Hasta La Gadget!

Well, that was quick. It was just two days ago when the elusive PlayStation Phone popped up on a Hong Kong forum, and now it’s back again in full exposure thanks to Chinese website IT168. It’s now confirmed that said Xperia-branded device is powered by a Qualcomm Adreno 205 GPU, along with what’s likely to be a 1GHz Snapdragon QSD8255 as featured on the HTC Desire HD. Interestingly, Neocore is reporting an impressive 59.1fps benchmark, which is a huge improvement from our exclusive look back in early December. Quadrant also reports a high score of 1,733, but hey, there’s no saying that this is the final build, so the graphics performance may get even better.

Other tidbits found in the latest leak include the generous battery capacity of 1,500mAh, the 854 x 480 resolution on a 4-inch LCD, a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash sans 720p video recording (although it’s probably just that the leaksters didn’t look in all the submenu in the camera app), 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM, a microSD slot, SIM slot, micro-USB, and a second mic on the back for active noise cancellation à la Nexus One. Interestingly, the still-empty game launcher app is now called “PlayStation Pocket.” We’re still unclear just what the app will run; will it be PSOne games (the company has written an emulator before), PSP games, or an entirely new lineup? (In contrast, the PSP Go has a 333MHz processor, 64MB RAM, and a 3.8-inch 480 x 272 display — albeit on different, not-quite-comparable architecture.) Hopefully we’ll know soon enough, eh Kaz? Anyhow, you can peruse some pictures and videos below, and definitely check out IT168 for the full skinny on this (somewhat tick) device.

[Thanks, Dave]

Continue reading Sony’s PlayStation Phone gets in-depth preview in China, PlayStation Pocket app in tow

Sony’s PlayStation Phone gets in-depth preview in China, PlayStation Pocket app in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We just played with ASUS whole new tablet lineup, which is truly impressive not only in scope, but also for the fact that ASUS didn’t just pick a few capacitive screen sizes and call it a day. Each of the four tablets (three Android-based Eee Pads and one Windows-based Eee Slate) has its own “twist” on what’s come to seem traditional in modern day tablets, while also maintaining significant hardware and screen quality. We’re not crazy about the ‘MyWave’ ASUS software skin on its Android models, but they at least seem serious about providing UI and apps for the entire experience — they’re not kidding around, is what we’re saying.

We’ve got a ton of pictures and impressions, so follow after the break as we break it all down!

Update: We’ve added video as well. You’d be a fool not to click.

Continue reading ASUS tablet lineup preview: Slider, Transformer, MeMO, and Slate EP121 go wild (with video!)

ASUS tablet lineup preview: Slider, Transformer, MeMO, and Slate EP121 go wild (with video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 16:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Novatel? Yes. Sierra Wireless? Sure. Pantech? Definitely — but one company we didn’t really expect to be launching a pocketable mobile hotspot on an American carrier was Samsung. Sure enough, Sammy is hooking up with Verizon to rock the carrier’s very first mobile hotspot product to be announced with LTE compatibility, a crucial feature that should give the Sprint Overdrives and 3G / 4G MiFis of the world a run for their collective money. Though it lacks a creative name, the so-called 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot is precisely as described with a dash of CDMA / EV-DO compatibility thrown in for those rare occasions when you stray outside your local LTE footprint. We don’t have a price or date yet, but there’s not a lot of rocket science here compared to… say, the Inspiration, so hopefully it won’t be long.

Though we didn’t have a chance to put it through a live test, we’ve had our hands on this little device already and we can say it’s basically a dead ringer for the CDMA version of the first-generation Novatel MiFi as sold on Verizon, Sprint, and others. The only change, really, is that it feels a bit thicker, a bit more “solid,” and a bit heavier, but not nearly enough to make a practical difference — you’ll still gladly throw this thing in your pocket when you need a cloud of steamy hot WiFi in your vicinity. Follow the break for the full press release.

Continue reading Samsung bringing 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot to Verizon

Samsung bringing 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot to Verizon originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 16:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We just played with a wonderful tablet, and it wasn’t running Android, webOS, iOS, or even Windows. It was running a funky realtime operating system called QNX that RIM bought in April, combined with WebKit and a heaping helping of Flash, and plans on releasing to the world in Q1 of this year. The BlackBerry PlayBook is surprisingly polished and responsive at this stage, even though RIM says it has a lot of work to still left to do. In fact, the only thing frustrating about our roughly 30 minutes with the tablet (under the caring gaze of Mike Lazaridis) was the fact that you can’t buy an actual BlackBerry phone right now that’s anywhere near this enjoyable to use. Follow after the break as we talk through the product, along with a video walkthrough and stress test of that dual-core proc’s multitasking chops.

Continue reading BlackBerry PlayBook preview

BlackBerry PlayBook preview originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 00:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We just had our first in-depth experience with the Vizio Tablet, the company’s opening overture into the world of Android slates, and we’ve got to say — we like what we see. The device — which was just announced Monday afternoon along with the company’s new smartphone, the Vizio Phone — is still rather unfinished (the model we looked at was a hand-built device), but based on this early look, the company is moving down the right roads. We had a good chance to play around with the tablet, and we’ve got all the details, specs, and an in-depth video after the break!

Continue reading Vizio Tablet hands-on preview

Vizio Tablet hands-on preview originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 01:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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