Hasta La Gadget!

AllThingsD is reporting that Microsoft is replacing Andy Lees as head of its Windows Phone division… sort of. It looks like Terry Myerson, who has headed up engineering efforts for the group, will take over many of Lees’ responsibilities, though, he won’t be inheriting his title. At least not just yet. In a memo seen by AllThingsD, Ballmer announced that Lees would be taking on a new position with the company, though it’s not entirely clear what that might be — describing it only as “time-critical” and “focused on driving maximum impact in 2012 with Windows Phone and Windows 8.” (So, it’s safe to assume he’s not becoming a janitor.) The shakeup isn’t terribly surprising, especially considering the CEO’s own admission that Windows Phone 7 was not performing as well as expected in the market.

The division’s interim leader, Myerson, has been with Microsoft since 1997 and previously headed up the team in charge of Exchange. For now he will continue to report to Lees, who will remain the president of the Windows Phone group, even if that is in name only.

Microsoft replaces Andy Lees as Windows Phone head originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember the display on your first mobile phone? If you’ve been chatting on the go for as long as we have, it was probably barely big enough to fit a complete telephone number — let alone a contact name or text message. And your first smartphone? Even displaying scaled-down, WAP versions of web pages was asking a lot. Now, those mobile devices we couldn’t live without have screens that are much, much larger. Sometimes, though, we secretly wish they were even bigger still.

Samsung’s new GT-N7000 Galaxy Note is the handset those dreams are made of — if you happen to share that dream about obnoxiously large smartphones, that is. It’s as thin as a Galaxy S II, lightning fast and its 5.3-inch HD Super AMOLED display is as gorgeous as it is enormous; the 1280 x 800 pixels you once could only get with a full-size laptop (or in the Galaxy Tab 10.1) can now slide comfortably into your front pocket. Its jumbo display makes it the perfect candidate for a notepad replacement and, with the included S Pen stylus, you’ll have no problem jotting notes on the fly, marking up screenshots or signing documents electronically. But, is that massive display too much of a good thing? You’ll need to jump past the break to find out.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Note review

Samsung Galaxy Note review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 07:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember that downright futuristic BlackBerry we spied back in September? Say hello, all over again. RIM and Porsche (of all companies) have just taken the official wraps off of the Porsche Design P’9981 BlackBerry, a frighteningly beautiful new slab that offers up a forged stainless steel frame, hand-wrapped leather back cover, sculpted QWERTY keyboard, and “crystal clear touch display.” It’ll ship with an exclusive Porsche Design UI and a bespoke Wikitude World Browser augmented reality app experience, not to mention the “premium, exclusive PINs that help easily identify another P’9981 smartphone user.” Fancy. As for specs, it’s boasting a 1.2GHz processor, HD video recording capabilities, 8GB of onboard memory, Liquid Graphics technology, a microSD expansion slot, an inbuilt NFC module and BlackBerry OS 7. We’re told that it’ll be available from Porsche Design stores later this year, but mum’s the word on the (presumably stratospheric) price. Head past the jump for T-break‘s hands-on vid.

Update: MobileSyrup reports that the device shown here will sell for “around $2,000,” and they’ll be (unsurprisingly) limited in quantity.

Continue reading Porsche Design P’9981 BlackBerry provides a long-awaited design jolt, compensates for a lot

Porsche Design P’9981 BlackBerry provides a long-awaited design jolt, compensates for a lot originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who said there’s no such thing as a second chance? After resurrecting the RAZR brand just last week with Motorola’s newly minted Droid member, Verizon’s now gearing up for a pre-order deluge on the 27th. That’s right, starting tomorrow morning at 8AM EST, Big Red’s dual-core 4G LTE handset’ll ship out to eager subs who plunk down the $299 on contract price before November 10th. If you’re not the early bird type, you’ll have to sit tight a wee bit longer as plans for an in-store launch have yet to be announced. Of course, you could always hold out for that eventual Galaxy Nexus to make its first place carrier debut, or even cross your toes for a Nokia Lumia 800 (one can hope, right?). Whatever your preference, this holiday season’s sure turning out to be a cornucopia of high-end mobile options. Check out the official presser after the break.

Update: Droid Life got a hold of an internal Verizon screen that pegs the Droid RAZR’s off contract price at $650. Still no word on an actual retail date for the device, but we’re sure that’s right around the corner.

Continue reading Droid RAZR pre-orders go live on Verizon tomorrow, ships to Blur fans before November 10th (updated)

Droid RAZR pre-orders go live on Verizon tomorrow, ships to Blur fans before November 10th (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 11:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You didn’t think Nokia would go through all this hoo hah just for one handset, did you? Nope, the potential audience is far too big to be satisfied with just one device at one price point, so here comes the Lumia 710. It takes advantage of the same 1.4GHz CPU found in the Lumia 800, offers a 3.7-inch ClearBlack display and comes in “stealthy black” and “crisp white,” with replaceable back covers. Look for the 710 to be priced around €270, or $375. For availability, you can expect to see the Lumia 710 hitting France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK in November and then Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan by the end of the year, with additional markets in the first part of 2012.

Sharif Sakr, Dante Cesa and James Trew contributed to this post.

Continue reading Nokia’s Lumia 710 Windows Phone announced alongside the 800, hitting select markets by end of year

Nokia’s Lumia 710 Windows Phone announced alongside the 800, hitting select markets by end of year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 05:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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