Hasta La Gadget!

Look, not even the source of these images is absolutely certain that the device in his possession is a legitimate iPad 2, but we can’t very well leave you spending your entire day anticipating Apple’s new tablet launch without a potential candidate for what it might eventually look like. The above mockup has been procured over in China (where else?) and seems to tally closely with speculation we’ve been hearing about this hardware refresh — namely, a slimmer profile, an almost entirely flat back, bigger speaker, and of course, rear- and front-facing cameras. We’ve looked into the digits on the back of the device and the model number is one for the original Apple TV while the FCC ID is for a WiFi-only iPad, but those could be mere placeholders on what is, once again, a mockup and not a real working tablet. The SIM card slot looks to have been repositioned to a slot that was once expected to house an SD card reader. Other tidbits of interest here include the 3G antenna, whose white cover is expected to be black on final units, and the sloped power button and headphone jack, bringing those witty “jumbo iPod touch” jokes to mind. Boy, those never get old. Jump past the break for a few more pics.

Continue reading iPad 2 (or something) shows up in the wilds of China

iPad 2 (or something) shows up in the wilds of China originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 02:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not every Galaxy S user around the globe even has Froyo yet — but Samsung’s ready to move on, it seems, crafting a ROM based on Android 2.3.2 (in other words, quite recently) for the i9000 model that just leaked across the giant faucet better known as the internet. The darned thing is nearly a quarter gigabyte in size, so Samsung’s not playing here, but users haven’t fleshed out everything that’s changed just yet. Of course, if you’re using one of the millions of Galaxy S devices that aren’t an i9000, you’ve got more waiting to do… but we’re certain hackers are already well underway tearing this bad boy apart and crafting custom ROMs for various SKUs. Hang tight!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Android 2.3.2 Gingerbread leaks for Samsung Galaxy S originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft’s slowed the pace of Windows Phone 7 ads after saturating the airwaves at launch, but it looks like another campaign is about to begin — WinRumors has a leak of a new set of “Real Time Challenge” interactive web ads that challenge you to complete tasks using your phone against a WP7 device. Challenges include taking a photo and posting it to Facebook, checking Xbox achievements, getting directions, and telling meeting participants you’re running late. Not surprisingly, the WP7 device performs handily at everything — although we’re definitely wondering why you’d be checking Xbox achievements in a hurry while on the run. WinRumors also says that the “Your Phone” image is just a placeholder that will be filled in by other devices in the final ads, so we’ll see how MS decides to portray other platforms and their apps — there’s a lot of ways to do some of these things on Android and iOS devices. (And, sigh, we would note that “Update system software without fatal errors” is not a listed activity.) In any event, it’s a clever ad idea — check the video below.

[Thanks, Irv]

Continue reading Leaked Windows Phone 7 ads challenge your phone head-to-head

Leaked Windows Phone 7 ads challenge your phone head-to-head originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 16:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Punch sprint.com/arrive into your address bar and the above is what you shall find. Not a generic error marker but a URL-specific “coming soon” message that would seem to confirm the existence and indeed near-future arrival of the HTC Arrive. Beyond that bit of web sleuthing, we also have ourselves a proven tipster informing us that this will be a carrier-branded version of HTC’s 7 Pro and confirming that it will be launched tomorrow. A tweet from Sprint earlier this week, intimated heavily that it’s about to introduce a Windows Phone 7 handset on the 24th, which we surmised to mean exactly the long-awaited 7 Pro QWERTY slider. Already available in Europe, this device will serve as the first CDMA representative from the WP7 stable, meaning that you’ll soon be able to Glance and Go on the Now Network of alliterative advertising slogans.

Sprint renames the HTC 7 Pro the Arrive, launching it tomorrow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 04:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Best Buy’s laptop discovery tool is doing a slightly overzealous job this morning by listing a set of “new SKU” laptops from Apple Computer before said company has had a chance to announce them. This seems to corroborate recent rumors of a MacBook Pro refresh coming next week, as do the $1,199, $1,499, $1,799, and $2,199 price points, all of which are presently occupied by current-gen 13- and 15-inch MBP variants. There is an additional $2,499 sticker for a laptop identified only as “New SKU I,” which presumably points to an upgrade to Apple’s 17-incher. Regrettably, there’s nothing more than the pricing for us to go on, but feel free to fill your time until Best Buy populates its listings with speculation about the hot new processing, storage, and interconnect options Apple might have in store for us.

[Thanks, Michael]

Best Buy adding new Apple laptop SKUs to its systems, foreshadows MacBook Pro refresh originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Feb 2011 08:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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