BlackBerry Torch teardown offers few surprises, much like the phone itself (video)

The new BlackBerry flagship has been put through one of the more important ceremonies of acceptance into the smartphone world: a teardown. The CrackBerry crew have disassembled a Torch to see what makes it burn and produced some glamor shots of naked hardware for us to gawp at in the process. As you can see by the exploded shot of the phone above, most internals are either integrated or soldered down, but this undressing does afford us an opportunity to take a look at the biggest novelty in this new BlackBerry, namely its slider mechanism. It’s impressively thin, rated for 150,000+ cycles, and yours to witness on video just past the break.

Continue reading BlackBerry Torch teardown offers few surprises, much like the phone itself (video)

BlackBerry Torch teardown offers few surprises, much like the phone itself (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 03:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Vision headed to T-Mobile in new spy shot, dubbed G1 Blaze?

While high-end QWERTY sliders loaded with Android aren’t nearly as uncommon now as when HTC’s Vision first leaked onto the scene, it appears this particular handset may be destined for T-Mobile with its (alleged) 1GHz processor, spacious keyboard and 3.7-inch WVGA screen. Of course, we’d heard that the Vision would appear on T-Mobile before, and our worries are the same as then — there’s no telling whether the phone will actually land stateside, or if it’s destined for T-Mobile Europe instead. Either way, our tipster tells us it could arrive with a different moniker: T-Mobile may call it the “G1 Blaze.”

HTC Vision headed to T-Mobile in new spy shot, dubbed G1 Blaze? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola mini Droid slider caught by Mr. Blurrycam

Okay, this one’s a complete and very welcome surprise — some extremely blurry pictures and a quick video of what appears to be a smaller Motorola portrait QWERTY Android slider for Verizon just popped up on the Chinese Hiapk forums — and yes, it’s got the glowing red Droid eye. We’re not sure if that means the Droid line is about to get a smaller midrange sibling or what, but Motorola’s definitely pushing out some of the more interesting Android form factors lately, and this mini Droid certainly fits right in with the Flipout and the Charm. A couple more shots and the video after the break.

Continue reading Motorola mini Droid slider caught by Mr. Blurrycam

Motorola mini Droid slider caught by Mr. Blurrycam originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Intercept ambushed in the wild, features higher res screen (video)

When we first got word of a Samsung Moment successor, we were concerned it would be too little, too late… but this week a man headed off Sammy’s new Intercept at a Best Buy (for $100, reportedly), and there’s slightly more to this device than it originally seemed. While the form factor and features are familiar enough — a QWERTY slider with a 3.2 megapixel camera and 3.2-inch screen — that display apparently sports a 800 x 480 resolution now, the keyboard seems much improved, ports and buttons have been thoroughly revamped, and the whole unit’s been given a lovely sheen. No word on internal specs quite yet — and no Froyo, either — but you can judge how responsive it is for yourself in a video after the break.

[Thanks, Brad B.]

Continue reading Samsung Intercept ambushed in the wild, features higher res screen (video)

Samsung Intercept ambushed in the wild, features higher res screen (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Jul 2010 16:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Intercept to replace the Moment on Sprint?

Looks like the Moment‘s over for Samsung and Sprint — check out these leaked shots of the SPH-M910 Intercept, said to be the carrier’s new mid-range Android slider. Screen size is said to be the same at 3.2 inches, and the keyboard certainly looks much nicer, but we can’t help but be bummed to hear this thing will launch Froyo-free with Android 2.1 — a 2.2 update is said to be a “high probability,” but it took Samsung and Sprint some seven months to update the Moment to 2.1, so we’re not holding our breath. The rumored launch date is July 11, so we’ll see how much of this is true around then — for now, we’re betting Samsung will be doing its best to keep us focused on Galaxy S sets like the Epic 4G.

Samsung Intercept to replace the Moment on Sprint? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia N9 (or something) in the wild: 8 megapixel camera, American 3G?

We told you, didn’t we? Whether you want to call this the N98, the N900’s successor, or the N8 plus QWERTY, what you’re looking at above is potentially the visage of Nokia’s next smartphone. It’s being dubbed the N9 by the folks at Negri Electronics, who also inform us it has an 8 megapixel imager on the back, 850 / 1900 3G bands (good for AT&T, Rogers, Telus, and Bell), and “ridiculous screen clarity.” This sort of throws us for a loop, since we’re looking at some straight Symbian action up there, whereas Nokia has told us directly that there’ll be no more Symbian on the N Series after the N8. A clue to what might be going on is provided by the “C0” label at the upper left corner of this device, suggesting that it could be a future C Series member. All we know is that the thing seems pretty real and it’s headed to a full video review in the next few days. Yay!

[Thanks, Jason]

Nokia N9 (or something) in the wild: 8 megapixel camera, American 3G? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia X5 square slider gets official in Singapore (update: video!)

Well, hey, Nokia just officially launched the X5 in Singapore, apparently as a followup to the Twist and the latest chubby square slider to hit in the past few months after the the Motorola Flipout and Kin One. No, we’re not sure why this form factor is suddenly a Thing either. This guy is actually Nokia’s second X5 –a China-only X5 with a totally different design was announced in April, so that’s nice and confusing. We don’t have an official spec sheet on this new X5 yet, but we’re told it runs Symbian S60, and has a five megapixel camera, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube integration, as well as some sort of shake-based notification feature we don’t really understand. It comes in black, hot pink, bright blue, and, um, unattractive yellow, and it’s pretty thick, if the hands-on photos are to be believed. That’s all we know for now — hit the source links for a bunch more photos, and we’ll let you know if we hear anything else.

[Thanks, Gabriel]

Continue reading Nokia X5 square slider gets official in Singapore (update: video!)

Nokia X5 square slider gets official in Singapore (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSymbianku, Tihn Te, Symbian World  | Email this | Comments

LG confirms Android-powered Ally, coming May 20th

Well, this hasn’t exactly followed the usual smartphone launch route, but LG has now officially confirmed the existence of its new Android-powered LG Ally handset, although it’s still not doing much talking about the phone itself. It has, however, revealed that the phone will be available on May 20th (presumably on Verizon, though LG oddly doesn’t mention a carrier in its press release), and that it will naturally feature plenty of Iron Man 2 tie-in content, including an augmented reality application of some sort. Otherwise, LG is only saying that the phone will have a touchscreen and a full QWERTY keypad, and it’s pointing folks towards an Iron Man 2 tie-in site (linked below) that, last we checked, still says to check back on April 30th. We should be getting some more details on the phone soon enough, however, as LG is holding an event in New York on May 11th where it will be showing off the Ally and other “Stark-worthy” technology.

Continue reading LG confirms Android-powered Ally, coming May 20th

LG confirms Android-powered Ally, coming May 20th originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 May 2010 13:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia N98 leak validated by N8, is there a QWERTY slider brewing up in Espoo?

Just gaze upon those curves up above and tell us what they remind you of. Yes indeed, the Nokia N98 — which seemed so futuristic we were inclined to dismiss it as the product of a hyperactive imagination — is today looking all too credible thanks to the obvious design similarities it shares with the officially released N8. Starting with the distinctive tapered edges with contrast coloring, moving through the black bezel-sporting display, and jotting down to the positions of the Nokia and N00 logos as well as the Options menu, the viewer can’t help but be convinced that this February leak came with no small portion of truthiness to it. Now, we don’t live anywhere near Espoo, so we can’t tell you whether this was just a precursor to the N8, which lost its physical keyboard and N9x naming scheme to become the beastly media phone we know today. But wouldn’t it be lovely to believe Nokia’s working on all cylinders and planning to introduce a 4-inch QWERTY variant of its new flagship?

Nokia N98 leak validated by N8, is there a QWERTY slider brewing up in Espoo? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 May 2010 04:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG Ally to say ‘aloha’ to Verizon in mid-May?

Well, LG’s Moorestown-based, Moblin-running GW990 may sadly be no more, but it looks like the company will be bringing another fairly impressive-looking handset to US shores: the Android-based LG Ally. According to Android Central, it will be landing on Verizon around the middle of May and, if it looks a tad familiar, it’s because it’s apparently simply a US version of the phone we’ve known alternately as the LU2300 or Aloha (though it does seem to have undergone a few design tweaks). Details are otherwise light, but it’ll presumably pack the same 1GHz Snapdragon processor as the LU2300, along with a 3.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen, a sliding QWERTY keyboard, a 5-megapixel camera, and Android 2.1.

[Thanks, Erik]

Update: Android Central has tracked down an Iron Man 2-themed commercial on YouTube clearly suggesting the Ally is coming soon (if you recall, LG had a big tie-in with the original Iron Man, too). Viewers are encouraged to head over to lg.com/ally to check it out, but there’s nothing useful there — yet. Follow the break for the full commercial.

Continue reading LG Ally to say ‘aloha’ to Verizon in mid-May?

LG Ally to say ‘aloha’ to Verizon in mid-May? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Apr 2010 18:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAndroid Central, Via phonetastic1 (YouTube)  | Email this | Comments