Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve just swooped our way through the Fulton Innovation stand here at MWC and found, sat next to the familiar light-up cereal box, a peculiar version of the Verizon LTE network-riding LG Revolution. Thicker than its CES-announced counterpart (by only 1.5mm, if the Fulton reps are to be believed), this Revolution features a Qi wireless charging-compatible back, which happens to go very nicely with a Verizon-branded inductive charging station. You can scope those out in the gallery below. We’re told the back cover that makes this possible will be available as an accessory in the next 30 to 60 days, but the excitement for us was in hearing that Samsung also has an unannounced handset that will feature a similar add-on, which will be landing in the same timespan. While at the stand, we were also shown the back cover of an HTC Thunderbolt — we weren’t told the Thunderbolt will be making like the Revolution and getting its own chunky wireless charging adapter, but don’t be surprised if it does.

Continue reading LG Revolution gets Fulton inductive charging back, HTC and Samsung handsets joining the party soon

LG Revolution gets Fulton inductive charging back, HTC and Samsung handsets joining the party soon originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What do you get when you gently massage HSPA+ support and a front-facing camera for video calling into a Vibrant’s backside using technology, science, and a selection of essential oils? Well, you get a Galaxy S 4G — and in the case of Samsung’s US-focused event this evening here at MWC, you get a Galaxy S 4G on orange crushed velvet. The phone feels exactly like a Vibrant — thin, but still almost ridiculously light for its size — and looks exactly the same from the front. Like a mullet, though, it’s the back where the Galaxy S 4G starts to party: T-Mobile’s switched up the cheap-looking gloss black plastic on the Vibrant for a trick gray optical effect battery cover that seems to shimmer as you move it around. Definitely a step up, and it’ll let the T-Mobile enthusiasts around you know that you mean business. Follow the break for our quick hands-on video!

Continue reading T-Mobile Galaxy S 4G hands-on

T-Mobile Galaxy S 4G hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sonim, purveyors of insanely overbuilt handsets that are virtually guaranteed to survive far longer than you, is back at it again at MWC this year with the XP3300 Force. Though it looks a lot like the models that have come before it, the Force has a unique claim: it alleges to offer the longest talk time of any cellphone in the world at 20 to 24 hours, which can be traded in for 20 to 24 hours of continuous GPS tracking, along with 800 hours of standby. Sonim hangs on to its ruggedness chops by casting the Force in a fiberglass shell with 1.5 millimeters of Gorilla Glass over the display, all adding up to an IP-68-rated device that can withstand a two-meter drop onto concrete, two meters of submersion in wastewater (yes, not water, but wastewater), and temperatures ranging from 20 below zero to 55 degrees Celsius (-4 to 131 degrees Fahrenheit). Pricing and availability are yet to be announced; follow the break for the full press release.

Continue reading Sonim XP3300 Force claims insane ruggedness, longest talk time in the world

Sonim XP3300 Force claims insane ruggedness, longest talk time in the world originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 12:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, would you look at what we found chilling at Samsung’s booth here at MWC? Yep, it’s that Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 we heard about just the other day, and it’s one interesting tablet / media player hybrid. We’d be inclined to call this thing a Streak 5 or Acer 4.8 Iconia competitor, but it doesn’t have a trace of cellular or 3G connectivity. We were, however, able to confirm what it does have — it packs a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, a 800 x 480-resolution display, a 5 megapixel camera with a flash, and a 2500mAH battery. On the software front, it runs Android 2.2 (although it will be upgradable to Gingerbread) and TouchWiz. Oh, and it has the full suite of Google applications (YouTube, Gmail, Google Chat, etc.) and access to the Market.

So, what’s it like? Well, it looks like an enlarged Galaxy Player (or what is now known as the Galaxy S WiFi 4.0), which really means it looks like Galaxy S smartphone and the Galaxy Tab mashup. The white slippery back clearly looks like our Sprint Galaxy Tab, but the thinner design and rounded edges remind us of a Vibrant or Fascinate. It’s really a very “Samsung” device, and we don’t mean that in a bad way — the plastic build feels pretty solid and the screen seemed very high quality. As for performance, it seemed fairly quick and a preloaded video played rather smoothly. We wish we had more information on when this one was going to land stateside, but a rep on hand would only tell us that it will be hitting Korea this month and other countries soon. Check the break for a short hands-on look at this guy and the galleries below for some close up shots.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 preview (video)

Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 preview (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 11:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Though it’s billed strictly as a technology demo — not something we’ll necessarily see in any imminent over-the-air update — Microsoft showed off a pretty cool demo of how Windows Phone 7’s Xbox Live integration could take advantage of Kinect down the road at Steve Ballmer’s MWC keynote today. How, you ask? Using the Rally Ball game, a Windows Phone user was shown tossing balls to an on-screen character that’s controlled by someone else on an Xbox using a Kinect. Simple, yes — but perhaps as interesting as the Kinect aspect is the viability of real-time cross-platform gaming that Microsoft seems to be throwing its support behind. Seems like a good way to torture your friends into working out from thousands of miles away, doesn’t it?

Update: We have a video of this in action after the break!

Continue reading Microsoft Rally Ball demo shows Windows Phone 7, Kinect, Xbox Live living in perfect harmony (video)

Microsoft Rally Ball demo shows Windows Phone 7, Kinect, Xbox Live living in perfect harmony (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 10:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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