Hasta La Gadget!

Feeling the post-MWC blues? Not enough smartphone hardware talk to get you through your Monday trudge? Fear not, we’ve grabbed a pair of Qualcomm demo videos from this year’s event in Barcelona that show off its MSM7x30 smartphone platform (first announced in November of last year). It has now made its way into some demo devices and its early performance points to a very happy future for all of us mobile media vultures. Equipped with the same CPU as resides inside Qualcomm’s Snapdragon, this system-on-chip comes with an HDMI output and the ability to play back 720p video on both its host device and your nearest HDTV. There’s also some very welcome 3D gaming on show as well as YouTube playback using Flash 10.1 (smooth and silky), but our attention was captured by a nifty picture browser provided by Scalado. It allows you to view up to 1,000 images at the same time, zoom into each individual one, or sort them by name, color and other attributes. Being able to handle all that, with only minor perceptible lag, shows we’re looking at what’s shaping up to be a pretty beastly chip. Check it out after the break, and expect it to show up in a lust-worthy smartphone near you by the end of 2010.

[Thanks, TareG]

Continue reading Qualcomm’s 7×30 offers stellar 3D and multimedia performance, coming this year (video)

Qualcomm’s 7×30 offers stellar 3D and multimedia performance, coming this year (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When people say the smartphone market is growing, they don’t usually mean literally, but looking at the massive popularity of HTC’s HD2 whopper, and the anticipation surrounding Dell’s Mini 5 and LG’s GW990, it’s pretty safe to say there is a market for oversized and overpowered (is there such a thing?) handsets. The Moorestown-powered GW990 has made another video appearance, this time showing off its multi-screen functionality and not altogether smooth pinch-to-zoom skills. We’re reminded this Mobile Internet Device (a title that’s inscribed on its case) will run Moblin (now known as MeeGo), before a HD2 is whipped out for a showdown between super-sized smartphones. It’s really quite a sight. After all that excitement is done, the video continues on to take a look at the forthcoming GT540 Android handset and Mini GD880, giving you all the more reason to click past the break for a viewing.

[Thanks, Iacopo]

Continue reading LG GW990 shows up on video, competes with HTC HD2 for camera’s attention

LG GW990 shows up on video, competes with HTC HD2 for camera’s attention originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 06:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MASHUP CULTURE INVADES THE ENGADGET PODCAST as we STEAL BLATANTLY from Engadget Mobile’s podcasts during MWC. Tune in for all the big news and depravity that comes when people who normally only communicate from lairs in their parents’ basments get together in meatspace and hang out with Jim Beam.

Hosts: Chris Ziegler, Sean Cooper, Joshua Topolsky
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Producer: Trent Wolbe
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Filed under: Podcasts

Engadget Podcast 184: MWC 2010 Roundup – 02.19.2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve never heard of Fon, its mission is pretty simple: to equip the world with Fonera routers, and thus blanket the planet in WiFi that no one is scared to share. Over at Mobile World Congress this week, the company unveiled a new device that exploits the impending bandwidth crisis that operators all over the globe are attempting to deal with. The all-new SIMPL is a palm-sized router that has just two Ethernet ports and could be doled out by carriers in order to provide a city-wide WiFi network that can be accessed by any WiFi-enabled phone, thereby easing the demand on its 3G network. Equipped with 802.11n, a faster CPU than the Fonera 2.0 and a shiny white shell, we’re told that an order has already been placed by an undisclosed customer for 400,000 of ’em, though it’s unclear when these will be made available to the general public and for how much. Hop on past the break for a five minute showcase video.

Continue reading Fonera SIMPL aims to ease 3G overload, give smartphones a better way to upload

Fonera SIMPL aims to ease 3G overload, give smartphones a better way to upload originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bizarre concept phones, USB-enabled soccer balls and a solar-powered phone named after a shoe company are some of the stranger things the mobile phone industry has up its sleeve for the coming year.

All those and more were on display at the Mobile World Congress, a big, annual cellphone tradeshow in Barcelona, Spain, that ended on Thursday. Windows Phone 7 Series and Google’s Android OS stole the headlines, but there was a lot more going on this week than just boring, sensible product launches.

As the booth babes danced their last humiliating dance and the suits squeezed off their last, unnecessary and job-justifying e-mails, we took a look at the best of the rest of the show.

The photo above shows the flags at the entrance to La Fira, the venue of the show, which is turned into a swirling hub of chaos for a week every year. Even the roads around the exhibit halls are fenced off to give more space to conference-goers and their gadgets.

The Puma Phone is a joint project between the sneaker company and Sagem, and it’s more about the fun than the phone. It’s solar-powered by a cell-covered back panel, and the menus are actually enjoyable to use: Dimming the screen involves using the touchscreen to push a cloud icon over a sun icon, for example.

But the best part is the pet Puma that lives inside, and pops up onscreen from time to time. Why do we like this? His name is Dylan, just like silky voiced Gadget Lab editor Dylan Tweney. (Editor’s note: I’m totally getting this phone.)