Dell Streak to bump up to Android 2.1 in September, hopefully shipping sometime before that

So, plenty of Dell goodies to choose from right now, but if you’re a die hard Dell-making-mobiles follower, you’ve probably been pining for the Streak (previously known as the Mini 5) for much longer than is strictly healthy. What news for you? Well, the mini tablet is apparently supposed to be getting Android 2.1 in September. Unfortunately, there’s no update on that vague “summer” launch window we have for the actual device, so who knows how much time you’ll actually get to suffer without 2.1 holding you and telling you everything’s alright. Oh, and were you concerned for some reason that you wouldn’t be able to kit this thing out with accessories galore? We’re pretty sure the collection you’ll find in the gallery will alleviate all fears. You could do worse than a $55 spare battery, and the standard accessories are even pretty legit.

Dell Streak to bump up to Android 2.1 in September, hopefully shipping sometime before that originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Apr 2010 21:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell Looking Glass tablet leaks: Tegra 2 coming your way in November

We’d already heard that Dell was working on larger tablets, and tonight’s huge leak brought us tons of info on the Looking Glass, a seven-inch big brother to the Streak 5 that’s due out in November. For starters, it’s running Android 2.1 on a Tegra 2 processor, with an optional TV tuner module so you can watch ATSC or DVB-T programming on the seven-inch 800×480 display — the same resolution as the Streak, which is sort of weak. In addition, the render on the slide shows an AT&T U-verse browser, though, which is interesting — too bad there’s no more info about it. RAM is pegged at 4GB, with another 4GB of flash for storage and an SDHC slot for up to 32GB of expansion, and there’s a 1.3 megapixel camera. Yep, it’s pretty much just a bigger Streak with a different, potentially awesomer processor — imagine how slick you’ll look with this bad boy held to your face on a call.

Dell Looking Glass tablet leaks: Tegra 2 coming your way in November originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Apr 2010 21:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell Smoke slaps Android in the wild form factor you secretly wanted

Okay, so imagine a Pixi, but awesome. We think you’d end up with something closely resembling the phone that Dell’s whipping up with a codename of “Smoke,” running Android Froyo atop a 2.8-inch QVGA display (looks more like WVGA to us, but whatevs). Dell calls it a “non-conforming style,” but we just call it drop-dead gorgeous — assuming the final product even remotely resembles the company’s renders — and they’re even promising a price that “won’t break the bank,” which is always a nice little bonus. The description we’re reading of the phone leads us to believe that Dell will be targeting a corporate audience with the Smoke, and that’s certainly the clique that tends to enjoy portrait QWERTY keyboards, so this should fit right in amongst the sea of BlackBerrys when it launches in the second quarter of 2011. That’s a hell of a wait, yes, but in return, you’ll be getting Qualcomm’s next-gen MSM7230 processor at 800MHz, a 5 megapixel autofocus cam, 14.4Mbps HSPA, microSD expansion to 32GB, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and dual-mic noise canceling tech in a 12mm package. Check out the full gallery below!

Dell Smoke slaps Android in the wild form factor you secretly wanted originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Apr 2010 20:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell Flash to offer Android Froyo in a ‘dramatic’ package

If Dell’s vision of a mainstream Android device for 2011 ends up materializing, we’re not sure we even need a high end anymore. Okay, that’s not true — we’ll obviously be power freaks to the bitter end — but the so-called “Flash” that we’ve just caught wind of (no relation to the Adobe product of the same name, as far as we can tell) looks to be a lovely piece of kit. Dell plans to fashion this thing out of a slice of “curved glass,” topping out at 11mm thick with a 3.5-inch WVGA LCD, 850 / 1900 / 2100MHz HSPA topping out at 14.4Mbps down and 5.6Mbps “or better” on the upstream, a 5 megapixel autofocus cam with image stabilization and smile / blink detection, 512MB of RAM and ROM with microSD expansion up to 64GB (Dell’s clearly assuming there’ll be 64GB microSD cards by next year), WiFi, TV-out, 3.5mm headphone jack, Bluetooth 3.0, and a Qualcomm MSM7230 core humming along at 800MHz.

As you might recall, the MSM7230 is part of Qualcomm’s next generation lineup of midrange smartphone cores, a series that looks to bring Snapdragon-class performance to the masses with HD video out capability and — hopefully, anyway — the performance you’ll need to make Flash 10.1 fly. Dell plans to load this bad boy with Android Froyo, presumably with the same kind of custom skin that it’ll start pushing with the Streak series this year; we’re seeing references to a so-called “Stage UI,” and we think that’s what it is. This one’s mentioned for a first quarter ’11 release on AT&T and globally, though it’s not clear whether it’ll be AT&T-branded or simply be offered as an unlocked device compatible with AT&T’s 3G bands — but either way, you can count us in. Don’t change a thing, Dell.

Dell Flash to offer Android Froyo in a ‘dramatic’ package originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Apr 2010 20:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why Apple Couldn’t Get the Lost iPhone Back [Apple Iphone 4]

It’s such an obvious question: Why couldn’t Apple track this phone down? As it turns out, they may have had two chances to get it back—and blown them both. More »

How Apple Lost the Next iPhone [Apple Iphone 4]

The Gourmet Haus Staudt. A nice place to enjoy good German lagers. And if you are an Apple Software Engineer named Gray Powell, it’s also a nice place to make the honest mistake of losing the next-generation iPhone. UPDATED More »

This Is Apple’s Next iPhone [Apple Iphone 4]

You are looking at Apple’s next iPhone. It was found lost in a bar in Redwood City, camouflaged to look like an iPhone 3GS. We got it. We disassembled it. It’s the real thing, and here are all the details. More »

iPhone 4G: proof

Well what do you know about this? With all those rumors flying around that the iPhone 4G we’d spotted was no more than a Japanese knock-off of an Apple product, it was starting to look like this thing was too good to be true. That is until one of the Engadget editors spotted what seems to be solid proof that this is — in fact — the next iPhone. If you’ll recall, the night before the iPad was revealed, we had leaked shots of the device from what appeared to be an Apple test lab. Upon further inspection of these pictures today, the aforementioned editor discovered that the new iPhone 4G we’ve just gotten photos of is actually sitting on the table beside the iPad prototype! Imagine how blown our minds were when we realized we have had a photo of the next iPhone for months! As you can see in the pic above, the left side of the new device is clearly visible on this table in the upper right hand corner, and since we believe that these photos come directly from an Apple testbed, it’s hard to deny that the phone you’ve just seen is in fact the real deal. Not only that, but we suspect that the device on the tablet itself is also a version of the new phone (you can see what looks like aluminum along the bottom) which seems to be housed in some type of iPhone 3G-like case.

Additionally, a source — who confirms this is the next Apple iPhone — also tells us that the device apparently does have a higher res screen on-board, a front-facing camera, a higher resolution camera with flash, and takes MicroSIM cards (that’s the little “button” around the side you see in the Twitpic which is floating around the internet). We’re working on uncovering more info, but right now you can take a look at the proof above for yourself, and in the gallery below.

Note: The device we’re talking about can be clearly seen in the UPPER RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE PHOTO, you know, with the arrow pointing to it.

Update:
A Mac Rumors forum member has just posted pictures from Chinese site WeiPhone of what appears to be the guts of this device. These images line up with what we know right now. We’ve added a gallery of the shots below.

Update 2: In response to commenters and tipsters questioning the differences between the Twitpic and WeiPhone pics and the “San Jose” photos; these are likely handmade demo units, therefore there will be minor differences between them such as the screws appearing and then not appearing. We believe the models which will roll off of the production lines in China will look like these devices, likely with some minor physical tweaks, but they will look like these phones. Other major design decisions are already set in stone, such as the rumored glass back, which is present on both of these devices (Daring Fireball‘s John Gruber mentions them here). Yes, there are very minor discrepancies between these photos, but you need to understand they are from a very small pool of hand-built tester units. It is incredibly likely that the next version of the iPhone will look like the photos you see in the gallery below, and we certainly wouldn’t claim that if we didn’t have good reason to believe it.

Update 3:
Gruber has expanded on the info concerning a glass backing for these new devices, and he’s dug up a 2006 Apple patent application on a ceramic enclosure for handheld devices which is also (ding ding ding), radio transparent.

iPhone 4G: proof originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 4G: is this it?

Is this the iPhone 4G (or iPhone HD)? There’s no way to tell for sure, but these photos which made their way into our hands certainly do a convincing job of making us think that’s very much the case. Apparently the phone was found on the floor of a San Jose bar inside of an iPhone 3G case. Right now we don’t have a ton of info on the device in question, but we can tell you that it apparently has a front facing camera (!), 80GB of storage (weird, right?), and isn’t booting at this point (though it was previously, and running an OS that was decidedly new). It’s not clear if this is definitely a production model, or just a prototype that found its way into the world, but it’s certainly a compelling design, no matter how you look at it.

There may be a chance to get some more face-time with the handset, but we wanted to get these photos to you guys ASAP. Stay tuned, we’re working on more details as we type — for now, enjoy the gallery below!

Update: As a number of observant commenters and tipsters pointed out, this looks almost exactly like a Twitpic posted by TUDream on February 20th, which we’re throwing after the break if for whatever reason the source link goes down. It’s low-res, shows an indiscriminate bit of the inside, and some mysterious button / possible SIM slot in the middle of the other side. The mic holes on this pic seems to be larger, too.

Continue reading iPhone 4G: is this it?

iPhone 4G: is this it? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Apr 2010 19:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell’s 7-inch and 10-inch Streak tablets leaked!

We’d heard through the grapevine that the engineers at Round Rock were working on a number of slates to fill the Streak lineup, but man, we didn’t see this coming… at least not yet. A couple of images along with an internal Dell announcement landed on our virtual doorstep this fine morning, and lo and behold, it looks as if a 7-inch and 10-inch Streak tablet is on the horizon. But that’s not all — we learned that the “coming soon” we heard earlier regarding the Aero‘s release date on AT&T really means “June.” Later this “summer,” said phone will be joined by the Streak 5 (yeah, that’s the Mini 5 we’ve had for months now) for those who prefer a more capable mobile. As for the 7-inch Streak? Look for it to launch (presumably with or without AT&T support) late in 2010, while a 10-inch flavor follows in “early 2011.” Is Sidetalkin’ really about to return? We’re ready — so ready.

Update: Dell hit us up with a totally corporate line when we dug deeper for details:

“Dell continually develops and tests new products that extend the mobile experience. We have not made any product announcements and do not comment on speculation, rumor or unannounced products.”

So insightful.

Dell’s 7-inch and 10-inch Streak tablets leaked! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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