Hasta La Gadget!

It’s no big surprise that Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X10 has some Android 2.3-filled days to look forward to — heck, we’ve known that the smartphone would eventually be treated to Gingerbread before it actually got 2.1. At long last, the handset maker is finally offering up a few extra details about the inevitable upgrade, now set for early-August. The company has addressed some user concerns regarding changes to functionality that will come with the upgrade, assuring users that new version of the software will keep the phone’s camera UI intact and will feature newer functionality like the company’s Facebook Inside Xperia feature. Catch the Gingerbready video below, which unfortunately makes surviving the summer on a lesser build no less painless.

Continue reading Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 getting Gingerbread in August, can finally show face in public (video)

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 getting Gingerbread in August, can finally show face in public (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s here folks — the planet’s first Android 3.2 tablet. Huawei just introduced a downright luscious new slate over in Singapore, with CommunicAsia being the launchpad for the 7-inch MediaPad. It’s the first high-profile 7-inch tablet we’ve seen in quite some time, and somehow or another, it’s managed to leapfrog most of the currently shipping Honeycomb tablets with a build of Android we’ve only ever joked about. Huawei tells us that Honeycomb 3.2 is essentially the same as 3.1, but specifically tailored to 7-inch tablets as opposed to 10-inch. Packed within the MediaPad’s 10.5mm shell, there’s a 217 pixels-per-inch IPS capacitive touchpanel, GPS, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, 802.11n WiFi, a battery good for around six hours of life and a bona fide racehorse as a processor: a dual-core 1.2GHz chip from Qualcomm. If all goes well, it’ll ship in the United States in Q3 2011.

It’s a fair bit chunkier than the newfangled Galaxy Tab 10.1 (8.6mm), but still slimmer than the original Tab, which clocked in at 11.98mm. It weighs in at 390g (0.86 pounds), supports full 1080p playback, includes HSPA+ (14.4Mbps) 3G support, offers 8GB of internal storage (as well as a microSD slot) and comes pre-loaded with Facebook, Twitter, Let’s Golf and Documents To Go. There’s also a Bluetooth module, an HDMI output for catching those high-def flicks on the go, and the Flash 10.3 player ensures that those websites won’t be a problem. Unfortunately, the company’s left a great deal to the imagination — like pricing, which is being “sorted with retail partners and providers” — and all we’ve got for system RAM is a promise that it’s “working with partners on specifics.” Oddly enough, the company has “no current plans” to produce a WiFi-only model, which definitely puts a damper on those who aren’t interested in ponying for carrier data. You can bet we’ll be digging for more, but even with the surrounding mystery, calling us “excited” would be a severe understatement.

Update: There’s a demo vid just after the break, and the first eyes-on shots have emerged from the conference.

Continue reading Huawei MediaPad revealed: world’s first 7-inch Android 3.2 tablet, dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm CPU

Huawei MediaPad revealed: world’s first 7-inch Android 3.2 tablet, dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm CPU originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Jun 2011 05:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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And here we thought folks were concerned about protecting their personal data. As it turns out, however, a surprising chunk of Android users have volunteered to give a group of University of Cambridge researchers a look at exactly how they use their cellphones. By downloading the Device Analyzer app from the Android market, more than 1,000 participants have allowed the data collection program to harvest statistics in the background while they use their phones. Those statistics — varying from when the power is switched on, to which apps are in use — are then made available to users via the Device Analyzer website. Of course, this is Cambridge, a rather well respected institution of higher learning, and the researchers involved say the data collected is stripped of personal information “as best as possible,” but we’re not keen on anyone peeping our cell stats. If you’re an Android exhibitionist, however, you can sign up for the study at the source link below.

Device Analyzer Android study wants to track your every move, if you’ll let it originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Jun 2011 14:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon said otherwise earlier this week, but Motorola has now finally chimed in to say that a Gingerbread update for the Droid 2 Global is not, in fact, rolling out at the moment — as Droid 2 Global owners have probably noticed. Unfortunately, it’s not provided any indication as to when such an update will start rolling out, but it does seem like you can rest assured that it’s still a question of “when” not “if.”

Motorola says Droid 2 Global Gingerbread update isn’t ready after all originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 20:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The army of high-speed broadband phones is actively seeking new recruits to join its rapidly-growing force, and the LG Revolution is the latest to graduate from boot camp. We’ve witnessed the emergence of three Verizon LTE handsets in as many months, beginning with the HTC Thunderbolt and the Samsung Droid Charge a few weeks later. As if this wasn’t enough choice to tempt your tastebuds already, the LG Revolution — the entertaining climax to the classic 4G trilogy — was born one full moon after that. With three options, all so close to each other in dimension and features, it’s natural to compare all of ’em and make the call on which one is the best of the bunch. Is LG’s first crack at Verizon’s LTE network truly a game-changer, as its name suggests? Or does this Revolution fail to even get its feet off the ground? Read on after the break to find out.

Continue reading LG Revolution review

LG Revolution review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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