Hasta La Gadget!

A picture of Samsung's first generation Vibrant, released during the Summer of 2010

Pictures of what look to be leaked press promotional materials of a new Samsung Android-based smartphone have been circulating the web this morning. If they’re the real deal, it could mean that last year’s Samsung Vibrant will soon have a 4G brother.

The mystery device highlighted in the leaked materials is aptly named the Samsung Vibrant 4G, according to pictures acquired by mobile blog TmoNews. From the looks of it, the hardware specs line up with the first-generation, 3G Vibrant (shown above): 1GHz processor, 4-inch super AMOLED screen, 16GB SD card storage (upgradable to 32GB), all the bells and whistles of the non-4G predecessor.

To keep it from being a complete rehash of last year’s model with 4G tacked on to the end, the new Vibrant does seem to have a few new upgrades. First, there’s the addition of a front-facing camera (pixel resolution not yet specified), a feature that seems to be about par for the course in the coming generation of smartphones we saw at CES last week. While it’s playing catch-up with the iPhone 4, we think it’ll soon be a standard for higher-end smartphones in the industry.

Another perk: The new Vibrant will supposedly run an upgraded version of Android, version 2.2 ‘Froyo,’ rather than the 2.1 ‘Eclair’ of last year’s model. (Though it’s still no version 2.3 ‘Gingerbread,’ the most recent release.)

What T-Mobile really seems to be hyping, according to TmoNews’ photos, is the phone’s claimed increase in speed. The Vibram 4G would run on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network, which T-Mobile spokesperson Erica Gordon says is capable of “theoretical peak download speeds of up to 21 Mbps.” Depending on the city you live in, what you’ll probably get is something closer to what independent test groups have found, somewhere in the area of 4 to 5.5 Mbps down and 1 to 2Mbps up.

T-Mobile offered no comment to specific questions about the rumored device, and Samsung followed suit.

If the phone does indeed exist, T-Mobile and Samsung are most likely betting it will do as well as its predecessors in the Galaxy S series of smartphones. We’ll continue to report on news of the Vibrant 4G as it breaks.

See Also:

• Samsung Vibrant Looks Like an iPhone, Has Battery Life to Match
• First Look: Samsung Vibrant Rips Off iPhone 3G Design
• Samung
• First Look
• T-Mobile, Garmin Announce New Android Phone

Photo: Samsung Vibrant (Stefan Armijo/Wired.com)

Hey, a phone that Apple introduced back in 2009 (that’d be the iPhone 3GS) is now selling — brand new with a two-year voice / data agreement — for $49, both at AT&T and through Apple directly. Of course, you could get the far more capable iPhone 4 for a fair amount more, or you could wait until tomorrow so you’d actually have an option when it comes to carriers. Your call, obviously.

Apple drops iPhone 3GS to $49 on contract, we pretend the timing is coincidental originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Apple Insider  |  AT&T, Apple  | Email this | Comments

We’ve gotten up close and personal with Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Arc this week at CES, but one bit of information that the firm refused to hand over was an estimated release date. If the outfit’s Indonesian portal is to be believed, however, we’ve just three more months to wait before at least some portions of the world have access. The image shown above translates into “three more months,” which means that we’ll be both saddened and depressed if our pals in the Asia-Pacific region don’t have one by April. Don’t make us weep, SE.

[Thanks, Matthew]

Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Arc seeing an April release? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 19:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Sony Ericsson  | Email this | Comments

Ford just made industry history by being the first major auto manufacturer to unveil a new model at CES, the Focus Electric. But we already knew it would. What we didn’t know were the details of the thing, but now we have them. And a lot of pretty pictures. Ford is saying the car will manage a range of 100 miles and that it will offer an MPGe rating (a conceptual equivalency of miles per gallon for an electric or otherwise non-traditionally powered car) higher than the Volt and comparable to the Leaf, but crucially it’s saying that it can be recharged on a 240 volt outlet in four hours or less. The Leaf can take up to seven hours with the same amount of current — though of course CHAdeMO support there handily trumps that. More details below, along with details of some pretty blue butterflies.

Continue reading Ford unveils Focus Electric with MyFord Mobile smartphone integration

Ford unveils Focus Electric with MyFord Mobile smartphone integration originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

We aren’t quite sure we’re on the same page as Splashtop‘s CEO, who is seemingly on a mission to “build the Bridge to Anywhere,” but we’re all for a remote access client for Google’s mobile OS. Shortly after bringing your Windows PC to the iPhone, iPod and iPad, the aforementioned company has now issued an Android client. As you’d probably guess, it allows anyone with an Android-based smartphone or tablet to tap into their networked Windows PC, with content and applications both accessible. According to the company, it’ll allow Android users to “listen to music, access all of their files and applications, and play PC and Flash games remotely.” We’re a little hesitent to believe all that will be doable on some of the lower-end handsets, but at least it’s out there to try (if you’re willing to part ways with $4.99).

Continue reading Splashtop Remote Desktop adds Android compatibility, opens another avenue for Windows remote access

Splashtop Remote Desktop adds Android compatibility, opens another avenue for Windows remote access originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 07:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Splashtop  | Email this | Comments