Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve no way to confirm at the moment, but if SamsungCentral is to be believed, Samsung’s newly announced OmniaHD will soon become the world’s first cellphone to record 720p video. Unlike the HTC Touch HD — which had precisely zero high-def amenities — it seems the next breed of Omnia may actually live up to its moniker. Other purported specifications include an 8 megapixel camera and a 3.7-inch AMOLED display, though the resolution of the panel is currently unknown. Have we mentioned we can’t wait to get our paws around this? Because we can’t.

Update: Sammy’s sent out a press release for the OmniaHD and, sure enough, this bad boy’s boasting 720p video recording. Also confirmed: we can’t wait to try this sucker out.

[Via Samsung Central]

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung’s OmniaHD: world’s first phone to capture 720p video? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Feb 2009 15:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We didn’t doubt it for a second (okay, maybe one second), but Sony’s so-called Idou is for real. Though, we wouldn’t go memorizing that name or anything, ’cause SE has plans to change it to something more commercial before summer. At any rate, the touchscreen-heavy handset — which will run Symbian Foundation at launch — does indeed sport a 12.1 megapixel shooter (which was hinted at last November), which sort of makes the also-just-official Samsung Memoir seem a bit dated already. It’s funny too, as the only dozen megapixeler we were actually expecting at this show was from Samsung. We’re still waiting on the minutiae, but we do know that it will pack a 3.5-inch panel (640 x 320 resolution; no word on capacitive or resistive) and “full media consumption,” a phrase we’re still struggling to digest. More as we get it!

Filed under: Cellphones

Sony Ericsson gets official with “Idou” 12 megapixel mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Feb 2009 13:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Clearly, the flood gates have opened well before Sony Ericsson intended over in Barcelona, as the countdown is still on while we’re watching handset after handset leak out. Next up is the W995 Walkman (can someone say Hikaru?), a multimedia-centric slider which boasts an 8.1 megapixel camera, A-GPS, Google Maps, WiFi, DLNA certification, 118MB of built-in memory, an 8GB M2 card and a 2.6-inch QVGA scratch-resistant display. The mobile should ship in a trio of colors — Progressive Black, Cosmic Silver and Energetic Red — and the inbuilt kickstand should make airplane-based movie watching a touch easier on the neck. No word on a price or release, but SE should be remedying that at any moment.

Update: As you may have caught in our liveblog, the W995 is now very much official, and just as described in its not-quite-official form. SE did have a few small surprises up its sleeve, however, in the form Sony’s MediaGo software, which will let you share media with your PS3 over WiFi, and take advantage of Sony’s PlayNow services, including downloaded movies purchased on your PC. Hit up the gallery below for a closer look.

Filed under: Cellphones

Sony Ericsson’s W995 Walkman slips out ahead of schedule originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Feb 2009 12:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re just getting into our seats for Sony Ericsson’s MWC press event, but it looks like the partnership’s newest Symbian offering has leaked a little early. Called the Idou, it sports a 16:9 touchscreen, a 12.1 megapixel camera with a xenon flash, and an official web site that doesn’t seem to be active yet. We’ll hopefully be finding out more in just minutes, we’ll let you know!

Update: Our tipster says the above model might be a concept, but a similar device will be released sometime around the second half of 2009 — we’ll keep you posted as we get more info.

Update 2: Nope — it’s real.

[Thanks, aleksandarkazi]

Filed under: Cellphones

Sony Ericsson Idou revealed a little early originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Feb 2009 12:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been a slow, painful death, but it’s about time to just pull the white sheet over ultra-wideband and let the wireless standard rest in peace. After Intel pulled its support for UWB and proponent WiQuest shut down late last year, all that the format really had left was TZero. After successfully surviving some legal issues, we thought the company was good to go in fighting a hopeless battle against wireless HD upstart AMIMON. Now, it seems that WHDI (that’s AMIMON’s magic) is free to take the market by storm, but only time will tell if wireless HD is even remotely close to mainstream. In one sense, we’re sad to see competition die, but on the other hand, it’s always good to see fruitless format wars fade away. Don’t be too down on yourself, TZero — it’s not like anyone really had high expectations for you or anything.

Filed under: Wireless

TZero closes up shop, UWB all but dead originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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