Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve been talking about Samsung’s Orion processor for some time, the dual-core successor to the well-received Hummingbird core of 2010 — but Orion was a codename all along. What will you be calling these two slices of high-performance silicon by the time they finally grace a phone of yours? “Exynos 4210,” it turns out, as the Orion becomes the first member of Sammy’s newly-branded Exynos line of application processors. We’d already known that the company was targeting the first half of 2011 for Orion’s commercial release, but they’re ready to get a little more specific now… and the news is good: production begins next month, which might line up nicely for some announcements the company has in store for MWC next week. Here’s hoping! Follow the break for the release.

Continue reading Samsung dubs its mobile processors Exynos, dual-core 4210 (formerly Orion) arriving next month

Samsung dubs its mobile processors Exynos, dual-core 4210 (formerly Orion) arriving next month originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Feb 2011 22:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Broadcom is giving Google a lot of love of late, with the announcement of its second Android-ready processor in as many months hitting us today. The new BCM28150 is a big step up from its predecessor (released in December), and sports a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 at 1.1GHz; an HSPA+ modem doing 21Mbps; and Broadcom’s VideoCore IV VPU (vector processing unit). What’s more, it touts 12-megapixel camera imaging, 3D video and gaming at 1080p, HDMI out, and the obligatory Bluetooth, WiFi, and GPS amenities. If the BCM28150 is your bag, Broadcom plans to demo the thing in Barcelona next week, but if a trip to Spain is too rich for your blood, you can always check out the PR after the jump (and keep it locked right here for our own MWC coverage, of course).

Continue reading Broadcom announces yet another Android-friendly dual-core processor

Broadcom announces yet another Android-friendly dual-core processor originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 19:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phone Scoop  |  Broadcom  | Email this | Comments

The world cried out for a dual-core smartphone and LG and NVIDIA answered the call. Actually, the world only ever dreamt about multicore mobile architectures up until late last year, but sometimes that’s all it takes to get those zany engineers engineering. So here we are, in early February 2011, beholding the world’s first smartphone built around a dual-core processor, the Optimus 2X. This is a landmark handset in more ways than one, however, as its presence on the market signals LG’s first sincere foray into the Android high end. Although the company delivered two thoroughly competent devices for the platform with the Optimus S and T in 2010, they were the very definition of mid-range smartphones and the truth is that Samsung, HTC and Motorola were left to fight among themselves for the most demanding Android users’ hard-earned rubles. So now that LG’s joined their ranks, was the wait worth it?

Continue reading LG Optimus 2X review

LG Optimus 2X review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Feb 2011 12:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

It’s a phone. It’s a laptop. It’s a desktop.

Motorola wants you to think its upcoming “superphone” is all of these. Soon, we’ll be able to find out.

The Atrix 4G, Motorola’s highly anticipated hybrid smartphone offering, will be available for pre-order beginning February 13. The phone will cost $200 with a two-year AT&T contract, and is expected for wide availability on March 6 or earlier, says AT&T.

Aside from the very sweet dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor pumping out 1GHz of power on both cores, the list of attributes found on the Atrix is fairly similar to other recent smartphone offerings. It’s got a 5-megapixel back facing camera, front facing camera for video chat, and is running Android version 2.2 (Froyo). The full gig of RAM is a nice eyebrow-raising amount, however. And the can expand its storage up to 48GB via SD card.

What is most intriguing about this phone is the Atrix’s ability to go multi-platform. Still want to play Angry Birds on your smartphone during your daily commute? Use the Atrix as you would any other smartphone. Need a laptop for taking notes? Plug the Atrix into the separately-sold laptop dock and bang away on them keys.

Have a big-ass monitor at home and miss the desktop computing experience? Hook that bad boy up to the Atrix’s HD multimedia docking station and use the phone like you would a PC.

Here’s the kicker: nothing in life comes cheap. If you want to buy the laptop dock on its own, it’s a cool 500 bucks. Or alternatively, if you want to grab the Atrix and laptop dock together, AT&T is offering a bundled package price — $600 with two-year contract, or $500 with two-year contract after a mail-in rebate and subscription to the Data Pro plus tethering add-on plan.

The HD multimedia dock isn’t a whole lot cheaper at $190, but with the dock you get a nice little Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, along with a remote control.

Will the high prices turn away crowds, or will the Atrix’s supermutant-like morphing capabilities be able to open the hearts and wallets of customers everywhere?

We’ll see come the next few weeks.

Photos: Jonathan Snyder/Wired.com

See Also:

• Hands-On With Motorola’s @$#%ing Atrix Superphone
• Big, Beautiful and Badass: The 9 Coolest Android Smartphones at …
• Hands-On With LG’s Optimus 2X Superphone
• Motorola, LG Flex Dual-Core Smartphones

We’re not sure what’s going on with the new teaser video released by LG. It looks like the handset that Phandroid pegged as the Optimus 3D a few days ago and has since become the poster-boy for the device that will officially include a glasses-free 3D LCD and “dual-lens camera for 3D recording.” While we can see the front-facing cam, try as we might we just can’t see that pair of lenses on the back of the handset teased in the video. In fact, we don’t see any camera at all leading us to believe that LG might be manipulating the image for a big reveal in a few weeks. The video does drop some spec hints with phrases like “something bigger” and “dual core — multi channel” which would seem to indicate a 4.x-inch display (presumably the 4.3-inch 3D display we spotted at CES), dual-core SoC (like LG’s Optimus 2x), and multi-channel RAM as originally rumored by Phandroid. Guess we’ll have to wait for Mobile World Congress to know for sure. Get your monster truck on with the teaser video embedded after the break.

Update: We’ve been told that the phone is definitely a manipulated Optimus 3D.

Continue reading LG teases Optimus 3D, only without the 3D (video)

LG teases Optimus 3D, only without the 3D (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 08:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Pocket-Lint  |  LG Mobile Global (YouTube)  | Email this | Comments