Hasta La Gadget!

Well this is one lucky Tiffany here, but she’s not alone. Wired UK was first to report that Samsung’s been quietly dishing out free Galaxy S handsets (the European flavor) to a few lucky British Twitter users. How so? Oh, four of them just made a fuss about their iPhone 4s, and the fifth guy needed help to choose between the Desire, iPhone 4 and Galaxy S. Before you all start tweeting your way to a free Android phone, though, it looks like the Korean giant’s only picking certain influencers for some cheap publicity — turns out our Tiffany here works in Digital Marketing for Condé Nast, which is coincidentally Wired’s parent company. Tut tut tut. The other tweeples all appear to be similarly involved in marketing or publishing, with the exception of one student.

As if it hasn’t already rubbed enough salt into Apple’s wound, Samsung UK’s also running new Galaxy S ads that take an indirect shot at the iPhone 4’s antenna controversy with a clever bit of typography — you can see the dirty work after the break. Very nice, Sammy, but you better be careful playing with fire here, as we’ve found it pretty easy to death grip Galaxy S phones like the Captivate into losing a fair bit of signal.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Samsung dispatching free Galaxy S handsets to iPhone 4 whiners on Twitter?

Samsung dispatching free Galaxy S handsets to iPhone 4 whiners on Twitter? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve got to hand it to Samsung with its Galaxy S line. Coordinating the launch of a single family of devices across all four national US carriers (plus a regional or two) is a feat very rarely accomplished, and usually reserved for really unique handsets that those carriers wouldn’t be able to effectively source from anyone else; HTC’s Touch Pro2 is a prime example of that. Add to that the murky issue of exclusivity periods… and, well, yeah, Samsung definitely has reason to be proud here — on the business end of things, anyway. Never mind the awesome contractual maneuvering that undoubtedly took place to make this all happen, though — we all know that it’s the hardware (and software) that really counts. Today we’re looking at the first two models of the American run, the Captivate for AT&T and the Vibrant for T-Mobile; Verizon’s Fascinate and Sprint’s QWERTY- and WiMAX-equipped Epic 4G are still forthcoming, though we expect the Fascinate to be largely similar to these first two.

Beyond their simple appeal as sexy, high-end Android phones, what makes the Captivate and Vibrant especially interesting is that they are actually their respective carriers’ only high-end Android phones at the moment. In other words: if 1GHz processors and high-res AMOLED displays are how you roll, these are basically the only game in town if you’re on AT&T or T-Mobile — particularly now that Nexus One sales are winding down. Do they rise to the challenge? Let’s have a look.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy S review shootout: Captivate for AT&T and Vibrant for T-Mobile

Samsung Galaxy S review shootout: Captivate for AT&T and Vibrant for T-Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you thought then Droid X was big, check out the Olivepad from India’s Olive Telecom. The 7-inch tablet, halfway in size between a smartphone and an iPad, will actually make phone calls (although we’d suggest a headset of some kind unless you want to attract amused stares).

The Android 2.1 tablet actually looks pretty sweet, with 3.5G HSUPA, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and even a TV-tuner. It trumps the iPad in two areas: a 3 megapixel camera and a USB port (mini). Memory is limited, with just half a gig of RAM (expandable via SD-card) and the screen resolution is an acceptable-for-the-size 800 x 480 pixels.

What I like most about it is that it has a measure of honesty. While the EVO and other Android phones are really a little to large to call phones, the Olivepad is a flat-out tablet with a vestigial phone attached.

The price, when it launches in India in August, will be somewhere around $500. That makes the iPad look pretty cheap (but then, the iPad won’t fit in your pocket). And one more thing: The Olivepad plays Flash.

Olive Telecom Launches India’s First 3G Tablet [Olive Telecom Via Engadget and Times of India]

See Also:

• NYT: Google Android Tablet Imminent
• Chinese Counterfeiters Release First Android Tablet
• Adobe Demonstrates Flash on Android Tablet
• Velocity Cruz Android Tablet: 7-Inch Display, $300
• Attack of the Pads: Tablets Take On Apple

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Ha, and you thought Dell’s Streak was pushing the boundaries of what’s acceptable to hold to one’s ear. In a bid to make even the xpPhone look diminutive, Olive Telecom has just announced India’s first 3.5G Android (2.1 for now) tablet in the Olive Pad VT100. This 7-inch slate is said to boast an 800 x 480 resolution on a capacitive touchpanel, not to mention Bluetooth, WiFi, an SD card slot, 512MB of internal memory (plus 512MB ROM), a 3.5mm audio jack, 3 megapixel camera, mini USB socket and a 3,240mAh battery. There’s also a mysterious front facing camera for video calls, and sure enough, this thing actually supports voice, which may very well make it the largest smartphone to launch in 2010. If all goes well, it’ll seep out in India next month, with a price of around Rs.20000 to Rs.25000, or $425 to $530 in terms of Greenbacks. We wouldn’t get our hopes up for an immediate launch in North America, but word on the street has it that Russia and Europe could see this bad boy in the not-too-distant future.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Olive Pad VT100 brings a voice-capable, 7-inch Android tablet to India’s airwaves

Olive Pad VT100 brings a voice-capable, 7-inch Android tablet to India’s airwaves originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Been wondering why Verizon would seek to curb its unlimited data plans with bogus restrictions? Wonder no more. Jennifer Byrne, a business development executive director at Big Red, has shared with us the shocking stat that early data usage from Droid X owners is five times what other smartphones are suckling down. Clearly, the jumbo screen is being used to the fullest by those lucky enough to get an X when they wanted one, and Verizon is (outwardly, at least) really, really excited to see such keen use of its network. Enjoy it while it lasts, Droidsters!

Droid X users gobbling up 5x the data of other Verizon smartphones originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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