Hasta La Gadget!

The last time Google’s jet-setting smartphone took to space, it wasn’t exactly flying in style. Well, the Nexus S has ditched its styrofoam trappings for more respectable digs — specifically, NASA’s last manned space shuttle, Atlantis. Its mission: “explore how robots can help humans experiment and live in space more efficiently.” Affixed to a series of three robotic satellites, known as SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites) the phones engaged in tasks usually done by their human travel companions, like recording sensor data and capturing video. A special sensor-logging app was customized by NASA to capture sensor data and is now available for download in the Android Market. To see the space traveling smartphone at work, hop on past the break, or hit up NASA’s project page at the coverage link below.

Continue reading Nexus S takes to space aboard Atlantis, does astronauts’ dirty work

Nexus S takes to space aboard Atlantis, does astronauts’ dirty work originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like Sammy’s prepping to bring one of its big Galaxy guns to AT&T’s 4G race. The handset, bearing the same SGH-i727 model number as Rogers’ Galaxy S II LTE and the FCC ID A3LSGHi727, just popped up on the Commission’s databases giving us a glimpse into its guts and bolts. While there’s no clear indication of the phone’s screen size, it’s likely to follow suit with a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, adding to its beastly arsenal the orange-colored carrier’s 850 / 1900 WCDMA and HSPA bands, 700MHz LTE and (surprise) LTE AWS — helpful if that T-Mobile acquisition gets pushed through. Of course, there’s the usual WiFi and Bluetooth mention in the docs, with the device powered by a 1500mAh battery. Could this be one of the OEM’s recently announced wunderkind Galaxy R devices, or just a 4G update to its premiere S series? We’ll keep an eagle eye out for this one’s inevitable in-the-wild debut.

Samsung i727 shows off at the FCC, confesses its AT&T LTE secrets originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Until a few days ago we’d heard surprisingly little about the Galaxy Note, a handset rumored to be launching alongside the Galaxy Tab 7.7 and Wave 3 at IFA. It’s ironic, really, because of all the phones to have kept a low profile, this is a memorable one. Behold, a 5.3-inch handset with a stowaway pen for note-taking, drawing and grabbing screen captures. In other words, a Dell Streak-esque hunk of a device that blurs the lines between phone and tablet. You’re looking at a Gingerbread-running HSPA+ handset with a 1280 x 800 Super AMOLED display, dual 8MP and 2MP cameras, a removable 2,500mAh battery and the same Samsung-made dual-core 1.4GHz processor you’ll find in the just-announced Galaxy Tab 7.7. For a phone this gargantuan, it’s actually quite thin at light, at 9.65mm (0.38 inches) thick and a reasonable 178 grams (6.3 ounces). We had a few minutes to handle the phone in advance of today’s press conference, and found it surprisingly easy to grip, even in our small hands. As with the Infuse 4G –whose own 4.5-inch screen once seemed impossibly sprawling — the thin shape makes it tenable, as does the lightweight, textured plastic lining the back.

As you’d expect, Android 2.3 comes layered with TouchWiz on top and, in this case, seven home screens and a touch-optimized interface dubbed “S Pen” designed to take advantage of that pen. These include S Planner, a native calendar and to-do list app, from which you can drag and drop appointments, changing time slots without having to open an entry. S Memo for note-taking, meanwhile, accepts voice, photo, text and handwritten input. We also got a quick glimpse of Virtual Whiteboard, a more collaborative form of note-taking. On top of that, Samsung says it’s releasing the S Pen SDK to third-party developers, and the company’s banking on more apps for organizing photos and drawing, among other things. For now, this is merely a global launch: Samsung says it’s still in discussions with carriers worldwide, so depending on your neck of the woods it might be awhile before you hear anything definitive about pricing or availability. Find the some fancy press shots (and a promo vid) after the break, and stay tuned for our hands-on.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Note announced: 5.3-inch display, built-in-stylus, custom ‘S Pen’ apps

Samsung Galaxy Note announced: 5.3-inch display, built-in-stylus, custom ‘S Pen’ apps originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 05:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Sony Walkman Mobile Entertainment Player hands-on (video)

Sony Walkman Mobile Entertainment Player hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Never count the little guy out. It seems Sprint’s ramping up its game in preparation for the possible three-way carrier brawl lurking just out of view. The Hesse-led company revealed a coming change to its ETF for customers with smartphones, tabs, laptops and netbooks. Beginning September 9th, Sprint will charge a $350 termination fee — the same as Verizon and AT&T — that will be pro-rated depended on the number of months left on a subscriber’s contract. The charge is a hefty step-up from its prior fee of $200, clearly signaling to the marketplace that it demands to be seen as a contender.

Sprint bumps early termination fee to $350, wants to play with the big boys originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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