Hasta La Gadget!

It’s been nearly two years since we last reviewed a T-Mobile Sidekick, and it would be a vast understatement to say things have changed. Then, they were designed by Danger and manufactured by Sharp, and were the messaging phone of choice. Today, following fiasco and failure, the Sidekick empire is in ruins. But good ideas and their originators live on, and several of Danger’s brightest wound up in Mountain View, California. Danger’s Andy Rubin founded Android, design director Mattias Duarte built Honeycomb (after helping craft the Helio Ocean and webOS for Palm) and now, the Sidekick itself has joined its founders in the house that Google built. In many ways, the Sidekick 4G is a return to form, but in an ecosystem filled with similar Android devices, can it stand out from the crowd?

Continue reading Sidekick 4G review

Sidekick 4G review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Some lucky Aussies might have been able to pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v ahead of the rest of the world, but it turns out the Portuguese will actually be taking this Honeycomb tablet home first, starting tomorrow. Originally known as the Galaxy Tab 10.1 but quickly superseded by a slimmer, impending model, said transitional device is now listed on Vodafone Portugal’s website with a more delightful €589.90 ($860, which is no doubt off-contract) tag to go with its HSPA+ radio, along with a big red “available from April 26th” stamp. We dug through Vodafone’s other European sites and the only country that also mentions this Tegra 2 slate is the Netherlands, though it only indicates a “week 17” launch — in other words, any time between now and May 1st. If you’re in Europe and don’t mind this slightly out-of-date whopper, be sure to check back as we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for more details.

[Thanks, Carlos O.]

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v available tomorrow for €590, starting with Portugal originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 05:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We already knew the dual-core Sensation 4G will be showing up in the states “beginning this summer,” though HTC and T-Mobile have been mum on an actual date — or so we thought. If you look up said phone on Google, you should see a cheeky Adwords ad mentioning a “6/8” date in the link. But wait, there’s more: TmoNews also spotted the same date stamped on the Sensation 4G product shot from last week, which we’ve embedded after the break for your convenience. Of course, anything could change between now and June, but this preliminary date is certainly a good sign for all HTC Gingerbread anticipators — or, you know, you could just get the leaked ROM right now.

Continue reading HTC Sensation 4G launching on June 8th, because Google AdWords says so

HTC Sensation 4G launching on June 8th, because Google AdWords says so originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Apr 2011 23:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s only been a few weeks since the Optimus 2X crossed the desk of our European review bureau as the first known dual-core smartphone in the universe. Now LG’s wunderkind has made its way across the pond and landed on US soil to be reborn as the G2x on T-Mobile. While the hardware remains the same elegant Tegra 2-infused slab of glass, metal and plastic, the software has been liberated from the shackles of LG’s UI customizations into a serving of vanilla Froyo — the exact same approach T-Mobile took when it introduced the Desire Z as the G2 without HTC’s custom Sense skin last fall. Unlike previous G-series phones, the G2x ditches the physical keyboard for a 4-inch WVGA display with HDMI output and an 8 megapixel camera with 1080p video capture. Beyond the transition from messaging-centric device to multimedia powerhouse, what else is different about the hardware? Is plain Android a vast improvement over the lackluster software that shipped on the Optimus 2X? How does the G2x fare against T-Mobile’s current flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S 4G? Find out in our full review after the break.

Continue reading T-Mobile G2x review

T-Mobile G2x review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Apr 2011 11:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re waiting impatiently for the ability hook your laptop in to T-Mobile’s blazingly fast 42Mbps HSPA+ network, you are going to have hold tight just a little bit longer. But here’s some good news to tide you over: the 21Mbps capable Rocket 4G USB stick is here, and available starting April 17th with new prepaid data plans for those who prefer not to chain themselves to a two-year contract. The $30, 30-day plan will jump from 300MB to 1GB, and the $50 plan will be bumped from 1GB to 3GB. It’s not as flashy as the 4G Mobile Hotspot nor as fast as the 42Mbps Rocket 3.0, but it’s priced at a reasonable $59.99 — and controlling the destiny of your mobile broadband soul must be worth something.

T-Mobile blesses contract-averse with Rocket 4G modem and better data plans originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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