Live from Verizon’s CES 2011 4G LTE press conference

We’ve here at Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE presser at CES, and we’re told our worlds will be changed forever in five minutes. Or something to that effect.

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Live from Verizon’s CES 2011 4G LTE press conference originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 15:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is this the Samsung SCH-i520 headed to Verizon?

Is this the Samsung SCH-i520 you’ve been waiting for wrapped in a protective case? We can pretty much bank on the fact that the HTC Thunderbolt is getting outed today and with this pic slapped up by Offwire — which looks suspiciously like an unbranded version of this Verizon set we saw — we may well be looking at another of Verizon’s suite of new LTE sets. Nothing much is known about this 4G slate, aside from the obvious forward facing camera, but Verizon’s press event starts in the next little while and we hope we’ll learn more.

Is this the Samsung SCH-i520 headed to Verizon? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 11:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer Iconia Tab A500 first hands-on! (update: video)

Acer’s ten-inch Tegra 2 tablet with Verizon LTE? You’re looking at it right now, courtesy of the NVIDIA booth at CES 2011’s Digital Experience show. It’s just the same engineering prototype with an early build of Android 2.2 we’ve seen before — it’ll run Honeycomb at launch — but this time, we got to touch. The hardware seriously feels final, with a solid metal case and a supremely responsive touchscreen that tracks a full ten points of contact. There’s an interesting array of ports, too, with a full-sized USB port (as well as micro-USB) on one side and a dedicated charging socket too, as well as a dock connector on the bottom. What’s missing are the standard Android Home, Menu and Back buttons, as instead of those, you simply swipe the lower right corner of the screen to bring up a tiny pane of virtual alternatives. No LTE connectivity to be found at Digital Experience, we’re afraid, so we’ll have to bring you speed tests another day — but we’ll have video up soon. For now, peep the gallery below.

Update: Video after the break!

Continue reading Acer Iconia Tab A500 first hands-on! (update: video)

Acer Iconia Tab A500 first hands-on! (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 00:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Droid Bionic hands-on

If this is the direction high-power smartphones are going, we like what we’re seeing. Though the software’s still a bit raw (there’s no Android Market, for example), the Droid Bionics on display here at Motorola’s CES event this evening look and feel pretty blazingly fast. A spokesman we chatted with said that Motorola is actually doing some manner of software optimization (and yes, it’ll launch with 2.2) to take advantage of the two cores out of the box, so it’s a promising start — as Jha says, it’s “2GHz of processing power.” We hope that’s true in practice!

Physically, the phone feels smooth in the same way a Droid 2 does, though a bit lighter — good news considering the LTE hardware and big display, but not entirely surprising when you take into account the lack of a sliding QWERTY keyboard. The patterned battery cover looks textured, but it’s actually quite smooth with a slight soft touch treatment. The screen looks great — in particular, the viewing angle looked superb, though all phone displays have a tendency to look a little better in this sexy lighting since they can’t wash out as easily. Follow the break for video!

Continue reading Motorola Droid Bionic hands-on

Motorola Droid Bionic hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 20:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Xoom becomes official, headed to Verizon in Q1, upgradeable to 4G in Q2

Motorola has just outed its delicious Honeycomb tablet alongside another device, the LTE-equipped Bionic, on its official site. The company’s CES press conference is ongoing right now, where the Xoom will presumably get its proper announcement. All we know so far is that this slate is headed to Verizon, the press release is still somewhere in the hidden parts of the internet. More soon!

Update: The PR and full spec sheet are now embedded after the break. A 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 will power this 10.1-incher, while 4G connectivity will be made available as an update in Q2 following a Q1 launch. Other specs include a 1280 x 800 resolution, 5 megapixel camera, 720p video recording and 1080p video playback, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and finally, a healthy 32GB of onboard storage. The battery is rated to be capable of supporting 10 hours of video. Be still, our beating hearts!

[Thanks, Pratik]

Continue reading Motorola Xoom becomes official, headed to Verizon in Q1, upgradeable to 4G in Q2

Motorola Xoom becomes official, headed to Verizon in Q1, upgradeable to 4G in Q2 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bug Labs gets cozier with Verizon, announces LTE module for speedy DIY devices

Not satisfied with the smattering of LTE products announced at CES thus far? Why not build your own with Bug Labs‘ modular components? Yes, the open-source hardware manufacturer has teamed with Verizon to offer pre-certified wireless modules once again, though this time they take advantage of the new LTE hotness rather than Verizon’s EV-DO network. No word on when we’ll be able to sign up to prototype our own phones nor how much they’ll cost, but know that even just the base platform will slurp $500 out of your wallet. PR after the break.

Continue reading Bug Labs gets cozier with Verizon, announces LTE module for speedy DIY devices

Bug Labs gets cozier with Verizon, announces LTE module for speedy DIY devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 18:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC ThunderBolt in the wild one more time: 8GB internal, no HDMI?

Here we are a mere day away from the ThunderBolt’s probable announce at Verizon’s CES press conference, which, by our rough count, gives us at least one more opportunity to see the LTE-capable monster leaked in the wild. That opportunity comes courtesy of AndroidSPIN, who claims that we can expect a 1GHz single-core processor, 8GB of internal storage with microSD expansion, 8 megapixel rear and 1.3 megapixel front cams, Android 2.2.1 with Sense, HTC-customized mapping and nav (probably HTC Locations with offline caching), and DLNA compatibility — but no built-in HDMI. Every one of those specs was either already expected or believable enough, though the lack of HDMI — if true — would still give the EVO 4G some bragging rights more than six months after its release. Score one for longevity, eh?

[Thanks, Taylor S.]

HTC ThunderBolt in the wild one more time: 8GB internal, no HDMI? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 09:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OnStar partners with Verizon to bring LTE 4G to your rear view (video)

We’re lucky to be bathed in warm, refreshing 4G waves while reporting live from Vegas, Sprint and Clearwire taking care of that. Verizon‘s catching up in a big way with its LTE rollout and now OnStar is onboard — conceptually, anyway. The company has outfitted a Buick LaCrosse with a 4G LTE modem for the purpose of experimenting with what can be done in a car with that kind of bandwidth. It wouldn’t have been our choice of cars for such application, Buick not exactly screaming “hot new thing” at this point, but of course it’s not really about the car, it’s about the bandwidth.

What are they going to do with it? High-def streaming both ways, for one thing, including the ability to watch home security cameras from within the car or, alternatively, to look at cameras within the car when it’s parked in the night, in an alley, somewhere you’re having second thoughts about. OnStar wants real-time streaming of traffic cameras and even Skype video chat, which sounds like overkill to us, but don’t let us rain on your crazy mobile video chat parade.

At this point we’re not sure how much of this stuff will find its way into a proper car of the future (Buick or other), but you can get a bit of a taste in the video teaser below.

Continue reading OnStar partners with Verizon to bring LTE 4G to your rear view (video)

OnStar partners with Verizon to bring LTE 4G to your rear view (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 00:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC ThunderBolt for Verizon and Inspire 4G for AT&T break cover courtesy of Rolling Stone ad

So yes, it’s looking about as confirmed as can be: thanks to a full-page ad in the latest issue of Rolling Stone, we’re finding out that the name of HTC’s first LTE phone for Verizon — and its first LTE phone regardless of carrier, actually — will definitely be “ThunderBolt.” This is the same phone that we’ve seen rumored and leaked over the last few months as the Mecha and the Droid Incredible HD, but we’ll admit — ThunderBolt seems like a pretty solid name for a phone that’s sporting a 4.3-inch display and some of the fastest data around.

Behind and to the right of the ThunderBolt, though, is another leak: the Inspire 4G for AT&T, though it’s unclear what “4G” means in this context exactly — AT&T’s in the same boat as T-Mobile right now where they’re topping out with HSPA+ and don’t have any LTE markets live, so it seems they might be borrowing a play from their smaller rival’s playbook and labeling the HSPA+ airwaves as straight-up 4G. We’re sad to see that trend start to snowball — but we’ll admit, T-Mobile kinda forced their hand on that one. At any rate, we’re pretty confident both of these suckers are going to get official here at CES this week, so keep your ear to the ground.

HTC ThunderBolt for Verizon and Inspire 4G for AT&T break cover courtesy of Rolling Stone ad originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 00:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG Optimus Black and LTE-equipped Revolution coming to CES

LG is busily preparing its CES presentation area right now, where the well known Optimus 2X is being joined by a pair of intriguing new devices, the Revolution you see above, an LTE-connected handset that seems destined to ride Verizon’s minty fresh 4G network, and an Optimus Black (pictured after the break). The latter handset promises the “power of light” housed within an “innovatively slim smartphone with the best display clarity.” Both the allusions to slimness — we’ve found specs listing it as a 9.2mm-thick device with a 4-inch screen — and display prowess match up to the LG “B” device we’ve seen leak out previously, which LG itself promised will be launching at CES. Other details include Wi-Fi Direct certification and the world’s first two megapixel front-facing camera. It’s gonna be a fun week, to be sure.

Continue reading LG Optimus Black and LTE-equipped Revolution coming to CES

LG Optimus Black and LTE-equipped Revolution coming to CES originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 18:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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