Hasta La Gadget!

LG has told the press at MWC that it will not be developing its own smartphone platform “at least for the next two to three years.” We think companies should focus on what they do well, and given our ambivalence toward the S-Class UI, it’s probably a good thing that LG will narrow its operation down to churning out delectable slabs of electronics and leaving the software side to the geeks over at Google and Microsoft. The head of the company’s handset unit, Skott Ahn, has indicated that the future of LG smartphones will be shared between Android and Windows Phone 7 (sorry, Symbian lovers). It will have taken plenty of restraint to not respond to local nemesis Samsung — who has just introduced its first Bada handset — but LG appears to be of the opinion (which we share) that the smartphone OS sector is already overcrowded, and its expectation is that over the next couple of years the market will distill itself down to just three predominant operating systems.

LG not interested in proprietary smartphone OS, likes Android and Windows Phone 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T has its heart set on Motorola’s latest Android phone, the Backflip. Starting March 7, the Backflip will retail for $100 with a two-year contract and a $100 mail-in rebate.

The Backflip will be the first smartphone running the Google-designed open source Android operating system to be available on AT&T’s network.

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, AT&T said it’s planning to offer five Android phones this year. These include devices from companies such as HTC, Dell and Motorola.

The Backflip from Motorola has an interesting hardware design — instead of sliding open forward, the device’s physical keyboard flips behind it so it can sit on a table like an alarm clock. The Backflip has a 3.1-inch touchscreen and a 5-megapixel camera with flash. Motorola has not yet revealed detailed specifications of the device.

The phone also has a 1-inch touch-sensitive swatch on the back of the phone that supports gestures such as swipe and double-tap.  The Backflip will run MotoBlur, the Motorola-designed skin that first appeared on the Cliq last year. MotoBlur aggregates social networking feeds such as Twitter and Facebook and combines it with e-mail contacts and the phone’s address book. It also offers free online backup of the data on the device and a find-my-phone service for lost devices.

Check out our hands-on with the Motorola Backflip from CES.

Photo of the Motorola Backflip: writegirl/Flickr

See Also:

• Motorola’s First Android Phone Takes Aim at Social Networks
• MWC 2010: The Year of the Android
• AT&T Plans 5 Android Smartphones in 2010
• Android’s Rapid Growth Has Some Developers Worried

Among Marvell’s many demos at MWC this year was a curious white tablet out of well-traveled ODM Foxconn — the so-called iWonder — that will see duty in China later this year. It’s got a pretty awful 10.1-inch display (resistive with nary a trace of meaningful brightness or contrast), but when you consider that they’re targeting an exceptionally thrifty price point in the low $100s, it’s actually a pretty reasonable package. It’s got Android 1.6, WiFi with a dedicated hardware on-off switch, an accelerometer (though it was totally flaky on the version we used), and a handful of touch-sensitive buttons around the bezel, including last- and next-page buttons for using the iWonder as an e-reader. Marvell touts that the tablet is using its reference design as a starting point — now the next trick is helping Foxconn find a decent LCD supplier. Follow the break for some video of the iWonder showing off its Donut prowess — if you can avoid the distraction of the curiously inverted logo, that is.

Continue reading iWonder why the logo is upside down

iWonder why the logo is upside down originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is arguably one of the cheesiest Android devices we’ve ever handled — and yes, we’re including KIRFs in that observation — but you’ve got to give Alcatel some credit here for taking the platform to a form factor that’s entirely under-served and doing so with an affordable price point in mind. The company plans to aggressively target HTC’s Tattoo when the OT-980 launches in its usual non-US markets later this year with Android 2.1, full HSPA, WiFi, AGPS, compass, and a 2.8-inch display. The thing is a straight-up fingerprint magnet (and the harsh lighting certainly wasn’t doing it any favors), but that’s not really any different from the Pre that it vaguely apes. The only prototype Alcatel had on hand had a busted display — if you look closely, you can make out the UI, so it seems the backlight may have passed on to the giant circuitboard in the sky. That doesn’t speak very highly of the build quality here, but then again, this is an homage to the Pre, right?

Alcatel OT-980 with Android hands-on, we feel frugal just looking at it originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T just got its first Android-powered smartphone (four more coming this year) in the HSPA 7.2-capable Motorola Backflip. The Motoblur device with reverse flip design and 3.1-inch touchscreen packs GPS, WiFi, and a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with flash and camcorder function that neatly integrates with social media sites like Facebook and Twitter or photo sharing sites like Picasa. It lands March 7th for $100 after $100 rebate and two-year contract with smartphone data plan. AT&T promo video after the break.

Continue reading Android-powered Motorola Backflip headed to AT&T on March 7 for $100 on contract

Android-powered Motorola Backflip headed to AT&T on March 7 for $100 on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 07:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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