Hasta La Gadget!

Qualcomm has apparently figured out what it takes to get Netflix on Android, announcing “future devices” with its Snapdragon mobile processors (like the LG Revolution) will meet all of the DRM requirements for Watch Instantly. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to bode well for your existing Android device, but at least future phones won’t have to look on Windows Phone 7 and iOS with envy. Besides a turnkey package for manufacturers to support Netflix in their devices, it also promises plenty of dedicated decoding power to enhance battery life and improve picture quality which can be observed as it demos the Netflix app (hope they brought their own proxy) at Mobile World Congress this week.

Continue reading Qualcomm promises Netflix streaming support on ‘future Android devices’ with Snapdragon

Qualcomm promises Netflix streaming support on ‘future Android devices’ with Snapdragon originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What do you get when you gently massage HSPA+ support and a front-facing camera for video calling into a Vibrant’s backside using technology, science, and a selection of essential oils? Well, you get a Galaxy S 4G — and in the case of Samsung’s US-focused event this evening here at MWC, you get a Galaxy S 4G on orange crushed velvet. The phone feels exactly like a Vibrant — thin, but still almost ridiculously light for its size — and looks exactly the same from the front. Like a mullet, though, it’s the back where the Galaxy S 4G starts to party: T-Mobile’s switched up the cheap-looking gloss black plastic on the Vibrant for a trick gray optical effect battery cover that seems to shimmer as you move it around. Definitely a step up, and it’ll let the T-Mobile enthusiasts around you know that you mean business. Follow the break for our quick hands-on video!

Continue reading T-Mobile Galaxy S 4G hands-on

T-Mobile Galaxy S 4G hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Advent Vega tablet shipped late last year but quickly had its Flash Player pulled due to a little spat with Adobe about certifications. Now that’s been fixed and this 10.1-inch, Android 2.2 and Tegra 2-powered slab can finally take off its mask and show us what it can do. If you’re an owner, get yourself the 1.09 software update on the other end of the source link below.

Advent Vega finally gets its Flash Player originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 12:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, would you look at what we found chilling at Samsung’s booth here at MWC? Yep, it’s that Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 we heard about just the other day, and it’s one interesting tablet / media player hybrid. We’d be inclined to call this thing a Streak 5 or Acer 4.8 Iconia competitor, but it doesn’t have a trace of cellular or 3G connectivity. We were, however, able to confirm what it does have — it packs a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, a 800 x 480-resolution display, a 5 megapixel camera with a flash, and a 2500mAH battery. On the software front, it runs Android 2.2 (although it will be upgradable to Gingerbread) and TouchWiz. Oh, and it has the full suite of Google applications (YouTube, Gmail, Google Chat, etc.) and access to the Market.

So, what’s it like? Well, it looks like an enlarged Galaxy Player (or what is now known as the Galaxy S WiFi 4.0), which really means it looks like Galaxy S smartphone and the Galaxy Tab mashup. The white slippery back clearly looks like our Sprint Galaxy Tab, but the thinner design and rounded edges remind us of a Vibrant or Fascinate. It’s really a very “Samsung” device, and we don’t mean that in a bad way — the plastic build feels pretty solid and the screen seemed very high quality. As for performance, it seemed fairly quick and a preloaded video played rather smoothly. We wish we had more information on when this one was going to land stateside, but a rep on hand would only tell us that it will be hitting Korea this month and other countries soon. Check the break for a short hands-on look at this guy and the galleries below for some close up shots.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 preview (video)

Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 preview (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 11:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BARCELONA — Tablets are what we wanted to see at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and tablets are what we’ve got. They all have their gimmicks, and LG’s Optimus Pad has 3-D. It also has a new screen size of 8.9 inches.

First, the 3-D. The Optimus has a pair of cameras in the back for shooting stereoscopic 1080p video. This footage can be played back later on a big TV (the Optimus has an HDMI-out port) or piped direct to a big screen as you shoot (as you see in the picture above). I jammed a pair of 3D glasses over my regular glasses, held the camera in my other hand and tried to snap a picture whilst balancing on my crutches. Despite these various handicaps, the picture is a pretty good representation of the headache-inducing footage you’ll see without the 3-D specs.

Put the glasses on and things don’t get much better. The 3-D effect is there, but it has none of the slick smoothness you’ll see from a properly-shot clip. There’s no way you’ll ever mistake the footage for anything but cellphone video, even though both cameras are 5MP.

And if you want to view your 3-D video on the screen, good luck. LG touts the Optimus Pad as able to display 3-D, but see it you’ll need to travel back to 1955. The “3-D” image is displayed as red and blue anaglyph, the kind which you need colored glasses to look at. Given that any color screen, ever, can do this, LG is pushing the truth a little here.

The rest of the Optimus Pad is sweet enough, with dual-core Tegra 2 chip, 32GB storage, 3G radio, 2MP front-facing camera (even worse than the other two) and Android 3.0 Honeycomb. The 8.9-inch size is actually pretty good, although all the cameras seemingly bring the weight up to an iPad-like 630-grams. Take a closer look and you’ll see LG has opted to make the screen long and thin. That’s great for wide-screen movies, terrible for everything else (except, surprisingly, two-pane horizontal e-book reading). Finally, the 1280 x 768 pixel screen sounds good, but in practice it isn’t so great. Samsung’s Tab displays are way nicer.

My prediction for the Optimus Pad? Lots of (digital) ink spilled by hacks like me during the MWC this week, followed by terrible sales and a quiet death. You heard it here first, folks!

See Also:

• Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Hands-On: A Plastic Toy With a Gorgeous …
• Hands-On With Samsung’s Five-Inch iPod Touch Rival