Hasta La Gadget!

Boy oh boy, HTC is entering the tablet arena with quite a bang. The company has just taken the wraps off its brand new 7-inch Flyer Android tablet, which touts a 1.5GHz single-core CPU, 1GB of RAM plus 32GB of flash storage, an aluminum unibody construction, 1024 x 600 resolution, a tablet-optimized version of Sense, and… what’s this, a pressure-sensitive stylus! The HTC Scribe trademark we saw floating around in legal waters turned out not to be the branding for a tablet, it’s actually the name HTC gives to the technology enabling what it calls a “groundbreaking pen experience.” Other details include a 5 megapixel camera on the back paired with a 1.3 megapixel imager up front, a 4000mAh battery rated to last for four hours of continuous video playback, and memory expandability via a microSD card.

The Flyer will ship in Q2 2011 with Android Gingerbread 2.4 on board. HTC says it’ll be indistinguishable from 2.3 as far the end user is concerned, though we all know it won’t be quite as good as the 3.0 stuff. We’re told not to worry, however, since the new version of Sense being introduced with the Flyer will be the focal point of the company’s software offering. As far as HTC is concerned, Sense matters more than the underlying platform, and the reason Honeycomb isn’t the shipping OS here was explicitly stated as HTC not having enough time with the latest Google code to customize it to the full requirements of Sense. Guess that settles that.

There are a couple more software enhancements, both marking the introduction of the fruits of HTC’s recent deals: OnLive cloud gaming will be coming with the Flyer in the form of an app you open up to access the web-connected bored-relieving service, while that Saffron Digital acquisition has turned into an HTC Watch app for movie streaming and downloading.

We spent a bit of quality time with a Flyer unit recently, although we weren’t allowed to turn it on, and our early impressions are rather mixed. On the one hand, we do appreciate the ruggedness and durability that’s afforded by the one-piece aluminum shell, but on the other, the Flyer is quite the chunky beast in your hands. We’d imagine strapping in such an extra-speedy processor is the main culprit for its extra girth, though the Flyer is, ironically enough, not terribly light either. We found it heavier and generally a lot less polished from a design perspective than Samsung’s Galaxy Tab. Anyhow, HTC should have functional units for us immediately following its MWC presser this morning, and we’ll be delving in deeper with this super-specced device. Hang tight!

Update: Pictures of the Flyer can now be explored below and we have video awaiting your audience just past the break.

Update 2: Even more video!

Continue reading HTC launches 1.5GHz, 7-inch Android 2.4 Flyer into the tablet wars (update: hands-on video!)

HTC launches 1.5GHz, 7-inch Android 2.4 Flyer into the tablet wars (update: hands-on video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 05:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yes folks, the leaks were for real, HTC really is bringing out a pair of new handsets adorned with a dedicated, delicately illustrated Facebook key front and (almost) center. HTC is very careful not to call its Salsa — a 3.4-inch, 480 x 320 touchscreen device — and portrait QWERTY-sporting ChaCha “Facebook phones,” however Mark Z’s highly successful social network is indeed the focus around which both are built. The OS is Android 2.4 underneath, however the Sense customizations have taken on an extra few tweaks and functions to accommodate a Facebook-centric lifestyle. That royal blue button is context-aware, with a pulsating light surrounding it any time there’s an opportunity to share whatever you’re doing with the phone through Facebook. A good example of that is you can long-press the F key to automatically check in with the social mothership.

In terms of specs, you’re looking at a lot of common components between these two. There’s a 600MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 — which didn’t seem to struggle unduly with basic functions during our quick play around with the Salsa — 512MB of both RAM and ROM, a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, and a VGA front-facing cam. The resolution on the ChaCha is 480 x 320 as well, which should provide decent pixel density on that 2.6-inch screen. Both are expected to launch globally before the end of Q2 2011, at pricing points above the newly announced Wildfire S, but below the similarly fresh Desire S and Incredible S handsets. We’ll have more in-depth impressions and hands-on galleries for you as soon as we can get them, stay tuned!

Continue reading HTC Salsa and Chacha bring the dedicated Facebook button to Android (update: eyes-on)

HTC Salsa and Chacha bring the dedicated Facebook button to Android (update: eyes-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 02:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s happened. Former Microsoft exec and current Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has married his future and his past in the holy matrimony of a “strategic alliance.” Windows Phone is becoming Nokia’s “principal smartphone strategy,” but there’s a lot more to this hookup — scope out the official press release just after the break. Microsoft’s Bing and adCenter will provide search and ad services across Nokia devices, while Nokia will look to innovate “on top of the platform” with things like its traditional strength in imaging. Ovi Maps will be a core part of Microsoft’s mapping services and will be integrated with Bing, while Nokia’s content store will be integrated into (read: assimilated by) Microsoft’s Marketplace. Xbox Live and Office will also, as is to be expected, feature on these brave new Microkia handsets. An open letter on Nokia’s Conversations site, penned jointly by Stephen Elop and Steve Ballmer, sets out the foregoing details along with the following statement of intent:

“There are other mobile ecosystems. We will disrupt them. There will be challenges. We will overcome them. Success requires speed. We will be swift. Together, we see the opportunity, and we have the will, the resources and the drive to succeed.”

Nokia and Microsoft enter strategic alliance on Windows Phone, Bing, Xbox Live and more originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Feb 2011 02:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve spent quite a bit not nearly enough time with Fujifilm’s fixed-lens Finepix X100, and while it felt that March would never actually come during Photokina 2010, it’s actually just a few weeks away. The outfit has today confirmed that its 12.3 megapixel shooter will be shipping to America next month, with a wallet-burning $1,199.95 netting you a 23mm F2 prime lens, a standard ISO range of 200 to 6400 (with a boost to 12800), built-in ND filter, Hybrid Viewfinder and a magnesium alloy chassis. Feel free to peek back at our hands-on sessions to get a better idea if this is the retro body you’ve been yearning for, and hop on past the break if you’d care to see the official verbiage.

Continue reading Fujifilm confirms Finepix X100 ship date, price and accessory line for US market

Fujifilm confirms Finepix X100 ship date, price and accessory line for US market originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The T-Mobile G-Slate may be fully official now, but the rest of the world needs love too, and LG’s just announced it intends to deliver said loving at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona a few days from now. The Optimus Pad, as this 8.9-inch tablet will be known outside the US, will offer Android Honeycomb as its OS, along with a 3D-capable 1280 x 768 display, dual-core Tegra 2 processor, a front-facing camera plus a pair of imagers on the back allowing for 3D picture-taking, 32GB of onboard storage, and a 6,400mAh battery. We should be getting to grips with the device at MWC in due course — look for it to launch alongside or shortly after its US twin hits retail in March.

LG Optimus Pad (aka G-Slate) coming to MWC 2011 with Honeycomb, Tegra 2 and 3D display originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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