Hasta La Gadget!

It’s time to begin counting down to the weekend once again, because we’ve hit Wednesday evening. Today we heard that the iPad Mini could launch on November 2, which makes sense considering that date is just over a week after Apple’s October 23 press event. Later in the day, more sources were mentioning a November 2 release date for the iPad Mini, as well as spilling a few more details about the long-rumored device. The Isis NFC mobile payment system will apparently be launching on October 22, and Microsoft said that Internet Explorer 10 will be coming to Windows 7 in mid-November.

We found out today iOS app size is on the rise, and that the FCC will allow AT&T to take advantage of unused airwaves for mobile broadband. Google is allowing third-party developers to use its plethora of Maps information with a set of new APIs, and Facebook’s new promoted posts feature is undergoing and expansion in Europe. RIM CEO Thorsten Heins had something to say about a recent (and rather negative) write-up about BlackBerry in The New York Times today, and a series of leaked AT&T training videos revealed that the Lumia 920 will be exclusive to the carrier for six months after its release.

Call of Duty Elite won’t be featured in the Wii U version of Black Ops II, and Apple has been granted a patent for an alternative NFC technology. Speaking of Apple, the company will be holding a meeting with the MFI group next month to talk about the future of the Lightning connector, and Foxconn is saying that the iPhone 5 is a difficult device to make, but assures that it’s getting better. Consumers are reporting a decline in overall Internet usage, but Forrester (the company that did the study) has a good explination for that, while V-MODA was busy pulling the veil off its Crossfade M-100 headphones today.

A new video called “Star Trails” shows time-lapse footage captured by the International Space Station, and the Color app that has been gracing Verizon phones lately may be going dark soon. Just a little while ago, Google sent out invites to an Android event that will take place in New York in a couple of weeks, and we got a high-definition look inside the company’s data centers today. The Pirate Bay told us this afternoon that it has switched its servers to the cloud, eBay posted some strong Q3 financial results, and Project Eternity from Obsidian reached its funding goal on Kickstarter (and then some).

Finally tonight, Chris Davies asks why we care about the iPad Mini, and Craig Lloyd brings us his review of the Loop Mummy iPhone case. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, enjoy the rest of your night everyone!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: October 17, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The about screen on your US Samsung Galaxy S III may look a lot like the one above in the near future (albeit in English). Samsung has officially announced its intention to make an upgrade to Jelly Bean available to stateside versions of the company’s flagship, though it left out one very important detail: the actual date. Instead, all we know at this point is that an upgrade to Android 4.1 will be offered OTA and via Kies sometime in the coming months. Why so vague? It’s likely because Samsung is now at the mercy of each individual carrier to finish testing the new version of Android on the GS3 before unleashing it to the public. The refresh will deliver some TouchWiz-based enhancements like Blocking Mode, Easy Mode and a few new camera settings, as well as the usual suite of Jelly Bean improvements like Google Now and expandable notifications. Head below to check out the press release, which offers a more detailed list of what to expect.

Continue reading Samsung will update US Galaxy S III devices to Jelly Bean ‘in the coming months’

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

Samsung will update US Galaxy S III devices to Jelly Bean ‘in the coming months’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 10:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With Verizon’s next in an ever-expanding line of RAZR devices here with the Motorola DROID RAZR HD we’re getting essentially the same experience as we did with the RAZR M, except this time it’s quite a bit larger. With a 4.7 inch Super AMOLED display on top of a dual-core processor from Qualcomm, it’s not just the screen we’re impressed with. This device brings on one of the most refined Motorola experiences we’ve seen thus far, matching at least the impression we’ve had with the M, and out-doing it for the large-display-lovers.

Hardware

This device presents the same greatness we saw with the DROID RAZR M with enhancements well surpassing the original DROID RAZR as it was presented many months ago. With the RAZR branding we’ve got a certain amount of excellence that Verizon and Motorola have to live up to, and with the RAZR HD they’ve certainly done it. The display is a massive 720 x 1280 pixels spread across 4.7-inches of Super AMOLED screen, that ringing in at 312 PPI dense. That’s above the Galaxy S III (306 PPI) and just under the Galaxy Nexus (316 PPI) – have a peek at the S III next to the RAZR HD here, bright as they can be.

The front of the device is also covered by a single sheet of Corning Gorilla Glass for maximum protection against scratches and dings. It sits inside a slight rim around the edge that keeps your thumb inside the bounds of the display and makes for an interesting – and unique – feel to the whole device. This rim is hard plastic and will be the same color as whichever color device you so choose – we’ve got white, here. Below that is a ring of metal – aluminum more than likely – then a full back panel made from the same kevlar-weave that each of the previous DROID RAZR devices have had.

This back panel takes over the entirety of the back of the device instead of just sitting inside a pocket as previous DROID RAZRs have, this letting us know that they trust the design now well enough to command the device. It’s a good decision in this case, as the whole smartphone feels comfy to hold and to work with – not to mention hardcore. The front of the smartphone feels a bit fragile only because glass has traditionally been a material that breaks – but with Gorilla Glass sitting here instead, the whole device is tough enough to take a few bangs.

The interior of this device is splash-coated (protected from moisture, that is) as each of the DROID RAZR smartphones have been, and the SIM and microSD slot is kept secure with a pin. With the pin tool you get with the phone (in the box) you can push out (or pull, however you see it) the drawer where you can replace at will. This device has 12GB of storage inside and a microSD slot capable of working with another 32GB of space.

At a slightly massive 131.9 x 67.9 x 8.4 mm, this device would be relatively difficult to hold if it were made of the same slippery materials that the LG Optimus G is – but it’s not. Motorola’s choice to buck the trend of glossy plastic and glass backs on devices makes the RAZR HD an easy to handle unit.

Software

With the RAZR HD we’re getting essentially the same experience we did with the RAZR M in the software department. Same Android version (4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich), same Motorola software modifications, and nearly the same set of applications. Verizon and Motorola (and Google) have clearly agreed here to present a single family feel with the RAZR releases they’ve got on deck this season. Have a peek at our full DROID RAZR M review for another look at how this family functions.

Have a peek at our hands-on with the RAZR HD to see how similar these devices truly are, right down to the speed at which they flip back and forth between home screens. They’re using the same processor too, mind you; the dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4. This is the next-most-powerful Qualcomm processor on the market this Autumn, with the most powerful sitting pretty in the LG Optimus G with four cores instead of two.

You’ve once again got some cool modifications to Android 4.0 starting with Quick Settings that appear all the way to your left alongside your home screens. You’ve also got Smart Actions, a feature that activates certain tasks based on the time of day, your GPS location, or your power level. You’ll have ICS’s Face Unlock as well as a modified unlock screen with Camera, Phone, Texts, and standard to keep you quick. Have a peek at a few benchmark results here as well to see how the Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor performs.

Camera

This device works with an 8 megapixel shooter on the back that’ll keep you in the high definition business, especially since you’re working with a Qualcomm processor that comes with dedicated architecture made specifically for image processing. Here we’ve got a set of photos and a video that’ve been captured with the standard camera for you to glance at and decide for yourself. This device also had a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front for video chat and a single LED flash on the back for photos in the dark.

We’ve also got a couple of nice examples of panorama and HDR modes, both of them able to be expanded at a click here and in the larger gallery at the bottom of this post. The gallery at the bottom of this post also has additional shots for you to peruse.

Battery

Like each of the other devices we’ve tested running the Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor, the battery life you get here really depends on how you’re using the device. If you do nothing but run streaming video over Verizon’s 4G LTE data network, you’ll get a few hours out of it. If you’ve got your display on auto brightness and are only checking email, browsing the web, and using Facebook all day long, you’ll have at least 8 hours at your disposal – at least. For those of you needing more than you get here, there’s always the MAXX version of the smartphone with just a bit more bulk on the back in exchange for a much larger battery.

Notice how the battery life basically flatlines when you’ve got the display off? It’s the display that takes up most of your power here – especially when you’re blasting at full brightness.

Wrap-up

Here we’re working with another winner, with Motorola making full use of their new partnership (ownership) with Google in many fine ways. You can see that this device (as well as the RAZR M, for example) are not the same DROID devices we saw a couple years ago. Here we’ve got a fine example of an Android-running smartphone, to say the least. The hardware is top-notch, the camera takes rather nice photos, and the processor is powerful enough to take on the highest-quality games and apps the Google Play app store has to offer.

The device is also nice to hold, has a bit of grip to it so you wont be losing it right out of your palm any time soon, and looks pretty darn fine too. Be sure to let us know if you’ve got any questions about the device that haven’t been addressed in the review above, and make sure you let us know if you end up picking it up at Verizon soon!

Motorola DROID RAZR HD Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Verizon Lumia 822 (all right, so it is not formally known as the Lumia 822, but generally, the tech community has taken the liberty to call the handset just that) is a variant of the Lumia 820 from Nokia, and word on the street has it that the Lumia 822 will retail for approximately $50 as long as you decide to sign up with a mobile carrier. Whispers on the street include 16GB of internal memory, although you can further augment that with a microSD memory card slot, nothing too far off from the global version of the Nokia Lumia 820 actually. Not only that, the Verizon Lumia 822 is also said to deliver wireless charging support.

On the software front, you will find Nokia Maps and Nokia Drive (in addition to arguably most of the other Nokia-specific offerings) being made available on the Lumia 822. We do hope that Verizon Wireless will step forward with more official details on the Verizon Lumia 822 in due time, considering how the Windows Phone 8 launch date is inching closer with every second. Someone ought to be able to spot a pre-order page being displayed pretty soon.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Nokia Lumia 822 “Atlas” for Verizon gets pictured, Verizon Nokia Lumia 9xx (922) spotted?,

Verizon teased on Monday that black and brown models of Samsung’s Galaxy S III would be coming soon, but mum was the word on exactly how quickly that would be. Turns out, it was real fast. The pair of smartphones are now available at the carrier’s online storefront with a $199.99 price tag for those who don’t mind a two-year commitment with Big Red. If the new shades strike your fancy, hit the source link below to give one (or two) of the devices a new home.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, Verizon

Verizon Galaxy S III now available in black and brown originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Oct 2012 03:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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