Hasta La Gadget!

The first time we saw the rumored Supersonic we were blown away. HTC and Google had just wowed us with the Nexus One, and here we were looking at something even better — a 4.3-inch phone with WiMAX wrapped in a white body. This prototype was buggy and had abysmal battery life, but it was real. Four months later it landed in our hands at Google I/O. We’re of course talking about the EVO 4G which went on to become a runaway hit for HTC and Sprint as the first ever 4G smartphone in the US. And here we are a year later with the HTC EVO 3D, the legitimate heir to Sprint’s mobile kingdom — at least until the Motorola Photon 4G comes along. When we first played with the 3D-capable handset at CTIA we were suitably impressed, but we left with a lot of unanswered questions. How do the 1.2GHz dual core processor and qHD display affect battery life? Is 3D a compelling feature or just a gimmick? What is 2D camera performance like with the lower specced camera? Is the EVO 3D a worthy replacement for the EVO 4G? Find out in our review after the break.

Continue reading HTC EVO 3D review

HTC EVO 3D review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Released this week in Hong Kong, Samsung's new Galaxy S II may be available soon worldwide. Photo courtesy of Samsung

Samsung this week released an upgrade for its most popular “Galaxy” smartphone in Hong Kong, following its launch in Europe.

The Wall Street Journal this week reported on the release of the Samsung’s Galaxy S II smartphone in Hong Kong. Samsung released the handset in Europe in early May.

It’s unclear when we’ll see the smartphone in the United States. A Verizon Wireless spokeswoman misspoke when she told Computerworld that the Galaxy S II would be available some time in July. The carrier retroactively amended the statement, saying that the spokeswoman was actually referring to the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

However, considering that Samsung just gave a handful of developers free Galaxy S II phones, and the smartphone is already releasing in other parts of the world, it’s safe to assume the U.S. release isn’t very far off.

As the successor to Samsung’s highly successful Galaxy S device, the S II has big shoes to fill. Samsung sold over 10 million of the original Galaxy S phones, carried by all four of the big U.S. carriers.

The Galaxy S II is a major update to its now-dated younger brother. It’ll have all the accoutrements customary to recent smartphone debuts — front-and back-facing cameras, 1080p video with HD output capability, and up to 32 GB SD card support.

And of course, it’s touting a beefy 1.2-GHz dual-core processor, Samsung’s first phone to do so. It’s a timely arrival, too. Competitors LG, HTC and Motorola all already have dual-core smartphones available for purchase.

As the veracity of the release is still up in the air, we’ve got no price details. It’ll most likely be available somewhere in the $200-$300 dollar range with a two-year contract on Verizon’s network.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so when it comes to the Samsung Galaxy S II, our tiny American hearts are getting rather sick of all the love we’ve been experiencing lately. Computerworld’s latest rumor may be just what we need to stay sane for another month, though; it cites an unnamed Verizon spokesperson who mentioned this Fascinate follow-up, which will likely be known as the Function, will be coming in for a soft landing sometime in July, though no specifics were offered. The Galaxy S II is already being sold in Europe and Asia and blends a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, Gingerbread, dual-core 1.2GHz CPU, and many more top-of-the-line specs into one sleek and gorgeous package. If the July window is accurate, it means Verizon could be one of the first US carriers out of the gate with the phone. This is great news for the carrier that was, of the four national powers, dead last in getting its model of the Galaxy S to market. We’re anxiously awaiting word from a Verizon spokesperson for additional comment and will keep you posted — if our heart hasn’t popped out of our chest by then.

Update: We just received word from a Verizon spokesperson that the reference to a July release was just a miscommunication and was actually in reference to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Yeah, we’re bummed out, too.

Samsung Galaxy S II said to be Verizon-bound in July (update: just a miscommunication) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 15:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is finally among us. At noon Eastern Time today, Best Buy’s New York City store at Union Square will start selling Samsung’s extra-slim 10-inch Tegra 2 tablet, with the first 200 buyers also receiving a matching leather pouch to store their precious inside of. Geographically challenged Android tablet lovers will also be able to pre-order the Tab 10.1 from Best Buy today (eventually, the pre-order button doesn’t currently work) and widespread US availability is still expected on June 17th. Pricing isn’t explicitly listed on Best Buy’s landing page, but we presume it’s the same as we’ve been told earlier: $499 for the 16GB or $599 for the 32GB WiFi-only versions. If you can’t live without some LTE goodness in your mobile life, Verizon’s also promised pre-orders for the 4G-capable Galaxy Tab 10.1 today, though that costs a far less palatable $530 (16GB) and $630 (32GB) on top of a two-year data contract.

[Thanks, Jack and Arturo]

Update: Best Buy has sorted out its systems and all four WiFi variants (black or white, with 16GB or 32GB storage) are up for pre-order.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 on sale at NYC Best Buy today, pre-orders now open originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 05:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The HTC bonanza that Sprint has been cooking up for a while now has its official launch date: June 24th. That will be the day when the 4.3-inch EVO 3D and its tablet buddy, the 7-inch EVO View 4G, launch on the Now Network, both equipped with WiMAX radios and Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) as their OS. The 1.2GHz dual-core EVO 3D costs $200 on contract, with pre-orders available right now provided you buy a $50 Sprint gift card, whereas the 1.5GHz single-core EVO View 4G will set you back double that, at $400, while still requiring a two-year contract. Skip past the break for the full press release details.

Oh, we’ve also just noticed that Sprint Premier customers will be able to buy the EVO 3D online on June 21st — a three-day headstart on the competition to say thank you for being so damn premier.

Continue reading HTC EVO 3D launches on June 24th for $200, joined by EVO View 4G tablet at $400

HTC EVO 3D launches on June 24th for $200, joined by EVO View 4G tablet at $400 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Jun 2011 07:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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