Hasta La Gadget!

LG mentioned to us yesterday that there aren’t any US plans in the cards for its lovely BL40 New Chocolate — at least, none that it wants to talk about, even though we’ve got to believe Verizon’s cooking up some plans — but meanwhile there’s still action on the North American front. A new variant of the BL40 dubbed BL40G (“G” for “gonna be awesome,” obviously) has hit the FCC with HSPA enabled on the 850 and 1900MHz bands. You might recall that those bands were disabled on the last version the FCC checked out, so if anything, this might be the version that Canada’s Telus is signed up for to help it kick off its upcoming HSPA network launch. Remind us to start researching political asylum claims a little closer to launch.

Filed under: Cellphones

LG BL40 passes FCC again, this time with US 3G very much enabled originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Let’s go through the steps together, shall we? A “senior member” forum poster on the xda-developers forums has posted the above pic as proof that the HTC Hero is coming to the US on October 11th — a claim he’s been making as far back as April, but this is the first time he’s brought a picture with him. The poster says he works for a wireless developer firm, and while this picture can easily be faked, we don’t think it’s necessarily that much of a stretch. Let’s look at some of the other phones listed. There’s “Samsung Q (Android),” which could provide a missing link between the InstinctQ and the company’s mysterious Android phone that was supposed to be out on Sprint and T-Mobile by now. BlackBerry Aries is the CDMA version the Curve 8520, and traditionally RIM’s CDMA devices wind up on both Sprint and Verizon. The LG LX610 / Lotus 2 is a new one to us, but Lotus seems to have been well-received for Sprint. So to pull all that data together, if this list is the real deal, we’d say it came from Now Network company. This is the sort of phone Dan Hesse would be glad to have waited for, isn’t it?

Filed under: Cellphones

HTC Hero coming October 11th to Sprint? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last we heard, TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington wasn’t ready to talk about a timeframe for the release of his self-proclaimed “science project,” the CrunchPad tablet. That’s not the case for The Straits Times, however, who’ve published an article claiming that developer Fusion Garage is aiming to get the device out to the masses by November of this year, just in time for Christmas shopping. The Singapore newspaper got a sneak preview of the device, as well as some new specs. The tablet reportedly about 2.64 pounds, has a 1.6GH Intel Atom and 1GB RAM (which we knew), a USB port for keyboard and / or mouse, built-in WiFi and 3G connectivity, and a port for mobile broadband. Price is estimated around $400, a little bit more than the $300 he pegged in April, but it’s still being filed in the “unconfirmed” category for now — hopefully it comes out a little leaner when this thing goes official.

[Thanks, David]

Filed under: Handhelds

CrunchPad coming in November with built-in 3G connectivity, says Straits Times originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unsatisfied with only having the tall and slim 130 and 132 nettops, ViewSonic’s newly announced family of hardware also features a pair of even more diminutive options: the VOT120 and 121. Snapped in the wild for your delectation, these machines are small enough to be confused for a well-filled CD wallet and come with WiFi, four USB inputs, gigabit Ethernet and DVI-out. While the 120’s standard netbook spec is nothing to write home about, the 121 does receive a (comparatively) potent 1.4GHz CULV chip and a HDMI output ’round back, making for an intriguing HTPC proposition. Prices in Taiwan are set for $304 and $423 respectively, but feel free to browse past the break for an inquisitive look at these miniature computers.

Continue reading ViewSonic’s VOT120 and VOT121 nettops suck in their guts for the camera

Filed under: Desktops

ViewSonic’s VOT120 and VOT121 nettops suck in their guts for the camera originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure it’s summertime in New York and not January in Las Vegas, but that didn’t stop LG from rolling out a couple new lines of LCD HDTVs today. The new SL80 and SL90 models don’t bring new high water marks on the spec sheets, but feature LG’s take on the “borderless” design trend that’s the rage these days, built from a single edge to edge piece of glass with a slim bezel and Invisible Speaker design. The top of the line SL90 is due later this year for an unspecified price range in 42- and 47-inch sizes with LED backlighting contributing to its 3,000,000:1 claimed contrast ratio and 1.15 inch depth, plus 120Hz TruMotion processing. The SL80 line has 240Hz processing, but older CCFL backlighting means a 300,000:1 measured contrast ratio and 1.8-inch thick design, but the 42-, 47-, and 55-inch models will be available this August for $1,599, $1,899 and $2,799, respectively. Want a closer look at LG’s new global flat panel design platform? The gallery is right here.

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

LG unveils new slim design LCD HDTVs due this fall originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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