LG Smart TV goes on the charm offensive, appeals to Adobe developers

LG wants to bring the world of Adobe Flash to your living room. Yes, 2012’s lineup of Smart TVs, theater systems and Blu-ray players are all set to arrive with support for both Flash Player and AIR 3, and the Korean manufacturer is keen to get developers signed up for its next-generation Smart TV SDK. The new software development kit will include a simplified dashboard, the ability to render 2D apps in 3D and even “console-quality gaming.” Throw in Adobe’s new Game Input API, and we could see tablets, joysticks and even LG-made smartphones used to control on-screen action. LG has informed us that these upgrades will be limited to next year’s catalogue — your 2011 purchases won’t support the new software, and will have to make do with the slightly weedier Adobe Flash Lite. New Smart TVs will also be compatible with the Wiimote-esque Magic Motion Remote, bringing gesture-based awkwardness to menu selection.

Continue reading LG Smart TV goes on the charm offensive, appeals to Adobe developers

LG Smart TV goes on the charm offensive, appeals to Adobe developers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 23:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile’s fall roadmap leaks, cornucopia of mobile goods on the horizon

It’s no back to school roadmap because, hey, you’re already there. Still, this leaked sales sheet from TmoNews shows Magenta stacking its shelves for an abundant fall mobile harvest. So, let’s dive right in as there’s a lot of two-year contracted bounty to cover. Starting things off on October 19th are a trio of high-end, 42Mbps-capable 4G handsets: the HTC “Ruby” or Amaze 4G at $259, Samsung Hercules (that would be this) at $229 and the Huawei Wayne at $99 (which comes pre-loaded with Spaghetti Westerns, we presume). Following just a week later, is Samsung’s Arnold tablet — a.k.a the Galaxy Tab 10.1 — which’ll run along the carrier’s faux-G and retail for $399. But the real wireless bonanza takes place on the 2nd of November, when six new phones will bow. LG’s Maxx QWERTY and Maxx Touch at $129 apiece are the sole 3G-only units in the bunch, leaving the HTC Omega (better known as the Radar) at $199, LG Flip II at $149, Huawei Tallsome slate at $199 and the low-end Samsung “Ancora” to surf along at 4G speeds. Making a late appearance to this Autumn party are the last two of the bunch: Samsung’s Robin (which looks to be the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus) at $299 and RIM’s Dumoine QWERTY slider. That enough options for you? We thought so.

T-Mobile’s fall roadmap leaks, cornucopia of mobile goods on the horizon originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG myTouch phones listed as ‘coming soon’ to T-Mobile with suspect specs

LG myTouch and myTouch Q

Remember that pair of myTouch-branded LG phones that made a brief appearance on YouTube back in September? Well they’re up on T-Mobile’s site and listed as “coming soon.” The myTouch and myTouch Q, in black and gray respectively, are sitting pretty with a pair of galleries showing of their sizable bezels and inoffensive (if bulky) curves. There are also some specs listed, but they’re a tad suspect and may simply be a placeholder. In particular the Q being listed as having a QWERTY pad that is 92-percent the size of a laptop keyboard had us raising an eyebrow. Both are also listed as sporting 42Mbps 4G connections, which contradicts earlier leaks that pegged these handsets as mid-range 3G devices. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see, but you can hit up the source links to take a gander for yourself.

LG myTouch phones listed as ‘coming soon’ to T-Mobile with suspect specs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 10:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG Optimus LTE now official: High-speed data alongside a high-definition IPS display

It may not be the biggest phone reveal coming in the next 24 hours, but leaked details had already piqued our interest in LG’s next big thing. The Optimus LTE’s screen rivals Apple’s Retina Display at 326ppi and that high-definition sharpness is slathered on a 4.5-inch AH-IPS display. The sizable 1830mAh battery should be enough to keep the phone ticking over despite these high-end specs, which include a confirmed 1.5GHz dual-core CPU and eight megapixel camera. Will we get to see it on these shores? We’re not sure of its travel itinerary after it reaches Korea, but we’d love to see this and Samsung’s latest LTE wares tussle for our affections.

Continue reading LG Optimus LTE now official: High-speed data alongside a high-definition IPS display

LG Optimus LTE now official: High-speed data alongside a high-definition IPS display originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 06:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Refresh Roundup: week of September 26, 2011

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery from the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Official Android updates

  • The top story this week revolves around the HTC Thunderbolt’s long-awaited Gingerbread OTA update. It was finally rolling out, which was exciting news for owners of the device — until it had to be pulled because of some rather significant bugs. The largest of them all was that voicemail notifications no longer worked properly; video chatting through Google Talk was also slightly messed up as well. No word on when we can expect to see it come back with those bugs fixed. [Droid-Life]
  • Unfortunately, the Thunderbolt isn’t the only phone falling victim to pulled revamps; the LG Optimus S on Sprint had its Gingerbread update kiboshed, though users have had two weeks to get it — plenty of time for anyone to experience some of the bugs, which included the phone not charging, the SD card not being recognized when the phone’s connected to the computer, no access to data services, and predictive text on the virtual keyboard stopped working. It’s disappointing to see this happen so soon after the Kyocera Echo update went through a similar debacle. [SprintFeed]
  • LG Optimus 3D: V10K firmware update, enables phone to convert OpenGL-capable 2D games into stereoscopic 3D. Note: this still runs Android 2.2.2, so we’re still waiting for Gingerbread. [AndroidCentral]
  • Motorola Xoom WiFi: Android 3.2.1 is beginning to roll out. [AndroidCentral]
  • Dell Streak 7: Honeycomb update rolling out now to unspecified regions [AndroidCentral]
  • Asus Eee Pad Transformer: Revamped to Android 3.2.1, adds other bug fixes [AndroidCommunity]
  • Casio G’Zone Commando: Gingerbread rolling out now [Droid-Life]
  • Motorola Droid 3: Minor maintenance refresh; enhances Google Talk with video chat support, several other fixes. [PhoneDog]
  • T-Mobile Samsung Nexus S: OTA install (with option to manually install) to Android 2.3.6; doesn’t appear to break tethering. [AndroidCentral]

Unofficial Android updates, custom ROMs and misc. hackery

  • The Android 2.3.5 ROM for the global Samsung Galaxy S II leaked early this week. [Pocketnow, SamFirmware]
  • You can now download the Android 2.3.4 SBF for the Motorola Droid X2, courtesy of XDA. [Droid-Life]
  • If you have a Sony Ericsson Xperia-branded device from 2010 or 2011, CyanogenMod7 support will most likely come included as part of an upcoming update. Ten Xperia devices will be added, though a timeframe for release wasn’t announced. Check here to see if your device made the list. [XperiaBlog]

Other platforms

  • Check here to see if your phone is ready to receive Windows Phone Mango.
  • The ultra-rare AT&T HP Pre 3 just received an OTA update to 2.2.3.2207, right after a new webOS Doctor became available for the same refresh. [PreCentral]

Refreshes we covered this week

Refresh Roundup: week of September 26, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Oct 2011 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Virgin Mobile announces LG Optimus Slider, sneakily postpones data throttling until 2012

Virgin Mobile was originally intending to celebrate the new month by flipping the switch on throttled data, but it decided to push those plans back and announce a couple new phones instead. The prepaid carrier announced the upcoming launch of the LG Optimus Slider (note: it’s not the Optimus Note) and the HTC Wildfire S in October and, in the same press release, nonchalantly mentioned that it would delay reducing throughput speeds for heavy users until sometime next year. No word on why this came about, but we’ll take good news whenever we can get it. The LG Optimus Slider is an Android 2.3 device with a 3.2-inch HVGA display, a 3.2MP camera and 1,500mAh battery, and will be available online beginning October 16th for $200 and in Sprint stores October 30th. The HTC Wildfire S will show up in silver at Best Buy and in white at Radio Shack starting October 23rd, and can be yours for $200 as well. We can imagine which announcement you’re most excited for. Check out both press releases in their glory after the break.

Continue reading Virgin Mobile announces LG Optimus Slider, sneakily postpones data throttling until 2012

Virgin Mobile announces LG Optimus Slider, sneakily postpones data throttling until 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 21:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FCC Fridays: September 30, 2011

We here at Engadget tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol’ Federal Communications Commission’s site. Since we couldn’t possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we’ve gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don’t need). Enjoy!

Phones

Read – Alcatel OneTouch 910A
Read – Fujitsu F02D
Read – Fusion Garage Grid 4
Read – Haier HG-M508
Read – Haier HG-Q100
Read – HTC PH39100 (Holiday)
Read – Huawei C8512
Read – Huawei G5510
Read – Huawei U2801
Read – Huawei U5100
Read – Huawei U8350
Read – Huawei U8600
Read – Huawei U8800 Pro
Read – LG L-01D
Read – LG T565
Read – Mobo KRAZE
Read – Motorola P56MD2
Read – Motorola WX306
Read – Nokia 603
Read – Samsung GT-B5510
Read – Samsung GT-I8150
Read – Samsung GT-I9220
Read – Samsung GT-P6810
Read – Sony Ericsson Xperia Active
Read – Virgin Mobile JukeB

Tablets and peripherals

Read – Huawei E173Z-6 USB stick
Read – Samsung GT-7300B
Read – ZTE Smart Tab 7
Read – ZTE Smart Tab 10

FCC Fridays: September 30, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG seeks ban on South Korean BMW and Audi sales, sticks out its LED lit tongue at Osram

Wouldn’t it be nice if we lived in a world where we all just got along, people worked for the thrill of it, and knowledge was free? Yeah, fat chance dreamers. ‘Sue’, our new millennium’s most oft-used verb, is getting some heavy play at the hands of the tech industry. The latest court room combatants? Why, that’d be LG Group and Osram. You see, once upon a time LG was late to the LED patent game, and was content to fork over the cash to Osram for use of its tech. Skip to now, and the electronics giant’s claiming it can get its lighting goods elsewhere, picking from a plethora of relevant IP-holding companies and combining that with its own patents. Despite having already countersued Osram in July to prevent the import of that company’s allegedly infringing products into South Korea, LG’s gathered its legal arsenal once again to block the sale of Audis and BMWs throughout the entire country — cars that include Osram’s LED tech. It’s hard to imagine the courts would grant such a wide-sweeping ban on major auto players’ bread-and-butter. And all grandstanding aside, it’s more likely the two fisticuffing parties will come to some sort of revised financial agreement.

LG seeks ban on South Korean BMW and Audi sales, sticks out its LED lit tongue at Osram originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 22:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MetroPCS takes a good look in the mirror, unveils the LG Esteem

It’s easy to get caught up in the wireless major leaguers legal kerfuffles, but let’s not forget the little guy. MetroPCS is shipping out a “chic,” second LTE handset to surf along its contractless radio waves — LG’s Esteem. Formerly codenamed Bryce, the phone is pretty much the carrier’s repackaged version of Verizon’s Revolution — specs, and all that 4G jazz — but let’s not be the debbie downer at this network’s party, the handset’s packing some solid internals. In case you needed a refresher, the phone runs Android 2.3 with a sprinkling of LG’s custom UI atop a single-core 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and includes 512MB of RAM, 8GB of storage, a 1.3 megapixel front-facing / 5 megapixel rear shooter (capable of 720p video capture) and a micro-HDMI port. Your untethered hands can snatch this one up now for $250 after taxes and a mail-in rebate, of course, you still have to opt-in for one of those 4G LTE service plans. Official PR after the break.

Continue reading MetroPCS takes a good look in the mirror, unveils the LG Esteem

MetroPCS takes a good look in the mirror, unveils the LG Esteem originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC, LG, Motorola, RIM, Samsung and Sony Ericsson to add Isis NFC tech in future phones

Stacking the lineup against Google Wallet, manufacturers HTC, LG, Motorola, RIM, Samsung and Sony Ericsson have been drafted by team Isis, agreeing to implement its NFC technology standard into future phone offerings. By garnering multi-manufacturer support, the joint AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon venture is pulling a power move against Mountain View’s offering — currently only functional on Sprint’s Nexus S 4G (although that’s almost certainly bound to change). Finally gearing up for battle, the crew recently pumped $100 million into the initiative, helping to win support from the aforementioned hardware heavy hitters. For those who aren’t ready to buy a new phone just to jump on the NFC bandwagon, Isis says it’s working with DeviceFidelity to add the functionality to older models as well. The more devices that have the technology, the better the chance we’ll be ditching our leather wallets for the mobile variety. Or so they say. Check out the full PR after the break.

Continue reading HTC, LG, Motorola, RIM, Samsung and Sony Ericsson to add Isis NFC tech in future phones

HTC, LG, Motorola, RIM, Samsung and Sony Ericsson to add Isis NFC tech in future phones originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Sep 2011 19:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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