Engadget

LG eyes number two phone maker spot for 2012, premium brand in the works

by Sean Cooper posted Jul 2nd 2009 at 5:25PM

Sitting pretty as the number three cell maker in the world would make many of the bigger names happy -- not to mention the usurped Sony Ericsson and Motorola a bit green -- but not LG, as it's now gunning for spot number two. In an interview with Yonhap, LG's president of its mobile business, Ahn Seung-kwon, stated that the company hoped to bump Samsung to the wayside by 2012 with the help of a serious new set and a premium brand. While the gaudiness of really expensive handsets disturbs us at times, we'll admit that mention that LG's looking at a foray into the über high end of the spectrum -- with the likes of Nokia's Vertu -- piques our curiosity a good deal. And what about that serious new set we mentioned? Apparently in Q4 of this year, LG will launch a new Black Label-branded device to compete directly with iPhone, which when coupled with dreams of more success from yet another Prada device (and if we're super fortunate, some more Transformers-branded stuff) is part of the master scheme to start down the path. Will they crack it? Well, if we were betting types, we'd lean towards not likely as long as the Samsung juggernaut's standing in the way -- but we're all for watching them try.

BlackBerry Storm 2: the official unofficial hands-on

by Sean Cooper posted May 21st 2009 at 1:00PM

We've been bumping into the new BlackBerry Storm 2 for quite a while now on the so-called "information superhighway," but we've finally had a chance to escalate those encounters and spend a few sweet moments with a live unit in the flesh. First off, let's confirm the huge news: RIM's abandoned the original Storm's SurePress click-screen and gone with a traditional fixed capacitive display for the sequel. It's over, guys. Unfortunately, the Verizon-branded dual-mode GSM / CDMA unit that we played with has a bug preventing us from getting past the license screen, so we couldn't dive deep into the OS, but we can tell you what we do know: the Storm 2's sleeker style and more heft combined with the newly-stable screen collaborate to make everything feel a wee bit higher end than the original. Follow the break for more impressions!

Update: On the advice of our legal team, we've had to pull the images and videos originally seen in this post. Sorry, everyone!

Continue reading BlackBerry Storm 2: the official unofficial hands-on

Samsung's rumored I7500 set to be its first Android outing?

by Sean Cooper posted Apr 26th 2009 at 2:53PM

We dig Android set rumors, even more so when they're mumbling about Samsung's first foray into the land of the Android OS. We'd initially heard Samsung's S8000 Cubic might well be the first Android set launched, but the::unwired's reporting that the Samsung I7500 will be the one to watch. While still all rumor and speculation, the I7500 has a mind numbing pile of features, all of which would guarantee us picking this up no matter what OS it's sporting. Starting with quad-band EDGE, dual-band HSDPA, 8GB of internal storage, a 3.2-inch capacitive OLED display (can we get a wahoo?) 5 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, WiFi, and even GPS. The I7500 is ~~scheduled~~ rumored to be exclusive on O2 as early as June this year for €300. That, mes amis, is some seriously tasty rumor magic, here's hoping it pans out.

[Via OLED-Display and the::unwired]

LG's GD900 video tour (and shenanigans) at CTIA

by Sean Cooper posted Apr 4th 2009 at 1:41PM

We've been fairly intrigued about LG's GD900 since we had a glimpse of it behind glass at Mobile World Congress this year. We were finally treated to a proper tour by LG's Martin Valdez who not only did a bang up job of demonstrating the set but covered up what may be an early build firmware bug with such aplomb he deserves an award for his performance. Notable here is the clear keypad that acts as input device for typing, text recognition, gestures, and the full-on gorgeous UI. While we wouldn't expect this to be a monster seller at the carriers, it will get LG some attention. So sit back, relax, and enjoy a few minutes with LG's transparent beauty and a great showman, Martin Valdez.

Continue reading LG's GD900 video tour (and shenanigans) at CTIA

PCD tempts with its twisting TXT8030

by Sean Cooper posted Apr 4th 2009 at 9:34AM

PCD's showed a fun twist at CTIA with the admittedly awkward looking TXT8030 by designing the handset's lower section to rotate with business up front and party in the back -- yeah, like a mullet. One one side is a QWERTY pad and on the other speakers and the music controls. We also hear the display is a 2.2-inch number, memory is expandable via microSD, it packs a 1.3 megapixel shooter, and the tale of the tape registers 4.5 inches long by 2.4 inches wide, and about a half an inch thick. No thoughts on pricing or availability, but this CDMA twistset may show up somewhere someday.

Samsung Propel Pro video hands-on, now with more keyboard

by Sean Cooper posted Apr 2nd 2009 at 7:02PM

A number of folks wanted video of AT&T's Samsung Propel Pro and a better view of the keyboard. We just couldn't get it the first night and coupled with the horrible lighting, the results would have been miserable anyway. So we did one better and combined both in one well lit video. We checked the device's browser, too, but sadly the signals in the building weren't helping us out. Enjoy the tour right after the break.

Continue reading Samsung Propel Pro video hands-on, now with more keyboard

Sony Ericsson's T707 hands-on with video

by Sean Cooper posted Apr 2nd 2009 at 1:46PM

Sony Ericsson's presence at CTIA this year is a rather quiet thing, but we did catch up with them at Ericsson's booth as we were hell bent on seeing its newest, the T707. What we found was a fairly simple quad-band GSM / triple-band HSDPA set with the standard suite of Sony Ericsson features and some golly-gee gesture controls. Building on what it already does in the gesture realm we had fun setting up Chris "Amethyst" Ziegler as a contact on the phone -- a necessity to assign one of 5 indicator colors to his contact -- and seeing just what could be done with them. When a contact calls with a color assigned to them the exterior blinks with their color to let you know who is calling, waving your hand over the device can end the call. In the music player and games, the handset can be flailed about to control music volume or a perhaps a car in a racing game. Basic stuff, but nonetheless still a decent phone, here's hoping a North America carrier picks this up. Pics and vid are just after the break.

Gallery: Sony Ericsson's T707 hands-on with video

Continue reading Sony Ericsson's T707 hands-on with video

Motorola Evoke QA4 hands-on with video

by Sean Cooper posted Apr 2nd 2009 at 9:23AM

When you look at the Motorola Evoke QA4, the last thought that springs to mind is RAZR, and that's such a good thing. Let's face it, long live the RAZR, but its time is past, though, we're over the moon to see Moto step up with a piece of hardware that's made us genuinely happy excited about Moto (well, Aura aside) in a long while. While it is an EVDO handset, and our travel often makes us lean toward distinctly more GSM-flavored devices, we're throwing it all to wind and will be rushing to get our hands on one. The layout in-hand is frickin' ideal, the material choices, finish, and style are just so well executed that we found ourselves fairly stunned when we first got out mitts on it. The capacitive screen works extremely well for flipping through apps, surfing, messaging, and the keyboards (both landscape and portrait are here) work very well. Honestly, what's not to like? Motorola's new slider is without a doubt going to be a winner when it lands. Here's hoping we hear where and for how much soon, but in the interim feel free to check the gallery and absorb some of the video goodness that is the Evoke in action.

Gallery: Motorola Evoke QA4 hands-on with video

Continue reading Motorola Evoke QA4 hands-on with video

AT&T's Samsung Magnet hands-on with video

by Sean Cooper posted Apr 1st 2009 at 11:12PM

Samsung's Magnet is inexpensive, orange, QWERTY, and we're really liking it. Sure, we don't have a price or an official date, but we we came away from our meeting with the Magnet feeling rather happy about the whole experience. Yeah, the web browser is a bit lightweight, and the color choice garish, but we can't find fault with that as it is aimed directly at a market that digs messaging and bright colors. The Magnet is comfortable to hold, the OS very responsive, and the screen ample bright and large enough to get the job done. The Keyboard, and the phone's size are very similar to a Nokia E71 (which we compare it to in the video for scale) so if you've checked one of those out, you'll know where we're coming from. A dash of 3G would add to the joy here, but then again, it would add to the price, too. Pics and videos are just after the break.

Update: Trimmed out background noise, or tried to.

Gallery: AT&T's Samsung Magnet hands-on with video

Continue reading AT&T's Samsung Magnet hands-on with video

Samsung Mondi WiMAX hands-on with video

by Sean Cooper posted Apr 1st 2009 at 6:03PM

While we caught this at Mobile World Congress earlier this year, Samsung officially launched its WiMAX / WiFi Mondi at CTIA today. Samsung's SWD-M100 MID runs Windows Mobile -- and we have to say that it looks really polished -- with the transitions between homescreen panels being particularly stunning -- check the vid to see it in action. While thin, the popout lower lip keypad is a tough thing to use, the width of the keypad itself and the positioning of the d-pad make it all seem a bit awkward to use. We do like the 4.3-inch display, though suspect it may prove to be a tad power hungry once this gets a little more real on Clear's WiMAX network. Follow on for a short vid and a handful of pics of us playing with this big glossy thing.

Gallery: Samsung Mondi WiMAX hands-on with video

Continue reading Samsung Mondi WiMAX hands-on with video

AT&T's Samsung Propel Pro hands-on

by Sean Cooper posted Apr 1st 2009 at 12:18PM

AT&T's Propel Pro ups the ante not only in build quality and material, but the new set is also reborn as a proper smartphone thanks to the inclusion of Windows Mobile 6.1. Though like its predecessor, we find a QWERTY keypad for the much loved messaging features, a 3 megapixel camera, and a well thought out and put together metal housing -- though the latter does add heft to an already chubby device. So, what do we like? Well, the display is right on, the keypad is solid, and the $149 price tag is definitely going to win it some fans looking for a messaging device that'll do a bit more. The heft on the other hand is a bit much, and we're still troubled by the almost square form factor, but what do we know, people loved the Samsung Propel. We'll take some more time to get to know it tomorrow and hopefully add a little video to the mix -- and some decent lighting.

Gallery: AT&T's Samsung Propel Pro hands-on

AT&T's Samsung Impression hands-on with video

by Sean Cooper posted Apr 1st 2009 at 11:19AM

With AT&T's Samsung Impression packing things like quad-band GSM, dual-band HSPA for the Americas and a supremely useable QWERTY keypad, we're suitably impressed. All that magic aside, the screen, a fairly giant 3.2-inch AMOLED number, is where the big draw for us lies. The display is completely stunning and viewable from just about any angle, the keypad is pretty much right on, and the set just feels like money to hold onto. Coupled with a reasonable 3 megapixel cam with digital zoom and geotagging support, and we're expecting this to be a wildly popular device at its $200 price point. We tried to capture the beauty of the Impression with vids -- we've taken the leap from VGA -- and pics which you'll find right after the break.

Gallery: AT&T's Samsung Impression hands-on with video

Continue reading AT&T's Samsung Impression hands-on with video

Sprint's Samsung Instinct S30 hands-on with video

by Sean Cooper posted Apr 1st 2009 at 10:02AM

We had a few minutes with Sprint's Samsung Instinct S30 at CTIA this evening and while we couldn't dive in to find its deepest darkest secrets, we did get in a quick tour. This handset is well balanced in hand, perhaps even a tad on the light and "plasticky" side for our taste, but hey, we only had scant minutes to tour before the mob descended. The touch screen seems up to Samsung's "Please Touch" theme for this year's CTIA, the haptic feedback adding nice, ah, feedback when in use by reassuring the lab mice in us that our input was doing something. Follow on for a gallery and a quick video tour of the UI and a 360 view of the set proper.

Gallery: Sprint's Samsung Instinct S30 hands-on with video

Continue reading Sprint's Samsung Instinct S30 hands-on with video

LG's GC900 Viewty II subjected to smudgycam treatment?

by Sean Cooper posted Mar 9th 2009 at 12:13PM

We caught wind of the supposed LG Viewty II last week at CeBIT, though weren't graced with photos til today -- a couple pics actually surfaced in comments, but lacked the xenon flash mentioned in the specs. PhoneArena has thrown a couple pics up of this 8 megapixel set and we're liking what we see: large display, uncluttered layout, and what appears to be a xenon flash. We've already seen the specs so now it's a waiting game as we get set for this to potentially waft our way -- provided it's loaded with bands we can use. Follow the read link for a shot of the other side of the device.

Alltel rolls out Palm Treo Pro

by Sean Cooper posted Mar 5th 2009 at 1:09PM

Alltel is set to play catch up with both Bell and Sprint with news today of its Palm's Treo Pro launch. Pricing is listed on the Alltel page at $519 less a $195 online discount and $125 mail-in rebate which settles this handset's price down to $199. Nice to see Alltel at least matching Sprint's offering, as our northern neighbor's price on Bell -- for the same term -- is about $300. If you've been waiting for something new on the Alltel Windows Mobile front, we'd hazard a guess this just may be it.

[Via The Official Palm Blog]

RIM's BlackBerry 9630 World Edition finally strikes a pose

by Sean Cooper posted Mar 5th 2009 at 9:41AM

Finally, an honest to goodness picture of what may well be the sweetest BlackBerry RIM has pushed out to date. Featuring keyboard styling taken from its chubbier friend, the BlackBerry Bold, and the sleeker lines of the Curve 8900, this certainly looks like a recipe for success. If you're a BlackBerry user on Verizon, we'd say major celebration is in order if this wanders your way in the near future. We still only have the info we posted last week about it, but as the hype spins up, we expect the leaks will, too.

HTC's rumored 2009 lineup gets fleshed out with specs, dates

by Sean Cooper posted Mar 4th 2009 at 12:13PM

Remember HTC's huge lineup leak from earlier this year? Apparently somebody has trickled a few more details about the sets out, as we get a better look at the when, the where, and the all-important how much. Of course, we have to preface the info on the following six sets with the fact that we've no way to know the absolute truth or if we'll see them land as things have a way of changing. So until you hear it from HTC, consider the following leak a thing of dreams. First up, the Firestone, a 3G set that replaces the Touch HD with a 3.6-inch WVGA display, an 8 megapixel -- HTC's first -- camera, runs Windows Mobile 6.5, and is slated to appear in August this year. Next, a slate-style set called Whitestone with the same display as the Firestone, a 5 megapixel camera, Windows Mobile 6.1, and is apparently a dual-mode GSM / EV-DO number due to launch with Verizon in the September timeframe. The Thoth -- Athena's replacement -- is also present with a 4.8-inch display, a 5 megapixel shooter, the Qualcomm 8250 CPU at 1GHz, and will also run Microsoft's newest Windows Mobile 6.5 when it lands in September. HTC's Twin is another dual-band candybar set with a 3.2-inch VGA interface (no date), the HTC Maple is an HTC Cavalier successor with a 2.4-inch screen, 2 megapixel camera, Windows Mobile 6.1 device that appears in May. Last up, the HTC Cedar, which was originally touted as debuting on Verizon in June and has potentially been canceled. OK, that potentially sorts Windows Mobile for the year with HTC, so now lets get some details on Android sets, mkay HTC?

[Via WMPoweruser]

Sprint's Palm Treo Pro set to make its debut on March 15th

by Sean Cooper posted Mar 4th 2009 at 9:46AM

Well, March 15th looks like launch day for Sprint's Palm Treo Pro, and it's about time, after all, we've seen it rumored, unboxed, reviewed, and now finally you'll get a chance to pick one up. If you hearken back to the glory days of early February, you'll remember -- or we'll help you -- we'd heard rumors of the Palm Pre launching on the 15th, seems the rumor was at least partially right as the Treo Pro is most definitely a Palm. The Price? Apparently it will fill your pocket whilst emptying your wallet for $199 as long as you're willing to sign on the dotted line for a couple years. We'll be back as soon we get more details on the plans and other contract / off contract pricing.

[Via The Official Palm Blog ]

LG's Viewty II set to take center stage at CeBIT?

by Sean Cooper posted Mar 3rd 2009 at 12:31PM

LG's enormously popular Viewty seems about set for a upgrade with the potential launch of the 3D S-Class UI toting LG GC900 Viewty II. The GC900 features all kinds of goodness with a 3-inch WVGA touchscreen, an 8 megapixel camera -- with autofocus, xenon flash, film speed up to ISO 1600 -- geotagging, DivX and Xvid video support, and memory expansion up to 32GB. No bands were mentioned, but the GC900 has 7.2Mbps HSDPA for somewhere, WiFi is onboard, AGPS, and the camera will record slow motion video -- which is a riot on other devices. No pics, prices, or dates are attached, but we're hunting it down and will update as soon as we can.

Mio launches the Explora K70: beauty, 3G, and GPS abound

by Sean Cooper posted Mar 3rd 2009 at 11:36AM

Mio's rumored Explora K70 is sitting pretty at CeBIT, and while we wait for the full hands-on treatment, we thought an introduction to what appears to be a stunningly loaded GPS phone was in order. Network connectivity is a blow out in the K70 with quad-band GSM, triple-band HSDPA / HSUPA, Bluetooth, WiFi, and GPS which is handled by Qualcomm's gpsOne chip. The 3.5-inch touchscreen display is a 400x240 WQVGA number, a 3 megapixel camera hides around back, a jog dial's included for quick scrolling, and it is all powered by Windows Mobile 6. Looking at the spec sheets it seems there will be two different SKUs, a handset-only package and a "Full SKU" that includes in-car charger, device mount, and so forth. We're suitably impressed, expect more news including dates and pricing as soon as we can get them.

[Via GSMArena]