Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve just gotten our hands on the less-insane version of Verizon’s LTE modems, the LG VL600. The company timed the shipment of these puppies to coincide with today’s announcement of the coming 4G onslaught, set to begin December 5th — which based on what we’ve seen thus far is going to be beyond awesome. Unless you’re on a Mac (more on that after the break).

In case you haven’t seen the device in question, it’s a rather large (we mean seriously large) USB dongle, which thankfully comes with a clip and extra cable. Like all LTE devices, it uses a SIM which will look familiar to those in GSM devices, but is — again — almost comically large.

We haven’t spent a load of time with the modem, but in the few short hours we’ve had to play with the device, the down- and upstream speeds we’re getting are nothing short of phenomenal. In Brooklyn, which we’re not even sure is really heavily covered by the LTE blanket (and was being battered by rain and wind at the time of testing), we saw consistent speeds which peaked at 7 Mbps down, and over 1 Mbps up. Overall, speeds held steady around 5 to 6 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up. By comparison, we saw around 4 Mbps down and less than 1 Mbps up when we did some testing with Sprint’s WiMAX Overdrive 4G, and roughly 6.5 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up with Clear’s iSpot.

Overall, browsing on our computer felt nearly identical to our home broadband, and even HD video playback on YouTube was snappy and responsive over the network. And did we mention we were only getting two out of four bars on our connection?

Update: We’ve added a link to SlashGear‘s hands-on of the modem below. As you can see, speeds vary by area, and SG was pulling 12 Mbps downstream and more than 5 Mbps up — impressively matching Verizon’s claimed numbers.

Update 2: With a little more testing, we’re seeing speeds closer to Verizon’s estimates. We’ve added a second image after the break, and as you can see, we’re nabbing over 10 Mbps downstream and nearly 4 Mbps up.

Continue reading Verizon LTE / 4G preview with the LG VL600 modem

Verizon LTE / 4G preview with the LG VL600 modem originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seems like LG really has a thing for those quantum dot LEDs. After hooking up with Nanosys earlier this year, the Korean giant is now stretching out another of its tentacles — LG Display, to be specific — for a partnership with a competing QLED designer in QD Vision. What’s being promised by this joint venture falls right in line with your generic pipe dream — better color accuracy than OLEDs, up to twice the power efficiency at a given color purity, and a cheap and straightforward manufacturing process. In fact, because QLEDs do not require the same glass substrate as most current display technologies, they offer unmatched flexibility (olé!) in terms of how and where they may be used. The only downer, and you had to know there would be one, is that QD Vision describes its tech as still in the “development stage,” but hey, at least we have another cool acronym to add to our library.

Continue reading LG and QD Vision unite for QLEDs: the quantum dot displays of our power-efficient future

LG and QD Vision unite for QLEDs: the quantum dot displays of our power-efficient future originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 05:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We can’t get enough of the world’s first Tegra 2 smartphone, the LG Star, so if the 4-inch diva wants a closeup while parading about Tel Aviv, who are we to argue? GSM Israel somehow managed to obtain the same dual-core Android 2.2 handset we glimpsed earlier this morning, complete with 8 megapixel camera and HDMI port. Though we don’t have the foggiest idea what they’re saying in the video after the break, the LG-P990 certainly seems to be a speedy little machine in side-by-side webpage load tests with the fan-favorite iPhone 4, though we seem to detect a hint of hesitation when the Star’s capacitive touchscreen gets brushed. Chalk it up to faux embarrassment, we suppose. Video after the break.

Continue reading LG Star struts its stuff on film, toys with an iPhone 4 (video)

LG Star struts its stuff on film, toys with an iPhone 4 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 19:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The possibilities teased in 2009 by Wi-Fi Direct have probably kept Bluetooth up at night, and we’re sure the commencement of device certification last month hasn’t helped, either. Now the LG BD960 has emerged as the first Blu-ray player on the Wi-Fi Direct certification list, hinting direct P2P communication in our home theaters among WiFi devices (without the need for a routing middleman) could soon go from fiction to fact. Unfortunately, mum’s still the word on shipping and pricing. The mere chance however that the player could stream content to any other WiFi-equipped device — Direct certified or not — is a big enough deal to give our dedicated media streamers Defarge-like glances already. Particularly, if the BD960 comes packed with features similar its suspected predecessor the LG-BD390, which can stream both Netflix, Vudu, and DLNA network content, as well as play DivX HD 1080p content. Until more details surface though, we’ll simply have to keep reminding our poor Galaxy S that it isn’t destined to be alone in this cold, cruel world forever.

LG BD690 is the first Blu-ray player certified for Wi-Fi Direct, keeps Bluetooth paranoid originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 02:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG this week revealed a new Windows 7 tablet–the rather boringly-named E-Note H1000B. The device sports a 10.1 inch screen, an Intel Atom Z510 or Z530 processor, 16GB of on-board solid state memory, 1GB of Ram, Wi-Fi, and an SD Card Slot.

The device ships with Windows 7 Starter Edition and can be upgraded to Windows 7 professional.

The major caveat for US consumers: the thing only appears to be available in Korea, at the moment. Also, oddly, the original page touting its release has apparently been pulled from LG’s Korean site and since replaced by a 404 error.

We may be seeing the device on our shores at some point, however–the tablet was initially leaked out via the FCC’s site, earlier this month, followed by predictions that it would be formally announced at next year’s CES in January.