an HD LCD display on the front, and an eInk display around the back.

Of course, with dual-screen phones, manufacturers run the risk of having their devices ultimately come off as nothing more than gimmicky. The YotaPhone has its share of dissenters, but I’m pleased to report that it seems like a very solid device. We’ve got some powerful hardware running under the hood, including a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor clocked at 1.5GHz, 2GB of RAM, and a custom 2,100mAh battery, so there’s plenty to get excited about for the hardware enthusiast (though admittedly, it would have been great to see a quad-core CPU in place of the dual-core).

Both of the displays come in at 4.3-inches in size, with the LCD displaying at 1280×720 resolution. That naturally means 720p HD, so visuals are nice and sharp, and if you’re a fan of eInk displays, the YotaPhone’s rear screen will certainly please. Add to that a rear-facing 12MP camera and you’ve got a phone with one solid set of specs.

Interestingly, the folks at Yota have ditched buttons and have instead opted for gesture controls. This was something I was a bit hesitant about, but as it turns out, gesture controls work really well and seem like a intuitive replacement for the Android navigation buttons we’re all familiar with. While we’re on the topic of Android, it’s worth pointing out that Yota expects its device to be running Android 4.2 by the time in launches here in North America, but unfortunately the device we saw today was only running Android 4.1. Still, having Jelly Bean out of the box is always a good thing, so you won’t hear many complaints from me.

The phone is pretty lightweight and feels good in the hand, though there is a bit of a curve to both of the displays, which are each kept safe behind a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It’s important to keep in mind that the device we saw today is still only a prototype, so aspects of its design could change by the time the it launches here in North America. At any rate, I can safely say that the YotaPhone is every bit as cool as I was hoping it would be, but there are still a few kinks to iron out in the weeks and months to come. Yota says that it’s aiming for a late 2013 launch in North America, so expect to be seeing much more of the YotaPhone as we get closer to the end of the year. As always, you can find all of our coverage from CES 2013 at our CES portal, so be sure to have a look at that!

YotaPhone hands-on is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.