Hasta La Gadget!

Claiming to be the “world’s first” single chip solution with 3G UMTS and China’s fave TD-SCDMA (with HSPA support), Marvell‘s using its MWC 2011 time to unveil the PXA978 chip with 1.2GHz clockspeeds and a 40nm size. Alongside that, the company’s announced Kinoma Play as a barebones, no-nonsense platform with Android underneath the skin. A developer SDK is in the works, and if you’re so inclined, video and press releases are after the break. Rest assured, we’ll be swinging by Marvell’s booth this week to see it for ourselves.

Continue reading Marvell announces 1.2GHz UMTS / TD-SCMA chip ‘world phone’ solution and Kinoma platform for Android (video)

Marvell announces 1.2GHz UMTS / TD-SCMA chip ‘world phone’ solution and Kinoma platform for Android (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve just gotten back from playing around with LG’s 8.9-inch, 3D-friendly Optimus Pad (known as the G-Slate in the US). This Android Honeycomb tablets sports a dual-core CPU inside and a dual-camera array outside, giving you both the optical and processing capabilities to produce 3D video. Its screen cannot actually play back glasses-free 3D, but if you really have to have that third dimension on the move, you’ll be able to buy a set of glasses to recreate the effect. The Optimus Pad is slim, though we couldn’t get a great feel for its ergonomics with all the wiring attached to it, has nicely curved corners, a matte black back cover that’s pleasant to the touch and seemingly durable, and an extremely glossy screen up front.

We likened the Pad to the Optimus 2X in an earlier post and it carries over a lot of industrial design elements from its smartphone sibling, including the metallic strip down the middle of its rear branded with a “with Google” logo. That’s actually meaningful this time — the Optimus 2X wasn’t a stock Android installation, it was subjected to LG’s (not entirely successful tweaks), however the Pad looks to be a straight Google Experience Device, in much the same vein as the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, its nearest and most direct competitors. That being said, the code on the device we handled still wasn’t up to scratch on the software front, as evidenced by us managing to crash both the browser and Google Maps within a few minutes of putting down our first fingerprints on the tablet. The 3D camcorder also seems like a memory hog, we weren’t able to get it started up initially because of the number of apps that were already open (which at the time was no more than four). Let’s remain optimistic, though, this wasn’t exactly a slate we snatched off a retail shelf and LG has time to optimize and spruce things up before shipping this thing out. We’ve got pictures for you below and a press release after the break. Video is incoming at the very fastest speed our wireless connection can carry it.

Update: Video is now in, get to the ogling!

Continue reading LG Optimus Pad first hands-on! (video)

LG Optimus Pad first hands-on! (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 05:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mobile World Congress may not have its halls open quite yet, but that’s not stopping ViewSonic from giving the world a peek at what’s to come. First up is the V350 smartphone shown above, a dual-SIM creature with a 3.5-inch HVGA capacitive touchpanel, Android 2.2, five megapixel camera, a microSD card slot, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 and A-GPS to boot. By supporting a pair of SIMs, it allows jetsetters to carry two SIMs from two operators in order to take advantage of different plans and networks for voice / data in different countries.

Moving on, there’s a highly intriguing new tablet in the waiting — the ViewPad 10Pro. This 10-incher (shown after the break) is a “professional” slate with dual-boot functionality, enabling users to tap into Android 2.2 or Windows 7 Professional at their leisure. It’s also one of the first tablets to utilize Intel’s long-awaited Oak Trail platform, and it’ll ship with a 1024 x 600 LED-backlit capacitive multitouch screen, inbuilt 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth and a battery good for six or so hours of life. Finally, the ViewPad 10s — which was just unveiled at CES — is seeing a gentle update in Barcelona, with the ViewPad 10s 3G (predictably) gaining integrated 3G functionality. Mum’s the word on pricing and release, but as always, we’ll be prying for more once we touch down at BCN.

Continue reading ViewSonic intros dual-SIM V350 smartphone, Windows 7 / Android dual-boot ViewPad 10Pro tablet

ViewSonic intros dual-SIM V350 smartphone, Windows 7 / Android dual-boot ViewPad 10Pro tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Feb 2011 02:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It may be a Vibrant with Froyo, a front-facing camera and a thing for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but it’s still downright enviable when you consider the Galaxy S 4G‘s innate support for 21Mbps downloads. As of today, neither Samsung nor T-Mobile USA have been perfectly clear about how much they’d be demanding for this guy, but thanks to a leaked pricing sheet from Walmart, it looks as if it’ll be a solid $50 less than most new smartphones. Those who waltz into Wally World later this month will be able to take one home for $148.88 with a two-year service agreement, or if you’re the No Strings Attached kind of individual, $650. Ah, the choices we’re saddled with.

Samsung’s Galaxy S 4G for T-Mobile going for $149 at Walmart originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 16:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Ericsson has finally stopped teasing, winking, and nodding knowingly and has just come clean — the Xperia Play is most definitely real and it’ll be one of the first devices announced at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. We’re treated to a date and time, February 13th at 6PM GMT, a pair of full frontal shots of the Gingerbread-running, gamepad-wearing smartphone, and the full version of that creepy ad we saw for it a couple of days back. Missed it on the Super Bowl? Scope it out after the break.

P.S. – Missed our coverage of Super Bowl Media Day? Catch up here!

Continue reading Sony Ericsson makes Xperia Play official in Super Bowl commercial, full launch coming February 13th

Sony Ericsson makes Xperia Play official in Super Bowl commercial, full launch coming February 13th originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Feb 2011 20:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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